The summons Ranma from Nabiki later that evening was unexpected, and a little disconcerting. Nabiki had come home late from school, smiled at him, and asked him to meet her in her room in an hour.

He figured even odds on her being a doppelganger, being under some ancient evil spell, or having just sold his debt to her to the Yakuza. Given the awkward tension between them since the weekend up until now, he suspected it might even be all three.

He gently knocked on her door, only sparing a momentary glance at Akane's room.

"Come in!" Nabiki's answer was unnervingly cheerful.

He gritted his teeth and opened the door, stepping inside. It wasn't as if he had never been inside her room before, it was just that he had never LEFT her room without being considerably poorer.

Nabiki was perched on the edge of her bed, having changed into her jeans and the blue sweater with the twin hearts on it. She was smiling, which was never a good sign, and had that twinkle in her eye and the sly, confident look that said she was scheming, which was a worse sign.

Ranma closed the door behind him, then leaned back against it and crossed his arms. "All right, what do you want?"

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Oh my, so hostile already, Saotome? And here i was ready to fix all of your problems forever."

He scoffed. "Yeah, right. Look, Nabiki, I'm really not in the mood for this right now…"

"I'm deadly serious, Ranma." Nabiki fixed him with an intense glare. "I am talking about getting your life back on track towards something approaching stability. Maybe even close to normal."

Ranma paused, curiosity piqued in spite of himself. "Oh yeah? What's this gonna cost me?"

Nabiki sighed. "Look… ego aside for a moment here. I screwed up last weekend." She closed her eyes and gathered herself for the rarest of all things; A Nabiki Apology. "I tried to play Las Vegas rules and you got hurt, and you really don't deserve that. So part of this is to make that right, and to prove to you I wasn't lying when I told you what you want actually matters in all this." She opened one eye and held up a finger. "Of course, altruism only goes so far, and you couldn't foot the bill for the difference even if you were working in movies. Fortunately for you, Self-preservation also factors into this."

"Self-preservation?" Ranma said, tilting his head in confusion.

Nabiki sighed, got up off the bed and grabbed his shoulder, dragging him in so he could see the board she hand hung on the wall next to the door. On it were pictures of all the various different people in Ranma's life, clustered together where appropriate, with red, green and blue lines of string running between each of them in various proportions. There were also note cards covered in tight, crabbed handwriting.

"What the heck is this!?" Ranma's eyes flicked all around the board, trying to make heads or tails of it. It looked almost like one of those boards detectives used to track a killer on TV dramas.

"This is The Madness." Nabiki said proudly. "Or at least as much of it as I have been able to map out so far."

"'The Madness'? Ranma regarded the complicated mess skeptically.

"That's my term for the seemingly random chaos that seems to follow you around like a cloud." Nabiki smirked. "I always had a sense that there was some sort of pattern to it, but I never took the time to actually map it all out until now."

"Okay…?" Ranma scratched the back of his head in confusion. "... I don't get it."

Nabiki sighed in exasperation and turned to glare at him. "Look, if we can map it, we can understand it. And if we can understand it, we can dismantle it. Think of it like a martial arts opponent. This is how we learn all its secret moves, all of its attack patterns and weaknesses."

"Oh…" Ranma took another look, his brow furrowing. If red is a line of attack… no, OPPOSITION… green would be… Attraction? And blue would be… support? His brow raised. "Oh! I think I get it… it's like a tactical map, of a battlefield, with all different fighters, with the lines showing how they affect each other in the melee!"

"Yes! Exactly!" Nabiki clapped, glad she had found an analogy that let him see her genius.

Ranma whistled. "Holy crap, I wouldn't want to be in the middle of THIS fight. This would be a total mess!"

"You are in the middle of this fight." Nabiki tapped the two pictures she had placed in the middle, of Ranma's male and female forms. "See, the problem is that the forces in this fight are pretty much even. Everything cancels out, and what you've been doing in order to keep a lid on things, is when any one faction in this gains an advantage, you counter it." She gave him a sympathetic look. "I don't even think you know you're doing it. Because should any one faction definitively 'win'..."

"Others lose. Bad." Ranma said softly.

"Ukyou is disgraced a second time, maybe forcing her to live as a man for the rest of her life. Shampoo is forced to return home having failed a second time, possibly to worse punishment than a Jusenkyo curse. The Saotome and Tendo schools are never joined, and the Anything Goes School dies out." Nabiki listed off each of the worst case scenarios. "The problem is… this has made everything a total pressure cooker. What happens in a fight where there's a stalemate, and no easy course of retreat?"

"You push harder to overcome the stalemate. Break out the more extreme moves, try different tactics." Ranma said automatically. Then comprehension dawned on his face. "And… if that doesn't work…"

"You get desperate." Nabiki finished for him. "You get stuff like the wedding happening."

"Which wouldn't have happened…" Ranma growled, remembering who had sold that information.

Nabiki held up her hand. "I'm aware, Saotome. I wasn't aware of the dynamic when I did that. I thought it'd end up being like the Christmas Party. They'd show up, toss out their objections, maybe chase you around, and then at the end of the day you and Akane would get together like you always do." She shook her head. "I was not anticipating them bombing the venue." She sighed and tapped her chin, looking at the board. "But I probably should have."

"So… whenever one faction gets advantage, the others will get more and more crazy about it?" Ranma massaged his temples. "How do I keep 'em from killing each other?"

"Now you see my point about self-preservation? Nabiki said wryly. "I've got a plan, though. Akane being off the board is actually a good thing, believe it or not." Nabiki said. "None of them believe I'm serious competition, so some of the pressure is off. Not much, but it'll buy us some time." She started pacing back and forth as Ranma sat down on her bed, giving her his full attention. "We've got to bleed off the pressure gradually, de-escalate the big players, and kick the agitators off the board."

"'Agitators'?" Ranma asked.

"The Kunos. Ryouga. Mousse. The various nutjobs that keep cranking up the chaos."

"The Kunos?" Ranma asked, remembering his attempt to defuse Tatewaki.

"Yeah. I figure all three of them are unwanted. Unless you actually DO want Kodachi in the running for marriage?" She smirked a bit at his shudder. "Duly noted. So… pick a Kuno to keep."

"To keep?" Ranma said, confused.

"Getting two out of the three Kunos sent off to the funny farm shouldn't be too tough. It's where they belong, after all. But they're a rich, powerful family, which has been what's kept that Palm-tree headed nutjob in as Principal this long. We'll need one of them on our side. Shouldn't be too hard, since they all hate each other." She noticed Ranma's pensive look. "If you're torn, I suggest Tatewaki. Kuno-baby is probably the easiest of the three to handle."

"No, no… I mean, I agree, but…" Ranma sighed, certain he was going to get yelled at. "I… kinda… sorta… made nice with Kuno today. I think."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow, folding her arms across her chest and leaning against the wall next to the board. "Okay, this sounds like a story. Spill."

"Well, not much to tell, but I kind of used logic to convince him that I was the pig-tailed girl's brother, and that not only was I not in the way of him courting her, but never had been."

There was dead silence for a few moments, as Nabiki digested that.

Finally, she spoke up. "So… you used logic."

"Oi…" Ranma grumbled.

"... On Kuno…"

"Uh huh."

"... And it worked."

Nabiki managed to keep her composure for another moment or two, then started giggling. She covered her mouth, her other arm wrapped around her stomach.

Ranma sulked. "It's not that funny, Nabiki."

She waved him off as she regained her composure. "No, no… it's just… all these years of bludgeoning, beating, and outmaneuvering Kuno, and the solution was a five minute explanation."

"Well, he's still got the wrong idea." Ranma muttered. "Now he's calling me 'brother', and trying to prove himself worthy of courting my sister. Had to put up with him tryin' ta be my best buddy all day. An' he's still gonna be a royal pain for my girl side."

"Still, if Kuno-baby doesn't think you're competition for what he wants, he's pretty easy to get on your side. And once he's on your side it's tough to find a more determined ally." She sighed and leaned back against the wall. "If he actually wanted anything reasonable he'd almost be worthwhile."

Ranma frowned, hearing a wistful note in her voice. He normally ignored such things, but he was starting more and more to see the advantage to paying attention to things like tone. It's like watching someone's moves in a fight to see what they'll do next. He realized, finding another thing to add to his mental model of 'Socializing Martial Arts'. "So, I never asked… what's up between you and Kuno, anyway? I mean, besides money."

Nabiki scowled a bit at him, then relented and sighed. "There's nothing 'between us'. Never was."

"You wish there was, though?" Ranma pressed, leaning forward a bit.

Nabiki glared at him. "That's privileged information, Saotome."

Ranma ran that through his mental martial arts translation. Blocking. Protecting something important? So then… I would get her to give it up in exchange for something more important, right? "Hey, you've got my whole life up on a corkboard in your room, and you wanna go around changing it all around to protect your interests. I figure I've got a right to… full disclosure? Yeah, full disclosure."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Where did you hear a term like 'full disclosure' from?"

"Uhh…" Ranma felt his head of steam die a little. "... Gangster movie." He admitted sheepishly.

Unexpectedly, Nabiki smirked, and he caught a glimpse of the girl he had spent the weekend with. "Gangster movie, huh? Not a bad mindset to be in for this." She sighed. "Alright, full disclosure, though it doesn't have anything to do with anything, just to prove you can trust me. Happy?" She crossed her arms tighter and fixed her gaze on a spot on the middle of the floor.


Five years ago, Kuritsu Hikarigaoka Daiichi Junior High School.

I knew Kuno in middle school, before he ever met my sister. He was… more stable then, before… his Mom left. Still acted the noble samurai, but he actually was trying to be chivalrous, rather than just showboat and impress the girls.

The ritual was almost a daily one now, the grade 9 boys gathering around him, taunting him and pushing him until his pride demanded a response, then beating him down until all that was left was him curled into a ball on the ground, trying to protect himself from their kicking.

"You leave him alone!"

They looked up to see a young girl with brown hair standing with her hands on her hips, glaring at them.

The tallest boy scoffed. "Looks like your girlfriend is here to save you again, 'Tachi-kun'." He said, giving the huddled boy one last good kick before he motioned the rest of them. "Come on, don't want Ms. Tendo to sic her Dad on us or something."

The crowd dispersed, leaving a rather small brown-haired boy still huddled on the floor. The girl walked over and knelt next to him, but he was already uncurling himself.

"I could have handled those ruffians, Nabiki Tendo." He said, sitting up gingerly. It was obvious his left eyes was already swelling up nicely, and likely would sport a very distinct black eye for a day or two, and his uniform had definitely seen better days.

"Sure you could have, Tachi-kun." She sighed and patted him on the head, which her irritatedly ducked out from under. She stood and offered him a hand to help him up, which after a moment he grudgingly accepted. "I thought you were studying kendo?"

Oh my god, Kuno was that short as a kid?!

Hush, Ranma. He had a late growth spurt.

"I am. But it would be unseemly to use such skills against the unarmed and untrained, nor would it be seemly to come to a place of peace and education armed." He dusted himself off as best he could.

She stepped forward and fixed his collar for him, earning an embarrassed blush from him. "You can't go through junior high getting bullied on principle, Tachi-kun! Martial artists are supposed to protect the weak, not the bullies. Use a broom handle or something." She stepped back. "Or… you could tell your Dad…"

"Absolutely not!" He glared at her with fire in his eyes, then immediately deflated. "My Father said he needs me to be on my best behaviour while Mother is away visiting her family. I can't bring any trouble to his doorstep." He clenched his fist. "'There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside of yourself.'"

He was still big on the flowery speech even then, huh?

Why do you think he kept getting beat up?

"Oh please." She scoffed. "Don't quote Miyamoto Musashi to me, Tachi-kun! I was the one who bought you The Book of the Five Rings for your birthday!" She folded her arms. "You could at least let me help!"

You bought Kuno a birthday present!?

Shut up Ranma! Do you want to hear this story or not!?

He shook his head, having regained his composure. "Don't be ridiculous. Girls can't fight."

"Tomoe Gozen." Nabiki replied dryly.

The boy was taken aback a moment, then cleared his throat. "Tomoe Gozen was no mere girl. If a tigress like that lived in this era…" He sighed wistfully. "No matter. I needs must stand on my own two feet if I am to earn the honor and respect my family name demands. I must face this trial and find my own way through." He tried to take a step, but he was more battered than he had anticipated, and stumbled a bit.

The girl caught him, and deftly slipped his arm over her shoulder to support him with the ease of much practise. She gave him an impish grin.

"Though… perhaps there is wisdom in admitting when one needs aid to get to one's next class." He added grudgingly. He closed his eyes and smiled a bit. "Though mine own weakness doth shame me, Nabiki Tendo, your kindness and support is ever appreciated."

So, Kuno was actually a decent guy as a kid?

More than decent. His Dad was still an idiot, but he hadn't gone full Hawaiian Fruitcake at this point, and Kodachi hadn't gotten into experimenting with her various potions and concoctions. That… kinda changed when his mother up and left them all.

The setting was no different from the year previous. A group of longtime bullies, and a solitary shorter boy. The primary difference was that THEY were the ones all on the ground.

The boy glared down at them with haughty disdain, a broom handle resting on his shoulder like the blade of a samurai. "Let that be a lesson to you about laying hands on a son of the House of Kuno!"

"Tachi-kun…" The girl peeked out around the corner, watching him fearfully as he stepped over the prone bodies of his would-be assailants.

He stopped caring about the whole 'not using martial arts against the weak' thing. He was downright brutal, in fact. I found out later his Dad had had a total mental breakdown. He was rich and powerful, so it was covered up, which also meant no one was allowed to go in and help. Tachi… Kuno had to pretty much take care of things himself, including raising his sister and running the family. He… became someone else.

"Tachi-kun!" She ran up to him in the hall. He had grown quite a bit in their last year of junior high, finally taller than she was. She held her books to her chest nervously as he turned from his locker to look at her.

"Nabiki Tendo." He said dryly. "If you are seeking to cajole me into purchasing you a cinnamon bun from the cafeteria again, I fear the lunch period is nearly ended."

"What? No, I…" She flushed. "... I was wondering if you had a date… you know… for the spring dance?" She fidgeted nervously.

He looked blankly at her. "Why would I?"

"Oh! Well… No one has asked me yet… So I was thinking maybe we could go… together?" She blushed and curled the edge of her straight brown hair around one finger. You know, just as friends!" She said quickly.

He blinked again, then turned to look at her. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes, and for a brief instant, he thought he was going to kiss her. "Nabiki Tendo." He said softly. "Why would I do this thing?"

She gaped a moment, then blushed hotly. "B-because we're friends, you idiot!" She said, louder than she'd wanted to. People were starting to stop and watch them.

"We are nothing of the sort." He replied, still in that maddeningly gentle tone. "You are a woman. A person who is weak. Naturally, you have been attracted to one of strength, such as myself. Such as my mother was to my father." He straightened. "But you are a woman beneath my station, and it would not be seemly for me to associate with you in such a manner. My training is not yet complete, and if I am to hone my spirit, it must be free of the influence of those who do not share in the Art. This was the mistake my Father made, and I shall not repeat it." He glared at her. "You are no Tomoe Gozen, and I will not settle for less."

"Wha…" She backed away, hot tears blurring her vision, quickly turning from shock and hurt to shame and anger. "Just who the hell do you think you are?!"

"I am Tatewaki Kuno, rising star in the Kendo World." He paused a moment. "Needs must I consider further titles to convey my glory." He turned and started to walk off, flipping her a 500 yen coin as he did. "Here. This is what you sought from me, is it not? What all your ilk seek? Take it, then, and begone. Let my heart's vision only find one who walks the True Path with me."

She slowly sank to her knees, staring at the coin. She paid no heed to the whispering and murmuring of the crowd who had gathered to watch, or the ringing of the bell. She simply gazed at the brass coin resting in her cupped hands.

After a moment, the closed her eyes and impatiently wiped away the tears with the heel of her hand. She sniffed loudly once, then let out her breath, and when she opened her eyes again they were clear and dark. She held up the coin, etching the images and characters stamped on its surface into her memory.

"Fine. But if you think you're going to get off with it costing you so little, Kuno Baby, I'm afraid you have another think coming."


Nabiki looked up from her reverie to see Ranma gaping at her. She scowled and looked away. "Close your mouth, Saotome. You're attracting flies."

"Holy… Nabiki, I had no idea… I mean… that's rough…!"

"Don't you dare start throwing pity at me, Saotome!" She said sharply. "It was junior high. It was just a lesson I had to learn. It was like any other mistake; I learned from it, I got stronger, and I fought back." She shot him a smirk that she was only half-faking. "Where do you think my reputation as an Ice-Queen was born? Or why Kuno grumbles so much about me being a mercenary? I made sure that little stunt of his cost him a lot more than 500 yen."

Ranma shook his head, her confident reassurance not meshing with his own sense of justice. "I'm gonna kick Kuno's ass tomorrow at school."

"Don't you dare!" She said sharply. "We need him, and I don't need you trying to avenge some five-year old hurt that he doesn't even remember." She scowled at him. "I don't need your misplaced chivalry, I need your commitment to the plan."

He blew up his bangs in frustration. "Fine. So, we get Kuno on our side. What then?"

"Well, on your end, I need you to keep Ryouga under control." She said. "Not to the degree of Kuno Baby, but… try and avoid provoking him. Keep him busy and away from Ukyou or Shampoo so they don't try and co-opt him for any of their schemes. And if he's got one of his own, try and lead him somewhere quiet to splatter your testosterone all over the landscape?"

"Hey…!"

"I've got some footwork to do, concerning your remaining fiancees. No free lunches at Ucchan's or the Nekohanten for a few days, okay?" She fixed him with a stern look. "Keep from picking up any more admirers along the way, and in a few days we can look at what we've got, and figure out our next step."

"Making this up as we go?" Ranma raised an eyebrow. "That sounds almost like me." He noted playfully.

"Please." Nabiki said dismissively. "I just need to see where the dice fall on this roll to decide which contingency plan to go with. Nabiki Tendo does not 'wing it'."

Ranma got up from the bed and shrugged. "If you say so."

She stepped aside as he walked to the door, but he paused as he took hold of the doorknob and looked at her, and she was forced to notice that he was standing awfully close to her.

"No one ended up asking you to that dance, did they?" He asked quietly.

Her face scrunched into a frown. "Ranma, just… get out, okay? Before I get mad."

He looked back to the door, but still hesitated. "Tomorrow afternoon, after school. Meet me in the dojo. Wear a gi… one of Akane's should fit if you don't have your own."

She blinked. "What…"

He looked at her and smiled. "I promised I'd teach you, didn't I? Doesn't matter what's going on in my life, a real martial artist keeps his word, right?"

"Ranma, if this is some stupid way to try and repay me for all this, I already told you…"

He held up a hand to cut her off. He turned the knob and opened the door, but before he stepped out, he added one thing. "If it was me… I woulda gone to the dance with you. No matter what." He slipped out the door quickly, and closed it behind him.

Nabiki just stared at the door for a moment. There was an odd lurch in her heart, a moment's imagination where the haughty disdain of the brown haired boy was replaced by the confident smirk of a black haired lad, rubbing his nose with typical lack of couth. "Sure I'll go with you Nabiki!"

Mine.

Her lips curled into a snarl, and she punched the door. "God damnit Saotome! Don't you dare do this to me!"


The next morning was considerably less tense, though Nabiki was a tad grumpier than usual, having not slept well. Both Ranma and Kasumi knew well enough to steer clear of her until the coffee had kicked in.

Truth was, Nabiki had struggled to sleep. She had had a dream that repeated her and Ranma's kiss on the beach, but it was immediately followed by the stereotypical dogpile of fiancees and rivals trying to kill Ranma or her. Except, everywhere she ran, there were more of them, looming threateningly. But more than that, Asahi and the others were there, turning their backs on her in disgust, as well as the dean of Tokyo University, tearing her future business degree in half.

And one clown, who seemed to be confused as to why he was there.

Every time she closed her eyes, it played out again, each time her waking with a start as a fiancee or rival caught her and ended her brutally.

As if I needed more reminders why I shouldn't let myself be involved with Ranma any longer than necessary. She thought glumly. She glanced over her newspaper at him as he wolfed down his breakfast with something closer to his usual vigor and appetite and felt a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth, which she ruthlessly suppressed. No, none of that.

Still, it was a good sign he was in better spirits. Working with a morose, sulking Ranma was almost impossible, and if all the various factions and factors in The Madness thought he was acting unusually, they'd probably believe she was running some kind of scam.

This whole scheme would have been a lot easier to pull off six months ago. She thought, mentally mulling all the ways the house of cards she was building could come crashing down.

They finished up and headed out the door, hurrying a little. Nabiki grumbled under her breath at the need to jog, though thankfully they weren't the level of late Ranma and Akane had managed in the past.

Naturally Ranma didn't even make it to the canal walkway before getting splashed. Nabiki looked up just in time to raise her bookbag protectively as the water sluiced over Ranma, barely deflecting it from soaking her as well.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Ranma howled, wringing out her shirt as she resumed jogging, barely missing a beat. "I've got gym right after homeroom!"

Nabiki ran beside her, chuckling. "So? Just take a shower before class instead of after?"

The redhead scowled, looking straight ahead. "Yeah, walk past a whole locker room full of leering guys to get to the showers because Ms. Hinako won't cut me a break and let me get hot water beforehand."

"They still bad?" Nabiki feigned sympathy, though she knew from her picture sales that they were.

"I think some of them are holding out hope I'll go girl full-time or something, start dating guys." Ranma made a disgusted face. "The Full-Body Cat's Tongue thing started it, and then it got worse after Herb and that stupid ladle. A whole school fulla cute girls and they waste their time pinin' over the one who's actually a guy. It's stupid."

"'School full of cute girls'?" Nabiki smirked. "Ranma, I didn't think you actually noticed us mere mortals, what with the goddesses you normally surround yourself with."

Ranma scoffed. "I'm not dead, Nabiki. Just can't afford to actually look much or I get hit." She scowled. "Uncute Tomboy protectin' the world at large from her 'pervert fiance'."

Nabiki was silent a moment, running alongside Ranma, an idea churning in her head. A grin spread across her face as an idea for a caper started to take shape. "Ranma, how would you like to remind the boys you still like girls even when you are one, convince the girls that you're not a pervert and are really on their side, and even make a cut of the profits besides?"

Ranma gave her a quizzical, slightly wary look. "What are you plotting, Nabiki?"

"Trust me, you'll like how this one works out. Just means you're going to have to go to gym class as a girl."

Nabiki winced, coming to a stop as Ranma hit the pavement face-first.


"Are you sure this isn't going to end up with me looking like an even bigger pervert?" Ranma hissed as they approached the school gates. She was rubbing at a rather nasty bruise on her forehead from when she had taken a tumble.

"It's a calculated risk, but I think the rewards are worth it." Nabiki reassured her. "You've had more eyebrow-raising stuff than this blow over before, but THIS time you've got me in your corner." She grinned and pointed at herself with her thumb. "I've got study hall first period, so I'll be there if the plan needs adjustment. I'll have it all sorted out by the time homeroom is done."

"Yeah, but do you think this will change things?" Ranma sounded a little hopeful, and a lot nervous. That combined with her petite stature and inherent cute, innocent aura of her female side was making it really hard for Nabiki to resist the urge to pat her on the head reassuringly.

"It'll start the ball rolling." she replied. "Not going to make dramatic changes with one move, but we can reassess after today and figure out how to keep the pressure up."

"'Reassess', huh?" Ranma gave her a skeptical look. "This part of your grand 'Fix Ranma Saotome's Life' scheme?"

Nabiki finally gave into her urge and ruffled the shorter girl's hair. "It's a last-minute addition, but what good is a planner who can't adapt?"

Ranma blushed a bit at the attention, grumbling under her breath, but endured it rather than attempting to evade. "Yeah… well… just make sure to hold up your end."

Nabiki winked and held up her cell phone. "The wheels are already in motion."

"Yeah, well, just so long as we don't have anything to further complicate my day…" Ranma grumbled. They walked around the corner and through the gates.

… and right into one Tatewaki Kuno, self-proclaimed Blue Thunder of Furinkan High.

Before Ranma could step back from the kendoist, he had grabbed her by the shoulders. His eyes were full of tears as he trembled with barely repressed emotion.

"Oh Pig-tailed girl! I have joyous news! At last, I understand thine circumstances, and have made my peace with your brother, Ranma Saotome! And as such, he has given us his blessing!"

"I did what now?" Ranma blinked, then recollection flooded back to her.

"Okay, fine. You can have her."

Ranma's eyes widened in fear as time slowed. She had only a heartbeat or two to think before the glomp came, and with as overexcited as Kuno was, getting him OFF was probably going to cost her an article of clothing AND make her late for first period. Okay OKAY! Stay calm Saotome. Anything goes Social Martial Arts, right? I can't just punt him away or I might mess up any chance of getting Kuno on our side, and then me n' Nabiki would have to deal with Kodachi or the Principal. So… deflect and redirect? But who's a big enough jerk to deserve a fully aroused Kuno in their life?

A grin briefly appeared on her face, then was quickly wiped away, and replaced by a quivering lower lip and big, blue eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Kuno-senpai, how I wish it could be so…" She turned away from him dramatically, holding up her book bag up to his face to block his frantic grasping attempts. "For you see, to satisfy an agreement made before I was born, my father has engaged me to another, and even my brother cannot defy him in this."

"What?!" Kuno backed off, horrified look on his face. "Your father has given you to another, when he must know your one true love stands before thee?! Who? Who is this motherless cur who has won thy hand not by merit, but by base and vile politics?!"

She turned to him, giving him the biggest, most shimmering eyes possible, her hands clasped before her. "You've met him, Kuno-senpai. His name… His name is Hibiki. Ryouga Hibiki."

"Hibiki…." Kuno hissed, clenching his fist. The fierce rage that burned in his eyes gave Ranma a moment of pause, wondering if maybe she had gone a bit too far. "Yesss! I know the cur well! He has thwarted me in the past!"

And worked with you, too. Ranma thought darkly. In fact, her thoughts were straying mostly to a certain black piglet and it's insufferably smug look as it nuzzled into Akane's chest. And then there was that damndable fishing rod… Oh no, Ryouga had this coming! "He… he even used magic to try and compel me to love him."

"T-then… Hibiki is the true Sorcerer?" Kuno stepped back, aghast.

"Oh yes! And if that's not bad enough…" She bowed her head, appearing ashamed. "... It seems I am not enough for him. He uses his dark sorcery to sleep in Akane's bed without her even realizing it."

Dead silence.

Ranma peeked up, wondering if she had misstepped, and was greeted with the sight of quite possibly the angriest she had even seen the kendoist. His aura was actually visible, flickering like flame around him, while his whole body trembled with rage.

"It is not enough that he compels the Pig Tailed Girl to his side, but he then commits sorcerous adultery on the innocent Akane Tendo as well?! Nay…" He shook, his eyes blazing. "I SAY NAY! RYOUGA HIBIKI, PREPARE TO DIE!" He brought his gaze back down to Ranma. "Pig-tailed girl, I beg your forgiveness, I would sweep you into mine arms, but first I must free you from the clutches of this… this PIG of a man! Wait for me, and I will return when I have avenged you and Akane Tendo both!" He turned, and without another word charge off the school grounds, hollering for Sasuke.

For the first time in her life, Ranma Saotome understood the appeal of maniacal laughter, feeling the urge well up within her. She restrained herself to an evil little chuckle, wishing she could be present when Kuno finally caught up to Ryouga. Not like Kuno is actually a threat to P-chan. And it's not even like he doesn't have it coming, either, coming back to play Akane's pet even while he's dating Akari!

"Ranma… did you just…" Nabiki was trying to pick her jaw up off the floor. Seeing Ranma manipulate Kuno using her feminine wiles was nothing new, but never to any great effect. But now… either Ranma had gotten tremendously lucky, or perhaps there was something to this Social Martial Arts thing Ranma was on about. "... okay, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and be impressed by that. I'll also thank you to be sure you deal with the fallout from this away from the Dojo."

"What, when Pig Boy finds out and gets pissed? Nothing I told Kuno was a lie." She winked at Nabiki. "And it's not like Ryouga doesn't use any excuse to come at me anyway. But if Ryouga comes after male or female Ranma, he'll just give Kuno more proof. There's no way he could turn Kuno against the Pig-tailed Girl, so the only way Ryouga'll get Kuno off his back is if he can convince him Ranma Saotome and the Pig-tailed Girl are one and the same… and even if he manages that little miracle, it works out in my favor." She held up a finger and gave Nabiki an excellent impression of her own trademark mercenary smirk.

Nabiki blinked, deciding to be a bit more impressed than she had planned. And possibly slightly aroused.

Mine.

She quickly shook her head to clear out the possessive little gremlin. Not while he's a girl too, damnit! "Alright, alright, don't sprain yourself patting yourself on the back. You're going to need your arms in working order today." She looked up at the school clock. "Alright, time for me to get to work. Go to class as normal, avoid changing back into a guy, and show up for gym in proper female gym attire." She poked her shoulder. "Including a bra, please. Don't need the males so distracted they don't notice what's going on. I know you have one."

Ranma blushed and ducked her head, mumbling, but didn't contradict Nabiki's assumption. One day I'm going to need to see what kind of wardrobe you have squirreled away, Saotome. She thought wryly. The warning bell sounded, and she gave Ranma one last wave and sprinted off to her homeroom class.


Homeroom was surprisingly uneventful. Ranma showing up as a girl was hardly anything unusual by this point. Even Ms. Hinako let her usual comment about 'delinquency' slide.

After roll call, as Ranma left for her first class, a hiss drew her attention. There were two third year girls there motioning her to join them.

The shorter of the two had doe-brown hair tied back in a ponytail. Ranma had seen her with Nabiki before, and knew she did a lot of bet-taking for the mercenary girl. The other, taller girl had long black hair, and a kind of scowl. She was a new face, probably transferred in that year.

"You're… Hana, right?" Ranma searched for and found the brown haired girl's name, and was rewarded with a smile and a nod.

"Yup! Nabiki sent us to help you get set up for the caper." She winked. "This is my friend, Megumi. She's kinda new to all this, so I'm showing her the ropes."

"Nice to meetcha!" Ranma smiled brightly and extended her hand. She noticed Megumi was slow to take it. The dark-haired girl seemed to be studying her.

"Hi. So… how do you do it?" Megumi looked her over, studying her with uncomfortable scrutiny. "You're even shorter than yesterday. Were you wearing platform shoes or something?"

"She doesn't quite believe the whole 'curse' thing." Hana explained. "Give her two weeks in this madhouse and she'll be a believer. For right now though, we've got you clear to use part of the girl's locker room to change. We've explained things so you won't get dogpiled for being a peeping tom." She turned and lead Ranma down the hall towards the stairs.

"So… they're okay with this?" Ranma said curiously. She was guilty of using the curse to get access to the girl's facilities in the past, but the curse was public knowledge by now.

"You'd be surprised. The idea of you having a 'girl day' was kind of intriguing to them. Well, some of them are suspicious, which is why you've got us there to chaperone. Still, you don't act like the other hormone-addled boys in this school, and you're probably the only guy who actually gets the crap we have to put up with with peeping toms and panty raids and whatnot." She flipped her hair. "And I think more than a few of us wouldn't mind if you jumped the gender fence to our side for a bit. Would be nice to have the best martial artist in Japan keeping all the super martial artist lechers and creeps at bay."

They headed down the stairs, Ranma mulling that tidbit over a bit. Normally she would have quickly and loudly dismissed the idea, but viewing through the lens of Martial Arts, it was important information, and maybe if she didn't immediately shut her down, Hana would give her more.

I never thought that there would be girls who would want me to be a girl. She shuddered a bit at the thought of frilly dresses and tea ceremonies, but then shook her head to clear it. No… that's not how any of the girls I've ever met actually are, that's just Pops talkin'. A martial artist clears their mind and calmly assesses their situation and their surroundings, right? Ranma glanced at Hana, then over to Megumi. She realized she didn't actually know a whole lot about what girls actually did when there weren't boys around. Maybe this is my chance… I dunno, to actually find out?

She shivered again. Something felt dangerous about that idea. Like seeking out forbidden knowledge. But then… wasn't that what Anything Goes Martial Arts was all about? If she was going to apply the precepts of that to social interactions as well, could she really back down from this… this…

Don't think 'challenge'… don't think... CRAP... She winced. The Saotome School of Martial Arts, as a precept, had to accept all challenges. So… now she had to see this through. Whatever that meant.

They lead her to the change room. The place didn't have the same kind sense of being a forbidden place as it did to most guys, owing to her times as a girl (Especially when she had gotten 'stuck'), but there was still a sense of crossing a threshold into someplace she shouldn't really be. As they entered, most of the girls were huddled together at the far end watching them warily.

Well, so much for being accepted. Ranma thought glumly. Still… guess it'd be way too weird to be just suddenly accepted like that. She picked a locker in a far corner, out of line of sight of the main group. She noticed Hana and Megumi seemed intent to stay and stand watch.

She shrugged. Not like I have any 'feminine modesty' anyway. Like Akane always said. She felt a little pang at that, but started to undress regardless. She had already retrieved her girl's gym clothes from her hiding spot before class, which by necessity included underwear, as her usual boxers wouldn't work under girl's gym bloomers. That meant not only fully stripping down, but putting on girl's underthings. With an audience.

She blushed, took a deep breath, and went for it, stripping off her boxers in a businesslike manner, and pulling on the plain white panties. She slipped her arm through the bra strap, and with a minimum of fuss shrugged into it and clasped it closed in the front.

"Wow. Not many guys know how to work a bra like that." Hana remarked wryly. "I might have to ask you to give my boyfriend some pointers."

Ranma blushed at that comment, plus the implications. "Yeah, well, I'm a girl right now. Girls gotta know this stuff." Ranma regretted the words as she said them. She wasn't sure what made them more uncomfortable; That she said them in the first place, and admitted she was in any way a girl in more than appearance, or that they were basically true, and she had had to learn these things out of necessity.

"You really are, aren't you?" Hana said, crossing her arms and leaning back against the locker. "Insides too? Like, do you… you know, 'that time of the month'?"

Ranma winced as her manhood took another blow, not just from the question, but that she already knew the answer. "Yeah…" She sighed. "If I get stuck as a girl too long it happens. Pads, cramps, the whole thing." She pulled on her bloomers, trying to focus on getting dressed. "It sucks."

"Wow. You really do understand. You know, you might actually be the perfect guy." Hana grinned, then held up a hand at Ranma's panicked expression. "Easy, I'm already taken, I'm not interested in joining your harem. I'm just saying."

"Yeah, well… I'd trade it all of this 'understanding' for being able to go swimming in a boy's pair of swim trunks, you know?" She pulled on her shirt and sighed.

"Yeah. Still, I'd take a curse in a heartbeat if it meant I could just splash myself with cold water and skip my period." Hana said thoughtfully. "Plus if i was ever at a concert and they had a lineup at the girl's bathroom, I could just splash myself and walk into the boy's."

"You do that anyway." Megumi, who had been quiet this whole time, added dryly.

"That's true. Still, it'd be fun." She cocked her head. "So, does it feel strange or anything? You know, suddenly being a girl, all the parts being different, your balance being off and all?"

Ranma sighed. She paused a moment, trying to figure out how to properly answer. "That's the most unsettling thing." She said finally. "It's not. I mean at all." She closed the locker door. "You'd think that, as a martial artist, it would throw me way off. Any professional athlete can tell the difference even if their weight changes by a few grams, so how about a completely different form altogether?" She turned and crossed her arms, leaning her back against the locker. "I should be tripping all over myself every time I change forms. Arms the wrong length. Wrong center of gravity. Wrong weight. Wrong muscle strength. But I don't." She looked at her hands a moment. "It's like I spent my whole life in this body, training in martial arts. It feels normal. It feels like me. And that means the changes the curse makes don't just stop with changing you physically. It does something in your head, too." She closed her hand into a fist. "That's what makes it scary. That's what makes it a curse." She looked at Hana. "And that's why you don't want one. As much fun as you think it'd be."

Hana looked a little shocked, and suitably subdued. Megumi was quiet as always, but Ranma noticed she looked like she was pondering something.

"Well, come on. Let's get this over with." Ranma motioned them to follow as she headed for the door leading to the gymnasium.

"Hold up." Hana caught her arm, and then handed her a piece of paper. "Nabiki said to give you this."

"What is it?" Ranma looked it over, seeing a short list of girls' names. She recognized a number of them as being girls in her grade.

Hana grinned and leaned in and whispered. "Those are the girls who buy a lot of Ranma pics." She winked. "Girl Ranma pics. She said you'd know what to do with it."

Ranma blushed a bit at the list. This was the part of the plan she was a little less sanguine about. She glanced over the list, and noticed Megumi's name was there.

Oh. That… might be awkward… She glanced at the dark haired girl and blushed a bit. Still, Ranma Saotome never backed down from a challenge. Even if the challenge was a really really stupid idea.

In fact… especially if it was a really really stupid idea.

She pushed open the door and stepped out. The rest of the girls in her class were clustered around the door, apparently waiting for her. She felt a little self-conscious at the scrutiny.

"So, what's this about, Ranma?" Sayuri asked, crossing her arms and giving Ranma a suspicious glare. "Don't tell me there's another urn?"

Ranma resisted the urge to facepalm of the memory of the urn that had been buried under the girl's locker room, and all of the humiliation she had endured in the hopeless quest for a cure to her curse. "Nah, no quests today. Just got splashed on the way to school, and decide I'd rather wear a bra than deal with the idiots on the boys side over it."

"Are they that bad?" Yuka asked, earning a sour glance from Sayuri, who still seemed to be skeptical.

The conversation was interrupted by a sharp whistleblow. Everyone turned to see the source of the interruption.

Standing in the middle of the gym, wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt, was quite possibly the most muscular female Ranma had ever seen. She had light brown hair tied off on either of her head in a pair of childish pigtails, thick black eyebrows, and a slight gap between her large front teeth, which were currently being displayed in a truly unsettling smile.

"Greetinks!" She said in what Ranma could only assume was supposed to be a thick Russian accent. "I am Olga Putinskaya, your new physical education instructor. I am hearing many, many things about Furinkan sports program. ALL BAD!" Her smile disappeared as she glared at the girls and boys alike. "Your Capitalist Pig Principal has determined that this is unacceptable, even by soft, American standards, and so he has asked me to make improvements." She let her glare sweep over all of them slowly. "One way or other." The smile returned. "Now! I have request for demonstrating of the skill in the volleyball by girl and boy's team captains. YOU WILL DO THIS! Choose first team of five amongst selves. You have five minutes, da?"

"Seriously?!" Yuka squeaked. "We have a Russian drill instructor for a gym teacher!?"

"Nah, she's from freaking Nagano." A familiar male voice interjected. They turned to see Hiroshi and Daisuke walking over from the loose cluster of boys. "She apparently snapped after seeing how dominant the Russians were in the Seoul Olympics and changed her name and started speaking with an accent." Hiroshi said casually. "She doesn't actually speak any Russian."

"Here, watch…" Daisuke lifted his hand. "Hey, uh, teach? Вы когда-нибудь танцевали с дьяволом в бледном лунном свете?"

"DA!" She nodded vigorously, smiling, though looking slightly confused.

"Wait, how did you two find this out?" Ranma asked skeptically. "And since when you do speak Russian, Daisuke?"

"He doesn't. He just asked her if she has ever 'danced with the devil by the pale moonlight.'" Hiroshi said. "He figured he wanted to have a cool, enigmatic catch-phrase if we should ever get transported into a gangster movie universe or something."

"Hey, it could happen!" Daisuke protested. "Around here? I'm not sure why it hasn't happened yet!"

"Keep holding onto the dream, bud." Daisuke muttered. "As for why we know, well, you are looking at Furinkan High's premier detective duo!"

Ranma folded her arms and raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Since when?"

"Since last year when we realized we're practically the only two people in this insane school without a 'thing'." Hiroshi replied. "Plus, Nabiki paid us over the summer to do some research into Principal Kuno and his background."

"Guess what?" Daisuke piped up. "Principal Kuno, Ms. Hinako, and our charming new Gym Instructor over there? They're all part of a pool of teachers that the School Board has labelled 'The Forsaken'. Crazy nutters who they either don't have enough cause to dismiss, or who are, for some reason, too influential to disgrace in that way. So, they transfer them to their designated dumping ground."

"Aka, Nerima Ward, the Furinkan Community specifically."

"With Furinkan High being their primary dumping spot."

"So, you're saying Furinkan is a toxic teacher waste dump?" Sayuri asked, a slightly horrified expression on her face.

"Your five minutes are beink UP!" The Gym teacher stomped over to them, narrowing her eyes. "I do NOT see team." Her eyes passed over them. "You, you, you, you and YOU." She pointed to Ranma, Sayuri, Yuka. and two other girls. "Rest sit on bench of disgrace, wear tutus and cheer like losers you are."

"Aaahhh… we'll just be going back to our side…" Hiroshi said nervously. He and Daisuke turned, but were caught by the collar by the gym teacher and lifted bodily off the floor.

"Am I stuttering?" She growled. "You are on THIS side, so you STAY on this side. You put on tutus and cheer."

"But…!"

"TUTUS. CHEER." She snarled, and dropped them to the floor, then stalked over to the boy's side.

The other girls were already finding the frilly skirts piled on the bleachers, and had started reluctantly pulling them on over the gym bloomers.

Hiroshi and Daisuke exchanged a glance, then shrugged in unison and started walking over to the pile of frilly skirts.

"Not the most humiliating thing to happen to us at this school." Hiroshi said sagely.

"Not the most humiliating thing to happen to us this week." Daisuke replied.

Hiroshi leaned over and audibly whispered to Daisuke "But… why in Russian?"

"Everything sounds menacing in Russian."

Ranma massaged the bridge of her nose. At least I got on the team. I wonder how Nabiki arranged all this so fast? She glanced over to the bleachers, and spotted the middle Tendo sitting on the girl's side, with a few others around her.

There was some kind of commotion over on the boy's side. She peered over the heads of the crowd, spotting Ukyou staring down the gym teacher.

"What do you mean I'm on the boy's side?!" Ukyou demanded. "I'm a girl!"

"Sheet say you a boy, so you on boy's team." Invanova said curtly. "Boys pick you, so you play."

"But I want to be on Ranma's team!" She glanced miserably around the bulk of the woman to her fiance, who could only give her a sympathetic shrug. "He's a boy too! Check your sheet!"

Olga glanced at her sheet, mouthing the names. She found Ranma's, and her eyebrows rose. She turned and walked over to the redhead, who watched nervously.

Welp, the jig is up. So much for that idea. "Aheh… problem, teach?"

Olga looked over the girl, up and down, then experimentally poked her chest. Ranma yelped and crossed her arms over her breasts, blushing.

"Sheet wrong." Olga said. "I will have fixed. You girl, play on girl's team."

"WHAT!?" Ukyou screeched, outraged and flushed. She glanced down at her own chest, and immediately regretted wearing her bindings today. "Look you, I'm…"

"ON BOYS TEAM." Olga boomed.

"Look, Kuonji…" One of the boys put his hand on her shoulder. "You have to help us!"

"The girls have Ranma on their team!" Another said. "You're the only one who might be able to keep her from creaming us single-handed!"

"Help us, Ukyou Kuonji, you're our only hope!"

"Well…" Ukyou sighed. Her desire to play next to her fiance warred with her desire to prove herself to her, and to everyone, and pride eventually won out. "Alright. But you do what I tell you, okay? I need you boys following my lead if we're gonna beat them."

They all nodded eagerly, one of them even saluting.

She grinned. There was something to be said for having minions, wasn't there?


Nabiki watched with satisfaction as the two five person teams formed up, as the rest of the students set about setting up the nets for the match. Ranma was on the girl's team, and Ukyou's competitive streak for the moment had overridden her desire to suck up to Ranma.

"So, what did you think of Ranma, Megumi?" Nabiki asked, curious about her newest accomplice's take on the situation. Megumi was a transfer from another school, and had a bit of a dark cloud over her. Nabiki knew why, and knew it was nothing but prejudiced nonsense. Ironically, Furinkan was the perfect place for her to be 'normal'. Still, Furinkan took some getting used to even for the most open-minded individuals.

After a few moments contemplation, the dark haired girl spoke. "She's actually a girl, isn't she?" She glanced at the redhead in question.

"Until hot water enters the equation." Nabiki noted. "Then she's just as much a guy. Upstairs she's pretty much as male as they come all the time, though."

"Hmmm." Megumi said, sounding unconvinced. "That's not what she said."

"It… wait, what?" Nabiki's mental train of thought derailed at that. She leaned over to Megumi. "What did she tell you?"

"That the curse does something in her head, too. That it makes being a girl feel normal, just like being a guy." She shrugged. "She said it was why the curse bugged her so much… because it didn't bug her, I guess. Not like it should."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow, then followed the girl's gaze to Ranma, where she was talking with her team as they decided on positions. You know, I never did bother to figure out much about the mechanics of the curse. She thought. I've just been passively gathering information. I've been sitting on my laurels just because I've pieced together more than most, but I've never really dug into it, have I? Her face screwed up, reflecting her internal disgust. That's not going to cut it in college, Nabiki.

A very small part of her pointed out that no one in the Tendo house had ever actually asked Ranma how it felt to change.

"So, what's the caper, Nabiki?" Hana asked, pulling Nabiki out of her reverie. "We brought cameras like you said."

Nabiki turned to the girl and grinned. "The usual. Get action shots of Ranma and Ukyou. We're just going for documentation this time, no set ups. You brought the high speed film, right? We don't want to use a flash during this." She held up her own camera. "Keep it subtle so they don't notice and get upset. If anyone asks, you're snapping pics for the yearbook."

"Got it." Hana grinned. "Any particular focus, or am I just looking for wardrobe malfunctions?"

Nabiki glanced at Ranma again and considered. She felt a slight pang of… something over all this. She didn't want to entertain the notion it was guilt, because that would open herself up to a whole year's backlog of it, but she didn't feel quite right exposing Ranma like that anymore. Especially not after getting slapped in the face with how little she actually knew about her girl side. "Focus on the martial arts. With those two facing off this is going to get crazy quick, so expect a lot of action pics. This stuff will slot more in the 'Girls Kicking Butt' category than 'Upskirts'."

"Roger." Hana adjusted the settings on her camera and saluted, hopping down to head over to the bleachers on the other side of the gym.

Getting the new gym teacher to agree to this little match had been a lot easier than she had anticipated. Though she had suggested basketball, since she knew Ranma enjoyed the game. Nabiki looked around. A small crowd of students who were on free period were gathering in the bleachers to watch the match.

She immediately picked out two who weren't, however. A dark haired senior, Kaito Kobayashi, this year's captain for the boy's volleyball team, and a tall blonde girl, Himara Tanaka, this year's captain for the girl's volleyball team.

Nabiki's eyes narrowed. She started to get the sense that she had stumbled into someone else's scheme. Himara had pestered Akane all last semester to join the team, and her sources said she had gone after Ukyou as well. It was well known the girl was angling for an athletic scholarship, and was seeking a secret weapon to win her a tournament cup. Any of Furinkan's martial artists would fit the bill.

She followed the girl's gaze, and found it was locked directly on Ranma. A cold ball formed in the pit of her stomach, and she realized that this little scouting session wasn't coincidence. She's co-opting my scheme. She's after RANMA! She felt an uncharacteristic hot surge of anger and possessiveness, and immediately smothered it with ice, her mind switching to more tactical channels as she mentally reviewed everything she had on Himara. Form aside, Ranma is registered as a male in the school records. She'd never pass muster for an actual official tournament. How is she planning on getting past THAT little wrinkle? Her current lack of information of what the volleyball captain was up to suggested that she bide her time for now.

"Megumi." She said softly. "I know you want to watch the match, but I need you to go pull me the file on Himara Tanaka. Discretely, if you would."

The dark haired girl blinked. "Y-yes, of course Nabiki." This was the first real task the Ice Queen of Furinkan had entrusted her with since Hana had brought her into Nabiki's little organization.

Nabiki steepled her fingers and leaned forward, focusing her attention on Ranma for the time being, the leisurely photography session she had planned forgotten. She watched Ranma smile as she encouraged her teammates, a fierce look of competitiveness already suffusing the redhead's features.

Mine.

For once, Nabiki didn't bother stifling the possessive little voice.


"So, how are we going to play this, Ranma?" Sayuri said nervously, glancing over at the other side where Ukyou was discussing strategy with her teammates.

"Yeah. We didn't exactly pick our best thanks to those idiots Hiroshi and Daisuke." Yuka said sourly.

"Yeah! They're your friends, so you gotta fix this!" Another girl piped up.

"Don't worry, I've got this." Ranma said confidently. In fact, she was fairly confident she could win the match by herself. But then, she was always confident. "Sayuri, you've played on the volleyball team before, right?"

"Yeah, for like a week before they cut me." The dark haired girl said sourly.

"Okay, so you'll serve. Just get it inside the court, doesn't matter where." She smirked. "They'll be trying to get it to Ukyou, so all I have to do is counter her."

"What about the rest of us?"

Ranma considered, then crouched down, making sure they were all looking as she traced a square on the floor. "Okay, this is the net." She drew a line along one side, making sure they were watching. "I'll be on point here in the front." She frowned, realizing the next position wasn't exactly a desirable one. "Umm… the next position is going to be here, opposite side to me and slightly back." She looked up at the girls. "Not gonna lie, that spot is going to be where Ukyou is going to be aiming. It's basically bait."

"I'll do it." One girl said without hesitation.

Ranma looked up at her. She had straw colored hair, tied back into a high ponytail, and freckles framing bright green eyes. She had a kind of earnest determination in her gaze that told Ranma she knew exactly what she was volunteering for.

"Thanks… uhh…" Ranma cursed her terrible memory for names and faces.

"Rin. Rin Ito."

"You sure about this?" Ranma said. "Ukyou has a pretty good arm. If she tags you with the ball, it'll hurt."

"That's okay." She said. "I've been trying to get on the volleyball team since last year. This is my chance to get noticed, even if it's just for taking a hit well."

Ranma immediately decided that Rin was going to get noticed for a lot more than just THAT, if she had any say in the matter. "Okay. So Yuka and…"

"Riko." The last girl, who had shoulder length black hair.

"... Riko, you'll be the setters. Stay back behind me and Rin, and we'll pass you the ball to set for me to spike. Just gotta get it up near the top of the net. You can do that, right?"

They nodded, though Ranma could see they were uncertain. It didn't matter. In fact, it would hopefully add an element of unpredictability and chaos that she could use.

They walked onto the now-prepared court. Ranma mentally assessed the other team: Two of the boys she knew were already ON the volleyball team. The other two she didn't have much experience with, but seemed to know what they were doing. And then Ukyou.

Ucchan is the real threat. She thought, narrowing her eyes as Ukyou gave her a confident smirk.

"So, you ready to finally lose at something, Ranchan?" She asked, spinning the ball on one finger, hand on her hip.

"Heh, hasn't happened yet, never will, Ucchan." Ranma grinned. She was actually looking forward to this. Ukyou wasn't anything close to a match for her in martial arts, but in this? She had a lot more skill with projectiles and implements, which would actually give her the advantage. This would be a challenge, and a chance to go all out with her old friend, something she didn't get to do normally.

Ukyou just grinned wider, then tossed the ball nonchalantly over her shoulder to the server, widening her stance to get ready. "We'll see about that, sugar."

The server tossed the ball, smacking it overhand and sending it over the net towards the mid of the field. Yuka got under it and set it competently enough, allowing Ranma to jump for the spike. She smashed it downward, seeing an easy victory already.

Suddenly Ukyou was under it, catching it with her clasped fists and deflecting it back up, to where her teammate, one of the volleyball team, was already in the air for the spike on the far side of the net.

Shit! Ranma had no way to get there in time, time slowing down as her feet finally touched the ground, allowing her to change her direction. It was already too late, as his hand was coming down on the ball for the spike.

Rin immediately dropped to the floor, one leg bent in a deep kneel, the other kicked out for stability as she caught the spike, deflecting it with her own doubled fists back up into the air, back to Yuka and Riko in a slow easy lob.

Wow. She knows what she's doing. Ranma immediately revised her estimation of the girl upwards, and leapt for the spike. However, Riko set it awkwardly, forcing Ranma to scramble for it, and by the time she got there it was too low, and she ended up spiking it into the net.

Olga blew her whistle. "Point! Boy's side."

Ranma sighed, glancing up at the scoreboard to see the point being added. This is going to be harder than I thought.