Well, here's the much-delayed next installment of my story.  Over the past
two months I've been busy at work and seeing friends and going to cons that
I haven't had much time to write.  Plus I had to overcome some writer's block
on this part.

Strangely enough, after my little hiatus, the installments seem to be
getting larger in length.  This ep is almost twice as long as the others,
and the trend seems to be continuing into Part 10.  Clearly my muse is still
trying to figure things out.

Comments and criticism (especially criticism) welcome.

-------------  ----------------------------------------------------------------
  Ranma 1/2     "The Nature of the Curse"
 Hard Battle    Story by Douglas MacDougall
-------------  ----------------------------------------------------------------

    Originally posted 11 Mar 1999.
    The latest parts and revisions of this story are available at:
    http://www.crosswinds.net/boston/~dougmacd/works.html

    Ranma 1/2 (c) Rumiko Takahashi / Shogakukan * Kitty Film * Fuji TV.
    Exclusively licensed throughout the United States and Canada by Viz
    Communications, Inc.  This fan fiction is for private home use only;
    it may be freely redistributed, but not altered or used for profit.

    Not Rated.  Parental Guidance Suggested.

-------------  ----------------------------------------------------------------
   Part  9      Encyclopedia Jusenkyo: A Living Thesis
-------------  ----------------------------------------------------------------

    At any other school, the girls might have found the young man's grin
roguish, and sighed at how it complemented his noble face.  The face of a
dashing hero.  With a practiced air he flipped the stylish locks of wavy hair
away from his eyes and stared at Nabiki with complete self-confidence.

    "No doubt he fears my vengeance."

    The scary thing was that, for once, Kuno might be right.

    Nabiki and her classmates were sitting in homeroom, waiting for the
teacher to arrive and the first bell to ring.  There was a general bustle of
students milling about and talking to each other.

    This was now the third day that Kuno had asked about Akira Tsu.  The
transfer student from China had gotten off to a running start with the other
chaos-makers by temporarily cursing Akane to turn into a boy.  As a side
effect, he managed to draw the attention of Kuno, who apparently had the
notion that the new boy was responsible for cursing the Pig-Tailed Girl to
turn into a man, and that he had attempted to do the same to Akane.

    Kuno had attacked Akira, and had only been stopped at the last moment by
Miss Hinako.  The best part of the whole situation, from Nabiki's point of
view, was that the boy had no fighting skills whatsoever, so he'd have to turn
to her for protection.

    Only, after their first meeting, she hadn't seem him again.  He had
simply not shown up at school for the past two days.  She had looked up the
address that was listed in his school records, but it had turned out to be a
hotel.  Apparently he and his family had not yet moved into their permanent
address.

    She was vaguely dissatisfied about the whole thing.  Akira should have
provided at least a month's worth of distraction, but things were already
settling down to a new status quo.  Had he actually transferred to another
school to avoid Kuno?

    Her worries disappeared when she heard a not-quite-familiar voice behind
her muttering in frustration.  "Stupid cart..."

    Smiling, she turned around to see Akira walk into class, holding his
jacket away from his body.  It, his shirt, and a the top of his pants were all
dripping wet.  As least his wrist had healed; it was no longer in a sling.

He plopped his book bag on the table, and draped his jacket over the back
of his chair.  Muttering under his breath, Akira had missed the look from
Nabiki and the intense stare from Kuno.

    "Nice to see you back, Akira," greeted Nabiki.

    The boy glanced at her.  "Nabiki.  Thank you."  He bowed slightly.  "I'm
glad I can get back to classes."

    "So you return to face the Blue Thunder..."

    "Upperclassman Kuno!"  Akira visibly shrank as the other boy approached.
Actually, seeing them together, she thought Akira might be the taller of the
two.  It was hard to tell with the current bend in Akira's spine.

    "C'mon, Kuno-baby.  Sit down.  You'll have plenty of time to get 'Kira
later in the day."  She wrinkled her nose.  What WAS that smell?  Fish?

    Kuno frowned for a moment, but then grinned maniacally.  "Indeed!
Everyone should be present to witness my victory over this sorcerer.  I shall
publicly protect Akane Tendo and free the Pig-Tailed Girl from his grasp!
HA Ha ha!!"

    "Kuno!"  The Voice of Authority barked from the front of the class.

    The Kendo champion sat down as quickly as the other students, having no
desire to be forced into the hall and hold buckets of water.

    "Very well, if we're all done," the homeroom teacher glanced at the class,
lingering on Kuno, "I'll get to attendance."  After reading through about two
thirds of the list, he finally came to Akira.   "Well, Mr. Tsu, I'm glad you
decided to grace our halls with your presence.  And where have you been for
the last two days?"

    "Out sick, sir."

    "Do you have a doctor's note?"

    "Yes, sir."  He pulled a slip out of his book bag and walked up to the
teacher in the front of the class.  Professor Chokai glanced at the sheet and
placed in down next to his supplies.

    "Very well, Mr. Tsu.  But that doesn't excuse your current condition.
You're expected to come to school well-groomed and properly dressed.  I won't
have this class turn into another 1-F."

    Nabiki smirked at the teacher's reference to Ranma and Akane's homeroom.
No doubt that would be a nightmare for any teacher.  Even Prof. Chokai.  He
had been specifically assigned by the Vice Principal to deal with Takewaki
Kuno, and was perhaps the most strong-willed teacher at Furinkan.

    "I, uh, had an accident on the way over, sir.  With a fish cart."

    "Go to the bathroom and wash yourself off.  And I'll see you after class!"

    "Yes, sir."

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    As it turned out, the professor only wanted to see Akira about getting
someone to deliver class work to him if he were sick again.  He was too new to
the school to afford to miss any, and the teacher assumed that he hadn't had
the time to make friends with new students on the two days he had been at
Furinkan so far.  Thus, Prof. Chokai had assigned someone from the class to
make sure he got his work.

    That someone was Nabiki.

    She supposed she had been picked because the professor had seen the two of
them talking before class.  Well, Akira had been talking to Kuno as well, but
Prof. Chokai wasn't a sadist.

    She didn't think it would be too much trouble, either.  Now she could find
out where his permanent address was without having to sneak back into the
school records.  And she didn't think she'd ever have to actually give him
any missing work.  He seemed to genuinely like school, and wouldn't miss it
short of the most serious illness.  Which brought her to her current
interrogation.

    The two had been late to lunch, and so had grabbed a pair of seats
together in the cafeteria.  Nabiki had brought her bento and juice, and Akira
was forced to buy the leavings from the lunch lady.

    "What the hell is soup-bread?"  Akira stared at the sealed plastic bag
containing a soggy roll, leaking some sort of yellowy-green fluid.  With
some trepidation he tried to pull the bag open without getting the greasy
fluid on his hands.  He only partially succeeded.

    "So you were out with a cold?"

    "Yes."  He shook the roll out of the bag and onto his tray, where it
continued to leak.  Seeing no place to pick it up with his hands, he started
poking at it with chopsticks.  "It was pretty bad.  Fever, sneezing, cough.
All the typical symptoms.  That's what I get for walking outside during a
storm."

    "What, the one on Tuesday night?"

    "Yes.  I still had the sling then, plus I was trying to carry Xian-Pu
home, so I had real problems even though I managed to find an umbrella.  By
the time I arrived home I was soaking wet."

    "Weren't you staying at the hotel, then?"

    Holding the roll up with his chopsticks, Akira nibbled around the edge.
Juices dribbled down the chopsticks and onto his hands.  Grabbing a paper
napkin he wiped it off and distractedly replied, "Yes.  That's right.  We
moved into our house the next day."

    "Didn't they have shampoo in your room?  Or the hotel lobby?"

    "Excuse me?"

    "Why on earth did you walk outside in that weather just to buy some
shampoo?  You have some sort of favorite Chinese brand, or something?"

    Akira gave her a weird look.  "Buy Xian-Pu?"

    "Yeah.  You said you carried shampoo home."

    "Yes.  Back to the Cat Cafe."

    "Back to--  Wait, you mean Ranma's fiancee Shampoo?"

    "Yes.  She was a cat at the time, so he didn't want to carry her."

    Nabiki smirked at the idea of Ranma attempting to carry a cat.  Run with
it at it clinging to his back, maybe... "No, I don't imagine he would."

    "The restaurant was locked, but there was a little kitty door that I was
able to push her through.  By the time I got home I was soaked to the bone
and freezing cold."  He shivered in remembrance.

    "I suppose you could get a nasty cold after doing that."  Something Akira
had said just registered with Nabiki's brain.  "Hey, wait.  What do you mean,
'Ranma didn't want to carry Shampoo'?  He was with you?"

    The boy scratched his head.  Glancing at his still-sticky hand, he quickly
regretted it.  "Well, yeah, we were at your place."

    "The night of the storm?"

    "Yes.  Around two in the morning."

    Nabiki furrowed her brows.  "And what exactly were you, Ranma, and
Shampoo doing at our house at that time of the night?  I didn't hear any...
noises," she said suggestively.

    Akira started to laugh uneasily.  "Aheh.  Well, it's nothing like you're
making it sound like, I can assure you."

    "Can you, now?"  One of her eyebrows arched up.

    "Heh.  Um."  Akira was rather flustered for a few moments before asking,
"On a completely unrelated note, is Ranma still living at your house?"

    "What?"  Where on earth had that remark come from?  She was further
distracted as she saw Kuno striding up behind Akira's chair.  He had changed
from a school uniform into his kendo outfit, resting his bokken over his
shoulder.  He stopped imposingly behind Akira.

    "Is Ranma still living at your house?"

    "I heard what you said, I just don't why you would ask."

    Kuno cleared his throat.

    "Like I said, it's just an... unrelated question.  And, uh, you haven't
answered it yet."

    "You noticed."  Nabiki glanced up at Kuno, who was growing somewhat
distressed that the boy he was looming over did not even realize he was
there.

    "Are you going to tell me?"

    "Are YOU going to tell me what you were doing at our house at two in
the morning?"  She wondered whether Akira had purposefully tried to change the
conversation, or was just naturally scatterbrained.  Probably the latter.  He
struck her as the nerd-type, who couldn't stick to a subject if he tried.
Well, this would bring the topic back to its proper place, and if she knew
Kuno...

    Now smoldering, Kuno lowered his sword onto Akira's shoulder.  "And just
what were you doing at the house of Akane Tendo?  Plotting with Saotome?!"

    Finally, Akira noticed the sword, and the boy holding it, standing right
behind him.  Startled, he jumped back, tripping over his chair, and falling
backwards.  He knocked his head on the table on his way down, which catapulted
Nabiki's food into the air and onto himself.

    She frowned.  "Now look what you've done."

    He slowly got up, brushing off large quantities of rice and vegetables
that had once been part of Nabiki's bento.  Grape juice dripped off his shirt.
"Why me?" he moaned.

    "I will have justice, sorcerer.  You are clearly in league with that
wretch Saotome in stealing the fair pig-tailed girl's body, and attempting to
do the same to the beauteous Akane Tendo. Your days of hiding are at an end!"
Kuno had done a good job of projecting his voice during his little speech, and
now most of the students in the cafeteria were looking in their direction.

    "Are you sure we can't just talk about this?"

    "And give you a chance to ensorcel me with your words?!"  Kuno raised his
bokken forward and in front of him, a striking position.

    Akira backed into the table and turned his head back to look at Nabiki,
without taking his eyes off of Kuno.  "Some help, please?"

    Nabiki grinned.  Not that Akira could see it, staring at Kuno like a
cornered rat.  "I'd love to, but there's still the matter of payment..."

    "Whatever!  Just help me!"

    "How about..."  Nabiki paused, as if thinking, before naming exactly what
she wanted.  "A packet of Instant Spring of Drowned Man?"

    "Spring.. of... Drowned... MAN..."  Kuno's smoldering turned into full-
fledged flames.  Pretty impressive flames, too.

    "What?"  Now Akira did risk a look back at Nabiki.  "Those things are
worth 37,500 yen!"  Involuntarily, she raised her eyebrows in surprise.  She
could get a good television set for as much!

    "And you've got a dozen of these things in your bag?" the incredulous
words came out of her mouth before the could stop them.  That was almost
half a million yen worth of merchandise!

    Akira blinked. "Yeah.  Thirteen, actually."  He frowned.  "How did you
know--?"

    Kuno finally snapped, "WILL YOU STOP IGNORING ME?!?  Feel the vengeance
of heaven!  Divine Retribution!!!"  His last words were punctuated by a
crash of lightning just outside.  From his ready position, it didn't even take
a second to bring the sword down.

    "Sorry, comin' through!"  A blue and black blur resolved into Ranma as
it perched temporarily on Kuno's face, and then launched itself back into
motion.

    "Ranma!  Watch where you're going!"  Akane followed a few steps behind.

    Nabiki blinked at the passers-by, and watched Akira and Kuno, who were
frozen in place.  Kuno was in mid-stroke, and Akira was holding his hands
above his head, trying to fend off the blow.  The two held their positions for
five seconds.  Ten seconds.  "Guys?"

    The nerve impulses finally reaching his brain, Kuno fell over and
passed out from the footplant on his face.  Then Akira opened an eye and
looked at the comatose form.  "What...?"

    "Well, I guess you won't need my help for the moment after all.  That will
just give us some more time to negotiate on my fees."

    "What... was that?"  Akira was still looking around in confusion.

    "That was the Ranma express.  And Akane the caboose."  A gentle hiss
started to come from the darkened skies outside.  "Looks like they wanted to
beat the rain inside."

    "Wow.  He helped me out, even after everything I've done to him."

    Did that have anything to do with his remark about Ranma still living at
their house?  Or why he was over in the middle of the night two days ago?
Her curiosity was starting to get the better of her.  She never liked it when
things were going on that she didn't know about.  Plus there was the other
small matter...

    "Ahem?"

    "Mmm.  What?"  The boy looked in confusion at her upturned palm.  "Oh,
our little arrangement.  Ah, tell you what.  I'll get back to you tomorrow
morning about whether I need your assistance, okay?  I'm not sure whether
it's worth that much."

    "Alright."  Nabiki put on her best smile.  Thinking she was satisfied, he
started to go after Akane and Ranma.

    "Um?"  She spoke with just the right tone of innocence and accusation.

    "Uh, what?"  Akira looked at her in confusion.  If she had any say, she'd
make sure he never left that state in her presence.

    "My money?"

    "But... Tomorrow?"

    "What about my lunch?"

    "Eh?"

    "You knocked my lunch off the table.   Now what am I going to eat?"  She
batted her eyes innocently.  Or at least a reasonable approximation thereof.

    Akira blinked.  A bit of rice fell out of his hair.  He sighed, and pulled
out his wallet.  Keeping her hand out, she continued to smile, as her placed
the bills in her hand.  His training was coming along quite well.

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    "I'm telling you, Akane, it's true!"

    "She's your MOTHER, for crying out loud!"

    "Don't you think I know that?  That's why it's so weird!"

    Akane rolled her eyes and sniffed.  "I know you have a high opinion of
yourself, but there's no way your own mother is attracted to you, Ranma."

    "What do you call it, then?!  She keeps on walking in on me in the bath,
and undresses in front of me in the bedroom!"

    "You're reading too much into it.  Auntie Saotome isn't like that."

    Ranma looked dubious, but seemed mollified.  "Maybe."

    "Anyway, it wouldn't make her the only person who's been acting weird,
lately."

    "No kidding."

    Akane looked surprised.  "You noticed it, too?"

    "Well, yeah!  You-- Uh... You.   Yuka!  Yeah, Yuka has been acting
really weird, the past few days."

    Akane frowned at him slightly.  "You mean Sayuri?"

    Ranma sighed in relief.  Nice save!  What was he thinking, trying to tell
Akane she was acting funny?

    Over the past few days, she had been acting especially nice to him.  Well,
excepting the Instant Spring incident.  Not that she wasn't nice normally.
Sure, when she got upset, she could get violent, but that really didn't happen
very often.

    Maybe nice wasn't the word.  She was acting... closer.  Like, instead of
walking beside him, she walked right next to him.  He could almost imagine the
hairs of her arm brush against his own.  There was an almost palpable sense of
her presence near to his skin.  And the day after the storm, she had hauled
him down from the fence he normally walked on to school.  "C'mon, there're no
puddles.  You can walk down here with me, for once," she had said.

    There were other things, too.  Like now.  The past couple days she had
been eating lunch with him, instead of her friends.  Just now they had been
eating outside alone, and when it started to rain, they had come back to the
classroom, rather then eat with everyone else in the cafeteria.

    "Earth to Ranma, are you even paying attention?" Akane waved her hand in
front of Ranma's face.

    He snapped out of his thoughts and laughed, "Wh- Why of course I'm
paying attention!"  Just don't ask me to prove it...

    "SURE you are."  He couldn't identify the look she gave him.  "I guess it
only makes sense that you'd be acting weird, too."

    Ranma kept his mouth shut.

    "Anyway, like I was saying, Sayuri's only acting weird because UKYO's been
acting weird."

    "Huh?  Ukyo's the same as always."

    "What planet have you been on?  She's always dressed like a guy, but now
she's starting to act like a guy!"

    "What does THAT mean?"

    "It means that she's not doing anything even remotely feminine.  She
hasn't been socializing with any of the girls.  Heck, no one's even seen her
in the locker room or the bathroom the past few days."

    "You're checking to see if Ukyo goes to the bathroom?"  Girls were weird.

    "The POINT is, she hasn't been seen with girls anywhere.  She's almost
exclusively hanging out with you and the guys."

    Thinking about it, Ranma realized it was true.  "Yeah, now that you
mention it.  The guys think it's great.  She's hanging around so much, and
she's so easy to get along with, that some of them have even thought about
asking her out."

    "They should."

    "What?"

    "If a boy doesn't ask her out first...  Well, there are some GIRLS who
have been thinking about asking her out, too.  It's like they've forgotten
that she's a girl, herself.  Of course, since they never see her changing
anymore, it's only reinforcing the idea..."

    "How could they forget that she's a girl?!  That's all the guys can think
about!"

    "Yes, well boys will be boys."  She frowned.  "I guess the girls see a
dashing young man who doesn't leer at them like the other boys do."

    "But she's a GIRL!"

    "Who can tell, with the bindings and boy's uniform?  It's not like she's
showing any curves.  And her hair's short enough to satisfy the principal!"

    That wasn't completely true.  Ukyo's hair was only a little shorter then
Akane's, but it had been tapered in the back, so it had much less volume.
"What's wrong with short hair?"  Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

    "Perhaps you've heard the expression that 'a girl's hair is her life'?
It's like she's... giving up her life as a girl.  Forsaking her femininity, or
something."

    Akane was surprised to see Ranma flinch at the remark.  "Do you really
think that a girl's hair is her life?"

    Akane was surprised at his response and tone.  She would have figured him
to make some insulting remark about girls.  Maybe he was beginning to take her
observations seriously.  "Well, maybe it's not her life, but it is an
important part of a girl's identity.  I mean, since we have to wear a school
uniform, and can't wear any jewelry or makeup at school, it's one of the only
ways we can show off our personality.

    "Since Ukyo's hair was so long, she must have spent years growing it out,
and caring for it so she didn't get split ends.  Washing, drying, and brushing
that much hair isn't easy.  For a no-nonsense type like her to put up with all
the trouble, it really must have meant something to her."

    Ranma looked down at his empty bento, tapping the side of the box with his
chopsticks.  "I thought..."  He looked up at her.  "So you're saying it means
something when a girl grows her hair long?"

    Akane nodded.

    Ranma glanced down at his bento, apparently thinking.  Hopefully he would
take Akane's words to heart and realize that something was up with Ukyo.
At first Akane thought that she was 'upping the ante' for Ranma, but that
didn't make any sense.  She wasn't making herself a better woman for Ranma;
she was making herself into a boy!  And she wasn't trying to date or do
anything romantic with him either.  She was just... hanging out with him more
often.

    Akane might have gotten jealous if she herself weren't spending more time
with him.  She had hoped he might come to his senses after Jusenkyo and
realize that she was the girl for him, but he barely showed how he felt.  So
she decided that she would MAKE him see.  The past few days she had tried to
be nice to him, even when he was a jerk.

    If only she could be more forward.  The idea no longer bothered her.  It
wasn't like she was giving in and admitting that she... She stumbled over the
word, even in her thoughts.

    If only she could act like a normal girl.  Holding his hand, smiling at
him...  But what if she screwed that up like every other 'feminine' thing she
tried?  If she couldn't approach Ranma the way she wanted, maybe she could
make him approach her.  She would make him show that he loved her!

    It was just the curse, she was sure.  That was the only thing keeping him
away from her.  If he weren't so worried about being 'half-a-man', he would be
able to admit his feelings.  Having lived half a day as a boy herself, she
knew that the curse could cause...  reactions that had nothing to do with your
sexual preferences.  She tried not to blush at the thought, ruthlessly pushing
down the memory.

    A- Anyway, after a few days ago, it was apparent that he really did have
problems with his girl body.  She wanted to make sure he was comfortable with
her even as a girl.  He needed to know that she understood his problem, and
accepted it.  Then maybe he could accept himself.  And her.

    Now if only Ukyo didn't keep appearing out of nowhere whenever Ranma
turned into a girl...

    As she drifted out of her thoughts, she realized that she was staring at
Ranma.  His gray eyes.  And he was looking back at her.

    "Akane?  Did you...  Um, what did it mean when your hair was long?"

    She blinked at the question, which seemed to come out of nowhere.  "What?
Why do you want to know?"  She wasn't sure she wanted to tell him, anyway.  He
already knew she had had a silly crush on Tofu.  If he found out that she had
tried to look more like Kasumi, or that the crush had lasted years...

    "I just...  I mean, if you had your hair long for a reason, then when it
got cut..."

    "Don't worry about it Ranma.  I got over it a long time ago."  She
unconsciously ran her hand up the back of her neck, running her fingers
through her ends of her hair.

    "I mean, I think your hair looks better now, but I guess you had a reason
to grow your hair long in the first place..."

    "So you like short hair?" she asked mischievously.

    "I think it looks cute on you."  The words must have slipped out of his
lips without his knowledge, because he instantly started to correct himself.
"Uh, what I mean to say is--"

    "Hello there!"  Akira poked his head into the doorway of the classroom.

    She would rather have stayed alone in the room with Ranma, but she didn't
particularly want to give him the time to finish taking back his complement,
either.  So she quickly waved, "Hello, Akira.  How are things going?"

    "Good and bad.  I wanted to thank you guys for saving me from Kuno."

    "Kuno?  What's he want?"  Ranma seemed to have quickly composed himself,
either forgetting or ignoring his previous remarks.

    "He thinks I'm some sort of magician that turned the 'pig-tailed girl'
into you, Ranma.  And tried to do the same to Akane.  I think he wants to
kill me..."

    "Nah, Kuno's harmless enough.  He talks big, but I don't think he could
seriously hurt anyone."

    "He could seriously hurt me!  I don't know kung-fu, like you guys!"

    "Musabetsu kakuto ryu," mumbled Ranma.  "I meant that he WOULDN'T
seriously hurt anyone.  He's real good with that stick of his.  He could hit
you pretty hard without cutting you or breaking any bones."

    "That makes me feel SO much better," he replied sarcastically, tugging at
his T-shirt.

    Akane noticed the gesture and asked, "Why aren't you wearing your school
shirt?"  For some reason, he seemed a lot more... familiar without a collar.

    The boy pulled his finger away from his shirt, apparently just noticing
it.  "I, uh, had an accident with a fish cart this morning that spilled shaved
ice and eel all over my jacket.  A few minutes ago I got your sister's grape
juice over my shirt and had to wash it out.  RIght now the clothes are drying
in my classroom.

    "I swear, everywhere I turn, I'm being thrown into water, splashed with
something, or finding myself caught in the rain.  What's with this town?"

    "Welcome to Nerima."  Ranma smirked.

    Akane knew she was the cause of Akira getting thrown into the pool and
canal, but she was curious about the others.  She could only remember one time
it had rained recently.  "Did you get caught in that storm a few nights ago?"

    He blinked.  "Well, yes.  When I was coming back from your ho--"

    Akane was somewhat startled as Ranma suddenly sat up straight and loudly
interrupted, "So, what brings you here, now?"

    Akira blinked a few times, taken aback by the sudden subject change and
the intensity of Ranma's look.  "Ah, yes.  After hearing that you went to
Jusenkyo, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?"

    Akane noticed a suspicious glance from Ranma, as he answered, "What?"

    "Well, I've lived most of my life next to Jusenkyo--"

    Ranma interrupted him again.  "You what?!"

    "Well, a few hundred meters away.  Whenever we walked to Nyuchezu, we had
to skirt the outside of the springs."

    Ranma barked, "Why on earth did you live there?"

    Akira looked a little offended, "It's just where my parents decided to
live.  They were found there by the villagers and decided to build a house
nearby."

    "And none of you got cursed?"

    He twitched, "We didn't live IN Jusenkyo; we lived near it."

    Akane grinned.  "You'll have to forgive Ranma.  He lives next to one
tiny little koi pond, and he manages to fall into it once a day.  He can't
imagine someone living near a hundred pools and not falling into at least one
of them."  She grinned at her fiance, who looked none too pleased by the
remark.  "Anyway, you were saying...?"

    "Ah, yes.  I spent most of my life near Jusenkyo, learning about it and
its history from Pii-Chu.  I've decided to write a book about what he's told
me, to serve as a reference to his daughter.  I hope to have it published, as
well.  I'm titling it the Encyclopedia Jusenkyo.

    I'd like to interview curse victims to learn their specific experiences
with the springs.  I was wondering if you might allow me to write a chapter
about you and your experiences."

    Akane noticed an interesting interplay of emotions on Ranma's face.  First
and foremost was pride.  No doubt he liked the idea of someone writing about
him, but she guessed that he still had some reservations.  She suspected that
he would rather have people write about him as Ranma the Martial Artist,
rather then Ranma the Boy Who Turns into a Girl.

    Also, she didn't think Ranma trusted Akira very much.  He was still
uncomfortable about the gender switching earlier in the week, and held Akira
responsible.  Well, it WAS his fault, but Akane had forgiven him, and she
didn't think Ranma should do any less.

    Besides, the book sounded like a good idea.  It could be given to all the
curse victims as a sort of how-to book on dealing with their curses.  They
could see how other people had dealt with the same curse.  A book like that
would certainly have helped Ranma!

    And so, while it looked like Ranma was just about to refuse, Akane
answered, "Sure!  He'd love to!"

    Ranma shot her a startled glance, but just shrugged off any objections he
might of had.  "OK.  Whatever."

    "Great!  I have a series of questions that I've asked all the people whom
I've already interviewed.  I'd like to start with those, and them ask some
questions more specific to your own experiences."  He started shuffling
through his book bag, and pulled out a spiral-bound notebook.

    Ranma looked at the expectant boy.  "What, you want to interview me now?"

    "Yes, if you have the time."

    "Well, I got until the end of lunch, anyway."

    "That's great!  The first few questions should be pretty simple, anyway."

    "OK.  Shoot."

    "First of all, how did you get cursed?"  Akira asked the question eagerly,
holding a pen up to his book.  As Ranma started talking, the boy took notes.

    He didn't need really need to think about his response.  "Well, my old man
took me there for martial arts training.  We were on a training voyage, and he
was looking for all the good spots to teach me.  He'd never heard of Jusenkyo
before, but somehow he got a brochure for it."  He muttered under his breath.
"Don't know why anyone would print a BROCHURE for the place.

    "Anyway, even though he can't read a word of Chinese, he must've thought
he understand the kanji well enough, 'cause he was sure it was a training
ground."

    "Do you think he might have been drawn to Jusenkyo?"

    "Huh?"

    "Do you think his desire to go to the Cursed Springs went beyond all
reason?   Some people think that the victims are lured in by their magic."

    "I wouldn't say it went 'beyond all reason'.  Not that anything he did
was really reasonable."  Ranma scratched his head.  "But it's not like I
thought he was leading us into danger, or nothin'."

    "So when you arrived, you didn't feel any apprehension?  Like you were
approaching something big.  Your destiny, perhaps?"

    "Huh?  What are you talking about?  It was just another training ground,
as far as I could tell.  We show up there are the Guide is telling us what a
horrible place it is, and saying nobody ever comes there anymore.  Something
about a tragic history or whatever.

    "It's the same sort of thing we've heard from a lot of the places we went
to, so me and the old man don't pay it any attention.  Pop jumped up onto one
of the bamboo poles, so I guessed he wanted to do mid-air combat."  He noticed
Akira's blank look.  "Jumping from pole to pole, trying to knock each other
out of the air."

    "Anyway, we were going at it for about a minute when I manage to kick him
into a pool.  The Guide starts yelling, which sort of distracted me.  I didn't
know why he was in such a panic.  I mean, I knocked him into the spring on
purpose.  It would break his fall more then the dirt, or getting impaled on
one of the bamboo shoots.

    When a giant panda jumps out, I freak out, and it whacks me into the
damned Spring of Drowned Girl."

    "So your father is cursed as well?  Shonmaonichan?"

    "Uh, yeah.  What you said.  Spring of Drowned Panda."

    "I've got to interview him, as well."

    "Whenever you want.  It's not he has anything better to do with his time."

    "Excellent.  But back to your experiences.  What was that like, when you
acquired the curse?  The first time you actually transformed?"

    Ranma blinked a few times.  "I guess I never really though about it
before.  It all happened so fast.  One minute I'm in the air, the next I'm
falling.  Or flying at the ground.  I didn't even have time to twist around
and land on my feet.

    "My legs were over my head, and as I splashed into the water, I spun
around almost immediately.  It threw off my balance, so I couldn't tell
which way was up, and I'd already had the air knocked out of me by my old man.

    "I was really sc--  disoriented.  I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't
tell where I was.  I guess there was a burning sensation.  A sense of heat
flashing throughout my body?  I thought I was already running out of air,
but it might have been the curse.

    "I finally managed to scramble out of the water, and sucked in the sweet
air.  Only my balance was still off and I felt light-headed.  And heavy-
chested.  So I look down, and there's these," Ranma made a cupping gesture
at his chest.

    "And what was that like, when you realized you weren't yourself, anymore?"

    Ranma frowned at the question.  "I was still myself, I just had a dumb
girl's body!"  He didn't notice Akane's stare, or how Akira had raised an
eyebrow, and scribbled at length in his book.

    "Okay, then.  What was it like when you realized you had a 'girl's body'?"

    "I dunno.  It was like... everything was over.  My old man was training
me to be the best, and next thing I know I'm a little girl.  Girls can't
fight, at least not like guys.  It was like my whole life up until that point
was wasted."

    "And you still thought of yourself as a guy trapped in a girl's body, even
though you were really a girl?"

    Ranma gave him a dirty look.  "My body changes; not my mind."

    "Ok.  So what was your reaction when you found out you could change back
with hot water?"

    "Man, I was so happy.  I thought I was going to be stuck like that
forever.  I had already started getting used to the body.  I mean, when I
first started chasing after pop, I almost tripped a couple times.  My girl-
type legs are short, so my strides were all off.  But by the time I caught
him, I was moving like had been bor--  Like I had been in that body all my
life."

    "Really?  You didn't immediately know how to use your new body?"

    "Nope."

    Akira scribbled something else into his book.  "So how long would it say
it took you to become acclimated to your cursed form?"

    "Uh, I dunno.  A little while.  I finally caught my old man after an
hour or so.  So it wasn't quite that long."

    "The next time you changed, did you have to re-learn how to use your new
body again?"

    Ranma thought about it.  "Naw, not really.  I guess I was as used to it
then as I was going to get."

    "Hmm.  So it took you almost an hour to get used to your body...  Wait a
minute."

    Akane asked, "Is that not normal?"

    "Huh?  Oh, all of the other people I talked to knew how to use their
new bodies right away.  Or at least I've never heard anyone having problems.
But," he turned toward Ranma, "Are you telling me you were a girl for almost
an hour before you learned that hot water would cure you?"

    "Well, yeah."

    Akira should his head and mumbled to himself.  "Amazing."  In the minute
that he was writing, Akane and Ranma looked at each other curiously.  What
was so amazing about that?  Finally, Akira took his head out of his book.
"Why didn't Pii-Chu show you about the curse?"

    "Who?"

    "Pii-Chu.  The guide."

    "Oh.  I was too mad at my old man.  If he had stayed still and taken his
beating like a man, then I wouldn't have had to chase after him."

    "So you blame your curse on your father?"

    "Well he knocked me in."

    "You don't feel it was because of a failing on your part?  I mean,
couldn't you have dodged the blow?"

    Ranma stood up.  "What're you trying to say?  That it's my own fault I'm
cursed?"  Ranma wondered why he was taking the question so personally.  It WAS
his old man's fault, but there was just something about blaming it on him that
made him feel guilty, for some reason.

    Akira waved him arms, "No, no!  I'm just trying to gauge what your
opinion is of why you were cursed."

    "'Why'?"  Ranma eyed the fair-haired boy distrustfully.

    "Yes, do you think there was a reason you were cursed?  That you were
being punished for something you had done?  Or that you had some destiny to
achieve?"

    "Naw, nothing like that.  There's no... REASON for it.  It's just a
stupid curse."  He shivered.  Destined to turn into a girl?  He didn't like
THAT idea!

    "Hmm.  Okay."  With a quick stroke, Akira drew a line through his page.
"The next section is about how you've adapted to your curse.  How has your
lifestyle changed, now that you know you could turn into a girl any time
you're splashed with cold water?"

    "Well, I wear baggy clothes."  He tugged on his pants.

    "Yes...?" prompted Akira.

    "That's about it."

    "Surely you've done more then that!"

    "Not really..."

    Akane nudged him, "What about the beach?"

    Ranma frowned.  "Yeah, I guess I have to get girl's bathing suits, too.
One-peieces.  I'm no pervert or nothin'."

    "That's it?"

    Ranma glanced at Akane, who decided not to mention her fiance's female
disguise kit.  That had more to do with tormenting Ryoga then adapting to his
curse.

    "Yep."

    Akira was flustered.  "But...  What do you do for identification?  Do you
have two IDs?  Have you made separate identities for your two sides while
enrolling at school?  Do you keep a radio handy for checking the weather
forecasts?  Or a bag for feminine hygiene problems...?"

    Ranma was opening his mouth before being interrupted by each new
question.  Akane finally stopped the tirade by saying, "Feminine hygiene?"

    Akira blinked.  "You know, when he gets his period."

    "Wh- What?"  Ranma started blushing.

    Akane said, "Ranma's never a girl long enough to get her period.  Not even
with the Cat Tongue, or the time his curse was locked by the Chisuiton."  She
wrinkled her nose.  "Eew, that's gross.  Ranma with a period!"

    Akira blinked.  "What do you mean, he's never been a girl long enough?
What does that have to do with it?"

    Akane blushed a little, "Well, I mean, he's never been female for a whole
month.  His cycle doesn't have time to start."

    "I don't understand."  He addressed Ranma, "You are... mature, aren't
you?"

    "Hell, yeah!"

    "So you should have a period when you're a girl."

    Akane interrupted, "But he's a BOY.  He doesn't have a female cycle.  So
when he turns into a girl, it starts up, but he's never a girl long enough for
the cycle to reach his period.  Or... her period.  Whatever."

    "I was a midwife's assistant in Nyuchezu, so I'm... somewhat familiar with
a woman's cycle.  Less well-known is the fact that men also have a similar
monthly biorhythm regulated by their hormones.  The effects are significantly
less pronounced then those of women, but the cycle is there.  When Ranma turns
into a girl, he should be at the same point in his female cycle as he is in
his male."

    Akane was speechless.  "Is this true, Ranma?"

    "Are you really going to write about things like periods in your book?  I
mean, it's pretty gross."

    "You have a PERIOD?!?"

    Ranma grabbed Akane and covered his mouth.  "Geez, not so loud, Akane!"

    "So what do you do," repeated Akira.  "I mean, I imagine you wouldn't
want to wear a tampon, what with what would happen if you were to change
back into a guy..."  Akira visibly shuddered, as did Ranma.  Maybe Akane did,
too.  "So do you use a pad?  But that means wearing panties for them to stay
in place..."

    "I don't wear panties!"

    "So, what do you do?  Use a menstrual rag?"

    Akane watched Ranma fidget with a sort of detached horror.  She had
never considered the possibility that Ranma might, well, personally know
about feminine problems.  After all, even when he was a girl, he acted like a
guy.

    "Look, I don't use anything, okay?"

    "I see...  Is that really sanitary?"

    "That's gross!" added Akane.

    "Look, I just don't change into a girl... then, OKAY?"

    Akira pulled back.  "You don't change during your period?  You mean the
curse doesn't affect you during that time of the month?!"  He looked excited
by the revelation.

    "That's not what I said!  I just... don't change.  I make sure I don't
get wet.  If I do, I change back as soon as possible.  More so then usual,
I mean."

    "But how do you know what days to watch out?"

    "It's always the same."

    Akane said, "What, your cycle is always the same number of days apart?
You're that regular?"

    Ranma avoided looking at her.  "N- No, I didn't say that."

    "So what's always the same?" asked Akira.

    Ranma started blushing.

    "What?" added Akane.

    "It's always on the same day as Akane and Nabiki's."

    Akane's eye started twitching.

    "Yes, that makes sense.  When there are a number of women living together
in close quarters, their periods can become synchronized."

    "I'm NOT a woman!"

    "Yes, it does sound weird.  I'd never heard of female hormones causing
a man's cycle to become synchronized...  Then again, how would you test it?"
The boy was lost in thought.  Akane was giving Ranma a dirty look.  "I guess
it's more likely that you're a girl long enough each month to be affected
by the their pheromones..."

    "HOW do you know when we're having our period?" demanded Akane.

    "I'll explain it later," shushed Ranma.

    "You'll explain NOW!"  Akane

    Ranma glared at Akira.  "This doesn't leave this room."

    Akira blinked, "But--"

    "It doesn't go in your book, and you don't tell anyone else, either, got
it?"  He glanced to the front and rear doors of the classroom to make sure no
one else was listening in.

    "Um...  OK."  Reluctantly he closed his notebook.  It seemed to be
enough to satisfy Ranma, who turned back to Akane.

    He spoke to her in a hissed whisper.  "I c- count the tampons in the
bathroom.  When some go missing, I know you or Nabiki are having your--"

    "PERVERT!"  She was almost used to Happosai stealing bras and underwear,
and peeping, but this was... This was all too sordid.  A violation of things
even more intimate than women's underwear!

    "Hey, it's not like I want to!"

    Akane fancied that she could read Ranma's expressions better after having
come back from Jusenkyo.  And what she saw was mostly anger, but she thought
she could also see some pain reflected in his eyes.  Knowing Ranma, he
probably really did hate it.  She shouldn't call him a pervert for trying to
deal with the situation, should she?

    "I still think it's gross."

    Ranma rolled his eyes.  "You're telling me?"

    The fiances took a few moments to cool down before Akira spoke up again.
"Are you two alright?  I'm sorry if I brought up anything that upset you..."

    "I guess she was goin' to find out sometime.  Better now than when I'm
looking in their box."

    "Are you sure I can't include this in the book?"

    His voice was ice.  "No."

    "But it might help other guys who get the Drowned Girl curse."

    "I don't want people thinking I'm a pervert.  Bad enough that everyone
knows about the curse already."

    Akane had kept silent, trying to keep her emotions under control.  She was
trying to be nicer to Ranma, but after hearing about Ranma feminine hygiene
problems, and his... unique solution, she couldn't help be shocked into old
habits of insulting him.

    She had been the one to agree to this little question and answer period
for Ranma.  It hadn't been his idea, and he was starting to regret it, no
doubt in part due to her reaction.  If she, who was supposed to know him well,
called him a pervert, what would stranger reading about him think?

    Still, she stood by her idea that the book would be a good idea.  If Ranma
had been able to read the experiences and advice of other people cursed like
him, maybe he wouldn't be as uptight as he was now.

    Finally, she spoke up, "Do you have to write down the thing about the
tampons with Ranma?  Could you put it somewhere else in the book?"

    "Even if he puts it somewhere else in the book, it'll be obvious it's
me!"

    "Not necessarily," responded Akira.  "I already have a chapter on another
man cursed by the Spring of Drowned Girl.  And there might be another.  I
could keep it anonymous."

    Ranma frowned, looking at his fists, resting on his knees.  Clearly he was
still dubious.

    "C'mon Ranma."  Akane rested her hand on one of his fists, instantly
drawing his eyes to her.  "It's not so bad.  No one would have to know it's
you."  Ranma continued to stare at her, and she thought his pupils were
getting larger.  Or was she getting closer to them?  She felt like she was
being drawn in.

    Suddenly, it seemed, he drew his eyes away and looked at the ground.  "OK.
It can go in the book, but it still doesn't leave this room.  No one finds out
it's me."

    "Great!"  Akira opened his book to the back and wrote away.

    She figured he was embarrassed by her hand, so she started to draw it
away.  To her surprise, he opened his fist and grabbed Akane's fingers before
they had completely slipped off.  Awkwardly, he loosened his grip, but did not
remove his hand.  His eyes darted from their hand to Akane to the floor to the
walls.

    Tentatively, she clasped Ranma's hand, who squeezed back.  Akane felt a
warmth in her chest.  Maybe there was some hope for the two of them after
all.

    The school clock chimed one o'clock, marking the end of lunch.  Akira
muttered under his breath and started collecting his stuff.  "Look, I've got
a few more questions for you.  Can I see you after school in the field?
Hello?"

    Ranma pulled himself out of his daze just long enough to reply, "Sure,
whatever."

    "Excellent!   Um, you might want to come alone.  I might have some more
private questions that might be embarrassing to answer in front of your..."
He trailed off, as he didn't get any reaction from Ranma or Akane.  Raising
his voice, his left with the words, "Remember!  After class!"

    "Mmm."  After wandering his gaze around the room, his eyes finally fell
back upon Akane, who had been watching him all along.  He felt a heat rise in
his cheeks, embarrassed that he hadn't been able to keep her gaze.  All
thoughts of being mushy slipped out of his mind as Akane graced him with the
slightest of smiles.  He found himself smiling back.

    The young couple shared each other's presence for the next twenty seconds,
until a swarm of students flowed into the room and ripped the pair apart.

    "What were you doing here all alone?"

    "Did you kiss?"

    "Are you really in love with him?"

    "Do your parents know?"

    "Does this mean I can have Ukyo?"

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 End Part  9    Next Time:  "Behind the Invisible Barrier"
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Doug

----
Douglas MacDougall     Anime-based works available at my No Frills homepage:
dougmacd@thecia.net    http://www.crosswinds.net/boston/~dougmacd/works.html