Guest Ki: Chapter 33

Second Thoughts

Barry collapsed onto the futon a few hours before dawn. She slept on the train but that had been fitfull as she had to be watchful for perverts who might take advantage of an unescorted girl. No one tried. Exhausted, she ended up nose down on the mattress, green hair swirling about her face. The dye job had not gone well. They had been trying for a dark blond but the dye hadn't cooperated.

She felt the light vibration of footfalls coming toward her. As wiped out as she was, she still had to check. It should be one of the girls, either Kasumi or Akane, or less likely, Ukyo, Shampoo or Kodachi. But Happosai had made a tremendous impression on Barry. She wasn't likely to let her guard down if he was even in the same hemisphere. The approaching being was female however and, as the door to the spare room swung quietly open, Barry recognized Akane with ki-vision.

"Hey, Akane," she murmured.

"Green hair, Barry?" Akane asked quietly. "Were you trying for some character out of animé?"

"Nah! Dye didn't work right. My persuasion did, though."

"Good."

"Akane, what are you doing up?" Barry asked. "If I fall asleep, it's just 'Ranma, go do bucket duty'. If you do it as well, it's 'Akane, what's wrong? Is Ranma keeping you up nights?'"

Akane scowled. "That didn't sound very..."

"True though," Barry muttered into the mattress. "I mean, what they'll say; not whether it's true. God, I'm tired."

"I just wanted you to know that Ryoga and I worked with Shampoo, Ukyo… and Kodachi."

Barry raised her head almost three centimeters in surprise. "She stuck around?" At Akane's nod, she let her head sink back into the mattress, but her brain was going at mach-three. "What happened?"

"Oh, she was grumpy you weren't here. Made disparaging remarks." Akane shrugged. "She wants in on the tournament and wanted you to train her. Ryoga got angry and informed her that he trained Ranma in Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics."

"That's true enough," Barry said. "And?"

"She challenged Ryoga and lost." Akane seemed a bit upset.

"Good for him!" Barry applauded weakly. "What's the problem?"

"Kodachi said that maybe she should take Amazon Month more seriously."

Barry painfully turned her head and peered with one eye at Akane, kneeling beside the futon in green pajamas. Amazon Month? More seriously?

"She didn't..."

"Well, maybe she was joking," offered Akane. "But, that's not all of the problem."

"Poor Ryoga," Barry snickered weakly. She rolled over painfully and sat up. "Akari, Ukyo, Nabiki and now Kodachi. He's gettin' as bad as Ranma!" She glanced at Akane. "You weren't finished, were you?"

"Part of the reason she lost was that she got dizzy when the match went too long. She avoided Ryoga and scored on him a few times. You know how Ryoga is. It didn't faze him at all. He scored a few of his own." Akane shifted off her shins and dropped to a sitting position with her legs curled up beside her. "Then she got dizzy and he wrapped her up like a visiting gift in his ribbon."

"She's faking it, maybe?" Barry drummed her fingers, then glanced sidewise at Akane. "Does Kodachi look thinner to you, lately?"

"How should I know, Barry," Akane said crossly.

"Because you girls watch the other girls all the time," Barry said. "You dress to impress them at least as much as the guys. Gwen admitted as much to me."

Akane 's fist clenched, then she sighed. "Yes, I'd say Kodachi's five or ten kilos lighter than she was at the beginning of school."

"That much?" Barry chewed her lip. "Worse than you, and you have cause. I wonder what's going on? She doesn't strike me as a girl who would go on a dieting binge." She thought some more. "She was really upset about something with Kuno the other day, too. I wonder if they're connected?"

"Can you find out?" Akane asked.

"Akane, if I do anything more with the Black Rose, she'll be sending out wedding invitations. She's saner – I've been nudging her ki in self defense... Damn!"

"What?" Akane startled back to a kneeling position.

"Sanity. Sasuke admitted that Kuno is seeing a shrink. Kodachi mentioned a Doctor Hashi-something..." She smacked herself on the side of her head. "I bet this has something to do with that. You know Kuno moved out of the mansion?"

Akane shook her head negatively.

"I really should talk to you more about this stuff, but I have Ranma's reflexive reaction to imminent pain."

"What are you talking about?" Akane looked puzzled.

"If Ranma told you Kodachi informed him that there was no one at home and she was feeling lonely, what would you do?"

Akane's hand clenched again and she flushed. "I'd... I'd...

"See what I mean. Ranma wouldn't buy trouble mentioning something like that to you."

The shorthaired girl unclenched her fist and sighed. She reached out and picked up a strand of the loose green hair as it fell across the mattress. It felt as dry as she suspected. Barry flinched a little and rolled an eye open to see what she was doing. "Think Kuno will recognize me?"

"Probably," Akane snorted. "Then he'll declare the 'foul sorcerer Saotome' is attempting to hide the pigtailed goddess from him!"

They laughed together at that.

"Seriously, though," Barry said returning to an earlier subject. "Get some sleep."

"I had a strong workout, Barry," Akane replied. "I got some sleep."

"Don't try to lie to ki-vision, Akane."

"Damn."

"We will get him back," Barry said. 'And I'll get back to Gwen,' Ranma's guest added to himself.

Kodachi still had her pride and her wits. She noticed immediately when Ranma and her rivals started watching her more closely. No one trained in the Kuno household's daily routines would miss the covert observation. At first she was alarmed. She knew her weakness and weakness was dangerous, especially to a lone huntress such as herself. Weakness would always be exploited by your enemies.

When Ukyo, the okonomiyaki chef, bet her lunch that she could solve a math problem before Kodachi, she felt the probing for weakness. She triumphed, though, winning lunch and winning a reprieve, as well, from the day when her stockpiled supplies ran out.

Shampoo challenged her to a gymnastics routine the next day. The Amazon pushed her hard, but gymnastics was not quite the same as martial arts and Kodachi's form was considered marginally better. Shampoo frowned, acknowledged her defeat, then asked what Kodachi considered a proper forfeit. Dinner was thus resolved. It was interesting as well, to listen to Ranma and Mousse discussing ki techniques in the kitchen at the Nekohanten. She hadn't realized till then that her Ranma had been spending so much time at the Nekohanten.

She was mollified by how little time Shampoo actually spent with the young man and was startled when Shampoo invited her up to the living quarters to watch a (to her) tiny TV. Tendo was there also. They sat at opposite ends of a slightly shabby couch, very aware of one another, as fuku-clad girls declared for truth and love, and battled incredibly ridiculous villains. Though familiar with the show — she had tremendous sympathy with Hotaru — she paid scant attention, more concerned with why her rival was there, until the chief villainess of the day moved onto the screen cackling with evil glee.

The laugh was, to Akane, reminiscent of Kodachi herself, but to Kodachi it had had some other meaning. As Shampoo arranged for some treats and retreated again, complaining that it was busier than normal, the Black Rose avidly cheered on the super-powered teenagers. Kodachi lost herself in the show and ate the treats with an absorbed speed Ranma would have been proud of. At the show's end, she looked down at the empty plate, over at Akane and, in a saccharin tone, asked what Akane thought of the snacks.

Akane, who didn't eat a single one, tried to hide her astonishment. All she succeeded in doing was make Kodachi suspicious. Shampoo reentered, noticed that the show was over and muttered about her luck, only brightening when Akane informed her that she managed to tape it without commercials. Kodachi nonchalantly asked to rerun the tape of the show while she was eating her winnings. Then Shampoo and Akane witnessed a near repeat of Kodachi's earlier display of Ranma-esque eating. Shampoo swallowed, entranced by the action, which was very neat, precise… and ravenous.

"Hyena-girl be sick you eat that fast," she suggested.

Kodachi paused, then slowed down. "I wouldn't worry about me, Shampoo," she said smoothly. "Tendo here seemed to enjoy your little snacks earlier. I swear she finished the entire plate herself!"

Shampoo glanced surprised at Akane, to see that girl barely restraining a purple-faced denial. She smiled slightly. "Pervert-girl stay heavy and slow, she act that way!" She grinned as Akane looked like she was going to burst.

"Why do you call her 'pervert-girl' anyway?" asked Kodachi, eyeing the odd-looking faces Akane was making with some amusement.

"Shampoo..." grated Akane.

The Amazon ignored her. "When first come here, Akane always angry with boys. 'I hate boys; I hate boys!' but she stick up for Ranma. Hide Ranma girl-type from Shampoo." Shampoo winced as a familiar bellow sounded from below.

"Watch yer grammar, Shampoo!"

Shampoo huffed and marched to the top of the steps. "Maybe airen need watch his grammar! It getting to be that Shampoo speak better Japanese than he does!" she shrilled back, before returning to the girls. "Men! Anyway, I was trying to kill Ranma, then. I only knew girl-type and she shamed me before my entire village. I give… gave 'kiss of death'."

"Your present opinion seems quite altered."

"Yes. Come here… (Sigh!) I came here following Ranma. Akane was always interfering, so I threaten Akane. Ranma boy-type said I should not do..." She paused a moment, reviewing her words. "...told me to stop and then beat me again. Not mind. Ranma boy-type cute, move well and Shampoo want to get away from Mousse. Amazon law say Shampoo must marry outsider man who defeat her, so I give 'kiss of marriage'!"

"That could get inconvenient if more than one male beat you," Kodachi said suggestively.

"Rules not quite work that way. You see in paper tomorrow. Then find out girl-type and boy-type same person."

"What's your excuse these days, Tendo?" Kodachi asked, losing interest. "For annoying my darling Ranma, I mean?"

"I love him," Akane growled, locking eyes with her rival. Kodachi's reaction was unexpected.

She smiled, then laughed, "Oh...HOhohohohohohoho-ho! Finally, Tendo! It was really getting tedious watching you lie to yourself."

Akane went white. "Lie!"

"What I saw right away and you fought and tortured yourself over all this time. Simply amazing."

Akane Tendo fought down two months of fear, desperation and other things, and managed not to reach across and kill her.

"Besides, this makes the game much more interesting." Kodachi leaned back and hid her face behind her teacup as she sipped. "One always wonders in victory if the prize was worth winning if your opponent doesn't put up a fight for it."

"Why do you cheat then?" Akane asked bluntly. "In Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics, I mean."

"Because I play a different game than everyone else," the Black Rose said flatly. "Think about it." She turned to Shampoo who was following the exchange with a little difficulty from a cultural standpoint. "What about you, my violet-haired rival? Now that Akane has declared her purpose, what does that mean for you?"

Shampoo seemed to sag. "Big trouble." She sat down on the other side of the table. "Akane and I have truce right now, till after Ranma help Shampoo in… in special way. After truce is over, Akane is... obstacle."

Akane looked sadly at Shampoo. "And 'obstacles are for killing'."

"My! Life could get interesting around here," Kodachi commented, smiling.

"Guess that's one way of putting it," reflected Barry, from the stairs. "Hey, Dachi, while I'm thinkin' of it, Kasumi wondered if you'd stop in some night for dinner. I think she said something about finding you 'a very nice girl for a raving lunatic'."

Akane gasped at his words but Kodachi laughed. "And I find Kasumi a very nice girl… for a doormat!"

Akane and Shampoo growled. Kodachi was badmouthing Kasumi? Then Barry laughed. "She said you'd say that. She challenged you to a game of Go. Never thought I'd see anyone but Pops and Tendo doin' that around here."

Shampoo and Akane exchanged glances. 'What?'

"Ummm... You aren't planning on taking out Kasumi before the match, are you?" Akane asked after a moment.

"Kasumi?" said Kodachi, shocked. "Are you serious?" She was obviously astonished they could think such a thing. "You are one thing, Tendo. Your sister is a goddess placed on earth for the masses to fall at her feet and worship. The idea!"

Akane suddenly grinned. "She is special!"

"She is nice," Shampoo added.

"She can cook," Barry added, "unlike her sister!"

"Ranma!"

"Oops! Look at the time. Gotta run!" He seemed to vanish, followed quickly by Akane.

"They really do have a convenient way of making an exit, don't they?" suggested Kodachi.

"Hmmm?" Shampoo said.

"I mean, he could have said, 'Dear, it's time to go,' and she could have replied, 'Coming!' but that would have been obvious, don't you think?"

Shampoo scowled. "I know, Kodachi. I have eyes."

From the shadows of the stairs, other eyes watched and other ears listened. Mousse grieved for Shampoo and the decisions that faced her. Now he had ki-vision so much that had been hidden was revealed. Soon Shampoo would be healed of the blockage and soon after would come the time of decision. He hoped he would be strong enough for them both. He touched his lips; the memory of two nights before tingled there still. He would have to be.

"Oooh!" Akane snarled. "You just had to mention my cooking!"

"Most common complaint, ya gotta admit," Barry retorted, dodging.

Akane stopped attacking and smiled. Barry kept his distance and watched her carefully. Suddenly, water seemed to come out of nowhere. "Aaugh!" A few steps away, a little old lady splashed water to keep down dust on her sidewalk. Barry, green-haired and girl, glared at Akane. "Point to you," she said. Akane just laughed. "Akane?"

"That wasn't why I was smiling," she said archly. "What day is today?"

"It's Wednesday... Oh, man!"

"I cook tonight."

"Need some help?" asked Barry hopefully.

"Nope! Take it or leave it, and you better answer correctly."

"I am not Ranma."

"True, but that is not what I meant."

"I hate this!" Barry said grimacing.

"Hey, I'm getting better!" Akane said glowering. "If you're going to be that way..."

"Nah! That's not what I meant, Akane." Barry grimaced again and suddenly picked up speed. Akane looked puzzled and paced the shorter girl.

"What's wrong?" she said. "Aside from the usual complaints and excuses."

"Cramps..."

"Why would you...? Oh." Akane suddenly dropped behind. Barry didn't care. Time to hit the bathroom. Fast!

Dinner that night was actually pretty good. Akane and Soun looked askance at Barry who remained grumpily in girl form. Soun especially looked at the hair.

"Interesting effect, boy. Is there some reason you're... uh..."

"Just a disguise, Tendo."

"Might I ask..."

"No."

"Ranma," Kasumi asked. He regarded her defensively. "Could you pass the rice, please?"

"Oh! Sure, Kasumi."

Akane watched Barry like she was some sort of bomb waiting to go off. The former redhead helped her clean up after dinner then went meekly up to Akane's room to study. She pulled out their books, laid them out by subjects and complimented Akane once more on her cooking. Akane edged over to her bed and nervously picked up her notes from the first class. She jumped when Barry reached across and took the notebook from her hand. The green-haired girl passed her a different notebook, the correct one.

"Akane, Ranma's been through this before," she said wearily. She suddenly grabbed Akane by the shoulders and shook her. "I am not a human time bomb, dammit!"

Akane looked at her, surprise beginning to slide over to pity. "Uh, Barry?" She glanced down at the hands gripping her shoulders. "I have gym tomorrow and if I have to explain bruises..."

Barry let go like she was holding hot coals. "Ah... Heh-heh! HA, ha-ha! Oh, shit! I hate this."

"Why are you staying in girl-type if, er... um..." Akane trailed off.

"Ranma usually fights with this for weeks, Akane," Barry snapped. "The girl-type cycle is mostly an elapsed-time thing. When he's been in girl-type twenty-eight days worth… Bingo! Cramps. Then it's four days elapsed time of grumpy misery."

"Are you sure about the time?" Akane asked. "I mean that's pretty regular for the way Ranma flips in and out of girl-type. How do you keep track?"

"It's just a good guess-timate, Akane," Barry grumbled. "I just want this over and done with!"

"Hold on."

Akane got to her feet and disappeared out the door. Barry tried to follow her with ki-vision, but was too tired for the focus needed for the range. Moments later, Akane returned with a glass of water and… pills?"

"Take these, Barry," she said wryly. "They'll help. I know!"

Barry looked at the small capsules. They didn't look like anything she'd seen before but suspected they were related to aspirin, Tylenol or Midol. She smiled at the dark-haired girl who observed her from across the room. "You're a treasure, Akane," she said flipping the pills back her throat. "Now, about that pesky white whale…"

Ranma leaned over almost without thought and let Gwen give him a peck on the cheek. He had largely given up resisting the immediate minor responses this body had to Barry's wife, concentrating on resisting the big one — sex!

"Now, if it hurts too much, call me, okay? I'll come and get you," Gwen told him. "Don't push yourself. You still need time to heal."

Ranma nodded. That certainly would be true if Barry had been in the body. Fortunately, his ki adjustment worked fine and the body was nearly back to normal, except for surface bruising. Still, getting here at six in the morning was not his idea of a fun start to the day. He just hoped he'd get a chance to talk to Bob about the yoga texts. If he could just find the right information, he was sure he could find his way back home.

As he made his way to the front of the stable, the scrabble of claws on the wooden floor gave him just enough warning to brace himself. One hundred pounds of Rotweiller hit his chest and shoved him back three steps. Black and silent, Sabina was Bob's oldest dog and the mother of the six other Rotweillers Bob kept. She was ferociously protective of the barn when no one was around, which was just what Bob wanted. Many of the animals in his care were valued at tens of thousands of dollars. She dropped to the floor and whined, recognizing his scent, but also oddly disturbed by differences in his body language. When he moved to pass her with a pat, she grabbed his pants leg and weakly resisted his attempt to move in. Ranma knelt and scratched her behind her ears and along her back.

"C'mon, girl. I know you can tell that I'm not Barry, but until I can get him back here, I've got to do his job." She whined at him then to his delight licked his face. "Hey, don't do that! I'm in enough trouble with Akane over Gwen, thank you." He stood up and flipped the switch next to the door. The first aisle-way was flooded with light. He froze, the hair on the back of his neck lifting.

Cats! Playful half-grown kittens and indolent large mousers sprawled easily on the floor. There were fewer than a dozen, but to Ranma it might as well have been a dozen full-grown tigers. He found himself panting, panic-stricken. Why did there have to be so many cats? Sabina glanced up at the man then at the cats. Sabina protected all of the animals on the property, but that didn't mean she took any guff from them. Suddenly she 'wuff'-ed and slapped her front paws against the floor. The cats scattered immediately. She looked up expectantly at her guest and watched him sag with relief. Ranma turned his gaze to her and smiled. He might just make it.

The first thing on the schedule was to water the horses. A hose, 150-feet long was used to reach five-gallon buckets in each of the thirty-five occupied stalls in the barn. Done at high speed, this usually took fifteen minutes. Then, he made a trip to the hayloft, to throw down a dozen bales of hay and bring down four hundred-pound bags of grain. First hay, the horses were fed five times each day, according to a set diet; then the grain with specific additional supplements, molasses, zinc and other strange smelling powders. By 7 AM, the animals were all munching contentedly and Ranma was free to check the equipment for weak spots and damage, and a quick trip to insure the arenas were ready for the riders that shortly would be using them. Cats blocked the most direct route, causing him to make some wide detours. Finally it was time to start cleaning stalls.

Around 9 AM, the other workers began to arrive. Sam, a man in his seventies, worked only with the heavy equipment. He drove the dump truck away filled with manure from the weekend's work and later would either be repairing equipment or puttering around doing one thing or another. Mary was a twenty-year old 'working student'. She worked at the barn for a small salary and a place to keep her own horse. She helped clean the stalls and feed the horses on a nine-to-five schedule. In Barry's opinion, she was usually a competent person to have around, the only downside being that she was tiny, even smaller than Ranma's girl-type. She simply didn't have the muscle or the leverage for the heavier work that needed done.

He called over to the house to see where Bob was.

"He's not here, Barry," Bob's wife answered. "He's evaluating a couple of horses in West Virginia for some clients."

"Oh. When will he be back?"

"Tomorrow or Wednesday, I guess," she answered nonchalantly. "He left a list of projects for you to do in the Book." 'The Book ' was the lesson schedule, a ledger much like Nabiki's old financial statement book, in which were listed appointments, cancellations and the schedule of available school horses.

Ranma clucked softly. He had three private lessons and a group lesson tonight. He stood straight and considered, looking over the horses. His temptation was to teach riding like he taught martial arts — hard, no nonsense, with an eye to precision and performance over everything else. To Ranma, there was no reason to do anything unless it was done well, his schoolwork not included.

But Barry didn't teach that way, nor did his students expect to learn that way. Most of them came because it was fun. A few of the parents literally didn't seem to understand that horses could do things on their own despite the best efforts of the rider. A memory surfaced.

Some deer in the woods next to the arena began leaping through the undergrowth, startling the pony the eight-year old was riding. Though one of the best riders of her age group, the frightened pony took off in a straight line, stampeding with the deer along the fence.

'Stay calm and loose,' Barry called. 'Don't be afraid. Just stay on and ride till she stops.' Barry knew that any outside attempt to control the animal would make matters worse. Mount and rider finally came to a halt and the girl swung off the pony to stand, knees shaking, at the far end of the arena. 'Nice job!' he said, walking across to where she stood.

The mother got there first. "You idiot! Risking my daughter's life like that!" The pony shied away from the angry accusing voice.

"Ma'am, your daughter is fine..."

"No thanks to you! How dare you teach my daughter where those animals could interfere? You said this pony was safe!"

"No, ma'am," Barry said quietly. "I said that this pony is one of the steadiest animals you will find anywhere in the region. Any pony or horse might startle when something unexpected happens."

"Well, this won't happen again!" She snatched her daughter's hand and dragged her away weeping, leaving Barry to catch and control the pony, which was reacting strongly to the sudden aggressive movements the woman was making.

"Ma'am, your daughter has such potential. Please, just talk to one of the other instructors!"

She hadn't listened and chaos followed her departure. Bob had been philosophic. "At least the girl didn't actually fall off the horse with that mother watching. We would have been sued for sure, signed release or not."

"Her mother's an idiot," Barry muttered in response.

Ranma nodded and paused, wondering if his mother had ever reacted like that to Genma's training. Of course considering the cat-fist, she might well have had cause. Maybe he should ask her someday.

"Purr-r-r-r-r-r-r-r! (rub... rub...)" A cat was winding around his leg. Another jumped up on the book and 'meowed' at him. Barry liked cats. Ranma hadn't considered it was probable the cats liked Barry as well and went out of their way to get attention from him. His eyes darted away to look for the dog, Sabina. She was elsewhere unfortunately.

Alexia, Bob's daughter, walked briskly into the stable and pushed the cat off the book. Her movement also startled the cat around Ranma's legs. He let out a ragged breath causing the girl to shoot him an annoyed look. Alexia tended to be annoyed, not in the hot, fiery way Akane had, but more like Nabiki on permanent PMS. Like Nabiki, she could be nice and was, if the situation called for it. To be fair, she was excellent at riding and training. Barry felt he had to endure her. The feeling was probably mutual, as Alexia rarely did more than pass orders along to Barry in a superior tone of voice.

"Is there a problem, Barry?" she asked.

"Just trying to decide how much I can do, I guess," he said to hide the real reason of his odd behavior.

"Still sore?" she smirked. Ranma glanced coolly at her.

"A bit," he admitted. 'Far less than you think,' he thought. "How did Buddy go?"

Alexia scowled and turned away, surprising him. Apparently, Buddy had not been cooperative with anyone after Barry and Ranma's falls. Either that or it was that time of the month, he joked to himself (and if any male has the right to joke about that, it's Ranma!).

"Did you see your dad's note about the projects today?" he added.

"No. Check on the floor." She wrote in the book and stalked away.

He made a point of painfully kneeling and looking around under the desk. She ignored him and started tacking up a horse, grooming and saddling it. He located the list and rose. The note indicated that, in addition to his normal routine, he was to do the following… 'Repair two stalls in the back of aisle two. Replace a stall door in aisle one. Count and stack the rough boards that were delivered behind the barn. Compact the existing hay; more will be delivered before the end of the week. Don't forget about the horses in pasture, and make sure the dogs have fresh bedding.' Ranma eyed the note with a little irritation. If he had not developed the accelerated healing, Barry's body would not have been ready for even the normal routine today. Hmmm… What would be the most important?

Horses in pasture, of course; they were part of the usual routine. Then, stack the hay. Bob hadn't specified just when it was coming, but Barry's memories said it was unwise to mix fresh and stored hay. The moisture in the one could cause heat and start a fire in the other. Following that, the stalls. If he was looking at horses, he just might bring some back with him. There were no open stalls, unless the two he mentioned were ready. As for the dogs, they technically belonged to Bob's daughters. If the girls urgently wanted new bedding, they could do something about it!

He looked down at the book. Alexia had essentially stuck his group lesson with the most troublesome, least dependable horses in the school. His group of near beginners was going to get a little too much experience at this rate. "Hey, Alexia, what about my group lesson? You're working all the horses I need steady up to that time. They'll need a break."

"Teach them to ride, Barry," she said. "That's not my problem."

Ranma considered his group — all girls between twelve and fifteen years old. Two steady riders, two good but flaky riders with confidence problems caused in part by weight issues, one rider new to group lessons in general and in group lessons only because she couldn't afford private ones. He looked at Alexia's schedule again and frowned.

"Alexia, none of these lessons of yours are at their regular times. Did you check this out with your dad?" he asked. Bob was fanatical about pacing the horses to avoid over-use.

"They needed to reschedule," she said, looking down her nose at Ranma.

"You know regularly scheduled lessons get first pick, Alexia," he reminded her, struggling with his temper.

"So talk to Dad about it," she snipped and walked away, leading her chosen horse out.

Ranma fumed. Kami, what a bitch she was today! It went far beyond her normal attitude. He wondered what was up.

Mary always started with the school horses. She switched Wing, the Welsh pony, out of her stall and began cleaning it. She poked her head out of the stall and eyed Barry pointedly. "She sure got an icicle stuck up where the sun don't shine," she commented. "One of the perks of being the ice princess, I guess."

Ranma shivered at the idea of sticking an icicle... then scowled. "'Talk to her dad,' huh?" Barry would have probably taken the complaint to Alexia's mother who, nominally at least, was second-in-command after Bob. Ranma hated using any authority other than his own. Alexia just crossed the wrong guy.

Alexia's first student arrived. Ranma loaded the old jeep with twelve bales of hay and an equal number of buckets of horse-feed for the horses in the pasture. Rumble-rumble, bang-bang! The noise was deafening as the old jeep went along trail behind the arena and up the steep hill to the top pastures. It had no muffler and hadn't been inspected in ten years. When that thing was running, everything in the arena came to a standstill. The noise bothered the riders more than it did the horses. Instructors couldn't effectively shout over it; the sound bouncing off the galvanized roof drowned out everything. Then, with graceful speed, he filled the pasture feed buckets, threw the hay over and rumble-banged back down the hill, in time to interrupt the second half of the lesson.

After walking in from the machine area, he moved over to the first aisle to check his list. Alexia was there, listening with a stormy expression to complaints from the student about the interrupted lesson. Ranma smiled to himself. He was going to have to be careful, but this was much more satisfying than complaining. He whistled as he worked to finish the stalls in the second aisle. If he timed it just right, and the noise carried the way he thought it would...

He almost didn't manage it because of those pesky cats. Fortunately, Sabina was around and dispersed them again. Ten minutes after Alexia's next student went up, the sound of a circular saw rang in the second aisle. The box stalls needing repair were in the back of the aisle, right next to the arena. He measured and sawed and hammered and dropped things until he saw Bob's daughter march stiffly up the aisle to where he worked. He pretended not to see her as she closed on him and started the saw just in time to drown out her first words. He had timed things to be certain there was a long rip-cut to make, one that would draw out the moment and force her to wait. She tried twice to get his attention, then reached down and yanked the power cord on the saw.

"Do you mind?" she snarled, frost seeming to spring into existence around her. "I'm trying to teach lessons!"

"Well, I'm trying to pace myself!" he snapped back. "If I re-injure my back, you are going to have to stack hay, clean stalls, feed horses, teach lessons, and recondition these stalls that Bob wants horses moved into, by yourself." She glared at him. He shifted his shoulders and drew in a hissing breath through his teeth. "Ya know, I may not be able to take that group lesson tonight. Oh, well, I'm sure you can handle it."

"Damn you!" She turned on her heel and stalked away muttering. He looked in the book a few minutes later and found she reorganized the lesson schedule for certain horses. He smiled and carefully suspended repairs on the stalls. 'When training horses and people,' he thought, 'punish bad behavior and reward good.' He wondered how he could apply this to Akane. It'd be nice not to have to worry about a mallet every time he turned around. A small weight landed on his shoulder and rubbed, purring. "C-c-c-cat-t-t-t!" He couldn't get away, couldn't break for it without revealing that something was terribly wrong.

"What a cutie!" caroled Mary coming back from a trip to the manure truck. She swept the little kitten off his shoulder and twirled it around, kissing it on its nose for good measure. "What's wrong with you?" she asked, stopping and looking at Barry's strained face.

"Back spasm," Ranma lied, gritting his teeth.

"How did you do that?"

"Didn't they tell you?" He sat warily down on the nearby sawhorse and watched the kitten squirm in her arms.

"Tell me what?"

"How Buddy bucked me off."

"Oh! So that's why they're selling him!"

"What!" demanded Ranma.

"Sure. They told me to help load him when the truck came. It should be here about 12:30."

"When I take my lunch..." Ranma hissed. Barry's memories were clear:

'We'll have you train Buddy,' Bob said. 'This is part of your training as a manager and trainer.'

'I'm ready,' Barry had said.

'You'll make mistakes, but don't worry. I'll help you,' Bob assured him. 'That is part of your education.'

To Ranma's mind, and Barry's, this was a betrayal of trust. Moments later, he was knocking on the door to the house. Paula, Bob's wife, came to the door. "I just found out about Buddy," he said without preamble. "I thought it was my job to train that horse." Ranma was furious, but had to follow Barry's more restrained patterns. Besides, Bob was the one who had final say and he was not there to beat on. Grrr! He couldn't beat on him, either; he'd get Barry thrown in jail, if he didn't watch himself.

Paula watched the flare of emotions over his face and sighed. Of course, Bob would try to sneak this one past Barry and leave her to explain the results. "Too many people found out about your fall, Barry," she said, "I'm not sure how. Buddy has a reputation now as a difficult horse. Even if we trained that all out of him, if he threw anyone in this present litigious society, we could lose our whole business."

"I should have been informed," he grated. 'Were Americans that bad?' Ranma thought, immediately discovering a number of ridiculous decisions handed to irresponsible parties. "Bob made Buddy my responsibility. He shouldn't have gone behind my back like this."

"Don't forget," she warned him. "Buddy is our horse. We can do what we like with him."

"Don't forget that I can walk out of here right now, and get work elsewhere," he retorted.

She retreated somewhat. "I think you should talk to Bob. I can't do anything about Buddy. He's sold and that's that. But if you have questions about how your work and training are being handled, that's his affair."

Ranma had to be satisfied with that. "Damn it!" Ranma muttered. How the hell was he supposed to approach someone he was this pissed off at, to ask him for books a sensei would only share with his student? He sure as hell wasn't going to ask Bob to be his sensei, not with the evidence of this kind of betrayal hanging over him.

To make matters worse, he had to load Buddy on the trailer.

The rest of the day was spent in a red haze. Alexia, already wary after their clash that morning, avoided him like the plague. Even Mary was jumpy around him, and she knew he was not mad at her. He was just coming down from the bathroom, located in the covered arena viewing area, when Carla walked over from the main house, carrying a large rubber tub. He had not seen her yet today. Two years younger than her sister, she was bubbly where Alexia was serious. She also had a temper and could carry a grudge, but it took a fair amount of irritation to set her off.

"Barry, could you help me?"

Ranma paused, then shrugged to himself. He might be pissed at her father, but that was no reason to take it out on her. He intercepted her.

"Could you take this to the barn?" she asked, shoving the tub into his arms. "I just remembered I have to call Roy before he leaves work. Thanks!" She ran back the way she had come. Ranma grinned. Roy was her boyfriend and she clung to him like glue. He looked down at the smelly mess in the tub. It seemed to be some sort of gravy and… cat food? His eyes snapped up. Cats were beginning to approach from everywhere. From behind the house, from the arena, from the barn, everywhere! Dozens of cats! Everydamn cat in the whole world seemed to be converging on his location. He heard a weird cry and realized it was sounding from his own lips, "Mia! Mia!" He giggled hysterically. He was calling the damn cats to dinner! The smell hit him then; very reminiscent of the fish sausage his father had wrapped him in, just before...

His feet started working. He was never sure how he got past the cats between himself and the barn, but suddenly his footsteps were pounding up the first aisle. He turned left, then immediately right. There, a long narrow room led behind the stalls, back to the old silo where the cats were fed. A hand flicked the light-switch, but he was halfway back to the silo before he realized he had missed the switch. He turned. Cats were pouring in like a flood, eyes glowing as bits of light refracted from their retinas. He backed away, deeper into the darkness as the furry tide swirled about him and began to press against his legs, insistent 'meows' and the hissing of cats that, in their excitement, invaded a dominant cat's position. Ranma felt the backs of his knees hit some boxes and he sat down suddenly, the tub in his lap.

Immediately, the tide surged high as some cats tried to feed and others objected because their bowls on the floor were yet unfilled. Ranma giggled. This was it. Soon he would be in Nekoken for sure and, unable to transform, he would be a deadly menace to everyone who lived here. He laughed hysterically and stood up. Soon a different mind would replace his and claws of ki would dominate his attackers. Cackling, he splashed the cat food into the bowls and capered about the silo as groups of cats left him to feed at their chosen positions. Finally, the tub was empty and he bounced and skipped down the long narrow room free at last of those cats.

He stopped. The cats did not follow him. A few latecomers bounced off his shins on their way to the meal. Ranma looked down and quietly set the tub down where they could lick it clean. He looked at the tabby cat nearest him; one of the 'Darryl's', four almost identical cats, Barry's memory supplied, named after characters on a popular TV show. He reached down almost to the cat's fur, but his hand started to shake. He looked around and then stuck his head out of the doorway.

"Hey, Mary," he shouted.

"What?" the faint bellow drifted back. "I'm finished with stalls by the way."

"Great! Do we have any new kittens?"

Mary pushed her wheelbarrow outside, then turned the corner and walked over to him. "Do we have any what?"

"Kittens! You know... Little, eyes not open yet, can't move much..."

"Oh!" She thought. "You said we move hay next, and the hayloft is a good place to look."

An hour later, four tiny dark-gray forms wriggled on Ranma's palms. Not far away, the half-feral mother growled and complained, but did not approach within arm's reach. Ranma looked at the little creatures in wonder. For nearly a dozen years, they had been objects of fear for him, a source of terror and loss of identity. He looked the mother cat square in the eyes and she crouched, afraid of him. He felt a surge of joy and barely restrained himself from laughing.

"Satisfied?" a curious Mary asked, looking at the little animals. She took them from him and carried them over to a gap in the re-stacked hay that made a cozy nest. "Not that she'll keep them there," Mary said in disgust, "but it's worth a try."

Ranma wasn't listening. He was free. No girl-type... No neko... Hell with Bob! He could cut back, take martial arts lessons and breeze through the courses, reaching dan-levels in record time. He would have everything he ever wanted.

Except Akane…

"What the hell's the matter with you, now?" demanded a worried Mary.

"Got some dust in my eyes," he lied, tears coursing down his face.

'Akane,' he thought; then, 'Now how the hell do I get home?'