From his vantage point on the rooftop, the figure watched as the red-haired girl chased the old man down the street. The old man, who was so short as to be ridiculous-looking, was waving around a small white object. The figure's sharp eyes focused on the object, a cylindrical gilt-edged scroll. He smiled. It was almost time... "Give that back, you old freak!" cried the redhead angrily. "Not a chance, sweetcakes!" replied the old man. "With this, I can have all the panties I've ever wanted!" The girl growled inarticulately and made a lunge for him, but the old man simply whapped her on the head with a pipe without even looking, which improbably sent her flying back to land on the street, momentarily stunned. The old man turned with a leer and stuck his tongue out at her...but his eyes bulged out a moment later as he was caught with a powerful kick from behind and sent flying. The girl blinked and looked at the figure, who was casually examining the scroll the old man had been holding a moment before. He was a handsome, somewhat effeminate-looking young man with a lean, powerful build, clad in baggy white asian-style pants and a blue scaled vest and bracers. Two long tendrils of hair curled below his ears, which had earrings, and he appeared to be using a pair of pantyhose as a sash. "P-p-pantyhose!" cried the girl. Without changing expression, the young man flicked a rock off the ground with his toe and batted it at her, forcing her to roll to the side. "Nice to see you again, fem-boy," smiled Pantyhose Tarou, as Ranma rose to her feet. "That's a matter of opinion..." growled the boy-turned girl. She rushed forward and made a swipe at him, but with an evil chuckle Tarou backpeddled out of range. "Give that back!" "Oh, I couldn't do that," he sneered. "Something this valuable...you'd probably waste it." "How'd you find out about it anyway?" "That's for me to know and you to find out, fem-boy. I have my ways..." Tarou chuckled evilly again. Actually, it had only been by pure chance he had heard from a peddler a story about the odd travelling group that he had recognized as Ranma Saotome and his friends, but Tarou was enjoying the upper hand immensely, and felt no need to mention this. He noted with great satisfaction that his sneering reply had angered Ranma even more, and she was now tensing herself for another attack. He shifted back into a more defensive position, awaiting the rush, when... "Just one second!" Both almost-combatants turned to see a growling Happousai. The old man was in a combat stance, and was surrounded by a glowing red aura. Enmity forgotten -or seemingly so- in the face of this common threat, Tarou and Ranma drew closer together as they faced the old lech. "Pantyhose, how DARE you attack your godfather so!" Tarou felt a surge of anger at the old man's words. Many people on the street had stopped -from a respectful distance- to watch the fight, but now Tarou felt their eyes on him alone; incredulous, laughing... "Don't call me that!" he snarled, clenching his fists. Ignoring Tarou's anger, Happousai directed his wrathful gaze to the girl. "And you, Ranma, how dare _you_ try to steal my scroll!" "YOUR scroll!?" retorted Ranma. "Who fought that stupid monster to get it, huh?" But Happousai cared as little for his pupil's rage as he did for his godson's. After all, there were panties on the line. "Now," the old lech roared, "both of you will PAY!!!" He reared back, as best as his diminutive height would allow, aura hissing like a snake. Surging forward, he snapped out his palms and released a huge bolt of energy at his two adversaries. Ranma tensed to leap away...but then Tarou almost casually reached out, grabbed the back of Ranma's shirt and yanked her in front of him, allowing her to take the brunt of the blast. After a moment, he let his unconscious shield' drop to the ground in a heap, and looked down with a satisfied smirk. "And _that_ was for betraying me to that psychopath Rouge, fem-boy," he sneered. "PANTYHOSE..." growled Happousai, the reverberating tones of his voice telling Tarou even before he looked that his battle aura was growing into giant mode. The Chinese boy's anger once more flared, but he forced it down and remained outwardly calm as he turned towards the old lech once more. "Pantyhose?" he echoed mockingly. "Sure." Reaching into a secret pocket in his vest, he whipped out a pair and tossed it in the air. The angry red aura instantly disappeared as the perverted old man made a lunge for the undergarment...which gave Tarou the perfect opportunity he needed to plant a kick under his chin, sending him flying into the stratosphere with his new goodie. The old man already forgotten, Tarou started to unravel the scroll when a slight noise alerted his senses. Glancing over, he sighed as he watched Ranma clamber painfully to her feet. "You again?" he said in some annoyance. "You're worse than a cockroach, fem-boy. At least when you step on them, they stay dead." "Shut up, you jerk!" Ranma snarled. She took a slightly unsteady step forward. "Give me back that scroll before I have to hurt you." Tarou chuckled again, with genuine amusement. "You? Hurt me? You'd be lucky to do that in full health, and right now you can barely stand on your own two feet." Ranma's expression became, if possible, even more enraged, as Tarou had known it would. The best way to get Ranma to do anything was to point out he/she had no chance at it. Somewhat surprisingly, however, she didn't attack immediately. Instead, she retorted, "What are you gonna do with that scroll anyway? Change your name? What a waste." "Sort of like you curing your curse, eh, fem-boy?" Tarou shot back cooly. "Of course, if you'd had any brains in the first place you would have had that cured long ago, before your stupidity got Jyusenkyou destroyed. And, of course, there's also the fact you've had your piddly little curse for...what? Two years?...while I've had mine my entire life." He turned his attention back to the scroll, making as if to unroll it. Seeing this, Ranma threw caution to the winds and ran forward, hoping to get the scroll away. Tarou, of course, had been expecting exactly this reaction, and as the girl rushed in he snapped into a defensive stance. Once, twice, three times he blocked her strikes with his free arm, and then as she came in for a final blow he slipped to the slide, letting her own momentum carry her past him, and adding a backhand for good measure. "Getting a little slow, fem-boy!" he taunted, as Ranma skidded to a halt. With a growl, she spun around and launched a powerful haymaker, forgetting in her rage that as a girl she had considerably less reach. This was the mistake Tarou had been waiting for. With exaggerated casualness he stepped towards the attack and smashed a foreknuckle into Ranma's face, not even blinking at the fist prematurely stopped only a few inches from his own head. "Like I told you, fem-boy..." Pulling his arm back, he launched a fresh series of foreknuckles, most of which landed on his dazed adversary, and finished with a deadly duo-knuckle strike to the throat that sent the ostensible girl to her knees, gasping for air. It was doubtful whether she even noticed the kick coming, but she certainly felt it, flying back to collide heavily with the wall. Before she even had time to slump, Tarou was there, flicking a palm thrust which she clumsily blocked, then using the diversion to reach out, grab her face, and ram her head into the wall with terrific force. Ranma's eyes glazed over and she fell, dazed. Tarou smirked down at her. "...it's not a good idea to attack people when you're already half dead. Well, ta ta. I'd like to say it's been nice knowing you, but it hasn't. At least it'll be nice to have _never_ known you." Quickly, he walked a few steps away, determined to get this over with before the stubborn imbecile could try to continue the fight. Unravelling the scroll, he studied the archaic characters with a smile. No wonder fem-boy hadn't used the scroll yet. It was rather ancient Mandarin, and he no doubt had needed someone to correctly translate it for him. Tarou, whose nearly lifelong travels had made him fluent in most of the languages of East Asia, had no such difficulties. Still, he carefully read the short inscription, sounding out each syllable in his mind to ensure there would be no mistakes. Finally he was satisfied, and he read the chant aloud, pronouncing each word clearly and distinctly. The characters burned even as he did so, disappearing from the scroll in tiny wisps of smoke. As he finished, Tarou spared one moment to look triumphantly at his most hated enemy, who was slowly rising to her feet. "Nobody saved you this time, fem-boy," he sneered. "After all the times you've gotten in my way, how appropriate that you should deliver a solution to this problem even better than the one I had in mind before." Then he turned his attention back to the scroll. It was blank, seemingly innocuous, but Tarou knew it was simply waiting for the words, the words that during the last few days he had dreamed of uttering...how ironic, that this instrument of sheer, unparalleled power would succeed where his various plots and schemes had failed. But then, he knew better than most that occasionally crude power was the most effective solution... Ranma was up now, and Tarou knew he didn't have any more time to waste. Taking a deep breath, he said calmly, "Very well, scroll. Heed my words. My wish...my wish is that Happousai had never named me!" In response, the scroll started to glow. At first a soft glow, it soon strengthened and expanded, so that within the space of a few heartbeats it was nearly blinding. However, Tarou could not pull his eyes away, even as the light grew until it seemed that it consumed the entire world, and perhaps even beyond. Faintly, he could hear Ranma shout, though whether it was words or simply a cry of rage he could not make out. But all this meant nothing to him. Only one thing ran through his brain: exultation. He had finally done it. He had beaten all the odds. And he didn't even have to worry about building a new life for himself, because now he would have had an ordinary, happy one, the life his name had denied him. He would have friends, relatives, a home...he would see his mother again...this time, things would work out right. Pantyhose Tarou smiled, as everything went black... C&A Productions Presents A New Work of Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction The Ties That Bind Original Concept provided by Robert Morrison Written by Chris McNeil Part 1 Most Unlikely of Siblings Soun Tendo stared at the postcard, tears trickling down his face. It had been so long, and now... "T-they're coming at last!" he cried. "Oh, how I've waited for this day!" Quickly, he got up and searched for his daughters. There was not a moment to lose. "KASUMI!" he cried, even as he walked into the kitchen and saw her slicing a watermelon. "What is it, father?" she replied. He quickly told her the good news, which elicited a small widening of her eyes. "Oh my," she replied. Then she offered him a slice, which he gratefully accepted, and continued her work. After cautioning her to come out to the dining room in a few minutes, Soun walked out and over to the stairwell. "NABIKI!" he called, and then, "AKANE!" After a few moments, his middle daughter walked out of her room with a yawn, but there was no sign of his youngest. Soun felt a flash or irritation that she should be out on this most important of days. "Where _is_ that girl?" he muttered. ******** At the moment, "that girl" was on the last leg of her morning jog. The fresh air and pleasent sensation of the blood waking up in her veins, combined with the beautiful spring morning, had put her in a good mood, and as this was Sunday, she thought about going over to see Yuka later, and perhaps going out to the rink. As she ran into the dojo with a cheerful cry of "I'm home!", she whipped off her sweaty running outfit and pulled on a fresh white gi. Still filled with energy, she quickly set up two concrete blocks, concentrated for a moment, and with a fierce kiai smashed her fist through them. Her blow had been perfect. Standing up from the rubble, she sighed with pleasure, grinned, and wiped her forehead. "That was nice," she said out loud. It was definitely going to be a great day. "There you go again, Akane. No wonder the boys all think you're so weird." Akane turned and scowled at her older sister. Boys were _not_ what she wanted to think about on Sunday. "So why should I care?" she replied irritibly. "Not _everybody_ thinks the world revolves around boys, Nabiki." Affecting a look of disappointent, Nabiki turned away, crossing her arms behind her head. "No?" she said. "Then I guess this wouldn't interest _you_." ******** "FIANCEES!?" Akane exclaimed in disbelief. Completely missing his youngest daughter's mood, Soun smiled. "Yes, the sons of a very good friend of mine. If two of you were to marry them, than we would most certainly have heirs to carry on the training hall, and the Tendo family legacy would be secure." "Wait a minute," Akane interrupted angrily. She could _not_ believe this. The day had started off so perfectly, and now... "Don't _we_ have some say in who we marry?" "Akane's right, father," Kasumi added. "We haven't even _met_ these boys, after all." Soun chuckled. "Oh, you needn't worry about that. They'll be here soon." ******** Several minutes ago, it had started raining. This was not unusual...Tokyo was prone to sudden, short rainshowers, especially in the spring...they happened several times a day. No, it was nothing unusual at all...certainly not unusual when compared to the sight which greeted the pedestrians on a certain street in Nerima ward. As dozens of people looked on in astonishment, they saw a short, red-haired girl running down the road. She had a pigtail, was dressed in a red, Chinese-style shirt, black pants and slightly oversized bracers, and was carrying a backpack and a pair of shoes in her hand. Unusual, certainly, but she was not what made the passersby stare. No, what had attracted everyone's eye was what the girl was running _from_...a huge, black and white panda which was racing after her with surprising agility. As they goggled, the panda growled and made a lunge at the girl, who leaped into the air, tossing her backpack aside. "Cut it OUT!" she cried, flinging herself back into a powerful dropkick that sent the pand skidding on its back down the wet road. As it got to its feet, another girl came walking up from behind, also carrying a backpack and shoes. She was considerably taller than the first, and had short blonde hair with no pigtail. She wore a tight green vest that was somewhat less than modest, baggy green pants, black bracers, and a dull orange sash. Her face wore a disgusted expression. "If you two don't stop fighting," the girl said in a surprisingly husky voice, "we are _never_ going to get there." The panda, rising to its feet, nodded solemnly, provoking even more mutters from the crowd. "Who says I _want_ to get there?" said the red-head sulkily. "I mean, this whole "fiancee" business..." The panda made an irritated growl and took a swipe at her. Angrily, she seized its paw and flipped it over, sending it sprawling against a signpost. Flipping her pigtail back over her shoulder, she grimaced at the second girl. "We should be going back to China." The blonde looked down at herself for a moment, and seemed to see something she didn't like, for when she looked up she had a scowl. "All _I_ want right now is a hot bath. After that, we can discuss going back to Chi..." Suddenly her eyes widened. "Ranma, look..." Even as the red-haired girl began to turn to see what had alarmed her companion, though, a signpost crashed against her head and she collapsed. "...out." the blonde finished lamely. The panda, who had wielded the signpost, slung the red-haired girl over her shoulder. "Was that really necessary, oyaji?" she said flatly. The panda merely snorted and turned. After a moment, it growled ferociously at the gawking passersby, all of whom immediately remembered pressing appointments somewhere else. The blonde rolled her eyes and picked up the other girl's discarded backpack. "This is going to be a _long_ day," she muttered, and then hurried to catch up with the panda. ******** Note: "Oyaji" is a derogatory way of referring to one's father, rather like calling him "old man" in English. ******** "At any rate," Soun continued, "they have been on a training voyage." Pausing for effect, he added, "Recently, it seems, they crossed into China." Nabiki leaned forward, her face showing open interest. "China? Really?" "So they were in China," said Akane flatly, looking away. "Big deal." "Are they cute?" asked Nabiki with some excitement. "How old are they?" inquired Kasumi almost simultaneously. "Younger men...well, they're not usually my type." Soun laughed a bit nervously as his two older daughters looked at him expectantly. Finally, he cleared his throat and said seriously, "I'm afraid I have no idea." Nabiki's eyes narrowed, her excitment snuffed out as if it had never been. "No idea?" she repeated cooly. "I've never met them." Nabiki rolled her eyes and seemed about to unleash a barbed comment when suddenly there was a loud crash of the door opening and several muffled shouts and bangs. "We have visitors," said Kasumi, rising to her feet. "Oooooh! It must be them!" cried Nabiki, and without further adieu both her and their father were running down the hall towards the door. Kasumi followed more slowly, adjusting her hair, while Akane trailed. Her lip curled slightly at the sounds. Boys. And loud, noisy boys at that. Why did her father ever make such a STUPID... She stopped, staring in disbelief, as her father and Nabiki ran back around the corner frantically, pursued by a...a _panda_? And the panda seemed to have something over its shoulder, that was kicking and struggling...she heard a muffled voice, and then the person the panda was carrying raised himself up. "Let me _down_, pop!" the...boy?...said. "This ain't exactly the way to introduce ourselves!" "Father..." said Kasumi, startled, "is _this_ your friend?" Soun shook his head emphatically, prompting an irritated Nabiki to say sarcastically, "Oh, so this panda just happened to visit, huh? Happens all the time!" Akane simply stared, too surprised for words. They all looked, however, as the panda put down its burden; a short, red-haired guy in loose clothes. Before anyone could react, another person walked around the panda, standing slightly behind the first. This one, however, was obviously female despite her somewhat boyish looks, which were right now occupied in glaring at the panda. Akane blinked, confused. Wasn't there supposed to be _two_ boys? Her father stepped forward, hesitantly pointing at them. "You..." he began, then swallowed and continued, "...wouldn't be..." The girl looked at him, then sighed. "Panma Saotome. And that's Ranma," she said, jerking a thumb at the short boy, who looked away. "Sorry bout this," he mumbled. Unknowing or uncaring of the boy's obvious reluctance, Soun grasped him by the shoulders. "At last you've come!" "He IS cute!" added Nabiki, glancing around her father's arm. Meanwhile, Soun pulled the boy into a fierce hug. "It's so good of you to come!" he cried. "So..." and then he broke off, his eyes widening. Shoving the boy away from him, he stared incredulously down at him. Akane looked to see what had alarmed him, and her eyes widened as she noticed the definite bulges on the "boy's" chest that would have been very apparent in tighter clothing. Scowling, Nabiki walked forward and poked at the new arrival's chest, which caused him' to blush somewhat and quietly ask her to stop. Ignoring the protest, Nabiki turned to her father and flatly stated, " He'...is a girl." ******** "Poor father,' Kasumi sighed, wetting a cloth, "He's so disappointed." Soun Tendo was lying on a futon, tears leaking from his eyes. He had had a small nervous collapse after the revelation of Ranma's actual gender, but seemed to be recovering now. "HE'S disappointed?" snapped Nabiki. "Some fiancees these are!" As she spoke, Ranma looked down, obviously uncomfortable, while Panma, sitting next to her, grimaced and muttered something under her breath. Akane felt a surge of sympathy for them, and glared over at her sisters. "Stop it, you two!" she said. "Boys or girls, they're still our guests!" Nabiki snorted, and continued as if Akane hadn't spoken. "This is all your fault, daddy. You should have made sure!" "He said they were SONS!" protested their father, coming to life at last. Angrily, Nabiki reached over and grabbed Ranma's chest again. "Do _you_ see a son here?" she demanded. "Well, do..." she broke off as her hand was seized in an iron grip and jerked away from Ranma's chest. Looking over in surprise, she blinked as she saw her hand was held by Panma, who was scowling. "I think your point has been made," she said, dangerously quietly. "How would you like it if I fondled YOUR chest in front of everybody? Especially if..." she broke off, looking away, then shoved Nabiki's hand away. "Just cut it out." Akane thought that now would be a good time to try to defuse the situation. Truth be told, she was glad they had turned out to be girls anyway, and it was unfair to make them feel guilty because of their gender. Standing up, she gave the two a warm smile. "Hey, how about we go to the practice hall?" The two looked up; Ranma in slight confusion and Panma with surprise and a bit of suspicion. Both to be expected, she supposed, after the awful reception they'd gotten. Well, she'd see what she could do to fix that. "My name's Akane," she said. "Want to be friends?" Ranma gave her a small, hesitant smile, while Panma merely cocked an eyebrow, but her expression seemed less hostile than before. Both followed her out as she led them to the dojo. "You guys do kempo, right?" "A little," Ranma replied. Panma looked at her for a moment as if about to say something, but then apparently decided against it. "Well, why don't we have a little match, then?" she invited as they entered the dojo. The two girls looked dubious, so she added, "Just for fun. Don't worry, I won't hurt you." Ranma still looked unsure, but Panma abruptly smiled and waved her hand. "Sounds good to me," she said. "Why don't you take this match, Ranma?" "I guess," said the red-head, quickly moving to be opposite Akane. She didn't attempt to into any sort of fighting stance, however. Panma, chuckling over something, walked over and leaned against the wall. Akane could feel the girl's sharp blue-grey eyes on her, but ignored them, concentrating on her opponent. Ranma still hadn't made any moves towards a proper stance. It looked like this wasn't going to be much of a match after all. That was strange, since with all the training her father had said they did, she would expect them to be pretty good... Charging forward, she threw a simple straight punch. She was somewhat surprised as Ranma sprang into the air to dodge it, but quickly countered with a thrust kick, forcing her to swing her legs apart or be tagged. As she landed, slightly off-balance, Akane smiled and fired a sharp jab...which was dodged. Instinctively she shot out with another kick, but Ranma ducked it with ease and then returned to her casual upright stance. Akane scowled. "What's wrong?" she demanded. "Attack me!" Quickly, she fired off a series of jabs, but every one was dodged or ducked by Ranma with apparent ease. Breathing heavily, Akane took a step back. The girl had still not attempted to counterattack. Why was she missing? Was Ranma reading her moves somehow? Alright, maybe this was going to be tougher than she thought. Eyes narrowing, she shifted her stance slightly, brining her fists low. This time for real, she thought. Suddenly, she charged forward, her fist snapping out with incredible speed...and smashed through the dojo wall, wood easily splintering from the force of the impact. Akane froze with disbelief for a moment, and then felt a tap on the back of the head. Slowly, she turned...and saw Ranma. The red-haired girl rubbed the back of her head, and laughed a little. Akane joined in a moment later, a bit weakly. She had never expected that anyone could be so...so FAST. She'd have to train harder if she was going to keep up with them. Panma didn't laugh, but as Akane glanced at her, she smiled slightly, and then abruptly stood straight and began to walk for the door. "I'll go draw a bath, br...Ranma," she tossed over her shoulder. Ranma blinked, and her laugh cut off. "Are you sure..." But Panma was already gone. Ranma stared after her sister for a moment, until Akane cleared her throat. "Umm...you're pretty good," she said. "Is Panma that good too?" "Panma? Uh, yeah...yeah, we're about equal, I guess. Not quite the same, but..." she thought for a moment. "Yeah, actually we're tied right now. I guess we'll have a match soon." Akane was somewhat confused by that. Did Ranma mean they actually had fights all the...no, noone could possibly want to do that. Maybe they just did spars until first strike or something. Yeah, probably it. "Well, I'm kinda glad you turned out to be a girl," she said, turning to head out the door as well. "Huh?" said Ranma. "Why's that?" Akane looked back over her shoulder. "It's just...I'd really hate to lose to a boy." "Uh...yeah." Ranma looked nervous for some reason. She probably hadn't quite relaxed yet, Akane decided. Well, that would be fixed soon, if she had anything to say about it. ******** Ranma rinsed the soap off herself, shivering. That water was _cold_! Walking over to the bath, she looked over at Panma, who was leaning against the side of the tub, relaxing. "Looks like you've been here awhile." "The old man had already been here." "Great," muttered Ranma, sliding into the steaming water with no hesitation, and immediately heaved a sigh of relief. "My sentiments exactly," Panma commented. "So NOW what are we supposed to do?" Ranma demanded. ******** "Hey, Akane," said Nabiki, poking her head out of the kitchen. "Oneechan says the bath's ready." "Thanks," replied Akane. She could definitely use a nice bath, and it would be a good chance to chat with Ranma and Panma. Heading upstairs, she grabbed a towel from the closet and stepped into the bathroom. If a hot bath couldn't relax those two, nothing would. ******* "You're asking _me_?" said Panma incredulously. "How should I know?" "Aren't you the one with all the answers?" responded Ranma with a smirk. "Not for _this_, thank you very much." Panma paused, than grimaced and added, "but if you ask me, we should probably get it over with." ******** Shedding the last of her clothes, Akane picked up her towel and headed for the door to the bath. She could hear Ranma and Panma talking behind it, but the voices were muffled. Smiling, she reached for the handle... ******** "You're probably right," said Ranma reluctantly. "Aren't I always?" grinned Panma. Ignoring that, Ranma walked to the side of the pool and began climbing out. "Well, like you said, might as well..." The door slid open, and Ranma's head jerked over, to see Akane standing in the door, naked except for a towel that was, thankfully, draped over most of her front. For a moment, there was utter, stunned silence. Then Akane slowly looked down, taking in Ranma's muscular, obviously male chest, and certain other...definitively male parts. Then the door slid shut again, with her on the other side. There was a moment of silence as Ranma, his face crimson, stared at the shut door. Then the silence was broken as Panma snickered loudly. Ranma looked over at him with a baleful expression, which if anything, increased his brother's mirth. "Well," he said between chuckles, "that sort of takes the matter out of our hands, doesn't it?" Ranma opened his mouth to reply, then winced as an ear-splitting shriek came from the bathroom. "Maybe _you_ think it's funny..." "Look on the bright side, brother mine," said Panma, looking serious. "If they push the fiancee thing, at least now you know that one is well-built!" Ranma's flush returned, in spades. "She's average..." he mumbled. Panma laughed uproariously, jerking a thumb at the door, where they could still hear the scream, getting fainter as the girl ran throughout the house. "She certainly...seemed to think...YOU were pretty average, too!" he gasped, then nearly collapsed with fresh howls of mirth at his brother's indignant expression. Muttering to himself, Ranma climbed out of the water and grabbed his towel. "Yeah, well we better go explain before she does something crazy." Still grinning hugely, Panma climbed out as well. "To _you_, maybe. I don't think she even noticed me." He elbowed Ranma in the ribs. "Maybe you weren't so unimpressive after all, huh?" ******** "EEEEEEEEEYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Screaming at the top of her lungs, Akane ran down the stairs, out to the garden, and looked for the nearest heavy object. She found it in the stone shrine, and with an effort she ripped the large rock from the top of it. She had had to stop screaming for this, but that wasn't too bad, because it allowed her to give voice to her thoughts. "I'll weigh him down! I'll drown him in the bathtub!" As she began stalking back inside, she was met by her sisters. "What is it, Akane?" asked Nabiki. "What's the rock for?" "There's a PERVERT in the bathroom!" she snarled. Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you just kill him?" "Because I was AFRAID!" shot back Akane. She certainly had been. Just walking in there, and some...some GUY there...it had been enough of an effort to stay long enough to whip on her gi and slippers. "That's odd," said Kasumi with some concern, looking over at the hall. "I thought Ranma and Panma were in there just now..." Both she and Nabiki blinked, staring. "Who are _you_!?' asked Nabiki, as Akane turned around. Standing there were two boys. One was slim, with short blue-black hair and blue-grey eyes. His features were more than a little effeminate-looking, and he was dressed in the same outfit Panma had had on earlier, though the green vest fit that male chest somewhat better. His lips were twitching as if he was trying to keep from grinning. The other, Akane realized with a surge of anger, was the pervert from the bathroom, and oddly, he was dressed in _Ranma's_ clothes. They also seemed to fit him much better than they had fit the red-haired girl. He was looking down, flushed slightly with embaressment, and was rubbing the back of his head. "Uhh..." he said hesitantly, "I'm Ranma Saotome, and this is Panma." "Sorry about this," added Panma with a perfectly straight face.