Oyu No Ranma

by Zorknot

Ranma gets himself stuck as a girl early on. Now she's got completely new problems. In ch. 21 Ranma teaches Akane a lesson and then takes a nap, Nabiki tries to escape Azusa's frilly prison, and the ladle lady finally accomplishes what she was practicing for all this time.

14. The Rainmaker

Oyu no Ranma

A Ranma ½ fanfiction by Zorknot

Chapter 14: The Rainmaker

Disclaimer: All the characters in this fanfiction are fictitious and originally from the mind of Takahashi Rumiko in the Ranma ½ manga and anime, which you should totally go out and buy if you haven't already. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Except in the case of Ashitaka Kataro. I saw him do a tap dancing routine on a street in New York. He had this trick where he would run kerosene through a plastic tube down to the tip of his shoe, and he'd start pouring it out with a release valve he had attached to his elbow. On the tip of his other shoe he put a piece of flint, so that at a critical moment in his routine he would make sparks fly out and hit the kerosene, making it seem like he was dancing so hard he was setting the ground on fire. It was a great trick. Later on after the police arrested him, I tracked down the prison he was taken to and got his life story. I told him that I'd put it in a book one day. But really his life story was pretty boring. He'll just have to be content to show up in this fanfiction instead.

~~~~~Ch.14: The Rainmaker~~~~~

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

The sunlight passing through the window was warm on his skin as Ryoga watched the scenery zoom past him. He had no idea where he was, he was almost sure he was going in the wrong direction, but to placate Kasumi he would try to relax. It was rather nice not having his face and shins whipped by branches and nettles. The company wasn't too bad either really. He rarely had company on his trips and when he did, his companion usually complained the whole time. Kasumi was…intense. She seemed somehow both sad and happy at the same time. And then there would be something that set her off and she'd be extremely angry for a moment.

The trees all had their leaves upturned. It was going to rain soon. Maybe tonight, maybe earlier. Ryoga felt his umbrella on his back, to reassure himself. He had been human a long time now. He was due to change again soon. He didn't want Kasumi or any of the other girls he met to know about the curse. He didn't want anybody to know about it, but it seemed like it would be worse if they knew.

"Haven't you ever been on a train before?" Kasumi asked.

Ryoga nodded. It was true, technically. He had been on a train, just not inside one. He had been a pig at the time. He'd managed to find a space between two cars where he was protected from the wind and not likely to fall out. It still wasn't exactly fun. Very loud. And bumpy. Inside you could barely hear the wind and the bumps weren't noticeable at all. There were a lot of people though. He and Kasumi were standing almost pressed into each other hanging on to the ceiling rail. He could feel her body heat.

"I used to go more often. My mother would take me and my sisters shopping. It was fun seeing all the different areas of Tokyo. After she was killed…" A slight steeliness in her voice betrayed a rush of emotion. "Trains were just a way to get to my targets. And then… for a while now I haven't felt like going anywhere."

"Who killed her?"

Kasumi continued to watch the scenery pass by as she said, "I did."

"Huh?" Ryoga noticed that he and Kasumi suddenly had much more room. No one gave any other indication of having heard Kasumi, they just leaned and shuffled as far away from her as possible.

"Oka Kosuke was trying to take her away from Father. Said she belonged with him instead. He wouldn't have killed her. But I was so arrogant, so angry. I threatened him and it caused a fight. Father wasn't ready and Mom stepped in to protect him…"

"Uh…" Ryoga wasn't sure how to handle such emotions from someone else. "The guy still killed her right? He should pay for that."

Kasumi laughed sourly. "I know. And yet he's in China somewhere, probably ruining someone else's life. And I'm here, too afraid to leave Nerima. Uncle Saotome's right. I am a coward."

"You're just a girl though, what could you do?"

Kasumi extended her fingernails into a blade and nudged it under Ryoga's chin.

"Oh. Right."

Kasumi retracted her blade and looked down. "I couldn't do that back then. I was probably at about the level Akane is now. I swore vengeance. Cut my hair to look like a boy and went after my mother's killer."

"How old were you?"

"I was nine."

Ryoga nodded, swallowing. His decision to pursue Ranma at age fourteen seemed almost tame by comparison.

The PA announced the next stop and Kasumi gripped the ceiling bar tighter. "This is us."

Ryoga stood as well adjusting his pack so that it was under his arm and he could maneuver through the train more easily. "Do you think anything happened?" He didn't like how he left the situation with Megumi and her foster father.

Kasumi shook her head. "I've been thinking about it. Uncle Saotome isn't like me or you. He doesn't think in terms of fairness or punishment. For him, it's all about getting what he wants."

"Sounds like he's a jerk," Ryoga noted as the train came to a stop.

"It does," Kasumi allowed, "But then, I suppose it depends on what he wants, doesn't it?"

~~~~~Genma~~~~~

All he wanted was his son back. To be a family again, with Nodoka and his son. Instead he was curled on the ground, the taste of chicken and failure in his mouth. He took a few deep breaths to collect himself before sitting up. There were too many clouds to judge the time accurately from the sun, but based on how bright it was, it seemed like it was about nine or so in the morning. School had started, which meant Ranma probably wasn't around. He'd have to wait until later to apologize. It was yet another sign that Ranma was a girl after all. In his life, Genma had only ever had to apologize to two kinds of people, cops and women. Everyone else, he'd fight it out or buy a round of sake and it would all be water under.

He tried not to let the thought hurt him too much. He couldn't relate to women. Even with the women he loved there was always an inscrutable veil between their world and his, something that provided both mystery and endless frustration. He could love a woman, but he didn't think he could be friends with one. He didn't know how to be a father to one.

"It's hard raising a teenager." Soun said from the porch, where he sat sipping tea. "You have a relationship with them as a child, but then they start changing. Becoming different people." Raising his cup as he looked off into the distance he said, "Dew on a petal/ Becomes a brilliant diamond/ Just before it falls."

"I've been trying to give him space. Let him decide on his own. But he promised me! And after I had to take care of the Kumon kid…"

"And you hadn't had breakfast."

Genma grit his teeth at that. It was true, but it was hard to take. All those years of keeping it together, all the things he did just to make sure he didn't slip, and after one skipped breakfast…"How is it that you have such control? Kasumi too for that matter."

"I fought …that man…for two days, almost non-stop." Soun said grimly. "Eventually I couldn't tell the difference between being one way and being the other. I started remembering. You remembered this time, didn't you?"

Genma nodded slowly. "It's like a dream though. I didn't mean to do any of that."

"If you surrender to the desire, if you let it become truly part of you, you can learn to control it. Somewhat. You know how the master was. " Soun sipped looking off into the distance.

Genma nodded. Happosai's desire was never as violent. He was constantly succumbing to Lust, gaining power from it while remaining mostly in control. But Genma's Desire was to consume. How was it even triggered?

There was a small thok sound as Soun set his cup next to him on the porch. "It's really amazing we're such good friends. You want to change the world, I want to keep it the way it is. The Glutton and the Sloth."

"I don't want to change the world," Genma protested.

Soun got up, walked over to Genma and put a hand on his shoulder. "But you want Ranma to change the world for you. She is her own person. She has her own desires. Even if you succeed in forcing her to be what you want, all you will have done is to digest everything unique about her and crap her out into some poor facsimile of your dreams. "

Genma looked up at Soun. "You always did have a way with words, Tendo." he deadpanned.

Soun released Genma's shoulder. "If you're okay, I think I'll go back to sleep."

"Yes, go ahead," Genma waved him off, but in the next moment he felt a sudden pang of guilt. "Ancestors! I'm a terrible father."

"Let's not start that again," Tendo warned with a tired smile. The smile cooled though, and hardened into a scowl as Soun's attention drifted.

"What is it, Tendo?"

Finding himself again, Soun straitened a little. He gave Genma a glance, "It's nothing," he said, then turned around to head back into the house. Before he walked away, he paused. His back still turned to Genma he said, "I just thought that if I were a little more like you, maybe she'd still be alive."

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

"No! I mean, why would you even ask that?"

Kasumi shrugged her "who knows?" shrug as they walked through the market. "It would just make more sense if you were doing this out of love. A girl that age could disguise herself, and maybe you sensed something at an unconscious level , and there was an attraction."

Ryoga felt like Kasumi was telling him his arms were on the wrong way, it was that strange a concept. After he stared at Kasumi for most of a second trying to figure out if she were serious or not, he shook his head slowly, his eyes still wide with surprise and disgust. "There's just no way. I mean he couldn't be a girl any more than…Megumi could be a guy."

Kasumi just nodded silently, a ghost of a smile on her face.

"Listen, I know it seems stupid, okay? You don't think I lie awake some nights wondering why I keep going after him?"

"Oh look! Watermelon!" Kasumi pointed at a fruit vender who had the spherical melons in a squat box on the ground in front of his kiosk. "It's a bit early for them. I wonder if they're really ripe?"

Ryoga scowled. He got the impression this was Kasumi's not so subtle way of saying she didn't give a shit. He followed her to the fruit stand and watched her haggle demurely with the vendor. He had never witnessed demure haggling before.

"I think Megumi likes sweet things. She'd probably love some watermelon. But we don't have enough money!" "Really? A discount? That's very kind, but I'm afraid we still don't have enough. Those watermelon look so good, it's a shame but…"

Ryoga began to be suspicious this might be an example of the "flirting" thing he'd heard about every now and then. It certainly wasn't a trick a guy could use. Ryoga tried to imagine Ranma talking that way and had to stifle his laughter.

After Kasumi made her purchase and Ryoga was carrying two spherical watermelons in bags, Kasumi asked, "What was so funny?"

"Just thinking of Ranma acting like a girl. There's really no way."

"Oh? So what conclusions do you reach when you're lying awake nights thinking about her? I mean him?"

"I didn't say that! It's not even really about Ranma. It's like…he was so damned frustrating. He got on my nerves every time. He manipulated me, mocked me, worked me up so much that I couldn't concentrate. He could find every weakness I had without even trying. I hate the bastard! But, beyond that, if I can beat him, maybe…"Ryoga let the sentence drift away. He'd already opened up to Kasumi more that he had with anyone, especially a girl, he wasn't quite ready to let everything out.

Kasumi didn't seem to need him to say it though. "You're hoping beating him will make you a better person."

"Something like that, yeah," Ryoga admitted, though it sounded stupid when she put it like that.

Kasumi stopped walking, and Ryoga stopped with her. "I think we should make a detour. There is something I want to see. Maybe you should see it too."

Ryoga shrugged, trying to convey that he had no idea where he was and was at her mercy anyway without having to actually say it.

Kasumi nodded and started walking briskly toward an alley. Ryoga followed her through the alley, down a sidewalk and across a pedestrian crossing. Then Kasumi waited until the song "Please Let Me Pass" issued from the speakers on a nearby poll. Although Ryoga could barely hear her above the sounds of traffic, Kasumi spoke one of the lines of the song: "To go there is easy, easy, but coming back is frightening." She seemed to take a moment to contemplate this before she crossed, Ryoga following. There was another alley another street. Another stretch of sidewalk. Ryoga suspected that even someone with an intact direction sense would have trouble figuring out where they were after following Kasumi like this.

Finally she stopped at an alley with a dumpster sitting at the dead end. "This is it," she said. She closed her eyes, and swallowed. Then she opened her eyes again. Resolutely, she walked to the dumpster. She knelt and felt the ground in a particular spot.

"This is what?"

"I killed a man here. It was supposed to be that Oka bastard. But…" Kasumi stared at the broken asphalt where she had put her hand. "It took me years to track Oka down. He was so careful. I should have realized…but the man was dressed just like Oka had been. The junkie who bought the drugs from him even called him by name. It was all I could do to wait for the junkie to leave before I attacked."

"Where did you hide?"

Kasumi's eyes snapped to Ryoga, "The dumpster. Where do you think?"

Ryoga had thought maybe the roof of one of the buildings, but they were too high up and he couldn't see a fire escape or anything. He might have been able to manage a jump from a roof if he used his umbrella, but that would have probably sacrificed any advantage from stealth.

"He was kneeling here, like I am now. He was about to open the briefcase to look at the money. That's when I burst out of the dumpster. I jumped over him and landed, facing him."

Kasumi stood and turned around holding an imaginary katana in her hand. "I saw his face. At that point some part of me realized he wasn't Oka, but it was too late. I was already attacking. I cut…all the way through his torso. Just like Oka had done to my mother. There was so much blood."

Kasumi stared at the scene before her for an uncomfortably long time.

Finally she slumped. "I want to cry. I want to let all this pain out of me, but I can't. There's just too much hate." Turning around, she found his eyes. "I didn't even have a moment of exaltation. There was just the hate, gripping horror, and then more hate."

"What did you do? Afterwards I mean."

Kasumi shook her head looking back at where the man had died. "I must have sheathed my sword, taken the money and ran. I don't remember it though. I just remember the blood, the look on the man's face." She looked up, squinting at the bright, yet cloudy sky overhead. "He wasn't even really a criminal. Oka had paid a salaryman to pretend to be him for the meeting."

Ryoga grimaced, tasting something sour and bitter in the back of his throat. As Kasumi was talking, he had been thinking that he would never do something so reckless as to not be sure who he was fighting before he attacked. But he had forgotten about Kumon Ryu. If he hadn't had the bars between him and Kumon, he might have attacked right away, weary as he was from days, months, even years on the road. And if Kumon had been someone innocent, someone who wasn't a martial artist…

"I am sorry I called you stupid earlier, Hibiki-kun," Kasumi said softly. "I can see that you understand."

Ryoga studied Kasumi's face. It was a kind face. Not her mask of vapid cheerfulness. Not her darker visage of suppressed anger. It was a face that calmly held the sadness Ryoga could see behind every expression. A face that somehow made sadness seem like a solid rock to stand on against the tumult of life.

For him sadness had always been a never-ending void. Something he could never get to the bottom of. Something that built on itself, getting larger and more unfathomable. It was strange seeing the same emotion being handled so differently. Ryoga looked away, self consciously. "I wish it hadn't happened to you. You seem like a nice person."

Kasumi sighed. "I'm a nice person because this happened to me. It was my fault it happened in the first place. But thank you all the same." A slight pause, then: "I need to get away from here now. We should get back to the house." Kasumi walked briskly past Ryoga, out of the alley.

Ryoga noticed her hands, balled into fists, slivers of metal peeking through her skin and then receding. "Doesn't that hurt?" Ryoga asked, following her.

Without turning around, voice tight with strain, Kasumi answered, "All the time."

~~~~~Genma~~~~~

"Yes, Ranma and Akane told me what happened," Tofu's voice from the receiver sounded weary and concerned. "Is Kasumi back yet?"

"No, not yet," Genma said with a grimace.

"I shouldn't be concerned. She can handle herself, it's just… I need to talk to her."

"I know."

"Are you aware of the latest development with Ranma?"

Genma frowned. "I'm not sure."

Tofu sighed. "Ranma has a spirit living inside her. It's what caused the black outs. It's Akane's mother. Ranma asked me not to tell Akane and I tend to agree. It might be a bad idea to let her know."

Genma had of course known about Kirika's possession since yesterday, but there was no sense revealing that now. Addressing what Tofu had said about Akane, Genma said, "she's a little sensitive about her mother. There have been one or two arguments. Ranma's not great at keeping secrets though. Neither am I for that matter."

"Yes, she's going to have to be told soon. It's just a question of whether we should rip off the band-aid or try a gentle approach." There was a silence for a moment, then Tofu added, "Ranma can talk with her now. With…Kirika I mean. She just looks at some random spot and starts talking. I'm not sure it's healthy."

Genma didn't like the sound of that at all. "Was he acting any different aside from that?"

"You want to know if she's more feminine."

Genma didn't say anything.

"It's hard to say. If anything she seemed…happier. More sure of herself. I just worry that it might be some hasty conclusion she's come to."

"Are they there now?" Genma asked.

"No, I think Akane went to school, and Ranma said something about Kumon possibly showing up at his mother's house."

Genma was confused for a moment, but then he realized it made sense. Kumon would be after the scroll. Of course he would check Nodoka's house. "Thanks, Ono-kun." He was about to say good bye, but then he asked, "What about Nabiki?"

"Nabiki?"

"Was she there?"

"No. She must have gone on to school before them."

"Hmm. Okay. Thanks again. Bye." Genma hung up. He adjusted his glasses. It seemed there was going to a power play for the umisenken scroll and his poor wife was going to be in the middle of it.

The scene inside was rather surreal. Ranma in female form and Kumon Ryu seemed to be having afternoon tea, served cheerfully by his wife. Nodoka had a tea kettle in one hand, keeping the door open for him with the other. "Welcome home, husband! We have company, isn't that nice?"

Genma frowned at this. He hadn't seen Nodoka in more than ten years, all the time thinking she had gone crazy. Her current attitude didn't exactly do much to quell that suspicion. Still, one thing he had noticed in her letters to him, other than her obsession with how manly her son was, was how lonely she seemed. He supposed company would be a treat for her, even company as bracing as Kumon Ryu. "I see," he said softening his expression. "Have you and Kumon gotten to know one another, then?"

"He's trying to find the Umisenken scroll, Pops," Ranma informed him from the table. "Mom's just making the most of it."

"Megumi!" Nodoka admonished, "Don't be rude."

Genma took a breath between his teeth. Great. Nodoka was calling her that now too. Forcing himself not to focus too much on that he asked, "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

Ranma scowled. "Yeah, I'm supposed to be a lot of things. We both know that, don't we, Pops?" Shaking her head, she continued, "Anyhow, I was chasing after this mope," Ranma indicated Kumon with a finger, "for a couple hours before I figured he'd probably check out a phone book. Wound up here."

Genma nodded. "I figured as much." Addressing Kumon Genma said, " I guess you haven't given up yet?"

Kumon smirked, "I ain't given up on shit."

"Look, Mom's already told you she doesn't know where it is. I'm sorry about your dad and all, but that's as much his fault as my Pop's. Just let it go, would ya?"

"Stay out of it, bitch. It's none of your business. He ain't even your real father."

Ranma stared at the boy for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, he's gonna teach me the technique long before he'll ever teach it to you." Ranma sipped her tea.

"Genma, dear, why don't you sit down? I'll get you a cup. " Nodoka ushered Genma inside, closing the door and heading off to the kitchen.

Genma waited until she was in the kitchen before he spoke, "I'm not going to teach it to either of you. Ever."

Ranma's head snapped up, "What, so you're just going to teach it to Nabiki?"

"No, I'm not teaching it to her either. I was thinking about it, but when Kumon showed up it reminded me why I had sealed the senken techniques in the first place." Genma turned to Kumon, "When your father died, I swore never to teach the senken techniques to anyone, to keep something like that from ever happening again. I swore never to use them either, in case someone could learn from watching me."

"Well, that was kinda stupid. I mean Kumon's been doing nothing but use the Yamasenken since he showed up. I think I almost got the idea down. It ain't that complicated. Be better just to tell people it's dangerous. Not to practice it indoors and whatnot. If you actually taught the technique, instead of letting random people pick it up from some scroll you left around, it'd be safer."

"I didn't just leave the scrolls laying around, I kept them here for safe keeping." Genma said defensively.

Nodoka came back out and handed Genma a cup. He held it as she poured tea in.

"Hey, Ma. Why don't you tell Pops what you told me and Kumon? About where you think the scroll is?"

Nodoka thinned her lips. "Well, I don't know for sure, but I make meals for some of the older folk around town and I ran out of paper to wrap the meals up in. I started using some papers with your writing on it. I was never able to make out what they said. It could be that some of those papers were the scroll Megumi and Kumon are looking for."

Ranma raised her eyebrows pointedly.

Genma sat down and sipped his tea gingerly. "Maybe you have a point."

"So are you going to teach it to me or what?" Kumon asked.

Genma regarded the rude boy in army fatigues. There was something in the boy's eyes that was separate from the perpetual scowl . Something that reminded him of what Kasumi had said about him earlier that morning. It gave him a strange, sickening, and yet oddly appropriate idea. "No," he said, "I'm not going to teach the Umisenken to you. Not anytime soon anyway. But," Genma glanced at his wife for a moment, "Maybe we can come to an arrangement."

"Yeah? What?"

"I can't make up for what happened to your father. I can't give you back the years you spent looking for me. And I can't just teach you the technique either. Not without some assurances. There is one thing I could do, though. You might not like the idea, and it would depend on what my wife and Ranma…" Genma remembered about Ranma's secret identity, "…and Megumi think, but here it is: I could adopt you."

The room was silent for a long moment. Then Ranma stood up. "Excuse me. I've got to go punch something." She left the room walking at a brisk pace, and soon it was just Genma, Nodoka and Kumon.

Nodoka sat down next to Genma, smelling of green tea and jasmine. "I think this is a lovely idea. But I know it won't be easy for you, or for us to be honest. We need to know how you feel about it."

Kumon frowned. His facial expressions oscillated from anger to pain. Genma was already beginning to regret making his offer, and if the boy made one more angry epithet he was going to drag him out of the house by his ear. But Kumon closed his eyes and opened them slowly, looking down at the table. "Okay," he said. "I'm keeping my name, but…okay." And there, on the boy's face, was the look Genma had only seen glimpses of before. The look of hope, mixed with a good deal of sorrow.

Genma swallowed. He got up, patting Kumon on the shoulder once before turning around. He saw Nodoka wiping a tear from her eye. This was not a decision he could unmake.

Ranma was just going to have to deal with it.

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

Ryoga followed the aroma into the kitchen. Kasumi was stirring something in a pot. "That smells really good."

Kasumi gave him a quick glance, and flashed a smile. "Thanks." Turning back around, she said, "Cooking is one of the few things that help me forget. Ever since Ranma…and Megumi have come though, Megumi and Akane have been monopolizing the kitchen."

Ryoga nodded, realized Kasumi couldn't hear him nod, and said, "Uh huh."

Kasumi held up an index finger, extended a blade from the tip and then used it to slice a tomato. "Yes, this works much better," she murmured to herself. Louder, to Ryoga she said, "I've been trying to suppress the blades. Trying to keep from expressing the anger. I was very good at it. But, Ra…Megumi just managed to hit every nerve of mine. I don't think she was even trying to annoy me. I just lost all my control. All at once. I attacked her, almost killed her… She forgave me." Her voice quavered at the end.

"Does she know? " Ryoga asked, "About what you did?"

"She knows the broad strokes from me. She may have gotten more from one of my sisters." Kasumi shrugged. "I'm still trying not to hate her. Does that make any sense to you? She hasn't done anything wrong and yet still…"

Ryoga though about it. "Yeah," he said, "It does. I don't really understand it either, but I've felt that way I think. Megumi seems so nice, though. "

Kasumi slid the sliced tomatoes onto a plate and turned around. "She is nice. It's just…" Kasumi's eyes drifted, "she always has this smugness about her. Like her way is always the best. No that's not quite it…" She looked up in thought. "She's like a cloud. She just drifts through, above everything, but she's what makes it rain."

"Heh, sounds a lot like…" Ryoga frowned. Little clues he'd gotten over the last day and a half slid into place. Megumi. Red-head. Panda. Jusenkyo. China….Ranma? He reviewed the facts in his head, but it still worked out to be possible. If Ranma had gotten a curse… "Hey, um…Kasumi-san? Is Megumi …Ranma?"

Kasumi smiled and turned back around. "Oh poo. You figured it out."

"Wait, you wanted me to figure it out? Why not just tell me?"

Kasumi shook her head as she picked up an onion. "It's not that exactly. I was keeping her real name a secret because she is a guest and my father would want her to be safe. Also she has some virtues which I've recently been made aware of. But, I do still sort of hate her. I don't think you're going to actually kill her. And it doesn't seem right anymore to hide her true identity from you. Finally, I think it's funny how you figured it out."

Ryoga thought about it and chuckled. "Wow. I hated the guy and I only saw him at Junior high. I couldn't imagine having to live with him."

Kasumi shook her head, "She's only been here a few weeks. You've known her longer. " Her gaze drifted again as her smile faded. "Of course right from the start she destroyed my harmony. She wasn't here five minutes before she was accusing Nabiki of being a pervert. And of course because she accused Nabiki, Nabiki had to shift the blame to everyone else around her, including me. I don't care what kind of book it is, it can't be as perverted as taking naked pictures of your sister. Besides, I can't have a boyfriend, can I?"

"Why not?" Ryoga asked.

Kasumi frowned. "That's…personal." She lifted a finger, her eyes widening as her rant got back on course. " And then Ranma took over the kitchen, trying to teach Akane to cook. Akane is a lovely girl with a lot of wonderful qualities, but cooking is NOT one of them. She very nearly ruined the stove! And Ranma's still hogging the kitchen whenever she gets the chance. And getting Nabiki to train again… You think I don't miss it? It was all I ever wanted to do at one time. But I can't start practicing the physical parts again. I can't risk hurting someone by accident. I can't stand it. Every time the news comes on there's some story of some poor innocent person getting hurt by violence. It's sick! And yet here I am just wanting to HIT something! Only every time I try, these stupid fucking blades come out!" Kasumi made an abrupt sweeping motion with her arm and a long, machete-sized blade flew from it, lodging itself in the opposite wall.

Ryoga swallowed as he watched it melt into a puddle of blood.

"Shit. Now I'm going to have to clean that up. And I was just getting over Uncle Saotome's attack. I'll probably be woozy for hours again."

"I can help, "Ryoga offered.

"NO!" Kasumi almost screamed. "This is MY kitchen! MY mess. MY blood. I will clean it up." She blinked, straightened, her face softening. "Thank you, Hibiki-kun, but I have this taken care of."She turned, opened a bottom cabinet and retrieved a roll of paper towels and some bleach.

Ryoga might have argued the point, but he wasn't sure if he could use himself as a counter example or not. His gaze fell on the mop leaning against the door frame of the open closet in the back of the kitchen. He grabbed it, jabbed the business end of the thing into the sink and turned on the water.

"What are you doing? I told you this was my mess to clean up."

"I know," Ryoga said with a shrug. "Still, take it from someone who gets lost all the time, sometimes it's good to let someone help you." He smiled. "You get the wall; I'll get the floor."

~~~~~Genma~~~~~

He looked up at the clock tower. School would be out in an hour. He had tried the Tendos first. The Hibiki kid had been there, helping Kasumi clean in the kitchen, but Ranma wasn't anywhere around. As if things weren't complicated enough already. If Ranma was running away…

Genma shook his head. Ranma had friends at school. And he had a challenge afterward. He wasn't having some sort of hissy fit. Genma wouldn't have to watch Ranma sob into her hands or anything. Ranma was still Ranma. She was just a girl most of the time now.

Genma looked around. He would have liked to use the Umisenken, but there were too many people around, and Nabiki might have some sort of spy network in place. Even without that possibility, he already had enough trouble from using it that one time. He should have kept the damned sealed technique sealed.

"You a substitute or something?" A boy in a Furinkan uniform asked. He looked older. A senior probably.

Genma glanced back at the school. Old as he was and dressed as he was, there was no hope of going in unnoticed. Genma decided to go with the truth. "I'm the father of one of the students. I need to talk with her."

The boy nodded, "You don't want her to be embarrassed though, is that it?"

"Something like that."

"Cool. Well, I'll tell someone from FuMa and they'll relay the message."

"FuMa?"

"Yeah. The Furinkan Protection committee. You will know a FuMa by their blue within blue arm bands. I can't just deliver the message directly; you might be some kind of pervert."

Genma frowned. He had heard that Nabiki had started some sort of organization at school, but this was more organized than he would have thought. "My…daughter is Saotome Ranma." It still made Genma sick to say that.

"Oh you're Ranma's dad? Why didn't you say so? She's like, one of the founding members of FuMa. I'll let her know right away." The boy ran off.

Genma waited impatiently for about five minutes, then two girls and a boy, all wearing blue striped arm bands, walked out of the school toward him. Ranma wasn't one of them, but Genma recognized Daisuke, the boy he had caught spying for Nabiki in the public baths. Genma could tell he didn't want to be there.

"Ranma doesn't want to see you now," The taller of the two girls said officiously. "If you would like to schedule a challenge though, I'd be happy to do that for you. She has a slot free next week."

"I'm his father! I'm not going to-"

"Listen," Daisuke started, "Ranma doesn't want to see you. She says she has to think about stuff or whatever. I know you're her dad, and you could beat all of us up if you wanted, but there are three of us, and Kuonko's got connections even scarier than Nabiki's." Daisuke pointed to the girl who had been silent up till then, a rather short girl with black hair in a short ponytail. She lazily examined her nails, the sleeve of her uniform dropping just enough to show the beginnings of an ornate tattoo below her wrist. "Just let Ranma cool off," Daisuke advised.

Genma looked around the three students, trying to see if he could sneak in somehow. But there was no way. Not in broad daylight. Not without the umisenken. He felt his stomach grumble.

He backed away in alarm. "I'll talk to him later," he said and walked briskly away. His stomach growled again. He had just eaten. He couldn't be hungry.

Genma closed his eyes. He just wanted his son back.

Visions of tearing Daisuke and his companions apart with his hands and teeth entered his mind like visiting in-laws. He couldn't get rid of them. He had to get away as quickly as possible.

He had to eat something soon. He'd prefer it not to be human.

"Feeling better?" Nabiki asked.

Genma looked around, catching his breath. He was on a bench next to a Takoyaki restaurant at the market, the taste of grilled octopus still in his mouth. If he tried he was able to recall how he had gotten here, but it was still dreamlike. He blinked the mental fuzz away, finally realizing Nabiki was there, and that the girl had asked him a question. He nodded by way of a reply, then he asked, "What are you doing out here?"

Nabiki turned away, kicking her feet out, "Oh, just playing hooky. My way of rebelling I guess."

"You're up to something."

Nabiki gave him a bright smile, "Uncle Saotome, I'm always up to something."

That was true enough. Genma looked at the bag on his lap and pulled out another octopus. "I would have thought you would be at Nodoka's house, scheming to get the Umisenken scroll." He bit into the morsel, willing it to calm him down.

Nabiki grimaced, and looked ahead of her. "Something more important came up."

"Oh?"

"You know about Ranma? What was causing the black outs?"

"Yes…" Genma said cautiously, not sure how much Nabiki knew.

"My mother said good bye to me today. Me and Akane. Ranma let her take over for a while. I'm not sure Akane understood what happened, but I've known for several days now."

"I'm sorry, It must have been hard on you. It's hard on me, for different reasons but still…"

Nabiki lifted her hand up. "You don't get it. Something's changed. She said 'good bye' not 'hello girls, sorry for the awkward visit.' She's leaving."

Genma didn't say anything, not wanting to show how pleased he was at this news.

"I can't let her die again."

Genma put the rest of the octopus in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. "Excuse me, but what can you do about it, exactly?"

Nabiki stood, stretching. "Uncle Saotome, I'm afraid I can't reveal that information just yet." She turned toward him smiling sadly. "Suffice to say that there's a good way I can get what I want, and a bad way. I'm trying for the good way, but if that doesn't work…"

Genma frowned. He stood up himself, taking advantage of his height to look down at Nabiki. "If you are threatening me, girl, you need to be more specific."

Nabiki looked up, her one visible eye matching his gaze unerringly. The pale blue iris so like her mother's. "Actually, no, I don't. Like I said, I hope it won't come to it, Sensei. I like you, and I like Ranma. But if I have to lose both of you to get my mother back, then you should know I've already made my decision."

Not thinking, Genma grabbed the front of Nabiki's blouse. "You're going to tell me what you mean, girl, or…"

"You'll beat me in front of this crowd of people?" Nabiki asked.

Genma looked around. Some people were already starting to stare. He let go of Nabiki.

"I'm telling you this as a courtesy. Get over this tiff with your daughter. Just let her be who she wants to be. Life is short." With that, Nabiki walked away.

It was definitely a threat, but the incongruity of it was off putting. Genma was trying to figure out how to respond as he watched her enter a pet store.

"A pet store?" He asked out loud.

Then, percolating up from the back of his brain was another incongruity. Didn't Nabiki have brown eyes? Genma tried to remember. He didn't know Nabiki that well. And which eye was it that had the patch?

There were too many unknowns for comfort, and there wasn't any law against it, so Genma followed Nabiki inside the pet store. He might have tried the Umisenken under different circumstances, but Nabiki was sharp and her will strong. It would be really bad if she figured out the technique. You had to be able to quench your ki down without letting it die completely. She could kill herself trying to perform it. Genma wasn't as sure as he was a few minutes ago, but he was still of the opinion that that would be a bad thing. As it was, he couldn't see any downside to Nabiki knowing he was following her, so he didn't try to hide himself.

He watched as Nabiki went inside the puppy and kitten room and opened one of the cages. She picked up the puppy inside, set it down next to the wall of the room with the large window facing out into the rest of the store, and walked to the other side, watching the animal intently. After a few moments, she picked up the puppy and put it back in its cage. Genma opened the door. "Nabiki, what are you doing?"

"This is part of plan A," Nabiki said without looking at Genma , "You want to help? Go grab a puppy."

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

"What are you going to do?" Kasumi asked as they approached the school.

"I'm going to fight him," Ryoga responded simply.

"Even after everything I've told you?"

"Partly because of it. Kasumi-neesan, I'm not going to kill him. I don't think I ever was. But he has a lot to answer for, and there are some things that just can't be resolved by polite conversation."

Kasumi smiled. "You might be right. Hibiki-kun." She looked up, and Ryoga followed her gaze to the clock tower. "I'll leave you here. There are some people that know me here that I'd rather not meet. At least, not yet."

"Why not?" Ryoga asked.

Kasumi's deep brown eyes focused on Ryoga for a moment. "I forced myself to accept many cruelties while I was here." Kasumi's eyes drifted back to the school. "Some of them have yet to be atoned for." She closed her eyes and took a breath. "Good luck, Hibiki-kun," she said opening her eyes again. "Kick her ass."

Ryoga thanked her, said good bye, and watched her leave. She walked at a normal pace for a young woman in a long dress, but he couldn't quite dismiss the sense that each step was a spring coiling tighter and tighter.

Ryoga found someone to take him to where the fight was to be held. It was an old abandoned lot that had seen much better days. There were craters in the ground that were chest deep if they were a foot and various pieces of sports equipment that lay broken and buried in the earth like tombstones. Here and there a miraculously untouched patch of grass clung desperately to the muddy soil, testaments to the violence that was done here.

Ryoga smiled. His kind of place.

He decided to watch Ranma's other challenge from the side of a neighboring building. There were several other people there as well. One girl was asking for people to place bets. Ryoga sat down in a good spot and made himself comfortable. Now that he knew "Megumi" was really his rival, he could get a better idea of his fighting level by watching him. Her. Whatever

The boy Ranma was fighting was dressed in a tuxedo minus the jacket. He had his feet in a foppish mockery of a European fencing position. European fencing was already foppish to begin with really, but at least it had some basis in defense and attack. This guy was going for prettiness.

Ryoga had nothing but disdain for such people. He had encountered them several times as he stayed at different temples and dojos honing his martial arts. People who were all about perfecting a technique, instead of its execution.

Ranma, by contrast, was almost exactly as Ryoga remembered him, only female and with red hair. She had the same arrogant half-stance. The same cool confidence in her eyes. The same irritating smirk. If Ryoga had seen her like this, he would have known right away who she really was.

"Saotome Ranma!" The boy in the suit called out, "I, Ashitaka Kataro shall waltz in contrapunto to the beating of your heart!"

"Oh yeah? Well, how about I counter punt your face!" Ranma stepped forward but didn't attack. She was being cautious. Interesting.

Kataro moved the tip of his shoe along the ground in a elegant semi circle. Flames leapt up where his foot had touched the ground. Ashikata raised his hand in a welcoming gesture. "Shall we dance?"

Ryoga could feel the heat from where he was sitting, and the bright flames, made it hard to see. He leapt to the roof for a better view. He was surprised to find another man there. He was wearing a blue and black kendo hakama and standing precariously close to the edge as he watched the fight.

Looking down, Ryoga could see that Ranma still had not advanced. The dancer's strategy had to hinge on Ranma making the first move. It was possible that Kataro had taken lessons from an Aikido master and was somehow adapting ballroom dancing to that discipline. A poor match for Ranma. Ranma never committed to anything. Even when he attacked he always held most of his power back. The dancer wasn't going to be able to throw him. But there was another pattern emerging. Kataro was moving in spinning circles around Ranma as he feinted. And the circles were getting tighter. A spiral!

But to what purpose? He was just decreasing the amount of room for both of them. Ryoga smiled as he realized: Ashikata's suit was fireproof!

The dancer was very close to Ranma now, and was starting to send tentative jabs her way. The red head dodged each of these easily and for a few moments it seemed as if she and Ashikata were actually dancing together.

Then Ranma grabbed Ashitaka's wrist and wrapped her arm around his waist. She pressed him close, looking into his eyes. Suddenly she was Megumi again. She was a girl dancing with a guy. She whispered something. Then she twirled suddenly flinging Ashitaka onto the ground, smothering the flames in that area. Ranma leaped from her area onto Ashitaka's back, and then into one of the craters in the lot and then to the side of the lot that was free of flames.

Ashitaka got up, and rushed through the fire toward Ranma. "I didn't finish my dance yet!" he yelled

Ranma let him get just close enough so that she could nail him in the temple with a roundhouse. Ryoga could almost hear his brains sloshing in his skull. Definite knockout. Possible concussion, but that was it.

Ranma had shown constraint.

"Something is troubling her," the man beside Ryoga said. Ryoga was a little startled; he had forgotten about him. "She normally takes more time with her challengers." The man turned to address him directly. "May I ask your name, sir?"

Ryoga gave the scene of battle another glance before responding. Two students were taking Ashitaka away. Ranma was leaning against the fence apparently watching the fires gutter out in the mud. "I'm Hibi-"

"Nay, verily I should proffer my own name first, as a courtesy. I am the rising star of Furinkan high school the leader of the kendo team, the Blue Thunder Kuno Tatewaki." As if on cue, there was a rumble of thunder in the distance. Ryoga nervously slid his umbrella from behind his back. He looked up at the sky. The clouds had been gathering all day but they had seemed bright white and cheerful. Now there was what looked like an ugly bruise on the horizon. Ryoga grimaced this was really not a good time for rain.

"Like I was about to say, my name is Hibiki Ryoga. I have no school or station. "

Ryoga could tell Kuno was disgusted by this. "And what, may I ask, is the nature of your interest in Saotome Ranma?"

"I am here to challenge her…brother."

"I was not aware she had a brother."

Ryoga looked up in exasperation. Now he was lying for the bastard. "He's her half brother? I think. I don't know. Point is I have a score to settle with him, and she's supposed to get him to show up."

"Is she close to her brother?"

"I guess you could say that…"

"Perchance you are the reason she is disturbed?"

Ryoga bit down a comment about her being disturbed long before. Instead he said, "I doubt it. She's got other issues right now."

"Oh?" Kuno put some acid into the question. Ryoga wasn't sure why, but Kuno seemed to be getting angry.

"Yeah well, her father went psycho for one, and there's this guy who's trying to steal one of her family's secret techniques. I don't know all the details. I was just looking for her brother."

Kuno seemed to relax at this. "Would I be correct in surmising that you will not do her brother any undue harm? You will not do anything that would cause her distress?"

"I suppose not, no." Kuno's concern was starting to peeve Ryoga. Ranma was playing with this guy's heart, just like she had when she was pretending to be Megumi. And that move just now with Ashitaka. That was just cruel.

"Then I shall explain the situation to her." Kuno rushed past Ryoga.

He was just about at the roof's edge, when Ryoga said, "You know, she's not worth it."

Kuno turned slowly. "What did you just say?"

"Uh, I'm just saying. If you try to get close to her, you'll regret it."

Kuno pointed his wooden sword at Ryoga's nose. "How dare you speak with such familiarity about Saotome Ranma!"

Ryoga scratched the back of his head. "I guess I take it back." He couldn't figure out a way to explain how he knew Ranma was bad news without talking about the curse or making it seem like she was an ex-girlfriend or something, and Ryoga had the impression that that either of those options would complicate the next hour or so of his life too much.

"Lucky for you, I've not the time to tarry, else I would smite thee very smartly for thy insolence." Kuno turned toward the edge. He paused for a moment, seeming to steel himself, and then he jumped.

Ryoga figured Kuno must have just learned to use ki to strengthen his legs. That put him several years behind Ryoga in acrobatic skill. Still hard to tell about his fighting ability. Ryoga might have guessed Kuno to be the same kind of fighter as Ashikata, except he had a different kind of intensity. It was as if the kendoist had an itch he couldn't scratch.

Ryoga didn't care what Kuno's problem was. He just wanted him to stop talking to Ranma so he could have his challenge.

~~~~~Genma~~~~~

"It's no use," Nabiki sat on the floor, her back against the wall of the pet shop. She rubbed her temples. "We tried everything. Even the tarantulas. And I hate tarantulas."

Genma marveled at how completely oblivious Nabiki was being about the looks she was getting from the customers and clerks. "It would help if I knew what you were trying to do," Genma pointed out.

"I seriously doubt that," Nabiki said. "You can leave any time, you know."

For the last half hour he had been getting things out of cages and aquariums and setting them free some distance away from the eye patched, helmet-haired girl, only to hurriedly incarcerate them again when they wandered off. He got the impression that Nabiki wanted them to approach her. One time, earlier on she had gotten excited when a rabbit made a tentative hop in her direction, but it veered off right afterward and no matter how many times Genma repositioned it, it wouldn't approach Nabiki again. It was actually getting rather strange just how many animals avoided the girl. If she had anything like animal magnetism, something must have reversed her polarity.

"Maybe we could go to the woods. Lots of animals there."

Nabiki lowered her head, her visible eye squeezed shut. "This is so stupid!"

Genma was inclined to agree. He was seriously thinking about leaving the girl, except the girl was Nabiki. The possibility that this was all an elaborate ruse to get him to leave her alone to accomplish some nefarious task was very real. He crossed the space between him and the girl and stood next to her, leaning against the wall as he looked at the other people with nervous smiles.

"You know," he said after a few moments. "You might just be trying too hard. Sand slips faster from a tight fist and all that."

Nabiki looked up at him with her visible eye. Genma could see the scarring now, underneath the makeup Nabiki had covered it with. She looked away. "Could be," she said seeming to consider it.

"I'm glad your eye has healed."

Nabiki shrugged. "I showed Ranma this morning. I figured everybody else would find out soon anyway. No need to hide it anymore."

"So… the patch?"

"I have a hard time focusing without it. Two different colors at once. Different brightnesses too. "

"Still not going to tell me your plan?"

"Nope." Nabiki lifted herself onto her feet. And started walking past all of the cages seeming to head out the door.

"Wait, you're leaving now?" He was really getting sick of this. For all he knew Nabiki was just toying with him. Wanting to get back at him for knocking her out or something. He considered just letting her go. But it could be that she was trying to get him to go away. Wincing, Genma realized he was already following her out of the store. He was being manipulated. By a seventeen year old girl.

He followed her down the street. She seemed to be heading back to her house, but then she stopped. "Hey," Genma said, "You're going to Shiratori-san's house."

Nabiki turned around. "Uncle Saotome, your powers of deduction amaze me."

Nabiki's plan had something to do with that spooky old lady?

Genma had about two seconds to ponder this before something metallic and full of water impacted against the back of his head.

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

The wind was starting to pick up. Ryoga could smell the sea on it. It was going to be a cold rain. Most of the previous audience had gone inside already. Ranma had managed to punt Kuno into the next block, and so there was no reason for Ryoga not to pursue his challenge. The sky was a dirty grey now, bleaching the color out of everything. Ranma's hair almost looked like a normal shade of red under this light. The abandoned lot was still smoking with low guttering flames, black soot stains marking where Ashitaka had sprayed kerosene from his dance shoes.

"So how did you find out?" she asked. She had already fallen into her deceptively casual fighting stance that wasn't a stance so much as an attitude.

"I was talking to Kasumi and figured it out from what she said." Ryoga held his umbrella closed and angled down to the side. He grabbed some bandanas from his forehead with his right hand. His mother had taught him how to fill fabric with his ki. The same principles that worked for gymnastics ribbons worked for the far more practical bandannas.

"So she knows I'm a guy? She always treats me like a girl. I thought maybe she didn't know."

Ryoga shook his head. "You haven't changed, Ranma. Even as a girl, you're still an inconsiderate ass!" He threw the bandanas at Ranma in a volley.

Ranma, predictably, dodged them effortlessly, but her movements allowed Ryoga to gauge her skill. She was definitely more agile than when Ryoga knew her. But her reach as a girl wasn't as long. And it didn't look like she had a lot of muscle in her arms. Of course she could compensate with ki, but she would have to concentrate to maintain it. If the muscle was there, the ki came through quicker and was more stable.

"Look, Ryoga, I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge you back in Junior high," Ranma said while Ryoga got more bandanas, "but I didn't even know you. I was only there for half a year and then Pops and me went to China."

"Oh you remember China, do you?" Ryoga let the bandanas loose again, this time looking for any blindspots in Ranma's vision. There weren't any . "I suppose you remember knocking someone off a mountain?"

"Yeah…Wait…" Ranma's eyes widened. "That was you?"

"Yes that was me!" Ryoga charged Ranma, swiping at the girl with his umbrella. "And thanks," (swipe)" for checking," (swipe) "to see if I was alright!" Ranma having dodged all of his blows, Ryoga shoved the point of the umbrella into the ground, causing a small pressure wave around the tip. If Ranma had been in the radius, she would have maybe broken an ankle, but of course she leapt up before the pressure wave hit.

"Were you hurt? You didn't fall into a spring did you?"

"Because of you, I've seen hell!" Ryoga opened his umbrella and threw it spinning toward Ranma , angling it so it would return. Ranma dodged, but Ryoga rushed to where he knew she would have to dodge and grabbed her wrist. With surprising ease he twisted it behind Ranma's back and forced her into the ground. She let out a grunt of pain. Ryoga snatched the umbrella from the air as it returned. For the moment he had her, but he could feel her filling her arms and legs with ki like a fuzzy pins and needles sensation.

Thunder crashed and the first drops of rain fell from the sky.

Ranma was breaking free from his hold, but it didn't matter. If Ryoga had really wanted to, he could have killed her in that moment. He had won.

He got off of her holding his umbrella over his head to block the rain.

Heavy droplets splashed onto Ranmas back as she got up. Her body changed, grew thicker and taller. He was male, just as Ryoga had remembered him. Male, after getting hit with cold water.

Ryoga blinked. If Ranma was male with cold water then…

Ranma was a girl.

He had been a girl the whole time.

"Alright, now I'm pissed," Ranma growled.

"You're…a girl," Ryoga said intelligently.

Ranma leg swept Ryoga's feet out from under him and he fell onto his back. "Not at the moment, bucko," Ranma said. He jumped in the air, somersaulting once before landing on Ryoga's stomach. He grabbed the umbrella, which Ryoga had dropped in his surprise, closed it and pointed it at Ryoga's nose. Ranma might have said some other witty epithet then, but Ryoga was saved from that indignity by his curse, which changed him abruptly into a small pig in that instant.

Ryoga sped away from the scene as fast as he could, and he had always found his pig form to be alarmingly fast. He just had to look in a direction and ZOOM he was there. It would have been a useful upside to an otherwise pitiful curse, except that he still had his terrible sense of direction.

After only a minute of running, or scurrying, or whatever it was that pigs did through the rain. Ryoga stopped somewhere in the city with absolutely no idea where he was. It wasn't good to be a pig in the city. Animal control was not your friend in such a situation. Ryoga looked around, trying to figure out which way would lead to a wooded area the fastest. When he turned to his left, though he saw a teenaged girl and an old woman dragging a panda into a house. Ryoga blinked. He remembered there had been a panda last night at the Tendos, and sure enough the teenager was the middle sister Nabiki. The scary one with the eyepatch.

Ryoga looked around, measuring his options. If he stayed with the Nabiki girl, he'd at least know where he was, and maybe he could figure out his next move from there. Or he could risk getting tranqued by some stealthy pig catcher.

Ryoga approached Nabiki.

"Okay," Nabiki said, letting go of the panda for a moment to wipe the rain water from her eyes. "We're making a note. Next time we want to knock out Uncle Saotome, we're doing it inside the house."

"Everything happens for a reason, child," the old lady said, smiling, Then she pointed at Ryoga.

Nabiki turned to see Ryoga. Her visible eye widened. "Hey, there! You want to come closer? " she dug in her jeans pocket for something. "Chiin chiin!" she said holding up what looked like a doggie treat. To the old lady she said, "I'm better with dogs, but pigs like treats too, right?"

Ryoga spent some time trying to figure out exactly how much humiliation he was willing to endure in this situation. He decided he would get closer, but he wouldn't take the treat. He let Nabiki pick him up. She checked his genitals.

"It's a male pig. He's kind of cute though. I guess it could work, right?"

"I believe it could work, yes, child," the old lady said. Lightning flashed in the distance after she said this, followed by a quick crash of thunder, like two hits on a snare drum and one on a bass.

Nabiki addressed Ryoga then, lifting him so she could look into his eyes. "What do you say, little guy? You want to be my familiar?"

~~~~~End of Chapter 14~~~~~

~~~~~Author notes~~~~~

Maybe this still counts as Genma bashing. I don't know. I happen to think Genma is one of the more entertaining characters in the series. Full of wisdom one minute, a complete idiot the next. There's just the pesky child abuse issue.

I just don't think any semi-serious Ranma fanfiction can have Genma in it without showing a little of his dark side. And the fork is strong with him (sorry ^_^;) So he basically has a REALLY bad case of hypoglycaemia. At least he isn't going out every night and getting drunk. Oh wait...Hmmm...He's just an innocent panda!

You can see how Ryoga and Kasumi have a reason for disliking Ranma. Even if it is largely because they're control freaks.

By the way, be glad that this fic isn't a lemon, because the scene where Ryoga and Kasumi clean up the blood in the kitchen would have been a lot more disgusting.

I should point out that that scene is a bit of meta-humor along the lines of WAFF+gore=funny. If you do not agree with that calculation, I apologize. I watched too many horror movies when I was kid.

And just to be clear, I don't really do match ups. I don't really know for sure whom Ryoga is going to end up with. I don't really know who anyone is going to end up with. I have my suspicions and some things that I'm rooting for, but while I probably have a better idea than you do what's going to happen, it's still something of a mystery. Just because two characters have some WAFF together doesn't mean they're going to end up doing it. At least not in this fic. That's probably some kind of trope rule.

Nabiki gets to be a little evil in this chapter, which I like. Her alignment is definitely chaotic neutral. She's also, apparently, some kind of witch, but we'll get into that later.

Kumon Ryu. Didn't get time to show it in this chapter, but his adoption isn't exactly the hallmark movie of the year it seems to be. I had to have it happen because some part of me loved the idea, but I'm pretty sure it was the evil, sadistic part.

Thanks as always to everyone who gave a review. You are all awesome for reading, but those of you who leave a review are just a tiny bit better than everyone else.