Into Every Life, a Little Rain Must Fall
A Ranma 1/2 (manga) fanfic by NemesisZero

Act 2: Friction in the Machine
Part 3

"Insider" Pre-readers:

Freak247
Thermopyle
Tonyloco

"Outsider" Pre-readers:

Goddess Esteria
Grookill
KpJam
Nightman
Ray DeVore
Zorknot

"Okay, so we lost 140,000 yen on the high-risk technology..."

"Kiya!"

"...fund since the American incident, but the utilities went up and the blue chips turned out..."

"Kiya!"

"...more of a dividend than I expected. They look to be recovering slowly though, so that means..."

"Kiya!"

"...if I use the gains from the other holdings to buy it up while it's still cheap..."

"Kiya!"

The tirade of resonating shouts from outside, each followed by a loud, splintering crash, finally managed to dislodge the thought mid-sentence from Nabiki's mind. She closed her eyes tiredly and set her forehead on her desk, rubbing her temples in a futile attempt to alleviate the low, throbbing headache that Akane's latest 'training session' was causing. Idly she wondered just what had managed to get Akane so riled up this time that she could hear her actions even on the second floor, on the opposite side of the house.

With her train of thought derailed, Nabiki decided to give up working on the family finances until her younger sister's latest tantrum ended. With a sigh she saved her spreadsheet and turned off her laptop computer, an outdated model but still her most prized possession, and closed its screen with a sharp click. She used to take it everywhere, but since Ranma's arrival she had found it more prudent to keep her treasure locked safely away in her desk, lest random hi-jinks rob her of her prize. As she approached the stairs she met Kasumi, wearing a slightly-less-than-immaculate apron, just beginning the climb.

"Oh, Nabiki," the older girl said, slightly startled. "I was just coming to tell you that dinner is almost ready."

"Thanks, sis. I can't get any work done with all the racket outside anyway. I'll just go wake up Ranma, then, while you round up the rest of the herd," she replied.

"He's asleep again?" asked Kasumi with a hint of scorn. She closed her eyes and took a deliberately calming breath before continuing. "But he took a nap yesterday, and slept all night through as well."

"He's just recuperating, sis,"

With a patronizing smile on her face, she shook her head. "If you say so," Kasumi replied offhandedly as she turned, muttering as she left, "but I'd just as soon let him sleep through dinner as well."

Nabiki shrugged off her sister's oddly persistent bad mood and walked across the hall to the Saotomes' room, noting the odd flashes of light that shown through the cracks around the doorframe. She opened the door without knocking (she was expected, after all), but immediately froze, staring open-mouthed at the scene before her in a combination of awe and shock. Yes, even after living with Ranma for nearly two years now, some things were still capable of surprising her.

Ranma was still fast asleep, but it seemed that at some point he had become uncomfortable with his bedding, having abandoned both his blanket and bedroll. Not too unusual, except for the fact that he had apparently decided that he would be more comfortable if he hovered nearly two meters above the floor. Not only was he was hanging weightless in air, but his aura was blazing with an incredible display of brilliant light, bright yellow peeking through a shimmering black shroud of energy. He suddenly began moving his limbs as if desperately running despite his horizontal posture, and cried out, "Get them off of me!" in what she could only assume was raw terror.

His unconscious plea, through sheer clarity of intent, managed to overcome Nabiki's initial shock. She rushed across the room and hesitantly reached through the aura, feeling a tingle of static electricity and a slight chill of raw fear shoot through her hand and up her arm. She shook him by the arm until his eyes flew open suddenly to stare at her. He sucked in his breath and held her gaze for one long instant before gravity resumed control and slammed him into the floorboards at her feet.

"Any survivors?" she asked, taking a knee next to him. "I know weird stuff happening around you is just par for the course, but seeing you flying in your sleep is something new altogether, Ranma."

"Huh?" Ranma asked, rubbing the back of his head as he sat up. He stared at her for a moment while the words tried to sink into his brain, blinked twice, and said, "Uh, can you repeat that?"

She glanced downward to collect her thoughts for a moment, but the sight of Ranma sitting before her in only his boxers made that somewhat more difficult. Her eyes traced fine paths along his smoothly toned stomach, around his chiseled pectorals, along his collarbone, and up his neck to focus on his thick, inviting lips. So very close...

"Nabiki?"

She flushed slightly, looking away from his under-dressed form sharply. "You were flying. You know, defying the laws of nature and such."

"Flying?"

She felt the redness of her cheeks lessen, and turned back to face him. "Well, more like hovering I suppose, about two meters off the floor. You also had a sort of halo blazing around you in yellow and black, like you and Ryoga occasionally do in your fights." she clarified with the aid a few hand gestures.

"So it was a chi effect?" he puzzled. "I know what yellow is..." he noted, uncomfortably, "but black? Hmmm, maybe it's similar to the way Herb flew with his chi. No, that was a white light... Crap, I wish I had a gotten a better look at that technique of his..."

"That aura of yours was kinda creepy," continued Nabiki. "Come to think of it, it looked a lot like what Gosunkugi described the other day: Huge and black, with another color underneath it. At least you didn't damage the floor this time," she noted, feeling along the floorboards lazily.

"I still haven't figured out how I did it the first time," he muttered. "It counters Hinako's drain, it lets me fly... just what have I tapped into? I've just gotta figure it out, if only for the sheer potential it has. Maybe it's because I went to sleep while projecting my aura to speed up my healing?"

"I just watched for a moment, but then you started screaming so I decided to help out," she continued, ignoring his babbling and martial arts jargon. "Let me guess... Cats?"

"Yeah, I had that same damned dream again. It's been the same dream over and over again ever since I killed Saffron," Ranma explained with a sigh, turning his face away.

"Ranma, you killed someone. A god, even. That's bound to affect your sleep for a while at least, if only to even out your karma." Nabiki put a hand lightly on his shoulder, idly noticing that she couldn't tell which one was injured recently, even with his shirt off. "Would it help to talk about it? I won't even charge you for the impromptu therapy session this time."

He turned to face her, glancing at her hand but making no move to remove it. "No, you don't understand. Saffron isn't even in the dream. None of you are, either, except for just these calling voices. It's just me in the woods alone, and then the c...cats, and then there's this weird guy who says things I don't want to hear, and I can't get away from him."

"So who is it, Ranma? What does he say?" she asked, setting down cross-legged in front of him.

Ranma looked away from her eyes and toward his injured ankle, examining its healing progress as he sputtered out a reply. "I don't know who he is... but he seems somehow familiar. I don't think I've ever met him, but something in me seems to feel slightly... drawn to him. Really creeps me out. I can't remember what he was saying, but it was definitely not something good."

"Well, what were you doing?" she asked, "in this dream, when you met the guy? What form were you in at the time?"

"I was a guy, which is really weird considering it was raining."

Receiving no obvious help from the situation, Nabiki tried to concentrate on Ranma's interpretation. "You said you felt drawn to him, and that he said things you don't want to hear... Ranma, are you sure you don't remember, or do you just not want to remember?"

"No, I don't... Wait, what are you trying to say? It wasn't a gay thing, all right! I'm not like that! Hell, what happened on the roof should
prove that to you well enough!"

The vehemence in his denial was rather unexpected. "I didn't say anything about being gay, Ranma, but I am curious as to why that is the first thing that came to your mind."

"It's probably just because while I was at Ucchan's Mikado Sanzenin showed up and kissed Konatsu. Damned faggots."

Nabiki stared at him for a moment before responding, "You know, studies suggest that those with homophobic issues are more likely to actually be closet homosexuals themselves. The potion seemed to affect everyone, not just those who would normally be attracted to me. At least I hope so, in Akane's case..."

"Look, just lay off the gay stuff already!" he said, scooting away from her. "It wasn't like that! It was more like he was somehow related to me, or like I was somehow destined to meet him... Kind of a gut-level sorta thing."

"...Just a cigar, huh?" she replied with an unreadable grin as she rose to her feet. "All right, I'll stop bugging you about it for now. Hurry up and get dressed, sleepyhead. Dinner is waiting."

"After all the shit I went through today for her, now she starts trying to tell me I'm a fag? She's the one who held off on that kiss, not me..." complained in the relative safety of his own head while he scoured his room for a clean shirt. "Better to just forget that I guess, before I get into any more trouble with Akane."

Ranma finished dressing and hopped downstairs, estimating it would still be a day or two until his ankle was back at one hundred percent. Shallow cuts, bruises, and light burns he could heal in hours, but other injuries still took time even with the aid of his family's secret chi healing technique. His father's teachings weren't completely useless after all, just mostly.

He took his usual seat at the table. His father was in the middle of a lively discussion over the plans for rebuilding the dojo: Soun wanted it exactly the way it was before, Genma thought a larger floor, higher ceiling, and several points to affix portable obstructions and fake trees would be better for training in the Anything-Goes style. Nabiki sat across the table, listening to the discussion with calculator in her hand and a frown on her face, noting the results in a small notebook. Akane walked in and sat next to him while still drying her hair from a bath, looking a bit worn out. Lastly, but most importantly, Kasumi came in from the kitchen carrying steaming bowls of rice, chicken, and vegetables.

As Kasumi dished out the food Nabiki asked Akane, "Did you manage to work through your temper tantrum with all that racket?"

"It wasn't a tantrum," Akane replied as she chose her chopsticks, "I was cleaning up the remaining debris and doing some training at the same time."

"Really? Maybe there's hope for you yet." Ranma said in a mocking tone.

Akane growled at him, but turned her attention to the food laid before her.

"Training... it sounded to me like you were just breaking it up. Nothing new there, Akane" said Nabiki coyly, "and your brick breaking has always been more about blowing off steam than any kind of real training."

Akane was ready to yell a reply, but Soun spoke up first. "All three of you, stop it. I want no more arguing tonight."

"But she..." Akane began.

"Quiet!" Soun demanded. "I've had a headache all day, and arguing with Genma over the dojo's new floor plans has tried my patience for the evening. No more."

Genma opened his mouth as if to say something, but wisely decided to stuff it with food instead.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, with Genma and Ranma actually eating in a somewhat normal fashion, until Kasumi broke the silence. "So how was your day at school?"

Akane blushed and studied her food even harder. Ranma looked at her for a moment but Nabiki spoke up immediately. "Oh, nothing too unusual. A magic potion caused a pervert stampede, but Ranma saved me. Oh, and I got an A on my calculus quiz."

"That's nice," replied Kasumi going back to her dinner.

Ranma, reaching for a second helping, elaborated. "Gosunkugi was up to some scheme to get Akane, but he goofed and got Nabiki instead. So, I had to rescue her and took her to Cologne for a cure. Oh, and I took care of Hikaru already... gave him a bit of his own medicine" he stated proudly.

"That's nice," replied Kasumi without looking up.

"Huh?" he responded to her lack-luster comment.

Kasumi looked up at him with a sharp gaze. "I said that's nice. You managed to indirectly cause some trouble, prevent the new complication from doing any real harm after sufficient chaos had ensued, come out looking like the hero yet again to pump your over-inflated ego, and then sleep off the majority of the afternoon while the rest of us have work to do." Kasumi went back to her dinner, waving her index finger in a circular motion. "Hooray for you."

Ranma slammed his chopsticks flat on the table, bringing everyone up short. "Kasumi, what exactly is your problem lately?"

"I said there would be no arguing tonight!" Soun commanded.

"I ain't arguing, I'm just asking a question," Ranma replied coolly. "If anything, I'm acting to remove an existing argument that has gone on far too long already."

"My problem?" Kasumi asked with feigned innocence. "Ranma, you're the only problem here."

"Ranma, prepare to die!"

He immediately sprang away from the table to land in a one-footed combat stance and simultaneously avoid the attack that he knew was coming. He looked rather silly for a moment, staring at the table when nothing happened to the spot he had just been sitting in. He imagined he looked even sillier when Ryoga landed a solid kick to his back while his attention was focused elsewhere, launching him over the table, through the door, and into the yard where he landed in a heap.

Ryoga stepped out into the yard and dumped his backpack unceremoniously onto the grass as Ranma hopped back up to a one-footed standing position.

"That was a cheap shot, Ryoga," Ranma stated as he brushed off his shirt.

"Hey, it isn't my fault if you've become a little predictable." He replied with a smirk as he cracked his knuckles.

"Can't this wait a bit? I was kinda in the middle of something," Ranma asked, not assuming a stance but remaining alert.

"I was kind of in the middle of my life when you decided to interrupt, Ranma. It's only fair I get to return the favor, I'd say." Ryoga pulled his red combat umbrella out of its straps on the top of the backpack, and advanced at a slow pace.

"You might have noticed the crutch? I'm not up for a friendly spar today, Ryoga, but if you insist I'll put you down hard and fast so I can get back to dinner."

"Oh, widdle Wanma has a boo-boo? Fine then, I'll give you a handicap." He removed two bandanas from his forehead and tied them together, then proceeded to tie his left ankle to the back of his thigh, leaving him similarly balanced on one foot. "Anything else you want to bitch about, or can I kick your ass now?"

"Why are you even here? I thought you were going to Akari's place," Ranma asked, still puzzled.

"That's none of your damned business!" Ryoga bounded towards his foe, opening and tossing his umbrella to the side as he approached.

Ranma ducked and rolled out of the way of Ryoga's punch and turned toward umbrella, approaching on its return path. He pointed one hand at it, and with a burst of chi it was reduced to ash. "Come on, Ryoga! These tired old techniques are a joke now! What's next, you gonna throw a bunch of those bandanas at me again?"

Ryoga was almost shaking in fury both from the all-too-familiar taunts that rang just a little too close to the truth for his comfort and the destruction of his property. "Do you know how long I'll have to save up to buy another one of those? Shi-Shi Hokodan!"

Ranma only smirked as the bluish purple ball approached him, which he hoped over and responded with a flare of orange light at close range large enough to completely cover Ryoga's field of vision. "Ask me if I care," he remarked as the blast knocked Ryoga several feet to land on his back towards the front of the house, next to the gate.

"That really hurt!" Ryoga marveled as he forced himself to stand up off of the suddenly oh-so-comfortable lawn. "Since when did Ranma have this kind of power? Sure, he beat Saffron, but that was just a punk with a glass jaw, and even then he only won because of luck and that magical staff, right?"

"Are we done already? Good, my father might not have eaten everything yet."

Ryoga sprang up with a snarl, but as he did he noticed the lack of a dojo on the other side of the house where he thought it was supposed to be. He could always be wrong, though.

"Damn you, Ranma! I wasn't planning on revealing this yet as I haven't fully tested it, but you've left me no choice! Beware my new technique, Resshin Ki-Ken!" Ryoga's aura blazed as he punched the ground between Ranma and himself, his fist enshrouded with blue light. Immediately the ground began exploding as if he had used his normal Bakusai Tenketsu, but the blast began to expand outwards in a cone towards Ranma, the explosions and the rocks blasted free, growing larger as the cone widened. He looked up from his attack, and smiled at the widening swath of destruction rolled forward.

Ryoga's grin faltered, however, when rather than panicking or even looking slightly shocked, Ranma simply hopped twice toward the blast and to the side, nonchalantly picking the few small stones that flew towards him out of the air as the twenty meter long blast moved harmlessly by. "That's your new secret technique, huh? Wow, combining the Shi-Shi Hokodan with the Bakusai Tenketsu... very original. I only thought that up eight or nine months ago. Good name, though."

Ryoga's speech stumbled with his disbelief and rage. "You liar, Cologne never taught you the technique! I'd have noticed the difference if she had!"

"Who said anything about the old ghoul teaching me? Hell, I learned it just watching you and Shampoo using it all the time," Ranma explained as he leaned against the wall carelessly. "Besides, I don't want the smashed-with-big-rocks treatment. You may have gotten tougher, but your speed sure took a hit in return, Ryoga."

"I know you're lying because you never used it before, not even when you fought Herb or Saffron!" Ryoga answered as he stood up, breaking the bandanas that held his left leg easily to stand rooted on both legs.

"I didn't use it on Herb because it's a stupid move and easily avoidable, and I was kind of in the air the entire fight with Saffron, so anything using the earth as weapon was kind of out, idiot." Ranma stood away from the wall and turned towards the door. "Look, if that's all you have to show me, I'll be going back in now. See ya around."

"That bastard!" Ryoga seethed. "No matter what I do, he's always one step ahead, some way to counter or use my techniques against me! What's wrong with me? Why am I so worthless? Why don't I just go off and die somewhere?" He looked to the blast he had caused earlier, then to Ranma's unguarded back. With a howl of desperation he burst into green flames, and then slammed both fists into the earth.

Ranma paused to stare at his hands as he suddenly was enveloped in a black-lined aura, but was shaken from his thoughts as Ryoga cried out "Bai Resshin Ki-Ken!" Summoning up his chi as he took to the air, Ranma leapt directly over the moving field of destruction and pointed his widely-spread fingers in a round arc towards the front of the blast. With a cry of "Bakusai Rei Hari", narrow beams of force shot from each of Ranma's fingertips to lance into the un-shattered ground and explode in a half circle of 10 small, precise explosions. The rolling mass of exploding earth collided with the explosions on all sides of it's advancing edges, and although cracks spread beyond the point of collision, the explosive effect stopped.

"What... What the hell was that?" Ryoga demanded as Ranma stood with his back still towards him, still glowing that ominous black, watching the dust settle. He suddenly felt very tired, far more than the projection of chi should have left him. Wait a second... since when does Ranma have a black aura?

Ranma turned halfway around with a single hop and glared at Ryoga coldly. "That would have taken out the house, Ryoga, so I stopped it with one of my other special moves derived from the Bakusai Tenketsu. You know, since you seem so damned eager to show me your moves, how about if I show you a few of my latest creations as a reward for being such an idiot?" Ranma began hopping about as he spoke, with a flare of red and black energy spiking from his uninjured foot with each bounce. "How about we start with the Emkaku Tenketsu Dan? Won't that be fun?"

Ryoga was about to respond, but before he could his whole world turned upside down as the ground beneath his feet exploded in a fountain of stone. He wasn't injured by the blast, but he was somewhat dazed and was thrown a few meters. The second blast, again from directly beneath him, however, did sting a bit. After the seventh he was getting rather sore, and when the twelfth and final blast threw him directly into Ranma's waiting one-handed grasp, he was ready to admit defeat... though very reluctantly, of course.

Faced with the reality of just how much he had underestimated his rival, Ryoga grudgingly admitted that he had no real chance. "I give up… for now."

Ranma lifted him a bit higher, and, with a cruel smile, said, "Oh? But we've just reached today's final lesson. Do try to hold out a little longer, Ryoga. I wouldn't want you to miss the Ryuujin Kenma Koku."

He felt himself tossed high into the air, and, looking down as he tumbled, he vaguely noticed that the twelve blast craters had formed two parallel lines of alternating craters between Ranma and the outer wall of the compound. He was still wondering at the coincidence when he fell in line with Ranma's fists, moving in opposing circling directions, and two impacts of vastly different temperature struck him.

He realized his peril in the instant the hot and cold waves met, and a funnel of wind tossed him horizontally towards the far wall, all along the way battering him with the loose rocks freed from the earth by the previous technique. The world went black for Ryoga, but somehow he vaguely knew that he hadn't even hit the wall yet.

"I wouldn't want you to miss the Ryuujin Kenma Koku," he snarled. Ranma tossed Ryoga into the air with one hand, gathering chi into each of his palms separately. First hot, anger-fueled energy into his left hand, then put cold chi into his right by reaching through his anger to an icy hate. He began to rotate them in opposite directions without letting the trailing lines of force touch, and as Ryoga fell into alignment he crossed the paths and punched him with both clenched fists. As planned, the resulting cyclone threw Ryoga across the yard into the wall and then smashed him from behind with the loosened rocks, leaving only a small mound of rubble with one arm sticking out on top.

"Ranma, what the hell have you done!"

He turned to find the Tendo family standing in the doorway with various reactions. Soun was enraged, and he could feel the slight traces of chi that would become the 'demon head' already beginning to gather. Akane looked worried, but kept looking back and forth between him and the pile of rubble, unsure of whom to help first. Nabiki was gazing about the yard with a cool, calculating gaze, her eyes pausing for a moment on each crater. Kasumi stood next to her father, whispering something into his ear. His father, standing towards the rear behind Soun and Akane seemed to be... no, he was definitely trying to hide behind them, but staring directly at him.

"Answer me young man!"

As predicted, Soun did indeed deploy his fear technique, but to no effect as Ranma studiously ignored him in favor of studying the sudden flaring of his black aura. With a smirk, he decided to test a theory, raising a hand and pointing to see if it could be made to drain Soun as it had Ms. Hinako. No sooner did he think about it than the 'demon head' dissipated and his aura briefly flared. Akane saw this and apparently decided that Ryoga needed her help more at the moment, leaving the doorway to rush towards the rubble. Genma, seeing one of his defenders leave him, made an effort to sneak away quietly into the house.

"He attacked me for no reason, and I defended myself. What more is there to explain?" replied Ranma brashly.

Soun sagged slightly, leaning on Kasumi for a moment, but was not to be dissuaded from his anger. "The yard, Ranma! Look what you've done to my yard, plants, and wall!"

"First the dojo and now the grounds... will you destroy our home as well before the week is finished?" demanded Kasumi.

"The house? I just defended your house from a clumsy attack by that moron!" he exclaimed, pointing a thumb towards an unconscious Ryoga as Akane unburied him. "The dojo was more his fault than mine, too, and the same with the yard now. If you want to toss around some blame, just wait till he wakes up."

"Ranma, we all saw the end of that fight. I don't know how you did it, but you have to admit that you are responsible for at least some of these craters." Nabiki added, "Couldn't you have beaten him without the explosions?"

The black aura was fading quickly, and with it, his temper gave way to more rational conversation. "Okay, I admit I got a little carried away there at the end, but the rest of it was all Ryoga's fault."

Kasumi chose this moment to speak up. "Ryoga's fault? Maybe, but then whose fault is it that he came here looking for a fight in the first place, Ranma? It always comes back to you, either directly or because of something you set in motion years ago."

"Yes, it does appear that way," added Soun. "This is the final straw, Ranma. Engagement or no, I want you out of my house until you have dealt with all of your... complications, male and female."

"But dad, you can't just kick him out in his condition," Nabiki began, pointing toward the remains of the Bai Resshin Ki-Ken. "And look at this blast pattern, he obviously is telling the truth about the house."

"I can, and I have, daughter. Ranma has proven tonight that he is more than capable of taking care of himself even with his injury." Thunder rolled in the sky above.

"Fine then, I'll just gather my things and be on my way," Ranma announced, hopping forward.

Soun stood defiantly in the doorway with his arms crossed, blocking his path. "I'm afraid that won't be possible. I'll send Akane and Nabiki to school early tomorrow with a change of clothes for you."

"Keeping my rightful property from me again, Tendo?" Ranma asked as Akane approached with Ryoga in a fireman's carry. She glanced at him with sympathy, but continued on her way without comment. "This is becoming a common theme."

Soun moved aside to allow Akane in, then ushered Nabiki in as well, who complied reluctantly. "Not at all, Ranma. I simply think it prudent to insure you have a reason to return, rather than simply running out on yet another engagement."

"You think that I would do something like that?" Ranma demanded.

Soun stepped inside and shut the door, replying as he closed it, "I know your father might, which is reason enough to suspect the same of you, Ranma."

The latch clicked shut, the porch light went off, and Saotome Ranma was left standing alone in the night air as the first drops of rain began to fall.

It was a bright and sunny day, and the sky was an impossibly rich swath of blue dotted with wisps of soft clouds like windswept bits of stray cotton fibers. The grass was tall and green, and it tickled her ankles as she ran barefoot in a white sundress towards her mother, Akane not far behind. They reached the blanket, breathless from their run but still smiling, as Mother and Kasumi set the food out for a picnic lunch and Father finished assembling a bright red plastic kite with a long yellow ribbon tail. She sat down to rest a moment and to examine her newfound prize, a golden-yellow sunflower as big as her head, as Akane dashed off with Father to try out his creation.

Nabiki recognized the dream immediately, a child's abstract recollection of one of the happiest days of her life, a Sunday picnic with her family when she was seven. She often dreamed of it, the last Tendo family outing before mother started getting sick, but somehow being lucid during the experience ruined the effect completely for her.

The mundane events continued around her, and she played her part, but her mind was drawn back to the present, wondering where Ranma was tonight.

The exaggerated taste of a sweet custard pie brought her back in time to the dream, but did not remove Ranma from her thoughts. "If she was seven then he was six, and that meant... my god, he could have been in the middle of the cat fist training while I was relaxing in the sun."

A crack of thunder shattered the peace of the dream, and looking up from the flower she spied in the distance a dark forest where before there was only an endless sea of gently rolling grass-covered hills. The sky was now overcast and gray, the air slightly cool, and the grass grew pale and sickly. The flower in her hand rotted away to dust as she stood up and marched towards the woods, ignoring her family as they continued to laugh and play as though the world was still a friendly place.

She followed a foggy, twisting trail through the thick bramble and imagined that the sound of the wind in the branches was like a quiet,

familiar whisper. She walked for what seemed like ages, growing to her true age as she traveled, until she heard a scream of terror echo down the trail from just a bit farther into the forest. She ran down the trail now, stumbling across roots and rocks, but not allowing herself to fall.

The fog thinned out as she barged into a sheltered clearing, and blanched at what she saw there. Ranma, six years old and helpless, was held upside down by one ankle, his injured one, above a rough earthen pit by a tall, thin man with grayish, corpselike skin and a dark flowing robe. "Would you will yourself back into the pit just to avoid this conversation? How many times must we play this game before you pay attention?" the stranger asked. "The change is coming soon, young one, and you must be prepared for it or it could destroy you!"

"No, not the pit again! Please, just leave me alone!" Ranma begged, his young eyes locked on the shifting darkness beneath him in undisguised terror.

"Leave him alone!" she commanded, making her presence known to the two. "If you want to tell him something, you would get far better results by simply talking than with threats, whoever you are."

The man tossed Ranma aside with disgust and turned to regard her. "To willingly enter this nightmare and show the courage to become an active participant is commendable, though perhaps foolish. Still, it doesn't forgive your complete misunderstanding of the situation." He turned to Ranma, who was busily untangling himself from a thorn bush, and announced, "I'm not sure how you brought her here, Ranma, but rest assured we shall continue this later, in private. I have a duty to perform, and soon enough you shall have one of your own."

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Nabiki demanded, pushing through the almost tangible fear this... man was causing in her just by looking at her.

"Such irony... the guardian asks the questions she was summoned to help him avoid. Still, the rules are quite clear; it is not for your kind to know who I am, nor what my interests are, mortal, but you may refer to me for now as Norou Mizumei." With that, he closed his cloak around himself and evaporated into shadow and mist.

She turned to check on Ranma, but a sudden, irresistible force seemed to grab both of them and drag them away from each other, warping the world around them as they passed. "Nabiki!" he called again and again as he vanished into the distance, "Nabiki!"

"Nabiki!"

Reality reasserted itself as her eyes sprang open, and glorious sunlight peeked through her window to stab her eyes. With a groan she rolled over and hit her alarm clock, which had not yet rung, and then attempted to burrow deeper into her covers.

The covers were yanked out of her grasp, however, and she was roughly shaken by the shoulder. "Get up, Nabiki!"

"G'way, 'Kane. Too e'rly," She mumbled, rolling into a tight ball on her naked bed.

The insistent hand of her sister left her shoulder, only to be replaced with a soft, gentle one playing with her hair. A wisp of hot breath played over her neck and a deep, throaty voice whispered in her ear, "Tendo Nabiki, I would ravish thee and claim thee my own."

She was wide-awake in an instant, bolting completely off of her bed to land wide-eyed across the room, still clutching her pillow. A quick glance around the room revealed a wildly laughing Akane to be the only other person present.

"Damn it, Akane, don't do that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" she yelled, throwing the pillow at Akane and catching her square in the nose in an unguarded moment.

"If you could have seen your face..." Akane trailed off, trying to control her laughter. "But at least you're up finally. Come on, we have to get to school early today to meet up with Ranma."

"We? You have to meet up with your fiancé; I'm just going to class as usual," Nabiki replied, annoyed. Akane just shrugged and left with a careless smile, leaving her to dress as she grumbled about morning people.

They left the house nearly an hour earlier than normal, walking the distance to the school in an uneasy state of silence. It was amazing what a difference an hour made to the look and feel of Nerima, now gray, quiet, lonely, and a bit unsettling as opposed to the busy people and crowded streets Akane was accustomed to seeing.

Nabiki was still angry about the way in which she had woken up, she expected, judging by the icy silence that she had offered throughout breakfast. She hadn't even made a comment when P-Chan was found rummaging through the kitchen for food or when they discovered that Ryoga must have gotten lost some time in the night and wandered off.

"Akane?"

She paused and turned to regard her sister, replying, "It speaks?"

"God, you're going to think I'm crazy, but," Nabiki hesitated, which was very uncommon for her, "do you believe that dreams can mean something?"

"What, like a vision of the future?" Nabiki nodded. "Nah. I think that if dreams mean anything it is about things in the present you aren't aware of consciously, or things in the past you haven't dealt with. Why? Weird dream last night?"

"Weird doesn't seem to cover it," Nabiki replied, going back to the original question. "You really don't believe it's possible, even considering all the weird stuff that happens around here?"

"Well, to be honest, I don't believe half of the stuff that's happened to me personally, much less things that haven't," Akane admitted. "I guess a dream could be prophetic, but I'd have to have one before I believed it, and even then I'd probably chalk it up to coincidence."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Nabiki replied, looking a bit relieved. "I most likely only had that dream because Ranma told me about his right before dinner and I somehow absorbed parts of it subconsciously."

"You had a dream about Ranma?" she asked, looking quizzically at Nabiki. "Nothing too exotic, I hope. Can't have you getting ideas about my fiancé, sis."

"Nothing like that... honestly, you are so possessive of him," Nabiki remarked in a haughty tone.

"Damn straight I am, and don't you forget it," Akane replied with a bit of humor, but with a hard undertone nonetheless, as they reached the school gates. "Alright, where the hell is... Ranma!" she yelled, dropping her bag to dash towards the school doors.

Nabiki picked up the dropped bag and followed after her, finding a petite redhead curled up in the doorway, shivering, with her clothes soaked completely through to the skin. Akane took off her jacket and draped it over Ranma, rubbing it roughly to warm her up.

"Did you actually spend the night here?" asked Nabiki, helping to get Ranma up on her feet. "Why didn't you go to Ukyo, or Shampoo, or one of your friends' houses?"

"I don't feel quite... comfortable around Ucchan's right now, Shampoo and Cologne would have drugged me and hauled me off to China by now, and I, um, don't really know where Hiroshi or Daisuke live," she answered a bit meekly. "I had hoped I could sneak in and use the showers to warm up, but the place was locked up tight and I figured I shouldn't destroy anything else last night."

Akane looked away guiltily, but said nothing.

"I figured that at least it wasn't raining under the overhang here, and I had to be here today anyway, so why not? I mean, I sure would have preferred to at least have my tent last night, but your dad thought otherwise." Ranma turned to regard Akane. "Would have been nice if my fiancée had stood up for me just a little bit, too, but I guess that's too much to ask. I mean, she didn't say anything at all about it being my fault, she just didn't argue in my favor."

Akane immediately replied to the barb, shouting, "I didn't say anything because I agreed with him! I know Ryoga started that fight, but it is your fault, just like Kasumi said. I don't think he should have thrown you out, but that's the only place where my opinion differs. Ranma, you have got to do something about these rivals and fiancées of yours before the situation gets even worse, or we'll never be able to have a normal marriage."

"Gee, ya think I should? What would you suggest I do, ask em all nicely to just bug off?" she snapped.

"I'd suggest you stop yelling and get inside before you catch a cold, Mr. Saotome," interrupted Ms. Hinako as she walked up the steps in her child-sized yellow rubber raincoat and boots. She walked to the door and unlocked it, holding it wide open for the teens to enter, but never taking her eyes off of Ranma.

"Here, Ranma, go and get warmed up," said Nabiki as they entered and removed their shoes. She handed over a paper bag full of clothing which

Ranma eagerly accepted, then watched her run, not hop, down the hallway towards the men's gym, yelling out her thanks as an afterthought.

"I thought he had a torn ligament," Hinako noted, puzzled.

"So did I," replied Akane.

"Well, that's Ranma for you, never one to be held down by the limits of his own humanity," Nabiki answered, walking toward the stairs.

After a long, hot shower and a change of clothes, Ranma felt like a whole new man. This physical comfort, combined with the fact that his ankle had healed overnight, even faster than he expected, was enough of a positive swing in his luck that he momentarily felt pretty good despite recent events. He sauntered into class four minutes early, a personal record, and slumped into his seat for his usual morning nap.

"Well you certainly look better, Ranma. I'm surprised you didn't catch a cold."

He opened one eye to regard Akane with a skeptical glance, and then went back to trying to sleep. "I've had worse. I grew up on the road, so why should one night homeless bother me?"

"Got kicked out again, Ranchan? What for this time?" asked Ukyo from behind him.

This time he kept his eyes closed while answering, hoping in vain that they would catch the hint. "Yeah, just the same old stuff. Ryoga dropped by and I kicked his ass, but Mr. Tendo got mad about what we did to his yard. He said I can't come back until..." something in the back of his screamed a warning, and for once he listened. "Well, for a damn long while."

He paused for a moment, turning towards Akane. "How is the moron, anyway? I didn't kill him, did I?"

"Well, we put him in your room to rest," Ranma glowered, but she continued, "but he must have been okay because he left sometime in the middle of the night. Oh, and P-Chan is back!"

"That's typical," Ranma stated. "I'm on the street and the pig has two beds to sleep in."

Ukyo broke in before Akane could reply. "Why didn't you come over to my place, Ranchan? I wouldn't mind putting you up for a while."

"Uh," Ranma began, fidgeting slightly, "Well, it was kinda late to be dropping by, and I wouldn't want to be an inconvenience or nothin'..."

"...And you didn't want to be around Konatsu," said Ukyo, finishing the unspoken part of his sentence. "You think I didn't notice how fast you bolted after that little scene? Honestly, sugar, you can be such an insensitive jerk sometimes."

"What about Konatsu?" asked Akane.

"All right everyone, in your seats," called Ms. Hinako as she entered the room. "Let's see, I believe today we were going to be discussing second impact..."

"Again?" asked a wiry, nameless teen with dark eyes next to the windows.

Ranma was pondering exactly why it was Ms. Hinako thought it best to teach them about things she saw in her favorite anime shows, rather than anything practical or even remotely relevant to history (what first period was supposed to be, anyway), when the intercom blared to life. "Saotome Ranma, you bad keiki, need be comin' to da Big Kahuna's office!"

"Sure, why not?" he muttered as he stretched and then rose from his chair. "It's not like I've got anything better to do."

At a leisurely pace, he made his way down to Principal Kuno's basement office and slouched into the wicker chair that sat waiting for him on the beach. "So what do you want?" he asked bluntly as the principal, who had yet to notice him, finished trimming the leaves of a large coconut tree.

"Aha, you be comin' much fasta den me expect, keiki. Good, no hafta go look'n fo ya, den," he said as he climbed down the tree into a large canvas hammock. "You know, keiki, you always being one o' my favorite students..."

"Is there a point to me being here?" asked Ranma bluntly.

"I no be wantin' nothin' from ya, jus' have ta be givin' ya da messages, see?" he replied defensively, waving his arms in large gestures.

"Messages?" Ranma asked, curious. "Okay, what are they?"

"Well, I be havin' two fo' ya," he confessed, "one good, one not so good. Which you wan' hear first?"

Well, it would take a lot to top what's happened in the last few days. "Um, bad I guess."

"Well, dat message be from the school board. Dey be seein' yo attendance record, and say you missin' too many o' de school days, and leavin' early on most o' de rest." The principal paused and removed his glasses, giving Ranma a stern but remorseful look as he finished, "You is bein' expelled, keiki."

"Expelled!" Ranma jumped across the distance between them and pulled the principal from his hammock by the neck, throttling him. "Are you out of your mind? Not one of those absences was my fault! I sure as hell didn't want to be here but I came everyday unless some deranged nut-ball demanded my attention. Come to think of it, your family is responsible for more than a few of those instances!"

"Ahk! Ke...Keiki, you no be hearin' da g...good one yet..." he struggled to reply.

Ranma stopped choking him, but did not release his grip. "Good for me, or good for you?" he asked with a hard tone.

"Ah, good fo' both, I be thinkin'!" he replied as he sat up and rubbed his throat. "Be gettin' ya back in de school, be makin' me little 'dachi happy, and be saving yo' parents a mess o' trouble."

"I'm listening."

"See, da board be expellin' a Saotome Ranma, but dey ain't be sayin' nothin' bout a Kuno Ranma!" he explained excitedly.

"Huh?" was the only reply that came to mind.

"Oh, don't mind him, Ranma Darling. I can explain it all so much clearer than he with that dreadful accent." Above him, Kodachi was lounging

on a tree branch, dressed in her proper uniform rather than the leotard for once. She leapt down from the branch to land in a short bow before him, then stepped closer to trace her fingers along his jaw.

He pulled her hands away but did not step back. "I'm still listening."

"Oh, it is the best news!" she began cheerfully. "It seems that quite some time ago your father made a substantial loan from one of our banks."

"Your banks?"

"You no be tinkin' we be livin' da high life on de school salary, do you bruddah?" asked the principal in a patronizing tone.

"Ahem." Kodachi cleared her throat while glaring at her father, who looked away for something else to do. "Yes, dearest, the Kuno family's wealth comes mostly from our real estate dealings, but a substantial portion of our finances originate with the chain of banks we own."

"Okay," Ranma replied, "whatever. Just get to the point."

"Well, your father took out a substantial loan almost sixteen years ago in order to finance a... training trip, I believe the records say, a loan which he has failed to repay by the deadline, yesterday."

"That's not surprising," he answered.

Kodachi smirked and continued, "Well, under normal circumstances we would simply take him to court, but in this case there is a complication dealing with the nature of the collateral he put up against the loan: You, in fact, as an arranged husband for me."

"That's not surprising either, to be honest," Ranma admitted with a sigh. "Just how long have you know about this, Kodachi, just out of curiosity?"

"Oh, for a while now," she answered as she tiptoed closer to him. "You have no idea how hard it was to keep it a secret until the engagement was official, how many nights I spent alone knowing that my patience would eventually pay off."

"If you knew about this, why did you keep trying to blackmail, drug, or otherwise coerce me into being with you?" he asked, holding his ground but keeping a sharp eye on her.

"I suppose I simply couldn't stand to sit back and do nothing while those other harlots abused you so, Ranma darling." She reached out to embrace him, but Ranma stepped away from her grasp.

"You do realize that I'm already engaged three times over, right?" he asked, hoping to dissuade her from this fantasy. "Then again," he wondered aloud, "does another fiancée even make a difference at this point?"

"Hey, what you be sayin' der, bruddah?"

"Hold, Fiend! While I may have rashly given my consent to this unholy pairing, it shall have to wait until my divine vengeance has been fulfilled!"

Faced with the entire Kuno clan at once, and not sure whether beating up on any of them would still be a reasonable action considering this new information, Ranma did the only sensible thing... he ran like hell.

He stood, tall and majestic in his countenance, directly before the gates of the school so that none might pass outside of his gaze, as he waited for the arrival of his mortal adversary. The many sounds of a city called out on the wind, but to him they all shouted "victory!" with glorious trumpet blasts.

Everything was in perfect order for the confrontation. His precise lines were memorized to the point of instinct. His hair was groomed with the appropriately superior class and daring charm. This morning he had ensured his clothing was finely pressed and resplendently clean. He had arrived twelve minutes earlier than usual to insure that his predictably timed foe did not attempt to elude his presence by arriving at a reasonable hour. Truly, nothing could upset this plan.

When the last bell rang, signaling the beginning of classes, and his foe had not yet come into view, he was understandably dismayed. Had his prey somehow entered unnoticed? Nay, impossible. Perhaps the foolish Hibiki had triumphed where he had not? Again, he rejected the thought as absurd.

The only possible explanation was that the sorcerer had learned of his plan through dark magics, and sought to unnerve his foe before the fateful confrontation by playing this game of nerves. Well, no such trickery would befall the Blue Thunder on this day! He would wait the demon out, even if it took hours!

"Hello, brother dear. How goes your hopeless quest?" asked Kodachi as she strolled through the gate.

"It goes well, sister mine," he replied, without shifting his gaze from the horizon. "The trickster attempts to undermine my resolve with foolish ploys, but it is I who shall emerge victorious in the end!"

She continued on her way towards the school. "Well, best of luck to you then, brother, though I fear your iron determination is wasted in this case because of your self deceptions."

"We shall see, sister. We shall see," was his only reply.

For what seemed like an eternity he waited, standing stoically against the empty streets, though some tiny spark of doubt began to form in his soul. It was puzzling, indeed, to see his sister here on the grounds of Furinkan High, especially when she did not attend said institution. Were she of as pure and noble a heart as his twin loves he would write off her presence as simply a token of esteem for such a man as himself, but her motives were never so clear.

Why come here, then? In the past, she had only appeared on the premises in order to pursue Saotome himself, but surely that was not the case today... unless, by some twist of fate, his foe had managed to slip by undetected! Blast, he had underestimated his foe's cunning! With unearthly speed he made his way into the school and forced his way into the room where his foe would surely be.

"Saotome! I come to challenge you to a manly duel in the highest of arenas! What say you?" he demanded as he kicked the door in.

"Um, he isn't here, Kuno," replied his Fierce Tigress with obvious affection. "He got called to your father's office a few minutes ago."

"Truly? So, the fiend thinks to ally himself with my other greatest foe! I shall not be beaten, even by such as they!" he decried, racing out of the room.

Again he ran, pushing himself to the very limits to reach his destiny in as short a time as possible. Forgoing the steps, he instead plunged purposefully into the trapdoor, rolling as he hit the sand to absorb the impact without losing speed. At last he reached his goal, dashing through the ferns to discover his foe in alliance with his father and, nearly in an indecent posture, his own sister.

"Hold, Fiend! While I may have rashly given my consent to this unholy pairing, it shall have to wait until my divine vengeance has been fulfilled!" he cried as he charged. To his dismay his target chose, rather than to hear out his challenge with honor, to flee.

"Ranma-sama, don't run from my love!" called his sister as she joined him in pursuit, tossing aside her uniform to reveal her favored purple leotard.

"Runnin' from me gracious offa'? You is a bein' a bad, bad keiki!" his father pronounced gravely as he produced his sheers and fell into step.

Had his magnificence finally brought his family into the light of reason? Surely the gods smiled on his endeavor if even his perverse father and twisted sister had come to see the evil that is Saotome, and chosen to join his righteous crusade! "Onward, Kinsmen! Sweet victory sings of the house of Kuno this day!"

The chase continued through the school's halls, outside of the gates, and even into the favored shopping district of the local common class. Across all manner of terrain he pursued his foe, with his family close behind, be it on rooftops, beneath bridges, or through merchant's stores, but he did not lose the trail nor fall behind.

They were now traveling at street level, dashing amongst the morning crowds as they procured comestibles from local vendors, when he spotted a possible advantage in the crowds ahead. "Gosunkugi Hikaru, I shall reward you handsomely if you halt the flight of this scoundrel!" he shouted to his frail but occasionally useful acquaintance.

The boy in question turned at the shout, but like a coward he froze in open-mouthed terror before the demon, who, sensing the newcomer to the fray, changed his course to intercept him. With the puzzling comment, "No cheating!" Saotome dashed by the terrified boy and removed from his nose a clothespin, which had been affixed there for some indiscernible purpose, with a sharp snap. The boy howled in pain at this odd treatment, but the chase continued on.

Ranma led a grand run through out the streets of Nerima with a variety of encounters with people he recognized, such as the eldest Tendo sister (who swore under her breath as he passed, after being vaulted over by Saotome in a most un-gentlemanly fashion) and the perverse old master who also lived within the sanctuary of the Tendo home.

Suddenly he felt a cold sense of trouble arising about him, a gnawing deep in the back of his mind that he could not place until he rounded the corner and saw the source, a wooden cart filled to overflowing with watermelons. "Damn the fates," he mentally swore in tragic fashion, "that not only saddled me with the insatiable will to destroy the voluptuous fruit, but also made sure that my fated enemy knew of this limitation as well!"

With a kick, the clever fiend overturned the overburdened cart, throwing the hated melons into the air in all directions about him. What could the kendoist do but allow his foe to escape when an uncontrollable urge forced him to pause his pursuit and precisely section each and every ripened sphere with his mighty blade? Alas, the technique proved too strong, not only for his father and sister, but also for an unlucky purple-haired delivery girl who had joined the chase at some point, all of which were left unconscious about him while Ranma was nowhere to be seen.

She woke up completely disoriented, her head painfully throbbing along a straight line across her scalp. She assumed she was not a prisoner, at least, because of the soft, smooth bedding and the lack of bonds. A pleasant but altogether unknown smell permeated the room. Strange music played softly in the air. Risking opening one eye, she gazed about a richly decorated Japanese room, taking in the sights but recognizing nothing. It was dark outside, meaning that she had been unconscious for at least six hours.

Hearing footsteps from down the hall, she left the bed and took up a ready stance in case her benefactor had any impure motives concerning her. The finely carved wooden door opened smoothly, revealing a familiar, if not altogether welcome, figure.

"Ah, so the mysterious flower has bloomed at last! Excellent!" he said, taking a seat on the bed and laying out a silver tray of food. "Perhaps you would care for a meal?"

"What stick boy want with Shampoo?" she demanded. Her stomach growled as she eyed the food, but she made no move to eat it.

"Stick boy? What a peculiar form of address," he replied carelessly. "I am known as Kuno Tatewaki, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, age nineteen. You are safely within my domicile, under the protection of all the Kuno clan, at present. You, my dear, I remember from a rather strange confrontation regarding ramen noodles, though I fear we have never been properly introduced. Please, sit and eat something."

"I am Shampoo of Joketsuzoku, and Shampoo no is hungry," she said, but her stomach betrayed her.

He cocked an eyebrow at the deep grumble. "Please, My lady, I must insist. It is the very least I can offer after so rudely bludgeoning you earlier this morn."

The memory of her pursuit of Ranma flashed back into her mind like a movie in fast forward, a rush of images too fast to examine carefully. She shrank back as the final scenes of the chase played out, and all became clear. "You is defeat me? Then you are Shampoo's airen. But Shampoo already have airen..."

"Is there a problem, my lovely guest?" he asked, placing a hand upon her shoulder. "If I may be of assistance, you have only to ask."

"Shampoo is... confuse. You come with me to Great-Grandmother," she commanded, grabbing his hand. "She know how fix this."

He followed her lead, mindful to bring along the sushi (which she did eat along the way), across the rooftops of Nerima to the Cat Cafe. Slightly impressed as the seemingly weak boy managed to keep her pace easily, she led him inside.

"Honored Elder, I am in need of your guidance on an urgent matter!" she announced in her native tongue as she entered the building, ignoring Mousse as he hurried past with an order.

Cologne, who was busy cooking for the dinner crowd, poked her head out of the kitchen and ushered them back. "Child, how many times must I tell you to speak only Japanese in front of the customers?" she asked, once both were out of the main hall. "It is rude to do otherwise."

"It is perfectly acceptable now, however, if she chooses to speak in a more familiar form," interjected her guest in accented but technically correct Chinese. "Please, make no difficulties on my account."

Shampoo gasped and stared at him in wonder. "You speak Chinese? I've been in Japan for nearly two years and you are the first person I have met here who would speak to me in my language."

"I am proficient in the diction of five languages, and Chinese is among them," he answered. "Reading the historical and mythological texts of great cultures is a pressing interest of mine. Such tales lose much luster in the reforging to other tongues."

"You are to be commended for your studies, young one," replied Cologne as she hopped up on her staff, "but what, pray tell, has brought you here at such a busy hour?"

Shampoo began to help with the cooking as she explained, "Great-Grandmother, I have been defeated again. I am confused... who now is to be my beloved?"

"You have defeated Xian Pu in combat?" she asked him bluntly. "I find this hard to believe."

"It was not my intention, I assure you, but alas I must take responsibility for her injury," he admitted. "In the course of my training I learned a nearly undefeatable technique, but unfortunately it has a cost; it inspires in my heart an instinctive rage at the sight of watermelons, and I am unable to restrain myself from striking the offending spheres no matter where they lie. The cursed fiend, Saotome, knows of this weakness, and used it this morn in a most cowardly fashion to escape my wrath as he fled, and your great-granddaughter was caught in my path."

"In my experience, Saotome Ranma fears only two things; commitment and cats. Aside from your motivational interpretation, however, I find no fault in your tale," Cologne replied before turning to face Shampoo. "This is a rare complication, my dear, but not a difficult one to deal with. By law, they are both your husbands to be, until such time as an official challenge is made between them, and then only the victor will be connected to you."

"Excuse me, but am I to understand that because of this incident I have somehow become legally required to wed Xian Pu?" Tatewaki asked, bewildered.

"Technically, yes," answered the matriarch, "though practically speaking I don't believe you have any need to concern yourself with the matter. Saotome Ranma will have no trouble defeating you yet again, if my sources are truthful."

"Does his lust know no bounds?" he demanded, striking a fierce pose. "Already he controls the fierce Tendo Akane and my mysterious pig-tailed goddess with his magics, and even my own sister has fallen prey to his demonic charms to join the ranks of his ensnared young women. Surely he is not the cause of great suffering for you as well, Xian Pu?"

Shampoo rapped his head roughly with her knuckles. "Don't you talk about my beloved that way! By Joketsuzoku law he is promised to me, and, were it not for the other girls who hound him, he would already be my wedded husband!"

"So, it is as I feared," he noted sagely as he rubbed his head. "Then my duty is clear, prescribed by law and honor alike. I shall challenge and defeat Saotome, not only for my pride as a warrior and to free the hearts of women everywhere, but also to win the deserving love of Xian Pu, my lavender-trussed foreign beauty!"

"What are you talking about?" Shampoo asked, completely puzzled.

He continued on, uninhibited by her questioning. "Surely the time has come, for all has fallen into alignment! Truly, the vengeance of heaven is slow but sure!" He thrust his bokken high above his head, puncturing a panel of the kitchen's drop ceiling. After quickly taking Shampoo's hand and kissing it, he dashed off into the night.

Author's notes:

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, but finals really slowed me down in my writing and accidentally deleting the first draft didn't help much either. It gave me a chance to go back and redo the chase scene from Kuno's perspective, though, which was a lot of fun to write. Believe it or not, this story arc is beginning to tie itself up, and the main plot is definitely easier to see forming than in earlier chapters. There is only one more chapter to go in this act (which I promise will be coming shortly), completing the rewritten portion of this story! Woo hoo!

I hope the fight scenes came off okay, as I had to put in a bit of effort to find a style that seemed to work for me. I went back and changed the Akane/Ukyo fight scene in 2:1 so that it would match this style rather than letting the overly descriptive version remain.

New special techniques (in order of appearance):

Resshin Ki-Ken Violent Earthquake Ki-Punch
Bai Resshin Ki-Ken Double Violent Earthquake Ki-Punch
Bakusai Rei Hari Blasting Spirit Needles
Emkaku Tenketsu Dan Remote Point Bomb
Ryuujin Kenma Koku Dragon King's Cutting Wind

NemesisZero, AKA Brian #2

Reviews welcomed, appreciated, and sometimes even answered! Wow!