Love Letters from the Edge
A Ranma 1/2 Elseworlds by the Scriviner

Foreword:
	What actually set off this story was an episode of Kinyo 
Chui Ho Wapiko-chan, I saw a couple of months back, where one of 
the characters hit her head and had a long elaborate dream 
sequence where everyone was acting the opposite of how they 
normally acted. I figured it was a great idea for a fic... but 
then I figured, it'd be more intriguing to see if I could make a 
single change which would result in a cascade of events which 
would lead to the resulting opposite personalities/behavior in 
people. 
	I'd intended to post this only one I'd completed it, but at 
TimeRunner's urging, I've decided to post it now. It's only 
halfway through, give or take... rough in spots, and quite 
frankly, I couldn't figure out how to divide it properly into 
chapters, hence this long thing. 
	In any case, rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, and I 
wouldn't dream of trying to steal em. And now... on with the 
story...
- - -

	Somewhere in the Nerima district of Tokyo was a rather 
unremarkable structure known as the Tendo Dojo. The sign next to 
the entrance suggested that if one wished to challenge the dojo 
owner to savage martial combat, they may use the rear entrance. 
But it was more than merely a dojo. For next to it was the Tendo 
household... and currently sitting at the porch, facing the koi 
pond was the dojo's owner and master, patriarch of the Tendo 
family, Soun Tendo.
	Soun Tendo was a rather severe looking man in an old brown 
gi. His hair was long and he had a neatly trimmed moustache. He 
was nearing middle age, but still lean and trim, the result of 
his martial arts training. At the moment, he was rereading a 
postcard, for what must have been the twentieth time. Tears were 
rolling down his cheeks... he was so happy. He tended to do 
whenever he was overcome by emotion. Which was actually most of 
the time. But this was particularly intense... he was crying so 
much that the wooden floor under him was warping.
	The post card seemed unremarkable enough. On the back, it 
had a cute picture of a panda and it was postmarked as having 
come from China. The words written on it were equally 
unremarkable, but filled with meaning for Soun. "Coming home. We 
love you and miss you all."
	It was signed, "Ranma and Akane"
	Unable to contain himself Soun leapt to his feet and called 
out, "Kasumi! Nabiki!" calling his other daughters together... he 
had to share this news with them.
	He was smiling happily even as the tears streaked down his 
face... to think that such momentous news would arrive today of 
all days... it was almost too good to be true.
- - -
	Two men, boys actually, about sixteen years old slogged 
through the sudden downpour. They were walking down one of the 
busier streets of Nerima and people were everywhere. People who 
had the foresight to bring umbrellas one of them noted, muttering 
darkly.
	They looked remarkably alike... same muscular build, same 
unruly crop of black hair pulled into a pigtail, same handsome 
features... they were even wearing similar red silk Chinese 
shirts and the same type of loose black pants, even down to the 
similarity of the huge backpacks they were both bearing. 
Surprisingly enough, despite the pack's weight neither seemed to 
notice it much and they were both walking easily, in step.
	Truth be told, the only way to tell the two apart was the 
fact that one of them was wearing a pair of plastic hornrim 
glasses and had a certain air of crafty intelligence. The other 
wore no glasses and was gawking openly at their surroundings.
	"Things sure have changed around here, Akan- er- Akaru," 
the one who wasn't wearing glasses noted.
	Akaru adjusted his glasses, "Yeah, Ranma, sure does. There 
didn't use to be this many shops around here."
	"We'd better find you some hot water first, then," Ranma 
replied, glancing up at the sky, "I think the rain's stopped."
	"Yeah. I don't want to meet everyone looking like this," 
Akaru grinned slapping his chest a few times for emphasis.
	Ranma chuckled, "Especially not dad."
	"Nope definitely not," Akaru replied, also chuckling.
- - -
	A limo waited in front of the well apointed Kuno estates, 
its driver, a short man in an outfit which could only be called a 
ninja uniform sat on top of several stacked pillows to help him 
see over the steering wheel.
	Next to the car, Kochou Kuno, a large bluff man waited 
impatiently for his wife and children to come out. He was easily 
middle age, but still solidly built. His long curly black hair 
was tied back into a short topknot reminiscent of the ancient 
samurai. It was an affectation of his that his wife tolerated 
good naturedly. As well as his penchant for wearing kimonos all 
the time. It was only fitting after all, their family had come 
from a long and honorable samurai lineage. Nobility of his 
ancestors and himself aside though, right now, he was feeling 
quite put upon... none of his family seemed to quite understand 
just how important this meeting was. Of course, he hadn't told 
them what it was for, but that was unimportant. It simply would 
not do to have them arrive late...
	"Darling?! Tatchi? Kotchi? We're going to be late!" Kochou 
called out.
	"Daddy, no need to shout. We're right here. I am, anyway," 
his daughter said as she swept out of the door. Swept was an 
appropriate word to use, she was in a demure pastel blue dress 
with a long sweeping skirt. It practically begged the use of the 
word... sweep. In all it's various tenses. She was a sweetly 
beautiful young woman, no more than sixteen, with long black 
hair, tied off into an offcenter ponytail, "Tatchi is just 
finishing something up in his room. He said he'd be down..."
	Kochou harumphed loudly, "Probably jotting something down 
in that journal of his again."
	The girl hugged her father, "Now, now, Daddy... just 
because 'nisama doesn't like martial arts is no reason to take 
that tone..."
	"I know... I know... it's your mother's influence I tell 
you." Kochou said after a moment.
	The girl giggled, "Don't let Mama hear you say that."
	"Don't tell her I said it." Kochou grinned.
	"What was that about Mama?" A young man of seventeen asked 
as he stepped out of the house. He was handsome, with a slender 
build, even features that had a certain cast of nobility to them. 
He was in a formal suit, colored dark blue and tailored 
precisely. He wore a pair of wire rim glasses and had a bound 
journal under one arm.
	"Nothing at all, son," Kochou replied with a grin, "Don't 
tell me you're bringing that notebook along?" he asked playfully.
	The young man, smiled, "Father, you know perfectly well I 
would never go anywhere without it."
	"Well, it's a lot less stupid than that bokken you used to 
carry around in grade school," The girl smiled.
	The three shared a chuckle over that, "Well, mama told me 
it looked a trifle ridiculous... and she most certainly had a 
point." The young man said, slightly embarrassed.
	"Alright... is everyone here?" called a voice from within 
the door... 
	"Yes we are, dear." Kochou called back, "Please hurry, 
we'll be late."
	"I'm sorry, I took so long, Darling." The woman said as she 
stepped out of the door. She was a strikingly beautiful woman in 
her late forties, but she looked hardly a day over thirty. She 
was also wearing a formal kimono and was smiling gently at her 
family. Her long curled hair was styled into a bun behind her.
	"It's alright, Darling," Kochou smiled. He could never be 
angry at her for very long. "I'm certain Sasuke can get us there 
in time, "Isn't that right, Sasuke?"
	The driver bowed formally, "I shall certainly endeavor to 
do so, Master Kuno."
	"Well, let's be on our way then..." the woman said 
gesturing her children into the car... it had been a while since 
she'd last seen Soun and he and Kochou apparently had some sort 
of arrangement they were planning. She smiled grimly, hoping that 
this wasn't another of her husband's mad schemes. Nodoka Kuno was 
certainly looking forward to finding out what her husband was up 
to this time.
- - -
	The rain had stopped, finally. Just outside the gates of 
the Tendo Dojo stood a boy and a girl, both sixteen. The boy, 
Ranma glanced nervously at the wooden gates, "Well... we're here, 
Akane. At long last. We're home."
	The girl, a very cute brunette. Her black hair, braided to 
match Ranma's swept neatly away from her face. She was about 
three inches shorter than he was and a good deal more slender. 
She paused to adjust her glasses, trying to disguise the tears 
she was blinking back, it simply wouldn't do to show her brother 
she was being weak... it would not do. 
	"Yeah..." she said quietly. "Let's go in?"
	"Yeah... we're not getting anywhere standing out here."
	"Yeah."
	They remained standing there for another minute.
	"Well are you opening the gates or not?" Akane asked 
impatiently.
	"Me? Why don't you open it?"
	"Cause you opened it when we left, stupid!" Akane shouted 
back.
	"ME?! Have you forgotten that we BOTH jumped over the 
wall?" Ranma shouted back.
	"Oh yeah?"
	"Yeah!"
	"Oh yeah?"
	"Yeah!"
	"Are you sure?"
	"Uh-huh... pretty sure."
	"I remember you opening the gate..."
	"Nah, it was over the wall..."
	The gate slowly swung open as the two continued their 
rather simplistic argument.
	"Excuse me?" Said a new voice from the now opened gates.
	Both the boy and the girl turned to look at the beautiful 
woman who'd opened the door... she was dressed in a very simple 
pale white blouse and a long peach skirt. There was something 
very familiar about her face... the soft smile, the long, soft 
brown hair, the maternal light in her eyes...
	Both Akane and Ranma cried out simultaneously, "Kasumi!" as 
they barreled past the half opened gate both of them hugging her 
tearfully. The woman, Kasumi, smiled happily, returning their 
hugs warmly.
	"I've missed you both so much!" Kasumi said sweetly to both 
of them, still holding them in her arms. "How you've both grown!"
	"We missed you too, sis!" Akane cried. Ranma just hugged 
silently.
	"Kiai!" another voice screamed as someone else leapt on the 
three.
	Ranma and Akane both immediately whirled into defensive 
stances, covering one another's flank, keeping Kasumi behind and 
between them.
	Kasumi gave an amused, though exasperated sigh at the 
newcomer, "Nabiki, stop joking."
	The fourth person was a pretty brunette no more than 
seventeen years old. Her hair cut almost brutally short, favored 
them with a feral grin. Her slender body was toned underneath her 
gi as she stood in a ready stance. "You two haven't been slacking 
off I see," she said.
	"Nabiki?!" Akane sputtered.
	Ranma just stared.
	"It's so good to see you both!" Nabiki shouted jumping into 
Ranma's surprised arms and grabbing Akane along the way, also 
hugging her.
	Akane laughed and hugged her older sister back, "What 
happened to you?!"
	Nabiki grinned, more playfully this time, as she ruffled 
Akane's hair, "Well, somebody had to train to inherit the dojo 
when you two left, and Kasumi-nesama doesn't like violence... so 
guess who daddy's been training?"
	"Say... where is dad?" Ranma asked glancing around.
	Kasumi glanced towards the house worriedly and tapped both 
Ranma and Akane on the shoulder, "He's there..."
	Ranma and Akane's joy was suddenly cooled. At the door to 
the Tendo household proper stood the patriarch of the Tendo clan. 
Soun gazed at them coldly. His face stern and unforgiving. His 
eyes hard and staring directly at his prodigal children. Even 
Nabiki and Kasumi flinched under their father's harsh stare. They 
knew how much he had been hurt by Ranma and Akane's departure 
those many years ago.
	Long moments passed and no one moved...
	"So you've returned." Soun said finally. His voice cold and 
distant.
	Ranma and Akane moved away from their sisters, moving 
towards Soun. As they neared him they dropped to their knees, 
heads bowed low. Ranma's muffled and humble voice replied to 
Soun, "Yes, sir."
	"And how went your quest?" Soun asked in the same tone.
	"It was a futile one, sir." Ranma replied again.
	"So now are you content to be merely a Tendo now, Ranma?" 
Soun asked, his voice unchanging.
	"No, sir." Ranma's voice replied, "I would not be content."
	Soun's visage clouded over... his cold control slipping as 
his face began to twist into a mask of fury...
	"I would be honored... to be known as Ranma Tendo... if you 
would have me. Father." Ranma replied, still not raising his 
head.
	"I see." Soun managed to say finally, the tears already 
rolling slowly down his face, "I see... rise, Ranma Tendo... you 
too, Akane... it is good to see you both home."
	As the two youngest Tendos rose to their feet, Soun was 
unable to stop himself anymore and began to bawl lustily, "It's 
so good to have you two home! We've missed you so very much!!!!!"
	It took less than thirty seconds for the newly reunited 
Tendo family to get into a group hug. For the first time in six 
years... they were complete.
- - -
	The family settled into a happy circle around the dinner 
table. Kasumi smiling sweetly as she served tea and cakes. 
Nabiki, Ranma and Akane shoveling the food in as though there 
were no tomorrow. Soun smiling proudly at his children.
	"So, how did you two survive?" Nabiki asked Ranma and Akane 
pointedly around a rice cracker.
	"Well..." Ranma started, glancing at Akane.
	"Well, mostly we got odd jobs here and there," Akane 
replied off handedly, "Sometimes we used our martial arts to win 
competitions and stuff..."
	"...then Akane would do her best to make the money stretch 
out when we didn't have any work. She's gotten really good at 
making money last." Ranma completed.
	Soun nodded sagely, "That's excellent, it's good to see you 
two have learned from your journey..."
	"Yeah, I guess we did learn quite a bit, it was like one 
long training journey." Ranma laughed.
	"Actually, it's quite fortunate that you arrived today, of 
all days..." Soun said.
	"Really? Why's that dad?" Akane asked as she pushed her 
glasses up her nose. It was a negligent gesture, but one which 
she did often when presented with an interesting tidbit of 
information.
	"I'm expecting some important guests... people who will 
help ensure the continued future of the anything goes school of 
martial arts..." Soun replied enthusiastically.
	Nabiki gave a small grimace, she knew that tone of voice... 
it was the same one he used on her whenever he made her learn a 
new technique. Whatever it was, she was certain it didn't bode 
well for her.
	"Soun! We're here!" a voice called out from the gate.
	"Oh my, we have visitors." Kasumi said, rushing to her feet 
to open the gate. 
	Ranma and Akane looked at each other curiously, each 
wondering what was happening.
	When Kasumi returned, she was with Kochou, Nodoka, Tatewaki 
and Kodachi. She smiled at Soun, "Father, the Kuno family is 
here... I do wish you'd told me they were going to be our guests, 
I would've prepared something special." She chided him mildly.
	Kodachi caught sight of Ranma... Ranma caught a good look 
at Kodachi in return... their eyes met... sparks flew... their 
breaths caught in their throats... and Akane had to give Ranma a 
quick elbow to the stomach to remind him to breathe.
	Kochou rushed to Soun, "Ahh! My friend it is so good to see 
you again."
	"And you as well! I trust everything is alright?"
	"Of course, of course."
	As the respective patriarchs of the Kuno and Tendo clan 
exchanged greetings, slaps on the back and friendly banter, 
Nodoka smiled warmly at the Tendos.
	"Auntie Kuno!" Nabiki shouted merrily, bouncing to her 
feet.
	Nodoka hugged her warmly, "Nabiki, you're certainly growing 
up well..." she noticed Ranma and Akane at the table and blinked 
in surprise, "Akane-chan? Ran-chan? You've finally come home!"
	Akane and Ranma surged to their feet as well, embracing 
Nodoka, "You're both so grown up now!" she exclaimed.
	Kodachi moved to her mother's side, "Mom... is this Ran-
chan?" she asked, not daring to believe it.
	Nodoka nodded. Ranma was blushing furiously as he looked at 
Kodachi, "Er... Ko-chan? Is that you?"
	She answered by throwing her arms around him, "I missed 
you, you idiot! Where have you been?!"
	Ranma blushed an even deeper shade of red, accepting the 
embrace. Akane had to hide a grin behind her hand, "We were 
travelling all over Japan... and China too." She replied for the 
speechless Ranma.
	Nabiki smirked, "Well, there's something to be said for 
childhood friends being reunited once again."
	"It's..." Ranma stammered, "Um... er... very nice to... 
uh... see you again... really... could you let me breathe now, 
Ko-chan..."
	Tatewaki stood off to the side, looking and feeling a 
little out of place. Nabiki noticed him and sent a dagger stare 
his way. Tatewaki noticed the glare and looked away quickly, but 
it was hard not to feel the hairs on the nape of his neck singing 
from the intensity of her look.
	Nodoka turned to her husband, a slight reproving look in 
her eye, "Why didn't you tell me that the reason why we came here 
was to see Akane and Ranma again. You didn't have to be so 
mysterious about it."
	Kochou was torn from his conversation with Soun to look 
sheepishly at his wife, "Er, actually... that wasn't it. I'm as 
surprised about that as you are..."
	"So what are we here for, father?" Tatewaki asked, eager to 
be away from Nabiki's simmering menace.
	Soun and Kochou traded satisfied grins before they looked 
to the two families and said, "For the union of the Tendo and 
Kuno schools of Anything Goes Martial Arts of Course!"
	"Union?" Nabiki glowered.
	Soun grinned happily, "We'd originally intended for Ranma 
to marry Kodachi..."
	"WHAT?!" Ranma and Kodachi sputtered.
	"But when Akane and Ranma left, we revised our plan and 
decided to wed the strongest remaining practitioner left, 
Nabiki... to Tatewaki." they grinned at the two who were still in 
an embrace, "They are now engaged."
	"WHAT?!" Nabiki and Tatewaki shouted in unison.
	"An arranged marriage? In this day and age?" Nodoka said 
disapprovingly, "In the name of martial arts no less. What were 
you two thinking?" She walked towards the two of them taking each 
by an ear, and dragged them into another room. She turned just 
before sliding the door shut with her foot, giving the teens a 
grim smile, "Excuse us while we sort this out."
	The four remaining Tendos and two Kunos exchanged glances. 
This certainly didn't look good for their fathers.
	"They can't be serious!" Nabiki ranted.
	"Oh my..." Kodachi said, "They certainly looked like they 
were." Kasumi nodded agreement.
	Ranma, recovering from his flush, "They were actually 
thinking of engaging me to you?" he said Kodachi.
	Kodachi smirked playfully, "Is it that hard to imagine?"
	Akane grinned, "Well, you did promise to marry her, right?"
	"We were six at the time!" he cried back.
	Nabiki continued to glower, striding towards Tatewaki. She 
grabbed him by the lapels, "You'd better NOT be getting any ideas 
buster!"
	Tatewaki acked, "Erhm... no! Of course not! I had 
absolutely no notion that father would do such a thing!"
	"Nabiki, lay off of my poor brother." Kodachi chided, "He's 
had his nose in his journal all week. Besides, we didn't even 
know we were coming here until we got here."
	"I swear to you on my life!" Tatweaki agreed readily.
	"Be ready to back it up, wimp," Nabiki muttered to him 
darkly.
	Ranma looked puzzled, "Why are you so mad at Tatewaki-
sempai? He didn't do anything to you did he?" as the beginnings 
of a frown formed on Ranma's face. He might've been away for a 
while, but no one did anything to any of his sisters.
	"Butt out, Ranma. I can handle this." Nabiki cut him off 
bluntly. She dragged the elder Kuno's face down so that it was 
level with hers, "Let's get this straight, buster... no matter 
what my dad or your mom and dad say we are not, repeat... NOT 
getting married. Not in a million years, not in a billion got 
that?!"
	"P-Perfectly." Tatewaki squeaked.
	Akane frowned slightly, and pulled Tatewaki out of Nabiki's 
grip, "Nabiki, that's enough... you're choking him." She looked 
up into his relieved face and flashed him a quick smile, "Are you 
alright, Tatewaki-sempai?"
	Nabiki simmered for a brief moment then strode away with a 
huff. Kodachi looked half embarrassed and half lost.
	"Oh, many thanks, Akane..." Tatewaki replied.
	"You can thank us by explaining why she's so pissed at 
you." Akane asked smoothly, easing her glasses up the bridge of 
her nose again.
	Tatewaki also pushed his glasses up his nose to recompose 
himself, but before he could reply Kasumi spoke up, "She doesn't 
like boys."
	Akane and Ranma traded glances. "She doesn't..." they said 
simultaneously.
	"She hates men..." Kasumi added apologetically. "Are you 
alright, Tatewaki-kun?"
	He smiled shyly at her, "Yes, thank you very much, Kasumi-
san."
	"Please forgive Nabiki," Kasumi said gently, "She is 
somewhat... high spirited."
	Kodachi smirked, "I've never heard of her referred to in 
quite that way before."
	Ranma and Akane just traded puzzled glances, "I guess 
there's a lot we're going to have to get used to." Akane said 
finally.
	The door finally slid open and a sheepish looking Kochou 
and Soun stepped out, followed by a stern looking Nodoka.
	"We..." Kochou began in a somewhat diffident tone. He 
glanced at Soun as if looking for support... then glanced at 
Nodoka, who nodded, still frowning slightly. "We have an 
announcement to make."
	"Where's Nabiki?" Soun interrupted.
	"I think she went to the dojo, father," Kasumi replied.
	Kochou looked lost, "Er... but how are we supposed to tel 
her she's engaged to Tatewaki if she's not here..."
	"I"M WHAT?! NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT NO WAY!!" Nabiki screamed as 
she stormed back into the family room.
	"Oh my, she's back..." Kasumi said.
	Tatewaki's eyes bugged in fear, seeing Nabiki in the grips 
of rage... and him a very convenient nearby target, "Father! You 
can't be serious! She'll kill me!"
	Nodoka poke sternly to Nabiki, "Calm down, please. I've 
decided that since these two..." she gave the two patriarchs an 
annoyed glance, "Have already signed a contract to effect the 
engagement, honor demands that it be followed... but there is one 
proviso..."
	"Er..." Soun began, "That after a one year betrothal, in 
the event that you two do not prove to be compatible, Kodachi 
will be engaged to Ranma..."
	"WHAT?!" Ranma sputtered.
	Kodachi murmured, "Great... we're the back up team."
	There was more that surely needed to be said, but at about 
that point, everyone began speaking at once...
- - -
	"So... should we tell them?" Ranma asked his sister, as he 
smoothed his damp hair away from his eyes.
	Akane shrugged slightly, sweat glistening lightly on her 
shoulders, "I don't know... I mean what with everything happening 
all at once, maybe we should let them get used to us being here 
before we mention anything about what happened to us in China."
	"They're going to find out sooner or later, you know." 
Ranma replied.
	"It's not as if I can control it, alright?" she shot back 
peevishly, "Let's just relax and enjoy being home for a while... 
and worry about it later."
	"If you say so," Ranma deferred.
	"Yes, I do."
	"Fine, then.
	"Fine."
	Long moments passed in comfortable silence between the two, 
as Akane braided her hair again. It had the quality of certain 
silences between two people who know each other so well, very 
little needs to be said. 
	"Well... that was an odd homecoming." Akane said finally, 
tying her braid off, a smile touching her lips. She eased a 
little more against the side of the hot tub. The hot water was 
relaxing her immensely.
	"Not what I was expecting at all." Ranma replied from the 
other end of the tub, also looking a bit more relaxed. It was a 
bit of a tight fit... and their feet and legs were entangled with 
each other, but nothing they weren't used to, "Kinda odd to think 
Nabiki-nesama is now engaged."
	"To Tatewaki Kuno no less." Akane replied, stifling a 
giggle, "The two of them sure changed a lot while we were gone... 
they look like they've hardly got a thing in common."
	"Yeah," Ranma added, "I wonder what dad and uncle Kuno were 
thinking." 
	Akane leaned forward and said in a teasing tone, "Why? 
Disappointed you didn't get engaged to Kodachi?"
	"That's not it at all!" Ranma sputtered, a blush creeping 
up his face.
	"I knew it! You still like her!" Akane said triumphantly.
	"I do not!" Ranma shot back, "But while we're on the 
subject, weren't you being awfully nice to Tatewaki-sempai, 
hmmm..?"
	"Was not! I was trying to find out what was going on!" 
Akane replied with a sniff.
	Ranma grinned cattily, "It's kinda funny actually... with 
those glasses he's wearing and that haircut... plus the way he 
talks... he kinda reminds me of the way Doctor Toufuu used to 
be... I wonder if he still has his clinic here..."
	It was Akane's turn to blush.
	"Ah-hah! Gotcha!"
	"Did not!"
	"Did too!"
	"Hey, what's all the racket in there?!" Nabiki's voice 
called out as she slid open the door to the bath. Nabiki, still 
in her gi, stared in shock at a naked Ranma and Akane both 
sitting in the tub, wrestling playfully with each other. She 
blushed and turned around quickly, "Ack..!"
	Ranma gave a strangled cry and ducked under the water as 
far as he would go, positioning his hands strategically to hide 
what he felt he needed to hide. Akane smiled at Nabiki's back, 
"Oh. Hi, sis."
	"I... ah... I didn't know you two had gotten so close..." 
Nabiki stamered, "I'll... I'll just get going now..."
	Akane laughed at Nabiki's discomfort, "It's not like that. 
Ranma and I just got used to bathing together cause it saves on 
water. Besides, we've been bathing like this since we were little 
kids so what's the big deal? Wanna join us? I think we can make a 
little more room."
	Ranma grumbled something, but it merely came out as a 
stream of bubbles.
	"Hmmm?" Akane glanced at him.
	Ranma lifted his mouth out of the water for a moment to 
add, "It was her idea."
	Nabiki looked over her shoulder at the two of them. Her 
face was a mixture of embarrassment and worry. "But Ranma's a 
GUY!"
	"He's our brother," Akane replied, "We all used to bathe 
together when we were little remember?"
	"But that was when we were little..." Nabiki replied 
blushing and looking away, "I mean we're practically adults 
now... and isn't it embarrassing to be naked with... with... a 
guy?!"
	Akane smiled playfully, "What? Worried he's going to try 
something perverted in the tub? We can always double team him and 
wallop him out the window."
	Nabiki giggled a little.
	Akane continued with a smirk, "And even if we WERE doing 
something kinky in here, it's not like there's anything really 
wrong with it..."
	Nabiki and Ranma both flushed crimson.
	"Akane!" Nabiki frowned.
	"We were nearly done anyway, Nabiki..." Ranma spoke 
quickly, interupting the potential fight.
	Akane gave Ranma an exasperated look and shrugged, still 
smiling, "Yeah, I guess we are. Just give us a little while to 
dry up and change, then you can use the bath, okay?"
	Nabiki nodded curtly, as she turned around and walked out. 
She shut the bathroom door behind her shaking a little in a 
stewed mixture of anger at Akane's taunting, embarrassment, 
shame, and perhaps a little excitement... she murmured softly to 
herself as she calmed down, "They are DEFINITELY going to take 
getting used to."
	The rest of the night, passed with nothing of greater 
magnitude transpiring.
- - -
	Kasumi set the last of the plates on the table... she 
smiled at Nabiki as the middle Tendo descended from the stairs, 
already dressed in her uniform, but not looking particularly 
happy about it.
	"Oh, Nabiki. Better wake Ranma and Akane up. They're going 
to be late for school." Kasumi called up to her.
	Nabiki frowned slightly, (not at Kasumi) as she glanced 
back up, she muttered, "Do I have to? Those two freak me out a 
little Kasumi..."
	Kasumi gave Nabiki an exasperated sigh.
	"Okay, alright... I'll wake them up, okay?" Nabiki grumbled 
as she stalked up the steps. She came first to Ranma's door, as 
indicated by the wooden sign which said in large English letters 
'RANMA'. His room and Akane's hadn't been touched since they'd 
left, except for the occasional dusting by Kasumi. Soun wouldn't 
allow it.
	She knocked loudly on it, "Hey, Ranma! Get a move on or 
you're going to be late!"
	She waited for a few seconds... there was no response. She 
glared at the door angrily for a few minutes, then turned the 
knob to open it... 
	The room was empty. She glanced around, noting the bed and 
everything else in it... not only was he not inside, it looked as 
if it hadn't been slept in at all.
	Nabiki got a nagging suspicion and quickly moved over to 
Akane's room. Not bothering to knock, Nabiki quietly eased the 
door open and peeked in. At first glance, there was a single 
figure on the bed, largely covered by the sheets. Nabiki could 
see the rhythmic rise and fall as it breathed... 
	The mound began to stir and Nabiki nearly panicked, half 
closing the door. The mound resolved into two sleeping figures, 
as Akane turned over in her sleep, moving half out of Ranma's 
enfolding arms... they both seemed to be wearing similar tanktops 
and were still entangled with one another and with the sheets...
	Nabiki could only stare in shock...
	Ranma blinked his eyes open sleepily and looked at Nabiki, 
"Mmm? Oh. Hi, Nabiki... morning already?"
	Nabiki nodded dumbly.
	"S'good," he turned towards Akane, still more than half 
asleep... for a moment, Nabiki wondered to herself if he was 
going to kiss Akane awake.
	"Sis... get up... we got school..." Ranma said softly.
	"Don't wanna," Akane mumbled sleepily, her eyes still 
closed, "Lemme sleep."
	"C'mon... up and at em, sis."
	"Lemme sleep a little more..." her voice dropped to a husky 
whisper, "I'll do anything..."
	"Anything?" Ranma grinned slightly, resting his forehead on 
hers.
	Nabiki flushed crimson... they couldn't be talking about 
what I think they're talking about... are they?
	"Anything..." Akane continued in her sleepy mumble, her 
arms wrapping around Ranma's neck.
	"Nabiki's here you know," Ranma replied getting a little 
nervous as he glanced at her over his shoulder.
	"So let her watch," Akane mumbled.
	Nabiki managed to stammer, "I'll... um... I'll just go on 
down ahead, why don't I? Right. Scuse me..." as she hastily 
backed out of the room.
	Akane's eyes finally blinked open to the sight of Ranma's 
earnest face, "Did we freak her out again?"
	"I think so," he replied.
	She grinned playfully, "She really has GOT to loosen up."
	""I'm wondering what she thinks we were doing..." Ranma 
said, moving to roll off of her.
	"Isn't it obvious?" Akane kissed her brother on the cheek, 
before she rolled off the bed on the opposite side and the two of 
them began to change out of their bedclothes.
	Akane and Ranma rushed down the stairs quickly, dressed 
once more in their identical red Chinese shirts, and loose black 
pants. Kasumi smiled at them, "Better hurry. Nabiki went on 
ahead."
	"So how do we get to school?" Akane asked curiously, 
grabbing at the two proffered lunchboxes.
	"I'm walking you there." Kodachi said from the door, 
smiling at the two, "Hi, Ran-chan, Akane-chan."
	"Ko-chan." Ranma grinned happily.
	Akane rolled her eyes slightly, but smiled as well.
	"Let's hurry or we're going to be late." Kodachi said to 
the pair, inclining her head towards the gate.
	"You two have a good day at school!" Kasumi called after 
the trio as they left. "Oh my... it's so good that they seem to 
be getting along so well." She said to no one in particular.
- - -
	"I'm wondering why Nabiki took off so early..." Akane said, 
following Ranma on the fence. The two of them were balancing on 
it, while holding hands. Kodachi watched them with a little stab 
of jealousy.
	"Oh, that's easy... she wants to be done with the boys 
early." Kodachi replied.
	"Boys..?" Ranma said thoughtfully. He spared little thought 
to keeping his balance... he and Akane did this sort of thing so 
often it was automatic.
	Akane raised an eyebrow and pushed her glasses back with 
her free hand, "Is she that popular? But I thought you said she 
didn't like boys?"
	Kodachi laughed lightly. A soft, musical laughter that 
reminded Ranma favorably of chimes, "Oh, you might say that. But 
to see is to believe I suppose."
	"So how have you been Kodachi?" Akane asked after a moment. 
She gave her brother a sly look and said, "Ranma was wondering 
about you most of the way back home."
	Ranma gave a choked exclamation and whirled around to face 
Akane, "Hey!" He was blushing slightly.
	Kodachi brought a hand up to her mouth to hide her smile 
and the light blush coming to her cheeks. She looked at Akane, 
wide-eyed, "Really?"
	Akane nodded suppressing a giggle, "Sure... every night it 
was 'I wonder how Ko-chan is?' or 'I wonder if she still 
remembers me?'..."
	"Stop that!" Ranma roared, taking a jab at Akane's 
midsection... she responded by sweeping his thrust to the side 
and simultaneously responding with a jab of her own to his 
head... the two began to fight in earnest, exchanging rapid blows 
back and forth, neither one making contact.
	"Well it's true!" Akane laughed, ducking a nasty overhand 
swipe to her head to which she replied with a thrust kick to his 
shin.
	"You didn't have to tell her!" Ranma shot back, blushing 
furiously as he jumped over the kick and aimed one of his own 
snap kicks at her shoulder which she easily blocked... neither 
had fallen off the narrow fence yet. Come to that neither had 
been hit.
	Kodachi could only watch in wonder at the flurry of blows 
the two were exchanging. She'd never seen anyone move that 
fast... or with such precision. What she'd seen of the Tendo 
School of Anything Goes Martial Art had only been Nabiki's 
particular take on the style... which was decidedly less... 
elegant.
	"Er... guys... we're going to be late if you keep that 
up..." Kodachi pointed out as the pair exchanged what was perhaps 
their fiftieth series of blows with no contact.
	Snapped out of their rhythm, the Tendo siblings blinked at 
Kodachi. Ranma bounced off the fence, landing next to her, 
"Honest, it's not like that at all!" he pleaded.
	Kodachi looked at his earnest worried face and had a hard 
time keeping herself from giggling.
	Ranma gulped nervously.
	Akane joined Kodachi's giggling.
	"What?" Ranma asked finally, getting mildly irritated.
	"Oh, Ran-chan... you needn't have worried about it. It's 
really..." the blush which still hadn't left her cheeks caught 
fire again, "It's very flattering."
	"Told you she wouldn't mind." Akane said with a superior 
air.
	"You shut up!" Ranma shouted at Akane. It was half bluster, 
and half laughed.
	"It's really okay?" Ranma asked Kodachi, trying to hide the 
smile that was threatening to engulf his face.
	Kodachi nodded, looking down a bit to hide the blush as it 
spread. "Yes... really."
	Akane watched the two with a slightly superior smirk, 
pushing her glasses up her nose once more. It was so simple... 
her stupid brother never did learn how to do things the easy way, 
she mused.
	"Let's go! I want to see if I can catch the tail end of 
Nabiki's performance." Kodachi suddenly said, no doubt attempting 
to change the topic. She beckoned them onward, beginning to fall 
into a run.
	"Performance?" The Tendo siblings said simultaneously as 
they fell into a comfortable pace behind Kodachi, Ranma looking 
up at Akane who was still running on the fence and looking down 
at him.
	They were still a good three blocks away from the school 
when the echoing sounds of battle, screams of agony and battle 
cries began to filter towards them.
	"Sounds like a fight..." Ranma said to no one in 
particular. 
	"Hey! That sounds like Nabiki's voice!" Akane said, 
slightly alarmed as she jumped off the fence finally. Picking up 
the pace, Ranma matched her speed, the two of them overtaking 
Kodachi.
	Kodachi nodded, smiling slightly, "Nothing..." she puffed, 
a little out of breath, "She can't handle..!" She was surprised 
that neither of the two looked as if they'd so much as broken out 
into a sweat... and she was already faltering a little. They 
easily outdistanced her, running directly for the noises... she 
sighed, slowing down a little... well, it wouldn't hurt to be a 
little late... she panted heavily.
- - -
	"For the last time you jerks... GET OUT OF MY WAY!!" 
Nabiki's carried several blocks as Ranma and Akane turned the 
corner. They arrived just in time to see Nabiki drive the heel of 
her palm into the jaw of an awkward, hefty fellow in a hockey 
mask, while simultaneously driving a foot behind her into the 
groin of a rotund unfortunate in a sumo outfit.
	Every male within a few meters of this event winced 
involuntarily. As Nabiki was in the center of a crowd of boys, 
she took their momentary stupefaction to do a roundhouse kick 
knocking three of the last seven boys into one another and 
opening up more room for her to maneuver.
	"What is she doing?" Akane asked curiously, her glasses 
pushed up once more.
	Ranma blinked, squirming uneasily, "Er... it looks like 
she's beating the living daylights out of those guys."
	"I can see that," Akane snapped at him testily.
	"Think we should help her?" Ranma asked Akane.
	"Are you kidding? Look at her!" she replied as Nabiki 
nimbly dodged a baseball bat swung by one boy and drove her knee 
into his midsection, "We'll jump in if it looks like she needs 
help.
	Kodachi finally caught up with the pair as Nabiki handily 
polished off the last three boys with single strikes as they 
tried to rush her. Nabiki stood in the middle of the school 
courtyard, totally unhurt. A large number of unconscious and 
injured boys were scattered all around her as she breathed 
heavily through her teeth. "You'd think they'd have all learned 
by now," she seethed as the bell rang. The small crowds of 
milling students who'd been watching immediately rushed to the 
main building, a few shouting, "We're going to be late!!"
	"Missed it. Pity." Kodachi sagged.
	"What was she doing?" Akane asked Kodachi a little 
uncertainly.
	Kodachi looked up to answer her, but noticed the school's 
watch, "Let's get inside the gate first... Principal's daughter 
or not, they'd still lock the me out." Kodachi said prodding them 
through the gates...
	Akane and Ranma traded uncertain glances as they walked 
onto the school grounds. Nabiki stormed off into the building 
ahead of them, ignoring everyone else. Overhead the sky began to 
darken and rumble. Akane gave a nervous upward glance at the sky. 
She and Ranma traded a look and they both ran for the school 
building just as the first drops began to fall.
- - -
	Nabiki strode confidently into her sophomore classroom. 
Outside, the brief squall had stopped and the sun was shining 
again. A few of the girls, her friends, smiled at her in 
congratulations. What few boys were in the class kept well away 
from her, and if they weren't cowering in terror, they were doing 
a convincing simulation. The rest of course had already been 
carted away to the infirmary. Only one boy wasn't shying away, if 
anything he was simply sitting distractedly at his desk, jotting 
something down in a small bound journal. It was of course, 
Tatewaki.
	As Nabiki passed she paused to glare at him. Hiding a 
nervous gulp, he hurriedly shut the journal, leaving his pen 
inside to mark his place to look up at her. A terrorized smile on 
his face, "Er... Greetings, Nabiki Tendo... did you have an 
enjoyable time dispatching those miscreants?"
	Nabiki leaned close, frowning furiously and muttered, "Not 
a word, Kuno. Breathe one word of the stupid engagement to ANYONE 
and I'm going to kill you. Got that?"
	"Absolutely, Miss Tendo."
	She gave him a derisive snort and stomped angrily over to 
her own table. The ladies of the class seeing the shaken Kuno 
began to talk animatedly, if in hushed tones among themselves.
	"Did you see that?", "Nabiki talked to a boy! Tatewaki no 
less!", "She's already got all the boys chasing after her and now 
she's going after Tatewaki-sama! Hmph!", "No way.", "Only man 
with any brains or class in this place and now she's picking on 
him...", "She's just plain mean."
	In the interests of peace and tranquility, it was fortunate 
that this escaped Nabiki's attention. Her attention totally 
consumed with rereading a small, delicately folded piece of 
stationary. And blushing.
- - -
	Meanwhile in the freshman classroom... 
	The teacher stood at the head of the class and looked over 
the transcript he had in hand, "Everyone, these are Akane and 
Ranma Tendo, they're brother and sister and they'll be 
transferring to Furinkan High School for this term..."
	"Yo," Ranma said giving a quick wave.
	"Hi," Akane with a smile and formal bow, "Nice to meet you 
all."
	The students in the class looked at one another and the 
soft whispered muttering commonly associated with the rumor mills 
began to turn...
	"Tendo? Are they related to Nabiki?", "No way...", "Cool 
outfits...", "Are they twins?", "Whooo... she's almost as cute as 
Nabiki...", "Shaddup, no one's as cute as Nabiki!", "Oh yeah?!" 
"Yeah!", "What about Kodachi?", "Ranma, huh... not bad, almost as 
good looking at Kuno-sempai...", "Cuter!", "No way!"
	Ranma blushed slightly as he noticed Kodachi giving him a 
small, half hidden smile from her seat. She could hear the rumors 
beginning to crop up. By the looks of things, the new Tendos 
looked like they would be popular additions to the Furinkan 
community.
	"AHEM," the teacher rumbled pointedly, stopping the 
mutterings, "It seems that they recently came from China, so 
let's all give them a warm welcome, however, that doesn't excuse 
the fact that they and Kodachi Kuno were late. So I'm terribly 
sorry, but you three have to go stand out in the hall."
	As Kodachi rose, there were murmurs of protest from the 
class, but she silenced them with a sweet smile and walked out 
smoothly, following the Tendos just as the class began.
- - -
	The three found themselves standing in the hallway carrying 
a pair of buckets each... For Ranma and Akane it was practically 
a joke... neither looked as if they were having any difficulty at 
all. Kodachi's arms were already beginning to feel a mild strain.
	Akane glanced at Kodachi, "Boy, this is kind of brutal... I 
would think with your dad as the principal, you'd be immune to 
this sort of thing."
	Kodachi smiled gamely back, "Of course not. Fair is fair. I 
have to take my punishment like everyone else."
	Akane shrugged, "I guess. I just would've thought you 
would've had some sort of special privilege or something."
	"Well everyone lets me go first at the food line, does that 
count?" Kodachi smiled.
	Ranma finally spoke up, "Hey, Ko-chan... what was that 
fight earlier all about anyway?"
	"Yeah I was wondering too." Akane said.
	Kodachi chuckled softly, "Oh, that. Well... Nabiki's always 
been popular with the boys since she transferred here. She wasn't 
too happy about it because there were always these guys underfoot 
trying to ask her for dates."
	"Nabiki? Really?" Ranma asked in surprise.
	Akane grinned at him, "What's the matter, can't believe 
good looks run in the family?"
	"Well... that's true." Ranma replied.
	Kodachi gave a grin and continued, "In any case, she got 
fed up with it and last term, she finally told this one really 
obnoxious guy that the she'd never date anyone who couldn't beat 
her."
	The Tendo siblings blinked, "She said that?" they asked 
simultaneously.
	Kodachi nodded, "She most certainly did. Next thing anyone 
knew, the boys had gotten it into their heads that the only way 
they could get a date out of Nabiki was if they managed to defeat 
her in combat. So they've been attacking her like that every 
morning for the past term or so. Nabiki's social calendar to date 
however remains rather empty."
	"Every morning?" Ranma said.
	"And she always wins?" Akane asked, intrigued.
	"Well, you did see what happened, right?" Kodachi asked 
with a smile. "the guys tend to get in one another's way instead 
of cooperating, and Nabiki IS pretty good."
	"Why hasn't she just told them off?" Akane asked.
	Kodachi shrugged, "She tried a couple of times, but I guess 
the boys didn't listen. Some people think she enjoys beating 
their heads in, though." She gave a slight wince as she shifted 
the buckets.
	Akane gave a slight nervous glance at the buckets and 
shifted back uneasily.
	"What's wrong Akane?" Kodachi asked, noting her 
discomfiture.
	"Um... nothing. Just don't want to get my clothes wet," she 
said weakly. Her brother gave a relieved sigh.
	"I wonder how this is going to affect their engagement?" 
Akane mused, trying to change the topic.
	Kodachi shook her head, bemused, "Well, my brother is well 
liked by the girls here, but he's too shy and bookish to do 
anything about it. He and Nabiki never did seem to like each 
other much, even before the engagement. I'm not sure how people 
would react to it, but I'd guess it wouldn't be too good if 
people found out."
	"How's that?" Ranma asked.
	Akane nodded grasping the situation, "The girls would 
resent Nabiki... the boys would resent Tatewaki..."
	"Although not necessarily," Kodachi continued, "You see..."
	They looked up in surprise as chimes sounded on the 
school's PA system.
	"Good morning, everyone," came Principal Kuno's cultured 
voice over the speakers, "I'd just like to take a few moments of 
your time for a special announcement..."
	Kodachi and Akane's eyes both widened, "He wouldn't!" they 
said simultaneously.
	"Wouldn't what?" Ranma asked baffled.
	"This is to inform everyone of the engagement of my son, 
Tatewaki Kuno..."
- - -
	Every eye in the room turned to look at Tatewaki as the 
announcement continued. His face was horror stricken and utterly 
mortified as he listened helplessly to his father's... his IDIOT 
father's announcement.
	Nabiki's face held an entirely different expression... a 
mixture of bewildered embarrassment and righteous fury as she 
heard the principal's voice continue. Her hands grasped the table 
so tightly it was cracking under her fingers...
	"No, no, no..." Tatewaki murmured to himself like a prayer 
of protection... because he knew he'd be needing one very soon.
	"... to Nabiki Tendo..."
	Too late! Tatewaki leapt to his feet, clutching his journal 
worriedly as he made a mad dash for the door. Everyone looked 
about in confusion asking each other, asking Nabiki everyone 
looking for confirmation. A few heavily bandaged boys struggled 
to their feet determined to catch up with him. Nabiki roared, 
"Come back here you wimp!" as she dashed off after Kuno.
	"...I'd like everyone to help congratulate the happy 
couple!" the principal's voice continued, but no one was 
listening anymore as people streamed out of the class room, some 
wanting to know what was going on, some intent on protecting Kuno 
from Nabiki, some intent on killing Kuno, others just intent on 
Nabiki. The teacher simply stood dumbfounded as his class emptied 
into the halls.
- - -
	"He did it. I don't believe my father could be that 
foolish..." Kodachi sighed.
	"Well, I guess we get to see what happens now," Akane 
shrugged, grinning a little.
	Ranma perked up a little, "What's that rumbling noise?"
	Almost without warning the windows to the classroom behind 
them burst open, the entire class crowding forward each trying to 
make themselves heard over the confused babble of voices.
	"Kodachi, is it true?!", "Hey, are you guys related to 
Nabiki?!", "Is Tatewaki really going to be married to Nabiki?", 
"Kodachi! What was your brother thinking?", "Say are you 
available for a date later, cutie?", "Why didn't you tell us?", 
"Is it true?", "How long has your brother been seeing Nabiki 
secretly?", "C'mon you can tell us!", "Did Nabiki really force 
herself onto your brother and she's now preggers?"
	Akane stepped closer to her brother without thinking, the 
two of them moving into a defensive stance automatically. Ranma 
meanwhile smiled sheepishly at the crowd, as Kodachi crowded 
against him.
	"It's not what you think guys..." Kodachi smiled uneasily 
at the crowd.
	The cries of "Kodachi, tell us what's going on!" were 
picking up steam even as the teacher inside the classroom tried 
desperately to regain control.
	Akane grinned, thinking quick... she stepped towards the 
other wall of the hallway and said to the class at large, "I am 
now hereby accepting wagers as to how long the Tatewaki Kuno, 
Nabiki Tendo engagement will last! Place your bets folks!" Akane 
pulled out a small pad and a pen.
	The class gave a roar of approval and the cries shifted 
from ones of curiosity to ones of greed as people called out 
wagers. Of course this conflicted with the noise already produced 
by those people who were STILL curious.
	Ranma sighed and rolled his eyes, moving himself 
protectively close to Kodachi. She didn't seem to notice Ranma's 
proximity. Kodachi was too busy being... she wasn't sure WHAT the 
right emotion was... probably being astonished... at Akane, 
"What?! What are you doing Akane?!"
	Akane muttered in a soft voice to Kodachi, continuing to 
smile the whole while, "Getting their focus off of you..." she 
nodded to Ranma who nodded back.
	Ranma scooped Kodachi up in his arms and had ducked down 
the hallway before their confused classmates could register the 
fact... Akane accepted the class' bets and did her best to 
explain away the situation as her brother and Kodachi rounded the 
corner.
	"You didn't need to do that!" Kodachi sputtered from 
Ranma's arms, "I could easily have answered the questions, this 
wasn't necessary."
	"Yeah, maybe," Ranma replied, "On the other hand, sis wants 
a chance to check the field... and I think she was trying to get 
me alone with you," he blushed slightly.
	Kodachi also blushed as she was carried further down the 
hall, "You can stop and let me down already you know..." she said 
after a few seconds of quiet running had passed.
	Ranma slowed to a stop, gently letting Kodachi back onto 
her feet. She was smiling awkwardly at Ranma who was also giving 
the same smile back. Kodachi frowned slightly then asked, "What 
do you mean Akane wanted to check the field?"
	"Er..." Ranma hesitated for a moment. He glanced back, but 
they were far enough away that the noise from the class was 
merely a dull chattering, "She likes to size up every new school 
we go to for possible ways to make more money."
	"She does that?" Kodachi asked.
	"Yeah... stuff like her taking bets, making friends with 
the right people..." then he added in a grumble, "Renting me out 
to the varsity teams on a per hour basis... whatever we had to do 
to survive."
	"I guess life on the road must've been pretty difficult for 
you?"
	Ranma smiled gamely back, "Well, a bit, but it was fun too. 
And we had each other so that made things a lot easier." 
	Kodachi didn't know what to make of that statement, but an 
odd twinge of jealousy made its presence known. She merely nodded 
quietly.
	The awkward silence stretched out for a painfully long 
time. They both moved as if to speak, but there was an 
interruption as Tatewaki came barreling down the stairwell, 
slamming the door shut behind him. In his panic and terror, he 
did not spot them immediately and ran back into the direction 
where Ranma and Kodachi had come from...
	With a powerful scream of rage Nabiki burst through the 
stairwell door as well, splintering the wooden door to 
matchsticks. "Kuno! You are dead!"
	Ranma and Kodachi stood rooted in surprise. Kodachi looked 
as if she were about to call out to the Tendo sister, but Ranma 
could see she was utterly furious. Over the Principal's 
announcement, no doubt, so he reasoned it was a fairly safe 
assumption that his elder sister would not be particularly happy 
with ANY Kuno at this point. So he didn't waste time thinking or 
reasoning with Nabiki. He scooped up Kodachi, and dashed off 
after Tatewaki, rounding the corner with impressive speed. Nabiki 
caught the movement, but not who it was... but there was only one 
person hiding from her, wasn't there? Nabiki snarled as she ran 
down the hall. Behind her, the rest of her class came pouring out 
of the stairwell, all still shouting questions.
	Akane, meanwhile, was busy with the beginnings of getting 
to know everyone better. She bantered easily with her classmates, 
accepting the bets, giving out slips, chatting and gathering 
gossip... it was a good start.
	Just as she accepted a ridiculously large bet on 
'tomorrow', Tatewaki Kuno barreled down the hall at high speed. 
The crowd's attention suddenly shifted to him. The crowd,, which 
had by this point surrounded Akane, moved with surprising speed 
to surround Kuno to badger him with their questions.
	Tatewaki had run to this particular hall in hopes of 
finding assistance from his sister. Preferably in hiding him... 
he gave an alarmed cry as the crowd surged towards him, thinking 
that the crowd which had been chasing him had somehow managed to 
get ahead of him.
	Akane on the other hand was not too happy at losing the 
attention of her new classmates. But she could also see Kuno's 
obvious distress and panic. She felt a momentary sympathy for the 
poor boy as he stood rooted in mortal terror. Tatewaki's eyes 
constantly scanning the crowd for signs of Nabiki. Akane sighed 
sympathetically and jumped over the crowd. She flipped easily 
over them landing next to Tatewaki before the mob could.
	"Where's my sister?! She must help me! Nabiki's going to 
kill me!!" Kuno said quickly.
	An anonymous wit in the audience called out a wager on the 
order of 'one hour'.
	"She went down that hallway," Akane replied, "Didn't you 
pass her?"
	Tatewaki was about to say 'No' when a number of things 
occurred simultaneously. The crowd managed to surround the two of 
them, pinning them next to the windows. Ranma, also somewhat 
panicked and still carrying the struggling Kodachi, careened down 
the hall weaving in and out of the crowd, and occasionally 
jumping on people's heads just to get past. 
	"Outta my way! Coming through, one side!! Coming through!" 
Ranma cried out as he passed.
	Neither of the two couples noticed each other due to the 
mob... however what happened next got everyone's attention.
	Nabiki skidded to a halt at the corner, noticing the crowd 
with Tatewaki at the very center of it all. She managed to roar 
out, "KUNO!!! You are a DEAD MAN!" before the OTHER crowd... 
barreled into her.
	In response, Akane grabbed Tatewaki by the collar and 
pulled him with her out the window, "Time for a quick escape 
Kuno-sempai..." she called out to him.
	Tatewaki screamed, "But we're on the third floor!"
	"It's no problem sempai, really! This is nothing..." Akane 
replied confidently, shifting him so that she had him cradled in 
her arms. It was difficult as she was much smaller than he was, 
but he was certainly in no position to resist.
	Tatewaki clung on for dear life, remarking as they passed 
the second floor, "At least the pool should cushion our fall..."
	Akane cried out in alarm. "Water! Why does it always have 
to be water?!" as her horrified gaze took in the sight of the 
placid filled pool.
	Simultaneous with Akane's leap, Nabiki's bellow sent 
portions of both crowds running off in various directions... 
except for those who were watching in horrified fascination as 
Akane and Kuno jumped out the window. Various screams, cries for 
help and terrorized calls were made and somewhere along the line, 
someone must've pulled a fire alarm, perhaps by accident, perhaps 
not, sending people from ALL the classrooms streaming out, adding 
to the milling confusion already existing.
	Ranma didn't notice this at all as he carried the younger 
Kuno off well ahead of the first crowd, the second crowd, or the 
new and much larger crowd which was being formed by the fire 
alarm.
	And as Ranma ran down the stairs, everyone else was too 
confused or distant, (or in Tatewaki Kuno's case unconscious from 
the impact) to notice the soaking wet figure, with the face and 
form of Ranma, easily lift Kuno out of the pool, and bear him off 
somewhere safer.
- - -
	Ranma stopped running by the time they'd reached the rear 
of the gym. He hardly looked winded as he spared a backward 
glance him, "I think we lost her."
	Kodachi gave him a rather sardonic look, "I think we lost 
everyone. Why did you pick me up? I've got two perfectly good 
legs you know," she lifted first one dainty foot then the other, 
as if to illustrate the point.
	Ranma paused a moment to admire them as her skirt hiked up 
a little. "Erhm... no argument," he said after a moment. He 
caught himself staring after a moment and tore his gaze away to 
meet hers, "Er... um... I wanted to make sure we got away from 
Nabiki... she looked really ticked."
	"True enough," Kodachi sighed, "I didn't realize she'd be 
this angry about the engagement. Poor Tatchi."
	"Yeah," Ranma sighed in agreement.
	They were silent for several long moments. Ranma's 
thoughts, what could be discussed of them, were mostly a confused 
jumble, but uppermost was the thought of how light Kodachi seemed 
in his arms... and so warm. Kodachi's thoughts, in addition to 
her annoyance at her father, not to mention worry for both her 
brother and Nabiki, were constantly being interrupted by how 
comfortable Ranma's arms felt... how nice it was...
	Kodachi chanced to glance at Ranma who was staring off 
quietly into the distance, to notice a slight blush beginning to 
develop on his cheeks. She was unaware that her own face was 
developing a similar blush.
	"Ahh..." Kodachi said softly after a few moments, "Maybe 
you should put me down."
	Ranma blinked in surprise, glancing at her. He smiled 
sheepishly, "Um... Er... yeah... I guess I ought to," he said a 
little regretfully.
	"Yes." Kodachi said, also a little reluctant... she could 
definitely get used to this.
	"Uh-huh," Ranma agreed. Glancing off into the distance once 
more... he was certain he could probably hold her like this for 
days...
	The two once more lapsed into silence.
	Kodachi bit back a giggle, "Any time now, Ranma."
	"Oh," Ranma said, shaken out of his stupor once more, "You 
meant now?"
	"Yes," she said unable to keep the amusement out of her 
voice anymore, "Not that I don't... you know..." she blushed 
more, "Enjoy, you holding me in your arms like this, but people 
will talk."
	"Well, maybe it'd get the heat off of Tatewaki-sempai and 
sis." Ranma replied thoughtfully.
	"Oh, you want to make that sacrifice for them do you?" she 
asked coyly.
	Ranma stammered, the blush on his own face deepening, 
"Well... you know... it's... we... I mean if they don't... we do, 
right? So we get... you know... get along... okay, right?"
	Kodachi nodded slowly, "I... I guess. By the looks of 
things now, they look like they won't last a week much less a 
year."
	Ranma said shyly, "Well... you know... honor of both 
schools at stake and everything... Guess we have to keep them 
from killing each other." He finished weakly.
	She nodded in agreement a little reluctant, "We'd better 
talk to them."
	"Yup."
	"I'm glad we understand each other."
	"And if they still don't..."
	"I wouldn't really mind. If they broke up... I mean..." 
Kodachi said after a moment, returning his smile.
	Ranma gulped nervously, "Really?"
	"Yes, really," Kodachi replied, her arms around his neck 
tightening slightly.
	Ranma smiled weakly, looking into her eyes, "Me neither."
	There was another long silence as they exchanged glances, 
broken only by the distant clamor of the fire alarm and the 
milling students who had only now come out of the building.
	Kodachi said finally as a gust of wind blew past, "You 
really should put me down, though."
- - -
	Akane... no... she or rather HE was Akaru at the moment... 
sighed. He laid Kuno down gently against the tree, his face 
sleeping peacefully, despite the fact that he'd managed to get 
himself knocked unconscious when they'd hit the pool together. 
The bump was minor, and wasn't likely to be very serious, but he 
wanted to make sure. The infirmary would've been the best place 
to take him, only Akaru had no idea which way it was... and even 
worse, the building was in the process of being evacuated, making 
looking for the infirmary all the more difficult.
	He gave a disgusted snort, rubbing his chest lightly. 
"Stupid curse," he muttered before giving Kuno a second look.
	They'd both managed to loose their glasses in the pool, but 
Akaru had managed to grab them both before they'd gotten too far. 
Kuno's face was very aristocratic. And handsome, he admitted to 
himself. Tatewaki was quite handsome. His curly hair tousled and 
damp from their immersion in the pool, he still managed to look 
charmingly disheveled rather than messy. Kuno's uniform, like his 
own clothes were soaked. But that would dry out easily enough, 
once the clouds cleared up again. And the body underneath was 
surprisingly well muscled. Interestingly enough, unconsciousness 
notwithstanding, Kuno had managed to keep a death grip on his 
journal. It was fortunate that the leather outer casing was on 
it, otherwise, the paper would've been reduced to runny pulp.
	Akaru reached a hand down to take the journal out of Kuno's 
grasp... nominally to allow it to dry, actually out of curiosity. 
But the unconscious boy's grip was surprisingly strong, and Akaru 
was forced to give up. Before he could really stop to think about 
it... he reached a hand up, lightly caressing Tatewaki's face... 
causing him to stir. 
	Panicked and embarrassed, Akaru leapt to his feet as 
Tatewaki blinked his eyes groggily awake, "Uh... what 
happened..." he looked up at Akaru who was towering over him. His 
eyes were of course blurry enough for lacking their glasses. It 
was made all the worse by the fact that Akaru stood backlit by 
the glare of the sky...
	Tatewaki groaned softly, "Oww my head... Ranma? Is that 
you?"
	"Er... yes, Kuno-sempai..." Akaru lied.
	"Where did my glasses... what happened?"
	"Nabiki chased us... I... er... Akane pulled you out of the 
crowd. Oh and here's your glasses..." Akaru added, handing over 
one pair of spectacles.
	"Akane did that? Well, I must remember to thank her then," 
Kuno replied easily. He squinted at Akaru's hand offering the 
glasses. As he accepted them, Akaru immediately bolted, oddly 
flustered and self-conscious.
	As Kuno looked up again, several things weren't quite 
right. First of all, Ranma or who he thought was Ranma had 
disappeared. There wasn't anyone nearby. Second the glasses not 
only didn't fit right, his vision was STILL blurry. And worse, 
his glasses were expensive wire frame aviator glasses... these 
were cheap black plastic hornrims... he took the glasses off to 
get a better look at them... if anything they reminded him of 
Akane's glasses...
- - -
	Nabiki grumbled angrily at the end of the day, it had been 
bad it had been lousy it had been terrible. She wanted nothing 
more than to get home, back to the dojo and take her stress out 
on some bricks as soon as possible. She opened her shoe locker 
just as she was getting to leave. She closed her eyes before 
reaching in. She hoped there would be one today. There was always 
one, sometimes no more than a few hastily jotted down words 
instead of his usual eloquence, but he never forgot. Never. But 
she was always worried that whoever it was would stop. 
Considering the day's events, she couldn't blame him... she 
lowered her hands onto her shoes, her eyes still closed. Then she 
felt the texture of paper and gave a relieved sigh. He hadn't 
forgotten.
	She pulled the sheet of paper out, it's outer edges 
slightly wrinkled and watermarked. Handwritten on it, in 
beautifully rendered brushstrokes was:

Dearest Nabiki,

	You have been busy. 
	I will be thinking of you. 
	Do not forget me.

	As always, it was unsigned, but she knew the handwriting so 
well that there was no need. For a brief moment, the scowl on her 
face vanished, replaced by a relieved, happy smile as she held 
the paper close to her heart. Before anyone else could see, she 
refolded the paper carefully, slipping it into her pocket.
- - -
	Akane and Ranma walked morosely into the Tendo household, 
followed closely by a simmering Nabiki.
	All three called out at the same time, "We're home!"
	Kasumi peeked out of the kitchen, wearing her usual sunny 
smile, "Oh, welcome home. How was school?"
	"Lousy," Nabiki said.
	"Could've been worse," Ranma and Akane said together.
	"I'm going to the dojo..." Nabiki said and stalked off 
before anyone else could say anything.
	"Oh my..." Kasumi murmured, "So how did your first day turn 
out? What happened?"
	"Principal Kuno announced Nabiki and Tatewaki's engagement 
to the whole school," Ranma explained, "Next thing we know, 
there's a riot... then the fire alarm went off, and about three 
fourths of the male student body of the school is out hunting 
Tatewaki. On the upshot all of our morning classes got cancelled, 
and no one showed up for the afternoon classes."
	"That's nice," Kasumi replied happily, "Well, I need to get 
back to my cooking..."
	As Kasumi stepped back into the kitchen, humming merrily, 
Akane turned to her brother, "You know... nobody can be that 
cheerful... is she on medication, you think?"
	Ranma gave Akane a disapproving glance and she grinned 
playfully at him, sticking her tongue out.
	"Come on... let's join Nabiki in the dojo... she really 
looks like she needs to talk," Akane said.
	Ranma gave her a worried glance, "You've got another scheme 
again..."
	"Trust me! Everything will be fine. I promise," Akane 
smiled brightly at him.
	"Yeah, but there's usually a catch somewhere," Ranma 
shrugged as she tugged him towards the dojo, he muttered darkly, 
"I still remember your scheme with Azusa..."	
	"It worked didn't it?" Akane asked with an enigmatic grin.
	"Yeah, but I ended up in twice as much trouble because of 
it!"
	"But I got you out, didn't I?" Akane smirked.
	"Well... yeah..."
	"See? It'll work out great trust me!"
	"Alright already. Hey, what happened to your glasses?"
	"Er... must've lost them somewhere..." Akane said vaguely.
	The two found Nabiki who had since changed into her gi in 
the process of shattering five stacked hollow blocks. Bare 
handed. With a single strike. 
	"Wow." Ranma muttered.
	Akane nodded slowly and moved her mental assessment of 
Nabiki upward by another notch or so.
	Nabiki dusted her hands then whirled around suddenly, 
facing the two, eyes furious, "What do you two want?!"
	Akane approached slowly, "Well... we thought you might like 
to talk..?" she said smiling placatingly.
	Ranma, a bit more timid, took a step back... whooo boy she 
was really ticked...
	Nabiki glared at the two for a long moment then seemed to 
suddenly deflate... as if all the anger had been suddenly let out 
of her. She straightened up, chuckling wryly, "I guess this isn't 
exactly the homecoming you two were expecting, huh?"
	Akane smiled at her, "No... not at all."
	Ranma shook his head.
	Nabiki smiles sadly, "Sorry... I know I haven't exactly 
been acting like the best big sister in the world... a bit like 
an insane raving madwoman, hmmm?"
	"Erhm... I wouldn't say that..." Ranma began to say.
	Akane kept a diplomatic silence.
	Nabiki grinned at her two younger siblings, "Okay... enough 
of this... I need to relax and you two can help me."
	Ranma and Akane traded glances, "You want to take a bath 
with us?" they asked incredulously.
	Nabiki blushed crimson, "No! That's not it!" She went down 
into a combat stance, "Let's spar."
	"But there's two of us..." Ranma started to say.
	"And I fight fifty guys everyday, come on... Fight me!"
	The two glanced at one another then back to Nabiki. They 
shared a shrug and also went down into defensive stances side by 
side.
	Nabiki dropped to a very low crouch, whirling her leg out 
to sweep her two siblings, but Akane and Ranma picked up on the 
move very quickly, both leaping straight up into the air to avoid 
the leg.
	Nabiki glanced up, watching in surprise as Akane leapt to a 
height of about six feet, somehow kicking out and flipping over 
onto Ranma's shoulders just as he landed. Before Nabiki could 
reposition herself, Akane had launched herself from a crouch on 
her brother's shoulders into a flying shoulder tackle right at 
Nabiki's head.
	Thinking fast, Nabiki rolled backwards as Akane sailed over 
her. Her bare feet catching Akane in the stomach, but Akane's 
forward motion and her own backward roll combined to keep either 
of them from getting hurt. Akane touched ground lightly, rolling 
quickly back to her feet as Nabiki kicked back up.
	Ranma wasted no time as Nabiki regained her feet and sent a 
roundhouse kick at her. Nabiki ducked under it, rising back into 
a vicious uppercut as Ranma's leg cut the air above her. Ranma, 
managing to retain his balance, despite the awkward position, 
leaned back just far enough to avoid Nabiki's punch.
	"Ahem," Akane said distinctly, sending her own leg around 
in a low sweep for her sister's legs. Nabiki barely managed to 
see the attack coming. She leapt out and sidewards, trying to 
keep herself from being boxed in by her two siblings. She 
grinned. She hadn't fought anyone this good in a long time. The 
three whirled to face one another, returning to their ready 
stances.
	Nabiki grinned, "Hey, you two are really good."
	"Thanks," Akane returned the grin.
	Nabiki gave a battle cry and suddenly rushed towards them, 
fist raised for a thrust strike. She lashed out at Akane as she 
came within range. The younger girl whirled around and 
sidestepped, intending to deliver a blow to Nabiki's back while 
she was still unbalanced from the strike. With perfect timing, 
Ranma dropped to the ground, whirling his own leg out into a low 
sweep. They attacked  Nabiki simultaneously from above and below, 
moving in opposite directions.
	Nabiki moved automatically, snapping her rear leg straight, 
she sprang forward, narrowly avoiding both attacks. She rolled 
back to her feet lunging back at both of them with a series of 
combination kicks and punches. This sort of maneuver always 
worked well on the guys who attacked her in the mornings... but 
she was amazed to find Ranma and Akane easily ducking and weaving 
between each strike, but even more amazing was that neither got 
in the other's way. They spread out on either side of her, 
forcing her to divide her attentions between the two, her every 
strike avoided.
	Akane and Ranma both watched Nabiki's furious attack. It 
was an all out assault, but she left surprisingly few openings in 
her defense... the two waited until they found a particularly 
large gap in Nabiki's defenses... then, the two, without a word 
exchanged between them reached out suddenly. Akane touched a 
finger to the middle of Nabiki's chest and Ranma touched his own 
finger to Nabiki's back, along her spine.
	Stunned Nabiki glanced at one... then the other... then 
back, "I can't believe you both got me at the same time," she 
said weakly and breathlessly.
	Akane and Ranma both said suddenly, glancing at each other, 
"We did?"
	They both peered over Nabiki's shoulders to look at what 
the other had done.
	There was a moment's pause before all three suddenly burst 
into laughter.
	Nabiki grinned when they'd managed to recover their breath, 
"I'm just glad it was you two who beat me."
	Akane looked thoughtfully at Nabiki, "Instead of those guys 
at school right?"
	Nabiki flushed slightly, "A bunch of raving idiots."
	"Don't you get tired of it all, Nabiki?" Akane asked 
slowly. Ranma knew she was baiting the hook... he just hoped he 
didn't get too badly caught up in the fallout this time.
	"Of course I'm tired of it," Nabiki said with a sigh, 
"Every single day... I mean, get real. The training is good and 
all, but they're getting really tiresome about it."
	Akane grinned, "Well, I think I can rid you of that problem 
easily... and at the same time quiet down the rumors in school... 
if you're willing to consider it."
	Nabiki looked up at her sister in surprise and disbelief, 
"Really?"
	Ranma shook his head and sighed.
	Nabiki glanced at him, "You mean she can't?"
	"Erhm... no... no..." Ranma said hastily as Akane whirled 
to glare at him, "If she says she can do it, she can probably do 
it..."
	Nabiki looked somewhat suspiciously at Akane, then sighed, 
"If you think you can, I'd really appreciate it."
	"Well, you'll have to cooperate and do exactly as I say, 
Nabiki, alright?" Akane smiled thoughtfully, "And we'll have to 
talk to Kuno-sempai too..."
	Nabiki's eyes narrowed, "Tatewaki? Why do you have to talk 
to him for?"
	Akane smiled slyly, "He's an important part of the plan..."
	Soun stepped into the dojo beaming happily at the three of 
them, "Ahh... so good to see my beloved children practicing 
together."
	A chorus of greeting came from the three.
	"Oh, Nabiki... your fiancé is here." Soun said gravely, but 
the wink and the distinct impression of a leer in his voice 
ruined the effect.
	Nabiki gave a low growl, her fist clenching.
	Tatewaki peeked nervously around the doorway and caught 
sight of the simmering Nabiki, then looked at Soun, "Uncle Tendo, 
I told you not to say that..." he said in a quavering voice.
	Nabiki's face was absolutely furious... and if someone had 
managed to put a coal in her hand at that point, it would no 
doubt have been crushed to diamond.
	"I'm here too!" smiled Kodachi cheerfully from the door. 
	Ranma's face immediately brightened up as he moved to the 
door to meet her, "Hi, Ko-chan."
	"Hi, Ran-chan." Kodachi moved closer smiling happily at 
him.
	Soun raised an eyebrow, glancing at the happy couple of 
Ranma and Kodachi... then at the decidedly less than happy couple 
of the simmering Nabiki and the cowering Tatewaki... well life 
wasn't perfect, he shrugged. 
	"I'll leave you kids here." Soun said giving the impression 
of nodding approvingly to Tatewaki, clapping the young man on the 
shoulder, "Take good care of my little girl, alright? You have my 
permission to take her out tonight, but bring her home at a 
decent hour."
	"But..!" Tatewaki began to protest. However it was too 
late, Soun had already made his way back to the house.
	Akane smirked, catching Tatewaki's arm, and pulling him 
into the dojo, "Ahh... just the man I was looking for..."
	"I beg your pardon..?" Tatewaki asked half in shock.
	"So you're here to take Nabiki out?" Akane grinned, "It 
certainly makes things easier all around..."
	Nabiki gave a derisive snort, "I wouldn't go out with him 
if his life depended on it."
	"Actually it does, Nabiki..." Akane said slowly, "If your 
admirers catch up to him, he's dead meat."
	Tatewaki managed to continue in a small voice, "Actually, 
I'm just here to ask Ranma if he saw my glasses when he pulled me 
out of the pool."
	Ranma on hearing his name called managed to tear himself 
away from Kodachi for a moment, "Um... pool... what..?"
	"Did you see my spectacles when you rescued me from the 
pool? You gave me someone else's pair... they must've fallen..." 
Kuno held up the pair of black hornrims.
	Akane squinted, "Hey... those're mine..." she gave a faint 
blush, "Oh yes... Ranma did find your glasses Kuno-sempai..." she 
shot him a look and he returned a confused glance, but nodded, 
"He gave them to me for safe keeping," as she pulled Tatewaki's 
wireframes from her pocket.
	The two traded glasses and put them on, looking much more 
comfortable as they smiled at each other... 
	"Er... yeah... right... safekeeping." Ranma said after a 
while. Kodachi shot him a puzzled glance, but he smiled nervously 
and nodded to her.
	"Well, you got what you came for, now go away, Tatewaki." 
Nabiki snapped.
	"Wait... wait!" Akane said, standing in the middle of their 
small gathering, "Hear me out everybody. If everyone will just 
please cooperate, we will not only be able to get rid of Nabiki's 
unwelcome suitors, keep Kuno-sempai safe from her admirers, keep 
our family honor, and still allow the two of you to spend as 
little time together as you want." She grinned.
	All four stared incredulously at Akane.
	"It's really perfectly simple..." Akane grinned as she 
outlined her plan.
- - -
	Morning in Nerima. The birds were singing, the sky a 
perfect azure blue, and Nabiki, Ranma and Akane were just about 
to turn the corner to the school. They'd made a specific point to 
come early just to make sure everything worked out in time for 
them to get to class.
	Nabiki looked rather annoyed, "I really, really don't see 
how this can work... it's not even like he knows how to..."
	"He doesn't really have to know how," Akane replied, "But 
I'm pretty sure he does. Besides, Ranma was drilling him all of 
last night to make this look good. Now you just do what I told 
you to, and everything's going to be just fine," she adjusted her 
glasses pointedly.
	Nabiki grumbled, "I still say this won't work."
	Ranma merely glanced in the direction of the school gates 
where the massed ranks of the Nabiki Tendo suitors had gathered, 
decked out in their full regalia, sports gear and all.
	Nabiki gave a sigh, then roared a battlecry, rushing 
forward to meet their charge.
	Ranma looked to Akane, "You really think this'll work?"
	"Course it will." Akane grinned, "I mean, you were working 
with him..."
	"Yeah and he surprised me," Ranma said nodding.
	"Makes sense. I mean he IS the heir to the Kuno School of 
Anything Goes Martial Arts, so logically he has to be a 
practitioner, right?" 
	The two jumped easily over the wall to the school, as the 
gate had been rendered impassable by the unconscious bodies. 
Nabiki easily cut a swathe through them, throwing people into 
each other, single strikes to their vitals, flying kicks. Quite a 
number were tossed a good distance away from the main 
battlefield.
	Ranma noticed Kodachi in the crowd watching and waved to 
her. She waved back and gave him a thumbs up signal. Akane 
noticed it too and grinned. She turned to Ranma, "You stay here, 
I'm going to circulate a bit."
	"Pick up some bets you mean." Ranma replied.
	"Precisely." Akane winked, giving Ranma a pat on the cheek. 
She handed him a long brown paper bag, "Now you know what to do 
with this and make sure no one sees you do it, okay?"
	"Gotcha."
	In fairly short order, Nabiki disposed of her attackers. 
She stood triumphant among the unconscious boys and breathed 
heavily, relaxing herself for what was going to happen next.
	There was a sudden blur of motion as something was hurled 
at Nabiki. She ducked to the side and caught the object with no 
difficulty... it was a rose.
	The crowd of onlookers, some of whom had already drifted 
away all looked at the rose in Nabiki's hand in surprise... 
murmurs began rising from the crowd, wondering who had thrown it 
when a voice suddenly declared, "Nabiki Tendo, I challenge you!"
	There was a shuffling movement in the crowd as it parted to 
reveal Tatewaki Kuno. Ranma used the crowd's movements to cover 
up the wadded up brown paper in his hand which he disposed of.
	Kuno's hands were in his pockets and he was looking 
straight at Nabiki. He flinched unconsciously from the attention 
the crowd was giving him... more loud mutterings arose as he 
strode boldly forward. Towards Nabiki.
	He hoped he was giving a good show. His knees were 
practically shaking and his palms were sweating. This entire plan 
of Akane's did not bode all to well for him. He was nervous and 
scared out of his wits. And worse was the way Nabiki was looking 
at him... but it was odd... like she'd only seen him for the 
first time today.
	He gave a nervous gulp which he covered up for by standing 
straighter. He took his glasses off, putting them away safely 
into the breast pocket of his school uniform and said, "I... 
um... I am Tatewaki Kuno of the Kuno School of Anything Goes 
Martial Arts... and I challenge you, Nabiki Tendo."
	"Fine," Nabiki replied, dropping into a ready stance once 
more.
	Kuno took a deep breath, murmuring to himself, "It's now or 
never..." and assumed a defensive stance.
	The muttering from the crowd was getting louder... "Kuno 
does martial arts?", "Two hundred yen on Nabiki.", "Oh no... 
Nabiki's going to kill him!", "A hundred yen on Tendo.", "He's a 
dead man... push him over, this won't last a minute.", "Fifty yen 
on Nabiki!", "That wimp? Against... HER? He's dead.", "Let go of 
me, we have to save Kuno-sempai!", "This is a martial arts thing, 
they look dead serious.", "I thought he was her fiancé already, 
so what's he trying to prove?", "Better call the infirmary, we'll 
probably have to haul his poor carcass outta there."
	"A thousand yen on Tatewaki." Kodachi said to Akane calmly 
as she received her claim stub. She smiled, untroubled. That 
shook people in the near vicinity, a few of whom placed small 
bets on Kuno themselves.
	Tatewaki and Nabiki stood staring at each other for long 
seconds, both maintaining their stances easily. Nabiki found 
herself surprised at Tatewaki. She'd never really looked at him 
before, and when she did, he looked nothing like this. He had a 
look of fierce determination on his face, his eyes locked on her, 
his skin glistening slightly in the sunlight. He was holding his 
stance perfectly. Low center of balance, no trace of fatigue at 
all. What she didn't realize was that he had his teeth clenched 
to keep them from chattering and he was sweating from fear.
	Nabiki surged forward charging recklessly at him, her arms 
and legs lashing out in a complicated sequence of attacks. She 
was holding back, not using her full strength in her strikes, so 
that at worst they would sting rather than knock him out... but 
it looked very impressive to onlookers.
	To her shock, Kuno did not simply stand and block as she'd 
assumed he would do, he began to duck and weave, his hands behind 
his back. She'd seen Uncle Kuno do this to her father before, so 
she assumed that it was a Kuno school move. Even more surprising 
was the fact that not a single blow connected. 
	There were gasps of awe from the onlookers as he seemed to 
effortlessly dodge each of her strikes. Akane looked to her 
brother and muttered, "You didn't tell me he was THIS good."
	Ranma shrugged weakly while Kodachi smiled smugly, "Well, 
father did train him. But mom always insisted that he not use it 
except in real emergencies."
	Tatewaki was beginning to relax into Nabiki's sequence, 
growing less apprehensive by the moment as he realized he was 
holding his own. But the gnawing worry returned as he realized 
that he would have to hit her sooner or later in order for it to 
look credible... he just... could not do that.
	By this time, a number of the unconscious suitors had 
regained consciousness, and were watching the fight with 
surprise... a thought occurred to them that perhaps there was a 
very good reason why Nabiki was engaged to Kuno...
	Nabiki meanwhile was beginning to grow frustrated. She was 
observing him carefully and if anything he looked as if he could 
keep dodging all day. She sent a blow towards his stomach, 
expecting him to sidestep, so she could follow up with a side 
kick, but somehow, he grasped hold of her wrist. With a movement 
almost too fast for her to see, he somehow managed to intertwine 
his arm with hers, bringing her wrist up and over her shoulder, 
locking it into place. 
	He held her like that, but without applying any pressure... 
she understood instinctively that at any moment he could apply 
enough pressure to pop her shoulder out of joint. She frowned, 
going over the possible ways to escape such a hold as Kuno 
shouted, "Yield!"
	Nabiki's face burned with fury and embarrassment. She knew 
at least half a dozen ways to escape the lock, and was about to 
throw him off when she caught sight of Akane. Her younger sister 
gave a small smile and nodded once. Nabiki gave a sigh. "A... 
alright... I surrender," she said with bad grace.
	This was met with loud gasps of astonishment.
	Tatewaki whispered to her in a low voice, "I'm... 
r...really sorry about this."
	"Just don't let it go to your head, I can still stomp you 
into the ground," she growled back softly.
	"Um... yeah," he mumbled, releasing her.
	Nabiki rubbed her arm a little. It didn't hurt, but they 
had to maintain appearances. She felt low... really low... not 
only did they just deceive the entire campus... everyone believed 
that she lost to Tatewaki... Tatewaki of all people... the 
wimp... she didn't know how she could've allowed Akane to talk 
her into this... she gave Kuno a disgusted look. She ran before 
the crowd of onlookers could gather around them... incidentally 
trampling some of the still stunned former combatants.
	Tatewaki reached an arm out to Nabiki, but before he could 
chase after her, the crowd had gathered around him, questions 
being shot rapid fire in his direction. Kuno, unused to such 
attention was reduced to stammering uncertain and vague replies. 
	Akane gave a self satisfied look, quietly counting her 
earnings. She smiled as she pocketed them. Part one was 
completed. Everything was going smoothly.
	Kodachi and Ranma both noticed Nabiki run off... they 
traded a glance between them and gave chase. The chimes which 
signaled the start of school sounded, but was soundly ignored.
- - -
	Kodachi and Ranma eventually found Nabiki a little before 
lunch. She was sitting with her back against one of the trees 
which overlooked the soccer field.
	Nabiki noticed them and smiled weakly, "Hi guys."
	Ranma smiled, "Hey. You okay?"
	Nabiki nodded, "Yeah... sorta. I guess."
	Kodachi smiled, kneeling down next to Nabiki, "Well, you'll 
be happy to know that your suitors have given up. They talked it 
over among themselves and decided that they were glad Kuno won. 
Actually I think they're just scared they'd have to fight him."
	Nabiki gave a snort, "Great..."
	"They'll stop attacking you and won't attack him, wasn't 
that what we wanted to do in the first place?" Kodachi pressed.
	"It is... it's just... I feel really rotten about throwing 
the fight like that," Nabiki shrugged, "Feels like I lied to 
everybody... or like I betrayed myself for not doing my best."
	"Well... if its any consolation, sis," Ranma replied, 
"Kuno-sempai is at least as good as you are. I'm sure of it."
	"He's strong but he's not that strong..." Nabiki started to 
say, but Ranma interrupted.
	"I was training with him last night, remember..? He's as 
fast as I am. In a fair fight it would probably have gone either 
way."
	Kodachi smiled, "Try not to worry too much about it... if 
its any consolation, he's just as distressed over this as you 
are. But everything's going to be fine."
	Nabiki smiled tentatively at them, "Thanks guys..."
	Kodachi leaned closer to Nabiki and whispered, "Besides... 
if the rest of Akane's plan works, you won't have to marry him... 
and I get Ranma."
	Nabiki blinked, then glanced over to Ranma who glanced back 
confused. She giggled, "I don't think you would mind at all, 
huh?"
	"Nope." Kodachi confirmed.
	"What're you two talking about?!" Ranma demanded.
	Kodachi looked over her shoulder at him and winked 
playfully, "Nothing..." as she joined Nabiki's giggling.
	Ranma pouted, sitting down next to them.
	As the two girls finally sobered... Nabiki looked off into 
the distance, her expression thoughtful, "Look... can you guys 
keep a secret? There's another reason why that fight earlier 
upset me so much when it was over... I hadn't really thought much 
about it, but... it just kind of hit me afterwards...
	"What is it?" Kodachi asked sympathetically.
	"There's... there's a guy I like..." Nabiki spoke slowly.
	Kodachi and Ranma both blinked in surprise, "Really?"
	Nabiki nodded, "Well... actually," she blushed, "I have no 
idea who it is..."
	The pair blinked again, "Wha?
	"He just leaves me these love letters in my locker... 
and..." she blushed deeply, "You two probably think I'm crazy 
don't you?"
	Ranma withheld comment, but his face looked a great deal as 
if he wanted to say something. Kodachi smiled, "I think that's 
very romantic... so what kind of guy is he?"
	"Well... from the letters he seems pretty intelligent... 
he's sweet... romantic... and he's kind of shy, that's why he 
just leaves the notes in my locker."
	"So you have absolutely no idea what this guy looks like?" 
Ranma asked slowly.
	"No." Nabiki admitted.
	"Now, now Ranma... looks aren't everything." Kodachi spoke.
	"Yeah, but you don't know anything about this guy..." Ranma 
said worriedly, "He could be some crazy psycho lunatic or 
something! Or some kind of stalker!"
	"He's not like that!" Nabiki shot back.
	"How would you know?!" Ranma replied.
	"I know enough okay?" Nabiki shot back, "I know he cares 
enough to write to me every day... and I know he's in my class, 
he's said as much in his letters..."
	"So you could probably figure out who it is, right?" Ranma 
pressed.
	Kodachi looked a bit sternly at Ranma, "Come on, Ran-
chan... where's your sense of romance?"
	Nabiki sighed, "I don't know who it is... I don't want to 
know... it would just ruin the illusion..."
	"Romance is fine, I guess." Ranma mumbled, not wanting to 
argue.
	"Anyway... I was just... worrying... about how he'd take 
the fight..." Nabiki said after a while.
	Kodachi was silent a moment then said, "Well... if he 
really likes you, it shouldn't matter to him right?"
	"Yeah, yeah... but Tatewaki's not only supposed to be 
engaged to me, he's supposed to have beat me too... what if he 
can't wait for me? What if he gives up?"
	"Who? Kuno-sempai?" Ranma asked, feeling a little left 
behind.
	"My secret admirer, Ranma. Pay attention." Nabiki said 
sternly. She sighed and continued, "I wish he knew how much those 
letters mean to me..."
	Kodachi and Ranma traded glances... 
	"Haven't you ever written back?" Kodachi asked.
	Nabiki's eyes widened, "I... I don't think I can do that! 
I'm not very good at expressing myself..."
	"Well how is he going to know what you feel if you two 
don't communicate?" Kodachi asked, exasperated.
	"He's seen me smiling when I read his letters, isn't that 
enough?" Nabiki asked half panicked.
	"Alright," Kodachi said slowly, "That's a start..."
	Ranma sighed, "This gets more complicated by the minute.
	Kodachi gave a snort, "This is the sort of situation I'd 
expect my brother to get into."
	Nabiki sighed, "Let's please not talk about your brother 
right now, Kodachi? Please?"
	Kodachi's brow furrowed as a thought occurred to her, 
"Nabiki... could I see one of those letters?"
	Nabiki blushed, "Um... sure... I keep them at home... but 
I'm sure he'll leave me one later today..."	
	Kodachi nodded slowly, "Sure."
	Ranma simply glanced at Kodachi, feeling as he usually did 
with Akane, that he'd walked into the movie halfway and no one 
would tell him what had happened.
- - -
	At lunch, Akane found Tatewaki sitting alone at a cafeteria 
table, which was surprising considering how crowded the cafeteria 
was, and at the same time, not surprising because of the events 
earlier in the day. He was jotting something down into his 
journal. She was pretty happy everything had worked according to 
plan so far, now that she'd dropped off the information at the 
principal's office... sharing a little gossip with the people who 
worked there, part two would be underway at any moment...
	She slipped quietly into the seat opposite him and said 
cheerily, "Hi."
	Tatewaki looked up in surprise, snapping the journal shut, 
"Oh... um... hello, Akane."
	"How're you doing?" she asked.
	"I am fine... your plan seems to have worked thus far... 
although no one has seen Nabiki all day."
	"She's fine, I saw her, Ranma and your sister talking with 
her out near the soccer field."
	"That's good... she looked pretty upset this morning."
	"I guess she's just not used to the idea of losing." Akane 
ventured, "Or looking like she lost."
	"That could be so," he replied.
	"Aside from that, why do you look so worried?"
	"It's... well... I'm just not entirely certain how my 
mother will take it if she hears about this morning's incident. 
It made perfect sense earlier, but now that I've had time to 
think about it, there are a number of consequences which were not 
taken into consideration."
	Akane pushed her glasses up, "Such as?"
	"My mother is rather vehemently opposed to the violent use 
of martial arts... and especially towards a man fighting with a 
woman... er... she may take this news amiss... I'm certain 
Kodachi would cover for me... but there's father who may be in 
another of his moods..."
	"I see," Akane nodded, "What's the worst she could do to 
you?"
	"A reprimand and a grounding I suppose."
	"That doesn't sound so bad..."
	"You've not been reprimanded by my mother," he replied with 
a sardonic smile.
	"Tatchi!!" the principal's voice bellowed on the speakers, 
"Will my son please report to my office immediately?"
	Once more the normal buzz of rumor increased.
	"Ahh..." Tatewaki said, rising to his feet, "I believe news 
of this morning's events have finally reached my father." 
	"I'll come with you," Akane said firmly.
	Tatewaki glanced at Akane then smiled, "Alright. I am 
certain I could use whatever moral support I can muster. This 
way."
	The two walked out of the cafeteria. It was a short walk to 
the principal's office which was also on the ground floor. As 
they reached the secretary's desk, she nodded to them and waved 
Tatewaki in, "He's been waiting..." she said.
	Tatewaki took a deep breath to steel himself and opened the 
door slowly.
	The room was unimpressive enough. A fairly normal one for a 
distinguished educator and administrator of many years. The only 
thing setting it apart from the norm was the opulence and style 
of the furniture.
	The chair at his father's desk was turned away from the 
door, facing the window.
	"Come in and shut the door." The elder Kuno's voice said 
gravely.
	Akane took it to mean herself as well and stepped in after 
Tatewaki... who it must be noted was steeling himself for what 
was coming.
	"I heard about what you did today, son..." the principal's 
voice said slowly.
	"Er... yes, father I can explain."
	"Fighting Nabiki? Defeating her in front of the whole 
student body?" the principal rumbled, "Making her other suitors 
surrender to you?"
	"Honestly father there's a perfectly rational..." Tatewaki 
tried to get a word in edgewise.
	The elder Kuno whirled his chair around suddenly to face 
him. On his face was a huge grin, "A stroke of brilliance my son! 
I congratulate you! Now there's no one else to oppose your 
engagement to her!"
	Tatewaki took a step back, "You... you are not angry?"
	"Angry?" the principal asked bemused, "Why should I be? I 
know perfectly well about her announcement at the start of the 
term and I couldn't think of a better way for you to cement your 
claim for her than with that single gesture! Well done!"
	"Ahh... thank you... father..." Tatewaki responded 
weakly... he thanked his lucky stars that his father was in a 
jovial mood. For now at least.
	"What I would like to know though is how you came up with 
such a brilliant plan? Also, I know how skilled you are, son, I 
have been training you after all... and I know you aren't THAT 
good... so tell me... did you and she cook this up together? 
She's in on it too isn't she? You really do want your engagement 
to her to work don't you?!" he smiled happily, tears starting to 
fall from his eyes.
	"Erhm... ah... that is..."
	"Oh, my son!" the principal cried happily, leaping over his 
desk to embrace his son. "You make your father so very proud!"
	Tatewaki could only reply with a vague muffled, "Thang 
yuu..."
	"And don't worry about your mother, I won't say a thing to 
her! Ahh... and here I was worrying that you would be too 
timid... but you've made me so proud! Such a plan! I cannot wait 
to tell Soun!"
	"Erghk," was the extent of Tatewaki's reply.
	The elder Kuno continued to hug his son for long moments 
before he blinked and realized something. He turned his head to 
look at Akane who was smiling sheepishly from the corner, "Er... 
Akane... how long have you been there?"
	"A while." She replied passively.
	"Er... I see," The elder Kuno spoke.
	"Aheh..." Tatewaki said as his father loosened the death 
grip hug on him, "It was Akane actually father who..."
	"Helped talk Nabiki to go with the plan." Akane interrupted 
him.
	"Ahh... well, I am glad Tatchi had your assistance then." 
The principal nodded solemnly, "Well... erhm..." he said 
gathering his dignity visibly, "Now back to lunch, children, I'm 
certain I must've interrupted. I still have work to do..."
	And with that, the principal hustled them out of his 
office, followed by their being ushered by the secretary into the 
hall.
	Akane turned to Kuno, smiling slightly, "Let me guess... 
your father isn't very good at public displays of affection?"
	"He's not very good at public displays of any sort. We are 
much alike in that sense," Tatewaki replied.
	"I don't know, you did okay earlier."
	"I was under a great deal of strain. I fear for my blood 
pressure."
	Akane giggled.
	"One thing I am not entirely clear on however, Akane..." 
Tatewaki said as they walked down the corridor, "Why did you 
allow my father to believe that it was my plan?"
	"Well that's obvious enough..." Akane smiled warmly at him, 
"If he thought it was your idea, he'd be under the impression 
that you and Nabiki want the engagement to work out. So that when 
we show them later on how incompatible you two are, they won't be 
able to assign blame. Simple."
	"I suppose." Kuno replied warily, "Nevertheless it sits ill 
with me to lie to anyone, especially my father." 
	"You didn't say a thing." Akane grinned, "He convinced 
himself. Making it all the easier. And here I thought I was going 
to have to talk him into it..."
	"So we are not lying... merely not correcting his 
misapprehensions?" Kuno said after a moment.
	"Precisely. It's a lot less difficult to get caught in 
THAT." 
	"You sound as if you've had a great deal of experience in 
these matters." Kuno ventured.
	"You'd be surprised at what you learn on the road." Akane 
replied vaguely.
	"Ahh."
	"Say... Kuno-sempai..." Akane said tentatively after a few 
moments of silence, "Is there any girl you feel strongly for? 
Aside from Nabiki of course, since you two obviously strongly 
dislike each other... Someone you like?"
	"Erhm... why do you ask, Akane Tendo?" Kuno asked 
nervously.
	"Well it would be easier all around for us to do part three 
of the plan if you haven't got anyone else you're interested 
in... you know..." she blushed slightly.
	"Oh... well... the way you phrased the question... no. 
There's no girl in particular." Kuno replied in a level voice.
	Akane sighed in relief, then grinned at him, "That's good, 
sempai." She glanced around as they stepped out of the building 
into the populated courtyard. She waited to make certain that 
people could and would see the two of them.
	Akane lightly kissed her fingertips, then reached up and 
pressed those fingertips to Tatewaki's lips. She smiled sweetly 
at him, the playful gleam in her eye back and a slight flush on 
her cheeks. "I'll see you around then, sempai." She said before 
dashing off.
	Tatewaki, wide eyed with surprise, couldn't help but notice 
the attention Akane's act had garnered. Akane was either a very 
convincing actress... or she genuinely liked him. Well... he 
leaned more towards the actress hypothesis... she seemed far too 
practical for it to be the other. He sighed... well, he hoped 
that part three worked out well... and at the same time... he 
hoped it wouldn't.
	He picked a private place and sat down, as far away from 
everyone as possible, then he opened his journal and resumed 
writing the letter which had been interrupted earlier.
- - -
	By the end of the school day Ranma had had to leave Akane 
behind. Actually Akane was busy chatting with her new friends, 
trading gossip and learning more about the ins and outs of 
Furinkan. As with any new place there was so much she had to 
learn, and she wanted to learn it as soon as possible. 
	So it was Kodachi and Ranma flanking Nabiki as she opened 
her locker... inside, as she expected, was a small neatly folded 
letter on stationery. Kodachi's mouth quirked slightly as she saw 
the particular paper... it was one she recognized... 
	"Is that it?" Ranma asked.
	Nabiki nodded, a slight blush and a faint happy smile on 
her face that she hadn't even realized was there. "He still 
hasn't forgotten me."
	Kodachi smiled gently at Nabiki, "Would you mind if we see 
it after you?"
	Nabiki blushed deeply, "I... well... no one else knows 
about these... except Kasumi..." she frowned slightly, "And if 
either of you tell anyone else, I'll kill you."
	Ranma gulped and nodded, "Sure, no problem."
	Kodachi gave Ranma an approving nod, "Your secret is safe."
	Nabiki looked around to make certain no one else was 
nearby, before she unfolded the paper. It read, 

My dearest Nabiki, 

	I witnessed the unfortunate spectacle this morning. I am 
not dismayed. Only through trickery could he have won, and in my 
eyes you are still unbowed. This changes nothing of my feelings 
for you. You are still my sweetest rose, my dearest heart, 
nothing could change that. I apologize for the brevity of 
yesterday's note, but with all of the events of the previous day, 
I found difficulty finding the time and a good locale to set 
brush to paper, most especially with the sprinklers going on full 
blast, but I endure despite and still. 
	All my love is yours. All my heart.

	Nabiki sighed happily closing her eyes, "Now THAT is a 
man..." she moaned softly.
	Kodachi read over Nabiki's shoulder, "Wow... this guy 
really likes you Nabiki..."
	Ranma winced as he read it, "Girls like this stuff?"
	Kodachi rolled her eyes, "Yes, Ranma..."
	Nabiki nodded to them, "Remember, it's our secret, okay?"
	Kodachi and Ranma nodded. Nabiki gave a satisfied grin, 
slipping the note into her pocket, "Well, let's pick up Akane and 
head home Ranma..."
	"Sure thing, sis."
	"Ahh... Nabiki, wait, Ranma promised to walk me home, 
right, Ranma?" Kodachi smiled at him meaningfully.
	Ranma stared back at Kodachi puzzled. He'd promised no such 
thing... "But..."
	"Right?" Kodachi asked again with emphasis, her eyes 
speaking volumes which, unfortunately, Ranma wasn't reading.
	"Er... sure... heh." Ranma smiled sheepishly. He allowed 
himself to indulge idly in the thought that Kodachi wanted to 
spend more time with him... he blushed somewhat. Kodachi looked 
at his blush with confusion... before noticing the intent and yet 
hesitant look he was giving her, before she also blushed.
	Nabiki smiled at the two of them, "Well, it definitely 
doesn't look like there are going to be any complaints from you 
two if Tatewaki and I don't go through with the engagement."
	Ranma glanced at Kodachi, their blushes worsening, "Not 
really," Kodachi replied, "You take care, Nabiki."
	"You too," Nabiki replied, waving to them as they walked 
off, "Don't take too long, though Ranma, I think Kasumi is 
cooking sukiyaki tonight."
	Ranma walked quickly to keep up with Kodachi, who currently 
had her arm intertwined with his. Admittedly this drew some 
comment from the rumormongers, but not as much as the titillation 
afforded by the entire Nabiki/Kuno engagement.
	"What?" Ranma finally managed to say once they were out of 
Nabiki's earshot.
	Kodachi whispered to Ranma, "I think I know who her secret 
admirer is!"
	"Wha..? How? Who?"
	"I know that stationery... and I recognized the 
handwriting, not to mention the style... and it's rather obvious 
if she ever really thought about it, but I guess she didn't. And 
he's in her class too... it all fits!"
	"Really? Who is it?"
	"I... maybe I shouldn't say. Not until I'm sure." Kodachi 
said finally.
	"Er... right. So why grab me?"
	"I do want to tell you, but it sounds so ridiculous I want 
to make sure first," Kodachi glanced up at the clock face, "Oh, I 
just remembered, I have gymnastics practice in a while!" 
	"Does that mean, I can't walk you home? Should I head after 
Nabiki?" Ranma asked, a little disappointed.
	She looked torn, "Well..."
	"I can wait for you if you want." Ranma offered.
	"You wouldn't mind?"
	"No prob, honest."
	Kodachi smiled sweetly at him, "Thanks."
	"Anytime," Ranma grinned.
	They walked in silence towards the gym, still holding 
hands.
	Kodachi suddenly asked, "You know... you never did tell me 
why you disappeared six years ago."
	"Hmm?" 
	"You know..." Kodachi prodded, "Mom and dad said you and 
Akane had run off on a training journey by yourselves, but that 
sounded really strange. I want to hear it from you.
	Ranma sighed, "Well... you do know I'm adopted right?"
	Kodachi turned to stare at him, "You... you are?"
	Ranma turned to look at her in surprise, "You didn't know? 
I thought you did."
	"First I've heard of it," Kodachi sniffed, "Didn't think I 
was important enough to tell it to?"
	"I guess it just never came up." Ranma said weakly, "I mean 
it's not exactly something you mention right off the bat."
	"I guess..." she conceded, "So you were an orphan?"
	"I don't really know," Ranma said sadly, "The first really 
clear memory I have is..." he bit his lower lip uncertainly, 
"This is kinda unpleasant to talk about, maybe I should skip 
that..."
	Kodachi pressed him, "Come on. You can tell me. We always 
used to be able to tell each other everything, right?"
	"Okay... well, the first thing I remember really clearly 
was rooting through the Tendo's garbage."
	Kodachi blinked as Ranma continued, "I think I'd been 
living on the streets for a while already... and it was one of 
those things I did to survive."
	"How old were you then?" Kodachi asked sympathetically.
	"Around six or so," he replied, "Anyway... one minute I'm 
thinking to myself I'd gotten a bonanza cause there was some 
unfinished sushi in a carton and the next thing I know, there's 
this girl challenging me for rooting through their garbage."
	"Challenged you?" Kodachi asked incredulously, "Who was it? 
Nabiki?"
	Ranma chuckled slightly at the memory, "No... it was Akane. 
She used to have a pretty nasty temper back then... and she's 
just finished training with dad... so there I was, leftover sushi 
in my mouth, and there's Akane in her gi and doing a stance. Dad 
stepped out after a couple of minutes, and I was sitting on 
Akane's head, eating the rest of the leftovers."
	Kodachi listened intently, her hand squeezing his gently as 
they walked.
	"Turns out dad had been watching the whole thing and he was 
very impressed by my performance," Ranma smiled a little, "He 
invited me into the dojo for a while... mom cleaned us both up 
and dad started asking questions."
	Ranma sighed, "Thing was, I couldn't remember anything 
about my family or anything... all I remembered was that my name 
was Ranma. Anyway, this was before your dad started training in 
Anything Goes... so I guess I'm not sure if it was because mom 
felt sorry for me and wanted a son, or if it was because dad 
decided I had a lot of potential and could possibly be his 
heir... but they decided to adopt me."
	Kodachi nodded quietly, "I didn't realize. You must've had 
a rough time before finding the Tendo dojo."
	Ranma looked distant for a moment, "I can sorta vaguely 
recall sleeping in alleys and being hungry all the time..."
	"So what did this have to do with your running away?" she 
asked gently.
	"A couple of years after mom died, when Akane and I were 
ten, I sort of started wondering what my parents were like. You 
know, my biological ones... so I decided to run away and find out 
who they were."
	Kodachi looked surprised, "Weren't you happy with Mr. Tendo 
and your sisters?"
	"Oh I was... I was very happy. But I really, really had to 
know... it's hard to explain what its like... Dad wanted to groom 
me to be his successor and all, and here I was I wasn't even sure 
about who I really was, so it's all kinda... you know."
	Kodachi squeezed his hand sympathetically once more moving 
closer, "It's alright... you don't have to say any more if you 
don't want to."
	Ranma smiled fondly at Kodachi, "No... I do want you to 
know. In any case, there's not much more to tell... I was 
sneaking out of the house when Akane caught me."
	"Oh my..."
	"Yeah," Ranma looked happy at the memory, "She chewed me 
out about my stupid idea, then decided to come along, since she 
was sure I wouldn't be able to take care of myself outside... so 
we went off... and now we're back."
	"Did you find out anything?" Kodachi asked.
	"Nothing. All dead ends. We were all over Japan... most of 
the major cities... we even followed a lead all the way to China, 
that didn't work out at all."
	"How did you two afford to go to China?" Kodachi asked.
	"We hitched a ride on a ship," Ranma grinned.
	"Wow."
	"Hey, here's the gym," Ranma said glancing up at the doors.
	"I'll be about an hour..." Kodachi looked at Ranma for a 
moment, her eyes thoughtful, "Would..." she blushed, "Would you 
like to watch me practice?"
	Ranma nodded, "Sure."
	Kodachi smiled at him and pulled him into the gym. On the 
floor, was the rest of the gymnastics team already practicing. 
The numerous girls, all turned their attention on Ranma who could 
do nothing but smile sheepishly, and hide behind Kodachi.
	Kodachi turned to Ranma, "Better let my hand go now, Ran-
chan... I still need to change into my leotard."
	"A... a leotard?" Ranma asked hesitantly.
	"Well you don't think I'm going to do gymnastics in a skirt 
do you? You just sit down and watch." She winked playfully at 
him, her hand slipping out of his.
	Ranma smiled nervously and sat down on the floor as she ran 
off in the direction of the girl's changing room. He glanced 
towards the other members of the girl's gym team and noticed with 
some concern that their full attention had been turned on him. 
And they were all... smiling... and talking to one another. For 
some reason he couldn't define... This worried him even more than 
coming home did.
- - -
	Kodachi hummed happily as she walked around the garden, 
waiting for dinner. It had been a remarkably lovely day and it 
was ending fairly well, or so she though.
	Without her realizing it, she'd plucked one of the flowers 
and was in the process of plucking its petals, complete with 
matching 'He loves me/loves me not'.
	She caught herself doing it, but not before she'd plucked 
the last petal on an 'He loves me'. She blinked in surprise at 
her own behavior and was about to step into the house when her 
stepmother found her.
	"Ko-chan... is that you?" Nodoka asked, stepping out into 
the garden.
	"Over here, mama." Kodachi called out, guiltily hiding the 
stem behind her.
	Nodoka smiled gently at Kodachi as she came closer. Despite 
the weak light, the scattered rose petals were rather hard to 
miss, "How are you, Ko-chan?"
	"I'm fine, mama." Kodachi smiled back.
	"I heard from Sasuke that a young man walked you home..." 
Nodoka smiled playfully.
	"Oh... that was just Ranma, mama..." Kodachi blushed.
	Her stepmother laughed, "Just Ranma, you say..?"
	"Um... yes..."
	"You two seem to be getting along well..." Nodoka remarked.
	"Oh... well... we're old friends... and we haven't seen 
each other in so long... so it's only natural we'd want to catch 
up, right?" Kodachi answered uncomfortably.
	"Nothing more?" Nodoka prodded gently.
	"N... no... of course not..." Kodachi lied, blushing 
furiously.
	Nodoka looked thoughtful, "Pity... I was going to see if I 
could persuade your father and Soun to give up on Nabiki and 
Tatewaki... it only seems to be aggravating the two of them... I 
do not want either of them getting hurt... and you and Ranma seem 
to be getting along so well..."
	Kodachi looked at her stepmother in surprise, then replied, 
"Um... perhaps you shouldn't, mama..."
	"Why not?"
	"Well... I know it may not look like it at all... but I 
think they like each other..."
	Nodoka looked incredulously at Kodachi, "Honestly?"
	Kodachi nodded in reply, "Yes... I really think so. And if 
you just give them a little time to realize it, everything will 
be fine... but unless this thing sort of forces them together, I 
don't think they're going to work it out."	Nodoka smiled, "I 
see... but if you think that there's any chance for your brother 
and Nabiki... well, alright."
	Kodachi nodded to her mother, "Mama... I'm curious... why 
DID Papa keep you from knowing about the engagement?"
	"Oh... that..." Nodoka looked thoughtful and sighed, 
"Before I married your father... I was married to someone 
else..."
	Kodachi looked at her stepmother, "You never mentioned that 
before..."
	"It never really came up before," Nodoka smiled, 
"Regardless... he was a martial artist too... like your father is 
now... it's a little difficult to talk about..." she looked off 
into the distance, a tear evident out of the corner of one eye...
	Kodachi put an arm around her stepmother's shoulders, "It's 
okay mama... you don't need to tell me..."
	Nodoka smiled weakly at her daughter, "Thank you, Ko-
chan... but rest assured, if I'd known about this entire matter 
beforehand, I never would've allowed your father or Soun to go 
through with it."
	Kodachi simply nodded quietly and hugged her stepmother.
- - -	
	"I'm home!" Ranma called out as he stepped into the house.
	There was no response. Slightly worried, he wandered a bit, 
listening for people. It was already past eight and he was 
worried that perhaps people would be worried about him... it had 
occured to him a little late that perhaps he should have called, 
but since it only occurred to him when he'd taken his shoes off 
at the threshold, the point was somewhat moot.
	He could hear the television in the living room... it 
sounded a bit like one of those trendy drama things Akane liked. 
He poked his head around the corner and called out, "Um... I'm 
home."
	The lights were off and the only illumination was coming 
from the television which was showing the opening credits to 
'Summer Love Contract', one of Akane's favorites.
	Akane glanced over her shoulder at him, "It's about time," 
she said flatly.
	"Sorry... I kind of lost track of time. Where is everyone 
else?"
	"Kasumi had a date... father apparently has some sort of 
local business organization meeting and Nabiki's out back in the 
dojo, as usual." Akane muttered, turning her attention back to 
the TV.
	Ranma glanced at her, he jumped over the sofa, landing next 
to her, "You're upset."
	She glared at him, "Oh, you think so? Where were you?" she 
snapped the question out.
	"Um... I was with Kodachi..."
	"And you couldn't find a phone?" she said nastily, "I've 
been worried sick about you!"
	"Come on Akane..." Ranma said in a patient tone, "It's not 
like when we were on the road... we're home! It's safe here... I 
know how to take care of myself and I'm not a child, you know."
	Akane hmphed, turning away from him and crossing her arms, 
"Well if you don't need me anymore, that's fine."
	"Oh come on, you know that's not going to happen..." Ranma 
said quietly, putting his arms around her.
	Akane relented a little, melting into his arms. She sighed, 
"Alright... you know I can't stay mad at you for long... but next 
time, make sure you call alright?"
	"Sure thing." Ranma murmured. 
	Akane grinned a little, snuggling closer against Ranma, "So 
how are you getting along with Kodachi?"
	"Mmm... not bad..."
	"Meaning you're getting along pretty good, huh?" Akane 
teased.
	"Okay, we are," Ranma admitted with a small smile.
	A slight cross look passed across Akane's features, 
"Really... I guess you two MUST be getting along well if you're 
willing to leave me behind to spend time with her."
	Ranma stiffened, "Erhm... yeah... sorry about that..."
	Akane sniffed lightly, "I guess I'm just your sister after 
all... nobody important..."
	"Hey... where'd that come from?" Ranma demanded feeling a 
bit put upon by Akane's mood.
	"Nothing... nothing..." Akane said airily, snuggling a 
little more against Ranma.
	"You're jealous, aren't you?" Ranma asked quietly, holding 
her closer.
	"Of course not!" Akane turned in his embrace to glare at 
him.
	Ranma looked mildly back at her.
	Akane deflated slightly, "Okay... a little."
	"Awww..." Ranma leaned over, kissing her forehead gently, 
"You know we can't spend all our time together..."
	"Yeah, but... I don't know... it looks like you enjoy being 
with her more than me," Akane replied weakly.
	"Hey... none of that, Akane-chan!" Ranma smiled playfully, 
"You know I love being with you... and nobody's going to replace 
you. Ever."
	Akane smiled a little, "I guess I was being a little 
stupid," as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
	"Yup, you were." Ranma replied fondly. 
	Akane grinned playfully, "So when you're cuddling up with 
her, will you be thinking of me?"	
	"I dunno... she's kinda better built for cuddling than you 
are... you're too bony and flat-chested..." Ranma grinned.
	"Bony! Flat-chested!" Akane said in mock ouitrage, "You 
don't complain in bed! You take that back or I'm going to show 
you bony where it really hurts!"
	"Peace! Peace! Okay, I give up! I take it back!" Ranma 
laughed, making surrendering gestures. Akane gave him a look of 
mock exasperation, before, ruffling his hair and turning her back 
to him to watch the TV again.
	Ranma stared blankly into space for a few moments then 
laughed suddenly.
	"What?" Akane asked, turning around in his arms again.
	"No, it's just that I was remembering something... remember 
when you were dating Ryouga?"
	Akane looked thoughtful, then her eyes lit up in 
remembrance, "You were acting just as jealous!"
	Ranma laughed, "Almost exactly the same..."
	Akane grinned playfully at him, "Remember what you did to 
apologize to me afterwards?"
	Ranma lifted an eyebrow as Akane nodded, moving closer 
against him, "Yes... you do remember, don't you brother-dear? 
Since I'm the jealous party this time, I guess I'd better 
apologize."
	"Sounds good to me, Akane-chan..." Ranma replied, licking 
his lips slightly.	
	 There was a sudden strangled exclamation.
	The two turned to see Nabiki, silhouetted by the light, 
"Er... I'll... um... just go on upstairs... you look like you two 
want some privacy..." she choked.
	Akane grinned at Nabiki playfully, "How long have you been 
standing there?"
	"Um... not very..."
	"Long enough, though, huh?" Akane chuckled, "Hey... you 
might want to join Ranma, I'm going to be giving him plenty, 
there'll be enough left over for you..." 
	Nabiki blurted, "Er... no! No... but thanks... I'll be 
upstairs... don't mind me..." she added in a mumble, "Um... try 
not to make too much noise..."
	Ranma looked confused, "Noise..? Why would there be 
noise..."
	He and Akane only then glanced at their positions, 
realizing that Akane was all but straddling Ranma's lap and they 
were holding each other rather closely... Nabiki shuddered a bit 
and ducked around the corner.
	Ranma looked at Akane, "You know we're totally freaking her 
out don't you? She probably thinks we're a pair of perverts."
	Akane laughed, "I know I shouldn't, but she's so much 
fun..."
	Ranma sighed.
	"So what flavor do you want your ice cream?" Akane smiled.
	"Same flavor I gave you when I apologized," Ranma replied.
	"Chocolate marble it is, then." Akane grinned, leaning down 
to kiss Ranma quickly on the lips before turning to watch the TV, 
"I'll buy you some tomorrow."
	Ranma smiled as Akane made herself more comfortable on his 
lap. It took him a moment to realize something... "Hey, I hate 
soap operas! Why do I have to watch this?!"
- - -
	A week had passed since the arrival of Ranma and Akane to 
Furinkan. Enough time for life to settle down more or less to 
normal... barring of course the disappearance of the Nabiki Tendo 
Morning Combat Committee... and the by now familiar, though still 
unusual sight of the three Tendos and both Kunos eating lunch 
together.
	The day seemed typical enough. Nothing too untoward had 
occurred thus far barring a quick downpour, which had sent Akane 
scurrying for cover. But now it was lunchtime and nothing seemed 
amiss.
	The five were eating their pack lunches under the shade of 
a particularly large tree. Akane, who had finished her light 
lunch quickly, was lying on her back, her head resting in Ranma's 
lap as she worked out some figures from yesterday's income. 
Ranma, who was sitting cross-legged did not mind Akane at all, 
was chatting happily with Kodachi. Occasionally, the two of them 
would  exchange pieces of food from their lunches. Occasionally 
they would even feed them to one another. They seemed happy 
enough... except of course for Kodachi's occasional jealous 
glances at the resting Akane. Particularly when Ranma would 
absent-mindedly reach down to stroke his sister's hair. Of 
course, Kodachi was doing her best to keep any indication of THAT 
show up on her face. Sitting next to Kodachi was Nabiki who was 
eating her lunch in silence. She stole an occasional glance at 
her siblings and shuddered... then the particularly sympathetic 
glances at Kodachi... and the last of her regular glances was at 
the man next to her, Tatewaki. Tatewaki was trying to give no 
indication of doing anything more than writing intently in his 
journal, and occassionally taking a sip of ice water from his 
thermos. He did his best to ignore the pointedly angry glares 
from Nabiki directed at him. Sometimes he would even look up to 
glance back at her, but made it a point to look away before she 
could catch him. He was even doing his best to ignore the fact 
that in the last fifteen minutes or so, Akane had laid her legs 
across his lap... and was making do by using her shins as a 
writing surface.
	Granted, it was far from an idyllic scene, but it got other 
people talking.
	Finally, Akane finished tallying up yesterday's gains and 
losses and was pleased to find a positive count. A pretty good 
one. It was a start. What surprised her though was how small her 
gains were for a school this size. By all rights she should've 
been making twice what she currently was already, but it was 
almost as if someone were moving to block her activities. It was 
something she'd have to look into.
	She looked over to Nabiki and Tatewaki, both of whom were 
giving a very good impression of pointedly ignoring one another, 
even when they would occasionally look at one another... even to 
the extent that at one point, the two managed to stare at each 
other for all of ten seconds before either realized that they'd 
already been caught looking and only then looked away. She gave a 
little chuckle.
	Ranma looked down at her, from feeding Kodachi a piece of 
pickled radish, "What's so funny Akane?" he asked.
	Akane grinned at Nabiki and Tatewaki wiggling her feet 
slightly in his lap, "These two. You know we're supposed to make 
everyone think that you two are trying to get along."
	Nabiki grimaced and put her lunch down. She crossed her 
arms and scowled at Akane, "We are getting along. He's alive 
isn't he?"
	Tatewaki sighed, closing his journal since Akane's movement 
made it impossible to write anymore, "She poses an excellent 
point. I am within three feet of her and she has yet made an 
attempt to rip my arm off. I personally consider this quite an 
accomplishment."
	Akane giggled again, pushing her glasses up, "I guess, but 
you two have been staring at each other for the past half hour 
already, sooner or later you're going to have to talk to each 
other."
	"We have not been staring!" Nabiki and Tatewaki shouted 
simultaneously. They looked at one another and Nabiki glared. 
Tatewaki simply sighed.
	Kodachi smiled a little, "Well... she does have a point... 
you guys could at least look like you want to be here."
	"I don't WANT to be next to him," Nabiki snorted.
	"I could think of better ways of spending my lunchtime than 
being unpleasantly seethed at," Tatewaki replied, "Like perhaps 
having my teeth pulled out sans anesthesia."
	Nabiki glared angrily at him, "Are you comparing me to a 
toothache?!"
	Tatewaki scooted back a bit, "I will admit, based on prior 
observation that you are fully capable of simulating the pain of 
one."
	"How'd you like some pain?!" Nabiki snarled, rolling a 
sleeve up, readying to hit him.
	Ranma cried, "Whoa! Hey, cool it guys! Let's play this 
Akane's way alright? We have to convince everyone that you two 
are really an item, so when we do the big breakup thing, it won't 
seem to be anybody's fault... right?"
	Akane continues, "So you two could at least trying to look 
like you're having fun..." she grinned, "Or maybe even get a 
little closer to each other."
	Tatewaki and Nabiki both blushed, turning to look at her.
	"I'd sooner die."
	"Such an action would no doubt lead to unpleasant physical 
injuries."
	Kodachi sighed, "Come on you guys... it's only for a couple 
of weeks... or months... and Ranma and Akane are right, you both 
look like you could loosen up a little."
	Akane sat up, smiling at Nabiki and Tatewaki, "You know... 
a little more affection couldn't hurt."
	Nabiki gave Akane a startled look then blushed remembering 
the numerous times she'd walked in on her and Ranma.
	Akane continued to grin, "Let's give you an example if you 
aren't sure what to do..." she turned to Ranma and Kodachi, 
"Hmmm... Ko-chan... help me out here..."
	"What..?" Kodachi blinked at Akane.
	Akane beckoned Kodachi, who scooted a bit closer, getting 
nearer to Ranma. 
	"There..." Akane said, "Perfect..." as she scooted to a 
position behind the pair. She put a hand on Kodachi and Ranma's 
hips, then roughly shoved them together, until they were 
practically sitting on one another.
	"Hey!"
	"Akane what're you..?"
	As the two moved to try and regain their balance, Akane 
caught one of Kodachi's wrists, and positioned it around Ranma's 
waist, and grasped one of Ranma's wrists and draped his arm 
around Kodachi's shoulders. Before any other objections could be 
voiced, she reached over them and made them hold hands.
	Akane grinned, "There... here's a rough example of 
snuggling. You two could try it sometime."
	Ranma turned around to look at his sister, "Hey, you!"
	Kodachi blinked then blushed, "Oh my..."
	"Uh-uh... no way am I letting him get his hands on me!" 
Nabiki frowned.
	Tatewaki kept a diplomatic silence.
	Akane scooted back to her old position as Ranma and Kodachi 
untangled themselves. She shrugged, "Well its really up to you 
two... I'm just trying to help out."
	Kodachi and Ranma did their best to get untangled, but as 
is often the case in such accidents, an elbow sent into one 
direction without thinking, accidentally upsetting Ranma's bento 
box, sending it crashing onto Tatewaki's thermos... sending that 
flipping into the air, to upend its contents on Akane...
	"Oh no!" Ranma cried as he helplessly watched Akane get 
splashed.
	Everyone else was shocked as Akane suddenly grew in 
height... the proportions of her body redistributing themselves. 
The transformation completed itself finally... leaving everyone 
staring at Akane... who was now a near perfect duplicate of 
Ranma. There was a long moment of shocked and profound silence as 
everyone stared at him... their gazes swung as one to Ranma... 
then to Akane... practically the only way to tell them apart was 
that Akane was wet and was wearing glasses, while Ranma wasn't...
	Akane sighed heavily, "Oh shoot..."
	"Sorry, sis... er... bro..." Ranma said weakly.
	"It's okay, they would've found out eventually anyway." 
Akane replied gently.
	"Wha..?!" Nabiki asked.
	The Kunos simply stared... 
	The transformed Akane grinned at them, "Hi... I'm Akaru 
Tendo... pleased to meet you all."
	Kodachi finally broke the silence, "Now this... I really 
have to hear about."
	"Likewise," Kuno nodded.
	Akaru smiled at everyone, "Well... I guess it was past time 
you guys found out..."
	"It all started when Ranma and I went to China to follow up 
a lead on his parents..."
	"Our trip to this village in inland China turned out to be 
a bust... and that's a story for another time, but we decided 
since we were there anyway that we'd engage in a little 
sightseeing and a little training."
	"What she means is that we didn't have enough money to get 
home with, so we had to bum around China for a while to get 
enough cash. That and we had to walk back to the coast," Ranma 
interjected.
	"Hey, who's telling this? You or me?"
	"Go ahead."
	"Alright... anyway, we eventually ended up at this training 
ground that they called Jusenkyo, the Legendary Training Ground 
of Cursed springs. We'd talked to our guide and he told us that 
the springs were very dangerous, and that we shouldn't even 
consider training there, because it could mean our lives."
	"Wow," Kodachi murmured.
	"Training Ground of Cursed springs? You two aren't making 
this up are you?" Nabiki asked incredulously.
	"Nope. It's basically this place, with lots of these 
shallow pools and there's bamboo sticking up out of the pools for 
people to balance on," Akane replied.
	Ranma nodded, "So anyway, as we were about to leave, I 
guess I must've slipped or something..."
	Akaru interrupted, "My idiot brother had managed to snag 
his foot on a rock and tripped. He hit his head on a stone as he 
landed and knocked himself out, but that wasn't the worst part. 
Because he crashed into this wooden paneling which was apparently 
being used to keep one of the pools covered.
	"So splash, he fell in, out cold and sinking like a rock... 
I, like an idiot, jump in after him. He must've sunk about six 
feet before I managed to grab him. For such a little pool it was 
pretty deep. Anyway, I managed to pull him out, but he'd 
swallowed some water and wasn't breathing. I gave him some CPR, 
and I was feeling kind of funny too, but I put it down to the 
water having been dirty or something..."
	"Well, I managed to wake up," Ranma interrupted, "I was 
coughing up water and stuff... and then kneeling next to me is 
this guy who looks just like me, he's in the same outfit and he's 
soaking wet too..."
	"And this whole time," Akaru added, "The guide is behind us 
babbling in Mandarin too fast for me to follow. Until I realize 
that he's telling me to look at myself,"
	"Then the guy suddenly screams, grabbing at his chest. Then 
he looks down his pants and screams again, louder this time," 
Ranma said.
	"It was quite a shock let me tell you." Akaru grinned.
	"The water... transformed you into Ranma?" Tatewaki asked 
slowly.
	Ranma answered, "Well, the guide managed to explain it to 
us after I'd managed to calm Akaru down... turns out the water in 
the spring turns anyone who falls into the spring into an exact 
duplicate of whatever first drowned in the spring."
	"Preposterous," Tatewaki snorted.
	Akaru grinned, gesturing to himself, "I'm living proof 
right here."
	"But you transformed when you were splashed," Kodachi said.
	"That's what activates a Jusenkyo curse," Akaru replied, 
"Cold water turns me into a duplicate of Ranma... and hot water 
will change me back to normal."
	"How odd," Tatewaki said.
	"That still doesn't explain why you turned into Ranma." 
Nabiki said pointedly. 
	"Well," Akaru continued, "The guide told us later that in a 
lot of the springs, there had been animals and people who'd died 
there centuries ago. If I'd fallen into the spring of drowned pig 
for instance, I'd turn into a pig when I get splashed. But it 
turns out that Ranma had managed to crash into an unpatterned 
spring, where nothing had drowned there... until he did."
	Everyone else blinked.
	"So since he drowned in there, it became the Spring of 
Drowned Ranma, and anyone who falls into the spring takes on the 
body of Ranma," he smirked.
	"I'm famous," Ranma added sarcastically, "The guide was 
talking about putting a new sign on that spring."
	Nabiki shook her head, "It's so weird."
	Ranma and Akane shrugged, "We've gotten used to it," Akaru 
continued, "We tried asking around for a cure, but the guide said 
there wasn't any."
	"Couldn't you have taken a jump into the..." Tatewaki 
paused thoughtfully, "Drowned girl spring?"
	"I didn't want to risk it," Akaru answered, "The guide said 
that sometimes the springs interact funny."
	"What do you mean funny?" Kodachi asked.
	Ranma said seriously, "Well... the guide told us about this 
one guy who was already cursed then fell into spring of drowned 
octopus. All that happened was his cursed form got tentacles, and 
he could squirt ink through his fingers..."
	Kodachi grimaced, "Eww." 
	Nabiki frowned, "How does an octopus drown?"
	"You're asking us? The entire spring thing doesn't make 
sense to us either," Akaru shrugged, "But either way, last thing 
I wanted was to end up with a hermaphrodite cursed form... yuck. 
Better to be a guy."
	Kodachi glanced first at Ranma... then at Akaru, a playful 
gleam in her eye, "So, Akane... what's it like being a guy?"
	"Call me Akaru when I'm in this form, Kodachi..." Akaru 
grinned, "And to answer the question, its really unusual being a 
guy."
	Even Nabiki caught a whiff of interest at the topic... 
simultaneously shifting closer towards them while trying to seem 
uninterested.
	Tatewaki and Ranma caught one another's gaze, "Why do I 
have a very bad feeling about this line of questioning?" Tatewaki 
asked Ranma.
	"I know what you mean."
	Akaru stood up grinning, "Okay, I'll tell it to you guys in 
more detail later, but I need to hunt up some hot water first to 
change back."
	"I'll go with you," Ranma volunteered, beginning to rise to 
his feet.
	Akaru tsked at him, "What? And leave Ko-chan? I'll be fine, 
brother-dear..."
	Both Kodachi and Ranma blushed slightly.
	"I'll just be a second!" Akaru called back to them as he 
ran off.
- - -
	"Hey, pal... you Ranma Tendo?"
	Akaru looked over his shoulder to look at four large, 
rather rough looking men looming over him. He was just outside 
the cafeteria where a vendo machine had been set up.
	"Maybe..." Akaru said cautiously, waiting for the machine 
to spit out the tea he had already paid for.
	One of the men, who had a crewcut looked at a photo in his 
hand, "Yup... that's gotta be him... pigtail, chinese clothes and 
all."
	Another man, skinnier than the rest nodded, he seemed to be 
the spokesman for the group, possibly because he was the only one 
who seemed to have anything even remotely as high as a room 
temperature IQ.
	 "Yer sister is lookin for you," The skinny man said, as 
Akaru's purchase clattered into the receptacle.
	Akaru pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and 
smiled, "My sister is looking for me, you say? Really..." he 
turned his back on the four momentarily to pick up the warm 
container.
	"She sez its an emergency type thing. We'll take youse to 
her."
	"Sure thing." Akaru said distractedly, peeling off the red 
'Guaranteed Fresh' sticker from the can.
	The gang of four was getting worried... how come this guy 
wasn't gettin all panicky like the boss said he'd be? The boss 
said he was gonna be easy to fool... they weren't really lookin 
forward to beatin up this guy to bring him along... rumor had it 
he was pretty tough.
	The skinny man looked pleadingly at Akaru, "Better come 
quick, its a really big emergency."
	"Well, lead the way then," Akaru said slowly, idly tearing 
at the red sticker in his hand, and sipping the tea occasionally. 
The smart thing to do would most certainly have been to ignore 
them. But curiosity won out, as it usually did.
- - -
	Ranma looked impatiently at his watch, "Lunch is nearly 
over! Where is she?!"
- - -
	Akaru grinned playfully at his captors, "This is a really 
nice place you guys have here," he said politely.
	"Ya really think so?" asked the crew cut tough, "Awfully 
nice of you to say."
	Which it quite was, considering that they were in a dingy 
basement room. The four had blindfolded him on the way there, but 
judging from how many steps it took, not to mention the brief 
period of time they were obviously outdoors, Akaru guessed it to 
be underneath the gym.
	The place looked as if it hadn't been dusted, much less 
aired in more years than Akaru cared to think of. There was a 
large desk around which the four toughs were dealing out a hand 
of poker. On the desk were a couple of large ledgers, the 
matchsticks that the toughs were using for chips, and the can of 
undrunk tea which had gotten lukewarm by now. In the corner 
furthest from the door, and incidentally the dustiest one, Akaru 
was tied quite securely to a chair.
	"Hey, da boss said not to tell im anythin'!" the skinny 
tough said, whacking the crewcut fellow on the back of the head.
	"I'm just bein polite over here, okay?!" Crewcut snapped at 
Skinny.
	"Hey, you two jawing or you playing cards over here?" a 
third tough snapped at them both, he was already showing at the 
tender age of sixteen signs of a receding hairline.
	Akaru smiled confidently to the other two, "Gentlemen, 
please... there's no need to argue... um... I didn't catch your 
name..?" he said nodding to the skinny boy.
	"Shin."
	"Yes, Shin, pleased to meet you... I perfectly understand 
that as a prisoner I'm too keep my peace, but it ill behooves me 
not to pay a compliment when it's due."
	The skinny boy, Shin grunted.
	"Geez... you've gotta be the politest guy we ever hadda 
jump on," the fourth tough said looking up from his hand (a 
busted flush). He seemed unremarkable enough if one discounted 
the fact that he was at least twice as big as the other three. 
Combined.
	"Why, thank you," Akaru smiled pleasantly, "Incidentally, 
I'm curious, are you gentlemen on retainer or does your... ahh... 
boss hire you on per project basis?"
	"What's a retainer?" the crewcut tough asked.
	"It's what you put on yer teeth to straighten em out," the 
balding tough sniped, "Now stop talkin to the guy." He tossed two 
matchsticks into the pot, "I raise."
	"What project is he talkin about?" the huge tough asked.
	"This one you big moron!" Shin replied, "Holding him down 
here," the skinny tough gave a superior sniff and turned to 
Akaru, "What makes you think we're getting paid? Maybe we're doin 
somebody a favor."
	"Just a feeling, Shin-kun..." Akaru smiled back.
	The balding tough whirled on him, "Look you, shut up! We're 
trying to play a hand here! We ain't even supposed to be talkin 
to you!"
	Akaru gave an artfully calculated look of hurt surprise, "I 
was just trying to make conversation to help you boys pass the 
time. I'm bored too... can't you maybe deal me in on a couple of 
hands?"
	"Is it gonna shut you up?!" the balding tough asked.
	"Certainly. I wouldn't be bored if I were playing cards, 
correct?" Akaru replied reasonably.
	"He's gotta good point," crewcut nodded.
	"I dunno about this guys..." Shin said.
	"Hey, the boss said not to tell im anything, he didn't say 
nuthin about dealing him in on a game of cards." The big tough 
muttered.
	"Aww... what the heck." The balding tough shrugged as the 
big tough moved Akaru's chair closer to the table.
- - -
	"Nabiki! Have you seen Akane?"
	Nabiki turned, shutting her locker and hurriedly tucking 
away a piece of stationery to look up at the worried face of 
Ranma. Standing next to him was Kodachi, who looked a trifle 
breathless.
	"What's wrong with Akane?" Nabiki frowned.
	"She didn't come back to class after lunch. And she was 
supposed to meet some friends after classes. Nobody's seen her 
since lunch." Ranma's voice had a certain note of panic to it.
	"We've been looking everywhere," Kodachi said weakly.
	"Well, I haven't seen her, either, I'm afraid." Nabiki 
replied.
	Ranma frowned slightly, as the students moved around them 
heading out.
	Kodachi glanced at Akane's locker just across the same hall 
and tugged at his sleeve, "Hey, look. There's a note on her 
locker."
	Nabiki shrugged, following the two as they walked over to 
Akane's locker. Ranma tore the folded post it note from the 
locker door, sending something clattered to the floor.
	"What is that?" Nabiki asked.
	Kodachi bent down and picked up the object, "It's a nail."
	Ranma frowned and read the note aloud, "What the..? 'To 
Miss Akane Tendo, I have your brother. He will not be harmed if 
you come to the auditorium at precisely 4:36 PM, alone. There are 
certain matters of territory to be discussed.'?" he finished 
disbelieving.
	"I heard about stuff like this!" Kodachi said excitedly, 
"There's supposed to be this guy who secretly runs everything in 
the school... and the nail is supposed to be his trademark," she 
held up the nail, "Course my dad says its just a rumor."
	"Whoever it was must've grabbed Akane by mistake, thinking 
it was me," Ranma said. He glanced over to his own locker and 
noticed something which had also been stuck on his locker door. 
He sighed with relief, Kodachi and Nabiki followed his gaze, 
"What're you looking at?" Nabiki asked.
	He pointed at a red sticker which had been neatly torn into 
a roughly cloud-like shape, the word 'Fresh--' could still be 
somewhat made out. "I think Akane managed to put it on there," he 
said, "And since she had enough time to make it, I'm guessing 
she's okay, and she's telling me not to worry."
	The other two girls stared at him, "You got that from a 
sticker?" Nabiki asked pointedly.
	He shrugged, "She did it when we got into trouble before."
	"Well, regardless," Kodachi said, "It's four quarter 
already... let's head for the auditorium."
	Nabiki frowned and cracked her knuckles, "Yeah! Whoever it 
is that has our sister, he's going to wish he'd never heard the 
name Tendo."
- - -
	"Read em and weep boys." Akaru grinned.
	"Another full house?!" Sho, the balding tough, cried out. 
	"Glad I folded early." Shin snickered.
	"Um... I lose again right?" the crewcut tough, Shiro asked 
uncertainly.
	"You only had a low pair," the big tough, Shigo replied, 
gathering the cards up to shuffle the next hand.
	"I don't think I want in on this next one anymore..." Shin 
said uncertainly.
	Akaru smiled slightly, gathering the large pile of 
matchsticks and IOU's closer to his end of the table, "So let's 
see... that puts me at what... five hundred seventeen 
matchsticks... two hockey sticks, a catcher's mitt, and five 
manga volumes of Creamy Lemon."
	Sho moaned, "My prized collection!"
	"Guys, guys... please..." Akaru grinned, "Just to show you 
I'm not a bad guy, I'm willing to let all of the debts slide, 
what do you say?"
	"Ya mean it?" Shiro asked incredulously.
	"Sure thing, we're all friends here, aren't we?" Akaru 
asked with a winning smile.
	"I get my hockey sticks back?" Shin smiled happily.
	"Wow!" Shigo rumbled, "The boss woulda never done that!"
	"Yeah, stingy little piece of..." Sho started to say, 
before he turned and suddenly gave Akaru a couple of hard whacks 
on the back, "Yer an okay guy!"
	Akaru winced at the blows then smiled thoughtfully. The 
four looked to be pretty open to suggestion by now... and what 
he'd been seeing in the ledgers had been very interesting... very 
interesting indeed.
	"Hey, guys," Akaru said, calling their attention, "Since 
we're all friends here, I want to make you boys an offer. It 
could be worth more money than you're making now off of your 
current boss."
	The four were all ears.
	"Just listen up..." Akaru started to speak.
- - -
	Kodachi stepped into the auditorium first, despite Ranma 
and Nabiki's protests. The door slammed shut behind her with a 
resounding crash, right into the two Tendo's faces.
	Despite the hour, it was dark inside the auditorium, 
lacking any windows in the dim light, she could vaguely make out 
a figure standing on the stage, with its back to her. 
	"I'm glad you could make it, Miss Tendo. And so prompt too, 
that's an admirable trait," an eerily distorted voice floated 
down to her, "I am the Shadow President of Furinkan High School." 
It paused for dramatic effect, then its hand was raised in the 
dim light. A finger snap, and then the sudden hum as one of the 
spotlights highlighted the figure on the stage.
	It was a very slender male figure, almost skeletally thin, 
in slacks and an oversized leather jacket. He languidly slipped 
his outstretched hand back into his jacket pocket, "You were very 
foolish," the voice continued on, "To even think of challenging 
my supremacy on my own home ground! There will be no gambling or 
rumor peddling that goes on in this campus that does not stem 
from me! Nothing happens in this place without my say so, and if 
you don't understand that then I'm very sorry but your brother 
will not have long for this earth."
	"Um..." Kodachi tried to speak, but it was almost 
impossible to get a word in edgewise.
	"Understand this well, for I am the Shadow President of 
Furinkan High School," he finally paused, once more obviously for 
dramatic effect, before he whirled on Kodachi, "I am the mighty 
Hikaru Gosunkugi!" his movement was matched by a rather loud 
orchestral fanfare, then taped applause.
	He still had his eyes closed, a smug, arrogant smirk on his 
hollow cheeked face, "Yes... I know... handsome am I not? If you 
understand your place in this school's hierarchy, I'm certain 
perhaps one day you could be my first lady, but of course you're 
only too honored to--"
	"Ahem!" Kodachi said with a certain tone of finality. Her 
arms crossed in front of her as she glared at the boy onstage.
	Gosunkugi's eyes snapped open, "Wha..? You're not Akane? 
Kodachi?! What the hell are you doing here?!
	Kodachi smirked, "Akane can't make it, she was too busy 
with something else."
	Gosunkugi gaped, "But..!"
	Kodachi seemed both amused and repulsed at the same time, 
"So you're the Shadow President of Furinkan High School?"
	"No I'm not!" Gosunkugi denied it cringing back slightly.
	Kodachi crossed her arms, "Didn't you just tell me you 
were?"
	"Ack... oh, fine then. You found out. Fine. I AM the Shadow 
President of Furinkan High School!" Gosunkugi said with another 
superior smirk.
	"Didn't we have you impeached last semester?" Kodachi 
pointed out, "Because you were cheating at the ballot boxes?"
	"What does that have to do with anything?!" Gosunkugi 
ranted, his arms flailing, looking to all the world as if he was 
likely to get lost inside his leather jacket.
	"Last I heard you'd gotten expelled..."
	"I am STILL ruler of Furinkan High School!" Gosunkugi 
snapped, "Just because you denied me is no reason..."
	Kodachi sighed, "I mean really... isn't this 
overcompensating a bit... just because I turned you down for a 
date..."
	"You turned me down twenty three times! Twenty three! If I 
can't have you, then the rest of this school will bow down on 
their knees for me!" Gosunkugi was all but drooling.
	"Definitely overcompensating..."
	"I'd intended this to be a welcome for Akane, but since 
you've annoyed me sufficiently..." he snapped his fingers again. 
He blinked as nothing happened.
	He screamed, squinting up at the spotlight, "Hey! You on 
the lights! Don't you know your signals?!" 
	There were long moments of quiet as Kodachi fought to keep 
from giggling and Gosunkugi kept staring up at the spotlight, 
vainly straining to see whoever should've been up there. The 
skinny teen scowled fiercely at Kodachi as if blaming her for 
this failure, before he scrambled to the side of the stage and 
threw a switch.
	The spotlight shut off and the rest of the lights surged 
on. Kodachi was disoriented for a moment by the sudden amount of 
light, blinding her. When the spots had cleared from her eyes, 
she realized that in most of the corners of the auditorium were a 
LOT of boys. She recognized most of them as holdovers from the 
Nabiki Tendo Morning Combat Committees.
	Gosunkugi threw his head back and laughed maniacally, "Now 
you will pay! Get her my minions!"
	The men looked at one another uncertainly... then looked at 
Kodachi.
	Kodachi smiled weakly and waved to them in a rather 
friendly manner.
	They smiled back uncertainly and waved back en masse.
	Gosunkugi sputtered and strode to the edge of the stage. He 
reached out and grabbed one of the boys by his ear, and tugged on 
it brutally, dragging the unfortunate over to him, "Excuse me..." 
he said in a low and dangerous tone, "What do you think you're 
doing?"
	"Um... boss... you know, you kinda hired us to beat up 
Akane Tendo... you didn't say nuthin about Kodachi..." the boy, 
who was in a tracksuit, mumbled.
	A shorter boy in a fencing outfit near them piped up, 
"She's the principal's daughter, boss. That's kinda like askin 
for big trouble..."
	"Shut up you morons I don't care! You are going to beat up 
Kodachi Kuno if I have to--!!"
	It should be noted at this point that throughout this 
entire scene, there was the rhythmic thumping and shouting coming 
from behind the door which had slammed shut in Ranma and Nabiki's 
faces. It should also be noted that in the past few minutes, the 
thumping had escalated in volume and power. It was at roughly 
this point that the doors flew open, as Ranma and Nabiki burst 
into the room.
	"Nobody hurts Kodachi!" Ranma shouted to the room at large.
	Nabiki's eyes narrowed, "So it's you guys!"
	The boys of course recognized the Tendos... they remembered 
the kinds of beatings Nabiki used to give them on a daily basis. 
They also remembered that Kodachi and Ranma were some kind of 
item. They also remembered that the Tendos were all supposed to 
be kick ass martial artists. There were two, extremely pissed off 
Tendos at the door. While most of these boys were hardly mental 
giants, they weren't stupid either. Panic would be too mild a 
word to use.
	There was a great screaming rout as the boys ran for the 
hills, or barring that the other exits in the auditorium... Even 
the boy who's ear Gosunkugi had trapped, was doing his best to 
simultaneously get away from Gosunkugi, not get trampled and 
avoid Nabiki all at once.
	"Stop that!" Gosunkugi yelled into his ear.
	"Nuh-uh! Akane Tendo is one thing, that's the other two 
Tendos, lemme outta here!"
	Gosunkugi stared at Ranma, who, much like his sister Nabiki 
was giving chase to the panicked, milling mass of escaping 
athletes.
	"He can't have escaped! I put my best men on it! He can't 
have!" Gosunkugi cried out. He panted heavily, avoiding the 
running and screaming boys, "Alright... remain calm... everything 
will be fine..." as he made his own mad dash for the door behind 
the stage, spindly arms windmilling inside his jacket.
	Gosunkugi reached the door without incident, Ranma and 
Nabiki too busy with his minions to worry about him. He smiled 
easily as he prepared to make good his escape. After all, nothing 
could capture the Shadow President of Furinkan High School! He 
laughed easily as he opened the door. Only to find Akane Tendo 
standing there, smiling sweetly up at him. Behind her were the 
four toughs he had sent to capture Ranma! What was happening?!
	"Hello, Mr. Gosunkugi," Akane spoke briskly, "I believe you 
were interested in resolving a territorial conflict?"
	"Ahh... er... what..?"
	Akane pressed into Gosunkugi's hand a sheaf of papers, 
"These are resignation letters from your entire staff, as well as 
signed affidavits transferring control of your operations over to 
me. Everything perfectly documented."
	"What?! No! How?!"
	Akane smiled cattily at him, "Well, I simply pointed out to 
your upper management that you were skimming quite a large 
percentage off the top and misreporting the funds they'd 
received. My brother was quite helpful in showing these 
gentlemen," she glanced back at the four toughs behind her, all 
of whom dutifully cracked their knuckles, "Just how badly you 
were cheating them."
	Gosunkugi only managed to say in a small voice, "Oh no."
	Akane smiled sweetly at the four boys, "Gentlemen... please 
do your duty."
	Shin gave a gleeful cackle, "Sure thing Miss Akane."
	Nabiki and Ranma looked up from what they were doing and 
looked at one another.
	"Why do I get the feeling something important just happened 
and nobody told me?" Nabiki asked her brother.
	He shrugged, kicking a guy in a sumo outfit into a guy in a 
kendo outfit, "Ahh... you get used to it. I feel that way all the 
time around Akane.
	"Ran-chan, please put me down, I CAN walk you know." 
Kodachi muttered, cradled in Ranma's arms.
	"Just til we get outta here, Ko-chan," he replied.
- - -	
	About a week later, in a small village on the island of 
Hokaido...
	"Look out! It's a mad boar on a rampage!"
	"Shoot! Golly! Look out there's some guy on the road! He's 
gonna get hisself squashed!"
	"Move it yuh darn fool!"
	The boy who was wearing a rather travelworn outfit, turned 
slowly. He had a somewhat glazed, distracted expression on his 
face. He was somewhat handsome, the effect ruined somewhat by his 
somewhat large canines, his shock of hair held back by a spotted 
bandanna, on his back was what must've been an extremely heavy 
backpack, lashed to which was an umbrella, but he moved without 
seeming to notice it. He blinked wearily, finally focusing on the 
rampaging boar roughly the size of half a volkswagen which was 
bearing down on him with incredible speed.
	One of the villagers wailed, "He's as good as dead, Ah 
cain't watch!"
	The boy gave a negligent shrug, a mildly happy grin on his 
face as he gazed at the boar. This alone, by all rights should've 
given the beast pause, if it weren't for momentum. He plucked the 
bamboo umbrella from his backpack with a single fluid motion, 
lashing it out at the giant boar. 
	A few of the villagers with weaker stomachs immediately 
averted their gaze, but those who didn't saw something 
incredible.
	The smiling boy, holding his umbrella out at arms length 
held the pig off easily. They could see he wasn't even straining 
as the monstrous boar huffed mightily against the blockage. It's 
hooves gouging deep furrows into the ground as it fought to move 
forward. Its tiny, mad little eyes staring at the boy who'd 
stopped it. The pig found something very disconcerting in the 
somewhat cheerful look the boy gave it as he continued to hold it 
off... 
	"Hello, piggy," The boy said mildly, still smiling.
	The boar, somewhere deep in its crazed little porcine mind 
had a good idea that it was by all rights a big pig. Not just 
big... he was really big... as in all capitals BIG. The fact that 
it had just been called... piggy... of all things was obviously 
NOT a sign of good mental health in the individual calling the 
big pig... piggy. Its tiny, crazed little eyes gazed into the 
bright happy eyes of the boy and decided that it had probably met 
someone even crazier than it was... and with that... it backed 
off.
	"I don't believe it..." muttered one grizzled, old 
villager, "Did he just outstare a boar?"
	"Bye-bye, piggy!" the boy smiled, waving to the boar as it 
scurried off, more than a little embarrassed.
	He turned to the villagers, holding up a small map upside 
down in one hand, "Excuse me... does anyone know where Furinkan 
High School is?"
- - -
	Akaru shuffled the papers a bit more on the desk in front 
of her. Everything seemed to be in order, and the transition of 
power had gone very smoothly. There were just a few more details 
that definitely needed to be cleared up.
	Sho poked his head into her office, the dingy little 
basement room, although she'd had the boys clean up the place a 
bit since she took over, "Um... boss, Tatewaki Kuno's here to see 
ya."
	Akaru nodded, "Send him in. Thanks. And could you get me 
some hot water too?"
	Sho nodded in understanding, "Oh, to wash off the disguise, 
huh, boss?"
	Akaru smiled and nodded, "Yup."
	"I tell ya, boss. That disguise is pretty amazing." Sho 
said.
	"Thanks, you can show Tatewaki in now."
	"Sure thing, boss."
	Tatewaki smiled tentatively as the larger tough ushered him 
into the room. From behind her desk, Akaru smiled pleasantly, 
"Hello, sempai."
	"I will still have to get used to your looking like that." 
Tatewaki said ruefully, shaking his head.
	Akaru shrugged, receiving the small kettle of hot water 
from Sho, who he then dismissed from the room with a wave, "Well, 
I'm still sort of getting used to it," as she splashed herself 
with the hot water, her body shrinking slightly, and the contours 
redistributing.
	Tatewaki watched in amazement. He'd seen the transformation 
both ways a few times already, but it was always quite a sight to 
see. He cleared his throat finally, "I can not believe that they 
think it to be no more than a mere disguise..."
	"People will believe anything." Akane said dismissively.
	"Um... you said you wanted to see me?"
	Akane smiled sweetly at him, "Yes. I've been looking over 
Gosunkugi's records, and he kept surprisingly good ones..."
	"Ah... that's all quite interesting, but I fail to see--"
	"And I noticed your name on his list of assets... and some 
interesting marks on his tally sheets..." she continued, still 
smiling.
	"Oh... ah, you don't say..? I wonder how that could've..."
	"He had you listed under the 'Loveletters solicitation, 
production and delivery department' as head and only member of 
the production staff." Akane grinned.
	"That was in his records?"
	"I told you he kept very good ones." Akane grinned.
	"Er... well, yes... I did write love letters on demand for 
him... if I understand correctly he made a fairly handsome profit 
off of the freshmen populace--"
	"A profit none of which you got any part of, I also 
noticed."
	Kuno shifted uncomfortably, "Ahh... well... it was..."
	Akane smiled slightly, "I was looking over his payment 
records and you were not being recompensed at all for your 
services, now this tells me a couple of things..."
	"Does it?"
	"Yes. First of all, since Gosunkugi has been very 
fastidious about keeping these records, it doesn't strike me as 
likely that he would forget to include how much you were costing 
him, so it seems likely that you weren't being paid at all. Since 
he didn't note any alternate means of payment like he did for 
some people, you were apparently doing it entirely for free which 
leads me then to the obvious conclusion that he was blackmailing 
you for your services," Akane leaned forward smiling cattily at 
him, "Which in turn leads me to the obvious question... what did 
Gosunkugi have on you?"
	Kuno leaned back in his seat gulping nervously, "Ahh... 
erhm, how... how interesting... well... I see you haven't simply 
been sitting idle then..." he laughed nervously.
	"So... are you going to tell me or not?" Akane continued 
smiling, "I mean we're practically family and all... even if I am 
helping you break up reasonably with my sister..."
	"Er..." Kuno blushed, "This is rather a delicate private 
matter which could result in a great deal of personal 
embarrassment for me and for certain others... so I'm afraid I 
would prefer not to divulge the matter for which Gosunkugi was 
able to impress my services."
	"Ahh... well if that's the case, then I guess I'm going to 
have to find some other means of persuading you," she grinned, 
leaning back languidly.
	"Er..."
	Akane lightly ran her hand along the somewhat damp collar 
of her blouse, "I really would like you to stay on in your former 
position, but, since I'm not like Gosunkugi. This is not even 
mentioning how close," she paused, savoring the word, "Our 
families are, it seems to me we could probably work out some sort 
of..." she paused again, smiling almost meaningfully at him, 
"Arrangement."
	Kuno gulped nervously, "Are you offering what I think 
you're offering?"
	Akane tossed him a sheaf of papers, "Standard employment 
contract, with the usual bonuses commensurate with your 
position..."
	"Ahh..." Kuno cleared his throat, catching the papers, 
"But... what if I wish to stop writing for you? I mean, this is 
quite a generous..." as he glanced at the paper he blanched, "Is 
that a weekly figure?"
	"Plus bonuses of course." Akane grinned.
	"I don't know what to say..."
	Akane smiled, "Say yes."
	"Ahh... well, this is certainly more than my allowance... I 
accept then, I suppose. Provided the work load remains the same 
as before?"
	"Of course. Wonderful!" she smiled then glanced at her 
watch, "Say... Tatewaki, could you do me one more favor?"
	Tatewaki relaxed a bit, "Ahh, certainly."
	Akane swiveled her chair a bit, "The arm rests on this are 
kind of loose, "Would you mind coming over here, and kind of 
putting some extra weight on them to jam them back into the 
sockets?"
	"Oh, certainly." Tatewaki nodded, moving around the desk. 
He rested his hands on the ends of the armrests, leaning forward, 
over Akane.
	Akane gave another glance at her watch as he stood over 
her, before she suddenly snaked her arms up to encircle his neck. 
Kuno glanced down at her as she did this about to ask what she 
was doing. It was at precisely this point that the door opened.
	Sho poked his head in, "Hey, boss, I'm going off shift. 
It's Shigo's... er... I'm interrupting aren't I?" he blushed.
	Both Akane and Tatewaki turned to look at him. Their 
position did seem somewhat compromising, especially when one 
considered that Tatewaki seemed to be leaning over her, keeping 
her pinned to the seat, and her own arms were wrapped around his 
neck. Kuno blushed deeply, but stood frozen. Akane merely looked 
at Sho with a mild smile, "Please knock next time."
	"Um... yes boss." Mumbled the tough, shuffling backwards, 
avoiding looking at them directly.
	"And lock the door behind you!" Akane called out to the 
embarrassed henchman merrily.
	"Akane!" Kuno said, the shutting of the door stirring him 
out of the shock. He pulled back, "What was that for?"
	She flopped back into her chair, crossing her arms and 
looking up at him playfully, "Don't get so defensive... it's part 
of the plan remember?"
	"But I was under the impression that some other woman would 
be..." Kuno blushed again.
	Akane laughed then patted him lightly on the cheek, "Who 
else could we trust with this? Besides, who knows, if we get 
someone else to act the part of the other woman, she might even 
fall for you for real."
	"I beg your pardon?" Kuno looked disturbed at the thought.
	"Why not? You're good looking, rich, you're a nice guy... 
maybe you're a little shy, but you're quite a catch."
	Kuno merely blushed and mumbled an uncertain thank you.
	She looked at him closely, unbidden a slight blush was 
rising in her cheeks as well. She gave him a small, uncertain 
smile, trying to regain control, "Ah... nevermind, Tatewaki-
sempai... you've got a poetry club meeting to attend in ten 
minutes, you'd better get going."
	"I do? Oh, yes that's right..."
- - -
	About a week afterwards, at a little used forest road 
somewhere in the middle of nowhere...
	"So Tokyo is this way?" the bandana clad boy asked the man 
again uncertainly pointing down the road.
	"No, no, no! It's that way!" The infuriated man replied, 
pointing in the opposite direction. They'd gone over this at 
least twelve times already.
	"Alright. That way. Got it." the boy replied cheerfully, 
heading entirely off the road, right into the dense forest.
	The man merely shook his head and shrugged. There was just 
no helping some people.
- - - 
	"Hey, Tatewaki!" Akane called out, waving to him at 
dismissal time.
	Kuno turned around, smiling diffidently at Akane as she 
approached him, "Oh, hello, Akane. Can I help you?"
	"Have you seen Ranma?" Akane asked.
	"I believe he, Nabiki and Kodachi were going for some ice 
cream."
	"And they left without me?" she felt miffed.
	"Well... you were busy with running your... ahem, 
business."
	She sighed, "Yeah, I guess. Why didn't you come along?"
	"Well... I feel a great deal safer being in Nabiki's 
presence when you are nearby."
	"Really?" Akane said grinning slightly.
	"Something the matter?" Tatewaki asked, mildly concerned.
	"Not really. Oh! I've got something for you," she said 
smiling.
	"More requests?" he asked pleasantly. He'd been learning 
that she was a far better boss than Gosunkugi had ever been. 
Prettier, certainly. He blinked as the thought crossed his mind 
and quickly slapped it down.
	She stood in her usual Chinese shirt, bouncing lightly on 
the balls of her feet, "No... just a little bonus. A kind of 
thank you for the good work you've been doing these past couple 
of weeks..."  
	"Ahh... well, that's very nice of you Akane," Kuno 
stammered a bit embarrassed.
	A few of the sharper-eyed students noticed this little 
exchange and paid attention.
	She opened her bag and pulled out a small package, 
tastefully gift-wrapped in simple brown paper. She handed it to 
him with little ceremony and a bright smile, "Here."
- - -
	"Excuse me... is this Furinkan High School?"
	The student eyed the bandana clad boy with a small degree 
of confusion. Very pointedly, he jerked a thumb at the large sign 
directly in front of the boy, which said in quite large letters, 
'FURINKAN HIGH SCHOOL'.
	The boy with the bandana smiled broadly, "Great! I finally 
made it!" he turned again to the student he'd asked earlier and 
said, "Tell me, where can I find Akane Tendo?"
	"Akane? Well she's usually..."
	"Is this what I think it is?!" a happy voice suddenly cried 
out from the center courtyard.
	In the brief lull of the noise there was a reply, "It 
certainly is, a first edition copy of Shakespere's sonnets," in a 
voice which our bandana clad wanderer knew better than his own... 
a voice he'd been yearning to hear for oh so very long. Without 
wasting another second, he immediately dashed into the courtyard, 
intent on the source of the voice.
- - -
	Tatewaki Kuno was hugging Akane and whirling her around 
with mad, gleeful abandon. He was also laughing quite loudly and 
didn't seem at all concerned about witnesses.
	Akane laughed with him, clinging to his neck as he spun her 
around. She knew he'd like her little gift to him but she didn't 
expect him to be this grateful.
	"It's wonderful, thank you!" Kuno whooped happily as he 
whirled to a stop. 
	Akane smiled up at him, his arms were still around her 
waist and her arms were around his neck, "I thought you'd like 
it."
	"How did you know?" he asked.
	"I have my ways..." she smiled mysteriously.
	It was at this precise point that the bandana clad boy 
stumbled onto the scene, "Akane! Akane it's..!" he stopped... 
stunned, "... me."
	He stared intently at the girl... it was definitely Akane. 
Almost nothing had changed about her... except for one thing. She 
was in the arms of another man. The perpetually cheerful look 
which he had worn for years was suddenly wiped away. And he could 
swear her heard something like a crash and a tinkle... the sound 
of a heart shattering... he stared at them... utterly devastated.
	Akane and Tatewaki both turned to look at him. Kuno merely 
stared wondering who this person was. Akane was reeled in 
surprise, but recovered quickly. She immediately let go of Kuno, 
breaking free of his arms and ran towards the bandana clad boy, 
smiling happily, "Ryouga?! Ryouga Hibiki! It is you!"
	But as she got closer the dark cast to his features became 
more and more obvious. She slowed to a walk and asked softly, 
"Ryouga?"
	Ryouga gave a sudden roar, pushing past Akane, tears 
streaming in his eyes as he leapt at Kuno. Tatewaki gave a 
strangled yelp, leaping out of the way quickly. Ryouga's fist 
crashed into the cement walkway, a circular area the size of a 
car shattered into fragments. He snarled incoherently, lashing a 
fist out in Kuno's direction, but the bespectacled young man had 
the presence of mind to duck behind Akane.
	"Ryouga! What's wrong with you?!" Akane screamed at him.
	Ryouga rose to his feet, still surrounded by the shattered 
walkway, tears streaming down his cheeks, "I just spent the past 
two years looking for you... only to find out you've gone off 
with another man, and you have the nerve to ask me what's 
wrong?!"
	Akane blinked at Ryouga. Then looked over her shoulder at 
Kuno. She adjusted her glasses, "Oh, Ryouga... this is not what 
it looked like?"
	"Oh yeah?! Well didn't everyone just see you two hugging?!"
	There were affirmative nods from the gathered crowd.
	"Er..." Kuno started to say.
	"Well I guess I don't need an explanation anymore why you 
didn't meet me for our last date then?" Ryouga said sulkily.
	"Ryouga... I waited three days for you in the living room."
	"Yeah, but when I'd got there on the fourth day you'd 
already left with your brother!"
	"Ryouga," Akane began patiently, "Why did it take you four 
days to find the living room of your own house?"
	"What?! You don't think I was wandering around Japan for my 
health?! I tried to get back as fast as I could!"
	"You were waiting at his house for four days?" Kuno asked 
Akane.
	She shrugged, "We were living together."
	Murmurs of shock and surprise rippled through the crowd... 
date... lost... living together... Bad sense of direction... 
	"Hey, are you Akane's boyfriend?" asked one of the freshman 
girls of Ryouga.
	"I was." He replied flatly.
	More murmurs and rumors spread... 
	"You!" he pointed at Kuno, "Wwhat's your name?!"
	Tatewaki was feeling somewhat annoyed at the imperious tone 
that the boy in the bandana was using on him. He frowned, 
straightening up to his full height, "I am Tatewaki Kuno and you, 
vile recreant... boyfriend or no boyfriend have no right to speak 
to Akane Tendo in so disrespectful a manner!"
	"Enough talk!" Ryouga said unshipping the umbrella from his 
backpack. He flung it powerfully, snapping it open in midair as 
it whirled outwards. It flew in a tight arc as Akane grabbed Kuno 
and shouted, "Down!" missing them by a hairsbreadth.
	The flying umbrella's handle whacked a few students as it 
flew past them, before it circled around the courtyard, and back 
into Ryouga's hand. He snarled at Akane, "Akane Tendo, I'm going 
to destroy your happiness!"
	Akane blinked at Kuno, "Tatewaki... am I happy?"
	"Well, you have been rather chirpy of late." Kuno replied 
thoughtfully, adjusting his glasses.
	"You're not helping," she frowned at him.
	"Prepare to DIE!!" Ryouga roared as he tore forward at 
tremendous speed. Akane roughly shoved Kuno aside as she leapt 
over Ryouga. Most of the other students scrambled to get out of 
the way of the mad charge, and everyone watched in amazement as 
he crashed into the cement wall of the school... then crashed all 
the way THROUGH the wall. They could eventually hear his voice 
fading in the distance screaming, "Where are you Akane?! There's 
no use hiding!"	
	Everyone could only watch in mingled awe and confusion as 
his voice faded into the distance, the sounds of him crashing 
through wall after wall punctuating his cries...
	"That... was your boyfriend?" Tatewaki finally asked Akane.
	"Um... he didn't always used to be so high strung," she 
replied weakly.
- - -
	Akane sighed as she relaxed on the porch of the dojo. Ranma 
walked up behind her, plopping down to sit next to her, "Hey, 
sis... I heard Ryouga dropped by the school after classes today."
	Akane sighed, "Please... don't remind me."
	Ranma looked surprised, "Why? I thought you'd be happy to 
see him?"
	"Well, I take it you didn't hear the rest of the story?"
	"What happened? All me and Kodachi hear was that he came to 
the school..."
	"Well... he caught me... er... being hugged by Tatewaki..."
	"Ohh boy..." Ranma winced, then blinked, "Why was Tatewaki 
hugging you?"
	Soun poked his head around the corner, "Who was doing 
what?!" he asked suspiciously.
	Akane looked at her father in surprise, "Ahh... no one, 
daddy."
	Soun gave a shrug and an indifferent nod and went back to 
his room.
	"Anyway, he went nuts," Akane continued worriedly, "Did 
plenty of damage to the school."
	"Who did?" Nabiki asked as she walked in, followed by 
Kasumi who was putting the plates on the table.
	"Her old boyfriend," Ranma replied.
	Nabiki and Kasumi both stared at Akane, "You have a 
boyfriend?" they chorused.
	Soun's head poked around the corner again, "Did I hear 
right? My little girl has a boyfriend?"
	The Tendo siblings all turned to stare at their father a 
little anxiously.
	He nodded approvingly, "Bring the boy around sometime, I'd 
like to meet him," he said before disappearing around the corner 
again.
	"I can't believe dad just said that," Ranma said.
	Kasumi gave a little disapproving glance at Akane and then 
said primly as she set the table, "Well you're a little young for 
that aren't you?"
	"So... let's hear about this boyfriend, sis." Nabiki 
inquired.
	"Well, Ranma and I met him about two years ago, when we 
were wandering all over Japan looking for his parents." Akane 
began, "We didn't always have a place to stay so sometimes we... 
er..."
	"You what?" Nabiki prodded.
	"We challenged dojos," Ranma continued, "And if we won we'd 
ask them to let us stay there and feed us or else we took their 
shingle away. We never lost." He added proudly.
	Nabiki blinked, "You two were dojo destroyers?"
	Ranma squirmed uncomfortably, "Well... not in so many 
words..."
	Akane shrugged and grinned, "Basically. But its not like we 
ever actually took away anyone's dojo sign. They were always more 
than happy to house us and feed us to get their shingle back."
	"I still don't see how this relates to your boyfriend, 
Akane," Kasumi prodded.
	"Well... about two years ago, we challenged the Hibiki 
dojo..." Akane continued. She blushed and smiled slightly at the 
memory.
	"Their top student was the school's heir, Ryouga Hibiki," 
Ranma continued, "Anyway, I beat him and his dad let us stay 
there for a couple of months."
	Akane meanwhile had been reduced to staring out at the koi 
pond, with a wistful smile on her face.
	Ranma glanced at her and seeing she was in no condition to 
continue the story, he shrugged and pressed on, "Well we got to 
know him pretty good, he was a nice guy, good martial artist. 
Strong as an ox too... and we ended up sorta buddies. Then one 
time we're hanging out on his porch and he confesses he's in love 
with Akane."
	Akane gave a brief sigh. Nabiki stared at Akane. She'd 
never seen her sister, (at least in the past month that they'd 
had to get reacquainted with one another) reduced to such a level 
of... she didn't even know what to call it.
	Ranma rolled his eyes, "Turns out, Akane was listening to 
the whole thing and the next thing I know the two of them are an 
item."
	Kasumi held up a hand, a very subtle change in the usually 
placid expression on her face, "When they were fourteen at the 
time?"
	Nabiki raised an eyebrow.
	Ranma did some quick mental calculations, "Yeah... yeah... 
I think so... or about thirteen and three quarters something like 
that."
	Kasumi smiled vaguely, swooning as she got to her feet, 
"Excuse me, I feel faint," they heard her murmur as she went into 
the kitchen.
	"You should've seen em... all sweet and mushy the whole 
time..." Ranma said.
	"And you were living in the same house with him?" Nabiki 
asked, "Didn't his parents object or something?"
	Ranma replied, "Well, you see his entire family's got this 
problem. None of them have a sense of direction. They get lost 
going to the bathroom. We had to walk Ryouga to school everyday 
or he'd be lost for weeks. As it was we got to his parents at the 
house maybe once a week or so."
	"We had to leave kinda sudden... and they never really had 
a chance to say good bye," he finished.
	"So now he's found her after all these years..." Nabiki 
hazarded a smile, "Sorta romantic if you ask me. He sounds like a 
really sweet guy."
	Akane sighed, turning to face Nabiki, "Oh he is... sweet, 
kind-hearted, sensitive. Only now I think he's out to kill me and 
Kuno-sempai."
	Nabiki blinked, "Wait a second... I think I missed 
something. I thought you said he was your boyfriend?"
	"Uh-huh."
	"So why'd he be trying to kill you? And Tatewaki?"
	"Er..." Akane started uncomfortably, "Well, he caught us 
hugging. In front of the rest of the school. And he's got a hair 
trigger temper."
	For some reason she couldn't quite fathom, Nabiki suddenly 
felt her anger begin to rise. She spoke in a low voice glaring at 
Akane, "Let me get this straight, Akane... you have a boyfriend 
who's been looking for you for a couple of years now..."
	Akane nodded noting Nabiki's expression.
	"... and you're sleeping with Ranma..." Nabiki continued.
	Akane nodded again.
	Nabiki leaned forward, "And now you're making moves on 
Tatewaki?! My fiancé? Haven't you got ANY shame?!"
	Akane' jaw dropped and she felt her own temper begin to 
rise. She'd never been the focus of Nabiki's anger before, at 
least not to this extent, and she certainly did NOT appreciate 
Nabiki's tone of voice, "Look... what Ranma and I do is our 
business, not yours, even though you keep trying to peek in on 
us..." Akane smirked in satisfaction as Nabiki gaped and blushed, 
"As for Tatewaki, for your information HE was hugging ME. Which I 
might also add is none of your business either, since, if I do 
recall correctly, you don't even WANT him as your fiancé!"
	"Oh, so maybe you do?" Nabiki snapped back, rolling her 
sleeve up, "Going to two-time this Ryouga person? No wonder he's 
after you."
	"Oh yeah?!" Akane shot back, rising to her feet.
	"Yeah!" Nabiki replied, likewise getting up.
	Ranma's head whipped back and forth between his sisters, he 
shushed them desperately, "Hey, guys! Keep it down! You don't 
want dad finding out about that too soon, he's go nuts... that or 
start crying... or both..."
	It was a little too late however, as the two had leapt out 
into the courtyard as the sun dipped below the horizon and began 
exchanging blows.
	Ranma slumped, watching the two trade punches, kicks, 
blocks, and dodges. Fortunately they were more or less evenly 
matched, neither one getting a good shot in. Kasumi finally 
stepped out of the kitchen and blinked at her two sisters, 
"Sparring before dinner to build up an appetite," she said 
cheerfully, still holding the ice pack to her head, "What a 
wonderful idea!"
	Ranma's mouth quirked as he muttered to himself, "Kodachi'd 
laugh. Who'd believe my sisters, actually fighting over 
Tatewaki." 
	Kasumi smiled vacantly at him then went back into the 
kitchen for some more ice.
	He did his best to suppress a snigger, as he rose to his 
feet to break it up, he couldn't help but wonder where Ryouga 
was...
- - -
	"This is the way to Tokyo right? You're sure?"
	"NO! This way! Stupid idiot!"
- - -
	It wasn't until a week later that Ryouga was even anywhere 
within the vicinity of the Nerima district. Or Tokyo for that 
matter.
	"Hey, Akane, Ranma!" Kodachi called out to them at the 
courtyard.
	The two Tendo siblings turned at the same time to look at 
her. Ranma smiled happily and Akane looked curiously.
	"Hi, Ko-chan," Ranma said cheerily.
	She winked at him and smiled back, "Hi, Ran-chan, Hi, 
Akane. Have you guys got group-mates for that classical lit 
project we have to submit?"
	Ranma slapped his forehead, "I totally forgot about that!"
	"Me too..." Akane said a little worriedly. She'd immersed 
herself a little too deeply in the running of Furinkan's dynamic 
little economy that she'd forgotten about most of her school 
work. And it was an easy way to forget that she and Nabiki still 
hadn't spoken to one another since last week.
	Kodachi smiled, "Well, I don't have a group either, the two 
people the teacher assigned to be my group mates decided they 
were more than happy to let me do all the work. So you guys want 
to help me out?"
	"Sounds good," Akane said, "But isn't it due in two days?" 
she added after a moment.
	"It is? Aww man... we're gonna have to stay up all night 
for the next two days to finish this!" Ranma did not look at all 
happy about the prospect.
	"Do you guys want to sleep over at my house tonight?" 
Kodachi asked, "We can get some of the research done using 
Tatchi's books... and I'm sure father will allow us to use his 
computer to type it up with."
	Ranma's face suddenly brightened, "That sounds great!"
	Akane nodded, "Sure. We'll just tell daddy where we'll be 
staying tonight at the house and pick up some change of 
clothes..."
	Kodachi clapped her hands, "Great! Come around eight, I'll 
have Sasuke make dinner for us."
	And as the three departed the school grounds, the 
bedraggled figure of Ryouga stepped out of the bushes, looking 
disoriented.
	"This doesn't look like Nagasaki..." he muttered to 
himself.
- - -
	Akane stretched back luxuriantly in the Kuno family bath. 
Quite frankly, it wasn't large enough to qualify as a swimming 
pool, but it would do in a pinch. It was HUGE. The water was 
heated just right and there was a generous amount of steam all 
around.
	Kodachi smiled at Akane, relaxing a bit and allowing the 
warm water to ease her tense muscles.	
	"Who would've thought they'd assign something as... well... 
interesting as the Tale of Genji for a report," Kodachi smiled.
	"Mmm-hmm..." Akane said lazily, "We should be glad its not 
as dry as some of the other stuff they could've given out."
	"Well, Father has always been of the opinion that learning 
should be fun for the students," Kodachi replied with a giggle, 
"So he's made it a point that the readings be of... that nature."
	Akane echoed her giggle, "Yeah. Furinkan's the first school 
I've ever gone to that included the Pillow Books as a possible 
resource material."
	"Oh, Mother suggested that," Kodachi smiled, "She's one of 
those progressive thinker types."
	"An aggressive modern woman, hmmm? I knew there was a 
reason why I liked your mom so much." 
	"Wasn't that because she always baked you cookies when we 
used to visit?"
	"That too," Akane agreed.
	After a few long moments, Akane said, "I love this bath."
	Kodachi winked, "Yeah. Anytime you want to drop by and use 
it, feel free."
	"You mean it?"
	"Sure. And don't forget to bring Ranma with you too," 
Kodachi added with a slight blush.
	"Oh..." Akane grinned, "Well, I'm not one to stand in the 
way of true love."
	Kodachi's blush deepened, "Akane..!"
	"Hey, you mind if I ask you a personal question?" Akane 
said seriously after a moment.
	Kodachi glanced at her, "Not at all. Feel free."
	"How are you and Ranma doing?"
	"Ahh... it's rather... we're okay. I'm not sure I 
understand the question though..."
	"Well..." Akane spoke, "You two have been dating for... 
what, a month now? Have you two decided to make it official yet 
or something?"
	Kodachi replied hesitantly, "Oh. We... well... we never 
really talk about that... as such..."
	"Oh." Akane nodded.
	"And what about you and Tatewaki..?" Kodachi ventured.
	"Huh? What do you mean?"
	"It is kind of hard to ignore all of the rumors I've been 
hearing... about al the time you two have been spending 
together... and how maybe you're thinking of stealing him out 
from Nabiki."
	Akane tsked, "Vicious unfounded rumors. I'm just you 
know... pretending to be interested in him for the plan, 
remember? To keep our parents happy until they can disolve the 
engagement without loss of honor to either side."
	Kodachi lowered herself into the water even more, glancing 
thoughtfully at Akane, "So you and Nabiki aren't fighting over 
him?"
	Akane reddened slightly, "Where did you hear that?!"
	"Well... Ranma and I do talk. A lot..."
	Akane muttered, "Can't keep his mouth shut to save his 
life."
	"Don't blame him, I was sort of curious after I'd heard the 
various rumors. Not to mention the fact that I haven't seen you 
two talk this past week..."
	"Course not! I've just been busy." Akane said with a slight 
bit of defensiveness in her voice.
	"Ahh."
	They spent a few minutes in uncomfortable silence before 
Kodachi rose to her feet, reaching for one of the towels placed 
on a high rack, "I'll get going to bed, Akane..." she said.
	"Okay," akane replied, sinking a little lower into the warm 
water when the door suddenly slid open.
	"I have you now!" cried out a voice triumphantly as a 
muscular figure burst through the door way. It was Ryouga.
	There was a long, long moment of silence as everyone stared 
at everyone else. Akane gave Ryouga a slow annoyed glare. Kodachi 
stared at Ryouga in shock. Ryouga meanwhile was wondering why 
this Tatewaki Kuno person wasn't in his bedroom and why there was 
all of this white tile and steam in the area. His eyes for some 
reason were refusing to focus properly on something pale and pink 
right in front of him... silhouettes of human figures... female 
silhouettes...
	Kodachi finally recovered enough of her wits to scream 
piercingly. In her panic, she dropped the towel she was reaching 
for and was forced to do her level best to cover herself with her 
hands. 
	Ryouga's eyes, prompted by the sudden scream finally 
focused and it occurred to him he was in fact looking at a rather 
well proportioned view of a naked screaming female. He slammed 
his eyes shut, "Ahh... er... it's not..! I didn't mean... It was 
an accident!"
	"Ryouga, get out!" Akane shouted at him.
	He managed to tear his gaze away from Kodachi or where he 
would be gazing if his eyes were open and looked, or rather 
turned his ead in Akane's direction. He opened his eyes just a 
crack to see that Akane was still half hidden by the water, but 
was starting to rise, "Out!" she shouted even louder.
	"A-a-a-akane! It's not what it looks like! I mean really..! 
Er..." he glanced around desperately seeking the exit when his 
eyes happened upon Kodachi's towel. He reached down, averting his 
gaze, "Erhm... miss, your... um... t-t-to-towel... you should 
cover..!"	
	Kodachi stopped screaming just long enough to gather a new 
breath for a fresh bout of screaming. He managed to stand up 
straight, holding the towel out stiffly to her, the corner of the 
towel touching her hip, which only caused her already piercing 
screams to go supersonic.
	Ryouga's eyes blinked open at this point as he winced at 
the screaming, "Hey, quit that... I'm going alrea--"
	It was at this precise point in time that Tatewaki Kuno 
burst into the bath, a bokken held awkwardly in both hands, "Who 
goes... You!" he shouted as he saw Ryouga.
	"You not only insult Akane Tendo but also seek to assault 
my sister with your base lusts?!" he raged at Ryouga, his body 
tensed and for the most part not noticing the scene except for 
the fact that in their current positions, Ryouga looked as if 
he'd just torn the towel off of Kodachi's body. 
	Ryouga whirled on him, "I didn't come here to do that! I 
came here to destroy you!!" he cried, cracking his knuckles 
loudly.
	"Then why," Tatewaki asked pointedly, "Are you standing so 
close to my unclothed sister?!"
	"Whu?" Ryouga turned around and got a good, long, clear 
look at Kodachi's body... with a spurt of blood out of his nose, 
Ryouga dropped into a dead faint.
	Tatewaki blinked in surprise as Ryouga fainted. Only then 
realizing that Akane Tendo was likewise in the bath and was in a 
similar state of undress... on the other hand she was making no 
move to cover her nudity, unlike Kodachi who was already grabbing 
quickly at the towel which was pinned under Ryouga.
	Tatewaki Kuno got a quick glance at first Kodachi... then 
at Akane... his eyes glazed over... a thin trickle of blood 
leaked out of his nose... and he keeled over, also unconscious.
	Ranma leapt through the door, "Who was screaming?!" he 
shouted, worriedly looking around.
	Kodachi who'd barely managed to cover up her front with the 
towel bit back a scream. "That... um... that was me."
	"But why..?" Ranma started to ask and noticed the 
unconscious forms of Ryouga and Tatewaki, "Oh."
	He glanced at the two of them, registering that they were 
in fact naked, but not being unduly affected by it, save for a 
slight blush on his cheeks. "Hey, you guys better put some 
clothes on. It's kinda cold outside. I'll bring these two out. 
I'm gonna want to hear about this."
	Kodachi blinked at Ranma as he levered Ryouga then Tatewaki 
onto his shoulders, then looked at Akane as he walked out, "He... 
didn't faint?"
	Akane smiled playfully, "Ranma's used to female bodies."
	"Ah... you don't say." Kodachi said slowly.

To be continued...