No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, Its just that this
is taking way longer than I thought.

Comedy-action is really hard, I think after this I'll go back
to quiet romance. I have a story in mind that takes place the night
of black. Sorry, It's not (too) lemon.

Parts 1 & 2 of Yellow, and a few other things 
may be found at my dusty Website:

	http://www.best.com/~jpalmer


_________________________________________________________________________


Yellow  
[-Kiroi-] 
 
By Joseph Palmer 
 
Part 3 
 
   Mariko was out of the rose water and halfway up the hill by the time
Souichi hit the ground. She found her brother lying on his back on one of
the cobbled paths. A red headed girl kneeling over him, gently slapping his
cheeks. 
   "Oi, Oi, are you okay?" she was asking. 
   Mariko stood at her brothers feet, steeled herself to  her full 5'3",
crossed her arms, and demanded; "Hey, you! What did you do to my brother?" 
   Ranma jerked around. "Nothing, we were just talking, and he passed out."
The commotion caused a small crowd to gather around them. The motion gave
many of the boys nose bleeds. 
   Mariko blushed at the brazenness of the redhead. Her hands found her
hips and she leaned in closer. 
   "Do you expect me to believe that? You - You - You - HUSSY! 
 
-=-=-=-=-= 
 
   Souichi drifted awake as from a dream. Rough. Wet. There was something
rough pushing on his back, and it was wet. Shouting. Sister. He could hear
shouting, and the person shouting sounded a lot like his sister. What
happened? He opened his eyes a slit and saw his sister shouting at a  girl.  
 
   Girl. There had been a girl. Oh yes. Definitely girl... and she was...
and they were... 
 
   Souichi sat up. 
 
   BIG mistake. 
 
   A searing pain shot from the back of his head, straight to the center,
where it lingered a moment before it split. Half sought out the sensitive
region just behind his right eye, and half found the left. His eyes
reflexively snapped closed. Cautiously he reached up and found a huge bump
on the back of his head. "Itai" he said. [Ouch.] 
   "Souichi!" Mariko cried.  "Are you Okay?" 
   "Oh, he's awake." Ranma turned, her chest inches from Souichi's nose. 
   "Te te te." Souichi hissed in a breath. "I was talking to this guy, but
then there was this girl, and she was..." Souichi picked that moment to
open his eyes. She was back, and this time just inches away. "...top -
less."  
   A second trickle of blood left his nose, and soon the bump on his head
had a second one for company. 
 
   "Make way!" Akane pushed her way through the crowd, saving her last
shove for Ranma, tipping her and three or four bystanders into the
adjoining pool. "Back up, give him some air!" She shouted at those
remaining on the path. She bent over Souichi with Mariko. "Is he okay?" 
 
   Souichi moaned and rubbed the back of his head. Mariko stood and turned,
scanning the crowd. "WHERE'D THAT RED-HEADED HUSSY EXHIBITIONIST  GO?" she
screamed. The crowd pointed to the pool where she and the others had
fallen, but there were only boys -- including Ranma, who searched around
convincingly -- and a very surprised Gaijin couple. The redhead was nowhere
to be seen. 
 
   Ranma completed his search, shrugged, and climbed from the pool to join
Akane. "Is he okay?" 
   "He'll be all right, but he doesn't have your hard head" 
   "Thanks. Anyway, I think I'll take him down to the showers." Ranma
helped the groggy Souichi to is feet and started down the hill with him. 
   Akane called after them, "Oh, Ranma, as long as you're there why don't
you get a T-shirt for yourself, you wouldn't want to be too EXPOSED to the
sun, you know." 
   "Hai." 
 
   Akane found the still fuming Mariko. "Ranma's taking your brother down
to the locker room so he can clean up." 
   "Thanks. Have you seen that half-naked red-head?" 
   Yeah, frequently, Akane thought, but the words came out as"Ah... well...
No." 
   "Will you help me look for her?" 
   "I'm sure she's long gone by now, don't you think?" 
   Mariko stalked off. "I'm going to keep looking." 
 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 
 
   Nabiki stretched contentedly in a secluded pool. She was rather pleased
with the effect of her little trick, after all, Ranma was family, well
practically, and it was high time he took his lessons in the Tendou school
of unlimited pranks (Nabiki Tendou, founder).  
   She'd stuck around the back of the crowd long enough to observe  the
after effects of Ranma's change, and hoped (with a slight twinge of guilt)
that the boy who'd been rewarded with an eyeful had not been hurt.  Nabiki
smiled. That boy was kind of cute... 
 
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
 
   Mariko had given up on her search and was heading back down the hill to
find her brother when she spotted a rock lined hallway heading off towards
the edge of the park.  She followed it around the corner, expecting it to
end in a service shed or pump room, but instead it opened onto a small pool
surrounded with high walls of rough rocks. There was a woman there, but she
didn't have red hair, and unlike the floozy redhead, she was wearing a
brown one piece swimsuit.  
 
   Nabiki looked up. For an instant the steaming water felt like ice. 
   Mariko turned to leave, then turned back. "Oh wait, you're Nabiki aren't
you?" 
   Nabiki paused, then nodded hesitantly. 
   Mariko stepped down into the pool. She sat at on a rock near the edge of
the path, and dangled her feet into the water. "I was on the train this
morning. This is so perfect! I've been really hoping  to talk to you in
private." Mariko slid down into the pool. "Ooops. My manners. I'm Mariko
Tanaka." 
   "Oh... ah... hi..." Nabiki nodded tentatively. "How did you come to know
my name?" 
   "Oh, I met your sisters earlier, they told me all about you." 
   Nabiki swallowed on a dry throat. "Is that so? What did they say?" 
   "Nothing much, except that you're not dating anyone special." 
   "Well no I..." Nabiki shifted uncomfortably. 
   "Me neither." Mariko looked up at the clouds and waved her arms lazily
in the water.  "There was someone, but we broke up last month." 
   "Oh. That's too bad."  Nabiki surveyed the walls. They were too high,
and Mariko was sitting in front of the only exit. 
   "I'll say. I was really sad about it for a while,  but now I feel like
it's  behind me, and I'm finally ready to meet someone new." 
   Nabiki felt dizzy. She wasn't sure if it was the conversation or the hot
water. 
   "Anyway, you should be happy. Starting this morning you have an admirer." 
   "Eh?" Nabiki stood suddenly.  Akane's whispered words  thundered in her
head. 
   "You shouldn't be so surprised, you know. I think it was that sexy
outfit you were wearing this morning." 
   Each of the pools was equipped with flat stone seats, to give the
bathers a place to cool down out of the water.  Nabiki found one and sank
heavily on it. 
   "Oh, I like that  swimsuit too, it's something a girl would wear for
herself. It looks very comfortable." 
   Nabiki didn't feel very comfortable. For the first time she regretted
not having taken up martial arts. Akane could have made it to the top of
the wall and away in one jump. Mariko continued to talk, but Nabiki tuned
her out, the words became an indistinct mumble.  I don't want to make a
scene, I should just tell her I'm not interested, and leave, she thought. 
   Mariko soon got around to mentioning her brother, and went on and on how
he wanted to meet her, but was to shy to make the first move. She might as
well have been talking to the rocks. "...so maybe we could meet for ice
cream later..." 
   "Wait..." Nabiki interrupted. "I.., I don't want to sound ...well...,"
she took a breath.  "I think you should know, I prefer the other gender." 
   "Eh?" Mariko choked. Nabiki wasn't interested in her brother, she
preferred the... other... gender. "Oh, I see." Mariko began to edge her way
out of the pool.  
   "I hope you don't mind." 
   "Oh no, why should I mind? I don't mind." Mariko worked her way closer
to the exit. 
   "I'm glad you're so understanding. This could have been really awkward..." 
   "Oh yeah, awkward..." That was exactly the word that Mariko was looking
for. 
   "So, you're okay with this?"
   "Yeah... sure." Mariko got up to leave. 
   "Good, I didn't want to offend you or anything. 
   " No, no problem... Ah look, I have to go check up on Souichi, he bumped
his head earlier, and Ranma took him down to the locker room."
   "Oh? That was your brother?"  
   "Mmm. Bye bye." Mariko waved and sprinted away down the path.
   She seemed nice enough, Nabiki thought, I wonder if she would introduce
me to her brother.

---------------------------------------------

   "FOUR???" The improvised ice pack fell to the bench, then rolled to the
floor.
   "Careful with that, it's the only plastic bag we have.
Anyway, It's not like it sounds. Two were arranged by my father, one was a
misunderstanding in China, and the other one just decided for herself. None
of them were really my idea." 
   Souichi returned the bag of shaved ice to his head. "Still, four fiances
at the same time. That must be some sort of record. Four." He shook his
head. "Wow."
   "It's really not at all it's cracked up to be."
   "Look, I ah, I don't suppose...."
   "I get that a lot. No." Ranma threw a towel at Souichi. "Find your own."
   "Stingy."
   "Oh yeah. I get that a lot too. Don't you have a girlfriend?"
   "No, I..." Souichi kicked at the mat under the bench.
"...but there is someone here at the park I really want to meet."
   "Well, see,that's a start. What did you do? Did you talk too her?"
   "No, i didn't have a chance. I only saw her for a moment, then I ended
up here."
   Ranma turned. "Oh yeah. Her."
   "One of your four?"
   "No."
   "But you know her, right?"
   "Oh well, yes, you could say that." Ranma opened the door.
   "Will you introduce me to her?"
   "I'm sorry Souichi, but don't waste your time chasing after her. I
happen to know for a fact that she's not really interested in meeting
boys." Ranma left, letting the door close slowly behind him. 
   Souichi watched the door close, and in a few moments the   the ice pack
fell to the bench for a second time.
--------------------------------------------------------
   Nabiki left her hideout, and walked warily to the end of the path. She
poked her head out and checked to her right then left, then stepped out to
the right, square in front of Akane. 
   "Going somewhere?" Akane planted herself in the middle of the path ,
blocking Nabiki's way. A child's pail swung heavily from her right hand.
   "Oh, hi Akane, what's up?
   "This yours?" Akane held the plastic pail out, sloshing a little to the
cement walkway.
   Nabiki watched the pail swing.
   "I found it in the cold pool." Akane let a little spill again. It
splashed onto Nabiki's feet.
   "Akane, This is against the rules, you can't get even for Ranma, he has
to do that for himself."
   Akane smiled, and let the bucket down a little, then slid her other hand
under the bucket, ready to throw.
   "Akane, wait..." Nabiki felt her way back into the narrow stone pathway,
her hands seeking purchase on the stones on each side.
   Akane followed her step for step.
   "Akane..." Nabiki pleaded, but Akane only smiled wider, and readied the
bucket. "You can't. It's the rules. Ranma should..." Akane paused. "You
have to wait for him, where is he?"  Akane's eyes flicked past Nabiki a
moment. "Oh, very good. I've seen you use that trick on Ranma a hundred
times. It's not going to work on me." Akane looked past her sister again,
then nodded. Nabiki shook her head. "Akane, stop that. I know he's still in
the dressing room."
   Nabiki's swimsuit, while quite modest in front, plunged to an inch above
her waist in the back. In one smooth motion Ranma reached out,  hooked it
with his left index finger, and  pulled it an inch. His right hand dumped
half of his shaved ice into the back of her suit. Nabiki jumped, the ice to
sliding to the small of her back.
   "KYAA! COLD!" She turned, Ranma was leaning against the stone wall
grinning at her. "YOU!" Nabiki glared at Ranma and  pulled the fabric of
her suit away from her skin, but that only allowed the ice to slide lower.
Her eyes went wide and her chin quivered  moment, then she let out an
undignified "Eeep!" and ran gingerly for the relief of the hot pool.
   Akane joined Ranma."Not a bad move for your first game."
   "Thanks. Now are you going to explain this 'game'?"
   "Sure, but first I have to decide what to do with this." Akane swung the
bucket menacingly.
   Rather than backing away, Ranma reached down and hooked his thumb into
the back of Akane's bikini bottom. "No, I think the question is, what am I
going to do with the rest of this shaved ice?"
   Their eyes locked. Akane was clearly weighing the risk against the
entertainment value.
   "Hey Ranma. This stuff better not stain!" Nabiki called from the pool.
   "It's melon." Ranma called back, his eyes not leaving Akane's.
   "The syrup was clear, so it should be okay." Akane smiled, but kept her
eyes on Ranma. "Pretty sticky, though."
   Nabiki stood up and tested her suit. "Oh jeez yuck. I'm heading for the
showers." She walked stiffly out to where Ranma and Akane were locked in a
Mexican standoff. "Okay Ranma, we're even. It wasn't really fair using
Akane to help, but since you're a beginner, I'll give it a pass." Neither
Ranma or Akane looked up. "Oh jeez. Are you two going to stay like that all
afternoon?"
   "I'll put down the pail if you put down the ice." Akane let the pail
down an inch."
   "Okay. on three. Ready? One... two... three." Ranma began to lower the
ice, and Akane lowered the pail halfway. Nabiki reached out and flipped the
pail, drenching Ranma and and Akane with the ice cold water.
   "Your turn! " she shouted, running for the exit. 
   "Ranma, Wait." Akane grabbed his arm.
   "But she's getting away, why shouldn't I go after her now?" He tugged
but couldn't get free.
   "Three reasons. One, you forgot your tee shirt." Ranma checked. Akane
giggled. "Maybe that's two reasons. Umm.. Three,  It's more fun if you make
her wait. The longer she has to wait, the more nervous she'll get. Then
after a while she'll start to relax..."
   "Yes! Then I get her." Ranma rubbed his palms together.
   "No. Then you make it clear that you could have, but you don't. You
wait, and then do it again, and again.
   "You're scary."
   "Thanks, but that's actually Nabiki's ploy, I was never that patient, I
just cased right after her. But anyway... Most importantly... Number
four..." she leaned to Ranma's ear an whispered. "That secluded pool is
empty." Akane dragged her fiance off towards the pool.

--------------------------------------------------------

   "Sounds nice, where is it?"
   Mariko pointed up the hill. "Follow that path up past the cold pond,
then go behind the sauna, and watch for a gap in the wall."
   "Are you coming with?"
   "No, I should wait here for my brother."
   "Okay, see you later."

--------------------------------------------------------

   Nabiki rinsed her swimsuit under the steaming shower, rinsing and
twisting it to remove sticky syrup. Ranma learns quickly, but it was worth
it, she thought. She smiled, closing her eyes to remember the scene when
she'd surprised him. The look on Ranma's face had been absolutely
priceless, and the effect on the other boy...  Nabiki looked at the
wrinkled swimsuit. I wish I'd brought my white bikini, she thought. Oh
well.... She turned off the water and was about to put her suit back on
when she remembered Akane's beach bag. She warped herself in a towel and
set off to raid her sister's collection.

--------------------------------------------------------

   "Souichi, over here." Mariko waved her brother over.
   "Hi sis." He stepped into the pool. 
   "How's your head?"
   "Still spinning. I had a very... interesting conversation with Ranma."
   "I had one of those with Nabiki."
   "Oh?" Souichi thought about it a moment. "I'll bet."
   "I'm sorry Souichi, but I have some bad news."
   "She's not interested in boys?"
   'You've heard."
   "Ranma filled me in."
   "It's too bad too, she's really nice."
   "Mmmmmm?"
   Mariko splashed her brother. "Stop it."

--------------------------------------------------------

   "Jeez. Are you sure this water is hot enough?"
   "It should be, but this seems to be taking far longer than usual."
   "Do you ever find out exactly what temperature is needed?
   "No, the Furinkan science club wanted to do an experiment once, but when
I showed up the club had quadrupled in size, and seemed to now include all
the members from the photography and video clubs,  and they all insisted
that clothes would somehow throw off the results. I never did find out" 
   Akane giggled, "Maybe you need more water." She filled the bucket and
poured it over Ranma's head. She was dipping it again when the change came.
   "Thanks, that's enough." Ranma took the bucket from her hand and set it
on the rocks above. "Now, tell me about this game of yours."
   "You mean this game?" Akane shifted, floating onto Ranma's lap. She
hugged him and leaned up to kiss him.

   "Here it is... Oh, is that you Akane?" Kasumi stood in the narrow passage. 
   With a loud splash Akane shifted to the other side of the pond. 
   "Ah, there you are Ranma."  Nodoka poked her head over Kasumi's
shoulder. "What are you two up to?"

--------------------------------------------------------

   Nabiki checked her profile in the mirror. It was a little tight, no, it
was a lot tight, but all in the right places. This suit was surely not what
a girl would wear for herself.

--------------------------------------------------------
   
   "It was just this game that Nabiki picked up in school from some of the
boys," Kasumi explained. "She was about nine or ten at the time, and she
decided to try it out when we went to an onsen in the mountains. She hid
some balloons in her swimsuit, then filled them with cold water from a
hose, then she climbed a tree above the pond and doped them on us. Akane
grabbed the hose and turned it in her, and of course the cold water rain
down on everyone, including the other guests."
   "So you didn't get even?" Ranma asked.
   "Oh yes she did," Akane interrupted. "That night we had sushi and Kasumi
loaded one with wasabi and put it in front of Nabiki. She took one bite and
there were tears rolling down her cheeks. She had to drink 5 cups of tea to
wash it away."
   "Kasumi, you didn't..." Nodoka looked shocked.
   "Oh yes she did, and that's not all," Akane giggled. "One time Nabiki
pulled some prank at home, I don't even remember what it was, but I
remember the revenge."
   "Oh? What was it?" Nodoka asked.
   "It was amazing. It took over a month before Nabiki figured it out,"
Akane began to laugh. "She... She..." Akane doubled over laughing.
   "Kasumi-chan, you'd better tell us." Nodoka prompted.
   "It was just a little sewing, that's all."
   Akane let out an undignified "Eep!" then covered her mouth.
   "What did you do dear?"
   "I just took her school dress in a little."
   "That's all?" Nodoka looked confused.
   "Oh, and I let it out a little."
   Akane recovered. "There was a little more to it. She took it in at the
hips just a little tiny bit every other night, and let it out in the bust
just a little tiny at the same time. Nabiki thought she was putting on
weight in the backside, and loosing what little bust she had."
   "Kasumi, I'm shocked." Nodoka smiled conspiratorially.

-----------------------------------------------------

   Souichi settled in. "What was wrong with the last one?" 
   "It was Okay, but this one has a better view."
   Souichi looked around. "I don't get it, we still can't see the valley
from here."
   "That's not..." Mariko paused to watch a boy walk past.
"...the view I was talking about."
   "I see."

-----------------------------------------------------

   "That was close, Soutome-kun."
   "Too close, Tendu-kun."
   "Did you spill any Soutome-kun?"
   "Only past my lips, Tendou-kun."
   "We should find a more hidden pool, don't you think, Soutome-kun."
   "So-so, Who'd have thought that a place like this wouldn't serve sake?
Tendou-kun."
   "A very strange rule, indeed, Soutome-kun. It's a very good thing we
bought our own.
   "So-so, a good thing, Tendou-kun. Let's have a look up that way."

-----------------------------------------------------

   Gamel bent one last time and picked the dusty boll from the  lowest
branch. He straightened his back, moaning out loud with pain. This was the
last of the season, perhaps the last ever for this field which had been
tilled with one crop or another for all of recorded history. The government
told him last last year that they would begin to fill the high dam, and his
field, and every field in sight would be flooded. In fact every acre of
land Gamel had ever walked upon would one day be under water.
   He twisted and pulled the seeds from the dirty boll. Just as his
ancestors had done for generations  before the machines had come from the
outside. He wondered where this handful would end up. Maybe part of a flag
waving over a distant capitol, maybe the handkerchief of a king, maybe even
part of a space suit. Gamel smiled. Imagine that, my cotton on the moon.
Naw, probably just part of a diaper. 

------
Tsuzuku [to be continued] 


The characters and stories of Ranma 1/2 are Copyright � Rumiko
Takahashi, and are used here without permission or licence.
No claims to the above copyright are made by the author of ths work.
This work is for non-commercial use ONLY, and is produced for the
enjoyment of fans only.
This work is the expression of the author and the depiction of
the Ranma 1/2 characters herin are in no way represented to be a
part of Ranma 1/2 as depicted by the original author and copyright
holder(s).

"Yellow" 1997,1998 Joseph Palmer


_______________________
Joseph Palmer, Founder
Video Storage Systems
jpalmer@videos2.com
www.VideoS2.com