Ranma and his friends belong to Rumiko Takahashi. They're used here
without permission.
------------------------------

8 years ago:

	"Ranma," Genma whispered as he peered cautiously through the
cracks in the floorboard above them. "Ranma, today you're going to a
new technique."

	Ranma nodded, happily drinking from a carton of juice as he
waited. Daddy had done another 'magic trick' and had made quite a bit
of the villager's food 'disappear'. Like most of his tricks, however,
Genma was too hasty and didn't set it up correctly. He was also too
lazy and panicked after he had stolen the food to make sure that
nobody figured out what he had done. Now, Ranma and Genma were hiding
beneath the house of the village's head man while the rest of the
village was out looking for them with pitchforks, knives, or what
clubs they could put their hands on.

	Just like he always did, though, Genma was about to show Ranma
yet *another* technique for dealing with a hostile situation. Ranma
was unafraid. He had been waiting on his father to do so for a few
hours now, and was eagerly awaiting both the learning experience and
the show that would no doubt ensue.

	Still, Ranma and his father had never been in quite this much
trouble. Indeed, Genma looked a little shaky, and more than a little
upset.

	"What are we going to do, Daddy?"

	"Today, Ranma," Genma said again, "you're going to learn the
*last* technique in the Saotome Ryuu."

	"Last?" Ranma asked, his young voice breaking in fear. Was his
father going to quit teaching him? The prospect frightened him even
more than when his father was throwing old railroad ties at his head,
just a few weeks ago.

	"There will be other techniques and new disciplines," Genma
explained quietly, "and you will continue learning for the rest of
your life, but this is the technique you will always fall back on when
your path is darkest. When it seems like there is no other way to win
the battle, this technique will save your life."

	"Teach me, Daddy!" Ranma said eagerly, his fears assuaged.
Rarely did his father trust him with such important knowledge.

	"The technique has two parts," Genma said, still keeping an
eye on the crack above. "The last part is easy. You simply have to
study your enemy and his techniques, taking all the time you need to
find the flaws in his methods that you can use to defeat him."

	"Okay," Ranma acknowledged dubiously. That was a part of
*every* technique his father had taught him. "If that's so easy, then
what's the other part-- the first part?"

	"That's the difficult one, Son, more difficult than anything
you've ever done before. You see, you have to know when it's time to
stand and fight... and--" Genma coughed, his voice thick with emotion.

	"Daddy?"

	"You have to know when you're fighting a battle you cannot
win, Ranma," Genma explained in a tone like the closing of a crypt.
"You have to know when it's time to run."

	Ranma's face paled. Saotomes never ran away from a fight!
Right?

------------------------------
newRanma 19: Leaving

by Chris Jones
------------------------------

	As the sun ran over Nerima Ward, Ranma ran like a man
possessed. The rejection he had suffered just a few hours earlier was
still fresh in his mind. It was like an open wound. Kodachi's glare of
horror burned into Ranma's mind like a laser.

	She wants me! She doesn't want me!

	Angrily, fearfully, Ranma shook his head. Just when he thought
it didn't matter any more, the curse raised its ugly head. The hell of
it was, when Ranma started trying to figure out how to get rid of his
cursed girl-body, a new thought invaded his consciousness.

	It was Nabiki, in the Tendou's restroom, clad in only her
panties. Her hands roamed over Ranma's body, touching Ranma's most
sensitive and private places. She wanted Ranma to touch her in return.

	"Take my panties off," Nabiki commanded.

	Ranma had wanted to do that more than anything else in the
world right then. She wanted to make love to Nabiki... and it didn't
matter if Ranma was a girl or a boy. In fact, when Ranma tried to
think of how the situation would proceed if he was a he instead of a
she, it just didn't work. Nabiki wanted Ranma as a woman, but not as a
man.

	The night before, Kodachi's horror and repulsion at her female
body was so clear that Ranma could feel it coming off her in waves.
Kodachi wanted Ranma as a man, but not as a woman.

	I want that! I don't want that!

	"Why can't I have both?!" Ranma screamed out loud as he ran.

	Nabiki told him. Nabiki said that she could never love a man.
Ranma would never have her love as a man. He could never be with
Kodachi as a woman.

	"Why can't I be both?!"

	Tears began to stream from Ranma's eyes as the words came from
his mouth. Another one of his foundation stones had just crumbled,
tumbling away into the darkness. He thought everything would go back
to normal once he finally managed to change back, but he was starting
to see how wrong he was. He wasn't even sure of what was going on in
his own head anymore.

	Still, there was one last chance, even though Ranma wasn't
sure that was what he wanted. Ranma ran to his destination, hoping
against hope that what he feared was wrong.

	Would the curse be hanging over his head like this for the
rest of his life? Even if he could get rid of it, would he want to?

	"Please don't make me choose..." he whispered.

* * *

	Despite the fact that she was usually up at the crack of dawn,
Ukyou Kuonji was not a natural early riser. It was only by dint of
perseverance and a decent opportunity to profit off the early-morning
breakfast rush that got her up with the sun.

	Today was no exception. Ukyou rolled out of her futon and did
her best to stand up without falling over. She staggered over to the
tiny bathroom and turned on the cold water faucet in the sink. She
stuck her face underneath and let the water run across it for several
minutes.

	More awake after the extended shock of icy water, Ukyou stood
and dried herself off. She ran a comb through her long hair, but held
off pulling it back into the severe ponytail she usually wore to
school. She took a few minutes to brush her teeth and rinse with
mouthwash, and then, deciding that she needed to open the store if she
wanted to make any money before classes started, started to change out
of the pair of cotton panties and the plain, worn men's dress shirt
she wore to bed.

	She had pulled the panties off over her hips was just
unbuttoning her shirt when she heard the bang erupt from the
restaurant downstairs. Startled, she grabbed her battle spatula from
its customary place next to her futon. There were two more loud bangs,
each echoing up into Ukyou's room.

	Something or someone had just broken into the restaurant. It
leapt up the stairs in two bounds, and was coming for her!

	Her bedroom door slid open with a slam and a large, masculine
figure loomed broodingly in the darkness at the top of the stairwell.

	"Oh God, Ranchan. You scared the hell out of me." Ukyou
exhaled, letting her spatula fall to the ground. Then she realized
that most of her body was bared by the unfastened dress-shirt.
Blushing, she jerked her shirt closed and thrust one hand down to
cover her bare delta. She tried to decide which way to turn, not
wanting to expose naked bottom to him."Get out of here, you jackass!
I'm not even dressed yet!" she yelled.

	Instead of obeying her commands, Ranma lurched forward, his
arms outstretched and reaching for her.

	Ukyou felt panic rising in her chest. Her heart was still
pounding, and she suddenly felt very vulnerable and very afraid. Then
she saw Ranma's face.

	He looked like he had been stabbed through the heart. His
expression was wide, and full of hurt and need. His eyes were red, and
his cheeks were wet with recent tears. She gulped, but didn't try to
break free when he wrapped his arms around her. She could hear and
feel his rapid breath in one ear.

	"Ranma..."

	"Kiss me, Ukyou," he pleaded.

	Ukyou started, her eyes opening wide in shock. Did he really
just say--

	Her disbelief was obliterated as Ranma pushed his lips against
hers. Her mouth opened almost of its own accord, moving against
Ranma's in response to the outwelling of emotion. After a few seconds,
she felt his tongue start to move over her lips, delicately exploring
her.

	What was happening? Had she finally won Ranma away from the
other girls? She hadn't even been trying particularly hard to make any
moves on him since the debacle with the bunny costume. What had
happened to the other girls? Shampoo had gone back to China, of
course. Had Akane given up? Had Ranma broken up with her? Did he end
their engagement? Perhaps they had an argument. Maybe that's why Ranma
was so upset.

	Hope began to well up in Ukyou's chest. Regardless of the
causes, Ranma had come to her. He had sought her out, and was giving
her the affection she always knew he had inside him.

	Ukyou suddenly realized how weak she felt in the knees. It
didn't matter because Ranma was holding her up with the strength of
his embrace. She suddenly felt a whole lot less like trying to keep
Ranma from seeing her half-naked body. She let go of her shirt and
wrapped her arms around his back, hoping the kiss would never end.

	Indeed, Ranma's hands began to roam over her back, even over
her naked posterior. He squeezed lightly, pulling Ukyou's hips against
his own. Their bodies started to move together.

	I may be inexperienced, Ukyou decided, but Ranma is really
good at this. When did he get so good? Does it matter? Do I care? I
might...

	Suddenly, Ranma broke away from her. The kiss had ended, but
Ranma's eyes still burned. Ukyou struggled to catch her breath again,
not daring to look away from the martial artist's face.

	Ranma turned, pulling out of the embrace. He stepped into the
bathroom with one long stride and turned on the water faucet.

	Oh god, Ukyou thought, beginning to shake a little bit.

	Ranma splashed cold water in his face, triggering the change.
She stepped back over to Ukyou, her eyes no less needy than before.

	"Kiss me again, Ukyou. Please."

	Oh god. This was it! This was what it was all about.

	"Please Ucchan," Ranma begged. "Please show me that it doesn't
matter. Please..."

	Ranma wanted her to... to... to... *gulp*

	Could she? Ukyou had wondered long and hard about how she
would react when this moment came. In the back of her head, she knew
there was probably no avoiding it. In the dark of night, Ukyou had
lain awake wondering if she'd ever be able to give the female Ranma
the same affection as the male. Small things, like dressing up in cute
or sexy outfits weren't really a problem. Even giving Ranma free
okonomiyaki didn't give her any qualms at all. Hell, she gave all her
friends free okonomiyaki all the time, regardless of gender.

	That was it, wasn't it? So long as she didn't have to touch
Ranma, it was okay. Could she touch Ranma as a girl? Could she kiss
another woman... even if she was the man Ukyou loved so much. Could
she?

	"Ucchan..."

	Trembling, shaking, Ukyou leaned over, trying to make her lips
purse. He eyes wide, she approached Ranma's breathless mouth.

	Closer... closer still... I'm going to kiss a woman.

	I'm going to kiss a woman.

	I'm going to...

	I can't do it.

	Ukyou's body froze. Her lips were almost touching Ranma's, but
Ukyou just couldn't do the deed. She couldn't kiss another girl.

	She knew Ranma could see the hesitation on her face. Ukyou
could feel her own expression breaking against her will, filling with
disgust. She turned away before Ranma could see. She hoped Ranma
hadn't seen.

	Damn.

	She turned back to Ranma after doing her best to wipe the sick
expression from her face. The girl's face was twisted as if in agony.
Her fists were balled up at her sides, and tears were overflowing down
her cheeks.

	Damn. Damn. Damn. Why did Ranma have to hang it all on this
one thing? Ukyou clenched her eyes shut as anger started to build
inside her. Why on earth couldn't he have been happy with the kiss?!
Couldn't he see how much Ukyou wanted to be with him? Why did he have
to force the issue? Ukyou would have done anything... *anything* for
*him*. Why couldn't he accept that there were just some things that
Ukyou couldn't do for *her*?

	How dare he hang it all on that one problem? How dare he force
the issue when Ukyou loved him so much? How could he be so insensitive
as to come to her demanding to do the one thing she couldn't?

	Had Ukyou lost? Was Ranma going to go to one of the other
girls now? Would any of them do what Ukyou could not?

	"God, Ranchan, how could you do this to me?" she demanded
angrily, quickly refastening the shirt she was wearing.

	She looked up, but Ranma was already running back away from
her. She could hear the girl's fleeing footsteps descending the
stairway.

* * *

	Akane looked at the pile of books and magazines in a kind of
sick wonderment. How had she collected so many? She didn't recall
spending that much money... only few hundred yen here or there.

	After her father's speech the day before, her first reaction
was to just gather up the whole lot and throw them in with the rest of
the burnable trash. She sat on her freshly repaired bed, staring at
the stack, wondering if that was truly the best alternative for
dealing with them.

	Akane realized that she was spending so much time thinking
about what to do with the magazines so she wouldn't have to think
about... about what she had said... and what she had done.

	Kasumi had been alternating between her bedroom and the
kitchen, locking the door behind her. Nabiki still wasn't talking to
her, even though the swelling around her eye had already started to
fade. Taiyoko was infallibly polite, but cringed every time Akane came
near.

	And Ranma...

	How did everything get so far away from me?

	She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. It was
better to think about this mess than it was to figure out the other.
One she simply could clean up. The other would not be so easy to deal
with. No amount of cleaning or scrubbing could change what happened.

	Akane sighed and began to straighten the mess in her floor. It
was a lot simpler than fixing her bed had been, but it also made her
think about her problems no matter how much she didn't want to.

	"When did I buy all this stuff?" she asked, picking up a copy
of a bondage magazine. She flipped through a few pages, grimaced, and
threw it back down. She started to push everything into one big pile
so she could just be rid of it all but then she saw the cover of a
doujinshi on top of the pile.

	It was Ranma's naughty Utena doujinshi.

	"Pervert," she hissed, picking the book off the top and
opening it.

	A nasty little voice in the back of her head noted that it
wasn't Ranma's bedroom floor that was currently ankle-deep with porn.

	Akane sighed, and before she realized it, had started to re-
read the story in the Utena book. It was *highly* perverted, she
thought, but cute, in a way, just like the Sailor Moon doujinshi, or
the Tenchi Muyou book that was dedicated entirely to a hot, romantic
relationship between Ayeka and Ryoko, or...

	"ARGHGHG! I DON'T LIKE GIRLS!" Akane yelled out loud. It was a
lot easier to just keep saying that over and over again than admit
that she wanted to keep all the ecchi pictures of beautiful women.

	Was the best option just to get rid of it all? Did she really
want rid of it?

	After her father's speech, Akane really didn't want to see the
photographic magazines any more, but the only reason she had for
getting rid of the manga and the print books were for the sake of her
ego and her self image.

	I'll get rid of those later, Akane told herself. She spent
several minutes sorting through the mess. Doujinshi and other naughty
manga went into one stack. Fiction books-- Akane was smart enough to
realize that they were fiction even if the covers said something like
'True Stories of Lesbian Passion'-- went into another. Magazines with
photographs went into a plastic garbage bag. Akane put both the
doujinshi and the books on the top shelf in her closet. It wasn't like
she *had* to hide them anymore, but...

	Quickly, suddenly eager to be rid of them, Akane took the
garbage bag down stairs and outside. She tied it up and put it in the
bin for burnable trash.

	When she walked back inside, her father and Ranma's were
waiting for her. They both had severe expressions on her face.

	"What's wrong?" Akane asked, wondering what *else* had
happened.

	"We have come across a matter of great importance to you and
Ranma, Akane," Soun informed her.

	"Yes," Genma said in a slightly accusing manner. "Where is
your fiancee, Akane?"

	Akane looked away, unable to meet either of the men's eyes.

	"If I remember correctly, you threw him out yesterday morning,
didn't you?" Soun noted in a passive tone.

	"Hai," Akane said, staring at the floor. "School is about to
start and--

	"This is an important matter, Akane," Genma said. "More
important than a day of school. Find Ranma and bring him back here."

	"But--"

	"No buts, Akane," Soun said. "Time is running out."

	Akane sighed deeply and stepped back outside.

* * *

	Ranma felt stupid. He felt stupid for believing that either
Kodachi, Nabiki, or Ukyou would ever want him without at least some
conditions. Worse, he felt stupid for pressing the matter once it
became important to him.

	The answers were starting to become obvious... at least Ranma
hoped they were. There was no hope for Nabiki. She was gone, lost to
Taiyoko if not to Ranma's own masculinity. He was stupid to think that
he ever really had a chance with her. Kodachi and Ukyou both expected
him to *stay* masculine... at least he thought they did.

	He had to cure the curse. That was his only option if he ever
wanted to find love... or was it lust? He didn't know. Did being
attracted to a girl's body meant you loved her? Ranma didn't think
that was the case, but he had been willing to do anything Kodachi
wanted. He would also have done anything for Ukyou, if only she'd...
she'd...

	The worst part was that Ranma suddenly didn't want a cure! He
wanted to feel love both ways!

	Ranma gagged silently, trying to will himself not to be sick
on the sidewalk in front of him. The realization was painful, but it
had been coming for some time. As a girl, he had loved it when Nabiki
touched him. It was just as wonderful, if not more so, than when he
and Kodachi had touched each other.

	My damned body is still making decisions for me, he noted
sadly. Was he that stupid, that his body could do what ever it wanted
as a guy *or* a girl, and he couldn't control it?

	He felt pretty stupid.

	With that particular circle running round and round in his
mind, he sat forlornly on a park bench near Furinkan high, not far
from Ucchan's. Kunou, dressed in his Furinkan High uniform, was upon
him before he realized it.

	"Oy, Sempai," Ranma said weakly, hoping that his face wasn't
still red from crying.

	Kunou sat down on the bench and laid his bokken across his
knees. He sat back and stared up at the sky.

	"How best to say this..." he murmured. "Saotome... I wish to
implore you to forgive my sister."

	Ranma clenched his eyes shut. "Like you know about it," he
growled out.

	"Indeed," Kunou replied. "But there are many hints as to what
transpired last night-- too many to be ignored. My unclad sister
running down the hallway, screaming her head off. The pigtailed girl's
voice-- your voice-- calling after her. She refused to come out of her
room this morning, you know. She's quite ashamed of herself for the
way she treated you."

	Ranma was silent, but still wouldn't meet the kendoist's eyes.

	"Kodachi has a very difficult time... accepting. More
difficult than I do, if you can believe that."

	"That would be pretty hard, yeah," Ranma ceded.

	"She does care very much about you, and I would very much like
to see the two of you together."

	"You just want another shot at Akane," Ranma said, mockingly.

	"I will not lie when I say that the thought has crossed my
mind," Kunou admitted. "But I love my poor, strange sister, and I
believe that she truly loves you."

	"I don't know who I love," Ranma admitted in a low, carefully
controlled voice. "Or why. Yeah, it... it coulda happened between me
and her last night, but now that I've thought about it for a little
while, I think that maybe it was just because she was half-naked when
she came onto me. She's pretty... beautiful even... but I'm not sure I
feel the way about her she does about me. Hell, I don't even know how
I'm supposed to feel."

	"Decide," Kunou suggested. "It's easy to fall in love with a
woman's body or her face... very easy," he admitted guiltily. "As I've
recently discovered, it's an altogether different matter to fall in
love with a woman's soul."

	Ranma started, surprised at Kunou's tacit admission, but also
stunned by the depth of his words.

	"If you love my sister, woo her. Seduce her. Make her yours,"
Kunou said. "If you're not sure, date her. Treat her. Enjoy her
presence, but do not take advantage of her. If you decide you don't
love her, break her heart and allow her to start anew."

	"I've tried that already!"

	"Tell her, 'I can never love you', just like you told me."
Kunou said.

	Ranma was silent. Nabiki had said as much to him. "Even when
you're a girl, you're still a man. I could never love a man!" Was it
really that simple? Could Ranma bring himself to do it even if it was?

	"Thanks, Sempai," he said, still unsure what to do.

	Kunou nodded and rose. Holding his bokken by his side, he
stared at the sky for a few minutes and strode away.

	"Holy crap," Ranma muttered out loud as the tall kendoist
disappeared from view. "I just took love advice from Kunou."

	It was a few seconds later when another figure appeared. It
was Akane.

	Ranma was silent. A dozen words came to his mouth, but he bit
his tongue to keep them flying out.

	She was... distressed. Her face was red. Her eyes, which would
not meet Ranma's, were a mixture of agony, shame, and anger. Her fists
were clenched at her side. She seethed with hatred... but not at
Ranma. It was as if all her loathing was directed inward.

	Finally, Ranma opened his mouth to break the silence. "Hey--"

	"Our-- Sorry," Akane grumbled, stumbling over Ranma's words.
"You go first."

	"No, you." Ranma said, unsure of how he felt and even more
unsure of how to deal with the situation.

	"My dad and your dad want to see you," she said. "They sent me
to get you."

	"Okay."

	Akane swallowed obviously. Wordlessly, she turned around, and
walked back to the dojo.

	"Are you coming or-- EEE!" she yelped, not realizing that
Ranma had gotten up and was walking behind her before she turned her
head back. "Don't do that! You scared the hell out of me!"

	"Funny," Ranma noted. "That's the second time I got that
today. Ucchan said the same-- ah damn," he cut himself off, realizing
that Akane's face had grown even more red at the mention of the
okonomiyaki chef's name.

	"What did you do to her anyway?" Akane asked curiously after
several seconds. "She was swearing about you like a sailor when I got
there."

	"You were at Ucchan's?" Ranma asked.

	"I was supposed to find you," Akane noted as they walked
along.

	"I asked her to kiss me," Ranma said firmly after several
seconds. He clenched his jaw, waiting for the explosion.

	Akane turned away, but Ranma could see her start to shake. Was
it anger? Sadness? Finally, she turned her face up to the sky. Ranma
saw a single tear course down her cheek. "I'm not sure why she would
be upset about that. I figured your 'cute-fiancee' would be happy that
you had come running into her arms."

	"It was in the way I asked," Ranma said flatly.

	They walked in silence for several more minutes.

	"So," Ranma said in an accusing tone. "You kill Taiyoko yet?"

	"No," Akane said, turning her face back away from him. "Father
said she could stay as long as she wanted. She and Nabiki slept in the
same bed again last night."

	Ranma raised one eyebrow. "He's cool with that? Well, I guess
he'd have to be. Two out of three daughters can't be wrong, can they?"

	"I'M NOT A PERVERT!" Akane shouted, turning back to Ranma.

	"I ain't the one who keeps saying 'Pervert'," Ranma snapped
back.

	Akane opened her mouth to retort, but nothing made its way
out.

	"Go ahead, slap me again," Ranma encouraged. "It'll make you
feel better."

	Akane let her arm fall. She didn't even realize that it had
come up. Her face bowed in defeat and shame, she turned back away from
Ranma.

	"Just tell me one thing, Akane," Ranma said quietly, almost
wistfully, a few seconds later.

	"And what's that?" Akane demanded defensively.

	"Why?" Ranma said, staring her straight in the eyes.

	Akane flinched away from his glance. "Why what?"

	"Why all of it," Ranma clarified. "Why the girly magazines?
Why try to kill Nabiki and Taiyoko? I mean, I was surprised too...
even angry, but you just kinda went nutzoid night before last. I
guess... more than anything else I wanna know why if you were
interested in girls... you weren't interested in me."

	"I'm not..." Akane started to stammer. "I'm..."

	Akane glanced up at Ranma, but saw no accusation in his face.
There was only loss and sadness.

	"When you had your surgery," she began. "Doctor Tofuu said you
had developed more female sexuality than you had male sexuality."

	Ranma nodded. He vaguely remembered something to that effect,
but hadn't really thought about it. At the time, he thought the
doctors were talking about his curse, but didn't really understand
what they meant. He thought they meant his girl-body was more
attractive than his real form and hadn't thought about it since. Now
it meant something altogether different.

	"But that ain't the case, right Akane? Right?"

	Akane couldn't quite meet Ranma's boring gaze.

	"Tell me that ain't right, Akane."

	"You were a girl for three months, Ranma," Akane said. "And
before that, you had times when you acted more like a girl than a boy.
When you first got hurt, you acted like a girl, and that wasn't the
first time that happened. I thought to myself, right at first, that
sometimes you were more feminine than I was."

	Ranma exhaled deeply, unsure of how to react to Akane's
statement. She wasn't being insulting, but that didn't mean the words
didn't sting any less, or that they didn't echo Ranma's own feelings
from earlier. How could he even *think* about wanting it as a girl if
at least a little of what Akane said wasn't true.

	He sneered and started to snap back at Akane for her comments.
"That still doesn't explain why--"

	"I didn't know if I'd be able to marry a woman," Akane said
out loud, cutting him off. "But the idea that I might have to started
to seem more and more realistic. I tried to get closer to you, and you
seemed interested... but then you kissed Kunou."

	Ranma exhaled deeply.

	"Suddenly, I was thinking a lot more about what a husband and
wife do together. I also started wondering about what two women would
do together," she continued, her voice shaking, "since you and I might
have to do that. I saw a page in that filthy manga you brought home,
and it showed two girls together, so I thought that maybe that would
be a good place to start. I bought a couple of manga like it and...
and... and..."

	"And?"

	"They were wonderful," Akane said, shuddering.  "They were so
romantic and so sexy. Nobody ever yelled at each other in the stories.
Nobody ever fought. They were all just in love with each other, and
then they... they..." Akane coughed, unable to finish her sentence.
"After I read them, I bought a magazine that had the same kind of
things in it. I bought a book with stories about women... together...
in it and... and... and..." Akane took a deep breath, but was unable
to stop the shaking. "I realized something was wrong with me. Girls
aren't supposed to like those kinds of things, right?"

	"Apparently some of them do, or Nabiki and Taiyoko wouldn't
have gotten together," Ranma noted.

	"I was frightened," Akane continued. "I'm still not sure that
something's not wrong with me. It's just not right, like Kasumi said.
Before I saw what Nabiki and Taiyoko were doing, I was convinced I
could stop liking that kind of thing if I tried hard enough!"

	"So you like girls now," Ranma summarized. "But you think
there's something messed up about that, so you tried to kill Nabiki
when she admitted she liked girls too."

	"No!" Akane countered. Her face was full of indecision and
self-loathing. "Yes... no... I don't know."

	Ranma sighed deeply.

	"Then you said... you said that Nabiki had touched you," Akane
continued. "Did you... Did Nabiki and you..."

	"Did I have sex with Nabiki?" Ranma guessed.

	Akane paled, and looked away.

	"I could have. I was so close to it that it probably didn't
matter," he told her honestly. "We were touching each other. It was
only because I was afraid we'd get caught that we didn't. 'Course that
pissed her off and sent her running to Taiyoko. I think you heard all
about how that turned out."

	Akane's shaking had increased. Her hair had fallen down over
her eyes, but Ranma could see that her cheeks and ears were burning
red.

	"Oh, if that pisses you off, you're gonna love this," Ranma
added nonchalantly. "I tried to have sex with Kodachi last night, but
she ran away from me after she spilled champagne down my back and
turned me into a girl. That was a real kick in the nuts... even if I
was a girl at the time."

	"You... you..."

	"I ain't been thinkin' real straight lately," Ranma said. "I
think I know what guys mean now when they say they've been thinking
with their dicks." He looked away from her. The sight was just too
painful. "I haven't had anything to hold onto. I can look back now and
wonder what would have happened if you were interested in me. One kiss
would have saved me, Akane."

	Several seconds of silenced passed between the two before
Akane started sniffling.

	"It's all messed up now, isn't it?" she asked, crying.
"There's no chance at all, is there?"

	"No," Ranma said, feeling more tired than he ever had before
in his life. "No, there ain't."

* * *


	When Ranma and Akane walked back into the Tendou home, there
were significantly more people there than either of them expected.

	"Ranma-sama, please--"

	"Ranchan, you have to--"

	Kodachi and Ukyou mobbed Ranma from either side, each grabbing
an arm.

	"Ranchan," Ukyou said, trying to drown out Ukyou. "I'm sorry
about what happened earlier. If you'll just give me another chance
then I'm certain that I'll be able to learn how to--"

	"Ranma-sama," Kodachi raised her voice. "You must return to
the Kunou mansion so that I can try to make up for last night's
unfortunate incident."

	"Unfortunate incident?" Ukyou demanded.

	"And what would you care about it, servant?" Kodachi sniped.

	"Well, Ranchan *kissed* me this morning!"

	"You aren't the only one," Akane muttered darkly as the pushed
past the three, into the main room.

	Inside, Tofuu-sensei was waiting with all the Tendous,
Saotomes and Taiyoko. They looked on curiously

	"He kissed you?! He kissed me first!" Kodachi cried out,
raising her voice. "Isn't that right, my darling?"

	Ranma didn't even struggle as they tugged back and forth on
his arms.

	How did everything get so far away from me? He shook his head,
not understanding, but beginning to lose hope. Was Nabiki right? Did
he *need* a harem to be happy? Ranma certainly didn't feel happy. He
felt like he was in over his head. He felt like there was somehow a
battle going on around him, and that we was about to lose-- lose big.

	"Ranma-sama, tell this hussy how close we are!" Kodachi urged
him. "Tell her how much you love me!"

	"How close you are?! Ranchan, you better let the lunatic know
she's hallucinating."

	Ranma felt sick to his stomach. Before he changed back into a
guy, everyone had been getting along so well. Everyone had become
friends, and was willing to have a good time together without worrying
about romance, love, or sex. Now he was in exactly the same boat he
was before the damned surgery. The girls were fighting. Akane was mad
at him, and he suspected from Kodachi and Ukyou's rising voices that
they would soon would be too.

	The thing that really dug into his skin was that this really
was all his own fault. This was the result of letting his body do his
thinking for him.

	"Ranma," Genma said in a voice loud enough to drown out the
girls. "Come in here."

	Eager to get away from being ripped in half, Ranma pulled free
and walked into the main room. He noticed that all eyes were on him.
He glanced at his father for direction, but Genma's face was
impassive. He noted that his mother sat to next to the man in one of
her newer dresses, holding Genma's hand. Kasumi and Nabiki were
present, but were sitting across the room from each other. Nabiki was
openly holding hands with Taiyoko. Kasumi seemed a little jumpy, but
kept her silence.

	"Sit down, Ranma-chan," Nodoka urged over the cacophony of the
argument raging behind Ranma.

	Ranma nodded and kneeled down. Nodoka glared over her son's
shoulder until both Kodachi and Ukyou got the hint to shut up.

	"Ranma," Soun said, "I understand that you've had some
problems with my daughters in the last few days."

	Ranma didn't even have to answer. He just rubbed his eyes in
weariness.

	"We've had a bit of an upheaval," Soun noted, almost as if it
was no big deal. "And while you may have been the catalyst for what
happened, I believe that it would have happened sooner or later
regardless of your involvement. That does not mean that matters here
are not very problematic, or that your presence isn't making a bad
mess worse."

	"What on earth are you talking about?" Ukyou demanded.
Kodachi, however, was suspiciously eyeing Nabiki and Taiyoko,
alternating expressions of disgust and suspicion on her face.

	"That said, I think it's best to modify the arrangement
between our families, at least in the short term."

	Ranma looked up, a sick, queasy feeling in his gut. He
suddenly knew what was about to happen.

	"The engagement between Ranma and Akane is dissolved," Genma
said. "At least until the problems here at the Tendou Dojo are
resolved."

	Yet another foundation stone crumbled out from underneath
Ranma and fell away. He felt like he had been stabbed. He honestly
didn't know how he stayed upright.

	Ukyou smiled triumphantly, her mouth opened to proclaim her
possession of Ranma.

	Kodachi was similarly about to start shouting, but Genma held
his hand up, silencing both girls.

	Ranma's last handle on the situation was gone. He was losing a
fight he didn't even know the rules for. He didn't even know what he
was fighting for. He just knew that the consequences of losing would
affect him for the rest of his life.

	"Now that that's taken care of," Genma said, "I have a
proposition for you, Ranma."

	Ranma nodded sickly, eager to get all the bad news out at
once.

	"Your mother and I happened across an old acquaintance a few
days ago," Genma said. "One with a lucrative business proposition. He
is going to be in a highly profitable situation for the next few
months, but needs the kind of protection that only highly trained
martial artists could give him."

	"So what's the catch, old thief?" Ukyou asked from behind
Ranma.

	"Indeed," Kodachi retorted. "Why should Ranma partake of this
proposition when he could lounge in luxury at the Kunou mansion under
my tender care?"

	"Or with me at the restaurant?" Ukyou appended.

	Nodoka cleared her throat. "The catch is that you'll have to
leave the country, son. Your father and I have already decided to go.
We really do need the money, and this is a good opportunity for your
father. I also believe its a good opportunity for you. I love you and
I want you to be happy, so I'll understand if you choose to stay here
with the Tendous or with one of your girlfriends. We'll both
understand," she said, squeezing her husband's hand.

	"Doctor Tofuu says that you are fit and healthy enough for
this, even after your surgery," Genma said. Tofuu nodded his
agreement. "Will you come, Ranma?" the bald man asked.

	Ranma closed his eyes.

	Three months ago, he didn't know that there was this much pain
or suffering involved in love... or merely trying to figured out who
you loved. He also had no clue that the temptation of the body or the
heart could be so confusing.

	Indeed, Ranma had gone through his entire 'harem' in a matter
of days. Now that he had acknowledged his needs and desires to each of
the girls, he doubted anything could ever go back to being like it
was.

	What was the best way out of this situation? What was the best
way to defeat this enemy of Ranma's own making? Could it be defeated?

	"Yes." Ranma whispered. Any enemy could be defeated if only
you knew how!

	"Son?" Genma asked.

	Ranma didn't know how to defeat this enemy. Hell, he didn't
even know how to control his own body. He was losing the fight, and if
he didn't get away from the situation, there would be no hope of
winning.

	He needed time away... time to figure out what was going on...
time to figure out how to keep from losing this war of love and lust
before it was too late.

	"I'll go," Ranma said, opening his eyes.

	"I've already packed your clothes," Nodoka said. "And a taxi
is coming for us in just a few minutes. We'll be getting on a flight
out of the country this afternoon."

	Ranma nodded. "Do I need a new passport or anything?"

	"I've already taken care of that," Genma said. "Get your bags,
Ranma."

	"Wait a second!" Ukyou protested. "Where ever my Ranchan goes,
I'll go too!"

	"I'll be damned before I let him get away again," Kodachi
agreed. "I must go with Ranma to comfort him."

	"I'm afraid that's quite impossible," Nodoka told both the
girls. "I'm certain Ranma would love to have you along, but we
promised not to tell anyone where we were going for security reasons."

	Ranma was already running up the stairs. He darted into his
room, seeing it laid bare and empty. Every possession he had in the
world was in a backpack and a small athletic bag leaned against each
other  in the middle of the floor. He quickly shouldered both bags and
ran back down stairs.

	The front door was open, and a taxi was waiting in the street
beyond. All eyes were on him.

	Kodachi and Ukyou's eyes bored into him. Both their faces will
filled with shock.

	Akane's eyes were one him. Tears ran down her cheeks.

	It was like there were dozens of hooks in his body, holding
him back. This hurt more than anything else Ranma had ever
experienced. It was worse than being beat on by Ryouga or Mousse. It
was even worse than having his head cut open.

	"I'm sorry about this," Ranma said, his voice catching.

	Then he left the Tendou Dojo.

* * *

	Ranma was gone.

	Even though it had been just a few seconds, it seemed like it
had been an eternity. The taxi had already disappeared down the
street. Kodachi and Ukyou each thought that they might be able to
catch up with the car and find a way to follow Ranma wherever he was
going.

	It was just too shocking. How could Ranma have left? There was
a huge hole in the room where Ranma wasn't.

	Akane turned away from the sight of the disappearing taxi,
unable to watch any longer.

	"I think you girls should leave now," Soun said, stepping up
between Kodachi and Ukyou. "We have several things we need to work
out."

	"H-hai..." Ukyou murmured, tears beginning to run down her
face.

	"I'm certain he'll let you know just as soon as he returns,"
Soun told them. Gently, yet firmly, he ushered them out of the house
and saw them off in opposite directions.

	That task done, he stepped back inside the house.

	Akane was kneeling in the middle of the floor with her face in
her hands, weeping silently.

	"Akane," her father said, taking a deep breath. "Do you have
something to say to your sister or Taiyoko?"

	It was a few seconds before Akane could speak, but eventually,
she croaked out, "I'm sorry I hit you. I'm sorry I tried to hurt you."

	Nabiki sighed at great length and rolled her eyes. Taiyoko
patted the dark-haired girl once on the shoulder, before backing away
quickly.

	"We have many things to discuss, Akane," Soun announced. "With
the end of the engagement, we need talk about what's going to happen
to the dojo. As you know, I can't simply pass it on to you because of
inheritance taxes. We don't have enough money to pay them, and I don't
think that's going to change any time in the near future. We could
have easily side-stepped that if I had given the dojo to Ranma, and
therefore to you by proxy as his wife."

	But... Ranma was gone. Akane bowed her head, utterly defeated.

	"Since it looks like that will no longer be the case, I've
talked with Tofuu-sensei about taking over the dojo when I retire. The
dojo will legally belong to him, but you will continue to practice
here and hopefully teach martial arts classes here. Nabiki has agreed
to help by keeping the dojo's finances in order. The doctor will be
paying her a small fee to do book keeping for both the dojo and his
office."

	"Hai..." Akane replied meekly.

	"Is this what you want, Akane?" Soun asked. "Is this what
you're willing to settle for?"

	Akane couldn't answer. Ranma was gone. Her heart had been
ripped out, and all she could feel was loss and pain. She had been so
mad and so fearful, but now that the martial artist had left, there
was nothing in her but regret for what she had done and what she had
said.

	"Don't you want more?" Soun demanded. "Doesn't some small part
of you want to be with Ranma?"

	Even if she did, wouldn't Ranma just run off with one of the
other girls at the first opportunity? Wasn't it hopeless? Didn't he
hate her now? Wasn't she still mad at him for everything he had done,
and everyone he had done it with?

	"One kiss would have saved me, Akane," Ranma had told her.

	"What else can I do?" Akane bawled.

	"You have one last chance, Akane," Soun said, holding out a
airline ticket and a new passport booklet.

	Akane's eyes opened wide in shock and disbelief.

	"If you want to inherit the dojo with Ranma, then I expect you
to be on the plane this afternoon, Akane."

	"But... but... but..."

	"If not... If you stay here, the plans I just talked about
will go forward. It's your choice, Akane."

	"But... but... but..."

	"We already packed your stuff, Akane," Nabiki said, not
meeting her sister's disbelieving stare.

	"That's right," Kasumi said, somewhat evasively. "Nabiki and
Taiyoko were...  helpful."

	"But... but... but..."

	Tofuu knelt down in front of her. "My car's running out back,
Akane. We can be at the airport in just a few minutes.

	Still favoring one eye, Nabiki knelt down next to Akane and
grabbed her by the arms. She pulled the shorter girl to her feet.
Then, quite deliberately, she leaned over and kissed Akane on the
cheek. Akane tried to pull away in alarm, but Nabiki wouldn't let her
go.

	"Akane... you'll always wonder if you don't try," Nabiki
whispered in her ear, tightening her grip and digging her nails into
Akane's forearm. "You'll be left wondering for the rest of your life
what you could have had if don't take this opportunity. If you *don't*
take this opportunity, I promise you that I will do everything I can
to make your life a living hell."

	Akane backed away from her sister, her mouth working open and
closed like a fish out of water.

	"Go, Akane," Kasumi urged her. "Remember that your family
loves you."

	"Will you go, Akane?" Soun asked, holding the tickets out to
his daughter.

	A second of silence passed between those assembled in the
Tendou's front room.

	Finally, Akane opened her mouth.

	"Yes."

- - -

~to be concluded


newRanma Chapter 20, the final chapter of newRanma is done, but will
not be released until I start receiving fanart based on newRanma

(Jones ducks as the knives, bombs, death threats, and exploding dimsum
arc overhead.)

Okay, okay! I'll post it! Look for it tonight!
* * *

C. Jones - guilty@furinkan.net - http://www.furinkan.net

Public Key: http://www.furinkan.net/key.txt

Everybody in the room stared at Mihoshi. The policewoman
began to cry. "I didn't mean to infect the world! I'm so
sorry!!!! WAHHHAHHHHHHH!!!!"

                         - From 'The Virus'



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