Lines Of Destiny
A Sailor Moon/Ranma 1/2 Crossover

By Louis-Philippe Giroux
<dragon@anime.sobhrach.com>

Thank you for all your comments!
Keep'em coming! C&C is always welcome!!!

Sailor Moon was created by Naoko Takeuchi and
Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi. Please don't sue me.

The latest versions of the previous chapters (and the ones with the least formatting errors) are always the ones on my WWW page at http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~dragon/lines/lines.html

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Chapter 11


  Somewhere near the outskirts of Tokyo, an old, shriveled man stood, oblivious to the slight chill in the air. The figure was standing in front of an elaborate, seven-foot wide pentagram, circled with unearthly runes. The pentagram, which just a moment ago had been glowing bright red, was now a dull gray. In his left hand, the man held a few ashes, which he let slowly fall to the ground, where they were immediately swept away by a passing breeze. Merely a few minutes ago, those ashes had been a scroll. A very old scroll which had been phenomenally hard to obtain, even for a martial artist of his caliber.

  Happosai was not happy.

  The demon he had summoned was one of the most powerful he knew of that he could bring safely across (safely being as subjective as ever). He had given it a simple mission. Beat up Ranma Saotome as much as it could without killing him. Of course, Happosai knew that without explicit instructions not to do so, the demon would invariably try to beat Ranma up in the most painful manner, which had suited the ancient pervert fine at the moment. Happosai wanted to remind Ranma that he was still his master and that there were some things that he could just not do.

  Of course, it could have been a subconscious need to deny to himself the fact that however much training he had done, Ranma was still better than he was. Sadly, Happosai had never cared much about listening to his subconscious, so the thought never even reached the surface of his withered mind.

  Happosai was a creature of desire. When he wanted something, he usually got it. Such had been the way for countless years, and he had never tried to change his way. And now, Happosai wanted to teach Ranma a lesson. Only a few handful of people had ever been able to stand up to him. Chief among those were Cologne and Ranma, but Cologne was a special story, unlike the young, cocky martial artist.

  When he had returned from his enforced "vacation" (if you could call being buried in a cave for ten years a vacation), he had tolerated Ranma's attitude mainly because he brought plenty of nice girls for him to play with wherever he went. That and also because Ranma couldn't beat him. But things had changed. Ranma had grown phenomenally strong in the Art. That was still acceptable, because after all, there were still plenty of beautiful girls to go around, Ranma first among them. But things kept changing, perhaps too fast for the aging master. Ranma was now able to defeat him without too much trouble.

  So Happosai had left. He would not admit to himself that a young pup could defeat him. So he wandered for a year, calling it training, and when he returned, he decided to try his skills in another part of Tokyo where he could grope young women in peace. In a high school in Juuban, he had found a dream come true. But lo and behold, like the proverbial bad copper, Ranma had turned up yet again.

  The young martial artist had not only interrupted him but he had also thoroughly beaten him and also used the Hiryuu Shouten Ha on him, sending him away from the pretty girls in short skirts he'd been playing with (the only one he didn't mind leaving behind was the one in the red skirt -a vicious one she'd been, that one). At that point, something in Happosai had changed. If he was to have any peace, he had to get rid of Ranma somehow or send a him clear message about not interfering with his business.

  That led to the summoning he had just performed. Happosai had stolen a scroll from an unknown shrine decades ago, long before he had taken Genma and Soun as students. He had done so thinking it was another martial arts technique he could learn. He had been surprised when he realized that it was a scroll that could be used to summon a demon. The old master had seen, and even used, such scrolls before, but this was easily one of the most powerful ones he had ever had the chance to peruse. Not one to throw interesting things away, he had kept it in store for an occasion just like this one.

  Why this particular demon? According to the scroll, not only was the demon supposed to be a very powerful one, but it was also supposed to be very resistant to spiritual attacks, which would severely limit Ranma's Ki-based techniques. And the fact that it was a demon would insure it had more than enough physical strength to take on Ranma in physical combat.

  But something had gone wrong. Again. Minutes ago, the scroll had turned into ash in his hands, just as the pentagram had lost its power. He knew what that meant. The demon had either been killed or had been sent back to Hell by another means than the summoning scroll. Ranma had obviously won again, or else the demon would have returned to the circle after finishing its objective.

  Happosai cursed the demon under his breath. He would find a way to teach Ranma a lesson he wouldn't forget. You didn't live for as long as he did without learning a few tricks. But first, he would need to find out exactly how Ranma had defeated the demon.

  * * *

  Meanwhile, back at Juuban High School, a tale was unfolding, the main players all gathered together. There was silence, ruined only by the sounds of crumbling walls and the far-off cries of young children. Eight Planet Senshi, a Moon Senshi who also happened to be a Moon Princess, a Prince who would eventually become King and a Knight from the Sixth Planet looked at each other, most of them with varying degrees of confusion.

  Or more precisely, they were all looking intently (others might even say that they stared) at the Senshi from the Third Planet, who also happened to be the reincarnated sister of the Prince. Of course, you could get wildly differing opinions concerning that last statement, depending on whom you asked.

  That particular Senshi was trying to find a way to get out of the nasty predicament she had subjected herself to without suffering any overly embarrassing repercussions in her life (although she was almost certain that would not happen - the kami seemed to enjoy needling her too much for that to ever happen). She was about to simply bolt for the nearest rooftop when she remembered the futility of such an escape, especially where the Prince was concerned.

  Yes, the Prince. She was looking away from him and yet she was aware of his confusion, his relief, his pride and a thousand other emotions, but most of all, she was aware of _him_. His presence now shone like a warm fire in the dark recesses of her mind, just as he knew her presence had the same effect in his. And for a sweet, short while, she welcomed it. Somehow, she could not figure out how she had managed to last all this time without his echo inside her mind. It's wasn't love, or at least nothing like the love that this Senshi shared with her wife. It was more like... a reassuring presence, she decided. Someone not to cherish as a lover, but as a friend. Someone to confide in. It was a feeling that the new Senshi had never felt before, not this way, never this way.

  And then, faraway sirens began breaking the spell. No enticing sirens of legend were they, but rather this reality's harsh reminder that whatever the Senshi were doing, they should conclude it as soon as possible. The Senshi of the Third Planet shook her head, trying to recover her mental footing. She gazed at the expectant faces that surrounded her -and indeed, some were far more expectant than others -and came to a decision. Not here. Not now. Later, undoubtedly, yes, but not now.

  After classes at the Fire Priestess' Shrine, she told them. She would explain everything, she said, the words clawing at her. Part of her wanted no more to do with this travesty, and yet another claimed that she taken an irrevocable step forward. Seeking calm, but unable to find it in the current setting, she leapt away, desperately trying to shut out the cries from the Princess and her brother, the Prince. They wanted to talk to her, but she could not return the favor, not when she was as distraught as she was at the moment.

  As she half-expected, her brother, the Prince leapt after her and she stopped, allowing him to come near her. A part of her wanted to tell him what he wanted, nay, _needed_ to hear from her, but she could not commit herself now. She needed an unclouded mind to make a clear decision. She asked him if he cared enough about her to wait the rest of the day before hearing what she had to say. She tried to explain her confusion to him. Using the link their minds shared, it was done far more easily than she could ever have ever have expected.

  And to the Senshi's amazement, he agreed. The Prince said he would honor her request and leave her alone for the day. And in her mind, she felt the flame of his presence become mere embers. She then quickly leapt away, leaving a very confused Prince on a roof.

  However, this was neither the beginning nor the end of the story...

  * * *

  Akane, known at this present moment as the Saturn Knight, stared at Sailor Terra's retreating figure, not knowing what to think or say. She had just witnessed Ranma turn into a Sailor Senshi and helped whip a demon. She didn't know what to think anymore. She was shaken out of her trance when she saw Tuxedo Kamen jump after Terra. She was about to join him when she heard a voice call out: "Hey you with the giant hammer! Hold it right there!"

  Turning around, she saw the tall, sandy-haired blonde Senshi walking determinedly toward her. Frowning slightly at the taller Senshi's rudeness, Akane pointed a finger at herself. "Are you talking to me?" she asked a bit icily.

  "Yeah! Who are you?" demanded Uranus, striding closer to Akane.

  Akane unconsciously began to twirl the hammer in her hand and was about to reply something akin to an insult when she was interrupted by Saturn's timely intervention.

  "Stop it, both of you!" cried the shortest Senshi, putting herself between Akane and Uranus.

  "Saturn, you know who she is?" asked Uranus, keeping her eyes on Akane.

  "Uranus!" Saturn tried to sound stern, but didn't quite succeed. "She's my Silver Millennium brother's reincarnation. Look at the sign on her chest plate. Remember what I told you a few days ago?"

  Uranus blinked, her aggressive stance slowly melting when she finally noticed that the girl's armour bore the sigil of Saturn. "What?... You mean...?" Uranus narrowed her eyes and examined the person in front of her more closely. "Akane-san? Is that you?"

  It was Akane's turn to blink. "How did you know my name?" She looked around and suddenly realized that all the other Senshi were looking at her with varying degrees of surprise.

  "Akane?" blurted out Sailor Moon, shocked. "You're Saturn's bro... ahh... sister?

  "Umm... yeah, so what?"

  "But Ranko and Ranma... they... you... he..." The Moon Senshi floundered, unable to fully process what had just happened in the last fifteen minutes.

  Akane frowned, not clearly understanding the reason for the other girl's stuttering problem. Having arrived on the scene after Ranma had changed, she was as yet unaware of what Sailor Moon and the other girls had seen, but the way Sailor Moon had mentioned Ranma and Ranko together was leaving a rather nasty feeling in her stomach. "What about Ranma and Ranko?" she asked, more calmly than she felt.

  Mercury coughed politely. "Akane-san? Did you know Ranma and Ranko appear to be the same person?" Sailors Saturn and Mars' jaws hit the floor simultaneously, but no one really noticed it. They were all watching Akane's reaction to the announcement.

  Akane's mood took a sudden nosedive from its already precarious position. They had found out about the curse, apparently. "Um... yeah, I know," she said in an embarrassed voice, lowering her head. She suddenly frowned and her head snapped back up. "Hey! While we're on the subject, why the _hell_ was he running around, wearing a Senshi fuku of all things?"

  "What are you people talking about?!" said an exasperated Mars, finally coming out of her trance. "What's this talk about Ranma and Ranko being the same person?"

  Before Akane or Sailor Moon could reply, police cars made themselves known on the horizon. Jupiter was the first to see them. "Girls, we gotta leave, now!!!" she said urgently, putting a hand on Sailor Moon's shoulder.

  "No one's going _anywhere_ until someone explains this to me!" said Mars forcefully.

  Sailor Moon's head whipped between Jupiter, Mars and Akane, trying to decide what to do first. The sight of the incoming squad cars spurred her into action. "Let's move to the rooftops first. We can figure the rest later."

  Mars was about to protest, but held her tongue when she saw nearly everyone leaping up windowsills to the neighboring roofs. The last one left was Hotaru, who almost looked as poleaxed as Mars herself felt. They looked at each other and both began to follow the others, each thinking about different things.

  "Did you know about this?" asked Mars as they made their way up to roof.

  Saturn shook her head. "No, I didn't, though I do see why they would keep it secret." "You believe what they said about Ranma and Ranko being the same?" Mars frowned. *It _would_ explain a lot of things, but... why did he lie to me?*

  "As weird as it may seem, yeah, I do" Saturn said in answer to Mars' query. "I wonder why Akane didn't tell me?" she mumbled.

  Mars overheard her. "Well, at least Akane doesn't seem to be bothered by remembering who she was," said the Fire Senshi, trying to figure out how to handle all the questions that were coming to knock at the door. "So what _is_ the whole story between you and her?"

  "Um, well..." began Saturn, a bit hesitatingly. "I'd rather say it when everyone's present. It's a long story and I don't want to repeat it a hundred times." They had almost caught up to the other group now. "Right now, I just want to make sure Uranus doesn't provoke Akane any further. The last thing we need is those two picking a fight on a roof."

  Soon, they caught up to the group who had finally decided they were far enough from the school to avoid detection.

  "Can someone finally tell me what happened here?" asked Mars peevishly.

  Sailor Moon glanced at Akane once more and slowly began her tale. "Well, it all started when we found out that Ranma was helping Tamura-sensei with the P.E. class this morning. Everything was going well until the end of the class when that demon showed up and began thrashing the place. Ranma went one on one with it for a while but when the fight got carried outside, Mako-chan, Ami-chan and I transformed to go help him. We fought together for a while, but then Neptune fired a Deep Submerge and Ranma was in the way..." she finished hesitatingly, looking at Akane.

  "What exactly is a Deep Submerge?" asked Akane, taking a deep breath. *As if the name wasn't indicative enough,* she thought bitterly. She had to ask though, just in case...

  "It's a water-based attack," replied Sailor Neptune, a bit troubled. "I can kill daemons with it, but what it did to Ranma never happened before, I can swear it."

  Akane sighed. *Water-based. Looks like they know.* She blinked a few times, feeling everyone's gaze on her.

  Mars broke the tension. "You shot my cousin with a Deep Submerge?" she asked Neptune, her voice rising. "What the hell were you thinking?"

  Akane's eyes widened in surprise. *Cousin?...* she thought, surprised *But that would mean...*

  "It was an accident!" replied Neptune defensively. "I was aiming at the demon, but it threw Ranma in my path. I tried to dispel the attack, but it was too late."

  Mars began fuming, but Sailor Moon laid a hand on the red-clad Senshi's shoulder. "She's not lying, Mars. It _was_ an accident," she said in a soothing voice.

  "Rei?"

  Sailor Mars unconsciously turned to Akane, who was staring at her.

  "Rei? _You're_ a Sailor Senshi?" asked Akane, a disbelieving look on her features.

  Mars' anger deflated at the sight of Akane's expression. "Yes, Akane. I'm Sailor Mars."

  "But.. what about the... the hypnotism?" she said weakly, looking at Saturn and Mars. Her eyes suddenly narrowed. "Was it all a trick?"

  "No!" said Mars sharply. "Shortly after you met Hotaru-chan for the first time, she came to me and asked me to see if I could unlock your memories, if you had any in the first place. I agreed, but only under the condition that _you_ agreed as well, which you did."

  Akane looked at Saturn inquisitively.

  "I don't think you would have remembered without help," said Saturn quietly. "It's been so long since I've had anyone I could truly call family that I immediately took the chance when it showed itself."

  There was a short moment of silence.

  "So what happened after Neptune's attack anyway?" Mars asked, her voice tensing.

  "Ranma became Ranko," replied Mercury in a quiet voice.

  "What!?" came a shocked voice from behind the group. Everyone turned around to see a recently-arrived Tuxedo Kamen looking at them with wide eyes.

  "Tuxedo Kamen!" exclaimed Sailor Moon. "Where were you?"

  The newest arrival shook his head in confusion. "Terra told me to back off for now and I agreed. When I went back to the school, I tried to find you, but you weren't there anymore..."

  *Oh, great... The more, the merrier,* Akane thought sarcastically. She began massaging her forehead with her hand. *Messy, messy, messy...* she thought. "Ranma has a Jusenkyou curse," she said at last.

  Tuxedo Kamen frowned. "That word again..." he muttered, confused.

  Mars retaliated before Tuxedo Kamen could come about. "Akane, _what_ is a Jusenkyou curse?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. Akane had mentioned a Chinese curse before, but it didn't seem to have anything to do with shape-shifting.

  "The curse causes him to switch genders when he gets doused water," explained Akane.

  There were different reactions from the Senshi. Disbelief from Sailors Mars and Tuxedo Kamen, a sick look from Venus, relief and understanding from Neptune, mild interest from Uranus and just plain puzzlement from Moon and Jupiter. Only Saturn seemed relatively unfazed by the revelation.

  "Why didn't he tell us?" asked Mars.

  Akane merely looked at Mars. "Do I really have to answer that?"

  Mars winced and backed down. "Right... I guess I can understand _why_, but about Ranko... I mean, Ranma being Sailor Terra, then?"

  Akane frowned. "That's _my_ question. Why the hell was he running around wearing a fuku? I'm pretty sure he wouldn't put one on voluntarily. He absolutely _hates_ being a girl."

  Sailor Moon winced, remembering what had happened when "Ranko" had transformed for the first time. *Well, at least now we know _why_ she... he reacted that way.* She sighed softly. "No wonder he wanted no part of it," she murmured.

  "What was that?" said Akane, turning towards Sailor Moon.

  "Well, you see, we didn't know they were the same person, so when we found out that... um... "Ranko" was a reincarnated Senshi, well I kind of gave her the henshin rod, I mean, it seemed like a good idea at the time and I thought she was just a bit shy, but anyway she... he... I mean, well, shetransformedbymistakeandranaway!" she finished quickly, nervous about Akane's reaction.

  Akane blinked. Several times.

  Tuxedo Kamen groaned, thus bringing attention to himself. When he noticed that everyone was looking at him, he explained: "Nevermind... I think that explains why she, I mean _he_, was so pissed whenever I claimed he was my sister..."

  Akane winced. "You actually told him something like that? It's a wonder you're still alive."

  "How was I suppose to know?" the masked man protested. "I mean, between my memories and what we knew of her so far, I suppose I could have found out if I'd used the link, but..."

  "What link?" Akane brusquely interrupted.

  "Aaahh, well..." Tuxedo Kamen stuttered. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to explain the whole thing to them yet and Akane was watching him intently, along with the other Senshi. *I need time,* he thought nervously. He suddenly got an idea. "Look, I just ran after Terra, but she basically told me to lay off for the rest of the day. She told us she'd explain everything to us after school at the shrine. I'll explain my side tonight as well. I really think we should wait for Ranko... I mean Ranma to do all this."

  Akane considered it for a while and finally nodded. It would also give her time to speak to Ranma about the whole mess. "All right. I need to go back to the university anyway, so we'll finish this tonight." She turned to Saturn. "Looks like we'll be able to talk tonight, Hotaru-chan," she said. With that, she leapt off the side of the building, de-transforming out of her armour as she went.

  There was a deep, deep silence among the people left on the roof for a few moments.

  "She has a point. We should be getting back to class ourselves," said Mercury. There was a collection of moans and groans from the rest of the Senshi.

  "So, can anyone tell me the _whole_ story now?" asked Tuxedo Kamen as everyone was de-transforming. As the girls began recounting the events, he found out that he had his work cut out for him.

  * * *

  Terra waited until she felt she was suitably far enough before pausing to take her breath. Hiding in an alley, she quickly turned back into her normal form.

  *Shit. Now what am I gonna do?* she thought desperately.

  //You could try explaining yourself to them. Running away won't solve anything, Ranma. If anything, it will just make them even more determined,// said Akana helpfully from a corner of Ranma's mind.

  *The last thing I need is your advice, Akana!* mentally shot back the martial artist. She tried to calm down. *At least, I managed to keep Endymion away for a little longer,* she thought.

  //Yes, but what is it going to accomplish? You won't be able to hold him at bay forever. If he's anything like his previous incarnation, he won't give up that easily and you know it.//

  Ranma knew that, but said nothing.

  //Ranma, you're not doing yourself a favor, you know. Why do you keep on acting like this? What are you so scared about?//

  *I AM NOT SCARED!!!* came the mental bellow.

  //Are you sure?//

  "Of course I'm sure!" grumbled Ranma out loud. "Why the hell would I be scared of him?"

  //Why ask me? You already know the answer to that question.//

  *Stop that!* thought Ranma. *Stop snooping through my mind!*

  //Our mind. It's mine as well, Ranma. I have every right to snoop through it.//

  *Arrrgghh!* came the mental scream. *Just leave me alone, Akana!*

  //Why should I?// came the heated reply. //I will _not_ let you wallow in self-denial until you admit what's wrong to yourself!//

  Ranma briefly considered bashing her head against the wall, but it probably wouldn't do anything except give her a headache. She remained silent and tried not to think about anything.

  //Please, Ranma? Could you answer the question?// pleaded Akana. //It's not healthy to lie to yourself like that.// *All right,then!* Ranma challenged. *Why don't you tell me what I'm scared of then?*

  Ranma could 'see' Akana shaking her head. //Don't turn my questions around. Besides,// she giggled, //I asked you first.//

  *Why don't you answer?* he taunted. *If I'm you and you're me, then you should know everything about me, no?*

  Akana's voice sighed. //Ranma...// she said plaintively. //Why do you keep dodging the question? That's not healthy.//

  Ranma frowned slightly. *Could you stop telling me it's not healthy? It's annoying!*

  He could hear the shrug. //Maybe it is, but it's also the truth. I care too much about you to let you lie to yourself like that. Your friend Ryouga lied to himself for a long time and look where it got him?//

  The pig-tailed martial artist sulked for a few more moments, thinking about Akana's last sentence. *All right... It's the Senshi thing. I don't want to explain that to him! It's too embarrassing!*

  Akana was quiet for a moment. //A valid reason, but rather unfounded. The other Senshi watched you change, remember? By tonight, he'll probably know as much as all the others. That's not why you're scared of him.//

  Ranma remained quiet.

  //Ranma?//

  *IT'S THE STUPID LINK OKAY? NOW LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!!!* howled Ranma at her mental counterpart.

  Akana was silent for a few moments. When she spoke again, she sounded a bit hurt. //You didn't need to yell like that, Ranma.// There was a pause. //Does it really... irritate you that much to have a link with Endymion?//

  *I'm not like you,* Ranma thought bitterly. *You grew up knowing you were gonna be linked with your brother. My mind is my business. I don't want anyone else in there, can't he understand that?*

  //He can't possibly be _that_ bad if the Princess is still with him,// protested Akana in defense of her brother.

  *You don't get it, do you? At the end of the fight, when I looked at him, I... I felt him! He was happy, sad and... and a thousand other things. I had no business doing anything in his mind and he didn't do anything to stop me! And... and... it felt so right!*

  Akana could easily tell that Ranma was becoming very distraught. //That's what the link we shared with Endymion was all about, Ranma. For better or worse, we were never truly alone. Even before we began Psi-Tech training, we were empathically aware of each other.// Akana paused for a few moments. //Look at the good side of all of this: a few minutes ago, he was all set to pursue you to the ends of the Earth and yet he agreed to leave you alone when you asked for it. Maybe if you simply explain it to him that you want to be left alone, you can minimize the effect.//

  *I don't want to minimize the effect,* came the bitter rebuke. *I just want to be left alone in my own mind.*

  //That won't be completely possible, you know. You have the option of not using the Psi-Techs, which would blunt a lot of the telepathic abilities, but both of you are still empathic siblings.//

  Ranma was about to ask Akana what she meant when she remembered a scene from the Silver Millennium...

  ...A young Akana, perhaps six years old, is sitting in a garden outside the palace. Her favorite (and only) aunt is sitting on a chair in front of her, telling her stories, when Akana interrupts her.

  "Yes, Akana?" queries Yonagi.

  "Why do you and papa almos' never talk? Are you angry?" asks Akana, her voice carrying doubt, and maybe a bit of fear.

  Yonagi's eyebrows knit in confusion, but she quickly smiles, realizing the problem. "Oh, no, Akana, your papa and I aren't angry with each other. We almost never are, actually," she says fondly to her niece.

  "Then... Then why don' you ever talk?" the little redhead asks uncertainly.

  Yonagi's smile becomes just a bit wider. "That's because a lot of the time, your father and I speak without words, Akana. We talk with each other all the time, but no one else can hear us."

  Akana's little eyes widen in surprise. "Without words? How?" she asks, her voice filled with wonder.

  Yonagi lifts her niece in her arms. "That's a secret," she says conspiratorially.

  Akana is flailing her arms about. "I wanna know! I wanna know!" she says enthusiastically

  "Well," Yonagi says, making a show of thinking about it, "you'll find out on your own, because you'll be able to do the same thing with Endymion when you're both older," she finishes, mussing Akana's red hair.

  The little redhead squirms out of her aunt's grip. "Endi?" she asks, uncertain. "Why Endi? I can talk to 'im with words if I want to."

  Yonagi laughs lightly. "Don't you ever wonder why you and Endymion never fight the way he does sometimes with his guardians?"

  Akana shakes her head.

  Yonagi crouches down at eye level with Akana. "That's because like me and your papa, you're both empathic siblings. You don't fight with each other because you tend to sense what makes the other angry and you subconsciously avoid doing it."

  Akana is obviously confused at this point.

  Yonagi laughs at Akana's perplexed expression. "Don't worry, Akana, you'll understand when you're older..."

  ...Ranma shook her head. *What was that?* she wondered.

  //A memory, of course,// replied Akane, a smile in her voice.

  Ranma sighed in defeat.

  //I still don't quite understand why you're so opposed to the idea of having a brother,// asked Akana in a puzzled voice. //And don't try telling me you never wished for one, because I know you have.//

  *I told you that already,* replied Ranma glumly. *He thinks he's found a sister and a sister I ain't.*

  //And I told you that by tonight, he'd probably know the truth,// said Akana.

  *So what?*

  //Have you considered the possibility that he might be perfectly capable of accepting you as a brother instead?//

  Ranma remained quiet for a while. *I don't know,* she admitted. *I just don't want anyone snooping in my head, not even Akane. There's a lot of stuff in there I want to keep to myself. Even you can understand that, can't you?* It was at that point that Ranma realized that Akana wasn't listening to her. She didn't ask how she knew, she just did. *Akana? You there?*

  //Yes...// came Akana's troubled voice .

  Ranma frowned. *What's the problem?*

  //Sorry, Ranma. It's just that when you mentioned Akane, I...// the voice trailed off. //You made me think about Kanma.// An image of the woman in gray armour they had seen at the battle site flashed in Ranma's mind.

  *What? Do you think that girl is a reincarnation of Kanma?*

  Akana chuckled bitterly. //If only Fate could be so kind. First off, I don't see how Kanma could have been reincarnated unless he was also drowned in a pool as I was and second, Kanma was a guy, remember?//

  Ranma raised a mental eyebrow. *Look who's talking?*

  Akana had to concede that point. //Touche, Ranma.// She sighed. //I just wish I had a chance to apologize for acting like a conceited jerk back then. Seeing that girl at the battle reminded me of Kanma and it brought it all back up from where I thought I'd buried it.// Ranma, feeling awkward, tried to change the subject. *I need to find some hot water and get back to the school. Tamura-sensei might be looking for me.* As she began heading back, ignoring the few bruises she had left, Ranma thought about the girl whose image had flashed in her mind. *So who do you think she is, then?*

  //Her armour indicates she was a top-ranked member of the Saturnian guard. I'm afraid I don't know more.// She was quiet for a few moments. //She _does_ look like Akane, though, doesn't she?//

  Ranma frowned just a bit, concentrating on the girl's image. *You're right, she does,* she thought.

  //Do you think?...// trailed Akana, suddenly curious.

  *No way!* Ranma cut in. *There's no way Akane would get involved in a thing like this. Heck, she's the one who made me promise to try not to get in trouble! She'd _never_ go for the super-hero bit! Not her!*

  //Jeez, Ranma, it was just a thought,// replied a miffed Akana.

  *Sorry,* Ranma apologized. *Anyway, if that girl _had_ been Kanma's reincarnation, don't you think that she would have noticed us? From what I can tell of your memories, my female form looks pretty much like you used to.* Akana did not answer. As she ran back to Juuban High School, though, Ranma found out that she couldn't help thinking about Akana's remark. She had to tell herself several times that it couldn't have been Akane... Could it?

  Her attention returned to the matters at hand when she came back in sight of the school. She could see a sizable number of students milling in the courtyard. *Hmm...* she thought. *Looks like I'm going to have to sneak in.* Circling around the school, she gave a silent shout of joy when she found an open window leading into a bathroom. She quickly sneaked inside and was drawing hot water from the sink when she realized something important. *Akana?*

  //Yes?//

  *Thanks for not badgering me about the Senshi thing, by the way.*

  There was a deep sigh. //You already know my opinion on the subject, Ranma. I'm trusting you to do the right thing...//

  Ranma couldn't help frowning at the cryptic statement at the same time as she doused herself. *The right thing?* Ranma, now male again, wondered. *What'll happen if what I decide is right isn't the same thing as what she wants?* Looking at himself in a mirror, he grimaced when he saw the state of his clothes. That demon hadn't gone easy on him. He sighed and slipped into the halls, looking for Tamura-sensei.

  After realizing that the direction had apparently given most of the students the day off, he headed outside, since all the teachers had apparently congregated there. After a few minutes of wandering in the courtyard among students and teachers who gave his clothes inquisitive looks, he finally found the person he had been looking for. "Tamura-sensei!" he shouted over the noise of the crowd.

  The teacher turned around and his eyes widened when he saw a slightly battered Ranma with torn clothes headed towards him. "Saotome! Where were you? I've been looking for you for the past fifteen minutes!" As he reached the younger martial artist, he took a longer look at Ranma's general appearance. "I must say I'm very impressed, Saotome. I half-expected to find you splattered on the pavement somewhere after that thing threw you through the wall."

  Ranma smirking slightly. "A martial artist knows how to take a hit, sensei."

  "So it would seem," Tamura said wryly. "I think I see why Meiou-san referred you to me after all." He raised an eyebrow. "So what happened after that?"

  Ranma shrugged. "That thing tossed me outside, we tagged each other a couple of times and then the Senshi showed up." Ranma didn't like lying, but he didn't think he'd be doing himself a favour if he told the complete truth. "I think I blacked out for a while after the last hit. That's why it took me a while to come back afterwards."

  Tamura nodded, apparently satisfied with the explanation. "So the Sailor Senshi killed it?"

  "Yeah," Ranma said. *And I was one of them at the time, but Hell is gonna freeze over before I actually tell you that.*

  "Good," said Tamura. "In any case, I'd like to apologize for that... shall we say, unfortunate occurrence." He paused, an uncertain look in his eyes, then sighed wearily. "Look, I'll be blunt with you, Saotome. Will you come back or not? I'll admit I'm extremely impressed with you. You sensed that thing a lot sooner than I did and you probably helped to prevent a lot of injuries and maybe even saved some lives. I can't in good conscience hold you here after what happened though, so I'm giving you a choice."

  Ranma paused. The question meant a lot more to him than it did to Tamura. Did he want to continue teaching here, in a school where apparently at least three Senshi attended as regular students? Not really. He looked back on what Tamura had said. He'd helped protect people. _That_ was the duty of a martial artist, was it not? Besides, aside from the fact that some of his students had been Senshi in civilian form, he had actually enjoyed teaching.

  Most importantly, though, was the fact that he had a reputation to protect. Or at least that's what he told himself.

  "I'll stay," he said, smiling. "There ain't no cheesy demon who's gonna chase me out of _any_ school."

  Tamura smiled broadly. "Glad to have you aboard, Saotome," he said, clapping the young man on the shoulder. He leaned towards the younger man. "And I can safely say that I won't be the only one," he whispered conspiratorially.

  Ranma blinked in confusion.

  Tamura grinned. "You've already got quite a fan club among the girls' classes you know."

  Ranma groaned. "Oh no..."

  "Oh yes!" replied Tamura, amused by Ranma's reaction.

  And deep within Ranma's mind, a fragment of consciousness dating back several millennia was laughing her mental ass off.

  * * *

  Elsewhere, or more precisely, at the edge of the Nerima district, an old man, his wife and a giant Sumo pig were making their way towards the Juuban district, trying to ignore the blatant stares their little procession was attracting.

  "Nodoka-chan," the old man pleaded, his glasses glinting in the afternoon light, "Please listen to me! I'm sure that flask contains Nannichuan! I must have it!"

  Nodoka turned around and glared at Genma. "The flask was sent to the dojo for Ranma's care. We don't even know if it _does_ contain the antidote to my son's curse."

  Genma rolled his eyes. "What else could it possibly be? That pig belongs to that wanderer Hibiki and his girlfriend. What else would they send Ranma that would require a flask to be carried?"

  "No, Genma!" Nodoka snaps. "The flask will be given to Ranma and you had better not think about stealing it! If it _is_ a cure, my _son_ needs it more than you do." Inside she sighed. Earlier in the day, Kasumi had signaled them the giant sumo pig's arrival at the dojo and the letter it carried. The eldest Tendo daughter had suggested that they guide Katsunishiki to Ranma's new place of residence, thus gaining an opportunity to visit their son in the process. Nodoka had agreed, but was beginning to seriously regret bringing Genma along. He was fixated on finding the contents of the flask at all costs and she felt as if she was going to have to use her katana to keep him in line.

  "But Nodoka-chan..."

  "Genma..." Nodoka's voice warned.

  * * *

  *Life,* Mamoru decided, *is _way_ too complicated sometimes.*

  Thinking back on the revelations which had been the subject of a lengthy and enlightening Q&A session with Sailor Moon and the rest of the Senshi, Mamoru had found out more than he really wanted to know about his reincarnated... sibling. First of all, Ranko apparently didn't exist as such. Only Ranma did. That changed a lot of things. He didn't have a sister, but a brother.

  A brother who quite possibly didn't want anything to do with him anymore.

  Mamoru sighed, thinking about the whole thing while walking back to the university. Who was really to blame in all of this? Himself? He felt he did carry part of the blame, trying to convince Ranma all those times that he was his sister, but wasn't Ranma as responsible in misleading them all in the first place?

  *How could I know he'd be so touchy about his curse? He should have told us in the first place,* he told himself. *Then none of this would have happened.* He was sorely tempted to use the link to find out where Ranma was at the moment, but refrained himself from doing so. He sighed again. *Who am I kidding?* Ranma had all the excuses in the world to keep his curse a secret,* he thought glumly.

  What was he to do now? Remembering his conversation with Ranma earlier that day didn't put him at ease. Ranma had been polite, but cold. He obviously didn't share his enthusiasm in discovering a long-lost sibling. How could he explain it to him? He hadn't meant to latch onto "Ranko" so desperately, but he couldn't have foreseen the tricks his own emotions would play on him. When you spend your entire life (at least the parts of it you can remember) alone, how can you expect to react when you suddenly learn you have a sibling? Ignore him/her? Perhaps Ranma could, but Mamoru couldn't.

  Especially not after feeling the effect, be it even partial, of the psychic link they both shared. It had been... unique. Like finding something you didn't know you had lost. Finding the missing piece of a puzzle. Had Ranma felt the same thing? Judging from Ranma's quick departure, he doubted it.

  *And what about the Senshi business?* Mamoru wondered. * Ranma obviously isn't thrilled about becoming a Senshi, not that I can really blame him on that point. I'm not sure I'd want to either if it involved switching genders and wearing an outfit like that. Usako probably wouldn't say a thing, but the others...* he shook his head slightly. *And now his wife is caught in it too. I hope this doesn't mess up their relationship.*

  On his way back to the university, Mamoru hoped that Ami would find something useful on her computer about those mysterious Jusenkyou Springs which had cursed his sister... wait, _brother_.

  He shook his head. *Life is far too complicated sometimes.*

  * * *

  The day went by and it was at the end of the afternoon that Akane finally made contact with Ranma at the university at they had agreed.

  Akane was nervous and a bit angry at the same time. She was nervous because she knew that Ranma was unaware that she had been present at the battle and that she knew his little secret, but she was also a bit angry because of said secret. *Why didn't he tell me about it?* she thought, upset. *Would he ever have told me?*

  Ranma, who had had at least the good sense to go change at Rei's shrine before coming back at the university, had his own problems and thus did not notice Akane's nervousness immediately. After exchanging a mutually terse greeting, Akane decided to take a risk and break the ice.

  "So, Ranma, how was your first day?" she asked cheerfully.

  The question was enough to drag Ranma out of his musings. He considered telling the truth for a moment, then dismissed it. Akane would never cease with the insults if she knew the truth, not counting the sheer embarrassment of the entire adventure. The problem was that he didn't want to lie to her either. He decided on a compromise.

  "Well, I had an appointment with Meiou-sensei this morning, she's my counselor, and strange as it may seem, I managed to land an internship that began today."

  "Where?"

  "Juuban High. It turns out that it's the same school where Happosai and I fought yesterday," Ranma said, carefully examining Akane's reaction to that news.

  Akane tried to look as concerned as possible. "Did anyone there recognize you?" Ranma ver nearly frowned. "No. I was a girl when I fought Happosai and I was a guy when I went there today."

  "So how was it?" she asked. "Did anything special happen?"

  Ranma frowned again, wondering if Akane had heard something about what had happened. It was possible, he reasoned, that news of the attack might have reached the university. "Everything was pretty normal for the whole time except for the demon that attacked towards noon," he said as nonchalantly as he could.

  "What?!" exclaimed Akane.

  "I had no choice about fighting it this time!" he replied quickly. "I think it was specifically looking for me."

  Now _that_, Akane didn't know. "What do you mean?"

  "It said, and I quote: 'Greetings from Happosai'."

  Akane groaned. "I knew that perverted lech wouldn't leave us alone. Why did you have to thrash him yesterday? He probably won't give up until he gets his revenge now."

  "Look, Akane," said Ranma sharply, perhaps moreso than intended. "What was I supposed to do? If I hadn't stopped him yesterday, I would have had to eventually. Aside from Cologne, Tarou and _maybe_ Ryouga, I'm the only one strong enough to stop him. I know I promised not to fight if I could help it and I apologize for it, but I'm not going to let that freak hurt other people if I'm around to stop it!"

  Akane resolved not to snap back at him. She knew he had promised her that he wouldn't pick fights but that he would respond to any challenges made to him. She also remembered telling him not to make promises he couldn't keep. She blew out a tired breath. "So what happened?"

  Ranma's left eye twitched. "I fought it for a while, but the Senshi eventually showed up and finished it," he finished flatly.

  "You didn't get hurt at all?" Akane pressed.

  "Not really," said Ranma uncomfortably.

  *Macho jerk,* she thought angrily. *I saw him get hurt.* She tried another tactic. "You don't seem pretty embarrassed about it," she observed.

  This time, Ranma jerked around. "Wha... What are you talking about?" he asked, a bit too quickly.

  "The Sailor Senshi."

  "What about them?"

  Let it be known that at this point in time, patience and kindness had never been dominant traits in the youngest Tendo daughter. *Coward,* she thought. *I'm giving him all sorts of openings and he doesn't even take them.* She reined in her fraying temper once more. "You don't seem at all embarrassed to have been rescued by a bunch of _girls_," she needled.

  Ranma's expression quickly contorted into an interesting mix of disgust, fear and anger. "I wouldn't say they rescued me," he said stiffly.

  Akane sighed. "Is there something you aren't telling me, Ranma?"

  Ranma's reply was curt and delivered in a cold voice. "Nothing important. Not anymore."

  Akane didn't know what to do. She wanted to confront him about the Senshi issue, but if she did, he would realize she had been there all along and seeing the way he had delivered his last answer made Akane wonder if she _really_ wanted to find out he would react.

  Meanwhile, Ranma realized that he might have offended Akane with the tone of his last answer. He decided to try and change the subject. "So what about you? Had anything interesting happen to you today?"

  It was Akane's turn to sweat a little. "Oh, me? Nothing... _too_ major, I guess. I saw Hotaru-chan again, though."

  Ranma blinked. "Didn't she have school today?"

  Akane shrugged. "Something about broken pipes at their school, I think..." She suddenly stopped and blinked at something over Ranma's shoulder.

  Ranma noticed it. He turned around and found himself facing a concrete building, fairly recent-looking. It looked like one of those apartment buildings they had been visiting lately. He turned back to his wife to ask her what was the problem, when he saw her examining a small sheet on a window.

  "Ranma!" she said excitedly. "Look at this!"

  He obeyed, curious at to what would make Akane react like that. It was a vacancy notice. He blinked in surprise. "How come there's a vacancy?" he wondered out loud. "We checked this place out already two days ago and the landlord said everything was full."

  Akane smiled at him. "Who cares? Let's go ask about it. Maybe we've found our apartment!"

  Ranma nodded, smiling as well, but perhaps not for the same reasons. *If I can get out of Rei's place, I won't have to put up with any of that Senshi crap...* He walked towards the entrance. "C'mon, let's go ask."

  Half an hour later, Ranma had paid the first month of rent to the landlord and both martial artists had left the building in direction of Rei's shrine. The landlord had claimed that one of the tenants to be had abruptly changed her mind and decided to move out. The vacancy advertisement had only been posted for fifteen minutes before Ranma and Akane had answered it. Akane had wondered about the coincidence, but Ranma hadn't cared in the slightest.

  The apartment itself was a bit small, but Ranma and Akane had agreed that it was at least within the price range they had set themselves and since they didn't seem to have any success hunting for lodging elsewhere, they had decided to take it before someone else came along.

  Walking besides Ranma, Akane couldn't help frowning a bit. "Ranma, can you tell me _why_ you were carrying an entire month's worth of rent money in your pockets?"

  Ranma shrugged. "I took the money when I went back at the shrine this afternoon. I just had this crazy feeling I'd need it. Guess I was right."

  "What if it had been stolen?" asked Akane, a measure of reproach in her tone. "It's not as if we have a lot of money you know..."

  Ranma snorted. "Yeah right, Akane. As if anyone would be good enough to steal from _me_?"

  Akane sighed.

  * * *

  Before splitting up and returning to school, the Senshi had agreed to meet at the Crown Games arcade before returning to the Hikawa Shrine in order to be sure that everyone would be there and not have anyone popping in too late. Usagi and Minako had even agreed to go fetch their respective feline charges before meeting at the arcade. The two Moon cats had been fully briefed on the situation and to say that they were flabbergasted would have been a gross misunderstanding. It didn't help that they both had to wait in silence because they couldn't take the risk of being overheard, especially in such a public place. Everyone was now present, save Setsuna and Rei.

  Makoto and Minako, who was carrying Artemis in the crook of her arm, turned to Haruka, ignoring the sounds coming from the arcade around her. "Have you heard anything about Setsuna yet?" asked Makoto.

  Haruka shook her head. "She hasn't shown herself in the last few days. Either she's really busy with the Gate or she just doesn't want to interfere."

  Minako frowned. "That isn't like her. I would have thought the appearance of a new Senshi would be enough to draw her out of hiding, if only long enough to tell us about her... I mean him"

  Haruka chuckled. "Confusing, isn't it?"

  Minako made a face. "You're telling me? I've tried to imagine what it must be like for him and I still can't quite do it. But you know what? After seeing his curse in action, I'm starting to believe that Akane might have understated the amount of insanity that went on in his life."

  Haruka sighed softly. "Personally, I'm rather curious about his curse... Maybe..." she trailed off, looking at Michiru who was having a discussion with Hotaru. Aside from the residual guilt she felt at having shot Ranma with her Deep Submerge, Michiru had proven to be one of the calmest Senshi. She claimed that it was because the images she had gotten from the Mirror made so much more sense, now that Ranma's secret had been revealed. Minako and Makoto shared a meaningful glance. "Yeah, I guess," said Makoto evasively. " I think it's Mamoru who's got it worse here, at any rate. Look at him."

  Haruka looked at Mamoru, who was having a discussion with Usagi and Ami. Makoto was right. Mamoru looked extremely nervous, and she couldn't blame him one bit. "Well at least Hotaru-chan is enjoying herself in all of this."

  Minako and Makoto nodded. "Yeah, and Akane seems to be handling this a lot better than Ranma," said the blonde.

  "I'm sure everything will turn out all right, Mamo-chan, don't worry," Usagi insisted, trying to comfort her boyfriend. Spread over her shoulder, Luna nodded confidently.

  Mamoru had to smile at Usagi's repeated attempts to lift his spirits. "Maybe, Usako, maybe."

  Usagi beamed, although anyone who knew her well enough would obviously know that her smile was more than a bit strained.

  "By the way, Mamoru, I checked my computer for any information on Jusenkyou just like you asked me," said Ami.

  Mamoru turned towards her, hope plainly visible on his face. "And?..." he asked eagerly. "Find anything useful?"

  Ami frowned slightly. "Unfortunately not. The only information that came up was a vague location in the Bankalaya range in China and a mention that the area should be avoided at all costs."

  Mamoru's shoulders slumped slightly in disappointment. He tried a weak grin. "Oh... Well I'm sure you did your best. Thanks anyway, Ami."

  Ami looked apologetic. "I'm sorry I couldn't find anything else."

  Usagi looked around and frowned. "Shouldn't Rei be here by now? I mean, if _I_ can get here in time, I'm sure _she_ can, the way she keeps yelling at me." She grinned evilly. "I'm going to enjoy telling her she's the late one this time..." she gloated.

  Ami shook her head sadly. *She may be late today, but you've been late dozens of times more than her.* She looked around, a bit puzzled. "You're right, though. Her classes should have ended a long time ago. I wonder what's taking her so long..." She got a worried look. "Usagi-chan! Did Rei seem angry to you towards Ranma this afternoon?"

  "Yeah," said Usagi, shrugging. "I can understand her, I mean, he's her cousin and all and he didn't tell her a thing so I guess that's why she's mad, but what's that got to do with her being late?"

  "Well..." replied Ami uncertainly, "Do you think she might have gone straight to the shrine without telling us?"

  Usagi was about to reply in the negative, but her answer died on her lips when she gave it a bit more thought. It _would_ be like Rei to do something like that. "Um... Now that you mention it..." said Usagi, frowning uncertainly.

  Makoto, having overheard the conversation, decided to voice her opinion. "I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I think we should go to the shrine right away? If Rei _does_ decide to confront Ranma and Akane alone, her temper might get the best of her..."

  The others looked at each other silently and without saying a word, quickly left the Crown Games arcade.

  * * *

  Ami's hypothesis had proven to be to the point. A slightly irate Rei was indeed waiting at the Hikawa Shrine in an attempt to corner Ranma and squeeze a few answers from him. The priestess spared a moment to thank the kami that her grandfather and Yuuichiro were absent for some reason. She didn't have to wait long as she heard Ranma and Akane climb the steps to the shrine. Rei felt a faint twinge of guilt at having deceived Usagi and the others by coming straight back to the shrine first, but there were some things, she reasoned, that were best left inside the family.

  Ranma had, surprisingly, almost completely forgotten about Rei by the time he and Akane had returned from their little trip to their new apartment. He was rudely brought back to reality, however, when he saw Rei watching him with an annoyed expression.

  "Rei," he nodded to her when he was but a few steps from her.

  "Ranma," she answered, just as perfunctorily. "Do you have some _things_ you want to tell me?"

  Ranma smirked internally. If he was going to get in a yelling match with his cousin, he might as well get a couple of good hits in first. "Not really," he said.

  Rei's left eye twitched. "Well, that's too bad because I've got a few questions to ask of you."

  "Do you now?" said Ranma wonderingly. He was about to follow up when he realize that Akane was present. *How can I get her out of here without her getting suspicious?* He looked at Rei, frowning slightly. *Rei wouldn't blow her secret wide open like that in front of Akane, would she?* Fortunately for him, Akane solved the problem before it made itself more apparent.

  Ever since they had begun climbing the steps to the shrine, Akane had been giving some thought to the fact that while she knew Ranma's secret, he didn't know hers. Not yet anyway. *He's likely to try and weasel his way out of explaining if I'm with him,* she thought. *And I'm fairly sure that Ranma would be more receptive if he only has to talk to me.* She smiled slightly. *Besides,* she mused, *if I pretend to go away, I can just hide and he might talk more freely, which means I'll be able to get the whole story,* she reasoned. Anyhow, she didn't really want to stand at ground zero of a confrontation between an angry Ranma and Rei. She needed to warn Rei not to spill her secret yet, though.

  Just as Ranma was about to reply to Rei's last attempt at an opening, Akane interrupted them both. "Ah, Rei? Can I talk to you for a second?" She smiled at Ranma. "In private?" she added hopefully.

  Ranma frowned slightly, still concerned about the problem of getting Akane out of the shrine. "Why?"

  Akane's smile became strained. "It's about a dream I had last night, Ranma. I swear it won't take more than a minute, okay?"

  Ranma sighed. "Fine, then." He did glare slightly at Rei, obviously trying to pass a message to her. Rei ignored it.

  Akane led Rei by the arm in an adjacent room. Once she was sure that she was out of earshot, Akane began whispering in Rei's ear: "I'm going to leave you two alone for a while. Whatever you two do, don't tell him about me being Saturn Knight, okay? He doesn't know yet."

  Rei stared at Akane in surprise. "You didn't tell him?" she whispered back in shock. "Why? I thought you were just as eager as we were about finding out all the answers."

  Akane winced. "Look, you don't know Ranma as well as I do. I need to tell him this when we're alone and I want him to settle his mess with you first. You can talk about the Saturn Knight, but please don't mention the connection with me, okay?"

  Rei shook her head. "That's not a good idea, Akane. You'll just be digging yourself deeper and deeper. Maybe his knowing that you're the Knight would lessen the blow or at least make him more receptive to the idea of being a Senshi."

  Rei's comment forced Akane to examine the issue as to why she hadn't told Ranma yet. Deep within her, she knew why. Sailor Terra. If Akane was the reincarnation of Kanma, was Ranma, or Sailor Terra, the reincarnation of Akana? Akana and Kanma had been engaged despite their protests mere hours before their deaths. The manner of their engagement even looked disturbingly familiar as well. *If that's the case,* Akane thought glumly, *there's someone out there who has a _very_ nasty sense of humor.*

  Somewhere out there, Pluto almost sneezed.

  In any case, Akane wasn't sure _what_ she felt about that issue. She had managed to put it out of her mind since the confrontation this afternoon, but now, she would soon be forced to deal with it.

  There were other issues at stake as well. Akane had berated Ranma a number of times on his tendency to attract trouble, especially since _she_ was usually at the middle of it all. Too often had she been kidnapped or threatened since Ranma had come into her life and now that she had married him, she was sure that she could at least have a peaceful relationship with Ranma, without anymore suitors, monsters or perverts ruining her life.

  Of course that had been the plan. Ranma had even gone as far as promise he would try to behave himself and not actively seek trouble. Unfortunately, Akane knew better that that. Trouble seemed to follow Ranma like a dark cloud, whether he wanted it or not.

  But it was all different now. Thanks to Rei and Hotaru, she now had the ability to fight back on the same level as her enemies, no matter who or what they may be. Too often since Ranma's arrival had she been relegated to a mere cheerleading role because her martial arts abilities were so far below those of the others that made Ranma's life so hectic. She had enough power now and it simply was too alluring to give up. She found herself wanting to experience some action. That was mainly why she didn't want to confront Ranma yet about her secret. She didn't want to face his reaction to that yet, since he appeared to be royally pissed about finding out he was a Senshi. He wanted out... maybe even for _her_ sake. How would he handle it if he was told that _she_ wanted to do around fighting monsters now? She wasn't sure she wanted to find out. Now, she found herself questioning whether she even really wanted to blame Ranma or not concerning his apparent induction into the ranks of the Senshi. If she _did_ blame him, what would that make her?

  She sighed. This was not something she had wanted to acknowledge. But still... Ranma running around in a fuku? He was her _husband_ for Kami's sake, even if he happened to be the reincarnation of a long-dead fiancee in the process. "Whoever said I _want_ him running around in a Sailor fuku, Rei?"

  Rei frowned back. Whose side was Akane on? Before she could reply, Akane took a deep breath.

  "Look," she said in a final tone. "Just don't tell him the identity of the Saturn Knight, okay?" And without waiting for an answer, she strode out of the room, leaving a very confused Rei behind.

  Akane came back in the room where Ranma was waiting, obviously lost in some thought. "Ranma?" she asked, trying to get his attention.

  Ranma blinked and looked at Akane. "Oh, Akane. So... well, um... what did you talk about?"

  Akane sighed. "A dream, Ranma. A confusing dream, that's all." Before Ranma had time to ponder that statement, Akane plowed on. "Ranma, would you mind if just go take a walk alone for a while? I need to sort some stuff and... well... it's not that you're bad company, but I'd like some time alone."

  Ranma couldn't help smiling when she said that. *This is perfect!* he thought. He nodded quickly. "Sure, Akane, no problem! Take your time!"

  Akane scowled at him. "You don't have to look so happy to see me go, you know," she said crossly. Ranma sweat-dropped. "Sorry, Akane... I..."

  Akane rolled her eyes. "Nevermind. See you later," she said quickly and then left, almost slamming the sliding door on her wait out.

  Ranma winced. *Way to go, stupid,* he scolded himself.

  The door suddenly opened up again, startling Ranma. "I'll be back in time to help you move our stuff to the apartment," Akane added quickly, this time slamming the door.

  Ranma blinked.

  "Ranma?" came Rei's voice from behind, bringing him back to earth. Ranma turned around and saw Rei, looking at him with a strange expression that bordered on anger and puzzlement. They stayed that way almost for a minute before Ranma decided to react.

  "What do you want, Rei?" he asked tiredly.

  "You know what!" Rei snapped. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself. "Why didn't you tell us?"

  Ranma snorted. "Because it wasn't and still isn't any of your business, Rei."

  "Not our business?!" she repeated incredulously. "Ranma, do you know how much we've been running around trying to find out about 'Ranko'?"

  "And as I said," repeated Ranma with a bit of anger, "It wasn't any of your business!" "Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell _me_?"

  Ranma snorted. "Do _you_ go to everyone you know and tell them you're one of the Sailor Senshi? Do you? Do Grandpa or Yuuichiro even know you're Sailor Mars?" he asked scathingly.

  Rei wilted slightly. "Well, no... But it's not the same thing!" she said defiantly.

  Ranma's eyes became hard. "Not the same thing?" he said softly, but dangerously. "You're absolutely right." He paused for a second. "IT'S EVEN WORSE!!!" he yelled.

  * * *

  Outside, Akane had barely made stepped outside the shrine when a blonde missile collided with her. Both fell to the ground in a tangled heap.

  "Oww..." Akane muttered. Opening he eyes, she glared at the girl. "What's the big idea?" she snapped. "Don't you even look where you're going at that... speed? Usagi-chan?" she finished in a puzzled tone, recognizing the person in front of her.

  *Owie...* thought Usagi. *I gotta watch out where I'm going...* she thought dizzily. She then noticed who she had collided with. "Akane?" She blinked twice. No, it wasn't a hallucination. Her eyes widened and she grabbed Akane by the collar. "Akane! Is Rei-chan at the shrine?" she asked quickly.

  "Yeah," said Akane. "She's there with Ranma. My guess is that they're going to try and sort things out. Why?"

  Usagi made a whining sound. "Oh no..."

  Akane became worried. "Why? What's wrong?"

  "Rei-chan has this little problem with her temper you see, and I'm afraid she might provoke Ranma," Usagi explained, getting up to her feet, while Akane was doing the same.

  "Usako!" came the call behind them. Usagi and Akane both turned around in time to see Mamoru and the rest of the gang running or jogging behind them. As they reached the two girls, Makoto looked ruefully at Usagi.

  "Usagi-chan, one day, you're going to have to tell me how you can run like that and not be winded at all."

  "Practice," Usagi answered distractedly. She looked at the newcomers. "Looks like Ami-chan was right. Rei's here with Ranma."

  "Great," Makoto muttered, "Why couldn't that hothead wait?"

  "We'll go behind the shrine," said Artemis, jumping off Minako's shoulder. "We'll be able to hear everything there."

  Akane's eyes bugged out. "Ta... Talking cats?!"

  "Don't worry, Akane-san" said Luna reassuringly. "We'll stay out of sight." And with that, the two felines darted inside the shrine grounds.

  "Don't worry, Akane," said Usagi brightly. "They're perfectly harmless." *Unless you're late for school,* she added silently

  "But..." Akane mumbled, not really believing what she'd just seen. She calmed herself and considered the problem. The answer that came back was along the lines of: Why not? You've seen weirder things, haven't you?

  "Akane!" came Hotaru's voice from the back of the group.

  Akane turned around in time to see Hotaru jump in her arms. "Hey, Hotaru-chan, how've you been?" she said happily, completely forgetting about Luna and Artemis.

  "I spent the whole afternoon waiting to see you again!" said the little girl, in an equally happy tone.

  "Come on," interrupted Usagi. "Let's go before Rei does something stupid."

  The remark brought Akane's attention back to the matter at hand. "Err, I wouldn't if I were you."

  That stopped the whole group short. "Why not?" asked Minako.

  Akane sighed, putting Hotaru on the ground. "Ranma's really confused right now and I can guarantee that if you all go barging in on them, he'll react ten times worse than he would otherwise."

  "But I need to speak to him," Mamoru protested.

  Akane's eyes narrowed slightly when she noticed him. *Drat!* she thought. *I'd forgotten about him.* She took a deep breath. "Listen, you'll only..." she was interrupted when they heard a loud yell coming from the shrine.

  The Senshi all looked at one another and either nodded knowingly or rolled their eyes. They moved towards the steps when Akane suddenly ran in front of them.

  "I'm not going to let you disturb them," she warned.

  "But Rei-chan is going to lose her temper," Usagi whined.

  "Listen," Akane said warningly. "Do you think he'll talk to you if he can't even square things out with his cousin first?"

  The Senshi looked at one another. "Can we at least listen?" Minako asked hopefully.

  Akane sighed. "All right," she said tiredly. "But if you get caught, I'll pound your brains out," she warned.

  Minako blinked, then gulped. "I'll be as quiet as a bird!" she said nervously. There were a few groans from the group.

  It was Akane's turn to blink in confusion. *A bird?* she wondered.

  Ami came to the rescue. "That's 'quiet as a mouse', Minako-chan," she said softly, while rubbing her forehead.

  Akane suddenly realized who else was in the group. Her jaw dropped. "Kaiou-san? Ten'ou-san?" she said disbelievingly, matching their faces with their Senshi identities. "You... You're Sailor Senshi?" she sputtered.

  The two didn't seem the least bit embarrassed or concerned that Akane knew their identities.

  "Hello, Akane-san," said Michiru. Haruka merely smirked at Akane and gave her a wink.

  Akane blinked several times, then looked at Hotaru and the back to the two. "I hate it when it all makes sense," she muttered.

  Michiru and Haruka blinked at that.

  Akane looked behind her and saw that most of the group was now quietly edging inside the shrine. "Oh no..." she muttered. "Gotta make sure they don't bust in!" With that, she bounded up the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible.

  * * *

  Inside the shrine, Ranma and Rei were perhaps fortunately far too lost in their arguments to even notice the presence of eavesdroppers.

  "Come on," Rei taunted. "It can't be that bad. What's so bad about turning into a girl?"

  Ranma glowered at her. "It's not the body I was born with! I was raised as a guy!" he snapped. "Do you realize how embarrassing it is to be seen as a girl in public?"

  It was Rei's turn to glower. "What's wrong with being a girl?" she said indignantly.

  "Nothing if you were born as one, which is not my case!"

  Rei tried to force down her anger. "That makes no sense, Ranma! What's the real reason?"

  Ranma scowled and fell silent for a moment. "You know that Pops took me on a training trip when I was barely able to walk, yes?"

  Rei nodded. "Yeah, so?"

  "The first thing Pops taught me was how to stand correctly and then it was how to punch, and then it was how to kick. Everyday, I trained, I trained and did nothing else. Eventually, Pops decided to teach me a bit of philosophy to go with the training. One of the first things he drilled into me was that girls were weak, stupid and couldn't do a single bit of fighting..."

  "What?!" Rei exploded. "What the hell does he mean..."

  "SHUT UP!" Ranma barked. "I'm not finished!" He tried to calm himself. "It didn't stop there, oh no, there was the Neko-ken, all the times he sold me to people as a fiancee without my ever knowing, all the friends I had to leave behind. I cried at losing a friend once and Pops insulted me for a whole month about it, calling me a weak girl and everything! It was the worst insult he knew! He taught me to hide my emotions, never to show them in public. It wasn't what I'd call an ideal life, Rei, but it was all I knew! The only constant in my life was the Art. I was one of the best and that's what counted. _That_ was my life Rei, I had to be the absolute best at the Art!"

  He took a breath to collect himself.

  "Then there was Jusenkyou." His face twisted into anger at the memory. "My stupid idiot of a father didn't know the training ground was cursed even though he had a bloody brochure about it! When we started fighting, I knocked him into one of the pools and he came out as a panda! I was too surprised to react and he backhanded me into a spring." He grinned sardonically. "The Nyannichuan or if you like, the Spring of Drowned Girl."

  His eyes bored into Rei's. "Do you know how mortified, how disgusted, how scared I became when I first saw my breasts? To me, everything was over. I was a girl, the complete opposite of what I was supposed to be!" He panted slightly. "And then it only became worse after that. We passed through an Amazon village and I knocked the champion out. Because I did it as a _girl_, she tried to _kill_ us for the following three months! And then, when we finally seem to lose her, what happens? My father tells me I was to marry one of the daughters of his old training buddy in order to unite our schools! It _that_ wasn't enough, we got to meet them for the first time in our cursed forms because it was raining outside!"

  Ranma's voice lowered just a little. "Akane was the only one who showed me an ounce of kindness that day but she thought I was a _girl_ at the time, and later on, she walked in on me just as I was getting out of the furo in my male form." He paused for a second, allowing Rei some time to catch up. "Needless to say, our relationship didn't begin very well, _another_ thing to blame on the curse! If I didn't have it, maybe I would've had a chance to have a normal relationship with Akane!"

  He smiled bitterly. "But no, the curse wasn't finished with me, not by a long shot! It was only a matter of time before almost everyone at Furinkan High knew about my curse. They thought I couldn't hear them but I did! All the times the called me a pervert and a deviant to my back, I heard them. The worst of the lot was a lunatic who kept groping my female form, even though I'd shown him the change! Do you have any idea of the number of boys who tried to date my female side?! Do you know how humiliating it was to have boys lusting after my female form? They even bought pictures!" he said sharply. "And I won't even start on the locker room incidents!"

  Rei was beginning to lose steam at this point.

  Ranma snorted and continued. "But the icing on the cake was my mother."

  Rei blinked. "Wha... What about Aunt Nodoka?"

  "When I saw her the first time in over ten years, it was as a girl! Before you knew it, she dragged me into stores to try dresses of all things!"

  Rei frowned. "Hold it! Why didn't you tell her you were a guy?"

  "Because I thought she'd KILL ME!!!" he yelled in frustration.

  Rei blanched. "What? Why?"

  "When Pops took me away from my mother when I was young, he signed a contract that said that if I wasn't a 'man among men' when I grew up, we'd both commit seppuku."

  His raven-haired cousin gulped. "Come on! You can't possibly believe she'd..."

  "How was I supposed to know?" interrupted Ranma. "I'd never even really thought about her until then. Pops had never mentioned her. I thought she was dead and all of a sudden, she pops out of the woodwork with a katana on her back and a seppuku pledge. What was I supposed to think? Pops told me she'd kill me if she found out about the curse, so when she came by, I had to hide with my female form and that's when Ranko was born. Every time she came by, I had to sit there and watch her, never able to simply tell her that the son she was looking for was right there in front of her and I HATED myself for it!" He paused to take a breath. "And it was _all_ because of the curse."

  * * *

  Outside the door, Akane and the rest of the Senshi were silent. They had been hearing Ranma list everything that had gone wrong with his life so far. Akane knew most of it, but she was still hearing a few new things. Usagi and Mamoru, in particular, were feeling slightly ill. Usagi, simply because of her natural empathy towards people and Mamoru because he was feeling Ranma's hatred, even if he wasn't really trying. He was beginning to realize that living as an orphan might not have been the worst way to grow up after all.

  * * *

  Rei was having a hard time staying mad at Ranma. She had heard his life story from Akane and Hotaru, but this... this was like the hidden pages of a book. She was beginning to picture how much hatred Ranma harbored in regards to his curse. She took a deep breath, much more calm than she was before, which could not be said about Ranma.

  "I... suppose Aunt Nodoka eventually found out?" she asked uncertainly. "I mean, she _was_ the one who asked me if you could stay here, you know..."

  Ranma grunted. "Yeah, she found out eventually and I was lucky she didn't ask me to commit seppuku." He saw Rei's questioning look. "Don't ask how it happened, it's too stupid."

  Rei blinked and gave herself a mental shake. "So _that's_ why you're scared of becoming a Senshi?" she asked. She regretted her choice of words when anger came flowing back on Ranma's features.

  "Scared?" Ranma spat. "This has nothing to do with fear, Rei!"

  "Then why?" she challenged.

  "Embarrassment!" he snapped. "If a demon wants my head, I'll beat it as a _man_! I won't change into a girl and prance around in a skirt to do it!"

  Rei's temper came back with a vengeance. "Prance around?" she asked dangerously. "Is that what you think we do?!" she almost yelled.

  "Anyone who stops in front of an enemy to say some stupid speech can't possibly be serious about their work," Ranma sneered. "Besides, with a klutzy leader like yours, I wonder if you ever get anything done!"

  He never saw the hand coming.

  * * * SLAP! * * *

  Ranma's head jerked to the side with the impact. There was a deep silence for a few seconds. Ranma slowly turned his head back to face his cousin, a red bruise on his cheek.

  Rei was mad. Very mad. Her face was almost purple with anger. "Do not EVER speak of Usagi that way again! Do you understand me?" The words were delivered in a hiss that had all the warmth of a glacier.

  Ranma stared at her, expressionless, for a few, long seconds. Then bowed. "I apologize," he said solemnly.

  * * *

  Outside, everyone was stunned or angry. While some were still angry at Ranma's careless insulting of their reluctant leader, Usagi and Akane were stunned, even if for different reasons. Usagi had never heard Rei speak in her defense like that. With all the bickering that went on between them, she sometimes wondered if Rei really liked her or if she just tolerated her?

  Akane was stunned because of Ranma's apology. Ranma almost _never_ apologized. Strangely enough, she found herself wishing she could see Rei's expression so she could memorize it. And odd thought at an odd moment.

  As for Mamoru? Well, Mamoru was still too confused about his own emotions to really feel anything really memorable.

  * * *

  Somehow, Rei was able to tell that apologies were not something her cousin gave out freely, and that was enough to calm down so that she was only angry now, instead of furious.

  Ranma sensed that. "I didn't know you cared about her so much," he said in a quiet tone.

  "Of course I care about her!" Rei snapped. "She's the Princess!" She glared at Ranma. "Your life may have been hell, Ranma, but Usagi has a hell of her own! She never wanted to become Sailor Moon, but she _had_ to because there was no one else! You have no idea how much she suffered because of it." She paused for a second. "Do you remember anything from the time of the Silver Millennium?"

  Ranma snorted. "Thanks to you, I do."

  Rei frowned but let it pass. She could come back on that later. "Do you remember Beryl and Metallia?"

  Ranma blinked and his eyebrows knitted in concentration. "Beryl... Beryl... Wasn't she that twit of a noble who was in love with my bro... I mean Endymion?" He hoped Rei hadn't noticed his slip of the tongue. *Stupid memories,* he thought grumpily. "She was the one who brainwashed the Guardians, too, I think."

  Unfortunately, Rei noticed and smirked internally. A small victory. Better save it for later. "You seem to remember more than we do..." she observed.

  "As I said, I have _you_ to thank for it!"

  Rei frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "Remember that little memory clean-up you gave to Sailor Terra when she transformed for the first time?" Ranma asked sarcastically.

  Rei remembered. "What of it? I asked for your permission first, didn't I?"

  "It's not that I'm angry about, it's the fact that you woke _her_ up!"

  Rei stared in confusion. "Woke _who_ up?"

  "Akana! Who else?" he snapped.

  Rei was confused. "So you got her memories, what's so bad about... that?" she faltered. "Wait, you sound almost as if she's conscious..."

  "She _is_," he said disgustedly. "She's been talking to me since that night."

  Rei gawked. "That wasn't supposed to happen!"

  "It did. Lucky me, stupid curse," he grumbled.

  "You mean you can talk to her right now?" Rei asked, more curious than angry now.

  Ranma shook his head. "Not quite. Only when I'm sleeping or when I'm in girl form. She said that might change in the future, but so far, that's it."

  "How'd that happen?" Rei asked, more to herself and not really expecting an answer. She was surprised when she got one.

  "It's all Jusenkyou's fault!" Ranma said sharply.

  "Rei looked at him strangely. "What's Jusenkyou go to do with it?" Inside, she was almost bubbling with Ami-like excitement over the details Ranma could provide about their past lives

  Ranma rolled his eyes before he realized that Rei couldn't possibly know of that particular aspect. "Remember the name of the Jusenkyou spring I fell into?"

  "The Spring of Drowned Girl? What's that got... to..." she trailed off, her eyes widening. "Masaka!" she breathed. "Are you telling me..."

  "Akana was the one who drowned in that spring," Ranma confirmed. "From what she can tell, she died at roughly the same time the Queen blasted everyone forward in time. Half her soul, supposedly mine, made the trip, while the rest stayed in the spring."

  Rei was gawking at Ranma. "But that would mean..."

  Ranma nodded. "When I fell in the spring, she was finally released. Apparently, staying sealed in Jusenkyou for 8000 years allowed her to remain separate in my mind. She didn't manifest until you, to use her own terms, 'cleaned up in there'."

  "Wow..." said Rei, not knowing what to say. Fortunately, everyone who was listening onto them was also stunned. Rei suddenly frowned as a thought came to her. "Wait a minute... What would have happened if you hadn't gone to Jusenkyou, then?"

  Ranma shrugged. "She probably would have stayed in the spring, I guess."

  To Rei, this changed a lot of things. "Well, maybe you were fated to go there from the beginning, then?"

  Ranma glared at her. "I don't believe in that."

  For some reason, an image of Pluto surged in Rei's mind. *She wouldn't... would she?* the priestess wondered. She couldn't help thinking that it might have something to do with the fact that Setsuna had not been seen recently. "Look," said Rei. "If she _is_ part of you, then you _can't_ call it a curse! I mean, you freed the rest of your soul! If anything, I'm sure Akana was grateful!"

  "Oh, she is," said Ranma dismissively, "And maybe I wouldn't mind if it hadn't involved a bloody sex change!" he finished darkly.

  "It can't be that bad!" said Rei indignantly.

  "If I hadn't fallen into Jusenkyou, I never would have been able to turn into a Senshi," Ranma retorted. "Akana said it wouldn't have been possible. I could have avoided all these problems!" Actually, Akana had said that he couldn't have become a Senshi with half his soul missing, but it meant the same thing, right?

  Rei had doubts about Ranma's first affirmation, but had no proof for or against it, so she let it pass. "What's the _real_ reason, Ranma?" asked the priestess seriously. "Why do refuse to help us?"

  Ranma snorted softly. "You wanna know why?" Rei nodded. "Because of Akane," he replied simply.

  * * *

  Outside the door, Akane winced and _almost_ groaned out loud. She knew where this would lead. Mamoru, though, was in shock. There was still a fragment of his sister's original personality alive inside Ranma?

  * * *

  Rei became careful. This was dangerous ground. "What exactly does that mean?" she asked slowly.

  "Akane's been kidnapped and assaulted more times than anyone has a right to be," Ranma replied seriously. "When Akane and I came to Juuban, I swore I wouldn't fight anymore if I could help it. She's tired of having every lunatic in Japan or China come trying to kill me or marry her or even both. I won't be part of the insanity anymore, if only for _her_ sake."

  Rei felt uncomfortable in this. She really wished she could tell Ranma the "truth" about Akane, but she had forbidden Rei to do so. "Besides," added Ranma, "if she was to find out that I actually transformed into a Senshi, even if only twice, she'd either kill me or laugh at me for the rest of her life."

  Rei frowned slightly. "Do you really think she'd that intolerant? I mean, if she was willing to marry you with your... condition," said Rei, unwilling to call Akana a curse, "she can't possibly that adverse to your transforming once in a while to help us."

  Ranma sighed. "Why do you want my help so much anyway? You seem to be doing pretty well on your own," he said, carefully avoiding to mention Usagi this time.

  Rei grimaced. "Remember why I asked you about Beryl and Metallia earlier?" Ranma nodded. "They made it to the future as well. Usagi was the first to be awakened as Sailor Moon to face the threat."

  Ranma blinked. "How's that possible anyway? I don't remember a Sailor Moon in the past."

  Rei smiled slightly. "Blame Luna for that one..." she blinked when she saw Ranma shudder.

  * * *

  Somewhere near a window, Luna sneezed. Artemis snickered. He got a claw to the rump for it.

  * * *

  "Don't mention any talking c-c-cats, please!" he said nervously, closing his eyes.

  Rei stared. "You know!? How?..."

  "I was hiding behind a wall when Venus came by to pick them up for a meeting," he said. "I heard their voices, but I couldn't be sure. Akana later mentioned something about the Advisors to the Court once. The memories were enough to make the connection after that."

  "Oh..." said Rei simply. "By the way, they sympathize about the Neko-ken training, you know. I think they feel a bit guilty about it."

  Ranma sighed. "It was Pops' fault, not theirs..." he shook his head. *I can't believe I said that.* "Could we get back to the subject, now?" he asked, unwilling to pursue topics of feline nature.

  Rei blinked. "Oh, yes. As I was saying," she said, her tone growing more serious, "Sailor Moon was the first to be awakened. Mercury was the second, I was the third, then came Jupiter and Venus. We only discovered the others a lot later."

  "So?" asked Ranma, not seeing the problem.

  "The problem," said Rei ominously while looking at Ranma, "is that the enemies we fight always become more difficult. First it was Beryl and Metallia, then it was the Black Moon clan, Wiseman and Death Phantom who was followed by Pharaoh 90 and just recently a maniac called Kaguya the Ice Queen who almost froze the Earth over! And we won't talk about their henchmen or minion or the dozens of monsters they usually send before we can deal with them. Each of them wanted to take over the Earth and each time we seem to be barely able to stop them!"

  "Yet you did, apparently," observed Ranma. Inside, he was beginning to be impressed. Maybe the Senshi weren't so weak after all.

  "Yeah, but each time, it's because we get new powers or discover new allies! And even then, it sometimes comes down to Sailor Moon having to face the thing alone with the Ginzuishou. Some of them were close calls." She shuddered, remembering some of those close calls.

  Ranma felt an irrational stab of anger at the last statement. "You left the Princess alone to face some of those things?" He blinked at his sudden comment. *Why'd I say that?*

  Rei's features twisted in anger. "You have no right to speak like that, Ranma! You weren't there!"

  "Why weren't _you_?"

  * * *

  Outside the room, Usagi flinched. *Oh, no, Rei-chan, don't bring that up, please!* she thought sadly.

  * * *

  "Once, it was because we were DEAD!" Rei shouted.

  Ranma blinked. "Dead? Sorry, Rei, but you look very much alive right now."

  Rei glared at Ranma. "When we went to confront Metallia, all of us save Sailor Moon died on the way to make sure she would succeed. She doesn't like talking about her battle with Metallia. All we know is that she defeated Metallia and then managed to resurrect us with the Ginzuishou."

  Ranma wasn't sure how to react. "But..."

  "But nothing!" Rei snapped. "Sailor Moon went there with us and she had to watch us die one by one! Do you know how traumatic it was for her? And yet she still fights even after all this!" She quieted down a little, unaware that Usagi was almost crying just a dozen feet away. "In that regard, she is the strongest of us, but she's still the Princess and _we're_ supposed to protect _her_. Ranma, the Earth can survive without me or you, but if Usagi dies, the world will soon follow. Do you want _that_ on your conscience? What if the next enemy is too strong? What if _you're_ supposed to be the next ally? I mean, look at that demon today: I'm not sure we could have put it down without your help!"

  Ranma rolled his eyes. "If _that's_ what you're worried about, don't worry. That demon wasn't after you, it was after me."

  "After you?" Rei said, puzzled.

  Ranma nodded. "Apparently, Happosai didn't like it too much when I trashed him the other day. He summoned that demon to teach me a lesson, I guess. Not the first time it's happened."

  Rei couldn't believe the cavalier way Ranma handled a demonic assault. "Who's Happosai?"

  Ranma smirked. "The little dwarf who groped you the other day." Rei's face darkened in anger at the memory. Ranma smiled a bit more openly. "I'll admit that ward of yours was a very nice touch, though. I'd never seen that happen before."

  Rei smiled at the compliment. "Thank you, believe me, the pleasure was all mine!" she added with a smirk. Her face lost some of its humor when she considered Ranma's words. "What's he going to do when he learns that the demon's been destroyed?"

  Ranma shrugged. "He'll probably send another one, I guess." He smiled lopsidedly. "Another reason for me to stay away from you. Wouldn't want the Princess to get involved in something that doesn't concern her, now would you?"

  Rei frowned. She wasn't used to dealing with that kind of reverse logic. She suddenly realized that she wouldn't have to when she saw who had just entered the room...

  A few moments earlier, Akane, who had been listening at the door with the others, began hearing the agitated cries of people outside. She frowned. *What's going on out there?* she wondered irritably. If this kept up, Ranma and Rei would come out to investigate. The bit about Akana being the girl from the spring had given quite a few ideas to the young woman.

  She quietly moved out of the room to see what the cries were all about, leaving the others glued to the door. Had she stayed longer, she would have noticed Usagi acting increasingly agitated about the whole thing.

  Akane stepped out and quickly ran down the steps of the shrine, noticing that the cries of people were getting closer and closer. She wondered if it was another monster and almost summoned Mjollnir. As she stepped out onto the street, she quickly saw the source of the panic and her jaw almost hit the ground in surprise. "Katsunishiki?" she said weakly.

  Indeed, Akari's giant pet sumo pig was the one creating the disturbance. Akane quickly looked around it and saw Nodoka and Genma walking alongside it. She blinked. She hadn't expected _them_ to be alongside the porcine. "Uncle Saotome! Auntie Saotome! What are you doing here?" she called out, running towards them, idly noting that most people were running in the opposite direction.

  Nodoka broke into a smile. "Akane-chan! I'm so glad to see you!"

  Genma nodded at her. "Hello, Akane."

  "What are you both doing out here?" she repeated, surprised. "And with _him_, of all people... I mean... err... companions?" she stuttered, pointing discreetly at Katsunishiki.

  Nodoka indicated the makeshift collar around Katsunishiki. "This. Apparently, this pig was sent by someone to deliver something to you and Ranma. We came along to guide it and also to make sure Genma did not steal the flask," she finished, glaring at Genma, who began sweating. Where was cold water when you needed it?

  "Steal it?" Akane wondered out loud. "What is it?"

  Nodoka shrugged. "We don't know. There _is_ a letter addressed to both Ranma and you, though. I'm sure it explains everything."

  Akane turned towards the massive porcine. *I wonder why Akari and Ryouga-kun didn't come by themselves?* Panic gripped her for an instant. *What if something's happened to them?* she thought nervously. Quickly, she unwrapped the letter and began reading. After just a few moments, she began smiling wider and wider.

  "So, what is it Akane-chan?" asked Nodoka.

  "Akari-chan and Ryouga-kun are getting married!" she said happily.

  Nodoka smiled. "That's wonderful news!"

  "Does it say what the flask is?" Genma interrupted quickly. Nodoka's eyes narrowed.

  "Let me see..." she skimmed the letter. Her eyes widened. She looked at the bottle with apprehension. "Nannichuan..." she whispered.

  Genma's eyes gleamed, but he was stopped in his tracks by Nodoka's katana. "Don't even think about it," she said ominously.

  The bald martial artist sighed regretfully. "So close..." he muttered.

  Nodoka turned towards Akane, never letting go of the katana. "This is wonderful news. My son will finally be a whole man again! Is he here right now?"

  "Yes," said Akane, "He's in the shrine with Rei." She cursed softly in her mind. *Can't let Auntie Saotome hear what Rei and Ranma are talking about.* She looked at them a bit nervously. "I'll go tell him you're here."

  "That's not a problem, Akane-chan," said Nodoka brightly. "I'll go see him myself."

  "But what about Katsunishiki? We can't leave him out here alone and he won't fit through the gate!" said Akane quickly.

  Katsunishiki solved the problem by taking a few steps backwards and casually jump over the wall.

  Akane stared.

  * * *

  Inside the shrine, Usagi had grown more and more agitated. When Akane left the room, she decided that she couldn't stand it anymore. "I'm going in," she whispered.

  The others stared at her.

  "Don't be stupid, Usagi-chan!" Makoto hissed. "Now is _not_ the time!"

  "I don't care," Usagi whispered back with a decided look in her eyes. "I'm not going to force him to join us if he doesn't want to." With that, she began opening the door slowly, as if to make the least amount of noise possible.

  All the others, acting on some deep, primordial survival instinct, huddled on the sides so that they wouldn't be seen. Well, all of them except Mamoru, who stood along with Usagi. She looked at him inquisitively and he nodded. Usagi took a deep breath and walked in the room just in time to clearly hear Ranma's last comment: "Another reason for me to stay away from you. Wouldn't want the Princess to get involved in something that doesn't concern her, now would you?"

  "On the contrary," she said out loud. "It does concern me. The Senshi do not abandon their own to face threats alone."

  * * *

  Ranma whipped around in shock, promptly chastising himself for not hearing her come in. He then cursed himself when he realized that she might have heard a lot more than he had wanted her to. His self-flogging came to an abrupt halt when he saw _him_ standing behind Usagi, a slightly nervous expression on his face.

  "Mamoru," Ranma said with an edge to his voice. "I didn't even sense you come in."

  Mamoru's features tightened slightly. "You asked me to stay out of your head didn't you? I respect my promises, Ranma."

  Ranma frowned slightly but did not reply.

  Usagi walked up to Ranma, looking at him in the eyes, despite her shorter height. "Ranma, I meant what I said. If there's someone sending demons after you, we'll help you get rid of them."

  Ranma scowled slightly. "I don't need a girl butting in..." he trailed off when he felt Rei's Ki rise in anger. "I mean, why do you want to do this? You could get hurt and you have nothing to gain."

  *Yes I do. Your forgiveness and perhaps your friendship,* thought Usagi silently. "Consider it an apology, then," she said out loud.

  Ranma blinked in surprise. "An apology?!"

  Usagi nodded. "Remember just before class this morning? I told you I was looking for Ranko, that I wanted to apologize to her. Well, consider our help as an apology for the mistake I made when I gave you the henshin stick."

  Ranma stared at her, unable to say anything. Her words sounded precisely like something Princess Serenity would have said. She had always had too big a heart for her own good. "You can't!" he finally said. I won't accept your help! Not for something this dangerous!"

  Usagi frowned. "Why are you so intent about keeping us away? We just want to help you!" she insisted.

  It was Ranma's turn to frown. "I already told you, I don't _need_ any help. Never had, never will. I don't want to involve bystanders in a private fight."

  Usagi kept on, unwilling to give up. "Give me a good reason why we shouldn't help you."

  Ranma snorted. "How about it's none of your business?"

  The blonde shook her head. "It _is_ our business. Senshi do not abandon their own..."

  "Don't you get it? I don't wanna _be_ a Senshi! Can't you get that through your head?"

  "I'm not forcing you to fight with us! I just want to help you!" Usagi protested. "If helping us is that revolting to you, than we'll leave you alone," she finished sullenly. "After all, it's not as if you ever swore to help us or anything..." she blinked when she saw Ranma's reaction.

  Ranma's face lost its color. *She remembers?* he feared.

  Usagi was confused. Now why was Ranma reacting like that?

  Standing besides Ranma, Rei looked on the confrontation with trepidation, momentarily forgetting the fact that her Princess had probably listened on the entire exchange, including her defense of Usagi's behavior.

  * * *

  Outside the room, the rest of the Senshi were anxiously following the discussion. They were wondering why Ranma wasn't answering. They never got a chance to pursue that line of thought when they _felt_ the echo of a bone-rattling impact in the courtyard. They immediately abandoned their current positions and rushed out of the shrine to see what the noise was all about.

  Minako was the first to react. "A monster!"

  Henshin sticks were halfway out when Akane burst through the gate, followed by a man and a woman. "NO! WAIT!!! It's not a monster, it's a sumo pig!"

  They all stared disbelievingly at Akane.

  "It's true," she insisted. "His name is Katsunishiki and he belongs to a friend of mine and Ranma's"

  Makoto was the first to break out of the daze. "A sumo pig?" Akane nodded, a bit embarrassed. "Geez," the brunette said. "Usually anything that comes close to that thing's size is usually out sucking people's energy!"

  The others stared at Makoto. "It's true," she protested weakly when she saw the looks she was getting.

  "Well," Haruka muttered, throwing Katsunishiki a wary look. "Don't expect _me_ to wrestle with it..."

  Minako snickered, breaking the tension.

  "So why is it here, Akane-neechan?" asked Hotaru.

  "It's carrying a message and a gift for me and Ranma," Akane answered. She shook her head. "Where are my manners? Everyone, these are Ranma's parents, Genma and Nodoka Saotome," she said.

  Genma wondered why he was receiving so many hostile looks. He realized that they might be girls to whom he had promised Ranma when he was training. He hoped not, or at least not as long as Nodoka was around.

  Nodoka found herself subject to a variety of looks that ranged from pleasant to strange to almost outright hostile. She didn't understand why. They all seemed like pleasant girls, after all.

  "Mom, Pops? What are you doing here?" said an unexpected voice behind them.

  Ranma glared at the other girls when they jumped around, startled. Had they _all_ been listening in? And what were Ten'ou-san and Kaiou-san doing here? Were they Senshi too? He grunted. Time enough to chew everyone out later. Right now, he wanted to know why Akari's pig had wandered back in Tokyo without its masters and accompanied by _his_ parents of all people. "So where are Ryouga and Akari?"

  "Here!" said Akane, jogging up the steps. "It's all in here. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, Ranma!" She handed the letter to Ranma, who took it warily.

  *Oh, Kami-sama!* he thought desperately. *Please tell me she didn't listen in!* He looked at Akane and saw her smiling widely. It immediately put his mind to rest. If she had known about the Senshi stunt, she would be tearing his head off. She would definitely _not_ be smiling at any rate.

  * * *

  Meanwhile, Artemis and Luna were watching the whole show with rapt attention. Such was their concentration that they never noticed the short man creeping up behind them with a look of demented glee on his features.

  * * *

  Ranma began reading the letter. Halfway through, he smiled widely. "It's about damn time!" he said happily.

  Akane nodded with him. "Isn't it?"

  "What's going on?" asked Usagi from behind Ranma.

  "An old buddy of mine who tried to kill me for a couple of years is finally getting married. He wants me to be the best man," said Ranma, a strange, longing look on his face, all thoughts of his conversation with Usagi vanished for the moment.

  Usagi looked at Ranma oddly. "He tried to kill you and now he wants you to be his best man?" she asked dubiously.

  Ranma nodded and smirked at Usagi's doubtful look. "Don't worry," he said reassuringly. "It's a long story."

  "If you say so," she replied uncertainly.

  "Ranma! Read the rest!" Akane urged.

  He did. His eyes widened and he looked over at Katsunishiki, his eyes on the flask. "Nannichuan?" he breathed excitedly. "YEEEESSS!!!" he howled in joy. "My problems are SOLVED!" Before anyone could blink, he jumped down the steps in a single leap and made a dash for the flask. He was only a few feet away from it when something white was launched at him from the bushes.

  Artemis and Luna had both been unpleasantly surprised by the strange dwarf that had picked them up as if they were a pair of ordinary house cats. The man had been downwind, therefore they had smelled nothing. Even worse was the fact that he was looking at them was giggling almost insanely. They were considering calling for help (after all they didn't want to be catnapped) when the dwarf suddenly froze. The two cats exchanged a glance and were about to start yelling when the short man began muttering.

  "Nannichuan?" the man breathed. "I can't let my beautiful Ranma-chan disappear forever!" Artemis was trying to figure out what the comment meant when he felt himself get tossed at an incredible speed towards Ranma, who was bounding towards the gigantic pig. Not wanting to be splattered all over the wall, he reflexively latched on the one thing he could: Ranma's face.

  * * *

  It took only a fraction of a second for Ranma to realized what was clawing at his face.

  "AAAAHHHH!!! A CAAAAAAT!!!! GET IT OFF!!! GET IT OFFFFFF!!!!" he howled in fear. He began running around, completely forgetting about the Nannichuan.

  The others could only stare in shock as they saw what looked like a rerun of the time "Ranko" had met the two Moon cats for the first time.

  Akane was the one who reacted first. The last thing they needed now was for Ranma to go into the Neko-ken. As Ranma ran near her, she reached out and grabbed the cat from Ranma's face as he dashed by.

  "Artemis?!" cried Minako, running towards Akane. "Are you all right?" she asked.

  "Sure," muttered the dazed white cat in a sotto voice. "Just make the world stop spinning, please..."

  Akane's attention was drawn to a small shape that emerged from the bushes Artemis had been flung from. "Happosai!" she shouted, drawing attention to the small pervert.

  * * *

  Happosai quickly bounded out of the bushes while Ranma was running circles. What luck he had tonight! He had come back to Tokyo to find out what happened to demon he had sent when he had felt Ranma's troubled Ki while passing through a neighborhood.

  He had quickly located the source where Ranma's Ki emanated from, a Shinto shrine, and was quickly spying on Ranma, who seemed to be discussing something the pervert couldn't quite make out with a beautiful young shrine maiden. How fortunate! A chance to get Ranma for his unforgivable behavior and a beautiful young girl to grope as well! His senses told him there were even more young girls somewhere in the shrine. This might turn out to be a very good day after all!

  He had been disturbed by the arrival of the giant pig though. When he had circled around the shrine, he had found two cats as well! A bonus to be used with caution around Ranma. Everything had almost turned to a nightmare, though, when he had heard Ranma say one word in particular: Nannichuan.

  No! He could not let his beautiful Ranma-chan vanish forever! He had tossed one of the cats to Ranma to draw him away from the pig and he was now on his way. Jumping when he reached Katsunishiki, he quickly severed the rope holding the flask, making sure he held the other cat behind him. His caressed the flask triumphantly and then heard a familiar voice shout his name. He turned around and saw his beautiful Akane-chan wave at him. She was here too?

  * * *

  Akane shook her fist at Happosai. "Don't you _dare_ touch that flask, Happosai!" she screamed. "It belongs to Ranma!"

  Happosai snickered. "Not anymore it doesn't! How would you like me to become young again, Akane-chan? You and I could go out together!"

  Ami and Makoto stared at Happosai in shock. The Perverted Thing From Another Dimension had returned. Their hands involuntarily tightened around their henshin rods.

  Mamoru cursed softly. Haruka turned to him. "You know what it is?" she asked

  "Yeah," he answered, fingering his magic rose. "It's the dwarf that attacked the girls yesterday afternoon at school."

  Haruka's eyes narrowed. That thing had attacked the Princess?

  "Old man," a shaky voice said. "If you even breathe on that flask, I will _kill_ you, slowly and painfully."

  Everyone turned to see Ranma, who was now back on his feet, but was still exhibiting signs of his ailurophobia.

  "What are you going to do about it?" Happosai taunted. "You destroyed a perfectly good demon. I'm just taking my revenge! After all, I can't possibly allow my beautiful Ranma-chan to disappear, now can I?" He started uncorking the flask with one hand.

  Ranma howled in fury and rushed Happosai, who simply shoved Luna in the younger martial artist's face when he got close. Unfortunately, Luna had a solid preservation instinct and she refused to let go as Ranma rolled on the ground.

  Happosai laughed as Ranma spasmed on the ground. "You crossed me once too often, Ranma! Now, we'll see who's stronger!" he said triumphantly, uncorking the flask. To be young again! He turned to Genma, who was cowering behind Nodoka. "We're going to leave on another training trip, Genma!" he said happily.

  Genma fled as fast as he could.

  "_You're_ the one who hurt the Princess!" an angry voice shouted from behind him. Happosai turned around to see a sandy-haired woman, a cross-dresser by the looks of it, stalking towards him. This caused him to ignore the fact that Ranma was now barely twitching on the ground.

  "What princess?" asked Happosai, puzzled. "I haven't groped a princess since 1976..." he trailed off when her heard a strange sound behind him. He slowly turned around and found himself face to face with Neko-Ranma. "Oh, no..." he said nervously. "He was supposed to stay scared longer..."

  Before he could make another move, Neko-Ranma yowled and slashed his right front paw horizontally. Happosai suddenly found himself flying into a wall at incredible speed, but without the flask.

  * * *

  When Akane saw Ranma turn into Neko-Ranma, she muttered a prayer. This was going to be messy. Neko-Ranma's first strike caught Happosai cleanly in the middle and sent him flying. She saw the flask fly straight up, not spraying a single drop of water.

  "CATCH THAT FLASK!!!" she howled.

  Haruka, who had been stunned by Ranma's transformation, was the closest to the flask. She put her hand out, confused, and casually caught the flask, miraculously not spilling a single drop on her.

  Akane sighed deeply in relief. Thank Kami-sama the water had been saved!

  "Akane, what the hell is this anyway?" Haruka called out, pointing to the flask.

  "Be careful!!" Akane shouted, moving towards Haruka. "If you spill any on you, you'll turn into a man!"

  Haruka stared at the flask much the same way one might stare and an extremely venomous snake. "Someone take this thing!" she said, panicking.

  "I'll take it!" an old voice said from behind her. Haruka turned around in surprise just in time to see Happosai dashing towards her, carrying some sort of round paper ball. She froze.

  The ancient pervert almost made it before Neko-Ranma sent him sailing over the rooftops with a well placed strike.

  Haruka stood rock still, afraid to move. She looked at the flask. Still intact. She breathed a sigh of relief.

  Then she noticed something on the ground. That odd paper ball Happosai had been carrying. A firecracker, Haruka realized. It also looked like the fuse was gone.

  She blinked.

  That was the last thing she did before the Happo-daikarin exploded.



  Author's notes:


  Japanese words:

Masaka: I can't believe it! / No way! / Impossible! Seppuku: A form of ritual suicide.

- Yes, I know I skipped a lot of things when Ranma vented his anger at Rei... Sue me, I wasn't about to transcribe the entire manga again.

- I didn't mention Ail & Alan and the Doom Tree because it never happened in the manga...


  End Chapter 11

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