Disclaimer: Ranma ½ is the property of Viz Communications and Rumiko Takahashi. I make nothing from this, so please don't sue me.

Author notes: And here we are, chapter 5 of my little A/U adventure. Big ups to Paul C. Heintz, for his suggestions on stuff that will be appearing in this chapter. Be on the look out, because a random plot device character may appear bearing his name. As for your questions my good sir, they should be answered in this chapter and maybe the next one as well. Also, props should be dished out to Saki Xiashang, who has given me some more suggestions. And lastly to JohnnyG and Yuki for their help with proofreading. :-)

First I Giveth

Chapter 5: Of Manga and Martial Arts

By Marik Kurakashi

After a long and toilsome night, morning arrived with its usual fanfare at the Tendo compound. While many of the other residents were feeling the effects of their rough nights, Kasumi was up and about in her usual cheer. Her worries were few and didn't need any real soul-searching to solve them.

In fact, she was dealing with one right now.

As she had done for the past ten years, she had cared for everyone in the house without complaint. It had been her security blanket, her way of silently crying while trying to raise her sisters to the best of her ability. She had convinced herself that crying too much would invariably lead to mass hysteria.

It was best that everyone try and deal with Mother's passing in their own way, she concluded.

Now that she thought about it, that hadn't really been all that wise. The biggest drawback was that her father had not come to his senses and lead the family like Kasumi thought he would, and probably should, after a few months of grieving. That left the role of mother to a girl of only nine years, but even then she couldn't provide everything.

Nabiki had played the man of the house to her woman flawlessly, at great costs to herself.

That was the second biggest drawback, Nabiki had really given up on most comforts that Akane had really taken for granted. Besides the money the pictures of Akane brought in, Nabiki was basically paying Akane back for the strain that was placed on her shoulders so Akane could be the popular girl everyone liked. Kasumi had often voiced her objections to this practice, even in light of the other ways of making money Nabiki often countered her with.

It was unsavory and improper, but Kasumi knew that it would take a lot for Nabiki to totally stop.

That invariably lead the eldest Tendo daughter to the subject of her loveable if infuriating youngest sister. While she had felt guilty about dumping the engagement off on Akane, she had felt it was time that Akane do something that was important for the family. She had been shocked when she heard Nabiki second her nomination of Akane, especially since she seemed so stoked about the whole thing.

After Akane had dutifully brained Ranma, Kasumi did have some words with Nabiki.

It really didn't come as a shock to her that Nabiki had basically stuck Akane with the engagement out of spite. Though Nabiki did not come right out and say that, Kasumi had years of experience finding the double meanings to Nabiki's words. While she did not approve of saddling Akane with something she seemed to hate so much, Nabiki did raise two really good points.

This was the best opportunity for Akane to find someone for herself, as well as see what this Ranma had to offer.

It had rapidly become apparent to her that the observation time had done Nabiki a lot of good, as she apparently liked what she had seen of Ranma. She was mystified as to what had grossly changed her sister's opinion of Ranma so quickly. It made her head swim sometimes to try and think about all that had changed so far, that she often needed to sit down just to regain her bearings.

And that had nothing to do with Ranma.

Deciding that she should get her thoughts straight on the boy again before everyone came down, Kasumi allowed the usual gamut of images run through her mind. He was a rather nice boy, one that any girl would consider herself lucky to date, but he just wasn't her type. He was rather rough around the edges that it would be very difficult for her to maintain her cool with him and not descend into massive fits of hysterical anger.

That seemed be a common problem for Akane.

She had often found herself equally annoyed at the both of them for all the ruckus they caused. She knew on an intellectual level that it was the pressure of the engagement being placed on their shoulders that made them snipe at each other so much. While she didn't like it all that much, she did feel that Akane came down too hard sometimes on things that were often out of Ranma's control.

If only there was some way to get her temper in check, then maybe Ranma's mouth would check itself once in a while.

Snorting a little, she finally had enough of her own thoughts that she tuned back in to her cooking preparations. It had become so routine for her to prepare breakfast that she could to it with little to no conscious effort. She would have asked her father to cook, but remembered most of the horror stories her mother told her when she was still alive. Akane, though not for lack of effort or heart, had unfortunately inherited their father's kitchen dyslexia.

Kasumi still mentally cringed at the aftermath of several of her dear, sweet little sister's culinary efforts.

Nabiki had shown some talent towards being able to produce something edible, but was far too uninterested in doing it. Convincing her to cook was more of a chore then it should be and Kasumi often found herself cooking more often then not. It also became apparent that Nabiki's favorite cookbook also doubled as the phonebook.

It was more of an annoyance than a surprise, at least as Kasumi measured it.

As she thought, the familiar noise of the rest of the residents rousing from slumber flitted through the house. From her father's mountainous yawn to Akane's peppy grunt, it really hadn't changed to Kasumi's ears. It was only the guttural groan of a panda that really signified the presence of their houseguests. She had come to understand Mr. Saotome's waking routine was generally boisterous, despite his intentions to keep quiet.

How an 800-pound panda expected to move silently was beyond her.

Inevitably, the sounds of Mr. Saotome during some stretching would waft through the house, followed by a shout. It was as routine as the sun rising at dawn and pointedly ignored by Kasumi. The ensuing sounds of combat would inevitably awaken Nabiki, whose annoyed growl was barely audible over the combat.

Kasumi never understood how someone who seemed so dead when they first woke up could become so pristine in such a short amount of time.

After all the morning excitement died down, everyone took their usual places to break the fast of sleep. The usual ruckus took place, again ignored by those who had grown accustomed to the noise. Through the breakfast, Akane and Kasumi teamed up to grill Nabiki about her sudden interest in their pig-tailed houseguest.

There was an advantage in negotiations with Nabiki when you were related to her.

Most who knew Nabiki would cry at the unfairness of the advantage she gave her sisters, though the sisters in question didn't have a real clue it was there. In all fairness, Nabiki refused to charge her sisters for anything unless she didn't feel like telling them what they wanted. To those who did not know better, they would say that Nabiki expertly danced her sisters around like puppets on their strings.

And she wouldn't have it any other way.

"So, oneechan, just what is going on between you and Ranma, hmm?" Akane asked sweetly, a little too much so judging from Nabiki's reaction.

"Why, whatever do you mean imouto-chan?" Nabiki replied with mock innocence.

"Grr, don't start that with me," the younger Tendo groused, upset that Nabiki had effortlessly deflected her opening salvo.

"Oh come off it Akane, if you want to butter me up for answers, quit with the sugary tones and the friendly names. We tolerate each other, that's it." Nabiki snapped, exasperated that her sister had learned nothing from her on masking what you want to say.

Before Akane could take offense and say something that would blow all their chances for answers, Kasumi interjected loud enough to draw Ranma's attention, "Then there is nothing going on between you and Ranma-kun?"

Nabiki blinked almost owlishly at her older sister, not expecting her to jump in so fast. One of the rare times she was ever off balance in a verbal confrontation, Nabiki scrambled mentally for something to say. "What could you possibly think could be going on between me and Ranma-kun, oneechan?" Nabiki retorted in mock indignation, but not enough to have the dismissive effect she was going for.

Kasumi fought down the urge to smile, knowing that she had Nabiki where she wanted her. She paused for a few seconds, knowing that if responded too fast, Nabiki would slip from her grasp without giving any answer. "Well, you have been a lot nicer to him lately, I was just wondering why you were doing it." Kasumi said, making sure to keep Ranma's attention locked to see how Nabiki would get out of this without hurting his feelings.

Nabiki gave both of her expectant siblings a half-lidded star and said plainly, "What's going on between me and Ranma-kun is…"

"Yes, go on," both sisters prompted, leaning in to hear the juicy details.

"..None of your business." Nabiki finished flatly.

"Wagh!!" both sisters cried as they fell off of their perches.

Nabiki laughed freely and got up from her seat. "I'm done with breakfast, and I should get to school early today. You never know what craziness might happen to allow me to benefit from." the middle Tendo stated plainly, heading to grab her bag.

"Wait! Don't you have something to say?" Kasumi called after her, disappointed that she didn't get the answers she was expecting.

"Say? Maybe I do." Nabiki called back.

"And that is?" came the reply from two voices.

"Don't feed stupid pandas!" was the reply they got, which had the effect of causing both sisters to look at each other in wonderment. It also caused Genma-panda to choke on the bamboo he was eating.

Ranma looked confused momentarily before deftly snatching the bamboo away and said tsking, "Nuh uh, you heard what she said, don't feed stupid pandas and you're as dumb as they come pops."

The panda glared menacingly, though the sign in his hand did dispel that image somewhat. "Show some respect boy, just because you got lucky the other day is no reason to prematurely pat yourself on the back." read the sign, the panda's glare still slightly menacing until he noticed his son and the other occupants of the room snickering at the sign.

"Too true…" gasped Ranma in between chuckles.

Dumbfounded, the panda whipped his gaze to the sign and was horrified by what he read. "I am Genma, hear me snore!" exclaimed the sign, replete with a crude drawing of a sleeping panda.

"Growf!" cried the panda in dismay, flinging the sign away before looking around accusingly for the person who had perpetrated such a heinous act.

Not too far away, Soun whistled innocently while he slid the paint bucket under the table a little more…

- - -

It was early morning time at Furinkan High, a time when the athletes gathered in order to plan out strategies and such for upcoming sporting events. It was times such as these that students could still enjoy without the sound of the voice of the stick-wielding moron. It was times such as these that they could still enjoy the peace before the walking disaster came.

It was all they had, but they could not be sure for much longer this would last.

Under its tree, the loudmouthed horror lurked in quiet repose. In its foul grasp was its trademark stick, with which it would threaten and assault any daring enough to offend it. The comical look on its face, showing it to be engaged in some approximation of thinking, was all the signs the student would need to know that they were in for a long rant filled morning.

They decided to practice their groans ahead of time.

Kuno Tatewaki was not a man of staggering intellect, nor was he a man of great tact. He was known to most as a perverted moron who couldn't distinguish fact from reality. He was, for all intents and purposes, Furinkan's class idiot, nothing more then a fool who was kept around for the amusement of others.

Something he blamed the foul sorcerer Saotome for.

Obviously the scoundrel had used his foul magic to bewitch his fellow students into ridiculing him. After all, he was the standard for what a man should be, the idol to Furinkan's male population. He also was incensed by the fiend's use of foul magics to gain the favor of his two destined loves, something the great Kuno Tatewaki would not stand for.

Of course, he couldn't stand for it when he was knocked unconscious by Ranma.

Kuno was now at his wit's end, that is to say his limited brain cells refused rub against each other to create friction. He had displayed his might, yet nothing could deflect the fiend's foul magic. It was almost becoming more then he could handle, especially with all the ridicule he had taken from his fellow students.

An overwhelming amount of it coming from his supposed ally, the foul Mercenary Tendo Nabiki.

He had been denied his deities' sanctioned viewing of the fierce Tigress' prowess by the fiend's magic. To say nothing of the fact that he had bewitched his dear, but overly twisted and demented, sister into loving him meant that he had to be careful not to harm his sister's love, lest she poison him even more then she does now. The gods were now being tricked into mocking the mighty Blue Thunder, their chosen tool of vengeance.

He would do anything to defeat that foul sorcerer, even if he had to stoop to his level of tricks.

With his course determined, Kuno Tatewaki summoned up his legendary cunning, of which he constantly heard whispers of. Unfortunately, he could not distinguish the fact that they were talking of his lack of cunning, but once he heard his name, his ego filled in the rest. As he formulated a plan, he idly noted the mercenary sister of his fierce Tigress come into view.

He could barely stand the sight of her.

While it was true that they had a cup of coffee relationship in middle school before they declared their undying hatred for one another. He would admit, under great duress and copious amounts of truth serums, that he still found her attractive in a "respect for your enemy kind of way". While her insults seemed to have taken an upturn these past few weeks, he still figured that she probably had the same kind of feelings towards him.

What woman wouldn't lust after him in some fashion?

He paused at that thought, wondering how she had wiggled her way into his thoughts about defeating the wretch Saotome. The answer came swiftly, though as usual it was completely wrong in its assumption and creation. She could aid him in his quest to defeat Saotome, as she had given her blessing for his pursuit of Akane.

And maybe she would forget to pester him about that picture….

- - -

Meanwhile, back at the Tendo compound, Ranma was carefully approaching talking to Kasumi. Nabiki's sisters had seem so insistent to get answers on what was happening between the two, that it had left Ranma treading on eggshells about the talk he wanted to have. He knew that he would have to watch his words and avoid sticking his foot in his mouth.

He knew that if he said anything wrong, it would get back to Nabiki, a prospect he found he himself distinctly not liking.

As it were, he decided to allow Akane to go on ahead. His conversation shouldn't last all that long, and him arriving late may delay the daily Kuno pounding. He made sure his father hadn't seen him go into the kitchen, as he didn't want to be flung from house for trying to skip school.

At least, he surmised, if Tendo-san would allow his father such an action.

He allowed himself pause as he thought over the change in the Tendo patriarch. It had seemed as if he had suddenly snapped out of his funk and quit bawling at ever instance that he believed to require tears. He also noted that Soun had also lost his uncontrolled temper and was less prone to displaying his Demon head technique.

It was another thing he had to be grateful for since that fateful conversation.

He shook his head, deciding that if he stood idly any further, Kasumi would simply usher him out to school. What he had to talk about couldn't discussed while Nabiki was around, as he firmly came to believe that the person who coined the phrase 'the walls have ears' must have had Nabiki in mind. She always had an uncanny ability to pick up things that were supposed to be secret.

He wondered briefly if she could teach him how to do it.

Deciding that he needed to hurry up and get this over with, Ranma decided to speak up. "Hey, uh, Kasumi-chan? I need to ask you something." he said, a little nervous about the subject after what happened earlier this morning.

"You're suppose to be heading towards school, Ranma-kun," Kasumi replied casually, not even bothering to turn around.

"I know, but there was something I wanted to talk to you about that I couldn't do in front of Akane or Nabiki." he sheepishly replied, hoping he didn't lose his nerve.

"Oh, and what would that be?" she asked sweetly, wondering if she may be able to get a straight answer from the pig-tailed boy.

"It's just with the fact that me and Nabiki seem to be gettin' along and all, I was thinking about getting her something to celebrate our new found friendship." he answered, trying his best not to ram all the words together.

"New found friendship eh," Kasumi asked teasingly, eliciting a slight blush from the boy, "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I was gonna buy her a manga, but I didn't know just what to get her." the pig-tailed boy answered, twiddling his fingers a little nervously.

"Hmmm…" Kasumi replied, and then pulled out a piece of paper she found while cleaning Nabiki's room. "I think this is Nabiki's to buy manga list," she said, handing the paper to the boy.

Ranma took the paper and gave it a quick once over. 'This could be of some help,' he thought as he examined the list, 'Crest of Stars, Ah! My Goddess, and Revolutionary Girl Utena. That's nice… Get Backers, Ai Yori Aoshi… Hellsing? Neon Genesis Evangelion?? Okay… Well, I don't have enough for all of them, I'll just decided when I get there.' Hiroshi and Daisuke took it upon themselves to give him a crash course on a few series a couple weeks back, leading to his confusion as to why she might want something as violent as Hellsing or as strange as Evangelion.

"Ranma-kun?" Kasumi asked, deciding that it was time for Ranma to go to school.

"Yeah?" he asked, trying not to sound standoffish at having his contemplations interrupted.

"Don't you think you should be heading to school now?" she asked, politely implying that he should be going now.

"One more question, Kasumi-chan," he said, needing a good clue for what he was going to get, "Do you know which one of these I should get her?"

Kasumi furled her brow and said, "I don't know," she admitted, contemplating the question. It was hard reading Nabiki sometimes, so she would have to think back on any prior experience she had with anything Nabiki had written down before. Her lips formed a neutral line as she couldn't find any visual clues to help. She quickly thought back to any situation where Nabiki might have mentioned buying a certain manga….

"Well I am hoping to get either Get Backers or Ah! My Goddess, though the latter may be a little too sappy for me." Nabiki had said a few weeks back, which Kasumi quickly seized and used to make a suggestion so as to no make Ranma any later than usual.

"I remember she mentioned wanting to buy Get Backers at some point, so maybe you could get her that?" she said, hoping that that would appease the boy's curiosity and help with his "friendship" to Nabiki, however either one of them viewed it.

"Thanks, Kasumi-chan," the boy breathed, feeling some of the weight of choice removed from his shoulders.

"Any time, Ranma-kun," she easily replied, a mirthful twinkle in her eye at the shifts in the boy's posture. "I have been lenient so far, but you have to get to school."

Ranma nodded and ran out the door, feeling a little better about his decision to open up to Nabiki. If he could start being truer to himself and others, maybe his life could be simpler. He ran on, a multitude of thoughts and feelings rampaging through him.

Though he still couldn't shake the feeling that he may be heading into something deeper with Nabiki.

Kasumi watched as the hope of their father's dreams ran off to school, an odd smile of satisfaction on her face. Unlike most people, Kasumi had doubted the pairing of Ranma and Akane from the very beginning, if only because of how mad her youngest sister got. She did not believe that they would just wake up one morning madly in love without a miracle or a love potion.

Though she often ignored reality, she could see more than most others.

While Ranma and Nabiki hadn't really said it out in the open, she could tell that something was developing between them. The way Nabiki had avoided saying anything, even with Ranma looking on in interest, spoke volumes to how much the past few days had changed them both. The changes were subtle, almost too small to be noticed, but even the smallest of pebbles can make the largest of waves if thrown right.

As Kasumi turned back to the dishes, she thought just how perfect that toss had been.

- - -

Back up on her mountain, Kimiko giggled to herself about the events caused by her last direct intervention. She had sent a small part of her consciousness out to make sure that everyone was still moving towards her desired destination. It tickled her to no end what her bit of consciousness told her.

Especially the story behind a picture that Kuno had come into possession of a while back.

Since she had played her hand already, Kimiko decided to have a little fun with her middle daughter and her potential husband. It was a simple thing to take control of Kuno's alleged mind and have him unconsciously stick the picture into his bag among his other pictures. With that simple task done, she could sit back and watch the action.

It was going to be grand…

- - -

At this same moment, Kuno was leafing through his pictures in order to gain inspiration from his two loves so his might would defeat the loathsome Saotome. It was strange to the Kendoist that the heavens' chosen warrior would not be immune to the foul magics of the fiendish Saotome. Nonetheless, he knew that one day he would triumph over the fiendish sorcerer and hold his two loves in his mighty arms, a scene that would inspire the poets to wax on endlessly.

And he sincerely wished that day would get here.

In any event, he continued leafing through his pictures, until he came upon a certain picture. His eyes frogged as he wondered just how in the hell that picture had gotten in there. He couldn't let that vile Mercenary know that he had it or else she would pester him to no end until he gave it back.

Besides, what was so bad about a guy wanting to keep a commemorative photo of the only pair of boobs he had ever seen?

"Here comes Akane, Kuno-sempai," called one of the members of the Kendo Club.

"Urk!" he intelligently gasped and quickly stuffed the pictures into his shirt with great haste. If his fierce tigress was coming, so too should be her captor.

"I don't see Saotome… what the?" the same boy reported, his eyes comically expanding to the size of dinner plates.

"What dost thou see, Izuka-san?" called the Kendoist, the honorific simply to show that the boy happened to be third on the Kendo team.

"I-I don't know if I can describe it, Kuno-sempai," Izuka replied, wondering if all the blows he had sustained during his Hentai Horde days hadn't driven him mad.

Kuno growled and got up from his seat, taking up his bokken in anticipation of challenging Akane without that foul Saotome interfering. He gazed out, waiting to be overwhelmed by her perfect beauty. As his mind began tossing fantasies around, Akane came into sight. Kuno's eyes matched those of everyone else who beheld Akane.

It was not a pretty sight.

- - -

It was a peaceful walk for Akane this morning, as Ranma was not there to argue with. She felt a pang of longing, as it seemed that Ranma was drifting further away from her. She quickly quashed that feeling with a desire to prove herself to everyone that she was a martial artist too.

But she knew she could not reach Ranma's level without a great deal of help.

Her ploy to get Ryoga to help her train to beat Ranma failed, as he couldn't stay in her presence more than five seconds with tittering like an annoying chat. His penchant for getting lost didn't help matters either, as she would have to find some way to prevent that if he were to ever get over his problem. She sighed in frustration, wishing for the umpteenth time that she could get rid of these conflicting emotions.

A few moments later, she wished she had waited for Ranma by the front gate.

It is said that the Nerima ward of Tokyo, along with its sister ward Juuban, is the focal point of all things strange and chaotic. This manifests itself in all sorts of weird things that you would never think you would see. As it were, the person most likely to be on the receiving end of this chaos, one Saotome Ranma, was not at the scheduled places for these manifestations of chaos.

So they took the next best thing.

As Akane walked by the drainage ditch, a sudden downpour started, inspite of the fact that no one with a Jusenkyo curse to activate was visible. As Akane started to run, she was nailed by the old lady who was still tossing out water onto her walk in the rain. Soaked thoroughly and feeling somewhat miserable, Akane stalked towards Doctor Tofu's in order to dry off a bit before school.

'Perhaps,' she thought, 'it would have been wise for me to have waited for Ranma.'

It may have also been wiser had she not said those words. Words are often impotent on their own, but when certain words are put together, they can be downright magical. The words weren't your regular b-grade "magical" words like Abracadabra or Alakazam. Oh no, these words were a very affront to the gods of Fate themselves.

She really shouldn't have said it couldn't get any worse.

She quickly came to that conclusion as a billboard suddenly came unhinged and narrowly missed squashing her. She narrowly avoided a stampede of cats and dogs, storming from a pet store that hadn't been there before today. Kodachi then assaulted her, the crazy rose-lover crying some nonsense about releasing her Ranma-sama from her vile clutches.

It confirmed her suspicion that Kodachi really was just a female version of her elder brother.

After finally fending off Kodachi by telling her that she would find whatever magical means she was employing and cease them immediately. Kodachi leapt off, leaving Akane to be amazed by the fact that thick sarcasm that she was sure that Kuno might have been able to detect and bold-faced lying had diffused the girl. It was no less shocking then the fact that Kodachi had proclaimed from the outset that no words would sway her hand.

Akane wondered if living in your own fantasy world was as nice as the siblings Kuno were making it out to be.

It got even worse from there, as someone carelessly tossing out water doused her again. Soaked yet again, a few welts she had gotten from Kodachi still stinging, Akane finally reached Doctor Tofu's. As she reached for the handle to escape the madness, someone forcibly running out the door suddenly bashed her in the face. She didn't get a good look at them, but she did spot a small handkerchief covering the person's face.

It was at this time the sensation of bleeding caught up to Akane.

Bleeding. The whole experience numbed her senses, leaving her to stare vacantly as Tofu looked down at her in shock. He said something, but her ears weren't picking it up. He gently scooped her up and quickly rushed her into the clinic. As he stitched her up, memories flooded back to her, of her first match against the Hentai Horde.

It was not a particularly fond memory.

The first time it happened, Akane was shocked to the core. Contrary to popular belief, Kuno's proclamation for defeating Akane to the student body had come after the first attack. He had informed about 20 boys of the requirements to date Akane, whom had shown up the next morning and attacked her. She had fought well; no where near as well as she did now of course, but well enough to make it through the first twelve boys.

And then it happened.

As she came upon the last eight boys, who were arguably eight of the best fighters of Furinkan, she was already a little winded. She had soaked in the weak hits from twelve before like a rock, but even the hardest stone can be cracked by constant pounding. As it were, she was hoping for a quick burst through the last eight and get to school to rest.

Only it didn't happen that way.

As she approached the first Hentai, she was cracked hard by a shinai upside the head. The blow was wholly unexpected and had successfully split her open, causing the rest of the students to gasp in shock. It had the opposite effect on Akane, who snarled in unbridled fury that even the bravest warrior would stumble back in fear from. The boy who struck her got it the worse, as she punched and sent him flying into the wall… over a 100 meters away.

This was the internal, animalistic rage of Tendo Akane released and unrestrained, a rather ugly thing to see.

The other seven were dealt with in exceedingly brutal fashion, each more injured then the last. As Kuno stepped up to make a speech to announce his challenge, he was cut short by Akane's scream of anger. He barely had time to get his bokken up as Hurricane Akane came thundering in. With two swift blows that defied all logic for the seemingly clumsy and unskilled girl, she had disarmed Kuno and left him sprawling on the ground. As Akane stormed into the school, the entire student body came to a conclusion.

That hurting Tendo Akane was not that good of an idea.

As she flashed back to that horrible moment, she began to tremble at the look of terror in each of their eyes. They thought she was some kind of monster, a demoness that had replaced their goddess. That incident was why Kuno never went all out on her, he feared drawing her true wrath.

The soft voice of Dr. Tofu brought her from her trance.

As she came back down from her self-induced haze, she thanked Tofu for treating her injuries and left the clinic. A couple blocks from Tofu, she began to feel a little bit better about herself. In fact, she thought of several of the more comical events since Ranma's arrival. One of the moments caused her to laugh out loud at the sheer absurdity of it.

Once more, she was reminded of the dangers of doing something.

In the cosmic weirdness of Nerima, no one bore the brunt of the fates' fickle musings than the clowns. This wandering troupe of clowns were all veterans of children's parties, each one an act of humiliation and pain. They've been kicked, punched, spit upon and many other humiliating acts.

None more haunted then the head of this wandering troupe of clowns, whom were hell bent on gaining vengeance against children everywhere, Kouzo.

Kouzo was a legend amongst all the clowns of Japan, a man dedicated to brightening countless birthdays and other necessary clown functions. Revered along with that gaijan clown Bozo, Kouzo had the distinction of the hardest working clown in Japan. Over the years, in an effort to conceal his torment, Kouzo practiced varying martial arts based upon clown tricks. The members, clowns bitter from all the laughing at their expenses, readily became his pupils, relishing the chance to lash out at their tormentors.

They had then heard that most horrible of horrible sounds: Laughter.

Kouzo had two chiefly bad experiences with kids' parties: one was a little rich snob whose laughter seemed to permeate his skin and rub sand paper onto his nerves. The other, and in his opinion more devastating, was a party thrown for the very girl laughing her head off right now. None of his tricks worked to make her laugh or elicit any response except for when he screamed in agony from her hitting him. She laughed incessantly, his proud nose smashed to pieces by that witch, as he lay clutching his nose.

Today, Tendo Akane would have the distinction of being the first victim of Musabetsu Kakutou Ryu no bakasawagi.

When Akane had finally stopped laughing, she was nailed in the face with a pie. Upon removing the pie pan from her face, she was squirted with lemon juice, which got into her eyes and blinded her further. She screamed as the lemon juice stung her eyes, which allowed the clowns to close in on her and attack in their odd manner.

The first clown tossed several balloons animals towards her, where they were popped by the second's deftly used slingshot. The balloons were special in nature; as such they released tremendous bursts of air pressure when popped. After being flung to the ground, Akane quickly got up and took a wild swing at the third, who casually evaded and bopped her with a mallet. As the gods of irony promptly died from their namesake, Akane stumbled backwards dazed.

The fourth one pied her a second time, though this pie was still piping hot, which had the effect of burning Akane's face with cherry goodness. Quickly tearing the plate from her face, Akane understood she was overmatched by these guys and ran. She knew her mind was elsewhere, which is why a literal bunch of clowns were kicking her ass.

Kouzo's grin nearly swallowed his ears as he watched Akane run. He was of the opinion that clowns should be feared and respected, not used as some brat's punching bag. He relished in the feeling of him and his students enacting their first of many revenge upon the people who wronged them. He decided to cap off this assault by showing Akane the fearsome might of his legendary special technique.

A faint aura sprang up around Kouzo, who then yelled, "Kanashii piero higi: hohoemi bakudan!" He threw his arm forward and a curious bomb, replete with a smile, flew at Akane. The girl in question screamed as the bomb impacted the ground beneath her and exploded into a cloud of purple gas, which had the effect of singeing her skirt as well as tearing it.

She would never take clowns lightly ever again, provided these maniacs refrained from killing her.

Akane sighed as she got within sight of Furinkan, someone, anyone should be able to help her there. With a loud cry of determination, she surged forward and left her pursuers behind. As she got within the gates, she could here the angry noises the clowns made as they decided to give up chasing her for now.

After all, they had pummeled her into easy submission; there was no need for further attacks.

Akane hunched over and began to pant from the unexpected attacks upon her person. She had not expected to be subjected to the chaos that normally enveloped Ranma, as she was always on the outside looking in. After all that, she could understand why Ranma was a little weird when it came to certain things.

Then she heard the loud gasps of shock.

Her head whipped up so fast that it gave her a brief case of vertigo, causing the girl swoon slightly. Everyone was staring at her in shock, as though she were some kind of freak. She tried to get mad, but she was feeling too exhausted to do that, as such she merely grunted and glared menacingly at them all. The crowds continued to gawk at her, which continued to irk her further.

At this point, they all began laughing in earnest.

Akane looked around the schoolyard, seeing just about everyone laughing at her. She gazed towards the balcony where Nabiki always watches from and could feel her laughing. She couldn't believe it, even Kuno was laughing at her for crying out loud, which starting sounding like a good idea. She began to tear up and stormed into the school with head down. It was a bad day, one that could only get worse as far as she was concerned.

She couldn't begin to imagine how right she was.

- - -

Ranma was running along on his way to school, his mind firmly on how much his relationship with Nabiki had changed. A few days ago, they had been nothing more then casual acquaintances, more or less tolerating each other simply because there was the distinct possibility of becoming family. Now, after having caught her in his room kissing him of all things, he found himself oddly drawn to her.

It was in much the same manner he had been originally drawn to Akane.

He could readily admit that he had never given serious thought to what kind of girl he was attracted to. A lack of early field play had denied him the opportunity to accurately understand just that. He snorted derisively as his father had expected him to choose a fiancée without understanding something important like that.

Of course, he never thought that his father was all that smart in the first place.

In any event, Ranma was noting a distinct lack of him getting randomly splashed. Anyone else would have been paranoid to the point of distraction by this, but not Ranma. He figured that either he was hitting a spot of good luck or that the fates were hording their ammo to really let him have it.

He was hoping for the former and praying against the latter.

He made it to Furinkan in a record amount of time, which wasn't all that shocking since he hadn't been splashed or arguing with Akane the whole way. He glanced around the courtyard and found that a lot of his fellow students were now regaining their composure. He noted he didn't see Akane anywhere and absently mindedly wave at Nabiki when he spotted her doing the same.

He looked around make sure Akane wasn't anywhere in sight, as getting booted over the school didn't hold any appeal for him.

'I wonder where the tomboy is,' he idly thought as he watched Kuno begin to bluster up, 'I didn't pass her on the way here, as she would have shouted at me for being a jerk and leaving her behind.'

Kuno cut his standard dramatic pose and proclaimed, "Foul sorcerer, for the sake of the Pig-Tailed Girl and Tendo Akane, I, Kuno Tatewaki, will smite thee!"

Ranma regarded the Kendoist with a half-lidded stare, before he sighed and said, "Okay, let's just get this over with." He calmly took a ready stance and motioned for Kuno to come at him.

"Foul knave," Kuno proclaimed, "Thy allow the great Kuno Tatewaki the first strike? Then allow the Blue Thunder show you thy folly!" He charged forward and started rapidly slashing at Ranma.

Ranma weaved around the slashes with ease, pondering just how he would defeat Kuno today. He patiently waited for his opportunity to strike, knowing that doing so before could cost him so unnecessary pain. After a few tense seconds of enduring the breeze from Kuno's bokken, Ranma quickly popped him in the chest with a kick, though it wasn't hard enough to knock the older boy out or anything loose.

- - -

Up on her usual balcony, Nabiki watched Ranma fight Kuno as he had done since his arrival. During those first few fights that she had witnessed, she found that there was an odd warmth that would occasionally thrum through her, though she couldn't quite understand what it was. Now that she was embracing her feelings for him though, she could understand just what that warmth was.

It was a feeling of safety mixed with a vague sexual attraction on a more primal scale.

Nabiki wasn't ignorant to the particular pack mentality that dominated Furinkan at the moment. Kuno often got away with a lot of things because no one could have beat him up, hence he had established himself as the Alpha male of the high school, meaning that he got the very best of the girls. Akane's admiration amongst the male populace grew because of the fact that Kuno wanted her, meaning she was the best available girl at the school, even if there were more willing girls out there.

It wasn't so surprising that they gave up after Ranma beat Kuno, as he had established his dominance.

As it were, Nabiki watched as Ranma decided to drag out his fight with Kuno. 'Hmmm…' she thought, 'he must think that if he can make it last, Kuno-baka just might give up.'

Just then, one of Nabiki's underlings came over to her and whispered, "Hiroshi spied on Kuno's picture batch like you asked, and he has the picture."

Nabiki resisted the urge to scream and calmly whispered back, "What?"

"The picture you've been trying to get back from Kuno-sempai for the past year," the girl explained, "I thought you'd be happy to know that he has it."

"Domo," Nabiki replied neutrally, though she was feeling just a little apprehensive about what would happen if Ranma or anyone else saw that picture. She casually walked away from the balcony and exited the room.

"She took that better then I thought she would," the girl quipped to one of Nabiki's other associates.

Once outside the classroom, Nabiki looked down both ways of the hallway. Seeing no one else in the hall, Nabiki took a deep breath, steeling herself for what she had to do. After a few seconds of gathering her nerves, Nabiki took off like a woman possessed as she tried to get to the battlefield before it was too late.

Her reputation may very well rest on her ability to get there in time…

- - -

Back down at the battle, Ranma was actually having fun against Kuno. Almost all of his fights against the crazed bokken wielder had been rather short affairs, lasting no more then one or two kicks before the Blue Thunder's noise had faded. He didn't feel that same encroaching annoyance at Kuno that he usually did, as such he didn't feel like knocking him out just yet.

'I wonder why,' the pig-tailed boy thought idly while evading Kuno's attacks as he usually did. 'Could it be that I don't feel like he's trying to muscle in on my turf anymore?'

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Kuno was slowly growing more and more incensed as the foul demon continued evading the might of the Blue Thunder. It was impossible for such a lowborn cur like this mongrel Saotome to stand up to the continued might of Kuno Tatewaki, the greatest warrior of the modern era. It was oddly fitting that the vile dog wore red, because he often saw red from the slightest glances.

Could it be that the slimy sorcerer of the Darkest Arts had some trifling of skills in the arts of war?

'No,' he internally denied, 'the honorless swine could not know the purest joy of even the most plebian of martial arts. I will teach him the error of his ways!' With that, Kuno came down in a mighty slash that missed Ranma and smashed into the ground.

Ranma flipped back and land about 2 meters away and smirked at Kuno. "Not bad, Kuno, not bad at all. If you keep it up, I might freeze to death from the breeze of your stick," Ranma said, the taunt coming easy to his lips.

Kuno growled and narrowed his eyes before holding his bokken forward in his right hand and pompously proclaiming, "Foul dog, thy should not make light of the skills of the mighty Blue Thunder. When thy lie broken at mine feet, I shall enjoy kicking you in the nose like the disobedient cur thou art!"

Ranma took a cocky stance before motioning for Kuno to come on. "Come on windbag, are you gonna fight or talk?" he asked, feeling like the end should soon be coming.

"Swine, I fight on!" Kuno bellowed, closing the distance a great charging slash, which again missed his pig-tailed nemesis by the slightest of margins.

As Ranma circled around Kuno and started back towards the school, he noted Nabiki coming out of the building in a rush. Deciding that after he had knocked out Kuno he could find out what's wrong, Ranma steeled himself to bring this fight to an end. He began leading in a circle, trailing back towards school in order cut down on the time it would take him to get to class after he knocked out Kuno.

For his part, Kuno seemed even more incensed by the pig-tailed boy's apparent dominance over him. The foul one's magic was continually embarrassing him in front all his peers, which was really starting to get on his nerves. Every swing was mightier then the last yet they still could not breach that foul demon's magical defenses.

By this time, the two combatants were close enough to Nabiki for her to spit on, a fact that made her very nervous. She was out here in case Ranma nailed Kuno with kick that caused all the pictures he had in his shirt to fly out, but she was beginning to wonder if she may have overreacted just a bit. The wind from Hurricane Kuno's latest miss sent her staggering, though she managed to see him turn to face Ranma once again.

Then the air was littered with pictures.

Ranma's kick had been flawless, blowing through any defense Kuno might have mustered. The tall boy went shooting past Nabiki, whom rushed forward and started snagging all the pictures. Ranma watched in bemusement at the sight of Nabiki scrambling around and snagging all of Kuno's pictures.

He figured she just resell them to him, which is probably why she was so eager to get them.

'Not it, nope, damn it, where the hell is it?' Nabiki thought frantically as she continued to gather the pictures. After another minute, she had gathered all but one picture. It had to be the one she was looking for, as there were no other pictures that weren't already in her grasp.

'I never knew Nabiki could move so fast,' Ranma thought, mildly impressed that she had managed to grab most of the pictures in such a short period of time.

Nabiki was tired. She had ran down the flight of stairs between her classroom and the ground, not to mention the frantic running she had just done. She continued to press on, knowing that the damnable picture was just within her reach.

Kuno would have no more leverage to use against her if she bumped some of the prices of a few things up.

'Almost got it,' Nabiki thought, relief flooding her that a particularly bad memory was about have some closure. She reached out to grab it, but a sudden gust of wind ripped it away from her and sent it towards Ranma.

'Oh… oh no…' she mentally groaned, knowing that she won't get the picture before Ranma snagged it out of curiosity.

Ranma was caught of guard as the last picture suddenly change course and came at him as if it had a life of it's own. As such, he was left flat-footed as the photo smacked into his face. He peeled the photo off his face and glanced blankly at it, missing Nabiki taking in a sharp breath.

'Aw… crap.' Nabiki thought, silently waiting for Ranma's exclamation about the picture, which would then annihilate her reputation at school.

Ranma took in all that there was to the picture he held in his hand. He could clearly make out the back of Kuno's head, even if the baka was a little younger and shorter. He also could tell that Kuno was bleeding from the nose for some reason, which was lost on Ranma. Then he took in the final clue, his eyes comically frogging as noticed a slightly younger Nabiki, sans a top.

Also, her bra was suspiciously absent too.

A fierce blush began to flare up on his cheeks as he found himself riveted by the sight of Nabiki's womanly attributes. A stray thought flitted through his mind that noted that she had grown a bit since the time this picture was taken. That thought caused him to blush even deeper, giving him the appearance of a ripe, pig-tailed, bipedal tomato.

He was beginning to wonder just what that tingly sensation that was building in his nose was.

Nabiki, for her part, took this all rather well. Well, as well as someone who was about to have one of the most embarrassing moments of their lives in a few short seconds can. The fact that if she screamed or charged at Ranma to get the picture from him would completely blow her image was the only thing keeping her from doing either one.

She hoped no one could see her blush from Ranma's reaction.

Ranma's mind was a literal whirlwind of action. Stray thoughts and theorems rapidly shot across his brain, giving the boy a slight headache from overusing his least exercised muscle. While these had not been the first pair of, well, boobs that he had ever seen, the idea of someone as controlled as Nabiki doing something so brazen was rather shocking. The sensation in his nose chose that moment to make itself known to him, an odd sensation that felt as though he was bleeding.

He quickly decide to tear his gaze from the picture, fearing that he would start bleeding wildly if he kept staring at it. The first thing that he laid eyes upon was Nabiki, who seemed to be as red as he surely was. He idly noted that Kuno was just now getting up from the kick he had delivered, but that was the furthest thing from his mind.

The continuing build of pressure in his nose was a larger concern than the stick-wielding idiot.

A familiar warmth began tickling the back of his mind, distracting him from his nasal build-up momentarily. In a few seconds, his brain was awash of perverse thoughts that were not of his own making. The multitude of images, ranging from rather tame to downright pornographic in nature.

It was as if some entity had found the throttle to his hentai center and pushed it full down.

Saotome Ranma, to any who have met him, was a boy famed for his nonexistent libido and downright fear of overly affectionate girls. While many would often question his father's methods of raising him, he did have two sound, in his mind at least, reasons for thrusting his son into an all-boy middle school. The first and most obvious would be that Ranma would get into plenty of fights, which translated into growth in the arts.

The second, and mostly overlooked, was the fact that Genma could tell his son would draw girls like moths to a flame. It was, in a nutshell, the famed Saotome charm at work. Essentially, Ranma's inherent ignorance to most subjects would give him an outwardly innocent guise that most girls would find themselves drawn to him.

Attracting rivals was okay, but girls were an entirely different matter.

It was also that innocence that leads people to leap to conclusions on Ranma. The often logical, though almost always as far from, conclusion was that no one could look that innocent. Actions that were contrary were often ignored and only reflected upon in crude horror and self-depreciating humor.

Which lead to this most puzzling dilemma of immense magnitude.

'Irony is such a fickle mistress,' Nabiki silently mused, deciding to be philosophical in order to block out the embarrassment.

In her seventeen years of life, Nabiki had often been the one to revel in the shame and misery of others. She was a notorious prankster, Akane often being the butt of those pranks. If Akane weren't suffering from a near-mental breakdown, she'd laugh her head off at Nabiki blushing in regards to anyone, let alone Ranma.

And then she'd explode in anger when she discovered what he had been ogling.

That was the source of her current vexation. She so wanted to scream, deny anything about that picture, something other then standing there like a bump on a log. But she also knew she couldn't, because she was the calm, cool collected one who didn't get upset over anything.

'Sometimes,' she wondered, 'is reputation really worth it?'

She felt it acutely, the feeling of his eyes burning into her in a vacant stare that was both intense and passive. It made oh so delectably disturbing shiver run down her spine with the thought that she was the cause of it. For too long had she suppressed the feeling she was even remotely attractive, an ideal perpetuated by the thought that most men found an independent woman intimidating.

'But not Ranma,' she mused to herself, 'the only thing that frightens him about girls is the fact he has no earthly idea what to when one is interested in him.'

She made a brief note that Ranma was bleeding from the nose slightly, a fact which puzzled her. She was pretty sure he wasn't the pervert Akane always said he was, but that theory was being tested right now. In any event, it was becoming readily apparent that Mount Ranma was about to blow.

'And I'm still in the way!' she thought in distress, hoping that the pending eruption would be delayed.

As it were, Kuno had relieved Nabiki of that concern as he shoved her aside gently, wanting to get a good shot in on the paralyzed Ranma. As Kuno approached, Ranma was starting to feel like his nose would explode at any moment. He instinctively leaned away from Kuno's strike, but as he did so he caught another glimpse of Nabiki blinking at the scene before her.

That triggered a very, very naughty thought from whatever had been streaming them into his brain.

It was an alteration of the memory of Akane walking in on him. In this instance, Nabiki instead walked in on him, naked as the day she was born. After she blinked to make sure she wasn't seeing things, she grinned like a tiger eyeing fresh meat. She quickly exited the bathroom, then came back a few seconds later and approached him with that same hungry look.

"Eep!" he squeaked as he weaved away from another slash. The pressure in his nose finally reached critical and his nose relieved the pressure by ejecting it out his nostrils.

"Eyagh!!" wailed Kuno as he was splattered by Ranma's blood.

The sudden eruption of blood in the middle of the daily Kuno pounding brought startled gasps from all the students. In all the fights that had happened between Ranma and Kuno, no blood had ever been known to be spilt. There were also questions of what had caused the sudden eruption of blood just now.

The possibility that the resident Ice Queen might have been the cause of it wasn't even considered.

Ranma finally dropped the picture and nailed the lamenting Kendoist with a hard kick to the temple. As the older boy did his usual crumple to the ground, Ranma weaved around him to stand face to face with Nabiki. He noted that she was crumpling up the picture he had been staring at, for reasons he did not know.

Reasons he would get out of her later.

Nabiki had to fight down the urge to cackle with glee as she crushed the photo. It had been a source of major vexation for her for the last three years, the one ace Kuno had up his sleeve in their dealings. Now that it was gone, she had all the leverage in any future negotiations.

She almost felt a dint of pity for her classmate, but then she remembered he probably deserved whatever would happen.

As she came back to herself, she noted Ranma staring at her in statuesque curiosity. Remembering that they were in public prevented Nabiki from hugging him in joy. She did smile a little bit, the real smile that didn't hold any false cheer and happiness.

The one that didn't scare the living daylights out of Ranma.

"So," Ranma began, "just what was that picture about?"

Nabiki quickly scanned the area and decided they were too out in the open to be discussing such things so freely. "Sorry, Ranma-kun," she replied, "but I'm not too comfortable speaking about such things here. Maybe when we're at home?"

Ranma nodded and said, "Alright by me, I don't wanna be late."

And with that, the two quickly headed inside.

- - -

School had passed uneventfully, save for Ranma's outburst of laughter at what happened to Akane on her way to school. She had been mad, rightfully so, but she decided against whacking him. She could feel that things were changing between Ranma and Nabiki, and if she wanted to keep Ranma she would have to make sure he felt that being with her was better.

She didn't think Nabiki had any real chance against her.

After all, Akane was the one who boys fell all over themselves trying to get a date with. Nabiki always had to convince any boy to go out with her, at which point she would drain him dry. She was convinced that Nabiki's newfound interest in Ranma stemmed from jealousy that Akane had someone and she didn't.

Ranma wasn't exactly rolling in yen, so her interest couldn't be monetarily.

All she had to do was to make sure Ranma understood that she was obviously the best choice of all the Tendo girls. He didn't know that she couldn't cook, but she didn't think it was that important to him. After all, if he was looking for someone to cook for him 24/7, he would have chosen Kasumi and been done with it.

Kasumi was, of course, the perfect housewife by almost anyone's standards.

Her resolve bolstered, Akane glanced over at her sister, whom was humming a slightly content melody. She still knew that she had to be wary of Nabiki, as no one had a real clue as to just how deceitful she could be. She resisted the urge to snap at her older sister, knowing that she could not compete in the verbal arena with her.

Her own sister was now an obstacle to her relationship with Ranma, a wholly sour feeling coming over her.

It wasn't as if she wanted to be with Ranma, but there was no way she would accept used goods in a fiancé. She knew Ranma would lose that boyish innocence he had if Nabiki sunk her claws into him. While she may not love him, she did not want to see the pig-tailed boy totally annihilated by Nabiki's callous nature.

She just couldn't allow that.

- - -

Meanwhile back at Furinkan, Kuno was coming to grips with another defeat at the hands of Ranma. He could not get his head around the fact that the pig-tailed devil had once again deflected his wrath. How could he continue to lose to this, this inferior, ill-bred cur?

Was it black magic?

'Nay,' he thought, ' 'twas not magic the fiend used today. I witnessed with my own eyes that the wretch bled like any normal man.'

He stood alone in the field that had served as many a battleground between him and the sorcerous Saotome. He and this foul dog, both battling for the affections of the pure and beauteous Tendo Akane, were to engage in epic battles their peers would tell their grandchildren of. But those epic battles were scoffed and at scorned. The Blue Thunder, defeated and dismissed by this honorless fiend? The very idea of it!

Of course, it seemed to be an idea tossed around rather frequently.

"Am I not Blue Thunder?!" he roared in frustration, "Am I not the man destined to be with the pig-tailed girl and Tendo Akane? Am I not the tool of the heavens' vengeance? Oh, ye gods, ye who know and see all, tell me what I must do to defeat Saotome Ranma!"

A loud bang from something crashing nearby scared the ranting Kendoist from his reverie.

"That startled me," he gasped, hand held protectively to prevent his heart's escape, "That's it! I must find what that wretch fears most, then use it against him. If he is overcome by fear, then I shall smite him while he is idle. Ye gods, o ye most wonderful gods, I thank thee for the means to smite that blasphemous dog!"

And so he laughed, on and on, not really noticing the object heading for him…..

SHWAP!!

"Sorry," called one of Furinkan soccer players, whom had been practicing with a ball.

"That hurt you know," Kuno informed him before he collapsed.

- - -

Ranma, currently female thanks to a random stranger tossing water out, bound over the rooftops of Nerima. She was currently in search of a manga shop to pick up her friendship gift for Nabiki. She silently told herself that she would be out looking for gifts for Akane or Kasumi if she wanted to, that this act wasn't as significant as others may place on it.

She only hoped that Akane wouldn't get too jealous.

It wasn't that she cared what Akane thought, it was just that she didn't want Akane to get upset. On most things, Akane would just say something snappy back or do something reactionary. There were a few times where he, sometimes she, had said something that hurt very deeply.

When Akane cried, it made Ranma feel weak and small.

Then again, most girls crying in his presence threw him off kilter. It was a weakness Ranma could not find an answer for just yet, but she was bound and determined to overcome it. But it had hurt to see the unshed tears in Akane's eyes during his wild match with Ryoga.

It was the main reason that he had been so apologetic about things afterwards.

It was something that confused her, as people tended to believe her when she was a girl, rather then she was a guy. She wasn't sure if Akane would have been so upset if she had been male during that time, and maybe she'd still have long hair. She had been glad that Akane shortened her hair, as it defined her as her own person, rather then a girl trying to be her older sister.

Because if Ranma was going to fall in love with someone, they had to be their own person.

And again, Ranma found herself at odds. She was falling for Nabiki more and more as the days went by, but she couldn't let go of the budding feelings she had for Akane. She implored the heavens once more on why she was so damned to be torn between two girls.

One whom she was engaged to, the other her older sister and new found friend.

She would have continued her silent debate with the sky, but she spotted a small manga shop on the street below. Hopping down, she landed daintily in front of the shop. She was glad that she was in her female form, as she would avoid embarrassing questions of why a guy might be looking at girly manga.

She deftly opened the door and ducked inside before anyone could see her. It wasn't that she had anything to fear about being teased for going to the shop, it was that she had no desire to deal with either Kuno sibling or Ryoga. After waiting by the door for a few minutes and making sure none of the aforementioned people sprang out, Ranma-onna relaxed and started browsing.

She quickly scanned the first shelf she came to and snagged a manga book. "Ai Yori Aoshi," she said, reading the title aloud to confirm if it was on the list.

Ranma quickly flipped through the book, getting the gist of the story. "Hmmm, must be the romance in it," she muttered, also noting the slight comical nature of the story. As she put it back, she made a small comparison between Aoi and Nabiki, as well as pondering how Nabiki would look dressed like Aoi.

Scanning the shelves once more, she quickly found another title that appeared to be on the list. "Ah! My Goddess," she said, confirming the title was on her mental list.

Once more, she sped through reading it, gaining a basic understanding of the plot. "Wow, the romance is kinda deep in this one," she surmised, placing it back on the shelves. "Maybe that's how Nabiki felt she first learned that I was coming, something that you might want so bad, but are afraid it's too good to be true." She chuckled, wondering just when she became so philosophical.

Back to scanning once more, he came across yet another title. "Crest of the Stars," she read aloud, admiring the poetic feel of the title.

She quickly scanned the manga, once again obtaining a baseline understanding of the plot. "Another romance title, but it really hits home in its characterization," she decided, placing it back on the shelf. She could easily see the dynamic of Jinto and Lafiel's relationship could also apply to the budding one between herself and Nabiki. On one hand, you had a boy, sometimes girl, who was clueless to the modern materialistic world. On the other, you had the very picture of the modern material girl, fierce, independent and smart.

"That hits kinda close to home," she said, making note of where it was as she looked for another title on the list.

"Get Backers," she said, reading the title aloud. "Hiro and Dai liked this one, though I would think something more perverted would be their style."

She quickly scanned through the manga, once more gaining an inkling to the plot. "Heh, she can probably relate to their pursuit of money, what with the schemes she runs to keep the dojo afloat," she mused, placing it back on the shelf. "Maybe if I was a little smarter we could be like the two guys in that, thinking up schemes to make money."

Going back to searching, Ranma quickly found the next one on the list. "Hellsing, brr," she said, remembering some of the more graphic scenes of the anime she had watched.

The manga turned out to be far different from the anime, there was a lot more drama to it than she had thought possible of it. "Hmmm, it has almost no romance to speak of. It's over-the-top violent, and deals with a lot of supernatural stuff. Maybe she can relate to Ceras becoming something different all of a sudden. Kinda like her emotions emerging from behind her wall," she commented, still not sure if this was something that she should get for Nabiki.

She placed it back on the shelf and went back to her browsing. "Neon Genesis Evangelion… hoo boy. If this anything like the anime, then this will be a real doozy to read," she muttered to herself, opening the book and starting her scan of it.

Ranma's early estimation of the NGE manga was proven to be wrong, as it showed the first encounter with the angel in a different light. "I'll be damned, Shinji seen his mother before it went berserk. Somehow, it makes more sense that way, like his mother's spirit was watching over him from inside Unit 01. I could see how she could connect to that," she mused, remembering the memorial shrine to the late Mrs. Tendo out in the dojo.

She put it back the manga, sure that she probably wasn't going to get that one. Back to her search once more, she quickly found the last name on her list. "Revolutionary Girl Utena," she read, making sure that this was on the list.

She did her quick scan again, gaining an inkling of plot. "Hmmm, not so much romance as it is not fitting in but wanting to. I can see how Nabiki might relate to that," she muttered, remembering some of Nabiki's business practices and how few friends she had seen her have.

"Ok," she said, as she place Utena back on the shelf, "what should I get?" She quietly scanned the shelves, before she came to her decision.

"This one is perfect," she said, as she pulled it from the shelf. She checked to make sure she had enough to pay for it and headed to the counter.

"Good afternoon, miss," the clerk said politely, "You find what you want alright?"

"Yeah." Ranma said, nodding her head as she placed the manga on the counter.

"Hmmm, nice choice," the clerk complimented, before naming the price.

Ranma paid the man, received her change and headed out with her purchase. She felt oddly content with her effort, a nice warmth that made her feel a little happier then she was earlier. As she bound over the rooftops, she thought about all that she and Akane had been through during the first month of their engagement.

She worried that Nabiki might not be able to handle that.

That was her biggest fear about her budding relationship with Nabiki, because if it became something more, she was afraid that Nabiki might get hurt. It was the one thing that scared her about Akane, as that belt of Ryoga's could have done something more then trim her hair. She couldn't understand why either girl would want to be with someone who attracted so much trouble, but maybe she would some day.

That the ability to attract trouble being a possibility was not even considered.

Deciding to push that from her mind, she began planning on how she was going to give it to Nabiki without offending Akane. It wasn't that Akane got upset over every little thing, it just seemed that now things that deal with him set her off more then Kuno used to. Akane was bound to be a little jealous, but she would try to break it to her as gently as she could.

Words might penetrate her anger, if today was any indication.

She smiled, for once feeling blessed to have been dragged to the Tendos by her pop. All three of them were cute in their own way, of course, but now she was starting to notice Nabiki a little more. She still wondered if she was wise to not speak up and let the elder sisters dump Akane onto her, but she wouldn't worry about that now.

Not being bludgeoned by the fathers about being Akane's fiancé worked wonders for that.

Figuring that she had done enough ruminating on that, she decided to wonder about that picture she had seen. She wondered just what the story was behind it, as she never would have pegged Nabiki as a flasher. Giggling slightly at that, she made a quick mental comparison between Nabiki and Akane, before she caught herself and blushed.

Maybe she was a pervert, but until she did something real bad, she wouldn't feel guilty about it.

She continued on as she raced for the Tendo compound. As she leaped across from one roof to another, she caught a glimpse of a Chinese boy wandering around like he was lost. She decided to ignore him, as she wanted to get home and change back.

It was a good thing she didn't, because the Chinese boy may have been inclined to attack her, irregardless of name.

- - -

Mu Tsu was in hell. He had lost track of Xian Pu shortly after she left to pursue that girl. The pain of being away from his beloved was almost more than he could bear, not that he felt all that great to begin with. He had awoken from a deep slumber to find himself in a foreign land, which did not help him too much.

Not to mention the month-long gap in his memory wasn't helping all that much.

He continued to search for his beloved, ignoring the looks of puzzlement directed at him by the locals. He resented the fact that was swimming in a sea of Outsiders. These heathens could not understand the depth of his love for Xian Pu, nor would they understand his devotion to her.

Not that Xian Pu understood or cared about those feelings either.

As he walked along, he suddenly heard a voice yell, "Mu Tsu!"

Quickly, he whirled around and gasped, "Har Karu?"

The petite brown-haired girl grinned brightly and said, "So you can remember another girl's name. I bet Xian Pu will be suitably jealous now."

The raven-haired Chinese boy ignored the jab at his beloved and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Elder Khu Lon sent me to track down Xian Pu and get her progress with the red-haired outsider girl," Har Karu replied curtly.

"Xian Pu's progress?" he asked, before grabbing his head and collapsing to his knees.

A great shadow towered over him, causing him to cower in fear. "Your beloved Xian Pu has failed to kill the pig-tailed girl, and was defeated by a male name Saotome Ranma," it stated, its eyes burning with light. "She has failed in her attempt to make him her husband and is close to giving up for good on him."

"Uaaaahhh!!" the boy exclaimed as a memory was roughly shoved to the surface.

"Mu Tsu, what is wrong?" the girl asked worriedly, as the tall boy suddenly crumbled to his knees.

"X-X-Xian P-P-Pu has been defeated by an outsider male named Saotome Ranma. She has failed to marry him as our law states, and even now is close to giving up on carrying out her duty," Mu Tsu stuttered, shock, anger and disbelief warring within him.

"She has what? How do you know this, male?" Har Karu demanded imperiously. How dare this near sighted buffoon suggest Xian Pu would give up on her duties.

"It's the truth. She told me herself before she ran off to hide. I was too stunned to follow," the boy quickly lied, not wanting to say some mysterious shadow had told him.

"I-I Must report this to Elder Khu Lon at once!" the girl exclaimed, bowing to the boy quickly. "I thank you for this information."

Mu Tsu nodded and said, "I shall try to locate Xian Pu again. Give Elder Khu Lon my best." With that, the boy turned away and began taking notes of his surroundings.

The brown-haired girl turned around and leaped back up on top of the rooftops. She had to move with the greatest speed, or else the Elder would punish her for making her wait. She knew where Xian Pu was now, and once the Elder knew, she would place Xian Pu in her place.

It would be grand to see that arrogant bimbo taken down a few pegs.

- - -

Ranma arrived home a little later, hiding her cargo until the time was right to unveil it. She looked around, making sure that no one in the house knew she was back just yet. She quickly slipped inside, deciding that no one was going to jump out and attack her.

With the kind of life she lead, no one would blame her for being overly cautious.

Once she was inside, she decided to announce her arrival and yelled, "I'm home!"

"Welcome home, Ranma-chan," came the usual call from Kasumi, "You're just in time for dinner."

"Great, 'cause I'm starvin'," the girl replied, hurriedly making her way from the door towards the guestroom to hide her gift.

"And just where did you go?" Akane asked, managing to make herself sound less accusatory and more concerned.

"Just went out to look around," Ranma replied in passing, hoping to avoid being stopped and asked about what she was carrying.

"Ok," Akane said, deciding to let Ranma go before she asked what she was carrying.

Ranma sighed in relief that she wasn't being asked about the bag she had. She'd rather wait to answer that so she could head off any potential fights that might come. She thought Akane was a nice and sweet enough girl, but her insecurities made themselves known at the worst times.

If only she could find a way to deal with them that didn't involve shouting.

'At least,' the red-head mused, 'she didn't hit me for laughing at her earlier. I had been avoiding really ticking her off lately, but I would've thought that she would've gone off at that.'

She made it to her room without further incident and hid the bag quickly. She hoped her father wouldn't get rid of it or anything, as it wasn't something she wanted to keep. Deciding to burn that bridge when she came to it, she quickly exited her room, heading for the kitchen to commandeer some hot water.

After all, she wanted to be a guy when she gave Nabiki the manga.

She wasn't sure why that would be so, but she decided that she could think of it after the fact had gone down. Deep introspection could be done on the roof or before she went to the bed, she didn't need to dull her reflexes by preoccupying her mind on such trivial matters. Glad to have gotten that resolved, she leaped down the stairs.

Narrowly missing landing on Akane by just a few centimeters.

"Hey, watch it, you jerk!" Akane groused, upset that Ranma was already done with whatever she was doing in her room.

"Sorry, didn't see ya there Akane," Ranma called over her shoulder, already jogging towards the kitchen.

'That jerk, how could she not have seen me,' Akane silently huffed as she glared at the receding back of her erstwhile fiancé, 'Unless…. she had her mind on other things when she jumped.'

Akane felt a flash of both dread and anticipation. She wondered just why she would feel like that, then she remembered the bag Ranma had been carrying. 'That has to be it,' she thought, 'I'm anticipating that whatever it is, it's for me. But, I'm also dreading that it might not be for me. But who else would Ranma be buying gifts for?'

A brief image of Nabiki flashed through her mind.

'That's right,' she silently admitted as she padded after Ranma, 'Whatever has changed their relationship might motivate Ranma to get something for Nabiki instead of me.' She was surprised at the jealousy and depression that ran through her at that thought.

'Stop it, I do not love that egotistical jerk,' she silently reprimanded herself, 'I am not jealous over the fact that he might not have brought me a random present.'

"Thanks, Kasumi-chan," Ranma's voice cut into her mental scolding, recently restored to his male form. He handed her back the kettle.

"No problem, Ranma-kun," Kasumi replied as she took the kettle and handed him a towel to dry off with.

Ranma turned around and nearly ran Akane over. "Oops, sorry Akane," the boy said, still toweling off as he moved around her.

Akane bit down on her angry retort, silently reminding herself off her plan to save Ranma from Nabiki's machinations. "Ah, it's ok Ranma, I wasn't paying attention," the sometimes short-tempered girl said, looking off to the side, as though she were afraid of upsetting him.

Her admission of wrong-doing on her part did nothing to calm the pig-tailed boy, if anything, it made him more edgy about being around her. As things shifted between him and Nabiki, he was wary of Akane's feelings. No matter how much they may have antagonized each other since they met, Ranma did not want to hurt Akane's feelings too much.

After all, he really couldn't consider himself much better then his father if he didn't have regards for other people's feelings.

Realizing that Akane was staring at him, he gave her a curt nod and finished drying off. He headed for the dojo, but felt Akane still following him. He wasn't sure if she wanted to spar or just annoy him, but he wasn't going to snap at her.

"Akane, why are you following me?" he asked, trying not to sound as annoyed as he felt.

"I'm just curious about what you were up to, you don't have to bite my head off," she said defensively.

"And posing the question instead of following me like puppy never occurred to you?" he tiredly asked, his hope to get by without fighting with Akane evaporating in front of his eyes.

Akane could see where this was headed and bit down on her usual retort and said, "I can't be concerned about my fiancé?"

Ranma narrowed his eyes and said, "You can, but following me around like a dog is not the way to do it. If you're concerned, ask me like a normal person."

Akane winced at that, as he had caught her trying to make it look like he was at fault. Fighting down the urge to hit him, she said somewhat strained, "I see. So are you implying that I have no right to follow you around, but you're welcome to follow me around like a dog whenever you want?"

"Damn it Akane, that's not it," Ranma snapped, growing tired of this endless blame game, "How is it that every time we seem to talk about something, it never stays on that and deteriorates into who's right and who's wrong?"

Akane reeled as though struck, as Ranma not only stood up to her but had effectively shifted the blame back to her. Her mind raced for some refutation of Ranma's words, but she could not really think of any. She continued to stare blankly at the pig-tailed boy, unnerving him by the way he started to fidget under her gaze.

"Are we done, 'cause I want to get some practice in before dinner." Ranma said, his tone indicating that he was saying it to be polite.

Akane nodded and watched as Ranma turned and left. Her heart sank at the thought that she was having difficulty just speaking to him. 'Is this how it really is,' she silently questioned herself, 'Is this how it appears to everyone else? That we're a couple of immature people who can't get past it all?'

She suddenly had the urge to lay down for a bit, as she figured she could think better off her feet.

- - -

Ranma was in for a surprise as he found Nabiki studying what appeared to be her family's school scrolls. Since she didn't appear to notice him yet, he silently padded over to another corner of the dojo and started his warm-ups. Part way through, he began to feel as though he was being watched. Slowing down, he looked over his shoulder and noticed that Nabiki was studying him with her usual appraising eye.

It didn't bug him like it did when Akane did it.

Why that was, Ranma did not have a clue to. Maybe it was the fact that she didn't seem jealous of what he could do, but rather respected his skills. However faint, he could feel a dull warm thrum through him as she watched him, one that was rather distracting in its own fashion.

As long as she didn't do while he was fighting, then she could gawk at him to her heart's desire.

Nabiki, finally finishing her appraisal of him, cleared her throat to get his attention. While she didn't feel the need to relearn the art, it would give her an excuse to talk to Ranma more. She didn't think he'd go gaga over her if she did, but she figured that the more time spent with him is a good thing.

It sure beat sitting alone in her room, idly thinking about him.

"Yeah, Nabiki?" Ranma asked, glad that she didn't seem to be scrutinizing him anymore.

"Ranma, I'm sure you're wondering why I'm out here in the dojo studying the family scrolls, right?" Nabiki asked in response.

"Yeah, you never really showed too much enthusiasm about the Art before," he said, acknowledging her point.

"Well, I was thinking of first finding a good regimen to help myself get into shape," she admitted, "but I also decided I need to brush up on my self-defense."

"I guess I can see where that might be beneficial," he agreed, a slight image of Nabiki being in danger and her needing to defend herself flitting through his mind.

"So," she said, pausing for effect and to gather her nerves, "I was wondering if you could help me out."

"Help you how?" he immediately questioned. No matter how nice she had been, it was still Nabiki he was dealing with.

"Help, as in give me a few pointers here and there, nothing too embarrassing for either of us, I assure you." she stated simply.

"Why me? Why not ask your father? I mean, he would be a better teacher than me," he said, admitting inferiority if only because he knew next-to nothing about the Tendo-ryu.

"Don't sell yourself short, Ranma-kun," she replied with a grin, "besides, I don't know how long Daddy is going to be around."

"Huh? You don't mean…" he said, a little uneasy.

Nabiki giggled a bit and said, "Nothing like that, it's just that I think Daddy is planning something."

"Something like a training trip?" he asked.

"Exactly," she said, "and since Daddy may be going away for a while, and I don't want anything to do with your father, that leaves you."

"I wouldn't trust you to Pop either," he said, shivering slightly, "I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted to kill him after the first night of training. What, with his girls are too weak to learn the Art and bull like that attitude."

"Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised If I did either," she said, stifling a second giggle, "Now how about we get started."

"Sure thing, Nabiki-san," he said respectfully, coming over to her to get a look at the scrolls.

As the two trained, an ethereal pair of eyes watched them from above. The eyes watched in admiration as the boy respectfully taught the girl, instead of being a chauvinistic pig like his father. The eyes watched with much the same admiration as the girl began to recapture what she had lost by years of inactivity.

The eyes moistened but did not weep.

Back on the mountain, the ghost form of Tendo Kimiko smiled at the sight her eyes were feasting upon. It filled her with a sense of satisfaction to see her middle daughter filled with the same vigor that she had in her youth. The sight was familiar to Kimiko, as she had asked Soun to train with her on the very first day they had met.

"In this short time I have gotten to know all of you, I have learned just how amazing you all really are," the ghost said, her voice whispering on the mountain winds.

Her vision switched to Kasumi in the kitchen, making dinner once more. "Ah, my darling, sweet little Kasumi, how much you have grown since I passed away. You have sacrificed much, daughter, but you did so willingly. You will make a lucky man a very good wife someday, but I hope that is sooner than later. I love you very much my eldest, never forget that."

It then switches to Akane alone on her bed, trying to sort out Ranma. "Akane, my little girl and baby, oh how I wished I could have been there for you during those hard years. You've grown so much, but on the inside so little. It hurts me to have to break you apart from Ranma, but I want you to find who makes you happy, not who you can argue with the most."

It goes to Nabiki, working on her kicks with Ranma. "Nabiki, my sweet little Nabiki, you grew up faster than your sister and grew to resent doing it. Now, I hope you see that it wasn't in vain. I hope you can loosen up and share the feelings you stymied for so long. No matter what anyone else thinks, you are a wonderful girl, and I am proud of you."

The vision swirls over to Ranma, holding up the bag for Nabiki to kick. "Saotome Ranma… when I first saw what Akane's future with you would be like, I wanted to hate you. I wanted to drive you away from my daughters, I wanted to make you hurt for what I saw. But there was one thing I couldn't deny, and that is that you were mostly blameless for the struggles you and she had went through. I saw that you were a person of strong conviction, a man of unwavering loyalty who did not stray from Akane's side. While I have taken steps to do just that, it is for my family as a whole that I do that, not because I am spiteful. I would have enjoyed meeting you Saotome Ranma, of that I am certain."

Lastly, the vision swirls to Soun, sitting just inside the kitchen and chatting with Kasumi. "Soun, my beloved husband and greatest friend, I still miss you. There is not a day that goes by that I do not long for your embrace, not a day goes by that I don't wish I didn't leave you. You loved me, almost too much, and it nearly destroyed you and our daughters. Now, you're better and everyday you take a step towards regaining that which you lost in your sorrow. I love you, my beloved, and I will tick away the days until you join me in the heavens."

In the kitchen, Soun looks around, as though he could hear his wife speaking. Thinking he was just hearing things, he turned around and paid attention to what Kasumi was saying again. Then, just as he settling back into listening to her, he felt a gust of wind that tickled his cheek. Looking in that direction, he saw a fading image of his dear wife, smiling at him.

"I love you too…" he murmured to himself, his mind awash with images of his wife once more.

The taint of sorrow had finally been erased from Soun's mind, the joy and love he felt when she was with him flowed strong once more.

Kasumi continued to work on dinner, smiling to herself as she heard her father's murmur. She had a feeling he wasn't talking to her, but that was okay. She was quite sure her father was talking to her mother, something he did not do before.

It was something of a relief to Kasumi.

Memories of the departed Tendo Matriarch often sent her father into hysterics. With his recent rebound, his crying jags have all but disappeared. She was happy to have her father, the kind, compassionate man of her first nine years of life. She put the final touches on the meal, she couldn't help but think of all that had happened in the past few days.

Dinner was going to be an interesting affair……

End chapter 5.

Musabetsu Kakutou Ryu no Bakasawagi - Indiscriminate grappling school of Horseplay.

Kanashii Piero Higi: Hohoemi Bakudan: Sad Clown Secret Technique: Smile Bomb

Teaser for Chapter 6:

It was dinner time at the Tendo compound. At no other time of the day could you figure out what was going on amongst the residents than at dinner. For example, if you wanted to know the mood of the residents, you need but observe them at dinner. Posture, participation in conversation, whom they were conversing with, and which way they were glancing would be the usual indicators.

Nothing else seemed to work as well.

In any event, this dinner was a microcosm of everything that had gone on. Ranma and Nabiki freely discussed plans for ideal training times, while Akane stared at Ranma somewhat longingly. Genma was encouraged by Akane's show of interest, but failed to rally Soun into decisive action. Meanwhile, Soun was contemplating the best way to tell his family of his plans.

'Might as well just tell them outright,' he mused.

Clearing his throat to get their attention, Soun said, "My family, I have an important announcement to make. As you may well know, I have begun recovering from my grief. Recently, I have started to seriously practice again. After that workout session, I feel there is something."

"What's that Father," Kasumi asked, prompting him to go on.

"And that something is, I must leave for my own training trip, to rediscover just who Tendo Soun is and what does he want in life." He stated firmly, looking around the table at each and everyone.

"That sounds like a good idea, Tendo-san," Ranma said, nodding in agreement.

"Thank you for your kind words, Ranma-san, it does an old man good to hear encouragement from a peer in the Art," Soun said, nodding his head in thanks, "But there is more."

"More?" Nabiki prompted.

"Yes, as when I return from my trip, I want to reopen the dojo and start teaching again." he stated solemnly, his eyes once more looking over the table.