Quantum Destinies
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
By Jurai Knight (sthesken@earthlink.net)

This is purely a work of fanfiction done for fun, so please read and
enjoy.  Comments and Criticisms are always welcome.  It helps me to know
what is working, and what I need to work on to improve my writing.
Flames are ejected into an appropriate receptacle.

This story is inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi, creator of one
of the first of many anime and manga that I have enjoyed over the years.
It is also inspired by the stories of some of my fellow fanfic authors,
creators of wonderful alternate realities that I have enjoyed reading
about (and I don't say that just because some of them are my pre-readers
^_^ ), such as D.B. Sommer's "Shampoo 1/2", Jim Bader's "A Very Scary
Thought -aka- Nabiki 1/2", and John Biles' Elseworlds series.  It is
also partially inspired by the science-fiction novel "Paths to
Otherwhere" by James P. Hogan, an author I have long liked.

Ranma and all other associated characters are owned by Kitty and the
ever-creative Rumiko Takahashi.  This is primarily a Ranma fanfic, but I
will be bringing in some characters from other series for added color.
They will mainly be used for lesser roles or villains.  Any new
characters are the property of the author.


Other chapters of this story may be found at these websites, or you can
email the author for them:

The Quantum Destinies Homepage
http://home.earthlink.net/~sthesken/fanfics/qd.html

Azatlan has given Quantum Destinies a home at:
http://www.geocities.com/~azatlan/Special-Series/quantum-destinies.html

Blood Blade has put it on his webpage at:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/5920/stories.html

Cursed One has it at his Anime Fanfiction page at:
http://members.xoom.com/Cursed_One/fanfic.html

It is also at Fanfiction Selections at:
http://members.tripod.com/DNyx/index.html


A brief explanation of some of the terminology and pseudo-science used
in this story appeared in the Appendix at the end of Chapter One, as
well as the meaning behind the Earth designations.

Thoughts will be bracketed by a * on each end.  Any speech other than
Japanese will be bracketed by < and >.


The list of worlds reoccurring in this chapter:
Earth  0.000,0.000 - The world of Scholar Ranma (Baseline cluster)
Earth  +1.612,+1.509 - The world of Shampoo 1/2 (Ranma 1/2 cluster)


What has gone before in this story (or at least what will help you
understand what is going on):

On a parallel Earth that diverged from the standard Ranma timeline over
five hundred years ago, the Empire of Japan rules almost half the world
and has done so for almost a century.  A young scientist named Ranma
Saotome, through a device of his invention, is now possessed of the
skills and memories of a martial artist version of himself.  That same
device has also given the Nabiki of this timeline an accidental copy of
the skills and memories from an alternate version of herself, one who
went on the ten-year training journey with Genma instead of Ranma.  An
accident with the resonator switched the mind of Professor Genma Saotome
with that of his counterpart from one of the few "Shampoo 1/2" timeline
variants, and he has engaged Ukyou Kuonji and Nabiki Tendou to Ranma so
far.  After a fierce battle with Nabiki, Ranma defeated her, one of
several fights he became involved in that day.



Chapter 10 - Girl Troubles

***** Heaven  +1.615,+1.494

   Belldandy sighed softly as she absently watched the system monitors,
noting the ebbs and flows of the various energies of the universe as the
numbers were processed through Yggdrasil.  She sometimes disliked the
occasional solitude of her duties, but someone had to do them.  Along
with her two beloved sisters, she maintained Yggdrasil in its proper
working order, and she was proud (in her own way) to sustain this sacred
trust.  As the System Administrator, it was her vital duty to work the
long hours necessary for keeping all its functions in stable working
order.  After all, her work here was all she had left, since the day not
too long ago when Kami-sama turned the Goddess Relief Office over to
Peorth's control for an indeterminate duration.  Belldandy's current
duties at least kept her very occupied, but they were not as fulfilling
as the ones she had once performed.

   Tapping away at the interface before her (appearing as a keyboard
composed of solid light), Belldandy called up one of the Earth Realm
monitors available to her.  A life-like image appeared in midair in two
dimensions, and she smiled somewhat sadly at the face revealed to her.
She had never met the particular mortal she watched, yet his life had
somehow fascinated her for several years now.  Today was apparently his
wedding day, if she understood the significance of the ceremony he was
currently involved in correctly.  She watched as he took the small cup
of sake from the robed and veiled woman before him, her face made up
with thick layers of white makeup so that it appeared to be that of a
porcelain doll.  A single tear rolled down one of Belldandy's cheeks as
she saw him drink from the cup and smile at the young woman before him.

   However, despite her unexpected melancholy at the sight, the young
goddess was not worried for his future.  She had watched their first
meeting and the marriage arrangements made between the two families, all
done in the traditional manner.  She had witnessed both young mortals
explore a hesitant courtship with each other as they shyly fell in love.
Now, she saw the culmination of their tender passions for each other in
matrimony.  Another tear slowly rolled down her cheek, and Belldandy
absently rubbed it away, chiding herself for growing so attached to a
mere mortal.  She was happy for him, yet wistful all the same.  She knew
that the mortal woman would love him as deeply as any woman could, even
as deeply as the young goddess watching found herself wishing that she
could.

   Unaware of the benevolent witness to their nuptials, a nerve-racked
Keiichi Morisatou was seen standing next to his shy, new bride, now
known as Kasumi Morisatou.  The kneeling pair turned to face their
friends and their families, who had come to share in this happy event.
The bride, understandably unwilling to disturb the white perfection of
her makeup, could only show her happiness through her eyes, but every
guest could see that they shone brightly with her emotions.

   The view briefly panned around the audience, showing another young
couple seated near the front for a moment.  Both teens were dressed in a
traditional manner for this solemn occasion.  The boy, a seventeen-year
old youth named Kinagi Tendou, wore his brown hair tied back into a
tight pigtail.  He was only recently returned to his family from a
grueling, decade-long training trip studying the martial arts under his
father's friend, Genma Saotome.  On his right sat an athletic-looking
and very attractive redhead, Ranko Saotome, his fiancee and primary
sparring partner of late.  She was mainly watching the proceedings and
occasionally glancing at the boy seated next to her.

   So intent was Belldandy on watching all aspects of the wedding that
she did not sense the sudden intrusion into the datacore.  A solitary
figure slowly materialized next to one wall in the chamber, appearing in
a swirl of amber light.  It stood cloaked in pale-blue robes, its head
concealed from view behind a hood.  Without hesitation, it strode over
to one of the nearby consoles and stretched forth a gloved hand.  Runes
began to scroll across the display in a blur, and the figure studied
them very intently.

   The figure quickly found what it was looking for and paused the
display to study the runes on the screen.  After several moments, it
gestured at the display with one hand, and the console went back to its
normal mode.  Stepping away from the wall and turning around, its task
apparently completed, the blue-robed figure halted for a brief time and
watched the scene that the solitary goddess was watching, as well as
Belldandy herself now and then.

   Perhaps somehow sensing eyes upon her, Belldandy quickly turned and
glanced around the chamber, but her senses detected nothing.  Suspecting
that it was only some sort of phantasm conjured up by her own unexpected
emotionalism, the Goddess of the Present eventually turned back to her
consoles.  She felt safe in the knowledge that the security monitors
would sound if there was any unauthorized presence.  She went back to
studying the young man displayed once more.

   Behind Belldandy, the figure raised a hand and dissolved away into
amber light, a glow that quickly vanished into nothingness.

                  ******************************

***** Earth  0.000,0.000

   Akane paused in her workout with the heavy punching bag, wiping some
errant perspiration from her brow with the sleeve of her light yellow
gi.  She looked around the training hall, shrugged her shoulders, and
then returned to brutalizing the bag with solid punches and kicks.  She
quickly lost herself once again in her exertions, enjoying the feeling
of her body in motion, a private dance of lethal skill.  The fading
bruises from her brief, losing combat with Ranma a few hours earlier
hindered her slightly, but she had trained while injured before.  And
she knew that they would be almost completely faded by the morning.

   Outside, Nabiki peeked in through the open window at the back of the
training hall, her body suspended by her feet from the edge of the roof.
She was dressed in one of her many Chinese-style outfits, this one being
composed of the usual black gi pants, but topped off by a sleeveless
sea-green silk shirt.  She was finding that she liked the look of blues
and greens on her in her shirts.  She shifted her position slightly, her
legs beginning to twinge a little from the strain on her injured body,
but she was getting some great action shots of her little sister.  They
should be worth a fair amount of yen from Akane's new 'fan'.

   The small camera in her hands gave off another gentle clicking
sound.

                  ******************************

   After consuming triple portions for dinner, a level of consumption
that even surpassed Akane's usual appetite, Nabiki retired early to her
bed.  She decided to skip her homework tonight in favor of a couple of
hours of extra sleep to recover from her savage brawl with Ranma.  She
was already a couple of months ahead in all of her classes, so none of
her instructors would even notice any difference.  One advantage she was
quickly discovering she possessed over her counterpart was her almost
eidetic memory.  In the weeks and months to come, she was confident that
she would be able to use that ability to remain well ahead in all of her
studies even while she pursued a brutal new training schedule.  In
addition to her time at the Academy, she planned to put in at least two
extra hours a day on top of that.  She felt confident that five to six
hours of training daily should build her physique up to very acceptable
levels in only a short time, not that she considered herself to be out
of shape except when she compared herself to the lean and hardened
figure of her martial artist counterpart.

   As Nabiki brushed her hair while preparing for bed, she pondered
three things: Akane's battered, bruised, yet smiling condition upon her
return home, Kodachi's obvious desires to claim Ranma, and her own
strengthening feelings for the pigtailed boy.  Nabiki had absently
witnessed Akane's rather contented grin all through dinner, lost in some
private fantasy that probably involved Ranma.  It gave Nabiki a chance
to think about the new developments in her life.

   After brushing out the last few tangles in her hair, she set down
her brush and slowly laced her fingers together beneath her chin in an
unconscious imitation of her father's thoughtful pose.  She gazed at her
reflection solemnly, her thoughts whirling chaotically in her mind.

   Nabiki could not bring herself to believe that she had let her
unexpected emotions for Ranma get the better of her, for that gave him
an advantage in their dealings that she did not find at all tolerable at
the present time.  Whenever he was near her, he confused the trained
orderliness of her thoughts, and that was not acceptable to her.  She
was not some blushing, shy little schoolgirl out of some romance manga.
She was Nabiki Tendou, sometimes called the 'Iron Bitch' of the Imperial
Academy behind her back, and she was a young woman who prided herself on
her independence and her abilities at controlling her surroundings.  She
resolutely refused to believe that she was showing such a bothersome
'weakness' for Ranma, even as she wondered if her feelings were why she
had lost to him.  She was certain that the pigtailed scholar was not her
better in skill, so it was obvious to her she had allowed herself to be
defeated, somehow.

   That realization was still troubling, but much less so than the
alternative.  The need to be the best burned deeply within Nabiki, some
of that, but not all, carrying over from the absorbed memories of her
counterpart.  She knew that she must challenge Ranma again to regain her
place within her internal picture as to the proper state of things -
that Nabiki Tendou was the top fighter in the area, and most definitely
not a young man named Ranma Saotome.

   The loss of money was a further annoyance to her.  Overconfidence
had dealt her two irritating losses for the price of one: the loss in
combat to Ranma itself, and the loss of a fair amount of money on his
beating of all the spreads she established.  She had even underestimated
his endurance for setting the time duration bets on the fight.  However,
she was very confident that she would recoup her monetary losses when
she challenged him again and won.  She knew that she would beat him the
next time, and the time after that.  Her one loss was only a temporary
setback.

   Standing up from her dressing table, Nabiki examined the bruises on
her face one last time, grateful that her father had not seen her in
such a condition and that Akane was too distracted to inquire about
them.  They were already fading, and she was certain that she would be
back to one hundred percent come the morning, after several hours of
needed restorative rest.  Collapsing into bed, Nabiki closed her eyes
and let slumber quickly carry her away.

                  ******************************

   Nabiki found herself standing in the familiar surroundings of the
Tendou Dojo, barefoot, and dressed in Chinese-style clothes with a blue
shirt.  She was paused in the doorway, the walkway leading to the main
house lying behind her, and a hazily indistinct figure was kneeling in
the middle of the room.  When Nabiki stepped fully into the dojo, the
figure of her counterpart snapped into sudden clarity, also barefoot and
dressed in Chinese-style clothes, with a light green shirt.

   "Hello again," said the other Nabiki, opening her eyes and looking
over at her.  She stood and bowed to the new arrival, a smirk suddenly
appearing on her face as she did so.  "You lost to Ranchan, I saw."

   Nabiki blinked before returning the bow, clearly not expecting the
smirk and the reproof in her counterpart's greeting.  She straightened
up and frowned as she said, "It was only a temporary setback.  I'll just
train myself harder and try again in a few days."

   "And you'll lose again," said the other Nabiki.  She tilted her head
to one side slightly as she looked at the blue-shirted Nabiki.  "Why do
you think you lost this time?"

   "Ranma added Amazon techniques to his arsenal," replied Nabiki, a
bit puzzled by the question.

   "Wrong," said the green-shirted Nabiki, but then quickly added, "And
you'd realize why if you thought some more about it.  Observe."  With a
dramatic wave of her hand and a grin on her face, the scene quickly
changed around them, forming into the fields back behind the Academy.
Frozen ranks of cadets stood around them, none breathing.  Ranma was
halted in mid-step as he walked towards her, that moment when she first
turned and was clearly able to see his face.

   "Cute trick," said the blue-shirted Nabiki dryly.  The clarity of
the image was astonishing.  She never realized how clear her memories
were of that event.

   "Thanks," replied the other Nabiki with a smile.  "Oddly enough, it
reminds me a little of something that I once saw on a dubbed, American
science-fiction program, but that's beside the point.  Now take a look
at Ranchan's eyes.  Tell me, what do you see?"

   Nabiki walked over and studied Ranma closely, noting the purposeful
gaze on his face.  She turned and said, "He looks like he really wanted
to win."

   "Correct," noted the green-shirted Nabiki with a slight smirk on her
face.  "Ranma wanted to win very badly, and that was why he did.  His
skills were roughly equal to yours, or mine, however you care to look at
it, for you also have many Amazon fighting techniques in the skills you
gained from me.  So it wasn't a new move or two that let him win, it was
his driving need for victory, the one you can see so clearly in his
eyes."  There was an odd, almost unnoticeable tone of wistfulness
present in her voice as she paused for a moment, gazing at Ranma with an
inscrutable look on her face.  "That was why he won."

   "What?" Nabiki blurted out, not noticing the other girl's pause and
odd tone.  She turned from her study of her opponent.  "I wanted to win,
too!"

   The other Nabiki shook her head slowly and seemed to sigh, as if she
was addressing a slow and possibly dim-witted student, irritating Nabiki
greatly.  She then said, "No, you were certain you would win, but Ranma
had more than that.  Not only was he certain he would win, he wanted to
win.  He _needed_ to win.  There's a difference."

   "How so?" asked Nabiki, clearly not understanding.

   "Look at me," said the green-shirted Nabiki, gesturing at herself
with her thumb.  "I've long understood what your Ranma now apparently
knows, what I hope this talk will help you understand.  Victory doesn't
always go to the fastest or to the strongest.  In my experience, it most
often seems to go to the one who desires victory more strongly than
their opponent does, so strongly that they reach far, far deeper into
themselves than they otherwise ever would.  I enter every fight with
that attitude, that hunger for victory, and I've always won in the end.
Your Ranma did that, and you lost."

   "Damn it!  I don't accept that!" shouted Nabiki.  "I'm almost as
tall as Ranma-kun, with basically equal reach to his in my arms and
legs, and I'm almost as strong as he is.  Even if I may be weaker, I'm
still faster than he is, and my skills, YOUR skills, are better than
his, better than his counterpart's abilities!  I should have beaten him!
Wouldn't you win against his counterpart?"

   "Of course I would," admitted the other Nabiki with a nod.  "But if
his training was as brutal as what I suffered through under Uncle Genma,
then it would be a hard fight before I beat him.  I'm certain that I'm
faster than that other Ranma, at least in my female form.  Then again,
in my male form, like with my own Ranma, I'm stronger than he is too.  I
also have Matriarch Cologne to thank for training me to be a much better
fighter in either form than I ever imagined I could be.  And I have a
pretty good imagination."

   With a smug smile, the other Nabiki whipped herself up onto her feet
and went through a brief series of punches and kicks to demonstrate her
great speed and prowess as she kept talking.  "I'd say that makes it a
given I'd beat this other Ranma in a fight.  However, having said that,
the chance to test myself to the limits of my abilities against someone
like him as an opponent is really sorta irresistible, to see how good
Ranchan would be at his absolute best."

   "So what do I do to beat my Ranma?" asked Nabiki.

   "Do you really want to beat your Ranma?" asked the other Nabiki,
pausing in her attack upon the hapless target.  "There's a way."

   "Tell me!" demanded Nabiki.

   "It's obvious," said the other Nabiki with a smile.  "Develop your
speed even further, like this."  After calling out a loud "Kachu Tenshin
Amaguriken!" she began swiftly demolishing the training dummy.  Her
fists were mere blurs, each solid strike landing at nearly the speed of
sound, possibly even beyond it.  As the target crumbled to dust under
the brutal assault, she continued, "It's one of my favorite techniques
out of all those in my arsenal.  Train to use it, and your Ranma won't
be able to stand against your speed.  I doubt Cologne would ever have
taught his counterpart the technique, so yours won't ever be able to
counter it."

   Nabiki blinked, and then suddenly found herself barely able to wait
until she was able to claim that level of speed for herself.  *Just you
wait, Ranma-kun,* thought Nabiki with a smug look.  *A few weeks from
now, and I'll show you that I'm the better fighter.  You'll never win
against me again.*  She made a mental note to start training her body
immediately, and she needed to buy a quantity of firewood for that
purpose.  Her hands closed into fists for several moments.

   The other Nabiki went on speaking as she gracefully flowed around
the imaginary dojo's floor, "I'm actually sorta surprised that your
Ranma can give you so much trouble.  After all, as much as I love my own
Ranchan, he's just not in my class as a fighter, and he never will be.
He'll always be in my shadow, and given how Cologne judges my potential,
I don't see how it could ever be anything else.  Don't get me wrong.  My
Ranma's really very good, one of the best, but he's not the heir to the
Anything-Goes School in my world.  I am."

   A second one of the training dummies was obliterated with rapid,
powerful blows from the other Nabiki's fists, then she paused and looked
at the dreaming Nabiki.  "On a side note, the little bits and pieces of
that other Ranma that I can see getting filtered through your Ranchan's
personality are, well, kind of interesting.  For example, I can pretty
much safely say that your Ranma, and I assume his counterpart in that
divergent timeline of his as well, is most definitely not quite as
'domesticated' as my own Ranchan can be at times.  My Ranchan tends to
defer to women, being raised by his mother while I was with Genma all
those years.  Yours is much more independent-minded and capable....  I
kinda like that in him."  She smiled, and a slight blush colored her
cheeks.  "Not to mention those incredible sensations you feel whenever
he's near you....  Wow!"

   "Yeah," admitted Nabiki with a bit of a smirk.  However, she felt
more than a little embarrassed to be reminded of Ranma's effect on her.
"You're right.  He's arrogant, stubborn, and he can be annoying as hell
at times.  But I don't think I'd ever trade mine for one like yours.  I
honestly can't picture my life without him in it anymore."

   "I guess there's just something about Ranma Saotome that grows on a
girl, in any world, ne?" asked the green-shirted Nabiki.  She casually
waved a hand, and the scenery dissolved away into white emptiness for a
moment, before reforming into the Tendou Dojo.

   "I guess so," admitted Nabiki.  "He's also going to be mine someday,
once I deal with Akane and Kodachi.  Daddy's told me that there's going
to be a marriage meeting with Ranma's family in just a few days, and
that I shouldn't worry about the outcome.  And when it's over, he'll
officially become my fiance.  I just have to work on teaching Ranma
who's gonna be boss between us," then she smirked for a moment, "namely
me.  At least I don't have to worry about any other girls showing up and
complicating things.  I know I can handle Akane and Kodachi easily
enough."

   "True, things could be worse.  You could have a Jusenkyou curse, a
bunch of Amazons, and a cross-dressing okonomiyaki chef to contend
with," said the other Nabiki with a chuckle.  "Take it from me, you've
got it easy."

   With that having been said, the lucid dream faded away to a more
normal one.

                  ******************************

   After the meeting with the Saotomes was over, Ukyou and her parents
headed over to visit with Ukyou's aunt and her father's sister, Yumi
Kuonji.  Ukyou had only heard stories of her aunt, considered by many of
the older ninja in the Kuonji Clan to be the most capable warrior of her
generation.  Her father often told Ukyou that she resembled her aunt as
a young girl a fair amount, something usually said whenever she was
being defiant.  Why her Aunt Yumi was living in Tokyo was a tale that
none of the adults ever seemed willing to tell.  Her mother had once
admitted it was due to some sort of trouble with the Hibiki Clan when
she had been a teenager, but Ryouga had claimed ignorance of the matter
when Ukyou had once interrogated him about it several years ago.  All
Ukyou knew was that Yumi had separated herself from the Clan to live in
the Imperial Capital on her own, but she still kept in contact with her
brother, Ukyou's father.

   A brisk walking distance from the Saotome residence, Ukyou and her
parents eventually stopped outside a small, but quite well-appointed
okonomiyaki restaurant.  A dark blue awning outside bore the kanji for
"Yu-chan's" upon it.  Ukyou stifled a snicker at the name.  *Maybe if I
don't end up marrying this Ranma guy, I can start my own place and name
it "Ucchan's" or something,* she thought with a wry grin, remembering
the silly nickname he had called her.  She then quickly banished the
thought as being too weird.

   Akira Kuonji led the way into the shop, quiet now since it was long
after the dinner rush was over.  A grin was on his face as he bellowed
at the top of his lungs, "I hear that someone is passing off pig slop as
okonomiyaki in these parts!"  He then paused and waited for the results.

   The figure working behind the counter, somewhat broad-shouldered for
a woman and rangy of limb, yet still unmistakably female, snapped her
head up at the loud insult.  Apparently she had been too involved with
some minor activity behind the counter to hear them come in.  She was
dressed in the typical garb of an okonomiyaki chef, seen throughout the
Empire: snug black pants, tabi shoes, a tight-fitting white undershirt,
and a heavier, dark blue, short-sleeved shirt worn atop with the cuffs
rolled up.  The woman's face was square-jawed and almost mannish in a
way, not what could ever be called classically beautiful, yet having a
solid sort of character to it that was attractive on its own terms.  Her
shoulder-length brown hair was held back in a loose ponytail secured by
a yellow ribbon.  When she raised her turquoise-colored eyes and saw
Akira standing there, they lit briefly with amusement.  She casually
removed a large spatula from the wall behind her and hopped over the
counter without touching it.

   "Nobody insults a Kuonji's okonomiyaki!" roared the woman with very
real-sounding anger.  She then went into a blurred series of attacks
with her weapon, with such speed and skill that Ukyou was left almost
breathless with admiration.

   Akira dodged and evaded the initial attacks, but he was still just a
little bit drunk from earlier.  He mistimed a dodge, and the flat of the
weapon caught him squarely in the face with the full power of the
woman's shoulders and arms behind it.  He went down hard, stunned.

   "You never could take me in a fight, little brother," said Yumi
sagely before picking the larger man up casually and depositing him into
a chair.  She turned and looked Ukyou over with a toothy grin, bowing
loosely as she said to her, "Greetings, Niece."  She then turned to face
Ukyou's mother and said, "And how are you, Sis?"

   "I am well, Sister-in-law," said Yukiyou pleasantly, though she was
apparently a little distressed.  *I had forgotten how unladylike Yumi
always was,* she thought with concern.  *Still, she doesn't dress like a
man, so that's at least a step in the right direction for a role model
for my daughter.*

   "Hello, Aunt Yumi," said Ukyou with a polite bow, still impressed
with the great skill with which her aunt casually wielded the spatula in
her hands.  "I am honored to meet you."

   "The pleasure's mine, little one," said Yumi, "and you can call me
Auntie, or just Yumi if you prefer."  She laid her weapon on the counter
and pulled a chair out from a table, flipping it around before sitting
upon it.  She leaned forward and crossed her arms, resting them on the
top of the chair's backrest.  "So, how did the meeting go?"

   "We decided to have Ukyou remain in the area for awhile and get to
know the boy better before we decide whether or not to proceed with an
engagement," said Yukiyou as she watched her husband slowly regaining
his senses out of the corner of her eye.  "It won't be any trouble to
have her stay here with you for a while?"

   "Of course not!  It will be my pleasure," said Yumi with another
broad smile.  She turned to study Ukyou for a moment.  "It will be nice
to have a little help with the cooking and the cleanup.  So what do you
say, Niece?  You up to it?"

   "Just try me," said Ukyou with a smile.

   "She's got spunk, I'll say that for her, so she must take after her
mother," said Yumi with a smirk in her sister-in-law's direction.  She
turned her attention back to Ukyou, speaking out of the corner of her
mouth to Ukyou's mother.  "And I might be able to teach her a thing or
two about fighting and the shinobi arts while she's staying here.  After
all, a certain crazy old man who we all know and love isn't the only one
who knows the tricks and skills of our Clan.  He just knows a few more
of them."  There was a clear twinkle in her eyes as she saw Ukyou's
eagerness.  "And I'm sure you'll like the big city a lot, kid.  It
really isn't anything like the mountain villages back by the shrine.
There's always something exciting that seems to be happening around
here."

   "My husband and I trust that you will keep us informed as to how
Ukyou is doing, Sister-in-law," said Yukiyou politely.  "I am sure that
the experience will do her good."

   "Don't worry, Yukiyou," said Yumi more seriously.  "The girl's
family, and I'll look out for her as if she was my own daughter.  If
anyone hurts her, they'll answer to me.  Fair?"

   "I thank you for your assistance, Sister-in-law," said Yukiyou a
little more warmly as she bowed in her chair.  "I know how important
family is to you."

   "Family is always first in my mind, Sis," said Yumi with a smile.
"I'll watch out for her."  She casually cracked her knuckles.  "Nobody
messes with us Kuonji girls, right Ukyou-chan?"  She smiled warmly at
her niece.

   "Yes, Auntie," said Ukyou brightly.

   "That's the spirit," said Yumi.  "You go on up those stairs and take
a look through the second door on the right.  I laid out a futon in case
you needed a place to stay.  I get up early here, so sleep well."  She
smiled and made a shooing gesture to Ukyou.  "Now scoot.  Your mother
and I are going to catch up a little, while we wait for your father to
recover from that little lovetap I gave him."

   "Yes, Auntie," said Ukyou, feeling much more positive about this
whole excursion now.  First Ranma had turned out to be more than she had
expected, and now this.  Her aunt was everything that she had imagined.
She bowed and headed up the narrow flight of stairs.

   *I think I'm going to love it here,* Ukyou thought with a smile.

                  ******************************

   Within the dojo at Kunou Manor, Kodachi was finishing up the last
hour of her personal evening training regimen, when a somber Tatewaki
unexpectedly entered the room.  She ignored him, still a little angry
with him for his many ugly remarks about Ranma, and how far beneath her
station the pigtailed scholar was.  She continued driving her fists into
the heavy punching bag she was using, a brief fantasy of doing the same
thing to Akane Tendou the next time they fought filling her mind as she
did so.  However, for a single moment, Nabiki Tendou's face floated
across her mind's eye, smirking at her with her trademarked coolly smug
look, and Kodachi angrily redoubled her efforts.  She smiled mirthlessly
as she knocked the bag back on its chain with her punches, glorying in
the smooth power her body was putting into her blows.

   *How dare yet another one of those pushy Tendou cows try and come
between me and Saotome-kun?* Kodachi thought with a huff as she paused
for a brief moment.  *The very idea.  He obviously needs someone of much
more refinement and intellect than either of those two lowborn savages
has to offer.  One is nothing but a brutish thug, and the other is some
type of would-be gangster and profiteer.  Both of those over-muscled
harlots are simply the lowest sort of scum.  And both of them have tried
to hurt Saotome-kun!*

   Kodachi suddenly powered a swift series of kicks into the heavy bag
as her emotions raged within her, giving the lithe muscles in her arms
and shoulders a brief respite.  Sweat flew from her face and body with
each solid strike, and the seams of the heavy leather punching bag began
leaking modest amounts of sand from the incredible abuse it was taking.
It would not survive the night at this rate, possibly not even another
hour.

   During her day of recent bedrest to recover from the injuries she
suffered at Akane's hands, Kodachi had taken some time to re-examine her
research on this Ranma's life and his accomplishments.  She found a
great deal to admire about him that she could admit that she had never
known about his counterpart.  As far as she could tell, this Ranma was
an honorable and well-educated young man from a good and noble family,
even though they were of the lowest rungs of the nobility.  From the
brief time she had spent with him, she could see that he was much like
that other version of Ranma Saotome that she had known, the one now lost
to her somewhere across the dimensions.  Deep in her heart, she could
admit him to be the boy she had fallen in love with.

   However, the passionate feelings Kodachi felt growing within her for
this Ranma were quickly replacing the shy but loving regard she had once
held for his counterpart.  Perhaps part of that was due to a certain
indefinable 'something' that she could sense within this Ranma, a hidden
strength of some sort that he had, one that seemed to call to her very
femininity with an undeniable power.  Just the mere thought of being
held close by him had the ability to bring a blush to her face, and her
occasional fantasies about him kept wandering off into some very erotic
scenes, ones that scandalized Kodachi sometimes.

   Kodachi let her mind drift a bit as her fists and feet continued to
unleash increasingly powerful strikes into the punching bag with some of
the last of her waning energy reserves.  Despite her jealous feelings
over the shapeliness of Nabiki's nude figure when she had seen it in the
locker room showers, the young noblewoman was only mildly concerned at
her own abilities at attracting Ranma's eye to herself.  Modest as she
considered herself to be, Kodachi knew she was attractive, athletic, and
fairly well built and endowed for a girl her age.  She was very much
like her mother before her, a beautiful daughter of an ancient House of
the Empire.  She was a desirable young woman that many men would seek to
possess, but she only had eyes for a certain pigtailed scholar.

   That was her current dilemma.  Kodachi wanted Ranma to desire her as
much as she now did him, and it was driving her to commit such acts of
brazenness in the brief time that she had known him so far, even as
subtly as she did them, that it sometimes shocked the almost painfully
shy girl whom she had merged with.  However, her urges were becoming
stronger of late as her burgeoning feelings of love for Ranma grew.  At
times, she wanted to simply grab the pigtailed boy and take him to her
bed, to explore the limits of carnal pleasure between them.  Then, after
their mutual desires had been fully explored and satisfied, and she lay
there cuddled in his arms, that relaxed moment would be the time she
would admit to Ranma her true feelings for him.

   *Why can't it be that easy?* Kodachi wondered, even as she suddenly
noticed the damage being sustained by the punching bag.  She eased off a
bit in the vigor of her efforts, conserving the last of her strength as
she forced herself to relax.  *If only I could just be more open about
my feelings with him.*  She seemed constantly poised on the horns of a
dilemma: be bold and brazen with Ranma, or be demure and shy like a true
lady was.  So Kodachi kept waffling back and forth between having the
audacity to simply drag Ranma off to a quiet area and slake her strong
desires for him, and becoming almost tongue-tied in his mere presence.
The very unwelcome additions of the two Tendou girls was something she
also needed to deal with, and soon.  Kodachi's upper lip curled at the
thought of the coolly smug attitude given to her by Nabiki Tendou.

   *Dealing with that other Tendou harridan will require much more
delicacy,* thought Kodachi grimly, beginning to hit the punching bag
harder once again.  *She doesn't strike me as being nearly as easy to
outthink as her younger sister, and she's an even better fighter.  She
will require cleverness to overcome, not brute force.  Although that way
would not be nearly as satisfying as the beating I gave to her brutish
sister.  Still, it would be easiest if I could change the focus of her
attentions to another target.  But, who?*

   Lost in her thoughts for a moment, Kodachi did not hear her brother
suddenly address her.  She continued to pummel the heavy leather bag
with her fists and feet, enjoying the feelings of tiredness building up
within her muscles.  She knew the intense workout would help her get to
sleep, instead of lying awake to fret about her meeting with Ranma in a
couple of days as she was sure she would do otherwise.

   "Sister dearest," interjected Kunou into her musings once again, a
little louder than the first time, causing Kodachi to pause in her
exertions.

   "Brother dear," replied Kodachi, stopping her workout and padding
over to one side of the mat in her bare feet to pick up a towel.  She
dabbed at the perspiration on her face for a moment as she felt her
energy reserves begin to recover.  "What brings you out to the training
hall so late?"

   "Why didst thou strike me this morn for speaking my mind on the
subject of that... person?" asked Kunou abruptly, finally voicing the
question he had held within him throughout dinner.  He assumed what he
saw as a noble pose, one of wounded dignity, and glared at his sister.

   "My relationship with Saotome-kun is my own business, brother dear,"
said Kodachi mildly.  She draped the towel across her shoulders and held
an end in each hand.  "I could no longer bear to hear you speak such
hateful things about him in my presence, so I stilled your voice as best
I saw fit."  She coolly returned Kunou's icy glare with one of equal
chill, her body lightly balanced on the balls of her feet, a gesture of
defiance that her brother ignored for the moment.

   "I see," said Kunou sullenly.  Their gazes remained locked, and
neither appeared willing to back down.  Strain appeared in his voice as
he continued speaking.  "So you choose this 'scholar' over thine own
flesh and blood?  He has so quickly poisoned your mind against me?"

   "Saotome-kun has not poisoned my mind against you, Tate-kun," said
Kodachi in a more soothing tone of voice.  She was relieved to see her
brother relax a little at her tone.  "However, if Father has his way, if
what I hope will come to pass does, then Ranma will become my husband.
He and I will be 'of one flesh', as the black and crimson-garbed priests
from the West speak of marriage."

   "Saotome is unworthy of you," growled Kunou in a low tone.  "And I
refuse to accept that he is to become a member of this household.  I
refuse, I say!  As your elder brother, I request, nay, I _command_ you
to reject this marriage for the good of our most noble House.  There are
many far worthier men who could, and should, be thy lord and husband.
Thy pristine beauty should be wed to another of high station, not wasted
on a lowborn scoundrel like him, one who is almost common gutter trash.
I say that Ranma Saotome is not worthy of you!"

   Kodachi blinked, and then an angry look crossed her face.  Without a
further word, her hand slapped Kunou's face hard.  As she watched him
recover from the shock of her attack, a battle aura began shimmering
around her for a moment, triggered by her anger.  She stepped forward
half a pace, her stance clearly that of someone ready to deal out more
damage.

   His ears ringing from the unexpected blow, Kunou shook his head and
then stared at his sister in shock.  Blood dribbled from his mouth, a
result of his having bitten his lip during the surprise blow.  *So the
vile knave has now brought my sweet and innocent sister to such a state
that she would raise her hand against her own family, against her own
brother,* he thought darkly.  *And my beloved sister is not enough for
his base lusts.  No, he has also claimed the heart of the fair maiden
Akane Tendou.  How I have come to loathe you for these crimes, Ranma
Saotome.  I swear I shall avenge myself upon you for these sins, and my
skills shall humble thee.  I swear this upon my most sacred honor and
that of all my ancestors.*  He paused to gather his thoughts, his visage
angry and grim.

   "That is twice in one day that thou hast struck me whilst I was but
speaking my mind, my beloved sister," intoned Kunou angrily.  "Do not
make me forget that thou art a woman and my younger sister, or my wrath
shall be swift and terrible upon thee.  Thou hast changed much in the
past few months, changed in a manner most grievous unto me, and now I
think I can see the reason for it.  Thy womanly, vaporous passions for
this lowborn cretin have unhinged thy mind, and that madness has somehow
infected our beloved parents.  I see that now."

   "You are an idiot, Brother!" spat out Kodachi fiercely.  "You seek
to guard me as if I were some little doll for you to keep 'safe' until
you deign to find a man 'worthy' of me, then you will gladly hand me
over to some popinjay of a chinless noble who you see as 'suitable' for
owning me.  Perhaps someone like your friend, that lecherous Mikado
Sanzenin, for example.  Well, I am not your doll!"

   "He would not be my first choice for thy husband," said Kunou in a
solemn tone of voice, apparently contemplating some of her words yet
ignoring others, "but he is not entirely unsuitable for thy hand in
marriage.  He is surely far better for thee than Ranma Saotome is, and
his family is one of impeccable breeding and a most noble lineage."

   "Am I to be bred like a prize mare now?" asked Kodachi in a mocking
tone, somehow glad to now have this argument out in the open.  These
feelings had been building up within her for some time, and it was
taking all of her self-control to keep from pounding her brother into
the floor until he would admit that she was able to live her own life.
For one thing, she would select her husband, instead of having her older
brother dictate to her who that would be.  And she knew with certainty
who she would have that someone be.  "I would not spend a single moment
of time with that loathsome lothario that you call friend, save you
trussed me up in irons and presented me as a gift for the gratification
of his perverse pleasures.  That is something I am sure he at least
would like, but I most certainly would not.  I have heard sufficient
stories from several of the girls at Blackhall to give me an adequate
barometer as to his lack of character."

   "Sanzenin-kun's reputation with those of the fairer sex is surely
exaggerated," said Kunou with annoyance, wiping the remaining blood from
his mouth with an absent gesture.  "The women flock to him out of
attraction to his noble countenance and good nature, so do not speak ill
of him."

   "Very well, brother dear," said Kodachi mildly.  "Then I ask you to
not speak ill of my intended husband.  I consider him a good man, and I
will not hear you insult him in my presence."  She saw her brother seem
to visibly swell up in sudden anger at her statement.

   "Ranma Saotome shall not become thy husband!" Kunou thundered at
her.  "That trumped-up commoner is not worthy of the honor of thy hand.
Thou art a fair daughter of the noble House of Kunou, and thou hast a
duty to wed for the good of the family, not to follow the yearnings of
thy fragile, feminine weaknesses!"

   "Brother dear," said Kodachi in saccharin-sweet tones, "cease to be
this annoyance you have become of late to me.  Stand aside and let me
pursue Saotome-kun for my husband.  It is quite true that I am a noble
daughter of the House of Kunou, a lady samurai of a warrior House.  So
do not force me to raise my hand against you to defend my point, let
alone the man I have come to regard so highly in my heart.  For I will
if I must."

   Kunou could not believe what he was hearing.  Only a few months ago,
he would never have conceived of his meek and shy sister speaking so
defiantly to him.  She was no longer humbly complying with any of his
commands to her, what he had grown used to over the course of their
lives as the normal state of affairs between them.  *She would not seek
to challenge me in our ancestral hall, would she?* he asked himself in
the solitude of his own thoughts.  *I am the very pinnacle of the Kunou
family's legendary fighting abilities, a scion descended of centuries of
combat lore and skill, all distilled into the most puissant of mortal
vessels that has ever drawn breath.*  Without thinking, he began to
laugh with an almost maniacal edge.

   "Thy madness for the Saotome churl has claimed the last of thy wits,
sister dear," said Kunou grandly between chuckles.  "A mere slip of a
girl such as thyself could never hope to defeat me.  Thy combat skills
could never compare to mine own.  Perhaps it would be best for thee to
return to more suitably feminine activities."

   Kodachi casually tossed her towel aside and uppercutted her brother
as hard as she could across the jaw with her right fist, lifting him
clear of the floor and knocking him back several feet with a loud crash
into a weapons rack, before springing back herself to land in a combat
stance.  The blood seemed to sing within her veins as she waited for him
to respond to her challenge, new reserves of energy filling her, and her
body once again coming to rest easily upon the balls of her feet.  Her
eyes glowed with the light of battle as she gazed at him.

   "I accept thy challenge, dear sister," said Kunou grimly, pulling
himself free of the weapons rack, drawing forth one of the bokkens from
it as he did so.  His hand briefly felt along his jaw, casually testing
to make sure it was still attached to the proper place on his face.  "I
shall force thee to yield to my will in this, great though it pains my
soul to bring any harm to thee."

   "Cease your pompous posturing, brother dear, and fight me if you are
going to do so," growled Kodachi.  The tiredness from her workout had
now almost completely faded, and she felt quite ready to put him down
hard and painfully if she had to.  The young noblewoman settled herself
to let her brother make the first move in their duel, studying his
stance for any clues as to his intentions.  Her eyes narrowed slightly
as she saw him suddenly rush towards her.

   "Hold!" shouted an angry female voice from the doorway, mere moments
before the two siblings were to engage each other in savage combat, the
command somehow penetrating through the red haze of anger that had
arisen within each of them.  The pair froze in place, Kodachi briefly
flicking her gaze to the grim-looking figure standing in the doorway,
even as her brother stepped back from her and turned to look as well.

   "Mother," said Kodachi in a quiet voice, uncertain what else to say.
She relaxed into a neutral stance, watching her mother briefly fanning
her face with one of her ever-present fans as the Kunou family matriarch
studied them both.

   "I am very disappointed in you two," said Kensaiko grimly.  "Very
disappointed indeed.  This bickering is pointless, not to mention most
disruptive to the harmony of this household, and I will have it ended
here and now.  Do you two understand me?"

   "Yes, Mother," said the two siblings in unintended harmony.  They
briefly glared at each other.

   "Kodachi," said Kensaiko thoughtfully, "fighting with your elder
brother is not the way to settle things between siblings.  It is not
very ladylike to act in such a manner."

   Kodachi visibly wilted a little at the comment.

   Kunou smirked, but only for a moment, before their mother whirled to
glare at him.

   "And you!" snapped Kensaiko, pointing at him with her now-closed
fan.  "How dare you take up arms against your younger sister?  Is the
boy your father and I are considering for your sister's husband so
repellent to you that it has caused you to take complete leave of your
senses?"  She waited for a reply, arms now folded, one slippered foot
tapping lightly on the ground.

   "Aye, he is," said Kunou quietly and defiantly, raising his gaze to
meet hers angrily.  "Ranma Saotome is no great lord, no noble of a good
House, but merely of humble squire stock.  In my opinion, he is barely
of the nobility.  The knave fights with his bare hands, brawling like
the lowly peasant he is.  A true samurai would fight armed.  To have
such a lowly one marry a highborn and pure-bred lady such as my own dear
but misguided sister is unthinkable!"  Kunou began to tremble with
repressed rage.

   "There is no guarantee that he will, my son," said Kensaiko mildly
as she gazed at her son thoughtfully.  "Nothing is cast in stone, yet.
However, the boy has proven himself against you to be a strong warrior,
and our House has taken in new blood from outside the high nobility from
time to time."

   "He defeated me using base trickery," growled Kunou.  "He is only a
scholar, not a true-blooded warrior.  I do not see him as worthy to seek
entry into a house of heroes such as ours.  Perhaps he used some sorcery
upon myself and Sanzenin-kun."  He nodded briefly in thought.  "Yes.  I
can think of no other way that he could have won with merely his bare
hands."

   *My brother is even more of an idiot than I dared imagine,* Kodachi
thought with irritation.  *He refuses to admit that Saotome-kun is now
his better in combat.*  She sighed softly, a gesture her mother noticed
even though her brother did not.

   "Go clean up and get ready for bed, young lady," commanded Kensaiko
mildly.  She could not completely repress the sudden twinkle in her eye
as she looked at her only daughter, putting the lie to the facade of
anger that she had worn so far.  "You and I shall speak sometime soon on
the proper ways for a lady to act, as well as other things."

   "Yes, Mother," said Kodachi, feeling a little puzzled as she left to
bathe and prepare for bed.  She pointedly ignored her brother as she
stiffly walked out.

   "Mother," began Kunou, moments after his sister had left the room.
He paused when his mother raised her hand.

   "Listen to me well, my son," said Kensaiko calmly.  "You overstepped
your place in this household in the matter of Kodachi's future.  I know
that it is hard for you to believe in this particular instance, but your
dear father and I are always looking out for the welfare of this House.
It is for you to trust our judgment as to what is best for your younger
sister."

   "But this Ranma Saotome is only barely of the nobility!" protested
Kunou vigorously.  "Whereas our proud lineage has been touched by the
near-divinity of the Imperial Bloodline itself!  To taint it with such
base commonness, to allow my precious sister to lie with such a one, to
bear children to him, is far beyond what I can tolerate.  Give me thy
leave, and I shall prove him unworthy of holding a place in this House."

   "What would you seek for me to say?" said Kensaiko thoughtfully.
"Defeat Ranma Saotome utterly and without question, and I will consider
him to be of an unworthy bloodline for your sister, too weak to add to
the strength of this House.  Is that what you would have me say?"

   "Aye, Mother," said Kunou grimly, his eyes burning with reforged
purpose.

   "Hold your eagerness to spill the boy's blood, my son," said
Kensaiko grimly.  "How is Ranma Saotome any different from that of this
girl I hear tell of that has claimed your fancy, this Akane Tendou?"

   "Ah, Akane Tendou," said Kunou grandly, his anger forgotten as he
bathed in his glowing memories of her.  "She is a noble beauty without
compare, a veritable warrior goddess clothed in mortal form, filled with
spirit and great passion.  She has claimed my heart utterly with but a
single look from her flashing eyes, and I would conquer a thousand
nations if only that I might lay them at her feet as an offering."

   "She is of the lower nobility too, my son," said Kensaiko in that
same grim tone.  "Why should I allow you, the heir to the vast holdings
of our Great House, to court such a one, a girl of a family that is of
nearly equal level to that of the Saotomes?  I had in mind a pristine
daughter of the high nobility for you as a wife.  Perhaps that girl of
House Saginomiya you were smitten with a short while back?"

   "Feh," snorted Kunou.  "Though I still find her fair to look upon,
the spiteful Asuka has lost her claim to my noble heart.  The spell she
once cast over me with her alluring charms was broken by the sight of
the object of my true love.  Akane Tendou has shown me a spirit and a
strength of body that I have not seen in any of the daughters of the
high nobility, so I look upon it as my sacred duty to take such a strong
woman to wife and raise her to the peerage.  Then, she shall bear unto
me strong sons to carry on the Kunou family legacy.  That her bloodline
is of the same stature as that cursed Ranma Saotome is of no consequence
to me.  I shall have Akane Tendou as my wife, and I shall allow none to
gainsay my desires in this."

   *My son takes after his father far too much,* thought Kensaiko with
a mental sigh.  *Both of them tend to only hear what they want to hear.
It is a good thing that the women of this House are sensible enough to
hold things together.  However, Kodachi is becoming more and more like I
once was as a girl, and I do not know whether to be proud of her or
annoyed.  Already she is getting into fights and gathering rivals, and
one of those is my dearly beloved son's chosen consort.  The old saying
is true, a mother's lot is not an easy one.*

   "Your father has already made arrangements to meet with the
Tendous," said Kensaiko after her brief time of reflection, "and it
promises to be a most memorable evening.  Now go and prepare yourself
for bed, my son, and cease attempting to exert your will over your
sister.  A Kunou is not a bully, Tate-chan."

   "Aye, Mother," said Kunou with a manic sort of smile, bowing before
leaving.  His thoughts were already lost on fantasies of Akane Tendou.
Once Ranma Saotome fell before him, the spell cast upon her should fade,
and she would finally be able to return the burning feelings of love
that he held for her.  He quickly left his mother standing alone in the
training hall.

   "A lesser noble's youngest daughter?" Kensaiko softly wondered to
the air.  Her investigations of the Tendou family had left her less than
impressed with their bloodline, so she no longer felt it necessary to
meet Akane in person, as had been her original plan.  She gracefully
walked over to the open window and gazed out at the night.  "Husband,
what were you thinking?  This has all the makings of a disaster of epic
proportions.  Young Ranma shows great promise to make a fine addition to
our House, but this Akane girl is obviously ill-suited for my precious
son as the future Lady of this House.  Far better that Tatewaki should
simply take her to his bed as a concubine, if he truly desires her so
strongly.  Yes, that is far more suitable a position in this House for
one of her station.  I shall speak to my husband of that.  After all,
the heir to this House requires a young lady of noble quality and good
breeding to assist and eventually succeed me in running the household
affairs, a lady of refined beauty, intelligence, and innate strength of
character."

   Kensaiko briefly snapped her fan open and fluttered it before her
face, even as she contemplated which Clan to make an overture to.  After
several moments of thought, a name suddenly occurred to her, a family
currently rising in favor at the Imperial Court.  *And they have only a
single daughter, still unattached, one who has so far rejected all
suitors.  Yes, she will be perfect for my Tatewaki,* she thought with a
pleased look.  *I believe she even shares his strong interest in
swordplay.*

   With a smile on her face, Kensaiko went to inform her husband of the
decision 'they' had made concerning their son's future.

                  ******************************

   "I am pleased with you, Dearest," said Nodoka as she readied herself
for bed.  She was slightly aroused when she noticed Genma watching her
with hungry eyes.  His new level of desire for her made her feel like a
young newlywed again, filled with youthful passions of her own.  "Your
actions tonight were well done."

   "It was nothing, Nodoka-chan," said Genma.  "Ranma's spent too much
time locked up with books.  He should learn to enjoy life more, and what
more enjoyable thing is there than to spend time with a beautiful woman?
Now come here, my wife.  It has been too long."

   "But Genma dearest," said Nodoka breathlessly, as he began quickly
undressing her when she drew near to him.  "It has only been hours since
our last time...."

   There was a brief pause.

   "Oh my, Dearest," sighed Nodoka.  "Oh, that feels so good."  She
felt her passions rising up within her, even though Genma was still
being a bit quicker and rougher with her than was his usual manner.  In
an odd way, it seemed to be adding to her excitement, almost as if he
was a stranger to her.  She felt quite risque.

   "Be quiet and turn off the lights, my wife," commanded Genma in a
gruff voice.  "Your husband commands it."

   *I don't know what's come over Dearest,* thought Nodoka as darkness
claimed the room.  *He's become so different.*  A very brief moment of
introspection came over Nodoka regarding her husband.  Despite his
acquiescence to her desires for Ranma's future, and his embrace of an
almost hedonistic manner that was sort of appealing in a decadent sort
of way, she still wondered when he would start acting again like the
quiet man she had first fallen in love with.  After only a few days of
this new attitude of his, she was already starting to miss the old Genma
Saotome she had married so long ago.

   Then, the passions of the moment quickly pushed aside any further
thoughts she might have had.

                  ******************************

   Ranma slipped off his shirt, wincing a little at some of the deep
bruises on his body.  Despite the pains he endured, he felt content with
his victories today, especially the one over Nabiki.  He idly rubbed a
spot on his ribs where one of her punches had caught him solidly.  He
looked at his reflection in the mirror, smiling a little.

   *I beat her,* Ranma thought proudly.  *I took everything that Nabiki
Tendou could throw at me, and I was the one who was left standing at the
end of the fight.  Me.  Ranma Saotome.  I proved that I'm the better
fighter, and not her.*  He recalled the feelings of elation that ran
through him when she had finally fallen.  But the memories of his win
faded in the face of the other problems now facing him.  As satisfying
as it had been to successfully prove his status as top fighter to his
rather attractive rival, it did not even really begin to solve any of
his other difficulties.

   Ranma collapsed onto his futon with a groan, his mind striving to
focus on coming up with a plan to continue his work.  Somehow he had to
get his equipment out of his lab before it was sent off to the Science
Ministry and lost for good.  With a sigh, he decided that accepting
Nabiki's aid in this one instance was for a good cause, as long as she
followed his lead and did not try to order him around like she clearly
seemed to want to do whenever she was around him.  After all, she had
broken into his lab once, despite a locked door.  So who better than her
to help him steal back his own equipment?  There was only one question
that remained.  Where to take it once he had it?

   Before he fell asleep, Ranma also made plans on taking some time to
pound his 'father' into a fine paste sometimes in the near future for
his recent actions.  Some morning 'training' with Genma would allow him
a chance to work off some of his frustrations.  *But at least he didn't
try anything funny with Ucchan's father this time,* he thought sleepily.
*Now I just have to keep an eye on him with Lord Kunou and Mister Tendou
to be sure he isn't trying something underhanded, but at least one of
the three meetings is over without me becoming engaged.*  One last yawn
escaped his lips, and then he immediately slipped into slumber.

   The next thing Ranma knew, he was standing in the backyard of the
Tendou household, next to the pond.  He shied away from it, obeying some
ingrained instinct before quickly chiding himself for being so afraid of
a little cold water.  *After all, I'm not cursed,* he thought with some
amusement.

   "You had me a little worried today, bookworm," said a voice suddenly
behind Ranma's right shoulder.  He turned around and saw the other Ranma
behind him, dressed in a red shirt and black gi pants.

   "I won, didn't I?" replied Ranma, suddenly noticing that he was
dressed in black gi pants and Chinese-style shirt as well, only in blue.

   "You almost lost to Nabiki," said the other Ranma with a shake of
his head.  "Nabiki!  Who would've ever thought she could be any sort of
a martial artist?  I sure never would've, not in a million years."

   "From what my Nabiki has told me," said Ranma thoughtfully, "on that
timeline where she got her skills from, that Ranma stayed home with the
Tendous and his mother, and she went with Pop on the training trip from
Hell.  Even all the way to Jusenkyou."  He saw the other Ranma begin
chuckling.

   "Nabiki cursed to turn into a guy is just too damn funny for words,"
said the other Ranma, pausing to watch as a few random memories floated
by, drifting like soap bubbles in the breeze.  "I wish I could see the
look on my Nabiki's face if she ever learned that."  He watched a memory
float by, one originating from another world, of a slightly different
Shampoo beating up Kodachi in the gymnastics ring.  An odd look appeared
on his face.

   After a long moment of study, the other Ranma shook his head, a
slight trickle of blood leaking from his nose as he muttered something
about the effect of tight gymnastics garb on a certain Amazon's frame.
He looked at Ranma with a half-grin.  "Anyway, now you're gonna hafta
train even harder.  If I've learned anything from dealing with the likes
of Ryouga, your Nabiki is probably gonna train hard and challenge you
again.  You're gonna need to be ready for that."

   "I beat her once, and I can beat her again," said Ranma confidently.
"Those Amazon techniques from that other world helped."

   "Yeah," said the other Ranma thoughtfully.  "Makes me almost wish I
spent more time training with the Old Ghoul.  Almost.  But your Nabiki
had some Amazon training in her style too.  I'm just not sure how much
she knows."

   A thought suddenly struck Ranma, and asked, "Just out of curiosity,
where is that other Ranma?"

   "He's back there somewhere, I guess," said his counterpart, casually
gesturing at the Tendou household.  It was sort of hazy-looking, as if a
fog had rolled in over it.  "It's kinda hard to explain."

   "Never mind then," said Ranma, wondering if this lucid dreaming was
a side effect of the resonator as well.  He had never had such clear
visions in dreams before where he felt so conscious and aware.  It was
very much like real life.

   "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you to start training yourself even
harder, bookworm," said the other Ranma with a grin as the scene began
to fade to a hazy whiteness.  "You'd better be prepared to beat your
Nabiki again after she trains herself some more, 'cause there's no way
in hell that I ever wanna see any Ranma second best to a chick.  You got
me?"

   "Don't worry," Ranma assured his counterpart.  "I know I'm better
than her now, that I _want_ to be the best more than she does.  Nabiki's
going to have to face facts that a well-trained guy is always going to
beat an equally well-trained girl.  She'll just have to accept that."
He smiled at the other Ranma as the dream began dissolving around him.

   "Ranma Saotome is the _true_ Heir to the Anything-Goes School of
Martial Arts," said the other Ranma confidently.  "No girl is ever going
to claim that while I have anything to say about it."

   The dream imploded with an inaudible pop, reverting to the regular
chaos of normal dreams.

                  ******************************

***** Earth  +1.612,+1.509

   Genma snapped awake before dawn, feeling Nodoka curled up against
him once more.  Now that he was conscious, his stomach began sending
hunger pangs and rumbles of complaint at its emptiness.  He ignored
them.  Disengaging himself from Nodoka's gentle grip without waking her
up, he arose from bed and quietly dressed in one of the newer gis he'd
picked up shopping yesterday, while waiting for Ranma to update him on
what was going on at home.

   *I should have heard from the boy before now,* thought Genma with
great concern.  He paused for a moment to study this version of Nodoka
in the dim light, looking so fragile and alone in bed by herself.  He
sighed softly at the sight, wondering what his own Nodoka was doing, how
she was managing to cope without him.  Realizing very quickly that his
worries were getting him nowhere, he crept out of the room and down to
the backyard.  He was surprised at how amazingly stealthy he could be
for his present bulk.

   Upon reaching the yard, Genma began his workout with stretches to
get the blood flowing in the cool morning air.  Not knowing how long he
was going to be stuck with this body and this life, one of the first
things he was determined to work on was trimming himself down to far
more acceptable levels.  Despite the thick muscles running beneath his
present bulk, he felt as fat as one of those lazy panda bears in the
public zoo, and that was unacceptable.  He knew his own body had
degenerated into plump flab over the years, but never in his wildest
nightmares could he have pictured himself drinking and gorging his way
through life until he was carrying around the amount of extra blubber
that this body had on it.  So he intended to whip this body back into
the absolute best shape he could get it into, through rigorous exercise
and a strict diet.  He figured that it would at least give him something
constructive to do while he was here.

   Later on in the day, Genma planned to investigate the local library
and see what the state of technology was in this world.  He suspected
that he might know a few things that were still unheard of here, and a
few patents in the right areas could set this family up for life.  And
if he could do nothing else for her, he wanted to know that this Nodoka
would be well-provided for after his departure.  That other Genma had
never given much thought to providing for his family, too consumed with
his dreams of creating a martial arts legacy through his son.  And so it
was that Professor Saotome had added it to the growing list of things he
wished to accomplish.  There were also a few legal matters he planned to
take care of as well, since he wanted to provide iron-clad assurances
that Nodoka alone would have control of any income from the patents for
when that other Genma (or 'that fat fool' as Professor Saotome had taken
to calling his other self) returned to this life.

   A short time later, Nodoka woke up and quickly realized that Genma
wasn't in bed with her.  A frown of disappointment appeared on her face,
and she was starting to wonder if her husband no longer found her to be
attractive.  He had been home with her for almost two days, and he was
still keeping her at arm's length.  Nodoka was starting to get more than
a little frustrated, especially since she was currently wearing one of
her most revealing negligees, far more daring than the one she had worn
to bed the night before.  It appeared to her that even more drastic
measures were needed on her part.

   Nodoka heard faint sounds coming from the backyard, mainly curses,
grunts, and an occasional wheeze.  She walked to the window and looked
out to see Genma, training harder than she had ever witnessed him doing,
even as morning sunlight began brightening the backyard.  She felt pride
glowing within her at his dedication to the Art, and she spent several
moments just watching him bound about the length of the yard as he went
through complex exercises and difficult katas.

   *He's going to need a big breakfast to keep up his strength after
all that activity,* Nodoka thought happily.  She dressed and went to the
kitchen, humming softly to herself.  She knew that Genma had not been
eating much since his return home, far less than she could ever remember
him eating, but she wasn't sure why.  To try and coax his appetite a
bit, she prepared an enormous breakfast of all his favorite dishes.  It
was easily large enough to feed all four people now living under their
roof, even the quite manly appetite she had seen Ranma demonstrating for
the last couple of days.  *Nothing like a good meal to brighten a man's
day.*

   In her room, Shampoo woke up with the dawn, stretching her arms out
to her sides and up over her head, even as she stretched her legs out to
their full extension beneath the covers and flexed her toes.  Her ears
detected some very familiar noises coming from the backyard, the quite
distinctive sounds of someone doing martial arts training.  Yawning,
dressed in only a long shirt, Shampoo opened the window of her small
room, expecting to see 'Pop' working out with Ranma, but she only saw
Genma training by himself.  She leaned out the window, wondering to
herself in a soft whisper, "What Pop doing?  Lazy Pop never train this
hard before."

   Unaware that he now had an audience, Genma kept at his exertions,
rather pleased and surprised at his new body's performance.  Despite the
annoyingly thick layers of fat on it, this body had very good endurance,
and he was confident that a regular regimen of working out and cutting
down on his food intake would slim him down in no time.  Just changing
his diet would be a big help on its own, especially cutting out all
forms of alcohol from his consumption.  The other Genma had apparently
felt that water was fit only for bathing, not drinking, so beer and sake
made up a distressing portion of his fluid intake.  But that was going
to change.  Professor Saotome intended to purge all of the poisons from
this body and rebuild its physique to as near to its peak as he could
manage, using everything he knew from both lives to help the process
along.

   Pausing in his exertions, Genma mopped the sweat from his forehead
with the bandana his counterpart constantly wore to hide his baldness.
He then dropped to the ground and began doing sit-ups, pushing this body
as hard as he felt it could take without crippling himself up.  Breath
flowed in through his nose and out through his mouth as he remembered
his own training from a long time ago.  It had been far too long, he
realized.  He was so involved in his efforts that he did not immediately
notice that he had company.

   "Pop up early," said Shampoo neutrally from behind Genma.  She stood
there dressed in one of her usual, semi-baggy Chinese outfits, for she
never knew when cold water would transform her.  She calmly studied the
sweating man with a blank expression.  He had been acting far nicer to
her for the last couple of days, not an unpleasant surprise, but she was
still more than a little uncertain how long this present mood of his
would last.  She was still wondering what had possessed him to break the
engagement between Ranma and Akane, not that she was really complaining.
However, distrusting Genma Saotome was a habit deeply ingrained into her
after all the time she had known him.

   "Good morning, Shampoo," said Genma pleasantly, taking a brief pause
in his exertions.  He adjusted his glasses and mopped some more sweat
from his brow.  "Care to join me in a good workout before breakfast?
This old man could use the company, since," he paused for a moment and a
ghost of pain went through his soul, "since my son isn't awake yet."

   The Amazon looked startled at the request.  She blinked and then
asked him, "Pop want practice with Shampoo?"

   "Only if you'd like to," answered Genma.  "I know I haven't been too
friendly to you in the past, but I'm hoping to change that.  So, would
you like to train with me this morning, fat, old and slow as I am?"  He
smiled at her in a friendly manner.

   Shampoo just stared at Genma, confused.  He wasn't acting anything
like he normally did with her, and she didn't know how to take it.  The
twinkle in his eyes was even more disconcerting, far from the usual sort
of dismissive looks he had given her before.  With a brief shrug, she
nodded and said, "Okay.  Shampoo not mind."

   After the cursed Amazon warmed up a little, the two of them began
with some sparring.  Instead of being tentative in his attacks against
her, Genma treated Shampoo as a serious opponent, and the two of them
went at it in earnest.  However, the honest smile never left his face,
and it gradually infected Shampoo as she realized that this man had no
ulterior motives towards her this morning.  So the two of them danced
with the full measure of their respective skills, and, as they did so,
two sets of eyes watched them with differing reactions.

   *Dearest is certainly acting vigorous this morning,* noted Nodoka
with a smile, watching the match.  It was odd to her to think so, but
she kept getting the impression that Genma was treating Shampoo almost
like a daughter, for some reason that she could not fathom.  That notion
had been gradually building up since the three of them arrived on her
doorstep.  *Could he perhaps want Shampoo to marry Ranma?  It would be
the manly thing for Ranma to do, after all.  How else will I ever get
grandchildren?*  With a shrug, she went back to putting the finishing
touches on breakfast.

   *What the hell is that old man up to?* wondered Ranma suspiciously
as he watched Shampoo sparring with Genma.  He had just woken up due to
another odd dream, but apparently not early enough.  This one had him
acting as some sort of spear-carrier to a martial artist Nabiki, herself
the Heir to the Anything-Goes School and a far more capable fighter than
he was.  *Yeah, right, as if that could ever happen,* he snorted.  *No
way that I'd ever be second-best to any chick.*

   The pigtailed boy watched the two figures bounding about the yard,
his father wearing a stupid grin that made Ranma wonder what sort of
devious scheme he was up to.  *And why the hell didn't that old man get
me up to spar with him?  Ah well, now that Shampoo's warmed him up for
me, I'll take over.*  With a loud 'kiai' yell, he leaped from the window
and joined in on the morning fun.

                  ******************************

***** Earth  0.000,0.000

   "Good morning, my son," said a smiling Nodoka as she watched Ranma
come in from the backyard area.  "You have just enough time for a quick
bath before breakfast, but you should hurry."

   "Sure, Mother," said Ranma in a pleased-sounding tone.  He headed
past her, across the hall, and up the stairs.

   Nodoka stared after her son.  *He looks so happy,* she thought, her
hands still busy with her cooking.  *He got along so well with young
Ukyou last night, so I guess that must explain his present mood.*  She
recalled the occasionally-intense discussion between her son and the
Kuonji girl, one mainly on various martial arts techniques, pleased that
they had so quickly found something in common between them.  She stirred
the soup she was making, adding a few small pinches of salt and spices.
As she did so, her eyes lit up and she bopped her head lightly with one
fist as she smiled more ruefully.  *I forgot to tell him about his date
with Ukyou later today.  I'll let him know while he eats his breakfast.*

   A few minutes later, a rather bedraggled-looking Genma crawled into
the kitchen area, appearing as if he had been worked over by experts.
The gi he was wearing was torn up and missing part of one sleeve, his
body was all but completely covered in bruises, and the pains from his
wrenched joints and abused muscles defied description.  He groaned aloud
and promptly collapsed to the floor.  The stricken man concentrated on
his breathing, struggling hard to stay conscious, even as he vowed to
humble the smug boy who had done this to him only minutes before.

   *That little punk has no respect for his elders,* Genma thought
angrily, vaguely remembering the brutal beating he had received during
his attempt at sparring with Ranma.  *Ungrateful boy!  Even if it kills
me, I'll regain the proud physique I had before I was trapped in this
pathetic shell, and then I'll show him what a true master of the martial
arts is capable of.*

   "Dearest?" asked Nodoka with some concern, looking at him.  "Things
seemed to get a little heated out there between you and Ranma.  Are you
going to be all right?"

   "I'll be fine," growled Genma, struggling to rise.  "The boy's just
better than I expected.  He caught me by surprise."

   "More than once from the looks of you," said Nodoka blandly, trying
hard not to look amused at his plight.  "Ranma is certainly quite the
martial artist, isn't he?"  Pride was evident in her voice.  "Such skill
he has.  I confess that I was quite impressed at his abilities while I
was watching him spar with you."

   "If I have anything to say about it, he'll get even better," Genma
muttered.  *Four hours of daily workouts at that Academy of his should
start whipping that lazy boy into the proper shape for the more advanced
training methods I intend to put him through,* thought Genma with an
evil smile.  *He will endure everything that I feel a true Heir to the
Anything-Goes School should endure, and this time I will hold nothing
back.  With what I know of his true potential, I'll turn this boy into
the greatest fighter the world will ever see.  Within a few weeks I can
begin the real work on toughening him up into a _true_ martial artist,
but I'm sure he'll thank me for it later.*

   His adrenaline surge finally giving out, Genma collapsed facedown on
the floor of the kitchen, unconscious.

                  ******************************