This house was full of so many scents, Kire nearly got whiplash. There was food and perfumes, clothing and fur, flowers and carpet. Not to mention that each individual in the house had their own scent left all over everything. Trying not to sneeze, Kire held her breath and was led into what appeared to be the family room.

Two older men were sitting at a shogi board in the doorway to the back porch. One wore a white gi and a white headband, while the other wore a brown gi and had a dark moustache. Both looked up as Akane stopped next to them.

"Daddy, Mr. Saotome, this is Kire. She's gonna stay with us for a while."

Neither seemed terribly affected by this news. "Alright, honey," the man with the moustache replied. "Just make sure the spare room is clean."

Smiling, Akane nodded and headed further into the room. Well, that was easy, Kire thought. In front of the television, a girl was sprawled. She had s short brown bob and a rather bored expression. "Nabiki, this is Kire. Kire, that's my older sister Nabiki." After a quick wave from the sister, Kire was tugged into the kitchen.

"Who's you're new friend, Akane?" an older girl asked, looking up from making dinner. She had long brown hair that was tied back in a ponytail. "Will she be staying for dinner?"

"She'll be staying for a while, Kasumi. Kasumi, this is Kire. Kire, my oldest sister, Kasumi."

"Uh, hi?"

"Nice to meet you, Kire," Kasumi said, smiling all the while. "I hope you like it here." She then went back to her humming and cooking.

Leading Kire out of the kitchen and into a hallway, Akane then began to ascend the stairs. "The bedrooms are up here. This is one of the spares that Ranma and Mr. Saotome are staying in. These three belong to me and my sisters. This one is my dad's. And this one here," –she unlocked a sixth door at the end of the hallway– "will be yours." She pushed the door open.

Peeking inside, Kire cocked her head at the room. It was large, by her standards, and already had a dresser, mirror, and futon in it. Padding inside, Kire sniffed around. No one had been in here recently. It smelled of only dust and stale air. She turned around and scratched her head. "Um, thanks. This is really too much for me to –"

"You're welcome," Akane interjected. "It'll be nice to have a new face around. Besides, what kind of person would I be if I let you sleep elsewhere?"

"A normal one," Kire muttered to herself. "Look, if I seem kinda weird to you, don't take it personally. I've just lived most of my life as my cursed form, so I may act somewhat animalistic. Bear with me... er, no pun intended"

Akane nodded slowly. "What is your other form?"

"I fell into the spring of drowned tiger in Jusenkyou."

------------------------------

Ranma and Ryoga were sitting on the roof of the dojo. "So where'd you find her?" Ranma asked. "Cute girls don't just sprout out of the ground."

"She had been hunting me," Ryoga replied flatly.

"Pardon?"

It was raining, and I was food just tromping through her woods. She caught me and took me deeper into the woods to a hot spring she lived near. I guess she meant to drown me and cook me in the spring, but she didn't expect me to be human when I came to the surface."

Ranma waved his hands around. "Slow down, hang on a second. You said she's been to Jusenkyou. So what spring did she fall into?"

"That of a very large carnivore," Ryoga muttered. "Hence the whole 'hunting and eating' bit."

"Eh, with you, one never knows."

Casting Ranma a glare, Ryoga shrugged off his backpack and set it next to him. "She's a nice girl, Ranma, so don't mess around with her like you do everyone else. Besides, she could probably kick your ass from here to tomorrow. There's something really... different about her..."

"You like her?"

Thwack!

Ranma held his head where Ryoga had hit him. "Why are you so tactless?" Ryoga snarled. "She helped me out a lot. Forgive me for being more gracious than you. Besides," he added, "you didn't see that way she first looked at me. There was nothing human in her stare. It was chilling..." He shuddered involuntarily.

Ranma snickered. "Sissy."

Before anyone could say, "Not again," a brawl was going on in the backyard. Punches and kicks flew by so fast that most of the fight was a blur. The fight was as even as ever, both boys giving and receiving their share of hits. Ranma did notice that Ryoga was faster than he was before, so he had to step up his game a bit to stay matched with him. He leaped into the air and prepared to deliver a hard kick.

"What in the...?"

The voice distracted Ryoga and he looked away from Ranma and to the back porch. There stood Kire, arms crossed over her chest. She was no longer wearing Ryoga's old clothes, but instead wore a pair of loose black pants and a red spaghetti-strap tank top. Her hair was brushed to a shine and hung to the back of her shoulders She didn't look nearly as feral as she did twenty minutes ago. In fact, she looked –

Whack!

Kire winced as Ryoga was knocked ten feet backwards by Ranma's kick. "Was that supposed to happen?" she called as Ryoga struggled to sit up.

Ranma, too, was curious. "What distracted you just now? You've never been that clueless in a fight before." He glanced to the porch where Kire stood, Akane right behind her. He smirked. "Aha... So that's it..."

Kire leaned towards Akane. "Does this happen often?"

Akane didn't seem amused. "More than you'd believe..."

Stepping off the porch, Kire trotted towards where Ryoga lay stunned in the grass. She crouched down next to him, then held up a hand next to her mouth, as if telling a secret "You know, usually the point of a fight is to not get hit..." she murmured.

"I didn't do it on purpose," Ryoga grumbled, sitting up and rubbing the forming bruise on his skull. "You distracted me."

"Me? What'd I do?"

"You –" Hold it. Don't finish that. Rewind and revise. "You said something and I looked up."

Kire arched a brow. "Some martial artist you are, then. If you get distracted by someone speaking, then I'm a better hunter than you."

Ryoga looked up through his bangs. "Oh?"

Kire smiled eerily. "Imagine running as fast as you can through the woods, dodging trees and not tripping over roots and vines, chasing after a small pig that can only be tracked by the sounds its feet are making. Every living thing you pass by is shrieking because you're near, but you have to keep focus on that little pig, otherwise you go hungry for the third day in a row." The smile vanished. "Do you have any idea how hard a little black pig is to track in a dark forest during a storm?"

Ryoga was visible pale. "You could have used an example that didn't hit so close to home, you know."

Kire stood back up and winked. "Just wanted to give you a clue." Without warning, her stomach let out a loud growl. Kire blinked at it a moment, then turned her eyes back to Ryoga. Her tongue ran slowly across her lip.

Ryoga went paler.

------------------------------

"You're way too easy to spook," Kire said, licking the last remnants of ramen from her bowl.

Ryoga was scowling and sitting with his arms crossed. "You've already tried to eat me once. What's to say you won't try again?"

Kire frowned. "Am I that malicious looking?"

"No..." Ryoga mumbled. "You're just kinda scary when you look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you're going to eat me."

Kire snickered. "Now why waste the effort in catching you when there's ramen about? Ramen doesn't struggle."

Ranma couldn't get over the fact that Ryoga was slightly intimidated by Kire. He nudged Ryoga with his elbow. "What's the matter, Ryoga? Scared of a li'l ol' girl?" Ryoga, Akane, and Kire glared at him equally.

"'Li'l ol' girl'?" Kire repeated. "You think I'm a pushover?"

Ranma blinked. "Nothing personal, but girls are just naturally weaker than men."

Before Akane or Ryoga could shout at Ranma's accusation, Kire stood up. Slowly, she smiled. "Care to test that claim?"

------------------------------

In the backyard, Ranma and Kire stood at opposite sides of the yard, while Akane and Ryoga stood on the porch. Akane seemed slightly apprehensive. "Ryoga, are you sure we should let them do this? I mean, not that I doubt Kire's strength, but Ranma's been trained since he was born. He's got an unfair advantage, doesn't he?"

Ryoga shrugged. "Yeah, he's got the training she doesn't have, but Kire's got a weapon that will beat Ranma hands down."

Akane turned to look at him. "What? What is it?"

Ryoga only smirked.

Suddenly, Ranma went charging at Kire. "Don't worry, I'll make it quick!" He pulled back a fist to deliver a hard punch...

...And missed completely as Kire ducked out of the way with surprising speed and agility. As Ranma spun to see where she'd gone, he saw her roll into the pond.

He stopped and blinked. "What the...?"

And a second later, a huge tiger came rocketing to the surface. It roared, fangs bared, and went speeding straight at Ranma.

Akane's eyes went wide. "That... That's more fearsome than I expected! Ryoga, you did warn Ranma what Kire turns into, right? Right?"

Ryoga didn't reply, but kept on smiling.

Kire raced towards where Ranma stood, claws outstretched. He looked shocked... more so than he should have been. As she closed in on ten feet, Ranma turned around, flew past Akane and Ryoga, and went screaming into the house.

Huh?

Kire slid to a halt in the grass. She blinked a few times, then looked at Ryoga, a question mark practically hanging over her head.

Ryoga was having a hard time bridling the laughter that was building up in his chest. His shoulders were shaking and the corner of his mouth was twitching as he tried to keep his mirth contained. Finally, he couldn't hold it anymore and doubled over, holding his sides and laughing.

Akane sighed and put a hand on her forehead. "Okay, he deserved that, but it was still a dirty trick." She then went inside to check on Ranma.

Kire slowly walked up to Ryoga and stood on the edge of the porch, one eyebrow raised. She waited to Ryoga to calm himself down before rumbling a questioning tone.

Ryoga looked up. "Did I mention that Ranma is deathly afraid of cats?" he asked, a giggle still in his voice.

Kire groaned and rolled her eyes.