Subject: [FFML] [Fanfic][Ranma]Thyself Known Ch.4: Neon Green
From: Brad Robinson
Date: 6/13/2003, 8:48 AM
To: ffml@anifics.com

Previous chapters can be found here:
 
http://www.geocities.com/zorukonotsu/TK.html
 
Fic should follow.



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Thyself Known
Ch. 4: Neon Green
By Zorknot

DISCLAIMER: Ranma � and its characters all belong to 
Takahashi Rumiko and her cohorts. The voices in my 
head made me do it. 

WHAT HAS COME BEFORE: Ranma had a semi-lucid dream 
that caused the trigger of his curse to change. Now 
he�s a girl when he feels girlie. He also changes his 
personalities to deal with whatever situation hits 
him. After having a major argument with Akane, 
injuring Happosai, almost raping Shampoo while in the 
Nekoken, and attempting to seduce Dr. Tofu, all in 
the space of some four hours, Ranma�s extremely 
unstable. Tofu has a solution, but can Ranma be 
convinced to pierce his ears and wear a pair of 
pretty earrings? It�s not exactly going well for 
anyone else either. Nabiki for one is getting eerie 
d�j� vu from the whole mess...

~~~~~[BEGIN]~~~~~

�But before help comes, slowly, imperceptibly at 
first, the entire consciousness of Phaedrus begins to 
come apart... to dissolve and fade away. Then 
gradually he no longer wonders what will happen next. 
He knows what will happen next, and tears flow for 
his family and for himself and for this world.�
	-Robert M. Pirsig Zen and the Art of Motorcycle 
Maintenance.

      
      
      
      Nabiki left her home wearing her blue school 
uniform and carrying her satchel. The satchel 
contained her laptop, her graphing calculator, and an 
abacus as well as the requisite notebooks, pencils 
and papers. Whenever possible she liked to use her 
abacus because it kept her mind sharp, and it kept 
her more valuable equipment from being seen by people 
who would be inclined to steal it. 
      
      This was not of course her only deterrent. Her 
computer had been stolen a grand total of twice. The 
first time was by a senior who had later found his 
little prank had caused him to be re-registered at 
Furinkan as a Freshman girl named Aima Horu. (Only in 
Nerima, where one�s appearance did not necessarily 
indicate one�s sex was this possible.) He had to 
change two of his classes and he was effectively 
barred from sports for a year before he was able to 
fix the problem. Also back then the uniform rule was 
more strictly enforced... 
      
      Nabiki could have bought four laptops from the 
money she got from the betting pools that year.
      
      The other time the laptop was stolen by a girl 
in Nabiki�s own class who had wanted revenge for 
losing a fair bet. 
      
      Akane made lunch the next day. 
      
      Nabiki made the switch. 
      
      When the girl came back to school again after a 
week of recuperating she gave the laptop back to 
Nabiki without saying a word. No one had stolen 
anything from Nabiki since.
      
      She took her time walking away from the place 
she had lived her entire life. She was feeling 
introspective and she wasn�t at all worried about 
being late. Sooner than she would like, she would 
have to move away. Away from the problems of Furinkan. 
Away from the complex life of Ranma Saotome. Away 
from the warm blanket of her mother�s influence that 
hung around the house even so many years since her 
death. It was so comforting one minute, but then so 
stifling the next. 
      
      Her mother was dead. On days like today she 
wished she wasn�t. On days like today she wished it 
was someone else�s job to make sense of everything, 
because right now, Nabiki had no idea what was going 
on.
      
      Nabiki sighed as she approached the Tomo 
residence, the second house along the road. No, she 
thought, that isn�t true. I know exactly what�s going 
on. At least part of it. 
      
      Four or five minutes ago, hurricane Akane and 
typhoon Ranma had left for school, leaving Nabiki and 
the others to contemplate the aftermath. Nabiki�s 
thoughts at that moment had been first that it was 
rather silly for Ranma to go to school, but then she 
thought back, and remembered how strange Happosai had 
acted, the mind control, him telling her she was 
�scary enough as it is� and how it didn�t seem like a 
joke. Then she remembered Ranma and how cold the 
redhead�s expression was. How it reminded her of a 
different face. One she saw in the bathroom one 
horrible night. Directly in front of her and above 
the sink....
      
      She had left the house and now she was here, 
walking to the Tomos� garage. When she got there, 
Nabiki knocked on the aluminum slats of the garage 
door. She smiled slightly at the irony. Ranma and 
Akane were martial artists. Even Akane could, if she 
so chose, try out for the Olympics and no doubt place 
in almost any event... except of course swimming. 
Nabiki, on the other hand, was not an athlete. And 
yet even though Ranma and Akane ran as fast as they 
could to get to school on time every morning, Nabiki 
always got there before them. 
      
      The garage door opened, revealing a highly 
modified neon green Model G Honda moped. Next to it 
was a more traditional red and black Yamaha 
motorcycle. The motorcycle belonged to Nabiki�s 
friend and compatriot, Hoko Tomo. The moped...was 
Nabiki�s. Both bikes sat next to a slightly 
discolored space in the floor where the Tomo car was 
kept when it wasn�t being used.
      
      To Nabiki�s mild surprise the person who had 
opened up the garage door was not Hoko, but her 
mother. 
      
      �Good morning, Nabiki-chan,� Tomo-san greeted 
with a slight bow of her head as she released her 
finger from the button on the right wall that opened 
the door. 
      
      �Good morning, Tomo-san.� Nabiki bowed deeper 
to show respect, however she could never bring 
herself to take her eyes off anyone...something she 
retained from her childhood long ago, when she still 
practiced the Art. Her friends and associates 
sometimes remarked that this was unsettling. �Is 
there anything wrong?�
      
      �Nothing to worry about... Just...Hoko-chan has 
a fever this morning so she can�t go to school. I 
called Tofu�s office but the message said he was 
closed for the day. I hope he opens again soon... I 
just don�t trust those hospital doctors.� Hoko�s 
mother was wearing a flowery house dress and slippers. 
Even though the days were pleasantly warm now, the 
mornings could still be chilly. A slight draft 
whispered through Tomo-san�s dress and made her grab 
her bare and suddenly goose pimpled arms. 
      
      She was an attractive woman in a motherly sort 
of way. Right now, however Nabiki felt like she could 
count all the years on the middle-aged woman�s face. 
�Well, tell her I hope she gets better soon.� Nabiki 
walked to her moped and lifted the helmet off the 
back. Nabiki looked back at Hoko�s mother staring 
outside and rubbing her arms. �It�s probably just the 
temperature change. I know a few people, they always 
get sick around this time.�
      
      Tomo-san turned her head back toward Nabiki as 
if surprised, �Yes. Yes, you�re probably right. 
People get sick all the time. It�s nothing to worry 
about.� Tomo-san smiled weakly, and turned back away.
      
      Nabiki nodded hesitantly and put her helmet on. 
She got her keys out of her book bag and sat on the 
bike. She kicked the kickstand back. She paused for a 
moment. �I�ll check by Dr. Tofu�s after school today 
if you want...�
      
      Tomo-san gave a small nod

	Nabiki put the keys in and revved the engine. 
She rolled out of the garage and looked back once 
more at Hoko�s mom. She lifted a hand for goodbye and 
Tomo-san absently followed suit. Then Nabiki sped 
away as the garage door started to whir slowly closed.

	Nabiki always had a knack for reading people. 
It was glaringly obvious to her that Tomo-san was, in 
fact, extremely worried. A part of her wanted to make 
Hoko�s mom feel better, but what could she say? It 
was just a cold? It didn�t mean anything? There were 
enough life-threatening diseases out there that 
started out as colds that there was no way she could 
be sure that was true. And Nabiki couldn�t tell 
Hoko�s mom that...Even if part of her wanted to see 
her cry, wanted to see the terror and sorrow in her 
eyes. Even if part of her wanted Hoko to get sick and 
die so she wouldn�t have to worry about her anymore...

      No, the overriding feeling was that it was none 
of her business. Best to distance herself from it. 
Think about something else. 

	So Nabiki just let the cool morning wind 
refresh her as she sped down the road. Every now and 
then her uniform skirt would flip up, revealing the 
short shorts Nabiki wore underneath. Nabiki smiled. 
Somehow she had managed to keep her obsession secret 
far longer than she had thought possible. Nabiki 
loved secrets and the bike was a big one. 

      There was more to it than that though. 
      
      Nabiki increased her speed as she reached a 
busy street. Soon she was generating a lot of wind 
and dodging vehicles and pedestrians like Pac-man on 
speed. Many colorful expletives were uttered at her, 
but if Nabiki heard them at all, they were distorted 
by a massive Doppler effect. 
      
      On a bike the world spun differently. 
Navigating through the obstructions presented Nabiki 
with a fresh onslaught of problems that had nothing 
to do with normal life...and everything to do with it. 
Sometimes when it looked like she was going to take a 
heavy loss in the betting pool or in the stocks she 
imagined herself on the street riding...and suddenly 
she would know exactly what to do.
      
      Nabiki accelerated. The Model G was the 
cheapest bike she could find. As her business 
extended outside Furinkan High to other parts of 
Tokyo, she needed a mode of transport. As the money 
started pouring in, she bought parts for the bike and 
modified it. Right now the speedometer was showing 
about 150kmh. This was a good cruising speed. Just 
enough to provide Nabiki with a challenge.

	*

      When he saw the neon green blur, Kawagami Hiro 
revved up the engine of his police motorcycle, spat 
out a wad of gum and put his silver sunglasses on 
with his left hand. There was no way she was going to 
escape him this time. She was fast, but she had to 
slow down sooner or later. He would catch this crazy 
bitch once and for all. He kicked back his kick stand 
and sped out on to the street, becoming a loud black 
and white blur of movement. Hiro flicked on his 
lights almost as an after thought as he pursued his 
prey.
      
	*

      Nabiki saw the cop in her shaking mirror and 
smiled. The man was pathetic. He had been trying to 
catch her for two weeks now, but it was always the 
same story. She would lose him, and she would still 
arrive at her destination with time to spare. In 
front of her, two large trucks loomed, side by side, 
stopped at the red light. Without giving the 
situation a second thought, she passed on their right, 
merged into the leftward moving traffic, u-turned 
into the rightward moving traffic and turned left 
onto her original street.  She knew Number 542, 
safety freak that he was, would stop at the light 
until the traffic died down. She sped through the 
relatively stationary vehicles a little more 
leisurely now, only going about 120 kilometers per 
hour or so. She loved this. In fact, there was only 
one thing Nabiki loved more�

	*

      Hiro cursed at the scooter as it sped away. The 
four dollar signs on the license plate seemed to be 
laughing at him. Fortunately the light turned green 
only a second or two after the girl completed her 
little stunt. Hiro smiled. No, she wasn�t going to 
slip by this time.

	*

      Of course the modifications weren�t the only 
reason Nabiki could go so fast. She was also a damned 
good driver. Hoko had introduced Nabiki to the 
motorbike world and her friend was amazed at how 
easily Nabiki took to it. Nabiki didn�t have any 
explanation except that her hand eye coordination was 
still pretty good from her training. The coordination 
exercises had begun almost immediately after she was 
born, and that sort of thing doesn�t go away. She 
didn�t mention this to Hoko though. The last thing 
she needed was everyone thinking she knew martial 
arts. She had enough trouble explaining the dojo. The 
cars in front of Nabiki stopped. She drove onto the 
side walk and dodged past a few people before hitting 
the road again. She was a little worried about Ranma�
      
      *
      
      Hiro stared at what the girl did. How could 
anyone be so disrespectful of other people? How could 
she risk so many lives? How could she show such 
disregard for the Law?! How could she be so 
amazing�.? Hiro shook his head free of that last 
thought. The girl, whoever she was, was an accident 
waiting to happen. She had to be brought down. Hiro 
didn�t deny that he would take great pleasure in THAT. 
He followed as best he could without endangering any 
innocents�
      
      
      *
      
      Ranma had reminded Nabiki so much of herself 
this morning. What she saw in his eyes� it made her 
remember that terrible time after mother died and 
before she found her second love. She was obsessed 
with money and even at the fragile age of ten, she 
was planning the family budget and making small time 
business transactions. Nabiki was a genius by most 
standards, and she often took pride in that, but as a 
genius she found few friends and so had to harden 
herself against the world. 
      
      Nabiki saw that 542 was gaining on her. She 
slowed down just enough and made a sharp left turn 
into a long alley way. 
      
      As dumpsters and fire escapes whizzed past her, 
Nabiki thought of how fast her so-called childhood 
had passed her by. Nabiki smiled, melancholy at the 
few happy moments, when Daddy wasn�t so bad, or when 
one of her schemes paid off better than expected. She 
was just starting then, though and most of her 
attempts to make money were massive failures. 
      
      Akane grew increasingly intolerable. She seemed 
to lord it over Nabiki that she was a martial artist 
and that Nabiki was not, even though she knew that 
Nabiki had quit along with Kasumi after Mom died. 
      
      Nabiki grimaced. She knew a lot of people. 
Associates she dealt with during business 
transactions... Many of them would tell her the short 
version of their life story in a vain attempt to gain 
sympathy. What struck Nabiki about the majority of 
these stories was how the transition from childhood 
to adulthood could be so smooth. Nabiki saw the dead 
end of the alley approaching her and she prepared for 
it as she thought about how her childhood ended. She 
knew the precise moment when it did...
      
      ...It was the moment when she took the gun.
      
      Nabiki sped toward the dead end, but instead of 
slowing down, she increased her speed, and just a 
meter before she reached it, she veered right. Her 
front wheel went up a broken piece of furniture a 
homeless man was using as a lean-to, and farther up 
onto the side of the alley way.  Nabiki was fully 
horizontal to the ground for a moment. Then, just 
before the front wheel reached the face of the 
building that marked the dead end, Nabiki ollied the 
neon green Model G away from the wall and  turned the 
wheel to a precise angle, hitting the face of the 
building at just the right vector so that the bike 
would roll down instead of crashing. She sped down 
the building for a split second before she hit the 
street again with a bone rattling jolt, followed soon 
after by a jarring thud as the back end of the bike 
hit the ground. 
      
      All this took maybe a second, and she had lost 
only a little speed.

      *
      
      Hiro, having followed the girl into the alley 
was extremely surprised when she passed him from the 
opposite direction at such a speed. He didn�t know 
what he saw when the crazy girl had reached the dead 
end. He knew what he THOUGHT he saw, but THAT was 
impossible. Stunned and frustrated, he couldn�t help 
feeling a little embarrassed that his own turn around 
wasn�t nearly as graceful. In his surprise he tried 
to do a U-turn. He ended up falling over and skidding 
along the pavement a meter or so. He was pretty sure 
his clothes were ruined and his left side was at 
least severely bruised.
      
      �Itte.� He murmured managing to capture 
feelings of anger, defeat, and outright pain in the 
two syllables.
      
      Suddenly he smiled. He had gotten a good look 
at the driver finally. That wasn�t just any ugly blue 
dress she was wearing... That was a Furinkan High 
uniform. 
      
      Now if this were any normal speeder, Hiro would 
radio headquarters and tell them where she was headed 
so that she could be arrested, but this wasn�t just a 
one time thing. She had managed to practically 
disappear again and again. She out maneuvered him so 
fast that he couldn�t even give her position over the 
mic. Hiro was the fastest biker on the force. His 
reputation was on the line. 
      
      This was personal.
      
      Hiro picked himself and his motorcycle up and 
checked himself. No major injuries, though he�d feel 
like hell tomorrow. It was amazing really that he 
hadn�t suffered more. He revved the bike�s engine 
again, it sounded good. His favorite sunglasses had 
fallen off and now lay cracked on the ground. Hiro 
sighed, and put his second pair on, these were just 
as over sized as the others but were only darkly 
tinted as opposed to silvered. That girl would PAY! 
He drove out of the alley, and down the road at a 
normal, sane person�s pace. He stopped at a public 
phone. He put his card in and dialed. 
      
      �Hey, Ryu, ya there? Listen I�ve got a favor to 
ask... Oh nothin� much, I just want you to organize a 
few things when I give a signal...� After Hiro 
finished explaining what he wanted he drove to 
Furinkan high school, purposely taking his time. He 
found a nice shady area where he could see all the 
traffic in and out and waited. 
      
~~~~~*~~~~~

	Nabiki liked school well enough, but the actual 
getting taught part of it could get tedious at times. 
She generally kept to the back of the class so she 
could plan out her business transactions without the 
teacher knowing. 

      First period was history, a class Nabiki could 
ace fairly easily as long as she didn�t pay any 
attention to the teacher and read the book. If she 
paid any attention to the teacher, the whole thing 
got muddied up because the fool kept getting the 
names and dates wrong. Today though, after parking 
her bike and meeting some associates before the bell, 
she had sat down in History and couldn�t bring 
herself to work on her ledger. 

	�Now what we�re going to talk about today is 
very important to remember class,� Omo-sensei began, 
�Today we�re going to talk about World War Two.� 

	�Now who can tell me what day �Pac-man� was 
dropped on Hiroshima?�

	A girl in the front raised her hand. She always 
raised her hand. 

	�Yes, Juri, what�s the answer.�

	�My name is Arisu, sensei�

	�Ah, so it is. So what date was �Riddle ploy� 
dropped on Hiroshima?�

	�You mean �Little boy?��

	�Yes, what was the date of that great tragedy 
in Okinawa?�

	�Um, Okinawa, sir?�

	�No, that�s incorrect. Anybody?�

	The other students knew by now not to try to 
answer. 

      Sometimes Arisu would leave the classroom 
crying. 

	�I�m saddened by this generation�s lack of 
national pride. This is an important time. The 
Germans devastated two of our cities with their 
nuclear families! Trillions died!�

	Nabiki watched all this from the back room as 
if it was an absurd dream. It was sad, Oma-sensei 
actually knew more about history than almost anyone, 
but while he could write it down just fine, if he had 
to speak, everything went out the window. Once 
someone suggested he could try singing. That had 
worked, but he had such an awful voice he had to stop. 
It sounded about as bad as Akane�s cooking tasted.

	Nuclear families...Nabiki had been in one once. 
It was hard to imagine now. She could still remember 
Mom. She could still remember being a kid. But she 
couldn�t remember how the politics of it had worked. 
What had Akane done when she wasn�t the only martial 
artist? What had Kasumi done when Mom was the one 
that cooked? What had Daddy done when Mom was still 
there? As Nabiki tried to put it together in her mind 
Oma-sensei equivocated to the class until the bell 
for second period sounded, breaking Nabiki�s reverie.

	Second period was first semester Calculus . 
Normally Nabiki was more active in this class. She 
knew Calculus already, but she found a certain joy in 
solving problems and getting them right. But today 
she could barely pay attention. 

	�Nabiki?� Anguru-sensei jolted Nabiki out of 
her woolgathering.

	�Sorry, sensei, what was the question again?�
	
	�When you take the derivative of a tangent line, 
what do you get.�

	Nabiki frowned. This was a pretty simple 
question. �A slope, a constant rate of change.�

	�Right so what do you need to draw the line?�

	�A point. Specifically, the point where the 
tangent line touches the graph of the function.�

	�Thank you. You may go back to your dreams of 
world domination now.�

	The other five people in the room chuckled.

      Furinkan High was not all that big on academia.

	What WAS the point? Why was Nabiki feeling so 
off today? It was Ranma of course. He was the 
function. And the point....that look in his 
eyes...that look of deadness...That�s what was 
pulling Nabiki along this tangent. She didn�t want to 
remember the day she had seen that look before. She 
didn�t want to, but she knew...she had to.

      Nabiki got up from her chair. The teacher 
nearly dropped her chalk in surprise. Without even 
excusing herself, Nabiki left the room. She stopped 
by her locker to retrieve her shoes and after a 
moments hesitation, she but her satchel in as well. 
She should be back before school was out. 
      
      She left Furinkan and its betting pools and 
social circles. She found her bike, put her helmet on, 
and took off. She needed the bike right now. The 
sense of freedom. The speed. Most of all though, she 
needed the privacy.
      
      *
      
      Hiro had thought he would have to wait until 
school was out. He had been just about ready to go 
buy something to eat for lunch when the green demon 
chick came tearing out of the school grounds like a 
bat out of hell. �Hey hey, playin� hooky on top of it 
all... this gets better�n better.� He smiled and 
picked up the mic from it�s cradle. �Anyone out there 
wanna make a quick buck?� That was the signal. Hiro 
would probably catch hell for using police 
frequencies for something like that but it would be 
worth it if he could catch this girl and find out 
what the hell her problem was. He wondered idly what 
her name was...He frowned, not that it fucking 
mattered. He gunned the engine violently and took off 
after the Model G.
      
      *
      
      Nabiki sped along the road. She had to start at 
the beginning. The memory was too raw to just go 
right into it. She thought about the end of her 
childhood, the gun. 
      
      At fifteen, Nabiki was starting to get into 
more dangerous deals, and she was spending more and 
more time in the...shadier parts of Tokyo. She had a 
paid bodyguard by the name of Ichiro she had follow 
her. He was extremely large for an Asian and until 
that day she hadn�t had any major problems. That day 
though something had gone wrong. Just before she and 
Ichiro got to the meeting point she heard gun shots... 
Her contact then came running, his eyes wide. 
      
      �Quick, take this! I�ll pay you back later!� 
and he threw something at Nabiki, which she caught. 
      
      It was a gun.
      
      The man had owed Nabiki money and was meeting 
her to pay her back. Apparently he also owed the 
Yakuza money. Through some freakish stroke of luck he 
had escaped them by taking the leader�s gun. Nabiki 
never found out more than that. She had decided she 
wanted no more dealings with the man. 
      
      The reasoning behind keeping the gun seemed so 
clear to her at the time. She felt that Akane was 
right, she wasn�t a martial artist, and so she needed 
some form of protection. Japan had strict gun laws, 
but she could still practice shooting in the sewers 
under Tokyo with bullets bought through the black 
market. She had gotten quite good, and she enjoyed it, 
but she hadn�t realized how much she had lost.
      
      She hadn�t realized until the day that Akane 
threatened her.
      
      It was really stupid. Akane wanted to go see a 
movie with her friends only she didn�t have any money. 
She asked Nabiki for some but Nabiki said, rightly, 
that they didn�t have enough. This was before the 
massive windfall Nabiki experienced when Kuno issued 
his challenge... and funds were EXTREMELY tight. She 
had already had to fire Ichiro, and she was very 
close to pawning some of the security equipment she 
had invested in over the years. Then Akane said, half 
jokingly, that she could just take the money from 
Nabiki by force if she wanted to. 
      
      Nabiki loved her sisters and father, but even 
with them, she was cold as ice when money or 
something equally serious was concerned. And the mere 
idea that Akane, could THINK that she could do such a 
thing�it awakened something dark in Nabiki�and she 
pulled out her gun.
      
      Nabiki grew aware of a sound. A rhythmic 
�whump�ing sound that seemed to be following her, 
getting closer. It reminded her of the sound of her 
heart that day, when she held the gun pointed at 
Akane�s forehead and she saw the fear in her sister�s 
eyes...
      
       Nabiki realized with a shake of her head that 
the sound was not from her memory but was above her. 
She looked up. �A helicopter?�  The craft was almost 
right on top of her, big as a house. In Nabiki�s 
shock, she failed to see the car in front of her� 
until it was too late.
      
      Nabiki tried to swerve and do a wheelie at the 
same time, but her body knew before she did that this 
maneuver wouldn�t work. She launched herself on to 
the side walk and watched her bike speed up the low 
frame of a car and spin into the air. She noted its 
trajectory as coldly as she had noted the sweat 
rolling down Akane�s temple. It was headed spinning 
toward a woman and her baby. 
      
      A darkness she had lived with for two years now 
wanted the bike to make contact, to cause DAMAGE, to 
DESTROY. It was the same darkness that made Nabiki 
cock the pistol� that made her finger grow tighter 
against the cool trigger of the loaded gun. 
      
      She had wanted Akane to die then. She CRAVED it. 
She NEEDED to see blood seep from a wound that would 
never heal. But she loved her sister. She didn�t want 
to see her hurt. She didn�t want to see anybody hurt. 
No. NO! �NOOOOOOOOOO!�
      
      Nabiki felt some burning thing tear from her 
just before the concrete slammed into her shoulder.
      
      *
      
      Hiro came onto the scene just in time to catch 
the accident. He saw the girl jump from the bike. He 
saw the bike spinning toward the lady with the baby. 
It was going to hit them. It couldn�t have been more 
than five centimeters away from the woman�s face and 
then�the girl screamed �No!� and...for just the 
slightest of moments, Hiro could swear the girl 
flashed a bright green before hitting the ground 
jarringly. Hiro was distracted but when he heard the 
sound of scrap metal hitting the pavement he looked 
back. Some how the bike had been blown to bits, none 
of the pieces falling near the woman and baby, who 
looked completely unharmed. 
      
      Hiro was not new to Nerima. He�d heard stories 
from the other cops about the martial artists in the 
area, but he hadn�t paid much attention. He figured 
that their warnings didn�t pertain to his area of 
influence. What good were martial arts when you had 
to rely on a machine? Now he wondered�
      
      *
      
      Nabiki felt completely drained, and she seemed 
to be bathing in pain. When her eyes were open all 
she could see was colored dots, so she closed them. 
She remembered... If Kasumi had not been there Akane 
would be dead. Just at the moment when the pressure 
on the trigger would have sent a bullet flying 
through Akane�s precious head� Kasumi had said 
something completely disarming.
      
       �I really wish you two would stop fighting so 
much,� she said.
      
      In Nabiki�s warped state of mind she almost 
shot Kasumi instead. Didn�t she understand the 
seriousness of the situation? She was about to murder 
her sister! This wasn�t just a childish spat! 
      
      Then Nabiki went over what she had just thought. 
      
      It WAS just a childish spat, and Nabiki was 
about to murder her sister because SHE didn�t 
understand the seriousness of the situation! 
      
      The tears started coming then, tears she hadn�t 
realized she had been holding. Tears for her mother, 
but mostly tears for herself, for losing her 
innocence, for almost losing so much more. 
      
      An hour or so later, Nabiki was in the bathroom. 
Her reflection hovered over the sink. Once again she 
felt the need to destroy, to obliterate. But this 
time the barrel of the gun was in her mouth. The look 
that she saw in her eyes, the eyes of her reflection, 
made her feel the need even more. It was like a 
feedback loop of depression and hate. Nabiki was 
maybe five seconds away from pulling the trigger when 
she heard Kasumi�s steps as she entered the open 
doorway. It was almost funny...she had stopped 
putting pressure on the trigger because of a vague 
thought that Kasumi would disapprove of the action. 
The gun was still in her mouth, though, until Kasumi 
spoke.
      
      She had hesitated for a second, and then, in a 
voice that seemed full of compassion and 
understanding�asked if Nabiki wanted some tea. 
      
      It was out of the blue�completely unexpected. 
But suddenly instead of having the inevitability of 
the barrel of a 9mm, Nabiki was given a choice 
between a bullet in the brain and tea. 
      
      Nabiki chose tea. 
      
      No one ever mentioned it. Daddy probably never 
even knew about it, and for the most part the whole 
incident was forgotten, but it was a wake up call for 
Nabiki. She sold the gun, ended almost all of her 
black market dealings, and vowed to rely solely on 
her camera from then on. Nabiki hadn�t yet completely 
enmeshed herself into the criminal element or she 
would not have been able to get out at all.  As it 
was it was close. Way too close...
      
      Back home, Akane never threatened Nabiki with 
violence again, and Nabiki never again mistook 
Kasumi�s overly positive attitude for air headedness, 
but other than that things fell into the same pattern 
they had before. Nabiki never forgot the look in her 
eyes that night though. She still had nightmares from 
time to time, and those dark feelings, that wish for 
death...it never completely left her. It was there, 
waiting for a moment of weakness. But Nabiki fought 
it. She fought it for two years, and while it 
remained, she had grown stronger.
      
      Nabiki�s last thought before losing 
consciousness from fatigue and a rising awareness of 
pain� was about driving the Model G. There was only 
one thing she loved more�her family. And it seemed 
Ranma had somehow managed to weasel himself into that 
group.

      Damn him. Nabiki smiled... and passed out.

~~~~~*~~~~~

      Sitting on the outside porch in his gi, 
watching the morning sun glint off the koi pond, 
Genma wondered about his wife. 

	He missed her right now. The years of their 
time together held many quiet moments like this one, 
except she was by Genma�s side or maybe in the 
kitchen cooking, or maybe asleep a few meters away. 
Now�now she was separated from him by half an entire 
city and all because of a question.

	Was Ranma a man among men? 

	Had Genma been thinking, he would have asked 
just what Nodoka had meant by that before signing the 
contract. Genma hadn�t been thinking though. Thinking 
was never Genma�s strong point. Even if he had been 
doing an awful lot of it recently.

	He knew exactly what �man among men� meant now. 

	It was odd, but Genma couldn�t remember why it 
was he had agreed to the contract. The story he would 
tell was that he needed to get Ranma away from his 
mother�s coddling, but that wasn�t it really. As nice 
as Nodoka was, she could be very stern, and if 
anything Ranma would have been better off if she was 
around. 

	In fact, Genma didn�t remember much of his 
marriage with Nodoka at all. Just little things, like 
the taste of her cooking, and that when he was with 
her, he was happy. 

      He needed her.

      It was time for this charade to end.

      Genma stood up and walked into the family room 
through the engawa entrance. He picked up the 
receiver to the black telephone and punched the 
numbers that he�d punched almost every day since 
living with the Tendos. 

      �Hello? Who, may I ask, is calling?� The woman 
on the other end asked.

      �It�s me.� Genma answered.

      �Why Mr. Panda! How good of you to call!�
	
	Genma smiled in spite of himself. Nodoka could 
always make him laugh.

~~~~~*~~~~~	

	�What the hell is that?� Ranma asked. Tofu was 
wielding some sort of weird gun-like thing and 
approaching her menacingly.

	�It�s for your own good, Ranma,� Tofu smiled. 
The expression was somewhat strained, though. If 
Ranma didn�t get her ears pierced she would never 
leave. Tofu liked Ranma fine, but he wasn�t sure even 
he could stand Ranma LIVING with him. It was a lucky 
thing that he happened to have some ear piercing 
equipment handy. Now if Ranma would just sit still�

	�Like hell it is! You get that thing outta my 
face before I rearrange yours!� 

	�Please don�t make this difficult, Ranma. This 
will do a much better job of piercing your ears than 
anything else. The equipment is sterile, and there�s 
only a little pain�� Tofu stepped closer to Ranma. 
The ear piercing gun poised about half a meter from 
her ear. His ear. He had changed sexes again.

	�I, Ranma Saotome of the Saotome School of 
Anything Goes Martial Arts�accept your challenge.� 
This is great! Ranma thought. I�m a man again AND I 
get to fight Tofu!. Ranma knew Tofu was good�it was 
time to find out HOW good. 


	Tofu noted Ranma�s change with clinical 
curiosity. It meant several things. Ranma felt most 
like a man when he was fighting, for one. This was 
understandable. What was interesting was that Ranma 
did not change until the moment before he accepted 
Tofu�s �challenge.�  His feeling of manhood was NOT 
related to fighting in and of itself�it was something 
else�something deeper. Something perhaps to do with 
the pride he had of himself and his school, but that 
wasn�t quite it either� Tofu, lost in thought, almost 
forgot to block Ranma�s kick.


	Ranma quickly reassessed Tofu�s abilities. It 
looked like he was barely paying attention! He 
followed up with some high speed punches and kicks, 
but Tofu blocked or dodged them all while wearing a 
placid, thoughtful expression on his face. How could 
he BE this good? At this rate, Ranma would have to 
move the fight outside or risk damaging the clinic. 
There was still one thing he could try though�

	When was Ranma a girl?  Tofu tried to remember 
when it was Ranma had changed� He was upset about 
Akane�He said he ran away�Then he started crying. It 
was when he started crying. Yes�but why? It couldn�t 
just be crying that caused him to change. WHY was he 
crying? Akane didn�t love him. Hmmm� maybe that�s it. 
After Tofu blocked Ranma�s Chestnut Fist, Tofu 
decided to experiment��You know, it�s tough, but just 
because Akane doesn�t love you, it�s not the end of 
the world.�

	Ranma collected his jaw from the floor after 
having one of his strongest attacks so easily blocked. 
�You leave Akane outta this!� Ranma forgot for a 
moment where he was and let his anger guide him. He 
threw the fastest Amaguriken he had ever managed 
while male. One punch made it through Tofu�s defenses. 
But that was it.

	�Ooof!� Okay, it wasn�t Akane that made Ranma 
change. And Ranma was extremely talented. Tofu had 
been training all his life for twenty six years and 
Ranma was only 17. Nine years of extra experience and 
still the kid managed to get a good hit in. Tofu 
decided he wouldn�t hold back QUITE so much. The arm 
of his free hand seemed to become a solid funnel with 
indistinct edges as he performed his own high speed 
maneuver, hitting Ranma�s chest with his two fingers 
with just enough force to bruise. Then, 
simultaneously he lightly front kicked him back onto 
the examination table.

	�Ow.� Ranma said.

	So what was it that made Ranma change? Maybe 
feeling weak? That he was somehow afraid of Akane and 
that made him change? It was a long shot but Tofu was 
willing to try it. �Ranma, you seem to be 
overreacting a bit. It�s just a small hole in your 
ears�There�s nothing to be scared about.�

	�I ain�t scared!� Ranma yelled back...then he 
relaxed. This was Tofu, and Ranma was not going to 
pull an Akane and pretend he could beat him in a fair 
fight. It would take some massive training first. 
Tofu was just trying to help. Maybe if he shared a 
little emotional stuff Tofu would show him a few 
moves �Well�maybe I am scared a little. Not about the 
pain. It just seems like everyone�s tryin� ta turn me 
inta some stinkin� girl�� 

	Ranma had remained male through the confession. 
Tofu didn�t understand. What could possibly be the 
trigger? Maybe it was just some sort of strange form 
of suggestion? Maybe Ranma turned female when he 
THOUGHT she was female? Tofu was grasping at straws 
now, but it was important to find out now, and not be 
surprised later. �I�um�just hit a pressure point that 
will make you unable to turn male again�after you 
change.�

	The color went out of Ranma�s face. This had to 
be one of Tofu�s jokes right? That weird sense of 
humor of his? He made an attempt at a smile �Heh that 
was good, doc�almost got me there��

	�Um�it�s not a joke� Tofu grimaced. Technically 
it wasn�t a joke. It just wasn�t the truth either. 

	�ARGHH! Why can�t you people realize that I 
don�t WANT my decisions made for me?�

	Tofu felt real bad, he just thanked the gods 
that he HADN�T hit any such pressure point. Ranma 
hadn�t changed form. He had to end the ruse�

	�Well I had enough of it you hear?! ENOUGH!� 
Ranma got back into a fighting stance. Tofu had 
betrayed him.  And while he might not stand a chance 
in a fair fight, she was no longer interested in 
fighting fair. �I�m going to KILL YOU!�

	Before Tofu knew it, he was looking at the 
floor of his bedroom from a unique perspective. He 
had just enough time to notice that the insulation 
could use some refurbishing, when his head was pulled 
back through the floor and he was thrown into the 
wall, �into� being a highly accurate preposition. It 
seemed that 9 years of extra experience or no, the 
only reason why Ranma was unable to beat Tofu before 
was that he had been held in check by the same thing 
that made him feel like a man�his sense of self worth, 
honor, and morality. �Calm down Ranma, I didn�t hit 
any pressure points. I just had to see what would 
make you change.�

	�You mean you were just playing with me??? TOFU 
NO BAKA!� Ranma hit Tofu over the head with a mallet 
she got from�somewhere. Ranma stared at it for a 
while until it winked out of existence. Where did it 
come from? Where did it go?

	�Where did YOU come from, Cotton-eyed Joe?� 
Tofu asked the coat rack in a bit of a daze from the 
repeated blows to the head. His glasses had left his 
head somewhere between the wall and the ceiling.
	
	There was a knocking from the door �Oh my! I 
wonder who that could be!� Ranma wondered out loud as 
she walked to the door.

	�K-K-Kasumi! When did you get here?�

	�Oh Tofu, you�re so silly!� Ranma said, then 
opened the door.

	A woman looking about thirtyish and carrying a 
baby greeted her. �You must be Ranma?�

	Ranma nodded her head slowly. She WAS Ranma�not 
big sister Kasumi. 

	�I�ve heard a lot about you�Is Dr. Tofu in?�

	Ranma glanced over at the good doctor doing the 
cha cha with the coat rack. �Well, yes and no� You 
can talk to him if you want, but he�s a little 
disoriented right now. May I ask what your name is?�

	�Yamashita Niburi, please go easy on me. 
Kasumi-chan isn�t here is she?�

	�No, it�s nothing like that. Tofu-sensei and I 
had a minor altercation, and I�m afraid I went a 
little too far. Who�s the little one? He�s very 
cute!�

	�You don�t sound like the Ranma I�ve heard 
about. He�s supposed to be very crude and, so sorry, 
masculine.� Oddly, Yamashita seemed to hold the baby 
tighter, but gave no other indication that she had 
heard Ranma�s comment.

	�Oh, that�s just my father�s influence. I�m 
getting better. I still revert to the old me from 
time to time though. No matter what anyone says, I�m 
really a woman.� Ranma ignored the woman�s stunned 
expression; she was used to it after all. She 
realized Mrs. Yamashita was still standing outside 
�Come inside, I�m sure Tofu-sensei won�t mind!�

	Yamashita entered, taking her shoes off at the 
genkan. She wondered what her friend would think 
about what Ranma had said. That was a thought for a 
different time though. �Nabiki-chan will be here 
shortly, she had an accident. You might be a help 
actually.�

	�Nabiki-neechan had an accident? That doesn�t 
sound like her much at all.�

	�So sorry, but I don�t think you know her as 
well as you think, Ranma-chan.�

	*

	Hiro watched as the door to the Tofu clinic 
opened, admitting the woman and her baby. He wasn�t 
quite sure why he was here. Tendo Nabiki, that was 
the lunatic�s name, was put on a stretcher and 
carried into an ambulance. The woman who almost got 
hit by the motor scooter, a Mrs. Yamashita, far from 
making any complaints, had actually insisted that 
Nabiki be taken here for reasons she didn�t care to 
discuss. The paramedics agreed, it was close by after 
all and Nabiki�s injuries weren�t that serious. They 
were mainly dispatched as a precaution anyway. 

      He looked at his watch. Some twenty minutes had 
passed since the actual accident. Most of that was 
spent waiting for the ambulance and driving behind it 
as, even with its emergency lights flashing, it�s 
bulk wouldn�t allow it to drive at even half Nabiki�s 
previous speed, and because it wasn�t an emergency 
and it was getting close to lunch time, it was 
actually amazing it didn�t take longer. It would have 
been quicker to walk! 
      
      Still, Hiro hadn�t actually realized that he 
was following the ambulance until it had stopped. It 
was only when the paramedics brought Nabiki out in 
the stretcher that he could say what it was he hoped 
to accomplish by being here. He wanted to know what 
the hell he had seen, and�he still had to give Nabiki 
a proper arrest. Smiling, he popped a stick of 
cinnamon gum into his mouth and followed Nabiki�s 
stretcher into the Tofu clinic.

	*

	When Ranma saw Nabiki she knew that Yamashita-
san was right. She didn�t know Nabiki that well at 
all. From the look of her dislocated shoulder and 
broken arm, she had taken a fall at a pretty high 
velocity. And when Ranma checked her aura�she could 
only see a faint sparkling here and there. �She�s 
almost completely drained of ki!�

      Yamashita-san nodded. �I brought her over here 
as soon as I could. �
      
      This kind of ki depletion didn�t happen unless 
you used an awful lot of it. It also meant that, 
despite appearances, Nabiki could very well die. Tofu 
needed to wake up SOON. Ranma hurried over to him. 
�Tofu-sensei you need to snap out of it okay? Nabiki-
neechan is here and she needs your help.�

	Tofu brought himself out of his stupor and 
noted his current situation. He didn�t have his 
glasses on but he could see well enough as long as he 
didn�t need to read or apply any exact pressure 
points. Two paramedics were waiting for him patiently 
around a girl in a stretcher�Nabiki. Ranma was there 
still, so she hadn�t run off. He saw Mrs. Yamashita 
and bowed. �Good morning Yamashita-san how are you 
today?�

	�Okay.�

	�Good to hear. And how is Mr. Yamashita?� Tofu 
asked with a smile indicating the baby.

	�As good as he can be considering he�s more 
than thirty years younger than he ought to be.� 
Yamashita-san replied tersely. �So sorry, but Nabiki-
chan needs your attention more than I do at the 
moment.�
      
      Tofu then saw Nabiki. Her ki was almost 
completely gone! Tofu hadn�t seen a case this severe 
in years! He�d have to look in a manual and perform a 
few precise pressure points�damn. Tofu addressed the 
two paramedics that came in with Nabiki. �Either of 
you know anything about ki deprivation?�
      
      �Hmm� is that like when you can�t get into your 
car?� The one on the left asked earnestly.
      
      �Nah�I think its when one of the notes on a 
piano is missing.�
      
      �Never mind,� Tofu said wearily, �You two might 
as well go.� Tofu saw a police officer come in after 
they left. �What are you doing here?�
      
      �I�m here to arrest her, sir,� Hiro said around 
the wad of gum in his mouth �I�ll just wait until she 
wakes up if that�s okay.�
      
      �Fine. Whatever. Ranma?� 
      
      �Yes, Tofu-sensei?�
      
      �Go to my library and find a book titled 
�Deforestation of the Japanese Wilderness� Also, see 
if you can find my glasses. Hurry.�
      
      Ranma did as Tofu asked. She knew the 
seriousness of Nabiki�s situation. Luckily all of 
Tofu�s books were ordered by title and Ranma was able 
to find the book after only a minute or so of 
searching. He pulled it out of the shelf and ran back 
to where Nabiki lay, stopping briefly to pick Tofu�s 
glasses off the floor. �Here ya go, doc. How is she 
lookin�?�

      Tofu did a quick double take at Ranma�s change 
back to male form and then quickly put his slightly 
bent glasses on and opened the book. �She has a 
chance now...�

      �Doc, how�s that book gonna help?�

      �Ah... ki...it means �tree� as well as 
spiritual energy. Deforestation, ki 
deprivation...it�s a sort of pun...Okay here it is!�  
Tofu looked over Nabiki again and grimaced. �She�s 
fading fast... I hope there�s still time.� He picked 
up Nabiki�s limp arms and crossed the wrists over a 
specific spot on her fore head. It was probably 
aggravating the broken right arm but it was necessary.
      
      �Doc... her third eye�s a little higher...�
      
      �Yes, you�re right...� Tofu moved Nabiki�s 
wrists a half centimeter higher. �Ranma...could you 
hold her wrists like this? Don�t let them move from 
position. Also...you seem to see the aura 
clearer...you�re going to have to be my eyes. She�s 
very faint.�
      
      �Uh...sure,� and Ranma did as Tofu asked.
      
      Tofu gently grasped Nabiki�s ankles and, 
turning the girl�s lower body so that her knees bent 
to one side, he pressed them to her rear. Luckily the 
girl was surprisingly flexible, most likely from Yoga 
Tofu surmised. It would explain how she would be able 
to release so much ki without showing much skill in 
the Art. Holding Nabiki�s ankles in position with his 
right hand he placed his left a little below the 
navel then he paused. �Ranma...can you see the center 
of the prostatic plexus?�
      
      �Huh?�
      
      �Her water chakra... can you see it?� Normally 
Tofu could find its exact location without difficulty, 
but the aura was so weak... 
      
      �Um yeah. It�s ...it�s just a little lower than 
where you�re at.� Ranma watched the doctor move his 
hand slowly downward until the palm was right at the 
spot. �Yeah that�s it right there. You tryin ta make 
her pee herself or something?� Ranma asked confused 
and quite a bit worried.
      
      �Let me know if her breathing becomes 
irregular.� 
      
      �Right...sure thing...�Ranma swallowed.
      
      Tofu focused and sent a measure of ki through 
his arm out of his hand and into Nabiki�s water 
chakra. He allowed himself a grimace as the girl did, 
in fact, wet herself. It would have happened anyway. 
Hopefully though the small amount of ki he gave 
Nabiki would jumpstart her and he�d feel her ki 
flowing back toward him. The arms and legs served to 
loop the ki flow back and keep as little of the 
energy from escaping as possible... Tofu stopped. It 
wasn�t working. 
      
      �Uh...Doc?�
      
      �What is it Ranma?�
      
      �You told me to tell ya if her breath got 
irregular?�
      
      �Yes?�
      
      �Well, she kinda stopped breathing. Is that 
bad?�

	Tofu�s eyes went wide. �Ranma...do you know 
CPR?�

      Ranma shook his head.
      
       �I need to find some way to get her ki back 
but she�s not going to make it unless...� Tofu was 
hit by the look on the martial artist�s face. He was 
pale, his eyes wide and moist with threatening tears. 
      
      Ranma was afraid. 

	*

	Ranma wasn�t the only one. Hiro watched 
everything with amusement until the pigtailed guy 
said the Tendo girl wasn�t breathing. He was shocked 
at first. The girl just had a few broken bones...why 
would she stop breathing? The doctor had kept going 
on about trees and spiritual energy, and he supposed 
it had something to do with that blast she let 
out...must of over-exerted her or something...served 
her right...but he really didn�t understand what was 
going on. 

	Not breathing...needing CPR...THAT he 
understood all too well. Watching your father die of 
a heart attack at the age of five, while the 
paramedics took their sweet time getting to him, and 
not knowing what to do, feeling so damned 
USELESS...That did a lot to change a man. Hiro never 
made it to med school, but he sure as hell knew CPR 
now and he wasn�t about to let someone else die. Not 
on his watch.

	Not thinking a second longer, he rushed to the 
doctor�s side. �I know CPR. Leave her to me.� The 
doctor nodded and Hiro checked the Tendo girl�s 
pulse...it wasn�t there. He shook her once just to be 
sure, but there was no response. He felt along the 
ribcage and used his fingers to find the right place 
to press. Taking a breath, he took off his sunglasses, 
put them in his breast pocket, swallowed his gum, and 
started resuscitating.

	*

	Tofu gritted his teeth as he tried once again 
to jumpstart Nabiki�s ki production. This wasn�t good. 
If the CPR didn�t make Nabiki start breathing again 
her ki wouldn�t be able to regenerate itself... 	

	�Doc, what do we do now?� Ranma asked over 
Nabiki�s head.
	
	�I don�t know Ranma. This is the most serious 
case I�ve seen...the only other way that Nabiki can 
be revived is through a full ki transfusion and 
that�s impossible...�

	�What do you mean it�s impossible?�

	�The only documented case of a ki transfusion 
ever working was between two identical twins. The ki 
has to be very similar or else the body rejects it. 
The technique I use only uses a little ki and even 
that would fail completely if the ki�s paths weren�t 
blocked. To attempt a full transfusion...not only 
would it probably fail, there�s a good chance the 
donor would die... as well as anyone else in the 
room.�

	Ranma looked down for a moment before he 
brightened... �Doc...a part of me is just like Nabiki 
ain�t it? What if I change over to her, then the 
transfusion thingie should work right?�

	Tofu frowned � Hmm...maybe...but you don�t have 
Nabiki�s personality, you only have your 
interpretation of Nabiki�s personality...and we�ve 
already determined there�s quite a lot that we don�t 
know about her.�

	�We gotta try right?� Ranma countered. Ranma 
concentrated for a moment, sweat pouring down his 
brow. He frowned. �DAMMIT! I can�t change into her! 
Its gotta be on accident or something!� And then his 
eyes met Tofu�s. �Doc...you ever think that maybe 
life is just a little TOO convenient?�

	Tofu just gave Ranma a look of incomprehension 
as the pigtailed boy ran to the counter by the other 
patient bed. Ranma picked up the earrings. The 
Saiserefu Noon. The artifact of Thyself Known. 

      Ranma touched the end of the hook of on of the 
earrings with his forefinger, drawing blood. �Aw crap. 
This is really gonna hurt.� Closing his eyes, he 
pulled out the lobe of his right ear and stabbed it 
with an earring.

	It did hurt. And after the initial pain came a 
pins and needles sensation that spread throughout 
Ranma�s body. He felt another pain in his left 
earlobe and another wave of pins and needles and, 
feeling with his left hand, he confirmed that the 
other earring had gone in quite on its own. Like a 
rush of wind, voices started a ruckus in his head. He 
recognized some...his father, Ukyo, Ryoga, Akane, 
others he didn�t understand, others he knew all too 
well. It was almost too much. He would have passed 
out from the mere effort of making sense of it all, 
but he had a purpose. He focused. �I need to be 
Nabiki....Tendo Nabiki. I...Tendo Nabiki...I...need 
to....I...Nabiki...I...am...I am Tendo Nabiki!�

	Tendo Nabiki was very confused.

~~~~~*~~~~~

      �I thought you said all the phones were 
tapped?� Nodoka said on the other end.

	�They are, No-chan, but I think Nabiki already 
knows you know about me� I wish I could tell you 
where Ranma is��

	�NO! There�s still a chance. We can�t lose 
hope!�

	�Nodoka�It�s been more than a decade! And Ra-
Ranko�she�s hurting. And she�s changing No-chan, and 
I don�t like what she�s changing into. She needs a 
mother. Not an aunt.�

	�Genma�if I�adopt her, then she�s going to know 
I know about you. Do you realize how that will make 
her feel?�

	�Betrayed, used�I know it will be hard, but 
I�ve gone through it before. It has to be better than 
this. Besides maybe this is just the push he�she 
needs.�

	�You know we can�t talk like that, Genma, it 
might break the contract!�

	Genma was silent for a long time before 
responding. �I�m�beginning to think we should just 
forget about the contract.�

	Genma couldn�t even hear Nodoka breathe in the 
pause before she spoke. �Genma�I understand how you 
feel, and I haven�t seen what you�ve seen, so I�ll 
forgive you just this once, but you even MENTION that 
possibility again�I love you Genny-kun�please� don�t 
make me hate you.�	

	�No-chan I�I love you too. Please consider it� 
Ran�ko can�t take more of this. I can�t take much 
more of this.�

	�Genma�� There were tears in Nodoka�s voice. In 
twenty-two years of marriage that was the first time 
Genma had ever said that he loved her. �I�ll 
come�tomorrow. I�ll stay for the weekend. You have to 
be the one to tell her though.�
	
	�Alright. I hope�we can be a family again 
soon.�

	�I hope so too, Genma. Until then,�

	�Until then.� Genma hung up. He hated this. He 
hated doing this to his child. But it was something 
that had to be done. Just like the Nekoken, just like 
Jusenkyo. By the end of this weekend, Ranma would 
have to make a choice. Boy or girl, honor or love...

      Death or life. 

~~~~~[END]~~~~~

AN: The next chapter was originally going to be part 
of this one, but I generally like to keep my chapters 
close to twenty pages long and was going way past 
that limit. Anyway if it seems a little incomplete 
that�s why.

Nabiki driving a motorcycle may be a little OOC but I 
just couldn�t get the idea out of my head. It sprang 
from wondering why you never see any scenes in the 
anime of Nabiki walking to school and why she is so 
insistent on not walking with Ranma and Akane in the 
first episode. And of course Nabiki does have a 
�helmet� hairstyle...

Thanks goes to Nemesis Zero, Aondehafka, and Figment for their 
helpful comments.

Any mistakes are mine alone.

Feedback greatly appreciated.

Zorukonotsu@yahoo.com 

      



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