Disclaimer: All characters that are used belong to their respective 
creators. I do this for fun and do not make any money off of it. Please 
don't sue me. The stories are mine, so please don't use them without asking 
me.
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	After her sister gently shook her awake, Akane got dressed for house 
hunting.  She put on one a pair of red slacks and a white blouse.  Coming 
downstairs, she saw that her father and Mr. Saotome had returned home.  She 
noticed that her father had black rings under his eyes and was about ready 
to fall asleep.  Genma was staring out the back door, with a stern look in 
his face.  Nabiki and Kasumi were at their usual places.  Nabiki looked up 
at Akane and quietly went back to eating.  Akane frowned as she prepared 
herself for what was to come.

	"Good morning, Daddy,"  Akane said.  "Has Ranma returned yet?"

	Soun looked up in shock at Akane's voice, as Genma spun around.  Soun stood 
up, ran over to Akane, and looked her in the face.

	"Akane, you didn't run away," he said, in his slightly weepy voice.  "Where 
did you go?  Where's Ranma staying?"

	"Daddy," Akane said, with just a hint of exasperation. "I spent the night 
in Kasumi's room.  As for Ranma, I take it he hasn't returned?"

	"No," Nabiki interjected, before Soun and Genma asked what Akane was doing 
in Kasumi's room.  "These two spent the entire night hunting for you and 
Ranma, Akane.  Any ideas on where he might be, Akane?"

	Akane frowned a bit at that question, before deciding to answer.  She was 
going to try and answer it as vaguely as possible.

	"Just that it's someplace that I am unable to go," Akane said, hoping that 
would stop the questions.

	"Hmmm.  Knowing you Akane, I think the best place to go looking for him is 
someplace that requires swimming to get to.  He's probably hiding out in 
some underwater cave."

	Hearing Nabiki's speculations the two men jumped to their feet and ran out 
of the house.

	"How could we have missed that possibility, Tendo?"

	"I don't know, Saotome."

	"We'll soon have my wayward boy back, and the unification of our two houses 
will be assured."

	"Indeed."

	Akane looked down at the floor.  She couldn't believe how those two old men 
just keep taking off after Ranma.  Sighing, she realized that at one time 
she was the same way.  Before sitting down to eat, Akane could have sworn 
that she saw Nabiki chuckle to herself.  Nabiki finished her food and stood 
up.

	"I'll see you later.  I have some stuff that I have to take care of," 
Nabiki said.

	Akane watched as Nabiki left.  A few seconds later, she heard the front 
door open and shut.  Sighing with relief, Akane finished her meal.  She was 
glad that she would not have to attempt to deceive her older sister.  Kasumi 
gathered up the very few dishes that were out and carried them into the 
kitchen.  Akane sat at the table, looking at the pond.  Kasumi's voice broke 
her out of her reverie.

	"Akane, are you ready to go?"  Kasumi asked.

	"Err. Sure.  You got done with the dishes pretty quick," Akane replied.

	"I made a breakfast that would create almost no mess to clean up after."

	"Oh.  Well, I'm ready to go.  I'll be glad to get away from Daddy's and Mr. 
Saotome's constant pressuring."

Akane and Kasumi walked out of the house, quietly discussing what Akane 
needed in a home.  Neither of the Tendo sisters noticed two girls that were 
listening in on their conversation.  The two girls were glad to hear that 
Akane would soon be out of the picture.

	*Violent tomboy is leaving.  With Akane out of the way, Ranma will be able 
to follow Chinese Amazon laws and marry me.  I'll deal with Kasumi later.*

	*Well, Ranma-honey, you'll soon be able to marry your cute fiancee.*

	Ukyo and Shampoo hurriedly left, each making plans to capitalize on the 
situation.
-------
	Inside the gem, Ranma had finally opened the book that Akane had wished up 
for her.  She noticed that the book was indexed by school type.  Flipping 
back to the appendix, she saw that she could look up special moves by 
themselves and whether or not they used chi.  The first place she started 
was to find out if there were any special Saotome techniques.  She was quite 
surprised when she saw two techniques that she had never heard of.  The 
surprise became greater when she saw who had developed the techniques.

	"I guess Pops isn't totally useless after all," Ranma said. "Umi-sen-ken 
and Kami-sen-ken.  These two seem to be very powerful styles."

	Ranma studied the pages closely and decided to practice the techniques.  
She tapped into her world's field to gain the items she needed to use some 
of the attacks.  The items she pulled out were a gold cord, a bag, and a 
white beach towel.

	Ranma  began practicing. At least the costume didn't hinder her movements.  
She couldn't believe Pops had designed these two styles.  Why didn't he tell 
her about them?  He was so obsessed with teaching her perfect martial-arts 
techniques that he'd throw her into a pit of cats and then wouldn't even 
teach her his strongest two styles.


	Stopping, the young genie tilted her head back and closed her eyes, 
allowing the energy of the ring's interior to infuse her.  After a second, 
she opened her eyes and concentrated.  A large bath, set into the ground, 
slowly faded into view, filled with slightly steaming water.

	*If I'm stuck like this...," Ranma thought.

	Ranma tried removing her clothes, so she could take a bath.  They wouldn't 
budge an inch.  The genie tried to cause the clothes to fade away by imaging 
it.  That failed as well.  She grabbed on of her pantaloon legs and tried to 
rip it off.  By doing so, she threw herself off balance and fell into the 
bath.  Ranma sputtered to the surface and tried to remove the clothes one 
more time.  She was startled when her hand encountered her skin and not the 
silk she was expecting.  The genie looked at herself and saw that her 
clothes were still there, but they had became even more transparent than 
before.

	"What's going on?"

	Ranma tried grabbing the sleeves and found that her fingers passed right 
through the silk.  She raised her arms out of the water to get a better 
look.  As the silk came out of the water it gained its former solidity.  
After a few seconds of experimenting, Ranma figured out that while in the 
ring, her costume would always be on.  But if she wanted to take a bath, the 
clothes would become intangible.  She realized that these conditions only 
applied while in the ring, recalling the incident where Akane had summoned 
her underwater.  Ranma sighed as she sank back into the hot bath.  She 
wondered if she would ever completely figure out her condition.  The genie 
sighed, looked up at the sky, and thought about her master.

	"I wonder when Akane will call me back out.  Hopefully she makes some 
wishes that won't be to hard to fill.  I need the practice," Ranma said. 
"It's too bad that Kasumi didn't get anything, but I was sure that I granted 
a wish."

	Ranma stepped out of the tub totally dry and her clothes quickly became 
solid again.  Ranma-chan smirked at the convenience of her home.  She willed 
the tub to change into a futon.  On a moment's reflection, Ranma decided to 
see if she could do better.  The futon became a western style, king-sized 
bed.  The covers on the bed were, of course, silk.  Ranma plopped down on 
the bed and pulled the covers up around her.

	Ranma continued to look up, her thoughts dark.

	*When I find out who did this to me...,* she thought with a grim 
determination.

	She sighed and wondered if she would ever be free.  She turned on her side 
and looked at the blank expanse of her realm.  Ranma used her control over 
the environment to visualize her thoughts, to help her come to terms with 
her situation.  The first thing to appear was the image of Akane holding two 
wooden crosses.  Strings dangled from the crosses attaching to a hinged 
statue of Ranma-chan in genie costume.

	"Akane's puppet," Ranma whispered. "That's me."

	The image faded and was replaced by Genma constantly selling a small statue 
of Ranma and stealing it back.  Or, Genma would make a promise to give the 
statue to someone and would return later.

	"All I am to Pops is a product to be sold and be recovered so he still has 
a meal ticket."

	Once again the image faded to be replaced by a replay of the first time 
Ranma met Shampoo.  The genie noticed something about the replay.  She 
noticed that the other Amazons were shocked at Shampoo's action.  Resolving 
to find out if there was something Shampoo could have done besides give the 
Kiss of Death, she dissolved that reproduction of the past.  Another image 
came to her.  This one was of a happy Ranma inside a golden cage.

	Sitting up, Ranma screamed in rage and frustration, "I'm a prisoner!!!  I 
hate my life!!!"

	The young genie gathered as much of her chi as she could and fired off a 
Shi Shi Hokodon at one of the walls of her world.  The bolt reached the wall 
and fizzled out.  Exhausted, Ranma slumped back down onto the bed and cried 
herself to sleep.
----
	Before starting their search, the Tendo sisters took the three urns to a 
local museum and offered to sell them to the place.  The curators of the 
museum gave a generous offer for the three urns.  After receiving the check, 
Kasumi and Akane met with a realtor and started their hunt. Akane had 
discarded the idea of an apartment.  She figured that if any of the others 
showed up and started their usual shenanigans, she would be evicted.  The 
houses that they saw were either too high priced or too far away from public 
transportation.

	The sisters were about ready to give up when the realtor showed them a 
run-down house.  The building was a two story.  The paint job of the house 
was almost all gone, due to the weather peeling it away.  Akane saw a small 
pond behind the house.  She also noticed that this house was close to 
Furinkan High.  So, she didn't have to worry about changing schools.  They 
went inside the dilapidated appearing building and saw that it was in an 
almost pristine condition.  Akane gazed wistfully at the house. Seeing the 
look on her sister's face, Kasumi asked the real estate agent some 
questions.

	"Is there a reason why this house is in this condition?"  Kasumi asked.

	"Er. The previous tenants kept seeing flying men and women in the area.   
They left for a different section of Tokyo,"  the realtor nervously 
stuttered out his reply.  "They really didn't want to come back here just to 
paint the house."

	Kasumi nodded, understanding just who owners of the house had seen.  It was 
probably Ranma and Kuno after either one was knocked into the sky.

	After some dickering on the price, Kasumi managed to get the price down to 
where she thought it was reasonable.   The three went to a bank, where 
Kasumi cashed the check.  She paid the realtor the money for the house and 
dealt with the necessary paperwork to transfer ownership.  She had Akane put 
the remaining money in a savings account.  The Tendo sisters walked back to 
the family home.

	"Akane, I think it might be best if you just grab your suitcases and go."

	"Err. Kasumi, how will I survive?  I have nothing to eat."

	Kasumi closed her eyes and sighed.  She knew her sister wasn't going to 
like her suggestion.

	"Ranma.  I know you don't want to, but you're going to have to.  Hopefully, 
it won't be very long."

	Akane turned her head away from her sister.  Logically, she knew her sister 
was right.  But, she didn't want to use Ranma like that.  She was afraid 
that if she started making wishes, she would lose him.

	Noticing her sister's quietness, Kasumi said, "Akane, you and Ranma are 
going to have to have a nice long talk.  You two are going to have to 
resolve your feelings for each other."

	Akane nodded.  A lump in her throat prevented her from speaking.

	The two girls arrived home.  Checking to make sure the coast was clear, 
Kasumi entered alone.  She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that no 
one had returned yet.  She grabbed the two suitcases from her room and 
rejoined Akane.  Relieving her sister of the luggage, Akane headed towards 
her new home.  Just to make sure she wasn't being followed, she used her 
ability to breathe underwater and walked on the bottom of a canal.  She was 
glad that her suitcases were waterproof.
---
	Back at the Tendo home, Kasumi had started making supper for the remaining 
family.  The first to arrive was Nabiki, who gave her a wink and headed 
towards the dining table.  The eldest sister frowned a bit and resolved to 
talk to Nabiki later.  Genma and Soun tiredly shuffled into the dining room. 
  They almost fainted as they sat at the table.  The lack of sleep had taken 
its toll on the two.  After finishing the meal, Kasumi laid the food out for 
everyone that was present.  Soun looked around and noticed that Akane wasn't 
there.

	"Where's Akane?" Soun asked.

	In her usual cheerful tone, Kasumi stated, "She didn't like what you and 
Mr. Saotome did earlier.  So, she moved out.  Do you want some coffee, 
Father?"
______________________________________________________________________
All C&C welcome


Tom Mathews a.k.a Disruptor

E-mail addresses:
mailto:mathews1@gte.net
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Webpages:
Disruptor's Homepage
<http://home1.gte.net/mathews1/index.htm>
Previous works can be found here


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