ShadowSoft Inc.
                          Presents:
                              
                     A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
                         side-story
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                      "Careful Destiny"
                              
                          Part Two
                 "Appointment with Destiny"
                              
                              
                              
                             by:
                          Todd Hill
                     AKA Shadow Stalker
                              
                              
                              
                          Based on:
               Be Careful What You Wish For...
                         written by:
                      Richard Beaubien
                              
                              
                              
         Inspired by the "Ranma 1/2" Manga and Anime
                     by Rumiko Takahashi


WARNING!   While this story is *NOT* a lemon, it  does  have
some adult situations in it.  Read at your own discretion!


THE NEXT DAY...

     Morning came all too soon for Ranma Saotome.  It seemed
like  only  a few moments ago that he'd finally  managed  to
lull  himself to sleep.  After several hours of tossing  and
turning, his exhaustion had overwhelmed his hyperactive mind
and  forced him to fall asleep.  But even in sleep, the days
events  had tormented him, banishing all hopes of a  restful
night.
     His short-lived slumber had been plagued with dreams of
his  past  and present mingled together in an odd duet.   At
the  moment, however, Ranma could only recall fuzzy snippets
of  some of the dreams.  The ones that had remained with him
weren't  ones that he'd particularly enjoyed, like  the  one
where  he  was  fighting in front of the dojo again.   After
being  defeated  by Kuno, a white-hot flash  of  anger  shot
through him as he watched Akane lift her head up to kiss him
passionately on the lips, saying, "Come on lover, leave that
little  girl alone.  We'll be late for school!"   Ranma  had
watched  helplessly  from the pile of garbage,  then  looked
down  in  shock as he saw that he was sporting breasts  once
again.  He then screamed in anguish as he realized that  the
curse  had caught up with him.  The violence of his reaction
caused him to shake himself awake and fall out of his bed in
the process.
      Later  in  the  evening, another  more  intense  dream
struck, frightening Ranma more than angering him.  He dreamt
that  he had defeated Kuno in battle for Akane's hand,  only
to  have  Mr.  Tendo step up and pull Akane away  from  him.
"You  deserve this for what your family did to me all  those
years  ago," he remembered Soun saying.  "As long as I live,
you  will  never be with Akane!" he'd shouted as he  dragged
her  away  from  Ranma.   He had bolted  awake  in  his  bed
immediately after that, shouting `No!' and reaching his hand
out  to  grab  her, only to realize that it was another  bad
dream.
      He  swore viciously at the sun as it continued to rise
in  the  sky,  peeking  in through his  bedroom  window  and
bathing him in its life-giving light.  He brought one of his
hands  up  to  block the intense light from his  eyes,  then
moved  his  head slightly so that he could avoid  the  light
altogether.   He doubted that he'd be able to  get  back  to
sleep  again, and knew that he was going to feel  like  crap
for the rest of the day.
      As  he  lay  there tanning his body  in  the  sun,  he
wondered  briefly if he should postpone the challenge  until
tomorrow.   But  he quickly struck that idea  down,  knowing
that  he  wouldn't be able to sleep at all until he  settled
the  score  with Kuno once and for all and freed Akane  from
that damned arrangement.
      Sighing  tiredly, he squinted to bring his tired  eyes
into  focus so he could read the clock.  He groaned when  he
saw  that he still had an hour before he would have  to  get
up.   Unable  to sleep any more, and tired of  fighting  the
nightmares,  he dragged himself to a sitting  position  with
his feet dangling over the side of his bed.
      Forcing himself to stand, Ranma shambled over  to  the
small  mirror hanging on the wall opposite his  window.   He
groaned  as  he saw the exhausted visage of himself  staring
blankly back at him from the reflective surface.  `Boy, what
a  handsome  face,' he thought dourly as he ran his  fingers
through  his tangled hair.  Stifling a yawn, he  rubbed  the
last  remnants of fatigue from his eyes, then frowned as  he
caught a whiff of himself.  `Whew!  Man I stink,' he thought
with  a grimace.  Looking at the clock again, he saw he  had
some  time  to spare, so he grabbed his towel and walked  to
the bath.
      As Ranma sat down and scrubbed away, his mind pondered
the  meaning behind the dreams he'd had over the  course  of
the night.  He couldn't believe how hard it had hit him when
he saw Akane willingly kiss Kuno on the lips, and again when
Soun   had  guaranteed  that  he  would  never  allow  their
engagement to happen.  `I guess I never knew before now just
how  much  she  means to me,' he thought as he  brought  the
bucket of cold water over his head and rinsed off.
      He  stiffened in that instant.  A latent wave of  fear
passed  over him as the cold water cascaded down  his  body.
He  dropped  the  bucket from his hands and looked  down  at
himself, expecting the worst.  Ranma sighed in relief as  he
saw that his body wasn't protruding where it wasn't supposed
to.   He swore a vile oath against the curse, angry that  it
still held such a large influence over him.  After two weeks
of  living with a single gender, he had hoped that the curse
would  simply fade from his memory.  `I guess it'll  take  a
lot  longer than two weeks to forget about it,' he concluded
sullenly.
      Ranma  stood up from the stool and walked over to  the
bath.   Stepping down, he immersed himself in the hot water.
He  reached  over and flipped a switch which  activated  the
whirlpool.  He `ahhhed' as the dancing bubbles in the  water
went  to  work  on  him, relaxing both  his  mind  and  body
greatly.  In his relaxed state, a small voice percolated  up
from  the  back  of  his mind, offering a  solution  to  his
worries.   `Why not use the second wish and return to  Akane
that way?'
      He frowned at the thought.  He knew damn good and well
why he hadn't used the wish.  `If I use that second wish  to
go  back,  then I'll be cursed again.  I don't  want  to  go
through  all  of that.'  He had to admit that problems  with
Akane  aside, he'd had a very restful two weeks.  And  while
he  may have occasionally felt a pang of regret or sorrow at
losing Ukyou's or Shampoo's interests, he felt that having a
complete  family  more than made up for it.   `Besides,'  he
told  himself, `they may show up one day...'  `Although  not
too soon...' he was quick to add.
      Ranma nodded to himself as he reclined further in  the
oversized tub.  He knew that it would take a hell of  a  lot
to  force  him  to  wish himself out of here.   Besides,  he
wasn't  about to run out on a fight.  Especially  when  that
fight  was  with  Kuno.  That wasn't in his  nature.   `I'll
prove  to everyone that Kuno's nothing more than a bunch  of
hot  air,'  he  vowed  silently, his  words  adding  to  his
faltering confidence.
     He emerged from the bathroom several minutes later, and
dashed quickly back to his room to dress.  He felt refreshed
and  a bit less anxious after the whirlpool had been allowed
to  work its magic on his tense body.  He closed the door to
his room and toweled himself dry, then pulled out another in
his growing set of Chinese outfits and laid it on his bed.
      Although  it  never  left  his  mind  that  today  was
important  to him, he figured that he'd have a heart  attack
by  noon  if he didn't take a more casual approach  to  this
fight.   With  that in mind, he focused on  trying  to  calm
himself  down.   To begin with, he felt that he'd  conquered
the  demons that his overachieving mind had conjured  up  in
the  form of last night's dreams.  He knew that those dreams
were  a  by-product of fear, but during the bath he realized
that they also served as source of inspiration for him,  and
he tried to use them to that end.  That alone helped to calm
his  ragged  nerves  somewhat.  He felt his  confidence  and
determination  slowly building within him.  So  why  was  he
still feeling anxious?
      He nodded to himself a moment later, realizing what it
was.   In  the space of one night he had gone from being  an
unimportant  sulking  boy, in the eyes  of  his  parents  at
least,  to  being a skilled martial artist with a promising,
albeit uncertain, future ahead of him.  That uncertainty was
at the very heart of his concern, and was continuing to fuel
his  tension.  His mind reeled with all of the possibilities
that were available to him;  should he defeat Kuno, that is.
     He knew that his and Akane's future, along with that of
the  entire  Tendo and Saotome families, were on  the  line.
The  dreams that had visited him last night pointed  out  to
him exactly what would happen should he fight Kuno and lose.
The  more he dwelled on it, the more Ranma knew that he  had
to  win.  He also knew that Akane's life was as much on  the
line  as  his was.  He felt sure that she would  rather  die
than  continue to live as Kuno's puppet, and he wasn't  sure
he could live with himself if he failed to get her away from
Kuno.
      It  seemed like such an awesome responsibility for one
so  young,  he  thought briefly.  But he  brushed  away  the
tension, clenching his fists in a show of self-determination
and assuring himself that he wouldn't lose this chance to be
with  Akane.  Suddenly feeling hungry, he dropped his debate
with  himself and wasted no time in putting on  his  clothes
and heading downstairs to the breakfast table.
      Descending the steps quietly, he could hear his mother
humming  to herself as she prepared breakfast.  He took  his
place at the table and closed his eyes, breathing deeply  to
keep himself calm.  A smile slowly crept its way across  his
face  as he inhaled, his nose detecting the wonderful  aroma
of  his  mother's  culinary skills.  The  smell  of  a  good
morning  breakfast wafting from the kitchen called  to  him,
stirring deep rumblings of hunger from his belly.
      At  that  moment  Ranko bounded down the  stairs,  her
raven,  pigtailed hair flopping against her back with  every
step.   She paused at the bottom of the steps, surprised  at
seeing  her  brother  sitting at the table.   Part  of  what
surprised  her was that he was sitting there with  his  eyes
closed  and a smile on his face.  `That's odd,' she  thought
to  herself.   `He's just sitting there like  a  statue.   I
guess  he's  really concerned about the fight today...'  she
thought absently.
      But  even  understanding why he was acting  like  this
didn't dampen her surprise any.  Up to this point Ranma  had
been  keeping up a lazy son image, partly by getting up just
in  the  nick  of  time  for school  every  day.   But  with
everything  that  had happened over the last  twelve  hours,
Ranko  guessed that he was ready to drop the facade and  act
like  the martial artist he seemed destined to be.   Without
making  a  sound, she walked around the room  and  took  her
place adjacent to her brother at the table.
     He jumped in nervous surprise and his eyes snapped open
as Ranko's leg made contact with his arm.  He turned to look
at  her  as  she  sat next to him and favored  him  with  an
encouraging smile.
      "You ready for the big showdown, bro?" she asked in  a
low voice, nudging him with her hip.
      He  gave her a grim look.  "I guess I'll have  to  be,
Sis.  I wasn't able to sleep all that well last night."
      She  continued to smile pleasantly at him,  hoping  to
take the hard edge off of her brother's worry.  "Ahh, you'll
be  okay bro.  I have faith in you.  All you need to  do  is
remember your training," she said as she patted him  on  the
back.
      He  was  about to thank her and give her  a  hug  when
Nodoka  walked  in  with breakfast.  She  seemed  pleasantly
surprised to see both children at the table ahead  of  time.
"My,  you're both up early!  You two have something  planned
today?" she asked as she sat the food down on the table.
      Ranko  looked at her brother as she took her  bowl  of
miso  soup  into  her hands.  "Naah, I don't  have  anything
special goin' on today," she said before taking a sip of the
soup  and putting the bowl back on the table.  "But  Ranma's
challenging Kuno for Akane, and I wanna make sure I'm  there
to  see that!"  She picked up another bowl and stuffed  some
rice in her mouth, smiling at her brother as she swallowed.
      Nodoka's  eyes widened slightly, and she  leveled  her
gaze  at her son.  He coughed slightly, seeing her reaction,
and  forced his half-chewed food down his throat  before  he
choked.  "Ranma!  I can't believe that you're actually going
to  go  through with that fight!"  She put her hands to  her
head  to try and ward off a headache.  "Why today?!?"   `Why
at all?' she added to herself.
      He  took  a  moment  to consider his  response  before
speaking.   He didn't want to get his mother any angrier  at
him than she already appeared to be.  Calmly he put his bowl
on  the  table  and  adopted a neutral look.   "Yes  Mom,  I
decided  that I'm going to take care of it today,"  he  said
simply.  He winced internally as he realized that he'd  made
a mistake.
      The color in Nodoka's face drained away at hearing her
son's words on the matter.  She couldn't help but feel shock
at her son's cool demeanor.  He'd never been this distant to
her  before in his whole life.  "Ranma!" she declared  in  a
scolding  voice.   "I  can't believe how  cavalierly  you're
taking  this  whole matter.  You make it sound  like  you're
going  for  groceries instead of facing off against  someone
who could possibly hurt you!"
      He shook his head, berating himself for acting so cold
to  a  woman  he'd truly known for only a couple  of  weeks.
"Sorry  Mom, I didn't mean for that to sound as  bad  as  it
did."   He paused, trying to find the right way to tell  her
what he was thinking.  "To tell you the truth Mom, I *am*  a
bit  nervous about the fight.  But regardless of that,  it's
still something that I have to do," he finished simply, then
resumed eating.
      `That's  it?!   He has to do it, no questions  asked?'
Nodoka  looked at the stony expression on Ranma's  face  and
groaned,  resigning  herself to the  inevitable.   "Alright.
You  listen to me, son.  If things get out of hand,  I  want
you   or  your  sister  to  come  get  me  or  your  father.
Immediately!"  she shouted, punctuating  the  last  word  by
poking  him in the shoulder with her index finger.  "There's
no  telling what that Kuno character is capable of doing  to
you.   I  don't want you taking any unnecessary  risks,  you
understand me?"
      Ranma  nodded  his assent, but said  nothing  further.
Ranko, on the other hand, spoke up in her brother's defence.
"Mom, you saw what he did last night.  You also heard how he
did  with  Mr. Tendo.  I'd think that you'd have a bit  more
confidence in him."
      Nodoka looked stricken as Ranko's words hit home.  Her
face lost some of its anger, but none of its concern as  she
considered  what her daughter said.  "I guess  you're  right
dear.  But this is such a drastic change.  It's just so hard
to see my son as a fighter."  She sighed, forcing herself to
accept  this  new change in her son.  Despite  herself,  her
gaze softened, and she reached out to stroke her son's face.
"You  know, you're starting to remind me of your father when
he  and  I were dating," she said as she smiled, a nostalgic
look coming over her face.  "He was always ready to come  to
my  rescue.   Even  when I felt it wasn't  necessary."   She
smiled to herself as memories of the past flooded her  mind,
and  stood  away from the table, her eyes holding a  faraway
look.
     Ranma breathed a sigh of relief, feeling better knowing
that she wasn't going to try to stop him.  Eager to get  the
fight with Kuno out of the way, he quickly finished off  his
breakfast.  Standing from the table, he grabbed Ranko's hand
and  dragged her with him.  "Good luck, dear," Nodoka called
out  to  the  whirlwind Saotome siblings as the door  closed
behind them.
      "Hey Ranma!  Slow down, willya?" Ranko yelled as Ranma
blasted down the street towards the school.
      Nodoka  chuckled  slightly at hearing  her  daughter's
fading protest, then turned to clean the table.  `I hope  he
makes  it  through the day okay,' she thought hopefully.   A
frown  crossed her face as she considered again what he  was
facing.   `That Kuno boy better hope that my son isn't  hurt
or...' she paused the thought, her eyes regarding the katana
that hung on a nearby wall.  `... or else he and I will have
words,' she vowed severely.

                            ****

      Ranma  knew that his sister didn't like to be  dragged
about,  and  released her hand to run on ahead of  her.   He
didn't have to look over his shoulder, though, to know  that
she  was  right behind him.  He rounded a curve and saw  the
gates  of Furinkan High looming in the distance.  He  pushed
himself,  hoping  to get to the school  ahead  of  Kuno  and
Akane.
      But  as  he  neared  the school, he  noticed  a  black
limousine drive up to the gates, and swore viciously.   `No!
I  won't miss this opportunity,' he thought in a rush as  he
continued  to pour on the speed.  He watched in  frustration
as Kuno and Akane exited the vehicle, and turned towards the
school.   Ranma  redoubled his pace, hoping  to  catch  them
before  they  went inside the school, leaving Ranko  in  the
dust in the process.

                            ****

     Tatewaki Kuno held his hand out to Akane.  Unwilling at
first,  she gradually reached her own hand out and  accepted
his  as she stepped out of the vehicle.  She looked pale and
withdrawn, which is how she'd been almost since the day Kuno
and  she began dating formally.  A part of her knew that she
hadn't  always been this downcast, but she couldn't remember
the  last time *recently* when she enjoyed getting up in the
morning.  It had been too long for her to recall.
      When  she  had  first  accepted the  proposed  joining
between  herself and Kuno, she'd vowed to try and  make  the
relationship work, more for her father than herself.  During
that  early  time,  she had tried to find something  likable
about Kuno.  But try as she might, she just couldn't do it.
      He  had  been really sweet to her when he was  chasing
after her as a freshman.  But now that she had accepted  him
as  her boyfriend, his interest in her evaporated.  She  had
become  a  trophy  of sorts for Kuno.  He would  posture  in
front  of other guys on campus, and show her off as  if  she
were a prize instead of a loved one.  She felt like she  was
something  only  slightly more than a revered  pet  to  him.
Akane  really  hated the way he was treating  her,  but  she
couldn't think of any way to change things, at least nothing
that would keep her or her family out of jail.
       With  a  sigh  she  stood  away  from  the  departing
limousine.  She turned around to look at the cityscape  when
something  caught  her  eye.  She  tugged  on  Kuno's  hand,
pointing  at  what  she  saw.  "Kuno-chan,"  Akane  said  by
reflex, "what's that?"
      As  the thing in question drew nearer, it looked  more
and more like a miniature dust storm approaching the school.
Several  people  were  being  drawn  to  the  gates  by  the
disturbance.  A combination of "oohs!" and "ahhs!" could  be
heard  from the building crowd as they watched the dustcloud
approach.
      Someone  in the crowd pointed and yelled, "Hey,  look!
It's  some  guy!  Looks like he's really hauling butt  too!"
That  brought a *lot* more people out, causing the crowd  to
spill  into the street.  Akane squinted, trying to make  out
who  it  was.   It took her a couple of seconds  before  she
could  see the person clearly.  She gasped when she  finally
recognized who it was.  `It's that guy who insulted Kuno  in
front  of  the dojo a couple of weeks ago!  Looks like  he's
really angry about something.'  The figure in the center  of
the dustcloud began shouting, prompting more heads to turn.
      "KUUUUUUUUUUNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!"  it  could  be  heard  to
scream once it was close enough.
       Someone   in   the   crowd  gasped  in   realization.
"Waitaminute!  That's sounds like Ranma!"
       Another  turned  to  the  first  in  shock.    "Ranma
*Saotome?*   No  *WAY!*"  The stunned pair  turned  back  to
watch as he blasted towards the campus.
      Kuno  turned  at the sound of his name, but  tried  to
feign  disinterest.  He felt that the display of  wonderment
by  the  people in the crowd was beneath him, so  he  merely
watched with mild curiosity as Ranma approached.
     Seeing his target directly ahead, Ranma slowed himself,
not  wanting to fly past his opponent.  He also didn't  want
to  become  one with the school gates.  He came  to  a  halt
three  feet in front of Kuno, breathing only slightly harder
than  normal.  "Kuno, I challenge you!" he yelled,  insuring
that the whole crowd heard him.
      "You  would  challenge  me?" Kuno  scoffed  at  Ranma,
pointing his bokken at him.  "Surely you jest!"  He threw  a
withering  gaze at him, trying to dull Ranma's  passion  and
humble  him.  "And for what reason should I fight a creature
as  unworthy as you, eh?"  Kuno laughed humorlessly  through
his nose, scoffing openly at the idea of being challenged by
anyone, especially Ranma Saotome.
     Ranma stared directly at him, confidence burning in him
like  an iron furnace.  Defiantly he held his ground in  the
wake  of Kuno's arrogance, pointing at him as if he  were  a
wanted  man (which he was).  "I know for a fact that if  you
are defeated in combat you will release Akane Tendo from her
engagement.   *That's*  why I'm challenging  you,  so  LET'S
FIGHT!" he bellowed.  Ranma was eager to cause harm to Kuno,
and it was beginning to show.
     Akane gasped, her eyes as wide open as possible, as the
importance of his words sunk in.  She had no idea  who  this
guy  was, or why he was doing it, but she sure as hell hoped
he won.  She crossed her fingers, just to make sure.
     Kuno laughed derisively, trying to keep faint stirrings
of  worry  from  showing on his face.  "It is  true  that  I
uttered those words.  I did so, confidently, for I know that
only  I am destined to have the hand of Akane Tendo."   Kuno
wrapped  his arm around Akane's thin waist, and allowed  his
hand  to  rest against her belly as he emphasized his  point
further by bending down and kissing her on the lips.
     He stood away from Akane and lowered his gaze at Ranma,
sneering  as  if  he  were being forced  to  view  something
unpleasant.   What  he didn't see in that  instant  was  the
murderous  look Akane shot him for kissing her so  brazenly.
"I  see  that  I  was mistaken in believing  that  the  last
thrashing I gave you would've convinced you of the  futility
of  defeating me, the great Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue  Thunder
of  Furinkan High, in combat."  He gasped for air  silently.
"Very  well, I suppose that I will have to defeat you again,
if that's what it takes to make you see reason."  He brought
his  bokken  up and moved into a defensive stance,  "Prepare
yourself, fool!" he shouted imperiously.
      Ranma  threw his backpack to the ground,  and  brought
himself  to a fighting stance.  "For the record, my name  is
Ranma  Saotome,  of  the  Saotome School  of  Anything  Goes
Martial  Arts.  And by all that's holy, I will make you  pay
for  what  you've done to Akane!"  He cracked his  knuckles,
awaiting Kuno's move.
      Akane  did the only thing she could do in her  current
emotional  state,  she fainted.  Ranma  almost  dropped  his
stance  in that moment and ran over to her side, but stopped
short  when he saw that she didn't hit the ground.   Someone
in the audience had seen her falter and managed to catch her
before  she  collapsed.  The student sat Akane  against  the
nearby fence, away from Kuno and the impending battle.
      Ranma  turned back to Kuno and was angered further  by
the  dismissive gaze Kuno was giving to Akane's still  form.
`You'll pay dearly for that one, Kuno!  NO-ONE neglects  her
like  that  and lives!' he vowed, his heart pounding  as  he
teetered on the edge of sanity.  His nervousness and anxiety
had  been  completely stripped from his mind, to be replaced
by an iron-clad confidence.  He was primed for the impending
battle, and eagerly awaited the first blow.
      Gasps,  murmurs, and side betting were  happening  all
throughout  the  crowd.   Every  student  was  on  pins  and
needles, wrapped up in the tension generated between the two
combatants.   It  was almost palpable, as they  awaited  the
first  blow.   Ranko  joined  the  crowd,  picking  up   her
brother's backpack from where he had thrown it.  She  wormed
her  way  to  the front of the crowd, rooting hard  for  her
brother.
      A  gust  of  wind  blew across the campus,  scattering
leaves  and  papers  around the  street  and  sidewalk.   It
captured  the  attention  of a  large  part  of  the  crowd,
including Ranma.  Kuno used the momentary distraction to his
advantage and struck out with his weapon.
      Ranma didn't even see it coming.  Before he could even
get  his  hands up, Kuno's bokken sailed right  at  him  and
tagged  him in the chest, knocking him back, but  not  down.
He involuntarily covered the stricken area with a hand as he
fought  to  regain  his feet.  `Damn!  He's  faster  than  I
thought...'  He gazed in Ranko's direction.  `You were right
sis.   This  Kuno's  not like the one I knew.'   He  smirked
inwardly.  `But now that I have that bastard's timing,  it's
my turn to teach him what *real* martial arts is like.'
      Kuno  laughed scornfully at his collapsed  foe.   "You
have  my  permission  to concede.   I  suggest  you  do  so,
Saotome, before you get hurt."
     Ranma stood up and gave the Kendoist a withering stare,
not  wanting to lose his focus by listening to Kuno's words.
"You got your one hit, Kuno.  You won't touch me again!"
      Kuno's right eyebrow swept up in an unintentional show
of  respect.   "Very  well then, to your  doom  cretin!"  he
yelled  as  he  charged.   Ranma was  ready  this  time  and
deflected  the  bokken  with the  back  of  his  hands.   He
immediately followed up with a kick to the kidneys,  causing
Kuno's eyes to water as he gasped in pain.
     The crowd gasped as well, shocked that someone had been
able  to  land a hit on the Kendo champion.  Kuno  hesitated
slightly before bringing his bokken up to bear against Ranma
again,  his  mind  warning him that  this  person  was  more
dangerous than his reputation warranted.  `Could it be  that
this  whelp  has found a backbone in so short a time...'  he
thought as he re-evaluated his opponent.
      Not  wanting to allow Kuno any more time  to  recover,
Ranma  followed  up the kick with a volley  of  punches  and
jabs.   But even with the hit he took, Kuno was still  swift
enough  to deflect the attacks.  `The only upside to  this,'
Ranma  thought in a huff, `is that he isn't able  to  launch
anything offensive at me.'
        Kuno   frowned   inwardly,   but   kept   his   face
expressionless.  Never had he encountered a  martial  artist
of  such  pronounced skill before.  It bothered him that  he
had  not already dispatched of the lower-class Saotome.  For
surely,  he  thought, only a man as great  as  Kuno  himself
could  bring  the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High  to  defeat.
And Ranma Saotome could not be that man.
      The  fight  raged  on for several long  minutes,  with
neither  combatant giving quarter.  Neither Kuno  nor  Ranma
was  able  to  claim an advantage, as they  appeared  to  be
evenly  matched.   The small spot of ground  that  had  been
claimed  by the combatants was the scene of wildly  swinging
bokken  strikes  parrying the punches and kicks  of  a  very
nimble Ranma.  He was throwing everything at Kuno, short  of
special attacks, with little or no effect.  His patience was
starting to wear thin, as nothing was getting accomplished.
     Likewise, Kuno's ire grew at his lack of progress.  His
face was red and slick with sweat as the heavy exertion from
the fight bore down on him mercilessly.  His arms and wrists
were  beginning to ache as the extreme strain  that  he  was
putting  them  through  built to a fevered  pitch.   But  he
withstood the pain stoically as he used his bokken to  block
again  and again the punches and kicks hurled his  way.   He
was desperate to stop any of Ranma's strikes from landing on
him.   He'd had an undefeated record so far, and he  had  no
intention of losing now.  Especially not now.
      But as the fight wore on, he saw that he would not  be
able  to maintain a defense against Ranma's unending  flurry
of   punches  and  kicks  much  longer.   Desperate  for   a
conclusion to the fight, he spared what attention  he  could
from defending himself to looking for a weak spot in Ranma's
defenses.
      Meanwhile, Akane had regained consciousness and  stood
up  from  her resting place at the gate.  She couldn't  hear
anything beyond the yelling of the crowd, but she could  see
the  occasional leg, arm, or bokken stick up above the heads
of  the people.  Remembering who was fighting, and why,  she
desperately pushed her way through the crowd to see what was
going on.
      Once  she'd worked her way to the front of the  crowd,
she  watched in awe as Ranma and Kuno battled.  Much to  her
satisfaction, Ranma was clearly holding his own against  the
Kendo  champion.  Apparently a lot of other people  felt  as
she did;  glad that someone was finally able to give Kuno  a
run  for  the money.  She took her eyes away from the  fight
for  a  second and scanned the rim of the crowd.   Her  eyes
happened  upon a young girl who looked just like Ranma,  and
was  obviously related to him.  The girl was jumping up  and
down, screaming and cheering.  "Whip his ASS bro!  YES! YES!
YES!  YES!  YES!   Nail  that SON OF  A  BITCH!!   WOOOOO!!"
Without saying anything, Akane prayed for Ranma's victory as
well.
     Kuno's split attention was causing him to falter in his
defense.  Ranma took note of that and pressed his advantage.
`I  guess  either Kuno's getting tired, or I'm just  getting
warmed  up,' he thought confidently.  He grinned,  his  hope
burning inside of him as he continued to strike at Kuno..
      Kuno's  frustration, which had been contained  for  so
long,  was  plainly visible now.  For the past nine  minutes
he'd  tried every honorable tactic he knew to try and  bring
down  the villainous cur, but to no avail.  Unable to  think
of a good way to get the upper hand, he concentrated instead
on defense, hoping that he'd eventually wear Saotome out.
      That  plan fell by the wayside in a hurry as he espied
Ranma  smirking at him contemptuously.  Anger  flashed  deep
from  within Kuno, replacing the battle calm that he'd  been
nurturing throughout the fight.  "How dare you mock me,  you
thoughtless  knave!" he thundered.  "I will have  your  head
for that, Saotome!"
      "I  don't  think so, Kuno," Ranma replied  derisively,
purposely avoiding any honorific.
      Kuno's  patience snapped at the flippant  remark.   He
dove at the younger martial artist frantically, sweeping low
with  his sword in an attempt to take Ranma's legs out  from
under him.
      Ranma  saw the attack coming and leapt into  the  air,
landing  neatly  on Kuno's head.  He paused  for  a  second,
teetering on Kuno's forehead like a surfer as he ground  his
foot  into the Kendoist's face.  Then with precise  balance,
he  jumped off to stand behind Kuno with his back turned  to
him.   "Give  up  yet, Kuno?" he shouted over his  shoulder,
layering the scornful words heavily with superiority.
      Kuno had managed to somehow keep himself upright after
taking  the  brunt of Ranma's weight on his head.   Managing
not  to  pass out, he turned to face Ranma once  more.   But
before  he  could make a move to strike, he flushed  angrily
and  halted himself in mid-swing.  He saw that Ranma had his
back  facing him, with a bored stance evident in the upstart
martial  artist's posture.  It didn't help matters any  that
people  were  pointing at Kuno and laughing  at  the  rather
large  footprint on his face.  `How *DARE* they mock me?   I
will not be made a laughing stock by this fool!' he swore to
himself before his mind reasserted control and forced him to
concentrate on the battle.
     Pausing to catch his breath and calm himself down, Kuno
sneered.   Hoping  to  break  Ranma's  composure,  he  tried
insulting  him.  "You're weak Saotome!  You may be  able  to
get  in  a lucky hit, but as sure as the Earth sails through
the  heavens, I will defeat you!"  He crouched into a  ready
position  again,  his laughter starting to  slide  into  the
maniacal level.
      Ranma  rolled  his eyes and turned to face  Kuno  once
more.   He concentrated on what he hoped would be his  final
attack.   Nodding  at  his sister's encouraging  words,  and
sparing a smile for Akane, Ranma spoke again.  "Good  night,
Kuno,"  he  said  gravely as he changed his posture,  facing
Kuno directly.
      He  blinked at Ranma's last words, unsure of what  was
meant  by  them, but readied himself in any  event  for  the
promised onslaught.  Cautiously he brought his bokken up  in
an attack stance, preparing to move against the martial arts
show-off  again.  But before he could bring the weapon  down
to bear, he was attacked.
     "KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" Ranma bellowed as he threw
everything he had into an all-out, final attack.  His  fists
were  a blur as they flashed again and again in Kuno's face.
Bewildered  by  the speed of Ranma's attack, Kuno  lost  his
grip  on  his bokken, which flew away from him  due  to  the
sheer force of the punches being thrown.  He watched out  of
the  corner of his eye as his weapon landed away  from  him,
clattering uselessly on the pavement.  He didn't  have  much
of  a  chance to curse the loss of it, however, as the force
of Ranma's punches took their toll and quickly sent him into
unconsciousness.
      Ranma  forced himself to stop after Kuno  had  fallen,
allowing his arms to drop to his sides limply.  Knowing that
the  fight  was finally over, exhaustion swept quickly  over
Ranma's body, causing him to collapse to his knees, although
he managed to remain upright.  He stayed there for a moment,
gasping  for  breath  as the pain from  the  endurance-level
fight  throbbed through every fiber of his being.  The crowd
stood  away from him, looking on in stunned silence,  unable
to believe what they had just witnessed.
      "YESSS!" Ranko screamed, throwing both bookbags in the
air,  elated  that her brother had beaten Kuno  so  soundly.
She  quickly  ran  to her brother's side  after  seeing  him
stumble, and knelt down, putting her arm around his waist to
help  him  stand  up again.  "That's it, Ranma.   Just  lean
against   me   and   breathe  deeply."    She   patted   him
appreciatively on the chest, feeling how hot and  sweaty  he
was  from  the workout he just went through.  "I'm proud  of
you, man!  You did it."
      Ranma  just  kind of stood where he was,  flexing  his
fingers  to  try and get some feeling back into  his  hands.
Gratefully,  he put an arm around his sister's  slim  waist,
and  grinned  down  at  her  as she  rambled  on  about  how
wonderful he was and how great he fought.  He hugged her  to
him  as he absorbed the more subdued and silent respect from
the crowd.
     He rested against her for a couple of minutes before he
finally  regained feeling in his hands and  legs  and  could
stand  without  effort.  He turned to look  over  his  right
shoulder and spotted the bokken that he'd knocked loose from
Kuno's  grip.  Stepping from his sister's embrace, he  knelt
down and picked up the weapon.

                            ****

      Meanwhile,  Akane broke away from the  crowd  and  ran
towards  the  dozing form of Tatewaki Kuno, gazing  down  in
amazement at her now-former boyfriend.  As she stared at his
bruised  and  battered figure, the reality of what  happened
suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks.  Overwhelmed by a sea
of  confused and conflicting emotions, she collapsed to  her
knees  beside Kuno's body and buried her head in her  hands.
She  wept loudly, tears of joy and sorrow streaming down her
pallid  face.  Joy that her engagement to Kuno  had  finally
been broken, and sorrow over how weak and powerless she  now
knew  she had been while under Kuno's influence.  Her  tears
stopped abruptly as someone approached her and knelt by  her
side.
     "Excuse me for a moment, please?" a polite voice asked.
A hand gently held her by the shoulder, trying delicately to
move  her aside without forcing her.  She turned to see  who
was  touching  her, and saw Ranma kneeling next  to  her,  a
smile on his flushed face.  He was holding Kuno's bokken  in
his  free hand, evidently intent on doing something with it.
"Pardon  me.  There's just one more thing I have  to  do  to
make this official," he explained to her in a soft voice.
     Ranma took his hand from her shoulder, letting it slide
gently across her back as he reached out to grab each end of
the  bokken in his hands.  Then with all the force he  could
muster,  he  snapped  it  in half.   It  broke  irregularly,
splinters  and  jagged edges forming along the  break  line.
Ranma  smiled  satisfactorily at the  damage  he  caused  it
before he tossed the broken weapon absently at Kuno's  feet.
"Kuno  had that coming for taunting me like that,"  he  said
angrily, snorting at the unconscious Kendoist.
      Ranma  turned to Akane, and knelt to face her  on  the
opposite  side of Kuno's body.  Her face was red  and  slick
with  tears,  and  her  lower lip  was  trembling.   Wanting
desperately to comfort her, Ranma gently reached out to her,
putting his hand on her arm.  With his other hand he reached
over  and stroked the tears from her face.  "Hey, you  okay,
Akane?"  he asked in a halting voice.  Old habits were  hard
to  break,  as  he found himself trying to distance  himself
from  her.  But he delved deep within himself and found  the
courage to stay where he was, looking into the troubled eyes
of his `fiancee.'
      Akane flinched slightly at Ranma's initial touch,  but
smiled  weakly at him in appreciation, covering the hand  on
her  arm  with  one of her own.  "Yeah, I'm  okay...  I  ...
umm... " she blushed, turning her face from him as confusion
governed her actions.
     He looked like he wanted to say more, but couldn't find
the  words.   He  dropped his hand from  Akane's  face.   He
didn't  know how to react since he'd never really been  this
close   to  her  before,  emotionally  speaking.    He   was
uncomfortable  at  seeing  her  cry,  but  he  took  immense
pleasure in the fact that she didn't want him to walk  away.
Once  more  he  tried  to talk to her, but  the  words  just
weren't  coming to him.  "I... you're ... um...  "  he  said
haltingly, stumbling over himself.
      They  continued to sit on either side of Kuno's  still
form, gazing at each other as they tuned out the rest of the
world.  Ranma's nervousness and excitement were both peaked.
His  hands  registered the warmth of  Akane's  body  as  she
clutched  his hand.  One part of him expected her  to  knock
him  out  of  the  city  at  any moment  for  touching  her,
screaming "HENTAI!" at the top of her lungs.  But she didn't
even complain, instead welcoming his comforting presence.
      This was all so new to him.  He'd never willingly been
this close to her before, but he found himself liking it.  A
lot!   He  basked in the sensation of her soft skin  against
his  fingers, enjoying the welcoming feeling of her presence
as they kept their positions, facing each other in silence.
      He  had  given  up on trying to say anything  to  her.
Besides,  he felt that words weren't appropriate right  now,
and  settled  for simply gazing at her face while  she  held
onto  his hand.  He allowed a genuine smile to show, and  on
impulse, he began to lean forward, bringing his face  closer
to hers.
      Akane's  eyes shimmered with the beginnings  of  fresh
tears,  but  Ranma's support allowed her  to  keep  them  in
check.   She felt ... gratified for what he'd done for  her,
and ... something else she couldn't quite describe.  But she
dismissed her calming feelings as her eyes glanced upon Kuno
once  again,  causing her to almost drown in  despair.   She
knew  in  that  moment that escaping from his shadow  wasn't
going to be as easy as winning one simple fight.  She looked
up  at  Ranma  again  for reassurance and  saw  him  inching
towards  her,  their  faces growing  closer.   Without  even
realizing it, she began moving towards him as well.
      He  paused his advance abruptly as his mind  screamed,
telling him what it was he was about to do.  A large part of
his psyche still harbored the `tomboy!' reaction he normally
felt  about her whenever they got too close.  But  for  some
reason  his mouth wasn't getting him into trouble this  time
by  uttering  the usual string of insults.  He held  himself
where he was, looking into her captivating eyes.
      Ranko  watched the silent exchange happen between  her
brother and the girl she heard him address as Akane.  `Ranma
sure picked a cute one, that's for sure.  They do look great
together,' she thought with a slight tinge of jealousy.   `I
just wish he'd hurry up and do something!,'  She tapped  her
foot  impatiently, waiting for her big brother to  make  his
move.  After several minutes of nothing, she finally got fed
up  and  walked up to him.  "Psst!  Ranma.  Hey,  bro!"  she
hissed.  Getting no response from him, she waved her hand in
front of his eyes.  `Geez!  You must really be stuck on this
girl,'  she thought drily.  Finally she tapped him  hard  on
the shoulder and shook him.
      Snapped  out  of  his reverie, Ranma jerked  his  hand
abruptly  from Akane's grasp.  He had a dazed air about  him
as  he  looked up to his sister.  "Yeah, um...  what  is  it
Ranko?" he asked as the world snapped back into focus around
him.
      Ranko  rolled  her  eyes and pointed  to  the  school.
"Ranma, you can stare at her later.  If you don't hurry  up,
we'll be late for school!"
      Akane  jumped involuntarily as Ranma pulled  his  hand
away from hers.  She somberly drew her arms to herself in an
embrace, trying to bring her chaotic emotions in check.  She
barely  even heard Ranma and Ranko speak as she mechanically
picked up her things and dashed off to the school building.
     She fought the urge to turn around for one more look at
Ranma,  not knowing what she would do if she looked  at  him
again  right now.  She didn't want to tempt fate,  at  least
not in front of the crowd that was still encircling Kuno and
the  Saotomes.  She'd find some other time to talk to  Ranma
and ask him the multitude of questions she had.  But for now
she had to think, so she entered the school building without
stopping or speaking to anyone.
      Ranma  reluctantly agreed with his sister.  He  turned
back  to Akane in time to see her stand and run towards  the
school.  He wasn't able to get her attention, so he stood up
and  looked  at  his sister instead.  "Yeah,  Ranko,  you're
right.   Let's  go!"  he shouted as he turned  and  ran  off
towards the school.
      Ranko  started to follow her brother when she heard  a
groaning  coming from beneath her.  "Uhhh...  What  form  of
magic  did you use against me, Saotome?" he mumbled.   Ranko
knelt  down to him, and saw that his eyes were glazed  over,
then jumped back in surprise when Kuno suddenly flopped back
down on the pavement, unconscious again.  She looked closely
at his face.  `Yup, he's still out cold.  Interesting trick,
talking while unconscious,' she thought absently.
      She  took  pity  on him and decided to  wake  him  up.
Kneeling down and straddling his chest, she slapped her hand
against  his  face multiple times.  Kuno's head rocked  back
and  forth as he endured slap after vicious slap.  His  eyes
fluttered  open  slowly as he regained consciousness.   "Hey
buddy, you awake?" she yelled at him.
     He looked up at her, his cheeks bright red from Ranko's
wake-up  call, but said nothing in return.  She  started  to
say  something else to him when a pretty, short-haired  girl
approached  her.  "Don't worry about Kuno-chan.   I'll  take
him  to  the  infirmary.   Thanks for  waking  him  for  me,
though."
      Ranko  nodded  to  the girl and  took  off  after  her
brother.   Nabiki watched the younger Saotome run  into  the
school  building  and  then  regarded  the  listless   Kuno.
Reaching  an  arm  down,  she  tugged  Kuno  to  a  standing
position.  "I do not require your assistance, Nabiki  Tendo.
I  am  the  Blue  Thunder of Furinkan High and...  WHA!"  he
shouted suddenly, stumbling over the remnants of his bokken.
      Nabiki  smiled, gently replying with, "Of  course  you
don't,  Kuno-chan."  She walked with him to  the  infirmary,
thinking, `Ranma Saotome, eh?  You and I have a lot to  talk
about,  yes  indeed.'  The yen signs were  already  floating
around  her  mind, the possibilities seemingly  innumerable.
She  smiled to herself, `This could turn out to be  a  great
day.'

                            ****

      Ranma found it hard to concentrate on anything once he
entered the school building.  His mind was thinking  of  all
of  the  possibilities that had just opened up to him.   But
his  thoughts  were so chaotic that he wasn't really  making
any  sense to himself.  The one thing that was clear to  him
was  that  Akane  was  free of Kuno's hold.   A  major  side
benefit  for him was that his family could hopefully  return
to  peaceful  relations  with  the  Tendo  family.   How  he
proceeded  from  this point was what he was  having  trouble
dealing with.
      When his mind wasn't dwelling on the future, he'd keep
noticing  that  a lot of students were paying  attention  to
*him*,  and  that was making him *very* uncomfortable.   Not
used to playing the celebrity, Ranma kept to himself for the
most part, trying to avoid the scrutiny of everyone else.
      Class  time came, and Ranma's tension became palpable.
He  arrived to the classroom early, and sat at his  assigned
seat.   He  watched the door, and almost jumped out  of  his
chair when Akane walked in.  He smiled to her, and his heart
leapt  when  she smiled in return.  Class had started  right
after that, but he wasn't noticing.  He kept staring at  the
youngest Tendo girl, trying hard not to be obvious about it.
Three  classes into the day he finally screwed together  the
courage to pass her a note he'd written after the fight.
     Akane took the proffered note from the classmate at her
end of the delivery chain.  She looked at it closely and was
just  able to make out Ranma's chicken scratch on the front.
"To  Akane  Tendo,  urgent."  She quietly opened  the  note,
looking around to see if anyone was watching her.
     The note read:

     "Dear Akane,
          My name is Ranma Saotome, and I want to speak with
you today.  Will you please join me for lunch after class?"

      She  could  see the heavy amounts of erasure  and  re-
writing  that  Ranma  had done over  various  parts  of  the
message.  Akane snickered to herself before folding the note
and  putting  it in her book bag.  She turned to  face  him,
smiling  at  his  expectant look.  Slowly  and  clearly  she
mouthed, "Yes, I'd like to."
     A big smile formed on Ranma's face as he read her lips.
`Yes!   The  first step's been taken,' he thought, exultant.
He  turned  quickly to face the blackboard,  hoping  not  to
catch  the instructor's ire again.  This teacher was  a  new
one  on  him, but he quickly learned that Onsen-Mark  Sensei
was not one to toy with.  Ranma fidgeted in his seat for the
remainder of class, impatiently awaiting the bell for lunch.

                            ****

       Nabiki  sighed  as  she  looked  Kuno's  way   again.
Originally,  she  wanted to remain with him  until  he  felt
better,  but now she was wondering if that had been  a  wise
choice.   He'd passed out again as soon as his head hit  the
pillow  on  the  infirmary cot.  Before  that  he  had  been
mumbling  semi-incoherently  about  vengeance  against  that
`knave Saotome for tricking him into defeat, bla bla bla.'
      Nabiki had to admit that Ranma Saotome possessed  some
powerful capabilities of his own to be able to trounce  Kuno
so  soundly.   She thought hard about a way to turn  Ranma's
power  to her advantage, but nothing came to the fore.   But
she  knew  that,  given  time,  she'd  think  of  something.
`Everything's  got a price and a worth,' she  told  herself.
She  regarded  Kuno's slumbering form again, smirking.   `At
least  I'll be able to sell Kuno-chan pictures of my  sister
again,' she thought happily.
      Suddenly Kuno bolted upright out of his bed,  a  wide-
eyed  expression on his face.  He turned to look at  Nabiki,
who  was sitting in a chair beside his bed.  "Nabiki  Tendo,
why am I here?" he commanded imperiously.
      She  looked at him with a faux-shocked expression  and
said,  "Why, Kuno-chan!  Don't you remember?  You lost  that
fight to Ranma Saotome and were knocked out.  I had to carry
you here."
      Kuno's  face  locked  in  a  half-snarl,  half-shocked
expression.   "How  could a simpleton  like  Saotome  defeat
someone  of my stature?  Could you answer that question  for
me, Nabiki Tendo?"
      Nabiki  smiled,  trying to butter up  the  rich  fool.
"Why, Kuno-chan, he had to have been lucky.  That's the only
explanation for it."
      Kuno  calmed, and he seemed to be considering Nabiki's
words.   "You may be right, Nabiki Tendo.  Perhaps a  return
challenge is in order," he said, attempting to sit up in the
bed.   The world spun around him as dizziness overcame  him.
With some effort, he managed to keep his sitting position on
the cot.
     "Perhaps later, Kuno-chan," Nabiki deadpanned.
      Kuno  sat  motionless on the cot for  a  few  moments,
allowing the world to stop spinning.  "Yes, later," he said,
making it sound like he had thought of it first.
      As he sat in silent repose on the cot, Kuno closed his
eyes  and replayed the fight in his mind.  Saotome had truly
been  astounding, although he was loathe to  admit  that  to
anyone.  `What possessed that demon to challenge me anyway?'
he  asked himself tiredly.  `It's not as if beautiful  women
are a scarce commodity at Furinkan...'
     He stopped for a moment as he realized that he had lost
Akane  to  Ranma.  `Oh well, it's not so bad,'  he  thought,
consoling  himself.   `She had lost her  spirit  anyway.   I
doubt that I could love her any longer...'  He sighed at the
pain  awaiting  her because of his absence.  `How  will  she
deal with it?' he asked himself.  But even with that part of
his ego trying to provide comfort, the loss of Akane stabbed
at him cruelly.  The fact that he lost to someone of Ranma's
ilk only made the pain more acute.
      Kuno  wondered if maybe he hadn't been a  good  enough
influence on her.  `No,' he answered himself candidly.  `She
surely was blessed with my presence while with me, and  will
come  to  regret my absence now that she has lost me.'   The
only thing lingering in his mind, except for finding out how
to  defeat Ranma, was, `Is there another female of beauteous
quality and the nature of a huntress at the hollowed grounds
of  Furinkan High?'  A fuzzy image appeared in his  mind  to
answer  his  unspoken  question, and  he  seemed  to  recall
something  about a beautiful woman talking to him after  the
fight, but the details were beyond his reach for the moment.
      Nabiki could hear the rusty scheming wheels turning in
Kuno's  mind, but decided that she could con the information
from him later.  She was going to miss the whole school  day
if  she  didn't return to class soon.  "Come on,  Kuno-chan.
You're feeling better, so let's get back to class," she told
him.
      Kuno  stood  from  the  cot,  wavering  slightly,  and
regarded  her  with his standard upper-class  demeanor.   "I
will allow you to escort me to class, Nabiki Tendo."
      "Oh  brother!"  Nabiki said under her  breath  as  she
rolled  her eyes.  Reaching out with both hands, she latched
on to his arms and dragged Kuno from the infirmary.

                            ****

      The bell rang for lunch and everyone tore out of their
classrooms,  intent on devouring their meals.   Ranma  stood
from his desk, and watched his classmates go, snickering  at
the  sight.  His mind was elsewhere when a hand grabbed  him
by  the  shoulder.  Reflexively set for fighting, he whirled
around  to face his would-be attacker, only to be confronted
with the started face of Akane Tendo.
      He flushed in embarrassment, and apologized instantly.
"I'm sorry, Akane.  I... I didn't mean to make you jump like
that."  He forced a nervous laugh, hoping to conceal his old
reaction to being close to her.  A part of him was glad that
there was no-one else in the classroom to act as witness and
compound his distress.  "You caught me by surprise is  all,"
he  explained  as  he smiled and offered his  hand  to  her.
"Shall we eat?" he asked her in a soft voice.
     She took his hand, her cheeks reddening slightly as her
body  reacted to his touch.  "Yeah, Ranma.  Let's eat,"  she
said, allowing him to escort her out of the classroom.
      The  close physical contact with Ranma became too much
for her, so she disengaged her hands from his as they walked
languidly towards the outer door of the building.  In  front
of  the  door,  Akane  looked over to her  newfound  friend.
"Ranma,  I..."  she  started to  say  as  they  cleared  the
threshold  and entered the school yard.  She  didn't  get  a
chance to say anything else, however, as both she and  Ranma
were  unexpectedly  confronted by the  entire  student  body
right outside the school building.
      Both  facefaulted as they were beset by  a  collective
cheer  from  the  crowd.  Everyone within  eyesight  of  the
couple stood, applauding the one who had defeated Kuno  that
morning.   People were coming up to Ranma and  clapping  him
heartily  on  the back, or shaking his hand.   A  couple  of
adventureous  girls pressed notes bearing  their  names  and
phone numbers into his hands as they touched and groped him,
before getting pushed out of the way by more eager students.
     Ranko watched from the distance as he and Akane emerged
from the building so that her brother could enjoy his moment
with  his new girlfriend.  But she couldn't restrain herself
from jumping in the air and cheering along with the rest  of
the crowd, her youthful face glowing with pride.
      As the crowd swelled and pressed forward towards Ranma
in  an  effort  to get closer to the newfound  campus  hero,
Akane  soon  found herself being pushed further and  further
away  from  him.  She could see him frantically pushing  his
way  through the mass of people, yelling her name and trying
to get back to her, but the throng was too dense.  Soon they
had pushed him away from Akane's line of sight.
      A  half  smile that had been on her face as  they  had
exited  the building slipped away to be replaced by  a  more
somber  expression as she succumbed to disappointment.   She
had been looking forward to speaking with Ranma.  She had so
much  she  wanted to ask him, especially about what  he  had
said two weeks ago.  She approached a nearby bench, and  was
about  to sit when a hand grabbed hers.  She looked  at  the
owner  of  the  hand  and saw a young pig-tailed  girl  with
sparkling blue eyes tugging at her hand.
       "Hey   you're  Akane,  right?"  Ranko  said  in   her
characteristic enthusiasm.
     Akane nodded warily, "Uhh... yeah.  Who are you?"
     "I'm Ranko Saotome, Ranma's sister," she said by way of
introduction.   "Anyway, wasn't he  supposed  to  be  eating
lunch  with  you,  or  something like  that?"  she  inquired
innocently.
     Akane cheeks reddened, as she was again confronted with
how  active  the grapevine was at Furinkan.  "Well,  yeah...
but  he seems to have been abducted by everyone," she  said,
indicating the departing gang of students.
      Ranko  looked  at the crowd and laughed.   "That's  my
brother for you.  C'mon!  Let's catch up with him," she said
enthusiastically.   Akane  didn't  even  have  a  chance  to
protest  as  the  youthful Saotome dragged her  towards  the
crowd and Ranma.

                            ****

     Ranma clawed uselessly for purchase against the throng,
hoping to get above and beyond them.  Failing that, he hoped
he  was at least able to keep his calm as he struggled among
the  student body, knowing that they weren't out to hurt him
or  Akane.   But try as he might to remain calm,  he  didn't
feel  comfortable being in the spotlight to begin with,  and
the  size of the crowd wasn't helping matters any.  Boys and
girls   alike   were  badgering  him  with  statements   and
questions,  but they were coming in so fast that  he  didn't
even  try  to respond to them.  "How did you do  it,  Ranma?
Can you beat him up again, Ranma?  You dating anyone, Ranma?
Why did you challenge Kuno, Ranma?"
     A hand grabbed his arm, and pulled him out of the reach
of the throng.  Once he and his rescuer were a safe distance
from  the oblivious crowd, he looked to the person  who  had
pulled  him out and was confronted by the scheming smirk  of
Nabiki  Tendo.  "Nabiki?!" Ranma asked,. recoiling slightly.
Immediately  his hand went to his pocket, wary of  what  she
was   planning.   "How  much  do  I  owe  you?"   he   asked
disgustedly.
      Nabiki's  eyebrow  swept up  in  surprise  at  Ranma's
question.   "I  don't  know you, do I Saotome?"  she  asked,
slightly irritated.  Seeing the crowd start to approach, she
cut  off his response, and spoke quickly.  "I'll worry about
that  little  detail later.  Don't worry `bout  the  rescue,
it's on me.  Just consider us even, okay Saotome?"
     "Even for what?" Ranma asked, his eyes narrowing.
      "Well, I had to find some way to thank you for getting
my little sister Akane out of that stupid engagement to Kuno-
chan."   She  leaned over to him a little, a  conspiratorial
look  on  her  face.  "And I also wanted to  thank  you  for
beating  him in the fight.  I won a lot of money betting  on
you."  She winked at him, and smiled her charming smile.
     Ranma groaned, seeing that some things weren't all that
different in this Nerima.  "Okay, whatever Nabiki.  I..."
      Nabiki saw her sister and that girl who was with  Kuno
earlier approach their position ahead of the milling  swarm,
and  hastened to get away.  "Oops!  I gotta run.  Here comes
my  sister.  I'll talk to you later, Saotome!" she yelled as
she sprinted for the school building.
      Ranma  watched Nabiki speed around the corner  of  the
building, and then heard shoes stomp against the concrete as
she  ran  up the steps and inside.  He turned his head,  and
saw  Ranko  and Akane approaching.  Along with the  rest  of
Furinkan  High.   He made a move to turn and  run  from  the
advancing  mob, but stopped, feeling the solid wall  of  the
school building against his back.  Having nowhere to go,  he
hung his head and resigned himself to the inevitable.
      Ranko  and Akane arrived next to Ranma.  Ranko noticed
the  look on Ranma's face, and became concerned.  "Hey  bro,
you okay?"
      He  turned  to her, merely replying, "I will  be  once
lunch  is  over."   He looked at Akane, saying  "Akane,  I'm
sorry about lunch.  I really want to talk to you, though."
      Akane  nodded  her head in agreement.   She  tried  to
reply,  but couldn't get her voice to carry over the din  of
curious  students  that  had just  arrived.   The  questions
started  up again, with the crowd pressing hard against  the
three.   "You  going to run for class president  next  year,
Ranma?  What's the story with you and Akane, Ranma?  Are you
prepared to die, Ranma?"
      That  last  question stopped the crowd in its  tracks.
Ranma, Akane, and Ranko's heads turned suddenly in unison at
the  direction of the questioner.  The crowd parted to  show
the  glowering  faces of seven members of  the  Kendo  team.
They  were  all  wearing  the same Kendo  outfit  that  Kuno
usually  wore,  and they all had murder on  their  mind,  if
their  postures were any indication.  The one who asked  the
question  pointed his bokken at Ranma and spoke again.   "We
all know that you're a wimp, and you hate martial arts.  You
were  lucky, Saotome.  There's no other explanation for  the
way  you  defeated Kuno-Sempai.  We will avenge his loss  to
you,  and  bring honor back to the Kendo club!" he  declared
mightily,  raising his bokken to the sky  in  a  gesture  of
triumph.
      Ranma  grunted in satisfaction, glad to have something
he  could deal with presented to him.  Ranko's eyes narrowed
dangerously at hearing the soon-to-be-dead-Kendoist refer to
her brother as a `wimp.'  She maneuvered herself so that she
and  Ranma  were bracketing Akane, preparing for the  worst.
"Watch what you say lardass, or we may have to make you  eat
those words!" Ranko retorted hotly.
       The   loudmouth   Kendoist  smirked,   then   laughed
arrogantly.  Ignoring Ranko, he directed his comment  solely
to  Ranma.  "So, wimpy widdle Ranma needs a widdle  girl  to
protect him," the lead Kendoist taunted in a mocking  voice.
Ranma's  gaze  became murderous at that, and he  flexed  his
fingers,   eager  to  put  the  guy  down.   Ranko   reacted
similarly,  although she grinned coldly.   The  crowd  began
backing  away  from  the  Kendoists and  the  Saotomes,  not
wanting  to  get hurt.  "Little girl, eh?  I'll be  glad  to
show you what this little girl can do, asshole.  That is, if
you're  man enough to try me," Ranko challenged him, looking
him straight in the eye.
      The  guy  returned  the  gaze,  his  confidence  never
wavering.  "Out of the way, bitch.  This is between  me  and
the wimp... AHHHHH!" the Kendoist screamed as Ranma leapt in
front of him and kicked him square in the face.  The student
landed  on his back, with Ranma standing on the guy's  head.
"Watch  what  you  say about my sister,  asshole!"  he  said
ominously,  grinding  his  foot  into  the  guy's  face   to
punctuate  the  statement.   The student  obliged  Ranma  by
passing out.
      Another person from the Kendo group yelled "GET  HIM!"
and   suddenly  the  entire  group  rushed  their  position.
Suddenly  Ranma,  Ranko and Akane were  swarmed  by  bokken-
wielding, skirt-clad figures swearing vengeance on behalf of
their fallen leader.
      Akane  gasped, watching the fight boil out of  control
around her.  She took some small comfort from the fact  that
the  Saotome siblings were trying their best to see that  no
harm  came  to her.  She wanted to assist them, and  felt  a
sudden  pang  of regret that she had let her Kenpo  training
lapse  during the near year and a half that she was tied  to
Kuno.   Frustrated, she fought her urge to join  the  battle
and let Ranma and Ranko carry on the fight without her.
      Ranma  smiled to himself, satisfied that these  people
were  definitely not a threat.  One of the crazed  Kendoists
had  charged at him, swinging wildly with his bokken.   He'd
easily  dodged the lunge, and responded with a chop  to  the
back of the assailant's neck, knocking him out.
      Ranko wasn't having as easy a time, however.  She  had
already dispatched one of the fighters that had jumped  her,
and was looking for number two.  Unfortunately, figuring her
to  be a worse threat than Ranma due to his past reputation,
three  students  beset  her at the  same  time.   Unable  to
contend  with  three, she was caught unprepared  and  pinned
against the wall of the school building.
      Two of the Kendoists held her still, while a third one
began  kicking  and punching her viciously.   Too  proud  to
scream, Ranko instead tried in vain to free herself from the
grip of the hentai Kendoists.
      Akane, who had been watching Ranma pulverize the Kendo
students on his end, whirled around at the commotion  behind
her.   She  gaped wordlessly at the unfair attack  they  had
launched  against Ranko.  Angered beyond words, she  reached
up  swiftly and grabbed one of the Kendoists by his shoulder
and turned him to face her.  Not waiting for a response from
the jerk, she punched him square in the face with all of her
might,  swept  his  legs  out from  under  him  and  finally
followed  up  with  a devastating kick to  the  groin.   The
felled student grabbed his agonized privates and screamed in
pain.   Akane looked at her hands, balling them  into  fists
again.   `Whew!  That felt good!  I haven't done that  in  a
while...'  she  thought,  enjoying  the  feeling  of  having
punished  the  guy.  She looked to the other  one  that  was
still holding Ranko back from attacking, and readied herself
for another assault.
     Ranma had just finished breaking a bokken over the head
of  another Kendo student, bringing his body count to  three
unconscious,  when he heard someone scream  in  pain  behind
him.   With no-one left to fight, he turned to see what  his
sister was doing and gasped in shock at what he saw.   Akane
had  just pounded the hell out of a guy, and two others were
double teaming Ranko!
      Furious,  he leapt at the student holding  his  sister
against  the wall and began tearing him apart.  The  stunned
student didn't even have time to fight as Ranma knocked  him
down  to the ground.  "You son of a bitch!  I'm gonna *KILL*
you!" Ranma yelled at the terrified boy.  He knelt down  and
quickly  seized  the  Kendoist by  his  throat.   His  blood
boiling,  Ranma  punched  him  time  and  again  until   the
student's face had been cut severely by the impacts and  was
a  bloody  mess.   Still  enraged, Ranma  dropped  the  limp
student's head and charged after the remaining one.
      The  one remaining student's eyes went wide as he  saw
how  badly he was outnumbered.  Deciding to get in one  more
hit  before running, he swiped at Ranko with his  bokken  as
hard as he could.  He connected, opening a small gash on her
face.   "We  toldja you should've stayed out of  the  fight,
little  girl!  You won't be forgetting that now, will  you?"
he  taunted as he brought his bokken before him defensively.
Not  bothering  to  survey the damage he'd  caused  her,  he
turned to run away before Ranma could get to him.
      Ranma  broke his sprint and knelt down by his  sister,
who  had dropped to her knees after getting hit.  "I'm gonna
kill  that  coward," Ranma spat viciously.  He put  his  arm
around her protectively as she knelt there, motionless.
      Ranko  brought her hand up to the gash on  her  cheek,
dabbing gingerly at the bloody, broken skin.  "You're  gonna
have  to  wait  in  line Ranma.  That bastard's  mine!"  she
swore,  standing  up  slowly.  She  ignored  her  protesting
muscles  and  grabbed  a  bokken  from  one  of  the  felled
students.   She  then sprinted off in the direction  of  the
departing  Kendoist.  Unable to stop her from  going,  Ranma
and Akane took off after her, ignoring groans and occasional
screams  as  they  stepped on and over  the  Kendo  students
they'd knocked out earlier.

                            ****

      Ranko  poured on the steam as she started closing  the
gap  between  her and the fleeing student.  She watched  him
turn  to  see if he was being pursued and heard him gasp  in
surprise.  She smiled thinly, knowing that she was going  to
enjoy  hurting him.  `No-one does this to me and  gets  away
with  it!' she swore.  With the gap narrowing quickly, Ranko
brought  the  captured  bokken  into  play.   Without   even
breaking  stride, she threw it at the Kendoist's legs.   The
throw was true, and suddenly his legs were entangled by  the
bokken,  halting  his run and forcing  him  to  crash  face-
forward on the ground.
      Ranko  reached the student and kicked him in the  ass.
"Who's  the  little girl now, asshole!" she  yelled  as  she
kicked him again.  The Kendoist tried to hide his terror  by
putting  on a brave front.  Forcing a sneer onto  his  face,
the  student quickly got up and faced her.  "Don't taunt me,
you   little  bitch.   I'll..."  he  said,  before   getting
interrupted.
      Ranko flushed red at the name and got up in his  face,
staring  eye to eye with him.  "Listen to me, WIMP!   You're
about to feel very bad, you emasculated son of a bitch.   So
quit talking and start fighting!"  She followed her comments
up  with  an  open-handed slap to the  face.   The  taunting
worked  well  as  the student lashed out at  her.   Although
Ranko had been slowed by the beating she'd endured, she  was
still able to deflect the strike.
      Incoherent with rage, the guy lashed out at her  again
with his bokken.  She anticipated the attack and grabbed the
blade  as  it whizzed past her head.  Twisting the blade  in
her  grip,  she  wrenched it from his  hands.   Quickly  she
tossed it far away from him, leaving him weaponless.
      Desperate  to end the fight, he rushed  her.   Yelling
like an enraged animal, he charged with his hands stuck  out
in  front  of  him, trying to grab her by the  neck.   Ranko
dropped  to  a  crouch on one leg, cursing as a  sharp  pain
suddenly shot through her.  She managed to complete the  leg
sweep,  however,  and sent the guy toppling face-first  into
the dirt again.  Hobbling back into a standing position, she
rubbed  her sore leg as she waited for the guy to  stand  up
again.   He  got  to his hands and knees, but  didn't  stand
completely.
      Ranko  prowled around him, impatient to  continue  the
fight.  She started yelling at him when he refused to stand,
her  fury  fueling her words.  "Come on, you little  coward!
Stand  up!  You know, you talk awfully big for a little  guy
who  can't even fight.  And you sure are stupid, picking  on
someone like me, knowing that you couldn't ever beat me in a
fair fight.  I don't know why you try to fight anyway.   You
hit  like a little girl!" she spat, hoping to goad him  into
continuing the fight.
      At  that moment Ranma and Akane arrived on the  scene,
and  watched  as  Ranko yelled at the lone  student.   Ranma
rushed to take care of the creep when he heard Ranko yell at
him.  "Stay away from him, brother.  He's *mine*!  I'll  let
you  have  him afterwards, *if* I let him live," she  stated
darkly.
      Ranma  nodded silently and stepped back  a  respectful
distance, with Akane joining him at his side.  Ranko  turned
back  to  her adversary, who had assumed a standing position
again.   His  face was white hot with impotent  rage  as  he
brought  his  hands up in a ready position.   "You're  mine,
little  bitch!  You've won too many times before,  now  it's
*my turn!* " he spluttered.
      Ranko  readied herself as the student charged  at  her
again.   This time Ranko brought her leg up and  kicked  him
squarely  in  the midsection as he came by, causing  him  to
gasp  loudly  in pain.  Not waiting for him to fall  to  the
ground  again and catch his breath, she followed up  with  a
chop  to the back of the neck, making him stumble drunkenly.
The student whirled around to face her again, and got a foot
in his face as Ranko jump-kicked him, causing him to fall on
his back in a daze.
      Rage possessing her completely now, she straddled  him
and  repeatedly punched him in the face until her fists were
sore.   Not  satisfied  with  that,  she  then  grabbed  two
handfuls  of  hair  and began slamming  his  head  into  the
ground, yelling "Who's a wimp?" with every impact.
      Ranma  approached  his  sister  cautiously.   She  had
already  knocked the guy out, so he wasn't feeling the  pain
she  was  dishing  out any more.  Without touching  her,  he
stood behind her, shouting, "Ranko, stop this!"
      She  continued slamming the boy's head into the ground
unabated,  ignoring her brother's words.  Ranma sighed,  not
wanting  to interfere, but knowing that he had to stop  her.
He  stepped behind her, his arms encircling her chest as  he
grabbed her from behind, trying to pin her arms under his.
      Ranko  squirmed  in his grasp, but  didn't  kick  out.
Instead   she  yelled,  "Ranma!   Lemme  go!   This  asshole
deserves  it!"  Ranma pulled on her, trying to get her  away
from  the student.  Ranko held onto the student by his  hair
and by clenching her thighs against the boy's flanks, trying
to resist her brother's pull with all her might.  She wanted
to  do  more  damage, and kept shouting for her  brother  to
leave her the hell alone.  Finally, with a mighty yank Ranma
separated his sister from the doomed Kendoist.
      Akane  had  watched wordlessly throughout the  beating
(she  wouldn't  call it a fight).  She then  winced  as  she
watched Ranma try time and again to pull his sister from the
unconscious   student.   She  flinched   when   he   finally
succeeded.   "Ouch!  That's gonna hurt in the morning,"  she
observed  aloud  as Ranma carried Ranko towards  her,  still
holding her in his arms.
      He looked at Akane quizzically, wondering what she was
referring  to.   She  pointed to  Ranko's  hands,  a  slight
grimace  on  her  face.  Ranma looked down  to  where  Akane
pointed,  and smirked.  "Yeesh, Ranko.  You weren't  fooling
around, were you?" he asked rhetorically.  Sure now that she
wasn't  going to run back and hit the guy again, he released
her.
      Ranko  stumbled  a  bit  before  getting  her  footing
properly.  She looked down at the contents of her hands  and
smiled  to  herself.   She clenched  her  hands  into  fists
triumphantly,  holding  tightly the clumps  of  bloody  hair
she'd  yanked  from the student's head.  "I think  he'll  be
remembering this day for a while to come," she said  weakly,
prizing  the hair into the pockets of her pants.   She  then
sagged against her brother, exhaustion catching up with  her
and causing her to pass out.
     "Ranko!" Ranma yelled in alarm, catching her before she
hit the ground.  Akane quickly got on the other side of her,
each  putting one of her arms around their necks and one  of
their arms around her tiny waist.  Then together they hauled
the unconscious Ranko to the infirmary.

                            ****

      Kuno  `ohh'ed to himself as he watched Akane and Ranma
cart Ranko away from the battle scene.  He'd hidden among  a
small  cluster  of  trees for the duration  of  the  battle,
watching  his nemesis in action.  He smiled thinly,  pleased
and  upset  with his Kendo club.  He was pleased  that  they
would   try   to  defend  the  honor  of  their  leader   so
voraciously, but was equally upset that they were unable  to
complete the task they had set out to do, and that they  did
it  in such a dishonorable manner.  He would have been  more
upset  if  he  had  ordered  the  attack  himself  and  they
performed as badly as they did here.
      Kuno  digested  what  he saw of  the  battle.   `Ranma
Saotome is indeed a martial artist of some ability.  How  he
achieved  this  in  such  a short time  is  unknown.'   Kuno
grudgingly acknowledged that Saotome was now a true force to
be  reckoned with.  He was sure that he'd have  to  come  up
with a new way of dealing with someone who could conceivably
be an equal.  Irritated at the thought of he and Ranma being
equals,  he  pushed  the image of Ranma from  his  mind  and
concentrated on what else he saw.
      `Akane  seems  to have regained some  of  her  spirit.
Surely  it  must be due to the fact that she  already  grows
restless  in my absence, knowing that I, the great  Tatewaki
Kuno,  am not there to protect her.  Fear not Akane, I  will
allow you to come back to me,' Kuno thought grandly, pleased
with  himself over the charitable gesture he was willing  to
bestow  her.  He then clenched his fists and gasped  as  the
face of Ranko Saotome flitted through his mind.  `She fights
most  masterfully for one so young.  And her  beauty!   Were
she  not  of  Saotome's blood, she would be a  most  perfect
woman!   I must find out more about her!' he vowed silently.
He  waited a few moments for the three to enter the building
before he headed back inside himself.

                            ****

      Ranko  groaned  as she came to in the infirmary.   She
opened  her  eyes slowly, and saw Ranma and  Akane  hovering
over her worriedly at the edge of her cot.  She snapped  her
eyes  shut,  fighting  off the sudden wave  of  nausea  that
threatened  to overcome her.  She slapped a hand  listlessly
against her forehead, noting how cold and damp her skin was.
Again she crept her eyes open, and regarded Ranma with a wan
smile.   "Hey,  didja get the number of that  truck..."  she
croaked weakly before she broke off, snorting at her own bad
joke.
      Ranma  smiled and sighed relief as he dropped  to  his
knees  next to the cot, wrapping her up in a hug,  with  his
head  resting  on her chest.  "Thank God you're  okay,  sis.
Dammit!  I was so worried about you!" he said, choking  back
a  sob.  Ranko put a hand on her brother's head, running her
fingers through his hair.  "Yeah, I'm okay bro.  Although  I
won't  be  if you keep squeezing me that hard," she  gasped.
Ranma  released her immediately and sat away  from  the  cot
next to Akane.
      Ranko sat up in her cot, propping her back against the
wall  of the room.  "Uggh!  How long was I out?" she  asked,
blinking  her  eyelids to try and clear the blurriness  from
her vision.
     "About twenty minutes," Akane said.  "How do you feel?"
      "Like hell.  I feel like someone did a flamenco  dance
on  my body with steel tap shoes.  Other than that, I'm just
dandy."   They  all chuckled at the vision  created  by  her
metaphor.  "By the way, Akane.  Thanks for the assist.   You
showed some pretty good moves out there."
     Akane blushed slightly, then anger flashed in her eyes.
"Well, I couldn't stand by watching those three gang  up  on
you.   It  just wasn't fair, so I decided to help  even  the
odds  a bit.  I can't believe how easily fighting came  back
to me after being out of practice for so long."  `Although,'
she  added  to herself, `I saw just how rusty I  was.'   She
smirked  inwardly, thinking that a little training might  be
just the thing to help banish her past with Kuno.
      Ranko  winked  conspiratorially at  Ranma  when  Akane
wasn't   looking.   Ranma  shook  his  head,   and   shifted
uncomfortably where he sat.  She frowned slightly, her  mind
chewing  on  something.   She suddenly  perked  up,  saying,
"Akane, can I speak to my brother alone for a moment?"
      Akane  smiled and grabbed her hand.  "Sure.   You  did
well  out there, Ranko.  Ranma's right to be proud of  you."
Ranko  blushed at the praise, smiling as her eyes  met  with
her  brother's.  Akane then turned to Ranma, "I'm going back
to class now.  I'll see you after school, if that's okay."
      Ranma's eyes widened a bit at that, but he managed  to
smile  nervously,  saying, "Uhh, yeah!  Sure...  sure  thing
Akane."   She stood and walked out of the infirmary, closing
the  door  behind her.  Once she was gone,  Ranko  gave  her
brother a stern look.
      Ranma  grew defensive as his sister's gaze bored  into
him.   "Hey  Ranko, what's the big idea lookin' at  me  like
that?"
      Ranko's  stare continued to bear down  on  him.   "Why
don't  you have a date with Akane yet, Ranma?" she demanded,
enough strength returning in her voice to make him squirm.
      Ranma fidgeted in his seat, not wanting to answer  her
question   He  shifted his gaze to the floor,  his  face  an
expressionless mask.
      "C'mon, Ranma.  I saw how you were looking at her this
morning.   I'm kinda surprised you didn't ask her  to  marry
you  right then and there," she continued.  She crossed  her
arms,  awaiting a response from Ranma, but he  continued  to
remain quiet.  "Well?!"
      Ranma regarded his sister again.  "It's kinda hard for
me to explain, Ranko."
     A concerned expression wound its way onto Ranko's face,
making  her  wince  involuntarily from the  pain  caused  by
shifting  her  facial muscles.  She ignored  the  pain,  and
grabbed  one  of  Ranma's hands, holding  onto  it  tightly.
"Hey,  I'm listening.  Tell me what's goin' on," she prodded
gently.
      Ranma sighed, not really comfortable with sharing  his
feelings  with anyone.  "Well, Ranko, it's like this.   Back
when Pop and I first arrived at the Tendo house, Akane and I
really  didn't get along at all.  And for months after  that
she  and I were either on the brink of actually loving  each
other  or  about to rip each other's throats out.   Most  of
that  time  we  were violent towards each other,  and  never
really  wanted to talk about the engagement our fathers  had
forced  us  into.   Neither of us really wanted  to  discuss
*anything* much, for that matter."
      Ranma  paused  and  stood from his chair,  then  began
pacing  in  the confined space of the school infirmary.   "I
guess  if  we had talked, it would've made a lot  of  things
easier on both of us.  But we resisted trying to work things
out.   Exactly why, I'm not sure."  Ranma replayed parts  of
his  life  with Akane in his mind, seeing now just how  many
times  things  had  gone wrong, and how  many  opportunities
they'd missed.
      "You  know  Ranko, I realize that  I  do  love  Akane,
although I couldn't see it before now.  I think something in
that  wish  cleared my head.  I've taken a  longer  view  of
everything  that I've said and done in the  past,  which  is
something I normally didn't do before.  I realize  now  that
some of the things that sparked arguments and brawls between
Akane  and myself were my fault.  Also, I now recognize  the
things  that I said, or did, that made her angry and  helped
to  push her away from me.  But I have to admit as well that
she  was  just as stubborn as I was.  Akane'd sometimes  fan
the flames instead of trying to put them out."
      Ranma kept talking, but it seemed clear to Ranko  that
he  was  just  talking aloud, instead of to her.   "We  were
*both*  too damn stubborn to listen.  I was always so damned
*right*," he said, pounding his fist into his other hand for
emphasis.   "All  those times I should've  listened  when  I
yelled  at  her instead.  I was so foolish."  Ranma  laughed
bitterly.   "You know, she even told me once that she  loved
me.   Granted,  she was under the influence of the  reversal
jewel,  but her feelings were genuine.  And I was too  blind
to  see  it  at  the  time.   And now  comes  my  wish,  and
everything's  suddenly  different.  Akane's  different,  I'm
different.  Hell, even Kuno's different!" Ranma shouted.
      He  looked over to his sister, and flushed,  realizing
that  he  was  blathering away and confusing her thoroughly.
"I'm  sorry for venting like this Ranko.  All of  this  just
sorta  hit  me  at  once.  I guess it's just  the  shock  of
realizing  what  that  wish has done  to  me.   But  you  do
understand why I'm saying this, don't you?"
      "Not really, Ranma," she said, a confused look on  her
face.   "Why  does your past have anything to  do  with  the
Akane of now?"
     Ranma stopped pacing.  He faced her, spreading his arms
in  a  wide  gesture.  "It has everything to  do  with  this
Akane.   She's  not the same person I knew from  before.   I
know  how to deal with the Akane from my past, not this one.
Don't  you see?  Everything that I learned about her is  out
the  window, so I'm gonna have to start all over again!  Not
to  forget the fact that we barely got along before.  I have
no idea how Akane and I would get along now."
      Ranko looked her brother square in the eye.  "I  don't
think  you're  getting the whole picture yet,  big  brother.
You  admit  that you and Akane were at each other's  throats
constantly in the past."  Ranma nodded slowly.  "Well you're
not at each other's throats now, are you?"
      "No, but we aren't engaged now, either," he shot  back
irritatedly.
      "Exactly!" Ranko chimed.  Seeing Ranma's puzzled look,
she  pressed  on.   "Ranma, don't you see  that  the  forced
engagement  was the main reason you two fought  each  other?
Chances  are you were doing all that fighting more to  spite
Pop and Mr. Tendo than for any other reason."
     "But what about now?  I have no way of knowing how this
Akane  is  going  to react to me.  I'm not  even  sure  that
she'll like me," he said, moaning slightly.
      Ranko pointed at her brother.  "Ranma, you're thinking
too  far ahead.  You're also making assumptions about  Akane
based on what you know of your past.  You really don't  have
any  idea  how much different this Akane could be  from  the
person you used to know."
      Ranma nodded.  "That's another thing that bothers  me.
She's  not  the Akane that I fell in love with.  What  if  I
find out that I don't love her, Ranko?"
      "Geez, Ranma.  If it bothers you this much, why  don't
you  just abandon the whole idea of wanting her?" Ranko said
angrily.
      Ranma blanched at the idea.  "No!  I don't ... that is
... I can't ...  I'm..."
     "You're afraid?" she completed for him.
      Ranma  deflated  a bit.  "Yeah.  I  guess  that's  it.
There's too many unknowns."
      "Then don't worry about them all at once.  Take things
one  step at a time, Ranma.  You'll worry yourself away from
Akane  at the rate you're going.  And don't be afraid,  it's
bad  form  for a martial artist." she said, smiling  at  her
brother.
      Ranma  fought the smirk working its way to  his  face.
"Yeah,  well...   love and martial arts  are  two  different
things, Ranko."
     "Not to hear you tell it, bro," Ranko laughed.
      He  blushed.   "Har har har.  Very funny,  NOT!"   His
resumed  his seat next to his sister.  "There's so  much  to
consider, I really don't know where to start."
      "Well, I think that Akane's made that pretty easy  for
you.   Just  meet her after school like she said,  and  then
take it from there."
      Ranma  turned  green,  his nerves  working  him  over.
Asking  a girl out on a date was terra nova for him.   "I've
not really asked a girl out before, Ranko.  How do I know if
anything I say will work?"
      "Well,  you're not gonna find out unless you try,  are
you bro?" she shot back.
      Ranma  nodded, acknowledging the wisdom of her  words.
"You're  right, Ranko.  I have to at least try.  Thanks  for
the advice."
      Ranko  adopted an air of smugness about her.   "That's
why  I'm  here,  Ranma."  She leaned over to  him,  winking.
"Akane's  a cute girl.  You'll be a happy guy if you  manage
to win her over."
      Ranma  smiled, gazing off into the distance for awhile
before  replying, "Yeah, I guess so."  He returned his  gaze
to her.  "Speaking of cute, how are you feeling sis?"
     Ranko blushed at the compliment.  Putting a hand to her
face,  she gingerly touched the tender area around her  cut.
After  they'd arrived in the infirmary, a nurse had bandaged
the  wound,  saying that a doctor would have to look  at  it
soon.   "I'm feeling better Ranma."  Her look grew angry  as
she  recalled the fight.  "Although that little  wimp  Kenji
didn't have to be so damn mean."
     "Who's Kenji?" Ranma asked.
     "Oh, that's right.  You wouldn't know who he is.  Kenji
is  Kenji Kurosawa, a freshman here at Furinkan.  He  and  I
have  been  at  each other's throats for years,  ever  since
grade  school.  He's the one who gave me this  lovely  cut,"
she  said  darkly,  pointing to the  bandaged  wound.   Even
though she'd already repaid him for the beating, Ranko  felt
it  wasn't enough.  She smiled as she recalled the clumps of
hair  that she had in her pants pockets.  Clumps of  Kenji's
hair removed in a most painful way.  She could at least draw
some satisfaction from that.
      "Well,  I  don't think that this Kenji  dude  will  be
bothering  you again, not after the pasting you  gave  him,"
Ranma  said assuringly.  He smiled, very proud of his sister
and her ability to defend herself.
      "He'd  better not, for his sake," she vowed.  She  was
about  to  launch  into  a  rather mean-spirited  look  into
Kenji's  lineage when the bell rang.  "Well, we  can't  stay
here  any longer, bro.  We'd better get back to class.  I'll
meet you after school."  She stood from the bed, sore but no
longer dizzy.  "Good luck with Akane, Ranma," she said in  a
heartfelt gesture.
      "Thanks Ranko," Ranma said to the departing figure  of
his  younger  sister.   `I sure hope  everything  works  out
okay,'  he  thought worriedly.  He then pushed  the  thought
from his mind, upset with himself for worrying so much.   He
stood  and walked out of the infirmary, heading to his  last
class for the day.

                            ****

      The  bell rang, and students began pouring out of  the
building  and  heading on their way home.  Akane  was  among
those  students gleefully running for the outside.  Once  in
the  schoolyard she found a place near the gate to wait  for
Ranma.   Sitting  down  by a large  tree,  she  leaned  back
against it, basking in the afternoon sunlight of springtime.
      Unseen by Akane, a girl watched from a distance.   The
young  lady  scowled, noting the expectant look  on  Akane's
face.   She  was about to walk up to Akane when she  noticed
someone  else  approaching.  Instead  of  confronting  Akane
directly,  she  chose to move herself closer  so  she  could
listen.
      Ranma had been looking around the grounds for a couple
of minutes before he spotted Akane sitting under a tree.  He
gasped  when  he saw her.  She had noticed him  and  smiled,
beckoning him to join her.  He couldn't help but notice that
she  was  *very* cute when she smiled, and that  fueled  his
desire   to   be  with  her  again  and  cut   through   his
apprehension.   He waved back and trotted on  over  to  her.
Plopping his bookbag on the ground, he sat next to her under
the tree.  He sat there for a couple of moments, wanting  to
say something, but nothing was coming out.
      "How's  Ranko  doing, Ranma?" Akane asked,  trying  to
break the ice.
      "Oh, she's fine.  She should be here in a few moments.
We usually walk home together," he said, laughing nervously.
      `Oh,  well.   Here  it goes.' Akane thought,  steeling
herself.  "Ranma, I wanted to ... thank you... for what  you
did for me today."
      Ranma  gave  her  an `aw shux, twern't  nuthin'  look.
"That's okay, Akane.  I'm glad I did it."
      "So  am  I.   Although, and don't think I'm  being  an
ingrate, I was wondering why you did it at all."
     Ranma swallowed nervously, unsure of how to answer her.
He wasn't about to tell her about the wish, nor was he going
to  tell  her about the agreement between he and  Soun.   He
decided  to tell her what parts of the truth that he  could.
He  felt  that the less he lied to her now, the  better  off
he'd  be  later  on.   He collected his  wits,  then  forced
himself  to  continue.  "I couldn't stand  it  anymore!"  he
blurted out.
      "What  do you mean, `couldn't stand it any longer'  ?"
Akane asked quietly.
      "I mean, I couldn't stand to see the look on your face
any  longer, Akane.  Every day at school I've been  watching
you  and Kuno together.  I could see how much pain you  were
feeling," he explained.
      Akane  listened without speaking.  Tears began welling
up  in  her  eyes as she listened to him speak.  Gently  she
wiped  a stray tear from her cheek, but kept her gaze turned
to the ground.
      "It  hurt me to see you in so much pain.  When I heard
about  Kuno's boast, I decided that I'd had enough and would
challenge  him."  Ranma crossed his arms in  front  of  him.
"You  see,  I ... I like you Akane.  And I felt  that  you'd
suffered long enough."
      Akane's eyes widened at his near-proclamation of love.
She  looked over to him, not sure how to answer  him.   With
some  effort, she responded.  "Ranma, you have no  idea  how
much  I  appreciate what you've done for me  today.   You've
managed  to get me away from Kuno.  I... I'm in your  debt,"
she finished in a small voice.
      Ranma smiled uneasily, and forced himself to continue,
knowing  that  this was the most difficult  part.   "I  also
fought  Kuno because ... I wanted to mar... be with  you..."
he  broke  off,  not comfortable with what  he  way  saying,
although he knew it was the truth.
      "R..  R..  Ranma?  You're serious about  this,  aren't
you?" she asked, incredulous.
      "Yes  I am."  Ranma took her hands in his.  "Akane,  I
hope this isn't too sudden, but I was wondering if you would
like  to  go  out  with me sometime?" he said  rapidly.   He
relaxed  noticeably,  heaving a large  sigh,  glad  to  have
finally asked the question and gotten it out of the way.
      Akane  blushed  deeply at hearing the  question.   She
shifted position on the ground a couple of times, trying  to
hide her internal struggle as she tried to get a grip on her
emotions.  A part of her had hoped that Ranma would ask  her
this, but other parts of her mind were still suffering  from
Kuno's version of `tender loving care' and were warning  her
not  to  fall into a boy trap again.  She and was  about  to
give  him  her  answer when a girl shot up from  her  hiding
place  in  the nearby bushes, screaming at the  top  of  her
lungs.
     "NOOOOOOOO!!!!"

                            ****

     Ranko Saotome flinched as she applied weight to her leg
again.   She  was  still sore from the fight,  and  she  was
walking gingerly on her right leg.  She had refused crutches
from  the nurse, and likewise refused help from her friends.
She bore the pain stoically, not wanting to let anyone think
that Kenji had gotten the best of her.
     She stepped outside into the sunlight and saw Ranma and
Akane  sitting  under  a tree near the  school  gates.   She
smiled to herself.  `Go get her, Ranma,' she thought happily
to herself as she approached the couple.  She was halfway to
them  when she heard someone scream `NO!' at the top of  her
lungs  and then saw a girl jump out of the bushes.   Ranko's
face fell as she saw who it was.  "Oh God, not Kinuko!"  she
grumbled disgustedly.  She then gasped in alarm, remembering
that  Ranma  wouldn't know who Kinuko was.  She doubled  her
pace, hoping to put out any fires before they started.

                            ****

      Ranma  was  gawking in utter shock at  the  hysterical
girl.   Akane was likewise wide-eyed with surprise, watching
the  girl storm from the bushes to where she and Ranma  were
sitting.   She  was  a  fairly tall and extremely  beautiful
young  woman  dressed  in  the standard  school  uniform  of
Furinkan  High.  The sunlight refracted through  the  girl's
long  black hair, accenting her red highlights.   Her  brown
eyes  shimmered as she cried, tears washing down her  heart-
shaped face.
      "How  dare you?  HOW DARE YOU?!" she shrieked.   Heads
from  passersby  turned towards them, and a crowd  began  to
gather.
      Akane  leaned over to him, a slightly jealous look  on
her face.  "What is she doing here, Ranma?"
       Ranma  didn't  respond,  except  to  shake  his  head
vigorously.   He stared blankly at the girl, wondering  what
he'd  done to piss her off.  "Uhhh... Excuse me, do  I  know
you?" he managed to ask at length.
      "RANCHAN!  How dare you ask me that question?  Sure we
may have had our hard times in the past, but to act like you
don't  even  know me!?  Why!?"  She dropped  to  her  knees,
burying her face in her hands and crying like a lost soul.
     Akane regarded Ranma again.  "Well, she sure thinks she
knows you," she deadpanned.
     Ranma's eyes bugged out.  `She called me Ranchan?!  Who
the  hell is this girl?!' he thought in a panic.  He  looked
at  Akane, and held his right hand up, pointing at the girl.
"I  don't  know this person, I *swear!*"  His  face  clearly
reflected  the  befuddlement he  felt.   He  looked  around,
hoping to find an avenue of escape.
     The girl looked up at him angrily, wiping her eyes with
her  hand.   "Ranchan, I can't believe  this.   I'm  out  of
school  for two weeks for the School Band trip to Kobe,  and
when  I  return  I  find  you trying  to  bed  down  some...
*hussy*!"  she  said, pointing directly at  Akane.   Without
waiting  for  a response from either of them, she  placed  a
hand  against  her  forehead,  proclaiming,  "My  world   is
shattered!  I never would've thought you would cheat on  me,
Ranchan!   You said you loved me!  Why are you torturing  me
like  this by saying you don't know me?!"  She began  crying
again.
     Ranma's jaw dropped, and he looked for all the world as
though  he  never  expected  to  live  out  the  day.    His
vocabulary  had  been  reduced  to   "abb...   I...   ahh...
uggghh...  "  and  his  arms were  extended  outwards  in  a
defensive  gesture against the rampaging female.   Meanwhile
the  audience's curiosity was piqued.  Ranma could make  out
some of the murmuring going on in the background.  "Did  she
just  say  Ranma and Akane were sleeping together?   Wow,  I
guess that explains the challenge to Kuno.  Hey, Ranma's got
two girls now!  Geez, can't he even share one of them? ..."
      Akane  bolted  to  a standing position.   She  blushed
furiously at the open speculation she was hearing  from  the
crowd.   Indignant, she confronted the girl.  "Hey!   What's
the big idea calling me a hussy, you bitch!"  She pointed to
Ranma.   "He did me a tremendous favor today, and I  thanked
him  for  it.  He's not trying to `bed me down' or  anything
like  that.   Besides,  he says that he  doesn't  know  you,
RIGHT?"
      She  looked  at  Ranma,  who was  nodding  vigorously,
mumbling  positive-sounding sounds but remaining  incoherent
for  the most part.  "You see, he says that he doesn't  know
you Kinuko, so get the HELL out of here!"  Akane's anger was
steadily  rising  as  she  watched Kinuko  shake  her  head,
refusing to believe what she was hearing.
      "HE'S  LYING!"  she shrieked.  She then  latched  onto
Ranma desperately, nuzzling his neck and kissing him soundly
on the cheek.  "Stop lying, Ranchan.  I know you've forgiven
me for that little incident last month, so let's make up and
stop  playing  around,  okay?"  She beamed  at  him  with  a
gorgeous  smile.   Deciding to up the  stakes,  she  started
tracing on Ranma's chest with her index finger.
      Ranma  was  paralyzed with fear.  Kinuko  was  tightly
latched  onto him, and he couldn't shake her, regardless  of
what  he  tried.  He looked up desperately to  Akane,  who's
face  was  unreadable.  "I... I..."  He reached an  arm  out
towards   Akane.    Unfortunately  for   him,   Kinuko   had
intercepted the arm and curled it around her waist,  placing
his  hand directly under her left breast.  He tried  to  say
something else, but couldn't, as he was trying to deal  with
the  fact  that  his  hand was microns from  this  beautiful
girl's... no *woman's* breast.
      Akane  groaned  in disgust at seeing Kinuko's  obvious
attempt to push her away from Ranma.  Sighing she picked  up
her  school bag and stood.  Before walking away, she  looked
over  her  left shoulder.  "Thanks again for  what  you  did
today,  Ranma.   I'm in your debt."  She  turned  away  from
Ranma  again  and dashed away from the school  grounds.   As
hard as she tried, she couldn't stop herself from crying  as
she ran.

                            ****

      Two guys that had been watching the goings-on regarded
each  other with a puzzled look.  "Hey Hikaru, what's  Ranma
doing with Kinuko again?  I thought they broke up."
      Hikaru  Gosunkugi shrugged his shoulders.  "I   dunno,
man.  Your guess is as good as mine."
      "Yeah,  but  you're Ranma's best friend.  You  usually
know what's goin' on with him."
      "Yeah,  usually.  But he and I haven't spoken in  over
two  weeks.  Ranma's not called me at all during that  time.
I  never  see him at the hangout anymore, and he ignored  me
the  one  time I tried to talk with him."  Hikaru shook  his
head.   "I  tellya, there's something's different about  him
Sato..."
      "Gee, you're the master of understatement today.   You
call  someone who until today didn't have a violent bone  in
his  body  but  suddenly  gets the  nerve  up  to  not  only
challenge   but   *defeat*  Kuno-Sempai  in   battle   today
`different?!'  "   Sato  snorted  through  his  nose.   "And
where'd  he  get  the brass balls to ask a girl  out?   That
Akane  chick is sweet!"  he enthused,  wiping a bit of drool
from the corner of his mouth.
      Hikaru looked at him darkly.  "How do you think  Ranma
got together with Kinuko in the first place?"
      Sato  had  a quizzical look on his face.   "I  thought
*you* helped him get together with Kin..."
      "SHHHHH!   Dummy!  No-one's supposed to  know   that!"
Hikaru shot back hotly.
     "Sorrieee!  Geez, what's the matter with you man?" Sato
had a wounded look on his face.
      Hikaru's look softened.  "I'm sorry Sato.  Ranma  just
made  me  promise not to tell anyone about that.  I  had  no
idea you knew."
      Sato  grinned.  "Ranma told me how you helped him  get
Kinuko  when he let it slip that he'd done it with  her.   I
knew that he had to have had help, there was no other way he
could've netted Kinuko."
      "Regardless, don't mention it to anyone.  We'll all be
in  trouble if word ever gets out that I did what I  did  to
help  Ranma  get a date with Kinuko.  And I do mean  *all.*"
Hikaru  made a slashing gesture across his throat  with  his
finger to illustrate his point to Sato.
     Seeing motion out of the corner of his eye, Sato turned
his  head.  Quickly he tapped Hikaru on the shoulder.   "Hey
man, look!  It's Ranko!  Boy what I wouldn't give to spend a
night with *her!*"
      Hikaru  looked  at the young lady and  grinned.   "You
wouldn't get to first base with her, Sato.  She'd kick  your
butt  from here to Mars for just looking at her.  Don't risk
your life on such a lost cause."  Hikaru looked at Sato  and
smirked, poking his chest with his thumb.  "Besides, *I* saw
her first!"
     Sato whirled on him, frowning.  "Like hell!  I'd..."
      Hikaru  waved  him  off.  "Quiet!  She's  coming  over
here..."
      The heads of the two tracked the goddess Ranko Saotome
as she walked towards her brother.

                            ****

      `Damn  that Kenji,' Ranko thought bitterly to herself,
upset that her injury had kept her from preventing what just
happened.   She  watched Akane storm from  the  campus,  and
could  clearly hear her crying.  A few paces later, she  was
finally in front of Ranma and the velcroed Kinuko.
      "Ranma!   Why  aren't  you  going  after  Akane?"  she
demanded.
      "Hush  Ranko!  My Ranchan's staying with  me!"  Kinuko
yelled before Ranma could respond.  She emphasized the point
by  kissing  Ranma right on the lips.  The kiss  lasted  for
well  over  a  minute and a half, leaving both participants,
and  a  large section of the crowd, breathless.  "See?"  she
added, aiming a stunning smile at Ranko.
      Ranko  looked at Kinuko darkly.  "I wasn't talking  to
you, you damned flake!  I was talking to my brother!"  Ranko
leered  at her, adding, "Why don't you let `Ranchan'  answer
my  question?   You afraid of the answer?  But  then  again,
there is what you did to him last month..."
      Kinuko flushed with anger.  "Flake?!  What do you know
about  me  anyway?  You're not the Saotome  that  I've  been
dating  for the last six months."  She took Ranma's face  in
her  hands,  and turned him so that they were  eye  to  eye.
"You still love me, right Ranchan?"
     Ranma was still unable to speak, his mind split between
wanting to run after the departed Akane, and moving his hand
up  an  inch.  "I... uhhh... " was about all he could  force
from his mouth.
      Kinuko  smiled  triumphantly.  "See!  He's  speechless
with happiness!  So I don't have to worry about what Ranchan
wants to say."
      Ranko  slapped her hand against her face and  groaned.
`This  isn't  good!   I  have to get Ranma  away  from  this
idiot!'  She hobbled over to Ranma, grabbing his free  hand.
"Come  on  Ranma.  We have to go home now."  She  looked  at
Kinuko  and added, "Let him go, Kinuko, unless you  want  to
explain to my Mom why he's late."
      Kinuko blanched at the idea of confronting Nodoka  and
quickly released him from her death grip.  With her hold  on
him  gone, Ranma breathed normally again.  He stood up  with
the  aid  of his sister, who pulled on his hand.   His  eyes
widened  as  the  other hand, which had been wrapped  around
Kinuko's  back, accidentally caressed part of her breast  as
he  withdrew  it.  Ranko didn't seem notice  the  accidental
contact  he'd  made with Kinuko's chest,  or  her  brother's
sudden breathlessness as she dragged him from the campus.
      Kinuko  gasped and her eyes shimmered as Ranma's  hand
stroked against her breast.  The nipple stiffened noticeably
underneath the clothes, and her face flushed as she realized
that  people could see her reaction to him.  She didn't  pay
attention  as the Saotome siblings walked away, but  instead
covered her breast with her hand and sat under the tree, her
hormones rampaging through her.  `He... *touched* me...  Oh,
Ranchan!   You  *have*  forgiven me!' she  thought,  sighing
happily.   She waited until she had calmed her sex drive  to
tolerable  levels  before rising from her seat  and  heading
home.
      A  small  distance away from the excited and departing
Kinuko, Sato and Hikaru emerged from the dispersing crowd to
stand where Ranma and Kinuko had been a moment ago.
      "Wow...   He's  even getting along  with  his  sister.
Wonder what he's been drinking..."  Sato scratched his head,
watching the two Saotomes disappear from sight.
      "Sato,   I think we're *really* gonna have to talk  to
Ranma.  Things are getting too weird all of a sudden."
      "Fine with me.  Question is, how do we get a chance to
talk with him?"
      "Simple,  we'll go over to his house.  Meet  me  there
10:00 am tomorrow, okay?"
     Sato nodded.  "Right."
      Hikaru clapped Sato on the back, then turned to  leave
for home.

                            ****

      Two  blocks  from  the  school, Ranko  was  exhibiting
worsening problems with her right leg.  Fortunately for her,
Ranma  had recovered enough of his wits to notice  that  she
was  having  a problem, so he reached a hand out  to  steady
her.
      "Thanks Ranma.  I guess I took a worse beating than  I
thought."   She  leaned  against his arm,  allowing  him  to
support  her  as she continued to walk.  A few steps  later,
her  right  leg  gave  out and she tumbled  to  the  ground,
despite Ranma's best efforts to keep her upright.
     "Ow, dammit!" Ranko yelled as she landed on her side on
the pavement.
      Ranma  was  at her side immediately.  "Hey,  you  okay
sis?" he yelled worriedly.
      Ranko  sat  up, and grabbed her ankle with her  hands,
trying  to immobilize it.  "I think I just twisted my ankle.
Ouch!"   She  winced as she applied pressure to  the  ankle.
"Yep, it's probably sprained.  Gonna have to get it splinted
up."
     Ranma looked her in the eye.  "Hey, you'll be okay sis.
Hold  on  a  sec."  He smiled at her, brushing a  couple  of
stray  hairs out of her eyes, and wiping away the few  tears
of  pain that she couldn't hold in .  He slung his book  bag
off  of  his back and laid it on the ground.  He then turned
around, placing his back towards her.  "Now, I want  you  to
put  your  arms around my neck and hold on to  me  tightly."
Ranko  started to protest, but Ranma wouldn't  hear  of  it.
"Dammit Ranko, you're in no shape to walk, so climb on!"
      With  a  resigned sigh Ranko looped  her  arms  around
Ranma's  neck.  He then reached his arms back, looping  them
around  and  under  her  legs at the knees.   Quickly  Ranko
reached  down  with  one  of her  arms  and  picked  up  her
brother's  book bag from where he left it.  Looping  one  of
the  straps around her own arm, she brought her arms  around
his neck again.
      Once Ranma was sure Ranko wouldn't slip, he stood  up.
She  instinctively pressed herself closer into his  back  to
avoid  falling off.  "I'm taking you to Dr. Tofu's  to  have
that  ankle looked at," he said as he began heading  off  in
Tofu's direction.
      "Who's  Dr.  Tofu?"  Ranko asked  in  confusion.   "We
normally go to see Dr. Mikimoto."
      "I  don't  know  who that is or where  he  is,  Ranko.
Remember?" Ranma replied patiently.
     "Oh, yeah.  That's right."  She rested her head against
Ranma's back.
      As  they walked, Ranko blushed more and more.  The way
she was riding on Ranma's back embarrassed her.  To top that
off,  the  up-down  motion caused  by  Ranma's  walking  was
causing her to become aroused as her breasts rubbed  up  and
down  against her brother's back.  Her nipples stiffened  in
response,  and  her  breathing quickened.   She  hugged  her
brother  tighter,  trying to stop the  rubbing  motion,  her
cheeks coloring furiously.
      Ranma felt the nipples of Ranko's breasts stiffen  and
protrude into his back, and he fought hard against saying or
doing anything that would acknowledge it.  He didn't want to
upset  or  embarrass Ranko, so he just let them  press  into
him.  Besides, having been a girl before, he understood that
it  happened  occasionally, so it didn't really  bother  him
that  much.   Actually he took it as a compliment  that  his
sister thought he was desirable.
      Trying  to forget her arousal, she started talking  to
him.   "Hey bro, I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you earlier
with Kinuko.  What are you going to do about Akane now?"
      Ranma groaned as the whole episode flashed before  him
again.  "Who was that girl, anyway?"
      "Her  name's Kinuko Amagi.  And until three weeks  ago
you two were a hot item."
     "Hot item?  You mean..."
     "... she was your girlfriend," she completed for him.
      Ranma breathed a sigh of relief.  "Only my girlfriend.
Then  she was never my fiancee," he said happily.   What  he
didn't need at the moment was *another* fiancee.
     "Of course not!  Although you two almost acted like you
were married at times," she said in a sly voice.
      "Eh?  I don't understand.  You're just saying that  we
were  close, right?"  Ranma was afraid that he wasn't  going
to like Ranko's answer.
      Ranko  chortled.  "You were a baaaad boy, Ranma,"  she
purred into his ear.
      "YOU  MEAN  WE  HAD SEX?!" Ranma yelled  hysterically.
Both he and Ranko immediately started looking around, seeing
if  anyone  had  heard the outburst.  One  person  had  been
within earshot.  He turned to the two, saying "Why not,  you
two look like a cute couple."  He then began wandering away.
      Ranma and Ranko blushed purple at the comment.   "Hey!
It's  not like that!" Ranma yelled to the stranger,  but  by
that time he had disappeared.
      Ranko  groaned at the suggestion, although she had  to
admit  that a part of her had debated it for a few  moments.
Until  this  point,  she had never considered  Ranma  to  be
anything more than her annoying older brother.  But now  she
found herself re-evaluating her opinion of him, and thinking
about  him in different, more sensual ways.  Chalking it  up
to  her  impromptu  arousal, Ranko  reluctantly  forced  the
fantasy  with  her  brother from her mind and  returned  her
attention  to his question.  She put her lips  to  his  ear.
"Yes  Ranma.  As far as I remember you telling me, the other
you that is; you and she had sex on at least three different
occasions."
      "Oh  boy...," Ranma muttered aloud, stumbling  a  bit.
His  mind  threatened to shut down due to  the  overload  of
emotions  (primarily panic) that were flooding through  him.
`I  never expected to hear *that* in a million years!  Geez,
what kind of person was I?' he thought to himself.  Although
knowing what he'd already done, he wasn't sure he wanted  to
know  any  more.   He started walking aimlessly  for  a  few
moments, before remembering he had to get his sister to  Dr.
Tofu's.  "I can't believe that I had sex with a girl ...  ,"
he half-muttered.
      Ranko  frowned at the comment.  "You sure you  weren't
gay before Ranma?" she asked half-seriously.
       "Good   God   no,   Ranko!"   Ranma  started   making
uncomfortable noises.  "Whatever gave you *that* idea?"
      "I  was wondering why you were so shocked that you had
sex  with  a  girl.  I mean, you act like sex  is  an  alien
concept to you."
      "Well, where I came from, I'd never done it before.  I
wasn't  even expecting to for at least a couple more  years.
In fact, it hardly ever crossed my mind.  So it's a complete
shock  to  find  out that I'm capable of having  sex  before
marriage."   He paused, shifting Ranko's burden slightly  in
his  arms.   "Don't  get me wrong, sis.  I  don't  have  any
problem  with having sex, I just never had the opportunity."
He  panicked  as he realized something else.  "Ranko,  she's
the  *only*  person I've had sex with, isn't she?   I  mean,
there aren't any more girls, are there?"
      "Not as far as I know, Ranma.  But you hardly got into
relationships anyway, and when you did you didn't  talk  too
much  about them.  Frankly, I was surprised when the  `other
you'  managed to get Kinuko's attention.  She's one  of  the
most  popular girls in the school, and you were such a  geek
that no-one expected you two to hit it off."
     Ranma walked in stunned silence for a moment.  `I don't
really know what to say about this.  I had sex with a  girl,
and  I  can't  remember  it,' he  pouted,  then  grinned  to
himself.  "I wonder what it was like..."
     "Wonder what what was like?" Ranko asked distractedly.
      Ranma  blushed again, embarrassed at having  vocalized
his  thoughts.  But he didn't try to hide anything from her.
"I  was  talking to myself, sis.  I was just wondering  what
sex with Kinuko, or any girl for that matter, was like."
      Ranko  blushed herself, remembering her little fantasy
from  a few minutes ago.  "Don't ask me bro, I wasn't  there
when you two did it."
       Ranma  laughed  at  that.   "Probably  would've  been
educational for all concerned if you were, sis."  He laughed
harder, the momentary humor cutting through his worry.
     "Ranma!  Cut that out!" she snapped defensively.  `It's
like he's reading my damn mind!' she added to herself.
      "Okay,  Ranko.   Sorry  about  that."    He  continued
chuckling  to himself until Ranko threatened to  choke  him.
Quieting  his  mirth, he resumed his consideration  of  what
Ranko had told him.
      `Hey,  Ranko.   You  said that I  told  you  about  my
having...  sex with Kinuko.  But you and I didn't get  along
before, right?"
      "That's true Ranma.  Before you `arrived,' you were  a
real  asshole.  I like the new you a *lot* better,  though."
Ranko  rubbed  Ranma's chest as best she could to  emphasize
her  opinion of her `new' brother.  He smiled at  her  words
and  the  affection  she was giving him, but  began  feeling
undercurrents of worry.
     "Ranko, if we didn't get along before, then why would I
have  told  you  about my sex life?  I  wasn't  bragging  or
anything  like that, was I?"  He blanched at the  notion  of
himself  swaggering about the campus, nonchalantly  bragging
about bedding girls down, and so forth.  It reminded him  of
something that Happosai would be proud of doing, which  made
him feel worse.
      "Well, at first I wondered if you weren't just  trying
to  brag  about it.  But later on I understood why you  told
me."
     "Why did I tell you?" he pressed.
     "Well, Ranma...  We'd better sit down for this one.  If
you thought my last piece of news bothered you, you're gonna
*love* this one."
      All  the color drained from Ranma's face.  `What could
be worse than finding out you've had sex *repeatedly* with a
stranger?'  He rounded a corner and saw that he was  at  Dr.
Tofu's  place.  "Umm, Ranko.  Let's wait until  we're  home,
okay?"
      "Whatever  you  say, bro.  You're the  one  doing  the
driving."
      Ranma strode through the open door, and approached one
of  the couches in the empty lounge.  Carefully he sat Ranko
down  on one of the couches, and turned around to face  her.
He  noticed that she was a little flushed, and put a hand up
to  her  cheek.  "Geez!  You're burning up!  You sure you're
feeling okay, Ranko?"
      Ranko  said  nothing, knowing exactly  *why*  she  was
flushed and hot.  She merely nodded.
      Ranma  stood  up and went to look for Dr.  Tofu.   She
watched her brother exit the lounge in search of the doctor.
She  used  the  time before Ranma returned to try  and  calm
herself.  She didn't want to wind up embarrassing herself in
front  of  the doctor *and* Ranma.  She just hoped that  the
doctor wouldn't ask her to take her pants off anytime soon.

                            ****

      After school, Kuno had dismissed the limo, saying that
he preferred to walk home.  He needed the time to think, and
felt that a stroll was just what he needed.  Many things had
occurred  today,  and  he  was still  trying  to  grasp  the
magnitude of all that had happened.  In one day he'd managed
to  lose his fiancee, know defeat in battle, understand just
how  poorly trained his Kendo club was, and realize that  it
was  a  terrible  mistake for him to overlook  the  freshman
crowd of women this year.
      His walking was arrested by a silken voice calling him
from  behind.  "Oh, there you are Kuno-chan," Nabiki purred.
"I  wondered  what had happened to you.   I  missed  you  at
lunch."
      "I was taking time to reflect.  What concern is it  of
yours Nabiki Tendo?"
      `Yeah,  right,'  she  thought  sarcastically.   Nabiki
smiled  at  him, looping her arm through his.  "I  was  just
wondering how you were feeling, Kuno-chan."
      "Your concern for my welfare is understandable, Nabiki
Tendo.  I am not unwell."
      Nabiki rolled her eyes, and wondered if he could  ever
answer a question simply.
      Kuno changed his posture, speaking suddenly.  "Nabiki,
would you care to join me for something to eat?"
      Nabiki nodded, smiling up at Kuno and following him to
a  nearby cafe.  She grinned inwardly as she recognized  the
tone of his voice;  he wanted something.
      They  entered the store, and walked up to the counter.
Since he was paying, Nabiki ordered a double sukiyaki and  a
hot  tea.   Kuno simply got tea.  After getting their  food,
they sat in a booth at the corner of the store so they could
speak undisturbed.
      Nabiki's  tone  became  businesslike  the  moment  she
polished  off the second dish of sukiyaki.  "Kuno-chan,  you
know  I always enjoy a good, free meal.  I also know there's
an  ulterior  motive  involved  whenever  you  treat  me  to
dinner."  Trying to look beautiful and ruthless at the  same
time,  she leaned forward on the table, looking straight  at
him.   "So  fess  up  Kuno-chan, who are you  interested  in
finding info on?"  `As if I didn't know...'
      "Ahh,  ever  the  mercenary,  eh  Nabiki?"   Her  eyes
narrowed  at  his  comment, but she held her  tongue.   Kuno
calmly sipped from his tea, taking quite some time before he
continued.   "Very  well, I see you have  correctly  deduced
that I wish to acquire some information about someone."
     "I would assume that someone would be Ranma Saotome, eh
Kuno-chan?"   Nabiki whipped her abacus out of  nowhere  and
began  tallying figures when Kuno reached his  hand  out  to
stop  her  manic  calculations.   "That  is  not  who  I  am
referring to, Nabiki Tendo," Kuno said sternly.
     Nabiki's eyebrow quirked up in surprise.  She'd usually
been  able  to second-guess Kuno in the past.   Reading  him
hadn't been that difficult.  Then again, she hadn't tried to
scam  Kuno  ever  since  Akane and he  had  initiated  their
engagement.   Nabiki shrugged to herself; she may  be  rusty
but she felt certain that condition wouldn't last for long.
      "I want information on the pig-tailed Goddess known as
Ranko  Saotome."  Kuno's face lapsed into an ethereal smile.
"Ahh, the beautiful Ranko Saotome.  The body of a Venus, and
the spirit of the most respected and powerful of huntresses.
How I long to date with her!"
     Nabiki bigsweated at Kuno's speech, then waited for him
to  wind  down.  She felt a slight flush of anger at  Kuno's
eager  abandonment of her little sister.  `Damn!  The corpse
of  his and Akane's engagement isn't even cold yet and  he's
already  scoping  out new targets!'  "Sorry  to  see  you're
taking the split with Akane so hard, Kuno-chan," she bit out
in a sarcasm-laced voice.
      Kuno  ignored her comment.  "Will you take  the  deal,
Nabiki Tendo?  I'll offer you the standard hourly rate, plus
a  finders bonus of fifty-thousand yen when you find out all
you  can about her."  Nabiki's eyes widened as she added  up
the  figures.   Quickly she resumed a neutral face,  placing
her  chin  on her hand.  "Ranko Saotome, you say?  I'll  get
started on it right away.  Oh, and I'll need..."
      Kuno  cut her off, brandishing bills from one  of  his
hidden  pockets.   "Here's  a down  payment,  Nabiki.   I'll
expect results."  He stood and left a drooling Nabiki behind
as  she  counted the 7500 yen down payment she held  in  her
hands.  After Kuno exited the store, she pocketed the  money
and sipped on her tea.
      `That  damned Kuno sure knew how to press my  buttons.
Hmmph!   Must've picked up some things from  his  time  with
Akane-chan.  Oh, well.  If this'll keep Kuno-chan away  from
my little sister, it may be worth it.'  She quickly finished
off her tea and headed home to the dojo.

                            ****

      Kasumi  smiled  to herself, enjoying one  of  the  few
respites  that she got every week.  Her sisters were  coming
home  from school soon, but she wouldn't need to worry about
them  bothering  her  for dinner for  another  three  hours.
Also, her father was out on some errands, and for the moment
she had the house to herself.  She sipped from a mug of tea,
sat  it down on a nearby table, and propped back on a  beach
chair  that  she'd set up in the back yard, basking  in  the
warm  spring  light of the afternoon sun.  She adjusted  the
straps of her form-hugging bikini, which had fallen from her
shoulders  after she'd reached for her tea,  then  donned  a
pair of oversized sunglasses.
      Comfortably numb, she was just about to doze off  when
she  heard the door to the house slam, followed by the sound
of  books  hitting the floor.  `Akane-chan  must  be  home,'
Kasumi thought sadly.  It wasn't that she minded Akane being
home,  it  was simply that it bothered her that  her  sister
would  come  home a lot of times in such a foul  mood.   `If
Kuno keeps affecting Akane this way, father will have to  do
something about it.'  Kasumi uncovered her eyes, and sat  up
a  little.  She was about to stand up and see what  was  the
matter  when Akane burst out of the house and ran  right  at
Kasumi.
      Akane  crashed to her knees next to Kasumi,  her  eyes
puffy  and  red,  and  her face slick  with  tears.   Kasumi
reached out and touched Akane's face.  "What's wrong Akane?"
      "Oh, Kasumiii!!!" she wailed, starting a fresh bout of
crying.  Kasumi reached over with her other hand and  pulled
Akane  to  her, wrapping her up in a comforting hug.   Akane
wrapped  her  arms around her older sister  tightly,  crying
inconsolably into Kasumi's chest.
     Kasumi stroked Akane's hair lovingly, trying to console
her sister.  "Akane-chan, what's wrong?"
     Akane pulled back from Kasumi's chest, which had become
drenched  with her tears, and looked at her sister  angrily.
"Life's wrong, that's what!" she yelled.
      Kasumi  took Akane's hand in hers and sat her  in  her
lap.    Laying  Akane's  head  against  her  shoulder,   she
continued.   "Now now, Akane.  There's no need to  be  angry
with  me.  Just calm down and tell me what happened  to  you
today."
      Akane sniffled a bit, and managed to get herself under
control.  She kept her arms around her older sister, drawing
comfort  from  Kasumi's  presence.  "A  lot  happened  today
Kasumi."
      "Well,  tell your big sister all about it.  And  don't
leave anything out, okay?"
      "Okay  sis."   Akane  took a deep breath,  and  began.
"Well, I'm no longer engaged to Kuno-chan."
      Kasumi smiled, and tightened her hug on Akane.  Kasumi
had  no  love for Kuno, but had said nothing to that  effect
out of respect for her little sister.  However, she couldn't
deny  that this was news that she had truly wanted  to  hear
for  a  long  time.  "Really Akane?!  How'd it happen?"  she
asked, trying to keep her enthusiasm in check.
      "A  guy came up to Kuno-cha..."  Akane stopped herself
abruptly.  `No, dammit!  He's not my fiancee anymore!'  "...
Kuno  and  challenged him to duel.  The guy, Ranma  Saotome,
had heard about Kuno's boast that if anyone defeated him  in
a  formal challenge, he would renounce his engagement to me.
Well, Ranma challenged him and won, so I'm a free girl now,"
Akane finished softly, shrugging her shoulders.
     Kasumi's eyes narrowed at hearing the name Saotome, but
she  kept  her  mouth shut about that.  She didn't  want  to
upset  her  little sister any further.  "Akane,  surely  you
aren't  angry  that you lost your engagement  to  Kuno,  are
you?"   She  continued stroking Akane's head with  one  hand
while  the  other  one  was secured  around  Akane's  waist,
rocking  her in her lap.  She ignored the fact that she  and
Akane  probably looked pretty silly sitting like they  were.
She  was  too  intent on seeing Akane through this  to  care
about how she appeared to others.
      "Of  course not sis.  That's not really why I'm upset.
There's  more to the story."  Akane sighed lowly and  rubbed
her  cheek against Kasumi's swimsuit, wiping a tear from her
face
     "Go ahead, Akane.  I'm listening."
      "Well,  in math class Ranma sent me a note  saying  he
wanted  to eat lunch with me.  I told him that I wanted  to,
so  we  met after class and went outside to eat.  We  didn't
get  a chance to eat or talk, though, because not long after
we  got  outside, Ranma, his sister Ranko, and I got into  a
fight."
      "What  did  Ranma do to you?" Kasumi  tried  to  asked
lightly, although a hardness still crept into her voice.
      "Oh,  Kasumi!   Ranma  didn't do  anything!   We  were
attacked by some members of Kuno's Kendo club in retaliation
for  what  Ranma had done to Kuno this morning.  Anyway,  we
won  the  fight, but it killed our chance to talk at  lunch.
Plus  we  had to take Ranma's sister to the infirmary  after
the  fight."  Akane winced at the memory of the damage Ranko
received during the fight.  "Three guys ganged up on her and
beat  her  up  pretty badly.  But not as badly as  they  got
back."  Akane grinned at that.  "I took out one, Ranma  took
out the second, and Ranko pulverized the third."
     "Akane, you know it's not nice to fight," Kasumi chided
softly.   She  didn't like the idea of her  youngest  sister
fighting at school.  It just wasn't ladylike.
      "I  didn't have a choice Kasumi!  What they were doing
to  Ranko  was wrong, and it made me mad, so I  helped  them
out.   But  that's besides the point; there's  more  to  the
story."   Akane paused to clear her throat, then  continued.
"After  we dropped Ranko off in the infirmary, I told  Ranma
that I wanted to speak with him.  He agreed to meet with  me
after  school.  Well, we did manage to meet after school..."
Akane  blushed  as  she remembered their  conversation.   "I
thanked him for accepting Kuno's challenge, and told  him  I
was in his debt.  I asked him why he did it..."
      Kasumi  `tsk  tsked' at Akane.  "Akane, you  shouldn't
question  the  actions of one who gives  something  to  you.
That's rude."
      "Sis!   I told him that I wasn't being ungrateful.   I
was  just curious.  Anyway, he gave me the sweetest  answer.
He  told me that he didn't want to see me hurt anymore.   He
also told me that he's wanted to go out with me for awhile."
Akane smiled warmly at the memory.
     "Really, Akane?  That's nice."  Kasumi caressed Akane's
cheek.  "Can you tell me what this Ranma is like?"
      "Well,  from what I can tell, he's really nice.   He's
very  protective of his sister."  Akane blushed again,  "And
he *is* cute."  She giggled, surprised that she'd even admit
such a thing.
      Kasumi  laughed softly, glad to hear  her  was  sister
cheering up.  "Well, did he ask you out?"
     "Yes he did.  But I didn't get a chance to answer him."
Akane's humor crashed down, and was quickly replaced by  the
sadness  she'd  felt when she left the school.   "Turns  out
that Ranma's already seeing someone."
      "What?!  And he still asked you out?  Who's the  other
girl?" Kasumi fairly demanded.
      "Kinuko  Amagi..." she said, breaking out  into  tears
again.
      Kasumi kissed Akane on the head, and held her tightly.
`Figures  that as soon as Akane's hurting, Kinuko  would  be
right  there to make her life even more miserable.'   Kasumi
sighed.  "Do you know if Kinuko was telling the truth  about
Ranma,  or  was it just something she was doing to  get  you
upset?"
      Akane shook her head, crying the whole time.  "Why  is
it... <sob> ... that little tramp ... <sniffle>... can  keep
doing this to me!?" she wailed.  Akane laid her head against
Kasumi's  chest, her tears again soaking the thin fabric  of
Kasumi's swimsuit.
      "There there, Akane.  It'll be okay.  Let's just  take
this one step at a time, okay?"  She tilted her head to look
at  Akane,  and placed her hand under Akane's chin  so  they
were  looking face to face.  "Hey little sis, you should  be
happy.   You're  not going to be bothered by  Kuno  anymore,
right?"
      Akane  smiled, her tears abating.  "You're right  sis.
That  part hasn't really hit me yet.  I guess I'll slow down
and  appreciate  being single before I  start  chasing  boys
again."   Akane squeezed her sister in a tight hug.  "You're
amazing  Kasumi.  I'm feeling much better."  Akane laid  her
head on Kasumi's shoulder, and kissed her on the cheek.   "I
love you, sis."
      Kasumi  kissed her sister on the head again,  brushing
damp  hair  from Akane's forehead.  "I love you too,  little
sis.   Now  I  suggest  you  stand  up  so  I  can  get  the
circulation back in my legs."
      Akane  laughed hard at that, "Sorry about that Kasumi.
I   couldn't   help  myself,  you  were  very  comfortable."
Smiling, she slid off of her sister's lap and landed on  her
rump  on  the grass.  She stifled a case of the giggles  and
stood up, reaching her hand down to help Kasumi stand.
      "Well, don't get used to sitting in my lap little sis.
You're  a  grown woman now.  Ouch..." Kasumi winced  as  she
stood  up, trying to shrug off the pins and needles  feeling
she  had  from having the circulation cut to her legs.   She
walked around stiffly for a moment, allowing the circulation
to  return.   Once  the  sensation stopped,  she  and  Akane
gathered up the lawn chair and table and put them away.
      `Just  as well we're going inside.  The sun's starting
to  set anyway.'  Kasumi thought to herself.  "Maybe I'll be
able to get a tan tomorrow."
      Akane  whirled  to face her sister,  hearing  Kasumi's
comment.  "Hey Kasumi, we're almost the same size.   If  you
*really*  want  to  get  a  tan  you  can  borrow  my  thong
tomorrow," she said, grinning mischievously.
      "Thanks  Akane.  I will," Kasumi said  absently.   She
then  blushed, realizing that she was a full cup size bigger
than Akane.  She hoped no-one looked over the wall tomorrow.
They'd  be in for an unexpected treat if they did.   Smiling
to herself, she followed Akane inside and headed upstairs to
bathe before getting dinner ready.

                            ****

      Ranma  walked about the hallway of Dr. Tofu's  office,
peeking  into the examination rooms.  Seeing one  room  with
the curtain closed, he pushed his way in and was greeted  by
a  piercing  shriek.  "Umm, sorry Miss!"  A wide-eyed  Ranma
hurriedly  shoved  the  curtain  closed,  and  walked  *very
quickly*  away  from the room.  `Wow!   She's  got  a  happy
boyfriend,'  he  thought  in awe,  blushing  scarlet  as  he
thought again of the woman he just walked in on.
      Getting  back down to business, he resumed his  search
for  Dr.  Tofu.   After re-inspecting the other  examination
rooms,  Ranma finally bumped into Dr. Tofu as he was leaving
the men's room.  "Ahh!  There you are, Dr. Tofu."
      Dr. Tofu turned around to face him.  "Excuse me.  Do I
know you?"
      `Of course he doesn't...' Ranma thought absently.  "No
Dr. Tofu, you don't.  But I need your help.  My sister's  in
your  waiting  room  and  she's pretty  banged  up.   I  was
wondering if you could take a look at her."
      Dr.  Tofu's face became serious, and he took Ranma  by
the arm.  "Take me to her."
      They  rounded  the  corner and walked  back  into  the
lounge.  Dr. Tofu walked over to the couch and knelt by  the
ailing Ranko, extending his hand.  "Hi there, I'm Dr. Tofu."
Ranko shook his hand and smiled weakly.  "Your brother tells
me you're hurt.  What's the problem?"
      "Well, I think I twisted my ankle," she said, pointing
to her injured leg.
      Dr. Tofu leaned forward, examining her carefully.  "It
looks like you were in a pretty bad fight.  We'd better  get
you  into an examination room."  He rose.  "Can you make  it
by yourself?"
     Ranma spoke up.  "I'll carry her."
      "Fine.   Take  her  to  room  two  while  I  get  some
supplies."  Dr. Tofu indicated the room with his  finger  as
he spoke.
      "Yes  sir."  Ranma smiled to the departing Tofu,  then
turned to his sister.  "Okay sis, get those arms up."
      Ranko  smiled and lifted her arms up.  She groaned  as
Ranma  pulled her to a standing position, regretting  having
to  leave the plush couch behind.  Ranma curled one  of  her
arms  around  his neck, then scooped her up in his  arms  to
carry her.  She slipped her other arm over to hang onto  his
shoulder.   "Here we go," he said as he walked  her  to  the
examination room.
      He  around and saw that little had changed  of  Tofu's
place  from what he remembered of the other one.  He  walked
straight to room two, and being careful not to bang her feet
against the door frame, he angled his sister into the  room.
He sat her on the table just as Dr. Tofu walked in.  "Thanks
for bringing her in, umm..."
      "Ranma  Saotome" he said, extending his  hand  to  the
doctor.   Tofu  accepted the hand, shaking it warmly.   "And
this is my sister Ranko."
      "Well,  Ranko,  I'm  going to  take  a  look  at  your
injuries,  if  you don't mind.  I may have  to  ask  you  to
remove  some of your clothes for the examination.   Is  that
okay with you?"
      Ranko nodded silently.  Ranma became uncomfortable  at
hearing  that, and started heading for the door.   "I  guess
I'll wait outside," he stated quickly.  Blushing, he hurried
out of the room, closing the curtain behind him.
      "Wait, Ranma..." Ranko called behind him, her hand out
to stop him.
      Ranma spoke to her from the other side of the curtain.
"Don't worry, Ranko.  Dr. Tofu's very good at what he  does.
I'll be outside the door here in case you need me, okay?"
     Ranko sighed.  "Okay bro."  `He's really being sweet to
me.   He's so different from the person I've lived with  for
the past fifteen years.  He never would've worried about  me
the  way  he is now.'  She redirected her attention  to  Dr.
Tofu as he started talking to her.
      "Okay Ranko, I'm gonna take your shoes off and have  a
look at your feet," he said in a standard doctorly fashion.
      Ranko  hissed slightly as Tofu pulled the shoe off  of
her  injured foot.  Gently he pulled the other shoe and  her
socks  off,  laying  them on the floor  by  the  examination
table.  "Well, Ranko, you were right.  You've sprained  your
ankle,  although it doesn't look bad.  And from what  I  can
tell,  you've also got some bruising on your arms and  legs.
I  want to look at them, so I'm going to have to ask you  to
take your pants and shirt off."
      Ranko  blushed  severely, but  didn't  contradict  the
doctor's  orders.  Raising slightly on her  good  foot,  she
pushed  herself up at the hips.  She then hooked her  thumbs
at the waistband of her pants and pulled down.  Dropping her
hips  back down, she allowed Dr. Tofu to pull her pants  off
of  her  legs while she sat up and removed her  shirt.   She
dropped  her shirt on the floor next to where Dr.  Tofu  had
placed  her pants, leaving her clad only in her panties  and
bra.   Strangely enough, Ranko felt at ease around Dr. Tofu.
She  wasn't  as  timid  as she thought  she'd  be,  exposing
herself in front of a stranger like this.
      "Who  did this to you, Ranko?"  he asked as he started
cataloging the mosaic of bruises and contusions on her.
      "I  was ganged up on at school today.  Three guys  did
this  to  me,"  she said with a slight edge  to  her  voice,
betraying  the  calm  that  she'd been  hoping  to  maintain
throughout the exam.
      "That  wasn't  very  nice  of  them,"  Tofu  commented
absently as he looked closely at her legs, tracing the  edge
of a couple of bruises with his index finger.  "Looks like a
combination of foot and bokken strikes to me.  I'm impressed
that  you can still walk after taking this number of  hits,"
he said genuinely.
      Ranko smiled weakly at the doctor.  "I wasn't going to
give those guys the satisfaction of seeing me fall."
      "Well, your endurance is admirable, but it's also  the
reason  that  you have this sprain.  You should take  better
care of yourself, young lady.  If you push yourself too hard
you'll  wind  up damaging something seriously," Tofu  chided
softly.  He shifted his gaze from her legs, past her  light-
blue  panties, and concentrated on her abdomen.  "Looks like
you  took  a  few  shots to the stomach  too.   They  really
must've  worked  you over."  He began pressing  his  fingers
into  her  abdomen,  registering the tender  areas  whenever
Ranko  would gasp in pain.  "Sorry about that, I just needed
to  see  if you had any internal injuries.  Aside from  some
superficial  bruises  and  minor muscle  damage,  everything
appears to be okay."
      Ranko  sighed in relief, and was about  to  thank  the
doctor for his help when he said, "Hello, what's this?"
     "What's what?" she countered warily.
      Tofu  had looked up to her chest, and saw a dark  spot
that  was visible through the thin lace of her bra.  "Ranko,
could you remove your bra please?"
      Ranko's  eyes  widened at the  request.   "What's  the
matter, doctor?"
      Tofu quickly assured her that there was nothing wrong.
"I just need to check something, okay?"
      Ranko  nodded  and, slipping a hand behind  her  back,
unclasped her bra.  Shrugging her shoulders forward, she let
it  fall off of her arms and into her lap.  She then dropped
it  to the floor with the rest of her clothes.  Tofu's  eyes
widened  noticeably as her breasts came  into  view.   Ranko
noted  his  reaction, and was wondering if he  was  being  a
hentai until he spoke.
      "Just  as I suspected.  You took a minor hit  on  your
left breast.  I'm surprised you didn't feel it."
     Ranko grimaced as she recalled the strike.  "Oh, I felt
it, believe me doctor.  How did you know my breast was hit?"
      "I  saw the bruise through your bra.  Lay back for me,
would you?"
      Ranko reclined on the table again, holding her arms up
against  her head.  Tofu brought his hand up and pressed  it
into the upper portion of her breast.  "Does that hurt?"
      Ranko  shook  her head.  Tofu pressed  his  fingertips
softly  against the nipple, which contracted at  his  touch,
and  asked  if  it hurt.  She shook her head.   "It  doesn't
hurt,  but it is tingling a bit."  She bit down on  her  lip
slightly, trying to distract herself.  She knew that it  was
patently absurd for her to be enjoying the examination,  but
her body wasn't cooperating with her mind.
      "Well,  that's to be expected," Tofu answered  simply,
smiling  at  her.  He moved his fingers down to the  bruised
underside  of  the  breast and pushed directly  against  the
bruise.   Ranko  gasped  in pain as he  pushed  against  it.
Noting her pain, he quickly pulled his fingers back.  "Okay,
only one more thing to do and I'll be done."
      Gently  he  squeezed her breast from the side  at  the
base.   "Does  that  hurt?"  Ranko  shook  her  head  again,
chewing on her lip to keep her moaning suppressed.
     Tofu sat up in his chair, and looked at Ranko.  "You'll
be  fine.  The injury to your breast is superficial.   There
doesn't  appear to be any underlying damage to it,  and  the
nipple responds normally, so you shouldn't have anything  to
worry about.  You'll start to experience some soreness  from
it tomorrow, but that should go away in a couple of days."
      Ranko  sighed  with relief, glad  to  hear  it  wasn't
permanently damaged.  She was very proud of her breasts, and
knew  that she would've freaked out when she got a  look  at
herself  at  home had Tofu not explained the extent  of  the
injury to her.
      Tofu looked at her face, examining the area around the
bandage.  "Okay Ranko, lemme look at your face, okay?"
      Ranko tilted her face so that the bandage was directly
in  front of Dr. Tofu.  Gently he removed it, and looked  at
the  broken skin critically.  "Looks like a pretty mean  cut
there, Ranko.  Did the same people do this to you also?"
      "Yeah.  The jerk who did this to me did it to be mean.
I  ...  *explained* it to him, though," she  said,  laughing
slightly  at the memory of Kenji's condition after  she  was
done with him.
      "Well,  a  young  lady like yourself  should  be  more
careful.  You're fortunate that this is small enough not  to
require  stitches.   You could've had  a  pretty  bad  scar,
otherwise,"  he  lectured.  His stern look  melted  into  an
appraising  one as he smiled at her.  "And your face  is  so
pretty, it'd be a shame to see it marred by a cut."
      Ranko smiled, blushing at the compliment.  "Yes  sir,"
she said in a small voice.
      Tofu  turned to the counter and grabbed  a  couple  of
bandages and some isopropyl alcohol.  He cleaned the  wound,
making  Ranko  wince  in the process, and  applied  the  new
bandage.   "Apply a new bandage every eight hours  and  make
sure you keep the wound clean, okay?"
      Ranko  nodded  at his instructions, and  continued  to
listen to him.  "I'm going to place a couple of chill  packs
on  your  ankle in just a moment.  I don't want you to  move
from  this  table or do anything for at least ten  minutes."
Tofu  turned back around and got a couple of chemical  chill
packs  from  a  nearby drawer.  He smashed the balls  inside
each  of  the packs and shook them to mix the chemicals  and
start  the  reaction that would freeze them.  "This'll  feel
very  cold  when I put it on your ankle, but I want  you  to
remain still so the swelling will go down, okay?"
      Ranko nodded, then hissed as Tofu applied the packs to
her  swollen ankle.  He then stood up and washed his  hands.
"I'm  going  to do one more thing, and I'll  be  done."   He
reached  into  a drawer and pulled out a small  tube  and  a
latex  glove.   "This  is  a  mild  topical  anesthetic  and
antiseptic,"   he  said,  holding  up  the  tube   for   her
inspection.  "This should help with the bruises."  He donned
the  glove and started applying the smelly ointment  to  her
bruised  legs, abdomen, and arms.  Then, gently, he massaged
some of the ointment onto the bruised portion of her breast,
eliciting  a  slight  gasp of pain from Ranko,  but  nothing
more.
      "There, all better now," he said with a smile,  as  he
put  the  cap back on the tube, removed the glove, and  laid
them  both  on  his  counter.  Ranko  smiled  back  to  him,
agreeing  that she felt a bit better now.  "I  want  you  to
just  lie  back there and rest for awhile, Ranko.   I'll  be
back to check on you in a few moments," he said as he exited
the  room,  closing the curtain behind him.  She lay  still,
with  her  arms away from her body.  She couldn't stand  the
smell  of  the ointment, and was holding her arms away  from
her to keep the odor down to tolerable levels.  Sighing, she
closed her eyes and tried to relax.

                            ****

      Ranma could only hear mumbled voices on his end of the
curtain.   Tiring quickly of the wait, he wandered from  the
doorway  of  the examination room and headed back  into  the
lounge.   His head shot up in surprise as he saw Soun  Tendo
standing in the waiting area with an air of impatience about
him.  "Mr. Tendo!" he said in surprise as he approached  the
elder Martial Artist.
      "Ah, hello Ranma," he said as he regarded Ranma with a
small  smile.   "What brings you to Dr. Tofu's place  today?
Nothing wrong, I trust?"
     "Well, Mr. Tendo, there's nothing wrong with me.  But a
lot's  happened today."  Ranma indicated the couch with  his
hand.  "Let's have a seat.  There's some things that I think
you'll want to hear."
      Soun  eyed Ranma warily, but sat anyway on one of  the
couches.  "What is this about, Ranma?"
      Ranma  waved  his hands to Soun in a calming  gesture.
"Don't worry, Mr. Tendo.  You'll like hearing this."  He sat
across  from  Soun on another couch.  "I did  it  today.   I
challenged Kuno and beat him."
      Soun's  eyes lit up, and a smile erupted on his  face.
"Ranma, truly?  You aren't kidding about this, are you son?"
      "Not  at  all,  sir," he said as he  launched  into  a
cursory  rundown  of  the fight.  "So you  see,  Mr.  Tendo.
Akane's free of the engagement, and the honor of your family
is  intact," he declared once he was through recounting  the
fight.
      Soun  was exultant.  "Have you had a chance to discuss
anything  with  Akane yet, Ranma?"  Ranma started  sweating,
remembering the spectacle that Kinuko had created  after  he
tried  to ask Akane out.  "I didn't want to rush things  Mr.
Tendo.  She was a little upset after the fight today," Ranma
responded cryptically.  "I figure she'll probably want to be
alone for a little while."  `Although I want to be with  her
*now!*'  Ranma finished despondently.  `How the  hell  am  I
gonna  fix  things with her now?'  He quickly  returned  his
attention to Soun when he spoke.
      `Upset?  She shouldn't be upset... unless she actually
*liked*   that  buffoon.'   He  dismissed  that  notion   as
foolhardy,   deciding  that  Ranma  may  have  misread   her
reaction.   "Ahh,  you may have a point there.   I  guess  a
little   patience  won't  hurt  anything."   He  stood   up,
extending  his hand.  "I want to thank you for  what  you've
done for my little girl, Ranma.  You've restored a lot of my
faith in the Saotome name."
     Ranma rose from his seat, taking Soun's hand in his and
shaking it firmly.  "No problem, Mr. Tendo."
      Soun released the handshake, a concerned look crossing
his  face  as he realized something.  "You don't look  hurt,
Ranma.   So  what are you doing here?"  His eyes  registered
panic  as  he thought the worst.  "Something hasn't happened
to Akane, has it?"
      Ranma held his hand up, anxious to allay Soun's worry.
"No,  Mr.  Tendo,  nothing's happened to  Akane.   I'm  here
because  of what happened after I beat Kuno."  Ranma rattled
off  the  details of the second fight, including  the  final
battle between Ranko and Kenji.
      "So  your  sister's the reason you're here,  eh?   I'm
sorry  to hear about that.  But please let her know  that  I
deeply  appreciate  both of you taking  care  of  my  little
girl."   He  sighed  in concern for his  youngest  daughter.
"Akane's  been  out of practice for so long,  I'm  surprised
that she was able to fight at all.  Maybe she's still got  a
chance of completing her training," he said, a small glimmer
of hope in his voice.
      "She's  definitely  got the potential  to  be  a  good
martial  artist, Mr. Tendo.  And a violent one too,  if  she
isn't careful," he deadpanned, his insult reflex kicking  in
before he could quell it.
      "You  know Akane awfully well, don't you?"  Soun  said
with  a hint of suspicion.  Both men laughed nervously, then
fell silent for a short time.
      Ranma  changed the direction of the conversation  away
from  Akane.  He didn't want to think about her  right  now,
believing that he ran the risk of getting very depressed  if
he  continued to do so.  "By the way, Mr. Tendo.   Have  you
thought about the other part of our agreement?"
       Soun's   brow  furrowed,  not  understanding  Ranma's
meaning.   Then it clicked in his mind.  "Ahh, yes!   That's
right, I promised to talk with Genma if you won, didn't  I?"
Soun  looked to the carpet of the lounge, not able  to  meet
Ranma's  gaze for a bit.  `I did promise the boy.   Besides,
I've  been alone for so long...'  "I'm still willing to meet
with your father, if that's what you want.  Any idea how  we
should do it?"
      Ranma  nodded.  He'd been considering this  off-and-on
since  they talked last night.  "I may have an idea...   You
haven't started repairs on the dojo, have you Mr. Tendo?"
      "No, we haven't.  Nothing beyond a simple cleanup  was
done  last night.  After that, Nabiki and I tallied  up  the
damage  costs,  and once we reached a final figure  I  spent
half  an hour trying to calm her down."  Soun winced at  the
memory,  and Ranma winced in sympathy.  Soun hefted the  two
bags  he'd  carried in with him, bringing them into  Ranma's
field  of  view.  "This is most of what we need  so  far  to
effect  repairs.  In fact, I've been shopping  for  supplies
all day today.  Why'd you ask, Ranma?"
      "Well,  as I said before, I feel responsible  for  the
damage  to  the dojo, and figured that my family could  come
over  and help you fix the place up.  It may be a good place
to start, Mr. Tendo," he suggested hopefully.
     Soun nodded.  "I guess you're right, Ranma.  When shall
we start?"
      "Tomorrow's Saturday.  I'll tell my father to bring us
all  over tomorrow morning and we'll start re-building.  Say
about 9:30?"  Soun nodded.  "Okay, I guess I'll need a  list
of things we need to bring."
      Soun  handed over the shopping list he'd had with  him
all  day.  "You can get the rest of the things on that list.
There's  not much left to get.  Just worry about  the  items
without an `X' by them."
     Ranma nodded.  "I'll take care of it, Mr. Tendo."
      Soun looked at the clock.  "I'd better be getting back
home."   He  fished a book out of one of the bags.   "Ranma,
could you do me a favor and return this book to Dr. Tofu for
me?   Kasumi asked me to return it for her while I was  out,
but I can't wait on him any longer."
     "Sure thing, Mr. Tendo."  Soun handed the book to Ranma
and walked to the door.  "See you tomorrow!"  Ranma waved as
the  door  closed  behind  Soun.   He  then  gasped  as   he
remembered  he'd promised to remain by the examination  room
door  for  Ranko.  Quickly he darted back to the examination
room  door, arriving just in time to see Dr. Tofu  exit  and
close the curtain behind him.
     "How is she, doc?" Ranma asked worriedly.  Tofu saw the
look  on  Ranma's  face and clapped  a  hand  on  the  boy's
shoulder.  "She's going to be just fine.  It's a good  thing
you brought her here.  She was pretty banged up."
       "Yeah, she was...  Thanks for helping out Dr.  Tofu,"
he  said  finally.  As Dr. Tofu turned to walk away, Ranma's
shoulders  slumped forward, belying the guilt  he  felt  for
Ranko's  condition.   `She shouldn't have  been  injured  to
begin with,' he thought sourly.  `I shoulda been paying more
attention!'
      Dr. Tofu rounded the curve of the hallway, enroute  to
his  office.   Ranma shook away his guilt  trip  and  turned
around, pushing his way through the curtain to check on  his
sister.   "Hey  Ranko,  I heard that...  oop!"   He  quickly
covered his eyes.  "Sorry, Sis!"
     Ranko turned to look at her brother, and smirked at the
blush  on  his face.  Not wanting to suffocate herself  with
the  smell of ointment, she made no effort to cover herself.
"Ranma,  you can stop that.  We've seen each other so  often
recently that we should be used to looking at each other  by
now."   She  giggled  as  Ranma's blush  deepened.   "C'mon,
lighten  up.  I know you want to talk to me, and  since  I'm
not  allowed  to move I can't cover myself.  So you're  just
gonna have to get used to it."
      Ranma  nodded and slowly brought his hands  down.   He
gulped as he took in his sister's mostly-naked frame.   `She
is  a carbon copy of my old self...  Wow!  This is the first
time I've ever been able to stand back and look at ... `me.'
He smiled.  `And I can honestly say that I was *damn sexy.*'
He  fought  hard to suppress the natural reaction most  guys
have   to  seeing  a  beautiful  naked  woman,  and   failed
miserably.  Fortunately for him, she couldn't see it.
     Ranko saw him smile, and smiled herself.  "What are you
thinking, hentai?" she asked in a lightly taunting voice.
       Ranma's   crimson  tone  deepened  at  the  question,
answering  her  without him having to speak.   "That's  okay
bro, don't worry about it.  Have a seat and tell me what you
were  going to say," she directed as she indicated  a  chair
that  was next to the examination table.  He walked  quickly
and  sat  down,  keeping his eyes averted.  He  concentrated
hard  on  not gawking at her, which was hard to do with  her
lying  naked  in front of him.  "The doc told  me  you'd  be
alright," he began with an effort.
     Ranko turned her head to face him.  "Yeah, he poked and
prodded  me  a bit, and basically told me to take  it  easy.
Nothing  major  was broken, so I should be  okay."   Ranma's
eyes,  which  had been steering away from his sister's  body
for  the most part, suddenly turned to stare directly at her
breasts.   He  almost  berated himself for  looking  at  her
chest,  until  he saw the bruise under her left  breast  and
winced.   Not really thinking about it, he reached  out  and
tentatively touched the bruised area, feeling how puffy  the
swollen and discolored skin was.  "Ouch!  That must've hurt,
Ranko."
      "It  did,  a  lot.  More than you'd  ever  like  know.
Although it only really hurts now when you press against the
bruise itself.  Aside from that, I don't feel a thing."  She
noted,  however, that she hadn't even felt Ranma  touch  the
bruise,  and  assumed that the anesthetic had taken  effect.
She then blushed as she realized that Ranma had just touched
her  breast.   `This is too weird!' she thought to  herself.
She  was  *not* used to having her brother act like this  to
her.  It surprised her even more that she willingly let  him
touch her like he just did, as if it were a normal thing for
her.  She was shocked to see how easily she could just hang-
out  with him, almost as if he were one of her best  friends
instead of her brother.
      "Actually,  I  know  exactly how it  feels,"  he  said
simply.
      "How  would  you... oh yeah, that's right."  she  said
lightly, remembering Ranma's story about his other life.
     "Yeah, lemme tell you about it.  It was my first day at
Furinkan  High.   I'd  gotten into a fight  with  Kuno  over
Akane's engagement to me.  We fought around the school,  and
both  eventually wound up falling into the pool.  Well,  the
cold water caused me to switch.  Kuno was right behind me in
the  water and he thought I was still a guy because when  he
reached  around  to  catch  me he  grabbed  my  left  breast
*really* hard.  It hurt like hell!"  Ranma winced, recalling
the  pain he felt.  "I didn't get a bruise like you did, but
I  can still sympathize with you, Sis."  He put his hand  on
her shoulder.
     She covered his hand with one of her own, wrinkling her
nose  in  distaste  as drawing one of  her  arms  close  had
brought a fresh whiff of the ointment to her face.  "Thanks.
I  really  appreciate what you've done for  me  today,"  she
said, her words heartfelt.
      Ranma smiled at Ranko, squeezing her shoulder lightly.
"No  problem.   Like I said before, you're my  sister.   I'm
gonna  make  sure  you're taken care of."  Without  thinking
about  it,  he  cupped her face in his hands,  stroking  her
cheeks  with  his  thumbs as he kissed her tenderly  on  the
forehead.
      He  sat back again, flushing as he realized what  he'd
done.  `Why am I so at ease around her?  I would never  have
kissed  another  girl  so easily.'   He  shrugged  mentally,
unsure  of  how to answer his own question.  `If  I'd  tried
that  with Akane, she would've killed me immediately.  Ukyou
or Shampoo;  they would've dragged me to a temple and wed me
on  the  spot.  Kodachi;  ugh, not a chance in  the  world.'
Ranma  forced down the gag reflex at the thought of  kissing
Kodachi on the forehead... or worse, and placed his hand  on
her shoulder again.
      `The oddest thing about this is, I've only known Ranko
for  a  little over two weeks, and yet I feel  like  it's  a
natural  thing  to  have her around.'   He  looked  at  her,
smiling.   Having  inhabited a girl's body  for  awhile,  he
didn't  have  a real problem looking at his younger  sister.
Although his hormones were doing their damnedest to make the
situation  awkward.  `Then again, there are times  when  she
brings out the worst in me.'
      Ranko  noticed her brother staring at her, but  didn't
feel indignant about it.  Instead she asked, "Is looking  at
me like looking in a mirror for you, bro?"
      Ranma laughed softly at the comment.  He looked around
to  see if anyone was capable of hearing them.  "Yeah.  It's
amazing to actually see how much alike I was to the way  you
look.   It's hard to believe that my Jhusenkyo body had  the
*exact*  same  shape as yours.  You're a  `C'  cup,  right?"
Ranko  nodded.  "I was the same.  If I still had the  curse,
I'd  bet we would've looked like identical twins, except for
the hair color of course."
      Ranko  laughed.  "I've always wanted a sister,  Ranma.
Whattaya say?"
      Ranma  blanched.  "No WAY!  I hope I  never  see  that
place again."
      Ranko reached up and squeezed her brother's hand.   "I
was just kidding bro," she said lightly.  Ranma relaxed from
the  defensive pose he'd instinctively adopted, blowing  his
breath  out  in  a laugh.  He smiled at Ranko,  rubbing  her
shoulder  softly.   It amazed him how normal  it  felt  just
sitting there talking to his naked sister.  Oh he still  had
an  erection, but he was able to ignore it now that  he  was
getting used to seeing Ranko in the nude.
      "Hey  Sis, if you're feeling up to it tomorrow,  how'd
you  like to join me at the Tendo home?  I'm going  over  to
help  Mr.  Tendo  repair the damage I helped  cause  to  his
dojo."
     Ranko frowned.  "Damage?  From what?"
     "Well, Mr. Tendo and I fought for a little while before
we  actually talked.  That's what I meant when I  said  last
night that I'd `convinced' him not to fight."
      Ranko `ohhed.'  "Sure Ranma, I'd like to go.  I  don't
know  how  much I could do with my ankle being in the  shape
it's in, but I'd be happy just to go with you."
      "Cool!   We'll discuss it later with Mom and Pop  when
we're  home.  I'm gonna try to get them to come along  too."
Ranma  removed  his hand from her shoulder,  and  turned  it
around  to hold her hand in his.  "How long are you supposed
to sit like this, Ranko?"
      "The doctor said ten minutes."  She craned her head to
look  at  the  clock to her right.  "And that  was  fourteen
minutes ago, so I guess I can get..."
      Ranma  put  his free hand against her other  shoulder,
stopping  her  from moving.  "Don't move  until  the  doctor
returns,  Sis," he admonished lightly.  "If it'll  make  you
feel better, I'll help you get dressed, okay?"
     "That's fine, bro," she said softly.  Although she felt
a  little  uncomfortable at having to be dressed by someone,
especially her brother.  He looked around and found  Ranko's
bra  and  shirt.  Laying her shirt on the chair, he  grabbed
her bra and approached her.
     Ranma pushed his hand between her back and the bed, and
brought her to a sitting position.  Then he moved around  so
that he was standing right behind her at the end of the bed.
Awkwardly, he grabbed the straps correctly and tucked one of
her  arms  through each one.  Ranko gently settled the  cups
over  her  breasts, then reaching around, she  gathered  the
straps in her hands and fastened the clasp behind her  back.
She  ran her finger along the underside of the cups, getting
her breasts comfortable in their confinement.
     While she was adjusting herself, Ranma reached over and
grabbed  her  shirt.   "Okay Sis, hold out  your  arms,"  he
ordered.  She held her arms out, and he helped her  put  her
shirt  on.   After getting her arms through the sleeves,  he
pulled  the shirt down to the small of her back.  She pulled
the  sides together in front of her and buttoned the  shirt,
then  reclined on the bed again.  He wrapped his arms around
her  from  behind in a loose hug, his hands resting  on  her
taut  stomach.  "There, that's better," he said, sighing  in
relief.
      "What was wrong with me before, bro?" she quipped in a
teasing voice.
     Ranma blushed.  "Trust me, there's absolutely *nothing*
wrong  with you Ranko.  Sometimes I have a hard time...  you
know...  controlling  myself..."  He broke  off,  his  blush
intensifying.
      Ranko  smiled  inwardly,  having  seen  her  brother's
prominence when he bent over to pick up her clothes.   "It's
natural  that I affect you that way, bro.  And to  tell  you
the  truth,  that  doesn't bother me a  bit.   It  shouldn't
bother  you  either.  You know, what matters to me  is  that
you've  not tried to take advantage of my weakness or  tease
me.  Ever since our first day of training two weeks ago, and
especially  today, you've been treating me with respect  and
caring.  That's something you wouldn't have done a month ago
if we were in the same situation we are right now."
     Her brow furrowed as she contemplated the possibilities
of  the `other' Ranma and her in this room.  "Come to  think
of  it,  I  don't  even want to know what  the  `other  you'
would've  done to me if *he'd* found me laying  around  like
this.  In fact, a month ago I would've probably knocked  you
on  your  ass  for  even looking at my  breasts,  much  less
touching them."  She leaned her head against one of  Ranma's
arms,  stroking it with her hands.  "You're a lot  different
from  the person I used to know as Ranma Saotome.  I respect
you  because  of  how you treat me and because  I  know  you
respect me too."
      Ranma's  hug  tightened.  "You're right,  Sis.   I  do
respect you.  I'm just sorry that my other self was such  an
asshole to you.  I intend to make up for that, too.  I guess
that not having a sister before helped me to appreciate  how
lucky I am to have one now."  He moved his head down, laying
his cheek against her head.
      Ranko  smiled at Ranma's kind words, her eyes  tearing
slightly.   She wiped her eyes with one of her  hands,  then
placed them both against one his arms.  "I know that sisters
don't usually say this to their brothers, but ... I love you
Ranma."
      Ranma moved around to face his sister, and scooped her
up  in his arms, hugging her tightly to him.  "Strange as it
sounds,  I  love you too, Sis," he whispered into  her  ear.
Right after he said it, he couldn't help but ackmowledge the
rightness  of  the words.  He really did love  her,  and  he
vowed  that  he'd do anything he could to protect  her  from
harm and hurt in the future.
      Ranko lay her head against her brother's chest, crying
softly and returning the hug as tightly as she could.   They
stayed that way for a few minutes, Ranma perched on the side
of  the  bed holding his sister in silence and stroking  her
head gently.
      A  couple of minutes later Ranma disengaged  the  hug,
confusion  showing on his face.  He was still  not  used  to
showing emotions, and he'd just done something that he never
thought  he was capable of.  He'd said the word `love,'  and
meant  it.   Forcing  a  smile to hide  his  discomfort,  he
brought  his  hand up to wipe the tears from  Ranko's  face.
"Careful,  Sis.  You don't want to dirty this  bandage,'  he
said  as  he  rubbed his finger gingerly around  the  wound,
caressing her cheek and clearing the moisture away from  the
bandage.
     Spying her pants at the foot of the bed, he walked over
and  knelt down to pick them up.  "We'd better get these  on
too."   He pulled the chill packs, which were lukewarm  now,
off  of  her  ankle and set them on the counter behind  him.
Bunching  the pants up at the legs, he carefully lifted  her
good  leg up first and fed it through the pants leg, pulling
her pants until her foot came out the other end.  He smirked
maliciously,  rubbing his hand up and down her smooth  calf.
"You know, you need a shave Sis."
      "Shut  up, Ranma!" she shouted, although she  couldn't
quite  stifle  her laughter as she threw a nearby  Q-tip  at
him.
      "Just  kidding,  Ranko!" he  said  as  he  ducked  the
launched  ear swabber.  Ranma then maneuvered to  the  other
side of the bed.  Carefully he grasped the calf of her other
leg  in  his  hand, mindful of not jostling the foot  as  he
pushed the pants leg over it.  Having gotten both pants legs
on,  he released her calf and pulled her pants up as far  as
he could.  He then withdrew his hands without making contact
with  her  crotch  and stood away from  her,  letting  Ranko
finish the job of putting her pants on by herself.
      A  minute later the curtain whipped open and Dr.  Tofu
walked back in.  The two Saotomes faced him, looking like  a
couple  of  kids  caught in the act of doing something  bad.
Dr. Tofu noted that she was dressed.  "Ahh, I thought I told
you not to move, Ranko," he said, wagging his finger.
      "Ranma  helped me dress, Dr. Tofu.  I stayed right  on
the table like you told me to," she said with a smile.
      Dr. Tofu quirked an eyebrow at them, nodding knowingly
to  himself.  "Well, it's good to see that some brothers and
sisters can still get along."  Without saying anything else,
he  handed Ranma a bag of items and a list that he'd carried
into  the examination room with him.  "Here's some items  to
help  your  sister  heal, along with guidelines  on  how  to
administer  them.  I'll need you to pay close  attention  to
that  list, Ranma."  He turned to Ranko, patting  her  head.
"And I want *you* to take it easy, young lady."
      Dr. Tofu knelt down at the foot of the examination bed
and  gently  put  an ACE bandage on her ankle,  bracing  her
foot.  "Now the instructions on how to take care of this are
also  on  that  sheet I gave your brother."   He  looked  at
Ranma.  "She can't walk on that foot at all for the rest  of
the day.  That means you'll have to carry her home."
      "That  doesn't bother me a bit, Dr. Tofu."   Realizing
that  he  had  no arrangement with Dr. Tofu  like  he'd  had
before, he became worried.  "Umm..., what do we owe you, Dr.
Tofu?"
      Ranko realized what Ranma was worrying about.  "Ranma,
get my bookbag, please?"
      Ranma  nodded to her and ran out of the room,  quickly
returning  with both of their bookbags.  "Here ya go,  Sis,"
he  said  as he handed her bookbag over.  Quickly  rummaging
through  it, she took out a card that her father  had  given
her  a  long  time ago.  "Do you take this, Dr.  Tofu?"  she
asked, handing the insurance card over.
      Dr.  Tofu adjusted his glasses as he squinted  at  the
card.   "Yes, I do.  Let me write the information  down  and
I'll give it back to you.  Wait just a minute, please."   He
disappeared  from the examination room, only to  reappear  a
moment  later and hand the card back to Ranko.  "You're  all
set guys.  Have a good evening."
      Ranma  remembered the book Soun handed to him.   "Ahh,
Dr. Tofu!  Mr. Tendo wanted me to give this back to you," he
said, handing the book over.  Dr. Tofu absently accepted the
book, then walked into a closet, muttering "Kasumi..." under
his breath as he closed the door behind himself.
     Ranma stared blankly at the enamored Dr. Tofu and shook
his  head.   "Well,  I  can see that  he's  still  stuck  on
Kasumi,"  he  said lightly to a confused  Ranko.   Ready  to
leave,  he  handed both bookbags to Ranko, then  picked  his
sister  up and carried her out of the building in his  arms.
Once  outside Ranko climbed onto his back for the trip home,
this  time not concerning herself with how riding on Ranma's
back  affected her.  She simply held onto her brother,  glad
for a change that he was a part of her life.

                            ****

Author's notes:

      Well, here I go again.  ^_^  (those of you who've read
"The  Prince and the Lecher" will understand that remark...)
I  was simply minding my own business, and reading the first
two sections of the story "Be Careful What you Wish For"  by
Richard  Beaubien.  After completing that,  I  re-read  part
one, and said to myself "What if *this* happened instead  of
*that.*"  Well I shouldn't have done that, because here I am
clattering away at my IBM keyboard like a man possessed.
      Some  people may wonder about the content (boy  *that*
was obtuse!).  Well, as of this writing:

(2/8/96):

      Well,  since  my  last  posting,  something  good  has
happened  to  me.   After over three months of  unemployment
courtesy  of  AT&T, I now have a job!  <insert applause  and
self-patting-back noises here>   I am working as  a  Systems
Admin.  for Newberry College.  That being the case, my  work
on  "Careful Destiny" has been lacking in volume.  But  fear
not,  dearest  reader, for I have not been  idle.   In  this
iteration:
      *   The  fight scene between Ranma and Kuno  has  been
updated.   I  still feel it's a bit weak, but I  leave  that
judgment up to the reader(s)  ^_^
      *   I have added some extra dialogue following the end
of Kuno's fight.
      *   Intrigue  inserted (well, I hope  it's  intriguing
^_^;;  )
      *   Fixed  some more errors pointed out by  my  valued
readers
     *  Typed this section up at the end of the fanfic
      *   Split  the document into two sections to  make  it
easier to send across the net.


(2/24/96):

      I finally (I hope) finished part one, and have resumed
creative duties on part two.  The creative process  is  slow
for  me  now that I have a job, but I'm steadily adding  on.
Stuff added so far:

      *   A  foil for Ranma and Akane's previously unchecked
attempt at a relationship, namely Kinuko Amagi
     *  A new interest for Kuno
     *  Ranko's unexpected interest in her big brother
      *   A major foil for Ranko, in the form of little rich
kid Kenji Kurosawa
      *   A  long-standing rivalry discovered between Kinuko
and Akane
     *  Dr. Tofu makes an appearance
      *   A  couple of Ranma's friends are introduced (don't
shoot me!)
       *    Ranma  and  Ranko  come  to  terms  with   their
relationship
     *  Decided to end part two with Ranma heading home from
Dr. Tofu's
     *  Initiated part 3, now taking revision and continuity
comments for part 2

      Of  note:   This version of part two is  a  toned-down
version  of what I had originally intended.  In one scene  I
had  Ranma acting a little more sexually towards Ranko,  but
decided  against  including it because I didn't  want  Ranma
chasing  after his sister.  Ranko's supposed to be  the  one
doing the chasing, eventually, not Ranma.
      Also,  I  had a much more risque' version of  Kasumi's
sunbathing  session,  which  was  also  excised  from   this
manuscript.

(2/29/96):

     This is my first round of `polishing' on part two.  Now
that  I've started drafting new material for part 3, I  felt
it was time to refine part two (and maybe even part one...)
      In  this refinement, I expanded some more on the fight
scene  between Ranma and Kuno, and also added a little  more
depth   to  the  `first  encounter'  with  Ranma  and  Akane
immediately following the fight.
      Tried to rework the exam room scene between Ranma  and
Ranko.   It  still felt like Ranma was trying to  chase  his
sister.   The scene should look more like he's a  victim  of
circumstance  and  less like he's a  hentai  with  a  female
buffet in front of him.  *sigh*
      Part  three  should  be out right  before  I  jet  for
Katsucon  Ni.  I won't know until I get part two  completed,
however...

(3/7/96):

     This may be the last iteration of part two.  I had some
wonderful advice from Izzy-chan (is she still called that?),
and  was able to effectively de-lemonize the dressing  scene
between  Ranma  and Ranko, making it more like  what  I  had
originally intended.
      Spelling errors and minor grammar fixes were  likewise
spotted by the "Careful Destiny Editor's Continuum" <tm> and
fixed.  I can't guarantee all the errors are wiped out,  but
part two's looking better.
      Someone had pointed out that I may need to "dumb down"
both   Soun   and  Ranma.   Both  characters  sounded   more
intelligent  than  their  Anime  counterparts,  and  I   was
inclined to agree.  I made some minor dialogue changes as  a
result.  I'm not quite happy with it yet, so suggestions are
heartily welcomed.
     This is the first edition of part two that I am sending
up  to  the remailer.  (Thanks to White Wolf for putting  up
with my frequent update submissions!  ^_^ ;;)


Acknowledgments:

      I'd  like to thank Richard Beaubien first and foremost
for  granting  me  the permission to write  this  side-story
based on his.  Prior to writing this thing, he's never  even
heard  of me.  I understand that he's continuing the mother-
story  from which this one is based.  All I have to say  is,
"Go  for it man!"  ^_^  It's been a real treat writing  this
thing and playing around in his dimension (so to speak).  It
wouldn't  have been possible without his work as  the  base.
So  to  him, I say Domo Arigato Gozaimashita!  <author  bows
deeply, *CLUNK*  hits head on keyboard>

     Bert Van Vliet.  You're the one who gave me the writing
bug  <bzzzzz...   *smack*>.  Prior to picking  up  my  first
BubbleGum  Zone printout, I was clueless as to the  ways  of
writing  fanfic.  What a difference a year makes.  You're  a
good  friend,  and  I  thank  you  for  the  support.   Hail
SkyKnight!  ^_^

     Izzy-chan for inspiring the now infamous bathroom scene
in part one

     Wing/Nagisa for  being an  invaluable proofer for  part
one.  Your contributions helped  make  part  one  what it is
today.  Thank you!

     Thank You <yes you, the one staring at the monitor> for
tolerating my unusual style of writing.  I'll get better,  I
promise  ^_^

     My music library, for inspiring me in times of need:

     *  Robotech 10th Anniversary Perfect Soundtrack Album
     *  Char's Counterattack Soundtrack
     *  Gundam 0083 Soundtrack
     *  Gundam Singles History Soundtrack
     *  Entire BubbleGum Crisis Soundtrack set
     *  The Macross Complete Soundtrack
     *  Macross II Soundtrack
     *  Macross Plus Soundtrack
     *  Vampire Princess Miyu Soundtrack
     *  Ranma 1/2 Calendar CD `93
     *  Project A-ko #1 Soundtrack
     *  Megazone Two-Three part 2 Soundtrack
     *  Babylon 5 Soundtrack
     *  Mortal Kombat Soundtrack
     *  The Collected works of John Tesh and Bob James


And now for my .sig!

Later,
Shadow Stalker
(Protoculture Addict)
(Moderator: The Robotech Echo)

sstalker@delphi.com
-or-
sysop@newberry.edu  <--- try this address first!