Well, I waited for quite some time, but haven't gotten enough comments on
chapter 10 to bother revising it significantly (outside of a spell check)
from the version I accidentally posted here.  If enough people want me to,
I'll repost it, though...  In the meantime, here's Chapter 11 (which was
completed a while ago, but I was waiting (and I'm still waiting- Freemage,
where are you!?) for one of my prereaders to reply to both this and chapter
10...
Chapter 11

Akane awoke the next morning with a sudden chill.  Sleepily, she sat up,
and started to sense that something was missing.  A quick glance at the
other side of the bed showed what, exactly, that something was.

"Ranma?" she wondered, tossing the comforter onto the floor and leaping out
of bed.  Grabbing her robe, she wrapped it around her and stepped out of
her room.  "Ranma," she called quietly, searching for him.  Akane was
getting a little concerned- the previous couple of nights, Ranma had either
outslept her or waited in bed for her to get up first... but yesterday,
they had finally done MORE than just sleep in the same bed.  Did the sudden
change in their relationship scare him?  Did he wake up that morning,
realize what he'd done, and run away because he couldn't handle it?  Where
had he gone?  "Ranma!" she cried out with desperation starting to appear in
her voice.

She checked the bathroom, the kitchen, and Ranma's old room, and didn't see
anything.  "Great," she muttered to herself worriedly, not knowing where
else he might have gone in the house.  "He just had to run off... I guess
I'd better go chase him."  Akane stepped out the door of the house- and
then instantly turned around and went right back in.  "But not until I get
dressed..."

With Ranma on her mind, she dashed back to her room, and started running
for her closet.  She didn't get there, though, as she tripped over her
comforter and went crashing into the pile of cloth.

Akane tried to get back up, but couldn't.  Her legs were tangled up, and
something was moving underneath the covers that kept throwing her off her
balance.

"What?" she asked herself, and then tore the covers off the ground and
tossed it onto the top of the bed.  Staring down at the figure underneath
the bed, Akane blinked.

As did Ranma, while trying to get the sleep out of his eyes.  "Huh?  What's
going on, Akane?"

Just hearing his voice brought tears to Akane's eyes, and she hugged him
tightly to her body, ignoring how his female breasts were being crushed
against her own.  "I woke up, and you weren't there, and you weren't
anywhere in the house, and I thought you'd left me, and... and..."

"Hush," Ranma whispered comfortingly, returning her hug gently.  "I'm here,
don't worry.  I won't ever leave you... don't cry."  His face, though,
showed his utter confusion.  What was going on?  And why wasn't he in bed,
anyway?

When Akane had come to her senses, she relaxed her hug and sniffed. 
Leaning back, she smiled to reassure him.

Ranma reached up and delicately wiped a tear from her eye.  "Now what made
you think I might have left you?  And why would I have done something like
that?"

"I thought... I thought you might not be able to handle what we did
yesterday and ran off...  I mean, I woke up, and you weren't in the bed,
and I didn't see you, and..."  Tears started to form in Akane's eyes again.

"Well, none of that happened, so just relax..."  Smiling slightly, he
nodded to the bed.  "If either of us have a right to suspect the other of
second thoughts, I think it would be me.  I mean, you're the one who pushed
me out of the bed and buried me in blankets..."

Akane blushed.  "Er... I guess we need to get a bigger bed if we're going
to keep sleeping together."

Ranma's eyebrow twitched.  "If?  Akane, I don't ever want to spend another
night without you in my arms."

Akane giggled happily.  "That might not be possible, but I'll think about
it.  I don't know, though- I mean, that bed IS rather small- I might not
want to share it all the time."

Ranma stuck his tongue out at her quickly before helping her to her feet. 
Donning a robe of his own, he brushed a strand of hair out of Akane's
mildly reddened eyes.  "Come on, let's go clean you up and get ready for
school, okay?"

*	*	*	*	*

Ryouga was searching his backpack for something as Ukyou came down on her
way to school.  She blinked at him before heading over to the fridge and
pulling out some batter she had made the previous night for a few breakfast
okonomiyakis.

"What are you looking for?" she asked, turning on the grill.

Ryouga sighed.  "Akari's phone number.  I know I put it in here somewhere,
but I just can't find it.  I hope she isn't too worried- I just realized
today she hasn't heard from me since that day we got on Kunou's boat, and
thought she might want to be reassured that I didn't drown."

Ukyou raised an eyebrow.  "I thought you were after Akane again?"

Ryouga sighed.  "I was, when we were shipwrecked and it looked like I'd
never see Akari again.  But that was stupid... I knew it was over when I
realized I cared more about the cure than I did about Akane.  Or should
that be when I nearly got killing mad at Ranma when I found out that he had
sacrificed our cure just to save her from becoming a man.  If I hadn't been
so shocked at myself, I think Ranma would have been in serious trouble."

Ukyou sighed, and nodded.  One more weapon in the campaign to claim Ranma's
heart was no longer available to her.  "Oh, well."  Thinking back, she
glanced at him as she tested the grill's heat.  "Not since before our boat
trip, you say?  You'd better find that number quick- most girls hate it
when their boyfriends don't talk to them often enough."

"I will," Ryouga proclaimed as Ukyou poured the ingredients onto the
grill's surface.  "But it might take a while- I can't find anything in this
bag."

Ukyou bit back her reply, and got a spatula ready to flip the okonomiyaki
when it was ready.  "Do you want one or two?" she asked casually.

"One... I'm not too hungry," he answered, pulling some junk out of his
pack.

"Coming up," she said, turning the okonomiyaki over.  Glancing over at
Ryouga again, she saw the huge pile of stuff Ryouga had already retrieved
from his bag.  "Um, do you want me to get Konatsu to help you search
through all that?"

Ryouga shook his head.  "Don't bother- I'll find it eventually."

Ukyou sighed again.  'Yeah- in another couple of days,' she thought to
herself.  "Here you go, sugar, one breakfast special, right off the grill."
 She tossed the disk of food towards him, and he caught it with his mouth,
chewing it up and swallowing absentmindedly.  "So... outside of calling
Akari, got any other plans today?"

Ryouga shrugged as Ukyou poured some more batter on the grill.  "Konatsu
offered to train with me, but that's about it.  Not much to do around
here."

Ukyou nodded.  "Would you mind helping out around here when I get back? 
It's not much to do, but it's something, and I'll even let you keep tips."

Ryouga shrugged, tossing three of his trademark umbrellas behind him. 
"Sure, why not?"

Ukyou flipped her breakfast with a spatula.  "And could you clean up when
you're done looking for that number, sugar?  Your stuff is covering the
floor..."

Ryouga blinked and glanced around, noticing all of his stuff lying about. 
"Oops... right.  Will do."

Ukyou pulled the okonomiyaki off the grill, slid it into a travel box, and
smiled.  "Thanks, sugar.  I'll be back after school."

Ryouga raised an eyebrow.  "You leaving already?"

Ukyou nodded.  "I need to talk to Ranma, and he's been coming to class
early the past few days, so..."

"Right... well, see you later," Ryouga said.  With a smile and a nod, Ukyou
was gone.

*	*	*	*	*

Akane relaxed against Ranma in the bathtub, his arms loosely draped around
her.  She knew that if they stayed like they were, they'd be late for
classes, but the way she felt she didn't care.

Ranma nuzzled his chin against her hair.  "Ya know, it's both a good thing
and a bad thing that the Oni's finally gone," he whispered.  "It's a good
thing because I can do this without worrying about being speared, but it's
a bad thing because those horns looked so cute on you."

Akane smiled, feeling a little mischievous.  Slipping out of Ranma's arms
and turning to face him, she cocked her head suggestively.  "Sure I can't
convince you I'm plenty cute without them?"

"Oh," Ranma gulped.  "I'd say I'm pretty convinced already, but if you
think I need more, well..."

Akane considered it for a minute, but then sighed in disappointment.  "We'd
better not start something we can't stop."

Ranma sighed as well.  "True, we do have classes today.  It's a shame,
though- you can be really cute when you wanna be.  It would have been...
interesting... to see you trying to be your cutest."

"Interesting?" Akane pouted teasingly, moving in on him.  "Is that all?"

Ranma smiled, putting his hands on her shoulders, stopping her.  Glancing
her up and down, he answered, "Perhaps interesting is the wrong word. 
Perhaps I should have said..."  He stopped and frowned.  "Um... Akane, did
I put that mark there, or have I just not noticed it before?"

"Mark?  What mark?"

"Er... that one," Ranma said, rubbing the spot in order to see if it was
just dirt.

Akane slapped his hand away.  "Hey, I said not to start something we
couldn't stop!" she protested, then glanced down where Ranma had been
touching her, blushing slightly at the intimate location of the spot. 
"It's not anything I've noticed before... but it looks too distinct to have
happened when we were... together... last night, and I don't think you
could have made it any other way."  She looked back up at him and smiled
shyly, unconcerned.  "You must have been looking real closely to notice
something that small."

"Er... well, uh, they are kinda worth looking at," he stammered in reply.

Akane's smile grew, and she slid back into Ranma's lap while facing him,
kissing him.  "Hentai," she whispered affectionately, and started kissing
him under the ear and down to his shoulder.  Ranma's hands were running
circles along her back, and Akane was tempted to just forget about school
and spend the day with him.  She knew they couldn't afford to spend a whole
day away from school, though, and so opened her eyes and started to push
away.  She saw something on Ranma's shoulder as she went, however, and
stopped.

Ranma noticed this, and pulled her back in concern, turning her head to
look into his eyes.  "What's the problem?" he asked, concerned.

She pointed to his shoulder.  "That mark- you've got the same mark as I
do."

Ranma blinked, twisting his neck to see what she was pointing at.  "Weird. 
You think it might have something to do with my curse?"

"Could be, but I would expect it would have shown up before now if so,"
Akane answered.

Ranma nodded.  "Same here.  But it's surprised me before, and what else
could it be?"

"I dunno... but maybe Iria might.  Hold on."

As Ranma nodded, Akane concentrated in an attempt to reach the former
succubus which resided in her body.  She soon found it not very hard at
all, as Iria was desperately trying to talk to her as well.

'Sheesh!' Iria complained, 'I've been trying to break through since you
woke up this morning!  Ranma's REALLY had your attention so far today.'

Akane blushed faintly.  'Well, you DID want me and him to get together.'

'I'm not saying it's a bad thing.  It just gets a little annoying when I
have something to say.  And actually, I've been wanting to tell you about
those little tattoos you're about to ask me about.'

'Then you know what they are?' Akane asked.

'Not exactly.  They were made by the Oni as he was leaving- he said it was
a gift of some sort.  I think they're wards in the demonic tongue, but
lower ranked demons such as myself weren't schooled in identifying ones
like these.  It looks to me like some sort of protection ward, though.'

'Protection wards?  Protecting us from what?'

'I'm not sure.  They were usually used by powerful demons to keep other
powerful demons off of THEIR target, but that doesn't seem to make sense-
there are no other demons I know of after you two.  It wouldn't effect me
because they weren't concerned with weaker demons, generally.'

'That worries me... how do these protection wards work?'

'I don't know... I don't think they're in any way harmful, though,' Iria
replied.  'But these wards aren't the only thing I wanted to let you know
about- the Oni was the one that turned Ranma into a girl last night.  He
didn't let us know that one of the conditions was that the two people
making love both had to be women, and made you splash him in the middle of
your foreplay.'

Akane paused for a moment and blinked.  'Well... I guess that makes sense. 
I mean, considering what happened when Toma let his men loose on his harem,
the Oni should easily have been able to find another couple which might
agree to help it, if it didn't need the couple to be two women.'

'You're... not mad?' Iria asked tentatively.

'Mad?  No, Ranma and I needed to try it out anyway- even if we DID decide
we didn't like it.'

'Hmm... making love to Ranma has really calmed you down.'

'HEY!' Akane protested, showing a flare of her temper.

'Um... I could give you some ideas that would make it better for you two
when you have to make love as girls in the future,' Iria said, trying to
distract Akane.

'We don't want to do that ever again,' Akane said, shaking her head.  'I'd
better let Ranma know what's going on before he gets worried.'

'Okay... I'll talk to you later.'

Akane blinked, and found she was still leaning against Ranma in the
bathtub.  "Well, I know what it is, now," she said.

Ranma nodded.  "Good- what are they?"

"Protection wards of some kind left by the Oni.  Iria says they're
harmless."

Ranma sighed in relief.  "Well, that's good."  With the crisis over for the
moment, Akane relaxed into his shoulder and closed her eyes.  Ranma shook
her slightly.  "Hey, get up- we should get going.  While you were talking
to Iria, my mother peeked in through the door as if she expected us to be
out already.  I think we're going to be late for school."

Akane sighed.  "I wish we could just stay here, but we missed half of a day
of classes yesterday already, and we really shouldn't be missing ANY this
early in the year."

"Ah, we miss school all the time.  We could always say something important
came up..."

"Like what?" Akane asked, releasing him.  "What excuse could we use that
they wouldn't have heard from us before?"

Ranma thought for a moment, taking time to look at his fiancee carefully. 
Suddenly, much like Akane had in her Mythology class the previous day, he
felt the desire to do something rather... impulsive.  "We could elope," he
suggested, his voice level enough that it could either be taken seriously
or as a joke.

Akane was almost certain that he was joking, but felt a small kernel of
hope that she was wrong.  "Are you... serious?" she asked, stunned.

Ranma nodded slightly.  "Maybe....  I don't think any marriage ceremony our
families might try to put together would ever work out, simply because my
father's an idiot and Nabiki hates me.  And it might make it easier to deal
with Kodachi and Ukyou when the time comes, if we were already married."

"But... what about our families?  I know what it feels like, sort of, to be
involved in a ceremony like that... as the bride... and I don't want to
experience it without the people I love around me."

"Well... we could always hold a ceremony afterwards- maybe after we
resolved some of the feuds which would tear the wedding apart otherwise.  I
want Ukyou there, and maybe even Shampoo... I can imagine you might want
Ryouga to attend..."

"That pig?" Akane growled, tensing up.

"... or not.  At any rate, Nabiki would probably have to concede the fact
and wouldn't actively be trying to destroy it, my father... well, he'll
still be an idiot, but getting married won't solve all our problems. 
Still, don't you want to?"

Akane's face softened, and she looked up into Ranma's eyes.  "Of course I
do- you know that.  You know how I feel."

"So... is that a yes for eloping?"

Akane grinned.  "Depends- will you take me on a honeymoon?"

Ranma blinked.  "Um... I don't think I'll have the money for anything
elaborate until Nabiki gets back, but we could always go on a camping trip
or something..."

Akane kissed Ranma on the nose.  "Never mind- I'll wait till after the
ceremony for the real honeymoon.  But... well, I'd love to elope with you. 
Let's get out of here- I want this done so that we can celebrate."  With
that, she started to rise out of the water and headed to the towel rack to
dry off, Ranma right behind her.

"Celebrate?" he asked, curious.  He followed her into the changing room and
donned his robe after applying some deodorant.

"Well, I can pool together enough money for the marriage license and
another few hours at that love hotel, so I was thinking that I could take
you on a honeymoon this time, and you could take me on one NEXT time...."

*	*	*	*	*

Ukyou sighed, slightly concerned.  Ranma had not shown up that morning, and
no-one she had talked to had seen him since he and Akane left for lunch the
previous day.  If he didn't show up soon, she'd head over to his house and
see if anyone there knew where he was.  Maybe at lunchtime.

Resolved in her decision, she turned her attention back to the mythology
teacher, who was droning on about Okuninushi's marriage to the storm god's
daughter.  That was when the wall exploded and three Chinese Amazons
stormed in the classroom.

"Where are Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendou?" Cologne demanded.

The teacher, who was as immune to shock as all the other teachers at
Furinken, merely checked her attendance booklet.  "It appears he was listed
as absent in homeroom today, and he hasn't shown up here since them."

Cologne nodded and turned to go.  Ukyou, however, was not going to let them
just leave like that.  Jumping up from her seat and grabbing her weapons,
she leapt over to the Amazon matriarch.  "Hey, why are you after Ranma?"
she asked angrily.

The old woman regarded the young one carefully.  "You won't like it."

"I already don't like it that you and Shampoo are after him," Ukyou
answered.  "Tell me."

Cologne sighed.  "Yesterday, my granddaughter confronted Ranma on the open
road.  Akane struck back- aided by the Oni we have all been looking so hard
for.  It appears as if those two have struck a deal with it.  Why, I don't
know, but to make any sort of deal with a being such as that, regardless of
the reason, could be considered betraying all of humanity."

"What?" Ukyou cried, gawking.  She couldn't believe her ears.

"You heard me, child.  Ranma and Akane have betrayed humanity by aiding an
evil spiritual being."

"Hmm... interesting," the mythology teacher considered.  "Perhaps Ranma and
Akane deserve extra credit for that..."

"I don't believe it," Ukyou complained.  "Ranma wouldn't betray humanity-
at least not intentionally.  There's more to this than what you're saying."

"We are going to discover the truth of what happened," Cologne continued. 
"If you wish, you may come with us, but I caution you that we are hunting
the Oni.  If we discover it inside someone there, well... you may not like
what we do."

"I think I will- I don't trust you," Ukyou said.

"Very well- but don't say I didn't warn you," Cologne sighed and shook her
head.  'She might as well find out that Ranma's made his choice.'

*	*	*	*	*

"I now pronounce you... husband and wife."

*	*	*	*	*

The phone rang.  "Hello?"

"Hello, Akari?"

"Ryouga?  Is that you?" Akari asked, shocked.

"Yes, it's me."

"Ryouga!  You're alive!  Are you okay?  I haven't heard from you in so
long, and I knew you'd gone out on that boat during that hurricane, and-"

"I'm all right, Akari.  It's a long story- why don't you come down here and
I'll tell you all about it."

Akari grabbed a pencil and piece of paper.  "I'll be right down- where are
you?"

"I'm in Nerima- Ranma asked Ukyou to put me up while I'm here, so I'm here
at the Ucchan.  Oh, bring Katsunishiki to protect you- there's something
dangerous in the area you should know about..."

*	*	*	*	*

Nodoka was taking clothes down off the clothesline when, behind one of
Ranma's and Akane's sheets from the previous night, three young people and
one old matriarch appeared.

"Oh, dear- I didn't hear you come in," Nodoka apologized.  "Can I help
you?"

"Where are Ranma and Akane?" Cologne demanded.

"Last I saw them, they were running off for school," Nodoka smiled.  "They
were in a hurry, too- they didn't even remember their books."

"They never made it," Ukyou said.  "I was looking for them, but apparently
they skipped today."

"They did?" Nodoka gasped happily.  "Oh, Ranma must be acting manly with
Akane again!"

Ukyou choked.  She knew exactly what Nodoka thought manliness meant, but
couldn't picture him doing that with Akane.

Shampoo, on the other hand, knew exactly how things had changed.  A tear
dripped down her cheek as she realized her dreams of being with Ranma were
now over, and in the worst way possible.

Mousse had no idea what Nodoka was talking about.  Cologne didn't either,
but she didn't care.  "Are you aware that Akane has been possessed for the
past couple of days?"

Nodoka smiled and nodded.  "Yes, by that honorable Oni who I had that
informative conversation yesterday.  She isn't anymore, though- Ranma
fulfilled their deal with it when he was manly with Akane last night."

Cologne looked at Nodoka like she'd grown a third arm.  "Um... do you
happen to know what the bargain was between Ranma and the Oni?"

Nodoka laughed.  "Oh, it wasn't between Ranma and the Oni, though it
wouldn't have worked if he hadn't agreed to it.  The Oni asked Akane to
remove a curse that my husband's old sensei, Happosai, placed on it.  The
curse required that the Oni possess a woman when she made love to a man."

"WHAT?!" Ukyou cried.  "And Ranma went ALONG with this?"

"Well, he wanted to use a ward to remove the Oni from Akane, but apparently
that was rather dangerous to her.  I'm not sure of all the details..."

"That's okay," Cologne sneered.  "I think we have enough for me to know
Ranma isn't treacherous, just stupid."  Turning to the others, she said,
"Come on, back to the Nekohanten.  We have to make plans."

"Good bye," Nodoka said to Cologne, seeing her start her way out of the
house.

"We'll be back later to talk to Ranma," the Amazon matriarch said.  "He'd
better be here."
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                             desaix@sysnet.net
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