A Little Sense?
by greggsharp, metroanime@mindspring.com
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"
------What's come so far:---------------
Ranma's been hit by Akane, there was some pretty
severe damage, but it was decided that he (being a tough
martial artist who can bounce back from anything) would
not be sent to the hospital. After all, this might cut into 
their budget, and it had to be Ranma's fault anyway. This 
despite skin being ripped on his skull and at least one bone 
chip being found.
 Ranma has discovered that he is now hearing
other people's thoughts if they are physically close. He has
also found (by accident) that if he makes eye contact, he
relives that person's life. He has so far downloaded Kasumi,
Nabiki, Ukyou and Shampoo. He has not had the peace and
quiet to sort them out or assimilate these other personalities.
 While trying to convince Kasumi that she should
keep quiet about this new strangeness, he inadvertantly 
"uploaded" his own life to Kasumi. Both are now acting a 
little bit like the other, as well as have a link between them.
 Ranma is still having serious problems (it is a very
serious head trauma) and has had to escape the dojo to
avoid either downloading more memories or being kidnapped
by Kodachi.
 Cologne has noticed Kasumi acting like Ranma and
came to the conclusion that Kasumi has been fooling everyone
all this time. One doesn't learn martial arts reflexes like that 
overnight, after all. This has gotten Cologne interested.
 It hasn't been revealed yet, but yes, Kasumi has gone
through the same experiences Ranma did, so she has the catfist
as well. At least until she can assimilate the memories with her 
own and mute the effect down to manageable levels...

--------------Day Two, Later-----------------------
 Ranma shuddered. Cold, wet, shivering, 
feeling quite unpleasant. The everpresent headache.
The Kasumi part of his mind counseled him to find
shelter. The Nabiki voice went over the various 
possibilities.

 School: too many people. Nekohanten:
too many people and Mousse might be tempted,
threats to the side. Tendo household: currently a
battlesite. Ucchan's: possible, but everyone would
expect that to be among his first choice.

 At least he could warm up at Ucchan's,
while he thought this out. The little Ukyou voice 
gave a cheer, but quietly. There was muttering from
the Shampoo fragment but she was overruled.

 Seperation being counterproductive to
longterm survival, the voices began their slow task
of assimilation. All of whom agreed that downloading
any more voices would be a Bad Thing.

 Besides, counseled the Nabiki voice,
it was crowded in here enough as it was.
--------------------------------
 Kasumi hummed a happy little tune
(Bach's little fugue in G) and noted that Akane was
grumbling about the unpleasant awakening she'd
had. (Kodachi's laugh having cut through a pleasant
dream dealing with a variety of Super Soba that didn't
give one facial hair.)

 Nabiki spent some time looking for Ranma,
saying only that she wanted to check on something.

 When Akane told Nabiki that Ranma had
fled during the morning confrontation, Nabiki had
seemed somehow disappointed.

 "So I gotta get to school," Akane paused.
"Kasumi, do you think Ranma's all right?" Silently 
adding that it wasn't like she cared, baka was probably
out with Shampoo.

 "I'm sure Ranma's all right. He's a survivor,
isn't he?" Kasumi continued to stir.

 "Breakfast okonomiyaki?" Nabiki finally
woke up enough to determine what she was eating.
"Did Ukyou come by this morning too?"

 "Oh no," Kasumi smiled at the two. "Just
trying different things..."

 "Ah." Nabiki shrugged and ate more of it.
Whatever Kasumi was doing, it worked. Nabiki hadn't
seen Kasumi almost glow with health like that in years.

 "Oh," said Akane, turning her attention
back to breakfast. "It's awfully cold though, and it'll
probably rain some more."

 "Concerned about your fiance, Akane?
Heart all aflutter cause he's alone and injured somewhere?"
Nabiki smirked as she sipped on some tea.

 "OF COURSE NOT! It's not like I care what 
happens to that baka!"

 "Then maybe I ought to take Ranma," said
Nabiki, turning her smirk up a degree.

 "FINE! TAKE HIM!" Akane was tired of
Nabiki's bluffs.

 "OK. Thank you!" An eerie chorus sounded.

 Nabiki looked at Kasumi, the chopsticks 
dropping from nerveless fingers. Akane's gaze flicked
back and forth from the two of them to the curtain,
where she was SURE she'd heard a third voice answer.

 Kasumi glanced at the curtain and started
humming a tune that she'd never heard, though Ranma
had. "Oh, the cat came back, she couldn't stay away..."

 "Shampoo?" Akane managed after she picked
up the clue.

 "What are you doing here, Shampoo?"

 "It going to rain soon. Shampoo decide better
check and see if airen show up yet." Shampoo stuck her
head around a corner. "Airen not here, is he?"

 "I'd imagine that EVERYONE with Jusenkyo
curses dislikes this time of year." Nabiki stared into her
teacup. "Damp and chilly to say the least." Maybe she
should have a few umbrellas and such on hand for sale...

 Kasumi nodded absently. She knew Ranma
disliked this season intensely.

 Akane shrugged. She at least knew that if
Shampoo was here, then that meant Ranma was not
with her. That left...way too many possibilities.
---------------------------------------------
 Ukyou Kuonji dragged a semi-concious
Ranma into her store, closed the door, and tried not
to think of all the things she could do with Ranma
at her mercy.

 The time she had found him, weakened by
Happosai's moxibuxtion technique, she had come 
VERY close to making a Ranma okonomiyaki with 
lots of sauce. Instead she had chickened out and just
woke him up by turning on the grill.

 She still had dreams in which she had NOT
chickened out. They were quite naughty fantasies of
the sort that Nice Girls are not supposed to have.

 A bad head injury prevented him  from
an okonomi-orgy or even the grilling he'd gotten
the last time. The cold drizzle had become a light rain,
and so Ranma was now Ranma-chan and with soaked
bandages.

 Ukyou shrugged happily. There was just
no way around it, she had to bring his temperature back
up. Now how to do it?

 Ukyou began to smirk as various naughty
possibilities came to mind. A hot soak, and of course,
she'd have to be right there with him - can't leave a guy
with a head injury alone like that! Or maybe cuddling up
under some warm blankets where her body heat could
take the chill off of him! She snickered. Maybe it was time
for that Ranma okonomiyaki...

 The snicker stopped. She was nice. She was
cute. Though she wanted (Oh Kami, how she wanted!)
to do any and all of the above, she couldn't do that to
him. No, Shampoo would do that sort of thing. Probably.
Akane wouldn't do that sort of thing even if he did marry
her. Kodachi...well, Kodachi would do that sort of thing
and get progressively worse.

 She had to do this nicely, damn it. Ukyou's
expression was sad as she watched Ranma lying there.
If only she could convince Ranma that SHE was the one
who really loved him.
--------------------------------------
 Inside Ranma's mind, a dining room table had
formed with several people sitting around it.

 "OK, people, we're here to discuss the situation
that we've gotten ourselves into." Nabiki steepled her hands
in front of her and looked at all the other participants in this
little conference.

 "Ranma-kun's headaches have gotten worse,"
Kasumi advised. "This would seem to indicate that the 
injury isn't simply the scalp wound that we had hoped for.
There may be internal bleeding."

 "Uhm," Ranma raised a hand. "Does our meeting
like this mean I've done that multiple personality thing that
the real Kasumi was worrying about?"

 "No, Ranchan. We're just manifestations of the 
memories you've gotten through your 'eyecatch' trick."
Ukyou paused. "Actually each of us are acting out the 
part of various aspects of your Self. Nabiki is the analytical,
Shampoo the survivor, and myself the ego."

 "That explains why you're wearing my clothes.
What about Kasumi?"

 "Oh, I'm real. I'm just sitting in while I polish the
floors. Can't do much about the laundry till it stops raining."

 "Ah."

 "Besides, I'd like to start a fire and learn the
'Chestnuts Roasting' technique but..." Kasumi shrugged.
"It doesn't matter that much compared to what is going to
happen to you."

 "Ah? Oh yeah. Internal bleeding. Got ya."

 "Not likely, Kasumi, consider how much time
has passed." Nabiki waggled a finger. "If we were talking
about subdural hematoma, surely we would be experiencing
a coma at the very least by now. The injury occurred yesterday
at about 4:15pm. According to what we saw, it's only now 
coming up on 7:30am. That's still way too long."

 Kasumi blinked, then realized that the ersatz
Nabiki was accessing her own medical knowledge. "Not if
you factor in the chi-enhanced healing factor and the very
real possibility of a minor blood vessel being the site of
leakage. Some clotting may have occurred, which carries
its own problems, of course."

 Ranma nodded, remembering all those medical
texts that he had read all the time. Or rather that Kasumi had
read all the time. "Guys, while you're still seperate, what's
gonna happen to me? I mean, I feel the same, I guess, but
if I stop to think about it...I'm not."

 Nabiki winked and leaned back in her chair.
"You'll grow, Ranma. We'll grow, rather. None of us dying,
but rather the memories and personalities you've picked up
will be added to your own. Supplementing your Self rather
than supplanting it, if I might get poetic."

 "Ranma, I check out. We not in immediate
danger." Shampoo spoke up, her eyes still fixed on
something only she could see.  "Spatula girl..."

 "Why can't you just use my name?" Ukyou 
glared at Shampoo.

 "You know why. Shampoo feel inadequate
next to Spatula Girl and Violent Pervert." Shampoo
shrugged. "Search our memories. You've been Ranma's
friend and childhood confidante, Violent Pervert Girl
captured Ranma's heart by being first girl to ever act 
nice to him. Otherwise she'd have been dumped a long
time ago, but now there real affection. Even if Akane
seems to be real dominatrix type under it all."

 "Gak!" Ranma wondered where THAT had
come from. These were all parts of himself, weren't they?
Or did he get more of the original than he'd thought?

 "Ranma, I've got to answer the door. Get to
a doctor as soon as possible." Kasumi excused herself 
and vanished. 

 Ranma shrugged. "OK, so, what do we do
about our current situation."

 "Well, you could elope with Ucchan!" Ukyou
suggested brightly.

 "Stupid Spatula Girl," Shampoo said, sulking a
little. "Why not go to Nekohanten? Great Grandmother know
much Chinese medicine. She at least able to make diagnosis."

 Nabiki held up a finger. "Mousse." A second finger
went up. "The possibility of getting crated and carted off to China
while unconcious."

 Shampoo snorted. "That no happen. If that was plan,
would have happened long time ago."

 Nabiki held a third finger off. "You HAVE been known
to play with odd foodstuffs before."

 "That was before Shampoo understand airen's feelings
on that!"

 "Shampoo still doesn't understand. You do, because you're
part of the whole!"

 Kasumi reappeared in a Star Trek (old series) transporter 
effect. "I've always wanted to try that," she beamed happily. "Oh,
that was Cologne. Everyone knows where you are now. Well, except
for Akane and Nabiki who are at school now. It looks like Ucchan took
the day off to nurse you back to health."

 Ranma blinked at Kasumi referring to Ucchan as Ucchan.

 "So that means that Shampoo will be arriving soon," Ukyou
noted. "She's not going to let a rival like Ucchan spend quality time 
nursing you back to health without at least a token argument."

 "And if I know about it," Nabiki frowned, "then I _might_
sell the information to Kodachi. I would really object to adding her
persona and memories to this gestalt."

 "Kasumi, I hope to talk to you face-to-face soon." Ranma
stood up from the table. "I think we've spent too much time unconscious
as it is."
--------------------------------
 "Urgh."

 "Ranchan!" Ukyou immediately clapped her hands over her
mouth and winced. "I was so worried about you, you jerk!"

 "Know that, Ucchan." Ranma slowly uncurled himself from
the covers. "You deserve a lot better than me, ya know?"

 Ukyou blinked. That hadn't sounded like Ranma AT ALL.
She rallied after a moment. "Well, it doesn't matter what I deserve, since
what I want is..."
  
 "I know, Ucchan. More than you'd believe, I know." Ranma
sighed as deeply as he could without making new lances of pain go through
his head. "Oh, and you'd better come in now Shampoo, it's going to rain
some more."

 Ukyou stared at the empty window for a moment before a 
head popped up into view.

  "Even when airen badly injured, he still goodly
martial artist."

 "Well it's that 'wild berry' perfume you use, Shampoo." Ranma
stopped. Keeping either of them going any longer would just hurt them 
more in the long run. "Come on, Ucchan, Shampoo. Let's go see if the old
ghoul can do something about this headache."
------------------------------------
clip to part 4, the big finale