mdoherty@mailbox.uq.edu.au (Mark Doherty) Neko by Mark Doherty (mdoherty@mailbox.uq.edu.au) Chapter 1: Splish splash, not a good place to take a bath... This is a story I've been keeping in reserve for quite a while now. I figured since my home page is about to go the way of the dodo(It's going to be eaten into extinction by hungry sailors?), now would be a good time to release the first 8 parts to RAAC. More will come relatively soon, including the sidestory on Kodachi(this story isn't _about_ Kodachi, but chances are you'll understand why she rates a sidestory once you've finished the first few chapters). Characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I deserve to be thrown in the spring of drowned ferret for even thinking of using them. Please don't sue me, I am but a poor and penniless student. C&C's are welcome, wanted and not wasted on me. My conventions explained: - The suffix -kun is used to denote a character's cursed male form. No suffix indicates that the person isn't in their cursed form. If someone turns up with a girl curse, they'll get the -chan suffix. Animal curses are denoted by the name of the animal as a suffix. After a couple of times, animal suffixes will probably usually be shortened to the first letter. For example, Henry-Mockingbird, or Henry-M after the first couple of times the name is used in a scene. - <> Denotes Chinese. - [] Denotes thoughts. - ** Is animal speak when used without quotes, and is sound effects within quotes. For example: *Hello.* the duck quacked. And: "*sigh*" she sighed. (Not that '"*sigh*" she sighed' is correct English or anything, but you get my point.) - {} Are Panda signs. iinazuke, by the way, is the Japanese word for fiance/fiancee. But I'm sure most of you knew that. "Cruel, but composed and bland, Dumb, inscrutable and grand, So Tiberius might have sat, Had Tiberius been a cat." - Poor Matthias by Matthew Arnold. ********************* In a valley in an indeterminate part of an indeterminate country, there lay an extensive series of small springs. Bamboo poles rose from each of the springs in this valley, like the skeletal fingers of some dead great beast. Sunlight dappled off the water of the springs, giving a pleasant view from any of the cliffs that surrounded this wonder of nature. It was truly beautiful. Which made the expression of the man who stood in the middle of the springs all the more puzzling. He was a middle-aged, heavyset man who was dressed in the traditional uniform of a Chinese Dangerous Magical Sites Ranger. He looked almost poleaxed, his face was showing a disturbing mix of shock and misery. The man was standing in front of one of the springs. The spring's water was bubbling, perhaps evidence that something had been thrown into it recently. "Aiya." the man, let us call him the Guide, breathed. From nearby, there was a scream, and then a splash. The Guide sighed before he put his head into his hands. He looked like he was about to cry. he choked. On top of one of the cliffs surrounding the springs, a small brown furred animal looked over the edge. It nodded, before it turned to its hundred or so companions. *Right.* the small creature squeaked. *Now I know that normally we lemmings don't travel this far, but look at that view! It was worth the extra effort to come this far!* Several of the lemmings edged up to the cliffside and looked out at the magnificent view. They nodded and squeaked in agreement. *Well then.* the lemming leader squeaked. *Let's go!* The lead lemming was the first to leap off the cliff. Soon he was followed by the others. Several lemming squeaks of things like *Banzai!!!*, *I embrace thee Death!!!* and *Why are we doing this anyway?* followed the lemmings as they leapt to their destiny. Back at the springs below, the Guide slowly took his head out of his hands as he heard several dozen small splashes. He looked at a set of springs that rested near one of the surrounding cliffs. The springs were all bubbling like a Jacuzzi in overdrive. the Guide sighed to himself. ********************* Some time later, at the docks of a Chinese city, two figures huddled behind some crates. "Did we lose her?" the first figure whispered. "I think so." the second person answered, their voice too low to make out their gender. "Come on." the first person said. "We have to make a run for the ship. It took the last of our money to pay for passage back to Japan, and if we miss our ride we'll be in deep trouble..." The second person clenched their fist. "All this way to find... him. And now we're running away." The first person put their hand on the second person's shoulder. "You heard what the Guide told us before he sent us off." the first person said. "He said that the Saotome's had said that they were going back to Japan. We're not running away, we're just getting back so we're ready to meet them." The second person was about to answer when they heard muted explosions. "Her." the second person said flatly. "Come on, let's get out of here." The two people rose from the shadows, to reveal that they were in fact two young men. The first man was the shorter of the two. He had long hair that was a strange bluish brown colour. His hair was tied back with a dark grey ribbon. He was wearing black pants and shoes, and a plain yellow shirt. The clothes looked like they were a bit too tight for him. He was carrying a fair sized backpack. The second man also had long hair tied back in a ponytail, although his hair was red in colour, and it was tied with a white ribbon. He was wearing a pair of incredibly tight black leggings, and a slightly tattered blue shirt. Over the shirt was draped a bandolier full of what looked to be small spatulas. Across his back he wore a backpack and what appeared to be a five or six foot long spatula. It was a puzzle to anyone why they'd be hiding behind crates in order to avoid attention. They certainly wouldn't have stuck out in a normal crowd. Well, it all depended on what you classified as normal. "Which ship is it?" the first boy asked as he looked around to make sure no-one was near. The second boy pointed to one of the ships. "That one." he said. "Come on Akane, let's go." "Right." Akane-kun said as the two boys raced to reach their way off the mainland. Nearby, two steely grey eyes looked at the two boys as they raced off. The owner of the eyes meowed quizzically at the actions of the two humans before it was picked up from behind by a set of large furry black paws. A large panda looked down at the struggling black cat that it was holding in it's hands. A brief look of... something crossed over the panda's face. Sorrow? Regret? Hunger? It was hard to tell. The panda kept a tight grip on the struggling cat(who was doing a fine job of turning the panda's arms into a scratching post) as it raced towards the same ship that the two boys had just boarded. ********************* Rainclouds rumbled in Nerima, which was much the same as saying chainsaws buzzed in the Amazon: it was a part of everyday life. Two people, dressed the same as the two boys from before were walking down a street. "Three months, Ukyou." the first person, a girl with bluish black hair said. She was dressed the same as the boy who had been called Akane, although her clothes were nowhere near as tight. "Three months of my life wasted just because I wanted to stop that silly engagement thing of Daddy's." [Try ten years.] the second person, apparently a man, thought. He had long brown hair, and was dressed in the same okonomiyaki chef's clothes of blue shirt and black leggings as the second boy in China. The clothes of this person actually fit, however. "Don't worry about it Akane." he said as they walked along. "If he's en... eng... engaged..." Ukyou seemed to have some difficulty saying this word, "... to you, then he'll have to come to you sooner or later. Then I'll be able to get him for what he did to me..." Akane looked at Ukyou in curiosity. "You know, you've never fully explained what it was that this Ranma guy did to you." she said. "All you ever say is that 'he left you behind'. Why does that make you so angry?" Ukyou looked uncomfortable for a moment. "It's... not something I like to talk about..." he admitted. "It's something between him and me." Akane sighed. "Alright. If you don't want to tell me, I understand." She looked around, before she spotted what she was looking for. "Hey, look! We're here!" she said as she pointed excitedly. Ukyou looked where Akane was pointing. It was the entrance to what, from the signs adorning the outer wall, appeared to be a combined dojo and residence. The Tendo Dojo, from what the signs said. "It looks very nice." he said, before he looked up at the threatening sky. "Maybe we should get inside. That's starting to look certain of rain..." Akane looked up at the sky, blanching slightly at the rumbling clouds. "You're right." she said. "But I don't know what you're worried about..." she continued as they walked into the Tendo compound. "At least you stay male in either of your forms." Ukyou cleared his throat. For some reason he looked uncomfortable... ********************* Rain fell from the sky. Normally that was a pretty obvious thing, but in a place like Nerima, where strange things were known to happen, it was best to elaborate. A young man rushed along the wet streets. He was carrying a large umbrella, and was doing an incredible job of running while not stepping in any puddles. In fact, it seemed like he was doing his best not to make any water at all splash up on him. It probably didn't help him that he was currently being chased by a large panda. The young man had black hair that was tied back in a thin pigtail. He was wearing Chinese clothes: red shirt, black pants and black shoes. "How can you do this to me now Pop?" the boy shouted over his shoulder. "Damn it, I want... no. I _need_ to get back to China. I HAVE to get a cure. I don't have time for your games!" The panda held up a sign which read {This is no game son. Do as your father says.} as it ran after the boy. "Do as you say!?" the boy shouted incredulously, lowering his umbrella to his side in shock at the thought. "After what..." he started before he realised that he was no longer protected from the rain. "No." he whispered, before the water of the rain started to soak him. He started to shrink as the water washed away his humanity. Seconds later, there was only a small lump in the middle of his clothes, which now lay on the wet ground. There was a small meow from the lump in the clothes, before a small black cat wriggled it's way out of the clothes. {Here kitty kitty.} the panda signed as it made 'come hither' motions with one of it's paws. The cat looked up at the panda before it hissed. It's fur started to rise, and it's tail began to swish. The panda flipped the sign, revealing the other side which read {Uh... nice kitty?} The cat howled, before it launched itself at the panda. A crowd of onlookers gathered to watch the spectacle of a small house cat attack a gigantic panda. It was especially interesting since the cat appeared to be winning... "Well, there's something you don't see everyday." one of the onlookers muttered to his companion. "No, it's something I wished I saw everyday." his companion answered. "What do you mean?" the first person asked as the panda finally managed to knock the cat unconscious. "I work in Tomobiki." the second person said. "That..." he pointed to the panda, who was racing off with the cat and the boy's clothes in it's paws, "...is more normal than what I have to put up with everyday." ********************* At the docks of a Japanese town, two young men stepped off of a small yacht onto the solid ground of Japan. The first man had a proud air to him. He had styled blackish brown hair, and he was wearing the clothes of a kendo practitioner. The second man looked a lot scruffier than the first. He had black hair that was kept off his eyes by a yellow and black bandanna. He wore black pants and a scrappy thatched yellow shirt. His pants were not only kept up with a belt, but were also tied at the shins. He was carrying a massive backpack, on top of which rested a red bamboo umbrella. "Back at last on my native soil." the first man said as he looked about him with an haughty expression. "Truly, this great land must have missed it's greatest..." "Shut up!" the second man growled. "Would you just shut up Kunou? I've been putting up with your speeches since Jusenkyo and I am sick of it!" Kunou looked at his companion, raising his eyebrows as he did so. "You do not find my wisdom to your liking? Truly, I knew you were a peasant Ryouga, but even you should learn to appreciate your betters." Ryouga threw his hands up in the air. "That does it." he growled. "I thought that maybe travelling with you would help, since you have the same enemy. But I've had it. Goodbye Kunou." Kunou stood silently as Ryouga walked off. After Ryouga had disappeared into the distance, Kunou muttered "Why did he go that way? That is not the way to my beloved's house. That way only the ocean lies..." Kunou shrugged. There was the distant rumble of thunder from the rainstorm over Nerima, which caused Kunou to do a very strange thing. He blanched, almost as if he feared the rain. "Mayhap that Ryouga fellow had one bright thought in his otherwise dull life." Kunou said to himself. "Perhaps an umbrella would be a good idea after all. It is past time I purchased one." Kunou rushed off to the dockside stores, doing his best to look dignified as he walked as quickly as he could to get an umbrella. ********************* Akane and Ukyou were at the entrance to the Tendo house. Akane seemed to be steeling herself. "Well, here goes." she said as she knocked on the door. A few seconds later, the door was opened by a woman with long brown hair who appeared to be in her late teens or early twenties. "Akane?" she asked. Akane nodded. "Hello oneechan." she managed before she was hugged by the older girl. Ukyou smiled at this display of affection. In his family, affection was shown by a brief nod or a slight smile. It was almost embarrassing to see such affection. "Next time you go away, you should write more." the older girl said as she disengaged from the hug. She noticed Ukyou, and said "Oh! I'm being rude! Hello there, I'm Kasumi. Akane's sister." "Kasumi, this is Ukyou." Akane said to her sister, since Ukyou looked a little distant. Ukyou shook himself out of his thoughts of his own family. "Hello." he said politely. "Akane's told me a lot about you all." Kasumi smiled. "We shouldn't stand out here, Father will be ecstatic to see you're back." Akane sighed as Kasumi led her and Ukyou inside. [I hope he doesn't embarrass me in front of Ukyou.] she thought to herself. ********************* "Akane!" the middle-aged man currently hugging Akane to death cried. "My baby's returned!" Kasumi, Ukyou, and another girl who had shortish blackish-brown hair stood nearby. The last girl had been introduced to Ukyou as Nabiki, the middle Tendo sister. Akane was blushing a furious red. "Daaad. We've got a guest..." she said. The middle-aged man looked over at a nervous Ukyou. He raised his eyebrow, before he said. "So who is this?" "I'm Kuonji Ukyou." Ukyou supplied, hoping in his heart that this man wasn't going to hug him like he had his daughter. "Pleased to meet you, sir." "Tendo Soun." the man replied as he looked appraisingly at Ukyou. He turned to Akane and said "You haven't forgotten our family agreement, have you?" he asked flatly. Akane blushed even redder, if that was possible. "It's not like that!" she flared. "Ukyou's a good friend! And he know's about that stupid engagement thing anyway." "You told a stranger about a private family contract?" Soun asked, a disapproving look in his eyes. "Well I..." Akane began, looking a bit flustered. Soun smiled. "No, no. It doesn't matter Akane, because Ranma is supposed to be turning up today." Akane clenched her teeth, and Ukyou started to look interested in the conversation. "He is?" Akane asked. She had really hoped that she could talk to this Ranma guy before her father met him. If he was turning up today then it was probably too late to try and talk about the agreement between the Saotomes and the Tendos. "He is?" Ukyou asked quietly. He had his own reasons to want to... talk to Ranma. And this engagement thing that Akane's father had forced upon her was part of what he wanted to talk about. Soun nodded happily, somehow ignoring the less than thrilled response from his youngest daughter. "His father sent me a postcard." His expression turned more serious as he continued "And he said nothing about seeing you. I can't believe you ran off to China! You could have been hurt, killed! Or worse! I think grounding you for life might teach you self-control." "Now, now father." Kasumi said. "I'm sure Akane just went over to China so that she could meet her iinazuke. She was just eager, that's all." Nabiki smirked. "Eager to rip his head off, from the way she reacted three months ago." she whispered to herself. Soun relented under his eldest daughter's speech. "Well, if she just wanted to meet her iinazuke, she should have had the patience to wait here. I..." There was a clattering from outside, followed by a couple of yowls. There was a twinkling in Soun's eyes. "Perhaps that's Ranma now!" he said excitedly. He rushed outside. After all, he'd waited so long to have this engagement between his family and the Saotome's formalised... Ukyou's eyes blazed as he fingered some of the small spatulas in his bandolier. "Ten years..." he whispered. "Time to pay Saotome." he swore as he followed Soun outside. Kasumi and Nabiki walked outside. As they did, Nabiki quietly said "I guess it's time to see if offing this Ranma guy on Akane was a good idea, hey Kasumi?" Kasumi gave some sort of seemingly clueless reply. Akane clenched and unclenched her fists. She hadn't moved towards the exit yet. It was all happening too fast... she hadn't even told her father about the... problem she had picked up in China. And now Ranma was here. A fiance she definitely didn't want. She just wasn't ready for this. "Are these friends of yours?" Kasumi's voice drifted from outside. "Um... no?" Akane heard her father say. "Hey, let that poor cat go!" Ukyou shouted out, before the sounds of him using his giant spatula on someone drifted inside. Akane raised an eyebrow. What was happening out there? If it was Ranma, what was he doing with a cat? She gathered her courage, and walked out to stand next to her sisters. Outside, there was an unconscious panda. Ukyou's battle spatula was moulded to the panda's face, and Ukyou was currently holding a small black cat in his arms. The cat looked a little woozy, almost as if someone had knocked it over the head or something. "Aren't you cute?" Ukyou asked the dazed cat as he stroked it's fur. "Daddy, who do these animals belong to?" Akane asked. Soun looked flustered for a moment. "I... I don't know." he admitted. "Wait! Perhaps they're Genma's. After all, that is a panda, and they were just in China. That must mean that he's nearby." The panda groaned as it woke up from the impromptu nap Ukyou had given him. {Closer than you think.} it said with a sign as it rubbed the back of its head. ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** Everything will be explained sooner or later, such as why Akane is already the 'chosen fiancee' for Ranma, and all that. I can't explain away everything in the first chapter, after all. Till next time. Neko by Mark Doherty (mdoherty@mailbox.uq.edu.au) Chapter 2: Meow...? Characters are the property of Takahashi Rumiko. I deserve to be thrown in the spring of drowned ferret for even thinking of using them. Please don't sue me, I am but a poor and penniless student. C&C's are welcome, wanted and not wasted on me. My conventions explained: - The suffix -kun is used to denote a character's cursed male form. No suffix indicates that the person isn't in their cursed form. If someone turns up with a girl curse, they'll get the -chan suffix. Animal curses are denoted by the name of the animal as a suffix. After a couple of times, animal suffixes will probably usually be shortened to the first letter. For example, Henry-Mockingbird, or Henry-M after the first couple of times the name is used in a scene. - <> Denotes Chinese. - [] Denotes thoughts. - ** Is animal speak when used without quotes, and is sound effects within quotes. For example: *Hello.* the duck quacked. And: "*sigh*" she sighed. - {} Are Panda signs. "Cruel, but composed and bland, Dumb, inscrutable and grand, So Tiberius might have sat, Had Tiberius been a cat." - Poor Matthias by Matthew Arnold. ********************* "Aren't you cute?" The cat blinked as the strange boy who had rescued him from the black and white beast started to stroke his fur. Rational thoughts floated to the surface of his mind and then they were submerged again, submerged by his cat persona. [No. No...] his thoughts whispered to him. But he ignored such things. What was speech to a cat? [Don't pu...] the cat started to purr as the boy that was holding him continued to stroke him. [No...] his thoughts whispered to him, before the cat within him became dominate again. ********************* Ukyou looked down at the purring cat he was holding. There was something about the feline that seemed so familiar... Nearby, the Tendos were looking at the panda, who was slowly standing. "You don't think its dangerous do you?" Soun whispered to Nabiki. "Why don't you find out, Father?" Nabiki replied, pushing her father between her and the now standing panda. {Hello.} the panda signed. "Well he looks harmless." Kasumi decided. "Would you like some bamboo shoots Mr Panda?" {I'm insulted.} the panda signed indignantly. It hesitated, before it twirled the sign around to reveal {Unless, of course, they're tasty bamboo shoots...} Ukyou, having decided that the panda was no threat, retrieved his giant spatula, keeping the cat in the hook of his left arm. He eyed the dojo speculatively, before he turned to Akane. "Say, Akane, would you mind having a spar in your dojo? It's been a while since I've sparred under a roof. And we haven't sparred as g... uh... in our normal forms for a while now." Akane nodded. "Sure." she said. She looked at the cat, before she added "You seem to like that cat." Ukyou looked at the furry bundle he was carrying. The cat looked back up at him with the typical haughty expression of a cat. "There's just something so innocent about him." he said. "It just reaches into my heart." "Why Ukyou." Akane said with a smile as the two teenagers walked off to the dojo. "I never would have thought you were such a softy at heart." Ukyou smiled as he limbered up his right arm with his combat spatula. "We'll see how soft I am. Remember, I don't go easy on girls." "Like you have the option." Akane retorted as they walked into the dojo. Back where the other Tendos were, the panda looked around, almost as if it was searching for something. Finally, it shrugged and lead a slightly nervous Soun inside. ********************* Ukyou and Akane, who was now dressed in a gi, were sparring in the dojo. Ukyou had the advantage in reach thanks to his combat spatula, but Akane was holding her own in the fight. The cat was napping in a corner of the dojo, apparently completely uninterested in the spectacle. "So when are you going to tell your father?" Ukyou asked as he swung his spatula in a low arc at Akane's feet. Akane leapt over the strike and came down, her fist extended in her own attack. After Ukyou dodged, Akane drew back a bit and said "I don't know... This isn't an easy thing to tell him." "You have to tell him sooner or later." Ukyou noted as she backed up from a series of fist strikes by Akane. Akane sighed as Ukyou stopped dodging and started his own attack. "Maybe..." she admitted. Ukyou stopped his attacks, looked at Akane, and said "Break?" Akane nodded. "I guess." She turned and looked at the cat. "And you were no help. Just sitting there like that." The cat looked up for a moment before he sat his head down again. Ukyou snickered. "I don't think he's too worried." "Well..." Akane said with a glint in her eyes as she advanced on the cat. "We'll see how unfazed our little friend here can stay." She lunged at the cat. The cat seemed to blur as he rose from his resting position and leapt over Akane, using her shoulder as a stepping stone. The weight of the cat overbalanced the girl, and Akane ingloriously fell on her face. Ukyou couldn't help it, he started laughing. It didn't help that the cat was calmly licking one of its front paws as Akane rose from her undignified position. "I think he's defeated you Akane." Ukyou chortled. Akane looked annoyed for a few moments before she started to laugh too. ********************* At the table in the living room, Soun sat opposite a heavy-set man who was dressed in a white gi. The other man wore a white bandanna that covered what was almost certainly a bald head. The man also wear a pair of glasses that were tied around his ears, perhaps to ensure they didn't come off under stressful conditions. Steam was wisping off the man. Perhaps that had something to do with the nearby kettle, which also had steam drifting out of it's spout. "Incredible." Soun said. "Genma, old friend, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it." The other man, Genma, nodded. His face was set in a serious expression. "And... Ranma...?" Soun asked hesitantly. Genma sighed. "A true tragedy. I wonder if he was born under an unlucky star..." "What curse could affect a man deeper than yours?" Soun asked in awe. "He... isn't a girl is he? You're not saying he can't marry Akane are you?" Genma shook his head. "If only his problem were so simple. This goes beyond the affliction he shares with me. You see..." Genma leaned forward, and started to whisper to Soun. A growing look of horror enveloped Soun's face. Finally, after Genma had finished, he looked at his heavier friend and said "You know, that was pretty stupid, even by your standards." Genma cleared his throat. "Anybody could have made the same mistake." he defended. "Mistakes." Soun corrected. "Well, yes." Genma admitted. "But that is in the past now. What we must do now is look to the future." Soun looked speculative. "I'm sure the engagement will help the boy resolve his problems." Genma grinned. "I agree." The two men smiled, before they shook hands. ********************* Ukyou was sitting on the porch of the dojo, stroking the cat. Kasumi walked up with a towel and said "Ukyou-kun, why don't you take a bath? You must be sweaty after a practice session." Ukyou looked at Kasumi for a second before he said "Ok. Thank you for thinking of me Kasumi." Kasumi smiled. It was no easy job, taking care of this household. Right now, for example, she had to go get some drinks for Father and his friend. It was a testament to Kasumi's efficiency that she had time to take care of the other guest at the Dojo. Still, with all the things on her mind, perhaps it was understandable that she had momentarily forgotten to find out where Akane was... ********************* Akane luxuriated in the bath, enjoying the feeling of the hot water. It was amazing the things you could miss when you didn't have easy access to them. The last three months had taught her that. It had also taught her that some things were best left alone. Still, at least one good thing had come out of the disastrous trip to China. Ukyou. Akane had thought she'd never meet a boy her own age that she could like. But Ukyou was so different. He didn't chase after her like all the other boys seemed to. He seemed to genuinely want to be her friend simply for friendship's sake, not to have her as some sort of trophy like all the other boys she had known. She started from her reverie when she heard a knocking at the bathroom door. "Akane?" Ukyou's voice drifted in. "Are you still in there." Akane's eyes widened. "Don't come in!" she shouted. Stupid! She'd forgotten to stick up the occupied sign when she'd taken her bath. Living without a private bathroom for the last three months had made her forget some of the baser rules of living with others. Still, that was another good thing about Ukyou. He'd never just rush in, even when there wasn't any sign up. He valued people's privacy, both his own and others, too much to ever just walk in. A few minutes later, Akane walked out of the bathroom, dressed in a robe with a towel around her hair. "All yours." she said to Ukyou, who had been waiting patiently outside. She looked down at the cat in Ukyou's arms, and added "You're not going to give him a bath are you?" Ukyou laughed. "No, no. But I don't want the poor thing running off, so I thought I'd keep him somewhere where I can keep an eye on him until his owner turns up." Akane shrugged. "Well, have it your way. I'm going to dress and see if Dad knows exactly when the Saotomes are going to get here. I don't want anymore false alarms like before." Ukyou nodded before he walked into the bathroom, still holding the cat. ********************* Ukyou let the cat go as he closed the door behind him. He looked down at the cat, which was sitting on the tiled floor, apparently content to do nothing. "No peeking now." Ukyou said playfully. "That wouldn't be very gentlemanlike of you." The cat looked up at Ukyou as he took off his shirt. Then, seemingly bored, the cat lay down, resting his head on his front paws. Ukyou, meanwhile, had finished undressing and was now in the bath up to his chin. He looked over at the cat before he shook his head. "You're a strange one." he said. "But that's ok. You'll fit in just fine around me and Akane. Now if you were normal you might have trouble..." The cat didn't deign to reply. But then, he was a cat. Why would a cat be affected one way or another by someone's words? ********************* Akane walked down the stairs, refreshed after her bath. She had gone upstairs after her soak so that she could get changed, and now she was coming down again to see who the man with her father was. "Hello." Akane said as she walked into the living room. Genma and Soun looked up. "Ah, Akane." Soun said. "I'd like to introduce you to Saotome Genma, Ranma's father." Akane felt a stab of ice in her heart. If his father was here, then... she looked around. There was no-one else in the room. "But... where's Ranma?" she asked. "Oh, I'm sure he's nearby." Genma said. He hesitated, before he added "Tell me, Akane, I have a cat that should be around here somewhere. Have you seen him?" "Ukyou's been taking care of him." Akane explained easily. "He just took him with him to the bath." Genma's eyes widened. "What!?" he exclaimed, before he rushed out of the door that led to the bath. "Did I say something wrong?" Akane asked. ********************* Genma barrelled into the bathroom just in time to see Ukyou finish buttoning up his shirt. Ukyou looked up and snarled "Don't you know how to knock... you!" "Do I know you?" Genma asked. Ukyou was about to reply when there was a knock at the half-closed door. "Is there something wrong?" Akane called in. Ukyou clenched his fists. "No. Nothing's wrong." he snarled as he swept past Genma. "I'll deal with you later." he vowed quietly to the older man as he walked out of the room. "How rude." Genma muttered. "Kids these days." He looked over at the cat, who was looking back at him, tail swishing. "Come on Ranma, time to meet your fiancee properly." The cat hissed as the Genma approached him, but Genma had obviously had practice with the cat's attitude before. With a swiftness that belied his size, Genma swept up the cat and, in the same motion, threw the animal into the hot water of the bath. "Time to wake up to yourself." Genma muttered to himself as something a lot bigger than a cat rose from the bath. "In more ways than one, my boy, it is time to wake up to yourself." ********************* In the dining room, the Tendos and Ukyou were sitting around the table. "I can't believe he just walked in like that!" Ukyou was muttering to Akane. Akane looked at her friend with puzzlement on her face. "I can't see what your problem is." she admitted. "I mean, you're both guys, right?" Ukyou cleared his throat. "Ummm... that's not the point. I don't like people walking in on me when I'm in the bath, no matter who they are." Akane shrugged. "Well, I'm sure if you ask everyone not to come in when you're in the bath then won't bother you next time." "Next time?" Ukyou asked. "Well, you told me you had nowhere to go, so I managed to get my Dad to let you stay here for a while." Akane explained. "But what about Ranma?" Ukyou asked. Akane blushed slightly. "Ra... Ranma? What do you mean? You know that I don't want to be engaged to him." "What?" Ukyou asked. "I meant that I don't think I could live under the same roof as him..." "Oh." Akane said. "That vengeance thing. Come on Ukyou, where are you going to go if you don't stay here?" Ukyou thought about it. "Well... if I'm not imposing, and your father thinks it's ok, how can I argue?" "Of course my Dad thought it was ok." Akane said with a smile. [At least he did after I threatened to go back to China. I still have to tell him about my curse too. I bet he'll take _that_ well.] ********************* Nabiki looked over at her younger sister and the young man Akane had brought with her. It was just unbelievable. Her sister, the man-hater, and yet not only did she have every boy at school after her but now she was acting like she and this boy were old friends. What had happened on that trip that Akane had so foolishly taken? "So if that was Mr Saotome..." Akane was saying to her father, "...then where's Ranma?" "Why, he's right here." Genma said from the entrance to the dining room that led to the bathroom. Next to him stood the young man that the panda had chased. Ranma looked a bit woozy. [Hey, he's actually a major hunk.] Nabiki thought as she looked on. [Making Akane the sacrificial lamb in this engagement thing is starting to look a little hasty all of a sudden...] Ranma's eyes seemed to focus before he said "Hi there..." ********************* Meanwhile, at the docks of some Japanese town, the captain of a freight ship was seeing something he'd never been so glad to see. Dry land. That would have to have been _the_ worst trip he had ever _heard_ about, let alone been on. He looked over at the young woman who stood waiting to disembark. She had long black hair that was tied back in a ponytail. She probably would have been beautiful, if it wasn't for her seemingly permanent haughty glare, a glare that she directed at anyone who got too close. Not that anyone did get too close. She was a witch, that one. Not only were there her strange shapeshifting companions, but the first mate had sworn that he had seen her change her shape as well, one night when a storm had been giving them trouble. No-one disbelieved the first mate, if anyone could be a mistress of dark powers, it was this woman. After all, what sane woman would wear a leotard like it was some sort of everyday wear? The woman looked up at the captain, a look that from most would probably be a promise of unending death, but from her was probably an almost friendly goodbye gaze. She looked down around her, at what appeared to be a mass of brown fur. "Come then, my little brethren." the woman said to the heap of brown fur. "It is time to find my brother, and chastise him for conveniently forgetting to bring me back with him." She smiled, and then she laughed as she leapt off the ship onto the dock. The brown mass flowed, before it separated into several dozen shapes. *Right, you heard our Queen.* one of the creatures squeaked. *Follow her!* he cried, before he leapt after his mistress. There was a pause, and then the other lemmings flowed over the side, landing on the dock. Soon, the ship was free of the woman's seemingly magical hold. "Right, let's get out of here." the captain said as he watched the woman bound off, her lemming escort following her. "I thought we were going to have a couple of days rest here." the first mate protested. "In the same country she's in?" the captain retorted. "I'll go get clearance from the docksmaster." the first mate replied quickly. In the distance, an horrible, spine-shivering, insane laugh mixed in with the excited squeaks of several dozen small rodent-like creatures... ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** What, did you think those lemmings wouldn't have a major impact on the story? Lemmings shall rule the world... Till next time. Neko by Mark Doherty (mdoherty@mailbox.uq.edu.au) Chapter 3: Hey, _I'm_ not cursed! Characters are the property of Takahashi Rumiko. I deserve to be thrown in the spring of drowned ferret for even thinking of using them. Please don't sue me, I am but a poor and penniless student. Anyone who has read any of my previous alternifics should know that I never change just one curse, so read on at your discretion... C&C's are welcome, wanted and not wasted on me. My conventions explained: - The suffix -kun is used to denote a character's cursed male form. No suffix indicates that the person isn't in their cursed form. If someone turns up with a girl curse, they'll get the -chan suffix. Animal curses are denoted by the name of the animal as a suffix. After a couple of times, animal suffixes will probably usually be shortened to the first letter. For example, Henry-Mockingbird, or Henry-M after the first couple of times the name is used in a scene. - Just to be REALLY annoying, a cat curse will be denoted by a -Neko suffix. So, Ralf-Neko for example. - <> Denotes Chinese. - [] Denotes thoughts. - ** Is animal speak when used without quotes, and is sound effects within quotes. For example: *Hello.* the duck quacked. And: "*sigh*" she sighed. - {} Are Panda signs. "Cruel, but composed and bland, Dumb, inscrutable and grand, So Tiberius might have sat, Had Tiberius been a cat." - Poor Matthias by Matthew Arnold. ********************* Two birds chirped, as the male bird, a beautiful little blue-feathered avian, offered his sweetheart a sprig of grass that he had collected with his beak. Nearby, children's laughter could be heard as the younger people of this Neriman neighbourhood played in the puddles that the recent light shower had brought. Two old women chatted over things inconsequential to all but them. It was as if a life-affirming peace had settled over this quiet city. It was enough to make any but the most bright-eyed optimist sweat in worry. You just knew that something horrible was about to happen. It was as inevitable as the tides. From a property where there lay both an house and what appeared to be a small dojo came the faint sounds of conversation. "So if that was Mr Saotome..." a young woman's voice drifted out, "...then where's Ranma?" "Why, he's right here." came a deep voiced man's reply. There was a pause, and then another male voice piped up with "Hi there..." There was another pause, slightly longer, before some loud shouts boomed out of the house. "Ranma! After all this time what have you got to say for yourself!!!" There were several booms, cracks, and thuds, before there was silence again. After a short while, the deep man's voice boomed out. "So... I take it you've met my son before then..." ********************* In the dining room of the Tendo abode, things were a bit messier than they had been a few moments ago. Several small spatulas were stuck into various fixtures, and a gigantic spatula was wedged into the floor near where Ranma had been standing. Ukyou was being held away from Ranma by Genma and Akane. He was doing his best to struggle out of their grasp. Ranma was in front of Ukyou, in a defensive posture. He no longer had that slightly woozy expression he had had when he walked in, adrenaline had probably snapped him out of his funk. He was looking at Ukyou with surprise on his face. "Do I know you?" Ranma asked Ukyou. "Know me!? Why you..." Ukyou snarled as he redoubled his efforts to attack Ranma. "What have you gotten yourself into this time, boy?" Genma asked his son as he kept his hold on Ukyou. He couldn't shake the feeling that this boy was familiar, but he had seen a lot of people in his time. Perhaps in time it would come to him... "I dunno..." Ranma said defensively. "I don't remember him. He's probably mad because of you anyway, Oyaji. People usually are when they come after us." Soun lay a hand on Akane, who was starting to wonder if she should 'accidentally' let Ukyou go. After all, she had known that Ukyou wanted to fight Ranma for some reason, a reason that Ukyou certainly thought was worth his while. Perhaps they shouldn't be interfering in this. Still, Ukyou's ferocity had shocked even her, and her instincts had told her to help Genma hold back Ukyou. "Akane." Soun said in a low voice. "Control your friend. The Saotomes are guests in our home too, and I will not have any of our guests fighting each other in the house. That's what the dojo is for." Akane sighed. Her father was right, she had to calm Ukyou down. "Ukyou." she said as the brown haired boy struggled in her grip. "Calm down. You've waited this long, you can wait to settle your problems where it won't cause so much damage." Ukyou looked around at the mess he had caused in trying to hit Ranma. He stopped struggling, and had the grace to look embarrassed. "I'm sorry." he said. He looked at Ranma, before he added "I'll settle this when we're alone, Ranma." "What? Settle what!?" Ranma half-shouted. Ukyou snuck a glance at Akane. "That's between us, Ranma. Just between us." ********************* The Tendos, the Saotomes, and Ukyou were sitting around the table in the dining room. Akane was sitting next to Ukyou, who was staring intensely at Ranma. Ranma was across the table from Ukyou, looking back at the other boy. Ranma was staring at Ukyou with a puzzled look on his face, trying his best to remember where he'd seen this angry youth before. Someone, at a wild guess Kasumi, had cleaned up the mess that Ranma and Ukyou had so recently caused. "How can I best explain this..." Genma mused. He glanced surreptitiously at his son, almost as if he was considering using Ranma as a living demonstration for whatever it was that he was about to say. Genma hesitated, before he shook his head. [No.] he thought. [Using Ranma to show the curse might not be wise.] "Perhaps it would be easiest just to show you all." Genma continued after he turned his gaze away from Ranma and back to the others. He picked up an handy bucket of water, and emptied its watery contents over his head. Where he had sat now lay the panda that Ukyou had knocked out before. Genma-Panda gruffled, and then held up a sign {See?} "Oh." Akane and Ukyou said simultaneously. "Jusenkyo." Everyone turned to look at the two teenagers. {You know about Jusenkyo?} Genma-Panda signed incredulously. "Akane..." Soun said hesitantly, "...you only know about that place because you heard about it, right? You didn't actually _go_ there when you were in China, did you?" Genma-P flipped his sign. {You went to China?} Akane hesitated in her answer, and seemed grateful when Nabiki cut in. "What are you people talking about?" Nabiki asked. "How did he turn into a panda like that? This is some sort of trick, right?" "No, this is no trick." Soun said as Genma-Panda went off to get some hot water. "He was explaining it to me before. Apparently there's a place over in China called Jusenkyo, where there is a set of cursed springs. Anyone who lands in one of them turns into whatever drowned there. It seems that cold water activates this curse and hot water changes the person back to their real form." "That's right." Genma, back in human form, said as he walked back into the room. He had quickly ducked into the kitchen and used an handy kettle of hot water to change back. He sat down next to his son, and took up the story. "What happened was..." ********************* Flashback: ( Ranma and Genma, both dressed in white gis, are in front of a set of springs in a secluded valley. Next to them stood the Guide, who is giving out a speech on the springs of Jusenkyo. The two martial artists ignored the warnings the Guide was giving them, and they jumped onto the tops of two of the bamboo poles that jutted from each of the springs. After a short but furious mid-air battle between the two, Genma was knocked into one of the springs by his son. After his successful attack, Ranma landed on one of the poles and waited for his father to surface from the now bubbling spring. "Are we done?" Ranma asked, starting to worry about the amount of time his father had spent under water. It was then that Genma, in his new form of a panda, jumped out of the spring and landed on a pole so that he was facing Ranma. Things went downhill from there, as Ranma's shock at seeing his father turned into a panda effected his dodging ability, and an enraged Genma-Panda knocked him into one of the surrounding springs. Genma-Panda landed next to the Guide, who was standing next to the now bubbling spring that Ranma had landed in. "Aiya." the Guide said. "Spring of Drowned Cat. Very tragic story." he said. There was a ripple in the water as the head of a black cat broke the surface. The cat sneezed once, before he did his best to cat-paddle to shore. Genma-Panda looked at his changed son as the black cat dragged himself out of the Neko pool. *Are you ok son?* he tried asking, but since he was now a large furry animal all that came out were a series of gruffles and growls. Ranma-Neko ignored the panda for the moment as he looked at himself. The cat meowed quizzically, and then shook his head. The cat seemed to be having trouble accepting what had happened to him. *Son?* Genma-Panda gruffled. The cat focused his gaze on the panda, before he started to give off a low yowl. *Uh... son?* Genma-P asked nervously as he saw the feral gleam in the eyes of his transformed cat. Ranma-Neko responded by charging at the panda, hissing as he did so. Genma-P decided that perhaps a strategic retreat was in order until his son calmed down somewhat. In other words, he ran as fast as he could. It was only after he was doing his best to escape his enraged son that he realised something. If his son was a cat, then what would the effects of a certain previous training attempt have on him? Ranma's mind could be in deep, deep trouble. It was then, at the realisation of what turning into a cat might be doing to Ranma, that Genma _really_ began to regret coming to Jusenkyo. ) ********************* "That's rubbish." Ranma said after his father finished the story. "I don't have a curse." "You DO have a curse boy!" Genma shouted at his son. "How many times do I have to beat it into you?" "I DO NOT HAVE A CURSE OYAJI!" Ranma shouted back. "Especially not a c... ca... ca..." "Cat?" Akane suggested, curious about why Ranma had trouble saying the word. "Y... yeah." Ranma managed. "Wait a minute." Ukyou said suddenly. "A cat? Like that cat that watched us practice? The one that was in the bathroom with me!?" "That's him, yes." Genma said calmly. "You... you... pervert!" Ukyou hissed. "Acting like a cat just so you can get your cheap thrills!?" "Cheap thrills?" Ranma asked. "Spying on me in the bath!" Ukyou elaborated. "I did no such thing!" Ranma protested. "Last thing I remember, I was out on a street with Oyaji, and then it goes black, and then I'm in the bathtub here with my father looking on. You weren't there. And why would I spy on a guy!? I'm not... hey, there is no way I would be like that, man!" "Guy?" Ukyou whispered so low that no-one heard him. [No, no, no. He couldn't not know. He must think that I don't want the others to know, and is keeping it secret. He _must_ know... I have to make sure.] "Come with me." he said as he stood. "Why?" Ranma asked. "I need to talk to you in private. This can't wait any longer." Ukyou replied. "Can't this wait?" Genma asked. "No, no it can't." Ukyou replied. Ranma sighed. "Alright, fine. Let's go. I've had enough of hearing about how I'm 'cursed' anyway." He stood, and followed Ukyou out to the dojo. Genma cleared his throat. "Unfortunately, Ranma doesn't seem to remember his actions when he is in his cursed form, which makes it hard to get him to admit that he has a curse." "Why doesn't he remember what happens in his cursed form?" Nabiki asked. "You seem to." Genma sighed. "It is a true tragedy. Ranma has some problems with cats. When he turned into one, it was too much for him. So he acts like a cat when in his cat form, and he forces himself to think that he simply blacks out when he gets hit with cold water. I haven't seen him voluntarily use cold water since Jusenkyo. To think that a son of mine would refuse to believe such a simple truth about himself. Have I not taken on my own curse with the stoic calm of a true martial artist? So should he..." Akane looked over at the dojo where Ranma and Ukyou had disappeared to. "I can't blame him for not taking it well." she whispered. "I know I didn't when it happened to me." ********************* There was a short pause as Kasumi cleared away some empty glasses. It was after Kasumi returned from the kitchen that Genma remembered the way Ukyou and Akane had reacted to seeing the curse for the first time. "So tell me, Akane isn't it?" Genma began as he looked at Akane. "How do you and your friend know of Jusenkyo? Even in China not many had heard of it." Akane looked nervously between Genma, and her father. "Ah... you see..." She sighed, before she took a glass of water from the table. She poured the cool water over her head, changing herself to the boy with the strange bluish brown hair who had been hiding behind the crates in China. "A... Akane?" Soun asked hesitantly. Genma was looking at Akane-kun in mild surprise and the other Tendo girls looked shocked. Akane-kun nodded his head miserably. Soun responded by fainting. "Well, he actually took that better than I thought he would." Akane-kun said after a short pause. ********************* In the port of a Japanese town, a large cargo vessel lay at dock. The sailors of this rusty behemoth looked about them nervously as they started the lengthy task of unloading the ship's containers. They were nervous because... because the ship was haunted. Or at least, so they thought. Ever since they had stopped over in China, strange things had been happening on board. Food disappeared. There were strange noises from the cargo hold, almost like someone was using the dark storage area as a place to practice their weaponry skills. And whenever anyone went down into the cargo hold, they would either find nothing, or they would be mysteriously knocked unconscious and left where they fell. The captain, in an attempt to curtail the almost superstitious rumours about the cargo hold, had ordered the place to be thoroughly searched for stowaways. None were found, and so the ghost theories surfaced, fed by the shared loneliness that being on a ship can bring. If only the sailors had been right, if only the cause of their fear had been a ghost. But it was not some otherworldly apparition making trouble. It was a far, far worse being than some insubstantial spirit. In the darkness of the cargo hold, a shadowed figure stepped from their hiding place. At last, at long last this horribly dull journey was over. She, for the outline of her figure indicated that this person was a woman, she was glad that this ship had finally reached its destination. There were only so many times you could knock out the weak males who came down here before you got bored. The proud warrior skulked her way out of the hold, using stacked crates, cargo hoists, and her uncanny agility to make her way out of the ship's belly. With the stealth born of honed talent, she had soon made her way off the rusted vessel onto the soil of this foreign land. She looked around her, at this barbarian's land. To have to come here in order to fulfil the obligations of honour... oh well. At best, this would be a temporary home. Showing an agility that any, including her peers, would kill for, the girl used some stacked crates to leapfrog onto the roof of the dockmaster's office. With the grace of the tigress, the girl flitted from building top to building top before she evidently found a roof to her liking, and stopped. She stood proudly, gazing out from her selected rooftop perch, searching for her prey. The woman looked at the signs of the stores below her, signs written in Japanese. Her victim was elusive, to be sure. But she'd find the one she was looking for sooner or later. There was only one hundred and eighty or so million people in Japan. Back in China, there had been a lot more people to sort through, and yet she'd caught up to her prey several times. After all, how long could it take to find one person when you barely spoke the language, didn't know the customs, and happened to be an illegal visitor to these fair shores? The human predator sighed as she brushed her purple hair out of her eyes. The hunt had been a long one, and long hunts had their satisfaction. But every hunt must have its end, and it was time to draw this chase to a close. With an almost feral smile, the huntress leapt from the building, sailing gracefully to another nearby rooftop. As soon as she landed, she was running, running to start her search of this new playground. Pity the poor animal she was hunting. For she was the cat, and the mouse she chased had very little time left to play indeed... ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** Till next time. Neko by Mark Doherty (mdoherty@mailbox.uq.edu.au) Chapter 4: Well this place isn't in the travel guide... Characters are the property of Takahashi Rumiko. I deserve to be thrown in the spring of drowned ferret for even thinking of using them. Please don't sue me, I am but a poor and penniless student. Anyone who has read any of my previous alternifics should know that I never change just one curse, so read on at your discretion... C&C's are welcome, wanted and not wasted on me. My conventions explained: - The suffix -kun is used to denote a character's cursed male form. No suffix indicates that the person isn't in their cursed form. If someone turns up with a girl curse, they'll get the -chan suffix. Animal curses are denoted by the name of the animal as a suffix. After a couple of times, animal suffixes will probably usually be shortened to the first letter. For example, Henry-Mockingbird, or Henry-M after the first couple of times the name is used in a scene. - Just to be REALLY annoying, a cat curse will be denoted by a -Neko suffix. So, Ralf-Neko for example. - <> Denotes Chinese. - [] Denotes thoughts. - ** Is animal speak when used without quotes, and is sound effects within quotes. For example: *Hello.* the duck quacked. And: "*sigh*" she sighed. - {} Are Panda signs. "Cruel, but composed and bland, Dumb, inscrutable and grand, So Tiberius might have sat, Had Tiberius been a cat." - Poor Matthias by Matthew Arnold. ********************* The Tendo girls and Genma were sitting around Soun, who was lying on a futon, a wet washcloth on his head. He seemed to be in shock, possibly from some sort of horrible news, tears were streaming down his blank face. Akane, who had returned to her female form, was looking nervous at the scrutiny her sisters and Genma were giving her. "Jusenkyo eh?" Genma finally asked. Akane nodded. "What on Earth were you doing over in China?" Genma asked. "Let's just say that giving our Dad plenty of warning about your travel plans in China wasn't a good idea." Nabiki answered calmly for Akane. "He got a bit excited when you sent him a letter three months ago, telling him when you were planning on arriving here." ********************* Three months ago... Soun sat opposite Akane, Nabiki and Kasumi in the Tendo dining area. Soun had a ridiculously happy expression on his face, while the girls had expressions ranging from mild concern(Kasumi), through slight interest(Nabiki), to a certain rage(Akane). "And so I thought I'd broach the engagement to you three now." Soun said as he smiled. "One of you three shall be engaged to Genma's boy when they arrive here. Genma and Ranma plan to be here in about three months, they're just finishing up some last training spots over in China. Why look, Genma even gave me an itinerary of where he was going. I wonder what Jusenkyo is like? Ah, training on the open road, it reminds me of my younger--" "That's all well and good Daddy." Nabiki cut in. "But let's get back to the important bit here. You've engaged one of us to one of your old friend's son? That's medieval! I mean, I know some parents still do it, but I thought better of you..." "It does seem a little sudden, Father." Kasumi noted. Akane just grit her teeth in her own form of protest. How could her father do this? It was so unfair. She just hoped that Kasumi or Nabiki could talk Soun out of this. Akane just couldn't think of any way to talk her father out of this marriage contract, a contract between the Saotomes and the Tendos. "Now, now." Soun said placatingly. "Genma and I agreed to this when your mother...", his eyes got slightly misty at this point, "...was pregnant with Nabiki. Nodoka, Genma's wife, was confident that she would soon be with child. It just seemed so perfect to arrange a joining of our families, especially since we were about to go our separate ways for a while. Who knew it would be for so long..." "So..." Nabiki said carefully, "...Ranma's younger than me. Probably around Akane's age, is he?" Soun shrugged. "I'm really not sure. I do know he's younger than you, Nabiki. But I'm afraid I'd left to run this dojo before Ranma was *ahem* conceived, so I don't know his exact age. Genma never did tell me much about his son in his letters. Our correspondence was like that." Kasumi sighed inwardly, although she showed no outward disappointment. That meant that Ranma was at least three years younger than she was. How could they possibly make a marriage work with such an age difference? He was so much... younger. Still, if she had to marry him, she would uphold the family honour. As would any of the Tendo blood. Nabiki cranked out the calculations in her head. Firstly, the Saotomes weren't rich, Soun would have used that as a selling point by now if they were. He knew his middle daughter that well, at least. Next, Ranma was younger, probably meaning he was less mature, although that was one that couldn't be determined until they met. Thirdly, by the sounds of it the Saotomes were martial arts nuts, the way her father described it they'd been training most of Ranma's life. She wasn't interested in martial arts, in fact Akane was the only Tendo girl who was. Fourthly, she'd barely dated yet, and an arranged marriage would put paid to any outside romances. She didn't want to just marry the first guy she went steady with, it sounded so boring. Nabiki looked at her two sisters. Kasumi the substitute mother and Akane the tomboy, the boy hater. What a family. If she married this Ranma guy, that meant she'd be stuck here helping run the dojo. She wanted to get out, live her own life, be free to live the dreams she had kept within herself for so long. She wanted out of here and marrying Ranma would ensure that never happened. There seemed to be only one last thing that could save Ranma in her eyes. "Is this Ranma guy cute?" Nabiki asked her father. "I don't know." Soun admitted. "I've never met him." "Never met?" Nabiki sighed. Well, that settled it. He might not even be cute. That was too many things in Ranma's negative box, too few in the positive for him to be a worthwhile investment. Nabiki didn't want to be the one stuck with this engagement. Akane couldn't believe her father thought they'd be happy about this. She didn't want to be engaged to some boy she'd never met. She was having enough troubles with boys as it was without being engaged to one. Just once she'd like to meet a boy who could treat her as something besides a prize to be fought over. Kasumi looked at her two sisters. Perhaps one of them would be better suited to this engagement? She looked at Nabiki. No, Nabiki wasn't traditional enough to fit into an arranged marriage. Akane? Perhaps... this Ranma boy was supposed to be about Akane's age, he studied martial arts, as did her younger sister... Nabiki thought about her two sisters. The thing was that she didn't want them to be stuck in this thing either. She might be able to wriggle her way out of an engagement eventually, if she was the one that was left carrying the torch. Kasumi wouldn't have a chance. She'd just meekly accept the idea of being married and she'd never try to escape an engagement. And Akane... oh yes, Akane would be perfect. The way she treated boys, she'd have Ranma begging to have the engagement annulled within days. Plus, Akane had a way of wrapping their father around her finger when she wanted. She could convince him to do practically anything, so surely she could convince him to stop the engagement if she... _happened_ to be the one chosen. Akane looked at her two sisters and felt slightly nervous. Why were they looking at her like that? "The only thing that remains is which of you should marry Ranma." Soun said. "Although perhaps we should leave the decision to him." "I don't see why." Nabiki said as she continued to look at Akane. "We're not cattle at some auction. We should choose." "Oh?" Soun asked. "And which of you wants to marry him?" "I think Akane would be the best choice." Kasumi offered. Nabiki blinked, slightly shocked that her elder sister had beaten her to saying it. "I agree." she blurted before Akane could say anything. "What? No!" Akane shouted after saying nothing for a few seconds because of the shock of being volunteered. "Well then. It's decided." Soun said happily, ignoring his youngest daughter's last words. "Akane, you shall marry Ranma." Akane felt her stomach contract. She couldn't... she couldn't... how could they... how? How could she be engaged to some boy, just like that? It wasn't right, it wasn't fair, it wasn't what she wanted, it wasn't... Akane clenched her fists. It wasn't going to happen. Two days later... A dark figure crept through an house, being careful not to make any noise. Perhaps it was a burglar, intent on thievery. Or worse yet, some sort of psychotic killer, or... "Going somewhere sister?" Nabiki's voice whispered from nearby as she turned on the light. Akane looked over at her sister guiltily. She was dressed in travelling clothes; black pants and a loose yellow shirt, with a fair sized backpack on her back. Her hand was on the door to the main exit. "I can't believe you'd even consider this Akane." Nabiki continued when she saw that Akane was too shocked at being discovered to talk. "You're running away?" "I am not running away!" Akane protested before she realised that she was trying to not wake her father, and lowered her voice for the next part. "I'm not running away." "Oh?" Nabiki asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked over the travel equipment Akane was wearing. Akane looked to where Nabiki was looking, at her backpack. She flushed, before she said "Look, I'm going after this Ranma guy. I've got to convince him to help me to get our fathers to call off the engagement contract. I've tried talking Daddy out of this by myself, it just hasn't worked." "Why?" Nabiki asked. "Firstly, why go after him? He's supposed to be in China. You can't be thinking of going to China by yourself, it could be dangerous. Why not just wait for him to come here? And secondly, why worry in the first place? Do you hate boys that much that you won't even give this one a chance?" "Oh that's fine for you." Akane spat. "Considering that my dear sisters made sure that _I_ was the one to be engaged. If you want to give this guy a chance then you marry him. And I can take care of myself over in China, I am a fine martial artist. Just look at what I've been doing to those boys every morning." Nabiki repressed the urge to sigh. "I can't let you run off like this Akane. It's too dangerous." "And how are you going to stop me?" Akane challenged as she opened the door. "One yell will have Dad down here." Nabiki pointed out calmly. "He'll lock you into your room until you reach the age of majority." "No!" Akane said in a voice as loud as she dared. "Please Nabiki, don't do it. Look... I'll be fine, but I have to do this. I can't be married to some boy I've never met. It's not fair. It's not right. You have no right to stop me... Please, just let me go." Nabiki looked at her younger sister for a few moments. Eventually, she spoke. "Just how did you plan to get to China?" Akane felt relief wash over her. If Nabiki was asking her that, then it meant that she wasn't going to stop her. "I was just going to go to the docks and book on a ship." Nabiki shook her head, and tutted. "Really, I despair of you sometimes. You call that a plan?" "What's wrong with it?" Akane asked defensively. "I'd ask you to tell me how much money you have, but I probably know better than you. You can't afford a boat trip there and back, especially when you add in living expenses while you're over there." "I can't not go." Akane protested. "This has burned away at me for the past two days, I can't live like this for three months. I _have_ to do something." Nabiki looked thoughtful for a few moments. "Ok, I think I can loan you some money if you go to this captain I know. She's the aunt of a guy at school who owes me big time. She'll get you to China safely." Akane looked at her older sister in surprise. "You'll do that for me?" "Just don't go spreading it around, ok?" Nabiki asked. "And remember, this is a loan and a favour that I'll expect to be repaid." Akane sighed. "Of course." Nabiki smiled slightly. She had just made the greatest mistake one who lived by her sort of moral codes could make. She had put herself in Akane's place. She knew that Akane couldn't live with this engagement, she even _almost_ felt guilty about foisting it off on her younger sister. Besides, Akane would be unbearable to live with if she didn't get to go after Ranma. And so Nabiki helped her younger sister. Soon enough... Akane sighed as she picked at her food. She was in Kyoto, north of Osaka. She was waiting on a bus to take her to Osaka, where this captain of Nabiki's was currently moored. Akane had taken a bus to Osaka via Kyoto because, thanks to a quirk in the bus timetable, there wasn't a direct bus for another six hours. Since the bus stopped in Kyoto for about three-quarters of an hour for breakfast(it was an early bus) and to pick up new passengers, Akane decided to get something to eat while she waited. "You seem troubled." a voice noted. Akane looked up to see that the young man who had served her was looking across the counter at her. Since it was very early there weren't many other customers yet and so the cook could afford the time to chat. "It's nothing." she said, not wanting to talk about such a personal problem to a stranger. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about whatever it is?" the young man asked. "You'll find it helps." Akane shook her head. "No. This is between me and Saotome Ranma. But thank you for asking." The young man paled. "Did you say Saotome... Ranma?" Akane looked up from her food to the cook. "You know him?" "I knew a Saotome Ranma." the cook admitted. "In fact, I was just about to start my search for him. I must find him. I _must_." Akane looked at the passion in the cook's eyes with surprise. "Actually, I was just on my way to find him." The cook looked at her, hope in his eyes. "You know where he is? We're talking about the same Ranma? He has a father called Genma?" His voice seemed to grow dark as he said Genma's name. Akane nodded. "It is the same Ranma! This is incredible. Who would have thought that I'd meet someone who knew Ranma like this." The cook blinked. "I am being rude. My name is Kuonji Ukyou." "Tendo Akane." "Tendo Akane, do you know where Ranma is? I _must_ find him. I MUST." Ukyou said. Akane blinked. "Well yes, I do know. But I'm sorry to say that he's over in China. I guess you'll have to wait a while before you can see him." "China?" Ukyou asked. Akane nodded. "And you are going there?" Akane nodded again, a bit more hesitantly. She had just met this boy, she didn't know if he could be trusted with such information about herself yet. "Please." Ukyou said. "I must come with you. I have to find Ranma." Akane blinked. "You want to come with me? To China? But we just met!" Ukyou nodded. "And I'm sorry for being so forward but... Ranma! I've waited ten years to encounter him again. Ten years! I have to grab at any chance I can get. Please, I'll pay my own way, I'm a martial artist so I can protect us if need be and I can also cook if the people you're travelling with don't want to cook." Akane looked down at the okonomiyaki she had half finished. "Actually, I'm by myself." she admitted. "Then you'll need a companion." Ukyou noted. "But I leave in ten minutes." Akane protested. She wasn't stupid, she knew that going to China with someone else would be a lot safer. But she'd just met this guy. Could she trust him? Still, he seemed ok, even if he was a little strange about wanting to meet Ranma again. "I'll be ready in five." Ukyou answered. Akane sighed and gave in. "Ok." she said. "Welcome aboard then, I guess." Some time later... Akane and Ukyou looked at the vista that spread out before them. The many springs of Jusenkyo dotted the landscape that stretched out from the end of the road they had taken. Behind them, the road stretched up into the mountains surrounding the valley. Akane sighed. "This is lovely." She looked over at Ukyou and resisted the urge to smile. Who would have thought that this strange boy would turn out to be such a pleasant friend? In the three weeks that Akane had known Ukyou she had noted that he was a cut above most of the boys she knew. He didn't look at her as an object, he respected and could match her martial arts skills, he was good company even if he was a little grim(especially about Ranma). All in all, Akane wasn't regretting letting Ukyou come with her. He had turned out to be a good friend. Besides, so far he had made the long journey more pleasant, just by being there. Who knew just how boring this China trip would have been by herself? Ukyou looked around. "Mmmm." he agreed to Akane's comment about the place's beauty. "Just as importantly, Ranma's supposed to be here. We weren't far behind him in that last village so surely we'll catch up to him here." "Well, there's only one way to find out." Akane noted as the two teenagers started to pick their way between the springs. After a minute or so of walking between the springs, Akane gasped and pointed. "Wow, look! A wild panda!" Ukyou looked to where Akane was pointing. Sure enough, a panda was darting up one of the mountain paths. There appeared to be some small black creature chasing after the panda, but they were too far away to make out what it was. "Well, I guess we're in the right country for them." Ukyou said. Akane looked down at the springs. "You know, I'm surprised there isn't some sort of settlement here." she said as she crouched down next to one of the larger springs. "I mean, look at this water. It looks clean, clear, perfect for drinking. And there's so many of these springs. This place could keep a small town in drinking water for as long as they wanted." "Aiya!" a voice cried out from the distance. The two teenagers looked from the spring to see a stout middle-aged man running towards them. He was waving his hands and seemed to be minding his step, making sure he didn't fall into any of the springs. From the description the two teenagers had been given in the last village they visited, this man was the Guide of this area. the Guide cried in Mandarin since he didn't know that the two martial artists were Japanese. [Must be private property or something.] Akane thought, alarmed at the unintelligible spiel the Guide was shouting. "We're sorry!" she shouted as she started to stand from her crouch. "We didn't mean any har...' she began before her heavy backpack, combined with the slippery edge of the spring, caused her to overbalance. "Eeeeeee..." she managed before she fell into the spring. Ukyou shot his head around from looking at the rapidly approaching Guide when he heard the splash. He looked at the bubbling spring with a worried expression when he saw that Akane wasn't surfacing. "Akane?" he began. "Are you alright?" he added. As the Guide ran up, Ukyou swore and threw off his backpack, combat spatula and bandolier. "Miss Customer taking long while to surface." the Guide noted as he caught his breath from his run. "Too long." Ukyou agreed as he jumped into the spring. The Guide raised his hand in protest, but he was too late. Moments later, Ukyou(in his red haired cursed form) dragged an unconscious Akane-kun out of the spring. Ukyou lay Akane-kun out next to the spring before he pulled himself out. He looked down at his friend. "Akane?" he asked in worry, wondering if he should start mouth to mouth or something. Akane-kun groaned and slowly opened his eyelids. He raised himself on his elbows, coughed out some water and then said "What happened?" The Guide answered. "Sadly, Miss Customer most unlucky. Fall in cursed spring. Many year ago, young man drown in this pool. Now, whoever fall in spring gain form of young man." "That's re..." Akane-kun began before he noticed that Ukyou, who had seemed to have somehow grown taller, changed his hair to a red colour and had somehow gained even more masculine features, such as a more chiselled chin, was looking at him with a strange expression. "...diculous. Ukyou, what happened to you?" Ukyou didn't answer, he was just looking at Akane-kun's chest, where the wet shirt was clinging to him. Akane-kun noticed where Ukyou was looking and growled. "Ukyou you hentai..." then he stopped. Something was wrong. He looked down to where Ukyou was looking, at his chest, and saw that the wet clinging fabric was showing an important fact. He had no breasts. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!" The Guide sighed and shook his head as Akane-kun went into a state of shock. Then he looked at Ukyou. It made no sense. A man shouldn't have been affected by this spring, it had been proven before that this water had no effect on a non-cursed male. So why had it affected this boy? Ukyou stopped looking at Akane, stole a quick glance at himself and then he grabbed the Guide by the shirt. "There better be a way to reverse this." he said with an undercurrent of anger. The Guide nodded. "Curse is permanent, cold water always activate it. But hot water reverse it." "Hot water reverses it?" Ukyou asked, keeping his grip on the Guide. The Guide nodded. Ukyou let go of the Guide and walked over to Akane-kun, who was staring at his chest. "Akane?" Ukyou said softly. Akane-kun ignored him. "Akane?" Still no answer. "Akane, there's a way to reverse it." Akane-kun looked up, misery in his eyes. "Reverse?" he asked softly. Ukyou nodded. "But we have to get out of here first." Ukyou added. "This place is too dangerous. Saotome wouldn't have stuck around here." "Saotome?" the Guide asked. "They here just before." Ukyou turned to look at the Guide. "They've gone?" The Guide nodded. "They may come back." "Did they say where they were going next?" Ukyou asked. "The father mentioned Nerima." the Guide admitted. "Do you want me to help you find way out of here? There is Amazon village in that direction, if you want to find place with water that not cursed." He pointed out a direction. Ukyou looked down at Akane-kun, who was staring at himself again. "No." he said. "We can manage without any help." He walked over to his discarded equipment, picked up everything and put them on, before he walked back to Akane-kun. "Akane?" he said softly as he offered an hand to the sitting Akane-kun. "Come on, let's get out of here. Saotome's gone and I don't think we want to stay here for any longer than we have to." Akane-kun blinked before he looked up at Ukyou's offered hand. After a few long seconds, he hesitantly raised one of his own hands and took Ukyou's in his. Ukyou pulled Akane-kun up and helped the Neriman girl/guy off as the Guide looked on. the Guide said to himself as he watched the two men walk off. Night found the two teenagers camping out under the stars. They had not managed to reach the Amazon village before dark, their cursed forms and the debilitating emotions the new bodies had created had slown their pace. Ukyou looked across the campfire at Akane, an unreadable expression on his face. Akane was in a sleeping bag, sleeping after the tiring and emotionally draining day she had just experienced. After a while, Ukyou turned his gaze from the girl and looked down at the small pot that was suspended over the fire. He grimaced as he remembered Akane's words from earlier in the evening, when she had changed back to her female form. 'Do you want some...' Akane had said hesitantly as she offered the remaining hot water to Ukyou. Once returned to her female form, Akane regained some of her old self. 'I guess it doesn't matter as much to you, since you're a guy in either form.' Ukyou winced as he remembered the effort it had taken to politely refuse, to keep up the charade, to insist that Akane use the water for tea. "Ten years of practice got me somewhere I guess." he whispered to himself as he slowly took off his shirt. He stared down at his chest, which was bound with what appeared to be a painfully tight bandage. He grimaced as he slowly unwound the binding. Breathing became much easier when he had unsecured the white cloth. He stared at his flat, muscular chest for a moment before he hesitantly rested an hand on his torso. He poked his chest for a few moments before he removed his trembling hand. Then, with a look of horror that he had been hiding from Akane ever since the Springs, he lifted his too-tight leggings away from his body, and used the dim light from the fire to examine himself. After a few seconds, he started shuddering, shuddering so badly that he lost his grip on his leggings, causing them to snap back against his stomach. The shuddering just kept on going and going, as he used his discarded shirt to pick up the small pot and dump the contents, hot water, over himself. His form shrunk as he returned to his true form. His hair turned from its bright red to a dark brown. Large muscles turned more wirey. The too tight leggings moulded to his now thinner legs. His eyes shifted from a bright blue to a middish brown. And he grew breasts. Ukyou looked down at her true form, and silently wept, still careful not to wake up Akane. She let go of all the pent-up horror that she had been hiding since Jusenkyo. Ukyou just couldn't stop shuddering as she cried, mourning the passing of another fragment of her female side, a fragment that was, like so many fragments before, sacrificed because of one boy. ********************* Genma felt a sense of unease as Akane slowly, haltingly told the tale of why she had been in China, and how she had gained her curse. If she was in China because of Ranma and if she blamed his son for her curse, then what sort of marriage could be hoped for? This was not good. The only hope he and Soun could hold was that Akane would not seek to blame Ranma for her problem. He blinked as he stole a glance at the dojo. And where was his wayward son? That other boy had certainly kept him occupied for a while. Genma shook his head. He had almost thought that he'd known this Ukyou boy, but the person he was thinking of had been a girl, and Akane had been adamant that Ukyou was a boy when she met him. Obviously, it was just coincidence, and it was another Ukyou. Perhaps this lad had known Ranma in school, apparently his boy had managed to start a few feuds while at school. Ah... it reminded him of his own school days, so long ago. Genma looked at the now black sky. It had been early evening when he and Ranma had arrived, and now night had painted the sky with darkness. Yes, some time had passed since Ranma had left to talk with the Ukyou boy. What was taking those two so long? ********************* In the black pitch of a moonless night, a small boat chugged its way into the safety of an harbour. The boat was deceptive, to say the least. Although it looked like nothing more than a rusty old fishing vessel, it was, in fact, one of the many smuggling ships that plied the danger-filled route between China and Japan. The captain of the ship looked grimly at his unwanted passenger. He had been in one of his stopovers in China, stocking up on several hard to find items, when the young man who occupied the deck had stepped onboard his ship. Attempts to remove the boy had proven messy, painful and useless but thankfully not fatal. After three of his men had been injured from attempts to remove the youth, the captain had given up on physical means and resorted to trying to talk the boy off his ship. He was, after all, a smuggler. He could talk his way out of anything. But the young man had proven to be incredibly stubborn. When the captain had politely asked the man to leave, all he had said was 'I must get to Japan.' first in Mandarin, and then in Japanese. After a while, the captain had given up and ordered the crew to ignore the boy. Even if the captain hadn't seen the way the boy had handled his men, he would have known not to mess with this one. For the boy had _the_ look. The look of holy determination, of obsession. The sort of look that only the most feverant of the religious, the political, or the insane could manage. It was the look that said 'I will not walk over this mountain in front of me, I shall walk _through_ it.' And people like that were either to be avoided, helped, or left alone. For to interfere with a person so focussed as this one was to invite trouble. Painful trouble. Deadly trouble. The boy turned his burning gaze from the shore to a small creature that rested on his left shoulder. The boy whispered something to the small animal, before he looked up at the smuggler captain. Well, in the general direction of the captain. He was actually looking at a life preserver that was attached to the bridge wall. "Thank you for allowing me the use of your ship, captain." the boy said, before he leapt off the still moving boat onto a nearby pier. As soon as he had landed, he was off, his long black hair streaming behind him as he ran into the shadows of the dark port. "Don't mention it." the captain said drolly to the empty air where the boy had so recently been. He seemed contemplative for a few moments, before he added "And what was it with that pet of his? I could have sworn it looked like a lemming... nah. What would a boy from China be doing with an American animal?" In the distance, there was a thud, almost as if someone who had been running during this darkest of dark nights had run into a wall or something. There was a pause, and then what appeared to be the concerned squeak of a small animal. The captain sighed. Maybe it was time to retire. ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** Till next time. Neko by Mark Doherty (mdoherty@mailbox.uq.edu.au) Chapter 5: Yin/Yang/Yatai, my problems with Ranma. Characters are the property of Takahashi Rumiko. I deserve to be thrown in the spring of drowned ferret for even thinking of using them. Please don't sue me, I am but a poor and penniless student. C&C's are welcome, wanted and not wasted on me. My conventions explained: - The suffix -kun is used to denote a character's cursed male form. No suffix indicates that the person isn't in their cursed form. If someone turns up with a girl curse, they'll get the -chan suffix. Animal curses are denoted by the name of the animal as a suffix. After a couple of times, animal suffixes will probably usually be shortened to the first letter. For example, Henry-Mockingbird, or Henry-M after the first couple of times the name is used in a scene. - Just to be REALLY annoying, a cat curse will be denoted by a -Neko suffix. So, Ralf-Neko for example. - <> Denotes Chinese. - [] Denotes thoughts. - ** Is animal speak when used without quotes, and is sound effects within quotes. For example: *Hello.* the duck quacked. And: "*sigh*" she sighed. - {} Are Panda signs. A yatai is a wheeled travelling grill. Hmm, think of it as a hotdog stand for okonomiyaki and other sorts of quickly prepared grillable food, although that's probably not the best example I could use. Oh, and okonomiyaki can be thought of as Japanese pizza, although that's not 100% accurate either. Try it and see, it's one of those foods that most either love or hate. "Cruel, but composed and bland, Dumb, inscrutable and grand, So Tiberius might have sat, Had Tiberius been a cat." - Poor Matthias by Matthew Arnold. ********************* Like the blood kiss of a vampire, sunset drenched the sky of Nerima in several shades of red. Parents called their children indoors for dinner, chores, or for whatever other reasons. Street lights flickered, before they slowly bathed the lanes in their luminescence. A dog padded down a street, looking for its home. At the dojo of the Tendo residence, however, such inconsequential happenings were ignored. Ukyou stalked into the small dojo, with Ranma cautiously following her. Once they were both in the small training building, with the door shut behind them, Ukyou faced Ranma. "What's the deal Saotome?" Ukyou asked. "What do you mean?" Ranma replied. "Who are you anyway?" "Oh come on." Ukyou snarled. "You don't remember dear old Ukyou? Ucchan? Your best friend when we were young? The one you ran out on, so long ago?" She pulled her combat spatula out of its holster and gave it a couple of test swings. "The one who has lost so much because of you." Ranma blinked. "Ucchan? Uc... wait, I remember! You were that kid at the yatai! How are ya doing?" "Oh, I'll be doing just fine." Ukyou said in a low voice as she raised her spatula to a ready position. "After I punish..." she swung her spatula at Ranma, who dodged it easily, "...you for..." another swing, another miss, "...leaving me behind!" Two more swings, both of which Ranma sidestepped. "Come on Ucchan..." Ranma said as he watched his childhood friend warily. "What's the matter with you? What are ya talking about?" "Talking about!?" Ukyou screamed. She hefted her spatula and began a set of wide sweeps at Ranma, never letting up. "Damn you!!!" Swing, dodge. "Damn you Ranma!!!" Swing, swing, both dodged. "Damn. You. For LEAVING ME!!!" Swing and miss. "DAMN YOU FOR MAKING ME GIVE UP SO MUCH OF MYSELF!" Swing after swing after swing after swing. Ranma narrowed his eyes as the combat spatula got closer and closer to snagging him. "I don't know what your problem is, Ucchan." he said as he kept dodging. "But you need to..." he chose his moment and grabbed past the blade of the spatula to the handle, in the middle of one of Ukyou's swings. Using Ukyou's momentum, he threw the spatula around "...CALM DOWN!" With Ranma's momentum behind her spatula, Ukyou was thrown across the room. With a thud, Ukyou slammed head first against the dojo wall. Her eyes closed as she slid down the wall, unconscious. "Ucchan?" Ranma asked cautiously. [Damn. Why did he have to keep attacking me like that?] As Ukyou slid down the wall, her shirt, caught by the friction, slid up and up until it was over her shoulders, revealing her bound chest. "U...Ucchan?" Ranma breathed. ********************* Oh so long ago... A very young Ukyou looked up at her taciturn father. Her father was a grim man and his bushy beard and thick eyebrows, along with his large frame, didn't help give him a pleasant demeanour. Still, Ukyou loved him. He was her father, how could she not? "Watch carefully now." Ukyou's father said in a deep, gruff voice as he poured some okonomiyaki mix onto the yatai's grill. The young Ukyou, who could not be more than six or seven years old, looked on in fascination as her father calmly, expertly cooked the okonomiyaki batter. "Remember not to leave it too long." her father said as he skilfully flipped the okonomiyaki over on the grill. Ukyou nodded, a serious expression on her face. "And be sure to..." her father paused as both he and Ukyou realised that the okonomiyaki he had been cooking had disappeared. Her father turned and looked at the dwindling figure of a small gi-clad boy. In the boy's hand was the almost cooked okonomiyaki. "Go stop him Ukyou." Ukyou's father said calmly. Ukyou nodded, a determined expression on her face. She drew her two mini spatulas that had been a prized birthday gift from her parents. Ukyou wielded them like daggers, since she was still pretty small. The young chef ran off after the small thief as her father calmly looked on. She could not fail in front of her father. A few minutes later... Ukyou trudged back to her family's yatai, her shoulders drooped in defeat. She had managed to catch up with the young thief, only to be easily defeated by the boy in the resulting scuffle. Her father looked at her as she walked up. "Did you punish him?" he asked. Ukyou slowly, hesitantly shook her head as she looked down at the ground, scuffing at the dirt with one of her toes. When her father didn't say anything, she looked up and saw the silent disapproval in his eyes. Ukyou felt the shame of her failure as she looked at her father and vowed to herself to never disappoint him again. The next day... Ukyou felt like crying. She was lying in the dirt, her mini spatulas lying nearby. "You ok?" the young thief, who had stolen from her family's yatai again and had beaten her again when she made chase, asked as he looked at the young chef. "You're not gonna cry are ya?" "No. Course I'm not." Ukyou said. "Good." the other kid said. "Pop always said only sissies cry. Bye bye!" he added, before he ran off. Ukyou blinked, before she pushed herself off the ground. She walked back to the yatai, suffered her father's silent disapproval for a while, before she hesitantly asked "Dad... could you help me practice fighting?" Her father smiled, although only slightly. "Making sure in case he comes back again, eh?" Ukyou nodded. "I can't let him steal from us." she said. The following day... Ukyou grimaced as she brushed the dirt off her child sized okonomiyaki chef's clothes. "Hey, ya did good today." the young thief said from nearby, grinning as he ran a hand through his black hair. "You're ok at this stuff." Ukyou blinked, never expecting a compliment from her enemy. She had trained so hard yesterday, in preparation for this fight. And she had lost, yet again. But now it didn't feel so bad, for some reason. "Gotta go, Pop'll kill me if I'm gone long." the thief said as he ran off, waving back at her. "See ya tomorrow." he shouted. Ukyou hesitated, before she waved back. "Tomorrow?" she said as she narrowed her eyes. "Fine, I'll get you tomorrow." Some days passed... Ukyou spat out some dirt as she raised her head. The boy thief looked on from nearby. "Ya wanna play something else?" the boy asked. "Just for a change?" Ukyou glared at the young boy, who was looking at her with an inane grin on his face. Couldn't he realise that this wasn't a game? "Sorry." she said. "I gotta go work." The thief nodded, before he bounded away. The next day... Ukyou looked around as her father finished scraping down the grill. The day had passed and the thief had never shown up. She found herself... missing the young boy. "Come on Ukyou." her father said as he started to wheel the yatai away. "It's time to go home." Ukyou looked around once more, sighed and then followed him. A couple of days later... Ukyou blinked as she recognised the young boy who was barrelling towards her. It was him! He'd come back! And... she blinked again as she realised that he'd just stolen the okonomiyaki she'd been making. "Well, go stop him." her father urged from where he stood nearby. Ukyou nodded and raced off. Out of her father's presence, a small, secretive smile lit her lips. Today she was going to beat this thief. And if she didn't, then she was at least going to get his name. Some weeks on... "Nahahaha! Stop it!" Ukyou giggled as the young thief tickled her. "Stop it Ranchan! Wahahaha!" "Gonna admit defeat yet Ucchan?" the boy asked, grinning as he kept tickling her. "Ok, ok!" Ukyou laughed. "You win!" "Ranma, it's time to go, son!" an older voice rang out from nearby. The boy sighed, before looking down at the young Ukyou. "Gotta go." He hesitated, before he said "Ucchan... Pop said we were leaving soon." Ukyou looked at her enemy turned friend. "L... leaving?" she whispered. The young Ranma nodded. Ukyou stared after the boy as he ran off, her face pale at the thought of him leaving. Then she seemed to gather herself. Her face grew determined and she walked off to find her father and ask him something. The next day... Ukyou's father sat on a crate, facing Genma, who was also sitting on a crate. "You want to engage your daughter to my son?" Genma asked. The okonomiyaki chef nodded his head. "Surprisingly, it was my daughter's idea. She's got quite the crush on your boy and he seems to feel the same way about her." Genma sighed. "I'm sorry, but Ranma's already promised to another." "What a shame." Ukyou's father noted. "Especially since I was going to offer my yatai as a dowry." Genma's head shot up. "But then, aren't promises meant to be broken?" he asked. "I agree to an engagement between my son and your daughter." Later that day... Ukyou walked along happily, almost bouncing at the joy of knowing that Ranma's father had agreed to the engagement. Now it didn't matter that Ranma was going because she would be going with him. She blinked as her father's yatai rattled past her. It was being pulled by Genma and Ranma was sitting on top of the roof of the cart. Ranma waved to her as he rattled by. "Bye bye Ucchan!" Ranma bubbled. Ukyou looked at the dwindling cart before the cold, hard truth of what she was seeing hit her. They were leaving. Without her. And after they had promised to take her with them. "No." she whispered, before she broke into a run, following the cart. Ranma continued to wave to his friend as he kept yelling "Bye Ucchan, bye bye!" "Ranchan!!!" Ukyou shouted as she chased the yatai, waving her arms in an attempt to get them to slow down or stop. Tears started to flow from her eyes as she realised that the yatai was pulling away. "You said you'd take me with you!" Ranma blinked. He couldn't hear Ukyou over the whirring of the yatai's wheels, so he thought she was shouting goodbye. "Bye Ucchan!" Ukyou kept running after the yatai until finally her young body couldn't take it anymore and collapsed. She lay there, crying, as the yatai rapidly disappeared over a rise. "Don't leave me." she whispered, far too late to be heard. Time passed... With a deafening roar, the foamy waters of the turbulent sea crashed against the rocks of a remote beach. There was a sharp staccato of sizzles as water from the waves hit a portable grill that was set up near the sea's edge. Ukyou snarled as she practised her Art, the Kuonji Art, the Art that had served her family so well, the Art that combined cooking with martial arts, the Art that would... Her hands blurred as she twirled her mini spatulas over the grill. Her mind and body were one, focussed on the training she knew she needed, needed for her revenge. Training in the Kuonji Art, the Art that would gain her the vengeance she so wanted, so desperately needed. She... no. No longer a she, for to continue being female after the pain of such rejection was too much. _He_ had given up _his_ femininity, renouncing _his_ gender so that it could never hurt _him_ again. In the eyes of the world, let it be said that Kuonji Ukyou was, for now and evermore, a man. He continued his difficult, taxing training as the waves slammed against the rocks he stood on, ignoring all in his driving focus. Vengeance. Vengeance would be... his. No matter how long it took. About three months ago... Akane leaned over the bow of the boat as she stared out at the monotonous features of the sea. She blinked as Ukyou joined her in leaning on the boat's side. "There's something about the sea." Ukyou noted as she looked out at the water. "Its always called out to me. I even used to train next to the sea, when I was younger. Its rage seemed to mirror my own, after Ranma..." she trailed off, seemingly unwilling to continue. "I don't want to pry into your personal business..." Akane said, "...but just what happened between you and Ranma?" Ukyou clenched the wooden rail she had been leaning on. "I... he..." "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Akane said when she saw Ukyou struggling to speak. "It's alright." Ukyou sighed. "Thank you." They leant there for a while, before Akane looked at her companion. "So..." she said, "...you're a martial artist? What style do you study?" "My families' specialist style." Ukyou replied as she turned to look at Akane. "Why?" "I'm a martial artist myself." Akane said. "In fact, I'm the heir to my father's school. I was hoping you knew kempo, or something similar, so that we could spar. It'd help make this trip go faster." Ukyou smiled as she thought about sparring. She had left her combat spatula in the very small room the captain had given her. "Well, Kempo's not my thing but I can still fight unarmed opponents. I'll need to get my weapon." "Weapon?" Akane asked. Then she remembered that ridiculously huge spatula Ukyou had been carrying on the short trip between Kyoto and Osaka. "You don't mean that spatula is a weapon!?" Ukyou nodded. "Well, it's a bit too large for normal everyday cooking." she replied. She pushed herself off the rail and said "It'll be good to get in some practice. I don't want to be rusty when we catch up with Ranma. Just so you know, I don't go easy on girls though." She started walking towards her cabin, before she turned and added "I'm not that sort of guy." before she walked off to get her weapon. Akane looked at the departing cook. "Good." she said to herself. "Because if you'd gone easy you would have regretted it even more than you're going to." She smiled as she started limbering her muscles for a sparring match. The only workout she'd been getting recently had been in group fighting. A good old one-on-one session was just what she needed... About a week on... Akane looked on as Ukyou cooked them both an okonomiyaki lunch over that travel griddle he seemed to be able to pull out of nowhere. He was certainly a good cook, she realised with a small twinge of jealousy. She had always wanted to cook but being in the same house as Kasumi had always acted as a mental stop sign. Whenever she had thought about cooking in her own house, she would think of Kasumi's cooking and insecurity would take over, ensuring that she didn't try. The reactions of her Home Ec teacher to her food attempts hadn't helped her willingness to experiment either. But out here, in the wilds of China, it just didn't seem fair to be letting Ukyou cook every meal. She wanted to pull her own weight. So when night arrived and they set up camp after an exhausting day of travel, Akane looked at Ukyou and said "Why don't I cook dinner? You should take a break." Ukyou blinked, before she smiled. "Sure." she said. "I'm a bit tired anyway." she admitted. "So it would be nice to take a break. Thank you." Akane smiled in response as she started preparing the food. Ukyou walked off to a nearby stream to take a bath, so she was (unfortunately) not there to stop Akane from making some fundamental cooking mistakes. By chance, Ukyou returned from her bath just as Akane started serving the food. Ukyou hid a huge yawn as she sat down near Akane. "Sorry." Ukyou apologised. "I really am tired tonight. I think I'll go to bed as soon as I've finished eating." Akane nodded, she was feeling a bit tired herself. Still, the achievement of creating her first true meal, with no aid from anyone else what's more, had given her a bit of an adrenaline rush, so she was far more awake than Ukyou. "Here you go." Akane said as she handed Ukyou a plate full of... well, something. Maybe it was food, maybe it wasn't. It was too hard to tell. Ukyou dubiously looked at the dish for a moment before she mentally shrugged and used her chopsticks to take a portion. She was just too tired at the moment to care what the food looked like. Akane looked on, her heart beating faster in anxiety, as Ukyou placed the food in her mouth. There was a pause. Akane almost gulped, waiting for a comment from her friend. Then Ukyou fainted, the plate she was holding clattering to the ground. "Ukyou?" Akane asked. "Ukyou?" she shook Ukyou and, when the okonomiyaki chef didn't respond, Akane sighed. "I guess he _really_ was tired." she said to herself. "I'll have to ask him what he thought of my dinner in the morning." A few days later... Akane shook her head. "Thank you, but no. I don't want to buy a duck." Ukyou looked on as Akane did her best to ask an old lady whether she had seen Ranma. It didn't help that neither of the teenagers knew much Chinese, beyond some of the simpler words. It was probably as much luck as anything else if they happened to be going in the right direction. "Saotome? Ranma? Genma?" Akane tried, hoping that the old woman would know one of the names. The old woman looked at the young girl for a moment, before offering her a pig trotter. Ukyou sighed. "Maybe she can point us out to those places Ranma was supposed to be going to." she suggested to Akane. Akane nodded. "Maybe you're right." she said. She pulled an oft-folded piece of paper out of her pocket and opened it. She looked at the contents for a moment and hummed to herself. "Let's see... the only place left is Jusenkyo." The old lady dropped the pig trotter she had been holding. She began speaking rapidly, gesturing in a North Easterly direction as she shook her head. "Looks like we hit the jackpot." Ukyou said as she stared in the direction that the old woman was pointing to. "She seems very excited." Akane said worriedly as the old lady grabbed her shirt sleeve. The old woman shook her head and said some more words. "Maybe she's just glad to be of help." Ukyou suggested. She pointed in the direction that the old woman had pointed, looked at the old lady and said "Jusenkyo?" just to make sure. The woman looked at Ukyou for a few moments, her hand still on Akane's sleeve, before she sighed and nodded. She seemed to deflate as she took her hand off Akane's sleeve. Akane looked at the old woman. "She seems really disturbed about something." Ukyou nodded. "But what can we do about it? We don't speak the language well enough to figure it out. Maybe she's just lonely and doesn't want us to leave." Akane sighed. "Maybe." she said. She looked at the foodstuffs the woman was selling before she picked out a brace of small birds. She handed the old lady some money and looked guiltily at Ukyou. "Well, I had to buy something." she said defensively. Ukyou nodded. "I agree." "Besides, it's my turn to cook tonight." Akane added as the two teenagers left the old woman. Ukyou paled. "Really, you don't have to cook." she said. "I mean, I'm a professional cook. I enjoy cooking. You should leave it to me. Please." Akane shook her head. "That wouldn't be fair on you Ukyou. Besides, I never really cooked before this trip." [No, really?] Ukyou thought as she felt a little queasy at the thought of Akane's cooking. "And I'd like to get as much practice as possible." Akane continued. Ukyou sighed. "Alright. But if you want to improve, how about I show you how to do it. Give you a few tips." Akane looked at her friend. "Are you saying that my cooking's bad?" "I just thought you wouldn't mind some tips on how to cook." Ukyou said defensively. "I mean, I do make a living from cooking and you don't seem to mind when I show you potential problems in your fighting style." Akane sighed. "I'm sorry, you're right. It's just that I don't want to get it wrong. I'd..." she paused and blushed slightly, "I'd like it if you taught me how to cook." Ukyou smiled. Perhaps she could divert this one disaster, at least. "I'd be glad to teach you..." she replied as they walked off. Behind them, the old lady watched despondently as the two teenagers walked off. she said sadly. The old woman sighed, before she pocketed the money Akane had left her. Then she started shouting out her wares, much as she had done so before Akane had interrupted her. Not too many days later... The small campfire snapped and popped as it spread its dim light over the surrounding area. Akane-kun sat on his sleeping bag, looking across the fire at a sleeping Ukyou-kun. For the moment at least, they were stuck in their recently acquired cursed forms, since their water stocks were at critical level. Luckily they would reach a village tomorrow. Hopefully their reception would be different to the last village they had visited. Who could believe those Amazons would... Akane-kun looked at his travelling companion. It was fascinating to see what the curse did to Ukyou-kun's body. In his true form, Ukyou-kun looked very bishonen, almost androgynous. But in his cursed form his male features seemed to shine through. His stronger cheek line, his slightly larger frame, his muscles that rippled when he used his combat spatula... Akane-kun blushed. Then he noticed that Ukyou-kun was twitching and tossing slightly in his sleep. [He must be dreaming.] Akane-kun thought as he looked at the cook. Ukyou-kun mumbled something in his sleep as he started to shake his head, caught in whatever dream it was he was having. Akane-kun, curious about what Ukyou-kun was saying, stood and walked over to his travelling companion. He crouched down and listened to Ukyou's whispered words. "Ranchan..." Ukyou said softly. Akane-kun raised an eyebrow. [Ranchan?] he thought. "Don't go." Ukyou-kun continued. "Don't leave me... jackass. Ranchan... Ranma... please don't leave me..." Akane-kun blinked. Ranma had left Ukyou behind? Just what did Ranma do to Ukyou anyway? It must have been pretty incredible to give Ukyou such a drive to find Ranma. But Ukyou had never told Akane the reasons behind his need to find Ranma and Akane respected Ukyou's desire for privacy. After all, Akane hadn't told Ukyou the full reasons for why she was after Ranma either. It was just too private. Maybe once they'd been friends for a bit longer they could tell each other. "Don't leave me..." Ukyou-kun whispered again. Akane-kun hesitated, before he lowered his head and kissed Ukyou-kun on the forehead. He moved his mouth over Ukyou's left ear, and whispered "I won't leave you." Ukyou-kun slowly quieted down as the dream left him. Satisfied, Akane-kun stood and walked over to his sleeping bag. He looked down at his male form for a moment and shuddered slightly. "I just hope this village has better customs than the last one." he whispered to himself. "I really want to have the time to have a hot bath." Akane-kun lay down and, despite the discomfort of his relatively new form, was soon asleep. ********************* Ranma looked down at his childhood friend with genuine concern. She'd been knocked pretty hard on the head, she could be hurt badly. She... it just didn't make sense. Ukyou was a girl? Maybe she was cursed, like his father. He looked hesitantly at Ukyou's bandaged chest, before he reached down to replace the shirt. Ukyou groaned as the pain of consciousness hit her. She opened her eyes, to see Ranma's hand on her shirt. Her eyes flared, just as Ranma saw she was awake and he realised just how what he was doing could be taken. "Uh... wait. It's not what you thi..." Ranma managed before Ukyou slapped him. "Hentai." Ukyou snarled as she pulled her ragged shirt down around her. Ranma looked at Ukyou for a moment before he picked up a nearby kettle and doused the spatula girl with hot water. Where the kettle had come from was a mystery. Perhaps Kasumi, using Ninja Stealth Techniques, had snuck in and put the kettle there while no-one was looking(and everyone else was listening to Akane tell her tale of going to China). Perhaps. Ukyou winced as the hot water splashed over her. Right now, she was feeling too woozy to do much more. She looked at Ranma as he looked at her. "Baka." she said. "I'm not in my cursed form." she added tiredly. "You... you're a girl?" Ranma asked disbelievingly. "What do you think?" Ukyou asked. "Come off it Ranma, you always knew I was a girl. You had to, it was so obvious." "Obvious!? We were six years old when we last saw each other!" Ranma protested. "How was I supposed to know you were a girl?" He thought about it for a few seconds, before he continued. "I don't remember you ever telling me. And you were dressed up as a guy just before! How was I supposed to know!?" "You had to know." Ukyou hissed. She grabbed Ranma's shirtfront and pulled his face nearer to hers. "You had to!" Ranma didn't answer. He didn't have to. Ukyou looked into his eyes and saw the truth there. She weakly let go of his shirt and slumped against the wall. "Why did you leave me?" Ukyou asked after an uncomfortable silence. "Leave you?" Ranma asked. "What, you mean back when we were young? I think it was because my Pop wanted to go on another training trip." "You were supposed to take me with you." Ukyou said. "Damn you, I wasn't supposed to be left behind." "Why would you have come with us?" Ranma asked. Ever since he'd come to in the bath in this place, he seemed to have been kept in perpetual puzzlement. And most of it was because of this girl in front of him. A childhood friend comes out of nowhere, attacks him and turns out to be a girl. It was, to say the least, confusing. "You had to know." Ukyou hissed. The foundations of her life were falling out from underneath her. How could Ranma not know? Ranma shook his head. "Ucchan... tell me, what's wrong? Why are you so angry?" Ukyou looked at him. It had to be a trick, he had to be faking this. He knew... didn't he? Ranma blinked, waiting for her to respond. Ukyou felt her life crumbling around her. He didn't know. "When we were young, your father and mine engaged us." "What!?" Ranma shouted. "My father gave our family yatai as my dowry. As a symbol of the pact." Ukyou said. "The yatai..." Ranma began, before he smacked his fist into his other hand. "Now I remember. I wondered what we were doing with your yatai, but Pop never explained it to me. At least, I don't remember him explaining..." he trailed off as he tried hard to remember. "And then you and your father ran out on that engagement." Ukyou continued relentlessly after Ranma stopped talking. "I gave up my femininity, dressed as a boy. I trained, trained for so long so that I could get you when I eventually found you." She grimaced as she felt her head. "Obviously didn't train enough." "Hey, you were good." Ranma said, trying to make the obviously depressed spatula girl feel better. The ghost of a smile crept across Ukyou's face as she remembered Ranma saying something similar, so long ago. "Then I met Akane." she continued, needing to tell her story. "She didn't tell me until recently, but she's the Tendo who's engaged to you. She was coming after you and when I found out, I joined her. It was a desperate act, but I had to find you. I had to..." Ranma sat down next to Ukyou as he waited for her to continue. "I had to get my revenge, for what you and your father did to me." Ukyou finally said. "And so I went with Akane to China, hoping to catch up with you. We never did. But we did go to Jusenkyo." "Oh no. You didn't..." Ranma said as he remembered that Ukyou had said that she wasn't in her cursed form when he had splashed her with hot water. Not that she wasn't cursed. "We fell in." Ukyou confirmed. "Both of us, in the nanniichuan. The Spring of Drowned Boy." She looked at Ranma. "I've lost so much. Akane's lost so much." She sighed, before she told him an abbreviated version of her life and her trip to China. "Thanks to you," she concluded, "I swore I would never love another man." "Why?" Ranma asked simply. "What do you mean why!?" Ukyou growled as she stood and reached for her nearby combat spatula. Ranma stood and looked at her. "I mean, why would you do that?" Ranma asked. "A cute girl like you'd find it easy to get a guy." Ukyou stopped groping for her spatula and looked at him. "What?" she said simply. "I said..." Ranma began before the dojo door opened and Akane stepped in. "Hello." Akane said, almost surprised to see that the two teenagers were still in one piece. If Ukyou'd managed to patch things up with Ranma, then he was certainly being mature about it... "Hello." Ranma said hesitantly. "Hello Akane." Ukyou said. "So, did you tell your dad?" Akane nodded. "I managed to escape long enough to come out here and tell you that dinner's ready." she said as she looked appraisingly at Ranma. "So, what have you two been doing?" she asked. Ukyou sent a pleading glance to Ranma before she turned to Akane. "We were just having a man to man talk, that's all." Ranma, who had caught Ukyou's glance, looked puzzled for a second before he said "Uh... yeah, I guess so. A man to man talk." Ukyou nodded, before she said "We'll be there for dinner in a minute." Akane nodded before she left. Ukyou turned to Ranma. "You can't tell her I'm a girl." she said. "She doesn't know?" Ranma asked. "I thought you were her friend." "I _am_ her friend." Ukyou said. "So I don't want her to know the truth. We relied on each other a lot after some of the stuff in China. How do you think she'd feel if she found out that everything she thought about me was a lie? I know what it feels like to have your world ripped away from you. I don't want it happening to her." Ranma looked at her for a few moments before he nodded solemnly. "Alright, since we're friends from way back, I promise I'll help you keep it a secret." Ukyou sighed in relief. Maybe Ranma was not the monster that she had convinced herself he was. "Thanks... Ranchan." she said as they both walked out of the dojo. Ranma grinned. "Don't mention it, Ucchan." ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** Well, that's the end of Chapter 5. Please tell me what you think. Pretty, pretty please. With sugar on top. Well, two serious chapters in a row, eh? And I think Chapter 6 will be similar to this one, focussing on Ranma. But that was always the plan for Neko, to have a mixture of serious and comedic chapters, each one ensuring that the story doesn't balance too far in either direction. Chapter 7 will probably be mostly comedic, to balance it back from the serious side and so forth. Let's hope it works, eh? Till next time. Neko by Mark Doherty (mdoherty@mailbox.uq.edu.au) Chapter 6: The Neko-Ken. Characters are the property of Takahashi Rumiko. I deserve to be thrown in the spring of drowned ferret for even thinking of using them. Please don't sue me, I am but a poor and penniless student. Anyone who has read any of my previous alternifics should know that I never change just one curse, so read on at your discretion... C&C's are welcome, wanted and not wasted on me. My conventions explained: - The suffix -kun is used to denote a character's cursed male form. No suffix indicates that the person isn't in their cursed form. If someone turns up with a girl curse, they'll get the -chan suffix. Animal curses are denoted by the name of the animal as a suffix. After a couple of times, animal suffixes will probably usually be shortened to the first letter. For example, Henry-Mockingbird, or Henry-M after the first couple of times the name is used in a scene. - Just to be REALLY annoying, a cat curse will be denoted by a -Neko suffix. So, Ralf-Neko for example. - <> Denotes Chinese. - [] Denotes thoughts. - ** Is animal speak when used without quotes, and is sound effects within quotes. For example: *Hello.* the duck quacked. And: "*sigh*" she sighed. - {} Are Panda signs. "Cruel, but composed and bland, Dumb, inscrutable and grand, So Tiberius might have sat, Had Tiberius been a cat." - Poor Matthias by Matthew Arnold. ********************* It was a silent dinner at the Tendo's house. Both Ranma and Ukyou were unusually quiet after they returned from the dojo, and their silence seemed to spread to the others. "So, Ranma, you turn into a cat?" Akane asked in an attempt to talk to this silent boy. "No." Ranma stated, simply. "I don't." Genma just rolled his eyes as he made a grab for some of the food in Ranma's bowl. Nabiki rose an eyebrow. [Really?] she thought. [Then you won't be worried if I do this.] She bumped her glass of water, causing it to tip over and spill its contents towards Ranma's hand. Ranma saw the liquid rushing towards him, and jerked his hand off the table at an incredible speed. He eyed the pooling water nervously as he edged around the table a little. "So if you're not cursed, why would a little water worry you?" Nabiki asked simply. "I... um... it's not because I'm cursed." Ranma recovered. "Pop used some sort of weird technique on me when he changed into a panda. Makes me black out when cold water hit me." Everyone else, except for Genma, looked at Ranma to see if he seriously believed what he was saying. [He can't honestly believe that, can he?] Nabiki thought to herself. "Come now, Ranma, do you know how silly that sounds?" "It is not 'silly'. And I am _not_ a cat." Ranma grated. Akane sighed. "Leave him alone sis. Can't you see he doesn't want to talk about it?" Soun nudged Genma. "Look at her come to his defence, Saotome. They're already acting like a married couple." "A match made in heaven." Genma agreed grandly, before he snatched some more food. "Oh! You do care for him." Kasumi sighed. Ukyou said nothing, listlessly picking at her food. She hadn't said much since she had come form the dojo, she was apparently thinking about some things. Nabiki smirked at the flustered expression on her younger sister's face. "It's not like that." Akane said as she shook her head in disgust. [Show a little pity because he has a curse and see how everyone acts. Unbelievable.] Ranma looked at the young girl who had defended him. Outwardly, he did nothing. But inwardly, he smiled. At least she seemed nice enough, even if he didn't really want to be in this engagement. ********************* As Kasumi started to clear away the dishes from dinner, the two fathers decided to engage in conversation. "Anyway, Saotome, we set up the guest room for you and Ranma, treat it as your own." Soun said after a short while of swapping stories. "Why thank you." Genma replied. "It'll be good to sleep under a roof." "Say, where's Ukyou going to sleep?" Nabiki asked. Soun blinked. "Uhh... he could always sleep in the guest room with the Saotomes." he suggested as he started to regret letting Akane talk him into accepting the mysterious okonomiyaki boy as a house guest. "I don't think that would be a good idea." Ranma said nervously, thinking about spending the night in the same room as a girl. Ukyou looked up. "I don't want to impose on you." she said. "I've still got my camping gear from the trip, I'll just find a spare lot to set up on." "That wouldn't be fair on you." Akane protested. "There has to be some other thing we could try." "And what do you suggest Akane?" Soun asked. "We're not really set up for many guests." "Ummm..." Akane said as she desperately thought for a solution. ********************* Akane and Ukyou looked at the small tent that they had set up near the koi pond, in the yard of the Dojo. It was an old travelling tent that Soun had kept over from his training days. "I'm sorry about this." Akane said, embarrassed, as she looked at Ukyou. "We just don't have much room for guests." Ukyou waved away Akane's apologies. "It's alright." she assured. "Hey, after three months on the road I can handle this easy. Besides, I think I prefer this. I've got some thinking to do, and out here it just seems easier to do. I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Akane nodded, before she said "Goodnight." After Ukyou stepped into the small tent, Akane walked back into the house, up the stairs and into her room. She closed the door, changed into her pyjamas, and then sat down on her bed. From nearby, she heard someone walk into the Saotome's room. Probably Ranma, since his father had, after a short talk with Akane after dinner, gone to bed early. Akane sighed. Three months in pursuit of one man, and the first day she finds him she couldn't even work up the nerve to talk to him in private. It just hadn't felt right, not after the emotions she had exhausted in telling her family about her curse. "Tomorrow." she promised herself. "I'll talk to him tomorrow." Akane sighed as she lay down on a proper bed for the first time in three months. She reached under her pillow, and pulled out a small throwing spatula that she had put there when she had unpacked. She sighed again, before she replaced the utensil under the pillow, and closed her eyes. ********************* Ranma sighed as he slowly lay down on his futon, ignoring the snores of his already asleep father who was on the neighbouring futon. What a day. First he was told by his father that he had been engaged to some girl he'd never met, and then he'd had one of those 'episodes' he got whenever cold water hit him. Damn Pop. Ranma didn't know what his father had done to him, to make him black out when he was hit by water, but he did know that this 'cat' thing that Genma kept going on about was a lie. No way was he a cat. No way. Ranma snorted as he looked at his sleeping father. Finding out the truth about Ukyou made it even easier to realise that his father was a liar. [How could you do that to Ucchan, Pop? Leaving her behind, especially after agreeing to an eng... oh no.] Ranma thought, his eyes going wide as full realisation hit him. [Oyaji you idiot! You've engaged me to two girls! And I can't even talk it out to both of them because I promised Ucchan that I wouldn't tell Akane that she's a girl. Aw man...] Ranma groaned. He was too tired for this. And so he closed his eyes, and let sleep slowly take him. Dreams invaded his soul. ********************* About eleven years ago... Just outside a small house, a woman with reddish brown hair, who was dressed in a formal kimono, hugged a very young Ranma to her. The woman cried as Genma looked on in slight embarrassment. "I'll miss you so." the woman sobbed as she pulled Ranma away from her so that she could take a good like at him. "Awww Mooom." Ranma whined, embarrassed by his mother's emotions. "I'll be fine. Pop'll look after me." Ranma's mother nodded. "I know dear." she said. "I have his promise on that." Genma cleared his throat nervously. "Well. Yes. It's time for us to go." Ranma disengaged himself from his mother's grip before he looked at her with an happy expression. "Bye bye Mom." he said. His mother smiled back, wiping away her tears. "Now you do what your father tells you." she said. "I want you to grow up into a true man." Ranma nodded, his young mind not really understanding. The woman looked at Genma. "How long?" she asked simply. Genma shrugged. "It will take time." he admitted. "Years. But once I am satisfied, we will return. I'll make him into something we can be proud of Nodoka-chan. You have my promise on that." Nodoka nodded as she clutched at a piece of paper folded into her belt. "Yes, I do." she said. "And I promise to practice with the blade every day, husband, so that if grim chance takes hold and you cannot fulfil that promise, then I shall at least make our reparations honourable. And mercifully swift." Genma gulped. "But I'm sure that such precautions will be completely unnecessary." Nodoka continued, oblivious to Genma's reaction. "You will raise our son to be a fine man." Genma nodded solemnly before he looked at his son. "Come on son. It's time to go." Ranma grinned as he followed his father out onto the road. He looked back at his mother once and waved, before he ran to catch up with Genma. The realisation that he wouldn't be seeing his mother for quite a while hadn't really impacted on the young boy yet. No, for now at least, the excitement of the possible adventures ahead overrode all else. A while later... "Pop..." a six year old Ranma said hesitantly. "What is it son?" Genma asked as he ran along. "Why have we got the yatai?" Ranma asked from where he was sitting on top of the Kuonji yatai, which Genma was pulling along. "Never mind son." Genma answered. "You're too young to understand." Ranma remained silent for a while before he piped up again. "Pop... I miss Ucchan." "Don't be weak boy." Genma replied gruffly. "Soon enough you won't even remember your little friend." "But I miss him." Ranma replied, blinking back tears as the thought of never seeing his best friend finally hit him full force. Genma sighed. "Be a man Ranma. I miss your mother, I miss some of my old friends, Tendo for example. But for the moment I cannot see them because I have devoted my time to training you. Do you see me complain though? No. You should act no less manly." [Your life may depend on it one day.] he grimly thought to himself. Ranma nodded. He couldn't disappoint his father. If his dad wanted him to be manly, then he could be no less. Nothing would unman him. Nothing. Eventually... In a stingy old house, Genma stood near Ranma, who now appeared to be about ten or eleven years old. Ranma was dressed in a white gi, as was usual for the young boy. What was unusual, however, were the fish sausages that were tied around and all over him. The two martial artists were standing next to a dark opening in the floor, from which came the occasional hiss. Perhaps there was a leaky gas line down there. "Are you sure about this?" Ranma asked doubtfully as he tugged at the meat bits that were tied around his young frame. "Of course I'm sure." Genma responded as he held up a small manual. "The technique is outlined in this book. It's sure to work." "But I..." Ranma began. "Trust me son." Genma said. Ranma looked up at his father. "Ok Pop. I trust you." "Good. In you go." Genma said as he slapped Ranma on the back, causing the young boy to overbalance and fall through the floor opening into the dark pit below. Dozens of starved cats looked at this new addition to their lair for a moment, before their sensitive noses picked up the scent wafting off the young boy. Food. Glorious food. The felines were in no condition to deny the call their delicate noses gave them. They were hungry, so hungry. And this new thing in their dwelling smelt of so much food. With howls and yowls and screeches, cat after cat after cat pounced on Ranma, scratching, clawing, biting, doing anything to grab a part of the fish food that called out to their hungry stomaches. Ranma tried throwing them off, fighting back, he tried anything he could. But there were too many cats, his strength was insufficient, he just couldn't do it. He was overwhelmed. Bite, swipe, feel the many scratches sear. Yowl, howl, watch the birth of fear. Slish, slash, red hot slivers of pain. Scritch, scratch, he'll never be the same... Genma waited until the howling died down a little before he reached into the pit and grabbed for the dim outline of his son. He pulled Ranma out before he said "Well? Did it work? Did you learn the technique?" Ranma didn't respond. His face was white, which made the blood that oozed from the various deep scratches that the cats had made all the more stark. His eyes were wide and unseeing, and his teeth were chattering involuntarily. His clothes were wrecked, the cats had, in their feeding frenzy, treated Ranma like little more than a living scratching post. "Ranma?" Genma asked as he saw the state of his son. "Is there something wrong?" "C...ca...cats." Ranma stuttered. "N...no." Genma blinked. What was wrong with his son? Here he had tried to teach Ranma one of the most powerful techniques ever devised, a technique so rare that some thought it only legend, and something had gone wrong. But what? Genma pulled out the book that he had referred to. "Let's see..." he muttered as he flicked through the manual. Nearby, Ranma twitched as he heard some of the cats fight over some of the fish sausages. "'Neko-Ken... powerful... wrap food around body... toss into pit of hungry cats...' Well, I did all that!" Genma muttered as he read through the relevant page. He paused for a few moments, trying to think what had gone wrong. "Maybe there's something on the next page..." Genma mused after a short period of silence. "After all, I never did get round to reading that far." He flipped the page, and read on. "Hmm... 'Of course, only a complete idiot would actually try this dangerous and foolhardy training method.' WHAT!? This wasn't meant to work in the first place!? What sort of moron puts a warning like that on the next page?" Genma slammed the book down onto the floor. "Blast! Such a simple mistake. Anyone could have fallen for it." He sighed, before he looked at his son with slight disgust. "To think that a son of mine could show such craven fear." he said. "I won't have it." Genma cupped his chin with his hand as he looked at his quivering son. "But how shall I get him to overcome his cowardice?" he mused. There were several howls from the covered cat pit, which caused the almost catatonic Ranma to shudder. "Ah... of course." Genma said. "The best way to defeat fear is to face it." A bit later... Ranma, clad in a fresh gi, was standing near the cat pit. His scratches had been cleaned up so well that it almost looked like he had fully healed. This time, dried sardines were liberally tied to him. He was looking at the opening to the pit with nervousness on his face. "Pop..." he said hesitantly. "I don't wanna go back in there..." "Nonsense my boy." Genma said calmly. "We can't have you left like this. How can you be a great martial artist if you fear something as minor as a cat? You have to overcome this fear, lest it destroy you later on. So get in there..." he said as he calmly threw his son into the pit, "...and hurry up and get over this!" Yellow eyes gleamed as once again, a new arrival entered the lair. And once again, the visitor had come with... food! Food to feed the starving stomach, food to sate the many who had not managed to garner more than a scrap from the first feeding, food!!! Ranma recovered from his small fall almost instantly, stood, and then tried to back up against a wall so that he'd have some chance against the animals that surrounded him. But he had no chance. Barely had he stood before the cats jumped all over him, biting and gnawing at the food tied all over him. With a cry, the young boy overbalanced from the weight of the starved-crazy animals, and fell over. It proved to be all the impetus that the cats who had not instantly attacked needed. They joined in, darting at the young boy, grabbing at what food they could, scratching and clawing their way to whatever crumbs they could get. Ranma cried out as once again he felt the deep bite of the cats claws. Pain... Genma waited for a few minutes, before he nodded. [That should be enough time for the boy to get over this thing.] he thought as he reached into the pit, felt around, and grabbed his son. Ranma trembled as his father finally hauled him out of the cat pit. His clothes were no better than rags, there were small bits of sardine still hanging off him and he was covered from head to toe in hundreds of angry red scratches. Some of the cats had dug deep with their claws in their mad need for food. "You ok son?" Genma asked as he set Ranma down next to the pit. "You over that fear yet?" "C... ca... ca..." Ranma whimpered. Genma sighed. "Well, if at first you don't succeed..." he muttered to himself as he cleaned up his son's wounds. Apparently he'd be needing to go to the butchers again... Later on, Ranma was again before the cat pit, this time with salted sardines tied around him. "I... I don't want to do this Pop. Don't make me go in there again." Ranma pleaded as he looked at his father. "Don't worry Ranma. You're on your way to a cure." Genma replied as he gently booted his son into the pit. Ranma screamed, involuntary tears dripping from his eyes, as he fell into his own private hell. Several of the cats blinked as yet again the moving food bearer dropped amongst them. Some of the cats who had still not managed to grab any of the previous food licked their chops, before the feline horde pounced again on the hapless boy. Fear... Genma finished off an orange he had been eating as he waited for Ranma to develop a resistance to his cat fear. "Come on son." he muttered to himself as he walked over to the hole over the cat pit. "You can do it." He reached in, fished around, and picked out his son. Some might wonder why none of the cats were swiping at the martial artist whenever he did this, but Genma did have some forethought. He had coated his arm with a scent that cats couldn't stand, but, thankfully for anyone nearby, didn't affect humans too much. "You cured yet?" Genma asked as he lifted his son out. Ranma's eyes were screwed shut, in an instinctive reflex to save the delicate orbs from being scratched out. He was shivering, and didn't appear to be in any mood to stop any time soon. His gi was, yet again, little more than a rag after the frenzy of the cats. His skin hadn't fared much better, he was covered from head to toe in claw and tooth wounds, from small scratches to deep, dangerous cuts. Small strips of string hung on his body, some of which still bore bits of sardine. Genma leant a little closer to his son when he heard his son making a soft sound. His eyes widened when he realised what it was. His son was whimpering. Ranma was still afraid of cats. "I can't give up!" Genma swore. "This cure has to work, it's the only way I can think of to get him over this fear. It just needs a bit more time to take effect, to get him over this cowardice." Soon enough, Ranma was before the pit again, in yet another fresh gi, this time with fish cakes wrapped around him. Ranma was slowly edging his way away from the pit when Genma lay a fatherly hand on his shoulder. "I c...can't go in there again." Ranma whispered. "Buck up son. This time you'll be cured for sure." Genma assured Ranma as he tossed the boy into the pit. With a thud, Ranma landed in the pit again. This time, he instantly curled up into a ball, hoping against hope that this would stop the pain, stop the cats, stop it all. The little tidbits of food the cats had managed to grab had not sated their hunger. And so, when they saw that again there was food to be had, they pounced from their hiding places in the darkness. Darkness... Biting, tearing, clawing, scratching, hissing, yowling, howling, meowing, starved cats surrounded the young boy, climbing all over him, in the dark of the pit. Tears flowed from the boys eyes as he thrashed about, trying to dislodge the beasts. Pain... fear... darkness... Again and again and again the cats tore into Ranma, desperate for some food. Ranma screwed his eyes shut, trying to shut off his senses, trying to escape from the pain, trying to escape from the fear. Pain... fear... darkness... a prelude to death... A point of no return was reached. Fear that had built itself on fear, that had, in turn built itself on yet more fear finally became too much to bear. Ranma's eyelids twitched as his mind screamed, his last shred of innocence died. A young mind retreated within itself, desperately grasping onto something, _anything_ that would save it from the horror it was experiencing. Pain... fear... darkness... experiences of birth... Suddenly, surely, the grasping tendrils of a mind half-mad from fear clicked onto something. Defence mechanisms that were controlled by the subconscious at best, or nothing at worst, kicked in. The mind found a way to survive. Pain. Fear. Darkness. And then... rebirth. Something new was born. It opened its eyes, looked around at its fellow captives for a moment and then did something that sent a chill through all the cats present. "Mreowl..." it grumbled. The cats surrounding this strange creature started to back away, sensing the danger they faced. The newly born entity glared at its smaller enemies. And then... it hissed. Above the pit, Genma put down the newspaper he had been reading when he heard the cats below start to yowl in terror. "Eh?" he said as he started to walk towards the hole that gained access to the cat pit. Before he could reach the hole, however, a column of cats literally exploded out of the pit entrance. As Genma watched, open-mouthed, a blurred figure, larger than any of the cats, shot out of the pit. The figure skidded to a halt near Genma and sat down on its haunches. Then it meowed quizzically. "Ranma?" Genma asked, stunned to see that the creature that had moved with such incredible speed was his son. Ranma looked at his father before he meowed again and raised his right hand in a gesture similar to that of a beckoning cat. "That stance..." Genma breathed as he looked at his son. "It's true! That's the Neko-Ken stance! You've learnt it boy! Well done!" Ranma blinked once before he raised himself into a position similar to that of a cat standing, using his hands as a cat would its forepaws. He stared at his father for a second, before he hissed menacingly. "Uh... son? I don't think there's any need for such theatrics..." Genma said nervously as he saw the feral grin that was spreading over Ranma's face. Ranma responded by hissing again, before he launched himself at his father. Outside, a young mother and father, who were taking their small daughter for a walk, sped up their pace when they heard the mixed screams of several cats and one human. "Really, they should ban those martial artists from living in town." the father muttered as they hurried away from the noisy property. The mother nodded in agreement as the daughter looked back at the house. Then the daughter giggled and pointed back at the house. "Mama, look at silly man run screaming." she said. "Yes, yes dear." the mother said impatiently, not looking back. "Now come on." Later on... "Nice kitty." an old woman said calmly as she slowly stroked the back of the creature that rested, purring, in her lap. Ranma yawned once, before he fell asleep in the old woman's lap. He was still purring. Genma walked out of his hiding place. "Amazing." he said to himself as he looked at his sleeping son. "To think that his animalistic temper could be stopped by one old woman. It's just lucky that she's too senile to realise that Ranma's not a real cat." "I ain't that old, sonny." the old woman said sharply as she looked up. "And I ain't that far gone either. We've been neighbours for a month now, and you've been better than some neighbours I've had. I like your son here. He's a nice boy. Reminds me of my son, before he left for the war. When you get to be my age, you start to recognise some truths. I knew the boy here wasn't acting about being a cat, when he bounded into my yard just before. He really thinks he's a cat. What happened to him?" Genma cleared his throat. "Ahh... training accident." he explained. The old woman was about to reply when Ranma woke from his small sleep. He was no longer purring. Genma looked at his son nervously. Ever since his son had taken on a cat's attitude, he had been most vicious towards his father. That's ingratitude for you though. "What happened?" Ranma asked simply when he saw his father. He blinked, before he realised he was sitting in their neighbour's lap, the old woman who had been so kind to him over the last month, offering him sweets and talking to him, telling him fun tales of Japan from decades ago. She was like the grandmother he had never had. "I'm sorry!" he said, scrambling out of her lap. "I... I don't know what I was doing there." The old woman chuckled. "Don't worry about it. Tell me, young man, do you remember what happened?" Ranma thought about it. "I remember cats. I remember...no. Cats are the last thing I can remember, in that pit at our house." "You don't remember anything else?" Genma prompted. When Ranma shook his head, Genma cupped his chin. "Amazing. You didn't remember acting like a cat?" "What? Why would I act like a cat?" Ranma asked, confused. "Perhaps your fear of cats became so great that you felt you had to become a cat in order to survive your training." Genma mused. "Still, at least one good thing came out of this regrettable incident. You learned the Neko-Ken son!" Ranma blinked again, before he turned to the old woman. "Is... is it true? Was I acting like a cat?" The old woman nodded, confirming Genma's tale. Ranma sighed and accepted the story. How could he not believe his father, and a woman he would have been glad to call his grandmother? About two months ago... Ranma ran his thumbs under the straps of his large backpack to ease the load as he stared at the treacherous mountain path that he and his father were about to use. "Are ya sure about this Pop?" Ranma asked his father as he looked at the dubious road. "Trust me son." Genma answered. "Apparently Jusenkyo is just beyond this mountain." "What's so special about this site anyway?" Ranma asked in a slightly bored tone. "I mean, we certainly went out of our way to get here." Genma blinked. "Because it was mentioned in the Martial Arts Sites brochure." he answered easily. "Only the most interesting, taxing or dangerous sites get their name and location in that thing." "How would you know that? I've seen that piece of paper, it's in Chinese. Last time I checked you couldn't read Chinese Pop." Ranma pointed out. "I can make out enough to have got us here boy." Genma said, cutting off further argument. "What more do we need know than the fact that it's considered important enough to list?" Ranma shrugged, not able to repudiate his father's claim. Besides, some of the other places that the brochure had led them to had been challenging, or at least interesting. Maybe this 'Jusenkyo' would be one of the good ones. Ranma sighed as he followed his father up the mountain path. Considering how far out of the way this place was, it'd better be something out of the ordinary... Not long after... "Fssssssssst!!!" Genma-Panda sighed as his son tried his best to turn him into panda chops. Luckily (depending on your point of view) Ranma was currently in his new cat form and, thanks to some old rope tricks Genma had learned long ago, quite incapable of doing much besides yowl. "Soon have you at village." the Guide said from next to the panda as they trudged along. It was the day after Genma and his son had been cursed in the springs and they, along with the Guide, were walking towards a local village to get some water. The Guide refused to explain why he didn't have any normal water back at the springs and Genma didn't press the point because a) It's hard to argue when you're a panda with no ability to talk like an human and b) the Guide had, for some reason, been close to a nervous breakdown when Genma had returned from being chased by his transformed son, and therefore not in a rational enough state to explain anything much. Genma-P nodded as he kept a tight grip on his tied-up, transformed son. It wasn't easy, thanks to the fact that Ranma-Neko continually thrashed around. And it didn't help that Genma-P was currently carrying not only his own pack but Ranma's as well. Eventually the human and two animals made it to a small village. The Guide pointed to the buildings, and was about to launch into a small speech about Amazon customs when he noticed that there seemed to be a lot of activity going on in the village. Genma-P gruffled a query as he and the Guide watched several women run by them, heading towards one of the better looking houses, possibly the residence of a town leader or respected family. Soon, some more people hurried by, while others rushed out of the house the others had gone into. Everyone seemed to be excited, they were animatedly chatting to each other as they walked. The Guide looked around as villagers ran to and fro. From the expression on the Guide's face, Genma-P surmised that this hectic running wasn't normal for the inhabitants of this outpost. "Strange. Very strange." the Guide muttered. "Why they all run round like this? Should all be at celebration for the end of annual competition, if this day I think it is." He turned to the panda, and politely said "Please, Mr Customer, please wait here. Must go and get some hot water and some food for your journey. Please don't do anything, people seem agitated for some reason." Genma-P nodded as the Guide walked off. Well, he certainly wasn't going to start any trouble, especially not with the people acting like something either really bad or really good had just happened. Genma-P looked around nervously as some of the less busy villagers looked at him and his son in curiosity. He hated the fact that he couldn't talk in this form. As soon as he got some time, he'd have to figure out a way to communicate as a panda. Right now, he really wished he could tell these people to stop looking at him. Hadn't they ever seen a panda carrying a small, tied-up cat before? "Wonder what that all about?" the Guide said as he returned to the two cursed martial artists. Genma-P gruffled a query. "Hmm?" the Guide said. "Oh, something happen in village." he explained as he led the panda out of the village. "People seemed quite excited. Couldn't even get proper explanation for what happened." Genma-Panda shrugged. Somehow, the problems of some small village didn't concern him too much right now. "Anyway." the Guide said after they cleared the small settlement. "I have to get back to springs. After way yesterday go there probably be hundred or so new cursed people today. Here, got you water and food from Amazons." He handed the panda a kettle full of water and a covered basket full of food that he had borrowed from the village. Genma juggled the items for a moment as he figured out how to carry two backpacks, a cat, a basket and a kettle. "Goodbye Mr Customer." the Guide said. "Hope you have no problem getting home." He bowed, before he walked off. Genma-P waved once to the Guide before he started walking in a different direction, looking for a nice and private place to change both him and his son back. It would probably be best not to do it too close to the village, especially the way those people had been acting. That night... With the splash of hot water, consciousness returned. Albeit slowly. "Wh... wha..." Ranma mouthed as his vision slowly came into focus. "What..." Nearby, Genma sighed in relief. It looked like the shock of turning back into an human had shaken his son out of his cat trance. It had been a long shot, back in the old days with the Neko-Ken, only an old neighbour had had the ability to bring Ranma out of the trance. But then, back then Ranma hadn't been in a cursed form. "Where..." Ranma said woozily. Apparently his mind didn't just jump back to normal after being in the cat state. With the Neko-Ken, although Ranma couldn't remember what he had done during the trance, when he did awake he was usually able to think normally right away. Perhaps the added horror of physically being a cat required that his mind slowed down Ranma's recovery of his human psyche. Ranma looked down at himself. "Wh... where are my clothes? Why... am I naked?" Genma silently handed Ranma his clothes. Ranma dressed mechanically, more the action of easy repetition than through conscious thought. After Ranma had dressed, Genma spoke up. "I'm sorry son. You fell into one of the Jusenkyo springs, just as I did." Genma said, his face heavy with sadness. "I... I did?" Ranma asked hesitantly. He tried to remember but his mind shied away from his Jusenkyo experience. "N...no. No. I didn't." "What!?" Genma shouted. "How can you deny it? Look at yourself, how do you explain how you got here? If you didn't fall in then what happened to you, eh?" "I dunno. I can't remember..." Ranma admitted as he thought about it. His mind shied away from the truth and he hesitantly repeated "I can't remember." "Well if you can't remember then how can you deny it?" Genma asked, exasperated. "Oh yeah? So if I fell into one of these springs then what do I turn into?" Ranma challenged angrily. "A monkey? A girl? Maybe a big fat panda like you!?" "Hah! You fell into a spring where a cat drowned." Genma retorted. "_That_ is what... you....turn..... son?" he trailed off as he saw the desperate denial on his son's face. "A c..cat? A Ca...CAT!?" Ranma growled. He tried to remember, tried to think back to the springs. But his mind was having none of it. To acknowledge being a cat would be too much for it. And so it sprang its defences. Ranma shook his head, before he clenched his fists. "I can't believe you'd lie to me like that Pop. Try and use my thing with ca... ca... cats to try and win an argument. I didn't fall into some spring where a ca... you know what drowned. I didn't." "Accept the truth Ranma!" Genma shouted. "It's one thing to have a weakness. But to not accept it is completely unforgivable! And to call your father a liar, just to save yourself some heartache... I think you should apologise." "Apologise!?" Ranma snarled. "APOLOGISE!?" His mind whirled and swirled and clicked onto an explanation, any explanation, even an untrue one, anything to save himself from a truth too ugly to bear. "Oh... I remember what happened now." he said. Genma blinked. "You do? Good, then you're on your way to healing. Acceptance is the first step in..." "_I_ remember you did something to me." Ranma cut in as he dropped into a fighting stance. "I remember that you did something to me that made me black out for a while. What was it? Some sort of new move? Pressure point? Or did that fat guy at the springs help you out?" Genma shook his head. "Unbelievable. You just don't get it, do you? You can't remember because you went into that cat state of yours. You never remember what you've done when you're in those trances! You turn into a cat. Accept it or else it will destroy you from the inside." "No. I am not." Ranma stated, his denial fuelling his rage. "I am not!" he yelled as he launched himself at his father, left foot ready for a kick. His father, too used to surprise attacks, managed to avoid the attack. The mind is a funny thing. It can do strange things when it is threatened. Its safety mechanisms are many and varied, and not fully understood. Be it making sure that a person couldn't remember a traumatic event, be it making sure that a person thought they were something they were not, in order to stop the fear of that thing, or be it simply making sure that a person couldn't accept a simple truth, the mind (in its sometimes unusual way) did what it did best. "I AM NOT A CAT!!!" Ranma raged, tears flowing from his eyes, as he fought his father, his anger allowing him to properly say that most hated word for once. The mind found a way to survive... Sometime later... With a hot splash, humanity returned once more. "Wh...at?" Ranma growled as he shook his head. "What happened this time!? Damn it, I must have blacked out again." "Shhh!" Genma hissed as he franticly placed one of his hands over Ranma's mouth. "You're too much of a handful as a cat, so I had to turn you back. She's nearby!" "She?" Ranma asked, his mind was still a bit foggy. Genma whopped his son over the back of the head with his free hand. "Wake up boy. You know who I'm talking about." He said as he took his hand off Ranma's mouth. Ranma rubbed the back of his head. "Ow..." he said, before memory kicked in. "SHE'S NEAR US!?" he shouted. "Shut up!!!" Genma hissed. "Ah ha!" a female voice rang out just as a nearby crate exploded from the impact of several weapons. "Found you at last!" the girl cried out from the top of a nearby building. "Time for the Saotome Secret Technique." Genma said calmly, before he ran away. Ranma blinked, before he ran after his father. "Pop..." Ranma began as they ran away from the raging woman. "What is it son?" Genma asked. "Why am I naked?" Ranma asked, doing his best to keep calm, despite the fact that he was running, naked, from a psychotic woman. Genma sighed and shook his head. "Here." he said, handing the boy his clothes. "Thanks." Ranma said as he dressed while they fled. "And I do not turn into a c...cat." Genma slapped his hand over his forehead. "Why me?" he asked as he dodged some weapons thrown by their pursuer. ********************* In our dreams, we face the truths we try to hide... Ranma blinked. "Where am I?" he asked the empty sky, as he looked around at the surrounding barren terrain. It was then that he felt the itching start. At first, it was only in his fingers. But rapidly, too rapidly, the itching started to spread. Ranma resisted the urge to look at his hands, instinct told him that he would not like what he saw. But instinct always played second fiddle to curiosity. And so Ranma looked at his hands. And then wished he hadn't. You know what they say curiosity killed... Ranma stared at his hands, with horror etched on his face. His hands were covered in fur and they were rapidly transforming into paws. On an intuition, he patted his ears. They certainly seemed more pointed than before. Ranma resisted the urge to sneeze as his cheeks started to itch. Soon, the reason for the itching became apparent as whiskers started to sprout out of his face. Then he felt something happening to his lower spine. With almost catatonic horror, he knew what it was without looking. It was a tail. He was turning into a cat. "Noooooo!!!" Ranma shouted as he shot up from the futon he had been sleeping on. He shivered from the cold sheen of sweat that covered him as he shakily looked at his normal, human hands. Then, just to make sure, he quickly patted his lower back. No tail. "Just a dream." he whispered to himself. "Only a dream." After taking some time to reassure himself, Ranma slowly lay down again on his futon. He lay there for hours, staring at the ceiling, until finally sleep slowly claimed him again. And then, so did the dreams. ********************* Kunou sat calmly in a largish bedroom. On the walls around were plastered many poster-sized photos of Akane, in various 'I do not know I am being photographed poses'. Kunou's eyes were closed as he sat before the honour sword of his family. "Tomorrow, beloved, we will reunite at last." Kunou promised. "Though I was unsuccessful in finding you in my journey across China, still you will be impressed by my dedication to you. And why would you not? For I know that behind that angry pose you show the world, you do truly love me. And I love thee. It is for this love that I give you this night to reunite with your family, so that you may be better prepared to finally publicly declare your love for me on the 'morrow." The kendoist sighed. "Truly, love is a paradox. For it is my love for you that makes me ache to hold you in my arms _now_, especially after so long a parting. But it is also my love for you that allows me to give you the time to recover from your epic quest. Ah, true love is truly grand." The young man thought back to his China trek. "I can't shake the feeling that I forgot something while I was over there." he mused to himself. Kunou opened one eye. Why was there the sound of squeaking coming from outside his room? He received his answer when the door to his room opened and several small brown furred creatures tumbled in. Kunou rose his head from looking at the sudden rodent infestation to see who had intruded on his domain. "Kodachi..." he breathed. [I knew I forgot something.] "Hello brother dear." the door opener, a young woman with long black hair tied back in a ponytail said as she looked at Kunou in amusement. For some reason, the girl was wearing a dark leotard, of the type used by gymnasts. "We need to have a little talk, you and I." Kodachi looked down at the lemming entourage that had preceded her. "Yes, we have much to discuss, dear Tatewaki. About many things." "It is good to see you that you are... ahhh... well, sister." Kunou said. "I lost track of you on our mutual sojourn." "Don't you mean... you left me behind?" Kodachi enquired as she rose an eyebrow. "So absorbed in your precious love that you forgot your own sister. Well, I'm sure I'll accept your apology." Kunou's pride kicked in. "I don't recall apologising, sister." The lemmings surrounding Kodachi all turned to look at him. Several of the small rodents started to squeak menacingly. "I'm sure you will, soon enough." Kodachi predicted as she closed the door behind her, ensuring complete privacy. She pulled a long yellow ribbon out of her leotard and twirled it around her body. "My entourage wouldn't stand for anything less." "Entourage?" Kunou said, confused. *Enough of this!* one of the lemmings squeaked. *Attack! Attack for our Queen!* He rushed towards the kendoist, and was quickly followed by his brethren. "Hohohohoho! Yes, my entourage." Kodachi smiled as the lemmings started to mob her brother, who was momentarily too shocked at the attack to fight back. "They're a fun bunch, aren't they?" Soon, the mixed sounds of maniacal laughter, pained screams and several squeaks drifted out of the Kunou mansion. Some of the closer neighbours sighed in relief. Obviously the Kunou mansion was occupied once more, after a long period of silent vacancy. Finally, things were back to normal... ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** Well, that's the end of Chapter 6. Be my guest and tell me what you think. Hmm, it took six chapters but the first night at the Tendos is finally done. Flashbacks will do that to you, I guess. Oh gods... that Neko-Ken flashback wasn't good for me. Comedy! Chapter 7 WILL BE MORE COMEDIC! I think everyone needs a break from the seriousness, especially after I put Ukyou's flashback right before Ranma's Neko-Ken one. Till next time. Neko by Mark Doherty (mdoherty@mailbox.uq.edu.au) Chapter 7: Ever Get the Feeling it's Going to be a Bad Day? Time for a Story Summary! These will be infrequent, I don't think it's really necessary to write these for every chapter, so expect to see a summary of what has gone before about every five or so chapters, depending on the importance of events since the last update. So far: Things proved to be a little hectic at the out-of-the-way tourist spot/ training site/dangerous place where only the foolhardy go/Jusenkyo Springs on one fine day when at least six people (plus 100+ lemmings) happened to fall into the cursed waters on the same day. As it goes, Akane and Ukyou both got cursed with water from the Spring of Drowned Boy. Akane, who had been 'volunteered' to be engaged to Ranma about three months ago, had decided to travel to China in order to get Ranma to help her to make their parents call off the engagement. On her way to Osaka, where Nabiki had arranged cheap and safe transportation for her, she met what appeared to be a young man, about her own age, Kuonji Ukyou. A slip of the tongue on Akane's part told Ukyou that she was after Ranma. Ukyou, having apparently had previous dealings with Ranma, managed to convince Akane to let 'him' come along. (In actuality, Ukyou was a girl, who had started disguising herself as a boy after Ranma had abandoned her ten years ago.) During their trip, Akane and Ukyou became friends. Through either fine tracking skill, luck, or else knowing where the Saotomes were going to be thanks to the fact that Genma had sent Soun a travel itinerary, the two teenagers made it to Jusenkyo. There, Akane accidentally fell into one of the springs. Ukyou, worried about the fact that Akane wasn't surfacing, jumped in and pulled her... well, now _him_ out of the water. After finding out how to revert to their normal forms, Ukyou led a shocked Akane out of the area, heading towards a village the Guide mentioned. Though Akane was naturally badly affected by her new form, Ukyou managed to hide her own reactions to having a male body until after Akane had gone to sleep that night, simply because she hadn't told Akane that she was a... well, a she. So it was that the two half-girls retreated to Japan, although why they did not resume their search for Ranma remains a mystery. They found their way to the Tendo Dojo, where they soon met a strange panda and cat. Ukyou, having saved the cat from the panda and having taken a liking to the small beast, took the feline with her when she and Akane sparred, and took the cat with her when she went to have a bath afterwards. So she wasn't pleased when she found out, not long after, that the cat was actually Ranma, her once best friend, turned enemy. She had been left behind, so long ago, when Genma had promised an engagement between her and Ranma and then ran out on her, taking 'Ranchan' and the Kuonji yatai, with him. To make sure that Akane didn't find out about her true gender, Ukyou took Ranma into the dojo to have a 'talk' with him. In the ensuing fight, Ranma knocked Ukyou unconscious, finding out that she was a girl in the process. After Ukyou woke up and Ranma made sure that this wasn't some 'cursed body' that she'd picked up, Ukyou told him about her life, since she was a bit too out of it from the fight to continue attacking him. After Ranma swore not to tell Akane that Ukyou was actually a girl, Ukyou decided to wait a bit on her revenge, to see if this Ranma was still the Ranchan she knew so long ago. Ranma has some real big problems with cats. When he was young, his father trained him in the Neko-Ken, a terrifyingly powerful technique that had two unfortunate side-effects. Firstly, Ranma became deathly afraid of cats. Secondly, when his fear of cats became too great, his mind used a defensive technique that made Ranma think _he_ was a cat. It was only then that Ranma could use the amazing power of the Neko-Ken. When Ranma got cursed as a cat, this previous training caused problems. You see, if you fear cats so much that your mind makes you act like one if you're around them for too long, then what happens when you actually turn into a cat? The full facts of what happens to Ranma when he turns into a cat haven't been revealed yet, but the following things have been observed: - As a cat, Ranma tends to attack his father a hell of a lot. - Ranma does not remember his experiences as a cat, just like when in his Neko-Ken trance he doesn't remember what he does. - Ranma reverts to his normal personality when he changes back to human, but for a while he is woozy and generally slow of thinking. This is probably some sort of defence mechanism of the mind, to make sure that Ranma doesn't remember the change between forms. - Ranma REFUSES to believe that he is cursed. He has a fear of cold water that rivals his fear of cats, but he can't really explain why, usually only giving lame excuses about how cold water makes him black out because of 'some weird technique Pop must have used on me when we were at that Jusenkyo place'. And so it has come to be, that so far the following curses have been revealed: Ranma - Cat(But I use a Neko suffix because I'm annoying like that.) Genma - Panda(I guess some things are cosmically inevitable.) Akane - Boy(Or man, she has a male curse anyway. In her boy form, she has a rather strange hair shade of bluish brown.) Ukyou - Boy(Her male form, luckily for her, doesn't quite gain enough mass to cause the bindings that she uses to hide her gender to choke her off. Still, they probably make breathing a bit more difficult. As a man, Ukyou has red hair and blue eyes.) Other people/beings who have come from China, and therefore are at least suspect of having been cursed, are: - Kunou Tatewaki - Ryouga - A young woman with purple hair - A young man with long black hair - Kunou Kodachi - A hell of a lot of lemmings, all but one of which came with Kodachi. One lemming, for some reason, was accompanying the man with the long black hair. Anything else? Oh yeah... it looks like Akane might feel more than friendship towards Ukyou... Well, I'm sure you can now see why these summaries won't be put in every chapter... (Of course I could have made a more compact summary. I did it this way to aid my conceptualisation, and I figured it wouldn't hurt people to read it, especially considering how long it's been since I released the last chapter.) Characters are the property of Takahashi Rumiko. I deserve to be thrown in the spring of drowned ferret for even thinking of using them. Please don't sue me, I am but a poor and penniless student. C&C's are welcome, wanted and not wasted on me. My conventions explained: - The suffix -kun is used to denote a character's cursed male form. No suffix indicates that the person isn't in their cursed form. If someone turns up with a girl curse, they'll get the -chan suffix. Animal curses are denoted by the name of the animal as a suffix. After a couple of times, animal suffixes will probably usually be shortened to the first letter. For example, Henry-Mockingbird, or Henry-M after the first couple of times the name is used in a scene. - Just to be REALLY annoying, a cat curse will be denoted by a -Neko suffix. So, Ralf-Neko for example. - <> Denotes Chinese. - [] Denotes thoughts. - ** Is animal speak when used without quotes, and is sound effects within quotes. For example: *Hello.* the duck quacked. And: "*sigh*" she sighed. - {} Are Panda signs. "Cruel, but composed and bland, Dumb, inscrutable and grand, So Tiberius might have sat, Had Tiberius been a cat." - Poor Matthias by Matthew Arnold. ********************* Dawn found Tokyo bathed in a soft, comforting, rosy light as the sun greeted the new day with its soft ambience. An old woman slowly, carefully, lovingly watered the immaculately tended plants of her small garden. Young children were up even before their parents, so that they could watch the early morning children shows, before the drudgery of school could claim their time. A man walked his dog along a cool, misty, dimly lit street as he mentally reviewed the work he had set for the day. And a cybernetic cat-girl fought a large mecha, causing massive property damage. It was a quiet start to a new day in Nerima. In a small tent that was set out on the backyard of the Tendo residence, Kuonji Ukyou lay on her bedroll, staring at the cloth ceiling, thinking about life. And love. And vengeance. The thought of vengeance had driven her for so long, the thought of one day tracking down Ranma and his father, of forcing them to feel at least some of the pain she had gone through, of seeing her Ranchan again... Wait, no, that wasn't it. She... she hadn't gone through all she had, she hadn't gone to China, she hadn't been cursed just to... forgive Ranma, had she? But he'd still tried to be her friend, even after she attacked him. He'd still reasoned with her, when all her reason had fled. He'd held off in their fight for as long as he could, he seemed genuinely concerned for her. He'd seemed so concerned about her, when she'd told him her story... On the other hand, he had used his cursed form to spy on her in the bath. But then again, in the dojo, he'd been shocked to find out she was a girl. And right before they'd gone to the dojo, Ranma had claimed he couldn't remember even being in the bathroom. Perhaps his curse... perhaps all the curses didn't just give the _form_, but the mind as well. And would a cat's mind be able to remember much? Ukyou's mind shied away from this line of thought. She didn't want to think about the curse taking over her mind. She was having enough of a problem dealing with being a half-boy as it was. But, but, but... Ukyou sighed. She'd lost that determined focus, that single- mindedness that had driven her in her training, driven her to accompany Akane to China. It used to be... hell, just _yesterday_ it used to be that just thinking about Ranma would make her teeth clench from humiliation, pain and rage. Now, just like that, she found that she couldn't keep up that hate. What was wrong? What was she to do? What to do? What to do? Why had it seemed so easy to call him Ranchan, just before they had left the dojo last night? It had just come out, it had seemed so natural to call him that again. And as soon as she'd said it, she'd wondered why. In fact, she'd spent the whole dinner, and half the night staying up, wondering why. Why had it seemed so easy to give up the hurt, the pain, the comforting rage of vengeance? [You loved him once. Do you still love him?] her mind challenged her. "Love? How could I love him, he left me behind. My life was shattered because of him. Before Akane, he was the only true friend I had and he abandoned me. Because of him, I abandoned my femininity. Because of him, I'm lying to my best friend. Because of him, I am a man not only in the eyes of the law, but in body as well. Because of him, I've lost so much..." Ukyou said, trying to rationalise her thoughts by saying them out loud. [Do you still love him?] her thoughts asked again. "But he didn't know about the engagement. He didn't even know I was a girl, the blind fool. He... he didn't abandon me. It was his father. And he was glad to see me, I know he was. He was willing to help me, after all this time, without a question. He... he's still there for me, even after I attacked him." [Do you still love him?] her thoughts repeated. "He... he called me cute. No-one's ever called me that. No-one. And... and he meant it too, I'm sure of it. And without him, I never would have even met Akane. He was my best friend, and now she is. He... he likes me. He still wants to be my friend. They're my two greatest friends..." [Do you still love him?] "May the spirits protect me, but I do..." ********************* BRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE----------- With a satisfying WHAM!, another alarm clock was sacrificed to the great God of Annoying Ways to Wakeup. Slowly, unwillingly, Akane oozed bonelessly out of her bed. After three months of sleeping on a bedroll or a sleeping bag, her body had taken to sleeping in a bed again with perhaps a little too much glee. She'd need to do something to work out the kinks in her body. Perhaps a bath, or maybe a light spar, or something like that. Akane yawned as she stumbled over to her wardrobe, rubbing her sleepy eyes. With another yawn, she opened the wardrobe's door, and looked at her clothes. She sighed as her gaze flitted over her school dresses. After three months, she'd have to go back to that again today. She was dreading the lectures she'd be getting from her teachers, for skipping out from school for so long. Akane walked over to the nearby clothes drawers, and opened one. She smiled as she picked out a light shirt and a pair of shorts. Now here was something she hadn't done in a while... A few minutes later, she was out the front door of the house, dressed in the shirt and shorts, along with a pair of running shoes and a red headband. After a quick limber up, she was jogging down the local streets, her long hair streaming behind her. ********************* Ranma surreptitiously started stretching his muscles as he followed his father out the back of the house. It didn't matter where they were, practice of the Art came first. Today would be no exception. And it'd be nice to spar in a dojo for once, they rarely got the opportunity on their travels to use a real training hall. Genma stopped walking long before they had reached the dojo. He took up an opening stance as he glanced meaningfully at the nearby pond. "Are you ready, boy?" he asked. Ranma looked from his father to the pond several times before his face hardened in resolve. "Alright. If that's the way you want it." he said as he took up his own stance. Genma smiled. Despite all the problems that had developed between his son and himself, at least the Art still drew them together. And at least Ranma still had the courage to risk that which he feared, all for his own betterment. "Defend yourself boy!" Genma shouted as he launched himself into the air. Ranma's only response was an easy smile as he jumped to meet his father. ********************* Ukyou sat in her tent, her arms wrapped around her drawn up knees. She was so intent on examining her feelings that she was ignoring the shouts and sounds of combat from outside. [If you still love him, what do you do?] her thoughts challenged. "I don't know." Ukyou whispered. [What about Akane? She's engaged to him too.] "But she doesn't want to be. Hah, I'm surprised she wasn't the one to fight Ranma, the way she kept on about how unfair an arranged marriage was. If... if Ranma kept his engagement promise to me, I'd only be doing her a favour." [Why would Ranma keep his promise? He left you behind.] "No." Ukyou said, clenching her fists. "No, I know it wasn't him now. Ranma didn't even know I was a girl, he couldn't have run out on the engagement. That means..." Her eyes flared. "That means that if he wasn't the one to steal our yatai and run out on the promise, it had to be..." With a muffled yelp, Genma flew threw the loosely closed tent entrance, landing right in front of Ukyou. "Pardon me." Genma said as he rose to a crouch, ready to jump out of the tent to teach his cocky son a lesson. "You!" Ukyou snarled as she patted the ground next to her, searching blindly for the hilt of her combat spatula since she didn't want to take her eyes of the older man. Genma blinked in astonishment at the look of rage on the okonomiyaki chef's face. "It was you!!!" Ukyou growled. She felt a surge of triumph as she finally found the handle of her battle weapon. "Can I help you with something?" Genma asked, puzzled at Ukyou's reaction to his accidental entrance. [Perhaps the boy's just a bit private.] he thought. [After all, he overreacted in the bathroom yesterday as well.] "Yes..." Ukyou hissed as she rose into a standing crouch, her back brushing the cloth of the tent's roof. "You can stand still so I can beat you into next week!" With that she channelled all her rage into a powerful swipe at Genma with her combat spatula. Outside, Ranma looked on in confusion at the tent. By now, his father should have barrelled out, ready for more fighting. What was going on? He blinked as he saw the sides of the tent bulge in first one place, then another, and then another, like someone was hitting the cloth from the inside. After a few more seconds of this abuse, the tent collapsed, to reveal the outline of a thinner person who looked to be doing their best to strangle a stockier person. "Does this mean I win?" Ranma called out as he stood down from his defensive posture. The only reply from the collapsed tent was a muffled snarl, followed by a pained yelp. ********************* There was an easy familiarity to jogging, Akane found. The sheer, simple pleasure of running for no reasons other than exercise and enjoyment was a novelty she'd enjoyed all too rarely in recent times. This, coupled with the surprising joys of simply seeing old places, sights and even people that she had not seen in a quarter of a year had, on this day at least, turned a simple fitness technique into an effective calming method, a sort of meditation in motion. And so it was a calm, collected (and barely winded) girl who entered the Tendo house, half an hour after she had started her jog. Once Akane had shucked off her shoes, she went up to her room, changed into a gi, and walked down the stairs and out to the yard. She stopped short when she saw a panda and a red-haired boy fighting over, around and sometimes in the koi pond. "Same old Ucchan." Ranma noted to her from where he was standing nearby. He wasn't facing her, he was looking at the fight, but he'd still sensed her presence. "He... I mean sh..." he caught himself from correcting his initial mistake as he remembered his promise to Ukyou. He coughed in an attempt to hide his gaff, before he continued. "Uh... like I was saying, he always did have a bit of a temper. He was a great guy though." "Ucchan?" Akane asked as she watched the fight. Ukyou-kun had the speed and reach advantage, but he was obviously fighting angry. Genma-Panda was using this to his advantage. When this was combined with his greater experience, strength and willingness to fight dirty, it looked like Genma had the slightest of advantages. "Yeah, Ucchan. It was the nickname I gave him when we were young. Sort of in retaliation for the nickname he gave me." "Ranchan?" Akane suggested as she remembered some things Ukyou had once said while dreaming. "Yep. Guess he told you about me then." Ranma said. "Not really." Akane admitted. She turned from the fight to look at the boy. "It looks like they're going to be a while. Do you want to spar?" Ranma turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "Spar?" "Yes. Spar. As in combat practice? As in a fight, just not for real? You know, a spar." "I don't fight girls." Ranma said. "What?" Akane asked, blinking. In the background, Genma-P managed to get within Ukyou-kun's range, and he gave the boy a stunning blow. "What sort of an attitude is that?" Akane continued indignantly. "Ukyou's a boy, and he doesn't mind sparring with me. What makes you so special?" Ranma looked over at Ukyou-kun, who had recovered from the panda's blow and was now throwing some mini-spatulas at his furry foe. "Well that's... him. Look, the last time I fought a girl it gave me more grief than it was worth, ok?" "It's only a sparring match!" Akane protested. Then she sighed. "Fine. If you don't want to spar, that's fine. You probably wouldn't have been worth the effort anyway." Ranma blinked. He blinked again. The he said "What did you say?" Akane smiled. It looked like he was going to fall for one of the oldest tricks in the book. "I mean, since you're afraid of a mere girl, you can't be that good." "Right, fine. If you want to spar, we'll spar." Ranma declared as he stalked off to the dojo. "Come on, with those two out here, there's no room to fight. We'll take it to the dojo. I guess with Pop occupied I needed someone else to spar with anyway." Akane hid her grin as she followed the boy to the dojo, skirting around the other two cursed fighters. That had been almost too easy. Back at the pond, Ukyou-kun finally managed to breach the panda's defences, and he started pounding on the animal with cries of "Argh! Feel the pain I felt!" Genma-Panda finally managed to block the blows with a couple of his wooden signs, upon one of which was written the words {What! What'd I ever do to you!} and on the other, the words {Oh wait... You're not related to that fish seller in Osaka?} Ukyou-kun responded by throwing a couple of his spatula shuriken at the panda, who blocked them with another sign, which read {You're not the son of that pickle dealer in Kagoshima?} The half-boy tried to sweep the panda's legs out with his combat spatula, but Genma-P just leapt over the sweep, sailing over the combat chef. As the panda flew past the boy, he bapped him with a sign that said {Uh... are you the brother of that ramen store owner in Matsue?} A swing of the combat spatula, which narrowly missed the dodging panda. Another swing, and it also missed. {I swear I was going to pay for that meal in Sapporo, there's no need to get angry.} Three swings, all missing, followed by the thud of two thrown mini spatulas hitting the earth where Genma-P had so recently stood. {Look, this is obviously all my son's fault. Go blame him.} [Argh! Where is he getting these signs!?] Ukyou-kun thought as he continued to attack. [And how can the old bastard write so much on them in the middle of a battle?] {If you're from that store in Kanazawa, I tell you the cheque is in the mail.} "Ahhhhh! Stop it with those signs already!" Swing, miss, swing, miss. {Surely not that sushi bar in Kochi?} "Arrrggghhhhh!!!!" Swing, swing, swing... ********************* Akane eyed Ranma speculatively as she adopted an opening fighting stance. She stood there, her bare feet set on the hard wooden floor of the dojo, ready for anything from her opponent. She was in position to start, but she didn't attack since Ranma was facing her in a pose that was the very image of nonchalance. It certainly wasn't a fighting stance from any school she'd seen. After a few seconds of putting up with his totally non-combative stance, Akane said "What? What's wrong?" "Nothing." Ranma answered in a tone that could be interpreted as bored. "Just waiting for you to attack." [Why that arrogant... fine. I'll show him not to underestimate me.] With a focussing cry, Akane launched herself forward, putting all her speed into a set of fast jabbing strikes. None of them connected. Ranma was like a light ribbon caught in the strong breeze of a summer's day. Just when Akane thought one of her strikes would connect, he would ghost out the way, like the ribbon would capriciously flutter just out of range of its owner's grasping hands. It was, to say the least, frustrating for Akane. And so she changed her tactics, and tried a leg sweep. Ranma leapt over it, with such an air of almost indifferent ease that Akane couldn't help but lose the calm she had so carefully fostered on her morning run. She whirled out of her leg sweep and went straight into a high kick, hoping to tag the boy while he was in mid-air. After all, when you were in the air, you didn't have the easy dodging options that you had on the ground. But apparently no-one had ever told Ranma this. He twisted his body like an Olympic class high jumper, easily clearing Akane's outstretched foot. Then he turned his body around in a flip, so that he landed on his feet, facing Akane in the same 'no-stance' that he had started the match with. Akane breathed hard as she considered her options. [He's so fast. I'm glad I didn't fight him in my guy form, the loss in speed might have made this embarrassing.] She clenched her fists as she prepared to attack again. [There's got to be a way I can get him. Maybe a distraction...] "You know," Akane said as she attacked, this time with a couple of body strikes, "we haven't really talked yet, even though we're supposed to be engaged." "True." Ranma admitted as he waited until the last moment before he side-stepped Akane's strikes. "I guess things were a little hectic yesterday. So what do you want to talk about?" "The engagement." Akane said bluntly, hoping that would put him offguard for the crescent kick she followed the statement with. Ranma dodged the attack without any problems as he said "Yeah. The engagement. Man, I couldn't believe it. There we were yesterday, me and Pop. We were just walking along, and out of the blue, he says 'Oh, by the way. You know the Tendos, the people we are on our way to see? Well, congratulations boy. You are going to marry one of them.' What sort of a way is that to find out about an engagement?" Ranma dodged a couple more of Akane's strikes as he continued to talk. His eyes narrowed as he noticed that a couple of her blows were actually almost hitting him. She was actually pretty good at the Arts, he decided, it was just that she obviously needed to work a bit on her speed. "So, what about the engagement?" Akane stumbled, before she recovered and started up another series of attacks. "What about it!? You've just been engaged to someone you've never met and all you can say is what about it? Don't you care?" Her attacks were taking a ferocious turn. "Don't you think _I_ care about being married off to some stranger?" Ranma started concentrating a bit more on his dodging. On the good side, Akane's attacks were getting a little erratic. On the bad side, for some reason her anger was making it harder for him to read her body movements, which was how he had been dodging so easily before; he'd been reading the minute signals her body was sending out about how she was going to attack. Ranma didn't know how anger could possibly make someone hide their moves better, usually it became easier to read an angry person's attacks. [Great, must be some quirky training she's gone through.] he thought. [What is it with my luck with girls lately? All of them seem to be out to kill me. What'd I ever do to deserve this?] "Ok, ok!" he said as he narrowly dodged one of Akane's wilder swings. "I'm... uh... I'm sorry, I guess. Of course I care about being engaged. Who wouldn't care? There I was yesterday, with a new problem heaped on top of my already impressive pile. I was all ready to meet some bucktoothed uncute girl. Hell, I figured that anyone who needed an arranged marriage wouldn't be too good." Akane's eyes narrowed. [I can't believe he's calling me uncute! Oh, he'll pay for that!] She poured her flagging strength into another set of attacks. Ranma continued talking as he dodged, flipped and side-stepped. "So anyway, imagine my surprise when I came to in your house to have my father lead me out and point to you, saying that you were my fiancee. You know what my first thought was? It was 'Why would she be going through with an arranged marriage?'" Akane stopped her attack as she blinked in surprise. [That's a compliment, isn't it?] she thought to herself, trying to figure it out. [I think it is.] [Of course, that was because I thought it looked like you and Ukyou had a thing going, the way you two sat next to each other.] Ranma admitted to himself. [Now that I know about Ukyou though, I can't believe I thought you two were a couple.] He looked at the still frozen Akane, and took the time to reach out and gently tap her forehead. "Gotcha." he said with a smirk. Akane shook herself out of her thoughts. "Hey! That's not fair! You tricked me!" Ranma laughed as he scooted out of the dojo. "Hey, it wasn't me that let my guard down!" he shouted over his back at the fuming girl. "Thanks for the spar, it was getting fun near the end!" Akane clenched her fists as she stared at the door that Ranma had so recently exited through. "Oooohhhhh... that... that... if he thinks he's getting out of this conversation that easily, he has another thing coming." ********************* Akane adjusted the folds of her school dress as she thanked Kasumi for the breakfast she had just finished. It felt a little strange to be in a dress, after having spent the last few months in pants and shirts, often pretty tight pants and shirts thanks to the curse. Still, it gave a comforting sense of familiarity to be in her school clothes again. She looked at Ukyou, who was sitting to her left. The chef had bathed after the fight with Mr Saotome, and had changed into his spare set of clothes, the one with a purple shirt. Ukyou was glaring at Genma, who sat opposite them. The older man seemed oblivious to the stare, he was obviously not at all worried by Ukyou's annoyed gaze. Akane glanced over at Ranma, who was sitting around the edge of the table, next to Ukyou, just as the pigtailed boy quietly said something to Ukyou. Akane blinked as Ukyou's irritated expression slowly dissolved as it was replaced by a small smile. She couldn't believe it, Ukyou was getting on with Ranma. What on Earth had they said to each other in the dojo last night? She shook her head as Ukyou glanced back at Genma and regained that irritated look. Well, whatever had happened, obviously Ukyou still had some problems with Ranma's father. The Tendo girl glanced over at her family. Her father was reading a paper, Nabiki had, like everyone else, finished eating and she appeared to be ready to leave for school. Kasumi was just being Kasumi. She was clearing the dishes. For such a long time, it seemed like Kasumi would always be doing something or another around the house. The family would be lost without her. Which reminded Akane of something. "Say, Kasumi, I meant to ask you last night..." Akane said, "...where did you find that tent? I searched through all the closets and I couldn't see it anywhere." "Why, I found it in the storage room." Kasumi explained as she gathered some of the used dishes. "Storage room?" Akane asked as a sinking feeling descended upon her. "You don't mean... the room where we keep a lot of our old stuff?" "Yes." Kasumi replied happily. "The one that used to be our second guest room?" Akane prompted. "Yes." Kasumi replied happily. "The one where we could have put Ukyou, if I'd remembered that we could use it as a guest room?" Akane suggested. "Yes." Kasumi replied happily. If it had of been anyone else, Akane would have happily choked them. But this was Kasumi, you just didn't, _couldn't_ do anything nasty to Kasumi. It was one of those unwritten laws of the universe, like the one that said that redheaded girls and mecha were a combination to be viewed from a safe distance, such as another continent. "I really don't know why your friend wanted to sleep outside, since we could have put him in that room." Kasumi added, smiling. "But you two seemed so set on your camping idea, it just would have seemed rude to point it out." Soun looked up from his newspaper and blinked. "We have a second guest room?" he asked. "Well, what's done is done, right sis?" Nabiki said to Akane as she stood. "Your boyfriend can sleep inside tonight." "Boyfriend?" Soun asked, his eyes starting to dangerously mist over. He looked like he was about to cry. "What's this about a boyfriend!? How can you have a boyfriend when you're already engaged!?" "Hey!" Akane shouted as her cheeks reddened. "He's not my... he's not... You've got it all wrong! You take that back Nabiki!" "Boyfriend?" Ukyou asked, annoyed that Nabiki thought of her like that. It didn't help that Ranma looked like he was barely holding back from laughing. "Well, whatever." Nabiki said as she gave a slight smile. After three months of romping around China with some cute guy, Akane was probably in need of a few jabs to the ego, Nabiki figured. And she was always happy to provide this particular service for free. "Anyway, I'm off to school." "School..." Ukyou said as she glanced over at Akane, noticing the school dress. "I've been away from school for too long myself. I'd better see if I can transfer over to the school you guys go to." "What, just like that?" Nabiki asked. Ukyou shrugged. "Well, maybe not just like that." she admitted. "But at least I can start the paperwork now, get it done as quickly as possible." "I'll tell you what." Nabiki said. "Come with me, and I should be able to speed things up." [Heh, if anyone knows how to manipulate the school administration to get it working their way, it's me.] "I'll be glad to help..." The other Tendos paused in what they were doing as they looked at Nabiki. They seemed to be waiting expectantly for something. "For a small fee." Nabiki finished. The other Tendos went back to what they were doing, safe again in the knowledge that all was normal in the universe. Relatively speaking anyway. For Akane, that meant that she went back to glaring at Nabiki. She couldn't believe her sister was embarrassing her in front of Ukyou and the Saotomes like this. "But I guess it couldn't hurt to waive the fee. Just this once." Nabiki said after she'd put up with Akane's glare for a few seconds. She wasn't at all scared of her little sister, but part of being a family was knowing when to back down on something so as to keep the family peace. "But you'll have to come with me and I'm leaving right now." Ukyou shrugged as she looked down at her okonomiyaki chef's clothes. It was the best repaired set she had right now, travelling over in China for three months with minimal changes of clothes, not to mention a curse that didn't do any good for the seams meant that right now her best clothes still looked a little tattered. She certainly didn't have her old school clothes on her, she'd have to go shopping. But for now, these clothes would have to do. "I guess I'm ready to go." Ukyou decided as she stood. [Ah, school.] Ranma thought as he looked over at Nabiki and Ukyou getting ready to leave. [That's one of the good things all those road trips we went on gave me. A chance to get out of all that unnecessary learning and stuff.] "You should probably be getting ready as well." Genma noted to his son as Nabiki walked off to get her bag. "Ready for what?" Ranma asked back. "Why, school of course. Didn't I tell you? I enrolled you at one of the local schools, Furinkan I believe it was called, since we'll be here for a while." Ranma sighed. So much for his hopes of having an easy, quiet day. Just once, it would have been nice to spend the day in a real house, with plentiful food and no worries about having to run for your life because of something your father had done. [Or because of some crazy Chinese chick.] he added to himself. And the first time in years that it looked like he was going to have a good day, his father pulled this 'school' thing on him. It was just typical. Akane narrowed her eyes as she looked between Ranma and Nabiki, who had just walked back in and was looking impatiently at Ukyou. Walking to school with Ranma would be the perfect way to talk to him about this engagement. Neither of their parents would be with them, and Nabiki would already be at school, so there would be no more of her interfering jibes. "I guess I'll meet you there." she said to her sister. "I'll go with Ranma. To... um... show him the way. Yes, that's it." "My, you have learned to be forward since you were gone." Nabiki smirked. "My little sister's building herself an harem." "Nabiki!" ********************* At Furinkan High School, another school day was about to start. In ones and twos, friends and couples, loners and groups, the students of this establishment walked into the yard of the school, chatting away about this and that and nothing of any great importance. It was into this normal little scene that Kunou walked. He was wearing what appeared to be his preferred clothes - kendo clothes sans armour. In his hand (and again, trends were starting to indicate this was usual) he held a boken, a wooden training sword. For some reason, his exposed arms and face were covered in several scratches and small bite marks (Perhaps he was into some rough 'swordplay', if you get my drift. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more *SLAP* ow, sorry). The random crowd of students did not take long to notice the kendoist in their midst, as they parted around him to let him through. As soon as Kunou reached the middle of the crowd, he struck a suitably heroic pose and started a speech. "Mobilise, men of Furinkan!" Kunou shouted as he held his boken above his head in an heroic pose. "After many trials and tribulations, I, Kunou Tatewaki, the paramount fighter of this school, have returned." "I told you we shouldn't have stopped going to the shrine to pray for him to stay away." one of the students whispered to a friend, making sure the nearby kendoist couldn't hear him. "How were we to know?" the second student whispered back. "He was gone for so long, we thought the prayers were actually working. More fools us, I guess." "I come with glorious news." Kunou continued, oblivious to the lukewarm response to his return. "'Tis time, once again, to take up my challenge. For within the hour, the beauteous Tendo Akane shall surely be here." This brought interest from the boys in the crowd. Several heads turned to look at the proud kendoist, before one of the braver boys piped up. "Did you say that Akane's going to be here today?" Kunou nodded. "That is right. You know the terms of my challenge. None may date with her who have not defeated her in the glory of combat. Not that any of you stand any chance in that, but it would not be fair not to offer you the chance. And Tatewaki Kunou is nothing if not fair." [Ah... today shall be the day.] he thought to himself as he watched the boys murmur amongst themselves. Several of the girls in the crowd, seeing where this was going, walked off, disgusted that three months of weening the boys off their Akane fixation had been destroyed in one quick speech by Kunou. [Today will be the day I show myself worthy to be yours, Akane. Worthy by virtue of defeating you in battle. Worthy indeed.] Then, while the boys around him geared for the coming battle, Kunou did what seemed natural. He laughed long and hard, not noticing the nervous glances those nearby gave him. ********************* "So..." Nabiki said slowly, thoughtfully, as she and Ukyou walked towards the gates of Furinkan, "...Jusenkyo gave you a second male form? That sounds a little strange to me..." Ukyou started to sweat. Her secret was dear to her, she'd been hiding her gender for ten years now. Lately, she had started to have second thoughts about her disguise, but then she had gone to China. With Akane. Friends like Akane didn't come along too often. She was Ukyou's best friend, they had done so much for each other. They had helped improve each other's skills, in fighting and in other things. They had saved each others lives in their time in China. They had fought, back to back, against bandits and other scum. They shared a fellowship that Ukyou had not felt since Ranchan, so long ago. They had told each other things that they had told no-one else. But Ukyou had never told Akane that she was a girl. At first, it was simply because she didn't tell _anyone_ her secret. And later, when she had felt the surgings of guilt start to sit like a heavy stone in her stomach, it was too late. Akane had already admitted things to Ukyou, secrets about herself, about how she felt about people, that Akane would not help but feel betrayed if she found out about Ukyou. "I guess that's just the way the springs work." Ukyou finally answered Nabiki's unvoiced question. "I don't know, we didn't stick around to hear the full explanation. Akane was almost in shock, and I was worried about what else we could fall into if we stayed any longer, so we got out of there." Nabiki pursed her lips before she reluctantly nodded. After all, she knew nothing more about Jusenkyo than what Mr Saotome, Akane and Ukyou had told her. Ukyou's curse just seemed strange, there was something about it that niggled at her. Ukyou inwardly sighed in relief as Nabiki apparently accepted her excuse. It was bad enough that Ranma had found out, but if he was still the Ranchan she'd known in their youth then he would keep his word, he would not tell. The fact that he'd given his word in the first place probably meant that there wasn't any worry of him telling. But this Nabiki girl was Akane's sister, surely she would feel bound to tell Akane if she found out? No. It couldn't, it wouldn't happen. She'd fought through so much to keep her secret, for reasons far less important than not disappointing a friend. She would keep her secret until a time came when she thought Akane was ready to handle the truth. And that was that. ********************* [What a show off.] Akane thought to herself as she watched Ranma walk along a fence top with the an ease she found herself envying. After a small delay while Ranma threw together some things into his bookbag, they had started on their way to school. [He's probably just trying to impress me or something.] Akane looked around to make sure that their parents weren't spying on them before she mentally prepared herself to talk. First, she did a couple of mental calming exercises, since she was determined not to let this opportunity slip away from anger, like it had during their spar. She had to get Ranma's support to end the engagement now. If they delayed in a joint protest for too long, nothing would sway their fathers from the union. "We need to talk, Ranma." Akane said as the two teenagers walked along. "Talk?" Ranma asked. "Uh, sure, what about?" "About this engagement thing." "Yeah, the engagement. Look, I know ya must feel about it, Ucchan told me that you went to China to come after us, so I guess you feel pretty strongly. Have you already got a boyfriend or something?" Akane hesitated. "Nnnnnnoooo. No, I don't have a boyfriend at the moment. But that doesn't mean I want to get married to the first guy who comes along. I'm not that starved of attention." [Far from it.] she thought as she remembered the many times that boys had fawned over her. "So anyway," she continued, "I don't want to be forced into an engagement. It's not fair to do that to anyone." [Especially me.] a guilty little thought flashed through her head. "So I need your help." Akane finished. "Help? So what are ya getting at?" Ranma asked as he leapt off the fence so that he could walk next to her. "Look, Ranma, it's just that I..." After a drenching splash of water, Akane-kun trailed off from his speech. He twisted and turned his head about to try and find who had splashed him, until he caught sight of an old lady, partially hidden because she was standing in the alcove/entrance of a nearby property. The old woman had been splashing water on the path, and had negligently caught Akane with some of the backsplash. Akane-kun sighed, trying to ignore the now tight shoulders of his uniform. It wouldn't do to berate an old lady for an accident like this, it was best to just deal with the inconvenience. "I guess I'd better get some hot water, hey Ranma? Lucky I know a doctor nearby, he'll be able to help us." Ranma gave no reply. "Ranma?" Akane-kun asked, puzzled, as he looked around for the other boy. He couldn't see the pig-tailed boy anywhere. "Where did he..." Akane-kun looked down to see a small black cat struggle its way out of a crumpled red shirt, which lay atop a pair of black pants, "...oh. Got you too, did she?" Ranma-Neko looked at Akane-kun, blinked, and then started to groom himself, licking the excess water off his fur. "Ranma?" Akane-kun queried when the cat ignored him. Ranma-Neko looked up from his cleaning, his tongue half-stuck out of his mouth, ready to lick his fur again. He stared at the half-boy for a few moments, before going back to his cleansing. "Well, we'd better go get that hot water." Akane-kun said as he brushed some water off his face, figuring that Ranma was just annoyed at being splashed. "Come on, I guess I can carry you..." he said to Ranma-Neko as he walked over to him. The cat stopped his grooming when the half-boy started approaching him. When Akane-kun got too near, he started to back up, clearly nervous. Akane-kun took a couple of steps closer. Ranma-Neko took scooted back just as far. The boy edged a bit closer. The cat moved back again. Akane-kun couldn't help it, he growled in frustration. Ranma-Neko responded by retreating into the alcove that the old woman had so recently occupied. Apparently the ancient dame had retreated back inside her house, done with her path wetting tasks. Akane-kun saw his chance. Ranma-Neko was trapped. And so the half-boy lunged for the cat. The feline responded by trying to use his shoulder as a step to leap off. But this time, Akane-kun was ready. His hands blurred, and he managed to catch the cat just as it landed on his shoulder. Ranma-Neko tried to jump off, but he was trapped between Akane-kun's hands and his shoulder. "Ha! Can't fool me with that one twice!" Akane-kun gloated as he got a firm grip on the struggling feline. After he was sure of his hold, he pulled the cat out in front of him. "Ranma? Are you in there?" Akane-kun asked as he looked into the cat's eyes. He couldn't see anything to indicate that Ranma-Neko was anything more than... well... a cat. Last night, before bed, Genma had drawn Akane aside and tried(in a slightly biased way) to explain to Akane what happened to Ranma when he got splashed. He had told her about Ranma's cat persona, since Genma had figured that, as Ranma's fiancee, she had deserved to know at least some of the truth. "Maybe there are worse pools after all." Akane-kun sighed as Ranma-Neko struggled in his grip. He gritted his teeth as the cat kept trying to wriggle out of his grasp. "Would you stop struggling please?" he asked the cat. Ranma-Neko responded by struggling some more. "Please, Ranma, stop it! You're going to make us late!" Akane-kun said in an almost pleading tone. When that yielded nothing positive, desperation dredged up the memories of how Ukyou had handled Ranma's cat form, when they had first met the cat-boy. [Anything's worth trying, if it'll quieten him down.] Akane-kun thought. And so he started to stroke Ranma-Neko's fur as he looked around to make sure no-one saw him petting the cat(especially his father, the gods only knew how Soun would overreact if he saw his 'son' petting his iinazuke, but the chances were it would involve immediate wedding plans). It was a pleasant surprise to the half-boy when Ranma-Neko responded to the light stroking by purring. Akane-kun's eyes widened, as a small smile touched his lips. [Well... that was easier than I thought it'd be. Now I just have to get to Dr Tofu's so we can get some hot water.] Akane-kun suddenly had a stray thought pop through his head and say 'hi'. It went something along the lines of [Say... aren't you a guy right now?] To which, of course, his mind impatiently answered [Of course I'm a guy right now, that's what happens when I get splashed.] Akane-kun idly scratched Ranma-Neko's ears, wondering what his mind was trying to get at. The stray thought wasn't quite finished with him though. [So...] the stray thought 'said' a bit too casually. [You're a guy right now. Tell me, you did wear your school dress today, didn't you?] [Yes, of course I did. What else would I have worn!?] Akane-kun's mind shot back. And then he realised the problem. His eyes widened as he looked down at the now very much higher up on the legs, now very tight on the shoulders, now very _inappropriate_ dress he was wearing. "Oh no..." he groaned. "I can't turn up at Dr Tofu's clinic like this, he'll think I'm a pervert. I need the time to explain the curse to him. What do I do?" he asked, before his eyes alighted on Ranma's discarded clothes. "Ahhhh..." he breathed, "I guess that will have to do." But he couldn't change here, what if someone caught him doing it? There was only one solution. Find a place to change. FAST. And so, with a speed born of desperation, Akane-kun picked up the clothes, Ranma's bookbag, and then raced off to find an out of the way place, with Ranma-Neko cradled in his arm. ********************* Akane-kun panted as he raced into the nearest alley to the old lady's house that he knew off, cradling Ranma-Neko in one of his arms, Ranma's clothes and the two bookbags in his other hand. He'd used every bit of cover between the path wetter's place and here, from trees to lampposts to any shadow big enough, so that no-one had seen him. The last thing he wanted was to be branded a pervert for wearing a dress while he was a guy. Akane-kun set Ranma-Neko down as he fought to regain his breath from the strenuous dash. [Lucky I had some practice in hiding over in China.] he thought as he slowly started to breath at a normal rate again. [Don't know if I would have made it unseen otherwise.] He sighed as he set down the bags and looked at Ranma's clothes. "No choice, I guess." he said. "I just hope you cleaned these recently, Ranma." Ranma-Neko chose not to reply. Instead, he just sat there, looking up at the boy. "Don't you even think of looking..." Akane-kun warned the cat in a dangerous tone as he squeezed his feet out of his (now almost too tight for him) shoes. Ranma-Neko gave Akane-kun an 'how-stupid-can-you-be?' look. But then again, maybe it was just a normal cat's stare, it was hard to tell. Akane-kun blushed as he realised how stupid it was to worry about Ranma perving at _his_ body, even if what Uncle Saotome had said about Ranma and his curse wasn't true. "Sorry." he said, "I'm just not comfortable with you sitting there, even if I am a guy right now. Could you turn around?" Ranma-Neko just stared back at him. "Uh..." Akane-kun said when the cat continued to stare at him. "Look, I'm not asking for much here, just turn around, would you?" Ranma-Neko blinked, before he went right back to staring at the half-boy. Akane-kun gave a low throated growl of exasperation before he bent down, picked up the placid cat, turned Ranma-Neko around so that the feline's back was to him, and then set the animal down again. "Now just you stay that way..." Akane-kun warned as he took one last quick look around to make sure no-one was in sight. Then, he took Ranma's pants and pulled them on up beneath the dress. Once that bit of modesty was covered, he shucked off his dress, grimacing briefly at the now totally inappropriate bra. Akane-kun deftly unhooked the bra and placed it on top of the discarded dress(he'd learnt over in China that a boy wearing a bra raised questions, and that somehow circumstances could always come along that ensured that people found out). He then completed the clothing change by throwing on Ranma's shirt and buttoning it. Lastly, he squeezed his feet back into his own shoes. With that finished, he stuffed his dress and bra into his bookbag, and gingerly put Ranma's boxers and shoes into Ranma's bag. Akane-kun sighed at the strange clothes. "I guess it will have to do." he said to himself. "Come on Ranma, let's go get some hot water." he looked around, and saw that his feline companion was nowhere to be seen. "Ranma?" Akane-kun called. There was a clattering from a little way down in the alley. Akane-kun looked over in the sound's general direction, to see Ranma-Neko exploring a junkpile of old electronic gadgets. The cat was sniffing around curiously, seemingly bored. Akane-kun groaned, before he walked over to the junkpile. "Come on Ranma." he said, reaching for the cat. Ranma-Neko, apparently still nervous around people, retreated further into the junk. Akane-kun growled, before he reached into the junk. "Rrrrrr! Don't do this to me now Ranma! We're late enough as it is!" The cat just inched further away. After a few more seconds of fruitless reaching, Akane-kun growled, and withdrew his hands. "Great." he muttered. "I can't just leave him here, I'd never hear the end of it from Dad if he found out." With a sigh, Akane-kun looked around to make sure no-one was looking, before he crouched down in front of the garbage pile and began to beckon 'come-hither' with his forefinger. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty." he said, embarrassment in his voice. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty." [I swear, if I ever find out you were faking this 'mind of a cat' thing, I'll kill you Ranma.] he thought grimly as he continued to make the hand gestures. Ranma-Neko peeked out from behind a piece of rusty metal, before he slowly squeezed out of the junkpile as only a cat could. Then, he cautiously padded up to Akane-kun, stopping near his outstretched hand. Akane-kun narrowed his eyes, before he made a grab for the cat. Ranma-Neko, however, was too fast. He skittered out of the way, before he scooted back into the junk. Akane-kun blinked, realising that he was back to square one. With an heartfelt sigh, he started beckoning again. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty..." ********************* Nerima had a certain problem; it was a problem that had plagued the ward for far longer than most would have thought. The problem was that Nerima suffered from a martial artist population that reached plague proportions. The gods only knew why, perhaps the martial artists willingly gathered, so as to improve themselves through studying other fighters, or perhaps it was an instinctual thing, like when salmon swam upstream to mate. In recent times, however, there had been a noticeable drop in the martial artists living in Nerima. This, to most sane peoples' surprise, was actually NOT A GOOD THING. It was NOT A GOOD THING because(as any fatalist, cynic or realist could tell you) it meant that when the Fates finally redressed the imbalance, chances were that they were going to go... let us say... a little overboard. One case in example: St Hebereke Girls Academy. St Hebereke was an expensive girls-only private school that had the unenviable task of educating Nerima's 'finest' young women. It was an orderly place, the students dressed neatly, no girl had an hair out of place and no girl wore a piece of jewellery nor an iota of makeup more than was allowed in the strict school rules. St Hebereke was, in a word, boring. Really, really boring. The school had no soul, there was no school spirit to be shared by the girls. Only one thing had ever given meaning, had given pride, had given reason for the girls of St Hebereke to hold their heads high when they met students from other schools. That one thing was St Hebereke's rhythmic gymnastics team. Ever since the team's greatest leader had taken over, they had been undefeated in match after match. But 'had' and 'was' were the operative words. The gymnastic team's great leader had just disappeared one day, by all appearances never to return. Without her unique leadership tactics, the team suffered and a long tradition of Hebereke wins came to a close. The one thing that the students could take pride in was no longer worthy of that pride. The school spirit plummeted to an all time low. The girls entering the school grounds were quiet, listless, their heads were downcast, laughter was absent... in other words, things were dull. The almost palpable quiet from the school girls made the sudden mutterings at the edge of the crowd all the more obvious. Heads rose and turned, to try and pinpoint the source of the disturbance to the drudgery of their starting day. Kodachi idly twirled a black rose in one hand as she absently straightened her school dress with the other. She looked around at the girls as she walked into the school grounds, not seeming to notice the stares and comments she was getting. The other students parted in front of, moving out of her way with respect in their eyes. Several eyes were drawn to the dozens upon dozens of small furry rodents that surrounded Kodachi's feet like some weird animal entourage. When the black haired gymnast reached a point about halfway between the school gates and the school's entrance, she stopped and looked around at the girls who were looking at her. The lemmings took up position around her, ready for anything. "I'm back." Kodachi declared as several lemmings looked about at the surrounding girls with what might have been suspicion on their little faces. Louder and louder the murmurs rippled through the crowd of girls who surrounded Kodachi in front of the school. Girls inside the school building heard the noise and they rushed to the windows, calling friends over when they saw who had returned. Several girls pointed to the lemmings as the murmuring started to rise into a crescendo of sound. More and more students(along with a fair few teachers) were drawn to the windows, to the entrance, to the school grounds where Kodachi stood with a slight smile on her haughty face. It was then that several members of the by now disgraced gymnastics team pushed their way to the front of the crowd. Hope fluttered in their hearts as they saw Kodachi. Their leader had returned. True, Kodachi hadn't been the funnest leader around, but her results had spoken for themselves. With her back, victory would soon be theirs again. And so the gymnasts started to cheer. Other girls took up the cheer as they too realised that their once great pride, the rhythmic gymnastics team, would once again be the toast of the school. More and more of the students took on the cheer, as they started to realise that the glories of old school victories would soon be theirs again. The cheers soon fell into a rhythm of two words. 'Kodachi!' 'Hebereke!' 'Kodachi!' 'Hebereke!' Kodachi felt like she was riding on an ocean of sound, the euphoria of the moment was making her dizzy, so dizzy that she thought she might fall. In an attempt to steady herself, she threw her arms out for balance. Kodachi's stance spurred the crowd on, and their cathartic hollering grew louder and louder, the chanting of Kodachi's and the school's name took on a deep, vibrating rhythm that massaged the body and pierced the soul. The lemming horde looked around in awe at the reception their queen was receiving as the lemming packleader nodded, as if it had expected this. Then, as one, the rodents looked up to their mistress. They, like everyone else present, knew what was about to happen. Kodachi started to laugh. Starting low, her voice rose to a high, bubbly pitch as her laughter started matching the tempo of the chanting crowd. The laughter and the crowds' cheers merged into one amorphous, glorious, incredible sound, a sound that was, in a way, the very symbol of Hebereke's soul. Several of the teachers tried in vain to break up the display, but their efforts came to nothing. Finally, they gave up, deciding perhaps that this was for the best. After all, at least now the school had it's spirit back. In the end, the teachers decided, that made having Kodachi back worth the discipline breach. And the minutes flowed by, as the cheering continued unabated, and a girl of questionable sanity laughed and laughed and laughed, finding herself actually glad to be back. Oh yes, it was GOOD to be back. ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** And that's Chapter Seven finished. Comments, criticisms and problems are appreciated. People might be worried about how slow I'm taking the series so far. Don't worry, things get a little manic for a while soon enough, the pacing is just deliberately slow for the moment. Did anyone find that Kodachi scene scary? I did. Honestly. The image of Kodachi standing there, arms akimbo, laughing her heart out, as a crowd of schoolgirls faced her, chanting out 'Kodachi' and 'Hebereke', with a pile of lemmings looking up at her is burned into my mind. I'll probably have nightmares about that scene.... Till next time. Neko by Mark Doherty (mdoherty@mailbox.uq.edu.au) Chapter 8: First School Day Blues. Characters are the property of Takahashi Rumiko. I deserve to be thrown in the spring of drowned ferret for even thinking of using them. Please don't sue me, I am but a poor and penniless student. Any cameos are copyright their prospective creators. In this case, Sailor Moon was created by Takeuchi Naoko and by using these characters I deserve to have to put up with Chibi-Usa for a week(well, ok, no-one deserves that). C&C's are welcome, wanted and not wasted on me. My conventions explained: - The suffix -kun is used to denote a character's cursed male form. No suffix indicates that the person isn't in their cursed form. If someone turns up with a girl curse, they'll get the -chan suffix. Animal curses are denoted by the name of the animal as a suffix. After a couple of times, animal suffixes will probably usually be shortened to the first letter. For example, Henry-Mockingbird, or Henry-M after the first couple of times the name is used in a scene. - When taken from the perspective of people that don't know about Ukyou's real gender, Ukyou will be called he, his, etc. Most of the time, however, the story is narrator's perspective, and so she shall normally have female pronouns. - Just to be REALLY annoying, a cat curse will be denoted by a -Neko suffix. So, Ralf-Neko for example. - <> Denotes Chinese. - [] Denotes thoughts. - ** Is animal speak when used without quotes, and is sound effects within quotes. For example: *Hello.* the duck quacked. And: "*sigh*" she exhaled. - {} Are Panda signs. "Cruel, but composed and bland, Dumb, inscrutable and grand, So Tiberius might have sat, Had Tiberius been a cat." - Poor Matthias by Matthew Arnold. ********************* "Waaaaah! We're gonna be late for school! I'm gonna get detention for this!" a young blonde haired girl (with an hairstyle I'm sure not going to try and describe, although if I did, the word 'odango' or 'meatballs' would probably be involved) wailed as she and her larger companion, a girl with brown hair tied in a ponytail, ran down an anonymous street. A small black cat, who had a golden moon birthmark on its forehead, raced alongside the two girls. "Relax Usagi." the brown haired girl said. "So we're a little lost. At least we managed to trash that youma's butt. So what if we got so turned around chasing the thing that we had to ask that cute guy for directions? Any day you get to fight youma and meet a cute guy is a day that isn't totally lost." The cat decided to show a decidedly unfeline ability: speech. "Usagi, Makoto, that's enough." she said. The two girls didn't seem to be too fazed by the fact that they were running along with a talking cat. They'd fit right into Nerima. "Usagi, are you sure you're following the boy's directions properly?" Usagi sighed. "Of course I am, Luna. You can stop acting like I'm a total ditz, you know. I can follow simple directions." "Well, there's no helping it." Luna noted. "We'll have to ask someone else for directions. The ones we're following now don't seem to be getting us anywhere useful." "Hey look!" Makoto exclaimed, pointing at the only other person on the street, a young man with bluish-brown hair. His back was to them, he had turned out from a corner in front of them and he was striding away at a decent pace. "Maybe that guy can tell us how to get to our school. Come on." she said, as they all walked over to intercept the boy. The two girls and their cat approached the young man from behind. "Excuse me..." Usagi said when they got close enough to get the man's attention. Akane-kun turned as he realised that someone was talking to him. He'd been so wrapped up in thinking about how he was going to explain his lateness to his teachers that he hadn't even noticed the two girls. "Oh... hello. Can I help you?" he asked as he looked at the two girls. [Funny.] he thought. [I didn't think that any of the schools around here used those uniform colours.] Usagi tried to answer, but she was too busy drowning in Akane-kun's eyes. And her subconscious was busy hoping that this boy would swim out, rescue her from her drowning, and give her the Kiss of Life. "Uhh..." she managed as stars twinkled in her eyes. [He... he's almost as handsome as Tuxedo Kamen!] Makoto wasn't much better off, but at least she'd built up some resistance in her various quests to date cute boys. So she managed to just look flustered as she cleared her throat several times. Luna just repressed the urge to sigh, it would only draw suspicion from the boy. Then she noticed Ranma-Neko trying his best to hide in the crook of Akane-kun's arm. She suddenly felt very self-conscious as she saw the other cat look her in the eyes as he tried to bury himself deeper into Akane-kun's arm. "Excuse us..." Usagi tried again, fighting against her sudden tongue-tied state. "We're a little lost. Would you know where Juban High School is?" "Juban?" Akane-kun said, slightly confused. "I don't think I've ever heard of a school called that anywhere in Nerima." This brought the girls out of their dreamy state. "Nerima!?" Usagi howled. "How did we get to Nerima!?" Makoto growled. "I should have known that we shouldn't have trusted some strange guy for directions." she whispered to herself. "Even if that bandanna did make him look cute..." She sighed, before she said "I don't suppose you could direct us to the nearest train station, could you?" Akane-kun nodded, and gave the girls directions. Then he said "I'm sorry, but I really have to go, I'm already going to be late for school myself..." "Oh no, no, please don't let us hold you up." Usagi said dreamily. "We're grateful for your help." "Er... that's ok." Akane-kun said as he started to realise that the girls were staring at him and the probable reason for their attention. "I... uh... well, goodbye!" he rushed, before he walked away as fast as he could, still cradling Ranma-Neko in one of his arms. "What a total hunk." Makoto sighed as she and Usagi gazed lovingly at the retreating back of Akane-kun. "We don't have time for this, girls." their cat companion said. "Apparently, we're a fair way from home and you two are going to be late enough for school as it is. We have to get to the train station." Usagi lost the stars in her eyes as she looked down at the talking cat with a sly expression on her face. "Oh come on Luna. Don't think that just because I was busy uh... asking directions (yeah, that's it!) that I didn't see you checking out that guy's cat." Makoto chuckled as Luna blushed, an interesting sight on a cat. "I don't know what you mean." Luna humphed indignantly. The two girls laughed as they all started to walk off in search of the local train station. "You know..." Makoto said slowly, with careful consideration on her face. "That guy reminded me of my..." Thankfully her voice grew too faint to hear anymore as she and her two companions ambled into the distance. There was, after all, such a thing as an overused joke. ********************* "...and I turn back with hot water." "That's quite a story." Tofu said calmly as he handed a kettle to Akane-kun. Akane-kun grimaced. After arriving at Tofu's clinic, he'd decided to tell the Doctor about the curse, just in case the Doctor knew anything about a possible cure. Right now, they were in the small office at the back of the clinic. He poured the water over himself, leaving enough to turn Ranma back. "My, your life has become interesting, hasn't it?" Tofu said as he looked at the now-girl. "I could have lived with boring, Sensei." Akane replied as she looked around for Ranma-Neko. "Where's he gone this time?" "You mean your pet cat?" Tofu asked. "I think I saw it jump out the window. I'm sure he hasn't gone far." "He's gone?" Akane asked quietly. Tofu nodded. Akane sighed, and buried her head in her hands. "Not again." she despaired. ********************* It had happened again. Worse yet, this time it had happened in front of her. He had woken, naked, in a small clinic, right in front of Akane, who had been blushing redder than his Chinese shirt. What was it about the Darkness, the horrible weakness that his father had given him, that caused him such embarrassment? Couldn't it leave him in peace, or at least leave him with some dignity? There was something wrong with him, Ranma knew that for a fact. Whatever his father had done, whatever had happened to him, it was worrying him. Bad enough that the black shroud of unconsciousness took him whenever water splashed on him, but WHAT the HELL happened to his clothes!? [If you were a cat, you wouldn't wear clothes.] a treacherous and dark voice whispered through his mind. [And you'd be naked when you turned back, right?] He clenched his fists as he savagely squashed the snide, whispering voice in his head. "That's stupid." he whispered/growled. "I am not a cat. Not a cat." "Did you say something?" Akane asked, before she realised she 'wasn't talking to him' because of the clinic incident. "I... uh... was wondering how long you've known that doctor guy." Ranma improvised. "Oh, Tofu-sensei has been our family doctor for years." Akane stumbled slightly as she realised something. There was something missing when she thought about the doctor. She thought back to when she had been talking to Tofu. Wait... that was it. Her heart hadn't beat any faster, she hadn't been nervous at all, Tofu's understanding smile hadn't sent shivers down her spine... She'd had the biggest crush for Dr Tofu for so long. Once or twice she'd even gone to him with injuries too minor to be truly worth it, just to be in his soothing presence, to feel that calm, caring aura. She'd been in love. But what had happened? Akane searched within herself for her former feelings, and found them to be... gone. She still liked the doctor, she looked up to him, but her love, her crush was just... gone. Why? Where had those feelings gone? "So... uh..." Ranma said hesitantly as they raced along. "What was it you wanted to talk about before... you know..." "Don't have time for that now." Akane responded tersely, shoving her private thoughts aside. They could wait for a better time to examine. "If we really rush, we might still make it." [No thanks to you.] Ranma nodded as the two teenagers picked up their speed so that they basically blurred down the street. ********************* "Well, that was pretty easy." Ukyou noted as she followed Nabiki out of the administration office. "Oh, you'll find that registering at Furinkan is easier than most places." Nabiki replied as they walked down a hall. "A lot of parents don't like sending their kids here for some reason, so the school admin make it real easy to get in without the usual documentation delays. I've heard that the parents are afraid of the Principal." "Why? What's he like?" Ukyou asked. "I don't know. He hasn't been around for three or four years, so he was before my time." Nabiki admitted. "Must have been a real terror, to have people worried even after not being here for so long." Ukyou shrugged in response. "So, are we going to my home room?" Nabiki didn't answer. She had her head cocked slightly, as if she was listening for something. "No, it couldn't be." she said, shaking her head. Ukyou blinked. "Couldn't be what?" she asked, before she was waved back into silence by the Tendo girl. She tried listening herself, but all she could hear was the vague catches of some sort of inspiration speech outside. That was probably a sports team practising before school. Nabiki walked into the nearest room, and she headed for the windows. Ukyou followed, and looked down into the schoolyard. "Is there some sort of sports carnival on today?" she asked as she stared at a menagerie of boys, each dressed in varying sports uniforms, from basketball to soccer to sumo, there were even a couple of guys dressed in tacky golfing clothes, complete with putters in their hands. At the centre of the crowd was a man dressed in a kendo clothes. Nabiki chuckled, before she started to laugh. Ukyou eyed the other girl nervously. There was something about seeing Nabiki laugh that made her worry, and she shook her head as she realised that she had instinctively covered her wallet pocket with both of her hands. "Oh, happy days!" Nabiki chortled to herself. "I will be able to afford that new blouse after all... Mr Mealticket is finally back." "Perhaps I should go find my home room myself..." Ukyou said, eyeing the exit nervously, animal instincts of preservation telling her that she was near a predator. Nabiki stopped chortling as she turned to face the chef. "Why don't you go wait for Akane down at the entrance?" she suggested. "I'm sure she'd like to see that you made it okay." Ukyou thought about it. "Sure, that sounds like a good idea. Are you coming too?" Nabiki shook her head. "Oh no. I have a few bets to take... *ahem* I _mean_, I have a few friends I want to talk to. You go on ahead, you don't need me to babysit you." Ukyou nodded slowly, her danger instincts buzzing at the almost sharklike grin that had taken over most of Nabiki's face. ********************* Ranma tried to spark a conversation again as he and Akane ran towards school. "I guess Kasumi was wrong about you and boys. Ya seemed to get on alright with that doc guy, and... uh... Ukyou." [I guess she counts. Sort of.] "What do you mean?" Akane asked, tightlipped, trying to pour as much speed as possible out of her body. "Kasumi was trying to describe you while you were setting up the tent with Ukyou last night." Ranma said. He grinned, as he added "I've never seen someone use phrases like 'violent maniac' and 'hates boys' in an attempt to make me like a girl before." "Violent maniac?" Akane growled. "Hates boys?" she added, puzzled, as they approached Furinkan's gates. "Why would Kasumi think I... hate... boys..." she trailed off as she saw a large collective of school boys, all dressed in one sports uniform or another, all racing towards her. "Oh..." she said weakly. "That's right. Now I remember why Kasumi thought I hated boys." Ranma's eyes bugged as he saw the approaching horde. "What the hell!?" he gasped. Akane groaned. "I can't believe it. They can't still be on this kick, I haven't even been here for three months!" ********************* Ukyou leant against the entrance gate of Furinkan. Occasionally, she'd turn her head around to look out at the street. [Where are they?] she thought for the fifth time in as many minutes. [If they don't hurry, they'll be late.] Ukyou sighed, returning her gaze to the crowd of boys. She didn't have a clue what was going on with that lot, they sure weren't doing anything 'sporty', they were just standing there, looking out to the street. It was starting to make her think she should move, since she felt like they were staring at her. She scowled slightly at them, hoping that they'd look somewhere else. Instead, they pointed, gave a collective shout made incoherent by their numbers, and then they surged forward, breaking into a run. Ukyou eeped, she hadn't expected such a negative response to one little scowl. As the crowd bore down on her, she narrowed her eyes. "Fine." She drew her combat spatula, and held it aloft. "For the honour of the Kuonji School of Okonomiyaki Martial Arts, I will not falter! I'll take you all on!" she cried as she swung her weapon at the first boy to come within her range. "What?" the leader of the left flank, a kendoist by his clothes, said in confusion as he took his eyes off Akane to look at this sudden threat. With an ear-splitting *clang*, he was taken out of the fight slightly earlier than he'd expected. "Aaahhh!!!" one of the nearby boys cried. "Treachery!" He said no more, as he was hit over the head with Ukyou's battle spatula. Another boy took up the cry. "This guy must be after Akane for himself, and he's taking us out first! We gotta defend ourselves!" Several of the other nearby boys slowed their charge to face this threat from their flank, but the majority surged past to take on their true target. ********************* Ranma slowly grinned as most of the boys approached(except for a small crowd on one side of the gates, which seemed to have had their momentum cancelled by something). A fight. A big fight. This was just what he needed, after the extreme embarrassment of that episode at the clinic. "Ranma! Stay out of..." Akane trailed off as Ranma ploughed into the boys that had been coming up on her right flank. She growled, before she started to defend herself, throwing one boy here, using another boy as a shield there, and, when she thought none of the onlookers at the school's windows were looking, even a couple of the dirtier tricks she'd started using over in China. "Hey, Akane! Don't tell me they're after you guys too!" Ukyou cried as she waded through the intervening boys, using her spatula like a scythe. "Are you two okay?" "I'm fine Ukyou. So's 'Ranbo' over there." Akane shouted out as she elbowed a soccer player who had been trying to sneak up from behind, before she pointed at Ranma, who was toying with four members of the archery club. "I don't need help for these guys." "What? They attacked me!" Ukyou protested, absently spatulaing an hapless fencer who had been trying to sneak by the chef to get at Akane. "I'm just defending myself." "Trust me Ukyou, they're after me." Akane said, whittling down the quickly dwindling number of boys with a lightning elbow strike and hammer blow to two sportsfishermen. "They used to do it when I was last here." "Oh." Ukyou said, tripping a charging sumo wrestler with her battle spatula. "I guess they were running more towards you guys than me. Just chose a bad place to lean, I guess." She looked down at the boxer she had been standing on. "Sorry, case of mistaken circumstances." "That's okay." the boxer wheezed. "Could you please get off my kidneys? Thank you." ********************* "Well, would you look at that." one of the girls near Nabiki said as the collective students looked at the fight. "Akane goes on and on about how she hates boys, then she skips school forever and now here she is being defended by not one but two cute guys." "Greedy of her." another girl noted. "Who are those two?" the first girl wondered as they watched the school boys get trounced by the three martial artists. "They're not from around here, that's for sure. I mean, look at them. They're not even in uniform." There was a momentary pause in the conversation, out of respect for the ear- shattering *CLANG* of a gigantic spatula hitting a boy dressed in a golfing outfit, before a third girl spoke. "Look at all that hair. A pigtail and a ponytail. You don't see that too often in guys." "I'd sure like to know who they are." the first girl asserted. "Any guys who can get that close to Akane without personal injuries have to be something out of the ordinary." Nabiki smiled. Paydirt. In her books, if knowledge was power, then information had to be money. She knew that if she sent Ukyou off, chances were he'd get involved in the fight, and she'd read the same sort of character in Ranma. A little bit of showing off by the two could make them as big a ticket as Akane was for that all-too-short a time, months ago, when she'd been the only one fighting the crowd. "Well then, perhaps you'd be interested in what I know..." Nabiki purred. "And I'm sure I could acquire some photos for those interested. For research purposes alone, of course..." ********************* Kunou fumed slightly as the last of the school boys fell before the three martial artists. He was not annoyed because the boys had lost, far from it, since he had fully expected them to lose. No, he was angry for a far more important reason. These two... curs... had interfered with his challenge, had used the dirty tactics of setting up an ambush while using sweet Akane as a lowly decoy. It was unacceptable, such behaviour could not be left unpunished. The only question was, which one to punish first? While his skills in the blade were undoubtably paramount, etiquette and form dictated that he take them on one at a time. But how to choose which to chastise first? Kunou mulled it over for a few seconds, before Fate decided to choose for him. "Yo." Ranma said as he walked up to the kendoist. "You with those jerks?" Kunou narrowed his eyes. Well, that made things easier. The man was obviously little more than a peasant, but there were some forms one had to follow. "And what is your name?" Kunou asked. Before Ranma had opened his mouth to reply, Kunou continued. "But wait! 'Tis it not custom for me to give my name first? Very well..." ********************* "...like the mighty mountain lion, so is the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, Kunou Tatewaki!" With a thunderous boom that made the kendoist start and look at the sky nervously, Kunou finished his opening challenge speech to the first of the two impertinent wretches who thought to dare trouble the beauteous Akane with their miserable presence. [Ha!] he thought as he posed mightily. [I shall allow a moment for the fear to settle before I dispatch this lowly peasant.] His opponent, Ranma, blinked a couple of times as his eyes de-glazed from Kunou's lengthy narrative. "You sure you're not like the mighty drill?" Ranma asked. "You sure do a good enough job of boring to be one." "Such insolence. Such laughable bravado." Kunou replied as he pointed his boken at Ranma. In the background, the eyes of the crowd of students that had gathered once Kunou challenged Ranma lit up. Finally, some action. "Heh. I'm ready for ya." Ranma smiled as he shifted into a fighting stance, as Kunou did the same. Then the sky rumbled as dark clouds began to move in on the school. Both of the boys eyed the darkening skies with a small amount of trepidation, before Kunou turned back to his opponent. As Ranma took his eyes off the sky, the kendoist hesitated, started to say something, before he hesitated again. Finally, he spoke. "I... suggest a temporary truce." Kunou ground out the words. "'Tis unfair to the fine student body to deprive them of precious study time, and even at my incredible pace, we would delay the spectators from their scholarly pursuits. I propose we postpone this matter until a sunnier... I mean, until a better time." The crowd started to murmur. Kunou was backing down from a fight? Ranma took another quick look at the sky, before he looked around to see how far he was from cover. After noticing that Akane and Ukyou had already headed for shelter, he nodded slowly. "Yeah, sure. I can whip your butt later as easy as now." "'Whip my butt'!?" Kunou mimicked incredulously. "Such vulgar rantings from an overconfident buffoon! You have won a reprieve for the moment, for Kunou Tatewaki is nothing if not generous. But mark me well, this is not at an end. Indeed, for am I not the..." he trailed off as he realised that not only had everyone else already gone inside, but that the rain was only seconds away. "Time to move with the calm and dignified gait of a noble samurai." Kunou decided, as he scuttled inside, narrowly avoiding getting hit by the spray of the rainshower. ********************* Ukyou and Akane stared at Ranma, fascinated by the way he was holding a bucket of water in each hand. Well, to be more exact, each forefinger. He was supporting the buckets with one finger from each hand, simply because doing it that way meant he had an extra inch or so between the rest of his body and the cold water in the buckets. All three teenagers had been given bucket duty outside their classroom as punishment for being late. "You know, you're going to strain something if you keep doing that." Ukyou noted as she slightly shifted the weight on one of her own buckets. "Afraid of cold water. Unbelievable." Akane muttered. She was not in a good mood, today was turning into a real horror. The way things were going, she wouldn't be surprised if THAT GIRL turned up. That'd just put a final nail in the coffin of what was shaping up to be her third worst day ever, after the day of Jusenkyo, and the day at the Amazon village. Oh wait, and that day outside of that town, Qi'jiang. And that day that bandits attacked. That day when they'd wandered onto a Chinese test site for mines hadn't been fun either. Let's not even think about that day that she and Ukyou had been attacked by a gang of ninja who had based all of their attack moves off of interpretational dance steps. "I am not afraid!" Ranma protested, causing his buckets to slosh. He spent the next few seconds frantically making sure that none of the water got anywhere near him. Akane screwed her eyes as she quickly ran through every miserable day she'd ever had, slightly disturbed at how many of them were over in China. After a quick calculation, she relaxed. Yes, all it would take is one more miserable turn of events, and this would be the third worst day of her life. She wasn't, by nature, a pessimistic girl, but experience had taught her that getting her hopes up about the rest of the day wouldn't be a good idea. "So who was that guy who threatened us after we beat all those boys?" Ukyou asked as she idly wondered what Ranma went through whenever he wanted a drink. For that matter, why didn't he carry an umbrella if he had all this fear? [Must be that stupid macho thing with denying he even has a problem.] she thought idly. "Yeah, and what's with the mass attack thing?" Ranma added, his buckets under control again. "That the way the greet new students 'round here?" "Kunou." Akane replied. "Kunou to both of your questions. He's the kendo captain of this school, he's responsible for the boys attacking, and they were after me, not you two." "Doesn't like you much does he?" Ranma suggested. "I wish." Akane muttered. "Girls he doesn't like he leaves alone. No, the problem is that he does like me. About two weeks before I snuck... before I left home to go to China, he made this stupid speech to all the school boys, saying that if they wanted to date me, they had to defeat me in combat first. That fiasco outside was the result." "And you agreed to this?" Ukyou asked, blinking. "No! Of course I didn't. But that didn't matter to them, they attacked anyway. I still can't believe that they're still ready to do that after three months." "I guess it shows devotion to their cause, at least." Ranma replied. Akane snorted. ********************* In one of the classrooms further down the hall, Nabiki looked over at Kunou, a predatory grin on her face. When Akane had left, Nabiki had never seriously expected Kunou to follow. It had meant for a certain... downturn in her profits. Now that he was back, she had to make up for lost time. "So, Kunou-chan, did you bring me a souvenir from your trip?" Nabiki asked. "I had no time for purchasing trinkets like some half-wit tourist." Kunou replied. "And even if I had availed myself of the merchandise I passed during my trek, why would I have bought anything for you?" "So, gone for three months, eh Kunou-chan?" Nabiki continued, not at all worried by his response. "Did you ever find Akane?" Kunou shook his head and sighed. "Regrettably, no. I came so close sometimes to finding her, but always the trail would grow cold. It was a sore test of my courage and willpower, to face some of the horrors on that journey (my sister, for example), when my goal was ever elusive. If only fair Akane had known I followed! Then, she would have gladly come to my waiting embrace, safe in the knowledge that I could protect her." "Sure, whatever." Nabiki rolled her eyes while Kunou wasn't looking. [Nice to see he hasn't changed.] "But enough of this idle banter." Kunou said. "I have need of information, Tendo Nabiki, and I am sure that you would still be the one to supply it to me. Tell me, who were those two men that dared to flout my challenge with regards to Akane?" Nabiki looked back at Kunou, her face blank, her lips unmoving. After a few moments of this, Kunou sighed and pulled some money out. "I see that a quarter of a year has done nothing to quell your regrettable mercenary streak." "Nice to have you back too, Kunou-chan." Nabiki replied as she counted the yen. "Now then, how can I sum this up as quickly as possible... I know. The brunette, Kuonji Ukyou, is the man who has been living with Akane for the last three months..." "WHAT!?!?!" Kunou choked. "...and the pigtailed guy, Saotome Ranma, is the man that Akane ran off to see in the first place..." "Aaaarrrhhhh!?!?!?" Kunou gargled, as he turned white. "...since he's her fiance." Nabiki finished in a slightly bored tone, as if Kunou's reactions had never happened. "Wheeeeezzzzee..." Kunou managed, clutching at his heart. "You okay, Kunou-chan?" Nabiki asked. "I shall recover in a moment..." Kunou gasped. "And then the vengeance of heaven, and my blade, shall strike those two villains down." Nabiki cocked her head. "I suppose now's not a good time to mention that when you ran out after Akane all that time ago, you forgot to pay for that last batch of photos. There's a small amount of interest due..." "Really? How much?" Kunou asked as he started to regain his normal colour. "Never let it be said that Tatewaki Kunou did not pay his debts." Nabiki looked at the kendoist for a moment, before she shook her head "I'd better wait until I'm sure you're okay before I tell you. Best to be at full strength." "Oh." Kunou said, paling slightly again. "I see. In that case, tell me later. For now, I WILL NOT STAND FOR SUCH FAMILIARITY WITH AKANE!!!" "Kunou, go stand in the hall." the teacher said. ********************* "So then while Ukyou distracted the demoness with his Dance of the Thousand Okonomiyaki, I rushed in, took the Jewel of Zir'Kon, and we escaped into the night. We took the Jewel back to the villagers, and in gratitude they gave us the rare and mystical Quenlong Potato." Akane finished up. To pass the time on their punishment, they'd been swapping stories of some of their encounters in China, keeping their voices low so that the teacher wouldn't bust them. "The Potato made for a great soup." Ukyou added. "I still say you should have let me cook it. It was my turn." Akane said, slightly indignant from the memory. "No it wasn't." Ukyou returned. "It was your turn the time before that, with the Radish of the Warlord Sekth." She kept her face carefully blank as she shuddered slightly at the memory of that particular meal. "Oh yeah." Akane said, blushing slightly. "Sorry, I got those two mixed up." Ranma looked on at the two girls. Jeez, and he'd thought that some of the things he'd gone through on his trips had been stupid. And he was engaged to both of these girls? At least Akane had finally calmed down enough to talk to him civilly. Actually, when she wasn't angry at him, she was really quite cu... [Water coming.] the large part of his danger sense that his hydrophobia had taken over warned. Ranma leapt out of the way of a bucket's worth of water. Akane and Ukyou weren't as prepared. The water hit them, activating their curses. For Ukyou-kun, that was no problem, except that breathing was a little harder, thanks to the now tighter chest bandages that he used to hide his breasts when he was female. For Akane-kun, however, that meant... "That does it." Akane-kun decided as he looked down at his dress, which was straining at the shoulders to hold his body. "I am not wearing a dress to school ever again." "Never!" Kunou's voice cried out. The three martial artists turned to see him standing, empty bucket in hand. His eyes never wavered from Ranma, perhaps he had not even seen Ukyou and Akane change. "Never shall I allow you to be Akane's fiance!" Akane-kun's eyes widened as he heard a rumbling from the surrounding rooms. Within a second or two, from the sounds of it, there'd be several people out here. He'd never live down being caught like this, a male in a girl's dress. It was almost ironic, he was about to be labelled a pervert thanks to the too-loud voice of the man he considered to be the biggest pervert he'd ever met... Ukyou-kun's eyes widened as he heard the rumbling, and saw Akane-kun's expression. If there was anyone who understood the horror of malicious school gossip, it was Ukyou. After all, it had been the catalyst for her disguising herself as a boy all those years ago. Ranma could deal with the distraction of Kunou. Their two minds ran through their possible options in the briefest of moments that they had left before discovery. Akane-kun flung his head around, looking for escape routes, realising that he'd never make it out of the hall without being seen. Ukyou-kun ran through his options, before he realised that there was only one thing that could buy Akane a way out. He reached into his clothes, brought out a flour bag that couldn't possibly have been concealed in those tight clothes, and ripped it open to the cry of "Flour bomb!" The inner windows that surrounded the hall were flung open by various students to the cries of 'You got engaged Akane!?', 'Akane, how could you?', and 'Hey, that still means that the guy with the spatula is free!', before the choking cloud of white flour billowed in through the now open windows. The boys and girls at the open windows stumbled back, coughing, to get away from the stuff. After a few seconds, the flour cloud dissipated, and the now more cautious students crept back to the hall windows. There, they saw Kunou and Ranma recovering from the choking effects of the cloud. Akane and Ukyou were nowhere to be seen. "*cough* Never shall I allow *cough**cough* such a travesty." Kunou gasped, coughing again from the flour he'd inhaled. He took a swipe at Ranma with his boken, which barely missed. Ranma sneezed from flour irritation, before he said "Jerk, I don't need *cough* your crap today." He dodged another of Kunou's swipes, before he continued. "But if you want to fight, let's take it outside." With that, he ran down the hall. Kunou chased after, with a crowd of students following him. "You cannot escape that easily, Saotome! My love for Akane burns bright, and I shall not have its warming flame blocked by one such as you, especially not after the horrors I faced in her name over the last few months!" Ranma's response was to turn his head back to Kunou and stick his tongue out, before he turned his head forward again so that he could jump out of the open window he had just reached. "It takes more than a leap to impress the Blue Thunder!" Kunou scoffed as he jumped out after Ranma. "I follow!!!" he cried, before he looked down. Then he started screaming. "What are you screaming abou-" Ranma looked down. Beneath him was a swimming pool. There seemed to be a lot of water in it. "Aaahhhh! No! No! No! No! No! N..." With a splash, Ranma hit the water. A second later, Kunou landed with an impressive kersplash. Back at the window, several students were huddled around the ledge, looking down at the rippling waters of the pool. Once of the girls in the back, who couldn't see through the small crowd, gave up on trying to peer over shoulders, and asked "Can you see anything?" to a boy who had managed to get prime position in front of the window's edge. "No, the water's all murky. Wait... wait a minute. Yes, I can see something coming up now." The boy stared for another couple of seconds, before he muttered "That doesn't make sense." "What?" "Their clothes just floated to the top of the pool, but Kunou and the new boy aren't in them." There was a slight pause, as everyone stared at the floating pants and shirt of Ranma, and the Kunou's clothes. The owners of the clothes were nowhere to be seen. "I don't understand. What happened to Kunou and the other guy?" another girl said as she stared down at the floating clothes. She blinked when she thought she saw a dark blur flash out from underneath the clothes. She blinked again, and the blur was gone, so she dismissed it as her imagination. "You don't think they're running around naked do you?" one of the girls asked, eliciting giggles from her friends. There was another silent moment as everyone looked at the floating clothes, trying to work out what had happened. "OH MY GOD!" one of the students exclaimed, horrified realisation spreading across his face. "It's so _obvious_!" The other students turned to look with interest at the boy. Below, in the pool, another dark blur swam from underneath the floating clothes towards the pool's edge, but no-one was looking to see it. "Don't you see?" the boy who had piped up continued once he saw that he had everyone's attention. "It's so obvious, any fool could see it. There can be only one reason that Kunou and the new kid disappeared when they hit the water." The boy paused dramatically, before he conspiratorially whispered "The pool must be full of acid!!!" The other students gasped, several of them paling at the thought. "No, no. Think about." the boy said, raising his voice to override the din. "How else could nothing but the clothes of two people disappear like that? The only answer has to be acid, some sort of horrible flesh eating acid that leaves clothes alone." There was a short pause as everyone mulled over this. Then, one of the girls sighed. "I knew that one day those pranks that the Chemistry Club pulls would get out of hand." The others nodded in knowing agreement. ********************* "So Ranma acts like a cat when he's in that form?" Ukyou asked, wringing out her wet and(thanks to the flour) sticky hair. She was helping Akane to look for Ranma in the bushes surrounding the pool. After they'd used Ukyou's 'smoke'screen to rabbit, they had rushed to the showers located in the changerooms. After changing back, they had emerged to find the clothes floating in the pool. It hadn't taken much deduction to figure out what Ranma's clothes meant, but Kunou's were a mystery. What had happened to the kendo captain? "He acts like he's trying to give me a migraine." Akane muttered as she absently tried to brush the excess flour off her dress. That task wasn't made any easier by the fact that all the water she'd been around to change and change back had turned the flour into a sticky, doughy mess. "But yes, he acts like a cat. It looks like Mr Saotome was telling the truth about that. It was ridiculous, I turn him back at the clinic; there he was, no clothes on, and he still thinks he doesn't turn into a cat! What does he think happens, that he just falls unconscious and that whoever's around takes his clothes off for kicks?" "No clothes on?" Ukyou asked, blinking, as she latched onto one piece of Akane's tirade. "You mean you saw..." "I forgot he wouldn't have clothes when he turned back, okay!?" Akane said, blushing. "It was all his fault anyway, if he hadn't made me chase after him, I mightn't have been so distracted and I would have remembered about the clothes." Ukyou blinked, opened her mouth, and then she reconsidered what she was about to say, so she shut her mouth, shrugged, and went back to searching the bushes. "If we're lucky, we can find Ranma and change him back before anyone's the wiser." Akane said as she rustled peeked through some undergrowth. "I guess he wouldn't want the entire school thinking of him as a freak anyway, so he'd thank us for keeping his secret..." "If only he believed there was a secret to be kept." Ukyou finished. "You know, it can't be good for him, denying something like this." Akane was about to reply when she saw one of the bushes close to her shake slightly. She narrowed her eyes as she snuck over to the bushes. As she got closer, the rustling became more pronounced, as if whatever was making the bushes move was trying to get away or something. "Oh no you don't!" Akane shouted as she lunged into the bushes. "I'm not going through your little games a third time in one day... eh?" She blinked as she got a good grip on the creature that had caused the rustling. It sure wasn't a cat, whatever it was. "Did you get him?" Ukyou asked, sticking her head up from the bush she had been searching. "I don't think so." Akane said hesitantly. "Let's see." She pulled the struggling creature out. It was a little black piglet. As soon as it saw Akane, it ceased its struggles and turned its face away from her, as if it was ashamed or something. "Oh! Kawaii!" Ukyou cooed, before she realised that that sort of thing violated her guy act. She coughed, before she gruffly said "I mean, that's not a bad looking pig. For a... um... pig, that is." "I wonder if you're somebody's pet." Akane mused as she looked at the piglet. "Oh well, I guess I can ask around. But until I find your owner, I'll have to call you something." Akane took on a thoughtful expression as she looked at the animal in her arms. The pig looked so blissful at being in her embrace that for a moment she was tempted to call it 'Nirvana'. But then, a far more appropriate name surfaced in her mind. "How about..." she said slowly, drawing out the words, "...P-chan?" ********************* Somewhere else, on a desolate plain, Ryouga looked up from the large, crinkled map he was holding. After a few seconds of looking around, puzzled, he shook his head and looked back at the map. ********************* Ranma-Neko peeked out from the bush he had been hiding in. He stared at the two not-cats that he felt he could trust. Why weren't they chasing after him anymore? Didn't they want to play with such delightful scamperings, like earlier that day, with the bluefur fun one? Didn't they want to play the hunt, to chase him until he deigned to be caught? He padded out of the bush, and stalked over to the two. What was that creature that the bluefur one was holding? Was it a food animal that she had hunted down? Wait... no. Bluefur was not acting like the creature was a catch from a hunt. She was treating it like... He yrowled softly, his tail swishing as he thought about it. He felt himself be picked up by the brownfur friend one, but his attention never wavered from the... thing, the animal that had intruded on his fun. ********************* Akane looked up from her examination of the little piglet to see Ukyou pick up Ranma-Neko. She shook her head "How... how did you get him to be picked up so easily? It took me forever to chase him down a couple of times this morning!" Ukyou shrugged as she looked down at the cat in her arms. "He must just be... not in the mood to run." she guessed. Akane stared hard at the cat for a few seconds, before the piglet in her arms bweed. She looked down at the animal, and said "Now who owns you, hmm? I'd better ask around, see if you're someone's pet." She looked up at Ukyou and added "Could you turn Ranma back? Better if you do it anyway, since you're a guy too." "But..." Ukyou started, before she sighed. "Sure, no problem. No reason for me to be embarrassed over seeing him change, right?" She chuckled weakly. ********************* Ukyou looked around the small room that was used to store sports equipment. Good, definitely no witnesses. She looked down at the cat she held in one hand, to the kettle she held in the other. Over her kettle arm, Ranma's clothes were draped. "Of all the situations that pretending to be a guy would get me, this one never came to mind." she said, before she set the cat down. As the feline looked at her cautiously, she shut her eyes, and poured some of the hot water from the kettle. "Ranma? You okay?" she asked. After a few seconds of silence, she cautiously opened one eye. Ranma-Neko looked at her from his new position. He had completely avoided getting hit by the water. Ukyou sighed, closed her eyes, and poured some more water over the cat's new position. "Ranma?" she asked. No response. She opened her eyes, to see that the cat had moved again, and he was starting to look at her with caution in his eyes. "Don't like hot water anymore than you do cold hey?" she asked. "Well, sorry, but..." She rested her free hand on the cat, making sure that he couldn't move, "we need to get you back to yourself." She poured the water as she closed her eyes, wincing at the slightly too-hot water that splashed on her skin. She snatched her hand away as she felt the creature she was holding down transform. "I'll kill it!" Ranma hissed after a few seconds of getting his bearings. He clenched his fists. "Kill what?" Ukyou asked, opening her eyes to look at Ranma. When she saw that he hadn't dressed yet, she quickly spun about so that she was facing a wall instead. "I... I don't know." Ranma said, letting his hands open. He looked around, confused, before he looked down. "Aw man, twice in one day? It has been one day, right?" Ukyou nodded, never letting her eyes leave the wall. "Ranc... Ranma, what do you believe happens to you when you get wet?" she asked hesitantly. Ranma slowly put his clothes on as he tried to explain "I don't know... I mean, there's just a blankness when I try to think about what's happened to me when I'm out. I just know that I don't turn into a cat." "So why do you wake in places besides where you got splashed?" Ukyou asked. "I don't know." Ranma replied. "Maybe someone carries me." "And why do you never have your clothes on when you wake?" "Er... maybe Pop likes to embarrass me because he thinks that my fainting is a weakness?" Ranma tried. "I mean, that's why he's tried to make up this stupid cat curse thing, he just wants to have a fanciful excuse he can believe in for why his son isn't everything he hoped for." "Do you think that Akane would do that to you, when it happened to you this morning?" Ukyou asked. "What, you think that she wants out of this engagement so bad that she'd do that to you? To anyone?" "I don't know, I guess not." Ranma said weakly. "And why," Ukyou turned back to face him, looking him straight in the eyes, "can't you believe that you have a cat curse? Your father turns into a panda, Akane and I turn into men! And we're not the only ones!" She muttered something under her breath about 'Like that damn Chinese bitch', before she added "What's so hard to take about being a cat?" "What's so hard!?" Ranma waved his hands in disbelief. "Have you ever been thrown into a pit of starved animals when you were only ten years old!? Have you ever gone through a ripping, tearing, howling hell like that?" "No." Ukyou admitted. "Have you been laughed at because of something that happened to you? Laughed at so bad it hurts?" [Yes.] Ukyou thought, but said nothing. "Well I've had people laugh at me because of my thing with ca... cats. And then, to have your father, your own father tell you that you change into a cat, just so he can get over his feelings of inadequacy? Have you had that happen to you? _I_ am all human. Nothing else. Whatever happened over in China, it had NOTHING to do with some stupid curse, Pop was the one to get that, okay!?" Ranma blinked, before he calmed himself. "Look, I didn't mean to shout at ya like that, but I'm sick of people thinking that I should believe my Pop about this. There is no proof, there will NEVER be any proof that I turn into a cat, and I wouldn't believe it anyway, since I know what I am. I am a man, and I am late for class. Excuse me." He turned, and walked away. "You're living a lie." Ukyou whispered as she watched him stalk out of the room. "And you don't even know it, do you? You're going to lose yourself if you don't do something soon. And I... yes. Damn revenge. I guess you need a friend right now. And if it turns into more than that... then that's okay too." ********************* "Hiya Teach." Ranma said as he walked into his classroom. "Sorry about being late." He walked over and sat in a spare desk on one side of Akane. "Aren't you dead?" one of the boys blurted out, before he turned to the boy who had given the theory on what had happened to Ranma and Kunou. "Acid, huh?" The other boy shrugged, embarrassed, as Ukyou walked in and sat down on the other side of Akane, who was doing her best to hide P-chan from the teacher's roving eye. ********************* P-chan snarled as he looked at Ranma. The piglet was being carried by Akane as she, Ukyou, and Ranma made their way home. "Wow, he really doesn't like you, does he?" Ukyou asked, looking between the pig and Ranma. The piglet's response was to look at Ukyou, and snarl again. "You either, Ukyou." Akane said. "I guess you two just don't have the right touch with animals." "'S fine by me if the little fleabag doesn't like me." Ranma said, looking darkly at the pig. He shook his head slightly, wondering why exactly he didn't like the pig. There was something... no, the thoughts eluded him, he just didn't know why. "So no-one claimed him as a pet then?" Ukyou asked, making sure to keep her distance from the swine. The last time she'd got near the ungrateful little beast she had been bitten by the pig. The same thing had happened to Ranma when he'd tried to be semi-polite about Akane's pet by trying to pet it. Funnily enough, the small animal had not reacted like that to anyone else when Akane had been showing him around at lunch in an attempt to find out whose pet he was. "That's right." Akane answered. "I guess unless someone owns up to him, I'll keep him." The pig bweed as he snuggled up against her. "See, he's fine with me. Maybe he'll get used to you guys sooner or later." Akane looked down at her new pet. Nothing else bad had happened to her all day, and she'd even picked up a kawaii little pet. Today wasn't going to be as horrible as she'd thought after all. [I must have used up all my bad luck.] she thought as she looked down at P-chan. [Surely nothing else will go wrong for a while...] ********************* "At last!" Ryouga cried as he arrived at the outskirts of the city. "At last I made it! There's no hiding from me now, Ranma! Wherever it is you're holed up, I'll find you! Even if it takes searching the whole of Nerima! Wahahahahahahaha!!!" "Um... excuse me." a nearby street vendor said nervously. Ryouga cut his laughter off, looking embarrassed when he realised that he was being watched. "Yes, what is it?" "Did you say Nerima?" the vendor asked hesitantly. Ryouga nodded. "It's just that Nerima is in Tokyo." the vendor said. "Yes, I know that." Ryouga said impatiently. "What's your point?" "This is Hokkaido." the vendor replied. Ryouga blinked. He blinked again. Then he screamed in frustration. ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** Ahhh.... and the cameos have started. What did you expect? I like throwing an occasional cameo in. Thought I'd start out easy this time, ease you all into the cameo bits. Don't worry though, the cameos won't happen all that often, just when I think I can milk a scene out of it... ^_^ (Oh, and any suggestions that I have Ranma and Luna as a couple will be treated with accordingly. {Where did I put that rusty, blunt knife?} :P ) Well, I guess it's time to get that Kodachi sidestory done. Till next time. ************ Mark Doherty - mdoherty@mailbox.uq.edu.au My fanfics and the Weekly FFML Synopses Lists are at: http://www.uq.edu.au/~zzhdoher "Kawaii must die."