DISCLAIMER: Ranma Nibunnoichi is the property of Takahashi Rumiko, 
Shogakukan Inc., Shonen Sunday Comics, and Viz Video. It is used without
their permission and is not intended for profit but only for the
enjoyment of fans of the Ranma series. All characters within this fic
that are not the property of the above mentioned are copyrighted to the
author, Joseph Kohle, January 1997. This work of fiction is the result
of the author's hard work and is for the enjoyment of others. Please do
not change, modify, or use any segment of this story without the
author's knowing and written consent. Feel free to archive this work.

************************************************************************ 

                    Meiyo Ai soshite Nikushimi

                    A Ranma Nibunnoichi Fanfic
                         by Joseph Kohle
  
                     Chapter V Separate Paths         
                     Part VIII: Sisterly Love


                               ~~1~~


     "It has been a pleasure talking with you, Kuh Lon-san," Morimoto-san
said. He bowed respectfully to the older woman who was still seated at the
table, his slicked back, thinning hair never moving. His two younger
associates mumbled their own courtesies as they left the store. "I hope we
can come to some understanding. Mishimata Land and Holdings has a few small
interests in this area."
     With a second, polite inclination of his head, the negotiator turned
on his heel and left the restaurant. In his wake, the room retreated into
silence, only the fading sound of the tinkling bell above the door and the
soft scrape of the closed sign against the front door intruding upon the
stillness.
     Cologne watched the closed door with an unreadable expression.
Reaching into her robe, she produced her favourite pipe. Clenching it
between her gums, she searched for her tobacco. 
     She had met with the representatives from Mishimata once, two days
ago. In the first meeting, their eagerness to obtain the property she held
was blatant. For some reason they desired the Nekohanten, but it was one
that she was unable to fathom. Mishimata was a very large company that made
deals for tens of billions of yen. So why go after a small noodle shop? It
was for this mystery that she had allowed the go-between hired by Mishimata
to even arrange the first meeting.
     She hoped to wrangle a large amount of money from the deal with which
she could pay back the tribe and Shampoo's father. Like a school girl on
her first date, she was enraptured by the fantasy of what could be. For the
first time in many decades, she missed the pitfall and fell heavily into
her date's lecherous arms.
     Though they were eager, they were reserved. Though they were
obviously prepared to make an offer, they constantly tip-toed around it as
if it were a sleeping parent who would ruin all the fun. Instead, they
traveled the road of every Japanese negotiator, the path Cologne found to
be detestable. They bantered words and tried to build the relationship
between the two like a host and parasite. As empty as a spilt pitcher,
their courtesies were filled with phrases such as 'lifelong partnership',
'delicate balance of ideals', 'upsetting the local structure', 'maintaining
the proper decorum', and 'the proper timing for the next step.'
     She knew what words like those meant. And the meaning was not one
that pleased her. The best hope of ending the charade quickly was to offer
Mishimata a reasonable price. That, however, would put her at a major
disadvantage. If too high they would walk away, and she did not have the
time to find another client. She was held by Ranma's pledge to meet in Hong
Kong in two weeks. Yet, if she gave into a lower price, the money of the
tribe was lost. Such a situation was unacceptable. 
     Finding the small bag of tobacco, Cologne poured some into the empty
bowl of the pipe, tamped it down, and lit it from a candle on the table.
Puffing contentedly, she tried to examine her options, but felt like she
was scraping the bottom of the pot.
     It was easy to consider letting the Nekohanten go for a loss, but her
pride and the Amazon tribe, especially her clan, would never allow such a
weak way out. To let the Japanese have their way with her was beyond her
ability to stomach. Even if it took three months, she was not going to give
in and allow them to waltz away chuckling at her naivete and weak will. But
that still left her with the dilemma of Ranma.
     To believe that Ranma would wait patiently in Hong Kong for two or
three months was like assuming a four year-old could watch over a candy
store. Someone had to be there to meet him. She was unable to go. Although
she could hire someone to finish the negotiations, she was not willing to
accept that she could not win by herself. Leaving her great-granddaughter
behind to act in her stead was also an unwelcome proposition. Although
Shampoo was a great warrior, Cologne was not going to delude herself about
the girl's intellectual gifts. But was sending Shampoo, without supervi- 
sion, to meet Ranma a sane course of action?
     Shampoo was capable. If entrusted with a duty, she would see it
accomplished. Cologne was confident that Ranma was beaten, but anything
concerning the youngest Saotome involved a fair degree of unpredictability.
A watchful eye was required to keep any plans pertaining to Ranma on track.
Like an unruly gremlin, his presence more often than not caused the train
to derail.
     To complicate an already volatile situation, Mousse was unaccounted
for in the equation. Although it was impossible to prove, Cologne's
intuition told her that Mousse was with Ranma. Cologne remembered the
promise she had wrung from Ranma. "As long as the promise can be held, I'll
hold it," he had promised. 
     She was displeased with the choice of words. They were too ambiguous.
They implied that Ranma was working against her and was never willing to
accept his fate. With the disappearance of Mousse and the delays with
selling the Nekohanten mounting, she could see more challenge in Ranma's
promise than honourable sincerity. 
     Anyone under Ranma's tutelage would grow in strength and skill. With
a month, Cologne, herself, could turn Mousse into a fighter of great skill.
Ranma was intelligent and skilled enough to make Mousse better than
Shampoo. Although there were flaws in the idea of pandering Shampoo off to
a new suitor, Mousse's defeat of Shampoo would make it that much more
difficult to make sure that Ranma was either a member of the tribe or no
longer a blemish on her Clan's honour.
     Yet, even without the threat of Mousse's challenge of Shampoo,
Cologne was unwilling to allow her great-granddaughter to be alone with
Ranma for the near month it would require for them to complete the trek to
the village. Ranma held a power over Shampoo, like that of a snake over a
small animal. Within Ranma's presence, Shampoo's common sense bleed out of
the base of her skull as her vascant smile of delight filled her eyes and
face. In sucha state, Shampoo might be easily manipulated into doing things
she would normally haughtily dismiss. Actions that could lead to the end of
her plans. If Shampoo pitied Ranma's plight... if her great-granddaughter's
spirit was broken... if she let slip the truth about the Judgment she had
placed upon Ranma... if...
     There were too many unknown cards in play. And now there was the new
one of Akane, or, more importantly, the girl's forthcoming blessing. It was
imperative that Shampoo never learn of that predicament. It was only sheer
luck that her great-granddaughter had been making deliveries when the group
of girls from Furinkan entered the Nekohanten. The pregnancy of the Tendou
girl by her jilting fiancee had been the only words upon their lips. To
keep that knowledge from her great-granddaughter, she had closed the Neko- 
hanten the next day. The restaurant had served its purpose.
     It was one more worry. If Shampoo discovered it, Cologne did not know
what would happen, but if Ranma discovered that fact... Cologne shuddered.
Promises and honour would be come as binding as gossamer silk for Saotome
Ranma. That he loved the Tendou girl was evident. Yet, as far as Cologne
could discern, his honour still held a higher place in his ideals. But if
he unearthed the truth about his lost beloved? No, it was better if he
never found out. For that reason, Shampoo was kept in the dark. For that
reason, she needed someone to watch over Ranma and Shampoo on the way to
Joketsuzoku.
     She needed someone she could trust. Someone skilled in the arts and a
master of pressure points was the only possible choice. She needed an
Amazon. Cologne began to smile around her pipe. Her old friend Hyu Chin was
in Hong Kong. Maybe it was time to call in old debts.
     A simple message carried by her pigeons, and her problems would be
laid to rest, or at least put under control. Now, she could deal with the
Japanese and the Nekohanten. Besides, another company had made its
intentions known. Maybe she could play them off each other.
     Satisfied, Cologne continued to puff on her pipe until the embers
within blackened and became cold. Then she knocked out the ashes and made
her way upstairs to her room. For the moment, all of her plans were back in
her hands and the stings of each puppet firmly within her control. All she
had to do was wait out the inevitable.


                                   ~~2~~


     On the outskirts of Nerima, nearly three miles from the grounds of
Furinkan, the outer wall of the sweeping estate of the ancestral home of
the Kunou family stands in all its majestic glory. Although it was no
longer the nearly hundred acres of land on which the original home had
stood, the remaining seventeen acres compromised an immense estate for the
present day Japan. It was the envy of many of the rich about Tokyo, but,
for the Kunou family, it was almost a mark of shame.
     Kunou Tatewaki remembered that the estate had been nearly four times
it present size when he was only six. Under the immeasurable talent of
Tatewaki's father, the Kunou family had been rebuilding toward the
preeminence it had held at the induction of the Meiji Emperor. Talent that
Tatewaki wondered about as he closed the door to his father's Hawaiian
retreat. Kunou Tatewaki relaxed visibly as he finally shut out the sickly-
sweet miasma of flowers and ripening fruit as well as the discordant music
of the ungodly islands that had ripped the last vestiges of sanity from the
once great Kunou patriarch. 
     Scowling at the heavy, wood door as if his disapproval would change
the present and past, Tatewaki spun on his heel and left his father to his
insipid pastimes. His father was a disgrace to the family and its ancestry.
If any one would have asked Kunou, he would have gladly informed them of
his samurai heritage, the power his family had held as a trusted daimyo of
the shoguns, his ancestral relationship to the Fujiwara's. Yet, what did
such things matter to people these days? 
     Like his father's sanity, Tatewaki had slowly watched the prominent
position of honour decline in society until his classmates rarely dealt
with it or referred to it as a dated practice. They did not care about the
samurai status of his family. They only cared about the wealth that had
been attained through an arranged marriage, in the mid-eighteen hundreds,
with a wealthy merchant searching for samurai status.
     His steps ghost-like, Kunou padded down the long hall and then turned
into the main hall that led to the dojo. After every meeting with his
father, he needed a release. Kendo gave him that sense of peace. It focused
his thoughts back from the insanity of his family to the harsh reality of
honour. The honour of the family. The honour of his school. His personal
honour. Each gave him a place within the world. Each defined a segment of
his life. They were his foundation, a pedestal on which his sanity was
protected in a carefully crafted cage.
     High pitched, frantic laughter suddenly filled the air, and Kunou
shuddered despite of himself. He despised his sister's laugh. Her presence
alone drove him to distraction. He knew she should have been committed
years ago, but his father was too weak-willed to sign the papers. 
     The last four weeks of peace had been a blessing. She had been in
Europe, causing trouble which he knew had drained nearly a hundred million
yen from the family accounts. Of course, it was nothing to the Kunou
fortune, but he found it disgusting that their wealth was spread around to
keep his sister abnormally eccentric instead of insane. At least she had
not found out about Tendou Akane's disposition by that low-brow, lecherous,
slovenly-dog of a coward, Saotome Ranma. "Sasuke!" Kunou snapped.
     An instant later, the diminutive ninja was beside him, crouching as
he waited for his instructions. "What may I do for you, master Kunou?"
     "Are you aware of the fair Tendou Akane's delicate disposition?"
     "If you mean her preg..."
     Kunou's heavy hand silenced his servant and sent him sprawling into
the far wall. "Never mention that word in my presence, Sasuke. My fair
Tendou Akane is merely indisposed for the present, and will be until such
time as I may find the appropriate course of action to bring her from her
depths of depression and into the light of true and joyous love. Do you
understand me?"
     "Hai, Master."
     "That is well. I wish you too keep this delicate matter from the
insane attention of my deranged sister. How you do it is of no moment. As
long as she is kept as ignorant as Saotome is honourless, I will be pleased
with your performance."
     "I will do my best." Sasuke bowed deeply.
     "See that you do. You are dismissed."   
     Kunou barely noticed his servant's departure. He was already lost in
his own thoughts as he continued down the hall. He had learned of the
situation with his reluctant future bride at the same time as the school.
In truth, the horror and shock of the statement had forced him to seek
solace and safety in seclusion. He wanted to refuse the truth of it, but
his beloved herself had admitted as much to him when he had asked her. 
     Kunou growled to himself as he remembered her words. She had told
him, nay, commanded him to let it lie. It was none of his business,
acoording to her. And, in a moment of weakness, he had proimised to accept
her decision. But he could never do that.
     The entire situation was disgusting, almost criminal. An innocent
girl was being preyed upon by the miscreants of the school, and by the
demented lechery of Saotome himself. 
     For a moment, he wished he were Odysseus. A true master of extracting
himself form the darkest and direst of situations. Kunou regrettably needed
the assistance. He saw no clear way out that would save his beloved's
honour, unless of course Saotome returned from his amorous adventures in
China to take up his honourble duty. Yet that solution was as unacceptable
to him as any other.
     If there was just a way to do it, he would succor her with the honour
of the Kunou line. If she was under his wing, none of these slights and
arrows would be able to penetrate her. Her sea of troubles would become a
placid lagoon on which she might idle her life away. 
     But, maybe there was an answer in that. If the money of the Kunou's
made insanity into eccentricity, then could it not also cover up a
dishonour. A few doctors spoken to. A few records changed and a simple
ceremony, but he would need to approach her. He would need to make her see
the truth, no matter how painful it might be. 
     It was so simple that it was obviously the reason the answer had
eluded him, like the fox does the hound, for the past week. Pleased with
himself, Kunou Tatewaki called for Sasuke again and ordered him to get him
dinner, scroll, and ink. He had much work to do before Sunday if he was to
save his beloved Akane. And he would save her, even if he had to break her
of all her hopes and dreams.


                                   ~~3~~


     "How are you doing, Akane-chan?" Toufu asked as Akane settled onto
the examination table.
     "Tired," she replied mechanically. Her eyes wandered the room,
picking up the small details of the immaculate white cabinets, the syringe
next to the sink, the box of rubber gloves, the chart of the human body,
Betty-chan. Each item was categorized and forgotten in an instant.
     Toufu frowned at Akane's vacant gaze and defeated posture. The last
time he had seen her was when Akane's friend Mio had brought her to him.
Akane had left that encounter only a little better than she had entered
into it. That fault lay with him like an unwelcome bed partner. Although he
was schooled in family medicine, his specialty was chiropractic medicine.
As if Kasumi were about, he was fumbling to deal with Akane's circumstan-
ces, at home, at school, and mental, and his abilities to answer her needs
were very limited, if not non-existent.  
     Sorrow hung about her like a cloyingly, fragrant perfume. He was
unaware of the pain in his own eyes. Akane had come to him so many times
over the years for advice, comfort, and medical treatment, that he had come
to think of her as a part of his life, a daughter he hoped to have in the
future. It was true that he was close to the Tendou's, but his relationship
with Akane was a much deeper friendship, that might have become love if he
hadn't fallen for Kasumi. 
     Unsure of the proper course of action, he fell back on his own skills
as a doctor to make sure she was healthy. "Please look at me," Toufu
requested. He put a gentle hand on Akane's shoulder as she faced him. Toufu
lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. They were like glass, without
life or the vibrance that dominated Akane's personality. "How so?" Toufu
asked, turning her head to one side and then the other. 
     "I don't know," Akane whispered. "I'm just tired."
     Her words validated what Toufu was seeing. Her skin was paler than
usual, almost waxy in appearance. Dark circles hung ponderously beneath her
once vibrant eyes. Lips, slack as a flag on a windless day, barely moved as
she spoke. Exhaustion was part of the reason for her appearance, but it did
not account for her inattention.
     "Are you eating well?" he asked absently.
     She shook her head. "I get hungry during the day sometimes, but I
can't do anything about it. My teachers won't let me out of class. I'm not
hungry at dinner very often, so I just eat enough to make Kasumi happy. In
the mornings, I'm always sick in the mornings, and I just don't feel like
eating."
     "Whether you feel like it or not, you need to eat, Akane," Toufu
admonished in a stern voice. "If nothing else, just take some snacks with
you to class. Later, you'll settle into a pattern, but now your body is
trying to adapt to the pregnancy. If nothing else, it will settle your
morning sickness. Your sick because you are not taking care of yourself.
Just because getting pregnant is natural, does not mean that surviving the
pregnancy is. You're just making it harder on yourself if you don't eat and
sleep properly."
     "I know. It's just..."
     "Just what?" Toufu prompted gently. Snaking his ankle about a chair,
he dragged it to the table and settled himself in it. Unconsciously, his
hand combated the jitters in Akane's voice by engulfing her small hands
like a luxuriant, warm bath.  "Is it school? Or something else?"
     "I don't wanna talk about it. There's nothing I can do, so why should
I worry about it? It's just like everything else that is going on. I don't
have control of it. I don't know what to do. 
      "Nothing I can say would make them shut up. Most of the girls are
laughing at me. They think I deserve this." A tear crept down Akane's
cheek, reflecting the harsh fluorescent light. "The boys aren't any better.
They all think I deserve it because I led them on. They can't even admit
that they are mad because I never went out with them!" Akane shouted. "Why
can't they leave me alone? It's not fair. I never wanted any of that. I
didn't want this!" She looked pointedly at her flat stomach and began to
shudder as the stress, loneliness, and memories of the past week were
ignited like a coal shot, each blast of emotion triggering another.      
     With imploring eyes, she gazed up into Toufu's face. The misery her
body exuded was palpable. Reaching out, it sank its powerful claws into the
gentle doctor's heart and forced him from his chair to reach for the
trembling girl.
     Like the soft wings of an eagle do her young, Toufu's arms enfolded
Akane. As he began to rock her as if he were cradling an injured bird,
Akane clutched at him. She was almost oblivious to him until he whispered,
"Shh! It'll all be okay. Everything will be okay." 
     Akane went rigid in his arms.
     "No! It isn't alright! It'll never be!" she spat vehemently as she
shoved him away. Surprised, Toufu stumbled over the chair and almost fell
to the ground.
     "You were right the first time. You were right from the beginning! I
don't want a baby. I can't handle this. Being here is just a waste of time.
I don't know why I even came," she finished in disgust.
     Akane stumbled from the examination table and marched toward the
door. 
     "Akane-chan," Toufu pleaded. "This isn't like you. Let me help. Give
me a chance to understand what's going on, so I can help you."
     He was relieved when she shuffled to a halt, but she didn't turn
around to look at him, preferring to stare hopelessly at the door as if it
held the answers to all of her problems. For a moment, she envisioned
herself just closing a door behind her and blocking out everything as she
curled up in the dark.
     "Help?" she demanded. "You already helped me, and I ignored it. I
should've listened to you in the first place, Sensei." Her voice dipped to
the small whimper of a child faced with her mistakes. "I was scared. I
didn't want to do the wrong thing, but I did it anyway. I can't handle
this. I should've had the abortion. I should get rid of it."
     "Akane-chan. I was wrong," Toufu pleaded. His initial advice had been
that of a concerned doctor. He hadn't even considered the fact that Akane
herself needed support and a helping hand. She had come to him for help,
given him the chance to lead her safely through the dark forest, but he had
sent her off into the waiting jaws of the wolf. After she had left, his
twinges of guilt, like the insistent drip of a water faucet, forced him to
call Tsujimura and beg with him to convince Akane not to have the abortion.
He didn't want her unhappiness running across his hands like the blood of
the innocents.
     But he had turned her away. Told her in no uncertain terms that she
was not ready to deal with a pregnancy. Psychologically, he was correct.
Akane had some issues to resolve, many involving Ranma, but not all. Medi-
cally he was unsure. She was healthy, more than healthy, but recently...
recently she had been sick as if her spirit were being drained. 
     His diagnosis had been that a pregnancy was just too much for Akane.
Maybe if he had told her his reasoning she would have reacted better, but
her wants and desires had been chaff in the air to him. At a time when she
needed someone to tell her everything was going to turn out alright, when
she had been searching for the missing harbour, he had mistakenly become a
submerged reef.
     "I should have never told you to have an abortion. I had no right to,
and I made a terrible mistake. I was wrong."
     "No, I was."
      Certain that Akane was about to walk from his office, most likely
forever, Toufu leapt across the intervening space with two large steps, 
grabbed Akane by her shoulders, and spun her around to face him. "You were
not wrong. I was. Why can't you accept that? Why do you keep torturing
yourself when you don't deserve to suffer?"
     Akane's eyes widened in shock, and then she began to shake her head.
"Then why is everyone leaving me? Why do they all hate me? Why do they
laugh and snicker when I walk by? Why am I pregnant? Why did Ranma leave?
Why!?"
     "Akane, he had..."
     "No, I made him go away. I made him go away." Her eyes were shimmer-
ing, and her voice became the anguished torment of an Inquisitioner's
client. "Just like my mom. They all leave me. I... I... How can I deserve
them if I can't even make tea?!" she demanded irrationally.
     "Akane..." No words could ever ameliorate the torment of the hell
Akane spun for herself with each new day. Akane needed someone, but he was
unsure whether he was right for the job. He had been her doctor for nearly
ten years, and his sensei had been her doctor since birth. Instinctively,
he wanted to comfort her and banish the pain from her eyes. Like a father,
he desired to shield her form the harsh reality of the world. Yet he held
himself in check.
     It was not the fear that he might become too involved with her. He
was simply wary of assuming he could offer her what she needed. In all
likelihood, he doubted that anyone could offer what she desired more than
breath itself. At the end of the tangled cord of her problems, lay the one
undeniable uncertainty that had shadowed Akane's life since her mother's
death. Someone had to tell her that she was making the right choice. Her
decisions demanded validation, but Toufu could not give that validation
anymore than an atheist could administer confession. 
     "Akane-chan," he spoke soothingly, forcing his voice to remain calm
while holding back the frustration threatening to shatter his tenuous grasp
of the problem. "You have every right to feel betrayed. You have every
right to think this is your fault, but it isn't. Your mother never
abandoned you." Akane shook her head in denial. "She got sick. It was no
one's fault, especially not yours."
     A sound like a cat dying rose in Akane's throat. 
     "Ranma didn't abandon you, did he? He left to stay with you. And why
do you care what any of your classmates think? You never made a wrong
choice, you made the choice that was the right one. You choose the one your
heart said was right, didn't you?"
     "You don't understand," Akane whispered. 
     "Then make me understand. Why is it your fault? Why do you deserve
this? What horror haunts you?"
     Angrily, Akane opened her mouth only to be struck dumb. Surprise
filtered across her face, and she slowly closed her mouth. The
determination and fear in her face collapsed like a levy during a flood.
For a moment she was a boat spinning out of control, the lone occupant 
hanging on with a desperate panic. Her shoulders crumbled, and she sank
soundlessly back against the door and pulled her knees tightly to her
chest. She was the frightened child whimpering on the far corner of her
bed, searching for her security blanket as the closet shadows danced. 
     Worried, Toufu knelt beside her and was surprised to hear her
mumbling low under her breath. Pitying the poor lost child, he gathered her
in his arms and began to gently rock her. Her voice gained clarity as he
held her. 
     "...taking chances, playing with her so roughly. 'Kaasan told me not
to do it. She told me to stay away from the river, but I wanted to play. It
was so much fun. I would run along and pretend we were on a raft heading
for the ocean. We'd find a beautiful island and everything would be
perfect. Mom would stop coughing. Dad would pick me up and spin me around
like he used to." 
     She fell silent for a moment and Toufu felt her shudder in his grasp.
Stroking her hair, he saw a tear slip from beneath her scrunched eyelids.
His thumb brushed it aside as if it were a smudge of dirt.
     "I... I didn't see it... the branch. I never saw it. I just tripped
and fell... in the mud. Everything was numb, and I didn't know why. I
pulled myself to my feet... and I wasn't holding her. She was gone! My doll
was gone. The doll 'Kaasan had sewn for me.
     "I was frantic. I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find her. I just
couldn't! I should have listened to 'Kaasan. I should've, but I didn't, and
my Machiko was gone.
     "I started crying. I couldn't stop, but I continued to look. Then I
saw something in the river. It was fluttering on the rocks down stream. I
hurried toward the shore, hoping it wasn't red, as long as it wasn't red,
but it was. Machiko. She was in the river, but she was on the rocks. 
     "I didn't think. I just plunged after her. I was running through the
woods. Brambles tore at my dress. I knew 'Kaasan would be mad, but if I
lost Machiko, I didn't know what I would do. The stream was shallow there.
I sprinted out into the water, but I didn't make it. She was just on the
edge of the rocks, and then she was gone, the water carrying her away from
me and into the deep part of the river. I kept screaming for her to come
back, but she never did. She just disappeared. I couldn't do anything. It
was my fault. My fault... I... Machiko, please come back. Please. I'll be a
good mother. I'll be good. Don't go, Machiko! Machiko! MACHIKO!"
     An anguished sob broke through her whispered story, and Akane buried
her face in Toufu's chest. "I killed her!" 
     Although her words were muffled by his body, Toufu still heard them,
and he stroked her silken hair as he whispered meaningless comfort in her
ear. Though useless as fighting the tide, a familiar voice was often the
best anyone could offer to ease a battered spirit. It was all he could do.
Her ranting had delved deeply into her psyche and opened a door Toufu had
never even known existed.
     Akane cried in his arms, and he rocked her. For the moment, his world
revolved around those two simple actions. He whispered to her, rocked her,
and comforted her as she cried into his gi, her tears whisked away by the
rough material. Eventually, the choking hiccups lessened and disappeared
into small whimpers and then disappeared as she held tightly to him. 
     "I'm sorry," she sniffled. "I never used to cry like this. Everything
is just so new. I want my life back. I need... I need someone to
understand," she begged.
     "I understand, Akane-chan. I want to help you. No one deserves this,
especially you, but I can't help you, unless you help yourself." Placing
her at arm's length, Ono Toufu fixed her with a steady gaze. "Whenever
you're ready to talk, we'll talk." 
     She nodded her head, and Toufu began to lead her gently to an answer
as they talked.

                                   ~~*~~

     Mio was engrossed with a magazine as she waited when Akane stepped
into the waiting room. Glancing up at the sound of foot steps, she gave
Akane a shy half-smile of encouragement. Returning the smile, Akane glanced
over her shoulder. Toufu was only a few steps behind. 
     "Are you okay, Akane?"
     "I feel better, Mio," Akane responded. It was true. She felt better,
but it was very relative. Toufu was right. She had a lot of thinking to do.
     "Akane is a strong girl," Toufu reassured as he walked into the room.
"She just needs some help and guidance every so often."  
     Akane blushed in embarrassment. Although she knew her behaviour over
the past few days had been excessive, it was the only route she had given a
chance. Mio had told her she was being silly, in not so few words, and
Toufu had forced her to admit it.
     "Now, you'll remember what I said?"
     "Hai."
     "And you'll follow those instructions to the letter? Or do I have to
send them to Kasumi?"
     "No, I'll follow them, Sensei."
     Toufu smiled and placed a hand on Akane's shoulder. "Everything will
be fine, Akane-chan. If you need anything, don't be afraid to call me. I'll
see you on Friday, and we'll go over to the hospital."
     Giving Toufu a quick hug, Akane stepped back and walked over to Mio.
When Akane reached her friend's seat, Mio was in the process of packing up
her books. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting, Mio. I didn't mean to stay there
so long."
     "Don't worry," Mio shrugged. "When I heard you screaming at Toufu- 
sensei, I figured it would be a while."
     "You heard that?!"
     "I think everyone within a block heard you," Mio giggled and then
quickly became serious. Akane was always surprised at how fast Mio switched
emotions. Often, Mio resorted to chicanery with people she didn't know or
like, and reactions like this made Akane wonder if she was receiving the
same treatment. Was she being shut out of her friend's life? Like she had
done with...
     "Oh gods, I'm sorry, Mio."
     "For what?" Mio asked curiously as she cinched the straps on her
bookbag tight.
     "The last few days," Akane answered incredulously. "I've treated you
and everyone else so horribly."
     "Oh," Mio breathed and then picked up her bag. "It's okay."
     Perplexed, Akane picked up her own bag bookbag and slung it over her
shoulder and motioned toward the door. "Do you want to get going?"
     "Hai," Mio responded as they walked out of the door. 
     For a time, they walked in silence, Akane dwelling on the voluminous
advice Toufu had imparted to her. Most of it had been admonitions about her
behaviour and reassurances about how the pregnancy would work out, but she
just wasn't sure. It was easy to ask and hope for the best, but receiving
it was a another type of game. 
     "What did you talk about, Akane-chan?" Mio asked as they walked
beside the canal. "You don't seem much happier."
     "Is it that obvious?"
     "You're dragging your feet, and watching the fence. You always do
that when your worried about Ranma. I guess I just think it means you're
mulling over your problems."
     Akane nodded her head and took a few more steps before she spoke up.
"Toufu-sensei wants me to go to a women's group. He said that Tsujimura,
he's the doctor I saw about the abortion, has one. It's mostly young
mothers and a few unwed mothers. He says it'll help me adjust. I just don't
know whether to do it or not."
     "Why not? It could help you."
     "I know... I'm just..." She waved her hand and shrugged.
     "Scared?"
     "A little, but not a lot. I guess I just don't know whether I want to
keep the baby." Akane shook her head. That was one thing Toufu had told her
to stop doing. It wasn't "the baby" it was "her baby". He had told her that
she was making it harder on herself by not accepting the truth. She could
see the logic in it, but the words scared her. "I don't know if I want...
my baby." She cringed as she said it that way. It sounded so horrible, like
she was one of those young girls who suffocated their baby at birth because
they didn't want it.
     If Mio heard the difference, she let it pass unnoticed. 
     "He also wants me to have an ultrasound on Friday."
     "Why?"
     "I don't know. He said that it was about time. I'm nearly nine weeks
pregnant and he said most women get them around now. I'm not sure though. I
think he just wants to make sure everything is okay with the pregnancy."
     "Is there something wrong with that?"
     "No, that's not the problem." Akane continued to walk and then halted
in her steps and faced Mio. "Do you think I'm making the right decision?"
she asked tentatively.
     "I don't know," Mio answered after a moment's contemplation. "I know
if it were me, I'd have gotten the abortion. Father would kill me if he
found out I was pregnant. At least you have your family, and you know that
Ranma will be there for you."
     "If he comes back," Akane sighed. 
     Mio turned her head away as Akane said that. "Is it really that
painful?"
     "Huh?"
     Mio turned around, and Akane was surprised to see tears on her
friend's face. "Is if that painful? Is it that bad for you? You were always
so happy before, even with your fights with Ranma. You might be glum for an
hour or even a day, but never this long. I've seen you smile only a dozen
times in the past weeks. It hurts me, Akane. I want to make you happy. 
     "You have everything I don't. Your family loves you. You have a
wonderful fiancee. You have friends. You are popular. When you're like
this, it makes me wonder if there really is anything worth fighting for. It
makes me wonder if the world is supposed to be like all those Buddhists
believe, just a place to suffer."
     "Mio!' Akane was truly shocked. "You can't mean that. You have as
much as me. And if not, I've gone through as much as you. If I can smile,
than you can."
     "Then why aren't you smiling? Why are you moping about like a little
girl who just had her favourite toy taken away? Why are you shutting
everyone out? I'm the only person you talk to anymore. Even Yuka and Koiko
can't get near you. Sayuri's worried, and I'm... I'm scared, Akane. I don't
want you to do something that's going to make you stay like this. I hate
seeing you like this. It's like when your mom died. I was so scared you'd
stop being my friend." Mio took Akane's hand in her own and trapped it
against her chest. "I need you to be my friend. Don't do this to me. Don't
shut me out."
     "You're family, Neechan," Akane whispered hoarsely. "Family is
forever. You and I are forever." Freeing her hand, Akane wrapped Mio in a
loose sisterly hug. She could feel her friend crying softly into her
shoulder, much as she herself had done with Toufu. 
     It was a shock to see Mio like this. It hurt because she had been too
caught up in her own problems to be there for her friend. No one knew of
Mio's life except her, and she had turned her back on her friend when her
own problems rose like the eight heads of the oriochi. "I'm sorry, Neechan.
I'm so sorry. I've been so selfish."
     "No, I'm sorry," Mio said with a wet hiccup. "I just got scared.
You're my only friend, Neechan. I don't have anyone else. I don't want to
lose you."
     Akane smiled, the smile that made Ranma's knees weak and the sun seem
like a flickering lamp. "You'll never lose me. I told you we'd have our
first kids together. I'll just have to find someone for you."
     "Akane!"
     Akane laughed as her own problems receded for a bit. They were still
gnawing at her, but her friend's, and sister's, problems were more
insistent. "C'mon, you can spend the night at my house. Kasumi would love
to see you again."
     Mio stiffened in her arms, and Akane wondered if she had said
something wrong. 
     "What is it, Mio?"
     "I can't go," Mio said as she stepped back.
     "Why?"
     Mio gave her a level look, her eyes clouded with sorrow. Akane
understood. It was the same as every time. "You're father doesn't own you,
Mio. You can tell him no."
     "No, I can't," Mio argued softly. "You remember what happened last
time I did that, don't you?"
     Akane sighed in frustration. She remembered, and the memory was a
festering cancer on her soul. In a fit of rage she had demanded that Mio
stand up to her father. Mio had, and had ended up grounded for three
months. The first few weeks she hadn't even been in school, and when she
returned, she had a broken leg. 
     Mio had never been a very active girl, and many had wondered at the
broken leg. Of course Mio and Akane spun a believable story about it. It
was simple. Mio had wanted to go out with Akane one night to go see a
movie. She had slipped and fallen from her window and broken her leg on the
pavement below. Some hadn't belived Mio, thinking the story was a little
strange, but Akane had supported her. Even at that time, no one crossed
Akane without good reason, especially with Nabiki establishing her
reputation for ruthlessness.  But Akane only supported her friend because
she was her friend. But she wanted so much to tell the dreadful truth.
Mio's father, in a drunken rage, had hit Mio and knocked her down the
stairs. 
     For the last three years she had kept it hidden because Mio asked her
to keep it silent, but it hurt to see her friend so scared of someone she
should love. Akane often told her to come live with her or to at least tell
the police, but Mio refused. She insisted that it was only for a few more
years. That it didn't happen that often. That most of the time she deserved
it. But mostly, because she refused to take her father from her brothers.
It was horrible. It was disgusting, but Akane accepted it because she was
terrified of losing her best friend. 
     But accepting such a dark secret did not make it easier to bear.
     "You'll come over tomorrow at least?" she asked hopefully. "It's
Sunday, so we can do our homework and maybe go to the park. Please tell me
you'll be there."
     "I'll be there, but I don't need to be home for an hour." Mio's face
brightened a little. "Let's go get some ice cream. Your treat of course."
     "And why is it my treat?" Akane demanded.
     "You're pregnant, you're obviously going to eat more. I'm not paying
for it." 
     "You're worse than Ranma sometimes," Akane laughed.
     "But I am cuter," she smiled.
     "I don't know. He can be pretty cute when he tries. And his breasts
are bigger too."
     "How would you know?" Mio taunted and then stuck out her tongue and
began to skip away. "Last one there really has to buy."
     "That's no fair," Akane cried out, but she still gave her friend a
few more seconds of lead time before she took off after her. They were both
laughing when they reached the ice cream shop. Neither of them noticed
Nabiki open the door of the small coffee shop across the street.


                                   ~~4~~


     Nabiki pushed open the dark, wood door of the small kissaten and
stepped over the threshold and into the comforting atmosphere. The sight
that greeted her was as familiar as her own room, and just as relaxing. The
small coffee house was well-lit, lights of the lazily circling ceiling fans
pooling into small ovals on the tables. The counter was on her right, and
the older woman who ran and owned the shop smiled at Nabiki. Returning the
smile, Nabiki turned away from the bar and walked across the main floor,
avoiding the raised floor of tatami mats in the center where a few
customers reclined upon zabutons. 
     The unmistakable sound of the owner's husband in the kitchen
(preparing small sandwiches and noodles) drifted through the air. The
metallic clink and clank of utensils and pots mingled with the barely
perceptible music that permeated the air like the aroma of Kasumi's
cooking. Nabiki was only dimly aware of this as she made her way past the
few alcoves on the walls, each holding a small statue, painting, or ceramic
piece, to her usual table in the far corner.
     Although there were dozens of such coffee houses in Nerima, each with
cheaper food or larger seating areas, Nabiki always found her steps
crossing the well-worn, wooden floor of this one. For her, it was loyalty
that brought her back and the fact that the few people who came into the
Floating Lily were searching for the same serenity and privacy that she
desired. Everyone knew that they would find Nabiki here if she ever told
them to meet her for coffee, so it was no surprise that Kumi and Takanari
were already at the table in the corner.
     Nabiki casually strolled over to the table. Neither of them had
noticed her entrance. Both were occupied by their own pursuits. Takanari
spun his napkin with his forefinger, his brow furrowed above his thin,
black eyebrows. His lips were drawn tightly together, his high cheekbones
quivered under his dark skin as his jaws clenched and unclenched. Like an
animal in a cage, his eyes darted around the table nervously, looking for
an avenue of escape. Beside him was an empty pot of coffee and a half empty
cup.
     Next to the wild-eyed bronco of Takanari, Kumi was a docile gelding.
She nibbled absently on a strand of hair as a steady stream of characters
formed underneath her pen. Beside her a small, untouched cup of coffee
steamed, contrasting the coffee Takanari was downing with unrestrained
abandon. 
     "Konnichi wa, Kumi," Nabiki called out idly as she took a seat next
to her associate. "What are you working on?" Nabiki glanced casually over
at the notebook and then dismissed it as she noticed the subject.
     "Nothing much, Boss," Kumi shrugged, flipping the notebook closed and
capping her pen. "I just thought I'd get a few things wrapped up before you
arrived."
     "Do you think you'll be done compiling Yoshioka's debts by next week?
And have him caught up on back interest?" Nabiki asked, ignoring Takanari.
She knew she was taking a big chance by ignoring Takanari, but Nabiki
wanted some control of the situation. After a week of searching and
digging, Nabiki was becoming as frustrated as an archeologist in the wrong
spot. Raiko knew how to keep herself afloat. In many ways, Nabiki saw part
(albeit a very small one) of herself in the conniving little minx. She
covered her tracks better than a fox going to ground, yet Raiko still
pulled off some of the more spectacular chicken heists in Furinkan's
history. What Raiko lacked in an efficient, long-reaching, ruthlessness,
she made up in her ability to stay well out of the lime light.
     It was Kumi who finally uncovered a small crack in Raiko's founda-
tion, barely large enough to accommodate a small stream of water into the
fortress. But, when the time was right, that trickle of water could be
frozen in an instant and rip asunder Raiko like a scrap of meat between the
rabid dogs of Furinkan High. All she needed was the right water, and Kumi
eagerly led Nabiki to the source of that water. Katsu Takanari.
     "I don't think so," Kumi answered. "I'll have the amounts figured
out, but Takezo's being stubborn about paying me. He thinks he has the
right to pay you and only you."
     "Did he want me to give him a manicure at the same time?" Nabiki
asked derisively. "Or maybe he wants me to hold his hand so he won't be
scared? What do you think his reasons are?"
     "I don't think he likes me," Kumi grinned. "Every time I mention a
certain date, he just gets flustered and defensive." 
     "Do you think he's having trouble dealing with reality?"
     "Oh no, I think he just can't accept the fact that I'm not thanking
him for his attentions," Kumi stated and then grinned devilishly.
     "I should probably have a talk with him, shouldn't I?" 
     "You don't need to go through all the trouble, Boss. I'm sure we'll
reach an accommodation."
     "If you say so, but I could always ask his father to speak with him,"
Nabiki suggested. Kumi shrugged non-committally, and Nabiki turned to face
Takanari. "Speaking of accommodations, I think we have some business to
discuss, ne, Takanari-kun?" 
     Takanari started in surprise at Nabiki's question. It was obvious
that he had been paying very little attention to the past few moments. "Um,
business?" he asked, sounding so much like Ranma that Nabiki barely
contained her smile.
     "I think our last transaction is not yet complete."
     "But I paid you the money, and the extra," Takanari whined, trying to
weasel his way out of the inevitable. 
     Nabiki tsked as she shook her head, "I'm not interested in the money,
Takanari-kun. You owe me something else." 
     Kumi pushed away from the table and set out to find some coffee for
her boss. What Takanari was trying was the visceral reaction to Nabiki, but
he was blind to the reality that his position had crumbled beneath him the
moment he had consented to meet Nabiki on her own terms. That was always
their first and last mistake. From the expression on Takanari's face, it
appeared he had just realized that he should have asked what he was feeding
to the lions before accepting the job to do so.
      "You mean the favour?" Takanari asked timidly. His hand massaged his
forehead as if a small bird was pecking incessantly between his  eyes.
     "I heard your girlfriend left you," Nabiki stated, oblivious, by
choice, to Takanari's question.
     "I still don't know how she found out about the other girl," Takanari
growled. "I was only with her twice. Only you..." His complaint died in
mid-sentence, and his eyes came to rest on Nabiki like a hyena's on a
circling vulture. 
     She saw him connecting facts and circumstances like the interlocking
pieces of a puzzle. She saw the escalating anger as a picture began to
form, but Nabiki remained unphased. She always kept her word, and the proof
was only a cup of coffee away.
     "You told her!" he accused.
     "Don't be absurd," Nabiki answered dismissively as Kumi returned with
a latte and set it down in front of Nabiki. Nabiki nodded her head in
thanks, never letting up the vices she had begun to close around Takanari.
"You paid me, and I always keep my bargains. Isn't that right, Kumi?"
     "I have never seen nor heard of you deviating from what you promised.
Of course, people always misunderstand what you say, but is that Nabiki's
fault, Katsu-san?" 
     "How can I believe you? What proof do you have that you didn't? And
why should I even listen to you, Nabiki?"  Takanari demanded indignantly.
     "Because I know who told your girlfriend about your little friend."
     Nabiki took a small sip of her latte and watched the emotions play
across his face like the multi-hued light reflected by a disco ball. This
was a tenuous moment. She had to make him believe her, or else he wouldn't
willingly follow her. Too much would go wrong if he was forced into her
plans.
     "I need more than that. How can I trust you?" Takanari asked
carefully. His eyes gleamed in the low light, and he surreptitiously wet
his lips as he spoke.
     "Because I asked your ex-girlfriend who told her?" Kumi answered
smugly.
     Takanari frowned at this and then opened his mouth to speak, but
Nabiki beat him to it. "C'mon, Taka-kun. Not even you are dense enough to
be ignorant about a few of your girlfriend's friends. Kumi happens to be
one of them."
     Glancing over at Kumi, Takanari received a small smile and a wink to
confirm Nabiki's words. "Okay, tell me, and I'll say that you didn't tell
her and listen to you."
     "Kumi?"
     Kumi nodded. "Do you know Chusho Hitomi?"
     Takanari nodded. "Yeah, she's in the grade below me. She hangs out a
lot with Setsuko's sister Aika."
     "That's her," Kumi acknowledged. "She told Aika about your little
fling, and Aika told her older sister."
     Takanari shook his head. "But why? What does she have against me?"
     "Probably nothing," Nabiki answered, "but Raiko never did like you
going out with Setsuko. Nor did she like you going out with Megumi or
Hakura."
     "Raiko? Why the hell would she care what I did? I told her a long
time ago that I wanted nothing to do with her. I don't like her type.
They're too much like you," Takanari snapped and then clamped a hand over
his mouth as his eyes widened in surprise and fear.
     Nabiki arched an eyebrow at him as Kumi tried desperately to control
a fit of giggling. She failed. Nabiki turned to face her associate as Kumi
began to giggle uncontrollably and then laugh, trying to speak between
gulps of air. "You... put... Oh gods..." She collapsed against the table,
tears in her eyes. "You're... You're worse... worse than... Ranma!"
     Even Nabiki smiled at that one. Takanari was still trembling in
shock, his eyes wide and mouth gaping as Kumi's laughter slowly died to a
few wet giggles. "Sorry, Boss," Kumi finally whispered. "I've never seen
something that stupid before. I thought everyone knew to hold their tongue
around you." Kumi smiled over at Takanari. "He did make me laugh though, so
don't go too hard on him."
     "I'm sorry, Nabiki," Takanari stammered, finally finding his voice.
"I didn't mean it. It just slipped out. Please don't ruin me. I'll do
anything."
     "Just for that, Taka-kun," Nabiki stated flatly, hiding her elation.
"I think you're going to be dating Raiko for a while."
     "Nani?"
     "It's very simple, Takanari. Raiko has been pining over you for
years. She's broken up every relationship you've had. For all I know, she
fixed you up with that girl a few weeks ago. I don't think that makes you
too happy, does it?"
     Nabiki watched satisfied as Takanari shook his head. The entire plan
had started on shaky ground. It took a few lucky clues and overheard
conversations, a little digging on Kumi's part, for Nabiki to begin putting
together the clues to Raiko's greatest weakness. She was hopelessly in love
with Takanari. In truth, every other guy she had gone out with and after,
even her intentions with Ranma, had been motivated to make Takanari jealous
and turn to her.
     "Just ask her out Takanari," Nabiki stated. "Take her to the movies.
Take her to dinner. I'll even provide you with money for the more expensive
things. I want you to make sure she thinks you love her. I don't care if
you cheat on her. I don't care what you do with her, just makes sure she
doesn't find out."
     "How can I do that, even if I do this?" Takanari prevaricated. 
     Nabiki smiled. She had him hooked. She could see the eager fire in
his eyes. He wanted some form of revenge also. "I'll take care of it,
Takanari. Just date her, and I'll tell you what to do. Just don't fall in
love with her. If you do, I'll make sure you suffer for a long time. Do you
understand?" 
     "Hai."
     "So I can count on you?"
     "Hai."
     "Excellent," Nabiki breathed ecstatically.
     It was ironic that she was going to be using Raiko's ultimate goal,
the reason she had gotten embroiled with Akane in the first place, to make
her suffer as much as her sister did. She would give Raiko her few short
weeks of fame and position as the Queen of Furinkan. Nabiki had a flair for
the dramatic. She knew when everything was perfect. It was like cooking.
She needed the right ingredients, the proper mixing proportions, and just
enough time to simmer and cook before she served it like revenge should be
served. Cold, and in plain sight of the world. 
     The rumours and innuendos about Akane would die with Ranma's return.
Maybe the pain and humiliation felt by her sister would disappear, but even
a moment of the anguished look that had adorned her sister's face as she
cried herself to sleep over the last week was too much to let pass quietly.
Raiko's humiliation would last for the rest of her teenage life, and,
hopefully, beyond.



                                   ~~5~~


     Akane was exhausted by the time she trudged through the front door.
She had spent the two hours since leaving Mio wandering the park. Hoping to
find some serenity, she had only found more questions. In the end she had
decided that home and bed were better for her than aimless wandering.
     "Akane? Is that you?"
     "Hai, Oneechan," Akane answered as she slipped off her shoes and
entered the main hall. Kasumi was in the kitchen, finishing up the after
dinner cleaning. 
     "Did you have a nice time?" Kasumi asked as her younger sister
entered the kitchen.
     "I guess."
     "Do you want something to eat?"
     "No, I had a bowl of oden an hour ago, and some ice cream before
that."
     Kasumi turned from her work and gave her a stern look. "That is not
very healthy food, Akane-chan."
     "Don't start, Oneechan," Akane sighed. "Everyone's yelled at me
today. I don't need you to do it too." Sighing, Akane pulled a stool up to
the counter and leaned her head against the cool laminate. 
     "Still, in your condition, even if you don't feel like, you are
eating for the baby as well."
     "Where's Otousan?" Akane asked suddenly, looking around worriedly.
     Kasumi shook her head in resignation. "Saotome-san and Otousan went
to the public baths an hour ago. They said they were going drinking
afterwards."
     Relief flooded through Akane. She was still unsure how she was going
to broach the subject of her pregnancy to her father. It wasn't like he
needed to know at the moment. She would tell him, she just wanted the
timing to be right. Preferably ten years in the future, she thought
ruefully. 
     Turning back to her sister, Akane found a reproachful look on her
face, but it quickly vanished beneath a small smile. "You really should
tell Otousan. He deserves to know."
     "I know," Akane sighed. "I'll do it, but just not now."
     "If you say so." Kasumi sighed and turned back to the dishes. "But he
might surprise you." 
     Silently berating herself, Akane stood up. "I'm sorry, sis. I'm just
tired. I didn't mean to snap at you."
     "That's okay, Akane-chan. I understand."
     Akane almost shouted that she didn't, but held her tongue in check.
"If there's nothing else, I'm gonna take a bath and go to bed."
     "No...Oh yes! A letter was delivered for you this morning."
     "A letter?" Akane's eyes brightened at the mention. Maybe Ranma had
written her.
     "It's on the table by the front door."
     Akane was gone before Kasumi finished. The letter was easy to find.
But, as she saw it, her heart sank. It was on parchment with her name
elegantly scrolled in ink on the front. Obviously, it wasn't from Ranma.
Still, curiosity compelled her, and she opened it and read it as she walked
back to the kitchen. She was frowning as she passed the kitchen.
     "Who is it from?" Kasumi called out.
     "Kunou," Akane replied absently, as she moved toward the stairs. "But
why does he want to meet me tomorrow?" she muttered to herself as she
climbed the stairs to her room, the bath forgetten.


                                   ~~6~~


     "Are you sure you don't want me to stay?"
     "It's okay, Mio. Besides, Kunou wanted to meet with me privately."
Akane smiled reassuringly at her friend, trying to pass off the rendezvous
as nothing out of the ordinary. Mio was not fooled.
     "If you say so, but I don't trust him."
     "Only a fool trusts Kunou," Akane responded quickly, "but he has been
agreeable the past few weeks. He probably just wants to give me a speech
about the baby. You know how he is."
     "Oh yes. 'Be steadfast against the unwholesome wiles of the accursed
Saotome. His words drip like the sweet scent of sap that entraps the golden
butterfly. Guard well thy virtue from miscreants such as he, sweet Tendou
Akane. But, I must have thee!'" 
     Akane smiled as Mio giggled at her own words. "He is rather inconsis-
tent, isn't he?" Akane asked.
     "The tide changes direction less than he does." 
     Akane snickered into her hands.
     "Are you sure you'll be fine? You were pretty upset yesterday, and
you *know* how Kunou annoys you." 
     Akane sighed and smoothed out her skirt. "I'd rather get it over with
now than keep dodging his requests for the next few weeks. Besides, at
least no one will know of this except him, you, and me. I'd prefer it that
way." 
     "I guess." Mio's voice betrayed her uncertainty. "I'll just be over
by the playground. We're going to study after this, right?"
     "Yeah, I'll see you in a bit. That's the pond he wanted to meet by."
Akane waved once and made her way down the path to the pond while Mio went
the other way.
     The path wound through the immaculate lawn like a termite trail in a
log. On either side, it was accented with blooming blue-white flowers. The
pond itself was a deep azure and was only a few meters wide. Roughly heart
shaped, there were three benches hidden among the groves of hedges
surrounding the pond. 
     Kunou's letter had described the location perfectly, only leaving out
the name. As she saw the kanji imprinted on a small metal plague attached
to a granite stone, she understood why. 
     It was a lover's pool. What did he think this was, a date? Smoothing
her skirt, Akane tried to calm herself, but a fire still burned deep within
her. At this point in her life, his foolishness was not welcome.
     Despite her words and actions, she did not dislike Kunou. It was his
constant ability to presume more than he knew, and to claim more than he
owned that sent her blood boiling almost as fast as Ranma did. In many
ways, he was too childish to hate, but that did not mean his antics did not
annoy her like a ward does his nanny.
     "The day has now culminated in a breathtaking vision of heaven. If
not but for stern and unbending duty, like a taskmaster sorely enraged by
drink, I wouldst embrace life's slumber and cradle mine head upon fleecy
dreams."
     "I thought you were going to stop that, Kunou-sempai," Akane stated.
She turned to find Kunou standing expectantly beside one of the benches. By
his dress, a kimono that began as a deep blue and slowly darkened to black
below the obi, the tone of this meeting was to be very much the formal one
she had dreaded.
       "Though it wounds me to the quick, mine instincts I shall curb like
errant thoughts that eat away at honour and sanity both."
     "Thank you," Akane mumbled and took a few steps toward him.
     "Would you like to sit?" He motioned toward the bench.
     "Will this take long?" Akane asked, eyeing the bench dubiously. She
did not want to put herself at a disadvantage. "I have things to do."
     "I understand. This will take but a few minutes. You may stand or
sit, either will not affect my words in the least." 
     "Just get to the point, Kunou-sempai."
     Nodding his head, Kunou turned away and walked to the edge of the
pond, his hands clasped at his side. "When last we talked, you told me this
was none of my business, and I agreed because you wished it, Tendou Akane.
Before that, I promised to be a friend to you, but I find it hard to keep
either of those promises."
     Akane began to retort, but Kunou held up his hand. "Do not argue,
listen." 
     Biting her lip to keep silent, Akane absently smoothed her skirt out
again. She was nervous, and Kunou Tatewaki's very formal manner was
alleviating that feeling like sand quenched thirst.
     "I have been absent from school because I can only mull over your
situation and gag on it like stale vomit."
     "Sempai!" 
     Kunou turned, his eyebrow cocked quizzically. "If I offend, I did not
mean to, Tendou Akane. But truth between us is needed. Your honour has been
compromised by circumstances that were very beyond your control. Even if
you protest and tell me that you submitted willing and such was just an
accident, that still leaves the undeniable blemish of Saotome's desertion
of you in your trying time of need."
     "He didn't desert me, Kunou-sempai. He doesn't even know about what
is happening."
     "Ignorance is no excuse. And in his ignorance, he will make a
decision that will end up in your continued dishonour. I cannot, and I will
not allow that."
     "I don't think you have a choice, Kunou-sempai," Akane responded
chilly. "You have nothing to do with anything that is happening to me. Why
won't you just take no as an answer?"
     Akane was surprised as he took two quick steps forward and cupped her
chin in his hand. Her hand was cocked for a punch before she thought about
it. But then she looked up into his face. His eyes were burning, filled
with a sense of purpose she rarely saw in him. His words were usually
empty, posturing more like the cock of a henhouse for the sole sake of his
ego than any real challenge. Her fist unclenched.
     "Why do you make this so hard for me, Tendou Akane? You bait and barb
me with words sharper than any Saotome has ever used. In many ways, you try
my patience more than your sister does. Yet, I still come back to you time
and time again, desiring to assist and protect you. Maybe it is love, or
maybe stupidity. Poets and writers have never figured which is more true,
so how could I? But I do know that you need help. Help that only I can
offer you."
     "What can you offer me, Kunou-sempai?" Akane asked. "Riches? Your
undying devotion? A certain future? Acceptance?"
     "Yes."
     Akane grasped his wrist and pulled his hand from her chin. "I don't
want that from you."
     "Why do you continue this fantastical and vicarious existence of
yours?" Kunou demanded harshly. "Do you still pine after than wretch? How
can your heart beat out his name when he abandons you, washing his hands
clean as he goes?"
     "I love him," Akane stately with the serenity and confidence of a
queen. 
     Kunou lapsed into a contemplative silence for a moment before
stepping backward and turning his eyes skyward. "Like the sun rising each
morn, like the constancy of the North star, I always knew that my love for
you would be there, morning or night. For years has that love guided and
blinded me. I have loved you with my whole soul, but love given is never
love received. Eros is impartial and unbalanced with his gift, but I can no
more deny it than can a drowning man not strive for air."
     "Shut up!" Akane screamed. "You don't know what you're talking about.
Just because I can't love you, doesn't mean that Ranma doesn't love me."
     "Reality is as it is, Tendou Akane. We both come from lifestyles that
are no longer the norm in Japan. We are driven more by necessity than by
any personal feeling. You're engagement to Saotome was arranged. His
feelings for you are obligated. If you love him, it is a love not returned.
You delude yourself, but I will not. I know your feelings are cold and
reptilian toward me. Warm words cost you, but I can offer you safety from
the people at school. I can legitimize your child. I can do all that you
might hope. Necessity is a cruel mistress, but she is one that must be
obeyed."
     Akane shook her head and stepped back from Kunou in fear. She did not
know this person in front of her. Kunou was harmless, a poser, a hollow
glass statue, a reflection of someone who did not exist. This man cut
deeply with words, words Nabiki might have used. He did not ask, but
demanded, did not coddle. "Leave me alone," Akane whispered in horror. "We
are not friends any more. I don't want anything to do with you."
     Kunou shrugged and captured her with his brown eyes. "None of us have
a choice. Marriage to me will solve your problems. I care for you enough
that I'll put aside my happiness and joy to save your honour. It will be a
marriage in name only. I ask nothing from you. If you wish, you will not
even have to live in my home. But you will be married to me. You will be my
wife, and that means you will do nothing to tarnish the Kunou name. Your
child will be mine. Your honour mine. Your family has broken the engagement
with the Saotome's. No one will ever take you again. There is no one who
could carry on your family line with as much honour. Your love of Ranma is
a sham. I am your only hope, Tendou Akane." He bowed deeply and turned to
leave, but he halted at the last minute and glanced over his shoulder. "I
don't expect an answer soon, but before long your condition will become too
advanced for you to put it off any longer. Adieu, fair sunrise of the
heavens."
     For a moment, Akane could only stare at his receding back in shock.
How could he? It wasn't true. None of it was true. He... He... "I hate
you!" she screamed. "I hate you! You are wrong. Ranma loves me. He'll come
back. I don't need you. I'll never need you! You're the delusional idiot!
You... Ranma loves me," she whispered and then sank to the ground weeping.
Kunou was gone, vanished into the park, but his words remained like echoes
deep within a cave. Forever, they reverberated their dark truth until they
were all she heard in the depths of her clouded soul.


                                   ~~7~~


     The streets of Nerima were calm in the early twilight. Although an
uncommon experience, the quiet and serenity of both day and night had
become the norm in the past weeks. For some, the quiet was disturbing. The
older men always cautioned that the quiet always came before the storm. But
still, even with the thought of the returning storm, people in Nerima
counted their blessings, and the last weeks of peaceful rest were the most
blessed the citizens of Nerima had enjoyed in several years.
     As Shampoo walked among the quiet houses, whose lights shone their
domestic tranquility upon the people and cars in the streets, she could
only feel an abiding sorrow. In the insanity and storm that many of
Nerima's residents found only headaches and excuses to find a new home,
Shampoo had found her own home. 
     But like a mother who wakes one morning to find her home empty of
children, Nerima had become lonesome and desolate for Shampoo. Since the
Nekohaten had closed a week ago, the youthful Amazon had found the days to
pass lethargically. At times, she found herself picking up her bicycle to
go find her husband, only to realize that he was no longer in town. Only
the knowledge that she would soon be with him in China kept her smiling
throughout the day, but thoughts rarely relieved boredom for an Amazon.
     She frowned as she slowed and finally stopped. Leaning against a
lamppost, the light spilt across her lavender locks and threw her face into
shadow. It was not even the boredom that held the clouds above her head and
furrowed her delicate brow. The few days after the Nekohaten had shut its
doors and served its last customers, she was a bundle of nervous energy,
relaxing in the moment of freedom, practicing her art, and just lulling
about the empty building. That had changed with her great-grandmother's
proclamation that Shampoo herself had to leave for Hong Kong soon and meet
Ranma there.
     She was heading home. The reality of it hit her the moment Cologne
told her to pack and to expect to leave in but a moment's notice.
     Shampoo sighed. She was going to miss Nerima.
     It was a strong consolation that her departure was going to be to
join her beloved Ranma. But why did she continuously wander the streets,
searching aimlessly for something she couldn't explain, just that she knew
it was something she had lost? She kept expecting Mousse to declare his
love for her. She wanted to crash into Ranma and grasp him tightly as she
watched the jealousy and anger blossom, like a school-girl's blush, on
Akane's face. 
     For a moment, she considered trying to talk with the youngest Tendou,
but the mere thought of the reception she would receive was enough to deter
her. In the ultimate scheme of the kami, it was for the best that she left,
she decided. The means by which she had finally won Ranma had put her
beyond everyone she had ever considered her friend. They would turn their
backs on her, deride her, and would accost her with that look. The look of
disgust and betrayal. The look that told her she had gone too far, that she
had not won but torn apart the lives of everyone she knew and cared about.
     She did it for the Amazons. She did it for a Clan and a village that
she had few ties to. Only her great-grandmother and Mousse were her friends
from China. But could they really be counted? No one in the village was her
friend. They were enemies, opponents, and challengers. She had been raised
beyond them all. But here, here she was someone, even if it was an annoying
person. 
     It hurt to turn away from all that she had found. It tore her heart
that she had to leave like she did, unloved and despised by many. It didn't
matter that Cologne had been the one to conceive and bring the desperate
plan to fruition, she was still the Amazon bimbo and no one would forgive
her. But she did it for love. For the love of Ranma, the one man who made
her life mean more than an unending battle of survival. For that love, to
have his arms around her and his lips on her own, she would make the devils
glare with envy. For that love, she would become a saint to make the angels
weep and sing in adulation.
     Shampoo produced an indelicate noise of disgust. Why was she pining
over the loss of competitors? She had won. In the end, the Amazon strength
had risen its head as the victorious one. She should not be moping, but
strutting the town with a bold and daring step. She should be rubbing her
victory in the faces of the others. 
     So why wasn't she?
     She didn't know, and she did not want to know. It was a portion of
herself she did not want to admit existed. It was the portion that kept
telling her that what she was doing was wrong, but that small voice paled
in comparison with her great-grandmother's. If she was going to marry
Ranma, she had to ignore that voice. She had to do what her great-grand- 
mother desired of her. 
     Straightening herself, Shampoo stepped back onto the sidewalk. Before
she took two steps, however, she collided with someone. Stumbling
backwards, Shampoo quickly regained her balance and turned to find the
person she had accidentally accosted. An apology was on her lips, but it
died as she found herself looking into the cool eyes of Nabiki.
     Nabiki was regarding Shampoo carefully, an eyebrow cocked inquisi- 
tively. She was leaning lightly against a tall, thin man with dark,
slightly grey-shot hair. They were both wearing formal clothing, the man in
a pressed, dark suit with a red kerchief in the pocket and a dark tie
against his starched white shirt. Nabiki wore a midnight blue evening gown
that clung to her figure like a lover and glittered in the light. It was
low-cut and contrasted with the white skin of her visible bosom to make a
tempting invitation for any man's eyes.
     Shampoo didn't know the man, nor was she interested in who he was,
but she eyed Nabiki warily, like one did a large spider crawling across the
floor.
     "It's nice to see you again, Shampoo," Nabiki said with a quirk on
her lips. "How have you been?"
     "Shampoo been fine."
     "I'm surprised you are still in Nerima. I would have thought that
you'd be chasing after Ranma-kun by now. You were _always_ so ambitious
about it before."
     "Nabiki," the tall man interrupted before Shampoo could respond,
"might I get an introduction?"
     "Of course, Satoru-kun," Nabiki smiled pleasantly, her eyes glinting
maliciously. "May I present Shan-pu, great-granddaughter of Kuh Lon,
Matriarch of the Amazons."
     The way Nabiki emphasized each word gave Shampoo the impression that
she was being looked down upon. She saw the same reflected in Satoru's
eyes. He was obviously sizing her up and dismissing her as unimportant in
his world. She understood the insult, but she refused to lower herself to
it. She was not the barbarian Nabiki and the Japanese thought her to be. 
     Satoru nodded his head in her direction as Nabiki continued. "Shan- 
pu, this is Yoshioka Satoru-san, the new Director of Mishimata Land and
Holdings, son of Yoshioka Satoshi vice president of Mishimata Industries."
     "Hajimemashite. Douzo yoroshiku," Shampoo mouthed formally.
     "It is pleasant to meet you also," Satoru-san responded. "Please
regard me favorably as well."
     They were words that were used for every meeting. Her great-grand- 
mother had drilled the proprieties of the Japanese language into her, but
she understood that they were only formalities.
     "I haven't seen you for a while, Shampoo," Nabiki chatted amiably.
     "Shampoo no have time to fool with greedy Tendou-girl."
     "Oh, is that so? Or are you simply feeling guilty for what your
great-grandmother and you did to Ranma?"
     Shampoo flinched at the anger in Nabiki's voice. The words brought up
the small voice again, but Shampoo roughly shoved it aside. She refused to
break down in front of this girl and give her the satisfaction of knowing
she had won the last encounter. "Why Shampoo feel guilty? Shampoo do what
right. Shampoo help free Airen, and now Shampoo go back to China with
Airen."
     "Oh, so you know where he is?"
     "Shampoo know."
     "I'm so glad," Nabiki gushed. "You'll have a hard enough time catch- 
ing him. I didn't want you to waste your time looking for a wild horse. But
I suppose your great-grandmother will be there to help you lasso him in."
     "Great-grandmother stay here," Shampoo snapped, trying to make it
clear that she was the one who would catch Ranma. "She still sell
restaurant."
     "That *is* a pity."
     "Nabiki," Satoru interrupted, "I think it is time we got going. The
reservations are for eight o'clock. That only gives us half an hour."
     "I'm sorry, Satoru-kun," Nabiki answered, ignoring Shampoo. "We
should be going. Ja, Shampoo. Good luck in your hunting. You'll need it."
     Nabiki and Satoru disappeared up the street, Nabiki's tinkling
laughter ghosting behind the two. Shampoo ground her teeth together. She
might miss some people in Nerima, but she was definitely not going to mourn
the loss of the middle Tendou daughter's companionship.


                                   ~~8~~


     "Have you spoken with him since?" Mio asked.
     "No," Akane replied coldly. "I don't even want to see his face."
     "I don't blame you, but still."
     "But nothing! He just wants me back." Akane snorted in disgust. "As
if he had me in the first place. What a pompous, misguided sukebe!"
     "Not so loud, Akane," Mio cautioned as several people on the street
regarded them with disapproval. "You might be right, but we are in public."
     "I'm sorry," Akane sighed. "I just can't get over it. The nerve of
him. To think that I would ever need him or his honour? Ranma has more
sense than him."
     "C'mon, Akane. You've been going on about this all week. Just ignore
it. He's harmless."
     "I know. I know," Akane sighed, and then added, "I just can't help
believing that everything he said is true." 
     The last was but a whisper on the wind and not intended for anyone's
ears, but Mio still heard it, bringing back the terror she had felt just
five days ago. 
     After waiting an hour for Akane, she had become worried and went back
to look for her friend. The day was lengthening as she neared the pond. The
park around her was empty. People did not come to this portion until later
in the evening. As she approached the serene quiet was broken by a
sporadic, muffled voice. Worried and curious, Mio hurried toward the small
pond. The voice got louder and more distraught as she approached. Stepping
past the row of hedges around the placid pool, she found the wellspring of
the sound. 
     With a cry, she ran to Akane, who was leaning against one of the
benches, her arms wrapped about her knees. "Neechan! What happened? Did
Kunou hurt you? Please! Talk to me."
     Akane only shook her head and mumbled. "He loves me. Ranma loves...
Kunou doesn't understand. Even if he doesn't know... Even if... He loves
me. He has to love me!" 
     Mio shuddered as she walked next to her friend. It was easy to forget
that Akane was like everyone else. People always put on their strongest
face, their most confident appearance in public, while jealously hoarding
insecurities as if they were gold nuggets. She did it with her family life.
She kept the pain bottled up. She smiled and kept to herself. It was the
safest way. Ranma used his boisterousness and out-going personality to hide
the frightened child who did not how to deal with the world. 
     With Akane, it had always been anger. 
     The red hot temper that many feared was her only way of keeping
people from the terrified and uncertain child that lurked just below the
surface. She angered quickly, but Mio, as her oldest friend, had been privy
to the breakdowns that occurred frequently. For Akane, there simply was no
middle ground. She could never find it long enough to be comfortable. She
was either completely happy, homicidally angry, or hysterical. Akane just
did not understand how to handle life. Mio did not understand it, but she
accepted it and tried to work around Akane's limitations. 
     "Do you want to get something to eat?" It was a common tactic. If she
could distract Akane, everything would be okay.
     "I'm not really hungry," Akane answered as she ground her teeth in
frustration.
     "Stop lying. Your stomach's been growling since sixth period," Mio
badgered. "C'mon. Ucchan's is just ahead. We can get some okonomiyaki. I'll
even pay for it."
     "Well..."
     "C'mon."
     "Hai," Akane grinned. "Maybe I could use something to eat."
     "Of course you can." 
     Grabbing Akane's hand, Mio pulled her across the street and toward
the Ucchan. It was a short walk, and soon they were sliding into a small
booth as the scintillating aroma of okonomiyaki filled the air.
     There were many restaurants in Nerima. Some even served okonomiyaki,
one or two even better than the Ucchan, but Mio always came back to the
Ucchan. It was hard to explain why. There was a comfort within the small
little shop. From the grill just behind the short, maple bar and the half
dozen small tables and dozen booths to the slowly dancing ceiling fans and
the curtains and plants, it exuded a serene quality akin to Kasumi's
kitchen and home. 
     The Ucchan wasn't a business built on the desire for money. It was
built for love. Even if it was misplaced love, it was still built on a
concept that filled the restaurant with the extra care and relaxing feel of
the home. When she came here, Mio felt the same way she did eating with the
Tendou family. Just like Kasumi's exquisite meals and immaculate home,
Ucchan's whispered, "I do this because I love you." Even if the love wasn't
for her, she knew, in some general sense, that she was included in the care
and joy Ukyou gave and received from her quaint shop.
     "Can I help you?"
     The feminine voice startled both Akane and Mio. A teenage girl was
standing beside their booth, a pad and pencil in hand. She was wearing a
short, blue skirt and white blouse. It was not abnormal, accept from the
fact that the girl was new to the store. Neither Akane nor Mio recognized
the raven-haired girl.
     "Who are you?' Mio asked after a moment. "I've never seen you here
before."
     The girl smiled. "Oh, I'm Megumi. I was just hired a few days ago.
They needed some part-time help. I was in here one day, saw Konatsu-san put
the sign up, and he hired me."
     "Konatsu hired you?" Akane started. "Where is Ukyou?"
     "She is..."
     "Hey Akane! Mio!" a familiar voice interrupted from the door. 
     Turning Mio saw Hiroshi standing by the door. Even though his head
was outside the door, she knew it was Hiroshi. She could have picked him
out of a crowd at a masquerade ball. 
     "Hey, Daisuke! Sayuri!" Hiroshi shouted, his voice muffled by the
door and walls. "Akane and Mio are in here. Let's eat with them."
     Wearing a rakish grin, Hiroshi popped his head back into the
restaurant and combed his fingers through his unruly brown hair. Mio smiled
in spite of herself. He was a good guy at heart, just a complete social
klutz. It wasn't so much that he tried to fit in and failed, but that his
concept of fitting in was to be himself, which in turn ended him in hot
water with almost every girl and half the guys. 
     Because of that, he placed himself in Ranma's friendship almost
immediately upon his entering Furinkan. Mio really did not even think that
Hiroshi had sought Ranma out, more than they had stumbled across each
other, struck up and conversation and never found a satisfactory ending
point. Wasn't that what friendship was all about? Two people who depended
on each other more for conversation and understanding than any sense of
attraction. Of course, besides Ranma and Diasuke, Hiroshi's childhood
friend, Mio only knew of a few other people he hung out with, and most of
those were brought about because of Ranma's contact with Akane.
     It was really a shame. The reputation he held was undeserved. Mio had
known him for several years and found that he was probably one of the most
intelligent people she would ever meet, if not the most eccentric. Despite
his intelligence, or maybe because of it, he never tried to step around the
subject, preferring to confront people with the same tact as Theodore
Roosevelt's political practices. 
     "Ah, I hope you don't mind that we join you," Hiroshi stated as he
slid into the booth, forcing Akane to scoot toward the window. 
     "Not at all, Hiroshi-kun. Ne, Mio-chan?" Akane asked smiling at er
friend. 
     Mio started as the question was asked. Though she had been paying
attention, it was more like the attention paid to a well-known route,
simply watching for new obstacles. She stumbled over this one, to busy
watching and thinking about Hiroshi to concentrate. "Uh, what was that?"
Mio asked, smiling slightly at Hiroshi. He didn't notice, too busy
directing Diasuke and his girlfriend Sayuri to the table.
     "I said, aren't you glad Hiroshi-kun joined us?" 
     The question drew Mio back to Akane. "Sure. I don't mind being with
him." She smiled a little at the thought and then blushed as she realized
she had said it aloud. She tried to cover it up with a quick addendum. "If
you don't mind that is." 
     Akane smiled at her friend, her eyes thoughtful and filled with
mirth. Mio bit her lip and slid lower in her seat. She knew Akane was up to
something, and Mio was fairly sure it was going to be embarrassing.
     "So have you guys ordered yet?" Hiroshi asked, and then continued
without waiting for an answer. "No, I didn't think so. So what do you want,
Mio?"
     "Probably her usual," Akane prompted.
     "Right, a Chef's Deluxe," Hiroshi finished, snapping his fingers and
then shaking his head. "Should've thought of that myself" 
     Akane only winked at Mio, who just kept her eyes down, trying to keep
from blushing. At least, Akane was occupied with something else.
     "You still want two Deluxe's, extra sauce, Daisuke?"
     "Do you have to ask, man? I always get the same thing."
     "Well, just wanted to make sure. You never know when you might decide
to do something unexpected."
     "And the sun'll rise in the west," Sayuri smiled.
     "Hey, I skipped lunch last week Thursday," Daisuke protested. "If
that isn't spontaneous..."
     "Detention with Hinako-sensei isn't spontaneous," Mio added softly.
     "Just what I was going to say," Hiroshi grinned and then turned to
Sayuri. "So what do you want? Let me guess. A new boyfriend? I'm free."
     "Get real," Sayuri sighed. "He is such a pain sometimes. I don't know
why I even put up with him. If I have to deal with that idiot, I don't even
think Daisuke's worth it."
     "Oh, I know," Akane pipped up. "I think it's Ranma's influence. He
seems to bring the worst out in people."
     "Or the best," Mio retorted and then blushed as Akane grinned at her. 
     "At least someone's on my side," Hiroshi said. "How  bout you,
Daisuke?"
     "Are you paying?"
     Hiroshi gave his friend a very even look. 
     "Then I guess I'm siding with Sayuri."
     Hiroshi drew his face up in an artful contrivance of pain. "Et tu,
Daisuke? But so fares the lone man  gainst the wiles of a woman's allure.
My own friend turned against me and leashed by... itai!"
     Sayuri smirked and rearranged her skirt. Hiroshi was nursing his shin
and looking like a contrite puppy.
     "So, Akane, how are things going?" Sayuri asked, breaking Hiroshi's
stranglehold on the conversation much to Mio's relief.
     "The good or the bad?"
     "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."
     "No," Akane reassured her friend. "I'm just being short with everyone
these days. I'm sorry if I hurt you."
     "What's there to be sorry about, Akane?" Hiroshi asked seriously, his
brown eyes burning. "Everyone is just being a snob." 
     "If you beat a few of them up," Daisuke suggested, "they'd probably
leave you alone."
     "But then they'd hate her," Hiroshi protested.
     "They already do," Daisuke responded.
     "Hiroshi's right, Suke-chan," Sayuri said. "No one hates Akane except
Raiko and her bunch. Everyone else is just following that crowd."
     "Right," Hiroshi agreed. "They think they can get back at her for
being popular and having all the guys chase her."
     "I still think you should beat  em up, Akane. They deserve it."
     "Drop it man," Hiroshi warned Daisuke. "If Akane wanted to do that,
she would've done it. She has other things on her mind. Let them be, even
if they do deserve it." Hiroshi looked around and then began to smile like
Nabiki at the height of a conquest. "If they feel safe, it'll hurt even
more when Ranma kicks all of their asses from here to Hokkaido."
     Only interested in Hiroshi, Mio did not look at Akane until he
finished his last sentence with that gloating boast. Akane was staring at
all of them, her eyes shimmering. "Akane?" Mio called softly. "Did we say
something wrong?"
     She shook her head and dried her eyes. "No... Never. I just keep
forgetting that I have friends in all of this. Thank you. Thank you so
much. Especially you, Hiroshi-kun." 
     Impulsively, Akane leaned over toward Hiroshi. For a moment Mio
thought Akane would kiss him, but Akane caught herself at the last moment
and only gently brushed his cheek. From the way Hiroshi started and looked
guiltily around, however, one would have thought he had just received the
kiss of a lifetime from Akane. Ranma's jealous rages were the stuff of
legends, and even without him, things had a way of making their way around
Nerima and being blown way out of proportion.
     "You are such a nice guy, Hiroshi-kun" Akane sighed wistfully. "If it
wasn't for Ranma..." She left it hanging and then leaned back in her seat,
a devilish grin on her face. "Some girl is gonna be very lucky though," she
stated, winking at Mio.
     Hiroshi was lost, as usual. And, with the snickering and knowing
looks from both Sayuri and Daisuke, it was the only reason Mio was not
blushing furiously. She wanted desperately to disappear. Mortified, she was
waiting nervously for Hiroshi to turn to her and tell her that she was
dreaming. But he didn't, only asking for the joke to be explained. Was
Hiroshi that dense? Mio didn't think so. 
     Looking over at her, his eyes puzzled, he asked her, "What is so
funny? Was it something I said, Mio? And why are you blushing? Is it too
hot in here?"
     Mio's courage fled from her like winter from the coming of spring.
Hurriedly pushing herself to her feet, Mio excused herself for a moment in
order to freshen up. Akane's tinkling laughter followed her to the
restroom.
      She was gone longer than a moment, but she returned to a more sedate
table, much to her relief.
     "So you're really going to keep the baby?" Sayuri asked as Mio walked
up to the table.
     "I'm not sure," Akane answered. She glanced up at Mio and smiled,
mouthing the words I'm sorry. "I guess, I just don't want to make a
decision until Ranma comes back."
     Accepting the apology, Mio answered with her own shy smile as Daisuke
and Sayuri made room for her across from Hiroshi. He winked at her as she
took her seat bringing more colour to her cheeks.
     "So you're just ignoring it?" Sayuri asked. "Is that wise?"
     "Of course I'm not ignoring it," Akane said. "I'm just not making any
decisions yet. Actually, I'm going to get an ultrasound in..." she checked
her watch, "about an hour."
     "Hontoo!?"
     "Hai, Toufu-sensei thought it would be a good idea."
     "Will you bring the picture to school tomorrow?" Sayuri asked
eagerly, her eyes alight.
     "Why?" Daisuke asked curiously.
     "Huh?"
     "Why, Sayuri? I mean, I remember when my mom was pregnant with my
sister. She had an ultrasound like twelve weeks in and there really wasn't
much to see, just some black and white stuff and a red circle the doctor
drew in around a black smudge. I mean it isn't that important...oofff!"
     "Not that important!" Sayuri demanded as Daisuke groaned and grasped
his side. "Men! You are all so hopeless. Don't you know anything about
women and babies."
     "Give us a break," Hiroshi grinned. "Ranma never tells us anything."
     "Exactly! You know nothing!" Sayuri said triumphantly, and then
blinked. "Ranma?"
     "Well, he does have that curse," Hiroshi explained.
     Sayuri groaned and placed her head on the table, her black hair
spreading in a fan across the polished wood.
     "You mean he doesn't know?" Hiroshi and Daisuke asked incredulously.
     "Of course not," Akane said. "At least I don't think he does. He
really doesn't like being a girl, and I'd assume he's more terrified of
becoming pregnant, even if he could, than anything else."
     "Sheesh," Daisuke sighed. "He's wasting a perfectly good opportunity.
I mean, if I turned into a girl, I'd..."
     "You'd what?" Sayuri asked dangerously.
     "Um... actually... why don't I drop this."
     "Do." She elbowed him again, playfully this time. "Pervert."
     "Mio?" 
     "Yes, Hiroshi."
     "Do you know what Sayuri is trying so hard to tell us boys about?"
     "Sort of," Mio answered softly. "Girls are brought up knowing that
they can have children. We just think about it, not always, but we play
games about caring for kids, and in general just wait for the real thing to
come along. It's not always like that, but Sayuri is getting a chance to
have a crack at pregnancy second-hand. It is almost as good as first- 
hand, and to some women even better. Does that help?"
     "Not in the least, but I'll believe you."
     Mio smiled and blushed as she dropped her head.
     "Are we going to eat?" Akane asked suddenly. "I've gotta leave soon,
and Mio is coming with me."
     "Gomen," Hiroshi apologized. "Megumi, can you take our order."
     The raven-haired waitress was next to their table a moment later.
Hiroshi quickly ordered for Mio, Daisuke, and Sayuri and then looked at
Akane. "What do you want? I forgot to ask, but you usually get the seafood,
don't you?"
     "No, but that sounds fine. Just a small one though. I'm really to
nervous to eat."
     "Okay, one small seafood with that and five Cokes, Megumi."
     "No problem, Hiroshi-san. It'll be just a few minutes while Konatsu- 
san gets them."
     "Doumo."
     "Hiroshi-san?" Akane asked as the girl left.
     "Uh... yeah."
     "I thought you weren't seeing anyone."
     "I'm not," Hiroshi protested, his eyes flickering toward Mio and then
back to Akane, who was glowering at him. "I met her on her first day. She
was a little nervous, and I thought she could use a friend. Konatsu was a
wreck with Ukyou gone, and so I helped her out a bit."
     "Ukyou's gone?" Akane demanded, her fists clenching in anger.
     "Yeah, she left a few weeks ago, right after Ranma left," Hiroshi
responed a little perplexed. "I thought you knew."
     "Konatsu!" Akane screamed.
     Mio winced at the volume, but it got results. Konatsu was at their
table a moment later, followed by every eye in the restaurant. 
     "Hai, Akane-san." The kunnoichi smiled nervously and smoothed the
loose clothing he was wearing. "Is something wrong?"
     "Where is Ukyou?"
     "She's out taking care of business. She'll be back in a few weeks. I
can do anything she can, if that's what you're worried about," Konatsu
smiled reassuringly, but let it drop in the face of Akane's glare.
     "You had better tell me that she is in Taiwan right now."
     "Ah, actually, she is in Hong Kong. At least, that is what she told
me last night when she called."
     "Do you know why she is there?" Akane asked her voice sinking to a
low whisper, hopeful yet certain of the truth.
     Konatsu prevaricated, stepping from one foot to the other for a few
moments. When he looked up their was indecision etched across his feminine
features. He opened his mouth to speak, but Akane interrupted.
     "The truth, please. I need to know."
     Konatsu hung his head. "She's looking for Ranma. She says he should
show up in Hong Kong pretty soon."
     Konatsu fell silent, waiting. Everyone waited, including Mio. They
waited for the explosion. They dreaded the onslaught of the famous Tendou
Akane anger that leveled buildings and could crush one of the most powerful
martial artists with the negligent blow of a giant swatting a fly. It never
came.
     Akane was watching the table, her eyes empty, her body still.
     "Akane?" Mio asked worriedly
     "Thank you, Konatsu," Akane said, her voice firm but emotionless.
"Could you please get our food."
     "Hai." The kunnoichi disappeared back to the counter, obviously
feeling safer with a counter and a good two dozen feet of table-filled
floor between himself and Akane.
     "Akane, are you okay?" Mio asked.
     "I was expecting you to blow," Sayuri commented softly, delicately.
     "Why shouldn't I be?"
     "Well Ukyou is going after Ranma," Hiroshi stated. "And you're not
engaged anymore. And..."
     "I'm fine!" Akane snapped. "Ukyou can do what she wants. She has been
chasing Ranma for ten years. She never caught him, and she never will.
There is nothing to worry about except her own safety. If Shampoo catches
her, she is going to be in trouble."
     Mio knew Akane was lying, but there was nothing she could do about
it. Akane needed to deal with everything in her own way, and if lying to
herself was easier than facing the truth then so be it. Mio decided to let
the subject die for the moment. The others seemed to unconsciously agree as
the topic shifted back to Akane's pregnancy and Sayuri's desire to see the
ultrasound and the possibility of a baby shower.
     Akane protested a bit, mostly for show, until the food arrived. They
ate quickly, and in silence. Akane finished first and waited impatiently
for Mio to finish. Knowing Akane was edgy, Mio pushed away more than half
of her okonomiyaki and said her good-byes to the group as she and Akane
started toward the door. 
     As they walked out the door, Akane leaned against Mio and whispered,
"Thank you. Thanks for supporting me. I just don't want to deal with that
today."
     "I understand," Mio said. She did. There were days when she felt
reality was just too real to be anything but a bad nightmare that had to be
ignored. Akane was having a week like that, and Mio wasn't about to
begrudge Akane her peace of mind for the moment. Together they made their
way toward the hospital.


                                   ~~9~~


     Saotome Nodoka was a woman most would consider to have done well for
herself. At thirty-four, she had overcome the stumbling block of marriage
at the age of sixteen and a child at seventeen. She had finally come into
the prime of her beauty. Her reddish brown hair, though done up in a
conservative bun, accented her green eyes and slightly olive-toned skin and
made her the object of dozens of suitors in the past few years. Of course
that was not all the suitors were after.
     Stopping beside a small shop of spices and fragrances, Nodoka plucked
a bag of crushed rose and saffron from the table and brought it to her
nose. The smell was heavenly and a small smile crept across her lips, but
it never reached her eyes.
     Unlike most people, Saotome Nodoka had the uncanny ability of turning
woes and setbacks into gains. She had been twenty-two when her husband took
Ranma from their home. In the next two years, he returned a dozen times,
most in the first year, but he never brought money. To keep herself out of
debt, Nodoka swallowed her pride and took a part-time job. Yet even that
money barely supported her with the essentials of life. 
     Too prideful to beg money from her parents, she tricked her husband
instead. When he returned for a short rest, she allowed him to drink
himself into a stupor. From there, it was simpler than miso soup to get her
hands on her dowry. Three signatures later, she was done and very well off.
Her parents had never been short of money, and they had offered the dowry
as more of a security blanket to their only daughter upon her marriage to
what they considered a very undesirable suitor. 
     In the past years, Nodoka often had wondered if her parents had been
right and her marriage had not been the joyful event that she believed it
to have been. True, she had been pregnant with Ranma. True, she had loved,
and still loved, Genma. But today, she was alone with nothing but her
memories. Memories that seemed to fade as the years passed like days adrift
at sea did, slow, empty, and only sustained by hope.
     But she never gave up hope. She might put aside her katana at home.
She could lay aside her pride to make ends meet, but the locket holding her
son's picture hung about her neck as permanent as the starry heavens, as
reassuring as Ranma's actual presence might be.
     Her life centered around her child, like any good Japanese mother's
life should. Even if he wasn't there, she prepared for him. She made enough
from part-time jobs to live on, but when she finally claimed her dowry,
instead of paying off her husband's massive debts and indulging herself,
she handed the money over to a member of the Tokyo Financial Group who was
willing to invest her money in stocks and properties for a seven and a half
percent commission on all profits, with a bonus every time he doubled the
amount invested. 
     If Nakamoto Takeshi was robbing her with that commission, she did not
know, nor did she care. They were both satisfied with the arrangement. Her
portfolio was growing steadily, despite paying off all of her husband's and
some of her own debts. As a sign of her good fortune, she was able to take
a healthy stipend out of the profits to live on and be able to cover the
payments on the four small boarding houses she maintained and used to
supplement her income. 
     The boarding houses were Nakamoto-san's idea, as most of her good
finacial decisions were. Even if she hadn't agreed with the idea, at the
time, she had been too grief-striken to do anything but sign the papers. 
     It was a few days before Ranma's tenth birthday when Nodoka received
word that her parent's small plane had gone down in the mountains of
Hokkaido during a storm. For three days, she waited while the storm raged
for any news, but they couldn't get anyone in to search.
     Ranma's birthday came, and she was alone in her small home in
Tachikawa, barely ten kilometers from the outskirts of Tokyo. Although her
son was gone, she still celebrated it as if it were a religious holiday.
And, like a religious holiday, every year she celebrated the same way. She
would greet the dawn with a simple breakfast and then go to her son's old
room with a single wrapped gift and put it on his bed with the gifts from
the previous years. Some were from her parents, some from Genma's parents,
though those had ceased to come after Ranma's eighth birthday.
     The small room was clean and tidy. The drawers were all neatly filled
with folded clothes, and his old toys were arranged neatly on the shelf.
She often wondered if it would be more comforting if she left the room a
mess, but she just could not bring herself to do that. Dozens of brightly
wrapped boxes with ribbons and bows, stenciled with flying lizards, giant
robots, starships, and martial artists were neatly arrayed on the small
bed. Almost reverently, she placed the new gift in the center of the bed. 
     The quilt was cold under her hands, absent of the smell of a young
boy who laughed and played and came to her for love and comfort. So empty.
So very empty...
     She had promised herself that she wouldn't cry, like she did every
year. But the tears came anyway, cascading down her cheeks to dampen the
unused quilt on her lost son's bed. She cried for her son. She cried for
her husband. For the love she needed, for the emptiness she felt. Her tears
were of worry for her parents, of uncertainty for her future. But mostly
she cried for herself, for the life she desired and had been denied.
     It was into this scene that the sound of the phone intruded, demand-
ing her attention with a voice as incessant and commanding as a babe's
lusty wail. No longer crying outwardly, Nodoka walked from the small
bedroom, gently nudging the door as she passed it, sending it slowly
swinging shut. The small kitchen was down the hall to the right, and the
living area where the phone sat upon a small table was next to the kitchen.
     Lifting the receiver, a voice asked if she was Saotome Nodoka. She
answered in the affirmative. The voice gave her its condolences and told
her that it was sorry to say that her parents and the other passengers were
all dead. There had been no survivors.
     She crumpled in on herself like a flower closing its petals for
protection. The phone tumbled to the wooden floor. The voice called for
her, but she was alone. Alone and unloved. Alone with no one but the
ghostly memories of her husband and her son. Down the hall, the door to
Ranma's room latched to never be opened again.
     Four days later the memorial and the cremation were held. She alone
was related to the deceased. All the others were friends of her parents,
associates in her father's business. Through all the empty words of
condolences, she felt like an actor, her face painted upon her like a Noh
mask as she mumbled her own responses to each person who touched her
shoulder, held her hand, lowered their eyes and spoke words that would
never heal the hurt within her heart.
     Her ancestral home became hers. Truthfully, it was given to her son.
Upon his birth, Ranma had become the heir to the entire Ishizaki family.
All the money belonged to her son. She was only there to watch over it and
to make sure he received it at some point.    
     She did very little with the inheritance, turning it over to
Nakamoto. She trusted him, and he protected her son's financial interests
where she could not. Only a little of the money did she take for herself,
just so she could have something important in her life. Nakamoto pushed her
into selling most of her family's real estate holdings, only keeping a few
boarding houses which she could care for and maintain herself. 
     In truth, it was the boarding houses that brought her to Nerima this
day. Over the last three years she had slowly sold off the houses until she
only owned four. After today, she was hoping to own only three. It was
enough for her. She was simply not disposed to dealing with the tenants
boarding houses attracted, especially one this near a college. For some
reason, college students always were the most problematic of tenants.
     Of course that was not the only reason. She had been made an offer,
and she had to make a decision. In the past, she had used the house as an
excuse to see if her son was at the Tendou dojo. It was only a few blocks
from the house to the Tendou dojo, but he was never there. It was as if he
were hiding from her, did not love her, or was ashamed to meet her. Maybe
it was all three.
     The Tendou's always tried to explain her son's absence. At first she
had believed them, but lies become stale after a time. Their eyes spoke
different words than their voices. Their eyes held fear, especially those
of her son's fiancee. They were protecting her son, harbouring him, and it
hurt her. It was obvious he did not wish her to be in his life. She just
wished that he might have told her, spoken to her and reassured her that it
wasn't her fault. But she knew it was. She had let her husband raise him.
She had given him up at that moment.
     For the last two and a half months she had avoided the Tendou house- 
hold because she feared the truth. She had put the boarding house up for
sale. Now, she finally had to decide whether to sever the final ties with
her son. If her husband and her son were going to hide from her...
     A movement caught her attention. She had been so involved in her
thoughts that she was still in front of the small shop, although she had
turned to face the bath house. The movement was actually a commotion in
front of the bath house. Distantly, she could hear the shrieks of women and
then a small figure bounded out of the front door, a bag over his shoulder.
He was gone before she could see who it was, but she knew the type. One of
those perverted men who took vicarious pleasure from viewing women and
stealing their undergarments.
     What surprised her was the next two people who came stumbling out of
the bath house, followed by a deluge of soap and brushes. She recognized
both of the men. Tendou Soun and her vagrant husband. Picking himself off
the ground, Soun began to march toward his home. Behind him, Genma wearily
lifted himself from the ground and followed his friend, his shoulders
slumped and his face empty of expression.
     The shock of seeing her husband after so many years, froze Nodoka,
and when she finally was able to move, her husband was disappearing down
the crowded street. For a moment she considered following, but years had
tempered her heart. She was no longer the love-sick mooncalf of a girl she
had been. She had a meeting to attend. 
     But, if her husband was around, did that mean that he son was at the
Tendou dojo? Maybe, but did he want to see her? 
     Fighting back tears, Nodoka continued walking toward her destination.
She knew she should try to find her son again if only to know for sure that
he loved her, or didn't want her in his life. But she was terrified of the
answer she would get, so she simply continued to walk down the streets of
Nerima. 
     It took only a few minutes to reach her destination, a two-storey
house just outside the main business district. Although it was home to her
rowdiest tenants, she loved the house itself. It had been built by an
American officer after World War II. It was a beautiful creation of
southern colonial American architecture. An expansive front porch with four
columns supporting it. A chimney of red brick on either end. The house was
white, a pure shining white with ivy crawling up the sides. A few small
plots of flowers dotted the front yard and along the short stone path that
lead from the iron gate to the front steps. The windows on the sides of the
first floor were bay windows, and two large picture windows flanked the
large double, oak doors.
     Opening the gate, Nodoka walked up to the front door, trying to
remember who was going to meet her. She wasn't sure if it was going to be
Yoshioka-san. He had been promoted in his company recently, and he might
have sent someone else to finish the deal. Opening the door, she walked
through the entryway and into the main entrance hall. A stairway spiraled
up from the polished oak floors to the second level where the bedrooms
were. On her right was the manager's room and study. Next to that was the
door to the kitchen. On her left was the reception room, where she was to
meet her buyer.
     The pocket door was partially ajar, leaving enough room for her to
slip around it. She did so, and was pleased to see Yoshioka Satoru facing
the door. He was talking to a young woman with brown hair. Her back was
turned toward Nodoka obscuring the face, but Nodoka thought she recognized
the girl. 
     "Ah, there you are," Yoshioka-san stated as she entered. "I was
wondering when you would get here."
     "I'm sorry I was late. I got delayed in town."
     "Auntie?"
     The familiar voice startled Nodoka. Looking over, she found Nabiki 
staring at her with wide eyes. "What are you doing here, Nabiki-chan?"
     "I could ask the same of you, Saotome-obasan," Nabiki replied.
     "I own this house," Nodoka replied with a slight smile at the
dumbfounded Nabiki. Maybe she would go visit the Tendou's tonight.

                                   ~~*~~

     "I'm home!"
     "Dinner's almost ready, Nabiki," Kasumi responded from the kitchen as
she set the soup to simmer and turned to the cutting board. She had decided
to prepare some sushi that evening. Although it was mostly vegetable, she
had found the money to buy some amaebi. Akane adored the sweet shrimp, and
her sister could use some cheering up. The expense was worth it to see just
a hint of a smile from Akane.
     "I brought someone for dinner, if it is no inconvenience." Nabiki's
voice was louder, announcing her approach to the kitchen.
     "That is okay, Nabiki-chan. Otousan and Saotome-ojisan are not going
to be here for dinner, something came up and they went out earlier. It'll
just be Akane and us, so we'll have plenty of room."
     "And where is my son?"
     Although surprised, Kasumi only smiled and turned her head to nod at
the beautiful woman waiting expectantly in the door. "He won't be with us
tonight, Saotome-obasan."
     "Why?"
     Behind Ranma's mother, Nabiki was mouthing for Kasumi to feign
ignorance, but Kasumi was not easily daunted from her perceived duties.
Ranma was now, more than ever before, and irrevocable member of the family.
His interests were hers, and his mother was a very important facet of his
continued growth. At least it would be when he returned, and without him
around, it was easier to work around him.
     "Would you like to help me cook?" Kasumi asked politely. "I find it
is easier to talk when my hands are busy."
     Nodoka took the suggestion. "I agree. Idle hands make for idle minds,
as my mother told me many times. I would be honoured to help you finish
dinner." She turned to Nabiki. "Thank you very much for keeping me company
on the way here. Would you like to join us?"
     Nabiki contemplated her options for a moment, and decided that
eavesdropping was the safer of them. She was not cut out for cooking, and
her sister and Ranma's mother could easily manipulate her out of the
kitchen at any time. "I have some work to do, Auntie. I'm sure you
understand."
     "Of course, dear. Would you please excuse me, Nabiki-chan?" And with
that, Nodoka set down her packages, slipped into an apron, and joined
Kasumi at the counter. Nabiki snuck back down the hall, and settled herself
into a chair and grabbed a nearby book, listening to the sounds from the
kitchen. 
     "Could you mix up the ginger sauce and put the tofu cubes in the
soup, Saotome-obasan?"
     "How strong do you make the ginger sauce, usually?"
     "Not too strong, but some extra ginger would be good. Akane's been
sick recently, and it helps."
     "Oh, does she have a flu?"
     "No," Kasumi responded, biting her lip as she sliced a cucumber in
half length-wise and then again for each half. "It's mostly nerves and some
depression."
     "Is it because of my son?" Nodoka asked intuitively. 
     Nabiki heard no response, but the quick chopping of the knife told
her that her sister was searching for a safe answer. The silence persisted
for a moment.
     "Yes, and no."
     There was the slithery plop of tofu sliding into water. "That is not
an answer, Kasumi-chan."
     "I know, Saotome-san, but I can't tell you more. Akane and Ranma
asked me not to."
     For a time, there was only the sound of cooking. Utensils against
cutting boards and pots, the bubbling of liquid and the scintillating scent
of delicious food. 
     "My son is hiding from me, Kasumi-chan, isn't he?"
     "Hai," Kasumi responded in a small voice.
     "I see. So why did you call me that first time and tell me that my
husband and son were staying at your home?" Nabiki gasped in surprise. Not
even she had known how Nodoka had found out Ranma was here. She had always
thought it had been Ranma himself who had invited her over that first time
and then chickened out because of his father. "Did you just want to show me
that you are a better mother than I was?"
     "No, no, Saotome-san!" Kasumi protested. "I never meant for you to
get hurt. Ranma wanted to see his mother so badly. He would talk about you
a lot, just those memories he had. He didn't say he wanted to see you, but
Ranma never asks for anything. I thought it would be nice. He didn't even
know until you sent that letter to him and your husband."
     "I'm sorry, Kasumi-chan. That last comment was uncalled for, but you
must understand how much this hurts me. It is hard for me to understand his
motives. I can understand his father's reticence, but if he wanted to meet
me so much, then why wasn't they here?" Nodoka demanded, her voice
catching. "Is he ashamed of me? Doesn't he love? Please, tell me. I have to
know, Kasumi-chan." The sounds from the kitchen ceased, only the aroma and
the sound of simmering water wafted on the air. The cars in the street were
loud and contended with the Yamaguchi children next door as they laughed
and played some silly game.
     "He loves you very much, Saotome-san. But he was raised by your
husband. I do not know how your husband was before, but he is a man ruled
by his fears and his insecurities. He is barely a man, preferring to hide
more than face the world. He is irresponsible, belligerent, conniving, and
unable to own up to anything he has ever done."
     Sighing regretfully, Nodoka said, "I had hoped that raising a child
would remove some of those habits from him. For a time, I had washed him of
them, but I guess it was never to be. And now, I assume, my son is like him
also."
     "In some ways, yes. I cannot deny that. I wish I could, but he is not
perfect. Like his father, he hides from himself, and his duties and
responsibilities. In others, however, he would make you so proud. He wants
so much to do what is right, but it seems that no one will ever give him a
choice that is right. Everything he does seems to hurt someone, so he
doesn't do anything. He doesn't do it from fear of growing up but out of
fear of making a mistake. I believe he truly wants to be held accountable
for his actions, but he does not know how to start. He is afraid and very
tired of hurting people. His friends, Akane, and you."
     "Me? He could never hurt me."
     "He doesn't want to disappoint you. He is terrified that you won't
love him, that you don't want him, that you will never be proud of who he
is. He knows of his faults, and tries to deny them, but he still knows they
are there. He just does not know how to be himself, how to trust someone
and let go of the control he strives for."
     "That cannot be all of the reason," Nodoka said. "You've told him of
me. You must have tried to convince him that I love him."
     "He knows you love him. Actually, you have met him several times."
     "How?"
     "I'm sorry. I cannot tell you. I would if I could, but I don't feel
right telling you. It is something, I think, that he needs to come to grips
with himself."
     "I see," Nodoka breathed, though her tone obviously stated that she
did not. "But, why didn't you tell me this earlier? Why keep me waiting so
long? He is my son!"
     "I promised my father not to tell you. I'm sorry, Saotome-san. I
wanted to tell you, but I cannot disobey my father."
     "I understand, Kasumi. I forgive you."
     "Arigatou gozaimasu, Saotome-san."
     "Nodoka, dear. We are both grown women. We should behave like them. I
don't want you to think that you cannot talk to me. Besides, I think you
probably know more about being mother than I do."
     Nabiki heard the playful tone in Nodoka's voice, but for some reason
her sister did not answer. Instead, the knife began to fall again in the
rhythmic click of snares in a parade. 
     "Did I say something wrong?"
     "No, Auntie. I'm having some problems with the family right now, and
I am not doing a very good job dealing with them." 
     "Raising a family is never easy. Five years of it taught me that
lesson well. Sometimes you just have to hope and allow the kami to work
everything out. It might not be for the best, but things will get better.
They always do."
     "I'm not so sure,' Kasumi said. "I didn't even realize what was
happening. I completely missed it because I was too worried about making
sure the house was in order. I try to keep up with everyone, but it gets so
hard. There is just too much insanity that revolves around your son for me
to keep track of everything. No matter how hard I try, I miss more than
half of everything that happens around here."
     "Would you like me to talk to my son?" Nodoka asked eagerly. "I want
to meet him anyway. I can talk to him tomorrow if he isn't going to be here
tonight."
     "I don't think that will be possible. Could you please hand me the
rice cooker. I need to start rolling these."
     "Here you go, Kasumi dear." The scrape of the legs on the rice cooker
filled the kitchen for a moment, and then the clink of the glass lid on the
counter top followed. "You said my son will not be here tonight, and it
sounds like he won't be here tomorrow. When will he be back?"
     "I don't know. I really don't know."
     "Kasumi, I thought we had an understanding. Every time I am here, I
hear the same words. 'He is gone on a training trip and we don't know when
he'll be back.' Now where is he?" Nabiki had not heard that tone of voice
since she had stolen a thousand yen from her own mother for some candy.
     "China. I think he's in China," Kasumi answered in a trembling voice.
"But I'm not sure. I really don't know. You'd have to ask Akane, or Nabiki.
They know more. I wish I did, Saotome-san. I really wish I did. Please
believe me!" Kasumi begged in a tearful voice.
     "Kasumi-chan. Oh, I am so sorry. I did not mean to sound so harsh. I
know it is not your fault."
     "Yes it is! I'm responsible for them. I promised Okaasan that I'd
take care of them, and I'm not doing a good enough job!" Kasumi wailed.
     Nabiki wanted to leave. In most cases she would listen to any
conversation, Kasumi's fears and insecurities were not one with which she
felt comfortable. To disappear into her room and shut the world out was a
better option than suffering through her older sister crying. Staying and
hearing the pain of the sister who always wore a smile and never doubted
anyone was worse than a burning chunk of metal eating a hole through her
chest.  
     "Kasumi, why don't we talk. Tell me what is going on in this house. I
have known you for nearly a year. This is not like you. Even with the weird
things that seem to follow everyone around in this house, you've never been
this upset. What is wrong?"
     "I don't know where to even start."
     "Try the beginning, or the closest thing to the beginning you can."
     "Okay," Kasumi said and then took a deep breath to calm herself. "I
told you that Ranma doesn't want to change things."
     "Yes. I'm not sure I understand it, nor do I agree with it, but if
that is how he is, I'll deal with it later."
     "You don't need to deal with it, Nodoka-san. Ranma changed everything
about two months ago."
     "What do you mean?"
     "I don't know the whole story, and I can't tell you half of what I
know because Akane would never trust me again if I did."
     "I understand, Kasumi-chan," Nodoka comforted, her voice soothing
like a wind chime. "Tell me what you think you can."
     "About two months ago, Ranma went to the hospital."
     "What?" Nodoka gasped. "Why didn't my husband tell me?"
     "I don't know, and I'm sorry, but I just didn't think of telling you.
Everything just changed that day. Ranma and Akane stopped fighting and
everything seemed to be going fine. Everything was fine. They were happy
together, so very happy. I'd never seen them like that. It was like the
last year and a half had been forgotten and forgiven.
     "I should have known that it would never last, but I never expected
what happened. One night, they came home, laughing and smiling from a date.
They just walked into the family room and told everyone that they had an
announcement."
     "They finally decided to get married?" Nodoka asked hopefully.
     "That's what Otousan and Saotome-san thought. Even I was surprised
when they told everyone that their engagement was off."
     Nabiki was distracted by the front door, so she missed Nodoka's
response. About to go check who was home, in the hopes of maybe getting
some money from Saotome, Nabiki stopped herself as she saw Akane walk down
the hall toward the kitchen. She had a smile on her face and a folder in
her hands. Compared to the Akane that had haunted the house for the past
few weeks, this one was almost bubbling. Her steps were light, and her eyes
were shining. The doubt and questions that usually flashed across her face
were gone, replaced with a distant and obscure expression, which Nabiki
could only assume was joy.
     "But Nodoka-san," Kasumi protested loudly. "He was just doing what he
thought was right. Saotome-ojisan had no right to treat him like that. He
did the only thing that would have saved his and Akane's relationship."
     "That may be so, Kasumi, but he still broke his father's word and the
honour of our family. Even if it was the right thing for him and Akane, it
was the wrong choice. I would have been forced to throw him out of my
house. You are lucky that your father allowed him to stay on your property.
What he did is beyond excuse! I argued and argued with my husband when told
of this engagement, and even went to speak with your mother. She liked it
no better, but your father and my husband insisted, and so we agreed. We
had no choice, and neither does my son."
     "But he doesn't deserve what he is going through. What Cologne did to
him for turning Shampoo away was horrendous. He is suffering to be with my
sister. I know he intends to marry her, but he had to do it his own way. Is
that so wrong?"
     "His father promised that he would make my son a man among men. I
always regretted making that promise, but I did. I had hoped that my
husband would live up to his promise, obviously he has not. You should not
worry about this Kasumi. It is a family matter now."
     "But my sister loves him. He is part of this family. Father is giving
him a chance. Just give him that. He is trying to make everything right. In
a month or two he'll be back and you will see. Don't take him from my
sister, Nodoka-san. Please."
     "I have no choice, Kasumi. He is my son. He is the heir to my family
name and honour as well as his father's. I cannot let this go. If he must
die to regain the honour of our families, then he will. Though I hope that
such a thing will not be the case. Either way, your sister has nothing to
do with this. My son gave her up, and now he must deal with the consequen- 
ces. I'm sorry. I wish I could do more. But Akane will have to find someone
else to spend her life with."
     A choking sob snapped Nabiki's attention away from her sister and
Ranma's mother. Spinning, she saw Akane disappear up the stairs. Glancing
back at the kitchen, an anguished expression crossed her face. She wanted
to help her sister, but she knew she could fix this mess with Ranma's
mother.
     "Nodoka, at least wait until Ranma returns before you make your
decision. And there is more that has to be considered. Talk to Nabiki
first. Talk to Akane. At least give her a chance to explain things to you.
I beg you, if you take Ranma from her, she'll die. I know she will. She
can't lose another person in her life. She just can't."
     "Fine. If Akane agrees to talk with me. And I want to talk with my
husband and your father also."
     "Not tonight. How about tomorrow, or Sunday. I can make plans for
then." 
     "That would be fine, Kasumi-chan, but I have obligations this
weekend. Next weekend I am free. We will all talk then. But now, why don't
we finish dinner. I think we have talked enough for one night."
     Nabiki was already moving upstairs as Kasumi and Nodoka went back to
preparing dinner. She just hoped that Akane would listen to reason.


                                   ~~10~~


     "Shan-pu?" 
     Her great-grandmother's voice was muffled by the closed door, but
Shampoo still heard it. Folding the last dress and putting it in one of the
boxes, Shampoo stood up and went to the door. Opening it, she called out in
Mandarin. "Yes, Great-grandmother."
     "Are you packed?"
     "Yes, Great-grandmother. I just have to get my traveling pack
together. It'll only take an hour or so."
     "Forget that for now and come down here for a few minutes."
     "Yes, Great-grandmother." Smoothing her dress, Shampoo closed the
door and hurried down the stairs to the restaurant proper. Prompt obedience
was one of the lessons her great-grandmother had taught her early in life,
and she was not about to change that just because she was eager to get to
China and Ranma.
     The main dining room was lit by only a few candles, their wavering
glow bringing life to the dark shadows and corners of the nearly empty
Nekohaten. The pass through to the kitchen shed a low yellow light into a
pool on the wooden floor. Through the pass through, Shampoo could see her
great-grandmother making a simple repast for the evening. Most likely a
soup from the smell. They did not have much food left in the restaurant.
     Stepping through the swinging doors, the warmth of the kitchen
surrounded Shampoo, comforting her like the warmth of her bed after rising
for a small glass of water. "What can I do for you, Great-grandmother?"
     "Dinner will be ready in a few moments, Shan-pu," Kuh Lon said
quietly in Mandarin, her voice crackling with age and wisdom. "But before
that, I wanted to talk to you. On the counter over there is your ticket 
for Hong Kong and your updated passport and papers. You will be leaving
tomorrow evening instead of Sunday. Hyu Chin wrote back to me and told me
that there is a small complication waiting for you in Hong Kong."
     "Oh," Shan-pu said thoughtfully as she retrieved her ticket and
passport from the table. "It is no problem for me. I will make sure that
there are no complications."
     "I am sure you will, Great-granddaughter, but I want to make sure."
     "I understand, Great-grandmother," Shan-pu nodded. "But who is Hyu
Chin? I do not know her, and what is she doing in Hong Kong?"
     "Hyu Chin is a friend of mine. Could you hand me those bowls, Shan-
pu?"
     Shan-pu grabbed two bowls from the counter and passed them to Kuh
Lon. 
     "Thank you. She is there to help you with Ranma and to make sure he
gets to the village on time with no problems."
     "I can get Ranma to the village, Great-grandmother. I am an Amazon,"
Shan-pu replied indignantly.
     "You are also in love with the fool boy. I am not allowing for any
margin of error. As it stands, you will have to be the one to get him out
of Hong Kong and started on the journey. For some unknown reason, Hyu Chin
has found two people asking about your future husband. I am fairly sure
that one is Ryouga, and the other could probably be Kuonji Ukyou."
     "I'll take care of them, Great-grandmother,"Shan-pu bragged
confidently.
     "No you will not. Hibiki is a much better martial artist than you,
and Ranma will not take kindly to you interfering with the Kuonji girl. Hyu
Chin will take care of them. They will not be there when you arrive, and
definitely won't be there when Ranma arrives. You will meet Ranma at the
airport and make your way directly to the village. Don't go past Jusenkyo,
use the southern route through Tibet. It is a little slower, but Hyu Chin
will be leading the other two towards Mongolia. She will rejoin you
somewhere south of Tibet."
     "Where?"
     "Do you remember the training ground your mother took you to on your
fifth birthday, and I on your tenth?"
     "Yes."
     "She will meet you there in three weeks."
     "I understand, Great-grandmother. I will not argue with your wisdom."
     "That is well. Now let us eat and forget about this. You are
returning home tomorrow, and we will put this forsaken country behind us
for all time."


                                   ~~11~~


     Nabiki expected Akane to be balled up on her bed, sobbing into her
pillow. It just seemed that her usual response these days was to cry. As
she opened the door, Nabiki was surprised to find her sister quietly
staring out of her window. She was still on her bed, but she was obvi- 
ously lost in thought as she did not even look up as Nabiki entered the
room and walked over to the bed.
     "Ranma's mother didn't mean any of those things, Akane."
     Akane glanced up at her sister and smiled in thanks. "You don't need
to lie to me, Oneechan. She meant everything, I know she did."
     "And you're not mad?" Nabiki asked surprised.
     Akane bit back a smile and shook her head. "I guess I am, but it just
doesn't seem worth it. Ranma has gone without his mother for so long, and
he has given up so much for me that I don't think she has any say in what
we do." Akane leaned back against the wall and stretched out her legs so
her feet were dangling over the edge of her bed. She patted the spot next
to her.
     Taking the suggestion, Nabiki snuggled up to her sister. Akane
burrowed into Nabiki's side and rested her head against her sister's
shoulder. They were both silent for a moment, Nabiki thinking and Akane
just watching the sun through her window. The moment reminded Nabiki of the
times they would snuggle up to their mother like this, all those years ago.
     "She was right you know," Akane finally said.
     "About what?" Nabiki asked.
     "Ranma. He gave up everything just so we could get along. I never
even really thought about it. I was more worried that he wouldn't take me
back. I was just worried about him leaving me, or I always thought of it
being an engagement we were forced into. I kept forgetting that he was
honour-bound to be my fiancee. I never thought about how much I might mean
to him if he was willing to just let it all go like that."
     "I think Ranma surprised us all," Nabiki joked. "I know I was
surprised when he showed me that he could think as well as fight."
     "He's very versatile," Akane stated absently.
     "I bet he is," Nabiki replied knowingly.
     "Nabiki! That is none of your business!"
     "I don't know. I could have been his fiancee. I think I'm entitled to
know what I'm missing."
     "Forget it, sis. Some things I'm keeping private."
     "Okay, I can respect that. Just tell me why you ran up here crying
then. I thought you'd be bawling your eyes out. Even if you aren't making
up that last bit, I know you, Akane-chan. You are never this calm. What
gives?"
     "I guess I was just surprised. I was so happy. I was having such a
good day, except for that time at Ucchan's, but other than that, it was a
good day. And then, I come home, and I hear Ranma's mother telling me I
don't have any right to be in his life."
     "She didn't exactly say that, Akane."
     "I know, sis," Akane answered, "but it sure came out that way.
Anyway, when I got to my room, I thought about crying. I really did, but I
just couldn't. It seemed wrong, useless. I've been crying and moping for a
month now, and it hasn't helped anything. I just sat down and started
thinking about everything."
     Nabiki hugged her sister closely, not trusting herself to speak. She
had been waiting for a long time for Akane to realize she was being silly.
She could have told her sister that a hundred times in the past weeks, but
she found that it wasn't her speech to give. Akane had to find out herself,
or else it would just be an empty consolation.
     "I'm glad you finally came to your senses."
     "Actually, Hiroshi brought me to my senses."
     "Masaka!" Nabiki gasped. "Hiroshi had a good idea? Come on, he hangs
out with your wandering lover."
     "Yeah, but he is smart. Anyway, I realized that Ranma would either
come back or he wouldn't. And if he did, I knew it would be for me. I have
to believe that he will. Maybe I'm still crying on the inside, but I just
found a way to keep it back."
     "It's called hope, sis. A lot of people use hope to keep going."
     "I know," Akane replied sadly. "And I wish I could forget."
     "What does that mean?" Nabiki asked.
     "Nothing. I'm just talking to myself."
     "Well don't. It makes me worry. I'm just glad your back to your old
self. I didn't like who you've been recently."
     "I just wish I could talk to him," Akane lamented absently, oblivious
to her sister. 
     "What for?"
     "Kunou was right. Ranma doesn't know about my baby. He might end up
making a decision he thinks will be the best for me, and he won't even now
the whole truth. I'm more afraid of that than anything else. Especially
with Ukyou out there looking for him. How hard will it be for Ukyou to
convince him that he's only hurting me? That he will only hurt me by 
coming back?"
     "He might surprise you," Nabiki said. "Like you said, he is very
versatile, and very persistent."
     "I just wish I could tell him. I want him to know." Akane leaned
forward and picked the folder she had been carrying home with her and
opened it up. Out spilled several pieces of paper. "I want him to see this.
Akane handed one of the papers to Nabiki.
     Nabiki stared at the arc of black and white for a few moments before
a light went on in her head. "Is this your baby?"
     "Hai," Akane agreed and pointed to a red circle around a dark spot on
the picture. "He's right there."
     "So it's a boy?"
     "I don't know. I never asked, and they didn't offer."
     "Is this why you are so happy?" Nabiki asked, trying to find some
pattern in the picture. She thought she could make out something, but she
was not sure. 
     "Yes. I actually saw him move on the screen when they did it. It
wasn't much, but I saw his heart beat." Her eyes were bright and she was
talking quickly. "I'm glad Toufu-sensei forced me to have the ultrasound."
     "I guess this means we're going to have a new member of the family
pretty soon," Nabiki grinned.
     "I'm due November third."
     "That's great. Now we just gotta make sure Ranma is back by then."
     "But how?"
     "Write him a letter," Nabiki replied simply.
     "A letter?" Akane asked dubiously.
     "Yes. Write a letter, seal it, and give it to Shampoo with one of
these. Tell her that you just wanna apologize to Ranma for the way you
treated him and that you didn't hate him or blame him. You've done some
acting, I know you can pull it off. Sniffle and get angry every so often.
Shampoo'll probably accept just so she can have Ranma know that he has
nothing to come back to. You can't lose little sis." 
     Akane contemplated her sister's suggestion for a few moments before
an evil grin spread across her face. "I'd love to see Shampoo's expression
when Ranma reads the letter and shows it to her."
     "It would be a pretty picture. Too bad Ranma doesn't own a camera,"
Nabiki sighed. "It would've made a great wedding present. Oh well. I can't
get everything I want, but you can. Let's get to work on that letter."
     "In a minute, Oneechan," Akane said. "Let's watch the sunset. We
haven't done this in a long time."
     Nabiki didn't answer with words. Instead, she slipped her arm about
her sister and watched as the sun fell toward the horizon like a flare
gently cresting, holding in perfect stillness, and then plummeting down to
darkness. The sky burned slowly into pastel oranges and reds firing the
thin clouds until a fantasy land hung before their eyes. For an eternity it
remained like that, a picture never to be shared again, and then the
glowing ball slipped beneath the edge of the world. The clouds deepened to
purple and then darkness descended, the stars appearing to vie vainly
against the canvas of the brilliant city lights.  


                                   ~~12~~


     "Shampoo?"
     The voice was the last one Shampoo expected to hear. Of all in
Nerima, in Japan, she amended, Akane nurtured the greatest reason to
despise her. Shampoo had won, though Akane might say stole, Ranma from
underneath the girl's nose, and there was nothing that she could do about
it. Still, as Akane approached, Shampoo saw none of the belligerence that
she expected, and partially accepted, as her due.
     "What does Violent-girl want?" Shampoo demanded hotly.
     Akane stopped short, more than arms length, at the challenging tone.
"I want to talk with you. About Ranma."
     "Shampoo have nothing to say. Shampoo have Ranma now. Shampoo win,
and Violent-girl lost. Shampoo will never give up her Airen!"
     "How dare you!" Akane accused, her voice rising in pitch. Shampoo
took a step back from the rage she saw in her old opponent's eyes. "How
dare you even suggest that I would come to beg you for Ranma, that I would
go back on my word, the honour of my family! I promised that he was yours.
I promised to have nothing to do with him. Isn't that enough for you? How
can you stand there and have the audacity to even think such a thing?
Unlike some people, I know what honour is."
     "Shampoo know honour. Shampoo know more about it than Violent-girl,"
Shampoo retorted. "Shampoo win. Ranma agree to it. Shampoo hear with own
ears."
     Smugly, Shampoo watched the rage and pain filter through Akane's
hazel eyes. Finally, they fell like a swan in flight, killed as she flew
beside her mate. "I didn't come here to fight. I really didn't, Shampoo.
But I hate you. I'll never forgive you, never call you my friend. I will
never, ever let your name cross my lips without a curse attached to it."
     "Shampoo understand. Shampoo expect nothing less. But Shampoo want to
know why Akane come here." 
     "I hate you, Shampoo, but I don't want Ranma to hate me. I don't want
him to think I hate him."
     "What that have to do with Shampoo?"
     "Please, just listen. If you have anything to do with it, I'll never
see him again." Shampoo watched in surprise as a tear fell from Akane's
lowered face to splash on the ground. Another soon followed. "I wanted to
say goodbye, but he left. I wanted to tell him so much. You won, but I
deserve one last request. It is only right."
     "Shampoo agree, but only if it doesn't involve more fighting for
Airen."
     "Thank you," Akane said, wiping her eyes. From her school bag, she
pulled an envelope and handed it to Shampoo. Shampoo saw Ranma's name
written on it in carefully crafted kanji. "Please deliver this to him. That
is all I ask. Let him read this the moment you see him. Please," she
begged. She lifted her face as she firmly clasped Shampoo's hand. Her eyes
were glistening with tears and her face was drawn up into the anguished
mask of a grieving lover. It was beyond Shampoo to refuse. 
     "Akane good opponent. Shampoo sorry it ended like this. Shampoo take
letter to Airen. Shampoo promise on the honour of Amazon tribe."
     "Thank you," Akane answered. "Take good care of him." Then she turned
and left, her steps quick as she hurried down the street.
     Shampoo watched as Akane disappeared into the crowd. She took the
thick envelope and slipped it into her traveling pack. Slinging the pack
over her shoulder, she hailed a taxi and slipped into the rear seat. As the
taxi pulled away, Shampoo's head fell to her chest and tears began to fall
against her will. She had lost everything to gain a man, and she would
never be sure that her decision was the right one.   


Author's Notes:

--Translations-- 

RELATIONS AND TITLES:

Otousan/otousama  - father
Okaasan - mother
oneechan/neechan - older sister
imoto - younger sister
oniisan - older brother
oyaji - old man, disrespectful form of father
jiji - very disrespectful term for an older man
ojisan  - older man or uncle
obaasan  - older woman or aunt
obaba  - grandmother
hiibaachan  - great-grandmother same
musume  - daughter
tsuma or kanai - one's own wife
otto or shujin - husband
-san - everday ending for a name. Takes place of Mister, Ms,or Mrs.
-kun - more informal ending, used to refer to subordinates or friends
-chan - ending that denotes affection or can mean little on a pet. Used  
     mostly for children and teenage girls
-sama - very respectful. Like Lord or Lady. Means you are less than them
sensei - master, teacher, doctor, or officer.
-sempai - generally an older person, more of a mentor than anything


OTHERS:

kissaten - coffe house, tea house
hajimemashite - customary greeting the first time people meet. It means, 
     basically, it is nice to meet you
doozo yoroshiku - customary part of gretting. Meansbasically, please regard
     me favourably. Note: there are several different introduction orders 
     but they all involve this phrase and the one above. Often meishi      
     (business cards) are exchanged at the same time.
En-go - go-between. The honourable relatiuonship. It is not considered     
     proper to approach someone unless someone else acts as a go-between a
     mediator who knows both parties. Being a go-between is big business 
     in Japan.
sukebe - pervert
otoko - male
onna - female
otoko no hito - man
onna no hito - girl
Soo-desu  - It is so  - or - that is so
Hai  -  yes
Iie  - no
masaka - impossible
wa - center. A state of meditatvie trance.
fuwa - discord, the opposite of wa
ki - soul
chi - energy of the soul and life
sakura - cheery blossoms
-fu - as in Okayama-fu, means Prefecture
-ji - means temple, so Sansui-ji is the Temple of Sansui
zabuton  - the pillows that Japanese kneel on when they are at a table
     or in a seiza position
seiza  - position of kneeling
tatami - floor mats, these are made of tightly woven reeds or rice. A    
     room's size is usually indicated by the number of tatami, i.e. a 6
     tatami room
shoji  - rice paper doors, light and airy.
Shogi  - Japanese form of chess
Go - a Japanese game involving black and white stones where you try to   
     turn as many stones to your color as possible
cha - tea
chasen - the bamboo wisk used to prepare the tea in the chawan
chawan - the tea bowl
cha-no-yu - proper name for the Tea Ceremony
gomen/gomen nasai  - sorry
arigato  - thank you
ne  - a term similar to Right? Or eh? Denotes question requiring an   
     affirmative answer.
ja (dewa) mata - well, again... sort of like  see ya later
sayonara - good bye
shitsuree shimasu - exuse me - good bye
oyasuminasai - good night
ohayo - good morning
konnichi wa - good afternoon (used until 5pm)
konban wa - good evening
sumimasen - pardon me and in some cases thank you
meiyo - honour
ai - love
soshite - and (used for sentences, but I misused it and don't want to    
     change it) Of course, as I thought about it, I realized it still      
     worked as a kind of progression. Soshite literally means "and then" 
     so the title could be translated as a type of journey, honour, love, 
     and then hate. Of course, that is pushing it.
nikushimi - hate

     I didn't use all of them, but I'm trying to compile a section of
commonly used words in my fics...                  


Author's Notes:

     First off, I would like to give my sincerest thanks to all of my pre-
readers. It is a time consuming job to read through my works and find
mistakes, and there are a lot of them. Shelley, Jon, Ryan, The Blood
Phoenix, Dave Eddy, the Rams, and Rea are a great help. I'd especially like
to thank Rea and Dave who probably have shredded most of the story between
the two of them. And to Shelley who forces me to think about the reasons
behind my characterization and writing. I'll never look at Nabiki the same
way because of her.

     Now that I have thouroughly embarrassed, or ego-boosted, those whom
have helped me. I should turn it over to commenting on the story, or
rambling depending on my mind-set. Since it is not midnight, when I usually
write these notes, I think I'll talk about the story.
     Most of you have probably guessed that I am in an alternate reality.
I think I've mentioned it before, but I can never be sure. I basically
skipped Manga 34 and 36 and any other part of the manga that dealt with
Ranma's reconcilliation with his mother. I did this mostly for plot
reasons. I have considered, several times, going back and changing that,
but I didn't. Also, you'll notice that the Saffron story is not really a
reality in this fiction. I guess it resolved way too much stuff, and I
didn't want anything resolved when I started. However, I am rewriting this
series, slightly, so that might change in the future when I post to RAAC.
     And yes, at some point in my life I will put this monstrosity on
RAAC. Just not right now. I have a lot of fixing to do.
     Anyway, as you noticed, this is the longest singular post I have ever
done, topping the scales at near 150K. I did this for several reasons. I
had a lot to cover, and I never found a breaking ppoint that I liked enough
to actually use. 
     This part concludes the Nerima sgment of the stor for a while. I now
move on to deal with Ranma, Mousse, Shampoo, Ryouga, and Ukyou. The next
part concludes the Separate Paths chapter and will seque into the next
chapter. 
     I would like to also express my thanks to those of you who have read
this far into the series, and this far into the author's notes. I've gotten
a lot of positive response on this series, and I hoep to continue producing
it at a quality that deserves that kind of response. I never made any
pretense that I was doing this more for myself than for any interest in
havin my work apprecated, although I do enjoy the ego-boost every so often,
I must admit that the reception of my story by many has given me a greater
desire to make sure that you like it more than I do. And I thank you very
much for making me want to do that.
     I will hurry on the next part., I promise it won't take two and a
half months to complete. I was just completely drowned by work , schoool,
and other aspects of my life. I've cut down on some of it, si I hope it
will make the writing easier. 

   Note: The Legacy is just sitting on the backburner. I've just not
had time to look at it recently. I'll get to it though. Don't worry.
Actually, I've promised to have the next art out by January 16, I think I'm
being ambitious, but I'll try.

     Until next time
     Joseph A. Kohle

     Watch for the Next installment of MASN.
     Chapter 5 Separate Paths: Part 9 - Facing Oblivion


   ----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----
   All rights and priveleges to Ranma Nibunnoichi       
   belong to Rumiko Takahashi. The characters of her        
   series are used without her permission for the       
   purpose of entertainment only. This work of fic-
   tion is not meant for sale or profit.                    
                                                                         
   All original characters are the creation of the
   author. All copyright privileges to these chara-
   cters are reserved for the author.

   This story is a product of the author's hard work    
   and imagination. Do not modify, add to, or make 
   use of any part of this work without the author's 
   knowing and written consent. Please feel free to archive 
   this work.                             
            
   Comments and criticism are welcome.                   
   Written by Joseph A. Kohle, (c) 1997.                 
   Send all comments to ashira@worldnet.att.net
   Find some of my fanfics at 
   http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/6184/