Chapter 33 v2: Major, MAJOR kudos to reader, DanYHKim who pointed out I had gotten the chibi ninja's transformations wrong with respect to Senrigan. I am SOOOOOoo embarrassed! BTB

Ki Cutters: 33

The Pests

"Ranma…´ Ranma paused as Urudu Kamiko slid out of the shadows before school the next day. "What's the matter? One would think you either still had demons after you, or were told your due date is in 260 days."

Ranma gave her an disgusted glance then looked around hurriedly for listeners. He didn't see or detect any, which made him more nervous. "It's none o' yer business, okay?" he replied shortly.

"Come on, Ranma. You're hurting the woman you love… again." She watched the slow flinch and guilty look, and smiled sadly. "Well, at least you care. Come on, now… What's the bind? Surely a little sex didn't-"

Ranma slumped. "I don't wanna talk about it, Urudu," he insisted and started to walk away. She used a little levitation and slipped quickly into his path.

"Wait, Ranma! I am a personal relationship expert, after all," Ms. Kamiko insisted. "Let me help you." She watched him stop and turn. "What is it you most wish to change in your current relationship?" She nudged him and giggled naughtily. "Ready to try it the other way, huh?"

Face burning, Ranma snorted. "Our relationship is stuck on pause till we figure out what 'Sister of the Heart' really means," Ranma growled at the kami. "According to Amazon law, Shampoo has to bring me back as her husband. If not, she might as well not come back at all. She used ta try ta drug me with passion spice, or brainwash me with magic or tsubo techniques, or try ta kill Akane with variations of the same stuff." He gave Urudu a cold look. "When Shampoo and Akane agreed to be 'Sisters of the Heart', it stopped that; but set up a series of formal challenges for my carcass — Shampoo tries ta kill Akane; Akane tries ta stop Shampoo without killing or maiming her."

"Deportation?" Urudu suggested. She took in Ranma's expression. "I suppose that would go against your martial artist honor? Hmmm…" Ranma leaned against a wall and rubbed his temples while she mused. "What's the advantage? Why did Akane choose this path?"

"There's supposed ta be a way out." Ranma really didn't feel like talking to her about this, but thought he better head off her efforts. "If Akane does somethin', she'll be Shampoo's sister-by-law, and then Shampoo can agree to relinquish a claim to her 'sister' and still keep her honor. They can't, or won't, tell us what that somethin' is, though." Ranma looked irate.

"What if I used my link to Yggdrasil," she tapped her forehead where a triangle glowed to life, "to find out what that something is?"

"Are you allowed to do that?" Ranma asked suspiciously. Since they both looked around to see if anyone had heard them, Urudu's body language betrayed her. "Yer not, are ya?"

"Weh-heh-ell, I'm sure I can find a loophole."

"It's temptin'." Ranma stared at her. "But I'm not goin' there." 'At least not yet,' he considered. He thought of what Akane might say if she caught him cheating on her behalf and shuddered. He drew himself up straight. "We're not goin' there! Just drop it, Urudu." He marched away muttering about stupid kami who would get them all in trouble with Kamisama on top of his own 'normal' troubles.

"Hmmm…" Urd, Norn of the Past, kami of history, smiled slightly. Was Ranma trying to protect her from herself? Such kindness deserved to be disobeyed. She picked up the phone in the lounge and rapidly punched in a number; a long number.

"Cosmic Information, may I help you please?" She contacted her party and received her reply. They would meet in a coffee shop, or kissaten, in Nara, after school that day.

oOo

Urd arrived early, using a convenient electronics shop. Shortly thereafter, the owner was suddenly swamped with offers from men to buy his TV's. He was startled, but didn't argue.

The kissaten was easy to find and the locals didn't gawk at the platinum blonde too much. She waited a while, sipping her coffee. It was easy to understand why Amatras liked it here. The coffee was surprisingly good. The ornamental cherry trees just off the simple terrace were heavy with buds awaiting the first onset of spring. The marketplace was nearby and you could watch the people come and go in relative privacy. Since she sat down, no one had even noticed her.

"Hello, Urd. It's been a long time." Urd turned and glanced back and up. She would never have guessed that Amatras, founding goddess of the Amazons, had that sort of humor. At least not the stately ebony haired goddess she remembered. This individual approaching her looked like Ranma's girl-type.

"Um… Hello, Amatras. Thanks for coming."

"Still Urd the Norn, goddess of the Past," accused Amatras lightly. She took her seat gracefully and ordered. "I thought you were working out of Rio de Janeiro."

"Your information is slightly out of date," pointed out Urd. "My sisters and I reached data limit about 1950 and were reassigned." Immortal though they were, there were limits to memory storage and access that required them to essentially go through a rebirth, much like what Saffron experienced every millennia.

"Ahhh…" A waiter brought Amatras a cup of café au lait then left again. Amatras continued, "So you underwent downloading, upgrade and reassignment?"

"Yes. I rebooted in 1962, my sister Beldandy in 1968 and Skuld in 1975." Urd sipped her coffee. "The year Skuld rebooted, Beldandy did something unusual for her. She went out of bounds to Earth and met a mortal, Keiichi Morisato. She was punished for it and the mortal had his memories adjusted, but it had an odd result — more on that later. I was tapped for Programming. After I was brought on, I barely had time to get up to speed before Athena retired due to data limit. Beldandy was assigned to the Relief Agency. There aren't many out there who are worthy of an unlimited wish, so she spent most of her time mothering Skuld. Then she got a call.

"A certain mortal, Keiichi Morisato, was scheduled for a wish," continued Urd. "Bel took the assignment. She didn't have to, but even if he couldn't remember their meeting, he apparently had made quite an impression on her. She went to deliver a wish to the mortal she had come to love, sort of a penance for having hurt him through her disobedience…"

"I can understand that," Amatras admitted. She signaled for a refill on her latte. "And his wish?"

"I quote: 'I want you to be with me forever'."

Amatras looked at her appalled. Then she began to laugh. "Kamisama! I had wondered about the origin of the newest kami. Is that when he…?"

"Not hardly! We had a whole mess of things happen before Kei ascended. Kei's ascension occurred when a human managed to get hold of a piece of un-grounded Yggdrasil. He's sort of a special human, a hero touched by magic. He shaped a talisman from the wood…"

"How? Oh! You said touched by magic." She frowned. "I didn't know there were any magicians of that caliber in Japan."

"Ranma's not precisely a magician," Urd commented, frowning herself. "I would have thought you'd know that, under the circumstances." She nodded at her associate.

Amatras blinked. "Know what?"

"Ranma. I mean, your hair's different, but otherwise, you look just like his cursed form."

Amatras gave her an almost unfriendly look over her cup. "What are you talking about, Urd?"

Urd stared at her for almost ten seconds before rooting through her purse. She held out a picture from Christmas. Using subtle powers, she quickly enhanced the individual she wanted. Ranma's girl-type was standing on the stage, one arm raised high in the finale of her song. It was a good likeness.

"Kamisama!" Amatras breathed. She stared at the picture for long seconds. Then she went out like a light.

The kissaten people were, of course, upset and moved Amatras to a back room where she could lie down in privacy. They offered to summon a doctor, but Urd convinced them she was one and got them to leave the goddesses alone. It was a bit uncommon for an immortal to faint, unless it was due to an energy drain or similar dysfunction. She noted that Amatras wore a moon bracelet similar to the ones Keiichi had designed for the Norns. She made a note to check with Central and discover if he had any royalties due him. They might not have money in heaven, but credit was as good as gold.

"No… no… …Tsuriganeso!" Amatras mumbled incoherently before suddenly sitting bolt upright with a small scream. She glanced frantically around her.

"Easy there, sweetheart. I take it then, you weren't deliberately taking a poke at me?" Urd was faintly amused.

"Where is she?" Amatras demanded grasping her arm roughly.

"Sorry, actually it's a he."

"What?"

Urd briefly explained about Ranma, Jusenkyo and the Amazons. Amatras looked numb. "What's your link here, Ami?" inquired Urd, using an old pet name for her colleague. Amatras didn't seem to hear her. "Well?"

"I knew the Amazons had survived, but with the change in the rules, there was no point in trying to follow their progress," the red-haired goddess said distantly. "So that's what happened to her," she added, almost too low for Urd to hear.

"Happened to who?"

"Does it matter? Someone dear to me, from… from… back then." Amatras hugged herself, a look of pain on her face. "They must have ambushed her," she muttered angrily. Urd was perplexed by the statement. "Can I see that picture again?" She shuddered with suppressed grief. "They must have moved back into the mountains and she followed them. You were always so stubborn, Tsuri…"

The Norn sighed. "So you haven't kept up with them? Darn, and I hoped you could give me some advice on Amazon law," she added.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. The Amazons get kinda grumpy about outsiders, so..."

Amatras smiled sadly. "Who better to advise than the designer?"

Urd smiled brilliantly. "You got it, kiddo!" She winked.

"So what would you do for me?" the other asked with a smirk at Urd's blank look. "Would you arrange for me to meet this Ranma?" Urd looked thoughtful then smiled and nodded.

oOo

"Uh! (Thud!) Ah! (Thud!)"

"Don't lock your elbow."

"Uh! (Thud!) Ah! (Thud!)"

"Keep your wrist straight, you want to strike, lightly, with the first two knuckles of your fist."

Uh! (Thud!) OW!"

Urd stepped back from the punching pad Akane held and shook her wrist. "Kamisama! I broke a nail!" her wail echoed off the wooden walls and floor of the dojo.

"You didn't tuck your thumb down tight enough," Akane explained patiently. She held out her own hands. "And you might as well file them down. You're going to lose them all anyway."

Urudu clasped her hands defensively to her bosom. "Not my nails!" she wailed, wide-eyed.

To one side, Ranma sighed, placed a hand to his forehead and shook his head hopelessly. "Akane, ya might as well keep her in the soft styles. She ain't really interested in fighting and it'll give her time to adjust."

Akane nodded and reset her student's training regimen on the fly. "Okay then, let's forget the punching practice for now." She took up a stance. "Now watch! This might resemble some of the Tai Chi you might have seen, but it's a good a starting point." She set herself a little differently - more upright - with her forward hand open and loose and her other hand in a fist held back against the ribs. She demonstrated a set of movements that presented blocks and attacks to the cardinal points.

Urudu looked both grateful and nervous. "Okay. Why just a starting point?"

Ranma answered her, "Because we teach Mutsabetsu Kakuto, which is a combat art. There are several routes there, but eventually yer gonna hafta deal with contact and sparring. Unless, of course, ya don't wanna be a student here anymore."

Urd grimaced. As a student, Happosai couldn't touch her; as a goddess she was fair game. "Ahhh… No thanks, I'll take my chances with you guys, if that's alright."

Akane smiled encouragingly. "Grandpa can be a pain. He ambushed us in the furo the other day." She began again and the silver haired goddess tried to follow.

"What happened?" Urudu asked as she tried to match hand movement and footwork.

"Oh, there was a lot of screaming, cursing, and the usual violence before I kicked him out the window." Akane eyed her. "Nuku was dropping by and she 'played' with him for a while. Ranma even went so far as to threaten to have you curse him to make the furo off-limits."

Urudu sighed. "He really shouldn't have done that. We kami don't work that way. The little thing I did at Christmas…" She shrugged eloquently. "My bad and all… And I doubt he wants to contract with Senbei's replacement at this point."

"Oh we-hell," Ranma groaned. "It was worth a try. The old man is a real pain!"

"Maybe though, I could modify the old spell. Renew it and allow some modifications," Urudu smirked, "Of course, you would owe me."

Ranma smirked at her. "You seriously like getting inta trouble doncha?"

Behind Urd, the subject of their conversation flitted by a sack on his back. 'Where does he find this stuff?' He shook his head in disgust promising himself a discussion with Happi, later. "Damned freak." He looked up, caught Urudu's hurt look and added, "Not you, Urudu! I meant Happosai's the damned freak. I'm sure you're reasonably normal… for a kami."

"Oh!" Urd calmed down a bit. Then she shot a sly glance their way. "What were you two doing in the furo?" She grinned as Akane blushed, but Ranma for a change, didn't turn a hair.

"Relaxing after a hard work out, Urudu."

"Ahhh… But what kind of workout?"

"Martial arts. What else?" Ranma evaluated her reaction.

"You're no fun anymore, Ranma." Urd's mouth twisted in a moue of disappointment then dropped her bombshell. "By the way," she drawled, fluttering her eyelashes at Ranma, "guess whom I ran into yesterday?"

Ranma gazed blandly back at the goddess. "I probably don't wanna know, but yer gonna tell me, ain't ya?"

"I ran into the goddess who used to be worshiped by the Amazons. Are you interested?"

Ranma and Akane blinked, but Ranma's scowl came quickly to the forefront. "Urudu, I told ya I don't want ya gettin' inta trouble over us. It'll only make thing…!"

"I'm not in any sort of trouble, sweetie," Urudu declared, smoothly interrupting. "There are no restrictions on goddesses talking to one another." She placed her finger on Ranma's nose, sending him cross-eyed. "Actually, she's interested in meeting you."

"Oh, crap! Ya got me engaged to her, didn't ya?" Ranma watched Akane as her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I did not! Or if she's interested in that way, she didn't tell me!" At Urudu's scandalized look her audience began to relax. "Her interest, for some reason, stems from your curse. I don't know, mind you, but I think you look an awful lot like someone she knew named Tsuriganeso." Urudu shrugged and threw her hair over her shoulder.

Akane sighed and scratched her head. "Think this might be a 'raise the dead spirit of the kami's friend to take over Ranma' plot?" she considered.

Urd shook her head. "I think Tsuriganeso was the girl who drowned in Nyanniichuan."

"Maybe I'll be lucky and this will be a 'it's your fault my friend drowned way back when and I'm going to obliterate you in retribution' ploy," Ranma suggested in turn.

"You guys redefine pessimism," Urd grumbled, turning back, crossing her arms defensively and pouting.

"Ya gotta admit, we have cause, Kamiko-san." He nodded in the direction of the gate. "Hiro and Dai are here. Since you've gone to all this trouble, we'll talk to her, okay? Bring her around Saturday before Kei's lesson."

Urudu stuck around to watch the later lessons. With her height reduced to a mere hand's length, she settled herself to watch Ranma teaching some of his friends who had taken advantage of the Tendo dojo being open for business. Carefully shielded from magic and ki she was confident she could observe her subject without detection.

"Keep yer back straighter. Keep the tempo up. Doin' good, Hiro." Ranma watched as Hiroshi and Daisuke stood in second stance and endlessly repeated punch-block, punch-block, over and over.

"Why do we keep repeating this?" gasped Daisuke. He caught Ranma's glare and hurriedly added, "I'm not questioning your teaching, sensei. I'm just curious about how it all works."

"Same as handwritin', Dai," Ranma answered mollified. "Repetition builds reflex. I'm just makin' sure you repeat it successfully till it becomes habit."

"Is that why your handwriting is so bad?" hazarded Hiro.

"Yup. Hands higher. I know it hurts, but you'll thank me the next time someone tries to knock yer head off," Ranma grinned. "I was always too busy doing punch-block instead of stroke-stroke." He made little brushing motions with one hand.

"I wonder how martial arts translates to bedroom arts," Dai joked.

Urudu grinned as Ranma blushed. "Ahhh… Well, if you're in good shape to begin with, I suppose that should come easier." The goddess could tell he was uncomfortable, far more than he should have been.

Dai grunted but looked questioningly at him. "Come on, man," he said. "Ya know, your fight Monday was almost anti-climactic compared with that light show, Friday." He punched and blocked. "Don't tell me you didn't do that."

"Actually… I didn't, Dai," Ranma said tersely. He turned away and watched Hiro. He could feel Dai fuming behind him.

"Okay, take five," he said at last. He tossed towels to them and grimaced. He could tell Dai wasn't finished.

"Ranma," that irate individual said, "I'm asking because we're your friends. We heard Kogara. And we've heard some of the folks who talked to those… things that were around. Kogara wasn't mumbling about bubblegum and baseball." Hiroshi didn't say anything for once but nodded in agreement. "You know where we're coming from, man."

"They didn't…" Ranma snapped, too quickly. "I'm fine. Really."

"You're not fine," Hiroshi told him flatly. "Maybe those demon-things didn't, but from the look on your face, someone did. You don't act like you won this one."

"Look, guys. I appreciate yer concern. But my girl-side didn't get raped." A platinum head bobbed in agreement. Akane and Ranma had freely chosen to do it, after all. "Hey! Let's see some sparring!" He crouched and motioned them into position. They grinned, distracted, and turned toward each other, hands coming up.

Ranma sighed in relief. His crouch concealed the fact that thinking about the incident brought on arousal. If he could hate what Akane had done to him, it would have been easier. Instead, the memories of what his girl-body experienced triggered the response in his natural form. 'I'm a guy, a guy, dammit!' had become more than a familiar mantra. As Hiro and Dai probed each other's defenses, he slowly regained his calm.

"Hey, Ranma, are you almost finished?" Urudu glanced to one side, her eyes and senses picking up not only Akane, standing in the doorway, but the six ninja moving in from the house behind her; Nabiki, Choochoo, Okesa, Tek, Senrigan and Sakura. Senrigan alone of the ninja involved in ambushing the perverted pair in January had not yet regained her chibi form. She still became a rat in hot water. With silent agreement, they stopped in the shadows. "How are they doing?" Akane inquired, coming in further.

"Hiro has better form, but Dai is more aggressive. At this level, aggression tends to win." Even as he spoke, Hiro staggered back. He had blocked the blow, but Dai had put some effort into it and knocked him off-balance. "Hold!" Ranma walked over. "Hiro, don't just resist the strike. Deflect it and use it. Remember the blending exercises?" He turned to Dai. "Hit me." Dai complied. Ranma made it look like slow motion. As Dai's fist shot toward him, his blocking arms redirected the blow to one side. "See? Also notice, when ya block, be aware of his balance. Try to lead him off balance. He blocked a second blow, redirecting it to force Dai into an uncomfortably stretched position. He then had Dai strike a third time, blocked and allowed the block to scissor shut on the hand, pulling Dai forward and to one side. As he did, his foot left the floor, reached up and lightly touched Dai on the temple. "See?" Hiro nodded.

"Now… Dai. You're plenty aggressive. In fact you're almost too aggressive. Ya don't need ta pulverize your opponent. Power is only good if ya connect. Ya need speed and precision. I beat Ryoga because I'm fast. He can compete with me because he's more durable than a rock and is pretty fast himself. Akane started with a lot of excess power, but she never could hit me unless I let her."

"You let her hit you?" Dai protested. He thought about it, an odd look on his face. "Didn't know you were into that stuff, sensei."

"Dai, you pervert," Ranma groaned, a hand over his face.

"Baka," Akane said affectionately to her fiancé.

Ranma blushed, grinned and turned back to his students. "Of course, once I taught Akane how to be fast, that wasn't a problem. She used to hit me because I let her."

"Now I hit him because I can," Akane punched at Ranma, who dodged two lightning-fast blows before fielding a solid strike with a shoulder. "But I try not to unless we're sparring." She glided over and wove an arm around his waist. Ranma rubbed his shoulder ruefully and nodded.

"And she beat the crap outa those guys at school because they were too slow to dodge. Ya can beat Hiro now," Ranma admitted. "But once he can react without thinkin' about his form, yer gonna be dead meat. At the rate things are goin', I give ya about a month, if ya don't get with the program." Dai looked offended. "Okay, that's it! See ya in class; don't ferget Mrs. Morisato wants that book report tomorrow."

"Why don't you call Sayuri and ask her to help you, Hiro," Akane suggested. "Work together. Maybe hers needs more work." She frowned as Hiroshi's face slumped in despair. "Come on, Hiro, she isn't that unreasonable."

"With me, she is," said Hiro sadly, turning away. Urudu, from her vantage point, noticed Senrigan flinch at the pain in his voice. Perhaps there was something she could also do on that front.

Hiroshi and Daisuke left by the main doors, never noticing the ninja who stood silently in the shadows. The ninja glided out into the dojo to stand in two rows of three. They bowed to the dojo shrine and then began warm up exercises while they waited for their sensei's instruction. Eventually, as had become their habit, they retrieved cushions and sat down to begin the process of inner contemplation and centering. Akane and Ranma moved between them, monitoring and gently tweaking what they found. The ninja were developing their ki techniques, trying to find a different, less self-destructive motivator for their projective techniques. Some were doing very well.

Tek's were developing out of her joy of learning. Choochoo's and Nabiki's were developing out self-confidence, much as Ranma's originally had. Okesa was a little embarrassing. When she had been created, she had been dubbed Tsume, or 'Claw'. Her love of dance had ordained a renaming as Okesa after the famous geisha of legend. Her ki techniques came from her outgoing sensuality. And those characteristics didn't diminish her expertise with the neko-te at all.

Sakura was having some difficulty because she was very normal and not obsessive about anything. Her search was to find something about which to be properly obsessive. Even as a former 'Black Ninja' she had not had an impressive grasp of the ki-technique Senbei had force-fed them.

Senrigan meditated and pondered. For the longest time, she had not felt anything at all. It wasn't numbness; it was emptiness. Her only joy came from being the best at what she did, and that was now closed to her. The only emotion, to which she had ready access, was the obsessive hunger that was a result of survival instincts — the same emotion Senbei had used to turn them into black ninja to begin with. She realized that channeling that would only further dehumanize her. The only hope she had at this moment was that she could still appreciate the emotions of others.

The nin-po tried to sink deeper in her Wa, but meditation only made her more aware of herself and her present inadequacies. She was quickly aware when he crouched beside her. Urudu watched in silence. The goddesses had been particularly worried about this former chonin.

"Havin' trouble, huh?" Ranma asked, hunkering down beside her.

Senrigan barely resisted the urge to tell him to get lost. Part of the reason was the pleasant surprise that she did have another emotion she could access: resentment. Ranma was very male and she despised males.

Before Marller had altered her, Senrigan as a rat, had been the center of more than one running battle when males, savagely biting and scratching, fought over her fertile body. In their enthusiasm, she had been the recipient of many of the bites and had several times been nearly crushed in the narrow warrens in which she had lived. She had also lost her nest and young ones to savage males driven by instinct to force nursing females into season. Though she longed for offspring, she hated males. Over the past month, Ranma and Akane had gotten snippets of her experiences. So far, it had not aided in her training. Senrigan had been brooding, not improving at all. Ranma had occasionally switched to girl-type to work with her, but was beginning to feel the effort wasn't worth the return.

Tonight, though, the pigtailed martial artist seemed to be in an odd mood. When acting as sensei in the dojo, he was normally fairly formal with the ninja. Tonight, formality seemed to be out the window. He circled her, watching her hackles rise. "I've been thinkin'," he said obnoxiously, "part of yer problem is that yer too focused on bein' a rat."

"What are you talking about, Saotome?" she growled. Angry dark eyes glared at him. "What else am I?"

"A girl," he replied immediately with a smirk. "A bit bitchy and all, maybe even a little worse than Akane was when I came, but a girl."

"If you have any plan to add me to your harem, Saotome, forget it," Senrigan said flatly. Despite the evidence of her experience, she had never let herself trust Ranma.

Ranma snorted at the verbal attack. "I don't have a harem. Hang on…" He walked over to the fire bucket and dunked a hand in. After a moment, she returned, solemn and female, to squat beside the ninja again. "Is that better?" she asked.

Senrigan smirked, feeling she won a point. To her, it was always a victory to force Ranma out of his preferred male form. She nodded pertly. "Actually, yes."

"Now don't you get any plans of adding me to your harem," Ranma said in a sultry voice while posing as if for a centerfold picture.

"What?" Senrigan totally lost her centering and stared at her. "What are you implying?" she snapped at the redhead, "I don't have a harem!" The irony of the reversal was lost on her.

"Guess I don't have to worry, then." Ranma's smirk was infuriating.

Senrigan leaped to her feet. "If you weren't my sensei…!" Her whole body trembled in rage.

"Ranma! What's going on?" Akane scowled as she approached them.

"Sunny's havin' trouble focusin', Akane. I'm just helpin' her along." Ranma grinned at her fiancée. "Ya know my methods, Akane."

Senrigan went livid at the overly familiar nickname. "Sunny? How dare you?"

Ranma pirouetted almost lazily around. "I'm your sensei. You have a problem with that?" The shorter, rounder redhead eased into a ready stance. "C'mon… Any time, rat-girl!"

As Ranma had anticipated, Senrigan attacked. Akane huffed as Ranma dodged the deadly blows, letting them expend their force on thin air. She knew her fiancée's methods very well, though she couldn't determine why he was using these methods on Senrigan at this time. She looked at the girl's flushed face and grew thoughtful. It was a different face on the nin-po than what she normally saw. Perhaps that was part of his plan.

Above them, Urudu rocked on her perch as the dojo shuddered. "I'm gonna get creamed!" she muttered as she tried to hang onto something while the building shook. Below, Akane watched how the auras of their other students shifted irritably as Ranma led the fight around and between them, continuing to taunt the furious girl. Finally, Akane growled, "Take it outside!" and opened the shoji.

Ranma splashed through a puddle and grinned at Senrigan who jumped it. The gentle rain had stopped but the air was still moist. It steamed where it hit Senrigan's battle-aura, and the ninja reached up and pulled her scarf tightly across to protect more skin. Under conditions like these moisture close to her skin might heat up enough to trigger her change to rat-form. Ranma and Senrigan took their fight skyward, shaking water off branches to sheet onto pedestrians below before they gained the rooftops. Unseen by the pair, a tiny form also took flight and followed.

"Bii-da!" Ranma red-eyed Senrigan and dropped to the street again. "Yer as slow as the tomboy was, and not nearly as strong," she flapped her tongue and dodged. "I don't even know why I'm dodgin'. It's not like you could hurt me."

"I'll kill you! You… You… male, you!" Several pedestrians face-faulted at that statement, as it was made by a dark-haired girl to a very curvy redhead. Ranma let Senrigan expend her energy while leading her in a chase across the town. For long minutes, the ninja was practically inarticulate with rage.

Ranma was suddenly close again, inside her reach, looking sadly into her eyes as Senrigan back-pedaled desperately and struck – only air. She panicked. None of her blows were landing. "Do you really want to kill me?" Blue eyes stared honestly into black ones and Senrigan shuddered. She suddenly grasped her head and collapsed, beating her hands against the concrete. Puddles around her jumped and trembled in unison with the impacts. Ranma noticed the cracks forming from her blows and kept back. She had to chase off a well-meaning young man when he came over to help the distraught girl.

After several minutes of tantrum, Senrigan expended her remaining energy. Breathing heavily, she got to her feet and glared at Ranma waiting nearby. "I loathe you…"

"That's okay."

"Why do you bother?" Senrigan growled.

"Yer my student, last time I checked," was the simple answer.

"Then why are you treating me like this?" she screamed and stomped away in the general direction of the dojo.

Ranma followed about an arm's length away. "Yer askin' why I'm treatin' you specifically like this, not whether I can treat my students anyway I like, right?" She waited for a reply.

"Do you hate me so much?" Senrigan suddenly asked wearily.

"I don't hate ya at all, Sunny," Ranma answered her quietly. She grinned at the almost offhand protest at the name. "Yeah, I'm pissed about Hiroshi. He and Sayuri are strugglin'." Ranma sighed and looked up at the cloudy sky, illuminated by the city lights. "But maybe she's not the one for him. Ya tried ta make amends so I can't fault ya there." The redhead sighed. "Actually, I sympathize with ya…"

Senrigan stopped dead, face darkening. "How can you possibly know how I feel?" she hissed weakly.

Ranma grimaced. "I can't. Not how you feel. But I have a curse that turns me inta something that isn't me. I've had guys try ta take advantage of me in that form. I had those demons chasin' me the last couple of days. Ta get rid of them, I had ta do somethin' I really didn't wanna do."

Senrigan digested those statements, trying to reframe her image of Ranma.

"Maybe," Ranma commented with a hint of a glare, "I should alternate pissin' ya off with positive things. Maybe get together with Akane and the girls for ice cream or somethin'."

Senrigan started to wind up her anger again. "I should have known. You're trying to manipulate me!"

"Isn't that what a teacher does? Believe what ya like," Ranma snorted. She suddenly realized where they were. "Before we go back to the dojo, I want ya to meet someone. Maybe ya can relate ta them, Sunny."

"Don't call me that! My name is Senrigan, not Sunny!" Awhirl with long unfelt emotions, Senrigan followed her sensei up the street.

Back at the dojo Akane walked the ranks of ninja, complementing and encouraging them. She had slightly different idea on how to get the best out of their joint students. They had agreed to one important set of conditions in their tenure: Never argue in front of the students. Though that didn't keep her from thinking, 'Baka!' "That's great, Sakura. What emotion are you using?"

"Ummm… I'm not sure…"

"Well what were you're thinking about?" Akane inquired. Sakura had finally managed a decent ki alignment and might even manage ki-ribbons or a small ki-blast.

"I was thinking how funny Ranma and Senrigan looked bouncing around the dojo."

Akane blinked. How funny…?

"I wish Ryoga had been at Ucchan's," Ranma was saying as they made their way back from their side trip. Senrigan held the single spare umbrella gingerly and watched for varied threats to her humanity, though how hot water would manage under these conditions was questionable. Ranma paced along unconcerned by the steady rain. "The okonomiyaki was good, but he's been broodin' and depressed all his life. You could relate to him real well."

"I don't do well with males," the ninja said almost reflectively. "Ukyo-san was quite helpful, though.

"Yeah! She's a good set of ears when ya need ta talk." Ranma rubbed the back of her head. "A good friend."

"If I understand it, you caused a lot of her pain," Senrigan accused with a slight edge to her voice.

Ranma nodded. "Guilty. I was afraid of hurtin' her and afraid that she and the other two would kill Akane if they understood how I felt. But that's no excuse. No matter what I do for her from now till I die, I'm never goin' ta clear that debt."

"But Ukyo said she didn't feel there was a debt, anymore." Senrigan seemed to be taking both sides of the argument as the mood struck her. "I don't understand."

"It's like that when ya care, Senrigan. It's bein' human. I feel bad 'cause I hurt Akane, Ukyo, Shampoo, Kodachi or fill-the-name-in-the-blank… Maybe they agree, maybe they don't, that I owe them, but I feel I owe them. If I can't somehow do something for them, I feel worse."

"Then what I feel is normal?" Senrigan looked flabbergasted. "What I feel when I see Hiroshi and Sayuri in pain is guilt? I feel helpless to fix it. I feel terrible!"

Ranma nodded. "I don't know what you can do about that, anymore than I can see how to fix the ten years that Ucchan lived as a boy after my Pops stole their yatai." They turned into the dojo gate. "I can be real happy that she and Ryoga found each other, but I didn't have much to do with that. Ya do what ya can, and hope for the best. Ya only worry if ya don't feel anything." She opened the challenge gate and waved Senrigan toward the back entry of the dojo. "That's where Kogara is fallin' down. He can't understand that he did anything wrong and resents the fact that he's been punished for it." Continuing their discussion, they entered the dojo. Senrigan seemed far more relaxed, more human, that Ranma felt it had been worth it — even if Ucchan had made him pay for the meals.

"There you are!" The two martial artists no sooner gained cover than they were assailed by a far more elemental force. An irritated Akane wove toward them between sparing ninja in the dojo. She eyed them critically. She sniffed the air. "Ranma, you were at Ucchan's! Admit it!"

"What? But-but-but… How'd ya know?" Ranma demanded shrilly, suddenly wondering if her assessment of her actions had been considerably off. She cringed, as violence seemed imminent.

Urudu settled back into her concealed cranny and listened to Akane verbally rip into Ranma. She noted that Senrigan, far from enjoying Akane's tirade was showing signs of objecting. Then as Ranma began to cringe away, Akane turned it into teasing. After a moment, Ranma, realizing she had been had, began to rally in turn. The ninja finally settled back to watch a high-speed martial arts tickling match.

Urudu noticed two items of interest: First, Senrigan was far more relaxed than she'd been in months, actually smiling occasionally. Second, noticeable only because she had heightened responses she could call on, Ranma was laughing and giving as good as she got, but underlying her apparent light-heartedness was a distinct undercurrent of fear. This, along with other observations of the evening, made her stomach drop. Something was seriously wrong. Akane became aware of the redhead's plight as well, surrendering when under different circumstances she might have managed victory. The pair apologized to their class and introduced some beginning shield techniques before dismissing them. They watched their students leave then turned to face one another.

"Ranma?" Akane said softly.

"I think I'll go see if there's hot water, tomboy," Ranma said rather brusquely. She started to head for the shoji when Akane intercepted her.

"Whatever I did to you, Ranma, I'm sorry." Akane stood an arm's length away, eyes down. "Whatever I did that hurt you, I apologize."

"Akane, now's not the time," Ranma said irritably as she tried to step around her.

"When is a good time, love?" she asked stepping into Ranma's path once more. "We need to talk about this. I love you, but I feel like you're pushing me away." It was a gentle challenge, but a challenge all the same. Urudu held her breath, daring to hope that this would all work itself out or she would discover some key element that she might need.

Ranma looked down and shifted uncomfortably. She seemed to come to a decision. It was not one that Urudu was expecting. "Maybe when we're not bein' spied on," Ranma finally replied acidly. The redhead turned and looked right at Urudu. "Get down here, Ms. Kamiko, right now!"

Urudu gasped, a sound that echoed loud in the building. Realizing the jig was up she descended, muttering savagely to herself. "How did you know I was there, Ranma?" she grumbled, expanding to full size as she dropped lightly to the floor. "I was shielded from magic, ki, light, sound…"

"Why should I tell ya what ya did wrong?" Ranma crossed her arms under her breasts. "I wanna know why yer spyin' on us? I told ya we'd meet yer friend on Saturday."

"I'd like to know why, as well," growled Akane. "You're becoming a pest, Ms. Kamiko."

"Whom do you think you're fooling?" the goddess yelled, giving glare for glare following the age-old response to being cornered: attack. "This isn't just about Shampoo's honor; there's something wrong between you two." She pouted. "I want to help."

"It ain't none of your business, Urudu," Ranma said bluntly. "It's because people keep buttin' in on us, screwin' us up, that we ain't had nothin' close to a normal relationship. We ain't breakin' up. I love Akane and there's nothin' I won't do for her. Nothin'!" Her aura flared visibly in punctuation to her declaration. "Just… butt out!" The redhead glared at her balefully before storming out the shoji and over to the house, muttering imprecations along the way.

Urudu swallowed and felt a tiny trickle of fear slowly relax. Ranma could be damn scary when he chose to be. She was well aware that if he did get violent, she had no way to stop him. "I, ah… I'm sorry. I guess I can let myself out, Akane-chan."

"Akane-sensei," Akane corrected absently, staring after her love. "Do you know what's wrong, Urudu?"

"Not yet, Akane-sensei," Urudu sighed. "Can I still bring my guest Saturday?"

"I guess so, but please don't push anymore," Akane asked plaintively. "I'm sure I can get him to tell me what's wrong if people will just leave us alone." If they were lucky, the Nekohanten would reopen this coming weekend and she and Ranma would gain some privacy to work out their differences.

oOo

Saturday finally came. There was no school and the Nekohanten was ready to reopen. Ranma and Akane went with the Chinese contingent to help if necessary. During their absence, the Saotomes came to visit. While Soun and Genma set up their Shogi board, Nodoka asked Kasumi to join Natsume, Kurumi and herself in the dojo. Kasumi nodded and delayed her shopping trip. Natsume and Kurumi were already stretching out and preparing for their combat to come. They hoped to spend some quality time with Ranma and Akane. In a martial artist's family, quality time translated to sparring and training. In the afternoon, Tatewaki Kuno would be sharing lesson time with Nabiki Kagazumi and some of the shinobi clan.

In the house, Soun and Genma sat across the board, paying little attention to the pieces on it. "I'm still having trouble grasping this, Saotome," Soun whispered. It was a measure of their concern that they were not cheating at their game. "Our children did the deed, but switched genders…? Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I've been waiting so long for them to get around to doing anything, Tendo, that I'll count this as a step in the right direction." Genma made a move. "Nodoka surprised me. I almost packed for a very extended training trip when I heard her grilling Natsume." He shuddered. "The only reason I didn't was because she left the katana behind when she went to talk to the children about it." He frowned at Soun's move and scratched his head thoughtfully. "I've had nightmares all week. I keep dreaming she's standing over me with that damn katana, waiting for me to make the cuts in my belly." He shivered.

"I can't believe they didn't tell us what was going on," Soun sniffed.

"Well, you didn't mention those rats last Tuesday, either," Genma grumbled. "I wouldn't have known anything was wrong if Natsume and Kurumi hadn't been blabbing about the demon attacks at school. Nodoka kept me completely out of the loop."

"Hina-chan did that to me, too," Soun admitted. He sighed, watching Genma take ruthless advantage of his play. "They don't trust us anymore."

"You have to admit they're justified." They sat and contemplated their board game.

"I wonder, Saotome, what Akane looks like with the Nanniichuan curse?" Soun mused, a smile twitching his mouth.

Genma shrugged. "We might find out today, Tendo." Genma made his move, which seemed to accomplish little. "I think Nodoka wants to meet her daughter's boyfriend."

"Which one? Ryu, Ryu or Ryo?" Soun asked, perfectly serious.

"Very amusing, Tendo. Very amusing. No, I mean your Akane."

Soun snorted. "That's ridiculous. It's not as if a packet of Instant Nanniichuan would solve the problems with the Amazons."

"No, though I'll tell you, Tendo, as often as that boy has let cures to his condition slip away when your Akane is at stake…" Genma eyed Soun's latest move. "He wouldn't give up his manhood for the Art, but for Akane? He's already done that several times." He reached out to the board and reconsidered. "If it would save her from harm, I swear he'd let Akane wear the pants in that marriage."

"Be serious, Saotome!" Soun snorted. Suddenly he froze in mid-move, his eyes wide. He blinked and sat up straighter. "Kamisama! It… What if… What if they've gotten hold of real Nanniichuan?"

Genma's move practically broke the board as Soun's words filtered through his hairless head.