But the feel to Kasumi's room, as pleasant as it was, still made Akane
uncomfortable. It was different enough that it bothered her.

#I've stayed at bed and breakfasts I can imagine.#

Of course, concessions had to be made with her mother returned to them,
and because it was Akane's wish that had set the events in motion (although
now that she thought about it, Kasumi bore some responsibility in the matter
since it had been her suggestion to wish for their mother back), it only
made sense she had to give up her room, but it didn't make her sore back
feel any better.

#It feels as if there is a little too much extrapolation here. Sure, it's
useful to clue in the people who are reading this for the first time but
when you have the final product put together just how much is necesary to
repeat what has gone on in previous chapters?#

"Why can't she just get back together with Dad the way she was before she
died?" Akane grumbled.

#Something to do with it not happening to Kachi for another ten years in her
chronology I suppose. There's just no pleasing some people.#


As it was, her mother was causing far more trouble
than even the usual visitor to the Tendou household, which was doubly vexing
since her presence should have made everything better instead of worse.

#And going by the standards of the usual visitor that's scary#

 She had wished for her mother back, a second parent figure that she barely
remembered, not someone that wanted to 'hang' with her.
          #not someone who wanted#

#Does Kachi want to hang with her? Other then the "sisterhood of average
busts scene" I haven't seen anything to suggest that.#

Throwing an extra bathrobe of Kasumi's over her nightgown, Akane headed
toward the bath.

#Why didn't she bring her bathrobe with her along with the rest of her
clothes when she changed rooms?#

Living in a house with two sisters and three other men meant making a sort
of unofficial schedule for when people could make use of the bath in the
mornings. 

#Well... two and a half other men #



"Oh, please. You might get Daddy and the others to roll over for you, but
that's not going to work on me."

#Kachiko may not be doing very well in the Mommy department but she's
downright terrifying as a fourth sibling.#

"The heck they aren't. All of the clothing you loaned me was just as loose
                                              #loaned me were just as loose#

as Akane's, Hippy." Kachiko used her own hips to push Nabiki to the side
slightly.


"Oh ho! As though someone who would rent clothing to her destitute mother
       #As if someone#
has the right to accuse her of stealing as well. And by the way, you don't
have a  job, so what's your source of income, besides shaking down time
traveling parents, hmm? Maybe I should be the one accusing you of doing
something wrong."

#How does Kachi know this? She's barely been around for 24 hours.#


Akane shifted uncomfortably under the grip. Even coming from someone that
                                           #Even coming from someone who#
was only seventeen, the words had an odd, almost pleasing, effect on her.
Still, the situation was too odd to truly relax in, so Akane tried  moving
away. "Mom, cut it out."



"You made that up," Nabiki said.

"I did not!" Kachiko insisted. And it was the truth. Of course, she had been
                                                        # she had only been#

in India because of a school field trip, rather than some exotic training
journey. And she hadn't exactly found the temple on her own. It was on a map
Wakaba had given her that listed the temple as being in the deepest, highest
part of the Himalayas.

#Deep and High? Wow. And if she wanted to get to the Himalayas without the
chaperones noticing, much, wouldn't it be better to have this class trip be
in Nepal? #

Although for some reason the map failed to mention
that the path was prone to avalanches, the constant temperatures were well
below zero, the freak snowstorms were bad enough to cause even the Sherpas
to shun it, and that numerous tribes of carnivorous Yetis frequented the
area. And the course on the map actually led to a bottomless pit rather than
a temple, but it wasn't Wakaba's fault the map was slightly off. It turned
out the temple was close by, and it had an ancient guardian too; ancient in
the sense that he was a ninety-year old man who was suffering from
arthritis. But in his prime he had probably been tough. It ended up with the
master of the temple consenting to teach Kachiko the ancient technique of
Brush Fu in return for leaving him alone. When Kachiko returned, Wakaba had
been so relieved that she broke down and cried hard enough that she had to
be sedated.

#Kid's got the luck of the devil. So when's Wakaba showing up or is it
revealed she's Ma Kuno or someone similar?#


"I think she's choking on one of the brushes," Nabiki said casually.

#And how many times has she used this technique since using it. Or did the
guardian just give her a scroll that she speed read?#

"Told you... It was... Dangerous. Only a true... Master... Can use such
techniques... Safely," Kachiko gasped out.

#That explains SO much.#

"I have enough dangerous things going on in my life without adding brushing
to it," Akane said firmly.

#But Akane, Dentists are so much more dangerous than Martial Artists.#


"Today's shaping up to be a wonderful day."

"You need to be more upbeat," Akane told Nabiki. It had taken them longer
than usual to finish in the bathroom, put on their clothing and make up, and
finally head downstairs to the dining room for breakfast.

#Who's saying it's a wonderful day. If it's Nabiki is Akane responding to
sarcasm. In which case add a sentence regarding Nabiki's body language.#




"People won't think you're a weirdo because we call you Mom," Nabiki
provided.

"Good."

"It'll be for other reasons."

#I don't think Nabiki would go into detail there. Just say Kachiko ignored
the sarcasm.#


Kachiko said, "It's just I want my life to be restored to some semblance of
normalcy."

Nabiki said, "I doubt if your life held any semblance of that. On the other
            #"I doubt if your life ever held any semblance of that.#
hand, I think you'll fit right in, Kachi."



"How are we going to get you admitted?" Ranma asked as he continued
shoveling his own food in his mouth.

"We'll just say my transfer information must have gotten lost in the mail.
Then we can slip in later and alter my old high school files and make them
into new ones or something," Kachiko said as though breaking and entering
and falsifying records was as natural as walking down the street.

#But considering Soun would be the one who registers his "neice" and it's
usually Nabiki who handles these things in various fanfics Kachi is going to
have to be very well behaved for at least the next half hour.#


*You're such a sloppy eater, Boy,* Genma signed as he continued helping
himself yet again to Kachiko's bowl of rice while her attention was
elsewhere.

#And Kachiko hasn't noticed yet? I guess her Martial arts need a little
work.#

Ranma rubbed his left cheek with his arm.

"It's on the other side. I'll get it." She grabbed Ranma by the head and
licked the offending grain of rice from his cheek running her tongue far
below where it lay and continuing long after removing it.

#I take it her opinions regarding her romantic skills rival those
considering her skills as a comedienne.#

A demon head three times larger and radiating an aura or naked rage greater
than any had seen before emitted from Soun.

#missing some commas I think#


Eyes wide with fear, Kachiko said, "I'm hiding from that scary thing. It had
a huge demon head, and looked evil and had a long snakelike tongue. Didn't
you see it? It was a monster."

#And yet she had no problem with yetis and space aliens?#

Nabiki looked under it as well and smirked at the sight. "I thought you said
true martial artists weren't afraid of anything."

"You've got to draw the line somewhere, and terrifying demon headed things
are over the line. So are tentacle demons." Kachiko shuddered.

#Mom was an extra in La Blue Girl?#

"Keep away!" she screeched and scurried out from under the table and behind
Ranma. "Protect me!" she shoved him forward.

#Nice to see she's still an operator in times of crisis.#

"I'm the one he's angry at! He likes you! You protect me!" he switched
around so that he was behind her and shoved her forward.

"Be a man!" she grabbed him by the shoulders and thrust him forward again.

He switched them again. "You be a man."

"I don't have a gender curse so I can't be." She ducked behind Ranma.

#Or you could have Ranma go for the drinking water right now.#


"That's insane!" Kachiko wailed in dramatic fashion as she pleaded to the
skies. "Sixteen is too young to be engaged! You have your whole life ahead
of you! No one should be issued a death sentence when they have so much
potential awaiting them! You haven't learned anything yet about the way life
really works. You're still changing and growing into the person you'll go on
to become. It's always a mistake to marry at such a young age. Given the way
marriages during or right after high school turn out, especially with such a
high divorce rate, 

#How does Kachi know what the divorce rate is at the moment?#

it'll practically guarantee things will end up doomed.
It'll lead to nothing but misery and woe. I absolutely forbid this travesty
to take place." She slammed her hand down hard enough to nearly crack the
table in half, the look in her eyes an open challenge to those that would
oppose her will..

#the women doth protest too much. Sounds like the Tendo grandparents were
even more hidebound then you have sugested so far.#




That roused Genma and Soun from the air of lassitude that had begun to
surround them. Together, they got out, "But it would be better if it was
sooner."

#???? You mention later that this takes place after vol 38 which ends the
series with Soun getting it through his thick skull that the marriage can't
take place until all of the problems are solved. For that matter where's
Nodoka in all of this after all if this is the case she's staying at the
Tendos to at this point. I'll stop being a continuity cop now. It hurts.#

Kachiko appeared satisfied at the results. "I'd say all the participants are
in agreement. Oh yes, one last thing. It's a minor matter, really. Since I'm
a Tendou, I'm qualified to fulfill the promise as well."

#Hah!! I knew she'd think of that loophole! Though I think it would have
worked better earlier#

"But you're married to me!" Crying full bore, Soun latched onto Kachiko's
leg like a drowning man thrown a life preserver, which he would actually
soon need with the amount of water his eyes were generating. Kachiko
responded by pounding him on the head, trying to pry him off, shouting that
she wasn't a paleontologist so she had no interest in 'Old Fossils' and that
he should release his deathgrip on her leg before she really let him have
it.

#Would be better if you actually provided that dialouge. I wouldnt have
added that much to the page count.#


A miasma of anger mixed with disappointment shrouded Akane. She had left
Ranma's side after he said the postponement was a good thing. Not that she
was in a hurry to be married or have kids either, Kachiko was right about
that, but he could have at least had the decency to put up a token protest
about the ultimatum. Instead, he was his usual carefree self without
considering how other people might feel about the matter. Even if said
people were not entirely certain about how they felt.

He could be such a jerk sometimes.

#Sometimes?#


That perked Kachiko's interest. "The principal's name is Kunou? You mean
they finally got rid of Principal Faust?"

#A Gaijin left over from the American occupation?#


Akane rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Ranma, no one is stupid enough to fall for
that-"

*Splash*

The two looked at the disturbance in the canal where Kachiko's body had hit.

"All right, maybe Mom, I mean Kachi, is stupid enough to fall for it."

#Boy, you're right. She was the Ranma of her day. Can't wait to see her play
cards ^-^#


It was at that moment that Kachiko sat up lightning quick, shouting "But I'm
not a lesbian!" Her head impacted with Akane's hard enough to knock the bent
over girl backwards and onto her bottom.

#But if she was holding out to get mouth to mouth with you know who wouldn't
lesbianism remain an issue at the moment?#


Kachiko made a face that promised violence for someone. Through gritted
teeth. "I was remembering this Grade-A bull dyke named Yumi that used to go
                                          # dyke named Yumi who used to go#
to school. She was pure evil, always trying to come up with ways to trick
girls into kissing her and making them as perverted as she was. She was
always causing trouble. She hit on me constantly."

"Well, we don't have anyone like that," Ranma assured her. "Plenty of jerks
at school, and energy draining teachers, but no lesbians trying to trick
girls into kissing them."

#At least not this semester#

"I can deal with anything, as long as I don't have to fend of the advances
of women." Kachiko said. "By the way, how did I end up in the water?"


"Sounds good to me." Ranma put on her best poker face.

Kachiko punched her in it.

#That sound's a little choppy. Besides, Ranma allowing himself to be a
target a second time? (okay, I know Ukyou, Shampoo and Akane beat the crap
out of him on a regular basis but work with me here.)#

She then whipped out a small notebook and spoke
aloud as she scribbled in pencil, "Can't lie worth a damn." And replaced it
within her blouse.

#Is there anything to the schtick with the notebook or is it just an ongoing
qiuirk?#

"Hey, you knocked me into the water first!" Ranma protested.

"He's right, Mom. I mean Kachi."

"It's different when a girl knocks a guy in the water than when a guy knocks
a girl in the water. Everyone knows that."

#But Ranma was a girl then.#

"Oh, good point," Akane said.

"It is not!" Ranma shouted.

Kachiko gave a laugh, one that was reserved for people watching small dogs
try to chase cars in vain. "Of course it is."

Akane nodded in solemn agreement. "Ask anyone. They'll tell you."

#Someone who agrees with Akane's double standards! This could be the
beginning of a beautiful friendship.#



Azusa turned on a dime, picked it up, named it Marcelle, and skated up to
Ranma. She looked at the item he held. "It's just a bottle cap."

#Azusa having standards in inapropriate moments? I like it, I like it. ^-^#



"Don't be silly. Of course not. Everyone knows that. Come along, Louis."

#Azusa part of the great conspiracy? what's the world coming to?#

"But it is the same thing! They aren't different in-- Hey! Give me back the
drawstring on my pants!"

"You said Little Azusa could have Louis, and now she does. Bye-bye."

Ranma lunged at the diminutive skater, but she darted into the busy street
to avoid the clutching grasp. Ranma tried to pursue, but her pants fell to
her ankles and she tripped over them, falling facefirst into a pile of gooey
mud. She remained motionless.

"This just ain't my day," she complained to the ground.

#Much as I'm a huge proponent of Ranma using bad grammar, please be
consistant. I mean she used the correct contraction four paragraphs ago.#



"And there's no concertina wire along the top of the wall either."
               #connecting#

"No, M... I mean Kachi."

"Highly trained, genetically enhanced, intelligent guard dogs?"

"None of those either."

#But there are Sharks in the swimming pool.#



"That's the principal," Ranma said dryly to Kachiko.

Kachiko considered that. "It's still an improvement over fascist dictators."

#Obviously Kachi doesn't know what she's talking about. She's just standing
in front of the only Facist who prefers sandals over jack boots.#




As the fight began in earnest, Kachiko backed away and assessed things with
a critical eye. The Principal might have appeared the buffoon, but he had
some measure of skill. Ranma was the real object of her attention, though.
She could practically feel the power within him, and there was no doubt he
was holding back, most likely for the Principal's sake. She hadn't realized
he was that good. That made her a bit wary. She was used to being the top
dog around school, and very much liked that position. She had automatically
assumed that would be the case here as well. The idea that Ranma might be
stronger irked her, even if she did like him. Martial arts and romance were
two different things.

#except when it comes to foreplay#

Still, strength was different from skill, and she had
encountered people with more raw power than her. It was tactical skills,
adaptability, deception, and ruthlessness that were the keys to victory,
especially when it came to powerful opponents. She'd just have to come up
with something to counter Ranma's superior power when the time came for that
rematch he'd been harassing her for.




"Ranma, make him go away. We shouldn't be letting Kunou harass Mo... Kachi."

#Why doesn't she do it herself? It's only Kunou. It'll help her bond with
Mom. Besides considering how Kachi reacted to the demon head can you imagine
what she will feel about large concealed blunt instruments?#

"Aw, come on. She can handle him."

"But I don't want her thinking everyone in the school is as much an idiot as
him."

#Well, not as much....#




"Was that poetry?" Kachiko asked as she stared at the youth in disbelief.

#Wait for it....#

"Nay, for there are no words that can do your beauty justice. All they might
do is describe its effect upon me." He raised his bokken to the heavens. "I
woke this morn without hope, but now I see that it was but the first day of
the rest of my life, one to be filled with joyous rapture for all of my
existence!" He grasped Kachiko firmly by the shoulders. "What say you to
this, oh Angel of Elegance? Would you bless myself with your presence for
eternity?"

Ranma and Akane winced slightly as Kachiko drew back and said...

"Oh wow! That's so cool. No one's ever made up poetry about me before. Oh
sure, some guys try it, but all they manage to do is stumble over themselves
and only get out 'You're cute' or something else that anyone can say. But
you do it so well it's really sexy. And you're good-looking too. Do you have
a girlfriend?"

#Yes!! that is comedey! ^-^#


"And she said she thinks I'm cute. Which means in her eyes Kunou is equal to
me. Or worse, since she met him after me, that he's even cuter than me. I
refuse to stand for that kind of insult!"

#Ah good the Saotome ego is working just fine.#


Akane trembled in rage. "Mom doesn't understand the situation. She's still
disoriented from her time-travel. I can't let this atrocity happen. Not at
any cost." Akane rushed forward to put a stop to things.

#Ah selective blindness runs in the family after three chapters Akane still
thinks Kachi's some sort of innocent.#



"No, at least, I don't think so. Stupidity isn't contagious. But you don't
know him like I do. He's completely deluded."

"Not that deluded. He thinks I'm attractive."

#Sanzenan Sr thought she was attractive to though. Where exactly does Kachi
draw the line. Or is it the "Poetry".



"Then why would you expect him to chase only after you if you keep rejecting
him?"

#Ahh .... because he's been doing it for the past 38 volumes?#



"It's the principle involved."

A man wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt and a palm tree on top of his head
popped up between the girls. "Dat's right. I be involved since it be my
Little Tachi we be talking about. Now, either of you little wahines want a
tattoo?"

#bahdumbumtish#


His attempt to embrace them was interrupted as Ranma booted him in the head.
"Knock it off, you jerk."

#Why do you keep having Akane needing help in this sequence? She would have
backhanded Kunou before Ranma had a chance to react.#



It was between classes that Nabiki Tendou made her way through the school
hallways, looking for one person in particular. Ordinarily, she could have
taken her time with things, but after the events of the morning, the
predictable misinterpretation of what had happened led nearly everyone to
conclude that Ranma was not only involved with Akane, but Kachiko as well.
Nabiki wondered how Ukyou took the news.

#Not to mention Shampoo. Or certain lost piglets who may have given up on
Akane may still have problems with anyone who 'dares to toy with her
affections.'#

Not that her interest was anything
other than idle curiosity, but it might have made Ranma a touch more
irritable than he was this morning.

#And here I thought she was just being vindictive#


Miss Hinako, in her younger form, was sitting in her chair. Chocolate marred
her impish features as she put the candy bar she had been in the middle of
ravenously devouring down. "What can I do for you, Miss Tendou?"

#A little bit more body language might help here did she turn to see who it
was? did she continue to look towards the window as she glanced at Nabiki
through the corner of her eye?#




Hinako's interest instantly doubled. "Soun-chan. What about Soun-chan?"

Hearing Hinako speak her father's name in such a familiar way made even the
usually stoic Nabiki wince. "Maybe it would be best if someone else told
you."

#Why would Nabiki wince? She was the only of the three daughters who
excepted Hinako as the new Mrs. Tendo (Of course Hinako had bribed her)#

Hinako began tugging insistently on Nabiki's skirt. "Tell me! Tell me what's
wrong with Soun-chan."

#Again with the body language. I thought Nabiki was still leaning in the
doorway. Has she walked towards Hinako's desk or is Hinako doing her usual
run around in circles thing?#



Nabiki followed, a smirk on her features.

#Brava! Brava we are  witness to an artist at work!#


Ranma paled. Reflexively he said, "How did you find out about that? It's
supposed to be a secret."

#Sometimes it's just too easy.#




"This is really bad," Ranma lamented.

"Want a tattoo to make it better?"

"Would you go away?!" Ranma booted the Principal out the nearest window.


#Even though you didn't mention the principle of the thing. It still sounds
like the third time. I think you ran the pricipal joke into the ground after
the second time.#



Now absolutely livid, Hinako pulled out a coin and softly intoned, "For not
only being an unrepentant delinquent, as well as a slut that seduces older
                                       #as well as a slut who seduces older#




At the same time, Hinako grew to her older form, filling out her now too
short dress in every way. Now much taller than her 'rival',' she stood over
the sack of emaciated flesh and stomped her heel on it, twisting her foot
around. "I'm afraid you're that one that's bitten off more than she can
       #"I'm afraid you're the one who's bitten off more#




Hinako turned once more on her heel, the one embedded in Kachiko, and
stomped off.

"Okay, that's a new one," the withered Kachiko weakly moaned.

#Oh nice, very nice and, as Kachi said, it's just the tip of the iceberg.#

Nabiki came into Kachiko's view, bent low enough so that her face was less
than half a foot away, and said in a voice dripping with delight, "That was
your new English Teacher. She seems to think you're a rival for Daddy's
affections. She doesn't respond well to rivals. Welcome to your first day at
Furinkan High School. Hope you enjoy your stay."

#Feels like something's missing there. For starters Nabiki's appearance
seems a tad abrupt. THough she's the right age it's not clear either way if
Kachi's in the same class as Nabiki. If that were the case you could have
added a bit with Kachi watching Nabiki glare at her from the corner of her
eye. For that matter, if it is the same home room, Kachi has Kuno-chan all
to herself (which would definitely help Hinako maintain her opinion of
her).#



In case anyone was wondering, no, Kachi getting a harder time this chapter
was not the result of people complaining about ANC syndrome. It was always
going to turn out this way. It's whatever has the most humor potential at
any given time, and the Hinako-Kachiko-Soun thing was planned from the
beginning.

#But it still does help keep us from asking this question too often. Looking
good so far nice to see that Kachi's presence is providing even more chaos
than usual (and she's only met the minor players of the supporting cast!!)
Can't wait to see what happens when she meets Amazons and Okonomiyaki
chefs!!. Not to mention the amount you've mentioned Yumi and Wakabi makes me
think you're planning to use them for more than just the flashbacks. Look
forward to find out. Until next time.

            Bill Morse



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