Ki Cutters: 34

The Pests II

Ranma, Akane and Shampoo raced over the rooftops. The Nekohanten was back in business and under control. Ranma was feeling a little better today having worked out new ki relationships and some techniques from that information. Immersing himself in martial arts wasn't the answer, but it gave him some breathing room and a way to interact with Akane and the others without giving anything away. "Hey! Try this, sometime." He sped across a flat roof toward a larger than normal gap between buildings.

"What are you up to, Ranma?" Akane objected. She shrieked as he leaped into space. "Ranma!" They were more than five stories up! Ranma soared out. He seemed to drift on the wind. His leap carried about three times as far as any of his typical ki-boosted leaps. Akane and Shampoo gaped as he landed lightly across the avenue nearly forty meters away. "What the hell did you do?" Akane called out.

Ranma smirked proudly. "Wait there and watch me with ki sight." He backed up and got a running start. Once again he soared into space. Akane and Shampoo watched and saw what looked like the ki ribbon technique. Ranma sent out a dozen tendrils from his core center into the air around him. As the girls watched, the ki in the air began to shimmer. Ranma's target was, somehow, the very air he was moving through. The air around him changed its characteristics very temporarily but dramatically. To the inner eye, it looked like he was gliding across an undulating path of translucent jello. He came up a little short and slammed into the edge of their roof. "Wuff! Gotta work on that."

"What you do?" Shampoo demanded, kneeling down on the gritty surface to confront him.

Ranma grinned gleefully. "Wouldn't you like ta know?"

Shampoo glanced at Akane before turning back. "Shampoo join airen and Akane in bedroom tonight if not tell." She half-closed her eyes and leaned toward him, hands on her knees to make her breasts and cleavage show to better advantage. Her voice went sultry. "Promise to get… physical…"

"Eeek!" Ranma almost slipped off the edge. It was with difficulty that he reminded himself that this was Shampoo, and she was only teasing (only teasing, only teasing...). "All right! I was just kiddin'."

"Even bring Instant Nanniichuan, yes?" She waved a package in front of them. Ranma blanched and shuddered and almost fell off the roof again, his face pale. Shampoo stuck her tongue out. "Just teasing! See? It only hand lotion in packet." She turned the packet around to reveal its true contents. "You so squeamish about sex as girl, Ranma. It not like you plan to have baby!" She tucked the package away. "Now, how you do this thing — gliding on ki?"

Ranma glared and put his heart and his mind in order. He was not a girl! And… and he definitely wasn't a hentai, neither! And Shampoo may mean well, but… "Remember I figured out how to borrow ki from my surroundings last week? It's the only way ya can maintain that inertial technique the kami do that acts like yer messin' with time." He scrambled over the edge and sat down on the roof coping. "I'd been thinkin' for a while that most things have a lot of loose ki they leak into the surroundin's anyway. If I can reach out and trick someone's shield into thinking I belong or analyze an incoming ki technique and take it over…"

"Like when fighting against ki shielded opponent?" Shampoo asked for clarification.

"That's right or ki ribbons when ya make 'em homing techniques! They come right after ya. After all, they 'feel' like they belong to ya. They home in on the signature they have. You still hafta make 'em yer own." Shampoo looked puzzled. Ranma looked pensive. "Let's try it this way. Back up." He shooed at them. "Go on. You too, Akane." The girls backed up. "Now I'm gonna throw a single, small ki ribbon at each of ya. It'll be tuned to your aura, so after I let it go, it'll act like a puppy runnin' for its momma." They nodded. "Now, usually, ya either take an attack like this over and send it back or radiate the extra energy off. Try to find space inside ya to absorb it and hold it, instead. Once ya do that, try to turn the extra ki inta something else completely different." He swept his hands forward. The ribbons resembled Ryoga's bandana technique in flight. Both girls interacted with the ribbons in slightly different ways.

Akane received the ribbon, felt it mesh with her ki and reflexively swallowed. Feeling suddenly too full, she sought to forestall the instinctive outthrust that would shed this extra energy. She conceptualized a battery to store this power. She jerked as she felt her hair standing on end. Every hair on her body attempted to move away from every other hair. She found herself standing, legs and arms slightly apart and on tiptoe as if standing in a vat of honey. It felt… weird.

Shampoo accepted the ribbon, her aura billowing wide, then shrinking in, suddenly. She collapsed in a boneless heap. Ranma ran over to her as Akane gritted her teeth and followed. "Is she all right?"

Ranma glanced at his fiancée then checked Shampoo again. "Yeah, I've fixed the problem. She converted her ribbon to heat and raised her body temperature. It knocked her cold." He eyed his fiancée and grinned. "You look like you changed yours to electrical energy."

"However did you guess?" Akane drawled sarcastically. She came too close and Ranma and Shampoo were both zapped by arcing static discharge.

"Eeek!"

"Ack!"

Shampoo jerked into consciousness. "What happen!" she moaned, rubbing her arm where Ranma had been checking her pulse. Ranma explained quickly and succinctly. While Akane tried to unsuccessfully get her hair to lie down, Shampoo wiped sweat from her brow, panting as her body shed the excess heat. She eyed Ranma with new respect. "Ranma make look easy but it not easy." She frowned at the gap he so recently jumped. "How this help Ranma fly?"

"It was really closer to gliding, Shampoo. I'd love to be able to do what they do on DBZ!" Ranma smiled brightly, getting sidetracked. "Anyway, I felt for the ki in the air and convinced it to act a more like a solid. To do this, I had to take it in and convince it to listen to me. Of course, as soon as I let the ki go again, the rest of the air tells it to knock it off and it reverts to normal." He scratched his head. "In a way, it's kinda like the other kids at school. When they're with us, they're rowdier and speak their mind. When we're not around, they follow whoever the authority figure is and toe the line." With a sigh he concluded, "I guess ki works the same way society does. The nail that stands up is pounded down – or sets the new level of the other nails."

Shampoo barked a short laugh, mixed with a choice Chinese curse. "You… are something else, Ranma. Hey, Akane?"

"Ranma, why is it that you can do this, then turn around and have to bluff your way through school?" Akane looked irritable and bedroom-haired. It crackled over her fingers.

Pleased, Ranma preened. Two peers were acknowledging him and his accomplishments, no matter how backhandedly. He shrugged and smirked. "Maybe I'm an idiot savant?" He reached out to her unruly hair and quickly grounded the remaining charge.

Akane eyed him as she patted her hair back into place, then laughed. "Don't hold your breath waiting to hear 'savant' pass these lips!"

Ranma got an evil look on his face and his hand dropped down to her shoulder. "I betcha I know how I can make ya say savant, tomboy." Akane's face flushed and her breathing changed in anticipation of whatever attack Ranma had in mind.

"Oooh!" smirked Shampoo. "Akane right when she say you pervert." She giggled wickedly and stuck out her tongue at him. "Look for excuse to get hands on her – make her say sav-ant..." Ranma twitched but did not jerk his hands away from Akane. His days of denial of his love for Akane were over. The only problem lately was dealing with the physical aspects of that love. "But maybe Akane looking for excuse and not say savant until she get what she want?" Shampoo giggled as Akane opened her mouth to protest. She suddenly shoved Ranma's shoulder sending him sprawling and grabbed Akane's arm, leaping for the next roof. "Shampoo help sister! She never say savant to pervert boy!"

"Who you callin' pervert, cat-girl!" Ranma bellowed in mock rage as he dashed off in pursuit.

"Who's too slow now, baka!" Akane yelled over her shoulder. She quickly got into this game of chase anticipating the finale. "I'll never say savant!"

"Savant! Savant!" Ranma yelled as they leapt streets. He almost caught Akane but Shampoo tripped him and they dodged off again. He closed again, this time planning on taking on Shampoo when she went to interfere, but Akane anticipated him and together they knocked him down and retreated.

"Sisters of Heart never give in to pervert-airen!" they shouted, giggling in unison.

Ranma picked himself up and tore off after them. This felt better. He was the pursuer! "Wanna bet?" he yelled, heartened.

Akane barely crossed the Tendo boundary wall ahead of her two friends. She landed lightly, turned and was bowled over as Ranma barreled into her and Shampoo barreled into them. It became a three-way martial arts tickling match that quickly resulted in two feminine voices yelling "Savant!" Then it turned into a pursuit as the girls ganged up on Ranma and chased him around and over the dojo. Ranma red-eyed his pursuers as he swept over the peak during his second circuit of the building. He had little warning as a ribbon snapped out and wrapped his ankle.

"Ranma!" caroled Kurumi. She twirled loops of ribbon at her brother as he tried to get free.

"Ranma!" shrieked Natsume, blind-siding him with a hug. They had caught him totally unawares.

"Ranma!" laughed Shampoo and Akane, taking advantage of the help and burying him under female bodies. The result was a struggling, moving mass that shrieked, bellowed and giggled across the yard.

Nodoka and Kasumi watched wide-eyed from the doors of the dojo. "Goodness! That's hardly proper," commented Nodoka. She began to step forward, but Kasumi put out a hand.

"Don't begrudge them their fun, Auntie," the eldest Tendo said. "They've all had so little time to be children. Let them play."

"Oh, Kasumi," Nodoka said, meeting her eyes, "why did they have to be tortured so?"

"It made them strong enough to meet the unusual challenges of their youth, Auntie. Be happy they can still love so innocently despite the dangers they've faced." A smile played across her face. "Look at them laugh. Ranma brings out their joy because he cares for them all." They giggled as Ranma and company splashed through the koi pond and Ranma's baritone protests became soprano shrieks. "Oh, dear. I better get the bathroom ready. They'll need to wash up and change."

"Thank you, Kasumi." Kasumi turned to Ranma's mother, a smile on her face and a question in her eyes. "Thank you for being here when I couldn't be," Nodoka added.

"It was my pleasure," Kasumi laughed as she stepped out and made her way to the house. The dog-pile on Ranma was breaking up as a white cat dodged free of the action while the other girls were doing their best to tie Ranma up like a package.

Ranma yodeled as Akane began tickling her unmercifully. "Tickle me, will you?" laughed Ranma's fiancée. "Make me say 'savant'…"

"Why would he try to make you say that, Akane-chan?" asked Nodoka. Akane and Ranma's sisters stopped their torture of the redhead.

"Why, Aunt Nodoka!" Akane jumped to her feet. "I was… We were…" Akane straightened her clothes and became self-conscious before Ranma's mother.

"Enjoying yourselves tremendously." She reached down and picked up the white cat. "Hello, Shampoo. Were you having fun, too?" She scratched under the chin of the little animal while Shampoo looked ecstatic. Nodoka stroked behind her ears, marveling once again, that this feline was a beautiful young woman and a formidable warrior. She smiled as her 'girl-ed' son gasped huge breaths to calm down from the tickling. Tightly hogtied, she had been unable to defend herself at the end. "You better be careful, Ranma," Nodoka smirked. "You are almost too tempting a target. You have no idea how much I missed tickling my child after your father took you away."

Ranma gulped, wide-eyed and quickly used her aura to contact the ki of the ribbon. It untied itself as if alive. "S-s-sorry, Mom," she gulped. "If anyone tickled me anymore, I'd puke."

"My loss…" Her breath was squeezed out of her by the sudden fierce hug of her son/daughter. Shampoo-cat leaped out of the way just in time. Nodoka ignored the soggy clothes to accept an embrace that made her heart soar.

Akane grinned and motioned to the other girls. "Let's hit the bath before lunch." She held out her hands for Shampoo who leaped up and settled down.

"Love you, Mom." Nodoka wheezed in the redhead's grip. Ranma grinned and kissed her before releasing her. "I guess I better get cleaned up, too, huh?"

"You might want use the bath before the girls, dear. I'm cooking today and I wanted you to run some errands for me before lunch."

"Okay," Ranma shrugged. "I better catch them before they get settled in then." Ranma trotted away. "Hey, Akane! Wait up! Mom said that I get first dibs!"

Nodoka shook her head ruefully as her presently female son disappeared around the side of the house. He had matured tremendously since he admitted to her that he was Ranko Tendo. He had clearly defined objectives now, even if he wasn't sure how to reach them. She placed her hands on her stomach and sighed, wondering what would have happened if she had refused to let Genma take him. This little one was going nowhere. If she wanted to be a martial artist, then her brother would teach her.

Nodoka glanced across the yard. The grass was beginning to green where the plantings protected it from the cold. It looked like spring might come early this year. Idly, she wondered if the next generation of martial artists would be as fractious and challenging as the present one. The Hibikis, Ninomiya's baby, Kodachi's little one, if she were successful in her bid to carry it, who knew how many of the shinobi girls were pregnant and likely to send their children to schools here in Nerima. It was not impossible that Ryoga and Ukyo might be expecting; she knew they were intimate. Perhaps she should speak to them about a wedding before circumstances forced the issue. She wished she'd had more time with Ukyo as a daughter, though. Ryoga seemed a nice young man, especially now that he no longer exhibited homicidal tendencies toward Ranma. Natsume and Ryu were proceeding nicely, too. She didn't think they had gotten physical, yet; but that might be lack of opportunity more than anything else. She chewed her lip thoughtfully as she crossed the yard and entered the house. Inside she could clearly hear the children continuing the teasing and horseplay she had interrupted in the yard.

"I can't believe it! My own sister!" Ranma's soprano tones were raised in outrage.

'What is Ranma upset about, now?' Nodoka thought.

"Whatever do you mean, little sister?" Natsume's voice was a level drawl.

"You pinched me!" Ranma screeched. "Not only that, I recognized that pinch! It's been you all along at Ucchan's since before Christmas, hasn't it?"

"Busted!" snickered Kurumi in the sudden quiet.

"Ranma, what wrong?" came Shampoo's voice. There was the sound of a sliding door.

"Ack!" Ranma's voice sounded strangled. At least her outraged accusations were quelled.

"Shampoo!" Akane sounded irate. "Put on a robe or something."

"So sorry!" Shampoo didn't sound sorry. "Who pinch whom?" she inquired.

"Ranma, could you please hurry?" Nodoka called out for the girls' benefit. Apparently, Ranma had discovered his eldest sister was behind his recent harassment when he was working at Ucchan's. "I'm making lunch today and I have a list of things I'd like you to get at the market."

Ranma, looking outraged, turned to her parent. Behind her, Akane helped Shampoo into a robe. "Did you know she's been pinching my butt at Ucchan's?"

"What do you want me to do, dear?" Nodoka said in a reasonable tone, "Hold her still while you get even?"

"Well, I—!" Ranma stopped her angry retort, considered what Nodoka had said and blushed. "I… ahhh…"

Natsume presented her rear toward her brother fearlessly. "Free shot, Ranma." Ranma's lips thinned, but she didn't take the bait. "Yipe!"

"That's okay, Ranma, I got her," commented Akane dryly.

"Thanks, Akane." Ranma grinned and walked past an outraged Natsume with a smirk.

Shampoo looked at Akane then at Natsume and giggled. "Too bad spatula-girl not here."

"Don't go there, sister," Akane glowered. They stood there watching Shampoo snicker until Kurumi had to ask what the reference to Ukyo was about. Shampoo was happy to enlighten them. Soon Akane was blushing and stammering clarifications while Ranma's sisters snickered in turn. The day of the Ranma-iichuan incident had been strange for all concerned.

Finally, after what seemed like hours to Akane, Ranma emerged male and clean from the bathroom. He stared at Akane. A response was required so he forced a faint smile on his lips. "You pinched Ukyo and Shampoo? Akane!"

"Ranma!" Akane grabbed for his shirtfront. He slipped her grip and winked as he escaped down the hall. "Ranma, get back here!"

"Make me, tomboy," he called back. Akane's eye flamed and the answering grin made him flinch. Maybe he should reconsider using that taunt. She had 'made' him, hadn't she? Hurriedly he turned to his mother. "You got the list?" His mother handed him a sheet of paper. "Thanks!" He escaped while Shampoo and his sisters dragged a growling Akane into the bathroom.

Nodoka smiled. Akane may have sounded as angry as ever, but most of it had been window dressing. It had definitely been a smile, not a snarl she had directed at her fiancé. Stepping forward, she tapped on the partition and requested an entrance. "May I join you?" After a moment, the partition opened a handspan to offer her egress.

Shampoo was already in the main area, picking up the wet, dirty clothing from where Ranma had dropped it. Natsume, who was closest the door, held up a towel for modesty's sake, while Kurumi and Akane stripped down quickly and efficiently. The latter looked up commenting, "You're welcome to join us, Aunt Nodoka, but it'll be cozy."

"Actually," Nodoka said, "I had some other plans. Akane, as a mother, I'm curious about what happened last Friday. Could you indulge my curiosity?"

Akane blinked and paled a bit. "Ummm… There really isn't much to say. We both felt very uncomfortable about it." She bit her lip nervously, as Shampoo returned and placed a hand on her shoulder in silent support. "Ranma was trying to find his soul-of-ice, I was really freaked out having a… a… you know." Akane grimaced and gestured vaguely. "Anyway, we did it, and somehow, our auras merged." Her eyes went a little dreamy. "That was nice," she murmured before jerking back to herself.

Blushing at the serious smirks she hurried on in her narrative. "…then Senbei broke in and… well… I was… on top, so I got up and malleted him through the roof. With our auras merged from… during our… encounter, well, Ranma showed me through direct aural transfer how to do the projective Aikiharaken technique I used to finish that… that… jerk!" Akane's anger began to override her embarrassment as she remembered Senbei's intentions.

"Well, that's certainly interesting, dear," Nodoka said, "but actually, I was hoping to see what Ranma had to deal with." Akane looked puzzled and a little alarmed. Nodoka pulled a foil packet from her sleeve. Shampoo snorted at the familiar wrapper. Nodoka had a packet of instant Nanniichuan.

Akane boggled. "You can't be serious!" she protested.

Just then, all mayhem cut loose as Soun and Genma barreled into the room to the accompanying screams and angry shouts of the startled female martial artists. "Don't do it, dearest!" shouted Genma. "It isn't worth the pain it will cause! Leave my son a man! Let him used the Nanniichuan!"

"Don't turn my baby girl into a boy!" hoarsely wept Soun, skidding to a halt at Nodoka's feet.

The angry feminine shouts went silent as if cut off at a switch. Except for Nodoka, the girls, mostly undressed, were all in various stages of attempting to cover themselves. "What?" Nodoka gasped out, eyes bulging. "What are you idiots talking about?" The younger women recognized baka when they saw them. The flaring heat of auras did not bode well for the men present.

oOo

"Ya gotta be kiddin'," Ranma snarled as she leaped the fence and made her way toward the bath. The pigtailed martial artist looked like she'd been dragged through the mud. He'd faced an unexpected triple threat: the ladle lady, a passing car and a bicycle crashing into a construction site. He dodged the first easily. The water sprayed by the passing car had been just sufficient to change him to her. Then the cyclist, obviously new to Nerima, boggled at the suddenly shorter, bustier figure. He'd gone right through the safety signs and into the muddy, water-filled pit just ahead of Ranma's reaching fingers. Why in hell had she tried to save the fool, anyway? She stopped below the window and made use of her advanced senses. Finding the tub and bathroom empty and hearing the sound of bodies moving in the dojo, she reached up, pulled the window back and slipped inside.

Out in the dojo, Akane moved through the kata, working hard to adapt to the differences the male body made in his/her balance.

"Let's do some sparring now, why don't we?" Soun suggested with a proud smile. It was slightly painful as one eye was purple and nearly swollen shut. "Step on up, Saotome."

Genma met Akane's eyes and suddenly recalled how painful dealing with Akane in her natural form could be. From somewhere he obtained a set of crutches. "No, no!" he protested. "Don't let me stop you. He's… she's your son — I mean, daughter." Too bad he couldn't decide which leg was injured.

"I still can't believe you thought I would do that to Akane," Nodoka said coolly.

"You have to admit, it would be a solution," Genma replied brashly. He didn't see Shampoo shaking her head in disbelief. "When we heard you interrogating Ranma and you didn't seem upset about them doing it that way, we thought…" He removed his glasses. His face had undergone bruising similar to Soun's. "Looks a little like you, Tendo, back when we were young," he added.

"Not that much. She looks more like her mother," Soun said with a sniffle. "She becomes quite a handsome young man."

"Don't start getting ideas," warned Akane in a feral baritone growl, "I don't plan on staying like this a minute longer than I have to." He cracked his knuckles. Genma nodded in understanding, but Soun simply sat weeping.

Natsume, Kurumi, Kasumi and Ninomiya, who had followed the girls in earlier, stared at Akane. "I have to admit you do look impressive, Akane," admitted Natsume in a small voice.

"What she said," Kurumi agreed tightly. The hero on the cover of a romance she was reading wasn't half as well defined.

Kasumi fanned herself. "Be glad Nabiki isn't here, Akane. I'm not certain we could keep her financial instincts under control." Akane winced at the thought of Nabiki selling pictures of her boy-type.

Nodoka uneasily watched Akane's flowing movements. What was it about the cursed pools that bestowed a physique approaching the ideal of human perfection? Akane was a hunk! Almost too male! Poor Ranma must have had nerves of steel to submit to that body's attentions.

Shampoo sat to one side smiling, unconcerned about Akane's form. It was less surprising to her, having seen it before. "Father's stupid idea, very stupid," she said finally. "Akane would become obstacle again and Ranma still Shampoo's Airen, unless Tribal Elders decide Shampoo should resume kiss-of-death on red-haired woman-thief from village competition." She grinned as Akane squared off against Genma, who retreated rapidly. She could tell that her heart-sister was irritated, her natural temper joining with increased testosterone levels to produce a genuinely dangerous individual. Akane would never make a good male in an Amazon village. Unable to control herself sufficiently, she would endanger herself and everyone around her. "I think maybe family see enough, Akane. Go change. Family wait here with Shampoo till you ready."

"But…" Genma protested. He cringed at Akane's burning glance. "Ah, never mind. You go get changed, Akane dear. We'll wait here." Genma was never one to take an overt risk and Akane's look promised whole volumes of pain and suffering. He flinched as Akane stalked to the shoji. The girl-turned-boy slammed it shut behind him as he stomped toward the bath. One of the sliding screens jumped the tracks and slowly toppled inward, air rushing out as it dropped to the floor. "Sheesh… And I thought Ranma was a stuck-up, macho…"

"If he is, you certainly helped make him that way, dear," Nodoka reminded him. "She is rather intimidating in that form."

Shampoo grinned. "Akane intimidating no matter what form she in." There was a mutter of agreement.

Akane stomped down the hall to the bathroom. "I can't believe they thought Auntie Nodoka would turn me into a boy permanently! Or that Ranma would accept… Honestly!" Grumbling over the embarrassment and unfairness of it all, he ripped off his borrowed gi, failing to note the occupied sign on the bathroom door. "Stupid panda! Idiot father!" Almost slapping the barrier aside, he grabbed a robe and marched in, aggressive, hostile and on edge. "As if I'd want to do that to Ranma…"

The gasp brought him up short. His head jerked up and his brown eyes met the wide blue eyes of Ranma in girl-type, only partly through her rinse. For an instant, they froze. The soapsuds that slowly slid down the feminine curves of the redhead made Akane's innards flip-flop. Akane remembered dimly how his fingers had traced those same curves when he began the seduction that ultimately defeated Senbei. His mouth was suddenly dry as he took a single powerful stride toward the redhead before he was aware he was moving. He jerked to a halt, confused and aware of sensations he had been too busy to notice a week before.

Ranma had turned as the door banged open, irritated that once again her privacy seemed to be of little value to anyone else. She opened her mouth to complain at Soun, or possibly Ryoga, the only two males who might bulk so large. Her breath caught in understanding of what she saw. It was Akane, that Akane; male and looming large, face as black as a thundercloud, the wide shouldered, wiry frame automatically turning sidewise to come through the door, his face coming up at Ranma's shocked gasp. Akane, whose nostril's flared at the sight before him, his unfamiliar body responding to that familiar sight and smell and the body language that unconsciously reacted with desire. Ranma suddenly had a lot more sympathy for Akane back when she had walked in on him that first time. Ranma's mouth went dry and she licked her lips as Akane took a single stride that spoke volumes to Ranma of frustration, desire and suppressed violence.

Ranma found her voice suddenly. "Nonononononononononono!" she screeched retreating two stumbling steps before fleeing right over the hot water of the furo and out the window, dripping soap and naked as a lurid male fantasy.

Akane shrugged into his robe and grabbed another robe before pursuing. "Baka! You're naked! Get some clothes on!" Too bad he neglected to properly close his own.

"Gaah!" Ranma glanced behind at the rampant vision and added more speed. From the dojo roof, they briefly used the outer wall as a path. "Waaaah!"

"Baka! Get some clothes on!" Akane used the extra robe as a rat-tail, snapping it at the firm mounds of Ranma's buttocks. "You're making a scene!"

Outside the compound walls, four figures stood stock-still and evaluated what they observed. Keiichi was pale and holding his nose. Baradandya was blushing furiously and covering her mouth with both hands. Urudu was giggling madly and blushing while keeping a firm grip on the shoulder of the fourth figure, a short curvy female in a hooded jacket, who trembled in rage. Urudu glanced at the other members of the party and came to a decision. "You know it's not what it looks like. Right, Bel?"

"Ummm… I hope so…"

"Urk!" Keiichi glanced across at Urudu.

"I… I'll…" the hooded figure snarled.

"Easy, girl. I think it would be a good idea to go on to a nearby coffee shop and wait till things calm down in there." Urudu smirked and replayed the scene, especially the vision of the dark-haired pursuer of Ranma. "I'm almost certain the boy was Akane in cursed form."

"But…"

"Take it easy, Ami, it's not like they haven't done it," the Norn of the past said easily. "Or didn't you pay attention to what was going on around here last week?"

"Yeek!" One of Akane's snaps nailed Ranma painfully on the buttocks. Outrage overpowering panic, Ranma stopped short, whipped around and snarled, "What the hell do you think you're doing you un-cute, gorilla-muscled tomboy?" She froze as a bathrobe hit her in the face and draped around her upper body.

"Baka! You stupid, donkey-brained semi-bimbo! You're running around naked! What are you doing back here anyway? You were supposed to be out shopping for your mom!" Akane's face was red with anger and something else he couldn't easily define.

Ranma's temper was running short, too. Instead of slipping into the robe, she brandished it back in Akane's face."Watta ya think ya were snappin' at, ya brick-thick hick?" she screeched. "Since when is my butt available for yer target practice?"

"If you're going to hang it out there…" Akane began to retort.

"Ahem!" Both combatants' heads snapped angrily toward the sound. From the doorway to the dojo, their audience was frozen in attitudes of shock. Soun's eyes bulged, immobilized in the act of re-hanging the shoji. Genma stood, arms loose at his sides, his mouth hanging against his chest. Natsume and Kurumi crouched with mouths agape, Natsume's hands protectively across her younger sister's face, her sister separating the fingers for a better look. Kasumi had her hands over her eyes.Shampoo appeared about to bust a gut. Hinako looked to be developing a headache. Nodoka, author of the sound, raised an eyebrow.

Ranma snapped the robe out, righted it and wrapped it around her nude form. Akane tied his sash and crouched a little to hide certain physical reactions he didn't know how to control. His eyes widened as he heard Ranma mutter, "Pervert."

"Bimbo," he snarled back.

"Children!" snapped Nodoka. She frowned at Ranma. "You! Bath! Now!"

Ranma blanched and took off running. Akane took two steps after her.

"Akane, where do you think you're going?"

Akane gulped, brought up short by that simple, irritated sentence. "I, aaah… I was going…" She turned her eyes back toward the house.

"I don't think this is a good time to share the bathroom with my son," Nodoka observed.

Akane blinked, huffed and nodded. "Oh, Ranma," Akane whispered.

oOo

Ranma returned, nervously, an hour later, packages in hand. As he sat them on the counter, he could sense Akane sitting quietly in the dojo. Conversation in the main room alerted him to the location of his family and the other Tendos. Apparently he was expected to talk to Akane. He scanned the dojo for surveillance devices and, finding none, glided over. Peeking in, he confirmed Akane was not in her cursed form. Knowing he wasn't surprising her, he stepped in and crossed to slump down in a mirror position facing her. They sat quietly for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry," they said, nearly simultaneously. Ranma's hand crept behind his pigtail and Akane clasped her hands tightly in her lap. "You first," they said in unison again. They laughed weirdly identical laughs before hands slapped over their mouths, indicating personal unwillingness to continue. The scene might have continued indefinitely, except for Akane's short temper.

"Ranma, are you doing this deliberately?"

"Doin' what?" Ranma looked confused. Akane glared. He rose to his feet. "Fine! Be that way!"

"Sit down!" Akane bellowed. "I'm trying to apologize!"

Ranma stopped, his face showing bewilderment, then wry humor. "We're doin' it again," he said simply, sitting back down. "Apology accepted."

"Ranma, I'm sorry I let myself get talked…" Akane's ears finally caught up with her mouth. "What? But I haven't explained…"

"Mom talked ya into it, didn't she? That's why she wanted me outa the house." Ranma sighed pensively. "I'm sorry for callin' ya those names." He laughed quietly. "I'll tell ya one thing. You walkin' in on me like that was the last thing I expected. And when ya started chasing me…"

"Apology accepted. And I wasn't chasing you. You were running around naked and I was trying to give you a robe. What were you doing in the bathroom?" Akane demanded. "Your mom sent you shopping." The hint of irritation in her words showed that Akane wasn't satisfied with merely an apology.

"The usual," Ranma grimaced. "I got splashed, and muddy as well, on the way there."

"Oh…" Gazing at the grain of the floor, Akane tried to decide where to go next. "I, ah… You looked pretty upset… when I came in."

"Well…" Ranma was embarrassed, but under that was a core of real fear. He didn't want her to know that, though. "Ya startled me," he mumbled.

"Ranma, I've seen you stand up to my dad, your dad, Kuno, Taro, Happosai and I don't know who else," Akane accused. "I've never seen you run like that since you got over your fear of cats."

Ranma scowled and looked at the floor. He really didn't want to deal with this right now.

The shoji of the dojo slid back. "Ranma!" Natsume looked a bit rattled herself. "I didn't know you were back," his sister added weakly. "What were you doing running around naked like that?" She watched her brother squirm.

"Ah? Heh-heh! Well…"

Kurumi popped in. "Hey, Ranma's back! What were you doing, bro?"

Akane groaned and shook her head. They would be interrupted just when she was trying to get some answers out of that jerk. She grabbed him by his shirtfront, dragging him close enough for a brief, savage kiss. He returned it automatically but his eyes told her he had no idea why she had done it. "This isn't finished," she told him. "We will talk and you will tell me what's wrong."

Ranma winced; the 'or else' didn't need to be said.

oOo

After lunch, Shampoo returned to the Nekohanten and Nodoka took the girls home. Soun and Genma went out to celebrate the fact that Ranma and Akane were not going to trade domestic chores and begin a family. It was time for the lessons to begin.

Nabiki Kagazumi brought her hand of shinobi to the dojo. Tatewaki Kuno often came with this group, sometimes to study; but, as often as not, merely to gaze upon his 'sensuous shadow', Nabiki. For an hour, Ranma and Akane would examine the progress individuals made, encourage further experimentation and assign exercises to stretch their ki abilities.

Before they got started, however, Tatewaki had news from Kodachi and Taro who settled with Marinara-sensei in a fashionable house outside of Phoenix, Arizona in the U.S. It was very hot, very dry and they had taken care to have the water heater in the house removed. All the houses were air-conditioned, and they were settling in comfortably. Surprisingly, Kodachi had heard news of their demon problem, but had not realized how predominantly the action had revolved around Ranma.

"Where's Sasuke these days?" Ranma asked. "Did he finally give in and follow Kodachi to America?"

"He is in America," Kuno confirmed, "at a conference in San Francisco."

"Here are some pictures from Kodachi," Nabiki said, delving into her equipment bag. Her eyes crinkled in hidden mirth. Her glance at Kuno revealed he too found something amusing. "She and Taro are doing well. Why don't you have a look, Ranma?" Ranma took the packet. Nabiki and her ninja spread out to position their cushions on the dojo floor.

Ranma glanced through the pictures of their friends with Akane watching over his shoulder. One picture caught his eye, making him pause and falter. Kodachi stood profile to the photographer, dressed in a skimpy bikini. Her stomach had an unfamiliar roundness to it and Kodachi's face held a very smug look. The margins were labeled, 'For future reference. Watch me change. We just found out we're expecting twins! — Taro & Kodachi'

"Twins?" Ranma's voice broke. "When did… How did…"

"I can't wait to let Shampoo know. This is like a royal Amazon birth!" Akane jumped up and down in excitement.

Ranma was in shock. Pregnant had been bad enough, but twins? On his girl-type's tiny frame? "Oh, kami! She'll explode!"

"I'm sure she'll be just fine, Ranma," Akane assured him. "You know how flexible she is, and Taro will probably hover over her."

Nabiki grinned. "Let's get started with our lessons, sensei, and get your mind off that sort of thing."

"Twins," muttered Ranma, holding his hands to his stomach. "Gaak!"

Tatewaki had left his bokken, normally his weapon of choice, at home. He didn't need it for the training Ranma was giving today. He smirked, as proud as a father, and periodically gave Ranma a look that made the pigtailed martial artist as jumpy as cricket on a hot skillet. He, in turn, endured with certain wry humor the comments of his instructors about the bonds, evident to anyone with an eye, forming between himself and his 'assistant', Nabiki. Tatewaki was definitely a changed man these days. The inability of either Ranma or Akane to shake his self-assurance led to a choice of training methods that would otherwise have been rejected by the pair. Ranma, in particular, wanted to shake the kendoist out of his smug superiority.

Of the Nerima-based martial artists who competed in the university scholarship tournament last fall, only Kuno had yet to achieve the aural senses collectively called ki vision. While Tatewaki had never been a calm person, he rarely developed the kind of emotional depth that Ranma, Akane or Ryoga had. He had always been a mask of himself, a poser and actor on his chosen stage. Ki vision always appeared to require an strong emotional or sensory trigger to jumpstart it, something that ambushed the individual in a compelling way in the proper circumstances. The day's earlier events inspired the present master of Mutsabetsu Kakuto to maneuver samurai and shadow warrior into a confrontation they were not expecting. Near the end of the session, Ranma set his trap.

"I don't comprehend why I must sit upon this wheeled cart while I meditate," complained the kendoist calmly. "And why do you have Nabiki perched on that absurd overstuffed pillow?"

"Well, the pillow there is very unstable," Ranma said brightly, "That's to keep her focused on her balance as well as contemplatin' her wa." He pointed to the platform with casters that Tatewaki's cushion rested on. "I'm gonna keep ya movin' around the floor to help ya disassociate yerself from yer surroundin's."

"Ranma, sometimes the innovations you bring to martial arts training amaze me," Kuno said with great feeling. As Ranma began to react in his usual cocky manner, the older man continued, "But I have the feeling this will not one of those times." He gingerly assumed the traditional lotus position on his smoothly mobile cushion.

"Just humor me, Tachi!" Ranma grumbled while Akane snickered behind him.

"That's Kuno-san to you… sensei," Tatewaki said. His eyes closed. He swiftly began to drop into his contemplative state.

"Well wadya know…" Ranma began.

"Monomania has its uses. We know, Saotome, we know," Kuno anticipated him in a distant voice. "Do what you must. I endured two years of the pig-tailed girl, I'm certain I can endure whatever ridiculous procedure you plan to inflict upon me now."

Ranma looked irate. "Who had to endure whom?" he snorted, "I don't think ya trust me, Tachi."

"My only confidence is that you will refrain from the physically lethal aspects of training that your father put you through," Tatewaki replied. "Other than that, I suppose it is 'anything goes'." He smirked at his pun.

Ranma scowled. "Does that include kicking him through the dojo roof?" Ranma asked in an aside to his fiancée.

"Don't break the paying students, baka," Akane said archly. "What are you up to?" she added in a whisper.

"Remember how Shampoo shocked Mousse into ki vision?"

Akane frowned and glared. "It'll never work, Ranma. They've heard how that happened. They'll be expecting it."

"Distraction, tomboy. You just follow real close with yer ki vision and watch my act," he told her. He turned to the rest of Nabiki's hand of ninja. "You guys circle around yer boss-lady here. It's time for some ribbon practice. Use a real light touch." The girls gathered around in a circle ten meters across with their chonin, Nabiki, at the center. Tatewaki's cart sat in the vacant area between ninja and leader. "Okay, girls, use your ki ribbons to access the ki of the cart, Tatewaki and his cushion. Nudge it along; pass it from one to the other. Smooth, easy transfers that don't disturb him are the key. You start, Isishi."

Isishi took a deep cleansing breath and let it out. Then she released her will and her ki seemed to roll out like a cloud. Tatewaki began to move.

"Good girl," breathed Akane. The next girl picked it up with a slight bauble that brought giggles around the circle. "Easy…"

Tatewaki soon resembled a planet orbiting its sun.

"What now, Ranma?"

"Are ya watchin'?" Ranma replied, a wicked grin in his eyes. "Look at them."

Akane turned back to the circle. "What?"

"Look," Ranma demanded. Akane used all her senses and slowly began to understand what Ranma was doing.

There were other streamers; far less visible than the ribbons the girls were using, but just as strong. They stretched and swirled between Tatewaki and Nabiki, connecting them like spider webs in the branches of a tree. In some way, despite their separation and deeply meditative states, they were aware of one another. Ranma smirked and sent a ribbon twisting and turning over the circle, to alter Tatewaki's motion. Gently, Ranma began to spin the kendoist in his orbit. Akane suddenly comprehended the goal of this game — to lead Tatewaki and Nabiki into a kiss with neither aware of the plan. All the activity was window dressing to distract them. She suspected this was the only chance Ranma would have to attempt this, as those odd connections between the two were definitely strong enough to allow a joint awareness of their surroundings, a sort of enhanced empathy. As Tatewaki spun closer to Nabiki, those connecting threads thickened and firmed, obviously allowing more information to pass between them. Akane added her own ribbon in an action that finally tipped Tatewaki gently into the ninja-girl's arms. Their lips met and auras flared.

"Ahhh…" It was whispered but both martial artists shut down their ki senses with a slam.

"Same as Mousse, except both of them simultaneously," Akane whispered. They blinked as if their eyesight was disturbed by the afterimages of that blaze. The remaining ninja gawked as their chonin and her employer went into a tight clench and slid to the floor. "Ummm…" Akane observed that neither individual was coming up for air. "Maybe this wasn't a good idea, Ranma."

"Jeez!" Ranma agreed. "Hey, guys? Guys?" He started to reach out to grab Kuno's shoulder then reconsidered. Senbei had tried essentially the same thing on Akane last week. Ranma really didn't want to get smashed by a ki sword twice the size of Nagasameru's potato-peeler. He smiled brokenly at the astonished and, in some cases, envious ninja. "Just a minor side effect," he explained lamely. "They'll come around in a second. Eeep!" The pair's clench became more active. "Crap! How come no one ever talks about this when they teach ya about teachin'?"

Akane backed away blushing. "Perhaps they should have some time to, ahhh…" She gulped as clothing became dislodged. "Okay! Everybody out! Now!" she snapped. Ninja bolted for the egresses. The shoji slammed shut behind them. Ranma and Akane exchanged embarrassed glances as the aura of the pair inside the dojo became brighter, more intense. "At least this won't be entirely new ground for them," Akane offered weakly.

"Hi, there!" came a rich, sultry voice.

"Eeek!" Akane clasped a hand to her chest. "Ah-ha? Oh! Hah-hah, hah! It's you, Ms. Kamiko." She looked beyond the platinum-haired kami to Keiichi, Baradandya and a fourth visitor, a short curvy woman in a hooded sweatshirt. For some reason, her features were hidden in the shadows of the hood. "Keiichi, Baradandya…"

"I get called Ms. Kamiko. I'm hurt," she pouted. The ninja were regrouping to greet their mentors and friends as Akane stammered an apology for not treating her like family. "Why is everyone out here?"

Ranma and Akane glanced at one another. "We decided we should work out in the yard today," Ranma offered, sweating.

"Where are Nabiki and Tatewaki?" Baradandya asked sweetly.

"They're… otherwise occupied," Akane offered. "They just acquired advanced ki senses today and I think they're exploring what they can do with it." Ranma snorted nervously.

"That's wonderful!" Baradandya exclaimed. "I can just imagine how they must feel!" She faltered as Ranma and Akane began to cough.

"Why do I feel you're not telling us everything?" Urudu gibed.

"Ha-ha…" Ranma raised his hand to his pigtail, a dead giveaway of his embarrassment.

"Sao…to…me!"

They all flinched as Kuno slid the shoji open and glared at his instructors. His clothing was in disarray and Urudu smiled her appreciation of the muscular expanse of chest and shoulder. He brandished a tubular piece of stiff elastic cloth in their faces, which Urudu ignored. "Very nice, Nabiki," she murmured, staring at his chest.

"What was the purpose of your nefarious machinations? What purpose was served by compelling Nabiki and I into an amorous display before her minions! Even I could hardly believe…"

Akane looked pained. "We didn't expect you two to, ah…"

"…get so hot and bothered, Kuno," finished Ranma.

"Oooh… And I missed this? Darn!" murmured Urudu.

"How's yer ki-vision workin'?" Ranma inquired, unfazed.

"My ki-vision?" Tatewaki stopped and his eyes seemed to glaze.

"Excuse me, please," Nabiki said archly, holding her gi-top before her and reaching to retrieve the fabric from his hand. Tatewaki still stood frozen, so she had to yank a few times before retrieving her sports bra. She paused and eyed her audience. "I don't suppose you'd like to explain why you used this method to give us advanced ki senses?"

"That might be a little difficult," Akane replied, eyes looking anywhere but at them. "We're very sorry." They both glanced toward Kuno, who seemed like a man on the verge of religious ecstasy.

"By the gods…" Kuno breathed. His eyes were closed now, and he turned his head this way and that, to finally face Nabiki. "How beautiful…"

"C'mon, Tachi-chan, let's get you home," Nabiki said, blushing deeply and restraining a silly smile at his words. "You might want to compose some haiku or do some ichibana once we're there."

"We're sorry, Nabiki-san," Akane said for both she and Ranma.

"It worked, didn't it?" Nabiki grinned. "What a rush! But I don't think that method should become a school standard." She tugged on Tatewaki's arm. "Come on, lover-boy, let's take the afternoon off and play with our new toy." She turned to one of the other shinobi. "Dari-san, please get the car ready." Trailing Kuno, Nabiki's hand of ninja left.

"So Kuno-san and Nabiki-chan have acquired your ki-vision, Ranma?" Keiichi asked.

"Looks that way, Kei," Ranma admitted. He shook his head and stared after the departed ninja.

Akane suddenly remembered the news that had shaken them earlier. "Oh, Mrs. Morisato, Ms. Kamiko, Kodachi wrote home. She's having twins!"

That's wonderful," Baradandya burst out. She stroked her hands across her stomach, a delighted smile on her face. "I can't wait."

Ranma groaned. "Twins! Kodachi's havin' twins." His hands were on his stomach, but they weren't stroking. "Arrgh!"

"Perhaps it's compensation for the curse?" Urudu suggested. "Higher birth rate to compensate for the hazards of pregnancy?" She bit her lip to keep from laughing as Ranma turned horrified eyes toward her.

"But that might mean…" He clutched his stomach and groaned. He couldn't say it, of course, but the idea that his girl-type might, if it ever happened to get p-p-p-preg… preg-nant… He looked as if he'd like to be ill.

"Poor baby," Akane teased. She patted his shoulder. She had a reasonably good idea of what he was thinking. The stranger beside Urudu shifted, catching her attention. There was something awfully familiar about the woman... "Oh, my!" Akane caught herself staring.

Ranma picked up her tension and looked curiously at their other guest. "Who is that, Urudu?" Ranma asked flatly.

"Are you… are you the kami…" Akane gulped. She wondered if Ranma had seen what she had.

The woman threw back her hood. Keiichi and Baradandya drew back a little, unconsciously clearing the path between Ranma and the kami. Her hair was not pigtailed like Ranma's or in a long ponytail like Kodachi's. Instead, it was done like Shampoo's in buns and twin ponytails, shorter and the hair was red.

"You are the kami Urudu told us about. The one with the connections to the Amazons?" Akane eyed the familiar looking redhead. "You, you look just like…"

"I was once the guardian and goddess of the Amazon people. I am Amatras."

Ranma nodded absently and paced around their guest, probing with his aural senses. "We're not an exact match. She's a little taller than me," Ranma commented, recovering his aplomb. Anyone who knew him could tell his overt ease was little more than a façade. Ranma was prepared for violence. Amatras looked him over like a side of meat and smirked. "When I'm in girl-type, I mean," he qualified. "Is this some sort of joke?" He indicated her form. She laughed richly, but turned away from his gaze. Something inside Ranma shifted as he saw the track of tears. He caught himself just short of reaching out to comfort her.

Amatras noticed. At least the boy had a heart. "I took this form, which was once the form of my beloved granddaughter."

Ranma stepped back. "Who drowned at Jusenkyo," Ranma finished for her. She turned her gaze back to him. "I just wanna warn ya up front, if yer plans are to bring her back in my place, I won't cooperate." He smirked a little. "Of course, if ya have a way of splittin' her off and leavin' me curse-less, I might change my mind. I prefer my own shape, thank you."

"I'm sorry, Ranma Saotome," Amatras said, "but Jusenkyo curses can't be split that way. Not safely, at least. In this world, the curse does not affect the spirit, nor does it birth one anew within you. Any being that is magically made from your curse would be soulless and therefore dangerous beyond belief." She sighed. "Attempting to split your aura would leave you physically and spiritually unstable." She smiled a curiously defensive and tremulous smile. "My granddaughter's spirit moved on long ago and I would not recall her even if I could."

"Whyja come then? Ya just curious about Jusenkyo?"

"Jusenkyo has had the power to convey curses for millennia, young man," the goddess replied. She took a deep breath. "They were little more than a local hazard when we settled in the Bayan Hara. There used to be only a dozen or so pools; Spring of Drowned Cricket, Spring of Drowned Earthworm, that sort of thing. It amazes me that anyone would live near something like that. It was when the Chhin came to power that someone figured out the mechanics of the valley and started digging more pools and deliberately drowning things there." She selected a treat from the tray and nibbled. "I understand that there are actually several springs of drowned woman, just as there are several springs of drowned man."

Ranma looked thoughtful. "What are they – the drowned woman springs?"

"Spring of Drowned Priestess, Spring of Drowned Dancer, Spring of Drowned…" She grimaced. "But that doesn't matter." She gazed thoughtfully at Ranma.

Ranma frowned irately. "Maybe it does matter. I might have fallen inta one of the others."

"Could I, perhaps, see your other form? I would know for certain then," she informed them, well aware of how her words would be weighed, "and I promise, on my power, to do you no harm."

Ranma exchanged glances with Baradandya and Keiichi before agreeing. Having Amatras swear on her power was a potent proof of her goodwill. "Okay, but after Kei's lesson. He's gotta lot of work before he's safe with that sword of his."

After Kei's lesson, that individual retreated to the bathroom while the rest of the crowd made their way to the house's living quarters. Inside, they were greeted by P-chan and Kiku. The cat was fascinated by Amatras but didn't approach. Kasumi, who had been upstairs, started down the steps only to pull up short. She stared at Amatras doubtfully. "Oh, my! We have a visitor."

Amatras glanced at Kasumi then back at Baradandya. "Intriguing…" was all she said.

Kasumi came down the rest of the way and gave a deep bow. "I am Kasumi Tendo. Please be welcome in our house."

"Pardon my intrusion in your home," Amatras smiled brightly and bowed as well. "Please accept this inadequate gift." She produced a string-bound box and handed it to the oldest Tendo daughter. "I am honored to be here." She straightened and examined Kasumi more deliberately. "You may call me Amatras." They retreated to the main room where Ninomiya was grading papers at the table. A hurried explanation brought a close repeat of Kasumi's greeting at the door. Furinkan's principal put away her papers to play hostess to their unusual guest.

Kasumi bowed again as she moved toward the kitchen. "Akane," Kasumi asked hesitating, "will you help me in the kitchen?"

Ranma's expression didn't quite freeze, but Akane punched him anyway. "I'm fine, now," she huffed. "Honestly, Ranma!"

Amatras looked puzzled as Akane rose and followed her sister out to the kitchen. "Akane used to be a disaster in the kitchen," Urudu chuckled. "She's no gourmet chef these days, but at least she doesn't destroy the kitchen anymore." Ninomiya and the Morisatos looked pained at her comment.

"I heard that!" came Akane's voice.

Ranma flinched and turned. "Akane, while yer out there, could you get me some cold water?" he called. (Sploosh!) "Thanks." The redhead looked aggrieved and patted some of the water out of her hair. "Would you all excuse me for a moment." She rose, glared at Urudu who'd snickered, and went out to the kitchen. It was time to rescue her fiancée from herself.

"Kamisama…" breathed Amatras. Tears suddenly filled her eyes but she smiled.

"Oh, dear." Baradandya reached out and laid a comforting hand on the other goddess's shoulder. "Is it so hard seeing Ranma like this?"

"Yes," Amatras admitted. "But I needed to see it for myself."

"My husband, Soun, still grieves for his first wife who died almost ten years ago," Hinako admitted. "How terrible for you to carry such a burden for so very long." Baradandya nodded to her colleague, withdrawing her hand to gaze with concern at her peer.

Kasumi popped out of the kitchen, giving a faintly worried glance over her shoulder. "Akane and Ranma will be out in a few minutes with your cake, Amatras-sama. Please let me pour tea for everyone." She jittered a little as she knelt but managed to serve the tea creditably.

Keiichi, quiet as usual, wondered what those two were doing in the kitchen that had disconcerted Kasumi so. He shrugged to himself. There were a lot of powers that came naturally to a kami, but information gathering and offensive capability weren't among them. The latter, in particular, was a matter of training and practice, which was why he was taking lessons from Ranma. Keiichi closed his eyes and sipped from his cup. One of the things he'd have to do soon was to search for his attributes, a journey of discovery to define what aspects his powers would take; what Australian bushman might call a 'walkabout'. He gazed into his teacup and almost dropped it. Then again, some abilities simply fell into your lap.

In the reflections of his cup he could see the Tendo kitchen. Just in front of the stove, two girls were locked in a passionate embrace.

FYI: You've probably seen me use the phrase 'hands' of Ninja or a 'Chonin's Hand' in a way that doesn't refer to the member at the end of an arm. In the case of the temple ninja, a basic team is a squad leader and a set of five ninja (the fingers of the hand) It also deals with the fact that most of the silent signals they exchange on a mission are hand signals visibly semaphored or tapped onto another's arm or hand to discuss strategy. There are at the time of the story, some forty ninja plus 8 team leaders including Hikari and previously Senrigan. Tek, the 'Tinker' (and former mouse) is not part of a permanent team and is attached as needed to whatever mission requires her skills. Kodama is the overall leader or Jonin of the Temple Ninja. Normally there would be a level above theirs, of retired ninja who acted as advisors, judges and teachers, but this level is nominally taken up by Beldandy, Urd and Skuld and lately, Nabiki Tendo.

When Marller created them, the original Demon Ninja were supposed to be organized in teams of four; three ninja with a senior ninja leader. This was organized in twelve teams of assassin-spies with Kodama as Marller's champion and research-technical team of four that included Tek. In the attack on the temple, this team provided surveillance for Marller. Only Tek, who was closest to the action, was caught in Beldandy's spell. The other three escaped to rejoin Marller and continue building devices for her, though they were punished by the Demon by the sealing of their human forms. Four is an 'unfortunate' number in Eastern Philosophy, so in a gesture of respect for the goddesses, they reorganized to the current structure.