ShadowSoft Inc.
                          Presents:
                              
                     A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
                         side-story
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                      "Careful Destiny"
                              
                         Part Three
                "Regrets and Recriminations"
                              
                              
                             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!


LATER THAT EVENING...

     Evening was falling upon the sleepy prefecture of
Nerima (whump!  ^_- ).  As the sun completed its lazy arc
across the sky, people spilled out of their offices and
shops and headed for home.  Nabiki Tendo was among the
bustling crowd of home-seekers, heading to the Tendo Dojo
following her meeting with Tatewaki Kuno.
     She had been unceremoniously ushered out of the cafe
moments earlier because she'd sat there for an hour getting
nothing but free refills of tea.  `I don't see what that
guy's problem was,' she muttered to herself disgustedly.
`He's got a hellacious markup on tea, so it's not like he's
losing any money...'  Fortunately, it wasn't one of her
regular hangouts anyway, especially since Kuno tended to
frequent it.  She forced the incident from her mind with
little effort.  She knew that she wouldn't go in there again
unless she had to, and turned her attention to a more
pressing concern.
     She reached into her purse to assure herself that the
money Kuno paid her was still there, then laughed at her
foolish gesture a moment later.  Her, losing money?  Ha!
Her emotions darkened as she recalled her meeting of less
than an hour ago with Kuno.  She couldn't even hope to
understand him sometimes.  Before Kuno and Akane were
engaged, he had acted as if he'd die without her.  But after
their relationship had become a reality, she'd gradually
become unimportant to him.  At least it had appeared that
way to Nabiki.
     She felt herself grow angry as Kuno's unconcerned look
taunted her in her mind.  He'd given her that look after
she'd pointed out in the cafe' how indifferently he was
taking his separation from Akane.  He obviously didn't give
a damn about anyone but himself, and he didn't care who knew
it.
     Nabiki had been roped into helping him with his latest
obsession, Ranko Saotome.  While milking him for all he was
worth usually didn't bother her, this job really made her
uncomfortable.  For example, she was never in control at any
point in the meeting.  She usually considered herself to be
a pretty savvy negotiator, but this time she was completely
caught off guard by the unreality of the day when Kuno had
made his business proposal.  After the amounts of payment
had been mentioned, all she had done was to simply accept
his offer, including the down-payment, without debate.  She
crushed the wad of bills in her hand angrily, wishing it was
Kuno's neck instead.
     Adding to her emotional disquiet was a little voice in
her mind warning her not to do anything at all for him;
that he didn't deserve her services, regardless of how much
he was willing to pay.  Kuno's behavior demonstrated just
how unfeeling he was.  The way he had groped, kissed, and
fondled Akane before the fight spoke volumes about how he
considered her, possibly all women, to be property and
nothing more.  That made his defeat at the hands of Ranma
Saotome all the more special, and satisfying, for Nabiki.
     `Sure he spouts poetry, and seems to act like his world
revolves around loving a woman, but he's so *fake!*  Akane
really deserves someone much better than Kuno-chan,' she
regarded her sister with a wan smile.  `Poor little Akane.
If only you weren't so emotional.  You probably could've
coasted along and milked him for all he was worth,' she
lamented.  Nabiki felt a slight annoyance over the monetary
loss her sister had suffered as a result of her breakup with
Kuno.  She brushed those thoughts away a moment later,
however, reasoning that her sister was better off without
him.
     The more Nabiki thought about the meeting, the more she
wanted to punish him, even with the beating Kuno had
received this morning.  Not only because of what he did to
her sister, but also because he regarded all women as being
beneath him, and that pissed her off big time.  She felt a
strong wave of defiance pass through her, and considered
what she was about to do.  `I guess I'll return the money
and tell Kuno-chan to go jump in a lake,' she thought half-
heartedly.
     The call of the money was deafening, however, and it
easily broke through the fragile resolve her conscience had
conjured within her.  She found herself ignoring her heart
as she released the bills from her angry grip and withdrew
her hand from her purse.  Her conscience sighed in defeat as
Nabiki allowed her practical side to take over.  But her
conscience wasn't going down without a fight.  A quick spark
of inventiveness popped into her head, prompting a look of
wide-eyed realization on her face.  `I may be able to make
both myself and Akane winners ...' she thought with a smirk,
the beginnings of a devious plan coming to mind.  Nabiki
halted her thoughts as she rounded a final curve and walked
through the gates of her home.
     She slid open the door to the Tendo home and popped her
head through the doorway, scanning the house.  "Daddy!
Kasumi!  Akane!  I'm home!" she shouted as she walked in,
closing the door behind her.  She paused in concern,
scratching her head in confusion as she listened for a
response from *anyone*.  Taking her shoes off and dropping
her books on the floor, Nabiki began wandering through the
house.
     Her father was neither in the den nor in the dojo.  She
walked into the kitchen, expecting to at least find her
older sister working on something, but Kasumi was nowhere to
be found.  "Well, at least Akane should be lounging around
somewhere," she muttered irritably as she roamed the
downstairs of the house.  `Where the hell *is* everybody?'
she thought as she approached the staircase.
     Nabiki walked upstairs and poked her head in Akane's
room.  To her relief, she saw her younger sister laying in
bed sound asleep, still in her school clothes.  She allowed
herself a small smile, knowing that Akane needed the rest
after what she'd been through today.  After all, losing Kuno
and then fighting those idiots from the Kendo club wasn't
something that happened every day.
     The sounds of a cash register rang joyously in her mind
as she remembered the lunch-time fight in which her sister
had participated.  `When she wakes up, I'm gonna have to
thank her for knocking that Kendo goon out,' Nabiki thought
with a smirk.  `After being out of practice for so long, I
figured the odds of Akane even joining the fight were
enormous.  She made me quite a bundle today.'  She patted
her purse, which contained the IOU logbook for all the bets
she'd have to collect on Monday.  A financial windfall,
indeed.
     Her face fell as her fingers grazed past her little
book and encountered something more substantial.  Nabiki
traced the bulging outline of Kuno's down payment through
the fabric of her purse, and felt an unusual pang of guilt
stab at her heart.  `I told you so' her conscience prodded,
twisting the knife a little.  `Your sister's not even single
for a day, and you're helping her ex to shack up with some
girl you don't even know!' her mind screamed.  Nabiki
flinched slightly at the venom of her own thoughts.
     `Damn that rich fool!' she cursed silently, hating him
all the more for what he'd done to Akane and what he
expected Nabiki to do for him.  As much as she loathed
admitting it, Nabiki again found herself wanting to give the
money back.  The fact that she had accepted it from him in
the first place was at the heart of her guilt.  Her
conscience was telling her that she was adding to her
sister's problems, and she wasn't used to feeling that way.
But her pride stepped into the argument, halting her
waffling by reminding her that if she returned the money,
her reputation with him and the rest of the school would be
shot to hell.  Since she couldn't find any way to argue with
that, Nabiki quickly dismissed the idea.
     She looked at the sleeping form of Akane again.  The
blissfully peaceful look on her younger sister's cute face
hid well the turmoil that she knew Akane'd been going
through.  She hoped that her sister's pain would end soon,
so that Akane could get back in the saddle and date boys
again.
     In spite of herself, Nabiki suddenly had to hold back a
depressed sigh.  She had always been curious about her
sister's popularity with boys.  She found it ironic that her
younger sister, who had little interest in money, and even
less in boys, was the one who was courted constantly by the
wealthiest student at school.  `Why did she seem to get the
attention of all of the guys at school in the first place?'
she asked herself.
     Nabiki found herself doing well to get just a passing
glance from the boys at school, even the poor ones.  She
felt it extremely unfair for her to be so unloved by boys
her age, and for a brief moment she experienced a bitter
glimmer of satisfaction for Akane's pain and sorrow.  She
immediately chastised herself for allowing such a mean-
spirited thought.  `But,' she admitted, `sometimes it's the
only way to keep the hurt down.'  Even though she fought it,
a lone tear streamed from her eye and rolled down her cheek.
     Feeling herself sliding further into a depression, she
dismissed the bittersweet thoughts from her mind before she
wound up reducing herself to tears in Akane's doorway.  She
reached her free hand up and swiped the moisture from her
cheek and took in a deep breath.  With all the optimism she
could muster, Nabiki told herself, as she had many times in
the past, that her own growing wealth would get her out of
her boy troubles.  The only reason it hadn't worked yet was
that she just wasn't rich enough.
     Nabiki was sure that all it took was having enough
money, and the world would be at her feet.  Men could come
later, she guessed, if she wanted it that way.  At times
like this, she dismissed relationships and romance as
nothing more than window dressing.
     But despite all her blustering, even Nabiki was human
enough to realize that living life alone wasn't for her.
Although she couldn't really say what benefit something as
intangible as love would be to her, especially since she had
never been in a serious relationship with a boy, she held
hope that she would find out one day.
     With tears rimming her large brown eyes, she felt
herself on the verge of collapse, and didn't want to dwell
on her love life anymore.  So she dismissed that debate for
another day, when she didn't have other things occupying her
attention, and felt herself slowly returning to normal as
the last residual feelings of despair disappeared.  The
eager opportunist wiped more tears from her cheeks and
smiled down at the sleeping figure of her younger sister,
then quietly left and walked to her own room.
     Closing the door behind her and turning the lock,
Nabiki sat on her bed and emptied the contents of her purse.
Among the multitude of candy bar wrappers and various
cosmetic items were the two things she was looking for.  She
fished the banded wad of money out of the pile and placed it
on top of her desk without comment.  Then she took her
transaction log in hand, retrieved her ledger from its
hiding place, and pulled a couple of empty pages out of a
nearby notebook.
     With abacus at the ready, Nabiki took a pencil out of
the drawer and placed her papers down on her desk.  With a
rapid flicking of fingers, she totaled up the wins versus
losses for the betting pool.  After creating itemized bills
for the losers, with appropriate interest rates for those
paying in installments, and making out a list of winners,
she recorded the tidy profit in her ledger's plus column.
She happily pulled a black ink marker out of her desk drawer
and crossed out the red number for house finances and
replaced it with a modest, positive figure.
     `Not bad, if I do say so myself,' she thought with a
smirk.  `Now Daddy and I might be able to afford the repairs
to the dojo.'  Her good humor vanished.  A slight flicker of
irritation crossed her face.  She found herself reliving the
inventory they did of the building's damage.  It was a sight
unprecedented in all of her years.  She didn't buy the
explanation her father had given her, but hadn't really
argued the point.  He'd had a silly grin on his face at the
time, and she wasn't entirely sure about his mental
stability, so she let the matter drop.  Nabiki figured that
she might have to confront him about it again before forking
over any of the money needed to get the repairs done.
     She closed her books, placed her makeup and transaction
log back in her purse, and tossed all of the empty wrappers
in a nearby wastebasket.  She was about to turn the desk
lamp off when she saw the money that Kuno had given her,
covered by one of her used figuring sheets.  She sat down at
her desk and pulled the money out of hiding.  With a
prolonged sigh, Nabiki dropped the money down on the desktop
and stared at it intensely.
     `And what am I supposed to do with you?' she asked the
multi-denominational pile of cash.  `Kuno-chan wants me to
get information on that Ranko girl.  I'm not so sure I
should, though...'  She drummed her fingers on the desktop,
occasionally letting one of them brush against the top bill
in the pile.  `After all, it was her brother who had saved
Akane by beating Kuno in the first place.  Why should I put
his sister through that kind of grief?'
     The money sat there before her, seemingly answering her
unspoken questions.  She scoffed at the cash-pile, muttering
"not fair" under her breath.  She leaned back in her chair
and thought about all of her available options.  Nabiki
scrutinized the wording of Kuno's agreement, looking for any
loophole she could use to her advantage.
     "I'll offer you the standard hourly rate, plus a
finder's bonus of fifty-thousand yen when you find out all
you can about her," she recalled him telling her in the
cafe.  She smirked as an idea, half-formed during her walk
home, blossomed anew in her mind.  Kuno would be relying on
her trustworthiness when she handed over the information.
All she had to do was fudge some of the data, or deliver the
truth in such a jumbled fashion that he would be scrambling
for the rest of the school year to sort it out.  Either way,
all should be well in the end.  Kuno would be clueless,
Ranko would be safe, and Nabiki would have quite a lot of
cash on her hands.  She giggled girlishly as she imagined
herself rolling in money on her bed.
     Energized, she suddenly found herself looking forward
to the investigation.  Leaning towards her closet, she
pulled out a fresh scrapbook from a container on the bottom
shelf.  She placed the notebook on her desk and delicately
ran her hand across its rough, blue cover to clear away dust
and bits of paper that had collected on it.  She gnawed on
her lower lip as she debated what to call it.  A smirk
crossed her face as she wrote "Project Ranko" across the
top.  She then opened it and began listing items that she
needed to investigate, in order of importance, and sources
of information that she could possibly tap.  After four
pages of hectic writing, she laid her pencil down and closed
the scrapbook.  Hiding it and the money in a secret
compartment, she turned off her lamp and looked at the clock
on her desk.
     `Whoa!  Almost an hour gone, and I haven't even done my
homework, yet.  I guess I got carried away...' she thought
absently.  She looked about her room and made sure that
nothing appeared out of the ordinary.  `No sense in having
someone find out what I'm doing,' she thought as her gaze
panned across the room.  Satisfied that nothing appeared
amiss, she laid down on her bed and crossed her arms behind
her head, staring at the ceiling.  `I *really* don't want to
do my homework right now,' she sulked, her mind casting
about for a reason to postpone the inevitable.  Feeling
indulgent, a smile slowly crept onto her face.
     `I feel like taking a bath,' she thought, stretching
her arms luxuriantly.  She gathered her shorts, panties, and
tank top in her arms and headed off for the bathroom.  She
dashed down the hall, quickly covering the distance from her
room to the bath and closing the door to the changing area
behind her.
     Not wanting to wrinkle her uniform any more than it
already was, Nabiki carefully shrugged herself out of her
dress and shirt, hanging them on a hook next to the door.
She then took off her panties, and tossed them in the
clothes bin.  Ready to relax and think about the task at
hand, she grabbed her towel and entered the bath.
     "Oh, hello, Nabiki," Kasumi said cheerfully as she
watched her younger sister enter the bath.  Her hand was
hovering over her right leg in mid-scrub.
     "Sorry, Sis," Nabiki said quickly, her scheming
thoughts coming to an abrupt end.  "I didn't hear any water
running, so I assumed..."  She stopped suddenly, and turned
to walk out.  Her mind was clinging doggedly to her
investigation of Ranko's life, making idle chit-chat
impossible.  Her older sister's unexpected presence in the
bathroom, while pleasant, was unwelcome at the moment.
     Kasumi smiled and patted the empty stool next to her.
"Please don't leave.  It's been so long since we've bathed
together.  Besides, I need to talk with you anyway..."  She
scooted over a bit to allow some room for her younger
sister, then resumed scrubbing her leg.  She noted Nabiki's
reluctance, and added, "I'm sorry, Nabiki.  I didn't mean to
take you by surprise.  We can always talk later, if you
like..."  She kept the smile on her face, her hand resting
on the nearby stool.
     Nabiki thought she heard a mild barb in that last
statement and kept her face expressionless as she walked
over and sat next to her sister.  She took her brush and
soap in hand and began to clean herself off, occasionally
shooting curious glances at her older sister, who seemed
either oblivious or unconcerned about the surveillance.  `I
wonder what's so important that we have to talk in the
*bathroom?*' she asked herself.  She wasn't getting any
clues from Kasumi's body language, but that wasn't anything
unusual.  She found it irritating that her older sister
wasn't talking either, just smiling sweetly and scrubbing.
`I guess I'll just have to ask her what's going on if I'm
gonna find out anything...' she thought as her patience wore
thin.  "So what's on your mind, Sis?" she asked with a
disinterested tone.
     Kasumi stopped scrubbing her legs and let her breath
out in an elongated sigh.  "Akane told me about what
happened today."  She placed the brush on the floor at her
side and looked down at the tiled floor.  "When she came
home she was really upset.  It took me a while to get her
calmed down.  I'd never seen her so disturbed before.  To
tell the truth, it bothered me quite a bit."
     Nabiki nodded, her interest being piqued by Kasumi's
severe tone.  `Ah...  I guess our little sister didn't take
the loss of Kuno-chan very well.'  She couldn't understand
why, though, given Akane's loathing of him.  She should've
been anything *but* upset, Nabiki reasoned.
     She fought down a growing wave of anger.  Kuno's
callousness was made all the more unforgivable in Nabiki's
eyes because of how badly he was affecting her little
sister.  Getting her emotions under control, Nabiki answered
her elder sister.  "I saw her in her room a few moments ago.
She was asleep at the time, so I guessed she was doing okay
- "
     "I don't think that she's okay, Nabiki," Kasumi said,
interrupting her sister in mid-thought.  She looked directly
at Nabiki, and continued.  "When she and I talked earlier
today, I could tell how distraught she was.  It seemed like
the slightest thing would make her crumble.  Right now she
doesn't need any more problems to deal with," she finished
cryptically, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder.  "So,
I want to hear everything that happened at school today."
     Nabiki dropped her soap and rag next to her stool, then
crossed her legs and turned to face Kasumi.  "Now Sis, I
hope you`re not thinking that *I* had anything to do with
what happened ..." she replied in a defensive and slightly
irritated tone.
     Her older sister shook her head.  "I'm not thinking
that at all, Nabiki!" she snapped, then stopped herself as
she realized how rough she sounded.  She forced herself to
breathe, gradually bringing some calm to her overworked
nerves.  "It's just that Akane was so upset when she got
home from school that she could only give me a few details
of what happened.  Her life's seen so much upheaval today
that it's begun to affect me as well.  I just want to hear
everything that happened to her starting with when she got
to school."
     Nabiki relaxed a little and propped her chin up in one
hand, letting the combativeness in her posture ebb.  She had
never seen her big sister this upset before in her life.
Well, at least not in all of Nabiki's life.  It was an
understatement to say that it caught her by surprise.  In
fact, Kasumi's behavior threw her so badly that she found
herself eager to tell everything she knew about the day's
events, to calm her sister's unusual ire.
     She launched into the primary details of Kuno's battle
against Ranma, and the fight afterwards with the Kendo team.
She kept the details of her meeting after school to herself.
It was bad enough seeing her older sister this consumed with
worry.  Adding to her concerns with Kuno's unique brand of
idiocy would be irresponsible.
     Kasumi sat in silence, putting all of the details of
her sister's story together in her mind.  "And that's all I
remember about today," Nabiki said, finishing her recounting
of the day's events.  "Akane wasn't around when I left
school, so I thought she'd come straight home.  Looks like I
was right."
     Kasumi frowned.  "Then you didn't see what happened to
her after school was over, did you?"
     Nabiki shook her head.  "No, I had... things ... to
take care of, so I didn't stick around after school.  What
happened?" she asked quickly, eager to distract her sister
from pressing for more details.
     She propped her chin on her hand and filled Nabiki in
on the missing parts.  "Well, this is what Akane told me.
Ranma had agreed to meet her after school was out, so they
could talk.  Apparently he'd asked her out on a date..."
Kasumi paused a moment as a strange look momentarily entered
Nabiki's eyes, but decided to avoid commenting on it for the
moment and instead continued her story.  "She said she
wouldn't go out with him, though."  Kasumi wrestled to keep
her emotions down as she recalled the feeling of holding her
anguished and trembling sister in her arms.  "Personally
speaking, I think it was wrong for him to ask her out in the
first place.  After all, she did just lose her fiance..."
     Nabiki snorted and shook her head.  "Kasumi, Akane may
have been engaged to that jerk, but she obviously didn't
like it.  `Upset' isn't the reaction I would've expected.
`Overjoyed' is more like it.  Or `ecstatic,' `elated,'
`thrilled,' `euphoric,' `extremely hap-' "
     Kasumi placed her hand on her sister's knee to stop the
thesaurus recitation.  "I get the picture," she deadpanned.
Nabiki smiled and winked in response.  Kasumi squeezed her
sister's knee affectionately then withdrew her hand.
"There's a little more to the story," she continued, her
serious look returning.  "The reason that she was upset
wasn't due to her breakup with Kuno.  From what I could
gather, she *wanted* to go out with Ranma, but things turned
sour when she found out that he was dating Kinuko Amagi.  At
least, that's all she would tell me."  Kasumi's smile
reappeared, slightly dulling the impact of the stare she had
just leveled at Nabiki.  "Now, I was hoping that you'd be
able to shed some more light on that."
     Nabiki frowned before answering her sister's request.
She had already told more than she wanted, and loathed
giving away perfectly sellable information.  But since it
was her older sister doing the asking , and it was for
Akane's sake, she continued to break her own rule.  Besides,
she might be able to get something marketable out of their
conversation.
     "Well, it had been common knowledge that Kinuko `took
pity' on one of the campus wimps and agreed to date him.
Now that I think about it, it *was* Ranma Saotome that she
was dating..."  She paused, putting a finger to her lower
lip, trying to recall more details of the relationship.
"But they broke up over three weeks ago.  I know that
because I had a pool going to see how long they would last."
She smirked to herself, remembering the money she'd earned
from that wager.  "As far as I know, he's not with anyone
right now.  She should be able to date Ranma if she wants
to."
     Kasumi sighed in defeat.  She wasn't quite satisfied
that she knew everything.  Also, if Nabiki's information was
as accurate as usual, this conversation only served to
further confuse her.  "Well, I'm still worried.  Akane
hasn't been happy since the day she was engaged to Kuno.
Now that she's free of him, she's going to need some time to
adjust.  I feel that jumping into another relationship right
away would be the worst thing for her to do."
     "Aren't you being a little harsh?" Nabiki asked.
"After all, you don't really know Ranma.  Someone like him
might just turn out to be exactly what Akane needs."  Nabiki
shrugged her slender shoulders, feigning indifference.  "I
wouldn't worry about it, Sis.  Our baby sister's a tough
girl;  and if today's fight was any indication, she's still
quite capable of taking care of herself."
     She flushed as a lusty thought of a fighting Ranma in
action raced through her mind.  "Besides, dating him might
make her feel like a woman for a change.  He's got a cute
bod..."  She laughed mischievously at her own wantonness.
But she had to admit that her assessment was on-target.  She
hadn't paid much attention to Ranma in the past, but after
watching him turn Kuno into pounded fish-cake this morning,
she couldn't help but notice how well-built he was.
     Kasumi blushed deeply at the tone of Nabiki's comment.
"You're incorrigible, Sis," she chided.  The eldest Tendo
daughter shook her head, embarrassed by the openness of her
younger sister's sexuality.  She let the matter slide,
though, and returned to her cleaning duties.
     Both women sat on their stools in silence, the soap
flying as they cleansed themselves.  Kasumi pondered
something as she scrubbed her stomach, her face becoming
serious once she'd made her mind up.  "I need to tell you
something else, Sis, and I want you to keep it between us
for now."
     Her younger sister nodded, always willing to take free
information from anyone.  She dropped her cleaning utensils
on the floor and crossed her arms, resting them on her
knees.  She then leaned forward and rested her chin on her
arms.  "Go ahead, Kasumi.  I'm all ears."
     Kasumi adopted the same pose, their faces very close.
"You know that the engagement between Akane and Kuno had
been arranged by Daddy."  Nabiki nodded, grimacing at
Akane's poor fortune.  "Well, he did that to cover for a
previous agreement that had been broken a long time ago."
     Nabiki's eyes widened in shock.  "Are you telling me
that there was a *previous* marriage set up for Akane?"
     "Not exactly," Kasumi corrected.  "Daddy had agreed
with another family that they would marry one of their
children to one of us so that they could properly carry on
the Anything Goes school.  The agreement was broken when you
and Akane were still little.  You probably don't remember
any of it."
      "You're right," Nabiki shrugged indifferently, "None
of this rings a bell."  Despite her casual outward
appearance, warning sirens were going off in her mind.
`This conversation could take a *very* bad turn,' she
thought.  Not only that, but the fact that she hadn't heard
of this sooner bugged the hell out of her.  `Kasumi and
Daddy did a good job of keeping *this one* a secret,' she
thought sourly.  `But it's too late to worry about that now.
All I can do now is figure out how little I know.'  She
phrased her next sentence accordingly.  "I am glad that I
wasn't forced to marry someone I never knew, Kasumi.  Does
Akane know *anything* about this?"
     Kasumi shook her head.  "No, and I want it to stay that
way for now, okay?" she fairly demanded.
     Nabiki was once again shocked by her sister's
intensity.  `Yes, this conversation is definitely heading
downhill,' she noted before quickly acceding to the demand.
"Okay, I won't tell her.  But I don't understand why you're
telling *me* this in the first place.  After all, now that
our sister is free of her engagement to Kuno, she should be
free to look for a boyfriend..."  Nabiki let her sentence
trail off as a terrible realization hit.  "That's assuming
there aren't any more arrangements.  Right, Kasumi?" she
challenged, her eyes narrowing in an intimidating glare.
     "No, there aren't any others that I'm aware of," she
replied, ignoring Nabiki's cold demeanor.  "But there's a
*very* good reason that I'm telling you this."  Kasumi
paused, not sure how her younger sister would take this.
"You see, Ranma's family was the one that broke the original
agreement with Daddy."
     One of Nabiki's eyebrows shot up before she could
contain the reaction.  Despite the strong sexual urges she'd
felt for him just a moment ago, the thought of being forced
into a marriage with anyone, even Ranma, chilled her.
"What!?  That little wimp was engaged to one of us!?  You're
kidding me, aren't you, Kasumi?"  It was bad enough seeing
her younger sister suffer through an arranged marriage.  But
to come so close to being in one herself...
     Her sister shook her head slightly, her voice starting
to tremble.  "Nope, I'm telling you the truth, Nabiki..  The
results of what happened afterwards were far reaching."  She
paused for a moment to collect herself before continuing.
"When Ranma's father broke his agreement, Daddy felt that
our family was severely dishonored.  For many years
afterward he searched to find another suitor for one of us
so that our family name wouldn't remain tarnished."
     Nabiki's head shot up, an angry look distorting an
otherwise beautiful face.  "What?!  You mean Daddy was
willing to shack one of us up with some guy just to keep his
own honor!?"  She sat up a bit and crossed her arms in front
of her, indignant at her father's selfishness.  She fought
off another chill that passed through her as she realized
how close she came to being married against her will a
second time.
     Kasumi showed her a hurt look, and instantly grew
defensive.  "Nabiki, calm down!" she shouted, louder than
she meant to.
     Nabiki recoiled slightly at Kasumi's anger.  She forced
herself to relax, and wiped her own anger from her face.
"I'm sorry, Sis," Nabiki responded gently, wanting to sound
sincere but not cowed.
     Kasumi relaxed her own stance, mollified by her
sister's change in attitude, and resumed her story.  "Daddy
was very upset after Mr. Saotome broke their agreement..."
Her mind reeled as she suddenly returned to that fateful
day.


     <*  Soun's hands clenched the receiver of the phone
tightly, his knuckles turning white.  Tears were streaming
down his face, and his voice was trembling.  "Genma, just
what the *HELL* do you mean you're calling off our
agreement?!"
     A beautiful young woman held a trembling Kasumi to her
as they watched the angry exchange take place.  She cradled
a very young Akane in her free arm as she sought to console
her oldest daughter.
     "Mommy, why's Daddy so upset?" Kasumi asked through
tear-soaked cheeks.  She rubbed her reddened eyes and
sniffled slightly.
     "Shh, Kasumi-chan.  I'll explain later, okay, dear?"
Kimiko Tendo looked into Kasumi's little face and smiled
comfortingly at her.  "Everything's gonna be okay," she
soothed as she caressed her daughter's cheek.  She turned
back to watch her husband with a mixture of anger and
concern evident on her face.
     "Now you listen to me, Saotome!  If you break off the
engagement, I will NEVER speak to you again!" Soun thundered
into the receiver.
     A tinny voice could barely be heard over the other end.
Both Kimiko and Kasumi leaned forward to catch what Genma
was saying.  "...isten to me, Tendo!?  I'm doing you a favor
by breaking off this engagement.  I can't have Ranma marry
one of your daughters..."
     "Are you saying that there's something wrong with my
children, Saotome?!" he thundered.
     "No!  I..."
     Soun cut him off furiously.  "Listen carefully, Genma,
because I'm only going to say this one more time.  You will
honor our agreement or you will never be welcome here
again!"
     A long pause could be heard on the other end of the
line.  Then Genma finally spoke with a resigned voice.  "I'm
sorry, Tendo, I can't... <click> "
     Soun stood in front of the phone, his mouth agape in
shock.  He held onto the receiver absently, a dial tone
droning softly from the speaker.
     Kasumi watched her mother place Akane in her playpen,
then run up to him.  "Soun dear, what was that all about?"
     Soun looked at her like she was a stranger.  "What?
Oh... sorry, Kimiko-chan.  Genma called to tell me that he's
broken our agreement to marry our children..." he stated in
an eerie monotone.
     She placed a hand against his back.  "Soun, what does
that matter?  Our daughters should be free to choose
whomever they want to marry..."
     Soun shook his head violently, interrupting her.  "NO!
Genma and I swore to marry our children so that the future
of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts would be
assured!  How could he even think of breaking such a sacred
vow?"  Soun angrily tightened his grip on the phone, his
face flushed red with rage and his body trembling slightly.
"Fine!  If he wants it that way, then we'll never speak to
them again!"
     Kimiko held her hands up to her face in shock.  "Soun,
surely you can't be serious?  They're our *best friends!*
I've known Nodoka since we were both children-"
     More upset than Kasumi had ever seen him, Soun ignored
his wife's protests and continued yelling.  "Honor demands
that we shun them, and that is what we will do."  She
started to protest, but he cut her off.  "I will not debate
this point!  They are not to see us or speak with us *ever
again!*"
     Her eyes tearing, Kimiko turned and ran away from her
husband, leaving him alone and angry with the receiver still
in his grip.  *>


     Kasumi wept silently as memories of past events
returned to her mind as clearly as the day they had
happened.  When she could speak again, her voice was thick
with sorrow.  "I remember it just as it happened, Nabiki.
Mommy and I watched him talking on the phone.  I could see
just how hurt he was.  Later on, he swore that he'd never
speak to Mr. Saotome ever again, and that he'd redeem the
honor of the Tendo name and the school of Anything Goes,
whatever the cost."
     "For several years after that, Mommy tried hard to help
him get through it.  But he was always so desperate, and
driven.  He wouldn't listen to her, always saying that the
school had to have a successor.  And when Mommy died, Daddy
dedicated his life to undoing what Mr. Saotome had done.
He'd become obsessed with insuring that the Anything Goes
school would continue.  He'd been unsuccessful for many
years trying to find someone suitable to marry one of us."
     "I think that he began to believe that people thought
we weren't worth marrying.  I could tell that the whole
ordeal hurt him deeply, even though he tried to hide it.
And with him always looking for a successor to the dojo, he
hardly had time to be with us..."  Kasumi covered her face
with her hands, unable to keep her emotions in check any
longer.
     Nabiki frowned, disliking what she'd heard.  She had to
agree with her sister on part of it, though.  Her father had
never been too prominent in her life, which meant that
Kasumi had been her rock while she and Akane had grown up.
To see Kasumi crying in front of her now was very hard to
take, since it was so *unlike* her sister to be this upset.
She shelved the information about the past and the Saotomes
for now, and concentrated instead on consoling her sister.
If Kasumi had suddenly broken, Nabiki wasn't sure what would
happen to the family.  She sat forward and held Kasumi by
the shoulders, trying to figure out how to comfort a crying
sibling.
     "They're the reason Akane's feeling the pain she's in
right now!" Kasumi continued frantically.  "They're the
reason we didn't have a father around all the time!  We owe
*all* of that to Ranma's family!  They're ... they're ..."
She broke off, her anger and bitterness seemingly palpable
in the humid air.  Years of internal torment that had built
up over the years was finally releasing itself in a flood of
sorrow and despair.
     Nabiki wasn't sure she could handle witnessing her
sister's pain any longer.  She stood up and pulled her older
sister to her feet, hugging her tightly.  "Shhh... Kasumi,
it's okay now.  Akane's going to be okay, and so's Daddy."
She rubbed her sister's back gently, while Kasumi held onto
her desperately. She buried her head in Nabiki's shoulder
and cried heavily.  Nabiki fought back the few tears that
had threatened to surface in her own eyes, asserting an iron
grip on her rising emotions.
     She had no good first-hand recollection of any of the
events she just heard from Kasumi, so it didn't affect her
the way it did her sister.  But she was beginning to
understand why her father and Kasumi behaved as they had for
so long.  Nabiki allowed herself a rare moment of compassion
and love as she spoke to her sister again.  "You've done so
much for both Akane and me, Sis.  We both love you so much,"
she said as she looked down at the shaking body of her
weeping sister, holding her tightly.  She reached up and
placed her hand against the back of Kasumi's neck to steady
her.  "If it'll make you feel better, cry all you want."
     Kasumi continued to do just that, clutching her younger
sister with something that almost bordered on fear.  She had
held her pain in for so long that it shocked Kasumi at how
powerfully she wept.  Nabiki brought her hand back down to
rub her sister's back.  She admitted to herself that she had
no experience in dealing with a crying person.  It galled
her that she wasn't able to comfort her sister properly, but
she persevered, hoping to end the flow of her older sister's
tears.
     As her hand glided across her sister's back, she
realized that Kasumi was covered with cold, soapy water, and
was shivering.  Nabiki looked at the nearby tub, a temporary
solution for her sister's pain coming to her.  "C'mon, Sis,
we could both use a hot soak," she suggested as she guided
her older sister towards the tub.  Kasumi said nothing,
merely nodding her assent as she followed her sister's
direction.  She could feel the emotional pain within her
start to ebb, and her sobs gradually lessened to an
occasional sniffle.
     Nabiki sat first in the hot water then, with her arms
extended outward, she helped Kasumi step in.  The tub just
barely accommodated both women.  Nabiki didn't want to leave
her sister alone, however, so she forced herself to endure
the cramped conditions.  They sat together, with Kasumi
sitting deep in her lap.  Nabiki wrapped one of her arms
around Kasumi to hold her while her free hand wiped more
tears from her sister's cheeks.  Kasumi's crying finally
ended as she sat cradled in Nabiki's comforting embrace.
     A few moments of silence passed between the two young
Tendos as they soaked in the steaming hot water.  Kasumi
tried to picture how they might've looked to others, and
couldn't help but chuckle at her predicament.
     "What's so funny, Sis?"  Nabiki asked with a smile,
suddenly feeling better because Kasumi wasn't crying
anymore.  `What do you know...  It worked,' she thought to
herself cheerfully.
     "Akane and I were in almost the same position less than
two hours ago.  She was crying in my lap much like what I'm
doing with you right now."  She shook her head at the irony,
but didn't scoff at Nabiki's actions.  For the first time in
a long while she truly felt loved, and was basking in the
comfortable feelings that realization had created within
her.
     "Well, you looked like you could use a friend right
now.  So get comfortable and relax, Sis," Nabiki said
cheerfully.  Her smile never faded as she loosened herself
up and enjoyed the feeling of both the hot water and
Kasumi's skin against her own.
     The eldest Tendo daughter reclined against her younger
sister, absorbing the companionship and drawing comfort from
Nabiki's soft presence.  "Thank you Sis," she said softly as
she closed her eyes.
     Nabiki adjusted herself slightly in the tub so that
Kasumi could submerge more of herself in the hot water.
They sat together in silence for a long while, resting
comfortably.  After a long while, Nabiki stirred, having
dozed off.  She blinked a couple of times to clear her
vision, and reached up to stroke Kasumi's face.  "Hey, you
awake?" she whispered into her ear.
     Kasumi's eyes fluttered open at her sister's urging.
She pushed her head back so that it was touching Nabiki's
shoulder, a wan smile crossing her face.  "Mmm.  Yes, I was
just thinking is all..."
     Nabiki sighed softly.  "Kasumi, there's no need for you
to keep dwelling on this.  I think I understand why you're
upset with the Saotomes, but that's all in the past.  We'll
be okay as long as we Tendo sisters stick together."  She
brought her free hand up to her sister's shoulder and gave
her an affectionate squeeze.  "Don't worry so much about the
past, Sis.  Things usually have a way of working themselves
out."  She let a small silence intrude as she thought about
one fact in particular that stuck out from Kasumi's rant.
"It's interesting, though, that the person who saved Akane
from a doomed life with Kuno would wind up being Ranma
Saotome," Nabiki admitted.
     "Yes, ironic isn't it, Nabiki?" Kasumi replied
absently.
     Nabiki's look became thoughtful as she further
considered Kasumi's words.  "I wouldn't go so far as to say
ironic, Sis.  You're assuming that Ranma doesn't know about
the arranged marriage between his family and ours.  He may
very well know about it..."  She squirmed under her sister
as the scheming subroutines kicked into overdrive in her
mind, feeding her guesses about Ranma's motivations.  "In
fact, that might explain why a wimp like him would turn into
a hot-shit martial artist all of a sudden.  Maybe he's
trying to redeem himself, or his family, or something..."
     Kasumi's mind was still clouded with feelings of anger
and regret.  She didn't like the idea of a Saotome being
with Akane, regardless of what one had done for her.  "I
guess the only way to find out what his motives are would be
if we actually sat down and talked to him," she commented
with a hint of resignation.
     Nabiki smiled, and patted Kasumi on the shoulder.
"That's actually a good idea, Sis.  The only question is,
how do we get Ranma alone and talk to him away from Akane?"
     Kasumi stroked her sister's arm affectionately.  "If
anyone could figure out a way to do that, you can Nabiki,"
she said confidently.
     Nabiki smirked victoriously and raised a hand in the
air.  "I gladly accept all praise of my abilities."  Both
ladies broke into a fit of giggles.
     Kasumi rubbed her fingers against one of her own arms,
and noticed how rough her hands felt.  Placing her hands on
either side of the bath, Kasumi stood, and held a hand down
to Nabiki.  "I'm turning into a raisin, Sis.  We'd better
get out and dry off."
     Nabiki agreed with her older sister as she looked at
her wrinkled fingers.  She grabbed Kasumi's hand and stood
up next to her, allowing her older sister to slip an arm
around her waist.  "Let's get dressed.  We don't want Daddy
thinking we've left him alone," Nabiki announced.  They both
stepped out of the bath and grabbed their towels before
heading into the changing area.
     "I've got to get dinner started anyway," Kasumi said as
she closed the door separating the bath and the change room
and wrapped a towel around her body.
     Nabiki grabbed her sister's hand before she could
leave.  "Kasumi, what we just did.  Please don't..."
     Kasumi smiled, understanding what her sister was asking
of her.  "Your secret is safe with me, Nabiki."  She closed
her hand around her sister's, and bent down to whisper in
her ear.  "I love you too, Sis.  Now and always," she said
before kissing her sister on the cheek and turning to leave
the bathroom.
     Nabiki was glad she wasn't near a mirror at that
moment.  She was pretty sure that she had a silly grin on
her face, and was afraid to confirm it.  She knew that such
a display of emotion would've ruined her reputation if
anyone else had seen it, but she let the grin stay there as
she dressed for the night.  Despite herself, she knew that
she hadn't felt this good in years, and was eager to cling
to the warmth of her sister's words for as long as she
could.  Humming a long-forgotten song, Nabiki turned the
lights off in the change room and walked back to her
bedroom.

                            ****

     Ranma wearily trudged down the narrow street leading to
his house.  It had taken him a lot longer to get there than
it should have.  In his mental fog, Ranma had inadvertently
headed from Dr. Tofu's office directly to the Tendo Dojo.
He'd caught himself just shy of the gates to Akane's place,
and angrily reversed his course.  Unfortunately, that extra
walking time had done nothing to help him clear his
confusion.  Instead, differing thoughts about what happened
to him during the day whirled chaotically through his mind.
The results of which left him feeling nervous about what
might be ahead for him.
     "Ouch!" Ranma muttered under his breath as a twinge of
pain shot through his arms.  He winced involuntarily, his
mind jolting back to the present.  He wasn't about to admit
it to Ranko, but his arms were damn tired.  "I hope I get
home soon," he grumbled sourly.  `As much as I care about
you, Sis, I don't think I can keep carrying you much
longer...' he added to himself.  He walked on, hoping that
he got to the house before he accidentally dropped his
little sister on her butt.
     Ranko wasn't hearing him, anyway.  She'd somehow
managed to doze off while riding on his back, and was
snoring softly in his ear.  The exhaustion of the day had
caught up with her and cast her into a deep slumber.  Her
head lolled on his shoulder, and her arms hung loosely
around his neck.  Despite the pain, Ranma smiled to himself.
"She's just like me.  It's odd how we seem to be able to
fall asleep anywhere," he mused.
     Ranma grew quiet again as he walked onward.  The last
few paces separating him from his home were getting
increasingly difficult and painful, but he endured it
stoically.  `A martial artist should be able to handle such
discomfort easily,' his father's voice taunted him in the
back of his mind, making Ranma frown.  As his home finally
came into view, he couldn't help but feel glad that he
wouldn't be straining his aching arms much longer.
     He figured that he'd have an easier time getting her in
the house from the back, so he walked around to the other
side of the house.  To his relief, the door wasn't locked.
Reaching for the door with the toe of his shoe, he slid the
door open with little effort.  Then with the practiced
balance of a seasoned martial artist, he stepped inside,
making sure that he didn't hit her head on the door frame as
he crossed the threshold.
     He looked about the room and didn't see anyone.
Listening carefully, he couldn't hear anything except
Ranko's light snoring.  Ranma frowned to himself.  `I know
Pop is still at work, whatever that is, but Mom should at
least be somewhere downstairs.'  He called out to her, and
frowned when he didn't get an answer.  Ranma had only lived
with his mother for the past three weeks, and this was the
first time that she hadn't been there to greet him when he
got home from school.  He forced himself not to worry.  If
he was any judge of character, his mother seemed to be
pretty good at taking care of herself.
     He decided to search the house after dropping Ranko off
in her room.  He ascended the stairs slowly, the burden of
his sister's making the climb awfully difficult.  Once at
the top, he could hear water running in the bathroom down
the hall.  `Mom must be in the bath,' Ranma thought with
some relief.
     He walked silently past the bathroom door to his
sister's bedroom, opened the door, and walked inside.  With
an extended sigh, Ranma sat down on Ranko's bed and pulled
her arms away from his neck.  He groaned in pain from his
throbbing muscles, and tried to massage the soreness away.
     Ranko moaned slightly as Ranma moved about, but kept on
sleeping.  He struggled to remove the bookbags that she had
been carrying on her back, then set them on the floor next
to her bed.  He cupped the back of her neck in his hand and
gently laid her head down on the pillow.  He picked up both
of her legs and moved them so that she was laying properly
on the bed.
     `I don't know how, but she's still asleep,' Ranma
thought to himself with a wry grin.  He put a hand against
her forehead, and noted with relief that, unlike the time in
Tofu's office, she had no fever now.  He watched her as she
slept, thinking to himself that she looked unbearably cute,
even with the bandage on her cheek.  `Must be in the genes,'
he thought jokingly.  `I'd better let her know she's home.'
Ranma slid up on the side of the bed, placing one of his
arms across her as he bent down, placing his lips near her
ear.  "Ranko-chan, wake up," he whispered gently.
     Ranko's eyelashes fluttered lightly as she was dragged
from her slumber by a soft voice calling her name.  Seeing
her brother leaning beside her, she opened her eyes with a
start and almost shoved him away from her, causing Ranma to
recoil in surprise.  She caught herself as she remembered
just how different her brother was now.  She regarded him
with a sheepish smile as she resumed a relaxed position.
"Hey, Ranma."  She turned her head a bit, checking out her
surroundings with a bleary-eyed gaze.  "Are we home
already?" she asked in a weak voice.
     Seeing that she wasn't going to clobber him after all,
Ranma leaned down a bit to look at his sister's face.  "Yep.
We're in your room," he whispered as he caressed her injured
cheek.  "How's the cut feel?"
     Ranko winced at the pain caused by his contact.  She
smiled at Ranma's obvious affection, knowing that he wasn't
trying to hurt her intentionally.  She reached up and
caressed his hand in return, stopping him from pressing
against the tender skin any further and bringing quick
relief to her cheek.  "I guess it's better," she told him,
strength returning to her voice.  "Although it's still a
little sore..." she grumbled.
     Ranko grabbed his shoulder as he propped up next to
her..  "Hey, Ranma.  I know I was stubborn, and acted like a
real jerk after I fell down, and I'm sorry about that.  I
should have realized at the time that I couldn't have gotten
to a doctor without your help," she admitted, her eyes a
little misty.  She was once more confronted with the stark
difference between the person hovering over her now, and the
jerk who'd teased her endlessly in the past.
     She felt extremely grateful for having a brother around
to watch over her, and suddenly pulled him to her.  She
wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.  "Thanks again
for what you did for me today, Ranma.  I really appreciate
it," she said in a tear-choked voice.
     He struggled for a second, having been surprised by the
unexpected gesture.  He relented quickly and curled his arms
underneath her to return the embrace after realizing that
she wasn't pulling a Shampoo-glomp on him.  He also took
some comfort in the fact that Akane wasn't waiting behind
him to mallet him into orbit.  "Hey, nothin' to it, " he
said in a low, soothing tone.  He held onto his younger
sister, listening to her heartbeat as his head lay against
her chest.  He smiled to himself, knowing full well that one
of the best benefits of his wish was currently cradled
beneath him in his arms.
     She was every bit the best friend and sibling that he
could've ever hoped for.  She had helped him whenever he'd
needed it, and had kept to herself everything that he'd told
her in confidence.  She had the same interests that he did,
and most importantly, she wasn't engaged to him like all the
other girls had been in his `other life.'
     For a fleeting moment, he wondered what it would've
been like to be engaged to someone like Ranko, and to his
surprise found himself thinking of Akane.  With the
exception of their attitudes, the two were a lot alike.  In
fact, when he thought of both of them, he wasn't sure if it
was a lot of Akane that he saw in his sister.  His smile
broadened as he realized how lucky he could be to have both
of them in his life.  If he didn't screw things up, that is.
     As he listened to his little sister's soft breathing,
and felt the light thumping of her heart against his cheek,
Ranma had to wonder why he had been an only child before the
wish.  Back in his `other life,' he'd thought many times
about what having a brother or sister would be like, but had
never really brought the subject up with his father.  He'd
been constantly frustrated by the lack of response whenever
he tried, and eventually gave up on asking about it.
     He dismissed his musings of the distant past as being
unnecessary.  Recently, things had been a little rough after
his wish had been granted, but once Ranko and he had cleared
the air between them, he'd found that having a sister was
every bit as wonderful as he'd hoped it would be.  Also,
despite the setbacks he had suffered with Akane today, he
had no intention of using his other wish to bring himself
back to his cursed life.  Deep down, he knew that this was
the life that he wanted to lead, and this was the family
that he wanted to be a part of.
     As his sister drew a deep, shuddering breath, his mind
wandered abruptly to more `adult' territory.  He began to
realize, with a start, just how uncomfortably close his face
was to Ranko's breasts.  *Vividly* remembering what they
looked like from his own reflection in the mirror in the
past, and from Ranko's visit to Dr. Tofu's a couple of hours
ago, his pulse started hammering loudly in his ears,
signaling an increase in arousal.  As gently as he could,
Ranma pulled his arms out from under her and sat up, his
heartbeat slowing as the distance between them increased.
Ranko released her hold on him, but kept their faces very
close.
     He looked at her lingeringly, her warm breath a gentle
caress against his face.  `She's so cute,' he thought to
himself.  She smiled at him and winked, causing him to smile
in return.  Acting on a sudden impulse, he bent down to kiss
her on the forehead.
     Ranko saw it coming and realized what he was going to
do.  Confusing thoughts became suddenly clear, causing her
to intercept him midway.  With a start, she realized that
she was kissing her brother fully on the lips.  Her body
drive her actions from that point, deepening the kiss and
coiling her arms around him tightly.
     Ranma's cheeks colored furiously as his lips met
Ranko's in a *very* passionate kiss.  He resisted initially,
but felt his resistance crumble as he surrendered, laying
atop her as he felt her wrap her arms around him.  He closed
his eyes, finding an odd comfort in their intimacy.  As
wrong as it should have seemed to be doing this, he didn't
try to push her away, instead holding onto her as tightly as
she was clinging to him.  After about ten seconds of extreme
closeness, Ranko unexpectedly broke contact.
     She sat back against the headboard of her bed,
squirming out of her brother's embrace and putting as much
distance between them as she could; realizing what she'd
just done, and with whom.  "Oh God!" she blurted, abashed.
Her mind was a-swirl with confusing thoughts and lusty
images she'd normally reserved for her daydreams about
Hikaru.  Embarrassed beyond belief, she clamped down on her
confused desire and intently avoided his gaze.  "Ohhh...
Ranma...  I... I'm so sorry!  I..." she stammered, covering
her tingling lips with a trembling hand.
     Ranma's heart raced as the thought of what just
happened replayed in his mind again and again.  He hadn't
expected it to happen, but now that it had, he found himself
utterly confused.  As he tried to understand what just
occurred, he realized that Ranko was trying to talk to him.
He sat away from her, his distancing of himself quieting her
stammered apology and making her feel even more
uncomfortable.
     "Hey, it's okay, Sis," he said with a wave of his hand,
trying to act impassive about the incident.  It wasn't
working, however, as his confused mind was visibly reeling
from their intimate contact..  "Granted, it felt ... weird-"
He forced himself to pause, swallowing to cover his
flustered speech.  "- but after everything we've been
through today, I guess you're excused."  He laughed
nervously at her.
     Ranko's cheeks reddened further as Ranma stared at the
floor.  "I don't know what came over me."
     Ranma crossed his arms in front of himself, getting
back under control.  He looked up at his sister again, his
expression softening.  `I think she's more confused about
this than I am,' he thought with some relief, ironically
finding some form of ease in that.  "It's okay, Ranko...
Although, I guess it was probably my fault too.  Brothers
don't usually kiss their sisters;  under any circumstances."
     His look became apologetic.  "I'm still new at this.
Having a sister, I mean...  Well... you know you mean a ...
a lot to me, but ... but I guess it wouldn't be right for us
to keep doing that," Ranma said uncomfortably, the words
sounding as if they'd been dragged out of his mouth.  He put
a hand to his head, which was starting to ache.  `Actually,
the reason I didn't stop that kiss probably has a lot to do
with Akane,' he told himself with some consternation.  `I
*have* to get things taken care of with her, as soon as
possible.'  He looked at his sister again.  `I don't need to
complicate my life anymore-' he began, breaking off the
thought as Ranko spoke once more.
     She looked at her brother guiltily, her hands still
trembling slightly from the intensity of her emotions.  "I
hope you're not upset with me," she said in a small voice.
     Ranma shook his head, and forced himself to quit
dwelling on the incident.  He walked back to the side of the
bed, and looked at her earnestly.  "Ranko, I already told
you it was okay.  Honestly!  I could think of a lot worse
people to kiss than my own sister."  `Although,' he added to
himself, `as strange as it may seem, that kiss felt ...
nice.'  He stopped himself from thinking about it anymore,
knowing that he'd likely find himself in trouble if he
decided to pursue the matter.
     Ranko reached up and took his hand in hers, squeezing
it gently.  She sighed in relief, grateful that Ranma wasn't
upset with her.  "And by the way, I love you too ... Ran-
chan," she said with a wink, the color returning to her
face.
     Ranma smiled at the use of the pet name, forcing
himself to remain calm as he returned the hand squeeze.
Anxious to leave the subject behind, he clapped her on the
arm brusquely. "I'll be back in just a -" he began as he
slowly turned and headed for her door.
     "Hey, Ranma.  Why don't you to answer that question you
ducked back at Dr. Tofu's office?" she asked to his back,
making him stop in mid-sentence.
     Ranma turned around again, his eyes showing her a
genuinely puzzled look.  "I didn't duck a question, Ranko...
Which question are you talking about, anyway?"
     Ranko shook her head slightly.  "You never answered my
question about what you were going to do about Akane."
     Ranma nodded, the confusing events of the late
afternoon replaying in his mind.  "Yeah, that's right.  We
were going to discuss it after we got home from Dr. Tofu's-"
     Ranko gestured to her room.  "Well, we're home now,"
she prodded.
     Ranma had to smile at her persistence.  "Yeah.  I guess
that-"
     Their heads turned as Nodoka yelled from downstairs.
"Ranma!  Ranko!  You two home yet?!"
     Ranma grimaced.  He was glad to have the interruption,
but he wasn't looking forward to explaining Ranko's injuries
to his parents.  True, they still considered her a better
martial artist than he, but as far as he was concerned,
Ranko's safety was his responsibility.  Ranma turned back to
her door.  "I'll talk with you about Akane after I get
through talking to Mom and Pop," he said over his shoulder.
     Ranko blanched as she realized that they could both be
in trouble for her condition.  She sat up and tried to get
out of her bed, slipping on the sheets as her weakened arms
refused to support her.  With a grunt her head collapsed
against the pillow and her body went limp on the bed.  Ranma
went to her and quickly held his hands out, stopping her
from getting up.  "Don't move, Ranko!  Remember what Dr.
Tofu said.  You're to stay off that leg for the rest of the
day."
     Ranko looked at him angrily, her frustration over her
injuries adding fuel to the fire in her eyes.  "Ranma, I
can't let you take the rap for what happened to me.  I'm
responsible for this," she said, indicating her bandaged
face.
     "And I'm responsible for you," he said, bending down to
her eye level and poking her gently in the chest.  "Now I
want you to stay right here and wait for me to return."  His
tone of voice indicated that it wasn't just a suggestion.
     Ranko looked like she was going to object again, but
Ranma stared her down.  "Dammit!  Listen to me!  You're
going to make that ankle worse if you keep walking on it, so
you're going to just stay there!  Understand?!"
     Ranko relented, and flopped back against her pillows
angrily.  "Fine!  Be that way!"  She turned her head from
him, as she steadfastly avoided his gaze.
     Ranma's look softened as he realized how upset he'd
made her.  It didn't help to quiet his own anger, however.
"Now cut that out, Ranko!" he shot back indignantly.  "I'm
not punishing you.  I just don't want to see you get hurt
any worse than you already are."  He stared directly at her,
his gaze never wavering.
     Ranko turned her head to face him, her angry look
slowly disappearing.  "I understand *why* you're doing this,
Ranma, and I appreciate your concern."  She sat up, crossed
her arms in front of her, and winced at the twinge of pain
from her bruised breast, despite her best efforts to conceal
it.  "I'm old enough to take responsibility for my own
actions," she said proudly.  She held her arms out to him,
and indicated that he should help her to stand.  "C'mon,
Ranma.  I'm not gonna take `no' for an answer."
     He didn't move at all, and refused to answer her.
`It's like I'm talking to a damned brick *wall,*' Ranko
thought with extreme exasperation.  Then inspiration struck,
prompting her to smile.  "I have a compromise.  You can help
me walk downstairs, and we'll talk to them *together.*
Okay, Ranma?"  She blinked, turning on the cuteness to full
intensity.
     Ranma sighed in resignation, then smiled at her.  "You
remind me of me from before the wish, you know that, Sis?"
he asked her playfully.  He bent down and pulled Ranko up to
a standing position, with her pivoting on her good foot.
     She laughed at his comment.  "Were you so demanding?"
     He snorted.  "I was a real pain in the ass, is what I
was!" he shouted in jest, moving behind her suddenly to get
out of striking distance as her arms swung in broad swipes,
hoping to grab a piece of cloth, pants, or hair.  She
giggled as his fingers found ticklish spots on the unbruised
sections of her ribs, halting her swinging motion.  `So much
for Ranko getting her rest,' Ranma thought to himself as he
put her arm around his neck to help her walk.
     He winced as Ranko landed a light punch to his side.
"That's for calling me an ass, jerk" she taunted, a smirk on
her face.
     He smiled down at her, mussing her hair with his free
hand.  "Me?  I'd never do *that.*  Ooof!" he said, sucking
in a deep breath as she landed a fist in his gut.  It wasn't
a really painful hit, but it definitely got his attention.
"Okay, okay!  I get the message." he said, his smile never
waning.
     "Good!  I may have been knocked around a bit, but I can
still take care of myself, understand?" she asked, arching
one of her eyebrows as she spoke.
     He said nothing, merely nodding instead, not wanting to
tempt fate any further.  `Not-uncute tomboy,' he thought to
himself with a smirk as he opened the door to her room and
led her to it.  `I hope Mom and Pop don't overreact when
they see her,' Ranma prayed as he guided her to the stairs.

                            ****

     Nodoka prowled the downstairs again, looking for her
kids.  `They should've been home over an hour ago.  I hope
nothing's happened to Ranma.'  She worried as her search
through room after room continued to turn up nothing.  She
went out to the training hall, and found Genma in there,
working out.  "Genma dear, have you seen the children?"
     Genma stopped his kata abruptly and turned to his wife,
his breathing labored.  Grabbing a towel, he dried off his
bald pate and walked towards her.  "What was that, dear?  I
didn't hear you."
     Nodoka looked at him impatiently.  "I *said*, have you
seen our children?" she reiterated, thumping him on his arm
with her petite fist.
     Genma shook his head and crossed his arms,
surreptitiously rubbing the sore muscle.  "No, I haven't,
dear.  I came straight here after work, so I didn't even go
in the house.  They haven't been out here, as far as I know,
so your guess is as good as mine."
     She bit her lower lip, which she oft did whenever she
was upset.  "I'm worried, Genma.  I've been looking for
them, and they're not anywhere around here.  They should've
been here long ago..."  Nodoka began biting her nails, her
worry for Ranma's safety clearly eating away at her.
     He reached out and held her to him.  "I think Ranma's
going to be okay, dear." She sighed deeply, indicating that
she didn't share his opinion.  "But, if it'll make you feel
any better, let's go inside and wait for them to get home,
okay, Nodoka-chan?"
     Nodoka put her arms around her husband and lay her face
against his broad chest.  She smiled, his use of her pet-
name calming her greatly.  "Yes, you're probably right."
Saying that didn't console her any, however.  She didn't
like the idea of Ranma fighting.  It just didn't seem
*right* to her.
     Genma put an arm across her slight shoulders.
`Nodoka's worrying far too much about the boy.  If he's as
good as I saw last night, he should be okay,' he told
himself half-heartedly.  But Genma couldn't help but
acknowledge the twinge of doubt that was eating away at his
confidence in his son's abilities.  Without saying anything
further, the two turned and walked out of the training hall
and back into the house.

                            ****

     Ranma knelt down to help Ranko sit at the table.  He
heard her gasp as she tried to fold her bad leg behind her
in a standard sitting position, and quickly lifted her back
up, his hands remaining under her arms.  Once the pain of
her offended ankle had subsided, she opted for crossing her
legs, leaving her good leg underneath the damaged one.
     After Ranko was seated comfortably, Ranma sat beside
her.  He kept one of his arms around her shoulders, keeping
her upright and letting her know that he was there for her.
She was about to tell him that she could manage on her own
when the back door whipped open and their parents stepped
inside.
     Nodoka's eyes went straight to the table, where she saw
her children sitting casually, allowing her to exhale deeply
in relief.  "Thank goodness you two are home!" she declared
in relief.  "We were so *worried* about you two!"  She let
go of her husband and ran across the room to her children,
wrapping one arm around each and hugging them to her
tightly.
     Her pleased expression changed to one of puzzlement as
she noted the tension running through both of them.
`Perhaps things hadn't gone so well, after all?' she worried
to herself.  The fact that Ranma had his arm *willingly*
around his sister added greatly to her confusion.
     She eyed her son closely.  `I wonder if he actually
fought that Kuno boy.  Ranma doesn't look like he has a
single scratch on him.'  She ignored her son's pseudo-
embrace of his sister for the moment, intent on finding out
why they appeared to be so nervous.
     "What's going on you two?" she asked suspiciously,
looking at each of them.  After a moment of silence passed
between the three, she was still unable to figure out what
was the matter.  Tired of getting nothing from Ranma, she
turned to Ranko and noticed the bandage on her face.
     Her eyes widened.  "What happened to you, young lady?"
     Ranko self-consciously brought her hand up to the
bandage.  Nodoka scooted around to face the wounded cheek.
She knelt down in front of Ranko and pulled her daughter's
hand away from the bandage, then cautiously ran her own
finger around the edge.  "What caused this?" she demanded.
     Ranma's grip on Ranko's shoulder tightened, his
nervousness prompting him to speak suddenly.  "Mom, don't
get upset with her.  It's my fault that she got hurt," he
declared, his face tight.
     Ranko turned to protest, but was overshadowed by
Nodoka's sudden anger.  "What do you mean, `it was your
fault?'"  She sat back and glared at both of her children,
wondering what Ranma could've done to Ranko that would've
injured her like that.
     Meanwhile, Genma walked over and sat down beside his
wife and placed an arm across her shoulders.  "I think you'd
better explain what you did to her, Ranma.  Now," he
declared ominously.
     Ranma sighed, and prepared himself for the worst.  As
succinctly as possible, he told them about the fight with
Kuno.  "He didn't even hurt me.  I defeated him, broke his
bokken, then Ranko and I went to school."
     "How did Ranko manage to get hurt during that fight?"
Nodoka pressed tersely.
     "She didn't.  I haven't gotten to that part yet, mom."
He paused to collect his wits, then pressed on.  "At lunch
we were attacked by seven guys from the Kendo club in
revenge for what I did to Kuno."  Nodoka and Genma's eyes
opened in alarm.  "I took out four of them.  Akane took out
one, but not before three of them had ganged up on Ranko."
Ranma's look became self-recriminating.  "I should've paid
more attention to her.  If I had, then she wouldn't have
been triple-teamed like she was."
     Ranko felt the eyes of her parents descend on her.
Genma was half smiling at Ranma's achievement, but Nodoka's
face was a stark contrast to that.  "Now you know why I
never liked the idea of you fighting, young lady.  This
could happen to you again if you continue to..."
     Ranma held his hand up.  "Mom, I'm not finished yet."
He flinched as Nodoka shot an irritated glance his way for
interrupting her.  With some effort, he continued to speak.
"Towards the end of the fight, Akane took out one of the
guys that was holding Ranko back from fighting, and I took
out the other.  After that, Ranko finished off the guy that
was beating her."
     "So what does that prove?  She still got injured," she
pressed, pointing to Ranko's cheek, although she could
already see that she wasn't going to win this argument.
     Genma spoke up, understanding what Ranma's point was.
"It proves, dear, that once Ranko was fighting one-on-one,
she was able to take out her foe, despite her injuries."
His chest swelled with pride as he brought his massive arms
across it.  "She's a great martial artist.  The only problem
was that she got attacked by some kids that don't know the
meaning of the word honor."
     "And what's to prevent her from getting attacked like
that again, Genma?" Nodoka shot back hotly.  She was upset
that she was the minority in this conversation.  Normally
Ranma would've either abstained from arguing, or taken her
side.  It felt odd to her to not have her son's backing, a
small amount of hurt crept onto her face.  This incident had
once more drummed home to her the inherent danger of being a
martial artist.  She didn't want her little girl facing that
danger any longer, and had expected Ranma to understand
that.
     Ranko's face reddened with anger as she watched the
conversation flow between her brother, father, and mother.
Finally she'd had enough.  "Would you people *stop* talking
like I wasn't here?" she yelled, her eyes narrowed in anger
and her face flushed.
     All heads turned to her in various stages of shock.
"Sorry, Sis," Ranma added sheepishly, squeezing Ranko's
shoulder again and encouraging her to speak for herself.
     Nodoka looked at her daughter's plaintive expression
and was unable to stay angry at her little girl.  Her anger
disappeared as her face grew calm.  "I'm sorry for talking
over you, Ranko.  I just don't like seeing you injured."
She looked closely at the bandage, trying to forget about
the argument by concentrating on Dr. Tofu's handiwork.  "It
seems that you've already had this looked at, dear.  Whoever
worked on it did a good job."
     Ranko smiled as she remembered the kind Dr. Tofu.
"Yeah.  Dr. Tofu really knew what he was doing."
     "Who's Dr. Tofu?" Nodoka asked, puzzled.
     Ranma quickly spoke up to answer.  "Well, he's a doctor
close to the school.  I felt that Ranko needed to be taken
care of quickly, so I took her there.  I was told that he
was very good.  Oh!  Don't worry about the bill; he took
Ranko's insurance card."
     Nodoka appeared mollified by Ranma's explanation, and
moved on to other concerns.  She looked down and saw that
Ranma's hand was still on Ranko's shoulder, and spoke again.
"Well, you two are obviously getting along a lot better,"
she said with obvious satisfaction.
     Ranko realized that her mother was referring to Ranma's
affectionate behavior towards her and blushed, but halted
her instinct to push his hand away.  "Well, yeah...  He and
I came to an understanding recently."
     Ranma smiled and began rubbing his sister's shoulder as
he talked.  "She's right.  It's like I finally learned to
appreciate having a little sister."  Ranko's blush deepened,
but she couldn't help but smile inwardly.  This last week
with her brother had been an absolute paradise compared to
the last fifteen years of her life that she'd had to endure
with the other `him'.
     Nodoka smiled warmly.  "I'm glad that you two aren't
brawling anymore.  It's about damn time you started getting
along," she declared, putting a hand on one shoulder of each
child.
     Ranma blushed this time.  "Yeah.  As far as I'm
concerned, I won't bother or fight with Ranko again.  Except
for sparring, that is."  He made a mental note to ask his
sister sometime later about how he treated her in the
`past'.
     Ranko absently rubbed her bad ankle, wondering if she
could remain off of it over the next several days.  She had
this nagging suspicion that she wasn't going to be able to
remain idle for too long, at least she *hoped* she wouldn't
be sitting around on her tail for days.  She couldn't
*stand* that!  At his comment, she turned to face him and
smiled challengingly.  "Hopefully that won't be too long in
coming, Ranma."
     Nodoka `awwwed,' sending both children into a deep
crimson blush.  "Mom..." Ranko protested, shuffling
uncomfortably in her sitting position to try and fight off
her embarrassment.
     Ranma looked to his father, who had been watching the
whole exchange with some amusement.  Hoping to wipe the
smirk off of his father's face, Ranma decided to talk to his
father outside.  "Mom, I need to talk to Pop for a bit,
please."  He brought his hand down from Ranko's shoulder,
but let it run against her back before he stood up.  "Let's
go to the training hall, okay, Pop?"
     Nodoka frowned.  "Is everything all right, Ranma?"
     Ranma looked at her, nodding his head.  "Everything's
okay, Mom.  I just want to talk to him about some guy stuff,
is all."  He smiled, wanting to forestall any further
questions.
     Genma looked to Ranma and nodded.  Without saying
anything else, both men walked out of the house and headed
to the training hall.
     Nodoka turned from watching the men leave to look at
her daughter again.  "Well, I wonder what *that* was all
about."
     Ranko shrugged her shoulders.  "Beats me.  He probably
wants to talk about Akane, is all."
     Nodoka sighed as she remembered what Ranma had promised
to do if he'd beaten Kuno.  `Which was something I didn't
expect him to do,' she admitted to herself.  "I hope Ranma's
not going ahead with his plans to marry that girl.  He
hardly knows her."
     Ranko looked up to her mother.  "Well, I've met Akane,
and she's not a bad person.  If you want to know the truth,
I think they're a good match."
     Nodoka shook her head, which was swimming from all of
the confusing things she'd heard and seen in the past ten
minutes.  "You two really *are* getting along better, aren't
you?  It's odd hearing positive things about Ranma coming
from *your* mouth."
     "MOOOOM!" Ranko yelled, afraid that her blush was going
to become permanent.
     Nodoka held her hands up in a placating gesture.
"Okay, Okay!  I'll stop..."  `I don't want her to blush to
death,' she thought with some mirth.
     She examined the bandage closely, and noted how stiffly
Ranko was sitting.  "Honey, you look like you're awfully
sore.  How badly were you hurt?"
     Ranko looked over at her, wondering how her mother
would handle an explicit list of her injuries.  `Might as
well get it over with...' she shrugged to herself.  "Well,
to tell the truth, I was worked over pretty badly.  But it
wasn't anything I couldn't handle,"  She was quick to add.
The raven-haired sprite struggled to catalog the list of
injuries that she'd sustained, but her foggy mind wasn't
cooperating.  She snapped her fingers as she suddenly
remembered something.  "Ahh, the instructions!  Dr. Tofu
gave me a list of things to do to take care of my injuries.
That should tell you better than I can about what happened
to me."
     Nodoka shook her head.  `How can someone as delicate as
Ranko be so casual about being hurt?' she asked herself
plaintively.  `She's got the body of a girl, and she acts
like a girl most of the time.  But that damned male-martial-
artist-mindset keeps popping up at the strangest times.'
She dismissed that thought, however, knowing that her
daughter wasn't as reckless as she sometimes seemed.
"Where's the list?" she asked her daughter.
     "It's up in my room."
     Her mother stood up.  "Well, let's go to your room
then."
     Ranko held her hand out to her mother.  "Could you help
me up, please?  I also twisted my ankle."
     Nodoka looked at her sternly before taking her hand and
helping Ranko to her feet.  "And when were you going to tell
me about that one, little girl?"
     Ranko looked at her calmly.  "Mom, I didn't hurt it
during the fight.  I sprained it after school when I was
walking home.  I tripped, that's all."
     Nodoka rolled her eyes, but accepted Ranko's story.
She curled one of her daughter's arms around her neck, and
slowly helped her up the stairs.

                            ****

     The two men entered the training hall, the wide doors
of the building closing slowly behind them.  "What did you
want to talk about, son?"
     Ranma sat in the center of the training hall, gesturing
for his father to do the same.  Genma did so, facing his son
on the mat.  "I wanted to talk to you about the fight."
     "I thought you already did, Ranma."
     "Well, yeah, I did.  I just wanted to make sure you
knew that I would've prevented those guys from hurting Ranko
if I'd not been so wrapped up in my own fight."  Ranma's
gaze descended to the floor as a wave of guilt passed
through him.
     Genma smiled to his son.  "Hey, you don't need to worry
about that.  Ranko's a martial artist, and she knows that
pain's gonna be a part of the package.  Besides, she didn't
look that injured to me, so it couldn't have been all that
bad.  I'm just glad that you did help her when you could.
Besides," he added.  "Knocking out four out of seven armed
enemies isn't bad for someone who's only been a martial
artist for a few weeks."  Genma patted Ranma on the knee.
"You should be proud of yourself.  You defeated those four
hoodlums, and also managed to take care of their captain.
All in a day's work, I'd say."
     Ranma's head came back up abruptly as he realized that,
despite his father's occasional thickness, he was right..
"Yeah!  I guess defeating Kuno isn't as big a deal for me as
it is for everyone else."  He pushed away the sudden
thoughts of Akane that had cluttered his mind at the mention
of the fight.  His immediate concern was mending the rift
between the Tendo and Saotome families.  "Pop, you know that
I made a deal with Mr. Tendo."
     Genma nodded.  "Yes, you told Soun that you wanted to
marry Akane, right?"
     "Close, Pop.  He and I had agreed that Akane and I
could go out if I defeated Kuno.  I'm going to worry about
that later."
     "Later?  How much later?" Genma asked worriedly.  He
didn't want anything *worse* to happen between him and Soun.
Ranma postponing the promise was a dangerous thing in
Genma's eyes.
     "Calm down, Pop.  Geez!  I got Mr. Tendo's okay to go
slow.  I thought it'd be best for me and Akane if we didn't
rush into anything."  `He'd freak if I told him about what
Kinuko did to me.  Best to keep that to myself,' Ranma added
to himself.  "Anyway, that was only half of the agreement."
     "Oh, there's more?" Genma said with extreme interest.
     "Yeah, Pop.  I had Mr. Tendo promise that he'd call off
the feud with our family.  Plus, he agreed to sit down and
talk with you if I won."
     Genma's eyes enlarged to the point of almost falling
out of their sockets.  "Ranma, you didn't?!"
     He showed his father a puzzled look.  "Yeah, Pop.  I
... did..."  He stared at his stricken father, utterly
confused.  "I thought you'd *like* to hear this..."  He
broke off, too baffled to continue.
     Genma shook his head, as if trying to shake off a
weight.  "But it's been so long..."
     Ranma sighed lowly.  With all that had happened to him
in the past two weeks, he'd forgotten that his father had a
tendency to overreact.  Especially over nothing.  "Pop, it's
okay.  Mr. Tendo and I talked about it today while I was at
Dr. Tofu's.  You know, when Ranko was being looked over.
Anyway, he knows that I won the fight, and he and I thought
that the best way to settle things between our families was
for us to come over to his house tomorrow."
     "Come over to his house tomorrow?!"  Genma started
making gagging noises.  "What are we gonna do once we're
there, boy, have some sort of touchy-feely encounter-
session?!"  He shuddered at the thought of everyone holding
hands and singing campfire songs while swaying to the music.
     Ranma shot Genma an angry look.  "Hey, cut the crap,
Pop!  You know, I sacrificed my time and energy to try and
bring our two families back together, and all you can do is
whine about it?!  Typical..."  He turned away from his
father, too upset to meet the older-man's gaze.
     Downcast, Genma sat in silence as he absorbed what
Ranma had said.  "You're right, boy," he said at length,
looking up again.  "I'm sorry.  I don't mean to sound
ungrateful.  It's just... it's been so long since Tendo and
I have had any good words to say to each other.  I'm not so
sure that, once we're in the same place at the same time,
we'll have a peaceful meeting.  The last time we talked was
years ago, and we were both angry."
     Ranma could tell that his father was still having
trouble with the idea of a meeting.  `But,' he figured, `all
I have to do is push a little more, and maybe he'll do it.'
"Don't sweat it, Pop.  We'll have fun, I promise."
     Genma eyed his son warily.  "What did you tell him we
were going to do, Ranma?"
     "Well, Pop.  When Mr. Tendo and I talked last night, we
also fought.  For about twenty minutes."  Genma's brow shot
up.  "Well, we managed to trash his dojo as a result of the
fight, so I offered our services to help repair the damage I
helped to cause."
     Genma calmed.  `At least he had thought of something
that would provide a distraction in case things didn't work
out all that well.'  "Alright, Ranma.  I guess that's not
such a bad idea.  What do we have to do on our side?"
     Ranma held out the slip of paper that Soun had given
him.  "This is a list of things that we have to bring with
us when we arrive at the dojo tomorrow.  Only the things not
marked with an `X'."
     Genma nodded and pocketed the list.  "Was there
anything else?"
     He shook his head.  "That was it.  I don't have
anything else, really."  `Nothing else that I *want* to tell
you, that is...' he finished to himself.
     Genma stood and pulled Ranma to his feet.  "Why did we
come out to the training hall, Ranma?  We could've talked
about that in the house."
     "Aww, I couldn't stand Mom talkin' about me like that
anymore in front of Ranko.  It was starting to embarrass the
hell out of me.  That, and I don't know how Mom would've
taken the news about tomorrow's trip to the Tendo house."
     Genma nodded at Ranma's foresight, then grimaced at the
task awaiting him.  "I guess I'll tell her about it after we
go back inside.  To tell you the truth, I have no idea how
she'll react either."  They walked back to the house.  "By
the way, you shouldn't be embarrassed about being protective
of your sister.  That's a very honorable trait, Ranma."
Genma reached over and clapped him on the back.  "And I
appreciate you taking care of my little girl."
     Ranma relaxed at his father's words.  He'd been tense
since he and Ranko had walked downstairs, but now that the
worst part was over, he smiled.  Everything was going the
way he'd hoped, he thought as they approached the back door
of the house.  `What could possibly go wrong tomorrow?' he
asked himself light-heartedly.  He cringed as he heard
thunder crack in the distance.

                            ****

     Nodoka entered Ranko's room with her daughter in tow.
Ranko hobbled over to her bed as her mother closed the
bedroom door.  Reaching down, she pulled her bookbag into
her lap.  Fishing her hand around inside, she came up with
the bag of stuff and the list that Dr. Tofu had given Ranma.
"Here's the list I was telling you about," she said as she
handed the list over to Nodoka.
     Nodoka sat next to her daughter on the bed.  "Let's
see.  Hmmm..."  Her brow furrowed in barely-contained anger
as her eyes scanned through the list.  "Contusions, bruises,
a few abrasions.  The cut on your cheek, and a sprained
ankle."  Nodoka folded the list and placed it on the bed
between them, running her fingers through her hair as she
released a long, exasperated sigh.  "Looks like you got
worked over quite a bit, if that list is any indication."
She began rummaging through the bag of items, and pulled out
a powder packet.  She picked up the list again.  "According
to the instructions on here, before you go to bed tonight,
you need to soak in a bath with this powder mixed into the
water."
     Ranko smiled, the thought of a soaking bath pleasing
her greatly.  "Yeah, I guess so."  She stood up on her good
foot and reached down to take the packet from her mother.
Nodoka deftly pulled the packet out of reach, then put her
arm up to keep Ranko from toppling due to overreaching.
"You can't walk in there by yourself.  Come on, young lady,
I'll help you."  Nodoka stood up from the bed and slipped
her hand around Ranko's back.  Ranko put her arm around her
mother and walked to the bathroom.
     Once in the bathroom, Ranko unbuttoned her shirt and
pulled it over her head.  Nodoka undressed as well, pulling
her clothes off and placing them in a nearby basket.  A
puzzled look crossed Ranko's face as she watched her mother
undress.  "Mom, why are you taking your stuff off?"
     Nodoka stepped out of her panties before answering her.
"You've got a sprained ankle, and I don't want to worry
about you slipping in the tub or something else like that,
so I'm going to help you bathe."
     Ranko rolled her eyes at her mother's over-
protectiveness.  "Mom, didn't you *just* take a bath?"
     Nodoka nodded.  "Yes, dear, but I don't mind taking
another one."
     Ranko shrugged, knowing that she wasn't going to
convince her mother otherwise.  It'd been a little while
since she'd last bathed with her mother, but the thought of
sharing the bath didn't bother her, so she resumed
undressing.  Her mother gasped when Ranko removed her bra.
"Ranko!  You didn't tell me you got hit *there!*" Nodoka
exclaimed as she knelt down to look at Ranko's bruised
breast.
     "Well, that cream that Dr. Tofu gave me numbed the
bruise.  Since I couldn't really feel it, I forgot to
mention it." `Yeah, right!' she added to herself, the
thought dripping with sarcasm.  "Don't worry, he told me
that the bruise was superficial, and that it would heal
within a week," Ranko said nonchalantly.
     Nodoka brought her hands up, and pushed up against the
nipple; lifting the breast up to reveal the bruise much more
clearly.  "How sore is it?" she asked as she traced the
outside ridge of the bruise with a finger.
     Ranko winced as her mother's finger occasionally made
contact with the bruise.  "Well, it's starting to hurt
again.  I guess I'll have to put some more of that cream on
it after I get out of the bath.  Hopefully the hot water
will help it too."  She looked in the mirror behind her
mother, finally able to get a look at the bruise herself.
Her eyebrows lifted as she saw how dark and big the bruise
was.  `Damn that Kenji!  I should cut his you-know-what off
for this,' she thought angrily.  `He'd better be glad that
this bruise isn't permanent.'
     Nodoka released Ranko's breast and stood up again.
"That must've hurt like hell."
     Ranko nodded, bringing her hand to her breast self-
consciously to cover the bruise.  "It did," she said with a
grimace.
     Anger replaced Nodoka's earlier concern as she looked
at the wounded breast again.  "Who did this to you?  Do you
even know who it was?"
     Ranko nodded again.  "Yeah, it was that brat, Kenji."
     "Kenji Kurosawa!?"  Nodoka's eyes flashed angrily.
"That little snot did this to you?"  Nodoka made a move like
she was going to leave the bathroom.  Ranko anticipated this
and grabbed her mother by the arms to keep her from running
out.
     "Whoa whoa whoa!  Mom, don't worry about it!  I made
him pay for what he did to me."  She glanced down at her
pants, remembering the battle trophy she'd put in the
pockets.  "Let's just take our bath, okay?"
     Nodoka deflated, agreeing that healing her daughter was
more important than that spoiled brat, Kenji.  She reached
over to the raised tub and started the water running, then
turned back to Ranko and helped her remove her pants and
panties.  Nodoka's anger started rising again as she saw the
myriad of bruises and cuts on Ranko's legs.  `God, what that
boy did to you is inexcusable.  I hope you punished him
greatly for this, Ranko,' she thought to herself, trying
unsuccessfully to dismiss the anger from her mind.  `If
Ranko says it's been taken care of, then I'll believe her.'
She rubbed one of her daughter's legs consolingly.  "You're
such a pretty girl.  This sort of thing shouldn't be
happening to you."
     Ranko put her hand on her mother's head to keep from
falling while her mother removed her panties, taking care to
maintain balance as she stepped out of them.  "Thanks Mom.
You know, the reason I'm so good looking is because I take
after you," she said with a smile, rubbing her mother's head
gently.
     Nodoka stood up and smiled broadly, wrapping her
daughter up in an affectionate hug.  "That was very sweet of
you, dear.  It's good to know that at my age I can still
turn a few heads."  She winked at Ranko, then stood beside
her, keeping an arm around her daughter as they stepped up
to the bath.  After pouring the powder into the water, she
helped her daughter sit down, then got in.  They both moaned
appreciatively as they reclined against the edge of the tub.
The two sat side by side in the oversized tub, their arms
around each other as they closed their eyes and enjoyed
being submerged to the shoulders in the soaking bath.

                            ****

     Soun Tendo entered the gates to his home and walked
mechanically to the dojo.  From the moment immediately
following his conversation with Ranma to now, Soun had
nothing else on his mind except the reunification of the
Tendo and Saotome families.  His body was moving on auto-
pilot as he walked into the dojo and sat the bags of repair
material on the floor.  Slowly he sat down against one of
the sturdier walls of the building, and lost himself
completely in thought.
     He'd felt genuinely pleased that Ranma had been able to
atone for what Genma had put him through so long ago, and
consequently end Akane's engagement to that bokken-wielding
buffoon.  But even with that, a part of him continued to
rage against reconciliation.  He kept reminding himself of
all the pain that he suffered as a result of Saotome's
betrayal.  Some part of him wasn't quite ready to forgive
Genma yet.
     Soun frowned inwardly at the word `betrayal.'  Yes, it
had *felt* like betrayal.  At least it had at the time.  His
subsequent campaign to wed away a daughter was firmly rooted
in the idea that he had to avenge the loss suffered by
Genma's inaction.  But over the last few years Soun had come
to realize that his choice of motivation may have been poor.
It had never occurred to him that Genma may have had a
reason for making that infamous phone call.  Recalling the
event in his mind, he realized suddenly that he had never
given the man a chance to explain.  Now that he'd heard
Ranma's story about why Genma did what he did, Soun was
beginning to feel that the responsibility for his family's
pain rested on his *own* shoulders.
     His pain now lay mainly in the fact that he was living
with three near-strangers in his house.  Every day he
regretted the loss of time with his children.  A loss that
he knew was a result of his single-mindedness.  He'd been so
caught up in his own campaign of righteousness that he never
took time to look around and see what the world was doing.
It wasn't until the death of his wife that he'd begun to
question the wisdom of finding a husband for one of his
daughters.
     That doubt had grown deeper after he'd paired Akane up
with that idiot Kuno, and had seen how greatly he'd caused
his daughter to suffer.  Oh, she'd borne the discomfort
admirably, but it still showed through.
     A vision of Akane's resigned and sullen expression
swept through his mind, pushing him towards despair.  He
looked at his hands, appalled suddenly at what his efforts
had done to those around him.  `It's because of my temper
that I've lost precious time with my daughters.  I've also
managed to lose my wife, and push away my best friend.  My
God, what have I done!'
     Soun's anguish overwhelmed him, and he was overcome
with racking sobs.  As he cried, the realization dawned on
him that he could've prevented a lot of suffering had he
taken the time to listen instead of simply reacting.  With
that realization, the intensity of his despair and his
weeping increased.  But a few minutes later, the angry voice
inside of him that had been his motivation for so many years
died off, giving way to an overwhelming feeling of release.
     Soun composed himself, wiping his eyes and allowing his
grief to dissipate.  Some humor began to creep back in as he
slowly smiled, appreciating the irony that he had Ranma
Saotome to thank for bringing this sudden change about.  He
had never hoped to feel as free and *alive* as he did at
this moment.  His mind rejoiced as he now realized that he
had the opportunity to be there for his daughters, and to
live a life free of an oppressive burden.
     His heart lightened as he continued to think about the
change suddenly wrought in his life.  `I'll be able to
reunite with Genma!  He and I can get back to the way things
used to be.'  He thought of his wife, and felt a small pang
of regret.  `Oh, if only you were with me, dear.  I miss you
so much.'  Soun stood up, a determined look on his face.
`Now that I've been shown what I've done wrong, you can rest
assured, my beloved one, that I will do my best to see that
the girls are treated well and are happy from now on.'  His
mind cleared, and his conscience felt clear for the first
time in an age.  Soun walked from the dojo with a spring in
his step.
     He entered the house, and saw Kasumi chopping away in
the kitchen.  Not seeing Nabiki or Akane at the table, he
assumed they were in their rooms.  He walked into the
kitchen and returned Kasumi's smile.
     "Oh, hello, Father!" she said as she continued to chop,
never missing a beat.
     Soun returned her smile.  "Good evening, Kasumi.
Everything is okay, I trust."
     Kasumi hesitated only slightly at the question.  "Well,
everything's okay now."
     Soun didn't like her answer.  His humor was dampened a
bit as worry crept into his mind.  "Kasumi, is there a
problem?"
     Kasumi was never able to lie to her father, so she
turned to answer him.  She laid her utensils on the counter,
and wiped her hands on her apron.  "Well, Daddy, Akane was a
little upset when she came home today."
     "How upset was she?!  Why-" he fairly demanded.  `Maybe
Ranma's not as good as I thought...'
     Kasumi flinched at the volume, and held her hands up to
cut him off.  "Don't worry!  She was just put through a lot
today, but she's okay."  She hesitated, not knowing how her
father would take the news that he'd failed at another
arranged marriage.  Seeing Soun's patience start to wear,
she plowed ahead.  "She lost her engagement to Kuno today."
     `Oh, that's all...  Whew!' Soun thought with relief.
He nodded to Kasumi, pretending that he'd not already known
about this.  He wanted to keep Ranma's and his agreement
secret for now, so playing dumb was his best option.  He
summoned up as much grief on his face as he could.  "That is
unfortunate.  Although, given her initial reaction to the
engagement, I'm surprised that she would consider this a bad
thing..."
     Kasumi shook her head.  "I don't think that she's very
upset over losing Kuno."  She kept the part about Ranma's
desire to date Akane, and the mess with Kinuko, to herself
for now.  She didn't know all of the facts yet, and didn't
want her father to get upset over something like that until
she knew for sure.  "Although it was a rather sudden and
drastic change in her life.  She should be fine, as long as
she doesn't push herself.  She just needs a little time
alone."
     Soun let the tension leave his body.  "I agree, Kasumi.
If she's allowed some time to recover, she should be okay."
He turned to leave the kitchen, stretching his arms.  "I've
been shopping all day.  I think I'll relax for a little
while."  He was about to walk out of the kitchen, when
Kasumi called to him again.
     "Daddy, don't you want to know *how* Akane lost her
engagement?" she asked with a bit of concern.
     He turned suddenly and popped his head back in the
doorway.  "Not really, dear.  I'm sure she'll tell me when
she's ready.  Besides, you seem to have everything well in
hand."  Kasumi's mouth was a small `o' as she listened to
him.
     "I... what?"  She was confused, and didn't know what to
say next.
     Soun continued on as if she hadn't spoken.  "Oh, and
Kasumi.  I'll need to speak with all three of you in a few
moments, okay?"
     "Yes, father.  Is there anything the matter?" she asked
dazedly.
     Soun shook his head and answered quickly.  "No, dear.
Actually it'll be good news."  He aimed a smile at her
before ducking out of the kitchen again and heading for the
table.
     Kasumi resumed chopping, the matter over her father's
reaction to Akane's misfortune puzzling her no end.  She
tried to ignore the multitude of questions she had, but
couldn't shake one particular thought from her mind.  `I
wonder how happy Daddy will be when he finds out that a
Saotome was responsible for Akane's `rescue' ?'

                            ****

     A wet Ranko and Nodoka exited the bathroom, their
bodies wrapped in large towels.  After guiding Ranko to her
bedroom and seating her on her bed, Nodoka quickly went to
hers and dressed in something casual.  She stepped back into
Ranko's bedroom a moment later with an old pair of Ranma's
boxers in hand, as well as one of his T-shirts.  "Ranko, I'd
rather you wear these old clothes to sleep in while you're
using that ointment."  Nodoka wrinkled her nose, remembering
the smell from her daughter's clothes.  "All of your
clothes, especially your bra, was reeking of the stuff."
     Ranko was a little surprised, although she guessed that
she shouldn't have been, realizing that she must've grown
used to the smell of the stuff after being around it for so
long.  She stood up and unwrapped her towel from her slim
frame and set it on the bed, then sat down on it.  Grabbing
the nearby tube of ointment that Tofu had applied to her
wounds earlier, she squeezed some onto her fingers.  She
frowned at the heavy scent, but forced herself to continue
as she began rubbing it vigorously into the bruises on her
arms, and stomach.  She took particular care around her
breast, the sensitive tissue complaining greatly whenever
she pushed too hard against it.  Nodoka took the tube from
her daughter and began applying more of the smelly stuff to
Ranko's legs.
     The two finished covering all of the wounds in short
order.  Nodoka capped the tube with much relief, and placed
it back in the bag of medicines sitting on the floor by her
side.  After letting the ointment soak into the skin for
five minutes, Ranko put on the old T-shirt and boxers that
her mother had brought her.  She then bent down and gingerly
pulled on the ACE bandage for her ankle.  "Whew!  I'd better
open a window before I pass out," Ranko slurred as she stood
up drunkenly.  Her hazy mind noted absently that her ankle
was feeling much better after the bath, and that she could
actually apply pressure to her foot without screaming.
`That doctor really knew his stuff,' she thought in
admiration.  Quickly she hobbled over and opened the window
to her room, leaning outside of it a bit to breathe in the
sweet outside air and flush away the smell of the ointment.
     Nodoka nodded drowsily, the smell of the ointment
beginning to getting to her as well.  She wiped her hands
off on Ranko's towel, then propped herself up on the bed as
she felt a little spacy.  She welcomed the warm evening
breeze as it wafted into the room through the now-open
window.
     Once she began to feel normal, Ranko moved away from
the window and sat down on the bed next to her mother.
"Thanks for the bath mom.  It really helped," she said as
she put an arm around her shoulder.
     Nodoka looked up to her daughter and smiled.  "I didn't
mind it at all.  I'm just glad you're feeling better."  She
looked at the clock on Ranko's desk.  "Oh dear, it's past
six-thirty.  I'd better get downstairs.  The two bottomless
pits are probably climbing the walls waiting for dinner."
     Ranko laughed hard at the not-inaccurate description of
her father and the `new' Ranma.  "Okay, mom, I'll be
downstairs in a bit.  I can make it on my own now."
     Nodoka patted Ranko on the knee.  "Alright, Ranko.
Just remember what the doctor said.  Take it easy on the leg
for awhile."
     "I will, mom."
     Nodoka stood and took Ranko's towel from the bed.  She
turned and walked out of the room, destined for the kitchen.
After the door closed, Ranko flopped on her bed, feeling
bone tired all of a sudden.  She lay there quietly, her legs
hanging off the side of the bed and her arm across her eyes.
Ten seconds later she was asleep.

                            ****

     Kasumi and Nabiki walked into the room and sat down at
the table with their father.
     At the girls' entrance, Soun turned to look at them.
He scowled when he noted Akane's absence.  "Where's Akane?"
     Kasumi smiled wanly.  "She was still asleep, and I
didn't feel it would be good to wake her."
     He nodded as she spoke.  "I guess you're right.  I'll
tell her about this later."
     "Tell her what, Daddy?" Nabiki chimed in.  "All Kasumi
would tell me was that you had an announcement for us.
What's the big fuss about?"
     Soun smiled and crossed his arms in front of himself.
"There's no fuss, Nabiki.  I just wanted to tell you what I
had planned for tomorrow."
     "I thought you were fixing up the damage to the Dojo
tomorrow," she countered.  She winced involuntarily as she
remembered how much the cost of fixing the damage was.
     "Well, Nabiki, we're having a `clean up the dojo party'
tomorrow," he said enthusiastically, rubbing his hands
together heartily.
     The enthusiasm wasn't rubbing off on Nabiki.  Her eyes
narrowed suspiciously, and she couldn't keep a groan from
escaping her.  "A `party?'  You mean you want *us* to help
you with the rebuilding, eh, Daddy?" she grumbled.
     Soun winced.  "Well, that's it partly..."
     Nabiki shook her head disgustedly.  "I should've
guessed that's what you had in mind.  You really need to
learn how to break bad news to people better, Daddy;  your
approach was transparent," Nabiki chided.  Then she caught
the last part of what he said, and sighed.  "O-kay, Daddy.
What's the rest of it?"
     Soun shifted uncomfortably under the intense gaze of
his middle daughter.  "Nabiki, stop that!  Don't forget that
I'm your father."  Nabiki's gaze relented somewhat, and Soun
relaxed enough to continue.  "What I was going to say was
that we're going to have a party, and I have invited
guests."
     Kasumi's eyes brightened at the prospect of a party
with guests, and she clasped her hands together expectantly.
"That's nice"  `This party may be just the thing to help
cheer Akane up,' she added to herself.  `It may wind up
giving me a lift too.'  She turned her attention to the
logistics of party-giving.  "About the guests, how many will
there be, Daddy?"
     Soun shrugged his shoulders.  "Well, I'm not sure
really.  Three, maybe four people."
     Nabiki remained skeptical of the party.  Her eyebrows
furrowed as she considered the obvious.  "And how much are
we going to be paying for all of this extra help, Daddy?"
     "Oh, nothing at all!" he declared proudly.  "They
*volunteered* to help.  In fact, they've even promised to
buy half of the supplies that we'll need."
     Nabiki's eyebrow shot up in abject shock.  Her father,
a savvy bargainer?  `Maybe Daddy's finally gotten the hang
of negotiations...'  Her expression became wary once more as
she considered something else.  `... or he hasn't told us
everything yet.'  She sharpened her gaze.  "So who are the
people that are coming over tomorrow?"
     Kasumi nodded eagerly.  "Yes, please tell us.  I'd like
to know if it's anyone I know so I can fix their favorite
dish."
     Soun bigsweated at the questions.  He didn't want to
let that particular cat out of the bag yet.  He wasn't sure
if either of them knew about the Saotomes or not, but best
to be safe for now.  "Oh, it's just some old friends, that's
all.  You wouldn't know them, so I'll just wait and
introduce them tomorrow morning when they arrive.  Is that
okay for now?"
     "Tomorrow morning?  Oh my!  I'd better get to work on
setting up the house for the party then.  And I also have to
finish cooking supper," Kasumi exclaimed as she stood.  "Was
that all you wanted to tell us, Daddy?"
     Soun nodded.  "Yes, that's all for now, Kasumi."
     With that Kasumi sprinted for the kitchen, her apron
awhirl.  The clanging of dishes could soon be heard from the
kitchen.
     Nabiki hid a sour look.  Kasumi's exclamation had
effectively derailed any further interrogation of her
father.  Resigned to not knowing everything, she got up from
the table and headed for the stairs.  "I'm going to my room
for awhile," she announced.
     Soun grunted, his mind elsewhere.  Nabiki climbed the
stairs, frustrated that she wasn't able to learn more from
him.  `I know he's hiding something from us.  But God knows
what it could be.  I guess we'll just have to wait to find
out tomorrow ...' she thought as she disappeared upstairs.
She hated surprises, but didn't want to press the matter.
Free labor and free parts was a good enough inducement to
leave her father well enough alone.  `For the moment,
anyway,' she thought with a smirk as she disappeared into
her room.

                            ****

     "Ranma dear, could you go and tell your sister that
dinner's ready,"  Nodoka called out from the kitchen.
     Ranma turned away from the TV and stood up.  `It's
about damn time.  I'm so hungry I could even eat Akane's
cooking,' he declared to himself angrily.  He winced as the
loose thought set off images of Akane's pretty face, both
before and after his wish, in his mind.  `Hell, I wonder if
she can cook now...'  He turned to face the kitchen, yelling
"Okay, Mom" before heading up the stairs.
     Reaching the top step, he strode from the staircase and
gently knocked on her door.  Not getting any response from
Ranko, he slid her door open.  He poked his head in, and saw
her laying there with her legs dangling off of the bed;  her
feet not quite touching the floor.  She was snoring softly,
and one of her arms was draped loosely across her eyes, and
he couldn't help but chuckle at her odd sleeping pose.
Ranma didn't advance into her room, however, as the smell of
ointment was still heavy enough to make him pause.
     Deciding not to disturb her, he turned away from her
room and slid the door shut behind himself.  He descended
the stairs quickly and walked towards the table.  His eyes
narrowed when he saw that his father had already started
eating.  "Hey, leave some for me!" Ranma shouted
indignantly.
     Genma laughed through a mouthful of food, and continued
to eat heartily despite Ranma's angry protest.
     Nodoka walked into the room a moment later with another
round of food.  "My goodness, Genma!  I'm glad I made more
food!  Otherwise the children would've starved!"
     He shot her an indignant look over his bowl, but didn't
stop eating.  Ranma laughed out loud as he sat down at his
usual spot at the table.
     "Where's Ranko?  I thought I asked you to go get her,
Ranma."  Nodoka's face became slightly reprimanding.  "I
thought you two were supposed to be getting along better
now."
     Ranma swallowed his indignant retort, not wanting to
get into an argument with his mother right now.  "Mom, I
went up there to get her, but she was asleep.  I didn't want
to bother her, so I let her continue sleeping."  Nodoka's
stare persisted.  "Don't worry, I'll save something for her
and carry it up to her after we're done, if that'll make you
happy, Mom."
     Nodoka's critical gaze disappeared, to be replaced with
a small smile.  "Very well, Ranma.  I'll expect you to
somehow keep some of this food from the human vacuum cleaner
over there," she said as she indicated Genma with a shrug of
her shoulder.
     She and Ranma broke out in a fit of laughter as Genma
coughed and sputtered.  "I am not a vacuum cleaner, Nodoka!"
he shouted indignantly.  Smiling, he struck a prideful pose,
flexing his arms like a bodybuilder.  "You have no idea how
much effort it takes for me to maintain this figure," he
proclaimed grandly, then picked up his chopsticks and
resumed eating.
     Ranma and Nodoka facefaulted at Genma's declaration.
Picking themselves up, they both glared at him before
continuing to eat.  "Whatever, dear," Nodoka said as she
picked her rice bowl up.  Ranma just snorted derisively and
began shoveling rice into his mouth.  Smiling evilly, he
began sneaking food from Genma's area while his father's
mind was fixated on his rice bowl.  Ranma had managed to get
six strips of beef before he was caught.  He chewed quickly,
swallowing the purloined sirloin before Genma could protest.
     After a few more moments had gone by, all of the food
was gone and the table was a disaster area.  Nodoka surveyed
the damage and clapped a hand to her head, groaning
disdainfully.  She knew what a chore it would be to recover
from one of Genma's all-out eating wars with Ranma, but the
shock of actually seeing the aftermath never dulled.  She
had watched the eating `brawl' from a safe distance, keeping
her limbs out of the striking area.  At one point she was
afraid that the two would come to blows as Ranma had to keep
fending his father off to avoid having Ranko's dinner being
consumed.
     Ranma stood up and placed Ranko's meal on a tray.
"I'll carry this upstairs now."
     Nodoka nodded, then smirked as she saw the longing in
Genma's eyes as he watched the uneaten food leave the table.
With practiced balance, Ranma trotted up the stairs carrying
the tray of food in one hand.  The two parents watched Ranma
ascend the stairs, then Nodoka leveled her gaze at her
husband.  "Genma, darling, I have a proposition for you."
     In a terrifying rush, he realized what she was going to
do, and stood quickly, trying to make it to the door before
she could complete her sentence.  "Umm, I'm sorry, dear.  I
just remembered that I have to ... ummm..."
     "... help me clean the table and the kitchen," she
completed for him.  "That *was* what you were going to say,
wasn't it, dear?"  Nodoka smiled grandly, and pointed the
way to the kitchen.
     Genma's shoulders slumped in defeat as he slowly made
his way over towards the kitchen.  Nodoka turned to follow
him as he walked past her.  She patted him on the shoulder
consolingly.  "That's a good boy," she taunted as they
disappeared from the dinner area.  "I don't know why you're
upset about cleaning the table anyway.  There's more food on
your clothes than there is on the floor or table."
     He stopped and spun around to face her, almost causing
her to collide with him in the process.  "Ha ha ha," he
replied derisively.  "Just don't make me wear that damn
panda apron again, Nodoka.  That's all I ask," Genma
growled.
     Nodoka laughed.  "But it suits you so well, Genma-kun,"
she said, mirth evident in her eyes.  "It's almost like it
was *meant* for you."  He shot her a dark look, and Nodoka
relented, kissing him tenderly on the cheek.
     He suddenly got a sly grin on his face as she turned to
leave the kitchen.  Reaching down with his right hand, Genma
popped her on the behind before she could walk out of
swinging distance.  Nodoka yelped playfully at the smite,
jumping slightly in surprise.  "That was for the apron
comment, dear," he said with a gleam in his eye.
     Nodoka winked at him over her shoulder.  "Keep that up
and we won't be able to finish the kitchen."
     Genma smiled at that, thinking, `To hell with the
kitchen!'
     Nodoka caught the lecherous look in his eye.  "Let's
get the cleaning done first, okay, dear?"
     He nodded wildly, then commenced rapid-fire dish
scrubbing.  His mind was so fixated on what he planned to do
with, or more appropriately, *to* his wife once they were
through in the kitchen, that he didn't even see her add more
dishes to the sink.  `He probably won't even notice the
extra work,' she thought slyly.
     Nodoka smiled to herself as she knelt down to clean the
table.  `Perhaps I should write a book.  "How to motivate a
man," by Nodoka Saotome.'  She laughed aloud, shaking her
head at her own mischief.

                            ****

     Ranma slid the door to Ranko's room open a bit and
poked his head inside.  She was still laying there, asleep
on her bed.  The smell had largely dissipated by now, so he
pushed his way in to her room with the tray of food, and
closed the door behind himself.  Setting the tray down on
top of her dresser, he turned and sat down beside her on the
bed.
     "Hey, Sis!  You awake?" he hissed.
     She turned slightly, and grumbled something
unintelligible.  Ranma shook his head, laughing through his
nose.  Cautiously, he grabbed her free arm and shook it
lightly.  "Ranko, wake up!  I brought you your dinner," he
said softly.
     The mention of food seemed to bring Ranko back to
consciousness.  Ranma saw her eyes flutter open, so he sat
back against the headboard of the bed, with his feet resting
against her hip.  "Are you hungry?"
     Ranko sat up, stretching and yawning widely.  Looking a
little bleary eyed, she crawled over to sit next to Ranma,
propping herself up against both him and the headboard to
keep herself upright.  She rubbed her eyes, and looked at
the food on the dresser top.  Her stomach suddenly bellowed
its appreciation, causing Ranko to blush and Ranma to laugh.
     "I guess you *are* hungry!" he exclaimed brightly.
"I'm glad I decided to save you some food."  He bit his lip
to keep from laughing out loud again.
     Ranko snorted.  "I take it the rest of you have already
eaten?"
     "Yup," he nodded, "just finished a few minutes ago.  We
let you sleep through dinner.  But you should've seen it.
Pop was in rare form tonight."
     Ranko shook her head, groaning disgustedly at her
father's morose eating habits.  "Well, I'm surprised that
you managed to escape alive with my food."
     "I *was* worried there for a moment.  I thought that
he'd be tackling me before I reached the stairs..."  He
jumped off of the bed and retrieved the tray from the nearby
dresser, causing Ranko to temporarily lose her balance.  She
caught herself before sliding too far, righting herself with
a quick movement of her arm.  Resuming his seat next to his
sister, he placed the tray on his lap and handed her a bowl
of rice and a set of chopsticks.  "Here ya go, Sis," he said
as he handed over the bowl and eating utensils.
     Ranko's stomach growled again before she could even
open her mouth.  Grimacing at the symphony playing in her
abdomen, she brought the food to her face and ate quickly.
Ranma watched with a smile on his face as his sister quickly
inhaled the meal.  `Ranko would've given Pop a run for his
money today,' he thought, not-unkindly.
     Five minutes later she dropped the last of the empty
dishes on the tray.  Ranko reclined on her bed, and gave a
very satisfied, albeit dainty, burp.  "Oops.  Excuse me,"
she said quickly, covering her mouth with a hand.
     Ranma took the tray from his lap and placed it on the
floor.  He winced as some of the dishes clattered loudly,
having slid off of the tray on its way down and landing on
the floor.  Ignoring the mess, he turned to face his sister.
"Do you need anything else?" he asked out of habit.
     Looking him dead in the eye, she smirked.  "Yeah.  I
want you to finish the discussion that you keep finding
interesting ways of avoiding."
     Ranma started to deny that he'd been avoiding talking
to her, but gave that up when he saw the cute/wary look on
her face.  "Okay okay.  I give...  What do you want to talk
about?"
     "Akane, dummy!" she said, clouting him on the leg with
one of her fists.  "I want to know what you're gonna do
about her."
     "Well, there's not much to tell.  You already know
about my past with `my' Akane.  I want to try to get into
the same type of relationship with the other Akane, if
possible."  He sighed as he attempted to calculate the
enormity of that task, given what he'd been through today.
"Well, not *exactly* the same type of relationship.  I
wouldn't cry if she dropped the habit of using stuff when
she hit me," he shrugged that off with a wave of his hand,
dissuading Ranko from asking any questions.  "Anyway, I
loved her, and I'm willing to do just about anything for
her.  I just  want to take it ... slow.  If today was any
indication, she doesn't really want anything to do with me
right at the moment."  His eyes held a faraway look, as if
he were a million miles away.
     Ranko saw his distant gaze and sighed lowly, knowing
that he had to be upset over that fiasco.  "Yeah, I guess
that little ditz Kinuko really messed things up for you,
huh?"
     Ranma's gaze returned to his sister, a cold feeling
entering his guts.  "Speaking of Kinuko, I've been meaning
to ask you about my past for a while now.  I *should've*
asked you earlier, since knowing about her could've
prevented what happened today."
     Ranko tried to perk up a bit before launching into her
storytelling mode.  `Aw geez!  Ranma's just gonna love
*this*,' she thought sourly.

                            ****

     The insistent ringing of the phone forced the two
lovers to separate.  Genma growled angrily as he sat up, one
of Nodoka's arms still wrapped loosely around his neck.
Reaching over the edge of the couch and swinging wildly with
his arm, he managed to bat the receiver off of the hook,
causing the phone to tumble down onto his chest.
     Nodoka picked up the receiver before Genma could,
hoping to avert any potential disasters.  There was no
telling what he was going to say to whoever it was on the
other end if he got hold of it.  Smiling sweetly, she kissed
him lightly on the lips and `shushed' him..
     The kiss calmed him greatly.  He lay his head back down
on the cushioned arm of the couch and placed his hands
against her waist, holding her body to him.  His fingers
glided across the sheer fabric that barely covered her ribs,
chest, and stomach.  Nodoka squirmed under the ticklish
treatment, her body language communicating the arousal he
was sparking within her.  She wanted him to stop while she
was on the phone, but didn't try to move off of him.  She
instead propped herself up on one of her arms, resting it
against his chest to stop his playful caresses.  "Saotome
residence.  Hello?"
     "Nodoka?!" came the hot reply on the other end of the
line.  "This is Yoshiko Kurosawa!"
     Nodoka winced at the volume of Yoshiko's irritated
voice.  `Yikes!  Kenji must've been hurt worse than I
thought...'  "Yes, Yoshiko.  What can I do for you?" she
replied sweetly.
     "Don't give me that innocent-sounding crap!  You know
damn good and well why I'm calling, Nodoka!  Your little
brat hurt my baby again, and I'm getting sick and tired of
it!  I want to know what you're going to do about that
little pigtailed bully you call a daughter!" Yoshiko
demanded angrily.
     The insults had their intended effect as they struck
home, causing Nodoka to dig her fingernails deeply into her
support, which unfortunately happened to be Genma's bare
chest.  As she seethed over Yoshiko's poor choice of words,
his eyes bugged out in anguish.  "Nodoka, dear, would you
please ss... ss..top that!" he managed in a strangled
whisper.
     She looked down at her pleading husband and saw that
her fingernails were buried deep in him.  Quickly relenting,
she covered the phone with a hand and bent down to his ear.
"Oops, sorry about that, honey," she whispered, kissing him
lightly on the lips.  Her anger dropped deeply in
candlepower after that, allowing her to think rationally
about what to say.  Sitting back up, Nodoka uncovered the
phone and started speaking again.  "Why should *I* do
anything about it, Yoshi?  Your son was the one who started
the fight!"
     A short pause ensued, then some muffled talking could
be heard.  Nodoka used the short break in the conversation
to calm herself down further.  "Nodoka, you haven't seen the
extent of Kenji's injuries," she heard Yoshiko say a moment
later.  "Regardless of who started it, he shouldn't have
been treated like *this*!"  Nodoka could almost imagine her
sometimes-friend pointing to some injury on her son at the
other end of the line.
     "Yoshi, I don't know what you think my little girl may
have done to your son, but I ..." she started.
     Yoshiko cut her off angrily.  "I'll tell you what Ranko
did to him..." she yelled abruptly, then launched into a
rather detailed description of his injuries, topping it off
with some comment about two large bald spots on either side
of Kenji's head.  She could hear the boy protesting loudly
in the background, complaining that his mother shouldn't be
embarrassing him over the phone like that.  Meanwhile, the
look on Nodoka's face was priceless as she fought to keep
down the mix of anger and humor she was feeling.  `Ranko
really did work the little bastard over this time.  Well,
good!' she thought with satisfaction.
     Once Kenji's mother was done, Nodoka took a breath to
keep herself from laughing.  Then she brought out her own
angry retort.  "Yoshi, let me tell you what your darling
little *boy* did to my daughter, *unprovoked*."  She then
rattled off a concise list of Ranko's injuries, hotly
emphasizing the part about the bruise on her daughter's
breast.  "... and that one looked like a planned strike too,
Yoshi.  It wasn't some random bokken swing."
     After a short, dead silence, Nodoka could hear only
muffled crashing and thumping sounds, combined with the
sounds of someone ... running?  Then suddenly an ear-
splitting scream blared out from the receiver.  The
intensity of it caused her to wince involuntarily and pull
the receiver from her tender ear.  An angry voice came
across the receiver, but it wasn't speaking to Nodoka.  "You
little son of a *bitch!*  *SLAP* I can't *POW* believe you
*SLAPSLAPSLAP* hit a girl on the *WHAM!* *breast*.  Don't
you *KICK* ever, *EVER* *OPEN-HANDED-SLAP-TO-THE-FACE* do
that again!"  The voice became clearer as Yoshiko picked up
the receiver again.  "I'm terribly sorry to have bothered
you, Nodoka.  Please give my apologies to your daughter.  I
assure you that this will not happen again.  Also, I'll see
to it that Kenji apologizes to Ranko properly.  Once he's
healed, that is," she added darkly, then more scuffling
began in the background.
     Some girlish screams could be heard over the line
before the connection was lost abruptly.  Nodoka hung the
phone up, and carefully placed it back on the end-table
behind the couch.  After that, she lost all composure and
gave in to body shaking laughter.
     Genma had gotten the gist of the phone call from
listening to Nodoka.  After hearing his wife's summary of
the injuries his daughter sustained in the fight, he really
liked the outcome of the call too.  That boy's screams were
hard to miss.  He smiled up at the beautiful, beaming face
of his wife.  "I take it that was Yoshiko, eh, Nodoka-chan?"
     "Yes, dear." she managed to say over peals of laughter.
"It appears that things have been taken care of on that
end."
     Genma chortled at Nodoka's generalization of Kenji's
punishment.  "What was she using on him anyway, a cat-of-
nine-tails?"
     Nodoka shook her head, still laughing.  "I don't know,
but whatever it was, it sure felt good to hear."
     Genma looked at her strangely.  "Nodoka, that doesn't
sound like you.  You normally dislike violence of that
nature."
     "I was just kidding, dear!" she replied earnestly.
"Although I have to admit I was glad to hear he got
punished.  You should've seen what he did to her."  At
seeing a flash of anger cross Genma's features, she quickly
reversed course.  "On the other hand, maybe you'd better
not."  Seeing the insistence in his eyes, she added, "Don't
worry, dear, it's been taken care of."  `Whew!  Almost
started a blood feud...  I'm glad he listened to me,' she
thought in relief.
     She wrapped her arms around Genma's neck, and slid down
a bit so they were face to face.  Their bodies were close.
The only things between them were their clothes, and those
were quickly on their way to the floor.  "Now then, where
were we?" she purred sexily.
     Genma grinned like a schoolboy, the inviting tone of
her voice striking a chord in him.  He hoped the kids would
stay upstairs for the rest of the night.  He was sure that
neither himself nor Nodoka would remain clothed for long,
and neither wanted to move off of the couch.  He studiously
ignored his nagging conscience as his wife's lips met his,
their arms wrapping tenderly around each other.
     "Genma!" she giggled, wiggling atop him.  "Remember the
children, honey!" she chided, knowing full well that she'd
be ignored.
     He grunted dismissively as his hands began their joyful
exploration, Nodoka giggling all the while.

                            ****

     Ranko slid down further on her bed so that her head was
resting against the pillow.  "Well, I don't know where to
begin, Ranma.  I got fifteen years of experience, so I won't
be able to tell it all in one day."
     He snorted, and placed a hand on her shoulder.  "That's
okay, Sis.  I don't expect you to give me a book report or
nothin'.  I just need the heavy stuff.  You know ... things
that might take me by surprise.  Like Kinuko, for example."
     "Well, here's what I know about you and Kinuko," she
began, taking a deep breath.  "At the beginning of your
second year at Furinkan, you and Hikaru both took a liking
to Kinuko.  Since she was a junior, you both had no chance
of dating her - "  She stopped at seeing Ranma wave his
hands.
     `Whoa!  Who is `Hikaru?' " Ranma asked warily.
     "Oh, sorry.  Hikaru's your best friend."  Ranma's mind
was a blank, and it showed.  Ranko pressed on.  "You know,
Hikaru Gosunkugi?"
     Ranma blanched at the name, and immediately looked for
a mallet-wielding guy carrying voodoo dolls.  "Gos?!  No
*WAY*!!  That guy's creepy!"
     Ranko could only stare in shock at Ranma's reaction.
`I wonder what the hell Hikaru was like in Ranma's other
life...' she wondered absently.  Ranma's ranting soon
answered her unspoken question.
     "God, he was scary!  Throwing those damn voodoo dolls
around, and nailing them to just about anything.  Weird
chants and rituals.  And that little twerp wouldn't leave
Akane alone."  Ranma's hands balled into fists reflexively
as he said that last part.  "What right did he have thinking
that he could keep trying to take her away from me?"
     Ranko listened to her brother, her eyes wide with
surprise.  She couldn't believe that Hikaru would be so
different from the one that her brother knew.  Ranma kept on
ranting about him, basically ripping his character to
shreds, and she was quickly tiring of it.  "How the hell did
I ever get along with that ... that... weirdo?" he finally
asked, thunderstruck.
     Ranko's look turned angry.  She'd heard enough, and
wanted him to stop before she got any angrier.  "Ranma,
hush!  Stop saying that!  Hikaru's a cool person.  You and
he have been friends for as long as I can remember.  You two
always did things together.  In fact you two were
inseparable.  He's nothing like what you've been saying.
Black magic?!"  She scoffed at the idea.  "Marijuana on
occasion, maybe.  Blood sacrifices and chanting?  I don't
think so."
     He lay there with a dumbfounded look on his face.  "You
have no idea what kind of crap I had to put up with from
him.  I can't just *ignore* all of that!"
     Ranko turned on her side and rested a hand on Ranma's
chest, trying to calm him.  "Ranma, what you're saying just
doesn't make any sense.  It isn't exactly fair, either.
You're comparing your knowledge of the Hikaru you knew with
the one that I know.  They're obviously completely different
people.  I think you're being a bit too harsh."
     "But I can't ever think of him being my *best friend*,
much less allowing him to talk to me casually.  Geez, this
is *really* weirding me out!"  He put a hand to his head,
unable to believe what she was saying.
     "Well, I suggest that you give him a chance before you
dismiss him as a freak of nature.  He's not a devil
worshipper, or anything like that.  He *won't* be out to get
Akane away from you, either."  She emphasized that last
part, making sure he heard her clearly..
     Ranma shut up, and sat still for a moment.  "Okay, I
guess I'll just have to learn to deal with that."  He
switched gears, not wanting to think anymore about
Gosunkugi.  "Now back to Kinuko.  You said that Gos and I
both liked her.  If that's the case, why did *I* wind up
with her instead of him?"
     Ranko's look changed to something unreadable.  "Well,
from what you had told me in the past, you and Hikaru agreed
that he would help you get Kinuko in the sack if you would
help him get *me* in the sack."  She suppressed a wave of
anger produced by that old memory.  She told herself that
Ranma wasn't the same one that struck that deal back at the
beginning of the school year.
     Ranma looked horribly guilty, the color draining from
his face.  He couldn't even conceive of the notion of
pawning off his own sister like she was property, regardless
of why.  That made her saying so all the more appalling.
"God, Ranko.  I'm so sorry.  Geez, how could I ..." he
stammered, taking her hand in his and looking directly into
her eyes.
     Ranko accepted his hand, closing her fingers around it.
"Hey!  It's okay, Ranma.  You don't need to worry about it."
Ranma sighed loudly, relieved that she wasn't victimized by
Gos.  He couldn't help but think of Gos in any other way
than how he remembered him, regardless of what Ranko had
told him.  "He and I did go out on the date you arranged.
Early into it, he tried to force himself on me.  But after I
told him that he would wind up walking funny for the rest of
the night, he didn't bother me again.  In fact, after that
he was a really nice guy.  So what you did wasn't such a bad
thing after all."
     Ranma slid down on the bed so that his head was also
resting on a pillow.  He put his arm around her shoulder and
hugged her to him.  "I know *I* wasn't the one who did that,
but I can't help but feel bad about it."
     Ranko reciprocated, hooking her arm around Ranma's neck
and pulling his head towards hers.  "Don't worry about it.
Hikaru and I get along okay now.  We've gone out a couple of
times after that, but nothing serious has ever happened.  At
least, not yet.  That's how I knew that Hikaru wouldn't be
chasing after Akane.  He's been too busy chasing after me!"
She grinned broadly, not disliking the attention she was
getting from him.  She wasn't too sure about falling in love
with him, though.  He was attractive enough, she guessed.
`If only he'd stop trying to mess around with other women,'
she lamented.  Even with that, though, she still had to
admit that she liked the effect she had on Hikaru when she
teased him.
     "Well, that explains why I was stuck with Kinuko..." he
deadpanned.  Ranma didn't like the idea of his sister dating
Gos, but kept that to himself as he urged her to continue
the story.
     "Yeah.  Neither you nor Hikaru ever said how he helped
you get your date with Kinuko.  It was a minor miracle,
that's for sure.  Somehow you managed to get her attention,
and not long after the school year began, you two were a
regular item."  Ranko pursed her lips, trying to recall the
events in order.  "It was funny, though.  Not too many
people paid attention to the two of you.  It should've been
ground-breaking news, being that she was the most popular
girl in school and all..."
     "Hell, the only reason *I* paid attention to your
relationship was that you were in constant awe with yourself
for becoming her boyfriend in the first place."  She laughed
to herself.  "In fact, you wouldn't stop talking about ` how
well it worked.'"  Ranko giggled, remembering the shit-
eating grin on her brother's face the first day he got back
from school.  He had asked Kinuko out that day, behind the
gym, and was surprised when she told him yes.  "You looked
like you'd won a ton of money that day.  In fact, I'd never
seen you happier.  Before the wish, that is."
     Ranma felt the humor of the situation, but couldn't
help but frown.  As neat as the beginning of `his'
relationship with Kinuko may seem, she now stood in the way
of his quest for Akane's heart.  He knew that he harbored no
interest in Kinuko, regardless of how physically beautiful
she was.  In all earnestness, he hoped that she would go
away, and quickly.  Then he remembered something else that
Ranko had told him earlier in the day.
     "Ranko, you said that I had told you in the past about
Kinuko and I ... doing it."  `God, how I *hate* even
thinking about that,' he added to himself.  "But, you never
told me why I even mentioned it in the first place."  He
closed his eyes, afraid of the answer.
     Ranko scooted closer to her brother on the bed, resting
her head on Ranma's chest and hooking one of her legs over
his.  He instinctively brought his arm up and across her
back, resting his hand above her waist.  "Well, I wasn't
sure how you'd take it, so I wasn't sure if I should tell
you," she began warily.
     He grit his teeth, preparing himself for the worst as
he told her to continue.
     "Well, you came to me one night about five weeks ago.
It was just after you got back from your last date with
Kinuko.  You were in a state of total panic..."  Ranko's
mind drifted back to that day as she recounted the pivotal
moment:

     <*  Ranko shifted in her bed, a persistent noise
disturbing her sleep.  The noise got louder, and she finally
awoke enough to realize that someone was knocking at her
door.  She glanced over at the clock on her dresser.  `Geez!
It's one-thirty in the frigging morning.  Who the hell...
Never mind, it could only be one person...'
     "Go away, Ranma!" she half-yelled, half-mumbled to the
door.
     Ranma took that as a cue to come in.  He quickly opened
her door and stepped inside, closing the door before Ranko
could get up.  That didn't stop her from letting him know
she was pissed off at him for waking her up, however.
"Ranma, you'd better get the hell out of my room before I
stomp your ass!" she hissed angrily.
     Ranma held his hands up in front of him, hoping to keep
his butch sister at bay.  He had a hard time finding his
footing in the dark, having been in her room so
infrequently.  Once he got to her bed, he sat on the edge,
right next to her.  He knew he was chancing a royal beating
from her, but he really didn't care at the moment.  He *had*
to talk to someone.
     "Ranko, please listen to me for a minute.  It's
important that I talk to you, okay?"
     Ranko sat up in her bed, blowing out an exasperated
sigh.  `If he's willing to risk life and limb to talk to me,
it may be important,' she told herself sleepily.  "Okay, you
have five minutes, then I start hurting you."
     "Fair enough," he said as he shifted position, trying
to get comfortable on her bed.  "Something terrible happened
to me tonight, and I don't know what to do.  I was hoping
that I could get some help, okay?"
     *That* got her attention.  Ranko forgot about the
intrusion, and sat up some more to bring herself fully
awake.  "Whoa!  What happened, bro?"
     "I just got back from a date with Kinuko.  Things have
been a bit rocky between us for the past two weeks, so I was
expecting to get dumped.  But what she told me instead was
something I never wanted to hear," Ranma said sadly.
     "What did she do if she didn't dump you?" Ranko asked
curiously.
     "Something worse..." he tried to continue, but couldn't
and broke down in tears.
     Ranko watched with an odd detachment as her older
brother cried in front of her.  She never really got along
with him, but even that couldn't keep her from feeling some
compassion over her brother's plight.  She sat back against
the headboard in silence, hugging her knees to her chest as
she sought to puzzle out what had happened to him to make
him so upset.  After a few minutes of hearing nothing, she
grew impatient.  "C'mon man, spill it.  What did she tell
you?"
     "She told me that ... she...  she's *pregnant!*" ... *>

     "*SHE WAS WHAT!!!!????*"  Ranma screamed at the top of
his lungs, his stomach lurching sickeningly.
     Ranko winced at the volume of Ranma's voice.  "I said
you wouldn't like what I had to say," she said softly,
hugging her terrified brother to her tightly.
     His mind was in a state of absolute terror.  He'd
wished himself into fatherhood!  "My God!  I'm going to be a
father!" he said, his face ashen.  "Mom and Pop are gonna
kill me!  Akane's gonna kill me!  *I* should kill me!" he
yelled hysterically.  His eyes were wild, and his skin had
lost all color.
     Ranko quickly became fed up with her brother's
hysterics.  "Ranma, hush!  Do you want our parents to hear
you?  Besides there's..."
     Ranma was ignoring her, still going on about the cost
of raising a child; how he never even had the opportunity of
enjoying having sex with Kinuko, so why should he be
burdened with a child he technically didn't father; and how
his life was ruined, etc.  At that point, Ranko had finally
had enough.  With grim determination, she sat atop her
brother, placing one hand against his shoulder to pin him
down against the bed, and covering his mouth with the other.
"Will you shut up?!" she hissed.  "Stop moving and listen to
me!  That's not the whole story!"  Ranma stopped his
complaining and thrashing, and nodded slowly to her.  She
slowly pulled her hand from Ranma's mouth, not quite sure
that he wasn't going to yell anymore.
     "This had better be *very* good, Sis," he said stiffly,
the effort of keeping his panic in check being quite
visible.
     Ranko sighed in relief, glad that his yelling hadn't
attracted their parents.  She didn't want them eavesdropping
on her.  Especially not while she was talking about Kinuko.
"Yes, there's more to this, big brother."
     Ranma slumped back against the pillow, his body less
tense.  He looked up to his sister's face as she resumed
telling her story.
     "After you told me about her pregnancy, you said you
were never going to go out with her again, or even talk to
her again, for that matter..  I didn't blame you for that
because I was immediately suspicious of Kinuko.  I had a
feeling that she wasn't telling the truth, but I didn't know
how to prove that she was lying to you.  The next day I
asked around at school, and found out from a friend of mine
in gym that she's supposedly been on birth control pills for
the past two months or so."
     Ranma's panic suddenly became anger as he realized what
Ranko was driving at.  "Don't say anything yet," Ranko
warned.  "It gets worse, Ranma.  I also heard from a couple
of guys in the junior class that she's pulled this stunt
before when she wants to dump someone.  So there may be a
chance that she was never pregnant in the first place..."
     "That ... bitch!" Ranma spat angrily.  "She's worse
than Nabiki!  At least Nabiki has standards when it comes to
manipulation..."
     Ranko's face clouded with uncertainty.  "Well, I've not
been able to prove it yet, Ranma.  I'd be willing to believe
the stories, but with Kinuko, you never really know."  She
shrugged her shoulders.  "When you came to my room that
night, you seemed to want to vent about a lot of things.
You spilled all the details about your relationship with
her.  You told me that you and she had sex on the first
date, outside in the training hall at two in the morning.
How mom never heard you two going at it, I'll never know,
since she leaves the windows open in her and Pop's room.  I
didn't hear you, that's for sure."
     Ranma grimaced, not wanting to know how upset his
parents would've been had they caught him doing *that* in
*there*.  "The other two times that you told me about, I
don't know where you did it.  I should've known at the time
that you two were getting it on, though."
     "What do you mean `you should have known?' " he asked,
his worry never waning.
     "Well, apparently the last time you came back after
being with her, you had her bra tucked in your pants pocket.
Mom found it when she was washing clothes, and thought it
was one of mine."  Ranko leaned over to her dresser, and
pulled open the top drawer.  "Here it is," she said, fishing
out and handing over the lacy garment.  "I know it's not
mine because it's too damn small.  I didn't even think to
look at it at the time when I took it out of the drawer.  I
didn't realize it wasn't mine until I tried to put it on.  I
swear, it pinched like hell!"  She winced, remembering the
pain.
     Ranma took the bra in his hand absently, but said
nothing.  It was an off-white, delicate lace push-up, but it
was also the raciest thing he'd ever seen in his life.  He
pictured what his girl-form would've looked like in it, and
blushed severely.  `Geez, no wonder my other self had sex
with this girl.  She's a showoff!'  He stopped himself from
asking his sister if she actually had anything like this in
her collection.  If she did, he didn't want to know.
     "I think Mom believed that you were going to burn it,
since she thought it was one of mine.  That's why she didn't
ask you about having the bra, in case you were wondering,"
Ranko said, hoping to assuage any further panic from her
brother.
     Ranma's big sigh of relief told her that she assumed
correctly.  "At the time, I had no idea where it had come
from, since it wouldn't have fit Mom either.  I didn't think
to associate that bra with Kinuko until that night you and I
talked.  It was obvious whose it was after our discussion.
It looks like it would fit her.  I kept it with me because I
didn't really know what else to do with it.  You're lucky
that I had one like it, otherwise we *both* would've been in
trouble."  She tugged at the exposing garment, fingering the
satiny fabric of the cup.  "Now that I've talked with you,
I'll let you make the decision on what to do with that," she
said, pointing to the bra
     "That's pretty much all I know about you and Kinuko.
You broke up after that last date, and didn't see each other
again until today.  She'd left ten days after the breakup to
go on that field trip.  You arrived after that."  She
lowered her head, turning slightly to avoid Ranma's gaze.
"And ... there is something ... else I have to tell you.
Something I'm ashamed of."
     Ranma brought his hand up and turned her face so that
she was looking at him again.  He focused his gaze on her,
and saw how upset she was.  He grabbed one of her hands
again, holding onto it tenderly.  "Go ahead and tell me,
Ranko.  It's okay.  I'm sure it couldn't be worse than what
I've already heard."
     Ranko shook her head.  `I'm not so sure you'd agree
after hearing this...' she thought worriedly.  "Well, I did
find out all of that stuff about Kinuko a couple of days
after `the other you' talked to me.  But I...  well ..."
She started fidgeting.  "I waited almost two weeks before I
told you, on the day that she'd left for the band
competition."
     Ranma's face clearly registered the shock he felt.
"Ranko... why?"
     Tears formed at the corners of her eyes.  "Ranma, we'd
had a really bad fight a couple of days before we talked,
and I was feeling spiteful.  So I decided to make you sweat
it out before I told you.  I... I'm sorry."  She collapsed
on his chest, burying her head in his shoulder and crying
loudly.  Ranma put his arms around her, but didn't say
anything for a couple of minutes.  He simply stroked her
back as she cried on his shoulder.
     `Geez.  My life here was a real mess.  This stuff with
Kinuko, and what the other me did to Ranko were both
inexcusable.'  He tightened his embrace of his sister,
hoping to calm her down.  "Shh, Sis.  It's okay.  I guess I
can understand why you didn't tell `the other me' about
Kinuko sooner."  `It's obvious that she and `I' didn't get
along before, but that doesn't mean we don't get along now,'
he added to himself.
     Ranko's sobs lightened.  She answered him in a thick
voice.  "I felt very guilty about it, Ranma.  You were on
the brink of a nervous breakdown that whole time.  You wound
up dropping out of the band because of it, and you stopped
seeing all of your friends.  In fact you pretty much stayed
in the attic every day after school for those two weeks.  If
I hadn't been so spiteful, then you wouldn't have had the
messy life that you arrived in."
     Ranma lifted Ranko up by the shoulders and looked her
in the eyes.  "Hey, Sis.  It's okay, honestly.  The only
things that matter to me right now are my martial arts,
getting back together with Akane, and," he caressed Ranko's
uninjured cheek with one of his hands, "getting to know my
sister and mother better."
     Ranko smiled, the tears starting to well up once more.
She lay down again, nestling her head under Ranma's chin,
and moving her arms underneath his back to hold onto him.
"Thank you, Ranma.  I... I'm so sorry I did that to you."
     He placed his hand on her again, letting it roam
aimlessly across his sister's T-shirt-clad back as he tried
to console her.  "Ranko, you can stop apologizing.  Besides,
I probably deserved it."  `Although I now have to find out
for sure whether or not Kinuko's really pregnant...' he
added to himself.  `Sounds like I'll be owing Nabiki
something after all...' Ranma thought sourly.
     Ranko kept quiet for awhile, as she reined in her
emotions.  During the silence, he stepped through in his
mind the story that she had just told him.  He dismissed for
the moment the things that he couldn't deal with right now,
and considered everything else.  One weird part stuck out in
his mind.  "Uhh, Sis.  Why did I hide in the attic?"
     "Well, that's where you keep your Anime collection."
She laughed softly, sniffling away the last of her tears.
"I forgot, you haven't been up there at all since the wish.
I guess you wouldn't know about it, then.  Many years ago,
you converted the attic into what you called your `shrine to
Anime'."
     Ranma's eyebrows lifted slightly in surprise.  He'd
never been too keen on Anime, although it suited him
sometimes to watch it, or read some of Nabiki's tamer Manga.
"Well, I guess I was a real fan, huh?"
     "You don't know the half of it.  You've been spending
yourself into bankruptcy for years collecting all sorts of
Anime, Manga, toys, models, soundtracks, and figurines.  You
even went out and bought a new TV and LaserDisc player a
couple of years ago."
     Ranma grimaced at the cost involved in getting and
maintaining such a collection.  But when he thought about
it, it really shouldn't have surprised him.  He guessed that
the Ranma of before had been as passionate about collecting
Anime as he was about martial arts.  Still, one thing nagged
at him.  "How did I afford all of that stuff?"
     "Mom gave you all the money for it," she told him
simply.  She saw his puzzled look and kept on talking.  "I'm
not sure if you're aware of this, since you didn't live with
her for long, but mom's side of the family is *very*
wealthy.  She's never had any problem with giving either of
us money for things that we wanted."
     That news did come as a mild shock to him.  Since he'd
spent so little time with his mother prior to the wish, he'd
never gotten to much information on her.  Instead, he'd been
going under the assumption that his father had been
providing most of the wealth for the family with that job of
his, whatever it was.
      "Uhh, Ranko.  What does Pop do?  I mean, I keep
hearing him say that he'll be at work, but I've never been
told what that work is."
     Ranko hmmphed.  "He works at a public dojo in town,
acting as an assistant trainer.  It was an insult if you ask
me, for him to have been training all those rich wimps any
kind of martial arts.  At least he only teaches them basic
karate, instead of Anything Goes."
     Ranma's scowl matched his sister's.  "Why the hell did
he take a job doing that if Mom's so wealthy?"
     "Well, Mom never talked about it.  But to hear Pop tell
it, he did it so that he could teach me Anything Goes.  Mom
was against me learning martial arts, and when Pop wanted to
build a training hall in the back yard, she said she wasn't
going to pay for it.  So Pop got the job so he could pay for
the training hall and all the equipment.  That's where all
of his money has gone, really.  Everything he's made he's
sunk into the hall and me."
     Ranko's shoulders tensed as she said that.  She knew
from the start that the debt she owed her father was great.
Once she had started training with her father, she intended
to live up to his expectations, regardless of her mother's
objections.  Over time she had done so, becoming the best
martial artist her father could make her.  "Once I began
doing well with my training, I'd even won Mom over.  She
started to approve of my training, and stopped complaining
about how un-ladylike I was acting."
     "Anyway, Pop could've quit his job a couple of years
ago if he wanted to.  The training hall had been paid off by
then.  Also, after I won first place in a tournament, Mom
*insisted* on paying for the training equipment from that
point on."  Ranko was very proud of her achievements, and it
showed.  Despite the bad things he'd heard today, Ranma
found himself smiling.  While Ranko couldn't see it, she
could tell that her brother was proud of her too.  "Instead
of quitting, he decided to continue working at the job.
He's been saving all the money he's made from it recently.
He never told us why, though.  I guess he's just being
cautious."
     Ranma laughed inwardly.  His father, Genma Saotome,
cautious?  No way...  `There's a very good reason why he's
doing this, and I'm sure it has nothing to do with being
cautious.  I have no idea what it could be, though.  Being
sneaky and finding out things like that had always been
Nabiki's talent.'  He digressed on that point.  He felt sure
he'd get back to it sometime.
     Ranko kept on talking.  "Mom even suggested that I
expand my training by joining the Kendo club."  She snorted
derisively.  "But after what happened today, I don't think
I'll take her up on that."
     "I don't blame you.  Being in the same place with Kuno
for more than five minutes would be enough to drive me out
of my mind."  Ranma snorted at the idea of his sister
constantly clobbering Kuno, enjoying the visuals it was
conjuring up in his mind.  He sighed lightly, his panic
having dissipated for the most part.  Life wouldn't be that
bad once he and Ranko could prove that Kinuko wasn't
pregnant.  He just hoped that they would be able to do that.
The consequences otherwise would be too dire to consider.
     "I don't doubt that, Ranma.  After seeing him in action
today, I'd rather keep my distance from him than try to get
anywhere near the fool."  She brought a hand to her face, a
yawn overtaking her suddenly.  "Anyway, I'm not interested
in Kendo.  I think weapons are unnecessary, so why learn
them?"  She moved her head slightly, getting comfortable on
Ranma's chest.  "Anything else?  It's getting kind of late."
     Ranma couldn't think of anything else at the moment.
He wasn't sure he could handle any other big surprises right
at the moment.  "No, nothing right now, Sis."  Not getting a
response from her, he repeated himself.  "Nothing right at
the moment, Ranko."  He was answered by a loud sigh, then a
light snore.
     `Geez, she's asleep!  I must be comfortable, or
something,' he mused to himself.  He looked around, trying
to think of a discreet way of getting Ranko off of him
without disturbing her.  `She was really tired, so I don't
blame her for falling asleep.  She definitely needs the
rest.'
     Not finding any immediate way to disengage her from
him, Ranma stopped moving about and lay motionless
underneath her.  Sighing in exasperation, he blinked his
eyes, trying to think of a way to get out from under her.
The warmth and softness of Ranko's body laying against his
proved to be too enticing to merely ignore as his eyes
betrayed him by closing slowly as he fell asleep.

                            ****

     A cute young woman in a blue skirt and sheer white
blouse giggled again as she read from a Sailor Moon manga
while lying on a bed.  Sixteen year old Ami Nakato looked up
from the book again as another piece of clothing whizzed out
of a nearby closet and landed at the foot of the bed near
her face.  She shook her head, wondering how long her friend
was going to spend trying on things before they watched the
movies they had rented after school.
     Her emerald-green eyes darted between the book and her
friend, trying to decide which one was worth paying
attention to.  She reluctantly chose her friend.  Running
her fingers through her short, raven hair, Ami sat up on the
bed and leaned towards the closet.
     She'd watched the scene her friend had cast herself in
after school, and had been damn curious about why she'd made
such a fuss.  Curiosity overtaking her better senses, she
asked about it.  "Hey, K-chan.  What was that big scene
about at school today?"
     Kinuko Amagi poked her head out of her closet, "What
was that, Ami?  I didn't hear you."
     Ami stood up from Kinuko's bed and walked to the
closet.  She looked inside to see Kinuko trying on several
different items from her endless array of clothing.  Kinuko
sighed dramatically and dropped another blouse to the floor,
revealing her bra-less chest.  Ami sighed, a wistful look on
her face, wishing she had the clothes and the *attributes*
of her popular friend.
     "I can't seem to find the right thing to wear!" Kinuko
complained, extending her lower lip perfectly in an ultra-
cute pout.
     Ami ignored the whining of her best friend, having
become immune to Kinuko's theatrics long ago.  "I asked you
what that scene with you and Akane Tendo was about today."
     Kinuko dropped her armfuls of clothing and closed the
closet door, not bothering to cover herself.  Even though
she should have been used to it by now, Ami blushed at
seeing Kinuko parade around in just her thong panties.
`Kinuko's got a very pretty body,' Ami thought for the
umpteenth time.  `If only she wasn't so *proud* of it.  She
can be such an exhibitionist sometimes!' she thought with a
tinge of jealousy.  She lowered her gaze and sighed again
before moving to follow her friend and sit beside her on the
bed.
     "I saw that bitch Akane making moves on my Ranchan!  So
I ... intervened."  Kinuko smiled, tossing her hair back and
thrusting her chest out proudly.
     Ami shook her head.  Kinuko and Akane had been at each
other's throats for months now.  Ever since that day Kuno
had announced to the entire school that he would date with
Akane, Kinuko had been insanely jealous.  She'd raged on
about how unfair it was that every boy in school was paying
their undivided attention to that `nobody Akane Tendo'
instead of her.
     Akane getting engaged to Kuno later on hadn't helped
matters at all; Kinuko started obsessing over ways to make
the Tendo girl's life a living hell.  Ami understood that
Kinuko wanted to be the most popular girl in school, but
that didn't mean that she had to pull some of the nasty
stunts she used in the past to get rid of her competition.
Ami had been shocked on more than one occasion when she'd
heard what her friend had done to thin the popularity pool
at Furinkan.  Sometimes, lately, she wondered how they ever
became friends at all, much less how they could tolerate
each other now.
     Ami didn't want to anger her friend, but she couldn't
help but press her to see if she was telling the truth.
"Are you sure that Akane was making moves on Ranma?  I mean,
after what happened between him and Kuno today, you'd think
Akane'd want to kill him for what he did to her fiance."
     Kinuko shook her head.  "Nope, I was right there.  My
Ranchan asked Akane out on a date.  I heard it with these
two ears."  She pointed to them for added effect, blinking
brightly.
     "I thought you just said that Akane made moves on
Ranma, not the other way around." Ami countered quickly.
Too quickly, given the look that Kinuko leveled at her.  She
recoiled away slightly from her friend, laughing nervously.
     "Either way it doesn't matter.  Akane had to have done
something to get my Ranchan's attention away from me,"
Kinuko declared simply.  She couldn't see it any other way.
She knew that Ranma was utterly devoted to her, and that she
had him wrapped around her little finger.
     "Didn't you already dump Ranma with that false-
pregnancy scam of yours?"  Ami frowned, not caring to hide
her dislike for that little practice of Kinuko's.  Although
she had to admit that it worked great at getting rid of
unwanted guys.
     "Yeah, so what?  It's not like he should've been
getting attention from anyone else now, does it?  I mean,
after all, once he's had me, he should be spoiled."  She
laughed haughtily, looking at herself in one of her full
length mirrors as she swayed her breasts seductively.  The
well-proportioned, rounded swells bobbed in perfect unison,
making Kinuko giggle and Ami groan in disgust.  "Akane's no
competition, Ami-chan.  She's just in denial over it.
Besides, Ranchan knows that he doesn't have a chance of
getting together with another girl anyway.  He's mine,
whenever I want him."
     Ami could only shake her head.  She loved her friend as
if she were a sister, sometimes much more than that.  But
when Kinuko got jealous, there was absolutely no reasoning
with her.  "Why did you even date him anyway?  He's such a
... wimp."  She shuddered at even saying the word.
     Kinuko's eyes flashed lustily.  "I must confess:  I
don't know what came over me when I went out with him the
first time.  But if you'd been able to see him that night
when we...  you know, then you'd understand."
     Ami blushed.  "You mean he's..." she asked innocently.
     "... like a horse," Kinuko finished, her eyes sparkling
brightly.  Ami, meanwhile, looked practically scandalized,
shuffling about on her oversexed friend's bed to hide her
discomfort.
     Kinuko, meanwhile, was drooling over Ranma's `build.'
"He may act and look like a wimp, but underneath that he's
got a great... well.. you know..."  She blushed slightly,
lewd thoughts parading around her head.
     Ami meanwhile was fighting off the impulse to *loudly*
call her friend a perv.  `She's really acting like a
lemonhead tonight.  Geez!  I've never met anyone as
insatiable as she is!"  She blushed as she considered her
friend's words.  She knew Kinuko's standards fairly well,
having heard them all the time.  `If Ranma made an
impression on *Kinuko*, then he's...'  She broke off the
thought, her body reacting to her imaginings and betraying
the sudden rush of desire she felt.  `Wow!... If Ranma's
everything she's hinting at, he must be a girl's *dream!*'
But the more she thought about that, the more she realized
that something didn't quite gel with Kinuko's story.  "If
he's so great, why did you dump him, K-Chan?"
     Kinuko leaned forward so she was face to face with her
friend.  She eyed Ami critically.  "You're asking a lot of
questions tonight, Ami-chan.  You wouldn't be thinking of
going after my Ranchan, would you?" she demanded haughtily,
putting her hands to her hips and getting closer to Ami's
face.
     Ami didn't even try to hide her angry look.  "That's a
hell of a thing to ask your best friend!  What's gotten into
you recently, K-Chan?"  Ami placed her hands on her hips and
adopted an equal pose, her face a deep red.
     Kinuko sat back and blink-blinked at Ami's
unanticipated ire.  She knew that it took a lot to piss Ami
off, and realized that she'd really overstepped her bounds.
Ami's ability to remain cool under fire was one of the
biggest things that she admired in her best friend.  "I'm
sorry, Ami-chan.  This whole day's just been so completely
unreal.  I mean, I come back from band camp to find out that
Ranchan's become some sort of martial artist god.  He
defeats Kuno in combat," Kinuko clasped her hands together
wantonly, "... and his body looks like a million bucks!"
     Ami fished about for a washcloth.  "Wipe the drool off
of your face, K-Chan," she deadpanned as she handed the item
to her hentai friend.
     Kinuko stuck her tongue out at her friend and giggled,
threatening to induce a sugar-overload in Ami.  She took the
proffered washcloth and mopped her sweaty brow.
     Ami leaned forward, touching noses with Kinuko.  "You
never answered my question, K-Chan.  Why did you dump Ranma
if he was such a hot item?"
     Kinuko's eyes began to shimmer as sorrow entered her
expression.  Sadly she sat back against the headboard of her
bed, crossing her arms under her bare chest.  "You'll laugh
at me if I tell you," she pouted.
     Ami lay down on her stomach at the end of the bed, her
legs sticking up in the air as she looked into her friend's
eyes.  She put a hand on one of Kinuko's legs.  "No, I
won't.  We're best friends, remember?  We can tell each
other anything, right?"
     Kinuko smiled, the humor breaking through some of her
sadness.  "Well, I did it because... I .. well, it's kinda
hard to explain.  I broke up with him because I was falling
in love with him," she finished in a rush.
     Ami answered Kinuko's sad expression with a dumbfounded
one.  "You actually fell in love with one of your
boyfriends?"  A genuine smile made its way onto Ami's face.
"Kinuko, that's great!  You actually fell in love!"
     Kinuko wasn't able to hide the smile coming to her
face.  "Yeah, I did.  I mean, I do love my Ranchan.  Stupid
as it sounds, I dumped him because I love him."
     "That is stupid.  Care to explain that one to me?"
     "Well, I don't know if I really can.  I guess...  well
you know how much trouble I had getting boyfriends before
high school."  Ami nodded.  "Then after I started developing
these," she indicated her breasts with a shrug of her arms.
"I had no problem getting boys to go out with me.  They
never really appealed to me, though.  You understand what
I'm saying, Ami-chan?"
     "Yeah, actually I do.  I've seen how you treated your
boyfriends before you started going out with Ranma.  They
were like property to you.  Kind of like an `I told you so'
to all the girls that taunted you in primary school, right?"
     It hurt her to hear that, but Kinuko knew her friend
was right.  "But Ranchan was different from all of those
guys, to me at least.  Well..." she admitted, "he wanted to
get in my pants like all the other guys..."
     "Which he did several times..." Ami deadpanned.
     Kinuko glared at her.  "Hey, I'm trying to tell a story
here, okay?!  So lay off of that, willya?!  What Ranchan and
I did was *very* different from what I've ever done with
anyone else!"  She forced herself to calm down, knowing that
being angry at Ami because she was telling her the truth was
stupid.  "Anyway, Ranchan was something that the other guys
weren't.  He was a romantic, Ami-chan.  He'd sit there and
listen to me, and do the sweetest things for me."  Her face
looked almost rhapsodic, a blissful smile creasing her
perfect features.  "He cherished me.  Oh, if only you could
know just how good that makes a girl feel to know that she's
loved *that much!*"
     Kinuko's look became faraway and wistful as she
imagined herself walking together with Ranma in an idyllic
setting along a beach.  Just the two of them, sitting on the
sand and enjoying watching the waves crashing against the
surf relentlessly, the sound hypnotic and soothing.  She
would turn to him and he would stroke her face tenderly,
then they would start cuddling and kissing and stroking and
...
     She blushed furiously, crossing her legs suddenly
before things got out of control and her friend Ami saw
something that she shouldn't.  "I guess that's why I let him
make love to me as often as he did, Ami-chan.  Ranchan is a
woman's dream hidden behind all that Anime-stuff.  I'm glad
I found a way to notice him."
     Ami rolled over onto her back and blew out a long
breath, staring at the ceiling.  "So that sort-of explains
why you were upset today after school," she finally stated,
although, in reality, she still didn't understand why Kinuko
dumped him.  Then again, she never understood half of the
reasons why her hare-brained friend did what she did.  "What
are your plans now, K-Chan?"
     Kinuko stepped off of her bed.  With fleet steps her
coltish legs carried her back to her closet, her long hair
flowing behind her like silk in the wind.  She stepped in,
and soon a new blizzard of clothes was flying out of it.
"I'm going to find an outfit that's sure to knock Ranchan
off his feet.  He told me the day before we broke up that
his parents were going away for a weekend together to
celebrate their anniversary.  That's *next* weekend. I
intend to use that time alone with Ranchan at his place to
my advantage."
     Ami cringed at the possessive tone in Kinuko's voice.
Her throat went dry, and her eyes widened spectacularly in
shock as her friend's white cotton panties suddenly sailed
out of the closet to land on her face.  `What the hell is
she doing now?' Ami thought in disbelief, clawing the damp
undergarment from her face.  `She's completely naked now!'
she thought in a panic, furiously damping down the slight
edge of desire that suddenly rushed upon her.  She cried out
in shock a moment later when Kinuko emerged from her closet
wearing a sheer black teddy and a wicked grin on her face
cute face.  "I'm gonna take back from that loser Akane
what's rightfully mine!  By force if necessary!" she
declared, laughing maniacally.
     `Ranma Saotome, wherever you are right now, may God
have mercy on your soul,' Ami thought sorrowfully as she
watched her friend pose in various sexually explicit ways in
front of her mirror.  After a couple of minutes of steady
watching, Ami gave up on trying to reason with Kinuko, and
went downstairs to raid the refrigerator before they watched
the first movie, which, for Ami, was appropriately titled
"Clueless."


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:

(3/4/96):

     Released the first alpha of part three for reader
input.

(3/5/96):

     Boy!  Did I get reader input!  ^_^  Several things were
immediately changed after I submitted the story to the list.
The majority of that was changes in grammatical content and
spelling.
     David Bateson and Kevin Eav get kudos for helping me
with the continuity on the story, and the de-lemonization of
the bath between Nabiki and Kasumi (although that's always
been a dream scene for me @_@ ).  I'm still under the
influence of this damned cold, so I can't always trust my
judgment.  Thanks for keeping me on track people!
     I added some more angst to Kasumi's speech in the bath.
(probably *too* much angst).  I also added my first
flashback scene.

(3/27/96):

     This was a difficult chapter to write.  Most of the
past that I had to create for the "other Ranma" did not come
to me easily.  Most of it was on the fly, and some of it may
contradict existing parts of the story because I haven't had
time to cross-check with my other parts of Careful Destiny.
     Sorry to disappoint all of those people who expected
Kinuko to actually be pregnant.  Kudos go to PhoneyNT and
David Bateson for helping me try to work through Ranma's
angst after finding out he's a daddy  (^_-  to quote BugsB.
`Ain't I a stinker?' ).  Although it isn't the case, I have
to admit I was tempted to make her pregnancy a reality.  But
even though he's not going to be making child support
payments, he's not out of the woods yet.  As was evident at
the end of this part, Kinuko has decided that she really
loves her Ranchan, and will do *anything* to get him to love
her.  This could mean very bad things for our intrepid wish-
maker.
     And the sparks will fly if she ever finds out that
Ranma's actively pursuing Akane  <smirk>.
     Also, strange developments will be afoot in part four
as the dojo repair party gets underway. <heh heh heh...>
     The additions in the story from the past time marker to
now are too numerous to list.  The best way to list them
would be to say "look past the second paragraph at the top.
That's where the additions begin.  ^_^;; "
     Thanks to all the people who wrote or commented on this
part.  I appreciate the honest criticism, and the
encouraging words.  I enjoy writing this, and I hope you
continue to enjoy reading it.

(8/31/96)

     Geez, has it been that long?  0_0;;  TPATL must've
taken longer for me to expand than I thought.  Anyway, I've
hit a titanium wall trying to enhance and update part three
in preparation for what I want to do in future sections.
     This update will probably take a little while longer,
since I have so much to do at work.  It's the beginning of
the fall semester at Newberry College, and *boy* am I busy!
I won't go into detail here about what I do at work.
Sufficed to say, it's fun, but busy as hell.
     I'd like to thank Jon Hayashi for allowing me to use
the name `Kimiko Tendo' in this part (taken from Soun's wife
in his `Marital Arts Lovemaking' series).
     Kudos also go to my continuum of editors for Careful
Destiny, without whom I'd be eternally stupid:

     David Bateson <major@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au>
     White Wolf <wwolf@ranma.net>
     Harold Ancell <hga@access.digex.net>
     Wayne Pillion <stargaze@world.std.com>
     Skywise <kschultz1@isd.net>
     Sean Gaffney <gaffney@iconn.net>
     MikeTaub@aol.com
     Chi Minh Truong <ct32+@andrew.cmu.edu>
     Sapphire <sapphire@uclink.berkeley.edu>
     Trisha Lynn Sebastian <tlsbtn@ix.netcom.com>

     -If it had not been for them, the new and improved Part
Three would never have gotten off of the ground. <author
bows deeply> *CLUNK*  <hits head on floor>

     Anyway, I do believe that the content for number three
is a bit more digestible than what I had put out on the `net
all those months ago.  Goodness knows, it's about damn time!

     Before anyone asks, Part Four is being worked on *now.*
Preview copies have been sent out to my editors already, but
they've taken a blood oath of silence <heh>.  I haven't
written the strangest parts yet, though, so don't expect any
revelations should one of them talk.  <grrrr...>  ^_-.

     After submitting this version to the editors, and not
receiving any bad press on it, I am sending it out to the
FFML for the larger stamp of approval.  If no C&C is
received on it, I will put it on my Careful Destiny web page
a week from today.  (10/10/96)


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!  ^_^

     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 `94
     *  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)

sysop@newberry.edu