Prologue

Sweat glistened off of Shampoo's body as she continued working through the
kata. It had happened. She felt it this time and there could be no doubt
about it. This was one of those rare occasions when she had moved to
perfection. No one, not Ranma, not even her grandmother, could have
executed the pattern any more flawlessly. This was the pinnacle of the art,
and should have been a moment to rejoice. Perfection was something that was
lacking throughout life, yet this was one of those moments when nothing
could be done to improve what she had just accomplished. 

Rather than bask in the personal victory, she continued onward, flowing yet
into another pattern, running through it at twice the speed of the first
one. Flawlessness was not what she was trying to achieve this time. Speed
was the goal. Blinding speed that involved a complex series of foot and
hand movements that blurred with near Amaguriken-like speed. In a flash
that was switched to a series of leaps and body movements that lashed out
at some imagined foe. There were precious few that could withstand the
series of attacks that Shampoo employed, had they been against a real
opponent.

At last she came to a halt on front of the floor to ceiling mirror that
decorated the entire circular room. Her chest heaved with the deep breaths
she inhaled to regain her energy and compose herself. Placing her hands on
her hips she admired the imposing figure that was reflected in the mirror
before her. The image was somewhat disheveled, but normal in every other
way. This is what she was, one of the best. The reflection in the mirror
could attest to that.

Which is why it was such a surprise when the image's eyes took on an almost
wild gleam as it gave an even wider smile at Shampoo. Shock laced through
her since her real body had not moved one centimeter. Her own eyes widened
as her image placed its hands on the sides of its own face and dug its
nails in. Flesh came away all too easily as the visage was shredded, almost
as though it had been nothing more than a horrible mask that the
doppelganger in the mirror possessed. Even as the pieces of errant skin
fell from its hands Shampoo could clearly see the face that lay beneath the
one removed. 

It was Shampoo-kun. 

Shampoo could do nothing other than stand in shock as the male image
impossibly stepped out of the mirror, changing to a male body as it crossed
the border between reality and the looking glass. Shampoo's surprise was so
great that she had managed to back no more than a couple of inches before
the male figure clutched her, pinning her arms to her sides. It maintained
its grasp as it roughly cast both of them to the ground. The near mirror
image then straddled her chest, resistance being futile as Shampoo felt the
strength mysteriously leave her limbs as she lay there, helpless. 

Her stunned mind managed to put together a string of words. "<Who are
you?>" 

The double looked down pitifully at her. "<I'm you. The real you.>"

Shampoo shook her head in disbelief. The creature had to mean something
else. "<What do you mean?>"

"<Just what I said,>" the double explained. "<This is what you really are,
when you peel away all the useless illusions that warm water provides. This
is what you want to be, deep inside you heart.>"

"<LIAR!!!>" Shampoo shouted. "<I'm a girl! I am not male! I'm not!>"

"<What about that little hot spring adventure with Kasumi then?>" the
double mocked.

Shampoo suddenly quieted down. "<I...I only did that because Kasumi wanted
me to be a man. I just wanted to make her happy. She's done so much for me,
and I wanted to do something for her. She deserves to be happy.>"

Shampoo-kun raised his head up and gave a deep hysterical laugh. "<Lying to
yourself? Oh please! You enjoyed it every bit as much as she did. No. Don't
waste your time trying to convince yourself otherwise.>" His voice lowered
to an almost baritone level. "<Let me show you the truth.>"

The double's hands shot out and grasped the sides of Shampoo's face. Even
if she had not lacked the strength there was no way she could have
prevented the man's actions. With a quick pull he ripped away Shampoo's
face in an identical motion to what he had done to himself moments before.
Even as the flesh gave way Shampoo could feel herself undergoing the all
too familiar transformation, mass being lost and gained in various places
from around her body. In less than a second Shampoo had been forced to
change to her cursed form without the benefit of cold water. 

"<Now you see what I mean. I told you that's what was really underneath.>"
The doppelganger grinned at the boy pinned beneath him, as he ran a hand
along the prone Amazon's chest.

"<It's not true,>" Shampoo-kun sobbed. "<I am a girl.>"

The double's smile switched to a look of pity. "<Why are you being so
stubborn? It doesn't make any difference to you what sex you are.>"

"<W...what are you talking about?>" Shampoo-kun asked fearfully. 

The double's voice shifted to a higher one Shampoo-kun recognized all too
well. "<Let me show you.>" And with that he once again pulled away his
face, though this time it was neither Shampoo's male nor female features
that stared back at her. 

Ranma-chan stared down at her form, smiling exactly like a cat with
cornered prey. 

"<You find me attractive,>" the redhead began, speaking in the same tone
Ranma-chan always did. She leaned forward until Shampoo-kun could feel her
breath against his face. "<You like Kasumi, but you burn for me. Male or
female doesn't mean anything to you. You'll take me any way you can.>"

"<No. I...>" He licked his lips, trying to bring moisture back to them. "<I
want you to want me as a girl. It's important to me. I need you to want me
as a woman.>"

"<Don't be picky,>" Ranma-chan scolded. "<It's a perfect match. Boy and
girl or girl and boy. All it takes is some warm water, or cold depending on
what you're in the mood for. All you need to do is say it. Tell me you want
me like I am now. Say it to my face.>"

Something deep and primal within Shampoo-kun wanted to say it, but he
couldn't find the voice for the feelings. It shouldn't have to be like
this. Ranma should desire her for what she was: a girl.

Ranma-chan looked on, scorn evident in her features. "<Coward,>" she said
as she rose to her feet. "<You're so afraid I'll reject you, it's
disgusting.>"

That shocked the Amazon out of his reverie. "<I don't want to lose you!>"

"<You don't have me. And since you don't want me, I guess I'll just have to
go to Akane. She'll love me as a man or a woman. What I am isn't important
to her and you know it, coward.>" Ranma-chan gave one last contemptuous
sneer and turned to walk away. 

Strength at last returned to Shampoo-kun allowing him to shoot to his feet.
Ranma-chan hadn't taken more than three steps when the Amazon grabbed her
by the shoulder and spun her around. He barely took notice of the smile the
shorter girl had before bending down and bringing his lips to hers,
fiercely kissing her for all he was worth. Time lost meaning in the embrace
as Shampoo-kun remained virtually motionless for what seemed like an
eternity. Eventually even he had to break off the kiss. 

Ranma-chan looked at him with a smile on her lips, giving a sound of
satisfaction as she gazed coyly at the boy. "<See, you do like it when
you're a guy. Now don't you feel better?>"

A feral snarl was the response Shampoo-kun gave as he ripped open the
girl's top and buried his head between her breasts. From his position
Shampoo-kun could hear Ranma-chan moaning. "<I guess you do. That's better.
Much better. Just let go and give in to the feeling. Show me what you're
really made of.>" Anything else was lost as Shampoo-kun continued to do
just as Ranma-chan suggested, giving way to his 'feelings' in every way he
could.


It was much later when Shampoo awakened from the dream. 

It was still the very early morning when she awakened, staring at the
ceiling while sighing. She had had plenty of dreams about Ranma. In fact,
that was what she had dreamed about the most, outside of nightmares about
the curse, and those had dwindled to almost nothing. In most of the dreams
Ranma was a boy, but every now and then Ranma would be in his cursed form
with Shampoo; a surprise at first that actually became enjoyable as time
went on. But tonight had been the first time that she ever had that sort of
a dream while being male herself. Just one more piece of her femininity
being chipped away. And the worst thing was, she didn't have enough
emotions to feel saddened about it. It almost seemed natural, as though
that was the way things should be.




Ranma 1/2 Presents:
Shampoo 1/2
Chapter 26

Girl Problems


C+C always appreciated. 
Azatlan has given Shampoo 1/2 a beautiful home at:
http://www.geocities.com/~azatlan/Special-Series/shampoo.html

or you can email me direct for anything at sommer@nb.net

Standard disclaimer:
I don't own any of the Ranma 1/2 charaters. There are owned by the Goddess
Takahashi and whomever she sold the rights too. Other characters are owned
by someone else.

An alternate universe:
What's gone on before (or what you need to know to enjoy this fic.) In the
beginning, the Saotome's traveled to Jusenkyou and began sparring, not
realizing Shampoo and Mousse had already begun a duel there. One mid-air
collision and swim in Spring of Young Drowned Man later, there is a male
Shampoo as well as a female Ranma. (So Ranma-chan= female Ranma.
Shampoo-kun= make Shampoo. Enjoy.) Shampoo elected to travel to Japan with
Ranma and was accidentily married to Kasumi. After that was cleared up
Ranma became engaged to Akane. Over the ensuing months many friend and
enemies were made. Most recently it was revealed that Shampoo killed
Katsunishiki, Akari Unryuu's pet pig. This caused the pig farmer to seek
revenge by immersing herself in the Spring of Drowned Sumo Razorback and
try to trample Shampoo. Kunou got his hands on a book of advanced Jurai
sword techniques Tarou threatened Nabiki. Mousse recovered from his beating
in a major battle with Shampoo. Ryouga and Ranma got in a fight over Ukyou,
and Kasumi and Shampoo spent some quality time on a little vacation the two
of the took at a hot spring. Now things are about to pick up again... 

<> Indicates Chinese

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Shige scowled at the rest of his fellow kendoists as they sat in their
proper lines, waiting for their captain to say something. Why Kunou had
summoned them all on a Saturday was beyond his ability to fathom. 

Shige examined their leader once more. He would have liked to have said
there was something different about their captain today. A slightly
different tilt to the chin, or perhaps some glint of mischievousness in the
eyes. Something that would make him appear different. But the fact of the
matter was Kunou looked as haughty and arrogant as ever. How annoying. 

If Kunou had not been head and tail better than everyone else there was no
way he'd have been accepted as their leader. Regardless of what everyone
outside of the club thought, they were not composed of little else than
Kunou clones that worshipped the ground he walked on (save perhaps for
Masahiro, who was more than a little bizarre by anyone's standards). On the
contrary, most members went through varying degrees of annoyance to
outright hatred of their leader. But there was one thing all the members
did acknowledge, one feeling they all shared. They wanted to be better
kendoists and Kunou was the quickest way to become that. Above all other
things, save for his obsession with Akane and Shampoo, he was a swordsman
first and foremost. and the Furinkan Club was openly acknowledged as the
best there was by everyone. Kunou was directly responsible for that.


Kunou decided he had allowed his subordinates to simmer long enough.  It
was time to find out if all of his training was for naught, or if he had at
long last achieved the next step on his way to becoming a living legend in
the art.  He allowed the lesser men to bask in his image one last moment
before giving his instructions. "I want all of you to attack me."

The kendoists responded with a surprising enthusiasm, lining up in a single
file. Kunou shook his head at the display before him. "No, simpletons! I
wish you to attack me all at once."

Everyone was surprised at that declaration. Kunou was good, but the most he
had been able to defeat at the same time was six, and he had suffered
several severe blows in the process. The men milled about in confusion,
trying to figure out what was really going on.  

Even Kunou realized something else was going to be required to focus his
men's attention on the matter on hand. "Whoever manages to best me shall be
the leader of the club and I will openly acknowledge him as the next 'Blue
Thunder'."

Kunou never realized just how fast his fellow club members were as they had
him in a 'circle of death' within the blink of an eye. Slowly he brought
his bokken before him, preparing one of the techniques he had practiced so
very often in the last few weeks. He slowly spun around in a circle,
gauging the determination in each of his opponents' eyes. Each one of them
displayed the barely restrained desire of a shark smelling blood in the
water. That was just as it should be. Only the hungry could achieve
greatness. 

Shige was the first one to attack. 

It was a testament to the abilities of the club that they managed to last
almost a full minute before the final youth hit the wooden floor of the
gym, unconscious. Kunou, looked over the scene of carnage, then saluted his
fallen teammates before holding his bokken high overhead in victory. If
only there were someone other than the gods watching down upon him as he
basked in his victory. But at least there would be more than enough
adulation directed towards him on the next morn, when the 'new and
improved' Blue Thunder would unveil himself before the student body and the
world at large. 


Ranma-chan was not having a good day as she wandered aimlessly around
downtown Nerima. The little old lady had somehow managed to nail her again,
and the redhead had been certain she was not even walking on the street
that the old bag lived on. If only she wasn't so old Ranma-chan would do
something to convince her that throwing water blindly out into the streets
was not the thing to do. 

There was little point in crying over spilt milk (water). At least the
weather was still very hot, drying out her soaking outfit quickly. Wearing
wet clothing was never any fun, especially the reaction guys had as they
stared at her chest, the bunch of perverts. Several experiences of a dozen
or so guys hitting on her whenever that happened made avoiding wearing
white shirts an easy choice. It wasn't her fault she never wore a bra, and
never would. She was a manly man and would never make that concession no
matter how often she got splashed with water. 

The slow anger that had been building up was quickly released. There was
nothing to be gained in being mad at the injustices the world leveled at
her. Life was like martial arts, when you got hit you rolled with the blow
and got back on your feet, ready to take another punch. Too bad she seemed
to get hit so often.

As Ranma-chan started to feel like her usual, confident self, she happened
to glance upward at one of the partially constructed skyscrapers that was
being built in the area. That was a familiar sight. Ranma-chan had spotted
it some time ago and had enticed Shampoo to come out with her in the dead
of night and use it to train. The structure was an ideal place to practice
deceptively delicate balancing exercises that were done by playing games of
tag amongst the girders. Gods but it was the most fun she had in ages. The
duo would leap from girder to girder in an effort to either touch or avoid
being touched by 'it'. The first time they had gone up they had spent close
to two hours frolicking like little children, sticking tongues out at one
another as they switched between hunting or taunting one another in an
effort to goad the other one to try all the harder to catch him or her.

Ranma-chan had considered taking Akane along that first night but
hesitated. As good as Akane's balance was, and Ranma-chan would admit it
had improved a great deal, she still felt a little uneasy with the risk
involved. All it would take was one misstep and if Ranma-chan wasn't close
enough to catch her everything would end in a splat. But for some odd
reason those same reservations did not apply to Shampoo. 

The redhead kicked a stone as she tried figuring out exactly why that was.
Of course there were differences between the two girls, but he still felt
the need to protect both of them, and yet Shampoo was different. Why? True,
their 'discussion' on the ship, the TWPOS, had forced Ranma-chan to openly
admit she would treat Shampoo as an equal, but that was said mostly just to
placate the Amazon. Wasn't it? She didn't think that was a consideration
when she had asked Shampoo to play on the half completed steel structure.
No, Ranma-chan had invited Shampoo because it was fun, and because he
trusted the Amazon to take care of herself. Without the concern of Shampoo
falling to her death Ranma-chan could have even more fun. Maybe the
difference between the two was trust.

More thoughts along those lines were lost as the redhead noticed a crane
shifting a group of I-beams suddenly give out a loud groan of strained
metal. The cargo stopped in mid-motion as the crane huge arm began to sag
down and out over the street. At first Ranma-chan was glad that she wasn't
anywhere near enough to have those beams fall and hit her, but a quick
estimation of where they would land caused her heart to seize up in her
chest. An older woman with a baby carriage was directly under where the
beams would land. Worse, the woman seemed to be unaware of her predicament
as she seemed to be calming the child, who appeared to be crying. 

Ranma-chan was in motion in the blink of an eye. She shouted out to the
woman even as she ran for all she was worth, hoping the lady would get out
of the path of danger before Ranma-chan would get there. The woman heard
the younger girl and did nothing more than stare confusedly at her. Full
concentration fell upon the child and woman as Ranma-chan heard rather than
saw the cable supporting the load of metal snap even as she reached the
side of the duo. Literally moving as though all three of their lives
depended on it, she told the woman to hold tightly onto the child as she
grabbed the woman and tucked her under the arm and leaped out of the way. 

Ranma-chan landed just as the series of I-beams hit the ground behind her.
There was an involuntarily cringe at the loud roar of metal as it shattered
concrete and sent pieces of the rock flying in all directions. She looked
over her shoulder, leaving the woman and child under her arm as she stared
at the pile of metal that had impacted and destroyed the sidewalk where all
three had been just over a second ago. It had been that close. Ranma-chan
doubted even the massive Lime could have survived the impact of that much
metal from such a height. She noticed that a single girder remained
standing straight up, almost as if the mass of metal were giving her the
finger for preventing the woman and child from being smashed flat.

Ranma-chan set the woman down in front of her and gave a quick visual
examination. Thankfully, both the woman and child appeared unharmed, though
shaken from the experience. 

After a few moments the woman recovered enough to bow before Ranma-chan.
"Thank you, young lady. If it wasn't for you my son and I would have been-"
her voice caught as she visualized what had nearly happened. 

Ranma-chan blushed at the compliment and looked down at the ground as she
spoke. "It was nothing ma'am. I'd have..." her voice trailed off as she
looked up to see the woman gaping at something behind the redhead.
Ranma-chan had no chance to react before the single I-beam, which had been
pointing upward, suddenly came crashing down and landed hard on her,
striking the back of her head first before the weight pinned her to the
ground. 

Within moments several construction workers and bystanders helped lift the
metal girder off of the pinned girl. It took several moments for Ranma-chan
to return to her feet, obviously out of it as she staggered back and forth
as though drunk. 

"Are you all right?" the woman who Ranma-chan had rescued asked. 

With a final shake of her head the young martial artist cleared it of her
cobwebs and looked kindly at the woman. "Thank you for your concern. I feel
fine. Really. It was nothing more than a slight blow."

The woman thanked Ranma-chan once again before departing. It was rare that
such a fine young woman would risk herself like that. And she had been so
worried that the girl had been hurt when the girder fell on her. It was a
relief that there was no injury, although there was some almost
imperceptible quality about the short girl that seemed different, and it
was after she had been struck. Still, it could simply have been the woman's
imagination. She had been through quite an ordeal after all.


Ranma-chan hummed through the streets as she considered what a nice day it
was. If only the birds were out then she could really enjoy the weather. It
was not long into her walk before she began idly fingering her shirt in a
disdainful way. Things just seemed to come into focus as it occurred to her
that it was the same drab red she wore almost every day. There just wasn't
anything she owned that seemed to be worth wearing anymore, save that
delightful little shirt Shampoo had sown for her. What was needed was new
clothing, and lots of it. She hadn't been shopping for herself in what
seemed like an eternity and now was the perfect opportunity. Of course,
there was one thing that was missing: a second opinion. As she was
pondering how to solve that particular problem the answer appeared before
her.

"Ranma!" Ryouga shouted as his aimless wandering brought him into
Ranma-chan's line of sight. "I still want revenge for what you did to Ukyou
the other day! It was all your fault! Now prepare to dAGHK!!!" His battle
cry was cut off as Ranma-chan giggled and snatched him by the arm, dragging
the lost one behind her as she hurriedly ran off at top speed with him in
tow.

"What are you doing, Ranma?!" Ryouga shouted as the redhead continued
running with him in tow, as though there were no tomorrow.

"I just need your opinion on some new clothes I'm going to buy," Ranma-chan
exclaimed as she flew past several shops, never relinquishing her hold on
Ryouga. After passing by several clothing stores she paused in front of
what she considered the perfect one. "It's pretty," she cooed.

Ryouga finally got a chance to reorient himself enough to look at the store
and gape in open disbelief at where the girl had chosen to stop. "That's a
women's clothing store, Ranma." And for some reason Ryouga could not
fathom, Ranma-chan was making a big production out of the dress that was on
display in the window.

"Of course it is, silly," she giggled and grabbed him by the arm once more,
dragging him into the store.

Once inside Ryouga finally managed to brace himself and snatched his arm
out of Ranma-chan's. "What game are you playing at? Why did you haul me in
here? Is this some sort of plan to trick someone out of something you want
by wearing a dress?"

"No," Ranma-chan said. "It's nothing like that. I just need some new
clothes to wear. Everything I have is so dull. I need some vigor and life
in my clothing." She paused to examine Ryouga more closely. "Your wardrobe
could use some work too. You could use something besides all those yellow
and black numbers. And we should do something about those leg bindings you
wear all the time." 

"What's wrong with my clothing?" Ryouga fingered his shirt as Ranma-chan
tsked before him. He thought it was perfectly fine. Owning nothing but the
same style of shirt and pants made things easier. It saved on having to
make the difficult decision of what to wear in the morning. Besides, he
liked yellow and black.

Ranma-chan shook her head sadly. "You need something to show off that
vibrancy and love of life that I know is locked within you. But that's for
later. Right now I have to pick out some clothes."

A matronly salesperson made her way over to the couple. "Can I help you?"
She directed her question to Ranma-chan while seeming to ignore Ryouga's
presence.

"Yes. I would like to see that dress in the window. And try on some other
things as well," Ranma-chan informed the woman.

She smiled at the anticipated sale. "Of course, dear. Let me get that for
you and show you to the fitting rooms."

It took but a moment for the woman to grab the dress and instruct
Ranma-chan to follow her. The redhead started to accompany the saleswoman
when she realized Ryouga was going from simply standing around in confusion
to wandering off. 

"Oh no you don't!" She snared Ryouga by the arm and led him next to the
saleswoman. "My..." she paused, blushing with the next word. "...friend
here has a bad tendency to wander off. Would you be kind enough to keep an
eye on him to make sure he sticks around?"

The woman gave a knowing wink. "I understand. Men do have a tendency to
drift away when we women are shopping for clothing." 

The two females exchanged knowing giggles, much to Ryouga's worry. He
noticed Ranma-chan grab something else off the rack before heading into the
fitting room, leaving Ryouga with the saleswoman.

After a few moments the woman spoke up. "You two make a cute couple."

That was the most disgusting thing he had ever heard. "We are not a
couple!" Ryouga snapped. "We don't even get along with one another." Ranma
was really going to pay for dragging him into this situation. 

"Young couples always have problems," the saleswoman reassured him. "But
don't worry about it. I saw the way she looked at you." 

That left Ryouga confused. "What way was that?"

"It was obvious. She's in love with you." 

Ryouga facefaulted. Upon recovering he began shouting. "Don't be absurd!
There's no way he's in love with me! Ranma's really a-"

The rest of his tirade was cut off as Ranma-chan poked her head out of the
dressing room while leaving everything else covered with the curtain that
separated the fitting room from the rest of the store. "Ryouga," she
chimed. "Would you come over here for a moment?"

Ryouga stomped on over, fed up with the misunderstanding and being in one
of the last places in the world a guy like him should be. "What?!"

"I want your opinion on how I look in this." And with that she opened the
curtain and allowed Ryouga to fully take in her form. 

She was dressed in a skimpy, lacy red bra with matching red panties, and
nothing else. The clothing had the predictable effect of causing a
nosebleed and making Ryouga's hair stand straight up in the air. He barely
managed to recover before passing out and turned, covering his eyes.

"RANMA!!!" he shouted. "You're wearing women's lingerie!"

"Of course," Ranma-chan stated as though it were the most obvious thing in
the world. "I can't just run around without wearing a bra. People might
think I'm a tramp or something."

Ryouga's mind rebelled at even trying to figure out what Ranma-chan was up
to. He simply remained silent and preyed Ranma would stop playing games
with him.

"How do I look?" Ranma-chan continued.

Ryouga gave up. The sooner Ranma-chan won whatever game it was, the sooner
he could get out. "I guess you look fine. Can we go?"

Much to his horror he felt Ranma-chan grasp him from behind and press
tightly into his back. 

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou," she blurted out, then released him. "Just wait
there. I have one more thing I want to show you." 

Ryouga took a chance to look over his shoulder to see Ranma-chan had darted
back inside the fitting room. Deciding it was his best chance to get away,
he went to leave when the saleswoman blocked his path.

"Now do you understand?" she asked. "No woman that wasn't in love would
display herself like that."

"Lady," He said sadly. "You have no idea what Ranma's like. He's capable of
anything."

"You mean you don't like her?" 

Ryouga nodded his head.

"What are you, gay?" she asked.

"I AM NOT GAY!!!" Ryouga shouted. "And what kind of question is that
anyway?"

"Relax," the woman tried soothing Ryouga's temper. "I have nothing against
homosexuals. It's just that she's very beautiful, seems to be very caring,
and happens to be in love with you. I just jumped to the wrong conclusion.
Sorry." she bowed deeply in apology.

"Believe me. Ranma does not love me." Any further explanations were
interrupted by  Ranma-chan once again making her presence known by calling
out to Ryouga. He turned to see the redhead in the dress that had been in
the store window. It was a white frilly thing that showed a good amount of
cleavage. Cleavage she thrust in the direction of Ryouga's face.

"How do I look now?" she asked as she jiggled in his direction.

Ryouga shook his head and turned away once again. "What are you doing in
that?!" He was about to continue when he heard a sniffle. Silently he told
himself it just could not be what it sounded like. Daring to turn around he
saw that it really was Ranma-chan who was producing the sniffling. Even
worse, it appeared she was about to cry.

"Y...you mean you don't like it?" She was barely able to contain her tears.

If there was one thing in common that Ryouga and Ranma shared, besides
being good martial artists, it was that neither could stand to see a woman
cry. In that respect Ryouga might even have been worse than Ranma. And
seeing the redhead before him, Ranma or not, he began to feel like dirt.

The saleswoman elbowed him in the ribs. "Say something to make her feel
better," she whispered in his ear.

"R...Ranma," He at last got out. "You look nice."

The reaction was almost instantaneous. Ranma-chan's tears dried up and she
gained a huge smile on her face. "You mean that?"

"Yes. I do," Ryouga replied. "Can we go now?"

"Yes!" Ranma-chan jumped up and down in joy. "Just let me pay for these
things and we can leave." 

Ranma-chan did as she promised and the duo left the store together. They
hadn't made it more than halfway down the block when Ranma-chan attached
herself to Ryouga's arm. 

"What are you doing?" Ryouga asked in shock. Whatever the joke was it had
gone too far.

"Ryouga. I was just wondering. Do you think Ukyou and Kyoko appreciate
you?" 

"What's that supposed to mean?" He silently wondered if this was some
convoluted plan to ruin his life again. It had to be. It was the only thing
that made sense. 

"What I'm trying to say is, I don't think they treat you the way you
deserve," she explained, then started running a finger playfully along his
chest. "I think I could do a much better job, if you let me." 

She gave him a seductive wink as she finished the proposition, which was
more than enough to terrify Ryouga like nothing ever had before. He used
all his muscle to break free of Ranma-chan's grasp and ran off horrified.
He silently considered that if all of that had been some plan of
Ranma-chan's to scare the hell out of him and make him run away, it had
worked to perfection. Ranma-chan was going to be allowed to live until she
started acting like normal. No matter how long it took.


Ranma-chan returned to the Tendo household more than a little disheartened.
Ryouga was so confusing some times that it was really frustrating. It was
like the lost one didn't really know what he wanted. Or if he did he would
invariably take a course of action that was least likely to give it to him.
Maybe he was just bad news and should be avoided. 

Upon entering Ranma-chan went upstairs to change back into normal
housewear. The dress was just so nice that it had to be saved for a special
occasion, not for everyday wear. As she returned to the main part of the
house she saw Akane had returned from visiting Malia, who was in the
hospital recovering from an appendectomy. 

"Hello, Akane," Ranma-chan greeted as pleasantly as she could. "Would you
like to go out on the back porch and enjoy some watermelon with me?"

Akane was more than a little surprised at the gesture. Ranma-chan was
usually never that polite or kind, save on the rarest of occasions. Still,
it was hardly an offer she could refuse. And on the offhand chance
Ranma-chan was just softening her up before dropping some kind of
bombshell, the redhead would find out how much Akane disliked being led on.

Ranma-chan was indeed being extra polite as she insisted that Akane sit out
back first while she grabbed all the food. Ranma-chan returned within
moments, smiling the entire way.

"Thanks for sitting out back with me. I don't want to enjoy this day
alone." Ranma-chan said as she bit down into a piece of the watermelon.
Akane took notice that the shorter girl was taking the time to savor the
bite as opposed to wolfing it down like she usually did. 

Her notice went from casual interest to concern. "Is something bothering
you, Ranma?"

"No," the girl replied. "But thank you for asking. Is there anything
troubling you?"

Akane shook her head and smiled in return. This was a side of Ranma-chan
that rarely came to the forefront. Her usual course language and manners
were being replaced with perfectly civilized behavior, and the best part
was that none of it appeared strained. Akane was almost certain she would
see through one of the redhead's acts. She hadn't spent so much time in
Ranma-chan's company that she couldn't pick up on her fiance's more obvious
ploys and moods. In fact, she was fairly confident that she could read
Ranma-chan's emotions close to three quarters of the time. Well, when the
shorter girl didn't do something to anger Akane, which always ended up
clouding the youngest Tendo's judgment. But those actions were unmistakably
becoming, at least slightly, less as time went on. Akane had to grin as she
came to realize that her fianc� had indeed been saying the wrong thing less
and less. Maybe he was finally starting to learn some manners.

"What are you smiling about?" Ranma-chan asked innocently.

Akane snapped out of her reverie. It was probably best that she not give
the whole truth, Ranma-chan might get offended if accused of foot in mouth
disease. "I'm just happy that you invited me to eat with you." That was the
truth, and it was plenty of reason to smile.

Saotome gained a smile of her own. "It's always better to have a friend at
your side."

Akane's mouth nearly hit the floor in surprise. It was nothing short of
amazement that her fianc� would actually say such words without being
prodded or cajoled into speaking them. Yes, if someone had asked her point
blank Akane would have said she believed she was Ranma-chan's friend, and
that the redhead felt the same way. But to hear those words slide so easily
from the girl's mouth was a total shock.

"You should really chew with your mouth closed," Ranma-chan advised to her
gaping companion. 

Akane shut her mouth and calmed down. To have her Ranma-chan being so open
was uplifting to say the least. 

The silence between the two of them lingered for a little while before
Ranma-chan spoke once more. "Have you ever considered wearing a little more
make-up?"

Akane's good mood was shattered in an instant as Ranma-chan's mouth once
again had to mess everything up. "So you think I'm ugly, is that it?!"

The redhead held her hands up defensively. "Not at all. I just think it
would make you look cuter than you already are."

For the second time in less than ten minutes Akane was once again caught
totally off guard. Ranma-chan had just used the word 'cute' without an 'un'
before it when describing her. 

"Is something wrong with your jaw?" Ranma-chan asked, concern obviously
written on her face. "It keeps hanging open, and it's so far down it looks
like you should be in a lot of pain."

Akane recovered enough to shut it once again. "I'm fine," she replied
meekly. "Did you just call me cute?" It wasn't too late for it all to be
revealed as some massive hallucination brought on by sampling some of her
own cooking.

"Of course, why do you think all those boys were after you when I first
arrived here," Ranma-chan happily explained. "I just think if you would
apply a little more make-up, and maybe curl your hair a little, you would
go from simply being cute to beautiful."

Akane nearly passed out. It was all some kind of dream. That was the only
explanation. Either that or Ranma-chan just had a personality transplant.

Ranma-chan lay back on the wooden flooring of the porch as she took in a
deep breath of air. "It feels so good to just have the wind blowing over
you when the weather is perfect like today."

Akane couldn't help smiling as she gazed upon the prone figure. Her fianc�
had not just called her cute, but said she could be beautiful. BEAUTIFUL!
It was unbelievable. Ranma-chan never said anything remotely like that.
Never. Akane hadn't felt this happy in a very long time. She took her gaze
from Ranma-chan and looked out into the yard. The redhead was right. The
day was beautiful, and Akane couldn't help feeling that somehow, in some
way, Ranma-chan had made it just perfect with one word. The feeling was
just so alien to her. She had literally never felt that way before, about
anything or anyone. And it felt so...indescribable.

"You know," Akane began to look towards her fianc�, then hesitated. It was
difficult to talk if she looked directly at the girl since words were
failing her. The only way she seemed to be able to talk coherently was if
she looked away, so she chose to gaze out at the yard while continuing.
"I've been thinking a lot about the way things have been going lately.
We've been through a lot together. An awful lot. Some of it good, and some
of it bad. But if it was a choice between not going through it and not
meeting you, or the way things have turned out now. I would pick having you
around every time."

"Thanks, Akane." Ranma-chan smiled at the compliment. "I feel the same
way."

He didn't make a joke or play it off. Ranma-chan was actually listening to
what she was saying and taking it seriously. It was too good an opportunity
to pass up. For some odd reason she felt like continuing, though she had to
keep looking away from her fianc� and out towards the yard. It did not
really matter though. The words were what was important, not the physical
appearance of one another.

"I know we sort of had this engagement thing forced upon us, and neither of
us want it. And sometimes maybe I make a big deal out of it and act sort of
angry occasionally." Akane realized she was beginning to ramble and tried
concentrating on what she wanted to say. "And I might not make it easy for
us to deal with the way our fathers act because sometimes I blame you
instead of them. But as many times as you've said you don't like it either,
the whole situation could be a lot worse. I mean, you've never tried taking
advantage of me or the fact we're engaged, not that I'd let you," she
quickly added. 

"Believe me," Ranma-chan said. "You don't have to worry about that sort of
thing from me now."

Akane played with her fingers, not daring to look at Ranma-chan. No
comments about how he wouldn't hit on an uncute tomboy. The day was getting
better and better. She gulped as she continued. "So even though I sometimes
say I can't stand you, I don't always mean it the way it sounds. I mean you
really do drive me up the wall a lot of the time, but not always. And I do
want you to realize that, even if I don't always mention it, I kind of do
appreciate having you around. And every now and then you do nice things for
me, and maybe I don't always act like I enjoy it, but I do."

Damn! She was rambling and nearly incoherent again, but it was so difficult
to say such things, and it was not like she rehearsed them or anything.
Akane overheard Shampoo-kun announce he had returned before giving total
concentration to her thoughts once more, continuing to gaze towards the
yard and intentionally avoiding looking at Ranma-chan.

"And there's something else I want to mention. Maybe sometimes I push my
cooking on you, but it's only because I want to help everyone, and I want
to help you. I know sometimes what I cook isn't good, sometimes, but I'm
not trying to poison you. I just want to share things with you. And maybe,
just maybe, sometimes I overreact to things every now and then. I'm not
saying I do it often, and like I said, you really say some rotten things
occasionally, but sometimes you don't and I overreact because I
misinterpret a situation or misunderstand something you say. Anyway, what
I'm trying to say is that I'm kind of sorry for losing my temp..." She
trailed off as she at last turned to look the redhead in the eye as she
apologized for her occasionally somewhat overreacting behavior. 

Ranma-chan was nowhere to be seen.

Akane had been opening up her heart and feelings to the jerk and he just
ran off in the middle of her big speech. She immediately took back the
apology, despite no one being around. Her fianc� was the biggest jerk she
had ever known. And the next time she ran into him she would let him know.
Oh would he ever.


Ranma-chan had run off not because she was bored with Akane, but there were
some things she was going to have to inform everyone about the engagement
that were going to have to change. And it seemed that Akane was talking
about things that were not going to mesh well with what Ranma-chan was
going to have to reveal. The redhead was trying to figure out exactly how
to tell her fiancee when something else even more important came up. 

Shampoo-kun had returned. 

Ranma-chan leaped to her feet and ran as fast as the wind to see the Amazon
come to the door. Shampoo-kun was already taking off his shoes when he saw
Ranma-chan speed up to him in the doorway. 

"How did your little trip go? Did you find what you needed?" Ranma-chan
asked.

Shampoo-kun shook his head. "It nothing special. Just some things Kasumi
wanted."

"You are so generous and thoughtful. Tell me, are you planning on working
out soon?"

Shampoo-kun nodded his head. Ranma-chan was paying an unusual amount of
attention to him, perhaps to make up for the lack of attention the Amazon
had been returning. It just felt so awkward since the little weekend
vacation. But it was time to fight through the awkwardness and press on.
"Yes. You want to spar too?" That was like asking Kunou if he felt like
reciting a few lines of poetry. Ranma-chan could never refuse an
opportunity to spar.

Until now. 

"No thanks," she replied evasively. "I don't feel like it today. Why don't
you spar with Akane and Pop?"

"Is you okay?" Shampoo-kun asked, suspecting Ranma-chan was suffering from
some kind of injury.

"Oh yes," Ranma-chan replied, then seemed to blush red. "Thank you for
asking. I'll see you in a little while." And with that she ran off into the
interior of the house.

Shampoo-kun was left there, standing absolutely still. Something was
different about Ranma-chan. Something different about the way she walked
and talked, but the Amazon was damned if he could figure out what it was.
Shrugging his shoulders he went inside to grab some hot water and get into
a gi to start sparring.


Akane was enthusiastic about the chance to release some of her pent up
frustrations and spar. She had originally intended to hunt down Ranma-chan
and confront the shorter girl about the abandonment, but had not made it
three steps from the back porch when her anger started to dissipate, and
within three more steps at was almost entirely gone. And Akane knew exactly
why.

"...you would go from simply being cute to beautiful."

Those words still burned in her mind despite Ranma-chan's abandonment.
Somehow, they made the anger just drift away. But there was still a need to
work out and release the excess energy she seemed to have, and sparring was
the best way to go about it. Aside from that, she had not had the
opportunity to really show Shampoo what she had learned from Tarou yet. It
was going to be good to cut loose. 


Shampoo had changed both clothes and sexes in time to see everyone gather
around the backyard for the sparring match. Akane was already present, and
even Nabiki was there, drinking a glass of lemonade as she sat idly by and
read a book. The two fathers were taking the match seriously and were
standing on opposite sides of the pond to judge just how good the fighters
appeared. Kasumi and Ranma-chan stood around waiting for someone, evidently
Shampoo.

Ranma-chan greeted her and approached bearing a glass of water in hand. As
she was almost to Shampoo she seemed to trip over something and tilted the
glass forward, spilling its contents over Shampoo and triggering the
change. 

Ranma-chan's hands immediately went to her face in shame. "I'm so sorry!
Let me clean that up." She grabbed a towel and started dabbing at
Shampoo-kun's shirt. As she continued dabbing, her motions became lower and
lower.

"I not wet down there," Shampoo-kun informed his new towel girl.

"Sorry," Ranma-chan said as she blushed and ceased her cleaning attempts.
"I just wanted to make sure you were dry."

"Thanks," Shampoo-kun said before turning to Kasumi. "Could you get me hot
water?"

"Certainly." She moved over to the kitchen to fetch the water even as
Ranma-chan and Shampoo-kun went out back, the redhead choosing to sit in
the same spot on the porch as she had earlier in the day. Shampoo-kun
waited patiently for Kasumi to return. The eldest Tendo daughter returned
with nothing more than a look of disappointment upon her face. 

"The kettle wasn't on the stove," she informed everyone. "And I could have
sworn I had placed it on there. At any rate, I have another one going right
now. It will take a while to heat up though."

"No worry about it," Shampoo-kun reassured the girl. The response of
Kasumi's smile ran a series of conflicting emotions through the Amazon.
There was no time to think about that as he was about to practice with
Akane, who appeared more than a little eager to begin the session today.
That sat fine with Shampoo-kun. A tough workout would clear his mind of the
new set of complications that had crept up in his life. 

Kasumi sat down next to Ranma-chan as the fight began. The two fathers
watched the battle closely while Nabiki looked on with disinterest.

Ranma-chan gave a sigh as the match began. "Shampoo certainly looks
handsome today." 

Kasumi nodded in agreement. "Look at the way the sun glances off his flaxen
hair."

"Oh yes," Ranma-chan agreed, then pointed at his gi, which was open just
enough to show off his chest. "And the way his chest just seems to call out
for attention."

"Oh, I agree wholeheartedly," Kasumi said. "And his legs are nice looking,
especially his calves."

"His butt sure is cute too." Ranma-chan began giggling, only to be sprayed
in the face by Nabiki, who was nearly choking to death on the drink she had
just swallowed. 

"Are you all right?" Kasumi asked of her sister. 

"Wrong...pipe," Nabiki managed to choke out before recovering and moving
closer to the two girls who went back to watching the fight, and, more
specifically, Shampoo-kun

"And that face. So dreamy." Ranma-chan gave yet another sigh as she wiped
her face dry.

Kasumi nodded once again. "I think his eyes are his most outstanding
feature there."

"I like his smile, myself," Ranma-chan said. "As well as those broad
shoulders."

Kasumi sighed herself, then said. "And that cute little mole he has on the
inside of his thigh, right next to his...oh my! I forgot about the
laundry." And with that Kasumi stood up to head to the washer. 

Nabiki almost let her sister get out of sight before she realized where the
girl had left off. "Wait a minute! Where is that mole located?" As she
heaved herself to her feet in order to stop her sister, she felt something
land on her head.

"What the hell?" She managed to get out even as the family's flying pet
bent its head downward to look in its makeshift landing pad's eyes.

"AHHHHH! GET IT OFF!!!" Nabiki roared. That had the effect of Birdy trying
to take off, pulling at Nabiki's hair with its feet. 

"Nabiki!" Kasumi shouted.

Nabiki stopped struggling as Birdy released his hold and flew around to
perch gently on Kasumi's shoulder.

Kasumi gave a hurt look to her sister. "I know you don't like Birdy, but
please don't attack him."

"WHAT?!" she shouted out in shock. "I didn't attack him! He attacked me!"

"He would never do anything like that," she said, then turned to the
pterodactyl.  "would you?"

Birdy shook his head no.

Nabiki looked on in shock. "Don't tell me you believe him over me?"

Kasumi looked almost depressed. "I know you never liked pets, especially my
poor little hamster..."

Nabiki placed her hands over her ears as Kasumi gave the same speech she
had so long ago about her pet hamster. Whoever said Kasumi wasn't capable
of unleashing a guilt trip on someone was dead wrong. She had laid the old
hamster story on Nabiki at least four times over the years. It was not
Nabiki's fault she was allergic to the repulsive little rodents. But still,
somehow, Kasumi made her feel guilty about something that was totally out
of her control. 

"I give up, Sis. I won't harass Birdy anymore."

That seemed to placate Kasumi as she turned to leave with Birdy still
hanging on to her shoulder. The pterodactyl turned around from its perch
and stuck out its tongue at Nabiki. The facial twitch that developed on the
middle Tendo was all the response that needed to tell everyone what she
thought of that.

In the meantime the sparring session had ended, Akane losing once again,
but putting in a good showing. She left in disappointment for her room
while Shampoo-kun started to drift off to his own chamber. Ranma-chan
barely got there in time to intercept him.

"Nice fight." 

"Thank you," Shampoo-kun said. Praise from Ranma-chan and her expertise was
always appreciated. 

"You look tense," Ranma-chan commented. "Allow me to help you unwind."

"What you mean?" The Amazon looked curiously at the smaller girl. He had
been around her long enough to know Ranma-chan was up to something.

"Come into my room and I'll show you." She practically carried Shampoo-kun
as she snared his arm, even as she had done to Ryouga earlier in the day,
and took him to her room. Once inside she shut the door and made him lie on
his stomach on the floor. 

"A massage is just what you need to help you unwind," Ranma-chan informed
the youth.

"You no have to do that."

Ranma-chan would have none of that. "It'll be just like at the beach," she
said as she straddled Shampoo-kun's back. "You did it for me, now I'll do
it for you."

Shampoo-kun assented to the treatment. Too bad she wasn't a girl so she
could enjoy it that way. Ranma-chan quickly showed great skill at working
out the tightness in Shampoo-kun's muscles as she kneaded the Amazon's
flesh. They made idle conversation, Shampoo-kun taking note of the odd way
Ranma-chan was speaking. If he didn't know better, he would have assumed
the redhead was acting much more feminine than usual, which was foolish.
Ranma-chan was proud of his manhood and would never act that way. It
probably had something to do with the Amazon's current mental state.

"Your muscles are so big and hard," Ranma-chan said softly.

"Of course," Shampoo-kun sniffed. "I a powerful Amazon warrior. I not
weak."

"No. You definitely are not that," Ranma-chan agreed, voice remaining soft.

There was a comfortable silence between them, only Shampoo-kun's sounds of
pleasure from the redhead's attention breaking silence. Eventually
Ranma-chan spoke up once more. "Shampoo," Ranma-chan began nervously, "Are
you seeing someone?"

Shampoo-kun went as stiff as a board. "W...what you mean?"

"I just want to know if you have a significant other in your life." The
redhead stopped her ministrations as she waited for the answer.

His answer came out somewhat slowly. "Ah, no. Not really. Not the way you
mean." He silently wondered what Ranma-chan was up to. She never asked
questions like that. And there was the manner she asked them in as well.
She still sounded awfully feminine to Shampoo-kun's ears. But the girl's
concern was definitely eliciting a response within the Amazon as he felt
his pulse quicken slightly.

"That's good," Ranma-chan sighed, then continued in her actions, pausing
after a few minutes. "Your gi is in the way," Ranma-chan informed her
'customer,' then began pulling back on the upper part of it to free
Shampoo-kun's arms and peel the top back. Shampoo-kun lay back down and
prepared for another round of Saotome's firm yet gentle touch.

"What are all these scratches on your back?" Ranma-chan asked as she saw a
series of partially healed marks on the back.

Shampoo-kun stiffened once again. "I fall down a hill while on vacation,"
Shampoo-kun said calmly. "It from the bushes I fall into, but no need to
worry. I just get scratched a little bit."

"Then why are they all in sets of four?" Ranma-chan asked.

"Odd coincidence." Shampoo-kun answered, then smacked his head. "I forget,
I got class project due soon. Must get back to work. Bye-bye" Shampoo-kun
practically knocked Ranma-chan on her bottom as he got out from under the
redhead and made his way back to his room. 

Ranma-chan took a brief note that Shampoo-kun had almost seemed scared.
Perhaps he was afraid he had contracted a disease from his roll in the
bushes and didn't want her to get it. Deciding to allow the Amazon to go,
Ranma-chan went to find Kasumi. It took but a moment to discover that the
eldest Tendo daughter had taken a break and was reading a magazine. 

"Kasumi, I have a favor to ask you," Ranma-chan began.

"What is it?" 

The redhead informed Kasumi of her desire. 

"I don't think it'll be a problem at all, Ranma." Kasumi got up to retrieve
what Saotome had asked for. "Akane has several extras, and I know she
wouldn't miss one. I can have it ready for you by tomorrow. And it's good
to see you're coming to terms with your curse."

Ranma-chan was too polite to correct the older girl. She wanted to get rid
of her other form more than anything else in the world. It would just take
time to figure out something.


The next morning Akane got up to the smell of breakfast emanating from the
downstairs. Whatever it was it smelled good. Kasumi must have been
experimenting with a new dish and judging by how hungry Akane felt,
whatever it was would hit the spot. She would just have to watch out and
not eat too much. A girl had to watch her weight after all. 

As she went past her mirror she paused to take a close look at herself. She
had never really considered curling her hair, but perhaps Ranma was right.
She could curl the ends at least, and maybe add just a little more make up
than usual. But not too much. She was never that big on make up,
considering how much she would sweat when she worked out or defended
herself. Too much make up would just end up ruining whatever affect she was
going for. 

She went downstairs to catch breakfast and then clean up before school. As
she got to the bottom she almost ran into Shampoo who was heading for the
table as well. Nabiki came into the hallway dressed in a towel, having hit
the bath first. All three met at the same time as a figure emerged from the
kitchen. All present were a bit surprised to see who had emerged bearing a
skillet in hand.

"You made breakfast?" Nabiki asked as her eyebrow lifted itself
quizzically. 

"Yes," Ranma-chan answered. "I hope you like what I made. I got up extra
early this morning to make a good meal for all of you when I found out the
news." 

"What news?" Akane asked. 

"Kasumi was sick this morning."

*THUD*

All heads turned to see the sound was Shampoo's body hitting the floor. The
girl was laid out prone and completely unconscious.

Ranma-chan was by her side in an instant, nearly in tears "What's wrong,
Shampoo? Speak to me."

Any further questions were cut off as Shampoo's body was dragged from
Ranma-chan's side and off to the Amazon's makeshift bedroom by Nabiki, who
used the Amazon's ponytail as her handhold.

"Nabiki, what are you doing?" Ranma-chan asked as Akane simply stood there,
trying to figure out what was going on.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure Shampoo's all right. You guys have breakfast.
I need to talk to her in private." And with that she entered the room and
shut the door behind her. A loud splash was heard followed by the words.
"You did do it, didn't you?!"

"You is crazy!" Everyone heard Shampoo-kun's voice shout back. "I just
concerned about Kasumi and I been suffering from fainting spells! That all
it was, Stupid Extortionist Girl!"

"Yeah, right!" was Nabiki's reply as both people continued their animated
discussion. 

Akane and Ranma-chan settled down as the two fathers came down for
breakfast. All four remained at the table as the redhead began serving
everyone. 

"Here you go, Father." Ranma-chan made certain to give her father an extra
generous helping. 

"That's my boy." Genma said. "It's good to see you finally treating your
old man with the respect he deserves."

"Of course, Father." Ranma-chan bowed. "It's the least I could do for
someone that is so important in my life."

"I did notice you missed practice today. As much as I appreciate your
making this delicious meal, you still shouldn't be skipping things as
important as that. You simply have to find a way to do both."

Ranma-chan looked down to the floor, unable to meet her father's eyes.
"About my working out, Father. You see I no longer want to--" 

All else was cut off as an ugly figure glomped onto Ranma-chan's breasts.
"SWEETO!!!" Happosai shouted. "It's been way too long since the last time I
enjoyed this feel. And I know you missed it too."

After the initial shock, Ranma-chan did what now came naturally.
"AAAAHHHHH!!!"

In less than two seconds Happosai was knocked off of the girl's chest and
into the floor by Shampoo-kun. 

"Stupid Pervert not know when to give up!" Shampoo-kun growled at
Happosai's laid out body.

Shampoo-kun discovered a pair of arms that suddenly found themselves around
his waist as Ranma-chan hugged him tightly. "Oh, Shampoo. You saved me,"
she cooed.

Everyone, even Shampoo-kun, stared on in shock at the reaction. Ranma-chan
was enjoying her position until she felt the hard muscles of Shampoo-kun's
chest become soft. She broke off her embrace to see Happosai had already
recovered and grabbed the kettle of hot water, pouring the contents over
Shampoo-kun's head to trigger the change.

"I've missed you too, Shampoo." And with that he buried himself between her
breasts.

Shampoo tried unsuccessfully to pry off the offending pervert.
Unfortunately the glomp was exceptionally powerful upon this occasion and
he had no intention of letting go of the pillow he made of Shampoo's chest
anytime soon. She was beginning to lose hope when she felt herself splashed
with cold water.

"Awww!" Happosai pouted as he felt the breasts go away. "Why'd you do
that?"

Ranma-chan looked over with her glass of water in hand. "It's not right for
you to do that sort of thing to him, Grandfather."

"Well I want to snuggle her for a little while." He grabbed the hot water
kettle and poured the contents over Shampoo, causing yet another change.

"Please stop that, Grandfather. He doesn't want you to do that." Ranma-chan
poured a bucket of cold water over the now motionless Shampoo-kun, changing
him again.

"I want to feel some Amazon cleavage today, damn it! Now quit interfering!"
Happosai pulled out an even larger bucket of hot water and splashed Shampoo
with it.

"No! I won't let you do that to him!" Ranma-chan pulled out a large barrel
of cold water and poured it over Shampoo-kun.

"Yes!" A large barrel of hot water came from nowhere and ended up dumped
over Shampoo.

"No!" This time Ranma-chan used a bathtub of cold water.

"Yes!" Happosai used a bathtub even bigger than Ranma-chan's.

"I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO DO THAT TO HIM!!!" Ranma-chan shouted at the top
of her lungs while pointing her fist to the sky, a huge battle aura
glowing. She then leaped over the wall surrounding the dojo and out of
sight.

Everyone remained where they were, waiting for something to happen. No one
moved for an untold amount of time, not even an attempted glomp by Happosai
until, at last, everyone heard a rhythmic sound.

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

The sounds grew louder as the source of the noise got closer and closer to
the dojo. Everyone continued to remain motionless, no one having the
courage to see what the source was. Eventually, the origin of the
thunderous noise made its presence known. 

Everyone's eyes bugged out as they saw a huge water tower, the kind from on
top of large buildings and bearing thousands of gallons of cold water,
appear above the surrounding wall. A part of the wall shattered as one of
the metal struts that usually supported it broke through and allowed the
person carrying it, Ranma-chan, to come into the yard. It was obvious from
the strain that Ranma-chan was barely able to keep it up or balanced, as
the tower swayed dangerously back and forth.

"You..."
 
A step.

"...won't..."

Another step.

"...touch..."

A third into the yard.

"...him."

At last Akane broke the aura of shock that permeated the occupants of the
house. "Ranma! You can't possibly support all that weight!"

Ranma-chan thought about it then stopped moving forward. 

"I wish you hadn't said that," she mumbled as the tower started to lean
forward.

"NO!" Nabiki shouted. "If that falls over you'll-"

Too late, the tower came crashing down and all the water poured into the
house, deluging it and all the occupants. Fortunately everyone managed to
grab onto something solid and kept from being swept away until the flow
passed.

"...flood the house," Nabiki finished as she spit out some water.

Happosai pulled himself from out of the makeshift barricade he had made out
of Genma and Soun and walked over to Ranma-chan, a sad look on his face. "I
understand now, Ranma."

"You do?" She responded.

"Yes," he nodded. "I do. You're jealous of the attention I've been
lavishing on Shampoo. There's no need to fear." The familiar gleam entered
his eyes. "I'll give all of my attention to you!" he declared and
subsequently glomped onto her chest.

Ranma-chan's began to quake in paralyzed terror, unable to do anything. The
hold didn't last long before Happosai found himself easily removed by a
very powerful force. 

A waterlogged Akane looked evilly at him. "THAT"S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU!!!" And
with that punted him hard enough to send him somewhere near Hawaii. 

Akane calmly turned her attention to the others. "Let's get ready to go to
school. I've had more than enough excitement for one day." And left to go
to her room. There was not going to be any attempt to make herself look
more beautiful today. She would settle for not looking like a drowned rat.

Akane finished making herself presentable and headed to the front door,
just waiting for something to go wrong. Nothing happened as she saw that
Nabiki and Shampoo-kun were already there.

"Where's Ranma?" she asked as she joined the others. Happosai had already
made them late and no more delays could be afforded. 

"Here I am." A voice chimed in behind her. She turned to see Ranma-chan had
appeared for school. There was only one slight change that separated her
appearance from the usual mornings when they went to school.

Ranma-chan was wearing a girl's school uniform.

"How do I look?" she asked as everyone just stared on in confusion.

"Ranma," Akane began. "You're wearing a dress."

"Yes,' Ranma-chan agreed. "It's one of your old ones. Kasumi helped me
loosen the chest and tighten the waist so it would fit me, but I think its
presentable now."

Akane missed the slight against her figure. "You're wearing a dress," she
repeated, still in shock.

"You already said that." Ranma-chan informed her. "Do you like it?"

"Yes, we do." Nabiki answered then grabbed Ranma-chan by the arm. "Shampoo
wears the boys uniform and you wear the girls. Now everyone falls under the
dress code and all we have to worry about is the principal trying to make
us late so we have to clean out the toilets. So let's get going."

Shampoo-kun and Akane looked at each other, bewildered, then followed. Each
knew something bizarre was up and that it was time to find out what it was.

As Shampoo-kun caught up to Ranma-chan the redhead moved closer to him.
"You don't have to worry about Kasumi. I'm sure it's just that flu that's
been going around."

"Yes," Shampoo-kun agreed. "You is probably right."

The quartet were not the only ones running late. Halfway to school they ran
into Ukyou, Ryouga, Kyoko, and Ai, who were hurrying along as well. When
Ryouga spotted Ranma-chan he backed up, getting as much distance as he
could from the redhead. Ranma-chan gave him a soft smile which caused
Ryouga to get even more nervous.

Ukyou and Kyoko picked up on Ryouga's reaction immediately. "What's wrong?"
Ukyou asked first.

"N...nothing." Ryouga stammered then looked to the ground and started to
drift a good distance away from the group. Both Ukyou and Kyoko sighed then
grabbed him before he ended up in another district.

Everyone arrived at school to see that once again the entire student
population had gathered in the front yard. At the forefront stood Kunou,
standing in all of his self proclaimed majestic glory. 

Nabiki ran away from the group and headed towards her new best informant,
Ryonami. "What's going on?"

"Kunou made a really bold statement today and said he was going to take his
loves away from the influence of 'The Foul Saotome.'"

"He always does that," Nabiki said, unimpressed. 

"Today was different." Ryonami replied. "Everyone in his kendo club said he
has some new technique which makes him invincible." 

Nabiki raised an eyebrow at that. "This I want to see." 


Kunou held his bokken high up into the sky. "The Diana of my hunt, the
beauteous Akane Tendo. My red-haired Chinese Love Goddess, Shampoo. Today
is the day I accept both of you in my arms."

"There's no time for this," Akane grumbled and rolled up her short sleeve.
"I'll take care of him."

"No. Wait," Ranma-chan said. "Allow me."

Akane looked quizzically at Ranma-chan but allowed the shorter girl to go
on ahead. That was more like Ranma-chan, always ready to handle a jerk like
Kunou. 

Ranma-chan stepped within easy reach of Kunou and stared up at him. Rather
than strike him, she began speaking. "Upperclassman Kunou. Exactly how do
you feel about me?"

"You are my true love. You are like the wind to me. You-" 

Ranma-chan interrupted the rest of the grand speech he was about to make.
"And how do you feel about Akane?"

"She is my true love as well. She is like the ocean, her lips-"

"And that is your problem." Ranma-chan cut him off once more. "How can you
expect any girl to take you seriously when you say things like that? You
are a playboy. Now I'll admit, your open honesty about your feelings is
certainly refreshing, even if it means you like two women. And you can
certainly get a woman to swoon with those words of yours and make her feel
like she's the center of the world. But you'll never be able to work
anything out with a girl if you constantly harp on about others. No one
likes a lech."

Kunou considered those words for the briefest of moments, then thought
things through using the Kunou family common sense. "But I cannot allow one
to suffer without me. It would break her heart. It can work out. It must
work out. I must have both of you. Starting with yourself." And with that
he reached forward and latched onto Ranma-chan, bringing the girl close. 

Everyone expected Ranma-chan to react by simply punting him into the
atmosphere as she usually did. It was a tremendous surprise when the
redhead just wiggled in his grasp and began screaming. "Let me go! Let me
go! Shampoo, save me!"

Shampoo-kun ignored the mistake Ranma-chan made in using his real name and
went forward anyway. He did not understand exactly why the girl was acting
the way she was, but it was obvious Ranma-chan needed help and Shampoo-kun
was damned if he wasn't going to give it to her.

Kunou saw the approaching Amazon and released his hold on Ranma-chan,
taking some distance from her. "At last, foul Saotome," he smirked.
"Vengeance is mine."

"So is a sore head." Shampoo-kun went forward, unimpressed. He went for his
standard right fist front kick Kunou elimination combination. As his fist
went forward Kunou moved, tilting his body ever so slightly to the left and
deflected the blow using the bokken. The parry caught Shampoo-kun so off
guard that he was off balance momentarily and stumbled forward. Even as he
turned to regain his balance a second blow fell on the back of his neck,
knocking him to the ground. 

Gasps emanated from every female in the crowd as Shampoo-kun slowly
regained his feet. For the first time Kunou had somehow landed a blow upon
his adversary.

"Yield, vile Saotome." Kunou laughed at his fallen foe. "You cannot defeat
me."

Shampoo-kun slowly regained his feet. If he could take the likes of Mousse
and Mint, he could defeat a clueless moron like Kunou easily. It was just
one lucky blow. There would not be a second. Shampoo-kun went in for
another fist strike. This time Kunou did not even move as he blocked the
blow by striking the inside of the Amazon's forearm and lunged forward with
the bokken. More than ten strikes, lightning quick, got inside
Shampoo-kun's guard and connected with his chest.

Sounds of disbelief came from the crowd. Kunou had never been that fast or
accurate, yet it seemed each one of his blows were quicker than the eye
could follow.

"And now to finish it!" Kunou yelled dramatically to the skies. Shampoo-kun
fought back the pain and tried to kick Kunou once again. That blow was
directly blocked by the bokken, which stopped the kick and flowed past once
the forward progress of the blow was halted, and connected solidly with
Shampoo-kun's midsection once more. The result of the strike sent
Shampoo-kun flying into a wall of the school which he bounced off of and
landed with a dull thud.

Murmurs ran roughshod through the crowd of Kunou's total domination of the
Amazon. No one, save the kendo club, had been prepared for the outcome.

"Victory is mine! HAHAHAHA!" Kunou laughed in a near insane manner in his
triumph. Only someone saying "excuse me" caught his attention and caused
him to break off his laugh. 

"Beauteous Akane Tendo. You are at last free of the wicked one's ways. Free
from the bonds of slavery the scum foisted upon you. Come into my arms."
His attempt at a glomp ended abruptly as he was belted far into the
stratosphere by Akane.

"Well," Akane said as she watched his dwindling form. "That proves he's not
invincible, but how did he get good enough to beat Shampoo?" Shampoo-kun
appeared to be in top form for that fight so that meant it was Kunou who
had gotten better. But there was still the question of how had he gotten
better so quickly. A new sensei perhaps, or something more sinister? If
Minami had been present she could have detected any magic involved. Or was
it drugs that had enhanced his abilities? He did seem the same on the
outside, so drugs didn't seem likely, but it was difficult to tell. 

In the meantime the horde of Furinkan girls swooned over Shampoo-kun's
fate. Their hero had fallen at the hands of the evil Kunou, who would get
his comeuppance if he dared to set foot on school grounds again. Several
went over to help the fallen Amazon when one of their number held out her
hands in an effort to stop the group.

"What is it?" One of them asked.

"Ranma's beat up pretty bad," the one who had stopped the others said.

"Which is why we need to help him," another girl spoke up.

The girl that had halted the others shook her head. "You don't understand.
What happens if a girl beats him up?"

"He has to go out with them," a series of girls answered at the same time.

The leader smiled. "That's right. And now Kunou softened him up. Which
means-"

"Whoever defeats him first gets to date him." 

"But wouldn't taking advantage of him be kind of low." A single voice rose
in protest. As every head turned toward her she rethought her position.
"You're right. Screw the advantage. I'll beat him up, go out with him, and
then he can take advantage of me."

All eyes slowly went from the girl who had spoken to Shampoo-kun's battered
form. At last he was able to slowly rise up from the impact and was unaware
of the current predicament. His obliviousness did not last as the horde
gave out a battle cry and charged him. There was nowhere to run and there
was no way he could defeat all of them.

Ukyou assessed the situation and quickly ran over to Ranma-chan. "You want
to help Shampoo, right?" she asked.

Ranma-chan quickly nodded her head. "Of course. I would do anything to help
him."

"All right then." And with that she slid her giant spatula under the
redhead and hurled her at Shampoo-kun. Ranma-chan's flying body arrived
just before the first wave of the horde of girls did. Ukyou's throw was on
target as Ranma-chan landed right atop Shampoo-kun's head, knocking him
out.

Ryouga came over to Ukyou's side. "Exactly how did that help Shampoo?"

"There's no way Shampoo wants to go out with a girl," Ukyou explained. "And
Ranchan's really a guy. So even though they'll be in their cursed forms, it
will be a perfectly normal date. Normal relative to the fact it's Ranchan
and Shampoo, of course."

The horde of girls all stopped in front of Ranma-chan, who was cradling
Shampoo-kun's head and pleading with him to speak to her. Sniffles and
cries began to erupt from the crowd, all of them essentially meaning the
same thing:

"Shampoo gets to date Ranma now! WAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Shampoo-kun began moaning and holding his head as he came around. Ukyou
made her way through the crowd and stood before the pair.

"Congratulations. You two have fun on your date."

Ranma-chan was the first to understand what Ukyou meant. "Oh my," the
redhead said in a very Kasumi-like manner. "This is all so sudden. I don't
know what to say. I've never had a boyfriend before."

New cries of agony broke out from the assembled crowd and the idea of a
lynching started to crop up. A careful fingering by Ukyou of her spatula
ceased the talk as quickly as it came. Ranma-chan was still gushing and
making plans when Akane stepped through the crowd, grabbed Ranma-chan by
the pig tail, and dragged her off. 

"Oww!" Ranma-chan protested. "That hurts." 

Akane set her down roughly well away from the crowd. "What the hell is
going on, Ranma?" she said.

"I don't know what you mean." Ranma-chan began chewing her nails as she
felt a mix of fear and confusion over Akane's actions. She had not done
anything to anger her fiancee so.

"You've been acting really weird since yesterday."

"I have. In what way?" she asked innocently.

Akane became flustered. Ranma-chan was playing dumb and she had no idea
exactly how to put it into words. As she struggled in frustration over what
to do next the others joined up at Akane's side.
 
"How do you feel?" Ukyou asked.

"I feel fine. It really was the only way to protect," She paused as she
realized that Kyoko and Ai were present. "Ranma."

"Thank you." Shampoo-kun breathed in relief. Going out with a woman was the
last thing he needed. Not with the way he felt lately.

"She's acting weird," Akane informed the other.

"She was like this yesterday." Ryouga told the others "She was acting the
same way around Ranma as she did with me."

"Wait a minute!" Kyoko suddenly said. "Are you telling me Shampoo came onto
you?"

 "Not really." Ryouga then corrected himself. "Well sort of. But I didn't-"

"You little hussy!" Kyoko suddenly got into Ranma-chan's face. "How dare
you hit on my boyfriend." She placed her hands around Ranma-chan's neck and
began to choke her as she shook the redhead back and forth. "If I wasn't
such a nice girl, I might do something rash. Like hurt you!" 

It took the combined efforts of Ai, Ryouga, and Ukyou to pry Kyoko's iron
grip from around Saotome's neck. Ranma-chan quickly hid behind Shampoo-kun
while Kyoko continued shouting out what she would do to Ranma-chan if she
weren't such a nice girl. Ukyou and the other two carried the cheerleader
off while the remaining three considered what to do.

"Let's head in. I don't want to be late for class." And with that
Ranma-chan rushed into school.


By the time school ended the situation was a real mess. Ranma-chan had not
gotten any better and continued to act in the same manner as before. Any
time the others tried to press Ranma-chan about her behavior she would
brush it off and insist nothing was wrong and that she was behaving
normally. To make matters worse Akane and Shampoo-kun had to defuse several
bad situations between the female population and Ranma-chan, whose mere
existence seemed to anger the girls.

At the end of the day Shampoo-kun made his way outside first and arrived at
the gate to wait for his compatriots. Both Akane and Ranma-chan were late
and the Amazon was afraid something had happened to them. It was much to
his relief that Ranma-chan showed up.

"Sorry I'm late. Some very rude young men made some off color remarks about
me," she explained.

"I kill him," Shampoo-kun threatened as he balled up his fist and prepared
to make his way back inside the school.

"No need." Ranma-chan assured him. "Another nicer boy said the first boy
shouldn't talk to me that way, and the two of them got into a fight. And
then some other boys got into it and, well..."

Almost as though some higher power sensed Ranma-chan's pause, an
explanation of what happened was provided with the noise of shattered glass
as a chair was hurled out a window and the sounds of a war came from
within.

"...I think I sort of started a riot," Ranma-chan finished.

Shampoo-kun just looked on in awe at the ever increasing noise from within.
That was a bit wild, even for Furinkan. Japan was such a weird place.

"Let's get out of here before it spills outside." Ranma-chan grabbed the
Amazon's hand and looked bashfully at him. 

Shampoo-kun just stared in wide eyed wonder at Ranma-chan's maneuver. "What
about Akane?" Shampoo-kun asked.

Ranma-chan suddenly became uncomfortable. "I'll be able to see her at home.
Right now I want to spend time with you, if you don't mind."

"No. I don't." Shampoo-kun answered as he started walking towards the dojo,
the two walking off hand in hand and oblivious to the hundreds of girls,
who wanted nothing to do with a riot over Ranma-chan. They had watched the
whole scene and directed curses towards Ranma-chan for being such a blatant
tramp.


As inconceivable as it seemed, Akane's bad mood had been made worse. As she
was leaving school one of her fellow students asked her to thank 'Just
Ranma' (as Ranma-kun was known.) for giving them his windsock. It was much
to Akane's surprise that the 'windsock' was actually the sweater she had
knit for Ranma just a little while ago. The only saving grace was that
apparently it had been instrumental in their winning a science project that
had gained first place in an international competition. She kept repeating
to herself through gritted teeth that it was all in the name of school
pride that her clothing had to be used for something other than its
original purpose.

And then she got caught in the war zone. The school halls were filled with
students, mostly boys, rioting and causing one huge mess. After Akane
fought her way through three quarters of them she had pieced together
enough information to figure our Ranma-chan's presence had triggered the
war somehow. And then disaster struck once again. 

The sound of a ukulele being played over loudspeakers drowned out the
brawlers, causing everyone to pause and look around in stark terror. Events
had spun out of control until the keeper of the school felt the need to
reign the students in.

One of the walls erupted inward as Principal Kunou chose to show off his
new toy, a tank that had several small palm trees growing out of the
turret, and his associates, the unofficial disciplinarian, Gompachi
Chabane, and the new official disciplinarian Hinako Hinomiya. Life around
Furinkan really had taken a turn for the worse of late.

The teacher, currently in her young body, began jumping up and down in glee
at the spectacle before her. "You really are all delinquents! I can see
it's going to take some time to clean up this school. And we are going to
start now! HAPPO GO EN SATSU!!!"

There was an American saying for situations like that and Akane knew it
well: it was time to get the hell out of Dodge. Akane jumped out of a
window even as she felt the first vestiges of her chi being sucked out of
her. She landed with a thud in some bushes, then turned to look back at the
building to see students withering away under the assault. It was
definitely time to go home. 

Almost as soon as Akane arrived home and stepped foot inside Nabiki
informed her there was a family meeting going on that Ranma had called
together. Upon entering the room she could see that everyone was already
gathered around, even a pale Kasumi that was sitting next to Shampoo-kun,
who was fussing over her making certain she was all right.

Akane took a place next to Nabiki as Ranma-chan began to speak. 

"I realize you all wish to know why I called everyone together for this
meeting. I have a very important announcement to make. I want you all to
know that this is not easy for me. Every one of you means so much that it
just hurts me to even think about what I must say. I have considered
remaining silent and saving everyone from a great deal of grief and pain.
But I realize now that that is not a possibility, as much as I wish it were
otherwise, for if I say nothing then that too will cause pain to others.
There is no path I can take that is free, so it now falls to me to choose
how I will hurt oth...others" Ranma-chan's voice caught as she obviously
tried to hold back tears. Of everyone in the room only Genma focused on
Ranma-chan's behavior instead of what she was saying. Even he could see
something was wrong with his son, and only he understood what repercussions
that could have.

Ranma-chan continued. "As everyone knows, there has been a long standing
engagement between myself and Akane due to an agreement by my father and
Mr. Tendo. I have little doubt that they both thought this was a good idea.
After all, they are such thoughtful and caring people that I am certain
they believed that the happiness that was between them could be shared with
their children. And Akane and I have certainly had some fun times together.
I know I am a better person, not just because of her, but because of all
the Tendo family. Thank you."

All were moved by the confession, even Nabiki. Few people ever said such
things to her without hope of some recompense. 

Akane felt proud of Ranma-chan's declaration, but there was also a feeling
of building dread that something else was going to happen. Something bad.

"That is why it makes what I have to do so much harder, but it must be
done. I'm sorry, but I must dissolve the engagement."

Everyone just looked on in shock. Then all hell broke loose.

"What are you talking about, boy?!" 

"Son, how dare you do this to your fiancee!"

"Whoa! What did you and Akane fight over now?"

"Oh my!"

Only two people remained silent, and for quite different reasons.
Shampoo-kun said nothing because of an overwhelming shock to the system. It
took a few moments for him to truly grasp exactly what had been said, but
at last it settled in. It was over. Ranma-chan had finally come to her
senses and threw off the yoke of the undesired engagement, setting herself
free to be with whomever she wanted. Just as it should have always been.

Akane was in shock once again, yet she remained silent until, eventually,
everyone turned her way, waiting to see her reaction. It was almost a full
minute before she began to shake in anger. How could he? How could he do
it? How could he call her beautiful one day and break off the engagement
the next? What kind of a monster was he to make her believe one thing, to
build up her hopes with a single word, then shatter them irreparably with
his next?

It was another thirty seconds before she spoke up, tears streaming down her
eyes. "How dare you toy with my emotions that way! I hate you! I HATE
YOU!!!"

Ranma-chan began crying in response and tried to move to comfort her.
"I...I'm sorry, Akane. But I can't-"

The rest was cut off by the slap Ranma-chan felt across her mouth.

"How dare you say you're sorry! You're not! You just used me to feed your
ego and make yourself feel good! You used me, you sick bastard! STAY AWAY
FROM ME!!!" Akane prepared to storm out of the room even as Genma stood up
and grabbed Ranma-chan by the collar.

"You don't get it, do you, boy? You can't just say 'I'm no longer engaged',
and it's dissolved. It doesn't work that way."

Soun made his presence known once again. "Why can't you marry her, son?
What's happened? Did you two have a fight? If you did I can guarantee it
can be worked out."

"Don't any of you understand?" Ranma-chan pleaded. "I can't be married to
Akane for the same reason I'm giving up martial arts. And please don't call
me son."

The second declaration made everyone sit up and take notice again. It even
managed to cut through Akane's sorrow filled heart. Ranma-chan giving up
martial arts?

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, BOY?!!!" Genma raged. "You can't give up
martial arts. They're your life."

"I have to, Father. And please don't call me boy."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Genma shouted.

"Well I would think it's obvious," Ranma-chan calmly stated as she regained
control of her emotions. "After all, I am a girl."

Ranma-chan was more than a little surprised at the stunned look on
everyone's faces.

Akane was the first to shake off her shock and moved to stand next to
Ranma-chan. "What are you talking about, Ranma? You're a boy."

Ranma-chan shook her head fiercely. "No! I'm a girl. That's why I have to
give up martial arts. It's not proper for a girl to practice them. And
that's why I can't marry you. You're a nice girl and you'll make someone a
very happy bride someday. But it can't be me. Girls can't marry girls. It's
wrong."

"What are you talking about?" Akane did not know whether to be angry or
frightened. Was it all some plot to break off the engagement, or was
Ranma-chan really having delusions?

Ranma-chan sighed and pointed to her chest. "Boys don't have things like
this. That proves I'm a girl."

"Ranma, you only have breasts because of the curse." Akane reminded him.
"You are a guy who changes into a girl when your hit with cold water. Don't
you remember?"

"I know what you're talking about." Ranma-chan gained a far off cast to her
eyes. "It's sort of like a dream from a lifetime ago. But it was just that,
a dream. I am a girl now. I know that hurts you, but you have to accept it.
We can never be more than friends. I'm sorry."

It was Nabiki's turn to interject herself. "I think I know what's going
on."

"You do?" Soun asked as all heads turned to the middle Tendo child.

Nabiki held up her finger and delivered her answer. "It's rather obvious
when you think about it. I mean we should have seen this coming for some
time now. Why, I have to say that I expected something like this would
happen. It's a miracle it di-"

Her speech was cut short as a bonbori smashed the table in front of her.
"Spit it out now, Nabiki!" Shampoo-kun threatened. 

"Right," she answered nervously. The only reason Shampoo would use Nabiki's
real name like that was if Nabiki had hit the limit, and if she fooled
around any longer the next blow probably would be aimed at her skull.
Choosing to skip her next dramatic pause she delivered her statement.
"Ranma is having a nervous breakdown."

"What makes you say that?" Kasumi asked. 

"Think about it. He's had--"

"She," Ranma-chan corrected. "Please refer to me by my proper gender."

"Right," Nabiki glowered. "She's had a curse that changes his...I mean her
sex with cold water. She's had half the martial artists in the world after
her hide. Every other day someone either attacks her or tries to hit on
her. She was forced into an engagement without being told about it until
the last minute. Her entire life has been composed of nothing but martial
arts. She was thrown repeatedly into a pit of hungry cats until she
developed a psychosis at the ripe old age of about seven. And she has Mr.
Saotome as her father, that alone would drive most people out of their
minds."

Genma's protest about character assassinations was cut off by a "Saotome,"
by Soun. 

"I did not have a nervous breakdown. I am the picture of perfect mental
health," Ranma-chan declared.

Everyone evaluated the statement, formed huge sweatdrops (save for Kasumi),
then turned back to Nabiki. 

Akane spoke first. "So what do we do to cure him?"

"Her," Ranma-chan corrected. 

"The way I figure it," Nabiki began. "A lot of the reason she thinks she's
a girl is because she hasn't changed in a while. When was the last time
anyone saw her as a guy?"

"It was the day before yesterday," Shampoo-kun supplied.

"So all we have to do is splash her with hot water?" Akane asked, her mood
suddenly improving. Ranma-chan hadn't rejected her. Ranma-chan was crazy.
Of course that brought about a whole new set of problems, but at least she
wasn't in his right mind when she broke off the engagement. Unfortunately
that also meant that everything she had told Akane the day before was while
she was in the process of having her mind shattered. But if getting back
the engagement meant the kind words Akane's fianc� spoke to her were all a
lie, then it would be worth it. A high price to pay, but one that had to be
done.

At the realization that Nabiki probably was right, Shampoo-kun, forced
himself to suppress the urge to start laughing insanely. Just when
Ranma-chan had started to show some outward signs of affection towards the
Amazon, it turned out she was demented. Oh yes, that made perfect sense to
Shampoo-kun. Couldn't have things going his way, now could they? Nope, he
could be led on by mentally deranged Ranma-chan, but couldn't get any real
affection from the boy, well, girl now, when she was in her right mind. And
Ranma-chan's behavior towards him had been so thoughtful and caring. The
attention he had received from Saotome had helped to coalesce the Amazon's
feelings towards her. Now it turned out those signs of affection were
nothing more than the product of a diseased mind. And Shampoo-kun's desires
had blinded him to that fact. 
 
In hindsight it should have been obvious: Ranma-chan always being in female
form, the dresses, her unusual acceptance of the flattery of the other male
students, trying to dissuade Kunou through words instead of action. And the
list went on and on. There was more than a little guilt as Shampoo-kun
understood that he had felt more than a great deal of appreciation at the
attention he had received from the mentally addled Ranma-chan. He claimed
he loved Saotome, but to not notice a little thing like a mental breakdown
occur right before his eyes was more than enough to make him feel as though
perhaps all of his so called feelings for Ranma-chan were nothing more than
some pathetic attempt at attention. All in all it was a heartbreaking
experience.

All of that also meant once Ranma-chan recovered then the engagement would
be revalidated to that damned Akane. Akane did not love her fianc� and
certainly didn't want to get married to him, yet no matter what, the cursed
engagement just wouldn't go away. Shampoo-kun's greatest foe was one she
could not fight.

But now was not the time for self-pity. If Ranma-chan needed help
Shampoo-kun would be there for him. Ranma-chan would do no less. "So all we
need is to pour some hot water on him?" Shampoo-kun said. "That easy."

Akane beat the Amazon over to the kettle and headed towards Ranma-chan.
"Here you go, Ranma. Just let me give you a little hot water and we'll show
you that you're really a boy."

"No." Ranma-chan leaped out of the way. "I am not a boy, I'm a girl. Quit
telling me I'm a boy, and keep that water away from me."

"It's for your own good, Ranma," Akane pointed out.

"I'm happy just the way I am," she protested.

Akane had had enough. "Stand still so I can get you." Much to her annoyance
Ranma-chan jumped deftly out of the way of the attempted dousing. "Look, if
you're really a girl than it won't make any difference what you look like
on the outside. You'll still be the same person on the inside"

"No."

"Please," Akane softly pleaded.

Ranma-chan shook her head. "No. I'm sorry Akane. But I can never be the
sort of person you want me to be. So please quit trying to make me into
something I'm not."

Somehow those words cut deep, even though she knew Ranma-chan wasn't
thinking right. Akane started to protest, but was cut off as Genma finally
made his move. He picked up a second kettle of hot water and quietly
sneaked up behind Ranma-chan, then poured it over the motionless girl. 

"Enough wining, boy. I didn't raise my son to think he's some sort of
woman. I've raised you to be a man among men." He paused long enough to
examine the now quite male Ranma in front of him. "See."

"How do you feel now?" Shampoo-kun asked as everyone watched intently for
the reaction.

Ranma remained motionless, then slowly looked down at his chest, feeling
the area where his breasts had been a moment ago.

"You see," Akane said softly, as though afraid a loud noise would cause him
to run away in fright. "You are a boy."

Tears formed in Ranma's eyes as he began crying. "I'm a girl! A girl!" And
with that he took off and ran for the pond. No one moved to prevent his
leap as he jumped in and triggered the transformation. Quickly Ranma-chan
reached down to her chest and felt the return of her reassuring cleavage,
then breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was still there.

"See," she said without the slightest bit of doubt in her voice. "I am a
girl."

"It didn't work," Akane said under her breath. It took her several minutes
to compose herself before she trusted her ability to speak. "I need to go
upstairs. Good bye, Ranma." Akane said quietly to the girl who remained in
the pond, almost as though she were afraid she would revert back to her
male form if she left its watery confines.


Akane sat down on her bed and simply stared off into space. There was only
one emotion she could feel. Whether or not it was because it was so
overwhelming that it drowned out the others, or if there was nothing else
to feel she couldn't tell. What she was certain of was that she had just
lost something precious. There was no other explanation for the feeling of
total desolation that dominated her like no other emotion ever had. 


Back in the pond Ranma-chan remained where she was. True, it was wet and
uncomfortable, but to get out meant facing the others again. And they were
behaving so irrationally. Why was everyone insisting she was a boy?
Couldn't they see the obvious? She was a girl. 

And then there was Akane. Ranma-chan had suspected she would take the
breaking of the engagement hard, but she just had to cry, and Ranma-chan
hated that. But it was for her own good. Ranma-chan simply did not like
girls that way and she just knew Akane didn't either, although she did
faintly remember a time when Akane kissed her and she was most definitely a
girl. But that was a distant memory, like a dream from that long time ago
when Ranma-chan was confused. Now she was thinking clearly for what might
have been the first time ever. All that was left to do was get the others
to open their eyes and accept that fact as well. Eventually they would, and
then she and Akane could be friends again just like during the engagement.
Akane's friendship was important to her, and losing it would hurt a lot.
Ranma-chan would do whatever she had to to make sure a peace existed
between the two of them.

Ranma-chan noticed her father start to walk over to her. She had prayed all
last night that he would understand why she had to give up martial arts.
Her natural inclination was not to be a petulant child, but there was the
propriety of the matter. It just wasn't proper for a lady to do such
things. Now that her mind was clear, Ranma-chan knew she wanted to be more
like Kasumi than Akane, and her father was just going to have to accept
that as a fact. Maybe she could convince him Shampoo-kun would make a
worthy heir to carry on the tradition of Anything Goes School of Martial
Arts. Shampoo-kun was just so perfect, how could her father not accept him
as a successor?

"Now do you see, Father?" she began as Genma stood next to her along the
edge of the pond. "I am a girl. I have breasts and everythAHHH!"

Genma picked his 'daughter' up and out of the pond hurling her to the
ground. Ranma-chan had no chance to get up as he then placed his tremendous
bulk fully on top of her, pinning her to the ground while not allowing her
the slightest bit of leverage. "I don't know what game you're playing at,
boy, but it stops here and now. Tendo! The water!"

Soun came over with a steaming kettle and poured the contents directly over
Ranma-chan's head. "This is for your own good, son. We have to make you
better and get you engaged to Akane again."

"I don't wanna be engaged to a girl! I am a girl!" Ranma tried squirming
his way out from under Genma's tremendous bulk, but all to no avail.
"Someone help me!"

Shampoo-kun moved around a corner to spare him the sight of Ranma's
struggles. Reflexively he wanted to come to Ranma's aid, but it really was
all for his own good. Ranma was disturbed, and the fathers seemed to think
this was what would cure Ranma. Ranma would forgive Shampoo-kun later for
not interfering.

"Please, anyone!"

Shampoo-kun balled his fists up and shut his eyes, trying to remain where
he was. Ranma sounded weak. That wasn't the Ranma Shampoo-kun knew. The
real Ranma would never cry out like some helpless little child. Why, he
would be humiliated if someone even suggested such a thing. When this was
all over Ranma would show his appreciation for allowing the fathers to cure
him.

"Kasumi, help me!"

Shampoo-kun heard Kasumi's response. "Are you sure this is such a good
idea? He seems to be very uncomfortable and I don't think it's so bad for
him to get in touch with his female side."

"He isn't getting in touch with it," Soun protested. "he thinks he is one!"

"My son will be a man among men," Genma defended. "He is not getting in
touch with anything female except Akane."

"I won't marry her. I'm a girl!"

"What's that boy?" 

"Ouch!" Ranma cried out. "I can't breath! Please help me, Nabiki!"

"Leave me out of this, Saotome. It's your mess."

He didn't want to hear Ranma cry out like that. Ranma never cried. As
Shampoo-kun's hands went to the ears he felt something wet trickle down his
face. He opened his eyes to see that he had balled his fists so tightly
that the fingernails had broken flesh, causing them to bleed. 

"Akane, save me! I know you're angry, but I need help. They're hurting me!"

"Stop whining, boy. Just admit that you're a man and we'll let you go."

"I'm a girl."

Why couldn't he just be silent and accept the treatment? Why couldn't Ranma
just get cured? Surely the fathers weren't really hurting him. And even if
they were causing him a little pain wouldn't Ranma's instincts protect him
and maybe break through his dementia? He was strong and could defeat both
of them easily if he had to. Ranma's instincts would kick in any second now
and he would get better. He would be normal.

"Help! Akane!"

He sounded just like a weak little girl, not the strong man he really was.
Ranma never let anyone see him weak. Both of his arms could be hacked off
and he would still do nothing but protest that he was fine. He could never
truly be happy the way he was now. He had to be cured no matter what.

"Help, Shampoo!"

Now it had become painfully obvious Ranma was crying his eyes out as he
shouted. Hands went to Shampoo-kun's ears, regardless of the blood, as he
shut his eyes as hard as he could. Damn him! Why wouldn't Ranma just be
quiet? 

"Shampoo, please! I need you!"

SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP

"You promised you'd protect me, remember? On the ship you swore you would
protect me from anyone that would try to hurt me! I need your help! I'm
begging you, save me!"

"RANMA!!!"

Shampoo-kun cried out his name. Too much. The screams. The pleading. The
crying. It all was too much to take as he raced into the yard and punted
Genma off of Ranma's prone form. When the weight was removed the crying boy
grabbed onto Shampoo-kun and buried himself into the Amazon's arms.
Shampoo-kun returned the embrace and began apologizing to Ranma, barely
keeping in tears of his own.

"I sorry, Ranma! I sorry! I was wrong. I should no have let them hurt you.
I swear to you, I not abandon you again. I sooner die than do that. I
promise."

Shampoo-kun turned his attention to the two fathers. "Leave her alone or
you answer to me." That warning was leveled at the nearby Soun as well as
Genma, whose body was stuck into a wall from the force of Shampoo-kun's
kick. Once he was certain the two fathers were taking him seriously he
began to check out what damage they might have inflicted on Ranma. "Is you
all right?"

"I n...need w...water," he managed to sob out.

Akane had at last made it downstairs. She had been in motion the second
time Ranma had called out her name and raced down at breakneck speed. Like
Shampoo-kun, she wanted him cured, but at the same time could not reject
his pleas for help. Each one had cut like a knife. She arrived just in time
to hear Ranma's plea and quickly grabbed a glass of water and poured it
over the cowering boy. Almost as soon as the water hit Ranma-chan calmed
down slightly.

"It's okay, Ranma. We'll treat you like a girl," Akane assured her.

"Y...you will?" Ranma-chan sniffled back.

Akane smiled and nodded her head. "Yep. If that's what makes you happy,
then we won't force you turn into a boy. Will we?" The question was
directed at Genma and Soun, who upon seeing the VERY mean stares of
Shampoo-kun and Akane, silently acceded to the demands.

Ranma-chan slowly detached herself from Shampoo-kun and looked softly at
her saviors. "Thank you."

Both Shampoo-kun and Akane gave the redhead convincing, if insincere,
smiles. They needed to calm Ranma-chan down, but neither had any idea of
what to do next. And if they didn't do something soon, well, neither wanted
to consider that particular outcome. They would handle one problem at a
time. Something would come up. Something always came up. It had to.

It just had to.


"Fall, foul demon!" 

Kunou lunged forward even as the pus colored, three headed demon lashed out
with twenty of its razor sharp tentacles, hoping to impale the attacking
kendoist. With great effort Kunou narrowly managed to parry each of the
near fatal strikes, although two of the tentacles slashed through part of
his hakama while a third nicked his cheek, drawing blood. 

While Kunou distracted it with a frontal assault, Yohko and Azusa launched
themselves in the air. 

"Azusa, now!" Yohko ordered.

Being the good devil-hunter-in-training that Azusa was, she obeyed and
attacked the remaining four tentacles that the demon had left to guard its
main body. With those out of the way, Yohko at last had a path to the
demon's anchor to the physical world, the Gem of Shadol, which was embedded
in its pulpy chest. She deftly leaped over two of the heads that tried to
snap her in half with their long pointed snouts and foot long teeth. The
third set of jaws that attempted to clamp down on her were severed, along
with the rest of the head, by Yohko's Soulsword. Before the monstrosity's
head hit the ground Yohko found herself poised to strike the final blow. 

"This is your end, Lohkar!" And with that final condemnation Yohko thrust
her sword directly into the gem, shattering it into a million iridescent
shards of crystal. 

The effect was instantaneous as the tentacles rose to the moonlit sky in
agony and the demon began to melt. "You will pay for this travesty, one
hundred and eighth generation of devil hunter. You and your little Azusa
too."

Kunou raised his bokken high to the sky. "And if you dare to threaten
either of these fair damsels, or any other innocent, you will have to face
the awesome power of Tatewaki Kunou, repulsive demon."

"I have not forgotten you either, True Blunder," the creature gurgled as it
continued to melt.

"That's 'Blue Thunder'!"

"Whatever," the creature spoke its last as the final pieces melted, leaving
nothing but a huge puddle of goo.

"I will await your return, evil demon, and send you back to the hell from
whence you came." Kunou struck yet another dramatic pose, more for his
benefit than the two girls that were with him.

Off to the side, Azusa saw an all too familiar gleam in her mentor's eyes.
"Yohko, I don't think you want to do that."

"I don't know what you mean," Yohko answered dreamily.

Azusa sighed. "Yes you do. All of the guys you fall for are either demons,
get sacrificed, or are nothing but illusions to begin with."

"He's different. I can tell."

 "Well I'll agree with you there," Azusa lamented.  "He's weirder than
most."

"Look at his noble face. His chivalrous attitude. His..."

Azusa shut out the rest of his 'awesome' attributes as she rolled her eyes.
There was no getting through to Yohko tonight. Perhaps common sense would
kick in tomorrow. And maybe Chi would stick to one of her diets.

Devil Hunter Yohko finished her list and approached the man that had
assisted them in tracking down and destroying Lohkar. "Thanks. You were
great!"

Kunou brushed his hair back in an aristocratic manner. "No need for
gratitude. I would scarcely be the noble soul I contend that I am if I were
to allow beauties such as yourselves to fall prey to the devilish
machinations of such abominations."

The young man next to her excited Yohko like no other had before. She
decided to take a chance. "I'm usually not this forward, but are you seeing
someone?"

Kunou gave a wide smile. "Ah, my handsome features have captured yet
another young girl's fancy. But alas, I cannot date you, I already have two
loves."

Yohko looked at him in confusion. Two loves? He was some kind if two timer?
No, that just couldn't be. The youth was too heroic and handsome. No doubt
he meant something appropriately noble, like he was wedded to both his code
of honor and his sword. 

He gave a bow before Yohko. "It is time for me to depart, but first," He
brought his hands behind his back for a moment before bringing them forward
once more, this time bearing a bouquet of red roses. "For you."

Yohko nearly passed out from joy. A handsome man just gave her flowers. She
could die happy now. 

"I must depart." And with that Kunou left for Nerima. How unfortunate he
had to miss the rest of the day at school and give the foul Saotome the
thrashing he deserved. That could have been the only reason Akane Tendo
would smite him so. He would have been back earlier if he had not landed in
the middle of a battle involving the two girls and a monster. The demon
called Lohkar would no doubt have harmed the young women, and it was
Kunou's duty to protect helpless girls from danger. So the rest of the day
was spent tracking the fleeing demon down and running him to ground. Now it
was time to go back home and truly give Saotome the beating he deserved.
Then the two goddesses would be his.

Yohko sighed at Kunou's departing form. He was truly the man of her dreams.
She silently vowed to herself that that was not the last time she and
Tatewaki Kunou would cross paths. And the next time Yohko Mano saw him she
would make him hers.


Epilogue

Joketsuzoku, China:

Be Dea walked towards the center of the Great Hall and awaited her allies
to approach her. Well, her allies and Shou Ya, though why that particular
elder seemed to hang around someone she professed to dislike and disagreed
with almost all the time was beyond her. At least she wasn't spying, that
much she could be sure of. 

"<So your request passed,>" Shou Ya said in a tired voice.

"<No thanks to you,>" Be Dea answered. "<I thought you said you were going
to back me.>" She had to call in a lot of favors to get everything she
wanted, and it all would have been easy of Shou Ya had backed her.

"<I changed my mind.>" Shou Ya shrugged. "<I say let the child be. If she
does become leader someday, then she's going to have to enjoy these times
of little responsibility as much as she can. And before you ask, no, I
don't believe she is cursed. And neither do you, else you would have said
something about it at the meeting.>"

"<I just think Ku-Lon is up to something and I think Shan-Pu is involved up
to her neck in it.> Be Dea stated in a firm voice. "<I tell you, something
is going on and I want to get to the bottom of it.>"

"<It sounds like you know something.>" Talcum moved closer to Be Dea.
Getting the inside line on things always interested her. It was one of the
reasons she had voted with Be Dea on sending out a party to track down
Shampoo.

For the first time that anyone could remember, Be Dea actually seemed
worried. "You know my grandson, Fleece?>" the others nodded. "<Well, you
know how sensitive he is to the world around him. Anyway, he's been
having...problems.>"

"<What sort of problems?>" Comb asked.

"<Dreams mostly. But real bad ones. And they've been getting worse.>" Be
Dea was reluctant to mention what else was going on with the others. She
was a private person by nature as well as because of necessity, but she had
to tell someone. "<He keeps waking up shouting out that someone hates him,
and no, its not his wife. I'm pretty sure these aren't normal nightmares
either. It all started one night when he saw some strange lights around
Jusenkyou.. Since then he's been getting worse. I talked with the guide up
there and discovered that there have been an awful lot of visitors lately,
and more often than not they end up taking a dip.>"

The others made sounds of sympathy. 

"<Now I don't know about you, but when a lot of people end up in those
pools, more often than not, bad things start to happen,>" Be Dea mentioned.

"<You think the Musk are involved?>" Shou Ya asked. "<Maybe changing their
people into animals to help them build the army?>"

"<It's a strong possibility,>" Be Dea agreed. "<At any rate, I think if we
haul in Shan-Pu, Ku-Lon will soon follow, or at least tell us what's really
going on in order to countermand the council decision about bringing
Shan-Pu back. And with all that's happening around us, I want the matriarch
close by. I can't help feeling like this is all the calm before some kind
of storm. There's just something different in the air.>"

The others nodded in agreement, though had reservations about the
statement. Foretelling was a rare talent, and Be Dea had never shown any
inclination towards it. 

Talcum spoke up. "<You said that you were going to personally take care of
the matter. Who are you going to send? Surely you aren't going?>"

Be Dea laughed at that. "<I should say not. While Ku-Lon's gone I intend to
enjoy every moment of peace I have around here. And I have a feeling that
when we grab Shan-Pu the matriarch will be back, and none too happy with
me. This could all blow up in my face yet. As to who I'll send, I have
someone special in mind.>"

"<You mean her?>" Comb asked emphasizing the last word in such a way as
everyone knew who she was talking about.

"<Yes.>" Be Dea nodded. "<She's impressed me a great deal since her return.
Did you know she even managed to out argue me in a discussion we had.>"

"<What did you do?>" Shou Ya asked.

"<I did what the elders used to do to us whenever we scored one over on
them when we were her age.>" 

"<You told her to shut up and mind her own business,>" Comb said flatly. 

"<Of course.>" Be Dea smiled."<I think she'll be perfect for the hunt.>"

"<You've really taken her under your wing.>" Shou Ya, said that more as a
statement than a question.

Be Dea gave a toothy grin every bit as horrifying as Cologne's. "<She is
nothing short of incredible. She's beaten everyone in her age category and
higher in the months since her return, beaten them easily. And the girl has
a mind that's as sharp as a razor. I personally think she could not only
take Shan-Pu, but I believe that perhaps one day she could be leader.>"

"<Can't get it yourself so you want to live vicariously through others by
having them attain the goal you sought. How petty,>" Shou Ya commented.

Be Dea held her temper in check. "<No. I truly believe she should be leader
someday because of who she is and what she can do, not because of some
feeling of dissatisfaction.>"

"<You'd still enjoy seeing the matriarch's great granddaughter fall from
contendership though?>" Comb asked.

"<That's just a bonus.>" Be Dea admitted. "<I'm going to inform her now. I
shall see you all later.>" 

The others said their good-byes as Be Dea left for the girl's home. Be Dea
had been understating her admiration for the young girl. Most women would
not have the opportunity to be considered for leadership until they hit the
age of fifty or so, but Be Dea had a feeling that the girl was so good she
might actually gain the leadership that much sooner. And the look of
disappointment on Cologne's face when Shampoo fell would come close to
allowing Be Dea to die a happy woman.

She arrived at the girl's house and knocked on the door. Her mother, Rinse,
answered immediately and gave a deep bow. 

"<Greetings honored elder. What brings you here at this time of day?>"

"<I've come to talk to your daughter,>" Be Dea explained. "<Is she in?>"

Rinse admitted she was and ushered the elder directly to the girl's room.
Be Dea looked past Rinse and into the room even as she was introduced.
Rinse's husband had added on to the house to accommodate the girl's
possessions, of which there were many. Rinse excused herself, much to the
elder's surprise, and closed the door behind her, leaving her alone with
the girl. Now that Be Dea was in the room she saw the girl for the first
time today. The girl started to put down the book she had been holding and
was about to get up to bow before Be Dea. 

"<Sit down. I have enough people bow before me every day that my back is
stooped from all the bending I have to do. I won't miss it if a couple of
them just give me a pleasant, 'good day, Elder'.>"

The girl took the cue and sat back down. "<Good day, Elder.>"

"<Now you see, my back feels better already.>" Be Dea usually took the
friendly tact with those she wished to relax in her presence, but now that
she had watched the girl for almost a minute she realized there was very
little tension in her. Very little. A mixture of emotions went through the
elder with that realization. It was good to see the girl had great control
and refused to be impressed with one's title, but she should still have
respect for her betters. At least as long as they were her betters.  Be Dea
would have to watch the girl more carefully to make certain she did not
lose respect for how the village hierarchy worked.

"<What was that you were reading?>" Be Dea asked, pointing to the book the
girl had just put down.

The girl picked it up and showed the title to Be Dea. "<Dante's Inferno, in
the original Italian. You know, it's true what they say about it losing
something in the translation.>"

"<You can read Italian?>"

"<Oh yes,>" the girl said. "<I'm fluent in that as well as Japanese,
English, and German. I can also speak a little Hindi, French, Vietnamese,
and Russian. I have a knack for languages, and as I learned under my
various masters, most of them prefer it when you speak to them in their
native tongue.>"

"<I guess so,>" Be Dea commented while hiding the fact she was impressed.
True, learning a foreign language was hardly a good indicator if someone
was smart or dull-witted, Be Dea's difficulty in learning anything outside
of Chinese was proof of that, but in this case she felt it did speak
volumes of the girl's intelligence. 

Be Dea paused in thought to look upon the bookshelves that had been a
recent addition to the room. Hundreds of volumes sat upon those wooden
boards. Only the tribe's library held more. "<You have many books here,>"
she commented as she let her hand trail along the spines of the various
texts as she strolled past them.

"<I traveled to many different places and picked them up over time,>" the
girl explained. "<Whenever I found one I wanted to keep I'd send it to a
storage facility in Hong Kong. When I returned home I sent for them. Even I
wasn't really aware of just how much I accumulated over time.>"

Many of the texts were in their native tongue, and indecipherable to the
elder, but some were translated. She could read some of the titles though.
Books on philosophy, politics, and economics were numerous. Be Dea was
about to turn away when her eyes fell upon a title that was very familiar.
She picked up the dog-eared copy of the book. "<Ah. Sun-Tzu. I remember my
first copy of 'The Art of War'. Mine was even more worn out than this when
I was your age.>" She began leafing through the pages, reminiscing about
her past, when she noticed something peculiar about the copy she held in
her hand. "<What's all this writing doing in the margins?>"

"<Oh, those are the revisions I did to the book.>" the girl stated without
a trace of bravado. "<That's just the unorganized scribbling I wrote down
when I first went through it. If you want, I can show you the good copy I
have with all the detailed descriptions.>"

Be Dea just stood there in shock. She...REVISED the 'Art of War'.

The girl was able to read the elder's emotions immediately and knew she had
to take action right away unless she wished to jeopardize what headway she
had made with the elder in the past months since her return. "<Most of them
are simply updated ideas to fit into the modern era of combat. The face of
the world has changed, and not all of the ideas are feasible without a
great deal of modifications. I did very little revising involving old or
bad ideas that were a little off. I still regard it as one of the greatest
books I've ever read.>" 

Be Dea relaxed ever so slightly at the admission. The idea that anyone
could improve on that book was absurd, though she did pocket the copy that
she had been holding. It would give her insight as to how the girl's mind
really worked.

The girl decided to take the initiative. "<You did not come here to borrow
books, did you, Elder?>"

It was time to get down to business. "<I have a task for you. One which
will measure the true extent of your abilities.>" Be Dea paused to allow
that bit of information to sink in. The girl's reaction was just what Be
Dea had thought it would. The girl was extremely skilled at hiding her
emotions, but far from perfect. There was just the slightest hint of the
excitement she held within etched on her face.

"<The council has authorized an action. I wish for you to be given charge
of its execution.>" Be Dea gave an imposing stare at the girl. It was much
to her delight that the youth didn't cringe at all, but rather looked eager
to accept the task. 

"<I will do it, honored Elder,>" the girl reassured.

"<You have not yet heard what it is.>"

The girl shook her head. "<It does not matter. I will accept it no matter
the task.>"

Those were easy words to utter. Be Dea would test the resolve of
them."<What if I told you it is a secret mission to break into the Musk's
fortress to gain intelligence on them?>"

"<I would begin by looking through the ancient texts to see if there is
anything on how Hu Chiang pierced their walls,>" the girl answered, her
eyes indicating that her mind was already racing with what steps she would
have to take. "<Then I would interview anyone who had been to the fortress
to see what they remembered. And then->."

The rest was cut off as Be Dea raised her hand. "<Don't be in such a rush.
That's not what you have to do, though I believe your enthusiasm
demonstrates you are more than ready for the real task.>"

The girl fell to one knee. "<I swear to you I will do my best, Elder.>"

Be Dea shook her head reassuringly. "<Excellent. Your eagerness does you
justice. And this task will gain you much notoriety should you succeed.>"

"<I cannot see the future, so there is no guarantee of victory,>" the girl
admitted. "<But if it can be done then I shall succeed, come hell or high
water.>"

"<That's good to hear. Few admit when things are beyond their abilities,
especially the young, but you approach things with the realization that
victory is not a certainty. I acknowledge your acceptance.>" Be Dea would
have adopted this girl in a heartbeat if she did not already have a clan
and family. "<If you must know, there is one other reason I think you will
enjoy this. Think of it as a bonus.>"

The girl's eyebrows cocked up quizzically. "<And why is that?>"

The moment to spring the surprise had at last come. Be Dea had been waiting
to watch the girl's reaction to the good news. "<You are going to have the
opportunity to avenge yourself of a terrible wrong done to you in the past.
We are authorizing you to hunt down and bring back your old rival, Shan-Pu.
Congratulations, Perfume.>"


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Special Thanks to:

Harold Ancell
Ryan Anderson
Gary Kleppe
Jason Liao
Lord Talon
Shadowmage
Dr. Wade Tritschler