This is a repost.  Some of you didn't get it while the list was hosed.
-----------------------------
I'll probably post a revised 1-2 and 3 when I get chapter 4 out....  (Changes
in chapters 1-2 are minor, but include such things as fixing the inappropriate
title of chapter 2 and getting my ou/o spelling consistent.  And I forgot that
Ranma can't skate.)

Anyway, I'm glad for your comments (and this definitively proves that Ranma
stories get all the comments).  Please keep them up.

                                    TENDOU 2/3
                                 by Ken Arromdee
                    Chapter 3: An Old Friend and an Old Enemy

    Most of Ranma's dreams involved his recently completed years of training.
He broke bricks, kicked things at a distance, and leaped to enormous heights
as if it was nothing, but one dream always recurred.  The Chinese guide led
Ranma and Genma to a set of pools nestled under a group of tall training poles;
whenever the guide tried to explain what the danger of the pools was, Genma
silenced him.  Then they jumped up on the poles, deftly balancing on a few
square inches of bamboo, and began to fight.  When Ranma kicked his father
into a pool, he was shocked to see a giant panda emerge and leap right up to
the top of his father's pole.  Then the panda had come at him and knocked him
into the water.  Even now he could feel the wetness and his body changing....
    Ranma woke up with a start.  He was a she, and her blanket was soaked.
_Someone_ had done that on purpose.  Her father, in panda form, was just
beginning to stir and the ceiling showed no signs of leakage.  Either there
was a burglar around, or one of the Tendous had done it.  Ranma decided to
keep her suspicions to herself until she could prove it.

    First order of business this morning was a hot bath.  This would not be
like a training trip in the wilderness where all the streams were cold; and hot
water seemed especially inviting considering its effect on the curse.  However,
when Ranma entered the bathroom, pushing the panda aside, all the faucets were
covered by hastily scribbled signs warning that there was no hot water.

    As a result, Ranma bathed as a female and stayed that way.  When she
emerged, Kasumi was just pouring tea.  "Wait!" she shouted towards Kasumi,
"I want some of that!"  Kasumi apologized.  "There is none left, Ranma, but I
can boil some more for you."  "Yes, please."  They ate--Ranma's father trying
to drink tea and read a newspaper as a panda--and Kasumi announced that the
hot water was ready.  Genma displayed a sign "Be deferential to your parents"
and grabbed for the pot as soon as she brought it over, spilling it over
himself and turning him back to human form.  Ranma, angry, punted him into the
pond again.

    Ranma and Nabiki went off to school again.  Nabiki warned her "You know,
Ranma, you'll have to decide very soon on who your fiancee is going to be."
    Ranma would have none of this.  "Why should I?"
    "Because if you don't, Dad is going to decide for you.  There's no way that
Kasumi and I can stall forever.  If you don't pick a fiancee by the end of the
week, you may not get your pick."
    "Do you want to marry me, Nabiki?"
    "I can't get to know someone well enough in a week to decide whether to
marry them.  And I don't believe in love at first sight."
    "So if you can't do it, how am I supposed to get to know someone that well
in a week, Nabiki?"
    "Looks like you've got a problem.", she replied.

    They approached the school.  Nabiki broke into a run a half block away.
The looming shapes of the front doors increased in size as she approached,
hoping that Ranma wouldn't be noticed yet, until...  success!  Nabiki slammed
open a door, and rushed through just as Ranma's would-be suitors leaped out of
the woodwork (as well as bushes, windows, from behind large rocks, and other
places of concealment).
    "Saotome Ranma, please go out with me!"  Ranma kicked the sumo wrestler
aside--funny, nobody in _class_ looked like a sumo wrestler.  "Let's make
beautiful music together!" shouted another.  A left hook took care of him and
his boom box.  She jumped over a pole vaulter, and knocked a baseball player
into left field.  A few more dozen of these and Ranma made it through the
doors, to barely arrive in class on time.

    During history class, Ranma appeared to be taking copious notes; in fact,
she was laying out attack plans.  That man he had run across the other day when
looking for real combatants was the Gambling King.  He and his childhood
friend Ucchan had defeated the Gambling King in combat ten years ago when he
won all of their possessions in a rigged card game.  They never did find the
contracts signing over their property, and now he could be coming after the
dojo.  Or after Ucchan.  For all Ranma knew, the Gambling King could _already_
have found Ucchan--Ranma had not kept in touch with him, after all.  It might
be a good idea to go check out what happened to him after all these years;
besides, Ranma didn't know any of the people in the area and it would be nice
talking to an old friend for a change.

    School ended, and Ranma changed back--luckily, nobody was using the boys'
restroom-- and walked about half a block before realizing he had absolutely no
idea where to find Ucchan.  He walked around and scanned the slowly
diminishing afterschool crowd, spotting just what he was looking for:  Nabiki,
sitting on a bench punching some numbers into a calculator.
    "Hey, Nabiki?"
    "Oh, it's you, Ranma.  Made your decision yet?  The odds are still 2 to
1 that...  I mean..."
    "I need your help."
    "MY help?"
    "Yes.  I want you to track down this person for me.  Ukyou Kuonji.  There's
a guy that both of us fought as kids, and I ran into him yesterday, and he
konked me on the head, so I figure he has to be dangerous.  I want to warn
him."
    Nabiki considered.  "I can do that.  But my fee...."
    Ranma shouted "Where am _I_ going to get money?"
    Nabiki shook her head.  "No, it's not money.  I just want you to let me
take some pictures of you."
    "All right.  Wait, are you going to give these to Kunou?", asked Ranma,
not realizing she should wait to agree after asking questions rather than
before.
    "Well, not exactly _give_...."  Ranma frowned at her.  "Hey, you're in
high demand, Ranma, what can I say?"  Nabiki took out the pictures she had
taken this morning of a sleeping female Ranma in a wet shirt, showed them to
her, and winked.  Ranma fumed.

    Ukyou's dormitory was itself only about a half hour away by train and ten
more minutes of walking.  But the usual way of finding one's way around in
Tokyo is to get just close enough to the destination that you can track down
someone to give the rest of the directions.  It was three hours after the
end of the school day that Ranma finally found the place.  He ignored the
growling of his stomach and knocked on the door with trepidation; what _do_
you say to someone who you haven't talked to for over half your lifetime?

    A boy of about Ranma's age, wearing a boys' school uniform and a belt over
his shoulder, answered the door.  Ranma stammered "U...  Ucchan?"
    Ukyou stared blankly.
    "It's me, Ranma Saotome!  I've just come to see if you were okay after...."
    "Ranchan?"
    Ranma smiled.  "You remember me, Ucchan?"
    "Yes, I remember you.  How dare you come here now!"  This wasn't going the
way Ranma intended.  He stopped to recall any grudges that Ukyou might have
against him.  "Uhh...  did I keep you from getting bread?  No, that was
someone else....  Hmm, maybe it was eating the prize at...  no, that was
someone else too."
    Ukyou ran into the kitchen, wiping his face.  Were those tears?  Ranma
chased him.  His hands moved with lightning speed at the stove and he yelled
at Ranma "From the way you're talking, you must be hungry!  So take this!",
tossing an object at him.  Ranma caught it one-handed and looked down; he held
one of Ukyou's delicious smelling okonomiyaki--he hadn't eaten one from him
in ten years.  Written on it in sauce, however, was a message.  "I challenge
you, Ranma.  Tomorrow, 4 PM, out in front of my school."
    He tossed a can of soda at Ranma and slammed the door.

    Ranma, having never been in school as a boy yet, realized that he could
avoid having everyone learn of his curse only by forever enduring the
humiliation of coming to school as the wrong sex.  He resolved to take it like
a man, and come to school male even if this did expose the curse to the
public.
    The cloudburst that suddenly rained over Nerima when Ranma was halfway to
school, however, had other ideas.  Ranma fought off the screeching mobs that
wanted to date her and found her way to her classroom seat.  She decided that
she _was_ going to show everyone, no matter what, after she defeats Kunou.
The students at this school were such amateurs that that alone would forever
keep them from laughing at her.  No, him.

    Ranma was male, however, when it came time to fight Ukyou.  He still didn't
understand just what it _was_ that Ucchan hated him for, but it must be
something that could only be proven by Ranma's winning a fight.
    In front of Ukyou's school a boxing ring was set up.  The floor was
black asphalt surrounding a white center.  Ucchan stood in one corner in an
okonomiyaki vendor's outfit, wearing a loose top, black pants, the same
belt Ranma saw on him before but now filled with little spatulas, and one
_huge_ spatula on his back.  Ranma somersaulted over the ropes and landed in
the opposing corner.
    Ukyou shouted "For what you did to me ten years ago!" and with lightning
speed threw a spray of eight spatulas at him, then immediately charged,
swinging his large spatula.  Ranma leaped over the spray and landed right on
top of Ukyou's spatula.  He didn't even drop Ranma; he must have gotten
pretty strong, then.  Ukyou flipped Ranma into the air and knocked him into
the asphalt.
    Ranma yelled in pain, her shoes smoking.  That wasn't asphalt, it was a
griddle!  He pulled himself back into the safe area and punched at Ukyou,
who attacked back with equal speed using a strange weapon that...
    The batter that Ukyou used as her weapon wrapped around Ranma's hands.
Ukyou pounded him into the griddle again, where it cooked and hardened.  Ranma
was stuck, only able to move his feet.  He pulled mightily, and finally snapped
the bonds just as Ukyou threw a bucketload of something at him.  "Have some
of my special sauce!"  The sauce blinded Ranma temporarily, letting Ukyou
knock him back onto the grill.  Ranma screamed when he landed, but quickly
recovered his senses.  Hopping around not to stay touching the surface for
long, he launched a mighty kick at Ukyou.
    Ukyou shouted "If you don't like that, why not try the ingredients one at
a time?"  He threw a bucket of raw onions.  This was much worse for Ranma's
eyes than the sauce.  Ranma redirected his kick at the onions, somehow managing
to deflect them.  But this gave Ukyou a chance to swing his razor-sharp spatula
at him.  Ranma sidestepped, and the spatula only cut the front of his shirt.
Unfortunately, the next ingredient that Ukyou threw at him was a bucket of
water....

    Ranma tried to block, but water, a fluid, was not as easy to block as
onion bits.  It hit him, transforming him to female.  She cursed and ran
away.  Didn't want to run from a fight, she thought, but this is the only
way....  Ukyou didn't give up, though, and chased Ranma around the schoolyard
and all the way back to the ring.  Ranma turned.  "Are you happy?  You finally
found out my secret.  Planning to continue your revenge and announce it at
Furinkan too?"
    Ukyou looked at Ranma's cleavage, clearly visible through her cut shirt.
"Ranchan...  I didn't know that you...."
    "Huh?  I don't understand it."
    "I never realized you were a girl, Ranma.  I shouldn't have been upset
over you taking the yatai...  you didn't understand it was supposed to be a
dowry, because we're the same sex....  Ranma, let's end this.  Okay?  Let's be
friends."
    Ranma agreed.  "Hai."  He continued.  "Ucchan, why don't you start this
from the very beginning and explain to me what it's all about?" asked Ranma.

    Ukyou explained the story, ending at the point where Ranma left with the
yatai.  "So you see, I thought you were going to marry me, but I didn't know
we were both girls.  I spent all these years hating you for that, and..."
    Ranma said "Stop.  You're getting me confused.  I couldn't be your fiancee
because we're both guys!  Not girls."  Ranma picked up another bucket of
water, by now hot from having been left on the griddle, and poured it over
herself.  She turned back to a he.
    Ukyou's mouth opened wide.  "Ran...  Ranchan...  You're...."  Ukyou
hugged him.  "I'm so happy, Ranchan.  You did think we were the same sex, but
not for the reason I thought...."  Ranma frowned slightly.  "Uh, I know you're
all happy we made up and all that, but..."  He didn't continue, when he
noticed that Ukyou's chest was rather soft against his own.  "Wait, you're-"
    "I'm a girl, Ranchan!  When I thought you rejected me, I vowed that I
would ignore my femininity forever!  I spent my days training the okonomiyaki
fighting style facing the breaking ocean...."
    Ranma backed off and out of the hug.  "You fought perfectly well without
any of that training at all when we when we beat the Gambling King, tied him
up, and threw him into the river.  And Ucchan, I came here to tell you that I
ran across him.  I'm glad to see you're okay and that he didn't try robbing
you blind with that contract.  Now I have to go."
    "No!  Don't go!  Now that you're back, we can be together again!"
    "We can...  we can fight him together.  Okay?  Meet me at Furinkan at a
little after sunset tomorrow, to plan this out, because there's something I
have to do first...."
    "I'm so glad, Ranchan!"

    Ranma went away.  He would talk to Ucchan tomorrow, but he needed some
time to think, because he didn't know what his own feelings were on the
subject.  Ukyou was a very nice person, but to suddenly find out his childhood
friend was really a girl and accidentally engaged to him by his father?  That
was not the sort of thing that happened every day, after all.  He considered
asking people for advice, but couldn't think of anyone to ask.  He didn't
know anyone, except Ukyou herself, and his dad, and Mr. Tendo, and the
Tendo sisters....
    He arrived home.  "Hi, I'm back!"
    Kasumi was waiting.  "Dinner is ready, Ranma.  You're a little bit late."
    "Kasumi, can I ask you something?  I just found that I'm engaged to a
transvestite girl who I thought was a boy and who I last saw ten years ago.
We discovered the situation when I changed sex in front of her, and oh yeah
the dojo is probably going to be taken away and turned into a poker hall
unless we can defeat this guy...."
    Kasumi didn't even blink.

    It was about time for the meeting with Kunou.  Ranma still wasn't certain
if Kunou meant for it to be a fight, but by god, Kunou'd _get_ one.  She leaped
into the air and landed on Kunou's bokken, then kicked several times, her
feet becoming a blur.  Kunou's weak spots were surprisingly many, and as
long as Ranma wasn't distracted by the target of Kunou's head she'd have no
trouble beating him.
    Or she'd have had, anyway.  Ukyou appeared from within the crowd of
spectators.  She had come straight from school, still dressed in her boys'
uniform.  "It wasn't hard to find at all!"
    It had finally sunk in Ranma's head that Ukyou was female, and her usual
attitude towards females started to shine through.  Ranma stopped kicking
Kunou and gave Ukyou the 95% of her attention not necessary for defense against
Kunou.  "Stay away, Ucchan! Kunou's dangerous!"
    "Don't be silly.  You can beat him, right?"
    "Yeah."
    "Well, I'm as good a fighter as you!"
    "Oh, really?"
     Ukyou replied "Yeah, really!" and hit Kunou over the head with her
spatula.  "See?"  When Kunou failed to drop, Ukyou looked a little surprised.
Kunou turned and bellowed "You dare to attack Kunou Tatewaki, the Blue Thunder
of Furinkan High?  And you must wish Ranma's hand."
    "My name is Ukyou Kuonji.  AND I AM RANMA'S FIANCEE!"
    Kunou's soliloquy seemed unending.  "You say that without having followed
my command and having defeated her?  Then I, Kunou Tatewaki, stand in your
way.  Defeat _me_, Ukyou Kuonji, or..."
    Kunou's speech did not continue, because Ukyou had used the speech time to
aim and launch a dozen spatulas; eleven stuck in his body like arrows and left
him groaning, and one chopped his bokken into two.  Kunou fell to the ground;
Ranma barely avoided getting hit by his head.  Kunou muttered "I never admit
defeat..." and went unconscious.

    Among the crowd, several boys were already muttering about the surprise
turn of events.  "He defeated Kunou...."  They looked to each other, and
finally one boy walked up to Ukyou and Ranma and spoke up.  "I'm sure I can
speak for almost everyone here.  Kunou has been defeated by one stronger
than he.  Since it is someone normal like Ukyou Kuonji here, we will accept
him as Ranma Saotome's fiancee and give up our attempts to woo her...."
Polite applause spread through the crowd.  "He speaks for me."  "And me...."

(To be continued.)