Does anyone happen to know if the word "Feh" is 
something the characters in the manga say? It just
started coming into my mind as a thing for them to
say when annoyed or unsure of something, but I 
have the oddest feeling that I'm making it up ^-^

------------------------------------------------------
Title: The Countdown to Matrimony (Ch. 3 of Part 3)
Anime: Ranma 1/2
Author: Denise Cameron aka Elena99
------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3: Bringing a Sword

The next day passed fairly normally, for the most part. Gosunkugi had
the outmost confidence in his plan. In fact, he was sure Ranma had
even been nice to him, at the lunch time meeting. Not once had he
tried to take his things, or hit him, or embarrass him in some way.
Yet there had been a damper on it; Akane and Ranma had barely fought,
and when they did it was quickly over. He caught Akane looking at
Ranma several times when he wasn't looking, and even Ranma, with his
reputation of being above all things affectionate, was occasionally
glancing at her. There seemed to be something on their minds,
distracting them, but he was sure he didn't want to know any more then
he could see.

_It's just a lull, they'll be at each other's throats soon. And if
not...it'll just make the spell even worse._ But it was of little
comfort. They were still a couple, and that fact alone pained him.
Plus, he didn't even know if the plan was going to work. What if Kuno
and Kodachi didn't show up? They obviously wouldn't let him do the
spell if they didn't, since he had said the point was for it to affect
the Kunos. What if there was fighting enough to disrupt the spell? Or
it misfired, or worse, backfired? He didn't like all the if's, and
or's. If's and or's were not something that lead to a successful
curse.

Though he wouldn't tell Akane or Ranma, he hadn't even done this sort
of curse before. It was...special. Unlike anything he had ever tried
before. But it seemed so basic to him. So elementary. He was positive
he could do it. Even if he wasn't completely sure he understood
certain aspects of it...it was fine. He could do it.

_I'll just have to make do with what I have._ He looked at his watch
again, visible only by the four candles fastened to his head, and the
six that were also on the floor around him. He was hidden underneath
the stage in the gym. On the lower front part of the stage, Ranma had
punched a hole earlier, then put a thin, black mesh square of material
over it to conceal the hole. It was enough for Gosunkugi to see
clearly what was going on, once the lights were turned on, without
anyone being able to see him. Unless they were really close to the
mesh. _Or lifted it in a fight..._, he thought nervously, noting that
his face was close enough for a punch to hurt. A lot. The fact that
he'd be alone in a gym with four skilled martial artists made him
incredibly nervous; the fact that one of them was Akane Tendo only
served to make him more nervous, despite that he was sure she wouldn't
hurt him. Pretty sure, anyway. She only seemed to hit people when they
had it coming.

_Kodachi doesn't sound quite that sane, though...and Kuno and
Ranma...ahh, it's almost time. Need to prepare._ Reaching behind him,
he pulled out four small, doll like figures made of straw and wood. On
each he had written a letter in black wax, then dripped over it with
frog's blood; A, R, T and K. Akane, Ranma, Tatewaki, and Kodachi.
Silently, he arranged them in the proper order, then readied the
incense. All he had to do now, was wait.

* * *

He studied himself in the mirror again, turning around to check the
back of his green shirt. Reaching over his shoulder, he picked off a
piece of lint from his shirt, half annoyed with himself for caring
about lint. Turning around, he quickly finished going over his
appearance and smirked. He had been ready for this fight days ago.

In the mirror, he watched another figure walk into the room. A female
figure, in a pretty blue dress that hugged her curves, yet didn't show
much skin. It resembled her school dress in shade, but the top wasn't
jumper style; Akane didn't need to wear a white blouse underneath it.
It was almost Chinese style, with it's silk covered buttons, high
neck, and capped sleeves. Turning around, he took on a fighting
stance, as though he were challenging her. Akane put her hands on her
hips, but nodded approvingly. He noticed she was wearing high socks
that went up to her knees, no doubt to help protect her skin from
scrapes, and her shoes were different then usual; they were more like
slippers, like his.

"One comment about being dressed to kill, and I swear I'll hit you,"
she said.

"Feh," he said, standing back up to his normal posture. _As if I'd say
somethin' stupid like that...though I suppose we both do look a little
dressed up to be fighting_. "It was your idea for us to wear nice
clothes, anyway. I can fight in anything, but I don't really feel like
ruining this shirt. I don't have very many good ones left, ya know,"
he said, walking to the other side of the room to pick up the silk
flowers meant to distract Kodachi.

At first they had planned to just ambush the two of them; crouch to
one side of the door, and just wait. But then Akane had pointed out
that it'd be best to take them out silently, and without notice.
Ambushing could lead to a fight, and noise, and the school night
security coming to check on them.

"They should have gotten the invitations about an hour ago. I sent two
different people to do it, at different times," said Akane, who was
now checking her own hair in the mirror. Looking satisfied, she
straightened and turned to look at him. With the way she looked, Ranma
almost wished that this would be a real date. But then, real dates
tended to be just two people, and they weren't supposed to involve
fighting. At least, not as far as he knew.

"Everything else we need is in this pouch," she continued, pointing to
a small, blue vinyl bag that hung off of a thin, silver cording on her
waist, "Antidote, chloroform, and rags. Hopefully we can get through
plan A without having to go to plan B," she said, looking up at him.

"You don't think it'd be fun to beat up Kodachi? Even just a bit? You
know you wanna," said Ranma, walking towards the door with the fake
flowers in his arms. Akane did normally enjoy fighting, but this was
different. This wasn't self-defense, or competition, or even a fair
fight. This was almost...kidnaping. _It'll probably go to plan B,
anyway...Akane's always the last to admit when she's wrong. Gettin
through Kuno and Kodachi's defenses ain't easy. We're probably gonna
have to fight 'em._ He knew she could take out Kodachi. Absolutely take
her out, if she had to. But with the way Akane's heart and mind
worked, Ranma feared the issue was 'would she'.

He himself had no real qualms about it, despite how passionately Akane
had debated the issue earlier. Beating on them was a means to an end;
he went along with her plan A to keep her quiet, mostly. Kuno and
Kodachi weren't being badly hurt, or killed, or changed. They were
just being...cursed. _Yeah, one of them good curses Saotome?_ He heard 
a dry voice cackle in his head. Ranma ignored it.

"Do you really think Gosunkugi knows what he's doing?" asked Akane,
changing the subject and almost reading Ranma's mind.

"This's a switch. I thought you were all for it now?" countered Ranma.
Akane looked doubtful, and frowned.

"I was. Maybe I'm thinking too much into it, now. Either way...if
there's even a chance we can get Kuno and Kodachi to leave us
alone...we probably should take it. Right? I mean, it's just a curse,"
she said, in an offhanded manner that struck Ranma like a punch. _Just
a curse...heh. Like I have 'just a curse'...I wonder if it's really
okay, to do this to them. But it's not like we're making them switch
genders, or turning them into ducks or anythin'. It's more like..._

His instincts were yelling at him, and Akane had only fed them more
fuel. The dry voice in his head had been right to comment; he knew
this was risky. They both knew it was risky, and probably stupid. Then
again, it wouldn't be the first time they had been at risk for
something. Both him and Akane had risked their lives many a time, and
things had been okay in the end. He just wished this time his
instincts would shut up, and let him work. Nothing better was coming
to mind. He thumbed his nose absently, thinking.

"I wouldn't call it a curse. It's more like hypnotizing, or
brainwashing. They're not gonna turn into anything else, they're just
gonna...react different," said Ranma, sounding more confident then he
felt. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door, and walked out into
the Tendo hallway. Akane followed him silently.

"Leaving for your date now?" asked a voice as they passed by the
living room. Looking over, Ranma saw his mother, dressed in simple
housecleaning clothes. She was walked over to them, a small smile on
her face as though she knew something they didn't.

"It's actually a fight, Auntie Saotome," said Akane, gently. _Sorry
Mom..._, thought Ranma when he saw the disappointment in her face.

"I see. In those clothes?" she asked, walking up to Akane and touching
the fine buttons on her dress.

"It's a disguise," said Ranma. In response, his mother switched to
him, and began fixing the collar of his shirt, which he was sure
didn't need fixing two minutes ago. His first thought was to push away
her hands, but he let her fuss over him; it was still odd to have his
mother around, anyway. He was still getting used to what he was
supposed to let her do, and how he was supposed to react.

"How clever," she said, managing to look amused again, "You two _will_
go on a date again soon though, right? A real date. You've both been
cooped up in here a lot lately, studying. It's good to study, but it
won't help your exams to be stressed out and overworked," she
lectured.

"Err, well...," began Ranma, looking back over to Akane. The latter
looked as though she were also searching for the correct response, and
shuffled her feet.

"That's a good idea, Auntie Saotome. Maybe later on this week," she
said after a moment. Nodding, Mrs. Saotome patted Ranma's cheek
gently, then turned around, heading back into the living room.

"Well good luck then. I hope you don't ruin your nice clothes," she
said over her shoulder.

"Don't worry mom, we'll be fine," said Ranma confidently. Without
giving chance for anyone else to see them, Ranma took Akane's hand and
lead her out of the house. The sound of the door closing behind them
was resounding, but they started out anyway, their path lit by the
setting sun and the dimly lit street lights.

* * *

When they got to the gym, about ten minutes before the Kunos were due
to show up, they first went to the covered hole in the stage to make
sure Gosunkugi was there and that everything was going well. Akane
felt at least partially relieved that everything was on target so far.
She could only see Gosunkugi's face through the mesh, but his eyes
looked confident, something that seemed rare on him. Ranma once again
made him reassure them that this would only affect Kodachi and Kuno,
and do nothing more then make sure they didn't want to be around Ranma
and Akane. She didn't know if he was doing this for her benefit or his
own, but she appreciated it. After a quick exchange of murmured well
wishing, they took their places. Akane went to the front of the gym,
which was a bigger area and would make things easier for Akane to
escape should she get in trouble, while Ranma went to the side
entrance. It was smaller, and if Kodachi did bring her weapons,
especially her ribbon, it'd be harder to use it.

They turned on the lights. The gym looked so huge and empty, with the
lights on but no students running around, making noise. An odd feeling
of foreboding made her shiver. She wasn't scared, certainly. She could
take out Kuno easily, and Kodachi right after if she had to. But the
talk about the curse...despite that he had hidden it from her, she
could tell the fact that it was a curse was still making Ranma
nervous. Not many things made Ranma nervous. She pushed the fear down,
though, and tried to make herself think it was nothing.

"Hello? Akane Tendo, it is I, Tatewaki Kuno! Are you here?" called a
very familiar voice. It sent the shivers all over again, but these
were of disgust. Putting her hand in her pouch to grab the chloroform
soaked rag, she put on a smile, and waited.

"I'm in here Kuno! Hurry up, I don't like waiting." _Like he needs
encouragement_, she thought dryly, hearing him turn the knob violently.
He pushed it open, arms extended, with his wooden sword attached to
the usual holster on his gi. It wasn't his usual outfit, though; he
appeared to be wearing something newer, with more embroidery on it. In
his arms were roses, obviously for her. Within a moment he had leapt
in front of her, bouquet extended, a smile on his face that made her
suddenly much more anxious for plan A to mess up so they could go to
plan B. _Akane! Try and show a bit of humanity...just because he's a
pervert, and an idiot, and a casanova, doesn't mean..._ She tried to
find the words she had used to convince Ranma earlier, but couldn't
find them.

"Shh, pipe down Kuno. You don't want to get security over here, do
you?" she asked. But Kuno was already leaping at her, most likely
aiming at an embrace. Dodging, Akane grabbed the roses, and feigned
admiring them.

"Careful, you'll hurt the roses Kuno. You don't want to kill the
flowers, do you?" she asked, nervously. Old feelings surfaced within
her, trying to take control, wanting to strike or run. Memories of
Kuno, following her home until she learned to run and hide from him
when she was eleven. Of Kuno at their first school dance, keeping all
the other boys away with his sword. Not that she wanted to dance with
the other boys anyway, but it had been her first and last school
dance. Kuno, with a smile on his face, just for her. Kuno, announcing
that no one but he was worthy of pursuing her. Kuno, following and
hounding her within an inch of her life, day in, day out, for years.
Akane didn't blame herself for the unbidden shiver, but kept a hand
from striking him.

"But Akane! Roses are nothing compared to our love. I will comply,
though, for you," he said. His eyes looked wild, and full of
obsession. And idiocy..., she thought, looking at the man who had
stalked her since she was a child. The realization didn't terrify her
as much as she thought it would. He was her stalker. Tatewaki Kuno.

Backing up towards the main gym, and closer to Ranma, she held on
tighter to the rag. _I just need to get close enough...without giving
him the wrong idea._ Bending her head to smell the flowers, she kept an
eye on him, and planned her next move. _If I can get him to think I'm
delicate...oh, but Ranma is so much better at playing the damsel in
distress..._

"Is that a rip on the shoulder, Kuno? Near the back of the jacket,"
she said, feigning concern.

"A rip? On this outfit? Impossible! It's brand new," he said, but he
craned his neck to look. Seeing an opening, Akane approached,
pretending to examining the fictional rip. Before she could act,
though, Kuno grabbed her in his arms and held her.

"Akane! For you to be concerned about a rip on my clothing...I'm so
happy!" he said dramatically. Unable to resist, Akane kicked him away,
then leapt to the other side of the room. Unperturbed, Kuno got up,
rubbing the spot on his hip where he had kicked her.

"A game, is it?" he said, running towards her again. Trying to keep
herself from screaming, Akane ran away, holding the rag in one hand
and dropping the roses carelessly to the floor. Looking back, she saw
Kuno scoop them up without breaking stride. She stopped suddenly,
sidestepping so that he ran past her. Thinking it still a game, he
came back at her, arms extended. Holding back a look of repulsion, she
tried to jump up to his shoulder, and cover the his face with the rag
again. This time, he managed to pluck her up as though she were a
kitten, and hold her arms down. Defeated, Akane squirmed, kicking at
his shins.

"Kuno...let me go...you're...you're going to wrinkle my dress," she
said, finally kicking away. He let her down, but his eyes were just as
wild. Unable to contain her anger, she punched him, sending him flying
across the room.

"Oh Akane! To stir such passion...you are surely a woman in the full
bloom of love!" He said, recovering from the other side of the room
and running towards her again. Akane thought she was going to be sick.

_Ugh. Please let this end soon...please. I don't know how much more I
can take of this idiot._

* * *

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down Kodachi. We shouldn't take things so
fast," said Ranma, feeling a few beads of sweat form on his forehead.
The black haired gymnastics expert took a step towards him, swaying
her slim hips and absently twirling her fighting ribbon. _I can't
believe she took that on a date. What did she think she'd need it for?
Unless...oh. Oh, ew._ Taking a step back, he thrust the silk roses
towards her, using them almost as a shield. _I can't hit her...but I
can't avoid her either. What is WITH this girl?_ Trying to keep a
pleasant look on his face, he made himself stand still, flowers still
extended.

"Don'tcha want my gift? I bought them for you," he said, keeping his
other hand behind him. In it was the chloroform rag Akane had given
him earlier; he hoped she would approach and take the roses, giving
him an opening. But clearly, that would just be too easy. Kodachi gave
him a sultry look, then dived at him.

"Oh Ranma! But why do you want to take things slow? Slow is boring,"
she said, leaping to his arms and taking the silk roses. It had been a
natural reaction to catch her, but now he couldn't get his hand to her
mouth. Holding the silk flowers on her lap, she looked at them,
pouting.

"These aren't real. Aren't I good enough for real roses?" she asked,
as Ranma put her down.

"What's the difference? A rose is a rose," he said lamely, trying to
sidestep behind her and drug her. Quick as a mouse, Kodachi turned,
and flushed.

"Why Ranma, are you trying to get behind me? And you were talking
about taking things slow!" she said, lunging at him. Back flipping out
of the way, Ranma reached for the door behind him that lead to the
main gym.

_That's it, Akane, time for plan B. This is just not gonna work, I
can't get close enough to her without her...ew. EW._ As he was opening
the door, he noticed that Kodachi had followed him in his backflips,
and was now leaning up against him. Her hand was massaging his strong
arm muscles, while she looked up at him with wild, obsessed eyes. One
more try, and it's plan B time, he thought, raising the other hand to
drug her. As though she knew what he was doing, she grabbed his hand,
leaving his arm. For now.

"Ohohoho! You're such a tease!" she said, as Ranma finished opening
the door. He could hear noises in the gym; was Akane alright? _Sounds
like it's switchin' time._

Leaping away from her, he lunged through the open door, the gym lights
now on clear and bright. In a split second he took in Akane, standing
near the center of the room, with Kuno looking at her lovingly. From
several paces away, he was happy to note.

"Ranma!" she called, turning around to take in him and Kodachi.
Practically flying to Akane, he took position behind her, careful to
keep his eyes on Kodachi. Having his fiancee behind him was little
comfort, though. Now he not only had to worry about himself versus
Kodachi, he had to protect Akane, and worry over Kuno. Chances are
they would be fine, but if Kodachi did something to Akane while he was
distracted by Kuno...

"Saotome! How dare you interfere on this date!" called Kuno, raising
his sword.

"Brother! What are YOU doing here? With that devious monster, of all
people! How dare you intrude on our date!" hissed Kodachi. The two
glowed with battle auras, momentarily forgetting about Ranma and Akane
as they glared at each other.

"Hey Akane...you alright?" asked Ranma quietly. Grabbing her arms, he
guided her into a turn so that he would be facing Kuno, and she
Kodachi. Fortunately, the siblings were still flinging insults at each
other, and questioning the right of the other to be there.

"I'm fine. I want to kill Kuno now, rather then just drug him. What
was I thinking?" she asked, and he could feel her back muscles tense
up further.

"Lapse of judgement. It happens when you forget that the Kunos ain't
exactly normal people," he said quietly. "Just take out Kodachi, and
fast, okay? I'll get Kuno."

"Make sure you leave a scar on him," growled Akane, before getting
into position. _Geez, she's really on edge_, thought Ranma, eyeing Kuno.
He was still glaring at his sister, his battle aura even larger now.
Akane's was building, to almost rival it, and he brought his own out
easily.

_Will do, Akane._ Ranma cracked his knuckles, and crouched.

"Now!" shouted Akane, and suddenly they sprang from their position in
the center of the gym. Kuno and Kodachi forgot about each other for
the time being, noticing that they had even bigger rivals after them
now.

"Saotome! Prepare to die!"

"Ohoho! I'll put you out for good this time, wench!"

Seeing Kuno raise his sword, Ranma jumped on it, turning to kick Kuno
in the face. Kuno flung his sword up in defense to get Ranma off of
it.

"How dare you!" he cried, charging after him. Ranma landed easily on
the stage, and smirked confidently at the kendo martial artist.

"Easily. C'mon Kuno, you know you can't beat me," said Ranma, jumping
up as Kuno barreled through the stage. Ranma heard the sound of
Gosunkugi gasping, then looked down to see that Kuno had rammed the
wood in just left of where Gosunkugi was. _Ouch. Better stop playing
with him and just finish him off_, thought Ranma, landing on the
ground.

"Stop dodging and fight like a man!" cried Kuno, charging at him once
more.

"Part of my plan," said Ranma, jumping up as Kuno came at him.
Unleashing a fury of blows on Kuno, he was kept in the air from the
sheer force of them, punch after punch after punch. Kuno was pushed
back from the assault, the blows to his face, shoulders, chest and
neck too much to handle. Landing, Ranma turned in a round house kick,
aiming his foot at Kuno's skull.

Kuno was on the floor and out cold before Ranma had even set down his
foot again.

"Heh. Easy," commented Ranma, turning Kuno onto his stomach and tying
up his wrists with rope from his pocket.

"Now to watch Akane," he said, sitting down on the small of Kuno's
back. Just in case.

Akane and Kodachi were locked in stance, sizing each other up. Clearly
there had been some fighting, as it looked like either might have a
hair out of place. Might. He watched as Akane let out a small cry, and
lunged at Akane, aiming for a punch. Kodachi dodged, trying to catch
Akane's ankle in the ribbon. It lasted long enough to cause her to
miss, but soon Akane had ripped it off, then landed close to her.

"Ohohoho!"

"Just give up now, Kodachi, and I won't hurt you. Much," said Akane.
Kodachi, obviously not listening, lunged at Akane again; his fiancee
easily side stepped, then knocked her out with a fist to her skull. As
Ranma had done, she put Kodachi on her stomach, then tied her hands
together. Looking up, she saw Ranma sitting on Kuno, then nodded.
Picking up Kodachi, Akane carried her over, and placed her down beside
her brother, keeping one foot on the floor and one on the small of
Kodachi's back. Just in case.

"Oh, Gosunkugi!" She said, looking over at the stage. Ranma followed
her gaze, and realized he had forgotten about the guy.

"Idiot! Why did you have to fight over there!" She said, running over
to other part of their trio.

"Hey, it was Kuno who ran into the stage like a bull!" cried Ranma.
Resting his feet on Kodachi's back, he watched as Akane picked through
the rubble, then looked as though she were talking to Gosunkugi. _Not
even a word of thanks. I gave him a scar, too. That scratch on his
shoulder from the stage, plus my punching, has gotta leave a mark._

"Is he alright?" he called, when Akane ran back.

"He's fine. Kuno knocked some wood on him, and put out a candle, but
he thinks it's okay."

"Thinks? You mean he ain't sure?" asked Ranma, standing up. He thought
he heard Kodachi groan as he stepped from her back to the floor in
front of Akane.

"Well that's what he said, he doesn't know. I don't think he's
actually done this before, Ranma," Akane confessed. Ranma could feel
the whole plan crashing down on them. Something in the back of his
head screamed 'I told you so!' mockingly; his very aura tingled and
crackled, as he looked at Akane's face. Disappointment shone true
there, and confusion. And worry. Great, horrible, world ending worry.

"Oh, wonderful. So now we have skeleton boy over there, starting a
curse that...hey. Do you smell something, Akane?" he asked, suddenly
noticing an odd scent in the air. Akane lifted her nose as well,
sniffing and looking displeased. His danger sense flashed bright red
in his mind, urging him to get out. Now. But could he get them all out
before it was too late? Or would it be okay if he just grabbed Akane,
and...but it was too late. The warning sensations were going in
overload. Akane's eyes...they were...flashing? Why was her battle aura
up again, and glowing bright red? Her voice came through to him, as
though from the bottom of a deep, damp well.

"What do you think it...ohh..." Before she could finish, Akane's eyes
closed and she fell over. Ranma caught her easily, looking at her face
as he held her limp body. Her aura was gone now; completely faded
away. Ranma had a sinking feeling that he was at the point of no
return, even if he did manage to get Akane out now. Even if
Gosunkugi...even if...Gosunkugi...he was having a hard time
concentrating, and he realized that his aura was flashing. Ranma was
angry. Very, very angry, but it all felt so dull. Like he was watching
himself hold his unconscious fiancee, and watching himself be angry,
from elsewhere in the gymnasium. Something was draining him, as it had
Akane. He didn't care about himself right then, though; his thoughts
were all for Akane. Concern for her, and rage towards the one who had
most likely done this to her.

"Akane? Akane? Gosunkugi! What did you...ahhh..." The gym suddenly
seemed to get much bigger, and much smaller all at once, and went
dark. Falling backwards, he landed on Kuno and Kodachi, Akane in his
arms. Kuno groaned, and then all was silent in the gym.

* * *

"This isn't supposed to happen, this isn't supposed to happen, this
isn't supposed to happen..." Gosunkugi was, to put it mildly, freaked
out. Nothing was going right anymore. Oh, it had looked okay, after
the ox had broken the stage. It had still looked alright after he had
relit the candles, and cleared the debris away from the dolls. It had
even looked just fine not two seconds ago, when Akane had checked on
him. But now something was very, very wrong. The dolls were glowing,
in bright colours. Almost like-

"Battle auras! Why? Why why why why? They aren't _supposed_ to have
battle auras, they're supposed to...to.."

*THUMP*

He gasped, looking out at the large hole that was now in front of him.
A pile of bodies was on the floor of the gym; Ranma and Akane had just
toppled over the ox and his crazy sister. Gosunkugi wanted to scream
in frustration, but instead he got up, jumped over the dolls and out
of his circle of candles, and rushed to the pile of bodies to see what
was wrong. Akane might have been hurt. He didn't care about the other
three, but if Akane was hurt...he just wouldn't be able to live with
himself. He had to make sure she was okay.

"What's that...smell..." Before he was two steps away from the stage,
the floor came up and slapped him hard on the face.

Once again, all was silent in the gym. Behind him, under the stage,
the dolls hummed with battle auras.

* * *

"Where in the world am I now?!" screamed Ryoga Hibiki, waking up to an
unfamiliar room. On closer inspection, though, it actually was a
familiar room. He was laying on a futon, in a warm house. Sitting up,
he looked at his surroundings more closely. A table, chairs, open
sliding doors looking out into a koi pond. It was still dark outside,
but from the look of the sky, the sun was due to come up in a half
hour. Or so.

_A koi pond..._

Realization of where he was made him get up, and run towards the exit.
_I'm in Akane's house! How did I get here? I need to go, before 
she..._

"Hey! Hey, wait! Hibiki! I went to all that trouble to get you to wake
up, and you won't even listen to me?" called a voice behind him.
Stopping at the porch, Ryoga turned around to see Nabiki standing at
the doorway. She waggled a finger at him, as though to get him to come
closer. Ryoga first tried to take a step back, but Nabiki shook her
head.

"No, come HERE. Forward. I'm not going to hurt you," she said. Ryoga
eyed her suspiciously.

"Is Akane here? Because if she sees me here..." He began.

"No, she's not, and that's the point. Akane and Ranma are missing,"
said Nabiki. _What? Missing? Arg, damn you Ranma, what did you get
Akane into now?_ He stormed back over to Nabiki, lifting dust in his
wake. She shrank back, seemingly scared by the expression on his face.
Or maybe because his foot was now through the table he had seen
earlier.

"Missing since when? What happened?" he demanded, concern flowing
through his veins. If Ranma had gotten Akane in danger again, he swore
he'd kill him this time. Or come as close as he possibly could. He
already had a very bad feeling about the whole thing, just from
looking at Nabiki's face.

"Breathe, Ryoga. Breathe. There, better? Here. They're photocopies,"
she said, handing him two pieces of paper that appeared to be
invitations. Quickly reading them over, he shook his head, not
understanding.

"What, are you kidding me? They'd never invite the Kunos out on a
date. This doesn't make sense," he said, looking over the papers in
puzzlement. _They wanted to meet them at the school gym...and they did
write these! I know that's Akane's writing...and this is...this has to
be Ranma_, He thought, feeling beads of sweat form.

"Of course it doesn't make sense! Idiot, it's a trap that they set,"
called a loud, and slightly distressed female voice. Ryoga looked up
in time to see Ukyo walk into the room, a hand on her hip and spatula
on her back. She tossed him his pack, which he caught and held dully
in his hands. Noticing his umbrella was leaning against the wall, he
picked it up and put it in place on the pack automatically.

"Ukyo. Why are you here?" he asked, Nabiki now ignored. He noted the
tired look in Ukyo's eyes, though she certainly looked like she had
recovered from the last time he had seen her. Which had been crying,
in her restaurant. If anything, she just looked merely perturbed. At
him.

"Same reason you are, sugar. Nabiki called me over here to take you to
find Ranma and Akane," said Ukyo, sounding calmer. Still, he saw her
eyebrow twitch as she looked at the invitations in Ryoga's hands.

"Huh? Then how did I get here?" he asked, scratching his head.

"I was wondering that myself. Last night, I went upstairs to look for
Akane, and found a rather drunk, black piglet in her bed. But no
Akane," explained Nabiki.

"Drunk? But I don't...oh...OH. Damn. Damn damn damn," repeated Ryoga,
not noticing that he had put a small hole in the Tendo living room
wall. Memories of the last few days slowly came back to him; Konatsu
keeping him under guard in Ukyo's restaurant, Ukyo coming home early
from school in tears, Ryoga trying to go up to her room to comfort
her, but being intercepted by a small child who decided to make him
her pet. Again. It had taken Ryoga two days to escape that, at least,
if not three. Last night, he had found himself in a bar, still a pig.
One of the patrons had thought it funny to give him vodka in a dish
instead of water; only too late did Ryoga notice what he was drinking.


"Ugh. I must have stumbled back here somehow...I'm sorry Nabiki.
Really," he apologized, paying complete attention to the middle Tendo
sister again. Nabiki sniffed, but looked more amused then annoyed.

"Don't worry about it. If anything, it's more convenient this way,"
she said. _Convenient? How is it...?_

"Isn't anyone else looking for them? Mr. Tendo? Ranma's dad? Anyone?"
asked Ryoga. Nabiki nodded, looking grim.

"They are, but the idiots were so worried that they left before I
could explain where they were. Then I remembered that we happened to
have an unexpected martial artist spending the night. But why are you
people still here? Go, go!" said Nabiki, waving her arms. Ukyo grabbed
Ryoga's arm, but didn't have to pull for long before he put on his
backpack, following her.

"Come on sugar, the gym isn't far," said Ukyo, already jumping off the
back porch.

"We'll find them Nabiki, I swear!" said Ryoga, jumping off as well. _Oh
Akane, please be okay, please be okay..._

It was a few minutes before Ryoga calmed down enough to notice just
who he was with again. Ukyo. She was leading him quietly, a determined
look on her face. Ukyo. She had been crying that day, when she had
forgotten about school. _What happened then? I never did get to find
out._ Ryoga jogged to catch up with her, and she extended an arm, as
though to keep him from getting ahead of her.

"Slow down, P-chan. I'm supposed to keep you from getting lost," said
Ukyo. Ryoga flushed angrily at the nickname, all thoughts of comfort
and concern melting away. _When did she find out I was cursed, anyway?
Maybe Ranma told her. That idiot has no sense of privacy, or feelings,
or even common decency._ Ryoga snorted, wondering again where Ranma had
taken Akane to. They probably weren't even at the gym anymore, not
this late. _Oh Akane..._

"P-chan? This is hardly the time for name calling. And how did you
find out about the curse, anyway?" he growled, but stayed by her side.
He suddenly hated how easily he got lost, and realized what Nabiki's
first instinct had been when she decided she needed Ryoga. That Ryoga
needed a guide; someone to hold his hand and make sure he didn't take
a wrong turn. Ukyo clearly knew her role as well; find Akane and
Ranma, but make sure the pig boy didn't get lost. _Feh. I don't need a
babysitter._

"Huh? Oh, I sort of pieced it together. You know, you'd dissapear,
then Akane's pig would be there. I cornered Ranma about it, and he
didn't say no. You've only confirmed it, since." She shrugged, as
though it weren't a big deal.

"That jerk! He swore he wouldn't tell...feh, he's so weak with women,"
Ryoga shook his head distastefully, "And just because you do know,
doesn't mean you get to call me that. My name is Ryoga. Only one
person is allowed to call me P-chan," he declared, wondering grimly
where Akane could be. _Maybe they ARE still in the school...they could
even still be fighting. But they can take out Kuno and Kodachi
easily...it's been hours._ He completely missed the brief, sad
expression that came over Ukyo's face at the dismissal of friendship.

"Sorry. Truce?" she asked. Something in her voice made it's way
through the mist-like images of Akane, clouding his mind. _No time for
fighting...even if she IS being a pain..._

"Truce. I don't like this, Ukyo. Something is wrong here. Very, very
wrong. It shouldn't take them more then minutes to beat up those two.
Even if there was more then the plan to that, they've been gone all
night; it'll be sunrise in a short while," he commented, seeing his
uneasiness and uncertainty mirrored in Ukyo's face. _She must be
worried about Ranma, or else she wouldn't be helping. Hey wait, didn't
she get Ranma to promise to stay away from her? Won't this be breaking
that? Even though she's the one who thought it up in the first place._
Ryoga's emotions were all over the place; concern for Akane, hatred
for Ranma, but at the same time, sympathy for Ukyo peppered with
annoyance at her attitude towards him. He didn't know what to think,
he didn't know what to do except run with her, and try to help. They
just had to find them.

"I know." Was all she said, and the two of them jogged faster.
Suddenly her face brightened, and she turned to Ryoga. Something
seemed very forced about the brightness, and it made his heart ache.
"It'll be okay, sugar. We're going to go save them. We'll be like
their guardian angels. Or their knights," she said.

"Guardian angels, huh?" was all Ryoga could find to respond to that.
_What are we doing here, really? Helping friends?_ But he had to help
Akane. They had to help Akane, no matter what. Ranma too, if he
happened to be there. If the idiot hadn't hurt Akane, and wasn't the
real cause of her being missing. He didn't hate Ranma normally...not
much, anyway. But right now...

"I told Ranma to stay away from me for a while. But...this can't be
helped," said Ukyo, her face dark once more.

"Agreed. I could never let anything happen to Akane. Even if she
marries him, and they have dozens of kids, I'll still..." He trailed
off, suddenly becoming depressed at the image. Beside him, Ukyo's face
darkened further.

"We're pathetic, aren't we," she said quietly, as they rounded the
corner and began climbing over the Furinkan School gate.

"Very. In a...noble way," added Ryoga. Once they were over the gate,
they jumped back to the other side with rolling breakfalls, then
bounced back to a run. _I'm coming, Akane. Almost there..._

* * *

_I'm sorry Ranma, but I can't just sit on my hands and wait to see if
you're okay..._, thought Ukyo, as she opened the gym door. Light seeped
out, and bathed the faces of Ryoga and Ukyo as they took in the scene
before them.

The gymnasium was large and empty, save for a small pile of bodies
near the middle of the room. The front part of the stage was damaged,
and a piece of black material looked to be haphazardly covering it. As
her and Ryoga ran into the room, she recognized the bodies of Ranma,
Akane, Kuno, Kodachi, and closer to the stage, someone who was dressed
in black clothes, and equally out.

"Ranma! Oh god, what happened here?" she cried, rushing to kneel by
Ranma's head. She felt a chilling dread at the sight of him. Cold,
still, and pale. So pale...

"Akane! Arg, even when they're out cold, Ranma just has to be..."
Ryoga didn't finish his sentence, and carefully moved Ranma's arms off
of her.

"Careful you don't break any bones," scolded Ukyo, still looking at
Ranma. Her heart had nearly leapt up through her esophagus until she
noticed he was still breathing. They all seemed to be. Gingerly, she
touched his cheek, and found it to be warm, despite the pastiness of
the colour. In the air, there was a residual scent of ashes, and some
sort of herbs. Mystified, she looked over at Ryoga, who had picked up
Akane and was gently setting her down on the floor a few paces from
the bodies. His first thought had been for her, just as hers had been
for Ranma. The irony at their pathetic persistence made her want to
scream, but she held it in check. More was at stake here. She brushed
away some of Ranma's ebony hair from his eyes, willing him to wake up.

"Uhhn...just a few more minutes Pop," groaned Ranma, making Ukyo jump.
She hadn't actually expected it to work. Experimentally, she found
herself willing him to kiss her as well, but made herself stop. This
wasn't the time for her to be a foolish little girl. She probably
hadn't willed him to wake up, either; touching his hair and Ryoga
moving Akane off of him had most likely done that.

"Ranma-honey! You're okay?" she practically squealed. They were just
sleeping. _Idiot, don't scare me like that! But why were they sleeping
like this? What happened here?_

"Pipe down, Ranma! Can't you tell I'm trying to sleep?" moaned an
equally fine Akane. Ukyo looked over at her and Ryoga, to see that
Ryoga was incredibly happy and incredibly sad at the same time. The
paradox made her shake her head, and she turned back to Ranma.

"Hey, sugar, get up. Don't you know where you are? This isn't the
Tendo residence," she said, shaking Ranma gently.

"Huh? Is that...Ukyo? Ucchan!" he said, finally opening his eyes.
Ranma promptly looked incredibly confused, and sat up. Kuno, still
underneath Ranma, groaned loudly.

"What-" Before she could finish though, she saw Ranma's face contort
into sheer anguish.

"Kodachi! Are you okay?" Ukyo looked blankly to the woman who Ranma
was resting his feet on, and watched in horror as he jumped away from
Ukyo, untied Kodachi's bound wrists, rolled her over to her back, and
held her in his arms.

"Kodachi, wake up! Please!" he wailed, trying his best to wake up the
sleeping girl.

"What in the..." Cut off again, this time by an overzealous Akane, she
was pushed back as the blue haired girl untied Kuno's bonds, rolled
him over, then gently stroked his cheek.

"Kuno? Kuno, wake up! Kuno!...P-please?" she begged, tears forming in
her eyes.

"Wha-wha-wha-" Ukyo had lost complete control of her vocal chords. Her
mind attempted to register what her eyes saw, but couldn't process it;
it was as though her mind and her eyes were having an argument, and
her mouth could only cope by repeating a single syllable over and over
again. Soon though, she felt a strong, male hand clamping her mouth
shut. She turned to see that it belonged to Ryoga, and after
exchanging a look, he removed the hand.

"Thanks. But, uh...Ry...Ryoga...," she stammered, pointing to the two
people who they had come to rescue, who were still trying to wake up
the Kunos. In a rather over affectionate manner that made her stomach
want to spill it's contents. Violently.

"I have no idea. But we have to stop them, if Kodachi and Kuno find
them like this, they'll take it all the wrong way!"

"So you DO see what I'm seeing, Ryoga? Is that what you're saying?"
she asked, grabbing his shirt. This was all just too insane. This
wasn't happening, she wasn't there, but then Ryoga just had to confirm
it. He just had to...

"H-huh? What do you mean?"

"Cause what I'M seeing is Ranma-honey and Akane looking incredibly
distressed over the fact that Kodachi and Kuno are not waking up! That
can't be right, can it?" asked Ukyo, panicking. _Oh god, I'm losing
it...I am SO losing it..._ She hadn't really thought she was seeing
something different then Rygao. Well, not really. But nothing
else...rational...had entered her mind to explain it yet. Unless Ryoga
had an explanation? Her hands shook hard, still clinging to Ryoga's
shirt, and she didn't know how to stop them. _How dare Ranma-honey 
go to that...that witch!_

"Snap out of it!" he said, shaking her enough that Ukyo stopped
gripping on his shirt. The tears slowed, and she looked back over to
where Ranma was. A_rg, why is he holding that she-demon so close to
him? If it was at least Akane, it wouldn't be so bad, but Kodachi?_
Still unable to process, her head began to throb. Before she could
turn back to Ryoga, though, Kodachi stirred.

"Ara...?" she said, opening her large, black eyes, "Ranma!" she said
loudly, surprised.

"Kodachi! Are you okay?"

"Akane Tendo! Release me from your grasp!" demanded Kuno, getting up
and brushing himself off.

"But...but Kuno!" she called, running after him as Kuno bolted for the
exit.

"Stay back, woman! I have no desire to date with you!"

"Brother, wait for me! Aren't you going to protect your own sister
from this vile pervert?" hissed Kodachi, off like a flash after her
brother.

"Kodachi, wait! Come back!" cried Ranma, the last to leave the room.
And then, silence. Ryoga, obviously more in control of himself then
Ukyo, managed to raise his hand and point to the door. Ukyo was
impressed; her mind still didn't believe what her eyes had seen, but
her ears were ringing with truth. She was definitely getting a
headache.

"What. The. Hell. Was. That!" growled Ryoga, still in his sitting
position, finger pointing to the door.

"I-I-I-" began Ukyo, her vocal chords betraying her again. Quickly,
Ryoga clamped her mouth shut, then removed it when she nodded.

"Th-thanks, sugar," she said, still staring wide eyed at the door. Her
body just wouldn't stop shaking.

>From behind them, the last body stirred and groaned, a hand
outstretched towards the two. Within a split second, Ryoga and Ukyo
were practically on top of it, Ryoga's fangs bared and Ukyo's battle
spatula in hand.

"Gosunkugi!" she cried, putting the spatula back when she recognized
who it was. Her battle aura had flared up to astronomical proportions,
but went down again when she saw the innocent classmate sprawled on
the floor. Was he caught up in this mess too?

"I...I failed...," he said. Bending over, Ryoga grabbed his collar,
then lifted Gosunkugi to his knees.

"You mean to say that this is your fault?" asked Ryoga. His battle
aura hadn't faded one ounce.

"I was only doing what they wanted!" he said defensively. Gosunkugi
was a mess; his clothes were rumpled, large, dark bags hung under his
eyes, and a nasty cut graced his forehead. Sitting down in front of
him, Ukyo cracked her knuckles, and gave him a level gaze.

"What, exactly, was it that Ranma-honey and Akane wanted?" she asked.
Gosunkugi gulped.


             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'