ShadowSoft Inc.
                          Presents:
                              
                     A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
                         side-story
                              
                      "Careful Destiny"
                          Part Two

                             by:
                          Todd Hill
                     AKA Shadow Stalker
                              
                          Based on:
               Be Careful What You Wish For...
                         written by:
                      Richard Beaubien
                              
         Inspired by the "Ranma 1/2" Manga and Anime
                     by Rumiko Takahashi

WARNING!   While this story is *NOT* a lemon, it  does  have
some adult situations in it.  Read at your own discretion!


THE NEXT DAY...

      Morning  came  all  too soon for Ranma  Saotome.   The
combined  weight of everything that had happened  the  night
before  caught up with him the moment he turned  the  lights
out.   The  result  of  all that was a thoroughly  exhausted
Ranma  who  was unable to sleep.  When he did  finally  fall
asleep,  it  had  been  light and fitful,  with  him  waking
several times over the course of the night.
     He cursed the sun when it rose, bathing his face in its
life-giving light.  As he lay there, he thought for a moment
that  he  could  postpone  the  challenge  with  Kuno  until
tomorrow.   But  he just as quickly struck that  idea  down,
knowing  that he wouldn't be able to sleep at all  until  he
settled the score with Kuno and freed Akane from that damned
agreement.  Sighing tiredly, he looked at the clock and  saw
that  he  still had an hour before he would have to get  up.
Unable  to sleep, he dragged himself to his feet and took  a
bath.
     He emerged from the bathroom several minutes later, and
headed  to  the breakfast table.  He could hear  his  mother
humming  to  herself  as she prepared  breakfast.   He  felt
refreshed  and a bit less anxious.  He frowned  to  himself,
not  used  to feeling anxious over an impending battle.   He
nodded  a  moment later, realizing that the  source  of  his
anxiety was all of the expectations that were riding on  the
outcome  of  his battle with Kuno.  His and Akane's  future,
along with that of both the Tendo and Saotome families  were
on   the  line.   He  clenched  his  fists  in  a  show   of
determination, promising himself that he wouldn't lose.
      A  perky  Ranko bounded down the stairs and  took  her
place  adjacent  to her brother at the table.   Ranma  noted
that  they  were both wearing the same thing today,  but  he
acknowledged that Ranko looked a lot better in that  Chinese
outfit  than he did.  He turned to look at her as she spoke.
"You ready for the big showdown, bro?" she asked cheerfully,
nudging Ranma with her hip.
      Ranma gave her with a wan smile, "I guess I'll have to
be.  I wasn't able to sleep too well last night."
      Ranko  just smiled and replied, "Ahh, you'll  be  okay
Ranma.  Just remember your training."
      At that moment, Nodoka walked in with breakfast.  "My,
you're  both up early today.  You two have something planned
today?"   She  sat  the  food down on  the  table,  and  the
siblings started eating.
      Ranko  looked at her brother proudly and said,  "Naah.
Ranma's challenging Kuno for Akane today is all."
      Nodoka's  eyes widened slightly, and she  leveled  her
gaze  at her son.  He coughed slightly, seeing her reaction,
and  forced his half-chewed food down his throat  before  he
choked.   "Ranma, you're actually going to go  through  with
that fight?  Today?!?"
      Ranma adopted a no-nonsense look, returning her  gaze.
"Yes mom, I'm going to take care of it today."
      "Ranma!" she shouted, exasperated.  "You make it sound
like you're going for groceries!"
      "Well,  mom, to tell the truth, I *am* a  bit  nervous
about  it.   But it's something that I still  have  to  do,"
Ranma  said  gravely.  He resumed eating, to  cover  up  his
nervousness.
      Nodoka  resigned herself to the inevitable.  "Alright.
You listen to me.  If things get out of hand, I want you  to
come  get  me  or your father.  Immediately!"  she  shouted,
punctuating it by poking Ranma in the shoulder.  "There's no
telling what that Kuno character is capable of doing, and  I
don't  want  you  taking any unnecessary risks!"   Her  gaze
softened, and she reached out to stroke Ranma's face.   "You
know, you remind me of your father when we were dating.   He
was  always ready to come to my rescue, even when I felt  it
wasn't necessary." She smiled, a nostalgic look coming  over
her face.
      Ranma  sighed, feeling better knowing that she  wasn't
going  to  try  to  stop him.  He quickly finished  off  his
breakfast  and, grabbing Ranko's hand, dragged  her  off  to
school  with him.  "Good luck, dear," Nodoka called  out  to
the whirlwind Saotome siblings.
      "Hey Ranma!  Slow down, willya?" Ranko yelled as Ranma
blasted down the street towards the school.  Nodoka chuckled
slightly  at hearing Ranko's fading protest, and  turned  to
clean  the table.  `I hope he makes it out okay.'   A  frown
crossed her face.  `Kuno better hope that my boy isn't  hurt
or...' she paused the thought, her eyes regarding her katana
that  hung  on the wall.  `... or else he and  I  will  have
words,' she vowed severely.

                            ****

      Ranma  released his sister's hand and ran onward.   He
didn't have to look behind him, however, to know that  Ranko
was  hot on his tail.  He rounded a curve and saw the  gates
of  Furinkan High ahead.  He poured on the steam, hoping  to
get  to  the school ahead of Kuno.  He frowned as he  neared
the  school,  watching a black limousine  drive  up  to  the
gates.  He watched as Kuno and Akane exited the vehicle, and
redoubled his efforts, leaving Ranko in the dust.

                            ****

      Tatewaki  held his hand out for Akane.  Gradually  she
accepted  it and stepped out of the vehicle, sighing  lowly.
`I  hate  my life,' she despaired internally.  When she  had
originally accepted the proposed joining, she had  vowed  to
make  it work.  She had also tried in vain to find something
likable  about  Kuno, but she just couldn't.   He  had  been
really  sweet to her when he was chasing after her, but  now
that  she had accepted him as her boyfriend his interest  in
her  had  waned...  She had become Kuno's trophy.  Something
only slightly more than a revered pet.  She really hated her
life,  but  she  didn't  know of any way  she  could  change
things.
      That  fact was whizzing through her head as she  stood
away from the departing limousine.  She looked up, taking in
the  scene  before she entered the building, when  something
caught her eye.  She tugged on Kuno's hand, pointing at what
she  saw.  "Kuno-chan," Akane said by reflex, "what's that?"
As  the  thing in question drew nearer, it looked  more  and
more  like  a  miniature dust storm approaching the  school.
Several  people  were being drawn to the gates,  seeing  the
disturbance.   Several "oohs!" and "ahhs!"  could  be  heard
from  the  building  crowd  as they  watched  the  dustcloud
approach.
      Someone in the crowd pointed and yelled, "It's a  guy!
Looks like he's really traveling too!"  That brought a *lot*
more people out, causing the crowd to spill into the street.
Akane  squinted, trying to make out who it was.  She  gasped
when she recognized who it was.  `It's that guy who insulted
Kuno in front of the dojo a couple of weeks ago!  Looks like
he's really angry about something.'  Suddenly the figure  in
the  dustcloud  began  shouting.  More heads  began  turning
towards the shouting.
      "KUUUUUUUUUUNNOOOOOOOOOOO!   KUUUUUUUUNNOOOOOOOO!" the
voice was heard to say.
     A guy in the crowd gasped.  "That's sounds like Ranma!"
Another  guy  turned  to  the first  one  in  shock,  "Ranma
*Saotome?*  No *WAY!*"  Stunned, the two turned to watch  as
Ranma approached the Kendo champion.
      Kuno turned at the sound of his name.  He watched with
mild interest as Ranma approached him.
      Ranma  put on the skids, not wanting to fly  past  his
opponent.  He also didn't want to become one with the school
gates.   He  came  to a halt three feet in  front  of  Kuno,
breathing  only  slightly  harder  than  normal.   "Kuno,  I
challenge you!" he yelled, pointing at him.
      Kuno  scoffed  at Ranma, pointing his bokken  at  him.
"You,  challenge me?  Surely you jest.  And for what  reason
should I fight a creature as unworthy as you, eh?"
     Ranma stared directly at him, confidence burning in him
like  an iron furnace.  "I know for a fact that you've  said
that  if  you are defeated in combat you will release  Akane
Tendo from her engagement.  That's why I'm challenging  you.
So LET'S FIGHT!"
      Akane gasped, her eyes as wide open as possible.   She
had  no  idea who this guy was, or why he was doing it,  but
she  sure  as  hell hoped he won.  She crossed her  fingers,
just to make sure.
      Kuno, on the other hand, laughed.  "It is true that  I
did  utter those words.  I did so, confidently, for  I  knew
that  only  I am destined to have the hand of Akane  Tendo."
He lowered his gaze, sneering.  "I guess that last thrashing
I  gave you didn't convince you of the futility of defeating
me,  the  great Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of  Furinkan
High,  in combat.  Very well, I will defeat you again."   He
brought   his  bokken  into  a  defensive  stance,  "Prepare
yourself, fool."
      Ranma  threw his backpack to the ground.   He  brought
himself  to  a  fighting stance, saying, "My name  is  Ranma
Saotome,  of  the  Saotome School of Anything  Goes  Martial
Arts.   And  by all that's holy, I will see you  fall!"   He
cracked his knuckles, awaiting Kuno's move.
      Akane  did the only thing she could do in her  current
emotional state.  She fainted.
      Gasps,  murmurs,  and side betting was  happening  all
throughout  the  crowd.   Every  student  was  on  pins  and
needles,  waiting  for  the first blow.   Ranko  joined  the
crowd,  picking up Ranma's backpack from where he threw  it.
She  stood,  rooting hard for her brother.  The  wind  blew,
scattering leaves and papers around the street and  sidewalk
outside  the school.  Kuno took that as a cue to begin,  and
struck.

                            ****

      Ranma didn't even see it coming.  Before he could even
get  his hands up to deflect the bokken, it sailed right  at
him  and tagged him in the chest, knocking him back, but not
down.   `Damn!  He's faster than I thought.  You were  right
Sis,  Kuno's not the same one I knew.  But now that  I  have
his timing, it's my turn to take him down a notch.'
      Kuno  laughed scornfully.  "You have my permission  to
concede.  I suggest you do, Saotome, before you get hurt."
      Ranma laughed as well.  His however, was cold and even
slightly dangerous.  "You got your one hit, Kuno.  You won't
touch me again."
      Kuno's  eyebrow swept up in an unintentional  show  of
respect.   "Very well then, to your doom cretin!" he  yelled
as he charged.  Ranma was ready this time, and deflected the
bokken  with his hands.  He immediately followed up  with  a
kick to the kidneys, causing Kuno to gasp in pain.
      The crowd gasped as well, astonished that someone  had
actually  been able to land a hit on Kuno.  Apparently  Kuno
was stunned too, as he faltered slightly before bringing his
bokken up again.  Ranma wasted no time in launching a series
of  punches and jabs at Kuno.  But to his surprise, Kuno was
able  to  deflect the attacks, albeit with some  difficulty.
The  only upside to this for Ranma was that Kuno wasn't able
to launch anything offensive at him.
      Kuno  frowned  inwardly,  but  kept  a  neutral  outer
expression.   Never had he encountered a martial  artist  of
such  pronounced skill before.  It bothered him that he  had
not  already  dispatched of the lower-class martial  artist.
For surely, Kuno thought, only one as great as himself could
bring the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High to defeat.  And this
Ranma Saotome could not be that man.
     Ranma on the other hand was in rare form.  After Kuno's
first  attack,  he  had  anticipated a  greater  offense  to
follow.   And  indeed while Kuno was launching  a  lot  more
strikes   than   his   `counterpart'   would   have,   Ranma
surprisingly found himself still able to keep himself out of
harm's way.
      The  fight  continued  for several  minutes.   Neither
combatant  gave  quarter during the fight, but  neither  was
able   to   claim  an  advantage  either.   Akane   regained
consciousness during the fight, and watched in awe as  Ranma
held  his own against the Kendo champion.  She saw  a  young
girl  who  looked  just  like Ranma  jumping  up  and  down,
screaming,  "Whip  his ASS bro!  YES! YES!  YES!  YES!  YES!
Nail  that  SON  OF  A  BITCH!!  WOOOOO!!"   Without  saying
anything, Akane cheered for Ranma as well.
      `I  guess  either Kuno's getting tired,  or  I'm  just
getting  warmed  up,' Ranma thought quickly,  noticing  that
Kuno  was  starting to lose some of his steam.   He  grinned
inwardly, his confidence swelling inside him as he continued
to parry Kuno's attacks.
      Kuno's face began to register the frustration that  he
was  feeling.   For five minutes he'd tried every  honorable
trick  he  knew  to try and bring down the cur,  but  to  no
avail.  Anger flashed from deep within Kuno as he saw  Ranma
smirk.  "How dare you mock me, underling!  I will have  your
head for that, Saotome!"
      "I  don't  think so, Kuno," Ranma replied  tauntingly,
deliberately avoiding any honorific.
      Kuno's  patience  snapped,  and  he  lunged  at  Ranma
desperately, sweeping low with his sword to try and take out
Ranma's  legs.  Ranma saw the attack coming and  leapt  into
the air, landing neatly on Kuno's head before jumping off to
stand  behind  him with his back turned to Kuno.   "Give  up
yet,  Kuno?"  he asked, layering the taunting words  heavily
with superiority.
      Somehow,  Kuno  had managed to keep  himself  upright,
taking  the  brunt  of Ranma's weight on  his  head  without
passing  out.   He turned to face Ranma again,  and  flushed
angrily  when he saw that Ranma had his back facing  him,  a
bored stance evident on the upstart martial artist.  Pausing
to  catch  his  breath and calm himself down, Kuno  sneered,
"You're  weak Saotome.  You may be able to get  in  a  lucky
hit,  but as sure as the Earth sails through the heavens,  I
will  smite thee!"  He crouched into a ready position again,
laughing at Ranma.
      Ranma  rolled  his eyes and turned to face  Kuno  once
again.  He concentrated on what he hoped would be his  final
attack.   Nodding  at  his sister's encouraging  words,  and
sparing  a  nod  and a smile for Akane, Ranma  spoke  again.
"Good  night, Kuno," he said dangerously as he  changed  his
posture to face Kuno directly.
      Kuno blinked at those words, and brought his bokken up
to  strike  at Ranma again.  But before he could  bring  the
weapon  down,  Ranma attacked.  "KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"
he  yelled, louder than he ever had.  His fists were a  blur
as they met again and again with Kuno.  Stunned at the speed
of  Ranma's attack, Kuno lost his grip on his bokken,  which
flew  away  from  him  due  to the sheer  force  of  Ranma's
punches.   Amazed,  he  watched  it  land  away  from   him,
clattering uselessly on the pavement.
      Kuno didn't have much of a chance to curse the loss of
his  weapon, as Ranma's punches took their toll and  quickly
sent  him  into unconsciousness.  Ranma stopped his  punches
when  he  saw Kuno fall.  Ranma collapsed to his knees,  but
remained upright.  He stayed there for a moment, gasping for
breath.   The  stunned  crowd stood in  silence,  unable  to
believe what they had just witnessed.
      "YESSS!"  Ranko screamed as she ran to  her  brother's
side.   She knelt down and gently put her arm around Ranma's
waist, helping him up.  "I'm proud of you, Ranma.  You know,
you  really must've been pissed off at him.  You must've hit
him  over a THOUSAND times!"  Ranma just kind of stood where
he  was, trying to get some feeling back into his hands.  He
looked over his right shoulder, and spotted the bokken  that
he  had  broken loose from Kuno's grip.  Stepping  from  his
sister's grasp, he knelt down and picked up the weapon.

                            ****

      Meanwhile, Akane ran from the crowd towards  Kuno  and
gazed down in amazement at the unconscious figure of her now-
former  boyfriend.  As the reality of all of this  sank  in,
she  knelt beside Kuno's dozing body and began to cry.   She
wept  tears  of joy and sorrow.  Joy that her engagement  to
Kuno  had finally been broken, and sorrow over how weak  and
powerless she had been while with Kuno.  A figure approached
her, and knelt beside her.
      "Excuse me for a moment please?" a polite voice asked.
She turned and saw Ranma holding Kuno's bokken in his hands.
"There's  just  one more thing I have to  do  to  make  this
official," he explained to her in a soft voice.  Ranma  took
each  end of the bokken in his hands, and with all the force
he  could muster, snapped it in half.  It broke irregularly,
splinters  and  jagged edges forming along the  break  line.
Ranma smiled satisfactorily and tossed the broken weapon  at
Kuno's feet.  "Kuno had that coming, taunting me like that."
      Ranma  turned to look at Akane.  Her face was red  and
slick  with tears, and her lower lip was trembling.   Gently
he reached out to her, stroking the tears from her face, and
asking, "Hey, you okay, Akane?"  Akane flinched slightly  at
Ranma's  touch,  but smiled weakly at him  in  appreciation.
"Yeah,  I'm  okay...  I ... umm... " she  blushed  slightly,
turning her face from Ranma's caressing hand.
      Ranma  looked like he wanted to say more, but couldn't
find the words.  He sat back from Akane, giving her a bit of
room.  "I... you're ... um... " he said haltingly, stumbling
over himself.  They sat there on either side of Kuno's still
form,  looking at each other.  Ranma wanted to say something
else,  but  he  couldn't  think of  anything  else  to  say.
Besides,  he  felt  that words weren't  appropriate  at  the
moment, and settled for simply gazing at Akane.
      Ranko  watched the silent exchange between her brother
and  who  she  heard  Ranma address as Akane.   `Ranma  sure
picked a cute one, that's for sure.  I just wish he'd  hurry
up  and  do  something!,'  she  thought,  tapping  her  foot
impatiently.   After  waiting for several  minutes  for  her
brother to make his move, she finally got fed up and  walked
up  to him.  "Psst!  Ranma.  Hey, bro!" she hissed.  Getting
no  response  from  Ranma, she waved her hand  in  front  of
Ranma's  eyes.  `Geez, Ranma.  You must really be  stuck  on
this  girl,' she thought, chuckling softly at his condition.
Finally she tapped him hard on the shoulder, and shook him.
      Snapped  out of his reverie, Ranma looked  up  to  his
sister, a dazed look on his face.  "Yeah, um... what  is  it
Ranko?"
      Ranko  rolled  her  eyes and pointed  to  the  school.
"Ranma, you can stare at her later.  If you don't hurry  up,
we'll be late for school again."
      Ranma reluctantly agreed.  He turned back to Akane  in
time  to  see her stand and walk towards the school,  having
been  snapped out of her trance at Ranko's words.  He wasn't
able  to get her attention, so he stood up and regarded  his
sister.  "Yeah, Ranko.  You're right, let's go."  Ranma  ran
off towards the school.
      Ranko  started  to follow when she  heard  a  groaning
coming from the defeated Kendo champion.  "Uhhh... What form
of  magic  did  you  use against me, Saotome?"  he  mumbled.
Ranko  knelt down to him, and saw that his eyes were  glazed
over.  She then started when Kuno suddenly flopped back down
on the pavement, apparently unconscious again.  Ranko looked
at his face.  `Yup, he's still out cold.  Interesting trick,
talking  while  unconscious,'  she  thought  absently.   She
decided  to  wake him up, and slapped her hands against  his
face.    Slowly   his  eyes  fluttered  as   Kuno   regained
consciousness.  "Hey buddy, you awake?" she yelled  at  him.
He  looked up at her, but said nothing.  She started to  say
something  else  to him when a short-haired girl  approached
her.   "Don't worry about Kuno-chan.  I'll take him  to  the
infirmary.  Thanks for waking him for me, though."
      Ranko  nodded  to  the girl, and took  off  after  her
brother.   Nabiki watched the younger Saotome run  into  the
school  building  and  then  regarded  the  listless   Kuno.
Reaching  an  arm  down,  she  tugged  Kuno  to  a  standing
position.  "I do not require your assistance, Nabiki  Tendo.
I  am  the  Blue  Thunder of Furinkan High and...  WHA!"  he
shouted suddenly, stumbling over the remnants of his bokken.
Nabiki  smiled, gently replying with, "Of course you  don't,
Kuno-chan."   She  then proceeded to walk with  him  to  the
infirmary, thinking, `Ranma Saotome, eh?  You and I  have  a
lot  to talk about, yes indeed.'  The yen signs were already
floating around her mind, the possibilities seemingly  many.
She  smiled to herself, `This could turn out to be  a  great
day.'

                            ****

      Ranma found it hard to concentrate in class, his  mind
roiling  as  he considered the possibilities that  had  just
opened  up.   Akane was free of Kuno's hold, and his  family
could  (hopefully)  return to peaceful  relations  with  the
Tendo  family.   Over the course of the morning,  he'd  also
noticed  that a *lot* of students were now paying  attention
to  *him*,  and that was making him very uncomfortable.   He
hid  behind his books for the most part, trying to  separate
himself from the scrutiny of others.
      Math  class came, and Ranma's tension became palpable.
He arrived to the class early, and sat at his assigned seat.
He watched the door, and almost jumped out of his chair when
Akane walked in.  He smiled to her, and his heart leapt when
she  smiled  in  return.  The class had started,  but  Ranma
wasn't  noticing.   He kept staring at  the  youngest  Tendo
girl, and finally screwed together the courage to pass her a
note he had written in one of his previous classes.
     Akane took the proffered note from the classmate at her
end  of the note delivery chain.  She looked at it, and  was
just able to read Ranma's chicken scratch on the front.  "To
Akane  Tendo, urgent."  She quietly opened the note, looking
around to see if anyone was watching her.
     The note read:

     "Dear Akane,
          My name is Ranma Saotome, and I want to speak with
you today.  Will you please join me for lunch after class?"

     Akane snickered to herself, seeing the heavy amounts of
erasure  and  re-writing that Ranma had  done  over  various
parts of the message.  She folded the note and put it in her
book  bag.   She  then turned to face him,  smiling  at  his
expectant look.  Slowly, and clearly she mouthed, "Yes,  I'd
like to."
      A  big smile formed on Ranma's face as he saw what she
said.   `Yes!   The  first step's been taken,'  he  thought,
exultant.  He turned quickly to face the blackboard,  hoping
not to catch the instructor's ire again.  This teacher was a
new  one  on  him,  but he quickly learned  that  Onsen-Mark
Sensei  was  not  one to toy with.  Ranma fidgeted  for  the
remainder of class, impatiently awaiting the bell for lunch.

                            ****

       Nabiki  sighed  as  she  looked  Kuno's  way   again.
Originally,  she wanted to remain with Kuno  until  he  felt
better,  but now she was wondering if that had been  a  wise
choice.   He'd passed out again as soon as his head hit  the
pillow  on  the  infirmary cot.  Before  that  he  had  been
mumbling  semi-incoherently  about  vengeance  against  that
`knave  Saotome for tricking him into defeat, bla bla  bla.'
Nabiki  had  to  admit  that Ranma  Saotome  possessed  some
powerful capabilities of his own to be able to trounce  Kuno
so soundly.
      She thought hard about a way to turn Ranma's power  to
her  advantage, but nothing came to the fore.  She  regarded
Kuno's  slumbering form again, smirking.  `At least I'll  be
able  to  sell Kuno-chan pictures of my sister  again,'  she
thought happily.
      Suddenly Kuno bolted upright out of his bed,  a  wide-
eyed  expression on his face.  He turned to look at  Nabiki,
who  was sitting on a chair beside his bed.  "Nabiki  Tendo,
why am I here?" he commanded in an imperious tone.
     Nabiki looked at him with a faux-shocked expression and
said,  "Why, Kuno-chan!  Don't you remember?  You lost  that
fight to Ranma Saotome and were knocked out.  I had to carry
you here."
      Kuno's  face  locked  in  a  half-snarl,  half-shocked
expression.   "How  could a simpleton  like  Saotome  defeat
someone  of my stature?  Could you answer that question  for
me, Nabiki Tendo?"
      Nabiki  smiled,  trying to butter up  the  rich  fool.
"Why, Kuno-chan, he had to have been lucky.  That's the only
explanation for it."
      Kuno  calmed, and he seemed to be considering Nabiki's
words.   "You may be right, Nabiki Tendo.  Perhaps a  return
challenge is in order," he said, attempting to sit up in the
bed.   The world swam around him as dizziness overcame  him.
With some effort, he managed to keep his sitting position on
the cot.
     "Perhaps later, Kuno-chan," Nabiki deadpanned.
      Kuno  sat  motionless on the cot for  a  few  moments,
allowing the world to stop spinning.  Eventually he answered
Nabiki  with, "Yes, later."  Kuno reviewed the fight in  his
mind.   Saotome  had truly been astounding  in  that  fight,
although  Kuno  was loathe to admit that to  anyone.   `What
possessed  Saotome  to  do this anyway?'  he  asked  himself
tiredly.   He  sighed lightly, realizing that  he  had  lost
Akane.  `Oh well, it's not that bad,' he thought, trying  to
console  himself.   `Akane had apparently  lost  her  spirit
anyway.   I could no longer love her.'  Kuno paused  in  his
thoughts,  wondering if he hadn't been too cruel  to  Akane.
`No,' he answered himself.  `She surely was blessed with  my
presence  while with me, and will come to regret my  absence
now  that  she has gone.'  The only thing lingering  in  his
mind,  except for finding out how to defeat Ranma, was,  `Is
there another female of beauteous quality and the nature  of
a huntress at the hollowed grounds of Furinkan High?'
      Nabiki could hear the rusty scheming wheels turning in
Kuno's  mind,  but decided to get the information  from  him
later.   She  was going to miss the whole day if she  didn't
return  to class soon.  "Come on, Kuno-chan.  You're feeling
better, so let's get back to class," she told him.
      Kuno  stood  from the cot and regarded  her  with  his
standard upper-class demeanor.  "I will allow you to  escort
me to class, Nabiki Tendo."
      Nabiki  rolled  her  eyes and dragged  Kuno  from  the
infirmary.

                            ****

      The  bell  rang  and  everyone  sprinted  out  of  the
classroom,  intent  on devouring their meals.   Ranma  stood
from  his  desk, watching his classmates go.   As  he  stood
there,  snickering at the sight, a hand gently  lay  against
his  shoulder,  causing  Ranma to  whirl  around,  startling
Akane.
      Ranma  flushed, and apologized instantly.  "I'm sorry,
Akane.   I  didn't  mean to make you jump  like  that.   You
caught  me  by  surprise is all."  He smiled  at  her,  then
extended his hand out to her.  "Shall we eat?" he asked.
      Akane took his hand, blushing slightly.  "Yeah, Ranma.
Let's  eat." she replied, allowing Ranma to lead her out  of
the classroom.
     Disengaging their hands, they walked next to each other
slowly out of the building.  At the door, Akane looked  over
at  Ranma.   "Ranma, I..." she began to say as they  cleared
the threshold and entered the school yard.  She didn't get a
chance  to  say  anything else as both she  and  Ranma  were
suddenly confronted by the entire school populace.
      Both facefaulted as they were assailed by a collective
cheer  from  the  crowd.  Everyone within  eyesight  of  the
couple stood, applauding the one who had defeated Kuno  that
morning.  People came up and clapped Ranma heartily  on  the
back.   Ranko, who had been at the front of the  crowd  when
Ranma and Akane emerged from the building, now stood back  a
bit  so  that  Ranma  could enjoy the moment,  although  she
couldn't  restrain  herself from  jumping  in  the  air  and
cheering along with the rest of the crowd.
      Akane  soon  found  herself being pushed  further  and
further away from Ranma as the crowd pressed, trying to  get
closer  to  the newfound campus hero.  She could  see  Ranma
trying frantically to push his way through the crowd to  get
back to her, but the throng was too dense.  Soon the mass of
people had pushed Ranma away from Akane's line of sight.
      A half smile that had been on her face slipped away as
she  suddenly felt disappointment.  She was looking  forward
to  speaking  with  Ranma.  She had  so  much  to  ask  him,
especially about what he had said two weeks ago.  `I want to
know  why  he  referred to me as his fiancee,'  she  thought
again.   She started to approach a nearby bench when a  hand
grabbed hers.  She looked up to see a young pig-tailed  girl
with blue eyes tugging at her hand.
       "Hey   you're  Akane,  right?"  Ranko  said  in   her
characteristic  enthusiasm.  Akane  nodded  slowly,  "Uhh...
yeah.  Who are you?"
      "I'm Ranko, Ranma's younger sister.  Anyway, wasn't he
supposed  to  be  eating lunch with you, or  something  like
that?" she pressed.
      Akane blushed, aware again of how active the grapevine
was  at  school.   "Well, yes.. but he seems  to  have  been
abducted  by  everyone," she said, indicating the  departing
dustcloud.
      Ranko  looked  at the crowd and laughed.   "That's  my
brother for you.  C'mon!  Let's catch up with him," she said
enthusiastically.   Akane  didn't  even  have  a  chance  to
protest as the younger Saotome dragged her towards the crowd
and Ranma.

                            ****

      Ranma clawed uselessly for purchase against the crowd,
hoping to get above and beyond them.  Fortunately he managed
to  keep  his  calm as he struggled among  the  people.   He
didn't  like  being in the spotlight, and the  size  of  the
crowd wasn't helping matters any.  Boys and girls alike were
badgering  him with statements and questions, but he  didn't
even  try to respond.  "How did you do it, Ranma?   Can  you
beat  him  up again, Ranma?  You dating anyone, Ranma?   Why
did you challenge Kuno, Ranma?"
     A hand grabbed his arm, and pulled him out of the reach
of the throng.  Once he and his rescuer were a safe distance
from  the  oblivious crowd, Ranma looked  up  to  thank  the
person  and was confronted by the scheming smirk  of  Nabiki
Tendo.    "Nabiki?!"   Ranma   asked,.   slightly   stunned.
Immediately his hand went protectively to his pocket.   "How
much do I owe you?" he asked disgustedly.
      Nabiki's  eyebrow  swept up  in  surprise  at  Ranma's
question.   "I  don't  know you, do I Saotome?"  she  asked,
slightly irritated.  Seeing the crowd start to approach, she
cut  off any response, and spoke quickly.  "I'll worry about
that  little  detail later.  Don't worry `bout  the  rescue,
it's on me.  Just consider us even, okay Saotome?"
     "Even for what?," Ranma asked, his eyes narrowing.
      "Well, I had to find some way to thank you for getting
my little sister Akane out of that stupid engagement to Kuno-
chan."   She  leaned over to him a little, a  conspiratorial
look  on  her  face.  "And I also wanted to  thank  you  for
beating  him in the fight; I won a lot of money  betting  on
you."
      Ranma  groaned,  seeing  that apparently  some  things
weren't  different in this Nerima.  "Okay, whatever  Nabiki.
I..."
     Nabiki saw Akane and that girl that was with Kuno after
the  fight approach ahead of the crowd, and hastened to  get
away.   "Oops!   I gotta run.  Here comes my  sister.   I'll
talk to you later, Saotome!" she yelled as she sprinted  for
the school building.
      Ranma watched as Nabiki tore around the corner of  the
building,  and  heard her run up the steps and  inside.   He
turned his head, and saw Ranko and Akane approaching.  Along
with the rest of Furinkan High.  He made a move to turn  and
run,  but  stopped,  feeling the solid wall  of  the  school
building  against his back.  Having nowhere to go,  he  hung
his head and resigned himself to the inevitable.
      Ranko  and Akane arrived next to Ranma.  Ranko noticed
the  look on Ranma's face, and became concerned.  "Hey  bro,
you okay?"  Ranma turned to her, merely replying, "I will be
once lunch is over."  He looked at Akane, saying "Akane, I'm
sorry about lunch.  I really want to talk to you, though."
      Akane  nodded  her head in agreement.   She  tried  to
reply,  but couldn't get her voice to carry over the din  of
curious  students that had suddenly arrived.  The  questions
started  up again, with the crowd pressing hard against  the
three.   "You  going to run for class president  next  year,
Ranma?  What's the story with you and Akane, Ranma?  Are you
prepared to die, Ranma?"
      That  last  question stopped the crowd in its  tracks.
Ranma, Akane, and Ranko turned suddenly in the direction  of
the  questioner.   The crowd parted to  show  the  glowering
faces  of  seven members of the Kendo team.  They  were  all
wearing  the same Kendo outfit that Kuno usually  wore,  and
they all had murder on their mind, if their posture was  any
indication.   The  one  who asked the question  pointed  his
bokken at Ranma and spoke again.  "We all know that you're a
wimp,  and you hate martial arts.  You were lucky,  Saotome.
There's no other explanation for the way you defeated  Kuno-
Sempai.   We  will avenge his loss to you, and  bring  honor
back  to the Kendo club!" he declared mightily, raising  his
bokken to the sky in a gesture of triumph.
      Ranma  grunted in satisfaction, glad to have something
he  could deal with presented to him.  Ranko's eyes narrowed
dangerously at hearing the soon-to-be-dead-Kendoist refer to
her brother as a `wimp.'  She maneuvered herself so that she
and  Ranma  were bracketing Akane, preparing for the  worst.
"Watch what you say lardass, or we may have to make you  eat
those words!" Ranko retorted hotly.
       The   loudmouth   Kendoist  smirked,   then   laughed
arrogantly.  Ignoring Ranko, he directed his comment  solely
to  Ranma.  "So, wimpy widdle Ranma needs a widdle  girl  to
protect him," the lead Kendoist taunted in a mocking  voice.
Ranma's  gaze  became murderous at that, and he  flexed  his
fingers,   eager  to  put  the  guy  down.   Ranko   reacted
similarly,  although she grinned coldly.   The  crowd  began
backing  away  from  the  Kendoists and  the  Saotomes,  not
wanting  to  get hurt.  "Little girl, eh?  I'll be  glad  to
show you what this little girl can do, asshole.  That is, if
you're  man enough to try me," Ranko challenged him, looking
him straight in the eye.
      The  guy  returned  the  gaze,  his  confidence  never
wavering.  "Out of the way, bitch.  This is between  me  and
the wimp... ahhhh!" the Kendoist screamed as Ranma leapt  in
front  of  him  and  kicked him square  in  the  face.   The
Kendoist  landed  on his back, with Ranma  standing  on  his
face.   "Watch what you say about my sister, asshole!" Ranma
said  ominously, grinding his foot into the  guy's  face  to
punctuate  the  statement.   The student  obliged  Ranma  by
passing out.
      Another person from the Kendo group yelled "GET  HIM!"
and  the  entire  group rushed Ranma's  position.   Suddenly
Ranma,  Ranko  and  Akane were swarmed  by  bokken-wielding,
skirt-clad  figures swearing vengeance on  behalf  of  their
fallen leader.
      Akane gasped, watching the fight boil around her.  She
took  some  small  comfort from the fact  that  the  Saotome
siblings were trying their best to see that no harm came  to
her.   She wanted to assist them, and felt a sudden pang  of
regret that she had let her Kenpo training lapse during  the
year and a half that she was tied to Kuno.  Frustrated,  she
let Ranma and Ranko carry on the fight.
      Ranma  smiled to himself, satisfied that these  people
were  definitely not a threat.  One of the crazed  Kendoists
charged  at  him, swinging wildly at Ranma with the  bokken.
Ranma easily dodged the lunge, and responded with a chop  to
the back of the assailant's neck, knocking him out.
      Ranko  wasn't having as easy a time.  She had  already
dispatched  one of the fighters and was looking  for  number
two.   Unfortunately, figuring her to be a worse threat than
Ranma  due to his past reputation, three students beset  her
at  the same time.  Unable to contend with three, Ranko  was
caught  unprepared.  Two of the Kendoists  held  her  still,
while   the  third  one  began  kicking  and  punching   her
viciously.  Too proud to scream, Ranko instead tried in vain
to free herself from the grip of the hentai Kendoists.
      Akane, who had been watching Ranma pulverize the Kendo
students on his end, whirled around at the commotion  behind
her.   She  gaped wordlessly at the unfair attack  they  had
launched  against Ranko.  Angered beyond words, she  reached
up  swiftly and grabbed one of the Kendoists by his shoulder
and turned him to face her.  Not waiting for a response from
the  jerk, Akane punched him square in the face with all  of
her  might,  swept his legs out from under him  and  finally
followed  up  with  a devastating kick to  the  groin.   The
felled student grabbed his agonized privates and screamed in
pain.   Akane looked at her hands, balling them  into  fists
again.   `Whew!  That felt good!  I haven't done that  in  a
while...' she thought, enjoying the feeling of punishing the
guy.   She looked to the other one that was still holding  a
weakened Ranko back from attacking, and readied herself  for
another assault.
     Ranma had just finished breaking a bokken over the head
of  a  Kendo  student,  bringing his  body  count  to  three
unconscious,  when he heard someone scream  in  pain  behind
him.   With no-one left to fight, he turned to see what  his
sister was doing.  He gasped in shock at what he saw;  Akane
had  just pounded the hell out of a guy, and two others were
double  teaming Ranko!  Furious, Ranma leapt at the  student
holding Ranko back and began tearing him apart.  The stunned
student didn't even have time to fight as Ranma knocked  him
down  to  the  ground.  Kneeling, Ranma quickly  seized  the
Kendoist by his throat and punched him time and again  until
the  student's  face had been cut severely by  the  impacts.
Still  enraged,  Ranma dropped the limp student's  head  and
charged after the remaining one.
      The  lone student's eyes went wide as he saw how badly
he  was outnumbered.  Deciding to get in one more hit before
running,  he swiped at Ranko with his bokken as hard  as  he
could.   He  connected, opening a gash  in  her  face.   "We
toldja  you should've stayed out of the fight, little  girl!
You  won't be forgetting that now, will you?" he taunted  as
he  lowered his bokken.  Not bothering to survey the  damage
he'd caused her, the student turned to run away before Ranma
could get to him.
      Ranma  broke his sprint and knelt down by his  sister,
who  had dropped to her knees after getting hit.  "I'm gonna
kill  that  coward," Ranma spat viciously.  He put  his  arm
around her protectively as she knelt there, motionless.
      Ranko  brought her hand up to the gash on  her  cheek,
dabbing gingerly at the bloody, broken skin.  "You're  gonna
have  to  wait  in  line Ranma.  That bastard's  mine!"  she
swore,  standing  up  slowly.  She  ignored  her  protesting
muscles  and  grabbed  a  bokken  from  one  of  the  felled
students.   She  then sprinted off in the direction  of  the
departing  Kendoist.  Ranma and Akane took  off  after  her,
ignoring  the groans as they stepped on and over  the  Kendo
students they'd knocked out earlier.

                            ****

      Ranko poured on the steam as she started closing in on
the  fleeing student.  She watched him turn to see if he was
being  pursued and heard him gasp in surprise.   She  smiled
thinly,  knowing  that she was going to enjoy  hurting  him.
With  the  gap narrowing quickly, Ranko brought  her  bokken
into  play.   Without even breaking stride,  she  threw  the
bokken  at  the  Kendoist's legs.  The throw was  true,  and
suddenly  the  students legs were entangled by  the  bokken,
halting  his  run  and thrusting him face-forward  into  the
ground.
      Ranko  reached the student and kicked him in the  ass.
"Who's  the little girl now, asshole!" she taunted,  kicking
him again.  The Kendoist tried to hide his terror by putting
on  a  brave  front.   Forcing a sneer onto  his  face,  the
student quickly got up and faced her.  "Don't taunt me,  you
little bitch.  I'll..." he said, before getting interrupted.
      Ranko flushed red at the name and got up in his  face,
staring  eye to eye with him.  "Listen to me, WIMP!   You're
about to feel very bad, you emasculated son of a bitch.   So
quit talking and start fighting!"  She followed her comments
up  with  an  open-handed slap to the  face.   The  taunting
worked  well  as  the student lashed out at  her.   Although
Ranko  had  been slowed by the beating she had endured,  she
was still able to deflect the strike.  Incoherent with rage,
the  guy  lashed  out at her again with his  bokken.   Ranko
anticipated the attack and grabbed the blade as  it  whizzed
past her head.  Twisting the blade in her grip, she wrenched
it from his hands.  Quickly she tossed it far away from him,
leaving him weaponless.
     Desperate to end the fight, he decided to rush her.  He
charged,  yelling  like an enraged animal,  with  his  hands
stuck  out  in front of him to grab her by the neck.   Ranko
dropped to one leg, cursing at the pain as she did so.   She
managed to complete the leg sweep, however, and sent the guy
toppling face-first into the dirt again.  Hobbling back into
a  standing  position, she rubbed her sore leg, waiting  for
the  guy to stand up again.  He got to his hands and  knees,
but  didn't stand completely.  "Come on, you little  coward!
Stand  up and fight!  You know, you talk awfully big  for  a
guy  who  can't fight.  And you sure are stupid, picking  on
someone  you don't even know.  I don't know why you  try  to
fight  anyway, since you hit like a little girl!" she  spat,
trying to goad him into continuing the fight.
      At  that moment Ranma and Akane arrived on the  scene,
and  watched  as  Ranko yelled at the lone  student.   Ranma
rushed to take care of the creep when he heard Ranko yell at
him.  "Stay away from him, brother.  He's *mine*!  I'll  let
you  have him afterwards, *if* I let him live," Ranko stated
ominously.
      Ranma  nodded silently and stepped back a  respectable
distance, with Akane joining him.  Ranko turned back to  her
adversary,  who had assumed a standing position again.   His
face  was  white  hot with impotent rage as he  brought  his
hands  up in a ready position.  "You're mine, little bitch!"
he spluttered.  Ranko readied herself as the student charged
at her again.  This time Ranko brought her leg up and kicked
him squarely in the midsection as he came by, causing him to
gasp  loudly  in pain.  Not waiting for him to fall  to  the
ground  again and catch his breath, she followed up  with  a
chop  to the back of the neck, making him stumble drunkenly.
The student whirled around to face her again, and got a foot
in his face as Ranko jump-kicked him, causing him to fall on
his back in a daze.
      Rage possessing her completely now, she straddled  him
and  repeatedly punched him in the face until her fists were
sore.   Not  satisfied  with  that,  she  then  grabbed  two
handfuls  of  hair  and began slamming  his  head  into  the
ground, yelling "Who's a wimp?" at him with every impact.
      Ranma  approached  his  sister  cautiously.   She  had
already knocked the guy out, and he wasn't feeling the  pain
she  was  dishing  out.  Without touching her,  he  shouted,
"Ranko,  stop!"  She continued slamming the boy's head  into
the  ground  unabated, ignoring her brother's words.   Ranma
sighed, not wanting to interfere, but knowing that he had to
stop  her.   He  stepped  behind her and  grabbed  her  from
behind, pinning her arms under his.
      Ranko  squirmed  in his grasp, but  didn't  kick  out.
Instead   she  yelled,  "Ranma!   Lemme  go!   This  asshole
deserves  it!"  Ranma pulled on her, trying to get her  away
from  the student.  Ranko held onto the student by his  hair
and  by  clenching  her  thighs against  the  boy's  flanks,
resisting her brother's pull.  She wanted to do more damage,
and  kept  shouting for her brother to leave  her  the  hell
alone.   Finally,  with a mighty yank  Ranma  separated  his
sister from the doomed Kendoist.
      Akane  had  watched wordlessly throughout the  beating
(she  wouldn't  call it a fight).  She then  winced  as  she
watched Ranma try time and again to pull his sister from the
unconscious   student.   She  flinched   when   he   finally
succeeded.   "Ouch!  That's gonna hurt in the morning,"  she
observed  aloud  as Ranma walked Ranko towards  her.   Ranma
looked  at Akane quizzically, wondering what she was talking
about.  Akane pointed to Ranko's hands, a slight grimace  on
her  face.   Ranma looked where Akane pointed, and  smirked.
"Yeesh,  Ranko.  You weren't fooling around, were  you?"  he
asked rhetorically.
      Ranko  looked at the contents of her hands and smiled.
She clenched her fists, holding tightly the clumps of bloody
hair she'd yanked from the guy's head when Ranma pulled  her
off.  "I think he'll be remembering this day for a while  to
come,"  she  said  mirthfully, prizing  the  hair  into  the
pockets  of her pants.  She then sagged against her brother,
exhaustion catching up with her.
      "Ranko!"  Ranma yelled in alarm, catching  his  sister
before  she  could fall.  Akane got on the other side,  each
putting  one of Ranko's arms around their necks and  one  of
their arms around her tiny waist.  Then together they walked
the unconscious Ranko to the infirmary.

                            ****

      Kuno  `ohh'ed to himself as he watched Akane and Ranma
cart Ranko away from the battle scene.  He'd hidden among  a
small  cluster  of  trees for the duration  of  the  battle,
watching  his nemesis in action.  He smiled thinly,  pleased
and  upset  with his Kendo club.  He was pleased  that  they
would   try   to  defend  the  honor  of  their  leader   so
voraciously, but was equally upset that they were unable  to
complete the task they had set out to do, and that they  did
it  in such a dishonorable manner.  He would have been  more
upset  if  he  had  ordered  the  attack  himself  and  they
performed as badly as they did here.
      Kuno  digested  what  he saw of  the  battle.   `Ranma
Saotome is indeed a martial artist of some ability.  How  he
achieved  this  in  such  a short time  is  unknown.'   Kuno
grudgingly acknowledged that Saotome was a true force to  be
reckoned with.  Irritated, he pushed the image of Ranma from
his mind and concentrated on what else he saw.
      `Akane  seems  to have regained some  of  her  spirit.
Surely it must be due to the fact that she grows restless in
my  absence, knowing that I, the great Tatewaki Kuno, am not
there  to protect her.  Fear not Akane, I will allow you  to
come back to me,' Kuno thought grandly, pleased with himself
over the kind gesture he was willing to bestow her.  He then
clenched his fists and gasped as the visage of Ranko Saotome
flitted through his mind.  `She fights most masterfully  for
one  so  young.  And her beauty!  Were she not of  Saotome's
blood  she would be a most perfect woman.  I must  find  out
more about her!' he vowed silently.  He waited a few moments
for  the  three to enter the building before he headed  back
inside himself.

                            ****

      Ranko  groaned  as she came to in the infirmary.   She
opened her eyes slowly, and saw a worried Ranma and Akane at
the  side  of her cot.  She snapped her eyes shut,  fighting
off  the  sudden wave of nausea that threatened to  overcome
her.   She  slapped a hand listlessly against her  forehead,
noting how cold and damp her skin was.  Again she crept  her
eyes open, and regarded Ranma with a wan smile.  "Hey, didja
get the number of that truck..." she broke off, snorting  at
her own bad joke.
      Ranma  smiled and sighed relief as he dropped  to  his
knees  next to the cot, wrapping her up in a hug,  his  head
resting on her chest.  "Thank God you're okay, Sis.  Damn  I
was  worried about you!" he said, choking back a sob.  Ranko
put  a  hand  on  her  brother's head, running  her  fingers
through his hair.  "Yeah, I'm okay bro.  Although I won't be
if  you  keep  squeezing me that hard," she  gasped.   Ranma
released her and sat back beside Akane.
      Ranko sat up in her cot, propping her back against the
wall  of the room.  "Uggh!  How long was I out?" she  asked,
blinking to try and clear the blurriness from her vision.
     "About twenty minutes, Ranko," Akane said.  "How do you
feel?"
      "Like hell.  I feel like someone did a flamenco  dance
on  my body with steel tap shoes.  Other than that, I'm just
dandy."   They  all chuckled at the vision  created  by  her
metaphor.  "By the way, Akane.  Thanks for the assist.   You
showed some pretty good moves out there."
     Akane blushed slightly, then anger flashed in her eyes.
"Well, I couldn't stand by watching those three gang  up  on
you.   It  just wasn't fair, so I decided to help  even  the
odds  a bit.  I can't believe how easily fighting came  back
to me after being out of practice for so long."  `Although,'
she  added  to herself, `I saw just how rusty I  was.'   She
smirked  inwardly, thinking that a little training might  be
just  the thing to banish what Kuno did to her from her mind
for good.
      Ranko  winked  conspiratorially at  Ranma  when  Akane
wasn't   looking.   Ranma  shook  his  head,   and   shifted
uncomfortably   where  he  sat.   Ranko  frowned   slightly,
thinking  about something.  She suddenly perked up,  saying,
"Akane, can I speak alone with my brother for a moment?"
     Akane smiled and grabbed Ranko's hand.  "Sure.  You did
well  out there, Ranko.  Ranma's right to be proud of  you."
Ranko  blushed at the praise.  Akane then turned  to  Ranma,
"I'm going back to class now.  I'll see you after school, if
that's okay."
      Ranma's eyes widened a bit at that, but he managed  to
smile, saying "Sure thing Akane."  She stood and walked  out
of the infirmary, closing the door behind her.  Once she was
gone, Ranko gave her brother a stern look.
      Ranma  grew defensive as his sister's gaze bored  into
him.  "Hey Ranko, what's the big idea?"
      Ranko's  stare continued to bear down  on  him.   "Why
don't you have a date with Akane yet, Ranma?"
      Ranma fidgeted in his seat, not answering her question
He shifted his gaze to the floor, his face an expressionless
mask.
      "C'mon, Ranma.  I saw how you were looking at her this
morning.   I'm kinda surprised you didn't ask her  to  marry
you  right then and there," she continued.  She crossed  her
arms,  awaiting  a  response from Ranma.   He  continued  to
remain quiet.  "Well?!"
      Ranma regarded his sister again.  "It's kinda hard for
me to explain, Ranko."
     A concerned expression wound its way onto Ranko's face,
making  her  wince  involuntarily from the  pain  caused  by
shifting  her facial muscles.  She ignored the  pain  coming
from  the cut on her face, and grabbed one of Ranma's hands.
"Hey, I'm listening.  Tell me what's goin' on."
      Ranma sighed, not really comfortable with sharing  his
feelings  with anyone.  "Well, Ranko, it's like this.   Back
when Pop and I first arrived at the Tendo house, Akane and I
really  didn't get along at all.  And for months after  that
she  and I were either on the brink of actually loving  each
other  or  about to rip each other's throats out.   Most  of
that  time  we  were violent towards each other,  and  never
really  wanted to talk about the engagement imposed  on  us.
Neither of us really wanted to discuss *anything* much."
      Ranma  paused  and  stood from his chair,  then  began
pacing  in  the confined space of the school infirmary.   "I
guess  if  we had talked, it would've made a lot  of  things
easier  on both of us.  But we resisted the impulse  to  try
and  work  things out.  Exactly why, I'm not  sure."   Ranma
replayed  parts of his life with Akane in his  mind,  seeing
now  just how many times things had gone wrong, and how many
opportunities  they'd missed.  "You know  Ranko,  I  realize
that I do love Akane, although I couldn't see it before now.
I  guess something in that wish cleared my head, allowing me
to  take  a  longer view of what I've said and done  in  the
past.  Whatever it is that's changed me, I realize now  that
some of the things that sparked arguments and brawls between
Akane  and myself were my fault.  Also, I now recognize  the
things  that I said, or did, that made her angry and  helped
to  push her away from me.  But I have to admit as well that
she was just as resistant as I, sometimes fanning the flames
of our anger instead of trying to extinguish them."
      Ranma kept talking, but it seemed clear to Ranko  that
he was just talking aloud, instead of to her.  "We were both
too  damn  stubborn  to  listen.  I  was  always  so  damned
*right*," he said, pounding his fist into his other hand for
emphasis.   "All  those times I should've  listened  when  I
talked instead.  I was so foolish."  Ranma laughed bitterly.
"You  know,  she  even  told me  once  that  she  loved  me.
Granted, she was under the influence of the reversal  jewel,
but  her feelings were genuine.  And I was too blind to  see
it  at  the  time.  And now comes my wish, and  everything's
suddenly different.  Akane's different, I'm different,  even
Kuno's different!" Ranma shouted.
      He  looked over to his sister, and flushed,  realizing
that he was pontificating.  "I'm sorry for venting like this
Ranko.  All of this just sorta hit me at once.  I guess it's
just the shock of realizing all that I've affected by making
that wish.  But you do understand why I'm saying this, don't
you?"
      "Not really, Ranma," she said, a confused look on  her
face.   "Why  does your past have anything to  do  with  the
Akane of now?"
     Ranma stopped pacing.  He faced her, spreading his arms
in  a  wide  gesture.  "It has everything to  do  with  this
Akane.   She's  not the same person I knew from  before.   I
know  how to deal with the Akane from my past, not this one.
Don't  you see?  Everything that I learned about her is  out
the  window.  I'm gonna have to start all over again.  Plus,
we barely got along before.  I have no idea how Akane and  I
would get along now."
      Ranko looked her brother square in the eye.  "I  don't
think  you're  getting the whole picture yet,  big  brother.
You  admit  that you and Akane were at each other's  throats
constantly in the past."  Ranma nodded slowly.  "Well you're
not at each other's throats now, are you?"
     "No, but we aren't engaged now, either."
      "Exactly!" Ranko chimed.  Seeing Ranma's puzzled look,
she  pressed  on.   "Ranma, don't you see  that  the  forced
engagement  was the main reason you two fought  each  other?
Chances  are you were doing all that fighting to  spite  Pop
and Mr. Tendo than for any other reason."
     "But what about now?  I have no way of knowing how this
Akane  is  going  to react to me.  I'm not  even  sure  that
she'll like me," he said, moaning slightly.
      Ranko pointed at her brother.  "Ranma, you're thinking
too  far ahead.  You're also making assumptions about  Akane
based  on what you know of the past.  You really don't  have
any  idea  how much different this Akane could be  from  the
person you used to know."
      Ranma nodded.  "That's another thing that bothers  me.
She's  not  the Akane that I fell in love with.  What  if  I
find out that I don't love her, Ranko?"
      "Geez, Ranma.  If it bothers you this much, why  don't
you  just  abandon the whole idea of wanting  Akane?"  Ranko
said angrily.
      Ranma blanched at the idea.  "No!  I don't ... that is
... I can't ...  I'm..."
     "You're afraid?" she completed for him.
      Ranma  deflated  a bit.  "Yeah.  I  guess  that's  it.
There's  too  many unknowns for me to try  and  overcome  at
once."
      "Then don't worry about them all at once.  Take things
one  step at a time, Ranma.  You'll worry yourself away from
Akane  at the rate you're going.  And don't be afraid,  it's
bad  form  for a martial artist." she said, smiling  at  her
brother.
      Ranma  fought the smirk working its way to  his  face.
"Yeah,  well...   love and martial arts  are  two  different
things, Ranko."
     "Not to hear you tell it, bro," Ranko laughed.
      Ranma blushed.  "Har har har.  Very funny, NOT!"   His
resumed  his seat next to his sister.  "There's so  much  to
consider, I really don't know where to start."
      "Well, I think that Akane's made that pretty easy  for
you.   Just  meet her after school like she said,  and  then
take it from there."
      Ranma  turned  green,  his nerves  working  him  over.
Asking  a girl out on a date was terra nova for him.   "I've
not really asked a girl out before, Ranko.  How do I know if
anything I say will work?"
      "Well,  you're not gonna find out unless you try,  are
you bro?" she shot back.
      Ranma  nodded, then smiled.  "You're right, Ranko.   I
have to at least try.  Thanks for the advice, Sis."
      Ranko  adopted an air of smugness about her.   "That's
why  I'm  here,  Ranma."  She leaned over to  him,  winking.
"Akane's  a cute girl.  You'll be a happy guy if you  manage
to win her over."
      Ranma  smiled, gazing off into the distance for awhile
before  replying, "Yeah, I guess so."  He returned his  gaze
to her.  "Speaking of cute, how are you feeling Sis?"
     Ranko blushed at the compliment.  Putting a hand to her
face,  she  gingerly touched the tender cut.   After  they'd
arrived  in the infirmary, a nurse had cleaned and  bandaged
the  wound,  saying that a doctor would have to look  at  it
soon.   "I'm feeling better Ranma."  Her look grew angry  as
she  recalled the fight.  "Although that little  wimp  Kenji
didn't have to be so damn mean."
     "Who's Kenji?" Ranma asked.
     "Oh, that's right.  You wouldn't know who he is.  Kenji
is  Kenji Kurosawa, a freshman here at Furinkan.  He  and  I
have  been  at  each other's throats for years,  ever  since
grade  school.  He's the one who gave me this  lovely  cut,"
she  said  darkly,  pointing to the  bandaged  wound.   Even
though she'd already repaid him for the beating she'd gotten
from  him, Ranko felt it wasn't enough.  She smiled  as  she
recalled  the  clumps  of hair that she  had  in  her  pants
pockets.   Clumps of Kenji's hair removed in a most  painful
way.  She could at least draw some satisfaction from that.
      "Well,  I  don't think that this Kenji  dude  will  be
bothering  you again, not after the pasting you  gave  him,"
Ranma  said assuringly.  He smiled, proud of his sister  and
her ability to fight.
      "He'd  better not, for his sake," she vowed.  She  was
about  to  launch  into  a  rather mean-spirited  look  into
Kenji's  lineage when the bell rang.  "Well, we  can't  stay
here  any longer, bro.  We'd better get back to class.  I'll
meet you after school."  She stood from the bed, sore but no
longer dizzy.  "Good luck with Akane, Ranma."
      "Thanks Ranko," Ranma said to the departing figure  of
his  younger  sister.   `I sure hope  everything  works  out
okay,'  he  thought worriedly.  He then pushed  the  thought
from his mind, upset with himself for worrying so much.   He
stood  and walked out of the infirmary, heading to his  last
class for the day.

                            ****

      The  bell rang, and students began pouring out of  the
building  and  heading  for home.   Akane  was  among  those
students  gleefully running for the outside.   Once  in  the
schoolyard she found a place near the gate to sit  and  wait
for  Ranma.   Sitting down by a large tree, she leaned  back
against it, basking in the afternoon sunlight of springtime.
      Unseen by Akane, a girl watched from a distance.   The
young  lady  scowled, noting the expectant look  on  Akane's
face.   The  girl  was about to walk up to  Akane  when  she
noticed  someone else approaching.  Instead  of  confronting
Akane  directly,  she chose to move herself  closer  so  she
could listen.
      Ranma had been looking around the grounds for a couple
of minutes before he spotted Akane sitting under a tree.  He
gasped  when  he saw her.  She had noticed him  and  smiled,
beckoning him to join her.  He couldn't help but notice that
she  was  *very*  cute when she smiled.  He waved  back  and
trotted on over to her.  Plopping his bookbag on the ground,
he  sat  next  to her under the tree.  He sat  there  for  a
couple  of  moments, acting like he wanted to say something,
but nothing was coming out.
      "How's  Ranko  doing, Ranma?" Akane asked,  trying  to
break the ice.
      "Oh, she's fine.  She should be here in a few moments.
We usually walk home together," he said, laughing nervously.
      `Oh,  well.   Here  it goes.' Akane thought,  steeling
herself.  "Ranma, I wanted to ... thank you... for what  you
did for me today."
      Ranma  gave  her  an `aw shux, twern't  nuthin'  look.
"That's okay, Akane.  I'm glad I did it."
      "So  am  I.   Although, and don't think I'm  being  an
ingrate, I was wondering why you did it at all."
     Ranma swallowed nervously, unsure of how to answer her.
He wasn't about to tell her about the wish, nor was he going
to  tell  her about the agreement between he and  Soun.   He
decided  to tell her what parts of the truth that he  could.
He  felt the less he lied to her now, the better off he'd be
later  on.   He collected his wits, then forced  himself  to
continue.  "I couldn't stand it anymore!" he finally blurted
out.
      "What  do you mean, `couldn't stand it any longer'  ?"
Akane asked quietly.
      "I mean, I couldn't stand to see the look on your face
any  longer, Akane.  Every day at school I've been  watching
you  and Kuno together.  I could see how much pain you  were
feeling," he explained.
      Akane  listened without speaking.  Tears began welling
up in her eyes as she listened to Ranma.  Gently she wiped a
stray tear from her cheek.
      "It  hurt me to see you in so much pain.  When I heard
about  Kuno's boast, I decided that I'd had enough and would
challenge  him."  Ranma crossed his arms in  front  of  him.
"You  see,  I ... I like you Akane.  And I felt  that  you'd
suffered long enough."
     Akane's eyes widened.  She looked over at Ranma, nearly
speechless.   With some effort, she responded.  "Ranma,  you
have  no idea how much I appreciate what you've done for  me
today.   You've  managed to get me away  from  Kuno  without
damaging  the  Tendo family honor.  I'm in your  debt,"  she
told him in a small voice.
      Ranma smiled uneasily, and forced himself to continue,
knowing  that  this was the most difficult  part.   "I  also
fought  Kuno because ... I wanted to mar... be with you  for
awhile."
      "R..  R..  Ranma?  You're serious about  this,  aren't
you?" she asked, incredulous.
      "Yes  I am."  Ranma took her hands in his.  "Akane,  I
hope this isn't too sudden, but I was wondering if you would
like  to  go  out with me sometime?"  He relaxed noticeably,
glad to have finally asked the question and gotten it out of
the way.
      Akane  blushed  deeply at hearing the  question.   She
shifted position on the ground a couple of times, trying  to
get  a  grip on her emotions.  A part of her had hoped  that
Ranma would be asking her this, but other parts of her  were
still  suffering from Kuno's version of `tender loving care'
and were warning her not to fall into a boy trap again.  She
nodded  warily, and was about to answer him verbally when  a
girl  shot  up  from her hiding place in the nearby  bushes,
screaming at the top of her lungs, "NOOOOOOOO!!!!"

                            ****

     Ranko Saotome flinched as she applied weight to her leg
again.   She  was  still sore from the fight,  and  she  was
walking gingerly on her right leg.  She had refused crutches
from  the nurse, and likewise refused help from her friends.
She bore the pain stoically, not wanting to let anyone think
that Kenji had gotten the best of her.
     She stepped outside into the sunlight and saw Ranma and
Akane  sitting  under  a tree near the  school  gates.   She
smiled to herself.  `Go get her, Ranma,' she thought happily
to herself as she approached the couple.  She was halfway to
them  when she heard someone scream `NO!' at the top of  her
lungs  and then saw a girl jump out of the bushes.   Ranko's
face fell as she saw who it was.  "Oh God, not Kinuko!"  she
grumbled disgustedly.  She then gasped in alarm, remembering
that Ranma wouldn't know who Kinuko was.  Ranko doubled  her
pace, hoping to put out any fires before they started.

                            ****

      Ranma stared wide-eyed at the hysterical girl.   Akane
was  likewise  wide-eyed with surprise,  watching  the  girl
storm  from the bushes to where she and Ranma were  sitting.
She  was  a fairly tall and extremely beautiful young  woman
dressed  in  the  standard school uniform of Furinkan  High.
The  sunlight refracted through the girl's long black  hair,
accenting red highlights.  Her brown eyes shimmered  as  she
cried, tears washing down her heart-shaped face.
      "How  dare you?  HOW DARE YOU?!" she shrieked.   Heads
from  passersby  turned towards them, and a crowd  began  to
gather.
      Akane leaned over to Ranma.  "What is she doing  here,
Ranma?"
       Ranma  didn't  respond,  except  to  shake  his  head
vigorously.   He stared blankly at the girl, wondering  what
he'd  done to piss her off.  "Uhhh... Excuse me, do  I  know
you?" he managed to ask at length.
      "RANCHAN!  How dare you ask me that question?  Sure we
may have had our hard times in the past, but to act like you
don't  even  know me!?  Why!?"  She dropped  to  her  knees,
burying her face in her hands and crying like a lost soul.
     Akane regarded Ranma again.  "Well, she sure thinks she
knows you," she deadpanned.
      Ranma's eyes bugged out.  `She called me Ranchan!  Who
the  hell  is  she?!' he thought in a panic.  He  looked  at
Akane, and held his right hand up, pointing at the girl.  "I
don't  know  this  person,  I *swear!*"   His  face  clearly
reflected  the  befuddlement he  felt.   He  looked  around,
hoping to find an avenue of escape.
     The girl looked up at him angrily, wiping her eyes with
her  hand.   "Ranchan, I can't believe  this.   I'm  out  of
school  for two weeks for the School Band trip to Kobe,  and
when  I  return  I  find  you trying  to  bed  down  some...
*hussy*!"   Theatrically  she  placed  a  hand  against  her
forehead,  proclaiming, "My world  is  shattered!   I  never
would've  thought you would cheat on me, Ranchan!  You  said
you  loved me!  Why are you torturing me like this by saying
you don't know me?!"  She began crying again.
     Ranma's jaw dropped, and he looked for all the world as
though  he  never  expected  to  live  out  the  day.    His
vocabulary  had  been  reduced  to   "abb...   I...   ahh...
uggghh...  "  and  his  arms were  extended  outwards  in  a
defensive  gesture against the rampaging female.   Meanwhile
the  audience's curiosity was piqued.  Ranma could make  out
some of the murmuring going on in the background.  "Did  she
just  say  Ranma and Akane were sleeping together?   Wow,  I
guess that explains the challenge to Kuno.  Hey, Ranma's got
two girls now!  Geez, can't he even share one of them? ..."
      Akane  bolted  to  a standing position.   She  blushed
furiously at the open speculation she heard from the  crowd.
Indignant, she confronted the girl.  "Hey!  What's  the  big
idea  calling me a hussy, you bitch!"  She pointed to Ranma.
"He  did me a tremendous favor today, and I thanked him  for
it.  He's not trying to `bed me down' or anything like that.
Besides, he says that he doesn't know you, RIGHT?"
      She  looked  at  Ranma,  who was  nodding  vigorously,
mumbling  positive-sounding sounds but remaining  incoherent
for  the most part.  "You see, he says that he doesn't  know
you!"   Akane's  anger was steadily rising  as  she  watched
Kinuko  shake  her head, refusing to believe  what  she  was
hearing.
      "HE'S  LYING!"  she shrieked.  She then  latched  onto
Ranma desperately, nuzzling his neck and kissing him soundly
on the cheek.  "Stop lying, Ranchan.  I know you've forgiven
me for that little incident last month, so let's make up and
stop  playing  around,  okay?"  She beamed  at  him  with  a
gorgeous  smile.   Deciding to up the  stakes,  she  started
tracing on Ranma's chest with her index finger.
      Ranma  was  paralyzed with fear.  The young  lady  was
tightly  latched  onto  him,  and  he  couldn't  shake  her,
regardless  of  what he tried.  He looked up desperately  to
Akane,  who's face was unreadable.  "I... I..."  He  reached
an arm out towards Akane.  Unfortunately for him, Kinuko had
intercepted the arm and curled it around her waist,  placing
his  hand right under her left breast.  Ranma tried  to  say
something else, but couldn't, as he was trying to deal  with
the  fact  that  his  hand was microns from  this  beautiful
girl's... no *woman's* breast.
      Akane  groaned at seeing Kinuko's obvious  attempt  to
push  her away from Ranma.  Sighing she picked up her school
bag  and  stood.  Before walking away, she looked  over  her
left shoulder.  "Thanks again for what you did today, Ranma.
I'm in your debt."  She turned away from Ranma again and ran
from the school grounds.  As hard as she tried, she couldn't
stop herself from crying as she ran.

                            ****

      Two guys that had been watching the goings-on regarded
each  other with a puzzled look.  "Hey Hikaru, what's  Ranma
doing with Kinuko again?  I thought they broke up."
      Hikaru Gosunkugi shrugged his shoulders.   "I   dunno,
man.  Your guess is as good as mine."
      "Yeah,  but  you're Ranma's best friend.  You  usually
know what's goin' on with him."
      "Yeah,  usually.  But he and I haven't spoken in  over
two  weeks.  Ranma's not called me at all during that  time.
I  never  see him at the hangout anymore, and he ignored  me
the  one  time I tried to talk with him."  Hikaru shook  his
head.  "I tellya, something's different about him Sato..."
      "Gee, you're the master of understatement today.   You
call  someone who until today didn't have a violent bone  in
his  body  but  suddenly  gets the  nerve  up  to  not  only
challenge   but   *defeat*  Kuno-sempai  in   battle   today
`different?!'  "   Sato  snorted  through  his  nose.   "And
where'd  he  get  the brass balls to ask a girl  out?   That
Akane  chick is sweet!"  he enthused,  wiping a bit of drool
from the corner of his mouth.
      Hikaru looked at him darkly.  "How do you think  Ranma
got together with Kinuko in the first place?"
      Sato  had  a quizzical look on his face.   "I  thought
*you* helped him get his date with ..."
      "SHHHHH!   Dummy!  No-one's supposed to  know   that!"
Hikaru shot back hotly.
     "Sorrieee!  Geez, what's the matter with you man?" Sato
had a wounded look on his face.
      "I'm  sorry Sato.  Ranma just made me promise  not  to
tell anyone about that.  I had no idea you knew."
      Sato grinned.  "Ranma told me when he let it slip that
he'd done it with her.  I knew that he had to have had help,
there was no other way he could've netted her."
      "Regardless, don't mention it to anyone.  We'll all be
in  trouble if word ever gets out that I used a chemical  to
help Ranma get a date with Kinuko.  And I do mean *all.*"
     Seeing motion out of the corner of his eye, Sato turned
his  head.  Quickly he tapped Hikaru on the shoulder.   "Hey
man, look!  It's Ranko!  Boy what I wouldn't give to spend a
night with *her!*"
     Hikaru looked at the younger Saotome and grinned.  "You
wouldn't get to first base with her, Sato.  She'd kick  your
butt  from here to Mars for just looking at her.  Don't risk
your life on such a lost cause."  Hikaru looked at Sato  and
grinned, poking his thumb into his chest.  "Besides, *I* saw
her first!"
     Sato frowned at him.  "Like hell!  I'd..."
      Hikaru  waved  him  off.  "Quiet!  She's  coming  over
here..."

                            ****

      "Damn  that Kenji," Ranko thought bitterly to herself,
upset that her injury had kept her from preventing what just
happened.   Sadly, she watched Akane storm from the  campus,
and  could  clearly hear her crying.  A few paces later  and
she was finally in front of Ranma and the velcroed Kinuko.
      "Ranma!   Why  aren't  you  going  after  Akane?"  she
demanded.
      "Hush  Ranko!  My Ranchan's staying with  me!"  Kinuko
yelled before Ranma could respond.  She emphasized the point
by  kissing  Ranma right on the lips.  The kiss  lasted  for
well  over  a  minute and a half, leaving both participants,
and  a  large section of the crowd, breathless.  "See?"  she
added, aiming a stunning smile at Ranko.
      Ranko  looked at Kinuko darkly.  "I wasn't talking  to
you, you damned flake!  I was talking to my brother!"  Ranko
leered  at her, adding, "Why don't you let `Ranchan'  answer
my  question?   You afraid of the answer?  But  then  again,
there is what you did to him last month..."
      Kinuko flushed with anger.  "Flake?!  What do you know
about  me  anyway?  You're not the Saotome  that  I've  been
dating  for the last six months."  She took Ranma's face  in
her  hands,  and turned him so that they were  eye  to  eye.
"You still love me, right Ranchan?"
     Ranma was still unable to speak, his mind split between
wanting to run after the departed Akane, and moving his hand
up  an  inch.  "I... uhhh... " was about all he could  force
from  his  mouth.  Kinuko smiled triumphantly.  "See!   He's
speechless  with happiness!  So I don't have to worry  about
what Ranchan wants to say."
      Ranko  slapped her hand against her face and  groaned.
`This  isn't  good!   I  have to get Ranma  away  from  this
idiot!'  She hobbled over to Ranma, grabbing his free  hand.
"Come  on  Ranma.  We have to go home now."  She  looked  at
Kinuko  and added, "Let him go, Kinuko, unless you  want  to
explain to my mom why he's late."
      Kinuko blanched at the idea of confronting Nodoka  and
quickly  released Ranma from her death grip.  With her  grip
released, Ranma breathed normally again.  He stood  up,  his
sister pulling on his hand to help him.  His eyes widened as
the other hand, which had still been wrapped around Kinuko's
waist,  accidentally caressed her breast as he withdrew  it.
Ranko didn't notice the accidental contact Ranma'd made with
Kinuko's  chest,  or her brother's sudden breathlessness  as
she dragged him from the campus.
      Kinuko  gasped  as  Ranma's hand stroked  against  her
breast.   The  nipple  stiffened noticeably  underneath  the
clothes, and her face flushed.  She didn't pay attention  as
the  Saotome  siblings walked away, but instead covered  her
breast  with  her  hand  and sat under  the  tree,  blushing
slightly.  `He... *touched* me...  Oh, Ranchan!  You  *have*
forgiven  me!'  she  thought, sighing happily.   She  waited
until  she had calmed before rising from her seat under  the
tree and heading for home.
      A  small  distance away from the excited and departing
Kinuko, Sato and Hikaru emerged from the dispersing crowd to
stand where Ranma and Kinuko had been a moment ago.
     "Wow.  He's even getting along with his sister.  Wonder
what  he's  been  drinking..."   Sato  scratched  his  head,
watching the two Saotomes disappear from sight.
      "Sato,   I think we're *really* gonna have to talk  to
Ranma.  Things are getting too weird all of a sudden."
      "Fine with me.  Question is, how do we get a chance to
talk with him?"
      "Simple, we go over to his house.  Meet me there 10:00
am tomorrow, okay Sato?"
     Sato nodded.  "Right."
      Hikaru clapped Sato on the back, then turned to  leave
for home.

                            ****

      Two  blocks from the school, Ranko was having  trouble
walking.  Fortunately for her, Ranma had recovered enough of
his  wits  to  notice his sister was having a  problem.   He
reached a hand out to steady her.
      "Thanks Ranma.  I guess I took a worse beating than  I
thought."  She leaned against her brother, allowing  him  to
support  her  as she continued to walk.  A few steps  later,
one  of  her  legs gave out and she tumbled to  the  ground,
despite Ranma's best efforts to keep her upright.
     "Ow, dammit!" Ranko yelled as she landed on her side on
the pavement.
      Ranma  was  at her side immediately.  "Hey,  you  okay
Sis?" he yelled worriedly.
      Ranko  sat  up, and grabbed her ankle with her  hands,
trying  to immobilize it.  "I think I just twisted my ankle.
Ouch!"   She  winced as she applied pressure to  the  ankle.
"Yep, it's probably sprained.  Gonna have to get it splinted
up."
     Ranma looked her in the eye.  "Hey, you'll be okay Sis.
Hold  on  a  sec."  He smiled at her, brushing a  couple  of
stray hairs out of her eyes, and brushing away the few tears
of  pain  that she couldn't hold in.  He slung his book  bag
off  of  his back and laid it on the ground.  He then turned
around, placing his back towards her.  "Now, I want  you  to
put  your  arms around my neck and hold on to  me  tightly."
Ranko  started to protest, but Ranma wouldn't  hear  of  it.
"Dammit Ranko, you're in no shape to walk, so climb on!"
      With  a  resigned sigh Ranko looped  her  arms  around
Ranma's  neck.   Ranma then reached his arms  back,  looping
them  around  her legs at the knees.  Quickly Ranko  reached
down  with  one of her arms and picked up Ranma's  book  bag
from where he left it.  Looping one of the straps around her
own arm, she brought her arms around his neck again.
      Once  Ranma  was sure Ranko wouldn't slip,  he  stood.
Ranko instinctively pressed herself closer into Ranma's back
to avoid falling off.  "I'm taking you to Dr. Tofu's to have
that  ankle  looked  at."  He began heading  off  in  Tofu's
direction.
      "Who's  Dr.  Tofu?"  Ranko asked  in  confusion.   "We
normally go to see Dr. Mikimoto."
      "I  don't  know  who that is or where  he  is,  Ranko.
Remember?" Ranma replied patiently.
     "Oh, yeah.  That's right."  She rested her head against
Ranma's back.
      As  they walked, Ranko blushed more and more.  The way
she was riding on Ranma's back embarrassed her.  To top that
off,  the  up-down  motion caused  by  Ranma's  walking  was
causing her to become aroused as her breasts rubbed  up  and
down  against her brother's back.  Her nipples stiffened  in
response,  and  her  breathing quickened.   She  hugged  her
brother  tighter,  trying to stop the  rubbing  motion,  her
cheeks coloring furiously.
      Ranma felt the nipples of Ranko's breasts stiffen  and
protrude into his back, and he fought hard against saying or
doing anything that would acknowledge it.  He didn't want to
upset  or  embarrass Ranko, so he just let them  press  into
him.   Besides, having been a girl before he understood that
it  happened occasionally, and it didn't really  bother  him
that  much.   Actually he took it as a compliment  that  his
sister thought he was desirable.
      Trying  to forget her arousal, she started talking  to
him.   "Hey bro, I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you earlier
with that girl.  What are you going to do about Akane now?"
      Ranma groaned as the whole episode flashed before  him
again.  "Who was that girl, anyway?"
      "Her  name's Kinuko Amagi.  And until three weeks  ago
you two were a hot item."
     "Hot item?  You mean..."
     "... she was your girlfriend."
      Ranma breathed a sigh of relief.  "Only my girlfriend.
Then she was never my fiancee."
     "Of course not!  Although you two almost acted like you
were married."
      "Eh?  I don't understand.  You're just saying that  we
were  close, right?"  Ranma was afraid that he wasn't  going
to like Ranko's answer.
      Ranko  chortled.  "You were a baaaad boy, Ranma,"  she
purred into his ear.
      "WE HAD SEX?!" Ranma yelled hysterically.  Both he and
Ranko  immediately started looking around, seeing if  anyone
had heard the outburst.  One person had been within earshot.
He  turned to the two, saying "Why not, you two look like  a
cute couple."  He then began wandering away.
      Ranma and Ranko blushed purple at the comment.   "Hey!
It's  not like that!" Ranma yelled to the stranger,  but  by
that time the person had disappeared.
      Ranko  groaned at the suggestion, although she had  to
admit  that a part of her had debated it for a few  moments.
Chalking it up to her impromptu arousal, Ranko dismissed the
fantasy  with  her  brother and returned  her  attention  to
Ranma's  question.  She put her lips to Ranma's  ear.   "Yes
bro.   As  far as I remember you telling me, the  other  you
that is; you and she had sex on three different occasions."
      "Oh  boy...," Ranma muttered aloud.  `I never expected
to  hear *that* about myself!  Geez, what kind of person was
I?'  he thought to himself, not sure that he wanted to know.
He  started  walking  aimlessly for a  few  moments,  before
remembering he had to get his sister to Dr. Tofu.  "I  can't
believe that I had sex with a girl ... ," he half-muttered.
      Ranko  frowned at the comment.  "You sure you  weren't
gay before Ranma?"
       "Good   God   no,   Ranko!"   Ranma  started   making
uncomfortable noises.
      "Then  why are you so shocked that you had sex with  a
girl?"
      "Well, where I came from, I'd never done it before.  I
wasn't  even expecting to.  In fact, it hardly ever  crossed
my  mind.   So  it's a complete shock to find out  that  I'm
capable of having sex before marriage."  He paused, shifting
Ranko's  burden slightly in his arms.  "Don't get me  wrong,
Sis.  I don't have any problem with having sex, I just never
had  the opportunity."  He panicked as he realized something
else.   "Ranko, she's the *only* person I've had  sex  with,
isn't she?  I mean, there aren't any more girls, are there?"
      "Not as far as I know, Ranma.  But you hardly got into
relationships anyway, and when you did you didn't  talk  too
much  about them.  Frankly, I was surprised when the  `other
you'  managed to get Kinuko's attention.  She's one  of  the
most  popular girls in the school, and you were such a  geek
that no-one expected you two to hit it off."
     Ranma walked in stunned silence for a moment.  `I don't
really know what to say about this.  I had sex with a  girl.
I  never  knew I had it in me.'  He grinned to himself.   "I
wonder what it was like..."
     "What?" Ranko asked.
      Ranma  blushed again, embarrassed at having  vocalized
his thoughts, but he didn't try to hide anything from Ranko.
"I  was  talking to myself, Sis.  I was just wondering  what
sex with Kinuko, or any girl for that matter, was like."
      Ranko  blushed herself, remembering her little fantasy
from  a few minutes ago.  "Don't ask me bro, I wasn't  there
when you two did it."
       Ranma  laughed  at  that.   "Probably  would've  been
educational for all concerned if you were, Sis."  He laughed
harder.
      "Ranma!  Cut that out!" she snapped.  `It's like  he's
reading my damn mind!'
      "Okay,  Ranko.   Sorry  about  that."    He  continued
chuckling  to himself, until Ranko threatened to choke  him.
Calming down, he resumed his thoughts on what Ranko had told
him.
      `Hey,  Ranko.   You  said that I  told  you  about  my
having... sex with Kinuko.  But according to mom, you and  I
didn't get along before, right?"
      "That's true Ranma.  Before you `arrived,' you were  a
real  asshole.  I like the new you a *lot* better,  though."
Ranko  patted  Ranma  on the chest  as  best  she  could  to
emphasize her opinion of her `new' brother.  Ranma smiled at
her words, but began feeling undercurrents of worry again.
     "Ranko, if we didn't get along before, then why would I
tell  you  about my sex life?  I wasn't bragging or anything
like that, was I?"
      "Well, at first I wondered if you weren't just  trying
to  brag  about it.  But later on I understood why you  told
me."
     "Why did I tell you?"
     "Well, Ranma...  We'd better sit down for this one.  If
you thought my last piece of news bothered you, you're gonna
*love* this one."
      All  the color drained from Ranma's face.  `What could
be worse than finding out you've had sex *repeatedly* with a
stranger?'  He rounded a corner and saw he was at Dr. Tofu's
place.  "Umm, Ranko.  Let's wait until we're home, okay?"
      "Whatever  you  say, bro.  You're the  one  doing  the
driving."
      Ranma strode through the open door, and approached one
of  the couches in the empty lounge.  Carefully he sat Ranko
down  on one of the couches, and turned around to face  her.
He  noticed that she was a little flushed, and put a hand up
to  her cheek.  "You're burning up!  You sure you're feeling
okay, Ranko?"
      Ranko  said  nothing, knowing exactly  *why*  she  was
flushed and hot.  She merely nodded.
      Ranma  stood up and went to look for Dr. Tofu.   Ranko
watched her brother exit the lounge in search of the doctor.
She  used  the  time before Ranma returned to try  and  calm
herself.  She didn't want to wind up embarrassing herself in
front  of  the doctor *and* Ranma.  She just hoped that  the
doctor wouldn't ask her to take her pants off.

                            ****

      After school, Kuno had dismissed the limo, saying that
he preferred to walk home.  He needed the time to think, and
felt  that  a  stroll was just what he needed.   A  lot  had
happened  that  day, and he was still trying  to  grasp  the
magnitude of what had happened.  In one day he'd managed  to
lose his fiancee, know defeat in battle, understand just how
poorly trained his Kendo club was, and realize that it was a
terrible  mistake for him to overlook the freshman crowd  of
women this year.
     His walking was arrested by a silken voice calling from
behind  him.  "Oh, there you are Kuno-chan," Nabiki  purred.
"I wondered what happened to you.  I missed you at lunch."
      "I was taking time to reflect.  What concern is it  of
yours Nabiki Tendo?"
      `Yeah,  right,'  she  thought  sarcastically.   Nabiki
smiled  at  him, looping her arm through his.  "I  was  just
wondering how you were feeling, Kuno-chan."
      "Your concern for my welfare is understandable, Nabiki
Tendo.  I am not unwell."
     Nabiki rolled her eyes, and wondered if Kuno could ever
answer a question simply.
      Kuno  regarded the middle Tendo girl.  "Nabiki,  would
you care to join me for something to eat?"
      Nabiki nodded, smiling up at Kuno and following him to
a  nearby  cafe.  Nabiki grinned inwardly as she  recognized
the tone of his voice; he wanted something.
      They  entered  the store, and since Kuno  was  paying,
Nabiki ordered a double sukiyaki and a hot tea.  Kuno simply
got tea.  They sat in a booth at the corner of the store, so
they could speak undisturbed.
      Nabiki's  tone  became  businesslike  the  moment  she
polished  off the second dish of sukiyaki.  "Kuno-chan,  you
know  I  always enjoy a good, free meal.  So why is  it  you
want to speak with me?"
      "Ahh,  ever  the  mercenary,  eh  Nabiki?"   Her  eyes
narrowed  at  his comment, but she held her  tongue.   "Very
well,  I  see  you have correctly deduced  that  I  wish  to
acquire some information about someone."
      "I  would assume that would be Ranma Saotome, eh Kuno-
chan?"   Nabiki  pulled  out  her  abacus  and  had  started
tallying figures when Kuno reached his hand out and  stopped
her manic calculations.  "That is not who I am referring to,
Nabiki Tendo," Kuno said sternly.
     Nabiki's eyebrow quirked up in surprise.  She'd usually
been  able  to second-guess Kuno in the past.   Reading  him
hadn't been that difficult.  Then again, she hadn't tried to
scam  Kuno  ever  since  Akane and he  had  initiated  their
engagement.   Nabiki shrugged to herself; she may  be  rusty
but she felt certain that condition wouldn't last for long.
      "I want information on the pig-tailed Goddess known as
Ranko  Saotome."  Kuno's face lapsed into an ethereal smile.
"Ahh,  the beautiful Ranko Saotome.  The body of Venus,  and
the  spirit  of the most respected and powerful of  hunters.
How I long to date with her!"
     Nabiki bigsweated at Kuno's speech, then waited for him
to  wind  down.  She felt a slight flush of anger at  Kuno's
eager  abandonment of her little sister.  `Damn!  The corpse
of  his and Akane's engagement isn't even cold yet and  he's
already  scoping  out new targets!'  "Sorry  to  see  you're
taking the split with Akane so hard, Kuno-chan," she bit out
in a sarcasm-laced voice.
      Kuno  ignored her comment.  "Will you take  the  deal,
Nabiki Tendo?  I'll offer you the standard hourly rate, plus
a  finders bonus of fifty-thousand yen when you find out all
you  can about her."  Nabiki's eyes widened as she added  up
the  figures.   Quickly she resumed a neutral face,  placing
her  chin  on her hand.  "Ranko Saotome, you say?  I'll  get
started on it right away.  Oh, and I'll need..."
      Kuno  cut her off, brandishing bills from one  of  his
hidden  pockets.   "Here's  a down  payment,  Nabiki.   I'll
expect results."  He stood and left a drooling Nabiki behind
as  she  counted the 7500 yen down payment she held  in  her
hands.   After  Kuno exited the store, Nabiki  pocketed  the
money and sipped on her tea.
      `That  damned Kuno sure knew how to press my  buttons.
Hmmph!   Must've picked up some things from  his  time  with
Akane-chan.  Oh, well.  If this'll keep Kuno-chan away  from
my little sister, it may be worth it.'  She quickly finished
off her tea and headed home to the dojo.

                            ****

      Kasumi  smiled  to herself, enjoying one  of  the  few
respites  that she got every week.  Her sisters were  coming
home  from school soon, but she wouldn't need to worry about
them  bothering  her  for dinner for  another  three  hours.
Also,  her father was out on some errand, and for the moment
she had the house to herself.  She sipped from a mug of tea,
sat  it down on a nearby table, and propped back on a  beach
chair  that  she'd set up in the back yard, basking  in  the
warm  spring  light of the afternoon sun.  She adjusted  the
straps of her form-hugging bikini, which had fallen from her
shoulders  after she'd reached for her tea,  then  donned  a
pair of oversized sunglasses.
      Comfortably numb, she was just about to doze off  when
she  heard the door to the house slam, followed by the sound
of  books  hitting the floor.  `Akane-chan  must  be  home,'
Kasumi thought sadly.  It wasn't that she minded Akane being
home,  it  was simply that it bothered her that  her  sister
would  come  home a lot of times in such a foul  mood.   `If
Kuno keeps affecting Akane this way, father will have to  do
something about it.'  Kasumi uncovered her eyes, and sat  up
a  little.  She was about to stand up and see what  was  the
matter  when Akane burst out of the house and ran  right  at
Kasumi.
      Akane  crashed to her knees next to Kasumi,  her  eyes
puffy  and  red,  and  her face slick  with  tears.   Kasumi
reached out and touched Akane's face.  "What's wrong Akane?"
      "Oh, Kasumiii!!!" she wailed, starting a fresh bout of
crying.  Kasumi reached over with her other hand and  pulled
Akane  to  her, wrapping her up in a comforting hug.   Akane
wrapped  her  arms around her older sister  tightly,  crying
inconsolably into Kasumi's chest.
     Kasumi stroked Akane's hair lovingly, trying to console
her sister.  "Akane-chan, what's wrong?"
     Akane pulled back from Kasumi's chest, which had become
drenched  with her tears, and looked at her sister  angrily.
"Life's wrong, that's what!" she yelled.
      Kasumi  took Akane's hand in hers and sat her  in  her
lap.    Laying  Akane's  head  against  her  shoulder,   she
continued.  "Calm down, Akane.  There's no need to be  angry
with me.  Just tell me what happened today."
      Akane sniffled a bit, and managed to get herself under
control.  She kept her arms around her older sister, drawing
comfort  from  Kasumi's  presence.  "A  lot  happened  today
Kasumi."
      "Well,  tell your big sister all about it.  And  don't
leave anything out, okay?"
      "Okay  Sis."   Akane  took a deep breath,  and  began.
"Well, I'm no longer engaged to Kuno-chan."
     Kasumi smiled, and tightened her hug on Akane.  "Akane!
How did it happen?"
      "A  guy came up to Kuno-cha..."  Akane stopped herself
abruptly.  `No, dammit!  He's not my fiancee anymore!'  "...
Kuno  and  challenged him to duel.  The guy, Ranma  Saotome,
had  heard  Kuno's boast that if anyone defeated  him  in  a
formal challenge, Kuno would renounce his engagement to  me.
Well, Ranma challenged him and won, so I'm a free girl now,"
Akane said simply, shrugging her shoulders.
     Kasumi's eyes narrowed at hearing the name Saotome, but
she  kept  her  mouth shut about that.  She didn't  want  to
upset  her  little sister any further.  "Akane,  surely  you
aren't  angry  that you lost your engagement  to  Kuno,  are
you?"   She  continued stroking Akane's head with  one  hand
while  the  other  one  was secured  around  Akane's  waist,
rocking  her in her lap.  She ignored the fact that she  and
Akane  probably looked pretty silly sitting like they  were.
She  was  too  intent on seeing Akane through this  to  care
about how she appeared to others.
      "Of  course not Sis.  That's not really why I'm upset.
There's  more to the story."  Akane sighed lowly and  rubbed
her  cheek against Kasumi's swimsuit, wiping a tear from her
face
     "Go ahead, Akane.  I'm listening."
      "Well,  in math class Ranma sent me a note  saying  he
wanted  to eat lunch with me.  I told him that I'd like  to,
so  we  met after class and went outside to eat.  We  didn't
get a chance to eat, or talk, though.  Not long after we got
outside, Ranma, his sister Ranko, and I got into a fight."
      "What  did  Ranma do to you?" Kasumi  tried  to  asked
lightly, although a hardness still managed to creep into her
voice.
      "Oh,  Kasumi!   Ranma  didn't do  anything!   We  were
attacked by some members of Kuno's Kendo club in retaliation
for  what  Ranma had done to Kuno this morning.  Anyway,  we
won  the  fight, but it killed our chance to talk at  lunch.
Plus  we  had to take Ranma's sister to the infirmary  after
the  fight."  Akane winced at the memory of the damage Ranko
received during the fight.  "Three guys ganged up on her and
beat  her  up  pretty badly.  But not as badly as  they  got
back."  Akane grinned at that.  "I took out one, Ranma  took
out the second, and Ranko pulverized the third."
     "Akane, you know it's not nice to fight," Kasumi chided
softly.   She  didn't like the idea of her  youngest  sister
fighting.  It just wasn't ladylike.
      "I  didn't have a choice Kasumi!  What they were doing
to  Ranko  was wrong, and it made me mad, so I  helped  them
out.   But  that's besides the point; there's  more  to  the
story."   Akane paused to clear her throat, then  continued.
"After  we dropped Ranko off in the infirmary, I told  Ranma
that I wanted to speak with him.  He agreed to meet with  me
after  school.  Well, we did manage to meet after school..."
Akane  blushed  as  she remembered their  conversation.   "I
thanked him for accepting Kuno's challenge, and told  him  I
was in his debt.  I asked him why he did it..."
      Kasumi  `tsk  tsked' at Akane.  "Akane, you  shouldn't
question  the  actions of one who gives  something  to  you.
That's rude."
      "Sis!   I told him that I wasn't being ungrateful.   I
was  just curious.  Anyway, he gave me the sweetest  answer.
He  told me that he didn't want to see me hurt anymore.   He
also told me that he's wanted to go out with me for awhile."
Akane smiled warmly at the memory.
     "Really, Akane?  That's nice."  Kasumi caressed Akane's
cheek.  "Can you tell me what this Ranma is like?"
      "Well,  from what I can tell, he's really nice.   He's
very  protective of his sister."  Akane blushed again,  "And
he *is* cute."  She giggled, surprised that she'd even admit
such a thing.
      Kasumi  laughed softly, glad to hear  her  was  sister
cheering up.  "Well, did he ask you out?"
     "Yes he did.  But I didn't get a chance to answer him."
Akane's humor crashed down, and was quickly replaced by  the
sadness  she'd  felt when she left the school.   "Turns  out
that Ranma's already seeing someone."
      "What?!  And he still asked you out?  Who's the  other
girl?" Kasumi fairly demanded.
      "Kinuko  Amagi..." she said, breaking out  into  tears
again.
      Kasumi kissed Akane on the head, and held her tightly.
`Figures that as soon as Akane's single again, Kinuko  would
be  right there to make her life miserable.'  Kasumi sighed.
"Do you know if Kinuko was telling the truth about Ranma, or
was it just a ploy to get you upset?"
      Akane shook her head, crying the whole time.  "Why  is
it... <sob> ... that little tramp ... <sniffle>... can  keep
doing this to me!?" she wailed.  Akane laid her head against
Kasumi's  chest, her tears again soaking the thin fabric  of
Kasumi's swimsuit.
      "There there, Akane.  It'll be okay.  Let's just  take
this one step at a time, okay?"  She tilted her head to look
at  Akane,  and placed her hand under Akane's chin  so  they
were  looking face to face.  "Hey little Sis, you should  be
happy.   You're  not going to be bothered by  Kuno  anymore,
right?"
      Akane  smiled, her tears abating.  "You're right  Sis.
That  part hasn't really hit me yet.  I guess I'll slow down
and  appreciate  being single before I  start  chasing  boys
again."  She chuckled at how matter-of-factly she said that.
Akane  squeezed her sister in a tight hug.  "You're  amazing
Kasumi.   I'm feeling much better."  Akane laid her head  on
Kasumi's  shoulder, and kissed her on the  cheek.   "I  love
you, Sis."
      Kasumi  kissed her sister on the head again,  brushing
damp  hair  from Akane's forehead.  "I love you too,  little
Sis.   Now  I  suggest  you  stand  up  so  I  can  get  the
circulation back in my legs."
      Akane  laughed hard at that, "Sorry about that Kasumi.
I   couldn't   help  myself,  you  were  very  comfortable."
Smiling, she slid off of her sister's lap, and landed on her
rump  on  the grass.  She stifled a case of the giggles  and
stood up, reaching her hand down to help Kasumi stand up.
      "Well, don't get used to sitting in my lap little Sis.
You're  a  grown woman now.  Ouch..." Kasumi winced  as  she
stood  up, trying to shrug off the pins and needles  feeling
she  had  from having the circulation cut to her legs.   She
walked around stiffly for a moment, allowing the circulation
to  return.   Once  the  sensation stopped,  she  and  Akane
gathered up the lawn chair and table and put them away.
      `Just  as well we're going inside.  The sun's starting
to  set anyway.'  Kasumi thought to herself.  "Maybe I'll be
able to get a tan tomorrow."
      Akane  whirled  to face her sister,  hearing  Kasumi's
comment.  "Hey Kasumi, we're almost the same size.   If  you
*really*  want  to  get  a  tan  you  can  borrow  my  thong
tomorrow," she said, grinning mischievously.
      "Thanks  Akane.  I will," Kasumi said  absently.   She
then  blushed, realizing that she was a full cup size bigger
than Akane.  She hoped no-one looked over the wall tomorrow.
They'd be in for an unexpected treat if they did.  Chuckling
to herself, she followed Akane inside and headed upstairs to
bathe before getting dinner ready.

                            ****

      Ranma  walked about the hallway of Dr. Tofu's  office,
peeking  into the examination rooms.  Seeing one  room  with
the curtain closed, he pushed his way in and was greeted  by
a  piercing  shriek.  "Umm, sorry Miss!"  Ranma  shoved  the
curtain  closed  on the examination room, and  walked  *very
quickly*  away  from the room.  `Wow!   She's  got  a  happy
boyfriend,'  he  thought  in awe,  blushing  scarlet  as  he
thought again and again of the woman he walked in on.
      Getting  back down to business, he resumed his  search
for  Dr.  Tofu.   After re-inspecting the other  examination
rooms,  Ranma finally bumped into Dr. Tofu as he was leaving
the men's room.  "Ahh!  There you are, Dr. Tofu."
      Dr. Tofu turned around to face him.  "Excuse me.  Do I
know you?"
      `Of course he doesn't...' Ranma thought absently.  "No
Dr. Tofu, you don't.  But I need your help.  My sister's  in
your  waiting  room  and  she's pretty  banged  up.   I  was
wondering if you could take a look at her."
      Dr.  Tofu's face became serious, and he took Ranma  by
the arm.  "Take me to her."
      They  rounded  the  corner and walked  back  into  the
lounge.  Dr. Tofu walked over to the couch and knelt by  the
ailing Ranko, extending his hand.  "Hi there, I'm Dr. Tofu."
Ranko shook his hand and smiled weakly.  "Your brother tells
me you're hurt.  What's the problem?"
      "Well, I think I twisted my ankle," she said, pointing
to her injured leg.
      Dr. Tofu leaned forward, examining her carefully.  "It
looks like you were in a pretty bad fight.  We'd better  get
you  into an examination room."  He rose.  "Can you make  it
by yourself?"
     Ranma spoke up.  "I'll carry her."
      "Fine.   Take  her  to  room  two  while  I  get  some
supplies."  Dr. Tofu indicated the room with his  finger  as
he spoke.
      "Yes  sir."  Ranma smiled to the departing Tofu,  then
turned to his sister.  "Okay Sis, get those arms up."
      Ranko  smiled and lifted her arms up.  She groaned  as
Ranma  pulled her to a standing position, regretting  having
to  leave  the  plush  couch behind.  Ranma  curled  one  of
Ranko's  arms around his neck, then scooped her  up  in  his
arms to carry her.  Ranko slipped her other arm over to hang
onto  Ranma's shoulder.  "Here we go," he said as he  walked
her into the examination room.
     Careful not to bang her feet against the door frame, he
angled  his sister into the room.  He sat her on  the  table
just  as  Dr. Tofu walked in.  "Thanks for bringing her  in,
umm..."
      "Ranma  Saotome" he said, extending his  hand  to  the
doctor.   Tofu  accepted the hand, shaking it warmly.   "And
this is my sister Ranko."
      "Well,  Ranko,  I'm  going to  take  a  look  at  your
injuries,  if  you don't mind.  I may have  to  ask  you  to
remove  some of your clothes for the examination.   Is  that
okay with you?"
      Ranko nodded silently.  Ranma became uncomfortable  at
hearing  that, and started heading for the door.   "I  guess
I'll  wait  outside," Ranma stated uncomfortably.  Blushing,
he walked out of the room, closing the curtain behind him.
     "Wait, Ranma..." Ranko called behind him.
      Ranma spoke to her from the other side of the curtain.
"Don't worry, Dr. Tofu's very good at what he does.  I'll be
outside the door in case you need me, Sis."
      Ranko  sighed.   "Okay  bro."  `Ranma's  really  being
sweet.  He's so much different from the person I lived  with
for  fifteen  years.'  She redirected her attention  to  Dr.
Tofu as he started talking to her.
      "Okay Ranko, I'm gonna take your shoes off and have  a
look at your feet"
      Ranko  hissed slightly as Tofu pulled the shoe off  of
her  injured foot.  Gently he pulled the other shoe and  her
socks  off,  laying  them on the floor  by  the  examination
table.  "Well, Ranko, you were right.  You've sprained  your
ankle,  although it doesn't look bad.  And from what  I  can
tell,  you've also got some bruising on your arms and  legs.
I  want to look at them, so I'm going to have to ask you  to
take your pants and shirt off."
      Ranko  blushed  severely, but  didn't  contradict  the
doctor's  orders.  Raising slightly on her  good  foot,  she
pushed  herself up at the hips.  She then hooked her  thumbs
at the waistband of her pants and pulled down.  Dropping her
hips  back down, she allowed Dr. Tofu to pull her pants  off
of  her  legs while she sat up and removed her  shirt.   She
dropped  her shirt on the floor next to where Dr.  Tofu  had
placed  her pants, leaving her clad only in her panties  and
bra.
      "Who  did this to you, Ranko?"  he asked as he started
cataloging the mosaic of bruises and contusions on her.
      "I  was ganged up on at school today.  Three guys  did
this  to  me,"   she answered him.  Strangely enough,  Ranko
felt  at ease around Dr. Tofu.  She wasn't as timid  as  she
thought  she'd be, exposing herself in front of  a  stranger
like this.
      "That  wasn't  very nice."  Tofu looked  at  her  legs
closely, tracing the edge of a couple of bruises on her legs
with  his  finger.  "Looks like a combination  of  foot  and
bokken strikes to me.  I'm impressed that you can still walk
after taking this number of hits."
      Ranko smiled weakly at the doctor.  "I wasn't going to
give those guys the satisfaction of seeing me fall."
      "Well, your endurance is admirable, but it's also  the
reason  that  you have this sprain.  You should take  better
care of yourself, young lady.  If you push yourself too hard
you'll  wind  up damaging something seriously," Tofu  chided
softly.   He shifted his gaze from her legs, past  her  blue
panties,  and concentrated on her abdomen.  "Looks like  you
took  a  few shots to the stomach too.  They really  must've
worked  you over."  He began pressing his fingers  into  her
abdomen,  registering the tender areas whenever Ranko  would
gasp  in pain.  "Sorry about that, I just needed to  see  if
you  had any internal injuries.  Aside from some superficial
bruises  and minor muscle damage, everything appears  to  be
okay."
      Ranko  sighed in relief, and was about  to  thank  the
doctor when he said, "Hello, what's this?"
      Tofu looked up to her chest, and saw a dark spot  that
was visible through the thin lace of her bra.  "Ranko, could
you remove your bra please?"
      Ranko's  eyes  widened at the question.   "What's  the
matter, doctor?"
      Tofu quickly assured her that there was nothing wrong.
"I just need to check something, okay?"
      Ranko  nodded  and, slipping a hand behind  her  back,
unclasped her bra.  Shrugging her shoulders forward, she let
the  bra  fall off of her arms and into her lap.   She  then
dropped  her bra to the floor with the rest of her  clothes.
Tofu's  eyes  widened.  Ranko noted his  reaction,  and  was
wondering if he was being a hentai until he spoke.
      "Just  as I suspected.  You took a minor hit  on  your
left breast.  I'm surprised you didn't feel it."
     Ranko grimaced as she recalled the strike.  "Oh, I felt
it, believe me doctor.  How did you know my breast was hit?"
      "I  saw the bruise through your bra.  Lay back for me,
would you?"
      Ranko reclined on the table again, holding her arms up
against  her head.  Tofu brought his hand up and pressed  it
into the upper portion of her breast.  "Does that hurt?"
      Ranko  shook  her head.  Tofu pressed  his  fingertips
softly  against the nipple, which contracted at  his  touch,
and  asked  if  it  hurt.  She shook her  head,  saying  "It
doesn't hurt, but it is tingling a bit."
      "Well,  that's to be expected," Tofu answered, smiling
at  her.  He moved his fingers down to the bruised underside
of  the  breast and pushed against the bruise.  Ranko gasped
in  pain  as  the  doctor pushed against the  bruised  area.
Noting her pain, he quickly pulled his fingers back.   "Only
one more thing to do, and I'll be done, okay?"
      Gently  he  squeezed her breast from the side  at  the
base.  "Does that hurt?"  Ranko shook her head again.
     Tofu sat up in his chair, and looked at Ranko.  "You'll
be  fine.   The injury to your breast is superficial   There
doesn't  appear to be any underlying damage to it,  and  the
nipple responds normally, so you shouldn't have anything  to
worry about.  You'll start to experience some soreness  from
it tomorrow, but that should go away in a couple of days."
      Ranko sighed with relief.  She hadn't even thought she
was  injured there, but was glad for Dr. Tofu's eagle  eyes.
She  would've freaked out when she got a look at herself  at
home if Tofu hadn't pointed it out to her beforehand.
     Tofu looked at her face, and noted the bandages.  "Okay
Ranko, lemme look at that cut on your face, okay?"
      Ranko tilted her face so that the bandage was directly
in  front  of  Dr.  Tofu.  Gently he removed  the  bandages.
"Looks  like a pretty mean cut there, Ranko.  Did  the  same
people do this to you also?"
      "Yeah.  The jerk who did this to me did it to be mean.
I  ...  *explained* it to him, though," she  said,  laughing
slightly  at  the memory of Kenji's condition when  she  was
done with him.
      "Well,  a  young  lady like yourself  should  be  more
careful.  You're fortunate that this cut is small enough not
to  require stitches.  You could've had a pretty  bad  scar,
otherwise.  And your face is so pretty, it'd be a  shame  to
see it marred by a cut."
      Ranko  smiled, blushing completely at the  compliment.
"Yes sir," she said in a small voice.
      Tofu  turned to the counter and grabbed  a  couple  of
bandages and some isopropyl alcohol.  He cleaned the  wound,
making  Ranko  wince  in the process, and  applied  the  new
bandage.   "Change the bandage every eight  hours  and  make
sure you keep the wound clean, okay?"
      Ranko  nodded  at his instructions, and  continued  to
listen to him.  "I'm going to place a couple of ice packs on
your  ankle in just a moment.  I don't want you to move from
this  table or do anything for at least ten minutes."   Tofu
turned back around and got a couple of chemical chill packs.
He  smashed  the balls inside each of the packs to  mix  the
chemicals  and  start  the reaction that  would  freeze  the
packs.   "This'll feel cold, but I want you to remain  still
so the swelling will go down, okay?"
      Ranko nodded, then hissed as Tofu applied the packs to
her  swollen ankle.  He then stood up and washed his  hands.
"I'm  going  to do one more thing, and I'll  be  done."   He
reached  into  a drawer and pulled out a small  tube  and  a
latex  glove.   "This  is  a  mild  topical  anesthetic  and
antiseptic,"   he  said,  holding  up  the  tube   for   her
inspection.  "This should help with the bruises."  He donned
the  glove and started applying the smelly ointment  to  her
bruised  legs, abdomen, and arms.  Then, gently, he massaged
some of the ointment onto the bruised portion of her breast,
eliciting  a  slight  gasp of pain from Ranko,  but  nothing
more.
      "There, all better now," he said with a smile,  as  he
put  the  cap back on the tube, removed the glove, and  laid
them  both  on  his  counter.  Ranko  smiled  back  to  him,
agreeing  that she felt a bit better now.  "I  want  you  to
just  lie back there and relax for awhile, Ranko.   I'll  be
back to check on you in a few moments," he said as he exited
the  room, closing the curtain behind him.  Ranko lay still,
with  her  arms away from her body.  She couldn't stand  the
smell  of  the ointment, and was holding her arms away  from
her to keep the odor down to tolerable levels.  Sighing, she
closed her eyes and tried to relax.

                            ****

      Ranma could only hear mumbled voices on his end of the
curtain.   Tiring quickly of the wait, he wandered from  the
doorway  of  the examination room and headed back  into  the
lounge.   His head shot up in surprise as he registered  the
presence of Soun Tendo in the waiting area.  "Mr. Tendo!" he
said in shock.
      "Ah,  hello Ranma."  Soun regarded Ranma with a  small
smile.  "What brings you to Dr. Tofu's place today?  Nothing
wrong, I trust?"
      "Well,  Mr.  Tendo,  a lot's happened  today."   Ranma
indicated  the  couch with his hand.  "Let's  have  a  seat.
There's some things that you'll want to hear."
      Soun  eyed Ranma warily, but sat anyway on one of  the
couches.  "What is it, Ranma?"
     Ranma smiled to Soun.  "Don't worry, Mr. Tendo.  You'll
find  this to be good news."  Ranma sat across from Soun  on
another  couch.  "I did it today, Mr. Tendo.   I  challenged
Kuno and beat him."
      Soun's  eyes lit up, and a smile erupted on his  face.
"Ranma, truly?  You aren't kidding me about this, are you?"
      "Not  at  all,  sir."  Ranma launched into  a  cursory
rundown of the fight.  "So you see, Mr. Tendo.  Akane's free
of the engagement, and the honor of your family is intact."
      Soun  was  exultant.  "So have you discussed  anything
with Akane yet, Ranma?"  Ranma started sweating, remembering
the  spectacle that Kinuko had created after he tried to ask
Akane  out.  "I didn't want to rush things Mr. Tendo.  Akane
was  a  little upset after the fight today," Ranma responded
cryptically.  "I figure she'll probably want to be alone for
a  little  while."  `Although I want to be with her  *now!*'
Ranma finished despondently.
      "Ahh,  you may have a point there.  I guess  a  little
patience won't hurt anything."  Soun stood up, extending his
hand.   "I  want to thank you for what you've  done  for  my
little  girl, Ranma.  You've restored a lot of my  faith  in
the Saotome name."
      Ranma rose from his seat and took Soun's hand in  his,
shaking it firmly.  "It was my pleasure, Mr. Tendo."
      Soun released the handshake, remembering where he was.
"You  don't  look  injured, Ranma.  So what  are  you  doing
here?"   His eyes registered panic as he thought the  worst.
"Something hasn't happened to Akane, has it?"
      Ranma held his hand up, anxious to allay Soun's worry.
"No, Mr. Tendo, nothing happened to Akane.  I'm here because
of  what happened after I beat Kuno."  Ranma rattled off the
details  of  the  second fight, including the  final  battle
between Ranko and Kenji.
      "So  your  sister's the reason you're here,  eh?   I'm
sorry  to hear about that.  But please let her know  that  I
deeply appreciate both of you taking care of Akane for  me."
Soun sighed.  "Akane's been out of practice for so long, I'm
surprised  that she was able to fight at all.   Maybe  she's
still  got  a  chance at completing her training,"  he  said
hopefully.
      Ranma grinned.  "She's definitely got the potential to
be  a  strong  martial artist.  Violent too,  if  she  isn't
careful."
     Soun snorted.  "You *do* know my daughter, don't you?"
     Ranma nodded, smirking.  "By the way, Mr. Tendo.  About
the other part of our agreement?
     "Ahh, yes.  That's right, I promised to talk with Genma
if  you won.  I'm still willing to do it, but I have no idea
on how to go about it."
     "I had an idea about that.  You haven't started repairs
on the dojo, have you?"
      "No,  I haven't.  Nothing beyond a simple cleanup  was
done.  Nabiki and I tallied up the damage costs, and once we
reached  a final figure I spent half an hour trying to  calm
her down."  Soun winced at the memory.  He indicated the two
bags  he'd  carried in with him.  "This is most of  what  we
need  so far to effect repairs.  In fact, I've been shopping
for supplies all day today.  Why'd you ask, Ranma?"
      "Well,  as I said before, I feel responsible  for  the
damage  to  the dojo, and figured that my family could  come
over and help fix the place for you.  It'd be a great way to
break the ice, Mr. Tendo."
     Soun smiled at Ranma.  "You're right.  When do you want
to do it?"
     "Tomorrow's Saturday.  I'll convince my father to bring
us all over tomorrow and we'll start re-building.  Say about
9:00?"   Soun nodded.  "Okay, I guess I'll need  a  list  of
things we can bring."
      Soun  handed over the shopping list he'd had with  him
all  day.  "You can get the rest of the things on that list.
There's  not much left to get.  Just worry about  the  items
without an `X' by them."
     Ranma nodded.  "I'll take care of it, Mr. Tendo."
      Soun looked at the clock.  "I'd better be getting back
home."   He  fished a book out of one of the bags.   "Ranma,
could you do me a favor and return this book to Dr. Tofu for
me?   Kasumi asked me to return it for her while I was  out,
but I can't wait any longer."
     "Sure thing, Mr. Tendo."  Soun handed the book to Ranma
and walked to the door.  "See you tomorrow!"  Ranma waved as
the  door  closed  behind  Soun.   He  then  gasped  as   he
remembered  he'd promised to remain by the examination  room
door  for  Ranko.  Quickly he darted back to the examination
room door in time to see Dr. Tofu exit and close the curtain
behind him.
      "How  is  she,  doc?"  Ranma's face was  clouded  with
worry.   Tofu  saw  the  worried look on  Ranma's  face  and
clapped  a  hand on his shoulder.  "She's going to  be  just
fine.   It's  a  good thing you brought her here.   She  was
pretty banged up."
      Ranma's shoulders slumped.  "Yeah.  Thanks Dr.  Tofu."
`She  shouldn't have been injured to begin with,' he thought
sourly.
      Dr. Tofu rounded the curve of the hallway, walking  to
his  office.  Ranma turned around and pushed his way through
the  curtain to check on Ranko.  "Hey Ranko, I heard that...
oop!"  He quickly covered his eyes.  "Sorry, Sis!"
      Ranko  turned  to  look at her brother,  and  chuckled
lightly  at the blush on his face.  Not wanting to move  her
arms, she made no effort to cover herself.  "Ranma, you  can
stop  that.   We've seen each other naked so often  that  we
should  be  used  to  looking at each other  by  now."   She
giggled  as  Ranma's blush deepened.  "C'mon Ranma,  lighten
up.   I  know  you  want to talk to me, and  since  I'm  not
allowed to move I can't cover myself.  So you're just  gonna
have to get used to it."
      Ranma  nodded and slowly brought his hands  down.   He
gulped as he took in his sister's mostly-naked frame.   `She
is  a carbon copy of my Ranko.  Wow!  This is the first time
I've  ever been able to stand back and look at ...  `my  old
self.'  He smiled.  `And I can honestly say that I was *damn
sexy.*'   He  fought hard to suppress the  natural  reaction
most guys have to seeing a beautiful naked woman, and failed
miserably.   Fortunately for Ranma, his sister couldn't  see
it.
     Ranko saw him smile, and smiled herself.  "What are you
thinking, hentai?" she asked in a lightly taunting voice.
       Ranma's   crimson  tone  deepened  at  the  question,
answering  her  without him having to speak.   "That's  okay
bro, don't worry about it.  Have a seat and tell me what you
were going to say."  She indicated the chair adjacent to the
examination table.  Ranma walked quickly and sat  down.   He
concentrated  hard  on  not thinking about  Ranko  sexually,
which  was hard to do with her lying naked in front of  him.
"The doc told me you'd be alright."
      Ranko turned to him.  "Yeah, he poked and prodded me a
bit,  and basically told me to take it easy.  Nothing  major
was  broken, so I should be okay."  Ranma's eyes, which he'd
been  steering away from his sister's body, suddenly  turned
to  stare  directly  at her breasts.  He  drooled  slightly,
until  he saw the bruise under her left one and winced.   He
reached  out  and  tentatively  touched  the  bruised  area,
feeling  how  puffy  and swollen the  discolored  skin  was.
"Ouch! That must've hurt, Ranko."
      "It  did,  a  lot.  More than you'd  like  know,  bro.
Although  it  only hurts when you press against  the  bruise
itself.   Aside  from that, the breast feels  normal."   She
hadn't  even  felt  Ranma touch the bruise;  the  anesthetic
having  numbed  the  skin around the bruise.   She  blushed,
unused  to  having  her brother act like this  to  her,  and
unused  to willingly letting her brother touch her  like  he
just  did.  It shocked her to see how easily she could  just
hang-out with her brother, almost as if he were one  of  her
friends instead of her brother.
      "Actually,  I  know  exactly how it  feels,"  he  said
simply.
       "How  would  you...  oh  yeah,  that's  right."   She
chuckled.
      "Yeah.  Lemme tell you about it.  It was my first  day
at  Furinkan High.  I'd gotten into a fight with  Kuno  over
Akane.   We fought around the school, and we both eventually
wound up falling into the pool.  Well, the cold water caused
me  to switch.  Kuno was right behind me in the water and he
thought I was still a guy because when he reached around  to
catch  me he grabbed my left breast *really* hard.  It  hurt
like  hell!"  Ranma winced, recalling the pain he felt.   "I
didn't get a bruise like you did, but I can still sympathize
with you Sis."  He put his hand on her shoulder.
     She covered his hand with one of her own, wrinkling her
nose  as  drawing one of her arms close had brought a  fresh
whiff  of the ointment to her face.  "Thanks for being there
for  me  Ranma.  I truly appreciate what you've done for  me
today."
      Ranma smiled at Ranko, squeezing her shoulder lightly.
"I'm  glad to do it.  Like I said before, you're one of  the
best  new parts of my life, and I'm gonna take care of you."
Without thinking about it, he kissed her on the forehead.
      He  sat  back,  looking at her from a distance  again.
Ranko  noticed  her  brother ogling  her,  but  didn't  feel
indignant  about it.  Instead she asked, "Is looking  at  me
like looking in a mirror for you, bro?"
      Ranma laughed softly at the comment.  He looked around
to  see if anyone was capable of hearing them.  "Yeah.  It's
amazing to actually see how much alike we looked.  It's hard
to believe that my Jhusenkyo body had the *exact* same shape
as  yours.  You're a `C' cup, right?"  Ranko nodded.  "I was
the  same.   If  I  still had the curse,  I'd  bet  that  we
would've  looked like identical twins, except for  the  hair
color of course."
      Ranko  laughed.  "I've always wanted a sister,  Ranma.
Whattaya say?"
      Ranma  blanched.  "No WAY!  I hope I  never  see  that
place again."
     Ranko squeezed her brother's hand.  "I was just kidding
bro,"  she  said lightly.  Ranma relaxed from the  defensive
pose he'd instinctively adopted, blowing his breath out in a
laugh.  He smiled at Ranko, rubbing her shoulder softly.  It
amazed him how comfortable he was getting just sitting there
talking  to his naked sister.  Oh he still had an  erection,
but he was getting used to seeing Ranko in the nude.
      "Hey  Sis, if you're feeling up to it tomorrow,  how'd
you  like to join me at the Tendo home?  I'm going  over  to
help  Mr.  Tendo  repair the damage I helped  cause  to  his
dojo."
     Ranko frowned.  "Damage?  From what?"
     "Well, Mr. Tendo and I fought for a little while before
we  actually talked.  That's what I meant when I  said  last
night that I'd convinced him not to fight."
      Ranko `ohhed.'  "Sure Ranma, I'd like to go.  I  don't
know  how  much I could do with my ankle being in the  shape
it's in, but I'd be happy just to go with you."
      "Cool!   We'll discuss it in detail with Mom  and  Pop
when  we're  home.  I'm gonna try to get them to come  along
too."  Ranma removed his hand from her shoulder, and flipped
it  around  to  hold  her hand in his.  "How  long  are  you
supposed to sit like this, Ranko?"
      "The doctor said ten minutes."  She craned her head to
look  at  the  clock to her right.  "And that  was  fourteen
minutes ago, so I guess I can get..."
      Ranma  put  his free hand against her right  shoulder,
stopping  her  from moving.  "Don't move  until  the  doctor
returns,  Sis," he admonished lightly.  "I'll help  you  get
dressed, okay?"
     "That's fine, bro," she said softly.  Although she felt
a  little  uncomfortable at having to be dressed by someone,
even  though it was Ranma.  Ranma reached around  and  found
Ranko's  bra and shirt.  Laying her shirt on his  chair,  he
grabbed her bra and approached her.
      Ranma  reached his hand between her back and the  bed,
and  sat  her  up.   Then he moved around  so  that  he  was
standing right behind her at the end of the bed.  He  tucked
each of her arms through the straps, and gently settled  the
cups  over  her breasts.  Reaching down, Ranko gathered  the
straps  in  her hands and fastened the clasp.  She  ran  her
finger  along  the  cups, getting comfortable  in  the  bra.
Unable  to  resist, he tickled her in the ribs  at  her  bra
strap.   Giggling,  she slapped his  hand  away.   "Stop  it
Ranma, I'm ticklish!"
      Recording that spot in his mind for a future  day,  he
reached  over and grabbed her shirt.  "Okay Ranko, hold  out
your  arms,"  he  ordered.  She held her arms  out,  and  he
helped her put her shirt on.  After getting her arms through
the  sleeves,  he pulled the shirt down around  her.   Ranko
pulled  the sides together in front of her and buttoned  the
shirt,  then  sat back on the bed.  Ranma wrapped  his  arms
around her from behind in a loose hug, his hands resting  on
her  taut stomach.  "There, that's better," he said, sighing
in relief.
      "What was wrong with me before, bro?" she quipped in a
teasing voice.
     Ranma blushed.  "Trust me, there's *nothing* wrong with
you   Ranko.   I  just  have  a  hard  time...  you  know...
controlling   myself..."    He   broke   off,   his    blush
intensifying.
      Ranko  smiled inwardly, having seen Ranma's prominence
when he bent over to pick up her clothes.  "I've seen how  I
affect  you,  bro, and that doesn't bother  me  a  bit.   It
shouldn't  bother  you either.  What you should  realize  is
that  what  matters to me is that you've not tried  to  take
advantage  of  me.  Ever since that day two weeks  ago,  and
especially  today, you've been treating me with respect  and
dignity.   That's something you wouldn't have done  a  month
ago if we were in the same situation we are right now.  Come
to  think  of it, I don't even want to know what the  `other
you'  would've done to me.  In fact, a month ago I  would've
probably  knocked  you on your ass for even  looking  at  my
breasts,  much  less touching them."  She  leaned  her  head
against  one of Ranma's arms.  "You're a lot different  from
the  person I used to know as Ranma Saotome.  I respect  you
bro  because  of  how you treat me and because  I  know  you
respect me too."
      Ranma's hug tightened.  "You're right, Sis.  I'm sorry
that  my other self was such an asshole to you, and I intend
to make up for that.  I guess that my not having a sister in
my previous existence helped me appreciate how lucky I am to
have one now."
      Ranko  smiled at Ranma's kind words, tearing slightly.
She  wiped her eyes with one of her hands, then placed  them
both  against  one  his arms.  "I know  that  sisters  don't
usually  say  this to their brothers, but  ...  I  love  you
Ranma."
     Ranma moved around to face Ranko, and scooped her up in
his  arms,  hugging her tightly.  "Strange as it  sounds,  I
love  you  too,  Sis."  Ranko lay her head  against  Ranma's
chest, crying softly and returning the hug as tightly as she
could.  They stayed that way for a few minutes, holding each
other  in  silence.  Then Ranma disengaged the hug, bringing
his  hand  up to wipe the tears from Ranko's face.  "Careful
Sis,  you don't want to dirty this bandage,' he said  as  he
rubbed his finger gingerly around the bandage, caressing her
cheek and clearing the moisture away from the bandage.
     Spying her pants at the foot of the bed, he walked over
and  knelt down to pick them up.  "We'd better get these  on
too."  He pulled the packs, which were lukewarm now, off  of
her  ankle and set them on the counter behind him.  Bunching
the  pants up at the legs, he carefully lifted her good  leg
up first and fed it through the pants leg, pulling her pants
until   her  foot  came  out  the  other  end.   He  smirked
maliciously,  rubbing his hand up and down her smooth  calf.
"You know, you need to shave Sis."
      "Shut  up, Ranma!" she shouted, although she  couldn't
stifle her laughter as she threw a nearby Q-tip at him.
      "Just  kidding,  Ranko!" he  said  as  he  ducked  the
launched  ear swabber.  Ranma them maneuvered to  the  other
side of the bed.  Carefully he grasped the calf of her other
leg  in  his  hand, mindful of not jostling the foot  as  he
pushed the pants leg over it.  Having gotten both pants legs
on,  he  released her calf and pulled her  pants  up.   He'd
gotten  them  up  to just below her hips  when  he  saw  her
panties, and noticed how damp they were.  Knowing what  that
meant  from embarrassing moments in his own past, he colored
furiously.   He  withdrew his hands without  making  contact
with  her and stood away from Ranko, letting her finish  the
job of putting her pants on by herself.
      Ranko caught the blush and guessed that he'd seen  the
condition of her panties.  `Oh well, nothing I can do  about
it,'  she thought, shrugging mentally.  `At least he doesn't
know why they're wet.'
      A minute later Dr. Tofu walked back in.  The two faced
him,  looking  like a couple of kids caught in  the  act  of
doing  something bad.  He noted that she was dressed.  "Ahh,
I  thought I told you not to move, Ranko," he said,  wagging
his finger.
      "Ranma  helped me dress, Dr. Tofu.  I stayed right  on
the table like you told me to." she said, smiling.
      Dr. Tofu smiled back at her.  "Well, it's good to  see
that  some  brothers and sisters can still get  along."   He
handed  Ranma  a bag of items and a list that  he'd  carried
into  the examination room with him.  "Here's some items  to
help  your  sister  heal, along with guidelines  on  how  to
administer  them."   He turned to Ranko, patting  her  head.
"And I want *you* to take it easy, young lady."
      Dr. Tofu knelt down at the foot of the examination bed
and  gently  put  an ACE bandage on her ankle,  bracing  her
foot.  "Now the instructions on how to take care of this are
also on that sheet I gave Ranma."  He looked at Ranma.  "She
can't  walk  on that foot at all for the rest  of  the  day.
That means you'll have to carry her home."
      "That  doesn't bother me a bit, Dr. Tofu."   Realizing
that  he  had  no arrangement with Dr. Tofu  like  he'd  had
before, he became worried.  "Umm..., what do we owe you, Dr.
Tofu?"
      Ranko realized what Ranma was worrying about.  "Ranma,
get my bookbag please."
      Ranma  nodded to her and ran out of the room,  quickly
returning  with both of their bookbags.  "Here ya go,  Sis,"
he  said  as he handed her bookbag over.  Quickly  rummaging
through  it, she took out a card that her father  had  given
her  a  long  while ago.  "Do you take this, Dr. Tofu?"  she
asked, handing the insurance card over.
      Dr.  Tofu squinted at the card.  "Yes, I do.   Let  me
write  the information down and I'll give the card  back  to
you."   He  disappeared from the examination room,  only  to
reappear  a  moment later and hand the card back  to  Ranko.
"You're all set guys.  Have a good evening."
      Ranma  remembered the book Soun handed to him.   "Ahh,
Dr. Tofu.  Mr. Tendo wanted me to give this back to you," he
said, handing the book over.  Dr. Tofu absently accepted the
book, then walked into a closet, muttering "Kasumi..." under
his breath as he closed the door behind himself.
     Ranma stared blankly at the enamored Dr. Tofu and shook
his  head.   "Well,  I  can see that  he's  still  stuck  on
Kasumi,"  he  said lightly to a confused  Ranko.   Ready  to
leave,  he  handed both bookbags to Ranko, then  picked  his
sister  up and carried her out of the building in his  arms.
Once  outside Ranko climbed onto his back for the trip home,
this  time not concerning herself with how riding on Ranma's
back  affected her.  She simply held onto her brother,  glad
for a change that he was a part of her life.

                            ****

[To be continued...]

                            ****

Author's notes:

      Well, here I go again.  ^_^  (those of you who've read
"The  Prince and the Lecher" will understand that remark...)
I  was simply minding my own business, and reading the first
two sections of the story "Be Careful What you Wish For"  by
Richard  Beaubien.  After completing that,  I  re-read  part
one, and said to myself "What if *this* happened instead  of
*that.*"  Well I shouldn't have done that, because here I am
clattering away at my IBM keyboard like a man possessed.
      Some  people may wonder about the content (boy  *that*
was obtuse!).  Well, as of this writing:

(2/8/96):

      Well,  since  my  last  posting,  something  good  has
happened  to  me.   After over three months of  unemployment
courtesy  of  AT&T, I now have a job!  <insert applause  and
self-patting-back noises here>   I am working as  a  Systems
Admin.  for Newberry College.  That being the case, my  work
on  "Careful Destiny" has been lacking in volume.  But  fear
not,  dearest  reader, for I have not been  idle.   In  this
iteration:
      *   The  fight scene between Ranma and Kuno  has  been
updated.   I  still feel it's a bit weak, but I  leave  that
judgment up to the reader(s)  ^_^
      *   I have added some extra dialogue following the end
of Kuno's fight.
      *   Intrigue  inserted (well, I hope  it's  intriguing
^_^;;  )
      *   Fixed  some more errors pointed out by  my  valued
readers
     *  Typed this section up at the end of the fanfic
      *   Split  the document into two sections to  make  it
easier  to  send across the net.  I have a 14.4  connection,
and that's hard on the phone bill sometimes...

(2/24/96):

      I finally (I hope) finished part one, and have resumed
creative duties on part two.  The creative process  is  slow
for  me  now that I have a job, but I'm steadily adding  on.
Stuff added so far:

     *  A foil for Ranma and Akane's previously  unchecked
attempt at a relationship, namely Kinuko Amagi
     *  A new interest for Kuno
     *  Ranko's unexpected interest in her big brother
     *  A major foil for Ranko, in the form of little rich
kid Kenji Kurosawa
     *  A  long-standing rivalry discovered between Kinuko
and Akane
     *  Dr. Tofu makes an appearance
     *  A  couple of Ranma's friends are introduced (don't
shoot me!)
     *  Ranma  and  Ranko  come  to  terms  with   their
relationship
     *  And more to come when I think of it.

      Of  note:   This version of part two is  a  toned-down
version  of what I had originally intended.  In one scene  I
had  Ranma acting a little more sexually towards Ranko,  but
decided  against  including it because I didn't  want  Ranma
chasing  after his sister.  Ranko's supposed to be  the  one
doing the chasing, eventually, not Ranma.
      Also,  I  had a much more risque' version of  Kasumi's
sunbathing  session,  which  was  also  excised  from   this
manuscript.

Acknowledgments:

      I'd  like to thank Richard Beaubien first and foremost
for  granting  me  the permission to write  this  side-story
based on his.  Prior to writing this thing, he's never  even
heard  of me.  I understand that he's continuing the mother-
story  from which this one is based.  All I have to say  is,
"Go  for it man!"  ^_^  It's been a real treat writing  this
thing and playing around in his dimension (so to speak).  It
wouldn't  have been possible without his work as  the  base.
So  to  him, I say Domo Arigato Gozaimashita!  <author  bows
deeply, *CLUNK*  hits head on keyboard>

     Bert Van Vliet.  You're the one who gave me the writing
bug  <bzzzzz...   *smack*>.  Prior to picking  up  my  first
BubbleGum  Zone printout, I was clueless as to the  ways  of
writing  fanfic.  What a difference a year makes.  You're  a
good  friend,  and  I  thank  you  for  the  support.   Hail
SkyKnight!  ^_^

     Izzy-chan for inspiring the now infamous bathroom scene
in part one

     Wing/Nagisa for  being an  invaluable proofer for  part
one.  Your contributions helped  make  part  one  what it is
today.  Thank you!

     Thank You <yes you, the one staring at the monitor> for
tolerating my unusual style of writing.  I'll get better,  I
promise  ^_^

     My music library, for inspiring me in times of need:

     *  Robotech 10th Anniversary Perfect Soundtrack Album
     *  Char's Counterattack Soundtrack
     *  Gundam 0083 Soundtrack
     *  Gundam Singles History Soundtrack
     *  Entire BubbleGum Crisis Soundtrack set
     *  The Macross Complete Soundtrack
     *  Macross II Soundtrack
     *  Macross Plus Soundtrack
     *  Vampire Princess Miyu Soundtrack
     *  Ranma 1/2 Calendar CD `94
     *  Project A-ko #1 Soundtrack
     *  Megazone Two-Three part 2 Soundtrack
     *  Babylon 5 Soundtrack
     *  Mortal Kombat Soundtrack
     *  The Collected works of John Tesh and Bob James

And now for my .sig!

Later,
Shadow Stalker
(Protoculture Addict)
(Moderator: The Robotech Echo)

sstalker@delphi.com
-or-
sysop@newberry.edu  <--- try this address first!