Ranma 1/2 was created by Rumiko Takahashi and its characters belong to
her, and her alone. I'm just kinda borrowing them. The story below is
for entertainment purposes only, and not to be used commercially.
...Obviously.


"Learning Curve"
        Part VIII    (v1.3)

by:   J. Wagner



"Ayia! What little black pig doing in stupid Mousse's room? Ryouga,
you sneak out of hospital?"

"Bwee!"

"Well, come on." Shampoo turned and gestured for the pig to follow.
"Shampoo get you hot water."

The little animal sat on its haunches, and seemed to give that a few
moments' thought. Not one to wait, Shampoo quickly picked him up,
ignoring his small squeal of protest. Shampoo found this odd - it
wasn't the first time she'd picked him up in his cursed form. They'd
both been splashed more than a few times when they sparred during his
Bakusai Tenketsu training. Then again, he'd never been without his
bandanna either. Feeling a bit emboldened, and curious, she scratched
him behind the ears. To her surprise, instead of grunting in
annoyance, he moved with the hand, and seemed quite content.

"Is you feeling ok, Ryouga?" She looked him in the eyes. There seemed
to be some spark of intelligence, but no real understanding of the
words. Hurrying downstairs and into the kitchen, she started boiling a
kettle of water. The pig seemed uncomfortable in the place, but
dutifully sat down where Shampoo placed him.

While waiting for the liquid to warm up, she switched to Mandarin
Chinese, the dialect he was most familiar with. "<I've been thinking
about some things. Now that you're back and all.>"

"Bwee?"

Shampoo sat down, and the pig jumped up and onto her knee, studying
her carefully.

"<It's Ranma,>" She continued, "<I ...I don't think he'll ever marry
me. I don't think he even likes me. I've done some really stupid
things while you were gone. The thing with stupid Mousse always
attacking Ranma because of the marriage law, that Instant Nannichuan,
the Love Pills, this weird mushrooms... Don't look at me like that; I
used the magic on Ranma, not Akane. I never said I wouldn't try it on
him, just her.>"

"Bwee."

"<Good.>" Shampoo rocked back a bit in the chair, sighing. "<This
whole trip... this whole business here in Japan has been nothing but a
disaster. Sometimes, I think you're the only friend I have in this
whole country.>"

The pig blinked and tilted his head to the side a little. "Qee?"

"<Ryouga... promise me we'll stay friends. Especially after I tell
you...>" Shampoo shook her head, letting her velvet tresses flow
behind her. "<Well, great grandmother, she... I know I promised that
when you beat me, that first time we fought, that it didn't involve
any of our rules or anything, but great grandmother doesn't see things
that way. She says she wanted to keep the option open.>"

The pig looked at her quizzically.

"<You know what I'm saying, right?>"

"Bwee."

"<Is that a yes or a no?>" Shampoo reached for the kettle, and put the
pig on the floor. "<You're a nice guy, and I think... I think we could
be happy. You'd like the village. It's too small to get lost in after
a few weeks, and...>"

The water hit the pig.

"<And... um... and...>"

And the pig didn't transform.

"Bwee."

"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Great grandmother!!!!!!!"

***
New Years' Day was a busy one in the market. Aside from last minute
shopping, there was also a good deal of entertainment and families
just enjoying the night together. Of the sights, however, one stuck
out like a sore thumb. The sheer number of people gathered together to
see what was so interesting attracted even more.

"Woah, check it out!"

"She beat the middleweight machine like it was nothing!"

"How'd she get so strong?"

Akane gave the crowd a little wave, and quickly reminded herself that
she wasn't indulging or impressing the crowd: she was doing this for
fun, and as a test of strength. The middleweight arm-wrestling machine
was no real challenge, true, but only she knew that. It was worth
almost anything just to see the astonished expressions on the faces of
the people around her. ...Especially the men. The ego of the male
gender had always been one of her not-so-little pet peeves, and any
opportunity to beat some of their unspoken male pride into the ground
was to be taken advantage of.

It wasn't that she hated men; she didn't.

She just didn't like them.

Rolling up her sleeve, she smirked. "Too easy! Next!"

The heavyweight machine awaited her, finally. She'd beat it, almost
certainly, she knew, but this time she decided to pretend to struggle
a little. Let those in the crowd start to whisper and say that she had
'met her match.' Let them think that for a few seconds, and then,
she'd beat the machine and savor the looks on their faces and the
gasps of awe. Of admiration. Of respect. The respect she deserved, as
a martial artist, as a woman, as herself - they'd respect her, or at
the very least, fear her a little. Unlike Kuno, or Ukyou, or Shampoo,
or Ranma, or even the students of Furinkan, to these people, she'd be
something to remember, and to be inspired by. Then, of course, she'd
go home, and be overshadowed by damn near everyone, but until then...

Akane gritted her teeth. The machine was putting up more of a fight
than she expected. Pushing harder, she felt it match her easily, so
the youngest Tendo decided to end it then and there, and kicked up her
strength to its maximum. It gave for half a second, before recovering
and matching her again. Then, to her surprise and shock, it began to
push her back. She struggled, tears just starting to tinge her
peripheral vision and cool, quickly, against the winder air. She was
losing, and from behind and around, she could hear the whispers,
louder now.

Then, the inevitable happened, and she felt the back of her hand slam
against the hard wood, but, before anything could be said, the facade
of the arm wrestling machine began to crack and deform. A plume of
violet hair, and elaborate green and red, Chinese styled sweater, and
a familiar laugh heralded the entrance of a certain Chinese Amazon.
Shampoo smirked, one foot on the table, and the other lazily drooped
over her knee, while Akane panted from exertion.

"You still weak, Akane."

The youngest Tendo just growled, despite being short of breath. "I
demand a rematch!"

"You never be strong enough to beat me!" Shampoo suddenly seemed to
remember something when a soft beep from her right pocket got her
attention. "Besides, no have time play with violent girl! Still have
deliveries to make."

"Shampoo...!"

>From out of nowhere, the Chinese girl produced her assault-bike and
took off, using Akane's head and back as a ramp to get on the street.
Akane turned, hissing in anger, just in time to see Shampoo give her a
little salute.

"I win last battle of year! Ha!"

Alone in the crowd, Akane seethed.

 At the Tendo Dojo, Ranma's kata was interrupted, again, when Kasumi
walked in. He wiped a few stray beads of sweat from his brow. "What's
up?"

"Ranma-kun," she asked in that demure, caring way that usually brooked
no dissent. "Would you please go look for Akane? I don't want her to
miss dinner."

"I'm sure she's fine." Ranma let his next movement carry him into a
different kata, one of the new ones he'd taken a liking to. He didn't
like saying no to Kasumi; the girl was like his older sister, or
something, or even his mother, but she didn't understand him, or his
training. It would be a waste of his time to go looking for Akane - no
one had tried to kidnap her since Mousse, months ago, and even then,
Mousse had only thought he'd kidnapped her. If she wanted to wander
around, it really wasn't his business to stop her. She'd probably just
mallet him or something for his troubles anyway.

He heard Kasumi sigh, and leave, but largely ignored it. He wasn't
anyone's keeper, even if that person did sort of grow on you after a
long enough period of time. That thought lingered for only a moment
before it, too, was gone, replaced by the movement and flow of the
well-practiced kata. His focus sharpened, and turned inward, and he
could feel his Ki flowing through every vein, and in and out of every
pore. He was like a living ocean of energy, and his movements were
like a tide, and every minute, every hour, made him a little bit more
comfortable and proficient in accessing and allocating his Ki into his
body. A little more, into the arms, not an even distribution, but
degrees of difference, mentally calculated through intense hours of
knowing one's body on a plane beyond physical.

It was this silent barrier that separated him from the mundane masses
of mankind.

His schoolmates, and his quasi-friends and acquaintances there could
never understand the oneness and fulfillment of purpose and form he
had become. Their words, their movements, their thoughts... so slow
and awkward and wasteful. They could no more understand him, or
compare themselves to him, than a puddle of rainwater could the
Pacific Ocean. He was Saotome Ranma. They... were not. An
oversimplification, true, but it was close enough to be accurate.
Ranma moved, and thought, and focused, and around him the world faded.
Time seemed timeless, space seemed space-less, and every thought
magnified as if through a kaleidoscope.

Then, he felt it.

The distant, and yet always at hand, pull of the Abyss from which all
power was drawn. He could feel, amid his thoughts, and deep in his
physical body, from a point with no true physical reference, the
horizon of the well. Or the black hole, perhaps. It drew him in with
promises of warmth and power. It was the great tempter, power, and he
had to fight to keep control of where he stood, between the abyss, and
the fall. He drew more, just a little bit, without falling into the
trap of taking in more than he could handle. Too little, and his
exercises and training would be wasted... his life, would be wasted,
but too much, and he could burn himself out, like a wicker candle
caught in a forest fire.

Some had a natural ability to channel, control, and manipulate their
Ki, and could dip further into the well with each attempt, eventually
outstripping those less fortunate. He felt himself questioning his
ability, and his bravery - was this temptation, or a product of
logical thought? Was it both? He wanted more, and he was confident he
could draw more, safely, but the bridge of his nose burnt, as if
smelling sulfur. A warning, perhaps, or was it an outside factor? He
finally pulled back, after what seemed like hours of standing at the
edge.

Ranma blinked, and he was in the dojo.

Akane was looking at him.

"What?" He asked, checking himself. He seemed fine, though breathing
heavily, and he was in his male body.

"Nothing!" Akane suddenly got self conscious, and adjusted the black
belt around her waist that hugged her white gi to her body. "Want to
spar?"

"Why now?"

"The same reason you're here. I just want to get better."

"Yeah. Sure. Why not?" He shrugged.

She attacked, as she always did, opening up with a powerful jab that,
had it connected, would have had enough force to shatter a block of
concrete, but at this point, he'd have brushed it off like it was
nothing. Akane continued, in her usual style, which was better suited
to plowing through multiple attackers, and not as effective in a
dueling scenario, especially against someone with his level of speed
and flexibility. He dodged, blurring here and there, as she pressed
the assault. Tendo Akane was good, do doubt, but she wasn't anywhere
near his league, and almost certainly never would be. It was a pity,
really. He'd have liked someone who came closer to understanding the
Art, and him, better. Then again, would he? The thought of trying to
live with a girl who acted like he did made him realize that he'd
never be able to stand it. There could only be one Saotome Ranma, his
ego would not allow it any other way.

"Stop dodging and fight me!"

Ranma jumped, avoiding a kick to the midsection, and landed on her
head, driving her to the floor. It was one of his favorite tricks,
because it annoyed people no end, and that made them clumsy and slow
when they retaliated. Only Ryouga had ever been able to tag him after
he used this trick. Akane fumed, and as always, Ranma checked her
neck. He'd been doing the land-on-head thing for years, and he was
damn good at it, but he'd never once used it on a regular person for
fear of breaking their neck. Akane was far from regular, but it didn't
hurt to be careful.

"What are you so worked up about?" Ranma ran a hand through his hair,
casually, and stepped off her head.

Akane looked up at him, shaking with some unknown emotion. "I'm a
martial artist too, you know! I have my pride!"

"Shampoo?" Ranma guessed.

Akane kept silent, but Ranma knew it. Shampoo was the only thing
besides himself and the Kunos that really got to Akane now. Kuno and
Kodachi made her mad, and generally got punted for their efforts, and
the sparring between Akane and himself were primarily verbal, again,
with the occasional punting or malleting, but nothing serious.
Shampoo, however, always upstaged Akane, especially in martial arts
and cooking. Not that Ranma himself particularly cared what the two of
them did, as long as it didn't interrupt or involve him, but he didn't
exactly like it much either. Especially when it made Akane want to
cook to prove herself, and force the food, if it could be called that,
down his throat.

Then, if became life threatening.

"Look," he began, but got cut off by a voice from the far side of the
dojo.

"Dinner!" Nabiki called, adjusting her blouse. "Break it up, you two."

Ranma 'humfed' and Akane blushed a bit, before quickly hiding it.
Quickly, Ranma straightened his shirt. "Good. I'm hungry."

"One thing, first." Nabiki held out her hand, before he could leave
the dojo. "We have company over tonight for New Years. I don't want
you to cause trouble."

Ranma crooked an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"You cause trouble... and I'll cause trouble. And I don't think you
want that." Nabiki smiled, warmly, like a cat would to a canary.

"Whatever." Ranma said, scowling, not in the mood for her or her
schemes. She stepped to the side, and he walked past the middle Tendo
girl. He made his way into the dining room, and stopped, instantly.
Dr. Tofu was sitting, watching Kasumi put food on the table, his
glasses fogged over worse than the Labrador Coast. Happosai was
watching some swimsuit models on the television intently, a bit of
drool collecting at the side of his mouth. His father was nursing his
stomach, and waiting intently for the food to be served. And, sitting
to the left of Mr. Tendo, and talking animatedly with him, was none
other than the lost boy himself.

"Some company," Ranma said and smirked, cruelly. "Inviting a pig to
the table."

Ryouga bristled, a bit, but actually ignored the comment and went back
to discussing things with the Tendo patriarch. Ranma was about to say
something more, when Nabiki and Akane came in from behind him. Nabiki
walked right past him, but Akane paused to elbow him in the ribs.
"Don't annoy Ryouga-kun."

"You're being awfully friendly with him." Ranma didn't hide the
contempt in his voice.

"That's because he IS my friend." Akane left it at that and took her
seat, around the same time Nabiki sat next to Ryouga. Ranma was about
to make another attempt at goading the lost boy, when Nabiki gave him
a hard, uncompromising glare. Grumbling, the pigtailed boy took a
seat, between his father and Akane, who was seated opposite her father
and next to the still-drooling and distracted old freak.

"Happy New Year's, everybody!" Kasumi put the last of the soba noodles
on the table and took her own seat, disastrously enough next to Dr.
Tofu. To his credit, the doctor was able to keep from breaking
anything. He simply chewed happily on his napkin.

"Happy New Years!" Ryouga seconded, much to Ranma's annoyance. As was
typical of the family, they ate quickly, and in a minute, everything
was gone. Ranma wiped a bit of a noodle from his lower lip, faced
Ryouga, and locked eyes with him. He could see the dismissing look in
the lost boy's eyes, and Ranma smiled, ready to rip into his former
'friend.'

Then, Happosai howled, "NO!! My Soba Noodles!"

The attention of the two martial artists turned to the elderly pervert
at the end of the table, who seemed to be making quiet noises to
himself, his television program now over and the credits rolling down
the screen. His bowl was also half empty. Soun leaned forward.

"Master? ...What's so funny?"

"I was crying, you idiot!" Happosai clunked Soun over the head with
his pipe.

"Ah. That was good, Kasumi!" Akane put her bowl down, and instantly,
the table cracked and gave way, splitting down the middle.

"You... YOU ate my Super Soba!" Happosai stood up, and glared at
Akane.

"Super Soba?" Genma scratched his head.

"The wood could have just been rotten," Nabiki pointed out.

"The house is very old," Kasumi contributed.

"Wha... what a coincidence to see you here, Kasumi!" Dr. Tofu didn't
contribute, he just mumbled to himself, mostly.

"And I spent so long gathering the ingredients!" Happosai began to
cry, and then launched himself at Akane. "A good cry in your bosom
should make it up to me!"

Akane's hand came up, and Happosai was sent flying on contact,
crashing into and through the far wall. The youngest Tendo looked at
her palm.

"Wow..." She said, and smiled broadly. "Super Soba."

"Bah," Ranma interrupted. "The old freak's just toying with you. I'll
prove it."

Ranma lied down, on his side; arm up in silent challenge. Akane did
the same, and they locked hands. Ryouga looked on, in amazement, as
Ranma's whole body was flattened and thrown to the side in a loud
crash, leaving a Ranma-shaped hole in the floor.

"Oh my," Kasumi said what everyone thought.

"Again!" Ranma got up, and Akane soundly thrashed him again.

"Again!"

Crash.

"Again!"

Crash.

"AGAIN!!!"

Crash.

"It seems Ranma-kun is a real glutton for punishment." Nabiki blinked,
not really believing her eyes.

"Nothing new in that revelation." Ryouga shook his head, as the bells
outside began to ring - the first of hundred and eight times.

"I'm... so happy!!" Akane began to cry tears of joy.

Soun sniffled and did the same. "My little girl... I'm so proud."

"Our poor house," Nabiki interrupted, but didn't quite wail.

Akane smiled at her older sister, and then at Ryouga. "Hey! I bet I'm
even stronger than you now, Ryouga!"

"Maybe." He shrugged, not really caring. Even if she was, it was
because of that magic Soba.

"Want to find out?"

"No. Not really." Ryouga scratched behind his ear, not quite
comfortable with where this is going.

"Are you afraid you're going to lose?" Akane ventured.

"Akane!" Kasumi and Nabiki said at the same time.

"Yeah, P-chan!" Ranma spoke up, from his hole in the floor. "Afraid
she's going to beat you?"

Ryouga's eyes narrowed. He spared Nabiki a quick glance, before
resigning himself to his fate and lying down. Slowly, he rolled up the
long sleeve on his right arm. Akane hesitated a bit - he looked
stronger than Ranma, and much more heavily muscled. Indeed, she knew
he was far stronger than Ranma. It wouldn't look good if she lost.
Ryouga was a friend, yes, but she found herself praying that he'd
lose. It'd be painful to lose face after goading him into a match with
her. They locked hands, and Akane felt his large hand, and calloused
fingers, close around hers with gentle, but incredible, strength. His
face seemed neutral, but it was obvious he wasn't very comfortable in
the situation he'd been thrust into. He waited for her, and Akane used
a sudden, powerful burst to try and overwhelm him like she had Ranma.

His arm barely moved, though the ground beneath their elbows cracked
and began to give way. A moment of panic set into Akane's brain, and
she tried again, applying constant pressure. Still, his arm held,
though she could see he was gritting his teeth now. She couldn't see
him, but to the side, Ranma's eyes were wide as saucers. Akane started
to feel fatigued - she was stronger than ever, but her endurance was
the same. And an endurance contest with Hibiki Ryouga was no contest
at all. Finally, mercifully, the floor under them gave way, kicking up
some dust.

Ryouga's hand left hers, and he stood up, shaking his arm a little.

"Tie?" He asked, his voice hopeful.

"Tie," she agreed, and the two shook hands. He obviously seemed
grateful it had ended when it did, and Akane wasn't sure whether or
not, had it come down to it, he would have beaten her or let her win,
to save face. He smiled weakly, nervously, and Akane nodded. He knew
the ground would give out before one of them won. Mentally, she kicked
herself for challenging him in the first place. Some friend she turned
out to be.

"Well, that was fun," Ryouga lied, and bowed politely to Mr. Tendo. "I
think it's time to go. Thank you for the meal, Tendo-san."

"Anytime. You two have fun, now!" Mr. Tendo waved him off.

"Bye, daddy!" Nabiki waved back, grabbed her jacket, and headed out,
Ryouga following right behind her. Ryouga neither had, nor needed, a
jacket, because the cold wasn't really a problem for him, but he
waited while Nabiki fitted herself into hers. She was wearing a barely
loose fitting black blouse, blue jeans, and her jacket was almost the
same shade of yellow gold that he wore. The winter, so far, had been
mild, and her jacket looked quite light. He blushed, and turned away a
bit, looking outside. In the sky, he could see the occasional flash of
fireworks going off. Checking his watch, he smiled a bit.

Nabiki had given it to him for Christmas, though he'd still been in
the hospital at the time. Of course, he hadn't been able to do any
shopping for anyone, so he just promised to 'owe her one' even though
he suspected he was getting himself deeper into debt and doubted she'd
paid for it with her own money. To his surprise, she invited him over
for New Years, and said that she just wanted to go out and see the
town with someone - at their expense, of course, instead of just
sitting around and watching television like the family normally did.

She took his arm, and led him out. Ryouga was still blushing in
embarrassment, and fought to keep it under control. This was Nabiki -
a standoffish, manipulative woman, though at times nice and even cute,
she was also a master actor and player of the game, and not to be
trusted. Still... he grinned, a little shyly, and let her lead him out
of the house and to the front gate. She turned to him, as they walked,
and smiled, pleasantly. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"Letting her win," Nabiki said, plainly.

"I... don't know what you're talking about. That soba was strong
stuff... she's stronger than anyone I've ever experienced before."

"Maybe. But wood doesn't just explode in little puffs of smoke
naturally you know." She ribbed him, gently, but he felt it. "I don't
think anyone else saw it though. I was a little surprised myself -
don't you need to yell 'Bakusai Tenketsu' to do the move?"

Ryouga laughed, softly. "No. That's only when you're learning. It
helps develop focus. Consider that fact a freebee."

"Very generous of you, Hibiki." Nabiki opened the gate, and they
stepped out together.

***
    Inside the house, Ranma was taking a quick break to watch a little
television. Flipping through the channels, he sighed as the news
turned from local events to weather to shots of the fireworks
silhouetted against Tokyo Tower. Thinking over the events of the last
twelve months, Ranma had mixed feelings about it all. Things had
really been so much simpler back when it had just been his father and
himself, wandering and training together. Still, even with all the
trouble, a part of the younger Saotome was glad he'd found a place to
settle in for a while.

In that moment, on that tangent, he thought of his mother. He hardly
knew her, so he didn't exactly 'miss' her... but who was she? What was
she doing this New Years? Did she miss him? Did she live at her home,
or their home, or what? Was she a Martial Artist - on that, at least,
Ranma almost knew she wasn't. If she was, Genma would have probably
taken her with them on their training trip.

"Mom." The word felt alien to the pigtailed boy. "Mother."

Sighing, he went back to looking at the fireworks.

"The hell?" Ranma blinked as a quick black shape passed by the
periphery of his vision, silhouetted against the lights out over the
koi pond and the rest of the yard. It looked almost like... P-chan.
But that was impossible. Ryouga obviously wasn't sleeping with Akane
in that form, now that she knew his secret, and besides, he'd left
with Nabiki a little while ago. Then again, he hadn't seen Ryouga
change at all since he came back, mostly because he wasn't in the
Nerima-Water Hazard Area that much, but the fact remained. Also, he
hadn't responded to the P-chan taunting like he usually did. Was he
cured? Was his cursed form, maybe now a separate creature, returning
to its 'home?'

"Hey, pig!" Ranma ran out to the edge of the dojo, where it opened
into the yard, and looked around. The little critter was gone. That
was odd... he had been around here somewhere.

"NOW!"

"Get 'im!"

"What?" Ranma whirled, avoiding a rather long and nasty looking sword
that imbedded itself into the dojo floor where he'd been standing,
followed by a flurry of thrown bolas. Thrown off guard, Ranma had been
unable to properly dodge the bolas, and had paid the price for it,
having his left arm tightly wound around his chest. The sword was
still quivering where it had cut into the ground, when a flurry of
spatulas rained down, forcing Ranma to jump back, and twist to avoid
the blades. Still in midair, Ranma got a look at his attackers as they
leapt from the shadows.

"Aw, geez!" Ranma groaned. "You two idiots?"

"Time for a humbling, Saotome!" Ukyou was the quickest, and closed the
distance, while Mousse stayed at range, a long polearm drawn and
ready.

"Why don't you two morons just get lost?" Ranma back flipped away from
Ukyou's initial attack, and lashed out with a kick that caught her at
the back of the neck. Ukyou flew back with the blow, tucked her legs
in, and landed on her feet, none the worse for wear.

"Why don't YOU just DIE?!" Ukyou roared, crossed her arms, and
concentrated. Her battle aura flowed out and over her, and her hands
blurred, as she loosed two-dozen mini-spatulas in as many heartbeats.

"Yeah, right!" Ranma took a familiar stance, his hands starting to
move at incredible speed to deflect the blades. "Katchu..."

    "Painiyao Chuan Version 2.1!"

    Ranma grunted, as the first of a hailstorm of blows connected with
his lower back, and tossing him right into the blizzard of thrown
mini-spatulas. The instant of panic came and passed, but Saotome Ranma
pivoted, and let his momentum carry him forward and down, passing
through the weapons with only a nick across the shoulder. Rolling
forward, he kicked up and out, towards Ukyou, his battle aura now in
full force. The awkwardness of the move gave her enough time to move,
allowing Ukyou to block the kick. Landing, Ranma looked down to see
what kind of damage he'd taken, and saw them.

    Breasts.

    He was female. How? To his side, Mousse started laughing. "Let's
see how cocky you are now, Saotome!"

    "Hey!" Ranma saw Mousse throw aside the broken, and still slightly
damp, Fist of the White Swan. He'd obviously remade it to hold water,
and break after a few blows, drenching the target. To Ranma's right,
Ukyou advanced, slowly.

    "Heh!" Mousse gave a single, sharp laugh, his hands in his
sleeves. "He's weaker in his girl form. Much easier to deal with."

    "Double team on three, sugar!" Ukyou was chuckling softly, her
male-guise ponytail wafting in the breeze blown in from the now-open
side of the dojo. She was out of mini-spatulas in her bandolier, but
Ranma knew she had other surprises hidden on her person.

    "One!" Mousse took a step forward.

    "Two!" Ukyou shifted her grip on her megaspatula.

    "Three." Ranma spat, and they attacked.

***

"Hey, look. It's Kuno."

"Where?"

"There." Ryouga pointed down the street. Nabiki squinted a bit in the
low light, before finally making out the shape of a certain familiar
kendoist. "Looks like he sees us."

Nabiki scoffed. "I really don't feel like dealing with Kuno-chan right
now."

"It's a little too late now." Ryouga shrugged. "Besides, I want to
tell him something."

Tatewaki Kuno met them halfway down the street, a box of chocolates in
one hand, and a bouquet of red roses in the other. They met under a
business shop's overhang. Ryouga gave a quick, short nod, and Kuno
stopped and noted just whom he was with. "Well met, Wanderer. And you,
as well, Tendo Nabiki. How fare the two of you on this good night?"

"Hey, Kuno, lookin' good! What's up? Who are those chocolates for?"
Ryouga asked, pleasantly.

"Ah. These sweets are for the similarly sweet, yet fierce, Tendo
Akane, so that my love for her would be signified by the taste of yon
pastries upon her gentle lips. She loves me well; this is the least of
many gifts I shall shower her with."

Ryouga sniffed with a practiced nose. "Truffles?"

"How didst thou know?"

"Er." Ryouga bit his lip, and Nabiki laughed. "I'm a good guesser.
Akane doesn't like truffles, though. She's allergic."

"What?" Kuno looked down at the heart shaped box of candies. "Art thou
sure?"

"It's true, Kuno-baby. She puffs up like a balloon when she eats
truffles." Nabiki pointed out, straight faced.

"Tis a tragedy, then - a sad fit of circumstance!"

"I'll take them off your hands, Kuno-baby!" Nabiki grabbed the small
box of candy. Kuno was about to ask them back when the Tendo girl
interrupted him. "Are those roses for the pigtailed girl?"

"Ah... they are." Kuno took in a deep breath. "Yes, for the pigtailed
girl is like a rose, so delicate, and yet so strong..."

"She prefers lilies, I hear." Ryouga looked over his shoulder. "In
fact, when I went to pick Nabiki up, I overheard Ranma saying that he
was going to buy her some himself."

"The Sorcerer dares seduce my pigtailed goddess?" Kuno started to
shake with indignation.

"Well, he did mention ringing in the New Year with her..." Ryouga
answered, straight faced.

"And drowning in her passionate caresses," Nabiki added in.

Kuno reached for his bokken, teeth clenched. "I shall punish him!"

"Here. Lemme hold those for ya." Ryouga took the bouquet of roses, and
Kuno raced off towards the Tendo Dojo, a righteous fury now thoroughly
stoked and burning in his mind. As he vanished, Ryouga sighed, and
shook his head. "I almost feel sorry doing that."

"I thought you hated Ranma." Nabiki opened the box, and popped a
single black chocolate into her mouth.

"I meant I almost felt sorry for Kuno." Ryouga looked at the roses,
fought down his nervousness, and handed them over to her, using his
best Kuno-impersonation. "For, ah... the capitalistic brown-eyed
goddess, Nabiki Tendo. I would date with thee."

"That's terrible." She took the roses, and the two laughed. "You make
an awful Kuno, Ryouga."

"It's the thought that counts." Her arm snaked out to interlock with
his own and he felt a new flush of heat rise in his cheeks. "Are...
are those any good?"

"Sure. Want one?" Nabiki held up one of the little chocolates.

Ryouga took it from her, their hands brushing for a second, and ate
it. Chocolate he didn't particularly like, but recently he'd had an
unusual attraction to truffles. Combined with Ranma's recent obsession
with getting ice cream in his female form led the lost boy to wonder
just what kind of influence his cursed form was having, or could be
having, on his normal body. It wasn't a pleasant thought, but luckily,
it came and went quickly. There'd be time to worry about it later,
anyway. Ryouga licked his lips, getting a stray bit of chocolate off
his upper lip.

"Not bad," he finally decided on saying.

The two walked in silence for a few steps, before Nabiki spoke up,
"What was it you wanted to tell him, anyway?"

"Kuno?"

Nabiki nodded.

"Oh. Well, right now, Mousse and Ukyou are off playing with Saotome."
Ryouga smiled, though it wasn't particularly friendly. "It's the
reason I didn't feel the need to pound him earlier. I knew he'd be
getting his in a few minutes anyway. I figured that throwing Kuno into
the mix couldn't hurt... anyone except Ranma, that is.

"And if he's in his girl form?"

"I hadn't thought of that... but it's not likely. Mousse and Ukyou
should stay away from the Koi pond, for obvious reasons, and keep it
in the Dojo." He saw the disapproving look in her eyes. "I also told
them to keep the collateral damage to a minimum."

"They better. Or you'll be paying for it!" Nabiki scowled. "I can't
believe you..."

"What? Planned an attack on your future brother-in-law?" Ryouga rolled
his eyes. "It's what I do. It's who I am. I said I was going to
destroy his happiness, and I will."

"All because of some stupid bread?"

Ryouga stopped walking, and Nabiki got jerked back a bit, her arm
still in his.

"What?" She asked.

"It's not the bread," Ryouga's voice was cold. "Nabiki... Ranma
knocked me into the Heituenniichuan. The spring of drowned damned
piglet! He ruined my life, several times over! I'll never forgive what
he did to me. Never."

"And where do you think this feud is going to get you, hmm?" Nabiki
gave his arm a hard shake. "What do you want to get out of it?"

"Revenge!"

"Where's the profit in that?"

"I... I," he stuttered. "I don't know. I don't know, Nabiki. This is
just something I have to do. If I don't settle things with him, I
swear, I'm going to explode. I've trained and worked and bled for too
much for it to come to nothing. Maybe I can't explain it that well,
but..."

Nabiki sighed. "Alright. All right. I get the idea."

"Good," Ryouga didn't say anymore.

"Now, can we get to the movie before it starts?"

"Um... sure. You'll... er... lead the way," he mumbled a bit, and
Nabiki dragged him off.

"Baka."

***

"Got 'im! Now, sugar!"

"Die, Saotome!" Mousse flipped in the air, raining down nets on the
pinned down pigtailed one. Busy grappling with Ukyou, he looked up
just as the interlaced nets widened and began to descend on him, like
a cloud. Cursing silently, he overpowered Ukyou, and broke her grip on
her megaspatula by twisting it and throwing her over his shoulder.
Without hesitating, Ranma spun, and threw the large bladed weapon up
and into the nets, putting a bit of a spin on it as to catch and
tangle the nets before they could do the same to him.

"Damn it!" Ukyou balled her fists, and watched as her weapon fell to
the ground, now tangled beyond quick recovery. Unarmed combat had
never really been her forte, and though Ranma-chan wasn't as strong as
Ranma-kun, she still out-muscled her by a fair margin, and worse,
Ranma-chan was ridiculously fast. Mousse landed, and sensing her
hesitation, closed the distance with Ranma with a flourish of weapons
and barehanded attacks. He had a significant reach advantage, this
much was obvious, but Ranma's technique was much more fluid and
flexible, and her speed was much greater. Mousse was hard pressed to
hold his own, much less do any real damage.

Ukyou made a quick decision, and lunged for her weapon.

"Halt, varlet!"

Ukyou stopped, her feet skidding on the floor of the dojo, and looked
up.

"Kuno!" She frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"How dare thou assault the pigtailed girl?"

"Jackass. Ranma is your enemy too!"

"I see not the foul sorcerer Saotome present; only a duo of fiends
attacking the most healthy and vibrant of wildflowers. I won't allow
it!" Kuno's bokken swung in a swift, downward arc.

Ukyou acted quickly, rolling to the side. "What are you doing, you
...you moron?!"

"Stand still and let me vanquish thee!"

To her side, Mousse crashed to the ground, but rolled and got back to
his feet, claws drawn and ready. He spat a bit of blood. "Is that all
you've got, Saotome!? Come on! COME ON!!"

"Strike Strike Strike Strike Strike Strike!!"

"Kachuu Tenshi Amaguriken!!"

"Four Bomb!!"

"Nihao!"

"Shampoo! Help me out here!"

"Shampoo?! Where?!"

"Ah... yon purple haired vixen would challenge the Blue Thunder? Very
well, if you defeat me, I shall date with thee!"

"Shampoo! I love you!"

"Get off me, you jackass! I'm not Shampoo!"

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

"Sweeto!"

"Keep it down out there, damn it!"

***

"Are you sure your father won't mind?"

"Nah. He seems to like you."

"I come in handy." Ryouga huffed up a bit. "He wants a rival for
Ranma. I'm useful for that. He wanted someone to make Ranma jealous
over Akane. I *was* useful for that. I don't think it's anything
else."

"You're too damn depressing, you know that?" Nabiki reprimanded him.
"It gets annoying after a little while."

"Does it, now? I'm a realist. It's the world that's depressing, not
me." Ryouga's face was indifferent. "Actually, in a way, I consider
myself sort of an optimist, too."

"Yeah right."

"It's true. When you're at the bottom of a cliff, what's the only way
to look?"

"Up... I guess."

"Exactly. If I weren't an optimist, I'd have... done something hasty
and unfortunate a long time ago." Still, Ryouga's face was unreadable.
"Anyway... you're not exactly happy go lucky either, you know."

"I'm content. ...Mostly." Nabiki looked away, up at the night sky.
"I've got a family. Money. Good grades... Friends."

"How is that, anyway? Having a family?"

Nabiki gave him a disbelieving look. "What do you mean, how is it?"

"Well... You know, I don't really have one. Not a normal family,
anyway. Ukyou's my closest friend, and she barely talks to her family
now. I don't really know a lot of people."

"My family." Nabiki gave a short, quick laugh at the very thought. "My
family is just... that. I live with them. Kasumi's nice, and Akane is
fun to be around... or used to be... I don't really know. I don't have
a lot in common with any of them, to tell the truth."

"What do ya mean?"

"Kasumi's just... not normal, really. She likes doing housework, and I
can't stand it. She's... she's a little like mother, and I was never
really all that close to her, either. We talk, but I really can't
relate to her much. Akane and I used to be close, but then she really
got into the Family School and martial arts, and everyone just seemed
to love her. I mean, the second day she came to school, it was like,
'snap' and the whole school body became the Akane-obsessed."

"Ignoring you, completely. I know how it feels, Nabiki. To be alone in
a crowd."

"Yeah." Nabiki looked down at her feet. "But even you were obsessed
with her."

"I suppose I was... before... everything. But that could have been
anyone. If you had picked me up..."

"What? You'd be sleeping with me every night?" Nabiki smiled, as the
lost boy blushed and started to stammer.

"Not... not every night! I... er..."

"Pervert." She smacked him playfully on the chest. As they approached
the outer wall, a strange stillness filled the air.

"It's quiet. Too quiet," Ryouga said, in a conspiratorial tone. He
swung open the dojo gate after Nabiki unlocked it, and came face to
face with a very battered, tired, and angry Ranma-chan.

"You... you!!" Ranma took a wobbly step forward.

"Happy New Year, Saotome." Ryouga gently touched her shoulder, her
clothes froze up, and he and Nabiki went into the house without
another word. "I'll be in your room, Ranma, so why don't you just
sleep outside today? Great! Thanks, buddy."

Ranma grunted something incoherent from the floor.



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