After tossing and turning for an hour, Ranma gave up on the idea of getting any additional sleep. Instead, he got dressed and bundled up his borrowed clothing for return to the Cat Cafe. Needing only two minutes for those tasks, it was still too early so Ranma headed out to the dojo proper.

The place had been pretty much destroyed during the wedding fiasco, but the rebuild was progressing satisfactorily. At least there were four walls, a roof and a floor. The money that Ranma and Akane had received as wedding gifts had almost stretched far enough for materials. Nabiki, after being threatened by both sisters, paid for the remainder. (Of course, she never mentioned the check from the Kuno family's lawyers that would have paid for the whole thing.)

Some of the labor had been donated, some Ranma had provided. Soun Tendo did a surprising (to Ranma) amount of the work himself. More labor would be needed in the coming weeks and months. The floor was unfinished, bare beams showed in the walls and roof. But the spirit of the dojo, as a place for martial arts and martial artists, was alive.

Ranma turned on the work lights strung from the main house as the dojo didn't have power yet. He drug two large straw mats to the middle of the concrete floor. Somehow, the dojo sign reading "I Ro Ha" had survived and now hung from the central beam of the south wall. After minimal stretching, Ranma began a kata that would have been impossible for most, difficult for a select few and moderately challenging for him.

He couldn't find his rhythm. Which is a poor way of putting it considering he wasn't supposed to have one. Rhythms could be predicted and a predictable opponent was an easy target. He'd seen people doing katas to music and immediately dismissed the concept as dangerously stupid. Real life doesn't move in 4:4 time.

Switching to a slightly easier kata, Ranma tried again without success. Dropping into lotus position, Ranma tried to figure out what was wrong. 'Rhythm' was definitely the wrong word. What did that leave? It wasn't mechanics. Ranma had enough experience with his female form to know what it was capable of doing. The katas he had attempted were nowhere near his female form's current maximums. The drugs Ryoga tricked him into taking had completely worn off. Then he realized the problem. It wasn't rhythm or mechanics, it was flow. The smooth movement from one element to the next. The tiny adjustments in balance that can add or subtract from the power of a blow. The difference between breaking a board and breaking a hand.

Certain that he had figured out the problem, he sprang to his feet and started the second kata again. Better, but not perfect. More improvement on the second and third repetitions. Good enough on the fourth go around that he tried the original kata again.

Halfway through, he didn't torque his hips enough to complete a backflip kick. Underrotating, his feet hit the mat at an angle that completely destroyed his momentum. His hands shot out to cushion his fall. Done wrong, the average person might break their collar bone. Done by Ranma Saotome, he was merely left in push up position.

"Had this been a real fight, you would now be dog food," Ranma noted sarcastically. That's when he realized the true problem. He'd come to the dojo, not as a martial artist, but as something else. Exactly what, he didn't... couldn't... know. But the martial artist's harmony between mind and body, between himself and the world, was missing. Even worse than missing, in discord.

Quickly standing up, Ranma left the dojo. He would not return until he could be there as a martial artist. Whatever he was now didn't belong.

-=-=-

After his regular breakfast of miso soup and rice, Ranma walked to school alone. Akane had taken to walking with Nabiki, which Nabiki felt was hurting her profits. Some deals just couldn't be made with one's little sister standing next to one. All those beefcake shots of Ryoga for lonely girls to buy and Akane kept eating into her sales time. It was all very aggravating to the middle Tendo daughter. Although unaware of the specifics, anything that annoyed Nabiki was fine by Ranma, so he wasn't making an issue of it even though he would have rather walked with Akane.

But walking alone meant he could walk on the fences for a change. Akane wore dresses. Even if she had the balance for it, she wouldn't walk where people could look up her skirt. Once Ranma realized this, he'd begun walking at her side more often instead on any fences in the vicinity. Out of habit, he'd used the sidewalk for two days before returning to the higher path after Akane stopped going to school with him.

Besides being good balance practice, fence walking also gave Ranma a better view of his surroundings. Anything that helped spot problems before they arrived. Like Mousse standing on the corner two blocks ahead of him.

Ranma thought briefly about detouring around the part-time duck before dismissing the idea. He wanted to save his anger for the right target. But if there were any volunteers, that was good too. If Mousse made one smartass remark, he'd have to wait until broken bones healed before getting the sparring sessions he'd promised Cologne. The distance between Mousse and Ranma closed steadily.

Leaping down to a point just out of arm plus training potty's length in front of the Chinese hidden weapons master, Ranma said, "Yo Mousse! What'cha doing here?"

"Peace Saotome. The old monkey told me to drop everything and get a hold of you before you got to school."

"She found Ryoga already?" Ranma asked in surprise.

Mousse froze. He thought he'd already put the puzzle together. But this was the last piece. Mousse had heard Ranma was stuck as a girl from Shampoo. He'd found the medical report when he fixed the hole Ranma made. No patient name was listed, but since pregnancy would lock a Nyannichuan curse, Ranma was obviously it. With the curare and digitalis, he'd originally guessed Tatewaki Kuno had finally gone over the edge with the drugs provided, one way or another, by his twisted sister. But that didn't explain Cologne's urgent message to the village Wednesday night or Shampoo's sudden departure for Hiroshima Thursday afternoon.

But if Hibiki had got Ranma pregnant, that explained everything.

"Uh... no," Mousse said emotionlessly. "Cologne told me to give you this." From his oversized left sleeve, he pulled out the check for 100,000 yen made out to 'Bearer' that Cologne had given him less than an hour ago. From his right sleeve, he slowly pulled the results of Ranma's bloodwork.

As Ranma took the pieces of paper from Mousse's nerveless hands, he noted the Chinese teen's near complete shock. "Go ahead and say what ya wanna say. I mean it's obvious ya know Ryoga raped me."

"Saotome... Ranma... That is so fucked up."

"I see you're being literal today," Ranma said coldly. "Very cute. I give it an eight." It looked like Peking Duck was going on the menu along with Stir Fried Pork.

"You think I'm being cute? You think I'd gloat about something like this?" Mousse asked seriously. "This is nothing to joke about. The Joketzu have been living practically next door to Jusenkyo for around three thousand years. You think this is the first time something like this has happened?"

Ranma was caught seriously off-guard. He was so used to having Mousse in the role of rival that he had problems thinking of him in any other way. Eventually, he answered, "Hadn't really thought about it. I've been a little preoccupied this week."

Mousse shook his head slowly. "Let me assure you, Amazons have some very definite opinions about rape. Not that I personally agree with all of them. In the early days of the Musk, lesser warriors used to dunk male prisoners in the Nyannichuan, rape them until they became pregnant and then returned them to their home villages where they would usually be killed by their own families. They didn't even need the locking ladle because the curse would lock on its own once the victim was pregnant.

"Hell, the reason they switched from mating with wild animals transformed by the springs and then locked to female martial artists was because the Joketzu started taking in the victims. After a decade of learning how to fight as women, they went back and kicked the Musk's ass. The Musk were so impressed that they changed their entire way of life. Of course, they managed to screw up again later, but that's another story."

Ranma looked at Mousse as if he'd suddenly transformed into his history teacher. Except that his voice wasn't a sleep inducing monotone. "Ya know, if you'd've told me this when we were after Prince Herb, things woulda been a lot simpler."

"The old bat made me read all the Musk records after we got back. I didn't know it then," Mousse explained.

Ranma snorted in an amused manner. "Cologne stuck ya with homework and you're not even in school. That's funny."

"Laugh all you want," Mousse said while internally adding 'This once, I'll let you get away with it.' After some initial reluctance, he'd found it to be interesting material.

Ranma put the medical report into his book bag. The check he held out to Mousse. "Thanks, but tell Cologne I don't need her charity."

"That's not charity Saotome, that's a loan to cover expenses."

Expenses. Something that Ranma hadn't considered. Getting an abortion would cost money that he didn't have. Most of what he earned doing odd (and occasionally down right strange) jobs, wound up either in his stomach or Nabiki's pocket. "Why is it every time I think Cologne's gone senile, she turns right around and proves she ain't?"

"Consider yourself lucky Saotome," Mousse replied. "She's been doing it to me most of my life."

-=-=-

After a brief discussion, decisions were made. Ranma would drop by the school long enough to turn in his homework before working on his larger problem. With the amount of effort spent on his studies, Ranma would make damn sure he received credit for it. Afterwards, Mousse would take him to Shampoo's OBGYN for the procedure. Ranma didn't want to go to the Tendo daughters' 'female stuff' physician because he'd be recognized.

Unfortunately, Ranma forgot that no plan ever survives contact with the enemy. Even if the enemy has a small palm tree growing out of his head.

"Aloha Keiki!" shouted Principal Kuno split seconds before a pineapple exploded in Ranma's face. Mousse started laughing, sheerly out of reflex, until a second pineapple blew up in his face.

"Don'tcha know it's time for all da bruddas and wahines to be in school? You be late, you be gonna get a nice buzz cut." Shears appeared in the man's hands as if by magic.

Ranma did not trust himself to start a fight without accidentally killing someone. For the most part, he'd been able to channel his rage off to the side. But it was still there, still available, and still capable of vaporizing things if released uncontrolled. So Ranma tried to bareface his way out. "We don't go to Furinkan High School."

For a moment, Principal Kuno's Hawaiian accent disappeared. "Uh uhh," he said waving a finger. "Tacchi and Dachi may not have figured you out, but I did."

"I don't go to Furinkan, you moron!" Mousse added angrily as he pulled a baseball from his sleeve and let fly. He nailed the older man square on the bridge of his sunglasses and snapped his head back.

Mousse had no experience with just how resilient his target was.

As his head came forward, an evil smile appeared on the crazed educator's face. "I tink ya still be needing some education dere bro! Lemme show ya how we give haircuts to da bad little bruddas!" Kuno-koucho bellowed as he rushed toward Mousse and Mousse's long hair.

Mousse reflexively dodged the first swipe from the shears but the second was too close for comfort. "Fist of the White Swan!" he shouted, clonging the principal upside the head with a child's swan shaped training potty.

Shrugging off the blow and the two that followed, the Hawaii obsessed man tossed another pineapple at the hidden weapons master as a distraction before circling left for another attack with his shears.

Ranma, seeing the battle as well underway, headed toward the school alone. Fights with Principal Kuno had a way of running longer than most people expected. Besides, if Mousse couldn't take the old guy, he really needed those sparring sessions Cologne wanted Ranma to give him.

-=-=-

Ranma successfully dropped off his schoolwork and left the high school grounds with little comment. He'd get his assignments from Akane later if he felt like bothering. Miss Hinako, the only teacher who had a chance to stop him from leaving, was too busy eating chocolate to notice his arrival and consequently too hyped on sugar to prevent his departure.

After cashing the check Cologne had given him, Ranma had Mousse (hair intact and only slightly worse for wear) direct him to the not easily found office of Dr. Mame Suimono in Bunkyo. Once the temporarily female martial artist put his hand on the door, the occasionally avian martial artist took off like a bat out of hell. Mousse had done what he had promised, he wasn't about to volunteer for anything more. Ranma didn't blame him.

-=-=-

Ranma had a brief attack of nerves as he looked around the waiting room. There were two dozen women and girls of ages from 'too young' to 'don't wanna know'. Five of them were visibly pregnant. How many weren't showing yet? Were any of them planning abortions too? Were any of them there because they couldn't get pregnant? Ranma realized how little he really knew about 'women stuff'.

His right arm twitched until he consciously stopped it. He didn't belong there. The out of place feeling was ten times worse than the discord he'd felt at the dojo. This was a place for real women, not cursed men stuck as women. But he realized that no matter why anyone else was there, he had his own reason and it was sufficient.

Thus calmed, he nearly marched up to the receptionist's desk.

Where he was completely ignored for three minutes while the woman talked on the phone, apparently to her mother from what Ranma could hear of the conversation. Ranma noted she was a young woman with short dark hair, probably not much older than Kasumi but nowhere near as pretty.

"A-hem," he muttered quietly. There was no noticeable change in the babble streaming into and out of the telephone. Ranma tried to imagine Shampoo waiting patiently in a similar situation and failed.

"Excuse me?" he attempted in a normal tone of voice. The only result was for the receptionist to roll her eyes. Whether at Ranma or at the phone was difficult to tell. Giving the benefit of a doubt, he chose phone.

Two minutes later, with two women in line behind him and no variation in the babble, Ranma changed his mind. Looking around, he saw a small table top rock garden. Leaving his place in line, he chose a rock slightly smaller than his female form's fist. The women who had been behind him graciously allowed Ranma to regain his spot.

"EXCUSE ME!" Ranma said loud enough to draw the attention of every person in the waiting room. Even the receptionist's. What held their attention was Ranma crushing the rock into powder and pebbles with one hand.

"LoveyouMom, butIgottago. Bye!" the young woman said at amiguriken speed.

'Yes, she can be taught!' Ranma thought sarcastically before he said, "I'd like ta see a doctor as soon as possible."

"Do you have an appointment?" The question was as much a reflex action for her as dodging a punch was for him.

Ranma tilted his head slowly and stared. Pointing at the debris he'd just created, he asked, "Do I need one?"

Not willing to give up without a fight, and being a born bureaucrat, the receptionist started a prepared speech. "It's not fair to the other patients for you to ju-"

"Enkai." Hearing her name pronounced so sharply cut off the receptionist in mid word. From a nearby doorway, a brown haired woman, no taller than Ranma's current form, said, "I'll take care of it." Turning to Ranma, she continued, "After all, who needs to eat lunch?" Her name tag read 'Dr. Mame Suimono'. But a small round button she wore next to it read 'Honorary Amazon: Do Not Annoy'. Ranma hoped that it was a joke of some kind and feared that it wasn't.

Once the doctor had escorted Ranma to an examining room, she said, "Allow me to apologize for my partner's niece. But just between us, I've been wanting to hit her with a rock since Sarada-sensei hired her. You showed remarkable restraint."

"If ya only knew."

"Well, why don't you tell me then? I'm assuming that's why you're here."

Ranma opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He hadn't thought quite far enough ahead and needed to do some on the fly editing. Taking a deep breath for cover, he decided to stick as close to the truth as possible.

"I was drugged and raped last Saturday," he said bluntly.

If the doctor was shocked, she didn't show it. "Have you contacted the police?"

"No." Involving the police had never crossed Ranma's mind. This was a personal matter. Involving outside agencies would... complicate things unnecessarily.

"You really should," Dr. Suimono stated firmly. "How can we function as a modern society when rapists are allowed to roam free? The person responsible should be caught and punished." By the time she had finished speaking there was a decided edge on the doctor's voice. She was no rape counselor, despite some hard-earned field experience.

"The police would want evidence. But there's no proof except I'm pregnant."

"It's only been six days. How can you tell?" she observed doubtfully. Ranma pulled out the medical report on his bloodwork and silently handed it to the doctor. Glancing at the results, which indicated fatal levels of multiple drugs as well as a pregnancy, she asked sharply, "Is this some kind of joke?"

Ranma shrugged. "It stumped Cologne too."

Doctor Suimono's face fell at the mere mention of the Amazon matriarch's name. "So much for being a joke," she muttered quietly before telling Ranma, "Begin at the beginning."

Ranma quickly told his story with forced calmness covering blazing rage. The challenge letter. The chugging contest. The fight. The fact that he lost. The inability to move when he woke up. The fact that he went to see Cologne the next day because he didn't 'feel right'. Going to the hospital on Monday. Finding out he was pregnant Thursday. Finally, his current presence in an examination room Friday. Through it all, he never revealed his name or Ryoga's.

"You seem to be taking this very well young woman," Dr. Suimono finally said. The petite red-head in front of her had proved quite a quandary. It was a reaction so atypical of most rape victims that she didn't know how to respond. No tears. No hysterics. No shouting. No blaming herself. Just a desire to have an abortion and get on with her life.

For a procedure that was still technically illegal in most cases, abortions were not uncommon in Japan. The relative lack of contraception options for women guaranteed that. In Japan, it took thirty five years of wrangling and testing before 'the pill' became available to Japanese women for birth control. In comparison, Viagra® took six months for approval with no clinical trials at all.

There were times Mame Suimono hated her homeland.

"Yo, Doc! Ya in there?" Ranma said waving a hand in front of the gynecologist's face.

"My apologies once again. When you get to be an old woman like me, you'll get distracted too."

"I hope not," Ranma replied for multiple reasons.

"Normally, I would give you a horrificly long speech about birth control, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and other things the Ministry of Health and Welfare thinks you should know. But since those morons couldn't find their collective ass with a road map, complete directions and a three day head start, I think we can skip everything except the STD's which I do insist you get tested for."

Ranma smiled until Dr. Suimono reached the last part. He didn't think that Ryoga would be carrying any sexual diseases, but wasn't willing to take the chance that pig-boy had magically got over his shyness with women before their fight. The bad part was medical tests weren't cheap. "How much is this gonna cost me?"

"Quite a bit I'm afraid. It's too late to use emergency contraception and considering this," she waved Ranma's medical report in the air, "I don't think it would have worked anyway. Same for RU-486 and its chemical cousins. Sadly, abortion and contraception are not covered by the National Health Plan and public assistance funds for either have been tied up in the Diet since before you were born.

"So all told, it will cost just under one hundred thousand yen." She tapped the 'Honorary Amazon' button on her lab coat. "And as for everything related to this, no records will be kept and your anonymity will be maintained."

Ranma nodded, pulled out his wallet and counted out twenty 5,000 yen bills into a neat pile on the examination table. While his wallet was open, Dr. Suimono saw Ranma's Furinken High School ID card, complete with a photograph of his male side. She noted a family resemblance but said nothing. She knew that the young woman in front of her hadn't told her everything and this minor slip up was the only clue she had pointing toward further information. Whether the young man in the photo was relative, rapist or both, Dr. Suimono planned to find out.

The procedure itself had to wait until the good doctor was finished with her other patients. The samples to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases were simple enough. The new HIV test took only twenty minutes to come back negative. The others would do the same eventually.

In the operating room, Ranma basically ignored the nurse who did his prep work. When the real procedure began, he took a local anesthetic and kept his eyes closed. All he felt was a vague discomfort as his cervix was dilated followed by the noise of a small suction machine that emptied his uterus. A spoon shaped instrument, called a curettage, was used to ensure the abortion was complete. Ranma opened his eyes too soon and saw that the procedure wasn't as bloodless as he'd thought. He knew it would not be the last blood spilled over the incident.

After it was over, Dr. Suimono warned Ranma about possible complications such as cramping and vaginal bleeding. Ranma didn't care. A little cramping was a small price to pay and if the procedure worked, he wouldn't have a vagina much longer.

Arriving at the subway station, Ranma boldly walked into the Men's Room. Turning on the faucet, he waited the few seconds necessary for the water to heat up. Putting his hands under the flowing stream, the change was instantaneous. He was finally back in his normal form. Now he could face his parents. Now he could kill Ryoga.

-=-=-

End Part 3

-=-=-

Author's Notes: I tried to do it, but I couldn't. I was going to write this chapter without regard to reality, but certain habits are too ingrained. I actually did a little research on both contraception and abortion as practiced in Japan while writing this chapter. Some of what I read really pissed me off. Go google "Contraception in Japan" if you are interested in more information.