A Scary Thought

by Derekloffin

What happens when Kasumi is the one coming back from a training trip rather than Ranma? Well, read on to find out. Chapter 33 new content not on my webpage yet.

24. Chapter 24: Frost's trap

Ranma 1/2

Altered Destinies: A scary thought

Chapter 24

Kyoichira Jin was not normally a man who skulked around, and being a police officer, he normally was not one to enter an apartment uninvited or at least without the proper legal authority. However, circumstances demanded that he keep his connection to his contact a secret, as his meeting with her would no doubt raise questions about her cover. So, Kyoichira discreetly, and quietly, opened the door to Saki's apartment, and made his way in, taking note of the sound of a shower as he entered. He stopped in the main room, and sat down to wait.

"You ever heard of knocking?" Saki called out from the bathroom.

Smiling, Kyoichira replied, "No real need."

"What are you doing here, Kyoichira?"

"Officially, for a progress report," he replied, just as the shower was turned off. A minute later Saki came out from the bathroom, dressed in a bathrobe and drying her hair with a towel.

"And we both know that is official crap!" Saki said as she headed over to her dresser. "What's the real reason?"

Kyoichira dodged the question for the moment, instead bringing up another topic. "Heard you had a rather eventful first day. How are the ribs?"

Saki fumed for a moment, then answered, "They're fine."

"I warned you to watch it here. These aren't the same types you're used to dealing with."

"The types I deal with would have stuck me with a knife," Saki replied, as she retrieved some clothes from the dresser.

"And that girl could have broken you in two, were she so inclined," Kyoichira added, and leaned back in his chair. "Miss Kuonji is a very formidable lady. If our sources are accurate, probably the second best martial artist at the school, next to your instructor."

"Yeah, and where do I rank?"

"About sixth."

"What?" Saki exclaimed as she spun around. "Are you joking?"

"Dead serious. Actually, sixth might be a bit generous. I'm pretty sure you could take the likes of say that Kuno individual, or his sister, but a lot of this crowd you're in with now are the real deal. They may not be cold-blooded killers, as you say, but they've got the skills. It doesn't matter though. I already told you this wasn't a mission to break up the nar-do-wells. You're here simply to keep your cover."

"Yeah, yeah, 'this bunch is the visible trouble makers, the easy to deal with types'. I remember the spiel."

"Do you suspect differently?"

Saki thought for a long moment, and then reluctantly shook her head. "No. The biggest criminal activity I've heard of is in those far-fetched stories Kitsune tells everyone. The rest is just a bunch of kids trying to be big shots in their own little way. So, when am I going to get a real assignment?"

"As soon as we find something, I promise. Until then, you're here, and I suggest you make yourself comfortable, Saki, because it may be a while. You can start by obeying direction and moving into the dorm."

Saki scoffed, picking up her clothes and heading for the bathroom once again. "I'm a big girl, Kyoichira. I don't need to be babysat," she replied, closing the door to the bathroom behind her.

"And you seem to forget that you are a student too, and have to do as you're told."

"Or what? They'll throw me out?"

"No, they phone your sponsor with a lot of questions."

"Huh?"

"Our mutual friend received a call from your instructor, Miss Tendo, wondering as to your where-a-bouts."

"Big deal, just make something up."

"He is not one to cover someone else's butt, not for inconsequential reasons. He'll maintain your cover, but that's the extent of it. He's not going to give you free sanction to do as you please. So, he told her you'd report in shortly, and sent me here to tell you that."

A low growl came from the other room, and Saki quickly came out, now properly dressed. "He said what? Come on Kyoichira-"

"Don't, come on, me, there is nothing I can do about this, even if I was inclined to, which I'm not. Oh, and I'm also supposed to tell you the rental agreement you have for this apartment will be quashed if you don't agree. Which, of course, gives you the pleasant options of the street or the dorm. It is just a temporary arrangement Saki, so be a good girl and play along."

Saki glared across the room at her guest, sorely tempted to toss him out for this, but as the old saying went, he was only the messenger. "Like I have a choice. Alright, fine, I'll go to this stupid dorm. You of course realize that reduces my privacy to near nothing."

"You'll survive. We'll take appropriate precautions before contacting you."

Saki nodded then walked over to her window. "Another thing, about my so-called cover. Why is Kasumi so-"

"On a first name basis already?"

"Don't change the subject. She knows far too much about me. I swear she knows this is just a cover." Looking back over her shoulder, she continued, "If I didn't know better, and presently I'm not sure I do, I'd say you two had something up your sleeves when sending me here."

"Miss Tendo is just astute. From what I hear, she looked a little closer than we expected at your previous school assignments and the events surrounding them. She must have just put it together. You haven't confirmed anything that would cast doubt on that theory have you?"

"Of course not," Saki said in annoyance. "And believe me, I've tried. I'm not an idiot you know." Looking away from him, Saki shook her head. "But basically, when it comes to Kasumi my cover is essentially blown. She doesn't know I'm an official police agent, I think, but she knows enough that I'm helping you."

Kyoichira nodded. "No secret lasts forever. Someone was bound to find out. Better here, where there is no threat, than on a real assignment. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just proceed as you have and everything should be fine. We'll make sure to seal up the holes in your records for future assignments. And, for pity sakes, relax! Enjoy your time off. Over the last year you've had less than two real weeks of down time, I checked, and even then it was because you were convalescing. You're working toward a nice ulcer at that rate. You might even try to get to know your fellow students as people rather than suspects."

Saki laughed then turned to look at Kyoichira. "Is that your round about way of asking me to make friends?"

"However you see it."

Saki's amused expression left her, and was replaced with a frown. "You're joking." After not getting an immediate response, her frown deepened. "No, you're just crazy. I can't chance having somebody getting caught up in my-"

"Saki, our line of work is rough, and people get hurt, or even killed, I know. However, that doesn't mean you can manage it alone forever," Kyoichira argued, but failed to impress Saki, so he tried a different approach. "I know you feel responsible for Junko's death, but unfortunate things happen. It had nothing to do with her friendship with you, but your bringing her killers to justice had everything to do with it. If you had not been there, they would have gotten away with that crime.

"All isolating yourself does is make you that much less aware of what's happening around you. The type of criminal you hunt lives in the shadows, and you can only know of their actions by witnessing the behavior of the innocents they prey on. You see, it is a double-edged sword. You risk friends being caught up in your trouble if you have friends, but without them people could get hurt simply because you were not aware there was a problem. So, which do you prefer, risking your own ignorance preventing you from helping, or your own skills failing when you can help?" Saki glowered for a moment, and then sagged slightly, accepting the argument. "Good. I better be off. Next time we talk, I hope we won't have to repeat this lecture."

Getting up, Kyoichira headed out, Saki giving him a brief goodbye, before dropping into the chair he had vacated with a sigh. How do I...

XXXXX

...Get myself into these situations? Kasumi thought to herself in dismay. Normally I try to avoid excitement, but lately everything I do just seems to bring the excitement right to me. Perhaps I acquired some odd karma some time ago and did not notice. Karma or not, Shampoo could help by acting at least a little less... stimulated. Kasumi broke into a blush as Shampoo once more sighed in contentment, but quickly moved away from her thoughts to rinse out Shampoo's hair, which she had just worked into a heavy lather.

Nothing could be more innocent, sharing a bath with another woman, but Shampoo had managed to turn it into something far more intimate, and a lot less innocent. This particular situation was due to the young Amazon having called in that little promise Kasumi had made about a week or so ago. It was no surprise really. Kasumi had been expecting something like this sooner or later, and with all that had happened with Nabiki, it was even less surprising it was now. Kasumi was just glad Shampoo had settled on a bath.

Poor Nabiki though, Kasumi thought. For one night, one morning and the early part of an afternoon Nabiki had pulled out all the stops in order to... well seduce Kasumi, or rather Kaneda. It was a rather disturbing time. Shampoo had quickly grown so upset over the incident, and her inability to do anything violent to her beloved's sister, that she'd moved back in with Makoto for the night, which unfortunately left Kasumi alone with Nabiki. Adding to the tension of the whole thing was the way Nabiki was talking. Kasumi had been left uncertain whether all her sister's actions were due purely to the pill. However, she had since decided it was best not to rock the boat.

It had been a very long night. Kasumi had wisely chosen to stay home, but that did not prevent someone from finding out at school about the whole thing. Rumors had been rampant ever since, and the whole situation climaxed with the now infamous, and scandalously revealing, mural painted by one Izou Horagashi on the front of the school. He was apparently inspired by said same rumors. So, every day she went to school, Nabiki had a forced reminder of her embarrassment.

Of course, that was but one incident on Kasumi's mind. The whole thing with Haruka had Kasumi rather confused... nono, bewildered would be a better word. Haruka is a girl. I still can't believe it. How could I have been so foolish? And of course I told everything to Shampoo, so now she probably has the completely wrong idea. Oh, that Haruka...

Not wishing to dwell on that any longer than necessary, Kasumi turned her mind back to Shampoo, feeling eased, but then confused. Why am I even reacting this way? Kasumi asked herself as she continued to wash Shampoo's hair for her. My own reactions seem foreign to me. Could my curse be affecting me more than I believed? Kasumi shook her head to purge the notion and turned to yet another matter. "I was thinking of joining Uncle Saotome and Ranma for a training trip to the mountains. Would you like to come?"

"Umhmmm..."

"Shampoo, did you hear me?"

"Mountains, yes, Shampoo hear," Shampoo replied as Kasumi finished rinsing out her hair. "Why go?"

"To train," Kasumi repeated, as Shampoo rested back against Kasumi. "Cologne has given me a number of scrolls to look over. She was interested in seeing how far I could get on my own with them. I really haven't had a chance to look at them, so I was going to use this trip to give them a try. You could use the time to brush up your skills too."

"Ranma mother let Uncle train Ranma?"

"Not really. She'd be coming along too."

Shampoo nodded. "Is okay then."

"Good. We were going to-"

Kasumi was sharply cut off by a panicked scream just outside, in the changing area. Both girls recognized the voice as Herb's, and bolted instinctively to action, with Kasumi already rushing for the door. She threw the door open, ready for anything, and found Herb looking at her blood covered hand in shock. Kasumi's entrance got Herb's attention, causing the cursed girl to get an eyeful of Kasumi's current state of dress, or rather, lack of it. Her expression promptly changed from fearful shock to awe. A fine trickle of blood flowed from her nose. A second later she passed out.

Puzzled by this, Kasumi barely managed to cross the remaining distance and catch Herb before she fell, then noticed the reason for the Prince's reaction.

"Stupid Musk boy no can take sight of naked woman?" Shampoo asked as she entered, handing a blushing Kasumi a towel to cover herself. Kasumi did not bother to answer the question, instead easing Herb to the floor and quickly wrapping the towel around herself, before returning to examine the Prince.

"Alright then, what is all the noise about?" Cologne demanded as she opened the changing room door. "A body can't get any meditating done with all this racket."

Makoto, who mouthed, 'Pretty Sammy,' at them, over the diminutive form of the Amazon elder, followed Cologne closely.

"What happened to her?" Cologne asked, poking at Herb with her staff.

"I... ah..."

"Got out of the bath a bit too quick did we?" Cologne asked with a smile, and then hoped over. "Now then, let's see what caused all this." Kasumi stepped aside to allow Cologne to examine Herb. A few seconds passed before she nodded and stood back on her staff. "Oh, the fool is just menstruating."

"Pardon?" Kasumi asked. "How is that possible? She is-"

"A she," Cologne interjected, "at least for the last three or so months if your information is correct. Natural female physiology will win out given enough time and I suppose three months counts as enough. Of course she no doubt was unprepared for this."

"If I were a guy all my life, I bet it would catch me unprepared too," Makoto added. "She's waking up."

"What the... ooohh..." Herb moaned as she sat up then promptly remembered why she had screamed in the first place. "I have to get to a hospital!" she exclaimed as she sat up, but Kasumi stopped her.

"Herb, it's alright."

"Alright? Bleeding internally is not alright?"

"You're not bleeding internally. It's a natural female body process."

"Come again?" Herb asked in disbelief, then looked at everyone in the room to note the slightly amused looks on their faces. "You're serious. Why in all the heavens would a woman naturally bleed?"

Sighing, Cologne turned to leave. "I'll leave you to explain it to her. Come along, Shampoo, Makoto." The two girls responded and left Kasumi with Herb. As they left, Herb looked at Kasumi more intensely, causing Kasumi to get nervous.

"Ah... well... you see... it is like this..."

XXXXX

A short time later, a scream echoed through the restaurant. "MY LIFE..."

XXXXX

"...IS HELL!" Nabiki cursed at full volume in the front of the school. "Bad enough I have to endure looking at this blasted painting every morning till they get it painted over, but I'm not even making any money out of it!" Nabiki sneered at the 3 story tall mural depicting the naked forms of Kaneda and herself engaged in a rather passionate moment, painted by the resident expert in the ancient art of Indiscriminate Martial Arts Graffiti, Izou Horagashi. "As soon as I get my hands on Izou, he is a dead man!"

"Calm down Nabiki," Tsubasa pleaded from her side. "I beat him up for you already."

"Is he in the hospital?"

"No..."

"Then he got off too easy! Look at this... On second thought, don't look!" Nabiki said, quickly covering over Tsubasa's eyes. The last thing I need is for him to get horny over this. It been two full days, and more cold showers then I can count, and I'm still feeling hot. She moaned in frustration and proceeded to walk off, Tsubasa in tow, trying to ignore seeing most of Furinkan's male populous taking advantage of lunchtime to gawk at her nude rendering. Even worse were the girls gawking at Kaneda, although she swore every so often she saw one or two taking a quick glace at the other figure in the picture. "You will pay for this Izou! Oh will you ever pay!"

"Nabiki, you have to calm down."

"Calm down! Calm down he says. How am I suppose to calm down when that jerk painted my portrait in oils, sans clothing, for everybody and his brother to see? Christ, I'd get less exposure in a bloody porno!"

"It isn't that bad," Tsubasa said in an attempt to calm Nabiki.

"Isn't that bad! And stop looking at that!"

"I'm not!" Tsubasa quickly responded, diverting his eyes.

Nabiki glared at her would-be boyfriend for a moment then sighed, relieving some of her built up tension. "Alright, alright, I'm calm. I'll figure some way to get back at Izou."

"That's the spirit!"

"Quiet!"

"Right," Tsubasa replied meekly.

Nabiki turned her glare from Tsubasa to the graffiti for a moment then closed her eyes. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"It's okay. I understand. I'm sure you're upset, I mean, it being your cousin and all."

I only wish it were my cousin, Nabiki thought ruefully. At least that would be considered semi-normal in some countries. But noooo, it has to be my own sister, who happens to have the parts for a brother half the time, and oh does he have the parts. After shaking her head violently to purge that thought, Nabiki once again moaned in frustration and rubbed her eyes.

"I suppose now would be a bad time to ask if you want to go out tonight." Stopping her eye rubbing, Nabiki looked from under her hands at Tsubasa. "I know, bad timing. I just thought it would help to get your mind off of it." Nabiki continued to stare at Tsubasa, unmoving from her previous position. "It was just a thought."

"A thought?" Nabiki repeated irritably then quickly calmed, but only for a moment as she soon noticed Saki approaching. "What the hell does she want?"

"Hey Nabiki," Saki said as she passed by. "Nice picture."

"Drop dead!" Nabiki snarled at the passing pink-haired girl. After taking another minute to get some more anger out of her system, Nabiki turned to Tsubasa. "Perhaps you're right."

"Then you will go out with me?"

Frowning for a moment, Nabiki finally nodded. "But don't get any wise ideas." Nabiki realized she was speaking to empty air. Tsubasa was leaving a trail of dust as he headed for the school. Even as she watched, he leaped into the air, punching with his fist. Nabiki sighed, and began rubbing her forehead with great vigor. "Why me Kami-sama, why me?"

XXXXX

"At last, I've found you Shampoo!" Mousse cried out as he descended from the sky to embrace Kotori, with obvious results.

"RAPIST! PERVERT! PIG! SWINE! DIE!" Kotori yelled out in time with each blow she landed on the Amazon male. In a matter of a few seconds, he was embedded face down nearly a foot into the dirt. The assault did not stop there, but continued, with Kotori stomping on the prone boy until finally, after a full minute more of beating, she ran off toward the school, breathing heavily. Mousse, however, remained planted in the dirt for several moments, trying to recover from the unexpectedly vicious beating, until at last a shadow fell on him.

"Mousse, you is so stupid."

"Shampoo?" Mousse asked, more cautious this time as he looked up. Shampoo didn't bother answering, instead huffing and walking off. Mousse's energy quickly returned to him, and he followed after her. "Shampoo, wait, I want to talk."

"No! Have nothing talk about."

"You haven't even heard what I want to talk about."

"No need to. Is same thing always want to talk about, and Shampoo always answer same way."

Mousse paused a moment in thought, then renewed his pursuit. "But Shampoo, why? I just want to make you happy."

"If is so, go take long walk off short pier. That make Shampoo very happy."

"You won't even give me a chance!" Mousse protested. "You'll gladly marry a perfect stranger, but you won't even consider me?"

"Kasumi show more... character in one night than you show in thirteen year."

Mousse again paused, this time in shock at the statement. "You don't really mean that."

"Yes do. Every day Shampoo see you is same thing. Is no different. Always say you love Shampoo, and ask to date, or marry, and Shampoo always say no. You no listen though. If you no want listen, why no marry statue? At least it no have anything to say."

"That's not true, I do listen."

"Then leave Shampoo alone. Go back China."

Finally, caught in a trap produced by his own words, Mousse moaned in frustration. "But I love you."

"So?"

"So?" Mousse repeated in surprise, and rushed in front of Shampoo to block her path. "Don't you understand what that means?"

"Means you have feeling for Shampoo that Shampoo no have for you. Is too bad, but is fact. Why no accept that and do something else? Why keep bother Shampoo?"

"I want you to love me," Mousse replied simply.

"And Kasumi?"

"Her too," Mousse answered too quickly, and immediately regretted his choice of words. "It's you I love most."

Shampoo sighed and shook her head. "You never understand," she muttered as she walked past him, prompting him to follow once again after her. "Is no time for this, Mousse. Go home. Is school now."

"But we have to talk."

"No want talk to you! Is tired of it!" Shampoo replied angrily, then calmed. "Just leave Shampoo alone."

"Not until we talk."

Shampoo clenched her fist at her side, having reached the limits of her tolerance. She swore if he did not leave soon, she was going to send him on an extended trip to dreamland. However, just as it seemed he was going to persist in this futile attempt to garner her attention, a new player entered the equation.

Leaning against a nearby wall, the boy had apparently been listening in on the conversation as they passed. She recognized him from her class and apparently he had lost his own patience, and had toss a small paper airplane into Mousse hair, causing Mousse to stop and look back at him.

"Alright, pal, that's about enough of that. She said she wants to be alone, so why don't you try to be a gentlemen and leave her be," the boy said.

Mousse looked over the intruder, startled that he had not noticed him before. He did not appear particularly threatening; yet something about him set Mousse's battle senses on edge. However, Mousse's own general frustration clouded over the warnings as he found himself a target to vent on. "And just who are you, and what do you want with my Shampoo?"

"Takeshi Ayagami," the black-haired boy replied, "and by what claim do you call her yours, hmm?"

"We're going to be married."

"Seems to me she has other plans. Besides, isn't she already married?" Takeshi asked with an upraised eyebrow.

"You never mind that. This is none of your business. Go away."

"I make it a point to make it my business when I see annoying jerks bothering women, especially when clearly they are disinterested and are either too nice or scared to tell the idiot off."

"Shampoo, no scared of stupid Mousse."

Takeshi turned his attention from Mousse long enough to give her a slight smile. "Then you must be the other," he said.

Mousse fumed at this interchange, and with a flip of his wrists drew no less than 10 swords in each hand. "I won't stand for you insulting me."

Shampoo cringed at the sight of the weapons. It was one of those things that always worried her about Mousse. He was far too eager to use those weapons. One of these days, with his bad eyesight, he was going to kill someone, deliberately or just by chance. Either way it was enough to set her nerves on edge anytime he got angry in her presence. Despite that, however, Takeshi seemed unworried.

"Then prove me wrong and give the lady her space," Takeshi replied without hesitation.

"I don't take orders from you!"

Sighing, and shaking his head, Takeshi responded, "Fine, then we'll just have to do this the hard way. Don't say I didn't give you every chance though." Flicking his own wrist, a single sheet of green paper appeared in Takeshi's hand, much to Mousse's shock.

"What, are you going to do, write me a letter of protest? No wait, maybe a paper cut."

That gained a definite reaction from the boy, as his features changed from calm to anger. "So, you think your little knives there make you so hot? Come and get me."

Needing no further invitation, Mousse made a slash with his swords. The attack was meant merely to break the boy's calm rather than to harm. However, in that instant, the paper in Takeshi's hand glowed, grew rigid, and he slashed in a counter strike. Mousse pulled back to avoid the strange attack, and stood wary. "Ha, what was that supposed to do?"

"Mousse?" Shampoo interjected.

"What?"

"Look at weapons."

Confused, Mousse broke his staring match with his opponent to examine his blades, and found them on the ground, cut cleanly off the hilts. "WHAT? That's impossible!"

Smirking, Takeshi flicked his wrist again, and produced a whole pack of paper in various colors. "Just as the pen is mightier than the sword, so is paper sharper than steel." Irritated, Mousse jumped up and cut loose with a barrage of chained weapons. "Paper Raptor Counter!" Takeshi shouted in response and with inhuman like speed, folding the paper in his hands faster than the eye could track, fired back a barrage of paper birds. To the Amazon's extreme dismay, his weapons were cut to scrap by the incoming paper projectiles, which continued right on to cut him out of the air.

A second later, Mousse crashed to the ground, his clothes shredded, but his skin left uncut, although badly bruised as if he had just been hit with rubber bullets rather than paper birds. Huffing, Takeshi walked over and began retrieving his paper creations, treating each meticulously and leaving Shampoo standing in shock.

Noticing one bird lying at her foot, she picked it up and examined it, determining that it was truly made of paper. "How is possible?"

"A weapon is only as powerful as you make it," Takeshi replied as he walked over. "Sorry about the display there. I went easy on him. He'll be fine in a few days." Looking at the bird Shampoo was holding, the boy smiled. "Keep that one if you want. I can easily make more. See ya around."

Blinking, still stunned at what she just witnessed, Shampoo could do little more than watch as the boy left. She remained a moment longer, eyeing Mousse with a frown before finally turning on her heel and walking off herself.

A minute or so later a shadow flowed over Mousse's fallen form and chuckled. "You are so incompetent Mousse."

Mousse's eyes opened, and he glared at the speaker. "Go away Frost."

"Make me."

Moving slowly and painfully, Mousse maneuvered himself back to his feet. "One of these days," he mumbled as he stood up. "He'll pay for that."

"It is awe inspiring just how pitiful you are, Mousse. Any moron could kill his opponent a dozen different ways throwing the number of weapons you do around. However, you get beat up by a guy using paper cranes. No wonder Shampoo wants nothing to do with you. You are utterly devoid of talent."

"Look here, Frost!" Mousse yelled, spinning around to point his finger threateningly at the pale magus. He was cut short by a slap to his face from the side.

"Face me when addressing me, you insensitive jerk. Even you can't be stupid enough to mistake me for a tree," Frost barked, causing the Amazon male to turn to face her as ordered.

"You know perfectly well I have vision problems," Mousse replied a bit meekly, noticing the sting from her slap was particularly strong.

"That's just a pitiful excuse and you know it. I know blind people with sense enough not to mistake people for inanimate objects. Only an idiot would do that. It's flagrantly insulting and part of me thinks that perhaps you do it on purpose," Frost said with much venom in her tone.

Mousse withdrew a step at the accusation. For a second, he looked like he was going to rebut Frost's statement, but then he chose to ignore her and simply turned to leave. However, Frost was not about to let him off so easily. Her ire with him had been simmering for a long time, from years before the current situation, and she had reached her limit.

"Hey, where do you think you're going? I'm not finished."

"I don't want to hear it."

"And that matters to me how? Answer, it doesn't. You're going to hear it. I told you to stay away from Shampoo, and Kasumi for that matter."

"I don't take orders from you, and I'm not afraid of you either."

"Then you're stupider than I thought. By all rights I should have fried you at the beach for what you were going to pull."

"Oh sure, I'm the devil incarnate for trying to use that love pill, but you conveniently forget that Shampoo was about to try the same thing."

Frost paused, briefly flustered by the counter. "That's different. They're already married."

"So that makes it right?"

"Y...yeah."

Mousse scoffed as they reached the entrance to the schoolyard. He continued walking, as Frost paused without anything to say to his counter-argument. Finally, after taking a moment to think, Frost chased Mousse out of the schoolyard into the street. "Okay, so maybe she made a mistake. It's your fault she's so desperate to get someone to love her."

"My fault? And what am I?"

Frost smirked. "Chopped, 10 year old liver, with mold growing on it, and yes it is your fault. Any guy who even thought about asking her out you had to scare off."

"Nobody ever did ask her out," Mousse protested.

"Exactly my point! You scared them all off."

"That's not true. I never went out of my way to intimidate anybody."

Frost looked unconvinced. "So you would just have stood idly by and let Shampoo go on a date with say... Fei Zhao?" she asked.

"That jerk wouldn't know how to treat Shampoo!" Mousse angrily pronounced.

"How the hell would you know? You don't even know whom I'm talking about. I made that name up!"

"I thought you meant-"

"No I didn't! This is exactly what I mean. You don't need any more excuse than a guy getting near Shampoo to fly off the handle. You're so damned out of touch with reality you don't even know the names of your fellow villagers! Why don't you just catch a clue, get a life, and leave Shampoo to hers."

Mousse paused and turned on Frost, frustrated. "Stop trying to get between me and Shampoo!"

"Why? I'm doing it for her, and your benefit, although the latter is merely an unfortunate consequence of the former."

"I'm not listening to this," Mousse said with a moan and continued on his way. "Just go away. You're wasting your breath."

Frost thought for a moment, reconsidering verbal strategies, and then chased after him. "When exactly are you going to give up Mousse? Hmh? When? I mean, granted a person can be given some time to try and make things work, but you've had more than ten years now and, if anything, are worse off then when you started this nonsense. What will it take for you to realize she isn't interested and never will be?"

"Would you stop it already!"

"No!"

Having reached the limit of his frustration, Mousse turned on Frost threateningly. "Look, I'll win Shampoo, and nothing you do can stop me. If you had given me that potion we probably would already be married and Kasumi wouldn't even be involved."

At that Frost laughed. "You mean that potion to restore your vision? Hah! Do you really think that would make the least bit of difference?"

"Yes I do."

"Fine, I'll prove to you that it wouldn't. Blind or twenty-twenty, Shampoo still won't want anything to do with you."

That took Mousse aback. "You... you mean you'll restore my vision, just like that."

"Hell no. This comes with a price, but if you think it'll make such a difference then I'm sure you'll pay it."

"What price?" Mousse asked suspiciously.

"Hmmmm... I don't know just yet. Why don't you just agree to give me whatever I want, and I'll decide later?"

"Like hell. I don't trust you. You'd demand I give up on Shampoo."

"Gees you're paranoid. What would that prove? Fine, nothing to do with Shampoo... or Kasumi," Frost said, amending the last bit to cut off further argument from Mousse. "Well, do we have a deal?"

"As long as it doesn't involve Shampoo or Kasumi, and won't harm me, okay."

Frost snapped her fingers in mock disappointment, and then smiled. "Fine then. Come see me tonight. I should have it ready by then."

"You mean it? Really? You aren't just going to drop it in front of me again?" Mousse asked, half in disbelief and half in hope.

"No. This is for real. By the end of the night you'll have normal vision, for all the good it will do you."

Still unwilling to believe what he heard just yet, Mousse adjusted his thick glasses, and examined Frost's face closely for a long minute before finally deciding she was serious. A look of joy filled his face, and he ran off with a great cheer.

When he was out of earshot, Frost let out a cheer of her own. "That stupid idiot. For a second I thought he was getting wise to it but the twit didn't put enough conditions on it. Hah, by the end of the night, he won't be a problem for Shampoo, or anyone else, ever again." Smiling to herself, Frost headed off to the Doctor's office to prepare.

XXXXX

"Oh please, can't I come along? I can help out. I can cook."

"Sorry, Usagi, no go," Makoto replied to her friend as she got ready to head to the San Cheng Huang after school. "The restaurant gets really hectic, and unless you're really quick you'll just hold things up." Unseen by anyone, Makoto crossed her fingers behind her back, and hoped the Kami would forgive her blatant lie. The thought of what Usagi could do to the tightly regulated kitchen at the restaurant made her shudder.

"Oh! Then what am I supposed to do for the whole day?" Usagi whined. "I'm dead broke, and there is no way I'm going to risk staying in the dorm after what happened to Kotori this afternoon. She'll be on a rampage."

"Well, you'll just have to find something else to do. Why don't you check out the neighborhood?"

"I did that for the past two days straight. It's kind of losing its appeal," Usagi answered, her expression forlorn. Makoto was not taken in. Over the time she had known Usagi, she had developed a partial immunity to Usagi's best spanked puppy look. Before Usagi could try another tack, she spotted Minako coming out of the school. "Minako!"

"Sorry, Usagi, volleyball try-outs are today," Minako answer before the question could be asked.

"Today? Oh!"

"You can come and try-out too if you want."

Usagi frowned at her friend. "There is only one sport I'm good at, and it isn't volleyball." Moaning in boredom, Usagi knelt down and began tracing a circle in the dirt with her finger just for something to do. "I'm going to be bored solid."

"Wish I could help you, Usagi, but I'm not exactly overflowing with ideas myself. Maybe Ami's free."

Usagi shook her head. "No. She's studying or something."

"Well, you could always catch up on your school work."

Looking up at Minako, Usagi's face crinkled up in disgust. "School work is no fun. Besides, for once I really have nothing to do."

"You're actually... not behind?" Makoto asked in surprise. "Whoa, you really must be bored."

"You would be too if you were sharing rooms with Kotori. If you're not utterly engrossed in some form of schoolwork, she starts getting suspicious. Does anybody have any clue why she's so high-strung? I tried asking her but she got really defensive. A few questions and she was ready to call the police, can you believe it?"

"I can believe it, and no, I can't say I do know why she's that way," Makoto replied. "I'm sure Kasumi knows, but she tries to keep the other students' records private, and I'm not about to start asking a bunch of questions I really have no business asking."

Minako smiled teasingly at Makoto, and said, "after all, she's not spreading around the fact that Mako-chan likes to dress up as a Sailor Senshi." The look Makoto threw Minako was one that promised retribution. However, even this invitation to tease their large friend did not pull Usagi out of her funk.

Sighing, Usagi continued her dirt tracing. "This isn't doing anything to solve my problem."

The two other girls shrugged, unable to offer any help. "Maybe you should check with Ami anyway," Minako suggested after a moment.

"I bet she's actually out to see Herb," Makoto replied. "I've already seen her at the restaurant twice in the last week, and last time all she ordered was some water." Scratching the back of her head, Makoto continued. "I really don't know if she should be getting involved with him, especially now."

"Now?" Usagi ask curiously.

"I really shouldn't say, but loosely speaking, he's becoming more a woman by the day."

"You mean that curse can effect more than just your body?"

"I don't know about that, but I wouldn't make any bets."

"Poor guy," Minako said with a shake of her head. "Maybe Ami can cheer him up."

Makoto shrugged once again. "That's partly what I'm worried about."

"You mean she..." Minako began to reply, then quickly shook her head. "Oh no, I'm not getting into that kind of speculation again. Last time we thought you were-"

"I was what? Oh, you mean when I was hanging around with Haruka. You guys didn't honestly think I was..."

This time it was Usagi's turn to shrug. "You have to admit, you were acting a little odd. You got all starry eyed like when you meet a new boy."

"Guys!"

"Hey, we wised up," Minako quickly added, "and I don't think we should be thinking that way about Ami. I mean, he is a guy, or was a guy, or whatever. I'm sure she knows exactly what she's doing."

"I suppose. Well, I better get going."

Looking at her watch, Minako quickly nodded in agreement. "Oh boy, me too." Looking more depressed than before, Usagi watched as Minako and Makoto took off in separate directions. However, just as Usagi was ready to accept her fate for the afternoon, Minako spun around. "Usagi, I just remembered, Luna said she was going to go look in on Frost. Maybe you can go with her."

"Thanks, better than nothing I guess," Usagi called back, and watched Minako proceed on her way, before herself moving on. Wonder why Luna didn't tell me where she was going? Crossing her arms with a frown, Usagi found her answer. I bet she's trying to trick me into staying in to do more work. Well no sir. Nodding her head, Usagi headed off towards the Doctor's clinic.

XXXXX

"Forget it! I absolutely refuse!"

"But Herb-"

"No, I say! I am a prince of the Musk dynasty and no one will force me to wear this!" The prince loudly declared, holding up a bra and some panties. "Bad enough I must wear those dresses for work, but I will not don these... undergarments under any conditions."

"Be reasonable, Herb," Kasumi pleaded. "I had to adjust my clothing to accommodate my curse. I didn't like it, and still don't, but it was a necessity. You're current form makes these a necessity as well."

"Never! I won't suffer this humiliation!" Herb shouted as she tossed the clothes into Kasumi's arms and walked off. However, Kasumi quickly gave chase.

"It's only temporary, just until Frost fixes the-"

"No!"

"Herb, please."

Herb stopped by the entrance to the San Cheng Huang's bathroom and looked back at Kasumi. "This is unacceptable. I will not be made into a woman."

"But you are... at least right now."

Herb frowned in anger, but it quickly dissipated. "You do not understand, Kasumi Tendo?"

"You fear losing your identity," Kasumi replied plainly, causing Herb a moment of shock. "We do share a common problem. I simply experience it from the other side. Denying your curse does not make it go away."

"It is more than simply this curse."

"What then?"

Herb hesitated a moment, then shook her head. "Never mind."

"Come now, prince, if you wish to wed Kasumi, you should at least show her some trust," Cologne said as she came into the hall. "After all, she is probably the least of your worries."

"You know?"

"Of course I do. I am the Matriarch, am I not? We Amazons may have had little contact with you of the Musk but we know your laws just assuredly as you know ours."

Looking back and forth between Cologne and Herb, Kasumi was openly confused. "Laws? What do you mean?"

"She means that as far as my people are concerned, legally I am now a woman," Herb responded. "Women have few rights in the Musk, and no doubt, given the chance, any lord with a penchant for power would force me into a wedding in order to take the throne."

"They would do that?"

"Unfortunately yes, should they become aware of my condition and manage to bring me back. I'm not about to let them of course, as I would sooner die than be a part of some harem. However, you can see why I am reluctant to further aggravate my situation by acting like a woman. Even if I do get cured, I will still be female half the time, and some may try to argue my prolonged time as a woman has made me one."

"That is nonsense."

"Perhaps not as much as you believe," Herb replied without thought and regretted it immediately as Kasumi's expression changed to one of grave concern.

"Then the curse can..."

Herb considered for a moment, but finally nodded. "Change the mind as well, yes. Prolonged time in cursed form can change ones own self-image. Too much time and you lose your original identity, that of the cursed form taking over. We are uncertain whether it is a function of the curse, or simply a psychological response to current condition, but either way the effect is the same."

"How long does it take?"

"Thankfully it does take time. Changing back and forth often is harmless. At worst you gain too much familiarity with the other form, but your identity remains intact. It takes weeks or months constantly in a cursed form for your identity to be really effected."

"And you've been in this form for three or more months."

"Three months, but my inherited dragon mind is highly resistant to it."

Kasumi blinked as she took this all in, and looked at Cologne to confirm the truth of what Herb was telling her. "How long can you hold out?"

"I'm not certain. Animals take little time at all, but that is probably due to their weak minds to begin with. There is little information about humans, but tales of the original dragons in my line say some lasted years. Others succumbed in much less time, but they may not have been resisting. Not all the dragons in my line were forced into their situation. Being as powerful as they were, more often it was a matter of choice. In fact, I don't put much trust into any of those tales as some are quite contradictory to others."

"Contradictory?" Kasumi asked curiously.

"In many the timing is off. Many predate Jusenkyo's existence which makes no particular sense. I'm not a historian, and I have had little cause to study it. In any case it matters not. Those were full dragons, which I am not. In any case I do not wish to risk furthering the effect by dressing as a woman."

"I understand," Kasumi said with a sympathetic nod.

"Good."

"But you have to anyway."

"What?" Herb exclaimed in surprise.

"Herb there is a practical need for this. If you had changed into a bird, you could hardly expect yourself to continue functioning as a human. Up till now you have been lucky, but your body has finally adjusted and you're going to have to start making some concessions."

Herb scowled, but as pained as she was to admit it, Kasumi had a point. Looking at the underwear still in Kasumi hands, she cringed in disgust. "Alright, fine, if I must. However, I could at least choose something more... suitable and less... female, as is possible."

"That we can manage."

XXXXX

"Kodachi, wait up!" Ranma called out as he rushed up the street to intercept the gymnast.

Kodachi looked over her shoulder at Ranma and sighed, half in annoyance at it being him, half in relief that it was not Kimiko out for her revenge once again. "What can I do for you Ranma?"

"You've been avoiding me."

Kodachi looked off to the side in mock confusion. "And? You must admit, that is nothing new."

This time is was Ranma's turn to sigh. "Dachi-"

"Kodachi," she corrected with a hard smile.

"Gees. Can't you give me at least a little slack?"

Kodachi paused in thought, and then shook her head. "I don't see why. Ranma, we have known each other for nearly ten years, and in all that time it seems to me you've grown less mature and that much more annoying. I understand why Shampoo dislikes Mousse so, because he's just a slightly more obsessed version of you."

"I'm nothing like that jerk," Ranma exclaimed in outrage. "Do you see me trying to force you to marry me? I don't even get involved when you go out with some other guy."

"True," Kodachi acknowledged. "That does not change the fact that you can't seem to take a hint."

Ranma stared at Kodachi for a long moment then lowered his head. "Yeah, maybe you're right."

"What's this? A glimmer, a faint wisp of understanding? Truly, I must admit surprise Ranma."

"Kodachi, you can stop teasing me. Look, I've been thinking... don't say a word," Ranma warned as Kodachi opened her mouth. Instead she closed it with a smug smile, silently bidding him to continue. "As I was saying, everything that has been going on lately has got me to thinking that it is time to get going. I can't just keep up with this twisting in the wind. So I... I want you to go out with me. Now, I'm not finished. Just once, and if you still don't want me around, that'll be the end of it."

Nodding, Kodachi went into thought. "Now, that is a very sensible attitude... which makes me worried since it is coming from you, and that you're trying to use it with me." Smiling Kodachi continued. "I have a counter proposal. I'll go on this date, but only if you can get Kasumi to agree to the same with Tatewaki."

"What? Why?"

"Well, brother dear is starting to get annoyingly captivated by Kasumi, and living with him is becoming increasingly irritating. My brother, for all his faults however, does have some sense about him and may finally realize the folly of his present attempts to win Kasumi if he has a chance to be with her, thus making him perhaps a wee bit more tolerable to live with."

"I don't know, Kodachi. I mean, I've been kind of treating Kasumi a little..."

"Badly?"

Ranma winced at the word, but did not argue. "Well, I don't want to get her involved in this sort of thing."

"If you think it unacceptable for her, why would you believe it acceptable with me?" Kodachi asked leaving Ranma stuck in thought. "Whatever, my counter proposal stands. Take it or leave it. It matters not to me." Concluding the conversion, Kodachi continued on her way home, leaving Ranma to himself.

After another moment of thought, Ranma headed back the way he came. As he walked down the street, he passed an alley, one that concealed in its shadows one part time Okonomiyaki chef who was debating a perplexing problem of her own in her mind. I can't let Ranma do this. What if Kodachi likes him? I could lose my only chance at him. But, then again, what are the odds of that, and if he does get Kasumi to date Kuno then she's that much further away from him. But... but, what if Kodachi does... OH! Holding her head, Ukyo began to grumble in frustration. "Why can't these things ever be easy?"

"What things?"

"AHH!" Ukyo screamed in surprise, quickly jumping into the street and spinning to face the source of the voice. "Mint!"

"Hi!" Mint replied with a wave and smile.

"What the hell do you think you're doing sneaking up on me like that? What do you want?"

After taking a moment to think, Mint responded, "Will you marry me?"

Understandably, Ukyo was taken off guard by the forwardness of the Musk wolf boy. "What? Are you crazy or something?"

"Then you won't marry me?"

"Marry you? I barely know you! Why in heavens name would you want to marry me?" Ukyo loudly asked, and then quickly closed her mouth as she thought about the last question again and just how it sounded. "Never mind. It was a stupid question," Ukyo said as she shook her head. "So that's what this is all about huh? You think you're in love with me."

"Yes."

"Well, you're not."

"I'm not?"

"No, you're not."

"Then what am I?"

"How should I know?"

"If you don't know, how do you know I'm not in love?"

"Because I do."

Mint thought about this for a moment, and then shook his head in confusion. "You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. You don't even know me, and I don't believe in that love at first sight crap. That's just infatuation."

"Isn't infatuation a form of love?"

"No."

Looking puzzled once again, Mint retrieved a dictionary from his clothes and leafed through it. "But it says here-"

"Never mind that."

"No, but really, it says here-"

"Alright already, maybe it is."

"Then I am in love?"

Moaning in frustration, and rubbing her face, Ukyo replied, "I'm getting a headache. Look, I haven't got time for this. You're just having a hormonal reaction to seeing me... naked. That in no way means we'd make a good couple and even less means I'm going to marry you. I have other plans."

"Oh," Mint said sadly, "I'll go then." Mint turned and walked away, his head hung low.

Why is it I feel like I just kicked a puppy? Ukyo asked herself, and then dismissed the thought. I can't get distracted. He just thinks he's in love, but he's not really in love. I have to stay focused on Ranma. Ukyo turned to leave herself, then stopped and looked over her shoulder at the departing Musk boy. He'll get over it. Besides, I can't get involved with some weirdo from the Musk. God only knows what sort of twisted person he is. Nodding, Ukyo looked away and walked off.

XXXXX

Luna was presently in the process of sneaking into the doctor's office. Since the office itself had only a few visible windows, none of which offered much of a view, Luna had been forced into this to get any data on her subject. If that fool Artemis had kept a better eye out instead of ogling over that... C-chan I wouldn't need to do this. He was sent here on official Senshi business, and what does he do? Goof off, that's what. By all rights he should be doing this, not me, but if I left it to him it would never get done. Frowning, Luna dodged in the front door as a patient left, remaining unseen, and hid under a chair. What has gotten into that cat lately? Every since he ran into that pink floozy he's been acting like... like... a world class jerk!

Luna hung her head at the thought. I... I suppose I am just a little to blame. I really just don't know how to act around him anymore. Usagi may be fine with this fate stuff, but I'm not so sure I like the idea of having no choice of whom I'm going to be with. Maybe he doesn't either. Still, he could be a bit more mature about it. Her frown returning, Luna prepared to make her way deeper into the building. Before she could though, a blonde haired acquaintance entered.

"Luna!" she called out as she entered.

"Usagi!" Luna cried out in surprise and frustration.

"There you are," Usagi said as she spotted the cat and picked it up. "Trying to trick me were you?"

"Trick you?" Luna replied in false confusion.

"Well, your little scheme didn't work."

"Usagi, for once in your life you're doing your assigned work."

"Well, that is just super boring," Usagi replied. "Too much school work can't be good for a person."

"Fine, whatever, can you just go before-"

Luna cut herself short as the door to the storage room opened and Frost came out. "Hey, this isn't a chat room... who were you talking with?" Frost asked in confusion, seeing only Usagi.

"Ahhh... well... ummm... myself," Usagi replied.

"Yourself?"

"Yep," Usagi confirmed with a sweat drop. "Kind of silly I know, but-"

"I don't think it's silly."

"You don't?" Usagi asked in surprise, her nervousness eased.

"Not at all. It helps one to consider problems with a person you're on equal terms with and isn't in the least intimidating. However, it is a good idea to remember you are talking to yourself. People might think you are insane if you talk in a totally different voice to a person with a different name."

Laughing nervously, Usagi replied, "I'll remember that. Actually, Luna is my cat."

"Oh, you speak for your cat, do you?"

"Sometimes, although she tends to think she's the one in charge," Usagi answered, gaining a roll of the eyes from Luna, and a small smile from Frost.

"I'm sure. Are you here for a particular reason?"

"Just looking for my cat. She ran off on me."

"Well, since you found it..." Frost replied and turned to re-enter the stockroom.

Hesitating just a second, Usagi quickly lowered Luna to the ground and followed Frost. "You're that wizard right?" Usagi asked, closing the door to the stock room in Luna's face as she entered.

"Wizard? I am a first class Amazon Magus."

"Oh," Usagi replied. "But, you do magic?"

"Yes, you could say that," Frost answered as she went to a nearby shelf and began sorting through it.

"That must be pretty neat."

"It is hard work, very exhausting, and takes years of dedicated study of the craft," Frost explained as she went about her work. "One doesn't just wiggle their nose and cast a spell. It takes complex weaving and even more complex thinking to back it up."

"You must be smart."

"Smart yes, but smarts alone are not enough. It takes a mind that can think in an odd sort of way, a sort of mix of logical and creative thought that is rare even in geniuses. In fact, it is so rare that only one person in a thousand thinks this way, and only one in a thousand of those have the true talent to utilize magic quickly. Others can after many decades of study, but even then only at a rudimentary level. The really rare ones like me use it at advanced levels after only a decade or so of training."

Usagi nodded, unsure how to take the explanation, as fact or as brag. "Can you show me a trick?"

"Trick? What do I look like, some phony of a stage magician? I deal in spells, not petty trickery," Frost replied angrily.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it that way," Usagi quickly responded, waving her hands in front of her frantically.

Fortunately for Usagi, Tofu chose that moment to enter. "Frost, I could... oh, hello, Miss."

"Hello, doctor," Usagi replied politely.

"Um, Frost I could use some help here," Tofu said, gaining a quick nod from the magus in question.

"I'll be with you in a moment doctor," Frost responded.

Usagi looked between Tofu and Frost, watching closely Frost's expression as Tofu left. "I thought you hated men, at least that's what Makoto told me."

"I do. They are a pox on our gender and were it not for their necessity in procreation, they should be removed from the gene pool. At the very least they should be strictly controlled, and should never be trusted."

"I see... but you sure are eager to please the doctor."

Frost looked down right aghast, although Usagi had her suspicion it was mostly due to being found out. "What? I am not," Frost hotly denied. "I happen to be his employee, and as such, unfortunately, I must obey his direction. Don't try to imply I'm in love with him."

"You said it, not me."

Frost's eye twitched as she glowered for a second at the younger girl, who in turn just smiled comically back at her. "What do you know? Love is overrated anyway. It does nothing but get you into trouble."

"Love is the greatest emotion of them all," Usagi countered.

"Pah! Poetic nonsense. All love is, is a glorified biochemical reaction in the brain, evolution's way of getting our primitive ancestors to have children and nothing more. Now it is just useless extra baggage we carry around with us. Who needs it?"

"You're wrong," Usagi replied vehemently. "Love is far more than that. It brings out the greatest things in people."

"And some of the worst too," Frost fired back.

Usagi paused a moment to think. "Without love there would be no caring. You should know. You came here because you cared about Shampoo, right? Would you like it if no one cared about what happened to her? What kind of a world would it be if no one cared about anyone else?"

"Not a very good one I suppose," Frost conceded. "Look, I need to get to work. If you don't mind..." Not bothering to wait for a reply, Frost exited the room, and headed for the examination room. Usagi stepped out as well, and was greeted by Luna.

"You could have at least let me in," Luna said in annoyance. "What were you two talking about?"

"This and that," Usagi replied as she looked about. "Maybe we should check out her room."

"I don't know. I think we have..." Luna began to say, and then noticed Usagi had already walked down the hall. "Usagi! Oh, that girl! Totally irresponsible! How in heavens name she manages to become the future Queen is beyond me." Looking around herself, Luna noticed another patient coming up the outside walkway and concluded she had little choice but to follow. She caught up just as Usagi located Frost's room, and peeked inside.

"I'm going to check it out. You keep watch."

"But-" Luna tried to say, but Usagi proceeded on into the room, heedless. Sighing, Luna turned and stood lookout as directed. "No sense at all..." Luna mumbled as the door closed behind her.

Inside, Usagi looked around, finding the room a strange mix of something out of a wizard's workshop with a television and game console thrown in to mess up the whole image. Books laid strewn about, some in shelves, others scattered in piles on the floor. A low sitting cot was still unmade, and much of the room was in need of a good dusting. A few unlit and burned out candles we left throughout the room as well, which Usagi found particularly odd as there was a perfectly good ceiling light.

"Weird," Usagi said at last and began a more detailed look around the room. She picked up one book and opened it, only to find the writing inside to be utterly unreadable. She quickly gave up on that, and caught sight of a gem hidden behind where the book was on the shelf. What's this? Sure is pretty, and must be worth a fortune, Usagi thought was she grabbed the fist-sized gem, which sparkled in a variety of colors. "Wow," she said openly, then noticed something quite disturbing about her hands. They were now covered in gloves. "What the-?" Looking down at herself Usagi noticed she appeared to have transformed unknowingly into Sailor Moon. She was about to panic and call for Luna, but then noticed the coloring wasn't right. They were duller than she was used to. Closer inspection still and she noticed subtle errors in the design. Okay, so I didn't transform, but how did this get on me? Usagi thought in confusion as she looked down her back to further examine the strange pseudo-Senshi uniform.

"Put that down!" Frost ordered from behind her, causing Usagi to spin around in shock.

"How... How did you get in here so quick?"

"Trade secret," Frost replied with a smug smile. "Give me that before you break it," Frost said as she grabbed the gem from Usagi. As she did so Usagi's clothing returned to normal and Frost's changed to the Sailor Moon like Fuku.

"What is that?" Usagi asked in amazement.

"Just something I'm working on," Frost replied, setting the gem back on her shelf, causing her clothing to revert back to normal as well. "It is an illusion model, nothing more."

"And Illusion model?"

"Yes. Nothing happened to your clothing. It just created an image of that uniform on you."

"Wow, what's it used for?"

Frost looked away. "N... nothing really. I was just trying something out. I thought you were leaving?"

"Well... I ah... sorry, I was just curious. I've never met a real... ah, magus before. I just wanted to see if you were legit."

"Legit? You think I am some kind of fraud?"

"Nono, not anymore."

Frost frowned, then turned back to look at Usagi. "Look, I'm busy here. I have to make up something for tonight. Now, if you don't mind..."

"Sorry... I'm just a bit bored," Usagi admitted. "All my friends are off doing other things, and I can't even go sleep because of Kotori."

"Kotori? Oh yes, the touchy one at school. We have a number of patients complaining about her," Frost said with a nod, and then shook her head. "I'm a magus, not an entertainer. I have things to do here."

"I don't suppose I could help? I'd really like to see how you do this stuff."

"This isn't exactly something a complete magic illiterate can help with."

Hanging her head, Usagi nodded. "Okay, sorry to bother you." Looking thoroughly depressed, Usagi headed for the door, but Frost called her to a halt.

"Sorry, I'm not trying to be mean here, I just need to do this. Maybe we can talk some other time."

"That's okay," Usagi replied in slightly higher spirits.

Clicking her fingers, Frost's television and game console glowed and shrunk into a small glowing ball, which Frost directed over to Usagi. "If you're so bored, why don't you try this out?"

"Wow!" Usagi exclaimed at the display, and gingerly grabbed the glowing ball out of the air. "This is too cool. It feels just like a marble. You're just giving this to me?"

"A loan. I finished the game already, so you can have it for a while. Try not to break it."

"I won't. How do I-"

"Just say 'open' when you've put it on the floor. It'll expand back to normal. There's no way to get it back to that state though, not without my help anyway, so don't go opening it till you find someplace to use it, alright?"

"Alright, thanks," Usagi replied, and waved a quick goodbye before leaving. Frost shook her head as the other girl left, and then grabbed a book off of the shelf.

Outside, Luna met up with Usagi. "Luna, I thought I told you to keep a lookout," Usagi said as they left the building.

"I did. I have no idea how she got in there. In fact, I could swear she was still in with the doctor."

Shrugging, Usagi dismissed the little mystery and looking at the tiny glowing sphere in her hand. "She sure is cool though."

"What is that?"

"I'll show you when we get back to the dorm."

XXXXX

It was turning into a very long day. Kasumi and Herb had visited over a dozen shops over the course of the afternoon, and the prince had reason to reject every suggestion Kasumi had made. Although in many cases Kasumi had to agree as most the undergarments were more directed for show than Herb desired. Some however seemed perfectly adequate to the task and she still rejected them. So, as they entered the latest shop, Kasumi's hopes were not high.

"Herb, it is getting late. You're going to have to choose," Kasumi said as they entered.

The prince looked about the shop with a frown. "Choose... This is intolerable."

"I understand your trepidation about this, but you have little choice in the matter. You had best just try and get along with it, and choose something."

"Okay, I'll... try," Herb conceded and began looking around. Kasumi decided to let Herb have a moment alone, hoping given the opportunity she would find something suitable herself.

Finding an unoccupied mall bench, Kasumi sat and sighed. She did not expect this to be simple, but there was a limit to all things. Pulling teeth would be easier, Kasumi thought with a shake of her head.

"Well, fancy meeting you here."

Kasumi looked up with a start to see Michiru smiling back at her. "Michiru? What are you doing here? Is Haruka-"

"No, she's off at one of her races. As for me, I'm simply doing a little shopping. And you?"

"Herb... needs some new clothes. I'm just helping."

Looking over her shoulder, Michiru nodded as she spied the prince in the store. "I take it she is having trouble choosing."

"I'm sorry," Kasumi said suddenly, causing Michiru to look back at her in confusion.

"Sorry? About?"

"I just thought... you and Haruka... Of course that's silly. You must have found it quite embarrassing, me going on about you being his... I mean her girlfriend."

Michiru simply smiled. "Nonsense. You're not the first one to come to that conclusion. I must admit we do sometimes seem that way. Judging from your history with Haruka, you have more excuse for coming to that conclusion than most. I should be the one apologizing to you. I should have told you earlier about her. I have no doubt you felt a little embarrassed yourself."

Kasumi nodded as Michiru sat next to her. "Some, but honestly not as much as I once would have."

"Why's that?"

"Being married to another girl tends to make one used to it."

Michiru blinked for a moment. "Married? You mean you married a girl as a boy?"

"It was a mistake. I never realized that it was happening. You see, it was Shampoo who I got married to. You know her right?" Michiru nodded, so Kasumi continued. "Shampoo is an Amazon, and their law says that they must marry any male who defeats them. I got into a fight with her during a village tournament, and beat her. Everything after that just seemed like a big celebration. I never thought it was a wedding ceremony. It was the next morning before I found out."

"Next morning?" Michiru asked with wide eyes.

"I passed out from too much to drink before anything could happen. Actually, it wasn't the next morning I found out. I just realized partly what had happened and showed her my true form and had to leave. I only found out recently that we're married. In any case, I'm still married to her."

"Really? Wouldn't they consider it illegal for two women to be married?"

Kasumi shook her head. "Apparently not. Their law allows for it, although I'm sure Shampoo would never have agreed to such a thing had she known then. It has caused no end of trouble for us."

"Legal... hmmm..." Michiru mumbled then smiled to herself briefly before focusing her attention once more on Kasumi. "She had seemed rather depressed when we saw her. I suppose that was because of this. Still, from what I saw, she seems happy enough with the situation now. From what I hear, she even was quite upset with Haruka after hearing what happened between you two."

"I don't think Shampoo has really accepted what is happening."

Michiru shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. I can't honestly judge myself. Yours is a unique situation." Michiru stopped and looked back at the shop, then corrected herself. "Well, a rare situation may be more accurate." After shaking her head, Michiru switched approaches. "Kasumi, I'm going to be blunt. I think you should talk to Haruka."

Kasumi frowned at the suggestion. "I hardly see what that would accomplish."

"What it would accomplish is that you both can work this out. Surely you can at least understand what was going through her mind at the time, as you were in a similar position with Shampoo."

"Yes, but I told her the truth. I didn't dodge the issue, and stomp all over her feelings in the process!" Kasumi replied hotly, then blushed and looked away, embarrassed by her own outburst.

"Granted, and I agree that she handled it very poorly, but I've known her for some time now and trust me when I say she would never repeat such a thing."

Kasumi continued to look away, a skeptical look on her face. "Sorry, Michiru, she may be your friend, but I can't. If she wants to talk, then it is up to her to come to me."

Michiru sighed, but did not press further. Figures. Nothing is ever easy. I guess I'll have to work on Haruka some more.

XXXXX

I can't believe I got talked into this! Herb thought with great disgust, holding a bra in front of her as she looked in the changing room mirror. "Bah!" she exclaimed after a second, tossing the garment to the side and raised another to replace it. Why must these designers always make these things so... so... Growling, Herb tossed the new bra to the side to join the other, and moved on to the next.

"Perhaps you would prefer something more simple," a voice said from the side, causing Herb to start. In an instant Herb had spun to meet the newcomer, her hand glowing with a chi build-up. Her eyes met a startled Ami's. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"You're that girl whose be hanging around the restaurant," Herb noted as she relaxed somewhat.

"Yes, I'm a friend of Makoto's," Ami replied, as she too eased.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing really. I just noticed you were trying to select some clothes. I thought I might help," Ami answered, and offered Herb a package. "Makoto told me that you were just trapped this way, so I thought you would prefer something that is functional, yet simple. Most of the high price clothing you've been looking at is made for style."

The prince accepted the proffered package, and examined it. After a moment she opened it and examined the simple white bra and panties inside more closely, and nodded grudgingly. "I suppose this is... better." Holding the bra up next to her and looking in the mirror, Herb frowned as she thought. "It's not my size."

"There are plenty more out there. I'm sure I could find you the right size."

Herb continued to frown for a long moment, before giving Ami a sidelong glance that she took for an indication to continue. Nodding, Ami left, and quickly returned with anther set. "Here, I think that should be your size." Herb took the package, and proceeded to size it up in front of the mirror. "By the way, my name's Ami."

"Yes, I know. I have seen you speaking with Makoto."

"Uh, right," Ami said a bit shyly and took a moment to build up her courage. "I was actually going to ask you where you learned math. I've never seen anyone work that level of proof out so fast."

"Hmh? Oh, you mean the one in that book at the beach. It was fairly elementary."

"Elementary?" Ami repeated in surprise.

"You judge me as a human. I am not, at least not completely. I bear the enhanced intellect of a dragon, and if you had ever met one, you would realize a human genius is merely a slightly below average intelligence dragon."

"Really? They're that intelligent."

Herb simply nodded in response, then returned the bra and panties she was examining back to the package. "I suppose I shall have to settle for this," she said with a sigh.

"You should probably try them on to be sure," Ami suggested, earning herself a dirty look from the prince. However, after growling with frustration, Herb went into one of the changing rooms and closed the door behind her. Ami waited outside, listening in, and heard various angry grumbles, and frustrated grunts. "Need any help?"

"No!" Herb snapped, and continued her efforts for several more minutes. "Damn it! How do you put this stupid thing on?"

"Are you sure you don't need some help?" Ami asked with a small amused smile. A moment of silence passed then Ami noted the sound of the changing room's lock being opened. Taking that as an invitation, Ami entered.

XXXXX

"Kasumi!" Ranma called out as he came up to his fiancée, meeting her just as she got up from speaking with Michiru.

"Ranma, what are you doing here?" Kasumi asked.

Ranma hesitated, considering. "Ah... well, I wanted to ask you... ah, can we talk... in private?"

Kasumi shrugged, and looked back at Michiru. The green-haired girl smiled and stood up. "I should be off anyway. Thank you for your time, Kasumi," Michiru said with a slight bow and headed off, leaving Ranma alone with Kasumi.

Ranma watched the other girl go, and looked back at Kasumi, his curious peaked at seeing Haruka's friend with Kasumi. However, other matters pressed. "Um... Kasumi, I..." Ranma hesitated once again, and finally shook his head and decided on a slightly different topic. "Kasumi, how do you think Kodachi views me?"

Kasumi blinked, surprised by the question, and at a loss for a quick answer. Looking off to the side, Kasumi went into thought. How Kodachi views him? How does he expect me to answer? Kasumi thought in a mild panic. Thankfully for her state of mind, Kasumi's silence seemed to be all the answer Ranma needed.

"She doesn't like me that much, right?"

"Well, I don't-"

"You don't need to say it, Kasumi. I should really just face up to facts here." Ranma sighed and turned away from Kasumi. "I've just been fooling myself. The only reason she tolerates me is because we were friends when we were younger. I guess we were never meant to be."

"I wouldn't say that, Ranma. I'm sure given the right circumstances you could have made something with her."

"Maybe," Ranma conceded, but it did not seem to raise his spirits.

A moment of silence passed before Kasumi decided to ask about a long considered problem. "May I ask you something? Why did you ever get involved with her if she only ever rejected you?"

Ranma turned back to Kasumi. "Actually she was the one who started this whole thing. She needed a date to impress some old rival of hers... ummm... The White Lily or something like that. In any case, she asked me. We went out for a while together." Ranma paused as he remembered back to the time then hung his head a bit. "I guess I got carried away with how much she meant by it." Kasumi nodded in understanding. "And I suppose I was trying to use it as an excuse to get out of this engagement thing. Anyway, it doesn't matter any more. I was going to try and make one final shot at it, but..." Ranma shook his head. "I guess it is time to declare defeat and move on huh."

"I guess so," Kasumi replied with a reassuring smile, then notice Herb exiting the store, followed closely by Ami. Ranma noted Kasumi's attention had shifted elsewhere, and turned to see the newcomers as well. His eyes angled up, and a smug smile crossed his face.

"Shut up, Saotome!" Herb snapped as she saw the expression on Ranma's face.

"Didn't say anything."

"Don't play innocent with me," Herb replied with an evil glare that was sharply broken by Kasumi.

"Alright you two, that is quite enough. Ami, what are you doing here?"

"I was just helping out," Ami answered.

Looking from Ami over to Herb, Kasumi noticed the prince carrying a bag. "Oh good, you've chosen some then."

"Yes," Herb mumbled out in a growl, then turned and began marching for the nearest exit. "Can we leave then?" she asked, although it was clear to anyone that the only acceptable answer was 'yes'.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Kasumi," Ranma said in a quick goodbye and headed off himself. Kasumi paused to watch him walk off then proceeded after Herb, along with Ami.

"Miss Tendo?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering. Makoto was a little unclear as to what you were doing to cure Herb." Kasumi looked over at Ami with some concern. "Was... it okay that she told me that?"

Kasumi sighed, but nodded. "I'm not used to our curses becoming common knowledge. However, it was inevitable."

"Oh, I haven't told anyone. Makoto, Usagi, Minako and I are just close."

"I understand. It is all right. As to Herb's cure, Frost is working on that. She is the only one here sufficiently familiar with magic to make the attempt."

"Attempt?" Ami asked, betraying some anxiety.

"I... I believe Frost said it was simply a matter of time, and I do hope she is correct."

Ami nodded, relieved. Frost, I should have guessed that. Hmmm, I wonder if I could help. Nodding once again, Ami mentally filed a note to meet with the Amazon magus as soon as possible.

XXXXX

The day was getting late, but that was of no concern to Mousse. He was practically salivating in anticipation as Frost pulled a delicate flask from a cupboard. He half expected the prickly magus to drop it, just as she had done with the last one, so long ago, but she held it firmly. She turned to regard him, looking contemptibly smug in Mousse's firm opinion.

"So, anything I ask?" Frost asked in confirmation, gaining a vigorous nod from Mousse.

"I said anything but Shampoo. Nothing involving her, or Kasumi."

"Yes, yes. But anything other than that?"

"Yes, now can I have it, please?"

Nodding, and to Mousse's great surprise, she freely handed the flask to him. It was in his hands for no more than a second before it was uncapped and its contents swallowed. Frost stood back, her smile widening. "So?"

Mousse blinked several times, then removed his glasses, and looked over at Frost, and for the first time in his life his vision was clear, even clearer than with his glasses. "It worked!" he happily proclaimed, clenching his fists in front of himself happily. Then a frown crossed his face, and he looked at Frost, a look of doubt and worry on his face as he asked, "this is permanent?"

"That was the deal, wasn't it?" Frost replied, causing Mousse to enter a fit of tears.

"I can see. Oh, I can see! I never believed I would see this well!" Mousse spun around happily then pulled to a sharp stop at seeing Frost. It was not that she was particularly interesting. No, it was that he was facing backwards, and Frost should have been behind him. "What the?" Mousse said in confusion, looking over his shoulder to see Frost was also still behind him. "What's going on here?"

"Oh, don't be so worried, Mousse. You're not seeing double. I just happen to have a curse."

"Curse?" Mousse repeated as he looked back and forth between the two Frosts.

"Twin curse. Studying Jusenkyo can be a might bit hazardous. All in all though, I think I came out with something positive. It can be really handy being in two places at once."

"Yes, and speaking of curses," the other Frost said as she took over. "We've been puzzling over something for the last few days."

"There's this cat..."

"C-chan. You know, Akane's pet."

Mousse withdrew from the two Frosts in nervousness. "Yeah, so."

"Well, you see, we know that C-chan has a curse."

"Yes, and that implies that she is actually a human."

"A human who has been to Jusenkyo, and managed to make it all the way here to Japan."

"Quite unusual. What would the point be?"

"I don't know," Mousse replied, even more nervous as his head jerked first one way, and then the other, as the two Frosts spoke.

One Frost nodded and walked over to her bookshelf. "Of course you don't. It is really the perplexing problem. Whoever this C-chan really is must be interested in someone around here, and the only real possibilities are Kasumi, her father, or Ukyo. After all, they were the only ones recently in China, and who were in Japan by the time C-chan showed up. With the pink hair, I was thinking maybe Par Phume was plotting something."

"Par Phume, yeah, maybe," Mousse responded with some of his confidence returned.

"No, couldn't be though. She has a plain to see scar on her face, and C-chan does not. Curse or no, the scar should stay. Besides, my twin here tells me she was still at the village at the time she left."

"But then I thought..."

"Or rather we thought, Jusenkyo curses are known to distort hair color, or coloring of any sort."

"So the pink hair really only means some strange genes in the mix."

"And we Amazons do have some strange genes. So, that means it still is most likely an Amazon, but that brings me back to my original problem, just who."

"Then we got to thinking. We really have been ruling out one prime suspect for an invalid reason."

"Yes, with the spring's cursed magic mixing, and several mixed curse springs already..."

"That opens up a distinct possibility," Frost said finally with a smile as both of them eyed Mousse. "So, Mousse, did you take a double dip, or were you just unlucky enough to hit one of the mixed ones."

Mousse frowned, but knew the jig was up. "Okay, okay, so I'm C-chan, so what? That's not a crime."

"By itself, no, but sleeping in Akane's bed can't be acceptable."

"I didn't do anything with her. I couldn't even see anything with my vision," Mousse argued.

Frost nodded, "I suppose I must concede that. If you can mix up a pig with Shampoo, I doubt you could see anything much."

"Fine then. Now that you had your fun, can I go?" Mousse asked as he headed for the door, but a sharp pain in his hands caused him to a stop. Looking down, he noticed, to his horror that his hands were now covered in a fine pink hair, and his nails had lengthened and were now pointed. Turning back, he looked at the two smug Frosts in a panic. "What have you done?"

"You did say anything, and the anything we choose was for you to become our familiar."

"Familiar?" Mousse managed to ask before he fell to his knees, pain shooting from his belly.

"A magically augmented being, usually an animal, that acts as a magus' servant."

"Servant?" Mousse repeated through his pain, noticing his hands were fully converted to those of a cat.

"Yeah, servant," Frost answered with a sneer, and then walked over to his fallen form. "I'm sick and tired of watching you run loose, messing in other people's lives, making their choices for them, concerned only for yourself, and generally being a nuisance. So, from now on, I'm going to be in control here, and you're going to get a hard lesson in how it feels to have your choices made for you."

In one final burst of magic, the transformation completed, and C-chan crawled out from Mousse's clothes and looked up at the two Frosts that were surrounding her. Hissing, she prepared to leap at one, but her muscles seized up before she could make the attempt.

"Don't bother. You can't retaliate against me. We are magically linked. You can't harm me while that link is in place."

"Why you... what?" C-chan said in surprise, which was shared by the two Frosts.

"Didn't expect that. Guess the magic allows you to speak," one Frost noted.

"And what's with the crescent moon symbol?" the other asked, as she picked up C-chan and looked her in the face.

"Must be some kind of magus mark. Bet it was built into the base logic of the spell we used."

Crescent moon, C-chan repeated, just like Artemis and Luna. C-chan mused over that for a moment, then remembered Frost was manhandling her, and began to struggle.

Taking a firmer grip on the little cat, Frost forced her new familiar to meet her eyes. "Now look here, little kitty. You better get used to this situation of yours. I used that little Musk ladle, with a few bits of my own, to trap you this way. Your only hope of returning to normal is to play along, else I leave you like this."

"That's not fair!"

"So what? Does it look like I give a damn, because I don't?"

"You won't get away with this!"

"I have already. I am the only one who knows the added magical lock I put on you. If someone screws up trying to unlock that, bang-o, your link to your original form is toast. So, you need me. Get used to it, because that isn't about to change anytime soon."

C-chan looked around frantically, for what she was not sure. Finally, the gravity of the situation beginning to sink in, she ceased her struggles, and hung limply in Frost's hands. "Fine, you win."

"Oh, I've won more than that. You remember that little love pill?" C-chan looked at Frost in fear. "Yeah, you just swallowed its contents. Don't worry though. I put a lock on it too. It won't be released unless you start to annoy Shampoo or Kasumi."

"You cheat! We agreed-"

"We agreed that I wouldn't force you to do anything involving Shampoo or Kasumi. You're still free to do whatever you want in their regards. I'm simply encouraging you not to. It is still your choice. Of course, in your current form, it should have an interesting effect. You've been hanging around that white tom right?"

"DAMN YOU FROST!" C-chan screamed, but gained nothing more than a smile in response.

"Not fun now, is it? Don't worry, Mousse, you are only on probation. Play along, and be a good little kitty, and assuming I can fix that stupid kettle, I'll allow you to change back. However, that pill stays in your system, so I'd encourage you to drop Kasumi and Shampoo from your list of possible future wives, or else you'll find yourself with a furry little husband." Frost lowered C-chan to the ground and returned to the bookshelf. "I suggest you start looking this over," she said as she pulled out a book and dropped it in front of C-chan, who jumped back with a hiss of fear as the heavy tome struck inches from her nose. "It has all the info you need to know about your new form. Don't think you're simply in your old cat form. You've been magically augmented and converted. It will have effects that you won't expect. You might even find a few favorable things about this situation."

C-chan looked at the book with a sneer then glared up at Frost. "Somehow, I'll pay you back for this."

"Keep up with those thoughts, and you'll never be your old self ever again. Look at the bright side Mousse, at least you can see now," Frost replied tauntingly, causing the little cat only more anger.

XXXXX

Tokyo airport, that evening, three new arrivals, two from China, and one from the USA walked into the terminal. The man from the US with a ukulele in hand, strummed its strings and proudly yelled to everyone who was in earshot. "Aloha everybody! The big Kahuna is back! We is going to shake up this here town, yes sir!" After receiving several muttered replies, ranging from annoyed to angry, he just smiled, and headed on his way, a group of 10 people following him with dollies and carts full of luggage.

At the other end of the terminal, a tall man whose eyes, if one looked close, were green and slitted, shook his head. "You run into all kindsss, I ssswear."

Beside him, a much smaller figure, face hidden underneath its cloak's hood, looked around curiously. "Sissy, you do think we'll find him here this time, right?" asked a clearly female voice.

Cringing at the name, Sissithississ took a moment to count to ten, and then answered. "Let'sss hope ssso. I'm getting very tired of thisss chasssing around after him." Again shaking his head, Sissy... err, Sissithississ picked up their luggage, and headed for the nearest door. After a few steps though he noticed his companion was not joining him, and looked behind him. "You coming?"

"Can't I take this stupid cloak off? It's too hot!" she complained as she hurried over.

"NO!" Sissithississ quickly and sharply responded, causing the girl to withdraw a step in shock. Relaxing, he explained, "Do you want to caussse another incident like in the lassst airport?"

"No," she responded guiltily. "I can't help it if everyone acts so weird when they see me. Why do I have to be the one punished?"

"You're not being punished. I'm jussst trying to get usss out of here in relative peace. Just wait till we find a place to ssstay, okay."

"Okay," the girl replied meekly then looked up eagerly. "We will find Herb though, right?"

"I don't know for sssure, but if we keep talking we never will, now will we? Come on, let'sss get a move on."

Smiling under the darkness of her hood, Lemon nodded happily to herself. This was the place, she was sure of it. At last, after several months of searching, she would be with her soon to be husband. Smiling even more intensely, Lemon could not bear the excitement any longer, and shook her head side to side in a gleeful outburst. Unfortunately, this caused her hood to fall back, revealing her face for all to see. Suddenly the whole Airport became absent of all human noise save that of breathing, as everyone instantly took notice of her, even those that were not looking a second earlier.

"Oh... no!" Sissithississ moaned, just before the wave of humanity hit.

End Chapter 24

Well, that concludes things for this chapter. Special thanks as always go to T. H. Tiger for creative assistance in writing this thing, and all my other pre-readers. Later.