Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Ranma ½, Ah! My Goddess, or any other trademarked/copyrighted product in this fanfiction. They were created by people a lot more imaginative than me. I am also not making any money off of this. This is merely for entertainment purposes.

Note: This story takes place after the Jusendo incident. Ranma is about to enter his junior year of high school. This story starts towards the end of the summer break.

Pursuing a New Path

by ranmafan1

Chapter 3: Lessons to Learn

Ranma was running. He was running really fast. This in itself was not something new from various encounters with mobs of fiancées and rivals. What was different from those times was the speed at which Ranma was moving. In fact, the pigtailed demon was running at speeds that he never had before. But that information was not being properly analyzed by his brain. The only thing currently on his mind was that he had to get away, and get away fast.

The young Saotome's brain was quite a fascinating piece of design. His rigorously developed danger sense, honed from surprise attacks by people both day and night, was one of the best of its kind. When implemented, this programming could do remarkable things, including the instantaneous start-up of Ranma's strategy skills, which developed attacks and counterattacks for nearly all contingencies. This danger sense even had the capability of subconsciously instructing Ranma on how to channel pishogue into his legs to make them run faster. Truly an amazing piece of work.

Once the danger had passed, however, certain aspects of a situation that did not relate to the current hazards started to be consciously processed. After a few moments since he stopped from running, Ranma started to internally note that something was out of place. Looking around he saw various people staring strangely at him, pointing fingers, and whispering among themselves. His mind figured that the people were doing these things because there was something off about himself. Maybe he had something on him. Deciding the prudent action would be to pat himself for a quick check-up, he found that he was unable to do so because there was already something occupying on top of his arms. Further analysis was needed.

Since touching was in the immediate vicinity of the object, it was sensible to use that first. Feeling the object in question revealed several unique factors. First off, touches from his left hand indicated that it was warm and smooth. Analysis revealed that this was skin. Enough data was present to provide an initial conclusion, but his brain did not want to register the idea yet. Further verification was needed. Processing information coming from his right hand revealed a slightly different sensation. This part of the object was also warm. However, it seemed to be of a rougher texture, as if it was a wrapping on top of something else. The shape of this part was also different whereas it seemed to be rounder and firmer. Giving the part in question a slight squeeze elicited a small moan that his audio receivers picked up. Enough information was processed to come to an initial conclusion. Visual confirmation was needed.

And so Ranma looked down to see what was in his arms and he found Mara, whom he appeared to be carrying, and it seemed that his right hand went a little too far and was groping her breast. There was only one response his brain decided that it could do in response to the confirmation.

"Ack!!!" Enough being said he practically threw Mara out of his arms and onto her feet.

"ImsorryImsorryImsososorry!" He then closed his eyes and prepared for the pounding that usually followed.

Quite frankly, Mara did not initially know what was going on. One minute they were in Hell's Paradise with the cooking staff in front of them and the next she was flapping through the air like some out-of-control kite. After the abrupt stop, her own brain decided to start working again. Since she was in more control of her senses at the moment then Ranma, her mind processed the data much quicker. This was why she became aware of the hand that was currently on her chest rather swiftly. Before she could pound some sense into the person groping her, a sudden squeeze caused an involuntary moan to escape her lips. The next thing Mara knew was that she was suddenly on her feet and trying to regain her equilibrium.

When her head finally cleared from the sensations, she noted that Ranma was apologizing profusely to her. 'So much for the forwardness theory,' she thought wryly.

Once she had full control of her senses again, Mara also observed how Ranma was tensed with his eyes closed, as if he was prepared to be hit. Mara was initially tempted to do as such. However, from what she had seen of Ranma so far, he did not seem like some pervert (though one never knew), and that this whole thing was some sort of misunderstanding. More curiously for Mara was how this reaction seemed to be heavily embedded within him, meaning that he must had gotten hit almost all the time for mix-ups like this by a person or people he knew. 'Man, what kind of an idiot can jump to the wrong conclusions so much?'

At a beach on Midgard, a certain tomboy sneezes.

Ranma was wondering why he currently was not flying through orbit. This was how it usually went. He got into some sort of compromising situation unintentionally and got punted for it. It was one of those reactions that he had come to get used to, and he allowed it anyway since he usually ended up saying something stupid. Tentatively, Ranma opened his eyes and saw Mara in front of him. She seemed to have a small frown on her face, but no malice appeared to be directed towards him.

"I'm not going to hit you, Ranma. I know it was just…" She cut off as she noticed all of the people standing about. Mara growled at them. "What are all you staring at? Beat it!"

Those who did not recognize her face did notice what her markings represented and hastily decided that they should be somewhere else.

Turning back to Ranma, she gestured with her head in a particular direction. "Let's get going. The library isn't far from here." Without waiting for a reply she started to head off.

Ranma blinked a few times in shock, but had the sense to catch up to Mara. "Um, not that I'm complaining or anything, but how come ya didn't hit me?"

Mara looked at him as if he had grown a second head, but did not stop walking. "Cm'n already. I could tell that you didn't really mean for it to happen from how you reacted. From what little time we have spent together, I can see that you don't really do those kinds of things on purpose."

"Um, does that matter?" Ranma asked nervously.

Mara looked blankly at him for a few moments, and then shook her head in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

Ranma winced and hesitated before saying, "Well, I know it's not normal and all, but it's the only way that gets rid of her, ur, their anger…Besides, I always say something stupid. It seems like I kinda should get punished somehow."

'Her? He must got it bad.' Pinching her nose in frustration, Mara added, already knowing the answer, "And you think that justifies it?"

Still nervous talking about this subject, Ranma shrugged and says, "It's not like it really hurts me anymore. Also," Ranma smiled slightly, though it did not reach his eyes, "its great endurance training."

Again Mara shook her head, this time with disapproval. "I don't think you quite see the whole picture, Ranma. Don't you get what you are doing by letting this go on?"

Hesitantly he answered, "Um, no."

Putting a drawn-out sigh, she elaborated, "You are conditioning 'her', whom I assume is this Akane," she looked at Ranma pointedly, causing him to quickly divert his attention elsewhere, confirming her suspicion, "to use violence to take her frustrations on."

'Isn't that what she always did?' "O-okay."

Mara smacked her forehead in aggravation. "Okay…Okay! Don't you get it, Ranma!" The demoness stopped talking and took a few cleansing breaths. "I'm all for human pain and misery, Ranma, but that is just plain stupidity. Not everyone on Midgard is a martial artist like you that can take hits like that! A punch in anger that can inflict a small bit of damage when you were mortal can severely injure or kill a normal human!"

Ranma felt some anger welling in him at the statement. "Hey, now! Akane wouldn't do that! She wouldn't hit someone with the same strength that she does with me!"

Once again, Mara took a few breaths to calm down. "Maybe not normally, but anger is a powerful emotion, Ranma. As a martial artist, you should know that, unless properly focused, it can strip away our rational thoughts. This allows instincts or powerful 'conditionings,'" she emphasized the word, "to take over."

After a few seconds of processing the information, Ranma's eyes opened in realization. In fact, finally grasping something so obvious just now made him want to beat his head into the nearest wall. He never really thought of it that way before. He had been so used to being around martial artists his entire life that he sometimes forgot about what normal people could handle. Sometimes he hung around non-marital artists at school, but those moments were usually overwhelmed by the seemingly larger amounts of incidents involving world-class fighters.

Mara was right, though. Even though he could do exceedingly more powerful things, punches that can shatter concrete blocks still would be devastating to people without training. He remembered witnessing when Akane demolished through a couple of dozen athletes before school for that moron Kuno's proclamation. Many of them were injured pretty bad, not permanently or anything. In fact, most of the people were fine the next day. However, those types of injuries occurred when Akane had to use her energy on a large group rather than one person. The same amount of power against one person was what usually made him orbiting over Nerima for a few seconds. He doubted there was any non-martial artist in Nerima that could come out unscathed on the landing part, disregarding the going up.

Although he would not admit it out loud (or adamantly deny it if someone said it), Ranma knew that most of the time Akane could be a pretty nice person, especially considering all the times she had helped him out. However, she also had a lot of anger buried in her as well. When it came to competition (especially in martial arts), she would become easily frustrated and need a release for that anger. Most of the time that release would turn up in the form of mallet or a fist connecting with his skull.

The problem that Ranma now understood was that he was conditioning Akane to express her anger physically. So far, the only frustration Akane had needed to vent upon were with regards to martial arts, but later on the same level of aggravation might occur if she went to college or even on a job. Those people would not be able to survive the abuse he endured.

But what could be done about this now. It had been going on for a long time already. Maybe it was too late. Ranma shook his head in disgust. He doubted that this was beyond repair, but it was going to take a hell of a lot of work to resolve. His features were contemplative as he tried to decide where to begin.

Mara interrupted his thoughts. "You can figure out how to fix it later. For now, let's go to the library and pick up the rule book."

Ranma blinked a bit before reluctantly agreeing. He sighed, his shoulders slumping a little. "Okay."

After a few steps, Ranma realized something. "Hey, wait a minute. How did ya know what I was thinking?…In fact, you did that when saying that you weren't gonna hit me? Is that a demonic power too?"

Mara laughed lightly at what he said. "Oh, Ranma. You really have a lot to learn." Seeing him frown slightly at the insult, she decided to humor him and explained better. "No, that is not a demonic power. It's all a simple matter of observation."

"Observation?" dubiously asked a perplexed Ranma.

Mara sighed as she saw no comprehension in Ranma's eyes. "Unless you are somehow purposely misleading what you were doing, certain facial expressions can tell what one is thinking about conversations or about anything in general. Even if a person is misleading their emotions, there are signs to indicate whether or not they are doing so. When making business deals, it's sometimes best to conceal any resemblance of emotions because portraying how you feel one way or another about something can give the one you are making the deal with a clear advantage."

Ranma understood how true that is. It reminded him of Nabiki's high school operations and how she would always put on a cool mask of indifference during business deals.

"You know, Ranma, you probably would be pretty good at reading people if you wanted," Mara casually added to the conversation. 'Hook.'

"How come?" asked Ranma curiously.

"As a martial artist, you have to observe everything about an opponent correct, meaning where every part of their body is, where their focus is, everything right." 'Line.'

Seeing Ranma nod, she continued, "Well, why can't those same skills be used in observation outside of fighting. I mean it would be more difficult to read opponents in a hard-pressed battle than in casual conversation."

Ranma blinked a few times and smiled in understanding.

'And sinker. Gotcha, Ranma,' triumphantly thought Mara.

"I guess I could give a try sometime." Images of a chibi-Ranma in a professor's outfit outsmarting a crying chibi-Nabiki ran through his mind, which made Ranma chuckle darkly in delight.

Mara sweatdropped, but nodded in affirmation. "Now how about we get to our last stop."

Temporarily banishing his fantasy from mind, Ranma replied, "Sure." He then tentatively added, "And Mara…"

Mara looked at Ranma curiously.

"Thanks," said Ranma with a smile, to which Mara could not help smirk in return.

"No problem."

A few minutes later the pair arrived at Nifelheim's library. As usual, the architecture was similar to everything else, except for a few changes here and there. The size of the building was quite larger than Hell's Paradise, but nowhere near the same size of the main office. For this particular building, there was a flower garden with an assortment of shrubbery in the front of it where various people were sitting along and reading. The building itself also had several large balconies where he saw others doing the same.

After they walk through the garden on up the steps, he noted the lack of a front door. "Man, everyone is not into security around here are they."

Mara chuckled lightly. "No, there really isn't any need If someone does break the rules around here, it's virtually impossible to get away with. We have various spells and artifacts to determine whether or not a person commits a crime or not, and…let's just say that the punishments can be most…unpleasant."

Ranma shivered slightly as he imagined what the penalties for breaking the rules were.

"Anyway, in this library you can basically find almost any information that you are looking for, ranging from world histories to textbooks to curses." Mara smirked a little before continuing, "Perhaps even martial arts techniques."

Ranma's ears perked up at this.

As they passed through the front entrance, Ranma saw a similar aspect as compared to Hell's Paradise, which was that the interior was a lot bigger than what it appeared on the outside. "Okay, this place did not look this big on the outside. How do they do that?"

Mara took a moment to reflect on how to answer the question. "Hmm, basically they do it by folding space. It has something to do with dimensional subspace technology of some sort. I couldn't really explain the details since I'm no scientist." Mara shrugged indifferently.

Disregardless of how they were able to fit this much space into the smaller version he had seen outside, one thing was for sure, and that was they were able to fit a hell of a lot of books into it. The sheer amount of books present was staggering. Connecting to the marble-tiled lobby of the library to his left, right, and in front of him were hallways of rows upon rows of books. Glancing upwards, he vaguely saw a sunroof, though he had to squint to make it out. It also seemed as if there were many, many floors to the library.

Taking his eyes from the ceiling, he studied various details of the place. In the center of the lobby there appeared to be a desk where someone was busy reading a book. He assumed that was the librarian. There was also one of those teleportation arches next to the desk. In between the stacks of books to the left, right, and in front of him past the librarian's desk were spacious tables where various people were sitting and reading. Numerous plants also seemed to give the place decoration.

Ranma's inspection was interrupted as Mara started to walk over to the prominent desk on the lobby. Shrugging, Ranma followed her. As the two got closer to the figure sitting and reading, Ranma saw his features better. The man looked perfectly human except for the slightly pointed ears on his profile. He had brown hair and was also wearing a pair of reading glasses. This confused Ranma somewhat since he thought that demons or other people of Nifelheim had great eyesight. The librarian was also quietly chuckling to himself when reading the book in his hands.

After the two make it to the desk and wait a few moments, Mara got a bit impatient and politely coughed to get his attention.

Blinking a few times, the librarian noticed Ranma and Mara in front of him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was a little preoccupied with my favorite book. When things become slow, I sometimes like reading it to give me a good laugh." The librarian took off his glasses and closed the book. Ranma noticed the title on the front cover in the strange language that he somehow now understood, saying "Inferno" by Dante. Had Ranma known the contents of the book, he would have massively sweatdropped. However, he did not have a clue and so ignored it.

"Anyway, reservation for Ranma Saotome," stated Mara, pointing her thumb to the man in question.

The librarian brought up his holo-computer and quickly typed the name into it. "Ah, yes, 'Rules & Regulations of Nifelheim'…The full version too…my, my, my, it has been sometime since that one had to be used."

As the librarian was typing, Ranma noticed that he was seeing perfectly fine without his glasses. "Um, how come you don't have your glasses on?"

The librarian took his eyes off of the computer and glanced at him with a small smile. "Oh, I don't really need them, young man. I only wear them because they make me fit into my role better. Don't you think, so?"

Ranma sweatdropped at his comment. "Uh, right," he drawled out.

Turning back to the computer, the librarian typed a few more keystrokes, and said, "Done."

Out of nowhere appeared a book on the desk…as tall as the papers he signed before. Ranma's left eye twitched a bit in response. "You want me to carry this thing around to read…Come on already! Someone is bound to notice it and then people will ask all sorts of questions about it." Mara raised an eyebrow at his foresight.

The librarian waved his hand dismissively. "Nothing to worry about…Now, grab onto the book."

Ranma looked at him skeptically, but complied.

"Now, simply will the book away."

"Will it away," deadpanned Ranma.

A light slap on the back of his head gets Ranma's attention. "Just do it, Ranma," lightly chided Mara.

Ranma sighed, but did as he was told. 'Okay, book, go away. Go away.' Suddenly, before his astonished eyes, the book simply disappeared. Waving his hand in space where the book was, there was nothing but air. The only thing that came out of his mouth was, "Uhhh..."

The librarian explained what had happened. "Basically, every book in the library has a spell on them that can send it, upon the user's thought, into and out of a subspace pocket to which only the current borrower has access."

Letting the information sink in, Ranma sighed and asked, "Okay. I guess, but what about when I have the book out and am reading it. Somebody might end up seeing what it's all about."

Before the librarian could respond, Mara spoke. "I'm sure you noticed around Nifelheim writing in strange symbols that you have never seen before, but could somehow understand. Right, Ranma?"

The pigtailed demon nodded in response.

"That is demonic language. Only those of Nifelheim have the innate ability to understand that language." 'Among other things, but I'll let him find that out on his own. It will be much more fun that way,' she added to herself. Out loud, she continued, "So, you don't have to worry about anybody else understanding it. If they do ask questions, well, just make something up."

'Man, this is just one surprise after another isn't it.' "I guess," he said uncertainly. Turning to the librarian, Ranma stated, "Anyway, thanks. We'll get going now."

The man in question waved a little in return. "Anytime. Remember, if you need to find any book here, you can ask me and I'll help you."

Ranma nodded and replied, "Thanks." Speaking to Mara, "That's it, right?"

"Sure is." Mara's expression turned mischievous. "Let's go home."

Ranma blinked and responded. "What do you mean…" His sentence was cut off as Mara grabbed his arm and teleported the two out of Nifelheim.

Meanwhile the librarian chuckled at their antics and picked up the book he was previously reading. Soon after, quiet laughter was heard from him once again.

Back at the Tendo Dojo…

The sun was setting in the horizon of the Nerima district and in the distance gray clouds were approaching, signifying a small storm would soon come down on those below. The quiet of the evening was only disrupted as Ranma and Mara suddenly popped into existence outside of the dojo in the backyard. The former blinked a few times, and then turned towards Mara. "What do you mean 'Let's go home?' You make it sound like your going to live here."

Mara obtained an overly innocent expression. "Of course I am. I do need to be around my fiancé." Her face turned sultry and her eyes bored into him. "I have to be by him incase he requires anything." She began to trace her finger along his chest. "In case he has any urges." The last word was practically purred out.

Ranma gulped audibly and stuttered out while slowly backing up, "I…I, uh, think that's, um, okay, I mean, that's, um nice of you to offer, but…" He continued to back up while Mara continued to move forward with the same hungry gaze…that is until he tripped over one of the rocks surrounding the koi pond. This, of course, led to a typical scene at the Tendo Dojo, Ranma getting wet by landing in the koi pond.

Mara laughed quite freely. "Oh, Ranma! You are just sometimes too ea…" Mara's comment died off as she noticed the figure that stood up. In fact, her eyes widened and her mouth gaped in pure shock.

Sputtering out water from her mouth, Ranma glared at Mara. "Wha…" was all Ranma got out before she almost fell over in surprise. Her voice sounded different. "Wha-what's wrong with my voice!?!" she yelled out while clutching her throat. Rather than the high-pitched, cutesy voice she often associated with her female form, it was smoother, richer,…a-and husky! She shivered slightly, recalling how it reminded her of Hinako's adult voice. Feeling nervous about the development, Ranma tentatively looked at Mara for an answer, but saw only gaping on the blond demoness' part. Ranma blinked as she made a realization. She was still looking at Mara at eye level and said demoness was about as tall as his male form. The conclusion she reached was that as a girl, she should be looking up at her, not at eye level. (1)

Almost mechanically, Ranma turned around in the koi pond and stared at her reflection in the water. Numbly, she nodded to herself at what she saw…and then let loose a hysterical scream. "Ahhhhhhhh!" Without a second thought she jumped out of the koi pond, and dashed into the house. A moment later, another scream, even louder than before, was heard.

This seemed to knock Mara out of her trance, though she was still dazed by the experience. Unlike her companion, she slowly walked around the pond and into the house. She did not have to go far to see Ranma staring numbly at a mirror, the same one where he first noticed his changes when becoming a demon. Ironically, Mara walked beside Ranma at the same place before as well. Both of them were staring with full attention at the mirror.

Since both of them were much calmer, relatively speaking, than before, they noticed the drastic changes to Ranma-chan. Whereas the former version was short and petite, the altered form was the same height as his male one. Her bust was larger, but on her taller form, seemed more appropriate. In addition, looking at her face, there was no baby fat present, and from tracing the curves on her body, she assumed that there was none on the rest of it. The most striking feature that added to her exotic looks was the change in hair color. Before it was a pure, vibrant, and fiery red. It still was that way…except for the fact that intermingled with the red hair was small streak patches of black. The modifications in hair color seemed to be totally opposite of those in his male form. The only things that did not seem to be altered were the red-blue color of her eyes, the demon marks, and, when absently opening her mouth, the fangs.

Mara shook her head to get out of the stupor seeing Ranma-chan put her in. She had seen a previous picture of Ranma-chan before ascension, being that it might be the form the client would be in when given the wish. That was why the changes were shocking to her...for the most part. Curiously, a photo of this female Ranma was not present when they saw Hild typing on her computer. Mara reasoned that it was probably because Nifelheim's system could not register the form until it had been used. It was most likely in there now.

When comparing herself with the new version of Ranma-chan, Mara could not hold back a bit of jealousy and a little intrigue. Where before would have a cute, little redhead girl was a fully-developed, voluptuous woman. Hell, she could give Hild a run in the looks department! However, the prominent thought going through Mara's head was 'This is an…interesting development.'

Still in a sort of daze, Ranma broke her thought by asking, "How did this happen?"

Sighing, Mara briefly rubbed her forehead as if to get rid of a headache. "Remember, the Jusenkyo magic has been fused to you. That means it is an integral part of your being now. Therefore, your female form matured to represent your actual age. Apparently, the fusion also caused some of your natural hair color to seep through. Now that I think of it, the fusion would also explain why some of your male hair color is red as well."

After looking into the mirror a little more, Ranma sighed and turned back to Mara. "Oh well."

Mara facefaulted at the response, her hands in warding gestures. She quickly got up. "What do me 'okay'!?! Is that all you can say!?!"

Ranma deadpanned, "Well compared to just this morning I became a demon, went to Nifelheim, met the high demon lord, and got practically pounced on by succubae, I think my system has had enough surprises for the day."

Mara looked blankly at her, then lightly chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it has been a pretty busy day, hasn't it?"

Ranma nodded tiredly. Then she remembered the conversation that they started before the next surprise in her life. "Um, before…about you living here. How do you plan on working that out?"

Mara waved her hand dismissively. "Bah, I'll just throw a nice chunk of money in their faces and I'll get to live here as long as I want. No problem."

Blinking a few times, Ranma sighed as he realized the truth to that statement.

"Now, where would I be staying here?" She purred out, "Your room I hope."

Ranma face reddened as she became nervous once again. "H-hey now. I-I'm a girl right now."

Mara raised an eyebrow. "So you are."

Ranma's blush only intensified. Trying to divert the conversation away, she stuttered, "Um, I-I think you can stay in Happosai's room. He hasn't been around lately being in Juuban and all." A moment's thought later and she added, "But the room needs to cleaned of all the panties and bras first."

With a small sweatdrop, Mara drawled out, "Right."

Sighing a little in relief, Ranma stated, "I might as well show it to ya." He proceeded in walking towards the lecher's room, followed by Mara. As they made it to door, Ranma paused for a moment, looked towards Mara, and then slid the entrance open.

Another sweatdrop from Mara resulted on inspecting the interior. Panties and bras littered the room wall-to-wall. It seemed that the pervert liked to sleep on a mattress of female undergarments as well.

Trying to think of the appropriate words to express her feelings, she could only comment slowly, "Okay."

"Let me get some hot water first, and I'll help ya clean it up then." Ranma made his way towards the kitchen, while Mara stood there looking at the room with some disbelief.

Shaking her head at the conditions, Mara then smirked on thinking of the clean-up part. 'Hehehe. This outta show him how useful magic can be for even the most simple of things.' With a mere wave of her hand, all of the female undergarments disappeared in a flash. In addition, the room seemed to be sparkling clean. With yet another gesture, a comfortable bed appeared where Happosai's futon used to be. 'Hmm, better not overdo it. They might become suspicious.' Looking at the clean walls and floor as well as the cozy bed, Mara exclaimed, "Ah, much better!"

A now male Ranma returned to Happosai's room. "Okay, we might as well get star..ted." He looked wide-eyed at the miraculous transformation of the room, though 'miraculous' might not be the suitable word. The pigtailed martial artist looked curiously at Mara, who smirked and polished her fist on her chest in a quite smug fashion. "Magic?"

Mara's smirk became more pronounced. "Magic," she affirmed.

Ranma simply said, "Cool."

In a teasing tone, Mara asked, "So, getting used to the unexpected are we?"

Ranma huffed. "Like I said,…" He was cutoff by the demoness.

Waving her hand to dismiss the comment she knew was coming, "Yeah. Yeah. This day has just been full of surprises already."

"Um, yeah," lamely stated Ranma. Looking through the bedroom's window, he noted that the sun had completely set and a light darkness had spread across the sky. "I think I'll go to bed early tonight." He was about to leave when Mara spoke to him.

"Are you sure that you don't want some…company tonight?" she asked suggestively. Mara walked towards her bed and then provocatively sat on the bed.

Sweating bullets, Ranma backed out of the room. "T-that's okay. I'll be fine on my own. Um, good night." Not waiting for a response, he sprinted out of the room.

Mara chuckled at his departure. "Oh, Ranma. Ranma. Ranma. It's just so fun teasing you." Stretching her arms to get the kinks out, the demoness fully spread out herself across the mattress. After a few moment of merely resting on the bed, she recalled the day's activities. All-in-all it had been a rather amusing one.. She could not remember off the top of her head when she had this much fun that did not involve the Norns somehow. Hell, she was even flirting with a guy! She hadn't done that since…Mara winced. 'Oh, great, Mara! You had to think about the past, didn't you! The past is for…,' A brief look of anger crossed Mara's face, '…Urd, not me!' Sighing, she realized that now she had spoiled her own good mood. She needed to do something to relax. 'Maybe a good soak in a furo will help.'

Twenty minutes later, in Ranma's room…

The pigtailed demon, who did not bother in undressing for the night, was currently resting on his futon, though he could not seem to fall asleep yet. The day's activities continued to repeat themselves over and over within his mind. It had been, in his estimation, the most event-filled one to date. Even if it did not possess something like the life-and-death struggle against Saffron, nonetheless, the sheer number of life-altering changes that did happen was staggering.

First off, he was a demon now. If someone the day before claimed that this going to happen to him, he would have laughed in his or her face. But it occurred. Not only that, but his Jusenkyo curse had been altered as well, it now being fused with him. That in itself was not so bad. He was already getting used to the idea that he would have it for the rest of his life. Besides, according to Hild, he will be able to control the change eventually. No, the bad part was how beautiful his female form had become. The appearance itself was not the problem. If Ranma had to change into a girl, he at least wanted to turn into a good-looking one. No, the problem was all the attention that it will grab. Ranma grimaced, thinking about the perverted boys at school and how they try to spray him with cold water during showers. His frown darkened further, recalling the various stares that he got when waitressing at the Nekohanten.

Ranma shook his head to banish that trail of thought. That would go on for a long time if it continued. Sighing, Ranma thought now of the last major change on his mind, another fiancée. Even if it was under the guise of getting the chance for training, the other fiancées will not know that. He will probably end up getting beaten for it anyway.

His latest fiancée puzzled him to no end. He did not really know what to think about her. At times, she could be as flirtatious as Shampoo was, even more so if she wanted to. At others, she could be quite solemn and provide insights he more expected out of the Old Ghoul. The way she dressed practically screams 'bad girl,' but she took her job seriously when need be, even if it was in her own playful way. She was just one set of contradictions upon the other.

Once again, Ranma shook his head. Thinking like this was going to give him a headache. He also realized that he was not going to be getting to sleep anytime soon. 'Might as well take a bath."

Meanwhile in the furo…

'This is what I needed.' The blond demoness had a tranquil smile on her face as the heat of the water seemed to melt away her tensions.

It really was not too difficult to find the changing room, which was connected to the room with the furo, separated only by a door. When she got to the changing room, one quick spell and all of her clothing disappeared. Having visited the country often enough through the centuries, Mara was aware of Japanese customs, including those for bathing. After a quick scrubbing and splash of cold water, she used another spell on the furo's water to heat it up. And so for the past quarter-hour she had been unwinding in the bath, letting the soothing water to help relax herself.

'But all good things must come to an end.' Mara sighed and stood up to get out of the furo, only to hear the sliding door open. Startled, she turned her head to see…

Two minutes earlier…

Ranma stepped into the changing room and proceeded to undress. Taking a towel from the rack he threw it over his shoulder. Silently cursing, he remembered that the furo would not be warm. He was too used to Kasumi having the furo ready for everyone. Sighing, he commented to himself, "Might as well start it up anyway while I'm here." Opening the door, Ranma was greeted to sight of…

A nude Mara turned her head and was uncharacteristically dumbfounded at seeing a similarly dressed Ranma standing at the doorway. Although Mara was not the most conservative of women, she still had no qualms about kicking the crap out of a man who tried to peak in on her. However, standing before her was a man who she knew, even in her stunned state, not a pervert. Besides, she certainly was getting an eyeful herself. A small portion of her senses told her that he was as thoroughly shocked as she is. The rest of her was too absorbed in the view. As if on their own accord, her eyes traveled across his well-toned chest and washboard abs, dimly noting a couple of small, scratch-like scars running along them. They did not do anything to depreciate the looks, however. There was seemingly no fat on his torso, resultant from a life of constant martial arts devotion. Gazing even lower, Mara's eyes widened significantly and she suddenly had to lick her dry lips.

Ranma was in no better shape than the demoness. To the martial artist, it was as if history was repeating itself, except for their relative positions in the furo room. Of course, the larger amount of his brain was still too stunned to do anything. The conditioned response for the young Saotome upon walking into a naked woman was to get hit, and so his body was waiting for said reaction. In the meantime, his own eyes could not help but gaze upon the beauty in front of him. The water dripping from her naked skin under the room's light gave Mara an angelic appearance. His eyes involuntarily traversed down her naked chest, the sight of which made him gulp audibly, down her smooth, flat stomach, and even lower to her…

"Ack!!!" The sight obviously was enough to shock him out of his stupor. No sooner than the exclamation had left his mouth, he turned around and exited the room, slamming the door behind him.

The shout was apparently enough to break Mara out of her own trance. Blinking a few times to regain her senses, the demoness could only manage out a most un-Mara-like statement. "O-oh my."

In the changing room, Ranma's heart was beating as if he had a full workout, but there were no evident signs of such exertion. He could only stare unblinking for the next few moments as his mind processed what he had just seen. His senses, still alert from the experience, noted that the sliding door was opening. In a flash, Ranma was in his clothes thanks to Anything Goes Dressing, developed specifically for such instances (and also to change into girl disguises on the fly).

A composed Mara, dressed in a black bathrobe, stepped out into the changing room, though if one looked closely, it could be seen that she was walking more stiffly than usual. An awkward silence fell on the two, each one wondering what to say. Finally, Ranma broke the quiet. "Um, sorry about that," he uttered with a nervous bow, "I, uh, didn't see any clothes here, and, uh,…"

Ranma was cut off by a dismissive wave by Mara. "Don't worry about it. It is sort of my fault by not leaving any clues that I was in there…Besides, it's not like I didn't get a show myself." She smirked a little after the statement, though there is an anxious edge to it.

Blinking a few times, Ranma lamely stated, "Oh…"

"So, I guess you can use the furo if you want. I heated the water with magic and it should be good for another half-hour."

"Um, I think I'll just go to bed now. I took a bath this morning anyway."

Another uncomfortable silence descended on the two.

"So…"

"So…"

Mara cleared her throat a bit before stating, "Well, um, goodnight, Ranma."

Ranma fidgeted some before talking. "Uh, yeah, goodnight, Mara."

After several tense moments, the pair moved in unison, exited the changing room, and slowly proceeded towards their respective rooms.

Several minutes later…

Ranma was once again lying on his futon, staring at the ceiling, and considering the latest scenario. He was trying to avoid thinking about what he actually saw by pondering what was said later. He remembered some of Mara's last words. 'Besides, it's not like I didn't get a show myself.'

He recalled when first appearing at the Tendo Dojo, a girl asked him (who was a her at the time) for friendship, but later blatantly crushed such desire upon discovering that he was really a boy with a curse. She subsequently called him a pervert and said that it was different when a girl sees a guy naked than vice versa. Even Ranma could tell how nonsensical that statement was back then.

Thinking of a lost invitation for friendship led to a new trail of thought, sadly reminding Ranma of how little of that he has had here in Nerima. He did have acquaintances like Hiroshi and Daisuke, but they only really hung out around him for some recognition in school. Ryoga, Mousse, and Kuno were all simply rivals, and occasional allies, who continuously blamed him for stealing their loves. The fiancées were all too busy fighting over him or with each other for that to happen. Even among his fiancées, his childhood friend Ukyo seemed to talk with him as if it will score her points on the fiancée poll.

Mara seemed to be different from everyone else, though, and that was not talking about being a demoness. She was not really one quick to judge him, even in the most compromising of circumstances. He had gotten her a little angry a couple of times in the day, but she would later forget about them as if they were nothing. Mara had also been helping him throughout the day and will be doing so with the beginning of his magic training. Although Ranma was not the greatest expert on the subject, he knew that these are typical characteristics of friendship.

'Maybe I'll have a true friend around here after all.'

And so Ranma closed his eyes and eventually fell into a sleep filled with the dreams that regularly plagued him.

Meanwhile in Mara's room…

The demoness, clad in a simple black nightgown, was lying on her own bed in a similar fashion as to what Ranma was doing a few moment's ago. However, unlike the pigtailed demon, she was not successfully diverting her attention from the furo development. 'Dammit! How is this guy doing this to me! Sure, I've flirted with him a couple of times, but it was only in good fun. He's a kid compared to me and incredibly naïve about a lot of things!'

Calming down a bit, she sighed, recalling his other attributes. There just seemed to be some kind of natural charm that drew you in to him. It was both exciting and disturbing at the same time, which consequently confused her to no end. She was tempted to just say the hell with it all and request for a transfer away from this assignment, but immediately threw away that idea since Hild would not be happy at all with it. Besides, she was not a quitter. If she were, she would have given up on tormenting the Norns a while ago. 'Hmm. Sort of like Ranma. He is never known as a quitter too.'

Mara laughed lightly thinking about how the two of them had something in common. This line of thinking distracted her from her original musings and was, therefore, much more welcome, considering it did not evoke confusion. When comparing herself with him, she saw how different they really were, but somehow were able to get along pretty well together during the day. It was really surprising how much fun, at least in her opinion, she had. Granted, there were times when Ranma's naivety was simply annoying, but overall, it was pretty enjoyable. Normally, she got her kicks out of bringing trouble upon the Norns, Keiichi, or anyone who normally hangs out with them. Somehow, simpler activities with Ranma turned out just as pleasant. 'Maybe this assignment won't be so bad.'

Her musings were cut short when she saw a bright flash resulting from the crash of lightning outside. Afterwards, the roll of thunder was heard. Rain was pouring down and Mara observed water streaming down the window panes. Mara frowned looking outside, though her eyes now seemed not focused on the storm. She suddenly turned to her side away from the window. 'Sometimes I really hate storms.'

Eventually, Mara too fell asleep, and dreamed of memories long ago.

End Chapter 3.

Author's Notes:

(1) Altering of the Jusenkyo curse in this matter was, in part, inspired by MadamHydra's "Tiger Claw."

One thing I forgot to mention in Mara's description that I thought was noteworthy are the fangs that she has. And, as mentioned, Ranma now has them as well. The prologue has been changed appropriately for this. Also, some minor corrections have been made to previous parts, nothing major, except Hild's last comment to herself after Ranma leaves.

Comments and criticism are appreciated.

-ranmafan1