Hello!  This rather long story is my first posted fanfic.  It isn't quite
finished yet, I'm afraid.  I don't know how much longer it will take, but I
do hope that I am finally done with all the editing of the earlier parts.

Yes, this is a repost.  :-P

Why?  I think that everyone is in character.  *Whew*
So changes have been made.  Minor edits that may have major effects.
(Personally, I hate this kind.  Hard to spot.)

I hope to have a web page set up soon to avoid doing this again.
Yes, I have the space.

This is rather long.  It's just how I write.

The new stuff is in a different post. ;-)
[Hurrah!]

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FFML Submission Form.  (Cut and paste.)
=====================

Title:    Ranma-chan
Series:   Ranma 1/2
Genre:    What if. Not Original Flavor
Author:   Luigi Mattera
Email:    mattera@tiac.net
Homepage: (Soon!)

FFML Archive Number:  (Huh?)
Date Sent to FFML:    December 30th, 1997 (I forgot the original date)
Size:     197,138 Bytes (This Part Only!)

Summary:

  A long and stressful period results in a usual turn of events with a very
different outcome.  Ranma Saotome gets his head bashed in by Akane Tendo..
and is seriously injured.  Total amniesia.  The good news?  He springs back
very quickly.  The bad news?  His new personality is female.

  This is a serious look at a one shot anime episode.

  A "what if" scenario, inspired by the fanfics who create characters from
a female Ranma.. and then fail to give them any personality.

Currently 7 Chapters, with 6 & 7 in a different post.

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"Ranma-chan"

- Chapter 1 -

Written by Luigi Mattera

Characters copyright Rumiko Takahashi
Set after Volume 38 of the manga.

<...>  Translated from Chinese.
[...]  Written stuff.  Usually panda signs.
*...*  Thought.
_..._  Emphasis.  (ASCII underline.)


  The sun did not exit this particular morning in Nerima.  It had not
shown for some time.  The weather in the past week consisted of rain,
rain and more rain.  The weather-men were all harping about how this past
week set a record for rain in Nerima.  Minor flooding occurred, but
nothing to be concerned about.  People had a difficult time getting
about.  The rain made life especially difficult for several people.
Curses which took effect when you got wet had the natural side effect of
causing one to hate rain.

  Saotome Ranma had little desire to go outside, considering the effect
rain had on him.  Ranma disliked staying inside.  Being indoors kept him
quite bored.  Despite the weather, the weekend probably qualified as one
of the most difficult Ranma had to suffer through in a long time.
  Akane 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
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 quarters.  As a result, Ranma treated Akane nicely in the morning
when she appeared with her tray of "food."
  This surprised 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
arguments 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 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 fifteen minutes later, soaked to the bone, her room's
window shattered and unrepairable until after the storm ended. The
weather made it impossible for anyone to enter the room.  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 Kyoto.  Ranma found it interesting how Nabiki always managed to avoid
the worst situations by disappearing well before anything happened. This
left Ranma without a bed to sleep in, so she 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 wanted to toss Ranma back
out into the storm.  Ranma instead tossed Genma out the door.  She
decided that her father certainly deserved to suffer a bit.  Ranma
quietly shuffled along to the bath, wanting to soak for a while to
rejuvenate 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 that she did not get hit for once, and settled
down into the tub.  Ranma jerked up surprised a few seconds later as
something wrapped around his head.  Ranma flailed his arms around for
a few seconds and yanked the towel off.  He spun around, looking for
who had thrown the towel.  "Ranma you baka!  Pay attention when you
enter!"  Ranma looked at the doorway.  Akane was standing there
laughing.  She stepped back out of the room.  Ranma sighed, glad that
things had finally calmed down.  He idly wondered how many more times
he would find himself wet this weekend.  He attracted water like a
magnet.  At least the hot water still worked.
  Akane spent the rest of her day in her room, doing homework.  A bored
Ranma risked a quick run through the storm carrying a tea kettle to the
dojo.  Ranma made it to the dojo with little effort, 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 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 regardless.
  Ranma finally gave up on looking at the walls, and decided to try a
warm up kata to get his blood going to lift his spirits.  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 appeared in front of him.
  Ranma glared at Ryouga, who was grinning for once.  "Kicked out of
the house, eh Saotome?"
  Ranma shook his head.  "Too boring in there.  Only Akane who tells
me to do my homework."
  Ryouga chuckled.  "How is she holding up?"
  Ranma sighed.  "I'm not dead yet."
  Ryouga laughed.  "Good reply."
  Ranma looked around.  "So now what?"
  Ryouga picked up his umbrella.  "This is a dojo, right?"
  Ranma grinned.  "I get it."  He pointed over Ryouga's shoulder.
"Look!  Akane!"
  Ryouga spun around.  "What?  Akane?  Where?"
  Ranma laughed and charged Ryouga, who jumped away at the last minute.

  That set off a long fight, which lasted fifteen minutes.  Back and
forth the two went, Ranma trying to keep the power levels down to keep
the dojo intact, and the fight going.  Fighting someone always
invigorated him, and he wanted this to last.  Ranma knew that Ryouga
could be easily stopped with the weather being as bad as it was.
  Ryouga got bored during 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, waving bye bye to
Ryouga as he flew off.  Ranma walked back to the house afterwards,
tired yet exhilarated from the fight.

  Ranma sat down in front of the television.  She 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
really worked.
  Ranma was happily watching television, when a few minutes later
something hit her 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.  She wanted to compete with Nabiki, whose good
scores were pretty much guaranteed.  The result was a very irritable
and dangerous Akane.  Her temper seemed shorter than usual lately, if
that was at all possible.
  Ranma found her thoughts wandering away from the movie.  Akane had
been rather stressed out lately.  Ranma found it difficult to fathom
that she was actually considering doing something nice for Akane.. but
it was less difficult in the past when she would never even consider
the idea.  Ranma sighed, and tried to focus on the television.
  The quiet did not last very long at all after Akane left, much to
Ranma's frustration.  Ranma disliked her soaked shirt, so she pulled
it off.  There wasn't anyone around to complain about her being naked,
and she had little choice in the matter anyway, with her room in the
condition it was.
  She barely relaxed for five minutes before the cursed form of Ryouga
known as P-Chan attacked her.  Being attacked by a piglet irritated
her at best, and at worst it acted like a practical death sentence
because of the pig's unknowing ally.  There were days when Ranma wished
she never promised Ryouga to keep secret about his curse.
  "Damnit, Ryouga, won't you be nice for once?"  she hissed.
  P-chan jumped Ranma again.  Apparently he was pissed because of
Ranma's punt into the rain earlier.  Ranma and P-chan fought more
often than Ranma did with Ryouga.  Ryouga commented once that if
P-chan was nice to Ranma then Akane might get suspicious.  Ranma
countered that Ryouga was still stuck up on Akane, which he denied.
  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.  She wanted to be very quiet, or
risk the wrath of her irritable fiancee.  Ranma finally managed to
grab P-Chan and used the pig's bandanna to muzzle his sharp teeth.
P-chan gave Ranma a dirty look.  Ranma paid no attention to the pig.
She wasn't in the mood.
  She used another bandanna to hog tie him so he could not run away
again to cause more trouble.  "Sorry, Ryouga." she commented.  "I want
to make sure I win this time."
  Ranma grinned evilly.  Finally, something had gone her way.  Once
she got rid of the pig, she could relax for once.  Ignoring P-chan's
obvious anger at her treatment, Ranma looked around the living room.
"Hmm.."  she scratched her head.  "I wonder if there is a martial art
for fighting without damaging furniture?"  she mused.  "I've seen
everything else."
  Ranma did not notice the pink cat which snuck up behind her. It
carried a strange bottle on it's back.  Within seconds, the bottle
popped open, 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 at the noise. Couldn't he be quiet for
even a few hours?  Was that too much to ask?  For Ranma apparently so.
Akane walked down the stairs into the living room, where she got an
eyeful of the situation.  What and eyeful it was.

  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 held
a blatantly tied up pig called P-Chan.  She glanced down at an
unconscious P-Chan.  Fresh blood via piggy nosebleed soaked the bandanna
covering his mouth and nose.  Ranma wondered what happened.. until she
finally bothered to look at Shampoo.
  The Amazon apparently neglected to wear any clothing this time but
that did not stop her from 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!  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 embarrassingly
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
quite embarrassed.

  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 she could do nothing with Shampoo
clinging so tightly to her.  That didn't stop her from desperately
trying to squirm out of Shampoo's grasp.
  The entire neighborhood could have sworn they heard Akane's shout
through the rain, and people looking out the windows saw a figure
lifting rapidly into the sky.  They simply shook their heads, long
used to the violence.

....

  The next day began as any other in Nerima.  The sun lazily rose over
the horizon.  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 the previous night.  *That jerk 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 became visible at the end
of her street.  *Sometimes the jerk is actually nice to me.* She
sighed.  How the hell can anyone be so damn stupid yet likeable at the
same time? What problem did he have with her pet, anyway?  She trotted
up to the doors of the Dojo and called out, "I'm home!"
  "Good morning," came 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?*
Akane shook her head.  This was Ranma she was thinking about.

  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
chuckled 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 unusual.  It's design
consisted of a smooth clear crystal with a bright green emerald fused
into the center.  It certainly looked different, and he could afford
it!  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 Kuno and
dodge another irritation.* Ranma wasn't feeling too spectacular after
last night's little fiasco.  *That pig causes me far more grief than I
want to put up with.  You'd think he'd lay off just a little.* Ranma
headed towards Furikan high school.

  Akane trudged along her usual route, wondering where her fiancee
disappeared to.  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, she didn't want to have
anything to do with the amazon.  "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 already pedaled a
good distance on her bicycle.  *This day isn't going well at all,* she
thought to herself.  *Why do I have this feeling that things are only
going to get worse?*

  Kuno 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.
Kuno spotted Akane walking along the street, all alone for a change.
Kuno 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 looked up, saw Kuno, and her mood dropped further.  When would
the fool ever learn?  With all the times Ranma and her beat him, you
would think he would get the hint.  Sighing, Akane bashed him in the
head and kicked him in the gut.  Airborne, Kuno sailed 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!  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 sat 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 to be
an improvement, but Ranma did not pay any attention to the class itself.
Akane scribbled away in her notebook, to busy to see Ranma still awake.
Class for her had become rather hectic as of late due to the upcoming
exams.  She had little time to focus her attention on her fiancee.
  Ranma was worried.  The Shampoo/P-Chan fiasco of last night ranked
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.
Luckily for him it 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 restaurant?  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?* Akane
sighed.  Ranma would find some way to screw up later.  He always did.
  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.
She could be really really nice, then bash him over the head a split
second later.  At least she didn't slam him with any more hammers.

  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 grumpily in the bushes of the Tendo residence.  If it
wasn't for Akane untying him, it would have taken him hours to free
himself.  Now he was stuck wandering around as a pig, unable to even
find the bathroom.  *Ranma should be happy,* he thought to himself.
*I got out of Akane's room rather quickly last night.* It had only
taken him an hour to find a way out.  He would have been quicker if he
hadn't been P-chan, but then he wouldn't have been in Akane's room in
the first place.
  Looking up, he saw Ranma and Akane just standing there in the
pathway.  Not bothering to figure out what was going on, he decided
that he had spent enough time in the bushes.

....

  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, bweeing happily.  P-chan
leapt into the air, landing atop Ranma's head.  Ranma reacted
immediately, swatting P-Chan on instinct.  P-Chan went flying into the
wall, crashing into it.  He did not get up.  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 reaction, as it usually did.  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 it before slamming him.
  Something didn't go quite right on this particular trip into the koi
pond.  Akane aimed incorrectly for some unheard of reason.  Ranma
bounced off the ground of the Tendo's backyard and catapulted into the
air.  This caused a bit of surprise to Akane as she watched Ranma loft
lazily up into the air.  Ranma came flying back down and slammed 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.
He tipped 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.  *He deserved that,* she
thought to herself.

  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 had 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 somehow make things worse.  Yet he
would survive through the mishap without any problems.  Sometimes the
status quo changed ever so slightly, but not very often.
  Nabiki smiled 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 last fiasco.  What she would have given to get a
picture of the scene Akane described to her.  Any of the boys at her
high school would have paid through the nose for a shot of those two
naked women standing so close together.
  It would have been even more fun had Kuno found out.. his rage over
the "desecration" of his pig tailed goddess would force him to either
buy all of the pictures at a hefty mark up, or gain Nabiki protection
money from those students who wanted to keep Kuno away from them.
Nabiki for her part didn't care what happened then.  All she wanted
was more money for herself.
  Nabiki was stirred from her thoughts as she noticed how slowly Ranma
was standing up.  He was moving far more slowly than usual, and
without any of his usual verbal malice towards her sister. *What is
going on here?* Nabiki wondered.  She was very quick when it came to
seeing things out of the ordinary.  "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 heard Nabiki's voice, and frowned
at the way the girl addressed her.  "Ano," she started while looking
around slowly, "where am I?"  Her head turned to look at Nabiki, who was
surprised by the turn of events. "Excuse me, do I know you?"  Ranma
glanced down at her hand, and noticed the crystal ring (s)he bought 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.. except perhaps his mother.  Even then his
voice still carried the rough edge it usually did if you listened hard
enough.
  "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.*
  "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 to her call.  "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.  Is it serious?  I've handled his injuries in the past."
  Nabiki looked evenly at her sister.  "Hai, it is."
  "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.  Funny, yes, but we don't need
that right now.* "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 at Tofuu-sensei's
clinic 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-san this time?"  he asked.
  "Akane hit Ranma on the head.  I think he has amnesia."
  Tofuu paused.  "Does Akane-san know that he is here?"
  Nabiki paused in response.  "She knows she hit him, but she doesn't
know what happened after then."
  Tofuu nodded.  "In any case, we should change him back so he isn't
any more confused when he wakes up."
  "Should I be the one to tell Akane?"
  "I will leave that decision up to you.  In the mean time, I had
better call the hospital just so they can scan him to make sure there
aren't any serious complications."
  "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.* he thought to himself.  *Although I don't know what's
been happening for some time.*

  There was a sudden gasp followed by a sound of something hitting the
floor. Tofuu jumped up quickly and rushed back into the room.  He saw
Nabiki standing, her eyes wide with surprise.  He saw the kettle lying
on the ground, hot water pouring 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.  *Things could get very interesting now,* she
thought to herself.  Possibilities and ideas were already forming at
the back of her mind.
  Tofuu continued dialing.  "Moshi Moshi?"  asked the voice at the other
end.  Tofuu's glasses started to fog over, and he fought for control of
himself.  "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 feels like a bad dream,* he thought to himself
as he watched the technicians.

  A few long minutes later, Ranma arrived at the hospital.  The trip
very little time.  The ambulance drivers muttered something about an
idiot wearing a bandanna and a backpack who stalled traffic on the
way.  Tofuu rushed 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 gathered staff, and talked for
a long time 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 heard wailing 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 kept his composure.  Barely.
"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 his grief prevented him.
Tofuu was about to mention what Nabiki had said earlier, but all
thoughts left his mind as Kasumi walked into the room.  Kasumi smiled.
"Tofuu-sensei, how is Ranma-kun?"
  "Kasumi!  What a coincidence to meet you here, that is."
  Kasumi giggled at his response. Tofuu suddenly stood up and rushed
out the door.  For him, it was a remarkable accomplishment.  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 returned to her house.  They had stepped out to take a break
from studying."
  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 tests
and subsequent repairs would not be too high.

....

  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.
Something nagged her at the back of her mind all day long, but she
ignored it.  Akane walked up to the rear door, and entered the house.
She frowned.  It was around dinner time, and she usually could smell
Kasumi's cooking from outside.  Maybe the the doors were closed, as
the wind was still high from the storm.
  Akane removed her shoes, and stepped into the living room.  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 no attention to it.  She walked up the stairs, looking
around.  Genma and Ranma were definitely not in.  The wall in their
room looked like someone had started on it, but everything was
scattered around.  Nothing looked neat.  Akane knew that her father
put things away when he was finished.  Soun had done repairs in the
past, so it wasn't surprising that he wanted to save money.  Nabiki
wasn't home, but that was not unusual all.  Happosai was definitely
not home, and she was glad about that.

  Akane wondered where everyone had gone.  The house could not be this
quiet at this time of night.  While Genma and Soun might 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 finish.  She also did not want to think
about where Ranma was, considering how inconsiderately he treated
P-Chan earlier.  He also managed to ruin a moment between the two of
them.  Those did not happen all that often.  Akane's mind tried to
tell her that P-Chan had jumped on her fiancee, but she never blamed
P-Chan for anything.

....

  Two hours passed at the hospital.  Genma had called Nodoka, and the
tone she had scared him.  She did not want anything to impede her son's
eventual marriage.  She did care 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 the next morning.  Akane was nowhere to be
found.  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.  "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 more than likely to be 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 outwardly
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."
  "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 looked like a tornado
swept through.  The girl did not know how to deal with grief.
  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.  The two were more alike at
times than either of them admitted.
  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 her sister's feelings might collapse, 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 wanted to 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 came far too easily.  Nabiki actually had to
remember not to do it.  "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."
  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?*

- Chapter 2 -

  Genma, Soun and Kasumi returned home about an hour after leaving the
hospital.  A somber mood characterized the group.  Worry over Ranma's
injury took it's toll, both physically and emotionally.  Soun finally
ran out of tears.  That surprised Genma, but not Kasumi.  She said
that Soun's reaction at his wife's death mirrored this one.  Genma
wondered how Soun managed to keep up with life.  They tried the usual
tactics to cheer him up, things like "Ranma will be fine," and "He'll
rebound quickly from the injury," but Soun refused to listen to
anything they said.  Thoughts flowed through Genma's mind for once.
He wanted to know exactly what happened.  Ranma had none of the other
bruises he usually got when involved in a fight, and his gender was
female..  That limited the list of suspects down to one likely person.
Genma was not thrilled at who he believed it to be.
  Kasumi opened the front door and stepped inside.  Genma half carried
Soun through the door.  The darkness of the house and the deathly
quiet dojo only made them feel worse.  The only sound they heard was
the wind faintly stirring outside.
  Kasumi walked up the stairs, heading towards Akane's room.  She
looked down at Akane's door, and noticed no light from the inside of
the room.  She stepped softly up to the door and pushed gently.  The
door swung open.  Akane was asleep.  Her room was a disaster, and
there were several tear stained items inside the room.  Kasumi shook
her head sadly and slowly closed the door.
  Genma carried Soun into his room and placed him into bed.  He quietly
walked up the staircase to his room, and bumped into Kasumi on the way.
"Did you see Akane?"  he whispered.
  Kasumi nodded.  "She was asleep, although her room was horrid.  She
looked absolutely miserable."
  Genma sighed.  "She found out.  I wonder how?"
  "What do you mean?"
  "Ranma's injuries indicate that Akane was the likely cause."
  Kasumi paused.  "Oh my."
  Genma nodded.  "I wonder who told her?"
  "I did," came a voice from behind Genma.  Nabiki peered out from
behind her door into the hallway.
  Genma turned around to face Nabiki.  "How do you know?"
  Nabiki smiled.  "I know.  What around here don't I know?"
  Genma twitched slightly as a sweatdrop rolled down the back of his
head.  Kasumi spoke up next.  "So who told you that Akane hurt Ranma?"
  Nabiki shrugged.  "I pulled him out of the koi pond."
  Genma nodded.  "That seems pretty conclusive."
  Nabiki started to close the door.  "I didn't speak to her long about
it - she wasn't in the mood for a discussion after I told her."   Nabiki
closed the door and the light in her room went out.
  Kasumi walked towards her room.  "We'll speak to her tomorrow
morning.  Right now she needs sleep.  We all do."
  Genma nodded.  Kasumi continued, "You should talk to her tomorrow,
Genma-san."
  There was suddenly a splash of water behind her.  Genma-panda held
up a sign which stated, [I'm only a panda!]
  Kasumi went to bed, ignoring Genma.  She had to get up early
tomorrow to make breakfast.  After all, appearances had to be kept.
  Genma padded over to his room.  Peering inside, he noticed the wood
and carpentry tools strewn all over the place.  Sighing, he walked up
to the window and looked out into the night.  The rain had gone, but
it was still chilly out.  At least he had his fur to keep him warm.
Crawling on to his futon, the panda quickly fell asleep.

  Akane had an extremely difficult time sleeping.  She tossed and turned
in her sleep, plagued by dreams.  Time and time again, she saw her
mallet coming down on Ranma's head, smashing it open like a ripe melon
and killing him.  While Akane might not be able to openly admit that she
was wrong, her subconscious knew better and was playing havoc with her
emotions.  She awoke in the middle of the night, coated in sweat and
shivered uncontrollably.  "Ranma.." she whispered.  "What can I do?  Can
I do anything at all?"  As she got out of bed, a decision formed in her
mind.
  Akane exited her room, and headed down the stairs. She was going to
make the healthiest bento she ever had for Ranma when he woke up.
Unfortunately, her worrying and guilt had done interesting things to
her current state of mind.

  Genma woke up around 3 AM, his stomach growling.  He sighed as he
sat up.  The circumstances of yesterday resulted in Kasumi skipping
dinner, and he was hungry.  Very hungry.  Genma-panda got out of bed,
walking into the hallway and down the stairs.  A strange smell entered
his sensitive panda nostrils, and he wondered what it could be.  It
sort of smelled like food, but not the food Kasumi usually made.  It
was nowhere near the same.  This scent felt more like a mockery of
someone cooking.  Genma-panda paused, a look of worry on his face.  He
slowly crept towards the kitchen, trying his best to keep quiet
despite the fact that pandas aren't built for sneaking around.
Genma-panda noticed the light in the kitchen was on, and very strange
noises were coming from it.  Slowly, he peeked into the kitchen, and
the source of the commotion was revealed:
  Akane was cooking.  At three in the morning no less.  She was in a
frenzy, blitzing through the kitchen as she attempted to mix things
together.  She turned towards Genma-panda, a smile on her face.  "Good
morning," she stated rather cheerfully.  "I'm making breakfast for Ranma
when he wakes up.  See?  I've got eggs, chicken soup, milk, orange
juice.."  Akane trailed off as she kept on mixing things together,
paying little attention to what she tossed into the bowl.
  Genma-panda watched Akane toss detergent into the mix as she
mentioned salt.  Sweatdrop falling, he raised a sign.  [Good Morning,
Akane-chan.]  He flipped it over.  [I am sorry to disturb you.]  With
that comment Genma bolted up the stairs back to the safety of his
futon.  There were certain things that one simply did not get involved
in.

....

  Kasumi awoke the next morning, rising early.  After taking a quick
bath, she walked into the kitchen.. and face-faulted after she stepped
inside.  The kitchen was a complete mess.  Flour, soup, eggs and other
miscellaneous unidentifiable stuff adorned everything - the walls, the
counters, and especially the refrigerator.  Heaps of "stuff" littered
the floor, and Akane lay asleep in the middle of the mess, clinging
tightly to a bento box. Kasumi shook her head, and carefully walked
through the kitchen to Akane.  She gently shook Akane.  "Akane-chan,
wake up.  It's morning."
  Akane bolted upright, squeezing the box she held even harder. It
barely held itself together, but something sticky on the inside seeped
through the cracks and solidified the box.  Akane smiled at Kasumi as
she took a step back.  "Good morning, oneesan! I feel great today!"
  Kasumi smiled.  "You were busy in here, weren't you?"
  Akane nodded happily.  "Hai, oneesan!  I made a surprise breakfast for
Ranma today!"
  Kasumi shook her head.  "Ranma may not wake up today."
  Akane's disposition switched in an instant.  "He'll wake up!"
Quietly, she said, "You'll see.."  Her voice shot up a decibel.  "If
he doesn't then I'll make him wake up!"
  Kasumi frowned, but Akane stood up and ran out of the kitchen before
she could reply.  Kasumi looked around at the damage once more, and
then proceeded to try to clean things up.

  Nabiki awoke early to prepare for school.  She liked to arrive to
school early.  Originally it was to avoid Akane's daily fiasco with the
boys and Kuno, but that changed to become an avoidance of whoever Ranma
fought that particular morning.  She liked to get a bird's eye view of
the mornings usual fight.  As an added bonus she was able to catch up
on any gossip that she could use to blackmail people with later in the
day.  People were more apt to let things slip if they were tired.
  Nabiki entered the family bath.  Her expression changed little as
she noted the water spilled everywhere.  The area which people used to
soap themselves down had bits and pieces of some gooey substance lying
around.  She wisely decided not to touch the stuff.  Looking into the
bath itself, she noticed more bits and pieces of the unusual
substance.  She smiled to herself, and decided to head to the public
bath this morning.
  Turning around, she left the bathroom, and watched amusingly as the
large panda known as Genma sauntered in.  She walked down to the
kitchen, hoping to eat some breakfast, but not really expecting to
find any.
  Nabiki poked her head into the kitchen, and laughed silently to
herself.  Akane was in here as well, it seemed.  She had left more of
a disaster than normal.  Kasumi smiled as she looked up, halting her
cleaning of the kitchen.  "Good morning, Nabiki-chan."  Nabiki smiled
in reply.  "Good morning, oneesan.  Have you seen Akane?"
  Kasumi smiled.  "She just stepped out."
  "I see.  I am off to the public baths.  Good day, oneesan."
  "Good day, Nabiki-chan."

  Soun was rather somber when he awoke later.  His endless crying had
been replaced by endless worrying.  After glancing in the kitchen,
he decided to sit by his Go board and smoke a cigarette to calm his
nerves.  Genma-panda appeared a few seconds later, sitting down next
to him.  He seemed to have a few patches of fur missing here and
there, like he had to take a scissor to them.  Soun smiled at his
old friend.  "Good morning, Genma."
  Genma-panda held up a sign.  [Good morning.]  He flipped it over.
[Care for a game?]
  Soun nodded.  "Hai.  Breakfast will be late this morning."
  [You first.]

....

  Ucchan's was open early for the breakfast crowd.  Ukyou and Konatsu
were hard at work serving the customers who came in for breakfast.
Ukyou's restaurant had gained quite a bit of publicity due to the food,
and unfortunately, a bit of notoriety as well due to the fights which
occasionally happened there.  They were rumored to be centered around a
young gentleman who Ukyou was enamoured of.  She denied it, of course,
but the way she acted around him was evidence enough for the regular
customers.  Still, little was said as it would be improper to talk about
the store owner's personal life behind her back.  The fact that the man
in question held his own quite nicely in the fights when they did happen
kept any other voices quiet.
  Business was a bit slow this morning.  The tables and bar were full,
but these days the Ucchan had a good number of people waiting to be
seated as well.  Ukyou was at the okonomiyaki bar, cooking
continuously.  She had long been used to the rigors of getting up
early to open the restaurant, and could easily work the morning and
head off to school afterwards.  Konatsu made things easier for her,
and for that she was grateful.  Now if she could only convince him not
to hit on her..
  The door bell rang, and another customer stepped inside.  Ukyou gave
the person a quick glance, and noticed that it was a normal high school
aged girl wearing a fuku.  She was short and petite at 5'6".  Her
uniform gave away the fact that her body was well defined.. she was
probably an athlete or gymnast.  She had long brown hair done up in a
pony tail, and bright blue eyes.  Konatsu glided over to say hello to
her, and Ukyou returned her attention to the okonomiyaki on the grill in
front of her.
  "Good morning," came Konatsu's voice.
  The girl smiled quizzically at the woman in the kimono.  "Good
morning," she replied.
  "How many in your party?" asked Konatsu.
  "Just myself, thank you."
  "Would you like a seat by the bar then?"
  "That would be nice."
  Konatsu lead the woman through the restaurant towards the bar.
Although Ukyou would never mention it openly due to pride, there was a
particular floorboard in Ucchan's which was rather noisy when passed
over.  Konatsu liked to occasionally lead customers over it to
practice his gotonpo (escape and evasion) skills.  Konatsu
effortlessly glided over the board, making very little if at all
noise.  You had to strain to hear it.  He walked up to the bar, and
looked behind him.. the girl had passed over the board, making even
less noise than he did!  Konatsu's eyes bugged out slightly, but the
girl simply smiled at him.  "May I sit?"  She asked.
  Konatsu smiled and nodded.  "Of course."
  The girl sat down at the bar, and Konatsu left to wait on the other
customers.  He'd have to tell Ukyou what happened later.

  Ukyou did not get many high school aged students at breakfast.  Most
of her clients were older working people who stopped by for a bit of
food in a normal restaurant as opposed to being forced to go to the
Japanese McDonald's which were popping up all around Japan.  Most of
her customers liked to take it easy in the mornings anyway.  Ukyou
headed down the bar to the girl.  "Good morning," she said.  "How may
I help you today?"
  The girl smiled.  "A seafood okonomiyaki please."
  Ukyou smiled.  "That's one of our specials.  I'll have it done in a
few minutes."
  "No hurry, please."
  Ukyou nodded, and continued the conversation as she cooked the
order.  "Are you new to the area?  My name is Kuonji Ukyou."
  She giggled.  "A boy's name?"
  Ukyou flushed.  "My parents wanted a boy."
  "Gomen.  I meant no offense."
  "None taken."
  "Actually, I like it."
  "You like it?"
  She nodded.  "Original name for a girl.  Mine is Onishi Yohko."
  Ukyou smiled.  "So what brings you to Nerima?"
  "I am visiting my cousin.  She is in Tokyo general."
  Ukyou flushed.  "Gomen.  Is she well?"
  Yohko nodded.  "Hai.  She had appendicitis.  Nothing major, and I
wanted to visit her anyway.  We haven't seen each other in person in
over a year."
  Ukyou smiled.  "I am glad to hear that.  There is a bus stop just
down the street which will drop you off at Tokyo general."
  "Thank you.  That helps me quite a bit.  I have been in this
district only twice before."
  "You're welcome."  Ukyou replied.  "Oh yes, your order is done.
Enjoy!"
  "Thank you so much.  I am sure I will."
  Yohko ate the okonomiyaki, praising it highly.  She'd recommend the
place to her family and friends if they passed through the area.
Ukyou thanked her for the business, and was glad at the large tip she
left with the bill.
  Konatsu watched her as she left, and noticed with surprise and
amusement that she walked right over the floorboard again.

  Eventually, the morning crowd died down, and Ukyou was finishing her
task of cleaning out the bar.  She had about an hour before needing to
get to class, and had just sat down to eat her own breakfast.  Konatsu
walked over to her.  "Enjoy your conversation?"
  "Eh?  With who?"
  "That high school girl."
  "Yes, I did.  Why do you ask?"
  Konatsu smiled.  Ukyou didn't notice at all.  "She's shinobi."
  Ukyou spat out the okonomiyaki at her surprise.  "What?  How?"
  Konatsu laughed, and Ukyou became red in the face.  "It was easy to
tell."
  "It takes one to know one, I take it?"
  He grinned.  "Hai.  Watch."
  Konatsu walked to the floorboard.  "You know as well as I do that
this board needs to be fixed, right?"
  Ukyou frowned.  "Yes, so?"
  Konatsu stepped across the board, and it squeaked rather loudly in
the empty restaurant.  "Did you hear that?"
  "Yes I did.  What is your point?"
  Konatsu glided back across.  "That," he replied.
  "What?"  Ukyou asked, exasperated.  "I didn't hear anything."
  "Exactly."
  "You do that all the time." Ukyou replied, rolling her eyes.  Then a
thought struck her.  "You're telling me that she could do that as
well?"
  Konatsu nodded.  "She was better at it than I am."
  "Cool.  Wait, doesn't that make her dangerous?"
  Konatsu shook his head.  "Ninjutsu has become commercial, like the
other martial arts.  It is not as wide spread, but it is around."
  "How far has it spread?"
  "Well there are dojos on the east coast of the United States.. New
York and Boston I think."
  "Wow.  So how did she get so quiet while being so young?"
  Konatsu paused for a second.  "She must have trained with
Hatsumi-sensei, the top ranked Ninjutsu practitioner.  He lives in
Noda."
  Ukyou laughed.  "I should have expected it.  There are how many
martial artists in Nerima?"
  Konatsu nodded.  "Too many!" he exclaimed, and started to laugh as
well.

....

  A short distance away from the Tendo dojo, a lone woman can be seen
walking towards it.  Carrying a package on her back, Saotome Nodoka
was not in a good mood at all.  The phone call she got from her
husband last night indicated that something had happened to her
son. She knew that having him live at the Tendo dojo was frustrating,
but when she tried to have him and his father return home, several
women showed up and nearly destroyed the place.
  So Ranma had to stay at the Tendo residence, freeloading with his
father off of Genma's old friend while Genma and Soun hatched up
scheme after scheme trying to get Ranma and Akane to marry.  Nodoka
watched how badly both Ranma and Akane reacted against the schemes,
but honor would be satisfied, and Ranma would have to come to accept
that.  Only recently did she come to understand that Ranma and Akane
might actually come together quicker if they pulled back on the
constant pressure.  At least Tendo Akane had admitted recently that
she had no problems marrying her son..  Now if she could only get
Ranma to admit that.  He was being particularly stubborn about it.
  Genma had said nothing about what had happened which placed Ranma
into the hospital.  She assumed that it was nothing major, since Ranma
had been injured very badly and bounced back with no changes or
problems whatsoever.  However, she did wish that the boy at least
_learned_ something from the repeated fights he got himself into.  He
never changed his attitude in the least, and that irritated Nodoka
considerably.  He did take up after his father in that regard, the
good for nothing coward that Genma was.  Still, there was hope for
Ranma yet.  He did have a sense of duty and honor, strange as it
appeared to be at times.
  Nodoka sorely wished that she had not entrusted Ranma's upbringing
to his father, but Genma had made that pledge to her.  She had made a
mistake then, and while Ranma _was_ manly, he had picked up a few
other unfortunate traits from his father as well.
  Nodoka walked up to the front door of the Tendo residence, and
knocked politely.  Five minutes later, she knocked a bit more loudly,
her patience getting to her.
  The door opened, Kasumi answering.  "Good morning, Saotome-san.  I
am glad to see that you have made it."
  Nodoka smiled.  At least one of Soun's daughters had learned to be a
proper lady, even if the other two turned out so horribly wrong.
"Good morning, Kasumi-san," she replied.  "Where is my husband and
your father?"
  Kasumi smiled.  "They are playing go.  Breakfast will be a little
late today."
  Nodoka frowned.  "What caused the delay?"
  Kasumi smiled.  "Akane was a little over enthusiastic in the kitchen."
  Nodoka nodded her head.  "A gift for Ranma when he comes home?"
  Kasumi smiled happily.  "Hai."
  "Can I please come in?"
  "Of course!  I am sorry for delaying you."
  "No offense taken.  Can you please bring me a kettle of hot water?"
  "Hai."
  "Thank you."
  Nodoka walked into the living room, and sighed.  Her husband spent
far too much time as a panda for her liking.  She had to admit that
the panda's lazy nature fit her husband perfectly.  Nodoka patiently
waited, watching Genma and Soun battle it back and forth at their own
twisted version of go.  Nodoka set down the katana she carried on the
table next to her.  Finally, Kasumi returned with a kettle.  "Thank
you, Kasumi-san."
  "You are welcome."
  Nodoka walked over to the two of them, and poured the kettle over
her husband.  He was a little more responsive as a human, but not as
much as she would have liked.  One of these days she would have to try
and remember why she married him in the first place.  "Genma," she
started, "what happened to my son this time?"
  Genma blanched as he turned to face her, the familiar sweatdrop
appearing.  He definitely did not like dealing with his wife.  "Ranma,
ah.." he paused, unsure how to continue.
  "Yes?  Get on with it already, if you please."
  "Ranma.. Ranma injured his head.  The doctor said that he may have
amnesia when he wakes up."
  Nodoka frowned.  This was not good at all.  She had a bad feeling
about what had happened, and glanced over at Soun, who looked
downright afraid of her.  "Tendo-san," she said, making sure that Soun
saw her starting to reach for her katana, "What happened?"
  Soun nearly panicked.  "Um, well, you see.."
  Nodoka looked back at her husband, who was a panda again, playing on
the front porch.  She sighed, her patience at an end.  "Please, tell
me what happened." she asked.
  Soun looked upset.  "Akane hit Ranma too hard, and injured him in
the process."
  Nodoka's eyebrows shot up.  She knew that Akane could be unladylike,
and that she disciplined her son regularly, but she believed that
Akane liked Ranma too much to actually try and hurt him.  "What
proof do you have?"
  "Ranma was soaked, and the doctor said that the only signs of injury
were to his head."
  Nodoka frowned.  "That does imply Akane."
  Soun looked unhappy.  "Nabiki said that she pulled Ranma out of
the koi pond."
  Nodoka was surprised.  She didn't think Akane was actually
responsible, but the evidence against her was undeniable.  Suddenly
what Soun said struck her completely.  "Koi pond?  My son was in his
cursed form?"
  Soun nodded.  "Yes."
  Nodoka spat out an unladylike curse.  _Now_ she was worried.  This
could complicate things to the point where the marriage between the
two families would never take place.  Her family's honor could be at
stake.. as well as her son's sanity.
  Soun cringed at her curse, while Genma continued to pretend that he
was oblivious to the human world.  "Nabiki-san." Nodoka started.  She
turned towards the kitchen.  "Kasumi-san, where is your younger
sister?"
  Kasumi replied from the kitchen.  "She's not here, Saotome-san.  She
left early go to the public baths."
  Nodoka sighed.  Nabiki always disappeared when trouble was about to
happen.  She was smart enough to see it coming.  Nodoka tried to calm
herself down before she was overwhelmed with emotions.  Anger, that
her son had been hurt.  Frustration, that no one seemed to want to
help or even care.  Sadness, that apparently there was little that she
could do about it.  She was about to call for Akane when the phone
rang.  Kasumi walked over to pick it up, but Nodoka stopped her.  She
wanted to answer it.  Nodoka picked the telephone up, trying to still
her heart.  "Moshi Moshi?"
  "This is Kato Akira from Tokyo general.  Is Saotome Genma-san there?"
  Nodoka paused.  "This is Saotome Nodoka, his wife and mother of his..
daughter.  What is the situation?"
  "I have good news and bad news."
  Nodoka frowned.  "Please, the good news first.  I could use some."
  "Your daughter is awake, amazingly.  The doctors are all puzzled
over how quickly she healed."
  "And the bad?"  She steeled herself for the news.
  "She has no recollection of anything."  A pause.  "I am very sorry."
  Nodoka froze, tears springing to her eyes.  "Thank you.  We'll be on
our way."
  "We'll try our best to help her."
  "I understand."  Nodoka put the telephone down, and tried to hold
her composure.  She would get no comfort from anyone around her.
"Ranma is awake." she said.
  Soun jumped, the joy evident in his face.  Genma-panda held up a sign
saying [Happy days are here again!]  Kasumi simply smiled.
  Nodoka closed her eyes.  "She remembers nothing."
  Soun immediately launched into a full scale wail.  Genma acted like
he didn't hear anything.  Kasumi simply said, "Oh my."
  Nodoka sighed.  She should not have expected any more from either
Genma or Soun.  Neither of them had any sense of responsibility at
all, nor the courage to face up to any serious issues.  She started to
walk towards the door.  Kasumi headed there with her.  "Can I come,
Saotome-san?"  She asked.
  Nodoka nodded.  "Hai.  I can use the company."
  "Are you taking your sword?"
  Nodoka shook her head.  "I do not think the hospital would
appreciate that."
  "Oh."
  There was a sudden rustling from the direction of the dojo.  Nodoka
and Kasumi turned towards the noise.  Akane appeared in the doorway,
"Nodoka-san", she asked, "may I please come along?"
  Nodoka smiled.  Perhaps seeing what had happened to Ranma might have
an effect on Akane's decision about the marriage.  She nodded.  "Very
well, Akane-chan.  Remember to behave yourself."
  Akane nodded a little too vigorously for Nodoka's taste.  She held
her hands tightly to the bag she was carrying, hiding the bento box
inside of it.  Akane had this strange feeling about her, but Nodoka
shrugged it off as nervousness..  Akane did care for Ranma, despite
everything that had happened to them.

....

  Ranma sat in her bed, waiting for the nurse to return.  She woke up
early in the morning at the hospital.  She felt as though she had just
woken up from falling asleep the night before, but she was in a
hospital.  Stranger still were all the doctors running around like
madmen.  They were acting like someone had never woken up from
sleeping before.  What was strangest of all was the fact that she
could not for the life of her remember anything at all beyond waking
up this morning.  She did have a crystal ring on her left hand, and
she refused to allow the doctors to take it off.  They happily agreed,
and she asked them what was going on.
  They started with her name, Saotome Ranma, which she immediately
disliked.  The doctors seemed a bit surprised at this, but she
complained that whoever named her "wild horse" was obviously a fool at
best.  Finally, a doctor named Kato Akira had entered the room, and
filled her in on the details as best he could.  Her father was Saotome
Genma, her mother Saotome Nodoka.  She frowned at her father's name,
but understood how she came to be named from him.  She wondered what
kind of man was named "disorderly horse."  Japanese names had a
tendency to match the people they were attached to rather well.  She
didn't like what the meant about her and her name.
  She also learned from what they were saying that she had amnesia -
perhaps permanently.  That scared the hell out of her, but somehow she
took it in stride.  She wasn't going to tell the doctor that, though.
She disliked being in hospitals and doctors in general, but would do
as they said.
  A nurse entered the room, and Ranma watched her for a few long
minutes.  The nurse was named Kikuchi Ami, and Ranma took a quick
liking to her.  Their first moments together had been a bit
embarrassing, as Ranma had apparently forgotten what being a woman was
like.  Ranma managed to get the hang of it rather quickly, and Ami was
very helpful to her.  Those problems quickly formed a bond between the
two women.
  Ranma sat in the hospital room, rather bored.  The woman next door
had a newborn daughter, so she visited with her for a bit, but she
needed to sleep.  Ranma hated being alone, and she hoped that Ami
would return soon.  She heard a knock on her door, and Ami stepped
inside.  Ranma smiled.
  "Good morning, Ami-san."
  "Good morning, Ranma-chan.  I have something for you."
  "You do?"
  "Hai, your parents are coming by later on in the morning.  The
doctors are going to release you."
  "So soon?  Don't they want to keep me around?"
  "You'll be returning often for therapy, of course.  They can run
tests on you then."
  "Okay."  She smiled.  "What did you bring me?"
  "I brought you the clothes you wore when you arrived."
  "Ooh!  Can I see them?"
  Ami nodded.  "Hai, but I don't think you'll like them."
  Ranma frowned, and saw the clothes in question.  She blinked.
"What?  No bra?  No panties?  What gives?"
  Ami shrugged.  "I have no idea."
  "I can't wear those!"
  "Then what will you wear?"
  Ranma sighed.  What kind of person was she?  What would her parents
expect from her?  The clothing she found herself looking at only
confused her more.  She shook her head, and looked at Ami.  "What do I
do?"
  Ami smiled sadly.  "Usually, we try to tell the parents that the
patient has changed permanently, and they have to get used to the new
person."
  "Good, because I'm not wearing that stuff."
  Ami paused.  "You don't have much choice."
  Ranma sighed.  "Look," she said.  "You know that my period started
this morning.  I can't leave without at least a pair of panties!"
  Ami nodded.  "You're right, you know."
  Ranma looked at Ami.  "Can you do me a favor, please?"
  "There is only so much I can do."
  "Was there any money in my pockets?"
  "Hai, there was."
  "Please then, go out and buy me some underwear.  We can figure out
my size, you've told me how."
  "I can't go and just.." she paused.  "I can ask the doctor.  We may
have something for you to wear."
  Ranma made a face.  "Ick.  I can't wear hospital clothes, those
things chafe badly."
  "May be your parents can do it for you."
  Ranma sighed.  "I'll wait then.  I don't have much choice, do I?"
  "Be patient, please."
  Ranma got out of bed.  "Oh, very well.  I need to go to the bathroom."
  "I'll clean up while you're gone."
  "Thanks a lot.  I hate to see you cleaning up my mess."
  Ami laughed.  "That's my job!"
  "Still, you deserve better."
  Ami blushed.  "Thank you, but don't worry about me."
  "Okay. Goodbye."
  "Bye."  Ranma left the room.
  Ami smiled to herself.  Ranma was such a sweet girl that she felt
badly about her losing her memory.  Doctors and nurses were not
supposed to get emotionally involved with the patients, but Ami was
more of a physical therapist than an actual nurse.  Bonds happened
more regularly there.  It was Kato's idea to pair her with Ranma, and
she quickly thanked him for doing it.  The poor girl needed a mother
more than anything right now.  Ami would see what she could do about
getting some underwear for her.

  Ranma walked down the hall, on her way to the bathroom.  On her way
there, she passed a brown haired girl wearing a fuku.  "Excuse me,"
the girl asked.
  "Yes?"  replied Ranma.
  "Would you know the way to room 513?"
  "Down the hallway and turn left."
  "Gomen," the girl replied.  "This was the closest bathroom.  Thank
you."
  "Not a problem."

....

  Nodoka, Akane and Kasumi arrived at the hospital about one hour
after leaving the dojo.  Nodoka was a bit worried.  While Kasumi was
as calm and collected as always, which was a bit too much for Nodoka's
tastes, Akane was absolutely giddy and would not sit still.
  Nodoka was concerned about Akane's well being.  While she knew that
Akane had feelings for her son, the girl had an unusual way of
expressing them.  The entire Tendo Family to a certain point had
peculiarities, but Akane was the one who was directly involved with
her son.  Nodoka wanted to see them married, but realized that Akane's
and Ranma's relationship needed to change drastically.  Akane at times
was far too unladylike, and the two of them did not get along at all
when she showed that side of her personality.
  It would have helped had Soun been along as well, but he was
probably still crying back at the dojo.  Genma had no excuse, except
for the fact that he didn't want to face either her or his son.
Nodoka decided that it could not be too hard to convince her that she
was a he, what with the curse and all.  A simple bath in hot water
would remove any doubts that her son had about his real gender.
  Nodoka stepped into the hospital, Akane and Kasumi coming up behind
her.  She headed up to the front desk.  "Excuse me?"
  "Hello and good morning.  How many I help you?"
  "I am here to see my daughter, Saotome Ranma."
  The woman at the desk nodded.  "Hai.  I'll page Kato-sensei.  Please
wait."
  Nodoka nodded.  "Than you."
  A minute later, she heard the call though the hospital's paging
system.  "Kato-sensei, please come to the front desk.  Kato-sensei,
please come to the front desk."
  About five minutes later, Kato arrived at the reception desk.  He
saw Saotome Nodoka standing at the desk.  "Saotome Nodoka?" he asked.
  "Hai.  How did you know?  How is my daughter?"
  Kato smiled.  "Kato Akira.  She looks just like you, and she is
doing just fine, all things considered."
  "Meaning?"
  "Meaning that she is in high spirits despite not remembering
anything at all.  Most patients are usually upset on learning that
they have amnesia."
  "That is a good thing.  Can we go see her?"
  He nodded.  "Follow me."  He looked back at Akane and Kasumi.  "Are
they friends of hers?"
  Nodoka paused.  "Hai."
  Kasumi smiled, and Akane giggled happily.  Kato glanced at Akane,
but said nothing.  "Let's get going."
  Nodoka paused for a second.  "There have been no problems?"
  "None at all."
  Nodoka frowned.  The hospital should have found out about the curse
by now.  Something was going on that she didn't know about, and it
made her uneasy.

  Nodoka, Kasumi and Akane followed Doctor Kato up to Ranma's room on
the fifth floor.  Kato paused before entering.  "I want to talk to her
a few minutes before you enter.  Please remember that the odds on
her remembering anything from before her accident are very very slim.
You need to make the effort to treat her for what she is now, not what
she was.  Otherwise, things will get out of hand very quickly."
  Nodoka grimaced.  This was definitely not a good
thing. "Kato-sensei," she asked, "were there any problems with giving
her a bath?"
  Kato paused.  Now that was an odd question to be asked.  "None at
all.  The nurses had no trouble with her.  Why do you ask?"
  Nodoka shook her head.  "Please, never mind."
  Kato entered the door, as a nurse walked up to the trio.  She smiled
as she looked at Nodoka.  "Kikuchi Ami.  I am going to be Ranma's
therapist for the next few months."
  Nodoka smiled.  "Saotome Nodoka.  Is there anything I can do for my
daughter?"
  Ami smiled.  "People always ask that question.  Right now, there is
one and only one thing which you are to do.  Ranma-chan needs a
mother, plain and simple.  When she woke up, she had forgotten
everything about being a woman.  That made things difficult."
  A sweatdrop fell down the back of Nodoka's head.  "Err, how so?"
  "She's in the middle of her period right now."
  Nodoka nodded while trying to repress a shudder.  Kasumi simply
smiled, while Akane looked quite angry at the news.  Nodoka was too
occupied with Ami to notice Akane's reaction.

  Ranma looked up as Kato entered the room.  "Ranma-chan," he said.
"Your mother is here, along with a few of your friends."
  "Okay, I am ready.  Please send them in."
  Kato nodded, and opened the door.  Nodoka stepped into the room.
Ranma did not remember her mother, but the woman in front of her
looked so much like her that there was no question.  She smiled.
"Okaasan."
  Nodoka nodded, and walked over to Ranma.  Ranma hugged her mother
tightly, and Nodoka was overcome with grief for a moment.. but she
couldn't get over feeling the bra that her "daughter" was now wearing.
  Kasumi was the next one through the door.  Ranma looked at Kasumi,
who was smiling at her.  Ranma immediately thought of how nice she
was, and wondered how she knew that.  True, the woman practically
radiated it, but somehow Ranma felt that she could trust her.
Finally, Akane entered the room.  The hair on the back of Ranma's neck
immediately jumped straight up, and Ranma had to repress a feeling of
fear when seeing her.  The strange smile on Akane's face only made her
more wary.  There was something about the girl that she simply did not
like.

....

  Yohko entered the room of her cousin after returning from the
bathroom.  She smiled as she walked in.  "So Mina, she began, what is
this about Nerima that I've been hearing?"
  "What do you mean?"
  Yohko grinned.  "All these martial artists running around.. there
has to be a reason for them, right?"
  Mina sighed.  Yohko's obsession with studying other martial arts
could go too far sometimes.  "Half of them want to bed some guy called
Saotome Ranma.  The other half want to kill him."
  "Wow, that is pretty silly."
  "It's even sillier than you could think.  He's got some kind of
curse on him, which he picked up in China."
  "Curse?"
  "Hai.  He turns into a woman when he gets wet."
  "Cool!  Err, I mean how strange."
  Mina laughed.  "Damn you Yohko.  If you aren't obsessed with martial
arts, you're obsessed with the weird and supernatural."
  She grinned.  "Of course."  She paused for a second.  "He turns into
a girl?"
  Mina nodded.  "Hai.  Kuno Tatewaki and his sister Kodachi are
obsessed with both halves.  They both want to marry one and kill the
other."
  "Now this sounds so funky!"  She lowered her voice.  "How do the
other girls feel about his changing?"
  Mina sighed.  "They won't call him a pervert to his face, but they
certainly believe that.  'One' of his 'fiancees' calls him a pervert
all the time."
  Yohko blinked.  Did she hear what she thought she heard?  "One of his
fiancees?  WHAT?"
  Mina nodded.  "His father is a pathetic excuse for a human being who
engaged him multiple times.  Ranma himself seems to dislike all of
them."
  "They're not bothered by his 'curse'?"
  Mina shrugged.  "I don't know, to be truthful."
  Yohko paused for second, thinking.  "What is he like to have all
these people after him?"
  Mina grinned.  "The guy is an obsessive jerk, rude, insensitive,
without tact or manners.  He's definitely not a letch, but he is a
wimp when it comes to women.  Some of those women have been rumored to
have jumped him naked in the tub."
  Yohko laughed.  "I should have came here a long time ago!  So you'd
change in the same room with 'her'?"
  Mina turned red.  "That won't happen."
  "You haven't answered my question."
  "I'm not going to."
  "Hmph.  You're no fun."
  "You pry too much sometimes."
  Yohko shrugged.  "I like gossip."  Her voice dropped.  "Not that I'd
tell anyone what you said to me."
  "Hai, you are honest about keeping secrets."
  Yohko beamed.  Dropping to a whisper, she started, "Now let me tell
you about.."

  Soon after, the sound of laughter is heard as it echoed down the
hallway.

....

  Kato called Nodoka over to him after she had a few minutes of
conversation with Ranma.  "You see?  She's happier than one would
expect given the situation."
  Nodoka nodded, still rattled a bit.  "I find that interesting."
Nodoka knew quite well how Ranma acted when he pretended to be Akane's
cousin Ranko..  but even as 'Ranko' Ranma still showed most of his
manly qualities.  This girl absolutely lacked any of them.
  Kato walked out into the hallway just outside the door, and Nodoka
followed him lost in thought and forgot about Akane..

  Akane smiled at Ranma.  "Hello!  My name is Tendo Akane!"
  "My name is Tendo Kasumi, Ranma."
  Akane glared at Kasumi for a second, and then returned her attention
to Ranma, smiling again.  Ranma smiled rather fearfully.  "Hello."
  Akane brought her bag in front of her, and dug through it.  "I
brought you breakfast," she said, opening up the bento box.
  Ranma frowned.  "That's ok," she replied.  "I am not that hungry.
Besides which, it is almost lunch time anyway."
  "I made it especially for you!  I worked very hard on this."
  Ranma sighed.  "Very well, I'll try it."
  Akane smiled happily, "Close your eyes!"
  Ranma closed her eyes, but somehow she wasn't feeling to good about
the idea.  *Oh well,* she thought.  *It's only food.  How bad can it
be?*
  Akane happily stuck a spoon into the bento box, ignoring the fact
that the stuff started to dissolve the spoon on contact.  Kasumi just
stood by the side of the bed, saying nothing.

  Akane stuck the spoon into Ranma's open mouth.  Ranma's eyes went
wide, and she gagged immediately on whatever Akane had placed into her
mouth.  Ranma immediately started to cough and throw up, and Akane
reacted the only way she knew how.  "RANMA NO BAKA!" she screamed as
she prepared to bash Ranma's head in.
  Kato heard the scream, and jumped into the doorway.  His patient was
heaving on the bed, and one of the two girls was about to smash her
head open with a mallet!  Kato quickly leapt forward trying to tackle
Akane, but Akane spun around and aimed the mallet at Kato.  Kato knew
right then and there that there was a very good chance that the girl
in front of him would kill him.  "Akane!"  Nodoka stated rather
forcefully.  "Stop it right now!"
  Akane froze in mid strike.  She was barely able to mutter an apology
before collapsing in tears.  Kato shook his head as he saw her
collapse, while Kasumi simply smiled happily like she always did.

  A sharp knock came from the doorway.  Nodoka turned around to see a
Police officer standing in the doorway.  "Exuse me," he began, unsure
how to continue.  "Is something wrong?"
  Kasumi responded first.  "Gomen," she stated.  "Everything is fine
now.  Thank you for the help."
  The cop blinked twice, looking around the room.  The doctor was
sprawled out on the floor, the girl on the bed dry heaving, while the
girl sitting in front of him was crying with a huge mallet on the
ground to her left, and a spilled bento box with a pasty white
substance oozing out of it on her right.  The cop sighed and lowered his
weapon, shaking his head.  "Whatever," he said as he walked out of
the room.

....

  Yohko was deep in conversation with her cousin Mina, when she heard
the screams down the hallway.  Mina gasped, but Yohko bolted out the
room and looked around the hallway.  She saw the police officer
standing by the door down the hall, and wondered what was going on.
She paused, and walked back into her cousin's room after a minute of
hesitation, not wanting to get in trouble with the police.
  Mina looked up as Yohko reentered the room.  "What happened?" she
asked.
  Yohko pouted.  "I have no clue whatsoever.  There is a police officer
just down the hall talking to some people."  She paused.  "This is a
strange town."
  Mina grinned.  "It's Nerima!"
  Yohko laughed.  "I should move here."
  Mina chuckled.  "You'd be lost in the shuffle of martial artists who
run through the town regularly."
  Yohko shrugged.  "Fine by me, I'll just make myself known."
  Mina smiled.  "You're weird."
  Yohko grinned.  "Thanks!"

....

  Everyone had more or less settled down in Ranma's room.  Kato idly
wondered why he still lived in Nerima.  Sure, area hospitals and
building contractors were making quite a bit of money with excellent
benefits, but after watching the near lunacy unfold in front of him,
he felt that maybe he would be better off moving back to Kyoto.
  Nodoka was talking to the police officer in the hallway, while a
cleaning and decontamination crew came in to clear out the pasty white
substance lying all over the floor.  While Akane's mystery white stuff
was utterly unedible, the cleaning crew found out that it did wonders
for clearing hazardous agents out of the air.  Akane sat in the
corner, miffed that her culinary creation was being used for something
as insulting as a decontamination agent.  At least Nodoka was kind
enough not to tell the crew the origin of the mysterious substance.
Kasumi smiled at the contamination crew as they came in, then headed
down the hallway to talk to the officer's wife, who was nursing a
newborn daughter.
  Nodoka was quite relieved of the situation.  While Akane was at
first in danger of being arrested for assault and battery with an
illegal substance, Nodoka was able to bargain with the officer though
the people in the hospital, using Akane's creation as a bribe. Akane
would go free, and the hospital would get the rights to the stuff
Akane had created.  Nodoka also hastily explained that Akane was not
behaving normally due to the circumstances, and the doctors agreed
with her side of the story.
  Nabiki would have been proud of the deal Nodoka made. Most of the
researchers on the staff were quite excited to use this substance to
clean out contaminated hospital rooms.. it did wonders on airborne
viruses and such.
  Ami had taken Ranma out of the room, wanting to talk to the girl in
private.  Nodoka was happy that Ranma had already bonded to the
therapist, but was worried as well about what kind of ideas she was
placing into Ranma's head.  Nodoka would see her son returned to her,
one way or another.
  Nodoka unfortunately neglected to take Ranma's feelings about Akane
into account, or she would have noticed the look of hatred the red
head had for Akane as she walked out with Ami.  Akane got angry very
quickly, but did nothing with Nodoka and the officer right outside the
door.  Akane was visibly upset at what her fiancee had become.
  Kato walked up to Nodoka, musing.  "You know," he started, "I had
wondered why Ono Tofuu had requested this room after looking at the
registry."
  Nodoka paused.  "Tofuu-sensei?"
  "The doctor who originally brought Ranma in."
  "He had Ranma placed here?"
  "Hai.  Apparently he knew about the wife of the police officer who
is in the room next door."
  "I'll have to thank him for his resourcefulness."

  Kasumi returned just then, a smile on her face.  Nodoka looked up at
Kasumi.  "What is it, Kasumi?"
  "Ranma-chan is back," she replied.
  Nodoka did not like the use of that honorific at all.  Akane
likewise looked upset at the name.  Ranma absolutely hated being
called that by anyone, and Happosai easily invoked Ranma's wrath time
and time again for calling him that.. as well as his rather physical
handling of her son.  She had hoped that his two former students would
stand up to him, but neither Genma or Soun apparently had the courage.
Ranma was the only one who defied him regularly.
  Ami and Ranma stepped into the room.  Nodoka and Akane both
face faulted at the sight, their fingers in the "warding of demons"
position.  Kasumi simply continued to smile, and Kato wondered what
on Earth was going on, but knew better than to ask considering the
possible sanity of the people in the room.

  Ranma looked very unlike the old Ranma.  She stood quietly at the
door, dressed in a brown fuku with a white blouse and a black
tie underneath.  She wore black tights on her legs and simple black
loafers on her feet, and for a short time had looked happy in her new
outfit.
  Ranma inwardly smiled at Akane's reaction.  She had a healthy
dislike for the short haired girl right now, and seriously hoped that
she would not have to deal with her for very long.  Kami forbid if she
had to share a room with her!  Ranma was very disappointed at her
mother's reaction, though.  She had hoped that her mother would be
happy upon seeing her out of bed so quickly.
  Ami wondered why Nodoka and Akane reacted the way they did, and
suddenly became worried.  Something was not right here, she'd seen
this situation too many times in the past.  She bent down to Ranma and
whispered in the girl's ear, "Don't let them disappoint you." she
hissed.  "They may not be able to adjust to who you are."
  Ranma nodded quietly, a bit sad.  "I just want my mother to be
happy."
  "I understand, but please, watch out for yourself.  I've seen this
happen before, with disastrous consequences."
  "Hai."  Ranma's mood dropped considerably.

  Nodoka and Akane recovered, Akane first.  Akane looked at Ranma, a
very angry and hurt expression on her face, and Ranma glared right
back at her.  She was not about to let that girl get away with what
she had done.  Nodoka, on the other hand, had an expression of fear on
her face, and Ranma wondered what was going on.  "Okaasan?" she began.

  Nodoka could not believe what had happened.  This made things all
the more difficult, but she vowed inwardly to get her son back, no
matter the cost.  "Hai, Ranma...chan."
  Ami noticed the pause, and was really confused.  Something was
definitely amiss here.. she knew that Nodoka was eloquent in her
Japanese, and pauses like that were very unusual.  There was little
she could say about it now, though.  Ranma walked over to her mother.
"Is everything fine?"
  Nodoka nodded.  "Hai.  This.. isn't easy for me."
  Ranma hugged her mother.  "I'll try my best to help."
  Nodoka shivered, but regained her composure.  "Let's get going.
Your father is waiting."
  Ranma nodded, and the four of them left the room, heading home.

  Ami walked over to Kato, watching the four women leave.  "Something
is wrong here, I can feel it."
  Kato nodded.  "Something is always wrong.  There is always some kind
of skeleton waiting to rear it's ugly head.  We simply have to try our
best to get them through it."
  "I hope nothing bad happens to that girl."
  "I agree."  Kato left the room, leaving Ami behind to ponder the
events that she had witnessed.

- Chapter 3 -

  A strange quiet characterized the morning at Furikan high school.
Neither Ranma nor Akane had appeared for class, and no one knew
anything about what happened to them.  Hinako simply stated that the
two were delinquents who had obviously skipped school and little else.
Most of the class was rather grateful that the two had not appeared
today.  It was fun to watch the fiasco which revolved around the two
of them for a while.  When it continued on day after day with no end
in sight, some of the students in the class started to wish that they
would disappear for a while, especially with exams edging closer and
closer.  At this time of year, the two were a distraction more than
anything else.

....

  Kuno Tatewaki sat at his desk, disappointed with the mornings turn
of events.  He had nearly managed to succumb to one of his sister's
simpler attempts at poisoning him.  What had caused him to have such a
mental lapse he did not know.  Kuno then waited at the school gates,
waiting for the wild and beauteous Tendo Akane and the fair and lovely
pig-tailed one.  He had hoped that today would finally be the day when
they declared their love for him.
  Alas, neither of the two had shown up.  The foul sorcerer Saotome
Ranma was also absent, and Kuno wondered if his pig-tailed one was in
danger due to the cur's absence.  Kuno sat in class, pondering what to
do.  As the minutes ticked on, he finally arrived at a solution: As
much as it wounded him, he would consult with one Tendo Nabiki -
sister to one of the women he loved.  Perhaps she would know where his
two loves were this morning, though it fouled him to be forced to deal
with her to gain the information he so desperately needed.

....

  Kuonji Ukyou sat quietly in class, wondering what was going on with
Ranma and Akane.  It was unlike Akane to skip class, especially with
exams approaching.  Even Ranma would show up every day, even if he did
manage to spend quite a bit of time sleeping in class.  Ukyou ran
through her mind the possible reasons why the two would miss school.
  Could Genma and Soun have tried to rig up another impromptu wedding
for Ranma and Akane?  She became concerned at the thought, but
remembered that Nodoka had promised to settle all the problems with
Ranma's "fiancees," and to delay any weddings until then.
  Saotome Nodoka, unlike the pathetic excuse for a human that Genma
was, kept her word and actually could be trusted.  Ukyou actually
found it amazing that someone in that family could be so honorable.
Ranma was honorable, but he twisted his honor very badly at times.
While Ukyou was leaning away from Ranma, it was a slow difficult
process.. and Ukyou occasionally had thoughts about what life with
Ranma would be like. She was especially curious as to how Nodoka
planned to solve the promises that Genma had so irresponsibly made.
  So a marriage was not likely to happen any time soon.  Then what
could it be?  Could Ranma have gotten into another fight with someone?
The few times Ranma actually avoided school, it was strangely enough
never by his choice. Someone usually interrupted, and Akane always got
herself involved. Ukyou smiled as she remembered how Akane would
manage to get herself kidnapped quite frequently, but then she frowned
as she realized how Ranma went after her every single time.  She
sighed.
  Somehow, Akane managed to get herself involved with Ranma all of the
time. Regardless of what happened, Akane was right there in the middle
of it.  Ukyou sighed, and tried to pay attention to what Hinako-sensei
was saying.  Paying attention to Hinako-sensei proved to be difficult.
How does one listen to a six year old teacher?

....

  The four women left the hospital, slowly walking down the
street. The sun neared its apex point, the spring day quite
warm. Saotome Nodoka lead the group, with Tendo Akane at her side. The
two were involved in a conversation, trading words back and forth
quietly.  Tendo Kasumi followed quietly behind them, giving no signs
as to whether or not she actively listened to the conversation.
Neither Nodoka nor Akane were concerned about this, as this behavior
was quite normal for Kasumi.
  Behind the three women, following about five feet away, was Saotome
Ranma.  She walked rather slowly, dragging the group along.  Her
excuse to Nodoka was that she wanted to see where they were walking
through, but in reality she worried about the conversation that they
deliberately excluded her from.  She found the group's treatment of
her rather strange.  They were acting very reserved since leaving the
hospital, saying little to her, and Ranma did not like that in the
least.  The situation troubled her.
  Eventually, the group arrived at the train station.  Nodoka and
Akane walked up to the ticket window, while Ranma remained standing a
short distance away, pretending to study the map of the train system.
Kasumi walked over to Ranma.  "Do you want to know where we'll be
getting off, Ranma-chan?"
  Ranma nodded quietly, happy that someone had finally broken the
silence with her.  She just wished that Kasumi showed any semblance of
intelligence.  Her pretending that things going on did not exist was
very disconcerting.  If the incident in the hospital room was any
indication, things definitely were not all fine now.  She looked up at
Kasumi, who continued to smile obliviously.  "Hai," she replied.
  Kasumi promptly decided to describe Nerima in detail, pointing out
all the various sections: The food districts, the neighborhoods, the
location of where the carnival set up whenever it was around.  She
hoped that Ranma remembered something, but the girl just nodded at
whatever she said, apparently not making any connections.
  Nodoka frowned as she watched Kasumi try to stir Ranma's memories.
Perhaps the doctor's statement that she may never remember anything
rang true.  Still, they had to try something.  Her family's honor was
at stake, not to mention the embarrassment that Ranma and Akane faced
when people found out what happened to her.
  Tendo Akane was another problem in and of herself.  Nodoka didn't
quite know how to handle the situation with the girl.  Perhaps if she
got Ranma to admit his true gender she could fix two problems at once.
  The tickets were purchased, and the group boarded the train.  Ranma
found a group of seats facing each other next to a window, and
promptly sat down.  Kasumi sat down next to her, continuing her
lessons on Nerima.  Nodoka and Akane both walked to the seats, and
quietly sat down, watching Ranma.  Ranma continued to nod at Kasumi
while turning to look out the window. Occasionally, she would glance
at her mother, but turn quickly back to the window.  Nodoka did not
have a happy expression on her face at all, a look mirrored by Akane.
Nodoka saw how unhappy Ranma felt, but resolved to set everything
straight once they got home.
  The train pulled slowly out of the station a few minutes later,
accelerating quickly.  About five minutes later, all that could be
seen outside the window was a blur, as the train shot down the tracks.
Ranma sighed and leaned back in her seat, eyes closed.  Nodoka chose
the moment to stand up.  "I'm going to the rest room," she stated,
and started to walk down the train car.
  Akane immediately jumped up and followed her.  "Hold on, I need to
go as well."
  Ranma did not react at all to the pair's leaving.. until they had
walked out of the passenger car.  She immediately sat up, looking at
Kasumi.  Kasumi nodded.  "Yes, Ranma-chan?"
  Ranma paused for a fraction of a second.  The direct approach worked
the best.  She really had little choice in the matter.  "What is going
on here?"
  "What do you mean?"
  Ranma snorted.  "Don't play stupid.  Something is very strange
around here.  I feel like I am not wanted."
  "That is not true, Ranma-chan."
  "My mother isn't exactly happy to see me."
  "Ranma-chan!  Your mother loves you very much."
  Ranma felt exasperated.  "So what is it then?"
  "Don't worry, everything will be fine.  Why don't I tell you
about.."
  Ranma sighed, and leaned back into her seat.  She closed her eyes,
trying to shut out Kasumi's voice.  No answers were going to be had
from Kasumi, that was for certain.  She noted with some concern that
Kasumi had not mentioned the rest of her family or any of her friends
to her at all.  She placed too much of an emphasis on locations rather
than people.

  Nodoka and Akane continued to walk through the train, reaching the
car with the bathrooms, but they walked right past them.  Nodoka
finally halted two cars away from Kasumi and her "daughter".  Akane
walked up behind her.  "Nodoka-san," she started, "what can we do?"
  Nodoka shook her head.  "I don't know.  She should have warmed up to
Kasumi by now.  Instead, she seems to be taking a dislike to her."
  Akane frowned.  "That _is_ unusual.  No one ever has a reason not to
like Kasumi."
  Nodoka nodded.  "She stopped paying attention to anything Kasumi
says.. nothing is causing any kind of recognition."
  Akane sighed.  "If she doesn't recognize the area we're in, then
what can we do?"
  Nodoka smiled.  "We'll just have to wait until we get home to
explain anything."
  Akane paused.  "There isn't a chance that she would believe anything
we say?"
  Nodoka grinned evilly.  "Nothing a little hot water couldn't fix."
  "Hai!  We have to wait until we get home, though.  Trying it here
would cause a scene."
  Nodoka nodded.  "All the more reason to say as little as possible
now.  We need proof for our story to work."
  The two women then started to plan on how to "reacquaint" Ranma with
her surroundings and family.

  Ranma sneezed.  Kasumi looked at Ranma.  "Feeling ill, Ranma-chan?"
  Ranma shook her head.  "Something in the air, I think."

  Akane and Nodoka returned a short time later to the seats.  Ranma
had fallen asleep, and Kasumi sat quietly, watching the blurry images
outside the train's window.  She looked up and smiled when Nodoka and
Akane sat back down.  "Enjoy your trip?"
  Akane nodded.  "Very much so.  Train travel makes me queasy sometimes."
  Ranma said nothing.

....

  Ukyou looked up from her studies, around the classroom.
Hinako-sensei was continuing to lecture on, happy for once that there
were no disturbances this day.  Most of the students were actually
paying attention.  The classroom looked so much like a regular
classroom that it was scary.  She looked up at the clock.  Lunch time
was edging closer and closer, but nowhere near fast enough for her
tastes.  Ukyou could not shake the feeling that something was wrong.
  Finally, the lunch bell rang, signaling the end of the morning
class.  Ukyou slowly got out of her seat, trying to figure out if
there was anything she could do.  She walked out into the hallway,
about to head for her yatai, which Konatsu set up for her during lunch
time when she saw Tendo Nabiki down the hallway.  Ukyou paused.
Nabiki always knew what was going on.  There was rarely a time when
she did not.. but Ukyou did not want to pay Nabiki to find out what
the girl knew.  It simply was not worth the humiliation and money to
deal with Tendo Nabiki.  Ukyou continued to walk towards the outside
grounds, when another voice caused her to freeze.
  "Tendo Nabiki-san!"
  Ukyou whirled around, and started to walk rapidly back down the
hallway.  She _knew_ that voice, knew the person who was behind it.
She watched as Nabiki turned towards the person who spoke.
  "Hai, Kuno-chan?"
  "I must speak with thee, Tendo Nabiki-san."
  "Very well, Kuno-chan.  Today is a special price."
  Kuno grumbled, and nodded.  "Very well, Tendo-san.  Anything to
learn the location of my beauteous Tendo Akane."
  "Follow me, Kuno-chan."

  Ukyou wanted to chase after them right then and there, but knew if
Nabiki saw her, there was no chance the girl would tell Kuno anything.
She ducked into a classroom, trying to figure out what to do.  She
fumed, not knowing at all how to get the information without Nabiki
realizing..  Then it hit her!  "Konatsu!" she breathed, startling the
students around her.  Ukyou paid them no attention.  For once the
damned shinobi would be worth something.. _he_ knew how to get around
without being seen, and he could be trusted to relay the information
to her.  Ukyou opened the window and jumped out, landing quickly.  She
broke into a dead run towards her yatai, grinning evilly.  Nabiki
would not get away with robbery _this_ time.

....

  Tendo Nabiki walked along the hallway, calmly and collectively.
Kuno Tatewaki, the human idiot and infinite money pool strode along
beside her.  She pointedly ignored whatever he was saying for the time
being, focused instead on how much money she could make off of the
information she knew.  If it weren't for Kuno's money, Nabiki would
have never had anything to do with him.
  Nabiki walked off the school grounds, Kuno following like an
obedient servant.  Nabiki inwardly wished Kuno was just a tad smarter.
Perhaps then he would actually be interesting to do business with.
Nabiki wasn't too disappointed at Kuno's lack of intelligence.. free
money was very hard to come by these days.
  After walking two blocks, heading towards her favorite ice cream
shop, Kuno finally lost his patience.  "Nabiki-san," he intoned, "tell
me what thou know about Tendo Akane and the pig-tailed one."
  Nabiki smiled to herself as Kuno spoke up.  Two blocks was a record
for his silence.  "In due time, Kuno-chan.  I am a bit hungry right
now."
  Kuno sighed.  He had played this game many times with Tendo Nabiki.
"Very well, Tendo-san.  After you eat, I will have my answers."

  The two entered the store, and Nabiki proceeded to order the most
expensive ice cream in the place.  She was kind of disappointed that
she had only an hour for lunch.. otherwise she could have easily
gotten more money off of Kuno.

  Kuno watched Nabiki eat, and waited quietly until she was finished.
To interrupt her in the middle of a meal courted disaster in trying to
learn the information one needed.  Finally, she finished her meal.
Kuno nodded, and wasted no time in beginning.  "What does thou know,
Nabiki-san?"
  Nabiki smiled, quite full.  "Now, Kuno-chan," she began, "this
information is worth quite a bit of money.  I should charge you for
just being able to discuss this with me."
  Kuno sighed.  "Dispense with the formalities, Nabiki-san.  Tell me
what I wish to know."
  Nabiki raised an eyebrow.  Kuno was being much more forward than
usual today, not that it would make any real difference in the end.  "If
you so insist, Kuno-chan.  It will cost you 20,000 yen to hear what I
have to say."
  Kuno jumped up.  "That is most unfair, Nabiki-san.  To charge such
for mere words.. you wound me."
  Nabiki laughed.  "You have no choice in this matter, Kuno-chan."
  Kuno sat down, ego deflated.  "Hai," he replied.  "Tis true.  Very
well woman, 20,000 yen it is."  Kuno opened up his wallet, and handed
the money over to Nabiki.
  Nabiki smiled.  She _knew_ Kuno would enjoy the news, and as a
result, she could raise the price of anything she sold to him.  "Ranma
is in the hospital."
  Kuno smiled.  "Good news, true, but how is this different from other
such times in the past?"
  Nabiki paused.  Kuno was thinking today.. perhaps the only time he
had ever actually done so.  "Akane was the one who put him there."

  Kuno could not believe what he had just heard.  Tendo Akane had
finally rebelled against the foul sorcerer Saotome and was now free to
declare her love for him!  He leapt straight up, onto the table.  "Tis
joyous news!" he screamed.  "Nabiki-san, I am forever in your debt."
Kuno looked around.  Tendo Nabiki was nowhere in sight, and the rest
of the patrons were looking at him strangely.  Kuno did not care,
though.  He had heard some of the best news in a long long time.

....

  Ukyou stood at her yatai for the entire lunch period, serving
customers.  While she appeared to be rather happy and outgoing as
usual, anyone who looked closely could see the irritation and
frustration on her face.  Konatsu had dropped off the yatai, true, but
he himself was nowhere to be found.  Ukyou did find a note from him,
and it read:

"Gomen, Ukyou-sama.  Business was so high today at your restaurant
that I could not afford to close it to personally come to Furikan.  I
had your Yatai delivered while I handled the business here.  I regret
not being there in person, but the profits we make today will more
than make up for it.
                  Konatsu."

  *Profits indeed,* thought Ukyou to herself sadly.  *There are times
when money does not matter, but he could not have seen this coming.*
She sighed.  *Hopefully I am over reacting to this entire thing.* At
least Konatsu could be trusted to properly run Ucchan's.  His first
efforts had been a total disaster.

....

  The train continued along for another hour or so.  Nodoka and Akane
sat quietly in their seats, watching Ranma sleep.  Akane particularly
felt turmoil whenever she laid her eyes on the woman that was once her
very male fiancee.  She hoped that somehow it would be possible to get
the old Ranma back.  Perhaps if she treated him the same as she used
to, he might get his memory back and everything would be back to
normal.. or at least what passed for normal in Nerima anyway.
  Finally, the train pulled into the local station.  Ranma woke up as
the train was coming to a halt, and peered out the window.  She had
absolutely no clue where she was.  "Recognize anything?" asked Kasumi.
  Ranma shook her head.  "Nothing at all."
  Nodoka stood up.  "Time for us to go home."

  Akane and Kasumi stood up quickly, and Ranma slowly got to her feet.
She had this funny feeling that something was up, and wanted to delay
the inevitable as long as possible.  She followed her mother and the
two sisters out of the train station and through the neighborhood.
Nodoka and Akane suddenly took up a quick pace, and Ranma was forced
to hurry or she would be left behind.
  They continued to walk through Nerima for a time, with Nodoka
twisting and turning through streets.  Kasumi cheerfully pointed out
the buildings as they passed them, and she even pointed at a large
building which she called "Furikan High School," and stated that Ranma
was a student there.  Ranma was curious about the school, but was
forced to keep up with her mother and the others so she could not
afford to stop even for a few minutes.  She caught up to her mother
quite easily, and stopped in front of her.  "Okaasan," she began.
"Can we please slow down?"
  Nodoka simply stepped around her daughter and kept going.  "No, not
until we get home."
  Ranma sighed.  "Why?  I want to look around where I used to live."
  Nodoka shook her head.  "I'll explain once we get home."
  Ranma frowned, and realized that she had no choice in the matter.
Her mother wasn't going to tell her anything until she was ready to.
Ranma wondered what all the fuss was about.

  Ten minutes later, they reached the Tendo residence.  Nodoka opened
the door, and quickly stepped inside.  Kasumi followed, and Ranma was
third, pushed inside by Akane.  She was not happy at all with the
treatment she was getting from the short haired girl called Akane.
After everyone was inside and the door closed, Nodoka finally breathed
a sigh of relief.  Ranma took a quick glance around the house.  A
flight of stairs, leading to the second floor.  An open doorway into a
kitchen, a short hallway leading to the bath, and a closed door,
leading to another room.  Kasumi walked into the kitchen while Ranma
continued to examine the house around her.  A few minutes later,
Kasumi returned from the kitchen.  She smiled.  "I'm preparing some
tea for us."
  Nodoka and Akane both smiled openly at Kasumi, who walked back into
the kitchen.  Ranma scratched her head, and returned to surveying the
house.  A foyer with a sliding screen which lead to the backyard.  A
path in the backyard led to an adjacent building, around a koi pond.
Ranma stared at the koi pond for a good two minutes.  She couldn't for
the life of her figure out why the damn pond was so important to her,
but couldn't help but keep looking at it.
  Her eyes finally shifted, to see an older man with long black hair
sitting with his back to the house, gazing into the backyard.  Nodoka
spoke up.  "Tendo-san, Ranma has returned from the hospital."
  Ranma knew from Nodoka's naming that this man was not her father.
She was curious why Nodoka left off the honorific, as her mother was
understood by her to follow a strict form of Japanese.  Kasumi spoke
up next.  "Come meet Ranma-chan, otousan," she said.
  The man stood up, spun around, and glomped Ranma, tears flowing from
his eyes.  "Oh, Ranma-kun," he began, "I am so happy to see you back
from the hospital."
  Ranma grimaced as she heard him address her.  "Ano," she replied
quietly, "I don't like being called that.  It is not polite."
  Soun's face turned from happiness to shock as he heard the voice.
He pulled back to look at Ranma, and started at the girl for a full
ten seconds.  She looked at him quizzically.  Soun's eyes proceeded to
roll up into the back of his head, he collapsed onto the floor, stiff
as a board.  Kasumi simply smiled.  "Otousan always over reacts."
  Akane ran over to her father, grabbed a pillow and placing it under
his head.  "Hai," she began.  "He has been very emotional since our
mother died."
  Ranma simply stared at the man in front of her.  She was almost
ready to scream in frustration because she had absolutely no clue what
was going on.  She spun, turning to face her mother.
  Ranma was about to open her mouth, when the front door opened,
revealing a panda.  A panda walking on its hind legs.  A panda
carrying what appeared to be a backpack.  A panda waving a sign with
the words [Good afternoon!] written on it in perfect Japanese.  Well,
near perfect anyway.  Ranma took a step back away from the panda as he
stepped through the door and into the living room.  She just stared at
the panda who didn't act anything like a panda.  The panda stared back
at Ranma, and flipped the sign over.  It read, [Ranma-kun?  Is that
you?]
  Nodoka grinned at Ranma's reaction.  _Now_ it was time to begin.
She waved to Akane, who walked off into the kitchen, only to return
with the tea kettle.  Ranma looked at the tea kettle, and shook her
head.  "Thank you, but I am not thirsty."
  Nodoka simply laughed while taking the tea kettle from Akane.  She
walked over to the panda, and poured the contents on to him.  Ranma
watched in amazement as the panda transformed into a pudgy older man
with no hair on his head wearing wire frame glasses.  He was dressed in
a old and well worn white gi.  He began to cry immediately.  "Ranma!"
he began.  "My son!  What has happened to you?"
  Ranma looked shocked at the old man, while Nodoka walked over to
her.  "This man," she began, "is your father, Saotome Genma."  She
lifted the kettle over Ranma's head, who was too surprised to move.
"And you," she continued, "are Saotome Ranma, heir to the Anything
Goes martial art school and my son."  With that statement, Nodoka
dumped the kettle onto Ranma.
  Akane smiled as she watched Nodoka pour the water onto Ranma.  Now
she would have her fiancee back, and everything would be back to
normal.  Akane watched as the water cascaded over Ranma, expecting to
see the transformation.. and her jaw dropped in shock, and she fell
over.  Nodoka leapt back into the wall, an expression of fright on her
face.  Kasumi simply said, "Oh my."  Genma flat out fainted, joining
his old friend on the floor unconscious.

  Standing in the center of the room, Ranma looked around the room,
utterly and totally confused.  Turning towards Nodoka, Ranma asked,
"Ano, why did you do that?  You could have ruined my clothes."
  Ranma was wet, yes.  Ranma was still a woman.  She glanced down at
her clothing, upset that her mother would do something like that.
Nodoka recovered quickly.  "Ranma-kun," she asked, "what is going on?"
  Ranma looked at her mother.  "Okaasan, I think you owe me an
explanation.  What is going on here?"
  Nodoka sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat.  She slowly walked
up the stairs, and motioned to Ranma.  "Follow me."
  Ranma nodded, and followed her mother.

  Nodoka stopped in front of a door, and opened it, revealing a room
with two futons against the wall.  A few pictures and odds and ends
lay on the dresser at the end of the room.  She motioned to Ranma
while picking up one of the pictures.  Nodoka sat down, tossing the
picture to Ranma, who caught it.  She glanced down at the picture, at
the young man smiling at the camera.  She looked back up at her
mother.  "Who is this?"
  Nodoka smiled sadly.  "That is _you_, Ranma-kun."
  Ranma shook her head.  "That's silly.  I am a woman, this is a man."
  "You were born male."
  "Impossible.  I've looked in the mirror."
  Nodoka sighed.  "Your father took you on a long training trip when
you were five years old."  She closed her eyes.  "During that time,
you went over to China, to a cursed training grounds."
  "And?"
  "Both of you fell into the pools.  Your father fell into the spring
of drowned panda, while you, my _son_, fell into the spring of drowned
girl."
  "That can't be true."
  "Your father turns into a panda, ne?"
  "How does he manage to do that?"
  "Cold water curses you, hot water returns you back to normal."
  Ranma laughed.  "I've taken how many hot baths this morning?"  Her
voice lowered.  "Ami was there with me, to make sure nothing happened.
She'll agree with me."
  "Ranma-kun, you are not listening to your mother."
  Ranma grimaced.  "Look," she started.  "I've tried to be nice,
really.  This is starting to get a little out of hand."
  "Ranma-kun, listen to me."
  Ranma stood up, and walked out the door.  Nodoka followed her.
Ranma walked out into the hallway, and down the stairs.  She stopped
in the living room, her gaze fixed on the koi pond in the backyard.
Nodoka was angry now, and she walked over to the door, and picked up
the package she always carried with her.  Ranma did not say a word.
Nodoka moved over to her.  "Ranma-kun."
  Ranma continued to say nothing.  Akane walked over to the redhead.
"Ranma, pay attention to your mother."
  Ranma turned away from Akane, her gaze still fixed on the koi pond.
She closed her eyes.  "Why should I listen to you of all people?"
  Nodoka was furious.  All her plans were in jeopardy.  "Ranma-kun, do
not talk to your fiancee that way!"
  Ranma's eyes opened.  Her voice was as cold as ice.  "Fiancee?  Bad
enough that I have another woman as a fiancee," she turned to her
mother. "But you had to engage me to a homicidal maniac?"
  Akane's temper exploded.  "RANMA NO BAKA!"

  Kasumi whistled as she prepared dinner in the kitchen.  Akane's
voice echoed through the house, loud and clear.  A solid hit
immediately followed, with a splash soon after.  Kasumi smiled to
herself.  Things were returning to normal.  She stepped out of the
kitchen, carrying some fruit, intent on explaining the night's dinner.
Kasumi looked up, and immediately gasped, tossing the fruit
everywhere.  Nodoka was dumbfounded, her package slipping out of her
hands to come crashing down on the floor.  Akane's mallet lay on one
side of the living room.  Akane was floundering around in the koi pond.
  Ranma stood quietly, looking at Akane, tears in her eyes.  She spun
towards the door and walked to it. She slowly put her shoes on while
speaking.  "All I wanted.." she stopped, choking on her tears.  "All I
wanted was to come home to some place safe where I could learn about
who I was."  She wiped the tears out of her eyes.  "Instead I find
myself in a house filled with lunatics who either don't give a damn
about my feelings, or are too stupid to even care."  She paused, and
whispered, "Even my mother.."  With that, Ranma ran out the door and
down the street.

  Nodoka slumped to the ground, shocked at what had just happened.
Ranma had hit Akane.  Not only did Ranma strike her fiancee, she
absolutely decked the girl.  Akane was still in shock over the
incident.  Nodoka closed her eyes for a few minutes, then slowly stood
up, wondering how things could have gone so horribly wrong.  Nodoka
looked down at the package she always carried.  Slowly, carefully, she
picked it up, turning it over and over.  Pain evident on her face, she
unwrapped the package she carried for so long.  The wrapping fell to
the floor, the katana revealed.  Nodoka released the sword from its
sheath, staring at the blade hard for several minutes.
  Nodoka's face contorted.  Ranma never hit Akane.  No matter how many
times Akane attacked Ranma, no matter how many times Ranma was at the
mercy of Akane's violence, he never struck her back, never deserted
her.
  The person who left the Tendo dojo, who struck Akane, was not her
son.  Was her son gone?  Would she ever see him again?  Nodoka
realized that she had gone about the situation incorrectly.  Kikuchi
Ami's words sprung to her mind, finally sinking in.  *Ranma needs a
mother, plain and simple.* She realized that she should have tried to
help Ranma first, rather than push the responsibilities on his
shoulders all at once.  Now he was lost in Nerima, with nowhere to
turn to.  Nodoka could not understand why her son could not change
back.  It made no sense at all.. but she knew that she had to support
Ranma regardless of what happened.  Nodoka stood up, entering the
Tendo residence.

  Akane sat in the koi pond, the chill of the water sinking into her
bones.  Akane had not fallen into the pond in years.  She lost count
of the number of times Ranma ended up in this very spot, whether by
her hand or by his father's.  For the better part of a year, she had
tried to impress her fiancee, but everything she did turned to ruin.
She tried to cook for him, but he insulted her cooking.  She tried to
give him gifts, but they backfired on her.  Akane never understood why
Ranma bothered with her, considering how many other more attractive
girls were chasing him around.  Shampoo, whose body was like something
out of a pin up magazine, with a personality to match.  Ukyou, who was
far closer to and nicer to Ranma than she could ever hope to be.  Yet
he stuck to her more stubbornly than any of the others.
  Akane simply couldn't get angry at the girl who was her fiancee.
She had spent a good portion of her life angry after her mother died.
She resorted to beating things up to solve her problems.  It worked
with the boys at school, but it always failed once Ranma arrived.
  Anger came easy to her, and she inflicted it on Ranma far too often.
Oh, once he had tried to stop her.  She became so enraged that she
nearly killed him.  Ranma _knew_ how dangerous she was while wearing
the dogi which gave her super strength, yet he tried to stop her from
hurting anyone.  She became incensed when he tried to take away her
"right" to hit him.
  What had Akane's anger done for her?  It had kept her and her
fiancee apart.. yet despite all of Ranma's faults, she had loved him.
All she had to do was tell him that.  All she did instead was listen
to her anger, and he was finally killed as a result.
  The tears that came from Akane's eyes were very bitter.  Yes, he had
insulted her cooking, done it regularly.  Ranma didn't care about her
cooking.. he cared about her.  That's why he stuck by her side despite
all the odds trying to break them apart.  In the end, that was all
that mattered, what _Ranma_ had wanted.  She had been just as blinded
towards his feelings as all the other women chasing him.
  What was worse was that she had attacked an innocent girl.  Now
Ranma absolutely hated her, and it was all her fault.  The girl had
done nothing to her, nothing at all.  Akane stood up, and stepped out
of the koi pond.  She had made mistakes, but if she found Ranma..
maybe she could start to make up for her mistakes.

- Chapter 4 -

  Ranma bolted out the door of the Tendo residence, and ran blindly
through the streets of Nerima.  Five minutes later, she slowed down
and came to a stop, leaning against a wall.  She could not understand
how or why she wound up with such crazy people.  She was most
disappointed in her mother.  What kind of person shoved duties on to a
child with no care for that person's feelings?  Ranma sighed.  Being
upset over the current situation was doing her no good at all.  *I
have absolutely no clue about what is going on.* She paused, and
looked up.  *Maybe it was not such a good idea to run out after
all.. but she made me so upset, pushing stuff on me like that.*
  Ranma glanced around her, and suddenly became very confused.  She
didn't know where she was, and despite remembering most of the
buildings that they passed on the way to the Tendo residence, she did
not recognize anything.  Ranma believed that she ran in a straight
line from the house, but could not for the life of her see it down the
street that she was on.  Could she have really run that far in such a
short amount of time?  Her mind boggled at the idea, but she could
come up with no other explanation for what had just happened.
  Sighing, she picked a random direction, and started to walk slowly
down it, looking at the shops and such while trying to piece together
what she was told.  She was engaged to a girl called Tendo Akane, who
had fed her a very pathetic attempt at a meal as well as attacking
people when she got mad at them.  Well.. okay.  Attacking her anyway.
Or trying to attack her.  Tendo Akane never managed to hit her, but
Ranma hated the idea of getting hit in general.  Something to do with
not wanting to get injured.
  Could there be something else involved as well?  Ranma frowned.  She
realized that there was something about Akane which she probably did
not know.  After all, neither Kasumi nor her mother were surprised or
even concerned about the girl's bad attempt at cooking.  Neither were
they concerned about the girl's attack on her.  If they knew she was a
bad cook, then why didn't they try and stop her?
  Akane seemed to at least respect Nodoka, her supposed mother.  No,
Nodoka probably was her mother.  The resemblance between the two of
them was amazing.  Ranma realized that she knew very little about her
mother.. she was so upset that she ran out before learning anything
else.  Akane had a sister, one Tendo Kasumi who was utterly and
totally clueless to the world around her.  Akane also had an over
emotional father.  Her own father, Genma, somehow turned into a panda
when he got wet.  They had also claimed that she was in fact a male
turned into a female.  Ranma found this hard to believe, as she had
taken a hot bath before with no physical changes whatsoever.  She
liked to think that she would have noticed something as obvious as
that.  Ranma wondered what kind of person she could have been, to have
to put up with such people.  No sane person could have dealt with it
for more than a day without pulling her hair out in frustration.  What
she had seen was far too weird to be considered normal.
  Ranma paused in her thoughts.  What had she been told by her mother?
That her father turned into a panda, that she was engaged to Tendo
Akane, and that she was heir to some martial arts school.  She
frowned.  What she had been told was certainly not enough to get
herself worked up over, which was precisely what happened.  Ranma
sighed.  If only her mother did not treat her the way she did when
they had left the hospital.  That had frightened her and she could not
figure out why.  The very idea of her mother not being happy with her
had scared her out of her wits.
  Ranma passed a few intersections, hoping to find something which
looked familiar.  She was not having any luck today at all, and being
lost only added to her list of problems.  She sighed, feeling sorry
for what she had said to her mother earlier.  Ranma was in a bind.
She did not want to dishonor her family in any way, but she would have
hoped that any engagements made would have at least been sensible.  No
such luck there it seemed.  How could such an engagement have been
created in the first place?  It was rather bizarre, even by how
engagements in Japan went.  Ranma did not want to dishonor her family,
but there came a point when she would have to stand up for herself.
  How could she approach her mother on the subject?  She could tell by
how the woman dressed that she was firmly rooted in beliefs which had
steadily been dissipating in Japan over the years.  Nodoka seemed to
be well behind the times.
  Ranma frowned, and decided to push the thoughts out of her head.
She simply did not know enough about what was going on to make any
rational conclusions.  Thinking about the situation as it was simply
made her head spin, and she decided that she worried enough for one
day.
  She continued to walk around Nerima, figuring that at least she
could enjoy the sights of the city even if she had absolutely now idea
where she lived or where she was.  She hadn't even gotten the address
of the Tendo's place.  Ranma blinked.  Tendo's place?  If that was not
her family's home, then why had her mother taken her there?  Why was
her father there?  Ranma would have expected that the Tendo's to
appear at her house, not the other way around.  Maybe if she asked
someone for help, they might be able to give her some directions.

....

  Nodoka walked through the Tendo residence, glancing disdainfully at
Genma-Panda as he continued to play shoji with Soun.  Genma-panda
ignored his wife, preferring to concentrate on the game he was playing
with Soun.  He was having an easy time of it considering how Soun had
practically frozen over Ranma's reaction to Akane.  Genma-panda
realized that he would never had such a good chance again to
thoroughly mess with the board.  Genma-panda paused in his alteration
of the shoji board.. he felt a presence behind him.  He slowly glanced
over his shoulder, to see his wife standing there smiling at him.
Genma-panda leapt high into the air, across the room, his eyes never
leaving Nodoka.
  Nodoka smiled at her husband, and he nearly fainted in fright.
"Genma."
  Genma-panda lifted a sign up.  [Hai?]
  "Why are you still playing a game when Ranma is out in the streets
of Nerima?"
  Genma-panda paused a long time.  He knew that a wrong answer was
more than likely guaranteed to put an end to his life very quickly.
Slowly he raised a sign.  [We should look for her.]
  "Hai, _we_ should.  That means you as well.  Especially considering
how this entire fiasco is your fault."
  [My fault?  How?]
  "Had you never insisted on going to China, my son would not believe
that he was a she right now."
  [It's not my fault] The sign flipped over.  [that the hot water
didn't work!]
  "No matter.  Get moving."  Nodoka absentmindedly fingered her
katana.
  Genma-panda gulped, and bolted for the kitchen.  Seconds later, a
human Genma ran out of the kitchen and latched on to Soun.  "Come on,
old friend!  Let's look for Ranma!"
  Soun was still in too much shock to respond, so Genma hoisted Soun
up on to his shoulders and ran out the door.

  Nodoka allowed a brief smile to pass her lips as Genma ran out of
the house.  The man was as easily convincible now as he was when they
were still living together.  She frowned, and turned to Kasumi.
  "Kasumi-san?"
  "Hai, Nodoka-san?"
  "Do you know where Ranma could have gone?"
  Kasumi shook her head.  "Sorry Nodoka-san, I do not.  Not in this
case."
  "I see."
  "I think I might know," answered Akane.
  Nodoka watched Akane as she walked slowly back into the house.  She
carried herself like someone who had just lost a great battle.  "You
know?"
  Akane paused.  "Maybe."
  "Akane-chan, we do not have time for this."
  "Hai.  The last time Ranma.."  Akane flushed, and gritted her teeth.
"The last.. time.. I caused this to happen Ranma's personality became
almost an exact opposite of how he originally was."
  "An exact opposite?"
	Akane relaxed, thankful that Nodoka ignored the fact that she was
also responsible for the last incident.  "Yes.  Everything that he
hated for one reason or another, 'she' liked as a woman.  Cooking,
clothing, everything.  Even 'her' personality reflected that."
  "How did my son regain his memory?"
  "He got hit on the head again.  The entire incident was so short
that we dismissed it as a fluke."
  "So you're saying that he may be doing the same things now?"
  "Yes."  Akane's stomach tightened at that statement, but she ignored
it.  Better to get the obvious out of the way first.
  "So where would this Ranma go?"
  "I am not totally certain, to be truthful.  Ranma loved to go
shopping during that incident."
  "I see."  Nodoka walked over to the door, staring out to the koi
pond.  Who would have thought that a pool of water could cause so much
trouble?  Nodoka sighed, reaching in to her pocket and pulling out a
piece of paper.  She idly turned the paper over, looking at the number
written on it.  She crumpled it and tossed it into the trash.  Akane
walked up behind her.  "I'll go check the stores we passed by on our
way here.  She may have gone there."
  Nodoka nodded.  "Very well."  She paused.  "Kasumi-chan?"
  "Hai, Nodoka-san?"
  "The doctor we met at the hospital, the one who brought Ranma in.
Do you know him?"
  Kasumi blinked.  "Ono Tofuu, Nodoka-san.  He's been the family
doctor for years."
  "I see."
  Akane piped up.  "I know where his clinic is!"
  Nodoka looked at Akane.  "You do?"
  "Hai."
  "Can you take me there?"
  "Hai!"
  "I will go speak with Tofuu-sensei. Perhaps he can help us find a
cure for this."
  Akane and Nodoka walked out the door, heading out into Nerima.
Kasumi cheerfully waved from the doorway.  "I'll have dinner waiting
for you when you get back!"

....

  Ranma walked quietly down the street, determined to at least enjoy
the area and try to forget the problems running through her mind.  She
wandered through the shopping district, looking through the
windows. The fun managed to last about an hour, before Ranma started
to become bored and lonely.  Ranma then proceeded to switch from
looking at the shops to the people walking around the shops.
  The people Ranma saw looked to be pretty much normal.  Occasionally,
a couple would walk by, and Ranma would frown.  While she did want
some kind of emotional support, her situation with her "fiancee" was
too bizzare for her to get any support there.  She almost wanted to
find her way back to the hospital to see Ami again.  Perhaps with
someone on her side, she could finally have a sensible conversation
with her mother.  She idly wondered what she did with the telephone
number that Ami had given her.  She placed it in her pocket but could
not find it anymore.  Where could the number have gone?  Ranma
shrugged, trying to think of something else that she could do.  She
doubted that she had the money for the telephone anyway.
  Ranma paused in her observations.  What was the name of the high
school Tendo Kasumi had mentioned that she attended?  Fu-ri-n-ka-n.
Furikan. That was it.  Maybe she could talk to some people from there
and find something out.  She would just have to look for the fuku's
that high school students had a tendency to wear.  Hopefully, someone
would have a general clue as to where the school was.  Since Ranma
passed it on the way home, maybe she could find her bearings, or
speak to someone else who knew the area better.
  Ranma wandered around the shopping district until she spotted
several young women gathered around a table outside a sushi bar.  With
a hopeful look on her face, she started to head towards them.
  Ranma was so pleased at the possibility of finding something out
that she neglected to notice the look on the girl's faces.  Ranma
walked up to them.  "Excuse me, but I was wondering if you could help
me out?"
  Ranma was a bit confused at the cold looks she got in response.
"Since when do _you_ need help?" came the very cold reply.
  Ranma paused.  What a strange reaction.  She tried, "I am lost.. I
was wondering if you would give me directions to the Tendo residence?"
  The laughs she got in response upset her.  "Look, Saotome, this
pathetic attempt at a joke of yours has gone on long enough."
  "Joke?  Excuse me, but what joke?"
  "What joke?  _This_ joke."
  Ranma promptly had a cup of hot tea tossed into her face.  The hot
liquid burned her face and stung at her eyes, causing tears to flow.
Ranma opened her eyes, trying to look at the people in front of her,
but having little success through the tears and pain.  She was barely
able to make out the looks of surprise on everyone's face.  Wiping her
face and eyes, Ranma was unable to stop crying.  "Ano, what did I do
to deserve this?"  She promptly turned and ran down the street.

  The girls watched in surprise as Ranma ran off down the street.  "Wait
a second.  Was that really Saotome Ranma?"
  "It looked like him."
  "She certainly didn't act like him."
  "Something bizarre is going on here."
  "This is Nerima.  When is something bizarre _not_ going on?"
  "True enough."
  "So was that him or not?"
  One of the girls stood up, and looked down the street.  She shook
her head.  "It is too late now for it to matter anyway."

  Unfortunately, Ranma had stopped just outside of earshot after
turning the corner.  She heard every single word, and it surprised her.
What was going on here?  Who the hell was she to these people?
  Sniffling to herself, she slowly started walking down the street,
wondering why things were going so badly.  She quietly walked down the
street, not caring about anything for the moment.  Turning down an
intersection, she walked down the block to the next corner, not
bothering to look at either the shops or the people.

	A loud sound finally broke her mood.  She glanced up across the
street, only to see someone collide head first into a street light.
Ranma wondered what kind of person willingly slammed her head into
a light pole.  She watched as the person walked slowly towards her.

....

  Nodoka walked through the streets of Nerima, heading directly for
Tofuu-sensei's clinic.  Akane's directions were easy and direct.  The
girl had apparently visited this doctor many times when she was
younger.  Tofuu was a chiropractor, according to Akane.  Nodoka was
concerned, but Akane said that Tofuu was one of the best doctors in
the area.  Nodoka decided against asking why the family had stopped
seeing him.
  She was not even certain if he knew what to do in this situation,
but she hoped that he had to have some idea about the situation.
Nodoka walked up to the clinic, and approached the door.  Nodoka
stepped through the doorway, and removed her shoes. Entering the
waiting room, she glanced over the patients waiting to see the doctor,
and waited herself for Tofuu to arrive.
 A few minutes later, Tofuu walked into the room.  "Ah, good
afternoon."
  Nodoka sized up Tofuu.  "Good afternoon, sensei."
  "May I help you?"
  "I don't think that we've met before.  I'm Saotome Nodoka, Ranma's mother."
  "Ah, forgive me, Saotome-san.  How is Ranma doing?"
  Nodoka smiled sadly.  "He has amnesia."
  "That is a very serious condition.  Please, come inside."
  "Thank you."
  Nodoka walked past the patients and into the examination room with
Tofuu.  He turned to Nodoka, pointing to a chair in one corner of the
room.  Nodoka sat down in the chair, and Tofuu seated himself in the
chair next to hers.
  "Amnesia," Tofuu-sensei began, "is a very difficult condition to
deal with, both for the person suffering from the condition as well as
for the people around that person."
  "Hai, but things are more complicated than that."
  "Oh?  How so?"
  "Ranma thinks that he is a she."
  Tofuu paused.  "That is quite a problem."
  "It is.  Akane mentioned that this had happened once before.  I was
wondering if you knew how things happened the last time."
  Tofuu frowned.  "This happened before?"
  Nodoka blinked.  "According to Akane, it did."
  "I see."
  "You didn't know?"
  Tofuu shook his head.  "No, I did not."  He paused.  "It got to a
point where fights between Ranma and anyone else were so frequent that
Kasumi took up the task of healing."
  "Why did she do that?"
  "She did not want to intrude on my clinic since the fights were so
often.  I protested at first, but Ranma seemed no worse for the wear
afterwards.  This incident could easily have happened without me
knowing about it.  How did it happen the first time?"
  "Akane apparently caused the same type of thing to happen."
  "Just because Akane has a tendency to hit people does not mean
that.."
  Nodoka interrupted Tofuu.  "She admitted it to me."
  Tofuu paused.  "This is a bad thing.  How was the situation rectified?"
  "Akane hit him again."
  "Wonderful.  Increase the chances of permanent injury.  Does she
plan on doing this again?"
  Nodoka shook her head.  "The last time Akane tried to hit Ranma,
Ranma hit her first."
  "That _is_ interesting.  Ranma isn't known for hitting women."
  "Ranma left the house right after that happened.  I was wondering if
you knew what we could do about the situation."
  "What can you do?  Does she know about the curse?"
  Nodoka shook her head.  "We tried hot water.. Ranma did not change
back."
  Tofuu nodded.  "That happened here as well."
  "What?  This happened before Ranma was brought to the hospital?"
  "Yes.  In my room, Nabiki tried that, and it failed to produce a
change."
  Nodoka sighed.  "It looks like I have to talk to Nabiki."
  "I'll do some research.  I might be able to find out some
information on this."
  "Thank you, Tofuu-sensei."
  "Don't worry about it.  I caution you though.  The best thing you
can do is support Ranma regardless of what happens.  From what you've
told me, Ranma now is something entirely different from who he was."
  "Hai.  That is true.  I had best be going.  Thank you again,
Tofuu-sensei."
  Nodoka stood up, and Tofuu saw her to his door.  "Please, Remember
what I said."
  "Hai, sensei, I will."  Only now she understood what Kikuchi Ami
meant when she said the same thing.
  "Goodbye, Saotome-san."
  Nodoka nodded.  "Goodbye."
  "I wish you luck."
  Nodoka smiled sadly.  "I'll need it."  She paused.  "We all will."

  Nodoka started her walk back to the Tendo residence.  She wanted to
talk to Nabiki about what role the girl had with Ranma when he was
with Tofuu-sensei.

....

  Ranma stood quietly and watched as the person walked towards her.
She paused, and corrected an earlier assessment.  The person was a he,
not a she.. he just had very long hair.  He was also wearing very
large robes which covered his hands and most of his body, and was now
wearing glasses.  Was he really that stupid as to walk around without
his glasses on?

  Mousse took a half step down the street, and blinked.  Why was
Saotome Ranma wearing a dress?  Maybe he had another crazy idea that
he wanted to try out.  Mousse certainly did not understand half of the
things that went through Ranma's mind.
  Mousse walked towards Ranma, and was very tempted to attack since
his chains easily covered the distance.  Mouse paused.  Shampoo would
be mad once she found out, and with Ranma's big mouth she was going to
find out.  So he had a choice.  Feel good now, and deal with the
consequences later.. or do absolutely nothing.  This kind of thinking
was relatively new to him.. but it did seem to work.  Then again, if
he did attack, Ranma might more than likely pound him into the
pavement.  While he was itching to prove himself at least somewhat
improved, he wasn't certain just how much better he had become.
  Mousse looked up at the person, and did a doubletake.  Yes, the
person looked like a female Ranma in a dress.  Strangely enough,
Saotome was not acknowledging him.  That had Mousse thinking.  Surely
Ranma didn't think that he wouldn't recognize her dressed like that?
He walked up to the woman.  "Excuse me," he began in Japanese.
  Ranma paused.  "Yes.  How can I help you?"
  Mousse mutter silently to himself.  _This_ Ranma spoke nothing like
the person he knew.  She sounded like a normal Japanese woman.  Mousse
remembered how his teachers told him that Japanese men and women spoke
differently.  He was told not to make any foolish mistakes by speaking
like a woman.  He would appear very bad in front of people if he did
something like that.  This was definitely a woman standing in front of
him.  What was going on then?  How could someone look exactly like
Ranma and not be him?  Suddenly, he realized what was going on.  The
clone of the female Ranma was running around loose again.  She had a
tendency to go after any male who passed by her.  Better get going,
and fast.

  Ranma watched as the man silently stood there looking at her, and it
made her very nervous.  She was very relieved when he finally spoke
up.  "I am sorry, I got confused for a second."
  Ranma smiled.  "Not a problem.  Could you please help me with..."
Ranma halted in mid sentence as the man turned around and bolted off
down the street.  She frowned.  What a rude person!  Then she realized
that he did not appear to be Japanese.  He certainly spoke the
language well enough.  Could that have explained his impoliteness?
Ranma shrugged it off.  It could have been for any number of reasons
besides him not being Japanese, especially with the hurrying that
everyone did these days.  She frowned.  Too much work and not enough
fun.  She kept walking down the street.

....

  Kuno Tatewaki walked down the street, happier than he had been in
years.  Having just learned from Tendo Nabiki that her sister Tendo
Akane had finally fought back and won against the evil sorcerer
Saotome, liberating herself from his evil grasp.  That could only mean
one thing: that she was ready to declare her love for him!  As a
result of the news, Kuno Tatewaki had wandered through Nerima in a
daze.  He had spend the last hour trying to find the Tendo residence,
but had failed in his bliss.  Under normal circumstances, Kuno would
have been irritated at this, but right now he was too happy to even
care.
  Kuno paused in his aimless wandering.  He needed a gift.  Yes, that
was it.  A gift for Tendo Akane.  Oh yes, also a gift for the
pigtailed one.. he must not forget her.  Perhaps some day she would
throw of the reins of the vile Saotome as well.  Since Tendo Akane had
finally managed, he realized that the pig-tailed one would do so as
well.  Then he would have both of his loves, and everything would be
perfect!  Kuno Tatewaki immediately did an about face, and started
towards the shopping district at a run.  He had not a second to waste
on this important mission!

....

  Saotome Ranma continued to walk through Nerima, still lost.  While
it was nice to see the city and all, Ranma at least wanted to make
some kind of effort to get somewhere.  She halted for a few minutes,
pondering where to go next.  The city was cramped enough that it made
finding any kind of information difficult.  People hurried from place
to place, seldom even acknowledging each other.  Ranma had even seen
to people crash into each other and continue on like nothing had
happened.  She scratched her head at that display.  She wanted to be
polite and all, but if these people could not even be polite to each
other where would that get her?  It must be something about living in
a cramped city.  Ranma continued to look around for something which
might give her a clue as to where she was.  Ranma passed by a store
which sold computer systems, and halted in her tracks.  Backing up,
she looked in the window, and saw a fancy guide map being displayed on
one of the machines.  Smiling, she walked into the store.

....

  Kuno Tatewaki continued to run through Nerima, into the shopping
district.  A few cars had dared to block his way earlier, but he
easily avoided them.  Kuno was so gleeful in his thoughts that he did
not see the person who had just gotten out of a car and was crossing
the sidewalk in front of him.  The two collided, slamming to the
ground.  Kuno stood up quickly, wavering somewhat.  His resolve won
out, and set off down the street again at a run.  The person who he
had collided into lay on the ground behind him, wondering what had
slammed into him.

....

  As Ranma walked into the store, she heard a commotion outside the
door behind her.  She thought about looking, but decided that she
would rather figure out where in Nerima she was.  It probably wasn't
anything important anyway, and she did not want to gawk like most
people did.  That wasn't polite.

....

  The sun slowly moved itself through the sky, the time being early
afternoon.  A lone figure can be seen walking through the streets.
Tendo Akane has been searching for Ranma since the girl fled the Tendo
household a little over an hour ago.  Akane knew that school had just
ended, and was worried that Ranma might run into someone else.  She
couldn't think of what would happen if Ranma ran into Kuno Kodachi.
Kodachi might kill her fiancee.  She certainly came close enough to
doing it in the past.  So Akane found herself looking through Nerima
for Ranma.
  Why did the baka have to run out of the house?  That was a very
stupid thing to do.  Didn't he know how dangerous it was outside?
Akane paused, blushing.  Ranma did _not_ know what he could run into
in Nerima.  Akane hadn't told him.  Ranma had not been told much of
anything..  she and Nodoka purposely held information back from Ranma,
wanting to wait until they got home.
  She was hoping to after Ranma accepted the situation, but he
refused.  How was it possible for Ranma not to change back into a
male?  What could had caused that to happen?  Akane had absolutely no
clue as to why it had happened.  It certainly shocked the family quite
well.  Another surprise was Ranma striking her.  Ranma had quite a
punch when he was trying to hurt someone.  The memory of Ranma hitting
her was still fresh in Akane's mind, and she could not forget it, no
matter how hard she tried.
  Akane walked up to an intersection nearing the shopping district.
Ranma had wanted to stop here.  Could she have come back to this area?
Akane remembered what she had told Nodoka about the last time Ranma
had been injured.. that Ranma acted as an almost polar opposite of who
he originally was.  Somehow though, Akane knew even as she told Nodoka
that this Ranma was neither the original "Ranma-chan" or even "Ranko".
She did not want to lie to Nodoka, but she had to say something to the
woman.
  Akane frowned.  This Ranma was something different.  Akane watched
Ranma on the train.  She _knew_ that something was going on.  She knew
it from the moment she first saw them.  Akane chuckled.  The old Ranma
would have had no clue, until well after something happened.  Akane
suddenly sobered up, a tear coming to her eye.  Now Ranma was
unpredictable.. no one knew how she would react to anything.  Akane
felt her stomach.  The sting of Ranma's punch was still there.  Akane
knew that she would have a bruise for a while.  She got off lucky,
though.  Ranma could have driven her fist through her had she really
tried.
  It was a long shot, but finding Ranma in Nerima could be next to
impossible.  Akane briefly thought about asking someone else to help,
but she couldn't..  Ranma's condition was her fault.  Whoever she
could ask would more than likely attack _her_ for causing Ranma's
injury.
  The only person who she would want to ask was Ryouga, but he was
impossible to find most of the time.  Ukyou would not react well to
the news at all.. never mind the fact that she could probably do a
better job with Ranma than Akane herself could ever do.  Akane
realized that she could not handle the jealousy and pain she would
feel in dealing with Ukyou.  Forget about asking Shampoo.. if the
Amazon found out what happened, she would be dead.  Shampoo would have
no compunctions about killing her for hurting Ranma.  Shampoo might
even turn on Ranma, now that he was a she.  Kodachi was worse.. she
would more than likely make sure that Akane survived whatever it was
she would do.
  Akane could not bring herself to remember hitting Ranma.  It was a
blur in her mind, and when she tried to remember it, she found herself
starting to cry.  For now, she decided it best that she did not try
and remember what happened.
  Akane also knew that Nodoka and Genma were searching through Nerima,
but she doubted that they were having any more luck than she was.  She
wanted to ask Nabiki for help, but Nabiki had not returned home since
leaving in the morning.  Nabiki's various connections to students
would have come in handy.
  Then again, the price of aid from her sister would have cost a
bundle..  Akane did not want to deal with the humiliation that she
knew would happen once word started to spread.  Bad enough that Nabiki
knew what happened already.  Getting her directly involved could make
matters worse.  Akane seriously hoped that Nabiki wouldn't do
something like that, but with her feelings so down, such thoughts
weren't very difficult.
  Akane continued along, lost in her thoughts.  She passed through an
intersection in which cranes were removing parts of cars.  There had
been an accident, but with Akane's mood she did not notice anything.
As such she missed the description of the man dressed in samurai garb
who had run through the intersection.  Akane walked into the shopping
district, looking for Ranma.

....

  Nodoka approached the Tendo residence, and knocked on the door.
Kasumi answered the door, and Nodoka stepped inside, removing her
shoes.  "Good afternoon, Kasumi-san.  Is Nabiki around?"
  "Good afternoon, Nodoka-san.  Nabiki is in her room."
  "Thank you.  I want to have a word with her."
  "How did the meeting with Tofuu-sensei go?"
  "He said he would see if there was any way that he could help us
out."
  "Very well then.  I'll be in the kitchen."

  Nodoka walked up the stairs, stopping in front of Nabiki's room.
She knocked on the door, and waited patiently.  Five minutes later,
she knocked again.  There was no answer from the door.  Nodoka looked
down at the floor.  There was a light coming from under the door, so
Nabiki could still be in her room.  Why was she not answering the
door?  Nodoka walked up to the door and turned the knob.
  The door swung open, revealing Nabiki at her desk, the light turned
on.  Nodoka made a noise, but Nabiki continued to ignore her.  She
walked up to Nabiki, noticing that the girl was wearing headphones.
Nodoka sighed, and tapped Nabiki on the shoulder.  She removed her
headphones, looking up at Nodoka.  "Hello, Nodoka-san."
  "Good afternoon, Nabiki-chan.  Are you busy?"
  Nabiki shrugged.  "I have homework to do.  A few minutes won't cause
too much of a problem.  What do you want to know?"
  Nodoka blinked.  "What makes you think I want something?"
  Nabiki smiled.  "The look on your face."
  Nodoka sighed.  "I was curious if you knew what happened to Ranma
earlier."
  "Oh, is that all?  I pulled her out of the koi pond, and I accompanied
Tofuu-sensei back to his clinic with her.  Shortly after, Ranma was
taken to the hospital."
  "What about Ranma not changing back to a male?"
  Nabiki smiled.  "That information is worth quite a bit to me.  I'd
like to be a little careful in how I give it out."
  "Have you no care for Ranma or your sister?"
  Nabiki shrugged, turning to face the window.  "After our mother
died, Akane found it easiest to express her feelings through anger.
Since she was always feeling something about Ranma, she was always
angry at him.  Akane had hit Ranma multiple times in the past,
regardless of whether or not it was his fault.  She was also very
jealous of him.  I am not surprised that this happened.. I had just
hoped that my sister would have realized that anger was not the way to
express her feelings.  Now it may be too late."
  "You don't care, then?"
  Nabiki turned back to Nodoka.  "Whether or not I care is not the
issue.  What is the issue is that Akane's violent tendencies finally
came back to haunt her."  Nabiki laughed.  "You're not much better in
your treatment of Ranma, you realize."
  "What are you insinuating?"
  "I heard that Ranma ran off.  I got that bit of news from Kasumi."
  "So what?"
  "Why do you think she ran away?  Let me tell you, it was not because
of Akane."
  "Are you saying it was me?"
	Nabiki smiled.  "Well, I'm not the one threatening to kill my son
over an indiscretion.  Do you realize how worried he was that you
would kill him because of his curse?  He would not have hid for so
long had Genma not convinced him to."
  Nodoka's feelings dropped, but she pressed on.  "What does that have
to do with this?"
  "What do you think?  Ranma is afraid of you now.  Her subconscious
will drive her away from you, and she won't be able to understand why.
All because of a promise you had him make."
  "Ranma made a promise."
  "He was five at the time.  How could you expect someone so young to
even be able to understand something like that?"
  "I had hoped that Genma would teach that to him.  Things have worked
out rather well in that regard.  Genma's fear over the curse was a
problem of his imagination.  I am just frustrated over losing my son
so quickly after finding him."
  "Well, it looks like you have a daughter now."
  "Hai, it does.  Do you know anything else about what happened?"
  Nabiki shrugged.  "Only what Kasumi told me."
  "Then this has given me little information."
  "Perhaps."
  "Thank you, Nabiki-chan."
  "No problem."
  Nodoka left Nabiki's room, leaving her alone.  "You know," she said
to no one in particular, "I almost feel sorry for Ranma."

- Chapter 5 -

  Onishi Yohko had just returned to Nerima via train, accompanying her
cousin back to her apartment.  Mina's parents were in Kyoto on
business. Mina's father usually made all his trips by himself, but
this time Mina's mother decided to go as well.  They did not expect
Mina to throw any parties while they were away, as the apartment they
shared was simply too small to hold any significant number of people.
They really did not mind, because Mina was responsible enough to clean
the place up afterwards.  Mina laughingly mentioned that her parents
always knew when she had guests over: The apartment always wound up
cleaner than it originally was.  Her parents apparently considered
this an acceptable tradeoff.
  Mina and Yohko had left the apartment shortly after arriving.  Mina
had changed into a nice outfit, and the two went to the center of
town. They hung out together for about an hour, when Mina promptly
dumped her so she could go meet her boyfriend, who suddenly appeared
at a nearby cafe.
  Yohko knew the city well enough such that Mina did not mind leaving
her friend behind.  Yohko was bothered by the surprise visit of Mina's
boyfriend.  He was expected to show up eventually - he just arrived
early.  She felt jealous, but that did not cause her to take it out on
her cousin.  Mina for her part understood why Yohko reacted the way
she did which helped the situation between the two of them.
  The two of them hadn't exactly been completely out of touch with
each other.. though they did have to cut back on the conversations
these past few months.  Mina's parents were getting irritated about
the phone bills that the two of them generated.
  Yohko would see her again soon anyway.  While Yohko knew how Mina's
parents felt about their daughter's boyfriend, she knew that they
would not be quite so happy if they knew what she knew about the two
of them. So Yohko covered for her cousin tonight, in case her parents
decided to call.  A phone call was not likely, so Yohko would be
alone.
  Yohko spent her time window shopping, looking through the various
shops, wishing she had enough money to buy something.  In reality she
was short on money.  She had to leave her part time job behind to come
to Nerima.  Her parents wondered how she could keep up with both
school work and a job, but Yohko managed, and took some of the
financial burden off of her parents as well.  For this reason, they
could not complain about her having the work.  She had little problem
with schoolwork, though she did have to worry about college entrance
exams soon.
  Yohko continued to look into the mirror, and she noticed the
reflection of a guy who walked behind her.  *He's cute,* she thought
with a sigh.  *Now how do I..* Sometimes window shopping involved
looking at things other than merchandise.

....

  Hibiki Ryouga was lost.  Hibiki Ryouga was _always_ lost.  Under
normal circumstances, this simply should not have been possible. It
was impossible for a person to move that far that quickly. Ryouga
managed to do away with that theory quite nicely.  He could easily
travel a thousand miles in a week and cross bodies of water without
even noticing.
  Some people would consider this ability a blessing, in being able to
move such distances.  In reality, all that it ever succeeded in doing
was getting Ryouga utterly and totally lost.  Ryouga could not even
walk a single block in a city without instantly getting lost.  To say
that this had an emotional effect on Ryouga was an understatement.
Ryouga was depressed.  _Always_ depressed.  As guaranteed as it was
for Ryouga to be lost, it was guaranteed for him to be depressed.
  Ryouga had a semi normal life up to a certain point in high school.
At that point, he met one Saotome Ranma, who beat him very thoroughly
in a bread eating contest.  Ryouga wanted a duel to settle his honor,
but it had taken him four days to make it to the meeting grounds.
Ranma had fled for China before he made it to the vacant lot, or so
Ryouga believed.  Ryouga followed him to China, and the resultant
fiasco only deepened Ryouga's depression and situation.

  Ryouga had a hard time dealing with life.  He had a hard time
dealing with Saotome Ranma.  He had a hard time dealing with things in
general.
  All of that happened before he met Unriyuu Akari.  He still couldn't
understand what fate had brought the two of them together.  He felt as
though he had met the girl of his dreams.
  Unlike Tendo Akane, who was always fighting with Saotome Ranma,
Akari paid attention to him.  Ryouga never understood exactly what was
going on between Akane and Ranma.. but deep down he did know the
reasons behind it.  He just didn't want to admit it to himself.
Still, it ranked as one of the strangest relationships he had seen in
his short time around other people.. and it was _still_ going on to
this day.  When would those two stop fooling around?
  Ryouga didn't know.  The situation was hard on Akane.  It was hard
on Ranma, even if he would never admit it during his lifetime.  Not
even a miracle would work.. they had that happen as well.  Finally, at
the wedding Akane had decided to stop the fighting.  Ryouga had never
seen Ranma so shocked.. the boy had no clue what to do.
  Then the wedding blew up, and everything seemed to go back to
normal.  On the surface, anyway.  He could tell that something was
different about Akane, even his old rival Ranma, but that did not mean
that things would work out in the end.
  Him and Akari were an entirely different matter.  They clicked
completely from day one and hadn't missed a beat since then.  A few
minor misunderstandings, but nothing near the scale of what happened
regularly between Ranma and Akane.

  Ryouga's wandering nature was highlighted by the fact that he spend
a good deal of time immersed in his thoughts, paying no heed to where
he was traveling.  A city was a city, a mountain range a mountain
range, a forest a forest.  Ryouga could not tell the differences
between any of the areas.  He could be in Tokyo, Kobe, Hong Kong, or
even New York and would not notice the difference.
  It surprised no one that Ryouga did not realize that he was in
Nerima.  The only time Ryouga managed to figure that out was when he
found the Tendo residence.  For some unexplained reason, perhaps
subconscious feelings for Tendo Akane, the Tendo residence was the one
place where Ryouga could be guaranteed to regularly make appearances
at.. Whether it be as P-Chan or Ryouga.  It was frustrating to him in
a way, because he saw those two more often than he saw Akari.  She was
patient, but he was not.  He was simply tired of being alone.

....

  Yohko found herself quietly wandering around town.  It was not a
horrible way to spend the day, considering how nice the weather was.
Considering how bad the weather had been just the day before
yesterday, Yohko was happy about being outdoors.  She did not want to
stay cooped up inside for too long.  Staying inside drove her nuts.
Even during the winter, Yohko liked to be outside for at least an hour
every day.  She would have loved to go skiing, but the indoor ski runs
in Japan were very expensive.. far too expensive for a normal high
school student to afford.  Yohko also would have loved to have taken a
trip out of Japan, but was unable to.  Perhaps after college she would
travel for a while.
  Yohko's thoughts shifted.  She idly wondered where all the supposed
martial artists who called Nerima home were.  Supposedly there was
quite a number of them, and Yohko wanted to meet one or two of them.
She was curious what it was about this section of Tokyo which drew
them all to it.  So far, it looked like a normal neighborhood. Nothing
anywhere was out of the ordinary.  Nothing.  Could this have been a
pipe dream?  No, her cousin would not have made such a big deal about
the situation otherwise.  So where were they?  Despite the size of the
city, people should have been talking about what was going on, but
Yohko had heard nothing in the way of gossip.

....

  Ryouga continued to walk the streets of Nerima.  He had this strange
feeling that he was coming close to something he recognized.  Rarely
did he have these feelings.

  In the past they dealt solely with Tendo Akane, but as of recently,
things did not quite work that way.  Strangely enough, he didn't
really have them when he was near Akari.  There just wasn't the same
sense of urgency that he had with Akane.  Ryouga wasn't certain why he
had these feelings, nor did he really spend time thinking about it.
His past consisted of fighting with Saotome Ranma and thinking about
Tendo Akane.  He never spent much time on trying to figure out why he
sometimes did not get lost, it was lost in the happiness of realizing
that he had actually made it somewhere.
  Ryouga sighed.  No use in worrying about it, he mused.  Time to try
and figure out where he was.  This usually involved talking to the
first person he saw.

  Saotome Ranma was frustrated.  After her last encounter, she was
rather wary of speaking to anyone.  She shook her head.  What were the
odds on something like that happening in the first place?  She didn't
really know, but it troubled her.  There were too many unknowns here,
too many things that she didn't know or understand.
  Ranma pushed the thoughts out of her head.  In a city as large as
Tokyo, she doubted that something like what happened before would
happen to her again.
  In any case, she was tired of worrying.  She wanted to have a little
fun for once.  She frowned.  How do you have fun in a city when you
are lost and have no money?  Ranma stood quietly on the sidewalk,
trying to figure out what to do.  Her thoughts were interrupted by
someone speaking to her.  Looking up, Ranma's heart jumped.  *Hey,*
she thought to herself, *he's _cute_!*
  Hibiki Ryouga finished his question, and wondered why the girl
hadn't answered him.  He didn't understand what was going on until he
saw the expression on her face.. and it surprised him.  He'd seen that
dreamy look on Akari's face before.  Still, she was cute.. *wait a
second*, his subconscious piped up!  *What happened to Akari?*  Ryouga's
state of mind was a little too confused for him to try and think
rationally.

  Ranma had completely missed what the boy had asked her.  In her
infinite wisdom, she said the first thing that came to her mind.
"You're cute!"
  Ryouga's eyes bugged out, and his face flushed.  All he managed to
get out of his vocal cords was a stutter.  "Ah.. Ah.. I.. uh.."
  By this time, Ranma had returned to her senses.  Watching the boy
make a fool out of himself was amusing, but she would have liked it
better if he actually said something in response.  She sighed.  Some
guys had no courage whatsoever.  "Say," she began again.  "Do you know
where we are?"
  Ryouga was used to getting asked such a question.  Tourists had this
annoying tenancy to ask him all the time.  It irritated him to no
end, and while he was usually polite in his answer, his feelings
couldn't really take it.  As such, he immediately snapped out of his
stupor.  "I.. I.."  He paused.  "I'm sorry, I don't know."
  Disappointment marked Ranma's voice.  "Oh.  I see."  She looked him
in the eye.  Better than nothing, she supposed.  Maybe she could get
him to act just a little braver.  "Want to go for a walk with me?"
  Ryouga bugged out again.  "Ah.. well.. you see.."
  Ranma was getting impatient by this point.  "Yes?"
  Ryouga blurted out the next sentence.  "Ihaveagirlfriend!"
  Ranma blinked.  *Huh?  What the heck did he just say?*  Pausing for a
second, she digested his words.  She frowned in disappointment as she
finally understood exactly what he had said to her.
  She sighed.  Game over.  *Oh well,* she thought to herself.  *It was
fun while it lasted.  If only he wasn't such a wimp.*  Waving, she
turned around and started to walk off.
  It took Ryouga a few seconds to get his control back.  Being around
Akari had made it a little easier for him to deal with this type of a
situation, but he still had a very hard time dealing with girls.  He
raised his voice.  "Say," he called out.  "What's your name?"
  Ranma turned her head back and winked at him.  "Saotome Ranma."
  Ryouga's emotions exploded.  Did he hear what he thought he heard?
Saotome Ranma?!?  The girl's face suddenly became clear to him.  The
same red hair.  The same blue eyes.  The same _damned_ pigtail!
Ryouga was not happy.  To think that he almost cheated on Akari was
bad enough, but with Ranma?  What possible reason could Ranma have for
putting him through an emotional ringer _this_ time?
  Ryouga growled.  Perhaps the idiot needed to be taught a lesson.  It
would certainly ruin whatever half baked idea Ranma had for causing
this little fiasco.  You would think that he would have learned his
lesson by now.  It was exactly at times like this that Ryouga wondered
what Tendo Akane really saw in the jerk.

  Ryouga pulled his umbrella from his back.  He watched as Ranma
walked completely unaware of his presence just down the street.  Who
was that fool kidding?  Time for the old standard, he decided.  With a
cry of "SAOTOME, prepare to DIE!" Ryouga rushed at Ranma.

....

  Kuno Tatewaki emerged from a store, carrying several presents in his
arms.  He smiled to himself, and decided that the gods must be on his
side to have the appropriate store open when he finally made it here.
The fact that he had to threaten and finally bribe the store owner to
stay open later made little difference in Kuno's mind.  Kuno walked
down the street, carrying his packages.  He searched for a telephone
so he could call for a taxi to drive him home.  He did not want to be
bothered with carrying all his packages home.  That was the work of a
commoner, not a nobleman.

  Tendo Akane turned the corner, walking down the rows of stores.  She
saw people around, but she did not see Ranma.  She did see Kuno
Tatewaki, striding down the street with an armful of wrapped presents.
Presents?  Why was he carrying presents?  Akane paused.  There were
two people who Kuno gave presents to.  She was one of them,
and.. and..  Ranma was the other.  Akane walked up, glaring at Kuno
the whole way.

  Kuno Tatewaki walked down the street, searching for a telephone.  He
cursed himself for not carrying his own telephone, and decided to
rectify the situation once he got home.  Kuno then looked up.. and saw
Tendo Akane walking down the street!  She had come all the way out
here to admit her love for him!
  Kuno ran to Akane and dropped his packages, completely ignoring the
look of anger on Akane's face.  "Tendo Akane-san!  I am pleased that
you have finally come to realize the horrors of that foul sorcerer
Saotome!"
  Akane paused, trying to keep her temper from getting the better of
her.  *Kuno knows what happened*, she told herself.  *Don't get angry,
you need to know how he found out.*
  Akane spoke slowly and carefully, strain evident in her voice.
"What do you mean by that, Kuno-sempai?"
  "I mean by how you rose up and overthrew the oppressive sorcerer
Saotome!"
  Akane tried to calm herself.  "Who.. told.. you.. that..?"
  "Your sister, Tendo Nabiki, was the relater of the news."
  Akane let out a scream.  How _dare_ her sister do something like
that?  She knew that Nabiki was unscrupulous, but to go and deliver
the situation like that.. did Nabiki even care about her feelings?
Nabiki _knew_ how she felt about Ranma.  She saw it well before Akane
herself even accepted it.
  Kuno smiled.  "Yes!"  He stated.  "Let out your hatred for the vile
Saotome!"
  Akane laughed through her tears, unable to control her emotions.
"You baka!" she screeched.  "It was a mistake!  I did not want to hurt
him!"
  Kuno frowned.  "What?  How is this possible?  Surely there can be no
mistake in doing what you did, which is right by all that is good."
  Akane continued to laugh, but her laugher died shortly after and she
started to cough on her tears.  "How can you be so dense, Kuno-sempai?
Ranma was not my enslaver.."  Akane's tears died down quickly.  She
had very few tears left to shed since first learning about what
happened to Ranma.
  Akane stood up quietly, eyes red from her crying.  She looked Kuno
directly in the eyes.  Her voice was barely above a whisper, said
straight into the air more so than to Kuno.  "I.. loved.. Ranma.."

  Kuno's mind boggled at what Akane said.  Could it be possible?!?  It
couldn't be!  Saotome must have cast an evil spell on her!  Kuno
charged forward, bokken raised.  "I'll free you, Akane!"

  Akane glared at Kuno, finally losing her temper.  With a cry, she
started to attack Kuno.. and the memories of Ranma crashing into the
koi pond came flooding back to her, more vivid than ever.  She
collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by the recollection.

  Kuno was taken aback at the sudden display of timidness from Tendo
Akane.  He had never known her to react in such a way to anything
before.  Could Saotome really have put her through so much pain?
"Tendo Akane-san, did the vile Saotome cause you this much discomfort?
Perhaps that vile cur needs to be taught another lesson!"  With that
cry, Kuno bolted off down the street, forgetting about Akane sitting
on the ground in front of him.

  Akane stood up slowly a few minutes after Kuno left.  *That idiot of
a jerk!  Damn Nabiki!*  One of these days she would have to find out a
way to deal with him, to get him off her back permanently.  Her
thoughts shifted away from Kuno.  Right now he was not important.  All
that mattered in her mind was finding Ranma before someone like him
did.  Kuno was also not the worst person Ranma could run into.  Akane
could not begin to imagine what would happen if she was too late.

....

  Yohko jumped up at Ryouga's shout.  She looked at him, wondering she
had finally found one of the supposed martial artists.  The boy was
wearing black pants and a brown shirt.  There was a bandanna wrapped
around his head, and an umbrella in his hand.  Looking down the
street, Yohko's eyes widened as she saw the target of his attack.  Why
the hell was he attacking a red headed girl wearing a fuku?  Yohko
immediately bolted down the street, trying to intercept the man before
he struck the girl down.

  Ranma froze in shock as she heard the voice behind her.  Her entire
body froze.  Ranma tried to will herself to move, but her body froze.
She heard the footsteps coming closer and closer, and finally willed
her body to at least turn to see who was coming up behind her.

  Yohko continued to run down the street, watching the man close in on
the woman.  She realized that she had no chance of getting in between
them in time.  Yohko flicked her wrist, causing a shuriken to slip out
of her sleeve.  At this range, she estimated that she was not likely
to cause much damage to her target, but a direct hit would hurt enough
to get his attention away from the girl. Yohko raised her arm, ready
to throw.

  Ryouga charged Ranma, surprise on his side.  The anticipation of
battle caused Ryouga to subconsciously switch his mental state to one
of acute readiness. As a result, there was not a single thought in his
mind as he ran.  Ranma had just barely started to turn towards Ryouga
when he drove his hand down towards the ground, finger extended.  With
a shout of "Bakusai Tenketsu!" Ryouga struck the concrete pavement
between them.

  Yohko watched as the man dropped down towards the ground, and
readjusted her aim.  She could not understand what he was doing, but
it did not matter to her at all.  Yohko threw her shuriken at the
moment Ryouga's finger struck the pavement.

  The ground exploded violently, shards of concrete ripping through
the air.  Yohko immediately threw herself into a forward roll, diving
under the explosion.  She could not see what happened to the shuriken
she threw, but she didn't believe that it made much difference.  There
was no chance it could have made it through the hail of fragments.

  Ranma was at the center of the explosion, the attack detonating the
ground at her feet.  The shards tore through her clothing, tossing her
through the air.  She was thrown forward a few feet before crashing to
the pavement.

  Ryouga froze in his attack as he watched the woman collapse to the
pavement.  That was the last thing he expected from his rival.  Could
the battle really have been over that quickly?  Ryouga's heart jumped.
Could he have injured an innocent woman?  Ryouga took a step towards
the person, wanting to find out if it really was Ranma that he
attacked.  He had been so damn sure of it just few seconds ago.
Ryouga barely had time to consider what had happened before his legs
buckled and he fell to the ground.  He blacked out a second later.

  Yohko twisted through her roll, eyes watching the scene in front of
her as the woman collapsed to the pavement.  She realized that she had
to take the man out and take him out fast.  Yohko came up just behind
her opponent, her legs coming down as she rolled across her back.  She
immediately flared her legs out, catching him across the ankles. One
twist later, he dropped backwards to the pavement, his balance lost.
Yohko shifted her position, catching his arm and shoulder as she
lifted herself up.  With all of her strength, she leveraged his fall
and slammed his head into the pavement.

  Hibiki Ryouga had been in dozens of fights in the past.  At times,
it was all he really lived for.  As a result of the almost constant
battles and training, his body had adapted to the pounding.  He was
far tougher than a normal human.  Compared to things that happened to
him in the past, getting his head slammed was nothing major.  A few
minutes later, Ryouga started to come around.  Once the process had
started, it took a few scant seconds before his eyes fluttered open.
  Ryouga looked up into the sky as his eyes opened.  All he could see
was a dark blur in front of a very bright blue blur.  He recognized
the sky, and blinked a few times as his eyes came into focus.  A woman
stood over him.  Ryouga immediately flushed and sat up.  The woman
jumped back as he sat up, and he waved his hands.  "Wait!" he began,
"where am I?"
  The girl blinked, face pale.  "You're in Nerima.  Are you hurt?"
  "No, no," Ryouga stuttered.  "I'm fine.  Nerima, you say?"
  "Hai."
  Ryouga looked around him.  He could not see the impact from his
attack anywhere nearby.  What had happened?  What caused him to black
out like that?  What happened to Ranma?  He focused on the girl again.
She was saying something.  "Umm, could you please repeat that?" he
asked.
  "I said, do you need a doctor?  Do you want me to call an
ambulance?"
  "Err, no!  I'm fine!  Thanks for the help!"  Ryouga immediately got
up and bolted down the street.  What the hell just happened to him?
Did he imagine the entire exchange with Ranma and the fight?

  Onishi Yohko watched in amazement as he ran off down the street,
unhurt.  She slowly turned around, and walked to the corner of the
street.  Turning the corner, she locked her gaze on the blast crater
in front of her.

....

  Kuno Tatewaki jogged down the street, the packages he had bought
still in his arms.  He traveled for about a block, and halted at a
street corner.  Placing the packages down, he decided that he had
enough of the commoner's task of running.  He idly wondered why he
would succumb to doing something so beneath him.  Kuno's mind worked
at what he had learned from Tendo Akane.  Somehow the vile Saotome had
done something to her, causing her to fall erroneously in love with
him.  Kuno wondered how Saotome could have possibly have picked the
power to work such a black magic.
  Kuno paused in his thoughts, and realized what he had done.  He was
carrying presents for Tendo Akane and had forgotten to give them to
her!  Could that be the reason why Akane had been less than pleasant
to him?  Did she believe that he had forgotten to give her the gifts?
Tendo Akane knew of his affection for her.. he had displayed it
openly.  She could have recognized the gifts, and have been upset when
he did not give them to her.
  A thought pierced Kuno's mind.  If Saotome did lay a spell on Akane,
then no simple gift could possibly ever break its power.  Kuno would
have to deal with the source of the spell - Saotome Ranma.  Until the
source was cut off, the spell would continue, regardless of what he
did.  Kuno looked down at the presents, and frowned.  He had split his
attention evenly between Tendo Akane and the pig tailed one.  Perhaps
in this case, it was better that wait until after he broke the spell
between Saotome Ranma and Tendo Akane before giving out the presents.
In Tendo Akane's current state of mind, she might take the acceptance
of the presents by the pig tailed one in a very bad way.  That could
cause him to lose her forever - and he would not allow that.

  Kuno glanced out into the street, a concrete idea forming in his
mind about what to do.  Finally, he settled on something which could
aid in his task.  It was imperative that he accomplish what he had to
do, and quickly.  For once, his skills as a samurai warrior would come
in very handy.  Samurai had vanquished demons in the past.  It was
time for this to happen again.
  Raising his arm, Kuno hailed a cab, ignoring for the moment that he
would be traveling in a commoner's vehicle.  For now, such things
would have to be tolerated.  He had to make it home to store his
presents away before setting out on this important task.

....

  Yohko walked back to the crater, glancing at the damage done.  The
crater was a good half foot deep, and eighteen inches wide.  She knelt
down to get a closer look.  Nothing showed the possibility of a
chemical which caused the explosion.  The man had done it with his
_finger_.  Yohko gulped, as she stood up slowly, eyes examining the
wall beside the crater.  Shards of rock were embedded across it, the
blast pattern clearly fanning out from the point of origin. The wall
actually had been weakened by the damage done.  Her eyes traced it
back, and she found her shuriken sitting quietly off to one side.
Several shards were embedded inside of it. She picked it up, turning
it over.  She licked her finger and gingerly touched one of the
shards.  It was razor sharp, sharper than the steel edge of her
shuriken.  She had no idea how that was even possible.
  Her mind shifted back to the man who had caused the damage.  He was
directly _over_ the point of impact.  He was also unhurt by the
damage.  Not only was he unhurt, but his clothing was intact as well.
Yohko wondered who could withstand such a blast and walk away to tell
about it.  She then recalled what she had to him.  Her sensei had
warned her against doing that very take down.  He stated that there
was a very good chance that the person would have been killed by the
impact..  Especially against a concrete surface.  Not only had he
lived, but he woke up so quickly that it scared her.  If he hadn't
been so disorientated, Yohko felt that she would have collapsed from
fright.
  Yohko walked over to the garbage cans sitting idly on the street.
Looking behind them, she saw that the girl was only unconscious.  Her
clothing was ripped, yes.  Somehow, some way, the damned explosion had
not even managed to prick her skin!  She was breathing normally,
suggesting that she was asleep.  Asleep after an attack like what she
had witnessed?  She should have been ripped to pieces.  Yohko shook
her head, and made a decision.  Slowly, she picked the girl up, and
carried her off.  She would figure out what was going on here, one way
or another.

....

  Akane continued down the street, a foul expression on her face.  She
could not believe what had just happened.  Sure, Kuno had been a fool
for as long as she could remember him to be, but he had managed to
irritate her far worse during the last encounter.  How could she let
Kuno get under her skin like that?
  Akane halted in her steps, a sad expression on her face.  Kuno had
never hurt her like that before because she never accepted her true
feelings before.  She found it bitter that it would take such a
grievous injury to Ranma to cause her to realize what was going on
around her.  Akane started to walk again, a sad smile on her face.
  At least Ranma had nothing to worry about from Kuno..  She froze in
her tracks.  This Ranma had never met Kuno!  How would she react to
him?  Could it be even remotely possible that she would like Kuno like
most of the other women did?
  Akane knew that Kuno was liked by some of the girls from other
schools.. they did not know what he was really like.  Akane gasped,
panic in her heart.  She did not want to lose Ranma to Kuno of all
people..  Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to calm down.
Panicking would not do anyone any good, least of all Ranma.

....

  The cab dropped Kuno Tatewaki off in front of his father's mansion.
He quickly grabbed his presents, paid the driver, and walked off to
the mansion.  The driver was disappointed at not receiving a tip, but
decided against asking it of someone who appeared to be such a snob.
Kuno was ignoring him anyway, his steps taking him well past the
front gates of his mansion.

  Kuno Kodachi sat in her room, flipping through a book on plant life.
Most of her experiments with plants consisted of a few changes to
ideas she found in books and journals.  She would come up with an idea
from somewhere, and somehow twist it into having to do with plants.
While the garden she kept in the greenhouse appeared to be normal on
the surface, there were a few things which were different about it.
Kodachi loved to use deceit and trickery, and the mansion and
greenhouse were where she implemented her ideas.  While trapping the
mansion was fun to do, she was more interested in tending to her
plants.  As such, the traps became more vicious as one approached the
garden.
  Kodachi also had a mind about some tales of fantasy.  She was
especially interested in spirits which could summon and control
plants.  That would make her matches much easier to win.  Her opponent
would be eliminated before the event, and no one could ever trace the
results to her.  Although being attacked by a plant was downright
bizarre as things went, the police in Nerima had long learned to
ignore bizarre incidents.  With all the martial artists running around
Nerima, her Ranma-sama included, there was little the police could do,
even if they wanted to get involved with what was going on.  People
either ignored what was happening in Nerima, or moved somewhere else.
This made the stage for such an idea perfect.
  Kodachi wondered where to find information on such an idea,
considering how all the books she had managed to locate had little
information which was of any use to her.  Sighing, she closed her
book.  If there was any such information, she would find it.  Kodachi
was lost in thought until a panel on her desk beeped.  Bringing it
to her attention, she turned on the security camera, and noticed that
her brother had just stepped through the front door.  Curious as to
why he was carrying so many gifts, Kodachi focused her attention on
him.

  Kuno walked up to the front door and opened it without stopping.  It
would be beneath him to carry keys, and his sister's traps and other
assorted irritants scattered throughout the building would do their
job well against anyone who intruded.  It was the one instance in
which Kuno did not mind his sister's devious methods.  His father, was
not home enough to even notice the traps.  He was usually out, at some
club in downtown Tokyo.  The few times he did show up at the mansion,
he walked through the traps like they were not even there.  Kuno could
not figure out how his father did it.  Then again, his father was
bizarre enough in his own right that for him to be able to do such a
thing was not surprising.  He believed that his sister had a hand in
the situation.  She seemed to be able to change the traps in the
mansion almost at will.
  Kuno walked quietly through the mansion, avoiding the traps his
sister had laid down.  Luckily for him, she had not changed the traps
since yesterday.  Traps, plants and bizzare pets were all part of
his sister's hobbies.  Rhythmic gymnastics was her other hobby, even
if she had a tendency to defeat her opponents before a match even took
place.
  Kuno made it to his room in one piece.  He opened the door and
stepped inside.  This was one of two rooms in the entire building
guaranteed not to be trapped.  The other room belonged to his father,
and neither he nor his sister ever entered it.  They could not get in
even if they tried - he had done something bizarre to the door and
made it impossible to open.

  Kodachi watched as Tatewaki quietly walked through the halls of the
mansion.  Strangely enough, he was not in his usual mood.  This time,
he seemed almost pensive in nature.  Kodachi snorted.  When was her
brother capable of rational thought for an extended period of time?
There was something serious on his mind.  Usually, things rolled over
and around him.  Kodachi got plenty of amusement out of her brother in
that regard.  The fact that he could not tell that his pigtailed one
and Saotome Ranma were the same person spoke volumes about his
denseness.
  Kodachi saw Tatewaki walk up to his room.  She watched as he opened
the door, stepped inside, and closed it behind him.  Tatewaki usually
left his door open when he was home.  It was his way of announcing his
presence.
  Kodachi knew that once Tatewaki was in this type of a mood, the
actions which resulted from it were usually very different than his
normal responses.  It had been years since he had last been in such a
mood.  She would have to find out what he was up to. This did involve
violating the unspoken truce between them about not entering each
other's rooms, but in this case, Kodachi felt that she had no choice.
It was not like Tatewaki would believe that she had entered his room
in any case.  He would automatically come up with some exuse as to
what had happened in his room.

  Kuno placed the packages down on a desk next to his bed.  He walked
over to his bookshelf, and scanned it quickly.  Kuno knew that he had
a book dealing with the material he was interested in, but could not
remember how much actual information it had.  Locating the book in
question, Kuno hastily grabbed it and sat down at his desk.  Pushing
aside the packages to make room, he carefully set the book down.  Kuno
had forgotten how exactly he came across the book, but remembered that
he had purchased it fairly recently - some time after Saotome arrived.
He had been looking for a way to free his two loves' from Saotome's
clutches, but decided against doing what he had read.  Now, he felt
that he had no choice.  Kuno briefly glanced at the cover of the book,
entitled "Demons and Exorcism" before he opened it.
  After about an hour of reading, Kuno closed the book.  There was
simply not enough information in it for his liking.  Sure, it spoke of
such things, but nothing inside of it was remotely useful.  Kuno
frowned, wondering what to do.  He wanted something to guarantee
results, not theoretical information.  Kuno pondered who would know
about such details.  Hmm.. what was the name of that commoner, the one
who pretended to practice magic?  Gosunkugi.  That was it.  While Kuno
knew that he had no real skill, perhaps he could point to someone who
did.  It would be worth the effort if it got him some kind of
information.  Standing up, Kuno decided to go look for him.

  Kodachi watched as her brother left his room, hurrying down the
hallway.  Now was the time for her to go take a look at what he had
been doing.  He was so involved in whatever it was that he could be
gone for a while before returning to the house.  A minute later,
Kodachi was standing in front of the door to her brother's room.  She
knew that he left it unlocked.
  Kodachi walked up to the door and paused for a minute.  How long had
it been since she had entered?  Years..  perhaps even as long as a
decade.  The two of them rarely saw each other aside from when they
ate together.  Kodachi loved to dump things in Kuno's food.. it was a
game they played back and forth.  It made her brother tougher and
harder to hurt.  So much that he recovered very quickly from whatever
happened to him.  She enjoyed the game, and if it helped her brother
after he learned how to respond, then that was only a plus.
  However, they could not return to the past.  What happened to their
parents made sure of that.  When their mother walked out on them, the
repercussions on their father drove him to Hawaii.. and practically
into the depths of madness.  He cared for his money first and never
had time for his children, or even his family.  Then kaasan left, and
he went off the deep end.  He simply could not accept what had
happened, and he could not care for the two of them.. so he left.
That was all in the past.  This was the present, and Kodachi had to
find out what her brother was up to.  She opened the door and stepped
inside his room.
  Her eyes took a few seconds to readjust to the light.  Tatewaki had
currently only two small candles lit as a source of light for the
room. Kodachi sighed, and flipped a rarely used light switch on the
wall. The lights flickered on, only to sputter and short out a few
seconds later.  Kodachi scratched her head, and chuckled in amusement.
Leave it to Tatewaki to ensure that his room mirrored his personality.
She was prepared for just such a case, having believed that her
brother would have removed the normal lights from the room. Reaching
into a bag she carried, Kodachi pulled out a flashlight and turned it
on.
  Kodachi looked around the room, using the flashlight to sweep under
her brother's bed and into the various places in the room where things
could have fallen.  She halted in her search as she saw the book laid
out on Tatewaki's desk.  Reaching out, she flipped the book to the
cover.  Demons and Exorcisms?  Why was her brother interested in such
nonsense?  Kodachi paused for a second.  Could her brother be hatching
another scheme against Ranma-sama?  It seemed to be something that he
would do.  Yet to try and exorcise Ranma?  The idea seemed humorous at
best.
  A sudden memory came back to Kodachi at that moment.  She must have
been seven or eight at the time.  She could remember her mother and
father arguing over one of the latest frills that tousan had
purchased.  They were in the den in the west wing, and tousan was
insistent that he keep it.  The issue was never about the money that
they spent.  It was of who could exert more control.  This time, her
father had purchased some kind of old scroll.  It was sealed in a
glass container, and after the fight, he placed it in the wallsafe.
  Kodachi remembered her and her brother standing in the hallway,
listening to the argument.  Why would she remember this now?  Kodachi
headed over to the room, glancing inside.  The wallsafe was open.
Kodachi walked up to it, and shined her flashlight inside.  From the
dust around it, she could tell that it had been opened recently.  The
glass case was missing.  She scanned around the room, and found the
case on the desk.  She noticed an old piece of paper lying underneath
it.  Picking it up, she read it.  It was an invoice, indicating the
purchase of a scroll.  The title of the scroll was "Demon
destruction."
  Demon destruction?  Her father had loved odd items.  Could Tatewaki
have taken it?  Kodachi assumed that he had.  There was no other
reason for it to have left the room.  Tatewaki did not seriously
believe that the scroll would work, did he?  No.  Her brother was just
being bizarre, as usual.  Dropping the paper on the desk, Kodachi
took a step towards the door.  She promptly stumbled forward, her foot
caught on something.
  Glancing down at what she had tripped over, she saw a book lying
idly on the floor.  Grumbling, she kicked the book, sending it flying
into the wall.  The book flopped open and a scrap of paper fell out.
Kodachi's curiosity piqued, she looked at the paper.  It read:

"To whoever owns this scroll of power:
  Be very careful with it!  Such power as it contains has not been
seen in this day and age!  Using it could cause more harm than good!
Do not remove the scroll from the case!  Dangerous things will
happen!"

  Kodachi scratched her head.  Someone obviously had removed the
scroll from the case.  Her brother was probably behind this.  Why did
she care about what Tatewaki was trying to do anyway?  Ranma was not
possessed by a demon.  The scroll would have no effect on him.
Kodachi was busy enough reading the note that she did not notice the
red glow coming from behind her.  The glow expanded, filling the room
in seconds.  Kuno Kouchou's door slammed shut.

.....  To be continued .....