Quantum Destinies
A Ranma fanfic
by Steven Thesken (jurai-knight@home.com)
This idea occurred to me after I finished the science-fiction novel
�Paths to Otherwhere� by James P. Hogan. Ranma and all
associated characters are owned by Kitty and the ever-creative
Rumiko Takahashi. This is purely a work of fanfiction, so please
read and enjoy.
Notes: Thoughts will be bracketed by a * on each end. Any
speech other than Japanese will be bracketed by < and >.
Chapter 3: The Many Lives of Ranma Saotome
Dawn finds Ranma already awake. Waking up had always
been hard for him, but this morning his body had snapped awake
on its own. He barely remembers his head hitting the pillow, but
he feels refreshed this morning. His bruises had faded somewhat
during the night, so he is able to move without much pain except
for an occasional twinge. His dreams had been extremely odd too,
and may be why he awoke so early. *I dreamt I was a girl last
night. It felt so real! I hope it�s not some sort of side-effect.*
He dresses in his spare uniform, his mind focusing on how he
is going to need to avoid Akane now. *I am _not_ going to fight
with her. If she�s looking for some sort of stupid challenge, she
can look somewhere else. I have more important things to deal
with... like, where the hell are my spare pants?* He rummages
through his closet until he finds them hanging on a back hangar.
*Just need to get something quick to eat, and I am out of here.
I suppose I could just lock myself in my lab space for the day. I�m
ahead in all my subjects. Yeah... that�s what I�ll do.* He grins as
he walks down the stairs.
�Are you all right, Ranma dear?� His mother is up early
herself. She is surprised to see Ranma dressed and ready for
school so early. �Are you feeling better?�
�Fine, mother,� he says with a reassuring smile on his face.
�I was right. A good night�s sleep and I�m feeling a lot better.�
�So how is your project going?� She slides a plate of fried
eggs and rice in front of him. He could feel his mouth water from
hunger. He also feels the strangest urge to eat quickly, in case
someone might try to take it away. He shakes his head to clear his
thoughts. Ranma thinks for a moment on how he should try to
answer her before starting to eat.
�I had a breakthrough on my project yesterday, and it has me
pretty excited. I want to confirm my test results today before I tell
Father.� Ranma wolfs down his breakfast when his mother turned
her back.
�You and your father get so wrapped up in your theories and
work sometimes.� Nodoka clucks her tongue. �There�s more to
life than science, Ranma. When are you going to get a girlfriend?
Should your father and I plan to arrange a marriage for you?�
Ranma pauses in his eating and gets such a strange look on his
face that it gives Nodoka pause. She looks at him in surprise. He
notices her look and began eating again at his usual pace, instead
of the starving man way he had been eating just a few moments
earlier.
*I swear that boy is getting to be as eccentric as his father.*
Nodoka turns around to busy herself with getting Genma�s
breakfast ready. *Maybe I _should_ talk with Genma about
arranging a wife for Ranma. He might have some ideas. After
all, it�s never too early to start planning for the future.*
******************************
Ranma unlocks the door to his lab, and flips on the light
switch. The fluorescent lights flicker on slowly, one by one. He
closes the door and re-locks it behind him. He flips on the main
power bar, and lets the equipment begin to warm up as he pulls off
the tarps covering everything.
The monitor blinks on and Ranma sits and begins tapping at
the keyboard. The screen clears, and prints out:
*SELF-CHECK COMPLETE
*ALL LOGIC COMPONENTS ARE FUNCTIONING WITHIN
THE DESIGNATED PARAMETERS
*QUANTUM FLUX COIL IS FUNCTIONING WITHIN THE
DESIGNATED PARAMETERS
*NEURAL INDUCTION SENSORS ARE FUNCTIONING
WITHIN THE DESIGNATED PARAMETERS
*SYSTEM HAS 11 QUANTUM COORDINATES STORED IN
STABLE MEMORY
*TIME DURATION OF RECENT TEST RUN: 60.00 MINUTES
*SCAN FOR NEW COORDINATES: NO
*PLEASE INPUT QUANTUM COORDINATE FILE DESIRED:
Ranma sits and thinks for a moment. *I suppose I could try
some of the ones I�ve located earlier. Yeah, I should see how they
compare to my first live test run.* He bends down and types for a
few more moments at the keyboard, and the monitor clears and
reads:
*QUANTUM COORDINATE FILE #00000001 LOADED INTO
MATRIX
*SET CYCLE INTO ACTIVE MODE: YES
*SET TIME DURATION FOR TEST: 5.00 MINUTES
*WAITING FOR SIGNAL FROM NEURAL HEADSET
Ranma settles himself on the couch and places the headset
over his head. He finds himself strangely excited over the
prospect of seeing another life he could have lived. The thrill of
discovery tingles inside him. As he relaxes on the couch, the
background hum of the Resonator is a familiar tickle along the
inside of his skull. *I wonder what this life will be like?*
The last thing he remembers was the soft computer-generated
voice making its solemn pronouncement, �Activating cycle.�
******************************
At first, Ranma couldn�t figure out where he was. He finds
himself in a small room with a desk, a chair that he is now sitting
on, and a futon pad as the only furniture. A small toilet and sink
are in the far corner. The light comes from a single fluorescent
panel embedded in the ceiling. *I�m in some sort of prison.*
Someone was in the process of unlocking the cell door. He
ignores it to try to get some clue as to what was going on from the
items on the desk.
An open notebook full of confused scribbling lies before him.
He reads through the many partial equations and incomplete
circuitry notes. His other world counterpart is working on the
same experiment that he had already completed. However, the
handwriting is not his. Instead, it is his father�s.
�Ranma?� A familiar female voice addresses him from the
direction of the doorway in calm tones. �How is it going? Have
you made any progress?� A turn of his head shows that Nabiki
Tendo stands in the doorway with a cool expression on her face.
Her uniform looks as freshly pressed as always, but she�s wearing a
sidearm. �I need to make a report on your efforts to the Security
Directorate today. What should I tell them?�
Ranma isn�t sure what to say. Nabiki raises one eyebrow as
she watches him. Her hand stays near her hip, resting on the
pommel of her gun. She remains standing by the door.
*She seems to expect me to try something,* he thinks with a
little surprise. *What has happened here?*
Another person appears in the doorway, cloaked partially in
shadow as he pulls a cigarette from between his lips. Ranma can�t
tell who it is due to the lighting and the angle that he is sitting at
relative to the door. Nabiki moves to one side of the door, and
stands at attention. Her eyes never leave Ranma.
Ranma blinks in recognition of the figure entering the room.
Raw surprise is on Ranma�s face when Soun Tendo walks in the
door while taking another puff of his cigarette. He blows out a
ring of smoke as he surveys the room, nodding. The standard gray
uniform of Imperial Security rests on his frame, but Ranma can�t
quite tell what rank insignia was on the collar.
�Mister Saotome,� Soun begins in cultured tones. �I trust that
you have been making some progress in deciphering your father�s
notes for us? He has been proving most uncooperative.� His eyes
never waver from Ranma. They remain as black and cold as the
grave.
�Ummm...,� Ranma starts. �I�ve been trying. It is very
complex material.�
Soun�s hand whips out across Ranma�s face. He falls from
the chair he was sitting on and crashes to the floor. Raising his
hand to his cheek, he feels warm wetness flowing from a stinging
cut. Lifting his eyes to look at Nabiki, he briefly catches a smirk
on her face before the cool look returns. *Bitch,* he thinks.
�I�ve been patient up until now, young Ranma.� Soun kneels
in front of him, blowing some smoke into his face. �However, my
patience is wearing thin. The Empire needs your father�s research
for security purposes.� He stands up slowly.
�The lives of both of your parents depends on your actions in
the upcoming days. The Security Minister is most eager to hear of
progress. I for one do not wish to disappoint him. I trust that you
don�t either.� Soun turns his back on Ranma and walks over to
the door. Nabiki flicks her eyes off of Ranma to look at her father.
�Cadet Tendo?� Soun pauses next to her.
�Yes, sir.� Nabiki looks like an attack dog waiting for the
order to kill. Soun reaches out and caresses her face with a gentle
hand. Nabiki smiles and looks up into her father's face.
�You won�t disappoint your father, will you Cadet Tendo?�
�No, sir!� She straightens up to stand even more rigidly at
attention.
�If he doesn�t come up with anything useful by the end of the
week...� Soun trails off as he pauses to look at Ranma with a cold
stare before turning back to his daughter, �then he�s yours. A
reward for your attention to duty, and bringing his father�s work to
my notice.� Soun walks out without looking back, or saying
anything further.
Nabiki turns cold eyes in Ranma�s direction. She smiles as
she fingers the pommel of her gun. �You have three days left,
Ranma Saotome. Work hard, or they�ll be your last.� She walks
out, locking the solid door behind her.
******************************
Ranma blinks his eyes, and pulls off the neural headset. It
takes him several moments to stop trembling. *I have to act like a
scientist, and remain impersonal. Not every world is going to be
pleasant. I have to remember that.* He distracts himself by
pulling down the computer keyboard and punching up the data on
the last timeline.
*QUANTUM COORDINATE FILE #00000001
*DIMENSIONAL QUANTUM BAND: 001
�Damn. I was hoping for band two or three, at least. It looks
as if I will need to be more careful than I thought when it comes to
Nabiki Tendo. I never realized what a cold-blooded bitch she
could really be.� Ranma sits back and thinks for a few moments
as he scrolls the data on his current test runs.
The quantum bands were a mathematical representation of one
of the theories of his father's research. Each band represented a
set of temporal divergence points roughly twenty years across. A
divergence point could take place as recently as the moment before
the present to as long ago as twenty years before the present. The
lower the number of the band, the �closer� to home it should be.
The higher the band number, the �further� away from home it was.
If it could be shown on a graph, all quantum realities would be
represented by lines flowering out in three dimensions from a
precise central point. The resulting graph would form a cone
shape. Each �point� along the surface of a cone was a moment in
time along a particular timeline. Each new line could then sprout
its own branches in turn, which could also then sprout branches.
Cones would form from each group of lines radiating out from
every decision point. An infinity of possible worlds was thus
created that stretched back to the dawn of time.
For curiosity, he punches up the data on his initial full-power
test run. *This could give me an indication of the level of
variance in quantum realities.*
*QUANTUM COORDINATE FILE #00000011
*DIMENSIONAL QUANTUM BAND: 016
�Amazing! That means there was a divergence point three
hundred and twenty years ago. That�s pretty far out there.� He
checks through each of the files in memory. Two are from bands
even further out than file number eleven, but the rest are closer.
The two files that came in with bands farthest away were from two
early scanning test runs at the systems maximum power setting.
The greater the quantum �distance� away a band was, the more
power it required to reach it.
Since his setup is rather primitive by necessity, the higher
quantum bands could not be reached unless he could find a way to
upgrade his equipment. File number ten, quantum band twenty,
represents the �deepest� into the parallel timelines that he could
reach with his present system. From a mathematical point of
view, that still represents a very large number of timelines.
Each of those memorized coordinates also represents a reality
where Ranma Saotome exists in some form or another. His
equipment only allows him access to a quantum parallel through a
compatible mind. No compatible mind present equals no entry.
According to his father's notes, information is the only thing that
can pass through quantum barriers.
Ranma sits and thinks. The lure of the deeper parallels is
undeniable. However, based on his experience in that last near
parallel, the possibilities closer to home could not be ruled out
either. He shivers again at the fate of that other Ranma. *I hope
he makes it all right.*
�Well, this is getting me nowhere. I can�t let fear of the
unknown stop me. I�m a scientist.� Ranma turns to his console,
and punches up the next coordinate file for a five minute test.
Since each scan was from deeper and deeper into the timelines, the
closer ones would seem more �normal� and the further ones would
be more and more radically different. He settles back onto the
couch.
******************************
*QUANTUM COORDINATE FILE #00000002
*DIMENSIONAL QUANTUM BAND: 002
*Things don�t seem all that different.* Ranma is standing
outside the Academy grounds as students walk in past him. The
girls giggle as they walk by, eyeing him as if his presence is some
sort of joke. The male students give him cold-eyed looks as they
walk by.
Ranma feels a tap on his shoulder. He turns around to see a
semi-familiar male student looking at him in a rather unfriendly
manner. He isn�t alone. Several other very tough-looking sorts
accompany him, and they are all wearing the grays of Security
cadets. Ranma takes a step back in surprise.
�You�ve got a lot of guts to stand around outside this facility,
Saotome. Your kind isn�t wanted here. Cowards sons have no
place at an honorable hall of higher learning like this one.� The
tall student hands his bag to one of his friends, who takes it with a
grin. The rest of the students form a circle, cutting off any escape
for Ranma.
�Yeah, Kuno,� shouts one of them. �Teach the little punk to
mind his betters.�
�My kind? Cowards son?� Ranma looks at his uniform very
quickly. The cut is a little different, and the patch on the chest is
unfamiliar. He looks back up to see that Kuno has been given a
boken by one of the students surrounding him.
�Prepare to be taught your place in the great scheme of things,
Saotome.� Kuno grins coldly at him. �I�m going to enjoy this.�
Kuno lashes out with a lightning fast stroke. Ranma tries to
dodge, but his body is moving too slowly. Pain explodes in his
side as the boken hits him a glancing blow. Ranma falls to the
ground, gasping in pain.
�Over so soon, Saotome?� Kuno looms over him, the wooden
sword held in a casual grip at his side. �I didn�t think that you�d
offer much of a challenge.�
�Brother dear,� interjects a female voice. �Just what are you
and your gang of ruffians up to now?�
Ranma looks up through pain-filled eyes to see Kodachi
pushing her way through the human wall surrounding him and
Kuno. She has a frown on her face, and several of the male
students melt away from her when her gaze falls on them. She
stops when she is almost nose to nose with Kuno. Her uniform
has the blue trim of a Science cadet, like Ranma�s own uniform
looks like back in his home timeline.
�Stay out of this, my sister. This whelp dared to look his
betters in the eye as an equal. I was only giving him a taste of the
harsh consequences of such foolish actions.� Kuno starts to push
past Kodachi, but she moves gracefully back in front of him.
�I think he�s had enough.� Her tone is silken, but steel could
be heard underneath. �Leave him be, brother dear.�
The two siblings attempt to stare each other down. The air
seems to crackle with electricity. Kodachi tightens her grip on her
bookbag and intensifies her stare. Kuno blinks at the fierce look
on his little sisters face, and backs up a step.
�Very well, my stupid sister. Do your little act of charity for
this miserable piece of human filth. You won�t be around to
protect him the next time his path crosses mine.� Kuno grabs his
bag with a snarl, and leads his little army past the school gates.
�Are you all right, Mister Saotome?� Kodachi kneels down to
help Ranma to his feet. She has a pleasant smile on her face.
�Uhhh.� Ranma feels his knees trembling as he stands up
beside her. *I�m either in love, or my body is going into shock.*
�You took quite a hit from my brother. Will you be all right
getting to your own school?� She picks up and hands him his
dropped bookbag, and then dusts off his uniform with her hands.
Ranma just watches quietly as she fusses over him.
�Are we still on for tomorrow night?� She whispers to him as
she leans next to his ear, covering it by patting at his shoulder
area.
�I�ve been looking forward to it for days.�
Recall comes before Ranma could think of a reply.
******************************
*Well, that was different. Kodachi Kuno seems to be a girl
who is full of surprises, and another life with people looking to
beat me up is heard from. Screw this. I�m going to try a deeper
parallel.* He skips the next file for file number four. The band is
three levels beyond what file number three offers. Ranma lies
back and prays for an enjoyable timeline as the system activates.
******************************
*QUANTUM COORDINATE FILE #00000004
*DIMENSIONAL QUANTUM BAND: 006
Ranma is staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. He blinks his
eyes and waits for his mind to clear a bit. His thoughts feel a little
fuzzy. *Where am I?*
There is an arm lying across his chest, and a warm body is
cuddled against his side. He is surprised that it took him a few
moments to notice these facts, but he blames it on the sleepy state
he found himself in. This body was in such a comfortable state
that it took a little motion of the body lying next to him to call his
attention to it. Warm breath wafts across his arm.
*Who is lying next to me? Who is lying next to me?* He
repeats this mental question like a mantra, hoping to stir his
fragmented memories to unite. He blinks his eyes again as the
name comes to him, along with a brief rush of memories.
*Xian Pu?* He moves a little to one side. The Chinese
Amazon holds on to his arm in her sleep, a pleased smile curling
her lips. She mutters something in Mandarin, then sighs as she
tightens her hold on his arm. Ranma decides to just lie back and
see if any new memories would unfold.
For someone who had always expressed a disdain for the
importance of history, Ranma is now getting a first-hand education
on the significance of changes to it. The conquering of China by
the Sixth Japanese Imperial Army led to an interesting discovery of
a small tribe of very special people. Those special people were the
Joketsuzoku Amazons of China. Their discovery was a complete
accident.
The Matriarchs had tried to fight against the invaders. Their
special techniques of combat had seemed like sorcery to the first
troops, but the iron determination of the Emperor to allow for no
defiance of his divine rule refused to admit surrender. It was even
thought that only exterminating the Amazons would allow victory,
but a chance meeting changed that destiny.
A young soldier named Ryu Kitani was on solo recon near the
region of Joketsuzoku. He surprised a young maiden warrior of
the Amazons, also on solo recon for her people, and they fought.
It was said that they struggled through half the night, by the light
of a full moon. In the end, Ryu emerged as the victor. The young
Amazon pledged herself to Ryu as his wife, per her own people's
laws. Ryu was an honorable warrior from a proud samurai family,
and the Amazon named So Pu was comely, so he agreed to the
marriage.
The Emperor, upon hearing the report of the young warrior
conquering an Amazon as an individual, came up with a radical
plan. Armies weren�t practical against such a remote enemy, and
there were always hot-blooded sons of the many samurai families
looking for challenges. The Emperor sent a long letter to the
Chief Matriarch of the Amazons, Khu Lon. In it was a challenge,
as well as a treaty. The Amazons would not be destroyed, but they
must withdraw from the defense of China. In exchange for this,
the Emperor made a pledge to send ten of his finest young warriors
to challenge ten young Amazons to single combat. He also stated
that the warriors sent would be unmarried men.
The specific terms of the challenge are still considered a state
secret. It became known as the Tournament of the Amazons.
The Emperor sent his emissaries throughout the islands of Japan to
find warriors who had superior martial arts ability. The ten finest
warriors took up the challenge. Six of the ten emerged victorious
at the Tournament, and claimed Amazons as brides. The
Amazons were left alone, and they left China to its fate.
Since that day almost a century ago, it has become a sign of
skill to attend the Tournament of the Amazons. Any man who
wins an Amazon bride is able to remain there or return to Japan
with her. Ranma had been the first of his line to attend the
Tournament, which was held every ten years since that initial
treaty was signed. The result of his trip, and a mark of great
honor for the Saotome family, was the lovely girl who was sleeping
beside him.
Ranma pulls her close against him, and hugs her warm body.
The soft silk nightgown clinging to her body is very thin and sheer.
Shampoo�s breathing changes as she wakes up. She stretches her
free arm out, as Ranma tries not to look at her full breasts straining
against the silk.
�<Good morning, my husband.>� She pulls herself up for a
deep kiss. Ranma feels her nibble against his lower lip playfully
at the conclusion.
He starts to reply when there is a moment of dislocation, and
he finds himself back in his lab.
******************************
Ranma opens his eyes and sighs as the hum of the headset
fades into the background. *Wow! I never realized I could be
such a stud with the ladies.* He stretches out his arms over his
head, and grins happily. *I must remember _that_ file in
particular.* Ranma finds himself to be very tempted to transit
back to that reality immediately.
*No. I�ll try one more file before I think about doing that.
File four was good, so let�s try file number five.*
Ranma pulls the keyboard down to his lap and starts typing.
The system hums as it loads the file information. Ranma adjusts
the headset. *I�ve got to see if I can make this thing smaller.*
******************************
*QUANTUM COORDINATE FILE #00000005
*DIMENSIONAL QUANTUM BAND: 007
Ranma is walking along with his father in the market district
of Tokyo. Genma has a definite place he seems to be heading to.
Ranma lets himself trail along behind. They soon arrive at an
area filled with people who all seem to be waiting for something to
happen.
Genma turns to him with a smile. He is wearing a silk suit,
and looks quite prosperous. Ranma is himself wearing a silk suit
himself. *I guess I don�t need to go to school here, or it�s some
sort of holiday.*
�Are you excited, son?� Genma looks at him expectantly.
�Uhhh... yeah,� Ranma tries to look eager. Genma smiles in
reply.
�That�s the spirit, son!� Genma pushes his way to the front of
the crowd, Ranma trailing along behind him like a satellite.
�I hear that they even have several of the legendary Amazons
in the latest batch,� Genma says as they reach a point near the
stage.
Ranma wisely keeps his mouth shut. He doesn�t want to
interrupt the stream of information that seems to be forthcoming.
�It�s a proud day in a young man�s life when he buys his first
female slave,� Genma leans over to try and get a view of the area
to the side of the stage. �The Empire knows how to take care of
its citizens. Why, I remember when I was a boy...� Ranma tunes
out Genma�s words, dreading what he suspects is about to happen.
When his vision blurs out, he feels gratitude.
******************************
The recall occurs. Ranma stares at the wall of the lab.
*Slaves.* Slavery in the Empire exists today, but private
ownership does not. All slaves belong to the Emperor, who
assigns them to his various Ministers to use in public works
projects or state-run businesses. For example, the trash is picked
up every week by slaves assigned to the task.
There is a knock on the lab door. Ranma takes the precaution
of locking down his equipment and covering it with a tarp before
going over to the locked door. He unlocks the door, expecting to
see his faculty advisor checking up on him. No one else ever
comes down into the basement labs.
Akane Tendo stands outside the door. Ranma�s eyes go wide
and he tries to shut the door in her face. Akane slams her foot
down, blocking the door.
�Oh no you don�t, Saotome.� She pushes the door back open.
�You and I have some unfinished business. I came to find a man
to challenge my skill, but instead I find a boy cowering in the
basement.� She enters the lab and shuts the door behind her.
Ranma sighs. *This day just gets better and better.*
******************************
Ranma sleeps peacefully at his desk during homeroom.
�Hey Akane,� whispers a voice from behind her. �What�s the
matter with Ranma honey today?�
Akane grinds her teeth a moment before turning around. She
tries to paste a smile on her face as Ukyou watches.
�Ranma didn�t sleep well last night. His father tossed him
out the window when Ranma woke him up for the third time by
talking in his sleep.� Akane suddenly looks worried.
�Talking in his sleep? About what?� Ukyou looks at Ranma
snoozing at his desk.
�Mister Saotome said he kept talking nonsense. The third
time he woke up, he said Ranma was having a conversation with
himself. That was when he threw him out the window.� Akane
shakes her head.
The bell rings for the end of class. Ranma jerks awake.
<Ready for English class, Ranma?> Akane teases Ranma
with her speaking ability. English was one of her best subjects.
<English is a second language to me.> Ranma�s words are
slurred from his sleepiness, but his pronunciation is still better than
Akane�s.
�Jerk!� Akane sits back in her seat and grumbles at Ranma
showing off.
******************************
Akane looks around the lab space with some interest. It
didn�t look like much to her.
�So this is where you go to hide every afternoon?� Akane lifts
up one corner of the tarp covering his equipment. �What�s under
here?�
�That�s sensitive equipment I�m working with.� Ranma tugs
the tarp corner back down. Akane pulls it back up, and adds a
glare in Ranma�s direction for good measure. Ranma pulls it back
down, and returns the glare.
�Just let me see it, Saotome,� says Akane through gritted teeth.
�Don�t make me have to hurt you... again.� She slugs him in the
jaw without waiting for a reply. Ranma flies back, bounces off the
couch without an ounce of grace, and lands face-down on the
concrete with a soft thud.
�Ow,� he mutters to himself as he raises himself off the floor.
Akane is looking over his equipment with great interest. She
drops the tarp on top of Ranma. Ranma mutters about violent
tomboys from psychotic families underneath the tarp before pulling
it off of himself and standing up. Akane looks innocently at him.
�Ready to fight me now?� She flips a few switches on the
console. Ranma can feel his face twitch each time she does.
�Believe me, I�m considering it.� Ranma goes over to his
desk in an attempt to calm down.
�Oh???� She turns to look at him with a sly look. �Really?�
�Look Tendo,� he sits back in his chair as he speaks, �I have
no interest in whatever sick fantasy you have about me. I�m a
scholar, not a warrior.� Akane glares at him.
�That�s not it at all!� She stomps over to him and looms over
him in the chair. �I�ve fought every boy in this school. None of
them are a challenge for me. You were a pathetic joke when you
arrived, so I never bothered fighting you. Then I saw you
yesterday...�
�I wasn�t myself yesterday.� Ranma tries to scoot his chair
away from her. Akane wasn�t looking too stable to his eyes at the
moment.
�I don�t care!� She grabs both arms of his chair, and she
looks him straight in the eyes. �I need a challenging opponent to
improve my skill. You have the potential, especially after what I
saw yesterday.�
There is a gentle cough behind them.
�Am I interrupting anything?� A confident female voice calls
from the doorway. �The door was unlocked, so I just came right
in.�
Akane turns to look over her right shoulder at the unexpected
intruder. Ranma cranes his neck to look past Akane on the same
side. Kodachi Kuno stands there with her school bag in her
hands. Her well-tailored, blue-trimmed school uniform shows off
her figure nicely to Ranma�s eyes.
�Your advisor sent me down to see you Ranma.� Kodachi
smiles pleasantly at the pair. �He thought you wouldn�t mind
some help with your project.�
One of the armrests on Ranma�s chair cracks when Akane
suddenly squeezes it.
*This isn�t good.* Ranma can feel himself start to sweat.