Keeper of the Worlds - MWAHAHAHA. I know what you meant, I apologise for being pedantic, it is unfortunately my nature. I am not sure that the girls will be able to think rationally after the below, but I he WILL get help. It just may be a while before he is mentioned again after that. It could set off too many people, I don't think that they will be willing to listen to him now. They have other betrayals to deal with first.

Richard Riley - I agree that it is almost entirely about image and culture. Imagine the scandal that the 'pure' Tendo Akane has been letting a pig into her bed? People will accuse her of being a hypocrite and her reputation will be tarnished. I think we can trust the Tendos not to say anything (the whole family has too much to lose), as well as the Amazons, not that they can't benefit either. Saotomes should be fine as well, as Genma is more afraid of his wife, and there is no way for him to profit off the information - either way, he loses out. I don't think even he is desperate enough to have Kodachi for a daughter in law… Akane is the only one who needs to keep her mouth shut, since she could blurt out anything in anger.

Kitten Arina - I like your suggestion. I do have some ideas, and I am against calling the police for her, but brinding up her illegal activities, now THAT is interesting… And no, she does not do honour very well, so the only way to get rid of her is to make her disinterested or disgusted and repulsed. What do you think of forcing her to think she is insane by everyone action as if Onna-Ranma was male the WHOLE time? Let me know and thanks for the suggestion.

Spicarus - I think the below should answer it :)

New chapter! Onwards!

Chapter 10

It was not surprising that when Nabiki heard the truth about P-chan's condition, she hit the roof, and proceeded to do a very convincing imitation of Akane in a full rage. Everyone assumed that she was mad because the pervert was under her roof, potentially molesting her sister and depriving her of an income – no one was to know that she thought that the piglet was cute and let him into her room, sometimes even to watch her change.

She now knew the reason behind the small rivers of blood that came out of his nose those times.

No one needed to know that little titbit of information, so she got down to discussing a plan on how to out the pervert. Two pathways had to be thought out, and for both, the sisters enlisted Kasumi, since there was no danger of the eldest of having known that the pig was not a pig. The honour, good nature and honestly of Kasumi knew no bounds, and she would never have let him get away with it, so she was safe.

As it was, the eldest Tendo has not been a victim of the peeping pig, but the damage done to her sister's already fragile psyche was significant, and she advocated some restrained blood letting.

It would give all the sisters an opportunity to vent, and see who else was in on the deception. Baring Mousse, who already knew, it was likely to prove very lucrative.

They got to implement the plan four days later. Everyone was at breakfast, the day after the girls' final exams, ready for a couple of relaxing days before school finished that Friday for the summer. There would be classes, but most students would be making choices what final year classes to attend, so there was no expectation to learn anything.

Then, a little black pig waddled into the room.

It took every little bit of self restraint for Akane not to lash out at her 'pet'. Instead, she put on a smile, and scooped the little animal up. "P-chan! Where have you been? I have been so worried. Now, you be a good little boy and stay home for me, will you? Kasumi will look after you. I ll get back to you as soon as school is over, and you can have a little treat if you don't wander off!" Turning to her sister, she asked. "I m going to take P-chan up to my room. Can you let him sleep and get him some dinner if he gets hungry? He will need some rest and food, he looks so exhausted. I ll take care of him once I m home."

Kasumi walked over. "Oh my. He does look a little thin. Don't worry Akane, I will take good care of him." Taking the pig, she went into the kitchen, looking for some food and gently stroking a knife. P-chan visibly gulped. "Let's make you into food. Oh my, don't shake so, little one. I meant make you some food." The eldest Tendo did a little laugh. "I must be so tired that I am mixing up words. Ah, here are some vegetables. I ll take you upstairs and we can get you stuffed before your nap."

The little pig shivered. Something felt very, very wrong.

Contrary to his momentary assumptions, P-chan found that he was treated very well during his stay. Kasumi made sure that he had plenty to eat and drink and allowed him to stay in the living room on a nice cushion. In no time at all, Akane was back from school.

"Tadaima!" Something was strange. P-chan would have sworn that he heard five different voices instead of just the two he was expecting. A moment later, Akane came into the room, followed by Mousse, Ukyo, Shampoo and Ranma, dripping wet and female.

Kasumi came out of the kitchen and smiled. "Okaeri!" Would everyone like to stay for dinner? Ranma, there is still hot water in the tea pot, if you want it."

The redhead nodded and moved to the kitchen, while Akane smiled and responded to her older sibling, "Sure, onee-chan. We were planning to sit together and discuss the classes that we were going to be taking and see if we can help Mousse narrow down what university courses he wants to take."

Shampoo piped up. "I stopped by the restaurant and grandmother gave me some dim sum and fish to give you. It would help feed us all, yes?"

Kasumi looked worried. "You didn't have to, Shampoo."

The purple haired girl waved her off. "I wanted to. Kasumi has always been nice to everyone, so we wanted to give you something to ease your workload. Mousse, put your glasses back on and take this though to the kitchen."

The blind martial artist bowed and proceeded to follow the eldest sister into the kitchen to bring in the food, while the rest of the group sat around the table in the living room. Ranma and Mousse re-joined them a moment later, the former once again male, and everyone got the notes out of their bags.

Akane smiled. "So, what did everyone think of the introductory classes?" The group was quickly overtaken in chatter, Shampoo weighing the pros and cons of staying in Tokyo, or attending a school back in China, and Ukyo wanting to take up Nabiki on her advice and study Economics and continue with her Mathematics studies. Mousse was discussing the various classes he would have to take for each potential degree and university choice, and even Ranma was involved in an indepth discussion on the value of attending a university part time to study the medical side of sports practices to consider treating injuries on site at the dojo with proper medical accreditation with Kasumi when she popped in and out of the room at intervals.

It was almost an hour by the time dinner was served, and the whole group shifted around to make way for the fathers, Nodoka and Nabiki.

Then, just as the little piglet was on the very edge of blissful sleep, Shampoo saw the predetermined signal from Nabiki, picked up her cup of tea and almost negligently upended it over the hoofed creature.

And then, needless to say, all hell broke loose.

Part of Akane had been hoping that Shampoo had been wrong, or at least cursed or dreaming, since she doubted now that Shampoo would say something like this just to spite her. However, the moment the hot water hit the piglet, he weight on her lap increased dramatically and she knew.

Ryoga woke from his nap by being scalded with hot water. For a moment, that did not trigger a response from him, until he opened his eyes and found himself looking straight up at Akane. While in her lap. Uncovered except for a bandana.

"Bwee?"

He knew. And he knew that now, she knew too.

While the rest of the table was frozen in shock, Nabiki used the moment to take stock of the room. She already suspected that Mousse knew just like Shampoo, but he looked incensed, so he probably was under the same impressions as his love interest. Points to him for recognising a set up so quickly and having some honour. Nodoka and Kasumi, despite the latter knowing, both looked on in undisguised horror. Ranma, as she suspected, looked scared more than anything else - so he must have known, and had a reason for hiding it. Interesting.

But the surprise had been the fathers. Genma knowing and keeping this from them she could understand and even predict, but her own father, showing only minimal surprise at what had been revealed in front of his eyes? Had he no feelings for Akane, or his other daughters, to allow a man he KNEW to be masquerading as a pig to sleep in her bed and violate her trust?

Nabiki's blood boiled in hatred and disgust and she resolved to change her plans on the go.

The room chose that moment to explode. Akane jumped up as though burned, launching the naked boy out of her lap and hitting the table. Genma expertly moved to save some food off the crashing table as the pig boy crashed into it, seemingly unaware of the drama.

Ryoga, slightly disoriented from the fall jumped up, as the older women averted their eyes. His addled brain chose this moment to look for a guilty party, and deciding that he himself could not possibly be to blame, shouted "Ranma Saotome, prepare to DIE!" He rushed his stunned opponent, who was once again a girl, having had a glass of water upend all over him, only to be stopped by a spatula.

The boy blinked. "Ukyo? What are you doing."

The normally unshakable chef stood off to the side, the battle spatula baring the former pig's way. Her eyes were cast to the floor and she was trembling. "Let me at him, this is all his fault!"

Ukyo's eyes snapped up and the spatula dug into the boy's skin, leaving a single streak of blood. "His fault? Did he make you spy on me when I changed? Did he force you to violate me by listening to mine and other people's secrets? Did he manhandle you into climbing into Akane's bed and abusing her trust? You monster!" Shouting this, she lunged at him, the sharp edge of her weapon only missing him by millimetres and allowing her to cut a part of his hair.

"You don't understand! I am cursed because of him! He made me follow him to those springs and then pushed me in! I turn into a pig because of him and his fear of losing to me!"

Everyone stopped, Ranma looking very fearful as his involvement was becoming more and more obvious. Nabiki and Shampoo seemed to be the only ones holding their cool, though it was not that hard for the later, not having been wronged, as the brunette asked, "Oh, he did now, did he? And when was this?" The steely look in her eyes made Ranma gulp when she looked at him for a second, but Ryoga completely missed it when it was briefly directed at him.

Ryoga sensed a way to blame everything on Ranma and grinned, despite his situation, not realising that with that he was digging an even bigger hole for himself. "Right after he refused to wait for our duel! I followed him to China, and he what pretending to be chasing the stupid panda and knocked me into a spring as soon as I got there. They must have been waiting to ambush me! He claims that he was chasing the panda because of his curse, but I bet it was all staged! He's a dishonourable bastard, of course he did! Yeah! It's all Ranma's fault!" Ryoga forgot he has no clothes and punched the air in victory for finding the right person to blame. The shrieks of anger from the various women quickly had him bringing a pillow to cover himself, especially when Nodoka squeaked and her hand went to draw the sword out. "And now he has proven himself to be more dishonourable by telling you all after swearing an honour oath to never reveal my secret! Ranma prepare to die!"

Just as he was about to launch himself at the sometimes girl, whose eyes were as wide as saucers and who looked more than just panicked, he felt two blades at him throat. Mousse stood before him, one of his knives in hand, pressing to Adam's apple, and Ukyo, having recovered from the momentary shock of hearing that Ranma had indeed known, had her battle spatula against the jugular. Neither of them looked ready to let him off, and Ryoga knew that no matter how much force and damage he could normally take, a blade against his arteries was a different matter. One minute movement, and he would be bleeding out on the floor. He would never get a chance to tell Akane how he felt, or to get back to Akari. Ukyo could slow him, and the blind martial artist had insane aim when he knew where he was aiming - and feeling the warmth of Ryoga's body left him with no doubts that they would strike with deadly accuracy, since they only needed him to move to inflict the wounds.

Nabiki stepped around Shampoo, who was using her bonbori to keep Akane back for the time being, and stared straight into the eyes of the newly identified shape shifter, being careful not to look anywhere but his eyes. Her voice had the temperature of liquid nitrogen. "So let me get this straight, pork chop. You blamed Ranma for leaving a duel you forfeited by not showing up for it or asking for assistance to be led to the place, followed him to China on a whim, attempted to challenge him while he had JUST become cursed and that he probably didn't even realise you were there because he was TRAUMATISED, and then emotionally blackmailed him using his guilt for your curse into keeping a secret you used against him to take advantage of innocent women? All while trying to kill him for not having honour?" She had spent the whole time counting off on her fingers. Defending Ranma hurt, given the circumstances, but the following answer could at least mitigate the circumstances a little, if the pig boy was as stupid as she thought he was, and maybe place the blame majorly where it lay, and allow her to convince others of it.

"Yeah!"

Ryoga had never been a bright lightbulb.

Ukyo smiled, having caught on at least partially to Nabiki's phrasing and plan. "That's ok then. YOU!" She turned to Ranma, making sure to look angry, not that there was much difficulty. "You stay there, we will deal with you later. Now, P-chan, you should get what you deserve."

The pig boy's brain was filled with beautiful fantasies of Akane hugging and kissing him, while beating Ranma into the ground and burying his rival at long last. "What's that?"

He missed the ugly smiles all around him, until he heard the words coming out of the one mouth that he would never have expected. Kasumi had stepped up to him, a meat cleaver in hand, and put her free hand on his shoulders, keeping him in place. Her smile was kind and serene as she said, "We are going to neuter you, P-chan."

Needless to say, the girls didn't carry out the threat in its entirety – Ryoga's manhood was still largely intact by the time his beaten, unconscious body was thrown outside the Tendo dojo. However, in the mean time, Ukyo, Akane and, to the surprise of everyone, Nabiki, went to town on the boy, hitting him with various bits of furniture, while the middle sister punctuated her attacks with explanations of just how much repairs and moral damages were going to cost him. The graphic pictures of prison and the detailed explanation of damage he had done to his honour, unprompted by Ranma, as well as Akane's exclamations of her hatred for him, probably did more damage than the physical hits.

They had to hold Nodoka back from attacking the fathers, who by now were trying to reason with the women that there was no REAL harm done, as the family blade had come out at Ukyo's original suggestion. Shampoo and Kasumi stepped in to stop her form actually killing anyone by engaging the older woman in discussion on various legal ways to hurt the men involved. Shampoo, being one of the few women not wronged, didn't really move much except to hold a weapon for one of her new friends or trip Ryoga up when he tried to run away, the rest of the time spent in conversation with Kasumi and Nodoka, and sipping tea, the perfect picture of serenity. Kasumi also did not intervene, despite her earlier thread featuring the meat cleaver, choosing her look of disappointment and disapproval to do the trick, with the exception of one frying pan to the head to, as she claimed, stop the then flying boy from crashing into the dinner table.

Since it was Kasumi, everyone believed her.

The fathers had tried to make themselves scarce after Nodoka had been largely calmed down, but Mousse had, at a motion from Nabiki, been on the lookout for them, and pulled them back into the room with his flying weapons any time they tried to escape.

All in all, it was a normal evening in Nerima, and the neighbours of the Tendo dojo ignored the noise.

Once the dust settled and Shampoo decided that enough was enough and held the bluette back, stopping her from coming an act she could come to regret. Akane was the only person still attacking the boy's unconcious body, and the purple haired Amazon had to drag her back out of mallet reach. "Shampoo says stop! Won't let friend become a murderer. Nabiki has better ideas!" Thankfully, the Amazon was still significantly stronger than Akane, and eventually got the girl to calm down. "Mousse, find him a place to lie and come back, check for vitals and make sure he is still breathing. We will take him to the doctor later. Other business still to finish here."

The other men in the room, who were hoping that they would be forgotten, gulped visibly.

Nabiki stumbled into her seat next to Nodoka and glared at Ranma. "At least Ryoga answered one question for us. You can have a reprieve for the moment. DON'T leave." Then, she turned to her father and the panda, who was holding up a sign of 'I am just a cute panda'.

"How could you, you monsters?"

Silence.

Nabiki took in a breath. "How could you let your daughter be abused like that? Did you not want your child to be happy? She has been through enough at school, what with Kuno and the others attacking her. Yes, I helped generate money from it, and fuelled the fire, but I also spread rumours about what sort of man would be considered acceptable by you, and made sure to keep the fighting to a minimum. Not once was Akane attacked outside of school, and I managed to convince Kuno not to really try to defeat Akane until he graduated, so she was safe from any real attacks off the school grounds. What sort of a father are you, though? You abandoned all of us! What if we had been raped by that, that pig? Would you have thrown us out for that blemish to our honour or would you have forced one of us into a horrific marriage with someone who assaulted one of us?"

The man was so surprised to see Nabiki shouting at him that he forgot to cry or shout. "But daughter, I was sure it would be fine. It would simply make Ranma jealous and get them married quicker. Surely, you can see that this was all for the good of the family?"

Nabiki didn't bother to grace the man with an answer.

"I am disappointed in you, Tendo-san."

Those last words were barely audible and came from a girl who rarely spoke up, and who was known to be kind and forgiving, her dead bowed.

"Kasumi?" Soun Tendo looked like he had been slapped as she raised her eyes to look at her father.

"Please do not address me in such a familiar manner. One may mistake it for genuine love and concern, which you have demonstrated that you do not have." She took a breath, controlling herself. "I am devastated by our betrayal of your daughters. I am sure that if mother was alive, she would have taken us away from you, and not allowed such degrading behaviour to continue."

By now, she had everyone's attention, and apart from the middle sister, they were unsure of what would happen "I have come to a decision. Until today I was unsure of it, second guessing myself, but Nabiki and the situation today have convinced me that it is the right thing to do. I will be moving out as soon as Nabiki goes to University. I have been allowed into a nursing program, which I have been wanting to attend for three years now, and as part of it, I will be assisting an elderly lady with her care and will be living with her. I will not be a drain on your resources. I had hoped that this would not be necessary, but clearly, there is no need for honour to hold me to this home any longer, as you have shown, Tendo-san. I am moving out for my own safety. Now, please excuse me, I will go to get ready for me leaving. I will continue to look after the house on holidays and until I go, just as my mother has taught me, but other than that, I expect you to maintain the home on your own from now own until it comes into my and my sisters' possession on your death."

Kasumi stood up and breezed out, leaving her father and everyone else speechless. Nabiki scowled. "Well, this makes it easier for me then. I will make provisions for Akane to be fed at school and on weekends, but you are both to assume your share of the chores once Kasumi and I are gone. I will also be informing the police and child services of what happened here in the last few months, so your treatment of Akane will be closely monitored - if anything, like another wedding, is staged, she will be taken away from you, and you will have no heir. I will be leaving in two weeks to move to boarding house near university and will only come back during the holidays I am not working, mostly likely in the winter." She looked at her sister, and her expression softened. "I am sorry to be doing this, but you are welcome to visit me, Akane."

Soun looked like he was about to interrupt, but his daughter cut in before he could. "Spare us your wails. We put our good name and dreams on the line for you and Akane, and while she had the excuse of being a child and suffering from an impossible situation you did nothing about, you were supposed to look after us. You better figure out a way of getting money in, since I am only going to support Akane from now on. You can reopen the dojo or beg for all I care, but just so you know – the income you get from your ward representative job is only enough to pay the taxes and bills on the house, and only after I had made some arrangements – it leaves nothing to eat for a family of four, let alone two moochers. Have Genma get a job, or something, it's not fair that Aunty is the only one contributing anything to the house. We are done with you."

She pointedly looked at Genma, who was still a panda. "I don't even care for your excuses, monster. I would suggest you stay away from my sister though, and stop your scheming, or the families will NEVER be united, and you won't get your cushy retirement plan."

She turned to Ranma, still seething. "What's your excuse, pervert?"

The girl flinched at the tone and word used – she had rarely if ever heard it from Nabiki, but it was well deserved in this instance. She hung her head. "It was all I have."

"Explain." The tone was icy cold and told of insane self control, stopping her from lashing out the way she and the others had done earlier.

Ranma sighed, with what looked like tears suspiciously in his eyes. "I felt guilty. I mean, I had no idea the idiot would follow me to China when he has barely any other sense of direction and couldn't find a bathroom stall in the bathroom, and I have no recollection of pushing him in, but it's still my fault that he changes. And he turns into dinner! I at least stay human, and I didn't know about Shampoo and Mousse then. I couldn't not promise to protect his secret. It was all I could do."

Seeing her son pause, Nodoka spoke up as the others were about to lay into him. "I can understand that, son. It is a noble gesture. However, once you discovered that Hibiki was abusing the curse and your promise to him, why did you not speak up?"

Ranma shuddered. "Because I have no wish to be like the panda."

Nabiki and Ukyo immediately blanched, while Shampoo, Mousse and Nodoka all winced. Akane seemed oblivious to what he meant. "You jerk! You mean that you knew and honour was more important than telling me?"

Ranma hung her head. "Honour was the only thing that I have that is my own. My name has been dragged through the mud, my life belongs to the whim of my mother and I have only two things left. The Art, which I found out Happosai controls, and even it was taken from me, and my honour. It was my way of making up for everything. Plus, I even bent that for as much as I could and it hurt me. I tried to drop as many hints as I could without revealing the secret. I always knew that if he tried anything other than snuggle in with you, I would tell everyone, but this is Ryoga. He would never take further liberties with you than the ones you gave him freely." She looked directly at Nabiki. "And I know that is no excuse to how I acted, I know. But if I had known that your father knew, I would have approached him and demanded on his honour that he told you. I knew better than to approach Pop."

Nabiki shot Akane a warning glance. "I think I can understand your logic. You did not know that Tendo-san knew or that Hibiki had been approaching other girls, like Ukyo?"

Ranma's eyes went even wider. "What? He dragged others into this?"

Shampoo nodded. "Yes, Ukyo told us he had done the same with her as with Akane. Shampoo and Mousse apologise, we didn't realise no one else knew of his curse. I thought it was a ploy by Akane to make Ranma jealous. Too too many near misses and hints and transformation, and too many Jusenkyo cursed in Nerima for it not to be obvious."

"The bastard! I will go..."

"Stop, Saotome. I think if Ukyo and Akane can understand your position, since they are the ones directly affected, they will be in a position to not be as harsh on you. I leave you in their hands. Give them a few days to cool off and we can try to resolve this. Shampoo, I think your apology is accepted – I believe you, and Mousse had no reason to suspect otherwise either. Like you said, too many near misses. It's obvious in hindsight. Ranma, I think that I will forgive you in time as well. As for the moment, I believe that a suitable punishment would be... Actually, wait a moment. Would you have told us anything at all?"

Ranma blinked. "If the pig tried to molest any of you by using his form, or I had married Akane, I would have. There is only so far that I can stretch honour. If he took advantage of Akane, I would have told you all directly. If I had married her, she would have become an extension of me, and revealing Ryoga's curse would not have broken my promise, as long as she kept it as well. But as long as he was Akane's pet, she was protecting him from me, and my hands were tied."

Ukyo spoke up, knowing that Akane should not be allowed to talk in her state of anger. "Fine. You could not tell me and you didn't even know, but you still owe me. Nabichan, I have a suggestion. He works this off, in a way that will embarrass him. I can use a pack mule and an extra waitress or waiter. He can work free of charge until term starts again, on weekends after that until we feel like his guilt has been redeemed sufficiently. He is in debt to me, and I think that by boosting our profits, he can also start repairing the damage to your family name, since it benefits you as well. I am sure that Akane can devise something painful enough without it being excessively degrading. Using him as a cooking tester for a few months should do it. Nodoka-san, would you see to it that your son is sufficiently punished, and take care of your husband for us? I don't think any of us would have the clarity of mind to leave him alive for all his transgression to us. It's safe to say I would happily murder him right now for everything he has done to all of us, your son included."

The panda quickly rolled into a corner and pretended to pay with a tire.

Nodoka nodded. "Please rest assured that I will take care of this. Now, I think it is best if we go. Ranma, come on, let's remove you from the proximity to the ladies. Husband, get up this minute, or help me Kami I will find an excuse to kill you myself. Ranma, pick up the boy. We need to take him to a clinic to be treated. No matter his sins, leaving him to die is even more dishonourable. Just don't be too gentle with him."

It was quiet as they walked to the Saotome house, Nodoka prodding her husband along with the family blade. Ranma walked robotically ahead, Ryoga unconscious in his arms.

"Son, there is a clinic here. Why don't we take him in?"

Ranma looked around in surprise. This place had no clinic, except Dr …

"Mom, the Doc has moved away."

But his mother was already knocking.

It was to his great surprise that the door opened and Dr Tofu himself stepped out. "Ranma! What a surprise! I only got in a few hours ago! No new injuries..."

The smile slipped off his face as he saw the lost boy in Ranma's arms, beaten and bloody, obvious impressions of a mallet on the skin beginning to show up. "What happened?" The doctor stared at the boy. Ranma could feel him looking at the aura. "Ah. P-chan is it? Akane find out?"

Ranma could only nod.

"Alright, bring him in, and I ll treat him. You can keep him here, and I will call the Tendos with my apologies in the morning. There was always something strange about the boy, but I never stopped to investigate."

And with that, he held the door open for the family to bring in their burden.