NEUTRAL GROUND 3: pre-reader version
Schools & Hearts Are Battlefields   by Gregg Sharp
A Ranma 1/2 fanfic
  "Why Shampoo have to do this? Oh, can't afford what
Nabiki would charge? Ok, all characters, situations,
places, are: (c) of Takahashi Rumiko, Viz, Kitty Films,
Shogokukan, and other very rich people. Rie Ga, Shu 
Ga, etc are based on other people work. You no sue 
writer, please, he promise Shampoo get ai ren in story
currently in his In Box. Is okay?
    "I sum up? Nabiki turn into catgirl, Ranma turn 
into dragongirl. Akane set up the Akanenichuan, and 
meet cousin Rie Ga. Boy-type Ranma defeat Shampoo 
in village. Shampoo following Ranma. Rie Ga 
following Akane, for completely different reason. 
Because Tendo family meets Saotomes on way to Juusenkyo,
Ryouga attack Ranma with entire family there, so most 
have Jusenkyo curses.
    "Why Ryouga so violent? He tough man, but not so
good with bee stings. Get stung many times he wander
too close to hives we keep in village.
    "No mention that in previous chapter because was
supposed mention that Chapter 4. Flame message so scene
dropped, I mention now instead.
    "What, we spend that much time give synopsis? Well,
maybe people stop send message they delete previous 
chapter and just go website when story done. 
    "Aiya. Writer say Shampoo tell you C&C welcome, but
you no just say writer suck, you have say why writing
suck. Otherwise writer no get better, yah? And no tell
writer only Akane valid fiancee, Shampoo think Shampoo
plenty valid!"
  -------------------------------------
    "I was beginning to worry about her." Soun glanced
back at Akane, who was beginning to snarl again.

    "I don't know, Daddy, I thought it was a refreshing
change of pace. How much do those 'anti-anxiety' pills
run, anyway?"

    "Nabiki, you wouldn't drug Akane, would you?"

    "No," Nabiki sighed. "Probably not. You've got to
admit that since she started taking those to overcome
her flight sickness, she seemed a lot happier."

    "True," Kasumi acknowledged the point.

    Akane glared at Ranma, he was just a stupid BOY,
anyway. Who needed him? Now here she was engaged to him,
and she HATED boys.

    Ranma was just puzzled. He didn't like this 
engagement either, but why take it out on him? It's not
like it was HIS fault. So he had to choose, eh? He had
one girl who was nice on the trip, now ready to rip his
head off with the slightest provocation. Another girl
who seemed to view everything in terms of monetary gain
and loss. The third and last seemed to be nice but Ranma
wasn't sure if she was all there.

    Unnoticed by anyone on the train, a girl of about
fourteen ran through the crowd, following the man with
the red shirt (who stood out a little more than her real
target.)

    Unnoticed by anyone on the train, another girl with
long purple hair was following the fourteen year old. 
As with the fourteen year old, it was easier than 
following her own real target.
----------------------------
	"Ah, home again," Soun gave a contented sigh.

	"Nice place y'got here," Ranma noted. He had
been afraid it would be one of those tiny little 
Japanese townhouses like he'd been in during his Kansai
days. Those narrow steep stairs had sucked.

	Kasumi smiled and went to start preparing 
snacks. Kasumi was in her kitchen, all was right with 
the world.

	Nabiki left to her room, she had to figure out
how much her absence had cost her when she totalled in
the various expenses.

	Genma and Soun retreated to a shogi board.
Nadoka Saotome went to join Kasumi in the kitchen.

	As soon as they were alone, Akane glared at 
Ranma. "Get OUT of my head!"

	"Huh?" Ranma looked back at Akane.

	"When you did whatever that was you did at those 
pools, you left some of yourself behind. We're alone 
now, so TAKE it out." Akane had had time to think it 
over and she was sure that this BOY couldn't have been
of any real help there. Therefore, she hadn't been dead
or dying. There was NO WAY she could owe her life to a
BOY.

	"I don't know what you mean." Ranma was sure of
it now. The entire Tendo family was mentally unstable.
---------------------------
	Outside, Rie Ga perched atop the house that
her target had entered. Smiling, she crept up the tiles.
Rie Ga was good at many things, but she was best as the
huntress/tracker.

	She heard someone give a startled exclamation
and then a splash of water from within the room she had
just reached. Frowning, she slowly edged over the roof.

	A hand grabbed her collar and pulled her the
rest of the way down. She soon found herself looking at
the same crowd (minus the guide) that had been in her
village a few days ago.

	"How the blazes did she get here?" The male that
had defeated Shampoo was asking. Impertinent male to
speak before his superiors.

	She faced the one who had grabbed her. Her
eyes widened, she hadn't thought that SHE was a warrior
but her skill had been undeniable.

	"<You move like amazon.>" Rie Ga bowed slightly,
intending it as a high compliment.

	"<Am amazon.>" The warrior replied.

	"Kasumi, you speak Chinese?"

	"Ah, I had hoped to discuss this when everything
had been more settled." Kasumi shook her head. "I am NOT
Kasumi, this is merely her body."

	"A demon," Akane stepped forward, ready to 
attack, only to have Nabiki stand up in her way.

	Nabiki looked back at Akane. "Oh that's a smart
move. Gonna hurt Kasumi's body to drive out the demon?"

	"I'm not a demon." Kasumi sighed. "My name is
Heisei, and I am a warrior of the Nichieju- an amazon.
More to the point I am, or was, a demon slayer. My arts
kept the village safe from the supernatural. Eventually
I fell in battle, and my spirit became lost in one of
the pools of Jusenkyo. Now I am part of the one you call
Kasumi, whenever she is splashed when cold water. Hot 
water returns Kasumi to normal."

	"Is Kasumi there?"

	"She sleeps. Eventually we may merge to one
being, but for now there is one of each of us. When
one is awake, the other sleeps. I am the Warrior, she
is the Nurturer. I am freed of the Spring because,
despite our differences, we are much alike."

	"Okay, then," everyone turned towards Rie Ga
as Nabiki spoke. One crisis at a time, after all. "We
can deal with this later, for now how did Akane's 
little sparring partner get here and why is she here?"

	"Rie Ga follow you."

	"You followed us through airport security, on
the plane, through another airport security, onto the
train, and then all the way home without us noticing?"

	"Rie Ga very good stalker."

	"So WHY did you follow Akane?"

	"Akane very proud. Speak mind. Make good 
amazon. Besides, Rie Ga in very much trouble with
village elder. Rie Ga also speak mind. Village elder
Cologne no like when Rie Ga speak mind. So Rie Ga think
maybe world outside accept Akane, so maybe outside world
accept Rie Ga. At least until village elder stop being
so zarked off."

	"Is that all?" Nabiki watched the little girl,
though she was only three years younger than herself to
a seventeen year old that is an impossibly wide gulf of
maturity and knowledge.

	"One other thing. Cousin of mine, Shampoo good
warrior, good tracker. Not best though. Rie Ga best. So
see outsider male beat Shampoo, see Shampoo kiss 
outsider, Rie Ga do duty to family!"

	"You mean that 'kiss of death' thing?" Ranma
looked a little bit ill.

	"It was your own fault, you know." Akane made
a point of not looking at him.

	"What you mean 'kiss of death'?" Rie Ga looked
puzzled. 

	"See! They don't really have a custom like that
anyway," Akane exclaimed.

	"Oh, Akane wrong. Big time. We have 'kiss of
death' is true. Outsider defeat amazon, amazon give 
promise to kill. Is old law, tradition. But that one
is outsider MALE, and Shampoo no give kiss of death to
that one."

	"Oh, what a relief," Ranma sighed. "I didn't
want to face some assassin coming after me all the 
time."

	Rie Ga nodded happily. "So Shampoo give 'kiss of
marriage' and now come take husband home."

	Everyone looked at Ranma who was backing up
into the Tendo's back yard.

	"No way." He shook his head. "It's gotta be a
mistake. I mean...it couldn't be...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

	Ranma's protest was cut off abruptly as an
arm jabbed down from the roof, grabbed the neck of his
shirt and rapidly hauled him up and out of sight.

	"Wo ai ni!"

	Nabiki flipped open her phrase book. "Hmmm. 'It
is you I love.' Apparently, this 'kiss of marriage' is
serious too."

	"Hey, let go!"

	Akane glared up at the ceiling as it sounded
like acrobatics were being performed on the tiled roof.

	Kasumi and Rie Ga looked at each other and said
something in Chinese.

	Nabiki flipped through her phrase book again.
"Let me see, 'nobody escapes from the Amazon glomp.' Now
THAT sounds bad."

	Akane growled. "That is IT!"

	"<Looks like Akane care for Ranma after all,>"
Rie Ga quietly said to Kasumi. They both watched Akane
slowly climb her way to the roof.

	Everyone's eyes tracked the sound of someone
stomping on tiles until reaching a point about halfway
up the roof. A loud crash and a slight stream of dust
from the ceiling marked the end of the glomp.

	"You pervert! How dare you!" <CRASH>

	"Sounds like she's fighting Shampoo now,"
Nadoka commented. 

	"Somehow, I don't think so." Nabiki joined the
group standing at the back door.	

	Ranma, as if jet propelled, landed in the fish
pond. The wave of water left a panda and a catgirl in
the crowd of otherwise merely damp spectators.

	Nabiki felt the transformation in more detail
than she had the last time. Her senses becoming many
times more acute, the awareness of time being curtailed,
the emotions and feelings brimming forth even as her
intellect seemed to fuzz up.

	"Sisssssss," hissed Nabiki-neko. "Akane no 
baka."

	"Who you callin' a pervert?" Ranma flopped out
of the pond. She started wringing her shirt out.

	"Ranma turn into girl?" Shampoo stared down at
the scene.

	"<Is okay. Is Jusenkyo. Hot water turn him 
back,>" Kasumi offered helpfully.

	"THAT is why you're a pervert! You, you, lech!
And you were in that embrace with Shampoo."

	"Well, at least I'm not some kawaiikunee 
tomboy."

	Akane snarled and grabbed up a broom to use as
a pummelling device.

	Nabiki smiled and jumped. Akane watched as the
broom came apart in nice even slices, just a few inches
from her hands. Nabiki landed on the other side of the
pond, grinning like her name should be Cheshire.

	She realized this form was seductive, that 
instinct and emotion played a far more important role
than intellect and reason, and that the power of both
the form and the intensity of the feelings were like
a powerful drug.

	"Na-nabiki?" Akane looked at the shredded 
broom in front of her.

	"Sisssss." Nabiki looked at her sister, then
at the girl who was cringing away from her in the pond.
Something instinctive pulled at her about the boy. It
wasn't noticeable in her uncursed form, but...

	Hot water splashed down on Nabiki, destroying
the moment. In mid-yowl, Nabiki shifted forms and nearly
knocked herself out on the stones surrounding the koi
pond. She noted that her father looked very concerned
and was holding the tea kettle. "It needn't be QUITE
that hot, Daddy."

	"I no recall 'Spring Of Drowned Catgirl.' Must
be new one." Rie Ga flipped her hair back. "Cousin
Shampoo take Ranma home to village Akane, you no have to
worry about him any more. Is good, yes?"

	"Fine, you can both go home with that bimbo, see
if I care!" Akane turned and stalked back into the 
house.

	Rie Ga shrugged. "No understand outsider woman.
Rie Ga think Rie Ga make big mistake come here." She 
thought of Cologne. "Well, maybe not leave village BIG
mistake."

	Kasumi doused herself from the teapot. "Ara..."

	"Shampoo no understand this."

	Nabiki looked at the fish pond. She felt that
she was so close to understanding something about her
cursed form. She was aware that she had trouble thinking
in that form, but she felt so ALIVE as the catgirl.

	"<Cousin Rie Ga, why girl change back into
catgirl?>"

	"<I don't know, Shampoo.>"

	"<I think catgirl like airen more than violent
girl.>" Shampoo watched as the redhead in the pond was
cornered by Nabiki-n, who then proceeded to rub her face
against Ranma's shoulder and chest cat-style.

	"<I am getting that impression, as well. What
puzzles me is that before she changes, she actually 
seems to have some disdain for him.>"

	"<Outside women very strange.>"

	"<So why you here?>"

	"Well, like Rie Ga tell," shifting to Japanese
so that everyone could understand, "want get away from
Cologne. Also know that Shampoo give kiss of marriage
to Ranma, Ranma and Akane together. Not want to see
Akane get 'kiss of death' so figure out what to do."
-------------------
	Soun watched his middle daughter go "catty"
again, then start treating Ranma like...

	It has been said, with some degree of truth, 
that neither Genma nor Soun were capable of noticing
something even vaguely subtle. Face it, if they'd been
able to think things through even moderately, they would
not have become disciples of the aged and 
lecherous martial arts master Happosai. They'd have
joined up with Ryuuken or one of the Chinese monastaries
ages ago and been quite contented.

	Still, if one was able to take a hint and apply
it with a large blunt object, and said concept didn't
violate a major obsession of the two (such as "a Tendo
must marry a Saotome and unite the two schools") then
both were capable of getting a clue.

	Genma and Soun watched the two, Ranma going a
little spastic, Nabiki-neko playing with Ranma. The two
"uh-hmmmm"-ed about this, then turned their gaze to the
other two daughters.

	Akane stuck her head out of an upstairs window
(not her room as that didn't face the right direction)
and yelled something about the two stopping that because
it was making her sick.

	Kasumi blithely ignored the events in the koi
pond, except to add a cat toy to her grocery list.

	Genma and Soun looked back at the pond, then
at each other.

	"You know, Soun..." Genma began.

	"...maybe Akane WOULDN'T be the best choice."

	"She DOES hate boys."

	"Not that I think she's a l-les-les..."

	"Soun, the word is lesbian. Sorry, but I think
she IS, but it's not the end of the world. You've still
got Kasumi and Nabiki." Genma wondered, maybe coming off
those relaxing anti-airsick pills had made Akane more
irritable than was normal. He shrugged. Then again, 
maybe not. "Kasumi would be a fine choice, douse her
with cold water and she becomes an amazon warrior 
versed in their own fighting arts. Hot water and she's a
traditional Japanese wife, capable of maintaining a 
house or a dojo perfectly."

	Soun nodded. "If she could teach some of those
fighting arts, then she'd be an excellent choice."

	In the brief silence following that comment, a
purring noise could be heard coming from the area of
the koi pond. Both men thought it unlikely that it was
Ranma making that particular noise.

	"On the other hand, your Nabiki seems to have
taken a liking to the lad."

	"Only in her half-cat form. She's still only
interested in money when she's normal. I _was_ hoping
for a cure." The idea was just occurring to Soun that
this might actually be useful.

	"For which condition, Soun." Genma smiled at the
joke.

	"I'm not sure." Soun Tendo missed seeing Genma 
facefault. "Both, maybe."

	"So we accidently hose her down every so often,
the two of them get together..." Genma smiled.

	"And the future of the dojo is assured." Soun
smiled as well.
-----------------------------
	A figure walking through sands, umbrella slung
over one shoulder, pauses and shakes a fist at the 
heavens.
	"Ranma Saotome! I shall punish you!"
-----------------------------
NEXT: since this is 3/6 expect a jump in the timeline.
   Next, we start with the entry to school and go 
through Ryouga's entry. This will all be done in much
more detail if "Neutral Ground" is the winner in "The
Bet" story arc.