"I didn't change.  I tricked 'em.  I used cold aura to take
the heat out of the water before it hit me."

OK - now I felt cheated; if it *was* a trick of Ranma's, it
really should have been explained at such, when the scene
was after all shown from his (her) very head; as it was written,
it seemed like some new mysterious phenomenon.

<hangs head> Sorry... it just seemed like the right place at 
the time.  I
thought I'd foreshadowed it adequately to premit deferring the
explanation.  I'll think about it, though. 

I thought you did foreshadow it, with the "ice forming from his
aura" scene earlier.  At the point I read it, I was aware that
the lack of change was _probably_ of Ranma's doing.  I think
you could improve the scene and aftermath a bit, though:

     Ranma's jaw muscles flexed.  "Make your test."  *Sorry,
Akane... it was good while it lasted.*  She racked her brain for
a way out of the trap, a miracle that would turn the hot water
into cold before it touched her--

Perhaps adding something like "...touched her.  At the last second,
Ranma saw it:  he could--" to the above paragraph would get the
point across.

I think it also would have helped to make it a bit clearer that
Ranma was back in male form at the Dojo.  Possibly something
about Kasumi glancing over the planes of his chest.

I don't have a problem with your characterization of Ukyou; her
reaction is unusual enough that I was interested in what would
happen next, rather than skeptical.

This portrayal of Kodachi was not one of your better ones, IMO.
It was consistent with what we saw of Kodachi _in school_ in
"Taming", but, personally, I'd rather read scenes with the
fascinating, sexy-but-spoiled-rotten Kodachi you showed us
in "Taming" rather than the borderline psychotic.  This reaction,
that Ranma must be a masochist, seemed more like the latter.
I want to see Kodachi maneuver Ranma into romantic situations
that he doesn't know how to get out of, or the best way out of.