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The FFML Refugee List

"Masaka," Nabiki muttered as she gathered her school
things.  "I'm not going to have much time before class
today."

"Considering yesterday, a little oversleeping is not
too unexpected," Kasumi said.  "I'm going to have
Ranma stay home, but I think Akane should go to
school."

"Probably a good idea," Nabiki said after a little
hesitation.  Then she paused and turned to Kasumi.
"Kasumi, I'm worried about you."

"Worried about me?" Kasumi blinked.  "What is there
to worry about me?"

"Just try to get some rest," Nabiki said.  "Please?"

"If you insist," Kasumi said hesitantly.

*********

Akane had not noticed Ranma waking up all night, much
to Akane's surprise as she blinked awake from the
sunlight filtering in.  She briefly panicked, thinking
that Ranma's sleep was something more permanent.  It
was quickly obvious that Ranma was just physically
exhausted from the stress of the day before.

"Akane?" Kasumi's voice was accompanied by the sound
of a light knock on her door.  Akane sat up, careful
not to disturb Ranma, and walked to the door as Kasumi
knocked again.

"Is something wrong?" Akane asked quietly as she
cracked open the door.

"No," Kasumi said.  "I just wanted to ask you to go
school without Ranma today."  Akane squinted in
combined confusion and leftover sleepiness.  She
looked back at Ranma and then stepped into the hall,
closing the door behind her.

"Of course Ranma needs to stay home today," Akane
said.  "But you want me to leave him here alone?"
Kasumi sighed.

"Akane, since Ranma was raped," she started
carefully, "how much time has he spent apart from
you?"  Akane stared blankly, trying to figure out the
point.  "He's depending on you for everything."

"He needs..." Akane started.

"Akane, do you want a spouse, or a child?" Kasumi
asked.  "Because that is what Ranma will be if he
doesn't stop running and letting people control his
life."

"Do you think Ranma would really let me tell him what
to do?" Akane demanded.

"Yes," Kasumi said.  "I think he would."

"But the duel?" Akane said.  "That was his plan."

"And do you think he would have gone through with it
if you had told him not to?" Kasumi asked.  Akane was
about to answer when the door opened behind her, and
Ranma, still dressed from the day before.

"No, I wouldn't," Ranma said quietly.  "Thanks, but
I'm going to school today."

"Now wait a minute," Akane said, surprised.  "If you
get scared again, you could hurt somebody."

"I'm going to school," Ranma said.  "I don't wanna
hide any more.  I wanna be like Nabiki."

"Now, Ranma," Kasumi started.

"This ain't the Soul of Ice," Ranma snapped.  "I'm
going ta school!"  Ranma fell against the wall and
shivered.  Akane was immediately at her side.

"Are you sure about doing this?" Kasumi asked.

"No," Ranma said quietly, "I'm...I'd rather face
Herb.  I'm scared." She looked at Akane.  "But I'm
goin'."

*********

Yuka was thinking as she walked through the Furinkan
gates.  She had felt restless and had left early.
Sayuri might give her a lecture about leaving her to
walk to school alone later, but she hadn't wanted to
hang around doing nothing much longer.

Something had happened to Ranma that trapped her in
female form.  That had happened before.  This time,
however, it had apparently left Ranma an emotional
wreck and had all the Tendos protecting her.  Thinking
about it she decided that Ukyou must know what was
going on as well.  The chef had actively protected
Ranma and Akane's privacy as much as she could.

"So what happened to Ranma?" she asked herself.

"Ranma Saotome is no man!" a voice shouted.  Yuka
looked back to see Mousse standing on the grounds
behind her, attracting the attention of the few
students that were already there.  "She is a lying
little tramp!"

"Looks like a fight," someone near Yuka said.
"Where's Nabiki, she's usually here by now."

"You know where Ranma was two months ago?" Mousse
shouted angrily.  "She was in Kuno's bedroom, on her
back."  Yuka gasped and considered Mousse's
accusation.  Sayuri had always been more paranoid
about such things than her, but given yesterday it was
easy to put together the pieces.

"Oh Kami," she whispered.  "Th...that's not
possible."  She ran back out the gates, past where
Mousse was attracting a small crowd of listeners.  The
crowd that was growing as more students arrived.

Yuka was gone by the time Hinako stepped out of the
school and saw what was happening.

"Who is that guy?" chibi-Hinako asked a random
student that had wandered away from the crowd.

"That's Mousse," he said after a moment.  "He says
that Ranma slept with Kuno."

"WHAT!?!" Hinako shouted angrily the student paled
and quickly ran away from her.  She fumbled into her
pockets for a coin, ineffectively as she was overcome
by anger.  She missed seeing Ukyou's entrance.

"MOUSSE!!!!" Ukyou shouted, taking a leap off the
wall and slashing downward with her spatula.  Hinako
snapped a look up and gasped as she caught a good look
as the enraged Ukyou began her attack on the Amazon
boy.  The teacher stopped looking for a coin as Ukyou
chased the cackling Mousse away.  "You better run,
jackass!!"

*********

Nabiki walked coolly along the sidewalk, casually
watching over her shoulder every so often.  After
yesterday she was feeling a bit more paranoid than
usual, her act had slipped a little.  She saw Yuka
coming long before the girl saw her.

"What do you want?" Nabiki asked icily, still
irritated over her friend's accusations the day
before.  Yuka jumped at the question.

"Nabiki," Sayuri gasped.

"Yes," Nabiki drawled.  "Listen, I'm already very
late..."

"Was Ranma raped?" Yuka asked bluntly.  Nabiki's eyes
popped wide and then she grabbed the girl and slammed
her against the fence.  Nabiki wasn't a fighter but
she still had a great deal more knowledge than Akane's
friend.

"Where did you hear that?" Nabiki hissed.

"There's...there's a rumor..." Yuka stuttered
surprised at the reaction.  "About Ranma and Kuno..."

"What rumor, when did this start?" Nabiki demanded.

"This morning," Yuka said.  "Mousse was
telling...everyone that Ranma slept with Kuno...but
after yesterday..." Yuka quieted down as she referred
to one of Ranma's breakdowns the day before.  Nabiki
cursed and let go of her angrily.

"Mousse," Nabiki snapped.  "What does he think he's
doing?"

"That's what happened, isn't it," Yuka said.  "Oh,
kami.  The poor girl."

"Don't you dare do that in front of Ranma," Nabiki
snapped. Yuka backed away from her.  Nabiki looked
back down the path, over Yuka's shoulder, and saw
Ranma and Akane walking down the sidewalk towards
them.  "What is he doing?" Yuka turned to follow
Nabiki's gaze and gasped.

"She...he can't come to school," Yuka said.  "They'll
be all over her...him."  Nabiki was already thinking
along those lines.

"Ranma, wait!" Nabiki called out, running back to
intercept the newlyweds.  Ranma paused and released
her breath in frustration.

"We already tried to convince him," Akane said as
Nabiki ran up.

"I ain't going to let anything stop me," Ranma said
quietly.  She turned very quiet as a pale looking
Sayuri joined them.  Akane regarded her with a little
worry as she approached.

"Don't go to school, Ranma," Nabiki insisted.  "Go
anywhere else, just don't go to school."  As Nabiki
said that, Yuka stepped forward and bowed in front of
Ranma.

"I'm sorry," she said, sobbing.  "I'm so so sorry, I
didn't know...that..." Akane and Ranma stared at her
in shock.

"What are you talking about?" Ranma asked turning
pale.

"What is going on at the school?" Akane asked
nervously.

"Mousse.  He spread some rumors," Nabiki explained.
Ranma clutched at Akane as she imagined the situation.
 "Please, Ranma, for your own sake, don't go to
school."

"This is going to be worse than you thought," Akane
added.  "You don't have to do this."

"I have to," Ranma said, half-dazed.  She shook her
head and leaned closer to Akane, gripping her hand.
"I gotta know if I can."

"You really shouldn't go," Yuka said soothingly.  She
continued, speaking slowly, calmly with exaggerated
care.  This manner of speech drew looks from the other
three.

"I'm not stupid," Ranma said.  "You don't have ta
talk to me like a kid."

"Just stay close to Akane," Nabiki said reluctantly,
recognizing the determined look in Ranma's eyes.  She
was actually somewhat relieved.  She just wished that
Ranma had picked a safer day.

"That's no problem," Ranma said with a shaky laugh.

"I hope not," Akane said, half-seriously.  "Are you
ready, Ranma?"

"Am I ever?" Ranma asked.  She smiled hesitantly
again, shifting closer to Akane.  Akane brushed at
Ranma's bangs and took a breath.  "I'm goin',"  Ranma
said insistently. Yuka watched the very obvious
displays of affection and support with a little shock.
 Ranma and Akane had been closer of late, but she had
not seen them act so obviously affectionate in public.

"Okay, fine," Akane said.  She kissed Ranma on the
forehead.  "Tell me if you want to leave at any time."

"Hai," Ranma said.

"And neither of you say anything to anybody about
it," Nabiki said.  "Okay?  Some answers will need to
be given, but let's see what the waters look like
first okay?  Maybe even hold off a day or two."

"Hai," Ranma repeated before they started walking
down the street toward the school again.

"Are they...together?" Yuka asked Nabiki in a
whisper.

"They're married," Nabiki said dryly.  "Is that a
problem?"

"No, I guess not," Yuka said, glancing at the two
girls walking closely together down the street.

"Yuka and that pair, what are they doing?" Nabiki
asked.

"I don't know," Yuka said.  Nabiki growled and then
started following Ranma and Akane.

"Great, we'll probably have a few dozen different
rumors by the time we get to the end of the day,"
Nabiki said.

*********

Mousse wasn't laughing anymore.  Kuonji's strikes had
been coming a lot closer than he liked.

"Stay out of this, Kuonji Ukyou!" Mousse shouted.
"My quarrel is with the cretins that brought lies
against my darling Shampoo."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Ukyou demanded.  "Or do
you really believe that crap?"  Mousse dodged as
Ukyou's spatula sliced past him, opening his sleeve.
Mousse leaped back, launching projectiles at Ukyou to
slow her down, and landed on the fence.

Before Ukyou could reach him, Mousse had jumped back
into the canal and took wing dodging a volley of
throwing spatulas.

"Get back here!" Ukyou shouted.  She sliced a line
into the ground in anger before turning back towards
the school.

*********

"There she is now," a boy said as Ranma and Akane
came through the gates.  "Says she isn't interested
and all this time she's doing Kuno."

"Look at the way he's hanging all over Akane," a girl
in another group said.  "While they're both girls no
less."

"Did you hear Kuno's dead?" someone whispered.

"I'll bet Ranma killed him to hide what they did."

"You know Shampoo hasn't been around either."

"Mousse was really pissed, what if Kuno and Ranma did
something to her?"

"You know, we haven't seen much more than Ranma's
face and hands for nearly two months now."

Ranma winced every time she caught a new whisper,
every time she saw another person glaring at her.  She
felt Akane slip a protective arm around her shoulders,
and could tell the other girl was glaring at the
crowd.  As Akane's gaze spun around the whispering
quieted down, at least the rush for the school before
the bell rang was distracting them.

Ranma was shaking by the time he reached the gates,
and the Principal made his appearance.

"Aloha, keiki!" he called as he placed himself
between Ranma and the entrance.

"Principal Kuno," Ranma said shakily.

"Get out of our way," Akane growled.

"I hear you be being a very bad keiki," he looked to
Akane and examined the physical closeness of the two.
Ranma shut her eyes tight and cricked her neck as the
principal gave the both of them his smile.  "It seems
you be needing some oh da Bid Kahuna's discipline."

"You're one to talk about discipline!" Akane snapped
as she lashed out and slammed the principal into the
nearest wall.

"Good form, Akane," Nabiki said, giving a slight
applause as she came up behind.  She glanced around at
the attentive masses.  "Come on, the bell's about to
ring."

They walked over the unconscious form of the
principal, trying to ignore the mix of looks they were
getting from the crowd.

*********

Ranma and Akane entered their homeroom and scanned
the faces.  Interestingly enough, almost all of them
seemed to be tired or exhausted for some reason.
Ranma swallowed nervously as she started for her desk.

"Saotome-san, Tendo-san," Hinako said to their side.
"Can I see the two of you out in the hall please?"
The teacher, in her adult form, glanced at Yuka, who
backed away to her desk next to a semi-conscious
Hiroshi.

"I didn't even say anything," Hiroshi groaned.

"Uh, sure, teach," Ranma said with a semblance of her
normal attitude.  Akane tightened her grip around
Ranma before they followed the chi drainer.

"Can you trust her, Ranma?" Akane asked.

"Where could I go if she wanted to get me?" Ranma
answered quietly.  "She'd follow me anywhere."  They
left back out into the hall where the adult Hinako was
scanning the hallways and keeping an eye on her class
through a slit open window.

"What do you need, Hinako-sensei?" Akane asked,
trying to sound friendly.

"My apologies if I sound cold, this condition is not
conducive to emotional responses," Hinako said.

"Uh...right," Ranma clutched Akane tighter as Hinako
spoke.

"I must commend you, Saotome-san," Hinako spoke
calmly.

"Huh?" Ranma was surprised at the statement.

"I've watched you putting yourself back together for
weeks now," Hinako said.  Ranma and Akane looked at
each other.  "If I were you, I would probably have
returned home by now."

"W..what do you mean?" Akane asked.  Ranma merely
turned pale and stared at Hinako.

"I can see your chi," the teacher reminded him.  "Why
do you think I have not touched you in the last few
weeks?"  Ranma and Akane's eyes popped wide.

"Arigato, teach," Ranma said quietly.

"And why are you telling us this only now?" Akane
demanded.

"Because that delinquent this morning started
spreading his half-truths," Hinako said simply.
"Kuonji-san chased after him.  If he's lucky he'll
survive."

"Ucchan wouldn't kill anybody," Ranma insisted.
Hinako gave him a strange look.  "She's not a killer."

"Perhaps not," Hinako said finally.  "That is not the
point.  The truth will have to come out eventually,
you'll not be able to stop it."  Ranma slumped and
nodded resignedly.

"My sister told us not to say anything," Akane said,
hugging Ranma protectively again.  "She'll have an
idea."

"I see," Hinako said.  "I shall have to speak to your
sister later, then.  Now are you sure you wish to
attend classes today?"

"I keep telling people I'm going to stay today,"
Ranma said shakily.  She had no idea how she was going
to accomplish that, however.

"We've already tried to get her to go home," Akane
said.  Hinako nodded and glanced down at Ranma's
stomach.

"Is there anything you need?" she asked looking back
to Ranma's face.

"Not really," Ranma said nervously, crossing her arms
over her stomach, one hand still holding Akane's.

"Okay then," Hinako said.  "I believe we should start
class then."  Hinako gestured for them to enter the
classroom.

Ranma and Akane walked cautiously past her and moved
to their seats amid the rather weary looking class.

"Now everyone is aware of how I am likely to take
further gossiping?" Hinako asked.  There was a
collection of groaning nods.  Ranma and Akane glanced
at each other nervously.  By the time they looked back
to the front of the class, Hinako had shrunken into
her child like form.  "OKIE DOKIE!! Now does anyone
remember what homework I assigned yesterday?"

*********

The Principal stood up slowly, shaking his head
clear.  He was mildly impressed with the amount of
disorientation he was still feeling.  He remembered
Akane slamming him into the wall, but that didn't
explain the footprints he seemed to be covered in.

The principal turned about to face the doors, or
tried to.  He seemed to be having a little difficulty
with his sense of balance.  That was only a minor
concern, however.

Ranma Saotome was somehow responsible for his son's
death, he knew it.  If that Chinese keiki with all the
hair were to be believed, then it seemed that the
disruptive Ranma had seduced his son.  The fact that
his daughter hadn't seen fit to inform him of either
Tacchi's exile or death was further grating.

"He not gonna get away with dis," the Principal said
as he finally completely cleared his head.  "It
'gainst the school rules to be killing the bid
Kahuna's Tacchi."

"Lose one jackass, get another," someone said behind
him.  He turned in time to see a flash of metal before
slamming into the wall again.  He started to black out
as that cross-dressing wahini leaned over him.

*********

Ukyou dusted off her hands as she closed the door to
the school's basement.  It was lucky there was a whole
tropical jungle down there.

"He's lucky I don't do anything more," Ukyou said
wearily.  She walked down the halls toward her class
feeling very tired.  She paused at a corner as she
heard conversation between some boys.

"What do you think happened?" one was asking.

"I don't know.  Something with Shampoo."  There was a
pause.  "Maybe Kuno and Ranma did something to her,
don't see why Mousse would be so...AHHH!!"

The boy ducked low and the battle spatula passed over
his head and sliced deeply in the bank of lockers.
Ukyou reversed her swipe and slashed backward, forcing
the other student to fall backwards away from her.
She frowned as the spatula slowed down on slicing into
the ground.  She'd have to sharpen it soon.

"What are you trying to do, kill us!" one of them
shouted.  There was a small crowd of other students
watching the display.

"Are you dead?" Ukyou asked.  They stared at her in
shock.  "I guess not then."

"All we're doing is talking."  The boy in question
struggled to his feet.  Ukyou swiped out with her
spatula, taking the boy's legs out from under him so
he hit the ground again.

"If I hear..." One of the onlookers started to back
away, until a throwing spatula embedded itself in the
wall near him.  "Listen up, Jackass!  I hear someone
spreading Mousse's crap, I going to beat the shit out
of them!  Got it?"  She looked around at the crowd,
locking eyes with everyone she could.

"What do you care?" a female voice asked.  "Looks
like he dropped you easy enough."  A pair of spatulas
whizzed by her shoulders and suddenly the girl's
uniform overalls started to fall.  By the time she
grabbed them Ukyou was in her face.

"You seem to have me mistaken for Ranma or Akane,"
Ukyou growled.  "I don't have near the patience for
jerks they do.  So you want to stay off my bad side?"
The girl nodded furiously.  "Then leave my friends
alone."

Ukyou sneered at the girl and started walking down
the halls again.  She turned a corner at the end of
the hall with the small crowd watching her warily.
The lower half of the lockers Ukyou had sliced earlier
fell off the wall and clanked to the ground.

*********

"Kanzo," an under detective called out, clutching a
small collection of files.  "We have some information
on the Kuno girl."

"Anything good?" Kanzo asked taking the files from
the man and setting them on his desk.

"She's part of the martial arts community in Nerima,"
the man said nodding.  "So was her brother.  I thought
I recognized her name."

"A lot of people are into the martial arts these
days," Kanzo said.  "All the movies and animes have
stirred up interest.  Anything more than that?"

"No sir, you don't understand," the other detective
said.  "We're talking real life superheros here.  You
know her leap yesterday?"

"I see what you mean," Kanzo said.  He scanned the
file on Kodachi, looking closely this time.

"Kodachi is one of the weaker fighters in the area,
sir."  Kanzo looked up in surprise at his subordinate
and then whistled.  "They do a lot of property damage,
but otherwise crime, with the exception of a panty
thief, is almost non-existent in their neighborhood."

Kodachi apparently had a history of ambushing or
drugging her competitors before matches, something he
wished he had known about before.  The instances of
such cheating stopped several months ago, soon after
she had gone to the hospital after what might have
been a suicide attempt.

"Anything else?" Kanzo asked.

"We talked to her schoolmates after she vanished
yesterday," the man said.  "She apparently was at one
time obsessed with one of the top fighters, a Saotome
Ranma.  His file is there.  About the same time as she
was found unconscious in the locker room, she stopped
bragging about how she was going to marry him.  She
still apparently only really talks about teasing him
and his fiancee, though."

"That would be her unnamed friend then?" Kanzo asked.
 "Or probably Saotome's fiancee, she said that her
friend was forced to protect 'herself.'"

"Read Saotome's file, sir," the subordinate said.
Kanzo looked at him curiously and then opened up the
file on Saotome.

"There are pictures of two people here," Kanzo said.
He scanned to the vital statistics and blinked at what
it said.  "Sex, both?  What is this?"

"Those pictures are both Saotome, sir," the
subordinate explained.  "He's got an honest to kami
curse, turns into a girl when splashed with cold
water.  The thing is, The victim was obsessed with
Saotome as well."  Kanzo raised an eyebrow.  "He was
the town joke, thought Saotome was two different
people.  Was always trying to kill the male form and
date the girl form."

"Saotome is sounding more like the girl that had to
defend herself," Kanzo said.  His subordinate nodded.

"About two months ago something really major happened
to shake up their group," The man continued.

"Right around the time the victim stopped attending
school," Kanzo was really interested now.  "What
happened?"

"We're not sure," the detective shrugged.  "The three
Chinese martial artists left town, one of them was
another girl looking to marry Saotome."

"Saotome again," Kanzo said.

"Yes, most of the fights between their numbers
involve Ranma or one of his fiancees in some way," the
subordinate explained.  "I checked, there is a
marriage certificate between Saotome Ranma and Tendo
Akane filed about the same time.  Nobody has seen
Saotome in male form for the last two months, and
there have been no major fights in that time either.
And local gossip says that when they have seen Saotome
he, I guess she rather, she is never alone, and has
acted depressed and skittish."

"I think I should talk to Kuno-san again," Kanzo
said.  He didn't relish this, it was beginning to
sound like his victim was the bad guy.  "I almost wish
I could just close the case."

"Yeah, this one feels like its already finished," his
subordinate said.

"Wait, Saotome changes shape?" Kanzo said.  His
subordinate nodded.  Suddenly the possibility that the
owl killed a shrunken Kuno was very likely.

*********

Ranma was glad that she and Akane brought their
lunches to school.  There was no way she'd be able to
stand in line.  As it was she ate her bento in
silence, keeping her eyes on either the food or Akane.
 They were inside this time, in a corner of the
cafeteria.  Ranma had her faced turned away from the
mix of faces watching their group.

The chattering surrounding them quieted
substantially.  Ranma and Akane turned around to see
Ukyou approaching them with her portable grill.  The
tone of the crowd turned nervous as they watched the
chef.  Given her angry expression, they had good
reason to be.  Still they seemed a little more wary
than should be necessary.

"Sorry I missed the morning classes," Ukyou said as
she sat down.  "I had some business to take care of."

"What happened to Mousse," Ranma asked, watching
Ukyou carefully.

"He turned duck and got away," Ukyou growled.

"Are you okay, Ukyou?" Akane asked.  "You seem a
little stressed."

"A problem I thought was dealt with turned up again,"
Ukyou said a little grumpily.

"You need help?" Ranma asked.  Ukyou flashed a smile
at him.

"I got it, sugar," Ukyou said.  "By the way I took
care of the Principal."

"You did?" Ranma asked warily.  Akane glanced at
Ranma and squinted, there was something about the way
Ranma talked to Ukyou at times that seemed odd
recently.

"He's stuck in the basement," Ukyou snickered.
"Hinako-sensei said she'd check on him later."  Ranma
breathed a sigh of relief, unnoticed by the other two.


Nabiki worked her way to them, walking faster than was
usual for her.  Akane noted a touch of redness about
Nabiki's eyes as her sister approached.

"Nabiki," Akane called out as her sister neared them.
 "Are you okay?"

"Did you two talk to Hinako-san?" Nabiki asked.  Then
she added with a decidedly betrayed tone.  "About me?"

"She came to us," Akane said as Ranma continued to
focus on her food.  "She already knew somehow."

"She can see chi.  That's what she said," Ranma
whispered.  "I should have known when she started
waking me up nicely."  Ranma looked at Ukyou with a
touch of concern and then turned back to her food.

"Wait, what about you?" Ukyou said, catching up with
the comment.  "You mean, th...that happened to you too
Nabiki?"

"Yes, me," Nabiki snapped angrily as she realized
that Ukyou hadn't known already.  She sighed in
frustration and sat down next to Ranma, putting the
redhead between her and Akane.

"I have to tell everybody," Ranma said quietly.
"Don't I?"

"It's up to you," Nabiki said after a moment.

"Well telling the truth stop it?" Ranma asked.
Everybody stayed quiet.

"Probably not," Nabiki said.  She closed her eyes and
took a deep breath.  "If...if you speak out...I will
too."

"You will?" Ranma said.  "But...but why?  I mean, who
would know?"  Nabiki smiled and patted Ranma's hand.

"You'll need support," Nabiki said.  "You think I'm
going to leave you out to dry?"  Ranma smiled shyly
back, but seemed confused still.

"Arigatou," Ranma said quietly.  Akane and Ukyou
watched the conversation feeling left out, and a
sizable part of them was glad to be left out.  The
price to be included was too high.

"And if anybody gives you trouble I can show them the
business end of my spatula," Ukyou said.  She turned
toward Akane.  "Right, Sugar?"

"We'll always be there for you, Ranma," Akane said,
leaning to speak into Ranma's ear.

"Speaking of trouble," Ukyou said, bringing the quiet
conversation to a pause.  Akane and Nabiki turned to
see their normal friends approaching from the circle
of privacy the gossiping students had given them.

"Get out of here," Ukyou snapped.  "I heard about
what you four did."

"I didn't want you talking to anybody either," Nabiki
said, scowling at Yuka.

"I didn't say anything," Yuka insisted.

"We just wanted to eat with you," Hiroshi said,
sweating and staring at Ukyou.  "Some of those rumors
are about us."

"Turnabout is fair play, isn't it?" Ukyou said
irritably.

"Go ahead and sit down," Ranma said, still not
turning around.

"If Ranma's okay with it," Akane said, squeezing
Ranma's hand reassuringly under the table.

Yuka moved around the table to sit across from Ranma
and Akane.  This put her uncomfortably close to the
hostile Ukyou, but she could watch Ranma from there.
Sayuri sat down next to her friend, and the boys sat
next to the safer, for once, Nabiki.

"Could you scoot over, perhaps," Nabiki requested
coolly.  At that comment Ranma did turn to glare at
the boys, who quickly gave Nabiki some space.

"What didn't you want Yuka to tell us anyway?"
Daisuke asked.  Akane and Ranma didn't physically
respond, merely sat close to each other and ate lunch.
 Nabiki and Ukyou glared at Daisuke, while Sayuri
maintained a suspicious look.  Yuka seemed to be
examining Ranma up and down with an obvious concerned
and pitying expression.

"Stop looking at me like that!" Ranma snapped.  "I'm
not a china doll."

"I'm just worried..." Yuka said, surprised.  Sayuri,
her face returned to a suspicious look, blinked at
Yuka.  Ranma shifted from angry to depressed again and
set down her chopsticks.

"Yeah," Ranma said looking at her food.  "I know."

"Don't worry about them, Ranma," Akane said, slipping
an arm around her spouse.  Sayuri shuffled
uncomfortably, while the two boys brought their hands
to their noses.  Ukyou and Nabiki turned to glare at
the two of them.

"We can make them leave," Ukyou said, to the
discomfort of the four normal kids.

"Ranma?" Akane shook the non-responsive redhead
lightly.  "Are you okay?"  Ranma blinked and shook her
head.

"Yeah, fine," Ranma said.  "I just...I just got
distracted.  Hey, this isn't as hard as I thought it'd
be."  She turned to Akane and smiled.

"I thought they'd harass us a lot more," Akane said,
she leaned forward and kissed Ranma's forehead.  Ranma
leaned back into Akane and closed her eyes.

"Hey," Sayuri whispered reproachfully.  "We're in
public.  You two have been acting shamelessly all day.
 Don't you have any sense of propriety?"  Ranma
frowned and straightened her posture before leaning
forward on her elbows and looking down.

"Gomen," she whispered.  "But, I..."

"We don't have anything to be sorry for," Akane said,
glaring at Sayuri.  She hugged Ranma tight, rubbing
the redhead's back.  "I love you, you love me.  That's
what couples do."  She caught Sayuri's confused and
somewhat disgusted face.  "That's what married couples
do."

"Married?" Sayuri gasped.  Some of the rest of the
lunch crowd stirred at the sound.  Akane nodded and
grabbed a glass of water, but Nabiki stopped her by
cupping a hand around the glass.

"That's a little too much right now," Nabiki said
simply.  Akane almost decided to challenge her, until
Nabiki directed her attention to Ranma who was
shivering now.  Sayuri figured out the implications of
what Akane was intending to do, matched it with her
new clothes and looked like she was about to be sick.

"Hey, congratulations man," Hiroshi said.

"So what's married life like?" Daisuke asked with an
easily read look on his face.  Ranma caught a glimpse
of it and immediately curled into herself.

"You married that..." Sayuri pointed at Ranma and
stopped as a loud bang to her side attracted her
attention.  Sayuri looked nervously to Ukyou,
expecting the chef to be getting ready to attack Ranma
and Akane.  Instead she found the chef standing with
clenched fists and glaring at her.

"Watch what you say, sugar," Ukyou growled.

"Sayuri," Yuka said quietly.  "You don't know what
happened."

"What," Sayuri asked, half-panicked, half-angry.
"What could happen to Ranma that's so bad?"  She
glanced at Ranma and winced, seeing the red-head on
the verge of breaking down again.

Akane wasn't paying attention to her, comforting Ranma
instead.  Everybody else was staring at her, either
glaring, confused, or pleading for her to stop.

"Ranma," Akane said.  "Do you need to go home?"

"I..." Ranma said shakily, starting to cry, but
pulling herself together.  "I had better, b...before I
pull a r...r...Ryouga."  Akane and Nabiki stared at
Ranma in surprise.  They hadn't been expecting her to
talk, she hadn't gone this far without totally
collapsing before.  Akane recovered quickly and stood
up with Ranma, making sure she was okay.

"We'll see you later, okay," Akane said, leveling a
glare at Sayuri.

"Nabiki, c...could you explain to them?" Ranma asked.
"I...I...can't do this every time she s...sees me."

"Let's go home, Ranma," Akane said quietly.  Ranma
nodded and waved back at the table and started walking
out unsteadily ahead of Akane.  Nabiki waved back and
nodded.   She waited for Ranma and Akane to get out of
the cafeteria before turning angrily back to Sayuri.

"He was happy there for a moment," Nabiki said.  She
looked to Ukyou and gestured for enraged chef to sit
down.  Ukyou did and cricked her neck to work at
releasing some of her anger before she attacked the
girl.

"Sayuri, that was horrid," Yuka said, almost to tears
herself.

"So what happened that has Ranma acting like that?"
Sayuri asked nervously.  Nabiki looked at her for a
long moment and glanced at the two boys to her side.

"This goes anywhere else without Ranma's permission,
I will make every one of your lives a living hell,"
Nabiki promised.

"And you'll have to hide from me also," Ukyou said.
The boys nodded and swallowed nervously.

"Yeah," Sayuri agreed quietly.  Nabiki did not make
direct threats lightly.  The Tendo girl was silent for
another long moment.

"Shampoo managed to drug Ranma again," she explained
at first.  Sayuri nodded.  "While Ranma was drugged
and unable to fight.  Kuno raped him."  Sayuri's eyes
popped wide, she took a deep breath.  "He's been stuck
in female form since then.  And by our information it
will be a long time before he can be himself again."
Nabiki didn't explain how that was going to happen.

"Oh kami," Sayuri said, feeling sick.

"What do you two have to say?" Ukyou asked of the two
boys.

"You're joking right?" Hiroshi asked nervously.
"Ranma makes tornadoes an regular basis."

"He could level the city if he wanted," Daisuke
added.  Nabiki frowned at them.

"So that makes it impossible then?" Nabiki asked.
"Ranma, who couldn't lie to save his life, is just
acting?"  The two boys sweated as Nabiki glared at
them.  Nabiki gave a disgusted snort and stood up and
moved her bento around to sit next to Sayuri away from
the boys.  "Couldn't have stayed there much longer
anyway."

*********

Kodachi arrived home to find a state of total
disarray.  Someone had been ransacking her estate.  Or
at least they had been attempting to.  Most of the
trip wires and traps had been set off, including the
ones that were obvious and meant to lure someone into
another trap.  She frowned as she strode down the walk
to the mansion proper.

The doors were torn down and she climbed into the
house without the necessity of having to touch
anything.  Inside, furniture was tossed about,
priceless heirlooms destroyed.  The Kuno blade that
Ranma had returned to her had been stuck in the floor
and snapped.  Everywhere she looked was ruin.

"What happened here?" she asked quietly.  Her school
bag dropped from numb fingers as she rushed towards
her garden.  She had a moment of hope as she saw the
doors to her garden undamaged.  She hesitated before
opening the doors.

"Oh kami."  Then Kodachi fell to her knees.  The
garden was a burned out husk.  The work of seven years
of her life destroyed in a day.  Kodachi stood up
again and stumbled through the shattered ruins.  There
remained one more thing she had to see.

"Midorigame!" she shouted hesitantly, coming out to
the moat house.  The waters remained still.

Kodachi walked to the moat house and fumbled with the
door a few moments before managing to open it.
Nothing inside seemed to have been touched, and a
brief inspection of the steaks showed no tampering.
Kodachi grabbed a few and returned outside.

"Mother has food for you," Kodachi shouted, she
tossed a steak into the water.  "Midorigame!  Come and
eat."  She tossed another into the water, then one on
the bank.  Still, nothing moved.

Kodachi hesitated a moment before diving into the
water and swimming through the moat.  It didn't take
her long to find the alligator's massive bulk along
the bottom.  She swam down to it, again feeling hope
well up inside her.

As she got closer, it became obvious that the
alligator was wrapped in chains.  Kodachi grabbed a
rock from the bottom and attacked the chains until
they split apart.  The chains came away from her pet,
and the alligator floated slowly to the surface
alongside Kodachi.

"Why?  Why?  WHY!!?"  The gymnast broke the surface
with a weeping cry as her alligator turned over on its
back, drowned to death.  She snatched a section of
white cloth from the dead alligator's mouth before
struggling to dry land in her wet clothes.

The dripping wet girl curled up on the ground,
bawling for several minutes before crawling to her
feet and lurching back into the house.  Passing
through the garden, she didn't even try to look for
anything.  She continued through it until she reached
the main room again.

Snapping up the broken haft of her family's blade,
and soon after found herself standing before her
family's shrine.  She couldn't tell if she had cried
her eyes out yet or not, as she was still pretty much
soaked, but she didn't really care.

The first thing she did on opening the shrine was
release a loud piercing scream.  Kodachi looked around
feverishly.  The shrine was just as ruined as the rest
of the house.  Urns and pictures tossed about and
ashes covering the floor.  Kodachi stared in outright
shock and horror.

"By the kami," Kodachi whispered.  "Who would do
this?"  Her normally pale skin turned snow white as
she surveyed the desecration.  She found her mother's
photo, torn down, and kneeled in the ashes before it.

She clutched at the broken blade in one hand and the
tuft of white cloth in the other.  Kodachi kneeled
there, shaking visibly as her weeping renewed ever
greater.

"Who..." Kodachi repeated.  "Who?  I..."  She
reversed her grip on the broken blade.  "Mother,
I...please help, Mother...I...I"

Everything.  Mother dead, the Kuno Beast swallowing
her family, and almost her.  Her love proved to be a
delusion.  Her friend's virtue and confidence
destroyed by one of her family.  Her home ransacked,
garden burned, pet killed.  Now her clan's ancestors
tossed about like trash.

She squeezed her eyes shut and raised the still sharp
blade in her hand.

"Excuse me, do you know the...WHOAH!"  Kodachi felt
someone grab her hand and hold her in a restraining
grip.

"Let go of me!" Kodachi screamed as her hand was
twisted until she dropped the broken sword.  The
intruder shifted his grip to shove her into the ground
and hold her there.

"Kodachi?  What the hell are you doing in Kyoto?"
Ryouga asked as he held her down.

"This is Nerima, idiot!" Kodachi snapped, halfway
between anger and desperation.  "Let me go, you stupid
rootless barbarian."

"Not until you tell me what happened here..."
Ryouga's voice faded out as he noted one of the
pictures scattered about the floor of the shrine.  "In
my Aunt's family shrine."  He finished darkly.

"This is the Kuno shrine!" Kodachi snapped, yelling
as well as she could with her face stuffed into the
ashes of her ancestors.  "Somebody...somebody..."

Kodachi was picked up out of the ashes and her
attention was directed to her mother's photo, as if
she needed any further remainder of the desecration.

"That's my Aunt Chikako," Ryouga said.

"She's my mother," Kodachi snarled angrily, choking
back a sob.

"Wait," Ryouga said confused.  He looked closer at
what he could see of Kodachi's face, and remembered
his rhythmic gymnastics lessons.  "Dacchi?"

"Of course that's what my parents called me," Kodachi
snapped.  "What do you..." She stopped and considered
the implications.  "You...you...you're my cousin!"
Kodachi blinked.

"Uhhh..." Ryouga blinked.

Then the girl in his arms suddenly went completely lax
and broke out into tears.  Ryouga sweatdropped as he
tried to comfort Kodachi without giving her another
chance to kill herself.

*********

Ranma sat securely in Akane's lap, feeling safe in
her arms.  Akane hadn't left her, and she could have
at any time.  She could have left when she was cursed.
 She could have left when Nabiki suggested the instant
nannichuan.  She could have left when they learned
Ranma might be pregnant.

Akane could have left when Kuno had...beaten her.
Ranma snorted.  She couldn't even think the word, how
could she ever tell the entire school.

"Are you okay, Ranma," Akane whispered.

"I thought I could hide it," Ranma said.

"It's just gossip," Akane said.  "We don't have to
tell them if you don't want to."

"Really, and in a few months when I get fat?" Ranma
asked.  "I'm not letting people think I wanted Kuno
to...to...do that."

"We can say it was just me," Akane said.  "It might
well be me anyway."  Ranma winced at the reminder of
their plan, and Akane felt that sick feeling again.

"I don't think we can stop it," Ranma whispered.  She
snuggled tighter into Akane's arms and watched the
television.

*********

"I'm sorry to see you again under these
circumstances, Kuno-san," Detective Kanzo said to the
girl as the police investigated the ransacked complex.
 "Who is this, your boyfriend?"

"Uhhh, just her...uh...cousin," Ryouga said
hesitantly.

"Detective," Kodachi started angrily.  She had cried
herself out before they had called the police and was
back to acting dignified, tired, but dignified.
Ryouga stood to the side looking uncomfortable.
"Aren't crimes like this a little beneath your
station?"

"You know him?" Ryouga asked Kodachi.  She nodded
from her seat in the chair he had salvaged.

"I'm investigating her bro-" Kanzo stopped himself as
Kodachi glared at him.  He resisted the urge to roll
his eyes.  "Her former brother's death."

"He's dead?" Ryouga asked.  "What happened at the
du..."  Kodachi flashed him a look and flicked her
eyes to the policeman.  Ryouga shut his mouth.

"There was a duel?" Kanzo said.  "I thought you said
your brother attacked your friend."  Kodachi glared at
Ryouga who looked sheepish.

"Yes, there was a duel," Kodachi admitted.  "As I
said, my brother injured the honor of my friend, the
matter had to be settled."

"That is what we are for, Kuno-san," Kanzo said
harshly.  Kodachi rolled her eyes.  "Why didn't you
call us?"

"My brother was a powerful martial artist," Kodachi
started, in reaction Ryouga lost his balance and fell
to the floor.  "I did not mean when compared to you
and certain others...Cousin."  Kodachi winced at
calling Ryouga "cousin," though there was a hint of a
smirk on her face.  "Sending the police after him
would have been like sending lambs to the slaughter."

"You said that Saotome left the victim alive," Kanzo
said.

"Yes, Ranma was decidedly..." Kodachi stopped and
glared at him.  "You are a devious man, detective.
Yes, since it seems pointless to hide it any longer,
Ranma left the ronin unconscious and inflicted him
with a curse so that he would no longer be a danger to
anyone.  It was decidedly more merciful than I would
have been in her situation."

"The strength-sapping moxibustion?" Ryouga asked
nervously.  "Ranma knows how to do that?"

"I believe that is what they called it," Kodachi
said.  Ryouga shivered.

"What is Saotome's situation?" Kanzo asked.  Kodachi
and Ryouga glanced at each other.

"That is not for me to say, detective," Kodachi said
simply.  "You will have to ask her that.  Suffice to
say he did not exact near the vengeance he was
entitled."

"What do you have to say?" Kanzo asked Ryouga.

"If Ranma had killed Kuno there wouldn't be a body
left to find," Ryouga said simply.  "You know those
tornadoes in China a few months back?  Ranma created
those."  He cleared his throat.  "Besides, Nabiki said
not to tell anyone."  He sounded nervous as he said
that.

"Oh yes, Kasumi-san mentioned you were dating her
other sister," Kodachi said.  Ryouga slumped in
frustration.

"I am not dating Nabiki," Ryouga said wearily.  Kanzo
chuckled a little.  They might have been
ultra-powerful kids, but they were still just kids.
These two seemed to be mostly good kids.  He really
wished that he could just close the case.

*********

"Tadaima!" Nabiki called out from the genkan.

"O-kaeri," Kasumi answered from the back yard.  Ranma
and Akane gave their own answers as Nabiki walked into
the room, looking tired.

"Was it bad?" Akane asked.

"Surprisingly free of bother actually," Nabiki said.
Ranma and Akane looked at her strangely.  "Oh, they're
all thinking things all right, but they're not saying
anything."

"That's cool, I guess," Ranma said.  Nabiki shrugged
and looked past them outside to Kasumi.  She moved
over to Ranma and sat down, leaning forward.  "You're
coming with me to the group today, right, Ranma?"

"Yeah," Ranma said resignedly.

"Do you think you can handle it without Akane?"
Nabiki asked.  Ranma and Akane looked at her in
confusion.  Before they could ask anything, she went
ahead and continued talking.  "I'm worried about
Kasumi, okay."

"Is something wrong with Kasumi?" Ranma and Akane
asked, sitting upright.

"Not really," Nabiki said, looking over their
shoulder.  "She just seems a little on edge.  So I was
thinking that while we're out at the group, Akane
could go out somewhere with Kasumi and see that she
gets some relaxation."

"Why not just suggest that she..." Akane started,
until Nabiki gave her a look.  "Right, Kasumi, never
mind."

Akane was about to make another protest when she
thought of what Kasumi had asked her earlier.  Did she
want Ranma following her around for protection all her
life?  Did she really want that.

"Ranma, do you want me there?" Akane asked,
half-hoping she'd say yes.  Ranma hesitated to answer.

"I handled myself for quite a while before
yesterday," Ranma said nervously.  "I...I guess I can
handle an hour or two.  Nabiki will be there, right?"

"You know I will be," Nabiki said.  "And you don't
have to say anything if you don't want to, Ranma."
Ranma visibly relaxed.

"Okay then," Ranma said.  "After school today, I
thin...I know I can do this."  Akane smiled at the
statement and kissed Ranma on the cheek.

"You're Ranma Saotome," Akane whispered.  "Nothing
can keep you down forever."  The redhead smiled back
at the encouragement.

"Arigato, Akane," Ranma said, kissing her wife on the
cheek in return.

"Sorry to interrupt," Nabiki said jokingly.  "But we
won't get anywhere if you keep up like that."

"Gomen ne," Ranma said, blushing and looking down.
Akane gave Nabiki a cautionary look.

"Just kidding, Saotome," Nabiki said with a smirk that
drew a shy smile from Ranma.

*********

Kasumi paused in the laundry and started to thumb
through the pamphlets she had carried out into the
backyard.  There were a couple of brochures on the
distasteful subject of abortion, and Kasumi couldn't
help but notice that those had been well examined.
She had to talk to Ranma about that.

Kasumi shook her head and sighed.  She could
understand why Ranma would want to abort the child.
It would not be easy to raise the child of man that
raped her.  It would not be easy for the child either.
 She did not want to admit it, but she wondered if it
might not be the best answer.  She wanted to make sure
Ranma was not rushing into the decision though.

Kasumi reached up to massage her temples and the
bridge of her nose.  She felt something of a headache
coming on, and she still had to make dinner for the
evening.

"Kasumi," Akane said softly, Kasumi turned to face
her.  "Are you okay?"

"Of course I am, Akane," Kasumi said, smiling.  She
slipped the pamphlets into a pocket of her apron
before Akane noticed them.  "Why do you ask?"

"Nabiki said something," Akane said.  "And...you
washed and dried these clothes yesterday."  Akane
pointed out the clothes on the line hesitantly.
Kasumi looked and then sighed on recognizing the load
herself.

"Oh my," Kasumi said, shaking her head.  "Perhaps I
have been a little distracted."

"Yeah." Akane looked back over her shoulder.  "Nabiki
and Ranma are going to that support group now.  Maybe
you and I can go out tonight, to a movie and dinner.
Just to relax."

"Aren't you going to accompany Ranma to this group?"
Kasumi asked.

"He said he'd be fine," Akane said.  "I think Nabiki
wants to make sure he stays today."  She grimaced.
"By making sure he can't run to me.  Besides, they're
already gone."

"Ah, I see, I hope she isn't pushing too hard at
him," Kasumi said.  "I suppose it would be good to
have an evening off for once.  Let me just finish
hanging these out to dry."  Kasumi serenely returned
to her work.

"I can help with that," Akane said, and proceeded to
do so.  The two of them finished quickly.

"What movie did you have in mind?" Kasumi asked as
they walked through the living room.  Kasumi paused a
moment and placed the pamphlets on the living room
table, she could talk to Ranma and Akane about them
later.

"I don't know."  Akane shrugged.  "There should be
something out."

*********

Ranma stared at the door for a few seconds before
moving again.  She was here again, and if she left
before Nabiki this time she'd have to leave alone.
Akane was out with Kasumi making sure the elder Tendo
relaxed.

"You can just sit and listen, Ranma," Nabiki assured
her quietly.  Ranma nodded and walked to the door
opening it cautiously.  The same women were in there
from before, and Ranma blushed nervously as she walked
further into the room.

"Hello again," one of the women said.

"Uh, hi," Ranma muttered before sitting down in a
chair and glancing around nervously.  Nabiki came in
behind her and sat down in an empty chair next to the
redhead.

"Are you going to stay today?" someone asked.  Ranma
looked in the direction of the speaker, and waited a
moment to nod.

"Yeah, I...guess," Ranma said.

"Do you want to introduce yourself," the same woman
asked.  "Or would you prefer to just sit in?"  Ranma
looked to Nabiki and then cleared her throat.  Nabiki
smiled and patted her shoulder encouragingly.

"Might as well get it over with," Ranma said.  "I'm
Sao..."

"You don't need to give your family name," Nabiki
said.  Ranma looked around and saw that the women were
nodding in agreement.

"Uhhh...My name's Ranma, I...I'm supposed to be a
martial artist."  Nabiki flinched at the qualifier
Ranma had added to her vocation.  Ranma snorted in
self-disgust and looked down at the ground.  They
waited a moment for her to continue, but Ranma stayed
silent.

"What kind of style?" someone asked finally.  Ranma
looked up at the woman, a foreigner by the
over-precise speech.  She was in her late twenties or
early thirties, had dark tan skin, and almost jet
hair.  "Karate, kung fu?"  Ranma looked between the
faces that were waiting for her answer.

"Mostly Sao..." she stopped herself from saying the
name.  "Anything Goes Martial Arts."   The foreigner
stared at her a moment.

"Your family has its own style of fighting?" she
asked.  Ranma nodded.

"Yeah, we share it with Nabiki's family," Ranma said,
feeling a little more comfortable as they stayed off
the topic that she was supposedly there for.  "But
I've sort of borrowed from a few other styles."

"Other styles?" the foreigner asked.  She moved seats
so that she was sitting next to Ranma.

"Rhythmic gymnastics, tea ceremony, eating, figure
skating," she said.  Nabiki rolled her eyes as Ranma
listed some of the more unusual and silly martial arts
styles.  Ranma shivered before she continued.
"Chinese Amazon warrior arts.  Some others."

"How long have you been practicing?" one of the other
women asked politely.  She was probably the oldest
woman in the room, mid-forties maybe, and dressed in
something Kasumi might wear.

"Fourteen years," Ranma said after a little thought,
eliciting a chorus of surprised gasps.

"You must be very good," the older woman said.

"Yeah," Ranma said.  "I never lose, that's why I'm
here right?" Ranma asked self-mockingly, the comfort
created by the topic vanishing.

"Ranma," Nabiki said, in frustration.  She turned to
rest of the women.  "H...She's one of the best
fighters in the world at the moment."  Ranma blushed
further, biting her lip angrily, and looked down at
the ground again.

"Excuse me, I should have introduced myself," the
foreigner said apologetically, extending a hand.  "I
am Lisa."  Ranma hesitantly shook the hand.  Before
she could answer verbally, the older woman stood and
bowed.

"My name is Ima," she introduced herself calmly
before sitting back down.  Ranma nodded in return,
staying in her seat.

"Toshiko," a raspy voiced woman in her early twenties
said.  The other women introduced themselves and Ranma
acknowledged them as well.  Mai was the woman with the
short hair that may have been dyed blue before it was
cut short.  Shikako was a thirtyish woman in a suit,
and Yukiyo appeared to be an average college student.

"Are you a business woman or teacher or something,"
Ranma asked, turning back to the foreigner.

"I am a Lieutenant stationed here with the American
Marines," Lisa said.  Ranma stared a moment.  "I also
do some women's boxing when I can."

"Gomen, I...uh...thought..." Ranma sighed and looked
down.  "I didn't think...that..."

"You did not think people like you could get raped,"
Lisa said.  "I did not think so either until it
happened."

"Gomen ne," Ranma said, cringing.

"Do not be sorry," she continued.  "I was the same
way."

"Yeah, it's was always something that happens to
someone else," Toshiko said.

Ranma noticed that she was wearing a turtleneck, and
her own hand rose to her throat as she realized why
Toshiko's voice was raspy.  Toshiko mirrored the
motion and took a moment to keep from crying.

"Gomen nasai," Ranma said quickly.  "I just
remembered...he was choking me when..." Nabiki looked
at Ranma closely as Toshiko was trying to wave off
Ranma's apology.

"I was going to be a singer," she said.  "My
boyfriend thought I should pay more attention to him.
He thought I was his personal ride."  She added the
last angrily.

"That's what Shampoo thought too," Ranma said looking
down.

"The man that raped you was named Shampoo?" Lisa
asked, confused.  Ranma paled and looked at Nabiki a
little reproachfully for a moment.

~Don't have ta say anything, right,~ she thought.
Ranma took a deep breath and set to explain.  "Shampoo
is a Chinese Amazon...she was tired of me saying
no...so s...she made me some r...ramen spiced with
somethin...th...th..."

"Ranma, I told you that you didn't have to say
anything," Nabiki said comfortingly.  Ranma laughed
once bitterly, and then sobbed.  Nabiki reached out an
arm to hug Ranma comfortingly.

"I already started, I'm g...g...gonna finish," Ranma
insisted.

Mai hesitantly stood up and moved over to the sobbing
redhead and reached out to rub her back.  Ranma nearly
jumped at the unknown touch, causing both the marine
and the other girl to cautiously jump back.  Nabiki
brought her other arm to encircle Ranma in attempt to
restrain her.  Ranma quickly recognized there was no
danger and slumped again, causing Nabiki to sigh in
relief.

"Gomen," she said wearily.

"Gomen ne, I just wanted to ask," Mai said.  "You
were raped by another woman, too?" she asked softly.
Ranma looked up in surprise and shook her head.

"Sh...she didn't get to, the drug let some
j...j...jerk...do th...that" Ranma said.  "Y...you?"
The woman nodded and returned to her seat.

"This woman I work..." she closed her eyes.
"Worked...with at a tattoo parlor.  I wanted a tattoo
done and asked her," she laughed bitterly.
"Professional courtesy, you know?  I didn't know she
swung that way, wouldn't have asked if I did, that
would be like asking a guy, unfair you know...she
thought I did...just needed a little pushing, she
said.  After all, I already dressed the part."  Ranma
noted that the clothes she was wearing were new, not
as new as Ranma's own new wardrobe, but of a similar
type.  Mai paused a little to get a hold of herself
and laughed again.  "She did a wonderful job on the
tattoo.  A real artistic masterpiece.  It was almost a
pity to have it burned off."  Yukiyo comforted Mai as
Ranma looked back down at the floor.

"I...I...I s...shouldn't be here," Ranma said.  "I'm
just upsetting p...people."  She started to stand up.
Nabiki reached out to grip Ranma's shoulder.

"This is why we're here," Nabiki said softly.  Ranma
looked at her, surprised to hear Nabiki speak softly
even after the last couple months.

"It always hurts to dredge things up," Ima asserted.

"B...but...I'm not even a real girl," Ranma
protested.  Nabiki sighed in resignation.  "I'm a guy!
 Sorta..."

"I'm a lesbian too, that doesn't make me a fake,"
Yukiyo said.  Ranma turned a surprised look at the
woman who had been comforting Mai.  She was extremely
surprised that Mai had not freaked at the easy
declaration.  "Who filled your head with that lie?"

"Actually, Ranma means he is a guy," Nabiki clarified
reluctantly.  "As in male.  Not just in taste."
Everybody looked at her in confusion.

"How is that possible, sex-change operation?" Shikako
asked.  Ranma looked at Nabiki.

"I can explain if you want, Ranma," Nabiki said.  "I
brought evidence."  Ranma looked at her suspiciously
and she pulled a small packet out of her pocket.

"No," Ranma snapped.  No one saw him move, suddenly
the packet in Nabiki's hand was gone and a fine powder
mist was surrounding Ranma.  "I ain't letting you risk
cursing yourself too!"

"Did I understand that correctly?" Lisa asked.
"Curse?"  Ranma calmed down and slumped back in her
chair.

"There's this place in China called Jusenkyo," Ranma
said quietly.  "It's got all these springs in it, and
if ya fall in one you turn into what ever drowned
there when ya get splashed with cold water.  Hot water
turns you back, but only until you next get hit.  I
fell...inta the spring of drowned girl."

"Curses and magic?" Shikako said disbelievingly.  She
turned to Nabiki who nodded.

"Yeah," Ranma said looking down.  "You wanna see?"
She held her hand out, palm up and concentrated.
After a long moment, a golf ball sized globe of yellow
light briefly appeared above her hand and then sparked
out.  Nabiki almost felt like crying on seeing that.

"My god," Lisa muttered in English under her breath,
straightening her back.  It was easy to tell from
Nabiki and Ranma's face that it was much less than
they were used to.

"Kuso," Ranma said under her breath.  She apparently
hadn't noticed any of the reactions in the face of her
failure.

Ranma frowned, pulled her hand in for a moment and
then put it back out and concentrated again.  Almost
immediately a large green globe of light formed above
her cupped hand and held there.  Ranma sighed and
slowly let the chi dissipate into nothing.

All the others, standing up and backing away from the
redhead, had to do was look at Nabiki's sheet white
face to know that there was something seriously wrong
with that.

"Excuse me," Shikako said hesitantly.  "What was
that?"

"Shi Shi Hokodan," Nabiki gasped.  Ranma nodded,
grimacing and bending over at the waist.  Nabiki
collected herself somewhat, and shakily explained, not
taking her eyes off Ranma.  "The yellow ball was one
of Ranma's creations, the Mouko Takabisha.  That is
fueled by confidence.  The green...was the Shi Shi
Hokodan...it's fueled by depression."

"Gomen nasai," Ranma said tightly, as if pained.  She
collected her breath.  "I didn't mean to scare
anybody.  I ain't a real girl, and I ain't a real guy
an...anymore!  I...ain't nothing but a f...freak...and
c...curse."  She turned to Nabiki shaking violently
and crying.  "Why does Akane keep me?"  Ranma pulled
her knees up and hugged them, her small frame easily
fitting on the chair.

Nabiki shook free of her shock and hugged Ranma again,
rubbing her back and massaging her shoulders.  She
wasn't as familiar with the practice as Kasumi.

"Ranma, stop it," Nabiki said.  "You're not a curse."
 She glanced about the room pleadingly.  She was only
mildly surprised when Ima cautiously moved forward to
help her.

"Ssh," Ima said quietly.  "It's all right.  You
didn't scare us."  Nabiki's expression clearly said
that he had just terrified her, but she didn't let
Ranma see her.  "It was just a surprise, that's all."

"It takes a bit more than that to scare you after
seeing a full artillery barrage," Lisa supplied, if a
little nervously.  She sat down again next to Ranma,
and reached out to squeeze her forearm companionably.

"Y...you don't care that I'm a guy?" Ranma asked,
still crying as she looked around the room.  Mai
approached slowly again and patted Ranma's back.

"Hey, Yukiyo is one of my best friends now," Mai
said.  Ranma glanced at the named girl who nodded
quietly as she joined them.  "And I never thought that
would be possible after...Nishi."  Mai virtually spat
the name.  "Accepting you is nothing compared to
that."  She moved a little out of the way so Yukiyo
could get her own say in.

"Don't ever call yourself a freak just because you're
a little different."  Yukiyo hesitantly hugged Ranma.
"Or even a lot different."  Ranma smiled shyly.  The
woman released her and smiled back, before returning
to her seat.

"Besides," Nabiki said, catching her breath finally.
"Akane is cursed now, and you don't think my sister's
a freak, do you?"

"No," Ranma said reluctantly.  She grimaced again and
closed her eyes.

"The bastard who pulled me off the street was a
freak," Shikako said.

"So is my boyfriend," Toshiko asserted hoarsely.
Ranma briefly wondered if she could yell.  "My
ex-boyfriend."  She corrected herself after a look
from a couple of the others.

"You don't strike me as one of those freaks," Shikako
determined finally, sitting down.

"Why don't you tell us about Akane," Ima suggested.
"From what Nabiki has told us she is an exceptional
person, but maybe you'd like to tell us about her?"

"About Akane?" Ranma repeated, slowly uncurling.
Nabiki gripped her hand, and almost cried out as the
redhead's grip tightened.

"Yes," Ima said, smiling.  "She sounds like a
wonderful person."

"Speaking of whom," Nabiki said tightly.  "I'm not
her, so please stop crushing my hand."

Ranma looked down at their hands and then released his
grip, and Nabiki let out a held breath and shook out
the hand.  The Tendo girl sat back down and gave Ranma
a quick smile to assure her that she was still on
Ranma's side.  The redhead noted her flexing the hand,
though.

"Gomen, Nabiki," Ranma said, her legs moving back to
the ground.

"Don't worry about it," Nabiki said.  "No harm done."

"I suppose Akane is pretty strong then?" Lisa said.

"Yeah," Ranma said with a wistful smile.  "Akane's an
uncute tomboy with the strength of a gorilla."  The
comments were made with a definite affection that
belied the literal meaning.  Then she frowned.  "She
coulda dropped me...I don't get it...she's always
helping me with stuff when she coulda just walked away
from the whole engagement mess.  We got married after
she knew about...this...she got cursed over this, she
says it ain't my fault, but it is...this time it
is...it would have been better for her if she let
me...go."

"It sounds like she cares about you a great deal,"
Ima said, smiling.  Ranma nodded.

"She says she loves me," Ranma said.  "I guess its
true, ain't really got her nothing."

"I wondered the same thing about my husband many
times," Ima explained.  "What could he see in me after
he learned about my stepfather."  Ranma looked at her
nervously as the implications came clear.

"It doesn't stop, does it?" Ranma said.

"Never completely, no," Ima said, reluctantly.  Ranma
slumped.  "But you can't let it run your life."  Ranma
sighed and nodded.

*********

"You can leave now," Kodachi said with her usual
sound of arrogance.  She crossed her arms arrogantly
and sat in devastation of her family home, still
clutching that piece of white cloth in her hands.

"Okay, we'll go then," Ryouga said, he reached out to
take her hand and Kodachi pulled back.

"We?" Kodachi repeated with an arched eyebrow.  "I am
staying here."

"This place is a mess, Kodachi," Ryouga said.  "You
can't stay here."

"This place is my home," Kodachi insisted,
emphasizing the word place angrily.  "I shall not
abandon it.  I do not suppose a nomad such as yourself
would understand."

"As soon as I leave you'll be trying to kill yourself
again, won't you," Ryouga accused.  Kodachi was
silent, staring past Ryouga in an attempt to ignore
his presence.  "I can't let you do that."

"I assume this relates somewhat to the accident of
our relations," Kodachi said snidely.  "You have no
duty here."

Kodachi didn't really know how to respond to him.  He
was a casual acquaintance, and yet she had allowed
herself to break down in his presence merely because
of a minor blood connection.  That was not acceptable.
 She had to maintain her dignity.  The Kuno clan was
dying, but it would not die a mewling baby if she had
anything to say about it.

"Kodachi!  Will you look around!" Ryouga said.  "The
games are over.  We need to clean up and fix the
damage, not worsen it."

Ryouga'd had a lot of time to think about that since
getting lost last time.  He thought he had known were
he stood with everybody, you could trust them because
you know what they were capable of.  The only time
anything really bad came close to happening came from
outsiders like Herb and Saffron.  He grimaced,
remembering what Shampoo had said.

"I do with him what I want!" Shampoo had shouted,
angrily, offended that they would seek to punish her.
She was unconcerned with Ranma, her property, only
with what might happen to her.  Ryouga hadn't seen
that coming.

"Who says that I am playing," Kodachi asked levelly.
"You could not understand."

"I understand better than you," Ryouga said in the
same tone of voice.  Kodachi turned to protest.  "You
aren't the only one to try suicide, Kodachi."

"And what did you ever have to kill yourself over,"
Kodachi asked.  "You have family, you have friends."

"I haven't seen my family in years," Ryouga said.
"The woman I loved is in love with another, and I
didn't know I had a friend until he was brutalized.  I
thought I had nothing.  It seems stupid now."

"And what was your particular method?" Kodachi asked.

"Shi Shi Hokodan," Ryouga said.  "You hope it'll kill
you every time, that's the secret.  There's a step
missing, but I doubt I'll find it anytime soon.
Wishing for death over my problems is petty compared
to what some people I know are living with now."  He
didn't have to tell her whom he was talking about.

"What are you talking about?" Kodachi demanded.
Ryouga smirked.

"If you come with me I'll explain while we walk," he
said.  Kodachi frowned, then the side of her mouth
twitched

"Fine," Kodachi said.  "As you wish."

*********

"This is not the Tendo dojo," Kodachi noted dryly.
She looked up.  "This is that serving girl's
restaurant."

"I thought sure it was a right down that the street,"
Ryouga said, confused.

"Perhaps we should take the chance to contact Ranma
and the Tendos," Kodachi said, walking inside.  Ryouga
followed behind her.

"What are you doing here," Ukyou snapped as Kodachi
entered the restaurant.

"Hey, someone trashed her place," Ryouga said coming
behind.  "Give her a break."  Ukyou turned to look at
him.

"Nabiki's been asking about you," Ukyou said, she
glanced at Kodachi.  "And you called Ranma a
Casanova."

"I can assure you nothing shall happen between me and
my uncouth..." Kodachi cricked her neck.  "Cousin."

"Would you stop saying it that way?" Ryouga asked.
"It's not like I asked for this."

"Excuse me," Ukyou blinked.  "Could you explain that,
please?"

"Yeah," Ryouga said wearily.  "Just let me call the
Tendos."

"Fine, Sugar," Ukyou said, shrugging.  She walked
hesitantly over to Kodachi.  "You going to behave?"

"Better than you last time you visited me," Kodachi
snapped.  Ukyou grimaced.

"Sorry about that," Ukyou said.  "I didn't know what
you did.  Look, to make it up to you, I'll let you
crash here, okay?"  Kodachi stared at her a moment,
and Ukyou glanced down at the white cloth in her
hands.

"I'm ecstatic," Kodachi deadpanned.

"Where'd you get that cloth?" Ukyou asked.  Kodachi
looked down and slumped, sitting in a booth.

"It...it was in Midorigame's mouth," Kodachi said
quietly, and then leaned against the booth table.
Ukyou nodded and frowned.

"Konatsu!" she called out.

"Hai," the ninja appeared almost instantly.  "Do you
need something, Ukyou-sama?"

"Watch the place for me, okay?" Ukyou asked.  "Get
them a free special or two, or whatever you can manage
anyway.  I have to do something."  Ryouga watched
curiously from the pay phone as Ukyou walked out of
the door.

*********

"We'll have to fend for ourselves in the cooking
department it looks like," Nabiki said as she walked
around the house.  "Akane and Kasumi must still be
out."

"That's fine," Ranma said, quietly considering what
had happened at the meeting.

Ranma mechanically wrung out her clothes as much as
she could, being stuck as a girl hadn't reduced her
tendency to be splashed.  Being wet was always
irritating, and the fact that it was warm only
reminded her of what she was.  She turned to Nabiki as
the other girl came back into the living room.

"Want me ta make somethin'?"

"Do you mind, Ranma?" Nabiki asked.

"Nah," Ranma said.  "It won't be like Kasumi's.  I
mostly cook camp stuff."

"It won't be Akane's cooking, though," Nabiki said.
"And I don't know a skillet from a spatula, so asking
me is useless."

"Have you ever tried to cook?" Ranma asked,
momentarily.  She was partially trying to distract
herself.

"Once," Nabiki said.  "The difference between me and
Akane is I know I can't cook."  Ranma shivered at the
thought and walked into the kitchen to check what the
Tendos had in stock.  Nabiki favored Ranma's back with
a concerned look as she left.

Ranma was very quiet, especially for her, and after
the display of the Shi Shi Hokodan, Nabiki wasn't
interested in letting the girl far out of her sight.
Nabiki thought of something and followed Ranma to the
kitchen.  Ranma was straightening her back as Nabiki
entered the kitchen.

"We could call Ukyou," Nabiki suggested.  Ranma
thought about it and shook her head.

"I just feel like making somethin'" Ranma said.
"Ukyou's got her place to run, I don't want to make
her lose money cause I can't take care of myself."
Ranma smiled.  "'Sides one of us has to learn to cook.
 Me an' Akane can't live on fast food forever."

"I guess if that's what you want," Nabiki said.
"What are you going to make?"  Ranma shrugged.  Nabiki
hesitated a moment.

"And what did you think about your first meeting?"
Nabiki asked finally.  Ranma stopped looking through
the cabinets for a moment and bit her lip.  Before she
answered, the phone started to ring.  Nabiki frowned
momentarily.

"I'll get that," she said.  Ranma nodded and returned
to preparing to cook with a relieved expression.
Nabiki picked up the phone.  "Moshi moshi.  Ryouga?"
Nabiki's eyes narrowed.  "Where the hell have you
been?  I'm trying to get this problem of yours in the
open with minimal harm, that's a lot easier with
you...You're with who!?  What?...Calm down and just
tell me what happened?  Shimatta.  Where are you two?
Where's Ukyou?  No, we haven't seen any..." There was
a knock on the door.  "One moment, Ryouga, someone's
at the door."

Nabiki set the receiver down on the table and walked
to the door.  She opened it casually and saw man in a
rumpled suit standing in front of her.  She thought
about what Ryouga had just told her.

"Excuse me, I'm here to speak to a Saotome Ranma,"
the man said, flashing a badge.  Nabiki took a moment
to look at it, and guessed that it was legitimate
enough.  "My name is..."

"Detective Kanzo," Nabiki said.  "Yes, Ryouga's on
the phone right now."  The man flashed an amused
smile.

"You're the girl he's not dating, then?" he asked.
Nabiki's eye twitched.

"Something like that," Nabiki said.  "Go ahead and
come in, Detective."  Nabiki gestured for him to come
in.  "Ranma's making something to eat right now."

"Thank you Tendo-san," he said, walking in.  Nabiki
stayed well away from him and remained ready to move
or scream if he proved something other than what he
seemed.

"You are welcome," Nabiki said.  She picked up the
phone as she passed it and started speaking to Ryouga
again.  Nabiki leaned back against the wall and
watched the detective closely.  "Yeah, he's here.
Just stay there.  Ranma's here.  If there are any
problems he can handle it.  You stay there and watch
Kodachi.  And, Ryouga, I don't appreciate you
spreading those rumors about us."  Nabiki set down the
receiver and addressed Kanzo again.  "Would you like
to take a seat, please?  I'll see if Ranma wants to
talk."

"That sounds fair," Kanzo said.  He walked to the
couch and sat down as Nabiki moved to the kitchen.  As
Nabiki left the room, Kanzo took notice of the
pamphlets on the table in front of him.

She saw the redhead staring at a couple of carrots and
leaning against the counter while holding a knife.
Her knuckles were white and she was almost doubled
over.  She had watched Ranma seem to fight tears
several times on the way home.  The redhead had
actually lost her balance, once even had to sit down
for a moment.  The fact was nagging at her, but she
didn't know why.

"Ranma," Nabiki said soothingly, moving carefully to
the redhead.  She cautiously reached out to take the
knife.

"I'm not going to kill myself," Ranma said, suddenly
moving to chop the carrots.  Nabiki stepped back and
pulled her hands away as the carrots were quickly
sliced up.  "I'm just tired.  Was that Akane on the
phone?"

"It was Ryouga," Nabiki said.  Ranma was making her
more nervous as the day wore on.  The changes she saw
could be good, but they could be bad too.  The girl
seemed to have climbed back to the edge, now it was a
matter of whether she'd climb over the lip of the
cliff or else slip and fall back into the chasm.

"Oh," Ranma said.  She slumped.  "Are we going to
tell Akane soon?  I can't not talk about that any
more."  Ranma's face darkened.  "Especially not if
he's going to be here."  Ranma moved to the rice
cooker and checked it for a moment.  She knew the
directions said it would turn itself off, but she was
used to having to watch the rice.

"Ranma, there's a police officer here," Nabiki said.
Ranma stopped and fidgeted a moment.  "He wants to
talk to you."  Ranma sighed.  "This has been a long
day already, Ranma, he can't legally force you to talk
right now."

"Nah, I ain't gonna hide if I can help it," Ranma
said quietly.  She looked around the kitchen for a
moment and took off the apron.  She paused a moment
and turned to Nabiki.  "Nabiki."

"What do you need, Ranma?" Nabiki asked cautiously.

"Thank you for making me go today," she said quietly.
 "Those people are nice."  Nabiki smiled in relief,
hugging Ranma.

"They're life savers," Nabiki agreed.

"I wish Akane were here," Ranma said before walking
out into the living room.  She moved slowly watching
the detective carefully as she approached.  The man
stood up as he saw her, Ranma tensed and narrowed her
eyes.  "Ya wanted to talk to me?"

"Saotome Ranma?" the detective asked.  Nabiki walked
out of the kitchen and stood next to her
sister-in-law, a little in front of her.  The
protective gesture was interesting to Kanzo,
especially if Ranma were as dangerous as he had heard.

"Yes," Ranma said carefully, leaning on the back of a
chair across the room from the detective.  Kanzo
thought he saw Ranma's face tighten fractionally, but
wasn't certain.

"I'm detective Kanzo," he almost walked forward to
offer and shake Ranma's hand, but chose to bow
instead.  "I am investigating the death of a ronin by
the name of Tatewaki.  I understand you had some sort
of dispute with him."

"Did Kodachi tell you that?" Nabiki asked angrily,
before Ranma could speak.

"Local gossip," Kanzo said smiling.  "I just tricked
her into confirming it.  Chose a somewhat unfair time,
with her home ransacked."

"What?" Ranma gasped.  "What happened to Kodachi?"

"Someone tore apart her home, burned her rose garden,
killed her pet alligator, and destroyed the family
shrine," Kanzo said.  Ranma slumped over the back of
the chair.  "Looked like retribution for something."

"Kodachi has earned a few of her own enemies," Nabiki
said, mostly to Ranma, but staring at Kanzo.  "The
White Lily for one."

"H...how is she?" Ranma asked.

"I heard you didn't much like her," Kanzo said.

"Sh...she saved my life," Ranma said quietly.  There
was an obvious, if slight, grimace.  Ranma shook her
head and straightened up.  "How is she?"

"She was pretty shaken up," Kanzo said.  "Her cousin
was keeping an eye on her."  Ranma looked at him
confused.

"Ryouga is Kodachi's cousin?" Nabiki said.  She
blinked and quickly recovered her composure.  Ranma
glanced at her, squinting.

"Apparently so," Kanzo said, smirking.  He changed up
subjects again.  "You know, I heard about your curse."
 Ranma turned about to stare at Kanzo again, face a
little pale.

"Wh...what about it?" Ranma asked.  Nabiki frowned at
the man.

"You really were born a boy?" Kanzo asked.  Ranma
nodded hesitantly.  "And you're stuck like this right
now?"  Ranma started to open her mouth before Nabiki
gestured for her to stay quiet.

"What does this have to with a death by animal
attack?" Nabiki asked.  "And before you ask, Kodachi
talked to us yesterday."  He picked a family planning
pamphlet up from the table and held it up.

"This is interesting reading material," he said.
Ranma blanched, while Nabiki maintained a neutral
expression.  "I understand the victim had something
for you as a girl."

"I have to ask again what this has to do with an
animal attack," Nabiki said, hugging Ranma
protectively now.  "Ranma let the bastard live, the
only crime here has been dealt with.

"That is what I suspect," Kanzo said reluctantly.
"Kuno-san had a pet alligator until this afternoon..."

"We all left together," Ranma snapped.  "Kodachi
didn't kill anyone."

"If she had fed him to the alligator you wouldn't
have found the body," Nabiki said.  "At least not
where you did."

"No, I don't think she did kill anyone," Kanzo said.
"But you and your friends have access to some unusual
resources.  Do you know anybody with a giant bird?"

"No, we do not," Nabiki said, Kanzo looked to her a
moment.

"Can you let Saotome-san answer, miss?" Kanzo asked.
"I am not enjoying this, but it is the job I have
sworn to do."

"No," Ranma said shakily.  "N...no birds."

"Tadaima!" Akane called out from the genkan.
"We're..." Akane walked in and frowned on seeing the
visitor.  "Who's this?"  Kanzo stood up.

"Tadaima.  Oh, is Ranma okay?" Kasumi asked as she
entered behind Akane.

"Miss..."

"Saotome Akane," Akane said hesitantly she looked to
Nabiki comforting Ranma and narrowed her eyes.  "Who
are you?"

"Detective Kanzo," he answered bowing.  "I didn't
want to upset your spouse, but I'm investigating the
death of a ronin that he seems to be involved in."
She looked again at Ranma and Nabiki.  "I already knew
about his curse."

"Ranma is not a killer, officer," Akane growled,
emphasizing the word officer rather than detective.
She walked over to Ranma and gripped her hand.  Ranma
straightened her posture again and then leaned against
Akane.  Nabiki stood up straight, crossed her arms,
and moved between Kanzo and the newlyweds.  Kasumi
moved around to a position behind them all.

"As far as any of us know, that man was killed by a
wild animal," Kasumi asserted.  "This does not appear
to be a criminal matter."

"Not on first glance, true," Kanzo admitted.  "You're
probably right."  He started to leave, but paused.
"You know, there was something unusual found with the
body."

"What was that?" Nabiki asked.

"A dead owl," Kanzo said.  "It had somehow exploded
or something, like it had swallowed something that
grew inside it."  Ranma's eyes widened suddenly, and
Kanzo noticed.  He shrugged then.  "Must have been a
cherry bomb.  I'm sorry to bother you, you seem like
good people, but I have my job to do."

As soon as he left, Nabiki turned back to the others.

"I'm going to go talk to Ryouga and Kodachi," Nabiki
said irritably.  "I want to know what they said."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Nabiki," Kasumi said.  Nabiki rubbed
at the bridge of her nose.

"They're cousins." Nabiki said.  She sighed as
Kasumi's face brightened.  "And I'm not dating him."

"Nabiki, be careful," Ranma said.  "First Mousse this
morning, now Kodachi's house.  Something's up."

"Should I go with you?" Akane asked.  Nabiki thought
about it.

"I should be fine," Nabiki said.  "But I'll watch my
back.  Save some of that dinner for me, okay, Ranma?"
 She took a breath and walked out of the dojo.

*********

Nabiki stepped out of the gate and looked about
expectantly.  She shook her head irritably and looked
to where Kanzo was watching the dojo.  Granted, he had
picked a decently unobtrusive hiding spot, she judged
whether or not the spot was within earshot of the dojo
in case she had to scream and then walked over.

"What are you doing?" Nabiki asked.

"You're an observant woman, Tendo-san," Kanzo said.
"Ever thought of joining the police?"

"Once or twice, yes," Nabiki said.  "Now what are you
doing?"

"I believe Tatewaki raped your friend," Kanzo said
simply.

"And I thank you for implying that oh so gently in
there," Nabiki snapped.  "Are you planning on
arresting Ranma now?  The bastard got what he
deserved."

"We can't allow people to take the law in their own
hands," Kanzo said.  "Then we just have anarchy, might
makes right."

"If you had tried to arrest Tatewaki," Nabiki said.
"Then you would have seen a display of might."

"Which is why I'm not concerned with the duel," Kanzo
said.  "I'm talking about who killed the man after
your friend had already inflicted him with, I believe
it was called 'strength-sapping moxibustion?'  From
the description I received, it would have left him
completely defenseless, there was no reason to do
anything else."

Nabiki stared at him for a moment.  Then she looked
around and noted that the streets were starting to
fill up with evening foot traffic.  People returning
home, going to the bathhouse, kids on dates.  There
would be a lot of people around to hear her if she
needed help, assuming she stayed on the busy streets.

"As long as you plan on talking to me, care to walk
with me to the Ucchans?" Nabiki asked.

"What is that?" Kanzo asked.

"A restaurant," Nabiki smirked.  "You don't seem to
know everything about Nerima do you?"

"I didn't have a need to know until recently," Kanzo
admitted.  "We could drive there."  He gestured at his
small car.  Nabiki narrowed her eyes at that
suggestion.

"Walking would be faster," Nabiki said started to
walk, Kanzo moved in step with her.

"Step away, please," Nabiki said coldly, and the
detective obliged her.  "You think what happened to
Kodachi is connected with her former brother's death?"

"It is a possibility," Kanzo said.  "Someone who
cares enough about your friend to kill for him.  You
sound doubtful."

"I won't see any harm come to my family," Nabiki
said.  "That includes Ranma."

"If the same person that killed Tatewaki also
ransacked the Kuno estate you'd be well to help me,"
Kanzo said.  "After all, I gather Kodachi helped
Saotome-san get away from her...former brother's
death."

"That's true," Nabiki frowned, and then her eyes
widened.  "They might not be trying to avenge Ranma."

"What do you mean?" Kanzo asked.

"Ranma and Tatewaki weren't the only ones involved in
this," Nabiki said, hesitantly.  "The cause of it all
was a Chinese Amazon named Shampoo.  She drugged
Ranma, which is why he couldn't defend himself when
Tatewaki caught him."

"I heard that some Chinese fighters had left the
area," Kanzo said.  "Could this Shampoo girl have done
all this?"  Nabiki smirked and laughed.

"Not likely," Nabiki said.  "She was turned into a
cat as punishment for the crime."  Her amusement was
tempered by what Cologne had considered the crime to
be.  "She was permanently changed, not like a normal
curse."

"Normal curse, that is a bizarre statement," Kanzo
said.  Nabiki had to nod in agreement.  "You think the
guilty party is trying to avenge her then?"

"This boy that has a crush on her was spreading
rumors at our school this morning," Nabiki said.  "You
said the owl looked like something had grown inside of
it?  I assume you meant Tatewaki."

"Yes," Kanzo admitted.  "I thought that was
impossible until I learned about your friend's curse."

"There is something called Instant Nannichuan,"
Nabiki said.  "It's a sort of a one-shot Jusenkyo
curse, my sister used so she could marry Ranma while
he's stuck as a girl.  The Amazon matriarch gave us a
supply before she left the country."  Kanzo decided
not to ask why they had been given a supply.

"Would there be other things one can turn into with
these packets?" Kanzo asked.

"That's a good question, isn't it?" Nabiki asked.
"But Mousse is definitely a problem I would like dealt
with.  I don't think you can, but at least this way
you know it wasn't one of my family."

"I like your confidence in our abilities," Kanzo said
sarcastically.

*********

"Are you okay, Ranma?" Akane asked.  Ranma blinked
and then turned to Akane with a shaky smile.

"Yeah," Ranma said.  "It's just been a long day."

"Did you...enjoy your meeting today?" Kasumi asked.
Ranma flinched.

"I'm not sure you can call it that," Ranma said.  She
straightened her back and gave another shaky smile.
"Let me just finish making my dinner, okay?  Then we
can talk."

"Oh! I can do that," Kasumi said.

"Nah, I got it," Ranma said.  "You both already ate,
ne?  I just feel like making something.  I already
started anyway."  Akane and Kasumi looked at each
other and then back at Ranma.

"Okay, Ranma," Akane said.  Ranma nodded and started
walking to the kitchen.  She could tell Akane was
following her, probably for the same reason Nabiki
had, to make sure she didn't stab herself or
something.  Still, Akane couldn't see her face
suddenly turn worried as she bit her lip.

~Ucchan no baka,~ Ranma thought.  Ranma visibly
cringed for no apparent reason and fell against the
wall.  That pain hadn't gone away yet, it was almost
getting worse.

"Ranma!" Akane gasped.  "Are you okay?"  She moved
next to Ranma and helped the redhead steady herself.

"Ahh, its just my imagination," Ranma muttered.

"What is your imagination?" Akane asked cautiously.

"It ain't..." Ranma's speech was cut off by a wince,
and she appeared to wobble.  Akane watched an
expression of pain collect across Ranma's face.

"Kasumi!" Akane called.  "There's something wrong
with Ranma!"

"This I know," Ranma said tightly.  "I can deal with
pain."  Akane was half-carrying the redhead to keep
her on her feet.

"What is the...?" Kasumi's eyes widened as she turned
the corner to see them.  Akane followed Kasumi's gaze
to Ranma's feet and the blood she could see staining
Ranma's socks.

"Ranma, you're bleeding!" Akane shouted in alarm.
She looked Ranma over quickly and saw the front of the
redhead's pants starting to stain as well.  ~Ranma
wears a couple layers of clothes.~

"I'm what?" Ranma asked.  She tried to lean over to
take a look and almost toppled.  She would have if
Akane hadn't caught her.

"Ranma, lay down," Kasumi said quickly.  "I'm calling
the hospital."  She glanced at Akane before rushing to
the phone.

"What's going on?" Ranma asked desperately, letting
Akane lower her to the ground.  "Akane, what's wrong
with me?"  Akane sat down and held Ranma's head in her
lap.  She stroked at Ranma's hair trying to keep her
calm.

"I don't know," Akane said nervously.

*********

"Do you know how to find more of your family?"
Kodachi asked after a long silence.  She was still
twisting that piece of white fabric in her hands, as
if by twisting it she might harm its owner.

"Umm, not really," Ryouga said.  "It's hard to find
us.  Why?"

"How did you grow up?" she asked quietly.  "Were you
mostly alone?  Did you know your parents?"

"My dad is always lost," Ryouga said, nervous at
Kodachi's sudden inquisitive mood.  "So I've never
seen much of him.  Mom mostly stayed home, but
sometimes she had to go somewhere on business or
something.  Either that or she needs to pick up Dad
from somewhere.  Then my Auntie Chikako would come to
keep an eye on me, with my cousin Dacchi."

"Yes, I had figured out that much," Kodachi said
irritably.

"Yeah, but then you stopped coming," Ryouga said.  "I
was about nine I think."

"Mother died," Kodachi said, quietly.  "A mistake in
a doctor's prescription killed her.  That's why I
learned about drugs myself."

"Oh.  Are you going to be a doctor?" Ryouga asked.
Kodachi turned to him and squinted.

"I had not actually considered that," Kodachi said.

"Why do you want to know so much about my family
life?" Ryouga asked, to distract Kodachi from staring
at him.

"Because Father was never much of a father," Kodachi
said.  "And after Mother died, I was mostly alone."

"What about your bro...," Ryouga stopped as Kodachi
glared at him.  "Nevermind."

"In the case of an emergency," Kodachi continued past
the mistake.  "How do you contact your family?"

"We place ads in the papers and magazines," Ryouga
said.  Kodachi nodded.

"I see," Kodachi said.  The door to Ucchan's opened
and both turned to see Nabiki come in with detective
Kanzo.

"Good evening Tendo-san," Konatsu said bowing as they
entered.  "Ukyou-sama is gone for a few minutes so
were not serving..."

"I'm here to see those two, Konatsu," Nabiki said,
pointing at Ryouga and Kodachi.

"Oh good," Konatsu said.  Then the kunoichi shivered.
 "Oh dear, there seems to be a draft somewhere, I
shall be right back."  Konatsu left the room to start
checking windows.

"Good evening, detective, not had your fill of misery
yet?" Kodachi asked irritably as they walked over.

"More than my fill actually," Kanzo said.

"You know who Mousse is, right Koda-chan?" Nabiki
asked, interrupting the developing conversation.
Kodachi twitched at being exposed to Nabiki's
sarcastic tendency to assign nicknames to everybody.

"I have encountered the man before, yes," Kodachi
said.  "Why do you ask."

"Is there anything that indicates that this Mousse
might have been the one to destroy your home?" Kanzo
asked.

"But why..." Kodachi frowned.  "He is enamored of
that...bitch!...isn't he."  Kodachi growled, hands
tightening around the cloth in her hands.  Ryouga
glanced at the cloth again, and suddenly realized
something.

"That's why Ukyou ran off," Ryouga said.  He pointed
to the cloth in Kodachi's hands.  "She saw that and
then went off to find Mousse."

"Why would that barbarian want to attack me?" Kodachi
demanded.

"He may also have used some sort of magic to have
your former brother killed," Kanzo said.  "It seems
he's trying to get revenge for his girlfriend."
Nabiki and Ryouga shared a look.

"How much do you know now, Detective?" Kodachi asked
sharply, glancing at Nabiki.

"He knows the basic story," Nabiki said.  "I didn't
go into many details."

"He'll be after us soon," Ryouga said.

"You and me, yes," Nabiki said.

"You two?" Kanzo asked, arching an eyebrow in
surprise and reproach.

"I'm the one that brought Shampoo's activities to the
attention of her elders," Nabiki said.  "Ryouga acted
as my bodyguard.  He'll probably think we're directly
responsible."

"When can we expect him to strike then?" Kanzo asked.

The conversation was interrupted when a chained up
Konatsu smashed into the table they were surrounding.

"You can expect me to strike now!" Mousse shouted.

Ryouga was already to his feet and getting ready to
attack when the water balloon hit him in the face.
Kanzo's eyes widened as the boy shrank and vanished
into his clothes, but turned back to the matter at
hand.  His gun was quickly knocked free just before he
was nailed to the wall by a volley of knives that held
him by his clothes.

"You! It was you! You killed my Midorigame!" Kodachi
shouted, finally overcoming her shock and rage.

"Kodachi, wait!" Nabiki yelled out, trying to stop
the gymnast from getting into a fight where she was
most likely overmatched.

"I've already avenged the harm your clan has done to
Shampoo's honor," Mousse snapped.  "I don't wish to
fight you."

"It doesn't matter what you wish!" Kodachi growled,
she lashed out with her ribbon to slash out Mousse.

Nabiki stood up and tried to sneak around to find some
water.  Mousse easily managed to avoid Kodachi's
attacks and lashed out with a weighted chain catching
Nabiki in the back and slamming her into the wall.
Nabiki cried out as she was struck and then slumped to
the floor, stunned.

Kodachi shouted an unintelligible growl as she
switched from her ribbon to something that required
less room.  Mousse was turning to deal with the
club-wielding gymnast, well aware of the electrical
current running through the weapons.

The Amazon was distracted by an enraged piglet flying
into his face.  Mousse reached up and pulled the
piglet from his face, and returned to consider
Kodachi.  He was too late to keep from being brushed
by one of the electrified clubs and cried out in pain
and surprise.

"Woman, this isn't your fight!" Mousse shouted.

"You desecrate my ancestors' shrines and you say it
isn't my fight?" Kodachi demanded.

She came in fast and furious, eager to land a solid
blow that would let the current immobilize him.
Mousse sighed and tossed out a chain to wrap around
Kodachi, clubs and all.  As the current passed through
the chains into her, Kodachi screamed and spasmed,
thankfully releasing the buttons that triggered the
charge.  She fell hard to the ground and remained
still.

Mousse was moving to check her pulse when the piglet
attacked him again.  This time Mousse could take the
time to catch and hold Ryouga away from where the
Jusenkyo cursed wanderer could easily attack.  The
blind man checked Kodachi's pulse and nodded before
moving towards where Nabiki was coming to.

"You must be Mousse," Kanzo said.  Mousse looked in
his direction and then just ignored him, lifting
Nabiki off the ground by her throat.

"You two were the ones that caused all this," Mousse
said angrily.  The piglet in his hand bweed angrily.

"That's what you think," Nabiki gasped.  She was
starting to think that the blow to her back had broken
her shoulder or something, it certainly hurt like
hell.  "You think I was going to let that bitch get
away with what she did?"

"Don't you dare call Shampoo that," Mousse shouted
angrily.  "Or I'll..."

"Or what, you'll kill us?" Nabiki laughed.  "You're
going to do that anyway."

"I can think of worse fates," Mousse said.  Nabiki's
bravado vanished completely.

"Y...you wouldn't," Nabiki stuttered.

"You took Shampoo away," Mousse growled.  Nabiki
cringed and closed her eyes as Mousse moved in closer.

"Please...not again," Nabiki whispered.  The piglet
in Mousse's other hand was now heavily enraged and
looking for some way to get free.

"You do this and we'll hunt you down," Kanzo
promised.  Mousse turned to face him, obscuring the
storeroom door from Kanzo's view.

"Like you could stop me," Mousse said.  "My love is a
cat for the rest of he--" Kanzo saw a flash of metal
as Mousse's rant was cut off, and a thick shower of
hair dropped to the ground around Mousse's feet.  The
Chinese boy released his grip from around Nabiki and
Ryouga, both of whom tumbled to the ground.

Kanzo and Ryouga watched to the still standing
Mousse, confused.  Confused until Mousse's head rolled
off his shoulders to the ground, followed by his body.
 Ukyou was standing there and staring at the body and
breathing hard.  Her eyes were wide in apparent shock.

"Miss!" Kanzo called out.  "Miss!" Ukyou shook her
head clear and turned toward the yelling police
officer.  "Can you get me loose?"

"Yeah, sure," Ukyou said shakily, setting her spatula
to the side.  The chef stepped around the body
avoiding the spreading blood pool and moved to help
the detective free from the wall.  "I gotta call the
ambulance."  Ukyou said breathlessly.  She moved, in
an apparent daze to the phone and started dialing.

The detective first checked on Kodachi and was
relieved to find the girl still breathing.  He
carefully, VERY carefully, pulled away the electrified
clubs from out of the metal chains so they wouldn't be
a danger any longer.

"Tendo-san, how are you?" Kanzo called out.  Nabiki
didn't respond right away, he looked over and saw her
eyes were still closed.  One arm was limp but the
other was wrapped around her knees.  Kanzo rushed over
to her.  "Tendo-san!  He's dead!"

"Dead?" Nabiki asked quietly.  She risked a glimpse,
saw Mousse's head a few feet away, and tried to jump
to her feet, and failed when her arm and shoulder
wouldn't hold the weight.  "Oh kami, I thought.  He
was going to...Oh kami..."

"If it's any relief," Ukyou called out, still looking
kind of dazed,  "I think he was talking about a
Jusenkyo curse, not what you're thinking."  Nabiki
looked at her a moment, and then sighed in relief.

"Don't think about it," Kanzo said.  "Just sit and
wait for the ambulance."  Nabiki nodded and worked to
sit up, focusing on the task rather than what may have
happened, and careful not to shift her injured arm or
shoulder much.

************************************

The next, and planned to be last, chapter is just
started might take a little while

=====
"Caffeinated Kender?  What's that, a berserk spell?" -
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
"God has to have a sense of humor, it's the only explanation for sex." - my
father
"I have to write a how-to paper for class, so I'm writing a paper on how to
be psuedo-evil." - my brother

http://members.aol.com/thrythlind/snake.html

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