"I was cleaning up in the Nekohanten when I suddenly *sensed* something had happened. It felt somewhat related to my roots as an Amazon, and I figured it had to be the Nullifier. I rushed over here as soon as I could and now I see the Nullifier has done its work. I guessed as much." "Guess....at what?" "The Nullifier works by cancelling the Jusenkyo curse and creating two separate individuals. Our tribe used it in times of desperate need, when the tribe is falling low in numerical superiority versus other rival tribes. It was our secret weapon, and it ensured the survival of our tribe over many generations. Our strongest warrior, or warriorress, would jump into either the Spring of Drowned Woman, or Spring of Drowned Man, respectively. Then they would use the Nullifier to separate their cursed form from their normal form. Then....." "Oh my...they get married, then?" Kasumi had a hand to her lips in astonishment. Everyone else looked confused until after they digested Kasumi's observation. "You mean....you mean...they sleep together!?" Ranma and Ranma-chan looked at each other with revulsion in their eyes. "I know that I'm not gonna sleep with that guy!!" Ranma and Ranma-chan pointed at each other. "If the Nullifier had been new stock, you would have had no choice." "Huh?" "New stock Nullifier has something called a lust spell. It makes the two split halves get feelings of incredible lust for each other. In other words, they would...how you say....*get together* and *have fun*. The two of you would be having a lot of fun right about now, and for two or three days to come. No pun intended." Akane looked rather sick at Cologne's words. Cologne continued. "BUT, luckily for the both of you it was old stock Nullifier. The lust spell had deteriorated as the dweomer fell prey to the dragon lines of ki, losing its energy to those dragon lines. You wouldn't understand, suffice to say that it's probably a good assumption to believe that the lust spell is gone for good, perhaps." Everyone else took Cologne's words at face value, but only Nabiki smirked and eyed Ranma and Ranma-chan with new interest. Cologne turned about and she left, without a word or a sound. Ranma-chan casts a dark look over her shoulder at Ranma as she went downstairs. The rest of the family dispersed, no more surprised at this than at anything else. Except for Akane. "Ranma, come over here for a sec." Akane beckoned to Ranma. "Why?" Ranma was already moving. "Just come! I want to talk to you." Ranma goes over to Akane and she leads him just around the corner, where nobody could overhear her. She waited until she was sure that Nabiki and Ranma-chan were out of earshot - indeed, she could hear Nabiki talking to Ranma-chan downstairs, and when Ranma-chan replied she didn't sound pleased. Akane turned her attention to Ranma. "Ranma, I want you see the situation from...Ranma's point of view. The female one, I mean." "What? Why should I?" Akane ignored that and she asked, "Do you know why she's so angry? "She's blaming me, but we all know that me and her are the same person. We both dropped the Nullifier into the bath, I mean. That's the thing she's blaming me for." "Exactly. She knows that it was her fault, and I've never known..um..you or her to blame other people for something that wasn't their fault. She's ticked off because...you....you don't care at all that she's stuck as a girl. You're too...too self-absorbed over your cure. You're not paying enough attention to her problems because you're too busy celebrating the end of *your* problems." Akane looked Ranma in the eyes, to tell him that she was dead serious. Ranma's face reddened slightly in embarrassment from receiving a lecture from Akane, feeling almost like he was a dog who had done something bad and was being scolded for it. He felt some resentment at first, at being talked to this way, but gradually - as he looked at Akane and she looked back at him - he came to see the truth of her words. He reflected on his behaviour, and he saw that he had been very disagreeable, and not understanding enough. He did as Akane asked, and he imagined himself stuck as a girl....and he shuddered. What made it more strange, and morbidly fascinating, was the fact that Ranma-chan was him in mind and soul, if not in body. In effect, he was stuck as a girl, yet uncursed at the same time. Ranma looked away from Akane. "Yeah....I guess...that I ought to go make up with him....err.... her...whatever." "Don't say that. He, or she, is a person and not a `whatever'. Now, tell her that you're sorry. I mean, tell him that you're sorry." Akane turns away and she nearly bumps into Kasumi, who was holding an armful of bedding for the new `addition' to the family. She apologizes and leaves. Kasumi walks into Ranma's room. Ranma slowly makes his way downstairs and he sees Ranma-chan, one hand on her forehead and playing with her red bangs, and Nabiki sitting next to her. Nabiki seemed to be speaking to Ranma-chan, who was smoothing her shirt front and her hair. "My dear Ranma! Think of the financial possibilities! I already have a plan going on that is sure to make you a bundle!! ALL you have to do is to cooperate." "No thanks, Nabiki. I don't feel like selling my body for money just now." "Who says you have to sell your body? Listen...." "No thanks, I said." "Sh...I mean, he said `no thanks', Nabiki", said Ranma as he strode up to Ranma-chan, who turned about and transfixed him with a stare. "Did I say I needed your help, you....you imitation? Why....", began Ranma-chan, trying to start an argument. Ranma ignored that as he grabbed Ranma-chan by the waist, tucked her under his arm and ran outside, and away from Nabiki. Ranma-chan was shocked for a few seconds, then she started kicking and struggling. Ranma leapt to the top of the Tendo Dojo and he deposited his bundle of red hair and flailing limbs on the roof. Ranma- chan picked herself up and she growled at Ranma, then she began to stride towards him with every intention of beating him up. How dare he do that to her?! Ranma waited impassively, until Ranma-chan threw a punch and Ranma intercepted it with one hand. He caught it and he tried to turn it into a flip but Ranma-chan twisted out and quickly kicked Ranma's legs out from under him. Ranma twisted in midair, slammed his hands on the roof and executed a kicking manoeuvre from his almost-prone position. Ranma-chan yelled as she flipped out of range and landed at the far end of the roof. "You damned copy!!" spat Ranma-chan, "I'm gonna take you apart at the limbs!!" "Ranma....won't you listen to me, for a moment?" asked Ranma in a calm voice as he relaxed his guard. "Shut up!!" Ranma-chan's form suddenly blurred as she moved with almost-supernatural speed and rammed an elbow into Ranma's gut. Ranma let out his breath and he rolled with the strike. Ranma-chan pressed her attack, slamming a foot into the roof even as Ranma rolled away. After leaving a long line of foot imprints on the roof, Ranma- chan flipped into the air and let out a shout as she launched a leap kick aimed at Ranma's head. Ranma dodged it and made a grab for Ranma-chan, but she deflected his arms and began to do a series of kicks and punches, all executed at incredible speed. Ranma was able to dodge and parry most of her frenzied attacks, but a kick and two punches slipped through his defenses and connected with his stomach and back, respectively. He did not attack back even though he saw one or two opportunities to do so. Ranma-chan, seeing that he wasn't attacking back, snarled and lunged with a flying roundhouse with her right foot. Ranma ducked it, and Ranma-chan followed up with her left foot while she was still suspended in the air. Ranma popped back up and caught the foot, immobilizing it, and he sought to bring her down on the roof. Ranma- chan yelled in derision as she kicked his forearm and made him release her. She landed on her feet, leapt high in the air and landed on the other end of the roof, where she readied another stance. thought Ranma-chan as she watched Ranma fold his arms and watch her. Ranma-chan began to emit a blood red battle aura, focusing her energies into the space between her two hands, into a super concentrated Mouko Takabisha. She gritted her teeth as she felt the hot ki coalesce and make heat waves around her. She was going to finish this once and for all! The energy poured forth from her ki reserves, and intensified in destructive power, until she thought she could hold it no longer. With a cry, she thrust her hands out at Ranma and unleashed the blast. It exploded forth from her hands as a huge beam of red energy, searing the air as it tore across the length of the roof, destroying roof tiles in its wake and roaring like a thing alive, bent on destroying Ranma where he stood. Ranma thrust his hands out and unleashed a blast of blue energy to counteract Ranma-chan's Mouko Takabisha. The two incredible blasts met at the halfway point on the roof and exploded outwards in a fiery spectacle of red and blue warring for dominance. Ranma-chan's forehead began to bead with sweat, but Ranma seemed to be maintaining complete control. Slowly, bit by bit, the blue engulfed the red and began pushing back on the red beam, encroaching on Ranma-chan. Then, as if the red beam had broken from its foundations, Ranma- chan's blast gave out and dissipated, letting the blue energy sweep in triumphantly, and strike her. She felt her clothing singe, and her hair burn a bit as her world became brilliant blue, then black. Ranma walked over to Ranma-chan and he reached down to her, to lift her up, but Ranma-chan snapped out of her unconsciousness and kicked at Ranma. He blocked it and pinned her legs with his own. She growled and lashed out with her right hand at Ranma. But she was still dizzy and weak from being struck by Ranma's energy blast, and she did nothing more than get a grunt of pain from Ranma. Ranma quickly pinned her arms on either side of her with his own. Ranma-chan's chest heaved as she felt a measure of fear creep into her. He had won, and he had her at his mercy and pleasure. She quelled her fears and stared Ranma in the eyes, infusing as much courage as she could into her gaze. "Okay, you won, you bastard. Now, finish it! It won't end until one of us is down!!" Ranma-chan snarled in the face of her seeming doom, and she stared at Ranma defiantly - unwilling to turn away from her end. "NOW will you listen to me? All I want to say is....so...sorry for being such a jerk in the bathroom." Ranma looked into Ranma-chan's eyes, using Akane's technique to tell Ranma-chan - with his facial expression and eyes - that he was dead serious. Ranma-chan blinked, and she lost some of her anger. He was apologizing? She quickly narrowed her eyes again. "You're...you're lying!" Ranma-chan glanced at Ranma's hands and feet, which were holding down her own. "You're a pervert, as well as a liar!! Look at you, on top of me like this!! I'm a guy too! Let - me - go!! Arrrgghh!!" Ranma-chan struggled hard but Ranma was just too strong, too heavy. "I just want to say that...now I understand what you're going through....." "Let - me - go!! Damn.....damn you!!" Ranma-chan struggled again, feeling quite the butterfly pinned to the board, and she also felt rather vulnerable with the whole of her body undefended by her hands and feet. She was open to anything that Ranma would do to her! "....and I want to make up to you. I'm sorry, Ranma, for not seeing things from your p-point of view." Ranma let Ranma-chan go and he stood up. Ranma-chan bounced to her feet and she bunched her fists up. "Now...now you're gonna pay, you!" "Then...if it makes you feel better, you can hit me." Ranma turned about and he waited for Ranma-chan to hit him. He imagined that it would be pretty painful, but he saw no other way to reconcile with her. Ranma-chan stared at him incredulously, then she set her face and she ran towards him. With a cry, she leapt into the air and executed a flying roundhouse, followed by six punches - all of them aimed at his pressure points - two elbow strikes and a number of sidekicks, ending with a standing roundhouse and a kiai shout of released power. None of which so much as touched Ranma, even though he was standing stock still. Ranma-chan was panting and she moved to attack again, but she fell to her hands and knees, her pigtail pointing down as if in defeat. She...she couldn't hit him. Not after what he had said to her. She just couldn't. He had apologized to her, and she just couldn't hit him. Couldn't. Musn't. Ranma-chan felt herself gently helped to her feet, and she looked up into Ranma's face. He looked concerned. "Are you alright, Ranma?" he asked her. "I'm....I'm alright." She found no more words to say as she got to her feet and turned away from Ranma, and she stared out over the whole of Nerima - trying to collect her thoughts, but they just kept slipping away. They didn't say anything for a long, long time. Then Ranma coughed and he turned slightly away from her. "Like I said, I'm sorry that you're...you're stuck as a girl. But, there's always a cure. We...we can go to Cologne and ask her." "Yeah. Listen....I'm just as good as you are at this sort of thing, which is not saying much, but....but I...", Ranma-chan hesitated and she turned around, not meeting Ranma's gaze, "...I want to say I'm also sorry." "For what?" "For....attacking you just now." She fidgeted a bit. "Why?" "Because...because I shouldn't have. I...was just too angry, I guess, and lost control." "But you and me give each other a real good workout when we fight! I mean, I liked sparring with you better than fighting with Ryoga." Ranma-chan looked up in surprise, and she saw him smiling. And what a reassuringly good sight that was to her. The last vestiges of her anger and doubt fell away. "You...you thought that? I...I guess I...I mean, we can look at it *that* way....if you want." "Yeah. Come on. Let's make up. Ummm...friends, or whatever?" Ranma held out his hand and Ranma-chan took it after a slight hesitation. She smiled shyly and he grinned back at her. Then, like an infection, it quickly turned into giggles and chuckles, then outright laughter. Ranma and Ranma-chan let out all their bad feelings, and their tension, and fears, in their laughing fit, and they had to hold each other to keep from falling down and off the roof. Presently, their laughter passed and they found themselves in each other's arms. The wind blew Ranma-chan's pigtail into Ranma's face and he took a sniff of it involuntarily. It smelt...nice, fresh, and it had a scent to it that he couldn't quite place down - but it still excited his senses and made him feel....good. He could only describe it as the way a girl would `smell', the scent of a woman as it were, and he found that he liked it. He became aware of her small body against his own, her breasts on his chest, and her hands on his back. Ranma-chan opened her eyes and she took a sniff of him. He smelt of sweat, and Ranma-chan wrinkled her nose at that, but she could also detect something else that made her want to keep him close to her - so that she could be held in his strong arms and rest her head on his chest and..... With a cry, Ranma-chan pushed herself off Ranma and she turned away and folded her arms across her chest, as if to still her beating heart. She looked fearfully at him over her shoulder. What was happening to her?! Ranma had his mouth open in surprise and he reached out to her, then he let his arm drop. The moments ticked by with unnatural slowness, and all they were aware of were themselves and the wind playing around Ranma's shirt collar and Ranma-chan's hair and shirt, and cherry blossom leaves flying by on the wind, and Ranma's deep eyes and....Ranma-chan's own eyes...and the way.....their pigtails........waved to each other from over their.......their shoulders...........and....... "Ranma!! Ranma!!! Where are the two of you?! Your ice cream is melting!" Akane's voice snapped the two of them out of their daze and they quickly leapt down from the roof. The next half-hour passes uneventfully, with Ranma and Ranma-chan exploring the newness of their peculiar relationship. Each knows what the other would do, or say, in advance, so there was little need for talking. At exactly the same time, the two would turn on the TV set and watch the same channels. Eery that it is, almost all the family had no trouble adapting to the strange situation. Kasumi went on with her work, Soun and Genma played shogi endlessly and Nabiki readies her camera in the anticipation of a perfect shot. Only Akane felt a little unnerved at the near-perfect synchronization of the two - and more than a little jealous of Ranma-chan. Imagine, Ranma's girl-side was more popular with him than she was! The doorbell rang and Akane ran for it. "Oh, the slumber party!! I nearly forgot! My friends are here!!" She practically tears the door open, to admit Sayuri, Anemi and two other girls, all of whom were standing on the porch, duffel bags in hand. "Hi, Akane! Ready for the slumber party?" greeted Anemi. "You bet! Come on in!" With that, Akane ushers them inside. Sayuri begins to introduce their other friends. "Akane, this is Erika...", the girl with short, black hair bows, "...and she's from another class. And this is Sayaka.....", the girl with glasses bows and smiles. "Pleased to meet you both!" With that, the girls begin to chat animatedly as they drift towards the living room, where Ranma-chan sat watching the TV. Ranma was sprawled out at the opposite end of the couch Ranma-chan was sitting on, doing his best imitation of a couch potato. The girls first notice Ranma-chan, with her red hair. "Hey, Akane. Isn't that Ranko, your country cousin?" asked Sayuri. "Well...umm...." "She's the one who won that rhythmic gymnastics thing two years ago. And she fought that Mousse guy and won! The way I hear it, she's as strong as that cute guy from your class", spouted Erika. "Oh, him! Hmm...yes...she's as skilled as that Saotome...how do you call him....hunk! He's a knockout, that Saotome." That was Sayaka. "Saotome...h-hunk?" Akane's jaw had dropped at that and she struggled to get a hold on herself. Knockout? Hunk?! Ranma?!! Just how popular was he outside of the class anyhow? She turned a suspicious eye on him. Sayuri saw Akane acting like a fish out of water and she quickly moved over to Sayaka and Erika. "Umm, you guys....!" she began. "Don't you know? He's the one with the pigtail and he never wears a uniform. Even Hinako-sensei couldn't get him to wear the uniform, and she's a tough one! That psycho-nutcase principal of ours can't even get Ranma to cut his pigtail", gushed Erika, "I hear that nerd Gosunkugi keeps telling everybody that he's cursed, or something like that, but I don't believe a word of that junk. Nobody who looks as good as he does can be cursed!" "Isn't that the truth, Erika? Wait...wait a minute. WHO'S that lying on the couch next to Ranko? Hey....that's...that's.....Ranma Saotome!" "It's....it's him!" For one of the few times in her life, Erika was at a loss for words. "He's...uh...he's Akane's fiance." Sayaka turned to Anemi. "Anemi, what are you talking about? What fiance?" "Umm....Ranma Saotome is Akane's fiance....", clarified Sayuri. "Fiance?! Wow, how romantic!" exclaimed both Sayaka and Erika as their eyes went a little bit starry. "Our parents arranged it....when we were young, so don't blame me for it." Akane was smiling. Smiling too much, that was. Sayuri and Anemi were *quite* familiar with how Akane built up to her tantrums. She had two options, it seemed. She could either fire up instantly, or she could conceal her anger beneath a veneer of cheer and let it all out at a later time. Either way, it wouldn't be very friendly of Akane, to say the least. "Still! You're his fiancee, and he is your fiance!!" squealed Erika. "You mean to say that you and Ranma are....", began Sayaka and she locked her pinkies together. "Ha ha ha! Not quite that!" Akane folded her arms. "Lucky you. Wait till the girls hear this....they'll be so heartbroken!" Erika turned her attention back to Ranma. "Akane, come here for a sec," said Sayuri, "I wanna talk to you." She leads Akane away. Erika and Sayaka are still sneaking peeks at Ranma. Anemi is sizing up `Ranko', who was sitting next to Ranma. Then Sayuri turned to her friend. "We know how jealous you can get......" "Jealous? Of whom? That Casanova?!" "Don't be so mad, Akane. Remember, these girls are not from our class. We can't tell everybody how to think of your fiancee." "But..." began Akane. "But what? You know that you're getting mad for no other reason than to find an excuse to hit Ranma, again. Come off it, Akane! It's not his fault that Sayaka and Erika like him...." Akane considered Sayuri's words for a moment, then she gave her a slight nod of assent. "Well.....I guess so." "Okay. Come on, let's go get Ranko for the slumber party. The more, the better. Besides, I'd like to get to know her better since she's not always around." Akane and her friends walk over to the couch. Ranma and Ranma-chan look up from the TV simultaneously. Both of them look bored stiff. Akane introduced Sayaka and Erika to Ranma and Ranma- chan. "Hello, Ranma", greeted Sayuri. "Hey, you're Akane's friend, right?" Ranma began to pull himself into a sitting position. "Yes." Sayuri turns to Ranma-chan. "You're Ranko, right?" "N..I mean...yes! That's me, Ranko Tendo!" stuttered Ranma- chan in surprise. "Wanna join our slumber party?" asked Anemi. "Umm, I don't know......", began Ranma-chan but Akane cut in. "Ranko, you'll be starting school tomorrow. This it'll be a good time to make some friends. Come along." Ranma-chan looks up at Akane, into her brown eyes twinkling with amusement - and just a hint of concern. Why should Akane feel concerned over her? She was going to find a cure, like she has always done, and she will return to normal! There's nothing to worry about. Ranma-chan almost told Akane to relax, and not to worry, but something stopped her from doing so. , she thought, <...that wouldn't be a very good idea, now would it?> She didn't want to go to school as a girl, nor was she desperate to make friends with the girls but she did see the wisdom of Akane's words. It would only be for the time being, and it would be better for her in the long run. When she gets cured, she could have friends among the girls. Of course, that would mean that she would have to be a girl to be friends with them, but that was really quite beside the point since friends were friends. Besides, they were not martial artists in any way and they weren't likely to give her too much trouble, unlike girls like Shampoo and Kodachi. It was with this train of thought that Ranma-chan used to convince herself to peel her body off the couch and do something more productive. "Oh, alright. This program was starting to get boring anyways", she said as she stretched out the kinks in her body. "You go on ahead and enjoy yourself...er...Ranko." Ranma resumed his imitation of a couch potato with great effectiveness. "Yeah, sure *Ranma*." She smiled at Ranma to let him know that she was only joking. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed one of Akane's friends, with short hair, leaning in to whisper to a girl with glasses. , she thought. "Look at him! I'd give anything to be in Akane's shoes right now!" whispered Erika. Ranma-chan could just make it out, but she surreptiously leaned closer to listen in on the conversation. "Do you think he'll be in our slumber party?" joked Sayaka. Erika suddenly looked over at Ranma-chan, who immediately turned her eyes to the ceiling and pretended not to have heard. Then Akane, Ranma-chan, Sayuri, Anemi, Sayaka and Erika troop up to Akane's room, whereupon they unpack their stuff and begin to change into their PJs. Ranma-chan pretends to search around Akane's closet for some PJs, thereby avoiding having to look at the girls. At length she picks out a pink PJ with the words `China' on the front, and she begins to leave the room, PJ draped over her arm. "Where are you going, Ranko?" asked Anemi, who was already clutching a blanket. "Uhh....I'm going to the bathroom. To change." Ranma-chan wondered if the jig was up. "You don't have to go some place private to change. We're all girls, after all. Nothing we haven't seen, right?" Sayuri was just beginning to pull her PJ's on as she spoke to Ranma-chan. Akane gives Ranma-chan a look that said `play along'. Ranma-chan sighs and takes her shirt off. "Ranko, where's your bra?" asked Sayaka. "My what?" Ranma-chan was confused. Why would she need a bra...unless..... "Your bra. Why aren't you wearing one?" Erika's words finally jogged Ranma-chan's brain into gear and she put two and two together. Girls wore bras. "Oh, well....it's kinda less restricting not to wear one in the house. When I go out, I wear one." Ranma-chan silently congratulated herself on her quick save. "Be careful that you do wear a bra when you go out of the house, then. Guys have eyes for that sort of thing. Sometimes I even think they have eyes on the back of their heads." Sayuri laughed at Anemi's joke. "Uhh....yeah. I'll remember that. I will." The girls get themselves acclimatized to Akane's room and atmosphere, making small talk as they cuddled up to their pillows. Ranma-chan talks with the girls, and she learns more about them. She somehow found it less boring and more interesting than she would have thought. Then, as the small talk died down, Ranma-chan felt as if she might fall asleep at any moment, so warm and comforting was Akane's bedroom. Akane's bed was soft, cozy and had a nice color tone to it, and Ranma-chan was almost half asleep, leaning against a bunch of Akane's pillows and listening to the girls chatter and chatter and...... "Now, what shall we do first?" The abruptness of Sayuri's words woke Ranma-chan up from her dozing state and everyone turned their attention to Sayuri. "I know! Let's try and match up the guys we are likely to date next week!" Ranma-chan nearly choked after Anemi had said *that*. She? Go out with a guy?! About as much chance as her friend back in her home neighbourhood going out with a girl! *That* guy had never been able to get a date with a girl since she had known him from grade school. Each girl gave a list of qualities she'd like to find in a boy, and the rest of the group gave their opinions on which boy, in Furinkan or other schools, would suit that girl the most. Sayaka went first, followed by Anemi, then Erika, followed by Sayuri - and everyone, even Ranma- chan, gave Hiroshi as Sayuri's boyfriend. Sayuri had looked rather embarrassed, and she had quickly denied it and rejected Hiroshi as her boyfriend. Akane was next. "Well, I'd sure like him to understand me, to appreciate me for what I am, never to fight with me or call me names, and never run around with other girls." Akane looked smugly at Ranma-chan, who rolled her eyes and lay back on Akane's bed, folding both hands behind her head. "Ranma can't be like the guy Akane is describing", said Sayuri and Akane nodded in agreement. Ranma-chan shot a hand in the air. "I don't think so! Ranma isn't like that at all!" she cried in protest. Sayaka turned to her. "How is he, then?" she asked. "And how do you know so much about him?" pressed Erika. "Well, living here under the same roof as him tends to give you some insight into his character. He's nice, good tempered, and doesn't have *much* of a *choice* when girls come to *date* him." Ranma- chan had been listing off Ranma's points with her fingers, counting them out as needed. "What do you mean that y-....I mean, he doesn't have a choice?!" cried Akane. "Shampoo always has that odd cure for the curse. If she doesn't, then she has that odd trick up her sleeve to make m-...him go out with her. Kodachi...you know...we needn't say more about *that* one. And Ukyo has never gone out on a date with Ranma, so don't you go attacking her needlessly." "Not once?" Akane looked skeptical. "Not once." Ranma-chan noticed that she had sat up and she lay back down. , she thought in triumphant. "Then twice?" "He - has - never - gone - out - on - a - date - with - Ucchan! Get it?!" Ranma-chan sat up again and she started to get annoyed. What was it with Akane? Did she believe her, or not? "No need to get so worked up about this, Ranko. It's only a game, after all." Sayuri was always the mediator inside and outside the classroom. "Yeah. Sorry about that." Ranma-chan flopped back down on the bed. "Anyways, back to the topic. Which guy really suits Akane?" Akane's friends confer for a few minutes, including Ranma-chan in their circle. Ranma-chan wasn't listening, as she was looking at Akane, who was looking back in turn. The two exchange gazes which gave away nothing that either could pick up on. The conference ended shortly and everyone else turned back to Akane. "Well, what's the verdict?" asked Akane and Ranma-chan in synchronization. "Well, the only guy we know that doesn't run around with girls....." began Sayuri. "Wait till you hear it!" added Erika. "It's...Gosunkugi!" finished Sayaka. "AAAAHHHH!! No way!!" shrieked both Akane and Ranma- chan, again as one person. "He doesn't fight, never calls anyone names...a-appreciates and understands girls - if he had a girlfriend, so this is just an...an assumption - and never runs around with other girls! He's p-perfect!!" Anemi collapses into laughter after sputtering out her words. The laughing was so contagious that soon Ranma-chan and even Akane were joining in. The laughter dies down and Sayuri wipes away a tear and looks at Akane. "Akane, you're asking too much of a guy. We all know that no guy can be exactly like what you described. Nobody is perfect, no matter how much we want them to be." "Well, I think somebody's quite perfect for me! And I'm not telling!" piped in Erika. "Same here", added Sayuri with a smile. "Oh, you guys! We all know who you two want!" teased Akane and she laughed somewhat maniacally after. Sayuri and Anemi looked rather nervous, and so was Ranma-chan, but Sayaka and Erika were having the time of their lives. "Ranko, now it's your turn. Give us your list!" squealed Erika. Sayaka nodded at Ranma-chan. "W...what? My list? I...I mean....", stuttered Ranma-chan as she looked back between Akane and Erika. "Don't be a spoilsport, Ranko! Come on, it's just in fun!" said Sayuri. "But....but I...", Ranma-chan began again. Then Akane gave her the `play along' look, and Ranma-chan crumbled. "Oh...alright...! He's....uh...he's gotta be...uh....strong! Yeah, that's it! Strong! And handsome, I guess....and skilled in martial arts. Yeah, he's gotta be skilled....and independent......an..and...." "Say no more! I know who is perfect for you!" squealed Erika. "Hey!" blurted Akane, though it was unintentional as she quickly covered her mouth with her hand. "Don't worry, it's not Ranma", reassured Sayuri. Sayaka and Anemi nodded. It seemed as if only Ranma-chan and Akane did not know the verdict. "Well.....we don't even know his name, but we know how he's dressed...!" said Sayuri. "Well, who is it?", queried Akane. "Yeah, who is it?", piped in Ranma-chan, who leaned forward with some morbid interest. Sayuri held her hands up, to still any whispers. Then she cleared her throat and began. "Akane, who's that guy who keeps visiting you? You know, the one with that big and heavy pack, a red umbrella, and wears a bandanna? He keeps fighting Ranma all the time!" "RYOGA?!!?" shrieked Ranma-chan and Akane at once. "That's it! Ryoga! He's always travelling by himself, he's skilled in martial arts, very strong and he's cute! *I'd* say he's as cute as Ranma!" "Now that you mention it...yes. He's just as nice looking." added Sayaka. Erika looked at Ranma-chan slyly. "So, Ranko. When are you gonna go out with Ryoga?" she asked. "G-go out with Ryoga?! But....but...he's...ummm...he's hard to find!" stammered Ranma-chan. "I saw him just today. He passed the Tendo dojo, like seven or eight times. He had a tanuki statue on his back, a huge one mind you, and he looked rather tired." Sayaka was looking at Ranma-chan while she spoke. "I'm sure he would jump at the chance to date you, Ranko." Ranma-chan thought, and shuddered just a bit. Just. "Okay, all of you. Enough with games for now, let's eat!" cried Akane in delight as she pulled out the treats and sweets. All the girls tear into the treats and bonbons made and baked by Kasumi. Ranma-chan again gets another chance to know the other classmates whom she had never had a chance to mingle with. She was surprised to find that she really did enjoy talking with them, pleasantly astonished at the breadth of their knowledge and intelligence - certainly the guys she had hung out with had no room in their head for anything else except for having fun and girls, and having fun with girls, the latter of which was probably another good reason why not to hang out with her usual male friends while under this special curse. After a short while, thanks to Ranma-chan's voracious appetite, all the treats and bonbons are gone and the girls turn to other things. Akane brought a small colour TV up to her room and they watched an anime about a romantic comedy. Ranma-chan noticed that all the girls, other than her of course, were fully spell-bound by the story unfolding on the TV screen. Sayaka and Anemi lay on the carpeted floor in front of the TV, their attention far away at the boarding house where the anime is taking place. Erika, Sayuri and Akane lay or sat on the bed and clutched pillows and blankets as they followed the actions of the members of the boarding house. Ranma-chan was also on the bed but she didn't quite understand how these girls could lose themselves so much in a TV show with practically no action!! Ranma-chan yawned a bit and lay back, resting. The anime episode ended and the girls started talking about what had just happened. Sayaka was the first to speak. "Oh, that's so sad! Why did he have to run away? Didn't he know how much she truly loved him? Didn't he know that she would never jump the gun and marry someone else?" "And all because of that guy's sister's wedding! That poor, young man didn't know that it wasn't her wedding....", added Sayuri. "And the part when the movers came to Room 5 and moved all his stuff out? She knew then that he really was serious about running away! You could almost cry for him!" piped in Erika. Anemi spoke next. "Then she went to his new apartment...and saw that freeloading woman tenant living under the same roof as he is?" "Yeah, like, what was she to think? She didn't know that woman didn't have the money to move out!!" cried Erika. "Ranko, what did you think of that? Wasn't it heartbreaking?" asked Sayuri. "No, not really. She didn't take the time to understand him, and vice versa. It's both their fault and that's what they deserve." "Ranko! Is your heart made of stone? Where are your feelings?" cried Erika. "Didn't you feel anything for that poor guy?" asked Sayaka in curiosity. "Nope. Not a thing." Then, after a while to recover from the anime episode, the girls begin to chat about school affairs and classroom things. Their social lives seem to intertwine very tightly with aspects of their everyday life. Erika complained about how her mother limited her use of the phone to call boys. Anemi grumbled about how she was grounded for spending too much time out with her friends. Sayuri and Sayaka smile and listen sympathetically. Akane and Ranma-chan were little more than spectators, interjecting a comment now and then. The hour grew late and the girls pull out their pillows and blankets. Ranma-chan excuses herself and returns to her room, with much objection since everyone thought she was deserting them. She apologized to them, then she left and let Akane deal with them. Ranma-chan padded down the hallway and she went inside her room. Ranma was already beginning to get ready for bed. He turned at Ranma-chan's arrival. "Hey, what's with the PJ's?" he asked. "Be quiet, you." Ranma-chan yawns. "Oh man...I didn't know it was so tiring!" "What's so tiring?" "That slumber party thing." Ranma looked confused. "I thought you would be wide awake....being close to all those girls and all that." "What makes you think I was there for the girls?" "The same thing that tells me how I would have liked to be in there." "No. Not really. The program was getting boring and I needed to meet with my new friends." Ranma-chan yawned again and she began to walk over to her futon, which was next to Ranma's. "New friends? What's wrong with Hiroshi and Daisuke? What about the guys?" "I'm a girl for now, remember? Until I find a cure I can't hang out all the time with the guys." "Hmmm...you're right. Those guys only think of......" "Girls. Yes, I know", finished Ranma-chan. Ranma sat down and he winced as he touched his stomach and his back, the spots where Ranma-chan had hit him earlier before. Ranma- chan edged close to Ranma. "Does it hurt?" she asked. "Uhh...yeah. Can't really lie about that, can I? How did *you* get so strong, anyhow?" "Strong?" asked Ranma-chan in confusion. She? In female form? She wasn't *nearly* as strong as Ranma... "I mean, you only hit me three times, and it already hurts like hell!" "Oh....I see what you mean. Well, when I kicked you, I did a quick Tenshin Amaguriken on you there - about twenty or thirty times. The punches were about forty to fifty each. Does it really, really hurt?" "What do you think? You only hit me about a hundred and thirty times, right?" Ranma sounded sarcastic as he lay back on the bed, and winced as his sore back touched the futon. Ranma-chan considered him for a moment, then she smiled, reached over and pulled his shirt up. Ranma yelped as he pulled his shirt back down. "W-what was that for?!" "Stupid. Come on, pull that shirt up. I'll rub those sore areas for you." Ranma-chan pulled his shirt up, slowly, and Ranma did not object to her delicate hands expertly kneading his abs and taking away the pain. Such a smooth and gentle touch did Ranma-chan possess, along with more than a little bit of sexual arousal as her fingers ran between his well defined abs. "Mmm...what's this?" asked Ranma-chan as she eyed Ranma's shorts. "None of your business!!" Ranma grabbed a pillow and stuffed it between his legs. "Of course." Then, after a while, Ranma-chan pulled Ranma's shirt back down and she sat back a bit. "That felt so good, I feel like a new man!" "Turn over." Ranma-chan indicated that he should roll over with her finger. "Why?" "You forget about your bruises on your back. Turn over or I'll make you." Ranma obliged and he rolled over. Ranma-chan pulled his shirt up and she began to rub his muscled back. "I feel like a dog, you know, being told to turn over. And it's not the first time today that I feel this way, too." "Yes...so obedient. Move up?" "Yeah....near the shoulder blade." Ranma-chan slowly ran her fingers up to that spot and she massaged it to perfection. Then Ranma-chan patted Ranma and she lay down on her futon, face down. "Now it's your turn to give me a back rub", she said. "What?!" "It's only fair. I scratch your back, you scratch mine." "I...I guess so. Pull your shirt up, will ya?" Ranma-chan pulls her shirt up to her neck and lets Ranma work her back with his hands. Ranma marvels at the softness of her back and the smoothness of her skin while running his hands from the small of her back up to her shoulders and back down again. He could catch just a glimpse of her breasts, hidden partially by her shirt and her back, and it served to excite him even more. He turned his eyes away and he thought of something, anything, to say - to break the silence. "So, uhh....what do you think of the girls?" "They're smarter than guys but they're too emotional. Crying over some dumb show about a guy who lives in a boarding house with a bunch of tenants and a beautiful manageress." "Doesn't sound too exciting. Does it have any action?" "More to the right, please. Sorry?" "I said, does it have any action?" Ranma shifted his hands to the right and massaged that area. "No. Not a bit. Just a bunch of tear-jerking scenes strung one after another." "Is it anime?" "Yup. No way you could pay anybody to do something like that......but whoever wrote that story must be one helluva writer, to get even AKANE crying a bit. You know how much of a tomboy she is, no? Ooh! Do that again." "Do what again?" Ranma paused. "Rub that spot again. It feels good...." Ranma-chan trailed off. "Your wish is my command." At length, Ranma finishes his massaging of Ranma-chan and they both lie on their futons, and go to bed. Ranma-chan puts her head on her pillow and she falls asleep within seconds. Ranma let his eyes travel a moment longer on the slim, beautiful figure on the futon next to his. He noted the slim shoulders, the delicate arms and the long legs. He had no idea that he was this ravishing when asleep. With some effort he wrenched his gaze away from his female counterpart. Ranma reflected on the events of the day. This was strange. And weird. Here he was, and there was his female side. In essence, two people with the same mind. But, he hoped to find a cure so that this crazy event, though just another nutty event in his life, would be over with. Ranma goes to sleep, wondering where in the world he could find a cure for Ranma-chan. And he also wondered if he should..... As Ranma-chan slept, she started to dream. She felt herself, in female form, taking a hot bath. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind by strong hands which immobilized her own. She screamed in terror and she tried to see who was behind her, but she couldn't. She heard Ryoga's voice from behind her, saying `Date with me'. She feels his body press up behind her and he said `Date with me' once more. She shrieked at the top of her lungs and the nightmare shattered into a thousand bits of darkness which scatter across the infinite expanse of the dreamscape. She finds herself standing on a vast plain of green, knee-high grasses, clothed in her normal clothing. A range of white-capped, mist-shrouded mountains lie far off to her right. The sun is high in the sky and a few clouds scud across the horizon. A wind blows and passes through the tall grasses with a swish, and ruffled her hair. A person off in the distance, distinctly a man or a young man with short, black hair, ran towards her. She somehow knew that she was seeing this guy, but who was he? Her dream ended at this point and all was darkness thereafter. Ranma-chan tossed and turned on her futon, disturbed by the mysterious omen yet reassured in some inexplicable way. She feels, yet doesn't feel, a subtle change taking place in her body, one of many yet to come. Darkness closed in upon Nerima ward, and soon only the chirps of crickets broke the silence that is the night. The night of a new beginning.) -----------------End Part One------- I can't tell you how relieved I am to have finished revising part 1. Now, only about 5 more parts to revise!! ^_^ Do tell me how the revision looks, alright? (email to : kmark@odyssey.on.ca) Revision Date : Thursday 1997, February 2nd, 1:21 am.