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 5: Here's Mara

Flying over Nerima was not a new experience for Ranma Saotome. He had done so numerous times thanks to his various suitors or rivals. It had been done so many times to him that it began to feel like some sort of running gag from an anime. During these occasions, Ranma usually had a bit of time to reflect on certain matters. At the apex of his climb into the atmosphere, Ranma idly noted that the punches themselves did not really hurt so much. It was the landing parts that were a pain. In fact, it was probably due to all those falls that made the Bakusai Tengetsu training fairly easy when he went through it. Finding people willing to push boulders attached to ropes into him was not really that difficult, though he was a little nervous with all of the leather they wore and the gleeful expressions that crossed their faces when the rocks smashed into him.

Ranma's thoughts turned back to just before his irate fiancée booted him into the air. He recalled Nabiki making a comment about his hair. One thing he forgot to take into account was explaining the changes in his looks (especially in his girl form). 'What the hell am I going to do?' Ranma knew simply lying was out of the question, since he was not really good at it. Hell, he had to practically cover his entire face when playing poker against the Gambling King! 'Hmm, maybe Mara has an idea. I can't let this whole demon thing get out.' Ranma blinked as a sudden realization hit him. 'Wait a minute. I'm a demon and can fly! I don't have to hit the ground!' Of course, this insight came a bit too late and Ranma created yet another crater within Nerima.

A minute later passed and a groaning Ranma pulled himself out of the large whole in the ground. 'Damn, Akane had to be pretty mad for it to be this big.' It was almost a record for her. "Ah, well," he muttered to himself while briefly dusting off his clothes. Taking a look at his surroundings, Ranma noted, with some trepidation, that he was in the back of the Nekohaten. Why of all places he had to land here was beyond him, but one thing was for sure, he had to leave before…

"Nihao!!!" cried an ultra-bubbly voice from behind, which was immediately followed by the Amazon glomp. "Airen come to visit Shampoo? Shampoo so happy!" exclaimed the woman with obvious cheer. Looking at her 'husband' with love-struck eyes, Shampoo blinked as she realized something, while loosening her grip on him. "What Airen do to hair?" Moving in a little closer, Shampoo blinked and continued, "And eyes?"

Before Ranma could even utter a word, another voice resounded to the side of him. "That is what I would like to know as well, son-in-law?"

"Gah!" shouted Ranma in surprise. As he jumped in shock out of Shampoo's clutches, which was easy since her hold on him relaxed, Ranma turned and was staring downwards at Cologne, who was holding her ever-present staff. "Would you quit that, ya old ghoul!?!" Closing his eyes reflexively for the whack on his cranium that occurred whenever he mentioned that particular nickname, Ranma realized that the blow never came. For some reason, this made him even more nervous. Opening his eyes, he noted the Amazon elder was pearly closely at him, as if she were dissecting every aspect of his being. The whole experience was pretty much freaking him out and he wished to leave the area as fast as possible.

While the dealings between the two were occurring, Shampoo alternately was casting curious glances between her great-grandmother and beloved.

Cologne broke the silence by stating, "That is quite an interesting look on you, son-in-law."

Sweating slightly under her intense stare, Ranma only was able to manage out, "Uhhhh…," since he was completely baffled as to what to say to get him out of this situation.

When Ranma opened his mouth, Cologne, who was observing him more closely than most people were capable of, narrowed her eyes. With an expert level of skill, the elder twirled her staff and pressed its tip against Ranma's upper lip. Lifting said part up, Cologne narrowed her eyes even further upon noticing one of Ranma's recently acquired fangs. In a deceptively calm voice, Cologne quietly muttered to herself, "My, my, my…"

Looking at her grandmother's line-of-sight, Shampoo exclaimed, "Aiyah! Airen have fangs like Lost Boy!"

Slowly backing away from her staff, Ranma stammered, "Well, there is, uh, a, uh, perfectly reasonable explanation for this, but I, uh, need to get back, to the, uh, dojo…um, Bye!" Enough being said, Ranma took off towards the dojo via rooftops.

Shampoo looked as if she were going to follow until she heard her Cologne say, "Leave him be for now, great-granddaughter."

Although she seemed about to protest, Shampoo reluctantly accepted her great-grandmother's words and headed back into the restaurant. Before she entered through the door, Cologne spoke again in the same neutral tone, "I want you to pay close attention to son-in-law, great-granddaughter." The Matriarch was staring in the direction that Ranma had left with a thoughtful expression on her face.

Blinking a few times in confusion, Shampoo, nevertheless, complied, "Yes, great-grandmother." She then proceeded in entering the Nekohaten while contemplating the puzzling past few minutes, especially with regards to her husband's new look. To the Amazon princess, they did not diminish his appearance at all. On the contrary, they seemed to give him an air of danger, and to a warrior woman like her, made Ranma all the more appealing. Shampoo sighed in happiness and returned to work with renewed vigor.

For a few moments, Cologne remained standing in contemplation. Suddenly, she hopped onto her staff and pogoed into the Nekohaten while still deep in thought.

Meanwhile at the Tendo Dojo…

Mara was finding herself the subject to six simultaneous stares, or in one case a blatant glare. 'Now how to deal with this?' the demoness said to herself. But before she could formulate a sufficient plan, one of the individuals broke the peace.

"Mara who?" asked the girl with the pageboy-cut hair in a cool, collected tone.

Mara raised an amused eyebrow slightly at her, but did not immediately comment. 'Now what should I call myself.' All of a sudden, inspiration struck her. 'Well, it's not the most original name.' "Demonica," she casually stated, "Mara Demonica."

This time it was Nabiki who raised an eyebrow at the gaijin woman.

The eldest woman present adjusted the wrapped bundle she was carrying and spoke, "Well, young lady, what is your relationship with my son?" She glanced suspiciously at the heavier-set man, who sweated slightly under her gaze.

Mara smiled brilliantly, "Why, I'm his fiancée!" Everyone, save the two elder Tendo sisters, glared at the man in the white gi, who shrunk back under their collective gaze.

Nodoka sighed heavily and turned back to Mara. "I assume that there was an agreement made between your parents and my husband, Genma Saotome."

Nodding slightly, Mara answered, "Yup, there sure is." After sighing, she continued, "And then Ranma tells me that he has a whole bunch of other fiancées too." She glowered at Genma briefly and then added, "I contacted my parents about this. Let me tell you, they weren't happy about it. They said to stay around here until they could come and straighten this all out. Unfortunately, they are on a business trip and won't be able to come here for a while, so I'm supposed to go to school and expand my 'cultural diversity.'" Internally, Mara was proud of her little cover story, especially since it was just made up.

Now it was the tall man with a moustache that cleared his throat into his hand and spoke, "I see, miss, but that does not explain why you are here and why you were in, er, the, um, compromising position before." The last statement made the glow around the girl with black-blue hair intensify slightly.

Putting a finger to her chin in mock thinking, she answered, "Seeing as how I didn't have a place to stay and that there was a spare room, Ranma was nice enough to let me hang around here for a while. As for the second part, well, I was watching him practice and I sort of startled him."

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Soun commented, "Spare room. The only one besides the main guest room is…?" He trailed off as realization hit him, making him suddenly nervous. "Y-you were in the M-master's bedroom!" Both of the elder men shuddered in synchronization.

Mara blinked, but then shrugged her shoulders. "Well Ranma did say someone named Happosai was staying in it, but that it wouldn't be a problem."

Soun and Genma looked around the frantically. The former then exclaimed, "Don't say his name!"

Mara rolled her eyes, but continued, "Anyway, we cleaned up the room, and let me tell you, it was a pretty big mess." She barely withheld a grimace of distaste when noticing that the smile on Kasumi's face increased slightly from her statement.

"So," interrupted Nabiki, "what exactly was Ranma traded for this time?" Her voice had some suspicion to it.

"Hmmm," Mara looked thoughtful for a moment, "I'm not really sure. Let me go and get the contract." The robed woman walked past them and towards her room. She felt the eyes of those in the back follow her movements until she was out of sight, but they did not bother her in the slightest. Before she was out of hearing range, a voice rang out, "What do you have to say for yourself, Genma!?!" which was followed by a series of whimpers on another's part.

After entering her room and closing the door, Mara willed her nightwear into a more suitable shorts and shirt combination, both of which were black. Holding her hand out, a folder appeared in it. After opening the contents, Mara noted that the system changed it to reflect her chosen name. Speed-reading through it in a couple of minutes, the blond demoness raised an eyebrow at some of the material. As an afterthought, she also withdrew about five million yen from her account and put it into her pocket. Looking around the room, Mara decided to add some clothing to the closets so as not to arouse suspicion. After a negligent wave to do said action, she nodded to herself in satisfaction and left the room.

Upon her return to the backyard, Mara noted that the whispered conversation they were discussing among themselves silenced. When she rejoined them, Mara stated while holding the folder into the air, "Well, here's the contract." Off hand, the demoness saw that Akane seemed calmer, though she still held a large amount of irritation on her face.

Without asking, Nabiki grabbed the material and started to look through it. Mara was barely able to keep her temper in check from the impudence. 'Must not smear girl onto ground. Must not smear girl onto ground. Discretion must be maintained. Yeah, discretion.' The mantra repeated through her head until she calmed down.

Nabiki's voice brought Mara's attention back to the outside world. "Hmm, it looks like a Code I?" Another round of glares were issued towards Genma, who looked as if he wanted to jump into the koi pond.

Blinking, Mara asked, "Code I?"

In response, Nabiki smirked in an all-knowing fashion, which was already starting to annoy Mara. "Since so many suitors come by now and then, we figured it was more convenient to classify them according to types. Code I is for food, Code II is for sake, and Code III is money. Dowries are categorized under which heading they follow."

Sweatdropping, Mara reminded herself to look at Ranma's main file someday and see how many fiancées he actually had. 'At least legal did a pretty good job.'

That was more or less the same thoughts on Nabiki's mind. When scanning through the folder, she could not believe the detailed accuracy of the contract. 'Whoever this Mara's family is, they must have access to some of the best lawyers in the world.'

Nodoka broke into the conversation. "So what are your plans now, dear?"

Shrugging, Mara answered, "Like I said before, stay around for bit until the folks can come and straighten out this mess. I guess I'll be going to school in the meantime." She quickly grabbed the contract back from Nabiki, who seemed a little peeved after the action.

Continuing with her questioning, she asked, "But where are you going to reside?" With a calculating eye, Nodoka thought, 'Perhaps if she stays with me, I can help her to dress like a proper young lady, even if she is gaijin.'

Acting with hesitance, Mara responded, "Uh, I was kinda hoping I could live here. I mean, some of you go to the same school, so it would be more convenient that way." Silently, Mara added to herself, seemingly reading Nodoka's thoughts, 'No way are you getting me into any frilly kimonos.'

Nodoka kept her silence, realizing the truth behind the words, though there was some slight disappointment in her eyes.

As one, Soun and Genma looked at each other and nodded. They knew another fiancée in the house would further strain Ranma and Akane's relationship. That was something they could not allow. Being the owner of the house, Soun decided to break the news, Nervously putting his hand on his hand, he stated, "Well, um, Mara, the problem is that we don't simply have the finances to help support another freeloa-, um, guest. But, we'll be happy in helping you finding somewhere to stay. Perhaps, even Mrs. Sao…"

Mara cut him off before he could finish his statement. "If money is a concern, there shouldn't be a problem. How about for room, board, and utilities, I give you four million yen cash for my stay here?"

Stunned silence ruled the backyard for a moment. Even the ever calm Kasumi was baffled by the amount offered.

Now Soun Tendo was not as greedy as his lifelong friend Genma Saotome. However, when being offered so much money for what could only be a month of living arrangements was too good of an offer to pass up. Therefore before even Nabiki could get the chance to speak, Soun zoomed up to Mara and shook her hand in an exaggerated fashion while simultaneously screaming out, "Deal!"

Breaking off from the handshake, Mara apparently pulled out of nowhere a paper and pen. "Could you then please sign this?" Without even bothering to read the document, Soun took the pen and hastily wrote his signature on it and gave her the items back.

Nabiki bit back an angry retort to her father for signing the contract. 'He did it so fast I couldn't even get to speak.' A person who was willing to offer so much money as an initial offer would have the resources to be negotiated for an even higher rent. But now, this Mara person basically got to live here as long as she needed with the one time offer, especially if that contract was as meticulous as the other one.

Of course, Mara knew all of this in advance. That is why she offered a relatively large amount in the beginning for an undetermined length of stay. From what she saw so far, this Nabiki would most likely continue to try and find ways to get as much money as possible off of her in rent increases and such. With this method, however, all of those contingencies were covered. Looking the document once over, Mara rolled the contract up and put it with the betrothal contract. Taking a large wad of money out of her back pocket (one that made two sets of eyes especially hungry), she counted out the required money and handed it to an eager Soun, who grabbed it excitedly. "Nice doing business with ya," stated Mara while putting the money back into her pocket.

While Soun and Genma were practically drooling at the large amount of money, Nabiki snuck up to them and yanked the money from their hands. "Sorry, Daddy, but this isn't bar money."

Whimpering slightly from the loss, the two looked at her, but eventually hung their heads in resignation.

While the rest of audience was busy discussing issues among themselves, it was at this time that the youngest of the Tendo daughters decided to introduce herself to their latest guest. With Mara's offer of rent, the remnants of Akane's anger faded away. 'At least she's paying money unlike those two freeloaders.' Walking up to the blond, she coughed into her hand to gain the other's attention. "Hi, my name's Akane Tendo."

Mara raised an eyebrow at girl in front of her. Looking her from head to toe, she studied Akane. 'Hmm, just a few minutes ago and she was so angry and now she's trying to be friendly. Doesn't hold onto any emotion for a while, does she?' Mara asked herself.

The demoness' examination was making Akane quite nervous, especially with those unnatural blood red eyes that seemed to stare through her. Akane had to force down a shiver when looking directly at them.

Offering a smirk, Mara finally replied, "Yeah, nice to meet ya. I guess we'll be going to school together, huh?"

Breathing out an internal sigh of relief, Akane smiled and answered, "I guess so. Sorry about before, but well…" She trailed off, unsure on how to continue.

Waving her explanation off, Mara spoke, "Yeah. Yeah. I guess it was a little…suggestive."

Giving off an annoyed and frustrated breath, Akane continued, "It's just…that baka always seems to be glomping onto one of his other fiancées! You'll see for yourself tomorrow. He can't keep his hands off of them…" Her ranting degenerated into mumblings about baka perverts and such.

Shrugging indifferently, Mara responded, "He doesn't seem like that to me…" She trailed off as she felt a demonic presence approaching. 'I guess he wanted to get this over with,' the demoness noted to herself.

After jumping into the backyard, Ranma approached his family and acquaintances with no small amount of trepidation, which increased upon noticing everyone's attention focus on him. It was at this time that Ranma wished he knew how to talk to people. 'I hope Mara knows what to do.' "Uh, yo," he lamely stated.

"So, Saotome, what is with the new look?" asked Nabiki, while continuing her examination. She blinked as Ranma came closer, where she was now able to see his eyes better. 'What the hell!?!' It was hard to miss the red that was mingled with the previous blue. 'Red…just like that Mara person.' Her narrowed her eyes in consideration. 'There seems to be something going on here.'

Apparently, she was not the only one who saw the changes. Nodoka was the first to voice what was on her mind. "Son, what happened to you hair…and your eyes."

This brought Ranma up short. He suddenly froze in his tracks and was unable to say anything useful. "Uhhhh…"

'That moron,' thought Mara with no small amount of irritation. 'Can't he even tell a simple lie. We definitely are going to have to work on that.' Outloud, she spoke, "I'm afraid that was my fault. You see, my parents allowed me to teach Ranma some of my family's art. Learning it…has some side effects like physical changes."

This perked everyone interests. Surprisingly, it was Genma who asked the question everybody was thinking. "So what is your family's style?"

Mara smirked and casually stated, "Demonica School of Energy Manipulation."

This caused crowd to blink in confusion. This time it was Akane who asked, "So, you specialize in ki attacks?" She attempted to hide the disappointment from her voice. To the shorthaired girl, it would had been nice for there to be a fiancée around that did not outclass her in marital arts. 'I still can't even roofhop like the rest of them,' Akane sullenly added to herself.

"Something like that." The demoness then decided to try and switch topics on safer ground. "So, when is lunch usually around here?" It was getting closer to that time of the day, and the oldest Tendo daughter and Ranma's mother both seemed to take great preparation in their meals. Therefore, it was not too far of a stretch that a little prompting would get them talking in the direction she wanted.

"Oh, dear. I had better get lunch started," Kasumi abruptly stated. The Tendo matriarch subsequently proceeded back into the house.

"Do you need any help, Kasumi-chan?" asked the Saotome matriarch.

Still smiling pleasantly, the questioned individual responded, "That would be very helpful, Auntie." Continuing though the door, the two discussed on what dishes to make, the past occurrences already forgotten.

Soun turned to his old friend and inquired, "Well, Saotome, a game of shogi sounds good right about now, doesn't it?"

"Indeed it does, Tendo," affirmed Genma with a nod. The two went about their own way in getting sake and to sit down for a relaxing game.

Mara resisted the urge to facefault, though just barely, on how casually these mortals were accepting Ranma's change in appearance. 'Oh yes,' Mara reminded herself, 'I'm definitely going to look up records on what goes on around here.' It seemed as if the whole household was desensitized to strange occurrences.

So now, it was only Mara, Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki who were left standing in the backyard. The elder of the two remaining Tendo sisters was still looking at both Mara and Ranma with calculating eyes, trying to discern what was going on. Sitting down on one of the steps, Nabiki asked the blond, "So, Mara, why don't you tell us about yourself?" Any information she could get from her might prove invaluable in unlocking the mysteries surrounding this woman.

Of course, Mara saw straight through Nabiki's ploy. The demoness was slightly impressed by the girl's business demeanor, but it was still nothing compared to a demoness of her caliber and experience. "Not much to tell, just that me and my family tend to travel a lot."

Still, Nabiki pressed forward with her questioning. "So where are you from originally?"

'Okay, girl, you're starting to annoy me,' thought Mara with some irritation. To Nabiki, she spoke simply, "Norway."

The middle Tendo sister persisted with another question. "You seem to speak very good Japanese. Why I don't even detect a hint of an accent. You must have had a proficient education."

When Mara was about make another excuse, Akane scolded her sister. "Nabiki, Mara is a guest here. Do you really need to always pry into everybody's lives?" Not bothering to hear an answer, she turned to Mara. "So, I was wondering if you would like to go and spar in the dojo?" There was a hint of anticipation to her voice.

Although she was glad that Nabiki's questioning was interrupted, Mara was not about to go and participate in some pointless fistfight. It just was not her thing. "Sorry, but our style doesn't really focus on physical combat." There was apparent disappointment on Akane's face, but it did not really bother Mara.

With a silent sigh, Akane replied with false enthusiasm, "Oh well." It would have been nice to actually get to spar with someone for a change rather than just trying to hit that dodging baka.

Taking this as the perfect opportunity to exit the scene, Mara stated, "Well, I think I'll go and get a drink." Without waiting for a response, she slowly walked into the house.

Until the demoness was out of sight, Nabiki did not part her eyes from Mara. She was irritated that Akane had to go and disrupt her questioning, but Nabiki was able to resist openly scowling at the interruption from experience. 'Sis will never learn, will she?' she asked herself. Of course the more Nabiki considered the situation, she amended her own thoughts, 'Check that. This whole family will never learn.' Her family (and those friends of the family) did not seem in being able to see past what is put in front of their faces.

This whole situation smelled of something dirty, but she could not put her finger on it. 'Oh well…it's only a matter of time before I figure out what's going on,' she told herself. Nabiki was tempted to stick around and see the possible fireworks (aka Ranma-bashing) that might occur since it was a good source of entertainment, but decided against it. There would always be other opportunities at a later date and she wanted to observe Mara some more. A lunch atmosphere might lower Mara's guard enough to slip some insight about herself. Besides, if they were arguing loudly, the dining room was close enough to hear their dispute anyway. "I guess I'll go in and wait for lunch." Nabiki stood up and walked inside the house to watch over their unexpected guest.

With Ranma and Akane being the only ones in the yard, an uncomfortable silence hung over them. Neither of them knew where to begin the conversation and so no one spoke. After a few moments, Ranma tentatively asked, "So, um, how was the, uh, trip?"

Akane let out an internal sigh of relief. Regardless, her response was just as hesitant as the question inquired. "It was, um, good. We, uh, had a pretty good time. It's…too bad you couldn't make it."

Blinking a few times to make sure he heard correctly, Ranma shrugged and tried to wave it off, "Yeah well, it wasn't so bad. Some peace and quiet for a change and all." After another few moments, he added, "So what did you do during the vacation?"

Feeling that things were back to normal (or as much as can be expected around there), Akane smiled and animatedly began talking about the past few days.

A few minutes earlier…

Mara entered the dining area and noticed that the two men had already set-up the board and were pouring sake for each other from a bottle. 'Boy, they don't waste any time.' After a few seconds of watching them play, she also noticed that they were each trying to switch the pieces around after distracting their opponent. The display was rather disappointing to her. Being a demoness, the cheating itself did not bother Mara, but their methodology was rather pathetic. 'How could they possibly fall for those tricks?' They each seemed to be conned by either the most mundane of lies or the most unbelievable of ones, ranging from money to food to purple-headed dinosaurs. Of course, the way things seemed to work around here, the latter might not be as unbelievable as she first thought.

Getting tired of observing the display, Mara walked over to them and casually grabbed the sake bottle, which surprised the two martial artists. Plopping herself down next to the dining table, she drank straight from the bottle and waited for lunch to be served.

Soun uncertainly asked, "Excuse me, miss, but, aren't you a little, uh, young to be drinking sake."

Shrugging indifferently, Mara took another swig from the bottle and countered, "Yeah well, we do things differently from where I come from."

"I, uh, see," hesitantly replied Soun.

It was at this time that Nabiki entered the room. Spotting Mara, she blinked a couple of times upon noting her drinking straight from a bottle of sake. 'Okay, maybe this will be easier than I thought.' With little trouble, drunk people could sometimes be convinced to speak their deepest secrets. The more she saw how Mara was drinking, the more Nabiki had to revise her opinion. The blond was chugging the bottle like a pro and did not seem to be stopping anytime soon. Therefore, the shorthaired girl settled herself down by the dining room table as well and continued to observe the other woman.

Mara was aware that Nabiki was originally hopeful she would become drunk off her ass and spill her guts. Several swings from the bottle later and she noticed Nabiki gave up on that idea. 'You aren't gonna catch me off guard that easily, little girl.'

A couple of minutes later, both Ranma and Akane made their way into the dining room. The latter was surprised to see Mara opening drinking sake, but dismissed it as some weird gaijin custom.

Nabiki noted that Ranma did not seem surprised at all. In fact, he seemed to have expected this behavior. 'Very interesting.'

Mara wordlessly handed out the bottle toward the pigtailed boy. He nonchalantly took the offered container…and drank straight from it as well. The eyes of Akane, Soun, and Genma widened significantly at the display. Nabiki hid her own surprise and settled for merely raising an eyebrow. Not being able to resist, she commented, "Wow. That's almost like an indirect kiss. How forward of you Ranma-kun."

This created some expected reactions with Ranma choking on his drink. After banging on his chest a couple of times to clear it, he squeaked out, "W-what…!?!"

Akane also took some literal meaning to the statement. Her face began to flush with anger. Subsequently, she took out her trusty mallet from hammerspace and yelled a frequent catchphrase of hers while swinging the weapon downwards on its target, "Ranma no baka!!!"

The aforementioned person was once again acquainted with smashing into the floor. Surprisingly, Ranma did not drop the bottle.

The fathers also took this opportunity to berate the boy on his duties to Anything Goes School. "Boy, how could you betray your fiancée so? You put shame to the Saotome Anything Goes School of Martial Arts."

Utilizing his infamous 'Demonhead' attack, Soun bellowed at Ranma, "How could you betray my little girl!?!"

Suddenly, Kasumi's tranquil voice broke the tension in the room. "Lunch is ready." Both the eldest Tendo sister and Nodoka exited the kitchen with various plates. This caused both men to stop yelling at Ranma and concentrate on more pressing matters, like eating, especially with regards to Genma.

Soon everyone save Ranma, who was still imbedded into the floor, was at the table and helping themselves to the food. Mara was looking at the scene in disbelief. She then noticed that Ranma was picking himself off of the floor. Not sure of what to make of the situation, Mara simply asked, "Uh, you okay there?"

Dusting himself off with one hand and still holding the sake bottle with the other, Ranma muttered, "Yeah, yeah, just peachy." There was a touch of bitterness in his voice. Looking at the table, Ranma saw how his father was eating his portion of the food as well. "Hey pop, quit stuffing your face with my food!" Rushing to the table, the teenaged boy put the sake bottle down and began battling his father in another Saotome speed-eating contest.

While eating at a more normal pace, Mara was still amazed that someone could consume food at that rate. After seeing Ranma's father doing the same, however, the whole picture made quite a bit more sense. Surprisingly, Ranma was not even utilizing his demon-enhanced speed to beat Genma.

When the various members of the household were finishing their courses (or third courses as the case may be), Nabiki asked in an innocent tone, "So, Ranma, when did you start drinking sake?"

This froze everyone on the spot. Those who were there to witness the event forgot about the transgression when lunch was served. Nodoka was looking disapprovingly at her son. Even Kasumi's normal smile seemed a bit forced.

With everyone looking expectantly at him, Ranma began to sweat under their collective gaze. Not being able to think of an excuse, the teenaged demon could only stutter out, "Well, um, that is…"

Nearly twitching from repressed anger, Mara wanted to smack Ranma upside the head again for being so tongue-tied. 'He's going to blow our whole cover with that stupid mouth of his!' It was one thing if he could not think of a plausible lie. Sometimes that could be very hard when put on the spot for anyone. In fact, she wanted to hit herself for not thinking of an excuse for him beforehand. However, when it came to even talking in a simple conversation, the boy was a spineless wimp! A teenager who had fought as many opponents as he had, but who could not even use those skills when talking. 'That's it. He and I are gonna have a talk about this…Now what can be used a good excuse. Hmm…I guess this will have to do.'

Speaking to everyone Mara stated, "I'm afraid that would be my fault. You see, it's all part of his training. Channeling energy through normal concentration can be extremely difficult. Since alcohol lowers one's awareness of their surroundings, training while drinking makes it even easier to focus when sober." On inside she was repeating the mantra, 'Please buy it,' over and over in her mind. To her surprise, everyone did seem to take the lie, as seen by a sudden decrease in tension. Of course, if Mara knew the training regimens for techniques like the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken, Bakusai Tengetsu, or Neko-ken, then their reactions might have made more sense to her. 'Well, I didn't expect them to take it that easy…Oh well, I guess now would be a good time as any to smack some sense into him.' Standing up she walked over to Ranma and pulled him up by the ear, saying, "In fact, I think now would be as good a time as any to continue the training. Come along, Ranma."

Indignantly, Ranma screeched out, "Hey, watch it! I wasn't done eating! Ouch, careful with the ear!" His protests trailed off to the listeners of the Tendo home as they went further away towards the dojo.

Unlike the rest of the occupants, Nabiki was still fairly suspicious about the situation. She might have believed the 'explanation' if it came from Ranma's mouth. He had done some pretty outrageous things to learn some techniques. But the fact that the words came from Mara and not the pigtailed boy degraded the plausibility of truthfulness in her eyes. She might have to find Ranma later on and question him when Mara would not be around to bail him out. 'I will find out what's going on here.' Finding out people's secrets was one of her specialties after all.

Inside the dojo…

After dragging Ranma by the ear, despite his protests, in the dojo, Mara threw him onto the floor and then closed the door behind her. After whispering an incantation to prevent eavesdroppers from listening in on their conversation, Mara then stalked up to within a few feet of the younger Saotome. "Okay, you moron, we're going to get a couple of things straight here!"

Rubbing his ear, Ranma irritably responded, "Would you watch it with the ear? What is your problem anyway?"

With a incredulous expression on her face, Mara asked, "My problem!?!" Her face changed to one of anger again. Scowling at Ranma, who was now standing up, she added, "My problem is that !#$ mouth of yours! With the way you talk to people, you'll end blabbing our secret to the entire district in a couple of days!"

Wary of her tone of voice, Ranma countered, "But look at before, you were able to get us out of it with no problem!"

Through clenched teeth, Mara drawled out, "And what is going to happened when I am not there for you the next time?"

Ranma opened his mouth to respond, but for the life of him, could not think on how to respond to that question in his favor. So he settled for snapping his mouth shut.

"Exactly," stated Mara in a more calm voice. "I'm not gonna be there all the time to get you out of these situations…and there will be more. But that's not even the tip of the iceberg." Her tone changing serious, she continued, "Ranma, I'll be blunt and say that the way you talk and act right now isn't going to cut it in Nifelheim." After waiting for that statement to settle in for a moment, she added, "Because of rules and regulations, demons can't simply use brute force to get what they want. So we use our wits to try and work our way up the ladder. The beings that you have seen so far probably represent the 'nicest' of us. Let me make this clear…"

Her voice became so stern and held so much authority that Ranma had no choice but to listen. "There are those who will do anything to get what they want in Nifelheim. If they find some use for you, they will manipulate you into helping them achieve their goals. To them, you are nothing but a pawn to be used and thrown away." Taking a deep breath, Mara stated plainly, "As you are now, Ranma, you simply are not going to cut it. Even if you end up as some sort of guard, there will still be someone who might find a future use for you…Martial arts isn't going to be enough to make it as a demon." She tried to subtly hint him at using some of his martial arts skills for other uses, but it seemed now the direct approach was needed.

With his head slightly bowed, Ranma contemplated Mara's words over and over in his head for the next several minutes. A couple of points stood out to him. The first one was obviously his lack of speaking ability, but Ranma already knew that about himself and was aware that it needed improvement. The second point was more prominent, that being manipulation by others. Although this was not a new revelation to Ranma as well with respect to the various people in his life, it did make him realize that demons may be able to do the same. If the situation was anything like Mara was hinting towards, Ranma was also pretty sure that the level of exploitation could be on a whole other scale than previously. With her being the demoness, Ranma decided to go along with what Mara talking about...and trust her on it. "So what do I do about it? I'm a martial artist. That's all I like and that's all I'm good at." The last part was marked with some disappointment. "I know I don't talk the best…Hell, I hear that enough, but I dunno what to do about it."

Sighing exasperatedly, Mara pointed out, "Have you forgotten what I said to you previously. You might be able to use some of those martial arts skills of yours for other uses besides hitting things." She smirked a bit at seeing Ranma wince with her last statement. "Anyway, what we really have to work on is you facial expressions. Yours is basically an open book. Practically any idiot off the street could tell whether you're telling the truth or not. Simply put, you have no poker face."

A sweatdrop rolled down Ranma's head while recalling the Gambling King incident and the lengths he had to go to conceal his expressions.

Sitting on floor and motioning for Ranma to do the same, Mara explained, "What we have to worry about now is that Nabiki girl. I can tell she doesn't believe all of, if any, of our explanation, mostly because how I have been answering all of the questions." She noted that Ranma winced again. "So, she'll probably try and speak to you alone." Tapping her chin thoughtfully, Mara pondered outloud, "Hmm…Nabiki will be able to pick up whether you lie or not through the emotions that play on your face. Since martial arts is your specialty, we need to think of a way to use them in helping you to take control of your emotions. Maybe some sort of meditation technique…"

Sweating slightly as a certain realization came to him, Ranma tentatively raised his hand, "Um, Mara?"

Shaking herself from her thoughts, Mara quizzically looked at the timid expression on Ranma's face and asked, "Yeah, Ranma?"

Swallowing, Ranma gathered his courage and stated, "Um, I think I may have an idea."

Blinking in surprise, Mara signaled for him to go on.

Scratching his head nervously, the teenage demon continued, "Uh, well, ya see, I learned this technique called the Hiryu Shoten Ha a while back. I made a couple of revisions to it since then, but in the original one ya used a person's battle aura against them in creating it."

With some impatience, Mara responded, "While this is all nice and dandy, Ranma, get to the point!"

Going back on track, Ranma continued, "Uh, yeah, anyway, to learn that technique one had to master a state of mind called the 'Soul of Ice' where…one has to eliminate all emotions from thought…" He trailed off sheepishly, not knowing what else to say.

Blinking a few times, Mara ran over what he said again in her head to make sure that she heard correctly. After doing so, she nodded to herself, leaned over, and smacked Ranma upside the head.

"Ow!" exclaimed Ranma. A moment later, he rubbed the back of his head from the stinging sensation. 'At least, that doesn't hurt nearly as much as a mallet swing,' Ranma wryly thought.

"You knew this technique for how long and never bothered to use it for situations like this!" On the inside, though, Mara was quite thrilled by this latest development since it made things so much easier. They might even be able to make significant progress today because of it. Before Ranma could even retort to her comment, Mara added, "Nevermind. Since we have a lot of time between now and dinner we'll practice until then."

With a touch of curiosity, Ranma asked, "Practice how?"

Mara's only answer was an evil grin.

Meanwhile in the house…

Lunch was over and the two eldest woman of the household were cleaning up the dishes. Soun and Genma were at their game board with a fresh bottle of sake. Akane was quietly watching television, while discretely taking quick glances at the dojo. Of course, Nabiki noticed this, but the majority of her contemplation was once again on their mysterious guest and the changes Ranma underwent, physically that is. She could understand how her family took it in stride since weird things seemed to center around him at times. The altered hair and eye color did not even make him look that different from before.

That Mara girl had a hidden agenda, though, and Nabiki could practically smell it, but she was also very good when it came to deception. From the contract papers given before, she also seemed to have access to substantial resources on her part. If Nabiki played her cards right, this whole situation might lead to something very profitable. All she had to do was wait for the right opportunities.

Hours later…

As evening was approaching, Ranma and Mara exited the dojo. The former was dejectedly dragging his feet along the ground while the latter wore a smug grin on her face. Ranma was thinking on how the training session had to have been one of the most humiliating and embarrassing ones in recent times. In order to help him maintain his focus on the Soul of Ice, Mara kept ridiculing him on almost every level, including his martial arts abilities and his manhood. On the other side of the coin, she would act…suggestive, such as leaning forward so much that a large amount of cleavage was showing…among other things. If you asked Ranma, he would say that she had too much fun in the 'training' exercises.

Still, it was quite the educational experience for Ranma. He never had really used the Soul of Ice for such an extended period of time, even when he was learning the Hiryu Shoten Ha originally or the battle at Jusendo. While using it, his mind seemed to operate differently, more calculating like a computer. Since Nabiki seemed to do something like this all of the time, Ranma's respect for the middle Tendo sister went up a notch. 'Heh, if she had any advanced martial arts training, she could probably learn the Soul of Ice pretty easily.'

Mara was also quite satisfied with the results of the impromptu training. Not only was it a blast to openly insult or utilize sex appeal under the guise of 'training,' but there were was quite a bit to show for it. Although he could not maintain the Soul of Ice forever under constant provocation, he could do so for enough time until he could get away.

As they were about to enter the house, Kasumi was just stepping out the door, wiping her hands on the apron she wore. "Oh, what perfect timing! We were just about to sit down and eat." She then went towards the kitchen to help the Saotome matriarch in bringing out the dishes.

Silently, both Mara and Ranma made their way to the table and sat down. Akane and Nabiki observed how neither of them showed the fatigue that is usually associated with training. Of course, they did not hear any loud noises coming from the dojo as well. In addition, Mara did say that her art was not physical in nature. Therefore, they both assumed that it involved some sort of meditation techniques.

Eventually, dinner was brought out, and, surprisingly, it went without a hitch, minus the usual food battle. After the meal was finished, the table was cleaned, which was subsequently followed by some relaxation through watching television. When Kasumi came back and announced that the furo water was ready for use, Ranma stood up and stated that he was going to use it first.

After fifteen minutes, Nabiki quietly rose and headed upstairs. Mara smirked from where she was sitting, already knowing what the middle Tendo sister was going to attempt. 'Boy, is she going to be in for a shock?' Chuckling to herself, Mara took another swig from a fresh sake bottle.

In the furo changing room…

'Man that felt great,' Ranma told himself. After drying off, he put on a fresh set of clothes since it was still too early to head for bed. As soon as he opened the door, a smirking Nabiki who was leaning next the exit greeted Ranma. 'Well, I guess this is it. Boy, it didn't take her long, did it?' Clearing all emotion from his being, Ranma encased his mind in a Soul of Ice like he had done so many times beforehand. "Can I help you, Nabiki?" he asked neutrally.

Blinking in surprise from the tone of Ranma's voice, Nabiki studied the pigtailed boy's face more closely. She was rather shocked to final a calm mask on it instead of the usual easy-to-read one. 'What the hell?' Nabiki asked herself. Mentally shaking herself out of her thoughts, Nabiki inquired, "Oh, I was just curious as to what you have been doing for the past few days, Ranma?"

"Repairing the dojo and training obviously," coolly replied the boy questioned.

'What is going on here? That voice was almost…eloquent.' Outloud, she asked, "Come now, Ranma-kun, you could not have been only doing those activities during the whole time. What did you do for fun?"

Still using the disturbing tone of voice, Ranma countered, "You seem to forget that training is fun for me, Nabiki."

Slightly put-off, Nabiki told herself, 'Okay, time to take out the big guns.' Stretching out her arms behind her back, certain 'assets' of Nabiki became prominent in the process. "Well, how about Mara? I was wondering what you think about her."

Seeming to contemplate her words for a moment, he then answered, "She is a good sensei."

Frowning slightly, Nabiki stated, "Actually, Ranma, I was wondering…"

Ranma interrupted her impending question, "Excuse me, Nabiki, but if you wish to get to know Mara, it would be better if you talked to her yourself." Without waiting for a reply, the pigtailed martial artist left a gaping Nabiki by the changing room. Once he went inside the guest room and closed the door, Ranma let out a huge sigh of relief and slid down onto the ground. 'It's good thing Nabiki couldn't tell my sweat from the rest of the water still on me. That was too close.' Wiping his forehead, Ranma recalled on how the Soul of Ice almost broke down with that last trick of hers. Actually, if Mara had not done a similar thing for an hour, Ranma knew he would not have lasted. In the end, though, he did succeed and Ranma could not help but smile in satisfaction because of that simple fact.

Back at the changing room door, Nabiki was still gaping and rendered speechless by what just happened a few moments ago. 'Did Ranma…beat me in a conversation!?! Ranma!?!' She was too shocked to even be angry at the moment. It was too surreal to have thought possible. Almost mechanically, Nabiki walked into the changing room and undressed. Going into the adjacent room, she scrubbed and washed herself. Only when she relaxed in the furo did her thoughts begin to fully process information again. Nabiki realized that the recent development had to obviously relate to Mara somehow. She probably was coaching him during those hours on how to build a better emotional mask or something similar to that effect. Whatever Mara and Ranma were hiding from her, it had to be big to go to such lengths.

Nabiki had to admit to herself that Mara must indeed be a good sensei like Ranma said to aid him in so little time. Of course, Ranma's own remarkable learning curve most likely had something to do with it as well. Whatever the case may be, the results spoke for themselves. The way he stood there, seemingly full of confidence and emotional control. The very thought made her stomach feel strange for some reason.

'Oh well,' Nabiki told herself as she stood up from the furo, 'tomorrow is another day.'

End Chapter 5.

Author's Notes: As you may have noticed, I got rid of specifying my chapters into seasons. It just got annoying on my part. With respect to Mara wanting to look up at Ranma's full file, you need to remember that she only got a brief summary report in the first place. Also, if anyone thinks that Ranma adapted the Soul of Ice too quickly to non-fighting aspects, remember that he had been using it for quite a long time already. All that was basically needed was a different mindset in its application. Well, I guess that is it for now. Comments and criticism would be appreciated.

-ranmafan1