Nabiki decided that she'd have to rework her
estimation of Genma. She had always thought that he
had acted a little too stupid considering that he
created the Umisen and Yamasen techniques. She made a
little stop by her room, after checking to see that
her father and Ranma's were still gone, and then was
on to the guestroom. It took only a moment to find the
book's hiding place, since she had happened to see
Genma placing it. 

Nabiki spent the next few minutes clicking away with
her camera, and turning pages. She did not fall into
the trap of reading the book here, where she could get
lost and be caught. After all, she'd have plenty of
chance to read it later when she transferred the
digital pictures to her computer. She then carefully
returned the book to its former position and
readjusted all the little warning signals Genma had
set on it. She didn't want him to know it had been
disturbed after all. Then it was back to her room.

Half an hour later found her sitting in the diner with
a sundae and a sheaf of printed papers. Most people
would call this an invasion of privacy, but as far as
Nabiki was concerned, any secret of Genma's was a
dangerous thing. Genma's secrets usually meant bad
news for Ranma, and that meant bad news for her
sister. Since the two of them couldn't do it for
themselves, she took it upon herself to protect them
as much as she could. Provided it didn't take too much
effort anyway.

"Let's see what 'kuso-oyaji' is hiding," Nabiki said
quietly to herself.

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

We have arrived at Tendo's, things look promising.

Tendo's middle daughter is a manipulative bitch. She
could prove useful in the training process. The boy
still has a tendency to try to make friends with
people; for all that he's inept at it. Maybe this girl
can push him over the edge. Sooner or later she betray
him in some 

That girl has already helped me tremendously. After
the samurai's proposal of love to the pig-tailed girl
I'll bet the boy is really thinking people aren't
worth the trouble. One less distraction from the art.
Avoiding Kuno could be good practice too, though the
samurai isn't anywhere near Ranma's skill level.

The boy is really angry about the Tendo girl's fake
engagement. He's beginning to act a lot more
suspicious. Its getting harder to surprise him than
before. It was an excellent lesson of betrayal,
something only a woman could do. I wish I could say I
planned it. It would have been truly worthy of the
Master.

Nabiki passed out invitations to the surprise wedding.
Didn't think she could pass up the chance for a little
profit. The boy and Akane are even closer, I support
the marriage but love is too much of a distraction.
What would happen if they quit fighting?

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

Nabiki looked into the mirror after rinsing her mouth
out of the faucet again. She still felt ill, but she
didn't think there was anything else in her stomach to
disgorge. The bastard had played her perfectly, and
she had never even noticed. All this time of ignoring
the old man as useless and not worth any effort, and
he had been laughing at HER the entire time. Nobody
laughed at HER, Nobody played HER. Not and get away
with it they didn't.

Too make matters worse, this wasn't just a little
prank or mostly harmless swindling. This was hideous,
and Genma was threatening HER family as well just for
a little vicarious respect through his student and
son. There wasn't even any money involved as far as
she could tell.

"I didn't think anybody could be so stupid as he
acted," Nabiki told herself. "Everybody blames Ranma
for everything." Nabiki walked back to her booth and
stuck the papers into a manila envelope. She was going
to need help on this.

She would not talk to Ranma or Akane yet. She couldn't
predict their reaction clearly, but Nabiki imagined it
would have something to do with a panda wall hanging.
That wouldn't prove anything, he would still have
beaten her. Nobody else might know about, but she
would. Somebody played her, and all she was going to
do was run to the martial artists? No way could she
allow that.

Auntie Saotome could be nearly as volatile as her
sister and Ranma. Then it was just a matter of a swish
of the blade, assuming Genma didn't just take the
blade away when it actually threatened him. No, Auntie
was out for now. Nabiki would talk to her later, by
the end of the week at least.

Cologne would definitely not be a good idea. It would
be a bad idea to mix any more schemes into the
solution. Nabiki didn't want to start a three-way war
here, not yet. If there were anything left of Genma
afterwards, then the Amazons could have him.

Kasumi, on the other hand, was the perfect choice as
far as she could tell. Genma already feared the way
she could possibly soften Ranma. Showing this to
Kasumi would turn her motherly sister's attention to
the problem directly. Kasumi could keep a secret, too.
She might not want to keep this one, but that could
work too.

"I wonder how Genma would like it when everybody stops
hating Ranma," she pondered to herself.

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

"Tadaima." Nabiki glanced at the two fathers playing
shogi on the porch. ~Great, he's here.~

"Okaeri Nasai," Kasumi voice drifted from somewhere
further back in the house. The eternally serene girl
quietly appeared with the same grace and breeziness
that her voice had just moved through the house. "I
was wondering where you had been all morning."

"I had to get out of the house for a little while,"
Nabiki said, noticing Kasumi watching her carefully.
Kasumi had her purse out, which meant she was going
shopping. ~Perfect.~

"Are you feeling okay, Nabiki," Kasumi asked. "You
look a little��pale." Kasumi didn't mention that her
younger sister looked ready to kill something.

"I'm fine," Nabiki answered. She scanned the edge of
her field of vision to make sure Genma wasn't
watching. "Want some help with the shopping?" Kasumi
looked at her in mild surprise. "I still feel like
doing some walking."

"Certainly, I'd enjoy the company," Kasumi said with
her normal smile. "Shall we go then?" The beginning of
the trip consisted mostly of small talk while Nabiki
worked out how she was going broach the subject.

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

Ukyou glanced about nervously and fidgeted with one of
her hands. She felt naked without her battle spatula
immediately on hand, but she didn't want to be
bothered by anyone right now. Bringing the spatula
would have just invited trouble, especially since she
wanted to take a peek at the dojo. Hopefully, dressed
in normal clothes and without her spatula, nobody
would recognize her.

Ukyou had done some stupid things in the past year,
though until the wedding she would have just called it
determined. As for the wedding, her behavior there had
been so far beyond stupid that it had hit Kuno levels.
Breaking Ranma and Akane up was one thing, trying to
KILL Akane. What had she hoped to gain? If she had
actually succeeded it would have been her death.

"And why did I use exploding food?" Ukyou asked
herself.

"Excuse me, miss?" the stall keeper in front of her
asked.

"Oh, nothing," Ukyou said, laughing nervously as she
moved to browse at another vendor. She halted and
turned back around as she saw two familiar figures
appear in the crowd of people.

"Kasumi and Nabiki," the chef said to herself. She
kept her back turned as the Tendos passed, twisting
her head about to keep an eye on them. Ukyou hoped the
lack of her battle spatula and normal attire would be
enough for them to pass over her. Ukyou breathed a
sigh of relief as they passed without Nabiki so much
as turning her way. Kasumi had glanced at the vendor
Ukyou was standing at, but didn't seem to notice the
chef.

"Maybe I can find out what's going on in the dojo from
them," Ukyou narrowed her eyes as she started to
shadow the sisters.

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

"Kasumi..." Nabiki hesitated.

"Whatever it is can't be all that bad, can it?" Kasumi
said sweetly. Ukyou pulled up short aborting her
attempt to get their attention. Nabiki looked at her
in surprise. "You and Akane are both so reluctant
about asking for help." She spoke with a mildly amused
voice. "But the build-up is easy to spot now."

"I'm not that obvious, am I?" Nabiki asked, suddenly
nervous.

"Only to someone who knows you, imouto-san," Kasumi's
voice was only a little patronizing.

"I hope so," Nabiki muttered. "Uh...anyway, there's a
problem. Its about Ranma..."

"Oh, Nabiki," Kasumi gasped. "You haven't fallen for
him too, have you?"

"What?!" Nabiki's exclamation neatly covered the sound
of Ukyou's facefault. "No! That's not the problem."

"Are you certain of that Nabiki, you did go to all
that trouble to ruin their wedding, and it does seem
to be a contagious condition."

~Never heard it put that way before,~ Ukyou thought as
she got back to her feet.

"It wasn't much trouble," Nabiki noted, she directed
her sister to the sparsely populated park and removed
the printed photos from the envelope. "This is the
problem." She opened the envelope and handed Kasumi
the printed journal.

"What is this...Saotome-san's journal? Nabiki where
did you get this? This is an extreme invasion of
privacy."

~Ranma's father keeps a journal?~ Ukyou blinked.

"My digital camera," Nabiki said honestly. "Just read
a few entries, you'll see the problem." Kasumi gave
Nabiki a reproachful look before reading a few
entries. She blanched, flipped a few pages picked
another entry, then another.

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

Unlike Nabiki, Tendo's eldest is going to be a
problem. I have never met some one so completely nice.
She did immediately pass the buck on the fiancee
situation, but that is the only hint of anything
useful that I've seen yet.

I was right about Kasumi; she's making the boy soft.
He's actually somewhat polite when talking to her.
He's beginning to think that she's safe, he shouldn't
think anything's safe....

Does that girl run everything in this house? If you
want anything done you have to ask Kasumi. The boy
trusts her, and she's been giving him advice on
dealing with Akane. I can't figure out what to do
about her. I'll need to be extra hard on the boy or
he'll lose what edge I've managed to give him.

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

"Oh my, is it ALL like this?"

"Yes," Nabiki's lip curled. "It's ALL like that. He
tricked me. ME!" Nabiki growled low as her eyes
narrowed. Ukyou took a closer look at the girl and
swallowed nervously.

~She's pissed,~ Ukyou thought to herself, as some back
corner of her mind made some comment about catching
the obvious. Nabiki's eyes were slits, her skin pale
and lips curled in a sneer that might possibly have
given Kodachi pause. ~What is in that thing?~

"Oh my, he talks about me here," Kasumi said. "He
doesn't like me much, does he?"

~Who could NOT like Kasumi?~ Ukyou asked herself, she
leaned forward a moment. The chef immediately pulled
back as the leaves rustled and Kasumi momentarily
looked up from her reading. The eldest Tendo looked
back at the papers almost without delay, however, and
Ukyou released her breath.

"No, he doesn't," Nabiki agreed.

"Oh, this explains Ukyou's behavior at the wedding,"
Kasumi said.

~Huh? What did she say?~

"What do I do about this, Kasumi?" Kasumi handed back
the papers to Nabiki, handling it as if it were
something rather smelly and distasteful. "This is so
far beyond one of my pranks or scams."

"This will have to go to the authorities," Kasumi
said.

"If possible I'd like to keep this to the family for
now," Nabiki said.

"Nabiki..."

"I would like to know how Ranma takes this," Nabiki
explained, interrupting. "You'd think that with just
Jusenkyo and the Neko-ken he'd have had enough, but he
thinks his father is just stupid, not...." Nabiki made
a vague gesture as she tried to come up with a word.

"You make a point," Kasumi nodded as she stood up.
"I'll give you a week, Nabiki, after that I expect
that...item to be in the hands of the police. You can
print another copy I assume?"

"What do you take me for?"

"Good, then perhaps you can leave that one with
Ukyou," Kasumi said, Nabiki blinked, behind the bush
she had taken for cover, twitched.

"Are you sure we should tell her about this?"

"She deserves to know, Nabiki. The question is
academic anyway. You can come out now, Ukyou-chan."

"How did you know I was there?" Ukyou asked as she
stepped from behind the bush.

"Oh, I didn't," Kasumi said, Ukyou stared in outright
disbelief as Nabiki slapped her forehead.

"She used to pull that one on me all the time," Nabiki
explained, irritated that she had been fooled again,
even if it was just a small way. She hadn't planned on
letting Ukyou know just yet, but there was no way she
was going to get out of it around Kasumi. "How much
did you hear?"

"What's in that thing?" Ukyou said bluntly. Nabiki
glanced at the envelope and considered.

"Nabiki..." Kasumi's lecturing tone began to creep
into her voice.

"Alright, alright," Nabiki said. She handed over the
envelope to Ukyou. "Don't let anybody else see that,
and promise me you won't do anything without talking
to us first."

"Like what?" Ukyou asked.

"Like making a panda rug."

"I want to do that anyway, how much worse can this
make Genma seem."

"Quite a bit, actually," Kasumi said. "If you see
Ryouga, however, you might want to show him that."

"Ryouga!?" Nabiki looked at her sister as if she'd
gone insane. ~Ryouga would just tear Genma into
pieces. Doesn't she KNOW that, besides how can we
trust someone who poses as a pet pig to get into
Akane's room?~

"But I think that should be it for now," Kasumi paused
and looked momentarily wistful. "I wish Dr. Tofu were
still here, he always seemed to have answers. Odd
considering how funny he always acted."

"Now he would make sense, but Ryouga?!"

"Well, I got to go," Ukyou said. "Umm, one question
before I go...how did Ranchan and Akane feel about
me...uhh..."

"I wouldn't be by the dojo without calling ahead
first," Nabiki said.

"They were quite upset," Kasumi agreed. "But I find
that it probably wasn't all your fault. Good day,
Nabiki, we have shopping to do."

"Right, Kasumi," Nabiki said frustrated. She turned to
Ukyou again. "Don't do anything, and don't tell to
anybody, especially Ranma and Akane."

"Gotcha," Ukyou said, confused. As the Tendos turned
away to finish Kasumi's shopping, Ukyou looked around
and then considered the bundle of papers in her hand.
There was no way she was going to repeat Nabiki's
mistake and read it here, anybody could walk by.

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

The boy has a lot more potential than I do; he'll pass
my physical skills before he hits his twenties. That
is a problem, it is difficult to train someone better
than you, but I think I have found a solution.

He has improved greatly since beginning this game with
the Kuonji boy. He likes the competition aspect, and
there really is no teacher like experience. Too bad it
is such a friendly contest. If Kuonji were trying to
kill him though, it would be such a better exercise.
I've seen Kuonji, he can't beat the boy, but he can
get close. Now if only there was a way to do make this
contest into a duel....

Problem solved, the Kuonji boy is a girl. Her father
came by to discuss an engagement. A woman scorned is a
dangerous thing indeed. Too bad she's not a boy after
all though, I don't want the boy to get used to weak
opponents....

The Kuonji girl is back, and she's out to marry him
again. Fortunately this makes the current fiancee
situation even harder to get out of. I'd much prefer
if she was still trying to kill him, but at least
she's making life a little harder for him...

Kuonji is a little too nice still; she'll need a
little prodding when Nabiki tells her about the
wedding. Maybe, if I slip her something that day��

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

"Ukyou-sama," Konatsu knocked on the door to the
shower again. "Are you okay?" 

His object of worship had been in the shower for the
past hour, and this was after she had locked herself
in a room for most of the evening. She had been acting
funny recently, she had been getting really obsessive
up until the day of the abortive wedding. Since then
she had been rather depressed. Then she had stomped
out of her room and disappeared into the shower.

"Bastard," Ukyou muttered, not hearing the kunoichi
outside over the water and her own muttering. She was
on her third bar of soap now, and was starting to feel
a bit like a prune. "Sick, perverted bastard. Woman
scorned he says? If he wants to see me mad..."

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

The sun rose on another day, silently banishing away
the night's chill, and two teens made ready to leave
for another day of school.

"Damn it!" Akane stopped and turned back to the
stairs. "I almost forgot my homework."

"Smooth, Akane," Ranma said, smirk.

"If you hadn't gotten so paranoid I wouldn't have been
distracted!" Akane didn't bother to wait for his reply
as she turned back to the stairs.

"I'm NOT being paranoid!" Ranma called up. He
continued toward the front door mumbling to himself.
"Kasumi and Nabiki ARE watching me." Ranma paused as
he walked out of the house proper and saw Nabiki
waiting by the gate. Usually the older girl was
already gone by now, especially since the last few
conversations between her and either Ranma or Akane
hadn't ended civilly.

"Hey, Otooto," she blinked and looked past his
shoulder. "Where's Akane?"

"Uh..." Ranma was still surprised by the familial term
she had just casually tossed out. "She forgot a couple
of things."

"You're not going without her, are you?" Nabiki asked
with more than a little reproach.

"Of course not!" Ranma answered quickly. "I'm just
waiting for her out here. Why?" He narrowed his eyes
suspiciously.

"I wanted to talk to both of you," she sighed and
checked her watch. "But I need to get going so, I was
wondering if you two would like me to treat you to a
movie or something." Ranma froze and stared at her.
"Talk to her about it will you." Then she turned and
was gone leaving a stunned Ranma behind her.

"Don't just stand there!" Akane snapped after she had
been standing next to him for almost a minute. "We're
going to be late!" She rolled her eyes and headed out
the gate.

"Hey wait a minute," Ranma snapped out of his daze to
follow Akane.

"Akane, is there something wrong with Nabiki?" Ranma
asked halfway to the school. Akane looked at him
curiously.

"Besides the obvious you mean?" Akane asked.

"Yeah, she called me 'otooto.'"

"That IS strange," Akane admitted.

"Then she offered to treat us to a movie." Akane tried
to respond but her jaw didn't seem to be working.

"What?!?" Akane whirled on Ranma. Ranma's new habit of
walking next to her rather than on the fence proved
useful as she pressed him back against the wall. "WHAT
DID YOU SAY?!"

"She wanted to know if we felt like going with her to
a movie or something," he said quickly in answer. "HER
treat." Akane eyes bulged as she tried to catalog the
reasons Nabiki would be generous with her money. She
looked Ranma up and down for a moment.

"You're not seriously ill or anything are you?" she
asked.

"Not that I.." Ranma didn't get a chance to finish as
Akane started dragging him along at a run.

"Come on, we might be able to catch her before she
gets to class!" The dark-haired girl came to sudden
stop as Furinkan's gates came into view. "Oh great."

"I told you Nabiki was acting wei��" Ranma stopped as
he caught sight of where Ukyou was pacing the grounds
and doing a creditable Ryouga impression. "We could
get around her," Ranma said, pointing to the wall.

"Hell no, I'm not running from anybody!" Akane growled
stomping forward. She glanced up and saw people
watching out the windows from Nabiki's class. The only
people who would be there this early would be her
sister and assistants. "And Nabiki's already in
class." 

"I don't want to deal with her right now Akane," Ranma
explained.

"Look at her, Baka, she's out for blood," Akane
snapped. "She's in our classes, how are you NOT going
to deal with her." Ranma thought about it a moment.

"I guess it had to come sooner or later," Ranma
admitted reluctantly. "Let's go."

"...damn bastard, I'm going to skin him alive," Ukyou
turned around to see Akane and Ranma walking towards
her, looking less than happy. Akane's face spoke
volumes of the pain Ukyou might soon be experiencing.
"Uh...hi guys."

"Don't you 'hi guys' us," Akane was confused, she
would have thought Ukyou would have immediately leapt
to the attack. "You tried to kill me!" Akane
maintained her own anger and glare though.

"What do you want Ukyou?" Ranma asked coldly.

Ukyou winced at the tone. It was obvious he didn't
want to see her, she'd almost rather that he'd be as
eager to fight as Akane seemed to be. She couldn't
even really blame Genma for all of it. The exploding
food may have been the most dangerous thing she had
done, but she had done a lot with out his prompting.
She had been almost as obsessive as Genma about
molding Ranma's life, just not as creative.

What had been the end result of all that? Akane and
Ranma were standing there in front of her acting
almost like a single unit. Ukyou tried to hold onto
the anger she felt at Genma, but it was quietly
retreating in the face of her two betrayed friends.
All her efforts, all everybody's efforts, and it had
only accomplished bringing Ranma and Akane closer
together. She had lost, and she was not going any
further downhill than she had already gone.

"I...I...Gomen nasai," she bowed low in front of Akane
and Ranma. The Anything-Goes martial artists stared in
shock. "I...haven't been myself."

"You mean you don't want to fight?" Akane demanded.

"No," Ukyou answered. ~Not either of you anyway.~
"Besides, I think I like my face the way it is."

"Ohhh kaaayy," was Ranma's only response.

"I'll...be going now," Ukyou said. "Try to make it to
Ucchan's please, it gets lonely with just Konatsu to
talk to. He doesn't argue enough to be interesting
conversation." Ukyou left before they could answer.

"Is everyone going crazy today?" Akane asked.

"Ah! My lovely Akane!! Allow me to defend your honor
from that wretched scoundrel Saotome!!" The
declaration was followed shortly by the sound of a
large non-aerodynamic missile flying through the air
over the school.

"At least Kuno isn't acting weird," Ranma noted,
admiring Akane's form. Usually he liked to get to Kuno
first, Akane had a tendency to go overboard, but Akane
needed something to hit.

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

"Oh, I'm sorry Saotome-san," Kasumi said sweetly. "But
the hot water is out again, I've already called the
plumber."

*What am I going to do then?* The irritable panda's
sign read. Kasumi thought back to the book on pressure
points she had borrowed from Dr. Tofu earlier that
year, and briefly wondered if they'd be similar on a
panda.

"Well, I have some water on the stove, but..." Kasumi
started, the panda pushed in past her and reached for
the teakettle. Kasumi resisted the urge to smile as
the panda yelped in pain and pulled his paw back from
the kettle. "...I was boiling it for tea."

*I'll just go to the public baths,* the panda's next
sign read. He shuffled out of the kitchen and Kasumi
looked about at the bits of fur left in her kitchen.

"What an unsanitary beast," Kasumi sighed as she went
to get a broom. She noted pleasantly the panda walking
past the outer gate as she continued along. Kasumi was
surprised when the broom closet opened before she got
there. Her surprise diminished as she recognized a
familiar yellow tunic and black and yellow bandana.

"Excuse me, can you tell me the way to...Kasumi?"
Ryouga blinked. "What are you doing here in Tomobiki?"

"This is Nerima, Ryouga-san," Kasumi said patiently.

"But that little girl with the blue hair said it was
Tomobiki," Ryouga said. Kasumi looked past Ryouga into
the closet and briefly wondered when her broom closet
had gotten so large. Then a little red door with a
circular window closed near the back, just before
vanishing. "Then there was the girl with the red hair
who kept shouting and asking if I was related to
someone named Mihoshi. Maybe I shouldn't have used the
baksai tenketsu on that wall, or whatever it was"

"Oh my," Kasumi said, sweatdropping. "I'm glad you're
here, however."

"You are..." Ryouga swallowed nervously. Kasumi nodded
and gestured an invitation to follow her.

"Could you hand me that broom while you're there?"
Kasumi asked. "And the dust pan, thank you."

"Umm...why would you want to see me?" Ryouga asked
cautiously. Kasumi turned around and noticed him
blushing. She sighed briefly, exasperated by the
emotional upheavals that were adolescent males.

"Yes, there's something I want you to see," Kasumi
said, making sure that he followed her to the kitchen.
"But Ukyou is holding it right now, so we shall have
to wait until school is over." She continued before
the lost boy could respond. "Why don't you attend
school?"

"Uh...well...I never really...can," he stood there
poking his fingers together while she swept up her
kitchen. "Find it...often enough."

"You've been to school before, how did you find it
then?" Kasumi asked, clapping her hands after
disposing of the panda hair. She gestured slightly and
Ryouga moved out of her way so she could move to put
the broom and dustpan away.

"Shirokuro used to get me places," Ryouga admitted
nervously as Kasumi walked back. "And uh...." he
mumbled something.

"Excuse me, I didn't quite catch that last sentence,"
Kasumi said quietly.

"I used to follow Ranma a couple of times," he
admitted grudgingly.

"Oh, well that was nice of him to help you," Kasumi
said. She took a towel and used it to take the
teakettle, placed it on a tray, and took down a pair
of saucers and cups.

"Nice, him? He would insult me the entire way and
never got close enough to let me get my hands on him,"
Ryouga sniffed. "Coward, always running away."

"Excuse me," Kasumi turned around holding the tray,
Ryouga moved out of the way again. "Would you care for
some tea, Ryouga?" She asked as she passed beyond him.

"S..s..sure," Ryouga followed along hesitantly.

"You're aware that insulting Ranma was a part of
his...father's training methods?"

"So, what does that have to do with anything," Ryouga
asked.

"Well, I've only rarely heard Genma praise Ranma,"
Kasumi noted. "And even then it's just to fluff his
own ego."

"What does how the idiot panda acts have to do with
Ranma being a jerk?"

"I imagine that Ranma has been receiving insults like
that most of his life," Kasumi continued. There was
actually very little imagination involved, though
Kasumi had suspected something like this even before
seeing the journal. "Perhaps he does not understand
that there is any other way to act?" Ryouga stared at
her.

"Just because his father's a jerk doesn't give him the
right to be a jerk," Ryouga insisted.

"I suppose this will have to wait until later," Kasumi
sighed. She had hoped to be able to reason with Ryouga
before showing him Genma's journal, but apparently
not. "Incidentally, I would try to avoid Nabiki if I
were you."

"Uh...why?"

"Well, you see we recently discovered a certain fact
about our sister's pet pig," Kasumi told him bluntly.
Ryouga stared at her wide-eyed.

"He told.." Ryouga narrowed his eyes and started to
growl.

"Ranma? No, he doesn't know we know yet," Kasumi said.
"You'll understand later today. Now do you think you
can stay put for the next five hours?"

"I guess," Ryouga said warily.

"Good, if you need anything please call me," Kasumi
told him. "Do not look for it yourself."

"I'm not that bad!" Ryouga growled. Kasumi smiled and
sipped her tea.

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

Akane tracked her sister down as soon as she and Ranma
returned to the dojo after school. As was usual,
Nabiki was in her room, though she was not just idly
snacking and reading manga as usual. She was at the
computer, which was turned off as soon as Akane
entered the room.

"Forget how to knock, imouto-chan?" Nabiki asked with
arched eye-brow.

"What's wrong, Nabiki?" Akane demanded, ignoring the
sarcasm. She closed the distance and started checking
her sister's pulse and temperature.

"Wrong?" Nabiki blinked, and irritably let her sister
check her vitals. "What are you talking about?"

"You offered to TREAT us to a dinner and a movie!"
Akane declared, stepping back and now regarding her
sister cautiously. "If you're not sick, then you're up
to something."

"Ooo��'us' now is it?" Nabiki smirked. Akane flushed
red. "Not Ranma, or Ranma and I, just 'us', we'll have
to celebrate this development."

"I didn't mean.."

"Oh come now, Akane," Nabiki interrupted her. "Can't
you give your sister a chance to make amends for a few
small errors in her past?"

"You're doing this to apologize for the wedding?"
Akane asked, her eyes narrowed. ~There HAS to be
something more to this.~

"Did you know that Kasumi was leading Ryouga home?"
Ranma called as he came down the hallway. "Uh��hi
Nabiki."

"So he's back in town," Nabiki said. Akane and Ranma
noted the slight hint of distaste Nabiki put into that
statement. "What about it guys? A nice relaxing movie
and dinner afterwards? No fiancees, no interruptions,
a chance to forget some of your problems for a night?"

"Do you have a bet with someone?" Ranma asked Nabiki.

"Can't I just do something nice?" she asked seriously.

"No." Akane and Ranma said in tandem.

"Hmmm, maybe I should more often," Nabiki said, when
she noted Ranma's and Akane's hanging jaws she
qualified the statement. "I have to keep people
guessing as to what's I'm doing, don't I?"

"Okay, that sounds normal," Akane said, still not
entirely convinced.

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

Ukyou was surprised to see Kasumi and Ryouga outside
her restaurant as she returned home. 

"Have you been waiting for me?" she asked.

"I wanted to avoid Ranma and my sisters," Kasumi
explained. "Nabiki might not be rational about
Ryouga."

"I wonder why," Ukyou glared at him. Ryouga swallowed
nervously.

"Ah, have you read it then?" Kasumi asked.

"I'd like to burn the bastard," Ukyou growled. "You
still want him to read it?" 

"Yes, I do," Kasumi confirmed the statement with a
nod.

"What are you two talking about?" Ryouga asked.

"You don't want to know, sugar," Ukyou said. "But
we're going to show you anyway."

"Please do not do anything rash after reading this,"
Kasumi pleaded.

"Ohhh kay....read what?" Ranma shifted his gaze
nervously between the two girls. Ukyou growled and
turned to unlock her door.

"It's upstairs, let me get it," Ukyou unlocked the
door and went inside.

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

Perhaps the boys' school was a bad idea. I think the
boy has been getting food at that school of his
somehow. He doesn't fight for his meals quite as
enthusiastically as he should. I wonder if they've
started serving the food free.

There is no problem, he's been fighting for his food.
The principal wanted to talk to me about my son's
belligerent behavior. From the sounds of it he has
been continually competing with some other boy. Ryouga
Hibiki, I'll have to see about this.

The boy is trying to help this Hibiki person. I heard
about his sense of direction, and apparently he knows
about it too. Everyday he lets this Ryouga follow him
to school. Actually, Hibiki shows potential. He
doesn't have the boy's speed, but he seems to have a
great deal more strength and endurance. And he does
not appreciate the boy's help. This is a wonderful
development.

Ryouga wanted one more duel before we left. Of course
he never showed up, but that is too be expected. The
boy waited three days. We would have left earlier, but
I had to wait for him to fall from exhaustion first. I
can't usually beat him in a straight on fight anymore,
and he was adamant about this. Foolish boy, he doesn't
even realize that his friend hates him. I have to get
him away from people again, he is getting some funny
ideas. Still, I am tempted to remain and send him out
for some "pretties" but since I really can't use them
the way the master could I don't think its worth the
trouble. The fact I can't bully him into is another
problem.

That Hibiki boy followed us to Jusenkyo, I saw him
when the boy was trying to kill me. That was lucky, I
think the boy would have caught me if I didn't put
Hibiki between us, I wonder if the boy even saw him. I
saw Hibiki later, after losing the boy, the bandana
was dead give away. Good thing too, now I know how to
reverse the curse. I should have asked about that
before coming here. Never thought to get cursed
myself. He ran off screaming about killing the boy.
This is better than I could have planned. I wish I
could have had the sweet and sour pork though.

Ryouga is making himself a proper rival now, he's
actually nearly defeated the boy several times. The
boy is still holding back though, somehow I have to
convince him to always go all out. Ryouga's also
helping with the boy's sense of honor, sooner or later
he's going to give in and tell Akane about P-Chan.

The sooner he learns that honor is joke the better.
Honor is for dealing with people who are your
superior, and I've done everything to make sure that
no one is his superior. He has the power, he has the
right.

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

. Ukyou watched the continually darkening expression
on Ryouga's face nervously. He was outlined in green
light that was growing ever brighter, though it hadn't
yet burst into a full aura yet. She cricked her neck
and turned to a safer view, though Kasumi looking
nervous was moderately worrying in and of itself.

"Aren't they going to wonder why you're gone this
long?" Ukyou asked the motherly girl.

"Nabiki is taking Akane and Ranma to a movie, and I
told them I was escorting Ryouga home," Kasumi
explained. "Father and Saotome-san can fend for
themselves for the night." Ryouga stood up.

"I need to be outside," he said in a strangely
emotionless voice. That dead voice that always
signaled a new low for his mood. "Quickly."

"Hmm...OH!" Kasumi's eyes widened momentarily.
"Certainly, it's this way, isn't it Ukyou?"

"YES!! GET HIM OUTSIDE OF MY RESTAURANT ALREADY!!!"

"Okay, follow me please," Kasumi paused, blushed
momentarily and swatted Ryouga's lower back before
leading him out of Ucchan's. Ukyou and Ryouga were
both too distracted to notice the rather
uncharacteristic act. He walked to the middle of
street, took one deep breath and then the green light
about him flared into life.

"SHI SHI HOKODAN!!!!!!!!!"

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

"Whoa," Ranma said looking about the theatre as the
shaking subsided. "Was that an earthquake?"

"Didn't feel like it," Akane said. She was watching
her sister closely, but she hadn't yet managed to
press the issue of just what Nabiki was up to��or what
was wrong with her. Akane hoped it was just another
scam of some kind, maybe she had a bet or something
going on with someone.

"Damn cheap construction," Nabiki muttered. "I'm going
to find a new theatre."

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

"DAMN YOU SAOTOME!!!" Ryouga shouted. He moved to run
down the street in pursuit of his prey, stretched his
muscles once, and then he felt his legs go numb as he
hit the ground, a sensation unfamiliar only in that
there was no foot pressing him into the pavement.
"What the..."

"Oh my," Kasumi said, dusting off her blouse. "It
works." The sound of footsteps crunching on glass came
from behind her.

"MY WINDOWS!!!! MY DOOR!!!! LOOK AT THE CHAIRS!!!!
RYOUGA NO BAKA!!!" Ukyou, still in her boy's school
uniform stalked out of the ruined restaurant bearing
her spatula high.

"What happened to my legs!!!" Ryouga looked up for an
answer only to see the oncoming chef. "AHH!!! WHAT ARE
YOU D��?" And the spatula came down.

"I don't suppose you would mind helping me carry him
inside," Kasumi said with a sigh.

"He just DESTROYED my restaurant," Ukyou protested.

"No, he damaged it," Kasumi corrected her. "I am
fairly certain I can help you with the damages."

"Do you ever get excited about anything?"

"Of course I do," Kasumi answered calmly, closing her
eyes demurely for a moment.

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

"Okay, now on to dinner," Nabiki said as they left the
theater. She stretched out, as if everything were
normal and she wasn't acting like a pod person.

~What is with her?!~ Akane demanded she glanced at
Ranma, who was sitting there puzzling through
something.

"His foster-mother was his father's wife, but his
half-sister was switched at birth and trained by that
monk who killed the indian girl's parents and made him
kill his father��" the mumbling continued as Ranma
tried to puzzle out Dagger of Kamui.

"Baka," Akane whispered to herself watching him.
~Well, at least he isn't acting weird. Like Nabiki,
and then Ukyou. Both of them acting so��nice��~ Akane
narrowed her eyes as she thought of something.

"Hey you two, catch up," she called back. "I don't
want to be out all night?"

"Ucchan's is right down the street," Akane said.
Nabiki and Ranma both froze.

"Why would you want to go eat at a place where the
staff is likely to take your head off?" Nabiki asked
coolly.

"Ukyou isn't trying to kill us," Ranma said. "But I
don't really feel like talking to her again today."

"But remember when she APOLOGIZED," Akane said. "While
we were talking about how weird NABIKI was acting. She
asked us to come by." Nabiki arched an eyebrow as
Ranma looked at Akane and then nodded as he put things
together.

"And then Kasumi wasn't there to cook for our fathers
today," Ranma added. Ranma took a deep breath, looked
at Akane, the two nodded and started for Ucchan's.

"Hey!" Nabiki snapped. "This is supposed to be just a
night to relax, not deal with unwanted fiancees!"

"Something is going on here," Akane insisted.

"Why should you think that?" Nabiki asked them. Ranma
and Akane stopped, looked at each other, and turned to
face Nabiki with incredulous expressions. "What?"
Ranma and Akane started walking again.

"Ukyou apologizes to me AND Akane, you're treating us
to dinner and a movie, and Kasumi wasn't home to make
dinner," Ranma listed off each point. "What's next?
Ryouga deciding he's not mad at me anymore?"

"He wouldn't be mad at you if you didn't��" Akane's
automatic response was cut off as they came in sight
of Ucchan's.

"What the hell happened here?" Ranma demanded as he
stepped through the shattered doorway. "That's one of
Ryouga's Shi Shi Hokodan craters."

"Kasumi was with Ryouga," Akane said before they
rushed into the okonomiyaki restaurant.

~They must have told Ryouga,~ Nabiki thought to
herself. ~When I get my hands on the little PIG��~

"Hey, Ukyou!" Ranma called out. "What happened!?"

"Is anybody here?" Akane asked. "Kasumi?!"

"RANMA!!!" Ranma and both sisters were surprised when
a yellow blur seemed to appear out of nowhere and grab
the pig-tailed martial artist in what seemed to be a
bear hug. "I��m SO SORRY!!! I didn't know!!" Akane
stared as she felt every muscle in her body tense at
the sudden and before now unimaginable event.

~I didn't want to tell them yet, baka!~ Nabiki thought
as she slapped her forehead and began to imagine all
sorts of interesting tortures for a certain black pig.

Ranma's reaction couldn't be gauged as the quest for
oxygen had currently driven most conscious thoughts
from his head. Though what little thought was left was
taken up with wondering how Ryouga could flood tears
and yet not get enough on either of them to trigger
the transformations.

"Oh my," a familiar voice called out. "Perhaps I
shouldn't have reversed the pressure point so soon."

"What's going on here?!" Akane demanded. A piece of
paper floated down in front of her. She was going to
ignore it, until Nabiki gasped and went for it. Akane
snatched it and started reading.

"Ryouga, you're suffocating him!" Ukyou shouted.

"Huh?" Ryouga blinked and then dropped Ranma. "Oh,
sorry." He reached back and scratched the back of his
head, smiling sheepishly.

"GAAASSP��air��"

"This is Genma's handwriting," Akane noted, somewhat
shakily. She glanced to the bottom of the page and
blinked. "Page twenty!? Where's the rest of this?"

"Scattered about my room when he blew up after reading
it," Ukyou growled pointing at Ryouga. Nabiki glared
at him.

"Hello pig," Nabiki said quietly. Ryouga turned
towards Nabiki and laughed nervously, trying to remind
himself that it was just Nabiki and not some sort of
vengeful spirit. Then his mind reminded him that a
vengeful spirit of some sort would actually be
preferable.

"Hi��Nabiki," Ryouga laughed quietly again, reaching
his hand behind his head. ~I wonder what debtor's
prison is like.~

"Who are all you, and what have you done with our real
friends?" Ranma asked nervously.

"AHH!! HE CALLED ME A FRIEND!!"

Ranma's eyes widened as he leaped out of the way of
another hug.

"What's going on?" Ranma demanded.

"So much for the week, Nabiki," Kasumi sighed stepping
downstairs, she was sorting through a pile of papers..

"This is still family business," Nabiki insisted. "The
police can have him later."

"What are you talking about?"

"I think I have most of it, that page Akane has should
be the last," Kasumi noted. Akane stared at the pile
of paper that the one in her hand was soon added to.

"Umm, Ranma," Akane said. "I think you should read
that."

"What is it?" He glanced at the sheaf of papers in
Kasumi's hands.

"Actually, perhaps I should read it to him," Kasumi
suggested.

"I could read it to him just as easily," Akane
insisted, she had caught enough to know that this had
the potential to be very painful for Ranma. She should
be there for him.

"I can read it myself you know," Ranma reminded them.
"What is it?"

"You're father's journal, Ranchan," Ukyou said
quietly.

"That ratty old book?" Ranma blinked. "The only junk
he keeps that's worth anything is in scrolls."

"And why don't you seem to want me to read it?" Akane
demanded.

"Before��" Kasumi started

"I don't have any problem with it," Nabiki shrugged.
"Let her read it."

"Nabiki," Kasumi fixed her cynical sister with a look
before turning back to Akane. "Before you read this,
Akane, you should really have a talk with Ryouga." The
elder Tendo glanced at the lost boy who swallowed and
glanced to Ukyou pleadingly.

"You dug your own grave," the chef said, shrugging as
Ryouga turned to face the curious, and moderately
irritated, look on Akane's face. Akane turned back to
her sister.

"But��"

"I'll read it to Ranma," Kasumi promised her. She
looked toward Ukyou. "Do you think you can prevent
anything��unpleasant."

"I'll try," Ukyou said, a little unenthusiastically.

"Nabiki, behave," Kasumi somehow making her normal,
mild tone of voice sound very reproving.

Nabiki returned the comment with a predatorily cocked
head and arched eyebrow. As usual the effort was
totally wasted on Kasumi who merely turned back to
face Ranma. Nabiki paused to wonder if Kasumi didn't
notice the comments in the look, or else just knew
that she wouldn't try to upset her older sister.

"Now, I think there are still some serviceable chairs
upstairs," Kasumi said this considering the stairwell.
"Ranma, would you please..." She smiled again and
inclined her head.

"Uh, sure," he glanced apprehensively at the
stairwell. Everybody was looking at him like he was
going to his execution.

"What do you need to talk to me about," Akane asked
shortly, more than a little irritated that whatever he
had to say was keeping her from helping Ranma. Ranma
glanced at Ryouga suspiciously.

"Don't mind them Ranma," Kasumi instructed him. Ranma
gave one more look towards Ryouga before taking the
stairs, Kasumi following behind.

"Okay, so what's in Oyaji's book that's making
everyone act like pod people?" Ranma asked as she sat
in Ukyou's desk chair. Ranma took a lotus position on
the bed, more to remain at least near to eye level
with Kasumi, than because there were no other chairs.
He didn't usually mind the floor, though the scattered
glass from Ukyou's shattered window was a point
against that for now.

"I am not certain what you mean by 'pod people',
Ranma," Kasumi said. "I am almost finished checking
the order, this won't take long."

"Explain to me how you're P-CHAN!!" Ranma winced. At
least he wasn't confessing his love to her.

"Well, it looks to all be in order," Kasumi said.
"This could prove to be��painful Ranma, but we're all
here."

"Whatever," Ranma said. "Can we just get this over
with before Akane kills Ryouga?" Kasumi looked amused
at the comment, then she shook her head slightly and
sadly.

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

April 2, 1986

Yesterday was the boy's fourth birthday. Now I can
begin his training. I think I can improve upon the
master's techniques. Every day and every event in his
life is going to be some training. He is going to be
the greatest martial artist of generation, and he will
prove that I am greater than Happosai. The seppuku
agreement I made with his mother will be a good
motivator for later. For now I think I'll let him
think that Nodoka is dead, or else that she abandoned
us. It might make him bitter, more aggressive, less
distracted from the art.

He still hasn't earned a meal yet. Until he manages to
protect his food I've told him he'll have to settle
for water and bread. He hunts a great deal and hides
to eat his kills. I've caught him a few times and
taken the food. Lately it's been less, either he's
stopped doing it, or he's getting better and hiding
what he's doing.

The Neko-Ken is an utter failure. Not only is the boy
now terrified a mere cats, but even when the technique
is triggered he is out of control. That is hardly a
useful technique, a pity I don't have another child so
I can start over. But he is much faster and resistant
to pain now, so perhaps it isn't a total loss��

He's a lot less friendly now, perhaps the Neko-Ken was
a good idea after all.

The boy is an arrogant, loud-mouthed jerk. He couldn't
make friends if he tried. For some reason he still
does try. He's starting to become withdrawn and quiet,
he doesn't talk much. I can't beat him consistently in
a match any more. People are starting to notice that
he's not in school, I've been here too long, but I
still have things I need to do here. I am going to
have to enroll him school it seems. Hopefully he'll
see how weak everybody else is.

Don't the untrained masses understand that they us
martial artists their lives. We could destroy them in
a heartbeat and yet we protect them. And they have the
nerve to make us pay for food and such. Maybe school
will show Ranma how pathetic the masses are, show him
his true place in the world above them.

I ran across a story of some cursed training ground.
Apparently there are these pools that transform people
into various things. The boy is very adamant about his
manhood, as I've raised him to be, I read there was a
girl spring��

Found the training ground, I managed to get cursed as
well. The disobedient wretch tossed me into the spring
of drowned panda. He was actually mad after that,
however, and he wasn't holding back near as much as he
usually does. I'm glad the curse can be reversed,
thanks again to Hibiki for that revelation. The Amazon
village went about as well as can be expected, Shampoo
is a dangerous enemy it seems.

He likes Akane, he made an attempt to make friends
with her tonight. Fortunately she was sufficiently
angered upon discovering that the boy was a boy. It��s
a hopeless relationship, good thing she was chosen as
his fiancee, he won't possibly fall in love her. No
chance for a distraction from the art.

The boy is getting closer to Tendo's daughter. They
still fight, but it is beginning to sound more like a
game. Perhaps it is time for Tendo and I to enact
another matchmaking plan.

Kuno's sister is a wonderful tool. Wonderfully insane,
a definite danger that the boy has to adapt to��.

Shampoo is trying to marry the boy now. I did not work
this hard to see him end up as ONLY breeding material.
If the Amazons get him he'll get no respect, no one
would ever see the fruits of my work. At least Shampoo
is totally brainless.

Shampoo is more dangerous than I thought, her tricks
are more dangerous than Kodachi's. Protecting Akane
from her is driving the boy to new heights.

The elder Cologne arrived, the crone reminds me of the
master. She certainly is short and ugly enough. This
could be good or bad.

Cologne is either a gift from the gods or a curse. The
boy hasn't been able to beat this cat's tongue thing
yet. If he manages to, it means he's gotten much more
skilled. Otherwise he'll end up a nameless Amazon
male.

The Neko-ken proves useful, the boy defeated Cologne
with it. That should definitely be kept in the
regimen.

The boy hasn't learned to stop caring yet, hiding from
Nodoka is tearing him apart. This shouldn't take too
much more to drive him over the edge.

She declared him manly!! With that curse and she
claims that he's manly. She should have forced the
issue and made him give up on Bushido entirely. Manly
indeed.

Ranma finally went full out and he KILLED A GOD!
Unfortunately I was under a spell and missed most of
the fight. It seems he was driven by his need to
protect Akane. Maybe if I threaten her life again. The
two are getting awfully close, maybe Nabiki would be a
better choice for his fiancee. She would be a
distraction certainly, but definitely an unwelcome
one. He's too accepting of Akane, I need to take her
out of the picture some how, though��.

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

"Its kind of quiet up there," Akane noted.

"Let's just go ahead and neuter him," Nabiki said
coldly, "Ukyou? Do you happen to have a dull knife
handy?"

"A dull knife?" Ryouga screamed. 

"Of course!" Nabiki said quite cooly, as though
discussing the price of pork bellies with a business
partner, "Castration is always done with a dull knife.
Otherwise, the pig might bleed to death." 

Ryouga swallowed under her glare, he could feel
himself breaking into a cold sweat. Then there was the
faint feeling he supposed was from all the blood
rushing to his head. The lost boy was hanging
upside-down, one foot tied to a beam, very much like a
piece of ham. A rope encircled him, immobilizing his
arms.

"He's not a pervert, Nabiki," Akane returned. "If he
tried to be he'd just faint dead away at the first
sign of flesh."  Nabiki shrugged.

"I'll forgive him when he shows he's worthy of it,"
Nabiki said.

"Aren't you the one that agreed with this idea?" Ukyou
asked pointing at Ryouga.

"Yeah, but HE thought of it," Akane said pointing to
Ryouga, then she changed the subject. "Just how bad is
that 'journal'?"

"Among other things," Nabiki started. "He set Ryouga
and Ukyou up to chase him, went to Jusenkyo
deliberately, and the Amazon village. There was also
the bit about drugging Ukyou so she'd be suitably
aggressive at the wedding." Akane's jaw dropped and
she looked to Ukyou who appeared chagrined.

"I should have known something was strange," Ukyou
whispered contritely.

"Hey it wasn't your fault," Ryouga said. "How can you
expect to catch things when you can't think straight?"

"I still should have noticed," Ukyou protested, though
she still glanced at Ryouga thankfully.

"I didn't notice," Nabiki pointed out. "How can the
rest of you be expected to catch it?"

"We're not idiots Nabiki," Akane hmphed. Nabiki arched
an eyebrow. The sound of soft footsteps on the stairs
caught their attention. Looking up they saw Kasumi
looking pale and upset, she paused for a moment and
put her hand to her chest as she caught her breath. In
her other hand she was holding the printed journal.

"There's the other thing too��" Ryouga noted, eyes
narrowed, Nabiki and Ukyou glanced at Akane and looked
nervous.

"What other thing?" Akane asked.

"He��AHHHHEEEEEE!!!!" The scream turned high-pitched
toward the end as his free leg was jerked down. Nabiki
smirked.

"Sorry about that," Ukyou apologized as sincerely as
she could. "I lost my balance for a moment."

"No problem," Ryouga answered in a high, squeaky
voice. Akane sweatdropped.

"Akane, dear," Kasumi called out. 

"Yes?" Akane called out nervously.

"Can you come up here please?" Akane looked around
nervously and then walked upstairs. She looked at her
sister and then turned toward Ukyou's room and saw
Ranma just staring with an unreadable expression on
his face. "He needs some support, and I think you are
the better candidate."

"H..hai��" she stared at the collection of papers and
narrowed her eyes. Then she turned around approached
Ranma.

Kasumi fanned herself and then noticed what she was
using and held it out again at arm's length as she
walked downstairs. She set the bundle down and looked
around the restaurant.

"I see the lights survived," Kasumi commented. She
wandered over to the counter-grill and walked to where
the beverages were kept. "You don't serve alcohol."
She closed the fridge and sighed. Everybody stared at
her.

"You��drink?" Nabiki managed finally. Kasumi shrugged.

"About once a year," Kasumi explained with an
embarrassed smile. "It's why I sometimes have
difficulty waking up after the anniversary of Mother's
death.  But I could make an exception for tonight."
She noticed Ryouga finally, walked over and turned him
to face her. She stared down at him and then bent over
to try and meet him face to face. "You make a lot of
noise, do you know that?"

"Well��" Ryouga giggled nervously as Kasumi righted
herself again.

"How's Ranchan taking it?" Ukyou asked nervously.
Kasumi looked up at the ceiling.

"As well as can be expected," she answered. "He hasn't
said anything yet."

"I think I'm passing out here," Ryouga noted.

"Did you hear something," Nabiki asked.

"Nope," Ukyou shrugged, her arm smacking into Ryouga
and starting him spinning, albeit slowly.

"Kasumi?" Ryouga pleaded.

"With all your battles and training, you can't handle
this?" Kasumi asked curiously, though she did bend
down to check Ryouga's pulse.

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

"Ranma?" Akane whispered. He looked at her with a sort
of shocked expression.

"If it wasn't Kasumi��" he whispered. Akane sat down
next to him and hesitantly touched grabbed his hand.
"Not once in that thing does he ever write down my
name, everybody else's name is there, but me? The boy,
the boy, the boy." He narrowed his eyes and growled
out the words.

"Maybe he thought you'd recognize your own name," she
added hopefully. Ranma looked at her and snorted.

"He wanted my mom to declare me unmanly, he tried to
cook Ryouga, drugged Ukyou so that she'd act crazy at
our wedding," he said quietly.

"They told me that downstairs," she said. ~Perhaps not
the part about your mother, or cooking Ryouga, but,
well.~

"There's something else too." Ranma hesitated and
looked down. "Well there are a lot of something elses,
but��"

"Go on," Akane said. ~This must be that "other thing"
they were talking about.~ 

He sighed and then looked her directly in the face.
"He talks about getting rid of you."

"Oh," Akane was shocked and sat up straight for a
moment.

"He wanted a monster, so he made me." That snapped
Akane out of her momentary daze

"Ranma, you are not a monster," she insisted

"I asked you once if you could tell me what I have
without my strength and you couldn't give me an
answer," Ranma protested.

"Kami-sama, I was EMBARRASSED. Baka," She rubbed the
brow of her nose and shook her head. "You routinely
help your enemies out of trouble even though you know
they'll be attacking you as soon as they get what they
want. You helped Happosai because you felt sorry for
him!"

"I didn't think you.."

"Noticed?" she lifted her eyes heavenward for
patience. "You're a jerk, and an idiot, and you really
DON'T know how to help people outside of a fight, but
you're hardly a monster."

"Thanks, I think," Ranma muttered.

"Happosai is a monster, your father sounds like a
monster," Akane continued. "YOU are a martial artist."
Ranma smiled briefly and frowned again.

"The best," he added hollowly. Akane frowned as he
went back to staring at the floor.

"Kami-sama," she muttered a little angrily before
taking Ranma's head around and kissing him before he
could react. After several long moments she let him
go. "Do you need any other proof that you're not a
monster? Because I certainly wouldn't kiss a monster."
Ranma sputtered and stared at her as she sat smiled at
him in what she hoped was an encouraging manner.

"Thanks, Akane.." Ranma started, shaking his head to
clear it.

"AAAHHHH!!! Go OUTSIDE to be sick!" Ukyou cried out
from below to interrupt them.

"Maybe we should go downstairs and figure something
out," Akane said reluctantly, standing up. 

"We could just feed him to Nabiki," Ranma grumbled as
he stood up, accepting Akane's offered hand. Akane
smirked at the joke.

They walked down stairs and faced their friend's
expectant faces. Nabiki was looking at the both of
them with an expression similar to one Ranma wore
often enough while protecting Akane. Ukyou mostly
looked guilty, but she was occasionally emitting
sparks of a fiery orange aura as she worked to clean
the mess on her floor. Kasumi's expression was, as
usual, unreadable. As for Ryouga, he'd passed out.
Ranma noted his rival's position and glanced at Akane
nervously. 

One thing he didn't notice was pity, and he was glad
of that. Of course pity had to come from a position of
superiority, and Ryouga and Ukyou's lives were almost
as thoroughly ruined as Ranma's. Genma had been
starting on the Tendo sisters as well. All in all,
everybody was in too much the same situation for there
to be much in the way of pity.

"Sorry Ucchan," Ranma said finally. He considered
apologizing to Ryouga, but unconscious people didn't
hear too well.

"About what?" the chef asked, before returning to the
distasteful task of cleaning up the former contents of
Ryouga's stomach.

"About being mad about the wedding," he explained
quietly.

"Me too," Akane added reluctantly.

"Why are you two apologizing?" Ukyou asked, she
mentally winced at identifying the pair of them as a
couple again, but tried not to let it show. "It's the
panda's fault. Besides I could have seriously hurt
somebody, you had a right to be mad."

"Well..." Ranma shrugged and then let the subject
drop. "What's next?"

"It is rather late," Kasumi noted. "Perhaps we should
save this discussion for tomorrow. Ryouga-san has
already chosen to get some rest it seems." Everybody
took a moment to figure out if she was being serious
or witty. "I'm certain something will come to one of
us by then." Everybody agreed to that, plans already
hatching in more than one mind.

Ukyou cut down Ryouga and tried to wake him up. She
was mumbling something about learning to clean up his
own messes as she did. Ranma and the Tendo sisters
left in a group, though Ranma and, Akane soon dropped
away from the elder two. Neither felt like returning
to the dojo that night. Nabiki and Kasumi had to have
noticed, but neither commented on it. Ranma and Akane
could take care of themselves quite well, at least
physically.

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

Akane watched Ranma carefully as he walked to the edge
of the water in the canal. She could feel the chill
falling out from him in waves. Everybody thought that
pride and confidence were at Ranma's center. The Mouko
Takabisha seemed proof enough of that. Akane would
certainly have agreed, until Jusendo.

It was not his pride that served them most at Jusendo.
It was his adaptability. It was his control. It was
his cool. The pride was just a side effect, just as
Saffron's death was a side effect of his need to save
her life. He had given the phoenix every chance to get
out of the way, Saffron just didn't listen. 

Akane watched as Ranma projected his fury and betrayal
in a cold wave over out from his body. She frowned as
the air around him started to mist over, revealing a
slight swirl in the wind pattern. The mist thickened
to the point that it condensed, covering Ranma in a
fine coating of cold water, and changing him into a
her. The chill continued to deepen until Ranma was
standing in the middle of a small snow flurry.

Ranma suddenly extended her hand with a growl and the
chill extended over the canal. Akane gasped as the
water froze over. As the flooding began further up the
current, she realized that the entire section of the
waterway had frozen straight through and was blocking
the flow. Then she set her face in a determined cast
and strode forward.

"Ranma," Akane said cautiously. "You don't have to do
this, it's not your fault."

"Go away, Akane," Ranma said. "You might get hurt."
The red-head didn't turn to face her, so she didn't
see Akane narrow her eyes in irritation briefly.

~Akane no baka, you don't want to prick his pride
right now,~ she thought in response to her rising
anger. ~You want to calm him down.~ How get him to
notice her past the swirling snow and wall of cold
chi, however, baffled her. Akane paused a moment as an
idea entered her head. She momentarily closed her eyes
and worked inside to call her own battle aura out,
concentrating on trying comfort Ranma.

As the air around her warmed up she opened her eyes
and paid careful attention to not look at the
flickering aura around her body. That would just
distract her, and she didn't want to be distracted.
The aura faded into invisibility as she concentrated
on extending it outward.

The circle of her aura was not as large as Ranma's,
but it was stable. Where the two circles met, snow
again became mist. That was all Akane needed to know
as she continued her walk forward. As the circles
converged on each other, the stars began to disappear
from the sky above.

Ranma frowned as the temperature rose around her. She
had thought that her control was much better than
that. Yet here she was, losing hold of her aura,
letting something distract her from her attempt to
freeze the canal solid. She didn't realize what was
happening until the sensation of a warm and gentle
touch, directed him to turn and face Akane.

"Akane.." Ranma started, but the raven-haired girl
smiled and placed a finger on her lips to silence her.

"You're hurting yourself, baka," she said.

"So, my life's ruined anyway," the red-head protested.
The clouds above began to expand in roiling billows.
"The old man..." Akane silenced him again.

"He doesn't matter, Ranma," she smiled softly,
radiating concern and comfort. She took another step
forward and embraced the surprised martial-artist.
Lightning played along the underside of the overcast
as fire and ice met. "I guess you need more proof."

"But we're both..."

"Shh, it DOESN'T matter," Akane whispered as she
kissed the smaller girl. The first rumble of thunder
was heard over head as the kiss began. The rain
started several minutes later, but the chi-created
storm wouldn't hit its peak for another hour yet.

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

"What are you looking at," Ukyou asked angrily.
Ryouga, who was supposed to be helping her, was
staring at her nervously.

"That's not healthy," he said simply, pointing at her.

"What?" she demanded. "What's not healthy!?" Orange
sparks of aura danced around her.

"That!" He pointed at her. "You need to release that
chi."

"Well excuse me," she growled. "Not all of us are used
to erupting into a volcano every time they feel a
little down."

"Its tainted, Ukyou," he tried to explain. "It'll just
keep getting worse if you don't release it. THAT'S why
I get rid of it as soon as I can."

"I want to be good and angry next time I see the
panda," she snapped. "Back to work!'

"If you don't release the chi, it'll kill you Ukyou,"
he said simply. "And probably take out a good portion
of the neighborhood with you."

"Okay, fine," Ukyou throw down her broom. "How do I
'release it,' P-chan?" Ryouga tried not to get angry.

"Let's step outside for a moment first," Ryouga
suggested. "Unless you WANT a hole in your roof."

"I'm not doing anything anywhere NEAR my restaurant,"
Ukyou snapped. "But if you insist on me, releasing,
let's go!" She zipped past him and out the door, not
caring if she lost him or not. When she stopped inside
the gates of Furinkan she was surprised to see him
still with her. "How did you follow me!?"

"I CAN follow something I can see," Ryouga explained.
"And you're lit up like it was the new-year." Ukyou
growled radiating more of those fiery orange sparks.

"I thought you wanted to help me get rid of this," she
said tightly.

"I do, call your battle aura," he told her. Ukyou
narrowed her eyes, but reached to summon that clarity
of focus that indicated the presence of a battle aura
about her. As the sight of so many flattened Kunos
flared into life, Ryouga swallowed nervously. "Good,
now try to force it all into the space between your
hands."

"How do I do that?" she demanded.

"Umm, imagine you're holding the panda's head," he
suggested quickly. "Like this." He held his hands out
for to draw his Shi Shi Hokodan, and Ukyou watched the
chi start to form in his hands.

"Okay," Ukyou closed her eyes and focused on the space
between her hands.

"POINT UP!!" he added hastily. Ukyou opened her eyes a
crack to glare at him, but prepared to throw her arms
upward anyway.

The panda had taken her friend away. He had given her
a hope for love and family, and smashed it. He had
tortured and manipulated her oldest friend. He had
almost made her the instrument of another friend's
death. Almost made her lose the two best friends she
had. He had taken her carefully planned life and
revealed it as a joke. He had drugged her. He had made
her lose control, and brought a chaos that hadn't been
there before. She growled before tossing her hands
upward.

"KONTON SUTERU!!""SHI SHI HOKODAN!!" A pillar of wild
chi-flame rose into the sky alongside the even,
symmetrical cylinder of green power that was Ryouga's
Shi Shi Hokodan. Every window in the front of the
school shattered inward, and the two martial artist's
were treated to a virtual rain of leaves from the
trees in the courtyard. Something in the chem-lab
reacted and an explosion opened up a corner of the
school. As the chi-pillars subsided, both martial
artists stared upward wearily.

"Feel better?" Ryouga asked after a long moment. 

"Actually, yeah," Ukyou said. "Thanks."

"No problem," Ryouga shrugged. He paused for a moment
and then he just HAD to ask. "chaos rejection?"

"It sounds better than panda killer," Ukyou said. The
sound of the school's fire alarm reached their ears.
"We'd better go before they find us here, besides it
looks like its going to rain." Ryouga glanced that
direction and stared.

"Ranma and Akane," he muttered and slumped. ~I knew it
was too late any way.~

"What are you talking about," she asked, but could
already guess the answer.

"Its like a hiryu shoten ha, but its much stronger and
developing much slower," he said pointing at the
developing storm. "It takes two auras for that, one
hot..."

"Akane," Ukyou said, realizing. "And one cold?"

"Ranma," Ryouga nodded resignedly.

"Let's go home," Ukyou said absently.

"Yeah, we still need to clean up," Ryouga agreed, not
noticing how she had grouped them.

"And think about how to kill the panda," Ukyou agreed.
The two martial artists left for Ucchan's.

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

"Kasumi, I assume you managed to get Ryouga home,"
Soun said as she and Nabiki returned home.

"He's being taken care of, father," Kasumi said
sweetly. She ignored Genma glancing in their
direction, while trying not to take his eyes off the
shogi board.

"Where are Ranma and Akane?" he asked, as if just
curious. "Weren't they with you, Nabiki?"

"They were," she said, shrugging. "I have no idea
where they are now. With those two, who knows?" She
yawned and stretched. "Well, I'm off to bed, early day
tomorrow."

"I would like some rest as well," Kasumi agreed. "I'll
need to be up early to catch up with the chores I
missed today."

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

Cologne stood at the window of her room and gazed out
warily. There was a massive amount of chi in the air,
she could feel the tingle even before she saw the
paired pillars and the storm that was developing with
supernatural speed. As the storm suddenly erupted into
a veritable sheet of water she sighed.

Something had happened tonight. Something incredible
enough to awaken the chi potential of at least one
person. She turned from the window and walked to her
bed, wondering just what had happened to Ranma this
time.

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

Ukyou, and a little black piglet that she was holding
by the scrap of its bandanna, arrived to find Konatsu
standing in the remains of Ucchan's dining room. There
were a few bags on the counter obviously filled. Ukyou
idly wondered just how he had managed to find all the
things she had asked him to get.

"Ukyou-sama, what happened here?"

"Ryouga got depressed," Ukyou explained dryly. "Didn't
you notice the crater out front?"

"Oh yes," Konatsu nodded. "Now that you mention it the
damage is fairly familiar. Isn't that Akane-san's pet
pig?" Ukyou deposited the embarrassed looking pig on
the remains of a table along with a of pile clothes
that Konatsu recognized as Ryouga's.

"Nope, he's going to be staying here for a while,"
Ukyou said. "At least until he can pay for all of
this."

"How can a pig��" Konatsu glanced at the nervous pig
and the pile of clothes. "He's Ryouga, isn't he."

"You got it, sugar," Ukyou said, yawning on her way
upstairs. "Can you get him set up please, I'd do it
myself, but��" She gestured at the pile of clothes she
had deposited and blushed. "Anyway, I'm tired, see you
tomorrow guys."

"But��" Konatsu paused as he heard the door to Ukyou's
room close and then looked toward the little black
piglet. "Ukyou-sama only has the one guest room, but I
think I can find something for you." Ryouga swallowed
nervously as he recognized the jealous glint in
Konatsu's eyes.

"BWEE!!"

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

"Why that FIEND!" Konatsu gasped. "How could he do
that to his own son and my Ukyou-Sama. He must die!!"
Shampoo halted her bike and stared at the ninja girl
who was sitting in the park flipping through a sheath
of papers. If those papers had something to do with
her airen, then maybe she could use it against him.

"Putting Spatula-girl's waitress in hospital good for
business too," she added cheerily as she veered her
bike towards Konatsu. To her surprise the ninja turned
to face her and easily avoided the Bicycle of Death.

"Xian Pu-san?" he asked, confused. Shampoo stared in
surprise that someone had dodged her bicycle strike
for once and then dismounted to press the attack.

"Give Shampoo papers!!!" The girl growled.

"Ukyou-sama did not want me reading this information,"
Konatsu insisted, dodging Shampoo's attacks. "I do not
wish to further try her patience by passing them on to
you."

"Is fine, Shampoo want punish ninja girl anyway,"
Shampoo smiled viciously. After several exchanges the
ninja seemed to melt out of her reach and she was
dodging a shower of shurikens.

"Punish me for what, Xian Pu-san?" Konatsu asked a
little irritated that her quest to avenge Ukyou-sama
was held up by this woman. "I have done nothing to
you."

"You mistress in Shampoo way," the blue-haired girl
insisted. "And you help, is obstacle, and obstacles is
for killing!"

"I have business to attend to Xian Pu-san," Konatsu
insisted with narrowed eyes. Shampoo growled as the
ninja seemed to just melt away from her attacks.

"Stand still and fight!!" Shampoo insisted just before
a short length of weighted chain wrapped around her
ankle and pulled. The amazon found herself propelled
against a tree. As she was reeling back from that
found herself wrapped in a tight web of thin,
ultra-strong thread.

"I don't have time for this," Konatsu insisted,
leaping away. Shampoo stared off in shock at the
defeat and then smirked as she saw that the ninja had
left the papers behind. Getting free took only as long
as waiting for Mousse to find her.

~Stupid ninja girl pay for this,~ Shampoo growled.

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

Nabiki released her breath in relief as she saw Ranma
and Akane heading to school ahead of her. With that
storm that had gone on all night, she had been mildly
worried when they didn't show up at home by morning.
She decided to jog a little and catch up with the pair
of girls, which Ranma was at the moment.

"Hey guys," the brown haired girl called out. Ranma
and Akane turned to look at her and waited for her to
catch up.

"Hey, oneesan," Ranma waved, a little reserved, though
that was normal for him. Nabiki noted that they both
looked moderately smug and satisfied, which she found
odd considering last night's revelations.

"We were worried about you this morning."

"Oh, sorry about that," Akane said quietly. Nabiki
took a look at their sodden clothes, lack of school
bags, and the clasped hands.

"You should probably go back and get your bags and
some new clothes," Nabiki suggested. "Being to school
on to time won't be worth much without those. Besides
you still have time."

"If Ranma carries me," Akane agreed. The red-head
blushed, Akane smirked at her. "I need to learn that
roof-hopping trick."

"I'm not sure about..."

"Father and the panda are out looking for you," Nabiki
told them. "I made some comment about Kuno and they
were suddenly off to uproot the Kuno estate."

"Oh...thanks," Ranma said quietly. Akane's grip on her
hand tightened.

"So looks like you two found the clouds and rain,"
Nabiki said snidely. Both girls stared at her
wide-eyed and blushed furiously. Nabiki blinked, and
then started blushing herself. "It was a joke...oh
my...uh...congratulations? Uh...I have to go..."
Nabiki left before she could further stick her foot in
her mouth.

"I hope she doesn't say anything," Ranma said.

"I don't think she will," Akane suggested hopefully.
"At least I hope not."

"Otherwise the next thing you know we'll be getting
asked to go make rain everywhere," Ranma agreed.

"Its so embarrassing," Akane muttered. "We FLOODED the
canal."

"It was kind of nice sleeping in Tofu's old place
though," Ranma said. "For once nobody to attack us in
the middle of the night."

"Yeah, it was," Akane smiled at her. Both of them
continued toward the dojo, blissfully unaware of the
conclusions the middle Tendo had come to.

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

Ukyou looked about in confusion. Ryouga hadn't been in
Konatsu's room, though she hadn't really expected
that. He wasn't in her, admittedly tiny, living room,
or anywhere in the decimated dining area. She had
checked the kitchen, the small office, and even the
storeroom. Konatsu had left before she could get
specifics out of him.

~Jackass got himself lost,~ Ukyou told herself.
"Doesn't he know better than that, well if he's lost
the chance to kill the panda, I don't mind taking him
all myself." She remembered passing his pack and
clothes in the living room and considered that. "Maybe
he's still a pig."

Ukyou shrugged as she passed through the walk-in
cooler and opened the freezer door to get some
ingredients for breakfast. All thoughts of food fled
at the sight of a thoroughly miserable looking piglet
staring at her as she opened the door. She stared for
a full second before snatching the piglet up, rushing
to her bathroom and running a hot bath for the piglet.

"JUST HOW DID YOU GET IN THE FREEZER!!!"

"I th-th-think your waitress has a c..crush on you,"
Ryouga told her. Then the fact that he was alone in a
room with a girl, and no clothes came crashing in on
him. Ukyou blinked as his nose started bleeding and he
fainted.

"Jackass," Ukyou growled, and hauled him out of the
water before he drowned. Slumping him over the side of
the tub she went downstairs to collect his clothes.
Which was when she noticed something else that was
missing. "Oh no."

"Where am I?" Ryouga asked himself as he came to,
shortly before Ukyou slammed the door open and tossed
his clothes in.

"The journal's gone!" she snapped.

"What?" Ryouga blinked. "We have to��" He dropped back
into the tub as Ukyou's spatula connected with his
head. "What did you that for?!"

"First, you spent all night in a freezer," Ukyou
noted. "But MOST important, you're naked and I'M still
in here!"

"Oh��" Ryouga chuckled nervously as Ukyou growled and
left the room. "Why is it girls can walk in on guys,
and its still our fault?" He pondered that momentarily
as he continued to soak last night's chill out of his
body.

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

Nabiki could only stare as she approached the school
and saw the construction crews. Students were arriving
and being sent home as they showed up. As she walked
up to the gates she noted the large crater right next
to a large circular scorch mark. She recognized the
crater as one of the side effects of Ryouga's Shi Shi
Hokodan, but the other was a new damage type.

The school itself was showing mixes of water damage
and a fire. From what she could tell it had started in
the chem lab. Considering some of the stuff that went
on in there she thought that perhaps it had even
burned through the storm for a time.

"Okay, what's this?" Nabiki asked a random
construction worker.

"Between that freak storm and whatever martial artists
were fighting here last night," the construction
worker explained. "The school just couldn't take it,
we'll have the repairs finished in time for classes
tomorrow young lady."

"Oh swell," Nabiki sighed. Between accidentally
discovering Akane and Ranma's activities (as she
thought they were) last night, and this, the day was
already very strange. At least now she had the time to
make some calls. It was time to test just WHO was the
better schemer.

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

"Hello, Tendo training hall," Kasumi spoke softly into
the telephone. "Oh, Ukyou, it certainly is early��.Oh
my, that could be a problem. Oh no, we can make
another copy. Father and Saotome-san left for the Kuno
residence. I'll leave it to you and Ryouga then."

"Tadaima!" Kasumi looked to the front door as Ranma
and Akane, looking like they had been dragged through
the mud, appeared in the doorway.

"Oh, there you two are," she blinked at them, titled
her head, and looked at them blankly. Which was about
as close to a frown as she usually got. "Perhaps you
two need a bath?"

"We're heading that way, Kasumi," Akane promised her.
"Nabiki said Dad was out with��him?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Good, maybe we can head out to school before they get
back," Ranma muttered heading gingerly for the stairs
and trying not to leave a mess.

"Oh, school's canceled," Kasumi told them. "It was
just on the news, flooding and some kind of fire I
believe." Ranma and Akane stopped and stared at her.

"Flooding?"

"Yes, like you're doing to my floor," Kasumi pointed,
still speaking sweetly. Akane and Ranma looked down,
and then rushed for the bathroom. "Bath separately."
She called out as they vanished into the furo. Kasumi
smiled slightly and moved to clean the mess they had
just made.

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

Konatsu finally found his prey, the fat older man was
a striking a stolid pose and seeming to be
investigating the estate before him. Konatsu glanced
about and saw Akane-san's father taking a more active
stance in their search and walking around the wall
looking for the easiest entrance. It was good that
he'd overheard Nabiki-san speaking to Ranma and Akane,
otherwise he might never have found the beast that had
so misused his Ukyou-sama.

The male kunoichi smiled demurely before launching his
attack. Genma flashed around in time to see the shower
of shurikens and dodge.

"Aren't you that Kuonji girl's waitress?" Genma asked
as he took a fighting stance. Konatsu smiled and faced
him, glancing back to see Soun approaching.

Konatsu answered by launching a storm of shuriken at
the retreating martial artist. Genma smirked as he
casually dodged past them all.

"I don't know why you're attacking me, girl," he
declared. "But you've made a mistake taking on a
master of the Saotome school of Anything Goes martial
arts."

"Excuse me, miss," Soun called out. "But why are you
attacking my friend?" As the fight became aerial it
became obvious that he wouldn't be able to aid his
friend.

"He must die for crimes against, my mistress," Konatsu
declared, dodging an attack by the fat martial artist.
Genma was frowning now, the ninja "girl" refused to
stand and fight. He would have to alter his strategy a
little.

"There he is!!" a shout called out. "Konatsu, I want
to talk to you!!"

"Ukyou-sama?" The brief distraction was all Genma
needed as he launched a ki-enlarged punch at the
ninja. Konatsu turned around in time to see the huge
fist smash into the Kuno estate wall.

"KONATSU!!" Ukyou growled. "Hurry up, Ryouga!!" 

"I'm right behind you, Ukyou!" Ryouga's voice called
out, Genma and Soun turned to see them charging down
the street.

Genma took a moment to try and gauge his chances in
the upcoming fight, and swallowed hard. He didn't know
what had set them all off, but he did know that Ryouga
at least could give Ranma a run for his money. With
Soun's help maybe he could win, after all the girl
couldn't be that good.

"Ready, Tendo?" Saotome glanced to his friend and
noted that Soun seemed a little confused and hesitant,
but he did fall into stance just the same. Both turned
to face the oncoming charge and were surprised as both
teens fell back and cupped their hands around air.

"SHI SHI HOKODAN!!!" "KONTON SUTERU!!!"

Soun watched as wild blast of orange chi-fire
intersected with Ryouga's Shi Shi Hokodan to form one
large chi column blazing toward his friend. Genma saw
it too and wisely leapt clear.

~Okay, maybe I couldn't take the girl, either..~ he
thought as he utilized the Saotome Secret Technique.

"Saotome you coward!!" Soun called out as the two
younger martial artists charged towards him. He
prepared to defend himself to death, when they both
paused and bowed to him.

"Excuse us Tendo-san," Ryouga said, before continuing
to race after the fleeing Genma.

"We're having a slight problem with Ranma's father,"
Ukyou explained calmly, then turned to where Konatsu
was standing up. "COMING KONATSU!?!" Letting the
effeminate boy know exactly how irritated she was with
him.

"H..h��hai, Ukyou-Sama." Then the three teens vanished
after Genma.

"What is going on here?"

"Where's the journal, Konatsu?" Ukyou growled. "And
I'm not going to mention where I found Ryouga this
morning."

"Umm, thank you, Ukyou-sama, I'm sorry but couldn't
help myself," he swallowed as they ran. "In either
case."

"WAIT UP, JACKASS!! You'll just get lost!"

"We're going to lose him!" Ryouga called back.

"Where's the Journal Konatsu."

"I��lost it."

"WHAT!!?"

"I had a slight altercation with that Chinese girl
before finding the beast," Konatsu noted. "Maybe I
left it behind then?"

"Great," she turned back to face Ryouga. "Don't lose
him, Ryouga, or the Amazons will get first crack!!!"

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

"Shampoo give ninja girl Kiss of Death next time she
see her," Shampoo declared pacing back and forth while
Cologne and Mousse read through the Japanese script
with growing expressions of disgust. Cologne paused a
moment to face her granddaughter.

"You were beaten my Kuonji's��waitress?"

"Yes, great-grandmother," Shampoo said after a moments
hesitation.

"This could be a problem," Cologne noted before
returning to her reading. "That ninja is a boy, not a
girl." Shampoo stared at her great-grandmother in
shock and horror. She imagined for a moment Cologne
deciding that this more recent defeat was more binding
than her past one to Ranma. Konatsu served Ukyou, if
Shampoo married he��him, the laws of this backward
place would say that she too served the spatula-girl.
The amazon briefly pondered this before fainting dead
away.

The sound of a vast array of thrown objects passing
through the air brought Cologne's attention to the
street in time to see Genma Saotome flee past among a
cloud of various projectiles. Three enraged teens
followed close on his heels.

"I have read enough of this to know something of what
must be done," Cologne said. Then turned to Mousse.
"Wake up Shampoo, we have to make sure they leave
something for Amazon justice."

"Indeed, and I had always thought Ranma was the devil
Saotome," Mousse nodded. The three amazons joined the
chase in the next moment. Though Shampoo was still
uncertain of just why they were chasing Ranma's
father.

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

"Do you have any idea of what you're going to do?"
Akane asked cautiously as Ranma, male after his bath,
joined her in the dojo. This was something that had to
be dealt with quickly, before the panda did something
drastic.

"I have some ideas," Ranma muttered. "Not sure they'll
work though." He sat down next to her. "This isn't the
kind of thing I can just beat up you know."

"Why not?" Akane asked grimly.

"What would that prove," Ranma asked. "I do that all
the time anyway."

"Oh, I see your point," Akane frowned. "So what will
you do then?" Ranma held up his hand and started
picking off points on his fingers.

"The way I see it I can give up martial arts, not
going to happen," Ranma said that as a definite. "I
can abandon the Saotome name, but I ain't going ronin;
I can kill him, but he might look at that as proof he
was right, besides he IS my father. Unfortunately.
Nabiki's who I want to talk to, and Mom."

"Ranma! Akane!" they turned around to face Soun
barreling into the dojo. "Do you have any idea as to
why Ukyou, Ryouga and that ninja waitress are trying
to kill your father?" Akane and Ranma looked at each
other and then glared toward Soun.

"A very good idea, dad," Akane said. "Though I haven't
actually read it yet."

"Read what?" Soun asked as Ranma and Akane stood up.
Ranma tossed him a much fingered through journal.
Akane blinked for a moment and then stared at Ranma.

"I always knew where it was," he shrugged. "I just
didn't know what was in it."

"Father, did you say that Ryouga and Ukyou were trying
to kill Saotome-san," Kasumi asked as she breezed into
the dojo. She looked at the book in his hands and
turned to Ranma and Akane. "Is that what I think it
is?"

"Yeah, tell Dad what's going on," Akane said. "We have
to go make sure they don't take our pound of flesh."

"Akane you really must pay attention after you've been
reading Shakespeare," Kasumi noted. "You sometimes
sound like Kuno." Akane blushed a little before she
and Ranma left the dojo at a run.

"Kasumi, what is going on?" Soun asked.

"Ranma's father has some things to answer for,
Father," Kasumi noted.

As they left the dojo complex Akane had a sudden
thought.

"Shouldn't Nabiki be back by now," she gasped.

"You don't think��" Ranma stopped and narrowed his
eyes. "If he's done anything, we'll make him pay."

They didn't have to go far before a sight very
familiar to Nerimans passed by. A parade of pursuers
chasing after a Saotome, the only difference being
that the Saotome in question was much older than the
usual victim.

"How the HELL did the amazon's get involved in this?"
Ranma asked angrily.

"Well, do you see any way to stop this," Akane asked
dryly. "Or should we just join in?"

"I'm still trying to get used the idea of not being
the one getting chased," Ranma muttered. He looked to
the rooftops and ran over past chases in his head.
"Come on, Akane."

"RANMA!! They went that way!!" Akane shouted as she
lifted up and suddenly flying through the air in
Ranma's arms.

"Trust me on this one Akane," Ranma said.

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

"So you see the problem, Auntie," Nabiki said as her
lunch guess flipped through papers at random. Nabiki
really didn't want so many copies of the thing
floating around, but since Ukyou had the only other
printed copy, and she didn't want to move the
original, she had to make another one.

"How can I be certain that this isn't a forgery,
Nabiki," Nodoka asked seriously. "I am well aware of
your reputation."

"To tell you the truth, Auntie," Nabiki said
shrugging. "My reputation is little bit more extensive
than I am. I could forge a page maybe, but that entire
thing? Even with my computer it would take me too long
to be worth it. I'd lose too much money."

"So I can trust you because it isn't practical,"
Nodoka repeated. Nabiki shrugged and yawned as if
bored.

"I checked the records," Nabiki said. "There are
currently only three Saotomes on the list of names,
Ranma, Genma, and you. I suppose I could work a fourth
one in with Ranko, but it��s a little risky. If Ranma
and Akane get married though��"

"What are you planning?" Nodoka asked suspiciously.

"A little clan restructuring," Nabiki said, smiling
evilly.

"Isn't that Ranma and Akane outside?" Nodoka pointed
past Nabiki's shoulders.

"Huh?" Nabiki, blinked and looked to see Ranma setting
her sister down. "What are they doing here?" Nabiki
stood up and started walking to the doorway when she
saw the dust cloud. "Oh��my��Auntie Saotome, get
down!!" Nabiki rushed back to the rear of the diner as
the parade came closer.

"What seems to be��oh," the two of them ducked behind
one of the booths and prepared for an explosion.

"How did you know they'd be coming here?" Akane asked.

"With all the times I've been chased across this
town?" Ranma answered. He turned back to the
approaching crowd, and extended his arm. "Ready?"

"Yep," Akane cracked her knuckles. They both waited
patiently for the older Saotome to approach before
pouncing on the distracted martial artist. After being
used to make a new doorway in the diner, Genma found
himself pinned against a wall and facing all manners
of nasty weapons.

"Where's my sister!!" Akane demanded.

"What are you talking about?" Genma demanded. "And
which sister are you talking about."

"Nabiki you old freak!" Ranma snapped. "School's out,
but she ain't gotten home yet."

"Nabiki's missing?!" Ukyou gasped.

"What, did you find out she showed us all your little
book?" Ryouga growled.

"You mean those papers Shampoo take from ninja
g��boy?" Shampoo asked confused.

"You've all seen my book then?" Genma swallowed
nervously.

"Yeah, now WHERE'S my SISTER!!?" Akane growled
grabbing Genma away from Ranma.

"Hey, wait a minute," Genma declared. "How do you know
she didn't just fake it? This is Nabiki we're talking
about after all." Everybody stared at him blankly.

"You don't really think we're THAT stupid, do you?"
Cologne asked.

"Actually, yes," Genma smirked and chuckled in a
superior tone. Now he finally got to see how well he
had succeeded with Ranma. "It took you all long enough
to figure it out."

"Where's my sister?!"

"Behind you sis," a coughing voice called out. "You
two have been hanging out with Ryouga and the Amazon's
too long." Everybody turned to see Nabiki and Nodoka
stepping out of a cloud of dust.

"Nabiki!"

"Mom?"

"Nodoka!"

"So Nabiki speaks the truth then?"

"I..I��can explain," Genma swallowed. Ranma might bow
out and let Nodoka take vengeance rather than prove
his own strength. Ranma noticed the sudden change in
attitude as Genma turned his attention to Nodoka.

~He wants ME to do it,~ Ranma realized, the pig-tailed
martial artist growled. ~Whatever I do he's going to
take as proof��whatever��I��do.~ He smirked, then and
released his father.

"What are you doing, boy?" Genma demanded as Ranma
walked away. Ranma turned around.

"Its not in my hands, father," Ranma said. "You've
broken Japanese, Chinese, and Amazon law, and
dishonored numerous families with this fiancee scam of
yours. I'm just one guy, it wouldn't be honorable of
me to put myself ahead of all that, would it?" He
turned away from his father and continued walking
away, as if he didn't care.

~Why that's brilliant,~ Nabiki's eyes widened and then
she smiled. "Hey, Akane. I think we can handle this."
She gestured for her sister to go after Ranma.

"Where Akane think she going?" Shampoo demanded from
where she had been standing off to the side. Cologne
blocked her passage.

"Your legal claim on the boy is not so certain any
longer," Cologne said. ~And your chance at different
claim is long since passed.~ Akane blinked, and
narrowed her eyes at the amazon's before following
Ranma around a corner. She found him, no longer
appearing at ease, just out of sight.

Ranma had thought that he had dealt with this the
night before, when he had found out what the book
said. He had to admit, though, that he had not been
prepared to see his own father eager to see his son
act like a bloodthirsty barbarian.

"What was that about, Ranma?" she demanded. "Aren't
you going to do anything?"

"Nope," Ranma said hollowly.

"Why not?!" Akane demanded. "You should do something!"

"Nah, that's what he wanted me to do," Ranma shrugged.
"He didn't care as long as it was ME doing it."

"I see," Akane paused and examined how Ranma was
slumped over as if exhausted. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," Ranma told her. Akane bent down,
looked up into his face, and noticed the tears
trailing down his face. He turned away from her.

"Let's go home, Ranma," Akane said.

"Somebody might��" Ranma stopped talking when he felt
the water splash over him. ~After all this time I
should know Akane's response to my saying I'm
embarrassed to be seen acting unmanly.~ She sighed and
looked up to see Akane turning off the hose.

"Its okay to cry, Ranma," Akane said quietly. "But if
the only way you'll do it is to be a girl, well��"
Akane shrugged. Ranma looked at Akane and just
silently nodded. Akane reached out to take her hand
and the pair walked off.

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

"Okay," Ukyou drawled it out. "Who's first?"

"Shampoo no care," the blue haired girl shrugged. "No
know what this all about."

"I believe it is your honor, Saotome-san," Cologne
said to Nodoka. "As the Saotome matriarch and Ranma's
mother, the right of punishment should be yours first.
Besides, I won't know which laws apply until I finish
reading the book in question. Does everybody agree?"

"Yeah, but I ain't going to give up second just yet,"
Ukyou snapped.

"Oh, I've already acquired some measure of punishment
for the Tendo clan," Nabiki said. Everybody stared at
her. "I did reveal this mess, you know."

"Nabiki, what were you saying about clan
restructuring?" Nodoka asked the Tendo girl.

"From what I know of the laws on the subject," Nabiki
noted. "It should be a simple matter to name you clan
head. Though that may take some time."

"I see," Nodoka nodded. "Then it is simple, I'll cast
him out of the clan, I'm fairly certain I can't trust
him to do the honorable thing. Since this will take
some time, however, perhaps the rest of you can take
your turns now."

"Right��" Ukyou smiled viciously and turned to face
Genma, who had not made a move since Ranma left. 

"This is going to hurt, old man," Ryouga promised,
cracking his knuckles.

"Please try not to kill him," Cologne suggested from
where she was keeping an eye on Shampoo.

"Oh, we'll leave something left over for you," Ukyou
promised.

"Well, I'm off," Nabiki yawned. "I'll need a working
phone to get this thing started. Auntie, want to come
along?"

"Certainly," Nodoka bowed and followed the younger
Tendo out the shattered remains of the diner.

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

Epilogue (some time later)

"Wasn't Ranma and Akane's wedding so romantic,
Ryouga?" Ukyou asked, more than a little bittersweet.

"Yeah, Akane was lovely in her wedding dress," Ryouga
sighed. "And I guess Ranma did all right."

"ALL RIGHT?!" Ukyou blinked. "He looked so gallant in
that tuxedo. Akane could barely pull off that dress of
hers." She couldn't help but imagine what it would be
like if it were her up there instead of Akane, she
imagined that Ryouga was doing something similar with
Ranma. He didn't go out of his way to try and kill
Ranma anymore, but he still had a little bit of a
crush on Akane.

"Let's just stop here before we start tearing up the
property," Ryouga said suddenly. Ukyou blinked and
stared at Ryouga. "We're both biased."

"Wow, Hibiki suggested a rational ending to an
argument," Ukyou snickered. "The world's gone crazy."

"I'm just tired after having to deal with the asylum's
poster children," Ryouga sighed. "Do you KNOW how
persistent those two can be?"

"I've done what I could to avoid the Kunos," Ukyou
agreed. The walked in silence for a moment. "Hey,
Ryouga..."

"Hmm?"

"You've been staying at my restaurant a while now,"
she hesitated.

"Oh...I was going to leave soon anyway," Ryouga said.
"I don't want to be freeloading."

"No, that's okay," Ukyou said quickly. "I was just
wondering...if maybe you'd stay around...maybe we can
trade martial arts secrets...you know, like friends?"

"Yeah..." Ryouga hesitated. "I could do that...and
maybe we could see a movie or something...just
friends."

"That sounds nice," Ukyou sighed in relief. Then she
decided to change the subject. "Did you see the looks
on Konatsu and Shampoo's faces after the garter and
bouquet throws?" Both of them chuckled

"I swear that the old ghoul rigged the thing somehow,"
Ryouga smirked. "Shampoo wasn't even participating."

"And then Mousse went ballistic!" Ukyou chuckled.
"What happened to him anyway?"

"He mistook Kodachi for Shampoo," Ryouga said. "And
Kuno for Konatsu. That's how I finally got rid of
them." Ukyou stared at Ryouga for a moment.

"How could he mistake those two for...never mind,
forgot who I was talking about," Ukyou sighed and
shook her head, chuckling. The two continued
chit-chatting as they walked along, Ukyou every once
in awhile tugging Ryouga along to keep him travelling
the right way. As they passed a certain fenced off
complex they both glared and held off a shiver before
running past it and returning to normal pace once it
was out of sight.

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

"What are you worried about?" Nabiki asked as she
helped Akane pack.

"I'm just a little nervous about��.tonight," Akane
admitted quietly.

"The ceremony is over, the vows are said, all that's
left is the honeymoon," Nabiki smirked. "And I KNOW
you'll have no problem with that."

"What are you talking about?" Akane asked. "We're both
virgins, at least he'd BETTER be a virgin." Nabiki
blinked and stared at her in confusion for a moment.

"But the night of the storm, before we all came down
on the panda��" Nabiki scratched her head. "You said,
that you'd found the clouds and rain." Akane blinked,
then her eyes bulged as she reddened.

"NOT THAT WAY!!"

"Then what WERE you talking about?" Nabiki demanded.

"The storm of course," Akane snapped. "We caused it!"
Nabiki stared at her a moment.

"Oh."

"Really, I mean we weren't married yet," Akane said.
"and we were in the open!!"

"Err��I guess I jumped the gun."

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Hey, at least you're not worried any more," Nabiki
pointed out to change the subject.

"Have you been taking lessons from Ranma?" Akane asked
after a long pause. "This isn't up to your normal
standards."

"Oh just go, Ranma's waiting," Nabiki snapped. Akane
stood up and was about to leave, but she thought of
something and turned around.

"Whatever happened to Genma anyway?" Akane asked.
"Ranma might not want to know, but��"

"He's in good hands," Nabiki smiled evilly and
narrowed her eyes.

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

"So why doesn't that panda ever go into the water?"
somebody asked a member of the zoo staff.

"He doesn't seem to like it," the handler said. "When
they spray him down he acts like the water is burning
him or something. The vets can't figure it out. We
asked the people that brought it to us, and all they
would say is that it had attacked them, and they were
forced to defend themselves."

"How did they do that?"

"They were martial artists," the handler shrugged.

"Oh, stupid bear." The handler nodded again.




=====
"Caffeinated Kender?  What's that, a berserk spell?" - 
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
"God has to have a sense of humor, it's the only explanation for sex." - my father
"I have to write a how-to paper for class, so I'm writing a paper on how to be psuedo-evil." - my brother

http://members.aol.com/thrythlind/snake.html

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