Well, I'm back on the FFML after a long, long while.  Here is Nullifier part
1, which will be followed by parts 2 to 4 and including a brand new part,
part 5!

Nullifier 122 deals with what happens if Ranma's female side is separated
from him.

Read and enjoy.  C&C is welcome.

Ranma 1/2 = (C) of Shogakukan

Nullifier 122
by Webdragon

	Nullifier 122
---------------------

Part One : Divisions
-------------------------

It is a special day at Furinkan High School.  Today, the annual festival and
fair of all the departments is in full swing.  The Arts department is
staging its own production of "The Monkey King" while the Home Economics
classes have been whipping up a batch of goodies.  The Science department is
proudly showing off its homemade landmines and improved chloroform gas while
the Sports department  is roughing  it up in the field and in the dojo.
Akane and Ranma are touring each   exhibit one by one.

 "Wow!  Ranma, look at these dresses!  The Fashion students are  really
something!"  Akane touched a dark red dress with admiration.  Ranma looked
unimpressed at the assortment of dresses with low-cut
bosoms and he snorted in derision.

"What's wrong?  Don't think you'll look good in them?"  Akane peered at
Ranma with a sly look on her face.

"WHAT?!  Keep it down, stupid!"

"I'm just kidding!  Ranma, you're such a dope sometimes."

"What makes you think I'll wear a dress?!  I'm a guy!"

"Not in your normal form, idiot!  In your girl body!  Come to think of it,
you'd really look good in one of these dresses.  Especially this red one."
Akane takes the red dress out and puts it on her front.

"HEY!!  I'm a GUY, alright?  So what if I'm a girl half the time.  It's not
my fault anyhow."  He looked so hurt that it was over-exaggerated and Akane
laughed.  Ranma glared at Akane suspiciously as she put the dress back.

"Hey!  What's so funny?!"

"Can't you take a joke?"  Akane walks around to another dress.

"Akane!"  It was Sayuri.  "Come take a look at this dress!"
Akane examines a blue dress, noting the satiny feel of silk. She blushes
slightly when she sees the slit on both sides of the dress, the better to
show the legs off.  Her blush turns even redder upon noticing the low cut
bosom.  Sayuri notices Akane's blush and she laughs.

 "The better to catch guys with, Akane."  Sayuri leans closer and  she
whispers into Akane's ear.  "If you *really* wanted to catch Ranma's
attention, why not buy this dress?"

"What!?  What makes you.....", Akane drops her voice to a whisper, "...I
mean...what makes you think I want Ranma anyhow?  He's insensitive, he
insults me, he....."

"Don't be coy, Akane.  Anemi and the girls know."  Sayuri raises her voice.
"Anyway, I'll sell it to you cheap.  Only two thousand yen.  That's a steal
compared to the sort of dresses you find in the department store."

"No thanks, Sayuri.  Hey, are you still up for the slumber party?"
"Yes!  Tonight, at your place, seven p.m.?  All of us are coming!"
"That's great, Sayuri!"

"I hope P-Chan will be there, too.  If you can find him, that is."
"I'll try my best to find him.  I promise."

"Hey!"  It was the fashion teacher.  "Quit dawdling and come help me,
Sayuri!"  Sayuri waves to Akane as she and Ranma leave.

"Well, these seem almost like the last of them.  Let's go home.  I'm
starving!"

Akane turned about at Ranma's words, after having waved goodbye to Sayuri.

 "What was that?" she asked.

 "I said, these must be, like, the last of them.  I'm hungry and I want to
go home."

"No.  Don't you think of anything else but your stomach, Ranma?  We're not
leaving yet."

"Why not?"  Ranma looked almost beside himself in indignant outrage.

"The map I have here says that there's one more exhibit just around the
corner."

"*One* more measly, crummy...ooof!"

Akane removes her elbow from Ranma's stomach.

"Why are you so insensitive?  Now I know you're really a guy, and not just a
sex-changing pervert!  A guy is always so insensitive!  Give them, whoever
it is, a chance at least!"

"At least I don't go boo-hooing over the slightest thing, like girls do."
Ranma hops out of range of Akane's elbow.  "By the way, who is it?"

Akane stared hard at the map, looking at it from different angles and even
turning it upside down.

"It...doesn't say.  It just says `61'."

"Yeah, yeah.  Let's get it over with."

As the two round the corner it seems as if the brightness and the cheer of
the atmosphere suddenly reversed itself and turned into darkness and gloom.
No lights were on in this corridor, only candles lit the way to the Exhibit
61.

"This is creepy!"  Akane instinctively inches close to Ranma, but she
catches herself and forces herself to walk at least a foot or two apart from
him.

"Reminds me of somebody, though....."

The two halt as they see Gosunkugi sitting behind a booth with the  words
`Voodoo Items' on the sign.  Various puppets hang from frayed  bits of cord
under the sign, dangling above trinkets and bottles of  potions.  He stands
up and looks forlornly at them.  It seems as if nobody had visited his stand
since he had it set up.  The counter beside  the stand stood at a grand
total of zero.  Gosunkugi turns his dark-rimmed eyes to Akane.

"H-hello, Akane!"

"Umm...you're Gosunkugi, right?"  Akane peered at Gosunkugi and tried to
place a name to the face while Ranma waved rather condescendingly to him.

"Hey, weirdo!  Watcha got over there?"

Akane glares at Ranma and almost elbows him in the stomach.

"Be polite, stupid!"

"Okay, okay!"

Ranma walked up to the stand and scanned it.  Mallets, nails, various
potions, candles and matches...all of it seemed like junk.  Ranma spends
some time looking through the paraphernalia, picking and discarding items as
he listens to Gosunkugi's speech with a disinterested ear.  Ranma picks up
an ornament.

 "What's this?"

"That amulet is supposed to take your warts away."

"Right."  Ranma tosses it back on the heap of junk and fishes through it
with his hand.  Eventually, his fingers settled on a tiny bottle of liquid
that looked, for all the world, like a bottle of perfume.  Yet, no such
perfume swirled inside its container with a life of its own.

"Hey, what's this?  Cologne?"

"That's a bottle of Nullifier, Blend 122.  It's supposed to
cure curses, illnesses, and...."

"Just more of your jun..I mean, your stuff.  Hmph.  Supposed to cure curses
and.....", Ranma double takes.  What did Gosunkugi say, again?  "Did you
say...cure curses?

Akane leaned forward in interest.  "Cure....curses?" she asked with a bit of
hesitation.  <Oh no>, she thought, <yet another cure for Ranma's curse.>

"Why, yes I did.  But it's pretty old stock and....."

"Can it really cure curses?  Can it?" exclaimed Ranma, nearly beside himself
in excitement.

"Just follow the directions, Saotome."

Ranma looks at the label.

"But...but it's in Chinese!!  I can't read that!"

 "Did I forget to mention that it's from the Baiyan-Kalan Range, Qinghai
province of China?  Apparently it was a tribal treasure of some sort.  Now,
it's a family heirloom."

"How did your family get possession of such an important object?"   Akane
took the Nullifier from Ranma and looked at it.

"My father was given it by a man.  More, I cannot tell."

"Well, how much for it?"  Ranma started to dig into his pockets.
"You can have it, if you wish.  I don't really think it will have much
effect after all these long years.  Besides, you people were the only ones
to visit my stand today.  It makes me feel like I've accomplished something
with this little gesture of mine."

"Thank you, Gosunkugi."  Akane bows, and still manages to jab Ranma in the
side with her elbow.

"T-thanks, man"  Ranma sketches a short, quick bow.

"Anytime."  Gosunkugi flicks off his flashlight and plunges the hallway into
darkness.  The black-out lasts only a few seconds and the lights come back
on in the hallway.  Ranma and Akane are surprised, and more than a little
spooked, to see no sign of Gosunkugi or his stand.  It was almost as if he
had disappeared.

"C'mon, Ranma.  Let's get out of here."  Akane could fairly feel the
goosebumps rising out of her skin and travelling all over her body in
droves.

"Y-yeah.  Let's."

 Half an hour later, Ranma and Akane are on their way home.  Ranma examining
the bottle with much interest, somehow keeping his balance on the fence at
the same time.  He even went as far as to open it and take a sniff of the
contents.

"Hmmm...it...it smells funny."  Ranma restoppered the bottle.
"Hey, are you sure you want to use that thing?"

"What if it can really cure me, Akane?  Nullifier, Blend 122.  Sounds pretty
important. If it sounds important, it has a good chance of  being
important."

"How are you going to read the directions on it?"  Akane turned her
attention back to the path.

"I'm not.  You go on home, Akane. I'll just be a second."

"Why?  What do you mean....oh.  Nekohanten?  I'm coming along too."

"Ummm...okay, if you want."  Ranma seemed quite a bit nervous at Akane
accompanying him to the Nekohanten and he showed it by fidgeting constantly.
The two reach the restaurant in short order and the both of them walk in.
The place is nearly full and they managed to find a two-seater table.
Shampoo flounces over and gives Ranma a hug.  Akane simply sipped at her
tea, seeming to pay no attention, but the tea cup shook with her effort not
to crush it into tiny bits.

"Ranma!  Shampoo so happy see you!  Shampoo go get ramen for Ranma!  On
house!"  Shampoo starts to bounce away but Ranma grabs a corner of her apron
and pulls her back.  She looks surprised at first, but it quickly changes to
a smile.  Akane's cup cracks, just a little.

"Could you also bring the old ghoul too?  I wanna speak with..."

 An expertly aimed chopstick shot out of the kitchen and landed smack on the
side of Ranma's head.  Moving with incredible speed, a short figure came out
of the kitchen and stood at Ranma's side, just in time to catch the
chopstick as it fell.  The diners clapped at this incredible feat of skill
and speed.

"Who's an old ghoul, sonny boy?"

"I...uh..take that back."

"I see my future son-in-law still needs a little ironing-out.  Well, enough
of all that. What was it you wanted to see me about?"

"It's about this."  Ranma fishes out the Nullifier from his pocket and he
hands it to Cologne, who peers at it in astonishment.

"It's a...a Nullifier, Blend 122.  My tribe used to have one of these.  It
was old when I was a young girl just three hundred years ago.  I was told by
a village elder about its use but I forget what she had said.  It has been
so long, you know.  Anyhow, how did you get a hold of this?  It is exclusive
to the Bayan-Kalan Range of the Qinghai province of China and it has never
been duplicated outside of China."

"We got it from Gosunkugi."  Akane sets her tea cup on the table.
"Gosunkugi?"

Ranma leans back on his chair and Shampoo leaves, to take customer's order.
Cologne gives the bottle back to Ranma.

"He's some nerd at our school who thinks that magic is real and  voodoo
curses work."

"What's his background?"
 Akane sighs.

"We don't know.  Nobody knows, not even the teachers.  Why do you ask?"

"Oh, don't worry about it, dear."

"But I'm not really following any of this.  Can you explain it to us,
please?"

Cologne contemplates that question for a few moments, then she nods and hops
up on a seat.  She motions Akane and Ranma close, so others wouldn't hear
what she had to say.

"Our tribe had suffering from a band of marauding tigers.  Not a week would
go by without one of our tribe getting mauled or killed by
these beasts.  A travelling sorcerer by the name of X'ian Taolu managed
to destroy each and every one of the beasts.  In gratitude, we gave him
two of our treasures. One was this Nullifier, Blend 122.   I don't remember
the second item, but it was the most important of all."
"So....this is your Nullifier, then?" said Ranma as he held the bottle up to
the light, to show off the swirling, purple liquid.

"It's very possible, son-in-law."

"But that would make the man who gave the Nullifier to Gosunkugi's father
over three hundred years old!" exclaimed Akane in surprise.

"You would be surprised to find out just how irrational our world is.
Stranger things have happened, and will happen again."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Ranma.

"Exactly what it means.  Take me, example."
 "No thanks."

"As an example, foolish boy, not as your bride.  Unless....you really mean
it?"

Ranma looks sick at that thought and Cologne smirks in triumph.
"Okay, whatever.  What do the instructions say on the side?"  Akane took the
bottle from Ranma and gave it to Cologne.

"It says to use it while taking a bath in water that's neither hot
nor cold.  I assume that means lukewarm water.  Effects will occur after
a few minutes.  That's it.  Exactly what its effects are, I don't remember."

"Alright!!  I can give this one a try then, right?"  Ranma held the bottle
carefully.

"No, not yet.  The elder told me its exact purpose and I wouldn't want my
future son-in-law to be exposed to unpredictable magic.  Let me try and
remember it before you use it, boy.  The water is the key....."

"She's right, Ranma.  Who knows what it would do?"

Ranma was in possession of another possible cure for his condition, and he
knew it well.  Such cures had come and gone, and while he felt that it was
yet another cure in a long succession of cures - he still couldn't help but
feel a huge thrill of excitement and anticipation.  His curse could be
nullified for good!  All he had to do was use the Nullifier 122 and whatever
happens, happens.  If he got cured, so much the better.  If he didn't, it
won't cost him anything.  At least, he hoped so.

 Cologne hops off the chair and starts to walk back to the kitchen.
"I'll get Shampoo to bring you two some ramen", she calls over her shoulder.
On the house.  Remember, son-in-law, not to use it until I remember what
it's used for."

She leaves and heads back into the kitchen, deep in thought.  Shampoo comes
out after a short while and places two orders of ramen on the table.  Ranma
and Akane eat their food and leave to walk back  home.  The afternoon sun
rose high and a cool wind sweeps the leaves from the path.  The two walk
into the Tendo residence.  Kasumi is drying a new batch of clothes on the
line.  Soun and Genma are playing go, each trying to outmanoeuvre the other.
A bird trills its song on the branch of a cherry blossom tree, which
overlooks a pond, where graceful carp swim.  Nabiki is watching TV, and
Happosai...well, only God knows where he is, or what he's doing, and He's
not telling.  Akane takes her shoes off and steps into the house.

"I'm home!  Kasumi, I don't need dinner tonight, I already ate.  Nabiki?"

"Yes?"

"Did anyone call for me?"

"Yes.  Sayuri called at about five.  Said something about a slumber party
and she would be coming with Anemi.....and two others."

Akane checks her watch.  It was 5:30.

"Sounds fine to me.  Thanks, Nabiki."

"I ought to charge you for that, but you're my sister and I'll make an
exception this time."

 Akane heaves a sigh at Nabiki's mercenary character, yet she knows at the
same time that Nabiki did have a soft spot in her heart for friends and
family, no matter her outside demeanour.  Kasumi stepped out of the kitchen
and she beckoned to Akane.

"Akane, could you come and help me make the treats for the slumber party?"

Her words on Akane were instantly electrifying, making Akane pep up with
newfound vigor.

"I'd love to!"  She was already following Kasumi into the kitchen.
Ranma snorts and takes his leave, to go practice in the backyard.  He sets
up a circle of straw dummies and he begins to warm up, to stretch his limbs
and to get into the mood.  Then he launches himself into a flying kick, with
his right foot just brushing the side of a dummy's face.  He followed up
with his left foot from behind in a roundhouse, slamming the ball of his
foot into the dummy's side.  Then, spinning like a top, he delivered
backhand after backhand to its face with frightening speed and power, each
strike making the dummy shake and sway, and culminated with a punch from his
right fist that focused all the power of his ki and his muscles and broke
the dummy off its stand, sending it flying to the far end of the backyard -
some 30 metres away.

But he wasn't finished yet.  He still had three opponents remaining.  A
sidekick later and another straw dummy went to join the first.  He leapt
high into the air and landed a kick on the third, then using the third as a
springboard, he bounced off and kneed the fourth in the head.  In seconds,
it was all over.  The wreckage of four straw dummies lay about him and he
wasn't even sweating.

 He needed more of a challenge than just fighting against set targets, but
what could give him a serious workout?  More importantly, who could?  Kuno
was a joke, and so was Mousse, although they were far superior to the best
*average* martial artist.  He sparred with Akane sometimes, but he found her
too little of a challenge to make their matches interesting.  Not that he
told her, as he would be liable to receive a mallet on the head for his
comments.  He needed someone with whom he didn't have to pull his punches,
or pass up opportunities for easy victories due to flaws in defenses, and
that person would still have to give him a run for his money.

That someone was Ryoga.  Through their days as budding martial artists,
Ranma had the advantage of a tutor - in his father, that was, while Ryoga
had nobody but himself and his determination to beat Ranma.  Ranma was
surprised that Ryoga was such a good martial artist without having been
taught in any school or by any tutor.  Ranma looked about for him, hoping to
see a glimpse of his bandanna, or his red umbrella and his heavy pack, or
even a little black pig.  He saw none of what he was looking for, even after
leaping onto the rooftop with a single bound.

He suddenly lost interest in working out today, as there were no challenges
worthy of him on the horizon, and he went inside to take a bath.  It felt
strange, but refreshing to take a break from his usual routine.  As he
stepped by the kitchen, he heard Kasumi asking Akane to fetch her
ingredients and other things - and he did not hear her asking Akane to make
the sweets.  Though Kasumi seemed rather oblivious at times, Ranma was not
really surprised to see such insight and thoughtfulness in her - she wasn't
about to let Akane, with her underdeveloped `cooking' skills, make the
sweets that would seal her friends' collective fates.

Ranma grabs his bath stuff from his room and puts the Nullifier bottle into
his bath pail.  He was not about to let it go out of sight just yet!  He
stripped his clothing off and hung it on pegs behind the door, taking care
to lock it as he did, then he filled the tub with hot water while he sat on
a plastic chair.  Then he tipped a bucket of cold water over himself and she
shivered at the chilliness.
 She pours more cold water on herself, making sure that she washed every
inch of herself.  She lifts each of her breasts, mumbling and muttering to
herself as she pours the water under them.  When she was a guy, she never
had to do this!  It irked her to see, and feel, body parts that only a girl
should be most familiar with.  The tub was almost full of hot water and she
turned the tap off.  Now she would let it cool down a bit while she soaped
herself.  As she was smaller as a girl, she could get herself soaped faster
and thereby getting into the hot tub sooner.

She couldn't deny herself the fact that she had a killer body, for a teenage
girl.  Her breasts were the largest of any girl, part-time or not, in
Furinkan High and her figure rivalled that of Shampoo in pleasing contours.
What made all the difference was that this body was *hers*, and not
belonging to another girl.

As she scrubs her back, she started to wonder what it would be like to be
free of the curse...right now.  Wonder changed to curiosity, and curiosity
quickly turns into temptation.  The little bottle seemed to beckon to her,
seemed to invite her to pour its contents into the bath.  Ranma-chan sat
unmoving for quite a long time, thinking and weighing the pros and cons of
using something she didn't even know about.  But she was, by nature,
stubborn and unwilling to wait.  What does the old ghoul know anyway?

She waited until the bath water had cooled to lukewarm, then she opened the
bottle and slowly let a single drop fall out.  The purple liquid dissipated
quickly.  Ranma-chan hesitates for a second, then she washes the soap off
herself with a bucket of hot water and he gets into the tub.  He thought he
felt a slight tingle but wasn't sure.  Convinced that not enough Nullifier
was used, Ranma tips it just enough for another drop.
 Unfortunately, through a combination of soapy hands and blind fate, the
bottle slips from his grip and falls with a plop into the tub.  Cursing, he
flailed blindly under the surface of the water with his hands, grabbing for
the bottle, but it kept slipping out of his grasp - as if it had a mind of
its own.  After three futile tries, he managed to get a hold of it and he
held it up.

Where once was purple liquid, now only water remained.  The tingle started
even as his eyes widened in the realization of what he did.  The sensation
felt like tiny needle pricks on the part of his body that was submerged in
the lukewarm water.  The tingle quickly increased in intensity and Ranma
tried to get out of the bath.  But his legs felt like lead and the water
seemed as viscous as wet cement.  He tried to call for help but nothing came
out, just a strangled croak.  The tingling now probed the beginning of real
pain, and Ranma was helpless!  Suddenly an explosion of light burst forth
from the waters and engulfed Ranma, delivering him into the realm of
unconsciousness.
	* * *
"Ice cream, everyone!"  Kasumi stepped out of the kitchen with a tray that
had a tub of ice cream and a number of bowls and spoons.
Practically everyone dropped whatever they were doing and they rushed for
the table.  Kasumi smiles as she begins dishing out the treat.  It was one
of the many things everyone liked about her - she was apt to spring pleasant
surprises in subtle, yet tangible ways.  Akane took a spoonful of the ice
cream and she licked it.  Then she looked around.

"Where's Ranma?  He loves this flavor of ice cream", she asked.
"Last I saw of him was when he went to take a bath, like half an hour ago.
You know, he's been in there awfully long.....", replied Nabiki.

"Oh, my.  I hope there's nothing wrong.  I'll go check on him", assured
Kasumi as she stood up.  Akane shoos Kasumi back and seats her in her chair,
pushing a bowl of ice cream before her.

"Don't worry about him.  Let's keep his share in the freezer.  He's bound to
come out any moment now."

Minutes pass and everyone finishes their ice cream and go back to whatever
they were doing before.  Soon, an hour has passed since Ranma went inside
the bath.  Kasumi turns to Akane.

"Akane, why don't you go check on Ranma?"

"Sure.  Whatever you say.  I hope nothing has happened...."  Akane gets up
and she runs to the bath, fearing the worst.
	* * *
Ranma-chan woke up in the bath, feeling the cool water on her lower torso
and the air on her upper torso.  She found herself slumped in one corner of
the bath, one arm dangling over the edge and the other on her lap, both her
legs folded beneath her.  She sat up straight and  examined herself for any
injuries.  She found none.  Ranma-chan glances over the edge of the tub and
sees the empty bottle of Nullifier lying there.

"Well....that didn't seem to work.  Oh well, just another thing that seemed
to be a cure."

She raises herself out of the tub.  And falls straight back on her butt,
splashing a considerable amount of water out of the tub.  She rubbed her
eyes once, then twice.  Ranma was *right there* at the other end of the tub.
She was so shocked that she couldn't even think, nor move, nor react in any
other way than to stare in surprise.

 Ranma awoke from unconsciousness and lay looking at the bath ceiling for a
long moment or two.  He could feel the cool water of the bath lapping at his
body. <Wait a minute.... cool water?>  He tentatively felt himself from head
to toe, making sure as to what sex he was at the moment.  No mistake about
it, he was male.  A grab in between his legs confirmed that to him.  And
that meant.....Ranma bolted upright, a huge smile on his face.  <I'm....I'm
really cured!  I'm cured for good!!!  I'm....>  He heard a little splash
from the other end of the tub, and looked up.  Ranma stared at Ranma-chan
sitting at the other end of the tub, who was staring back just as surprised,
and as naked, as he was.

"Ummm....this is just a dream, right?" asked Ranma-chan as she fidgeted not
a metre from Ranma.

"It must be a dream.  No way there could be my female self right across from
me.  No way."  Ranma rubbed his eyes and pinched his skin.

"But...I'm right here. Why is it....I mean...why are you.....there?"
"I...I should ask you the same question.  This has gotta be a dream!  I
mean....I'm male and I'm here...and you're female and over there.  It
just...just doesn't make sense!"

Ranma bangs his head on the tub, a decision he immediately regretted for he
cut his forehead on the edge.  He felt the pain searing on his head and he
felt the blood dripping from the cut.  He tasted the blood.  It tasted
salty.  This couldn't be a dream!  In addition to the pain, he felt the
stirrings of sexual arousement beginning, just by looking at his naked
female form.

He remembered what he was thinking about before, when he had been female and
soaping himself, and he turns beet red.  He never realized how exact and
accurate his thoughts had been until now....!  Ranma-chan saw Ranma's
reddening  face.  Putting one and one together, she crossed both her arms
across her breasts and turned her lower body away from Ranma.

"S-sorry.  Are you...are you real?"  Ranma inches a little closer to
Ranma-chan.

 "As real as that!"  Ranma-chan shrinks away from Ranma and nods at the
growing erection between Ranma's legs, not daring to take her arms off
herself.

"I can't help it!  If you're real, then take my hand.  I want to feel you,
to see if you're...you're really real."  Ranma stretches out a hand which
Ranma-chan slaps away, and quickly covers herself again.

"You pervert!  How dare you try and feel me!"

Ranma looks at the reddening slap mark on his hand and he looks back up at
Ranma-chan.

"It's true.  You're real."

"This has gotta be a dream!  I can't be with you.  You are me.  I am you.
We are the same people.....unless.... the Nullifier really did work.  But, I
thought it was supposed to nullify curses..."

"It did.  I'm not female."

"I'm...I'm gonna put some hot water into the tub."

Still holding an arm over her breasts, she gets out and walks over to the
tap, which was near by Ranma.  She bends over and turns the hot water tap
on.  She leaves the tap running and she sits right next to the taps, letting
her body get the hot water first.  Ranma sat there, mesmerized by the naked
beauty next to him.

"What's the matter?  Never seen a real guy before?" growled Ranma-chan.  She
splashes some really hot water on herself, oblivious to the pain.  Ranma
winced.

"What guy?  I...I mean...you're still a girl."

 Ranma-chan shot to her feet and tore her arms from her breasts.

"I-AM-NOT-A-GIRL!  I'm a guy now!  See?"

Ranma-chan thumps a hand on her chest and stands up, dripping water from her
graceful curves, long legs.  Ranma's eyes goggle as he takes in her
water-slicked breasts, wet and shiny flanks, and her wet and still-dripping
pubic hair.  Ranma-chan looks down at her body.

"Eeeeeeeeaaaahhh!  I'm....still a girl!!"  She dunks her head back under the
scalding hot water.  "This should....owww!....this should do the trick!"

"No, stop, you fool!  You'll get boiled alive!!"

"Shut up, you!!  I'm a guy, not a girl! C'mon, change, damn it!"
Ranma grabbed Ranma-chan by the shoulders and dragged her kicking and
screaming from the jet of near-boiling water shooting out the tap.  She
tries to throw herself under the tap again but Ranma flung both arms around
her body and pulled her from the tub.  His hands were clamped tight around
her firm breasts, which made rather excellent hand holds.  His still-erect
manhood poked hard against her butt and Ranma-chan shrieked.  She turns
around and slugs Ranma one across the face.

"PERVERT!!  I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!"

"H-hey!  I didn't mean to do that!  I was only trying to help you!"

 Ranma backed away defensively, one hand trying vainly to cover himself, the
other in a defensive posture.  Ranma-chan looked steamed, literally.  Her
upper torso was completely red from the near-boiling water.  Suddenly
conscious of her nakedness, she sinks to her knees and covers herself with
her hands, which she pulled away immediately because even a mere touch on
her scalded skin was pure agony.

"Wh-why didn't I change back?  Why?  WHY??!?"

"The Nullifier!  It did work!  But instead of curing my curse completely,
it....sort of, like, separated my female half from my male half, or
something. So we aren't  cursed anymore, it's just that I'm back to normal
and you're in a normal girl's body."  Ranma stands up, still holding
himself, and gets a towel.  "Here, you put this on until we get  this all
sorted out......"

The bathroom door slams open and Akane runs in, one hand clapped over her
eyes.  Ranma yelps in fright.

"Ranma?!  Is there something wrong?!" cried Akane.

Ranma, in a supreme act of willpower, willed his manhood back to normal and
covered himself with the towel in record time.  Ranma-chan is still
examining herself, trying to find out why she didn't change back.

"A-Akane!" stammered Ranma.  Ranma-chan took little notice.
"Is Shampoo in here again?!  I heard a girl's voice in here, Ranma!  No use
hiding, Shampoo!"  Akane pulls a mallet from behind her back.  "Come here,
you...little...!"

"Akane!  Shampoo's not in here...in fact...."

"In fact what?  She's hanging all over you like a cheap suit?  There's too
much mist in here to see!  How hot did you have the water anyhow, like
boiling?"

 Ranma-chan heard nothing but the sound of her own heartbeat, and she saw
nothing but her female body.  Why didn't she change back?  Why was she still
a girl?  The full horror of the situation was only beginning to assert
itself onto her mind.  She was no longer male.  She was a female, for good
it seemed.  Nothing felt right.  The situation was not good, for her at
least, she felt very painful all over, and nothing of her body seemed to
move or feel okay.  Damnit, she was a guy, not a girl!!

Akane stumbled into the bathroom, blindly swinging.  At length, she simply
dropped her hand from her eyes and she stalked the bathroom, ears tuning out
the sound of the hot water tap.  Through the billowing clouds of steam
coming from the super-heated bath, she could make out Ranma searching for
his clothing ....and a female form on the bath floor, hands out and resting
on either side of her, her head turned down.

"Ah-hah!  There you are, Shampoo!!  Hii-yaaa!"  Akane lifts the mallet up
over her head and brings it down on whom she thought to be Shampoo.

"Aaaaahhhh!!!", cried Ranma-chan as she catches the mallet in both hands,
just two or three inches from her head.

"Nnnnnggrrrrrr!  Die, you!!" growled Akane as she leaned into the mallet and
strained against Ranma-chan's strength.  Bit by bit, due to Akane's
leverage, Ranma-chan's arms began to give out to the tremendous pressure.

"A-Akane!!  I'm Ranma!!  Take a good look!" cried out Ranma-chan in
desperation.

 "R-Ranma?"  Akane looks over at Ranma in his towel, and back at the
still-undefined female shape on the floor, but she did not let up on
Ranma-chan.  Seeing that, Ranma ran over and turned the tap off.  Then he
opened a window, to let all the steam out.  The bathroom clears and
Ranma-chan is revealed, kneeling before Akane, naked and holding off her
attack.  Akane let the mallet drop from nerveless fingers as she stared from
Ranma to Ranma-chan and back.

"What is going on here?!  Ranma!"  She turns on Ranma, who pulls his towel
tighter.  Ranma-chan dropped the mallet and she put her hands on the floor
beside her, resting them.  Now her thoughts were focused on Akane and she
looked upwards.

"Umm....the Nullifier dropped into the bath.  All of it spilled into the
water and then this happened."

Akane knelt down next to Ranma-chan and she tentatively reached out a hand,
and touched her, getting a wince and a small gasp of pain from Ranma-chan.

"Ranma?  Are you alright?" asked Akane.

"Yeah," replied Ranma.

"She means me, stupid.  Well, I got burnt by the hot water.  I didn't change
back though...", said Ranma-chan.  She closed her eyes and lowered her head.
Akane looked Ranma-chan over, and she noticed finger marks on Ranma-chan's
breasts - four finger marks per breast and a finger mark on either side of
her back, corresponding to the level of her breasts.  In other words, it
looked as if someone had grabbed
her from behind.

"Who did that to you?!" exclaimed Akane.  She looked up at Ranma.  "Ranma!!
You PERVERT!!"

 "I was only trying to pull her away from the hot water tap, stupid!  Tell
her!" Ranma yelled at both Akane and Ranma-chan alike.  Akane got a towel
from the rack and draped it over Ranma-chan.  Ranma-chan's skin begins to
return to normal.

Two Ranmas.  Akane looked them over and she sighed.  If it weren't for her
daily diet of wackiness and crazy events, she would have been much more
surprised at this.  It wasn't any crazier than super strength soba, or
fathers that turn into pandas and it didn't seem any more earthshaking than
those.  There was always a cure, right?  At least, that was what Akane was
hoping for.  She couldn't handle TWO Ranmas running about, could she?  Akane
picks the Nullifier bottle up.

"You used the Nullifier, didn't you?"  It was a fact, not a question and
Ranma knew it.

"Yeah.....", replied both Ranma and Ranma-chan.

"...and it cured me of the curse!!" finished Ranma.

"...it gave me the curse!!" finished Ranma-chan.

Ranma and Ranma-chan look at each other at each other's words, then
Ranma-chan frowns.

"What are doing in my body?!" she yelled.

"Your body? This is *my* body, not yours!!"  Ranma pulled his towel tighter
in a protective motion.

"But I'm a guy, not a girl!!  My body is a guy's body, not this girl's body!
It's...it's *your* fault that I'm a girl, for good it seems!!"

"Wha...*my* fault?!  Are you forgetting that YOU put the Nullifier into the
bath, shorty!?"  Ranma was pointing at Ranma-chan in accusation.  Akane
folded her arms, and a bluish battle aura began to play about her as she
fought to retain some control of her anger.
 "So did you!!  And who are you calling shorty?!"

"You!!"

"Hey....guys.....", began Akane.

"And you're a pervert 'cuz you tried to...."

"I already told you, I was trying to help save your worthless skin from
boiling alive, but I see you're an ingrate!"

"What do you mean by `ingrate'?!" screeched Ranma-chan.  Ranma smirked.

"And I can see you're a *girl* as well!" he said with a sly look on his
face.

"Why you....!"

"Girly-girly-girr....ly!"

Ranma-chan grabs a bucket and flings it at Ranma, who catches it and whips
it back.  Ranma-chan dodged the missile and threw a bottle of shampoo, and
Ranma dodged that as well.

"See, I knew it!!  Girls can't even throw straight!" taunted Ranma as
Ranma-chan hefted the bath chair.

"Eat this!!" screamed Ranma-chan as she began to throw it at Ranma, who made
a face at her.

"ENOUGH!!  The both of you, shut up!"  Akane had lost her cool and she
whirled on Ranma.  "You're at as much fault as she is, but the least the
BOTH of YOU could do is to stop fighting!"
 Ranma-chan turned to Akane.

"But he's cured and I'm not!  That makes it *his* fault!" she shrieked.

"Huh?" Akane didn't see the reasoning behind that.  Ranma walks away.

"Well, I'm not gonna stand around here like this", he called back over his
shoulder even as he grabbed his clothing and left.

"HEY, IDIOT!!  THOSE ARE MY CLOTHES!!!", yelled Ranma-chan as she wrapped
the towel securely about her body and ran after her male counterpart.  Akane
follows Ranma-chan out the door.

Ranma was in his room, his pants on, and he was about to put on a shirt.
when Ranma-chan tore in, wet, dripping and clothed in only a slip of a
towel.  She glares at Ranma in anger.

"That's my favorite shirt you're wearing!!" she growled.

"No it's not!!  It's my favorite shirt!"

"Give that to me!"

 Holding the towel in place with one hand, Ranma-chan grabbed at  the shirt
with the other and tried to take it away. Ranma contemptuously  pulls it
away from Ranma-chan's one-handed grip. Ranma-chan fairly snarled in anger
and she took hold of the shirt with both her hands, pulling with all her
might and leaning backwards.  Unfortunately her towel took a mind of its own
and fell from her body, exposing her nakedness to Ranma.  Yelping in fright,
Ranma-chan let go of the shirt and made a grab for her towel.  Ranma
couldn't resist the temptation and he kicked the towel into the air with one
foot and caught it.  Ranma-chan screeched and lunged for the towel but Ranma
dangled it just out of reach.

"Ha ha ha!  Too short to reach it.....shorty?"  Ranma dangled it again.
Ranma-chan presses up against Ranma and stretches up for the towel, bringing
a good part of her nude body against Ranma's own.   There seemed to be a
slight crackle of electricity as that happened, that both of them thought
they could hear and feel, but nothing out of the ordinary happened just yet.

Ranma noted, somewhat absently, how *soft* yet firm her breasts were - how
silky her skin felt against his......how was it he never noticed such things
when Shampoo did the same thing?  This was his female side, for crying out
loud!

"GIVE ME THAT!!!" shrieked Ranma-chan in desperation.  She too felt her own
body against Ranma's, and she did not like how it felt at all.  At least,
that was what her mind told her.  She was a guy, and he was a guy, and guys
shouldn't, musn't, do stuff like this.  Yet, her body sang a whole different
tune altogether.  It bombarded her with new feelings, new sensations -
things she had never experienced before.  Like the *excitement* she felt
coursing throughout her body when the tips of her breasts rubbed against
Ranma's abs, for he was still unclothed from the waist up.  Or how she began
to feel all hot and bothered below, and she resisted an urge to reach down
and rub between her legs - to quell whatever was happening there.

"Ranma!!!!"  Both Ranma and Ranma-chan turn around at that voice.

Ranma had only enough time to witness a fist flying at his face before he
was whacked into the wall.  Akane picked the towel up and gave it to
Ranma-chan, who was covering herself with both hands.

"Th-thanks, Akane."  Ranma-chan gratefully takes the towel and she wraps
herself in it.  Akane turns to Ranma.

"Ranma, you pervert!!" she snarled at him.  Ranma-chan became outraged at
that.

"Hey, it's his fault!!", she yelled in protest.

"Not you, idiot!!  Him!!" Akane shot back while pointing at Ranma, who was
just getting up from Akane's punch.

"O...oh.  Sorry." With that, Ranma-chan began to hunt around for clothes.
Akane interposed herself between Ranma and Ranma-chan, looming dangerously
over Ranma.

"Alright, Akane!  Alright!!  Enough with that `I'm gonna kill you' look,
already!  I was just playing with her...!"

"HIM!!  I'm a guy, not a girl!!!" Ranma-chan had turned about with a shirt
and a pair of pants in her hands.

"A guy that has a pair of real breasts and nothing between *her* legs?"

*WHACK*

A clock had somehow been displaced from the top of the clothes drawer and
now it was attached to Ranma's face.  Ranma-chan dusted her hands off and
she looked for a private place to begin changing.  Seeing none, she looked
at Akane with a pleading expression on her face while holding her clothes
up - and Akane drags an unconscious Ranma out of the room.  The door shuts
behind Akane and almost immediately she heard running.

 "What's all the noise all about?  Kasumi just told me that there seemed to
be a fight going on up here!"  Soun was climbing the stairs with Genma,
Nabiki and Kasumi in tow.  Genma adjusts the glasses on his face.

"Ranma, my boy.  You have fighting spirit, and so do you, Akane, but you two
should keep it in the dojo, not in the house...." began Genma.  Nabiki
turned Ranma's head towards her.

"Wow, I guess this is what you would call a `timely appearance'", punned
Nabiki.

"Cut it out, Nabiki.  Dad, I'd....I'd like you to meet Ranma....and Ranma."

"Ranma...and Ranma?"  Soun looked confused, as did everyone else.  Ranma's
door opened and Ranma-chan breezed out, in her favorite red shirt and black
pants.  She was adjusting her hair with her hands, smoothing it back and
making sure nothing was sticking out, and she seemed to be looking for
something to look into - to see her reflection.  Then she noticed six pairs
of eyes on her and she turned to face them all.

"What?  What's wrong?  Is it my hair?" asked Ranma-chan.  She pulled her
pigtail around and examined it with a critical eye.

"Akane...tell me it's a dream", said Soun.

"It's NOT a dream, Dad."

"It's a dream for me, Akane!"  Nabiki had produced a camera and she was
twirling it around on one finger.

"Oh...are they really separate people, but with the same mind?"  asked
Kasumi.

"But I'm still Ranma, even though he's stolen *my* body...", began
Ranma-chan.
 "*Your* body?  Your body is that girl's body.  My body is this guy's body.
Seems pretty fair to me."

"No it's not!!  You're the one who screwed up by putting the Nullifier into
the bath!!"

"Hey, I thought I already...."

"Oh, my.  Where are you going to sleep, Ranma?" asked Kasumi.
"In my room, Kasumi.  Where else?" replied Ranma.

"She means me, dummy.  In my room, where else?" said Ranma-chan.

"Didn't I just say that?"

"So you did.  It's *my* room and I ain't gonna share it with nobody!!"

"No, it's *my* room and I ain't gonna share it with..."

"It's *both* your rooms.  And you'll both have to stay there because we
don't have any other guest rooms", finished Akane.

Ranma and Ranma-chan look sullen for a long moment, and they wondered if
they should fight to see who would get the room.  Then, they simply grumbled
their assent with Akane's order.  Everyone heard a tapping sound coming from
below and Kasumi looked over.  Cologne hopped up the stairs on her stick and
landed before everyone.

"Cologne!", cried Akane, "thank God you're here!  Can you tell us what's
going on around here?"

 "I was cleaning up in the Nekohanten when I suddenly *sensed* something had
happened.  It felt somewhat related to my roots as an Amazon, and I figured
it had to be the Nullifier.  I rushed over here as soon as I could and now I
see the Nullifier has done its work.  I guessed as much."

"Guess....at what?"

"The Nullifier works by cancelling the Jusenkyo curse and creating two
separate individuals.  Our tribe used it in times of desperate need, when
the tribe is falling low in numerical superiority versus other rival tribes.
It was our secret weapon, and it ensured the survival of our tribe over many
generations.  Our strongest warrior, or warriorress, would jump into either
the Spring of Drowned Woman, or Spring of Drowned Man, respectively.  Then
they would use the Nullifier to separate their cursed form from their normal
form.  Then....."

"Oh my...they get married, then?"  Kasumi had a hand to her lips in
astonishment.  Everyone else looked confused until after they digested
Kasumi's observation.

"You mean....you mean...they sleep together!?"  Ranma and Ranma-chan looked
at each other with revulsion in their eyes.  "I know that I'm not gonna
sleep with that guy!!"  Ranma and Ranma-chan pointed at each other.

"If the Nullifier had been new stock, you would have had no choice."

"Huh?"

 "New stock Nullifier has something called a lust spell.  It makes the two
split halves get feelings of incredible lust for each other.  In other
words, they would...how you say....*get together* and *have fun*.  The two
of you would be having a lot of fun right about now, and for two or three
days to come.  No pun intended."

Akane looked rather sick at Cologne's words.  Cologne continued.

"BUT, luckily for the both of you it was old stock Nullifier.  The lust
spell had deteriorated as the dweomer fell prey to the dragon lines of ki,
losing its energy to those dragon lines.  You wouldn't understand, suffice
to say that it's probably a good assumption to believe that the lust spell
is gone for good, perhaps."

Everyone else took Cologne's words at face value, but only Nabiki smirked
and eyed Ranma and Ranma-chan with new interest.  Cologne turned about and
she left, without a word or a sound.  Ranma-chan casts a dark look over her
shoulder at Ranma as she went downstairs.  The rest of the family dispersed,
no more surprised at this than at anything else.  Except for Akane.

"Ranma, come over here for a sec."  Akane beckoned to Ranma.
 	"Why?"  Ranma was already moving.

"Just come!  I want to talk to you."

Ranma goes over to Akane and she leads him just around the corner, where
nobody could overhear her.  She waited until she was sure that Nabiki and
Ranma-chan were out of earshot - indeed, she could hear Nabiki talking to
Ranma-chan downstairs, and when Ranma-chan replied she didn't sound pleased.
Akane turned her attention to Ranma.

"Ranma, I want you see the situation from...Ranma's point of view.  The
female one, I mean."

"What?  Why should I?"

 Akane ignored that and she asked, "Do you know why she's so angry?

"She's blaming me, but we all know that me and her are the
same person.  We both dropped the Nullifier into the bath, I mean.  That's
the thing she's blaming me for."

"Exactly.  She knows that it was her fault, and I've never known..um..you or
her to blame other people for something that wasn't
their fault.  She's ticked off because...you....you don't care at all that
she's stuck as a girl.  You're too...too self-absorbed over your cure.
You're not paying enough attention to her problems because you're too busy
celebrating the end of *your* problems."  Akane looked Ranma in the eyes, to
tell him that she was dead serious.

Ranma's face reddened slightly in embarrassment from receiving a  lecture
from Akane, feeling almost like he was a dog who had done something bad and
was being scolded for it.  He felt some resentment at first, at being talked
to this way, but gradually - as he looked at Akane and she looked back at
him - he came to see the truth of her words.  He reflected on his behaviour,
and he saw that he had been very disagreeable, and not understanding enough.
He did as Akane asked, and he imagined himself stuck as a girl....and he
shuddered.

What made it more strange, and morbidly fascinating, was the fact that
Ranma-chan was him in mind and soul, if not in body.  In effect, he was
stuck as a girl, yet uncursed at the same time.  Ranma looked away from
Akane.

"Yeah....I guess...that I ought to go make up with him....err....
her...whatever."

 "Don't say that.  He, or she, is a person and not a `whatever'.  Now, tell
her that you're sorry.  I mean, tell him that you're sorry."  Akane turns
away and she nearly bumps into Kasumi, who was holding an armful of bedding
for the new `addition' to the family.  She apologizes and leaves.  Kasumi
walks into Ranma's room.

Ranma slowly makes his way downstairs and he sees Ranma-chan, one hand on
her forehead and playing with her red bangs, and Nabiki sitting next to her.
Nabiki seemed to be speaking to Ranma-chan, who was smoothing her shirt
front and her hair.

"My dear Ranma!  Think of the financial possibilities!  I already have a
plan going on that is sure to make you a bundle!!  ALL you have to do is to
cooperate."

"No thanks, Nabiki.  I don't feel like selling my body for money just now."

"Who says you have to sell your body?  Listen...."

"No thanks, I said."

"Sh...I mean, he said `no thanks', Nabiki", said Ranma as he strode up to
Ranma-chan, who turned about and transfixed him with a stare.

"Did I say I needed your help, you....you imitation?  Why....", began
Ranma-chan, trying to start an argument.

Ranma ignored that as he grabbed Ranma-chan by the waist, tucked her under
his arm and ran outside, and away from Nabiki.  Ranma-chan was shocked for a
few seconds, then she started kicking and struggling.  Ranma leapt to the
top of the Tendo Dojo and he deposited his bundle of red hair and flailing
limbs on the roof.  Ranma-chan picked herself up and she growled at Ranma,
then she began to stride towards him with every intention of beating him up.
How dare he do that to her?!

 Ranma waited impassively, until Ranma-chan threw a punch and Ranma
intercepted it with one hand.  He caught it and he tried to turn it into a
flip but Ranma-chan twisted out and quickly kicked Ranma's legs out from
under him.  Ranma twisted in midair, slammed his hands on the roof and
executed a kicking manoeuvre from his almost-prone position.  Ranma-chan
yelled as she flipped out of range and landed at the far end of the roof.

"You damned copy!!" spat Ranma-chan, "I'm gonna take you apart at the
limbs!!"

"Ranma....won't you listen to me, for a moment?" asked Ranma in a calm voice
as he relaxed his guard.

"Shut up!!"  Ranma-chan's form suddenly blurred as she moved with
almost-supernatural speed and rammed an elbow into Ranma's gut.  Ranma let
out his breath and he rolled with the strike.  Ranma-chan pressed her
attack, slamming a foot into the roof even as Ranma rolled away.  After
leaving a long line of foot imprints on the roof, Ranma-chan flipped into
the air and let out a shout as she launched a leap kick aimed at Ranma's
head.

Ranma dodged it and made a grab for Ranma-chan, but she deflected his arms
and began to do a series of kicks and punches, all executed at incredible
speed.  Ranma was able to dodge and parry most of her frenzied attacks, but
a kick and two punches slipped through his defenses and connected with his
stomach and back, respectively.  He did not attack back even though he saw
one or two opportunities to do so.

 Ranma-chan, seeing that he wasn't attacking back, snarled and lunged with a
flying roundhouse with her right foot.  Ranma ducked it, and Ranma-chan
followed up with her left foot while she was still suspended in the air.
Ranma popped back up and caught the foot, immobilizing it, and he sought to
bring her down on the roof.  Ranma-chan yelled in derision as she kicked his
forearm and made him release her.  She landed on her feet, leapt high in the
air and landed on the other end of the roof, where she readied another
stance.

<Damn, he's good!!> thought Ranma-chan as she watched Ranma fold his arms
and watch her.  <And to think that I was looking for a challenge this
morning....and who'd think I had to fight my own self?!  But....but he's not
better than me!  I'm better!!  I'll show him who's the real Ranma!!">

Ranma-chan began to emit a blood red battle aura, focusing her energies into
the space between her two hands, into a super concentrated Mouko Takabisha.
She gritted her teeth as she felt the hot ki coalesce and make heat waves
around her.  She was going to finish this once and for all!  The energy
poured forth from her ki reserves, and intensified in destructive power,
until she thought she could hold it no longer.  With a cry, she thrust her
hands out at Ranma and unleashed the blast.

It exploded forth from her hands as a huge beam of red energy, searing the
air as it tore across the length of the roof, destroying roof tiles in its
wake and roaring like a thing alive, bent on destroying Ranma where he
stood.

Ranma thrust his hands out and unleashed a blast of blue energy to
counteract Ranma-chan's Mouko Takabisha.  The two incredible blasts met at
the halfway point on the roof and exploded outwards in a fiery spectacle of
red and blue warring for dominance.  Ranma-chan's forehead began to bead
with sweat, but Ranma seemed to be maintaining complete control.  Slowly,
bit by bit, the blue engulfed the red and began pushing back on the red
beam, encroaching on Ranma-chan.

 Then, as if the red beam had broken from its foundations, Ranma-chan's
blast gave out and dissipated, letting the blue energy sweep in
triumphantly, and strike her.  She felt her clothing singe, and her hair
burn a bit <H-how dare he do that to her hair!> as her world became
brilliant blue, then black.

Ranma walked over to Ranma-chan and he reached down to her, to lift her up,
but Ranma-chan snapped out of her unconsciousness and kicked at Ranma.  He
blocked it and pinned her legs with his own.  She growled and lashed out
with her right hand at Ranma.  But she was still dizzy and weak from being
struck by Ranma's energy blast, and she did nothing more than get a grunt of
pain from Ranma.  Ranma quickly pinned her arms on either side of her with
his own.  Ranma-chan's chest heaved as she felt a measure of fear creep into
her.  He had won, and he had her at his mercy and pleasure.  She quelled her
fears and stared Ranma in the eyes, infusing as much courage as she could
into her gaze.

"Okay, you won, you bastard.  Now, finish it!  It won't end until one of us
is down!!"  Ranma-chan snarled in the face of her seeming doom, and she
stared at Ranma defiantly - unwilling to turn away from her end.

"NOW will you listen to me?  All I want to say is....so...sorry for being
such a jerk in the bathroom."  Ranma looked into Ranma-chan's eyes, using
Akane's technique to tell Ranma-chan - with his facial expression and eyes -
that he was dead serious.  Ranma-chan blinked, and she lost some of her
anger.  He was apologizing?  She quickly narrowed her eyes again.

"You're...you're lying!"  Ranma-chan glanced at Ranma's hands and feet,
which were holding down her own.  "You're a pervert, as well as a liar!!
Look at you, on top of me like this!!  I'm a guy too!  Let - me - go!!
Arrrgghh!!"  Ranma-chan struggled hard but Ranma was just too strong, too
heavy.

"I just want to say that...now I understand what you're going through....."

 "Let - me - go!!  Damn.....damn you!!"  Ranma-chan struggled again, feeling
quite the butterfly pinned to the board, and she also felt rather vulnerable
with the whole of her body undefended by her hands and feet.  She was open
to anything that Ranma would do to her!

"....and I want to make up to you.  I'm sorry, Ranma, for not seeing things
from your p-point of view."  Ranma let Ranma-chan go and he stood up.
Ranma-chan bounced to her feet and she bunched her fists up.

"Now...now you're gonna pay, you!"

"Then...if it makes you feel better, you can hit me."  Ranma turned about
and he waited for Ranma-chan to hit him.  He imagined that it would be
pretty painful, but he saw no other way to reconcile with her.

Ranma-chan stared at him incredulously, then she set her face and she ran
towards him.  With a cry, she leapt into the air and executed a flying
roundhouse, followed by six punches - all of them aimed at his pressure
points - two elbow strikes and a number of sidekicks, ending with a standing
roundhouse and a kiai shout of released power.

None of which so much as touched Ranma, even though he was standing stock
still.  Ranma-chan was panting and she moved to attack again, but she fell
to her hands and knees, her pigtail pointing down as if in defeat.
She...she couldn't hit him.  Not after what he had said to her.  She just
couldn't.  He had apologized to her, and she just couldn't hit him.
Couldn't.  Musn't.  Ranma-chan felt herself gently helped to her feet, and
she looked up into Ranma's face.  He looked concerned.

"Are you alright, Ranma?" he asked her.

 "I'm....I'm alright."  She found no more words to say as she got to her
feet and turned away from Ranma, and she stared out over the whole of
Nerima - trying to collect her thoughts, but they just kept slipping away.
They didn't say anything for a long, long time.  Then Ranma coughed and he
turned slightly away from her.

"Like I said, I'm sorry that you're...you're stuck as a girl.  But, there's
always a cure.  We...we can go to Cologne and ask her."

"Yeah.  Listen....I'm just as good as you are at this sort of thing, which
is not saying much, but....but I...", Ranma-chan hesitated and she turned
around, not meeting Ranma's gaze, "...I want to say I'm also sorry."

"For what?"

"For....attacking you just now."  She fidgeted a bit.

"Why?"

"Because...because I shouldn't have.  I...was just too angry, I guess, and
lost control."

"But you and me give each other a real good workout when we fight!  I mean,
I liked sparring with you better than fighting with Ryoga."

Ranma-chan looked up in surprise, and she saw him smiling.  And what a
reassuringly good sight that was to her.  The last vestiges of her anger and
doubt fell away.

"You...you thought that?  I...I guess I...I mean, we can look at it *that*
way....if you want."

 "Yeah.  Come on.  Let's make up.  Ummm...friends, or whatever?"  Ranma held
out his hand and Ranma-chan took it after a slight hesitation.  She smiled
shyly and he grinned back at her.  Then, like an infection, it quickly
turned into giggles and chuckles, then outright laughter.  Ranma and
Ranma-chan let out all their bad feelings, and their tension, and fears, in
their laughing fit, and they had to hold each other to keep from falling
down and off the roof.

Presently, their laughter passed and they found themselves in each other's
arms.  The wind blew Ranma-chan's pigtail into Ranma's face and he took a
sniff of it involuntarily.  It smelt...nice, fresh, and it had a scent to it
that he couldn't quite place down - but it still excited his senses and made
him feel....good.  He could only describe it as the way a girl would
`smell', the scent of a woman as it were, and he found that he liked it.  He
became aware of her small body against his own, her breasts on his chest,
and her hands on his back.

Ranma-chan opened her eyes and she took a sniff of him.  He smelt of sweat,
and Ranma-chan wrinkled her nose at that, but she could also detect
something else that made her want to keep him close to her - so that she
could be held in his strong arms and rest her head on his chest and.....

With a cry, Ranma-chan pushed herself off Ranma and she turned away and
folded her arms across her chest, as if to still her beating heart.  She
looked fearfully at him over her shoulder.  What was happening to her?!
Ranma had his mouth open in surprise and he reached out to her, then he let
his arm drop.  The moments ticked by with unnatural slowness, and all they
were aware of were themselves and the wind playing around Ranma's shirt
collar and Ranma-chan's hair and shirt, and cherry blossom leaves flying by
on the wind, and Ranma's deep eyes and....Ranma-chan's own eyes...and the
way.....their pigtails........waved to each other from over
their.......their shoulders...........and.......

"Ranma!!  Ranma!!! Where are the two of you?!  Your ice cream is melting!"

 Akane's voice snapped the two of them out of their daze and they quickly
leapt down from the roof. The next half-hour passes uneventfully, with Ranma
and Ranma-chan exploring the newness of their peculiar relationship.  Each
knows what  the other would do, or say, in advance, so there was little need
for talking. At exactly the same time, the two would turn on the TV set and
watch the same channels.  Eery that it is, almost all the family had no
trouble adapting to the strange situation.  Kasumi went on with her work,
Soun and Genma played shogi endlessly and Nabiki readies her camera in the
anticipation of a perfect shot.  Only Akane felt a little unnerved at the
near-perfect synchronization of the two - and more than a little jealous of
Ranma-chan. Imagine, Ranma's girl-side was more popular with him than she
was!  The doorbell rang and Akane ran for it.

"Oh, the slumber party!!  I nearly forgot!  My friends are here!!"
     She practically tears the door open, to admit Sayuri, Anemi and two
other girls, all of whom were standing on the porch, duffel bags in hand.

"Hi, Akane!  Ready for the slumber party?" greeted Anemi.

"You bet!  Come on in!"  With that, Akane ushers them inside.  Sayuri begins
to introduce their other friends.

 	"Akane, this is Erika...", the girl with short, black hair bows, "...and
she's from another class.  And this is Sayaka.....", the girl with glasses
bows and smiles.

"Pleased to meet you both!"

With that, the girls begin to chat animatedly as they drift towards the
living room, where Ranma-chan sat watching the TV.  Ranma was sprawled out
at the opposite end of the couch Ranma-chan was sitting on, doing his best
imitation of a couch potato.  The girls first notice Ranma-chan, with her
red hair.

 "Hey, Akane.  Isn't that Ranko, your country cousin?" asked Sayuri.

"Well...umm...."

"She's the one who won that rhythmic gymnastics thing two years
ago.  And she fought that Mousse guy and won!  The way I hear it,
she's as strong as that cute guy from your class", spouted Erika.

"Oh, him!  Hmm...yes...she's as skilled as that Saotome...how do you call
him....hunk!  He's a knockout, that Saotome."  That was Sayaka.

"Saotome...h-hunk?"  Akane's jaw had dropped at that and she struggled to
get a hold on herself.  Knockout?  Hunk?!  Ranma?!!  Just how popular was he
outside of the class anyhow?  She turned a suspicious eye on him.

Sayuri saw Akane acting like a fish out of water and she quickly moved over
to Sayaka and Erika.

"Umm, you guys....!" she began.

"Don't you know?  He's the one with the pigtail and he never
wears a uniform.  Even Hinako-sensei couldn't get him to wear the
uniform, and she's a tough one!  That psycho-nutcase principal of ours
can't even get Ranma to cut his pigtail", gushed Erika, "I hear that nerd
Gosunkugi keeps telling everybody that he's cursed, or something like that,
but I don't believe a word of that junk.  Nobody who looks as good as he
does can be cursed!"

"Isn't that the truth, Erika?  Wait...wait a minute.  WHO'S that lying on
the couch next to Ranko?  Hey....that's...that's.....Ranma Saotome!"

 "It's....it's him!"  For one of the few times in her life, Erika was at a
loss for words.

"He's...uh...he's Akane's fiance."

Sayaka turned to Anemi.

"Anemi, what are you talking about?  What fiance?"

"Umm....Ranma Saotome is Akane's fiance....", clarified Sayuri.
"Fiance?!  Wow, how romantic!" exclaimed both Sayaka and Erika as their eyes
went a little bit starry.

 	"Our parents arranged it....when we were young, so don't blame
me for it."  Akane was smiling.  Smiling too much, that was.  Sayuri and
Anemi were *quite* familiar with how Akane built up to her tantrums.  She
had two options, it seemed.  She could either fire up instantly, or she
could conceal her anger beneath a veneer of cheer and let it all out at a
later time.  Either way, it wouldn't be very friendly of Akane, to say the
least.

"Still!  You're his fiancee, and he is your fiance!!" squealed Erika.

"You mean to say that you and Ranma are....", began Sayaka and she locked
her pinkies together.

"Ha ha ha!  Not quite that!"  Akane folded her arms.

"Lucky you.  Wait till the girls hear this....they'll be so heartbroken!"
Erika turned her attention back to Ranma.

"Akane, come here for a sec," said Sayuri, "I wanna talk to you."
  	She leads Akane away.  Erika and Sayaka are still sneaking peeks at
Ranma.  Anemi is sizing up `Ranko', who was sitting next to Ranma.  Then
Sayuri turned to her friend.

 	"We know how jealous you can get......"

"Jealous?  Of whom?  That Casanova?!"

"Don't be so mad, Akane.  Remember, these girls are not from
our class.  We can't tell everybody how to think of your fiancee."

"But..." began Akane.

"But what?  You know that you're getting mad for no other reason  than to
find an excuse to hit Ranma, again.  Come off it, Akane!  It's not his fault
that Sayaka and Erika like him...."

Akane considered Sayuri's words for a moment, then she gave her a slight nod
of assent.

"Well.....I guess so."

"Okay.  Come on, let's go get Ranko for the slumber party.  The more, the
better.  Besides, I'd like to get to know her better since she's not always
around."

Akane and her friends walk over to the couch.  Ranma and Ranma-chan look up
from the TV simultaneously. Both of them look bored stiff.  Akane introduced
Sayaka and Erika to Ranma and Ranma-chan.

"Hello, Ranma", greeted Sayuri.

"Hey, you're Akane's friend, right?"  Ranma began to pull himself into a
sitting position.

 "Yes."  Sayuri turns to Ranma-chan.  "You're Ranko, right?"
 	"N..I mean...yes!  That's me, Ranko Tendo!" stuttered Ranma-chan in
surprise.

"Wanna join our slumber party?" asked Anemi.

"Umm, I don't know......", began Ranma-chan but Akane cut in.
"Ranko, you'll be starting school tomorrow.  This it'll be a good
time to make some friends.  Come along."

Ranma-chan looks up at Akane, into her brown eyes twinkling with amusement -
and just a hint of concern.  Why should Akane feel concerned over her?  She
was going to find a cure, like she has always done, and she will return to
normal!  There's nothing to worry about.  Ranma-chan almost told Akane to
relax, and not to worry, but something stopped her from doing so.  <Maybe I
shouldn't say anything with Akane's friends over>, she thought, <...that
wouldn't be a very good idea, now would it?>

She didn't want to go to school as a girl, nor was she desperate to make
friends with the girls but she did see the wisdom of Akane's words.  It
would only be for the time being, and it would be better for her in the long
run.  When she gets cured, she could have friends among the girls.  Of
course, that would mean that she would have to be a girl to be friends with
them, but that was really quite beside the point since friends were friends.
Besides, they were not martial artists in any way and they weren't likely to
give her too much trouble, unlike girls like Shampoo and Kodachi.

It was with this train of thought that Ranma-chan used to convince herself
to peel her body off the couch and do something more productive.

      "Oh, alright.  This program was starting to get boring anyways", she
said as she stretched out the kinks in her body.

"You go on ahead and enjoy yourself...er...Ranko."  Ranma resumed his
imitation of a couch potato with great effectiveness.

"Yeah, sure *Ranma*."  She smiled at Ranma to let him know that she was only
joking.  Out of the corner of her eye she noticed one of Akane's friends,
with short hair, leaning in to whisper to a girl with glasses.  <She...she's
Erika.  That's it>, she thought.

"Look at him!  I'd give anything to be in Akane's shoes right now!"
whispered Erika.  Ranma-chan could just make it out, but she surreptiously
leaned closer to listen in on the conversation.

"Do you think he'll be in our slumber party?" joked Sayaka.  Erika suddenly
looked over at Ranma-chan, who immediately turned her eyes to the ceiling
and pretended not to have heard.  Then Akane, Ranma-chan, Sayuri, Anemi,
Sayaka and Erika troop up to Akane's room, whereupon they unpack their stuff
and begin to change into their PJs.  Ranma-chan pretends to search around
Akane's closet for some PJs, thereby avoiding having to look at the girls.
At length she picks out a pink PJ with the words `China' on the front, and
she begins to leave the room, PJ draped over her arm.

"Where are you going, Ranko?" asked Anemi, who was already clutching a
blanket.

"Uhh....I'm going to the bathroom.  To change."  Ranma-chan wondered if the
jig was up.

"You don't have to go some place private to change.  We're all
 girls, after all.  Nothing we haven't seen, right?"  Sayuri was just
beginning to pull her PJ's on as she spoke to Ranma-chan.  Akane gives
Ranma-chan a look that said `play along'.  Ranma-chan sighs and takes her
shirt off.

"Ranko, where's your bra?" asked Sayaka.

"My what?"  Ranma-chan was confused.  Why would she need a bra...unless.....

"Your bra.  Why aren't you wearing one?"

Erika's words finally jogged Ranma-chan's brain into gear and she put two
and two together.  Girls wore bras.

"Oh, well....it's kinda less restricting not to wear one in the
house.  When I go out, I wear one."  Ranma-chan silently congratulated
herself on her quick save.

"Be careful that you do wear a bra when you go out of the house, then.  Guys
have eyes for that sort of thing.  Sometimes I even think they have eyes on
the back of their heads."

Sayuri laughed at Anemi's joke.

"Uhh....yeah.  I'll remember that.  I will."

The girls get themselves acclimatized to Akane's room and atmosphere, making
small talk as they cuddled up to their pillows.  Ranma-chan talks with the
girls, and she learns more about them.  She somehow found it less boring and
more interesting than she would have thought.  Then, as the small talk died
down, Ranma-chan felt as if she might fall asleep at any moment, so warm and
comforting was Akane's bedroom.  Akane's bed was soft, cozy and had a nice
color tone to it, and Ranma-chan was almost half asleep, leaning against a
bunch of Akane's pillows and listening to the girls chatter and chatter
and......
 "Now, what shall we do first?"

The abruptness of Sayuri's words woke Ranma-chan up from her dozing state
and everyone turned their attention to Sayuri.

"I know!  Let's try and match up the guys we are likely to date
next week!"

Ranma-chan nearly choked after Anemi had said *that*.  She?  Go out with a
guy?!  About as much chance as her friend back in her home neighbourhood
going out with a girl!  *That* guy had never been able to get a date with a
girl since she had known him from grade school.
Each girl gave a list of qualities she'd like to find in a boy, and the rest
of the group gave their opinions on which boy, in Furinkan or other schools,
would suit that girl the most.  Sayaka went first, followed by Anemi, then
Erika, followed by Sayuri - and everyone, even Ranma-chan, gave Hiroshi as
Sayuri's boyfriend.  Sayuri had looked rather embarrassed, and she had
quickly denied it and rejected Hiroshi as her boyfriend.  Akane was next.

"Well, I'd sure like him to understand me, to appreciate me for what I am,
never to fight with me or call me names, and never run around with other
girls."  Akane looked smugly at Ranma-chan, who rolled her eyes and lay back
on Akane's bed, folding both hands behind her head.

"Ranma can't be like the guy Akane is describing", said Sayuri and Akane
nodded in agreement.  Ranma-chan shot a hand in the air.

"I don't think so!  Ranma isn't like that at all!" she cried in protest.
Sayaka turned to her.

"How is he, then?" she asked.

"And how do you know so much about him?" pressed Erika.

"Well, living here under the same roof as him tends to give you some insight
into his character.  He's nice, good tempered, and doesn't have *much* of a
*choice* when girls come to *date* him."  Ranma-chan had been listing off
Ranma's points with her fingers, counting them out as needed.

"What do you mean that y-....I mean, he doesn't have a choice?!" cried
Akane.

"Shampoo always has that odd cure for the curse.  If she doesn't, then she
has that odd trick up her sleeve to make m-...him go out with her.
Kodachi...you know...we needn't say more about *that* one.  And Ukyo has
never gone out on a date with Ranma, so don't you go attacking her
needlessly."

"Not once?"  Akane looked skeptical.

"Not once."  Ranma-chan noticed that she had sat up and she lay back down.
<There...Akane got the message!>, she thought in triumphant.

"Then twice?"

"He - has - never - gone - out - on - a - date - with - Ucchan!  Get it?!"
Ranma-chan sat up again and she started to get annoyed.  What was it with
Akane?  Did she believe her, or not?

"No need to get so worked up about this, Ranko.  It's only a
game, after all."  Sayuri was always the mediator inside and outside the
classroom.

"Yeah.  Sorry about that."  Ranma-chan flopped back down on the bed.

"Anyways, back to the topic.  Which guy really suits Akane?"

Akane's friends confer for a few minutes, including Ranma-chan in their
circle.  Ranma-chan wasn't listening, as she was looking at Akane, who was
looking back in turn.  The two exchange gazes which gave away nothing that
either could pick up on.  The conference ended shortly and everyone else
turned back to Akane.

"Well, what's the verdict?" asked Akane and Ranma-chan in synchronization.

"Well, the only guy we know that doesn't run around with girls....." began
Sayuri.

"Wait till you hear it!" added Erika.

"It's...Gosunkugi!" finished Sayaka.

"AAAAHHHH!!  No way!!" shrieked both Akane and Ranma-chan, again as one
person.

"He doesn't fight, never calls anyone names...a-appreciates and understands
girls - if he had a girlfriend, so this is just an...an assumption - and
never runs around with other girls!  He's p-perfect!!"  Anemi collapses into
laughter after sputtering out her words.

The laughing was so contagious that soon Ranma-chan and even Akane were
joining in.  The laughter dies down and Sayuri wipes away a tear and looks
at Akane.

"Akane, you're asking too much of a guy.  We all know that no
guy can be exactly like what you described.  Nobody is perfect, no matter
how much we want them to be."

"Well, I think somebody's quite perfect for me!  And I'm not
telling!" piped in Erika.

"Same here", added Sayuri with a smile.

"Oh, you guys!  We all know who you two want!" teased Akane and she laughed
somewhat maniacally after.  Sayuri and Anemi looked rather nervous, and so
was Ranma-chan, but Sayaka and Erika were having the time of their lives.

"Ranko, now it's your turn.  Give us your list!" squealed Erika.  Sayaka
nodded at Ranma-chan.

"W...what?  My list?  I...I mean....", stuttered Ranma-chan  as she looked
back between Akane and Erika.

"Don't be a spoilsport, Ranko!  Come on, it's just in fun!" said Sayuri.

"But....but I...", Ranma-chan began again.  Then Akane gave her the `play
along' look, and Ranma-chan crumbled.  "Oh...alright...!  He's....uh...he's
gotta be...uh....strong!  Yeah, that's it!  Strong!  And handsome, I
guess....and skilled in martial arts.  Yeah, he's gotta be skilled....and
independent......an..and...."

 	"Say no more!  I know who is perfect for you!" squealed Erika.
"Hey!" blurted Akane, though it was unintentional as she quickly covered her
mouth with her hand.

"Don't worry, it's not Ranma", reassured Sayuri.  Sayaka and Anemi nodded.
It seemed as if only Ranma-chan and Akane did not know the verdict.

"Well.....we don't even know his name, but we know how he's
dressed...!" said Sayuri.

"Well, who is it?", queried Akane.

"Yeah, who is it?", piped in Ranma-chan, who leaned forward with some morbid
interest.

Sayuri held her hands up, to still any whispers.  Then she cleared her
throat and began.

"Akane, who's that guy who keeps visiting you?  You know, the
one with that big and heavy pack, a red umbrella, and wears a bandanna?  He
keeps fighting Ranma all the time!"

"RYOGA?!!?" shrieked Ranma-chan and Akane at once.

"That's it!  Ryoga!  He's always travelling by himself, he's skilled in
martial arts, very strong and he's cute!  *I'd* say he's as cute as Ranma!"

"Now that you mention it...yes.  He's just as nice looking." added Sayaka.
Erika looked at Ranma-chan slyly.

"So, Ranko.  When are you gonna go out with Ryoga?" she asked.
"G-go out with Ryoga?!  But....but...he's...ummm...he's hard to find!"
stammered Ranma-chan.

"I saw him just today.  He passed the Tendo dojo, like seven or
eight times.  He had a tanuki statue on his back, a huge one mind you, and
he looked rather tired."  Sayaka was looking at Ranma-chan while she spoke.
"I'm sure he would jump at the chance to date you, Ranko."
  	<He'd jump alright......up up and away from me, screaming in horror!>
Ranma-chan thought, and shuddered just a bit.  Just.

"Okay, all of you.  Enough with games for now, let's eat!" cried Akane in
delight as she pulled out the treats and sweets.  All the girls tear into
the treats and bonbons made and baked by Kasumi.  Ranma-chan again gets
another chance to know the other classmates whom she had never had a chance
to mingle with.  She was surprised to find that she really did enjoy talking
with them, pleasantly astonished at the breadth of their knowledge and
intelligence - certainly the guys she had hung out with had no room in their
head for anything else except for having fun and girls, and having fun with
girls, the latter of which was probably another good reason why not to hang
out with her usual male friends while under this special curse.

After a short while, thanks to Ranma-chan's voracious appetite, all the
treats and bonbons are gone and the girls turn to other things.  Akane
brought a small colour TV up to her room and they watched an anime about a
romantic comedy.  Ranma-chan noticed that all the girls, other than her of
course, were fully spell-bound by the story unfolding on the TV screen.
Sayaka and Anemi lay on the carpeted floor in front of the TV, their
attention far away at the boarding house where the anime is taking place.
Erika, Sayuri and Akane lay or sat on the bed and clutched pillows and
blankets as they followed the actions of the members of the boarding house.

Ranma-chan was also on the bed but she didn't quite understand how these
girls could lose themselves so much in a TV show with practically no
action!!  Ranma-chan yawned a bit and lay back, resting.  The anime episode
ended and the girls started talking about what had just happened.  Sayaka
was the first to speak.

"Oh, that's so sad!  Why did he have to run away?  Didn't he
know how much she truly loved him?  Didn't he know that she would
 never jump the gun and marry someone else?"

"And all because of that guy's sister's wedding!  That poor, young man
didn't know that it wasn't her wedding....", added Sayuri.

"And the part when the movers came to Room 5 and moved all
his stuff out?  She knew then that he really was serious about running
away!  You could almost cry for him!" piped in Erika.  Anemi spoke next.
"Then she went to his new apartment...and saw that freeloading
woman tenant living under the same roof as he is?"

"Yeah, like, what was she to think?  She didn't know that woman didn't have
the money to move out!!" cried Erika.

"Ranko, what did you think of that?  Wasn't it heartbreaking?" asked Sayuri.

"No, not really.  She didn't take the time to understand him, and vice
versa.  It's both their fault and that's what they deserve."

"Ranko!  Is your heart made of stone?  Where are your feelings?" cried
Erika.

"Didn't you feel anything for that poor guy?" asked Sayaka in curiosity.

"Nope.  Not a thing."

 Then, after a while to recover from the anime episode, the girls begin to
chat about school affairs and classroom things.  Their social lives seem to
intertwine very tightly with aspects of their everyday life.  Erika
complained about how her mother limited her use of the phone to call boys.
Anemi grumbled about how she was grounded for spending too much time out
with her friends.  Sayuri and Sayaka smile and listen sympathetically.

Akane and Ranma-chan were little more than spectators, interjecting a
comment now and then.  The hour grew late and the girls pull out their
pillows and blankets.  Ranma-chan excuses herself and returns to her room,
with much objection since everyone thought she was deserting them.  She
apologized to them, then she left and let Akane deal with them.  Ranma-chan
padded down the hallway and she went inside her room.  Ranma was already
beginning to get ready for bed.  He turned at Ranma-chan's arrival.

"Hey, what's with the PJ's?" he asked.

"Be quiet, you."  Ranma-chan yawns.  "Oh man...I didn't know it was so
tiring!"

"What's so tiring?"

"That slumber party thing."

Ranma looked confused.

"I thought you would be wide awake....being close to all those
girls and all that."

"What makes you think I was there for the girls?"

"The same thing that tells me how I would have liked to be in
there."

"No.  Not really.  The program was getting boring and I needed to meet with
my new friends."  Ranma-chan yawned again and she began to walk over to her
futon, which was next to Ranma's.

"New friends?  What's wrong with Hiroshi and Daisuke?  What
about the guys?"

"I'm a girl for now, remember?  Until I find a cure I can't hang out all the
time with the guys."

"Hmmm...you're right.  Those guys only think of......"

"Girls.  Yes, I know", finished Ranma-chan.

Ranma sat down and he winced as he touched his stomach and his back, the
spots where Ranma-chan had hit him earlier before.  Ranma-chan edged close
to Ranma.

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

"Uhh...yeah.  Can't really lie about that, can I?  How did *you* get so
strong, anyhow?"

"Strong?" asked Ranma-chan in confusion.  She?  In female form?  She wasn't
*nearly* as strong as Ranma...

"I mean, you only hit me three times, and it already hurts like hell!"

"Oh....I see what you mean.  Well, when I kicked you, I did a quick Tenshin
Amaguriken on you there - about twenty or thirty times.  The punches were
about forty to fifty each.  Does it really, really hurt?"

"What do you think?  You only hit me about a hundred and thirty times,
right?"  Ranma sounded sarcastic as he lay back on the bed, and winced as
his sore back touched the futon.  Ranma-chan considered him for a moment,
then she smiled, reached over and pulled his shirt up.  Ranma yelped as he
pulled his shirt back down.
 "W-what was that for?!"

"Stupid.  Come on, pull that shirt up.  I'll rub those sore areas for you."
Ranma-chan pulled his shirt up, slowly, and Ranma did not object to her
delicate hands expertly kneading his abs and taking away the pain.  Such a
smooth and gentle touch did Ranma-chan possess, along with more than a
little bit of sexual arousal as her fingers ran between his well defined
abs.

"Mmm...what's this?" asked Ranma-chan as she eyed Ranma's shorts.

"None of your business!!"  Ranma grabbed a pillow and stuffed it between his
legs.

"Of course."

Then, after a while, Ranma-chan pulled Ranma's shirt back down and she sat
back a bit.

"That felt so good, I feel like a new man!"

"Turn over."  Ranma-chan indicated that he should roll over with her finger.

"Why?"

"You forget about your bruises on your back.  Turn over or I'll make you."

Ranma obliged and he rolled over.  Ranma-chan pulled his shirt up and she
began to rub his muscled back.

 "I feel like a dog, you know, being told to turn over.  And it's not the
first time today that I feel this way, too."

"Yes...so obedient.  Move up?"

"Yeah....near the shoulder blade."

Ranma-chan slowly ran her fingers up to that spot and she massaged it to
perfection.  Then Ranma-chan patted Ranma and she lay  down on her futon,
face down.

"Now it's your turn to give me a back rub", she said.

"What?!"

"It's only fair.  I scratch your back, you scratch mine."

"I...I guess so.  Pull your shirt up, will ya?"

Ranma-chan pulls her shirt up to her neck and lets Ranma work her back with
his hands.  Ranma marvels at the softness of her back and  the smoothness of
her skin while running his hands from the small of  her back up to her
shoulders and back down again.  He could catch just a glimpse of her
breasts, hidden partially by her shirt and her back, and it served to excite
him even more.  He turned his eyes away and he thought of something,
anything, to say - to break the silence.

"So, uhh....what do you think of the girls?"

"They're smarter than guys but they're too emotional.  Crying over some dumb
show about a guy who lives in a boarding house with a bunch of tenants and a
beautiful manageress."

"Doesn't sound too exciting.  Does it have any action?"

 "More to the right, please.  Sorry?"

"I said, does it have any action?"  Ranma shifted his hands to the right and
massaged that area.

"No.  Not a bit.  Just a bunch of tear-jerking scenes strung one after
another."

"Is it anime?"

"Yup.  No way you could pay anybody to do something like that......but
whoever wrote that story must be one helluva writer, to get even AKANE
crying a bit.  You know how much of a tomboy she is, no?  Ooh!  Do that
again."

"Do what again?"  Ranma paused.

"Rub that spot again.  It feels good...." Ranma-chan trailed off.

"Your wish is my command."

At length, Ranma finishes his massaging of Ranma-chan and they both lie on
their futons, and go to bed.  Ranma-chan puts her head on her pillow and she
falls asleep within seconds.  Ranma let his eyes travel a moment longer on
the slim, beautiful figure on the futon next to his.  He noted the slim
shoulders, the delicate arms and the long legs.  He had no idea that he was
this ravishing when asleep.  With some effort he wrenched his gaze away from
his female counterpart.  Ranma reflected on the events of the day.

 This was strange.  And weird.  Here he was, and there was his female side.
In essence, two people with the same mind.  But, he hoped to find a cure so
that this crazy event, though just another nutty event in his life, would be
over with.  Ranma goes to sleep, wondering where in the world he could find
a cure for Ranma-chan.  And he also wondered if he should.....

As Ranma-chan slept, she started to dream.  She felt herself, in
female form, taking a hot bath.  Suddenly she was grabbed from behind
by strong hands which immobilized her own.  She screamed in terror and she
tried to see who was behind her, but she couldn't.  She heard Ryoga's voice
from behind her, saying `Date with me'.  She feels his body press up behind
her and he said `Date with me' once more.  She shrieked at the top of her
lungs and the nightmare shattered into a thousand bits of darkness which
scatter across the infinite expanse of the dreamscape.

She finds herself standing on a vast plain of green, knee-high grasses,
clothed in her normal clothing.  A range of white-capped, mist-shrouded
mountains lie far off to her right. The sun is high in the sky and a few
clouds scud across the horizon.  A wind blows and passes through the tall
grasses with a swish, and ruffled her hair. A person off in the distance,
distinctly a man or a young man with short, black hair, ran towards her.
She somehow knew that she was seeing this guy, but who was he?  Her dream
ended at this point and all was darkness thereafter.

Ranma-chan tossed and turned on her futon, disturbed by the mysterious omen
yet reassured in some inexplicable way.  She feels, yet doesn't feel, a
subtle change taking place in her body, one of many yet to come.  Darkness
closed in upon Nerima ward, and soon only the chirps of crickets broke the
silence that is the night.  The night of a new beginning.)

---------------------------------End Part
One---------------------------------

	-WD
VISIT THE LAIR AT:
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members.tripod.com/~WebDragon/index.html

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WORK IN PROGRESS : Nullifier 122, Part 6