"How was your flight?" Ukyo asked at the winged forms of Kiima, Seijuro and Nodoka. The night before when they arrived they said something about going out early before sunrise to stretch their wings. Ukyo woke up and started to get ready for another day of business and found Ranma sparring with Karmine in the backyard. Of the others she saw no sign and realized what stretching their wings meant when they flew down from the sky just as the first rays of the sun broke the night.

Kiima smiled, always in a good mood after having a good flight. "Relaxing as usual. You're up early."

"I have a business to keep," Ukyo said with a slight smile, still a little uncomfortable at having Ranma's family as guests in her home. Granted, the Saotomes gave her said house as an unspoken compensation for the trouble they caused her, but it still was her home of more than seventeen years. The man she had loved, and still loved with all her heart, married out of love against all the odds and had a family. And it wasn't with her...

Nodoka saw the expression on Ukyo's face and her features softened slightly. As Kiima went to the room she shared with her husband, and Seijuro went to take a bath, the middle Saotome offspring remained behind and gave the okonomiyaki chef a reassuring smile. "I must thank you for housing us, Kuonji-san. You don't know how much this means to my father."

Ukyo was not a fool and could instantly see in the girl in front of her a compassionate spirit from the first time they spoke to one another. She gave the girl a pat on the shoulder. "Don't mention it, sugar. Your father will always be welcome here, as will all of you." Seeing the girl beam at her before offering to help with breakfast filled her with a warm feeling. She might not be the bearer of Ranma's children, but she could still spend time with them and be a kind of pampering aunt. You take what you can get, she thought as she proceeded to take what she would need out of the refrigerator.

Karmine doubled over Ranma's fist, her body going limp as she had all the fight beaten out of her. After the sparring session the day before she wasn't anywhere near top form for a repeat performance, hence why she couldn't land a single hit on her father even if he'd just finished sparring with Kiima.

Ranma nodded to himself, as he felt Karmine's body give out on her, and quickly wrapped his arms around his daughter. "That was a good fight, Karmine-chan."

The girl would've snorted at that if she wasn't fighting off the urge to puke her guts out. She did give Ranma a good workout, but nowhere near what she managed the day before. She was thankful to her father for holding her right now, since otherwise she would fall to the floor in an undignified heap.

The pigtailed martial artist sat down with the girl on his lap and waited a couple of minutes for Karmine to recover, stroking her hair gently, before finally breaking the silence. "We should've waited for the evening, Karmine-chan." As soon as she woke up Karmine went to the backyard to wait for her parents to finish up with their morning sparring session and, instead of going out to fly with her mother and siblings, asked her father to spar with her. Usually Ranma sparred with Karmine every couple of days, since she needed the time to recover.

The silver-haired girl shook her head and smirked, a confident smile that reminded Ranma of himself. "I only have fifteen days to get ready for the tournament."

Ranma smirked back. "And you plan to train with me mornings and evenings, huh?"

Karmine gave her father a grin. "I'm sparring with you mornings and evenings. The rest of the time I'll join you in doing katas," she finished and leaned forward to give Ranma a kiss on the cheek.

Ranma blinked in surprise. It had been months since Karmine last kissed him, saying it was unseemly of one of Lord Saffron's guards. He studied the beaming teenager and could see a more carefree attitude in her demeanor. Seems like the tournament and the training are finally making her relax, he thought gratefully. During the past year his daughter had started to become obsessed with playing the role of the noble lady, in the process forgetting she was still a child. Thankfully it seemed like she was allowing herself to be a teenager again since she didn't have the pressure of being in the guard everyday. If this was the result of having her stay in Nerima for a couple of days he couldn't wait to see how she would turn out living half the time back home and half the time in Nerima.

Karmine smiled when Ranma kissed her on the forehead affectionately as he did when she was little. Smile that disappeared when she was thrown painfully to the ground, her tired body unable to react in time to soften the landing. She groaned in pain as her strained muscles protested the treatment.

Ranma skidded across the ground and crashed against the outer wall head-first, cracking it on impact. He growled angrily as he sat up, more upset over being caught off-guard than anything else, and turned to regard his attacker. "... P-chan?"

Hibiki Ryoga, a powerfully built man showing his first gray hairs, clenched his fists tightly at the nickname. Nickname that to him was the vilest of insults. "DON'T CALL ME THAT, YOU PERVERT!"

Ranma jumped to his feet and glared at Ryoga. "What the hell is your problem, bacon-breath!"

The insult only made Ryoga's temper explode. He was walking around, lost as usual, when he walked into someone's yard and saw a man that looked suspiciously like Ranma kissing and groping a girl young enough to be his daughter. Upon further inspection that man was Ranma indeed! Ryoga did the only sensible thing with the discovery; he kicked Ranma across the yard with enough force to shatter concrete. "What's my problem? WHAT'S MY PROBLEM! You're all over a girl young enough to be your DAUGHTER! SAOTOME RANMA, PREPARE TO..."

Ranma blinked in surprise, and sympathy, as Ryoga's usual battle cry was interrupted in the meanest and cruelest of ways and he fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

Just then Kiima, Ukyo and Nodoka rushed out of the house to see what the commotion was about.

"I definitely have to hear the story behind this," Ukyo said barely able to contain her laughter at the sight of Karmine shaking her hand and standing over a whimpering Ryoga, who was in a fetal position holding his groin with both hands.

"I'm really, really sorry, Hibiki-san," Karmine said for the umpteenth time as she helped Ryoga to walk, supporting most of his weight with her exhausted body. After he managed to get his laughter under control, though he was still laughing very hard, Ranma had his eldest daughter help the suffering man to the Tendo Dojo. To make it up to him, he said. Under normal circumstances she wouldn't have any trouble, even with Ryoga hardly able to keep standing, but right now she was tired as all hell.

"It's... ah... it's okay, Karmine..." Ryoga managed in between winces of pain. By the Kami! That blow would've killed a normal man many times over! He couldn't help but thank Cologne, even knowing all that she was responsible of, for the Bakusai Tenketsu training. Even with it he hardly managed to stay conscious, and he was sure he'd be hurting for a week at least.

After he recovered enough to understand what was being said to him, Ryoga felt like a complete idiot for attacking Ranma because he kissed his daughter on the forehead. Usually he wouldn't have any trouble justifying his actions, or at least avoiding the blame, but the severe pain in his privates had him thinking very clearly. Right now all he wished for was a bag of ice and some time to recover.

Karmine didn't say anything else, since she'd been apologizing to Ryoga profusely the entire way, and wondered about why she punched Ryoga so callously bellow the belt. Granted, she had bad experiences concerning him from the time she was back in time, but even then she should've remembered this was a different man...

Eventually they reached the Tendo dojo, much to their relief, and the silver-haired girl helped Ryoga into the house. "Oh my! Ryoga-kun, what happened?" Kasumi's startled voice greeted them as the woman went to Ryoga's other side and helped him to the living room, much to Karmine's relief.

Ryoga winced as Kasumi and Karmine helped him into a sitting position and explained what happened, having thought about what to say on his way here. "I attacked Ranma and Karmine... caught me with my guard down..." He preferred admitting to that a thousand times before saying he was defeated fair and square, never mind that he was telling the truth. It would be more embarrassing for him if he said Ranma defeated him.

Kiima's daughter blushed slightly when Kasumi turned to her with a raised eyebrow. There was just something about the older woman that made her want to get her approval, and hitting her brother in law in the family jewels was definitely not going to get her that.

After resting a bit, and avoiding Kasumi's questions the best she could, Karmine excused herself saying she had to meet with her family for breakfast. Ryoga thanked her for her help, assured her once more that there were no hard feelings and sighed in relief when she left. Now he could groan in pain without worrying about losing his pride, since Kasumi was family.

Kasumi shocked her brother-in-law when she started to undo his pants. "K-K-K-Kasumi!" He cried in alarm.

The woman rolled her eyes and looked at him straight in the eye. "Ryoga-kun, you need to have yourself treated. And I can't do that without seeing how badly you're hurt." Her tone of voice was completely professional as she spoke, the same tone of voice she had perfected with her nephews whenever they took training a little too far.

That served to appease Ryoga somewhat. He was still very uncomfortable with sweet Kasumi looking him down there, but he had to admit she always patched everyone up. Besides, the very thought of Kasumi of all people having an affair with him was unthinkable. They both were adults and could treat the situation with maturity.

Kasumi winced when she saw the result of little Karmine's blow to Ryoga's pride. She certainly wasn't holding back when she did this.

Just then they both turned as a very familiar sound was heard, Kasumi blinking in surprise and Ryoga paling with dread.

Akane stood there, eyebrow twitching and one hell of a battle aura burning as bright as the sun all around her, staring at her innocent sister's hands stroking her husband's... "RYOGA NO BAKA!"

In a situation like this there was only one thing Ryoga could do...

"RANMA, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Ranma looked up from the okonomiyaki he was eating as he heard a familiar shout in the distance. "What?" He asked defensively when Kiima turned to regard him with a raised eyebrow. "He'd blame me for the bad weather if he could."

The silver-haired woman allowed a smile to illuminate her features. "Point taken, love." With that she resumed eating and wondered about what she should do in these six months. Without her duties in the Royal Guard she could spend a little more time with her children, and a lot more time training with Ranma to catch up with him. While she attended to matters of her station her husband did nothing but train, either himself or others, and the gap between them increased over the years. Maybe now, if she pushed herself hard enough, she could close that gap enough to be even with him once more.

"So what are your plans for today, Ranchan?" Ukyo asked as she served the family another round of okonomiyaki.

"Well..." Ranma started to say, but was interrupted by his youngest daughter.

"Train, train, train and..." She trailed off with an amused smile.

Only for Seijuro to finish with, "... Train."

Kiima chuckled while Ranma mock-glared at his children. "You've been waiting years to do that, haven't you?" When both teens grinned at him he couldn't help himself and laughed a little. He then turned back to the amused Ukyo. "That's mostly it, Uchan. Train in martial arts is all I've done for the past fifteen years." Not to mention the rest of his life.

Ukyo blinked at that. "Ranchan..." She knew she shouldn't be surprised, even when they were teenagers Ranma had trouble thinking of anything outside of martial arts as his entire life centered on them, thanks to Genma. She was a martial artist herself, practitioner of her own family school of martial arts, and even then she couldn't imagine a life as deprived of everything else as Ranma's was.

"It's what the old man would've wanted," Ranma said softly and grinned. "Not that I'd ever admit it to his face when he was alive." That elicited a chuckle from Ukyo as his wife and kids shook their heads. It seemed like Ranma would never admit to the hurt he felt over losing his father, at least not openly. He did admit it to Kiima once.

Kiima decided to change the subject after that. "Kuonji, what can you tell us about the tournament two weeks from now?"

Ukyo raised an eyebrow at that, since she heard from Ranma himself last night that Karmine had accepted to participate in said tournament. "Worried about your daughter, sugar?" When the silver-haired woman didn't answer she shrugged and continued. "I can tell you Nabiki is hosting it. Fighters mostly from Nerima, and sometimes other parts of Japan, come to participate. If Karmine can participate, considering her age group, she'll be entering the free category."

"So she'll be facing fighters twice her age," Ranma said thoughtfully. "Why don't Akane or P-chan enter these things?"

"I have no idea. For all I know you could enter the tournament as well, Ranchan," Ukyo said.

The pigtailed martial artist smirked at that. "I just might." His smirk widened when he heard his eldest daughter shout at him.

"Don't you dare!" As soon as Karmine opened the door to the Uchan's she heard Ukyo saying her father, her unbeatable father, could participate in the tournament. If he did it would take all the challenge out of it, since it would be obvious who'd be winning from the very beginning. "You are not going to ruin this tournament, father!"

Ranma winked at his wife, who was trying desperately to keep a straight face, and turned to regard his daughter. "Why shouldn't I? It would certainly be fun to fight in a tournament, something I haven't done in ages." He had absolutely no intention of participating in said tournament, but it was fun to ruffle his daughter's feathers. This tournament was obviously important for her; a chance to prove to herself how she measured up to people outside of their valley, and him participating would mess up her fun.

Karmine's lips formed a thin line. She was not about to admit, especially with her brother and Ukyo in the same room, that if Ranma entered it would be a no contest. The problem was how to argue with Ranma without admitting to that. "... I want to fight Akira. He challenged me to enter this tournament."

"I don't remember him challenging you," Ranma said with a smile, though he knew her argument was a good one. "And what does that have to do with me participating?" Karmine just gave him a pointed look and he relented. "Okay, okay. I'm not entering this precious tournament. You're no fun," he said with a pout.

"Acting like that is so unbecoming of your age," Karmine said and walked over to the table, smiling brightly at Ukyo for placing a freshly made okonomiyaki in front of her. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome, sugar. Eat up while I keep 'em coming." If she was anything like Ranma, and she sure trained like he did, she would shovel down a dozen of these.

Ranma smirked but refrained from further teasing his daughter. Instead he turned to Nodoka. "Have you decided what you want to do, Nodoka-chan?" He knew Karmine would be spending the entirety of her time with him now, which left his youngest daughter to fend for herself. For some reason Seijuro and Nodoka never spent much time together, even if their relationship as brother and sister was very good.

"I... I've been wondering about that since yesterday, daddy. From what you've told us Kasumi-san's husband is a doctor..." Nodoka said hesitantly.

Kiima smiled at that. Having a healer in a family of fighters was a blessing. They were rare enough as it was, even more so having Ranma and herself as parents. "I'll walk you to Tofu's clinic, Nodoka-chan. I'm sure he'll be glad to have you pay him a visit." Nodoka's returning smile threatened to light up the room.

"What about you, boy?" Ranma asked as he turned to the, till now, silent Seijuro.

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "I'll just walk around, I guess. Pass the time and get to know the place."

Ranma and Kiima exchanged a glance at that. They reached a silent agreement and Kiima turned to her son. "Just be careful and try to get back before sunset."

Seijuro nodded and stood up. Five minutes later he was walking around Nerima, a confident smirk on his face.

Tofu shook his head as he closed the door to the room of his latest patient. It had been a long time since he had to treat Ryoga in his clinic, Kasumi's care being enough in the dojo, but this time... "Ranma is definitely back in town." Even if he had little to do with what happened, the general weirdness was starting all over again.

Not that the doctor would have it any other way, having missed the chaos over the years. It always brought a smile to his face to see Ranma, his rivals and his fiancées running around without a care in the world. All of that was ruined by the Amazons, the innocence of the youths quarreling being taken away. "But this new generation won't be like that." Unlike Genma and Soun, the current adults didn't allow their children's trouble to get out of hand.

The doctor was amused when he heard from his wife about Akira's obsessive behavior against young Karmine, he arrived home late since he had paperwork to take care of and didn't catch the Saotomes. It reminded him so much of the way Akane and Ryoga used to feel about Ranma. "Tofu-sensei?" A female voice he thought familiar asked from his receiving room and the doctor smiled upon entering it.

"Saotome Kiima. I haven't seen you in more than fifteen years," the doctor said in a friendly tone of voice.

The silver-haired woman smiled back at Tofu, the second healer she'd ever trusted enough to give her a physical examination, and nodded to him. "Tofu-sensei. Indeed it has been a long time."

Tofu then turned to regard the young lady standing next to the woman and raised an eyebrow. "And this beautiful young lady would be Nodoka, I assume."

Nodoka blushed slightly with the compliment and bowed politely to the man. "An honor to meet you, Tofu-sensei."

The doctor chuckled. "Such a polite young lady as well. If I didn't think your mother would tear me apart I'd question whether you are really Ranma's daughter." The teasing tone in his voice made it clear he was just kidding, which indeed saved him from Kiima tearing into him as he said. Even suggesting the woman would be unfaithful to her husband was enough grounds to severely beat down someone, in her opinion.

"Tofu-sensei," Nodoka protested timidly. "Daddy is not that bad." Of course she knew he was, but she had to defend him.

Kiima decided to change the subject and motioned for Nodoka. "Tofu-sensei, my daughter is studying to be a healer back home. We were wondering if you could broaden her knowledge while we stay in Nerima."

Tofu's smile widened to cover his entire face. "It would be my pleasure."

Nodoka smiled shyly at the doctor as he motioned for both Kiima and her to come in and make themselves comfortable.

"This place is boring," Seijuro complained as he walked down a street towards what he would think of as Furinkan High school. When his father said they were going to Nerima Seijuro was expectant, thinking it would be the same Nerima of the stories he heard from his parents. Now that he saw it was peaceful and nothing out of the ordinary happened, though... "Why won't something interesting happen!" He asked the heavens in exasperation.

... Be careful what you wish for...

"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" A female laugh was heard further down the street, where the boy could see a group of boys in kendo uniforms, all of them holding bokkens, surrounding a laughing black-haired girl. She was wearing a school uniform for a local Junior High School. "You peasants believe you can face the wrath of the Steel Rose with such dishonorable tactics and hope to survive?"

One of the boys, all of them older than the girl who seemed around Seijuro's own age, grit his teeth and tightened his hold on his bokken. "We've had it with you humiliating us in all the district competitions. You only get to participate in a man's sport because of your father, little girl!"

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Seijuro shouted irritably, not believing these idiots were about to attack a girl several years younger than them, who was also completely unarmed.

"Stay out of this, kid!" Another of the boys snapped.

The Steel Rose turned her eyes slightly to study her supposed defender and sniffed in indignation. "I require not the assistance of a knave such as you to deal with the likes of these."

"Well fine! I'll take your butt out of the fire after you're up to your neck in trouble!" Seijuro snapped back, his eyebrow twitching in anger at the haughtiness the girl was displaying.

That made the girl glare at him, completely forgetting all about her current predicament. "What was that, peasant!"

"You heard me, you dumb witch!"

The air seemed to freeze at that precise moment, the black-haired girl turning fully to glare into Seijuro's eyes.

"GET HER!" One of the boys shouted, seeing his chance now since the girl was distracted.

Seijuro was about to shout again at the idiot for letting her guard down when she moved, flowing around a downward blow and grabbing the bokken's handle with her delicate hands she continued the movement of the bokken all the way to the first attacker's crotch. Now with the wooden weapon in her hands, the previous holder now clutching something more valuable, the girl executed a full circle slash that made all her would be attackers to take a nervous step back. Facing a weaponless Steel Rose was one thing, fighting against an armed and upset Steel Rose was quite another.

Ranma's son had to reevaluate the girl in front of him, both from seeing her move so fluidly and from the fear he saw in the eyes of her opponents. They outnumbered her ten to one, yet they were the ones in disadvantage from their posture.

The black-haired girl slowly and elegantly fell into a comfortable Kendo stance, her hands gripping the handle of her weapon with the mark of someone used to wielding it to the point where it was an extension of the body. Seijuro's eyes widened in shock when he felt a concentration of chi from the girl, never having expected it from someone as young as he was, before she made her move.

Whether or not the boys would have the guts to attack the girl wasn't meant to be known, for she took the chance away from them with a seemingly casual swipe of the bokken in her hands.

"WHOA!"

"WHAT THE...!"

The boys surrounding the Steel Rose were swept away to crash against a stone wall by raging gusts of wind generated by her sword technique. Her skirt and blouse rippled violently to the strong winds, while her hair fluttered to the side and her dark eyes were staring right into Seijuro's own.

Seijuro stood staring in surprise at the now not-so-defenseless girl, his mind replaying the way she executed a technique with a bokken that should be impossible with the wooden sword.

"I am Kuno Makoto, the Steel Rose of St. Hebereke," the girl announced ominously as the winds died down enough for Seijuro to be able to hear her, all of her opponents defeated to the side adding to the effect. She slowly raised her bokken and pointed it at the boy that dared insult her. "And I will make you pay dearly for your insults towards my noble self."

The boy could do nothing but stare at the menacing form of the girl pointing at him dramatically, his eyes wide with shock. Makoto smirked as she heard him mumble something under his breath, obviously too afraid by her prowess to even have coherent thoughts. After a full minute of them staring at each other he finally managed to swallow and utter what was on his mind. It wasn't what Makoto was expecting. "Teddy bears?"

"I beg your pardon?" Makoto asked in confusion.

"I've heard of ducks. My sister has a pair with little hearts. But teddy bears?" Seijuro asked staring at the Kuno girl and still surprised.

"Have you lost your mind?" Makoto asked and pointed her bokken at him once again. "You will suffer your right punishment for insulting the honor of the noble house of..." It was then that she trailed off, Seijuro's words finally making sense to her as she unconsciously turned down to her lower body. To her skirt! "YOU PERVERT!" She cried with a furious blush covering her entire body. She knew there was a disadvantage to the technique she just used; it was her anger at the irritating boy that made her use it while wearing a skirt in the first place.

Seijuro might've been insulted if it wasn't because he was still staring at the black-haired girl. "Teddy bears?" He asked once again, his mind unable to process that tidbit of information.

"SILENCE!" Makoto shrilled in anger and lashed out with her bokken, careful not to use her wind techniques anymore.

Ranma's son barely had the time to duck under the blow that would've given him a serious headache had it connected, possibly for a couple of weeks if he was lucky, and jumped to the side to evade a forward thrust. He rolled with the fall and stood up in a ready stance, bokken in his hands.

Makoto blinked at the sight of the boy now facing her at the ready, a practiced stance that spoke of experience with a sword making her stop momentarily to contemplate he might not be such an easy target. Her confident smile returned to her lips, however, and her dark gaze locked with his own once more. "It seems you have some knowledge of how to wield a blade, knave. It matters not; you will fall under the righteous blade of house Kuno."

Seijuro smirked confidently now that he picked up a bokken from one of the fallen boys and did the one thing all Saotomes were always known for. "I'm Saotome Seijuro, sole heir to the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu. And I'm going to kick your teddy bear-covered butt." He opened his mouth and insulted his opponent faster than thought.

Makoto screamed in rage and charged.

"Faster!" Akane heard Ranma shout and looked up just in time to see the pigtailed man and his daughter exchanging blows in midair. Even as skilled as she was, with decades of training under her belt, she couldn't mimic the Saotome ability to seemingly remain floating in midair in a furious exchange of blows. She blinked a little and stared more carefully. Ranma was only blocking, and Karmine's attacks didn't seem particularly strong.

The youngest of Soun's daughters went to the Uchan's and then came here to have a word or two with Ranma. She couldn't believe the state her husband was in thanks to the pigtailed martial artist and his daughter. Of course she conveniently forgot the concussion was all her, but even time couldn't completely make her accept the blame for all of her actions. Her anger was somewhat dampened right now due to the furious pace the training was following. Ranma and Karmine kept on jumping, defying gravity as they did, with the latter attacking as fast and as much as she could. It was obvious from her sweat-drenched clothes and heavy breathing that the exercise was that Ranma's daughter was being pushed to her limits. Ranma also looked tired, but nowhere near as much as the silver-haired girl.

"What are they doing?" Akane asked herself softly, never having trained her children like this.

Finally, after ten intense minutes more, Karmine collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. Her entire body was on fire, the result of moving as fast as possible for such a long period of time with no leverage but the strength of her own muscles, as she panted for breath.

Ranma landed lightly next to Karmine, body covered in sweat but his breathing still controlled, and turned to regard the watching Akane. "Hey, Akane! Nice day to be training, huh?"

Akane blinked her eyes at the greeting and walked closer to the man, for the moment her curiosity overruling her anger. "What were you two doing?"

The pigtailed man leaned down and whispered to his recovering daughter, "Do some light stretching, Karmine-chan. You don't want your muscles to start cramping up." After that he stood straight again and walked off to a tree, with Akane close behind, as Karmine forced her body to obey her father.

"Well?" Akane asked impatiently as they sat under a tree. She'd always liked this park, especially because it was so peaceful.

Ranma smirked at the familiar tone of voice, seeing that even if Akane matured a lot deep down she was still the same girl he knew all those years ago. "That was speed and endurance training. Karmine can last up to half an hour moving at her top speed before collapsing. We're trying to make her move even faster, and last longer."

Akane raised an eyebrow. "You're training her for the tournament?" While she knew she was being stupid, because she was doing the same with Akira and Hanamichi, she felt a little upset that Ranma was training his daughter to beat up her children.

Ranma chuckled and leaned back against the bark of the tree, seeing Karmine finally manage to sit up and start to stretch. "Nah. I normally train her like this. She did start training more time because of the tournament. I think she's trying to prove herself."

Akira's mother turned to regard Karmine and once again she had to wonder how his daughter could be such a perfect copy of his old cursed form. If it wasn't for the hair and height... "The competition is tough," she said in an attempt to subtly defend Akira and Hanamichi. She could see how much better Karmine was when compared to Akira, she wasn't blind, but she still held a small hope that her son could come out victorious when they met in the tournament. It was hard admitting it, and it would always be, but Ranma once again proved he was her better in martial arts. Not only was he the better fighter, but he turned out to be the better sensei as well.

"She'll be alright," Ranma said in an attempt at tact. He was sure Karmine could defeat Akira and Hanamichi, both boys were very good but she was better. Saying it outright to Akane would be a bad idea, though.

Akane nodded and turned to glare at him. "What you did to poor Ryoga was mean, Ranma."

So that's what she's here for, Ranma thought in realization, feeling a little nostalgic. "What I did? That idiot drop-kicked me. I admit, Karmine went a little far with that punch, but she was hurting and Ryoga did deserve it."

Akane's glare intensified. "You aren't going to punish your daughter?"

Ranma inwardly groaned, it had been too long since he had to deal with Akane's temper, but not long enough. "I had her carry Ryoga to the dojo, which she did, so she made up for it."

"Made up for it? My husband is in Tofu's clinic, you jerk!" Akane yelled at Ranma, whose eyes narrowed.

"Calm down, Akane." He was not going to allow Akane to get back to her childish behavior of blaming him for everything. That wasn't what he returned to Nerima for.

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down!" Akane snapped as she jumped to her feet, looking down at Ranma to try and intimidate him. It always worked with Ryoga and her children. "You should discipline Karmine so she has better control of herself. She can't just go around beating people up without being held responsible for it." She paused and looked at him reproaching. "I can't believe you're turning your daughter into another you!"

With that comment she might as well have slapped him. His features hardened and he stood up. Insults against his person he could take, sometimes, but no one badmouthed his family. It wasn't that Akane said Karmine was turning out to be just like him. It was how she said it. "Take that back, Akane. Now."

Akane stuttered as her plan backfired on her, and badly. Instead of cowing Ranma like she intended to, she was the one that was reminded of just how powerful and dangerous Saotome Ranma could be. She was the one that was intimidated as his taller form loomed over her, a hard expression she'd only seen one or two times before on his face. She would've taken a step back from him if it wasn't for the fact her pride wouldn't allow her to do it. "Why should I?" Akane asked and cursed her own voice for breaking.

Ranma stared down at Akane and his eyes narrowed at her response. "You insulted my daughter," he said slowly. "You insulted Karmine just because she defended herself from that idiot you call a husband after he attacked us without warning." Seeing Akane about to retort angrily Ranma did the one thing that came most natural to him, and the one thing he shouldn't have done. "Or is it that you're angry Karmine can wipe the floor with Akira?" Seeing his friend flinch as if struck made Ranma to feel guilt instantly. "... Akane... I..."

"RANMA NO BAKA!" Akane bellowed and socked Ranma in the jaw with all her might.

"Father! Are you alright!" Karmine asked worriedly as she rushed to her father's side, the look on his face a mask of pain.

Ranma rubbed his sore jaw and contemplated the enormity of what he had just done. Seeing Akane run off trying to hide her tears hurt him worse than any physical blow ever could. Why is it that we're grown adults now... but we still act like kids? It almost seemed like Ranma and Akane could dig out the worst in each other, short-comings that they'd both thought behind them coming to the fore. "I'm... fine, Karmine-chan." A determined look found its way to his face. "Go get something to eat and rest up. We'll continue training in the afternoon." He had something important to do.

Karmine saw the look on her father's face and sighed, smiling ruefully. It was the stubborn look, the one that said he had an idea in that rock-hard head of his and nothing would stop him. "Do try to spend some time with mother today. You know how upset you both get when you don't."

Ranma laughed and nodded. "Nice try, Karmine-chan. As soon as you see her you'll tell her what happened so she starts looking for me." He only laughed harder when she blushed guiltily.

After that father and daughter parted ways, the former speeding through Nerima like a bullet while the latter took the chance to take in the sights, and rest her tired muscles.

"HIYA!" Akira cried out as he ripped the head off of yet another training dummy with a powerful kick.

He was so going to kick Karmine's butt into next week. And after that she would realize her place was not as heir to his school, but as a housewife to a man like him.

END PART 5

Author's notes: Old habits die hard. In the next chapter we'll see how Ranma and Akane deal with what just happened, as well as the result of the confrontation between Saotome Seijuro and the Steel Rose.

Until next time.