Dinner began without Genma at the Saotome household. The meal was delicious, and interspersed with anecdotes about the training trip and the events that had occurred back in Shinjuku. Nodoka was shocked to find out the full story of Jyusenkyo. Finally the conversation came round to the stay at the Tendo's house, Deru and Ranma having agreed it would be better for them to explain than allow their father to do it.

"You mean there's another school of Anything Goes?" Ukyo said. "Are they any good?"

Ranma handled this one. "The youngest one is the heir. She's not up at our level, but better than she should be, considering her father hasn't trained her for ages. Plus she's got this major temper problem. Unless she fixes it she's going nowhere."

"But why did you stop there anyway when you were so close to home?" Ukyo asked.

Deru sighed. He'd been considering how to put this. "It seems father had more than one secret he sprung on us at the last minute. He wanted to marry Ranma off to one of them. From what he said mom, you knew nothing of it?"

"I did not. So who is the lucky girl, and why didn't you bring her to meet me?"

Deru shook his head. "There wasn't one. We had to decline."

"No. refusing a marriage proposal is not very manly." Nokoda's voice was stern.

"It wasn't quite like that. Their father was expecting to engage one of them to Ranma on the spot, and marry him off the next day. I couldn't ask you how to resolve this so I had to act in the way I though best to maintain the family honour and the harmony of both households. You had not been consulted, there had been no omiai, not even a written document. It was based purely on a verbal promise made while our fathers were out drinking. Their father hadn't told them either. I judged you would not consider it valid on such a basis."

Nodoka looked thoughtful.

Ranma added, "Besides, I start High School this year. You wanted me to stay home and do it properly and you were right. To be a sensei I gotta have more than just the Art down, I need the paper from college too. Getting married would make that almost impossible. No one is going to study under someone my age who didn't even graduate High School. Like Deru said earlier, when I marry and bring up heirs to the school, they're going to have the best life possible."

Deru nodded, seeing the softening in Nodoka's position. "Plus there were the reactions of the three girls to consider. The eldest is three years older than Ranma and clearly was not interested in a younger man. The middle one is looking to be a business woman, and would not go along with an arranged marriage. As for the youngest."

Ukyo interjected. "The martial artist. Let me guess, she blew up like Mt Fuji on a bad day!"

The brothers nodded. Ranma went on. "I could kinda see her point. Her father told me to pick one of them like they were okonomiyaki toppings. She's actually not that bad, she just had a big problem with being pushed into an engagement with someone she never met."

Nodoka considered it. "If they were not willing to accept the engagement, they might not be the sort of girl I'd approve of anyway."

Deru though about what this might do to the chances of setting up Ucchans and Ranma training Akane. "They're good people, and we parted as friends. It's just they aren't interested in the engagement. It's not like Ranma needs any more to deal with at the moment."

Ranma added his own piece. "That's right. I'd like to get this curse sorted out before I go do anything permanent. Please mom, keep dad off my back if he starts on about this engagement. At the moment I need allies, not fiancees. It should only be one year before I become a guy full time, and it's not like high school is going to be dangerous, compared to the training we've been through."

Nokoda saw the determination in her younger son's eyes, mixed with the belief that she'd support him. "Very well, we shall say no more about it, for now."

The Saotome brothers both heaved a sigh of relief.

&&&

Soun Tendo sat out on the porch, smoking a pipe, enjoying a bowl of warm sake and pondering the mysteries of life. well one particular mystery, namely how the engagement plans he and Genma had worked out had all fallen to pieces. His attempts to raise the matter with his daughters had been met with polite stonewalling from Kasumi, sarcasm from Nabiki, and anger from Akane.

Suddenly a dust cloud shot through the compound entrance, resolving itself into Genma Saotome, looking panicked. The last time he'd looked that fearful was when Happosai had been around. "Soun, my old friend, you have to hide me! Nodoka's gone insane! The boys." He was babbling.

"Genma, what is wrong?" He offered Genma the sake bottle and a cup to steady himself. Genma proceeded to unsteady himself by taking most of the bottle at one pull. Soun half carried his distraught friend inside. Genma slumped down in the family room and proceeded to spill his guts about how he'd barely avoided doing it for real. He started with a more or less true description of the contract with his wife, but passed over in the finest political tradition whose idea it had been.

He then went on to describe a scene, related to the truth only by implication. From a mix of overheard scraps of dialogue, alcohol and the reaction on his imagination from having his skull pounded on by two expert martial artists, he described how his foolish children would not listen to his pleas for a further journey, and had cruelly set about him. How Nodoka had, with Ukyo's help held them to the letter of the contract despite his efforts to stop her, which failed due to his injuries. He then described the horror as they'd meekly gone to their deaths, and how a last minute burst of strength caused by the gory sight had allowed him to escape the same fate. "You can hide me Soun, Nodoka doesn't know where the Tendo dojo is. For all we suffered under the master. save me!" He demonstrated a perfect 'Crouch of the Wild Tiger'.

There was a noise from the interior doorway, a muffled sob. Standing there were the three sisters Tendo, Akane and Nabiki with looks of shock on their faces and Kasumi sobbing into her hands. "It's my fault!" she sniffled. Both her sisters and her father immediately rushed to comfort her.

Nabiki was the first to come out of her shell shock and hugged her sister. "It wasn't. They were going home anyway. You couldn't have stopped them. If it's anyone's fault, it's the petrified panda over there." She gave a venomous look at the balding martial artist. (1)

Kasumi was in a most atypical state of distress. "But they were worried about what their mother would say! I told them it would work out, to treat their curses as a challenge. If they hadn't followed my advice they still be. alive." This set off a fresh set of weeping. Soun, if anything was outdoing Kasumi in the waterworks department. "No. The engagement. all my plans."

Akane was fuming and putting out a battle aura. "Dad! How can you think like that! As for you Saotome-'san'," she gave the suffix an edge that could cut diamond, "If anyone ever deserved what's coming to them it's you!" This wasn't just 'haul off and punch someone' level anger, she was showing a battle aura sufficient to light half of Nerima. "You make this contract. You let them walk right into it. and your only concern is saving your own hide." She appeared ready and capable of tearing the unfortunate martial artist limb from limb.

"Hold up sis." Nabiki interrupted. "Maybe we're taking this too much at face value. Considering this guy's past actions, if he told me the sun was coming up in the East tomorrow, I'd check with the local observatory." She hugged the still crying Kasumi and went into the hall to use the phone, dialling a number Deru had given her.

"Moshi moshi? Saotome residence." For someone whose head had supposedly parted company with their body, Deru sounded remarkably well.

"Deru-san? Are you and Ranma okay?" Nabiki kept her voice from wavering.

"We're fine now. We just had dinner as a matter of fact. We did have a bit of trouble earlier, but thankfully mom and Ucchan understand now. Do you know where dad is?"

"Wait a second." she turned to the other girls. "Ranma and Deru are fine. I don't know what happened, but they're at their home and everything seems to be alright." Akane and Kasumi both cooled down slowly from their respective states, Akane just in time to trip the racing Saotome parent who was heading towards the phone. Nabiki got on the phone again. "Your dad is here, with some wild story. Is it true about you having some sort of a contract?"

Deru sketched out the basic details of what had happened. Genma was cowering in the corner, having been too late to prevent the revealing of his location. Deru finished with, "Well it's too late to do anything tonight. We'll come over and pick him up tomorrow, if you don't mind him staying."

"Very well Deru-san, as a favour to you." She looked over at the quivering panda, who'd clearly found some cold water.

"Ah. That reminds me. I hate to impose further, but there's this abandoned shop on the corner near your school.since you know the area, I was wondering if you could find out about it."

&&&

A certain part time panda spent the night in the Tendo Dojo, rather than the guest room. His less than triumphal return to the Saotome house got him a series of spatula induced lumps under the guise of training, and a diet of boiled rice and bamboo shoots from his beloved wife. His own attempts to re-instate the engagement got him nowhere, indeed they backfired. Nodoka was not happy that he'd tried to push through such an important decision in Ranma's life without consulting her, and insisted that now was not the time.

A few days passed. A certain amount of leg work on the part of Nabiki Tendo found the lease holder of a particular building, and so informed Deru and Ukyo. It was found that a certain idiot panda had been so certain about his ability to push through an engagement that Ranma had been transferred from Mugen to Furinkan High school. Until the red tape could be sorted out, Ranma was doing his studying at home, using Ukyo's school books, and getting ahead of the game. As with martial arts once he became interested in a subject his learning curve was steep.

He hadn't forgotten his promise to Akane, though his contacts with her had been minimal, to avoid the fathers finding out. He did give her a few ideas, exercises that could be described over the phone, to work on bringing out her ki in a controlled manner, but he knew that they'd have to work face to face to make any real improvement. It was this, plus the need for Deru and Ukyo to discuss things with Nabiki that lead to a meeting that weekend.

Which lead to the two youngest Tendo sisters leaving their domicile on a Sunday, heading for a park on the western edge of Nerima. Akane left first, wearing a large backpack and a gi. Nabiki got up later and joined her sister at the park having availed herself of Tokyo's fine public transportation system. She carried a packed lunch made by Kasumi.

She found her sister at the entrance. "Hi sis!" She looked at the backpack. "You _walked_ here carrying all that?"

"Actually I jogged. Ranma suggested it as a good warm up. It's only 100 kilos, mostly training supplies. I'd have added more but he said to take it easy the first few sessions. Plus I brought them something special. I made some cookies."

Nabiki used every iota of her ice queen demeanor to avoid blanching, and made sure of the nearest phone booth for when she had to summon the ambulance. She covered herself by checking the time. "Shouldn't they be here by now?"

As if on cue, the Shinjuku wrecking crew made an appearance, carrying packs even bigger than Akane's. All of them were wearing sleeveless tops and 'kung-fu' pants. The fact that they were wandering along the top of the park wall was no longer a surprise to either of the girls.

"Yo Akane, Nabiki! Great day isn't it?" Ranma landed in front of them. It was indeed a bright sunny day, and Ranma looked to be full of energy.

Deru dropped down next. "I am most pleased to see you both again." He gave a small formal bow.

Ukyo came down beside him. "Hi. I'm Ukyo Kunoji. Pleased to meet ya."

Introductions were made all round. Akane suddenly felt a bit out of place in her gi.

Ranma noticed her discomfort but mistook it. "Don't worry. Today we're going to find out your level and get to know ya. We're not going to push it much this time."

Akane was about to reply heatedly that she could take anything, when Ukyo said to Nabiki. "Sorry about this sugar. At lunchtime me and Deru can go over the info you have on the shop. I'm afraid it's going to be a bit of a thin time for you until then."

Nabiki grinned her cat like grin. "Oh I'm sure I can keep myself occupied." 'Calculating my profit on this little transaction, watching those two guys working up a sweat, maybe a few snapshots.' She licked her lips. She'd just fade into the background with her borrowed video recorder.

They moved, at Deru's suggestion, to a clearing in the wooded part of the park. There were four thuds as nearly half a ton of gear in four packs hit the dirt. Nabiki unrolled a mat from Akane's pack and sat down to watch the fun. Ranma stood out front.

"Okay Akane, I figured we'd start with an assessment. I've seen you fight, now show me the basic kata for Anything Goes. I know our style's more improvisation than forms, but those we do use are the basis of just about everything else."

Akane pulled in her focus, stepped out to the front, then ripped through the sequences her father had taught her so many years ago, and which she'd practiced every day. Jumps, kicks, strikes, evasions, these were hers to command. She forgot about the watchers as she lost herself in the movements. Finally she finished with the Stone breaker punch, the same one that frequently pulverised cinderblocks in the dojo. Then she came back to herself and looked over at the trio. She'd put a lot into it and was breathing deeply by the end. (2)

Ukyo smiled and said. "First time I saw another girl going through that. It's going to be good having someone new to train with. You got the power, sugar."

Ranma was nodding. "Yep, you've got the form exactly." He sighed. "That's part of the problem. Your dad taught you the same patterns pops did. What he didn't figure out was that those forms were optimised for guys. It's like there sensei never figured girls would use it. Must have been some kind of girl hater."

Akane was interested. Her father had never mentioned anything about his own teacher. "Has your father ever told you anything about him?" She used the word 'father' in a way that indicated low regard for the senior Saotome.

Ranma shook his head. "Nope, pops always clammed up whenever I asked. I think he ain't around anymore. Anyway when Ukyo started learning it, I noticed it wasn't quite right so I figured out a few variations for her. Never thought I'd get to use them myself, but. Hang on. it's better to show you."

Deru tossed him a water bottle and in seconds the red head stood there. Akane exclaimed at how relaxed Ranma was about this compared to the last time she'd seen him.

"Since we can't do anything about the curse, we both decided to make use of it. Your big sister gave some good advice. Now watch carefully, particularly the stances, the ranges and the breathing." He went through what, to the untrained eye looked like the same kata. Akane's eyes were not untrained, and she saw the differences. Where she'd powered through the moves Ranma flowed. She could see how some of the changes were designed around the physique of a woman. That Ranma had apparently derived them while still a boy was even more impressive.

Ranma finished the patterns, his breathing far calmer. "Alright, Ukyo, Deru, join in. I know bro and I could do with the practice in these bodies."

Deru used the cold water, then they took up stances either side of her and they went through the female version katas, one by one, first step by step then as a single pattern. Akane could always see someone as an example. Not that she needed it, the new methods made sense. Ranma also put in bunkai, applications for the moves as they went through them. Akane found herself having fun, taking it in turns with the other three as an attacker or using the kata to fend them off.

Nabiki, while not a martial artist herself was a student of form, vital for her betting pools. Even she could see her little sister getting into the new moves. Ranma was clearly in his element, practicing the art she loved with people who were eager to learn and teach in turn. She kept on throwing in new things, apparently on the spur of the moment.

Eventually Ranma called the session to a halt after almost an hour of non- stop exercise. "Okay guys take a break!" She bowed to each of them, about the only formality he'd shown the entire time. She used a thermos with a red band of tape on herself and then tossed it to Deru. "You did good Akane. Practice the new forms and I know you'll start seeing results almost straight away."

Akane nodded happily. "It's been so long since I had someone to practice with, rather than just fight. I'd almost forgotten what a buzz it was."

He grinned back. "I had fun too." He pulled a second thermos from his pack. "Time to rehydrate. Tea?" At Akane's agreement he pulled out two half litre mugs and filled them. Deru and Ukyo were doing the same from their packs, and sharing a moment.

Akane decided to show her gratitude. "I've got just the thing to go with this. I made them last night." She pulled out the bag of cookies she'd painstakingly worked on.

Ranma was first up for them. "Cool, snack time! There must be something about cooking and martial arts. Practically every martial artist I've met seems to cook. Ucchan, Shampoo, Deru, even I can put together a fair meal." (3) He picked out one. "Animal crackers?" He didn't say what sort of animal he thought it was, which was just as well.

Nabiki was torn between killing herself with laughter and yelling out to prevent a poisoning. She coughed into her mug. "You okay sugar?" Ukyo asked.

Ranma bit into it. There was a crunch. "Oww." Then the taste hit. He manfully swallowed and gasped, taking a big swallow from his mug.

"You like them?" Akane asked, oblivious to the signs.

Ranma was torn between truthfulness and not alienating his new student. "Uh. maybe you should try one. There must have been a mix up somewhere." (4)

Akane picked out her own and tasted it. "Gahhh! This is awful! I'm sorry Ranma, I was sure this recipe would be really tasty." (5)

Ranma could see she was really crestfallen. "It's okay Akane, anyone can make a mistake. I always sample stuff as I go to make sure it turns out right."

Ukyo joined in. "Maybe I can tell what went wrong." She picked up a cookie and tasted it. "Hon, I hate to tell you this, but I think you got the salt switched with the sugar."

Akane looked surprised. "That really makes such a big difference?"

Mass face faulting occurred on the Saotome side.

Nabiki recovered first, knowing Akane already knew of her opinion. "Akane, you really should give up on it. The only difference between us is I _know_ I can't cook."

"I can cook, it's just sometimes things don't come out exactly right." Akane snapped.

Ukyo stepped in. "Don't sweat it. If you're looking for a few pointers I can help. Who do you think taught Deru and Ranma?"

Deru snuggled up to her. "Another of your long list of good points, Ucchan." Warm and fuzzy waves started radiating from the pair.

Nabiki sighed, a memory of Akane's last effort at 'helping' Kasumi in the kitchen floating through the yen signs that usually occupied her head. "If you can teach Akane to cook, you'll be a miracle worker."

Ranma slurped the last of his tea and bounced up. He pulled a big sack out of his backpack. "We can talk cookery later. You ready to start up some serious training?"

[TBC]

1) When it isn't over ridden by her twin obsessions of making money or mischief, Nabiki can be a decent human being, no really.

2) Akane does show considerable martial skill on several occasions in cannon, and I don't just mean when beaning Ranma. There's a lot of room below Ranma's level to still be pretty good.

3) In the cannon Ranma starts out a poor cook and so is his dad. He says it himself in the Breaking Point story in the manga. He doesn't improve until Nodoka arrives and starts teaching him as 'Ranko'.

4) This Ranma knows that tact doesn't just describe something pinned to a wall. However just as in the cannon, he doesn't like seeing a girl unhappy.

5) In response, Akane isn't preset to explode, and Ranma hasn't goaded her into it. She does taste her own cooking, if someone gives her reason to in the cannon.

Extra blah (Replies to individual reviews at the bottom)

Thank you everyone who's reviewed so far. I'm really glad no-one thinks Deru is over-powered or out of place. While I have seen examples where a Mary Sue or Gary Stu type has been used to good effect, they are rare. Fanfic authors have god-like power, so their characters should move in mysterious ways. My whole purpose was to try adding a character who wasn't able to solve things instantly. He's not all powerful or all knowing and it's going to turn around and bite him in the future. I wanted to break another convention as well. Most characters are newly inserted. Deru has been there the whole time and been as affected by the world he lives in.

The other idea I wanted to explore was multiple happy endings. I felt sorry for Ranma, Akane and Ukyo in the manga.

Ranma gains great martial skill at the cost of any peace or happiness. Takahashi-sama put in a sop at the end of volume 38 where Ranma and Akane are seen holding hands, but didn't resolve anything, not even his curse. As far as I can see he's never had a true friend who hasn't been taken away by circumstance. Ukyo ends up as a fiancee and that poisons their renewed friendship. Akane's friendship last about 5 minutes. Um. that's about every real friendship he ever had.

Akane starts out as a nice enough girl who's being stressed into unhappiness by bullying at school (just because she wins the fights doesn't resolve them). She then gets huge amounts of stress laid on her by her father and sisters and the subsequent insanity. You don't really need Rage Disorder as a suggestion for why she gets violent. Combat fatigue is probably nearer the mark. The kind of uncertainty she goes through would be enough to destroy anyones sanity.

Then there's Ukyo. Even if in the cannon, Akane manages to find love for Ranma and so defocuses her anger, and Ranma in turn falls in love with Akane, overcoming the huge damage to his ability to trust, there's still no possibility for Ukyo to have a happy ending. Whereas a dis-honourable slime- ball like Ryouga gets a custom made happy ending, courtesy of Akari, Ukyo has the ninja Konatsu, who she simply can't love. Despite being forced into cross dressing, she doesn't like cross dressers herself (vide Tsubasa). Besides Konatsu thinks of himself as a girl, and would probably use the preservation kettle and nannichuan in an instant, given the opportunity. Barring some massive upheaval I see them as an even less likely couple then Akane and Ranma.

Brother Angelon - Glad you liked my method of bringing in the character. On later covers of the manga the hair colour is everything from yellow to purple. See also Devil Imps comments.

Kinai - Thank you. Let's hope neither the Knights of the True Fiancee or the Akane is a Psycho factions read this fic.

Vixen - 1) I will try to keep my finger off the power-up button. 2) Did you say cute? ~ does Ukyo impression ~ 3) Where can I find Rejected? I said about it because it's only explained in volume 20 and many people havn't seen it. 4) The pathetic panda purveyor of perverse pummeling practices (not my alliteration BTW) shall get what's coming to him. oh yes indeedy. I've got _plans_.

Teiichi - Thank you. Who is the assassin? As for the hair colour thing see Devil Imps comments.

Devil Imp - I concur with your reasoning about Ranma's hair. The key thing is Kuno. He always refers to Ranma-chan as the pig-tailed girl. Considering his florid style you'd expect him to make a comment about flaming hair or crimson tresses at some point.

Hermione () - You'll probably like my Slayers the New Generation OVA, coming soon to this web page. As for my choice of nickname it was entirely. random. ~ grins ~

Tyverius - I'm sorry about the comments in the body text. I will try and put anything other than translation notes as footnotes, and even them if it's more than a few lines. When I said about Ranma deserving to get hit I'm talking about from cannon Akane's highly subjective viewpoint. I'm not advocating angelic Akane either. See my above comments about combat fatigue. Cannon Ranma is sometimes a jerk too, c.f. Reversal jewel. He's so desperate to hang on to any scrap of self worth he fouls up.