Well, if first you do not succeed...
 
====================================
 
Part X is in the process of being written. I am now thinking that _Comes the
Cold Dragon_ will be completed in under fifteen parts. _Spreading Wings_
will begin immediately upon the completion of _Comes the Cold Dragon_,
although it is likely that the sequel will be somewhat slower in coming out.
I have other writing to do.
 
This other writing will be fiction, but original and in no way related to
anime, so I will be looking for a separate group of pre-readers for it. If
you are interested in participating, please drop me a line. Because this
other wirting  will not be related in any way to anime or manga, the story
will not be posted to FFML.
 
 
Thank you kindly for your attention,
 

 
Don Granberry.
 



--------------------------------------------
 
 Many extra special thanks go to my pre-readers for
helping to improve this piece.
 
       Most of the characters in this piece and the setting
for it were conceived of by Rumiko Takahashi for her Ranma
1/2 series of Manga. All such characters and the setting are
the property of Takahashi-sensei and her licensees. All other
characters, except those noted below, are purely fictional
and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is
purely coincidental.



                     ------------------
        Comes the Cold Dragon: Part IX Revision 3
                     ------------------

Prince Haabu, Lord of the Musk, wrapped the fingers of his
right hand around the ship captain's neck, then lifted the
man with one arm until his feet were half of a meter off the
deck.
 
       "You and I have an agreement, Captain," Haabu said in
a calm, quiet voice. As he watched the man's face turn blue,
Haabu's eyes burned with cold fury. "An agreement I intend to
hold you to. Do you understand?"
 
       The captain, unable to speak, did his desperate best
to signal agreement.
 
       "Then get these other people off this ship, if you
value your life!" Haabu said, grinding his words out between
clinched teeth, then dropped the smaller man upon the deck.
The captain collapsed to his knees and put his hand to his
throat.
 
       "I was told you were fairly reliable," Haabu said,
looking down upon the man as though he was a particularly
disgusting species of leech. "But I can see that you are
greedy to the point of foolishness."
 
       The captain shook his head, then choked out the single
word, "Owner."
 
       "Oh, really?" A great many things suddenly became
clear in Haabu's mind.
 
       The captain nodded his head.
 
       "Kiima!"
 
       "Yes, Lord Haabu?"
 
       "Have our people take over the engineering spaces,"
Haabu said in grim tones. "I must have a talk with our agent
and this vessel's owner."
 
       "Yes, Lord Haabu."
 
       "And see to it that the crew removes these other
people from the ship."
 
       "Yes, Lord Haabu"
 
       "And have them clean out our quarters before I
return."
 
       "Yes, M'Lord."
 
       "Be sure the First Mate understands that I will be
most upset if I find any filth there."
 
       Kiima grinned unpleasantly.
 
       "I shall make certain he understands the gravity of
the situation, Lord Haabu."
 
       "Good," Haabu said, with a smile for his second in
command. She had proven herself to be a great asset during
the long, tedious trip. "I will return as soon as I can. Have
word sent to Shan Wa. Tell her to meet me at the house of Wan
Li."
 
       Kiima bowed in Haabu's direction as he turned and
stamped down the gangway. The crew began herding almost two
hundred protesting Chinese down the gangway. They had good
reason to protest. They had paid exorbitant sums to be
smuggled into Japan. Now they were being forced to leave the
ship. None of them had any money left to live on while they
waited for the _Rodriquez_ to return.
 
       Less than an hour had gone by when Haabu arrived at
Wan Li's offices. Shan Wa was already waiting for him,
sitting at a table in the little outdoor cafe across the
street.
 
       "Kiima informs me that this fool attempted to modify
our agreement without consultation, Lord Haabu."
 
       "Yes, he did," Haabu said, gritting his teeth. "He
decided there was no difference between us and the poor,
stinking Han paying him for his services. He tried to pack
two-hundred or so of them aboard the ship with us."
 
       "I see."
 
       "While that might have been acceptable for the
purposes of this mission, it would never do for him to
attempt such a thing with Revered Grandmother and her party."
 
       "I quite agree," Shan Wa said, nodding gravely. "Shall
we terminate him as well as our agreement with him?"
 
       "No, I think not," Haabu said. "Unless you happen to
know a more reliable piece of scum with whom we may deal."
 
       Shan Wa shook her head.
 
       "I am afraid not, Lord Haabu. This sly fellow is about
the best of the lot."
 
       "Then we need to teach him a lesson about the sanctity
of agreements--especially agreements made with the
Joketsuzoku, yes?"
 
       Shan Wa grinned. The last person to see such a grin on
her face had died miserably.
 
       "You are quite correct, of course, Lord Haabu," Shan
Wa said. "Shall we go in and see him now?"
 
       "It is a thing best done quickly," Haabu said. "The
tides will not wait."
 
       Shan Wa nodded her head, then led the way across the
street. Once inside they found themselves being greeted by
Wan Li's male secretary. He was a big, beefy and irascible
sort of fellow. Wan Li had chosen him for the job because he
could intimidate most people.
 
       "Wan Li is too busy to see you now," the man said in a
growling voice. "Come back in two hours."
 
       "I am afraid that such an arrangement would be most
unsuitable in these circumstances," Shan Wa said in a mild
voice, while her body language suggested the forthcoming fall
of hell-fire and brimstone.
 
       Wan Li's secretary stared at the regally silent Haabu
then glanced nervously at Shan Wa. He licked his lips before
speaking.
 
       "He is too busy, I tell you! Go away! Come back in two
hours."
 
       Haabu formed a small ki-blade off the tips of his
fingers on his right hand, then sliced a narrow strip of wood
off the two-inch thick piece of oak forming the counter-top
between them and the secretary. Haabu caught the strip before
it could fall to the floor and began to examine it closely.
 
       Wan Li's secretary gulped, then said, "Right this way,
please." He opened the half-door in the counter and invited
them in with a wave of his hand. Haabu handed him the strip
of oak with a chilly smile. The secretary gulped again.
 
       "Thank you, my good fellow," Haabu said, then grinned
again as the man's knees began to knock together. As Shan Wa
opened the door to Wan Li's office, the secretary scrambled
out a side door.
 
       Wan Li's office was crowded with several of his
associates. They were busily counting their way through large
stacks of yuan and weighing the jade with which the
Joketsuzoku had paid for the ship. There was enough value in
the jade alone to make the man a multi-millionaire in the
United States. Gram for gram, jade is worth more than
diamonds and the Joketsuzoku had paid him with the deep
green, fine-grained variety of jade called "Imperial Jade."
Diamonds of the first water are mere trash alongside such
stone, especially in China.
 
       "Would you gentlemen excuse us for a moment, please?"
Shan Wa asked in her driest voice. "We need to have a word
with Wan Li."
 
       The other men took one look at Haabu's face and
decided that discretion was definitely the better part of
valor. Wan Li made the mistake of trying to bluster,  "How
dare you enter my offices without invitation! I should ... "
 
       "Shut up before your greed and atrocious manners cost
you your life, Wan Li," Shan Wa said in a cold voice, cutting
his tirade short.
 
       Wan Li took one look at the irate Haabu, floating a
half-meter above the floor, and decided that perhaps it might
be wise to hear what the tall young man had to say.
 
       "You have failed to live up to the terms of our
agreement, Wan Li," Haabu said. His voice put one in mind of
a saber sliding out of its scabbard.
 
       "Terms?" Wan Li asked, then gulped at the hard, dry
knot forming in his throat. "Which terms?"
 
       "We paid you quite well for passage to the Land of the
Wa," Haabu said, each word slicing into Wan Li's already
frayed nerves like so much sharp-edged glass. "We were to
have exclusive use of the ship and the services of its crew
for the period of one month."
 
       "Well ... yes ... but ..." Wan Li stammered, "that did
not exclude me from shipping cargo in the vessel."
 
       "Two-hundred poor, unwashed Han trying to escape this
miserable country do not fall into my definition of cargo,
Wan Li," Haabu said, his eyes now burning with murderous
intent.
 
       "I told the captain to quarter them in the cargo
hold!" Wan Li wailed. "Did he not follow my instructions?"
 
       "There is no room in the holds, you cursed fool!"
Haabu said with a hiss in his cold, quiet voice. "There is
the additional problem of attracting the attention of the
authorities upon our arrival in the Land of the Wa, or had
you not considered that?"
 
       "Ah, remember that we agreed that the authorities
there would be your pro ... " Wan Li stopped speaking when he
felt a warm trickle slide down his neck, then mingle with the
nervous sweat beneath his collar. The skin just below his
left jaw began to sting. It was then that he realized that
Haabu had formed a ki-blade and was holding its incredibly
sharp edge against his neck.
 
       "Enough of your obfuscation and circumlocution, Wan
Li," Shan Wa said in a very calm voice. "You agreed to
provide us with the exclusive use of a ship for the price we
paid. You have received your payment and it was a rather
handsome one at that.  We expect full use of the vessel and
the services of its crew, as per our agreement."
 
       "Of course, of course!" Wan Li said, with a very
nervous smile. "We made a little mistake, that's all. The
ship is yours for the next month, just as you say."
 
       Shan Wa gave Wan Li a warm smile, but Haabu did not
remove the one-molecule thick ki-blade from his neck.
 
       "Thank you, Wan Li," Shan Wa said, "I must say you
have proven most gracious under trying circumstances."
 
       "You're welcome?" Wan Li squeaked out.
 
       "What of the Han you sent aboard my ship?" Haabu asked
coldly.
 
       "Oh, they can wait for the _Rodriquez_ to return," Wan
Li said, sounding as cheerful as he could. "They are just
another bunch of malcontents searching for greener pastures."
 
       A dangerous tic appeared in Haabu's face. Wan Li
gasped as the ki-blade bit a little deeper into his flesh and
the trickle of blood became a steady rivulet. The front of
his shirt began turning bright red as the increased flow of
blood ran down into his collar and began soaking into his
clothing.
 
       "Your treatment of them makes you appear most
unreliable," Haabu said.
 
       Wan Li was now at a complete loss.
 
       "While they are not any part of our business, strictly
speaking," Shan Wa interjected, "your treatment of them
alarms us. Putting them aboard the same ship as our people
invited risks we have no wish to take."
 
       "And leaving them here unattended invites trouble as
well," Haabu said, his eyes narrowing. "It would be
operationally sloppy."
 
       Wan Li gulped, then tried to take a deep breath before
speaking. The feel of a sharp edge sliding further into his
flesh made him cut his breathing short.  "I have powerful
friends, you know."
 
       "Oh, we know who your partners are, Wan Li," Shan Wa
said. "We also understand that your little empire lasts only
so long as their anonymity is safe. Perhaps we should discuss
this matter with them?"
 
       "No!" Wan Li cried out. "No, I think we can find a way
to handle this situation without that."
 
       "Then you will find an out of the way place for the
Han to stay until they can catch another ship?" Haabu asked.
 
       Wan Li looked surprised.
 
       "And of course you will see to it that they are
properly fed and receive any medical care they might need,
correct?" Shan Wa asked.
 
       Wan Li looked outraged.
 
       "Why should I?"
 
       "Because we do not want two-hundred or more loose ends
in the form of desperate Han seeking redress in Shanghai,
while we try to take care of business!" Haabu said. His voice
had picked up a faint rumble, like distant thunder. Wan Li
paled as Haabu's ki-blade bit a little deeper.
 
       "I hadn't considered any of that," Wan Li said, his
face very pale and his voice shaking. "You should have
mentioned it."
 
       "A man in your business should not need such
reminders, Wan Li," Haabu said with heartfelt disgust in his
voice. "You have grown fat and complacent."
 
       Wan Li wet his pants as tears began streaming down his
face.
 
       "Think of it this way, Wan Li," Shan Wa said with a
warm smile and cold eyes. "You have already benefited greatly
by doing business with us in the past. You will benefit a
good deal more now and in the future, provided things do not
go awry."
 
       Hope began to faintly light Wan Li's face.
 
       "Should things go awry however," Shan Wa said in a
calm, even voice as she kept her cold eyes and ingratiating
smile fixed upon Wan Li's face, "it would be most unfortunate
for many people. Sadly, it would be very unfortunate for you
and your silent partners."
 
       "I ... I ... understand," Wan Li managed to stammer
out. Much to his relief, the ki-blade disappeared. It was not
withdrawn. It simply disappeared.
 
       "I am most gratified to hear that you do," Shan Wa
said, allowing her smile to grow wider as her eyes grew
colder. "You will also understand that it will be necessary
for me to work closely with you on some of these matters."
 
       Wan Li looked rather nonplussed at this, but a glance
at Haabu's merciless face convinced him to maintain his
silence. He simply nodded his head in response.
 
       "I will leave three of my men here with you, Shan Wa,"
Haabu said without removing his gaze from the long-suffering
Wan Li. "They lack subtlety, but they are most formidable
warriors, being Joketsu trained."
 
       "Thank you, Lord Haabu."
 
       Wan Li collapsed into his chair, obviously resigned to
the fact that he would now be closely watched by Shan Wa and
her fellow tribesmen. He began dabbing at the cut on his neck
with a clean towel.
 
       "I will remain here and make certain that Wan Li's
associates do not cheat him," Shan Wa said to Haabu. "After
the money is counted out, we will see after the Han."
 
       "Farewell, Shan Wa," Haabu said with his lips. His
face said, "Watch your back!"
 
       "May the wind be at your back, Lord Haabu," Shan Wa
said in answer, "and the seas calm."
 
       "Hmmph!" Haabu snorted. "I think I shall avoid
standing at the forepeak on this trip. The seas around The
Middle Kingdom are ever restless."
 
       Shan Wa chuckled, then nodded her head in agreement.
Haabu hurriedly made his way back to the _Rodriquez. She
looked around the room at the piles of money and other
valuables, then sighed.
 
       "Well," she said aloud to no one in particular, "a
Sunday afternoon spent counting money can't be all bad."

 
 
                   -------------------

 

 
       "Just one more blast and we'll be out of here, Jack!"
Ryouga said over his shoulder, then returned to examining
rock in front of him. They had not meant to break out of jail
on Sunday afternoon. Ryouga had simply gotten them lost on
their way to the prison cafeteria. It had been an accident.
Now, a week later, they were still trying to find their way
back to the jail in hopes of straightening things out with
Japanese authorities. Only three days had passed as time is
counted in Tokyo, but the pair had no way of knowing this.
 
       "Yeah, okay, Hibiki, but wait a second and  ... "
 
       "Bakusaitenketsu!"

       The solid granite wall in front Ryouga erupted into
thousands of sharp pieces that whizzed about the cavern
amidst vast clouds of swirling dust. Lacking Ryouga's
phenomenal durability, Jack Burton did his best to shelter
behind a boulder. The dust clogged his nostrils and made him
cough violently, something he definitely did not need, given
the number of wounds from which he already suffered. Ryouga
had been right about this most current blast being the last
one they needed. Sunlight began streaming through a large
hole in the stone wall.
 
        "OW! Ya did it to me again, Hibiki! I keep tellin'
ya! Ya gotta give me time ta ..."
 
       "Come on, Jack!" Ryouga cried out as he seized Burton
by the collar and began dragging the badly weakened American
towards the newly formed exit. "Let's get the hell out of
here!"
 
       "Dammit, Hibiki!" Burton cried out as he felt his
already battered body bounce and scrape over a countless
number of rocks and other debris. "Take it easy, will ya?
That hurts!"
 
       "Sorry, Jack," Ryouga said, sounding only slightly
contrite, "but I had to get us out of there."
 
       "Yeah, okay!" Jack said irritably. "Just try to
remember that I haven't had the training you've had, okay?"
 
       Ryouga nodded his head then looked around at their new
surroundings, as did Burton. They were in a forest of some
sort, that was for certain sure, but numerous little cues,
the smell of the leaf-litter, the shape of the leaves, the
texture of the bark, and the peculiar blue of the sky told
them that they were in yet another strange place.
 
       "Where the hell are we now?" the bedraggled pair
chorused.
 
       " ... are we now?"
 
       " ... we now?"
 
       " ... now?"
 
       "Please tell me we are NOT back in Oz again, Ryouga!"
 
       "Nah," Ryouga said as he scratched the back of his
head. "The echoes are way too sharp for this to be Oz."
 
       "Well it for damned sure isn't Kansas anymore, P-
Chan!"
 
       "Will you not call me that?" Ryouga shouted.
 
       " ... call me that?'
 
       " ... me that?"
 
       " ... that?"
 
       "Do you recognize anything about this place, Hibiki?"
 
       "Well," Ryouga said, again scratching the back of his
head. "I think I was here once before, but it was a long time
ago. It's a really weird place."
 
       Burton boggled at this statement.
 
       "Weirder than Oz, you mean?"
 
       "Oh, there's lots of places stranger than Oz," Ryouga
said, "Ever been to San Francisco?"
 
       "Okay, okay," Burton said, sounding defeated. "You
gotta point there, Hibiki. How weird exactly is the place,
that is assuming you really have been here before."
 
       "It's a lot weirder than San Francisco."
 
       "Oh, joy!" Burton replied.
 
       "A lot more dangerous, too."
 
       "More dangerous than Barsoom?"
 
       "Nah, 'bout the same as Barsoom, I think," Ryouga
said. "The trouble with this place is that we're not near as
light here as we were in Barsoom. I guess you might say it's
about like the East Side of Houston, or parts of New York
maybe."
 
       Burton began to look very glum.
 
       "Geez, Jack!" Ryouga exclaimed upon examining
companion for the first time in several hours. "You're a
mess!"
 
       Burton, who was now seated upon an ottoman-sized
boulder, looked disgusted as well as pained.
 
       "Oh, well thanks for tryin' to cheer me up, Doctor
Hibiki!" Burton said in sarcastic tones. "How long do you
think I have to live?"
 
       "A long time if we can get those cuts treated," Ryouga
said without so much as a blink of an eye, "but only thirty
days or so if we don't. They will turn septic on you."
 
       "I don't suppose you know the way to the nearest
clinic, do you Hibiki?"
 
       Ryouga suddenly looked very flustered.
 
       "Somehow, I didn't think so," Burton said with a heavy
sigh.
 
       "It is possible that I might be of some small
assistance, gentle sirs," a voice said from just out of sight
in the dark forest.
 
       Ryouga and Burton were still swiveling their heads in
a panicked effort to find the owner of it, when he stepped
out into the open. He was a tall old man, perhaps as tall as
two meters, with harsh blue eyes that somehow also held a
merry twinkle. He had a long, flowing white beard that
reached nearly to his knees and a wild shock of white hair
which poured out all around the rim of his conical hat. He
was leading one of the best horses Burton had ever seen.
 
       "Man! That is one helluva horse!" Burton exclaimed.
 
       The horse walked over to Burton and nuzzled him on the
cheek.
 
       "Easy, big fellow!" Burton said, with a chuckle. "You
belong to somebody else!"
 
       "No," the old man said, sounding amused, "he belongs
to no one but himself and he seldom takes a liking to
strangers. From whence do you fine gentlemen hail?"
 
       "My confused looking pal here is from Tokyo, Japan,"
Burton answered. "I'm from a little town in the Southern
United States."
 
       "How interesting!" the old man said, sounding
genuinely intrigued. "I've never heard of either place, and I
am very well traveled."
 
       "Well, Ryouga, old buddy," Burton said with the usual
sneer in his voice. "I guess that means we are thoroughly
lost -- Again!"
 


 
 
                      -------------------

 
          
       Half the week disappeared in flash for Nabiki Tendo,
yet in another way; the three days seemed to have lasted at
least a year. Even without the presence of Ranma and Akane,
Nerima's favorite source of excitement, things had not slowed
a bit. There was, as always, more than enough weirdness. On
top of the normal, background level of chaos, Nabiki had
found herself up to her eyebrows in business concerning
Kodachi Kuno and one French bicycle maker, who quickly proved
himself to be, well, idiosyncratic. The guy definitely had a
winner in his bicycle design, but seemed unwilling, or
perhaps he was simply unable, to take full advantage of it.
 
       The Frenchman's reluctance was not, as it turned out,
strictly a matter of laziness. Patent protection in Japan is,
in most ways, superior to that of other countries. On the
other hand, acquiring a Japanese patent is an expensive
process. Nabiki quickly discovered, much to her dismay, that
simply securing patent protection for Thibbideaux's design
would consume most of the capital she and her allied
investors could put into the venture. That would leave the
enterprise without the resources it needed to lease a larger
shop, hire craftsman and buy materials. Oh, and let's not
forget the new tooling and the design for same.
 
       Nabiki would have taken a pass on the whole thing had
it not been for a bit of Nerimaen weirdness stepping in at
the very last second. Kodachi Kuno, it turned out, spoke
almost perfect French. Not only did Kodachi speak French; she
knew the recipes for several of Thibbideaux's favorite
dishes. By Tuesday afternoon, Kodachi had the man literally
eating out of her hand. By Wednesday, he seemed to actually
enjoy hearing her laughter echo in his shop and was more than
willing to let Nabiki take a shot at securing a patent for
his design. Wednesday night thus found Nabiki Tendo hard at
work over a fresh set of ledgers, working out a business
plan. Actually, she was working out more than one business
plan. 
 
       The primary problem, of course, was money. There were
people Nabiki knew from whom she could get the money they
needed, but that presented a special set of problems of its
own. She had learned about it the hard way the year before
Ranma and his father arrived on their doorstep. She and her
investors had gotten into a deal that was simply too big for
them to see all the way through. She had been lucky in
finding Ichiro Kobayashi, rather than falling afoul of some
of the other sharks cruising around Tokyo. He had seen to it
that she and her investors got their money back. While her
associates had been more than happy with this outcome, Nabiki
had not been at all happy with it. The idea had been to turn
a profit on the affair, not settle for a mere break-even. She
had worked herself into the ground putting it all together
and Kobayashi swooped in with his mountains of cash, making
all the real money. She thought she had heard the last of
him, but was surprised a few days later when the older man
called and invited her out to lunch on a Saturday.
 
       Nabiki gave her younger-self a smirk in remembering
these events. She had accepted Kobayashi's invitation simply
because she wanted to give him a piece of her mind. Much to
her surprise, she never got the chance. Kobayashi gave her a
piece of his mind--a very valuable one. He first annoyed the
hell out of her by ordering for both of them without asking
her what she would like to have, then let her stew in black
silence until their tea had been served.
 
       "So, are you still upset with me?" Kobayashi had
asked.
 
       Nabiki had expected any number of things, from a
marriage proposal to a job offer as junior clerk in the
Kobayashi offices, or perhaps the man had invited her out
simply to gloat. She had not expected him to ask this
question.
 
       "Yes," Nabiki had said, working hard to keep a tremor
out of her voice. "I am! I worked my ass off putting that
deal together and never made a single yen from it."
 
       Kobayashi's answering smile had been as cold as the
dark side of the moon, but his eyes remained merry.
 
       "You and your partners got your money back, did you
not?"
 
       Nabiki had not been able to restrain a frustrated sigh
before answering.
 
       "Yes, but that was not why I did all of that work."
 
       Kobayashi seemed to look inwards and then chuckled.
 
       "I know the feeling," he had said. "I had the same
thing happen to me when I was your age."
 
       Nabiki was taken back considerably by this revelation.
While life in Japan had always been easier for men, no one
paid serious attention to a male until he was at least forty-
-especially just after World War Two. Kobayashi should not
have been able to get into the fix Nabiki and her cohorts had
found themselves in. Money and credibility would have been
much harder for Kobayashi to come by back in those days. Then
again, she should not have been able to get into the fix she
and her cohorts had gotten into.
 
       "You remind me very much of my younger self."
 
       "Who bailed you out?" Nabiki had asked. She remembered
biting her tongue after asking that question because she
immediately realized that she had done more than ask an
impertinent question. She had made an admission. An admission
that Kobayashi did not fail to notice. He laughed out loud
before answering.
 
       "My father," he had told her.
 
       Nabiki must have given him an "I thought so" kind of
stare, because Kobayashi's smile broadened even further, even
as he waved his hand to put off what he saw as an incoming
protest.
 
       "He was not nearly so kind to my friends and me, as I
was to you and yours," Kobayashi had told her. "He broke our
asses, then threw me out of the house for two years."
 
       Nabiki thought this one over. Had she failed
completely, Soun Tendo would not have thrown her out of his
house. The bankers would have thrown them all out. What her
excitable father might have done after that was not something
Nabiki had liked thinking about.
 
       "Perhaps your father did the right thing, Kobayashi-
san," Nabiki had said in a contrite voice. "My entire family
had not been that far from the same fate when you came
along."
 
       "I know," Kobayashi had said with a smirk. "I never
invest until I have all the details. Have you come to
understand what you did wrong?"
 
       Nabiki began rattling off facts and figures. What
those figures had boiled down to was that she and her
associates had lacked the capital to see the thing through.
What was more, they had never had a hope of acquiring such
sums; thus they had been forced to turn to Kobayashi for
help. He could have simply cut a deal with their principles
and left Nabiki and her partners completely out in the cold.
Kobayashi had gone to the trouble of buying them out instead.
 
       "Stupid girl!" Kobayashi had all but shouted. "You are
not seeing the forest for the trees!"
 
       Nabiki remembered being on the verge of tears and
willing her eyes to remain dry with all her might. Kobayashi
had stared at her for a long, silent moment, letting her
suffer before continuing.
 
       "You are a very courageous young woman. You are very
smart. You have an excellent nose for sniffing out potential
profits and you are a brilliant tactician," Kobayashi had
said in gentler tones. "You made no mistakes in those areas."
 
       "So where did I go wrong."
 
       "Your strategy was in error," Kobayashi had said.
Enthusiasm had begun to fill his voice as he continued to
expound, "This caused you to put the deal together in the
wrong order."
 
       "The wrong order?"
 
       "Yes!" Kobayashi said. He had begun to sound like a
ten-year-old who had just been given a brand new, toy truck.
"What was the single, most essential part of the whole
thing?"
 
       Nabiki had rolled this over in her mind. Everything
had seemed important to her when she had begun, but one thing
had turned out to be crippling.
 
       "The docks down on the south end," Nabiki had said.
"There was no way to get enough lumber in or finished pallets
out by truck. In the end, we were no better than our
competition. Sometimes we were not as good. They had been
dealing with the trucking companies a lot longer than we
had."
 
       "Are you beginning to understand now how you 'found'
me?"
 
       Nabiki remembered feeling outraged. The Kobayashi clan
had been in the tug and barge business long before the war.
Of course Kobayashi would have realized early on that their
little company was in dire straits. He must have known they
were going to lose before they themselves had realized it.
 
       "How come you didn't step in an wipe us out early on?"
Nabiki had asked. "You could have done that and made more
money."
 
       Kobayashi had chuckled at this question.
 
       "It took me quite a while to figure out that Soun
Tendo's sole connection to the pallet business was you, his
under-aged daughter. You hid your tracks very well, Tendo-
san. That was some of the best footwork I ever encountered.
Once I discovered that it was a minor who had put this whole
thing together, I was fascinated. Watching you struggle
turned out to be much more entertaining than making the
money."
 
       Nabiki remembered, now much to her embarrassment, that
her mouth had fallen open in shock.
 
       "You put up a magnificent fight!" Kobayashi had said,
beaming at her.
 
       Nabiki had put her hand over her mouth and blushed
furiously. She had turned her face away from Kobayashi in
shame. Kobayashi then reached across the table and placed a
hand on her arm.
 
       "Courage and drive such as yours are a very rare
thing, Tendo-san," he had said to her in gentle tones. "You
have nothing of which you need be ashamed. There isn't a
businessman in Nerima who was not impressed by what you did.
Hell, quite a few of the boys downtown know about you. They
ask about you nearly every time they see me."
 
       The tears had begun to flow despite Nabiki's best
efforts to control them, but she looked Kobayashi in the eyes
anyway.
 
       "They haven't heard the last of me, you know."
 
       Kobayashi had laughed and slapped the table at this.
 
       "Good!" he had cried out with a hoot. "We need more
youngsters like you."
 
       Nabiki's formal lesson then being over, Kobayashi
proceeded to spend the rest of their leisurely meal regaling
her with stories about the deals he and put together, large
and small, money-makers and losers. She had learned more from
that one encounter than she had learned from any and every
book about money she had ever found and read. Yet of all the
things she had learned that day, the "Kobayashi Principle"
was the one that had burned into her very soul. Never again
would she fail to take care of what mattered most, first.
 
       The key to this bicycle deal was a secure patent. With
that in hand, she could go to Kobayashi and his friends and
still be relatively well assured that she and her friends
would get a decent return on their investment. Without the
key part of the deal however, they would be far better off if
she simply picked up the phone and handed the entire thing to
Kobayashi on a platter. He had proven generous with his
commissions when she had done that sort of thing in the past.
Nabiki had little doubt that he would be ruthless with her
though, if she made the same mistake twice. If she could find
enough capital however, enough to actually get the bicycles
into production, she and her associates stood to make even
more money out of the deal, even if Kobayashi and his friends
took over the entire show. The trick was to find the capital
they needed to get that far. She needed a large sum of money
with a minimum number of strings attached in order to pull
that off. If she could, she would earn the respect of more
than a few financial powerhouses around town, not to mention
shocking a Kuno or two speechless. Of course, shocking a Kuno
speechless was only slightly more difficult than finding
fifty million yen with no strings attached, especially given
that she was determined to find it without swindling a Kuno.
 
       Nabiki's ruminations and calculations were interrupted
by a knock at her door.
 
       "Nabiki-oneechan?"
 
       "Yes, Kasumi?"
 
       "I'm serving dinner now."
 
       "I'll be right there, Sis!"
 
       "All right."
 
       Nabiki stretched the kinks out of her back as she
stood up. One day soon she would be a rich Sybarite. Once
that goal was achieved, she would see to it that Kasumi never
wanted for anything. In the meantime though, it was time to
eat. She made her way downstairs, only to find that they had
company. An ugly little man she had never seen before.
 
       Clearly the man was ancient. His face had the
appearance of statue left exposed to the elements for a
thousand years, yet he was muscled in a way that would have
made Arnold Schwarznegger envious. Much to Nabiki's surprise,
the old man walked with a very pronounced limp, seeming to
have only slight control over his right foot. His skin seemed
dirty, even though she could tell he had recently bathed and
his thick, grey hair made him look as though he were wearing
a cap made of ashes.
 
       "Sensei," Soun said to the powerfully built old man,
"this is my second daughter, Nabiki."
 
       "She is quite lovely, Tendo-san," the old man said as
he smiled and bowed in Nabiki's direction.
 
       "Nabiki, this is Sensei Ichiro Tetsugo," Soun said.
"Among other things, he is a master blacksmith."
 
       Well, Nabiki thought to herself. That explains his
appearance. I wonder why he limps. Belatedly remembering her
manners, she bowed to the older man in return.
 
       "The pleasure is mine, Tetsugo-sensei," Nabiki said.
"Welcome to Tendo-ke."
 
       "Thank you, Tendo-chan," Tetsugo said with a smile.
"It is a pleasure to visit. You were quite young the last
time I was here."
 
       "Shall we eat?" Kasumi asked cheerfully.
 
       Everyone gratefully sat down and dug into the evening
repast with gusto. Genma, Nabiki noted with interest, seemed
to be on his best behavior and was actually displaying some
rudimentary knowledge of basic manners. She found this
puzzling, given that their guest was merely a blacksmith. The
conversation over their after-dinner tea offered a dim clue,
but only a dim one.
 
       "So, do you have the blood we need?" Tetsugo asked
Soun. "We have done as much as we may without it."
 
       The Tendo patriarch closed his eyes and slapped his
forehead with the palm of his hand. Genma followed suit.
 
       "Blood?" Nabiki asked, sounding vaguely alarmed. "What
sort of blood?"
 
       "This sort," a disembodied voice from above the table
answered as two brassieres fluttered down through the air,
only to settle noiselessly upon the table. The errant
lingerie, Nabiki noticed, did bear some rather sizeable
stains of a brownish red color. One of them was two cup-sizes
larger than the other. No sooner had she taken all this in,
than Happosai, whose voice Nabiki had already recognized,
gently settled feet first onto the middle of the dining
table. 
 
       "I thought you were going on a trip, Gramps," Nabiki
said.
 
       "I am," Happosai said, sounding irritated, "but I
decided to stop by here and check up on things first. Looks
like it's a good thing I did."
 
       Both Soun and Genma blanched while Tetsugo merely
looked amused by the entire thing.
 
       "Here's the blood you need, Tetsugo," Happosai said as
he held up the larger of the two brassieres "How the hell
have you been, anyway? Long time no see!"
 
       "I have been quite well, all things considered, Master
Happosai," Tetsugo answered as he accepted the proffered item
of lingerie. "You are still as spry as ever, I see."
 
       "Oh, well! I do get a catch in my get-along once in
while," Happosai said with fake wince as he offered Tetsugo
the smaller brassiere. "The big one is the boy's, this one is
his student's."
 
       Tetsugo dangled the larger brassiere by one strap,
then cocked an eyebrow at Genma. "This is your son's?"
 
       "Urgh! ... Uh ... Ah, well ..."  Genma choked,
blushed, then glanced around the room as though checking to
see if Nodoka were around.
 
       "Of course it's his!" Happosai said with a laugh.
 
       "He must lead a very interesting life, Saotome-san,"
Tetsugo said. "Would that I could have been comforted so
whenever I was made to bleed."
 
       "Oh, you're too right about that, Tetsugo!" Happosai
said with a cackle. "The boy certainly does lead an
interesting life!"
 
       "So how, pray tell," Tetsugo asked with a grin, "did
this happen."
 
       Soun leapt into the fray.
 
       "Ah, well ... ah ... you see, Sensei it was a ... aaah
..."
 
       "Unusual accident!" Genma interjected.
 
       Happosai guffawed while Kasumi giggled and Nabiki
smirked.
 
       "Yes! A series of unusual accidents, actually!" Soun
added.
 
       "Say," Happosai interjected, "isn't it about time for
the moon to rise?"
 
       "Yes, it certainly is, Master Happosai," Tetsugo said.
"Perhaps we had best get started, gentlemen."
 
       Soun and Genma nodded in unison, then the pair of them
hastened towards the open shogi of the engawa.
 
       "Don't let these two old slackers fool you now,
Tetsugo!" Happosai said in a gleeful tone. "They are both
plenty strong, but they are lazy and stupid! Ya have to watch
'em all the time!"
 
       Soun and Genma winced in unison as Tetsugo smiled at
the diminutive founder of the Anything Goes School. "I'm sure
they'll do just fine, Master Happosai."
 
       "You'll have to see that they do, Tetsugo!"
 
       Soun and Genma beat a hasty exit off the engawa.
Tetsugo followed them, giving Happosai and nonchalant wave of
the hand as he departed.
 
       Nabiki stood up and stretched her back muscles again.
Happosai watched appreciatively as she did so.
 
       "Why don't you go ahead and go now, Kasumi?" Nabiki
asked. "I'll take care of the dishes."
 
       "Are you sure, Nabiki-chan?" Kasumi asked, sounding
concerned. "You look awfully tired."
        
       "She looks and smells like shark-bait to me!" Happosai
interjected, looking as though he might yield unto temptation
and bite.  Nabiki gave him her level one glare before
answering her sister's question.
 
       "I'm fine, Sis! Go on and get out of here."
 
       "Thank you, Nabiki-chan."
 
       "You're welcome, Sis. Give Tofu a hug for me."
 
       "I will," Kasumi said with a smile as she removed her
apron and bounded up the stairs.
 
       Happosai watched Kasumi until she disappeared up the
stairs, then said in a low voice, "Free at last! Free at
last. Thank God all mighty! Free at last."
 
       Nabiki gave the old man a questioning look, then began
gathering up the dishes. "As if you really cared one way or
the other, Gramps."
 
       "You might be surprised, Nabiki-chan."
 
       "I doubt it," Nabiki said. "You've been going over my
books, haven't you?" Nabiki asked as she carried a load of
dishes towards the kitchen.
 
       "You knew I would," Happosai answered as he followed
her into the hallowed space.
 
       "Sure, I knew. Did you find the right books?"
 
       "Yes," Happosai said, "And I found the ones that tell
me you are thinking of taking another swim with the sharks."
 
       "You underestimate me, Gramps."
 
       "Do I now?" Happosai asked, sounding amused. "I hear
you've founded your own school of capitalism."
 
       "Do tell!" Nabiki said with a sneer in her voice.
 
       "They say that you have even taken on a Kuno as your
first student." 
 
       "It's just a swindle to keep Kodachi away from Ranma,
Gramps."
 
       "Oh, really?" Happosai asked with a skeptical note in
his voice. "Is that why your entertaining the notion winging
a deal with fifty-million put to the touch?"
 
       "I worked that out just for drill, Gramps," Nabiki
answered with a cold smile. "Think of it as kata."
 
       "Pretty tough kata, if you ask me."
 
       "What we really hope to do is to secure the patents
for this new type of bicycle," Nabiki said, pausing so that
she could look down at Happosai and not run into anything.
"Then we can get a decent cut from the big boys when they
move in."   
 
       "But you'd get a much bigger cut if you had that
fifty-million, right?"
 
       "Sure, but what are the odds? Anyone with fifty-
million doesn't need me or my partners."
 
       "How long before you have the patents?"
 
       "Six weeks or so, I think. We're investing enough to
expedite the process. Why?"
 
       "Well the timing might work then."
 
       "What timing?" Nabiki asked, now truly puzzled.
 
       "Wait a week or so, then go talk to Ko Lon," Happosai
said, looking very serious. "You might just get your fifty-
million in risk capital."
 
       "Ko Lon?" Nabiki asked. "Where the hell would she get
that kind of money?"
 
       "Oh, it's available to her, or will be soon."
 
       "In a couple of weeks, huh?"
 
       "A little longer, maybe."
 
       "So what do I do? Wait until she suddenly closes her
restaurant and buys a mansion?"
 
       "Oh, you'll know it when the time comes," Happosai
said.
 
       "Oh, really? How would I know anything about what goes
on in Little Amazonia?"
 
       "Because what's important is going on in Big Amazonia
and I have forewarned you about it, Nabiki-chan."
 
       Nabiki placed her hands on her hips, then stared down
at Happosai.
 
       "Whatever you say, Gramps."
 
       "Keep your eyes and ears open and you'll realize I'm
telling you like it is, Nabiki."
 
       "Okay, Gramps. I will. Anything else you want to give
me notice about?"
 
       "Nope. I already told you when I'd be back," Happosai
said as he made for the outer door of the engawa.
 
       "Gramps?"
 
       "Mmm?"
 
       "What's the story on this Tetsugo guy?
 
       "Too much to tell right now, Nabiki-chan," Happosai
said, "but you've probably read about him in class."
 
       "Which class?" Nabiki asked with a roll of her eyes.
"Ancient History?"
 
       Happosai gave Nabiki an enigmatic smile. "If you were
to be real, real nice to him," Happosai said as his smile
became a lascivious grin, "he might make you a pretty or two.
He does beautiful work, you know."
 
       "I think I'll pass, Gramps," Nabiki said.
 
       "Suit yourself, then."
 
       "I always do."
   
       "Be seeing you, Nabiki."
 
       "See ya, Gramps."
 
       After Nabiki finished with the dishes, she returned to
her room only to find a thick envelope lying atop the open
ledgers on her desk. Inside were a million-yen in crisp, new
bills and a note from Happosai, which read simply, "I want
in." Nabiki could not help but feel flattered.



 
 
                      -------------------

 
          
 

        
       Akane flopped down in one corner of the potting shed,
completely out of breath. She wiped hopelessly at her face
with the sleeve of her gi. It helped very little. She and her
clothes were wringing wet with sweat.
 
       "How can I sweat this much when it's this cold?" she
muttered aloud. Ranma, who was standing in the middle of the
rough floor and watching her, gave her one of his smart-alec
grins. He looked completely relaxed and though his skin was
covered with a fine sheen of perspiration, he showed not the
faintest sign of fatigue. Akane gritted her teeth with
frustration, but kept her silence. She had asked for this and
Ranma had given her fair warning. There was nothing to do now
but to deal with the results. Only, the results had not been
at all what she had expected.
 
       Tofu and Kasumi had returned to Nerima late Sunday
evening after Tofu and Ranma had gone for a long walk
together. Ranma had returned looking excited.
 
       "Tofu showed me the perfect place for us to work out
in, Akane!"
 
       "Oh?"
 
       "Yeah! It's a potting shed."
 
       "A potting shed?" Akane asked in an alarmed voice.
"How are we going to workout in anything that small? Ranma,
what have you got in mind, you pervert?"
 
       Ranma had given her an evil grin before answering.
"The Ono raised tomatoes here a long time ago, Akane. The
potting shed is half-again the size of your dad's dojo."
 
       "Oh."
 
       The next day she had helped Ranma move all the pots,
potting soil and tools into the barn. The barn was already
crowded with old equipment steadily gathering dust. They had
been careful to put everything they moved in one general
location so that they could easily find it and return it to
its original place before they left for home. It had been
fairly strenuous work, but it had gone a long way towards
loosening Akane's muscles. She had gone to bed that night
looking forward to beginning the okugi. Something she had
almost despaired of ever learning. The actual beginning
though, turned out to be something of a disappointment.
 
       "Okay, Akane," Ranma had said with a grin on his face,
"Let's see ya do the first kata of the beginner's sextet."
 
       "I learned that one three days after I started
walking, Ranma."
 
        "So? Now you're a beginner all over again."

        With a shrug, Akane had run through the kata. It had
been a long time since she had done it, so she bobbled in a
couple of places, but in the main, her muscles remembered it
better than her mind did. She knew though that Ranma would
not settle for anything less than perfection.
 
       "Again?" Akane asked.
 
       Ranma answered with a nod of his head. Akane ran
through the kata again. Much to her chagrin, she realized
that she was not performing it as well as she should have
been. She asked Ranma for permission to do it again. He
smiled and nodded. Akane performed the kata again, and again,
and again for the next six hours with only one or two short
breaks. Today she was still performing that very first kata
of the beginner's sextet. She had performed it repeatedly all
day and could feel down in her very bones that she was not
getting it right. Worse, she now realized that she had not
ever been doing it perfectly. About mid-morning, Ranma had
taken to moving with her so that he could see every move she
made, but had yet to actually correct any of her moves as her
father did when she first began to learn the kata.
 
       "What has happened to me!" Akane cried out.
 
       Ranma laughed out loud. "Welcome to the first secret
of the okugi, Akane."
 
       "What secret?"
 
       "You have finally learned enough to recognize what you
have been doing wrong."
 
       "So how come you're not correcting me?"
 
       Ranma shrugged. "You been doin' a pretty good job of
that on your own -- except for your breathing."
 
       "So why aren't you helping me with that?" Akane asked,
sounding just a bit irritated.
 
       "One thing at a time, Tomboy!" Ranma said, as his
smart-alec grin returned to his face. "Breathin' is really
complicated. We'll work on it all by itself later."
 
       Akane stifled the tiny flames of annoyance she felt in
her heart before they could become a general conflagration,
then rose to her feet.
 
       "I'm ready to try again."
 
       "Okay," Ranma said genuine admiration in his face,
"Begin!"
 
       "You're in the way, Ranma."
 
       "Dammit! I said, BEGIN!"
 
       Akane threw the first punch of the kata. It should
have landed on Ranma's solar plexus, but he wasn't there. He
was in alignment to receive the punch all right, but he had
backed up just barely out of her reach at the very last
possible second. Akane found this distracting and faltered.
 
       "Don't stop!" Ranma shouted.
 
       Akane carried on with the rest of the form while Ranma
continued to stay in alignment with every blow and kick.
Occasionally, Akane would actually touch his clothing with a
knuckle, a heel or the ball of her foot. Having Ranma in
front of her for every blow and kick ceased to be a
distraction. Her focus began improving by degrees. Her mind
suddenly began to work with her muscles, apprehending and
comprehending aspects of the kata she had never so much as
considered before. The concepts of distancing and timing,
something she thought she fully understood were now being
revealed afresh to her in a way she had not previously
recognized. She began to perform the kata better than she
ever had in her entire life, even as her heart sank in
despair.
 
       "I have so much to learn!" Akane wailed as she
finished the kata.
 
       Ranma collapsed to the rough floor of the potting shed
and laughed.
 
       "It's not funny!"
 
       "Yes it is, too!" Ranma gasped out between guffaws.
 
       Akane became angry with him.
 
       "Did your father laugh at you when you went through
this?"
 
       Ranma nodded his head as he laughed some more, then
gasped out, "And I didn't understand why until today."
 
       "Ranma!" Akane cried out. Her worry and concern caused
her voice to crack. "We don't have ten years!"
 
       Ranma sobered up then rolled around into a sitting
position. His motions were so smooth and so swift that the
mind refused to believe what the eye reported. That could not
have happened, so it did not happen, right? Wrong! Akane knew
it was wrong. Ranma was not merely fast.  He was deceptively
fast. This deceptive speed and smoothness had cost more than
one of Ranma's opponents dearly.
 
       "We don't need ten years, Akane," Ranma said in a
serious voice. "All ya hafta do is keep workin' as hard as
you are now and we'll make it with time to spare."
 
       Akane blew out her breath in frustration. "How the
hell can I do that and have a life outside the dojo?"
 
       "You can't."
 
       The chills started at the back of Akane's heels,
rushed up the backs of her legs, rippled a little as they
passed over her buttocks, then shot up her spine until they
formed a hard, freezing peak, top dead center of her scalp.
They remained there for several seconds, then shot back down
her back, only to make her feel as though she had frost-
bitten toes as they slammed into her heels and shot forward.
 
       "It's a way of life, Akane," Ranma said, grinning at
her.
 
       Indeed, it was a "way of life." A way of life which
Akane sincerely believed she had been living until this very
moment. Now she suddenly felt as though she was a fish out of
water. 
 
       "Feel like a fish out of water?" Ranma asked.
 
       Akane nodded her head.
 
       "Ya look like it," Ranma said, then put his hands to
his head and began working is lower jaw so that his mouth
opened and shut in a ridiculous way. Much to Akane's horror,
she then realized that Ranma was mimicking what she was doing
at that very moment. The chills now began to evaporate,
supplanted by the heat of a five-megaton blush. Ranma began
laughing again.
 
       "Ranma! Akane!" Nodoka called from the back of the
farmhouse. "Dinner is almost ready!"
  
       Ranma opened the door, allowing the chill damp of the
stiff, north wind to drive shocking needles of cold through
Akane's sweat-soaked gi. "Thanks, Mom!" Ranma shouted then
shut the door. He turned and grinned at Akane.
 
       "Come on, Tomboy, let's go get cleaned up. I want your
appetite in full gear by the time we reach the table."
 
       "Why do you keep insisting that I eat so much?" Akane
asked.
 
       "You're too thin to hold up to the training," Ranma
said, "I want ya ta gain weight."
 
       "But I'll get fat!" Akane protested as she followed
Ranma out of the potting shed and into the sharp, grinding
teeth of the cold wind.
 
       "You'll gain weight, Akane, but ya won't get fat!"
 
       "Yes I will, too!"
 
       "Akane," Ranma said sounding slightly exasperated, "Is
my girl half fat?"
 
       "Well, no, not exactly."
 
       "Just fat in the right places, right?"
 
       "Pervert!"
 
       "Right?"
 
       "Yes!"
 
       "It don't hurt ya to eat a lot when you're workin'
this hard. Your body needs the food."
 
       "What happens when we get to be our parents' age?"
 
       "Oh, that's easy!" Ranma said as he held the back door
of the house open for her. "We just remember what they look
like every time we think about quittin' the Art."
 
       Akane shuddered, part from fear, part from the cold
wind finding its way through her dripping gi, then rushed
into the house. She stopped a short distance inside the mud-
room and waited for Ranma to get close to her, then
whispered, "So what does Ranko think about eating so much?"
 
       "Shh! Mom might hear you."
 
       "Well? What does she think?"
 
       Akane watched as the subtle change occurred in Ranma's
eyes. He grinned at her and said, "I think you need another
good rubdown tonight."
 
       Akane shivered again, but not from the cold this time.
 
       "What's that got to do with what we're talking about?"
 
       "It's got to do with you tryin' too hard and gettin'
uptight, Akane."
 
       This brought Akane up short.
 
       "Oh." 
 
       "You gotta learn to relax."
 
       "You mean even that is training?"
 
       "Sure, why not? Let's go get cleaned up. I'm
starving."
 
       Ranma, Akane discovered, had been right about getting
cleaned up before sitting down at the table. The sight and
smell of food turned her into Pac Woman made flesh. Akane
remained unaware of this until Nodoka made a funny little
noise in her throat. Akane looked up to find Nodoka looking
somewhat disturbed and Ranma grinning.
 
       "Perhaps you should try eating a little more during
luncheon, Akane dear."
 
       Akane felt her eyes widen with shock.
 
       "I'm sorry, Mother," she said. "I didn't mean to be
rude."
 
       "Well you weren't exactly being rude, dear, just
eating like a ... like a  ... "
 
       "Eating like a man?" Ranma asked cheerfully.
 
       "Yes," Nodoka said. "Very much so."
 
       "It's okay, Mom. I've been workin' her like she was a
man."
 
       Akane felt her face redden and tried to fight of the
urge to shovel more rice into her mouth.
 
       "Are you sure that's wise, Ranma?" Nodoka asked.
 
       "If she's gonna pass the test, Mom, she's gotta do the
work. There ain't no way around it that I know of."
 
       "I see," Nodoka said, still sounding somewhat
doubtful.
 
       "Eat, Akane!" Ranma said in an insistent voice. "Ya
gotta keep your strength up."
 
       Akane gave Nodoka a questioning look.
 
       "I'm sure Ranma is correct, my dear," Nodoka said. "So
long as you are training this hard, perhaps it is best that
you eat as much as you can."
 
       Akane felt the tension around the table begin to
dissipate.
 
       "I apologize for interrupting," Nodoka said.
 
       "Not at all, Mother," Akane said. "I was getting a bit
carried away."
 
       "No, I'm just a bit behind the times, is all," Nodoka
said. "The idea of a girl training in the Art in the same
fashion as a man is new to me. I had not thought the matter
completely through. Please eat."
 
       Akane gratefully returned to inhaling her meal, and
the meal of several other persons not present. Much to her
dismay, she was fairly certain she had consumed half-again as
much as Uncle Genma might have had he been at the table.
 
       Nodoka began cleaning up the wreckage and Akane
hastened to help out.
 
       "No dear," Nodoka said, waving Akane off. "You should
go tend to your school work now."
 
       "But Mother Nodoka, I ..."
 
       "No buts!" Nodoka said, with mock sternness in her
voice. "Studies take precedence over dishes. You'll wash a
store full of them in your turn."
 
       Akane impulsively gave Nodoka a hug. Nodoka stiffened
with surprise at this, but then relaxed and hugged Akane
back.
 
       "I'm beginning to believe that you are exactly what my
son needs in a wife, Akane-chan," Nodoka said in a soft
whisper. "But you will need to be patient with me. His is a
very strange life and I find adjusting to it difficult at
times."
 
       "Don't worry, Mother," Akane said, smiling. "It
becomes routine after a year or so." The two of them then
shared a giggle.
 
       "Run along, dear," Nodoka said. "We both have much to
do."
 
       

 
 
                      -------------------

 
          
       Ichiro Tetsugo dropped two brassieres upon the
glowing, freshly smelted bloom of wrought-iron Genma Saotome
had just dragged out of the fire with a pair of tongs. He
watched intently as the lingerie flashed into flame upon
touching the yellowish-orange surface of the newly born
metal. He continued to watch until there was a subtle, almost
imperceptible change in the color of the glowing iron, then
tapped the anvil twice with his half-kilo hammer. Ting! Ting!
Genma swung his five-kilo maul up to the ready position.
Tetsugo tapped the glowing bloom, leaving an easily
perceptible dent in its surface. With a loud grunt of effort,
Genma swung his mighty hammer and brought it down dead center
upon the dent, creating a stinging cloud of sparks. Tetsugo
swung his hammer again, creating a dent in the surface of the
bloom in another spot. Soun grunted and swung with a hammer
the same size as Genma's. Sparks showered them all as Soun
obliterated the dent Tetsugo had made. On and on they went,
long into the night by turns, their rhythm as steady and
monotonous as that of a finely made clock.
  
       Ting!
 
       Clang!
 
       Ting!
 
       Clang!

        Ting!
 
       Clang!
 
 
       The bloom had to be brutally beaten until its
impurities had been driven out, forming a billet half the
bloom's original size. By then it would be reduced to pure
wrought-iron. Only then could they begin the serious work of
the hammer. That of driving the billet's microscopic granules
of carbon into solution while forcing the wrought-iron's
layers of ferro-silicates into fibrous structures,
surprisingly similar to wood.
 
       The sparks flew until the bloom assumed a deep red
glow and Tetsugo tapped the anvil once. Genma dropped his
hammer and seized a pair of tongs as Soun rushed to the
handle of the bellows. With yet another grunt and a mighty
heave, Genma rolled the bloom back onto its searing bed of
glowing coals. Soun began pumping the bellows and the three
men were immediately surrounded by clouds of bright sparks
and swirls of billowing smoke. Tetsugo pointed at a spot on
the right side of the bloom and Genma began stacking firewood
on that spot. Flames roared. Tetsugo indicated another spot
by pointing, not speaking, and Genma added wood there. The
flames roared high into the night. Tetsugo nodded his head
and Genma joined Soun at the bellows.
 
       Tetsugo watched the bloom until he was certain that
its glow had begun to brighten again. Satisfied that the fire
was doing its job, he clapped his hands and began to recite
aloud an ancient prayer. It was in the harsh, sing-song
language understood only by master smiths and Shinto priests.
The prayer was so ancient that no one knew who had spoken it
first. It had never been written down, passed down through
the ages by rote memory from master smith to apprentice. The
fiery taming of good metal was always more than just a
serious business. It is a sacred business and only the
dedicated, who are pure in heart, are allowed to carry it
with them into the future. For there is a great deal more to
the process than merely converting wrought-iron into
austenitic steel, never mind the claims to the contrary made
by metallurgists.
 
       


 
 
                      -------------------

 
          
 
       Xian Pu would never admit it aloud, but sparring with
Mu Suu had become a significantly greater challenge than it
had been in the past, especially at the end of a long day's
worth of hard riding.  Mu Suu had for a long time possessed
the advantage of reach on her, but here of late he had
improved his speed by a considerable margin as well. Even
more troublesome was the fact that his attacks were now much
more precise than in the past. Better than fifty-percent of
his blocks were now highly effective, whereas before he often
mis-time his blocks, allowing her to get inside his guard.
She did not mind this very much. She needed the best workouts
she could get. Losing Ranma Saotome to the Tendo girl was
going to cause her no end of grief, no matter how or what the
Council of Elders ruled upon the matter. Sooner or later,
Xian Pu would face a long string of arduous challenges from
her sister tribesman. She intended to be ready for them.
 
       She ducked Mu Suu's spinning back kick, a great move
for a tall, lanky warrior like Mu Suu, provided the attack
landed. It was not so great if the attack was blocked or
dodged. Xian Pu had dodged this time because it let her get
inside Mu Suu's formidable reach. He needed to improve his
ability to block body-blows anyway. Two, sinuous, sliding
steps put her within perfect striking distance of the tall
boy and she dropped into the horse-rider's stance long enough
to pound his abdomen like it was a snare drum. Well, perhaps
as though it was a hollow log. Mu Suu had hardened up
considerably since arriving in Japan as well. No doubt, the
fights he had picked with Ranma had gone a long way towards
toughening him up.
 
       Mu Suu used a sweeping forearm block to knock Xian
Pu's fists off target, just before stepping back a pace and
assuming the crane fighting stance. Xian Pu, recognizing that
she was now in the most effective part of Mu Suu's striking
range, had to make a split-second decision. Follow him or
step back? She stepped back. Stepping forward would have left
her vulnerable to a front snap kick. She was still quite
vulnerable to a hapkido-kick, but that maneuver would have
required the lanky Mu Suu to take hopping step then throw a
high, front snap kick. He had never been fast enough to pull
that off. 
 
       Well, Xian Pu thought as she unexpectedly found
herself sitting on the ground seeing stars and hearing bells
ring. Times change. That hurt like the blue blazes. She
looked up at Mu Suu with bleary eyes, only to be enraged by
the concerned look on his face. She did not immediately try
to attack. There were still entirely too many stars swimming
around within her field of vision and she could only barely
hear Mu Suu's entreaties for all the bells ringing. Actually,
they sounded a good deal more like angry buzzers. She shook
her head. 
 
       "Are you all right, Xian Pu?" Mu Suu asked his concern
obvious in the tone of his voice. This only made Xian Pu
angrier. What was it with this water-headed male, anyway? she
wondered. I am Joketsu! How dare he act that way about me?
The damned fool! Wasn't he EVER going to learn?
 
       "Xian Pu?" Mu Suu asked.
 
       Xian Pu glanced at Mu Suu and smiled inwardly to
herself. At least he had learned not to drop his guard at
times like this. He had dropped back into the crane fighting
stance; arms ready to either defend or attack. Xian Pu
gathered her legs beneath herself and grinned while still
looking down at the pavement. The crane fighting stance was
very like the cat fighting stance in that they were not
stable. This might not sound like such a good thing at first
blush, but it allowed the warrior to move over the ground
quickly without telegraphing his intentions, and kept most of
his weight off of his lead foot. The weakness of both stances
was that neither was too good if the warrior needed to jump
straight upwards. He had most of his weight on the rear foot.
At the moment, Mu Suu was standing right lead. Xian Pu raised
her body slightly, as though she were going to stand, but
then dropped back, down as though she were unable to.
 
       "Xian Pu?" Mu Suu asked, solicitously, "Are you ... "
 
       Xian Pu sank lower until the bulk of her weight was on
both hands, then uncoiled her body into a wickedly fast heel
sweep with her right foot. Mu Suu nearly avoided the attack,
but his left leg simply lacked the power to get him
completely clear. Xian Pu's right heel barely bumped the sole
of his left foot, causing him to stretch out completely
parallel to the ground in mid-air.
 
       "Oof!" Mu Suu noised as the hard pavement forced the
air from his lungs.
 
       Xian Pu gained her feet so fast that an onlooker would
have seen nothing but a purple blur.
 
       "Why you always insult Xian Pu, Mu Suu?"
 
       Mu Suu was too busy trying to regain his breath to
answer.
 
       "Xian Pu hate being treated like breakable outsider
made of glass!" Xian Pu angrily added as she tried to give Mu
Suu a medium grade heel stomp in the solar plexus. He
surprised her. Not only did he block her move, he launched a
heel sweep of his own--a hard one. Xian Pu hit the ground
hard enough to see stars again. She quickly rolled onto her
side and launched what would have been a front snap kick at
Mu Suu's groin had they both been standing up. They were not
standing up, but the kick was one of those whistling-nasty
ones, guaranteed to incapacitate the average male for at
least a couple of hours.
 
       Mu Suu somehow saw this attack coming and blocked it
handily with his left foot then trapped Xian Pu's left leg at
the ankle by trapping her ankle between his legs crossed at
his ankles. 
 
       "What?" Xian Pu cried out, not quite believing what
her favorite pest had just done. Much to her further shock
and surprise, he was not yet through. She suddenly and
inexplicably found herself pinned beneath Mu Suu's body,
unable to use her legs because he had somehow managed to keep
her left leg crossed over her right. A dagger, just a
practice blade made of oak, suddenly appeared in Mu Suu's
right hand and he made as though he were about to cut Xian
Pu's throat with it. It would have left a stain on her skin
had he succeeded. He had stained the edge of the blade with
the juice of a bright red berry native to their homeland. The
mark would not go away for two or three days and Xian Pu had
not born such a stain on her person for the better part of
five years. It had taken Ko Lon to give her the last such
stain she had worn.
 
       She trapped Mu Suu's knife hand with a crossed-wrist
block. With his latest assault blocked, she had time to look
Mu Suu in the face. What she saw made her gasp. He bore the
look of implacable determination. Now he was using his weight
and considerable strength to press the edge of the practice
blade down towards Xian Pu's throat. Xian Pu pressed back
with all the strength she had in both arms, stopping the
blade's decent. She then tried to free her legs. It proved a
waste of effort. She did not have the leverage she needed to
overcome Mu Suu's iron-like hold. She had to do something
quickly! She could not hold off the blade forever. As strong
as she was, Mu Suu had gravity on his side. He needed only to
maintain a steady, downward pressure on the wooden knife in
order to win their little match. Xian Pu gambled with her
control over the knife and popped Mu Suu in the chin with her
elbow. 
 
       "Shit!" Xian Pu grunted out. She had meant to hit him
between the chin and larynx, not hard enough to do him any
permanent harm, of course, but enough to make him choke and
loose strength. She watched in horror as an evil gleam came
into Mu Suu's eye. While still holding the knife in his right
hand and bearing down on her with all his weight, Mu Suu used
his left hand to strike Xian Pu's rib cage just below her
right armpit. 
 
       "Aaaiii!" Xian Pu cried out involuntarily, then, out
of sheer desperation, she bit Mu Suu's right wrist. He
answered her move by slamming another hammer fist into that
same, indefensible spot beneath her armpit. It hurt like hell
and was hard enough this time to cause Xian Pu to lose
control of her breathing. The blade began a slow decent
towards Xian Pu's throat. She mustered all the strength she
had remaining, and forced it back a millimeter or so. Mu Suu
banged Xian Pu's ribs again, knocking the wind out of her.
The strength in Xian Pu's arms dissipated despite the sudden
flood of adrenaline pouring into her system. Without oxygen,
her muscles simply could not resist the combination of Mu
Suu's weight and strength. The world became very dim for a
few seconds.
 
       Mu Suu dropped the wooden knife and the clattering
ring of wood striking the hard pavement was loud in Xian Pu's
ear. Mu Suu sighed, then rolled away from her. Xian Pu felt
the left-hand side of her neck. No doubt about it, The stain
was complete, starting at her windpipe, then passing around
the side of her neck to a point just below her jaw-line. Had
the knife been real, Xian Pu would be unconscious and dying
at this very moment as her life's blood spewed out onto the
street. Xian Pu fought off the urge to retch and waited for
her breathing to return to normal, instead of coming in
painful fits and starts. Once recovered, she sat up and found
Mu Suu giving her a cold stare.
 
       "That was a serious mistake, Xian Pu."
 
       "Xian Pu know that."
 
       "Do you realize what you did wrong?"
 
       "Xian Pu go too easy on Duck-boy."
 
       Mu Suu snorted in derision at this.
 
       "No, you didn't! You underestimated me is what you
did!"
 
       Xian Pu said nothing, but looked away from her would-
be suitor. She did not want to admit it to him, but she had
in fact done that very thing.
 
       "You assumed that because it was I who was your
opponent, you could just do the same old things you always do
and win."
 
       Xian Pu said nothing in reply. She looked up at the
sky, as though suddenly interested in the clouds.
 
       "Soon you will be facing many old friends and rivals
again, Xian Pu," Mu Suu said in a hard voice. "Making the
same sort of mistake with one of them could be very costly."
 
       So! Xian Pu thought. At last he finally does it! He
treats me like a warrior. He behaves like a real man instead
of some bimbo outsider ruled by his penis instead of his
mind. Good! Now I can stand to be nice to him--a little bit
nice to him. This may not last. He may get up in the morning
and be all soft in the head again.
 
       "Thank you, Mu Suu," Xian Pu said as she turned her
head and smiled at her fellow Amazon. "Xian Pu not like to be
treated like outsider girl made of glass. You finally act
like real man."
 
       Mu Suu said nothing in answer. He stared at the ground
instead. After a long moment of silence, he raised his head
and looked Xian Pu in the eye.
 
       "There is too much at stake now for me to treat you
any other way, Xian Pu. We both know you are about to take
the grand tour of hell. I will do all I can to help you
train, even if it means doing things I don't want to do."
 
       Xian Pu hopped up to her feet, then offered Mu Suu
both her hands. He accepted her proffered assistance and let
her half-pull him up to his feet.
 
       "We go to bath now, yes?" Xian Pu asked.
 
       Mu Suu silently nodded his head in answer. He could
not tear his eyes away from Xian Pu's face, even though he
looked as though he did not believe what he was seeing. Xian
Pu fought off the urge to giggle. She really was proud of him
at this moment and truly and heartily approved of what he had
just done. 
 
       "After bath, Xian Pu fix you super-extra special
dinner. Okay?"
 
       "As you wish, Xian Pu."
 
       "Xian Pu fix black pepper shrimp with snowpeas in
lobster sauce. Is Mu Suu's favorite, yes?"
 
       Mu Suu smiled back at Xian Pu and nodded his head
before speaking.
 
       "Go get your bath things, Xian Pu. I'll go bring the
cart around back."
 
       "Xian Pu no-need ride in cart."
 
       "I need Xian Pu to ride in cart," Mu Suu said
emphatically, stabbing himself in the chest with a middle
finger. He turned to walk away, then over his shoulder he
said, "Please go get your things, Xian Pu!'
 
       Xian Pu giggled, even though doing so made her ribs
hurt. She looked down at herself and gasped in horror. What
little was left of her clothing was a dirt-stained wreck. She
hurried inside the Nekohanten and rushed upstairs. She was in
such a rush that she took no notice of Ko Lon's knowing
cackle. 
 
       Ko Lon cackled again, unnoticed, then found a
comfortable place to sit and fill her pipe.
 
       "The more things change, the more they stay the same!"
Ko Lon said to no one in particular, then cackled again.
 


 
 
                       -------------------

 
          
        
       Kodachi Kuno settled into the steaming waters of
Nerima's newly refurbished sentou (public bath) with a
heartfelt sigh as she gently placed a cold, wet towel on top
of her head. The sentou was a Japanese establishment with a
long history, but few people visited one on a daily basis
anymore. Most apartments, Kodachi's current domicile being
one of the sad exceptions, had western style shower stalls
nowadays. The sentou of modern Japan had become something
more like a kind of amusement center, than a place one
visited to get cleaned up. Which meant, of course, that the
few remaining sentou were busiest on the weekends and
thankfully, still offered full bathhouse services during the
week for nominal fees. Nominal fees had become important to
Kodachi Kuno in the last three days.
 
       The past three days had been the longest in her life.
It had been a long series of horrifying shocks. The first
shock had come when Nabiki went with her to find an
apartment. Kodachi had put her foot down and refused to take
the first choice Nabiki had recommended. It had been a tiny,
single room affair with shower and toilet down the hall--
shared with the other tenants. They then went to look at a
place Kodachi saw advertised. Kodachi had been dismayed. The
required deposit alone exceeded the amount of money Nabiki
had allowed her as working capital. She finally settled for a
place somewhat larger than her baby grand piano. It at least
had its own toilet. Then came the onerous task of equipping
the kitchen and purchasing cleaning materials. For the very
first time in her life, Kodachi was shocked at the cost of
living. Fortunately for Kodachi, she had been spared the
necessity of setting up and paying for telephone service.
Nabiki had given her a cellular telephone, but only because
communication was necessary to business.
 
       Her next great shock had been clothing. It was more
than shocking. It was humiliating. More than that, it was
very annoying. It was annoying because she found herself
buying back several pieces of her own, previously discarded
clothing, along with several pairs of her old shoes at a re-
sale shop. She had given those items to different members of
the household staff. Kodachi had gritted her teeth and bore
the insult with outward equanimity. Then came a truly
horrifying shock. She had consumed nearly half of her
hundred-thousand yen reserve at the end of the day and still
had not purchased groceries. She began to understand why so
many girls below her economic class preyed upon boys for
money. 
 
       The shock of shocks, however, had been Jean-Luc
Thibbideaux, not because he had been so easy to bowl over. No
man could long resist the charm and elan of Kodachi Kuno. No,
that had not been the least bit surprising. The shock had
been how he managed to charm her. He was positively ancient
for starters, being thirty years old and was balding
prematurely and had a positively gargantuan nose, yet he had
somehow won Kodachi over to his side as much as she had won
him over to Nabiki's ideas.
 
       Despite all that had happened, Kodachi was bound and
determined to prove that she could take anything life dished
out as well as or better than a lower class peasant like
Nabiki Tendo. Whether she was trying to prove it to Nabiki or
to herself she was no longer certain, but prove it she would.
She had been fortunate enough to be born a Kuno this time
around. Obviously, this meant that she was superior to those
reborn into lesser families.
 
       She was also fortunate in that she was a fairly
accomplished martial artist. This spared her the expense of
having to ride a bus to school. Even so, it was something of
an annoying trade-off, in that Kodachi found it necessary to
leave home earlier than was her habit. She habitually rose
early and liked to read, play the piano for a little while
and dawdle over breakfast before going to school. Well, she
wouldn't be playing the piano for a while, but she missed her
private time in the morning no less for all of that.
 
       By Wednesday afternoon however, Kodachi's confidence
in herself was slowly coming back up to full strength. She
was certain that she could become acclimated to her new
condition, even if it did mean washing her own clothes and
picking up after herself in the evenings after a long, dreary
day of running errands for that hard-hearted bitch of a
"Sensei."  Even the six block walk to the sentou was
bothering her less -- but only slightly less.
 
       "Oh, Kami-sama!" Kodachi exclaimed as she exhaled a
huge breath. "This feels so good I can hardly bear it."
 
       "Hard day at school, Dearie?" an older woman sharing
the swimming pool asked sweetly.
 
       Kodachi froze up for a few seconds. She still had not
quite gotten used to bathing at the sentou, much less
chatting with lower-class strangers. She would have to be
friendly with them, she decided. After all, spying on the
Tokugawa Shogunate for the Emperor required it. She was not
actually spying for anyone, of course, and Japan had not had
a Shogun for more than two centuries, but pretending that she
was a spy for Japan's Emperor struggling to wrest control
from an obdurate Shogunate was the only way she could cope
with the demands of her newly accepted Sensei--that bitch!
Functional delusion was a Kuno family strong point, even if
it did annoy everyone else who came into contact with them.
 
       "I wish it were merely school alone," Kodachi answered
in as unaffected a manner as she could. "It is the cooking
and cleaning on top of it that fatigues me."
 
       "Where is your mother, Dear?" the old woman asked,
sounding genuinely concerned.
 
       "Oh, she has been gone for a long time," Kodachi said,
doing an excellent job of feigning heartfelt sadness. "There
has been only me, my father and my brother for many years
now. I finally moved out on my own a few days ago." Kodachi
paused to melodramatically place the back of her left hand on
her brow. "Two Japanese men under one roof is entirely too
many."
 
       The older woman laughed over this.
 
       "I know what you mean, Dear," the older woman said. "I
had a husband and four sons living at home up until a decade
or so ago."
 
       "Are you alone now?" Kodachi asked.
 
       The older woman nodded.
 
       "My husband was often a lot of trouble, but I do miss
him for a little while at the time--say, once every other
month or so."
 
       Kodachi stared at the old woman in puzzlement. The
older woman smiled at her in return.
 
       "One day you will understand, dearie, but in the
meantime, try to have a little fun."
 
       "That sounds like good advice, Obaa-san (literally
"Honorable Elder Lady)," Kodachi said with a smile.
 
       "Is your father helping you out at all, Dear?"
 
       "Father?" Kodachi asked, as she erupted into her
chilling laugh. "My goodness, no!"
 
       "Well how are you able to have a place to live or
anything to eat, Dear?"
 
       "Oh," Kodachi said in as innocent a voice as she could
muster, "money shouldn't be a problem for me if I'm careful.
I have a little saved here and there."
 
       "That's good," the old woman said. "I'm sure a lovely
young girl such as yourself won't have any problems finding a
job after you graduate from high school."
 
       Kodachi fought off the urge to gag by reminding
herself of her "duty" to the Emperor. A Kuno working as
someone else's employee? Bleah!
 
       "Oh, I do so hope you are right, Obaa-san! I am
planning to go to college as well."
 
       "What about marriage and children, Dear?"
 
       "Children?" Kodachi asked, unable to keep a quaver out
of her voice.
 
       "Well certainly!" the old woman said, then cackled.
"You wouldn't want to end up lonely AND broke in your old
age, now would you?"
 
       "Lonely?" Kodachi asked, sounding as though she might
break down and cry. She sounded that way because quite
suddenly and for some inexplicable reason, she really did
want to cry. "No. I don't like that at all."
 
       "There, you see? My husband has been dead for nearly
five years now, but my sons come by to see me several times a
week. I don't want for anything, my dear. Children are a
woman's best friend. The jewelers may keep their diamonds,
thank you very much."
 
       Kodachi felt the sharp stab of pain at the corner of
her eyes that signaled the onset of tears, but managed to
fight it off. She dare not cry and shame the Son of Heaven,
she told herself.
 
       "I shall have to think about that," Kodachi said in a
tiny voice. "I never considered having children before."
 
       The old woman gave Kodachi a warm and kindly smile.
 
       "All things in their own time, my dear," she said,
patting Kodachi on the arm. Kodachi stifled her desire to
flinch away. Touching a stranger is just not done in Japan
and is a privilege granted only to the very young and the
elderly. "As pretty as you are, you won't have any trouble at
all finding a husband."
 
       "Well, I ... I do have someone, but ... "
 
       "Take your time and choose carefully, Dear. Broad
shoulders and a pretty face do not always a good husband
make."       
 
       Kodachi, uncharacteristically, could think of nothing
to say.       
        
       "Oh, my goodness!" the old lady said as she struggled
to stand up. "It's getting late. I had best be going."
 
       "Good night, Obaa-san."
 
       "Good night to you, Dear. It was a pleasure talking
with you."
 
       "The pleasure," Kodachi paused to clear a catch in her
throat, "was all mine, Obaa-san."
 
       The old woman gave Kodachi a smile and tiny wave
before teetering off to find the ladies dressing area.
Kodachi stared after her, eyes glazed over and unseeing as
her mind was overwhelmed by a sickeningly vertiginous storm
of thought and emotion.
 
       Lonely? I've never been lonely. No, that's not true.
I've never been alone before, but I've always been lonely.
How did that happen? I haven't had any friends since grade
school, not really. I have servants and family for company,
but the servants are merely hired help. Father thinks he is
the Great Kahuna of Hawaii and poor Tatewaki believes he is
everything Toshiro Mifune pretended to be and then some. The
truly sad part of that is, Mifune-sama was probably a much
better swordsman. He was certainly better looking. Kodachi
felt the urges to both giggle and cry simultaneously.
 
       Kodachi sank a little deeper into the warm embrace of
the furo as her mind continued to spin. She had often dreamt
of having Ranma Saotome share her bed, but had never given
the potential outcome of such a happy event any serious
consideration. Children? Whatever on earth for? So that she
would not be lonely some sixty-years from now? Money was
unlikely to ever be a problem for her. Could she so easily
end up old and alone in some vast old house with naught but
hirelings for company?
 
       "Mayhap I've taken to following the wrong Sensei and
am studying the wrong art," Kodachi said aloud to herself.
 
       


 
 
                     -------------------

 
          
        
 
       Jean-Luc Thibbideaux eased his tender bottom, all
gaijin bottoms are tender when exposed to a Japanese furo,
into the near-scalding water of Nerima's oft-remodeled sentou
with an audible grunt of pain. Slowly and painfully, he
gently lowered the rest of his body into the water while
holding his breath. He otherwise might have cried out aloud.
Despite the initial discomfort of entering a hot furo, Jean-
Luc had long ago concluded that the Japanese bath made up for
all the rest of the country's shortcomings. Bathing in this
manner was definitely an acquired taste, but one well worth
the effort of doing so. He never relaxed better nor thought
more clearly than when allowing these hot, mineral-laced
waters soak away his worries.
 
       This evening, his thoughts were concerned with Nabiki
Tendo and Kodachi Kuno. He had recognized Nabiki for what she
was without being told, of course, but numerous warnings and
a surprising number of encouragements had reached his ears
since the Monday morning of their first meeting. He shook his
head in amazement upon remembering one of things he had been
told. It was hard to imagine that a mere stripling of a girl,
only sixteen years old, would know enough about her locality
to recognize shortage of something as obscure and mundane as
wooden pallets. It was even more amazing that such a
youngster would then act upon such knowledge. The fact that
she had not altogether succeeded was not the surprise. The
surprise was that she had gotten as far as she had.
 
       Thibbideaux had allowed himself to be persuaded to go
along with Nabiki because there seemed to be little risk to
himself or his business. After all, he had no interest
whatsoever in the mass production of anything, let alone
bicycles. Yet, if what Nabiki had in mind worked out, his
little place in the south of France was assured. Kodachi's
attempts had certainly played a major role in his decision,
but not the one most people would have suspected. He
recognized Kodachi for what she was within seconds of laying
eyes upon her, and knew almost immediately that she suffered
as badly as he did from the same affliction. On reflection,
he realized that sharing the drink called loneliness with one
so young was a great shame, but it was better than drinking
alone.  
       


 
 
                     -------------------

 
          
        
        Ukyou Kuonji straightened up from cleaning the
counter top, then stretched to get the kinks out of her back.
It had been a long and profitable day. Now it was time to get
a bath and some rest. Or perhaps it was time to get a bath, a
little late evening delight, then get some rest. This
reconsideration gave her some pause. Am I being fair to
Konatsu and myself? Certainly Daddy would be upset if he
knew. NO, WAIT. That assessment was not quite accurate
enough. Her old man was going to be furious WHEN he found
out. To hell with that! I have my own life to live and its
time I took it off hold and lived it. Konatsu might not be
the manliest thing when it came to appearances, but he was
more than manly enough where it counted the most, and
besides, he adores me. How could I have been so blind for so
long? Daddy will just have to get over his little snit, or
settle things with Genma Saotome without my help. I am going
to start living again. It's time for the madness to end,
honor be damned!
 
       "Your bath things are ready, Ukyou-sama!" Konatsu
called down the stairs to Ukyou.
 
       "Thank you, 'Natsu-chan!" Ukyou said. She smiled to
herself when she thought about the effect her words would
have on her resident Kunoichi. She made her way upstairs and
into her bedroom. True to his word, Konatsu had her shampoo,
cream rinse, razor, _et cetera_ in her large plastic bowl. A
fresh yukata was laid out on the bed for her, as well as a
heavy, terry-cloth robe.
 
       "Hmmm, it must be chilly out," Ukyou said to no one in
particular as her face broke out into sunny smile. "He
doesn't ordinarily put that out for me."
 
       Ukyou took little time removing her work clothes, but
paused to look at her nude form in the full length mirror on
the closet door. Her skin was healthy and always had been.
Her hair was long, thick and luxuriant. The product of not
merely letting it grow, but also matter of painstaking care.
She was firmly muscled compared to ninety-percent of the
girls she knew and in far better tone than any of the models
she saw on magazine covers. Her breasts, while not grossly
inflated, were firm and proud, their proportions a perfect
match for the rest of her body. She turned around a couple of
times to make sure of all her appearance. Her bottom was, if
anything, firmer than her breasts and nicely heart-shaped.
She wiggled it experimentally, then giggled.
 
       "Eat'cher heart out, Ran-chan," she said aloud.
"You're gonna miss this for the rest of your life."
 
       Satisfied that her body was in working order and her
ego sufficiently braced, Ukyou threw on the yukata and heavy
robe. Picking up the rest of toiletry items, she opened the
door and walked out into the tiny hallway of her second-story
flat. What she found there took her aback. It was Konatsu,
but the make-up and flowery print yukata he normally wore on
their way to the sentou were absent. In their absence were a
lean, masculine face and a man's yukata of plain gray. He had
a heavy towel, deep maroon in color, slung over one shoulder
and a bucket containing his shaving gear and other things.
His yukata was loose fitting, but still managed to somehow
show off the best parts of Konatsu's wiry frame. No doubt
about it, Konatsu was a genius at picking clothes.
 
       "Are you ready, Ukyou-sama?" he asked.
 
       Ukyou shuddered. The slight twinge of desire she had
felt earlier downstairs ignited into something more like a
rapidly growing forest fire.
 
       "You bet, Sugar," Ukyou said with a naughty grin.
"Let's go get cleaned up."
 
       
       


 
 
                    -------------------

 
          
         
 
       The night-shift manager of Nerima's oft-rebuilt sentou
watched as one her regulars debarked her pull-cart. The girl
was always pretty, but tonight she seemed to have an extra
bit of glow about her. Her bearing was regal, as though she
was a famous actress at the top of her career. The young man
that had just recently taken to bringing the girl in by
pulling her along in a cart looked as proud as the owner of a
great yacht, decorated with pretty girls. The girl walked
through the entrance as though she owned the sentou along
with the rest of Nerima. She gave the manager a brief smile
and nod as she passed the desk. Her companion stopped and
paid for both of them.
 
       The manager took the money and thought no more about
it, until ten minutes or so later when Ukyou Kuonji, best
damned okonomiyaki chef the manager had ever met, and her
sidekick, the kunoichi Konatsu Kenzan walked in. At that
point, the night-shift manager's nerves began to fray a
little. These two particular customers had for a long time
been careful not to visit the sentou at the same time. Some
of her fears were slightly assuaged by Ukyou's appearance.
Ukyou was ordinarily cheerful and upbeat, almost as though it
were a deliberately cultivated habit, but tonight she seemed
to be beyond that. It seemed as though all was right with
world in general and with Ukyou in particular.
 
       The night manager accepted Ukyou's payment for both
herself and Konatsu, then watched with more than a little
trepidation as the willowy martial artist and chef made her
way back to the dressing area. Shortly after Ukyou was out of
sight, the night manager reflexively picked up the telephone
and started to dial 119, then stopped herself. Nothing had
happened yet, and her luck might hold out. The evening could
continue quite peacefully, or World Wars III & IV could break
out simultaneously. There was just no way to tell for
certain. This was Nerima, after all.
 
       The night-shift manager settled back in her chair,
took a deep breath, then admonished herself to remain calm.
It was then that she remembered that Kodachi Kuno had come in
earlier that evening and had not yet left. Her hair stood
right straight up as she began crying. She wished with all
her heart that she could just go ahead and pick up the phone
and scream for help, just so she could have an end to it all.
Horror and suspense were not on her list of favorite
entertainment.
 


 
 
                 -------------------

 
          
         
  
        Jean-Luc Thibbideaux's reverie was broken by the
sound of someone speaking English.
 
       "Mind if I join you?"
 
       Jean-Luc focused his attention upon the interloper as
quickly has he could. He had been deep in thought when the
man arrived. He found himself confronted by a veritable
mountain of a man, a flabby mountain to be sure, but a man
who had doubtless been quite a powerhouse in his youth.
 
       "No, not at all. Please sit down."
 
       "Oh, good!" the man said in a relieved voice as eased
his way down into the furo. "You speak English."
 
       Jean-Luc fought off the urge to give out an
exasperated sigh. The guy was one of those dratted Americans.
Oh, well, it was better than drinking alone.
 
       "Yes," Jean-Luc said with a weak smile. "It has become
a necessary skill, thanks to your country."
 
       "Well don't worry, I shan't trouble you with my poor
French. My accent is atrocious."
 
       Jean-Luc gave the man a grateful smile for this.
Perhaps he has a little taste. We'll see.
 
       "What brings you to Japan?" Jean-Luc asked.
 
       "The people and the scenery."
 
       "Then you are here on holiday?"
 
       "No, I am here working. I paint landscapes."
 
       "Aha! The studio I've seen just north of Sales Street
must be yours then."
 
       The man nodded his head.
 
       "I had concluded that it was abandoned," Jean-Luc
said. "I never see anyone there."
 
       "I have been traveling around Japan as much as I can,"
the man said. "And a bit of Korea. Paperwork for a yet to be
established artist is hard to come by. All I have is a
tourist visa. You have to leave the country once every ninety
days when that's all you have."
 
       Jean-Luc nodded his head and made sympathetic noises,
but he was a bit suspicious. An artist the age of this
American should have been well established in his profession
by now if he was any good. He decided to sound the fellow
out.
 
       "So where did you study?"
 
       "Well, its funny, you know? I set out to be an artist
a bit late in life. Didn't take it up until I won one of the
state lotteries a few years ago."
 
       "Aha."
 
       "Rather than go to college, I apprenticed myself to an
artist in upstate New York. Lot's of beautiful scenery there,
you know."
 
       Thibbideaux nodded his head. He had never been to the
United States, and may all the gods forbid such an event, but
he had heard that the northern portions of New York State
were quite beautiful.
 
       "But it isn't nearly as beautiful as the southern
coast of France," the American added.
 
       "You've been there?" Jean-Luc asked, feeling a little
stab of excitement.
 
       The American nodded his head enthusiastically.
 
       Jean-Luc and the American became so engrossed in their
conversation that they failed to notice the arrival of Mu
Suu, followed by the arrival of Konatsu a short time later.
Konatsu and Mu Suu however, took note of one another with
eyes widened in alarm. Not that they had ever fought one
another, or ever would. Theirs was not a relationship likely
to cause excitement.

       


 
 
                   -------------------

 
          
         
  
 
       Ukyou did not bother to look around the bathing room
before sitting down in front of a washing station. She was
entirely too preoccupied with what she was going to do to
Konatsu once they returned home. It was the ring of a brass
ornament striking the hard tiles of the bathing room floor
that caused Ukyou to take note of what, or more accurately,
who, was around her. She had quite without realizing it sat
down next to Xian Pu who as, at the moment, preoccupied with
washing her hair. Ukyou had never actually given Xian Pu a
good looking over before and certainly not while the Amazon
was completely nude. The young Amazon was a sight guaranteed
to give anyone pause, be they male or female.
 
       Xian Pu's unique combination of rippling muscles and
beautifully sculpted curves was something that no woman in
her right mind would willingly stand beside, especially if
there were any men around to do a comparison check. Ukyou
blinked a couple of times, realizing that this young heathen
had enough recipes tucked between her ears to easily rival
the best chefs in the world. The girl was powerful enough to
use bon bori, normally only selected by big, burly men, as
her favored weapons, but graceful enough to shame a prima
ballerina. Yet all of it counted for naught insofar as Ran-
chan had been concerned. Xian Pu had lost as thoroughly as
Ukyou had.
 
       Ukyou picked up the hair ornament Xian Pu had dropped.
It gave off a faint ring as she did so.
 
       "What Spatula Girl doing?" Xian Pu asked in demanding
tones.
 
       "You dropped this," Ukyou said, being careful to keep
her voice calm and free of overt animosity. "I was picking it
up for you."
 
       Xian Pu remained frozen in place for a moment. Ukyou
then realized the Amazon had reason for both caution and
suspicion. Her luxuriant hair was laden with suds, there was
no way Xian Pu could easily see what, or who was around her.
 
       "Thank you," Xian Pu said.
 
       Ukyou placed the ornament on the faux-marble shelf in
front of Xian Pu. It gave off another faint ring as she did
so. The ornament was unlike anything Ukyou had ever seen
available in a department store. It had been lovingly hand
wrought of fine brass and rather than cheap elastic, its
chords were made of heavy, braided silk.
 
       "It's very pretty," Ukyou said.
 
       Xian Pu nodded her head in agreement.
 
       "Amazon mens make many pretty things for Amazon
womens. Is tradition."
 
       "My name isn't 'Spatula Girl' by the way," Ukyou said,
allowing herself to sound mildly irritated. "It's Ukyou.
Ukyou Kuonji, remember?"
 
       The Amazon stopped washing her hair and sat still for
a moment before answering. "Xian Pu remember. Not mean to
insult. Is old habit."
 
       Ukyou turned back to face the mirror of her own wash-
station and used the sprinkler hose to begin wetting her own
hair. She wanted very badly to ask when Xian Pu and her
fellow Joketsuzoku would return to China, but decided that
might lead to events which would disrupt the public peace.
 
       "Xian Pu no go home to China soon," Xian Pu said.
 
       Well! Ukyou thought to herself. You aren't quite the
bimbo you let everyone think, are you now?
 
       "Oh?" Ukyou asked, being careful to sound mildly
curious. "Not even for a visit?"
 
       Xian Pu began rinsing her hair as she answered.
 
       "Great-grandmother say we stay Japan," Xian Pu said
unhappily. "Maybe we move south -- to other island."
 
       "You know, Xian Pu," Ukyou said in a tone of sly
amusement, "you can drop the bimbo act with me if you want. I
know you aren't that dim."
 
       Xian Pu tossed her head, causing her hair to fling
warm water around the room, then began to work cream rinse
into her purplish-black tresses.
 
       "Xian Pu Japanese speaking is no act. Have choice when
little. Learn to speak many languages so-so, or learn few
languages well. Xian Pu choose first."
 
       This took Ukyou back considerably. She had always
thought the Amazons were a bunch of backward hicks living in
a remote, seldom visited mountain chain. "Oh, really? How
many?"
 
       "Ten."
 
       "TEN?" Ukyou was unable to keep the shock out of her
voice.
 
       "Including English," Xian Pu said in English. "I speak
it better than the others. Almost as well as I speak Mandarin
and Cantonese."
 
       Ukyou had to work at stopping her mind from flapping
for a minute before she could sort things out. She had long
known that no single language was spoken in China, even
though its official language was Mandarin. She simply had not
thought the matter through where Xian Pu was concerned.
 
       "So what's your native language?"
 
       "Is little-known form of Turkic. Is from same family
of languages as Japanese and Korean." Xian Pu said with a
shrug of her shoulders.
 
       Ukyou bristled at the notion of Japanese being somehow
related to Korean. She had read such claims in foreign news
accounts, but never from one of her own school teachers. She
stifled her revulsion and kept her tone conversational.
 
       "Oh? I never heard of Japanese being related to any
other language at all, much less Turkic."
 
       "Is true," Xian Pu said. "All descend from ancient
Altaic speaking ... language."
 
       While the two of them continued to bath in silence for
a few minutes, Ukyou's mind was racing in circles. She speaks
TEN languages? Japanese is a form of, what? Altaic? Where the
hell did the Altains live and how did we wind up speaking a
form of their language? In the end, Ukyou decided that she
was a good deal more curious about something else.
 
       "So how come your mother never visits Japan, Xian Pu?"
 
       "Mother die when Xian Pu very small," Xian Pu said,
her eyes suddenly lit with a ferocity Ukyou had not seen the
girl exhibit before. "She travel with Father on trading
voyage. Policemans in far away village arrest her for being
reactionary enemy of socialism. We never hear from her again.
One day, letter come from Peking. Is bill for bullet used to
execute Xian Pu mother."
 
       Ice cold water flooded Ukyou's veins and she shivered
involuntarily. She had heard about this kind of thing on the
news, but never really gave it any serious thought. It had
always seemed so remote and far away. Now she was face to
face with a victim of such an atrocity.
 
       "I'm very sorry, Xian Pu," Ukyou said. The sadness in
her voice was genuine. There had never been any love lost
between the two of them, but Ukyou would never have wished
such a thing on anyone.
 
       Xian Pu shook her head. "No need be sorry. Was not
Spatula ... was not Ukyou fault. Was crazy mens in Peking."
 
       "Is that why you're not going home any time soon?"
 
       Xian Pu took a deep breath and let it out slowly
before answering. "Xian Pu not know for sure. Great-
grandmother say many changes in China since we come here."
 
       "I hate to ask, but did you guys actually pay that
goddamned bill?"
 
       Xian Pu grinned. "We send money. We wait one week,
then send head of village commissar to same address. Mens in
Peking very unhappy, but never know was Joketsuzoku
vengeance. Was far away village."
 
       Ukyou could think of nothing appropriate to say, and
did not want Xian Pu to think she was prying by asking for
more details, so the two of them finished their bathing in
silence. Nerima might thus have seen a completely violence
free evening -- save whatever nonsense was on television.
Alas, Nerima hates peace and quiet.
 
        

 
 
                     -------------------

 
          
         
  
        Kodachi Kuno gave out a little gasp before she could
stop herself upon entering the bathing room. She had run
across two of the Emperor's worst enemies. Both had long been
assigned the task of seducing her darling husband away from
his Emperor and his family. Family? Wouldn't that mean ...
children? Never mind! I'll sort that out later. Both have
long been assigned to my darling Ranma-sama, the Emperor's
strong, right arm. The Chinese whore works the streets
selling noodles and throwing her charms at him whenever the
opportunity arises. The other poses as a gutter-merchant,
selling some vile concoction of fried dough and half-cooked
meat. Her strategies are, if anything, even more laughable
than the foreign whore's. She claims to be my beloved's
rightful fiancee! How ridiculous! Whatever on earth possessed
this low-born creature to ever think she could successfully
press such a claim?
 
       Still, Kodachi admitted to herself, there is a very
real danger here. Both these slitches have ample charms,
should a man's taste run towards the plebeian. Doubtlessly,
Ranma-sama might well enjoy a dalliance or two with either or
both in a weak moment. The obvious answer is to keep them
both in their place, lest they become too bold. That could be
disastrous. The Chinese whore is loyal to the Dragon Throne
and would love to wheedle what her sovereign needs to know
from my Ranma-sama. Should she succeed, we will have
Mongolian hordes tramping about the Land of the Gods with
their muddy boots on. Kami forbid it! And that little
guttersnipe partner of hers does not realize that I know she
actually works for the Kawasaki Clan, never wavering in their
loyalty to the Tokugawa. One day the Emperor will lure her
master out of his mountain stronghold and forever put an end
to his vile machinations, but today, we'll settle for putting
this upstart pawn in her place. She started with a laugh, of
course. Her laughter was one of her favorite weapons.
 
       "Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! What have we here? The mice
plotting against the cat? It won't work, you know!"
 
       "Oh, go stuff a rag in it, you Gothic goombah!" Ukyou
said in a tired voice.
 
       "Need plenty big furoshike," Xian Pu said, as though
eyeing a large pile of dishes in need of washing. "They no
make tampon that size."
 
       "You would know all about THAT, wouldn't you, Dear?"
Kodachi replied, warily watching both Ukyou and Xian Pu as
they rose to their feet.
 
       "Let me have her Xian Pu," Ukyou said, squaring off
towards Kodachi. "I'm in the mood!"
 
       None of the three girls were aware that their voices
were echoing throughout the building and quite naturally had
not noticed the deathly silence on the men's side of the
sentou.
 
       "Is no problem," Xian Pu said with a smirk. "Crazy
Flower girl too, too easy be good sparring for Xian Pu."
 
       Technically speaking, none of the three agitatrix
present was armed, but Kodachi was a specialist with the
ribbon and in a pinch, a large towel made an excellent
substitute for same. She gave Xian Pu a honeyed smile, having
noticed the bruises on the Chinese girls rib cage, something
Ukyou had yet to see.
 
       "Think so?" Kodachi asked sweetly as she seized the
corner of the large towel she had previously wrapped about
her person. It was not dripping wet, but nicely weighted with
moisture.  "Let's see if you won't change your tiny little
mind!"
 
       Kodachi whirled the towel above her head with her
hard-won grace and with a practiced twist of the wrist, flung
a lightning-like lash at Xian Pu's battered ribs. A minor
problem immediately manifested itself. Xian Pu had, since
about age fourteen, been just a hair faster than your average
bolt of lightning. Xian Pu took a tiny step forward and to
her left, then waited as the long loop of damp terry cloth
whistled towards her previous location. Just as the towel
straightened completely out, Xian Pu grabbed its corner, even
though it was fluttering at a velocity exceeding the speed of
sound. The towel had struck empty air, rather than proud
flesh, just as Xian Pu planned.
 
       Kodachi was surprised by the muffled snap the towel
made, then was shocked speechless when she found herself
skidding across the ceiling of the sentou. Xian Pu and Ukyou
watched dry-eyed as the daughter of Kuno-ke disappeared over
the partition between the ladies and men's sides of the
sentou. There was a loud splash, followed by more than a few
masculine yelps of surprise.
 
       "Nothing but furo!" Xian Pu said, looking rather
pleased with herself. She turned and walked towards the
ladies furo.
 
       "Hey!" Ukyou exclaimed as she followed Xian Pu. "I
thought you were gonna let me have her!"
 
       Xian Pu turned suddenly and faced Ukyou with a merry
twinkle in her eye. The sort of merry twinkle that told Ukyou
one of those truly embarrassing practical jokes was in the
offing.
 
       "You want?" Xian Pu asked.
 
       "Well ... I did, but it's a little too late ... YAAAH!
Xian Pu, what are you doing?"
 
       Xian Pu had used her own towel in a whip like fashion
to enwrap the startled Ukyou, pinning her arms to her sides.
 
       "You can have," Xian Pu said as she launched a
powerful side-kick at the oft-battered partition. The
partition ruptured with a loud bang. Fragments of the
shattered panel sailed across the men's half of the sentou
and struck the far wall with subsidiary clatter. "Xian Pu
like to watch!"
 
       "Now wait a ... Whoa!" Ukyou shouted in vain as she
suddenly found herself sailing through the air, bereft of
towels. She landed with a spectacular splash in the middle of
the men's furo.
 
       "Xian Pu, what are you doing?" a very startled and
embarrassed Mu Suu cried out.
 
       "Taking bath!" Xian Pu answered, as she gracefully
wrapped herself up in her towel. "Is much fun, yes?"
 
       There were several nods of heartfelt assent on the
men's side of the sentou.
 
       "Perhaps we should go now, Xian Pu," Mu Suu suggested.
 
       "Okay!" Xian Pu said sweetly, as she turned and began
walking back towards the ladies' dressing area. "Xian Pu meet
you in front."
 
       Ukyou rose sputtering from the waters of the men's
furo just as Xian Pu disappeared from sight.
 
       "I owe you a big one for this, you Chinese Hussy!"
Ukyou shouted. The bar-joists holding the roof and ceiling
above them all vibrated in sympathy.
 
       "Okay! Xian Pu watch for gift from Spatula Girl!" Xian
Pu shouted back loud enough to be heard from behind the
partition wall.
 
       Jean-Luc watched these proceedings with a merry grin
as he cradled the semi-conscious Kodachi in his arms. He
could not allow the poor girl to drown, after all. His newly
met American acquaintance began struggling to wrap a too-
small towel about his waist without standing up.
 
       "Are you all right, Ukyou-sama?" a slender, Japanese
boy asked the second beauty to share water with the delighted
Thibbideaux.
 
       "I'm fine, Konatsu," Ukyou answered, then quailed as
the full import of her circumstances finally seeped through
her outrage.
 
       The slender lad leaned closer to the naked beauty,
genuine trepidation living in his face, "Are you still in the
mood?" he asked.

       The lovely nude turned crimson from head to foot.
 
       "Come on, Konatsu," she said as she seized the slender
young man by the arm. "Let's get out of here!" She tramped
across the men's furo, towards the ladies' side, dragging the
young man along with her.
 
       "Oh, Ranma-sama," Kodachi half-murmured, half-moaned.
 
       "But! But! But!" Konatsu exclaimed as he floundered
along behind the departing lovely.
 
       "I'm sorry!" the American shouted as he rose from the
heated waters of the furo. Thibbideaux was put in mind of a
volcanic island, newly arisen from the sea upon witnessing
this. The water poured off the big man's body in long
streamers, while huge waves surged across the furo. "I have
no more time to spend with you today!" The American shouted
in an irritated voice as he melodramatically pointed with one
raised arm towards the ceiling of the sentou. "The sun! It
compels me to paint!" With that, he splashed his way across
the furo towards the men's dressing area. To Thibbideaux's
utter amazement, a train sounded its horn at that very same
moment, roaring out of town as the big American disappeared
into the dressing area. Jean-Luc watched closely for a few
seconds, half-expecting a flock of disturbed crows to put in
a noisy appearance. After all, Van Gogh would have felt right
at home in Nerima.
 
       "Hold me, Darling," Kodachi moaned.
 
 
        
     

 
 
                   -------------------

 
          
         
  
       Nabiki Tendo was listening to the radio while she
finished up her homework. This was not normal for her, but
there was one radio station that played a lot of old gaijin
music, almost all of which was sung in English. She found
listening to it helped her with that particular subject. At
the moment, there was some guy named Biru Jouru singing.
Nabiki liked the tune. It had a catchy beat and the guy was
really good on the piano.
 
        "GIVE US A SONG YOU ARE THE PI-ANO MAN! GIVE US A
SONG TO-NIGHT!"
 
       Bee-boop! Bee-boop!
 
       With a half-muttered curse, Nabiki turned down the
radio, then answered her cellular telephone.
 
       "Tendo! This had better be good!"
 
       "Sorry to bother you so late in the evening, Tendo-
san."
 
       "Uchigawa?"
 
       "Yes, I'm calling you from the local sentou."
 
       "The sentou!" Nabiki practically shouted. She looked
out her window. Soun and Genma were still banging away at
something in their make-shift forge under the direction of
Tetsugo-san. "What the hell?"
 
       "Well, there was a little excitement over here this
evening. Fortunately, the damage is fairly moderate this
time."
 
       "Who caused it?" Nabiki asked. "All of the usual
suspects are either out of town or right here in front of
me."
 
       "Not quite all of them, Tendo-san," Uchigawa said.
Nabiki could tell he was about to burst out laughing. "Two of
the Saotome boy's putative fiancees got together with his
rich suitor this evening. The night-shift manager told me
that she would be collecting at least half the repair bill
from you. I thought it advisable to give you a call."
 
       Nabiki gave out an audible groan. There was no way she
could avoid a hassle over this, owing to several
peculiarities of the Japanese culture. Hardly anyone liked to
take anything to court. In many ways, the Japanese resent
government interference in their affairs. This did not mean
that things such as this did not end up in court, but the
government did not really want things like this ending up in
court. Having such things in court violated Japanese
sensibilities and values, so they made sure that the court
dockets stayed quite full and made every step of the process
as cumbersome and inconvenient as possible. This meant that
such problems were usually handled by neighborhood
arbitrators. These arbitrators were never officially
appointed by the government, or anyone else. The process of
choosing arbitrators was completely ad hoc and surprisingly
effective. People like Kasumi, it seemed, were often the ones
people turned to when such trouble arose.  Kasumi could not
arbitrate this one for obvious reasons, and Nabiki knew full
well how any of the other available such folks would see this
affair. 
 
       The three girls were affianced to Ranma Saotome, who
was in fact affianced to Akane Tendo and the Tendo family
was, surprisingly enough, considered one of the substantial
pillars of the community. It naturally followed that this
trite little mess would the responsibility of Tendo-ke.
Especially seeing as how Soun Tendo had not, insofar as
anyone could tell, done anything overt to clean up the
fiancee mess. If he did not mind his son-in-law keeping a
harem, then the trouble said harem caused had to covered by
Tendo-ke's nickel. Collecting from the members of the harem
would be a matter internal to Tendo-ke. Far be it from a good
arbitrator to involve himself in a family matter. That sort
of thing belonged in the courts. Think of it as a _Catch 22_
and deja vu all over again, all rolled into one.
 
       "How bad is it?" Nabiki asked.
 
       "Oh, forty-thousand yen will probably cover it."
  
       "Okay, I'll stop by there in the morning and see if I
can't sort the mess out."
 
       "Good night, Tendo-san."
 
       "Good night," Nabiki said tiredly as she broke the
connection. She reached over and turned the radio back up.
 
       " ... THEY'RE SHARIN' A DRINK THEY CALL LONELINESS,
BUT IT'S BETTER THAN DRINKIN' ALONE! LA-DEE-DAH-DEE-DAA-DAH-
DEE-DA-AH-DEE-DA-AH! DAH! DAH! ..."
 
       Nabiki shook her head to clear her mind, then returned
to her studies.


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