Ixnay on the Ixioran

by Largo

Ranma falls into the spring of drowned "girl who fell from the sky." When his girl-form turns out to be stronger and faster than his natural form, he starts to question his upbringing. Being an alien genetically engineered weapon has its pluses but as many minuses. Then the dreams of another life begin. Starts with Ranma / Birdy the Mighty and will add more series to the mix. My

1. Chapter 1

Ixnay on the Ixioran

Insert the standard disclaimers etc.

This is an attempt to ease myself back into writing stuff after a few horrible years of life taking away family members at the rate of one per year for four of them, and losing a job I had for eighteen years. Expect, a poor plot and general lack of quality and this chapter being mostly set up :P

I'm blending the four different versions of Birdy together, picking and choosing, so she/Ranma may have abilities you've not seen, e.g. the bio-electricity from the very original and genetically engineered status from the later ones.

Also a slightly OOC Ranma choosing to spend time as a girl to mainly annoy Genma :P

Chapter 1 Here's Ranma

The streets of Nerima lay slick with water as the heavens had opened moments ago. As the downpour trailed off to only a light drizzle, the citizens were beholden to a strange sight. A tall teenage girl in loose fitting Chinese style trousers and shirt raced down the street. Her shock of long, half pink, half white hair, tied in a ponytail trailed behind her. She appeared to the world to be taking a light jog, rather than the full-on sprint that her speed belied. On one shoulder rested an enormous backpack, she held in place with a single hand. A smirk rested upon her attractive face, in spite of the giant panda bear giving chase. It closed the gap, moving at speeds that such bears typically felt was too much effort.

The bear swiped at her back. She dodged the blow without looking and spun on her heels to end up running backwards. The smirk slipped off her face, "Hey! Cut that out!" The bear ignored the shout and pressed his attack. The girl weaved in and out of the attacks while moonwalking at high speeds. "Stupid panda! How could you spring this crap on me? I mean choosing a fiancée for me without even asking?"

The panda growled and re-doubled his efforts at hitting the girl. She yawned before tossing her backpack into the panda with enough force to send it flying. The panda's backwards slide ceased as it slammed into a stop sign. The impact knocked the sign out of the ground and the bear flat on its back. Murmurs of surprise came from the small crowd that gathered to observe the antics. It was not every day you saw a panda in Nerima, trained or otherwise. "I mean really, do I look like I need a fiancée right now?" the girl huffed as she walked over to the downed bear. She poked the giant animal with a slippered toe, fisted hands on her hips. "Humph, can't even take a light tap eh Pops?" she flicked her ponytail over her shoulder and turned away.

The panda revealed it had been playing possum as the girl turned away from it. Sitting up it glanced around before grabbing the fallen street sign. Springing to its feet the panda swiped the sign downwards like a sword at the back of the girl's head. A noise like an aluminium baseball bat hitting a tree echoed down the street. The girl went rigid with the bent sign resting against her head. The panda began to sweat, a feat in of itself, as the girl turned her head towards him. A huge, slightly evil but also goofy grin split her lips. The panda hid the bent stop sign behind its back and pulled a wooden sign out with the words "It wasn't me! It was that one armed man over there!"

"Nice try rug," the girl grabbed the panda by its chest fur, pulled him close, and began slapping him silly. After about ten back and forth slaps, she hefted the dazed panda bear overhead and dropped him head-first onto the street. Its limbs went limp.

"Did you see that?"

"That was crazy."

"Someone call the animal cruelty helpline."

The girl blinked as she realised the crowd had seen the entire conflict. Raising her hand to rub the back of her head she grinned. "Don't worry. His heads the toughest part of him." As the crowd began to grow, the girl sighed and turned to the downed panda. She crouched down and started rummaging through the backpack. She pulled out a map, slung the heavy pack onto her shoulder, grabbed the panda and single-handedly tossed him over her other shoulder, then she flexed her legs. With a burst of water spray, she shot into the air and vanished into the distance.

Ranma Saotome grinned wildly as the wind whipped throw her hair and the people below her looked like little ants. She bounced off the roof of the towering building, dodging the roof lights to warn off planes and then free-falling towards the buildings below. Being able to jump this high up felt almost as if she could fly. As the Saotome School of martial arts was at home in the air, this sense of freedom was everything Ranma could have wished for. To see the world from this high and have no fear of the landing always left a goofy grin on her face. The approaching rooftops soon came close, and she braced her legs for the impact. In spite of the distance, she landed with nearly no sound and sprang forward, parkouring at speeds not even her natural form could match. Even carrying her and her father's combined packs, along with her father who was currently a three hundred plus pound animal barely slowed her down.

Ranma felt her father begin to stir and grinned even wider, waiting until the last possible moment before putting as much force as she could into her next leap. The concrete below her feet shattered as she launched herself like a rocket into the sky.

"Hey, Pops!" Ranma shouted over the wind and pointed down. "That the dojo you wanted to go to?" Ranma began laughing as the panda on her shoulder realised where they were. Her father's eyes almost popped out of his head and he clutched onto his son turned daughter's body as if he were a koala bear instead of a panda. "Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw!"

Her father's roar of terror only made her laugh even more as they whistled towards the ground and the dojo below. Ranma leant backwards and pushed her feet forward. They hit the ground with a boom and skidded to a halt outside the front door, leaving furrows in the ground. Ranma wobbled for a second and glanced down at her bare feet, as her slippers had been shredded, and steam rose from her feet. "Hmm, need to find some shoes that can take an impact. I'm going through them way too fast." She kicked out the embers that flickered at the base of her trousers. "Well, we're here Pops." No answer. "Pops?"

Ranma looked at the panda that had a death grip on her. With a chuckle, she poked her father's forehead and watched the panda slide off her and pool on the ground. "What's wrong Pops?" Her father did not seem to hear her as he began to kiss the ground.

"Is this your friend?" a girl's voice broke through Ranma's chuckling. The two-toned haired girl blinked and turned to the newcomers. A tall moustachioed man shook his head, whipping his long dark hair around, while two girls took cover behind him.

"Where's the bomb?" another girl asked poking her head around the tallest girl in the apron.

Oops. Ranma thought. "Hi! Sorry about the landing." Ranma waved at the twin furrows as she stepped out of them.

"W…who are you?" the man asked after taking a long look at the damaged garden and the tall girl climbing out of said destruction.

"I'm Ranma Saotome," Ranma rubbed the back of her head. The man's face went through various emotions. Worry, happy, confused, and back to worried. "You…you're Ranma Saotome?"

"Yeah, heh, heh."

"You're a girl?"

"Pretty much," Ranma glanced down at herself and added under her breath, "Some of the time." She looked up in surprise at a thud to find the man had fainted. She glanced at the three girls. They looked at her. They all looked down at the man. "Um, does that happen often?"

"Do pink haired girls with a panda destroy our garden often?" The girl with the shortest hair asked back with a flat stare.

"Haha, guess not," Ranma chuckled as she wandered over to the girls. Seeing the tallest girl crouching down to check on the man Ranma offered. "Hey, let me." The three girls blinked as she casually picked him up with one hand and placed him over her free shoulder to join the hefty backpack. "Where do ya want him?"

"Please follow me," the girl in the apron stood up and smiled after a little stare.

"Did you see that Akane?"

"Yeah, she must be a martial artist," Akane replied. "At least she isn't a boy."

"Humph, some fiancé. I'm kinda disappointed actually."

"I'm not Nabiki. I think it's great she's a girl, and she likes martial arts. I wonder if she'll want to spar with me?"

"And I repeat; that's why everyone thinks you're weird."

Ranma's eyebrows rose as she used her sensitive hearing to listen in on the whispered conversation behind her. So the girl called Akane was a martial artist? Ranma could tell she did some training, but she did not move with the fluid grace of someone who trained seriously in the art did. The other girl, Nabiki, did not either, although she seemed fit, and the oldest girl Ranma was following definitely did not.

The oldest sister led Ranma into the living room. "Please wait a moment while I get a futon for Father." Ranma nodded in understanding and looked around the room, taking it all in while the girl disappeared out the other door.

"So Ranma, what's with the panda? Is it trained?" Nabiki inquired after a noise made her glance over her shoulder to see a wobbly panda shuffling after them. She quickly pushed around the taller girl carrying her father to put something between her and the beast.

"You mean Pops? Dunno. He might need to be house broken." Ranma smirked. The glare from Genma was impressive, especially coming from a panda's inexpressive furry face. The other girl returned carrying a rolled up futon and a small bowl of water. She put the bowl down and unrolled the futon.

"Can you put him down gently?"

"Sure." Ranma nodded. She shrugged her backpack off, and it hit the floor with a thud. Nabiki eyed the pack and studied Ranma, a frown on her face. Meanwhile, with the help of the older girl, Ranma gently put the girl's father onto the futon and placed a thin sheet over him. She then dipped a cloth in the bowl of water, rung it out and put it on her father's brow. Ranma soon found herself sitting between Nabiki and Akane while the oldest cared for their father. The man had opened his eyes but had not said a word.

"Poor Father, he's so disappointed."

"He's disappointed. Some fiancé this is." Nabiki indicated Ranma, pointing at her chest. Ranma shrugged. Turning up as a girl might actually get this whole fiancée thing called off and annoy her father. Bonus.

"Genma said he had a son!" Soun Tendo shouted from the floor.

"Yeah, too bad I'm a girl eh? Better call this whole thing off eh?" Ranma grinned until a wooden sign slapped her on the head. "Quit that ya stupid panda!" She snarled grabbing the wooden sign from her father and tearing it up as if it were only paper. Nabiki blinked at another casual display of serious finger strength. Whoa, and I thought Akane breaking those bricks was impressive.

Genma-panda pulled out another wooden sign with "What did I do to deserve such a worthless son?" written on it. Without even looking, Ranma's grabbed Genma's furry leg and flipped him out the house. Her father went tumbling into the garden. "Shut up ya damned rug!"

"Isn't that animal abuse?" Nabiki questioned.

"Pop's ain't an animal. He's just stupid."

"You think your father is a panda?" Kasumi looked between Ranma and her dazed panda.

"Yes – No! I mean…grr…" Ranma sighed. "Look, it's complicated."

"Oh…I get it. When you were younger, your parents died in China, and you ended up being raised by a group Kung-foo pandas." Kasumi pointed a finger upwards as she stated that with a straight face and a smile. Silence fell over the room, broken only by the tinkling of the wind chime in the sudden breeze.

"…" Ranma stared.

"Hey, would you like to see the dojo?" Akane decided to pull the situation out of the crazy hole, tapping Ranma on her shoulder. "I'm Akane. Would you like to be friends?"

Ranma blinked at the smiling girl before grinning herself. "Sure."

"Come on, this way." Akane pulled Ranma to her feet and headed out. Ranma followed the other girl through the house into the dojo. She glanced around the well-maintained dojo, taking it all in. "This is our dojo. Daddy doesn't do any teaching nowadays, but I use it every day." Ranma nodded to herself, trailing after the excited girl. Akane spun to face her. "Do you know Kempo?"

"A little," Ranma admitted. She knew bits of it and hundreds of other various martial arts but did not voice it.

"Then let's have a match!" Akane happily took up a ready stance and waited for Ranma to do the same. The mostly pink haired girl cocked her head to one side before clasping her hands behind her back, looking completely at ease and vulnerable. Akane frowned at the other girl's lack of form and wondered if she really did know anything about Kempo. "Um…are you ready?"

"Yep!" Ranma chirped. Akane narrowed her eyes and decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. Taking it slow as she did not want to hurt the other girl, who did not seem to be taking the spar seriously, Akane closed in and threw a punch. Ranma leant out of the way of the blow. Akane turned and threw a quicker punch, and again Ranma avoided it with casual ease. Akane's competitive streak reared its ugly head, and she soon began swinging at the taller girl as fast as she could. Frustratingly, Ranma flowed like water around her attacks, all the time keeping her hands behind her back and not even attempting to fight back.

"Hey!" Punch. "Take!" Kick. "This!" Punch. "Seriously!"

Ranma cocked her head again as if contemplating her words but continued to dodge. Akane's temper soon began to manifest itself, and with a yell, she charged full throttle and attacked. This time Ranma jumped straight up. There was a thwack of breaking wood. Akane put her fist through the wall behind where Ranma's head had been seconds ago. She paused in surprise that she had missed again and pulled her arm free. Turning around she blinked to see the dojo appeared empty.

"Ranma?"

A muffled mumbling and small splinters of wood falling on her head made Akane look up to find Ranma with her head stuck in the ceiling, swinging and her legs kicking uselessly. "Eh?" Akane stared at the sight, not quite able to figure out how this situation had occurred. Ranma stopped kicking her legs, put her hands on either side of her head, and pushed. She popped out of the ceiling and dropped to land with cat-like grace. "Blegh! Spiders," she spat out splinters and rubbed the dust from her hair, which caused her to sneeze. Akane began to giggle, causing Ranma to look surprised, before joining in.

"Guess we can call that a draw eh?" Akane wiped a tear from her eye.

"I guess so. Still don't know my own strength." Ranma rubbed the back of her head and gave an awkward grin. "Sorry 'bout the ceiling."

"Guess we both will have to do some repairs." Akane indicated the hole she had made. "I'm really glad you're a girl and a martial artist too. It's so great to meet another girl who likes martial arts! Well, I've worked up a sweat. Think I'll go get a bath."

"A girl…yeah…" Ranma trailed off, watching the other girl leave. Ranma glanced up at the hole she had made. "Still need to work at this, don't want a repeat of China." She muttered following Akane out at a distance. Ranma veered away from the long haired Tendo and headed out to the veranda overlooking the koi pond in the garden. Ranma took a moment to study the garden before she folded her legs underneath her and sat down. Resting her chin on her hand, she wondered how long it would take before her father screwed up again. So deep in thought, she didn't sense Kasumi until the older girl placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Gah!" Ranma flinched at the contact. Damn, I still can't sense people sneaking up on my like this, Ranma grimaced.

"Oh sorry, Ranma-chan. I didn't mean to startle you," Kasumi apologised.

"Dun worry about it. Did ya want something?"

"I thought you might like to take a bath after your spar," Kasumi smiled and offered Ranma a folder towel.

"No, no. I'm fine really, didn't even break a sweat," Ranma anime sweat-dropped.

"Please, you're a guest. I insist."

"O...kay..." Ranma took the bathing supplies and followed Kasumi as she led Ranma to the bathroom. Inside the changing area, Ranma glanced around, found a shelf to put her clothes and stripped down before heading into the furo. She almost whistled at the size. It might have been the largest she had ever seen outside of a public bath. Quickly she sat down on the stool and lathered up her hair before rinsing off with a bucket of cool water.

"Brr! Cold!" Ranma shook the excess from her hair and then noticed the three-quarter length mirror above the taps and shower attachment. Curiosity made her wander over. She had barely seen her own reflection in all the time she had been travelling since being cursed. Only managing to catch sight of it the odd times in streams or a shop window. Once Ranma stood before the mirror, she leant in to study her current face. A face she barely recognised. Turning it left and right, she took in the foreign features so different from his natural form. She possessed a different bone structure, higher cheeks and a stronger jaw. Cute in a way, yet tough. Adding the entirely different colour hair, it took her even further away from her uncursed form. The only thing that stayed mostly the same were her blue eyes. Yet, even those had become a more sea blue than her natural sapphire. More disturbing to Ranma, they were now pointed ovals, like those of a cat. Although not noticeable unless close up, it still made Ranma shudder if she wasn't paying attention and caught a flash of her reflection.

Despite the minor creepy (to Ranma) eyes, she felt the form was not the worst she could have ended up with. She was a fraction taller than her boy form, athletically muscled, and with a glance down at her chest, averagely proportioned. Ranma was grateful as she didn't want to imagine how much her balance would have been messed up if she had been any bigger up top. Or how much her acrobatic combat style would hurt without wrapping. The strength and robustness that came along with the package was both a blessing and a curse. Ranma cocked her head to one side and smiled, showing her teeth. Yes, she definitely could have had a worse looking form.

"Testing if your cheeks work?" A giggle from close by caused the pink haired girl to flinch in surprise. Ranma spun to find Akane smiling at her from the furo's door, a held towel the only thing covering her. Ranma felt her eyes widen involuntarily.

"Ak...Akane!" Ranma waved her hands in a warding gesture. "I didn't mean-I didn't see-"

"What's wrong?" Akane closed the door behind her, surprised at how embarrassed Ranma appeared. A bolt of jealousy spiked through her as she studied the statuesque girl. Her perfectly formed body, with curves in the right places. Although she noticed with pride, Ranma was not as gifted as herself. "We're both girls."

"Y...yeah...girls." Ranma laughed nervously with a hand to the back of her head and eyes averted. "I better go." Ranma squeezed by Akane, keeping her eyes on the wall. Akane frowned as Ranma fled the furo.

"Huh? She must really be shy."

Ranma pressed a hand to her chest and leant back against the door. That had been close. She could imagine Akane's reaction if she had been in the furo and guessed it would end up in screams. The last thing she wanted was to scare the girl. Or be called a freak. Taking a deep breath to re-centre herself she grabbed her discarded clothes and flung them on. She left the changing room behind while fastening up the top toggles on her shirt and headed down the hallway towards the living room. With eyes down, and so deep in thought, she missed that her father was not a panda anymore.

"Boy!" the gruff shout snapped her out of her thoughts. "Why are you still like that?"

"Like what?" Ranma grinned back, amused as Genma ground his teeth. It had quickly become apparent to Ranma that she could get under Genma's skin by acting as if being a girl was no big deal. It became a game to annoy her father by staying female. Especially since Genma would pull out the weak little girl insults, to which Ranma would laugh off seeing as she was far, far stronger than her father as a girl. If he got too annoying, she would grab him and throw him a few meters away with a flick of her wrist just to disprove his words.

"A girl! I thought you were getting changed!"

"I changed my underwear. What more do ya want?"

"..." Genma growled, making an excellent impression of his panda form's usual vocabulary.

"Why's he calling her a boy?" Kasumi leant over to Nabiki, who snacked on the packet of potato crisps.

"Dunno. No way's that a boy."

"Now, now, Saotome." Soun placed a restraining hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm sure if we all sit and explain this, everything will work out."

"Humph!" Genma snorted and gave Ranma an evil-eye. "Yeah Daddy!" Ranma chirped and held her hands together before herself giving an as feminine pose as she could. Genma's eye twitched at the display.

"Just get over here," Genma growled as he moved back over to sit down. Ranma sauntered over and plopped herself down beside him with a smirk. A silence fell over the group with Soun, Genma, and Ranma on one side of the room and Nabiki and Kasumi on the other.

"When Akane gets finished we'll start," Soun stated as he sat all stoic-like. A far-cry from the sobbing wreck he had been earlier. Ranma eyed the Tendo patriarch and wondered just how serious her's and the girls' father were about the engagement. She guessed her old man had explained the curse to Soun. Akane soon joined them in the living room with a curious glance over at Genma as she sat down beside her sisters.

"So Daddy, what's this about?" Nabiki spoke up between snacking.

"Ah yes," Soun smiled and waved at the Saotomes. "This is my old training buddy Genma and his…son...Ranma Saotome."

"Hello." Genma nodded. Ranma placed her face in her palm. Damn it. They're serious.

"I think you need your eyes examined Daddy," Nabiki scoffed. Kasumi looked confused and a little uncomfortable with where the conversation seemed to be going.

"Ranma's no boy," Akane laughed. "I saw her in the furo, and there's no way she's a boy."

"Yeah! I'm a girl!" Ranma laughed nervously. "A hundred percent. So let's just forget 'bout this whole silly marriage idea. So sorry to trouble ya."

"How should I explain this?" Genma cut in with only a sly smile as a warning. Ranma inched away as a sense of foreboding washed over her. Genma sprang into action and threw something he had been covering with his body. Ranma's instincts took over, and she lashed out at the object flying at her face. The object turned out to be a kettle that shattered when it came into contact with her fist and almost boiling hot water sprayed all over her. Ranma leapt to his feet as she reverted to his birth-form and hollered in pain.

"Dammit old man! That's hot!" He hopped about trying to cool off his reddened skin. The three Tendo sisters were stunned to silence at seeing the girl Ranma be replaced with a boy wearing the same clothes and hairstyle only his hair was all black. Nabiki dropped the potato snack that was halfway to her mouth from frozen fingers.

"Now she's a boy?" Kasumi blinked.

"Quit whining like a little girl! Oh, what did I do to deserve such a cry baby for a son?" Genma wept, theatrically waving a fist to the heavens. Ranma stomped over and yanked Genma towards him by his father's doji. "This little girl can kick ya ass any day of the wee-" Ranma's rant was cut off as Genma slipped out and reversed the hold. With a cry of "Hiya!" Genma threw his son over his shoulder with perfect aim to land in the middle of the koi pond with a large splash. A pink and white haired girl surfaced, spat water out, and glared daggers as she waded over to the edge.

"Now he's a girl..." Kasumi pointed out. Nabiki checked her snack's packet for hallucinogenic ingredients. Akane got stuck in a loop of trying to comprehend whether Ranma was a pervert boy or an unfortunate girl. Ranma wrung out her hair while her father ranted about his misfortune. "My own son cursed to be a weak little girl."

Nobody saw Ranma move. One second she was by the pond the next she appeared in front of her father with a gust of wind and spray of water droplets. Genma's eyes bulged like dinner plates as he found himself flying face-first into the same pond. The result, one giant panda, sitting in the koi pond. Genma-panda raised a sign "Damnit boy!"

"Who's weak?" Ranma clapped imaginary dust off her hands and flipped her ponytail over her shoulder. Genma growled and grumbled as he climbed out. "What's that? I can't hear ya!" Ranma held a hand to her ear.

"Daddy...why are you friends with them?" Kasumi asked as the Saotomes stood in the garden and threatened each other with their eyes.

"They weren't always like this. Not until Jusenkyo. The cursed valley's true horror has been shrouded in mystery for centuries." Soun nodded sagely.

"What do you mean 'true horror'?" Ranma rolled her eyes, breaking the stare-off with her panda father.

"So with cold water, you become a girl," Soun approached and stated the facts, doing a poor job of hiding something behind his back. "But hot water returns you to normal." He declared attempting to pour boiling water from another kettle on to Ranma for the second time that night.

"Hot water! Not boiling!" Ranma dodged out of the way.

"Your problem isn't so bad." Soun continued while patting her shoulder, oblivious to Ranma's expression of disbelief.

"Problem?" Ranma asked.

"Kasumi, nineteen. Nabiki, seventeen. Akane, sixteen. Pick the one you want."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, he wants Akane!" Kasumi said without remorse, pushing her little sister forward.

"Definitely!" Nabiki agreed, seizing her chance and joined Kasumi in presenting Akane.

"What? Why would I-" Akane tried to voice her opinion.

"You hate boys right?" Nabiki silenced Akane's protest with a finger.

"You're in luck," Kasumi pointed out. "He's half girl!"

"Me? Marry that, that, that pervert!"

"Hey!" Ranma rounded on Akane. "Who're ya calling a pervert?"

"You! You saw me naked!"

"Uh huh. You walked in on me remember!"

"It's different when a girl sees a … a perverted freak!"

Ranma's face showed her shock at being called a freak for a moment before she sent a glare at Akane that could have heated water. The cursed boy growled and had to clench her fists tightly, the muscles in her forearms vibrating under her skin, to restrain herself from lashing out.

"It's perfect!" Soun laughed. "They even argue like a couple!"

"He's a couple by himself!" Akane snapped at her father.

"Feh! I've had enough," Ranma declared spinning on her heels and stalking towards the exit.

"Where're you going boy?" Genma asked having used the kettle to return to human form. Ranma turned back to face her father.

"Away from here!" She eyed Akane. "Just so ya know, it's no big deal for me to see a naked girl. I've seen myself plenty of times!" Ranma exaggerated. "And besides, you were the one ogling me! Did ya like what ya saw?" She tugged at the top of her shirt to show some cleavage. Ranma blinked as a shadow fell over her from the table Akane had lifted and then swung down in an attempt to flatten the pink haired freak. The table hit Ranma's head with a thwack of wood on flesh and bone. To the Tendos surprise, the table snapped in half from the impact, and Ranma just stood there without any sign of being hit. Her eyes narrowed. "I'll let that slide...this time." Without a glance back Ranma stepped outside and jumped into the night, bounding out of sight in a single leap.

Akane stared at the broken table then at the space Ranma had vacated, and back to the table. She dropped the remains. "She didn't even feel it..."

"Wow, someone has a hard head." Nabiki quipped although she glanced after Ranma with a worried frown. Just how tough did someone have to be to shrug off a blow from her sister? She had seen guys three times Akane's size get flattened by her with ease.

"Oh my, I don't think that was a good idea Akane," Kasumi put down the teapot she had been using to pour a drink. One that had gone flying across the room when mount Akane erupted.

"Why? Cause I made the pervert mad? Cause you two made the decision for me?" Akane snapped. With a final growl, she stomped off out the room and was heard all the way upstairs. A door slammed soon after.

"Maybe we should rethink this Saotome," Soun said in a rare moment of clarity, staring off into the distance.

"Give the boy some time to cool off. He'll come around Tendo."

"Maybe..."

"Ranma seems a little angry about the fiancée thing don't you think? Is she...he...usually this angry?" Nabiki directed her question at Genma, probing for information. Is he dangerous was the unsaid question?

"My boy wouldn't hurt anyone on purpose. His control is excellent. Besides, I taught him better than that...although, he has been a little off since the accident. Won't even spar with me properly anymore," Genma rubbed his chin. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about! Hahaha!"

"Since Jusenkyo?" Alarm bells began to ring in Nabiki's head.

"Jusenkyo? No, this was after that." Genma corrected.

"So what happened?" Nabiki leant in. Kasumi and Soun both focused their attention on Genma as well.

"Just a sparring accident. Someone got hurt, not my boy of course, but these things sometimes happen," Genma eyes flicked around the room as if planning his escape route. Nabiki leant back, well that doesn't clear things up, and he's definitely leaving something out.

---

The city lights flew by below her. Fast enough to almost blur into coloured lines of light. The wind whipped through her hair and damp clothing, yet she barely felt the chill. Ranma landed, tucked into a roll, and exploded out of it at breakneck speed before leaping from the building's roof. In his cursed form roof hopping had taken on an entirely new level. No longer just content to leap to the roof of three stories buildings, Ranma was capable of far greater heights and speeds fast enough she could run along the walls, and up even the tallest skyscraper. He had been capable of a lesser version of these feats since thirteen, but now she made his previous abilities seem pathetic. Since discovering just how far she could now leap, it had become Ranma's favourite pastime, and way to unwind or get some time away to herself to think; and boy did she need to get away.

Up ahead Ranma saw the skeleton of a skyscraper in the middle of construction and aimed herself towards it. She soon landed on the thick steel beams and began to leap from beam to beam, climbing higher and higher until the cars below were merely blobs of light from their head and tail-lights. Grabbing the very top beam, Ranma swung herself around it and up off like a gymnast on a high-beam and landed in a crouch. Standing up under the light of a waxing moon she took in the city below, the winds whipping her ponytail behind her. Taking a deep breath of clear air at this height, she held it for a few seconds before releasing it in a sigh.

So much for being friends, Ranma thought. Guess I'm just a freak to her. Stupid Pops. Stupid Mr Tendo. Stupid girl! Stupid engagement! Stupid me! Stupid freak!

Ranma clenched a fist as her frustration rose up like some insidious monster threatening to consume her, as the memory of Akane trying to brain her flashed behind her eyes again. The slowly becoming familiar feeling of needing to attack something swelled up in her chest. Ranma gave in to the feeling and lashed out at the upright beam to her side. For a second nothing happened, and then slowly the beam split with a diagonal line, sliding down itself for a moment before gravity took hold and the sliced off piece tumbled away. As the thick chunk of metal fell, clanging off other beams, Ranma could only stare at her hand. A hand that had cut through steel like it were wet tissue paper. For a moment she was certain her fingers were bloodied, and she heard the screaming again.

"Gah!" Ranma shook her head to clear the images. The memories lingered, and she leant her head back to look up at the moon. A faint crash drifted up to her ears as the chunk of beam landed somewhere below. "Damn it. Still, need to get a grip on this." She muttered while imagining how her father would tell her off for lashing out. Losing control boy? Guess I need to begin your training from scratch!

Ranma calmed herself and slowly started a kata, on a steel girder, thirty stories high under the moonlight. She soon forgot her worries as the moves began to flow from her. She ran through the kata gracefully jumping and twisting, dodging an imaginary foe with pinpoint precision. Finally, she spun down and relaxed. The frustrations gone and feeling calm and centred once more, she glanced down. She didn't want to return and face her father just yet. Deciding instead to explore a little more, she began to hop from floor to floor all the way back down.

Ranma landed lightly out of sight in a dark alleyway. She waited a few seconds to see if anyone had seen her, before heading out and joining the sparse crowds on the street. She chose a direction at random and began walking, just taking her time to look in the shop windows at all the useless baubles and trinkets to a wandering martial artist like herself.

A shriek and the sound of running feet behind her caused Ranma to glance over her shoulder to see a person in a grey hoodie racing down the street pushing the odd random pedestrian out the way. She noticed the woman's bag the person was clutching to their body. A thief eh? Ranma thought having seen this sort of thing before. She waited for the thief to get close and just as they would have passed her by she raised her arm. The thief gave a startled yelp as he ran into an arm that felt more like running into a steel bar than flesh. His momentum kept his lower half going, which left him half flipping around her arm and landing awkwardly on his back.

Ranma smirked as she swiped the handbag off the ground and watched the started thief get his wits about him. For a moment they stared at each other before the thief scrambled to his feet and raced off. She didn't bother giving chase but did turn as a panting woman caught up with her.

"Here ya go," Ranma handed the woman her bag.

"Oh thank you!"

"No problem," Ranma grinned before wandered off. One good deed for a crappy day, she thought.

---

Later that night Ranma landed lightly on the Tendo's roof. She stayed crouched to check who was still up. She saw the lights were still on in the Tendo's home as she approached. The television was background noise in the living room. Ranma could hear a muffled conversation between two of the girls. Standing up she crept to the roof edge, before hopping down onto the veranda and into view.

"Where have you been Boy?" Ranma spotted her father sitting near to her landing spot, looking out into the garden.

"Out," Ranma stated as her ponytail settled behind her.

"Doing what exactly?" Genma pushed.

"Cooling off," Ranma wandered over and sat herself down next to her father. Genma eyed Ranma speculatory. Ranma watched her dad back, wondering what foolishness would come out of his mouth next, and whether she would need to cool off again.

"Hn. Well, whatever boy. I've put your stuff in the guest room. We'll be here for a while so get yourself settled in."

"Why you so set upon this Pops?" Ranma sighed, knowing that for once her father seemed to be serious. "It's not like this stupid engagement is going to work. I mean that Akane tried to kill me with a table."

"Please don't think too badly of Akane," Ranma glanced up as Kasumi handed her a drink. "She's really a sweet girl. She's just a violent maniac."

"Oh that makes so much sense Kasumi," Nabiki rolled her eyes as she supplied her input from across the room.

"Are all girls so violent and emotional?" Ranma directed her question at her father.

"You including yourself in that question?" Nabiki asked peeking her eyes over the teen magazine she was reading, to study Ranma's response.

"I told you, boy! Stop spending so much time as a girl! It's messing you up!"

"Whose fault is that?" Ranma snapped before realising she was letting herself get angry again. She took a deep breath. "Stuff it old man, I have ta to get control of this body otherwise it'll be a weakness." She drank her tea down in one go and slammed the cup down. Pausing, she took a moment to marvel that she hadn't broken the cup. Or the floor.

"I'm going to have to begin your training from scratch again aren't I," Genma mumbled, mostly to himself.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ranma unfolded to climb to her feet. "I'm going to bed."

---

Nabiki Tendo was not a morning person. In her opinion mornings were the domain of crazy people, and clearly, a creation of some evil demon sent to torture normal, sane people. That or lawyers had come up with the idea. Either way, she specifically had her alarm clock set for the last possible moment she needed to get up, get cleaned and dressed, and have breakfast with enough time to beat the crowds getting to school for a front row seat to the daily spectacle. So, when the cry of feminine rage and splashing shattered her sleep, a bleary-eyed Tendo swore vengeance.

"Stop whining like a girl, boy!"

"Come down here and say that ya stupid rug!"

"Ha! As if you'll even put up a fight!"

Nabiki groaned and buried her head under her pillow, but the sounds of battle didn't recede enough for her to even pretend she could return to blissful slumber. Tossing her covers off she rolled out of bed and stumbled out her room, heading downstairs to watch the goings on, while planning various revenge schemes that would never be implemented. She reached the living room to find her father reading his morning paper. Kasumi watched the Saotomes in the garden as they fought.

"This better not become a regular occurrence," Nabiki grumbled and happily took the cup of coffee from her older sister. "Come to me my caffeinated beverage!"

"They are certainly…energetic," Kasumi commented as they watched the very one-sided fight. Nabiki took a swig of her coffee.

"What's the matter, boy? Afraid to break a nail?" Genma taunted as he attacked Ranma, who spent her time dodging or redirecting the attacks.

"As if!" Ranma snarled but continued avoiding and not hitting back. Nabiki frowned at seeing Ranma continue to avoid attacks, even when with her own basic martial arts knowledge, she spotted various openings Genma seemed to be leaving. Is Mr Saotome that good that Ranma won't take the bait, or Ranma just that bad? Nabiki wondered, sipping at her coffee. After a short time, Ranma blurred forward into Genma's guard, ducked a punch that would have rattled teeth and stuck her leg out in such a way Genma ended up tripping over it. Ranma spun around behind her father and with a gentle push sent the large man careering across the garden and into the koi pond. "And without even a scratch," Ranma buffed her fingernails on her shirt just to mock her panda of a father. Genma glared from the pond.

"Humph! They're not that great," Akane stated, surprising Nabiki as she had not heard her sister get back from her morning run. Nabiki refrained from commenting.

---

"School?" A male Ranma, after a nice dip in the furo, watched his father across from him and wondered once again what he was up to. Genma had never put any stock in him going to school.

"Well, we are going to be staying a while."

"It's the same school me and Akane go to," Nabiki supplied as she walked past the open door of the guest room, schoolbag held over her shoulder. Ranma glanced up at her. "We'll see you there."

"Nabiki! Wait for me! I'll go with you!" Akane hurried up behind her sister.

"What're you talking about? Nabiki glanced over her shoulder at her sister. "Ranma is your fiancé, remember? You should walk him to school."

The two engaged teens glared at each other. Akane sniffed her disdain. "Fine! Come on you!"

Ranma got to his feet and grabbed a fresh shirt to throw over his shoulders. He buttoned it up and blinked as his father handed him a fully pack school bag. "Here you go."

"…" Ranma swiped the bag from his father and followed after his unwanted fiancée. He slipped his arms into the bag's straps so he could carry it on his back. They left the Tendo's home in silence, which continued with only the occasional glance at the other when they thought they weren't watching. When the opportunity to put some distance between him and the violent girl appeared, Ranma hopped up on the walls. He kept pace with the girl easily, even when the walls were left behind for the thin metal chain link fence that lined the canal.

"We're not getting married you know!" Akane broke the uncomfortable silence.

"You're telling me," Ranma agreed.

"And don't hang around me at school!"

"Don't worry. I can't stand macho chicks like you anyway!"

Akane fumed and readied to throw her schoolbag. Before she could, Genma raced up behind Ranma, on the fence, and walloped his son on the back of his head. Ranma did the splits to keep his balance. He quickly recovered and faced his father.

"Pops! What're you-"

"You're in no position to be choosy about women. Listen Ranma, I'll tell you only once-"

Ranma cut Genma off by ducking down and sliding one foot out to knock Genma's feet from under him. The larger Saotome tumbled sideways, still posing with a fist raised, and splashed down in the canal. The large panda glared up as he re-surfaced.

"What's that Pops? Weren't ya going to say something? Yikes!" Ranma dived off the fence as the giant panda leapt at him. He landed on the ground and immediately lunged into a forward roll as panda claws swiped where he had been moments before. Ranma bounded to his feet. "Ha! Watch this!" He paused as his face was hit with water. An old lady nearby continued on splashing water on the ground.

"…" Ranma grabbed her trousers and adjusted them to fit better, a now ingrained automatic action. She wiped her face while Akane looked on with lidded eyes.

"Something wrong?" She watched Ranma, now a pink and white haired girl, adjust her clothing. Akane wondered how exactly Ranma ended up with hair like that, and she knew it was natural, or magical at least from seeing her in the furo.

"Aside from being wet and engaged against my will?" Ranma gave the old lady a glare before she walked away. Akane jogged to catch her up.

"You're going to school like that?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't!" Akane snapped. Her eyes narrowed, and she leant over to glare up at the taller girl. "Unless you're planning to pretend to be a girl to sneak into the locker rooms!"

"Why would I do that?" Ranma glared back and picked up the pace to put some distance between her and the annoying girl.

"Cause you're an obvious pervert!"

"Who's a pervert? Macho-chan!" Ranma's brisk walk became a light jog. Akane matched her pace.

"A certain ladyboy!"

"Ladyboy! Grrr! Why you!" Ranma fists clenched and her jog became faster.

"And if you even think about mentioning the engagement—"

"I wouldn't dream of it. I'd hate for people to think I was engaged to such a macho girl."

"Yeah? Well, I'd hate for people to think I was engaged to such a bitch!" Akane began swiping at Ranma with her schoolbag. "Hey!" Ranma dodged the useless attacks and sped up further until both girls were running. "Stand still and take it like a man!"

"And you'd know all about being manly right macho!" Ranma laughed as the school appeared in the distance. The attacks ceased. Ranma glanced back in time to see Akane sprint right up to and then past her, chanting "I hate boys."

Ranma blinked and pushed herself to catch up with the youngest Tendo. Ranma leant over and studied her as they ran. "Hey, why'd you stop with the insults?"

"Shut up! I don't have time for you right now," Akane snapped as the school gates came into view. Whatever reply Ranma had died in her throat at the sight of a wall of boys, all dressed in different sports gears came charging out.

"There she is!"

"Akane! Date with me!"

"I hate boys!" Akane shouted and charged right into the crowd. Ranma skidded to a halt and stood flabbergasted as she watched the dark-haired girl punch, kick and stomp the horde. Deciding she needed a better view of the action, Ranma jumped onto the wall. What the heck is this? Ranma thought.

"Ranma!" Ranma glanced up at hearing her name to see Nabiki leaning out of a window of the third floor. "Get in the school now."

"But…" Ranma indicated the carnage going on below.

"Don't worry about Akane!"

Ranma realised the sounds of fighting had been replaced with the groans of beaten up sports teams, along with the huffing of Akane as she caught her breath. "Everyday! This is getting annoying!" She flipped her ponytail over her shoulder.

"Truly such a boorish lot," a voice spoke as a tall, handsome youth, dressed in a hakama, stepped out from a nearby tree to stand before Akane. "Evidently each of them intends to ask you out Akane on the dawn that he finally defeats you." He held a bokken in one hand, and a rose in the other.

Akane seemed unimpressed. "Oh, upperclassman. Good morning," she sighed as the red rose was flicked towards her. She caught the flower.

"And now Akane Tendo, would you fight with me?" The wannabe samurai took up a ready stance before Akane. Ranma chose that moment to leap down to land next to the youngest Tendo.

"Man. You're pretty popular aren't you?" The pink and white haired girl leant over to Akane.

"Stay out of this. You'll get hurt," Akane warned. Ranma snorted. "What's going on?"

"You'll see."

"You there! Such a delicate flower, it would be best if you leave this battlefield, least your beauty be marred by a stray attack."

"Eh?" Ranma tried to translate what had been said. Akane snickered beside her. "Who is this guy?" Ranma asked the other girl.

"Ah! But is it not customary to give one's own name first? Very well! Then I shall!"

"Huh? Go ahead, I guess…" Ranma wondered what the loon before him was planning.

"My name is upperclassman Kuno. Junior group E. Captain of the Kendo club. Undefeated new star of the high school fencing world. But my peers call me…The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" Kuno declared, lighting flashed dramatically in the clouds, as if on cue.

"Well, I'm staying at the Tendo dojo," Ranma started.

"Under the same roof as Akane Tendo? Two beautiful maidens in the same building. How the gods have blessed that home."

"Beautiful? Um…are you hitting on me?" Ranma slowly began to think she understood what Kuno was spouting.

"Nay! I would never hurt such a vision of loveliness."

"Oh. That's good I suppose."

"I don't think either of you quite understands the other," Akane declared.

"Please stand aside, I have challenged the fierce Akane Tendo to a duel for the honour of dating her. If I fail, I may allow you to date with me," Kuno waved his bokken, to indicate Ranma should step aside. Ranma glanced at Kuno and back to Akane before a wicked smirk appeared on her lips. Akane felt a foreboding chill.

"Are you saying I'm not good enough to beat macho-chan over there?" Ranma indicated with her thumb.

"Hey! Who are you calling macho!"

"I could beat her with one hand. In fact, I can beat you with only one finger," Ranma challenged, sauntering forward. "As heir to the Saotome school of Anything Goes, I'm way better." Ranma leant her head to the side, eyes closed, as Akane's school bag whizzed past.

"You claim to be even better than Akane Tendo?" Kuno studied Ranma, intrigued by the idea there was another girl as good. Ranma placed a hand behind her back and raised her other in the classic bring it on pose. "Very well, if I win I will allow you to date me! I attack!"

Ranma leant aside and twisted to avoid the downwards slash. She frowned at the weak attempt and placed both her arms behind her back. "If that's your best, you ain't got much."

She is good, Kuno thought, turning his downwards attack into a horizontal one. He felt surprised when the pink haired girl bent backwards at her waist to avoid the swipe, her head almost touching the ground. Before he had fully recovered the momentum of his slash, Ranma pulled herself upright once more in a display of abdominal strength and flexibility, all the time her hands held behind the small of her back. Ranma smirked, declaring her superiority.

"You are good," Kuno declared. "Then I should take this seriously."

"Please do," Ranma closed her eyes. Focusing on her other senses, Ranma grinned. This is a good chance to train this form.

Kuno launched into a rapid series of slashes, in perfect form and incredible speed. Yet Ranma seemed one step ahead of his attacks. Dodging and weaving in and out of them, while making it look easy. Ranma's eyes snapped open just before she dashed forward. She leapt over Kuno's head in a flip. "When ya going to get serious?" She asked as their eyes met at the height of her somersault while she was upside-down, almost seeming to float in the air. Her long ponytail trailed after her movements. She landed lightly on her feet and pirouetted to face Kuno, who backed off for a moment. They studied each other.

Akane stood to the side a look of shock on her face. Kuno was fighting with more skill than he had ever shown and Ranma. Ranma had done to Kuno the same thing she had done to her. Dodged every attack without seeming to put any effort into it. This was the person she had tried to brain with a table…

"It seems I will need to go all out," Kuno declared. Ranma cocked her head to the side, letting long hair dangle. "I attack! Strike! Strike! Strike!" Kuno burst into motion, his attacks a blur to anyone watching. Ranma grinned, excited at the ferocity of Kuno's assault. She backed out of range. Kuno followed after her, harrying her towards the school grounds wall.

"The wall!" Akane gasped at seeing the wall behind Ranma gaining impact craters from the air pressure alone. Ranma backed into the wall with a thump and a smirk still on her face.

"I win!" Kuno declared with a final slash. Ranma grinned and caught the bokken with her hand. The impact passed through her and shattered the wall her back rested on. As the weakened section of wall collapsed, silence fell over the school yard. Drops of rain began to wet the ground.

"That's all ya got?" Ranma asked the panting Kuno.

"Nay! I fight on!" Kuno tried to pull his bokken free, but Ranma's grasp was unyielding like steel.

"Something wrong?" The Saotome heir asked as Kuno struggled to free his weapon from her grip.

"Release my most manly blade woman," Kuno growled through gritted teeth as he pulled back with all his might.

"This one?" Ranma pointed at the bokken with her free hand and gave Kuno an innocent look.

"Aye!" Kuno stopped pulling for a moment. Then he placed a foot on Ranma's thigh and put his whole body into pulling his weapon free. "Hnnnnnn!"

"Hey, careful. You might strain something buddy," Ranma advised after watching the upperclassman actually put both his feet on her and pull. With a laugh, Ranma let go, and Kuno went flying backwards into a tumble. The sky chose that moment to fully open up, and the rain fell. Ranma glanced up at the heavens with an annoyed expression.

"You look away during battle! I strike!" Kuno burst off the ground and into a thrusting attack. Ranma simply stopped the blade with a finger to the tip. Enough force was focused onto the small point that the wooden bokken shattered into pieces. Kuno was left staring dumbfounded at the remains of his weapon as they fell to the wet ground. Ranma disappeared, leaping into the sky and landing behind Kuno. He spun to face her to see her raise her hand and flick him on the forehead. The swordsman flew backwards, hit the wall, his skull sounding like a coconut being hit with a baseball bat. Ranma looked horrified for a moment before the upperclassman spoke. "I…fight…on!" For a second she thought he would. Then he slid down and into unconsciousness, and Ranma let out a relieved breath.

"Upperclassman didn't have much did he?" Ranma cracked her neck from side to side, her cockiness returning to mask the fear she had hurt him.

"You…you beat him…" Akane stared at Ranma, eyes wide. When Ranma glanced towards her, she spun and hurried away. Ranma watched her retreating form for a moment before she followed with her hands behind her head and whistling tunelessly.

---

At a certain construction site, the usual bustle of workmen had paused at the discovery of a fallen steel beam. Various members of the local health and safety and construction firms were debating how a structural beam could have sheared off during the night, and what implications it implied to the safety of the work crew. Across the street and watching the activity stood a tall, thin, vaguely effeminate man dressed in a navy blue suit. People that noticed him gave the odd looking man a wide berth. There wasn't anything threatening about him, but there was something off, almost like a CGI character come to like with a certain uncanny valleyness about him.

The uncomfortable feeling was due to Tuto being an alien artificial intelligence, currently in his human disguise and not his natural form of a cute squid-like floating robot. The AI linked back to a larger craft, hidden in a junkyard nearby and used the ships more advanced scanners to try and track the biological fingerprint of his partner, Birdy Cephon Altera, who had been presumed dead after the disastrous chase of a known criminal into Earth's atmosphere. For almost six months Tuto had been in low power operation, awaiting the retrieval teams to recover the ship he and Birdy had travelled in. Then, three weeks ago her bio-signal had been picked up in the landmass known as China, almost the same spot she had been lost over. Since then, Tuto had been tracking the signal. However, it was frustrating him. Birdy's bio-signal seemed to be getting major interference as if a second signal was overlaying and hiding it. Sometimes it even disappeared for hours at a time completely, making it difficult to track. The inference was confusing. Nothing on this primitive world should be capable of interfering with the Federation's scanners, and yet it was.

With his hands in his pockets, he scanned the area, seeking a trail to follow. He picked up the genetically engineered altan DNA at the construction site, but the trail was too hard to follow, due to her method of high altitude travel. Tuto worried for his partner. The fact she had not contacted him over their link, and worse he was unable to reach her, left the AI wondering if she had suffered a head injury, or the implants had been damaged. Not a far-fetched thought, even with her engineered super-soldier status, a free fall from thirty kilometres up could kill her. That she had survived was a miracle in itself. He had to find her before something further happened to her. If the planet's local authorities discovered her nature, it would cause all sorts of complications.

"Where are you Birdy? Why won't you answer?" Tuto turned and walked away. He would wait for her to ping on the long range scanners again. Her bio-signal would often seem to improve the most between midnight and the early hours of the morning. He theorised the interference weakened while she slept, although he still had no hypothesise why this should be. It was just a waiting game now, he was getting close. He would find and rescue his charge.

---

"Well, it seems we have a new student joining us today," the homeroom teacher adjusted his glasses and glanced over at Ranma. She stood before the class, hands behind her back, and took in the faces before her and the hushed interest she had generated. "I was under the impression that you were a boy?"

"That's my old man's fault I'm a girl," Ranma told the truth.

"Well, be that as it may, it seems you've recently returned from China. However, that doesn't change the fact that both you and Akane Tendo were late. Stand in the hall."

"This is all your fault, you know," Akane accused once they stood in the corridor holding buckets of water as punishment.

"How'd ya figure that one out?" Ranma looked at her fiancée from the corner of her eyes.

"If you hadn't interfered I would have finished the fight with time to spare."

"What was that all about anyway?"

Akane sighed. "It's all Kuno's fault. He made a declaration that if anyone wanted to date me, they had to defeat me in honourable combat first."

"And the idiots went along with it?" Ranma's pink eyebrows rose.

"Yeah," Akane looked at her feet. "Kuno's the best fighter in the school, so nobody dares defy him. Although, I beat him every day."

"Well," Ranma lifted her arms out before herself to try and make the bucket duty actually hard. She frowned as the full buckets weighed nothing and knew she could hold them all day without effort. "You know, a guy will often go easy on a girl."

"Oh really?" Akane growled while eyeing the boy who was a girl beside her. "So he went easy on you eh?"

"He started to try that crap with me, but I made sure he knew I was way better than he was. Besides, it's part of our school right?"

"Huh?"

"You shouldn't defeat your opponent right away, in case they have a cool or useful move you can add to your own," Ranma stated, flipping one of the buckets to land on her pointer finger and balanced it there while not losing a drop of the water within. "Treat every battle as a learning experience and make everything you do training. One of the few things Pop's got right."

"So you were holding back? Even against Kuno? Even when he started breaking the wall?" Akane wanted to disbelieve Ranma, but she couldn't after seeing her fight with Kuno.

"Yeah. I mean, if I don't..." Ranma trailed off and stared into the distance for a moment. She turned to regard Akane, her face strangely serious. "Hey, Akane?"

"What?"

"Have you ever, you know, hurt someone? Like lost your temper or control and hurt someone?"

Akane flushed in embarrassment. "Well, I broke a boy's nose when I was younger. Kasumi scolded me real bad for that. I was grounded for weeks."

"Oh. So it's a normal girl thing to have less control than a boy?" Ranma sounded relieved.

"Eh? What do you mean by that?" Akane's temper flared.

"I mean I'm not a weird girl when I'm a girl," Ranma stated. "It's just something to work at. Thanks, Akane!" Ranma's enormous, infectious, and a slightly goofy smile lit the hallway, startling Akane at how genuinely happy Ranma seemed to be at hearing her words.

Cute! Akane thought. Then she realised what she had thought. No way! Ranma can't be cute! She's a boy! I can't think like that! Gah! Akane turned away from Ranma feeling a rush of weird emotions and thoughts. I'm not a pervert!

"You ok?"

"Just...sh...shut up!"

---

The rest of the morning passed by slowly for Ranma, who found the lessons boring. She actually fell asleep, and even the chalk the teacher had tossed at her head and shattered didn't really register. This amusingly led to the teacher thinking Ranma had passed out instead. Only when Ranma had yawned at the worried teacher's shaking of her had anyone realised she had been asleep. Ranma ended up in the hall again. When the dinner break came around, Ranma found herself the centre of attention, surrounded by girls and boys and the questions flew.

"You're a martial artist? So cool."

"How'd you beat Kuno so easily?"

"What's your three sizes?"

"Did you really train in China?"

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Your hair is awesome! How do you dye it like that?"

"Are you really better than Akane?"

Ranma glanced from face to face, unable to figure out how she should react to this situation. If it had been martial arts, she would definitely know what to do, but the rapid fire questions and being surrounded threw her for a loop. Not knowing what else to do she tried to answer a question, but the next one would catch her off guard, and she ended up stuttering partial answers before the next question fired off.

"Yeah…Kuno? Three what's? China? Eh?" Ranma floundered and became flustered.

"Aww, she's blushing. How cute!"

"I'm not cute!" Ranma finally managed to get a full sentence out. "I'm a—Heh, heh." She caught herself before she could blab about the curse.

Akane watched her fiancé get bombarded and sink under the weight of enthusiastic teenagers and took pity on her. Standing up she made to rescue the pink haired girl, but a voice from the doorway got there first.

"Hey, Ranma-chan!" Ranma looked up at hearing Nabiki's voice. "Can I have a word?"

"Sure," Ranma breathed a sigh of relief and pushed her chair back as the crowd suddenly found other things to do and scattered. Ranma blinked at the way they dispersed, before shrugging and heading out into the hall after the other Tendo sister.

What's Nabiki up to? Akane frowned and followed at a safe distance.

"Kuno-baby asked me to deliver this to you," Nabiki handed Ranma an impressive envelope. Ranma took it and tore the top off. Taking out the paper inside she unfolded it and read the elegant script aloud.

"Ranma Saotome, after school, meet me in the second field of Furinkan High School." Ranma gave Nabiki a questioning look.

"Gee, Kuno-baby's such a sore loser. Guess he wants another go."

"Feh, if he wants another butt kicking I can give it to him," Ranma crumpled the challenge letter up into a ball. Nabiki grinned and walked off while Ranma headed back inside.

"Kuno's challenged you?" Akane asked the pink-haired girl as she stepped through the door.

"Yeah, guess he likes losing," Ranma smirked.

"Better be careful, he's obsessive," Akane warned.

"Feh, what's the worse stick-boy can do?"

---

"What the?" Ranma stated as she stepped onto the field behind the school to find a massive crowd. Nabiki and another couple of girls were seen almost dancing from student to student, taking notes in a notepad and handing out what appeared to be tickets.

"Urgh, Nabiki…figures she would do something like this," Akane muttered from beside Ranma. "Nabiki!"

Nabiki turned at Akane's shout and waved before moseying on over. "Hey, sis. Ranma. What's up?"

"What the hell is this? Did you tell the entire school?" Akane accused.

"Hey, it's not every day someone beats Kuno, and he demands a rematch. I'm just being enterprising!" Nabiki smiled. "So Ranma, make sure you put on a good show. I got lots riding on you!" She patted Ranma's shoulder before rushing off to find fresh victims.

"Is she always like that?" Ranma queried.

"Nabiki's happiest when she's scamming money out of somebody," Akane sighed.

"Huh? Really?" Ranma shrugged before looking over the field for Kuno. "So where's the Blue Blunder?"

"Blue Blunder? Heh, fits," Akane snickered. A hush fell over the crowd, drawing the pair's attention to the far end where Kuno appeared. He walked calmly down the steps and onto the track, seemingly oblivious to the stares and comments about the wonderful bruise on his forehead.

"Look's like this is it," Ranma cracked her knuckles.

"Do you have to?" Akane grimaced at the popping noises. She hated that sound.

"Huh?" Ranma blinked as she realised she hadn't even thought about or realised she had done so. She blinked at her hands and wondered to herself when she had developed that habit.

"I hate that!" Akane snapped. "And it's not good for you."

"Sorry," Ranma swiftly pulled her hands apart and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Gotta go." Ranma jumped and somersaulted down the steps before walking towards Kuno with her hands in her pockets.

"So you came, Saotome," Kuno greeted when they stood a few metres apart.

"I don't back down from a challenge," Ranma smirked. "Where's your sword?" She asked after looking him up and down.

"I have no need of a weapon this time."

"Oh? Awfully confident aren't ya?"

"Indeed. Confident enough to give you this!" Kuno whipped something from his sleeves and tossed it at Ranma. She reacted by catching the thrown item and blinking at the crunching sound of thin plastic. Red petals floated down from where she held a bouquet of roses. A hush had fallen on the field before the whispers began. "I love you!"

"A declaration of love?"

"Aw man, I wanted a fight!"

"Boo!"

"So romantic!"

"Poor girl. Kuno…"

Nabiki blinked, checked her notepad before grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "Nobody bet on that! Yahoo!"

Ranma froze like a statue. Kuno had declared his love for her in front of what seemed to be the entire school. But she was a boy. But if she shouted out and explained the curse now everyone would consider her a freak. She was part mortified, part sickened, and part terrified. She didn't know how to react. Hearing all the whispering, Ranma finally settled on an emotion she had been coming to know well these last few weeks. Anger.

"Ahhh!" Ranma screamed her rage to the heavens as she slammed the bouquet into the ground. The offending flowers disappeared into a hole at the impact point of her fist. There was a moment of silence before with a whump the ground cratered into a five-metre impact depression. Screams of panic rose from the crowd, and those closest to the quaking scrambled away from Ranma and the suddenly sloped ground. As the dust settled, a huffing Ranma ripped her hand free sending dirt flying. She exploded forward slamming into Kuno and lifting the larger boy off the ground by his top. "How dare you?" Ranma snarled in his face.

Akane stared in fascinated horror, first from Kuno's declaration of love and then from Ranma's reaction and the damage the cursed martial artist had caused. Her mind flashed back to sparring with Ranma in the dojo. Then to her smashing the table on the cursed boy's head, and the battle with Kuno, and finally what she had just witnessed. A lump of fear appeared in her throat. Ranma was that strong! She heard the voices behind her, sounding as shocked as she suddenly felt.

"Did you see that?"

"She's a monster woman!"

"Wow!"

"Kuno's so dead."

Kuno blinked down at the pink-haired girl's face, twisted in anger, and realised his mistake. "I'm sorry my love, I should have realised a girl such as yourself would prefer lisianthus' instead of roses."

"That's not why I'm pissed off you idiot!" Ranma shook the kendoist. "How dare you embarrass me like this?"

"I see. I should have realised your tough outer exterior held the delicate and pure heart of a maiden."

"You! You! I thought you wanted a fight!"

"Fight with you? Nay, I could never hurt you!"

Ranma released one hand, still holding Kuno with the other, formed a fist and drew her arm back.

Monster is right, Akane thought, seeing Ranma's casual show of strength. When Ranma pulled her fist back, Akane was sure that she saw sparks for a moment gather around Ranma's fist, and she heard Ranma's words repeated from earlier.

Have you ever, you know, hurt someone? Like lost your temper or control and hurt someone?

At that moment, Akane realised what Ranma had been asking and knew she had to stop this before the cursed boy did something he/she would regret. Akane rushed forward and grabbed Ranma's forearm, knowing she had no chance of stopping the oncoming blow with just her own strength.

"Stop it Ranma! You'll kill him!"

"Maybe I want to!" Ranma snapped back at Akane. But the interruption was enough to reign in her anger. Especially once she took in the pleading and scared look on Akane's face. "Feh!" Ranma tugged her hand free of Akane and with one final nasty glare at the boy she held, she pushed him away from her. Kuno landed awkwardly and stumbled backwards until he fell on his rear.

"Listen here you jerk," Ranma snarled. "I don't like you! In fact, you make me sick! Try this again, and you'll be eating through a straw! Permanently!" She took a couple of chest heaving breaths and looked around the field at the crowd before settling on Akane. "Let's get out of here."

"Oh how my heart is torn," Kuno climbed to his feet and posed with crocodile tears. Ranma and Akane levelled lidded eyes at the loon. "The beautiful and kinda Akane Tendo sweeps in, to profess her feelings and protect the love of her life, from the fierce tigress Ranma Saotome! Should I return the love of one, I isolate the other! My loves, please don't fight over me!" Ranma and Akane shared an annoyed glance. "But how can I choose? Ah, but the heart of Tatewaki Kuno holds enough love for both! Come to me, let me date you both!"

Pow!

Kuno spun once and fell to the ground as Akane decked him with a blow to the jaw. "He just won't quit," Akane grumbled.

"Hey! How come you're allowed to hit him and not me?" Ranma rounded on Akane.

"Because I won't leave a bloody smear on the ground."

"…" Ranma blinked. "Oh…right."

"Come on let's go," Akane grabbed Ranma's wrist and pulled the unresisting girl in the direction of home. The crowd took that to mean the show was over and began dispersing. They soon left the school grounds behind. Ranma pulled free of Akane and stuck her hands in her pockets as she kept pace with her fiancee. Akane stole glances at Ranma as they walked in mostly silence, aside from the occasionally unintelligible grumble from the pink haired girl. Ranma kicked at the odd pebble as they passed by the canal. She glanced at Akane, went to say something then shut her mouth and looked away. After a few more steps, Ranma gathered up her courage.

"Akane, thanks," Ranma said in a tiny voice, looking away with pink tinged cheeks.

Akane swung her face to regard Ranma, unsure if she had actually heard the other girl speak. From Ranma's body language she could see she was embarrassed. "You're welcome. It wasn't a big deal."

"Yes, it was," Ranma stated firmly. Akane blinked at her and waited for clarification. "If you hadn't stopped me I'd have broken the promise I made to myself."

"What promise?"

"I'm a martial artist. I'm supposed to use my training to defend those weaker than myself right? Well, since Jusenkyo, everybody's weaker than me. You. Pops. My normal body! Everyone!"

"I'm not that weak," Akane grumbled, although she reluctantly agreed Ranma was in a different league. Maybe even a different ballgame.

"Compared to me, you are," Ranma stated. "I've had to pull my punches these last few weeks. I can't even train properly with Pops like this anymore, and I daren't even think of how hard I could kick someone. Do you have any idea how hard it is? Thank Kami, God, and Buddha that Pops trained me to hold back until you know how strong your opponent is. I can't imagine how I'd cope if he had trained me to go all out every time."

"Wait," Akane realised something. "You're stronger than your boy body?"

"Yeah, and I don't have any clue why." Ranma looked up at the thin clouds. "At first I just thought whoa, girls are this strong? Why the hell did Pops always say they were weak? Then I realised it was just girl me was a freak."

"Then…why don't you just stay a boy?"

Ranma laughed hoarsely. "Even if I tried, cold water would find me. It seems ta be part of the damned curse that cold water seeks ya out. In China, I couldn't stay a boy for more than a few hours at best." She shook her head. "I've spent almost all the time since Jusenkyo a girl, and trying to gain control over this cursed body. But it's so much stronger I've barely made any progress. Losing control is…it's the worst. I've trained all my life to be the best, to be in perfect control of my body, and then this happens, and I'm like a disaster waiting to happen. I vowed I wouldn't punch or kick in a fight until I have control over my strength."

"That's why you just dodge all the time?"

"Yeah, I've been working on incorporating Taichi and other forms of redirecting attacks into my style. If I can't trust myself to not hurt anyone when I attack, I'll just have ta use my opponent's attacks against them."

The pair fell into silence again until the gates to the Tendo's home came into view. Akane needed to clarify something. "You asked if I've lost control and hurt someone."

"Yeah?"

"Um…you've hurt someone haven't you?"

Ranma stopped in her tracks. Akane paused as well and watched as the other girl struggled with something. Finally, Ranma answered in a small voice. "I did. I hurt someone...badly."

"H—how bad?"

"Bad enough I never want it to happen again."

Akane did not know quite how she felt hearing Ranma confirm her suspicions. She tried to imagine what would happen to someone if Ranma had hit them like she had the ground in the field. The image wasn't pleasant. Akane took a final fearful look at Ranma's downtrodden expression and hurried towards home. Ranma looked up to see Akane's retreating back and sighed. She followed two steps behind, eyes down and hands in her pockets.

"We're home!" Akane announced when they got inside and took off their shoes. Ranma just followed her fiancee into the living room. Soun and Genma were sat in front of a shoji board studying it intensely.

"Welcome back Akane, Ranma-chan," Kasumi greeted as they walked in. She carried a tray with cups and drinks.

"How was school?" Soun asked looking up from the board. A mistake Genma capitalised upon. "Did you and Ranma get along?"

"I guess," Akane exchanged a look with Ranma and glanced away.

"Hear that Saotome! Our children are getting along so well!"

"Of course. My boy can get along with even the most ornery of women!" Genma exclaimed.

"What are you implying?" Sound rounded on his friend, a dark aura flickering around his shoulders. "I think you'll find my little baby is sweet and kind!"

Genma paused a moment under the severe frown directed at him. "I meant, my boy understands women! I mean he is one at times!" Genma congratulated himself on his recovery.

"Haha! Of course!" Sound and Genma laughed together.

"Oh, so you planned Jusenkyo to make me this way," Ranma rolled her eyes and sat down at the table and took one of the drinks. She idly swirled the liquid around the cup.

Not one to avoid praise Genma grinned over at Ranma. "All part of the plan, boy!" Soun took his chance and rotated the board one hundred and eighty degrees. "Got splashed on the way back, eh boy?"

Ranma's expression picked up and she smirked. Any chance to annoy Genma made her feel better.

"Nah. I couldn't be bothered changing back so went to school as a girl," Ranma stated offhandedly. "Even had a boy profess his love for me." It took all Ranma's self-control to resist the shudder that threatened to run through her. She sipped her drink and watched her father's reaction over the cup. Genma froze like a statue. It was Soun's reaction that startled her.

"How dare you two time my little girl!"

Ranma cried out, tossing her drink straight up and scrambled away from the demon headed projection that suddenly filled the room with darkness and all manner of snakes and creepy crawlies.

"Daddy! Stop it! It was the jerk who's been harassing me! I decked him for both of us!" Akane stepped in.

"Oh? Oh, my little baby defending her fiance's honour!" Soun went from raging demon to hugging Akane in the space of a second.

"Gah! Dad! You're embarrassing me!"

"You went to school as a girl?" Genma exploded from his spot and stormed over to Ranma.

"And why not?" Ranma gathered her wits and snapped back. "After all you just said you planned me getting this curse!"

"No, I didn't!" Genma and Ranma butted heads. Figuratively and literally as they pressed their foreheads together. "You're my son, and I won't have you going all girly and soft in the head!"

"And who's fault is it that I'm girly?" Ranma snarled back. "And I ain't soft!"

"Have you seen yourself, boy? All cuddly and curvy with pink hair! Pink!"

"Like I have any choice what colour my hair turns! And you're one to talk about cuddly, panda-chan!"

"Now, now, Saotome," Soun eased between father and son and separated them. "Ranma's little problem isn't that bad. As long as he performs his manly duties once they're married, I don't see a problem with his alternative lifestyle choices."

"Oh Father, that's a very enlightened attitude," Kasumi beamed proudly. "Especially as Akane hates boys!"

Soun face-faulted. "My baby girl is a lesbian! Waaaaah! Where did I go wrong?" He burst into tears after picking himself up and crouching in the corner with his back to the room.

"Daddy!" Akane shrieked, fists clenched, and a fiery aura burning around her. She spun and stomped out the room. "I'm not a lesbian!"

"Oh, my," Kasumi realised she may have used a poor choice of words.

"What's a lesbian?" Ranma asked.

"Boy!" Genma grabbed Ranma's shirt. "I will not have my son in a lesbian relationship! Go be a man and put Tendo's daughter back on the right path with your manliness."

"Aw shut up!" Ranma yanked herself free. She pushed Genma back. "Thanks to you I'll never be a real man again!" Ranma didn't know exactly what caused the reaction to this lesbian thing, or what it meant, but if she could use it annoy Genma she would. "If I want to be in a lesbian relationship I will! I'll be the best damned lesbian ever! Suck on that old fart!"

"Gah!" Genma choked on whatever come back he was preparing. His eye twitched in frustration, and thoughts of a particular pledge he had made with his wife. Ranma was going to get them both killed. For once Genma paused and took stock of the situation and mentally performed the Saotome Secret Technique. He backed off and studied the problem. His son had taken being awkward and stubborn to new heights. He'd figured out the curse irritated Genma and was doing his best to use it to wreck his, and Soun's, carefully constructed plans (in reality their drunken celebrations) to join the schools. An idea formed. One that would require all of his emotional control to implement. He just had to make the boy too embarrassed to be a girl, and everything would be put right.

Genma folded his arms and growled. "Alright."

"And another-Huh? Alright?" Ranma stumbled at the sudden change in Genma's demeanour.

"All. Right." Genma made the words pop.

Ranma blinked. "All? right? What do ya mean, alright?"

"I mean, aaaaalllll, riiiiiight!"

"Ya know alright ain't much of a threat," Ranma pointed out. However, her eyes narrowed at the feeling that something dangerous was occurring.

"Have it your way, Ranma," Genma declared with stony features. "Make me proud." His piece said Genma walked away leaving a very confused, and wary Ranma.

---

The next morning Ranma woke up in confusion. She opened her eyes once the shaft of sunlight coming in through the window crossed the room and settled on her face. Ranma sat up, yawned and stretched, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Then the feeling that something was weird hit her. She had woken up. Not been woken up by her father throwing her out the window, or dumping cold water on her, or any of the other methods he used to startle her awake and begin their morning training sessions.

Ranma checked around the room. Nothing appeared out of place. She checked herself, peeking under the covers. Nothing odd there, aside from not being how she had been born, but that was becoming familiar. Although she swore, she had gone to bed a boy. Tossing aside the covers of her futon she climbed to her feet, dressed in her muscle shirt and Chinese trousers she had gone to bed in. She scratched at an itch below one breast and wandered outside.

Genma was in the garden moving through a kata. By himself. Ranma watched him for a moment, feeling strangely upset for some reason. "Hey, Pops! Why'd you start without me?"

"Hmm? Oh, Ranma, you're awake. Good morning," Genma quickly went back to his kata. Feeling like she was in an episode of the twilight zone, Ranma frowned.

"Ok, Pops! What's the deal?"

"What do you mean?"

"What you up to? You've never let me sleep in before."

"Ah, that. I've had an epiphany," Genma said.

"When'd ya eat a dictionary?" Ranma smirked. To her surprise, Genma did not rise to the bait and smoothly continued.

"It seems I can no longer train you."

"O...kay. Why's that?" Ranma narrowed her eyes. What is he up to?

"Anything Goes is not a passive style. Don't think I haven't figured out that you won't hit back anymore. I'm afraid unless you stop this silly pacifist behaviour I can't teach you any of the more advanced Saotome style."

Ranma blinked. She blinked some more. "Hey! You know what'll happen if I fight back! I can't hit people until I've got this body under control."

"No. I think you've lost your nerve, that spark that made you great when you chose to be a girl. It's my fault. I should have worked with you more, but it's too late now." Genma gave an exaggerated sigh. "Until you regain what is lost I am unable to teach you."

"Oh pull the other one old man!" Ranma went into a ready stance. Genma watched her and waited for her to make the first move. After a minute had passed Genma raised an eyebrow. "Come on old man, attack already!"

"Very well," Genma pushed his glasses up and disappeared. Ranma flinched back. Genma hadn't just jumped or moved fast he had vanished. A blow to the back of her neck sent her off the veranda and smashing face first into the grass. It was only for a second, but when she came to, she pushed herself off the ground and sat up stunned, and looked around for her father.

"What the hell?" Ranma rubbed the grass stains off her chin and felt the back of her neck where the blow had landed.

"Do you see now?" Genma stood looking down at her, arms folded, his expression serious.

"Feh, barely felt it," Ranma got on one knee and pushed herself to her feet. Genma suddenly burst forward and landed a strange double palm blow to her sternum. Ranma felt the air explode out of her lungs and the world blurred around her as she flew backwards, only stopping when she slammed into the wall surrounding the Tendo's compound. The wall cracked from the force of the blow, and she slid to the ground and slumped. Coughing from the surprise blow, Ranma raised watery eyes to see her father looking sternly down at her.

"Do you understand now? When you're ready to train in anything goes again I'll be waiting. Girl." Genma stated and walked away.

Ranma pushed herself back to her feet and growled. "Hey, I bearly felt that!" Even though she rubbed at the spot where the blow had landed. The skin felt tender. "Stupid panda! Just cause you can throw a good punch doesn't mean you know what I'm going through!" Ranma grumbled under her breath all the way back to the house. Just as she stepped inside, Nabiki's voice shrieked out, and soon everyone raced to see what was happening. Ranma found the Tendo's and her Father crowding in the changing room as a dripping, towel-clad Nabiki shivered and complained to Kasumi.

"The furo's freezing!"

"Oh dear," Kasumi pulled the plug after dipping her hand in the water. She turned on the hot water tap and frowned as she felt only cold water coming out. "Looks like the boiler is broken."

"Well, fix it!" Nabiki snapped.

"I'll ring the repair man," Kasumi nodded. "But I guess everyone will just have to clean with cold water."

"How did that happen?" Genma asked with a straight face.

"Yeah how?" Ranma chose that moment to spray Genma with cold water from the shower attachment.

"Growf!" Genma held up a panda sign. "I'm innocent!"

Once the excitement died down and Nabiki and Akane had cleaned up, it was Ranma's turn. She suspected her father had something to do with it, but couldn't prove it. His weird ass behaviour that morning still plagued Ranma, and she wondered what he was up to. It made no sense to her that her father would actually want her to stay a girl for school. She had fully expected to wind him up with the prospect, and here he was being inconsiderate and not acting the way he should.

"Stupid old man," Ranma muttered wrapping a towel around her waist, shivered, and stepped into the changing room. She went to grab her clothes but found the spot empty. "Huh? Coulda sworn I'd left them there." Ranma did a thorough sweep of the room looking for her Chinese style clothes and boxer shorts. Her eyes narrowed. "Pops!" she growled. Ranma stormed out the changing room. Kasumi gave an "Oh my!" as she was forced to dodge the irate martial artist.

"Okay Pops! what did ya do with my clothes!" Ranma challenged as she burst into the room, only wearing a towel around her waist. Nabiki paused with her chopsticks halfway to her mouth at the topless girl. Where's my camera? She quickly put the food down and looked around.

"Good morning Ranma-urk!" Soun froze as he got an eyeful.

"What clothes?" Genma-panda's sign said.

"My Chinese clothes!" Ranma placed a foot on the table to lean over Genma, revealing a shapely leg.

"Oh those clothes, I cut them up and gave them to Kasumi for rags." Genma's calmly raised sign explained. The clicking of a camera went off in the background.

"Why you! How dare you! They were mine!" Ranma snarled.

Akane poked her head into the room, wondering what was going on and flushed pink at Ranma's state of dress. She grabbed a tea towel from Kasumi's numb hands, as the oldest sister stood just inside the room unsure what to do.

"I don't believe you!" Akane screeched as she rushed forward to cover Ranma's chest with the tea towel. "Have you no feminine modesty?"

"What?" Ranma blinked as the hastily wrapped covering was pulled tight and tied at the back. "Who cares about that? He cut up my favourite clothes!"

"You're unbelievable!" Akane palmed her face.

Ranma whipped back to glare at her father. "Stupid panda!" She snarled and with a huff, stormed out the room. Akane muttered under her breath and sat down at the table with the others. Barely a minute had passed before Ranma's shriek of righteous fury echoed from the guestroom.

"Oh my," Kasumi said.

"Oh, this is going to be good," Nabiki stated and got up.

"That idiot," Akane grumbled also getting up. Genma-panda waited until the three girls left and began to smugly pick at all the abondoned food.

The three Tendo sister's found a fuming Ranma surrounded by clothing that had holes cut out of them, and she was still pulling more ruined pieces from her backpack.

"Wow, those must have been big moths," Nabiki quipped. The glare Ranma levelled her could have boiled water, but had no effect on the middle Tendo.

"Oh dear, Ranma-chan. Your clothes," Kasumi knelt down beside the fuming girl and began to collect the ruins up. "Maybe I can rescue something?"

"That...that...that damned panda!" Ranma tore the holy remains of a pair of boxer shorts in half. "He's done this on purpose!"

"Why?" Akane asked.

"Becuase..." Ranma couldn't think of an actual reason. She remembered something and spun her pack around, unzipped a compartment and pulled out a red with a gold patterned Cheongsam. It was intact. "Ooooh! That mouldy old fart!"

"Oh, that's beautiful!" Kasumi gushed and ran her fingers down it.

"What are you doing with something like that you pervert?" Akane slapped Ranma on the back of her head.

"Hey! It was for one of Pop's harebrained schemes!" Ranma snapped back.

"Oooh, do enlighten us," Nabiki leant in.

"Well, Pops never had much money when we were in the city. So Pops came up with this plan for me to pretend to be lost in a rough part of town and when these thugs came up to me we would beat them up and take their money," Ranma grinned at the memory, then shook her head. "Did he forget I had this?"

"I get it," Nabiki chuckled. "He's trying the old reverse psychology on you."

"Whaty, what, what?" Ranma frowned.

"It's obvious. He wants you to be a boy and get married to Akane right. So when you use your girl body to annoy him, you've pushed him to the point he's going to try and embarrass you enough that you won't want to stay a girl."

"Would he really do that?" Akane asked.

"Yeah...yeah, he would," Ranma confirmed. She looked at the dress. "Well, got no choice but to wear this today."

"You can't wear that for school," Nabiki swiped the dress from Ranma.

"Hey! Give that back! And why not?"

"Akane, can you image Kuno's reaction if Ranma turned up in this?" Nabiki held the dress up against herself and waved a hand down it.

"Brrrr!" Akane shuddered at the thought. "Nabiki's right! You can't wear something like that!"

"Why?"

"Do you want every pervert in school to propose to you like Kuno did?" Akane poked Ranma on her breastbone.

"Just by wearing that?" Ranma blinked.

"Oh Ranma, you're so naive it's too cute," Nabiki grinned.

"So what am I going to do? I can't just wear these towels. Maybe I'll stay here today?"

"I've got an idea," Nabiki smiled.

"What's this going to cost?" Akane groaned.

"Nothing. Think of this as an investment!" Nabiki pointed a finger up. "Kasumi still has her old uniform right? Ranma's only an inch or so shorter so it should fit her ok."

"That's a good idea Nabiki," Kasumi agreed and grabbed Ranma's hand. "Come on."

Kasumi led Ranma to her room, and the three girls and one pseudo-girl stepped inside. Kasumi moved to the wardrobe and opened the door to retrieve her old uniform, from its hanger. She held it against Ranma. "It should fit."

"That uniform is ugly," Ranma decided.

"Tell me about it," Akane agreed.

"Better than a sailor fuku though," Nabiki drawled as she poked through Kasumi's drawers. "Here you go!" Nabiki tossed something white at Ranma who caught the object's on reflex.

"What are..." Ranma trailed off at the panties and bra.

"You pervert! Get off my sister's underwear!" Akane swiped them from Ranma's fingers. Nabiki swiped them back and handed them off to Ranma again.

"Hey! What are you doing Nabiki?"

"Ranma's going to need underwear. His father's destroyed everything."

"But-but!"

"I can't wear these!" Ranma cried holding the offending items as far from her as possible.

"She can't wear them!"

"Oh, so she's going to go commando," Nabiki drawled. "Wait till the first pervert figures that out."

"Ulp!" Akane flinched at the thought.

"Is that worse than wearing my Chinese dress?" Ranma asked.

"A hundred, no, a thousand times worse!" Nabiki stated. Ranma looked ill. "Also, your dad is trying to make you embarrassed and self-conscious about this. You going to let him win?"

Ranma growled. "No way!" Then with a reluctant sigh. "Let's get this over with."

---

Two Tendo's and a Saotome in identical Furinkan girl uniforms returned to the living room. Ranma fidgeted with the unfamiliar clothing as they entered. She recovered some composure when catching sight of her father and glared. She sat down at the table and engaged her father in a contest of who could pull the greatest scowl.

"Oh Daddy," Ranma spoke in a saccharine voice, "Could you pass the soy sauce please?"

"Of course Daughter." Genma-panda signed back and slid the small bowl over.

"Thank you so much, Daddy!" This polite conversation was accompanied by tension so thick it could have been cut with a knife. You could almost see the lighting between the pair as they glared at each other. Meanwhile, Akane waved a hand in front of her father's face and got no reaction as he was still in booby-land.

"I'm looking for a job." Genma-panda signed.

"I think there's an opening at the zoo," Ranma sang.

"Very funny, Daughter."

"Why would you need a job? You've never had one before?"

"Well, we are going to be here," the sign was flipped, "a while. I don't want my little girl losing," flip, "the next two years of school!"

"Aww, you're so kind, Daddy!" Ranma hugged her furry father. The embrace became a noogie as she pressed her fist into his head, smiling sweetly enough to cause tooth decay as she did. Genma-panda took the abuse with as close to a smile as a panda could.

"Oh man, look at the time," Nabiki looked at the clock. "We're going to late if we don't get a move on!"

"I'm not being late again!" Akane jumped up, grabbed Ranma's arm and dragged the pink haired girl out with her at a run. "But breakfast!" Ranma was heard complaining.

"10,000 yen please," Nabiki eyed Genma and held a hand out once the other two were out of earshot. Genma-panda grumbled and produced a wallet from somewhere. He gave some notes to the middle Tendo. Nabiki counted them and smiled. "Great doing business with you. Remember, 10,000 a week, and I'll make sure to keep the pressure on Ranma for you. Ciao!" Nabiki got up and left smiling to herself. This was going to be so fun, and better yet, so profitable.

---

"Ya could of let me finish breakfast at least," Ranma grumbled as she kept pace alongside Akane.

"You should have thought about that instead of messing with your dad!"

"But he deserved it!"

"Humph," Akane sniffed and turned her nose up for a moment until the gates of Furinkan appeared. As had become customary of the mornings the horde of boys in sports gear stood at the gate. Akane frowned. Was there more than usual?

"Look! There they are!"

"Charge!"

"Akane/Ranma date with me!" a dual war cry went up. Akane and Ranma skidded to a halt at the cry.

"What?" the girls shouted. Ranma turned to Akane, scooped her up in a bridal carry to her screech of displeasure. The pink and white haired martial artist charged the boys and with one bound shot over their heads. Eyes looked up, and many a nosebleed occurred. Akane shrieked and held her skirt down as they flew. Ranma landed them lightly in front of the doors, and while her dress settled around her legs, put a shaken Akane down.

"There, we're not late," Ranma grinned. Akane slapped her and ran inside, face bright pink. "What? What did I do this time?" Ranma gave chase.

---

Once again, Ranma found herself drifting off during classes. A lump of chalk bounced off her head, and she mumbled something about pandas. The blackboard eraser did wake her up, though. As she looked left and right for her attacker the teacher spoke.

"Well, Saotome-san, seeing as you're so bored by the questions that must mean you already know the answers. Would you like to come up here and show us how it's done?"

Ranma blinked at the maths problem on the board. "Um, sure," Ranma stood up and wandered to the front, ignoring the snickers and wondered how badly she would make a fool of herself. Not that she really cared. The teacher handed her the chalk, and she studied the board. For a moment the symbols were incomprehensible, then as if something kicked into place in her brain they suddenly made sense. Ranma grinned and wrote the answer with a flourish and speed not many could match. "There. How's that?" She turned to see the teacher gaping at her and heard the silence of the students as they awaited to hear the teacher's verdict, which would decide if they laughed or not.

"That's…correct," The teacher adjusted his glasses. "Well done, return to your seat."

Ranma grinned and strolled away to surprised whispers. She tossed the chalk over her shoulder, and it landed perfectly on the small shelf under the board.

---

Lunch soon came around, and Ranma found herself sandwiched beside Akane and her two friends that decided they needed to get o know her. Ranma gave half-answers to the many questions they sent her and occasionally Akane's way. The conversation didn't interest Ranma at all, and so she kept quiet and focused on eating her lunch.

"Hey Ranma, how do you feel about the hentai horde?" Sayuri asked.

"The what?" Ranma glanced at the girl.

"Akane's admirers," Yuka giggled. "Although they might be yours as well now!"

"Ranma can have them!" Akane muttered and stuck her tongue out.

"I don't want them. After Kuno, I've decided to be a lesbian," Ranma declared. Akane choked on her food and began clutching at her throat and coughing. She grabbed her drink and started gulping it down to dislodge the stuck food.

"Awww no!" Sayuri declared in mock horror. "Ranma's been so traumatised by Kuno she's sworn off men!"

"Kuno, turning girls gay for the last five years!" Yuka giggled. Neither one believed Ranma was serious with how casually she said it.

"Don't say things like that!" Akane tossed her empty plastic bottle at Ranma's head. Ranma leant aside to dodge it.

"Why?" Ranma cocked her head as she asked the question.

"Because somebody might get the wrong idea! You perv-moron! I meant moron!"

"I can't wait for PE today. Just think, if Ranma and Akane are on the same team they can't lose!" Yuka said.

"It'll be more interesting if they're on different teams don't you think?" Sayuri pointed out.

"Yeah, I bet I can beat…" Akane froze. "Oh my God! PE!" Her eyes went as wide as saucers.

"What's the problem?" Ranma asked as she, Yuka, and Sayuri exchanged glances.

"The changing rooms! Ranma can't go in them!"

"Huh? Why not?" Ranma asked.

"Because…because…" Akane struggled to come up with a convincing excuse, that wouldn't reveal the curse. If the curse got revealed how long before it got out, Ranma was her finace, and then with Ranma turning into a girl, the rumours about her would get worse.

"Because she had a skin problem," Nabiki stated behind them, startling Akane, while the other girls looked over at her. "Ranma gets a real bad rash in hot water. Really blotchy. She has to wash with tepid water at best if she doesn't want to look really, really unfeminine."

"Yeah!" Akane agreed, running with that excuse.

"Oh, you poor thing!"

"Oh, by the way," Nabiki handed Ranma a bag. "Your PE kit and your doctor's note explaining the issue with water. You forgot them this morning."

"I did?"

"You. Did." Nabiki nodded.

"Oh…yeah," Ranma grinned and rubbed the back of her head. Message received. "Thanks."

"And Ranma,"

"Yeah?"

"Kuno's up to something," Nabiki warned with a grin.

"Meh, like he's an issue," Ranma waved off the warning.

---

When PE came around as the last lesson, Ranma presented the doctor's note to the teacher who agreed she could change in the toilets. Ranma exited the toilets feeling very self-conscious in the bloomers and began to wonder what pervert came up with them. She tugged at the offending clothing as she walked over to the gaggle of girls on the field. They would be playing baseball it seemed.

She watched the girls taking turns batting. Akane hit one over into the boy's field that almost clocked one of them. When it was her turn, she wandered over to the batting position and took a few experimental swings of the bat to gauge its weight. The pitcher threw the ball, and Ranma swung the bat. There was a whoosh of air and a crack of the ball hitting the bat followed by a fireball streaking off into the distance over the fields.

Ranma casually jogged around the diamonds while everyone stared at the fading smoke trail.

---

Tuto stood and studied the large plaque proudly displaying the name Furinkan High School. The gangly body the AI used once again drew a few odd stares and whispers. The tracking of Birdy had blipped in this area shortly before midday allowing him to zone in. With hands in pockets he studied the crowd of teenagers leaving the school, hoping against hope, he would spot a familiar pink and white head of hair.

So far it had not manifested. Being an AI, he didn't get bored, although his circuits could emulate that feeling if required to ease a partner's mind, making them more alive and relatable.

Then she appeared. If he had a heart, it would have leapt for joy. She exited the building with another dark haired human girl and walked towards the gates. They chatted among themselves for a moment before falling into silence. Tuto scanned her. Various genetic markers flashed through his circuits as he compared what he detected before himself with Birdy's file. The match was almost perfect, with some weird degradation and a strange secondary energy field surrounding her.

"Birdy?" He said as she approached and walked right by him with a hint of recognition. "Birdy!" He exclaimed and jumped behind her to wrap his long arms around her in a hug. 'Birdy' went rigid for a moment before she started shouting.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" She tried twisting out of his arms, but he adjusted his position faster than any organic brain could, preventing her from throwing him off, even with her superior strenght.

"Birdy! I've finally found you!"

"Who the hell are you? Let go of me!"

"It's me, Tuto, Birdy!"

"Gah! Where are you putting your hands?" 'Birdy' shrieked.

"Get off her pervert!" A cry followed by a flying kick knocked the poor AI flying. He tumbled into a heap in the road, face first, ass in the air.

"Let's get outta here!" His attacker declared grabbing 'Birdy', and the pair raced off down the street, leaving a very confused AI to stumble back to his feet.

"But Birdy…" Tuto trailed off. What was going on? He wondered as the girl and 'Birdy' vanished around a corner in the distance.

---

A rugged, dark-haired boy of about sixteen stood and studied his hand drawn map. If a cartographer (or anyone normal) saw the map in finger quotes, they would have laughed at the description, but it was all he had.

Ryouga Hibiki clenched his fist in frustration. He was lost. Again. For the fourth time that hour. With a fist raised, he bellowed his frustrations to the sky.

"This is all your fault, Ranma Saotome!"

The whistling sound distracted him for a second before a flaming baseball knocked him out. For once he was correct.

---

End For now