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DISCLAIMER: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma & Co. I'm just borrowing them to play with. Lyrics from 'Scenes From a Memory' are used here without permission.


Author's Notes: Hey there! Whew! I finally got Ch 5 finished. Well, I didn't even think I'd get this out today...^_^; 
	C&C and comments are greatly, greatly appreciated. Literary manna, you know! ^_^

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There's a house I'm drawn to
Familiar settings nothing new
There's a pathway leading there
With a haunting chill in the air


There's a room at the top of the stairs
Every night I'm drawn up there
There's a girl in the mirror
Her face is getting clearer
Young child won't you tell me why I'm here?


In her eyes- I sense a story never told
Behind the disguise- There's something tearing
At her soul


Flashback~


"Hey, Akane! Ya coming?" Ranma was already out the door and his voice floated back to me as I put down my school bag and bent to fasten my shoes.
A pair of stockinged legs passed me. It was Nabiki, also on her way to school. She was walking slowly. In my hurry to race Ranma, I ran past her with a smile and a quick greeting.
Outside in the sunshine, I swung my bag around in a happy arc. Ever since we'd returned from Jusenkyou, where I'd had my brief brush with death, everything here at home looked so much brighter. Things had a sparkly quality about them, like I was seeing everything afresh. 
So what if Ranma and I still had admirers and fianc�es after us? Right then, it felt like we had all the time in the world.
Years later, I always remembered that feeling with bitter amusement.
 But at that moment, I was sixteen and the ground fell away from me as I chased after Ranma. Just another day in Nerima.
At school, I stared at the teacher and aimlessly thought up ways to get rid of Ranma's fianc�es. That changed at lunchtime when Ranma thoughtlessly insulted me in front of Ukyo. I came home that afternoon, mad at Ranma again. Why did that jerk have to open his big mouth all the time? If he had one talent aside from martial arts, it was his ability to say exactly the wrong thing to me.
I stomped up the stairs to my room, passing Nabiki's on the way.
Huh? I paused. 
Was that the sound of crying coming from her room?
It sounded like it, but the sounds were so soft that it was hard to tell. I knocked on the door and pushed it open without waiting for a response.
Nabiki was hastily drying her tears on the sleeve of her blouse, and she looked up in surprise when I walked in.
"Akane, is school finished already?" she asked.
"Onee-chan, what's wrong?" I asked, concerned and worried over what could make my big sister cry.   
"I...I...Oh, Akane, it's nothing." Nabiki stood and walked to her window. She placed her hands on the sill and looked outside. "It's just...that time of month."
"You're lying!" I said. "I've never seen you cry from cramps before. It's something else. Come on, tell me."
It took a little while, but eventually I made her sit down and dragged the story out of her.
"Remember that evening when I went out to that party?" she asked, her eyes filling with tears again.
"Yes." I stroked her back comfortingly. Nabiki had been invited two nights ago to a senior class party. She'd talked about it for days before the event. Oddly, she hadn't mentioned it after the fact, but I'd been so busy with my own things that I hadn't noticed.
"Well, I...Akane, you'll really hate me for telling you this but...I tried something for the first time."
"What did you try?" I asked, my heart sinking. Drugs, my mind was saying. You know it's drugs.
"Ecstasy." Nabiki stared at her hands clenched tightly in her lap.
"You...had sex?" I asked, puzzled.
Nabiki gave a tearful laugh. "Not that kind of ecstasy, Akane. It's a drug."
That scary word. I didn't know much about drugs but I knew I wanted to stay away from them. Until now, I'd thought Nabiki felt the same way.
"How..I mean, why..."
Nabiki shook her head. "I thought I was in control." She hunched her shoulder slightly. "Boy, was I wrong. The party was going so great. All these guys were dancing with me and...I guess I just felt wanted for a change. That's when someone offered it to me and...I really thought just a little bit wouldn't hurt."
Oh, God, I wish Mom was here, I thought desperately. She'd know how to deal with this. For the life of me, I couldn't imagine bringing Kasumi into this.
"Oh, Nabiki, but you're okay now, right? I mean..."
Nabiki shook her head. "That's not the worst of it. The next morning, Kunou showed me some pictures he'd taken. The drug, Akane, it makes you want to touch everyone and everything. Those photos have me in some...very..." She gulped. "...compromising positions."
The most awful rage suddenly filled me. To think that Kunou had dared to take advantage of my sister....
"Don't you worry about a thing, Nabiki! I'll just go and knock his lights out for you. We'll get those photos back, never fear."
Nabiki began to cry again. "Oh, Akane, that's still not the worst, though God knows I'll never be able to hold my head up in school."
 She bent forward, her hair falling in a silky brown curtain to hide her face.
"I...I told him about Ranma's curse. I mean, I explained it to him in explicit detail. He took it pretty hard. He thought we were all making fun of him, since everyone knew about Ranma's girl side except him, and...suddenly all his desire for her turned into the most unbelievable hatred. He can't stand the thought of touching Ranma."
Wow. I didn't see how this could be bad news. It had been a few really nice Kunou-free days, lately.
"He hates him so much, Akane." Nabiki was still talking. "He wants to get rid of him forever. He wants to never see him again. And he says that....that unless I get rid of Ranma for good, he'll post my pictures on every posting board in school."
"What?" I stared at her in disbelief. "How can he even think we'd let him do something like that?"
"I know, Akane. I don't want Ranma to leave either. But beating up Kunou isn't going to work this time. He's sealed copies away in places we'll never find them. Unless we kill him..."
"Nabiki!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
She pulled her knees up and laid her cheek on them. "I'm sorry, Akane. I know you'd never kill anyone for me. Ranma's case was different of course..."
"Ranma's case?" I asked stupidly.
Nabiki waved a hand carelessly. "You know...Saffron."
Oh, right. I started to feel a bit guilty. If Ranma had worked so hard to protect me, then couldn't I do the same for my sister?
"I'll never let blood stain your hands, Akane," Nabiki vowed, which made me feel even guiltier with relief.
"I'll throttle every one of those locations out of Kunou myself, Nabiki!" The relief made me even more fervent in my promises.
Nabiki was shaking her head. "Akane, you know how much punishment Kunou can take. And as much as he hates Ranma and 'the pig-tailed girl' now, he'll never give in."
I comforted her as best as I could, and ran off to the Kunou mansion. I'd nearly forgotten my anger at Ranma, but I wanted to handle this by myself. I knew I could do it.
The Kunou mansion was large and the grounds were set with all sorts of odd traps. However, it was fairly safe to simply walk up the front path and bang the knocker.
The door opened slightly, and Sasuke peered out. Seeing that it was me, he ushered me in, his little squirrel face twitching with worry.
"Ok, Sasuke, where's Kunou?" I asked, my fists clenched tightly.
"I'm right here, my traitorous goddess," came a voice from the shadowed hallway, and I spun to see Kunou regarding me calmly, with the flat of his sword resting against his shoulder.
"Kunou, how dare you threaten my sister?" I took a second to reflect that I sounded remarkably like he did sometimes, and ran forward to attack him.
"Finding out that my 'pig-tailed girl' is truly Ranma Saotome, that she's not just under his spell, has created an aversion in me for the sisters Tendo, and an even greater aversion for the name Saotome," Kunou replied as he blocked my punches and kicks. 
I'd gotten so used to punting him into the distance that I'd forgotten how persistent he was in a serious fight. His sword became a blur and he danced around me, getting in blows that hurt but did not disable. I screamed with fury and renewed my attacks. No way was I going to lose to Kunou!
The door burst open and Nabiki ran in, screaming at us. I was distracted for a single second and felt a painful jab in my ribs that sent me to the floor.
"No, Kunou! Don't hurt my sister!" Nabiki ran forward, tears running down her face. I had a moment to think that it was rare to see tears in her eyes unless she was tricking Ranma for something...so rare to see it for real...The marble tiles were cool under me.
Kunou backhanded Nabiki, sent her flying to land in a heap alongside me.
"I want to see...Ranma Saotome...gone!" he screamed. "And then you, Akane Tendo, will be mine forever!"
"Ow..." I hurt all over, but I wasn't going to give Kunou the satisfaction of winning.
He walked up to us, swinging his sword like a cane. Reaching down, he grabbed the front of Nabiki's uniform and lifted her until the tips of her black shoes hung well above the floor. He shook her with one hand, which was the first thing that actually scared me because I'd never seen him display such strength.
"Akane Tendo, I am going to ruin your sister here until she can never hold up her head in public again! How would you like strange men knowing every...*every* detail of your sister's body before they ever even saw her in person? How would your father feel? None of your sisters will ever feel the bliss of marriage!"
I started to shake. Could he really do that? If the photos were that bad....
"I've never seen these supposed photos, Kunou!" I didn't think Nabiki would have fallen for empty threats but at that point, I couldn't see any solutions. Beating the pictures out of Kunou had seemed a lot easier a while ago.
Something fluttered into my line of vision, and I grabbed it. At first my mind couldn't make sense of what it was seeing. My eyes followed a long curved line of flesh, and suddenly, the picture in its entirety hit me. These pictures were nothing like the innocently sexy pictures of girl-Ranma that Kunou hoarded. I wanted to throw up.
Nabiki was crying again. I glared at her.
"Nabiki! How could you?"
Sobs wracked her body. "I'm sorry, Akane, I just got used to seeing all those princes after you all the time. I guess I just wanted to see what it might be like..."
Oh, no. My sister envied me?
Staring at the photo, I knew that if the others were anything like this one, there was no way I could let anyone see them. I didn't even see how Ranma could deal with a situation that didn't use brawn.
What could he possibly do to Kunou if even Nabiki couldn't deal with it?
"What do you want from us?" I asked. 
Kunou's eyes burned with feverish hatred. When I heard what he wanted, I almost DID throw up.
"Impossible! There's no way I'm getting into bed with you!" I yelled. 
"It won't be for real...this time," Kunou said. He lazily waved a few more photos at me. I gritted my teeth. I was all out of ideas.
I'm sorry, Ranma, I thought to myself. I don't want you to go, but...I have to do this.
"Fine! But..."I softened my voice slightly. "But I won't date you until you return all of Nabiki's pictures and the negatives to me. What kind of samurai will you be if you force a woman to be with you through blackmail? You don't need that!"
Kunou paused, and a little of his ego leaked back into his eyes. He could never believe I truly found him repulsive.
"Very well," he said. "You have my word. Once Saotome has left for good, I'll return all the photos to you, *with* the promise that you'll never contact him again. And then I will woo you, fair Akane, my tender betrayer."
My heart felt like it wanted to drop to my shoes. I nodded heavily.
And that was why Ranma found us in bed together when he came to my room, both of us sweaty from battle, carefully hiding our wounds.

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