Anime Addventure : Masters Way

by tutcat

Ranma found a book labeled Masters Way (Adult ) updated first chap (all stories up for adoption)

10. punishment

There were some benefits to the fact that her Master's mother thought that he was really was a 'she', or so Shampoo was considering. It wasn't that she was that she liked the idea of mother and child being so apart, yet so close. But it did allow her to do some things that might otherwise be stopped.

That included getting changed. Normally when one did that, nobody really cared, but in certain situations, like when a girl did it in front of a boy, certain ideas were brought into play. But in this case, the only one who might question her doing that merely thought that she was changing clothing among girls. Of course, there was a place for her to change alone, but it would be faster and more... interesting to be doing it without going anywhere.

At the moment though, she was simply showing off her first outfit.

"Oh!" Nodoka said with a small clap of appreciation, "You look lovely."

Shampoo tried not to look to look too dubious as the filmy full length skirt swirled around her legs. "Is so? Shampoo think it nice, but..."

"What, dear?"

"This not very good for fighting..."

"Ahh... Well, you don't have to have all your outfits with fighting in them as a consideration," the Saotome Matriarch replied.

"That what Ranma said."

"'Ranma'? You saw my little boy?"

"Umm..," the Chinese girl answered as she cursed herself for the slip of her tongue, "No see anyone who not here now."

"But you just said..."

"He tell me before go shopping. He know we go, so..."

"I see..."

Giving a weak smile, the Amazon tried not to let out a breath of relief. "Sorry. But maybe you want help pick out next outfit to see?"

"Why, that would be nice."

As she walked back home, Miyo wondered if she would have a complete idea of what she should do with her romantic troubles. She had some possibilities, but they weren't the easiest things to deal with. Talking to someone else would help, but there were only a couple of people available in that direction, and they were only recently not involved in constant bickering. Picking one would work, but she didn't know which one to chose, nor wish to hurt the other. There was divination, of course, but that was never an exact science.

Only one other possibility was available, and that was to talk to her parents, though she was loathe to do that. No girl, no matter how mature, or confident, wished to run to her mother and father unless they had to. Not that they would be making fun of her, or would chew her out, but they would be... understanding. She wouldn't know what to tell them, and they'd smile and nod, giving her what would either be useless suggestions, information that she wouldn't recognize as good, or a combination of both.

But they were not the best people to talk to, and as she considered it, there was only one person who really was.

For Ranma, the current 'fashion show' was a rather unique form of torture. Though there was nothing sinister about it, she was well aware of the problems that it was causing her. It was definitely not something that she could merely make go away, and she wondered when she'd get some relief from it.

The fact was that she was trying to watch the certainly attractive Amazon show off in various outfits. Just the knowledge that she was constantly stripping would have been enough, but she was not only getting it in that way. Just in the current combination of miniskirt and sleeveless blouse, there was plenty to be hitting her with. On occasion she'd get a flash of panty or the sight of the generous cleavage pushing against whatever top she was wearing.

Mentally, she quite certainly was male, and would have liked nothing better but to wait until the end, and then to take the girl off to show her how much he liked the outfits. But since she couldn't turn back, and any movement towards would set off concerns in her mother, Ranma had to stay there like a 'good girl'. That came at a price though, as her body reacted to her thoughts, and she could feel all sorts of signs as to her state showing up. She could feel her nipples harden under her blouse, and she had to press her thighs together to keep herself from unconsciously moving a hand.

She didn't know whether or not it was the absence of such activities for the past few days, or if she was just a horny bastard, but she was definitely in need of a distraction.

Thankfully, Nabiki provided one as she leaned over, though it was not total. "Enjoying the view, are you?"

"Yeah. But it's nothin' I can't handle," Ranma replied irritably.

"Hey, I can certainly see why you'd start feeling those sorts of things when looking towards her."

"Well, then ya can understand why I'm not 'bout ta let that bother me."

"Sure I can," Nabiki whispered softly, in a tone tinged with gentle teasing. "Of course, there are ways to handle that sort of problem alone... And we do have the toys..."

"Great..."

"I'd suggest that you don't knock it. You may find it rather good. It is why we got them after all. Otherwise we went to that store for... wait a minute. That store..."

"Yeah?"

"Did you take Shampoo there?"

"I did."

"And you don't think that once your mother see what's in it, we'll be in deep trouble? Even if we try to sneak it away, she might just think that we're being shy and try to really see what it is..."

"Don't worry," her Owner replied, "I'm light on my feet."

"Pardon?"

"I bounced in, dashed over ta a certain place, hid the bag, and came out again. It ain't the best hidin' spo, but it'll do until we can send it home with Shampoo."

"That's a surprise..."

"What? That I could be bright enough for that?"

"No. That someone, anyone thought to do it before a problem was caused," her pet answered.

"Just try and imagine going ta see your parent when ya are carryin' somethin' like that."

"Oooh... Good point."

"It thought so too," Ranma replied.

Right upon waking up, Tatewaki Kuno sat up, and frowned. It wasn't due to the pounding head that was bothering him, since he'd been able to ignore pain for a long time now. However, there was a dilemma facing him. "I do not remember falling into any sort of slumber..."

"Oh, Master Kuno! You're awake!" Sasuke said as he came over to his employer.

"How good of you to state the obvious. Now, if you would be so kind, please inform me as to how I came to be in my bedchambers, or is that beyond your skills?"

"Certainly, Master. You see, you were struck by a girl swinging a weapon at you. You... stood for a moment, and then suddenly fell to the ground. I had to carry you all the way back here."

"Is that so? I must have had good reason to leap into slumber so suddenly..."

"You got hit on the head..," the diminutive ninja murmured.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

"I thought so, but in any event, your behavior is not the concern at the moment. You say that a mere damsel decided to strike my most illustrious person?"

"Well... Yes..."

"I see... And did you happen to know who these girls were, perhaps?" Kuno scoffed.

"One of them had long brown hair, and her companion had her hair done up in a ponytail..."

"Hmmm... I believe that I know the girls of whom you speak. Though I had not thought that they could go that far, apparently they already have. Which provides me with a most interesting question..."

"What is that?"

"What should I do with them until such time as they are properly fawning over my most gracious, dignified, and manly self," the 'legend in his own mind' replied.

Ryoga was reasonably sure that forests and rural communities were not in Tokyo. That immediately told him that he was certainly still wandering around without any knowledge of just where he was going. Unfortunately, it also didn't tell him just where he was.

Though he was reasonably sure that he'd already passed at least one pig farm several times.

Nodoka was very happy at the moment, as she saw this as partly showing outfits, and playing dress up. This was more of what it was like to have a close family. After Genma had dragged Ranma off to go on that training journey, she'd known that she'd never get another chance at making something as heartwarming as this. She knew that she'd be alone, without even another child to keep her company. Not that she would merely give birth to have a conversation companion, but it would have been nice to at least have someone that she was connected to in blood. And friends and secondary family, like cousins, would not usually stay permanently in another person's home.

But even if she never got the biological daughter that she'd wished for when thinking about the multiple babies she'd dreamed of back when she was a young girl, the girls with her were the sort that she wanted to have as her daughters. She wished that each of them could be her daughters, including the only other redhead in the room.

Ranko might be a bit rough around the edges, but she was a sweet and kind girl, with whom Nodoka felt a strong bond with and it was of the sort that she was not about to abandon, even when she had to go home.

Looking up at one of his familiar tormenters, Hikaru tried to reason things out. "Come on... You don't want to do this..."

"Oh, now you know what I want?" asked the leader of the trio of bullies that came to bother him. "What? You grew a spine?"

"I already had one..."

"Very funny... Maybe I should knock you around some to teach you how funny that would be..."

"It wouldn't be a good idea..."

"And just why not?"

"They wouldn't like it," Gosunkugi replied, and pointed.

Arrayed behind the bullies was at least twenty girls, some of whom would have been the school martial arts champions under other circumstances. But all of them were part of the club to improve him, and they were not about to let the other guys get away with what they were doing.

"Can we talk about this..."

"NO!" the girls chorused, and then set to work.

Even though he knew that he should be able to commiserate with the bullies, Hikaru found it immensely satisfying to see the jerks getting smacked around, in some cases quite literally, by a bunch of schoolgirls.

"Welcome to the Nekohanten..." Akane began, and then she stared at the girl who had just come in. "Shampoo!"

"Hello! Shampoo back from shopping and showing others outfits," chirped the lavender haired girl.

"I see... I definitely see..."

"You like outfit?"

"It actually fits you, especially now..," the Japanese girl replied, taking in the Mandarin collared shirt and simple slacks that Shampoo was now making look both sexy and stylish.

"Is good. That why Shampoo glad she wear this."

"Oh?"

"You not be able to come when Shampoo show outfits, so Shampoo wear outfit to show you."

"Ahh... Thanks. And you do look good."

"Am thanking you."

Akane shrugged. "I was just telling the truth. And you can show the customers, your great grandmother, and Mousse that outfit like that..."

"Shampoo not sure that for her."

"Why not?"

"Great Grandma? Sure. Customers? A little," Shampoo replied dubiously, "But why would Shampoo show stupid duck anything?"

"Other than the bottom of your shoe when you kick him away."

"Too true... too true..."

"I guess that you'll want to bring your bags to your room and get changed then?"

"Is so. Can't always hold bags, and you need Shampoo do do that," the Amazon girl responded.

"Why would you think so?"

"Because you be waitressing all day. Is Shampoo time to help out."

"Ahh... Gotcha," Akane said, and grinned slightly as the other girl headed to her room

There was one part of the Tendo meals that had been thankfully lost along with the presence of the two fathers, at least in the opinion of those who usually stayed there, and that was the constant bickering. One usually didn't like to have any sort of fighting at the dinner table, not only because it was noisy, angry, and bothersome. It also detracted from the meal at hand, and allowed for an opportunity for food to be knocked over or, in the cases where a panda was at the table, stolen.

As such, it was a bit disconcerting, as well as familiar, to see Akane jabbing her chopsticks in the direction of the pigtailed girl at the table. "You should have warned me, you jerk."

"How's that?" Ranma said with a blink.

"I was staring at Shampoo like I didn't know her. I even thought that she was a customer at first!"

"That was the point, ya know. This way, she can go 'round in somethin' new. And if she fooled ya..."

"Then I'm easily tricked, huh?"

The pigtailed girl gave her a long look. "Hey, those are only your words."

"Oh, are they now..," the youngest Tendo growled... just before she broke out into a smirk and playfully jabbed at the redheaded teen. "Then I suppose that one day, I'll have to figure out how to fool you."

"That shouldn't take too long. This is Akane we're considering though..." Nabiki murmured mock-thoughtfully.

"Nabiki!" Kasumi gently admonished.

Nodoka looked over the girls around her and smiled. "I'm glad to see that you all will be getting along."

"We have been for a long time now."

"Yes, but I'm afraid that I'll miss it when I leave here."

"Ya leavin'?" Ranma asked, her earlier joviality turning into a deep frown.

"I have to dear. Remember what I said this morning."

"I do..."

"But you're not happy about it. That actually gives me something to be happy about. It means that you care."

"Well... I do..."

"And that is good for me."

"And you're good for all of us," the eldest of the sisters responded."

"I do hope so," the Saotome Matriarch commented, "I do hope so..."

Genma was not happy, and it was all his nurse's fault. He was a man who could take care of himself, even when he was as hurt as he was. Sure, he liked the idea and action of being cosseted, but he needed an excuse to act with dignity.

And now she was serving him bowls of white-brown goop.

"What is this?" he asked.

"It's oatmeal," the nurse told him. "Can't you tell?"

"I know what it is. But why are you feeding it to me?"

"Because it's nice, wholesome and filling with plenty of nutrients. And it doesn't have any sort of nasty stuff to make you work to eat, like crunchy bits or a big solid chunk."

"You're joking, right?" Genma asked.

"I am not."

"Then you really mean for me to eat this?"

"Yes, I do. Because if you don't, you'll be a mean and obnoxious little boy, and we don't want you to be that, now do we?" she asked in icy tones.

"No..."

"That's a good boy. Now prepare to eat your oatmeal and you'll get honey on the bowl of it that you'll have for breakfast..."

"'Bye Auntie..," Ranma said sullenly as the sisters and she stood outside the dojo gates, and Nodoka gave her a soft smile before kissing the top of her head. "Auntie?"

"Don't worry dear. This is not forever," her mother told her.

"I know..."

"But it feels that way," Akane finished.

Giggles escaped from Nodoka's lips. "I know, but I'm sure that I'll see you girls again."

"We are too," Nabiki drawled, "But that does mean that we'll expect you back for a visit soon."

"I'm sure that I will be."

Kasumi gave a kind look to the older woman. "And you can come back any time that you want to."

"Thank you dear. Thank you all."

"Goodbye, Auntie."

"Goodbye girls," Nodoka told them, and walked off to catch the last train of the day.

It was with a dubious expression that Sasuke looked at his employer. "You think that will work?"

"Of course it will!" Tatewaki Kuno pronounced, "For is it not my plan?! Have I not slaved for hours, even days, over it?! There shall be nothing that can go wrong with this plan that I have come up with! For it is merely to speak to this relative of the pigtailed girl's! She is currently in town visiting, and I shall find her so that I may speak with her!"

"And what will you tell her?"

"The truth, what else? I shall inform her of the great love that exists between myself and the pigtailed girl! And once she discovers the breadth of the feeling that we have for one another, she will have no other choice but to give up this plan to have her oh so lovely relative go out with me!"

"But what if she's already left?"

The deluded kendoist gave off a laugh. "Surely you jest. No one in their right mind would abandon the pigtailed girl, and even a relative would want to circle around her brilliance."

On her way past the pair, Kodachi overheard what her brother was saying, and shook her head. She considered letting him know that she'd gotten a phone call reporting that the woman in question had already left, but she decided against that. He'd likely consider it either a ruse, or as an opportunity, and she thought that as long as he was chasing after someone who had left the immediate area, the better.

It would be so much calmer not to have handle that idiot in such a way.

Ranma looked up at the ceiling above his futon and tried not to listen to the silence of the room. But much like any other time someone tried to actively not listen to something, he heard it all to clearly. He was alone in the room, and could almost hear his father's grinding snore, or his mother's light breathing as either slept.

Had he wished to, he could have had his pet entertain him, cuddled up with Kasumi or shared some passion with Akane. He could have even slept in one of their beds instead of staying where he was. However, he hadn't wanted that, and they had respected it. There would be plenty of time for him to get back to enjoying the ways that boys and girls could get intimately together.

Right then, he needed his time to be alone, and to think about his family. Both parents were not what he'd call normal, but it was easy to see the difference. His father had been always yelling, insulting and sneaky, in addition to being a great martial arts teacher. On the other hand, his mother was kind, generous, and rather odd with ideas of manliness and tradition. He had been with one or the other, but never both at the same time, for the last ten years.

And he knew that he'd missed out on something.

Not liking the path of his thoughts, he turned over onto his side and closed his eyes in an attempt to sleep. His churning mind kept him from doing so quickly, but he eventually managed it. When he did, he went into a deep slumber for the night,

Morning was her element, and Kasumi was well aware of that fact. For most people, getting up early would be only something that they'd do with great reason to do so. In her case, she liked it not only for the quiet that it afforded her. At that time of day, one could see all the possibilities of the coming hours, and she was always hopeful that one could make the most of what lay ahead.

Still, there was plenty of work to do for breakfast did not cook itself, and she was completely aware that she'd have to do a lot to make certain that she could get it all done. Not that she would worry about it, as she had gotten it to be an easy routine that she could handle no matter what the situation, even if she found herself looking for Aunt Nodoka to be helping her after only a few days of visiting. So it made it look like a graceful dance as she weaved around her kitchen and prepared a meal to feed those she cared about. Just standing there cutting up things did a whole lot more than simply making the food taste better.

But something new was added to her preparations as a pair of arms wrapped around and hugged her under her breasts. That startled her for a moment, and she nearly jumped as someone nuzzled the back of her neck from behind. But once she realized who was making those sounds of contentment that accompanied it, she blushed and smiled.

"Good morning, Ranma," she said softly.

"Mmm... Mornin'," he replied with the dissipating remnants of sleep thickening his words.

"You seem..."

"Happy ta have ya around. D'ya know somethin'?"

"What?"

"Doin' this makes me realize how soft your hair is," the pigtailed boy murmured as he pressed his cheek against her tresses, "And how nice it smells."

Her blush darkened a bit, but his words warmed her heart, as well other places. "Why, thank you..."

"It's true..."

"But it's nice of you to point it out. And it's nice of you to greet me this way..."

"I thought it would be..."

"Then you thought right."

"And maybe I can do it other times after I let ya go."

"Would you?" she asked, and then ducked her head at the small sound of eagerness in her voice. "If you would want to, that is."

"I would."

"Oh..."

"And I'm glad that ya would like me ta do it more," Ranma told her and pressed a kiss to her nape.

She shivered happily at the gentle touch, and enjoyed that moment of feeling utterly feminine.

Ryoga didn't like being lost. He did it so often, one would think that he'd be used to it. But the problem was that it was rather frustrating to not be able to deal with never being able to go from one place to another without detouring to the rest of Japan, or so it seemed. Just to be able to go some place without getting lost would be a major coup for him.

At the moment though, he would settle for one simple thing.

'I wish that I had camped next to a hot spring, not this,' he mentally grumbled as he stood waist deep in a swamp.

Breakfast was back to its more relaxed state, and it definitely showed. Kasumi sat at one end of the table, while Nabiki cuddled up to her Owner, and Akane sat across from the pair. They had plenty of room, and all of them sat together with an obvious closeness. Clearly they could have spread out more, but they didn't seem to have a wish to do so.

"Back to school again," Akane sighed as she poked at her rice.

Nabiki raised a brow. "What? I thought that you liked doing well in your education."

"I do, but..."

"What?"

"There's that stuff with Ukyo..."

"Whatever are you talking about?" the middle sister said with forced calmness.

"Err... I meant that we'll have to... talk about her date with Ranma."

"Ah... Well, we just tell them the truth. Or enough that we get the results that we want."

"Oh, do we? Is that your answer for everything?"

"Of course not. There are other ways to do things. Like when one of us have kids."

"What?!"

"We will have them," Nabiki murmured with a smile, "at least one of us will, but still, who knows. All three of us might."

Akane looked at Ranma who seemed to be blown away by the idea, and used that to focus past her own blush. "So? That'd be in the future. Why bring it up now?"

"Because you don't lie to kids. They pick up on it. You just tell them the truth as they can handle it and hope that they react to it well enough."

"How'd you get to know all that?"

"Easy. It's my nature. I like to know how to handle people, though it'd be Kasumi who'd be better at taking care of kids. Knowing her, she'd keep the kids while Master here went off on a training mission."

"'Training mission'?"

"He's a martial artist, you know. Both you and he'd probably spend a lot of time out of the area, and despite being a pet, I'd like to be working, so she'd be left behind..."

The three girls were jolted as Ranma slammed his fist onto the table with just shy of enough force to do real damage. "NO!"

"What?"

"I'm not 'bout ta abandon any of ya!" he growled, "Kasumi'll always have the chance ta go places and be with people she cares about. Akane, Shampoo and I can train together. Kodachi can't 'serve' if she's alone, and she needs ta know she's wanted. And I said that I wasn't 'bout ta leave ya! None of ya are gonna be waitin' around for years, hopin' for some stupid letter that'd be weeks old when ya got it! Ya won't be stuck wonderin' what's goin' on with me when ya are sittin' in an empty house! I won't let it happen!"

Seeing the vehemence in his statement, Kasumi reached over and stroked his hand. "I know you won't... dear. You would never do that to us."

"You'd better believe it."

"I do."

"And I never meant for you to think that you'd abandon us," Nabiki told him, "I was just thinking about short training journeys, maybe traveling over, learning what you can, and coming back. Almost like a small vacation."

"Oh..," the pigtailed boy said, blushing slightly.

"But it's nice to hear that you'll be that caring," Akane told him.

"Ya mean, that, don't ya?"

"Yes."

Ranma looked to each of the girls sitting with him, and let himself relax. He'd spent the night alone just to figure out how his mother spent her days, and discovered that he hadn't liked it, for himself or for her. But he couldn't do anything for her right then. However, he could control what he could do for those sharing his bed, and he was sure as hell not going to follow his father's example. After making sure that he got a taste of what she went through on a daily basis, even if it wasn't quite that close, he knew that he could not do that to any of them. It was too much to say at the moment though, and he decided to push that aside for the moment. "Well then, we'd better get ta school, huh?"

A look of shared pleasure passed between the sisters at that moment,

The thing about having a secret was that one tended to wonder two things about everyone else around them, at least from Ukyo's perspective. One worried about someone else finding out her secret, and she tended to wonder what sort of secrets other people might be holding. Before it had only been little things, with only the fact that she had been dressing as a boy being her biggest 'secret'. But the fact that she now had knowledge that relatively few people did had her bearing a heavy weight.

Oddly enough, it wasn't something that she was afraid most of the school would find out about. She was pretty sure that they'd find out about it about the time that Kuno discovered that his ideas of samurai traditions were rather skewed, which would only happen in one's wildest imaginings. What she was afraid of was the idea that a certain someone would find out before she had the chance to properly tell him herself.

And as she peered around the sea of arriving students, she saw him. Ranma was racing in with Akane, though they weren't late, and had not been for some time now. However, neither of them was going to risk the trouble that they might get into if they were too far behind the bell. They did stop and wave to others as they passed, and she saw them slow as Yuka, Sayuri, Hiroshi and Daisuke came up to them.

Anyone could tell that it would be a bad idea to try to talk to him now, or any time during school. She had learned about the situation herself that way, and didn't want to risk having someone else overhear her. Besides, she didn't want to do it so that she'd have to rush through it. If she was going to do it, she wanted to do it right, and so that there would be no misunderstandings, likely though they might be. Not only that, but she wanted to make sure that the other girls knew just what she would be about without having to repeat herself too many times.

That was when she figured out what would be as perfect a time as she could manage. She'd have to work around it, but she was sure that she could handle one day of an interrupted schedule if she could get what she wanted. A lot rode on it after all, and she didn't want to give up her chance simply because she couldn't make herself work for it.

Having made a solid plan, she let herself relax just a bit, and headed over to greet him as she normally did, knowing that all too soon their relationship would likely change a lot.

Morning was supposed to be about new starts, and possibilities. One could wake up and face the bright new day with a happy heart knowing that this day was full of chances. It just meant that forgetting old problems, and moving on to future opportunities. Things might have been bad, but they were in the past. 'Now' was the time for going out with a bounce in one's step and a glimmer in one's eye.

Genma Saotome was trying very hard to try and do just that, as he'd done it plenty of times before.

He just hadn't had to deal with the hospital stay from hell as he did right then.

'Doesn't this woman ever go home?!' he mentally whined as he looked up from his hospital bed at the newest nurse.

"Is something wrong?" she asked as frowned slightly.

"Oh, no... Why would you think that?"

"Because you're acting like something is."

"I was... I... The fact is..."

"What?"

"I was wondering when you were leaving," he blurted, and then realized what he'd said.

"Were you now? Is my presence that bad? Are you in a hurry to get rid of me?"

"Well..."

She leaned down to scowl directly at him. "You listen to me, little mister sick man. It's really impolite to be so inconsiderate. I've been working my fingers to the bone to make sure that you're okay, and this is how you think of all I've done for you? Just 'won't she go away'?"

"Umm..."

"That's just wrong, and I'm not going to let that stand. If I have to, I'll make you understand how to treat a lady. You'll have to be taught, and I won't stop until I've gotten my point across. Hmm?"

"But..."

"'But', what?"

"But I was seeing you work so long and so much that I was wondering if you actually took some time for yourself," he blurted.

"Oh. That's different, now isn't it? In fact, it's really nice of you to think of my needs."

"I... I hoped so..."

"Trust me, it is. More people should be like you."

"If you say so..."

"I do. And just to show you how nice you are, I'll give you an extra special bowl of oatmeal for breakfast before I leave, okay?"

"Great..," he whimpered, wondering what was worse, the fact that he was being nursed by someone rather frightening, or that he was being starved with the small 'meals' they were giving him.

He just wished that he could go home already...

Ranma had never really thought about having kids as he'd actively forgone any consideration that would have had him married. That would have fit into someone's plans after all, and he had known that whomever would be the mother of his child would be his wife. Since he'd had multiple candidates for the job, with only one being able to be happy with whomever he chose, and the others would want to kill him. And then he'd have to deal with fathers, mothers, sisters, great-grandmothers, and assorted rivals, all of whom would want him for different reasons.

However, the discussion at the breakfast table that morning had him wondering about just that. He'd been sleeping with each of the girls, and the fact was that there hadn't been a lot of restraint was involved. Nor did he want such, as things were pretty great between the involved parties and he didn't want to rock the boat. But he could do just that if he got one of them pregnant.

That didn't seem so bad a possibility, oddly enough.

He couldn't stop himself imagining what it would be like to see at least one of them in that situation. Would Nabiki round gently with a daughter who was as curious and intelligent as she was? Could Akane be kept from overdoing things if she were bearing their child? What would it be like to see Kasumi giving that same gentle touch to the baby that they might share? How would having someone as free spirited as Shampoo bear his kid translate into? If Kodachi were to have his son, would she make him as elegant as she was?

The thing was that he just didn't know, and that, in some ways, made it all the more alluring. For the first time in his life, he was actually considering that sort of thing with great seriousness, and he found that he wanted it. But he sure as hell wouldn't raise them as his father had him. He'd seen entirely too much in the way of bad parenting to want to continue that sort of nonsense.

Though he just hoped that it wouldn't be too soon. He was well aware of the fact that he wasn't ready to be a father, and he knew that other things would need to be settled before he could start working on that sort of thing.

Such a thing would be his education, but it had been this class that had gotten him thinking about such things.

"Now you all should know that you will only find one side of the gender experience," the sex ed teacher joked, "since you can't switch genders, no matter how hard you try."

"Except for Ranma. He can be female any time he wants," Hiroshi pointed out.

Daisuke nodded. "And he's got to really know that girl side of his... OW!"

Fortunately, Ranma didn't need to focus to be able to toss pencils to smack his friends on the head.

The way that the girls whipped them too was rather comforting though.

"He came again?" Nodoka asked over her cup of tea.

Mrs. Ichinose gave a small smile at her employee. "He did, indeed. It's getting to be so that a body can figure out which day it is just by seeing him."

"I'd think so. Was it with another girl?"

"Oh, yes, and she was quite a lovely thing. A full bosom, long legs, and hair that my husband, poor thing, would have killed to run his hands through. And she was actually excited to be in here."

"She was?"

"Acted like a kid in a candy store. That one was no shrinking violet, I'll give her that," the older woman said with a cackle of amusement.

"Sounds like she was a real passionate girl."

"I'm sure that she'd give him a lot of enjoyment, and that included that cute accent of hers."

"'Accent'?" the redhead asked.

"She's from a village in China, so..."

"Ahh... And he's a manly young man if that is the case. Exotic young women... Did they leave any names this time?"

"No... More's the pity. Though we do have a customer base that'd prefer not to be open about some things."

"I just wish that I had been here. I would have liked to have met him."

"Well, if nothing else," her employer reminded her, "he'll likely be back with another young lady this Sunday."

"So I could meet him... But what if he doesn't show up?"

"Then I'll just ask him to come the following day, okay?"

"Yes, it would be. I'd so like to see what he's like. Still, if my Ranma is as vigorous as him, I'll be so pleased," the Saotome Matriarch sighed.

Physical education was normally one of Akane's favorite classes. It was at the time when she got to play sports and have fun with her classmates. She was rather good at such games, and enjoyed the chance to get out and do them. After all, with so much insanity in her life, the chance to just go and have fun was a welcome opportunity.

Yet she had never had to consider the possibility that she could get pregnant before. Not that she didn't want to do so... eventually, but she just didn't want to do it right then. She hadn't even graduated high school yet, and didn't want to bear her child because she had no choice. Her father and Mister Saotome had always seen her as the 'brood mare' to continue their lines, and she had never wanted her child to be born so that two old men could be satisfied, even if she did love one of them. It was just that she wanted to have Ranma's son or daughter when she was ready.

Nothing could make her ignore the truth about though. With the way things were, sooner or later, she'd become pregnant by Ranma Saotome. Heck, all the girls would be having that possibility hovering around them. And by the way she felt about him, she was sure that he'd more than likely be the father of her children no matter what. He was the one boy that she cared deeply about, and she couldn't even see another guy parenting her kids.

She just didn't want to have them right then. Having a baby was something that they should be able to coo over, not worry about the ramifications of it. However, the only ways to avoid an unplanned pregnancy were to not have sex, use contraceptives, or use birth control. The first was not something that she could see them doing, the second would be problematic to deal with, and the third would need prescriptions. That was unfortunate though, as the last would be the choice for them, but it wasn't like there were secret sources that they could easily get to...

Then she found herself resisting the urge to smack herself in the head. The Amazons would have had to figure out something on their own, and unlike a lot of other places, they would have more than likely found something that would work quite well. So her Sensei could know just what she'd need, and even get it quickly, if she didn't already have a supply of it. Once they had the proper potion, they could continue on, and keep themselves from getting complications that they were not ready for.

Having a plan ready, she smiled at her friends as they called her up to home plate, and headed over to grab a bat

"Oh man... Am I glad that school's over," said one of the trio entering the Tendo's front gate, but it wasn't Ranma.

Akane looked over at the speaker and raised a brow. "I thought that you liked going to school Nabiki."

"I do," her sister replied, "but it's not like it is here."

"But I thought you were all about getting an education and being the smartest one around."

"That's true, but you haven't put in one thing."

"What's that?"

"Here I don't have to hide the fact that I'm a pet," Nabiki pointed out as she walked backwards for a few steps to face the other two with her.

"Oh... So in addition to wanting to outsmart everyone, you're a sex fiend. I understand."

"Akane!"

"What?"

"Don't you act like you aren't as willing to jump his bones as I am."

"Umm... Okay."

"Huh?"

"You know something?" the younger girl murmured, "I do believe that it feels nice to actually out talk you."

Ranma couldn't take it at that moment and laughed hard. "It's true. She's got ya there."

Nabiki scowled for a minute and muttered under her breath. "Ha ha."

"Hey, if ya did it perfect every time, what would be the point of tryin' ta get better?"

"Ah... Good point."

"Exactly."

"Hello," Kasumi greeted them as she met them at the door. "What point is that?"

"Hi, and the point is that ya don't try if ya are already sure that ya can't get better."

"Oh. That sounds rather correct. That must be why you train so hard."

"It is, and it's why I don't stop when I don't do so good. I might be the best, but if I stay like I am, I might just get lazy. And I could turn inta my Pop."

"Ugh. Please don't let that happen," his pet replied.

"Trust me. I don't plan on it."

"I should hope so."

"Is that an instruction?"

"No, it's a request. I gave myself to you because you would be just what I need. I could never give him..." she commented, finishing with a sensual little wiggle of her hips.

"I seriously doubt that anyone could," the youngest of the sister put in.

"That's not nice..," the eldest admonished.

"It's true. How he... Why anyone would... Let's just not talk about it, okay?"

"That might be best."

"Good, because things have been going too nicely for us to start interrupting it with pointless wonderings."

"Ya think so?" her fiancé asked.

"Trust me. We don't know, and we don't need to know. Let's leave it at that."

"True. I'd prefer ta enjoy a nice and comfortable afternoon."

"Well, I have to work, so..."

"Ya do like it, right?"

"I do, but I'm going to have some extra things to do as well."

"Like what?"

"Let's sit down for a moment before I change and leave, and I'll tell you about it."

"Let me just put take care of some things upstairs, and I'll be right with ya," Ranma answered.

"Sure. It's not like you should take a long time, and we aren't all in a rush."

"Who'd be rushin'?"

"Her," Akane responded, and pointed.

Standing with her blouse already off and her bra clad bosom in full view, Nabiki stopped in mid step. "What?"

"That's my pet," her owner said with a shake of his head as he headed off for the stairs.

"That's me."

"Shouldn't you wait until you're in your room, or in the changing room?" her younger sister asked.

"Why? You annoyed about what I'm doing?"

"No. Curious."

"I see. Well, you've all seen my body, and we know how I'm going to be until it's time to get ready for school, unless something comes up. So, I don't see what's the point in pretending and taking up time doing things the long way around."

"Okay. Just one thing?"

"What?"

"Try and do it where you can balance better?" the martial artist told her. "You might hurt yourself by bending over and tugging on your socks like that."

"That... should be what I'm doing. Yes."

"Don't worry. I'm sure that no one's going to pop up unexpectedly to make you rush."

"It's just been a while since I could just be a pet, and so," Nabiki began ... just as a knock sounded on the door. "This had to happen."

"I wonder who it could be," Kasumi said with a curious frown as she went to answer the door. Upon opening it, she stared at the new arrival. "How nice of you to stop by like this."

Looking up from his latest costume creation, Tsubasa frowned and wondered why he was feeling so disconcerted. He didn't know why, but he could feel that something was going wrong around him. Yet, he couldn't see anything happening, and so it left him with only the sensation that he should be concerned. Nothing else came to him though, and he tried his best to put it aside in his mind until the time when he could actually have enough information to know what he should do about it.

Then he bent back down and returned to making the brick wall costume as he tried not to get any of the dust he was making on his dress.

Ranma came down the stairs and found himself close to whistling a cheerful ditty. Since that wasn't his style, he just settled for letting him fairly bounce down the steps. Things were going pretty well for him, and even with the knowledge that he could get his lovers pregnant, and might have done so already, not phase him. Sure it'd be a bit of a challenge to handle, but there were things that he could do, and he definitely could do worse with a possible mother of his child. Heck, in all honesty, he was physically able to get a woman pregnant who'd raise his kids like his father had done so with him.

But in his case, he had intelligence, money, and a common group concern for each other working for him. He wouldn't be in it alone, and he was sure that once he figured out how to bring it up, he could do so with the confidence that the girls would help each other. That would be amazing, and he knew that it would be another sign that things were a lot better than they had once been, even if they were not perfect.

And he stepped into the family area with a smile on his face... that quickly turned to staring.

It wasn't any of the changes that had been wrought in his bedmates since he'd first made love to them that made him do so. Nabiki lounging in the nude was not a shock at all any more. He'd long been used to seeing Akane in her school uniform, and Kasumi looked rather nice in her knee length skirt and cotton blouse. Even Kodachi's presence, as she knelt wearing a small apron over her miniskirt and button up top was the oddity that it had once been.

No, the shock had to be the girl sitting rather calmly in the middle of all this, acting as if she had expected it.

"Hiya, Ranchan," Ukyo Kuonji said with a weak smile and a nervous wave

There had never been any question that Ukyo might find out in Ranma's mind. He'd even thought that it would be a matter of time before she discovered what sort of situation he was in. One could only hide the fact that he was having sex with five girls for so long, and he didn't want to drag out keeping her in the dark. But he had not wanted to push her away, so he'd kept from telling her something that would likely get his head smacked by a giant spatula.

However, what he had not expected was to come into a room to find her simply sitting there as if what surrounded her was something someone would expect to find in every home. Sure she was a bit nervous looking as she tried not to see Nabiki's nudity, and attempted to look confident, but she was not making with the screaming and yelling he'd have thought she'd be entitled to. Hell, she seemed to be even naturally smiling and her weapon of choice had yet to make an appearance.

"Will someone tell me what the hell's goin' on here?!" he asked in complete and utter confusion.

"I came visit you, Ranchan," Ukyo said soothingly, "and I thought that I'd stop by before I opened my restaurant today..."

"Just like that..."

"Umm... Sort of."

"And you're not mad? I mean, look 'round ya."

"What? Anything you want to tell me about?"

He gave her an even look. "Well, I'm here, and so are the girls, and they..."

"Have been sleeping with you."

"Ya knew?!"

"Yes."

"And this doesn't bother you?"

"It did when I found out..."

"And when did you find out?"

"Last week," the chef replied with a little shrug.

"You knew that... And you didn't..."

"I couldn't. I didn't know how to react, and then when I figured out what I wanted..."

"What do you want?"

"You, Ran-chan. Only... you," Ukyo answered, and gave a helpless shrug. "I would have worried about just why you were doing this, but you made me see that you wanted me too... So I hope that this is not a big bother..."

"Actually, it's pretty much a relief. I'd like ta not get bashed. Still, do ya have somethin'... Bein' a pet? Or... maid? Or something like that?"

"You think... No... I... You and me... I don't know about that stuff..."

He plopped himself down into a sitting position across from her. "Ahh... I see... But ya don't mind bein' part of..."

"I want you. It's just that simple. If I have to share, then so be it."

"Okay... But how did ya find out anyway?"

"Ummm... I... overheard some things that let me find out what was going on. When I realized what Nabiki's relationship with you was like..."

"Did ya now..," he murmured, and looked towards the named girl.

Nabiki ducked her head. "I didn't mean to let her know. Heck, I didn't even know that she was around..."

"I guess that ya really are slippin'. We'll have ta talk 'bout that later."

"Okay, Master..."

Blinking a little at the older girl's words, Ukyo turned her attention back towards her fiancé. "She was so excited that I saw red, but..."

"What?"

"Akane talked me out of it when I confronted her. She even made me see that you were not just playing me for a fool."

"She did? How?"

"She told me about your situation and then... I thought that if Akane knew about the situation, and couldn't call you a pervert, no one else could either."

"Nice ta know."

"I'd think so too," his childhood friend answered, and both of them turned to look at the girl who was being both bashful and proud at the moment.

"She did do good. But ya are sure that ya wanna do this?"

"As sure as I can be. I don't know what I could hope for..."

"Ranma does make certain to treat every one of us as best he can," Kasumi commented.

Ukyo nodded her thanks to the eldest Tendo girl. "I just want to let you know, you can... well... um... come to bed with me?"

"I'll see about doing that..."

"You aren't..."

"Hmm?"

"I mean, this is rather forward of me, but... I was hoping..." she trailed off, letting her fear of rejection taint her voice.

"I know what ya were hopin' for."

"Then what? Don't you want me?"

"Sure I do," he replied, looking over her entire body, from the way her long legs were tucked under her, to her slim waist, to where her firm bosom was bound, and on to her silky hair.

"Then what's the matter."

He rubbed the back of his head, and laughed nervously. "I don't wanna make your first time with me inta just a nothin' event, and it's not easy ta just start off cold."

"Could I warm you up?"

"Sure."

"Really?"

"Definitely."

"I mean, I know that your kiss on our date was clear enough. I just didn't want to be making you annoyed with something..."

"Trust me. I do... wanna... well, ya get the idea."

"You do?"

"I do," Ranma responded, and reached over to tug her into sitting in his lap. She gave out a little squeak as he held her there, and opened the first buttons on her uniform shirt, before slipping his fingers under it. But despite the liberties he could have taken at that moment, he simply pulled them out after a few moments. But when he did, the bindings that had been over her chest came with them, and she realized just what he had done.

"Ranma..?"

"Ya are a really pretty girl. Ya shouldn't be havin' ta hide them, and I like 'em."

"You do?"

"Yup," he said as he nuzzled her hair,

Ukyo wasn't sure of what to make of Ranma's sudden urge to show her open affection, but she knew that it did confuse her a bit. He wasn't one to do something like that, as he'd always been a bit... skittish when it came to such things. With his father raising him, she could see why that would be the case, but she did have to wonder about his new willingness to touch her in ways that she did have to admit were rather appealing.

Then he sighed and seemed to let go of tension that she hadn't known he had. It was almost as if he'd expected some sort of explosion, and had been relieved when it didn't come. That made her realize that the truth of her wishes had truly hit him right then, and she decided that she would have to comfort and nudge him in the right ways to make him understand what sort of relationship she wanted. So she pulled his arms to rest about her waist, and pushed her back up against his chest, making sure that they were nicely snuggled together. She put her hands over his, and smiled softly as she felt them connect in the sort of way that she'd always wanted. Sure, it was with a naked girl pet laying nearby, but she was what she'd been dreaming of.

But the feeling of what was growing stiffer under her backside was a major surprise, and she found herself imagining all sorts of actions that only involved him and her. Her imagination surprised her, as it provided vivid and clear pictures of what would likely happen for hours if she got her way. Unfortunately, as she considered the time that she could spend discovering the leap to total womanhood, she remembered something else and sighed in disappointment.

"Is somethin' wrong, Ucchan?" Ranma asked in concern.

The chef tried to give him an apologetic grin over her shoulder. "Sorry Ranchan, but I came only to let you know how I feel. I can't stay. I have a restaurant to run, so I've got to..."

"'Go'. I know. Ya do haveta eat."

"And my regular customers do count on me... But I don't want you thinking that I'm just running away," she made sure to point out.

"I know."

"You do?"

"Yup," he said easily... and then pulled the surprised girl into a long kiss on the mouth before letting her get to her feet.

Stumbling around in a daze, Ukyo wore a goofy look on her face before pulling herself back into a semblance of normality. Of course, the glittering of her eyes did give a bit of her happiness away, but she wasn't about to care at the moment.

However, before she could say anything, Akane stood up as well. "I've got to be going myself."

"You do?" the chef asked and then blinked as a memory hit her. "Oh, yeah. You're working for the Amazons now..."

"I am, and I do have a job to do."

"Hey, if anyone could understand work ethic, it's me, sugar."

"But it's not the only reason."

"Huh?"

"You haven't had the chance to be with Ranma yet, so you haven't had to worry. But I've realized that we could get pregnant this way," the youngest Tendo commented. "We do have to take that into consideration."

Most of the other girls in the room put hands to their flat bellies, but Ukyo merely looked at the waitress. "What do you mean?"

"We can't have kids now. It's not that I don't want to have Ranma's kids... Er... That I'm not wondering what it'd be like to be... Umm..."

"Take a deep breath and just say it."

"Okay. It's like this. In the future, we can have kids, but right now, it's not such a good idea. Most of us are still in high school, and it'll make people react in ways we might not want to see. Like Dad and Mister Saotome. They'd jump for joy if I got pregnant."

"Ahh... And if your sisters got pregnant, then the Tendo pledge would shift. But if Shampoo, Kodachi or I had Ran-chan's kid, they'd be mad while everyone else would want him to marry the mother..," Ukyo murmured in understanding.

"Exactly. And since I don't want to bring any child into the world under that sort of situation, and I'm sure that the rest of you'd agree with me, we'll have to simply deal with it as best we can."

"How do you plan on doing that, sugar?"

"By talking to Cologne. The Amazons have got to have some idea on some sort of safe contraceptive. They've had to deal with training, patrols, wars and all sorts of other junk, so why shouldn't they have figured this sort of thing out. I'll talk to her, and see if I can't get any from her for us."

"Oh... That sounds like such a nice idea," Kasumi put in. "I'm sure that if you ask Elder Cologne politely, she'll help..."

"I'm sure that she'll help, but I'll ask her as nicely as I can."

"What about you, Ran-chan?" Ukyo asked, "What will you be doing?"

"Me? Later, I may just hang around with Kasumi or Kodachi, but while the two of ya go, I'll have a pet ta punish," Ranma said as he glanced at someone else.

At the look in her Owner's eyes, Nabiki gulped and looked a bit nervous,

Usually, Nabiki found ways to prevent confrontations that she didn't want to happen. It was always a test of skill to find different methods to make sure that she'd never get into a situation that she didn't seem to have an advantage. Not that it always worked, but she did try her best, since that was her style. Kasumi was the one who never got into problems, and Akane barreled full tilt into trouble, but it was the middle sister who liked to out think everyone else.

Yet, as she was Ranma's pet, she knew that she couldn't run away or manipulate him. He was in charge of her totally, and that meant that she had to do as he said. If there was a confrontation, it was because he wanted one.

So she meekly followed as he led her along to her bedroom, not that she had a choice in the matter. With the chain that he'd attached to her collar, all he had to do was to tug, and she'd be pulled along in the direction that he wanted. As a result, the teenaged boy was guiding the naked older girl along with the look of someone in charge.

It wasn't until he had her in the room itself that he turned to her and spoke. "Lock the door."

"Yes, Master," his pet replied, and did as he bid before returning to stand before him. "I've done it."

"Yes, ya have. Now, go ta the bed, and get on your hands and knees."

"Master..? Umm... okay..."

"Good. Go."

Choking back her nervousness, Nabiki went over to her bed, and knelt there as he'd told her to. It did not matter that her full breasts were now hanging freely below her, or that her most intimate space was peeking out from between her thighs. He'd already seen it all, and could see it any time he liked. But in addition, she wanted to please him as much as possible, since she knew that she was in trouble.

That was especially evident as he pulled out a switch and seemed to be firming up his confidence. "Do ya know why you're here?"

"Because you want me here?"

"Besides that."

"Well... I did speak where Ukyo could hear..."

"'Xactly. Ya coulda really messed up things for her, and I'd hate it if she'd gotten messed up and I didn't know about it. Luckily, everythin' worked out, but..."

"I'm sorry..."

"I'd figured that ya would be," he said with a sigh, "but if ya are gonna be my pet, then ya gotta be treated like one."

"I know."

"So..."

"Yes, Master?"

"I'm gonna have ta do this," he told her as he took the other end of the chain, and attached it to the end of the bed.

"Master?"

"Don't move until I tell ya."

"Okay..."

The pigtailed boy nodded once... and then swatted the firm globes of her buttocks with the switch. The strike was a stinging one that left a red mark on her bottom, but it was not the only one by far. Soon her entire backside was covered in the marks from the switch, and even though her eyes watered with the biting pain, she kept herself in position to receive her punishment.

Once he was done, he tucked the punishment device away and reached over to stroke her supple back gently, and almost apologetically. "I don't exactly like doin' that sorta thing, but I had ta do somethin'. Otherwise we ain't gonna be able to continue on, and this was part of what ya wanted."

She nodded slightly, finding it hard to even bring up a bit of resentment for his actions. If anything, it was her fault for not being careful with what she said, as she'd both known what could happen, and had experience in keeping secrets. Besides, what she'd gotten was much better than some of the punishments he could have dished out.

"Now, ya'll know not ta do somethin' like that again."

"Yes, Master..."

Ranma took a deep breath and smiled at her. "Hey, figure it this way. It's sorta like when ya pop a pet on the nose with a newspaper."

"True..."

"But now? I'm gonna go see what sorta chores Kasumi and Kodachi are up ta. See ya later."

"Master?"

"What?"

"Are you going to leave me like this?" Nabiki asked, gesturing towards the chain which was locked off at both ends.

"Ya got a problem with that?"

"No! Of course not! I'm your pet, and you do with me as you like. I just..."

"Yeah?"

"I was just wondering why you are leaving now."

He grinned at her. "I figured that I should come up with some stuff of my own. After all, ya are my pet, and part of what ya like is me comin' up with plans for what ya will do."

"I understand that..."

"Then understand this. When ya got a pet that's bein' bad, ya leave her alone in a place that ya choose so that she understands that ya ain't happy with her."

"So, after the spanking..."

"The way I see it, you'll get a lot of time ta think about why ya should tell me when problems come up involvin' me or one of ya girls. I coulda picked out in the dojo, but I didn't want someone peekin' in on ya, and this is more comfortable. So, take some time for yourself. I'll be back later ta let ya free."

"Well... Okay, Master..."

"I'm glad ya agree. See ya."

Nabiki watched as her Owner left the room, closing the door firmly behind him, not that she could go anywhere. The chain's length was only long enough to reach her thighs if she were standing up, and now that it was locked to the bed, she couldn't go far from the piece of furniture. She could lay down, and reach out from it, but she wasn't going to be even able to get to anything of substance.

Oddly enough, that was something that she could appreciate, as it did fit into what had been her fantasy. Now that she was living it, the situation was not always comfortable, but it was rather fulfilling in ways that she had not imagined before. It played upon her desires like a concert pianist, and she couldn't help but see it as part of the role that she'd created for herself.

And in fact, she found herself having to make herself not rub her thighs together

Ranma's cool just long enough for him to close the door behind him. Once he was certain that his pet could not know what he was doing, he leaned against the wall, and gave a deep sigh of relief. He let his shoulders slump and took a moment to let himself relax after what he'd been through. Not that he regretted what he'd just done, but that it had taken a toll on him that he wasn't going to easily get over.

There was no boy he knew that was interested in girls that could have not understood the basics of his situation, but he knew enough now that he could give some explanation for what he was feeling. For him, it hadn't been the spanking that had done this, though the knowledge that her backside had been free and clear for his touch was part of it. Rather, it had been the control he'd had.

He was a boy who'd had only his fists to get his way until recently. The idea that he was the one who was in charge was a heady one, and that Nabiki, of all people, was would follow his every command still surprised him. She was an intelligent, clever and self-confident young woman, and he knew what a major thing it was for him to own her. And he couldn't forget that he had that well curved body completely available to him, and the temptation to use it for his pleasure and hers was definitely there.

But that wouldn't have either fit her fantasy, or their relationship. Nabiki had needed to be punished, and he knew from experience, punishment followed by a reward wouldn't be a good idea. He'd already seen signs that she'd liked at least part of it, which he'd been happy and rather... pleased by, but that was enough for the situation. So, he'd been the 'stern and disappointed Master', and did what he had with enough calm that he hadn't faltered. However, it had taken a lot of self control, and he had found that he had liked it. Something was appealing about being able to... control a girl would out think anyone else.

Still, that left him with something rather uncomfortable, and even though there were other ways of handling it, he thought that 'rewarding' someone else would be a nice thing for him and someone else.

So he made his way down the hall and headed off to where he heard the only other noise in the house. If he was lucky, he'd get a chance to enjoy the company of another young woman, which he hoped would be good for them both.

When he found Kasumi and Kodachi, the two of them were merely doing some dusting, which he was surprised to see. It wasn't that it was something that was done not so often. Instead, there was usually a lot to do, and to see them leisurely wiping things was a bit... underwhelming. "Man, are ya stallin' until ya have ta clean more?"

"No," Kasumi said with a bright smile. "It's just with how things are so nice now, there just haven't been any big messes to clean up."

"Ya mean that ya got it all done?"

"Well, not 'all', but it won't be any major difficulty to go slow. The laundry is done, dinner won't be needed for a few hours, and most of the heavy cleaning is done for the day."

"Oh. Man, I didn't know that we made so many problems for ya..."

The eldest Tendo sibling was quick to shake her head. "No, it was really no trouble. I truly enjoy the chance to help out my family. And Kodachi has been such a big help..."

"I'm only trying to be a good student to you, and a good servant to my Lord, Ma'am," the gymnast said with a blush lightly dusting her cheeks.

"Then you are succeeding rather well. It's nice to have you helping me."

"I thank you for your kind words."

"You're welcome, and thank you for helping me."

"And I wanted to know if one of ya might like ta come and spend some time with me," Ranma interjected, his voice filled with amusement.

Kasumi gave a thoughtful frown. "Oh... Well there are so many things that I'd like to do..."

"Then you can't come?"

"No... But Kodachi can."

"Ma'am?" the rich girl asked.

"It'll be alright."

"But don't you need help..?"

"I can do without it for a little while. Go on. Serve Ranma. He is your Lord," the older girl insisted as she gently nudged her student towards him.

"Certainly. So long as my Lord wishes it."

"I do," he said simply, and put his arm around her. "Ya sure that ya wanna work alone Kasumi?"

"I'll be fine, and I can see you later."

"That's... ohh... Heh. I'm sure. Well, we'll be gone for a while."

"Enjoy yourselves!"

"We will," Ranma responded with a grin as he led his servant away.

Standing there, Kasumi watched them go away with a smile. It was so nice to see everyone getting along, and even though she knew what they would likely be doing, she wasn't as embarrassed as she thought she'd be. In fact, she was rather pleased to see that they were feeling comfortable with each other and the situation.

Though the fact that she'd seen Ranma's hand resting on Kodachi's backside had set the elder girl's face to blushing,

Kodachi knew that a lot of girls would have had problems with even their significant others putting their hands on the girls' bottoms, but that wasn't true in her case. She was with the grouping who'd grown close enough to a guy to allow that, and she wouldn't be able to argue about it anyway. He was her Lord, and able to do whatever he wished of her.

Besides, she liked how his palm felt cupping the smooth curve of her buttocks.

So, she merely gave a small smile as she followed his silent direction to close the door after they entered the room that he normally shared with his father. The two of them were totally alone, and she knew what was going to come. Had she not been aware of their purpose in coming there, she would have still been excited just for the possibility being in the air. However, he'd come as close to actually saying what he planned to do with her, and she certainly desired to be ravished by the tight bodied martial artist.

"I figure that I should spend some time with ya," he told her as he ran his fingers up her flanks, sending tingles all up and down her body. "I hope that ya haven't been feeling neglected..."

"Not really. I understand that you have responsibilities my Lord," she replied with a blush, though he could see something in her eyes.

"But ya seem ta have a problem..."

"I would not say that... After all, you are my Lord, and are the one to chose the path of things..."

"'Xcept..."

"Oh, no. It's fine."

"Kodachi. Just tell me. Ya can understand that I want to know. Now, I'm certain that ya have been expectin' something," Ranma said calmly. "Tell me what it is..."

"You... I... Punishment."

"Huh?"

"You have not punished me, even though you have the right to."

"Yeah, so? Ya haven't been doin' anythin' wrong lately."

"Exactly. I have done some things that I am now ashamed of, and have yet to pay for. And I'm sure that I will do something wrong in the future," the gymnast replied, with an obvious reluctance to offend him.

"Hmmm... I just hadn't thought of it like that, since ya have been so good. But I'll tell ya what."

"What?"

Smirking, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her soft rosebud mouth that left the core of her shaking in need before he pulled back. "When I figure out what I can do ta properly punish ya, I'll do it. Understood?"

"Ye... yes, my Lord."

"Glad ta hear it," he replied, and began to pull off her apron. It was lightly tossed to the floor as he turned his attention to unbuttoning her blouse, exposing her lace capped bosom to his appreciative view. Once he had pulled her top open enough to do so, he gently slid his hand under it, and cupped a breast, squeezing the supple mound and stroking it with the same care that a wine taster would take with the finest vintage. Even before he slipped her breast free of her bra and took her nipple into his mouth, she was groaning in appreciation of his actions.

As her eyes stayed closed in utter bliss, he pulled off the clothing above her waist, leaving her totally bare. Not that she minded, as he began to greedily nibble and kiss her cleavage and shoulders, with his hands splayed over her back. Her own fingers caught and rubbed against his shirt, and fumbled their way to loosening his top for him to be able to pull it off. Even as she found herself pressed to the futon, she attempted to bring him into her pleasure as best she could, and his very male sounds of enjoyment were fodder for her own panting need.

Her hips went up to aid him in pulling off her panties, and he leaned over her face as his hand simultaneously unfastened her skirt, and played with her most intimate space. Unconsciously, she bent upwards in the rise of intensity of sensation, and choked gasps of pleasure were the only sounds that she could make. Once he had her writhing in simple need, but unable to vocalize the question she so wanted to ask, he yanked her skirt off her body with a flourish, grinning broadly as he gazed down at his nude servant.

Passion glazed her eyes as she looked up at her bare chested Lord, and felt fraction of pleasure as she realized how much he liked her body. Had she even been shy about keeping him from intimately touching her, she would have lost that reticence rather quickly. As it was, she was trying very desperately not to press herself against those wonderful fingers that were exploring the most feminine part of herself.

But then he gave her a rather wicked look, and said, "Spread your legs."

That surprised her a little bit, but she did so with all the speed that she could muster. However, unlike most girls, she was a gymnast, and she was able to do a practical split there on the floor, leaving her womanhood totally displayed for his perusal. He raised his brows at her act, but she just gave him an accepting smile, so he knew that she was not trying to be difficult. Seeming to like her action, he knelt down between her legs and slid his hands under the taut cheeks of her buttocks. He groped them for a moment, but then merely lifted her up just a slight amount. His actions confused her for a moment, and she found enough sense to wonder what he was doing.

And then he pressed his mouth to her folds, leaving her shivering with unadulterated pleasure. His mouth ran and up the lines of her opening, and his tongue traced the opening with electric accuracy. It even darted inside of her, making her involuntarily jerk and twitch with every delicious tasting he took of her. Then he found the hardened nub that waited so desperately for his attention, and made sure not to disappoint. So that he did not cause any pain, he gently took the nub between his teeth and grazed it slightly. She twisted slightly from the onrush of feeling, and then froze up as he sucked and licked it to her immense delight.

When he stopped and leaned so that he could press his manhood against the opening he had used his mouth so wonderfully on, she was beyond caring. He could have taken her any which way he wanted, and she would have merely gone along for the ride. Of course, she would have allowed him free reign anyway, but any real thought about it had been burned away in a wave of searing passion that only one man could cause to crest. That was something that he seemed intent on doing for her, as he slid his stiff manhood into her, and began to thump them together with a rhythm that spoke of his own need. With every thrust, she squeezed herself to give them the most out of their coupling that they could give. Her legs went around him, and he hugged her to him so tightly that her breasts could be flattened no more against his chest. Neither of them cared that they were grunting and moaning enough to echo off the walls or, causing the floor to creak. Instead, they were so wrapped up in each other that only one thing could stop them, and the ride was almost as pleasurable as getting there.

Her 'little death' came on with a crushing power that took all sense away as it slammed through her passion hazed mind. Nothing really filtered in, save for that overwhelming pleasure, and she could only sense when his sweat slicked body found its release into hers. But as reality came back to her, she discovered that only a languid rest was what she was capable of. Totally spent by his intense, and very desired, ravaging of her body, she could only lay there as he ran his fingers along the pale velvet of her skin.

"Wow..," he breathed.

"That's why," she murmured.

"'Why' what?"

"I won't ever think that you are bored of me."

"Don't think that'd ever happen."

"Good. I wish to serve you for a long time..."

One could here the amusement in Ranma's voice. "I sure hope so."

Contentment joined the remains of passion still in Kodachi's body, as she lay there with her Lord, lazily letting themselves recover

Laying on her bed in the nude was not a problem for Nabiki, as she'd grown accustomed to being naked period. In fact, unless she had been given a reason, like a visiting 'aunt' or school, she tended to be wear nothing that she hadn't been gifted with at birth. She actually liked it a lot, not only because it reinforced the new role that she'd had, but it was daring, and she could have herself touched by her Owner at all times.

This time was slightly different though, as she found it to be extra erotic as she was truly being treated as a pet at that moment. Something about being like that made her insides hum with heat, and she knew that it was a step in a direction that she found herself really wanting to continue. It wasn't creating some sort of artificial stereotype for her role, as it was a natural treatment of his pet. And it just made her more aware of what exactly she was getting with what she was going through.

So she'd tried to be rather hands off at that moment, as she lay there and curled up on her mattress. It was odd as she accommodated the chain attached to her collar, and found herself noting everything from the way that her bosom was positioned to how her backside would stand out. Yet, she kept her hands from touching what she knew would give her that temporary relief that she might like. She was aware of just how close she'd come to losing what she'd so gained, and there was no way that she was going to let herself do that.

Of course, the rhythmical moans and groans that she'd heard were not going to help her in that regard. They were clear indications of what was going on nearby, and she wished that she had been able to be the girl there. Idly, she wondered if it were her sister or his servant, but she was reasonably sure that she knew who it was from the voice. But it was dangerous to go in that direction, because she knew just how her body was tightening just from realizing what she had.

As a result, she stayed quiet and tried to lay there waiting for her owner like a good pet, hoping that once her libido settled down, she wouldn't get too bored, though with her constant rumination on her 'crime', that was not likely to happen.

Most girls wouldn't be giddy about the idea of putting their sexual encounters at the behest of a boy, but Ukyo was not most girls. After all, the boy in question was someone that she'd wanted to be with since she'd been a little girl, and had been attracted to ever since they'd reunited as teens. Just the idea that he was not only very aware of the fact that she was a girl, but that he was definitely sexually attracted to her was more heady than the most effective aphrodisiac.

It was still a bit daunting to know that she'd just made an arrangement regarding her ability to have sex, but she didn't really think of it in those terms. As far as she was concerned, the bigger thing was that she had made plans that would have her having sex, and the idea that such an intimate event was coming so soon and in such away made her a bit weak in the knees.

Still, this was Ranma who was going to use her body to gain and give pleasure, and she couldn't wait, even if she was afraid at the same time. Thinking about it gave her a bounce in her step, and she couldn't stop moving, which oddly enough let her cook faster than she had ever been able to before. She'd have four okonomiyakis out and sizzling on her grill before she even consciously registered that she was supposed to cook them. This was not the type of storybook romance most girls would have expected, but she was rather attached to the coming event, all the same.

Her happiness was going so high that she couldn't help but hug herself and giggle.

"Uhh... Miss?" one of her customers began uneasily.

Shocked out of her self absorption, the chef embarrassedly turned away from her daydreams and set about cooking with a deep blush on her face.

"Sensei? Could I talk with you for a moment?" Akane asked.

Cologne raised a brow as she turned to face her student, who looked mightily concerned about something. Seeing as the girl had barely said her 'hellos' before putting her question forth, it had to be a major, and very real problem, as her emotions were not clear on her face. "What is it, child?"

"Well... I don't know how to ask this..."

"Just take your time, and say what you wish to. I won't be judging you for it."

"I hope so. This isn't easy for me, but I have to do it..."

"I understand that it's something of great significance, and unlike some, I will not be jumping on, nor will I simply dismiss it."

"Ummm..," Akane began with clear indecision before blurting, "do you have contraceptives in your village?!"

"Hmm?"

"I mean... That is... I wanted to know if you knew any sort of potions or spices that would let you... well, let me... us... We don't want to do anything that will leave us with responsibilities we're not ready for."

"Ah... That is rather intelligent thinking."

Realizing that this was contrasting with the response that she was expecting, the youngest Tendo blinked in surprise. "Aren't you going to give me some speech about this?"

"No, if you have realized that it is better to do the responsible thing, then I have no reason to do that."

"Then you are just going to... give us the potion if you have it?"

"I already have," the Amazon Elder replied.

"WHAT?!"

"Calm down child. Every time you've eaten here, I've had a chance to give you the potion."

"But isn't that dangerous? I mean, you don't know when... Well, you know... What my body's..."

"Ah, but I did not need to. You see, my ancestors developed a brew that one only needs to take once every so often, and with a set amount. All I needed to do would be to know that you were... 'active', and a little bit of our drug make certain that you and the others will be safe."

"Them too?"

"Of course. I already had Shampoo on it, and it was a simple matter to send small packages of food back for those who had not come to visit," Cologne told her simply.

"You... Oh... So that's why..."

"Exactly. Had you randy children continued, there really would have been children on the way."

Akane nibbled on her lower lip in a nervous gesture. "But didn't you want Shampoo to get pregnant?"

"What? Why ever would I want that?"

"If she was pregnant, then you could have won Ranma..."

"Don't even think that way. We are warriors," the Matriarch said with a whack on the girl's head from her staff. "That is the method of loose morale females. Certainly we could have gained him, as any girl would have, what with that boy's sensibilities. But it would have been a hollow victory. The point was not to merely trap him. It was to make him want to be caught."

"It was?"

"Think of it. All those potions, charms and odd little gadgets? Each of them was meant to garner his affections, either through direct manipulation, or trickery. Not our finest work, I'll admit, but Shampoo wanted him, and not to force him more than we already had to. Besides, if he was not willing to be anywhere, he could cause more problems than we could ever want."

"That's true. I'm sorry Sensei," the teen replied, and bowed as deeply as she could manage.

"It's okay student. I can understand where you're coming from, given the mentality of that father of yours and his friend. They'd be willing to push things when they shouldn't. But then, males do tend to be a bit overly direct about things. Luckily the boy you girls share has some promise of sense about him."

"Then you're not mad at me..."

"A little disappointed, but nothing I wouldn't expect. Part of teaching you is expanding your knowledge, after all. But this has given me an opportunity."

"Sensei?"

"I'll finally be able to directly give you all the drug, and direct you in dosing yourselves. Do you realize how annoying it is to have to find some way of giving it to you without either overdoing it, or disturbing your play. The latter almost seems impossible at times... Kids today..."

Figuring out what the old woman meant, Akane blushed heavily, but still followed her teacher to the spice cabinet for what she came for

Evening had settled upon a Tendo home that was serene to the point of being a postcard. Had one wished to produce the image of a Japanese home, that was the sort of place that might just do. Behind the property walls was obviously a well cared for home, and one could almost see it as being a place where generations had lived. This seemed to be the sort of place where a clan could grow from, and it had the air of weighted history behind it.

And the neighbors were rather worried at the moment. There were no pigtailed boys being launched into the sky, sometimes from indoors. Challengers were not breaking down the door to get at someone inside. Yells, screams and other sounds of raised voices tended not to be heard. Not even a silly, yet dangerous, object, had made an appearance. They had not seen anyone being chased, dressed up idiotically or stealing women's underwear for a long time, though no one really minded the last part.

Still, a lot of the people around the home were waiting for the explosion that had to be on its way. The place wasn't this quiet unless Kasumi was there alone, and that only happened when there was some adventure that took the other residents away. There was always the knowledge that sooner or later, the madness would return, and the prevailing opinion was that was what was going to happen in this case. But there was a growing suspicion, and hope, that this just becoming the norm rather than an oddity.

Not that those currently in the house were really aware of the neighbors' thoughts about them. They were too busy enjoying their new relationships, and showing that, sadly enough, they were more responsible than the two men who were nominally their fathers. Of course, had those who lived nearby been aware of what was going on behind those walls at that moment, they might have... breathed a sigh of relief, and chalked up to the local weirdness taking a new twist.

So, Ranma had little concern over what the neighbors thought as he stood in the family room, holding the leash that led to Nabiki's collar. The girl herself knelt subdued next to him as properly as she could manage, and leaned into his gentle stroking of her hair. His attention wasn't on her, nor was it on the other girls in the room... exactly. Kasumi did look rather lovely and serene at the moment, thought there was a bit of a blush on her cheeks as she considered her lover and her student. For her part, Kodachi seemed to have managed to get a proper 'servant' demeanor despite the remembrances of the afternoon glittering in her eyes. And Akane looked real good showing a toned length of leg in her shorts as he faced her.

But it wasn't her appearance that had him concentrating, as she had told him something that had his full attention. "So the old ghoul's been dosin' ya girls with that stuff."

"Yeah," the youngest Tendo confirmed. "I guess she did it for as long as she knew that we were... well... But anyway, she did tell and show me what exactly the history about it was. The potion is safe, and not something that will fade out on us without any leeway."

"Hmm... Good. I don't wanna have ya... Well, I do... I... Never mind. So we don't have ta worry, right?"

"Not unless we forget too long."

The pigtailed boy sighed in relief. "'Kay. Then that's one less thing ta be worryin' 'bout. But I wasn't 'bout ta give up any of ya though..."

"We wouldn't ask you to, Ranma," Kasumi murmured.

"However," Kodachi murmured thoughtfully, "If the Elder wishes, or will allow, I can grow some of the ingredients necessary at my family home, if it is possible."

"I'll ask her. It'd make it a lot easier to handle," Akane said with a nod.

"Well then, I suppose that since dinner's done with and it's gettin' late, we should head up ta our beds," the lone boy in the room said as he unhooked the leash from his pet's collar.

"It is getting close to that time..."

"Hey, time flies when ya have fun."

"Even if there is a lot of stress too?"

"Especially then. Too little time ta think."

"And so what are you going to do?"

"Me?" he asked with great mock innocence... before he stepped over to a girl, bent over and slung her over his shoulder. He walked to the door to the hallway, only turning back to face the other girls when he got there. As he stroked the shapely leg of the surprised young woman he was carrying, he grinned at those still in the room. "If ya don't mind, we'll be headin' up ta bed. The rest of ya can do what ya like, but I'll be rememberin' ta get ta ya later. 'Night."

Oddly enough, amusement was clear in the gazes of those girls as they watched him walk out of the room, never seeming to have a problem with the fact that, hanging over his shoulder,

Even as Akane felt a flicker of her old anger begin to assert itself, she found herself actually making the fire bank down, at least in that regard. This wasn't exactly something that she'd gotten used to him doing, so it was rather confusing, and they were lovers. But it was not only that, as she found herself actually liking how he make sure to hold onto her softly enough to cause no pain, but in places where his touch would make her skin tingle.

That being the case, she was bearing a bit of curiosity along with her interest at what she knew he wanted to come. So when, after he'd locked them in her room, he plopped her down to sit on her bed, she looked up at him with a slight scowl on her face. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Seein' if we can't have some fun together," Ranma replied simply, and began to use his mouth to kiss and nibble on her lower lip.

"Ah... my... Don't... this isn't how it normally goes..."

"I did say that we'd try somethin' a bit slower, didn't I?"

"You did... oh yeah... But wouldn't you like to that more with one of your busty beauties?" she asked breathlessly.

"Hey, even if your chest wasn't as good as it is, there's other parts of ya that are real nice."

"There are?"

"Uh-huh. Like these," he told her as he ran his fingertips over the taut satin of the skin on her legs. "All nice and toned... and long. D'ya know how good ya look in shorts?"

"Enough for you to notice?"

"More than enough..."

"Hmmm..."

"And this... Firm and soft, all at once," he murmured, and slipped his hands under her bottom so that he could gently squeeze her buttocks.

"Oh.. Ranma..."

"Do ya like it?"

"I do..."

"I'm glad. I just wanna make ya feel good tonight."

"You are... And you can feel good too," she said, pulling his hands up so that they rested on her shirt covered breasts.

"Ya sure..?"

"Yes... I..."

"Shh..," he whispered and kissed her softly on the mouth before leaving a trail of kisses along her cheek until he reached the side of her neck, where he nuzzled against the soft white column he found there. He tasted the pale flesh in tantalizing little nibbles as he exquisitely manipulated one of her breasts so that she had to try not to buck against the bed.

Instead, she grasped his shoulder and stroked his body there at the same time she pressed small pecks with her mouth to his head. Her free hand went around him and reached down to hold onto his pants covered buttocks, clutching the hard muscle that she found there. She pressed her limber body against him just as she pulled him closer to her. His hands were massaging her in such wonderful ways that she could barely think, but she couldn't let him go it alone.

As a result, she was able to help him pull off his shirt and undershirt, but mere instinct moved her following that. Leaning forwards, she began to kiss and lick his chest, going so far as to trace his highly defined muscles with her tongue and sucking at his nipples. The breath he sucked in when she did that was certainly one of appreciation, and she added in more sensation as she ran her fingernails down his back. He shivered at the resulting reaction, but then smirked down at her.

Kissing her until she was both breathless and thoughtless, he pushed up her top until the garment was bundled up around her shoulders. That let him get at her bra clad bosom, and he used that opportunity to begin to fondle them rather delightfully to them both. The firm mounds responded quickly to his touch, and he playfully batted at them, sending them bouncing before lightly tugging on her nipples through the thin fabric. She sent him a mock-reproving look that set him to looking like a naughty school boy. However, rather than acting contrite, he popped off her bra and slowly began to play with the freed cleavage. They jiggled in his hands, and he proved to her that the rest of her breasts were just as sensitive as her nipples.

Feeling a bit frisky, she whacked him once on the behind, and then grinned up at his look of surprise. There was no apology in her eyes, but she did rub the struck spot as gently as she could. Then she ran her hands up his body, making sure to trail her fingertips over his back. When she got up to holding his head, she leaned over to give him a soft and loving kiss, even as she reached down and undid the tie of his pants.

Ranma blushed a bit at that, but he was obviously feeling rather brazen as well. Lowering his own hand, he stroked down over the smooth skin of her stomach to unfasten her shorts. Once he had them opened, he slipped his hand under it and her panties so that he could grip her mound. She gasped at his actions, but was certainly pleased by that, and the way that he began to play with the petals of her womanhood. Whimpers worked their way past her throat, and she had to close her eyes for some of them.

But then she got him just as he got her, as she pressed, and stroked her small hand over his manhood. The two of them were energizing each others' sex, and neither minded one bit. They were quite able of fondling each other to their heart's content, but as they found themselves tightening up in certain areas, they instinctually knew that they had to act.

Sliding off what little clothing they had still on, they positioned themselves for what would be the penultimate part of this time together. She spread her legs invitingly, and he took her up on it. Positioning himself at the entrance to her most feminine part, he slid his manhood into her. The tight passage squeezed around him, but there was nothing he could ever see wrong with that. Pure bliss settled onto their shoulders, and he sank himself into her to the hilt. Her arms came up and wrapped themselves around his shoulders, letting her kiss him even as she began to thrust back at him. Slowly, almost as if, even in his most forgone mindset, he tried to be gentle. But it quickly sped up, and the two of them were driving themselves together. Words of nonsense started dropping from her mouth, as any compliments she tried to pay him were lost in the heat of the moment. He understood though, and the way that he slid his hands along her torso even as he piston into her was proof. Her athletic form pressed up against his, and the two of them came together with wave after wave of passion. There was the familiar energy present, but it was directed now, being pushed by the two sweat slicked bodies only into the immediate need of the moment.

When release came for her, her body rose so quickly it thumped against his. A squeal of pleasure came from her as she rode that crest, and she had no problem with the way that her breasts wound up squashed and rolling against him. She merely enjoyed his last few thrusts, and felt a bit more comfortable and pleasurable when she felt him come. They were both exhausted though, and he lay half across her as they caught their breaths.

"So this is your idea of 'quiet loving'," she murmured once she got enough breath back.

"Nah," he told her, "This was just a slow time for us. When we try 'quiet lovin'', it'll be spectacular."

"It will..?"

"Yup. Gotta plan it all, and it'd have more than just going to bed."

After the few moments she needed to let his words sink in, she smiled softly in anticipation as she considered what was to come,

The sun was shinning, the birds were singing, and yet another breakfast was being had at the Tendo family's table. It was a continuance of the now familiar friendly meals, and had anyone been able to look, they would have seemed to be a perfectly normal quartet, though they were obviously teens without parents around to lead them or guide their actions. Actually, they were keeping things nicer than some parents might have, and certainly better than their fathers would have.

But Akane was still frowning slightly as she considered her fiancee as he sat across the table from her.

He caught sight of her look and quickly swallowed his latest bit of food before he turned a questioning gaze on her. "Did I do somethin' wrong? Ya were happy when we got up..."

"Oooh... Sounds like you two had fun," Nabiki murmured.

"It's not that! And we did, so you don't have to tease us about that," her younger sister ground out, "I was just trying to figure out why Ranma's always eating so much, so fast."

"I thought that it was part of his training style, and habit."

"His father isn't here to train with him..."

"The memories are," Ranma sighed.

"Huh?"

"You're right about me bein' used ta eatin' this way, but it's just somethin' I always had ta do."

"What's that mean?" the Tendo martial artist asked, curiosity tinging her voice.

"I ain't always had a refrigerator. Most of the places Pop and I stayed didn't have walls, and we usually ate what we could carry. And with him grabbin' bits of my meals, it was pretty simple ta get inta the groove."

"So, when you came here..."

"There was a lot of good food, and I could eat as much as I liked. Though, I'd probably make due with a bowl of rice and some miso if Kasumi cooked it," the pigtailed boy commented.

The mentioned girl blushed heavily. "Oh, Ranma..."

"It's true. But still... I didn't have much of a traditional life. I grew up on the road, and I'm not 'bout ta complain 'bout it. It let me come here, didn't it?"

The sisters looked at each other and nodded as one. Kasumi placed more portions on his plate, Nabiki quietly cuddled up to his side, and Akane simply favored him with a cute smile. They had a new reason to be annoyed with Genma Saotome, but at the moment, they wanted to just enjoy the company of this special young man.

Ranma himself didn't see what the big deal was, but if it made them happy, he was all for it.

Tsubasa was certain that this time he'd get his Ukyo for sure. It wasn't very different than his normal plan, but then it made it less likely to fail. He didn't want his habits to do his quest in just when he figured out a new way to get to his love. If nothing else, he was a believer in the 'keep it simple' philosophy. However, going after her had lead to a lot of hurts, and he didn't plan on letting any more of them come.

All he had to do was to get to her at a moment when she would be totally not expecting any sort of appearance. Then she'd have her guard down, and he'd be able to greet her as wonderfully as he might like. It would give him the chance to talk and present her with any gifts that he might be able to bring. And he was certain that he could do it all before anyone else could come to interrupt his moment of romance.

Wiping her hands on a towel, Kasumi looked over the freshly washed dishes and smiled to herself. Others might have wondered why such a young woman would be satisfied with staying at home and taking care of her family, but doing so gave her such a sense of accomplishment that she couldn't see herself doing anything else. Housework allowed her to immediately see that something she'd done had made a difference, and she knew that she had made this her home.

So, even though Kodachi had offered to buy them a dishwasher, the eldest Tendo sister was unsure of her desire to do so. It would make things easier, but doing dishes connected her with traditions that she had learned from her mother. With each clean bowl or spoon, she knew that someone had eaten off of them, and that her cooking had been satisfactory by each of their standards.

Though the thought of 'tradition' did bring up the memories of what Ranma had said. She had known that his childhood had not been an easy one, but now she had caught a glimpse of what it had been to be living that life, and she felt for the little boy that he'd been. Not that he seemed to be letting that pull him down, and that strength only served to make him more special to her. Her feelings just seemed to rest with him, and she knew that she would never have these exact emotions again.

And that seemed to be alright. This was something wonderful to have, and she was going to hold onto it as long as it could last. But still, she could not totally sit in quite acceptance. It would not be fair to Ranma, who had given so much to her.

Drawing herself up, she tried to strengthen her confidence as she decided to go out shopping that day. The house was clean enough, and she could bop out for a few moments to get what she wanted. There had to be bookstores close enough, since the store she'd visited with Ranma was too far away, and she didn't think that she could visit that place again without support. However, she was certain that she could just dash out to get some books to help her discover ways to return the pleasures that Ranma had been giving her.

Yet no matter how many books she got, there was one thing that she was going to do. Perhaps not today, depending on what Ranma's plans were, but she would make sure to do it. It would not be some sort of official thing, but it was what she could do in taking a little more of an active hand in her relationship with him.

She just hoped that the tea service would not need too much cleaning.

"Hey! Ucchan!" called out a voice as students streamed in through the gates at Furinkan High.

The chef turned to see her fiance running towards her with a bright grin on his face. "Oh, hi, Ranchan!"

"Hi. Saw ya walkin', and thought that I'd catch up ta ya," he told her.

"That's nice of you. What about Akane and Nabiki? Haven't they been walking with you?"

"Yeah, but Nabiki's got her friends ta talk to, and Akane went ta see Yuka and Sayuri."

"So you decided to come and see me."

Ranma shook his head and twirled a finger around. "Try reversin' that."

"Huh?"

"They knew that I wanted ta come see ya, so they decided ta go off and spend some time with their friends. Gives us some time ta be alone... sorta..."

"Oh... Well... Sorry..."

"Why? It was a mistake."

"I know, but... You wanted to see me?" she asked, trying to get away from contemplating her error.

"Sure... I like bein' with ya, and seein' ya... Well, that's something I could really do a lot of..."

"Ranchan..!"

"What I want now is ta make sure that ya can come? I was thinkin' that we could spend some time... alone, after school, at the house."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh... Not that I'm tryin' ta get ya to it, or tryin' ta get it over with. I just..," he trailed off.

"What..."

"I wanna... I'm sure that..."

"You can say it..."

"No, I can't. Not here. But trust me, I'm really lookin' forward ta it," he said with feeling, and stroked her back in a way that no one would really notice, but that got her body tingling.

"Ranchan..."

"Ya are sure 'bout this, right?"

"Yes, I am."

"Good. I try ta make each one special, and they help by makin' each... 'connection' unique. And I'm sure that ya will be one. Not that I'm comparin', or nothin'!"

"I know, I know..." she murmured quickly.

"Good. So... I'll talk ta ya later..?"

"Sure thing."

"Later than... Damn."

"What?"

"I can't kiss ya goodbye," he replied, looking rather disappointed in the manner of someone who'd made a sudden realization.

It took her a moment to fully appreciate what he was saying, but she kept her reaction down to a simple heavy blush, and she smiled as he walked her into the building

Bravery was one thing, but Kasumi couldn't figure out just why she had thought that she could get through this. It was one thing to plan on finding something to help her bedroom encounters with Ranma, but it was quite another to have to actually implement them. Normally, she wasn't such a forward young woman, but she knew that she had to force herself to get through her plan so that she could do something for Ranma.

Fortunately, she'd found a bookstore that had what she needed just outside of her normal purview. There was little chance that her neighbors would see her there, though had circumstances been different, she might just have liked to openly accept their relationship. Still, she had found plenty of books, and was amazed by the variety of choices. She picked out the ones that seemed to be the ones that she might like to try out, and hoped that he would like them. Some of them were rather risqué, and she wasn't quite sure how she was going to manage trying out some of the suggestions, but if she could please her lover, then it would be worth it.

Though she could have done without the knowing look that the young woman running the cash register gave her. "Hmmm... Planning to have some fun with your guy, huh?"

Despite the stylish outfit she was wearing, Kasumi ducked her head and blushed like a schoolgirl caught doing something naughty.

"I thought so. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

The eldest Tendo daughter sincerely hoped that would be the case.

Tsubasa was certain that he had found the perfect spot to surprise Ukyo from. No one would expect to find him there, and so he could not be found out before hand. A lot of people would not be able to get into the place, so his chances of staying hidden until the proper moment were much better. And her guard would be down, so he'd never have to worry about her jumping to act before he could proclaim his devotion.

Once he did, and got her to understand his feelings, then she would forgive this little transgression, and let him woo her properly.

And he couldn't see how it would go wrong.

Many would say that Tatewaki Kuno was a moron, and a deluded one at that. They would be right. He had an almost obsessive need to ignore any fact that did not fit his worldview, from how samurai movies were not exactly true accounts, to the way that he believed that girls adored him when they insisted on coming to pound him. Living in a world of black and white was easy for him, and he saw no reason to correct it.

However, there were moments where his clarity of vision was scary.

Stopping in the middle of kendo practice, he stood straight up and seemed to be listening to the wind. "Odd. I can sense that there is a fiend who needs punishing for his offenses."

Even though she knew that it wouldn't be a major deal, Sayuri hurried into the girls' locker room ahead of all the other girls so that she could change first. It wasn't that she had any problem with any of them, or any sort of problem that necessitated her changing alone. In fact, she would have changed with them without any problems what so ever.

The reason that she wanted to change first was fat, or, rather, the removal of it. She figured that if she got changed as fast as she could, she would be able to put a little more exercise into her gym period. That wouldn't be much help, but any little bit did mean something. Besides, a girl's appearance was supposed to be her wealth, or something like that, and even if she was not vain like some, she was still a teenaged girl.

After peeling off her school uniform, she put it aside, and tried to move around so that she could look at her own body, clad as it was in matching lace trimmed panties and bra. As far as she could tell, it wouldn't be having the tone of Akane or any of the other martial artist girls, and she had seen girls with bigger busts than hers. But she was happy with what she got, even if she wanted to maximize her advantages. Maybe then she'd be able to get a guy who would be the love of her dreams.

However, as she turned to open up her locker, another one popped open, and a figure wearing the most overly sweet dress she'd ever seen simply appeared in her field of vision.

"You're not Ukyo..," the stranger murmured.

But the girl was not about to react in any way save that of any girl in her situation. She shrieked at the top of her lungs, bashed the weirdo with her fist, and ran for her life.

Tsubasa was just too surprised to react, as he had discovered that even the 'normal' schoolgirls could hit hard.

For her part though, Sayuri had raced off to put as much distance between her and the strange pervert as possible. Not even a girl could do that and not be termed as such, as far as she was concerned. So, she wasn't about to stick around to let that person do who knew what to her.

That was how she ran into a hard muscled chest clad in red. "Huh... Ranma..?"

"I heard ya yellin', and figured that I had ta come so..."

"It was... it was..."

"Yeah?"

"So scary!" she cried, and pressed herself against his chest, clutching at his shirt as she sobbed. "There's some weirdo in there, and she's... he's..."

"Huh? You're... ah... Oh boy..."

"What's going on? Sayuri! What are you doing?!" Akane's voice demanded as she and Ukyo lead a group of other students to where the pair were standing.

"Akane! I'm glad you're here!"

"You are?"

"Yeah! I was changing, and just when I was going to put my uniform in my locker, out pops this freak in a dress!"

"Really..."

"I hit him, and ran as quickly as I could until Ranma caught me, and I..."

"Forgot to put on clothing in your panic," Ukyo commented dryly.

At that moment, Sayuri realized just where she was, and in what state. When she'd been racing for safety, she'd gone out of the locker room... in her underwear! If that wasn't bad enough, she was now being held by her friend's fiancé, and having to try and not notice how her bra clad breasts were pressing into his firm body while two girls who were engaged to him looked on. "Eeep..."

"I'm sure that you didn't mean to..."

"I didn't!"

"Glad to hear it."

"But now that I know..," Sayuri trailed off, and tried to pull away, finding herself amazed as she realized that Ranma would not let her go. Looking up, she saw that he was staring straight ahead even as his arms stayed steel bands around her body. "Why won't you let me go?"

"You kiddin'?" the pigtailed boy asked, and flicked his eyes towards the crowd behind him. "You don't really want guys ta see ya now..."

"Oh... my..."

"'Xactly."

"Great," Akane muttered, "So what do we do now?"

"Someone could get rid of him," Sayuri told them hopefully.

"'Him'? I thought that you said that it was someone in a dress."

"It was! But I've seen him before, and you told me about him. And he mentioned Ukyo."

The chef's eyes narrowed. "Guy in a dress..."

"Asking for you," the youngest Tendo growled.

"Tsubasa," the two of them chorused.

"Gotta be him. The two of ya can take care of him," Ranma suggested.

"And what will you be doing?" his childhood friend asked.

"Bein' a good guy, and stayin' out of the girl's locker room."

"Oh. Right."

"And Sayuri?"

"Yes?" the mentioned girl squeaked.

"Would ya mind unbuttonin' my shirt?"

"WHAT?!" went more than one female voice.

"I can go around without my shirt on. She can't."

"You're going to cover her up?" Hiroshi asked. "Have a heart..."

The girls around him each gave him a whack on the head.

Sayuri blushed hard, and felt her fingers tremble, but even with the way that her forearms were brushing against his body, and how she was revealing that very masculine form, she managed to do as he told her to.

"Ucchan? Akane?" Ranma asked in a strained voice.

"We're on it," the chef replied, and both girls nodded to each other before turning to head into the locker room,

Most of the students there were aware that this was not the normal sort of situation in regards to what usually happened. Normally, Ranma would have been hit by then, the girls would have gone to help and interrogate Sayuri, and a beating of the pervert would have commenced somewhere around there. Instead, they were treated to a more controlled situation, and the odd sight of a coordinated resolution of the problem.

Strangely enough, this was rather reassuring, as they knew who was doing what, and that it would be taken care of.

Still, it was impressive to see Ukyo and Akane march in together as if they were some sort of guardians out to punish the wicked. In a sense, that was exactly what they were about to do, and there was a bit of pride around them. However, the door was closed firmly behind them, and only sound would come back to let those outside know what was going on.

That made for a problem when Tatewaki Kuno, Miss Hinako and the Principal came along at about the same time.

"What has happened in this most feminine of sanctuaries?!" the wannabe samurai demanded as he gazed over the scene, "And why are you manhandling that maiden, Saotome?!"

Yuka reached up and tugged on his ear before the older boy could start an attack. "He's protecting her from being seen by the guys while she takes his shirt to cover up."

"But..."

"'But' nothing. He hasn't done anything. It's that Tsubasa creep that's made her run out like this."

"What are you talking about, wahini?" the Principal asked.

"She was changing for gym class, and this guy... this... transvestite, who's always after Ukyo, popped up and frightened her out of her wits!"

"Then something should be done about it," Hinako said, "As faculty, it's our job to deal with things like this."

"But Akane and Ukyo are already taking care of it."

"Ah... So the fair Akane hath gone forth to fight the good fight, and to protect the virtue of her gender. She no doubt has her sense of righteousness enflamed by this most despicable of transgressions. And the chef must have decided to deal with this foul pervert who would bother not only her, but those around her," Tatewaki intoned. "Thus, I have but one question."

Hinako, who had been learning that such accurate realizations were rare from the Kuno Heir, asked what everyone was thinking, and was worried about. "And what do you want to know?"

"What is a transvestite?"

Most of those there fought not to fall over in shock.

Tsubasa worked his jaw and tried to get to his feet without tripping on his skirt. He'd been hit with worse, but that girl could definitely through a mean right cross. That had decked him rather easily, and it had taken away valuable moments in which he could have explained himself and eased her fears. Unfortunately, he'd been laying on the floor, and she was probably long gone by now. So he was left with a possibly ruined plan, and a girl he'd likely scared out of her wits without even trying.

"Tsu... ba... sa..." growled a rather familiar voice, and it wasn't sounding rather friendly at the moment.

"Huh? Ukyo..?" he choked out as he looked up from where he was kneeling.

The girl of his dreams had her spatula out and held in a white knuckled grip while Akane Tendo stood next to her, twirling a pair of aluminum baseball bats. "I heard what you did..."

"You did? I... I didn't mean to..."

"You broke into the girls' locker room."

"Attacked my friend," Akane snarled.

"Made her go out in her underwear."

"And did it all so you could attack Ukyo!"

"I wouldn't attack her!" the crossdresser blurted.

"What do you call jumping out of just about everything around her?!"

"Surprising her!"

"And you'll get just what you deserve for trying it this time," Ukyo told him.

"Can't I explain?"

"No, you can't," the youngest Tendo replied coldly as the pair advanced on the whimpering pervert.

Even though the students and teachers standing outside the locker room knew that the boy who was currently howling in pain inside it actually deserved what he was getting, they still winced with each cry. After all, imaginations did a lot to supply images of what was going on in there, and they had all seen previous pervert poundings, so there was a clear indication of what was going on.

For Sayuri, it was rather surreal. She was standing there, wearing only Ranma's shirt over her underwear clad body, listening to the thrashing of the pervert who'd bothered her, and she was standing there with Ranma's arm around her shoulders. Anyone could tell it was a gesture of support, but she still found herself blushing despite the situation. She was dressed in a shirt that held the warmth and shape of his body, and his arm was strong around her. That left her with a closer encounter with him than she'd ever had, and it was rather nice. Not to mention the fact that she wasn't the only female there who had noticed just how well built his chest was under his undershirt.

So, rather than focusing on how it felt to be taken care of by this caring and good looking guy, she turned her attention to how everyone was supporting her in this. It had been scary there for a moment, but now she was rather happy that the protective responses in the people around her had been so quick and complete, up to Yuka even bringing her a cup of water to drink. And if she was honest, she would have liked to be part of bashing the jerk who'd started all this, even if it wasn't all bad.

Of course, when Akane and Ukyo came back out after a few moments of silence, and dropped the beaten form in the torn dress outside of the locker room, she could see that justice had been served. He was obviously conscious, but hurting and twitching a lot. Though she wasn't a cruel girl usually, she actually felt pretty good about this.

"So this is the one who caused all this mess," Hinako asked.

Akane nodded. "It's him. Tsubasa of the many stupid costumes."

"Humph. Such actions are of a delinquent, and he should be punished for this and not being in class."

"Well, he doesn't even go to this school."

"He doesn't? Then why is he here?"

"Usually to bother me," Ukyo grumbled sourly.

"Well then, as a faculty member of this school, I should see about handling this trespasser."

"No," Ranma said, holding out his free arm to block her way, "Leave him."

"You mind telling me why?"

"It's 'cause he's been a pervert here, and I think that it's not you teachers who should handle it."

The teacher gave him a long look. "Oh? And who should?"

"The girls. It's their locker room, and it was them he was going to wind up peepin' on."

"That's not the usual ting, keikei," the Principal reminded him.

"I know it's not following the rules, but he will be punished for breaking them..."

"Hmm... I like dis idea... I really like it..."

His words got the female students blinking in confusion at each other before a seemingly silent communication passed between them. Each of them started smiling, almost as if they knew what the others were thinking, and apparently they did. As a group, they left the boys standing there, and converged on the hapless crossdresser.

At that moment, all Tsubasa could do was to watch as they came for him.

For some reason he couldn't identify, Lukkosai found himself stopping his forward momentum as he moved towards the altar of the shrine he was in. There was no reason for it, but he just did it anyone. It was almost as if he could feel some sort of soul suffering a most ignoble fate.

Feeling for that poor individual, he faced the altar, clapped his hands three times, and said a little prayer.

That done, he jumped back to searching for that cute shrine maiden that he'd seen earlier.

The janitor both loved and hated his job. Things were always interesting and he got have a variety in his work that few in his position would have received. However, there was always something breaking, and he always had to come to fix it. Still, having to mop up messes wasn't too bad, since a lot of cleaning the school was done by the students themselves.

And every so often, he got surprises that were certainly different than what had come before. There had been another 'pervert' incident, but no one had broken the school structure itself. As a result, all the janitor had to do was to mop up after the students had left for class.

They had left something behind though, as the girls had a new 'trophy'. Just outside their locker door was that day's pervert with his hands tied behind him, and his ankles tied together as he hung up on the wall, still wearing his tattered dress. The bow that had been in his hair was now gagging him, and a placard with the word 'PERVERT' emblazoned in both English and Japanese was hanging from his neck. A smaller sign instructed others not to take him down, and warned that he was both a dangerous lech, and a warning to other perverts. Of which part of it the boy was trying to moan over his gag wasn't clear, but he seemed to be as embarrassed as he was injured.

Passing by the 'trophy', the janitor just whistled as he mopped,

Yuka tapped her pen on her desk and looked towards where the teacher was giving the lesson, but she found that she couldn't concentrate. Not that she could blame herself for that, after what had happened earlier. It was not everyday that an coordinated attack on a pervert happened. And it was not usual to have only a little damage done in such a situation.

What was keeping her preoccupied wasn't the memory though. Instead, she was finding herself watching a friend of hers seeming to act rather odd... and it wasn't Akane. Certainly the martial artist had enough to be muttering over, but she was handling it pretty good for someone who had to deal with such things on a regular basis. But it was Sayuri who was acting strangely.

Of course, the girl had reason to be rather out of it, since she'd been nearly molested by a crossdressing pervert, and then nearly flashed half the school with a view of her in her underwear. That would have been enough for anyone to be wanting to sink into her chair, but the ponytailed girl seemed to be... blushing.

Puzzled, her friend looked at her and tried to figure out just what it was that had her so out of it. The problem was that short of leaning over and asking, there was little chance of actually finding out. So she had to work with what she had, and try to come up with a good enough theory.

Narrowing her eyes, Yuka looked over the other girl, and made a mental list of what she could see. Sayuri's eyes were sparkling with some unidentified light, her lips were slightly parted as she gave a curious smile, and she was mainly staring off at nothing. She had to stifle a giggle every so often, and seemed to be scribbling something in the edges of a notebook rather than taking down notes. If the brown haired girl didn't know better, she would have said that her friend was really into some boy. But she hadn't really talked about being interested in anyone before, and the last boy that she'd been in any... compromising positions with was Ranma...

A sudden realization hit the long haired girl at that moment. It didn't seem possible, but by the way that she was acting, and was taking guilty glances at a certain boy, apparently Sayuri was attracted to Ranma Saotome. Then again, no one would blame her, since the guy was a hunk, and didn't have the ego about it that some did. Sure, he did have that pride about his martial arts skills, but he had the fights to back that up. Any girl would likely be wanting to be with him, unless they had 'certain' tastes, or a particular person already, and one had to be blind not to see that he had girls liking him. Yuka herself had to admit that she had always fancied him, though it would have been betrayal of a kind she didn't even want to contemplate to go after her friend's guy... even if he had a bunch of girls after him already. But there was still the possibility of daydreaming, and getting glimpses, or even fleeting touches, of him and his body.

'And she got to not only be held close against him in that sort of position, but got to take off his shirt for him too... While I was stuck pulling on Kuno's ear... 'I pulled on Kuno's ear. I pulled on Tatewaki Kuno's ear...'

As that thought ran through her mind, Yuka wanted to thump her head against her desk as she realized what that could mean to her future.

"Here you go," Shampoo said brightly as she put a bowl of steaming ramen in front of the woman who'd ordered it. However, it wasn't quite as easy as it would seem, as she had to deftly maneuver her dish around the grasping hands of a two-year old, who apparently hadn't discovered that hot food was not something to be wary of. "Is not for you. Have special warm bowl all for you."

"Want that!" the child protested and tried to reach for it again.

"Is not good thing to do. Ramen no taste so good when taken. And you want good drink, no?"

"Really..?"

"Is so. So sit down, and Shampoo get you nice drink when it ready."

The child gave a small nod as the woman looked up and smiled at the waitress. "Thank you very much. And sorry for the trouble."

"Is no trouble. Have to deal with stupid help boy. He think I want date when don't. Now, that trouble. Children, just silly and lot of work."

"Well then dear, I hope that you find a better young man to give you children of your own."

"Already did. Now have to hope to get them when time," Shampoo said with a blush, and moved away from the table so that she could go into the back. As she did, she let out a long breath and sighed. It wasn't the easiest thing to be a waitress sometimes, since the work tended to differ with each customer, and problems could come in unexpected ways.

But, oddly enough, she found that she liked it. Sure, it wasn't exactly the sort of thing that a warrior might be needed for, but it did let her met all sorts of people without having to draw her sword first. And it made her able to meet her Master easily and with no discussion on the part of outsiders. It might not be private, but it was a whole lot easier than trying to make an excuse as to why she was going to a certain place.

Just thinking about him let her imagine what he would do with her very willing body, and how he would be able to wash her away in simple pleasure...

Shaking herself free of that daydream, she set herself onto finding the 'treat' drinks that were set aside for children and those who were a child at heart. She had made a promise after all, and she didn't want to break it. But she also got out a nice tea as well, so that she could give it to the mother. Poor woman needed something to soothe her nerves, and this would do it without putting her to sleep.

Shampoo just felt wonderful about her situation, and so no reason to avoid passing happiness on to others.

There was an almost tangible ease that was present as the students left the school building. Girls were smiling at each other, boys were excitedly discussing things, and the faculty were presiding over a pretty orderly dismissal. Not even the usual problems found in other schools were there at the moment, and one could almost see it as a model school, had one arrived right then.

However, Ranma was a bit distracted by the girl walking next to him. Ukyo tended not to do so, since she'd always had to run to open up her restaurant, but she was not doing it that way. He was glad for that, as he could feel the hard ball of desire grow in his gut, and he'd had to handle keeping his cool all day. Now he was getting close to being able to relieve at least some of his libido, and do so without any sort of trouble. In fact, he wanted to put an arm around her as soon as they got to where they would not be noticed, save for Akane, who knew the truth anyway.

The chef looked over at him, and frowned slightly. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Wrong?" he asked.

"Yeah. You look like you just ate something and you can't wait to get to the bathroom."

"Err.. It's control..."

"Huh?"

"Let's just say that I'm glad that ya agreed ta come along ta the house," Ranma said with feeling, "Really glad."

"Why would you... Oh..."

"Yeah. 'Oh'."

"Right," Ukyo responded simply.

"It's a good thing that I know what's going on, or I'd have to be mad," Akane told the pair of them, and smirked as they ducked their heads for a moment.

"That's mean..."

"That's teasing. Trust me. Besides, why would I be mean when we just took care of a pervert together?"

"Well... You have a point. I'm just glad that I know where he is so that I can avoid him now."

"Yeah. I hope he hangs there for a long time."

"Then you'd be better losing that hope," an arriving Nabiki drawled.

"What? Why?"

"Apparently they took pity on him. Some of the health teachers noticed that he was getting stiff, and knew that if he stayed as he was, he'd get all sorts of health problems."

"So they let him go?!" her sister demanded.

"I didn't say that. I said that he was taken down. Apparently, he's been sent off to someplace that'll keep him occupied for a while."

"Oh..."

"I'm just glad that it was him," Ranma commented.

"What? Why?"

"Because he's an idiot and a jerk, but he ain't a martial artist. Imagine if the old freak or some other martial arts pervert had decided to try that trick. Sayuri'd have been in big trouble, and I don't think that'd be a good thing."

"I'd say so too," said a small voice, and the four teens turned to see the mentioned girl standing there. "I was already afraid enough, and that would have been much worse."

"Hey, I didn't do anythin'. Akane and Ukyo did the actual thrashin'."

"Yes, and I do thank them. But you took charge. You asked them to do it, you protected me from being seen in my... my... underwear, you gave me your shirt, and you let the girls decide on his punishment."

"It wasn't like I'd have a choice," he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"You did so have one. I'm glad that you picked the one that you did. Thank you," Sayuri said softly, and leaned over so that she could give him a peck on the cheek. That done, she colored slightly, and ran off, clearly nervous, but satisfied.

Ranma just stood there and watched with his hand pressed to the kissed cheek. A part of him was astonished by his actions, but another was reacting to the feminine touch he'd just received. He'd already had a hard time dealing with the fact that he'd held a soft female body, but now he was getting a flare up of it again. All his attempts to ignore how nicely she'd felt in his arms were ruined, and he had that joining in with his already rising desire for Ukyo. He was just glad that he got to handle one, since just remembering how cute that schoolgirl had been, even fully clothed, would have been frustrating.

"What was that?" the chef murmured.

"I'm not sure," Akane replied quietly.

"Let's go ta the dojo. We can figure out this later," Ranma suggested, and the three girls nodded their agreement. The group left amongst small stares and talks about what had just happened,

If meditation was a past time, then Kuno could claim it as one. He did it often enough, and tended to fall back upon it both when he felt he should, and when he needed to think. Sitting alone, he'd close his eyes and think deeply and long. Not many would believe it, but he did have the ability to reach deep inside of himself for the answers to whatever ailed him, and the strength to face it.

Sure, it was just dropping the bucket down deeper into a well of delusion, but he could manage it.

In fact, he had started his mediations after learning that samurai did it in the old days. No one had taught him, and what he did manage, he got from books, movies and television shows. But what he did manage, he did so with great skill, oddly enough.

On this day, he had much to consider. There had been the reappearance of that crossdressing boy, and the fact that Saotome had that poor, nearly naked girl in his arms. The kendoist was certain that both were taking advantage of their situations somehow, but that was actually not the main thrust of his meditations. Both would likely have to be smote some time or another.

Yet that one girl perplexed him. She, of long shining brown tresses, had actually taken it upon herself to chastise him. Her delicate fingers had grasped upon his ear, so that she might speak what she had set out to say. Such an action was a surprise, but he'd managed nobly to both control his rightful anger and listen to her. Fortunately, he did, and so learned more than just the simple events of that moment.

That girl, one whom he had dismissed as no more than a companion of his beloved Akane, had actually put herself into his field of notice. By no means was she ugly, as she had most delicate features, and yet she had actually admonished him. However, he did not feel disappointment, or anger at her actions. Rather, confusion mixed with something he couldn't identify predominated his thoughts. But he had managed to find something to compare her to.

From what he remembered of the tales of samurais that he had seen, there were not only women warriors or fair damsels that captured the heart of the righteous. There had also been samurai who had married women who were managers of the family, having the strength of character and will to stand up when something needed doing. This girl was obviously one such woman.

His realization left him with a dilemma, for he did not know what to do with her. Apparently, she had taken it upon herself to show her skill to him, and that would mean that the gods had seen to favor him with the attentions of someone who would be capable of helping him ignore the piddling things that might otherwise distract him. That would make her a good wife for him, and even if she was not physically skilled enough to engage combat, she did have the soul of a fighter, and the body of a most lovely courtesan. Then again, he could always see about letting her marry one of his subordinates in the kendo team. Or he could simply install her as a proper manager for his affairs.

The question of just what to do weighed highly upon his shoulders, and he needed his time of meditation to ponder how he should handle Yuka.

"We're home!" Akane called out as the group came through the door... and stumbled as she came face to face with her big sister. "GAH!"

Kasumi looked rather guilty and concerned as she reached towards the younger girl. "Oh my. I hope that I didn't scare you. It wasn't on purpose..."

"It's okay. Really. I just didn't expect to see you right there."

"Hmm?"

"You're usually somewhere else, doing some chores," the youngest Tendo replied as she let the last of her surprise leave with the return of her breath.

"Ah. Well, there wasn't much to do, and since I saw that it was close to the time when you were coming home, I decided to wait for you to return."

"You did nothing but wait?"

"Of course not," her eldest sister replied with a blink of confusion, "I was enjoying a good novel. What sort of person only sits and waits?" "'What sort of person...' Right... A-heh..."

"I'm just glad that something worse didn't happen..."

"Don't worry. I'm sure that she'll be fine, eventually," Nabiki commented as she passed by, with her fingers moving to unbutton her blouse. "It might be slow though."

Ukyo scowled at the sight. "Does she always do that?"

"'Do' what?" Ranma asked. "Crack jokes."

"No. Strip as soon as she gets in the house."

"Most of the time. Sometimes she does it when she gets the front gate closed behind her."

"Does she really..."

"I do. Remember, I'm his pet, and so, this is part of what I am," the girl in question commented.

"Right..." the chef sighed, "I suppose that I'm going to have to get used to it then."

"Trust me, ya will. But right now, I want ta spend some time with ya," he told her, sliding a hand across her shoulders.

"I guess so."

"Take it to a private room," Akane grunted.

"You aren't angry are you..."

"What? No. I just thought the two of you'd want privacy, so you can... ahem, as much as you like before she has to go to her place. Me? I've got to work now, so I'll go change." "I've got homework, so I'll be going to do that, if you don't mind," Nabiki asked with complete openness.

"That's fine by me," her owner replied. "You need ta take care of your grades."

The eldest of the sisters nodded. "That is very important."

"And better if ya already get good scores."

"But I would like it if you did do your homework this afternoon too, Ranma."

"Huh? Why is that?"

"Well... I... That is... I would like to do something alone with you later, after dinner, if you don't mind."

Ranma shrugged. "Sure thing. It ain't like I'm gonna refuse ya. 'Sides, part of makin' myself happy is makin' ya happy."

"Thank you. Thank you very much."

"Ya welcome, 'Sumi."

"Now, the two of you go and have your private time, okay?"

"Plannin' on doin' that for certain," the pigtailed boy agreed, as he gently guided Ukyo upstairs.

That left Kasumi smiling with a little more than her joy at seeing the chef and Ranma be happy,

There was a war going on in Ranma's mind, but it was not over bedding his childhood friend. He cared deeply about her, and knew that he was very attracted to her, even in her 'boy' clothing. In fact, a part of him wanted to lay her out and bury himself within her as soon as possible.

It was exactly that feeling that kept him grounded, even as he understood where it came from. Ever since his libido had gotten kickstarted, he'd always had ready opportunities to bed down with one girl or another, at least within a relatively short time. However, when he had to wait, the frustration would set in, and he'd wind up with an ever increasing need to satisfy. Fortunately for him, he'd had several girls perfectly willing to help him with that.

But as he gently lead Ukyo into his room, he could see the absolute trust and loving she had for him in her eyes. Just by looking into them, he could tell that she was afraid of what would come, but that it was not fear of the act itself, but of the problems that would come with it. He'd felt that enough times himself, and knew that he could not hurt her with a simple 'slam, bang, thank you ma'am' approach, if he could even manage it. Besides, he wanted to make this special for her, and the way that she held herself told him just what she really needed, which made him surprised at his own ability to notice it.

So when he saw her planning something in her mind, he tried to look admonishing without appearing too severe. "What are ya plannin'?"

"I... I'm... This is my..." she stammered with a most becoming blush, "I've never..."

"I could tell."

"Oh. Well... I... Maybe I could put on a show for you... Use my body to..."

"Ucchan."

"Yes?"

"Ya don't need a show," he told her, and wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her chest to chest with him. Nothing was overtly sexual about it, but the way that his hands rested at her hips made her tingle, and without even thinking about it, she slid her own arms to match him. His movement as if he were leading her into a dance to some unheard music was more sensual than silly, and the way they pressed against each other as they moved was totally wondrous. Then came the Kiss.

As his face came down to hers, she found that she could only stared dazedly into his eyes, with her lips lightly parted. What he did with his mouth upon hers just defied any description that she could make, as she'd have to be able to differentiate any part of it. From the way their tongues tangled, to each nibble on her lips, to the actual pressing of mouths together, she was so overwhelmed that her knees seemed to turn to water. When he finally did raise his head from hers, she could only let a small smile curve upon her face as he smirked slightly back at her.

Yet, he did not stop, and his hands stroked across her backside, making those supple cheeks tighten at the touch. That was only fleeting though, as he brought his hands up between their bodies so that he could unfasten her uniform top. The act surprised her, but she didn't think to stop him at all, which let him expose her bound chest to the air. But he did not follow into what she would have thought would be a guy's main interest. Instead, he seemed fascinated by her flat belly, and let his fingertips run over the satiny skin that he found there. Somehow it was more erotic than even the most intimate touch that she'd ever received, and it delighted her almost as much as it caused the warmth deeper in to grow, even as he began to turn his attention to her back.

Using his forearms, he tugged on her uniform top so that only her arms were clad in it. With her so bound, he leaned forward and began to nuzzle the slender column of her neck, giving little pecks along her collar bone. There was no way that she'd mind though, as he was doing so much right for her that she felt perfect as putty in his hands. It would have been easy to free herself, but she didn't bother to think of that. The ride was much too good, and when the shirt was allowed to drop to the floor, she was content to let him press his cheek along the smooth line of her shoulder. Even as he did that though, he was unfastening her pants, and undoing her zipper. Then he fairly yanked her from that garment, and left it behind as they continued together.

By the time that she realized what he'd done, he'd laid her down upon his futon, and was sitting over her. The warmth of her need asked to be fanned, and he did not disappoint, as he undid his own shirt, tossing it off to the side along with his undershirt. That left his chest bare for her perusal, and he let her take advantage of that fact. Her fingertips slid along that tight flesh, and she found herself totally enthralled by the well muscled body that she was touching.

However, his back got more of her attention, as he leaned down and began to softly pull the bindings on her chest off of her body. Doing so allowed the full mounds of her breasts to be free of that constriction, and he seemed to feel a need to care for them. He massaged each one, with his fingers squeezing life into them in a manner that had her panting in response. The uppermost swells received close care as he stroked and pressed his face to them, even as he cupped her cleavage and hefted them possessively. Her nipples waited with aching need, and he did not abandon them, as he slid his tongue over each each hard tip, and suckled for long moments that sent shocks shooting to her innermost core.

Pulling back, he reached for his waistband, and unfastened his own pants, so that he could slip out of them and his underwear, allowing his manhood to rise in the free air. Ukyo's eyes bobbed at the sight of his rigid shaft, and she knew exactly where it would be going. But there was no fear of it, and he made certain that there would be none. Taking her hand, he wrapped it around the hard organ, and let her touch the most masculine part of him. His doing so shocked her for a moment, but then she slid her hand up and down the length of him, garnering a shuddering groan from his body.

She was so enthralled by his reaction, she didn't realize that he had a hand down her panties until she felt him touching her most intimate spot. His fingertips stroked against the folds of her womanhood, and her hips bucked upwards as his fingers dipped in between those slick petals. A long moan of pleasure passed by her lips, and she couldn't prevent herself from hunching down upon that wonderful hand cupping her mound.

The best was yet to come though, as he pulled off her panties in one motion, leaving her totally exposed. That didn't bother her, nor did the sight of him moving to kneel between her legs. Instead, she welcomed it with every fiber of her being, even as she felt anxiety over the threshold that she was about to cross. However, she didn't need to worry, as when he sank into her, she found any pain that she had was quickly shoved aside by complete pleasure. Her body tightened around his member, and his expression told her all she needed to know about his pleasure of being within her. Despite any inexperience she might have had with such matters, her body found the age old rhythm to respond to his thrusts into her with pushes back of her own, and their bodies quickly became quickly sweat slicked as they held each other both in their arms, and in their loins. His chest rolled her breasts against it, and their mouths met in a kiss that didn't have finesse, but had plenty of need behind it.

Release came with wings that raised her to levels that she never knew existed, and wished could go on forever on an instinctual level. Consciously, she knew nothing, save for the fact that this one moment was wondrous, and by his grunt as he came within her, her childhood love agreed.

It was exhausting though, and she found that she could barely move as he cuddled up to her, with the both of them still joined as only a man and woman could be. "Is it always that good, Ranchan?"

"I think it depends who ya are with, and how ya do it," he told her.

"I think why the others are so taken with it then."

"Really?"

"A girl could definitely get used to feeling like this."

He chuckled at the vehemence in her voice, and possessively stroked one of her breasts. "Guys could too. But ya know somethin'?"

"What?"

"Ya can feel like this a lot. If I wanna, I tell ya. If ya wanna, then just come ta me."

"Sure thing. Very sure thing," she said with feeling, and smiled as she lay her head against his shoulder

There was a belief among some of the students at Furinkan High School that Nabiki Tendo was not considered attractive by the males of the classes. They'd look at her and assume that her reputation would put guys off, what with her take charge nature, mercenary habits and seeming disdain for a lot of things. This girl was not one for romance as far as anyone could tell, and the 'Ice Queen' was supposedly too cold for any boy to want.

One would also have to note that most of those who thought so were people she'd out thought or scammed before, and so had ulterior reasons for thinking the way they did.

The fact of the matter was that she was considered rather hot by the guys in school. This was no 'fragile flower' who would wilt when anything rough came up. Her body was the sort that many guys dreamt about, what with the full breasts that even Furinkan's uniform couldn't hide, a sexy little behind, and legs that went on forever. Just thinking of how her full mouth would quirk up in a smirk had some guys wanting to kiss it away. Many of them wanted to date her, others hoped for more, and a few even managed to think on beyond that. Sure, a couple did think that, given the right price, she'd spread her legs for any boy, but then those tended to be the same guys who thought that those were really 'naughty nympho co-eds' on the sex lines, and basically went after anything in a skirt.

All of them would have drooled over the sight in the Tendo family room at the moment. Laying on her belly, Nabiki didn't have a stitch of clothing on, save for the collar around her neck. Her taut buttocks showed clear as day, and flexed slightly as she idly kicked her feet up in the air. With her positioning, her breasts were pillowed against the floor, right by the notebook she was writing in. And with the exercising that she had been doing, her body was in better shape than it had ever been before. Had she been dressed, then it might have been normal, but at the moment, it was a rather erotic sight, and those guys would have gone into dazes just thinking about such a scene.

Akane knew that as she peeked into the room on her way out of the house. Even back when she'd been constantly attacked by a horde of stupid jerks following a baboon who wielded a stick, she'd been aware that her sister could have had a lot of boys trailing after her. But while it was true that Nabiki had dated, there had never been a truly permanent seeming relationship before. Each guy had merely gone out with her and gone home with a much lighter wallet. And yet the idiots had still been desiring her, many of them thinking that each of them would have gotten what they'd have wanted without considering what Nabiki's desires. That had hardened her disgust with boys, and she had just thought of it as more of the same.

Yet now her sister was getting what she wanted, and the idea of Nabiki being Ranma's pet made her smile slightly as she turned from the door and headed out of the house. "I'm leaving!"

"Bye Akane!" Nabiki called out absently, and frowned slightly when she heard the front door close. She wasn't mad, but she did wonder why her sister had been staring at her. It didn't seem to be too big a deal though, so she simply shrugged and turned back to her logic problems.

People wondered where Tatewaki Kuno got his ideas from, though many theories were floating around. Some thought that he tried to watch samurai films and tried to emulate their behavior. Others considered his behavior, and just thought that he had a totally deluded mind. And then there were some who thought that he was just a moron. Oddly enough, most of the theories were basically correct.

They didn't have all the information though. There were just some secrets that a 'samurai' did not share after all, and he was not one to hold to one source of power, for were not the samurai truly well rounded men? Unlike what some of his detractors might say, he did look towards other paths, and some of them brought him to tomes of knowledge.

"'A penny saved is a penny earned.' 'What can we reason but from what we know?' 'Everything is sweetened by risk.' Such words of wisdom," Kuno read from the book of quotes that he'd held for his edification.

Okay, so he just grabbed lines from the book and twisted them with his own unique spin, but it was a path that most didn't expect.

"Hmm... If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must come to the mountain...' Well... A-HAH! That is what I must do! If I can not determine what I wish to do with that most lovely young maiden, then I must go to her to determine exactly what she wishes of me! And when her heart is bared before my gaze, then I will know what it is that I must do!"

The very air stayed still at that moment, almost as if wondering how foolish he was.

Ukyo gingerly slid herself into the furo waters and sighed happily as the warm liquid surrounded her body. It was wonderful to soak in something like that, and she was happy that she'd been someplace where she could do it. Honestly, she should have merely washed up and bathed at home, but, much as that was oddly exciting as a prospect, she didn't think that she was that adventurous. Besides, the chance to soak in this place was a treat that she was intent on enjoying, though she wasn't quite sure of her reception in the household, not as a part of the group, but as a member of the 'family' as it were.

However, she didn't have much time to think about it, as someone came in, jolting her out of the pleasant haze that she was in. For a moment, she dropped deeper into the water to prevent the newcomer from seeing her, but then she realized that other than Ranma, who had just been so wonderfully intimate with her, there were only other girls who would be coming in.

And any left over anxiety was lost as she saw a nude Kasumi enter and smile in her direction. "Why, hello Ukyo."

"Hi..." the chef replied weakly.

"Enjoying your bath?"

"Well... yeah. It's real nice. I don't have something like this at my apartment..."

"You're welcome to use it any time that you want to," the eldest Tendo girl told her, as she sat and began washing herself.

"I am?"

"Of course. Why would you think otherwise?"

"I... I... I don't live here."

"That's not a problem. Shampoo and Kodachi come over here every chance that they get. And you should too."

"I should?"

A small smile curved the elder girl's lips after she rinsed herself off. "Each of us care about you, in our own ways. You could be friends with any of the others, or get as close as sisters. We don't hide from each other, and as soon as you decided that you wanted to be a part of us, you were fully a part of our little family. In this house, there is no hiding from yourselves... at least until Father and Mister Saotome get back."

"I guess I know that... But I keep on wondering if something will go wrong."

"We all have feared that, but we've managed so nicely, don't you think?"

"Actually... yeah," the younger girl admitted, "You all seemed to have found places of your own."

"When we got the chance to, that's just what we did."

"And the shopping?"

"Something that each of us did with him, and I suppose he wants to include you in on that too."

"Ummm... Good. I just wonder what we'd get."

"All sorts of things, from clothing to... well, I'll let him surprise you," Kasumi told her, and stepped into the tub, "But there is one thing. Look at me, and tell me what you see."

"I see... That is... Can I just keep my mouth shut?"

"Certainly. However, I know what a lot of others think of me. To my father, I'm his little girl. To Mister Saotome, I'm a good housekeeper. To my sisters, I'm their big sister. But do you know what Ranma saw me as?"

"What?"

"A woman."

"Huh?"

"Most people just saw me as the nice girl who liked to help people, but when we... That first time, he saw me as a beautiful woman who had needs that she never knew that she had. Not merely making love to me, but having friends, a wardrobe, and plenty of other things that girls my age already had. I... can don't think that I can explain what it feels like."

The chef gave her a crooked smile. "I think that I know what you mean. I have lived as a boy for a long time, and I've just done something that only a girl could do with a guy."

"Exactly."

"And you wanted to have some time with him, but I was already there."

"Don't worry about it. That was your time, and he made it for you. I wanted time, and he made it for me. Which is something that makes Ranma who he is."

'And who the giving girl you are,' Ukyo thought to herself as the pair sat in companionable silence,

"I'm here!" Akane called out as she opened the door to the Nekohaten, ready for her shift of waitressing.

"Hello Akane!" Shampoo cheerfully replied, "Is nice to see you."

"Yeah, well, sorry I'm late, but there was a bit happening at the house..."

"What you talking about?"

The Japanese girl let the side of her mouth curve up. "Ukyo came to the house today, and was alone in Ranma's room with him when I left."

"She did? Is very good, no?"

"Definitely. I mean, sure it's not exactly what I thought of before all this, but I'm happy for her and to have her around."

"Shampoo agree."

"You do?"

"Is so. Always think she be nice to know, if not fighting over same male. She strong girl, and not only mean in muscle. Except... No understand why dress up as boy. Can see be angry at what stupid panda do, but why make like she be guy?" the Amazon said with a rueful shake of her head.

"I guess it's how she was able to handle it. But now we can hang out even when it's not... you know..."

"True. Might be nice. But all this not what Shampoo meant. Am happy about Ukyo, but not mean to ask about her."

"If you didn't want to know about that," the short haired girl asked, "Then what were you asking about?"

"Was wondering why you say sorry for being late."

"Well, this is a little later than my usual time..."

"That is why confused."

"Huh? Why is that?"

"Because you is usually early. This about time for you is supposed to be here."

"Ohh... Yeah..," Akane said with the hint of a blush on her cheeks.

"Got so used to time you come, forget time asked to come at, didn't you?"

"Pretty much."

Shampoo gave a mock-sigh and shook her head. "What we do with you? Ah well, time to serve food, make men drool, and bash idiots."

"I'm ready. Let's do it."

The Art had never really been Nabiki's thing, not because she had any real disdain for it. As the daughter of a dojo owner, she had understood the power it give a person, and the benefits of being in shape. Her problem was that it was never something that she'd really enjoyed. As far as she'd been concerned, it was either giving someone the tools of violence, like her little sister, or too much work for something she didn't want. By what her father had shown her, the Art was supposed to be something that one had drive in, and truthfully, she didn't have the desire that either she or her father had thought she'd need for it.

Yet, there she was, going through a practice routine in the dojo. She was a beginner, but she found herself wanting to go out and train. The benefits that it'd already given her were enough for her to admit that there were some things that she could really use for it. It also seemed to give her some sort of balance she was unaware of needing. And even if her Owner had not made her start learning, had she learned that he would be such a patient and actually skilled sensei, she would have asked him to teach her, without even waiting her current status.

A burble of laughter came up from her chest as she realized that he was her Master twice over.

But that was easily pushed down as she tried to settle into her routine. He'd told her that practicing too much in one way could lead her to get predictable, and that as she was a beginner she didn't have much experience in it, but she knew that the only way that she'd actually get better would be to train. She didn't have to do it at the moment, but she had actually felt like it. What was really strange that she had found herself imagining herself a serious martial artist, though not an over powered one like her sister. A level that would help her keep out of trouble from muggers would be fine.

As she stopped the set though, she heard clapping and turned to see her Owner leaning against the dojo doorway. "Master!"

"Hey, Nabiki," Ranma said neutrally.

"I... I just thought that since I've been learning the martial arts, even a little bit, then I might as well practice..."

"That's usually a good idea."

"Yes, but... I'm not really experienced..."

"Except that ya did real good."

"HUH?!"

He gave her a little smirk. "Ya managed ta get through it without makin' any wrong moves. Sure, it was slow, and kinda awkward, but ya did the most important thing."

"And that is?"

"Ya didn't think about what ya were doin'. Ya let your body move without stoppin' ta figure out what your next move in. Instead, ya let it flow without anythin' stupid blockin' it. In a fight, ya don't get ta always stop and analyze things. Ta win, ya need ta be able ta notice some danger and act ta deal with it, on instinct. This is a good first step."

"Thank you, Master."

"Just one thing?" he asked, holding up a hand.

"Yes?"

"Do ya realize that ya have been trainin' wearin' nothin' but your collar?"

Looking down, his pet saw that he was completely and utterly right. "Err... I didn't stop to think to dress..."

"Don't ya worry. That not a bad sight. Not a bad sight at all..."

"Thank you Master..."

"You're welcome. But maybe ya should put on somethin'. We gotta train, and if ya are like that..."

"Oh... Well... I'll get on it."

"Good. But maybe I'll have ya, or one of the others practice that way when we don't need ta take it seriously."

"I think that I might like that," Nabiki said, blushing rather heavily.

Ukyo knew that there were no outward changes after what she'd done. After all, her breasts hadn't grown another cup size, she hadn't sprouted horns, and there wasn't any sort of sign pasted to her shirt that gave a clue as it. To any casual observer, she would have been the same chef they'd always known.

That didn't stop her from letting her eyes flick to see everything around her. There just seemed to be this feeling that people could look at her and know what she'd done after school. Not that it would have been a bad thing that she'd done, but it was almost as if by thinking about it so much, she couldn't help but wonder if everyone else was thinking it. A couple of times she'd caught herself wondering if she'd caused someone to get a clue, but it was quickly quashed. However, it didn't stop her from still being a little afraid of blurting it out along with her joy.

The whole thing just came from discovering the joys of being bedded quite properly, and by someone she'd been waiting years to do so. Her childhood friend, her Ran-chan, had finally agreed to sleep with her, and boy had he. He'd actually seen her as an attractive young woman, and had made that time very special to her. Heck, he'd even made her feel like he treasured everything from her body, to what they'd done, and ever her herself.

It was little wonder that she was fairly close to letting the smile on her face split it in half as grew. With the time that she'd been with Ranma, and the time spent with Kasumi, she was a very happy young woman. Of course, there were a few physical reminders, but she wasn't about to trade them out at all.

Placing those memories back into her head for safe keeping, she tried to keep herself under control and turned to cooking. The customers hadn't seemed to mind her happiness though, and a few were smiling back at her, so she decided that she would at least not hide the fact that she was feeling cheerful.

It was just too a good day to be down, and she was going to hold it in her mind for a long time,

by St Fan

Tanaka Miyo glared at her deck of tarot cards, a few set face-up in a regular pattern on her bedroom desk.

Like her previous attempts at divination, this draw wasn't letting out any useful clue. She had been hopping this would give her at least a vague idea of what to do about the romantic mess she unexpectedly found herself in. And maybe even help make up her mind on who to choose.

But all her efforts had been for naught. The crystal ball was giving off an excessively blurry image. The I-Ching readings were even more cryptic than usual. The tealeaves were clogging in an unrecognizable mass. And even her favorite method, the Tarot, wasn't any helpful today.

Miyo slumped in her chair and huffed. She should have known. Her grandmother had warned her about this. A fortuneteller couldn't make reliable predictions about his or her own future. It was like trying to examine a system you were part of. The simple act of observation was altering the result. To be a good seer, one needed some distance from the pried subject.

Miyo had gotten a few clear foresights from her scrying attempts, true... showing her either dating with Jeremy or Hikaru. Problem was... both kinds of vision were just as prevalent as the other! She hadn't exactly tried to put them into statistics, but she was pretty sure it would have given an equal repartition if she'd done so.

Sighing lengthily, Miyo left her desk and slumped on the bed, facing the ceiling. It seemed she was stuck taking a decision without any help from her prescient talents, like any ordinary schoolgirl.

She hadn't said a thing about the situation to her parents, like she'd been tempted already. It would be embarrassing enough to inform them that she got a boyfriend... even once she'd know his name. Telling them that there were two boys courting her at the same time? She'd never live it down.

So, she had to make up her mind all by herself. But as she agonizingly found out... deciding which boy she should keep, and which one she would be ditching, wasn't easy at all.

The only other solution available would be to tell them she didn't feel ready to go out with either... and ask both to give up. Maybe that way, neither would feel jealous, as they wouldn't exactly have "lost" to their rival... everybody would stay good friends...

Yeah, right. Instead of having one boy hurt by her rejection, she'd have two. And to everyone else, it would look like Miyo was fleeing the problem... admitting she was not ready for any kind of relationship... A very sure way of getting an "old maid" reputation... or worse.

It wasn't like she had any real right to complain. For any schoolgirl her age, having two boys interested in oneself would be rather flattering. As long as they weren't from the bunch of perverts that got regularly pounded into the ground by Ranma or Akane, it was hardly a bad spot to be in.

Still, she couldn't keep this up, and let Hikaru and Jeremy pin over her indefinitely. She had to take a decision. In the previous days, she had dated both... no, scrap that, not dated... that was precisely the point. She had yet to choose one, with which she would start dating for good. A girl couldn't realistically date two boys at once, could she?

So, in the previous days, she hung out... talked... spent time with either boy. This wasn't dating, right? Just getting to know each other better... They also gave her a few gifts, and generally acted nice towards her. But it was just courting. All in all, that should make the choice easier for her by now, shouldn't it?

Unfortunately, it didn't. She was rather still unsure of her feelings. She could tell she wasn't in love with either boy, but if they keep going out... she could see it happen. Both Hikaru and Jeremy were nice, descent guys, and she could easily see herself living happily with one or the other...

Hang on, not so fast. This was just about teenagers dating, no need to begin planning so far ahead and thinking about marriage or such silliness. She just should determine which one she liked best, and wanted as a boyfriend. That shouldn't be too difficult, right?

That's what was distressing her the most, actually. Jeremy and Hikaru couldn't be less alike. They were like night and day, so why couldn't she choose? Were her tastes in men so blurred and imprecise that she couldn't make up her mind?

Okay, to tell the truth, neither boy was exactly fitting the definition of bishōnen, the ideal most Japanese teenage girls were supposedly attracted to. Not that Miyo was especially entranced with this stereotype, but she was nonetheless born in Japan and grew up immersed in the pop-culture. Although her suitors couldn't be called ugly, they weren't either the handsomest of guys. So, she had to look past the appearances, and judge them over their personalities.

Hikaru... well, she probably wouldn't have given "Voodoo Spike" a second glance not too long ago, but since the girls have decided to do their makeover... she had to admit he became much cooler to hang out with. He had lost most of his earlier creepiness (though not the dark spots under the eyes, but according to him they were a family thing) and looked a lot healthier by now. He certainly would never be an athlete, but at least it no longer seemed like the first gust of wind would break him in two.

This had allowed Miyo to feel more at ease around him, and find out just what kind of guy he was deep down. They'd discussed of various subjects, most of them esoteric as this was their shared interest. Sure, Hikaru had gleaned lots of silly misconceptions while studying magic, but that was no real surprise. And he was really involved and eager to learn. With her guidance, maybe one day he'd make a name in the magical profession.

He was, of course, still somewhat longing for Akane, but she didn't mind that much. A lot of the Fūrinkan boys had been obsessing over the Tendō girl, and some still dreamed of scoring with her, even after she got herself a fiancé. That was something of a school tradition. If any, it was rather encouraging Miyo to be friendly with Gosunkugi, as the poor guy truly needed all the help he could have to get over his crush. From what he related her, Hikaru really always had the worst kind of luck with women. The only other girl who ever showed any interest in him had been a ghost... and now, she couldn't materialize on Earth more than one day a year1. Not exactly what you could call a steady girlfriend.

Okay, pity wasn't necessarily the best basis to start a relationship. But she could see his other qualities. He was meek and shy, not the kind to ever raise his voice or get rowdy around a woman. He wasn't a dirty pervert like those creeps from the Hentai Horde... at least she didn't think so. She wouldn't bet he never used his precious camera to take some candid shots of scantily-clad girls, but if that was the extent of his kink, she could let it pass. Boys will be boys.

Now, Jeremy... he was almost a polar opposite. While Hikaru had elevated the skill of staying inconspicuous to an art form — to the point some believed he could actually turn invisible —, Jeremy did stand out in a crowd. Not that he really was a giant — he was only slightly taller than Kunō, in fact — but among his Japanese schoolmates, he certainly towered. Added to his dark skin, against Hikaru's pale complexion, and the contrast couldn't be greater. Sure, the "Makeover Group" tried to get Gosunkugi a tan with U.V., but there was still a long way to go.

Jeremy was also big-time into sports, another difference. That was his the main topic he talked about when they'd discussed, though it was probably because of his shyness around her... he probably felt uneasy doing small-talk out of his favorite subject. This was cute, in some way... and he was making great efforts to be sweet. She knew, however, that outside of a romantic setting, he was quite outgoing and determined. He was never afraid to speak out and tell exactly what he thought. Not the most proper Japanese thing to do, of course, and no doubt something ingrained by his American father.

But Miyo would never keep this against him. He was probably the only boy to speak out against the daily morning fights Akane got stuck in before Ranma came. He never hesitated to say that he found quite distasteful the idea of a dozen guys ganging up on a girl to beat her. He even derided all the bullshit spouted by Kunō and others about "uplifting school spirit" and "encouraging the manly dedication toward a worthy goal". This got him some flak from the more traditionally-minded males, but he stood his ground. And it certainly earned him the appreciation of many schoolgirls at the time. The fortuneteller among them.

Miyo could also relate with Jeremy on not being full-blooded Nihonjin. Not that she truly experienced discrimination, but the whispers and side looks... she knew they existed. Though since Junior High, her gifts had been a great asset to break the ice with her classmates. The Japanese were always quite superstitious, and very fond of divination and fortune telling, exotic or not. She used her prescient skills to gain recognition among her peers. It gave her a bit of a mysterious and aloof reputation, though this was quite expected from a seer, and not that big a price to pay anyway. Her female friends from class 1-F learned to look past this.

It still meant, though, she never had that much male frequentations. The boys liked her looks, she was sure of it, but many deemed her weird, and none went past the prejudice to actually ask her out. That is, until Hikaru and Jeremy did.

Exactly at the same time.

Groaning, Miyo wondered what kind of odds there were for such a thing. She was certain some playful Kami of Fate had been laughing loudly at her expense when this happened. Maybe it was standard fare for the kind of weirdness that happened in Nerima, but it was usually centered on different people.

Not that she was completely displeased by the situation, far from it. The thought of having a pair of suitors was, if any, a boost to the ego. She'd never been against the concept of having a boyfriend. She was a teenage girl, after all. She could easily imagine herself walking, hand in hand, with her chosen sweetheart... going out together... eating ice cream... watching a romantic movie... dining in a fancy restaurant... smiling and giggling and feeling happy...

She could imagine herself sitting on Jeremy's lap, wearing just a tiny negligee, kissing the big boy passionately while roaming her hands over his solid, bare chest...

Miyo shook her head and blushed profusely from the naughty image that unexpectedly sprung into her mind. Now, this was wrong... she shouldn't have those kinds of thoughts... it was way too soon... and it wasn't fair for Hikaru-kun, in fact. Who knew if under his scrawny frame, he wasn't hiding a marvel in the sack? She knew what the other girls sometimes said about nerds...

Yes, she could picture it already... Hikaru kneeling behind her, pressing himself against her back... his skilled hands caressing and stroking and fondling and groping her negligee-clad body while she cutely moaned and sighed...

Arrrghhh! Miyo slapped her own cheeks rather hard to disrupt those hentai fantasies. No, no, no, no! She was supposed to make a well-thought, reasoned choice... If she started to let her hormones run wild, she'd never do it. This would just get her horny and frustrated.

Sure, she wasn't prudish enough to deny sex was among the perks she looked for in a relationship. All the mushy and romantic stuff was nice, but she had an active libido, like any teenage girl. Of course, it was out of question to contemplate doing anything with Hikaru or Jeremy, as long as their dating was just in the budding stage. This would send them all the wrong messages.

Even if it would help her greatly to solve the dilemma she was in. She was a modern girl, and could recognize the utter silliness of wanting to stay a virgin before marriage. Sexual compatibility was certainly a very important factor in the choice of a partner. But she couldn't realistically "try out" both Hikaru and Jeremy before picking one. That would be really improper. How then could she tell the discarded boy it had just been an experiment? A one-night-stand devoid of any long-term meaning, and that they should stay good friends? Just after having raised his hopes, that would be callously crushing his feelings. And what kind of easy girl would sleep with two different guys at the same time...?

The subsequent image of both Hikaru and Jeremy simultaneously kissing and fondling a sandwiched, squirming Miyo was promptly malleted and mercilessly blown to bits before it could even form. No way she was going to even consider THAT! It would be slutty beyond belief. She was not that kind of girl. And she couldn't believe any boy would ever go for it, anyway.

With a start, Miyo realized that her arm had been absentmindedly snaking under her skirt and inching towards her panties. She frantically pulled it away and slapped the back of the guilty hand. Now wasn't the time to indulge herself. This was supposed to be a serious brainstorming session, not a manzuri break!

Okay... so, what were the conclusions of her musings? She could admit to herself that she was more physically attracted by Jeremy... he was big and strong, and a girl would probably feel small in his arms, safe and secure. On the other hand... she would probably more easily relate with Hikaru... as they shared common interests... and she'd certainly be on top in the relationship... he was not the type to take a dominant role...

Well, that was fine and dandy, but she still couldn't decide which one was the best for her. She realized this was probably why her previous attempt at divination had been a complete bust. She had tried to find who was the "right" one, while both were, in a way... even with all their differences. Nobody was perfect; either suitor would certainly make a good boyfriend. It was all a matter of making it works, including from her side.

Blowing in exasperation, Miyo rose from her bed and walked back to the desk. She shouldn't have to go through all this gnawing indecision. She was a powerful seer of Romani heritage; couldn't her powers help her through this? Or at least give her a clue as how to solve the problem...?

Miyo glared at her crystal ball, and said "This time... you better show me something... anything... that can help me make my choice... or you're recycled glass!"

Focusing all her psychic awareness on the murky depths of the crystal, Miyo intensely willed for a vision to come...

... and she got one. A book. Not any ordinary book, though. It was old and leathery, like some antique grimoire. She couldn't make out any title, but she felt it was important.

Miyo blinked. A book. Okay, it was better than nothing. It was nice to know there was some book, somewhere, that could be used as guide for her love life. It would even be nicer, though, if she knew where to find it...

The vision shifted, and to Miyo's surprise, a familiar face appeared in her mind's eye. It was a cocky, pigtailed boy she recognized immediately.

Okay, what was the meaning of this? A mysterious book, and... Ranma Saotome? Was there some link between the two? Or did Ranma appear simply out of the general rule that most weird happenstances in Nerima somehow gravitated around him? Miyo couldn't be sure.

True, she had idly pondered about asking Ranma's advice. He and Akane were, after all, the only people she knew with lots of experience in fending off multiple suitors. Not that she thought they could really give her some deep insight over the situation. The couple only just recently started to get along better... between themselves, and also with the other fiancées. Not that it was extremely evident; Miyo probably wouldn't have noticed the shift in status quo if not for her above-average sensitivity.

Still, Akane was a good friend, and it wouldn't hurt to ask for her (and her fiancé's) counsels.

by Kender

Being a waitress had shown Akane many ways that people ate. There was the quick 'slurp and go' of office workers rushing to or from the job. She'd seen people pull ramen from bowls with exquisite care. Others had made it into a fun time of enjoying a quick meal. But she was not used to any of the regulars changing their normal eating styles that much.

So, she was still surprised by the sight of someone sitting at her family's dinner table, gulping food down as if needing to get it eaten as quickly as possible.

"Nabiki?" she asked with a blink of her eyes.

Her sister stopped only long enough to grunt out, "What?"

"You're eating like... like... Ranma."

"HEY!" growled the boy in question.

"Sorry... I didn't mean it that way. It's just that I'm used to you and your dad eating a lot very fast, and I didn't want to compare her to the panda..."

"Oh... okay..."

"But why are you eating so much?"

"It does seem that you are pretty hungry..." Kasumi commented gently.

"Oh... Well, Master put me through the ringer today," Nabiki said with a blush as she put down her bowl. "He gave me a pretty intense training session in the Art, and I really worked up an appetite. I never knew that I could be that hungry."

"It's cause ya ain't ever really exercised that much. Ya did enough ta keep fit, but ya ain't ever really pushed yourself before," Ranma drawled.

"Are you sure that's okay though?" Akane asked with a small, thoughtful frown. "Pushing her too far might not be good for her."

"And not pushing her enough wouldn't help her get better."

"I know, but there has to be a balance, and it sounds like this was a bit much."

"It was supposed ta be that. Just so that we could see how far she'd be able ta go, and what her limits are."

"I see. So, you thought to test how far she went," the youngest Tendo asked.

"Pretty much. She does learn quick, and she's in pretty good shape already. But I'm gonna have ta make sure that what she's learnin' sticks the right way."

"Give her a logical line of training then. Nabiki's always been best when she can see how things fit together, and it'll let her go from one part to another without too much trouble if they're related somehow."

"That'll probably be what I do," he admitted. "But I will want ya ta be the first ta spar with her."

"Me? Why? You could have Kodachi, Shampoo or even Ukyo do that."

"Tryin' ta get outta it already?"

"No, just curious."

"Well, I do plan of makin' Kodachi and then Shampoo spar with her, but ya are her sister. That means that ya got the same blood runnin' through your veins, and 'cause of that, ya can be the closest to compare, in at least startin' parts. This way, she can see how much better she can get, and she can't complain that she don't got 'noble blood' or ain't the product of three thousand years of Amazon history. And it'll let her know that it is possible for her ta improve a lot."

"Hmmm... That does sound interesting..."

"And there's somethin' else."

"What's that?"

"Ya'll be able ta be the one with the leg up on your older sister."

Immediately, a grin spread across Akane's face. "Hey, yeah..."

"I thought that ya'd like it."

"It might be fun... What do you think, Kodachi?"

"Whatever my Lord decides shall be my pleasure to do," Kodachi intoned.

"I'll take that as a yes. But I suppose that the idea will be to give her the chance to see different styles."

"That is part of it," Ranma confirmed, and turned to the girl they were discussing, "What do you think, Nabiki?"

"Well, you guys seem to be having fun deciding what I'll be doing," the middle Tendo daughter drawled, "so who am I to complain?"

"I didn't mean to make it so bad..."

"Don't worry. First off, I am your pet, and so, you're in charge of me. Second, you're my sensei, and if you think that I'm about to be arguing with a guy who can do the stuff you do, you'd be nuts. And third, even if I was training with someone else, I'd still go to you guys to find out what I should be doing."

"That last part's okay, 'cept... Don't always go ta other people for confirmation of how good certain trainin' techniques are. They can be different, and still right... unless they're Pop's and they sound stupid. Then they probably are somethin' really dumb."

"Got you."

"Still, if ya have any questions later, like how ta relax as the trainin' comes up with ya, ask Akane."

"Oh? And what about you?"

"Kasumi's asked me ta spend some time alone with her, and I aim ta give her as much as she needs."

"Oh my," the named girl whispered with a happy little blush.

The others turned to each other and smiled at the eldest girl's clear joy,

As he climbed the stairs, Ranma didn't know what he was going to find as he headed to his room. Kasumi had left almost as soon as she was finished with cleaning after dinner, and he'd barely seen her since. Even then it'd only be in small bits as she passed by, and it'd been a while since she'd last zipped by. Frankly, he was rather intrigued by the whole thing, but he didn't know just what he should expect.

So, he'd waited with Nabiki curled up next to him, and Akane having a real conversation with Kodachi about the differences in the schools they attended. He didn't pretend to be doing anything but thinking about what was to come, but they were kind enough to let him be. They'd even seemed ready to remind him when it would be time for him to go join her, though he did not really need it.

Once he'd been able to go, he'd done so without hesitation, and headed to his little meeting with her. He hoped that whatever it was, he'd be able to handle it well. There was no way that he'd disappoint her if he could avoid it, and he wanted to give her everything he could.

Swallowing hard, he reached the door to his room, and pulled it open... only to stop and stare in surprise.

His room was lowly lit, but not in any way that had to do with something out of a romance novel or film. Those did not have very traditional looks to them.

Kasumi knelt near the center of his room, looking rather lovely in her kimono, which had all the trimmings that one could have. Her back was to him, allowing him to see the swan like rise of her neck as she sat with her head held high. In front of her was a tea service of the type only taken out for special occasions. It had been set up for something that he recognized, and he could see that a position had been set up just for him.

Then what she'd planned hit him, and he felt a warmth hit him right in the chest. Knowing that this was too important to mess up, he quietly came inside, closed the door, and stepped over to kneel across from her. He had to work up his normally strong confidence to look at her exquisitely made up face, but he managed to turn his gaze to look into hers. Even though her face stayed stoic, he could see the glint of approval, appreciation and happiness that she was feeling reflected in her eyes.

With the two of them ready for this moment, she reached out with her lovely hands, and began to do a small tea ceremony. It wasn't totally traditional, nor was it meant for the contemplation of the universe or something like that. Instead, it spoke volumes from her to him, as it was a young woman telling a young man whom she cared very deeply for just how much she'd do for him. This was a private thing for only the two of them, and she made certain that she took care to show him what she felt.

His appreciation was clear in his eyes, but as he held himself to holding to the simple actions that he knew of the ceremony, he showed how much he respected her and what she did. It showed that he was willing to go along to make what she wanted to do happen. And as their eyes met as he took a sip of the tea, they could see that, whatever the true name of the emotion they shared, it was deep and pure.

But the ceremony was only the prelude as he put aside the cup and leaned forward to reach for her. She did not complain or run as he gently held her by the shoulders and lowered his head so that he could kiss her. This was no passion filled meeting of their lips. Instead, it was a soft, almost airy thing that teased and tantalized as he showed her just how much she was treasured and desired. She leaned back and let him lay her down upon the floor, smiling even as their mouths took small tastes of the other.

When he had her on her back, he slid a hand down her side so that he could unfasten her kimono, and gently pulled the valuable fabric away from her form. He took pains to go slowly, not only to protect the outfit, but to make sure that she knew that he would not rush through his time with her. That was definitely appreciated, and as he slipped his hand under its silk to make his way to feel skin with the same texture, she gave a soft sigh of feminine appreciation.

Letting her lay there, he used his leg to slip the cloth off her body, exposing the long length of her legs as they slid against each other. That allowed him to use his own lower limbs to rub against those smooth legs, and gently entangled them.

At the same time, she stroked her hands along his back, feeling the muscles of her lover flex under his shirt. For a long time, she allowed herself to feel, and only moved to unbutton his shirt when he made his desire for her to do so known by simple movements. Upon opening the garment, she stroked her palms over his chest, and pressed small kisses against his lips, letting him have the sharing he craved. Nearly by flexing his muscles, he let his shirt slide off, and proceeded to slip her arms from the kimono, and relieved her body of its clad state, pushing the cloth away so as to not damage it.

Having her nude, he pulled back to smile down at her, and gave a long look of appreciation at the body of young woman who was giving so much to him. His expression made her blush, but her full lips merely curved into a smile as she acknowledged the joy in having him see her as desirable. However, he was not about to leave it there, as he set out to prove to her that there was no other interpretation of his feelings. Running his hands down her flanks, he acted as if they were the most beautiful things he'd seen. He pressed kisses to her belly button that had her flexing towards him and gasping in surprised pleasure. Fingernails traced the lines of her shapely legs, and ran up those limbs so that he could lightly squeeze the lovely curves of her bottom. Almost as an after thought, he came up and began to stroke her breasts, licking and nibbling around her hard nipples, but there was no doubt that those full orbs were a source of great pleasure to them both.

Even as he set himself to lie on her, he tugged off his pants, and boxers, letting his manhood rest stiffly against the soft flesh of her thigh. A deeply feminine smile of acceptance and sharing came across her face, and he kissed her mouth as he positioned himself between her legs. A simple slide allowed his rod to enter between her petals, and she moaned along with him as her tightness wrapped around his hardness. Their rhythm became a thing of beauty, and the two of them shared in something that was purely their own. Her thighs pressed against his sides, and her feet rubbed against his calves, but those were merely instinctual actions. They were too lost in one another to think, and they wrapped their arms around one another in a tight, kissing embrace even as he began to thrust into her depths.

Tremors ran through her body in riots of need and pleasure, but the moment was giving her all that she could handle and more. He did not grunt, nor did he moan, as that would have ruined their time. His sounds were too gentle and soft for that, and for all the passion and drive of their joining, he still managed to treat her as if she was made of the most fragile porcelain.

Release brought tears of joy to her eyes, and she arched to meet his thrust, burying him deep within her as she made sure to capture his own sounds of completion with her mouth. The two of the were locked like that for a long moment, and when they came off of it, it was almost ballet-like as they slid down to lay down next to each other, with her held with great caring in his arms.

"This was very nice of ya, Kasumi," he murmured to her.

She have him a small smile. "I wanted to make it special, and you made sure that it was."

"I only tried ta do what ya wanted. And ya know, ya always make things special."

"Thank you."

"Nah," he said, "Thank you. This was somethin' that I'll remember for a long time."

"I'm glad. You treat us all so kindly that part of this was to give that back..."

"You're not hidin' any jealous feelings, are ya?"

"No, I'm not," she confirmed, "You find something beautiful in each of us, and something to love, and that makes you so wonderful that I can't really describe it. I can only show you what I can."

"And ya did it real well. Of course, if ya wanna do it again, I won't mind at all."

"Well..."

"Ya already plan ta?"

"I was thinking that maybe you could join me in my room one day, and I'd be waiting dressed only in that teddy and thigh high combo we brought together..."

He might not have been able to go fully at it again for the moment, but he could do plenty with his mouth, and gave her a kiss that showed her just how much he liked that idea,

"You guys didn't have to come and get me for school," Ukyo commented over her shoulder as she did her final straightening up of the morning before locking up her restaurant.

"We wanted to," Akane said with a shrug, and then glanced out of the corner of her eye. "Except some also had some other reasons to come."

Ranma merely grinned as he kept his arm around Nabiki's shoulders. "Hey, what can I say. Ucchan's always got the best okonomiyaki around."

"But Kasumi made us breakfast, and you ate it all, remember? I know that it wasn't that much but..."

"I was happy to eat anythin' she made. But you know me and food..."

"Unfortunately, I do," the youngest Tendo muttered.

"He is doing better, though," her sister commented.

"Yeah, but still..."

"He was up with her last night, after all... And I'm sure that he kept her entertained for that time, so it was not like he's been trying to ignore her..."

"Nabiki!"

"What? I'm just saying that by her smile this morning, she seems to be happy enough with what he gives her."

"And I'm sure that ya are plenty happy too," the pigtailed boy drawled as he lowered the hand he had around his pet just long enough to give a quick fondle of one of her breasts.

"Oohh... Master!"

"Like it?"

"Definitely."

"Good. 'Cause, ya know, ya don't always have ta be naked ta have... 'fun'."

"I like the way you think," the elder Tendo girl said with feeling.

Ukyo gave them a narrow look, and a mocking smirk. "And I suppose that you're enjoying yourself Ran-chan."

"Well, 'course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"So, I should start watching for you grabbing my chest too."

"Ahh... Can't really do that right now."

"Why is that?! Is something wrong with her chest?" Akane snapped, and then colored as she realized that she was defending another girl's right to get groped.

"Yeah. Considerin' that she's all bound up at the moment, what with goin' ta school and all, I can't exactly hold onta anythin'. 'Sides, just doin' it 'cause I felt like it wouldn't be nice, would it?"

"Oh..." both of his fiancees chorused, and looked at him with a bit more respect.

"But she does have a nice rear, and that's still real nicely shown in pants. And I do have times when I wonder just what she'll look like wearing' a girl's uniform ta class..."

The chef blushed heavily at his expression and the thoughts that his obvious appreciation of her body brought up.

"Anyway, are ya guys ready ta go? Much as I'd like ta stick around here with three pretty girls, we've got class ta be at. Bleh."

This time, the three girls giggled, and Ukyo nodded as she picked up her keys and schoolbag. "Sure thing, Ran-chan."

It was like one of those movies where a person would get into some sort of crash, usually in some sort of aircraft, and wind up miles from civilization. Then the person would be in the wilderness, alone, with no supplies, and no way of calling for help. They'd have to live using whatever skills they had, and whatever wits they could bring. Then they'd work their way to finding a path back to safety, and the open arms of those who cared for them.

Happosai only liked them when they had lovely young starlets, since they wind up in torn and wet clothing that would reveal luscious bits of their nubile young body. Now that he was living one of those situations, or something similar, he was not at all pleased by the whole idea. Had he been well enough, it would have been better, as he could have merely bounded out already, instead of trudging along for as long as he had been.

But, as his stubby little legs carried him over the uneven terrain of the forest floor, he was certain that he'd not only get out, but get to someplace glorious, where big bosoms bounced, and clothing was close to nothing. Others might have said that he didn't have much will power, but he most certainly did, and it was a strong one at that. He just had it directed in a rather perverted direction. It provided him with the push to be a survivor, and he continued onwards, certain that sooner or later, he'd trade the trees for something, if only for a simple road.

And then he could have fun 'recharging his batteries', so to speak.

Yuka was enjoying the chance to watch her friend seem to walk around in a daze. The ponytailed girl was usually a rather in control young woman, and the idea that she could be behaving like this was a bit of surprise. Not that she blamed her, what with what she'd gone through, but it was amusing to see Sayuri get like this. They had been asked out by plenty of guys, but none of them had gotten them to actually like them that much, at least in that sort of way. And even if Ranma was Akane's guy, the both of them could certainly wonder about what it would be like to be in her place, in regards to him.

Unfortunately, he was taken, and she was not sure what sort of guy she could get.

"Halt there, fair maiden!" called out a familiar voice, barking orders once again.

Normally, Yuka would have merely watched, or shaken her head and left, but she found herself getting a bokuto pointed right at her face, which stopped her, and left her stare in surprise. "What's this about?"

"'Tis about thy wishes, handmaiden to the goddess that is Akane Tendo. Have you not confronted me before?"

"At the party, and yesterday? Sure..."

"And do you not watch me as I have faced combat with Akane and the pigtailed girl, as well as the many enemies that plague my existence? Have you not beauty of your own, and made certain to place yourself into the forefront of the action?"

"You might say that..."

"Then tell me truly!" Kuno declared, "What is it of my most glorious self that you wish to have!"

"EH?!"

"Do you wish to join with me, as a woman does with a man, and desire to be the sort of bride that takes care of her husband's needs? Or do you merely wish to be my helper, or even my concubine? Or, if it my favor you desire, I can allow you to date one of my subordinates in the kendo team! Which would it be?"

"What makes you think I'll just pick something like that?!"

"Because you have demonstrated the desire, and you now show the fire which I was remiss in not detecting earlier. Perhaps I will keep you for myself, but I would have to ponder on the matter for a long time..."

"Pander all you want! You're not going to get me to just agree to anything!" Yuka barked.

"I see..."

"What?"

"You wish me to be forceful, and make you choose! Well then, since you are such a fragile flower, I will merely take you from here, and install you in a place where I might wear you down..."

*WHAM*

"... Or I can take this opportunity to slumber and think upon it ..."

"What a jerk," Akane muttered as she lowered her fist from where she'd smashed Kuno on the top of the head.

"You stopped him..."

"You didn't want him to kidnap you, did you?"

"No! No, of course not. It was just really sudden..."

"With Kuno, ya gotta be quick ta act," Ranma drawled as he stepped next to Yuka and tried to give her a reassuring smile. "But are you okay?"

"Fine... I think..."

"Good. Don't wanna think that ya'd get hurt."

"You'd just protect us, wouldn't you?" Sayuri murmured, her cheeks tinged slightly pink.

"Sure would."

"And we were lucky that Akane was around. She's always been one to help her friends, and this time you needed it."

"That's true," Yuka agreed. "Thanks, Akane."

"You're welcome, and it was a pleasure to do," the youngest Tendo replied.

Ukyo frowned as she looked down at the unconscious wannabe samurai. "Can we leave him here? I mean, he'll be bothering her again, right?"

"Sure will," Nabiki answered with a shrug, and waved some of the kendo team over. "All we can do is hope he doesn't get too annoying. Guys? Mind taking him to the nurse's office?"

"Why should we?" asked one of the team.

"Because I asked you to?"

"Well..."

"And the fact that if he wakes up, and still has anything that reminds him of this little encounter, he might try to make you date a seriously annoyed girl with rather strong friends?"

The boy looked over to where Akane and Ranma were cracking their knuckles. "Good point."

"Smart move. And I'd think the rest of us should better go in, don't you?"

"You're right, Nabiki," Akane said with a sigh, "Yuka? Sayuri? Coming?"

Both of her friends were jolted from their thoughts, and nodded as they spoke as one. "Yeah..."

"Then let's go see if they can make us bored," Ranma commented, and got a bunch of giggles, as the group headed in to class,

As Shampoo came up to the Tendo property wall, she found herself smiling not in the way that she used to when coming there. Back before anything had changed, she had always held the same expression of expectant happiness. It had been because she'd certain that she would be able to meet Ranma there, and perhaps this time he'd actually return her feelings and desires. But there had also been the knowledge that there might be a fight, and certainly would be some sort of argument.

Now she was heading there, and she knew that he would not be there, and would not show up for a while yet. However, that was part of the reason that she was heading there, as she was actually not heading to see him. That was not the same thing as she had used to do, but then, everything was different.

After what happened, she belonged to him, and was friendly with the other girls, and she actually liked a lot. Things were better than she had hoped, and she was getting things out of the new order that she would have never expected. Heck, she was wearing her short dresses at times simply because she knew Ranma liked the way she looked in them. She was friends with Akane, had done things she'd never thought of with Nabiki, was getting along with Kodachi, hadn't conflicted much with Ukyo, and had a lot of respect for her reason for coming there.

So, as she bounded over the wall, and into the Tendo yard, she waved as she saw the eldest Tendo girl turn and smile at her. "Hello, Kasumi!"

"Why, hello Shampoo," Kasumi replied brightly, "How nice to see you."

"It nice to be seen. Was out making delivery, and had come here."

"Oh... Then I suppose that you don't have much time."

"Have plenty of time, so you no worry."

"I suppose... But if you're looking for Ranma, he's not here," the elder girl said helpfully.

"Not here for Master. It silly not to remember he be in school."

"Then what do you need here?"

"You."

"Pardon?"

The Amazon girl grinned at Kasumi. "Brought snack for Kasumi. Thought might be all alone, so decided to see if could have visit."

"You did? But you didn't have to do that..."

"Did so. And paid for it."

"But you could have saved your money and still got it..."

"Then it no be special treat gift, and Shampoo want give it to you. So..."

Kasumi smiled back at her. "I see. Well then, I can't refuse..."

"Good, because Shampoo no let nice girl get away with that."

"You wouldn't, would you?"

"No. Going to stay until you eat every last bit of meal we share."

"I suppose that I'll have no choice then," the Japanese girl murmured. "How long can you stay? Much as I like having you here, your great-grandmother will need you at the restaurant..."

"No worry. Mornings always slow, at least this time of day."

"Oh?"

"You see, it after rush hour, but not time for lunch. No have workers or students getting quick bite before rushing off, and no have people stop for mid day meal. So, Mousse can serve, and Great-Grandma still cooking."

"How nice! We'll have some time together then."

"Is so," the lavender haired girl agreed. "Figure you be alone, so no be interrupting anything. And since no been staying here lately..."

"Hmm?"

"It been while since Shampoo get time to stay here, so..."

"Well then, we'll just have to change that."

"What you mean?"

"It's simple. You can spend the night here!" the brunette suggested.

"Sounds very good. Just wonder what happen if Master have plans, or no want Shampoo come visit on own for time like that..."

"Then I'll just ask him when he comes home if he could have you stay over, okay?"

"You do that?"

"Of course. But if you don't want too..."

"No, is very good! No can refuse!"

"It's settled then," Kasumi stated firmly. "You just wait for a call, and we'll let you know what's going on. Or we'll ask Akane to tell you. Okay?"

"Is very fine."

"Now, would you like some tea?"

"Yes, please!" Shampoo chirped as she followed the elder girl into the house for their visit together.

The sight that greeting Kuno as he reawakened from his enforced slumber was distressingly familiar. From his multiple visits to the place, he knew the nurse's office on sight. So that meant that the throbbing in his head was probably, as he assumed, not the work of gravity as he fell.

'It has the feel of the loving touch of my beloved goddess Akane,' he thought to himself, 'Odd, that I did not see her there, nor did she declare herself to me. But she would protect those she calls friends...'

Sitting up, he knew that he did not have proof of any of that, but he was also aware that he could be pretty sure that something like that had happened. There were only two people who could put him to the ground, and his pigtailed love was only a possible actor in this case.

Most certainly it was not she of the long brown tresses. She had been in front of him, and had not the ability to strike him as he had been. Rather, she had merely stood her ground with the strength that one would be expecting to when dealing with a woman who would wish to be a samurai's bride. He still did not know whether or not she wanted that from him in particular, but she did have the fire that was only borne by a few people in particular. However, his attempt to press his question had clearly not worked as he'd wished, as the girl was obviously not able to put it into words. To be as honest as his calling asked him to be, he did have to admit that she might not know what she wanted herself.

That meant that he'd have to be the one to find a way to clear the fog that muddied the sights of the truth, and he was more than certain that he was up to such a task of importance.

He just had to figure out how to manage do actually do that.

Cooking during school lunches had always been something that Ukyo had done to supplement her income. After all, it was something that she was good at, and there was always a demand for quick, hot, and good food that didn't have to be brought from home or at the school cafeteria. That had been so good to her that she'd gotten into a routine of doing it, and hadn't really noted any real changes as she'd grown up.

Yet, as she worked her griddle, she was wondering how many of the people she was serving really saw her as a girl. That had never mattered before, as she was always pretending to be a guy, but these students knew her 'secret', and so could see her more for who she really was. And so she had found herself trying to see how attractive the guys thought she was, and how the girls reacted to someone like her.

Of course, she was quite certain that Ranma had seen her as a sexy woman, and she still had a bit of the smile that he'd given her when he'd proven it.

She turned that on to her next customer as she felt a shadow come over her. "What'll you be having?"

"A couple of seats," a familiar voice drawled.

"Akane!"

"Yup, it's me. And I brought Yuka and Sayuri."

"How nice of you guys to drop by. But don't you eat together, or with Ran-chan?"

"Well, he's off with those two nitwits he calls friends," Akane replied, "And we thought that you might like some company."

"Sure thing. Plop down wherever you want."

"Thanks."

"I guess people don't sit to talk to you during lunch," Yuka muttered, "Kind of rude..."

"Hey, I run a service here. They're just trying to get back to their friends," the chef replied.

"That's okay..."

"Besides, I'm too busy usually for me to really worry about such things."

Yuka just shrugged. "I just think that it'd be nicer to have friends around."

"You won't get complaints from me. But then you should know, what with Akane not stopping to think before she stepped in to protect you."

"To which I'm really grateful. I don't know what he had in his head."

"Whatever it is, it's stupid," Akane grumbled.

"I'm not about to argue that. Still, I hope that he doesn't make this into some sort of... of... regular thing."

The other two girls joined the youngest Tendo as she gave a flat look at her friend.

"Aww... no..."

"Kuno is an obsessive, delusional, ranting idiot, but what he is not is quitter... much as I wish he would be."

"Trust me sugar," Ukyo put in, "everyone wishes that he'd quit it."

"The scary thing is that it's true..."

"Yeah. Unfortunately, not every guy is one we're going to like."

"Sort of like Ranma," Sayuri piped up.

"He is much better than some stick waving jerk..."

"And he's not someone that you kissed, my friend," Yuka teased.

The ponytailed girl stiffened and blushed heavily. "It wasn't like that!"

"Then what was it? Inquiring minds want to know."

"He was nice to me. Other guys would have felt me up, or let me put on a show, but he held me. And then he gave me my shirt, and made sure that pervert was taken care of. I just... wanted to thank him."

"So you kissed him?" Ukyo asked.

"Only a little! And on a cheek..."

"Then why did you run? Hmm?"

"Ranma is... Ranma. And I was already embarrassed about what had happened, and deciding to do it... And Akane and you were there... I... I..."

"It's okay. Don't worry."

"Huh?" Sayuri grunted in surprise.

"I figure out what you were doing. I just wanted to know why you were running. There didn't seem to be a reason for it."

"There didn't?"

"Not really."

"We were there, remember?" Akane reminded her friend, "And you weren't really trying anything."

"Besides, we know how much a girl can desire Ran-chan," the chef said airily, and grinned when Sayuri turned a bright pink and ducked her head, at the same time that Yuka stared at her with wide eyes.

"Let her be..."

"I will. But still, there aren't many like him around."

"That's true. A lot of guys are just perverts."

"There is Hikaru," Yuka commented.

"And Jieremi," Sayuri piped up, "Even if they're trying for the same girl..."

"That's true," the Tendo girl agreed. "They're an improvement over the others."

"But things aren't going exactly right."

That drew a snort from Yuka. "Well, it's not like Hikaru has ever really had true romantic opportunities. And we can't even do a practice round."

Ukyo frowned in thought. "What, like letting him go on a training date?"

"Pretty much. But even if we could manage that, we'd have to find a girl who he wouldn't be seen as getting romantic with, and even the girls who don't like boys like that are still girls. A lot of them don't even admit to it in public. About the only 'girl' who wouldn't either be making Miyo jealous, causing more problems, or have any real problems with getting 'her' feelings hurt is Ranma's girl side."

"You can't mean to actually have Ran-chan go on a date with him."

"Not really, since I'm not sure that it would work in even getting it started. I mean, can you just imagine what it would be like if we asked him to let another guy take his girl side on a fake 'date'?"

The girls shared a giggle at the mental image of Ranma being asked to go out with another guy.

"Now that you mention it, I think that it would be possible that he'd just about drop over in shock, if he didn't freak out," Ukyo admitted.

"Macho, macho man..." Akane murmured in a sing song voice, setting off a gale of laughter from her companions that had others around them smiling at their antics

"Man, you've got it good," Hiroshi sighed as he leaned against a tree.

Ranma looked up at his friend from where he was eating his lunch. "Why'd ya say that?"

"It's really simple. You're strong, have been on all those adventures, and have such great luck with the girls..."

"Humph."

"It's true!"

"Have ya ever thought 'bout what it's like ta go on an adventure? Imagine havin' ta travel all that time for a fight with guys who ain't even got a problem with me. Half the time I go off ta do somethin', it's someone else's trouble, like Pop's stupid ideas, or gettin' involved with tryin' ta deal with someone else's problems, like that when the old pervert's troubles come after him. Don't get me wrong, it can be a lot of fun at times, and can really get a guy's blood pumpin', but it ain't all fun," the martial artist informed him.

"Okay, but what about the girls? They do seem to have a thing for you."

"That's true," Daisuke agreed, "And the girls all after him are really hot. I mean, he's got Akane, who has had guys literally fighting over her, Ukyo who's making a boy's uniform look sexy, Shampoo, who's sexy and exotic, and Kodachi, who's the sort of crazy I could get into."

"Each of them do want him..."

"And look at how the other girls are befriending him. Sayuri even managed to kiss him on the cheek. Then there's how he lives with Nabiki and Kasumi, both of whom are really good looking..."

"He's got the opportunity to go to bed with them all, and just sleeping with one of his fiancees would be heaven..." the lighter haired boy commented longingly.

"There is definitely that going for him, and it's not like he has to try to get them to want him."

"They've already shown that they do."

"Any boy would like to have that sort of access to willing girls..."

"Not only that, but he has his girl side, which is really hot and available for him to do whatever he wants with it. I can still feel how it was to touch that body and hold that bottom..." Hiroshi trailed off, and gulped as a chopstick pierced the bark next to his ear. "Eeep..."

"I'd like ta thank ya for remindin' me about that, 'cause now I'll have more of a chance ta remember not ta talk ta ya 'bout girls."

The darker haired one of his friends sighed. "He's never been able to touch a rear like that so... he's had a few moments of going off into a little fantasy about it."

"It's MY ass!"

"I know. But you do turn into a girl, and so..."

"That's just not exactly right."

"What do you want? Sense?"

Screwing his mouth up into a sour expression, the pigtailed boy nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

Hiroshi gave them a put upon look. "You two have no appreciation for me, do you? Just think about how you look like when you're hit by cold water. I mean, I know that you're a guy either way, but I can wonder what it'd be like if you were really a girl."

"So, ya'd grope and leer at me then?"

"Well... yea... NO! It'd be just a pleasure to have a real cute girl around."

"Not gonna happen."

"Come on. Don't tell me that you've never thought of what it would be like for your girl side to be with a guy."

"Yeah, right," Ranma grunted, knowing that he had done so, and had never been able to even contemplate the idea. "I'm surprised that ya even brought it up."

"I just wonder what what would happen in different situations. Like... if you really were a girl..."

"Which he is not," Daisuke pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah... But it might help if we think of what girls might like, so that this way we can do what might attract them."

"I don't need to think that he'd need ta work that out."

"But we do. So, come on buddy. You're as close to girls as we can figure. Who would you go out with if you were a girl?"

"Ya can't be serious..." the pigtailed boy said flatly.

"Just as an intellectual exercise. And for fun. We can't exactly get a real girl to ask, since it'd hurt then. But you can say it, and we'd know that it'd never happen. So... Would you go out with... me?"

"Sorry. Nope. You like ta touch."

"That did hurt... Then what about Dai?"

"Nah. He's gotta learn ta not insult girls, even if he thinks they're nuts."

"Oh... Okay. What about Kuno?"

"You're kiddin', right?"

"Pretty much. Ryoga?"

"Before, or after he'd get inta a fight with me, get lost, or get a nosebleed and pass out?"

"Mousse?"

"Obssessin' over Shampoo and is blind in more ways than one."

"Umm...," Hiroshi murmured as he tried to think. "That skater guy..."

"He kissed me!"

"That French guy?"

"Did you see his tongue, or how he greeted people?"

"The guy with the beef with your dad's old master?"

"Ain't a chance."

"There's got to be someone who'd you think would be a good person to date if you were really a girl," the light haired boy moaned.

"If there is, ya ain't 'bout ta find him. I'm a guy, and I can't see me gettin' romantic with some boy at all. If I really think 'bout it, then it just gets too real for me ta handle. So, 'bout the only way that ya'd find out who I'd pick for a boyfriend if I was really a girl would be if I was a real girl. Otherwise, I'd never be the some guy's girl."

Daisuke shrugged. "That's why we actually thought of having your girl side go out with Jieremi once."

"What?!"

"Don't get all defensive... We weren't really thinking of setting you two up. The idea'd just have you taking him out on a training date, and teaching him what he's doing wrong, or at least letting him, and us, know afterwards, so that we could fix it for when he went out on a real date, say with Miyo."

"Sort of like a dress rehearsal practice."

"Exactly, but we kind of decided against it."

"Much than asking me who I'd date as a girl," Ranma agreed, and two of them looked at the third person there.

Hiroshi just slumped and pouted a bit. "You're no fun."

To that, both of his friends just snorted.

Walking along, Ryoga began to wonder if he'd travelled the entire width and breadth of Japan, as he could not, for the life of him, figure out how he kept on missing the ways to get back to Nerima. He'd had received many messed up maps, bad directions, paths into endless forests, and all manner of other obstacles in his path.

Somehow he'd managed to get onto a boat where some strange man had given him a little salute, but the guy was not his biggest problem. Instead, he'd found that once he got off the ferry, he'd wound up on some island full of resorts. At least, he thought it did, as he kept on finding them every time he went off to find his way back.

Right then, though, he was not exactly going to be able to go anywhere. It wasn't because anyone was about to stop him. In fact, by the way that he was being looked at by some of the people there, he'd be definitely accepted.

However, he'd never make it past the 'minefield' in front of him.

After all, there were women, in tight one pieces, skimpy bikinis, and all sorts of bathing suits in between, laying their shapely forms out on the beach, or playing in the water that soaked their supple bodies.

For a boy who was easily felled by the sight of feminine flesh, he was doing a remarkable job standing up, mainly because of his shock keeping him frozen to the spot.

Kodachi knew that there had been a time when the news that she'd just heard would have never reached her. Not only would it have normally be kept from her, but she would have never really listened to it. Her attitudes and reputation would have never allowed it, and she'd always hated any deviation from what she'd known.

But at the moment, she couldn't stop herself from heading straight for one of her teammates, regardless of the fact that she was doing it in front of a great many of her classmates. "Makie!"

The other girl turned and stiffened in worry. "Team captain..."

"I have heard the most disturbing report, something that should have come from you."

"You... you... did?"

"Yes, I did. I understand that your brother is in the hospital."

"He... is..."

"I see..."

"But you don't have to worry. If this is about the practice today, I'll be there," Makie told her earnestly.

"And then I'll have to remove you from the team roster."

"EH?!"

"There will be other training sessions. If you miss this one, you can work extra hard to make up for it at others. You will never have your brother again," the rich girl stated.

"Captain..."

"There will be no discussion on this. I will not force you to leave him, and your family in this moment of crisis. You will go to the hospital, won't you?"

"Yes, I will!" Makie replied, emotion clogging her voice as she bowed deeply. "Thank you captain!"

"Don't thank me. Be there for him, and remember that you'll have to train later."

"Yes, captain!"

"Oh?" In the middle of turning away, Kodachi stopped. "And Makie?"

"Yes?"

"Tell him I hope that he gets well."

"I will!"

"Good," Kodachi said with a nod, and walked away with great dignity. She could feel the gratitude radiating off of her teammate, and the stares of surprise, pleasure, and admiration that many of her classmates were sending her way. That was almost as uplifting and as heady as the knowledge that her Lord and her instructor would be pleased by her actions. But at the moment, she had to talk to, and thank the girl who'd informed her about Makie's dilemma,

Leaning on her mop, Miyo sighed to herself, and wished that she'd actually been able to talk to Ranma. She'd needed to speak with him, and it was a bit frustrating to not be able to speak with Akane or him privately. But she hadn't had a chance once their friends had dragged them off for lunch, and gym classes were full of all sorts of exercises that took up time. Besides, one simply could not talk about certain problems in front of the whole school body, even, or especially, when they were the ones who'd caused them in the first place.

It was funny though. At one time, she might have considered a rather intimate connotation would go with wanting to 'talk to Ranma'. He was a really cute guy after all, and had he not been already really taken, other girls would have jumped at the chance to get him for themselves. And with his irreverent attitude towards society and treatment of Shampoo, she knew that he would not hold her bloodlines against her.

But now she only needed his advice, and the problem was that despite her attempts, she hadn't been able to contact him or Akane. All day she'd missed her chances, and now she had cleaning duties when he was getting to leave for the day. She just wasn't able to catch a break. Yet, she was not about to let that stop her.

She promised herself that she'd either stop by the Tendo home to see him, or be the one to drag him off at lunch time the next day. Then she'd be able to ask the questions she wanted to with little trouble... At least none that she would have from outside sources.

Kasumi put away the last of the laundry in the basket and smiled to herself. Doing work around the house always gave herself a sense of accomplishment, and she knew that every little bit she did made her family's life easier. She enjoyed doing it, and found that she could manage to make everyone around her just a little bit happier.

And it seemed that they more than appreciated the gesture. Even though she hadn't had any desire to get rewarded for something that she enjoyed doing, people seemed to be wanting to do so. Ranma was trying to help her be able to do things for only herself, Kodachi was always trying to help out and held the upmost respect for her, and Shampoo seemed to really like her, a person raised in a way that was totally alien to her cultural mores. They appreciated it, and she felt like she could almost let herself go a little bit, not that she thought that the housework would ever suffer.

Idly, she wondered what it would be like to dress up in something fun simply because she wanted to. She could imagine what it would be like to have Ranma come home to find her dressed to please him, or as his 'maid'. The latter would be only a game, as she was not thinking that she'd actually go for that, but it might be fun to play at once in a while. He seemed to like it when she dressed up for him, after all, and she found his appreciation something rather enjoyable.

"I never knew that this could be so much fun," she murmured to herself as she took the laundry into the house and let her mind drift from the pleasures that her lover had given her to the companionship Shampoo had delivered with her food.

"Man!" Ranma sighed as he stretched his arms over his head while he walked along the street with the girls around him, "Today was weird..."

"Why do you say that?" Nabiki asked.

"Simple. When I was out shoppin' with Mom, Hiroshi, Daisuke and Jieremi, they met up with us. Now, since I was dressed like a girl, 'roshi didn't recognize me. But when he did, he tried ta help me, 'xcept his 'friendly' arm 'round me wasn't 'xactly in the right place, if ya catch my drift."

Akane gave a snort. "Sounds like him. But what does that have to do with today?"

"Simple. Apparently he still remembers it well. And he wanted ta know what it'd be like if I were a girl for real."

"Huh?"

"He wanted me ta think of a boy that, if if my girl side was my real side, I would go out with."

"That's... really out there. What did you do?"

"Told him no, and then said no ta all the choices that he'd give me. Like I'd really be with somebody like... Ryoga..." the pigtailed boy grumbled.

"You and... I hope that you didn't say anything about him that was bad..."

"'Course not. He is the guy who would pass out at the sight of a girl's body." "He's got you there, Akane," Ukyo drawled, "That boy's a bit problematic with the girls."

"He's sweet..."

"He's also terrified of getting romantic. Why do you think that I pushed him towards you after I arrived here? He needed a kick in the pants... even if it didn't exactly work."

"Ohh... So you were trying to help him."

"Something like that..."

"That was nice of you. But I'll bet that those two would think that Yuka and Sayuri's idea would be a good one. To think, they'd actually thought that it might be a good idea to have Ranma's girl side have training dates with Hikaru," the youngest Tendo muttered. "Ranma? Is something the matter?"

"'Roshi and Daisuke had the same idea, only theirs would've had me goin' out with Jieremi on a trainin' 'date'," he said dully.

"Okay, that's weird..."

"Tell me 'bout it..."

"Of course, that plan is pretty flawed, don't you think?" Ukyo suggested.

"Not quite," the elder of the Tendo sisters commented.

"Huh? Why?"

"It's simple. There's no way that he's ever going to have a romance with another guy, and he wouldn't have the same feelings of hurt, want or romance that a 'real girl' would. Then he'd be able to sit back, without any expectation of the date to really go anywhere, and observe how right or wrong it's going."

"But it's still not the best idea..."

"Oh, I'm sure it isn't. After all, both of them would know that it's fake, and the guy, whoever he was, wouldn't be able to treat it as 'real'."

"Still, I'm sure that the closest that Ranchan will ever come to ever dating a 'guy' would be when he goes out with me. Right, Ranchan?"

"Right, Ucchan..," the pigtailed boy agreed. "But..."

"What?"

"I'm not plannin' on makin' that date we had inta a regular thing... at least in the way we did it. The next time we go out, whenever that is, I'm gonna wanna be the guy ta your girl. Ya got a nice body, and it'll be nice ta see it."

The chef blushed heavily, as the sisters passed a smirk between each other at the words,