Attached find chapter 8 of Hybrid Thoery. If, for some reason, you can't 
read it properly formated please go to our website for the properly edited 
copy -and- some neat-o bonus stuff (such as fanart).

---------------
Epsilon



-- Attached file included as plaintext by Ecartis --
-- File: hybridtheory08final.txt

			      C&A Productions Presents

                          A Work of Blatant Self-Insertion


                                   Hybrid Theory


                             Chapter 8: Pushing Me Away



	What was it Dave Barry had written about flying JAL first class?
'Feeling like one of the more decadent Roman Emperors'...yeah, that was it.  
Of
course, there were probably more luxuries involved in a trans-Atlantic 
flight,
but this was still pretty damn nice.
	Pink, sitting 'next' to him (or the closest equivalent in the wide,
semi-private seats), certainly seemed to be enjoying the experience, helping
herself to the complimentary treats with gusto.  She'd been more than 
willing to
help herself to the complimentary alcohol as well, but Chris has hastily 
waved
the flight attendant on with a 'no thanks, we're underage' before that could
happen.  The smiling twin had pouted briefly - seeing the two expressions
juxtaposed was odd - but had apparently gotten over it.  Which was good, 
since
the last thing Chris (or the other passengers) needed was a tipsy sadistic
poisoner around.
	Honestly, he hadn't expected to be returning to Japan by such a mundane
method of transportation, instead thinking vaguely of crossing the Sea of 
Japan
by some plant-assisted means, or perhaps the twins and he would bribe/drug 
their
way onto a ship.  He'd been surprised to find the twins in fact had papers 
in
good order, but hadn't looked a gift horse in the mouth.  A few bribes and 
two
more plane tickets later, and they were on their way.  He wondered how 
they'd
gotten to Japan in the manga.
	Overland, the trip had been uneventful, if rather longer than his solo
one.  Since the twins couldn't match his pace and of course had to sleep, he
rented carts and later cars for them as much as possible, and passed the 
idle
times writing in his journals.  Of course, Pink had promptly tried to peek 
at
those when she thought his attention was elsewhere, but had been 
disappointed to
find the contents were written in English.
	"And what are you thinking about, over?" came the voice next to him.  He
glanced over and met Pink's gaze, seeing amused curiosity in her eyes.
	"About you," he replied honestly, and smirked a bit himself as Pink
looked taken aback.  "Nothing too serious," he reassured her, "Just 
wondering if
there was anything else I needed to tell you.  Which, in fact, there is.  
When
we arrive, you should know that people we meet probably won't know my real 
name.
So they - and you when around them, please - will call me Kodachi."
	Pink nodded, but on the other side of her, Link looked over at him for
the first time since the flight had begun.  "If that's not your name, who's 
the
real Kodachi, over?"
	Chris sighed.  He knew this had probably been coming.  "I am.  Or
rather," he corrected, looking down at Kodachi's body, "this is."  For a 
moment,
the twins stared at him uncomprehendingly.  Then Link's eyes widened as
realisation sunk in.  She opened her mouth, but he cut her off before she 
could
say anything (or scream).  "Hear me out.  That's why I want to preserve this
body for as long as possible: so I don't need a new one.  However, you 
needn't
worry.  Kodachi was a nasty, nasty person.  At -least- as bad as Shampoo.
That's the only sort I could bear to take the body of, you understand?"  Or 
at
least that was the plan from here on in.  "And that's why I'm looking for a
cure, as well.  So hopefully it won't even by a problem for much longer."
	Link didn't exactly look reassured.  She hissed something in Chinese to
her sister, and the two quickly got into an argument in hushed voices, the
contents of which he could guess.  He waited silently for the outcome, 
thankful
there weren't so many people in first class that anybody had likely caught 
more
than bits or pieces of the conversation.  As for the disagreement between 
Pink
and Link, there was no help for it.  They would have figured it out sooner 
or
later anyway, and if the promise he'd given them wasn't enough, there was
nothing more he could do to make them stay.  Hell, he wouldn't even blame 
them
if they dropped the whole thing.  He wasn't sure -he- would have stayed with
himself, no matter what the promise was.
	The argument had heated up.  He heard 'Shampoo' several times, mostly
from Pink.  Finally they seemed to reach a resolution, as Pink declared
something with finality.  Link still didn't seem pleased at all, but made a
sound that might generously have been construed as affirmative and then 
resumed
not looking at him.
	Pink, however, turned to him and grinned.  "You'll have to excuse my
sister.  She's a little bit...nervous, over."
	"I don't blame her.  I'd be nervous too."
	Pink shrugged.  "It's not your fault what you are.  You have to do the
best you can.  In your situation, I'd do the same, over."
	Well, do the same minus the 'only kill bad people' part, he more than
suspected.  But then, that -was- the same as him, wasn't it?  Still, he 
relaxed,
feeling a weight lifting from his shoulders.  "Thanks," he said, and meant 
it.
"Though I wish I hadn't dumped all of this on you so suddenly."
	"Don't worry-" Pink began, and then cut off as the plane hit some
turbulance.  Some clanking came from the bag Chris had under his seat.  He
wasn't letting that - with the journals and cursed water cargo - out of his
sight, and yet another sizeable bribe had kept the customs official from 
giving
it more than a cursory glance.  Chris had decided there were definitely some
advantages to corrupt dictatorships.
	He glanced back at Pink, expecting her to continue her previous
sentence, but she was now looking at the bag with undisguised curiosity.  
"So
what exactly do you have in there?  I wouldn't think corpses needed to carry
much in the way of supplies, over."
	He laughed.  "Well, that was direct.  Well, I'll tell you, but keep out
of it.  The contents are rather dangerous, and besides, I plan to keep it
permanently within eyeshot.  And I don't even blink."  Pink didn't look too
concerned about the warning, but he'd expected that.  "Before I came to your
village, I stopped off at a place called Jyusenkyou, and-"
	He was cut off by a piercing shriek that DID get the attention of the
few other first class passengers, and proved himself a liar by blinking as 
Pink
shot out of her seat and backed away from him to stand beside her sister.  
Link
was also looking at him once again, but the expression of horror and disgust 
on
her face this time wasn't directed at him, but instead at the bag.
	"Keep that away from us, over!" Pink snapped.
	"Sure..." he said slowly, "But what's the big problem?  I guess you've
heard of it, but the water I took is in sealed containers."
	"Not good enough," Link growled.  "Jyusenkyou is... it's cursed.  Nobody
with any sense goes near it, over."
	"I have many dollars, but few sense," he quipped, but then seriously
added, "It can't affect me.  But it IS magical, so I wanted to take some
samples.  It might be able to help somehow, or to bribe someone else who can
help."
	The twins exchanged glances; something seemed to pass between them, but
he couldn't tell what.  A really extreme reaction.  Was Jyusenkyou that ill-
rumoured?  Or something else?  He made a mental note to find out later, 
after
they hopefully trusted him a bit more. After a moment, Pink returned to her
seat, though her good mood had seemingly evaporated and she had slid a 
little
farther away from him.  "I understand," she said shortly. "But just make 
sure
you be careful.  And keep it away from us, over."
	"I was planning to anyway, so don't worry about it."  The conversation
seemed to be at an end for a moment, so he leaned back, preparing to relax 
for
the rest of the flight.  Strange girls.  But then, he knew that.  And he was
pretty strange himself.  Chris smiled a bit.  Things would be fine.


*


	"... and then the battle became serious when... ah damn," Ukyou groaned
out loud. She had just reached the end of the page, and the article had one 
of
those handy little 'continued on page A-5' notes. In a way it was 
flattering.
Almost a week later and still appearing in the papers. It was also the best 
free
publicity she could ever ask for. If she ever got around to opening her
restuarant,
	(Hey, remember that, my dream before you screwed up my life?)
	(Yeah, yeah...)
	then she would hardly need to advertise. It was also annoying, because
her other hand was currently occupied with her lunch and that made flipping 
the
paper with one hand, especially her bad one, rather difficult. Normally, 
eating
an okonomiyaki with one hand was nearly impossible. But Aaron had suggested
thinning up the crust and rolling it up like a burrito, stuffing it full of 
all
the meatstrips and vegetables, and for once, Ukyou had listened to him. The
result was rather nice, actually. The batter was a little soft; maybe she 
could
crisp it up, make it more like a crust... add noodles...
	Ukyou cut off that line of thought. Speculating about food was nice. It
was still her greatest dream, and something she planned on throwing herself 
into
fully once this whole mess was resolved. But it wasn't what she came out 
here
for. So she focused her attention back on finding a way to flipping the 
pages of
the newspaper while keep the grip on her lunch. The trouble was she couldn't
just put one down to free up a hand. That was the problem with sitting in a
tree, no storage space.
	Aaron spotted their targets approaching. Ukyou sighed and folded the
paper up before deftly depositing it in one of the many interior pockets of 
her
trenchcoat. She took a large bite of her lunch while sliding to her feet. 
She
had to bend slightly to avoid hitting her head on another branch. 
Thankfully,
Ukyou wouldn't have to stand like this for long, as the two were approaching
quickly.
	"Hello, can I have a minute of your time?" Ukyou called down once they
were directly below.
	Usagi stumbled to a halt with a startled squeak. The street she was
walking down was practically abandoned at this time of day, a fact Ukyou was
well aware of. The girl must be wondering where the voice that had called 
out to
her had come from. Not really wanting to play with her too much, Ukyou 
cleared
her throat loudly and called down, "Up here."
	Usagi looked up, her long blonde pigtails whipping audibly and her large
blue eyes blinking in confusion. The cat cradled in her arms looked up as 
well.
It had human eyes. They weren't even slitted like a cats. For a moment, 
Ukyou's
focus drifted, and she felt like she was falling. Then she shook her head 
and
the feeling evaporated.
	"Do you mean me?" Usagi asked in a small voice. Sometime during Ukyou's
mental hiccup, Usagi had recovered from the shock of seeing a boy standing 
above
her in a tree. She was even pointing timidly at herself, and her cheeks were
red. Ukyou wondered if the wind made it seem colder when you weren't 
sheltered
by a tree.
	"Actually no, I was talking to your cat," Ukyou pointed out in a deadpan
voice. Usagi laughed. The girl probably thought Ukyou was joking. Ukyou 
chuckled
herself, remembering her brief conversation with Ranma this morning.
	("I'm going with you!" he insisted.
	"You really don't want to do that, Ranma."
	"Yes I do."
	"Trust me, you don't."
	"What makes you think that?"
	"I'm going to have a long conversation with a talking cat."
	"Have fun! See you this evening!")
	"I guess I have a few minutes to talk..." Usagi breathed with a small
giggle. "If Luna doesn't mind." She held up the cat towards Ukyou, and the 
beast
obligingly meowed. Ukyou rolled her eyes. She stepped out of the tree, 
plummeted
four meters to the pavement below and landed on one foot without so much as 
a
tremble. She felt her coat flap and billow behind her as it settled in the
breeze her fall had created. Usagi made a small gleeful noise.
	"That was so cool!"
	"Uh, if you say so." Ukyou transferred her lunch to her bad hand and ran
her freed fingers through her bangs. Seeing Usagi's eyes follow the motion,
Ukyou held the surprisingly tasty concoction towards her. "I'm pretty full. 
You
want the rest of this?"
	"Sure!" Usagi cried and snatched it from her hand. Luna gave a screech
of protest as she was unceremoniously dropped. Still the cat managed to land
with some semblance of grace. Usagi was blushing even harder now as she 
sniffed
the okonomiyaki roll and bit into it. "Wow, this is really good," she said 
after
chewing for a few seconds.
	"Thanks," Ukyou replied with a short laugh. Maybe she should look into
refining that recipe after all. "It's just something I came up wi-"
	"Oh god! Your arm!"
	Ukyou blinked at the girl's sudden exclamation. Then she remembered and
looked down at her left arm. She guessed it would stand out. It wasn't like 
she
could roll her sleeve down over it, with the fifty needles sticking through 
it
at every angle, making it look like someone had turned her arm into a
pincushion. Then again, if Doc Tofu hadn't been able to use his techniques 
to
hold the arm together while it healed, it was likely it never would have. 
But
even when the bones fully healed, the scars would remain. Five parallel 
gouges,
the phantom remnants of the fingers of Jadeite as they had melted into her
flesh.
	"It looks worse than it is," Ukyou explained as she curled and uncurled
the fingers of her wounded arm. "The needles are actually quickening the 
healing
process."
	"Wow..." Usagi stretched a finger towards on of the delicate silver
needles and Ukyou jerked her arm back.
	"They're very sensitive," Ukyou lied quickly. Remembering just how much
of a klutz Usagi was, she wasn't about to risk it even if Tofu said touching
them was safe. "I have to keep them relatively undisturbed."
	"Oh..." Usagi backed away. She looked up at Ukyou's face and then down
again, blushing suddenly. Ukyou tilted her head to the side, wondering what 
that
was about. "You came to see me? Aren't you that boy from the papers and..."
	Oh. That must be it. "Ah. Well, we've already been introduced but I
guess we can do it again, if you insist," Ukyou shrugged. She stepped back 
and
made a short bow. "I'm Ukyou Kuonji. And you are Usagi Tsukino, also known 
as
Sailor Moon, also known as Princess Serenity also known as etcetra 
etcetra..."
	"What?!" the girl shrieked and stepped back, her hands flying up. Ukyou
watched her okonomiyaki-roll fly into the air and tumble towards the 
pavement.
With a sigh she snapped her hand out and snatched it.
	"You dropped this," she pointed out as she handed the food back again.
Usagi blushed again and grabbed it, clutching it with both hands so it 
wouldn't
slip from her grasp again.
	"You must have me confused with someone else..." Usagi mumbled out.
	"No. No, I don't," Ukyou shrugged. "But I didn't come to speak to you.
Like I said, I came to speak to the cat." Ukyou turned her attention from 
the
flustered girl and quickly spotted the small black cat standing nearby, 
watching
her warily. Ukyou kneeled down and held her good hand out, palm up while she
flashed her most winning smile. Luna quirked her head in a distinctly 
cat-like
gesture, her ears flicking slightly. The golden cresecnt on her forehead 
caught
the afternoon rays of the sun just right to make it sparkle a bit.
	"Meow?" Luna said inquisitively. Ukyou let Aaron take over for a bit: he
was always better with animals than with people. He fished a little treat 
from
his coat and held it out to Luna, still smiling.
	"Don't be coy with me," Ukyou said with a mock pout. "We can hardly have
a civil discussion if all you do is meow at me." Aaron offered the treat 
again
and Luna seemed to consider it before walking over and licking it from her 
hand
with her ticklish little red sandpaper tongue. Aaron flicked her fingers 
quickly
and began to scratch the cat behind the ears. Luna rolled her head to the 
side,
nudging a little closer and purring. "As much fun as this is, Luna, we 
really
need to have an adult conversation."
	The cat merely meowed and purred a bit more as Aaron used hands trained
from twelve years of cat ownership to scratch and pet the moon cat with
practised ease. Ukyou looked up at Usagi, who shrugged helplessly.
	"Well, how do you get her to talk to you?" Ukyou said with a smirk.
	"Its getting her to shut up that's usually the problem!" Usagi laughed
nervously.
	Aaron scooped up the cat in the crook of his arm before it had a chance
to scamper away and used Ukyou's bad hand to get to some serious petting. 
Not
too hard, but not too soft either. In smooth, rythmic strokes. That was the
ticket. The little hedonist stretched and purred at the attention, 
occasionally
shooting an accusatory 'why don't you do this' glare at Usagi.
	"Luna, there's really no need to play at being a normal cat," Ukyou
explained patiently. "I know all about you, the Sailor Senshi, the Silver
Millennium and on down the line. In fact, I know more about all this than 
you
do, which is the point of this meeting." She paused but Luna only looked at 
her
and meowed. "Okay, if you don't want the Ginzuishou, I guess I can find some 
use
for it... maybe a paperweight or something..."
	"The Ginzuisho!" the cat in her arms screeched aloud suddenly. Ukyou was
taken aback for a moment. Luna sounded much too young... then she remembered
that in the original Japanese the voice actress had gone for the typical
saccharine headache-inducing voice, rather then the English version's 
mature,
vaguely British matron's voice.
	"It does speak," Ukyou laughed.
	"Uh, surprise?" Usagi gulped.
	"Don't worry, kid," Ukyou shrugged and allowed Aaron to resume petting
Luna. "I'm on your side. Up until Jadeite decided to make this personal, I 
was
content to sit out this little war. I think... no, I KNOW that you're more 
then
capable of winning it on your own. I just want to tip the odds in your favor 
to
repay this little debt the Dark Kingdom owes me." Ukyou waved her needle-
perforated arm.
	"How do you know all this?" Luna asked. It was weird watching the cat
talk.
	"I've seen the future," Ukyou shrugged easily.
	"Really?" Usagi gasped. Luna looked more doubtful.
	Addressing the cat, Ukyou explained. "You know about Sailor Pluto and
the time gates. It's possible to travel back and forth to the future, so why
can't I have seen it?"
	"I suppose it's possible," Luna mused. "But the question then becomes
how..."
	"I just woke up like this one day." Ukyou frowned and looked up at the
sky. The sun was drifting behind some thick white clouds. She hated thinking
back to the day she had woken up with Aaron trapped in her skull. The day 
her
life as she had known it had ended. "I didn't ask to be who I am now, I 
guess.
Who does, really? I just have to learn to move forward, stop asking 'why?' 
and
keep thinking 'what next?'"
	"That's so deep," Usagi sighed. Ukyou shot her a look, but the girl had
her eyes closed so she missed it completely. Ukyou shrugged it off, however.
Usagi was destined to fall for Tuxedo What's-his-name, so it wasn't like she
could be developing anything besides a harmless crush on her. And Ukyou was 
fine
with women who let their gazes linger on her from afar. As long as it never
really went beyond that... but that line of thought was making both her and
Aaron uncomfortable, so she quashed it.
	"The point is that I can help you, a great deal," Ukyou continued. "Now
you can look this gift horse in the mouth, or you can trust me and make this 
war
of yours a lot shorter and easier."
	"I suppose we can trust you..." Luna murmured uncertainly.
	"Great!" Ukyou scratched her just under the chin as a reward. "I don't
blame you for being apprehensive, I certainly would be, if the roles were
reversed."
	"What do you want for this help, anyway?" Luna asked sharply.
	"Nothing," Ukyou replied with a shrug.
	"Nothing? You can't expect me to believe that." Luna frowned. It was a
far too human expression. She really did look nothing like a cat at all, at
least when it came to her face.
	"Believe what you want," Ukyou responded coolly. "Let's get down to
business. First Luna, we'll need the... uh, Rainbow Moon Wand? Cutie Moon 
Dream
Rod? I keep forgetting the name of that thing..."
	"The what?"
	"Just a sec..." Ukyou knelt down and deposited the cat on the ground.
Once her good hand was free, she slipped a hand into one of her many 
interior
pockets and retrieved her small sketchpad. "This thing," she said as she 
flipped
it open to the correct page. She displayed the picture to Luna. It was 
crudely
done, by her standards, but showed all the important features. The crescent 
moon
top, the delicate handle, the circular connection with the three gems inset 
and
so on.
	"The Moon Stick..." Luna blinked.
	"That's it!" Ukyou smiled. "Could you do the backflip thing and give
the... stick to Usagi here? We're going to need it if we're going to fetch 
all
the Rainbow Crystals." Ukyou paused and looked over at Usagi. "You might 
want to
transform, we're going to be busy today and it'll require a lot of 
explaining if
I have to carry you from place to place."
	Ukyou turned back to Luna before she could note Usagi's reaction. She
was just in time to see the cat finish her graceful backflip. A swirl of 
silvery
sparks floated in her wake like a tiny galaxy, coalescing together in a 
single
point. With a final flash the 'Moon Stick'
	(God, what an awful name)
	materialized. The gaudy device floated just above the pavement.
	"Well, it's your royal heritage, Sailor Moon." Ukyou stood up and ran a
hand through her bangs. Usagi stepped forward, reaching out with a trembling
hand, and retrieved the device.
	"This stick is a very dangerous weapon," Luna pointed out to Usagi as
she held it up. "But also a miraculous tool for peace. Its function depends 
on
the character of the user as much as the magic within it. Having it and 
using
it are great responsibilities, and you should take them seriously."
	"And you work on remembering how to use that thing to remove the Rainbow
Crystal from someone without turning them into monsters," Ukyou shot to Luna 
as
she put away her sketchbook while retrieving a similar note-pad from one of 
her
other pockets. "Now, we have to meet with a man known as Game Machine 
Joe..."

*

	Shampoo sat in the small room.  The chair was uncomfortable, and she
knew that was deliberate.  She had been waiting, she guessed, for over two
hours, and that too was certainly deliberate.  That, however, wasn't what 
made
her angry.
	Angry?  No, that wasn't a strong enough word.  Enraged.  That was what
she was.  Every time she closed her eyes, even to blink, she saw that face, 
that
face she hated more than anything else in the world.
	Ranma.  Ranma.  Ranma.  That damnable foreign girl.  Who had come to her
village uninvited, eaten the feast Shampoo had won for once again becoming 
the
champion of the Nyuuchezu's village tournament, and...
	Humiliated her.  Humiliated HER.  Shampoo!  The greatest, most promising
warrior of her village!  That damn girl had accepted her outraged challenge,
and, before she had known it, Shampoo was beaten.  Just like that.  In front 
of
the entire village, her victory had turned to ashes, her pride into shame.
	She had thought she couldn't possibly hate Ranma even more, that there
was nothing the foreign girl could do to possibly shame her further.  But 
she
had been wrong.  Which was why she was sitting here now.  Because of Ranma.
That damn coward!  But it wasn't the end.  Not yet.  She wouldn't let it end
like this, no matter what happened.  She closed her eyes, seeing that 
smirking
Japanese face before her.
	Shampoo was going to enjoy watching Ranma die.
	"Great-granddaughter, have you come home to fight a battle?  I warn you;
I won't tolerate your wrecking my furniture."
	Shampoo's head snapped up, her eyes opening again.  Great-grandmother
Cologne was there now.  She hadn't heard the old woman enter, but that was
normal.  Great-grandmother was perched on her staff; Shampoo couldn't read 
her
expression, but she got a sense of displeasure from her body language.  But
then, that wasn't surprising, under the circumstances.
	"Let us get straight to the point, great-granddaughter.  Why have you
returned?"
	Shampoo felt her cheeks burn.  She hadn't wanted to come back, to
compound her humiliation.  But the only alternative was unacceptable.  "I 
had no
choice.  The girl, Ranma," she spit the name, "escaped across the ocean to
Japan.  I..."  She gritted her teeth.  It was hard to admit her failure.  "I 
am
unable to follow her there, as I don't know their language.  I need help if 
I'm
going to find her."
	Great-grandmother took a long draw on her pipe, and then exhaled slowly.
Her face crinkled a bit.  "I believe there once was a little girl who 
informed
her elders that she did not NEED to learn Japanese."
	Shampoo flushed further.  But then, great-grandmother was right.  She
hadn't thought anything like this could happen.  "I am sorry, great-
grandmother."
	"Sorry about not learning Japanese, or sorry for invoking an ancient
custom you now cannot wriggle your way out of?"
	"I will NOT wriggle out of it!" Shampoo snapped.  "I will hunt down-"
	"Then, if you are not trying to wriggle out of it, why have you returned
empty-handed to ask for my help?"
	Shampoo swallowed her anger as best she could.  "I want to find Ranma.
I will find Ranma.  But in that foreign country, I can't ask anyone of her
whereabouts.  I need some way to communicate.  I know you can help me with 
that,
so I am humbly begging..." She rose from the chair and then kneeled before 
the
elder.  "I am humbly begging for you to help me."
	Great-grandmother paused for a moment, obviously considering.  Shampoo
remained in her supplicant position.  She had almost prostrated herself, 
but...
even for great-grandmother, even for this, she couldn't do that.
	When the elder spoke again, her voice was toneless, revealing nothing.
"Precisely what do you know of this... Ranma?"
	Shampoo blinked.  Why did she ask that?  "I... don't know very much,
great-grandmother.  She is a fast, tricky one.  Many times I thought to have
caught her, but she and her pet panda would vanish right from under my 
nose."
She paused, considering what else she had observed.  "She's a shameless one.
Once I found her after bathing; she was strutting around topless for anyone 
to
see."
	"Right after bathing, you say?"  Cologne's voice was sharp.  "Bathing
where?"
	"Umm... why do you want to know?"
	"Because there are things about Ranma that I suspect."
	Shampoo was beginning to worry about her great-grandmother.  Perhaps old
age was finally beginning to tell?  "I... don't really know where.  It was 
in a
river...close to Shanghai?"
	"A river, hmm?  Interesting..."  The old woman puffed seriously on her
pipe.
	Perhaps it would have been better to simply sneak in at night and borrow
what she needed.  Except Shampoo didn't really know what she needed...
	Cologne looked at her again.  "Tell me... you've fought this girl
several times.  Has she ever done anything... strange in your battles?"
	"Umm... strange?"
	"Things that normal girls don't do to other girls.  Especially when
fighting."
	At first, Shampoo had thought great-grandmother was acting a little
senile, focusing on meaningless trivia.  Now, she didn't know -what- to 
think.
"Umm... no.  Not that I ever noticed, no."
	"What about the panda?"
	"Umm..."
	"Stop saying 'umm', child, it's undignified."
	"Great-grandmother, are you feeling all right?"
	"Yes, yes, perfectly fine," she snapped impatiently.  "Now answer the
question."
	"I never... uh... noticed the panda doing anything strange, no.  Except
for the fact it walked around on it's hind legs and talked to Ranma using 
signs.
And ate human food.  And drank human tea... in fact, it also MADE the tea."  
Now
that she thought about it, it really was a very strange panda.  But why on 
earth
did great-grandmother care?  "It kept running away with Ranma, too.  It was 
very
fast, for a panda."
	"Shampoo, what would you say if I told you that this person you've been
trying to kill is actually a man?"
	Shampoo stared.  Wonderful.  Great-grandmother had totally lost it.  Why
couldn't she have waited just one more day for senility to set in?  "Great-
grandmother," she said in her most patient tone, "That is silly.  I told 
you, I
saw this girl almost naked."
	"Yes, yes, but that hardly matters, child."
	Shampoo felt the beginnings of a headache coming on, but kept her voice
steady and tried not to grit her teeth too much.  "Yes, great-grandmother, 
it
does.  She was not at all fat enough to have those on her chest.  It was
definitely a girl."
	The old woman chuckled. "Ah, the naivete of youth.  Just for a moment,
Shampoo, forget what it was you saw and believe what I say.  What would you 
do,
if Ranma were a man?"
	She decided to play along, for now.  Needed to get the help.  Had to
remember that.  "Well... I guess, if Ranma were a man, then I'd have to 
marry
him."  Except it would be hard to marry a corpse, which Ranma was very soon 
to
be, but she kept that to herself.
	"So that would be your decision?"
	"No," she said firmly.  "That's the law.  My decision is to hunt down
Ranma and pin her to the ground like a squealing pig, then-"
	"Yes, yes, child."  She waved absently.  "But what I'm saying is that if
this Ranma is a boy, you are going to marry him, for that is the law, and 
you
chose to observe the ancient laws?"
	Shampoo sighed.  "If somehow that was true, I... suppose I would have to
do it.  But I'd rather just kill him...HER!  Now you've got me saying it!" 
she
added a little resentfully.
	"Well, then, that settles that, I suppose."  Cologne nodded vigourously.
	"Now that this game of make-believe is over, can you please help me,
great-grandmother?  I want to be back after Ranma as soon as possible."
	"Of course I can help you, child.  We leave in the morning."
	Shampoo blinked.  "We?"
	"We."
	"But why would you come along?"
	"If you can tell me the true secret of Jyusenkyou, I will answer that
question for you."
	Shampoo wanted to break something.  A lot of somethings.  Violently.
She wished her favourite identical twin punching bags were here.  
"Jyusenkyou is
a forbidden place.  Nobody goes there, so who cares what secrets it has?  
What
does that have to do with anything?"
	"I fear that is a question you will have to discover the answer to
yourself, child."

*

	The water rolled over her body in a gentle river. The soft trickle of it
was soothing, almost hypnotic. Her eyes almost closed from their own weight 
once
or twice as she lay there waiting. Her body felt weak. Weaker than it ever 
had
before. She could feel her physical self, her very essence, threatening to
unravel. That was why she could not allow herself to fall into sleep. Sleep 
was
death. Sleep was giving up. Sleep meant she would never have her revenge.
	Her hand clawed at the porous stone around her, finding thin handholds.
Moaning, she pulled with all her strength and slowly her face and then her
entire body emerged from the soft trickle of the grey water. Her other hand
reached out blindly, groping until she felt it settle on one of the iron 
rungs
of the nearby ladder. The ladder led up to the light. The unforgiving 
light...
	She took stock of her surroundings with a single glare. Tethys was not
familiar with human customs, but even she could recognize a sewer when she 
saw
one. She snorted. It was an appropriate place. She hardly even remembered
dragging herself to this dank pit to escape. The last clear memory she had 
was
of ripping the ward from Jadeite's...
	A shudder ran up her body. What was this feeling? Sorrow? A human
failing! No, it must be anger and rage, but unlike any she had felt before. 
And
the reason for that was equally clear. Always, in the past, she had been the 
cat
with the mouse. When her anger grew, she merely killed the mouse and was 
done
with it. But now that was beyond her ability. The mouse was beyond her 
reach,
and her anger was growing. This feeling, then, was anger gone sour from age. 
The
all-consuming need for revenge. Yes, if she could revenge herself upon those 
who
had taken everything from her, she would feel better.
	She tapped her critically low reserves and forced herself to begin
climbing. She would never get her revenge in this sewer. Tethys needed 
energy to
restore herself to her full strength. And she needed more than that. Jadeite 
had
been brimming with power, power she had hardly seen even in the hands of 
Queen
Beryl, and he had still lost. Clearly, power alone was not enough.
	So what secret did this Ukyou command that would allow her to topple so
mighty a man as Jadeite? Tethys forced down another bout of sour rage at the
thought of his ignominous death. She had not seen it herself, but she knew 
the
truth of what had happened. All she needed to know now was the method.
	Metal rasped against stone as Tethys lifted the cover of her sanctuary
free. As she climbed into the air, she noted it was dark out. That too 
suited
her mood. She stumbled over to the nearest wall and leaned against it. She 
was
taking a great risk by coming out in the open like this. In her natural 
form,
she was quite conspicuous and lacked any ability to blend in with the 
humans.
But the need outweighed the risk. She appeared to be in some narrow, dirty,
untraveled backroad of the city anyway. There were no humans to see her.
	As if summoned by her thoughts, she felt two radiant energy sources
enter the alleyway. She shied back, hiding behind a trash receptacle. She 
need
not have bothered. The humans were totally intent on each other. The male 
was
draped over the female. His rumpled suit was partially removed. The female 
wore
very little herself, and what she did wear seemed designed to come off with 
very
little force. Tethys would have sneered, had she a mouth with which to do 
it. It
appeared she had stumbled upon a human mating ritual.
	That was good. She knew from long study that one of the human energy
peaks occurred during their mating. It was so unlike mating with her kind. 
For
the youma, sex was about dominance and power. You took who you wanted when 
you
wanted, to show that you were higher on the magical food chain than they 
were.
Humans seemed to get some bizarre pleasure out of it for its own sake, 
without
it proving anything. She almost pitied them.
	She would have no better opportunity than now. Gathering up the very
last of her reserves, Tethys stepped around the dumpster and strode 
purposefully
towards the pair. They were much too involved in their activity to notice 
her.
That suited her fine. Once she reached them her hands pistoned out and 
grabbed
both by their necks. Screams died stillborn in their throats as Tethys cut 
off
their oxygen. Then she began to feed.
	The essence of the two humans flowed into her body in a viscous cloud.
She felt the strange tang of human arousal in their energy, now mixed with 
the
sweet ambrosia of human terror. She drank in their power, growing slowly in
strength. She continued feeding long after the humans had lost 
consciousness,
long after their bodies died. She continued feeding until there was nothing 
left
of these two fools but withered husks that she dropped to the pavement.
	It was glorious. She hadn't fed like that... since... since before
Serenity had banished all her kind beneath a cold arctic prison. She paused 
to
exult in the feeling of it. Why had she denied herself like this for so 
long?
	The answer came to her immediately. Because for millennia, there had
been nothing to feed off of but her fellow youma. And while destroying your
fellows was permissible in certain circumstances, it had become a serious 
crime
once Queen Beryl realized that such cannibalism only weakened her forces in 
the
long run. So they had all learned to feed in moderation. To hold back their
hunger. They had become so good at it that ritual had become habit had 
become
instinct. Now, if she had a mouth, she would have smiled. To hell with that
lesser feeding. From now on, she would feast!
	Tethys laughed as she evoked her glamour and cloaked herself in the
appearance of a human being. She then strode out into the neon-lit streets 
of
the human city. So many meals... no. She had to be quiet. The Sailor Senshi
still patrolled this city, and they had an unsightly talent for turning up 
at
the worst possible times. She would have to feed sporadically, never in the 
same
place twice. It would not do to encounter her adversaries again until she 
was
ready.
	That left her only with the need to find some place to stay. Once, she
could have simply returned to her home, but she knew that would now be 
suicide.
Even if Queen Beryl did not vaporize her on the spot for being part of such 
a
disaster, Zoicite would never forget what Tethys had cost him, and his 
revenge
would involve a much more agonizingly slow demise. She was on her own. Just 
her
versus the human Ukyou.
	She started down the street, whistling a tune that had ceased to exist
on this planet thousands of years ago. She would find out the secret of 
Ukyou's
power and turn it against the boy. Strong and resourceful he might be, but 
he
was still just a human. Once the playing field between them had been 
leveled,
there could be only one outcome to their next encounter.

*


	"Mysterious Hero Saves City!"

	That's what the headline said, emblazoned in a huge typeface right above
the picture of Ukyou battling with Jadeite that took up about half of the 
front
page.  The other, more "respectable" papers had been a little less overtly
enthusiastic.  They'd also cribbed from Ran Hibiki's - that added Rival 
Schools
to the series' he knew existed - original story without shame (or credit).
Chris wondered if that backhanded acknowledgement had pleased or annoyed 
her.
	The other papers had toned things down, left out a few details, or given
different spins on the facts of Ran's article, but they were faithful enough
that Chris figured Ran's original 'extra special publication issue' had to 
be
fairly accurate.  And that was something that worried him a great deal.
	From the story and accompanying photographs, he had gotten the gist.
Nearly a week ago, Ukyou, Ranma, Akane, Ryouga and the Sailor Senshi (well, 
the
first three Senshi) had fought Jadeite and some youma, to rescue Nabiki.  
That
-should- have been an unholy beatdown, and in fact it was, but on the wrong 
end.
Jadeite was somehow superpowered, and he took out pretty much everyone 
before
Ukyou had made a 'miraculous' come-from-behind victory.  The next part, only 
Ran
had mentioned, and she was very vague on the details, but apparently there'd
been some sort of argument between Ukyou and her friends and the Senshi, 
then
they'd gone their separate ways.
	He leaned back in the chair, massaging his temples.  What a lovely mess
to come home to.  First off, Ukyou was apparently assembling herself a nice
little army to go fight menaces with, which didn't exactly make him feel
terribly secure.  Even more importantly, Ukyou was messing around in the 
Sailor
Moon plotline.  Chris really didn't know the series very well - certainly 
not
compared to Ranma 1/2 - but he did know that they would be responsible for
saving the world from destruction not once, but several times.  As well, the
sort of foes they fought were generally paranormal magical beings of great
power; not, by any stretch of the imagination, Ukyou's area of expertise.  
So
what was she thinking, messing around with the plot of a series upon which 
the
fate of the world rested?
	"Hey," came the voice from over his shoulder.  "You've been staring at
those papers ever since you got that weedy little guy to get them.  Do you 
know
that person, over?"
	He glanced back, unsurprised to see Pink.  "Yeah, I know her, more or
less.  I just don't know what happened, or why."
	"Well, seems like what happened is pretty weird," Pink noted.  "Does
stuff like this happen in Japan all the time, over?"
	He turned around in the chair with a shrug, noted idly from the corner
of his eye that Link was at the back of the room, apparently talking in a 
low
voice to a potted plant.  "More or less," he replied to Pink, "It's pretty 
weird
here."
	"So what's the problem?  If you know her, go ask her what happened,
over."
	He chuckled.  "I'd try, but she'd probably attack me on sight.  Not
everyone's as tolerant of my condition as you are."  Pink seemed to find 
that
very amusing.  "I take it you two have looked around by now, then.  How did 
you
find the gardens?"
	"Acceptable, over," noted Link curtly.  She didn't look at him.
	"You have some interesting plants," grinned Pink, "even if they're all
pretty normal, over."
	"Good good.  You two can plant whatever you like, as long as you leave
the plants I noted alone.  I need them on occasion."
	"So you need to paralyse people," Pink smirked.  It wasn't a question.
"I wonder what for, over?"
	"Not for what you think," he quickly replied.  "It's simply a good way
to keep me out of fights I don't want to get into."
	"Of course," came the smug response.  "And speaking of that, what are
you going to do about your little problem, over?"
	"Actually," he said, rising to my feet, "I think I have an idea about
that."  It was true Ukyou probably wouldn't even listen to him, much less 
answer
his questions...but there was someone else who might.  "I'll need to go out 
for
a little bit.  Don't get into trouble while I'm gone."
	"Of course not, over," said Pink, and smiled.


*


	"...the only thing that makes sense!"
	"Ranma, first off, that's crazy. Second off, you're crazy for thinking
that up. Third off, you're even crazier if you think I'm going to entertain 
the
idea for a minute."
	"Then I hope you have a better idea, because that's all I can come up
with."
	"Don't you believe the explanation Ukyou already gave us?"
	"Of course I do but... oh, hi, Nabiki."
	Nabiki nodded in acknowledgement. Ranma had come around the corner
first, followed shortly thereafter by her little sister. The two rarely even
talked to each other during school hours. Except to talk about HIM. Nabiki 
felt
her neutral expression turning sour as she thought about it.
	"So, uh, nice day and all, huh?" Ranma shot his mouth into the
uncomfortable silence that had descended over the three of them. Nabiki just
turned around and began to walk in the other direction. She did not need 
their
empty pleasantries. She definitely did not need to be reminded of how
conversations about Ukyou stopped the moment she entered the room.
	"Nabiki, wait up!"
	Nabiki didn't stop at her sister's shout. She did not stop until Akane
grabbed her elbow and pulled on her gently. Only then did Nabiki pause and 
look
down at the offending hand. Akane snapped it away quickly, a distinct 
metallic
'ching' sound accompanying her movement. There was some sort of bulge under 
the
sleeves of her uniform, something she was hiding.
	"What do you want, Akane?" Nabiki allowed a layer of frost to coat her
words. Akane blinked but smiled.
	"I just wanted to talk. We are still sisters, aren't we?" Nabiki refused
to look at her little sister's smile any longer. The smile was infectious. 
Akane
had been flashing it all over the house the last few days. She was always
finding some excuse to be close to Nabiki and talk to her like they were
suddenly best pals. And the topic of conversation always returned to how 
Akane
was going to 'be there' for Nabiki when she needed her. It always focused on 
how
Akane wanted to 'look out' for her and 'make sure you're safe' and how 
'thanks
to Ukyou, I'm a lot stronger now!'
	"I think your friend is waiting for you." Nabiki pointed with her chin
over Akane's shoulder. Sure enough, the man of the hour was standing at the
gate, or on it to be more precise. Everyone was gathered around the pedestal 
he
had climbed up on, shouting and waving for his attention, but he ignored 
them.
His attention was entirely fixed upon Ranma and Akane... and her. Nabiki 
knew
that it was impossible at this distance, but she imagined their eyes met for
just a moment and Nabiki saw mockery in those eyes. It wasn't much of a 
stretch.
Ukyou had made no secret of his feelings for her.
	Nabiki remembered clearly how she had walked, alone, into Ukyou's
hospital room. The boy had been leaning against a pillow, his arm filled 
with
tiny needles. He had looked over at her, and before Nabiki could say 
anything
had opened right up with "You don't need to apologize, Nabiki. Just never 
fuck
with forces you can't understand again. Okay?"
	Apologize! The nerve of that arrogant little prick. Her hand tightened
on her bookbag until her knuckles turned white.
	"Nabiki, it doesn't have to be like this," Akane sighed. "Ukyou is a
nice... guy, and if you just give him a chance..."
	"I'm certain he is," Nabiki stepped away from her sister and turned her
back. Hearing her sister defend that man made her nauseous. "So go have fun 
with
him, if he's so nice. And take my 'fiancee' with you."
	Nabiki heard Akane call out to her a few more times before she rounded
the corner of the building, but there was no pursuit this time. Once she was 
out
of eyesight Nabiki turned and placed her hands against the wall. She 
squeezed
her eyes shut, forcing back the tears she knew were threatening beneath her
eyelids. Nabiki hated feeling like this. She hated feeling like she didn't 
know
what was going on. She hated being lied to. She hated...
	She hated feeling afraid.
	There, she'd admitted it. She felt afraid and helpless. She knew better
than to blame her recent string of humiliation and life-threatening dangers
directly on Ukyou, but he was their source nonetheless. He was the one who 
had
dragged her kicking and screaming into his world. He was the one who had 
made
her - Nabiki! - into the victim in his little dramas. Well, it was time to 
stop
being the helpless one.
	She took one final cleansing breath and stepped away from the wall. She
glared around her at the few loitering students who had been watching her, 
and
they scattered. She dismissed them from her mind. Her reputation in this 
school
was already shot to hell; there was little else she could do to ruin it now.
Despite her best efforts, her 'engagement' to Saotome had leaked out, and 
his
curse had also leaked out. Now that she found herself tied to him, and 
through
him to Ukyou, she was the target of all the school's gossip and not the 
source.
She had heard every rumor imaginable. From those which suggested that Nabiki 
was
Ukyou's secret lover, to the ones which suggested that the only reason she 
was
with Ranma was because of his female side. The latter had grown a strong set 
of
legs, considering how much Nabiki went out of her way to avoid Ranma at 
school,
where he managed to maintain his manhood most of the time.
	These thoughts flew through her head and were dismissed as unimportant.
She quickly strode back into the school. The halls were empty but not 
silent, as
the unlucky students were still within their classrooms cleaning them up. 
She
walked briskly past the doors to all the classes without pausing. Then she
walked straight into the library.
	The library was one of the few parts of the campus that was open after
school hours. Along with the gymnasium, the library had its own entrance and
exit into the school grounds, and students were allowed - indeed, encouraged 
-
to come after hours to cram for finals or work on near-due projects. The
librarian was a sleepy, fat little man with an awful comb-over and a nasal
voice. But he spent all his time behind his desk playing solitaire and 
ignored
everything that happened in the rest of the small library. So Nabiki was not
worried about him interfering with her.
	She spotted her prey easily and walked quickly over to him. Zaitochi was
a rabbit of a boy. His build was slim, his eyes beady and his nose had a
tendancy to twitch when he got nervous. He was also a fabulous sprinter, 
thanks
to his years of evading pursuits from bullies in one school after another.
Despite all that, he was a gregarious and intelligent boy. He often helped
others with their homework, charging only mild fees for his impressive 
tutoring
skills.
	"Zaitochi," Nabiki called once she was standing behind him. The boy
started and spinned his head to see her. His nose twitched, and his entire 
body
tensed as if to flee. Then he saw her and relaxed.
	"Nabiki," he sighed. "Don't sneak up on me like that."
	"I need it."
	Zaitochi raised an eyebrow at her simple statement. Then his eyes
widened and he thumbed the side of his nose as comprehension dawned.
	"I'm not finished translating."
	"How much have you finished?"
	"Almost all of it, actually," he admitted as he turned back in his seat.
He produced a bookbag from under his table and placed it next to him. A few
seconds of blind groping within and he pulled out two manila folders. Nabiki
strode around to the other side of the table and sat herself down. It would 
look
to any curious onlookers as if she was just getting homework advice. "The 
trick
is reassembling all the damaged portions. Some of it is beyond retrieval, 
but
not all of it. I have to use a lot of educated guesswork to fill in the 
blanks.
Unfortunately, the fire left it so that without that educated guesswork, a 
lot
of it's been useless."
	"You've been reading it," Nabiki said with a frown. Of course he had
been reading it. How else was he supposed to translate it? She had also
forgotten about Zaitochi's inquisitive streak. But he was the only person 
she
knew who spoke fluent English - a legacy of his grandfather, who had been an
American soldier.
	"Some of it is very fascinating," Zaitochi explained as he flipped open
one of the folders and pointed to the top page. "This, for instance, seems 
to be
a timeline... for events that haven't happened yet."
	"What?" Nabiki grabbed the paper and swung it around to face her.
Zaitochi's neat, simple handwriting had translated a list out in kana, with
dates and notes attached.
	"Yes," the boy leaned forward and his nose twitched. "It talks about the
election in America this fall. Claims Clinton is going to win." Nabiki only 
paid
passing attention to American politics, but since she knew Bush was the 
current
president, she guessed Clinton was the other guy. "It also has the results 
for
the next two elections, and the elections in Canada as well. It also has 
some
data on who is going to be prime minister of England, Germany and even 
Japan.
Though the data is missing or lax on a lot of countries, but that might be
because of the damage."
	"That isn't anything special," Nabiki pointed out. "Just someone playing
at politics."
	"And sports, and economics, and warfare," Zaitochi pointed out. "Look at
this." He tapped a part of the paper.
	"Tokyo, 1996... Sarin Nerve Gas Attack In Subway...?" Nabiki read aloud.
"What is this?"
	"I don't know," Zaitochi admitted. "But there is a lot of other stuff in
there. And a lot of it is pretty specific. Stuff about a 'dotcom crash' on 
Wall
Street, some sort of big terrorist attack in New York in 2001, wars in 
Serbia
and Mogadishu and Afganistan and Iraq... pretty scary stuff."
	"Scary stuff," Nabiki repeated as she read down the page, and the next
five pages as well. There was too much data here, covering too many 
different
things, for this to all just be speculation. But what did it mean? "What 
else
was there?"
	"A profile of you," Zaitochi said as he flipped the page for her.
	"Nabiki Tendo; Age Seventeen, Middle Tendo Daughter... Mostly Harmless?"
	"That's what it says."
	"But... mostly harmless?" Nabiki didn't know whether to feel insulted or
not.
	"There was a picture that accompanied the profile," Zaitochi pointed
out. "From what survived of it, it looked like a good likeness."
	"Were there more?"
	"Yes. profiles of your sisters, and Ranma, and Kunou... and profiles of
people I've never met before." He looked up at her. "Do we have a principal? 
I
can't recall ever meeting him."
	"He's on some sort of extended leave of absence." Nabiki shrugged. "Has
been since before I came here. The vice-principal runs the school, and seems 
to
be doing an okay job. I think there are statues of the guy somewhere on 
campus."
	"Well, I think whoever wrote this has met him," Zaitochi flipped a few
pages. "Here: Principal Kunou; Age Unknown, Father of Tatewaki Kunou, Hawaii
fetish, obession with haircuts, general nuisance." Nabiki gave him a long 
look.
"I'm not the one who wrote all this. A lot of the profiles were badly 
burned. I
have some names to go with some pictures and a few snippets of 
descriptions."
	He leaned back and laced his hands behind his neck. "But you may want to
keep flipping forward. I put a special surprise a few pages in. I'm sure 
you'll
realize what it is when you get to it."
	Nabiki gave him a long look but complied. He was right, it didn't take
her long to figure out what the surprise was. It was a single piece of the
burned notebook, almost intact. On it was a picture of a man, or three 
pictures.
One facial shot, one full body shot and a profile. Next to it was a stream 
of
neat little english letters. Zaitochi hadn't translated the english to kana 
on a
seperate page, he'd just written down the translation in the ample white 
space
left over.
	"Jadeite," Nabiki read to herself as her stomach sank. She recognized
that face. She still saw it in her nightmares. Saw it leaning across the 
table
from her with dark hunger in his eyes... She shook off the image and 
continued
reading. "The first of four Generals of the Dark Kingdom. Prefers to engage
opponents through proxy by use of 'youmas', a sort of parasitic malevolent
entity. Jadeite is defeated for the final time at the Narita Airport..." she
trailed off. "No way."
	"Heh, my thoughts exactly," Zaitochi said from behind a grin. "You gave
me this notebook three whole days -before- the battle at Narita."
	"Who are you?" Nabiki said as she looked down at the notepaper in her
hands. Zaitochi didn't catch the meaning of her question, so he remained 
silent.
Finally Nabiki stood up, reached into her pocket and extracted a large roll 
of
bills. She slammed it down on the table. Normally, getting her to actually 
pay
her own money for something was like pulling teeth.  Not this time. "Have 
you
finished translating all the text?"
	"Technically, yes," Zaitochi said with a frown.
	"Then I have no further need of your services."
	"But what am I supposed to do about..."
	"Nothing," Nabiki said as she gathered up both folders. "Forget you ever
saw these."
	"I can hardly do that," the boy chuckled.
	"I suggest you figure out a way," Nabiki advised icily. "I have a little
sister and a fiancee who can help me survive this insanity. Do you know 
anyone
willing and able to do the same for you?"
	Zaitochi blinked, staring at her for a moment. Then slowly his face
drained of all color. "You mean..." he croaked.
	"Keep this to yourself, don't speak of it to anyone but me." She paused.
"In fact, you'd best not ever speak to me again. You should forget you ever 
saw
this. It's too dangerous."
	"I see..."
	Nabiki didn't wait to see his reaction. She had already stowed the
papers in her bookbag and started towards the exit. She really did hope the 
boy
followed her advice, and never tried to follow-up on what he had learned 
from
this notebook. Just being associated with Ukyou Kuonji was dangerous, triply 
so
for mere mortals like herself and Zaitochi. What danger could you lead 
yourself
into if you knew his secrets?
	Nabiki fully intended to find out. She would go carefully, but she would
go forward. There was simply no other conceivable direction.

*

	Tofu Ono balanced the tray of drinks with one hand, pocketing a jar of
burn ointment with the other. He nodded politely to one of the workmen as he
stepped out of the way. The men Ukyou had hired to work on getting his 
clinic
rebuilt were decent, hard-working fellows from what he could tell, and they
seemed to be working ahead of schedule. He called out a cheerful greeting to 
a
few of the people in the neighbourhood as he walked around the block to the
vacant lot. He was glad everyone had understood his circumstances. It meant 
he
wouldn't lose any customers, at the very least.
	"Doctor Tofu!" Tsubasa cried out as she stepped out of a mailbox along
his route. Ono took her appearance in good humour. After seeing the young
Saotome boy change gender at the slightest shower, he figured there was no
reason to be surprised about how strange Ukyou's friends were. "Are you 
going to
visit Ukyou?"
	"Bringing her friends and her a drink," Ono replied as he continued
along. Tsubasa fell into step behind him. She was a rather cute girl, with 
her
long brown hair decorated by a single large yellow bow. She was wearing a 
deep
navy blue school uniform, which fit her well but left her looking curiously
underdeveloped for a girl her age. At least she wasn't wearing the giant 
mutant
street sign with the suction cup feet outfit. That one had been vaguely
disturbing.
	The first thing Ono heard as he stepped into the clearing was the
crackle of the bonfire. Ranma sat cross-legged in front of it, staring into 
the
flames that roared slightly taller than his head. Sweat rolled down his 
cheeks,
but whether it was from the heat or from his obviously intense 
concentration,
Ono couldn't say. He noted the boy's aura was much more focused today than 
it
had been the day before. Despite his own incredulity, Ukyou's training 
seemed to
be producing results.
	"Hey, Doc," Ranma called out as he looked up for a minute. He grinned,
and cracked his knuckles. "Check this out!" Ono obliged him and paused while
Tsubasa stepped around the fire without stopping. Ranma reached back with 
one
hand and then thrust it into the bonfire, again and again. Ono could follow 
the
motion of his hand, but only after reflexively enhancing his vision with a 
bit
of chi. To a normal human, Ranma's arm would have disappeared into a red 
blur.
	"Gotcha!" Ranma cried triumphantly as he held up a double handful of
steaming chestnuts. "Heh. This ain't so tough."
	"Very good, Ranma." Ono coughed politely. "Your sleeve is on fire."
	"ACK!" Ranma dropped the chestnuts back into the flames and began to
beat at his burning clothes. Unfortunately, his frantic waving was only 
fanning
the flames. Sighing, Ono flipped one of the glasses from his tray towards 
the
boy. Seconds later Ranma was female and covered in sticky lemonade, but at 
least
he wasn't on fire.
	Ono still found the transformation itself fascinating. If he could study
how it worked, he could expand his knowledge of magic a great deal. Of 
course,
he doubted Ranma would like being treated like a guinea pig. Therefore, the
subject had never been brought up.
	"Thanks, Doc," Ranma grumbled. She rolled up her charred sleeves, trying
to salvage some of her outfit. Ono noted the burns on her palms and knuckles 
and
refrained from clucking his tongue in disappointment. His father had passed 
that
habit along to him, but Ono always made sure to repress it. The less he 
acted
like his father, the better, all things considered.
	"Don't worry about it, Ranma," Ono called. He fetched the burn ointment
from his back pocket and handed it to the boy as he passed. "Here." Ranma
thanked him as Ono stepped past the bonfire into the clearing proper.Ono 
wasn't
really worried about the boy injuring himself. Not only did he have a chi-
enhanced resistance to damage, but he healed with amazing alacrity.
	"-don't think so much about your attacks, Akane," Ukyou's voice faded
into hearing as Ono stepped away from the roaring flame. The girl was 
dressed in
a pair of loose slacks and a button-up shirt. As usual, she was concealing 
her
feminine traits with remarkable ability. Akane was on the ground at her feet 
and
Ukyou was offering the other girl a hand up. Akane's yellow training gi was
stained with dirt and sweat, and her forehead shone with a light sheen as 
she
took deep breaths. Ukyou appeared immaculate in comparison.
	"Easy for you to say," Akane groused good-naturedly.
	"It isn't about knowing your enemy, Akane," Ukyou pointed out once the
other girl was back on her feet. Her voice had taken on the strangely gentle
steel edge that Ono had begun to call her 'teaching voice'. "It's about 
knowing
yourself, and trusting in that. You can't be second-guessing yourself in the
middle of a battle. You have to commit yourself totally to an action. If you
don't... your chi won't respond."
	"So when I try to hit-"
	"Do or do not, there is no try," Ukyou quoted happily. "You can't doubt
that your attack is going to hit." Ukyou stepped away from her and began a 
slow
kata. Ono watched her, as her aura snapped tight and focused. "The key to
accessing your chi is knowing that it will respond." She began to speed up 
her
technique. Her aura snapped and crackled around her body. It was taut and
focused, with barely any leaking away from her body. Ono was impressed. He 
had
never actually gotten a chance to see Ukyou use her aura like that. All his
tutelage had focused on imparting knowledge of the accelerated healing
techniques to her. He hadn't even taught her about his Five Chakra theory, 
but
she was defintely focusing almost solely through her Wind Chakra. "Chi is 
not a
force we bend to our will, Akane. It does not come to our command. It flows 
to
match our desire! You can't just want it, or wish it... you have to need it,
rely on it... make it a part of you!"
	By the time Ukyou completed her speech she was blurring through the
motions of her kata. Her aura had leaked into the visible spectrum and it
sheathed her body in a quiet white glow. But there was something... an 
emptiness
in her spirit that Ono could just barely make out. But before he could focus
further, she had ceased her exercise and turned back to Akane. Her aura 
returned
to its normal state.
	"Wow! That was way too cool, Ukyou!" Tsubasa cried as she ran up to her
old friend. Ukyou seemed to brace herself for the girl to leap on her, but
Tsuabasa stopped a few steps away and just clasped her hands together as she
bounced on her heels.
	"Hey, Fungus," Ukyou said in her deadpan tone. Akane had asked Ukyou
about that nickname a few days back, but Ukyou had just responded that it 
was 'a
long story' and refused to explain further. Tsubasa always frowned when 
Ukyou
called her that. "Okay... let's go through the list." Ukyou held up five
fingers. "One; I will not go out with you today. Two; I will not change my 
mind.
Three; yes, just going for a walk counts as a date. Four; I am flattered by 
your
love letter, but can not accept it. Five; I am not interested in talking 
about
any of the above." Ukyou lowered a finger after each point until she was 
holding
up a fist. "Does that about cover the usual idiocy?"
	"Ukyou, you can't mean to be so mean!" Tsubasa pouted. Her eyes brimmed
with unshed tears. "Ever since I found you again, you've done nothing but be 
mad
at me."
	"Ever consider the reason I didn't leave a forwarding address was
because I didn't want to be found by you?" Ukyou grumbled and sat down. 
"Ono,"
Ukyou called as she turned her attention away from the girl. "Why don't you 
sit
down while I start up lunch?"
	"Ukyou, look... you're making Tsubasa cry," Akane pointed out in a
slightly chiding tone.
	"Some people just don't understand gentle rejection," Ukyou said with a
glare at her old 'friend'. "I've been turning down Tsubasa for almost three
months."
	"But I love you, Ukyou!"
	"Indeed?" Ukyou crossed her arms. "The only reason you pursued me so
much was because you were the only person at my old school that knew my 
secret."
	"Wait a minute..." Ono was slightly surprised to see Ranma sitting
nearby. He had missed the boy's approach somehow. "You know Ukyou's not a 
guy?"
	"Well, of course," Tsubasa said. She then did a double take and stared
hard at Ranma's breasts. "Wait... weren't YOU a guy?"
	"And I still am!" Ranma growled and made a fist. Ono smiled, but
concealed it by pretending he had lost his grip on the lemonade tray. Ukyou
didn't bother to conceal her smile as she set up her mobile grill.
	"Wow... that's impressive!" Tsubasa smiled and leaned forward. Ranma sat
in a sort of stunned horror as the girl reached out and began to massage 
both of
Ranma's breasts vigourously. "They feel so real!" she chirped. "Soft and 
warm
and-"
	"Ah, that's quite enough..." Ono cut the girl off as he snatched her
hands away from Ranma. The girl had turned as red as a fire hydrant and her 
eyes
had taken on a hollow quality. Her left eyebrow twitched, once. Akane took 
one
long look at Ranma's face, then broke out into a fit of laughter. This 
snapped
Ranma out of her stupor.
	"I wouldn't laugh, you! Don't think I forgot about what happened in the
dojo!" Ranma snapped at her. Akane's laughter choked off and she blushed 
deeply.
	"Wait? Who did what in the where now?" Ukyou cried in confusion as she
looked up from their lunch.
	"I see now..." Tsubasa had, at some point during all this, begun to
glare at Ranma. "So you think you can replace me in Ukyou's heart, do you? 
Just
because you have better breasts than I do!" Tsubasa stood, pointing 
accusingly
at Ranma. Ranma blanched.
	"What? Are you insane?"
	"Don't deny it! Well I know you won't replace me! You're ugly and have
absolutely NO sense of fashion!" Tsubasa accused imperiously. She ended her
brief tirade by smirking and placing her hands on her hips.
	"You take that back!" Ranma shouted and leapt to her feet. "I'll have
you know I am incredibly sexy!"
	"Oh please, you couldn't even get a guy to ask you out on a date..."
	"I could too!"
	"Ranma," Ukyou interupted in a flat, laconic tone. "Think for just a
second about what you are saying."
	"I knew he was a pervert all along," Akane stage-whispered to Ukyou.
	"Like... take the Doc here!" Ranma grabbed Ono's collar and dragged him
down to her eye level. "You've seen me mostly naked. I have a fantastic 
body,
one that any guy would drool over. Agreed?" From the tone and the dangerous
glint in her eyes, Ono thought it best just to nod. Ranma smirked and let 
him
go.
	No sooner was he released than Tsubasa was holding him by the lapels and
pulling him towards her. "Yes, but that's just because of his massive chest. 
You
agree that far more men would be interested in a girl with an adorable face 
and
killer fashion like me. Correct?" Her tone and the glint of her eye almost
exactly mirrored Ranma's. The mute nod Ono gave her exactly replicated the 
one
he had given Ranma.
	Ono found himself released again, only to feel someone tap on his
shoulder. It was Akane. She was staring at him with earnest, wide eyes. 
"Doctor
Tofu... do you... really find girls like them attractive?" Her tone wasn't
dangerous, but Ono somehow sensed there was a deeper subtext to her 
question.
What that subtext could be, he hadn't a clue.
	What had he done to get dragged into the center of this?
	Ono looked to Ukyou for support. Ukyou had always shown a remarkable
level of maturity for her age. Sometimes, when they talked late into the 
night,
Ono felt as if he could close his eyes and he would be sitting across from
someone his own age. But Ukyou was no help. Her face was a stony mask. 
Except
for the violent twitching of her lips as she tried to suppress her smile. 
Her
hand continued to go about the mechanical act of preparing her specialty 
food
without pause, but the rest of her body shuddered slightly as laughter 
attempted
to squeeze out her mouth.
	"There's only one way to settle this..." Tsubasa hissed dangerously as
she glared at Ranma. Ranma glared back. Ono scrambled back a few steps as he 
saw
their auras clashing and sparking off each other like two storm fronts.
	"Is that a challenge?" Ranma grinned. "Because if it is... then I'm more
than ready for anything you got!"
	"Then it's agreed? We'll settle this like honorable men!"
	"You're on! Name the time, name the place!"
	"WHAhahaHOAHAHAHAHAAAH!" Ukyou collapsed, unable to keep it in any
longer. She had managed to finish everyone's meal first, even Tsubasa's.
Everyone turned to her as she rolled about helplessly on the ground, 
clutching
her stomach. She was laughing so hard now that nothing but a strangled 
whistle
escaped her lips. Her cheeks were turning blue, Ono noted with some concern.
	"She can't breathe!" Akane cried in alarm.
	"I'll give her mouth to mouth!" Tsubasa shouted and leapt for Ukyou.
Ranma intercepted the girl by catching the back of her collar.
	"What do you think you're doing?"
	"Saving her life?" Tsubasa offered hopefully.
	"I think she made it clear she don't want nothing to do with you," Ranma
noted dryly.
	"So I was right, you ARE trying to replace me!"
	"Okay... okay... I think this has gone on long enough," Ukyou gasped
between breaths as she finally recovered. She rolled to a sitting position.
"Ranma, are you really feeling your femininity is threatened by Tsubasa 
here?"
	"What? No... I..."
	"Good. Because I can assure you that you are more of a woman than
Tsubasa will ever be," Ukyou said with a chuckle.
	Tsubasa backed away from Ukyou, her body frozen and her hands held up in
demon-warding gestures. "Can... can it be..." she gasped.
	"Because Tsubasa is a guy," Ukyou pointed out when she saw Ranma's
obvious confusion.
	"A guy?" Akane gasped.
	"Yes... in drag," Ukyou chuckled. "You know, dressed up to look like a
girl."
	"So you mean she, I mean he... I mean... Tsubasa is really a MAN!?"
Ranma waved his hands helplessly in the tranvestite's direction. Ono gave 
the
'girl' another look. How could he have missed something like that? He was a
trained doctor. He was supposed to have developed skills of observation, 
both
mundane and mystic, that should have made such a ruse impossible. But as Ono
focused his attention on the boy, he began to see how he had pulled it off. 
It
was... a field of chi. Very unfocused, totally uncontrolled. It was the same
kind of unconsciously strong chi aura he had seen in concert violinists or
exceptionally well-liked politicians. Tsubasa wasn't aware of it, but he was
using chi to 'smooth' out his disguise. Now that Ono knew what to look for, 
he
could see past the subtle illusion to the boy's adam's apple and other 
physical
features. Ono had never considered such an application of chi control... the
repurcussions were fascinating.
	"Oh, like you didn't know," Tsubasa said cattily. "With the amount of
work you must have put into that, you had to have picked up my tells."
	"Put into what?"
	"He's trying to imply that you're a cross-dresser, Ranma," Ukyou
explained in level tone. But she was smiling in a manner that reminded Ono 
of a
cat playing with a mouse.
	"I am NOT!" Ranma shouted and picked up Tsubasa by the lapels. "I don't
care if you are a guy or a girl or whatever, nobody calls me a fairy!"
	"Geez, you should come out of the closet..."
	"You freak! Take that back!" Ranma shouted and pulled the boy in girl's
clothes off his feet. She held Tsubasa up with one hand, seemingly without
effort. Tsubasa had begun to look distinctly nervous. Ono stepped forward,
intending to intervene before this got out of hand.
	"You're just a violent brute!" Tsubasa shouted back. "You don't deserve
Ukyou!" Apparently his nervousness wasn't going to hold back Tsubasa's 
tongue.
Ono reached out and gently placed a hand on Ranma's shoulder. His artful 
fingers
prodded a few pressure points there without being seen and Ono let his chi 
flow
into the Saotome boy's. Almost immediately the angry energy began to shrink 
in
Ranma's aura. Ranma was beginning to lose her furious scowl.
	"And who said I was yours?" Ukyou replied calmly. At the same time, she
bapped Tsubasa on the back of the head. Ono blinked, having completely 
missed
her standing up behind the cross-dresser. He saw Tsubasa's eyes loll back 
and
then the boy went limp. Ono recognized the technique: he had taught it to 
Ukyou
himself. "Stupid fungus, never could take no for an answer..." Ukyou walked 
back
to her grill. "Just get rid of him, Ranma."
	"Uh... right..." Ranma began to look around for someplace to 'get rid
of' the unconscious body in her arms. Ono ignored him and considered having 
a
very stern talk with Ukyou about how she was treating Tsubasa. He even
remembered the first time they had met. Ono had managed to get out of his 
own
bed and into Ukyou's room. There, with all her friends (including some girl 
with
a camera whose name Ono couldn't recall) he had waited for her to awaken. 
When
she had, she had seemed pleased to see everyone. And they had been pleased 
to
see her recover.
	Then a nearby cardiac monitor had sprouted arms and a face and joyfully
proclaimed how glad it was that Ukyou was okay. That had been Ono's first
introduction to Tsubasa, though he hadn't have learned her... his name until 
a
few days later. Ukyou had stared at the cardiac monitor/girl hybrid that had
clutched onto her for a few seconds, then calmly raised her good hand and 
hit it
about ten times in the head until Tsubasa was thoroughly unconscious. Ono 
was
still trying to digest what was going on when Ukyou had asked Akane to open 
the
window to her hospital room. Mechanically, Akane had done so. This allowed 
Ukyou
to toss Tsubasa out the window... her third story window.
	Horrified, Ono had asked what was going on. Ukyou had only laughed and
said "That's just the Fungus. He'll be back. Unfortunately." Ono hadn't been
able to think of anything to say to that. Considering he had been ambushed 
by
extra-dimensional energy vampires only a day ago, he was willing to accept
anything. And the thing was that Tsubasa HAD come back, the next day and 
every
day since. And always Ukyou would put up with him for about ten minutes, 
then
she would hit him and toss him away. Ono wasn't sure if that was a decent 
way to
treat another human being, but he really had no idea what to say about it.
	Finally, after seeing Ranma toss Tsubasa onto the back of a passing
truck, Ono sighed and resolved to deal with this problem like he dealt with 
so
many other problems: he ignored it. He sat down and enjoyed the fine meal 
that
Ukyou had prepared for the four of them. They ate in comfortable silence for 
a
few minutes, Ranma taking a triple serving that Ukyou was more than pleased 
to
serve. She was a very good cook, especially when it came to her favorite 
food.
She obviously enjoyed it, too. Once she had told him that when 'this' 
(whatever
this was) was all over, she was going to open her own restaurant. He fully
believed her. She hadn't let him cook his own meals since moving in with 
him,
and he wasn't about to complain.
	"I'm glad to see everyone is doing so well with their training," Ono
said to break the post-meal silence. He still couldn't believe that his
student had two students of her own. Especially one that was so obviously 
more
advanced in the art than she was.
	"Heh, this is a snap," Ranma grinned as he wolfed down his second
helping. Well, that might have been what he said, it was hard to tell from
behind his mouthful of food. Ranma swallowed. "I'm just not sure what the 
point
is. Grabbing chestnuts and all, I mean."
	"I already told you," Ukyou said in a level tone. "It's tantric
training. Half the point of doing it is to figure out WHY you are doing it."
Ukyou allowed a grin to emerge on her usually impassive face. "Or are you 
saying
you can't get it?"
	"No way!" Ranma growled and slammed a fist into the dirt. "I can handle
any training!"
	"Uh, doesn't that hurt?" Akane asked, pointed down at the large burn
Ranma was grinding into the dirt.
	"Not at all," Ranma moaned as tears emerged in the corners of his eyes.
"Why do you ask?"
	"Just curious."
	"Well, I wouldn't want to step on Ukyou's toes..." Ono mused aloud. "But
I think she's trying to increase the chi flow through your Wind Chakra."
	"My who in the what now?" Ranma blinked.
	"You never taught me about anything like that," Ukyou said as she
blinked.
	"I didn't, did I?"
	"No."
	"Huh," Ono removed his glasses and cleaned them on the edge of his
shirt. "Well, that's odd. The Five Chakra theory is just the entire basis of 
my
theory on martial arts and chi control." He grinned and put his glasses back 
on.
"I guess, with all the excitement, I kind of forgot about teaching you about
it!"
	Ono's head rocked back on his neck as Ukyou bapped him lightly on the
forehead. The girl rolled back to a kneeling position, her fist still 
clenched
and her eyes narrow and dangerous.
	"In my own defense, you seemed so intent on learning the rapid healing
technique that I didn't really want to slow you down with a lot of pure 
theory,"
Ono cried as he held his hands in front of him to ward off another attack.
	"I wanted to learn chi theory!" Ukyou grunted as she crossed her arms
over her chest. "That was the point of you teaching me. I know about 
specific
training techniques..." she trailed off into a sigh. "No, it's not your 
fault."
Ukyou gestured with her left arm. "I'd still be in the hospital if you 
hadn't
taught me as much about accelerating healing as you did."
	"Wait... Chakras? Chi theory? Accelerated healing?" Akane waved for
attention and everyone turned to her. Strangely, once everyone was, she 
blushed
and refused to look at Ono directly. Instead she addressed Ukyou. "I think
you've lost me. Dad never taught me anything like this."
	"Yeah." Ranma tapped his fingers against his knees. "Pops never
mentioned nothin' about Chakra either. He just sort of... taught me stuff, 
ya
know? Like he kept punching me until I learned to block or dodge it."
	"Hmm, well I guess a little primer wouldn't hurt for everyone," Ono said
before chuckling to himself. He looked around and located a long thin piece 
of
wood. He snapped it up and tested it in the dirt, finding it served as a 
good
pencil. Nodding, he quickly sketched in a human diagram. "Let's see... well 
you
all know what chi is, right?"
	Seeing everyone nod, he proceeded, "Beyond the basic concept that chi
exists, people have always been working on finding ways to measure, classify 
and
otherwise divide chi down into a more useful form. The ways they have done 
this
have variated across the cultures. Western theory proposed four alchemical
elements; fire, water, wind and earth. Chinese alchemy had five; wood, 
metal,
fire, water and earth. Taoist philosophy divides all chi into yin and yang.
Other theories divide chi into hot and cold flows, heavy and light and every
flavour in between.
	"I think that all these theories understood a part of the truth, but not
the whole picture. I started from the base of the old secrets and worked 
from
them. I combined them. I've come up with my own theory, through rigourous
application of the scientific method and years of trial and error. The
difference between my theory and the old ones is mine always works!"
	Ono coughed and chuckled. "Sorry if I sound a little egotistical. But I
am very proud of my work. I've been trying to get it accepted for years 
and..."
he trailed off. "Never mind that, I'm rambling now. Back to what's 
important."
	"My theory seperates chi into five natural channels in the human body,
each of which is linked to a certain type of chi and a certain type of 
natural
task." Tofu drew a line to the brow of the diagram and quickly labeled the 
line
with a symbol and some text. "This is the Wind Chakra, located in the 
temple.
It's through this chakra that we draw the energy which enhances our 
intellect
and our speed and agility." He drew a second line to the sternum of the 
figure.
"Just here, is the Water Chakra. Water chi is our link to health and 
vitality.
Next, we have the Earth Chakra." Ono drew a sign linked to the stomach of 
the
figure. "Traditionally seen as the seat of chi itself, I believe this is 
because
of the stability of the Earth Chakra. This chi leads to stamina and 
resistance
to disease." He drew a final line, this time into the crotch of the figure. 
"And
here we have the Fire Chakra, which is the link to passion and strength."
	Ono leaned back, making sure he had gotten all the details right. Not
that he needed to worry in such a crude picture, and there was a lot more to 
it
then he had said, but the basis was all there.
	"Wait, you said five chakra points... where's the fifth one?" Ukyou
asked. There was something about the way she asked the question that made 
Ono
look at her sharply. Akane was looking at the diagram in puzzlement, and 
Ranma
was only giving it a passing glance. Ukyou, however, was staring at the 
diagram
intently.
	"The fifth Chakra is not actually located in the body." Seeing
everyone's puzzled expression, he elaborated, "The fifth Chakra is an 
invisible
one that surrounds us from every direction." He drew a circle around the
diagram. "It is the barrier that seperates what is US from what is not us. 
Our
sense of this chakra is what makes for our perceptions of things outside our
body. Mainly, this Chakra is defined by what it is not. So I named it the 
Void
Chakra." He labelled the final part of the diagram and put the stick aside.
	"Earth, Fire, Water, Wind and Void..." Ukyou said, her voice taking on a
slightly incredulous tone. "You're not serious... are you?"
	"Quite serious."
	"Stop pulling my leg, Doc," Ukyou said from behind a deep frown. "It
isn't funny. You must have taken a peek at my journal and I don't appreciate
that. Rubbing it in my face like this is kind of low."
	"I.. have no idea what you're talking about," Ono said with a blink. He
was genuinely cofused. This was the first time Ukyou had ever been mad at 
him
directly. Looking into her impassive eyes, he felt just slightly 
intimidated.
	"You mean... you really did come up with this totally on your own?"
Ukyou suddenly shifted from anger to confusion.
	"That's what I said," Ono agreed. "Though I also spent a good deal of
time studying previous theories, refining them and..."
	"No," Ukyou shook her head. "That's not possible..."
	"What isn't possible?" Akane asked, her tone curious.
	"It's just that..." Ukyou looked up at the sky. "It's nothing. Not
important."
	"No, it is something," Akane insisted.
	"It's nothing!" Ukyou growled back. "Just that what Ono was describing
sounds remarkable close to... something someone told me once."
	"Really?" Ono asked, enthused. If someone else had come to the same
conclusions about chi, entirely separate from him, that was great. It would 
be
like parallel development. It would reinforce his own theory. And maybe if 
this
person was well-respected, it could even allow Ono to bring his theories to 
the
mainstream! "Can you tell me who?"
	"He's dead now," Ukyou said softly.
	"Oh..." Ono trailed off. There was no sorrow in Ukyou's voice. More... a
kind of quiet anger. He probed her aura and saw it swirling with the 
familiar
kinesthetic greens and reds, all in dark shade... some so dark they had 
turned
black. It was an aura that looked sickly to his eyes. He had seen that aura 
on
Ukyou the first time she had woken up in his clinic. Not before that. When 
she
slept, her aura calmed down to a uniform grey. But that aura had been with 
her
since the first time he had met her, and it had only grown more violent 
since.
But Ono had spent so much time looking at books and studying arcane history 
that
he didn't know how to talk to her about it. He could be polite to people, 
even
charming in his own way. But the thing was that he didn't really 
-understand-
them. He had barely passed his mandatory psychology courses in university. 
So,
like most problems related to people, he ignored this one too.
	After all, Ukyou would be fine.
	"Well, like I said, the type of chi determines what kind of activity
it's best suited for," Ono continued his explanation, deciding to let 
Ukyou's
odd statement pass. "That isn't to say that you can't use one type of chi to
accomplish virtually any task... but you will find it's really inefficient. 
The
reason I've been teaching you to meditate on your heart beat and the flow of
your blood is because that ties into your Water Chakra, which is linked to 
your
overall health and makes it easy to regenerate the damage you have taken. 
But if
you wanted to increase your speed, you'd be focusing on your Wind Chakra, 
your
Fire Chakra is for strength and your Earth Chakra is for stamina. The Void
Chakra is used for esoteric skills and perception."
	"Indeed..." Ukyou nodded, but her nod was perfunctory. It was like
someone hearing something they already knew confirmed.
	"So, all you have to do is learn to use the right Chakra to do the right
skill?" Akane asked.
	"Well, it's more complex than that." Tofu sat back and rubbed his chin.
"You see, each person has a natural inclination towards one kind of chi over 
the
other types. Whether this is an inborn trait or a result of personality and
development I can't say, as I don't have enough data. But the important 
thing is
that this inclination exists. What that means is that it is much harder for 
a
person to use chi not compatible with their natural inclination and much 
easier
to use chi techniques based on it. For instance: if you were a natural Wind
aspect, you would find yourself hard-pressed to gain access to Fire aspect
abilities. Both because your Wind chi is not suited to using Fire abilities, 
and
because your Wind chi opposes Fire chi and makes it harder for you to draw 
on
that Chakra."
	"So it's just a fancy way of saying everyone has strengths and
weaknesses," Ranma pointed out with a shrug.
	"Can you determine your own aspect, Doctor?" Ukyou asked pointedly.
	"Uh, yes... quite simply in fact." Ono picked up his glass. "I'll be
right back." He walked over to the water tap and cleaned out his glass 
before
filling it half-way with cold water. Finding a leaf on the ground, he placed
that atop the glass and walked back to the group. Ukyou blinked as he set 
the
glass down.
	"Wait! Wait!" Ukyou shot her hand up. "We test our chi with a glass of
water and a leaf?"
	"Yes..."
	"You don't read comic books, do you?"
	"No..."
	"Just checking..." Ukyou murmured and sat back.
	"What you have to do is release your chi and hold your aura over the
glass for about a minute. Depending on how the water reacts, that determines
what your most natural Chakra aspect is. Allow me to demonstrate."
	Ono closed his eyes and focused inward, synchronizing his breathing and
the beating of his heart. When he opened his eyes he could see the chi 
flowing
down the length of his arm, gathering in-between his palms. With an 
incandescent
flash, the chi passed the critical point that allowed it to be seen by the
untrained eye. He heard Akane gasp, but didn't let that distract him. Moving
skillfully, he slid his hands around the glass without touching it. His aura
flowed over the water as he breathed slowly and easily. Finally the leaf 
atop
the water twitched once, then twice and at last it began to spin around in 
tight
circles. Ono released his hold on his aura and the light vanished while the
leaf's spin stopped.
	"As you could see, the leaf moved," One pointed out. "That means my best
aspect is the Wind Chakra. If the leaf had sunk, that would have been a sign 
of
a strong Earth Chakra. If the water level rises, then you are strong in your
Water Chakra, and if it lowers you are strong in your Void aspect. With a 
Fire
Aspect there is no obvious visual sign, but you can tell by the fact that 
the
temperature of the water increases. Why don't you all give it a try?"
	He was then subject to three blank stares.
	"Uh... how do we do that?" Ranma asked, finally seeming to have taken an
interest in the conversation for the first time.
	"Oh, uh... you just sort of release your aura between your hands..." Ono
gestured lamely. "Let's see." He paused to think about it. "Okay, try to 
clear
your mind and focus all your attention between your hand. Don't try and 
force
anything, just let yourself go. If you have any personal ritual for when you
access your chi, you might want to try using that first."
	He watched as the three shifted position and pushed their arms in front
of themselves. For the next few minutes the lot was silent save for their 
slow
breathing and the soft rustle of the breeze through the grass. Ranma was the
first to open his eyes with a cry of glee as the nebulous white light formed
between his palms. Ukyou followed shortly thereafter, though she greeted her
achievement with only a satisfied nod. Akane opened her eyes to gaze at 
them,
only to close them again and screw her face up into a frown. Her brow 
furrowed
and a bead of sweat trickled down her nose.
	"You can do it, Akane," Ukyou said softly as she clapped the other girl
on the shoulder. "Like he said. Don't force it. Just feel it."
	Akane looked at her friend, grinned and nodded. A minute later, Akane
cried out in delight as the light began to flicker between her hands.
	"Well, let's all see what we are." Ukyou gestured for her friends to go
first.
	Ranma eagerly slid forward and placed his palms around the cup. He
smirked and summoned up his aura. It didn't take long before the effect 
became
obvious, as water began to spill over the lip of the cup. Ono stopped him by
pulling the cup away before the leaf could float off.
	Ukyou let Akane take the next turn. It took a little longer for Akane to
summon up her chi than Ranma, but she seemed much more comfortable doing it 
the
second time around. Ono waited as a minute passed with no obvious effect, 
then
stuck his finger in the glass. He nodded at what he had suspected all along.
	"You're a Fire aspect, Akane," he said with a smile.
	"Oh... I was kind of hoping for Wind..." She frowned.
	"There are no good or bad aspects, Akane."
	"Yeah, you should be proud to have the crotch chakra!" Ranma chuckled.
Seconds later he was chuckling through a layer of dirt with Akane standing 
over
him brandishing Ono's discarded drawing stick. Or at least part of it. It 
must
have splintered in two when she hit him.
	"I guess it's my turn," Ukyou said from behind a wry smile. She
retrieved the glass and placed it in front of her. Ono watched as she 
summoned
her aura, noting with some pleasure that while Ranma had created a chi aura 
far
faster, Ukyou had created one that was much brighter and more stable. Then 
Ono's
eyes widened as the water in the glass suddenly turned from a pristine 
picture
to spinning maelstrom. Everyone stared as the leaf spun like mad around the
glass, before it suddenly hit the bottom. There was no water left. "Huh... 
what
does that mean?"
	"Do it again," Ono ordered as after he filled the cup with more water.
Ukyou complied and the results this time were much the same. But Ono 
distinctly
saw the water both spinning and shrinking away. He stopped her before the 
water
could disappear entirely. "I've never seen anything like that before. Now
granted, I haven't done it on a wide scale... but it looks like you have an
equally strong Wind and Void Chakra. Which shouldn't really be possible."
	"But I guess it is," Ukyou pointed out. "Because we just saw as much."
	"It's still strange..." Ono murmured.
	"If you say so." Ukyou stood up and dusted off her hands. "But we really
should get back to serious training now, don't you think?" The question was
addressed to Ranma and Akane, who both nodded. Ono sat back and watched them
drift off towards their various pursuits. He was sure what he had just seen 
was
not possible. Maybe he could talk with her more about it later...

*

	Akane groaned as she stepped into her room and slid her door closed
behind her. Ukyou, she decided inwardly, was a madwoman. And Doctor Tofu, 
good,
sweet, friendly Doctor Tofu, was a madman. And when the two of them got
together, they were madness incarnate. Case in point, the huge lead weights 
that
Akane was even now removing from her arms. She was tempted to let the 
damnable
things fall, but she wasn't convinced the floor could survive the impact. So
instead she crouched down and gently laid them down. Thankfully, this gave 
her
easy access to the weights attached to her ankles, and Akane gratefully took 
the
chance to remove them. She spent the next few minutes trying to rub the 
feeling
back into her legs.
	Akane wasn't sure she was ready to go through with this. All this talk
of chakras and mantras and sutras and tantras and foci and dragon paths 
and...
it made her head rattle when she tried to grasp it all. The worst part was 
how
easily Ukyou seemed to be grasping it. Akane had even caught Ranma staring 
in
befuddlement as Ukyou and Tofu threw ideas back and forth like pros at a 
tennis
match. She definitely wasn't used to working out this much, which was to say 
she
wasn't used to working out constantly.
	But Ukyou had insisted. 'If you want to break past the limits of your
art as it exists, Akane, you have to go beyond seeing martial arts as a tool 
or
a means to an end, and more as a lifestyle,' Akane heard her mental 
reproduction
of Ukyou say (perhaps the voice was slightly more condescending than the 
real
one, but Akane wasn't being fair at the moment). 'These weights will turn 
the
act of walking, of picking up a pencil, even the simplest acts into 
training.
Once you can move around in them like you could without them, we increase 
the
weight. And then again, and then again. Eventually when you take off the
weights, you'll be ten times as strong as before.'
	Akane could almost see the logic in it. But that hardly mattered to her
now. What mattered was that she was sixteen years old, and this kind of 
physical
exertion was only the tip of the torture sessions that was her daily 
training
with Ukyou and Tofu. She just hoped they never expected her to stick her 
hands
into a bonfire like they were making Ranma. No chestnuts could be worth 
that.
	Akane smiled a little and shook her head. Now that she was thinking more
clearly, she realized how... childish? Yes, childish, that was how she 
sounded
even to herself. Akane had asked to be trained in the same level that Ranma 
and
Ukyou trained, and she would just have to endure the pain to do so. The way
Ranma hadn't even batted an eye while he was set to his own tasks made Akane
just a bit cranky, however. It would help if Ukyou didn't spend her days 
either
sitting with Tofu in quiet meditation or getting them to attack her while 
she
danced around that spiral she had drawn in the ground.
	Akane yawned and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. Fatigue hit
her suddenly and she felt the concerns drain from her mind. She realized she 
was
even too tired to change into her nightclothes. Oh well... she would just 
have
to iron her dress in the morning. Stretching and yawning she half-walked, 
half-
crawled over to her bed and pulled back the covers.
	The paper that fell from them to the floor almost escaped her attention,
but Akane still caught it out of the corner of her eyes. Some note from 
Kasumi?
Maybe even Nabiki? The latter thought sent a thrill through Akane. Maybe 
Nabiki
was finally willing to start talking to her again. The cold shoulder 
treatment
her sister was giving her, and everyone else, was beginning to worry Akane. 
She
would have raised the issue with the others, but to what end? Ukyou made her
dislike of Akane's elder sister plain, and Ranma's distrust for his 
'fiancee'
was nearly legendary around the school.
	She picked up the note and sat on her bed. Oh man, this bed was
comfortable. Maybe she could read the note in the morning and just sleep a
little right now? Her muscles said yes, but the better part of her nature 
said
no. Thus Akane scanned the note, her eyes widening with every sentence.

	"Akane Tendo,

	I really need to talk to you.  Ukyou or Ranma would likely attack me if
I tried to talk to them, so I'm hoping you'll be willing to listen.  Just
listen, that's all I want.  I'm not going to attack you or kidnap you or try 
to
harm anyone.  If I wasn't sincere in this, I wouldn't write this note, would 
I?
So please don't scream or try to get Ranma, because then we'll never be able 
to
speak peacefully.  I am above you.

					Chris"

	Above her? Was that some sort of backhanded insult? Then the meaning
struck Akane, and her head snapped up, her long forelocks flashing in the 
corner
of her eyes, as she stared at the ceiling.
	The figure above her was mainly hidden in the shadows, but was still
clear to an alert viewer. She was spread-eagled, bracing her limbs against 
the
beams in Akane's ceiling, removed shoes clutched in the tips of her left 
hand's
fingers. Her long ponytail dipped down over her shoulder and she was wearing 
a
loose white t-shirt and tight blue jeans. Her skin appeared remarkably pale, 
but
that might have been the light. Chris. He... she... it was back. Akane 
opened
her mouth to scream for help... then snapped it closed.
	Maybe it was the weariness, or the sincerity of the note, or Akane's own
recent thoughts about building bridges with her sister... but Akane remained
quiet.
	"Hi," the dead woman above her whispered in Kodachi's voice. "Mind if I
come down?" Akane shook her head mutely. Chris dropped feather quiet to the
floor, landing with grace and panache. From the way he was smirking, he was
obviously enjoying the abilities he had stolen from the girl along with her
life. Akane forced that thought aside. True as it was, getting into a 
shouting
match here would do no good. She would never forgive Chris for what he did, 
but
she would... forget it, for now.
	"Thank you," Chris said in a low voice.  He sat cross-legged on the
floor, carefully setting his shoes aside.  "I'm sorry I had to sneak in here
like this, but I couldn't think of another way to talk to you alone."
	"If you want me to trust you" - Akane crossed her arms, trying not to
let the wince of pain the motion caused show on her face - "this wasn't the 
best
way to do it." Akane kept her voice low. "Now what do you want?"
	He sighed, and sounded genuinely regretful in so doing.  "I can see you
haven't exactly forgiven me.  Well, I suppose I can't blame you.  I'll try 
to
make this short so I can let you get to sleep."  Akane nodded curtly, and he
sighed again before continuing.  "Shortly after we last saw each other, I 
headed
to China in order to look for some people and places that might help me find 
a
solution to my problems.  This took me about a week, so I only got back 
earlier
today.  Shortly after returning, I found out about what had happened at the
airport, and it concerned me quite a bit."
	"Why would it do that?" Akane asked, partly suspicious and partly
genuinely curious. Akane wondered how much Chris had heard about it, or 
about
her own involvement. She blushed a bit as she thought of getting to be the 
hero
for a few minutes there. It was that night, more than anything else, which 
kept
her putting on those damn weights every morning. A part of her even resented
being almost entirely left out of the articles Ran had written about the 
fight
except as 'the poor victim's sister' and 'Ukyou's true and loyal friend'.
	"I'll admit I was a tad concerned about the fact Ukyou seemed to have a
large ally group now, but I think that's just paranoia on my part.  The real
problem is bigger than that, and bigger than me.  The Sailor Senshi..." he
paused.  "Did Ukyou tell you who they... no, she probably didn't.  I'm not 
sure
what she told you about how I knew so much about you guys, either.  But I 
know
about them, too.  The Sailor Senshi are...important.  Very important.  
That's
what really concerns me.  Because if someone messes with them, and it goes
wrong...it could doom the entire world.  You, me, Ukyou, everyone else, 
gone.
So I don't understand why Ukyou's getting involved in their..."  he paused
again. "Let's say affairs.  Please note, I'm not saying Ukyou's trying to 
kill
everybody or anything, but she might not realise how dangerous the situation
is."  He frowned, as if suddenly thinking of something, but seemed not about 
to
say anything further for the moment.
	Akane rolled her head to the side, and irritably reached up to push one
of her hairlocks from her face. Man, long hair was a pain... But Akane 
didn't
know what the living dead girl was meaning. Ukyou had warned them about the
Sailor Senshi, about the Dark Kingdom, and told them the entire history of 
their
conflict. "Ukyou didn't choose that fight," Akane said slowly. "It chose 
her."
Akane considered elaborating, but decided against it. Friendly as he was 
being
now, Chris was still a dangerous enemy and a potential threat. She decided 
to
keep things close to her chest, for now.
	"So I heard.  Jadeite kidnapped Nabiki and all that.  I don't blame you
for going to the fight then.  But...it doesn't explain why Ukyou was 
involved
with the Senshi in the first place.  I mean, they're from a different," 
another
pause, "...part of Tokyo.  Why would she be involved in their battles?"
	"You wouldn't know... I guess," Akane frowned slightly. What harm would
it do in telling him just this much? None that Akane could see. Maybe it 
would
even scare him off. "The Dark Kingdom is after the energy of human beings. 
Or,
as we martial artists have learned to call it, our chi. And we martial 
artists
are like giant batteries of chi to them. Just one of us seems to have more
energy than an entire roomful of normal people. So they come after us."
	Of course, Akane didn't even bother to voice Ranma's particular opinion
of that. The idea that Ukyou was secretly some sort of demon-slaying 
legendary
warrior was... patently ridiculous. The idea that she was training the two 
of
them to be her partners, even more so. Ukyou certainly wouldn't keep 
something
like that from them. She certainly would NOT drag them into that kind of
situation without at least asking them what they thought first. Would she?
	Chris, meanwhile, seemed to be greatly relieved, and his whole frame
relaxed and slumped visibly.  "Superhuman martial artists are chi 
batteries...
that makes sense.  Wonder why they didn't notice before...?  But anything 
could
make the difference, I suppose."  He looked up at her, smiling a bit.  "If
that's the case, I feel a lot better about it, and I'll trust Ukyou to have 
the
discretion not to screw anything up for them.  Thank you for telling me."
	Akane had a brief moment of hope that this would be the end of the whole
conversation, so she kept silent. When it became clear from the thoughtful 
frown
on Kodachi's face that Chris wasn't finished, she remained quiet more out of
social inertia than anything else.
	Finally, he spoke.  "Just one more thing, then.  I was thinking about
something.  I'd like to share a secret with you.  If you know it, it might 
make
things a bit easier on both of us, and may even help prevent any further
conflict.  Or it might make no difference.  But because it involves things I 
and
Ukyou know are going to happen, it might make you uncomfortable.  So I won't
force you to listen.  It's up to you if you want to hear it."  He looked up 
at
her, his expression unreadable.
	Akane stared. Wow. Maybe he could have been more vague, but he would
have had to try hard. Akane tried to parse the sentence, figuring out eactly
what she was or was not saying no or yes to. Finally, she gave up. "What are 
you
talking about?" she snapped in frustration.
	He blinked in confusion, then laughed a little.  "I'm sorry.  Okay, I'll
try to phrase that in a less convoluted manner.  Something is going to 
happen.
Ukyou and I know about it.  What Ukyou doesn't know is that I have to do
something about it.  If I tell you what I'm going to do, hopefully you can 
help
make sure Ukyou and I don't end up butting heads.  But because it requires 
me
telling you what's going to happen in the future, it might make you
uncomfortable, so I wanted your permission to tell you.  Did that help?"
	Akane remembered now... Ukyou's ghost was supposed to be from the
future. Just like this boy. Maybe... maybe he was trying to do something to
prevent the accident that would kill him in that future? Something that 
would
stop the whole awful series of events before it even started? Possible... 
but
still, there seemed to be something wrong with that conclusion. It was
impossible to read the eyes of this dead woman, but her voice didn't betray 
any
sense of urgency about it like Akane would have expected.
	Once she dismissed the possibility of this being an urgent thing, Akane
began to really consider the proposal. She had never really thought about it 
up
until now, but Ukyou, and Chris, they had knowledge of the future. They 
might
know many things about her and everyone else. Things that Akane could learn
and... and what? She remembered once, when Ukyou and she had been brawling 
in
the park, back before Ranma arrived. Ukyou had put her to the ground once 
again,
overwhelming her with her superior speed and strength. Akane had asked, 
half-
jokingly, why Ukyou was so willing to spar with Akane when she obviously 
wasn't
at her level. Then Ukyou had stopped, and her face had grown serious and
thoughtful. She reached out and clasped Akane firmly on the shoulder and had
said to her, 'Because I see potential in you, Akane. Potential that goes 
beyond
how fast you throw a punch, or how well you take a hit. I see you not just 
for
who you are, but for who you could one day be. And I want to be the friend 
of
that person, just like I'm your friend now.' Akane had walked away from that
interlude with a deep and secret joy in her heart. Now... now she wondered 
if
Ukyou was speaking metaphorically. Or was Ukyou instead talking about some
future Akane she had seen...
	Akane held her hand to her forehead. The implications of this... did she
really want to know her future? "Before I answer you, I want to ask one
question," Akane said slowly. "Is the future you know... is it... fixed? 
Stuck?
Can we change our future?"
	He bit his lip, seeming to consider his words carefully.  "I can't say
for certain whether you can, but I expect, with knowledge of what will 
happen,
you could change nearly anything.  Ukyou and I can, I know.  I, of course, 
have
already changed the future.  And Ukyou...Ukyou has already, apparently, 
changed
one of the biggest things your future was going to hold.  So no, I don't 
think
it's fixed for either of us."
	"Then I don't want to know," Akane said before she realised it. "The
future... if the future isn't fixed, then I don't care what you saw in it."
Akane waved him quiet as she continued. "If you want to give a message to 
Ukyou
about this, I have some paper and pens on the desk next to my school 
supplies.
Write it down, fold it up and I'll deliver it to her in the morning. Then 
she
can decide whether she wants to listen to you or not."
	He stood up, shaking his head.  "No.  I'll just do my best to stay out
of Ukyou's way.  It's not a large thing...it wouldn't even concern Ukyou 
much,
except I think she's inclined to think the worst of me and thus could try to
stop me without even trying to find out what I was doing, or why."  He 
looked
down at her with a small, sad little smile.  "It's not your problem, in any
case.  I don't blame you for not wanting to know.  It's probably an 
intimidating
thing, or at least one with vast implications, to know even the tiniest bit 
of
your own future."
	Chris stepped towards the window, white fingers reaching up to slide it
open.  A few strands of Kodachi's black hair flipped in the breeze as she 
stared
out into the night.  "As I promised, I'll leave you alone.  And I'll try my 
best
to make sure not to intrude upon your life from now on.  Nonetheless, thank 
you,
Akane.  Thank you for listening, and for telling me what you knew honestly.
You're a good person.  And, I realise, I don't know that because of anything 
I
read, but because of what I've seen, and it means more for it.  I'm sorry we
couldn't have met under different circumstances."
	And with that, he flashed out the window and was gone.


*

	Ukyou leapt over the wall of the Tendo compound in a single bound. The
door was usually closed this early in the morning, but Ukyou had never let 
that
stop her from visiting. Usually, if she did, she brought along some 
breakfast
okonomiyaki to treat the house to, but today she was getting ready for other
business, so hadn't bothered. Today was a day to be keeping promises.
	"Good morning, Ukyou," Kasumi called from the kitchen window as Ukyou
strode past. "I was just making breakfast, did you want to join us?"
	"Nope," Ukyou shook her head and stuffed her hands into her pockets.
"Got some serious business today with Ranma. Thanks, though." Ukyou didn't
really like Kasumi, but she admitted the girl was nice, and treated her 
kindly
in return. Aaron was as close to despising Kasumi as he was capable of, but 
as
with so many of Aaron's desires, Ukyou ignored this.
	Ukyou found Ranma behind the main building, sparring with his father.
She spent a few seconds watching the two of them hover in mid-air. Each 
stroke
and counter was meant to steal momentum and lift from the opponent, tricking
gravity into allowing them a few more seconds of flight. Ukyou felt a touch 
of
jealousy at the ease they showed.
	Noticing that Genma was gaining something of an upper hand, Ukyou smiled
diabolically. "Genma!" she shouted in her angriest tone. The man somehow 
spun in
mid-air, his entire body tensing to flee. Ranma's eye glinted as Genma 
turned
from him.
	"An opening!" the black-haired boy shouted as he spun his body in a
perfect mid-air axe kick. Genma didn't have a chance as the blow struck him 
in
the back of his skull and sent him plummeting into the reflecting pond. 
Ranma
had used the rebound from his strike to propel himself back, so he avoided 
the
geyser of water. Ranma clutched his stomach and laughed at Genma. "Take 
that,
old man!"
	The panda looked none too pleased as it crawled out of the water. Ranma
gave it a wide berth as he strode over to Ukyou. The dawn light caressed his
unblemished face, and the breeze caught his hair with just enough grip to 
make
his bangs dance along his brow. Ukyou reflected that the shadows and light 
made
him seem as a person caught between two worlds. And maybe he was; caught 
between
male and female, child and man. He certainly looked attractive, but not 
heart-
rendingly so.
	"Heya, Ucchan," Ranma greeted as he got close. Ukyou smiled at the use
of the childhood nickname. "Thanks for the assist. Not that I needed it..."
Ukyou chuckled. Ranma Saotome: the ego that walks like a man.
	"Indeed," Ukyou agreed. "Just because they don't need it doesn't mean
friends can't help each other out."
	"I guess," Ranma shrugged. "So... you bring breakfast today?" Ranma
grinned and tried to look behind her. Ukyou pulled out her hands and showed 
him
how empty they were. His face fell briefly, but he recovered quickly.
	"I actually came to fulfill a promise today, Ranma," Ukyou explained
obliquely.
	"I won't allow it!" Genma shouted as he ran out of the house. His head
was still steaming, which matched his expression perfectly. "You can't..." 
Genma
trailed off.
	"I can't what?" Ukyou asked flatly as she glared at him. Genma backed
away from her a step. Ukyou felt a dull rage whenever she looked at the 
pathetic
man. It was a dark and dangerous anger. Ukyou bit back some harsh words she
wanted to shout. She couldn't allow herself to get angry at him, not really. 
For
months she had been avoiding him, despite wanting very badly to beat him 
into a
bloody pulp. All because she thought that if she started... she might not 
stop.
"This has nothing to do with what is between me and you, Genma." She spat
the name out like she had tasted something vile. "This isn't even something
between Ranma and me. This is about Ranma, and Ranma alone."
	"Very well... but I have my eye on you!" Genma grunted as he began to
walk away. Ukyou frowned slightly as he turned his back to her. It was a 
perfect
opportunity. Her hand lashed up and caught him on the back of the head, just 
at
the perfect pressure point. Genma wasn't even able to sense it, much less 
react
in time. She watched as he staggered forward a few steps and then collapsed 
on
the porch. Ono had taught her that attack a while back, and she was already
finding good use for it. Granted, such a precise attack was virtually 
impossible
to pull off in the heat of battle. But it worked wonders when you wanted to
knock out someone without hurting them.
	"So what's the big deal?" Ranma asked as they stepped away from the
house.
	"It's a surprise," Ukyou said back with a cheerful smile. She had to
resist the impulse to quote Xelloss.
	"Hey guys?"
	They both turned and looked up to see Akane leaning out her window. She
was dressed in a pair of pajamas, but during the night the first few buttons 
had
come undone and that, combined with her leaning forward, gave them both an
unobstructed view straight into her cleavage. The sunlight was shining 
directly
onto her face, and the breeze came from her right. Her long hair hung free 
and
billowed around her body in the wind. She was smiling, in that dazzling way 
she
had. She was so beautiful. Ukyou was glad she had manipulated everyone so 
she
didn't have to compete with that.
	Not that Ukyou thought she was ugly... except for the scars that would
now mar her arm forever. She just... never felt as beautiful as Akane looked
right now. Oh, who was she kidding? Ukyou had spent so much time being a boy 
she
had basically forgotten what being a woman meant. She could probably put on 
a
good show. But in her heart, it wasn't beauty and wifely devotion that she 
was
dedicated to. She had dedicated her life to...
	To Ranma? To being a world class chef?
	Yes, they were both true. She still loved Ranma. And it was her dream to
be a chef. But in the last few months, she hadn't exactly been going out of 
her
way to win his heart. And while she made lunch for Akane and Ranma every day 
at
school, and had taken over the cooking for Ono... she hadn't opened up her
restaurant. Her dream had been put on hold. It had to be put on hold, until 
this
hitchhiker could be forced out of her skull.
	That was it. She wasn't losing touch with what was important. It was
all Aaron's fault! He had forced her to hold back her feelings from Ranma. 
He
had put her in a position where opening a restaurant, and declaring her 
location
to the world, would be nigh-suicidal. She allowed the hatred against the 
bastard
to build, and she felt Aaron writhe under the assault. But as always, the 
hatred
peaked and burned away quickly. It was impossible to hate him intensely all 
the
time, because even as she forced him to experience her hate (and thus, 
forced
him to hate himself) she could feel his pain and guilt and loss. But she had
every right to hate him!
	So why did she still feel like what she was doing was wrong?
	Ukyou tore herself away from her reverie and forced those thoughts back
into her subconscious. Ranma was talking to Akane now. Or more accurately, 
he
was shouting insults at her while dodging various thrown accessories. From 
the
way Akane was clutching her collar closed, she guessed he had told her about 
her
compromising position with his usual lack of tact. Ukyou sighed and reached
back to get her spatula so she could deflect a few items and...
	Oh, right. She would have to remember to replace that. But getting ahold
of a specialty battle spatula was more difficult than it sounded. Ukyou had
never bothered to learn where her father had bought the things. Occhan, a 
good
friend who had allowed her to apprentice in his okonomiyaki restuarant, 
might
know, but he was unfortunately still living in Kyoto. She knew, from Aaron's
memories, that he would move to Nerima sometime in the future. The problem 
was
she knew neither when nor why. Well, maybe some simple replacement could be
found... but first, other matters were more important.
	"Akane, you're getting your stuff all dirty," Ukyou pointed out. It was
enough to make Akane pause and look at her. "I need Ranma in one piece 
today;
you can break him tomorrow." Akane grinned at the small joke, Ranma reacted 
with
an offended exclamation. "We'll see you later," Ukyou waved at Akane as she
grabbed Ranma and leapt to the top of the Tendo's exterior wall.
	"Wait! I want to come with you!" Akane shouted. "Just let me get
dressed..."
	"Sorry, Akane," Ukyou chuckled. While seeing Akane's reaction to what
she had planned might be funny, it was also a bit too likely to blow up in
Ukyou's face. "This is... a personal thing. Just Ranma comes along. Don't 
worry,
we're not going off to fight monsters."
	"No, wait! I have something I need to tell-"
	Ukyou ignored Akane and leapt away across the rooftops. She noted how
much easier it had become. Apparently she was improving. Ranma caught up 
with
ease, then slowed to match her pace.
	"I think Akane's a bit upset," he shouted over the wind that rushed past
their ears.
	"She'll get over it," Ukyou replied flippantly. "I meant what I said,
Ranma. This is a very personal errand. Having Akane around... while not bad, 
it
just doesn't strike me as right."
	Ranma murmured something that sounded like an agreement, but whatever it
was got drowned out by the wind.

*

	Pink wasn't sure exactly what had happened when Chris had gone out to
act on her 'idea', but the results had clearly not been good.  The undead 
girl
had returned quickly last night, as promised, but had been distracted and
noncommital.  Today, if anything, she seemed even worse.  If Pink had to 
guess,
she'd say their unusual ally was depressed.  She was basically spending the 
day
staring out the window, responding only to direct questions and then only 
with
short, curt responses.
	Well, this wouldn't do.  This wouldn't do at all.  Link was already
skittish enough about working with Chris: if the dead girl continued being 
so
moody, Link might just decide to leave.  That wasn't a bluff Pink wanted to
call, and she certainly wasn't willing to give up this weapon before she'd 
had a
chance to use it.
	She walked over to her, peering over the top of the large chair Chris
was slumped in.  The dead girl slowly raised her head to peer at her.  As
always, Pink felt a small surge of mingled trepidation and fascination as 
she
looked into those glassy, dead eyes.  "Would you like something?" Chris 
asked
drily.
	"Actually, yes," Pink replied.  "You've been upset and depressed ever
since you got home last night, over."
	The girl's eyebrow quirked up, and she looked faintly amused.  "Oh, were
you concerned about me?"
	"No," Pink answered honestly.  "But my sister is, and she already is
worried about this entire operation.  So why don't you tell me what the 
problem
is, over?"
	Chris looked back out the window, the afternoon sun reflecting from her
eyes.  For a long moment she was silent, and Pink was just considering what
tactic to try next when she finally spoke.  "I'm not sure you'd...well, 
never
mind.  Consider, for a moment, then...think of someone with a heart of gold.
Someone so generous, so giving, so full of kindness that it's sometimes hard 
to
believe.  Someone who, if kidnapped by an apparent lunatic, would instead of
hating them try to help them and find out their problems.  Someone who would
help their worst enemy without a second thought, and would try to get others 
to
help them too.  Someone like that."  She looked at Pink again, soulless eyes
revealing nothing.  "And that someone, that someone who can not hate, who 
can
forgive anything... hates YOU.  Can not forgive YOU for what you have done.  
And
looking at them, you somehow feel there's nothing you can do, nothing that 
can
make it up, nothing that could make the person who doesn't hate stop hating 
you.
Maybe what you've done - no matter the reasons - can't be forgiven.  
Maybe...
maybe you deserve to be hated."
	She fell silent again, and glanced away, seemingly in embarrasment.
Pink, for her part, could barely keep from laughing.  Here was this undead
monster, wearing the skin of a girl she'd killed (was Chris even originally
female?), and getting mopey because really nice people didn't like her very
much?  It was too funny.  Guess some people were just not cut out for 
certain
jobs.  Still, he said it might be a week or two until Shampoo would show up, 
so
best to put a lid on this situation.  She smiled at the dead girl, 
considering
carefully what to say.  "Well, it's like I said before, over...it's not your
fault what you -are-.  What could you have done, other than what you did?  
You
seem to be doing the best you can, over."
	Her expression didn't change.  "Am I?  Have I?  I don't know."
	This wasn't working, so Pink changed tactics.  "Well, if it's bothering
you, maybe you should do something that will make you feel better about
yourself, over."
	That got her attention; she looked over.  "Okay...like what?"
	"Well, if it's the opinion of that person that bothers you, maybe you
should do something that proves they were wrong about you, over."  Pink 
almost
giggled as she thought of the undead girl passing out candy to children or
helping kittens out of trees.
	Chris, however, looked thoughtful, tapping the side of her jaw with a
single finger.  "I'm not really sure what-" she began, then cut off as Link
rushed into the room.
	"Are you listening to the news, over?" she asked, so preoccupied she
even seemed to be ignoring the presence of the dead girl.
	"No.  What is it, over?"
	"There's some sort of giant plant monster, over," Link said with a trace
of excitement in her voice.  "It's attacked a subway!"
	A giant plant monster?  It really was weird in Tokyo.  Pink wondered who
created it... but who cared?  "I want to go see it.  This could be 
interesting,
over."
	The noise of the chair scraping back caused both twins to look in Chris'
direction.  She was suddenly grinning.  "Do something, huh.  Yes, I think I 
want
to go look at the ara... I'd like to see the plant monster too."  She looked
apologetically at Link.  "Do you still want to come along?"
	"We go everywhere together, over," Pink said instantly.  That was all
their ally needed to know.
	"Fair enough," was the response.  "Then let's get going."

*

	Ranma walked along uncomfortably. The girl on his arm wasn't quite
cutting off his circulation, but she kept pulling and tugging and throwing 
him
off his stride. That and she wouldn't shut up. Ranma allowed his ears to 
tune
back into her words again-
	"...so Joshi was saying that I can't possibly be a good mother, and I
was so not going to let her get away with that and the next day I asked 
Davin
about it and he got all bluefaced and refused to talk about it and then I
realized he thought I was talking about us and I explained it and we laughed 
but
he never quite looked at me the same way and so we broke up and now Joshi, 
that
slut, is going out with him and I think that she set it all up in the first
place and I really wish I could prove it because I know that she's a bitch 
and I
don't want to talk to her anymore but we are both on the cheer squad so I 
don't
know what to do and we have been friends since grade school back when she 
gave
me her ice cream when mine fell on the beach and we played together all
afternoon and neither of us had a care in the world and it was great but 
this is
just unforgiveable if it is true because its the biggest betrayal ever and 
she
had to know that because I really liked him and..."
	Ranma allowed her voice to return to the high pitched buzz in the
background. Trying to follow what she was saying was harder than trying to
follow a fish swimming underwater in the middle of a monsoon so you could 
catch
it, and Ranma knew this from personal experience. The girl, whose name 
started
with a A or E or something, was pretty to look at and seemed pleasant. She 
had
long black hair, with brown roots and a freckled but slender face. She wore 
some
sort of shirt with a huge collar that fell down over her entire bust and 
most of
her forearms, but incredibly tight jeans.
	Ranma might have been interested in her, if she ever shut up. He would
have much prefered to be with one of the girls that Ucchan was talking to.
Frankly, the idea of his best friend helping Ranma pick up girls was kind of
unnerving. Especially when that friend was a girl. It was even more 
unnerving
that Ukyou was proving to have more success at it than Ranma. Not that she 
was
better at it. Ranma was just off his game today.
	"Ranma, you having fun back there?" Ukyou called over her shoulder. The
two girls walking on either side of her took the chance to glare at each 
other.
Either Ukyou didn't notice the growing aura of imminent violence, or she 
chose
to ignore it.
	"...can you believe that she wanted to wear pink on her first date and
that Joshi didn't seem to care at all and we won't even get into how Davin 
has
no fashion sense and he shouldn't be giving advice to anyone about how well 
they
look with his little mustache that he thinks is so cool but really makes him
look like a caterpillar crawled onto his lip and died so you can understand
why..."
	"I'm overjoyed..." Ranma moaned. Ukyou tilted her head slightly and
smiled, just a little bit. He could tell from the sparkle in her eyes that 
she
saw just how uncomfortable he was, and apparently didn't care. Ranma 
harumphed
and crossed his arms... or tried to. He had forgotten that his 'date' had
glomped onto his arm almost the moment they had left the mall.
	"Don't worry, Ranma," Ukyou laughed as she turned back to her
companions. "We're almost to our real destination." Ranma let the comment 
pass
as he concentrated on saving his few remaining brain cells from the assault 
of
his date's high-pitched, endless rambling. Ever since Ukyou had led him to
the small mall, Ranma had been asking her what they were doing out today. 
Ukyou
refused to answer with anything more definite than 'it's a surprise' or 
'you'll
enjoy it when we get there'.
	Ranma had been willing to let her lead him around from then on. He
hadn't even protested that much when the girl had begun to (literally) push 
him
in the direction of eligible-looking young women and crow on about how Ranma
needed a date for today. Ranma had actually kind of liked chatting with 
girls
his age who didn't seem to want to fight or fleece him. He had grown kind of
worried when Ukyou had started picking her own girls out of the crowds... 
was it
possible Ukyou was... that way?
	The more Ranma thought about it, the more it kind of made sense. Ukyou
was a tomboy, and had gone out of her way to get in a relationship with 
Akane.
Then there was the whole Tsubasa thing. Why else would Tsubasa think Ukyou 
was
interested in girls... and Ukyou be so rejecting of him despite the fact 
that he
was actually a guy underneath his disguise? Plus there was the ease with 
which
Ukyou had picked up the girls. Not that Ranma was jealous of how quickly his
friend was able to charm the ladies. Ranma, after all, hadn't really had his
heart in it.
	Ranma perked up when he saw Ukyou turn back to him and allowed his ears
to open...
	"...it was getting dark out and no matter how much I hated the guy I
wasn't about to walk home in the dark and the rain so I insisted he drive me
home and can you believe how much of a jerk he was because he said no and I 
just
had to slap him and he yelled at me and I yelled back and well one thing led 
to
another and you know how these things go and we ended up kissing but I want 
to
assure that this is over between us, by which I mean Davin and me and not 
you
and me after all..."
	"I'm sorry," Ranma muttered as he cleared out one of his ears. "Could
you repeat that, I didn't catch it."
	"I said, 'We're here,'" Ukyou pointed out with a wave of her hand. They
had stopped in front of a traditional Japanese house behind a low wall. It 
was
two stories with a sloping roof. It didn't look like anything special to 
Ranma,
but Ukyou looked excited. Well, excited by Ukyou standards, anyway.
	"What's this?" Ranma scratched the back of his neck with his free hand.
	"You'll see," Ukyou called over her shoulder with a mischievous wink.
"You girls wait here with Ranma, I just have to talk to someone on my own."
	"Ack!" Ranma didn't feel a string of panic as the other two girls gave
one last glance at Ukyou before turning to face him. Ranma Saotome did not
panic. Especially not because of girls. Even if they did have predatory 
gleams
in their eyes. Even if he could no longer feel his hand because his 'date' 
was
squeezing too tight. Ranma tried to think of a way to call out to Ukyou... 
not
for help... certainly not! No, just to... remind her that she was 
responsible
for all these girls and that it was her job to look after them! That was it.
	Ukyou, however, was ignoring Ranma's plight. She had marched briskly up
to the door and knocked just loud enough to draw attention. Ranma was forced 
to
juggle the attentions of the three girls they had picked up this morning, 
and
could only watch what happened next.
	The woman who answered the door seemed... vaguely familiar to Ranma. She
was just slightly taller than Ukyou and dressed in an elegant, but 
threadbare,
kimono. She was pretty, in a motherly sort of way, with black hair pulled 
back
so it looked shorter than it was.  She seemed surprised to see Ukyou, and 
soon
the two were talking. Ranma strained to hear...
	"...oh please Kairi don't give me that excuse like the last time you
tried to poach on my man back when we were twelve and you couldn't stand to 
see
Davin with an actual girlfriend for once instead of someone who was just 
looking
for a boy with a cute ass since we know perfectly well that is what you 
are..."
	...but found he couldn't hear what they were saying over the din of the
girl's talking. Even the two girls who had been with Ukyou seemed to have 
been
stunned into silence by the sheer volume of words that came out of his 
'date's'
mouth.
	Ranma saw the woman look at him closely. Then look at Ukyou and ask
something. Ukyou nodded and the woman looked back. Ukyou nodded in Ranma's
direction and waved slightly. Ranma, not sure what was going on, waved back 
as
best he could. The woman took one stumbling step forward. Ranma found 
himself
suddenly loose from the pack of girls, an unbidden fear gripping his heart 
as he
thought the woman might fall. But the woman was walking towards him, 
mouthing
something to herself but no words were coming out.
	"RANMA!" the woman cried and before he could react Ranma found himself
enveloped in her arms. He stiffened, but the woman's embrace was not 
possesive
or romantic... it was... soft and hesitant, like the woman believed that if 
she
squeezed too hard Ranma's body would dissolve into mist and dreams under her
touch. Ranma found himself relaxing. There was something... nice, nice and
strangely familiar about the way she held him. "Oh, Buddha be praised... 
Ranma,
it is you! Isn't it?"
	"Uh, yeah..." Ranma blinked.
	"My son! After so long, you've finally come home..." the woman had to
stop as her voice grew choked with tears.
	"M... mom?" Ranma stammered. His mother? No... that couldn't be... his
mother was dead! Wasn't she? He had always just assumed, since Pops never 
talked
about her, that...
	"Yes..." the woman who Ranma found himself hugging replied. Ranma wasn't
sure how to feel. He had thought, for so long, that he was alone except for 
his
father. But here was this woman, and he could see the approval in Ukyou's 
eyes.
She believed this woman was his mother. And she just might know... and... 
and
Ranma felt it. Somewhere buried under twelve years of memory was some primal
feeling.
	"Mom!"
	Men didn't cry. So that must have been something else Ranma felt on his
cheek as he leaned in to embrace this woman who, until three seconds ago, 
had
been a stranger. He didn't know how much time had passed until he felt them
break apart. Mom was patting her sleeve against her cheek, drying the 
moisture
there.
	"Oh, you've grown so well... you must be so manly..."
	Ranma fidgeted a bit as she ran her eyes appraisingly up and down his
body, a small satisfied little grin on her lips. "But how rude of me," Mom 
cried
out as she looked over Ranma's shoulder. "Here you are with all your 
girlfriends
and I'm forcing the group of you to stand on the street. Come in, come in.
Everyone come in and we'll get a chance to catch up over tea?"

*


	The three of them bounded over the rooftops, following Link's lead.
Pink noted that Chris certainly seemed to be in a hurry; after Link had come 
in
with the news, she had only paused long enough to grab a large bag of some 
sort,
and had then urged them to run as fast as possible 'or we'll miss it'.
	"Hey," said the dead girl as they leaped to the next building, "What
sort of plant creature was it, anyway?"
	"Actually," said Link, breathing a little heavily from the exertion,
"the news first reported an anomaly in Tokyo's water supply.  But then they
showed a monster looking like it was made of water attacking the subway line
near Ichigaya station, over."
	Pink looked oddly at her sister.  "So where's the plant, over?"
	"That's just it, over," said Link.  "It looked like water, but it was a
plant.  Some sort of algae.  I was sure of it, over."
	"Talented," murmured Chris.  She, unsurprisingly, wasn't breathing
heavily.  "It must have moved, though...this isn't the way to that station."
	"I don't know where it's going," Link said, "but it's moving."  She
frowned.  "I can...feel it, somehow, over."
	Chris laughed.  "Well, aren't you a regular little Kushinada.  Can you
feel it too, Pink?"
	"Not like that, over."  Though, as they moved, Pink was beginning to
feel -something-.  She wasn't sure what it was yet, but.... "Link's better 
at
the empathy stuff.  But, what did you mean when you said she was a Kushi-"
	She was cut off as Link cried out, pointing directly ahead.  Even as
they looked, streams of water exploded from a large building in front of 
them.
	As they watched, the streams of water coalesced into a vaguely humanoid
shape.  It was at least twenty metres tall and translucent, with 
recognisable
limbs and head.  Pulsing within the head and chest of the creature were some
sort of green organs.  And between the organs...something...something 
warm...
	"Right, I remember this," Chris noted.  She put the bag down and
rummaged around inside, retrieving a large gymnastics hoop.  She swirled it
around the inside of her wrist, and there was a metallic gleam from the 
outer
rim.  "Should be a snap."
	Then she leaped, soaring through the air with practiced grace and ease.
The distance to the creature, whose attention seemed currently occupied by
something else, was crossed in an instant, and at the apex of her leap, 
Chris
hurled the hoop.  The gymnastics tool sliced through the monster with ease,
separating the right arm at the shoulder.  But even as the limb crashed to 
the
ground and dissolved into liquid, another one grew in its place.
	The dead girl, however, now had the creature's undivided attention.  It
lashed out at her, one limb flashing into a torrential cascade of water that
whipped out at its opponent.  Chris, however, quickly flipped out of the 
way.
Several following attacks were similarly easily avoided.  Pink thought that
their ally must be enjoying herself... her huge grin was visible even at 
this
distance.  She was also fairly impressed with the undead's martial prowess.
Dodging, leaping, and rolling out of the way, she flowed seamlessly from 
defence
to offence.  Her motions combined dodge and counterattack, chopping chunks 
from
the creature with ribbon and baton.  Pink felt a tiny thrill of exultation.
Chris' graceful dance around the creature looked effortless: she was playing
with it.  Pink was sure of it.  With that kind of power... she didn't get 
tired,
or feel pain, couldn't be knocked out... Shampoo would fall.  HAD to fall.
Victory was within their grasp.
	Pink started to laugh, long and loud and hard.  Or at least she would
have, if Link hadn't almost immediately waved a hand at her to shush her.  
Pink
opened her mouth in curiosity, but her sister impatiently waved again.  She
seemed to be concentrating, holding her other hand up as if trying to listen 
to
something.  Pink recognised the technique her sister was using, even if 
she'd
never bothered to develop it herself.  Why was she trying to get a focus on 
a
plant's health?  What plant?  The monster?
	Link suddenly swore in Chinese, causing Pink to look over inquiringly.
"It's... communicating," Link explained.  "It's intelligent!  Not as much as 
a
person, but I can hear it.  It's like it's speaking, saying something about 
'its
place'.  I was trying to talk to it, but it's too angry!  It's not 
listening,
over!"
	Intelligent?  Interesting.  Pink had talked to plants... but they didn't
generally talk back.  "Should we get Chris to back off, over?"
	Link shook her head, frustrated.  "That's not what it's angry about.
It's taking out the anger on her, but it's something else, over..."
	There was a loud sound, and Pink looked back to see the monster dissolve
its entire form into a vortex of water.  It arced through the air, forcing 
Chris
to leap to the side as it smashed into and through the street, disappearing 
into
the hole it created.
	As she watched, a girl in some sort of uniform ran up and began talking
animatedly at Chris.  She seemed young, rather plain, with shoulder-length 
brown
hair.  And... Pink started.  She could feel that -warmth- from her, that 
same
feeling as from the monster.
	"There's something strange about that girl, over," Link stated.
	"You feel it too, over?" Her sister nodded in response.  "I want to know
what that is."
	"Me too, over," Link agreed.  "Let's go talk to... her. To both of them,
over."
	They leaped down from the rooftop. Just as they touched down, the earth
rumbled.  The creature, still looking like a swirling waterspout, exploded 
from
the ground beneath Chris and the brown-haired girl.  Chris appeared to have
anticipated this attack, however, and had nimbly leaped out of the way at 
the
last moment. She also seemed to have yanked the other girl out of the way 
with
her gymnastics ribbon.  The girl was struggling to untangle herself (while
showing her cartoon-animal-decorated panties, Pink noted with amusement) as 
the
twins approached.  Chris looked at them, raising an eyebrow.  Pink bypassed 
the
undead for the moment, however, to focus on the girl.
	"You," she said.  The girl, who had been rearranging her skirt to a more
modest position, looked up at her.  "There's something strange about you,"
Pink said bluntly.  "Something... strange that I can feel from you and the
monster both.  Who are you, and what are you doing here, over?"
	The girl gasped, backing up a step and reaching up to her chest.  "You
know... you know about-"
	Chris cut in.  "Huh, you two can sense it?  That's the mitama, the
'soul' of the monster.  It's what's animated and changing that algae.  
Momiji
here has one implanted in her chest, but since she's somewhat more 
intelligent
than algae..." she grinned, "...it can't affect her mind."
	The girl, Momiji's, eyes had widened at every word.  "How do you know
all that!?" she burst out.  'Who are you people?  Do you work for the TAC
too... oops... I'm not supposed to say... I mean..."
	Pink ignored her, looking seriously at Chris.  "Can you get that mitama
thing, over?"
	"Sure, I was planning to anyway.  You want it intact?"
	"Yes," Link responded instantly.  "I want to talk with it, over."
	Chris nodded.  "Problem not.  So where is it right now?"
	She looked around.  She could feel the warmth of its 'mitama', the
trembling of the ground from its movement.  But not underneath... instead... 
she
looked up, just as Momiji screamed "It's in the building!"
	A column of water exploded like a spear from the side of a building on
the other side of the road.  Pink didn't even have time to scream before the
sheer force of the water's passage hurled her through the air.  As she 
landed
and rolled back to her feet, she saw Link and that Momiji girl climbing to 
their
feet, but Chris was gone.  Looking over, she saw a dark, gaping hole in the 
side
of the building that had been behind them.  The monster had already left: 
she
could feel it once more moving beneath the earth.
	At that point, a military jeep screeched down the road and pulled up
alongside them.  At the wheel was another woman, this one in a loud pink
jumpsuit, with orange hair that was held out of her eyes by a headband.  She
seemed quite agitated: also, Pink couldn't help but notice, her back seat 
was
occupied by a variety of military-type weapons.  "Momiji!" the new girl 
cried,
"I've been looking all over for you!  Get in already!"
	"Koume!" Momiji cried in obvious relief.  "I'm so glad to see you!
But...these people..."
	"Huh?" said the new girl, and looked at them.  "Oh, okay."  She stood up
in the seat and glowered at them.  "All right, you civilians, get outta 
here!"
she barked. "Let us professionals handle this!"
	There was a slightly derisive laugh, and everyone turned to see Chris
emerge from the hole in the building.  She was soaked, and her t-shirt and 
jeans
were torn in multiple places, showing a greater but not quite obscene amount 
of
pale skin.  She had a wide, almost maniacal grin on her face.  "Civilians, 
huh?"
she said, walking over to a nearby lamppole.  "That barely cracked a few 
ribs."
Almost casually, she gripped the pole in one hand and swung her fist, 
smashing
through the metal as if it was made of glass.  Hefting the improvised 
weapon,
she grinned first at the monster which had regenerated itself down the 
street,
and then at the girl in the jeep.  "Whattaya say, Koume?  Shall we see who 
beats
it first?"
	Koume glared at him.  "Another freak, huh?  You're on!"  With a squeal
of tires, she took off towards the monster with Chris in pursuit, leaving 
Pink,
Link and Momiji behind.
	"Oh dear," said Momiji, looking even more flustered.  "This isn't
good... umm, who are you people?  How did that girl do that?"
	Pink looked down the road. Chris was leaping around slashing at the
monster with the pole, the Koume girl was firing at the monster with some 
sort
of big gun. They'd probably win, but... Pink exchanged a glance with her 
sister.
They both nodded and then turned on Momiji, who was still looking at them
expectantly.
	"We're curious, over." Link began.
	"Yes." Pink added. "Very curious about that mitama you have on your
chest, over."
	Momiji backed up a step. "Um... yes?" she squeaked.
	"We'd like to see it, over."
	"Yes, so please take your shirt off, over."
	Momiji turned red. "Why... I mean... no, I couldn't..."
	She was going to be difficult. Pink stepped forward. If the mitama thing
was alive, she didn't want to risk harming it. No Mandragora, then.  Guess 
just
a regular old knockout poison... boring, but effective.
	Pink was just starting to step towards the girl when an orange and red
blur interspersed itself between them. The new arrival was a man, tall, 
wearing
a shirt, slacks and a red trenchcoat. Somewhat more notably, he had green 
hair,
orange skin, and eyes with pupils slit like a cat's. More notable still... 
Pink
looked at her sister and recieved a nod in acknowledgement. This man, or
whatever he was - radiated that feeling, that warmth, of those mitamas, like
Momiji, but far, far stronger. He had more than one. Five, six? Pink 
couldn't
tell, exactly. But there was a lot.
	"Hey, there you are!" the strange man (?) said.  "I've been looking all
over for you, Momi-"
	"Kusanagi!" the girl broke in.  "These people just... they came and
said... she's -really- strong..."
	The man apparently wasn't paying much attention to the girl's babbling,
instead looking over at the developing fight.  "Looks like you brought some
company.  Who's the new girl?"
	"I don't know!  That's what I'm trying to tell-"
	"Heh," the orange-skinned man grinned.  "Then I guess I'd better go up
and introduce myself!"
	Before Momiji could protest further, the man ran towards the fight.
Pink glanced after him, then found herself staring in amazement: as Kusanagi
ran, some sort of thorn-blades... -grew- from his arms, sliding out almost 
like
a switchblade.  Definitely unusual.  Chris had also noticed the newcomer: as
Kusanagi ran towards the fight, the dead girl redoubled her efforts to kill 
the
watery monster.
	Well, all that ought to prove a useful distraction.  And Momiji was
still staring after that orange-skinned man... Pink moved forward, dipping 
her
hand into a hidden pocket for a Lullabye Blossom-
	Pink paused as she felt a dull echo of pain.  For a moment she wondered
what it was, and then she heard and felt her twin cry out.  Turning, she saw
Link fall to her knees, her hands flying up to clutch her temples.  "Link, 
Link,
what's wrong, over?" she said and rushed over to her sister, Lullabye 
Blossom
forgotten.
	She was vaguely conscious of the girl, Momiji, also beside her, asking
Link if she was all right.  But both twins ignored her.  "There's 
something..."
Link said slowly, to set her teeth.  A fresh throbbing flashed through 
Pink's
head.  "Something they feel," her sister continued, "It's moving... it's in 
the
earth... it's hurting them, over!"
	"Hurting who?  What's hurting?" Momiji asked, obviously confused.
	"The plants," Link hissed between clenched teeth.  "Something's in the
ground... their root systems can feel it.  It's shredding the roots, over!"
	"The roots?"
	"Shut up, over," snapped Pink.  The throbbing in her head was annoying,
and the pain Link felt was worse.  "What is it?  Another one of those 
monsters,
over?"
	Link made a tiny shake of her head.  "No mitama.  That's what she said:
the mitama animates it, right, over?  There's not one.  It's almost like 
there's
an earthquake... but it's moving, and only in one place at a time, over." 
She
pointed down the road, where a small green space was still undisturbed by
the melee.  "There!  It's following the fight, over!"
	Pink looked where her sister indicated.  Now that she knew where, she
could see... something.  The lawn of the small park was rippling, ever so
slightly, like the surface of a pond.  She moved a step towards it.  What 
-was-
that...?
	She felt more than saw Momiji run past her, towards the fight.  Before
Pink could react, the girl was shouting out to that strange man.  "Kusanagi!
There's something else here!"
	"Momiji!" he yelled back. "Where is it?  Where's the mitama?"
	She paused, looked at the monster for a moment.  "It's... it's between
the head and the chest!  But I think you should look at-"
	Kusanagi ignored her as he grinned viciously and plunged his hand deep
into the monster's head.  He reached out, seemed to be straining...and then
leaped back to avoid the swing of a lightpole.  "What're you doing!?" he
demanded.
	"I made a bet." Chris grinned.  She raised the pole high, preparing to
thrust down...
	And then there was a loud retort and a projectile streaked over Pink's
head before smashing into the throat of the monster.  It shrieked, and 
something
glittering flew out of its back...something she could feel... "That's it, 
over!"
	"I know!" responded Chris, leaping from the monster even as it began to
shrink and steam, still roaring unintelligibly.  Kusanagi flashed past her, 
but
Chris reacted quickly, whipping out one of those ribbons and lashing out.  
It
streamed past Kusanagi, wrapped around the tiny gleaming object... and then 
one
of Kusanagi's arm blades slashed through it as he dropped past.  Almost
instantly, Link cried out.
	"You killed it!  You killed it, over!"
	Kusanagi and Chris both landed lightly, and the orange-skinned man
brushed the dust off his hands, grinning.  "Looks like I win the bet."
	"Oh no you don't!" came a female voice.  The other woman walked up,
still brandishing a smoking bazooka. "I got that one fair and square!"
	A screech of tires drew Pink's attention; a car had pulled up behind
them.  Two people emerged: a balding older man and a woman with glossy black
hair that covered one eye.  They held guns, which were levelled directly at
Chris, but she noticed the woman looking suspiciously at her and Link.  Who 
were
they?
	"Freeze!" the man barked.  "Who are you!?  What are you doing here!?"
	Chris glanced back.  Her lip twisted up.  "Tch.  Next you'll be asking
me to 'state my business'." Turning around fully, she glanced at Pink and 
Link.
"Later, TAC."
	Before anyone could react, her hand twitched suddenly and a thick cloud
of white smoke suddenly enveloped her.  The smoke wavered, as if a strong 
breeze
passed, just as shots rang out from the two newcomers...and then Pink was
flying.  And just as suddenly, set down again, which was when she realised 
she
had been grabbed.  And so had Link, who was standing behind her.  "What, 
over-"
	"Run!" said Chris in a low voice.  "Before they think to start looking!"
	She took off, running down the alleyway she had deposited them in, and
the twins followed her.  After a few moments, they reached a narrow blind 
alley,
only dimly lit by a crack of sunlight filtering from the rooftops overhead.
Chris slowed to a stop here. "Kusanagi's faster than me, but I caught him 
off-
guard.  They'll stop looking in a few minutes and start comparing stories, 
at
which point we can head back."
	"Who were they, over?" Pink asked.
	Chris shrugged. "The TAC.  A governmental organisation devoted to
dealing with problems such as the one we just saw."
	Link took a deep breath.  She clenched and unclenched her fists.  And
then she looked up to the nearly invisible sky and began cursing.  Not so 
loud
as to carry beyond the alley, but loud enough to clearly show her 
displeasure.
She walked in circles, gesticulating angrily with both hand while cursing
Kusanagi, his ancestors, his descendants, his manhood, his father's manhood, 
and
throwing in several unkind insinuations about his mother, her sexual
proclivities, and her choice in species to mate with.
	Pink watched all this with bemusement.  Link didn't get angry often, but
when she did, it was... colourful.
	"Oookay..." came a somewhat hushed voice, and Pink glanced over at
Chris.  The dead girl was staring at the ranting Link, eyes wide, with a 
large
bead of sweat on her head.
	"What're you staring at, over?" Pink asked, further amused by the
reaction.  Link also looked over, a dangerous gleam in her eye, and 
obviously
also interested in why their undead companion was staring.
	"Uhh... it's just... I'm a little surprised," Chris finally said. "I
didn't think you swore... I mean-"
	"Of COURSE I'm fucking swearing, over!" Link snapped.  "That son of a
bitch killed it!  KILLED IT!  And he's got so many!  I didn't even get to 
LOOK
at it, over!"
	Chris held her hands up placatingly.  "Okay, okay, just relax.  It's not
that big a deal.  Those monsters, the aragami...there'll be more of them.  
Don't
sweat it.  I'll be able to get you one before the TAC even get there next 
time,
with any luck.  All right?"
	"It's more than that, over!" Link growled.  "It was ALIVE, and now it's
DEAD.  You of all people should understand THAT.  It was alive..." she 
paused,
considering. "It was alive in a way I'd never felt any plant before.  And 
now
it's dead.  Getting another won't replace THAT.  It was like... it was like
killing a child.  How DARE he!"
	Chris pursed her lips, apparently thinking carefully about her response.
"Very well.  But it was hurting people, so you have to consider their 
position-"
	"Who gives a damn, over!  Lions can hurt people, but they're endangered;
you just can't kill them out of hand!  That 'monster' was just looking 
for... it
was LOOKING for something!  Something humans took away!  Whose fault is 
that?
Why shouldn't it be angry, over!?"
	"I don't necessarily disagree with you," Chris said seriously.
	"Well, who gives a flying fuck about what you think!  It's not
like you understand anything about the natural order, over!"
	"Now now, over," said Pink soothingly, stepping between the two just as
Chris's eyes narrowed dangerously.  "Let's just calm down here.  What's done 
is
done.  If there are more of those plant creatures, like Chris said, we can 
get
to them before that group does, and both get our own mitamas AND save them 
from
being killed.  That's the best option, over."
	Link's lip twisted, but she nodded in assent.  Chris shrugged, and the
anger faded from her expression.  "Sounds good to me," she noted.  "Anyway,
they've probably gone back to talking by now.  Let's go."

*

	Ukyou leaned back with a smirk on her face and let the events of the
scene play themselves out. Nodoka had reacted exactly like Ukyou had known 
she
would. Being overjoyed at Ranma's arrival, not to mention the company of 
three
beautiful young women, had driven all thoughts of that stupid contract from 
the
woman's head. Ukyou had basically let everyone else do the talking, and kept 
her
eyes out for possible disasters. It hadn't taken much effort to keep Ranma 
away
from cold water.
	Not that Ukyou thought she could conceal Ranma's curse from Nodoka
forever. It would just be much easier for Nodoka to accept if she already
thought of her son as a playboy. Ukyou wondered if she could conspire to 
make it
so that Nodoka caught Ranma trying to sneak into a girl's locker room in his
girl form. It might take a bit of doing... but Ukyou thought she could pull 
it
off.
	The three girls were playing their part perfectly, even without a
script. Ukyou had picked them out specifically for the traits that would 
best
serve Ranma here. Of course, she had been forced to walk around in circles
basically talking Ranma up to the other two so that instead of focusing 
their
attentions on Ukyou, they would both go after Ranma. The third had taken to
Ranma right away.
	Right now their jealousy was starting to win out over their sympathy for
Ranma's situation. The catty comments and acidic snipes were coming out in 
full
force. Nodoka was looking on in approval as Ranma tried to play peacemaker
between the three girls. Ukyou was enjoying Ranma's discomfort so much she
almost wished that Akane could be here to see it with her. But Akane would 
have
been a stumbling block in the plan, so she would have to come along to meet 
the
Saotome mother later.
	"That's just shameful behaviour," a voice whispered into Ukyou's ear.
She found herself nodding along... until she recognized it. Then she gasped 
and
leaped away from the potted plant she had been leaning against.
	"Ukyou?" Nodoka said with a blink.
	"Fungus! What are you doing here?" Ukyou growled and pointed at the
plant.
	"No, that's a fern," Ranma pointed out helpfully. Even as he did, his
words were made lies when the plant sprouted a head and two arms. "Oh... 
it's
just Tsubasa," Ranma grunted.
	"That's right, Saotome!" the Fungus laughed as he pulled himself
completely free of his hiding place. He had changed since this morning, and 
was
now clad in a dress that contained far too much pink and far too many frills
to be considered legal. "At last, I've seen your true personality! How could 
you
do this, you two-timing lecher!"
	"Oh no!" one of the girls cried.
	"You already had a girlfriend?" another whined reproachfully.
	"...this is just like the time Joshi and Azako found Mina in the cloest
and..."
	"Are you really dating behind your girlfriend's back?" Nodoka asked in
an entirely too cheerful tone. Sometimes that woman scared Aaron.
	"Oh no you don't," Ukyou growled as she grabbed the Fungus by the lapel.
"You are not ruining this," she informed him as she dragged him towards the
backyard.
	"Ukyou!" Nodoka cried out, forcing the girl to stop. She looked over her
shoulder to see Nodoka glaring at her. "Gentlemen don't treat ladies with 
such
disrespect! Especially not in my house." Ukyou was in the process of 
weighing
the danger of potentially pissing off Nodoka versus the damage Tsubasa could 
do
to her plan when the point became moot, as the Fungus slipped free of her 
grip.
	"Tsubasa is not... ," Ukyou hissed as the tranvestite slipped into a
comfortable position between Ranma and her. Nodoka offered the Fungus tea
without pause, which he gratefully accepted. Ukyou considered just giving up 
the
ghost, as far as the Fungus' gender went, but decided against it. Too much
possibility of backfiring.
	"You wound me!" the Fungus moaned dramatically, holding his forearm
against his brow as if he felt faint. "What about all the times we have 
spent
together? The exchange we've had between our deepest hearts? All the secrets 
we
share?"
	"Go to hell!" Ukyou shouted. She hadn't wanted to shout. She hadn't
wanted to do anything but glare and try to figure out how to get him to 
leave.
But... it had just slipped out. It was probably Aaron's fault again. She had
never had so much difficulty controlling her temper before he showed up.
	"Wow, sounds like they had a bad break up..." one of the girls stage-
whsipered to her friend.
	"Oh yeah, they have all the signs," the other answered while nodding
vigourously.
	"...Davin wasn't about to let that big guy run off with Azako and Mina
watching, so he assumed the Spitting Cobra Stance and charged at the guy 
with
the bandolier..."
	"Really, Ukyou, you'd think you'd be glad I showed up when I did," the
Fungus smiled and waved a finger in her face. It took all her self-control 
not
to break it on the spot. "Look at this cad, stringing along three different
girls!" Nodoka sighed and smiled. "Even if he is much better at dress up 
than I
am, that's no reason to hang out with him considering all his other flaws."
	"Dress up?" Nodoka frowned slightly and looked at Ranma.
	"Maybe Ranma's a secret fashion designer!" one of the girls cried.
	"Just my luck, a hunk and a great fashion sense and he's already
taken... by someone with even better fashion sense!" Ukyou gave the other 
girl a
long look. She hated to see what the girl considered bad fashion sense if
Tsubasa was considered good.
	"...I couldn't just stand by and let Davin unleash the full power of the
Seven Seals of Set Style without moral support so I had to go along with him 
to
the warehouse where Master Dingo was holding Joshi hostage..."
	"Hey pal, don't even compare me to you! I ain't got no choice, you're
just sick!" Ranma growled. Uh-oh. Ukyou had to put a halt to this before it
spiraled out of control. Aaron was convinced that if Nodoka had a chance to 
get
to know her son well beforehand, then learning about the curse would only 
give
her a slight pause before she ripped up that stupid contract. The trouble 
was
giving Ranma that time before his curse, and the Fungus, ruined any chances 
he
had. Ukyou searched her mind frantically for an answer... and leapt at the 
first
choice that came to mind.
	"My god! It's Tom Cruise!" Ukyou shouted, pointing out the door.
	"Where?" Nodoka cried as she spun in place. Everyone else did so as
well, turning to look quickly out through the patio door. Ukyou smiled and
lashed out, her backhand catching the Fungus high on the temple. There was a
crash as the wall behind the two of them gave out when the unconscious body 
went
flying through it. So it wasn't an elegant solution, but it would shut the
Fungus up for a few minutes. During that time Ukyou knew she could come up 
with
some way of dealing with him. If she grew desperate enough, maybe she would 
even
let Aaron try and come up with a solution.
	"Where did the young lady go?" 	Nodoka asked as she turned back.
	Ukyou was in the middle of a shrug when she heard the shorter girl
shriek practically into her ear.
	"You... you killed her!"
	"What...?"
	"I saw it all!" the girl pointed at her accusingly. "I was turning to
look, but you... and she flew through a wall! A wall! People don't go flying
through walls!"
	"They don't?" Ranma asked, in genuine confusion.
	"I certainly have never seen it happen," the taller girl said to him.
Ukyou frowned as she tried to recall their names. But she seemed to have
inherited Aaron's talent for names, which is to say she couldn't recall them 
for
the life of her.
	"...nobody was expecting the zombies (really, who ever does expect
zombies?) but we were all grateful for them as long as it meant Master Dingo
couldn't complete his evil experiments on Joshi, so Azako, Mina and I looted 
the
armory..."
	"I did not kill hi... er, her!" Ukyou shouted back. The girl cringed
away from her, eyes wide and shaking.
	"Don't bully poor Hayako!" the less whiny one yelled back at Ukyou.
Ukyou turned her passively dangerous eyes on her and the color drained from 
her
face.
	"Ukyou, did you kill Tsubasa?" Nodoka asked, in the same tone of voice
one would use to ask if it was raining outside.
	"No!" Ukyou groaned. "H...she's just outside, perfectly fine!" Ukyou
stood up and walked over to the hole in the wall and stuck her head out. A 
fine
drizzle immediately coated her hair and face. Great, it was raining out. 
This
was just wonderful. "See, she's right..." Ukyou trailed off. There was no 
sign
of Tsubasa. "Great, now he's hiding..." she murmured.
	"The body disappeared?" Hayako moaned.
	"How convenient!" her friend said with a smirk as she crossed her arms.
	Ukyou pulled her head in and glared at them both.
	"Ah, Ukyou, is it raining outside?" Ranma asked in the same tone of
voice one would use to ask if you had just murdered someone.
	"Just a little, don't worry, I brought an umbrella..." Ukyou began to
reach into her trenchcoat.
	"No!" Hayako shouted and dived behind Nodoka. "He's got a gun!"
	"You do?" Ranma blinked.
	"No, I don't!" Ukyou growled as she pulled free the umbrella. The handle
did look kind of gun-like, with its 'trigger' style opening mechanism...
	"Young man, I won't have you frightening young ladies or killing them in
my house," Nodoka informed Ukyou.
	"But I didn't kill anyone!"
	"...there was nothing to do but hope Davin's unlocked potential was
enough to face down the Zombie Master Dingo, since we were all occupied 
sealing
the doors to the Secret Government Alien Lab with blowtorches..."
	"A likely story!" Hayako's friend smirked and pointed at Ukyou. "If so,
where did that girl go?"
	"She probably turned into a clock or a painting or something..." Ukyou
murmured. She ran a hand through her bangs and looked around for anything 
that
seemed out of place.
	"...Space Nazis are a pain in the butt, I tell you from personal
experience, what with their Nazi Death Borg Commandos and everything, I 
swear if
I hadn't been carrying that Personal Fighting Familiar that looked like a 
ball
of lime jell-o I would have been in a lot of trouble..."
	"She probably has someone helping her!" Hayako cried from behind Nodoka.
	"Like who? A ninja assassin death squad?" Ukyou growled. This was
getting seriously annoying.
	"Aha! See, she admits to having a ninja assassin death squad!"
	"I did no such thing!" Ukyou began to wave her arms as she rebuked
Hayako's friend. "Haven't you ever heard of sarcasm?"
	"Yeah, Ukyou isn't a ninja, she's a demon hunter!" Ranma backed her up.
Ukyou paused. Wait, what? She looked at Ranma askance.
	"Demon hunter?" Nodoka said with a blink.
	"You mean... you're -that- boy!" Hayako's friend gasped.
	"Waaah! The hero of Narita is a murderer!" Hayako sniffed from her
position behind the elder Saotome.
	"Then again, maybe Ukyou is training me and Akane to be part of her
Anti-Demon Ninja Death Squad?" Ranma said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
	"I'm not sure I approve of you joining a ninja clan, Ranma," Nodoka
opined primly.
	"Wah! We know too much about her now! She'll kill us all like that poor
girl with the great fashion sense!"
	"C'mon mom, it would be cool!"
	"I'll protect you from her, Hayako!"
	"She's scary!"
	"Ranma, I am your mother and I say you are not joining a ninja clan,
even if they fight demons."
	"...so then we had Space Nazi Zombie Commando Borgs made out of green
Jell-O (tm) coming out of the woodwork and even with Davin's Invincible 
Serpent
Uncoiling Technique it looked like we were all about to be eaten and that 
was
the absolute WORST possible time for Joshi to accuse me of being a bad 
mother, I
mean, you lose one little Fighting Familiar to the forces of darkness and
everyone is all over you..."
	"ENOUGH! Everyone SHUT UP!"
	Blissful silence fell over the room, except for the pitter-patter of
rain on the roof. Ukyou was standing now, partially hunched over, breathing
deeply. She felt... cold. It was like her entire body had dropped ten 
degrees.
She wanted to not say anything. She wanted to apologize and explain. But she
felt her control slipping. She realized with a shock that she didn't care 
about
these people's feelings at the moment. She realized she didn't care about 
Ranma
or his mother or the three idiots... it was remarkably freeing.
	"You idiots don't even bother to listen, do you? Tsubasa is not dead! I
just punched him, and not even that hard! I wished I had punched him harder, 
but
he's still awake. And you..." she pointed at Hayako. "You shouldn't leap to
conclusions about people you know nothing about. And you, whoever you are, I
don't know where you get off being such a bitch to me but I am about this
close..." Ukyou held her fingers a centimeter apart. "...from shutting your
mouth the hard way. And you, I don't know what the hell kind of sugar rush
you're on... but shut the hell up!"
	"But I was just getting to the end of my story..."
	"What did I just fucking say!?" Ukyou roared. A flash of shame surged
from her gut at the way the girl cringed, but Ukyou was far too angry to 
really
care.
	"Ukyou..." Nodoka's voice was cold and hard. Ukyou spun towards her like
a cat and met the woman's cold glare with an equally dangerous gaze. "I 
think
I've heard just about enough. This may be my husband's house, but I am in 
charge
of it! I forbid you from setting foot in it again!"
	"You... you forbid me..." Ukyou growled. "After all I went through to
take your son back to you, after everything your stupid husband did to 
me..."
	"And furthermore, I won't have you associating with my son any more."
She turned to Ranma. "Ranma, I don't know how you came to meet this person, 
but
I ask you never to speak to him again."
	"Mom!" Ranma gasped. "Ukyou's... Ukyou's my best friend!"
	"Forget it, Ranma," Ukyou hissed. "She's having a power trip. Let her do
what she wants, I don't give a shit about her anymore."
	Ukyou stormed out of the house, not bothering to look back.

*

	"That was kinda fun, you guys!"
	"You would think so..." Usagi whined.
	Rei shook her head and allowed the others to lead the way. She didn't
know what to think of the new girl. Makoto was both taller and more 
physically
capable than any of the girls, as proven by how well she had taken on that
tennis-ball-throwing youma. But she was also supposed to be a violent thug. 
In
fact, she was in the middle of an expulsion hearing from her old school 
because
of all the fights she was getting into. Makoto had laughed off the subject 
when
Ami had brought it up, saying she probably wouldn't fight it like she 
usually
did. After all, if she was expelled from her current school, the next 
closest
was Juuban.
	Rei adjusted her umbrella, shifting it to her left hand for a moment.
No, it wasn't that which set Rei ill at ease. It was... that boy. Ukyou.
Ukyou had led Usagi and Luna right to Makoto Kino, and apparently convinced 
her
that her help was needed fighting the Dark Kingdom. With her height, cocky
attitude and (from what Rei had heard) love of cooking, Makoto reminded her 
a
bit too much of Ukyou.
	"I'm just glad you were there," Ami said in that shy, self-effacing way
she had. Rei had considered trying to get her to come out of her shell a 
bit,
but Usagi had adopted that task and was doing... an almost competent job.
Besides, they needed someone with a level head in the group.
	"Yes, goodness knows we couldn't count on Usagi," Luna said in a sing-
song voice.
	"Luna, that's a bit harsh, don't you think?"
	"Waaah! Luna, stop being harsh to me!"
	"You know, I think I should be freaked out by a talking cat, but I'm
really not. This strikes me as very... familiar somehow," Makoto called over 
her
shoulder. "Anybody else get that feeling?"
	"Now that you mention it..." Rei mused aloud. No matter how she had felt
about Makoto, there was no doubting the fact that they were all getting 
along
famously. Makoto had integrated herself into their new little clique almost
immediately. Her and Usagi and Ami were all talking like they had been 
friends
for years, not just days. It was almost eerie.
	"Plus being a kickass Sailor Senshi has other perks," Makoto laughed.
"Like all the cute guys! First that Ukyou guy from yesterday, and then that
Tuxedo Kamen guy!"
	"Hey! Tuxedo Kamen is mine!" Usagi shouted.
	"Oh, I thought you liked Ukyou?"
	"I... oh... I can't decide between them!"
	"Hmm, you may have a point there," Makoto mused. "Do you go for tall,
dark and mysterious, or beautiful, cool and a great cook? I can't decide
myself..."
	"I wouldn't get too hung up on Ukyou, if I were you two," Rei warned.
Now seemed like a good enough time to bring up her worries.
	"Huh? Why not?"
	"Yeah, Rei. You just want to stomp on my fun again."
	"Be serious, Usagi!" Rei hissed. "Tuxedo Kamen is one thing, but he is
clearly on our side. He always shows up to help us. Can we say the same 
about
this Ukyou? Where was he when we fought that youma that had possesed your
friend, Usagi?"
	"But he helped us a lot! You saw him fight Jadeite. Amd he got us all
these Rainbow Crystals..." Usagi reached into her pack and brought out one 
of
the six crystals she and Luna had collected yesterday.
	"And there are supposed to be seven of them," Rei pointed out. "What
about the last one?"
	"The guy doesn't live in Tokyo..."
	"Maybe... but Ukyou has admitted he has an hidden agenda! He doesn't
really care about... how did he put it Luna?"
	"'Our little war'," Luna chimed in. "And I agree with Rei on this one.
We can't trust Ukyou. Something about that boy raises my hackles."
	"Plus, there is Sailor Pluto," Rei said, crossing her arms to signify
the argument was over.
	"Who?" Makoto blinked.
	"'The Guardian of Time, Mysterious Woman Representing the Planet Pluto,
Sailor Pluto,'" Ami quoted. "She's a fifth Senshi, but we don't know much 
about
her. Luna seems to recall that she was a very important person and one to be
trusted implicitly. The strange thing is that she and that boy Ukyou appear 
to
be enemies. Neither one has really been forthcoming with why this might be."
	"Ah, maybe its just a lover's spat?" Makoto grinned and nudged Rei with
an elbow. Rei raised an eyebrow and gave her a long hard stare. Makoto 
coughed
into her hand and backed up. "Or not."
	"Well, I don't care what Sailor Pluto or Rei says," Usagi declared while
pointing into the sky. "Ukyou is too cute to be evil, and I'll trust him 
with my
life!"
	"You're hopeless," Rei groused and started walking again. She heard the
others begin to talk again in the background. Luna and Usagi were arguing 
about
boys. Ami and Makoto were talking about possibly getting her transferred to
Juuban so she could be closer to Usagi, the Princess they needed to protect.
That is, if you believed Ukyou.
	Rei sighed. She hoped Usagi was right about that boy. But something had
struck her as wrong about him from the first time they had met. And when 
they
had met again the other day, after Usagi introduced Makoto to the group, Rei 
had
done something she usually didn't do. She had focused her chi and tried to 
read
the spirit of this Ukyou Kuonji, much like Rei read the spirit of her fire 
or
read the spirit of her youma opponents to discern their weaknesses. There 
had
been a layer of cold energy, like a shell around Ukyou's spirit. And when 
Rei
had probed further she had been forced to stop, because Ukyou had started
looking directly at her. Not like she knew what Rei was doing, but more like 
she
was curious.
	And Rei had let herself stop. Because she had felt enough to just pierce
the tip of Ukyou's cold shell. And what she found under that shell scared 
her
more than all the vague suspicions or Sailor Pluto's attacks ever could.
Because under that shell, Rei had sensed... nothing.
	Nothing at all.

*

	Ono wisely stayed out of Ukyou's way when she walked into the small
apartment they shared until his clinic could be rebuilt. Or, he did once he
pointed out that she was dripping wet, despite carrying an unfolded umbrella 
in
one hand. Ukyou had taken one look at it, and let out a vulgarity so loud 
that
it had woken up a neighbours dog (who was still barking) and smashed the
umbrella over her knee. Then she had growled something about making his own
dinner and retreated to her room. So Ono was willing to let her have her
privacy. All he did was set out a box of Midol in an inconspicuous location.
	Hey, he was a doctor, but he wasn't suicidal.
	Ono had been almost reluctant to answer the door. But he could feel the
urgency in the other person's chi, even through the door. So, he had 
answered.
Akane had blushed a bit at seeing him answer. She must have forgotten that 
he
and Ukyou shared quarters. The girl had begun to stammer something out, 
fumbling
over her words.
	Ono had saved her from embarrassment by saying he would fetch Ukyou for
her. Akane was really a nice girl. Not a beautiful girl like her eldest
sister, but... He paused in the hallway, shaking his head to clear the fog 
from
it. Hmm? When had he removed Ukyou's door from its hinges? And why was Ukyou
pressed against the wall?
	"Ono, are you okay?" Ukyou asked slowly.
	"I'm fine... but it appears someone broke your door," he chuckled.
	"Yeah, someone..." Ukyou walked towards him. "Kasumi isn't here, is
she?"
	"Huh? No. Akane is, though..."
	"Great..." Ukyou sighed. "Listen, I'm in no mood to have a civil
discussion with anyone... tell her to come back tomorrow."
	"It seemed rather urgent," Ono pointed out. He felt that whatever was
troubling Ukyou, talking would probably help her more than brooding in her 
room.
Besides, Akane was a girl. Maybe she would have better advice about that 
then
Ono would.
	"Indeed..." Ukyou ran her fingers through her hair, then nodded. "I'll
go get rid of her then. It's probably nothing serious. Thank you."
	Ono allowed her past him and down the small hallway to the living room-
slash-foyer. For a second his gaze lingered in her wake. His better nature
warred with his curiosity and lost. Soon enough he was pulling a cloak over 
his
chi and stepping down the hallway as quietly as he could.
	It wasn't really eavesdropping. It was just looking out for his charges.
How was he supposed to help, if they kept him in the dark all the time? Look
where that had gotten him last time. And maybe if he kept thinking about it 
like
that, he would eventually justify it to himself.
	"...no, I haven't seen Ranma all day," Akane was saying. This was close
enough; Ono didn't want to risk getting any closer. His cloak wasn't exactly
reliable, and nothing close to true invisibility.
	"Damn... have him call me the moment he gets in, okay? I need to talk
with him about what happened at his mother's..."
	"Mother?"
	"It's a long story. You had something you needed to talk to me about?"
	"Ukyou... I don't know how to say this so I'll just come straight out
with it."
	"Indeed?"
	"Chris visited me last night."
	"WHAT! That bastard! Are you hurt? He didn't do anything to you...?"
	"NO! No... I'm fine."
	"Are you sure?"
	"Yes... I'm sure. You can let go of my arm, Ukyou. Your grip is a little
tight."
	"Sorry..."
	"I had to talk with him, Ukyou. He surprised me in the middle of the
night-"
	"Why didn't you call out to Ranma?" Ukyou's voice had taken on an edge
of anger.
	"He asked me not to... he was actually very nice about it."
	"Damn! Akane, you can't let him talk to you. His words are poison. He is
very good at earning people's sympathy."
	"But Ukyou, I think he..."
	"Don't think about him! Trust me, Chris is a monster! If he's trying to
win your trust, he's only using it for one of his own twisted purposes. 
Either
that, or he wants to get you to believe in him to make himself feel better. 
He's
sick like that. He can justify anything to himself, as long as someone he
respects believes in him."
	"He respects me?"
	"Yes, yes... that isn't important! No matter what, you can't believe
anything he says. Chris is from the same place as Aaron. He knows more about 
you
than you may even know about yourself! Using that knowledge he can 
manipulate
you, make you think you're doing what you want when all you're really doing 
is
playing into his hands!"
	"I don't think it was like that. He was just asking us to leave him
alone..."
	"US! Leave HIM alone! That bastard!" Ono jumped as something cracked
sharply. "He has no right! Wasn't beating me to a pulp once enough? Does he 
have
to play these games with my friends as well?"
	"Ukyou, calm down," Akane's voice had taken on a frantic tone.
	"I'm sick of being fucking calm! I'm not calm and I don't want to be.
That monster ruined my life! You have no idea... no idea..."
	"Ukyou..."
	"Tell me everything he said!"
	"I... I don't know exactly..."
	"Fuck! What did he say, Akane? You do realize what this is about? He's
probably going to kill someone else! Do you want that on your conscience?"
	"Of course not!"
	"Then tell me! Everything you know may help."
	"He said something about the future, and you knowing what's going to
happen, and Chris having to do something about it... it was very confusing."
	"Damn it... riddles. Wasn't he more specific?"
	"Well, he could have been. He actually asked me if I wanted to know
exactly what was going on but I refused. I don't want to know about-"
	"You refused! What kind of an idiot..." There were a series of loud
stomps. Ono frowned.
	"But, Ukyou-"
	"We could have know exactly what he was going to do, and you refused to
listen? That's... that's the stupidest thing you've ever done, Akane!"
	"I... I..."
	"I mean, I've seen you pull some bone-headed stuff, but even I never
thought you would be this dumb!"
	"You just told me to never listen to a thing he said!" Akane cried. Her
voice was a mixture of fury and despair. Ono felt he should do something. 
But
what? He really had no idea how to deal with people. What if he did step out
there? What would it accomplish?
	"Don't try and make this about me," Ukyou hissed. "I'm not the one who
screwed up. Fuck! Why is everything unraveling NOW?"
	"Ukyou..." Akane was fighting back a sob now.
	"Get out of my sight!" Ukyou shouted. "Just... get out! I'll find some
way to fix this mess you created." There was a pregnant pause. "And you 
wonder
why I leave you behind all the time..."
	"Ukyou... you... why?"
	"Didn't I just tell you to get out?"
	A few seconds, and a few hiccuping sobs later, and the door to Ono's
apartment slammed closed with dreadful finality. Ono stood dumbstruck, and 
was
still standing there like a statue when Ukyou rounded the corner. She gave 
him a
look. It was filled with cold anger. He could literally feel the wind chi
pouring off her body in nearly visible waves. Then she pushed him aside and
stalked over to her room. Ono turned towards her and opened his mouth at her
retreating back. But what was he going to say?



			To be continued...




Author's Notes:


Blade: Man, Ukyou/you is a real bitch/bastard.

Epsilon: Well, that's what you keep telling me, anyway, so I thought I'd 
just be
true to character.

Blade: Meanie.  Akane's totally gonna be MY friend now.

Epsilon: Maybe if you stopped killing people.

Blade: But... but... there are so many people with kickass supernatural
abilities for me to steal that noone will miss anyway!  Like Kodachi!  Who 
needs
her?  Pink is like Kodachi, only better!

Epsilon: ...right.

Blade: Well, okay, Kunou probably cares, but that presupposes anybody caring
about what Kunou cares about.

Epsilon: Well, much as I hate to interrupt you demolishing whatever goodwill 
you
built up with readers this chapter... it's convienent segue time!  So, 
speaking
of people with supernatural abilities that other people care about... like 
the
readers...

Blade: That was a really lame segue.

Epsilon: Lame segues are my middle name!

Blade: So you're Aaron Ukyou Epsilon Lame Segue Peori Kuonji?  That sounds 
like
some retarded college fraternity.

Epsilon: A college fraternity where a bunch of anime characters go!  And,
speaking of anime characters...

Blade: (facepalm)

Epsilon: ...I hereby warn the readers that Hybrid Theory contains... yes,
SPOILERS!

Audience: *gasp*  *shock*  *amazement*

Blade: Yeah.  Specifically, there will be spoilers for Sailor Moon, Blue 
Seed,
Ranma 1/2...

Epsilon: Like they needed to be told that.

Blade: Hmm.  Well, there's also going to be spoilers for other series' the
readers don't as of yet technically know exist!  Indeed, the fact they exist 
in
Hybrid Theory are in and of itself spoilers for Hybrid Theory!

Epsilon: So we can't tell the readers what series are going to be spoiled 
for
them until you've already been spoiled?

Blade: Umm...

Epsilon: I see.  Our recommended solution, then, is to watch every anime 
series
and read every manga and play every video game ever made before the next 
chapter
comes out.  That way, you will be protected from all spoilers.  (checks 
watch)
Which gives you... 28 days. Better get moving.

Blade: Way to kill off our already pitifully small readerbase.  Actually, in
truth, the spoiler problem is NOT so bad... Blue Seed will get sort of 
spoiled,
but who really cares about Sailor Moon or Ranma spoilers?  I mean, really: 
if
you care, you know them already.  However, this is one series I feel 
obligated
to warn people about and it ISN'T much of a problem to note it's here 
somewhere:
Revolutionary Girl Utena.  It will, unfortunately, be spoiled the HELL out 
of.
Since it's the Greatest Anime Of All Times, I recommend you try and check it 
out
if you haven't already: you've got more than a couple of months before this
becomes any sort of issue.  Sorry!

Epsilon: Or you could just do what I do and not care about spoilers.

Blade: Or that, yeah.

Epsilon: And speaking of things people don't care about, how about the 
preview
for the next chapter?

Blade: I'd like to remind you I once again possess a bokken and the will to 
use
it.

Epsilon: But can your bokken get the Hybrid Theory cast and crew out of THIS
situation!?




	"Oh, Ranma!" The voice was Kasumi again. "A kind lady is here, and she
says she's your mother. Isn't that nice?"
	"GAH!"
	Ran blinked. Then she rubbed her eyes. Then she blinked again. Yes,
Ranma had really disappeared. Ran hadn't thought anyone could move faster 
than
her eyes could follow. Ran shrugged and looked around, quickly locating the
young martial artist clinging to the ceiling directly above his former 
position.
She sighed. The boy had a lot to learn about a sucessful vanishing act if 
that
was the best he could think of doing.
	"Ranma, what are you doing up there?"
	"SHH! I don't want her to find me!" Ranma hissed insistently.
	Akane was now looking up at him as well. "Don't want who to find you?"
	"My mother!" Ranma hissed back down at her.
	"Wow, some juicy family problems you have?" Ran grinned as she whipped
her pad and pencil into her hands.
	"Ran!"
	"Sorry, Akane. Force of habit." Ran put away her pad. She did not,
however, turn off her tape recorder.


		Hybrid Theory Chapter 9: Hit The Floor


Blade: Yeah.  I bet the readers are TERRIFIED for poor Ranma's fate.  He'll
never make it out of THIS one alive, folks!












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