Ki Cutters: 13
The Potential II
Ranma reclined against the pillows and considered the highpoints of the past few weeks: The blowup with Ryoga and Akari. Encountering their latest friends, Atsuke and Ryunoske Natsume, while fending off mecha. Ryoga finding his way to Togenkyo and losing his pig curse. Kodachi and Taro finding their way to Togenkyo – similar results but with Kodachi now a full duplicate of Ranma in form and curse. And don't even talk about some forty formerly miniature ninja now on the make for certain martial artists, whose names begin with the RRrrrr sound. And finally, the revelation that, yes their parents did do that, so did some of their classmates, maybe especially Kodachi who was Ranma's double who had done that with Taro who shared the dojo with Ranma (brrrrrr) and kami help him if he forgot who was who or where he was considering that Kodachi was (double-brrrrrr) pregnant!
Just like Ranma's Mom and Miss Hinako and Mrs. Morisato… And Ryoga's Mom was due in what, July?
Some blasted little fertility kami must be buzzing around Nerima, Ranma thought darkly. Well, he was safe here!
"Safe from what?" mumbled a sleepy voice. Akane had sensed the change in Ranma's focus and came awake, listening to his breathing and feeling the tension in his body grow. Her eyes opened and she turned to gaze up at his shadowed face. "What's wrong, love?" She 'eeep'ed as he hugged her suddenly. "If you're going to squeeze me like that, at least kiss me to take my mind off my poor ribs, baka!" she whispered.
"Sorry." He hugged her more gently and drank in those offered lips. "Just thinkin'."
"I'm surprised you came in tonight," she said, shifting so she could see him better. "I figured I'd have to keep my own bed warm for a while after…"
"It's not like you can get me pregnant," Ranma smirked.
"Baka!" Akane boggled a bit to herself. Ryoga's parents, Mrs. Saotome, Miss Hinako, Mrs. Morisato and Kodachi… True, they were all due at different times, but… "I can't believe Dad is going to marry Miss Hinako."
"It worries me a little," Ranma admitted. "About them, not us," he amended. "I mean, two outa the four of 'em change size or sex. What are the kids gonna be like?"
"Are their babies even going to survive?" Akane brooded. "I can't see Kodachi as a mother."
"You think she'll…" Ranma left the statement unfinished. As much as Kodachi's pregnancy disturbed him, the thought of her ending what grew within was more so. "It's only a couple a dozen cells, right?" he muttered to himself.
Akane sought down the hall with ki-vision. Her father slept alone; Miss Hinako had not stayed the night. She probed Natsume, Kurumi and Kasumi. Her gaze swept over to check on her future in-laws. She lingered, watching the shift of life within Nodoka. It made her want her own to carry like that. But that would have to wait until Shampoo's claim was satisfied. Besides, she wasn't quite ready for that final scary step.
As she swept back across the compound she found activity in the kitchen. Who was unaccounted for? She stiffened. "Jiro's back!" she whispered.
She felt Ranma become more aware and seek outward. "Wonder if he'll notice I'm not in the dojo?" her fiancé muttered with some concern. His vision swept to the futon and took note. "Taro's not back yet, either," he commented. Was there something different about the piles of bedding and equipment?
"Taro's not…" Akane stared at him. "You didn't tell me he was gone!"
Ranma smirked. "Hey! With you pointin' those things at me, I got distracted." He felt Akane blush and stroked the side of one of those things lightly. "The way I figure it, they need some private time ta talk about stuff, and if they decide ta do somethin' other than talk… Well, it's not like it'll change anythin'," he shrugged.
"He's eating at the table," Akane reported, still shivering in reaction but nodding toward the main part of the house.
"Well, duh!" Ranma snorted. "Easier than walkin' back and forth to the dojo."
They watched, stoking one another lightly, lovingly, enjoying the age old custom of snuggling. Though there was a certain tension with Jiro's activity in the house, they were reluctant to take further action. Ranma sighed finally.
"No help for it. It'll be a lot easier to sneak back before he gets out there." He twisted and gave Akane a long, deep kiss, before opening the window. She sighed and hugged his hand against her cheek.
"Still feels kinda strange," Ranma remarked in a teasing tone. "I'm goin' out the window but there's no scream of pervert or anythin'."
"If it would make you feel better…" she offered, tightening her grip. He gulped, knowing she had the perfect excuse. He relaxed when she released him. "I love you," she said warmly.
"I love you, too," he replied, marveling at how easy those words came now. Yet each time he said them, they meant so much more.
Ranma slid up onto the roof like a ghost and debated between going back to the dojo and investigating Jiro's activity. Finally, he decided to return to his futon. He could watch Jiro from there. He slid through the shoji and threw back the cover. Two trips cleared the training gear to its places and he slid onto the mattress. It felt awfully empty.
He sensed Jiro return after his snack and felt him stop in surprise when he noticed the presence in Ranma's bed. After a few moments, Jiro advanced and sat on his own futon.
"I know you just got back, Ranma," he said, "I need to ask you something."
Ranma paused then rolled over and sat up to regard Jiro with a bit of trepidation. He wasn't ready to answer certain types of questions. Yet his experience with Hiro and Dai, and Jiro himself for that matter, had him expecting exactly the wrong type of question being asked by Happosai's student. He went on the attack. "What? Did the teachers notice ya weren't in school? Was Marinara sensei pissed about you missing rehearsal? Was Kasumi worried when you missed dinner?"
Jiro winced. Worrying Kasumi seemed a crime. "I wondered if you could convince Taro to back off long enough for me to explain myself tomorrow?" he asked in a subdued tone.
Ranma blinked. Jiro was asking about… Oh, that! Ranma switched gears from a defensive reluctance about where he'd been, to an open curiosity about the cause of the tension between the other two. "Ummm… So why did you send him to Miroto, anyway?"
"I guess I had bad information," Jiro shrugged. "The last time I saw the old man, he was talking about going to Miroto; something about 'untouched' and 'unexploited'. It's not like I keep track of where he is."
"Why didn't you tell Taro earlier?" Ranma demanded. "Woulda saved a lotta trouble."
"I got the feeling bull-boy wasn't too happy about his trip, so I thought I'd let him cool off. What's bugging him?" Jiro smirked to himself. Of course, he knew exactly what was bugging that individual.
"He… I think I better let him tell ya," Ranma said, changing his mind mid-sentence. "It's kinda personal."
"Where is he, by the way?" Jiro asked bluntly, indicating the mess on Taro's futon.
Ranma jerked a little and frowned. "That's his business, too!"
Jiro shrugged. "Whatever. It's been a day; might as well rest up for when Hinako drains me tomorrow for being absent."
That got Ranma to thinking. 'Jeez! He's missed a lot of stuff, this week. Do I tell him?' He thought for a while. Finally, he decided it was nothing Jiro needed to know. Rolling over, he reached out with ki-vision to Akane and, sticking up his arm, waved at her and smiled when she waved back.
"What are you doing?" Jiro grumbled. "Go to sleep."
"Right." Ranma turned words into action.
Jiro thought for a long time after he heard the soft deep buzz that told him the boy was asleep. What an interesting day! Despite the heightened senses Ranma now possessed, he could not know that Happosai/Jiro possessed trained senses himself. He had detected a faint scent alien to the boy when Ranma threw back the covers. Ranma had been with Akane this evening. Ranma's reaction to Jiro's question had been enlightening as well.
Lacy must have a girlfriend. How rude of him not to introduce her to his Master. Happosai/Jiro struggled to control himself. He really wanted to go investigate the house and see if Lacy might be seeing Kasumi. Wouldn't that be a surprise! Or perhaps one of Ranma's sisters; Kurumi seemed a bit innocent, but Natsume might keep two men on a string, what with Ryu Kumon so far away. It bore investigation, but he'd need a reason to be out and about when Ranma and Taro went visiting — that… and a camera.
oOo
Taro sat cross-legged on the big bed facing Kodachi. His lover seemed serene, but he was curious and concerned about what options she felt she should exercise. That wasn't all he was curious about.
"Dachi, why did you seduce me?"
Kodachi brushed her long red hair and admired the effect of that curtain of red silk on her nude image in the mirror. "Did I seduce you, Taro?" she countered smiling.
"Yes," Taro replied bluntly. Fully dressed, he wasn't in the mood for word games. "I'm curious. You've chased Ranma so long, why suddenly switch to me?"
"Do you love me, Taro?" the girl asked, brushing her hair with long slow strokes.
Taro was silent for a moment. "I don't know," he said finally. "I admire you. And I really needed to feel like a man again… after Togenkyo."
Kodachi glanced at him, smiled and nodded. "Perhaps that was why I did it."
"You know it wasn't your fault," Taro told her. "I mean, losing my monster-form. You didn't do that." He stroked a finger along her shoulder and felt the faint shiver of response. "I hope you're not sacrificing yourself to atone for that."
Kodachi stopped smiling. "I do feel I could have done something."
"You gained and I lost, Dachi," Taro said. "But it wasn't your fault. I'll just have to live with it." He fell silent and Kodachi began to stroke the brush through her hair again. "Do you care for me, Dachi?" he asked quietly.
"Yes, I do." She brushed one last stroke and placed the brush on the shelf of her bureau. "Very much, in fact.
Taro exhaled as if something very important were happening. "So," he said, "what are we going to do?"
"About?" Kodachi turned to face him directly. His eyes traveled over her form, then back to her eyes.
"The, uh… baby."
"It's not born yet. Much can happen." She watched him, noticing that his eyes did not wander from hers.
"What are your plans?" he asked with an edge.
"I haven't decided." Kodachi blinked slowly, then stretched to capture Taro's attention with an artful display of attributes. "Why are you still dressed?"
"Because I haven't finished talking."
"Taro, what are you asking?"
They stared at one another for long minutes.
"Taro dear, don't be tedious. You are not my first, nor am I, yours."
"But…"
"All right, you were this body's first, but I have more experience. I could tell that you have had some small practice in the past as well." Kodachi gave him a languorous look that set his heart racing. "Unsupervised rich girls and boys tend to play a lot." She shrugged and lay back on the bed, looking at the hangings overhead. "My condition is unexpected, but not unwelcome, at least at this early stage. I really thought after the damage I caused myself I could never have children." She lay very still looking off into the night. "Now, I have to decide what to do about it."
"Do about it?" Taro sounded confused.
"I'm hardly ideal mother material, Taro. I'm manipulative, vicious and self-centered. My stepmother was that way, too. That is how I was trained." She laughed a vicious laugh that trailed off into an unhappy mutter. "I would not wish that on my worst enemy." She considered. "Well, maybe my worst enemy."
"But…"
"It would be a very bad idea. And poor Satsuke is getting too old to baby-sit another generation of Kunos." She sat up suddenly, with a sneer on her face and made a flinging motion. "Here, Satsuke! I've finished her training for now. Clean the brat up! Have her presentable for the dinner party later."
Taro regarded her in shocked silence. His own mother, for the short time he had known her, had been affectionate in the extreme. His loss of her had been a personal disaster.
To her own horror, Kodachi suddenly burst into tears. Almost before she knew it, strong arms were cradling her. "S-s-stop it!" she sobbed. "D-d-don't you know I'm… I'm manipulating y-you?"
"You can if you need to," he whispered to her gently, raising her chin so he could kiss her tears away, rocking her in the circle of his strong arms.
oOo
"And one and two and three and four. Now turn and present, and high for the pirouette," called Marinara-sensei. "Very good, ladies."
"Indeed! What beauty transforming ducks to swans! Where before there was doubt and indecision, now there is grace and strength. How can it be, that so many lovely…"
"Will you please can it, brother dear?" Kodachi called out. "We're trying to concentrate. Be tiresome on your own time."
Tatewaki actually smiled. "In sooth I feared the transformation had left my sister bereft of speech," he jested. "Though how that could be, when the source be considered and found noisy and quarrelsome whenever encountered?"
Ranma squinted at the older Kuno who sat ten rows from the stage. "Hey, Kuno!" he yelled. "Do ya have an off switch? I'd like ta throw it. Barring that, I'd like ta throw you, ya pervert!"
"Hark; it barks again. Amazing that such sweet tones come from one, yet such cacophony from the other. Pray, Saotome, fetch water and change if thou wouldst speak. At least thy noise might be musical and enjoyed, if one harkens not to the words spoken."
"Can I please hit him?" demanded Ranma of Akane. She grinned and shook her head. "Please?" he turned to Marinara-sensei.
"No, Ranma. I said no fighting in the auditorium and I meant it." She turned to the chuckling kendoist. "However, Tatewaki, if you can't be civil to the performers, I'll have to ask you to leave. After all, your presence is not required here.
Tatewaki frowned. "Surely you would not deprive me of the presence of such poise and beauty? It would be like unto Lucifer's fall from grace, that such heavenly bodies be denied my sight!"
"What did I tell ya? He's a pervert!" Ranma said in a loud whisper.
"What is perverted about appreciating beauty where I find it?" demanded Kuno irritably.
"I dunno," Ranma drawled, "Who ya gettin' pictures of these days?"
"Saotome!" Tatewaki purpled.
"He's in withdrawal, Akane," Ranma suggested. (BOP!) "Ow! Wadja do that for?"
"You're trying to start a fight, Ranma. Cut it out."
"Yes, Ranma," Marinara-sensei added. "Please don't start anything to delay rehearsal. We need to practice the lifts, especially now that certain persons have decided to join us…" Jiro squirmed at her barb.
Akane gulped. This was the one part of rehearsal she had a lot of trouble with. Ranma had to lift and carry Shampoo. Shampoo had not twitted her about that, but she could have. In front of everyone, Ranma would stand behind Shampoo and place his hands on her ribs, just below her breasts. Then, with smooth power, he would raise her above his head as he stepped through a complex pattern that was part of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
The problem, in Akane's eyes, was that he seemed so unconcerned to be touching and lifting these pretty girls. The fact that he also touched and lifted her, in her role of understudy for Clara, was beside the point. She watched him listen to Marinara-sensei's instructions, then place his hands on Shampoo's ribs not far from the sides of her breasts. She found herself grinding her teeth.
"Oooh! The green monster is showing!" She glanced sidewise at Jiro who smirked at her. The expression was more comical due to Jiro's black eye, courtesy of Taro that morning. He had been a bit hasty and was still unrepentant even after Jiro explained himself. "You're way too sensitive, Akane. C'mon, we can practice this, too." He took her hand and led her to an empty section of the stage.
As Akane let Jiro lift her, she thought about ballet and acting in general. Marinara had made it clear at the very beginning that none of the girls and only Ranma among the boys would ever have a chance at a career in professional ballet — and Ranma wasn't interested. They were all too short, or over-endowed, (yes, even Akane!) or had begun training too late. The best they could hope for was a fun performance.
"Watch your hands," Akane warned Jiro as his fingers slid around her ribs, "or your eyes will match." He repositioned and lifted her. As he did, she looked at Ranma lifting Shampoo. The Amazon's eyes met hers, and her wink helped restore some of Akane's good humor.
She really had to decide where her life was taking her. She loved acting, but she loved martial arts, as well; especially now, when she was competitive with the rest of the crowd. She remembered the discussion with Barry about priorities and relationships. He had implied it would be very difficult to have both Ranma and acting. Maybe she could talk Ranma into some sort of partnership? She glanced over at her fiancé and shivered. He was lifting Kaisha now, and Akane worried the girl was beginning to fall for Ranma.
She stiffened and Jiro wobbled as he stepped, caught off balance by her sudden resistance. "You okay?" he asked, setting her down early.
"I'm all right," she replied. "Let me sit down for a moment."
"No problem. I'll go see if Shampoo will practice with me."
Akane glanced over to where Kaisha, stars in her eyes, was watching Ranma while Marinara instructed them. Kaisha had been, if anything, a little afraid of Ranma when this started. Was this an example of a sort of one-sided stage romance? It had better be one-sided! Grrr!
Ranma glanced over at her with a look that melted her. She was so damn jealous, she thought. She was jealous. What about Ranma? Did he experience these pangs when Jiro lifted her up? Had he felt this pain when Kuno or Ryoga had tried to approach her? What about those times she had been forcibly carried off? Would he feel this pain if she became a star, and he had to watch her act a role with another man, a role that expected her to imitate what she shared with him in real life? How would she feel if he kissed another girl as passionately as they kissed, even if she knew it was only make-believe?
"Jeez, Akane!"
Akane blinked and came back to herself to find Ranma flinching away as if she were brandishing her mallet. "What's wrong?"
"I dunno. For a minute, there, I thought you were gonna smash me, but I ain't done nothin', so…" He watched her pensively. "Anyway, Marinara-sensei says she's finished with us fer tonight. Wanna get some ice cream on the way home?" She saw the gleam in his eyes and knew if she agreed, he'd be eating in girl-form. "Kodachi says she's buyin'."
"Poor Kodachi," Akane smirked, knowing he would understand what she implied. She looked for the Kuno girl and found her not far from Taro, who had snuck in. Neither Taro nor Kodachi acknowledged the other, maintaining, for now, the semblance of disinterest.
"Hey! Ain't likely I'll eat through their fortune, no matter what ya think!"
"All right," she said slowly, watching his face brighten. "But I want my hunky fiancé until the ice cream arrives.
"Deal!" he said quickly. "It'll be you, me, Kodachi, Taro, Tatewaki, Shampoo, Ukyo and Kaisha."
"What about Jiro?" Akane asked surprised. Jiro was no more likely to pass up free food than Ranma. She frowned also at Kaisha's inclusion.
"He said he has other plans and don't expect him till very late." He smiled at her warmly causing a blush to spread across her cheeks and shoulders.
oOo
Happosai jimmied Akane's window open and entered the Tendo house in silence. He examined the room, analyzing the available cover like a big-game hunter preparing to set a blind. In a way, what he was doing was far more dangerous. If a big game hunter were discovered, his prey usually ran away. Happosai, if discovered, would surely be attacked by a force that made an adult tiger or bear a mere nuisance. He planned to stalk and photograph Ranma and Akane in a compromising situation. If he succeeded…
"Heh, heh! Those kids might do just about anything to keep certain parties from seeing these…"
He opened Akane's closet and looked over the shelves. Good, she still kept her old stuffed animals on the top shelf. He made careful note of the position of a stuffed monkey and exited the room, taking a few souvenirs, of course. If anyone saw him, he justified to himself, they'd think it odd if he hadn't.
He departed the house and returned to the dojo. Taro wasn't there. Well, he had seen Taro at the rehearsal. That probably meant one of those girls was his squeeze. A few more days of checking and Lacy would get his surprise, too. La-dee-da! He had work to do. Tonight would be fun no matter how it turned out.
oOo
Ranma churned through her ice cream with quiet, enthusiastic intensity. Tatewaki watched in fascination, occasionally pausing to compare the boy-turned-girl with the female form now utilized by his sister.
"Dr. Hashibara would have a field day," he muttered.
Ukyo had raced to Ryoga's house to invite the lost-boy on their outing. He was unusually depressed about how he had treated Akari, especially as she would not return his phone calls. Ranma talked him into trying ice cream as a girl. Taro took more convincing, but as he had never tried ice cream at all, he grudgingly acceded to Kodachi's curiosity halfway through his banana split.
As a result, Tatewaki was the only male left sitting at their table. He glanced at his sister's guests and tried very hard not to stare at Taro. Taro already fended off the first come-on this evening with an application of nerve pressure to the offender's wrist. She hadn't even paused in conversation with the others. That anonymous man had left quickly.
"It is slightly better as a girl, Saotome," Taro admitted. "Not enough to want to change just because I'm having it, though."
Ryoga sat with her spoon in her mouth, eyes wide. Ranma snickered as she reached to switch bowls with the enraptured neo-girl.
Ukyo smacked her fingers with a mini-spat. "That's Ryoga's ice cream, jackass! You had yours."
"It's just goin' to waste, Ucchan," Ranma argued. "He's zoned!"
Ukyo applied an elbow to Ryoga's ribs. "Moron! Ranchan's gonna eat your ice cream," she growled.
Ryoga shivered and gathered in her bowl protectively. "Mine, Ranma!" She took another spoonful and went into freeze again.
"Ucchan, it's goin' ta waste!" whined Ranma.
Tatewaki watched Ranma covertly and shuddered. Everything familiar to him about the pigtailed girl was still evident. It was a curse of the gods that such loveliness was entrapped in such… boorish masculinity. If Kuno had been handed a wish, he probably would have wished for a pigtailed girl minus Ranma's presence. He compared her with the other Jusenkyo-cursed.
Kodachi was Ranma's double, of course, except for longer hair and a more demure personality. She was also his sister and, therefore, out of bounds. The good thing was that the curse allowed Kodachi, to some degree, to find her old self, the sister he once had loved and cared for before he had been banished by their stepmother. Seeing her like this, sane and relaxed, allowed him to take further steps toward forgiving Ranma's deception of him.
Ryoga's girl-type was tall, nearly as tall as Tatewaki and model-lean. While she did not possess the buxom perkiness of Ranma's curse, she would have been considered a beauty anywhere. Her eyes were large and green and her hair almost matched Ukyo's chestnut color. She still had her fangs and Ryoga's sometimes stumbling clueless approach to life translated, in his female form, to a deceptively attractive innocence.
Taro was… lush. Full breasts, wide hips and incredibly long legs. Violet eyes with thick heavy lashes gazed out with a suppressed passion that was not evident in Taro's male form. 'That was interesting,' Kuno thought. 'The eyes themselves usually didn't change between cursed and un-cursed forms.' Frowning, he glanced at Kodachi, trying to see her eyes.
"Is something wrong, Tachi?" she asked regarding him with some concern.
"Your eyes. When you had only Ranma's male form as a curse, did your eyes turn this shade of blue?" he asked, troubled.
"Why, yes," she answered. "Why do you ask?"
"Hmmm… No reason." As he leaned back and pondered the situation, he thought one other guest at the table was discomfited by the transformations as he. Kaisha Timoosato, the girl who had the lead role of Clara, was also uneasy. She schemed to sit beside Ranma but had been largely ignored as Ranma, Akane, Ukyo and Shampoo immediately began an on-again, off-again discussion about the wisdom of ki techniques in combat. Tatewaki observed her attempts to flirt with Saotome with Ranma oblivious to her signals. Though Kuno acknowledged that he was not the brightest bulb in the box, it had not taken him long to realize that Ranma was well aware of her attempts and chose to ignore them. He smiled slightly. Perhaps it was time for a change.
"Timoosato-san," he offered, "It has been a privilege to watch you develop in your role."
Kaisha glanced up, saw his smiling face and reran his speech through her head. It didn't rant. Was something wrong? "Thank you, Kuno-sempai," she replied guardedly. She and her boyfriend had broken up recently, and she was at loose ends. She had entertained the possibility of a stage romance with Ranma – he and Akane still clashed frequently – but tonight had finally understood that the scrapping was simply part of their normal interaction. Regretfully, she turned her attention to the only male left at the table.
"We are, as it were, the odd people out in tonight's discussion. Pray do not let yourself sink into obscurity nor timid seclusion. Lend me your thoughts. Do you enjoy your work on the ballet?" He turned on the charm and she suddenly felt breathless. She had to keep reminding herself that this was the loon who had plagued Akane the past two years.
"Y-yes!" she gulped and tried to rally. "It's very interesting. I like the story, though I'm not certain I understand it."
"Fear not. There is really far less to understand than at first sight. It is but a tale of romance, honor and requited love overcoming obstacles, couched within the realm of a children's fantasy. It is meant to be enjoyed more than understood, experienced rather than pondered upon."
Kaisha felt her heart flutter. This was the loon? He sounded a little funny, but not unintelligent or thick. "So I should just experience the play. How do I set my character? Shouldn't I try to understand what Clara is feeling?"
Tatewaki shrugged. "I know little of acting techniques, but I have heard it said that the best characters live from within the performer's heart. Has it been so long since you skipped across the cusp of womanhood? You hardly look ancient and wrinkled — quite the opposite! If you find the child you once were, surely you will find Clara as well." He pointed to her sundae. "It's melting," he said helpfully.
She looked down and picked up her forgotten spoon. As she finished her treat, her eyes were drawn back to Kuno. Perhaps she had misjudged him? Her eyes questioned.
"You did not," Tatewaki said quietly, startling her with the sudden insight. "I was indeed everything you thought and worse. Fair ballerina, I am dangerous still, but I am healing from the wounds which fate and foolishness have dealt me. If you are willing to take some small risk, might I ask you to dine with me some evening?"
"I… I… I…"
"Do not answer now. Depart and ask the advice of those you trust and listen to your heart. Set the rules to your liking. I will wait."
"I will think about it, sempai," Kaisha said finally. She finished her ice cream and shivered. Loon or not, he was a very handsome man.
oOo
Ranma and Akane walked home, teased one another over homework, pretended to argue over bathroom privileges and made preparations for bed. Ranma entered the dojo and smiled. Neither Taro nor Jiro were there. He'd wait a few minutes, then go knock on Akane's window. Sleeping in each other's arms was becoming habit forming.
Akane, dressed in her lime-green pajamas, brushed her hair and turned the lights out. Ranma would probably be along shortly. She hummed to herself and waited for her Romeo. Laughing, she remembered the tape with her lipstick print on it. How much more satisfying were the kisses they shared since. She turned on her desk lamp and pulled out a manga to pass the time.
'The stage is set,' thought Happosai from within the monkey costume. He sat on the shelf of her cupboard in place of her old toy, camera in hand. 'Lets see what kind of performance Ranma's up for. Heh-heh!'
oOo
Taro stroked his hand along Kodachi's cheek. "I think the worst thing about our situation is not knowing where I stand."
"Why don't you just come out and say it, Taro," Kodachi said pensively, "Do I think you are good enough to marry?"
Taro's eyebrows went up. He waited.
"Oooh! You are such a… a man!" She whirled away from him.
"Yes. What else should I be?" he answered simply. At her dagger look, he sighed. "Kodachi Kuno, would you marry me?"
She turned then and stared at him. He stood quietly, not offering any further encouragement. "Are you asking that only to ask, or was that a true proposal?" she inquired skeptically. "It was hardly romantic."
"Come on, Kodachi," Taro snapped. "We haven't even worked out what we are to one another! Do you want me to lie to you?" He calmed himself. "It was an honest, honorable proposal. Would you marry me? Or am I not good enough for your family tree?"
"In truth, some might think exactly that," she replied. She turned and took two quick steps and laid her head against his chest, pressing her body to his. "We can be such a bigoted lot in Japan," she said. She raised her eyes to his. "The fact that you are a handsome man, as well as a beautiful woman, would make some parties even more suspicious."
"Yeah! We're both in the same boat there!" He frowned as he finished speaking. "Hey! That's sick!"
Kodachi shrugged and patted his cheek. "You have no idea how ugly innuendo can get in the upper crust's circles, dear. And you are not allowed to fight back with fists."
"Feh!" he grumbled. "I guess we can't hide what we are now," he agreed. "First time you get something hot spilled on you…" He grew abruptly silent. "Hot…? Kodachi, have you decided yet whether you're going to keep the baby?" He eyed a pot of tea she had on a table as if it were a lethal weapon.
She frowned, glanced at the kettle and nodded in understanding. "Yes, that probably would take care of it, too." She turned and walked over, feeling the heat from the side of the pot. "Taro, don't act like I'm walking up to a land mine. I spoke with Cologne the other day. It is very unlikely that I will carry to term. If I am touched by hot liquid at any time in the next six months, the baby will be forcibly expelled from my womb. Later than that, we will both die from the trauma of the change."
He nodded slowly, watching her pour the tea, remaining carefully where he was. She brought the tea to him and they sipped in silence. They sat on her bed, even though they had not made love this evening. "I don't want you to die, Kodachi," he said finally. She nodded and stroked his cheek again.
"You know… It might be fun to tweak the gossips with the knowledge that we could do it, if we wanted to," she said slyly, her smile gleaming in the dark.
"'Do it'?" Taro asked. "Do… Oh, yuck, Kodachi! How could you suggest that?" He referred to the idea of gender-switched mating.
She laughed at him. "You have no idea how jealous of us some of those perverts would be," she told him. "And if your doubtful ancestry would create family opposition to marriage, few would comment about us as lovers. Aside from the perverts, that is. My father is still, technically, head of the family. It would drive him positively wild." She chuckled in anticipated pleasure.
"This is the guy with the palm tree on his head, right?"
"Indeed."
They contemplated the wind, so to speak, and considered what options they had.
"So… What are you going to do about Junior, here?" Taro asked, reaching over and stroking her tummy.
"Stop that!" she said lightly, but with an edge to her voice. "I don't know. I'll think about it, all right?"
oOo
Ranma tapped on the window, which Akane immediately opened for him. She shivered as the December temperatures blew a cold breeze through the room.
"You cold?" Ranma asked. She nodded. He enveloped her in his chilled arms and suddenly everything was much warmer. "Mmmmm?"
"Mmmmm," she replied. She backed off far enough to turn her lips up to his.
"Mmmmm…" they both agreed. Much warmer.
"Isn't it amazing," Akane said shakily as they broke from the kiss, "The less you wear, the hotter it gets."
In his hidden alcove, Happosai nearly shouted in surprise. What a comment… and from Akane, no less! He trembled. His control had to be perfect or they would detect him. This was worse than when the boy had caught him with the Hiru Shoten Hai! There, it had been pictures; here…
"How hot do you want it?" Ranma asked stroking her back and shoulders with his hands.
"Oh, Ranma! I want to burn. So much I want to burn!" She sobbed and hugged him so tight he gasped and felt his ribs creak.
"A-akane…"
She tipped him over onto the bed and fell on him, releasing him only long enough to slide his shirt up and over his head. His fingers seemed to slash at her, and the buttons of her pajama top slid free. She shrugged her top off and paused, fingers poised above his waistband. Her fingers trembled and then his hand was there, gently covering them.
"Bu-but we can't, can we?" Akane asked sadly. "Oh, Ranma, I want you."
"I know." He looked at her skin, goose-bumping from his presence and the still cool air of the room. A hand traced the curve of her breast and stroked the hard peak. He smirked then, a defensive move designed to break the mood. "The way yer sittin', I think ya can tell how I feel, too." He watched Akane blush and nod. "It's rough, goin' so far and no further. But I understand about Shampoo."
Shampoo? What was that about? Happosai knew that Akane and Shampoo had been challenging one another to lethal combat over Ranma. Akane had always won… so far. How could Shampoo restrict the consummation of their relationship? The old pervert was severely disappointed. He had been certain they were passionately involved. Still, they were in the same room and some clothes had come off. Maybe they would yet be tempted.
"Sometimes, I wish we had Taro and Kodachi's freedom," Akane responded grumpily.
"C'mon now, Akane," Ranma chided her. "They're both cursed, she's… the way she is and Taro probably ain't acceptable to the Kunos. I don't know what I'd do if I — I don't know — if I suddenly wasn't accepted by yer family."
"You're mine!" Akane said fiercely. "If I had to live in the street, I'd be the richest woman in the world, as long as you were mine." She laughed.
Ranma rewarded her with kisses that caressed eyelids, nose, lips, ears, neck and traveled lower, leaving her sighing and quivering. He backed away suddenly. "Maybe I'd better leave," he said shakily. "I'm not sure I can take this, two nights in a row." He froze as a hand flashed to his pigtail.
"Don't even think about it." Akane smiled sexily. "If you're here, I want cuddled, at least."
Ranma looked her up and down and nodded wordlessly. They turned and propped pillows into the corner of the wall to create a backrest for the pigtailed man. Ranma trimmed down to boxers and slid back into the makeshift nest. Akane shucked her bottoms and, clad only in panties, slid into his arms, back against his chest. She wrapped his arms about her firmly and sighed.
"This is perfect."
Happosai was beyond irritated. 'What's the matter with you kids! Do it!' he yelled in the privacy of his head. 'Hells! Where did you learn to resist your baser instincts!' he protested silently. 'It isn't fair!'
Akane, finally, began to blink and yawn. It was so comforting to be in Ranma's arms. "Do you (yawn) want me to turn out the light?" she asked.
"Nah, I like the view." As Ranma was looking into her eyes, that earned another kiss and Akane snuggled closer, if possible. Soon the faint, even buzz of her breathing told Ranma she was asleep. He watched her face for a while, stroking her cheek fondly with a hand he managed to extract from her death-grip. Then he reached down and pulled the cover up over them both and drifted off, himself.
Happosai sat grim and frustrated. Almost, he wished that nutty mother of his would call Ranma to task for not being manly. He shrugged. He had prepared for anything. Carefully, he slid out of the cupboard and approached the sleeping lovers.
oOo
Ranma twitched uneasily in his sleep. Something wasn't right. His battle-senses didn't detect an overt threat, but something wasn't quite right. Ranma moved out of deep sleep into a lighter awareness. He was cold. They must have kicked the cover off. He debated whether it was worth waking up all the way as he was reasonably comfortable, then remembered Akane. She was not snuggled between a warm body and the wall. She would be cold.
Ranma groped for the blanket. The increased awareness allowed sound to be registered, at least semi-consciously. The soft 'clackt!' sound that had been going on suddenly was pigeonholed into a threat category—"Camera!" Ranma's eyes snapped open. She saw a small shadowy form slide out Akane's door. She? Damn! A small open thermos rested on the desk. Ranma switched to ki-vision as she shook Akane awake. The pervert was using his camouflage technique; it was going to be a bitch to track him.
"Akane, the freak got in. He was takin' pictures!" She began to struggle out from under her fiancée. Akane's eyes, glazed at first, snapped wide. She realized her head had been nestled between two soft mounds with pink peaks, only centimeters from her nose.
"Eeep! Freak? Happosai! Pictures! Shit!" Akane quickly got up to speed. She rolled off Ranma and they pulled on clothes; Ranma what she had worn on her way into Akane's room and Akane grabbing some joggers from her closet. While she was in there, she made the discovery that her stuffed monkey had been vandalized. "That jerk!"
Ranma was already out the window and trying to cut Happosai off. Akane slammed out of her room and down the stairs. They stayed in ki-sight and circled, but Happosai was gone. They met at the koi pond.
"That good fer nothin' jerk!" Ranma snarled, as she faced her love. "I can't believe he'd take hentai pictures of us like that!"
"Get real, Ranma," Akane snorted. "Him? I'm surprised he didn't cop a few feels."
"If our parents see it, they'll have a fit!"
"Yeah, right!" Akane drawled sarcastically. "Our parents? They'll be celebrating in the streets!"
"Maybe that's what he wants. Something to hold over our heads to make us do something he wants! We're screwed, ain't we?" Ranma said in a flat tone.
Akane's eyes glittered giving her an uncomfortable resemblance to Nabiki. "I don't know," Akane answered. "I mean it depends on what he does with them. It won't mean a thing to Shampoo. Her laws only recognize physical consummation as important. If it can't potentially make a baby, it's just recreation." She thought a minute. "If he spread them around the school it would be bad, but not impossible to live with. I mean people are getting used to us acting more like a normal couple."
"He ain't been around in a while. Maybe he don't know that?" Ranma suggested.
"Well he knows a lot more than he did! Look at this!" Akane held out a limp bag of fake fur with a tail. Ranma looked at it curiously. "He ripped the stuffing out of my old toy monkey and hid on the shelf in my closet! That's how he got so close."
"Didn't we talk about Taro and Kodachi?" Ranma asked suddenly. They nodded tightly at one another and ran back into the house.
"Thank you for calling the Kuno residence. No one can answer the phone right now," said the canned message in Satsuke's voice. "Please leave a message at the tone. If this is an emergency, you may contact Satsuke Sarogakore at," Satsuke rattled off the number. "Understand… if this is a crank call, we know where you live and I will person…"
"Dial already!" snapped Akane to Ranma.
"Okay, okay!" He dialed and listened to the phone ring.
oOo
Satsuke opened an eye. The phone was ringing. That phone. He yawned and stretched to reach it, black hair tumbling into his face. He had found it a real boon to sleep in Ranma's form. He was in his mid-forties and twenty-five years of being a martial artist and servant to the Kuno's had left him with twinges at night. Besides, if there was a security problem, Ranma's form was much more capable of dealing with it, and he would not be recognized as the Kuno Industry CEO. It worked all around.
"Moshi," he grunted. There was a dead silence from the line. "Damn crank calls…" Satsuke grunted and prepared to hang up.
"No, wait! Satsuke, this is Ranma. We think Happosai might be heading over to the Kuno's. Ya gotta warn 'Dachi and Taro!"
"Who?" Satsuke wasn't awake yet. "Who is this really?"
"I should be askin' you that!" came Ranma's snarl. "Watcha doin' in my body anyway?"
"Ranma?"
"Yeah, Ranma! Go warn Kodachi that the freak is onta Taro and her!"
"Taro?" Satsuke tried to make sense of what Ranma had said.
"You stuck your foot in deep this time, Ranma!" The ninja heard Akane's tones faintly over the phone. Then there was a fumbling sound. "Satsuke, this is Akane. We think Happosai is headed your way and he'll be going after Kodachi. We'll be there as quick as we can. Bye!"
Satsuke rolled out of bed. 'Kodachi wasn't one of Happosai's regular targets…
'Oh, kami! Kodachi's now a duplicate of Ranma; of course she would be a target for that pervert!' Satsuke struggled into some clothes. He wondered why they thought Happosai was going to strike tonight, then snorted. The pervert had probably attacked them first, and then threatened his mistress.
He hit the reset switches to insure the traps were armed and charged out of his room. He barreled up the stairs, taking them four and five at a time. Satsuke had no qualms about using Ranma's superb reflexes and responses to teach the old letch a lesson. Happosai would find a lot more than a helpless victim to exploit! He ran lightly down the hall to Kodachi's room and rapped on the door.
"Mistress, Ranma called! They believe Happosai plans to attack you tonight!" He waited eagerly for Kodachi to make herself presentable. 'Yes, Happosai would have a lot more than a defenseless girl to deal with tonight! He'd have…'
"Pantyhose Taro?" Satsuke gaped as a shirtless Taro glared at him from the shadows of Kodachi's room. Beyond, he barely made out Kodachi shrugging into a kimono, one he recognized as having razor-edged sleeves and a variety of concealed weapons. He glanced back, blinking, to Pantyhose Taro. Ranma had said…
"Fem-boy?" Taro growled uncertainly.
"Satsuke Sarogakore," Satsuke answered automatically. "What are you doing here?" he demanded with more than a hint of pique. "I don't remember letting you in!"
"I let him in, Satsuke," Kodachi spoke softly. Her head came up. "He's here."
On the mansion roof, Happosai paused to reconnoiter. "Perfect. Not only do I get to have some fun, but I'll have my revenge for that girl trying to feed me to the alligator." He skipped along the roof, sniffing and searching with his ki. "Hmmm… The last time I raided this place, I got some quality stuff! Her room should be just about here…" He dropped down and popped the window open with practiced ease. Silently, he entered.
Noisily, he left, pursued by three angry martial artists wielding lethal weaponry. He boggled a little. The girl-type Ranma had to be Kodachi. The boy-type? He hadn't heard of Satsuke's dip so he assumed it was Ranma himself. Taro was in the lead at the moment. As Happosai was out of physical reach, he snapped ki-balls at him. Happosai dodged with practiced ease as the little energy spheres blew tiles off the roof.
Below in his room, Tatewaki woke with a start. It was very unusual to have a thunderstorm in December. He rolled over and went back to sleep.
Happosai was herded to the edge of the roof. His pursuers had stayed too close to break away, so he resorted to his Happodarikin bombs and threw a pattern behind him as he ran.
(Pappa, PADDA, BOOM!)
The section of the roof they were running across buckled and collapsed, carrying Kodachi and Satsuke through the hole. Taro rolled and almost fell off the smoking edge. As he re-oriented, Happosai took a few seconds to jeer at his attackers. "You kids couldn't catch me if you were twice as good and there were four times as many of you!" He chuckled and capered a moment before sensing a presence behind him. "Heh, hee, hoooo…" An angry Ranma and a furious Akane glared down at him. "Hee?"
(Wacka-BOOOM! WHEEEEEeeeeeeeeeee!) Happosai got a double boost into orbit.
"Dammit! We forgot about the camera!"
"We'll worry about that later. Is everyone all right?" Akane called. They edged to the hole and peered down. The room was dim, but faintly they could see water gleaming below. Taro moved up beside them.
Satsuke had made it all the way to the water and floated face up, stunned. Hanging from the sleeve of her kimono, Kodachi, alert and unhurt, swung quietly over the water.
"Hey! Why is Satsuke still me?" Ranma asked. Realization swept him. "Hot pool!"
"Kodachi! Stay still!" Taro bellowed. He leaped down, angling away from her.
"Be careful, it's… shallow… over there," Kodachi finished weakly, as Taro splashed down awkwardly and groaned in the knee-deep water. She winced as hot water splashed her silk kimono.
"Akane, send a ki-ribbon to the water, like I do. We wanna pump the heat out of the water. Soul of ice, okay?"
Akane nodded. "There's a lot of water, Ranma. That's a lot of heat. Where are we going to put it?"
Ranma glanced over and saw a large stone beside the greenhouse. "Use that."
Two ribbons lashed out and sank into the surface of the pool. Two more jumped from outstretched hands to the boulder in the yard. "Let's do it!" Energy began to flow along the light.
Taro lurched to his feet and moved toward Kodachi.
"Be careful, it's… (sigh) …deep there," Kodachi warned him. "You do realize this would be a solution of sorts," she told him calmly.
"No kidding?" Taro spluttered. "If that's what you want, let go. But I'll be damned if I let that freak's pranks decide this for us."
"What is going on here?" Tatewaki bellowed from the house entrance to the onsen. They all jerked in surprise. "My spa!"
Kodachi slipped and fell toward the pool.
"Nooooo!" yelled three voices.
"Pump it!" demanded a fourth. The ribbons flared excruciatingly.
Taro porpoised up to place a hand under Kodachi's descending foot. Using his mass, he tried to redirect her toward the near side of the pool. Kodachi didn't quite make it.
(SPLOOSH!) "Arrgh!" Dimly, from outside came a dull explosion. (Kraka-POW!)
Tatewaki stood at the edge of the pool, drenched by Kodachi's plunge. His face was red with confusion and rage. "What have you people done to my spa!" he screamed. "Not only is the roof gone, but the water is freezing!" He spotted a familiar face on a figure climbing from the water. "Satsuke! What is the meaning of this?"
Returned to his natural state, and wet as a drowned rat, Satsuke was hardly impressive. He opened his mouth a few times and shrugged. "Master Kuno, the mansion was under attack."
"I see that, buffoon! But who was attacking?" Tatewaki demanded.
"Hey, you guys?" Ranma called in from the roof. "Ya better call a fire truck, I think yer greenhouses are on fire."
Much later, Tatewaki Kuno sat at the head of the large dining room table. He was very provoked. He had thought, now that he was beginning to take control of his life once more, that it would reduce the insanity of his days. To have Ranma come uninvited and destroy his house without provocation was most vexing.
"Now that everyone is assembled, let us discover just why the Kuno estate has suffered grievous harm," he said with a grimace. "Now, beginning with Satsuke, I would like to hear what led to several million yen in damages to my property." He glared and Satsuke abruptly put down the tray he had been carrying. "Satsuke?"
"Master Kuno," Satsuke snapped to attention. "I was sleeping when the outside line began to ring. I answered and heard someone identify himself as Ranma Saotome and state that Happosai was coming to molest Mistress Kodachi. I, of course, took immediate steps to defend the mansion…
Slowly the story came out.
"Ranma," Tatewaki growled. "I can see how the damage to the house was the fault of that miscreant we both despise." He glared at his long-time adversary. "Indeed to attack and frustrate such evil is the measure of heaven and all true men's goal. Yet explain to me… How did half-melting and blowing up the boulder by the greenhouses, and then burning those structures to the ground, aid in frustrating Happosai's purpose?"
Ranma opened his mouth, then shut it, then scowled at the tabletop. "It was necessary, okay?"
Kodachi felt warm. They were, all of them, protecting her. "Let it go, brother dear," she said. "It was necessary, so what does it matter?"
"Necessary?" Tatewaki jumped to his feet. "How was it necessary? Why was it necessary?" He paced at his end of the table. "Your own beloved rose bushes were destroyed by his actions!"
"I miss them hardly at all, Tachi."
"Had Midorigame been in residence, he most likely would have been cooked, then frozen!"
"That would have been unfortunate," Kodachi agreed. "But as he has found romance, I understand, and still resides at the National Zoo, that is a moot point."
Satsuke smirked slightly. It had been as good excuse as any not to bring the big reptile back. True, too, as far as it went.
Tatewaki threw his hands up. "Can someone please tell me what is going on? Why did the water need chilled? You all act as if something dire would happen to my sister if she underwent transformation into…" he paused distastefully, "…Ranma's male form." Everyone gulped. Would he guess? "Though distasteful to me, it would hardly be a disaster and is easily remedied. It certainly was not worth destroying half the mansion."
They looked at one another and shrugged. "Hardly half," Kodachi murmured.
"Guess that says it all," observed Ranma.
"We better get home and get some sleep," agreed Akane.
"Thank you for stopping by," offered Kodachi graciously.
Taro grinned. "Guess I'll walk back with fem-boy and his chick, here…"
"Chick?" Akane grated. She eyed him balefully.
"I guess I should start cleaning up," Satsuke sighed thoughtfully.
"NOW, WAIT JUST A MINUTE!" Kuno huffed and blocked the main door. "I don't recall bringing this discussion to an end."
"That is all right, brother dear," said Kodachi smoothly, "I did it for you."
They escaped while Kuno tried to reply to that.
Jiro showed up early the next morning with a story about a bruised and frustrated Happosai beating the crap out of him at a bar party he had gate-crashed.
oOo
Hinako sat glumly looking out the window of her homeroom. She couldn't believe it. Pregnant! And she had allowed Soun to talk her into… She still couldn't believe it. She had only gone there to discuss what sort of arrangements could be made to take care of the mess they were in and… and he had convinced her not only to keep the baby but… marriage?
Never mind that she had been pursuing Soun Tendo for a year. The recent near-catastrophe had warned her. He was not a man to be trusted. 'Honestly!' to quote Akane. Trying to force his children into marriage using drugs and hypnotism! It backfired on him, too. Under influence of the drug he had planned to use on Ranma, he had… he said… they had…
A tear glistened on her cheek as it obeyed gravity and marred the desktop, as had those that had gone before it. Why couldn't she have told him where to go or… well, anything except her placid agreement to his offer of marriage? "I'm such a fool!"
The hand that touched her shoulder was light and carried such a gift of compassion that she groaned and slumped on her arms. "Why are you so sad, Ninomiya? What did Soun say last night?"
Baradandya Morisato bent down to catch the ki-vampire's eye. Her gentle smile soothed but didn't lighten the doubt Hinako held in her heart. "H-hello, Baradandya. I guess you were out celebrating with Keiichi?"
"Some, dear," her colleague admitted. "Like you, I had never expected to have children. Isn't it a miracle?"
"I… guess so." Hinako gazed out the windows. "I guess having Soun as a husband is better than losing my job because I'm pregnant or had an abortion," she mumbled. "I have to concentrate on the pluses…"
"Don't you want your baby?" Baradandya asked softly. Hinako didn't answer her right away.
"I always thought I would find a man and fall in love," Hinako said. "I never considered what kind of man he might be. Then, with my condition, I quickly found that most men considered me a freak. I thought Soun, with all the strangeness that went on around him… I thought I might have a chance. He seemed so kind."
"I would agree. He seems a kind man," Baradandya offered.
"But he's not a good man," Hinako cut her off. "I don't even know if he really loves me, or if it's just the result of the drug he took. I don't know that some day he won't turn to me, and say, 'Well, it's finally worn off. Get lost, f-freak!' I just don't know." She dropped her head to the desk and sobbed like the child she sometimes appeared.
"Oh, Ninomiya, I doubt he would ever do that." She put her arms around the woman and hugged her. "There is too much love in you for it ever to go unanswered."
"I just wish I knew! I wish I knew what he felt… What I feel!"
"Miya, let us say for the moment that Soun was not part of your future. Could you love the child that grows within you?"
Hinako's hands went to her stomach. Though it was too early to feel anything, she cradled the life she carried within. "Yes. I think so."
"Yet you know less about that child and its future than you do about Soun. It is an innocent and waits for life to write its experiences thereon. We adults always accept a clean slate, but have trouble with ones written upon. Have you asked Soun why he did what he did? Have you asked him how he feels?"
Hinako sighed. "Yes, I asked him. He said something about not wanting Akane to be without Ranma. But isn't that their choice? What right did he have…" she began angrily.
"He really loved his wife, didn't he?" Baradandya interrupted softly.
Disarmed, Hinako nodded. "He used to cry anytime someone so much as mentioned her name. I remember Nabiki complaining that he was a crybaby once. I almost drained her."
"How long were they married?"
"Ten years or so. Why?"
"And how long has it been since her death?"
Hinako blinked. How long? "Six, seven years, more?"
"He's been in such pain, Miya. He loves his daughters. He doesn't want them in pain, does he?" Baradandya folded her hands and regarded her friend. "Since you know he can love, and love deeply, perhaps you should find out why he professes to love you. I understand Matriarch Cologne is very learned in herbal remedies and folk medicine, as well as experienced in life. All the local doctors call her if they have questions. Maybe she can advise you on why Soun cares about you."
"But…"
"It can't hurt. It's what you wished for, isn't it? You'd know, then."
Silently, Ninomiya Hinako nodded.
The teacher walked doubtfully into the Nekohanten to be immediately seated by Ling-Ling. "What can get for nice teacher of Shampoo?" she asked.
Hinako looked at her hands then up at the waiting girl. "I'm sorry, dear, but I need to speak with Cologne." She watched Ling-Ling's face shutter slightly.
"Ling-Ling hope nothing wrong?"
"Nothing with Shampoo. Just Ninomiya Hinako to Ku Lon, woman to woman." She sighed and looked away as Ling-Ling nodded and skipped for the kitchen. Moments later, the girl stuck her head out.
"Excuse, please? Great-grandmother season food, be out in few moments."
"Thank you."
"Bring tea, compliments of Great-grandmother," Ling-Ling said, depositing two cups and a teapot before their guest. She poured carefully and left again. Hinako sipped her tea and stared out the window. It was the end of a bright day with a dusting of snow on the streets and a silvery sunset. Ice gleamed on the naked branches of the trees. Hinako ached to enjoy the view, yet her heart was heavy. She put down her cup and tried to hold back a sniffle.
"Oh, my," came the gravely voice, gentle and wise. "Miya dear, what's wrong? I heard the news about your condition. Is there some way I can help you?"
"Baradandya asked me to talk to you, but I just don't know," the younger woman said. "I'm so confused."
"There's a lot in the world to confuse us all!" Cologne chuckled. "Age doesn't seem to make a difference, but talk does. Someone once said we each have the true answer to one question within us. Let's see if I have yours." Miya nodded and poured tea for the older woman. They sipped in brief harmony and composed themselves.
"Please understand that I want to keep my baby, no matter what. But I am so confused about Soun." Miya looked at her hands.
"Akane's father. A strong man. He was almost an Amazon husband himself once, you know."
"Really?" Miya said. She hadn't heard that.
"Yes. Under different circumstances, he might have been Shampoo's father."
"Oh!" Hinako blinked. "Is Shampoo's mother still alive?" she asked timidly.
"No. Her mother died battling the Musk Dynasty when Shampoo was very young. Her twin sister, Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung's mother, died later, fighting the Chinese. We had a regional governor who thought to enforce the one child policy on the Joketsuzoku despite treaties with the main government in Beijing." Cologne looked grim. "He found it was a lethal mistake."
"Is it so violent where you live?" Hinako asked.
"Yes," Cologne sipped her tea.
"I feel like my troubles are so petty," the ki vampire murmured. "I should be helping you…"
"We chose our lot, dear. The strong shield the weak but try to teach them to be strong in turn," The old woman smiled. "Besides, if your troubles are so small, they won't mean a thing to these old shoulders."
"Thank you." Miya debated internally then stated it right out. "I have agreed to marry Soun, but I'm afraid he doesn't love me. I don't want a loveless marriage."
Cologne sighed. "Who does? Still many marriages are essentially business arrangements. Mine was, years ago. Is it that important to you? And, simply asking, you understand, why do you feel he doesn't love you?"
"You remember that terrible trick he played on Ranma and Akane last month?"
Cologne nodded.
"He apparently had tried to drug Ranma at the Halloween dance. He used the same drug as later, but accidentally took it himself. When I was talking to him, I asked if it was possible that he could love me. He said, yes. I told him that I loved him and wished he could find it in his heart to love me. He told me he loved me then, and soon after we…" She blushed. "Sometime between then and the karaoke outing I conceived. I learned what he did to Ranma and Akane that night, and I didn't want anything to do with him. Then I found out I was pregnant." She sipped her tea and waited to hear what the old woman would say.
Cologne sighed. "I'm old enough to know I don't know anything about other people's motives. I didn't even know that my granddaughters knew Soun before the business with Taro and the Taochinpang." The old woman looked thoughtful, as if she were considering how much to reveal. "He's a strong man. A good martial artist, but his heart has been full of sadness for a long time. I'm told he loved his wife very much." She sipped her tea. "If it helps, the drug he used and any notions implanted with it shouldn't last more than a day or two after ingestion, and that long only if he had a massive dose! Most likely, he was back to normal in no more than twelve hours. If his feelings extended beyond that, then there's hope his regard is true."
Miyo let out a ragged breath. "Unless he's forcing himself to act that way to salve his idea of honor."
"Mmmmm! Could be," the Matriarch agreed.
"And why did he do that to his children?" Hinako cried. "They didn't deserve to be forced like that."
Cologne reached out and patted the other's hand. "The fathers have been stupid like that. But some of that has been because they saw how much Ranma and Akane cared for each other. Unfortunately, their children fought all the time. Both too stubborn for their own good."
Hinako grinned through her tears. "Even in the middle of fighting for each other, they'd insult each other."
"Yes. And it's been going on for two years. Can you see why they're so desperate?"
"No," Miya said frankly.
Cologne rubbed her forehead. Perhaps the teacher needed the long view. "You remember my two great-granddaughters, Shampoo's and the twins' mothers?"
"Yes." Hinako frowned. "Great…?"
"Actually, Shampoo is my great-great-great granddaughter. Her mother, Hi Ge Lei died when she was still in her teens. Hi Ge Lei's twin, Ma Wa Shu died in her thirties, but of her circle of six close friends, she lived the longest. Their mother, Xian Pang was the youngest child of my granddaughter, Lon Li, my only granddaughter to have children. She died before her twenty-ninth birthday. Her two older sisters died childless in their teens. Their brother died at twenty and had one child who did not survive to reach her teenage years. Their mother, my daughter, was one of three children who reached adulthood, the oldest of her generation, who died before she was thirty. Of her two brothers, one is still alive. He left the Joketsuzoku to become a monk of the Shaolin. The other had two children, both girls, one of whom had children that are Shampoo's blood cousins. He, however, died defending his injured wife from bandits."
As Cologne continued to recite her list of mostly deceased descendants, relatives and friends, Hinako looked at the old woman in horror. "How can you stand it?"
Cologne shrugged. "The living need the living. The dead take care of themselves. If I were not there, Shampoo and the twins would have had no one." The old woman sighed. "Exaggerations aside, I've lived over a century, and there have often been times when it would have been easy to pass on." She fixed Hinako with a baleful eye. "Understand: We are warriors. So are Ranma and Akane. I think Soun understands that. Genma… I don't really care, but Soun is different. In any given year there have been dozens of opportunities for Ranma or Akane to die. That might be why he pushes. He remembers how short a time he had with Kimiko."
Hinako nodded and choked back tears for this old woman who had seen so much and lost so many. She finished her tea, rose and bowed deeply. "Thank you, Ku Lon."
"Pish! You just let me ramble. Well, that's what the old do best. History is fixed and unchangeable, the future fluid and malleable. It's up to the young to work with the future while we old folk throw rocks at them to get their attention." She chuckled and shifted in her seat. "So! Have you decided what to do?"
"Not completely," Hinako admitted. "But you gave me a lot to think about. I have a couple of ideas."
"Any good ones?" Cologne's eyes twinkled.
"They have potential," Hinako said bowing again and leaving.