Methos opened the door of his apartment knowing who was on the other side. Ever since Ranma gained his senshi magic the boy had started to appear to Methos's warning sense. Usually, this particular warning sense only activated when a fellow Game Immortal got near to him unless they were using very powerful anti-detection talismans like his recent head. Luckily for Methos in that situation he did not regularly rely on the Game Immortal detection method that so many others of his kind depended on.

The boy was not a Game Immortal or a pre-immortal. Methos could tell that much. However, he had never before found something else that triggered that danger sense in his long life. It was like one radio station bleeding into another radio station on the same or almost exact frequency. What made things odder was that this Ranma blip on his danger sense got louder and easier to detect whenever Ranma was in his senshi form. Part of Methos was intrigued by discovering something so new and unexpected. Another part of him was worried that such a valuable warning system could be put on false alert as it were.

Ranma seemed almost dead on his feet as he stood in front of Methos. The events of yesterday were naturally still haunting the poor kid. It took the teen a moment to clear his head enough to speak. "Good evening, Principal Pierson. May I come in?"

Methos step aside and said, "Please come in Ranma and follow me. I know of a more comfortable place for us to talk." Once Ranma was in the apartment his principal led him over to dining/family room and motioned for the teen to sit. Methos then pulled two cold beers out of his mini-fridge and opened them. He put one by his seat and then surprised Ranma by placing the other beer in front of the teen.

Ranma's eyes widened in shock as he looked at the beer and then looked up at Methos who was sitting down. He then blurted out, "Principle! I'm only sixteen."

Methos nodded his head and answered. "I know and under normal circumstances I wouldn't be letting you near this." He paused for a moment and pointed at the bottle before sighing. "However, you're not here because of normal circumstances even for this crazy part of Nerima. Given the extraordinary circumstances both your father and I felt that some bending of the normal rules would be allowed for this one instance. Sip your drink because you are not used to the taste. You're also only getting the one to help you loosen up a bit to talk about the situation you got yourself into."

The immortal took a sip of his own and then started to speak in a melancholy tone. "There is no easy way to say this Ranma so I'm just going to have to be blunt to a point most Japanese would consider extremely rude. You're here right now because yesterday you killed two people. I know that the situation on the ground was complicated and I know that those two people were not some sort of innocent angels. However, what it all boils down to is that there are two less people alive on this planet and your actions made that happen."

"I'm not accusing or condemning you for your actions Ranma. It would be somewhat hypocritical of me given what your father and the Tendos witnessed earlier in the month. I am just stating facts about your situation and many of them are unpleasant. How do you feel?"

Ranma looked down at the table and said, "I don't, it's just that. Well, that is." How was he supposed to explain what he was feeling? Ranma wasn't even sure he had the words needed to describe his feelings.

Methos sighed and said, "It okay to not have words just yet. What you are feeling is complicated and a strange mixture of various feelings. Anyone who tell you otherwise doesn't know their head from a hole in the ground. It also doesn't help that you haven't been prepared to kill another human being."

That news shocked Ranma just as he was about to mindlessly take a sip of his beer. "Prepare? How can you prepare for that?" There was shock and a touch of anger in the teen's voice which Methos was happy to hear. Ranma needed to get past numbness and shock if he wanted to start addressing his situation properly.

In a calm and educational manner, the immortal spoke. "Sadly, it is all too easy for humans to prepare themselves to kill each other. You might find this hard to accept Ranma given how you grew up. However, the idea of the sanctity of life and innate value of every individual being widely accepted is a rather recent innovation in society. I regret this fact but it is true as much as many people wish it wasn't so."

"If you had been raised just fifty years ago and this was 1941 instead of 1991 you would not be having nearly the issues you are now Ranma. You would probably have been praised for killing those two Chinese gaijin who dared to kill a fellow Japanese citizen and on the home islands themselves! If this was 1941 you would have had your classmates holding your actions up as an example and hoping to join you in winning honor in either the Army or the Navy. In only 50 years the paradigm has changed so that now those same actions are currently seen as something to ostracize you by strangers."

"Go back an additional century to the 1840s and the issues you have would not exist for you. This is especially true given that the Saotomes are a samurai clan. Back then you could have killed any peasant you wished for whatever reason as long as you had a witness to back up your claim that the peasant had 'insulted your honor'. You could have even done so in public and would have only been quietly reprimanded if you had killed so many peasants that it was affecting the taxes."

"150 years is not a long time for someone who has learned to control ki. Both the grandmaster of your martial arts school and that elderly Chinese Amazon are over 300 years old thanks to ki mastery. That is a radical change in society and personal perspective all within a lifetime that you and your fellow martial artists could expect to live even without magic."

"So, when I say that you have not been prepared to kill, I am speaking honestly to you Ranma. That is partly why your emotions on this matter is so complicated even compared to how they could have been if you were more prepared. Many people today love to say that it's difficult to take a person's life. They are wrong. For a regular person it just takes a few seconds of rage and a tool like a car, a knife, a bat, or even a simple push down a flight of stairs to do the deed. For a person with your training in martial arts, ki usage, and magic it is even easier."

There was a pause as Methos let Ranma digest what he had said so far. The immortal took a sip of his beer which Ranma glumly mimicked. Then Methos started to speak again. "It is not the act of killing that is hard to do. It is living with yourself after the act that is the hard part. You need to learn how to move past the paralysis you currently have and learn to live."

"How?" Ranma barely whispered the question and yet it seemed to cut through the room. Now that he had spoken his liquor loosened lips were unable to keep his feelings bottled up. "How do I live with myself? How do I trust myself? I never thought about if I needed or wanted to kill them. I just did it! What keeps me from doing so to someone else? Look at me! With barely any mana enhancement I can punch someone's head off their shoulders without breaking a sweat! How can anyone trust me to walk around in society?"

"I can't even trust myself. I'm disgusted about what I did. Martial artists are supposed to protect and revere life not take it away. Who am I to decide who lives and who dies? What right do I have to make that call? Perhaps the worst part is that a small disgusting part of myself is satisfied with what I did. How messed up is that? How do I live with myself if I'm that messed up in the head?"

At that point Ranma stopped talking coherently and just started sobbing on the table. That outburst had broken the little bit of control Ranma had managed keep until that point. Methos quietly waited as a rock of serenity as Ranma started the first lancing of this emotional boil. The boy did not need emotional support just yet. Too soon and it might create longer term emotional problems for Ranma. Situations like this always had to be individualized and even someone of Methos' experience had to be careful of accidentally doing harm. This was even more the case given Ranma's abilities that he could unconsciously tap into in an emotional state.

Eventually, Ranma reached a point where he could squeeze no more rage or self-loathing out of himself for the time being. He looked up at Methos and begged. "What can I do?"

Methos said, "You do the only thing anyone can reasonably ask you to do Ranma. You live one day at a time. Just focus on making through today and then tomorrow you can focus on making it through tomorrow. Keep that up and eventually you be able to start focusing on making it through a week at a time. Further down the line you be able to start thinking about living a month at a time and eventually you can live your life like any other person. Don't worry about how long each step takes. Don't ask how great or little your progress is. This is your situation and all anyone has the right to ask of you is that you keep moving forward."

Ranma considered that and then reply. "I think I can do so sir. But, how do I trust myself? I mean, you heard how I felt about what I did!"

Methos took another sip of his beer and said, "Yes and your point? You felt and still feel both complicated and mix emotions about the killings. It is a serious and complicated subject that you don't have a lifetime of training to help you simplify. You are afraid of yourself and perceive a lack of control over your own actions because of situation you were in. Battles are a messy place Ranma especially when it comes to melee battles like you had. Conscious thinking tends to get you killed because of the time it takes to think. In such situations you have to rely on faster unconscious thinking and training to stay alive only switching to conscious thinking when the situation calls for it."

"You did as your training taught you to do Ranma. In a split second you unconsciously assessed the situation and determined that trying to subdue Herb and his attendant was too risky an option. They were also too great a risk to your safety along with the safety of others. In a fraction of a second you subconsciously assessed all that information faster than your conscious mind could and moved to eliminate the threat."

"Don't worry about this becoming a habit for you Ranma. I have gotten a good read on your morals and your abilities. I don't see you defaulting to killing someone just because they are an irritant to you. Trust me when I say this Ranma. I've dealt with many people like this in my lifetime. There was a time thousands of years ago when I was like that. You could slide into such a state as I once did, but that takes time and a long series of nasty events without help for one like you to achieve. And for all your associates' faults, I know they won't let you fall so low. Unless the situation absolutely calls for it, you're more likely to walk away or force someone into submission than taking another person's life."

Ranma took another swallow of his drink and felt the burn go down his throat. Why was his dad always after stuff like this? He was at least grateful that the principal didn't think he was about to become some sort of murdering psychopath. There was at least one person that thought Ranma could control himself even if he wasn't the person. Maybe if he told himself that enough times it would become true? There were still many other things that he needed to resolve.

Even with his loosened lips, it was hard to get Ranma to talk and not have his emotions reduce him to gibbering. "What about all the other emotions? How do I deal with them?"

Methos looked at his student and said, "The same way everyone else does with complicated emotions. The hard way with the only one able to straighten them out being yourself. I can offer you advice and I can give examples from my own experiences. What I cannot do is force you to deal with your emotions or take them away from you. Just remember that it is not what you feel that is right or wrong it's what you do that makes something right or wrong."

"The guilt and disgust are rather obvious to understand and easy to accept. What is scratching at your mind like a proverbial thorn in your side is that sliver of satisfaction you felt. A part of you after the fight was ecstatic that you were still alive. You had faced a threat to your own life along with the lives of others you care about and put an end to it. It is a complicated and ancient facet of emotions rooted deep in humanity's primitive past."

"Humanity is old. Even the most modern version is only 200,000 years old by current estimates with ever more primitive editions of humanity going back several million years. I've been alive almost since the dawn of civilization and roughly 95 percent of modern human history occurred before I was born. When you factor in the older versions even my extraordinarily long lifespan becomes an easy to miss blip."

"Now humanity has been around so long because our ancestors survived harsh conditions and engrained instincts to help their lines continue. There is an instinct to feel joy in overcoming challenges. To be thrilled that one has survived a threat to your existence and are still around. To take satisfaction in defending another member of the 'group' whatever that group may be. Who can say what mix or how strong each of these instincts are for an individual? I can say that this mix is the likely source of the satisfaction you felt that is confusing you."

Ranma frowned and said, "I don't like the sound of that. It sounds like I'm trying to shift responsibility for my actions. It also sounds like I'm supposed to be some sort of battle maniac."

Methos finished his beer and answered his stressed pupil. "That far from what I'm saying Ranma. While there are individuals who take pleasure in causing pain and even killing. That is not what you are by a long shot. Let me stress again Ranma, you are not among that very minuscule minority of people. I am also not saying that your emotions are because of your instincts."

"A person's instincts are a part of them, but a person is much more than their instincts. Then there is the fact that instincts do not control a person unless the person lets them. Your instincts in this case help to cause and shape your emotions. However, there are also many factors that went into those raw emotions. Far more than we have time to talk about tonight Ranma. In any way this has been going on tangent instead of why we're talking in the first place."

"Ranma, there is one thing you should take away from our talk tonight besides the fact that I am here to help you. It is that even given how complicated and confusing the emotions you are currently feeling about taking a life are they are not wrong. They do not make or mean that you are some kind of twisted or evil person. What you are is a person who has undergone an ordeal you were not prepared to face during a very challenging time in your life."

The teen nodded his head and said, "I hear you principal. My mind sort of gets it, but my heart just doesn't for now. Maybe it will in the future. I don't know, I don't even know what I'm feeling right now or if I'm feeling anything. It's like I know I should be feeling something, but I've felt so much and released so much that I can't feel anything. Good thing I can't use chi anymore or I might have accidentally unleased a massive attack given the breakdown you saw."

"It's alright," Methos then rose and said, "I don't think you will be able to process anything more on this matter right now Ranma. Your father and I will have to chat about when you can come by again to help you process this event. We will hopefully have another chat in two or three days to help you learn to live with what happened."

"Really? Thank you for helping me Principle."

"It's no problem Ranma. Just don't expect a beer on your next visit. These talks are supposed to help you with your problems and not give you new ones."

Kasumi was reading from her collection of traditional ladies' poetry in her room when she heard a knock at her window. She looked up and was surprised to see Shampoo in her cat form peering over the roof's edge to look at her. Shampoo held out a sign so that Kasumi could read: open window -flip- get hot water -flip- we need to talk. Kasumi quickly opened her window and held out her hands to help Shampoo. The cursed amazon was grateful for the help and gently landed in Kasumi's arms. The elder teen pulled the cat into her room and set her down on the floor. Kasumi then pulled out a water thermos from a drawer and spritz Shampoo enough to trigger the change.

Shampoo stood up wearing her usual outfit and smiled at Kasumi. "Thank you for the change, Kasumi."

As Kasumi put the thermos away, she said, "No problem, Shampoo. I am curious why you didn't come and visit the front door. Why the secrecy?"

The amazon glanced over to make sure that Kasumi's bedroom door was closed before she spoke. "I wanted to confirm some rumors that were among the guests at the restaurant today. Given the nature of the rumors and my not perfect situation with your sisters I thought secret visit better to check."

That was true enough in Kasumi's mind. Shampoo and Akane got along like cats and dogs. The tension and bad feelings remained even if the direct reason for their hostility had been removed. Kasumi also knew that Shampoo typically could not be bothered to care about Akane's reactions and the amazon's resulting actions often. This had to be serious given Shampoo's actions and the girl's mention of rumors gave Kasumi a reason for this all.

In a friendly manner the eldest Tendo sister asked, "What rumors have you heard recently that had you seek me out?"

Shampoo quickly confirmed Kasumi's suspicions that this visit was because of Ranma's battle with the Musk yesterday. It took a bit of time for Kasumi to answer all of Shampoo's questions. There were several points where the older girl had to admit she did not know the answer to the younger girl's question. Part of Kasumi was impressed by how Shampoo kept her calm even though she was obviously frustrated at the situation in order to keep asking more questions.

Finally, Shampoo reached a point in her questioning that surprised Kasumi. "What are you doing to help Airen through trial?"

Kasumi looked at Shampoo and asked, "I'm sorry. What do you mean by that?"

Now Shampoo let her frustration show. "Is simple question. How are you helping Ranma with challenge? Airen is many things, but he has little warrior training in ways that differ fighter and warrior! Even long prepared warriors need help when make first kill. Great-Grandmother see such many times and go through challenge herself. Worst how other police treat Ranma first for his deeds. Push him into bad place at worst time and let him sit in the dark. Makes challenge much harder for all of us."

The amazon realized her speech was slipping and took a moment to center herself. She knew that what she was trying to say was too important to risk slipping into "bimbo" speak because of her less than perfect Japanese. She spoke as slowly as she could to make sure what she said was clear as she continued.

"Ranma will need help dealing with his kills. The fathers got the immortal principal to help in their place as the older male advisor. The principal will help I have no doubt about that. However, he can only do so much. My Great-Grandmother told me that men, especially young men without much preparation to become warriors, need a grounding female presence after their first time killing another man. Without that presence they easily loose themselves to extremes of either self-revulsion and cowardness or to cruelty and bloodlust. If a man is to be a proper warrior, that is a defender and protector, he must be grounded to the hearth."

There was a pause as Shampoo noticed the confused look on Kasumi's face. Frustration started to build up in the Amazon. Her Japanese had been clear and correct. Why was the older woman having trouble understanding her? Shampoo took a deep breath and reminded herself that things were different here in Japan. There were many things that had tripped her up during her time here that seemed obvious to the Japanese. Now they were dealing with a subject her people were more familiar with so things that were obvious to her must be tripping Kasumi up.

Shampoo tried to explain things a different way to Kasumi. "Most men are naturally fighters when the situation calls for it. They will only not fight if they judge the chance of successfully fighting to be too low. The fact that the women of my tribe have a drive to combat that is generally unheard of in women from other peoples does not change this general rule. It is because of this unique trait that my people became known at the tribe of heroic warrior women or Amazons as you tend to call us."

"When a woman fights her nature is generally to first protect the group by keeping the danger away. When a man fights his nature to either drive the threat away or to put down the threat. Men who are good at fighting can come to find it easier to fight then to do other tasks. When this happens and they do not have something within society to hold them to society they risk becoming raiders and bandits. Warriors are trained to not only know how to fight, but both when to fight and when not to fight. In my people's wisdom it is easier to teach a woman when not to fight than it is to teach a man when not to fight. This is because of how our natures are."

"The hearth, that is one's family and close friends, is the best way to keep warriors from crossing lines that harm society. For all the warrior creeds out in the world there is one truth. In the end a warrior fights for those dear to them as one's worthy of giving up their lives for. It is the fire of warm memories and the kindling of dear ties within the hearth that warms one when the world becomes cold and become the light to guide you when the world grows dark."

Shampoo paused for a moment as if she needed to force herself to say something she really did not wish to admit. Then she sighed and continued. "Ranma's hearth from what I can see is scattered throughout this city. But, the biggest concentration of those fires is here at this home. You are the matron of this house Kasumi. The care of the hearth falls under your domain so I repeat my earlier question. What are you doing to help Ranma through his current challenge?"

Kasumi looked down at the floor and spoke so low she was almost whispering. "I honestly haven't done anything to help Ranma. I don't think I've done anything to hurt him since I've tried to just act normally around him. This whole situation has just gone beyond what I ever expected it to do. Who could have imagined something like the Musk situation reaching such extremes? I just don't know what to do."

Those words took the wind out of the sails of Shampoo's rising anger. At least, it ended her anger as directed at Kasumi which was a rather mild for her rage at this entire incident. She should be among the first to know about things happening to Ranma as his wife. The fact that she had to heard about Ranma's fight with the Musk a day late and from some customers was insulting to her. It was yet one more insult she had to endure from the fates when it came to her marriage that they seem to treat as their own personal romcom.

Mousse had been really riding her nerves trying to find some way to make her husband seem terrible because of the attack. It didn't matter to her myopic former friend that several of his arguments contradicted each other. One time he even gave two contradictory arguments back-to-back before she could even speak. All Mousse seemed to care about was getting her attention no matter how it affected her.

At least her great-grandmother had stepped in and put Mousse in curse time out before Shampoo lost her temper. Cologne had let Shampoo leave the Nekohaten to check on Ranma once she found out about the Musk incident. She had briefly spied on Ucchan's and was infuriated to see Ukyo serving customers without a care in the world. Why someone who claimed to be her husband's best friend could be so happy at this time burned the Amazon.

The thought that Ukyo might not have heard about the Musk incident yet never entered Shampoo's mind. That customers knew that the Nekohaten was more expressive and its service more inquisitive than the more traditional Ucchan's slipped Shampoo's mind. She had heard about the incident a day late from her own customers, had to spend several hours dealing with her personal tormentor, and had a chance to talk to her great-grandmother before spying on spatula girl. In Shampoo's mind that meant that Ukyo should know about Ranma's situation as well and her actions did not compute for someone that claimed to care about her husband.

Shampoo had left Ucchan's at that point and headed to the dojo. Ranma being gone had annoyed her more even if she was happy to overhear the fathers talking about sending Ranma to the principal. Shampoo wanted to help Ranma through this trial even if she knew she could not offer as much help as she wished. Looking at the eldest Tendo sister it became obvious to Shampoo that Kasumi also wanted to help Ranma.

Unlike Shampoo, Kasumi didn't have any elder to turn to for help and advice. The fathers knew they couldn't help. As for he-who-should-be-dead, that one wasn't in town to offer advice. The Grandmaster of Anything Goes was still mourning the loss of his 'beloved Ranko'. Even if he was here Shampoo figured that the monster would just cause the situation to become worse.

It was obvious that Kasumi would help if given the knowledge. It was also obvious to Shampoo that Ranma would shift his mental box for Kasumi from pseudo-sibling to potential significant other. It would also probably cause Kasumi to shift her mental image of Ranma. Did she really want to speed up that headache?

Shampoo immediately gave herself a mental slap at that line of questioning. She needed to focus on helping Ranma, not what was most convenient to her comfort! Delaying the inevitable was also a loosing action. Another thought entered Shampoo's head as she looked at Kasumi. There might be a way to make this all work out in the end for them. She'd have to double check this thought with her great-grandmother.

The younger teen looked at the older and said, "I'll visit some time tomorrow. I need to take what I've learned to Great-Grandmother for advice. Will you be open to the visit when I come?"

"Kasumi nodded her head and said, "I don't mind your visits Shampoo and actually enjoy them. I also would be even happier than usual to have you over if you find a way to help Ranma."