Note: The characters in this story don't belong to me

Note: The characters in this story don't belong to me. They belong to other people, and I am perverting them for my own use. And by other people, I mean corporations with lots of money. Way more than I'll ever have. So no lawsuits, ok?

**********

Life in the Fast Lane

Captain Darkash of the United Coalition of (Non-Juraian)Planets starship Indomitable sat bolt upright in his bunk when the irritatingly loud chime of the door to his quarters sounded.

"Come in," he snarled, wiping the last traces of sleep from his eyes. The door swished open, revealing a young lieutenant stood in the doorway, framed by the muted lighting of the corridor. "What is it, Naoko?" The girl blushed slightly and averted her eyes from her captain's bare torso as he swung his legs off of his bed and began putting on his uniform.

"Executive Officer's compliments, sir." She stammered, "He apologizes for interrupting your sleep, but we have a distress call on the monitors."

Darkash blinked as he pulled on his uniform pants, a little angry now. "Is that all?" he asked incredulously. "Can't he handle it himself?"

The girl looked up, her expression earnest. "Oh no, sir! It's not like that at all! He thought he should inform you that it was a standard Galaxy Police code,"

Darkash stopped in the middle of pulling on his uniform tunic, and turned to look at her. "The Galaxy Police?"

"Yessir!" the girl said, nodding.

Darkash looked thoughtful, as he finished dressing. "It might be useful to have them owe us one," he mused thoughtfully. The girl said nothing, simply nodded. "Well, ok," he muttered. "I'll be up in five minutes. Dismissed." The girl nodded sharply and fled, and Darkash's cabin door swished shut. Unfortunately, He had not turned on the lights, and, surprised by the sudden darkness, he promptly banged his shin hard against his bed. A roar of pain echoed out into the corridor.

Five minutes later, Darkash limped onto the bridge. His Executive Officer, a thin sword blade of a man with a narrow, hawk like face, looked curiously at him. Darkash glared back.

"All right," Darkash said harshly, "What's so damned important?" His XO however, was not cowed.

"We discovered a debris field drifting through the borders of our space, Captain," he said mildly, "I ordered a small detour in our patrol to take a closer look. When we had closed to thirty light-minutes, Communications picked up this." With that, he gestured to a slight young woman that Darkash didn't recognize sitting at the Comm station. She turned to her controls, and after a slight delay, a full throated, slightly husky woman's voice played over the bridge speakers.

"To any and all spacecraft in the area. This is Galaxy Police Detective first-class Kiyone Makabi. I have been stranded and request immediate pickup."

The message repeated itself twice before Darkash ordered the speakers silenced.

"What do we do about this, I wonder?" he mused. His XO raised an eyebrow.

"We aren't obligated to do anything, sir. This does fall under the responsibility of the GP and Juraian Empire." Darkash nodded.

"Sure, but we don't know that she could survive long enough for us to notify the GP…" Darkash stroked his chin a moment in thought. If possible, he wanted little or nothing to do with the GP, as they were not especially popular with The Coalition. (Mostly due to the fact that a single Galaxy Police operative had managed to somehow shut down the Fleet headquarters for three weeks by somehow shorting out the supercomputer that ran the base.) On the other hand, he wasn't willing to chalk this woman's death up to unfortunate circumstance, either. He nodded sharply, his decision made.

"Right. Helm, come about, right full. Take us into the debris field. Tactical, try and get us a lock on where the signal is coming from, and feed the co-ordinates to the helm." After a moment of watching the flurry of activity his orders caused, he walked over to a bulkhead and tapped the intercom.

"Infirmary? This is the bridge. Prepare yourself, Doctor, we're taking a castaway on board." Without waiting for the Doctor's acknowledgement, Darkash cut the connection. He hoped he was doing the right thing. For some reason, he had a bad feeling about this. With a muted thrum, the engines of the Indomitable thrust the ship into the debris field.

# # #

Sasami Masaki awoke bright and early to the tentative light of the morning sun peering in the window. She sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily, and glanced to her side. There lay her older sister Ayeka, dead to the world, snoring softly. Sasami wondered, not for the first time, what Ryoko would pay for the knowledge that her sister snored. Giggling quietly behind her hand, she quickly and silently dressed and exited the room to make breakfast for her family.

Sasami made her way quietly down the stairs and turned to enter the kitchen when she caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. She padded over to the sliding glass doors leading out into the spacious yard of the Masaki home and peered out. Not seeing anything, she slid the door open and took a few steps onto the patio. The sight made her gasp.

Out in the middle of the yard was the Masaki residence's newest houseguest, Ranma Saotome. He was moving very quickly, doing a complicated dance of some sort. After a moment, Sasami realized it looked very much like the sword kata that she had seen the Juraian Royal Guard doing when she was little, only he didn't have a sword. She watched in wide-eyed appreciation for a moment. Ranma-san must be very good, he doesn't look like he's making any mistakes…he even has his eyes closed! Then, as his kata reached what looked like its climax, He surprised her again. Instead of slowing down, he jumped. Sasami's jaw dropped open. Without any apparent effort, he had leaped nearly twice the height of the house!

As he began to descend, Ranma intensified his kata, moving through punches and kicks with an eerily fluid grace, slowing to a stop as he alighted silently on the ground. Sasami couldn't hold it in any longer.

"WOW!"

Ranma turned and facefaulted. "Ah…How long ya been watchin' me?" he asked as he got up, looking at his unexpected audience.

"Since before you jumped. You're really good, Saotome-san!" she complimented, smiling. Ranma puffed up at the praise, but winced as Sasami used his name.

"Like I told your sister, ya don't gotta call me nothing like that. Jus' Ranma is fine."

"That's not good manners," Sasami said snidely, in a fair impression of her older sister. She smiled again. Ranma blinked.

"Oh. Well, I ain't really an expert on manners, I guess," he chuckled, scratching absently at the base of his pigtail. "Well, what d'ya call Tenchi?"

"Oh, I call him Tenchi-oniichan. He's sort of like a big brother anyway," she said, dimpling.

"Well, you could call me that too, if ya want. I hate the way 'Saotome-san' sounds. I keep wanting to look around for my pop…" Ranma was cut off as Sasami clapped her hands.

"Really?" she exclaimed. Ranma nodded, grinning at the little princess's obvious delight.

"Sure. But only if I can call ya imootochan…" he teased.

"Sure!" Sasami giggled.

"Heh. I always wanted a little brother or sister," Ranma commented, ruffling her hair with one hand. "So, what are ya doin' up this early, hime-chan?"

Sasami smiled, then let out a small gasp. "Oh, yeah! Breakfast!" She said, dashing into the house, Ranma entering right behind her.

"Really? All these girls in the house and you're the one who cooks?" He asked incredulously as the little girl hurriedly began pulling pots and pans from various cupboards.

"Well, Ryoko and Ayeka try, sometimes," Sasami commented as she went, "But I don't like to let them too often. Ryoko never cleans up her messes, and Ayeka-oneechan…well, strange things happen when she cooks."

"Really?" Ranma asked, a familiar dread seeping into his mind. "Like what?" Sasami turned back to him.

"You wouldn't believe it," she told him as they entered the kitchen. Ranma followed.

"You'd be surprised at what I believe," he noted wryly. "So, want some help making breakfast?" he offered. Sasami nodded.

"Sure!" she responded brightly. "Mihoshi helps sometimes, but mostly I do it by myself…" Despite himself, Ranma was impressed. Sasami was doing at a very young age what Kasumi did for the Tendos.

"Hm! Well, what d'ya want me to do?" he asked.

"Could you slice the fruit for me?" she gestured to a tray on the counter laden with fruit.

Ranma's face lit up in a broad smile. He shot Sasami a sidelong glance.

"Hey, Sasami-hime, wanna see a trick?" he asked slyly. Sasami may have been exceptionally mature for a child, but she WAS a child. Her eyes lit up.

"Oh, yes please!!"

Ranma grinned mischievously as he picked up a carving knife. He walked over to the cutting board Sasami had indicated, and picked up it up, fruit and all. He walked over to the island in the middle of the kitchen, and tensed, as if he was going to throw the whole works, but at the last second, he stopped himself. At Sasami's questioning look, he chuckled sheepishly.

"Sorry. Forgot ta wash 'em," he apologized. Sasami smiled, puzzled. Ranma pulled the fruit over to the kitchen sink, and rinsed them quickly. He returned to Sasami, and grinned again at her expectant expression. He tensed again, and to Sasami's astonishment, he actually tossed the entire platter of fruit high into the air. As the fruit hit the apex of it's flight, Ranma set the cutting board onto the table and jumped after the fruit, spinning the knife quickly in one hand. As the fruit dropped past him, the hand holding the knife lashed out with amazing speed, over and over again. Just as abruptly as it had begun, the fruit all dropped to the table, with Ranma landing neatly in the exact same spot he had jumped from.

"Wow…" Sasami breathed. All of the breakfast fruit was neatly sliced, and had landed in a neat little starburst arrangement. Ranma laughed at Sasami's awestruck expression. "How did you do that??" she asked, her wide pink eyes fixing on his.

"It ain't no big thing," Ranma replied, amused. "After practicin' the Art for so long, a little thing like this ain't nothin'."

"Really?"

"Sure. I've learned how ta do lots of things that are tough for some people. So figuring out little tricks like this ain't hard."

"What else can you do?" Sasami asked excitedly.

"Heh. How many plates you got?" Ranma asked, smirking.

Tenchi rolled over in bed and smiled at the tantalizing aromas wafting up the stairs. It smells like Sasami out did herself this morning, he thought happily. Suddenly he realized there was something wrong. He sat up slowly. Where's Ryoko? She usually… The thought trailed off as his eyes landed on the futon where Ranma had spent the night. Oh. I guess she didn't want to give Ranma the wrong idea… He paused as he considered the likelihood of that statement. Or something. He pushed back the covers and hopped out of bed, pausing a moment to yank on his pants, and padded out of his room into the hall, were he was immediately accosted in a warm, if slightly over-enthusiastic embrace.

"Tenchi!" Ryoko squealed delightedly.

Aha, There she is. He thought, sighing. I wish she would pick better times to do this… He blinked a moment as he wondered where that thought came from. As he tried to inhale, a difficult proposition, considering Ryoko's strength, he caught a whiff of her perfume, a slightly musky scent that had hints of raspberries.

"Ryoko!" he groaned. "Leggo! I have to go to the bathroom!" She pulled away with a slight pout, but he could see mischief twinkling in her amber eyes. "And no phasing through the bathroom wall, either!" he warned.

"Tenchi! Would I do something like that?" She protested, affecting an innocent air, running her finger coyly across his chest. Tenchi was unable to hide his amused smile. Ryoko really was beautiful, and he hated to constantly push her away, but there WAS Ayeka to consider…

"Yes," he said wryly. "And you have. Frequently."

"I can't help it," Ryoko smiled, giggling. "You're just so cute! And well endowed, too…"

"RYOKO!" Tenchi yelled, his cheeks now glowing a shade of red usually associated with fire engines. Ryoko smiled good-naturedly, and stroked his face gently.

"I'll go see what Sasami's up to. Ja ne!" she said cheekily, winking. Tenchi's blush deepened at the promise that was implied in the gesture. Ryoko laughed, and teleported away. A few moments later, Tenchi walked into the bathroom, still blushing. She's in a good mood today. Ryoko was better behaved lately, after the Dr. Clay incident, but she was still an incorrigible flirt. And honestly, I'm not sure I'd have her any other way.

Ryoko materialized in the kitchen just as Ranma was attempting to catch a plate that was sailing toward him with his foot (His hands were full), while still talking with Sasami. She caught the tail end of his sentence as she phased in.

"…and so, just when Akane was gettin' ready to pound me, 'cause she got the wrong idea about the whipped cream an' all, Nabiki comes in, an' explained ta her that Kuno had brought it for the 'pig-tailed girl'. So I got off the hook on that one." He said. Sasami giggled at that, stirring something sizzling on the stove. Ryoko quickly floated up behind Ranma.

"Ohayo!" she said casually. Ranma started violently, and the plate he had been fielding with his foot impacted rather solidly with his face, knocking him to the floor in a clatter of dishes. Ryoko smirked genially. "Have an accident, hotshot?"

"No thanks. Just had one," Ranma returned sourly from the floor.

Ryoko chuckled. "And here I thought you martial arts types were supposed to be impossible to sneak up on."

Ranma frowned. "Hey! I am! Ah…mostly. I just gotta be paying attention is all," he defended himself. Sasami looked over from her stool in front of the stove.

"Are you ok, Ranma-niichan?" She asked.

"Sure, Hime-chan. If I could survive all them stories, a plate ain't gonna hurt me much," Ranma boasted, grinning cockily. Sasami nodded.

"Hai. Nabiki-san sounds very nice,"

"Yeah. She wasn't really, at first, but she was a big help the last six months or so," Ranma nodded. Sasami smiled and, turning her attention back to the stove, put the finishing touches on the last dish. Ryoko looked at Ranma thoughtfully.

"She your girlfriend?" Ryoko asked. Washu seemed pretty impressed by this guy. Better find out if it's gonna be tougher than I thought…Ranma looked at Ryoko as he got up and shook his head.

"No. Hell, until six months ago, I didn't even like her very much," He admitted.

"What changed your mind?"

"Well, she's a kinda like me," Ranma said slowly as he picked up the plates. "She's different from people her age, or even from her sisters, and 'cause of that, she's had to be alone for a lot of her life. It makes her a little hard to get to know. But once ya get past her tough image, she's a really good friend. Man, I doubt I would survived some of the stuff that's happened ta me without her help,"

"She sounds alright."

Ranma smiled. "She is. You'd probl'y like her,"

Ryoko tilted her head, wondering exactly what he meant by that. She opened her mouth to ask another question when Sasami interrupted.

"Ranma-niichan, will you go and tell Washu breakfast is ready?"

"Huh? How come, Sasami-chan? Breakfast won't be for awhile yet." Ranma said.

"Yes, it's just everyone seems to take a long time whenever they go to Washu's lab, and I don't want you to be late for breakfast," she said, smiling. Ranma scratched his head, puzzled, as Ryoko hid a smirk behind her hand.

"Well, ok." He said, and left the room. Ryoko turned to Sasami, openly grinning.

"Pretty slick, kiddo. Since when are you a matchmaker?"

"Ryoko-neechan? What are you talking about?" Sasami said curiously. Ryoko blinked hard, looked at the doorway Ranma had just exited from, then back at Sasami, noting the miniscule twitch of the little princess' lips.

"Nice try, Sasami. I'm not buying it. I still remember the Shoji manga prank, you know," Ryoko told her, and Sasami promptly blushed to the roots of her blue hair.

"I said I was sorry," she offered abashedly.

"Hey, relax." Ryoko waved it off. "Now, tell me if you're up to what I think you're up to."

"Well, maybe a little…but you've got to promise not to say anything!" Sasami insisted. Ryoko looked puzzled.

"How come?"

"Well, Ranma-niichan was telling me some stories about where he used to live, and I don't want him to think I'm like that."

Ryoko cocked her head questioningly. "Oh yeah? What kind of stories?"

"Well, he told me that one time, his father and his iinazuke's father--"

Ranma hesitated at the closet door he had been told was Washu's lab. Washu had mentioned she was a scientist, but Ranma wondered what kind of experiments you could perform in a closet. And, by the looks of things, a small one. He wondered absently if he should knock. Shrugging, he rapped once on the door, as a warning he was coming in, and the door opened all by itself. With a highly dubious expression, Ranma peered into the inky blackness, and tentatively stepped through the door.

To his utter surprise, he was suddenly in a brightly lit, cheerful looking grove of trees, planted in some sort of overly large greenhouse. The door closed with a click behind him, and, to his further shock, the door vanished into thin air!

"What the??" Ranma was a little nervous now. How was he supposed to get out? Suddenly, Washu entered the clearing where he was.

"Ranma! Hello!" she said warmly, smiling at him. Ranma turned from inspection of the space where the door was and grinned uncertainly, feeling his stomach do a flip-flop at the sound of her voice.

"Hi, Washu. Sasami says..." Ranma trailed off as he stared at the red-headed girl. Washu blushed under the scrutiny.

"Um…What is it, Ranma?" she asked, a trifle shyly. Ranma blinked.

"Um, you look younger than you did yesterday," It was true. Yesterday, the intergalactic scientist had looked in her early twenties, some years older than Ranma. Today, she seemed in the same age category as Ranma himself, no older than nineteen. Ranma was extremely disconcerted. He had quite a number of confusing feelings upon meeting the beautiful older woman yesterday, but they were nothing compared to the girl he saw now. Washu smiled at his consternation.

"My age is flexible." She said simply.

"Nani?? Really?"

"Sure," Washu nodded, smiling impishly. "Watch." She stepped back. Ranma blinked, suddenly, before his eyes, Washu became a pre-pubescent girl, about Sasami's age.

"Sugoi," Ranma gaped. Washu giggled a little at the flabbergasted expression on his face.

"I like this one for just having fun," She told him. "I use it a lot. Then, when I want someone to take me seriously," In the twinkling of an eye, the little girl Washu vanished, replaced by the stunning red-head he'd met the day before, "I use this one." She finished. Ranma nodded.

"That's really cool," he said, whistling softly. Washu smiled at him, and he couldn't help but smile back.

"Thanks," She said in her sultry voice. "And I made this one last night," she finished, reverting to the form she had when he'd come in. "What do you think?"

"Kawaii," Ranma blurted, before he could even think of a response. He reddened and winced in habitual anticipation of an impact. However, Washu merely smiled back.

"Thank you," was all she said. Ranma chuckled sheepishly, and was suddenly struck by an idea.

"Say, Washu-san?" he began respectfully. Washu smiled.

"Just call me Washu, Ranma-kun. Or Washu-chan, if you like," She added a moment later raising a suggestive eyebrow, and smiling faintly.

"Um, Washu…" he amended, trying very hard to think about something to get his mind off how his cheeks were getting red and his chest was beginning to constrict. "Could you do something like that for me?" Washu tilted her head quizzically.

"You want to be younger?"

"No! No, no," Ranma hastily assured her. "I've done that once already anyway," Washu gave him an odd look as he said this.

"What I was wondering was…do you think you could do anything about my, um, curse?" he asked looking at his toes. Washu smiled, charmed by the shy manner, but then looked thoughtful a moment as her unparalleled mind took up the challenge.

"Well," she said, shooting a sly glance at the young man, "I'd need to scan you while you're transforming a few times to see if anything can be done…" Ranma nodded eagerly, missing the delighted twinkle in Washu's eyes.

"Hey, no problem. But…I've almost been cured lots o' times. Do you really think you can do it?"

"If anyone can, I can. Because…I am the greatest scientific genius in the UNIVERSE!! Heheheheheh!" she chuckled. Ranma sweatdropped.

"Ah…really?"

"Sure," Washu grinned, and Ranma's eyes widened, though not in dismay. He knew that look. He was fairly certain he sported a similar grin every time he accepted a challenge. Washu might seem weird to some, but Ranma instinctively recognized the confidence that came with being the best. He smiled.

"When do we start?" he asked eagerly. Washu shrugged.

"Sasami should take a bit to get breakfast finished. We can start now, if you want," Washu offered tentatively, and Ranma nodded.

"Sure. Hey, by the way, did you do that thing to Tenchi's door?" Ranma asked. Washu blinked.

"What thing?"

"I dunno what it was exactly. I got up ta go to the washroom in the middle of the night, and when I opened the door, there was this red flash in the corner of my eye, and suddenly I was in the middle of the lake," Ranma explained, looking puzzled. Washu blushed furiously.

"Gomen. I forgot all about that," she apologized sheepishly. "I put that there because Tenchi was having problems with Ryoko and Ayeka sneaking into his room at night,"

Ranma's eyes widened. "Really? Wow, that's pretty cool, Washu-chan. I coulda used something like that when I was stayin' with the Tendos," he grinned. Washu smiled, wondering if he even realized that he'd called her 'Washu-chan'. Probably not, she guessed. But still, it seemed to mean more than when the rest of the household used the 'little' that she insisted on.

"Well, as long as you're staying in Tenchi's room, it shouldn't be too hard to fix it to let you in too," she told him as they walked into the part of her lab that she used for analysis. She pulled out her astral computer, and typed a few keys. A large machine hummed to life behind Ranma. Ranma whirled around.

"What the-?" he uttered, as tentacles snaked out of the machine. The reached out to grab him and he tensed, getting ready to fight them off, when they paused and retracted on their own. He turned back to Washu, blinking.

"Sorry," She apologized as she finished entering the 'halt' command. "I did that to get Tenchi to hold still while I examined him. I shut it off though, It's harmless now." Ranma nodded. "So," Washu continued, "Let's get started, ne?"

"Do I gotta take off my shirt or something?" Ranma asked, looking mildly uncomfortable with the prospect.

Please Do!! A voice in Washu's head piped up. She shook her head. He was obviously a little skittish. She would have to be patient. Aloud, she merely said, "Not if you don't want to, Ranma-kun. I should be able to scan you just fine like that," she assured him. Ranma relaxed a little, and Washu couldn't resist. He was so cute when he was nervous, she felt the need to tease him a little. "Besides, we have time enough for that later," Ranma instantly went red. He started to splutter, but the hum of activating scanners drowned out whatever it was he was planning to say as the greatest scientist in the universe did what she did best. (Science stuff, hentai!)

# # #

Nabiki stared unseeing at the suitcase that sat in the middle of her room. She had begun packing early in the morning, and had finished twenty minutes later, the suitcase about half full. And that's everything that belongs to me, Nabiki thought bleakly. The rest of the stuff in here is either Kasumi's or Akane's. Have I really had that little impact? She reached up to scratch at the pristine white bandage that encircled her head. Unbidden, a memory came to mind, of when she and Nodoka had seen Ranma off from the Saotome house as he went to the train station to Okayama. He had looked a little lost, a far cry from his usual confident strut, but she distinctly remembered the pack on his back. It had seemed a little small, and she had asked Nodoka if he had all he'd need. The older woman smiled, a little sadly.

"That's everything he owns, Nabiki-chan,"

Nabiki sighed again as she snapped out of her thoughts and stared at the exceedingly small little suitcase. Ranma and I have something in common. What are the odds of that?

The sound of a knocking door intruded on her thoughts. Nabiki looked up.

"It isn't locked," she called. Timidly, her gaze cast down, Akane stepped into her room.

"Uhm…Hi…" Akane began. Nabiki tilted her head. This was unexpected.

"Hi Sis. Come to smack me with your mallet for stealing your fiancé?" Nabiki asked bluntly.

"No! Of course not!" She protested, reddening.

"Why not? That's the usual routine, isn't it?"

"It's not your fault," Akane insisted. "Ranma-"

"Don't say it, 'neechan." Nabiki warned. "I'm in no mood to hear about how all this is Ranma's fault. Especially since he hasn't been here for two days. Do you have ANY idea how silly you sound when you do that?" Akane gaped, opening and closing her mouth repeatedly. Nabiki shook her head, wincing a little as her concussion blurred her vision momentarily. Not for the first time, she wished for Ranma's recuperative abilities. Akane finally broke the silence with a tremulous question.

"Do you love Ranma?"

Nabiki shook her head disbelievingly. "What kind of a question is that?"

"Just answer it!!" Akane snapped. Nabiki glared at her younger sister, but when she saw the pain there, she relented.

"Don't be silly, Akane. Of course not!"

Akane's eyes narrowed. "I don't believe you. Everyone loves Ranma!"

Nabiki grinned. "Even you, Little sister?"

"NO! I don't love that Bakayarou Hermaphrodite!"

"But you just said-,"

"Everyone but me!" Akane snapped.

Nabiki shook her head. "Who exactly do you think you're fooling?" she told her sister, who was now flushed with anger. "This is why-," Nabiki was cut off by another knock. "Come in," she sighed.

Kasumi entered the room gracefully, and her serene gaze fell on her younger sisters. "Here you are, Akane-chan. Could you run to the store for me please? We seem to have run out of cooking sake again," she asked, smiling. Kasumi's manner, as always, seemed to deflate Akane's wrath.

"Hai, oneechan" she said wearily, and left the room, grumbling about drunken panda freeloaders.

Nabiki shook her head. "Someday I'll figure out how you handle her so easily, Sis."

Kasumi smiled impishly. "Tendo School of Anything-Goes Peaceful Aura technique,"

Nabiki blinked. Hard. Then started to chuckle, then collapsed into full blown laughter. Kasumi giggled as Nabiki finally sat up, wiping a tear from eye and wincing.

"Oh boy. Don't do that too often, Sis. I don't think my ribs could take it, the shape they're in."

Kasumi's expression turned sympathetic. "Gomen, Nabiki-chan. Are you alright?"

Nabiki smiled. "Fine, fine. I needed that anyway. So, what's up, besides making sure Akane doesn't kill me?"

"Auntie sent me to tell you that you leave in a couple of hours, oneechan," said Kasumi. Nabiki nodded as a pensive expression settled on her face. "What's the matter, oneechan?" she asked.

Nabiki shrugged. "Just wondering what I got myself into is all,"

Kasumi nodded. "About the engagement?"

"Yeah. I don't know if it was the right thing to do. But Uncle Saotome and Daddy were pushing harder than they should have. There's something fishy about all this. And…"

"And you're worried about how Ranma will take it," Kasumi finished.

Nabiki nodded. "Uh-huh. He thinks he's gotten away from all this kind of stuff. Now we're about to set him up again." Nabiki didn't say, And we were getting along pretty well, too…

"Do you like Ranma?" The question, even though a similar one had been posed by Akane moments ago, took Nabiki by surprise. She looked at her sister, who had a serious expression on her face.

"What makes you think that?"

Kasumi merely raised an eyebrow.

Nabiki sighed deeply. "Ok, sis. I like the guy, sure. I mean, how can you not like him? Even when he's being dumb he's just too cute. But, I don't like him...like that," Nabiki finished.

"Ask him to help. Ranma-kun won't hold this against you, Nabiki-chan. You'll need him on your side to find out what Father isn't telling us," Kasumi urged.

"You heard, huh?" Nabiki smiled ruefully.

"Auntie told me how the discussion went," she said, nodding seriously. "I agree. There's more to the Saotome-Tendo agreement than Father has said."

"And someone's got to save Ranma-kun from being their sacrificial lamb, ne?"

"That's very altruistic, Nabiki-chan," Kasumi smiled.

Nabiki recoiled in mock horror. "Bite your tongue, sis. I'm mean and cold and nasty, and I've got money flowing through my veins," she said.

"I know you better than that, oneechan,"

"So long as you don't tell anyone," Nabiki smiled.

Kasumi nodded and walked to the door. "I had better finish with breakfast. Do you need anything?"

Nabiki shook her head. "I'm Ok. Tell Auntie I'll be ready to go when she is," Kasumi nodded and left her little sister's room. She smiled as she walked to the kitchen. I won't tell anyone, little sister, but I think Ranma-kun already knows.

# # #

"Iitedakemas!" Ranma chorused cheerfully with the rest at the breakfast table as he dug into the meal Sasami had prepared. The Masaki household was about to follow suit, when Ranma began to eat in earnest. Ranma's hand was a blur as food from Ranma's plate vanished at an astonishing speed. Everyone stopped eating to stare. Just as he was finishing, Ranma looked up. "Wow, That's really great, Sasami," Ranma enthused. "Can I have some more?"

Sasami shook the startled look off her face. She supposed that it might be rude, but Ranma-niichan looked so appreciative of her cooking she couldn't help but smile. "Sure, Ranma-niichan! I made lots!" She said.

Ranma grinned as she dealt out more to his plate. He was about to begin eating again when he noticed the wide-eyed stares of the others. He paused chewing his first bite, chopsticks still in his mouth. "Huh? Do I got food on my face?"

"Well, you seem to have quite the appetite, Ranma," Tenchi commented, chuckling a little. Mihoshi and Ryoko nodded, looking amazed.

Washu smiled. "They've never seen anyone eat that way before," she explained as Ayeka frowned.

"Nor should they have! Lord Ranma, your manners are appalling! Were you raised in the wild?" Ayeka snapped. Ranma looked bewildered.

"Well, yeah..."

"Well you are no longer there! Please attempt to eat like a civilized being!" She insisted. Sasami frowned at her older sister.

"Ayeka, that's rude." The little girl reproved. She turned to Ranma and smiled. "It's ok, Ranma-niichan. I'm glad you like it," she assured him. Ranma smiled back at her.

"Thanks, Sasami. I…Ah…Gomen, Ayeka-san…I'll try to…" Ranma began, but Ryoko cut him off.

"Ah, don't worry about her. Little miss stick up the ass likes to complain. If it weren't you, she'd be whining at somebody else. But what's with the vacuum cleaner impression?," she said. Ayeka fumed silently as she was cut out of the conversation. Ranma shrugged.

"It comes from bein' on the road with Oyaji," he explained. "We never got a whole lot to eat, so it became part of trainin'. We'd fight over the food, and whatever you could get in yer mouth you got t' eat. Until I got really fast, I went hungry a lotta nights," Ryoko blinked. She was trying to frame a suitable response, when the wall of the dining room exploded inward in a hail of broken wood. Ayeka's force field snapped into place, shielding Sasami and herself. Ryoko, Tenchi, Mihoshi and Noboyuki dove out of the way, as Ranma somehow managed to avoid the debris. As the dust and smoke settled, a man stepped into the Masaki home through the newly created door.

"Excuse me," he said, "Can you tell me the way to the Unryuu farm?"

Ranma blinked. "Ryoga? What the heck are you doing here?" The man stepped into view as the dust settled. A yellow bandanna held straight black hair away from a somewhat simple-looking face.

Ryoga Hibiki turned toward Ranma, and a scowl spread across his face as he bared his fangs. "Ranma! PREPARE TO DIE!"

Ranma grimaced as the other boy rushed at him, throwing punches. "Hey, wait! This ain't my…Dammit Ryoga! Don't do that in the house! Aw MAN!!!!"

# # #

The dank, dirty arena shook with the thunderous roar of the crowd. The air was thick with blood lust. The crowd's attention was riveted on the glaring warriors in the ground level in the arena. Soon, someone would die, and no one wanted to miss it.

Kizuato stared contemptuously at his opponent, an Antelian Centurion, who gazed resolutely back at the large felinoid. Kizuato bared his fangs in a snarl, and the Centurion slipped into a combat stance, bringing his short broadsword to waist level. The Antelian looked competent, but Kizuato was unworried. He had killed far better than the Centurion in the Death Arena, and would do so again. He was the best of the Kanemeate Gladiators, and would never lose. His race were the hunters, and the rest of the galaxy was their prey. He flexed his giant paws, and long gleaming claws emerged. His victory would be swift.

------

Kizuato stood over a puddle of gore as the crowd chanted his name. The battle-rage had left him, and he was slightly sickened by the antics of the motley assortment of the dregs of the galaxy that watched his fights. There was no honor here. The only reason he did not immediately plunge into the crowd and deprive these sorry beings of their pitiful lives was the dictates of his lady. He had sworn a blood oath to serve the Lady Tokimi, and so he would, even if it meant reducing his skills as a warrior to battling these pathetic shreds of fighters. Drawing himself up, he left the arena with as much dignity as he could muster. As he walked through the door into the passageway leading to his preparation chamber, the crowd reached for him, hundreds of hands trying to vicariously share his victory. Shaking them off, he left for his chamber. Marching down the hall, he was greeted by a shadowy figure. He stopped and turned to the being he had never expected to see again, his feline bulk dwarfing the slight wraith.

"You are summoned, Kizuato," his visitor told him, and before he could answer, the wraith melted into the shadows. A thrill of anticipation traveled up his spine as his tail twitched. Finally, he thought eagerly, a call to true battle. Hurriedly, he rushed to his quarters. As soon as he entered, he seemed to step into another reality, greeted by the bearded face of D3. He immediately dropped to one knee.

"My lord," the big cat rumbled. D3's eyes acknowledged the deference.

"Our Lady has need of you, Kizuato,"

"She has but to ask, my lord."

"You are to leave this place immediately. Your destination is the specially protected zone, the third planet of the Sol System."

"What is my assignment?"

"Seek out the Knights of Lady Washu and Lady Tsunami. If possible, eliminate them. If not, determine the extent of their ability." D3 instructed. Kizuato nodded.

"It shall be done, my lord,"

"Very well. May Tokimi bless you, Kizuato," D3 said, and then vanished. Kizuato was once again in his quarters, alone. A teeth-bared predator's smile spread across his face.

He was to face righteous combat once more.

********************

Next time: The long awaited brawl between Ranma and Ryoga! What could possibly be different? And Ryoko and Ranma talk about Tenchi, while Kiyone and Kizuato make their way to earth as the Masaki home prepares for the arrival of Nabiki and Nodoka. Please look forward to it!

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AN: Gomen! It really wasn't supposed to take this long! I've got the larger events planned but the minutiae is exceedingly difficult to sort out. I'll try and hurry with the next one! Hopefully! And maybe tomorrow I'll fly!