Guardian One-Half

by TheDevian

While being chased through town one day, Ranma somehow managed to avoid the walkway washer woman, and his fate subtly changed. My apologies to anyone who has been waiting on the next chapter of my first story, Nodoka 2/1, my editor got sidetracked, and while I was waiting on him to catch up, I started this "short story" idea that grew well out of hand.

21. Chapter 21

Standard Disclaimer: If you choke to death and die while reading this story, the author takes no responsibility. Now please enjoy...

Chapter 21 - Scroll Down

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Ukyo had given a photo of Kasumi to Konatsu, and assumed that being good at disguises, the kunoichi would be able to do what needed to be done. The clinic was closed by the time she caught up with Hinako in front of the place, and after a brief reiteration of the plan, they walked over and the knocked on the door. Tofu was initially caught off guard, he had known Ukyo had told him that her teacher would be joining them for their training sessions, however she was nothing like any teacher he had ever had himself! He was almost disappointed that she followed her student into the back office.

As Ukyo looked over the contents of her bag, and got a bit upset about the 'padded' bra, even if it 'was' cute, and the platform shoes also surprised her, though they did look like the ones Kasumi wore otherwise. Once she had taken it all out though, she had to admit, that she probably could not have done better if she had stolen them from Kasumi herself, so decided to forgive Konatsu's unintended insult. With a bit of help from Hinako, who was only slightly more familiar with the style of outfit, and 'minimal' makeup. She was more than painfully aware that the elder girl had either started wearing makeup recently, or she had changed to more noticeable shades, and there was generally only one reason a woman who had never worn makeup before, would suddenly start... and that just made the young chef all the more determined in the success of her plan!

With her new determination, and Hinako's help, she quickly changed into the strange feeling clothing. She did not feel like herself, though she supposed that would be okay, since that was actually the point. It did not change the fact that she barely recognized herself in the mirror, especially once they adjusted her ponytail to the side. Winking, she blew a kiss to herself in the mirror before they exited.

The 'good doctor' was facing away from them as they entered the room, nervously sipping at a cup of tea. Ukyo quietly walked up behind him, coughed into her hand, and concentrated for a moment before speaking in an almost flawless Tokyo dialect, doing her best to imitate the eldest Tendo daughter. "Ara, ara, ara! Tofu-sensei, good afternoon!"

He was almost qualified to take Betty-chan out on a date, from nearly jumping out of his skin, likely being splashed with the hot tea shocked him back into it. "Ka-Ka-Ka-Kasumi! Wa-wa-what are you doing here?"

Her voice returned to its usual accent, as she was stunned out of her act for a moment. "No, Sensei, it's meh, Ukyo-..."

"Oh, Kasumi, it's been so long, you never come to visit anymore!"

Ukyo stared agape at the man standing there fidgeting while covered in tea, and tried to figure out if he was playing, practicing, or serious...

Taking the notebook from her hands, he let out a laugh that made everyone else uncomfortable. "Oh, how kind of you to bring me another one of your marvelous meals! Thank you very much, I don't mind if I do!" When he proceeded to take bites out of the book, they could only stare in awe. "This is not quite up to your usual standards, are you feeling unwell? Should I take a look at you?"

Ukyo was not sure what he was going to do, but she did not like the look in his eyes, and quickly dodged out of the way. Hinako's reflexes were not so quick, and she found herself on the examining table before she could react! Ukyo barely had enough time to catch the remains of the broken fishbowl as it fell from Hinako's hand, and smashed into the nearby table. Fearing for the safety of the fish, she rushed to the kitchen to find a bigger, less broken container to hold them.

Hinako started to worry what was going to happen, she could not find a purchase or a coin, and the look on the young doctor's features did not leave her with very good expectations. His eyes and mouth were wide open, and she got a distinct impression of a hungry wolf coming from his aura, and he was reaching for her. "How about we start by checking the points in your feet..."

Hinako was finding it difficult to move, and even harder to find a coin, when she felt something she had almost forgotten, and suddenly her much smaller legs were no longer in reach of the disturbed doctor. Normally she was able to hold on to someone's ki for an extended period of time, or until she used it as a weapon, however the fish were different. They could give her a near-infinite supply of ki, it could only last as long as they were near, she had found if the opening was even covered for a few moments, she would revert back, so the moment part of the bowl broke and Ukyo ran from the room with it, this was inevitable.

"Kasumi-chan, where did you go?"

"Damn it! Where is five yen when you need it?"

"Oh, there you are!" Not seeing much of anything through his fogged glasses, Tofu reached into his pocket, and held a coin out toward the sound of the voice. "Here you go, I hope it helps you."

"Oh, it will. Happo Five-Yen Satsu!" As the energy filled her, she overcame whatever had been holding her on the table, and she stood, adjusting her outfit, making certain she was not exposed from the strange position she had been in when she shifted. Not having needed to chance size often, she had gotten used to wearing a wider variety of outfits, and this one was not well suited to changing.

Luckily for her, the process did snap him back to his senses, and she had been trying to be careful not to drain too much at once. Looking down at his partially crumpled form, the statuesque instructor felt a bit superior. "Well, I suppose that was just a bit too much for you."

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Ukyo had never had pets before, but she knew enough about fresh seafood to know that these fish needed dechlorinated water, and she could not use tap water to make up the difference. This left her in a conundrum, the fish were to large to fit in any of the small containers, and there was not enough water left in the bowl for any of the larger containers she could find. "Damnit!" After some searching the only thing she found was a box of latex gloves.

First she tied the fingers of the gloves like balloon animals, woven into the shape of a basket under each glove, so they would stand up on their own, before she poured one fish and half of the remaining water into each glove and tying them together. It was far from a perfect solution, and they would have to be very careful bringing them home, but she felt it would work, not to mention how glad she was that the doctor did not use the gloves with powder on them!

Ukyo was slow in returning, doing her best to be as gentle as possible with her charges, yet she did not get far down the hallway, before she heard voices from the room they had been using.

The embarrassed voice of the doctor reached her ears first. "I ...I ...I just cannot seem to help it, you see, ever since then, I get like that."

"That really is wrong on so many levels, you know."

"I know, but you have to understand, Kasumi-chan projects an aura far beyond a chronological age, but rather that of a perfect, young housewife."

Ukyo walked into the examination room to see Tofu sitting upon the floor, with Hinako appearing to tower over him. "That ain't much bettah, ya know, takin' a 'fresh bride'." She started to feel a bit guilty for helping him, though she was unable to think of an alternate candidate.

"If true, however I- I- I-..." Turning his head, the fallen fellow looked to see Ukyo, still in her Kasumi costume, which caused his stammering. "Ka-Ka-Ka-sumi! You are still here too? Did you need to borrow another book? Hahahaha!"

"Sensei? It's meh, Ukyo, uh, Ukyo Kuonji..." She backed up as his glasses fogged over, continually amazed at what she was willing to put herself through for 'Ranma's sake'! As soon as the doctor started to move, she jumped out of the way, not wanting to be too close to the crazed caregiver. "Oh damn!"

"Halt, you delinquent doctor, you will not harm my student! Happo Five-yen Satsu!" The beam struck the dear doctor as he started to rise, and he quickly fell again.

"Much as Ah hate ta say it, Ah think ya gonna have ta give it more time..."

"Too soon?"

"Gotta give th' guy time ta come outa it without help, Ah think... Our goal is ta help Tofu-sensei overcome th' problem, not just keep meh safe."

"I see... Yes, well, I did hold back. It should not take long to recover again."

"Well, Ah suppose yer fish gotta come first. Let's git outa here fer tuh-night."

"There is always tomorrow I suppose." The two women left for home, with Ukyo carefully balancing the fish on the flat of her baker's peel.

"Luckily, I was planning to clean that bowl tonight, so the tank is already prepared. I guess I will have to ready the spare instead."

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Nodoka proudly walked through the shopping district, followed closely by a humming Kasumi. She had been so lonely for so long, that she was practically beside herself with so many children who 'needed' her care, and best of all, she seemed to be closer to becoming a grandmother each day! With several of them sleeping in the same bed as Ranma each and every night, something was bound to happen!

As for Kasumi, she had been enjoying having, if not her own, then a motherly figure, who reminded her so much of the memories of the mother she had tried so hard to replace those years ago, it almost made her feel like a kid again. As if she could regress back to a simpler time, when she no longer had to be 'the responsible one', and could just relax and enjoy herself. It was an odd, but highly pleasant experience, even the hint of guilt at the back of her mind rarely bothered her any longer. She still did not like having to have left her family the way she had, however she could now admit to herself that they had given her little choice, and most importantly, the idea that she was allowed to enjoy some things for herself as well as helping others! Not that it stopped her from wondering how her family was getting along without her...

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Looking around at the shoddy patchwork the two of them had been doing, Genma looked over at his tearful friend, and wondered aloud. "So, Akane is staying at friends again?" Seeing Soun nod as he gathered up the remains of their materials and tools, he made a decision. "All right then, I will get a fire going and start the rice, while you go get the cabbage and mayonnaise!"

Soun dried his tears as nostalgia returned, as it always did while thinking about their luxurious meals of old. "Right you are, Saotome-kun!"

"Of course I am, Tendo-kun, it's better than last week, ne?"

Soun felt a chill as he remembered the first few days of his two elder daughters absence, and his youngest's zealous and overly ...'creative' attempts at feeding them, and sighed in relief. Yes, it was MUCH better that she spend this time of loss with her friends, they were much better suited to dealing with her emotional needs, or so he convinced himself.

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"Thank you again for helping me pick out some new outfits..."

"It is my pleasure, Kasumi-chan, you are the perfect daughter I have always wanted. I cannot tell you how pleased I am that you have chosen to be with my son."

Clearly not understanding the meaning behind the matron's words, the young woman took the 'ball', and ran with it for the opposite goal. "Yes, I only wish to do everything I am able, in order to help Ranma-kun. It is the least I can do, considering my family's part in this."

"Oh, and what might that-?"

Turning the corner, the two women saw a bear, clearly not indigenous to the area, charge into a small eatery in the shopping district.

"Oh my!" Only pausing long enough to recover from the surprise, Kasumi dropped her bags and ran into the shop, looking to see if anyone needed her aid.

Nodoka was doubly shocked, first by the towering mammal's presence in the normally safe location, and second by Kasumi's mad dash into danger! Grabbing the discarded packages, she quickly followed, praying for everyone's safety.

As they arrived on the scene and started to check on any injured, there was a loud shout, telling everyone to, "MOVE IT!"

As would be expected, everyone, including the bear, froze in place, too stunned to move, and without further warning, a young man, wearing a sleeveless shirt and camouflaged pants, burst upon the scene. Leaping over the crowd, he struck the creature with three simultaneous mighty blows to its chest. He hefted his pack onto his back and adjusted his belt as the beast slammed to the floor, obviously unconscious, and seeing that people were tending to the injured, he turned to leave.

"Oh my! Such a ...violent, style."

"Yes, it looked quite ...manly!"

The tall boy appeared as though he has just gotten out of some foreign military service, Nodoka thought that he might have been training with the Americans on their base. Noticing that he had dropped something, she reached down and picked up the scroll. As she started to chase after him, she noticed something odd about said scroll, it had writing on it, looking every bit like a child wrote it. Larger letters at the top spelled out the name 'Ranma', in hiragana, and in poorly written katakana, is said 'Stupid Pops' with an arrow to a child's doodle, which in her mind, looked exactly like her estranged husband!

Even carrying that oversized backpack, he had gotten a good lead on them, and it took a good bit of effort, and a few shortcuts, to catch up to the boy, but she finally managed it after a few more blocks.

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Kasumi finished treating the last minor injury from the incident, luckily the locals were reasonably used to such events, and knew how to escape quickly and safely, when she saw one person escaping that she did not expect. Grabbing their packages, she quickly ran after Nodoka, only catching up to her as she was talking to the rugged looking militant.

"That style you used on the bear...?"

"Oh that? It was the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts' Yamasen-ken." He stood there proudly as he named his style, one that no one had ever been able to withstand, and he was its undefeated master! There was only one way he knew that could counter the art, and finding and mastering that other style, so he could rebuild his family's school, was his sole purpose in life!

Nodoka was stunned, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Saotome school?"

Kasumi was glad to have been doing more exercise lately, she was almost more winded from hearing that statement than from the mad dash across town. "Yamasen-ken?"

"And, you are?" The look in Nodoka's eye was equal parts curiosity and confusion.

"Ranma Saotome..."

"WHAT?"

"You can't-!" Kasumi relaxed a bit, wondering why Nodoka had placed a hand on her shoulder, halting her.

"Hold on now, I do want to hear this story. Perhaps we should got get some tea. Kasumi-chan, do we have enough food for this evening with a guest?"

"With Hinako-sensei and Kuonji-san rarely coming home for dinner these days, I do believe we have enough with what we bought today."

"Then it looks as if we might be having another for dinner..."

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The groove Akane had cut into the field while pacing was quickly growing, and the rest of the ground was already up to her knees. Maybe Mousse was correct, maybe she SHOULD try asking our Doctor Tofu, after all, the odds of him ever asking Kasumi out were slim to none, she knew there had been no progress whatsoever, so there was a chance. Unfortunately, she also knew he only saw her as a child, and was most likely going to reject her. She had to try though, did she not? Maybe if she did something to show him that she was not a child any more, but what could she do?

After several hours of similar thoughts and activities, she concluded that Mousse was probably right! The only real problem, was what to do about it, so she set off in search of advice from her friends, and as usual, she found them together. The two were almost always hanging out with each other, and Akane sometimes got a bit jealous of them for being able to spend so much time hanging out while she had to be training and dealing with all of those stupid ...BOYS!

"Akane-chan!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Do you need to eat here again?"

"Come back to my room, I will go get you something..."

"No, it's not that-." The pair giggled as Akane was interrupted by her own stomach growling, and Sayuri ran for the kitchen as Yuka pulled Akane by the arm, dragging her back toward her friend's bedroom.

"Come on! Just go with it, you don't need to explain, we understand!"

"No, but really..." Akane wanted to protest further, but she had not eaten since she bought lunch at school, and while her friend's mom was not as good a cook as her sister, she was much better than Akane herself ...or the fathers, so she found herself looking forward to the leftovers. She was not sure what their fathers

had told her before she left, but she was sure it was Ranma's fault, somehow, just like everything else that went wrong in her life! "Damn that Ranma!"

"What did Saotome-kun do this time?"

"What HASN'T Ranma done, but that's not the point!"

Walking into the room and placing a tray full of stir-fry in front of her friend, Sayuri looked to her with a face full of concern. "Then why don't you tell us what IS the problem."

Both of the politely watched as Akane scarfed down the food like a starving animal, and successfully refrained from making a comment about how Akane seemed to be picking up Ranma's eating habits! She had barely swallowed the last bite when she was bombarded rapid-fire questions, demanding answers about what was bothering her. They were so quick, and unexpected, she barely caught most of them.

"Um, look, it's really not a big deal, well, it's nothing bad anyway."

"What?"

"Come on, tall us!"

"Is it about Saotome-kun?"

"Shampoo?"

"School?"

"Mousse?"

"Do you finally have a date?"

"Well, kind of, Doctor Tofu actually..."

"SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!"

Akane's ears felt as if they would blow from the squealing voices beside her, luckily for her, they stopped before it got that far.

"Wait..."

"How is that 'kind of'?"

"Well, it was Mousse who talked me into it, so..."

The two young women stared at each other in shock, having thought that Mousse was supposed to be chasing after Akane, like Shampoo was with Ranma, but soon shook themselves out of it, focusing on the more immediately important aspect. "So, what happened!"

"Nothing! Not yet, I ...that's why I'm here, I ...need help. I want to ...you know, look 'cute' when I go, so ...could you, ya know, help me dress up?"

"SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL! MAKEOVER!" The resonance of the twin screaming threatened to split Akane's ears again, but luckily ended just in time.

"Wait, what?" Akane did not have time to react as her friends quickly stripped her, and immediately went to work, putting on make-up, fixing her hair, and anything else they could think to do. They tried several outfits, from a few of their summer dresses, to a red and black striped bikini with matching club, none of them fit exactly right, and they had to do some fast talking to get out of being hit with the club.

"I told you that club was a bad idea!"

"Sorry, Sayuri, but it WAS cute!"

"But not 'date' cute, we need something more..."

"What about your mom, anything we can borrow there?"

"No, my mom's not that exciting..."

"Hey! I heard that!"

"Sorry, mom! I love you!"

"Yeah, whatever... I love you too, Honey."

"Hey, I have an idea, you still have that sewing machine?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, you remember those old, blue curtains that didn't match the new paint?"

"Yeah, so...?"

"Get the machine ready, I will be right back!" Yuka took off like a shot, running for home as quickly as her legs could carry her.

Akane was surprised to see Sayuri pulling out so much equipment for sewing, she had no idea her friends had such things, or even an interest. The sewing machine, scissors, needles, more thread than she had ever seen before, not even Kasumi had such a collection! There were more utensils then she could even identify, she had no idea how most of them were used, or what purpose they might even have. She was still trying to work it out when Yuka returned, out of breath, and carrying a pile of shiny blue cloth.

"Oh, I see what you mean." Sayuri looked over the material, examining it thoroughly. "We can use part of the liner for gloves..."

"And the bunching at the top will make for the sash and shoulder..."

"Yes, yes... I believe you are right."

"Please stand up straight, Akane-chan."

Akane's well trained eyes had to work hard to watch her friends as they took her measurements, and then really got to work. It reminded her of something, but she could not quite place it. She was fairly impressed by how quickly they were working, even if she had some misgivings about the idea itself, who ever heard of someone making a dress out of a curtain? That could never look good, could it? If they had not looked so serious, she would have accused them of trying to make her look stupid, but they knew how much this meant to her, and would not go that far, and she had to admit, it was looking better than she thought. "How'd you learn to do that?"

"Well, after that skating match, we were both amazed by them, so we started taking lessons from the Kolhotz Fashion Club."

"From ...THEM?"

Looking a bit sheepish, they responded as one. "Well, It's not our fault Furinkan doesn't have a Fashion Club!"

"Now, hold still, we haven't been doing this as long as they have."

"We don't want to poke you!"

Akane stiffened as her best friends started their work, even going so far as to change her underwear! She might have been upset about the 'push-up' bra, if she had not liked the way she looked in it, but the lace panties made her uncomfortable. She rather liked the clip-on earrings, though she was not sure if the make-up was not a bit too much... The dress itself was a beautiful, loose-fitting, sleeveless evening gown, tied together at the waste with a sash of the same material. It bunched together in such a way that she appeared to have a much curvier figure, and the gloves and silk flower on her right shoulder gave it an extra touch of elegance. There was no denying that it looked incredibly well made, unfortunately, it also made her feel like a child dressing up in her mothers old clothing, and the heavy make-up and perfume did not help matters in the slightest. To her, the worst part was the heels, she was having the hardest time even standing still in them, so the thought of trying to walk in them made her want to chicken out completely!

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Walking along with the two women, the faux-Ranma looked up at the size of the house, after seeing the Saotome name on the plate and a series of double-takes, he suffered a twinge of jealousy. "Wait ...then who are you two?"

"Ranma's mother, and future bride." As Nodoka said the word 'bride' she indicated Kasumi as she finished her introductions with a proud grin.

Kasumi was almost as shocked as the impostor, and they both shouted out their surprise. "WHAT?"

"I- I- I- I- I-... Oh my!" Kasumi was certain that she must have heard that incorrectly, that could not have been what Nodoka had meant, she must have just been teasing this young man. While she did not think it was her place to criticize her elder, but she did not approve such humor. The cute blush on her cheeks belied the disapproval in her thoughts.

The stranger was the first to recover, as things started to make some sense to him. "That explains it! Then you must take me to it!" 'I'm pretty lucky, by giving that guy's name, I have found people related to that school!'

"First I would have your name! I wish to know why you are posing as my son, and why you have that scroll, that 'apparently' belonged to my family."

The boy decided that there was no harm, they already knew he was not who he claimed, might as well go for broke, one never knew after all. "Fine, yes, you are correct, and I am sorry for the deception. My name is Ryu Kumon, as for the rest of that, it is a rather long story..."

"Then come inside, and we can discuss it over tea."

"Um, okaaaay." Ryu did want to look around, with any luck, he would be able to find what he needed without too much more trouble. He had been searching for so many years, and with any luck, that chapter of his life, would soon come to an end... Following them into the house, he openly stared into each room they passed, as his dislike for the owner grew. Surly the guy who stayed here had lived a charmed and pampered life, something the vagabond in him envied considerably.

Obviously a rich momma's boy, with a perfect girlfriend like that, could know nothing of the hardships he had faced in his life. It made him sick just thinking about it! It was not until they arrived at the enormous kitchen that he was finally awoken from picturing some wealthy playboy, gallivanting around on his parents' money. Even if things went poorly, he knew that no frivolous hedonist could beat a true warrior who suffered a lifetime for his art!

"...Kumon-san? Are you all right? Can you hear me?"

"Oh, I am sorry, what was the question?"

"Do you have a tea preference?"

"No, whatever you like is fine."

"Fine, Kasumi-chan, how about you choose then?"

"Oolong it is then..."

Sitting on the offered stool, he joined Nodoka at the kitchen counter while Kasumi began making her favorite tea. "So, where should we begin? How about where you obtained that scroll you dropped back there?"

"It was given to me, by my father."

She pointed to small sketch on the scroll. "That man, your father? I do not believe that is true."

"Huh? It is true, my father gave this to me, and charged me with recovering its mate. I have never seen anyone who looks like that drawing! What is that, a piranha?"

"Though I loathe to admit it, that is my estranged husband, as you can see by the words, 'Stupid Pops' with an arrow pointing to it, drawn and signed by my son, 'Ranma', a long time ago."

"I don't really know anything about that..."

"So then the reason you are using that name as your own, and it being on this scroll are just coincidence?"

Ryu felt the heat from the woman's normally calm aura, but did not back off. He understood why she would be upset, though he could not give ground, not when he was so close. He needed to turn this situation around to his advantage, play on their sympathies. "I did say it was a long story, Ma'am. My mother died when I was very young, long before my earliest memories. All I do remember is my father trying to run our family's broken down dojo. Suddenly one day, pops came home with this scroll, saying that it was given to us by a kindly martial artist, and that it was the solution to all of our problems! However, the training was too much, it killed my father, and destroyed what remained of our dojo! Pop's final wish was for me to find the secrets of the Umisenken, and rebuild our dojo... So I have spent my life, training, and searching for the people who gave us this scroll!" He could see their eyes soften as he laid it on thick, the scroll was practically in his hands already!

"Well, that is a terrible story, I am sorry for what you have gone through, young man, but I am afraid I cannot be of much help, I do not know anything about such things. You can, if you would like, wait here and speak with my son, who should be returning soon..."

Ryu outwardly kept his cool as his hopes were dash to pieces and visions of debauched and overindulgent bon vivants filled his mind. "Yes, I think that I will do just that... I do hope that you can forgive me, but I am afraid you have left me little choice..."

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After closing up the shop, Konatsu walked toward the convenience store, hoping to look through the magazines to get ideas for more outfits for Ukyo. Even if she had preferred more effeminate clothing lately, when Konatsu might prefer her in a more masculine attire, but was generally happy as long as Ukyo was pleased. That was, in fact, what inspired tonight's mission, wanting to find new patterns, unfortunately, buying the magazines was out of the question on the waitress' salary, working from memory was the only option. If nothing else, if working in a restaurant did not work out, perhaps the life of a seamstress was not too bad...

Lost in thought, the normally shy server was surprised to sense another local ninja-servant running errands, and hopped over to greet them. "Sasuke-san, konbanwa, it is good to see you again!"

The miniature manservant blushed as he hesitated before waving at the cute kunoichi. Few people treated him with even a modicum of respect, let alone that much kindness from one so beautiful, and who shares his profession, in more ways than one. Not only were they both ninja, but they also had served masters who mistreated them badly. Were it not for that troubling rumor, he probably would have confessed by then, although a life of abuse had made the nervous little man rather gun-shy, and unwilling to put his heart out there. "Ah, Konatsu-chan, it is good to see you as well. Nice weather tonight, don't you think?"

"Why yes, yes it is quite lovely, isn't it? What are you doing this evening?"

"The young master is recovering more slowly than usual, and needed more adult diapers until the last of the casts come off... If I had to tend to a bed pan, I would not be able to keep up with my other ...'work'." Letting out a deep sigh, he steeled himself for what he wanted to do. "Uh, listen, Konatsu-chan, um, busy l-..."

"Yeah, I am really busy these days too."

"No, I mean I-..."

"Hang in there Sasuke-chan, I know the life of a ninja serving harsh masters is a rough and thankless life, but I know you are just the one for the job! Kunoichi Mini Gratitude Technique!" Leaning and quickly pecking Sasuke on the cheek, Konatsu leapt off to finish the evening chores, leaving a dumfounded ninja melting into a puddle behind.

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Thanks to Kasumi joining the others training after dinner, Ranma had been spending his free time in the afternoons reading and doing his own training. He was not resentful teaching the others, but he did want as much time to work on his own techniques as possible. The trouble was, that learning these grappling moves from this strange book were ...beyond frustrating, he just could not understand enough of the strange terms, which did not really seem to fit what he understood about the scene.

If he could not figure out what they were doing, even having a training partner would not be of much help... It was embarrassing to admit that he could not figure out something, but he was starting to think he might have to ask someone for help. Unfortunately, with Hinako and Ukyo having been busy lately, his least awkward choices of people to ask had been unavailable, he did not really think Shampoo would understand the language any better than himself, and besides, it was partly to be used to help himself against the two of them, and women in general, when he was forced to fight them, so he was less inclined to ask them anyway, which only left him Kasumi or his mother to ask.

As soon as he neared the house, he felt something was wrong...

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Nodoka could not have believed how quickly things had turned, one moment she was grilling this strange impostor for information, and the next, they were each tied to a chair in the dining room, uncertain how they ended up that way. Her mind left to wander, she considered the timing of running into this imitation Ranma, the idea still made her fume. While there may very well be a perfectly legitimate reason this person had that scroll, but impersonating her son? She could find little to excuse that! She shuttered at the thought of having met this faux-Ranma before the real one, she could easily have seen herself falling for his deception a few weeks prior.

She had thought that she had been in control of the situation when suddenly the tables had been flipped on her. Of course if that had been her husband, that would have been a literal table flipping! Genma! This had to be his fault, most of the problems in her life had been. There was only one thing that man had ever given her that had any value, and he had taken that from her a decade ago, leaving her with the empty shell of a life! "Damnit!" She was embarrassed when she realized that she let out that very unladylike curse.

"Do not worry, Aunt- I mean, Mother, the REAL Ranma-kun will save us, I just know it." She hated that she would end up putting him in danger again, but she did not wish for his mother to worry any further.

Nodoka was taken aback, she had been so lost in her thoughts, she had completely forgotten their current predicament! The young woman's passion and conviction reminded her that Ranma had returned to her life, and there was nothing 'that man' could ever do about it again! Looking at the earnest expression on her fair features reassured her of several things, including their safety, and more importantly, some of her other motherly decisions, so she wanted to further test the waters. "You seem very certain of this."

"Of course, Ranma-kun will always come through in the end!"

"Does this happen often?" The certainty in her eyes did make Nodoka feel better, even if she was tired of sitting in the uncomfortable position. Before she had a chance to reply, she heard heavy footsteps in the hallway, ending when Ranma's silhouette appearing in the darkened doorway.

"See, just as I said. Welcome home, Ranma-kun, I did not expect you this soon."

"Knew somethin' didn't feel right... What happened here, are ya okay?"

"We are just fine, and glad to see you."

"But, how'd this happen?" Ranma hurried into the room to untie them when another, taller, figure appeared behind him.

"HOLD IT!" With that, the surprise attack hit Ranma square in the back, sending him flying through the large glass window, and into the wall outside!

"RANMA!" The two women hopped their chairs over to see out of the broken window and into the yard as Ryu jumped through the opening to join him in the yard.

Ranma climbed out of the rubble mumbling that he knew he sensed someone else around, before dusting off his clothing and facing the newcomer. "That was a dirty trick. I take it yer th' one that did all that?"

"Boy, you're a bright one, huh? Figure that out, all by yourself, did you?"

"Well, I was gunna try an' find out why yer here, doin' all this, 'fore I beat ya up fer doin' it, but since yer gonna be like that, then I guess I don't care. Ya hurt mom an' Kasumi-san, an' fer that, yer gonna pay!"

"We are not really hurt!" Kasumi cheerfully called out to him, wanting to help mitigate some of the damage.

Ranma stumbled and corrected himself. "Okay, ya messed up th' house, an' ya tied up mom an' Kasumi-san, an' fer THAT, yer gonna pay! ...Better?"

"Cash is always best."

"Now yer startin' ta sound like Nabiki!"

Kasumi pouted a bit. "That was mean! I just do not wish to see you fighting for no reason."

"I knew I should have used gags... but NO, I figured, I would be in another room searching anyway, and I wouldn't have to listen-..."

"But what're ya lookin' fer?"

"The Umisenken, to match the Yamasenken of course!" The lavish lifestyle of this playboy, combined with the grammar of someone who did not pay the least bit of attention in school, made Ryu fume, and every misspoken word grated on his nerves, making his hair feel like it was standing on end.

Ranma dropped his guard, looking confused. "Huh? The 'Umisen'Yamasen'? Why ya lookin' fer old foxes here? The old man ain't here! What are ya, stupid?"

"That's Umisenken, and Yamasenken, yes. Now, quit playing dumb, and hand over the scroll, or do I have to beat it out of you?"

"I don't know what th' heck yer talkin' 'bout, but if ya wanna fight, then, that's fine with me. I wouldn't a' had it any other way..." Ranma dropped down into ready stance, and waited to see if the other guy would do the same attack.

"ENOUGH OF THIS! Mouko Kaimon Ha!" Ryu launched into his opening move, debating on what to use as a follow-up attack against the arrogant aristocrat.

Ranma knew the attack was coming this time, and blocked the three simultaneous attacks, following it up with a spinning back-heel to the head.

Ryu had never found anyone or anything that could move after his opening shout, thus was completely unprepared for a follow-up attack, and barely got his defenses up before he crashed through a tree trunk.

"Same trick don't work on me twice, ya jerk!" Ranma looked at how much damage had already been done to what he still considered to be 'Kasumi's house', and how easily this stranger was standing, he quickly deduced that if he did not take this fight somewhere else, the house might not survive. "If ya wanna do this, let's take it somewhere safer..."

"Nah, I'd rather knock down your house, like you did to mine!"

"What are ya talkin' about? I never seen ya before in my life! I'm sorry if I broke yer house in a fight 'er somethin'... What, did ya want help rebuildin' it?"

"Something like that. Just give me the scroll, and I will be on my way ...after I beat your ass that is."

Ranma hopped over the wall, and down the street. "Even if I knew what scroll ya meant, I wouldn't give it ta ya when ya act like that. Ain't ya ever heard a' askin' nice?"

"Hey, come back here!"

Jumping over a vacuum blade that nearly nicked him, he watched as it sliced through a telephone pole, and almost hit a car. "Hey, watch it with that thing, ya could hurt somebody!"

"That's the point, now get back here and fight, Coward!"

"Once we find someplace with less people!" As he hopped down the street, he saw Shampoo calling out to him.

"What Ranma do? Need helping?"

"Hey, Shampoo. Nah, I got this, but could ya go untie mom an' Kasumi-san?"

"Shampoo do!"

Watching her bounce off into the distance, he ducked, and then jumped over another attack, just glad it missed the fire hydrant they had recently passed.

"What, you have another girl?"

"Well, kinda..."

"How many girls do you have, you philanderer?"

"Well, that all depends on how ya look at it, ain't none of it my choice though. If it were up ta me, I'd just spend my time trainin', with no crazy girls fer as far as ya can tell!"

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

"Ya just don't understand what it's like!"

"You're right, I don't! Rich people problems... You want to get your butler to fight for you too?"

Ranma had to jump back to avoid the sheared street light falling in his path, and jump up to avoid the sweeping kick aimed at his legs. The fight had not even started, and the property damage was already piling up, he was glad he decided to move away from Kasumi's house...

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Still needing a new chain for her bike, Shampoo bounded toward home, on her mission to ...untie, Nodoka and KASUMI? Wait, WHAT? She poured on the speed, worried for her 'mother' and 'big sister', as well as a touch jealous. As far as she knew, this was Kasumi's third kidnapping, although, she did take some solace in the fact that SHE was the one making the actual rescue, not Ranma. However, it did not change the fact that she wanted to be the one Ranma carried in his arms as he rescued her, the beautiful princess, before they kissed and lived happily ever after!

There had been the Ghost Cat incident a while back, although thanks to the Nekoken, he had been unconscious before they had gotten to the actual rescue and kiss portions, so she had not been rescued and carried off properly! It might have worked out anyway, if it had not been for Stupid Mousse and Stupid Akane who had to ruin their touching moment at the end... No, what she wanted was a proper princess rescue, with her handsome prince saving her, with no cats to spoil the moment, but first, she had a job to do!

As soon as she turned the corner, she immediately saw the broken wall, and then the window. Beyond which, she saw the two women, tied to chairs, trying to use some of the broken glass to cut themselves free, and it was not going well. Kasumi was leaning back, trying to free her hands, when her chair tipped too far, and started to fall out of the opening.

In one mighty leap, Shampoo positioned herself under her falling friend, and managed to prevent the catastrophe. "Is too too good thing Shampoo hurry! Is okay?"

"Yes, thank you, Shampoo. It would have been bad if the chair had gotten broken, due to my carelessness."

The young Chinese woman had started to grow used to the odd priorities of the pleasant young woman, and was just thankful that neither of them appeared hurt. "Should wait, know Shampoo come!"

"But, Ranma-kun..."

"Be fine."

"I know, but still I worry."

Shampoo jumped in though the broken window, and after a quick exchange of pleasantries, and a couple of knots later, she was lightly jogging as she followed the trail, making sure her tag-a-longs could keep pace. She did not want to show it, but she was also concerned for Ranma, even if she knew he was the best, he had to be, he beat her after all, but even the best warriors could still get hurt!

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Sasuke started to come to, after blacking out earlier in the evening, when he looked up to see the bottom of a soft-soled shoe, as it was planted in his face! Luckily he lost consciousness before the first foot was followed by another, larger one moments later.

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Judging by the noise, they were no longer running, and the fight had begun not far from their location. Being less concerned about her tails losing track of her, she increased her speed, slowing down only to point out a napping ninja. "Being careful please, no to trip on road bump."

"Oh my! Sasuke-san, was it? Are you all right?" Kasumi stopped to try to help the poor trod-upon sod, but he did not rouse, and only babbled incoherently about a genius kunoichi dancing in veils.

Seeing Kasumi attempting to lift him, the young woman made a tactical decision. "Shampoo get funny man, so run fast." Casually tossing Sasuke on her back, she quickly surpassed the others, and was the first to witness the clash of Ryu's Demon God Strikes and Guile er, Ranma's Sonic Boom attacks colliding, causing little explosions in the air. Tossing the Kuno servant into a soft patch of grass, she sat and watched the show, waiting for the others to join her.

Ryu was growing frustrated, other than matching his ranged attacks, he had not used any moves from either of the styles, and was mostly just dodging. "Damn it! Why aren't you using it?"

"Using what? Relyin' on weapons is a liability."

"Not a weapon, the Umisenken, of course?"

"Like THAT tells me anythin'! What's that even supposed ta be?"

"The sister style of the Yamasenken, don't you know anything?"

"The what? Ya sure yer not talking about a fox, or old dog?"

"Of course not! THIS is the Kijin Raishuu Dan, from the Yamasenken style, the same attack we have been throwing back and forth, you can't tell me you don't know that!"

"No idea what YER doin', but I am doin' th' 'Sonic Boom', from that Street Fighter game, was easy 'nuff ta figure out, and looked like what yer doin' ta me."

"No, it's from the Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts! I'm just an impostor, and I know it, why don't you? You are the REAL Ranma Saotome, aren't you?"

"The one an' only! Wait, WHAT? Yer using my name, and moves from our school? How dare ya? Ya..." Ranma jumped back, rebounding off of a nearby tree as his battle aura flared to life, and he launched himself toward his opponent in a spiral, while using his 'Chestnut Fist'. "FRAUD!"

Ryu bent backwards, and caught Ranma in tremendous bear hug, using him like a jackhammer with his suplex. "Kaichuu Houju Satsu!"

"Oh my!" Kasumi, did not doubt Ranma, but hoped he had not gotten too hurt from being slammed into the ground like that.

"Ranma!" Nodoka, not accustomed to watching such violent fights, worried about everyone involved.

"Is okay, that no stop Husband!" Shampoo's confidence reassured the others enough that they started to relax and watch more intently.

Ranma was more stunned by the sudden change than the impact, his battle aura protecting him from most of the potential damage not already avoided by 'attacking' and softening the ground. Once the hole he had dug got deep enough that Ryu's head touched the ground, he had to loosen his grip, and Ranma was able to break free and flip away. His freshly popped back throwing him off somewhat, and he stumbled a bit upon landing.

"The 'real' Ranma does not compare."

"An art of pure strength..." Ranma shook his head. "Where did you learn this?"

Always wanting to be helpful, Kasumi waved the answer over her head. "Your father gave them this scroll!"

"What? Pops did this?" Ranma growled at the frustration of someone outside of their school using one of their techniques against him, and worst of all, it was one he did not know ...yet! He was not exactly sure why his father had not taught him, but he figured it was likely one of two reasons, either it was too embarrassing, or it was too powerful, and he was planing to lord it over him later, and judging from what he had seen so far, he was guessing the latter. Well, whatever the reason, if his father did not want him to know it, then he was bound and determined to learn as much of it as he could! Since obviously Genma was not willing to show him, and it was unlikely this fellow would willingly teach him, not without the exchange Ranma could not provide, so that only left him the one option, no matter how painful it might be... He could try to learn it from the scroll, but he learned much more quickly when he saw things first hand.

Despite the tenants of their school and the fact that he could figure out most techniques by just seeing them most of the time, he generally did not 'borrow' moves from other martial artists without express consent, or an incredible need, no matter what his father might recommend. However, in this case, since the moves were from his school in the first place, he did not really see a problem. In fact, it was closer to his duty as the heir to the Saotome School of Martial Arts to collect and preserve any skills from it. The way his mother occasionally talked, he was not sure if his father would be around to do so himself for much longer anyway. Ranma braced himself, and watched closely to see what Ryu's next move would be. "Fine, if ya want ta see what the 'REAL' Ranma Saotome is made a', then bring it on! I wanna see what this 'Yamasenken' is all about!"

"So manly!"

When Ryu saw who had been cheering his opponent on, he felt a bit creeped out. "Why is your MOTHER the one gushing?"

"Hey, don't ask me, we just met. I didn't even know I HAD a mom, not 'til recently anyway."

"How could you NOT know that, everyone has a mom!"

"Well, I don't know, I figured I was stolen as a kid, er something, the kami know I was stolen back enough times..."

"Huh? Whatever, I'm tired of this nonsense."

"I'm still waitin' ta see what ya got... Wanna see if this 'Yamasenken' if worthy a' bein' in th' Saotome School, an' if yer worthy ta use it, 'fore I pound ya."

"LIKE HELL!" Ryu launched into his opening moves only to see Ranma barely hesitate before easily countering him.

"Told ya, same move ain't gonna work on me twice. Ya ain't gonna get anywhere like that. Ya DO got more moves, don't ya? If not, this is gonna be a really short fight!"

The two youths separated, sizing each other up, as Ranma braced himself for more pain.

"Kinshi Kinbaku Shou!" A thick 'golden' rope shot out, wrapping itself around Ranma, binding his folded arms to his sides, and yanking him closer. "Get over here!"

Ranma saw the other boy's aura build up around his right hand as he shot forward, like a bullet aimed right for his heart.

"Geimon Tessen Shi!"

Considering the situation, he had little choice, and shifted his body just before impact, absorbing the impact with his sternum. It still knocked the wind out of him, and caused him to fall over coughing, however he knew it could have been considerably worse, had it hit a space between his ribs. He looked terrible, crumpled on the ground as Ryu stood over him, gloating.

"Hahaha. It looks like the 'real' Ranma isn't much of a fighter after all."

Kasumi winced as Ranma took another blow to the solar plexus. "Oh my!"

Nodoka fretted. After all, the way they had talked about Ranma's fighting ability, she could not believe what a bad showing the boy seemed to be giving, and it pained her to watch. It was a good thing for him, that her idea of 'manly' had little to do with 'fighting', not directly anyway. "It seems this boy might be a bit much, can either of you think of anything we can do to stop this massacre?"

"Airen have reason, Shampoo sure!"

"Yes Mother, Ranma-kun will not lose."

"How can you say that? You look even more worried than I am."

"Oh yes, I am worried ...about how badly they will each get hurt, not about who will win. Ranma-kun will win in the end, but I do so hate to see anyone in pain."

"That all ya got?"

"What's this? You can't even stand, face it, you lost. You need to go back to the person who trained you, and demand your money back, because I've faced children who put up more of a fight than you!"

"That's horrible!" Kasumi burst out in shock!

"Ain't it though? This guy can-..."

"How could you fight children? You meanie!"

"Using the Saotome name while doing this as well, I suppose?" Nodoka was almost as mad as whenever she thought about her still missing husband. For now, she was stuck with the name, and she did not want anyone dragging it through the dirt, not even Genma.

"Of course, but I-..."

"You villain!"

"Hey! Those kids were being bullied!"

"I'll just bet!"

"I was training them! They looked up to me! You should be thanking me!"

Ranma was silently grateful for the diversion, and having regained his breath, he was ready to resume the conflict. "Whatever. As I was sayin', that all ya got?"

"What's the point, you are a bloody mess. No way you can go on, you're done for!"

"Mommy, that onii-san looks like a pretzel!"

The woman covered her son's eyes as she pulled him out of the area. "Don't look, just pretend you don't see anything!"

Ranma used a technique he learned in their travels, allowing him to temporarily shrug off almost any damage, and quickly got to his feet. "Hey, who's a pretzel?"

"You girls were right, that's quite an amazing recovery!"

"Hey! How'd you do that?"

"Just a trick I learned from an old Indian Yogi we met in our travels."

"You went to India?"

"Did I say that?"

For a moment Ryu had thought the other boy had traveled as far as he had himself, but hearing that, his smugness returned. "A few tricks doesn't make up for a lifetime of hardship."

"No, it was in China, might have made it ta India, but we ended up in a certain village, an' well, that was pretty much th' end a' that trainin' trip."

Ranma eyed Shampoo with a mixed look, she was ever grateful for that fateful day however, and grinned from ear to ear in response to the attention. "No know then, but was best day Shampoo life! ...So far."

"Either way, my suffering will give me the edge! Now fight me for real!"

"Is it just me, or does this guy remind ya a' someone?"

"Ranma Saotome, PREPARE TO DIE!"

"Yeah, just like that!"

Ryu launched forward with his opening attack, catching Ranma distracted as he tried not to look at Shampoo, and knocking him through the branches of the nearest tree.

"OH DEAR!"

"No is fair!"

Ryu ignored the lamentations of the women behind him, there would be plenty of time for that once his foe was crushed and driven before him, ...he knew what was best in life! Said foe seemed to still be stuck in the tree, if the rustling was any indication, and he decided not to give him time to recover. "Kijin Raishuu Dan!"

The vacuum blades tore through the thick tree, sending pieces of it flying, and when a bit of red was seen with it, he knew he had scored a hit! "That'll teach your sorry, pampered ass! Are you still alive in there, Momma's Boy?" As an answer, Ranma came rocketing out, aimed straight for the taller lad. "Hey! What was that you said about not using the same move twice?"

"This ISN'T the 'same' move! Psycho Crusher, REVISED!" As Ranma launched into his corkscrew attack, this time he launched small ki blasts from each hand as he rapidly threw palm strikes, rather than the fast moving punches of the prior version.

Ryu had no time to launch a decent defense, or even dodge properly, and caught enough of the blasts to send him flying in the other direction. His pained grunt made the audience wince in sympathetic pain at seeing the trench he created in the ground with his back. Once he rose from the crater, he found that he could not see his opponent anywhere.

Kasumi was a bit torn, while she was mostly worried for the two boys fighting, there was a small voice in the back of her mind that cheered over Ranma using moves that she had helped inspire him to learn, in her own little way, and catching herself cheering about it was doubly embarrassing to her, so unladylike! Thus, when she finally saw how he had been performing his 'invisibility' trick, the one that was developed for helping her, she squealed seeing how his technique was done. "Was THAT all there was to it?"

"There more, mask aura, so most no want look, but is too too good trick, no?"

"Yes, but it's effectiveness is limited by the number of witnesses."

"True, but need know where look."

Ryu glanced around as Ranma quickly avoided his line of sight, causing him to grow all the more frustrated. He considered using his ultimate move, but came up with an alternate bluff, deciding to save it. There was no telling if it would work on Ranma in his present state, and he did not want to ruin the element of surprise. "Hey, Momma's Boy! You had better come out and fight! ...Or perhaps you would rather I take things up with your women? Maybe THEY will put up more of a fight..."

Shampoo took up a defensive stance, and stood between Ryu and the others, making sure he would have to go through her before reaching anyone else.

"DON'T..."

Ryu heard the voice as the temperature began to rise behind him.

"YOU..."

Turning around, he finally saw Ranma, appearing to be on fire, and charging closer with a ball of energy growing between his hands.

"DARE..."

Ryu's eyes went wide as the power increased.

"HURT..."

His arms flailed as he tried to back up as quickly as possible, feeling as if he were moving in slow-motion.

"KASUMI-SAN!"

The explosion was felt for several kilometers, most of the residents and shoppers thought there had been an earthquake, which left anyone nearby with a ringing in their ears that lasted for several moments. As for himself, Ranma had been knocked back into the crater, stuck in the dirt, completely covered in sweat, mud, and a bit of blood, causing Kasumi to scream his name! The three women quickly regained their footing and ran over to see if Ranma was even alive after the blast!

The only remaining trace of Ryu was the set of skid marks from where he tried to hold his ground against the oversized ki blast, before they abruptly ended. All of them had been forced to shield their eyes from the blast at that point, so they had not seen what happened to him. Their concern for Ranma was greater than this other boy, and so they tried to ignore the possibilities of what may have become of him after being caught near ground-zero.

They had only made it halfway to the giant hole, when a surge of power was felt from behind them. It was so strong that even Nodoka turned to see what could be causing it. Upon seeing the branches flying over the trees from the far side of the park, they were like deer in headlights, and could do little more than stare.

Ranma started to struggle to free himself from the indention, worried someone else might suffer because his opponent could not control himself, something he had to deal with regularly when he had people such as Ryoga for 'sparring partners'. Despite the situation, he was unable to prevent himself from wondering what had happened to his longtime rival, while he would normally spend long periods of time away, it had been much longer than the usual break between visits...

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The 'Lost Boy' found himself, as was so often the case, in cursed form and running though the 'urban jungle', with no idea in which city he was located, simply trying not to become something's dinner, when he practically ran into Akane! Remembering their last encounter by the lingering soreness in the foot-shaped dent on his backside, 'P-chan' chose to keep his distance ...and watch.

If the memory of intense pain had not been enough to give the usually thoughtless piglet pause, the fact that she was dressed up, and he thought, looking more beautiful than he could remember certainly did. She wore an elegant blue ball gown, and through his eyes, looked as though she could be the belle of any ball, or the highest ranked of aristocrat. He had never seen her dress in such a fancy style, at least not since the 'Charlotte Cup' skating match, the memory of which still sent shivers down his spine, and that was a completely different type of 'fancy'. For the life of him, he could not imagine any reason for this ...unless? No! It could not be! She could not be going out on a date ...with him! Could she?

As quietly as he could manage, the little black piglet followed the girl of his dreams as she nervously walked along the darkened streets, constantly on the lookout for someone she might know. Her obvious discomfort added to Ryoga's own apprehension, and his anger at his scapegoat for all of his life's problems, grew with every moment. He tried to memorize the landmarks, so he could find Ranma again when this whole thing was over, because that had to be where they were going, he just knew it! If that was true, he knew his heart should shatter into a million pieces! What could he do? He knew they would not stay separated forever, they never did, his luck just was not that good. He prayed to every deity he could remember, unfortunately for him, he tended to get their names wrong, and their type rarely appreciated that sort of thing.

Before long, he started to see landmarks that he recognized, there was a light pole he regularly passed in Kyoto, that trash can was in Shikoku, boy did that bring back memories... Then he passed a parked car that he knew was not far from Tokyo Tower, he was getting closer! He knew it was always better to let someone else lead, especially someone as smart as Akane, but some days his pride would not allow him, specifically if it was Ranma! That big jerk! One day he would have his revenge, that new move of his would see to that~ ...Just as soon as he could perfect it...

Lost in thought, he almost missed another marker... 'Clinic'? Wait, he knew that sign, they were back in Nerima! He knew tailing Akane was a good idea, even if he did have ulterior motives, that was the quickest he had ever gotten anywhere! Although, why Akane was that far from home in the first place, was beyond his reasoning, it must have been the blessings of his guiding star! However, then he recalled he was on a mission, and snuck in more closely as Akane walked up to the door. Suddenly, for some reason, she decided to crouch outside of one of the lit windows, ignoring the door completely. He could not make out the voices from his position, but he could not miss the change in her mood.

Being familiar with depression, Ryoga recognized the growing storm cloud over her head, and wondered what happened to upset her. She stumbled slightly as she ran away crying, and the small black piglet did not let her out of his sight for an instant, otherwise it could be ages before he might see her again! He could not tell how far they had run, but eventually they came to a small park. It pained him to have to keep his distance and watch, and it took everything he had to resist running over there and being her confidant and pet, just like old times. In almost no time, his resolve weakened to the point that he was about to run over there to provide whatever comfort he was able, and accept whatever consequences came his way, when he saw a flash of white come down from the tree, and in moments, a duck wearing glasses was sitting in her lap, listening to her and she prattled on about her problems between her sobs.

Ryoga was stunned, he needed answers, and for that, he would need hot water...

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Ukyo heard a sound outside and after Hinako 'calmed' the good doctor, she ran to the window to see what had made the noise. She could have sworn that someone had been staring at her, but all she could see was a patch of blue escaping into the darkness. 'How strange...' Figuring that if it had been a thief, then they had made the right choice in running away! She could not imagine what could have been going through someone's mind to make them try to break into a clinic.

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Akane could not believe what she was about to do, she barely even thought about where she was going, as her feet led the way, walking the familiar path, and letting her mind wander. Would she really be able to go through with it? What about Kasumi? Did she not have feelings for the doctor? She had always assumed their feelings were mutual, she had always said she wanted an older and more mature man, did she not? Akane had always assumed that was to whom she was referring anyway... She didn't know anyone who better fit that description! Was it really right for her to try and get between them? Although, she knew there technically was not a 'them' to get between, but it was the principal of the matter. Was Kasumi not just waiting for him to get the nerve up to ask her?

Suddenly she got mad as she realized she was just talking herself out of her plan, and how disappointed she and her friends would be if she backed out here and now! She forced herself to march the remainder of the distance to the doctor's clinic, but stopped just before the gate to straighten her clothing, making sure every last detail was perfect. She summoned every last drop of her courage, and tried to confidently stroll up to the door, when she saw shadows move in one of the lit rooms... Wait, did she just hear a woman's voice? The windows were too high to see inside, especially not if she got close enough to hear what they were saying, which she thought was more important.

The doctor's timid and shaky voice was the first thing she could hear clearly. "Ka-Ka-Kasumi-chan, I th-th-think I am ready, would you mind coming in here now?"

"Oh my, here I come, Sensei!" She heard the door opening as someone entered the room.

'No way! It can't be! Is THAT where Onee-chan has been staying?' Well, NOW she understood why she had not come home, but why had she not told them? And to think they had gotten THAT far already! There was no chance for her now! She could not believe her bad luck! Hearing that, broke what remained of her confidence, and she took off at top speed, not even noticing her sobs as she ran, knocking over anything that got in her way, which, luckily, was not much more than one bush and a trash can or two.

With her legs on 'automatic', she found herself in the local park, where she tried to avoid any other living person. Not caring one whit about her new dress, she sat under a tree and hugged her knees to her chest, unable to stop the tears as they fell.

"Why? What can I do? Why did it have to happen like this? Why me? It's just not fair! Why was I born too late? Why can't I be the same woman Kasumi-onee-chan is? What's wrong with me?"

After a good bit of wallowing, no longer having the energy to even punch anything, her last hit, having struck the tree some time ago, waking its occupant, who decided it was time to fly down and quack out a greeting.

"Oh, Mumu-chan, it's you." Akane absentmindedly lifted the duck into her lap, and patted its head.

"Quack?"

"Oh, it's just not fair!

"Quack?"

"Kasumi-nee-chan is so perfect at everything! How could anyone choose me, when they have that option?"

"Quaaaaaaack. Quack?"

"I figured with nothing ever happening between them and Nee-chan not being around, I thought I had a chance!"

"Quack..."

"...At least Nee-chan isn't with that JERK Ranma, I had been worried..."

Something about that gave Mousse pause, he actually wished the two of them 'would' get together, for both of their sakes! That would free up both the doctor and Shampoo... on the other hand, he was not sure how he would feel if his older sister had been ensnared by the lothario, then he remembered all of the times she used to make fun of him for wearing his glasses, like an outsider, and how she would sit on him and take his toys, thus he came to the conclusion that it would serve her right! "Quack!"

"I should've known better, I am just not feminine enough for someone like Tofu-sensei!"

"Quack!"

"Do you think so?"

"Quack!"

"See, you said it, why can't Ranma be that nice?"

"Because Ranma's just a big fat jerk! You're plenty feminine, Akane!"

"Ryoga! What are you doing here?"

"Hold on, Akane, that's not a normal duck, that's that Mousse guy!"

"I know, not everyone lies about their curse, but more importantly, why are you naked?"

Before he had time to recover from the first blow, the quick realization that in his haste, he had forgotten to find some clothing when he changed back, hit him like a ton of bricks. "URK!"

Akane shook her head as she clenched her fist, and her aura started heating the air around them. "I should have known any friend of Ranma's would be a pervert too!"

"I am NOT that jerk's FRIEND! We are enemies!"

"That's not what Ranma says, I don't think I believe you any more!"

Hopping into an outfit he had laid out, the small white duck doused itself with hot water from a thermos pulled from under its wing, expanding, and filling out the clothing before brushing himself off as he stood.

"But, I-" Ryoga found it difficult to speak as the soft, white cloth filled his mouth.

"You condemn Ranma, and yet, you are clearly as much of an exhibitionist. Put something on, no one wants to look at ...THAT!" Mousse turned his head as Akane openly gawked while Ryoga fumbled with the long Chinese shirt, as he tried to figure out how to dawn it. "Luckily for you, I usually carry extra changshan around with me."

"Is that what those robes are called?"

"It is not a 'robe', it is a type if shirt, it is just ...long. I happen to like the garment, it works well with my fighting style."

"But I thought that was a dress, for girls?" Akane looked honestly curious.

Ryoga visibly blanched as his head finally poked through the hole.

"No, that is a cheonsam, or qipao, this is a shirt ...for MEN!"

"Ohhhhh, well it's just, that they are so pretty, and they look so much more comfortable than the ones Shampoo always wears."

"Ah, yes, well, I suppose that they are."

"But, don't you have any pants?"

"I am using them, thank you, go find your own. Where are yours?"

"How should I know? I left them when I started following Akane-chan. Odds are I have some stashed around here somewhere, wherever 'here' is..." Ryoga started searching around in a confused state, looking much like the child who had gotten into their parent's wardrobe, thanks to the extra long shirt, especially the sleeves.

"I am starting to think you just like running around nude."

"I am ...I do NOT! I can't help it!"

"That is what they all say!" Mousse looked unconvinced.

"Well, that IS what Ranma would have said..." Akane crossed her arms in a huff.

"It's NOT MY FAULT!" Ryoga could not believe how quickly things had turned against him, it was not fair!

"That too..." Akane started to wonder why she couldn't see it sooner, the two of them really were a lot alike, they even looked similar!

"It's all just a misunderstanding!"

"You had clothing when you changed, did you not, why not take them with you?"

"It's not that easy! Not everyone can stash extra clothing in their feathers! I hide them when I change, and so I have sets all over, and can usually find one when I change back, but I was in a hurry this time and forgot, okay!"

"You have that bandanna, do you not? I-"

"Why were you in such a hurry then?"

"Well, you were with this guy, and you just never know what those people are up to."

Mousse was never a stranger to sexism nor racism in his life, though the blatant thoughtlessness of some could really get to him upon occasion. "I- Well, I see, so THAT is how it is, and here I was going to show you how to store a set of clothing in your bandanna..."

"You WERE? Just let me go find some! I'll be right back!"

Watching the lost boy disappear behind a wall, the insulted youth scoffed. "Well, I guess that is one shirt I will not see again..." He would have to burn that shirt if it was ever returned anyway... Turning back, he noticed that Akane was no longer there, having wandered off, lost in thought. Mousse decided that she probably had a lot on her mind, and in a way he felt relieved.

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OMAKE 03

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Akane sat in the park, under a tree, fuming about her crush on a certain doctor. "Why? What can I do? Why did it have to happen like this? Why me? It's just not fair! Why was I born too late?"

Akane stood up as her two friends stepped out from behind the tree the trio started to sing, with Akane in the lead and Sayuri and Yuka backing her up.

"Born, too late, for you to notice, me... To you, I'm just, a kid that you won't date..." Akane started to dance as she gazed up at the moon. "Why was I born, too, late?"

The trio swayed back and forth to the music only they could hear. "Born, too late, to have a chance to win, your love... Oh why, oh why, was it my fate...? To be born too late?"

Akane wrapped her arms around herself as she began to spin in her dance. "I see you walk with another, I wish it could be me... I long to hold you and kiss you... But I know it never can be, for I was..."

"Born, too late, for you to care... Now my, heart cries... Because your heart, just couldn't wait... Why was I born too late?" They allowed their voices to rise to the heavens, hoping for some answer from the cosmos.

"Born, too late, for you to care... Now my, heart cries... Because your heart, just couldn't wait... Why was I born too la-a-a-a-ate?"

"Why was I born too late? Too late..."

*This was a 1958 song by the Ponitails, obviously called 'Born to Late'. One day I plan to make it into an AMV, it's been on the back burner for years... ;p

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NOTES

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In case you did not understand the line Ryu used during the fight, it was a reference to Conan, the Robot Chicken version, where they sang about 'what is best in life'. If you haven't seen it, check it out, it's easy to find, and short.

Oh well, tune in next time for, 'The Discipline of Dating', or 'Wrestle Mania for...?'

Hey, look, this isn't comedy gold here people! I am not a professional, please try this at home. ;p