Quantum Destinies
A Ranma Fanfic
By Steven Thesken (jurai-knight@home.com)

Editor (as of Chapter 10): D.B. Sommer (sommer@3rdm.net)

This idea occurred to me after I finished the science-fiction novel 
"Paths to Otherwhere" by James P. Hogan.  Ranma and all other 
associated characters are owned by Kitty and the ever-creative 
Rumiko Takahashi.  Any new characters are the property of the 
author.  This is purely a work of fanfiction done for fun, 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 4 - Unexpected Developments

    Ranma wasn't sure what to make of his present situation.  
Akane Tendo was still holding on to his chair in a way that 
prevented his easy escape from her.  Fragments of the wooden 
armrest sifted down from underneath her right hand.  He hadn't 
realized just how strong she was.  Her attention was focused on 
the new addition to his lab, an attractive girl with her hair done 
up in a single ponytail, one Kodachi Kuno.  Kodachi simply stood 
there pleasantly, her bookbag resting against her thigh in a 
demure pose.

    Ranma sneezed loudly.  Akane turned to look at him, and 
suddenly seemed to realize what her position might look like to a 
stranger.  She shot back away from him quickly, and moved over 
towards the near wall.  Kodachi raised one eyebrow as she 
changed her smile to a grin, before banishing the amused 
expression from her face.

    "Yes, umm, you were saying, Miss Kuno?"  Ranma glanced 
around the room.  His private lab space had been inviolate for 
months.  Now, he had two visitors in one day.  Akane leaned 
against a wall and attempted to look casual.  The attempt failed.  
The look on Akane's face promised record amounts of pain if he 
dared to laugh at her discomfort.

    "I said that your advisor sent me down to see you, Ranma."  
Kodachi smiled pleasantly at him once more.  "He thought you 
wouldn't mind some help with your project."

    "My project?"  Ranma couldn't recall that his advisor had ever 
even set foot in his lab.  Sensei Takiyama was a kind enough man, 
but Ranma's extensive knowledge of science always seemed to 
intimidate him.  They got along fairly well, though.

    Sensei Takiyama was always able to procure the equipment and 
materials that Ranma had needed.  Ranma had to construct the 
quantum flux coil himself from scratch.  It wasn't something that 
you could go into a neighborhood electronics store and walk out 
with.  Creating it was the most challenging thing that Ranma had 
done in his life.

    "Yes.  Sensei Takiyama felt that I could learn a lot from you."  
Kodachi set her bag down on the table.  She settled herself on the 
couch near where his equipment was assembled, and crossed her 
legs.  She smiled at him once more, but with an extra sparkle in 
her eyes.  That look froze Ranma's thoughts dead in their tracks.

    "Ummm," Ranma swallowed through a throat suddenly gone 
dry.  Kodachi waited for him to speak as if he was about to give 
forth the wisdom of the heavens.  "That is to say..."

    Akane narrowed her eyes at the cozy-looking pair.  *What's 
with him?  Hasn't he ever had a girl smile at him before?*  Her 
eyes suddenly opened wide, and a small smile curled her lips.  *So 
the _great_ Ranma Saotome is shy with girls, eh?*  A plan began 
to form in Akane's mind.  *I need to talk with someone first to set 
it up.  This will be perfect.*

    Ranma coughed into his fist.  Kodachi was gently bobbing her 
foot demurely as she waited for him to speak.  "This is all very 
flattering, Miss Kuno, but quite unexpected."  He got up from his 
chair in an attempt to clear his head.  "Excuse me a moment."

    He went over to the small sink in the corner of his lab.  He 
rinsed out the mug sitting on the shelf above the faucet, and filled 
it with some cold water.  Swallowing deeply, he drained the mug 
in four swallows.  He looked back, and Akane was giving him an 
inscrutable look that was a good counterpoint to Kodachi's flatly 
admiring look.  *I have two attractive women in my lab, and both 
of them aren't making any motion to leave.  What do I do now?*  
For all of Ranma's learning, dealing with the female of the species 
was not part of his curriculum.

    "I'll talk to you later, Ranma," said Akane as she walked to the 
door suddenly.  "Don't forget that we have a date."

    "Hey!  I never agreed to nothing!"  Ranma shouted at her as she 
walked out the door.  Akane turned for a moment, and she smiled 
at him with a hard glint in her eyes.  A moment later, she was 
gone.  Ranma's thoughts were black as he stared at the empty 
doorway.  *First she always bullied me, since I never fought back.  
Then when I suddenly gained the ability to fight back, she beat me 
black and blue.  Now she apparently won't leave me alone until I 
break her jaw or something.*  Ranma sighed.

    "So that was Akane Tendo," said a voice to his right.  "She 
seems to be a woman of great passions."

    "Yeah, I suppose."  Ranma turned to look at Kodachi.

    "So would you like my help with your project?"  Kodachi 
bounced to her feet.  "I really want to learn what you know about 
quantum mechanics.  I've been hearing rumors about what you 
might have been doing down here, but I'm not sure how much is 
true since you keep to yourself so much."  Kodachi looked him 
right in the eyes.  "To be honest, I was expecting someone 
different, based on your record.  Your abilities yesterday were a 
surprise."

    "Is that why you transferred here to the Academy?  To learn 
from me?"  Ranma felt his ego swell.

    "Well, that may have been one reason."  She walked over to 
him, her skirt swaying gently with her movements.  "My mother 
was recently able to get me a full scholarship for her help with the 
Emperor's botanical gardens last year."  Ranma's ego deflated 
somewhat.

    "Scholarship?"  Ranma scratched the back of his head with his 
right hand.  "What did she do to get you that?"

    "She was brought in for her expertise with rare plant life."  
Ranma nodded as she spoke.  "She's a botanist.  The Emperor had 
a rare orchid that was refusing to bloom, and my mother managed 
to coax it into life."

    "I see.  You don't share your mother's interests in the biological 
sciences?"  Ranma took a subtle step back, since the smell of her 
perfume was becoming distracting.  Kodachi moved forward a 
half step as well.  She continued to smile at Ranma.  The room 
seemed to be getting a little warmer.

    "I helped her grub around in the dirt with her little plants, but it 
didn't really hold much interest for me for a career.  I grow some 
flowers at our estate for relaxation, but it's only a hobby."  She 
moved another half step closer to Ranma.  He ran a finger under 
the edge of his collar to loosen it a little.

    `Well, umm, how about if I think about it?  The assisting part, I 
mean."  He suddenly reached down to grab her bag, and pressed it 
into her arms.  "I've really got a lot of work to do right now."

    "What?  But I..."  She started to protest as he guided her gently 
to the door.  "I wanted to talk with you some more about what 
you're working on."  She was still protesting as Ranma shoved her 
gently outside the door.

    "I said that I'd think about it.  I'll talk to you tomorrow.  I really 
have a lot of work to do right now.  Bye now."  He spoke in a 
rush, before he lost his nerve.  Kodachi had her mouth open when 
he shut the door on her.  He slid the deadbolt home with a sigh, 
and leaned his head against the door.

    *I couldn't seem to concentrate with her looking at me like that.  
I don't need any distractions right now.  I have to focus on my 
work.*  Ranma kept repeating these things to himself as he 
trudged back to the couch.  He sat down and held his face in his 
hands.  *I need to focus on my work.*

                    ******************************

    Kodachi walked away from the door to Ranma's lab.  She had 
rushed the issue, and had paid the price.  *Trying to talk with him 
again now would be counter-productive.  I need to get his trust 
first.  I certainly didn't expect him to be so shy.  I could see the 
fear in his eyes.  Even through the double dose of pheromones in 
my perfume, I could not put him at ease.*  Kodachi was so 
preoccupied that she didn't notice that she wasn't alone suddenly.

    "Didn't have any luck with him?"  Akane Tendo stepped out of 
the shadows at the end of the corridor.  "I thought I'd wait and see 
how things went between you and him."

    "I don't see how it's any concern of yours, Miss Tendo" Kodachi 
replied.  She started to walk past Akane.

    "I'm making it my concern, Miss Kuno," said Akane.  She 
grabbed Kodachi by the shoulder and shoved her against the wall.  
She released her hold to place her left forearm against Kodachi's 
shoulder.  She smiled unpleasantly.  "I have a prior claim on 
Ranma Saotome.  You're _not_ going to interfere with it."

    "Let go of me, Miss Tendo," said Kodachi in a cool tone.  She 
dropped her school bag to the ground.  Her left hand wrapped 
around Akane's wrist as the two girls locked eyes in a battle of 
wills.  Akane increased the pressure of her forearm against 
Kodachi's shoulder.

    "In a moment you're going to learn that you shouldn't mess 
with me, Kodachi."  Akane's right hand slowly curled into a tight 
fist.

    "Oh?"  Kodachi drove her knee up into Akane's stomach, 
knocking her away.  "Why is that, Miss Tendo?"

    Akane gasped for air, surprised by the hit.  Her eyes narrowed 
in fury.  *No one does that to me,* she thought darkly.  *No one.*

    Akane launched into a furious assault against Kodachi.  Her 
fists were turned aside from Kodachi's face time and again by 
expert blocks.  Her kicks missed Kodachi as she ducked and 
whirled around Akane.  The air was filled with the sounds of 
grunted effort on the part of both girls.

    Kodachi found herself operating on the defensive.  She kept 
trying to get some distance between her and Akane to let her use 
her kicks, but the shorter girl was relentless.  Kodachi missed a 
block, and Akane's fist streaked in to slam low into Kodachi's 
chest.  The pain was intense, and Kodachi was surprised at the 
strength of the blow.  She staggered back, and Akane followed up 
with a smashing fist strike across her jaw.  Flecks of blood 
spattered against the nearest wall.  Kodachi collapsed against the 
wall, her head spinning.

    Akane stood back, surprised that Kodachi had gone down so 
quickly.  This wasn't much of a challenge, and it was ending too 
quickly.  She decided to taunt the other girl.  "Come on!  Get up!  
I still have some things to teach you!"  She circled Kodachi warily

    Kodachi caught her breath, and grimaced.  She tasted blood in 
her mouth.  *This has gotten too far out of hand.  I can't afford to 
waste time with this fool.  I'm sure that Ranma will thank me for 
putting her down for the count.*  She gathered herself, slowly 
pulling herself up the wall.

    "Ready for more?  Good!"  Akane came in with a pretty 
straightforward attack.  She didn't expect to see any more fight 
left in Kodachi, so her defenses were a little weak.

    That was all Kodachi needed.  Her foot exploded from the floor 
in a powerful side kick that drove hard into Akane's stomach.  She 
dropped her foot, and used it as a pivot for a reverse spin kick that 
whirled her body gracefully about.  Her right foot slammed across 
Akane's face, spinning her around in a dazed condition.  A sudden 
blurring in her vision kept her from finishing Akane off while she 
was off balance.

    Akane took both kicks and managed to remain on her feet.  Her 
mouth dripped blood, and it felt like a tooth had come loose.  She 
probed the inside of her mouth with her tongue a moment to 
confirm it.  Akane grinned savagely.  She hadn't had this much of 
a challenge in a long time.  She found herself enjoying this.

    *I don't believe this,* thought Kodachi as Akane came back up 
into a ready stance after a moment.  She felt a shiver run down 
her spine as Akane smiled a bloody smile in the dim light.  The 
two of them circled each other again, both far more wary of the 
other than when this fight began.

    "Was that your best shot, Kodachi?"  Akane's voice was full of 
contempt.  Kodachi didn't waste her breath on replying.  Her ribs 
were in agony, and each breath was a new experience in pain.  
Akane was moving slower too, but Kodachi was surprised that the 
other girl was still moving at all.

    *She took two of my best kicks and didn't fall.  Her reputation 
_wasn't_ exaggerated.  I can see now that the other girls weren't 
lying.  She's even tougher than they were giving her credit for.*  
Kodachi looked Akane over for any weaknesses in her defense.

    Akane came in with a series of punches, elbow strikes, and 
kicks.  Kodachi had no choice but to try and see if she could slip 
any blows in while doing her best to dodge.  She couldn't get past 
Akane's guard without leaving herself open, so it became a battle 
of endurance.  Both girls took hit after hit as they both refused to 
yield.

    *Kodachi is a wonderful opponent,* thought Akane as she 
paused a moment to catch her breath.  *She's strong, fast, and 
skilled.  If Ranma's skill is greater than hers, then I _have_ to see 
if I can beat him.*  She couldn't stop grinning at the thought of 
their inevitable confrontation.  This was what she lived for, the 
challenge of the fight.

    *I was wrong,* thought Kodachi during the same moment.  
*Akane is a _lot_ tougher than her reputation.  She started out 
angry, but now she keeps grinning at me.  What does she keep 
grinning about?*  Kodachi paused and tried to think of a way to 
win.  *She can't be able to take much more of this!*

    "The dancing is over, Kodachi," said Akane.  One of her eyes 
was swelling up, and she kept tasting blood in her mouth.  "Now 
we get serious."  Akane started moving forward.

    Kodachi readied herself.  She felt bruises on top of bruises all 
up and down her body.  Her body felt like she was fighting in 
mud, her movements were so sluggish.  She wasn't about to yield 
to Akane though.  *No retreat, no surrender,* she thought grimly 
to herself.  Her focus was clear.  She moved forward to meet 
Akane.

    They came together in a last sequence of strikes.  Blows that 
would have been easily blocked earlier, slipped through defenses 
now ragged from exhaustion.  Akane took a solid shot up from 
beneath her jaw from Kodachi's elbow.  A split second later, 
Kodachi felt Akane's fist crack against her shoulder, turning her 
left arm numb.  Akane drove her knee into the lower ribs of 
Kodachi's right side, but she managed to blunt the blow by 
twisting away at the last moment.

    Kodachi managed to execute a side kick that gave her the 
satisfaction of hearing one or two of Akane's ribs cracking from 
the impact.  The effort had cost her dearly though.  Her vision was 
graying out.  She felt herself fall against the cement wall, and 
struggled to remain standing.  Her knees gave out on her.  *I 
should have just run away... this was so stupid...*

    "Unhh!"  Akane staggered back, crying out in pain.  She 
staggered up against the far wall, her vision blurring.  She saw 
Kodachi slumped against the other wall, her head bowed.  *I c... 
can't lose...  Father didn't raise me to be a loser.*

    She staggered over to Kodachi, but the other girl had fallen 
unconscious already, slumped against the wall.  Akane felt a thrill 
of victory over her fallen foe.  It even managed to overcome the 
pain of her cracked ribs that was making it hard to breathe now.  
She sat down against the wall, next to Kodachi.  It was too far to 
try to make it to the other wall.  She suddenly felt so very tired.  
*I'll just rest here and catch my breath.  Nabiki will cover for me 
again.  She always does...*  Akane's last thought faded to black as 
she fell unconscious.

    The hallway was quiet again.

                    ******************************

    Ranma powered up his equipment.  *I may not know how to 
deal with women, but I'm sure that one of my counterparts must.  
Take the one from quantum band sixteen.  He had three women 
interested in him there, at least.  He _must_ know how to deal 
with women better than I do.  The personality changes don't seem 
as serious now, so maybe I just needed a short period of 
adjustment to deal with the new memories.*  He flipped the 
switches on the backup power cells back to their proper settings.

    He looked up as he heard a sound from down the hallway.  
*Must be the janitor banging around a little early today.  Good 
thing the walls are thick.  The last thing I need is noise disturbing 
my concentration.*  He pulled the keyboard into his lap, tapping 
away at the keys as he watched the pre-activation sequence scroll 
up the monitor.

*QUANTUM COORDINATE FILE #00000011 LOADED INTO 
MATRIX

*SET CYCLE INTO ACTIVE MODE:  YES

*SET TIME DURATION FOR TEST:

    Ranma tapped his fingers against the edge of the keyboard.  
*Too short a time won't do me any good, but too long a time may 
be risking more severe personality changes.  Hmmm.  What to 
do?*  He leaned back and studied the wall.  *Ah well, science 
doesn't advance very far without taking some risks.  It's not like 
I'm going to die.  So far, the worst that seemed to happen was that 
I picked up some personality quirks.  The skill gains _more_ than 
offset that.*  He let a smile cross his face.  *After all, it's a 
scientist's duty to explore the unknown.*  He tapped away at the 
keyboard.

*SET TIME DURATION FOR TEST:  60.00 MINUTES

*WAITING FOR SIGNAL FROM NEURAL HEADSET

    Ranma laid back on the couch, the neural headset in one hand.  
He stretched his arms out until his shoulders popped.  He set the 
keyboard on the floor next to the couch.  *This is it.*  He rested 
his head back, and placed the headset down on top of his head.

    The last thing he heard was the soft computer-generated voice 
saying, "Activating cycle."

                    ******************************

    Ranma found himself staring out the window.  He looked up 
towards the front of the classroom.  The teacher had his back to 
the class and was detailing some aspect of Japanese history on the 
blackboard.  *Oh great.  I forgot that he'd be in class.*  This 
wasn't going to be nearly as educational as he thought it was 
going to be.  He looked around to see how many people that he 
could recognize from the other Ranma's life.

    Ukyou, in the back of the room, noticed Ranma start to look 
around at the other people in class.  He'd been a zombie through 
his first two morning classes, and she'd watched with a fair 
amount of sympathetic amusement as he'd propped himself up to 
try and pay attention.  Homeroom was amusing.  Even as sleepy 
as Ranma was, he was able to answer any question put to him by 
the teacher correctly.  Hearing Ranma speaking English better 
than the teacher during second period was even more fun.

    Akane was still irked at Ranma from the previous night.  She 
still couldn't figure out how he had improved his penmanship, let 
alone his English ability, so much in the space of a single day.  It 
just wasn't fair.  School was at least _one_ thing  that she could do 
better than he could on a consistent basis, and that had ceased to 
be true.  Despite his improvement in his scholastic ability 
remaining, his personality had changed back to normal this 
morning.  He'd been his usual jerk self to her this morning.

    The teacher turned to face the class.  "Mister Saotome, we 
haven't heard anything from you yet this class.  Can you tell us 
what you think was the most important event of the year 1680 in 
our nation's history?"

    Ranma looked up at the teacher and blinked.  He opened his 
mouth and spoke before he could realize what he was saying.  "I 
believe that was the year that Tsunayoshi became the new Shogun 
of Japan.  He was the fifth of the Tokugawa Era."  

    "Correct, Mister Saotome," said the teacher with a smile.  "Can 
you tell me what he was famous for doing?"

    "Oh, that's easy.  The time of his rule was known as the Great 
Reform in Japan.  He began many social changes, such as changes 
in the allowed roles for women and the embrace of Western ideas 
into our culture."  The class stared at him in stunned silence, 
along with the teacher.  Ranma looked around in some confusion.  
*Isn't that right?*

    "Ahh," began the teacher in a mild tone of voice, "that's an 
interesting guess, Mister Saotome.  It's _wrong_, but it's a very 
interesting guess.  Perhaps you should re-read this chapter before 
tomorrow."

    Ranma sat back in his seat and mentally slapped himself.  *You 
idiot,* he thought with a fair amount of self-directed anger.  The 
teacher didn't ask him another question for the rest of the period.

    Akane couldn't stop herself from smirking behind him.  *What 
a moron,* she thought.  *If he didn't know the answer, he should 
have just said his usual 'I dunno,' instead of making something up.  
At least it gives me something new to tease him about.  It's nice to 
know that I can still do better than him at something as simple as 
history.*

                    ******************************

    When the elderly security guard found the unconscious bodies 
of Akane and Kodachi lying in a hallway of the basement, he just 
gawked for a few seconds.  *What happened here?*  He bent 
down to check that they were still breathing.  There were small 
splotches of blood on the walls and floor, and both girls showed 
obvious signs of having been in some sort of fight, possibly with 
each other.

    He eyed the way that they were sitting.  *I wonder why they 
were fighting down here?  Oh wait, that one is the younger Miss 
Tendo.  Now it makes sense.  She must have challenged the new 
girl.  I wonder why they came all the way down here to fight?  
Hmm...  Judging by the mutual bodily damage, it must have been 
quite a show.  I swear, what is with the younger generation?  A 
woman should be in the home making babies and tending to a 
house, not brawling around like a man.  It just makes a man sick.*  
He clucked his tongue.

    All of a sudden, the lights in the hallway went out.  The guard 
sighed.  *Another power outage.  I'd better call someone to drag 
these two girls up to the nurse.*  He flipped on his flashlight and 
went to make the call.  *Young Mister Saotome should be coming 
down to his lab in a few hours.  He won't be pleased if he doesn't 
have any power.  I'd better call someone in Maintenance to see if I 
can't get him some power before then.  Damn the old wiring down 
here.  Hopefully, it won't take them long to fix.*

                    ******************************

    Inside Ranma's lab, next to his comatose form, the video 
monitor flickered when the power suddenly died.  The fluorescent 
lights went dark, and the room was now lit only by the dim light 
of the computer monitor.  The screen cleared suddenly.

*MAIN POWER FAILURE.  SWITCH TO EMERGENCY FUEL 
CELL BACKUPS SUCCESSFUL.

*SIGNATURE LOCK MAINTAINED.

*FUEL CELLS CURRENT POWER OUTPUT INSUFFICIENT 
TO ACTIVATE RECALL PULSE.

*ACTIVATING CAPACITOR TRICKLE CHARGER.

*TIME REQUIRED FOR SUFFICIENT CHARGE: 6 HOURS, 53 
MINUTES.

*POWER FAILURE NOTED IN SYSTEM LOG.

*POWERING DOWN MONITOR TO CONSERVE ENERGY.

    The screen went dark.

                    ******************************

    When recall didn't occur at the expected time, Ranma was 
puzzled at first.  He had checked the clock on the wall when he 
first arrived in his counterpart's mind.  It read 10:22 then.  It was 
now 11:24, and he was still here.  *What the hell could have gone 
wrong?*

    He stared out the window at a passing jet in the distance as he 
went over the possible failures that might have occurred in his 
equipment.  He had made every circuit redundant, so what could 
have failed?  He should have received the recall pulse as long as 
he was still hooked up to the neural interface.

    *I should have been recalled unless my body was removed from 
the equipment for some reason, or the power failed.*  The thought 
of the first option sent a cold chill through him.  If someone had 
disconnected him, then he wasn't getting back.  If the power had 
failed, then the backup capacitor should be charging up for an 
emergency recall pulse.  Ranma found himself praying for the 
second option.  As interesting as this life was, he didn't want to 
grow old and die here.  He continued to stare out the window as 
his thoughts focused on the problem at hand.

    "Mister Saotome," called Miss Hinako.  "Would you care to 
answer problem number eleven for us?"  Miss Hinako was pleased 
with Ranma's new ability in math.  He had been able to answer 
both questions that she'd put to him since class began.  However, 
he wasn't looking at her now though, and her little girl face was 
now frowning.  *Going delinquent on me again already, Mister 
Saotome?*  She pulled out her coin as she set her book up on her 
desk.

    Ranma heard the teacher yell out something, and suddenly his 
body felt drained of energy.  He tried to lift a hand, but was too 
weak to move.  Miss Hinako's form ballooned up into her full 
adult stature as Ranma passed out at his desk.

                    ******************************

    Ranma woke up with a splitting headache.  The class was in the 
middle of lunch period it looked like.  He looked at the clock.  It 
read 12:08.  He shook his head to clear it.  *Recall still hasn't 
occurred.  If the power hasn't failed on the other end, then this is 
bad.  This is very, very bad.  I thought I'd managed to cover all 
contingencies, but I guess I messed up somewhere.  I guess I 
should have taken Kodachi up on her offer.  I should have at least 
had someone to watch over me on the other end, just in case.  If 
my equipment has lost the signature lock on me, then I'm stuck 
here for good.  If that's true, then I've messed up two lives instead 
of just one.*

    Ranma set his head back down on the desk, and covered it with 
his arms.  Akane glanced over and noticed that Ranma had woken 
back up finally.  Ukyou noticed Ranma awake, and came over to 
cheer him up with a fresh okonomiyaki.  Akane frowned at 
Ukyou, but the other girl didn't notice.

    "Hey, Ranma honey," said Ukyou's voice from somewhere to 
his right.  "You recovered enough for some lunch?  I got your 
favorite here, freshly made."  He opened one eye and saw her 
smiling at him.  In front of her, like some sort of offering, was a 
plate full of fresh okonomiyaki.  Ranma really didn't feel much 
like eating, even though his stomach was giving him strong 
signals to eat.  He sat up.

    "Thanks, Ukyou."  He smiled wanly at her, but her face lit up 
with an even bigger smile than the one she was wearing before.  
The smell of food was making his mouth water.  He started to eat, 
and Ukyou looked puzzled.

    "What's wrong?"  She looked at him, her head cocked at a 
slight angle to one side.  "You normally eat one of my specials a 
lot faster than this.  You wanna talk about it?"

    "Not really," he replied.  "I'm just feeling a little tired right 
now.  My head is killing me too.  Must be from whatever it was 
that hit me.  I feel awful."  He finished the okonomiyaki as he 
talked.  Things started to feel a little better with some food in him.

    Ukyou nodded sagely.  "You just need some fresh air and food.  
I can make you another one, and you can eat it outside with me.  
How does that sound?"  Her eyes sparkled at the thought of 
spending some time with Ranma.

    "Sure," he replied with a sudden smile.  That sounded pretty 
good to him.  Ranma wasn't sure what to make of the sparkly-eyed 
look that Ukyou was giving him though.  He decided not to make 
an issue of it.  He hopped out the window before consciously 
realizing what he was doing.  A moment of panic was replaced by 
exhilaration as his body bounced off branches on the tree outside, 
and he landed on the ground unhurt.

    "Showoff," Ukyou called out to him from the window above 
with a grin.  She turned around to see Akane frowning at her.  
The youngest Tendo walked over to look out the window.

    "Ranma!"  Akane glared down at him.  "Where do you think 
you're going?"

    "I'm gonna eat lunch with Ukyou, ya dumb tomboy.  What does 
it look like I'm gonna do?"  He blinked, and paused for a moment 
to consider what he just said.  *Hmmm.  Where did _that_ come 
from?  Maybe this Ranma isn't as skilled at dealing with women 
as I hoped.*

    A desk impacted next to him with a small explosion of wood 
and metal.  "Hey!  That was _my_ desk!"  He paused after 
shouting and thought for a moment.  *Err... sort of.*  He glared 
up at the window, and saw an image of his own world's Akane 
superimposed over this one for a moment.  He was surprised at the 
level of raw anger that suddenly filled him.  He blinked his eyes as 
her image shifted back to normal, and glared up at her.  Akane 
glared back.  *I don't need this right now,* he thought.  *I've got 
bigger problems.*  He took off at a jog for the gate.

    "Ranma?!  Where are you going?"  Akane called after him from 
the window.  He didn't reply, but doubled his running speed 
instead.  He hopped over the front wall of the school without 
looking back at her, and then he was gone.

    Akane and Ukyou both blinked in confusion.  They looked at 
each other in wonder.  Both of them had the same thought.  
*What's wrong with Ranma?*

                    ******************************

    Akane slowly returned to consciousness, and the first sensation 
that greeted her was pain.  Her body hurt all over.  She sighed and 
tried to relax back against a soft mattress beneath her.  Even such 
a simple thing as breathing hurt, so she tried to take little panting 
breaths.  She opened her eyes.  The first sight she saw was Nabiki 
looking at her from a chair nearby.  Nabiki noticed Akane's eyes 
open, and smiled.

    "I see that you're back among the living, little sister," said 
Nabiki in a pleased voice.  "Looks like you bit off a little more 
than you could chew this time.  Does it hurt much?"  Nabiki 
examined the bandages wrapped around Akane's chest.

    "It hurts to breathe a bit," Akane replies.  "How badly am I 
hurt, Nabiki?"

    "Bad enough," answered Nabiki.  "You have two cracked ribs, 
multiple contusions, and some deep muscle damage.  None of 
your internal organs appear to be injured, and you managed to 
avoid a concussion by some miracle.  The doctor said that you 
should be fine in a few weeks if you take it easy."  Nabiki paused 
as she looked over her beaten up sister.  "So, was it worth it?"

    Akane nodded slightly.  "Every fight is worth it.  I can only 
improve myself by challenging stronger and stronger opponents."  
Akane looked her sister squarely in the eyes.  "You don't know the 
thrill of combat like I do.  You can't understand what it means to 
me."  Akane smiled as an image of Ranma fighting Kodachi to a 
standstill floated across her vision.  *Oh, Ranma... I can hardly 
wait to fight with you.  Your skill is the challenge I think I've 
been looking for all my life.*

                    ******************************

    Ranma just let himself wander.  It was a nice enough day for 
some outside thinking time.  He glanced at a street clock, and the 
time read 12:43.  *What do I do now?  If I'm right about the 
power failure, then I should have less than five hours left before 
full capacitor charge is reached.  That would make for almost 
seven hours in this body and mind.   If a single hour could change 
me so much, then what will seven hours do?*

    "Ranma," squealed a happy female voice.  Ranma glanced 
around and was suddenly embraced by a familiar girl, a pretty 
Chinese girl to be exact.  She held him in a tight embrace.  After 
what he'd been through, it felt nice.

    Shampoo couldn't believe her luck.  She had finished her lunch 
deliveries, and she was on her way back to the restaurant when 
she spied Ranma walking down the street.  "Ranma not in school 
now?"

    "I'm taking some time off," he replied.   His hands moved up to 
rest on Shampoo's back.  He returned the embrace.

    "You want take Shampoo on date?"  She snuggled even tighter 
against him.

    A passing car sent a wave of water from a puddle splashing 
over the couple.  Ranma felt a strange rippling sensation whisper 
over him, not entirely unpleasant.  It was over in an instant, and 
he suddenly found himself holding a cat.   More importantly, he 
was now a she.  There was a shocked moment of silence.  *I just 
turned into a girl,* she thought in shock.  A disorienting wave of 
memories washed over her.  *Jusenkyo,* she remembered.

    "Mew?"  The cat in her hands meowed at her in a questioning 
tone.  Shampoo was surprised by Ranma's calmness.  *He usually 
reacts much quicker.*

    Ranma felt the first wave of fear brush against her thoughts.  
*Cat,* she thought, as she felt fear begin to grip her.  Ranma 
liked cats, though.  *Why do I feel afraid?*  Ranma stared at the 
small feline in her hands.  It was damp, it was looking at her with 
a puzzled expression, and it was being held in her hands.  *C... 
cat,* the boy turned girl thought stupidly.

    Ranma dropped Shampoo to the sidewalk, as the boy turned 
girl clutched her head.  She dropped to her knees, frowning in 
deep concentration.  *There is nothing to fear.  There is 
_nothing_ to fear!*  Ranma had the memories of the Cat Fist 
training wash over her mind.  Tears leaked out of the corner of 
her eyes as she struggled to keep control.  *Fear is an animal 
reaction.  I am a human being of intelligence and will.  I will not 
feel fear.  I will _not_ feel fear!*

    Shampoo didn't understand what was happening.  Ranma 
hadn't run away from her, nor had she screamed in fear.  Ranma 
was currently rocking on her knees, and her eyes were squeezed 
tight.  Shampoo wasn't sure what to do.  She watched her love 
with worried eyes.

    Ranma focused her thoughts, pushing against the fear that 
struggled to rip her sanity away.  *Fear can be controlled.  There 
is nothing to fear.*  Memories of claws ripping at a little boy's 
flesh exploded across her mind.  *I can control this.*  Ranma 
struggled with the fear, focusing her thoughts on pushing the 
animal reaction back down into the depths of the subconscious.  *I 
will not submit to this.*  Ranma felt something begin to give in 
her thoughts, as she visualized the fear as a wild animal to be 
conquered.

    "Get back," she muttered.  "I won't be defeated by a stupid fear.  
I refuse to submit to fear.  My will is stronger than this fear."  
Ranma was calling up all of the self-control exercises that he had 
been taught as a child.  Ever so slowly, the fear receded.  After a 
time she opened her eyes.

    The fear was controlled.  Ranma took a deep breath to calm her 
nerves.  The feelings of this female form were rather jarring to the 
senses.  The sight of two female breasts moving in and out 
beneath her chin was strangely fascinating.  It helped to take her 
mind off the fear.  *This is going to take some getting used to.*

    Shampoo sat next to Ranma.  She was a little surprised when 
Ranma reached out and hesitantly put her hand on Shampoo's 
head.  After a moment, Ranma began to scratch her behind her 
ears as the boy turned girl began to chuckle.  Shampoo didn't care.  
Ranma was touching her in cat form and didn't appear to be 
afraid.  She would remember this day for the rest of her life.

                    ******************************

    Kodachi woke up, and immediately wished that she hadn't.  Her 
face hurt, her chest hurt, and every muscle in her body felt like it 
had been stretched like taffy.  *That's what I get for fighting full 
contact in a body that wasn't up to it.  Sparring with Ranma was 
one thing, but this body isn't built up far enough yet to deal with 
the likes of Akane Tendo.*  Kodachi relaxed back into the bed she 
was lying in.  *That's what I get for overestimating myself.*

    Kodachi looked out the window.  A songbird had begun to sing 
in the tree outside.  "Oh, Ranma," she sighed.  Her voice dropped 
to a whisper.  "You may be the only one who can help me.  I just 
want to get back home."  She closed her eyes to try to sleep.