*So much for not being late,* Ranma thought as he contemplated 
the two buckets of water he and Akane were currently required to hold 
in the hallway.
	"It's your fault we're late, you know."  Akane glanced sideways 
at him, frowning.
	Ranma looked at her.  "I'd be more inclined to blame Kuno 
myself."  He saw her eyes narrow in annoyance.  *I'm not saying 
anything more on that subject.*
	Akane sighed.  "I guess I must look crazy, having someone like 
that as a boyfriend."
	"Everyone has hidden depths."
	"If Kuno does, they're well hidden.  Well he does have a decent 
sense of romance, and he really knows how to make it seem like you're 
the only person in the world, but whenever he tries to hold my hand or 
anything..."  Akane grimaced and rubbed her hand with a slightly 
disgusted expression.  "I mean, why am I telling you this!?"
	Ranma looked and saw himself targeted by a gaze filled with 
anger and a little confusion.  "Um, whoa!"  He jumped to avoid a splash 
of water from down the corridor.
	"Ranma Saotome!" Kuno declared as he threw aside his now empty 
bucket and drew his boken.  "I shall never accept your engagement to 
Akane Tendo!"
	The windows of the classroom exploded open, allowing the 
students to inundate the corridor with questions.
	"Wait, we're not engaged," Ranma said, hands raised in a 
non-martial defensive posture.
	"It was all our father's idea," Akane added.
	Kuno stepped forward, slashing Ranma's bucket in half.  Ranma 
dodged the thrusts following, then jumped past the kendoist.  "This is 
no place to fight, Kuno.  This way!"  He ran down the hallway, Kuno 
following.
	"I don't believe this!"  Akane commented as she ran after the 
pair.

	"Let's finish this outside," Ranma declared as he opened a 
window and leaped out.
	"I follow!"  Kuno declared as he leaped after Ranma.
	"Wait!  This is the third floor!"  Akane called after the pair.
	"No problem...  Ahrgh!!"  Ranma commented as he looked down at 
the swimming pool he and Kuno were falling toward.
	"Lucky there's a pool there," A student standing beside Akane 
commented.

	"NO WAY!"  Ranma stated, as he brought his hands together 
before him and concentrated, chanting softly to himself.  His decent 
slowed.  Kuno shot past him into the pool.  Ranma drifted down, halting 
an inch above the still agitated waters.  "Whew!"  He frowned and 
glanced at the school.  "Now what do I..." A hand shot from the pool 
grabbing him by the ankle and pulling him in.
	"I fight on, Saotome!" Kuno proclaimed, his words garbled by 
the water.  He grabbed his opponent, and froze as his hands grasped 
somewhat more than expected on Ranma's chest.
	"You pervert!" Ranma screamed as she reached behind herself to 
grab Kuno by the head.  Focusing on the still active levitation spell, 
she willed herself to shoot into the air, spinning to dislodge Kuno.  
Fifteen feet above the pool, she flexed her ready arms and threw him 
back into the water.  She raised her hands just above her forehead.
	"Winds that blow from west to east, I summon you by my command.
	Deliver your might as I request, the power of lightning into my 
hand."
	With a final gesture, Ranma released the lightning bolt into 
the pool.

	Ranma sat on a limb of a tree.  She was holding her pants in 
her hand. "That was an overreaction," She commented as he folded the 
wet cloth.  "Reacting out of anger like that in an important battle 
could turn victory into defeat."  Grasping the cloth at both ends of 
the roll she twisted it, wringing a small cascade of water from the 
fabric.  "The fact that it felt good to blast that pervert has no 
bearing."  She unrolled her pants and snapped them out.
	"Ranma!"
	Ranma looked down and saw Akane standing behind a rather irate 
looking Nabiki.  "This morning you said you didn't know anything about 
magic," Nabiki stated angrily.
	Ranma grinned and leaned foreword on the branch.  "No I said 
I'd studied magic for the last eleven months and you decided I was 
being ironic."  Akane giggled in response.
	With a scowl Nabiki responded, "Ha ha ha."  Holding up a kettle 
she tilted it pouring a slow stream of water from the spout.  "I guess 
you don't want any of this."
	"WAIT!"  Ranma responded, grabbing her pants and jumping down 
from the tree.  She looked at Nabiki.  "Can I have that kettle?"
	"Hmm," Nabiki responded.  "Let me think.  Hot water has value 
to you, so I should be compensated.  What would be appropriate?"  She 
said in an excessively matter of factly tone.
	"Hold!"
The three girls looked at Tatewaki Kuno who strode up to them.  "Ah, 
fair Akane Tendo.  Tell me, have you seen that base coward Ranma 
Saotome?  The wretch fled my wrath, forcing another to take his place 
in his cowardice!  No matter I shall..." Ranma stepped in, quickly 
kicking Kuno in the face.  "That hurt."
	"Alright, you want to fight? Let's go!"
	"How amusing," he responded raising his boken.  "If you defeat 
me I agree to date with you!"  He said, lashing out at Ranma with a 
quick thrust.  Ranma stepped back easily avoiding it.
	"Nabiki, did Kuno just offer to go on a date with Ranma?"  
Akane quietly said to her sister.
	"That's what I heard."  She pulled out a small notebook, and 
flipped through several pages.  "Kuno acting like a supreme jerk event 
98, offering to date a girl he's just met if she beats him in a fight."
	"Hey you..." Akane started, trailing off as she saw Ranma step 
in avoiding Kuno's thrust and jumped up and backward circling a leg to 
smash into his face on the way.
	Kuno hit the ground three feet back and rolled another four 
feet more.  *She is formidable!  Even more so than Akane Tendo!*
	"Ranma Saotome's even better, by the way."  Kuno heard her call 
to him as she dodged past Nabiki Tendo and walked toward the school.
	"Hey!" Nabiki cried as she ran after the pig-tailed girl.
	Akane glared angrily down at him.  "I keep thinking you can't 
make yourself look like more of a jerk and you keep proving me wrong." 
 With a sharp 'humph' of disdain she pivoted and walked back to school.
	Kuno thought about the strange girl.  He remembered seeing her 
floating above the pool, her power and beauty stunning him like a 
thunderbolt.  "Truly I am blessed by the gods."  He said, then pulled 
himself to his feet.  Walking to where he had faced her he knelt to 
pick up his boken.  Looking down he ran his fingers through the grass, 
then raised the single hair he had seen.  It was the same unusual shade 
as the girl's.  "Truly blessed."

	Ranma stood in the attic, examining the papers he had attached 
to the four walls.  "Ok."  He turned to the three interconnected 
circular diagrams drawn on the floor in the center of the room.  "Right 
now to get started."  Stepping into one circle he faced the other two. 
 Gathering his mystical energy he began directing a flow through the 
diagram.  "I walk with the light.  I walk with the wind.  I embrace the 
flow of the water.  My strength rises up from the earth.  Spirits who 
protect and powers that preserve, I call you to me."
	The circles began to glow brighter and brighter, and around the 
circles shimmering barely visible forms began to appear, circling 
around him.  {Who are you?}
	Ranma heard the echoing voices and looked to the forms circling 
him.  "I am a servant of the sacred fire.  I am one who knows the color 
of magic.  I am a seeker of your aid."
	{Aid?}
	 "The diagrams are drawn.  The powers are aligned.  Will you 
bless my goal with your acceptance?"  The sprits circled around him 
faster and faster, the circles glowed more brightly.
	{Yes.}  The glow from the circles built as the diagrams 
attached to the walls blazed into light.  The light faded.
	"Ok."  Ranma commented as he stepped out of the circle and 
walked to the stairs.  "Twenty four hours, and then I can finalize the 
enchantment."  Suddenly he felt the low level magic defenses he had 
built up over the year deflect an incoming surge of magic.  He froze as 
he shifted his attention inward and directed his efforts to augmenting 
his existing defenses.  Then he relaxed as he felt the attack more 
clearly.  It was a very minor compulsion spell, and easy enough to fend 
off.  "I wonder who I've managed to piss off now?"  He commented 
shaking his head.
	"Ranma, Dinner's ready."  Kasumi called up to him.
	"Coming!" Ranma responded.

	Ranma closed the doors of the Dojo.  Opening a small leather 
pouch he poured a small line of white sand before the doors.  Speaking 
quietly he traced a symbol on the doors with his finger, then stepped 
back and watched the glowing character fade into nothingness.  "Ok, 
dojo's sealed."  He walked to the center of the room, and sat hands on 
his knees, palms up in a classic meditative position.  Closing his eyes 
he focused inward as he had learned several months ago.  Controlling 
his breathing he felt the power flowing through himself, gathered it, 
and pushed.  Feeling the sudden sense of separation, he opened his 
astral eyes, and willed his astral body to float to three feet above 
the floor.
	"Now to business."  He reached out and focused his senses on 
the compulsion spell that had failed to snare him earlier.  It was 
crude and weak, and it was apparently linked to some sort of focus.  
With a smirk Ranma felt the link and flew through the ceiling, 
following the link back to the other part of the spell.

	"My oh my."  Ranma commented as he looked at the room.  The 
focusing object he had sought was easy to find.  A straw doll with a 
single strand of his hair placed inside it sat on a small shelf, with 
three Polaroid's of his girl form at school pinned to the wall adjacent 
to it.  Next to it was another straw doll.  Ranma couldn't perfectly 
identify the hair inside the second doll by its aura, however the 
larger high quality photographs of Akane pasted to the wall surrounding 
it matched his best guess.  "I guess that answers Nabiki's question 
about some sort of magic on Akane.  Now what to do?"  Ranma floated 
around the room and through several adjacent rooms, contemplating his 
options.  "Ok," he concluded grinning to himself.
	Floating before the window in the room, he held his hands 
before the latch and focused his energy.  The latch turned and the 
window slowly slid halfway open. Ranma floated to the two dolls.  "So 
long," he commented as he released a quick spike of mystical force into 
the doll with his hair.  The spell it was trying to snare him with 
dissipated as the hair evaporated, blackening the surrounding straw as 
it went.  "Ok, now for the tough part."  Inflating his chest in 
habitual imitation of taking a deep breath, he positioned his hands on 
either side of the second doll as though grasping a ball with the doll 
at its center.  Then he rose, the ball floating between his hands.  
Turning to the window he floated out, making sure the doll passed 
through the open window.

	"Sloppy Ranma, I told you that chanting and hand waving would 
compromise your skills."  Genma commented with a smirk as he looked at 
his son turned daughter as she pulled herself out of the pool.
	Ranma glared at her father and calmly walked to the breakfast 
table.  As the combat rush faded she stifled a yawn.  *I hate it when 
he's half right, but until I've built my mystic strength a bit more 
I'll have to get used to being tired for a while after I do anything 
big magically.*  She thought about her astral experience the previous 
night.  *Or in this case, maintaining something small for too long.*  
Glancing up she saw Akane sit opposite him.
	"Ah," Ranma said, pulling the straw doll out of her pocket, 
"Here, hold this a moment."
	Akane gingerly picked up the soggy doll.  "What is it?"  Ranma 
held his hands before him, his eyes narrowed in concentration.  He made 
a quick grasping and tearing gesture, and Akane flinched as she saw 
sparks appear around both the doll and Ranma's hands for an instant.  
"What are you doing?"
	"Breaking a spell."  Ranma responded lowering his hands and 
sighing tiredly.  "I grabbed that from Kuno last night.  It's the focus 
of a very minor compulsion spell.  Do you actually want to be his 
girlfriend?"
	"No."  Akane froze, blinking for a moment.  "Hold on, your 
telling me Kuno cast a love spell on me!?"
	"No, it's a compulsion spell.  Specifically, it compels you to 
'Embrace your true feelings, and date with him.'"  Ranma shook his head 
disgustedly.  "That kind of language is one of the mistakes that tends 
to kill off beginners."

	"My love!"  Kuno ran from the school building, a bouquet of 
roses in his hand.
	Akane accelerated, running from where Ranma walked with her 
sister toward Kuno.  "YOU STUPID JERK!"  Akane screamed as she slammed 
a fist into Kunos stomach.  "I am not some sort of doll!"  Akane 
knocked Kuno back with a fast roundhouse kick.  "I am not and have 
never wanted to be your girlfriend!!"  She grabbed him, smashed him 
against the ground then kicked him over the school.
	Nabiki looked at the path Kuno traversed past the clock tower. 
 "If we hurry we should just make it."  She commented, jogging past 
Akane into the school.

	"Ranma Saotome!"
	Ranma calmly turned.  "What is it Kuno?"  Behind him Akane 
clenched her fist, breaking her chopsticks in half.
	Kuno raised his boken and pointed it at him.  "You shall 
release Akane Tendo from your vile enchantment, sorcerer."
	"Wait a second, you were the one who put the spell on her."
	"Fool!  The fair Akane Tendo is a shy and demure maiden who 
feared the strength of our love.  I merely freed her to express her 
true feelings for me!"
	*I think he actually believes that.*  Ranma shook his head.  
"Go away Kuno, I've got better things to do than mess around with you."
	"HAAA!"  Kuno yelled as he jumped forward, slashing downward as 
though to cut Ranma in half.  Ranma sidestepped the attack, then the 
upward slash that followed.  Kuno initiated a flurry of thrusts and 
slashes, which Ranma calmly avoided.  Then Ranma stepped in close to 
smash a kick into Kunos midriff.
	"You're a hell of a lot worse at magic."  Ranma turned and 
walked around the school building.  There was a splash and a very 
feminine "HEY!"
	"Hold, Ranma Saotome!" Kuno screamed as he stormed around the 
corner, stopping at the site of the wet haired girl who was glaring 
angrily up at the windows on the second floor.  "My goddess of 
thunder!"  He pulled out a bouquet of roses.
	"Kuno," Ranma said angrily.  "When will you just go away?"
	"Take this!"  Kuno proclaimed, rushing forward.
	Ranma raised her hands defensively, then realized that Kuno had 
dropped a bouquet of roses on her arms.  Awkwardly she looked at them, 
feeling for any sort of magic.  *Nada, what's he playing at?*
	"Pigtailed thunder goddess, I love you," Kuno declared as he 
turned and walked around the corner.
	*HUH?*  He looked at the roses he was holding, then with a 
shudder tossed them away.  "Jeez."  Ranma turned and walked down the 
side of the building returning to class.
	Around the corner Kuno stood leaning against the building, arms 
folded in what he saw as a manly posture.
{	"Kuno Sempai, wait!" the pigtailed girl from the pool cried as 
she rounded the corner.
	Kuno turned to look at her, "Beauteous one."
	"Kuno, the moment I saw you;  I fell in love with you!"}
	His face distorted in a lecherous grin, Kuno laughed to 
himself.  Composing himself and running a quick comb through his hair, 
he settled back to his wait.  *Ah she is shy and needs to prepare 
herself to face me.  Fear not my beauty, I can wait.*

	"I cannot believe that jerk made a pass at me."  Ranma 
commented with a shudder.  He glanced at Akane who was walking besides 
him.
	"That stupid jerk's capable of anything."
	"Besides, you do make a pretty hot looking girl."  Nabiki added 
in an amused tone from behind them.  "Still are you sure neither of you 
hit him or anything?  He wasn't in any of the afternoon classes."

	Kuno stood by the school building.  He glanced up at the night 
sky, the myriad stars shining in the blackness.  "Alas, so fierce in 
battle yet so timid in the ways of the heart."