(scene:  SKJAM!'s den.  The door has been repaired.  SKJAM! and 
Kira are discussing another sheaf of papers.)

SKJAM!:  If it has to come down to one of them dying to allow the other 
to live, I think Hikaru would volunteer.  After all, her family already 
believes her dead, so it won't be as horrible for them.

Kira:  But Ranma would never allow a girl to sacrifice herself for him if 
he had any choice...

SKJAM!:  On the other hand, if they continue sharing the body, I can see 
this having an additional straining effect on Ranma's relationships.  
After all, to the best of my knowledge Hikaru has no interest in women, 
and Ranma wouldn't be too thrilled about her using their body to date 
men... 

Kira:  We're on again.

SKJAM!:  Right!  Welcome back everyone.  I trust you know the drill by now.

On Sat, 5 Jul 1997, KOUMA RYODACHI wrote:

Okay minna, here is the rough first draft of Chapter 6. I'm not 
exactly pleased with it in its current state--it seems off to me. But 
I'll let you all be the judge of that.  

SKJAM!:  We certainly will.

I have eliminated the convention "-chan" for female Ranma throughout 
the story now. This includes the earlier chapters, which originally 
called onna Ranma "Ranma-chan". 

Kira:  Reasonable enough, provided you make it clear which form Ranma is 
in at the beginning of a sequence.

Like I said, this chapter is a rough 

draft and is likely to need a > complete overhaul. C&C welcome as always.

SKJAM!:  And here it is!

   Chapter 6: "Who the hell is Hikaru?"

SKJAM!:  Sounds like a Ranma quote to me.

   Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu got off the bus in Nerima. At Fuu's 
suggestion, Hikaru had willed her armor to vanish. The other two 
girls blinked when it was replaced by a red Chinese shirt and black 
trousers.

Kira:  Did she do this in public?

   "So, Hikaru-chan...where have you been these last two years?" Fuu 
asked.
   Hikaru sighed. "It's been even longer than that, they tell me."
   "Who are 'they' anyway?" Umi asked. "You've been awfully 
mysterious..."
   Hikaru blinked. "Anou...actually, I never got their names. I guess 
I was still in shock at being alive again..."

SKJAM!:  Oops.  Well, she remembers where the Nekohanten is, I hope.

   "Alive again?" Fuu and Umi chorused.
   "Then...you *did* die?" Fuu asked.
   Hikaru frowned. "Apparently I did."
   "But...you said..." Umi began.
   Hikaru laughed softly. "Confusing isn't it? I still haven't really 
dealt with it myself. It's too much for me to think about. Well, the 
simplest answer is that Zagato's spell sent me someplace else, I was 
there two years, then I died. And now I'm back."
   The other two stared at her nervously. "You're...a ghost?"

Kira:  (silly voice):  Yaahhh!!  Run away!

   Hikaru giggled. "No, I'm alive." Then, sadly, she added, "In a 
sense...I've sort of occupied someone else's body."
   Fuu and Umi looked *really* nervous about that one. Hikaru noticed,
 and put on a sad half-smile. "It's a VERY long story, and a lot of 
it is going to sound too strange."
   Umi smirked. "Hikaru-chan...we got zapped into Cephiro, learned 
magic, fought monsters, met Mokona...saw you get blasted...and 
everything else that happened after that...I don't think you can tell 
us anything too strange."

SKJAM!:  Don't you just love weirdness overload?

   All three girls giggled at that one. 
   Suddenly, Hikaru stopped. Fuu and Umi looked at her with concern. 
"Hikaru-chan? Daijobu?"
   "I...I'm not sure," she said. She blinked rapidly. "Something...
happening, in my mind..." Her eyes widened. "Oh...I think I 
understand." With a sad sigh, she said, "Umi-chan, Fuu-chan...I have 
to go away for a bit, I think. I hope I'll see you again soon."
   "Anou...what do you mean, 'go away'? What's going on?" 
   Umi received no answer. Hikaru slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Kira:  Guess the girls didn't think that if Hikaru was possessing someone, 
they'd want their body back...

   Ranma slowly awoke, with a splitting headache. He opened his eyes, 
and the blurred faces of two girls he'd never seen before (or had he?
) slowly came into focus.
   "Wha...where am I?"
   "Hikaru-chan! Are you alright?" the brown-haired one asked.
   Ranma frowned. "Huh? Who're you?"
   The blue-haired one frowned. "You haven't lost your memory, have 
you Hikaru-chan?"
   Ranma blinked. "I think ya got me mixed up with someone else. My 
name ain't Hikaru, it's Ranma. Saotome Ranma."

SKJAM!:  yes, that's right, Ranma, Akane hit you on the head too hard and 
you've been living as a girl for the past year :-)

 >    Fuu noticed 
something strange. "Umi-chan...her 
eyes. Look." >    Umi gasped. "They're...blue. What's going on here?"

Kira:  ~\o Gonna turn my brown eyes blue o/~

   Ranma sat up, and glanced around. "How'd I get here? Last I 
remember I was at Nekohanten..."
   The two girls looked at her in confusion. "Anou...what's going on 
here?" the blue-haired one asked.
   Ranma shrugged. "Don't ask me. I just woke up."
   The pig chose that moment to make its presence known. Ranma 
frowned. "Ryouga? What the heck are you doin' here?"

SKJAM!:  Major uh-oh here...  Ranma must still be addled.  he'd better 
hope Umi or Fuu don't call the pig Ryouga in front of Akane...Heck, they 
might tell *Hikaru* the pig's name is Ryouga, and won't that be a pretty 
picture...

   Ryouga was hopping up and down and squealing intently. "Do 

you 

know what's goin' on, pig?" Ryouga nodded. Ranma thought for a moment.
 "Alright, man. Let's getcha some hot water."

Kira:  yes, definite blowing of Ryouga's secret ID here if the girls find 
out about the hot water thing later...

   Ranma scooped up the piglet, then 

said to the two girls, "Umm...

wait here a sec." Then as an afterthought, he said, "I didn't get 
your names...?"
   The girls looked at each other, shrugged, and introduced 
themselves.
   "Ryuuzaki Umi." 
   "Hououji Fuu."
   Ranma nodded. "Nice t' meetcha. Be right back." With that, Ranma 
entered a nearby coffee shop, piglet in hand.

SKJAM!:  Okay, now everyone knows everyone else's name, though They might 
wish otherwise later...
 > 

   A moment later, inside the coffee shop, Ranma splashed the piglet 
with a cup of hot water. Ryouga mysteriously found clothes, and Ranma 
asked, "So, pig, what's goin' on?"

Kira:  In a public coffee shop?  Ranma is being really careless here...]

   Ryouga grumbled, then said, "Ranma...you probably won't believe 
what I'm about to tell you."
   Ranma smirked. "Think who you're talkin' to here, Ryouga. I seen 
so much weird shit I'll believe just about anything."
   Ryouga shook his head. "You won't believe this..."
   "Man, just spit it out already! Sheesh."
   Ryouga proceeded to give Ranma the short version of what had taken 
place that day. Ranma's eyes were wide at the end of the story. "You 
mean," said the now-male Ranma, "Some girl that disappeared from 
Tokyo Tower two years ago, went to some crazy magic world, got sent 
back to ancient China, and drowned in the same spring I got cursed in.
..is still alive inside me?"
   "That's pretty much it, Ranma."
   Ranma shook his head. "You're right. That one's a stretch." 
Frowning, he mused, "Although it'd explain a lot of stuff that's been 
goin' on lately...hey man, you said the old ghoul can fill me in on 
all the details?"

SKJAM!:  Or, to quote Shirow's "Orion", "Does this place have a 
never-ending supply of weird shit?!"

   Ryouga nodded.
   "Alright then, we'd best get goin'." Ranma made for the exit.
   "Ranma...you should go back out there as a girl, or they won't 
recognize you."

Kira:  Amazingly cogent observation...

   Ranma frowned. "Those two girls outside?"
   Ryouga nodded. "They're Hikaru-san's best friends. They need to 
know what's going on."
   Ranma sighed. "Alright, but it's best if I wait till we're outside 
to turn into a girl."
   With that, they left, snagging some cold water on the way.

Kira:  RAnma isn't going to pour cold water over Ryouga in front of the 
girls, is he?

 >  

   Fuu and Umi were waiting, talking quietly. "What's going on here?" 
Umi wondered.
   Fuu shook her head, frowning thoughtfully. "Hikaru-chan said she's 
'inside someone else's body'...maybe the girl we just talked to is 
that person. In any case, that definitely wasn't Hikaru."
   Umi nodded. "Hai...I really want to find out what's up."
   Just then, two young men, about their age, emerged from the coffee 
shop. One had black hair in a pigtail and wore similar clothes to 
what Hikaru and the other girl had been wearing. The other wore a 
yellow bandana much like the one the piglet had worn, and a yellow 
tunic and black trousers. 

SKJAM!:  Must've had a stash under the table.

   The two boys approached them. "Sorry about the wait," the 
pigtailed one said.
   Umi frowned. "Anou...who are you?"
   The boy smiled. "This is gonna seem odd, but considering what my 
friend here told me, you girls are probably used to this kind of 
thing." With that, he poured the cup of water over his head. Umi and 
Fuu stared, wide-eyed.
   "What in the...?" Umi asked.
   Fuu commented, "You're the girl from before, right?" 
   Ranma nodded. "Yeah, but I'm really a guy. It's a long story. I 
have a curse, that turns me into a girl when I get splashed with cold 
water." Gesturing down the street, she said, "I can explain some of 
it on the way to Nekohanten. Then we'll all find out about what's 
going on here."

SKJAM!:  You hope.

   The girls looked dubious, but the other boy said, "If I'm right 
about Hikaru-san, she'd probably want you to know what's going on. 
And if you want to find out, you need to trust us, because he--" He 
pointed at Ranma-- "is carrying Hikaru-san's soul around with him."

Kira:  (Umi voice): And how would you know all this, oh boy who we've 
never seen before?

   Umi and Fuu blinked at that. Finally, Fuu said, "Well, if that's 
true, then we won't find out what's going on without trusting you."
   Umi sighed. "We don't have a choice. Alright, Ranma. Lead on." 
   "By the way," the other boy added, "My name is Hibiki Ryouga."

Kira:  (Fuu voice):  Ara, like the pig!  You're the pig!  How Kawaii!

   The foursome began the short journey to the Nekohanten.

   When the group arrived at Nekohanten, everyone was still sitting 
around talking about this recent turn of events. They looked up, 
surprised to see the two new visitors.

SKJAM!:  And the level of violence de-escalated rapidly...(It's been at 
least an hour, probably more, and no discussion in Nerima could possibly 
go that long without a fight breaking out :-)

   Shampoo blinked. 

"Great-grandmother, that Ranma and not Hikaru > right?"

   Cologne nodded. "Yes, child."
   Shampoo squealed with joy and promptly glomped Shampoo. Akane and 

Kira:  Well, that's a change.  Although glomping yourself isn't much of a 
thrill...

Ukyou scowled. Akane reached for her mallet. "RANMA..." Ukyou hefted 
her spatula and warned Shampoo, "Get off Ranchan you hussy."
   Fuu and Umi blinked. Ranma sighed. "Shampoo, please get off of me.
"
   "Shampoo no let go Ranma! Ranma no turn into Hikaru again, yes? 
Ranma alright now, take Shampoo to date?"

SKJAM!:  Not bloody likely.  Offer him a cure for possession, then we'll 
talk.

 >    To everyone's (well, everyone who knew Ranma) surprise, Ranma 

pushed Shampoo off of her. "I'm not in the mood for you right now, 
Shampoo."
   Shampoo looked hurt, then angry. Turning to the other two girls, 
she said, "Who you? What you do here? Restaurant closed."
   "They're with me, Shampoo," Ranma said.
   Akane raised her mallet. "Two MORE fiancees? Ranma, you PERVERT!"
   Umi and Fuu blinked. "Fiancees?" Fuu asked.
   "TWO MORE!?" Umi wondered incredulously.
   Ryouga raised a hand. "Umm...guys? Can I say something?"

Both:  No!

   EVERYONE blinked. Ryouga was the last person anyone ever expected 
to come to Ranma's defense.
   "Well, Ryouga?" Akane prompted.
   Ryouga looked nervous and sheepish, but pressed on. "Akane-san, 
you're wrong this time. These girls don't even *know* Ranma."
   Akane scowled. "I didn't know him either until I found out I was 
already engaged to the baka."

SKJAM!:  Technically not true...the actual engagement came after the 
explanation of the curse, which could be considered "getting to know" 
Ranma. 

   Ranma groaned. "Jeez, you stupid tomboy, it ain't like that! 
Wouldja just listen for once instead of blaming me?"
   Suddenly, Nabiki interrupted. "You..." she said, pointing to the 
blue-haired girl, "are Ryuuzaki Umi. And you," she continued, 
indicating the girl with glasses, "are Hououji Fuu."
   The two blinked. "That's right. How did you...?" Fuu asked.
   Nabiki tapped the laptop in front of her. 

Kira:  What database is she tapped into?

   Akane blinked, and lowered her mallet. "You're...those two girls. 
The ones who were with Hikaru..."
   The two nodded. Akane sighed. "Ranma...I'm sorry."
   Ranma didn't comment. Cologne sighed. "I think everyone needs to 
calm down so we can straighten everything out."
   As the gathering became even more crowded, Cologne filled Ranma in 
on the details about Hikaru's tragedy, tactfully leaving out what the 
two Musk warriors had done to her. She then filled Umi and Fuu in on 
Ranma's curse, and how it was related to Hikaru.
   When she was finished, everyone finally had, more or less, an 
understanding of what was going on.
   "So," Umi said, looking at Ranma, "You're a boy, but because you 
fell in a spring in China, you turn into a girl when you get hit with 
cold water."
   Ranma nodded. "Yeah."
   "And," Fuu interjected, "Because of Zagato's spell, Hikaru-chan is 
the girl who drowned in that spring 1500 years ago. So, because of 
your similarities to her, you freed her soul from the spring when you 
fell in."
   "That pretty much sums it up," Tofuu said. 
   Ranma groaned. "As if life wasn't complicated enough already. At 
least this Hikaru girl is a fighter. As often as weird things happen 
around here, it'd be too dangerous if she was weaker."

SKJAM!:  yep, which is always a consideration in "Ranma turns girl 
mentally" fics...

   Cologne nodded. "I think if it had been a weaker girl who had 
drowned there, her soul would have been lost. It's Hikaru's magic and 
the strength of her spirit that kept her in that spring. And that's 
why she was able to reawaken."
   Akane frowned. "So, how will we know when it's Ranma and when it's 
Hikaru?"
   Cologne chuckled. "That should be obvious. Not only by their 
behavior, but in case you forgot, when Hikaru was in control her eyes 
were red, and Ranma's are blue."
   "Oh yeah..." Ukyou said. "She's right."
   Fuu smiled. "At least that's one thing we don't have to worry 
about...telling them apart."

Kira:  Yet, anyways...

   As the discussion continued, Hikaru stirred. She could hear, and 
see, what was going on, but it was like watching a movie. She 
realized what had happened--Ranma had taken back his body. She wasn't 
upset. He had a right; after all, she was the intruder here and not 
him. But, she was still disappointed.
   And bored. There really wasn't much to do in here.
   Idly, she wondered what kind of person Ranma was. How he lived, 
what he liked, what he did...
   An idea hit her. <I wonder...can I look at his thoughts?> She 
briefly debated whether or not she should try. <It would be impolite,

she thought. <Disrespectful of Ranma-kun. I wouldn't like it if 

someone poked around in my head without my consent.>
   But ultimately, curiosity and boredom got the better of Hikaru. 
Tentatively, she reached out with her consciousness, and brushed 
against Ranma's. Surface thoughts unfolded: 
   <This sucks. How much more complicated are things gonna get?>
   <But that girl, that Hikaru...guess I can't blame her. It's not 
her fault.>

SKJAM!:  Aww...

   <It's sad, that something like that happened. Sounds like she was 
a really nice girl.>
   <But this is gonna suck. The tomboy's gonna find more to get angry 
with me about, and who knows what else is gonna happen? And I gotta 
hope this girl can take care of herself if she's gonna keep waking up.
 Not everyone's gonna go easy on her if they see her eyes are red and 
not blue.>
   <I hope she doesn't fall for some guy and start wanting to date 
and....and...eeew.>
   At that, Hikaru mentally blushed. In the process, something 
slipped. <Hey!> she thought. <That's mean!>
   <Huh? What the...?>
   Hikaru froze. <Uh oh.> 

Kira:  Telepathy is a wonderful gift, but one should always be ethical in 
its applications.

   Without warning, Ranma's eyes glazed over, and he slumped forward 
onto the table. Everyone crowded around him.

SKJAM!:  I hope this isn't going to happen too often.  It's a nasty 
vulnerability...
 > 

   Nervously, Hikaru thought, <Umm..guess you can hear me in here, 
huh?>
   Ranma tried to shake off his confusion. <Hey, what the hell's 
goin' on?>
   Hikaru decided she might as well see how far this communication 
could go. Concentrating, she pushed further up against the walls of 
Ranma's mind.
   Ranma felt something pushing against him, and recoiled. Then, 
curious, he pushed back.

   Suddenly, both found themselves sprawled, tangled up in one 
another, in a boundless, misty grey space.
   Untangling, and blinking, they stared at each other in shock.
   <What the hell's this? Who...> Ranma thought. He stared at the 
girl before him. She had waist-length red hair, in a braid. Her eyes 
were crimson, and she wore some sort of school uniform, with some 
type of armor placed on and around it.

Kira:  her mental self-image, I guess.

   Hikaru blinked. <Oops. Sorry about that. I didn't know that was 
going to happen.> She took in the appearance of the boy in front of 
her. She had to admit, he was pretty handsome. She flushed at that 
thought. 
   Ranma was also flushing, thinking about how cute this girl was.
   Then they noticed each other flushing, and simultaneously realized 
*why*. Both flushed brighter and laughed nervously.

Kira:  obviously, both their self-images are pretty positive :-)

   <Ummm...I guess you're Hikaru, then?> Ranma asked.
   Hikaru nodded. <Hai, and you'd be Ranma.>
   Ranma nodded. <Umm...I'm confused. What is this? How can we see 
each other?>
   Hikaru frowned. <I'm not sure. I believe this is all going on in 
our mind.> She blushed. <I kinda woke up, and I got bored in here, 
and I got curious about you, so I tried to get a peek at your 
thoughts.>
   Ranma blinked. <So...that's what that was? What I heard? Was you?

   Hikaru nodded, blushing. <Hai. I'm sorry. I was trying not to 
alarm you.>
   Ranma shrugged. <Hey, it's okay. Actually, this is pretty cool. 
Weird, but cool.>
   Hikaru giggled. <Yeah, it is. And it means we can talk to each 
other like this.>

SKJAM!:  Though if you keep blacking out, it may be a good idea to keep 
the conversations to a minimum.

   Ranma nodded. <Seems like it.> A nervous 

silence ensued.

   Finally, Hikaru said, <Ranma-kun...I'm sorry. About all this.>
   Ranma blinked. <Huh?>
   Hikaru sighed. <About your curse, about me being in here, 
disrupting your life...>
   Ranma took a step closer and put his hands on her shoulders. <Hey, 
don't be. It ain't your fault or nothin'. Besides, even without the 
curse I ain't exactly got a normal life, y'know?>
   Hikaru looked down. <No, I don't know. That's why I was trying to 
find out about you. I just wanted to know who it was I had become 
part of...>
   Ranma instinctively drew the smaller girl into a hug. She returned 
the hug, looking up at him. Ranma smiled. <Well, looks like this is 
our chance to get acquainted.>
   Hikaru smiled, and they began to exchange life stories.

SKJAM!:  Wonder how much censoring they'll do...And Ranma's take on the 
various people in his life is likely to influence Hikaru unduly at first.
 > 

   "He's been out for a long time," Genma noted.
   Tofuu nodded. "He seems to be in a trance."
   "What kind of trance?" Ukyou wondered.
   Cologne examined Ranma more closely, inspecting his aura. "Well, 
this is interesting," she chuckled dryly. Where earlier she'd seen a 
red aura surrounding Ranma's yellow aura, now there was a solid 
orange aura. 
   "What's interesting?" Umi asked.
   "Well, if my guess is right, Ranma's in a trance because he and 
Hikaru are communicating."
   Everyone blinked. "WHAT?" they all shouted.
   Cologne closed her eyes. "Their auras are overlapping so perfectly 
as to form one. The only explanation is that they're both awake, and 
talking to each other inside their mind. Since that kind of thing 
takes a lot of effort, the rest of the body had to shut down."
   "Aiyah! Great-grandmother, Ranma be alright, yes?"
   Cologne nodded. "Of course. Sooner or later they'll quit talking, 
and one of them will wake up."
   Almost as if on cue, the redhead groaned, and sleepily opened her 
eyes. Her red eyes.
   Hikaru sat up, and smiled at everyone. "Hi," she said.
   

SKJAM!:  Hmm, Hikaru still hasn't woken up in the male body yet.  Wonder 
if she can...?

Kira:  And that's the end of the chapter!

SKJAM!:  See you all next time!


SKJAM!