Meeting Later - Chapter 8.

Text Version

     Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They belong to the wonderful Rumiko Takahashi and her licensees (Viz Communications in North America). This work is strictly for the non-profit enjoyment of fans. No copyright infringement is intended. All spelling is pretending to be Australian.

      Meeting Later is originally a story by Tom Wrensch, personally one of my favourite authors. Tom has given me the honour of continuing this series but the idea and first chapter are all his work. To view more of his work, which I personally recommend, his web site is http://www.geocities.com/twrensch

      Last Updated: 16/12/05

*****

      "Saotome! Animal!"

      Ranma looked down at Akane's red face before leaping off her. Sparing a glance back into the storage room to allay fears of the cat pursuing him, he stood and faced the enraged World Kendo Champion.

      Ignoring the horrified look on his blonde fiancée’s face as she stood beside the Japanese young man with his wooden blade out, the pigtailed boy could feel the power radiating from the swordsman, exciting him that he had encountered something really challenging to fight. His eyes briefly noticed a blue black braid of rope nearly a foot long, hanging from the kendoist's belt. His gaze returned to Kuno's, "Excuse me buddy, my student and I were training, butt out."

      On the floor, Akane looked with near horror at Ranma as he turned from the swordsman, leaning down to give her a hand to her feet, his blue eye winking at her, his face showing his excitement and anticipation of this face off. She didn't have time to decide how to try and beat into his head how dangerous Kuno was when he was angry.

      Sakura screeched out an adjective to describe Akane that ladies wouldn't use in normal conversation and charged towards the girl being helped up by her fiancée, only to stop white faced in an instant as Kuno whipped his blade through her path, her normally unstoppable chopsticks cut like twigs as the tall boy glared at Ranma's back.

      "How dare you! Do you not know who I am?" he thundered angrily, "I, I am Tatewaki Kuno, the shining star of the entire Kendo world, champion of all that is kendo, known to all true warriors as the Blue Thunder of the Empire, and when I have done beating you, your feeble skill will be unwanted for the training of children, and thou will never come near my beloved again!"

      With a cry, he charged forward, Ranma turning to face him ready to block, but Akane beat them both to the punch, springing straight under Kuno's guard to slam her fist into his abdomen, his body folding over it before being thrown back into a wall.

      She turned to glare at Ranma for goading the swordsman, but the impressed look in his eyes stole her anger. For his part, Ranma had planned on just holding the swordsman off and play off his honour, but Akane had done that for him. "Hey Akane, I thought you said this guy was honourable, that he wouldn't just strike at a guy’s back."

      Standing slowly, Kuno glared at this insolent cur whom had some hold over his beloved, his white tigress even now gazing at her captor like she was in a trance. "I am Tatewaki Kuno, I am all that is honour!"

      "Then challenge me, oh honourable one," he goaded back with a cocky grin.

      "I shall! I do! I, the Blue Thunder challenge you, dog. This very day in this very place, I shall destroy you!"

      Her eyes narrowed, Nabiki had watched, impressed by the blind testosterone of the pair, but as the challenge was made, she recalled Ranma's words about wanting to fight in the open because he expected both fighters to cause a lot of collateral damage, "Isn't that a bit contemptible, Kuno baby?"

      Ranma frowned as he looked to the new voice intruding on a challenge, but Kuno was the first to speak, "Silence woman! Must you..."

      "Yes, Kuno baby, I must," she said cutting him off, knowing his bark was worse than his bite when it came to women. "I just wanted to point out, that your honourable-ness has just challenged a guy who has been in two days of fighting. Or are you going back to your old tactics, like when you'd let the other boys wear down Akane so you could try and beat her for a date?"

      Smirking, Ranma could feel the kendoist bristling, the nature of Nabiki's accusation carrying an air of repetition, words that had been brought up before. "Hey listen Blue Lightning, how about this, next Saturday afternoon, we fight then."

      Bristling again at his name being taken so cavalier by the rude boy before him, he nodded. "It shall be, and when I cut you down you shall swear to release the beautiful Akane from your hold on her, that she may return to my loving arms."

      This time it was Akane's turn to bristle, but Ranma beat her to words, "Fine with me, she can go to whoever she wants after the fight if you win, but if I put you down, you leave her alone, no visiting, no calling, no nothing. As long as she stays in Juban, you stay out."

      Ranma's blue eyes locked onto Akane's as her face lit with a brilliant smile, and he almost didn't hear Kuno accepting. "So be it Saotome, next week, you will learn that my love for her, my fierce tigress, will not be stopped. Prepare for your defeat."

      Kuno turned on his heel and stormed out, his angry battle aura flaring around him and sending many stage hands running for cover. Nabiki quickly came over to the pair and placed an arm around her sister’s shoulder, going with them as they headed for the exit. "Well that was rather exciting, I really expected him to try and strike now. So, Ranma, you really think you can win?"

      Sakura snapped out of her shock looking around at the departing fighters and called rather desperately, "And if Ranma loses, he must..."

      "Shut up Sakura!" Akane called back before the fire door slammed behind the departing trio.

*****

      Sena nodded her dark hair as she looked over her big brother in his suit. Hopeless as he was, he could clean up nice. She slipped a laminated card into his pocket showing the restaurant and its address she had picked out for Tofu and Kasumi and patted it, reminding him of what it was.

      "I know sister," he said in a strong yet vaguely annoyed tone as he double-checked himself in the mirror. His voice dropped to whining as he slumped before it, "This won't work, I'll screw it up again! She deserves better than that."

      "What she deserves, Brother, is your respect. Give that to her, stay calm, and let her get to know you. For a doctor you really don't know much about people, you know that."

      "But she isn't a people, she's Kasumi."

      She slapped him as his eyes glazed over. "Just be you and let me worry about the rest."

      The honking of the taxi's horn out the front made him pale and quiver.

      "Come on Brother!"

*****

      Her brown eyes looked up as she walked backwards towards the rear fence of the yard of the Saotome house, the angle letting her see the dark silhouette of a boy laying up on the roof, right where his mother had suggested he would be. She frowned as she changed direction, rushing forward to kick off the ground to the first story and springing again to the roof, landing gracefully on the tiles and turning towards Ranma who looked at her for a moment before going back to looking to the clear city night sky.

      "Hey Akane," he said listlessly.

      She dropped a small cloth bundle on his stomach, which got a reacting jerk from him, before kneeling and opening it. He grinned as she passed him a fresh cookie and took one for herself before seating herself more comfortably on the slope beside him.

      Silence held over the biting cookies for a moment before she began apologizing. "I'm sorry I worked your mother up about Kuno being so dangerous. I didn't expect her to react like that."

      He shrugged as he considered his mother's over-reaction when she heard Akane berating him for angering and then turning his back on Kuno, describing in graphic detail how good the kendoist was and whom he had beaten. Nodoka had started to suggest trying to delay the fight so Ranma could have more training time and it had finished in mother and son arguing. Akane's brow furrowed as she recalled Aunty picking up the Saotome family sword and suggesting she take the challenge which had made Ranma call her a cheat and telling her the fight was set before storming out. Akane didn't even remember Nodoka being any good with her sword, certainly nothing like kendo training. "No biggy, she gets like that before all my big fights. And anyway, he might be oh so good, but he ain't invincible, he'll never even see what I'll do to him."

      He frowned and looked up to the dim stars again.

      "So if you're not upset about that, then what's got you up here?"

      "Just thinkin."

      She lay down and looked up at the stars, so few visible under the electric lights of the city. She recalled seeing them so bright in the country, and she glanced at Ranma with his wide ranging travels at how he probably knew places even better for viewing them. "So what are you thinking about now?"

      "Just trying to recall if anyone had any cool 'wind fighting' styles or moves. If this Kuno is good with wind I could use a little practice, but what little Konatsu knows I know the counters to already, and the only other source round here is out for at least a week."

      Akane frowned, "Who's the other?"

      "Cologne," he said with a chuckle, "She's got great techniques but after you beat Shampoo at the tournament, she isn't going to be helpful to win a challenge fight involving you."

      "Well you better ask her for training before the next time I face Shampoo, cause next time I won't go so easy on Cologne's great grand daughter."

      Chuckling at her bravado, Ranma nodded. "You better be ready. Pretty soon Shampoo'll be hunting for a rematch."

      Already grinning, Akane suddenly smiled wider as she thought of an ideal pair of girls for the kind of training Ranma sought, but the smile fell as she realized she hadn't seen them since the incident on Prince Toma’s island last summer.

      The sound of a car door shutting out on the street had the pair look over the roof, seeing Kasumi looking back forlornly at the departing vehicle before turning to head inside.

      "She's back early," Akane mumbled to herself before getting to her feet and jumping down to rush inside. Taking the remaining cookies, Ranma dropped down after her and slowly headed inside hearing Nabiki and his Mother already babbling to Kasumi about her date with Doctor Tofu.

      He diverted into the kitchen, more interested in any outcome of the Doctor’s date than the details of what happened, and it didn't sound too positive. His mother entered shortly to make some tea to share while chatting and smiled seeing he already had the kettle on and the tea set out.

      Entering the main room, he saw Kasumi looking as glum as she ever had, flanked by her sisters at the table. A knocking at the door got his attention and he diverted there rather than joining them, opening the door to Tofu's sister Sena. "In the main room," he said simply, taking her coat as she smiled and rushed in to the others.

      By the time he returned to the main room, Sena was talking about a second date, seeming almost fearful that Kasumi wouldn't go for it. But it was the dark eyes of Nabiki staring straight at him that made Ranma nervous.

      "Hey Sis," she drawled out, not looking away from Ranma, "It seems Tofu was just nervous about finally going out on a date with you, right?"

      The nod from Kasumi, and eagerly seconded by Sena, had only just begun when Nabiki continued, her voice slow but firm, "Then we simply need something to ease that tension, make it less of an intimate date and more of a fun date. Perhaps if we could find another couple, known and trusted by both Tofu and Kasumi, to chaperone them on a 'double date'. Then pressure would be off and they can relax into getting to know each other."

      Ranma suddenly grew nervous as all the women but Akane turned to look at him. Sena nodded and looked to Akane, then back at Nodoka. "If Tofu chokes again, Ranma can give him a tip or some prodding." Nabiki visualized Ranma kick a frozen Doctor Tofu under the table, Nodoka visualized Ranma nudging an elbow into a frozen Doctor Tofu, Sena visualized Ranma braining Tofu with a mallet.

      "Me?"

      Squirming in her seat, Akane reluctantly nodded, seeing the value. Her eyes shifted slightly at the slightly over enthusiastic reactions of the other girls. "And me. I guess no one else knows them both as well as we do."

      Nabiki grinned, "Good thing we're going shopping tomorrow Akane, you'll need a new dress for this double date."

      "Let's not call it a date," Ranma said in a hiss, "If this gets out, Shampoo and Sakura are gonna hit the roof." He didn’t even want to think about what Ukyo would say.

*****

      The dark haired girl with the red ribbon in her shoulder length hair glared at the rail security man as he asked where their parents were while looking at their tickets on the early morning train. "That is none of your business, we just need to get to Tokyo."

      The older man frowned at them and returned their tickets. "Your father should teach you some manners girl," he said tossing the tickets back to them. "We'll arrive in Tokyo mid morning, you two should be in Juban before lunch."

      The dark haired girl watched the conductor leave, her older sister placing a calming hand on her shoulder. "Control yourself Karumi. I'm sure Ranko wouldn't let him hurt her."

      Glancing out the window of the fast moving train as the dawn neared, illuminating the horizon with pale light. "We'll see Natsumi, we'll see. He is her brother."

*****

      Akane sat up in bed, bleary eyed, as someone rapped on her door, the lump on the futon on the floor mumbled something about being quiet before going silent itself. Flicking open the curtains to see the sun up, she slipped off her bed, stepped over Nabiki, and cracked open the door to see Nodoka looking at her.

      "Aunty, what's wrong?"

      "Nothing's wrong, Akane dear. Your admirer from school has left you a message."

      Frowning, she waited for Nodoka to say the message but the woman instead waved her out and down the hall. At the end of the hall was a window looking out into the front yard where hundreds of rose bouquets spread out in a heart display, radiating out from Kuno as he stood tall and proud in the middle.

      "Ug," was all she could manage for a moment, before she noticed that Kuno wasn't moving, the brown haired boy wasn't even breathing.

      "Is that a statue?" Nabiki asked through a yawn beside her.

      "Yes it is," Nodoka said shaking her head, "But it has some kind of tape player on its back."

      Akane shivered, recalling a similar bust he had sent her previously. It wasn't the statue that gave her the shivers, unnerving as it was, it was the nervous deja-vu that last time he had done this it was when he had gone off to get the wishing sword.

      Walking down stairs in her pyjamas, she moved into the yard, looking over the flowers and the statue. Holding a wooden sword aloft in its right hand, it smiled towards the house inanely, its colouring and texture a perfect match to the idiot it was based on. On its chest, over its heart, was a single red button, her name in white kanji on it, while to the right and up from it, near the shoulder, was a black button with Ranma's name in yellow kanji. Walking around the back of it, she noticed the two cassette tapes set into its back, pre-recorded messages, likely to be set off when the appropriate buttons were depressed.

      "You like this kinda stuff, Akane?"

      She looked over the way at Ranma, who looked uncertainly at the red flowers now all over his family's front yard. "No way. I mean flowers are pretty and all, but not from Kuno."

      He nodded briefly and stretched with a yawn, "So you gonna press his button or you want me to?"

      She looked at him for a moment then recalled the buttons on the statue. "You better go first, I think I'll be inclined to break it knowing what comes out of his mouth normally."

      Grinning, Ranma nodded and stood in front of the inanely smiling statue, reaching up a finger to tap the button. Immediately the sword swung and only his fast jerk to the side let him narrowly avoided having his head smashed in. "Vile Cur! It is right that a lady goes first!"

      Stepping back he looked at her. "Looks like ladies first. Ya want me to break its arms off before you hit yours?"

      "Tempting, but I don't think he'll make it hit me," Akane statted with a grin, sticking her tongue out at the boy.

      Stepping up she hit the button, jumping back as both of its arms tried to envelop her, "Ah beloved, thou will have to live with this poor doppelganger of my own embrace, for as you know I must practice and meditate upon the future battle I undertake to save your very soul. Take comfort that my love for you shall carry me to victory against your jailor."

      Akane looked with a level of horror at the construct and turned back to look at her sister, "Nabiki, what exactly did you tell him was keeping me here?"

      Yawning and scratching idly at her back, she shrugged, "Don't blame me for whatever his sick mind comes up with. I think Daddy might have put it on Aunty as giving you bridal training for your mystery engagement, or maybe an omiai with him if you decline the family agreement."

      "Sure," she said with out much faith in her sister's innocence and a dark thought for her father backing down to Kuno and suggesting a meeting to discus possibly engaging her to the swordsman if she chose not to accept this engagement. She looked to Ranma who was examining the statues shoulders, "You going to play your message?"

      "If he hugs me, I'm so breaking this thing," he said with a grin. Reaching out one hand, he nervously hit the button.

      Again the sword swung down on him as he ducked again, a chipmunk like voice crying out, "VileCur! Itisrightthataladygoesfirst! bzzert VileCur! Itisrightthataladygoesfirst! bzzert VileCur!Itisrightthataladygoesfirst! VileCur! Itisrightthataladygoesfirst! bzzert VileCur!Itisrightthataladygoesfirst!"

      Wincing at the sound, Ranma looked to the others who seemed equally pained, stepping around the swords arc to punch it in the head.

      "Know this Saotome, you have riled the anger of the Blue Thunder of the Empire! The heavens now watch you for all your sins shall be atoned for in pain upon your body this coming Saturday. Keep thy hands to thyself and look not upon my prize, for she is mine alone to hold and behold. Thy mangy... bzzzzzzzzert"

      Smoke started coming out the back as the women and Ranma watched. "I think I got his point."

      Nodding, Nabiki stepped off the balcony and plucked up one rose from the ornate bouquet formation, "Seems a waste to toss all this out."

*****

      Mousse looked angrily at the pile of roses around his beloved Shampoo's delivery bicycle, still chained at the side of the Cat Café building. A knife sprang from his sleave into his palm, furthering his angry countenance. "Who has done this? Who pushes himself at my Shampoo!?" he demanded of the girl in question and her Great Grandmother as the two shared hushed words while examining a card apparently left in the display.

      "You don't know, Mr Part Timer?" the elder crone sneered at him, tossing the card in a lazy arc to him. Holding it at arms length he read the Japanese writing on the card.

      'To my beloved Shampoo,

      I look forward to day you ask me out,

      Yours ever faithfully,

      Muu Tzu.'

      He blinked once before he tucked the knife away. "Ah yes, I forgot I sent them." He looked hopefully to his beloved.

      *Pow*

      "Stupid Mousse!"

      Cologne looked to her descendant, watching her target fly into the distance. "You don't actually believe he sent them, do you Great Granddaughter?"

      She didn't turn around as her knuckles turned white, her fists clenched. "Pervert girl think she too too funny."

*****

      Adjusting his kimono in the normal feminine style, Konatsu stepped out from the back room of Ucchan's Okonomiyaki, giving his boss a smile as she cooked yet another of her specialty on the large black grill.

      The shifting of the entrance curtain made him look to the doorway, as two girls entered.

      "Welcome to Ucchan's Okomomiyaki, would you like to take a seat or would you prefer to order takeaway?"

      The younger girl’s eyes dipped to look at the cooking okonomiyaki, before looking back up at the waitress with cold eyes, her voice just as chilly, "Do you know where we can find Ranma Saotome?"

      The older girl, her black hair bound in an ornate topknot through an equally ornate frame before spilling down the length of her back, bowed politely, before adding, “Or please, where we can find Akane Tendo?"

      Looking up from her grill, Ukyo frowned, growing initially defensive at the cold reference to her fiancé. Her brow furrowed as she wondered if these pair might have anything to do with these other engagements of Ranma’s. "Ranma Saotome is my fiancé, why are you looking for him?"

      The taller girl nodded and bowed to Ukyo, even as the younger shorter girl clucked her tongue like Ukyo's pronouncement was an inditement against her. "Please, we need to find him, today. We have travelled very far, but the first time I met him was here in this restaurant."

      Ukyo frowned trying to recall this pair in her restaurant before. The smaller girl seemed anxious and angry, a whisper from the taller making her calm somewhat, her eyes looking to the grilling food again, a touch of drool in the corner of her mouth.

      Girl martial artists looking for Ranma, either they were here to kill him or marry him, and Ukyo wasn't interested in being helpful to any girls with either intention for her future husband. A smile tugged at her lips as she realised she could use this herself to see her fiancé, and make sure these two weren't a problem. "Have a seat, I'll call Ranma and see if he wants to see you."

      Konatsu coughed lightly, his timid way of trying to get attention without intruding. "I'm sorry, but I fear Ranma and his mother have accompanied Akane and her sisters into Ginza for shopping today."

      Ukyo frowned, the shorter girl blurting out, "Kasumi and Nabiki?" To which the feminine waitress nodded.

      "How do you know this?" Ukyo asked, eyeing her employee.

      "I saw Ranma, Akane, and the one I believe to be Nabiki, dropping off red roses to the Cat Café this morning, while I was coming back from the bathhouse. The girls were discussing catching up with Ranma's mother and the other sister at the train station to go shopping in Ginza." Seeing his boss’s expression he added, "I believe I overheard them mention the flowers were a present for Mousse."

      Ukyo nodded, knowing the ninja trained waiter wasn't lying in his explanation, the poor boy on par with Ranma when it came to lying and poker faces. Shaking her head, she turned to the girls, only to see the taller girl being dragged out by the shorter.

      "I got a bad feeling that Ranma's not going to be happy to see them Natsu-chan."

******

      The shopping centres of Ginza were a maze of malls, arcades, boutiques, and more, all swarming with shoppers and consumers. The bright lights and sales signs, the trendy music lightly played through the centres, and the sounds of sales announcements, all combined to try and whip the shoppers into a consuming frenzy, and though carrying the bags of a half dozen shops already, Ranma Saotome was completely impervious to its power. What people were paying here for clothes they'd wear once or twice a year, he could live off for weeks if not months on the road. More than once in his life time having being run out of a town because of the actions of a less than scrupulous father, one got used to carrying what one needed, and needing nothing more than what he carried, he had developed an eye for what he wanted in his pack and not a lot here inspired him.

      Ranma rolled his eyes in boredom as he waited for the girls to leave yet another clothing boutique. At least his mother wasn't forcing his girl side in to try on something that 'looked nice'. His mother could be weird like that at times.

      In standing out of the way of other shoppers, he looked through the window of the next store, a watch and jewellery store, his eyes shifting over the simple glass crystal figurines of animals, wondering if his mother would like such trinkets. The next shelf up got his attention, holding a pair of much larger pieces, one a panda using clear and frosted glass instead of black and white fur, its belly the frame for a simple clock the workings hidden by the frosting.

      'More useful than some pandas,' he mumbled to himself with a smirk, before sighing at the time, his stomach growling a reminder for the lateness of lunch. His eyes moved over the other crystal clock, a fairly simple Shinto temple with the clock in the doorway.

      "Oh wow, it's the dojo!"

      The voice of his student right behind him made Ranma spin in place, "Huh?"

      "The clock, the one like a temple, if you take the temple gateway off it the building looks just like my family dojo," Akane said, looking at it, and then turning to where Nodoka and her sisters were following with additional bags in hand. "Nabiki, Kasumi, look at this. It's the dojo."

      Ranma tore his eyes off Akane's liquid orbs to look over the piece with renewed interest.

      "It's shorter than the dojo Akane, and in better shape," Nabiki said analytically, "If you're getting this bad at remembering where you grew up, you might need a map to come home eventually."

      "Oh ha ha," Akane replied at the teasing.

      Nodoka smiled as she caught her son's expression at Nabiki's words, the frown vanishing as he looked to her and took the bags from her hands, the logo of the boutique on the outside. The Tendo sisters quickly dumping there own bags into his hands. "Come along, a few more shops and we'll see about lunch."

*****

      "Just try it on Sis," Nabiki urged as Akane held up a black dress and looked in the mirror in the shop. She saw the look on her sister's face, the one where she was being prudish and self-conscious about her body again. "It's not like you’re going on TV in it Akane, just try it out."

      Akane glared at her sister, then at Ranma beside the brown haired girl, who was looking at the dress with unsure eyes. Knowing him it was confusion about how to fight in a little black dress. With a huff she went into the back of the store, down a small isle to the change rooms, taking one and shutting the curtain behind her.

      "So Ranma, can I ask you something?"

      Nabiki's tone caught him off more than the question. He could tell it was going to be personal. "Ah, yeah, I guess?"

      "Yesterday at the tournament, that fighter in the final, he had a manager, thin guy about my age..."

      His clipped voice cut her off, "Jiro Ohata. What about him?"

      She held back any emotion as the boy turned frosty, her eyes flicking to where Kasumi and Nodoka were discussing a red dress further in the shop. "You and he have some history, he has a restraining order against you yet isn't scared to be in the same building as you to try and help someone beat you. And you show little respect or mercy for what was his old martial arts school. Can I ask what happened to develop that level of enmity?"

      Ranma sighed out forcefully through his nose, for a moment the girl expecting smoke to come out like her father did when he exhaled like that while smoking. "He used to be top dog at school, him and his friends bullying everyone. When I came in, I wasn't going to take it, and started taking down him and his friends. They could insult me, but every time they tried to bully anyone, I bullied them back."

      "That can't be all of it?"

      "I... with the curse, water finds ya, so eventually I kept being splashed at school. I was embarrassed so I pretended like I was Ranko Soatome, my own sister. Anyway, Ohata descided that the best way to get at me was to seduce her. At least till he found out about the curse."

      "He kissed you, didn't he?" She could see it on him, like he wanted to wash his mouth out even as he looked out past the shopfront mannequins in the latest dresses, crowds of shoppers passing without seeing him looking out at them.

      "Yeah, a quick one, he surprised me the jer..." His eyes went wide as someone in the crowd looked back at him, an angry young woman with dark hair being set free as she pulled a red ribbon out of it and rushed for the shop doorway.

      "Gotta go!"

      Nabiki suddenly found her arms yanked outstretched, the bags hooked onto her wrists before the boy vanished further into the store.

      A girl came rushing in, a length of the red ribbon held taunt between her hands, "Where is that pervert?" she demanded before her eyes went wide with surprise, "Nabiki?"

      "Karumi?"

*****

      Akane Tendo was trying to shimmy the little black dress up her legs, when the curtain to her stall was yanked open, her face flushing as she realised she was ultimately wearing only underwear, her arms covering her bra and chest, shifting her stance to hold what of her dress was around her hips in place.

      With a yank by foreign hands, the dress was pulled up and with the sound of a zipper was done up, compressing the dress around her chest. Her eyes met Ranma’s inside small space with her, only his desperate expression robbing her anger of him storming in on her. "Sorry. Two girls are out there looking for me, if they find me, they'll want to fight. Whatever you do, don't say you're in love with me."

      Blinking seemed the only reply to the young man’s words as he sprung up, seeming to worm his way over the stall into the shops back room. Double checking the dress was in place in the mirror, and frowning at the visible bra straps under the strapless dress, she moved out to see these girls, running instantly into a tall girl in a dusty blue dress, her black hair pulled back in an ornate topknot to flow down her back. A large rug beater was held like a weapon in her hands.

      "Natsumi?"

      "Akane?" Natsumi blinked before smiling and hugging Akane, "Karumi, she's here," she called out before looking back to the heir of the Tendo Martial Arts School. "This will sound weird, but you're under a magic spell. You don't love Ranma Saotome."

      Again blinking in a confused fashion seemed to be the best reply.

*****

      Ranma thanked his luck as he found the store’s back door, the large shopping centre having several back access corridors for goods movements and fire escapes. With a frown he realised he needed to get back in there as Ranko before the girls would ask of him, his mother especially a danger of revealing the nature of his curse.

      Darting in another back door into another store room, he saw the boxed dresses of another women's boutique. His eyes looking to where he jumped the wall to the change rooms, hoping that the layout was the same, as if he jumped a bit further over he should land in the corridor to the change booths. If not, he hoped for an unoccupied stall.

      His jump crested the wall but even as he came down he saw the girl changing below. He caught but a glimpse of the tall girl, with long black hair in matching bra and panties, these too black with a rose motif. Landing, he covered his eyes and prepared to be screamed at.

      "Can I help you?" she asked in a voice cold with fury.

      "ah, I'm really sorry about this. If you could step to one side and I'll get out of here."

      The girl surveyed him with dark eyes, smiling to herself as he shyly covered his eyes, tensed and ready to be hit, for intruding on her in her half dressed state. Taking his other hand, she pulled him along, "Let's get you out of here, you naughty boy."

      His brow furrowed as her voice went from expectantly cold to overly warm, and she led him past the curtains and out to the store main.

      Her hand pulled his to make him face her, "There you go," she said in that same unnervingly warm tone.

      Peeking one eye out he saw he was indeed out in the main part of the store, but when the other eye opened he realised the girl had not bothered to dress when leading him out. Her dark eyes widened appreciatively at meeting his own.

      "I am known by many names, you may call me Kodatchi, and you are?" she asked simply, holding out one hand, palm down, fingers dipping towards him.

      "Ah, Ranma Saotome," he replied, keeping his eyes on hers, his hand taking hers awkwardly to shake it. "Really sorry bout that, I gotta go."

*****

      The blonde young man smiled confidently as he talked with the cute sales girl about the dress on the mannequin, lightly suggesting how it would look on her lovely frame. He could see her cheeks redden, her lips fractionally pouting out as her eyes got lost in his smile. He was very tempted to steal a kiss when his eyes caught sight of his fiancée coming out of the dressing room, apparently with the wrong accessory.

      Instead of wearing a slinky black dress, she wore just her underwear as she talked with some red faced boy. Cutting short his talk with the sales girl, he stormed towards them, but the boy turned and vanished in a rush from the store.

      "Kodatchi-dear, I don't believe that's truly appropriate to be wearing that little around strange men. Who knows if they can control themselves?"

      Kodatchi read his jealousy in his eyes, her own eyes meaningfully glanced to the sales girl angrily looking at her. She looked into his eyes, closing the distance to just inches. "Strange how little control some men have, Mika-chan?"

      Mikado Sanzenin smiled at his fiancées accusing eyes, "At the very least, tease someone cuter, you could do better than him." His arms lightly encircled her bare form.

      "If I could do better than those blue eyes, pray tell, why am I with you?" she teased, her breath caressing his lips before breaking his closing grip and returning to the change room. "Find my dear brother, Mika-chan, I grow bored of this place. Hohohohohohohoho!"

      Mikado smiled as she sauntered away, eager himself to end this shopping trip his future brother decided to take, something about gifts worthy of Akane Tendo, but as he walked out of the shop, his eyes searched for the mysterious pigtailed boy.

****

      Akane and Natsumi came out of the back, rejoining Kasumi and Nabiki who were introducing Karumi to Nodoka.

      "You're that pervert's mother!"

      The cold words of the angry girl certainly didn't impress Nodoka, Natsumi quickly stepping up, "Karumi, control yourself, that makes her also Ranko's mother, so she deserves our respect."

      The short girl wearing a dusty pink top and gi pants, flushed with embarrassment. "Sorry, Mrs Saotome." She mumbled grudgingly. "My name is Karumi, and this is my sister Natsumi."

      Nodoka's eyes narrowed on the taller girl, "Didn’t you challenge my son to a fight once?"

      "Aunty," Kasumi pipped up confused, "Who is..."

      Nabiki was faster on the draw, "Yeah, where is Ranko? First Ranma runs off, now his red haired sister has vanished."

      Neither of the other sisters seemed to notice Nabiki interrupt Kasumi, nor Kasumi's eyebrows rise as she finally caught on. Akane was equally slow in catching up, but distracted when Karumi rushed over and tugged harshly on chest of the dress she was trying on. What little cleavage Akane had to be proud of wasn't really up to filling this dress, and she yelped as she was nearly pulled out by the younger girl.

      With a frown, the smaller girl looked up at her, "Do you have the mark of a koi fish anywhere on you?"

      Frowning, Akane shook her head pulling the dress back up as a red haired pigtailed girl in a red Chinese style blouse ran into the shop, her hair dripping with water.

      "Hey everyone, sorry I'm late, I, *Ranko*, *Ranma's sister*, should know better than that." Her blue eyes scanned the Tendo sister’s faces and his mothers, hoping they got the subtle hint, before turning to the newly arrived girls. "Karumi, Natsumi, nice to see ya, what'ya doing here?"

      Her head tilting at the red head, Nabiki spoke, "By the sound of things, our training sister’s are here looking for your brother. Did he do something to upset them?"

      Nodoka frowned, "Perhaps we should get some lunch and discuss this? A gather this will be a long story?"

*****

      The sucking sound of the straw emptying Ranko's milkshake jarred Nodoka's nerves as she listened to Nabiki telling the story of how Natsumi and Karumi had become close family friends to the Tendo’s, while the group sat around a table in a open café, arranged in the middle of a wide shopping centre corridor, shoppers passing on either side.

      The orphan sisters had arrived at the Tendo Dojo, wanting to thank Akane for her generosity in sharing food with the starving travellers. When it came out that they were practicing to be the best in women's Anything Goes Martial Arts, they accused the Tendo patriarch, Soun, of being their father, and eventually faced Akane to determine the best one for carrying on the dojo.

      During a major battle, Akane deflected an attack from the girls up through the roof, disrupting Happosai with his private stash in the dojo attic. The old man claimed and proved that he had found the two orphans and pretended to be Soun Tendo, claiming to be their father to give them a proper reason to train, teaching the children the basics of the art. The girl’s depression over not having a father to look for made Soun offer them a home, coming to be what Nabiki called Training Sisters as followers of the Tendo school of Anything Goes Martial Arts. They still liked to travel in search of new techniques and challenges, but the pair had came back to the Dojo often and called it home over any other place.

      Nabiki had then explained the last time they had seen the girls had been during the summer, when during a heat wave, Tatewaki Kuno had offered to take Akane sailing. Akane declined, but then was pleaded into accepting, all three Tendo girls and the training sisters, Soun, Tatewaki's Father, Akane's teacher, Tatewaki's Sister and her boyfriend also inviting themselves along for a cooling ocean trip.

      The trip of course had been a disaster, with a storm sinking the ship, stranding them on a deserted island. They had then started being attacked, the girls being kidnapped, sometimes in front of the very eyes of others. It turned out, a boy ruler named Toma had his island kingdom floating by theirs and he and his most trusted lieutenants were kidnapping the girls. Kuno, Soun, Principle Kuno, and Mikado confronted Toma and his men, Toma threatening Kodatchi with magic water that would make her a man forcing the martial artists to hold back, vulnerable to Toma and his illusions technique to incapacitate them all while he returned to his island kingdom.

      Using the small runabout boat from the yacht, the men followed to the island, while inside Toma was hosting a competition with a hundred kidnapped women to determine who would be his new queen. When the men interfered it became chaos, Toma picked Akane and took her to his chambers, while his men picked wives from the other victims. Eventually the men managed to rescue the girls, Kuno and Toma getting into an epic battle in which Kuno copied Toma's own tricks with his blade, before unleashing massive cuts to sink the island.

      Akane looked to Karumi and Natsumi, "We saw you in a life raft with some of Toma's men, but you never made it to the first island with us? Where did you go?"

      Natsumi smiled, "We went back to Toma's island. It was badly damaged, but it only looked like it sank, it was more of Toma’s illusions."

      "Wait," Ranko said, leaning forward, the boy turned girl suddenly interested in a tale he had heard Akane tell before. "So the well with this ‘man water’ is still there?"

      Shaking her head, Karumi looked relieved, "No, thank god, it was damaged. Though they say it'll come back in a hundred or so years."

      The paper milkshake cup in Ranko's hands under the table crumpled into a tiny ball.

      Sharing her daughter's disappointed face, Nodoka looked to the new girls and Ranko, "So now how did you three and my son cross paths?"

      "Your lecher son put a curse on my sister to make her love him." Karumi accused angrily before Natsumi put a hand on her sisters arm.

      All eyes turned to Ranko, "It wasn't, er Ranma, it was this dumb magic fishing rod." The blue eyes unfocused as the girl grimaced, knowing the face his mother was about to make.

      "This guy Ryoga," she began, wincing at the face her mother made, "anyway, he's in love with Ucchan, er Ukyo, only he kinda blew it with her and she is still mad at him. Anyway he was desperate and in some stall at some country fare he found this magic fishing rod of love. He didn't really believe it would work, but he really thought he loved her back then so he was desperate. He found his way to Ucchan's Okonomiyaki, to use it on her."

      "It was pretty dorky looking, with like a suction cup on the end instead of a hook, but he tried to get her with it. She blocked it, and I, er Ranma, took it off him asking what was goin on, and in doin’ that he accidentally, completely accidentally, the cup on it stuck onto Natsumi's chest, right over her heart."

      "Ranma apologised and I thought that was the end of that, Ryoga fleeing Ucchan and getting lost. Then the next day the magic of the rod started working on Natsumi, making her fall in love with Ranma. So she started lookin' for him, and that's when our furo broke so we were using the local bathhouse."

      "It took her another day ta find me, er me brother, *cough*, and in asking people where ta find Ranma, she had heard stuff about him being a really great martial artist and she wanted to show him she was good too, so she challenged him to a fight. It was going okay, till she, kinda, kissed him. Not wanting another fiancée, he did the only thing he coulda done, he put her in a sleeper hold till she passed out and left her with her sister Karumi."

      The girls looked to Karumi who nodded but was glowering at Ranko and Nodoka, while Natsumi was blushing at her own involvement in the tale.

      "The next day she tried again, this time she knocked him through the wall into a love hotel..."

      "We get the point! She was fully under the effect of that lecherous magic." Karumi stated angrily, her taller sister demurely sitting red faced as the tale went on.

      Slightly red herself, Ranko continued. "Anyway Ranma, knew something was wrong with her, and didn't take advantage of yet another girl throwing herself at him and used the spray of a broke water pipe to escape her, he sent me to work out what was wrong with her while he went looking for Ryoga."

      "The magic on Natsumi made this koi fish, ya know how koi also means love, anyway it was like a birth mark over her heart, so we worked out it was something ta do with the fishing rod, but we needed the instructions and so we convinced Natsumi that Ranma was going after Ryoga, so we all went after them. I already knew that Happosai had put Ryoga onto an instructor up near Mt Fuji, so I figured he'd go back for more training before he came after me for taking his rod off him. When he turned up, we beat him down, got the instructions, and lifted the curse off Natsumi so she wasn't after, Ranma, anymore."

      Frowning, Nodoka, "I think we're all glad that you got rid of the love magic on poor Natsumi, but I dare say you have glossed over some details, such as why Karumi still blames my son for this fiasco?"

      Swallowing, Ranko shrugged. "When we confronted Ryoga, he kind a brought up that fiasco on the beach, with the Amazon love pills, claiming Ranma used them and no one blames him for it." Nodoka nodded as she recalled Happosai attempting to make Ranma's girl form fall for his perverted self only for it to be the instant pill, the day pill being swallowed by Ryoga, who feel deeply in love with Shampoo’s Great Grandmother and spent the whole day trying to find her after getting lost. Fortunately the lifetime pill had been destroyed.

      Her eyes never left Ranko's as she waited for the rest of the tale. "Nothing else happened on the trip?"

      "Er, it’s really kinda embarrassing but while waiting for Ryoga, we might have done some sparring, and one cold night they double teamed me really well. It was great, Karumi going low with her ribbon while Natsumi jumped over... heh, anyway I went into the river and hit my head. I passed out and they jumped in and saved me. I, er, well I, when I woke up it was morning, and they had put the wet clothes out to dry and we had all shared two sleeping bags for body warmth..." She swallowed nervously as she blushed, four of the women looked to the already angry Karumi and rolled their eyes.

      Natsumi ignored them to look at Akane, "We saw Akane in the tournament on TV and the way she looked at Ranma, we feared he might have used something on her. When she wasn't angry when he put his hands on her with the towel, we rushed back to make sure. I'm glad we were wrong."

      Blushing that the camera's of the tournament caught her looking at Ranma with anything more than respect for her teacher, Akane smiled and patted Natsumi's shoulder. "Thanks for coming, it's great to see you."

      Smiling gently, Nodoka glanced again to her daughter and shook her head at her story, before looking at the girls. "Right then, Natsumi, Karumi, you are welcome to stay with us, and Ranma will fully apologise to you tonight. For the moment though, Ranma himself has been the victim of love magic's himself, I assure you he wouldn't use them on others knowing how wrong it is."

      Akane nodded, "Trust me, he hasn’t used anything on me, and despite opportunities to be a letch to me, he has been a complete gentleman." Natsumi and Karumi blanched at what Akane was implying, though Nabiki smiled impishly at the blushing Ranko.

      "Then lets be off," Kasumi suggested with a gentle smile, but as they all rose, Akane went white.

      "Akane Tendo! Come to me my love!"

      All the girls turned to the caller, Tatewaki Kuno, followed by a pile of teetering parcels on two small black clothed legs. Resplendent in his authentic samurai robes and hakama pants, the swordsman strode forward to the group in the café.

      The red haired girl reacted first, jumping between Kuno and his target, her deft hands snatching the bokken blade from the swordsman's belt, a flat palm to the stomach slamming him back several yards.

      "Back off, Thunder-boy, Akane doesn't want to talk to you." The boy turned girl said defiantly, the bokken snapping easily over a knee before the pieces were tossed away.

      Tatewaki Kuno knew no fear as he stared down at the short girl before him, who even in unflattering clothes was of handsome figure, but he looked to his beloved beyond her.

      "Divine tigress, inform your loyal friend that I am welcome..."

      "Kuno, just leave. I'll see you at the fight next Saturday." Akane said in a firm voice, not wanting to fight anywhere near stores or shoppers.

      "Nay, say it is not so! It is fate that we meet his day!"

      "Geez, take a hint, dopey."

      Again Ranma struck at his undefended chest with an open palm, driving the warrior back away.

      "Stand not in my way, Miss, for though your loyalty to your friend is true, so too it is that your friend is my destined bride. Sasuke!" With the name of his manservant called, a new bokken poked out of the pile of parcels behind Kuno, which he took up and pointed at Ranma-chan. "I beg thee Miss, do not make me treat you as I will the craven Saotome."

      "Ranma Saotome is not craven!" the girl shouted, and charged.

      Kuno gave a board sigh and his blade slashed as the girl moved in again, expecting her to withdraw embarrassed. His eyes widened as the girl ignored her shirt opening from stomach to throat, a thin strip of bare untouched skin showing as instead she flashed under the raised blade, her hands grabbing his wrist as she hooked her weight on his limb, lifting both legs to smack kicks up his body, each landing in the same moment, each striking a different vital point in the blink of an eye. She didn't notice his wrist twitch as his eyes rolled back in his head.

      Flipping with momentum to land on her feet, Ranma-chan looked back at the girls and his mother, her hands holding closed her shirt with a grimace, she liked this shirt. "I thought you said he was good Akane?"

      Several of the girls gave her almost fearful looks, and she lost her smugness, awkwardly freeing a hand and scratching the back of her head wondering what the problem was. Her hand felt the change.

      Turning with a look of horror, she saw Kuno shakily getting to his feet, still bruised, a length of red braid, fraying at one end, in his hand. "You are indeed skilled, Flame-haired girl."

      Blue eyes widened as they locked on her pigtail as he raised it to his nostrils, then narrowed with fury, her hands becoming fists at her sides, clenching white knuckles as she stepped forward towards Kuno.

      "Ranma, stop!" Only the voice of his mother could reach her, and she held for just a glance to the woman. "Close your top," she demanded, and with a flush she saw men in the crowd ogling her as she yanked her shirt closed, some wives and partners already using handbags and umbrellas to regain their attention.

      Kuno's eyes were wide as he stared at Ranma-chan, blood on his upper lip, the red braid still in his hand. "We shall meet again, my flame haired girl, I shall treasure your gift." The swordsman said as he began to hobble off.

      Ranma-chan's eyes still blazed with fury but she knew she couldn't fight him in this crowd, especially without embarrassing her mother by flashing everyone. Her eyes looked to Akane, "On Satuday, he is so going down for this!"

      Frowning, Natsumi leaned towards Nabiki, “Why did Mrs Saotome just call Ranko, Ranma?”

      ”I’ll tell you when we’re away from here,” she replied enigmatically with a wink. Smirking, she nudged Akane one way around Ranma-chan, while she took the other, each taking an arm. “Come on Ranko, looks like you’ll need a new outfit to get home in.”

*****

      "I hate this," Ranma-chan groused as she glared at the giggling Nabiki. Akane's sister had provided every argument to every suggestion she had made to not have to wear the summer dress Nabiki had just bought on sale -

      'I can turn into a guy.'

      'And how will you stop Karumi from fighting guy you here?'

      Then,

      'I'll buy a new shirt?'

      'You had your chance to shop, we're going now."

      Then,

      'I can put my top on backwards?'

      'And look like a dork? That would really impress your mother.'

      She looked down at the bags among the women on the train, her black pants having joined them, the cool afternoon air brushing her legs at every stop on the route back to Bokuto. The red summer dress was flimsy, and overly short, on sale as autumn deepened towards winter. The tightness in the chest might have substituted for a supporter had she not needed so much support, but it would probably look very nice on the middle Tendo sister.

      Leaning back, her brow furrowed at the glare from Akane, the red head twisting her head to see a boy, about their age, trying to read from a novel. Which must have been hard since he was stretched in an awkward position over her shoulder that had his eyes close to ‘accidently’ looking down her top.

      Having three often angry fiancee’s taught one about the most potent type of emasculating glare, her blue eyes wordlessly driving him back, watching him gather near a pair of other boys to whisper together. Turning back she watched her mother and the seated girls, able to keep one eye on the glass window and watch the boys in the reflection, though he flicked to glance at a highly amused Nabiki.

      "Pervert," Karumi spat and Ranma smiled at her.

      "Yeah, but just ignore em, they'll give it up soon. Guys like that got no clue of how dumb they look doing that crap, and that was just trying to get a look. One time, this guy set up so he could lean into me to try and cop a feel when the train breaked..."

      Just then, the train breaked. Hard.

      Swinging her head to check the boys, she missed grabbing the strap handle overhead as it shifted forward with the heavy change in momentum, and the red head stumbled forward into Karumi knocking the shorter girl back, rising up the younger sister towards the older. Ranma-chan had a glimpse of Natsumi's worried face as she fell towards her over her sister. Her lips touched warm skin.

      Akane blinked in surprise that her hand had managed to grab Ranma's face, resting between the two girl’s lips, but she quickly pushed the red head back, ignoring Nabiki's laughing as Karumi pulled back from the girl’s cleavage when Ranma-chan had gone up onto her as she took them both into Natsumi.

      Nodoka shook her head at her daughter as they straightened, Ranma-chan grabbing the handle firmly while offering apology after apology, Natsumi looking away blushing, while Akane glared at him.

*****

      With a sigh, Ukyo glanced around her nearly empty restaurant. “Can you two hold the fort?” she said towards her two employees in their kimonos. “I got to run an errand, I’ll be back before the dinner rush.”

      “Sure Ucchan, Natsu-chan and I can handle it.” Junko said even as Konatsu slipped behind the grill to take over cooking. “Where you heading?”

      Ukyo frowned at the green eyed girl, her exuberance a likable trait, but her inquisitiveness often became annoying, especially when it could be a little embarrassing, like now.

      “Shampoo and I had a bet against Akane Tendo over Ranma in the tournament. As we lost, we each have to have a date with Mousse. No way am I letting Akane or Shampoo, or Sakura or worse Nodoka, say I don’t honour my debts.”

      Junko glanced at the pale Konatsu, before a dark smirk came over her lips. “Well, good luck Ucchan, you might get lucky and he’ll refuse to date you and you’re off the hook. See you when you get back.”

      “I finally find my childhood love and he is engaged to at least four other girls, Junko, how lucky do you think I am?” Ukyo replied with a smile, “Back soon.”

      As soon as the boss disappeared through the shop curtain, the dark haired girl turned to Konatsu. “Natsu-chan, I’ll help you get closer to Ukyo if you help me make sure Mousse gets much closer to Shampoo?”

      The male ninja woman nodded slightly, thankful for his friends help, but the glint in the blue eyes of the girl made him wonder nervously what she had in mind…

*****

      “Have a safe trip home,” Akane called, waving to her elder sister’s as Kasumi dragged their overfull bags onto the train from the platform, Nabiki rushing to help after delayed putting a letter in the mailbox at the platform entrance. “Tell Daddy I love him.”

      *crash*

      The youngest Tendo daughter fought to keep from frowning and muttering about ‘idiots’ at the sound of violence from the park near the station drew the eyes of many, Ranma’s distant voice goading young Karumi as they fought. Natsumi looked in that direction with some concern but waved absently to the girls on the train.

      After getting the girls back to the house from the shopping trip, Kasumi and Nodoka had quickly whipped up more food, Kasumi and Akane assuring the older woman that good food was a weakness of the youngest of the martial arts sisters, Natsumi and Karumi.

      It was half way through a second bowl of ramen that they demonstrated Ranma’s curse. Natsumi surprisingly understanding, Karumi was less so, ending with the girl accepting a challenge from the dark haired boy, unable to attack him there, pinned as she was under Akane and Natsumi.

      The challenge, unrestricted three on one sparring with her sister and Akane aiding her against him, would give Karumi the chance she wanted to ‘punish the pervert’, making the younger girl grin darkly with planned revenge all the way from the Saotome house back to the train station. Ranma on the other hand, grinned the whole way too, looking forward to a good training opportunity and working off a little of the anger at the incident with Kuno.

      Of course, Akane had expected them to wait till after she had seen her older sisters onto the train, but Ranma, again in his black pants and a fresh sleeveless shirt, had been jittery almost the whole walk, and started whispering some kind of dirty limerick to Karumi. The moment he pointed out the park they would practice in, the girl had attacked, Ranma leading her while dodging her strikes with a gleeful smile that only broke when he saw her frown, his hands motioning at the younger girl like it was her fault.

      Shaking her head, Nabiki eyed Akane for a moment, “Don’t hurt his fingers, that boy still owes us a massage remember? And don’t be trying to convince him to give the ones he owes us to you, little sister.”

      Akane blushed lightly, rolling her eyes at the teasing as the doors began to close. As the train pulled away, she and Natsumi waved till they couldn’t see the older girls any more, wincing again at another crash as well as Ranma’s teasing voice about ‘weak unfocused attacks’ came from the park area.

      “Come on Natsumi,” she said with a sigh, hefting the wooden sword in her hand. “Let’s go see if we can’t shut him up before Karumi catches him off guard and kills him.”

      “Please,” Natsumi agreed with a nod, drawing her sturdy rug beater from her back, her long dark hair splaying from the tight topknot.

*****

      Pain flared from his hip as he hit the ground, rolling as best as possible. The girl’s were adapting to fighting together quickly. Natsumi and Karumi respectively using icy and scorching wind attacks from their weapons, the attacks merging and compounding into a funnel towards the boy, even as Akane twirled her bokken, carving the air to send blows into the heart of the attack, keeping her instructor unstable as the main attack caught him and launched him over the grass.

      Staggering raggedly to his feet, Ranma heard more than felt the stomping charge of Karumi, her breath like an enraged animal, as she flashed across the distance to strike, the other two girls following. Spinning around and dropping to a knee for stability, the heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts he opened his arms at her, “Cradle of Hell!”

      The younger girl reversed direction in a flash, feeling the warm engulfing emotion from the hated boy, but didn’t get far, slamming into her trailing sister Natsumi, the older girl’s long hair wrapping them both as her move forward became a tangle of arms and legs on the ground.

      Akane rushed forward at the warmth, pulling up with a frown at the sudden presence of affection from the boy washing over her then coldly vanishing. Her brown eyes watched Ranma’s face, his eyes thoughtful on the dark haired Natsumi before looking at his hands.

      Turning, Akane grabbed the bottles of water they had brought and took two to the girls now getting up, both red faced looking at Ranma, one with fear, one with confusion. “How about we have a break?”

*****

      ”Ranma?”

      Turning, the dark haired boy looked at Akane, her face pensive. Well behind her, the two adopted Tendo sisters sat on a park bench, both glancing their direction as the younger Karumi muttered something.

      “Whats up Akane? Ready to fight again?”

      “Not yet. I wanted to know about that ‘Cradle of Hell’ attack? You used it in the tournament, didn’t you?”

      ”Yeah, on the Ryogas. It’s a special move I made off of one my Dad made up. Months ago, he finally worked out that I was better than him at fighting. He is good, but I was just getting too fast and knew too many special attacks, so he made the Cradle of Hell to show me up. It’s actually just a grapple move, but ya got to use your ki to make it stronger, and he worked out an emotion to focus the ki through and really make it hard to escape.”

      “But you’re not using it as a grapple.”

      “Yeah, see the grapple he uses is with how he cares about me,” he blushed and spoke quickly, “ya know as a father to a son, master ta student, that kind of lo… caring.”

      Rolled her brown eyes, Akane gestured with her hand, rolling it so he would move on to the point, and stop acting like a ten year old.

      “Anyway, you taint that much ki, and any half good martial artist can feel it, and so when you ready that attack, you send out this vibe at your target, and, well, it freaked me out. And it just gets worse when ya in it.” He visibly shivered, but pulled himself together as she gestured again to hurry up.

      “Okay, so I got into a fight with Jiro, when the old goat gave him these soba noodles that made him super strong. And he grappled me to crush me, I had nothing left so I did it to him, and he jumped away. I just focused on hugging Mom, and kept him away, till I gave him this berry mixture that cancelled the strength.”

      Nodding slowly, Akane nodded. “So, you did it to Karumi and she thought you were being a letch and jumped away…” Her face frowned as she looked at Natsumi, a surge of jealousy rushing in her blood at the dark haired girl obviously watching Ranma from the bench again.

      “Yeah, but Natsumi mustn’t of felt it as she followed behind Karumi…”

      Akane reigned herself in, part of her wanting to agree, the rest glad he was oblivious. She nodded.

      “Unless…”

      Her brown eyes widened as he mulled something over, her hand reacting to bring the blade of the wooden sword at him. “Training time, baka.”

      Ducking, he twisted to avoid spilling his water on his body before spinning back to feet, hands up in a guard as the red head eyed Akane.

*****

      The bell on the door of the Cat Café rang for a new arrival, and the cheery waitress with long purple hair bounced out to greet the customer in the slow mid afternoon. The cheer vanished and exotic eyes narrowed as she looked of the girl the blue shirt and dark slacks, her hair tired back smoothly with a ribbon, the tresses cascading over the huge spatula on her back.

      “Hi Shampoo, I heard Mousse brought you flowers?”

      The dark eyes appraised her angrily. “What Spatula-girl know about it? She help Pervert-girl?”

      “Nah, Konatsu-chan saw Ranma with Akane and her sister bringing them.”

      “Try make trouble for Shampoo, Pervert-girl get what coming. Spatula-girl helping, Spatula-girl get to.”

      “Hey, you want to fight her, you go right ahead. I’m here because of that stupid bet.”

      Shampoo frowned confused, then frowned recalling. “Was joke.”

      “Maybe for you, but it’s only one date.”

      “You date Mousse, I date Airen.”

      ”Yeah, like Mrs Saotome would let you if he wanted to. I’m doing this so she can’t say I broke my word when we get to decision time.”

      The Chinese girl nodded and pulled out a chair, to sit with an unladylike huff, absently kicking another chair out for the visitor. “No want date Mousse. Blind-boy get all clingy.”

      “Only to you, a cheap meal, a movie, and honour is satisfied, as far as I’m concerned.”

      “Ug, only need quiet place and he want hug, no go dark movie alone!” The long purple hair swayed as she excitedly sat up. “That it! Each have to date, one date.”

      Shaking her head, Ukyo looked at the girl, “What? What do you mean?”

      “You date Friday, I date Friday.”

      She shrugged, still confused, “I date him and then he’s tired in your date?” Ukyo’s cheeks reddened considerably, “I’m not talking about that kind of date!”

      The Chinese girl spoked angrily in her native tongue, the negativity suggested to Ukyo that wasn’t her intent, before finally she switched back to Japanese, “One date, two girl. Mousse think all man with two girl, neither girl attacked.”

      Ukyo nodded, then grinned, “Hey, that’s not bad. And if we play up Mousse as being manly, we can convince Ran-chan that he should be hanging out with the two of us more instead of Akane. And Mrs Saotome can’t say a thing, she was all about Ran-chan’s manliness!”

      “Is perfect!”

      The doorbell to the café chimed making both girls look at the tall boy entering, his white robes clean, the light glinting off the thick lenses over his eyes. Closing the door behind him, he turned back to find the two cute girls standing before him. “Shampoo? Ukyo Kounji?”

      ”You can take us out on Friday night, right?” 

      “Mousse want date with Shampoo and Spatula girl?”

      Ukyo frowned at Shampoo’s name for her in this alliance, ignoring Mousse as he praised his luck.

********

      Natsumi eased her washed body into the hot water. She was sore more from strain than injuries, their practice with Ranma lasting hours and really testing her endurance. The only bruises from the fighting resulted from being attacked by Karumi after the boy deflected her angry sister into her wind attack, leaving the younger girl disorientated, and so riled as to charge out at her before she realised it wasn’t him.

      Her brown eyes looked over to where Akane washed the younger girl’s back, Karumi’s muttering nearly echoing in the wall-tiled bath room. Karumi was the most tired of all, still driven by anger at Ranma. Even now, Akane was saying how the boy was not really a pervert, but considering he had started leering at down his own top, before dashing off to get a cup of hot tea to become male again, verbally commenting on the three girls attractiveness, specifically in ways that felt... ooh it got under her skin, even though she knew he just wanted her and Karumi not to hold back in attacking him. Karumi had fought well beyond what she had seen of her in the past, but the dark haired boy somehow stayed ahead of them, never falling for the same trick twice, and often having an offensive counter against a third attempt.

      The other girls began to climb into the large furo, and she moved over to make room in the steaming water “Is he always like that?”

      “Ranma, no, but, it’s like I kept saying. He isn’t a pervert, but he really wants to beat Kuno, especially after that hair thing today,” Akane said.

      Karumi nodded, wanting to add something. “Pretty vain for a jerk.”

      Frowning, Akane shook her head, “It’s not that he’s… it’s not only that he’s vain, it’s that Kuno took something from him. It happened to me too, back before you first came to the dojo.” Even as she defended him, she knew she had thought she was less attractive without her long hair. “He can be a jerk, but there are times he is really sweet too.”

      ”Sounds like someone is sweet, on him?”

      “What?!” Akane said scandalised at Natsumi’s words, even as part of her flashed through memories of him.

      Karumi splashed the water as she went from angry to panic, grabbing Akane’s shoulders. “You can’t like him, he’s a jerk and a letch!”

      Both girls calmed the younger. “He isn’t a pervert Karumi, even if I did like him, we can’t be… anything.” Her voice turned down. “Even if I did want to fight through his other fiancées for him, I’m engaged to some stranger too.”

      With a frown, Akane began to climb out, reaching for her towel.

******

      ”Ranma, can you put the compost out in the garden before we eat?”

      ”Sure Mom,” the dark haired boy called back as he raked at his dark hair with a hand. It just looked wrong without his pigtail. And it wasn’t like the Dragon’s whisker was still working on him, good thing too or he’d be stuck as a girl trying to get it back off Kuno or go bald!

      Walking into the kitchen he picked up the small tub containing potato peels, vegetable skins, fruit cores, some fat left from cooking, and some other vegetable muck sloshing in the bottom and headed for the back door. At the door, he slipped on the yard shoes to keep his feet clean when he returned inside, standing up to see the figure lunging at him from the sky.

      “Airen!”

      The purple haired Chinese girl leapt to hug her husband. Her future husband needed a reminder of what body was going on a date with another boy on Friday.

      At least that was the plan, as she hugged herself to her man, crushing him and the tub between them. There wasn’t a lot of juice and water in the bottom of the tub but it was enough as the plastic cracked and poured onto her dress.

      Ranma rolled his eyes tiredly as he was surprised hugged, grimacing when her hand hooked onto a particularly nasty bruise on his back from sparring with Karumi, but when he felt her become weightless, her finger grip becoming smaller and far sharper, till the dress and tub dropped to the ground, the clawed thing still holding on his shirt.

      His eyes closed, franticly repeating a mantra in his mind. ‘No sound, it’s not a cat! No sound, it’s not a cat!’

      “Meow!”

      “Arrrrrgh! Cat!”

*****

      “Arrrrrgh! Cat!”

      The manly shriek was the only warning the girls got, Natsumi barely standing to get out of the large furo when the dark haired boy burst into the room, colliding with Akane. A blur of flailing arms, the pair went down, the pink feline dropping to the ground as the terrified boy pushed the girl in the towel between them, shivering as he hissed “Cat!”

      Shampoo hissed and spat at Akane as the girl ignored her, turning to the boy, surprise becoming concern as his hands held her tightly to keep her between them.

      “Is this the Neko-ken? Ranma, calm down.”

      The screech of the cat made him jump, fast hands turning her back again to face the evil furred creature, not daring to see himself how Natsumi had gripped the animal behind its neck, avoiding its claws as she glared between the two students of Tendo Anything Goes Martial Arts.

      “Ranma, its okay, it’s me, Akane. The cat can’t get you. Look, Natsumi has the cat.”

      Karumi shook her head of the confusion of this peeping letch, focusing on her anger as Akane told him to peep on her undressed sister.

      “Pervert!” she cried as she grabbed her excessively long red hair ribbon and flicked it at the boy, en-wrapping his neck to yank him head first into the tiled wall.

      “Karumi!” Akane cried too late to stop her attacking the terrified boy, the door sliding open behind the younger girl.

      The dark eyes of Ranma’s mother surveyed the room, Shampoo in her cursed form held by Natsumi, Akane yelling at Karumi, the youngest girl pulling back her ribbon from her son who was embedded head first through the tiled wall. Only the youngest girl wore a towel, though her son had one in his hands.

      “Stop!” her voice commanded, all three girls and a cat looking up frozen. “Natsumi-chan, please place the cat in the bath, then all of you get dressed.”

      Stepping into the room she moved to help her son, ignoring the splash of displaced water as the cat reformed, and the gasps from the girl.

      “Shampoo!” Akane’s voice cried, recalling Ranma speaking of her curse but not putting it together, “You did this to him!”

      “Shampoo do nothing but hug husband, stupid husband’s father make scared of cat.”

      As the other two started questioning, Nodoka let a piece of tile fall and shatter to get attention and followed it with a silencing glare. “Get dressed ladies.”

*****

      “You don’t really expect us to believe this!” Karumi cried angrily, glaring at the boy who was now starting to regret his pervert act of earlier.

      Akane put her hand on the younger girl’s arm to calm her, her concerned eyes on the boy as he flinched at her words. “Karumi, this was a really dumb technique, it scared him for life.”

      ”Oh yeah, and he just happened to come in and peek on us?”

      Shaking her head, Nodoka’s voice was very soft and sad. “Ranma normally tries to get away from the cat he is scared of, or if he slips into the Neko-ken, chase them off. Shampoo has a habit of chasing him regardless of what form she is in, and he might have just been trying to reach the hot water of the furo.”

      “Shampoo only chase to make Husband see he no be scared,” the Chinese girl stated firmly, defending her actions.

      Something in Nodoka’s eyes held Akane from angrily replying, something more positive, maybe even a touch of smugness, entering the older woman’s voice. “It may also be that my son has grown to trust Akane and went to her to help get his fiancée off him.”

      The boy’s face was down as he blushed, not sure how to reply, Akane glancing at him red faced till the black glare from Shampoo drew her eyes.

      Placing her tea cup down with a clink, Nodoka looked to the foreign girl. “I’m sorry Shampoo, but what was it that brought you here tonight, uninvited?”

      Shifting her posture, Shampoo nodded, “Shampoo wanted to talk to Mother-in-law in private, but then turned cat and find more girls in Husbands house.”

      “Natsumi and Karumi are close family friends of the Tendos’ and I invited them to stay while they help Ranma train for a new challenge.” The older woman said in a calm voice. “What did you need to discuss with me?”

      “Husband have no interest in more girls?”

      Ranma’s head snapped up at the accusation, “Erk, No! I got enough girl problems.”

      Karumi nodded her agreement, but the slight drop in Natsumi’s shoulders made the other two girls glare at her, only to glare at each other. Shampoo broke the glare to look pouting at Ranma’s mother.

      “Shampoo worried that Husband curse affect him, make him woman.”

      “What?!”   “What?!”   “What?!”

      The three simultaneous cries of concern from the Saotome’s and Tendo forced her to suppress a smile. “Shampoo worried because Mousse being all man and taking Shampoo and other girl on date at same time. Shampoo worried if husband no thinking about Shampoo and other girls. Shampoo have many pretty sisters in village.”

      Akane glared darkly, “This other girl dating Mousse with you wouldn’t be Ukyo would it? As in the dates you to have to go on since you lost at the tournament?”

      “Shush pervert girl, at least Shampoo can get date anytime want.”

      Calmly, Nodoka coughed gently to get attention. “I have no doubt my son is a man, despite his curse, Shampoo. But for now, I have to reheat dinner for our guests and hope this interruption hasn’t ruined it too badly. My son can show you to the door.”

      Wincing, Ranma stood as his Mother did, followed slowly by a grim faced Shampoo who turned quickly and walked out rather than waiting for her fiancée. He chased but the slam of the front door said he didn’t reach it before she closed it herself.

      “She can have him,” Karumi stated, her eyes closed as she nodded firmly to her statement, unaware of the two girls with her glaring, one quickly looking away from the other.

      “Karumi, I promise you, he isn’t a bad guy. He really wouldn’t peek.”

      Frowning, she shook her head. “If one more of these ‘accidents’ happen, I’ll…”

      The other girl’s nodded to placate the younger girl as she tried to think of some kind of threat to back up her statement.

****

      Ranma yawned as he sat up in bed, stretching a kink from him as he smiled at the soreness of his body from good training. Glancing at the clock, he shrugged and climbed from the bed. He moved to the door and opened it, then recalled they had guests, one in particular who would not appreciate him walking around in his shorts. Stepping to the wardrobe he pulled out some fresh pants and started to put them on just as figure walked into the room.

      Tapping the door shut with her foot, Natsumi dropped the towel she had been drying her hair with onto the bed.

      “You’ve packed up the futon already Karumi?” she asked as she pulled off the bathrobe, “Hey, where’s my pack?”

      “Urk!”

      “Eeeek!” Blushing madly, the girl pulled her robe and towel back on to cover herself, eye on the boy near the wardrobe, one leg in his pants.

      ”Ah, I think you missed the door to the spare room?”

      Calming herself, she straightened her outfit, trying in vain to control her blush. “I’m so sorry. I just…”

      “Just took the wrong door,” he said for her as she opened it again. “Hey, these things just happen. No big deal.”

*****

      “Hey, these things happen. No big deal.”

      Karumi and Akane stepped up the stairs, their talking stopping at the sight of Natsumi in a dishevelled bathrobe backing blushing out of Ranma’s bedroom.

      “What is going on?!” demanded the younger girl, barging past her sister into the perverts room seeing him pulling up his pants.

      “Karumi, it was an accident!” her sister cried.

      “What was an accident?” Akane demanded suspiciously of the long dark haired girl.

      “Everybody calm down.” Nodoka’s voice interviened again, halting all as in the bathroom the night before. “What happened this time?”

      “It’s my fault,” Natsumi said. “I just went in the wrong door into Ranma’s room.”

      The boy in question added to her defence. “And I didn’t see anything, I looked away the second she dropped the robe.”

      Three girls turned red, only one from embarrassment.

      “We’re leaving!”

      Akane blinked surprised at Karumi’s pronouncement, but Ranma was faster to speak.

      "Oh come on, ya don't have ta go. We barely did anything last night, just give me till Saturday with both of ya, we’ll go at it into the nights, and by then I'll have no more use for ya?"

      Akane’s mouth hung slightly open, Natsumi was again blushing, and Karumi’s face was contorted angrily. But none of them reached him first.

      *Thwack!*

      His mother looked sadly at the girls from where she now stood beside her son, lowering the rolled up news paper. “I’m sorry girls, he gets it from his father. His intent is pure, but his manners are poor. You are welcome to stay and train.”

      Rubbing his head, Ranma leaned to Akane. “What’d I say wrong?”

      She considered taking the paper from his mother to hit him again when Karumi dragged her sister to the spare room to pack.

      To be continued...

      This was meant to be a fast chapter with a few laughs and a Kuno fight before the Mountain retreat. What it became was longer than that ruddy tournament so I had to break it up. Course that means thats I am not a chapter closer to the end, which my current plot plan is around chapter 16 (whimper) But I will get there eventually. The second half of this, Chapter 9, including the Kuno fight, a somewhat classy double date of the Tendo women, the chaotic third wheel date for Mousse, and the bonus date. Here's hoping they turn out better than my last... most. :P

      Special thanks to MwhaleK, Michael Ahlf, Paul Henkel, Rosedreams, Jamison Whithehead, Wheedle1, tendoakane3, lisiegurl, and Sakurabana for proof reading and plot inspiring.

Thank you for reading.

Trent O'Donoghue
[email protected]
http://www.geocities.com/odonoghuet/index.html