this is why i'm now in the habit of checking my "sent" file

A Little Sense?
by greggsharp, metroanime@mindspring.com
& Jared Ornstead
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/
 i don't own Ranma 1/2, all char trademarked by
them that do. timeframe: immediately after "Like Water For Ranma"
this story came out of the idea, what if you really could beat
some sense into someone...
then came the thought, "Phenomenon"
--------------------Day Two, morning----------------------------
 *Bamboo. Lots of bamboo. Tiny, crunching leaves.
Strong stalks. Steaming dishes of rice. The pleasing crunch of
stolen pickles....*

 Ranma came blearily awake. His head hurt like
anything, sitting up was causing him to almost see double,
but he had to deal with....

 It took him a moment to work out that the hunger
he was feeling wasn't his own. Looking aside at the panda curled
up with its back to him he scowled. Figured the old man would
even _dream_ about food. He had to get out of here. His old man
was sending out broadcasts that'd overcome all his own dreams.

 He'd never get any sleep with the panda overwriting
his own thoughts...

 With a chill of horror that completely hid the pain, Ranma
scuttled away from the sleeping furball. If there was one person in
the world he did _not_ want to be like... When the pain from his
shivering finally penetrated, Ranma collapsed and silently held his
head in both hands, as Genma chose that moment to roll over he
squeezed his eyes shut and lived with the pain.

 Ranma slid painfully out of the bedroom. He would _not_
look. Nothing in the world could convince him to look into his old
man's eyes. He'd sleep in the garbage outside if he had to. There was
no chance of getting to sleep back in there again anyway. The thoughts
broadcast by... No, scratch that. Ranma figured he knew what thoughts
were well enough by now to admit what _those_ were.

 His father thought in terms of appetites. It was a lucky guess,
but he'd bet his pops let his stomach make half his decisions for him.

 The pain subsiding now, and the closed screen
effectively masking his Pops' latest thought about gorging himself,
Ranma got up gently and headed downstairs. He might as well start
his morning routine. His mind felt bruised already, how long had he
been lying there while his Pops thought about food?

 There had been dreams earlier, if you could call them
that. His mind trying to grasp and assimilate the memories he'd
inadvertantly downloaded.

 There had been the day Kasumi graduated from high
school and she'd had to make a decision. Try for college and pursue
her dreams. Stay at home and meet her responsibilities to family.
Though saddened, she turned from her dreams. Family would always
come first.

 Shampoo, triumphant on the practice log! The glory
that was due her, of all the sixteen year olds, to be annointed the
Champion. Not merely to have proven herself worthy of the title
Warrior, but to go beyond that and become what every little
amazon girl dreamed of, the Village Champion! Waitaminute,
why was there a girl and a panda eating her prize?!

 Ukyou, a child, hearing the whispers of her classmates.
She had been dumped like a spoiled okonomiyaki, like crust gone
all dry and moldy. Now she'd never get married, she'd be left alone,
unloved. Because she had fallen for a jackass with thieving father.
Ukyou renounced she would be a girl, then, but would live life as a
boy until she had her revenge!

 Nabiki watching the crowds surrounding Akane. So
everyone was interested in little sister, eh? Tatewaki certainly was.
Now how could she make a profit off of this?

  Ranma paused, realizing that he was no
longer the same person he was the previous morning. He was still
himself, but he was also others. He was using terms and phrases
he'd gotten from Nabiki. He hoped that this condition was temporary,
and that he wouldn't end up with his personality fragmenting...

 After that pause he decided it didn't matter. He had
to get busy.
---------------------
 Kasumi lay in bed awake. It was four minutes till her
alarm woke her. There were clouds in the sky outside. The earliest
hints of dawn had yet to come, but her blinking eyes held only the
oval face of the alarm clock as it stared at her.

 Deciding finally that there would be no more sleep
today, she arose from her bed, feeling a slight twinge of
sympathy/pain knowing, _feeling_ that as difficult and lonely as
her own life had been,  she still took for granted some things that
Ranma had never enjoyed. The down comforter, even her bed,
both these were still unheard of luxuries for a boy who'd
slept on wind-swept stone, and to whom a thin futon on a wood
floor was still a not-entirely-assured comfort.

 Stopping her alarm two minutes before it could ring, Kasumi
began to get ready for her day.

 There was a moment of strangeness as she put on her gi,
but she shrugged it off. She had a lot of thinking still to do.
---------------------
 Ranma felt glad of the sedate pace today. The moves
were slow and assured, and in their gentle flow his mind began to
slowly ease back from the pain it had been in earlier.

 Without even thinking about it he began going over
the sleeping arrangements. It didn't take long to conclude that
none of the Tendo's could be moved out of their rooms, and his pop
wouldn't budge, so that meant he'd have to be the one relocated. He
guessed that he could take some extra blankets from the upstairs
closet and transfer them to one of the shelves in the dojo. It would
be cold out there but it should be quiet.

 It was the work of a few moments to decide what would
have to be moved, where, and in what order to make that comfortable.

 Finishing up his warm up routines, Ranma placed the
gathered wash in the baskets. Time enough to put them on the lines
when the sun had risen. Going inside, he turned on the lights in the
kitchen to begin the dual task of preparing for breakfast and fixing
the school lunches.

 His head was hurting alot less now, and he hummed
softly to himself as the perfect precision of each move flowed smoothly
after the other. He'd try and remember the name of this kata later, but
for now he was content to let his body run by itself while his mind
gradually steadied and recovered from the numb pain he'd woken
up with.
---------------------
 <Airen was hurt very, very bad, great grandmother. But
he was nicer to me when I visited. When I offered to bring him soup
he did not turn it away. He was very polite, but said he was also very
tired.>

 Cologne looked up from her mat at where her grandaughter
was dressing in concern. She was not so old that she could not see the
spark of true hope in those young eyes, nor did she miss the taint of
fear there as well.

 She got up, masking her own fear. Head injuries were always
bad, and a change in behavior from one indicated severity. It would be
best she went along to see that there weren�t complications.

 In her best unconcerned grandmother voice she
answered. <Well, if the boy has agreed to eat what you make let's
both see that it's done well, hmm? Maybe while I'm there he'll allow
me to take a look at that injury. I'll bring along one or two of my
medical things just in case.>

 Shampoo tried hard to conceal her relief.
---------------------
 Kasumi felt the dawn caressing her face and felt glad. She
was a little out of breath from the day's chores already, but there was
a feeling of accomplishment along with the tired muscles. She felt that
she had gotten alot done, maybe even enough that she could take a
nap later in the day.

 Humming softly to herself, she finished her entire morning
routine a little early and used that time to enjoy the sunrise for her
vantage
point on top of the roof. With a happy smile, she jumped down lightly on
the balls of her feet and went in for breakfast.

 She wondered what that wonderful smell...

 Two figures stopped. They were staring at each other from
opposite ends of the dining room. Ranma swallowed and set the
breakfast tray down at the table. "Food'll be ready in a minute,
Kasumi. You'll have time for a bath to get the sweat off."

 Nodding, Kasumi looked on in joy/puzzled
accomplishment/fear/astonishment and genuine amusement at Ranma
kneeling at the table, setting out the breakfast dishes and wearing her
own best apron.

 Her eyes crinkled. *Finally, I have an ally in this house.*

 "Look! I... ow..." Ranma held his head, having turned it too
hard when objecting.

 "Oh! Are you alright, Ranma?" Kasumi knelt by his
side, noting the amusement he held in spite of his pain at finding her
in a martial art gi. She became resigned even as she noted it, that he
would be hearing from her own mind how well she could read his
mood from his posture and facial expressions.

 *Well, that's one secret gone, I guess. And probably not
the only one. I wonder how much he knows?*

 Ranma held his head for a moment longer. "That's alright,
Kasumi."

 She wished she knew knew which question he was answering.

 He went on, tentatively releasing his skull as if afraid it might
fly apart again. "It's nuthin'. I got a headache from listening to pops
dream about potroast all night. That's all."

 "Oh, dear." *I guess I should have thought. Having Mr.
Saotome in the same room could not have been pleasant. Not if you
could read minds.*

 *Yeah. I woke up feeling like Akane'd hit me again. I was
thinking of moving out into the dojo to sleep from now on.*

 "But it's so cold." Kasumi objected. She ran through the
same formulas for moving people around that Ranma had, only she
put a slightly different emphasis on it. Sick people had priority, after
all.
She briefly entertained the notion of having Ranma in her own room,
and was gratified to see the immediate blush.

 "No, Kasumi. Pops may have a winter coat and all, but try
and convince him to accept hardship when he don't want to. He'd just
sneak back in to my room at night if we tried to put him out there." Ranma
was glad that it wasn't Kasumi who was the mind reader. The image she'd
put out of him sleeping on a futon on her floor hadn't been bad. The quick
sequence of "what could go wrong with this situation" images HAD been
rather...odd coming from Kasumi as they had.

 "I suppose you're right." *It really was unfair how Mr.
Saotome acted.* The image involuntarily came to her mind of Genma's
face as he threw his son into the pit for the third time. Then one from
her own perspective as she'd seen him tear off Ranma-chan's shirt
and offer the now topless boy-turned-girl to Happosai. *I suppose he's
unfair in the way he normally acts, isn't he?*

 *Yeah.*

 *?!?!?!* "Ranma, your mouth wasn't moving, but _I_ heard
you."

 *Uhm, yeah. Sorry about this. Just don't want to move my
head that much right at the moment. I think we can talk this way 'cause
we both had that transfer-thingie.*

 "If I might make an observation, Ranma?" Kasumi paused for
the feeling of consent. *What you did last night was...strange. It lasted
a few seconds, but I lived your entire life as if I were watching a movie
except that I could also feel what was going on. Did you do that with me
as well?*

 *Yes. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to, it seems to be
completely involuntary like this mind-reading stuff. Uhm, I also kinda
scanned Nabiki, Ukyou, and Shampoo. Seems to be related to eye contact
whether there's sufficient light or not to see.*

 *Eyes being the window of the soul, then. Hmmm. You're thinking
more like me, with some Nabiki "flavoring" as well. Oh my, you mustn't do
this very often, I'd imagine personality fragmentation would be inevitable.*

 *Actually, I think I lucked out there. Nabiki's the only one that
would fight me for dominance except in specific situations. Right now all
the personas are more interested in surviving than who gets control.*

 *How sensible.* Kasumi smiled.

 *Must be your influence.* Ranma paused. "Ah, Kasumi?"

 "Yes, Ranma?" *Hmmm. Miso soup with breakfast okonomiyaki?
Not what I would have fixed, but...* Kasumi realized how hungry she was.

 "There ain't all that many chances for you to get to the bath today."
---------------------
 Ranma was just hanging up the apron *Let everybody think
it was Kasumi that did all the work.* when his head split to the sound
of a scream.

 "SAOTOME! HOW DARE YOU STEAL... huh?"

 Mousse let his chains trail loosely from the ends of his robe as he saw
his enemy curled up in a fetal ball on the floor, both hands tightly
clutching his head. "What? Hey, what's wrong?" *Saotome's injured?
That's what I'd heard. Hmm, now's my chance! All it will take is a
little...*

 Ranma could only gasp in relief when he heard Mousse's
mind go chaotic for just a moment as the change to duck overtook him.
He actually wept a tear to feel Shampoo's presence back in the room.

 The image in Mousse's mind had been powerful, driving a
sword through the unprotected back of his hated rival. He'd never
actually thought that Mousse'd been willing to _kill_ him!

 He sobbed involuntarily as he felt a soothing presence
move over him. There were too many minds nearby to hear any
specific thoughts. Curling himself tighter, he tried to wall off his mind
so he could cut off the confusion and the pain.

 Cologne stood by the huddled son-in-law's shoulder.
A few touches and she was certain. A nod to Shampoo and the girl
put down her carefully made soup (chicken noodle, ancient Chinese
secret cure for colds handed down through 3000 years of Chinese
Amazon rule) and ran into the kitchen to prepare water to mix
the herbs.

 This being the Tendo kitchen, and it having been Ranma
at work, she was out again in moments with a heated kettle.

 Mousse-duck made a lunge for the water and was
intercepted by Cologne.

 "Mousse, how could you even think of fighting Ranma
when he's in this condition? Amazon law forbids it. You know there
are no challenge fights allowed against the wounded." *Certain
exclusions, provisions, and limitations may apply.*

 "Quack!"

 Cologne's eyes went to slits. "Mousse. Ranma's
practically dead as he is. It's going to be hard enough to nurse
him back to full health without you in here shouting and flinging
chains at him."

 "Quack! Quack!"

 Shampoo smiled sweetly at the duck. "Mousse,
you challenge airen like that, Shampoo try out new recipe for
Peking style diced duck. Shampoo use spoon to dice, you
know what Shampoo mean?"

 The grip went closed, cutting off the duck's air and
stilling his resistance. The matriarch spoke in leveled tones.
"Let me put it another way, Mousse. If Ranma dies from something
that you've done, if I even find you trying, then I'll give you the
Kiss of Death myself. Do you understand?"

 "quAck." The waterfowl lost color and shed a dozen
feathers in fear, finally going limp in despair.

 "Oh my!"

 Shampoo looked up from where she'd been mixing herbs.
Kasumi stood in the doorway looking like she was fresh from the
bath. A groan came from her airen and Shampoo's attention went
back to her patient, a spoonful of medical broth lifted carefully to
the head cradled in her lap.

 "Cologne, did you really mean that? Did you mean what
you said?" *Judging from Shampoo's expression, she was quite
sincere.*

 Cologne released Mousse out the balcony and came
back to stand with her staff, looking alternately between Ranma
and the Tendo daughter. "Child, I've seen many head injuries in
my time, and this one's bad. One more blow like he's been getting
and we'll have seen the end of son-in-law. I felt it wise to step in
and reduce the fighting by one, though the one that worries me is
that sister of yours. He only needs to get her angry at him once
more. And I'll tell you right now there are those who'll press murder
charges. I might even help them. Under those conditions, I'm
afraid to leave him here. You of all people should know how
difficult it is to control things in this place. Son-in-law needs to
rest, not fight for his life."

 "Yes. He was complaining this morning of how difficult
it was to sleep with his father in the room. He'd suggested that he
might move out into the dojo."

 "In _this_ weather?" Cologne was astonished. Cold and
wet was the forecast. Not cold enough for snow, but freezing rain
had occurred three days ago. Cologne put on her kindest face and
voice to try and convince the Tendo girl. "Child, it's plain that he
won't be able to get his best rest here. Let us take him. I can assure
you we'll treat him like he was already family. I'll even give my word
we'll return him once he's better, if that's what he wants."

 Cologne hid two crossed fingers behind her back.

 "But I think your treating him like that is what will
worry everyone. Won't there be alot of fights from people
wanting to do the same?"

 Cologne was surprised. That girl actually had a head
on her shoulders. Or at least wasn't in Oblivious mode. "What are
you saying, child?"

 "I agree with you that we don't really have a place
where he can rest here, not unless I double up with Nabiki and
 we put him in my room. What he really needs, I think, is a place
away from _all_ his fiancees, but where they can visit him."

 "But we have no such place, child. We've only our
own homes. And what kind of protection would he have all
alone like that? At least one of us has to be there to take care
of him." Cologne was the first, of course, to register the new
presence and winced accordingly.

 "Ohohohohoho!" A swirl of black rose petals
announced her presence as easily as that trademark "crazed
noblewoman" laugh.

 "If you'll forgive the interruption, I may have a suggestion."

 Cologne blinked as she saw Kasumi going into a defensive
martial arts stance that looked VERY familiar.

 She blinked again as she realized that son-in-law had very
abruptly vanished.
-------------------------------------
 *Ranma?*

 Ranma paused, gasping from effort and curled around his
pain. He'd overriden the pain, but such things always came with a cost.
When the pain had returned, it had been with enough force to cause him
to start throwing up what little was in his stomach.(1)

 *Kasumi. Can't. Right now. Hiding. Ungh.*
------------------------------------
 Kasumi turned back to the soup. The nausea that had
accompanied Ranma's reply might have been obvious to Cologne.
*OK, Ranma. Don't come back. Kodachi's here arguing with Akane,
Shampoo, and Cologne. I think Cologne suspects something is not
right, but she has other concerns at the moment.*

 Kasumi paused, wondering if she could/should try to
look through Ranma's eyes. No, that wouldn't be proper. Neither
was the desire to step up to Kodachi and do an amaguriken. Kasumi
suppressed THAT desire as well, noting that as Ranma had gotten
some of her patience and understanding, she had apparently gotten
just a touch of Ranma's impulsiveness.
-------------------
 Cologne's eyes took in everything.  A puzzle was here,
and that was something she had longed for. Not so much the puzzle
itself, but that after a chi-attentuated long lifespan like her own, she
was finding damn little that was New and Different.

 When one's life is maintained by one's strength of mind
and will, then one literally can die of boredom. She wanted to see a
proper Heir before she passed from this life into one of those Last
Great Mysteries. Shampoo wasn't it. Shampoo and Ranma's child
MIGHT be such an heir.

 Shampoo continued to argue with the rich, obviously inbred,
Japanese girl with the acrobatics fixation. As usual, that one was
responding with racial and caste slurs. While apparently watching the
three way war of words (Akane throwing in insults and arguments
against both parties), Cologne was studying the older Tendo daughter.

 She had changed. That much was obvious to anyone who
could observe the flows of chi. Kasumi's chi flows were much stronger,
though she was still maintaining excellent control. The girl took out a
piece of celery, casually flipped it into the air and made nice even slices
in it while it was in midair.

 Cologne's eyes twitched involuntarily. Son in law must have
been training the girl. That was definitely the sort of thing she would have
expected from Ranma, though her control was better. How had she been
fooled into dismissing the elder Tendo as just another submissive
housewife type?

 Cologne genuinely liked Ranma, something that would have
surprised the heck out of Ranma if he had known about it. She saw here
another possibly worthy pupil. And if this girl had managed to fool even
Cologne herself for so long?

 Cologne barely suppressed a grin. Perhaps she had found her
Heir after all.

 Without waiting for the yelling to subside, Cologne tapped
a shiatsu sleep spot on the leotard clad girl, then flicked a fork to do the
same thing to the ninja hidden behind the wall.

 "Shampoo?" Cologne looked at Kasumi openly now, ignoring
the questions erupting from the youngest Tendo.

 "Yes, Great-grandma?"

 "Xi Fang Gao. Kodachi _and_ Sasuke. Only that they won't
remember that they were here. Keep it simple." Cologne turned her full
attention back to Kasumi who was beginning to look like the canary
that had just realized that there was a cat and it was in a playful mood.
"Miss Tendo, I _do_ hope we can have a chat later. We need to go find
son in law before he freezes in this weather."

 "What do you mean? What have you done to Ranma? Hey!"
Akane watched as Cologne left, followed by Shampoo dragging two
bodies with freshly scrubbed hair. "And don't hurry back!"

 Kasumi shook her head. She had a feeling that she was in
the frying pan now, and the fire wasn't far off.
======================================
(1)Been there, done that. These are "trip to the ER" level migraines. Just
another wonderful thing to be said for having repeated head trauma
from my school days. And no, you can't drive or do much in this condition.
Pain blocking techniques are real and part of martial arts too, so i figure
Ranma knows 'em.