Conjunction

18

Commissioned by Kenainath.

"We should visit your parents more often," Usagi smiled from the passenger seat of Michiru's new car as she looked out the window at the passing scenery of Nerima going by.

"Nah," Ranma shook his head. "Coming here is asking for trouble."

Usagi turned and studied him for a moment, before smiling. "Alright. I won't push," she nodded.

"Thanks," the pigtailed boy murmured, slowing as he turned down the street his mom lived on.

A grin pulled at the blonde's lips. "In return…"

"…Yeah?" Ranma asked hesitantly, eyeing her suspiciously for a moment as she giggled.

"You have to come meet my family! Tonight! We're having dinner together and I want you to come."

"Oh. Is that all?" he asked, humming. "…Aren't they like, normal?"

"Mhmm!" Usagi nodded, sending her blonde hair bouncing. "It should just be us, mom, dad, and my little brother.

Considering her for a moment, he asked, "Do they know about… you know?"

"Mom and dad don't. Shingo does. He found out some time ago," she admitted.

"So uh… you know trouble kinda follows me around. They're gonna find out, eventually."

Usagi giggled, nodding. "I know. I think it's about time. So~… Wanna help me pull a prank on my parents?"

"What'd you have in mind?" Ranma asked, and the blonde clapped her hands excitedly.

"Oh! How about I introduce them to my fiance and my fiancee?!"

"You want me to use a twin?" he asked, and she nodded. "I mean, if you're going that far to prank them, you might as well introduce them to the rest of the senshi at the same time and tell them we're all getting married together."

"Yeah, but there are a few holdouts you haven't convinced yet, so we'll have to wait on that," Usagi pouted, before perking up again. "Just the twins thing should be shocking enough. Then I'll sit them down and explain the whole thing after we have a good laugh."

Slowing down, Ranma pulled to a stop in front of his mother's house, frowning as he spotted a very expensive looking, shiny new black sedan parked on the curb opposite the house—a man in a suit sitting inside with the window down, reading a book. "Sure, sounds good," he answered distractedly.

An uncomfortable feeling formed in the pit of his stomach and Ranma acted on his suspicion, reaching out with his ki senses. He found what he was looking for immediately—five ki signatures in his mom's home, all of them familiar. His father and mother were expected, but the other three were not. Two of them were entirely unwelcome, while the third…

He could guess why they were here, and his gut twisted, bile rising up as feelings of old, bitter anger and betrayal rose up. The steering wheel creaked under his hands as he stared at the house.

Usagi's hand on his thigh drew Ranma's attention to the blonde, who was sending him a questioning look. "Something wrong?"

"Akane's here. With Kuno. She's pregnant," his words came out clipped and the car's windshield and windows quickly frosted over.

"Mm, I see," Usagi murmured, before a bright smile pulled at her lips. "Let's go say hi~!"

Ranma blinked, finding himself pulled entirely out of his feelings by her reaction. "What?"

"You heard me!" she grinned. Leaning in, she pressed herself into his side, partly pulling him into a hug as her lips found his ear. "I get it. You're still mad. I am too! Every time I think about Mamoru and what we could have had, it makes me so angry. But! That's not good. Not good for me, not good for you, and not good for us. So I'm trying to let go of it. Eventually, I know I'll move past it. But until then… well~ Set-chan always says the best revenge is petty. How annoyed do you think she'll be to see you've moved on? That you're engaged to someone who genuinely cares? Lots of someones, even! She spent all her time fighting Shampoo and the other girls off and here we are, all willing to share, work together, and encourage each other! She's gonna be super butthurt about that, I'll bet! I can casually drop that Michiru and I are pregnant too, just to rub it in. And if that doesn't get under her skin… it's going to come out that I'm Sailor Moon eventually."

Putting an arm around Usagi's back, Ranma squeezed her tight. "S'that what you want?"

"Mhm!" Usagi nodded, planting a kiss on Ranma's cheek. "Your mom and dad still owe you an apology each too, and I'm not giving up on those either. No one can out-stubborn me!"

Chuckling, Ranma gave her another squeeze before letting go. "Alright. Let's get this over with. Just uh, be ready with the heals. I might 'accidentally' smash Kuno's face in."

"Uehehe~! Another one of Set-chan's little sayings… if there's no evidence, it didn't happen!"

They got out of the car and made their way up to the front door. Ranma rang the bell and they waited. A few moments later, his mother answered the door, wearing a happy smile. That smile became somewhat strained when she saw Ranma and Usagi there.

"Son! Um, what ah, what a surprise!" she stammered, moving forward and giving the pair a quick, awkward hug each.

"Hi mom," Ranma greeted, moving to enter the house, only for his mother to shift her body to bar his path. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Something wrong?"

"Well, now's… maybe not the best time?" Nodoka murmured, looking back over her shoulder, deeper into the home.

Usagi giggled, latching onto Ranma's side. "Why not? It doesn't have anything to do with the fancy car parked across the street, does it?"

Nodoka winced, before nodding once. "Yes, it, it does. We have guests. Maybe you could… come back later?"

Ranma started to agree, only for Usagi to cut him off, verbally planting and twisting the knife as she did. "If I hadn't seen my mom for ten years, then most of my interactions with her after that were trying to avoid her calling in a seppuku pledge, I'd be kind of hurt if I thought we were moving past all of that and she told me to go away so she could visit with my unfaithful ex."

The redhead paled and Ranma cast a sidelong look at Usagi, who shrugged. "What? I can't be angry for you? We all know what's going on here."

"That's not fair. It's… not like that. She's just, she came by to…" Nodoka hesitated, seeming to deflate in front of them.

"No-chan, who's at the door?" Genma's voice called from deeper in the home.

"Please don't make a scene or start a fight," Nodoka whispered, before calling back, "Just the postman, dear!"

Before Ranma could fully process why it felt like he'd been kicked in the gut, Akane herself stormed around the corner. "Tell them to—oh," she froze as her eyes met Ranma's. Then, her eyes cut over to Usagi and Ranma saw the girl's entire body flex in anger for just a moment, her face turning red and eyes narrowing as her mouth opened. Somehow, Akane caught herself at the last second, before sniffing and turning back towards the living room and walking away. "It's Ranma and his… whatever. You may as well let him in, auntie. I'd rather tell him the news in person anyway."

Nodoka winced, but nodded and moved aside. "No fighting in the house," she murmured, shuffling towards the kitchen as Ranma and Usagi followed her inside.

Standing on her tiptoes, Usagi leaned up to whisper in Ranma's ear. "Let me handle it!"

The pigtailed martial artist hesitated. "You sure?"

"Yeah!" the blonde nodded, giving him a mischievous grin. "It'll be fun!"

They found Genma in the living room, along with Akane and Kuno—the younger pair sitting on one couch while Genma sat at the other, tea settings showing Nodoka had been sitting beside Genma. Akane looked annoyed as Ranma and Usagi took seats beside Genma, while the man beside her settled on disdainful.

"Boy," Genma grunted, before looking to the blonde. "Usagi."

"Pops," Ranma returned the greeting, shifting his gaze to Kuno. Deciding to be the bigger man, he nodded once. "Kuno."

"Saotome," the other man didn't spit the name, but it was a close thing. His eyes cut over to Usagi and he began to open his mouth. Ranma saw the moment survival instinct kicked in and Kuno glanced at Akane, giving him the stink eye. He settled back in his seat. "It's a pleasure to meet you, miss. It's a shame that the meeting comes in such poor company as his."

"So. Ranma. Introduce us," Akane demanded, crossing her arms over her chest as she exchanged her look of annoyance for a smirk.

"I can introduce myself," Usagi beamed, pulling Ranma's arm between her breasts and hugging him. "Tsukino Usagi. Political science major at the college in Juuban."

"So that's where you've been hiding," Akane sent Ranma an amused look.

"Wasn't hiding."

The girl shrugged. "Tendo Akane. Drama major at Todai. And this is my fiance, Kuno Tatewaki," she smiled, patting Kuno's knee. "So… are you two dating?"

"We're engaged," the blonde chirped, smiling wider as one of Akane's eyes twitched.

Akane recovered admirable as she scoffed. "Yeah? So were we," she chuckled. "Did you tell her about the other big engagements? You know, with the Chinese Amazon and the childhood friend cross-dresser?"

Usagi smiled, nodding. "I've met Shampoo. We worked things out with her grandmother and got the 'engagement' there called off. Haven't met Ukyo yet."

For a moment, Akane just blinked, before curiosity won out over petty bitchiness. "…How did you manage that?"

"You just have to know how to talk to people," Usagi shrugged, examining her nails. "It helps when you don't just start throwing punches out of the gate."

"Oh ha ha," Akane rolled her eyes.

Nodoka chose that moment to come back, putting a fresh pot of tea on the table and two more cups, pouring one each for Ranma and Usagi. When she finished pouring, she took a seat on the couch beside Akane and Ranma frowned. Usagi squeezed his arm. Looking between the two couches at the sudden silence, Nodoka frowned herself, before turning to Ranma.

"Son, Akane has some news she came to share," she began, before perking up a bit, a smile replacing her frown as she turned to Akane. "Ranma has some news for you as well, Akane. But why don't you go first, dear?"

Smirking, Akane picked up her teacup and took a sip, dragging it out as she studied Ranma and Usagi. After a moment, she leaned into Kuno's side, his arm wrapping around her shoulders as she rested one hand on her stomach. "I'm pregnant."

"Congratulations," Ranma grunted.

Usagi clapped excitedly. "That's great news! I'm so happy for you! How far along are you?"

Akane blinked, her catty look briefly falling in exchange for confusion. "Huh? We found out this week."

Usagi nodded, taking a sip of her tea to hide her own smile briefly. "Then you should be due about two months after me."

The blue haired girl frowned at that. "Oh. Congratulations?" she murmured, before apparently connecting some dots in her mind. A quiet snort left her lips and she eyed Ranma. "Yeah, you did always have to be the 'hero' didn't you? Gotta say though, taking in a girl to keep her from being a single mom is a first. Usually it's just rescuing girls from being kidnapped because they happened to be in your vicinity." Turning a grin on Usagi, she asked, "Have you been kidnapped yet? Gotten into a fight with one of the other fiancees? Maybe had your home destroyed by one of his rivals busting the place up?"

Usagi put on her best 'confused' face. "Why would I be a single mother? I'm engaged to my child's father."

The catty grin on Akane's lips abruptly turned brittle. "…Say again?"

Taking one of Ranma's hands, Usagi pulled it down to rest over her belly. "Ranma is the father."

Akane stilled, her entire body again briefly flexing and her face and neck turning red. Red ki wafted off of her for just a moment before Nodoka cleared her throat. Akane took a breath and let it out slowly, her ki dissipating as her body mostly relaxed and the red slowly faded. "Oh. Is that so?"

"Yup! We're going to have the wedding right after the birth. You're invited, of course," Usagi grinned. "The ceremony might run a little long though, so plan ahead!"

"Uh huh," Akane muttered. Reaching up, she pushed Kuno's arm off of her and shifted in her seat to make herself more comfortable. After a moment, her grin returned. "You're not worried about complications, are you?"

"Hm?" Usagi hummed, picking up a cookie from the tray on the table. "What do you mean?"

"You know. With the gender?" Akane leaned forward, looking between Ranma and Usagi. After a moment, she asked, "You did tell her about the curse, right?"

"What curse?" Usagi asked innocently as Ranma rolled his eyes. Kuno echoed the question with a confused look.

Akane glanced at her fiance briefly, before a quiet, "Ah," left her lips. "You never figured it out?"

"Figured what out?" Kuno asked, glancing between Akane and Ranma. "Saotome, what is she talking about?"

"You remember the… what was it you used to call her? The redhead. 'Fiery pigtailed goddess' or something?" Akane snorted as Kuno perked up and nodded.

He opened his mouth, only to again look at Akane, eyeing him carefully. "I… vaguely remember a girl with red hair, but her memory has long since faded, outshone as it is by your beauty."

"Uh huh. Keep it that way," Akane warned, before pointing at Genma. "Watch."

Kuno turned to look at the elder martial artist. As soon as he did, Akane flicked the remains of her tea at him. The cool liquid landed and Genma shifted from man to panda. Kuno blinked. "That… How?"

"Magic," Akane chuckled. "These two idiots picked up a couple of curses in China, before coming back to Japan. A little cold water and they change, hot water and they change back. Genma turns into a panda. Want to guess what Ranma turns into?"

"…What?" Kuno asked warily.

"He's the girl with red hair," Akane laughed. "That whole time you were chasing after her? You were actually chasing after Ranma's cursed form. Hehe, that's still funny."

Kuno looked sick. Genma, even as a panda, looked suddenly green around the gills. Nodoka— "…Even as a girl, my son is the best," she murmured, shaking her head and smiling ruefully.

"Saotome, you cur—!"

"Nope," Ranma snorted. "I tried to warn ya. Tried to tell ya a hundred times, but you wouldn't listen." He shrugged. "You brought that on yourself."

"That, that's impossible—!"

"Oh shut up, you big baby!" Akane rolled her eyes. Reaching out, she grabbed his teacup. "See for yourself!"

Ranma spluttered as a splash of tea landed in his face. "Really, Akane?"

The girl glanced down at the cup, back and forth a couple of times between it and the still very much male Ranma. "Must've been warm. I'll go get some water…"

"No need," Usagi giggled. "It won't work anyway."

Akane frowned, putting the cup down. "What do you mean? Of course it'll work." Blinking, she paused, then asked, "Unless you've found a cure?" She glanced at the panda, then shook her head. "No, you'd have shared it if you had."

"Not if it's something he can't share~," Usagi teased, sticking out her tongue. "I am the cure."

"Huh?" Akane asked dumbly, and the blonde grinned wider.

"I cured Ranma. Oh, and Ryoga. And Shampoo, and Mousse. I'll cure Mr. Panda-man there too, but he knows what he needs to do if he wants to be cured," she cast a look on the panda.

Genma held up a sign. 'Got nothing to apologize for.'

"If you insist," Usagi shrugged, before turning back to Akane. "But yeah, I cured that ages ago. I wasn't even trying, really! We were just kind of in the middle of," she stuck her tongue out and knuckled the side of her head. "It just kind of happened."

"You. Cured the Jusenkyo curse?" Akane asked, and Usagi nodded. "But you got involved with him when he was still swapping back and forth every time it rained?"

Usagi giggled, blushing and pressing a hand to her cheek. "I mean, I wasn't exactly put out by it, if you know what I mean~. Who in their right mind would be, right? You know, right? Right? But the good news is, now he can just transform whenever he wants! It's like getting a two-for-one deal on fiances!"

Akane made a disgusted face. "Ew."

"Yeah, unlike someone, Usagi never made me go get hot water before coming to bed," Ranma sniped.

For just a moment, a contemplative look settled Kuno, Nodoka, and Genma's faces. Ranma punched the panda, driving the wind from his lungs, while Akane smacked Kuno in the back of the head hard enough to send him flying face first into the table. ""Knock it off!"" the pair growled, before abruptly looking up and meeting eyes over the table.

Ranma chuckled once, fighting down a smile. Akane huffed, crossing her arms and turning away. The moment passed and she turned back to Usagi. "Well then, I guess you'll be hiring security for the wedding, right?"

"Eh?" Usagi asked, confused. "Why would we need security?"

"Oh wait," Akane rolled her eyes, "you'd basically need to hire the people you'd want to keep out in the first place. Make sure you've got insurance on everything. And go ahead and buy two dresses, just in case. Trust me, you'll need it." At the blonde's confused look, she asked, "Oh, he didn't tell you about the failed wedding? Yeah, my sister called all of his rivals and other fiancees and they crashed our wedding. Destroyed everything. Ruined my dress. It was a complete disaster."

Usagi laughed. "No need! We'll just talk to them," she shrugged. "It's worked pretty well, so far."

"Uh huh," Akane grumbled. "How do you put up with it?"

"Hm? With what?"

"The craziness wasn't the worst part. Not the kidnappings. People constantly coming around to challenge Ranma. Or even the curse. It was the womanizing. I couldn't stand it. How do you live with knowing he's got like, half a dozen other girls waiting in the wings if you ever get into an argument and he decides he's done?"

Usagi blinked, before putting on a smile. "Why would I be jealous of other girls? I mean, not to toot my own horn, but…" She gestured at her body and face. "Have you seen me? I know some girls have," she glanced at Akane, "self-confidence issues, but I'm pretty confident in my looks!"

"Rrr!" Akane's fists clenched, her teeth grinding loud enough to be audible in the room.

"Besides!" Usagi continued, seemingly oblivious to Akane's annoyance. "I've already convinced all of my best friends to get married with us. There are like ten of us, I don't think he's going to get bored and go wandering off to find some other girl."

Akane's mouth fell open. "Wha—?"

"I know Ranma's a real man among men when it comes to bedroom fun, and that can be reeeally taxing on a girl if she's not built for it," she winked at Akane, who turned beet red and glared at Ranma, "but I think, between the ten of us, we'll be able to wear him out."

"T-ten…"

"Saotome," Kuno pulled himself up off the table, sending Ranma a serious look. They met eyes and Kuno… nodded. No words were needed as, despite years of rivalry and the bad blood between them, for that one moment they were united in being men. The respect of one man for another at accomplishing a seemingly impossible goal transcended the history between them.

Kuno whimpered as Akane buried a fist in his side without looking. No, her gaze was fixed on Usagi as her face shifted between confusion and disgust. "You. What? You're just going to… what, share him?"

"Mhmm!" Usagi nodded, beaming a happy smile. "My friends, Michiru and Setsuna, are both expecting. We're gonna have so much fun being moms together!"

"…Why?!" the bluenette demanded.

"It's a deal we agreed to when we were still in high school. We got tired of never being able to find a good guy, or the right guy, so we all agreed that if we found the one that we'd share with everyone if they wanted," Usagi explained, squeezing Ranma in a hug.

"That's so romantic~!" Nodoka whispered, eyes wide as she stared at Usagi. "To have friends so close that you would want to share everything with them…"

"Right?!" Usagi nodded.

"It's disgusting," Akane mumbled. Nodoka turned a frown on the girl beside her, but said nothing. Shaking her head, Akane said, "Well, good luck figuring out who's going to be the legal wife."

"Oh, we all are!"

Akane snorted. "Doesn't work like that. Bigamy is illegal in Japan."

Usagi laughed, sticking out her tongue again. "Oh, I think they'll make a little exception for us…"

"Uh huh. If you say so," Akane shrugged. Reaching out, she took Kuno's hand and turned a particularly nasty smile on Ranma. "If you need help paying for the weddings, I'm sure we can help out. I'm sure things will be rough at first, what with trying to rebuild a failed dojo and repair its reputation."

Ranma frowned. "Not running the dojo for profit. Might do it for fun. I'm finishing up what I need to open a business doing construction."

"Oh, that's going to be hard, considering the city council's poor opinion of you… Remember what happened with your last job?"

The boy turned and fixed a glare on Kuno. "Yeah. That reminds me. Kuno. I'm gonna be opening a construction company. You pull that shit with the city council again, remember that I know where you live… and I still owe you a beating that's been collecting interest for a while. I'll come collect every day until it stops."

"Erm," Kuno frowned, looking away. "I don't believe it will be an issue—"

"I think it might," Akane countered, turning to glare at him.

"It'd better not," Ranma shook his head.

"I'll talk to Set-chan. It won't," Usagi assured, patting Ranma on the thigh. "And while we appreciate the offer of help, I don't think we'll be needing it."

"Weddings are expensive. Don't worry, we can afford it. I'm sure our lawyers can find some way to turn it into a tax write-off. Maybe make it some kind of open event where anyone can come and get married," Akane mused, grinning. "It would help cement our position as a wealthy pillar of the community."

Usagi giggled. "I'm sure it would. But we'll do just fine on our own. We're all pretty much, well…" Usagi looked embarrassed as she glanced at Ranma, "We're all independently wealthy."

"Huh? I thought only Haruka and Michiru were," Ranma sent her a confused look, and Usagi shook her head.

"Well, yeah. But they started out that way! Haruka was born into money and Michiru's been selling art and signed a record label a few years ago. And Setsuna… she's just got more money than God, but that kinda happens when you're older than the stock market," Usagi shrugged. "As for the rest of us, we uh, we earn royalties. Off of the merchandise, endorsements, and other stuff. For the, you know… So, when we said you didn't actually have to do anything and could just do whatever you wanted, we meant it. Most of us are only in college or working because we're bored, or interested in something in particular. Ami wants to be a doctor, even if she doesn't have to work. I kinda need the courses I'm taking for later. Ugh, gonna need to go back for a second degree in finance and econ. Already dreading it! I keep saying we can just hire people for that, but Set-chan says that you should be able to do the numbers yourself, so no one can take advantage of you, and you have an idea of how your policies will affect the market."

"Wait," Akane murmured, looking at Usagi in confusion. "Royalties? Merchandise? Are you… famous or something? I don't recognize you."

Usagi brought a hand up to cover her grin as she laughed. "Of course not, that's part of the magic!"

"What magic?" the bluenette asked, confused.

"We're planning to go public eventually, so I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you, if you can promise to keep a secret," she winked. "I'm Sailor Moon."

Akane blinked. For a moment, she simply stared, her eyes shifting between Ranma and Usagi. Finally… she laughed. Akane nearly laughed herself sick as she pointed. "You? Pff- Sailor Moon? Heh- Engaged to, snerk, Ranma? Aahh- Pregnant with his kid?! Wahahaha! Oh my God, oh my God, I'm dying—!"

Reaching up, Akane wiped at her tears as she looked at Ranma, before wheezing another laugh. "Wow! You really know how to pick 'em! I thought she was kinda loony-toony before when she was talking all that crap about sharing with her friends, but this just takes the ca—"

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up~!"

"—aaake…" Akane trailed off as a flash of multi-colored light filled the room for a moment and when it cleared, in Usagi's place stood Sailor Moon. "Oh."

"Anyway~!" Moon beamed down at Akane from where she stood in her signature pose, before offering a hand to Ranma. "We should get going! We still need to visit my parents for dinner!"

"Sure," Ranma took the offered hand and stood. He grinned as Moon gave him a kiss, her hand settling on his ass and giving it a playful squeeze. "Hey, don't go getting handsy, unless you want to be late."

"Ooh, I think we can be a little late… Uehehe~!" Moon giggled, before turning a grin on Nodoka. "It was nice to see you again, mother. Let me know when you're ready to accept my deal. You only have a few months left, you know!"

With that, she pulled Ranma away, dropping her transformation as soon as they made it into the hall. The pair were silent all the way until Ranma put the car in gear and pulled away. Usagi let out an annoyed breath and thrashed in her seat. "That catty bitch!"

"You okay?" Ranma asked, looking over as Usagi had a minor meltdown.

"No," Usagi grumbled. "Your ex is not a nice person. Like, seriously. I wanted to strangle her! Seriously! Me! I'm like, the second nicest person I know! She is definitely barred from the wedding! She's the kind of petty brat who would come to a girl's wedding and ruin her dress with wine."

"Kuno's rich, so unless we're having it in like, Antarctica, pretty sure she'll just make him buy her a ticket so she can come try to find a way to screw things up."

"Oh, we're having it on the moon. Good luck booking a flight there. The list of people who can get up there is pretty short." Sitting back in her seat, Usagi turned her gaze out the window. "What did you see in her?"

Ranma frowned, considering the question as he drove. After a while, he shrugged. "I dunno. I guess she was pretty. She was the first friend I made here. When she wasn't being a bitch, she was actually kind of nice. Guess I thought the back and forth was kind of normal? Compared to the others… Shampoo tried to kill me. Ukyo tried to kill me. Akane didn't."

Usagi turned and sent Ranma a rueful look, reaching out and laying a hand on his thigh. "She was pretty, the first girl you met, and she was nice when she wasn't being a bitch and compared to the girls who tried to kill you. That's… that's just sad."

Ranma shrugged uncomfortably. "Is what it is."

"Nn," Usagi shook her head. "Well! At least now you have lots of female friends who aren't crazy, petty, spiteful, jealous—"

"I dunno, you were pretty spiteful and petty yourself, turning into Sailor Moon to one up her," Ranma grinned. "Was kinda fun to watch though."

Usagi stuck out her tongue. "That's just how girls fight, when they use their words! That's like… our entire group any time we got together at Rei's for a meeting. We're like, waaay past that kind of arguing. Usually. But uh… Word of advice? Don't try to get between us if we're fighting over something. Just let us work it out between ourselves."

"If you say so."

"Also," Usagi frowned, looking annoyed. "I can't believe your mom."

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked, having a feeling he knew exactly what she meant, but wanting to have his suspicions confirmed before voicing them.

"It's obvious she sided with Akane right from the start. What's with her? I mean, I get being happy that your niece, or close enough, is expecting but… After what Akane did? It's like she can do no wrong."

Ranma let out an annoyed sound and nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that. I think it's cause maybe she cuts Akane a lot of slack, because her mom's dead and she wasn't there to help out when Akane and her sisters were growing up. Guilt, maybe. At least, that's my guess."

Usagi shook her head. "It's still not right."

"Didn't say it was, but what can you do? Family is family."

"That's not how family is supposed to act." Usagi let out an annoyed breath. Squeezing his thigh, she said, "When this is all settled and we're married, no more Akane. No more Mamoru."

"Sure," Ranma agreed. "So, your parents?"

"Mm! You'll like them, I promise."