Genma ate his breakfast, looking at the two unfamiliar young women sitting next to Nabiki with puzzlement. He glanced at Soun who shrugged. Nabiki spotted their bemused expressions and sighed irritably. "Oh, come on! You can't have been that drunk last night, surely?" The two men looked at each other again. "These are my friends Rika and Maiko. I introduced them to you less than twelve hours ago." At their blank looks she frowned while the two women under discussion smiled. Akane snickered and Nodoka rolled her eyes.

"Pleased to meet you both," Soun said, still seeming slightly confused. 'Maiko' grinned at him.

"And you. Again."

"Um, yes. Quite. So, you're friends of Nabiki's?"

"Yes, we're medical students. We met at University."

Enlightenment crossed his face. "Oh. I remember. Yes, Nabiki has said quite a lot about you." Genma seemed to suddenly remember also and nodded, still eating.

"She's also said quite a lot about both of you." They glanced at each other as she looked meaningfully at them. Not knowing quite how to respond Soun smiled weakly and concentrated on his breakfast. As they finished Akane looked up.

"Father, you have to watch this DVD a friend of mine sent me. It's incredible. Your students should see it as well." Nabiki felt that this was starting to get out of hand but couldn't think of any way to stop it. Sharing a look with 'Rika' and 'Maiko' she shrugged a little. They both returned it. Jerking her head towards the door she went out of the room, while they followed.

"Is this a good idea? Letting all these people see that video? It seems to be attracting a lot of attention." 'Maiko' looked mildly annoyed but smiled nonetheless.

"Not a lot we can do about it. Even if we 'disappeared' Akane's copy, she could get another one from her friend. To be honest I'm very surprised it's taken this long for it to pop up considering the number of people with cameras in the park that day. It seems people back home really don't want to upset the status quo."

'Rika' nodded. "Anyway, if we didn't mind people seeing it we wouldn't have done it. It's a little strange having Akane of all people get so excited, especially under the circumstances but perhaps it will be a good thing. It certainly seems to have cheered her up."

"True. She's more upbeat than I've seen her for some weeks." Nabiki sighed. "Oh well. I just hope it doesn't blow up in our faces, that's all."

"It won't," 'Maiko' assured her. "It's weird but nothing we haven't dealt with before one way or another. It might even be fun." She smiled evilly. "We can amuse ourselves quite a lot with Shampoo and Akane, I think." After a moment, she looked thoughtful. "Hey, do you want to see it? When Akane leaves for Minato you could call ahead, I could ask Aiko to discreetly pick you up so you'd be there when they turned up. With a suitable disguise and the bracelet they'll never know." Nabiki looked surprised, then got much the same expression as the other woman was still wearing.

"Hmm. That's an interesting idea. Yes, I think that might be a lot of fun. You're on, I'll call you as soon as they leave." 'Rika' was listening with a small smile.

"Don't be mean to Akane, both of you." They exchanged glances.

"We'll be good," they chorused, then laughed. Inside the living room Akane shivered for a moment. Turning back to her father she waved the DVD case.

"Look, you all have to see this. I'll bring the DVD player and TV out into the Dojo and set it up, your students will be here in about half an hour, right?" He nodded, glancing at Genma, who looked both curious and puzzled.

"What's so interesting about that DVD, Akane," the Saotome man asked. She laughed.

"Just the most unbelievable martial arts you've ever seen in your life. Trust me, I think you'll all find it amazing. Go and get ready, your students will be here soon." Both the men looked at each other, rather bemused, then left the room. The youngest sister was unplugging the TV as Nabiki and her friends re-entered. Watching her for a moment the brunette exchanged glances with the other two then looked back to Akane.

"Um, where are you going with that?" Nabiki asked curiously as Akane picked the device up. She grinned.

"Out to the Dojo. You can help, grab the DVD player and remote will you?" Walking out the door she disappeared towards the Dojo, leaving the others to look after her with raised eyebrows.

"Well, she seems in a good mood at any rate," 'Maiko' said after a moment. Nabiki nodded absently, picking up the remote for the TV and DVD player. 'Rika' took the player itself with it's cables. 'Maiko' shrugged and followed them, picking up the DVD case which Akane had forgotten on her way out. Inside the training hall Akane was setting up the TV on a bench and looked up as 'Rika' handed her the player.

"Thanks." Grabbing it she put it next to the TV and started connecting the cables. Soun and Genma came out of the back room and watched her for a moment before turning to greet one of the students who came in just then. A few minutes later everything was set up and two more students had arrived. 'Maiko' and 'Rika' wandered around the room looking at things while they waited for the rest to come in, while Nabiki sat beside Akane and talked quietly to her. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that as time went on 'Maiko' was drifting further and further away from Genma, occasionally casting unreadable glances his way.

Eventually the whole class had turned up. The youngest Tendo got up and walked over to her father. Smiling at him she turned to students. "I wanted to show you all something a friend of mine sent me yesterday. It was videoed in a park in Minato around a month ago. I think you'll like it, it shows what martial arts can really become." Everyone turned to look at the TV as she pressed play.

'The sound of eleven jaws dropping simultaneously is a wonderful thing,' Nabiki thought with a grin. Looking at her sister and sister-in-law she saw they were obviously thinking much the same. No sound but that from the TV disturbed the room until the DVD finished, when Akane turned it off. She looked at her father. After a long moment he looked back, tears in his eyes.

"Thank you," he said quietly. Genma seemed unable to articulate anything, while all the students were looking at each other in disbelief.

"Who the hell are those two girls?" Genma finally said. Akane glanced at him.

"They're called Yori and Chou. The shorter one is Yori. I don't know much more about them. They work out of a fairly small area in Minato quite close to the bay. Their reputation is basically as the most dangerous magical girls in Minato, but I think it's pretty obvious that they're also incredible martial artists as well." Her father nodded slowly.

"That's an understatement if anything is. I have never seen anything even approaching that before. It was... extraordinary. How many different styles did you see, Genma? I lost count at something over twenty-two, but half of those I didn't recognise." The other martial artist looked at him.

"I made it to twenty-four, I think. You're right, most of them were new to me, or at such a high level they were almost unrecognisable. I thought I saw some Anything Goes moves in there as well, or something that looked like it, both our schools in fact, but I can't be sure. Where the hell could they have learned all that? Even the boy didn't know all those disciplines and he soaked it up like a sponge." Soun shrugged.

"I have no idea. They only looked about eighteen or nineteen as well. I'd say the black-haired one was probably the better of the two but the other girl was incredible as well. Not to mention the special techniques. I've never heard of anything like those at all. If it was ki manipulation it was to an almost impossible level. I don't know much about magic but I would think it would be similarly difficult." He shook his head in wonder. "The katas at the end were beautiful as well as enormously impressive. A true art form." Turning to his youngest daughter he asked, "Play it again, please, Akane." With a smile she did so. The two martial artists and their students sat and watched once more. Nabiki looked over to 'Rika' and 'Maiko' who were by now at the other end of the Dojo, motioning slightly with her head towards the door. They nodded and moved in that direction. No one else noticed engrossed as they were with the images on the TV screen.

Outside the Dojo Nabiki turned to her companions. "Is there going to be a problem with either of them recognising Anything Goes forms in all of that?" With a look to 'Rika' her husband shook her head a little.

"I don't think so. Pop said he couldn't be sure, and after all a lot of Anything Goes is basically based on modifying and combining different styles anyway. We've changed and improved it so much over the last few years what we do doesn't bear a lot of resemblance to what they're teaching now. Happosai taught us both a lot of things he never taught either of them as well, things that are much more advanced than even your father knows. I don't use Pop's signature moves a lot, the more dangerous ones, and certainly not in demonstrations, so that shouldn't be an issue either." She smiled. "It's pretty unlikely that any of that will lead any of them down the right path. We've filtered out most of the things that might have caused suspicion from our own style and whatever's left could just be a coincidence." Nabiki looked slightly worried still but accepted this, it was after all their field of expertise.

"I'll take your word for it." Walking back into the house they sat in the living room, where Nodoka had cleared up after breakfast before going out. "So, what do you want to do next?"

"Not be too close to Pop, certainly." 'Maiko' looked slightly worried. "I'm sorry, I'm trying not to let it upset me, but I keep finding that if I think too much about being near him all the old memories tend to come back. It's a bit weird, that doesn't seem to happen nearly as much with the others, but he really triggers some things I don't want to remember." 'Rika' looked at her with sympathy, reaching out and holding her hand. "Sorry, love. I'm trying, but it's still difficult. I thought I could do better after all this time but..." She shrugged.

"It's not your fault. I should have realised. You've done so well, especially around Akane. Perhaps this was a mistake." 'Maiko' smiled at her.

"No, it wasn't a mistake. This was something you needed to do more than I needed not to do. I know how much you've wanted to come her for so long. And I needed to know as well. For me, in some ways, it's too soon. The funny thing is that Akane and Mom don't affect me nearly as much. Mom still makes me a bit upset, but Akane mostly makes me sorry for her." 'Rika' squeezed her hand.

Nabiki watched and listened to them. "I'm sorry I pushed you two into this." Her sister-in-law smiled.

"Don't be. I'll be fine, I just need to stay away from him as much as possible."

"I guess you were around your father more than practically anyone in your life," Nabiki said, "it's not that surprising that he would provoke the strongest feelings."

'Maiko' nodded. "True, I suppose. Oh well, this is all something we each needed for our own reasons."

"Come on," Nabiki said, standing suddenly. "Let's go and see a movie. There's a new American action one that just started last week which I want to see, it looks suitably silly. Lots of explosions and special effects, you know the thing." 'Maiko' grinned.

"OK. Although we could probably do better just by filming a week in Minato." Nabiki laughed.

"You could try, but I think you'd find that everyone would say it was too unrealistic." 'Rika' and 'Maiko' both started giggling. The three of them left the house and spent most of the rest of the day out, seeing the movie first then just looking around Furinkan some more. They stopped for lunch at a small restaurant near the centre of the district, taking their time over the meal, before heading back to the Dojo in a wide looping path that covered quite a few old and familiar sights. 'Maiko' stopped when they walked past the gates to the high school. 'Rika' watched her face for a moment then turned to inspect the large building as well, while Nabiki waited.

"It brings back memories, doesn't it, dear?" 'Rika' asked quietly. 'Maiko' slowly nodded.

"Oh, it does that, all right. Some good, some bad. I can't work out which ones are stronger." She sighed, turning to walk beside her wife and sister-in-law. "That was the first school I ever really spent much time at. I learned quite a bit but not as much as I'd like, but also had so many fights it's just ridiculous. Hardly got through a day without something weird happening." Shaking her head she smiled. "No one who wasn't involved would believe me if I told them."

Eventually, sometime in the late afternoon, they arrived back at the Tendo house. Going inside they met Akane coming down the stairs. She smiled at them. "Hi. Did you have a good time?" Nabiki nodded.

"Yes, we saw that new American movie, you know, the cop one? It's pretty good." Akane grinned.

"Yes, Sayuri and I saw it last week. The martial arts were a bit weak but it wasn't bad at all."

"How did your own martial arts film go in the end?" Nabiki asked with amusement. "Father and Genma seemed pretty impressed." Akane nodded, smiling happily at the memory.

"Yes, they were. Their students didn't seem to know whether to simply give up now or try harder. In the end everyone decided that they wanted to be that good so they'd stick at it. Father tried to tell them that it was pretty unlikely that any of them would ever be able to do what Yori and Chou can but I don't think any of them are listening at the moment." She laughed. "It's certainly something to aspire to. But without the magic and the inhuman talent, I don't think it will work." The thought seemed to momentarily depress her and her face fell, while Nabiki and the other two marvelled at the volatility of her emotional state. Soon enough, though, she was smiling again.

"I'm going over to see Shampoo so we can work out when we could both get away to go to Minato. See you later." With a wave she left the house. They looked after her for a moment, then at each other.

"She seems, well, sort of quick to change her feelings these days," 'Maiko' said with a frown. Nabiki sighed.

"I know. That's something that's been getting worse for months. She can go from depressed to deliriously happy and back in seconds. I'd almost think it was some sort of bipolar thing except the doctor tells me it isn't. It's some weird side effect of her overall depression and anger. That's just one of the ways it manifests." Shaking her head, she added, "It's not good but I have to admit I prefer it to sudden attacks of near-homicidal fury. Unfortunately she still has those sometimes as well."

They were sitting in the living room having some tea when Nodoka came back from wherever she'd been. "Hello, girls. How has your day been?" she asked politely, sitting down next to Nabiki. The middle sister poured her a cup of tea. "Thank you, Nabiki." Accepting it she sipped some.

"It's been very nice, thanks," 'Rika' replied. "We saw a silly movie, had lunch, then walked around looking at the area. Nabiki showed us where she went to school, things like that." Nodoka nodded.

"Yes, the infamous Furinkan High School, site of many odd martial arts encounters." She laughed. "You wouldn't believe how many times parts of that place have needed to be rebuilt. There was one boy, Ryoga, did Nabiki mention him?" They both nodded. "He was amazingly destructive. Constantly fighting with my son, who caused his own share of damage, it has to be said, but Ryoga was in a class of his own in that regard. Even Akane couldn't match him. That boy could smash his way through a wall like some sort of demolition machine." She smiled a little at the memory. "Quite incredible. It didn't end well though." 'Maiko' chuckled a little.

"Yes, Nabiki told us about him. Apparently when Akane found out about his curse she wasn't very pleased." Nodoka nearly choked on her tea she laughed so suddenly.

"Oh, that's certainly one way to put it. Yes. Not very pleased. A slight understatement I feel. The poor girl went absolutely insane with rage, it took both Shampoo and Ukyo to take her down and they barely managed it. I know that dear Akane isn't considered the best martial artist around here by the others but when she's properly angry she's a force to be reckoned with, I assure you." Nabiki sighed.

"Unfortunately. That's basically what led to all the problems four years ago." The Saotome woman abruptly became serious, nodding with a distant look.

"Indeed. Such a pity. There were a lot of contributing factors but the main trigger was certainly Akane and her actions that night." She fell silent staring into her tea while the others watched her. Various emotions crossed her face, none of them happy ones.

"Do you think he'll ever come back?" Nabiki asked with a glance at the others, ignoring the slight warning look they both gave her which vanished as soon as Nodoka looked up. The elder woman was silent for a few more seconds then sighed.

"I hope so. I truly do. I would so like to see him again. But I wouldn't be surprised nor would I blame him if he never came back, considering everything that happened here. Kasumi as well. I was very fond of that young lady. I hope that both of them found happiness, wherever they are." She resumed staring into her teacup contemplatively. Eventually she looked up. "So. Enough of these thoughts, there's nothing we can do about it. Are you girls going to stay with us tonight?" 'Rika' looked at 'Maiko', who shook her head.

"I don't think we can. We have classes tomorrow so it's probably best if we get back tonight. There's no hurry to leave just yet though. There are trains until about half past eleven, about every forty minutes or so." Nodding, Nodoka stood.

"All right. I'll make dinner for everyone then. It will be at about six. I'm going to have a short nap, I've had quite a long day, so I'll see you all later." Leaving the room she headed upstairs.

"Pity you can't stay," Nabiki said once the elder woman was gone.

"We do have to get back, I think," 'Rika' said. "We do genuinely have classes tomorrow, although the first one isn't until after lunch. Various recent events have gotten in the way of our work so we have some studying to do." Nabiki chuckled.

"Magical girls and medical students. I have no idea how you have the time to do everything." 'Maiko' laughed.

"It can be a handful juggling it all. But somehow everything works out, or it has done so far at any rate."

At dinner a few hours later Akane was very bubbly. "Shampoo and I are going to go into Minato on Wednesday evening to see if we can find out more about Yori and Chou. That's the earliest we can both get away." Nabiki looked at her and sighed, making her sister glance at her curiously.

"Akane, you do realise that the likelihood of bumping into either one of them just wandering around is pretty low, I hope?" The blue haired woman nodded.

"Oh, of course. But they're certainly not going to turn up here, are they?" 'Maiko' stifled a giggle, looking at 'Rika' with amusement which was quickly hidden before any of the other noticed. "If we don't go we'll definitely never meet them."

"What are you going to do if you do succeed in finding them?" Nodoka asked with interest. Akane suddenly stopped dead, thinking.

"Um. We hadn't thought that far ahead." This caused almost everyone to look at her with some bemusement. She flushed under their gazes. "We'll think of something, I'm sure. There's no need to look at me like that." Shaking her head but smiling Nabiki went back to eating.

"Well, good luck, I suppose."

Genma was feeling something odd, it was like someone was staring hard at him, but whenever he looked around no one was. It was making him nervous. Trying stealth he waited until he felt it again then whipped his head around so fast his glasses dislodged themselves from one ear and dangled under his chin. Unfortunately, this now meant that everyone was staring hard at him, rendering the entire exercise pointless. Looking embarrassed he carefully re-hooked his glasses and resumed his meal, flinching every now and then. Nabiki glanced at 'Maiko' who gave her a small private smile. Grinning to herself she picked up her cup and drank from it. Soun watched his old friend for a moment then shrugged and ignored the whole thing.

"I understand you two teach martial arts here?" 'Rika' asked with interest. Soun looked at her then nodded.

"Yes. You saw our students earlier today. We've been teaching for a few months now, after a long period when I didn't teach at all and Genma only had one student. It's going very well, they are coming along nicely. Our family styles aren't widely known but are very effective, it's nice to see them being used more." She looked impressed.

"So, you have eight students at the moment?"

"Nine. Four beginners and five slightly more advanced ones, although one of the young women in the beginner group will probably move up soon, she's got a gift for it." 'Rika' nodded thoughtfully.

"Do you think you can teach more? Or is that the limit?" Rubbing his chin Soun thought about it for a moment, glancing at Genma.

"We could probably handle a dozen, I think. More than that would make the sort of hands-on approach we need too difficult with only the two of us." He smiled. "Why, are you thinking of taking up our form of martial arts?" Laughing she shook her head.

"No, I think I'm fine with my studies at the moment, thank you. I was just curious."

"Well, if you change your mind, either of you, please let us know. We'd be pleased to teach friends of my daughters." She smiled in a gentle manner at him.

"Thank you. I'll bear that in mind." Turning to Nabiki she asked, "What time is it, please, Nabiki?" The middle sister looked at her watch.

"Ah, nearly seven." 'Rika' glanced at 'Maiko' for a moment.

"We should probably leave around ten, I think. That will get us home before midnight." Once the meal was finished, 'Rika' and 'Maiko' cleared the table, insisting that Nodoka take a break from it. "It's our pleasure. You've done so much work, let us do a little. We don't mind." The elder woman looked pleased.

"Thank you, that's very nice of you." Soon the dishwasher was running and they came back and sat down. The next three hours passed in pleasant conversation, although Genma kept getting that weird sensation of being watched. It was beginning to make him quite paranoid, twitching at any sound he didn't recognise. Eventually 'Maiko' looked at 'Rika' who nodded.

"I'm sorry, but we're going to have to leave. Thank you all so much for feeding us and letting us stay here." Soun smiled at them.

"It's been nice having you here. I'm very glad to see Nabiki has such good friends. Please visit again." Nodoka nodded as did Akane. 'Maiko' got up and retrieved their overnight bags from Kasumi's old room, coming back and handing 'Rika's' to her.

"Thank you, dear," she said, turning back to the room at large. "I hope we can come again some time. It's quite busy for us at the moment, though, so it wouldn't be for a while." She looked at her youngest sister. "Akane, it was very nice to meet you. Nabiki has told us a lot about you. Good luck with your trip to Minato." Akane smiled at her.

"Thanks. It's been nice meeting you guys as well. See you again, I hope. Have a good trip home." Nabiki stood.

"I'm going to walk with them to the station, I'll see you all later." All three young women soon left the house. Nodoka looked after them thoughtfully.

"It's nice to see Nabiki has some real friends. I thought for quite a while that she was rather lonely." Soun nodded, smiling a little.

"They seem very intelligent and pleasant young women. They'll probably make their future husbands very happy." He was very confused by the way both Akane and Nodoka started giggling at this, quickly progressing to roaring with laughter. Casting a puzzled glance at his friend he shrugged. Genma shook his head.

"Women. I'll never understand them." For some reason this made them both laugh even harder.

Standing on the platform as the train slowed, Nabiki watched it approach then turned to her sister. "Take care, both of you." She hugged 'Rika', then 'Maiko'. "it's been so nice having you back here. I wish it could be for longer. Perhaps one day." 'Rika' smiled gently at her.

"Perhaps. We'll see. Come and visit us soon, please."

"I will." 'Maiko' grinned at her.

"Don't forget, call as soon as Akane and Shampoo leave, OK? I'll get Aiko to pick you up. Um, from that alley a couple of streets down behind the dry cleaning place, I think, you know it?" Nabiki nodded. "Right. When she leaves, go there and call. That'll give us at least an hour's notice before they turn up, so we can set things up with you." The train stopped and the doors opened. "See you around, Nabs."

"Don't call me Nabs!" Snickering, 'Maiko' followed her wife onto the train, both of them waving through the window as the doors closed. Nabiki watched it until it was out of sight then with a small sigh of regret headed home alone.