********************************************************************* As Akane hurried out the door to join her fiance in the dojo, Kasumi allowed her face to settle in a frown. She had always known that Genma had hidden the extent of his training from them, but from what Ranma was saying and from what he wasn't saying, they could have good cause to have Genma charged with a wide variety of crimes. The catfist training alone could land him in jail for child abuse. And she had noticed before how Ranma seemed a little slow to catch on to certain things and had problems understanding things that were not shown to him. She had simply thought that he was a visual learner, not someone who learned from having something explained to him.

Brief thoughts of taking her anger out on him herself passed through her mind but were swept away. She calmed herself and returned to her room. As she passed the living room, she heard the sounds of anger and violence eminating from the television and realized that her father and Genma were watching the new Jackie Chan movie. That would keep them amused for a while, she thought. She looked into the room and noticed a large bowl of popcorn on the table. Seeing that they would not need her for anything, she walked to her room and entered. She sat gently on the bed, leaning her back against the headboard. She grabbed one of her new textbooks from her night table, only noting as she opened it that it was a psycology book dealing with unusual sexual behaviour in bisexual teens. She giggled to herself at the appropriateness of the subject in regards to her sister and Ranma.

She read the index and skipped to the chapter dealing with repressed sexuality caused by injury or birth defect. While she doubted that Ranma had suffered any defects as he was an almost too healthy young man, Akane had made a point about all of the repetitive damage done to his head over the years. It wasn't that long ago that a blow to his head had convinced Ranma that he was really a girl who was cursed to turn into a boy. It had been a rough few days for them all, especially for Akane as she had to watch her fiance flirt with the various boys of their aquaintance. It was complicated even further in her sister's mind as she had to fight her hidden desire for Ranma's female form.

She read through the chapter, making mental notes of some of the passages. She heard the sounds of activity from the dojo and smiled. It was much too quiet for it to be an arguement between the two and definitely too quiet for it to be a visit from one of their so called friends. She frowned to herself again as she thought about Ranma. Sometimes he was too forgiving. He forgave everyone almost everything they did to him. She understood that he had had a lonely childhood and so clung to those few people who showed an interest in him, but there came a time when you had to draw a line and stand up for yourself. In her mind, the wedding disaster was that line, and she had started guiding Ranma in the direction she thought was best. She felt some guilt at her manipulation of events since his arrival, but she had felt the spark as Ranma and Akane's eyes met in the engawa. It had been an almost palpable connection that had only grown, despite both their efforts to run from it.

Instead of being a barrier that needed to be overcome she had seen immediately that Ranma's curse was a blessing for her little sister. Akane had always been a pretty child and as she grew, so did her beauty. This had resulted in the boys noticing her at a young age, and they had started to flirt with her. Friends she had trained with all her life were suddenly acting weird and refusing to spar with her. They started claiming that she shouldn't be fighting and telling her that instead of fighting with them, she should start going to movies and hanging out with them. This had angered her and she had demanded that they treat her as a martial artist. One of the older boys had then offered to spar with her, gaining glares from the other boys which he seemed to ignore. Akane had happily got into a stance, but the boy had other things on his mind.

As soon as the started, Akane found herself on the defensive. The older boy had several years of advanced training over her and took advantage of all the tricks. He soon had her pressed against the wall pinning her there. Akane struggled then called out the she conceded the match. Instead of releasing her, the boy had started to rub against her, his hands starting to fondle her body as the other boys started catcalling. If their father had not returned to the dojo when he did to find them, something very bad would have happened to Akane.

She retreated into herself for a while. Soun had injured the boys badly, and the boys parents had sought out a lawsuit of assault against him. The boys had claimed that Akane had led them on, telling them that she wanted to be treated that way. Luckily, Nabiki had already started recording the sessions in the dojo and despite the lawyers attempts to bar the film, it was brought into evidence. The older boy had been sentenced to 10 years for assault, attempted rape, and incitement to commit rape. A few months later, Kasumi had heard that the boy had been murdered in prison. Child molesters were the most hated people in the prison system as many of the repeat offenders were often the victims of such abuse as children. But even that was of no comfort for the damage to the Tendo-dojo's reputation had been done and within weeks, all the students had cancelled and otousan's fragile emotional structure shattered even further.

Eventually, Akane had returned to the world, but she was a different person. She was still as outgoing as ever but had become obsessed with becoming a better martial artist. While she was as friendly as always with the girls she knew, she was suspicious and resentfull of any boy who approached her. She soon earned a reputation as a boyhater and the spitefull boys she turned down started spreading rumors that she was a lesbian.

Once those started, even the girls had begun to tease her. Only her two closest friends had remained loyal to her through that time. And then that fateful day when the delusional Kuno made that idiotic and dangerous statement that only one who could defeat Akane in battle could date her. This incited the other boys into beginning the morning attacks. Akane had continued to get angrier and angrier and lost all trust and respect for boys. The only ones she didn't attack on general principal were their father and Dr. Tofu.

That had changed once Ranma had arrived. Though initially distrustful of him, Kasumi had quickly seen how gentle the young man was. She had noted that even Akane had soon started to trust him, even though she tried not too. While she couldn't point out a specific moment when either had realized that they loved the other, she had noted the slight change of behaviour each showed to the other.

Ranma's behaviour became more childlike, teasing and taunting Akane into attacking him. Akane on the other hand, started to be much more cautious, becoming nearly as agressive as she had been during the worst of the school attacks. She would jump at the chance to attack Ranma for the silliest of reasons. Neither was willing to admit how they felt to themselves, let alone to each other. An injury to his brain would be a valid explaination for Ranma's behaviour. That and the manner in which Genma trained him during the trip would result in Ranma being much less emotionally mature than others in his age group. And with his spotty attendance to school, it was truly astounding that he was able to keep pace with his peers.

He didn't get the best marks, but considering all the school he missed due to various trips to either rescue Akane or search for a cure it was shocking that he wasn't failing every course. He didn't like to brag, but she knew that he occassionaly flubbed tests in certain subjects because his father had taught him that it wasn't manly to get high marks. He was especially gifted at languages and he had actually helped her with her English pronunciation as well as her Spanish. She suspected that he also knew several Chinese dialects.

He might not be able to read too well, but his mind was like a steel trap. It was the reason he was so quick to pick up various martial arts moves. He only needed to see a move a few times before he was able to copy it. It took him doing it a bit but he would master it and often improve on it. No one who knew him could deny that he was an exceptional martial artist. He could take a move like the Hyrou Shoten Ha or the Shishi Hokodan and learn it as if it were a basic kata. Ryoga went through all kinds of pain to learn both the Bakusai Tenketsu and the Shishi Hokodan, yet Ranma learned the Moko Takabishu simply from observing Ryoga hitting him with the Roaring lion bullet. The same went with the Katsu Tenchan Amaguriken.

Once he found a medium his body could tolerate, he was able to learn the move in mere hours. She had later learned from Cologne, who would sometimes stop by for tea while the others were at school, that it usually took the best Amazon warriors several weeks to master the technique and few were able to gain the speed Ranma did or to be able to utilize the move in the many different ways Ranma could. She had even mentioned that no Amazon in centuries had been able to use the move to enhance the speed of their entire body the way Ranma did. He could use it to increase his running speed as well as his dodging.

This was part of the reason he was able to keep up as well as he did in school. He was almost preternaturally quick, even without the Amaguriken. This helped him to speed read and write, allowing him to spend less time on school work and more on training. Kasumi smiled and shook her head. She marked her place in the text and placed it carefully on the nightable. She glanced at the clock above her bed, noting that it was nearing 11:00 pm. Judging from the silence from the direction of the dojo, she guessed that Ranma and Akane had finished training for the day.

As she passed the living room, she noted that Ranma and Akane were sitting on the couch, watching the movie their fathers had been watching earlier. She was pleased to see that they were sitting closer than usual, Ranma's face glowing brightly red against the light coming from the screen. She decided to let them finish since it was rare that they had a chance to sit through one without interruption. She made her way to the kitchen, locking the door and making sure the window was latched.

From there she began her nightly round of locking up, making sure that all the entrances were locked and the windows on the lower floor closed. The locked doors and windows wouldn't stop any of Ranma's friends from paying a night time visit, but they would likely deter a real thief. And any thief who did enter the house with hostile intent would find themselves having bit off more than they could chew.

Ranma might allow his friends and rivals to enter as they wished, but since he had arrived in Nerima, the crime rates for theft, rape, and muggings had dropped to almost nothing. The Nerima Wrecking Crew, as they were often called, might cause more overt damage than a dozen thiefs or muggers, but they all, even Kodachi and Tatewaki, would put aside whatever schemes they were doing to educate criminals. It was one of the main reasons people put up with minor inconvieneces such as downed powerlines and cracked pavements from their battles. Nabiki and Kuno had set up a fund that would pay for most of the damages their battles caused.

Their presence, as well as Nabiki's manipulations also worked to keep the more serious dangers, such as the Yakuza and the Triads, from taking up business in Nerima. The Yakuza feared the public nature of the Wrecking crews battles and the Triads could not keep pace with their skill so they avoided Nerima and limited their activies in the surrounding districts. They had even gone so far as to make reparations to various families they had previously pressured using Nabiki as the go between. It was a task for which Nabiki was uniquely suited.

They all respected her and had indeed offered to hire her, but she had refused and though they were unaccustomed to being refused, they accepted hers without retalliation. Not even they were stupid enough to anger someone who could call to their aid martial artists powerful enough to lift and throw vans, uproot trees, and destroy foot thick cement walls with a light punch. Word was filtering through from reliable witnesses of the damage done at Jhusendo and how Ranma had destroyed the mountain. None of the underworld figures would risk the dangers involved in exposing themselves to that type of attack.

Nabiki had had the foresight to videotape many of Ranma and Ryouga's battles and they sold very well. They had even won some awards for the special effects. Even the videos of miscalleaneous battles, mostly Kuno and Mousse, with the occasional fiancee free for all sold well. Sometimes they were even more profitable than the images of Ranmachan in varying states of dress. She was receiving calls from American film producers and special effects companies who wanted her to put them in touch with those responsible. She was hedging her replies, stating that the people in question refused but that she was wearing them down.

It wasn't like she could just tell them the truth, they wouldn't believe her. In fact, she had told one famous director the truth and he had laughed in her face. Soon after, he released what he had hoped would be a defining moment in his career, only to have it barely break even at the box office, and rentals were near record lows for any of his previous films. He could not understand why it did so poorly and he simply could not believe that a highschool girl had the power to blackball his film in this manner.

In point of fact, Nabiki didn't have that much direct power- yet. She did, however know those who did have that power and she was able to manipulate them to do her bidding without too much trouble. It cost her a large sum of her savings, but she paid eagerly in order to avenge herself on the fool. She had first contacted those students at other schools with positions similar to her own, though none had as extensive and widespread an operation as she, and had them spread the word to boycott the movie.

As a result, nearly all the high school and college students avoided the film. This was a major blow as the movie had been primarily targetting for this demographic. Their negative comments affected their parents, who spoke poorly of the movie to friends, who then spread the word to other friends. After two weeks in theaters, the film had only made the equivilant of a million dollars. They had expected to make more than 50 million in the first weekend alone. By the time it was taken out of theaters after only 3 weeks, the film had lost over 90 million dollars. This was a severe blow to the one who laughed for he had financed a large percentage of the film with his own money. And that was simply in the Japanese market. It was nearly as big a failure in other Asian countries and all the way into America and Europe.

Finishing her nightly rounds, she silently moved through the darkness to her room. She took great pride in knowing the layout of the entire house well enough that she could move through it during the darkest night blindfolded and not bump into anything. She tested herself like this each night, stretching her senses and memory. She reached her room without incident in time to see a shadow pass by the window. She wished Ranma a silent good night and slid beneath the covers, secure in her safety and in the harmony of her family.