[FFML] Quantum Destinies 27

[Jurai Knight]

*** Earth 0.000, 0.000



Soun paused at the open door to Akane’s room, dressed in a casual robe,
having just enjoyed a leisurely bath before he dressed and went out to join
Genma for some drinking and relaxation. Nabiki wasn’t home, but since it
was a Saturday night, she was possibly out on another date with Ranma.
Things seemed to be going well for the couple. That made him happy, even
though it also felt subtly wrong that it was not Akane the boy was with.
Even so, a Tendo and Saotome would be wedded, so it was still good.



He watched his youngest daughter for a few moments, as Akane leaned over
her schoolwork in intense concentration. The studious sight drew up
memories from two lives. This Akane was so much like his own in so many
ways, he thought fondly as he studied her, smiling.



However, his attention was drawn away from the girl to a familiar sight
that caused him to frown deeply, an image that conjured up unpleasant
memories for him. Hanging on the wall above his daughter’s desk was a
full-length, life-sized poster of Shampoo, dressed in a light purple silk
fighting outfit, her body shown poised in a combat stance. It was one of
three different posters that Akane had of the Chinese girl hung up around
her room, not to mention owning three videos she was in and a small stack
of lurid magazines with interviews with her. He studied the picture of the
Amazon, remembering very bitterly that last day when Genma had taken Ranma
and Shampoo from his house and terminated the engagement.



No, not Genma. It was the Genma of this world who had done that, this
‘Professor Saotome’ person who had broken the sacred promise to unite the
two families together. He had cast aside the agreement like it was nothing,
dismissed it as some drunken agreement of no consequence and then he had
taken Ranma and that miserable Chinese freak away. Soun forced himself to
calm down, feeling his temper rising as he recalled the events of that day.



When Ranma had gotten home after helping rescue Akane, the boy had been
quite respectful to his father-



Wait.



Soun paused and thought about that scene again for a moment, studying it
from a perspective he had not been able to before, and he made a connection
at that moment that startled him. Over several cups of sake on the day he
had first been brought here, Genma had told him about how this Ranma was in
his lab that entire day, not coming home until late in the evening.



Could it be?



Soun blinked in astonishment at what he had just realized and then his
expression began to darken into an icy rage.



Why that miserable punk, he thought grimly. It had been _this_ Ranma who
had broken his little girl’s heart, leaving willingly with that Shampoo
girl. He glanced at the poster again, his gaze now grown cold. He
considered the best way to punish the boy for his conceit. No, not just
punish him, to make Ranma beg for his help, to break his spirit.



This arrogant boy and his father had interfered in a matter of honor that
was not their concern. Everything would have been just fine if he and that
other Genma had never butted into their lives. Akane would surely have wed
Ranma eventually, joining together their two families and Schools, and
Shampoo would have eventually left. But those two had chosen to interfere
in that fate, to change it.



A mirthless smile crossed Soun’s lips as the plan quickly gained detail in
his mind. What was it that this world’s version of Shampoo did each Friday
night? Oh, yes. The ‘Amazon Challenge’ was what it was called. That would
be perfect. He recalled Genma had mentioned enlisting the boy in it as a
form of training, to further hone his fighting skills, but he had not made
the connection at the time, being a bit too drunk.



Soun was quite certain that the Amazon’s counterpart on this world would
quickly crush the pigtailed boy during the worldwide television broadcast.
While he had gained that other Ranma’s skills and was a product of numerous
enhancements from Project Phoenix, even those advantages could not replace
the years of physical conditioning a true martial artist with such skills
would have, conditioning that the boy he knew on the other world had gone
through and this one had not. He would be out of his depth and would lose
to the Amazon, lose badly, thereby forfeiting months of his life that would
then be spent fighting for the Empire’s pleasure in the Arena.



After the boy had healed up and stewed in his fate for a while, he would
make Ranma an offer that he would be foolish to refuse, not if he wanted
his freedom back before serving out his time. And then the cocky little
punk would have to do whatever he asked. He would simply have no choice.



It was a perfect plan, and Soun could see no way that the boy would be able
to escape it, no matter how smart he was. He would not be able to think his
way out of this one. Instead, he would have to deal with it using the same
tools that other Ranma would have used, relying on his martial arts and
fighting his way out of it. But this version of the boy was woefully
lacking in that area, no matter what was now imprinted on his nervous
system. The Chinese girl would mercilessly trounce him on worldwide
television when they had their match together.



Yes, Soun mused as he continued on towards his room to change clothes, it
was going to be a fitting fate for that arrogant boy.





xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Quantum Destinies

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic

By S. Thesken aka Jurai Knight (qd_author at hotmail.com)



Ranma 1/2 and its characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi. This story is
inspired by her works and the stories from some of my fellow fanfic
authors. Among these are D.B. Sommer’s “Shampoo 1/2”, Jim Bader’s “A Very
Scary Thought -aka- Nabiki 1/2”, and John Biles’ Elseworlds series. All C&C
is welcome.





Before reading this chapter, please check out DB Sommer’s two works: “Path
of the Warrior” and “Life on the Inside”





Other chapters of this story may be found at this website, or you can email
the author for them:



http://www.fanfiction.net/u/3764932/





The list of worlds reoccurring in this chapter:

Earth 0.000, 0.000 - The world of Scholar Ranma (Baseline cluster)

Earth +0.001, -0.001 – The world of Scholar Ranko (Baseline cluster)





What has gone before in this story (or at least what will help you
understand what is going on):



On a parallel Earth that diverged from the standard Ranma timeline over
five hundred years ago, the Empire of Japan rules almost half the world and
has done so for almost a century. Theorizing that one could travel to
alternate timelines by possessing counterparts in them, a young scientist
named Ranma Saotome, through use of a device of his own invention,
accidentally obtained the skills and memories of a martial artist version
of himself. Mikado shared an intimate moment with the White Lily and mused
on his plans for Kodachi. Jun Fan Lee trained Ranma in both his male and
female forms. The omiai with the Masakis did not go well. Godai had dates
with Kasumi and Ayaka. Nabiki, Kodachi and Ranma attended the Spring Formal
at Ohtori, and the evening ended with a fight. Afterwards, Utena enlisted
Miki and Touga to help her attain Ranma.





xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Chapter 27 – The Chinese Amazon Connection, Part I



     In the event that a woman warrior is defeated by an outsider,

     if her opponent is a man, she must make him her husband.



                              - The Laws Of The Amazons



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx





*** Earth +0.001, -0.001



“I’m telling you, I’m fine, Mother.”



Exasperated at her daughter’s continuing stubbornness, Nodoka turned to
face Dr. Tofu, standing there with a mildly amused expression on his face.
“She’s been home for over a week, and she still can’t remember anything
from the time she went missing.”



“Well, we’ve done MRI scans and run every test I can think of, and
everything checks out fine.” He checked through Ranko’s chart. “I don’t see
any reason to keep her in the hospital any longer. As far as her missing
memories go, they may come back over time, or they may not. The brain is
still very much a mystery to medical science. However, from what I can see,
there is no physiological damage.”



Kaneda Tendo appeared outside the window and gave Ranko a brief wave, and
she smiled. One good thing about coming home was that her former tormenter
had been much nicer to her. Since he wasn’t family, he had been sneaking
into her hospital room and bringing flowers or snacks for her. The two of
them had talked a lot since her return. His attitude towards her had
changed, and she had been revising her opinion of him.



When everyone was gone, she went over and opened the window. Kaneda slipped
into the room and presented her with a small box of candy. “I was listening
outside,” he said. “So, you’re coming home tomorrow?”



“Yeah, that’s right,” Ranko replied, pulling her robe around her body a bit
tighter, suddenly feeling shy. “Thanks for the gift.” Now that he was near,
she felt the familiar soft tingling he always made her feel.



“I-I’m glad you’re okay.” Kaneda stood there, feeling the attraction for
her he had felt ever since the first day they met, a feeling he had
previously tried to cover over by being macho and insulting to hide his
insecurity around her. “It just hasn’t been the same without you around.”



She touched his arm and smiled. “If you keep being this nice to me, I might
let you walk me to school.” She blushed and looked away, taking her hand
from him. “You know, if you wanted to. Not that I’m saying I want you to.”



“I might take you up on that offer,” he said, hopping back up to the
window. He gave her a smile. “Goodnight, Ranko-chan.”



“Goodnight, Kaneda-kun.” She closed the curtain and sighed happily. She
then went to lie back down in bed.



Observing the scene invisibly from a corner, Bernkastel nodded. She had
succeeded in removing the girl’s memories of the other worlds she had seen,
and she did not recall how she visited them. That was good.



This world was already free of the Shogun, but that victory had only been
an illusory one for Bernkastel. With her direct aid, a teenaged Yumi Kuonji
and her lover Comb had died in battle against the Shogun over twenty years
ago. In that same battle, Cologne and Katsuhito Masaki had made the
ultimate heroic sacrifice, foiling the Shogun’s latest attempt at
apotheosis on this particular iteration. Seeing him vulnerable after facing
all those foes, the witch had attempted to end the Shogun’s life here,
trying to finish it herself as she had once before, but it had only caused
a divergence to form like it had on her previous attempt at taking a more
direct hand, five centuries earlier in the timeline.



For some reason, the Shogun could not be killed if she interfered too much.
Doing so only caused a split in time, creating a new divergence, in this
case creating the Saotome boy’s timeline over twenty years ago. She was
certain her powers could lock down and prevent another such split from
occurring, but it would require her to focus on that when the decisive
moment arrived, which meant she could not be a direct participant in the
scenario. The Shogun would have to be ended by someone who was part of that
scenario and not an outsider from time like herself, so she would need to
construct the board carefully and position her pieces as best she could
beforehand.



Bernkastel gave one last glance at Ranko. Removing the girl’s memories of
her inter-dimensional travels eliminated a variable she could ill afford to
allow to exist at this point. The final defeat of the Shogun was an outcome
she would do anything to achieve, to finally find the right mix of pieces
that would allow her out of this Schrodinger’s maze of altered timelines
and win the safety of all her entertaining worlds she so enjoyed playing
with.



She shimmered and vanished.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



*** Earth 0.000, 0.000



On Saturday evening, Lord Kuno tipped back his mug of beer and quaffed
deeply from it, the cold amber liquid rolling easily down his throat. He
smiled at his two companions seated at the private table they shared.



“Never thought I’d ever see the two of you sitting together as friends,
Saotome-kun,” he said, setting down his glass, noting the addition of Soun
Tendo. The two had come in together, instead of Genma’s normally solitary
arrival for what had become their usual night out carousing on Saturdays.



Genma grinned. “Times change, Kuno-kun,” he replied. He took a deep drink
of his own beer and sighed with enjoyment. “Nothing like a cold beer to
bring an end to the week, eh, Tendo-kun?”



“Quite right, Saotome-kun,” said Soun, nodding once before taking a drink
from his own glass. He felt himself relaxing after his upset earlier that
evening about Shampoo and Ranma. Work was becoming more stressful as well.
Events at the Directorate were starting to get complicated now that the
current Director had announced his imminent retirement. It had been
expected for some time, but now that it was official, the politics had
kicked into high gear.



Akemi Roppongi came over to their table and promptly sat down on Lord
Kuno’s lap. “I see I’ll be working extra hard for you boys tonight.” She
gave Lord Kuno a deep and lingering kiss and then she smiled at Soun and
Genma saucily before turning her gaze back to the nobleman. “You let me
know how many girls you’d like for tonight, Milord.” She grinned as he
patted her bottom, before she picked up their last round of empties and
went off to bring more.



“G-girls, Saotome-kun?” Soun gulped, suddenly a bit nervous. While he and
Genma had shared a drink with Akemi in the other bar she worked at, he had
already been a bit drunk at the time. Remembering the warmth of her body
next to his, her hand caressing his thigh, made him feel embarrassed now.



When they had entered this bar, he had noticed the numerous attractive,
scantily-clad young women serving drinks and sitting in booths with
patrons, even more than had been at the other bar. But seeing Lord Kuno
fondling Akemi openly had just brought everything home to him. He suddenly
felt out of place, something his younger self on this world would have
found amusing. This bar was different from the usual sorts of taverns he
and Genma would have frequented back at home, simple establishments where a
man could just drink a beer and talk with friends.



Genma grinned. “Relax, Tendo-kun. It’s all harmless fun. Am I right,
Kuno-kun?”



“Quite right, Saotome-kun,” said the man, grinning. “Sampling the water
trade is a time-honored tradition for men to relax and be men.” He took a
deep drink while gazing over the rim of his glass at Genma and then set it
back down on the table. “Although I trust that your boy is never going to
frequent such establishments as this. He’s going to marry my precious
daughter, after all.”



Genma blinked, surprised. “Ranma?” he snorted derisively. “Have no fears on
that. The boy’s never had a drink in his life, and his head would probably
explode if he came into a place like this.” He grinned, casually watching
one of the bar girls sauntering by.



“Saotome-kun,” Soun prompted, nudging his friend.



Genma took another drink, pulling his gaze away from the girl’s rear. “Uh,
yes. Tendo-kun and I wanted to talk to you about that. Ranma’s engagement
to Kodachi.” He chuckled. “There’s kind of a funny thing that happened, you
see.”



“If this is about Ranma being engaged to his daughter and the Kuonji girl,
I already know,” said Lord Kuno, setting down his glass. His expression was
neutral.



The frank admission set Genma back a bit. “Uh, you know?”



Soun was startled as well. The Kuonji girl? He gave Genma a look.



“I make it a point to keep tabs on my dealings with others, in case any
complications appear,” Lord Kuno replied. He signaled for another round for
the table. “It doesn’t bother me much, so long as Kodachi is fine with the
arrangement. As far as I’m concerned, Ranma can marry a dozen girls if he
likes. I’m sure my wife will have a different opinion, but my only concern
is my little girl’s happiness. She’s my only daughter. If you had one,
you’d understand.” His gaze shifted to Soun. “Having three daughters
yourself, I’m sure you do, Tendo-san. Am I right?”



Soun nodded, taking a deep drink from his glass to calm himself, a bit
irritated with Genma for pulling a repeat of his stunt with Ukyo. He set
his glass down and looked at the nobleman. “I do. My only concern for my
two remaining unmarried daughters is that they both find good husbands.”



“Then I don’t see a problem,” Lord Kuno grinned. “Unless the girls don’t
get along, that is. Then things could get difficult.” He gave Genma a look.
“I trust we understand each other, Saotome-kun?”



Genma nodded, sweating a bit.



“Good,” said the nobleman more pleasantly. “Then drink up. The night is
young, and I’m buying.” He raised his glass. “Here’s to your son,
Saotome-kun. May he grow to be a man among men and keep all the women in
his life happy and contented.”



All three men clinked their glasses together and drank deeply.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Roanapur was a cesspit of a city.



That was Perfume’s thought as she looked out the window of the small hotel
room she and Mousse were sharing after their arrival here. Her companion
was currently taking a shower, having refused to use the cold water showers
available on the train during the long and sweaty trip here, never giving
her a satisfying reason. She had no idea Mousse was such a weakling as to
avoid bathing in cold water, something Perfume personally found
invigorating. Shampoo was welcome to him, the stupid, pathetic, half-blind
fool.



As she looked down, she saw two local women on the street, prostitutes by
their dress and manner, chatting in a friendly manner with a pair of
Imperial soldiers. Her lip curled with disdain at the sight of it. The
thought of a woman selling herself like that to whatever man had money in
his pocket to pay her was anathema to how she had been raised. She wondered
idly if Shampoo had fallen that far in her corruption by outsider men.
Hopefully not, she mused.



The sights of this city had been bad enough, but it also smelled of filth
and corruption. It was like a taint in the air, one she was sure the locals
no longer even noticed. It made her feel very far away from the clean air
of her home village. She could hardly wait to find what they needed and get
away from this place before it tainted her too.



Like many, she had heard numerous stories and rumors about this place
during her travels as she prepared for her rematch against Shampoo. It was
said that this city was controlled by a secretive organization known as
Shadowlaw, which was in turn said to be controlled by the even more
mysterious figure who called himself the Shogun of the Dark. The drug trade
of the Empire flowed through here, aided by bribes and payoffs at all
levels of the regional government, one of the main engines of commerce that
Shadowlaw controlled. The Empire’s hold on the place was weak, creating the
festering pit that Perfume now had to deal with.



She heard the water shut off in the bathroom. Mousse emerged, rubbing a
towel through his long hair. Without turning to look at him, she said in
Mandarin, “<Get dressed. We need to start looking for passage and the
paperwork we’ll need.>”



Perfume went back to looking out the window as she heard him getting ready.
She hoped they found what they needed quickly. She wanted to be away from
this place as soon as possible.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



“Dear, I’m concerned about Manami-chan.”



Maho Minami grunted once at his wife’s words, and Kunami was relieved to
know he was awake and listening as she sat there in bed next to him.



“She’s been dating an awful lot of boys lately. Why, just this week alone
she went out with three different ones. And now she’s friends with that
trashy Mano girl, Yohko.”



She sniffed disdainfully. “I knew her mother when I was younger, the little
man-stealing tramp.” Her gaze hardened as she spoke. “She went through boys
like they were tissue paper or something, so it was no surprise she had a
child out of wedlock. Why, I’ve heard that this Yohko girl is just like
her, and she’s already had several boyfriends herself. Now she’s even
involved with Manami-chan’s senpai, Kyosuke. He always seemed like such a
nice boy, certainly not the type to take up with a loose girl like that.
How his poor mother must feel.”



She sniffed again. “To think our sweet, little Manami-chan is friends with
such a person like that dreadful Mano girl. Frankly, dear, I’m very
worried.”



He grunted once, shifting his position in the darkness.



“Yes, I haven’t forgotten the recent changes in her appearance. It’s
obvious that she’s finally inherited my good looks and blossomed into quite
a beautiful young woman. But she’s now at that age where she should start
planning out her future. Don’t you agree?”



There was another guttural grunt from his side of the bed and a faint
rustling of sheets.



Kunami gave out a relieved sigh. “I’m so glad you agree, dear. Now, I’ve
been giving it a lot of thought, and there’s just one thing to do at this
point, before our daughter throws away her future with this libidinous
lifestyle she’s pursuing.” She paused a moment, gazing fondly at her
husband as he appeared to sleep while they talked. They always seemed to
communicate best at such times, especially after making up in bed from one
of their frequent fights. She knew it kept their marriage fresh that they
could express their passions so well with each other.



She smiled and said, “I think we should find Manami-chan a husband.”



She nodded at his grunt. “Yes, I know we’ve discussed it before, and you
always felt she was too young. But now she’s also become involved with that
Kisaragi woman as her mentor, still unmarried at her age. Why, in only a
few years, she’ll be thirty. It’s shameful! No, you can’t talk me out of it
this time.” She looked out the window. “But decent matchmakers are so
expensive, so how will we find Manami-chan a proper young man?”



Maho made a questioning grumble in his throat, and he laid his arm across
his face. Kunami smiled brightly as she looked back at him.



“Why, that’s just a perfect idea, dear. He’s always been well-mannered
whenever he’s been over here for study sessions with Manami-chan, and
they’ve known each other for so many years. And I’m sure his mother would
be pleased to make a match as well, since I’m sure his prospects are not
the best. After all, you married me and look how well our own marriage has
turned out. Oh, I’m sure our little Manami-chan will be simply thrilled!”
She smiled and lay back down next to him.



“I’m so glad we had this talk. You’ve put my mind at ease, dear.”



Maho began to snore. Kunami cuddled up to him, happy to have such a good
husband at her side, and one who listened to her so well too, even after
sex. She drifted off into a contented sleep as she thought about her
daughter’s future happiness as a married woman.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Director Kasuga looked up from finally coming to the end of reading through
this week’s pile of papers that had been looming over his desk when the
intercom buzzed for his attention. Setting down his pen, he reached over
and tapped at it.



“Yes?” His voice sounded tired, even to himself. It was after eight on a
weekend, and he was still in the office. The long days were really starting
to catch up to him. He resolved to take Sunday off, maybe spend some time
with his daughter and grandson.



“Frost is here to see you, sir.”



“That’s fine. Send her in.” He shuffled the papers in front of him back
into a rough semblance of order as the door opened. He could use a break.



Frost came in quietly and bowed slightly to the agent holding open the door
for her. Her pale hair was held back in a loose ponytail by a jade
hairpiece, her feet covered in soft silk slippers and she was wearing a
silvery silken robe with embroideries of pale gold thread depicting a
stylized Phoenix, the Chinese symbol of femininity. The outfit made her
albino coloring even more otherworldly.



After taking a seat in front of him without speaking or waiting to be
offered a chair, she sat quietly for several moments. She fidgeted slightly
as he studied her, bouncing her heels a little. When he still said nothing
after several more moments, she finally looked up at him. Her gaze had a
glimmering of emotion in it, an unusual sight to see in the normally placid
girl.



Director Kasuga folded his hands in front of him and tried his best to
smile reassuringly. After all, the Chinese sorceress was one of his pet
projects, and he had been her legal guardian for many years, ever since the
unfortunate death of her parents in an incident in China that had first
brought her to his attention. “So, what can I do for you, Frost?”



“I-it’s about what happened to me after the Belldandy matter,” said the
girl, her usual cool and confident tones absent. She looked a bit uncertain
of herself as she lowered her gaze to the floor. “Th-there was a boy, a
trainee of the Institute. H-he defeated me.” Her voice fell almost to a
whisper as she blushed slightly. “I-I would like to see him again.”



Director Kasuga blinked. Frost had been involved in dozens of arcane duels,
going back to her arrival years ago. When she was only ten years old, one
of her classmates, no doubt jealous of the foreign girl’s much greater
talent, had learned of her people’s Amazon code and had spread it around
the Institute as a way of mocking the pale-skinned girl and her aloofness.
With typical male pride, one boy had challenged Frost to a duel that same
week, a top-ranked student two years older than the Amazon sorceress.



Frost defeated him within moments, knocking him unconscious with a blast of
icy magefire. Within a single week, a score of the Mobius Institute’s most
promising young mages had joined the boy in defeat, and her legend began.
Someone began calling her the Wizard Slayer and the nickname stuck. Her
natural magical talents, already vast in their potential, appeared to
thrive on each new challenge. Her power and skill grew with every victory.
So it was with every young wizard and esper who dared to challenge her. Not
one proved able to defeat her.



Until now.



“So, who is this young man who has caught your eye?” asked Director Kasuga
with keen interest as he studied Frost. He was curious to know what young
prodigy had finally taken down the undefeated legend, and he noted idly
that the girl was showing more emotion now than he could ever remember her
displaying before, though they were still only brief flashes. Even in the
midst of a battle, Frost’s countenance would always remain utterly composed
and as cool as her namesake, which had earned her a less respectful
nickname of ‘Robot Girl’ from one of her female peers. It was quite
possible that her defeat had rattled her self-control.



Frost whispered a name too softly for him to hear, and a slight blush
appeared on her cheeks.



“I’m afraid I didn’t quite catch that, Frost. Could you repeat his name a
little louder?” He leaned forward, his curiosity tantalized.



“I-it’s Hikaru. Hikaru Gosunkugi.” And Frost smiled, a tiny wisp of a
smile, as she said his name, her gaze looking down at the floor as she sat
demurely.



“I don’t believe it,” Director Kasuga remarked, sitting back heavily in his
chair with an astonished look on his face. That name was the absolute last
one he would have ever expected the pale-skinned girl to utter in answer to
his question. He noted that Frost was once again fidgeting slightly in her
seat, her slender hands resting on her knees as they bounced up and down a
tiny amount.



“I-it’s true.” Frost looked at the floor demurely as she spoke softly. “He
defeated me in single combat. By the laws of my people, he is my ‘Airen’
now. He is the man I must marry.” Frost blushed again slightly, and the
crimson flush showed up rather starkly against the paleness of her skin.
She fidgeted some more.



Director Kasuga studied the young Amazon sorceress for several moments
before smiling. “Then I am happy for you, Frost,” he said sincerely. “So,
what are your plans now?”



“I’ve thought a great deal about this since that night, and I would like to
go live with him in his mother’s home,” Frost replied, still looking
demurely at the floor. “Even though it is not true under the Empire’s laws,
in the eyes of my people, he is my husband. I should be with him. I-I wish
to be with him.”



Director Kasuga sat back in his chair and thought for a moment. Frost was
indirectly asking his permission to move out of the small dormitory room
she had lived in since she was nine. He then said, “Well, you’re partially
correct. The Empire has recognized the Amazon laws in this regard as an
engagement, as fully and as legally binding as any other engagement
contract, so you are now his fiancée, assuming he fulfilled all the
requirements involved. But are you sure this is what you want?”



“Yes,” she replied softly, nodding her head once without lifting her gaze.



“Then you have my blessing, Frost-chan,” he said, slipping for a moment
into more familiar tones. While she was a valuable asset of the Mobius
Institute, he had come to look on her as another daughter over the years.
And he trusted her judgment that this would not interfere with her duties
to the Empire. “I will telephone his mother and inform her of your arrival,
as well as the circumstances surrounding it.”



Frost looked up at that point, and a quiet smile was on her face. She stood
and bowed to him. “Thank you, sir. I should be done with packing tomorrow.
I plan to see him first thing on Monday morning.”



Director Kasuga watched her as she left his office. When she was gone, he
turned around in his chair and faced out the armored glass of his window.
He shook his head slightly.



“Hikaru Gosunkugi,” he said with a bemused shake of his head. “Will wonders
never cease?”



After a time, he turned back to the intercom on his desk and buzzed his
aide. “Bring me Hikaru Gosunkugi’s file and schedule the boy for a full
battery of tests. It seems we have some serious revising to do on his
capabilities.”



“Yes, sir.”



Director Kasuga shook his head. Another name that was associated with
Nabiki Tendo and Ranma Saotome had turned up in a most surprising way.
Although he had given his word to Cherry to keep the Institute at a
distance from the duo, he resolved to talk a bit with his friend Soun
sometime in the near future about his middle daughter.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Early Sunday morning, Godai rolled over on to his side on the futon and
immediately wished he hadn’t. The room started spinning immediately, and he
laid still for several moments until the movement came to a gradual stop.
He slowly rolled on to his back and looked up at an unfamiliar ceiling, not
knowing where he was at first.



A soft snore alerted him to the presence of another, and he looked over to
see Ayaka next to him, asleep with her mouth open, drooling a little bit
into her pillow. He studied the scene for a few moments before his brain
finally engaged and then his eyes suddenly widened. He sat up quickly,
almost immediately wishing he hadn’t. He held his head as the room spun
again, and his stomach was making gurgling noises of warning.



Meanwhile, Ayaka was dreaming a pleasant dream about Godai. The two of them
were frolicking together on an island paradise somewhere. She was dressed
in a sarong and a bikini and he was dressed only in a pair of swim trunks.
The two of them eventually became entwined in each other’s arms at the edge
of the surf and began to kiss deeply as waves crashed in nearby.



Godai heard his companion suddenly start chuckling in her sleep and making
groaning sounds. Now that the room was stabilizing again, he noted that he
was still mostly dressed and so was Ayaka. He was very grateful for that,
since he had little memory of last night. He had a vague recollection of
the two of them talking about dating, but the rest of their evening
together was a blur after all the rum and other alcoholic drinks they had.
He did remember carrying her home after doing karaoke with her, but not
much else.



Eventually getting to his feet, he staggered to the bathroom and then
checked his appearance in the mirror there. He smoothed his hair down with
the aid of some water from the tap and drank a bit to ease his thirst. His
pants, shirt and tie were all rumpled from his sleeping in them. He tucked
in his shirt and straightened his tie. Exiting the bathroom, he saw his
jacket was hung near the front door.



Ayaka was still slumbering, chuckling occasionally in her sleep as she laid
with her arms and legs splayed out. Her blouse was partially open, exposing
her breasts, and she wasn’t wearing a bra. He gazed at the sight, unable to
look away for a moment. Had they done something last night? He could not
remember.



Deciding it was better to let her rest, he went to the entryway and put on
his jacket and shoes. He opened the door quietly and went out into the
hallway, closing it softly behind him and hearing the latch engage. He
checked it once to make sure it was locked and then left.



Sometime later, Ayaka woke up from her sleep, finding herself kissing and
hugging one of her pillows. She blinked, wondering where Godai was and then
realized she had been dreaming. Now fully awake, she vaguely recalled him
carrying her home on his back last night while she held an almost empty
sake bottle in her hand and sang. She smiled when she realized he must have
gone home after helping her get back to her apartment. Unlike some other
men she had dated, Godai was not the type to try taking advantage of a
drunken woman. He really was a nice guy.



She put her hands behind her head and looked up at the ceiling, still
smiling, thinking about what it would be like to have someone like him as
her boyfriend. The thought made her feel really happy.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Hinako sat in bed and gazed at the form slumbering next to her. She nibbled
on her lower lip in concern, contemplating the sleeping Tofu Ono. She had
never let herself be so careless before.



After the debacle with Ranma, her resulting rage at Gendo for causing her
to miss her opportunity to seduce the boy had managed to snap her
self-control, and she had thrown him out the window. Luckily, she had
retained enough awareness to aim the end of his fall at the pool. While
temporarily cathartic, the violence had done nothing to ease her body’s
needs in other areas. As her other regular bedmates were not available that
week for one reason or another, she had been getting increasingly edgy each
day and then Kasumi’s husband had come in to see her for a meeting, to
discuss how things were going for his young wife.



She had rarely felt such a sudden attraction for a man, and she had turned
on the charm without fully realizing what she was doing. Since it was
towards the end of her normal work day, they had adjourned to an out of the
way tavern to continue their discussion. After a couple of drinks, he had
made the admission that he was unhappy in his marriage. Other men had made
similar confessions to her during her rise to power, men she had used and
later discarded when they were no longer useful to her, preying upon their
moral weakness. Her own needs driving her to an action she would not
normally have done, she had seduced Tofu, not that he had resisted much.



They had gone to a love hotel and spent many, many hours satisfying each
other’s needs. Hinako was impressed with his stamina, and he was the first
man to have completely satisfied her. That led to her present confusion.
She wanted more of him, everything he had to give her, and she was willing
to toss aside all of her other bedmates and take him alone as her lover.
She might even have fallen in love with him, but she was not sure.



She gazed at Tofu and pondered what to do. Continuing the affair would be
dangerous, but that danger had a certain appeal as well. She laid back down
next to him and caressed his side gently as he slumbered.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Outside the love hotel, Kasumi eyed the door of the room where her husband
and her superior in the Security Directorate had gone the night before, her
eyes burning from lack of sleep, sustaining herself mostly on tea and
coffee as the sun rose higher. She felt mostly empty inside. She supposed
she should feel betrayed, but she was oddly more relieved than anything
else. In her pocket was a digital camera with the proof of her husband’s
infidelity, including several pictures taken through a gap in the curtains
of the room that clearly showed both parties in the middle of the act. She
had already uploaded them to a secure server, just in case.



Her marriage was over in her mind. Now she had to pick up the pieces of her
life and decide what to do with the rest of it. She could not tell her
father or sisters of this, not yet, and while her new friend Yui Ikari
would likely be an understanding ear, having been betrayed in recent months
by her ex-boyfriend in a similar set of circumstances, it was too risky,
since she might tell Hinako out of loyalty. She felt the need to speak with
somebody about her problem, but, who? Then, like a sudden flash of
inspiration, she realized she did have someone she could tell all of her
troubles to, someone she had come to trust and possibly even love.



Yusaku Godai.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



“You’re going to have to hit harder than that if you want to win, Akane!
Come on! Faster! Harder!”



Sakura Kasugano braced herself on the other side of the heavy punching bag
as Akane laid into it with renewed vigor. She was actually driven back a
little from the sheer force that the other girl was bringing to bear as she
pummeled its mass with powerful punches. “That’s it! Keep it up, Akane!”



Her fists impacted deeply into the bag’s resistance as Akane worked her
body as hard as she could. She had to get stronger and faster than she was
now if she was going to put Nabiki down, to avenge herself for her sister’s
treachery. She had been intensifying her training regimen even beyond what
her mother had ever put Kasumi though. With Sakura’s able assistance,
advice and coaching, Akane was honing her already strong fighting abilities
into a precision instrument.



Sakura had already begun teaching her the special technique that she had
used in their fight together, the Cherry Blossom Fist, showing her how to
harness her internal energies and release it through her fists as
destructive power. She had not mastered it yet, but it was only a matter of
time. Akane could hardly wait to use it against Nabiki, to pay her sister
back for her heartless betrayal.



Cloaked in invisibility, Minami watched Akane train, fascinated by the
sheer determination so clearly visible in the other girl’s eyes. She had
been watching and learning about the Tendo girl for weeks now, ever since
she had made the decision to befriend her. Her initial dislike for Akane,
as a rival for the Ghost Sweeper’s desires for Gosunkugi, had long since
vanished. All Akane talked about was Ranma. No other boy even interested
her.



She envied the two girls in their close friendship that she had seen, and
she found herself wanting such a friendship too. While she was now friends
with Yohko, she knew Yohko’s best friend was really Nabiki, and that would
not change. She wanted a best friend too, a girl she could confide in and
share interests with, now that her former best friend, Rei Hino, was far
too pre-occupied with her fiancé to spend any time with her anymore.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Early Monday morning, Kunami was preparing her daughter’s lunch when she
heard a sound in the next room. Wiping her hands, she walked into the
living room. She thought she glimpsed some movement out of the corner of
her eye, but there was nothing there when she looked more directly.



Her husband had already left to prepare for his day at the temple. He was
developing an unhealthy obsession with a recently refurbished Shinto shrine
in the area, one being run by the elderly Katsuhito Masaki and the boy,
Tenchi. With the pretty Rei Hino acting as their shrine maiden and the
foreign beauty named Belldandy around, there was a surge of interest in the
place, which translated into more visitors. It was leaving her husband’s
temple with much fewer visitors, hence the sudden obsession by her husband
to deal with the new competition.



Kunami was about to turn and go back into the kitchen when she noted an
envelope on the table. She picked it up and opened it. Her eyes widened at
what she saw inside and then she clutched the document to her chest, her
eyes beaming with happiness.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Minami put the finishing touches on herself and then incanted the words
that had by now become second nature to her, sealing the spell of cosmetic
sorcery in place until the next sunrise. She then spent several moments
admiring her physique in the mirror. A smile lit her face at what she saw,
her figure looking nicely firm and well-rounded today. She first turned to
one side and then the other as she struck a few poses, some quite demure
and others more sultry and suggestive in nature. She then nodded at the
effect, her face turning serious.



“Perfect,” she murmured. “Now let Gosunkugi-kun just try and ignore me.”
She felt a new determination filling her. She had begun to doubt the power
of her femininity to attract his attention, but today was a new day and the
start of a new week. She was confident that he would pay her more attention
now, hopefully even ask her out on a date.



And if he knew what was good for him, he would finally take more notice of
her when she showed up at his door to walk with him to the Academy today.
Grabbing up her schoolbag, she exited her bedroom and headed downstairs.
Her step was filled with purpose.



Today was going to be a good day for her, she was confident of that.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Hitomi Gosunkugi was nervous as she fixed her son’s breakfast. Today was
the day when she would finally be hearing back from Genom on her
application for a loan to purchase a lilith. Unfortunately, the best she
could afford on their limited budget was one of Genom’s factory seconds
with minimal training packages installed. Still, she (since Hitomi didn’t
like thinking of a lilith as an ‘it’) would be able to help maintain the
household and be a companion for her little Hikaru, and that was all that
really mattered to her.



Visiting Genom’s new showroom in Nerima’s commercial district had actually
been quite a pleasant experience, and she had seen a great many varieties
of the female liliths and the male samaels on display for potential
customers. It reminded her a bit of how shopping for a car had been like
when she had gone with her husband, back when he was still alive, but a car
could not talk with an interested buyer about available options and pricing
plans like a Genom replicant could.



In fact, the only real human being there had been the general manager.
Everyone else on staff had been produced in one of Genom’s production
facilities, from the demonstration models and salespeople right down to the
cleaning staff. And all of them had been so nice to her; it had made her
feel so much at ease.



One of the samaels, a handsome and muscular young man named Ryo had seemed
quite happy to take her around the showroom and introduce her to the
various models on display. She had not known that there was such a variety
available. He had also happily explained about Genom’s new sales drive this
year, to make replicants more commonly available to the average family by
offering cash rebates and very low-interest payment plans.



She had left her information, and Ryo had promised to look around for a
bargain for her. She hoped he was successful in his search. The wait was
starting to fray her nerves. If a lilith did arrive, she hoped Hikaru would
be happy with his new companion.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Frost materialized in the hallway outside the apartment where Hikaru lived
with his mother, startling one of the neighbors on his way to work. Instead
of her usual loose robes, she was wearing a pale blue Chinese-style dress,
tailored to her figure and slit up one side to just below her hip, with
dark blue shoes and a small matching pocketbook. After shrinking her staff
down to the size of a pencil, she put it inside her purse and snapped it
shut. She then cast a simple charm spell on the man, who was still staring
at her, causing him to forget her sudden appearance and even ignore her
current presence. She watched him as he walked down the hall, muttering to
himself.



When she was finally alone in the hallway, Frost pulled out a small compact
and did one last check on her appearance in its tiny mirror, wanting to
make a good first impression on her future mother-in-law. She smoothed back
her pale hair with one hand and adjusted her jade hairpiece, fussing with
it until it was just right. When she was finally satisfied, she put the
compact away and took a deep breath to calm herself, letting it out as she
rang the bell. Her expression became placid once again, especially since a
smile might have made her appear frivolous. Besides, she was unused to
smiling, or even showing any emotions actually.



Then she waited.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



“Mother, why are you walking with me to Gosunkugi-kun’s place?” Minami
asked in irritation, turning around briefly. Rain dripped off of their
umbrellas. The woman had been walking with her for several minutes now,
making typical mother-daughter small talk with her. It was really getting
on Minami’s nerves, this rare attempt by her mother at familial closeness.



“I just have something to discuss with Hikaru-kun’s mother, and her
telephone wasn’t working,” Kunami said cryptically. “Besides, we don’t
spend much time together anymore, Manami-chan, so I thought I’d walk with
you and we could talk a bit about how things are going with you.”



“Great,” Minami muttered, pasting a smile on her face. The promising start
to the day was dimming.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Director Kasuga set down the telephone when the Gosunkugi household’s
number came up busy again. His aide came in at that point with some new
crisis threatening the Empire, so he decided he would just have to try
again later. Hopefully, a slight delay would not cause Frost any kind of
problems.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Hitomi jumped a bit when she heard the doorbell ring. She hurried out of
the kitchen and opened the front door. She blinked at the sight that
greeted her eyes, seeing the calm, pale-skinned girl standing on her
doorstep. Then she smiled. With coloring like that, Genom must have made
her. She was an adorable little lilith.



“Come in, dear,” Hitomi said pleasantly, standing aside to allow the girl
in and gesturing for her to come inside. “Come right in. I’ve been
expecting you. I wasn’t told your name, I’m afraid.”



“I am Frost.” Although her expression did not change, the sorceress was
relieved that she had not arrived before Director Kasuga had been able to
make his telephone call. She bowed slightly and then stepped into the small
apartment, looking around with interest. She noted that Hikaru’s mother was
studying her as she walked past.



Hitomi watched as Frost slipped off her shoes, looking the girl up and
down. Such an exotic name the lilith had, but it seemed to suit her. The
albino coloring and pale hair had been a bit of a shock at first, as well
as the girl’s Chinese features, but she had a certain ethereal beauty that
was pleasing to the eye. Her figure was slender but nicely proportioned,
with an adequate enough bustline to attract a boy’s attention without being
overdone like someone Hitomi could name. The silk dress she wore showed
that she possessed coltish, shapely legs. She was sure Hikaru would love
his new companion.



“Oh, let me go get my son,” she said, gushing with excitement. She shut the
door and hurried to Hikaru’s room. “Oh, he’s just going to adore you!”



Frost made her way to the main room and settled herself at the main table
to wait for Hikaru’s mother to deliver him to her. Although her face had an
appearance of wintry disinterest upon it, inside she felt quite pleased
that things were going so well, especially her future mother-in-law
accepting her so readily. She was looking forward to announcing her formal
claim upon Hikaru and setting a date for the wedding. She then wondered
what their future children would be like and started considering what she
would name them.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



He was falling. The streets of a vast, sprawling city lay spread before his
vision as he plummeted down towards the paving stones of Rome far below.
Terror gripped him as the scene blurred in his gaze as tears filled his
eyes, the ground rushing up at him as he rolled and tumbled helplessly.



Air roaring past him stole his voice. He could not breathe. He could not
scream. His life was about to end, and his own pride had killed him, for
dueling one of the Nazarene’s followers with magic. How could that
simpleton Peter have defeated him? He was Simon Magus, damn it! He was the
greatest sorcerer in the entire Roman Empire, the Lord of Illusions, and
yet he was about to die on the cobblestones of the Holy Way of Rome below
him within moments, bested by the powers of a mere fisherman.



His thoughts spiraled into regret, that he would never see his beloved
Helen again, never be able to feel the touch of her hand or taste her lips
anymore. Tears flowed from his eyes, and his soul screamed in defiance of
his fate. He would cheat it. He would cheat death. He would not let it end
this way!



The cobblestones zoomed upwards at him-



-and Hikaru Gosunkugi came awake with a gasp, his heart pounding. For a
moment, he didn’t know where he was and looked around wildly, yet his mind
was blank as to why he felt such blind terror, the reasons already vanished.



After a few moments, the familiar sights of his small room finally
registered on him. With a shuddering sigh, he buried his face in his hands
and tried to calm his labored breathing, to still the nameless fears that
had already begun to fade. As he did so, he heard someone knocking on his
door.



“Hikaru-kun?” Hitomi called through the door and then she knocked once
more. Her precious son was sometimes slow to wake in the morning.
“Hikaru-kun? There’s someone here to see you.” There was another pause.
“It’s a surprise I have for you.”



“A-all right, Mother,” he called back, his voice still a little shaky.
“I’ll be right out.” He slowly got out of bed and then began putting on his
uniform, wondering what was going on.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Minami rang the doorbell and waited for Hikaru or his mother to come and
answer the door. Behind her, her mother was humming cheerfully, a
suspicious thing in itself. The whole experience was beginning to seriously
grate on her. She shot her mother a glance, wondering what was going on in
the woman’s head. Impatiently, she rang again, leaning on the button a bit
this time. What was taking them so long?



Kunami Minami fingered the document in her purse, and she smiled as she
sighed wistfully. Her frequently erratic husband had surprised her once
again. No wonder he had been so nonchalant about their daughter’s future
when she had discussed the matter with him in bed. She still couldn’t quite
believe her good fortune when she had found the signed engagement contract
that morning, between her precious daughter and the Gosunkugi boy.
According to the date on it, it was made by her husband and Gosunkugi’s
dearly departed father years ago.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Hearing the doorbell ringing several times, and knowing that Hikaru’s
mother was busy, Frost got up from the table and took it upon herself to
answer it. Her bare feet padded softly on the tatami mats laid out neatly
on the floor. She rested her hand on the door handle, suddenly realizing
that she was acting just like a proper Japanese wife would. With a faint
smile on her face at that thought, she opened the door.



“Welcome to-” and then Frost stopped, seeing who was at the door. Her wisp
of a smile vanished as she stared at Minami, wondering what the Ghost
Sweeper trainee was doing here. And who was that stocky woman with her? She
appeared much like the redhead standing before her might look in about
twenty years.



The two girls briefly gawked at each other.



Breaking the brief staring contest, Minami blinked at the unexpected sight
of the pale-skinned sorceress in a Chinese-style dress. What was Robot Girl
doing in that slinky outfit? And, far more importantly, just what the hell
was she doing there in _her_ Hikaru-kun’s apartment answering the door?



“Um.” For a moment, Minami actually found herself at a loss for words.



Frost’s gaze narrowed slightly and then she simply shut the door in
Minami’s face and headed back to the main table to sit down.



“Hikaru will be out shortly, dear,” said Hitomi as she came back into the
room. “Who was that at the door?”



“No one of consequence,” Frost remarked calmly as she sat back down.



There was a sudden loud banging on the door. Hitomi glanced at Frost and
then answered it herself.



“Where is she?!” a seething Minami demanded. “WHERE’S FROST?!”



“Um.” Now it was Hitomi’s turn to find herself at a loss for words. She
noticed Minami’s mother behind the girl before the young Ghost Sweeper
quickly pushed past her.



“Such a lively household you have in the mornings, Gosunkugi-san,” said

Kunami critically, with a frown on her face. “Do you mind if I come in for
a little bit? There’s something important we should discuss.”



Hitomi shook her head automatically and stood aside to let the other woman
past, still a little shocked at all the excitement suddenly going on.
Behind her, she heard Minami’s loud voice and Frost’s quieter one as the
two girls began arguing.



“What’s the big idea of shutting the door in my face?” Minami’s glasses
glinted menacingly as she loomed over Frost. “And what the hell are you
doing here, anyway?”



Frost looked up, her gaze serene. “Your presence here is not required,
Manami Minami,” she said simply. “Please leave.” She then went back to
ignoring the seething redhead while she quietly waited for Hikaru to
arrive, so that she could formally state her acceptance of his victory over
her and bestow upon him a proper Kiss of Marriage. Then they could begin
making plans for their wedding.



“Not required?” Minami felt one eyebrow twitch a bit at the use of her full
name, and her glasses fogged up some even as a vein pulsed briefly on her
forehead. She hated the alliterative sound of it, which was why she only
used her family name. “Look, Robot Girl, I don’t know what kind of twisted
game you’re playing here, but I want you out of this apartment! Go back to
the Mobius Institute and study a spellbook, or whatever it is you usually
do.”



“No.” Frost glanced only briefly at Minami, wondering when the noisy
intruder upon the peace of this household was going to leave. She then went
back to considering what names she would be giving to her future children
with Gosunkugi; three seemed a good number and hopefully all daughters,
finding that to be a more pleasant activity than dealing with the fuming
redhead still looming over her.



Minami’s right eyebrow twitched again, and her glasses glinted with menace.
She was about to utter a scathing tirade upon Frost when Hikaru made his
timid appearance. She glanced at him, her gaze fierce and accusing.



“Um, what’s going on?” he asked somewhat uncertainly, shying back a little
from Minami’s angry glare at him as he set his bookbag down. “W-what’s all
the shouting about?”



Frost stood up from the table when he came into the room. “Airen,” she said
calmly, and then she strode over to him and draped her arms over his
shoulders. “Wo. Da. Airen.” Her voice was measured and careful. And then
she kissed him firmly on the lips, bestowing upon him the Kiss of Marriage.
She did find it to be so much more pleasant kissing him when he was awake
and aware, although she still wasn’t quite sure if she was doing it right,
never having kissed anyone before. So, after a moment, she began putting
more effort into it, finding the resulting sensations enjoyable.



Reactions were mixed.



Hikaru blinked when Frost’s lips first made contact with his, and he felt
her arms reach around his neck and gently hug him to her. He just stood
there, shocked to the core of his being, uncertain what to do. A girl, a
_pretty_ girl, was kissing him!



Wait, not just any girl. She was Frost, the Wizard Slayer.



His eyes went very wide as he stood there in a state of near panic, the
initial kiss beginning to deepen as the young sorceress started putting
quite a bit more of herself into it. He twitched with uncertainty, unable
to decide whether he should embrace her back or shove her away from him.
The desire to do the former was quickly winning.



Minami stared, utterly aghast, wondering what was going on and why her
Hikaru-kun was being molested by this pale-skinned Chinese floozy. Why was
Robot Girl kissing him? And how dare he look like he was enjoying it so
much? That stunned expression on his face didn’t fool her a bit.



Hitomi was startled. Her son’s new lilith was certainly an aggressive girl,
but it was probably the right approach to take with her shy son. Her little
Hikaru was apparently enjoying her gift to him, and she was secretly
pleased by the effect the scene was having on Minami. Maybe this would
finally allow her to be rid of the overbearing, loud-mouthed girl from
their lives.



Kunami stood there, shocked and aghast and then she glanced from her
daughter to Hikaru. Why wasn’t the Gosunkugi boy pushing that little
Chinese tramp away from him? How could he kiss some foreign bimbo in a
tight dress right there in front of her precious Manami-chan like he was
doing? Did the boy have no shame at all? And what of his mother? What
proper mother would ever want their son involved with a foreign girl? It
just wasn’t right.



“H-Hikaru-kun!” Minami finally managed to stammer out and then she stomped
over to the couple and pulled them apart quite forcefully, her breath
coming in heaving gasps. She immediately put herself between them and then
glared at the stupefied look on Hikaru’s face. “Snap out of it!” she
commanded him and then slapped him, quite hard.



Kunami whirled to face Hitomi. “What kind of a boy are you raising here,
Gosunkugi-san?” She pointed at Frost. “And who is this- this-”



“I am Frost,” the Amazon sorceress said calmly. “By defeating me in arcane
combat, under the laws of my people and those of the Empire, Hikaru
Gosunkugi is now my Airen, my intended husband.”



“Th-that’s ridiculous!” Minami blustered, keeping her position between
Frost and Hikaru. “Y-you’re the Wizard Slayer! No boy has ever been able to
defeat you, not even the upperclassmen! How could Hikaru-kun of all people
ever beat you?”



“I was undefeated, until now.” Frost laid a hand on Minami’s shoulder.
“Stand aside, please. He is mine now.”



“Like hell,” Minami muttered angrily. Who did this albino freak think she
was dealing with? She was Ghost Sweeper Minami! She was the most powerful
Ghost Sweeper of her generation! There was no way she was just going to
back down from some emotionless mannequin of a girl, no matter what her rep
was. Fueled by her surging passions, she began summoning up her powers,
feeling them flowing quite easily within her. A red-gold aura began to rise
from the floor and surround her as she started to incant a spell.



“Darkness beyond twilight... Crimson beyond blood that flows... Buried in
the stream of time is where your power grows...”



Immediately recognizing the overly emotional girl’s spell, Frost began
raising her own powers to defend herself, and a blue-white aura began to
coruscate up around her. She had previously considered the redhead to be
well below her league as a spellcaster, but her knowledge of such a
powerful spell and the apparent ability to cast it forced Frost to revise
her opinion of the other girl upwards quite a bit. Even so, she was
confident she outmatched Minami, and the pale-skinned sorceress was certain
she would eventually prevail if it came down to a fight between them.
However, she was uncertain how to minimize the collateral damage that would
occur if she and the Ghost Sweeper battled each other here.



When both girls began powering up in front of him, Hikaru abruptly came out
of his kiss-induced paralysis and quickly grabbed hold of Minami’s shoulder
before things went too far, interrupting her incantation just before she
could complete the spell. “P-please d-don’t do this. N-not in my Mom’s
apartment!”



“W-what?” Minami replied, a bit startled, looking back at him as her
energies began dissipating. She quickly glanced at Frost and then to him
once more. Then she whirled on Hikaru, her temper flaring up again. “Oh, I
see how it is now! Fine! Go ahead and play house with Robot Girl! You can’t
handle a real woman, Hikaru Gosunkugi, so you want to play with this
emotionless doll instead! You couldn’t handle something like this!”



She suddenly grabbed him and kissed him with sizzling ardor, pouring into
the embrace all of the passions for him she had held back for so long,
feeling tears stinging her eyes and misting her glasses. It was far more
intense than their first kiss had been; the one where he had called her by
another girl’s name. Well, she would show him her measure as a woman in
this kiss, as she put her entire being into it.



For the second time this morning, Hikaru’s eyes went wide as he felt his
vision glazing over. What was Minami doing? Why was she kissing him? Was
that her tongue? She felt so warm as her body pressed up tightly against
his. He belatedly realized it felt pretty good, now that he thought about
it. He felt a sudden heat run through him like a flash fire as the kiss
deepened and became even more passionate, and he began instinctively
putting his arms around her to return the embrace.



“That’s enough,” Frost’s cold voice suddenly announced, grabbing one of
Minami’s arms and quickly muscling her away from Hikaru. The two girls
began exchanging withering looks at each other again, Minami’s eyes
flashing with fire and Frost’s holding an icy chill within them as they
regarded one another grimly. Invisible sparks suddenly clashed within the
air between them as they briefly attempted to glare each other to death.



Gosunkugi took that opportunity, while the two young sorceresses were
distracted with each other, to beat a hasty retreat before they could blow
up the apartment, or him, for that matter. He quickly snatched up his
jacket and bookbag, only pausing at the door to slip on his shoes before he
bolted from the room as fast as he could run. Once clear of the door, he
unconsciously muttered an invisibility spell and kept on running.



Several moments later, both girls suddenly realized he was gone.



“Coward!” Minami roared, charging out the door after him. How dare he run
out on her like that after she’d declared her true feeling for him? A blush
burned her cheeks as she thought about the passionate kiss.



Kunami spared a pointed look at Hitomi and then she too left. Her poor
daughter. Well, it was quite obvious how strongly her precious little
Manami-chan felt for the boy, and it would deal with two big problems at
once, since it seemed both her daughter and the Gosunkugi boy were running
wild with the opposite sex. Her husband’s foresight in engaging them to
each other would at least give the pair an acceptable outlet for their
hormonally-driven passions.



As she walked down the hallway, she began considering plans. The first
thing she would do was make sure the engagement agreement was filed with
the appropriate ministry. Then she would arrange for a more proper meeting
with Hikaru’s mother and make their claim on the boy. The idea of some
Chinese strumpet marrying the Gosunkugi lad was ridiculous. What mother
would allow their only son to marry some foreign girl?



After everyone else had left, Frost turned to her future mother-in-law and
looked at her calmly. “So, where will I be sleeping?”



Hitomi, still a bit shell-shocked by everything that had just happened,
chuckled slightly. Did other mothers have such difficulties with their sons?



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Ryoko, her bag slung over her shoulder, paused at the gates of St. Hebereke
and eyed the various welcoming committees waiting for her. Word of her
return had apparently traveled ahead of her. She saw Makoto Kino standing
by the gate, looking at her and frowning. They eyed each other for several
moments.



“Well, it’s about time you got back,” Makoto said neutrally, before
breaking into a sudden smile.



Ryoko shrugged. “Training took longer than I thought.” She eyed the groups
of girls standing around, most giving her a respectful nod, and the much
smaller number of boys, none of whom would meet her gaze due to her
reputation. As this was the first year the school was co-ed, there weren’t
many of them.



Over to one side stood Eda Langley, dressed in the school’s regular
uniform, chatting with Mariko Konjo and the rest of St. Hebereke’s Combat
Cheerleader Squad. The blonde gave her a brief nod of welcome, and Ryoko
returned it. The older girl then went back to her discussion with Mariko,
occasionally blowing a bubble from the gum she was chewing. The other
members of the squad standing there looked like an all-girl street gang
that just happened to be dressed in school uniforms.



Over by the statue of the school’s namesake, two girls leaned casually
against it, standing a short distance apart from each other, chatting.
Rebecca and Roberta were trying to look nonchalant doing it, but they
weren’t succeeding very well. Rebecca had a cigarette in her mouth, and
Roberta was twirling a balisong knife in one hand between her fingers. The
two were apparently on better terms with each other lately, being able to
stand that close to each other without a fistfight breaking out, the Masaki
girl noted with amusement.



“What’s with them?” Ryoko asked as she walked with Makoto towards the
building.



“Oh, that’s right, you weren’t here,” Makoto replied with a grin. “They got
into another big fight last week, and Balalaika came down hard on them. She
had them in her office for over two hours after they were finally pried
apart from each other. Word is that the scary Russian lady gave them an
assignment, something secret, that they have to work on together, and it
seems to have changed their relationship. They’re actually getting along
now. I even witnessed Rebecca cracking one of her dirty jokes and Roberta
actually smiled.”



Ryoko was amazed, and she looked at the pair with interest. Either of those
two girls could give her a run for her money in a fight. But if they worked
together, they would be practically unstoppable.



“I’m thinking it has something to do with a boy,” Makoto observed with a
thoughtful look. There was a pause. “You met a boy while you were training.”



“How do you know that?” Ryoko looked surprised.



“You seem a little edgier today than normal,” Makoto observed with a grin.
“Did he get scared and dump you?”



Ryoko growled, causing the other girl to put up her hands. “Easy there,
demon girl. I was just teasing.”



“If you must know, I met two very interesting guys while I was off doing my
training,” Ryoko said with a grin. “If you buy me a can of tea before
class, maybe I’ll tell you about them.”



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



“I must say that it was a surprise when the Directorate called me this
morning regarding you, Sakuranbo-san,” said Dean Fuyutsuki as he folded his
hands together and smiled professionally at the young woman seated on the
other side of his desk. “It was just late last week that our former nurse
received her orders for a posting in Australia with the prefectural
governor’s office there, a position she has been hoping to get for a while.
You must have been right at the top of the queue when her paperwork finally
came through. The Security Directorate isn’t normally that efficient in
personnel transfers.”



Sakura smiled and crossed her legs demurely. “Well, I’m afraid I’m going to
be pulling a double duty in accepting this posting here, Fuyutsuki-san. My
primary assignment is as a monitoring agent of a preternatural entity held
at a local shrine near the campus, working on behalf of the Mobius
Institute. While acting as the Academy’s nurse is only a temporary duty on
top of that, I will do my best. With the great importance that this
facility has to the Empire, I do understand it can be difficult to find
qualified staff with the proper credentials. Since I already happened to be
in the area, I was tapped for this post until someone more permanent can be
found. I will try to be present on campus as often as possible, but luckily
I’m only a few minutes away by car if something should come up while I’m at
the shrine.”



“I understand. Would you like a tour of the facility?” He stood up from
behind his desk. “I make it a point to welcome all new staff aboard in this
fashion. It gives me an opportunity to talk with them, to get to know those
I will be working with a little bit better.” He smiled. “It’s especially
pleasant when that new hire is a lovely young woman such as yourself.”



“That’s very charming of you to say, Fuyutsuki-san,” she replied with a
nod, feeling a bit flattered by the compliment. Kuonji-kun could learn a
few lessons in how to treat a woman from such a man, she mused inwardly.
The Jusenkyo-cursed woman was not the most well-mannered of people.
Luckily, she had other good qualities to make up for it. Sakura stood up
and smoothed her knee-length skirt. “I’d love a tour.”



At that moment, there was a knock on the door. His assistant poked her head
in. “There’s been an accident, sir. Sakuranbo-san is needed in the
infirmary.”



“Duty calls, it seems,” said Sakura, bowing to Fuyutsuki.



“Yes, so it would seem.” Fuyutsuki bowed back. “I’ll show you to the
infirmary now, and we can do the full tour sometime later.” He led her out
as they headed off to the infirmary together.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Later that morning, Minami grumbled to herself as she sat in her seat in
class. Her anger over the events of this morning was still evident in her
movements as she struggled to pay attention to the instructor, the grip on
her pen tight enough to whiten her fingers. A shadowy cloud seemed to hover
over her.



“Damn that Hikaru Gosunkugi and his spinelessness,” she muttered darkly as
she glowered. The coward had skipped classes, going off somewhere to hide
from her righteous wrath. “That- that womanizer, playing with my feelings
and getting involved with that emotionless doll, Frost.”



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



While she was heading to the faculty lounge to enjoy her lunch, Ayaka came
around the corner and almost ran into Sakura. The two women gawked at each
other briefly. Ayaka broke the tableau first.



“You!” she cried. “What are you doing here?”



“I could ask you the same question,” Sakura retorted haughtily. “I heard
you were on assignment in Tokyo, but I wouldn’t have accepted a posting
here if I thought you were in this area.”



“I’ve been here for a couple of months now.” Ayaka eyed the other woman,
remembering their past together. She struck a superior pose. “And I’m doing
quite well here, actually. I’ve even started seeing a very nice man, an
instructor over at Furinkan and a military officer who knows how to treat a
woman like a lady.”



“I’m surprised this place hasn’t burned down yet,” Sakura sneered.



“That only happened once!” Ayaka glared at her former partner. “You still
pining after you know who? Or are you with a real man now?” she asked
archly.



Sakura felt her eyebrow twitch. “Kuonji-kun is quite manly!”



“Yeah, except when he gets in hot water, and we both know what happens
then,” Ayaka replied coyly. She smiled at the annoyed look Sakura gave her.
“I’ve also been given an apprentice, and she’s doing quite well in her
training.”



“So have I!” snapped Sakura, still smarting from the comments about her
relationship with Yumi Kuonji. “Mine is Rei Hino. She’s a charming girl and
listens very well to my instructions. She’s very obedient.”



“Well, not only is my apprentice spiritually powerful, she’s also very
popular with the boys.” Ayaka grinned. “She’s very outgoing and takes
charge of situations with a lot of initiative.”



“Hopefully she’s not as slutty as you were at that age,” Sakura growled in
reply. “That was how you got popular at the Institute, as I recall.”



Ayaka glared balefully at Sakura for several moments and then stalked off,
grumbling under her breath, having lost her appetite. She would show Sakura
which of them was the better woman.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Hitomi sat at the main table of her apartment and listened closely as
Director Kasugano explained the situation with Frost. She nodded
occasionally, saying “I see” each time. Her heart felt light inside as she
heard the good news.



“Do you understand now, Gosunkugi-san?” asked Kasugano mildly.



“Oh, yes,” she replied, bowing slightly to him as she spoke over the phone.
“I hope Frost wasn’t upset that I thought she was someone else.”



“It was an understandable mistake, I suppose. I trust you’ll make the girl
feel welcome in your household. Coming as she does from a society dominated
by women, I think your opinion will matter very much to her.”



“Oh, I will.” Hitomi smiled brightly as they said their goodbyes and she
hung up the telephone. This was an even better solution to her problem than
buying her son a lilith.



Frost would marry her son and then she would finally be free of that
obnoxious Minami girl.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



“To what do I owe this honor, Ranma-kun?” Nabiki calmly eyed the pair of
tickets held in her fiancé’s hand as she sat outside waiting for Yohko to
have lunch with her underneath their usual tree. “Are you finally asking me
out on a real date?”



Ranma considered the question and then shrugged. “Well, I guess I am, but I
can go with Kodachi or Ukyo, if you aren’t interested. I just thought,
after what happened over the weekend at Ohtori, we might try going on at
least one date, ya know, just to see how it goes.”



“Tickets to the Arena are pretty expensive, especially on a Friday night.”
Nabiki projected coolness, but she was secretly pleased. Her ploy with
Touga had apparently been successful after all in lighting a fire
underneath the pigtailed boy, causing him to make more of an effort with
her. Even so, his casual mentioning of her two main rivals was irritating.
But she would overlook it this time.



Ranma stuffed the two tickets back into his pocket. They were a gift from
Genma of all people. He suspected a trap of some kind was being laid, but
he wasn’t sure what it could be. “Look, do you want to go or not?”



“Sure, Ranma-kun, I’d love to go.” She suddenly smiled at him, looking
forward to the thought of an evening alone with Ranma, their first real
date. She hoped nothing went wrong.



“Great, I figured we can head out after classes are done.” He gave her a
smile in return. “The bouts will be starting at eight, so that should give
us enough time to get something to eat and get to our seats.”



“Do you know who’ll be fighting that night?” She didn’t really follow the
Arena scene much. That was more her sister Akane’s thing. But it should be
fun to watch, maybe pick up some new techniques doing so.



Ranma shrugged. “I got no idea. When Pop gave me the tickets, I just
thought it might be something we’d both enjoy.”



Nabiki nodded. “It does sound like fun, Ranma-kun.”



He nodded and walked off, waving casually at her.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



During dinnertime on Wednesday, Gosunkugi sat as far away from the strange
intruder that had recently come into his life as he dared, still unsure
what to make of her presence. He had come home from spending the day hiding
from Minami on Monday to find Frost still there, and several boxes of her
things had been delivered in the meantime. Since there were only two
bedrooms in the apartment, she was now sharing his, despite his protests to
his mother that it would be better for the girl to stay with her.



For once, instead of nodding and giving into him like she usually did, she
had stood firm and refused. His new fiancée should stay with him, so they
could begin getting used to each other. His mother actually seemed quite
happy to have the girl living with them. That first night, she had even
placed Frost’s futon next to his.



As perplexing as his home life had become, he was still more distraught
over Saotome. Ranma had somehow escaped picking up a Jusenkyo curse from
that tank in the warehouse. Just today, he had cast a minor spell, causing
a janitor to ‘accidentally’ spill an entire bucket of water on the
pigtailed boy during lunch, and nothing had happened other than getting
Ranma wet.



The whole matter was frustrating in the extreme. Twice now he had attempted
to bring down ultimate doom upon Saotome’s head, and twice now he had
failed. It was like the other boy lived a charmed life, and it was
depressing him. Even his new abilities at spellcasting could not overcome
his feelings of being a failure.



The Institute had tested him, rather thoroughly, painfully and at great
length, but the results were inconclusive. They suspected he must have had
a latent sorcerous aptitude all this time, his abilities somehow
masquerading as esper talents. But they could not explain his detailed
knowledge of hermetic formulae, or the strange dreams he had started having.



At least he did not appear to be possessed by some ancient sorcerer from
Atlantis or something, which was their first explanation for the change in
his abilities. That was a relief. He had no desire to be killed or locked
away for study in the Institute’s spell-warded vaults, which would have
happened if they had seen him as some kind of threat to the Empire.



There was a delicate clearing of a female throat.



Gosunkugi looked over at Frost, who was smiling at him, something she
frequently did around him, although the expression didn’t look like one she
normally used very often. He hastily went back to eating his meal. While
the pale-skinned Chinese girl had been living in the apartment with him and
his mother for several days now, he still didn’t know exactly what to make
of her. Frost, the previously undefeated Wizard Slayer, claimed that he had
been the one to beat her in arcane combat, that he was now her fiancé and
eventually would become her husband and the father of her future children.
And that she would like three of them and preferably daughters, she had
very calmly informed him.



When he had tried to explain that he did not recall anything about this
supposed battle, she just smiled her quiet smile and said it was her own
memories that mattered. Then she tried to hug him and kiss him, calling him
‘Airen’ once again. And later that evening she had even slid over and
gotten into his futon with him! He didn’t get a wink of sleep that whole
night, even though he closed his eyes and tried hard to pretend he was
unconscious. She seemed to have been expecting him to do... something. But
that would have been a betrayal of his feelings towards Akane Tendo.



His head nodded a little to one side from lack of rest, the normal dark
circles under his eyes even darker and deeper than usual today. Lately, he
had taken to sleeping while leaned up against the wall, trying to stay as
far away from Frost as he could. She frightened him, in a way that only
Minami ever had before, and the way the Chinese sorceress looked at him
sometimes made him feel strange. She was so eerily calm and collected all
the time, even when she called him ‘Airen’ and smiled at him. It was quite
a contrast to the much more high-spirited Minami, the two like fire and ice.



Speaking of the fiery-tempered Ghost Sweeper, she had been angry with him
for a few days now, and he had absolutely no idea what he had done to
deserve that, unless it was something to with Frost’s presence. When the
Chinese sorceress had appeared and started calling him her ‘Airen’ that
first day, that had apparently been taken by Minami as some sort of
declaration of war, with him as the disputed territory. While they were
childhood friends, what with all the different boys she went out with
nowadays, he was at a loss as to why she was so mad that another girl was
paying attention to him. After the arrival of the pale-skinned girl, the
Ghost Sweeper had been acting much more attentive to him. She walked home
with him after classes every day and kept offering to study with him, which
seemed to put her further at odds with Frost.



The two had not come to blows, not yet, but it was coming. He could see it
in the lethal way they regarded each other, as if they were trying to glare
each other to death every time they came into contact. He had never
suspected another girl existed who could match Minami in that particular
ability, although Frost’s technique had a quieter aspect to it, as the
irises of her eyes became like chips of frozen hydrogen to Minami’s
supernova blaze.



His mother seemed blissfully unaware of the storm that had swept down into
his life with Frost’s arrival. She even kept actively encouraging him to
sleep with the Chinese sorceress, saying that it would be good for him and
help him gain confidence in himself and his manliness. The two apparently
had been spending their days together while he was at school, with Frost
helping his mother around the house like she was already his wife or
something. Maybe because of that, his mother was looking less tired and
more cheerful now than he could ever remember her being, so he had been
playing along with the whole thing, trying to figure out how he could
resolve this mess without any blood being shed, especially his.



Frost looked over at him again and smiled, and he smiled back weakly.



He blamed Ranma for the whole thing. Somehow this disaster was all his
fault!



When the doorbell rang as they were finishing up dinner, he jumped a bit
due to his frayed nerves. His mother went to answer it, and he was startled
to see Minami and her mother standing there. The Ghost Sweeper had a small
suitcase with her and a determined look behind her glasses, which did not
seem to bode well for him.



“Gosunkugi-san,” Kunami greeted Hitome as she swept into the room, her
daughter following with a purposeful stride. The woman bowed to him and
said “Hikaru-kun.” In a far less friendly manner and with only a slight
bow, she said to the Chinese sorceress, “Frost.”



“Minami-san. Manami-chan,” Hitomi greeted the pair. She had been trying her
best to avoid speaking with the Ghost Sweeper’s mother for several days
now, but the one thing she knew about Kunami was that the woman could be
very strongly determined whenever she wanted something. She then blinked as
the other woman suddenly presented her with a photocopy of a legal document
of some kind. “Uh, what is this?”



“This is a legally binding engagement contract that was entered into by my
husband and your dearly departed spouse many years ago, promising your son
to my Manami-chan in marriage,” Kunami stated in very solemn tones.
“Earlier this week, I took the liberty of making certain it was properly
recorded at the appropriate government offices, and now I’ve brought my
daughter here to stay with you for a while, to allow her and Hikaru-kun to
begin adapting to each other before their eventual wedding.”



Minami adjusted her glasses, pushing them up the bridge of her nose with a
finger before gazing briefly at Frost in an unfriendly manner. She turned
to face Gosunkugi and bowed to him, her expression softening a bit. “I
promise I will make every effort to be a worthy fiancée to you, Hikaru-kun.”



Gosunkugi’s eyes went wide, and his mother shut her eyes in disbelief and
dismay. Frost frowned slightly, but otherwise her facial expression
remained fairly placid. However, chips of frozen hydrogen were forming in
her gaze as she regarded Minami intently.



Kunami began speaking again, her voice almost dripping with disdain. “Now
that we’ve presented our own claim, Frost can now leave this household,
since an engagement contract surely outweighs whatever quaint little
backwoods Chinese custom she is using as the basis for her claim upon
Hikaru-kun.”



>From where she was standing, Minami turned her gaze upon the other girl and
smiled, certain that she had checkmated the Amazon sorceress with her
mother’s assistance. She wished she had known about the contract much
sooner. Some of the boys she had dated to make Hikaru jealous had turned
out to be quite grabby, and, while she was looking forward to doing all
kinds of things like that with Hikaru, she was not that kind of girl with
just any boy.



Frost’s gaze managed to somehow grow even colder and more intense as she
locked eyes with the Ghost Sweeper. “Oh, really?” she said softly. “I’m
afraid you are mistaken about the validity of my claim. Under the terms of
the Joketsuzoku’s surrender to the Empire, the laws of my people in regards
to an outsider male defeating a woman of the tribe became fully upheld by
Imperial law. The Mobius Institute, on my behalf, filed the paperwork over
the weekend. Hikaru Gosunkugi is my fiancé, officially.” She pulled a
document from her robes and presented it to Hitomi, a copy of an engagement
agreement prepared by the legal department of the Mobius Institute.



“WHAT?!” Minami screamed. Her mother looked wrathful at Frost’s calm
assertions but said nothing.



“However,” Frost continued calmly, paying no attention to the reactions of
the two Minami women. “As Imperial law does allow for a man to have
multiple wives, I am willing to allow this other claim.” She then gave a
wintry smile, her gaze still like twin chips of frozen hydrogen.



“ALLOW?!” It took both Hitomi and Kunami to hold back the Ghost Sweeper
from hurling herself bodily at the Chinese sorceress.



Hikaru Gosunkugi suddenly realized that he was now the fiancé of two girls.
He looked from one to the other, a snarling Ghost Sweeper and a placid
Chinese sorceress, and he wondered how he was ever going to survive this.
“D-don’t I have any say in this?” he timidly asked.



When both girls turned their attentions to him, he shrank from the combined
intensity of their gaze, aroused by their confrontation with each other.
Seeing his fear, each of them suddenly realized they were here because they
wanted to be with him. They exchanged a look.



“Well, I’m willing to accept this, for now,” Minami said suddenly, trying
to appear magnanimous. “For Hikaru-kun’s sake, that is.” At least she would
have him all to herself at school, she mused with a slight smile. She was
looking forward to spending lunches together with him and then she realized
she would probably have to start preparing his, which she wasn’t looking
forward to doing, not being much of a cook. She turned to look at Frost.



“As am I, to ease my Airen’s mind,” Frost answered calmly. She turned to
face Minami, the two girls eyeing each other intently with only
barely-restrained hostility.



Gosunkugi felt himself start to sweat at his new situation.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Classical music played in the background as Ranma and Kodachi danced in one
of the ballrooms in Kuno Manor. After learning of their mutual interest in
dancing during their visit to Ohtori for the Spring Formal, Kodachi had
invited him to come over tonight for dinner and then to show her his skills
in private. Both of them were dressed finely, Kodachi having acquired a
small wardrobe of expensive clothing in his size.



“You look very beautiful tonight, Kodachi,” Ranma said as they flowed
across the dance floor gracefully. “I like your dress.”



“And you are quite handsome in your suit, Saotome-kun.” She moved with him
as the music played, enjoying this quiet time together with him. It was
their first real date, even though they had not left the mansion. She
sighed with happiness as he guided her around the ballroom, only a few of
the household servants present.



Konatsu was one of those servants, dressed in traditional ninja garb, with
his padded clothing appearing every inch an attractive kunoichi as he
watched the couple from a place of concealment. He smiled at how happy his
mistress looked, dancing like a princess out of a fairy tale with her
prince. He briefly fantasized about how it would look with him and Ukyo
down there, wishing once again that his childhood friend was a girl.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



The Yu-chan was doing a brisk business with its usual middle of the week
office worker crowd when Fuyutsuki walked in. He saw Ukyo behind the
counter and nodded to her. She smiled at him professionally after she
finished serving a customer his order.



“Welcome to Yu-chan’s, Fuyutsuki-sensei,” she said as he came over and sat
down in front of her. “What can I make for you tonight?”



“I’ll try the crab and shrimp special tonight, Kuonji-san.” He sat forward
and rested his arms on the counter in front of him. “Is your aunt around?”



“Yeah, she’s just getting some of her special sauce from the storeroom. She
should be back in a minute.”



Fuyutsuki nodded and slipped open his briefcase while he waited, pulling
out a file folder. Ukyo walked down the counter to take the order of
another customer sitting there.



“Here’s the sauce can, Ukyo,” Yumi said, emerging from the backroom area
hefting it. “Well, hello there, Fuyutsuki-kun,” she said with a smile,
spotting him sitting there at the counter. She set the can down under the
grill area. “I haven’t seen you for a while.”



He nodded and smiled. “Good evening, Kuonji-san. Do you have a few minutes
to talk? It’s about your daughter.”



“My-? Uh, yes, of course.” She turned to Ukyo. “Cover the griddle for a
little bit longer, Ukyo.”



“Sure thing,” the girl replied, smiling. She wondered what interest the man
had in Ranko of all people. She watched them for a few moments as the two
headed off towards a back table before turning to the next customer waiting.



Fuyutsuki briefly smoothed down his hair with a hand as he walked to the
table behind Yumi. He had been rehearsing what he wanted to say for over a
week now, ever since he had made the decision to speak with her.
Unfortunately, staff functions and family obligations had prevented him
from getting here until tonight. His gaze briefly dipped down to watch her
trim backside as she walked, before he hastily yanked it back up to much
safer territory.



Stopping at a table, Yumi sat down and gestured for him to do the same.
“So, what exactly is on your mind, Fuyutsuki-kun? You said something about
Ranko-chan?” She smirked. “Has she done something? Gotten in a fight?”



He set down the file folder in front of her. “It’s not anything bad. I
wanted to offer her a chance to take the Academy’s entrance exam.”



“You want her to do what?” she asked, startled.



He smiled professionally. “She impressed me the other day with her skills.
I mean, I’m somewhat familiar with the stories about your family, that the
Kuonjis are not simply okonomiyaki chefs. Tell me, how long have you had
her watching over Ranma Saotome?”



“Eh? Uh, er, I don’t know what you mean.” Yumi backpedaled a few steps
mentally. She was aware of the fight Ukyo had with Ryoga, but little else
of what might have happened. What had Ranma done?



“There’s no need to be coy, Kuonji-san,” he said, still smiling. “I know
what the girl must have done when your niece got into that fight with the
boy who came by the campus. Getting Ranma away from there unseen for his
protection while under the watch of security cameras was an impressive
feat. So I wanted to take this unorthodox step of giving her a chance to
attend the Academy as a Security Directorate cadet.”



Yumi blinked. “Uh, Ranko-chan is very busy with her training right now. And
even if she passed the exam, it wouldn’t be possible for her to attend
every day.” For that matter, would Ranma be able to take the exam and do
well enough to pass on such short notice? She had no idea how good a
student the boy was. And from speaking about it with Ukyo, all she really
knew was that the place had maybe the harshest entrance exam in the entire
Empire.



“Hmm, that is a problem. It is a policy of the Academy that every cadet
maintains regular attendance.” He looked disappointed.



Yumi had a thought occur to her. “Well, perhaps I could suggest an
alternative, if she passes that is.”



“What do you have in mind?” he asked, looking at her quizzically.



She smiled. “Since Ranma will likely be marrying into my family in the next
few years, I thought he should begin receiving some training in the skills
of the Kuonji. So I propose an exchange of sorts. For say one or two days a
week, I’ll give you Ranko and you give me Ranma in exchange. That way, you
get your teaching time with them, and I get mine.” After all, she mused,
Ranma working on maintaining his ‘Ranko’ persona was a form of ninjutsu
training. Plus, it could be amusing. Her smile grew broader. “So, what do
you think?”



“That’s highly irregular, Kuonji-san,” he said gruffly, but he was a bit
intrigued at her temerity in suggesting it. “Assuming she passes the
entrance exam, do you think your daughter could keep up with a full class
load while attending only a day or two a week?”



Yumi leaned back in her chair and shrugged. “Well, she’s a very smart girl.
I’m sure she’d do fine.”



“Hmmm, it’s not just me, there’s also Lee-sensei to consider,” he said,
pondering the matter. Still, the notion of Ranma receiving ninjutsu
training had a certain appeal to him.



“Lee-sensei?”



“Ranma is now the student of Jun Fan Lee. I don’t think he will accept a
substitute for the boy for training.”



“I’m sure something could be arranged,” she replied thoughtfully. Jun had
told her about his observations on Ranma’s female form while they were out
drinking together, and how he planned to use both forms to better train the
Saotome boy. “Tell you what, you set up the exam for Ranko, and I’ll have
her there to take them. As for Lee-sensei, I’m sure he and I could come to
an understanding.” She smiled. “We’re old friends.”



Fuyutsuki blinked. “It sounds like you’ve led quite an interesting life,
Kuonji-san. I had no idea you knew such famous people.”



“It’s had its share of adventures,” she said nonchalantly, waving it off.
“So how long is this exam and when should I have Ranko there to take it?”



“I could set it up for Friday, I suppose. The exam takes roughly four
hours, and it covers a wide range of subjects.” He smiled. “I should warn
you that the test is very difficult. There’s only been one perfect score
since the Imperial Academy was founded.”



“I see. Who might that young prodigy have been?”



“Ukyo’s friend: Ranma Saotome. The boy has perhaps one of the most
brilliant minds I have ever encountered in my career as an instructor.” He
smiled. “But Ranko doesn’t need to score anywhere nearly that well for
entrance. If she somehow manages to score over ninety-five percent, I will
agree to your terms.”



Yumi got an odd look on her face. “I feel confident in saying that Ranko
will do well. As I said before, she’s very bright.”



“Well, I would like to see that,” he said sincerely, smiling. “She would
need to have quite an amazing intellect to do that well.”



Yumi resisted snickering and smiled instead. “I’ll let her know. Ranko is
out training right now with her brother, so it might take me a while to get
her.”



“That should be fine,” he said, nodding. “We’ll plan to do it after
homeroom is over in the morning. Say, ten?”



“No problem. It’s a date.” She suddenly noticed the man looking a bit
uncomfortable. “Is there something else?”



“Well,” Fuyutsuki said slowly. “I, uh, was wondering if you might like to
have dinner with me Saturday night.”



Yumi blinked, cursing her luck at his asking now, after she and Sakura had
gotten back together. “Oh, I’m sort of seeing someone right now.”



“Sort of?” He raised an eyebrow.



“It’s kind of complicated; an old flame that’s come back into my life.” She
shrugged, feeling uncomfortable. “Sorry.”



Fuyutsuki nodded. “I understand. I’ve had one or two of those sorts of
things happen myself over the years.” He smiled. “If your situation should
change, just let me know.”



“I will,” she promised. She bowed to him. “Thank you for being so very
understanding about it.”



He waved it off. “It’s quite all right, Kuonji-san.”



“You know, you don’t have to be so formal with me all the time,” she said
with a smile. “Yumi is fine, or Kuonji-kun, if that makes you feel more
comfortable.”



He nodded. “Very well,” he said, still smiling. “Kuonji-kun then.”



“Thank you for asking, Fuyutsuki-kun.” She reached out and laid her hand
gently on his for a moment. “The timing was just wrong.”



Now it was his turn to shrug. “It’s the story of my life.” He stood up.
“Well, I’m going to have my dinner now and then tomorrow I expect to see
you and Ranko in my office Friday morning.”



“Understood. We’ll be there.” She bowed to him again and gave him a jaunty
wave.



Fuyutsuki made his way back to the counter and sat down. He smiled at Ukyo
as she served him his meal. The smell was quite enticing.



“Kuonji-san,” he said, as he started to pick up the first bite.



“Yes, sir?” Ukyo walked over to him. “Is something wrong?”



“I’ve been thinking about that boy you were fighting with the other day.”
He put the bite of food in his mouth and chewed. It tasted even better than
it smelled.



Ukyo looked dismayed. Was she in trouble? None of the instructors had said
anything to her about the fight last week. “Uh, his name is Ryoga Hibiki.
He’s an old friend of mine from home.”



“I know.” He took another bite and chewed.



“Uh, am I in trouble, sir?” she asked, starting to worry. She had been
disciplined before at her last school for fighting, not that she ever went
looking for trouble. It just seemed to find her for some reason.



Fuyutsuki shook his head. “No, not really. I’d like him to attend the
Academy.”



Ukyo breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh. Okay, sir.”



He watched as she turned away and then focused his attentions fully on his
meal. The Hibiki boy was proving surprisingly elusive so far with his
random changes of direction, and there were also reports of a panda seen in
his vicinity, further distracting the agents out hunting for him. The
coincidence was intriguing.



Fuyutsuki pondered the future social fabric of the Academy as he ate. The
interactions and group dynamics of young people never seemed to fail to
fascinate him, especially such a lively group of individuals as Ranma and
Nabiki seemed to be forming around them. And to think, he had once thought
having students from the Mobius Institute around would be the most
interesting thing he would have to deal with.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Godai sat across from Kasumi at their booth in the bar they were in and
wasn’t sure what to say to what she had just told him. She had called him
earlier that day and asked to see him. She had something important she
needed to talk to him about. She gave him the address she would meet him at
and told him to dress casual to avoid attention his uniform might cause,
that he should wear clothes like he would for a date.



He picked up the picture she had brought with her and looked at it again,
one of Tofu and Hinako entering a room at a love hotel. He put it back down
on the table face down and took a sip of his beer as he considered his next
words. When she put her hand down gently on his, he twitched and almost
spilled his drink on himself. Kasumi was definitely dressed for a date,
ladylike but very attractive, and he kept his gaze away from staring at
what he could see of her revealed cleavage in the yellow silk blouse she
was wearing. He also tried not to think about the short skirt she was
wearing. He kept his eyes focused on her face, not an overly difficult task
as beautiful as she was. He could tell from her eyes that she had been
crying recently.



Touching Godai’s hand made Kasumi feel better. She was not blind to the
fact that he was attracted to her, and she was comforted by that, since she
had feelings for him too. She knew she was wearing attire that drew a man’s
gaze to her body, but she felt safe with Godai to dress up like this, that
he would not try and take advantage of her. It was also part of the guise
she wanted to present, that she was just a woman meeting a man for a date,
nothing more. It would make them relatively invisible among the other bar
patrons.



“This had to have been a terrible shock, Kasumi-chan,” Godai finally said,
turning his palm up and now holding her hand with his. “What are you going
to do?”



“I’m not certain yet, Godai-kun,” she said with a sigh, taking a sip of her
beer. “But I’m glad you’re here with me now. I need a friend.” She squeezed
his hand, feeling him return the gentle grip with one of equal pressure.



“Of course.” Godai nodded. He felt bad inside, that someone would hurt a
wonderful woman like Kasumi this way. “I’m here for you. Whatever you need
from me, just ask.”



Kasumi nodded. She was already feeling much better, and holding his hand
was easing her upset emotions. “Right now, this is fine. I just need you to
be with me.” She gave his hand another gentle squeeze and smiled bravely at
him. Seeing his gentle regard, sensing his gentleness of spirit, she
allowed herself to ponder her future. Divorcing Tofu was a foregone
conclusion now, but then what? The thought of the man now with her possibly
sharing that future was surprisingly pleasant.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



The flickering of the flames reflected from Ranma-chan’s eyes as she gazed
at them, a pan of cold water from the nearby stream cooling her hands. She
was dressed once again in her borrowed okonomiyaki seller’s outfit. The
heat from the fire burning in front of her raised a light sheen of sweat on
her face, even as her expression remained set with determination. After a
few moments of studying her nemesis, she pulled her slightly burned hands
from the water and balled them into loose fists.



“You can do this,” she murmured. “You know what it feels like.”



She tossed a bag of sweet chestnuts into the flames and then cast the bag
aside to join nearly a dozen empties. She could hear the flames sizzling
against the meat of the chestnuts as they quickly heated. Her nose could
smell them beginning to cook.



“KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!”



Ranma-chan’s hands blurred into the fire, ignoring the heat as the flames
raged against her skin. Chestnuts were pulled from the flames in a blur of
motion. When she was done, she slumped on her knees, feeling exhausted but
elated.



“I did it,” she muttered, her head bowed. She began to chuckle.



Standing up, Ranma-chan put out the fire, emptying the pan over the coals.
When it was out, she stood up and gathered her things together to return
home. She hissed with pain as she tried closing her hands into fists. The
burns on them from her previous failures were mild and would heal quickly,
but they were somewhat painful at the moment. It was a good thing her hands
were far more toughened now than they had been before her immersion in the
vat of Jusenkyo water, if that had been all it was. She was starting to
wonder about that. Despite all the gymnastics training her male form had
undergone before arriving at the Academy, these hands had not been at this
level before, having spent most of his life holding a pen or a soldering
iron rather than driving them into heated sand and punching bags.



She washed her callused hands in the stream, sighing with relief as the
cool water flowed over her mildly seared flesh. She then patted them dry
with a towel and applied some salve and bandages to the worst spots. From
one of her other selves, she could recall the memories of doing such
training while her flesh had been sensitized to heat. This level of pain
was nothing in comparison.



At long last, she had finally mastered the Amaguriken. Two of her other
selves had mastered it, and now she had too. It irritated her on a
fundamental level to know that Nabiki had mastered such a difficult
technique already and used it against her. Such an action had demanded a
response. After their date, she would challenge Nabiki to another duel, to
regain the position as the top fighter between them.



The pigtailed girl packed up her things and began walking back to the
Yu-chan. Life was feeling better now, all things considered. She was
looking forward to a bath and change of clothes before heading home for the
evening.



The park was quiet tonight in this area, which was why she used it for
training. The Ranko of that other Earth had actually been the one to know
about the spot, having visited it on her own world to keep up her training
in private, without anyone around to bother her. It was her place to think,
away from Kaneda Tendo or any of the other rivals she had accumulated in
her life on that other Earth.



Ranma-chan paused when she came to a fork in the path. In fact, she
thought, looking up the left-hand path, if memory served her correctly, a
weekly gathering should be taking place tonight. With a grin, she headed up
that way. It felt like months since she had last walked this direction, but
everything looked exactly the same, even if it had been on another world.



Emerging from the trees, Ranma-chan quickly spotted several groups of
people, teenaged males and females, gathered together on the far side of
the expanse of cement she now stood on, watching some sorts of commotion
going on at the center of the cluster. Judging by the many different
uniforms she saw, they attended the various schools in the area. She
grinned, spotting uniforms from Blackhall and Whitehall, some tough-looking
girls that looked like they were from St. Hebereke and a fair number of
Furinkan cadets. The sight brought back memories of many battles fought in
the past in this place. That the other world’s Ranko had fought in her
past, she quickly amended in her thoughts.



Oddly, in that moment, the pigtailed girl felt like she had come home.



The sounds drifting over towards her were unmistakable, as were the sights
of what was going on beneath the lighting poles that illumed the area. It
might not have had the grandeur of the Imperial Arena, only using an
impromptu region of the park for the battleground, but such trappings were
unnecessary.



This was street fighting, martial arts combat in its purest form. She made
her way over to the crowd and began to elbow her way to the front to see
who was fighting. When she did, she just stood there, oddly not surprised.



Akane ducked under the fist thrown by the boy in front of her, a broad grin
on her face. Off to one side, Sakura shouted advice and words of
encouragement. Not that she needed any, as the youngest Tendo launched a
furious counter-attack on her opponent, a boy a year older than her who
hailed from Whitehall. Her punch drove through his guard to slam into his
gut.



“Come on, Akane!” Sakura shouted. “You’ve got him! Take him down!”



The youngest Tendo leaped high into the air, her legs split wide as she
twisted her body around. The stunned boy was unable to defend himself as
her kick landed squarely on his nose, her foot crushing into it in a brief
spray of blood, knocking him away from her. He spun around as he staggered
back several steps and then promptly fell face-first to the ground,
unconscious. In the meantime, Akane gracefully landed looking away from
him, kneeling to let her legs soak up the shock. She then looked up and
grinned at Sakura.



“That’s another one for you, Akane.” While money was quickly exchanged
around them, the other girl came over and held out her hand, and Akane
slapped it with a grin as she walked past, like the signal for a change of
fighters in a tag team match. As the Tendo girl headed to the side to drink
some water and relax, now it was Sakura’s turn to take the center area. She
grinned at the young men and women in the surrounding crowd.



“So, any takers?” She looked around at those surrounding her and more than
a few wouldn’t meet her gaze. She smirked. She had brought Akane here as
part of her training and as a celebration of the Tendo girl finally
becoming a full member of Furinkan’s Combat Club, thanks to one of the boys
in the club refusing to take ‘no’ for an answer when he had asked Akane for
a date. Sakura remembered actually being surprised that someone with
Akane’s skill had never taken part in street fighting, but the other girl
had been making up for lost time. A fair amount of yen notes were in their
pockets now, the result of her friend’s impressive debut tonight.



It didn’t surprise Sakura that no one would take up her challenge. She had
already beaten a few macho guys who thought they were tougher than her
earlier, as well as some of the delinquent girls hailing from St. Hebereke,
in between Akane’s matches. Since St. Hebereke had gone co-ed this year
after being taken over fully by the Church to use in their advanced combat
training program, she had heard there were a few solid fighters brought in
for the program, but those girls hadn’t yet shown up to the matches, a
disappointment to her.



She hopped lightly up and down on her feet, feeling pumped full of
adrenaline. This was what she lived for: martial arts combat. She was the
current undisputed queen of street fighting in this small corner of Tokyo,
just as her absent, beloved Ryu-senpai was its undisputed king. She
suddenly spotted a new face in the front of the crowd tonight, a girl
around her age dressed like an okonomiyaki seller, her hands bandaged up a
bit.



“How about you?” Sakura said, pointing in Ranma-chan’s direction. The crowd
turned to look at who she was pointing at, and Akane looked as well. “You
look pretty tough, shorty. Up for a match?”



Ranma-chan was tempted, especially seeing Sakura standing there and looking
so cocky. There was also the ‘shorty’ comment to consider. While she was
taller than the cursed forms of her analogs by a couple of centimeters, she
was not a tall girl by any means. That remark decided it for her. No way
was she going to let that one go.



She nodded with a slight smile and answered, “Sure, sounds like fun.” She
handed her small pack of training supplies over to Akane as she stepped
free of the crowd. “Could you hold on to this for me for a minute, Miss?”
She gave Akane a quick smile.



“Uh, sure,” Akane replied, curious as to who the girl was. There was an odd
feeling coming from the pigtailed girl, very much like what she felt around
Sakura. It also reminded her of the sensations the arrogant Kodachi awoke
in her, an awareness of a strong rival and a desire to crush her, but the
girl’s rather friendly attitude towards her blunted most of that response,
like it was blunted for her with Sakura. She even found herself smiling
back.



Ranma-chan nodded at Akane and walked over to where Sakura waited, still
bouncing lightly from foot to foot, utterly confident in her skills. She
took up a stance and waited. “Ready.”



In a flash, the two were engaged, Sakura charging in with skilled punches
and kicks, testing Ranma-chan’s defenses. The pigtailed girl responded
skillfully, shifting her body about in rapid evasions and making swift
parries with her limbs, causing Sakura’s strikes to miss her by small
margins. Now and then, she launched her own attacks, searching for the
proper timing to use with her opponent before she committed herself to a
more aggressive stance. She was unconsciously analyzing the ‘fighting code’
Sakura used, each of her foe’s movements like a line in a computer
algorithm leading to the correct pattern of attack. Once she took the other
girl’s measure, the Furinkan cadet was going down.



Akane watched the fight with eagerness as the seconds ticked by, amazed at
the strange girl’s high level of skill. She was good, incredibly so. She
clutched the pack she was holding for the redhead and wondered who she was.



Sakura had been holding back her full might at first, to test how skilled
her opponent really was without ending the fight too quickly, but she was
quickly forced to end that charade. She was getting pressed too hard by the
other girl and unable to penetrate the redhead’s solid defenses. Luckily,
she had other options to use than just her basic barehanded fighting
techniques.



As she continued parrying and attacking, ignoring the damage she was
receiving from the other girl, she began raising her chi, feeling it
flowing into her from her surroundings and down into her hands. Only
another few moments and this battle would be over. She was a little
disappointed, but despite how hard she was getting pressed she had never
really doubted her eventual victory.



There. Ranma-chan had been waiting for this. Her analog having fought
battles with a similar version of this girl, she knew what was coming next
and was already preparing to counter it. The timing would be critical.



“You’re a good fighter, whoever you are,” Sakura remarked, her voice
sounding almost regretful. The energy built up to a peak within her. “But
now it’s time to finish this. SHO-O-KEN!”



Ranma-chan was already moving into position as Sakura launched herself at
her, winding back a fist that was suddenly glowing with cerulean light. The
redhead leaped right over the incoming blow, using a move her analog had
once seen a blonde fighter from England use, one hand grabbing hold of the
other girl’s forearm and using it like a balance beam. Sakura’s devastating
“Cherry Blossom Fist” missed her completely. Caught off-guard, the Furinkan
cadet tried to recover, never having seen someone evade her technique in
such a way, but it was already too late.



A fire burning inside her at the challenge the other girl had been giving
her, the pigtailed girl spun around and brought her legs down around
Sakura’s neck. Her back was to the Furinkan cadet, grasping her in a tight
grip between her legs. She then let go of the held limb and quickly
plummeted to the ground. Landing with both hands planted, she clenched her
body with all her strength, lifting her opponent up and over her to slam
down hard face first into the pavement, creating a shallow crater.



When it was over, Sakura lay there in a heap, twitching slightly even as
the redhead flipped free to land on her feet. The fallen girl slumped down,
already unconscious. Ranma-chan scratched the back of her head and smiled
at having won, knowing how tough the other girl could be if given more of a
chance. The crowd was stunned, Akane most of all.



“Flawless victory,” a boy said in the crowd, sounding impressed. There was
a general murmur of agreement from others.



“Th-that was incredible,” the youngest Tendo murmured. Even as tough as
Sakura was, this strange girl had just taken her down in less than a
minute, without receiving a single injury in the process.



Ignoring Akane, the pigtailed girl immediately squatted down next to
Sakura. Unlike what had happened on another world, she wasn’t going to make
the same mistakes again. She nudged her, wary that the Furinkan cadet might
have been faking it. “Hey, you all right?”



The other girl responded with a groan and a rueful look as she slowly
levered herself up from the shattered concrete. “Uhn. Yeah,” Sakura
replied, rubbing her forehead and rolling into a sitting position, a little
blood dribbling from her nose. She frowned as she looked at Ranma-chan.
“You beat me so quickly.”



“It was a good match,” the cursed girl said quickly in consolation, smiling
and trying her best to be friendly. “You fought well.” She offered the
Furinkan cadet a hand up.



Sakura stared at the proffered limb, then up at the other girl. One could
almost see the gears turning in her head. She then snorted and smiled back,
taking Ranma-chan’s hand and letting the pigtailed girl haul her up to her
feet. “Thanks. I got too overconfident, I guess. That was some maneuver.
You’re a really strong fighter.”



“I’ve been training all my life,” Ranma-chan averred, grateful that she had
apparently managed to avoid picking up an enemy this time around.



Sakura grinned back, still holding Ranma-chan’s hand tight, feeling the
strength inherent in the other girl’s grip. At last she had found a rival
worthy of her, someone to test herself against and grow stronger. She was
already looking forward to their next match. “By the way, I’m Sakura
Kasugano of Furinkan Academy. You wanna be friends?” She let go of the
impromptu handshake as Akane joined them.



“Uh, sure,” the pigtailed girl replied, startled at the suddenness of the
offer. “I’m Ranm- Uh, Ranko. Ranko Kuonji.” The false name she gave was
becoming more familiar to her as time went on.



Sakura grinned and nudged Akane forward. “And this here is Akane Tendo.
She’s a fighter at Furinkan, too. And she’s a good one.”



“Hello there,” said Ranma-chan, bowing slightly in friendly greeting,
feeling an odd sort of vaguely aggressive tension inside herself at the
nearness of the two other girls, who were both pretty cute, actually. She
hastily shoved that thought away, especially when it came to Akane. “Uh,
it’s very nice to meet you both. I watched your match, Akane. You’re pretty
good too.”



Akane was still a bit stunned. “You beat Sakura, and you made it look so
easy.”



“Hey, it wasn’t that easy for her, Akane!” Sakura protested quickly, her
expression falling into a frown again. She immediately turned her gaze to
Ranma-chan. “It wasn’t, right?”



The pigtailed girl nodded, resisting the impulse to assume a bragging
posture with some difficulty. “I guess I just got a little lucky.”



“No, luck had nothing to do with that,” Sakura declared, eyeing the other
girl. “You beat me fairly. Your skills are very strong.”



Seeing that another fight wasn’t about to happen, the crowd around them
began to disperse for the night. A few people congratulated Ranma-chan on
her fighting skills. The girls from St. Hebereke eyed her but did not
approach, eventually heading out together in a small group.



One of them remained behind to observe further for a moment, leaning
against a tree, a tall blonde named Eda Langley. She was a third-year cadet
and the captain of the Combat Cheerleading Squad at St. Hebereke. Eda
quietly considered Ranko’s skill level as she blew a bubble and popped it.
The Kuonji girl would make a fine addition to St. Hebereke’s student body,
she mused. She would discuss the matter a bit with Sister Yolanda, St.
Hebereke’s headmistress, and the school’s primary combat instructor, the
Russian woman, Sofiya Pavlovena. Eda was sure that something could be
arranged to acquire the Kuonji girl for the school. She turned and walked
off.



When Ranma-chan and the two Furinkan cadets were alone, Sakura said to the
pigtailed girl, “Not bad for your debut. I was the local champion here.”
She grinned. “I intend to beat you back, you know.”



Ranma-chan held her tongue again. “Uh, understood. I’m looking forward to
it, I guess.”



“Maybe you could fight me sometime, too?” Akane interjected. “I’m not quite
up to Sakura’s abilities yet, but I bet I could give you a good match. And
my family even has its own dojo out back of my house we could all use.”



Memories of other worlds floated across Ranma-chan’s mind. “Uh, sure. I
guess so.” She shrugged.



“But I don’t want you to take it easy on me,” Akane declared a bit more
fiercely. “I won’t get any better unless I’m challenged.” She paused. “Hey,
you said your name is Kuonji? Any relation to Ukyo Kuonji?”



Ranma-chan hesitated. “She’s my cousin.”



“Are you two very close?” Akane asked, her gaze narrowing slightly in
suspicion.



The pigtailed girl shrugged. “We only met recently.” It was pretty much the
truth, no matter how one looked at it. “I’m helping out sometimes in, uh,
my Mom’s restaurant. I’m usually out training.”



“Oh,” Akane said, nodding. Her eyes suddenly glittered eagerly a bit as she
gazed at the other girl. “Who trained you? I’ve seen your style before.
It’s one my sister uses.” And a boy she liked, but she was not about to say
that to a potential romantic rival.



“My P-” Ranma-chan paused. “Uh, I mean-”



“There you are, Ranko,” said Yumi-kun’s voice suddenly as he came towards
them, a grin on his face. “I thought I might find you around here.” Knowing
that Ranma was using this park region to train lately, he had been
searching for the cursed boy. It figured Ranma-chan was around a spot where
fights took place. Yumi-kun stopped and nodded to the two girls with his
‘sister’ as he shifted the battle spatula riding on his back slightly.
“Hello there. I’m Yu Kuonji, Ranko’s brother.”



Ranma-chan chuckled nervously. “Yeah, this is my big brother.”



“Hi there,” said Sakura, bowing quickly to the handsome older boy. “I’m
Sakura Kasugano.”



Yumi-kun grinned back, mainly at hearing the girl’s first name. He wondered
how the other Sakura he knew would feel about her.



“Nice to meet you,” said Akane reflexively, bowing quickly to Yumi-kun as
well. “My name is Akane Tendo.”



Yumi-kun looked her over. There was something oddly familiar about the
girl. He was sure it would come to him soon enough. “It’s nice to meet you
both.” He looked around, smiling. “This brings back memories.”



“Are you a street fighter?” Sakura inquired, interested. Having a big
brother who was one went pretty far towards explaining Ranko’s superior
abilities. After all, she fully intended to train any future children of
hers (fathered by her beloved Ryu-senpai, she hoped) how to fight.



Yumi-kun turned back to face the trio of girls. “I’ve had a few fights here
and there around the Empire, but I haven’t fought seriously in well over a
year.” He dropped an arm around Ranma-chan’s shoulders and looked down at
the boy turned girl. “So, did you win?”



“Yeah,” Ranma-chan replied, nodding. “I won.”



Yumi-kun’s eyes glittered with amusement. “Was your opponent very strong?
Maybe I’ll try my luck and come with you next time.”



“Are you any good?” Akane interjected before Sakura could get a word in,
sounding interested.



Ranma-chan looked at Yumi-kun and grinned, before looking back at the Tendo
girl and shrugging. “He’s okay, I guess.”



“Okay?” Yumi-kun said, sounding a little annoyed. He put Ranma-chan in a
sudden headlock and kept speaking even as the girl struggled. “You should
have more respect for your older brother.”



Akane and Sakura stared at the sight. The two were certainly a lively sort
of brother-sister pairing. Akane was a little envious of the girl having
such a strong older brother.



While still holding on to Ranma-chan’s neck firmly, the girl starting to
turn various odd shades, Yumi-kun smiled at Akane and Sakura. “I have to
get Ranko home now. We have some family business to discuss.”



“Okay,” Akane said brightly. She bowed to the pair. “Come by my house
anytime, Ranko. I’m looking forward to that match.”



“Yeah, and I want a rematch, too.” Sakura bowed slightly. “Come on, Akane.
Let’s go grab some sundaes and celebrate our victories.” The two Furinkan
cadets waved and headed off, chatting together happily.



Realizing belatedly that Ranma-chan had ceased struggling, Yumi-kun let up
on his grip. The pigtailed girl gasped and sucked in air. When the woman
turned man was sure she wasn’t going to collapse, he let go of Ranma-chan
and tugged her along to follow.



While they walked through the park, a now recovered Ranma-chan asked, “So,
what did you need to talk to me about, uh, bro?”



“A proper younger sister would call me Oniisan,” said Yumi-kun with a
serious look, belied by the twinkle in his eyes.



Ranma-chan snorted. “Right. Anyway, what’s up?”



“Dean Fuyutsuki came by the restaurant earlier tonight. He wants you to
take the entrance exam.”



The pigtailed girl blinked. “But I’ve already- Wait.” She gestured at
herself. “He wants this me to take them?”



“Uh huh. It seems you impressed him with your skills the other day; by
making Ranma disappear off campus.” He grinned. “So, he wants you and
‘Mother’ in his office Friday morning and then you’re going to take the
exam.”



“But I’m already attending in my male form,” Ranma-chan protested. “I can’t
be both identities at the same time. That’s impossible!”



Yumi-kun grinned more broadly. “This is why he agreed to let Ranko and
Ranma trade off, with Ranko attending only one or two days a week. Of
course, this is only if you get over ninety-five percent on the exam.”



“Of course I can get- Wait.” She paused and then shook her head. “It’s
still no good. Would Lee-sensei go for it?”



“I’m sure he will.”



“What makes you think I’d go for this?”



“Judging by those two girls back there,” said Yumi-kun, gesturing over his
shoulder with a thumb. “You’re already starting to make friends as Ranko.
Why not try living two lives and see what happens?” He paused and turned
away to look at the trees around them. “Or, are you afraid?”



Ranma-chan immediately bristled. “I’m not afraid! I could do this easy. No
problem.”



“Then be in your girl form outside Fuyutsuki-san’s office on Friday,” said
Yumi-kun, turning around after schooling his features to hide his grin. His
new ‘sister’ was proving to be fun to play with.



The boy turned girl smirked. “Hey, I aced it once. I could ace it all over
again. Ninety-five percent sure won’t be any trouble.”



“Then let’s get you cleaned up, so you can go home and get a good night’s
sleep. I’ll expect to see you on Friday morning outside Fuyutsuki-san’s
office.”



Ranma-chan nodded as the pair headed back to the Yu-chan. Things were
certainly becoming more interesting lately. Yumi-kun was glad he could
spectate on events rather than be at ground zero this time around.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Ryu Kumon dodged back from his opponent as the crowd gave a roar of
approval to his foe. He blocked the next blow with an arm and followed up
quickly with an uppercut to the other boy’s face. A grim smile lit his
features when he felt the blow connect solidly. His body was fully healed
from his beatings, the first at Shampoo’s hands a few weeks ago which had
condemned him to this place and then a couple of times since then at
Tarou’s. It was fortunate that he always healed remarkably quickly, only
taking days to recover what took others weeks to heal. He needed an edge
like that here.



It was Thursday night, and his third official match since he had become a
prisoner of this place. The first one had been against one of Tarou’s
cronies, a loss for him that he would someday avenge. His current opponent
was from Thailand, a recent arrival from Shanghai’s arena, heavily muscled,
brutish and very skilled in Muay Thai. They had only been dueling for a
handful of minutes, and the chance for Ryu to cut loose was a welcome
release. Before his opponent could recover, he kept attacking, driving
punches and kicks into the other boy’s defenses, seeking for any openings
he could exploit.



Tomorrow night was going to be another one of Shampoo’s famed Amazon
Challenge matches, and he planned to be there to watch. Last week’s
challenger had paid cash instead of wagering time in the Arena, but the one
coming in tomorrow was gambling six months of his life. After defeating so
many would-be suitors, only the bravest were willing to gamble that. The
name had just been released today: Ranma Saotome. Ryu vaguely recalled the
name, a cadet at the Imperial Academy he had been hearing about and had
been planning to challenge before he got stuck in here.



The other recent arrivals watched the Japanese boy battle, and Shenhua was
among them. She was scheduled to have her next match on Saturday night, so
today was a break for her to rest. Unhappy at the thought of staying alone
in her shared apartment and being bored while her roommates were all out,
she had wandered down to the Arena level to observe some of the fights with
other contenders. Using a compact from her purse, she checked her makeup as
she only half-watched Ryu’s match, studying the state of her lip gloss and
eye shadow critically. Her freshly-manicured nails were a lustrous red in
color, courtesy of the beauticians on site. She sat with her legs crossed
in her seat, her short-skirted cheongsam displaying most of their length.



Ryu blocked his opponent’s knee strike by planting his hands down on the
up-thrusting limb and using the momentum gained to leap up and drive his
own knee up into the other boy’s chin. There was a sharp crack of bone as
the boy’s jaw dislocated, almost biting his tongue as teeth crunched
together. Falling backwards, the Japanese boy finished his opponent off
with a spinning kick while still in mid-air, sending the Thai boy flying
high to impact hard into the thick Plexiglas.



The crowd roared their appreciation for his efforts as he stood there and
basked for a few moments in their adulation. He raised his fists high and
turned around slowly, letting them all see him. Behind him, paramedics
rushed to aid the Thai boy, putting him on a stretcher quickly and carrying
him out.



After a couple of minutes, Ryo stalked off the Arena floor, feeling his
mood a little lighter. His victory tonight had made him feel a little
better, but it darkened again quickly when the crowd forgot about him and
focused on the next fight. Grabbing a towel from the rack by the exit, he
wiped the sweat from his face and walked past the other recent arrivals,
most of them watching the next match.



“Impy boy have good match tonight,” said a female voice from the seats
above where he walked.



Ryu lowered the towel from his face, seeing Shenhua seated there in a
casual pose, appearing bored. His gaze briefly traversed the length of her
legs as he looked up at her, passing the swell of her bosom tightly encased
in her snug cheongsam-style dress under her white jacket before finally
arriving at her face. It was partially hidden by a thick length of her hair
artfully draped across it. Her eyes studied him casually in return. As he
stood there, he was startled to feel a sudden sense of heightened awareness
of the girl, as if lightning tingled along his nerves.



Startled by an odd feeling seeming to spark within her body at the boy’s
nearness, one she had never felt before, she closed her compact with a
snap. As if really seeing him for the first time, Shenhua pulled her gaze
from the next match going on to look down at him. The bored look was gone
from her features. After a moment, she hopped down from the row of seats to
join the citizen boy.



“Thanks,” Ryu replied when he finally found his voice. “Shenhua, right? You
already know me, it seems.” He rested the towel on his shoulders,
occasionally dabbing one end at the remaining sweat on his face.



Leaning against the wall, the Taiwanese girl gave him a brief nod. She
mused on the sensations she was experiencing. It was rare for her to
experience such a strong attraction for a boy. The feelings intrigued her.



“Impy boy not have any friends yet, yes?” She gazed at him with a
coquettish smile on her face. “Maybe we be friends, yes?” She bent one leg
at the knee and rested her foot against the wall. She noticed his quiet
regard, secretly enjoying it.



The girl reminded Ryu of Shampoo, the way she spoke in sing-song tones. Her
offer of friendship was also intriguing, and he could not deny that he felt
attracted to her. After his release from the infirmary and days spent
eating alone and training by himself, only interrupted by jibes and
bullying by other fighters, the offer was welcome. His time in this place
was teaching him a new appreciation for embracing his darker impulses, the
ones he had kept hidden from Sakura and the others at Furinkan.



“Maybe more than friends?” he asked archly, stepping closer to her.



“Shower first and take Shenhua on proper date, then we see,” the Taiwanese
girl replied with feigned coolness. In her thoughts, she was hoping her
roommates were out for the entire evening. She was feeling urges she needed
to work off. She hoped the Japanese boy could be talked into helping her
with that.



Ryu nodded and headed for the locker rooms. His new companion trailed along
quietly behind him.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



In her room, Shampoo stared at the fighter profile on the table in front of
her, which included a head and shoulders photo of Ranma in his Academy
uniform and a very brief bio. His picture had first caught her attention,
startling her to see the face of the boy Ensign Shan had spent such a
passionate and pleasurable night with on another timeline. But his name on
the outside of the portfolio was what mainly held her attention, a name
that she had been searching for since receiving Ensign Shan’s memories.



The Amazon now knew his full name: Ranma Saotome.



She had not been able to find him, and now he was coming to see her. Gazing
at his face, she noted the serious look he wore on it. It was a good face,
a handsome face, she thought, holding the picture in her hand as she
studied his appearance. Unlike with other opponents she had gone up against
in the past, she was looking forward to seeing how good of a fighter this
one was.





xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Too much going on, so I’ve broken the chapter into two parts.



To be continued in The Chinese Amazon Connection, Part II.
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