Greetings! Among mortals I am known as Stephen Sparrow, but you may call me Blood Blade. Hey, if you're going on an ego trip, you might as well bring someone else along, ne? Anyway, I'd just like to say, it's finished. Finally. After all this time, I'm finally done. My very first fanfic.

Since this IS my first fanfic, any and all C&C are welcome to let me know how I've done. Responses can be sent to: bloodblade@oocities.com

***///***

Standard Disclosure: The characters of Ranma ½ are not my own creation, they are the exclusive property of Rumiko Takahashi. The story is mine, but the rest is hers.

I'll just take a brief moment before we start to clear up any confusion about the punctuation. "Quotes" or 'quotes' surround anything that is said by anyone.

<Brackets> are people thinking.

*Stars* are usually actions or sounds.

~Tildes~ make great waves for water scenes.

(Now this is harder to explain). They say that a good story should have personality, but split personality? I'll fill you in at the end.

Well, without further adieu, let us begin. Sit back, get comfortable, and enjoy the ride. This is my story.

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

***///***

It is a peaceful afternoon around the Tendo Dojo, the birds are chirping, the carp swim happily in their little pond, Kasumi is happily humming as she hangs out the wash to dry, and through it all, the familiar sounds of Ranma getting pounded by Akane yet again.

"Aww, come on Akane. I was only kidding." *Ooof* "Can't you take a joke?" *WHAM!* "Ite! Would you stop hitting me you kawaiikune tomboy!"

"RAN-MA!!!" (-Here's the wind up, and the delivery.) *PUNT!* (-Oooooh, that one's got some nice air time, and it's right on the mark headed straight for the koi pond.)

~~~SPLASH!~~~

"Wha'd you do that for?!?" shouts a very annoyed Ranma-chan pulling herself out of the pond. She shakes her head to get rid of some of the water running down her face before looking down at her current form. "Aww jeeze. Now I'm wet again. Thanks a lot Akane."

Her anger quenched at the same time Ranma was too, Akane turns on her heel and tosses her nose in the air "Serves you right Ranma. Why don't you just stay that way since you like being a girl so much of the time?"

Stepping out of the pond and wringing out the hem of her shirt. "You think I LIKE being like this? Do you think I enjoy wondering when it will rain next, or I get knocked into the ditch, or the pond, or get splashed by a puddle or have someone dump their cleaning water on me? You think I like having a body that isn't my own? You have absolutely no idea what it's like." Finished with the shirt she works on wringing out her pony tail.

"Honestly Ranma, you really do sound like a girl whining like that." turning back to face the red head.

Not resisting the opening "So, since you never whine, then you can't be a girl?" she put with a sly smile and flipping the pigtail over her shoulder.

"Arrrggghh! RANMA NO BAKA!"

*THUMP*

~~~SPLASH~~~

Akane let the hammer dissolve back into its dimensional pocket as she stomped back into the house, leaving Ranma to enjoy the lovely view at the bottom of the pond.

***///***

Ranma, after pulling herself out of the pond for the second time this evening, plods up to the bathroom to get out of her damp clothes and take a bath. She (now he) could have simply used the faucet to change back, but it really does very little about the smell of fish and algae. Besides, sitting alone in the bath and enjoying the warmth of the water gives one ample opportunity to think.

<Does Akane really think that I enjoy being a girl? I guess that I've gotten used to the changing by now and granted it does have its advantages like the added speed and agility, and> smiling at the thought <especially on Ryoga. Boy, he's just so clueless sometimes.> shaking his head a little in disbelief before returning to his original thought track. <Besides, just because I'm used to it doesn't mean I don't hate it every time it happens. Why can't she see it from my perspective for once. I suppose that if she was cursed too she'd understand.> a crooked smile appears at the idea of tossing Akane into a cursed spring, but he shakes his head to rid himself of the vision. <Nah, I could never do that to Akane. She doesn't deserve to go through the same stuff I've had to. If only she could see what it was like for a little while, nothing permanent, maybe just once or twice...> This time a large grin breaks across his face as he steps out of the bath, and wrapping a towel around his waist, he heads to the guest room.

Ranma routs around in the closet and dresser drawers, tossing various objects and articles of clothing about the room as he searches. He straightens after several minutes holding a small engraved wooden box. The grin widens a little more.

***///***

Dressed now in his usual black pants and a dark green (-Green? Where'd he get that?) shirt, Ranma walks down stars holding something behind his back. He peers into the living room where he spots his quarry watching tv.

Clearing his throat a little "Hey Akane."

Turning to face the voice "Huh? What is it Ranma?"

"I think you owe me an apology."

"Apology!?! What for?!?" getting a little annoyed and now standing up to face him.

"For what you said earlier. That I like staying as a girl all the time."

"Why should I apologize for the truth Ranma?"

"And what exactly is so great about being a girl?" he quirks his head a little to look at her.

Replying out of habit with more than a hint of anger "And what's so BAD about being a girl."

Seeing that this kind of arguing is getting him no where, Ranma presses on. "Last chance to apologize, Akane."

Turning away, she sits back down to face the tv and ignore him "Get lost Ranma, I'm not apologizing for anything."

The smile returns to Ranma's face. Hoping for this reaction, he pulls the object from behind his back which reveals it to be.... a glass of water? (-What's he going to do with that? -I don't know. Now be quiet and just watch why don't you. Jeez.) "All right, you've had your chance."

~~~Splash~~~

"Wuagh! That's cold." the now damp Akane cries as she shivers from the shock. The shock doesn't last long however as she stands up again to face Ranma, eyes blazing. "What do you think you're doing, BAKA!?!? I..." she pauses mid-word as she notices something wrong. Putting a hand to her throat "What's wrong with my voice?"

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you're a boy." Ranma replied with a broad grin.

"And who are you calling a tom-boy you pervert!?!" she yells with her usual fervor as she takes a swing at him.

Evading easily, Ranma tone sobers a little but he's still smiling widely "I didn't say tom-boy, I said BOY!"

"Huh?" is her witty comeback as she's caught off guard again by his statement. The last word finally sinks in and Akane's gaze falls away from Ranma and she looks down at herself. She manages a strangled "aaaaaAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!" before she collapses in a faint.

***///***

Akane stirs a little and as consciousness begins to reassert itself. She can make out snippets of words as they float across her mind, but the conversation eludes her sleep dulled mind. She can feel the softness of cushions beneath her and the heavy warmth of a blanket, and she concluders that someone has moved her onto the couch. She halts for a moment at that last thought, pondering why someone would have to move her onto the couch in the first place. No answer forthcoming she pushes it into the back of her mind. She again hears the voices though as she stirs again they halt. Finally opening her eyes Akane is almost sorry that she did as she's greeted back into the waking world by a ring of faces not more that a foot from her own.

"Aaaah!" Akane replies a little startled and draws the blankets up to her chin. The faces also back away a little in surprise at the outcry, but they don't retreat far. Finally getting a chance to look around, Akane realizes that she has indeed been moved to the couch and the ring of faces are those belonging to her sisters, father, fiancee and a large panda. Soun looks as if he's been crying (-When doesn't he cry? -Well, when he's eating, playing shogi, fighting, pulling that neat demon head thing... -Oh shut up will you.), Kasumi has an expression of motherly concern (-When doesn't she have.... Oh never mind.), Nabiki has the same calculating look in her eyes as she tries to figure out how she can benefit the most from the current situation (-Not going to say it, not going to say it.), the panda, well it's hard to make out anything revealing from the panda, it being a panda and not really capable of distinguishable facial expressions, and Ranma looks like he's torn between looking ashamed and pleased with himself. The last part is what catches Akane's attention though as she tossed off the blanket and starts to get up. She doesn't get far though before her father, tears flowing down his face, halts her by placing his hands against her shoulders.

"No Akane, you mustn't get up. You need to rest and conserve your strength. WHAAAAA! A-KA-NE!" he manages before enveloping her in a hug and resumes crying.

Nabiki lets out an exasperated sigh, "Really Daddy, it's not like she's dying. She simply fainted, that's all. You don't have to be so dramatic about everything all the time. Now why don't you let her go before you drown her." Soun does so, though reluctantly and the tears are toned down to small streams coursing down his face.

"Ummmm... everyone? Would someone please explain to me what exactly is going on?" asks a confused Akane.

"Oh my. You mean you don't remember? We all heard you scream, or that is, we heard someone scream, and when we came in to see we saw you'd fainted and Ranma was putting you on the sofa. Do you remember anything from before you fainted?" replied Kasumi.

Akane thought back. Ranma entered the room when she'd been watching tv and demanded an apology from her which very quickly developed into an argument. She'd turned her back on the jerk, intent on watching her show when he splashed her and called her a tom-boy. No, wait a minute, it wasn't tom-boy, it was... suddenly Akane placed her hands on her chest, and then let out a sigh of relief. No, they were still there. Realizing that she was feeling her breasts in front of the rest of her family, Akane brushed brightly and dropped her hands back into her lap.

In an attempt to deflate the awkward situation, Kasumi poured some water from a pitcher and offered the glass to youngest sister. "Would you like something to drink Akane?" Needless to say, the gesture was unsuccessful.

"Waugh!!! Take it away! Take it away!" yelled Akane as she pushed herself into the couch away from the proffered drink. Surprised is a good way of describing the feelings of everyone else in the room, that is, with the exception one aquatranssexual and a certain polymorphing panda. After a moment, Akane too looks startled by her own reaction and turns to address Ranma "What's wrong with me? What did you do to me?" she asks more scared than anything else.

Reacting for the first time since Akane awoke, Ranma shrugs his shoulders a little before replying "There's nothing wrong with you Akane, you're still a girl in case you're wondering. As you'll probably remember, the effects of the Instant Nannichuan are only temporary."

"INSTANT NANNICHUAN!!!" cried Akane, Nabiki and Soun as they stare at Ranma. Genma refrains from shouting, being a panda and all, but adds his own sign with the same words. (-Oh... so that's what was in the glass. -Well, duh. What else do you know of that turns people into boys? -Be quiet, I wasn't talking to you.) Ranma winces a little at the intensity and Kasumi merely looks on with an expression of concern.

"Ummm... I guess you guys want an explanation?" Ranma asks hesitantly though fully knowing the answer he'll get before hand.

The room replies with a resounding "YES!!!" and Genma flips his sign around.

"Ok, well it goes something like this..."

***///***

"I still don't know how you talked me into this Ranma." Akane said sullenly as she walked along the route to school.

Ranma pauses to look down at her from his usual perch on the fence. "Come on Akane, it's only for one day. You can manage that can't you?"

"But it feels so weird." giving a little involuntary shiver. "Besides, how come I have to wear YOUR clothes?" We look a little closer at Akane and realize that indeed she is wearing Ranma's clothes. (-Gee, how'd I miss that? -I dunno. You want your wallet back by the way? -HEY! How'd you get that? And where's my watch? -*snicker*) Ah hum. Getting back to the point, we see Akane wearing a pair of Ranma's black pants, one of his red Chinese shirts which he seems to have a multitude of (-Kinda like Ryoga's bandana's? -Hmmmm, never thought about it like that before.) WOULD YOU TWO BE QUIET! I'M TRYING TO TALK HERE! (-Gomen. -Gomen.) That's better. His pants, his shirt and a pair of his shoes. Looking a little closer, we also notice that they seem to fit her quite well, though 'HER' doesn't seem to apply any more. Akane has once again lost her feminine curves which have been replaced more angular masculine features including well defined square shoulders and a muscular, if flat, chest. She also seems to have grown a few inches putting her up to the same height as Ranma, the one part of her transformation which she doesn't seem to mind, preferring to look him straight in the eye rather than having to look up at him. She's also pulled back her short hair into a small pony tail to make the style less 'girlish'. The end result is actually a good looking young man. Some might actually call 'him' cute.

Ranma hops down from the fence to stand beside Akane, "Well, basically they're the only clothes in the whole house that fit you like this. Unless of course you want to go out and buy a new outfit just for today?" Akane's only reply is a little frown at the idea of going shopping for boys clothes for 'her' to wear. "There's nothing wrong with my clothes are there?" Ranma asked with slight annoyance.

Thinking about this for a moment before replying with a slight sigh "No, there's nothing wrong with your clothes" <though I wish you a little more variety to choose from.> (-POOF! Suddenly Ranma now has a complete wardrobe with an outfit for every possible occasion. What a way to waste a wish. Remember kids, be careful what you wish for, you might just get it. -You finished yet? -Yeah, I'm finished. Geez, what a grouch.) "And I guess it makes sense since it's just for today." she finished before continuing walking to school.

Ranma quick steps to catch up to Akane and they walk together for a few moments in silence before Ranma casually asks "So, um, how do the boxers feel?"

Akane nearly falls on her face as she stumbles from utter surprise. Akane turns to stare at him after managing to straighten and asks with a mixture of shock and anger "What the heck kind of question is that, Ranma? Don't you have any concept of decency or subtlety?"

Ranma places his arms behind his head and starts rocking back and forth on his feet as he answers Akane. "Well... I just wanted to make sure you were... comfortable. I mean, it's different for me when I change, at least my stuff still fits me cuz I get smaller when I'm a girl. You on the other hand can't wear your... your um, you know," Ranma reddens a little as he's talking "while you're like this. Speaking of which, did you remember to bring extra clothing just in case you change back?"

"Yeah, Ranma, it's in my bag." looking down at her watch "Aaaah! Look at the time! We're going to be late." at which point she takes off with Ranma a couple of steps behind, both leaving a trail of dust as they pass.

As they run, Ranma turns to Akane and says "Just remember to stick to the story we worked out. Quick check: 'Hi, I'm Ranma Saotome, and you are?'"

Akane runs a few more steps, looking a little like she's swallowed a lizard, and neither of them likes it, before answering. "I'm Kouma Saotome, your cousin, and I'm here for the day because my parents are moving to the area from Kyoto for business purposes. I'm checking out the schools around here to see which one I like best. Is all this really necessary Ranma?" she asks looking at him, finally having managed to choke down the lizard.

Ranma shrugs a little "It is unless you want to explain to your friends and teachers why you've suddenly had a sex change."

Not relishing that thought, Akane, that is, Kouma simply turns back to the street ahead of him, his teeth clenched in frustration. The old lady is once again wetting down the side walk to keep down the dust, not to mention anyone else passing by that happens to get into range. Ranma instinctively jumps back onto the fence to avoid getting splashed, having memorized this location from his many previous encounters, but Akane is not so fortunate as she's hit in the face with cold water.

Sputtering and wiping the water away, Akane is a little surprised as she looks down "Hey. How come I didn't change?"

Jumping down from the fence, well out of range of the old woman, Ranma turns to her "This is your 'cursed' form remember? Getting splashed with cold water when you're like this doesn't affect you. It takes hot water to transform you back. That, by the way, is why you were a girl when you woke up yesterday. Now come on KOUMA, if we don't hurry we're going to be late." he finished and turned to continue running down the street to school.

"Oh." is all Akane is able to manage, before she takes off again as well.

(-Pssssttt. Who was that earlier that yelled at us? -That was the author, baka, now keep it down from now on or he'll write us out. -*gulp*)

***///***

As they near the gates of Furenken at full speed, Ranma spies a familiar figure standing at the front gates who also takes notice of him. As he gets closer, Kuno, bokken in hand, stands defiantly in an attack posture intent on blocking passage. "Halt Saotome so that I, Takewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furenken High might thrash you." he proclaimed as lightning crashed in the background. (-Unusual weather they have around here don't you think? -Doesn't thunder usually crash, not lightning? -Yeah, you're right. Hmmm... well this is a fanfic so give the author some flexibility.)

Such an announcement directed at any other student would certainly make them halt, before turning and running for their lives in the opposite direction. Ranma on the other hand is not your average student. Depending on how late and what mood he was in, such a challenge would normally be ignored entirely as he jumped over his adversary and continued on to class, or answered with a swift kick to the face before continuing on, or... well you get the idea. Today, however, since as the clock showed that there were still ten minutes before the start of class, Ranma, and consequently Akane, stop a little short of Kuno's position.

"So what do you want from me THIS morning Kuno?" Ranma asked a little bored.

"Why, to free my pig-tailed goddess and the lovely Akane Tendo from your vile grasp. What other reason do I need?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Now can you get out of the way so I can get to class?" dismissing him with a wave and trying to walk around the kendoist but is unsuccessful as he's intercepted.

"You shall not escape me that easily miscreant. Where is the beauteous Akane this morning? She is not with you so I can only assume that you are hiding her from me. Tell me quickly where she is and mayhaps I shall spare your life, cur."

Akane, who has little tolerance for such nonsense in the mornings from Kuno, and even less this morning, yells at him "I'm...", but is able to say no more as Ranma clamps his hand over her mouth and breaks in.

"Um, Akane's not feeling so well this morning and stayed home. She's got a bad stomach. Probably from something she cooked." A low growl emanates from Akane's throat and she flicks a sharp gaze at Ranma. She refrains from malleting him however as her being sick was part of the story they'd come up with, though that jab about her cooking had not.

"And who is this boy that you are manhandling now, Saotome?" he indicates with his weapon after finally noticing the presence of someone else besides his rival.

Ranma looks to Akane, his hand still over her mouth. Akane nods once and Ranma removes his hand to allow her to speak. "I'm Ranma's cousin, Kouma Saotome, and he's going to show me around the school today."

"Another Saotome?!?!" Kuno takes up his attack stance once again. "Very well, I'll take you all on if I must." Suddenly a large panda runs up the street, whacks Kuno over the head with a kettle as he passes, and charges out of sight.

"Well, I suppose that's one way to handle it." Ranma says shrugging a little before he steps over the unconscious form of the kendoist, and walks towards the building. "Come on Kouma, I've got to get to class."

***///***

As the pair walk along the hallways towards the lockers, Ranma notices something about Akane and leans over to her.

"Pssssttt. What are you doing Akane?" Ranma asked in a low tone.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Akane returned in an equally low tone.

"Why are you walking like that?"

"Like what? I'm walking the same way I always do."

"That's what I'm talking about. You're walking like a girl. Don't swing your hips and take longer steps, otherwise you might draw attention to yourself as being... different. Try to act more like me."

Returning the favor for the earlier cooking comment "Like a egotistical, over sexed, ..."

"You know what I'm talking about." Ranma cut her off testily, though Akane did modify her posture and stride, a self satisfied grin gracing her face.

Ranma and Akane continue to walk down the school hallways to the first class of the day, followed by a number of watchful eyes and buzzing voices wondering at the new arrival, the eyes of a few girls lingering especially long. This does not go unnoticed by Akane.

"Hey Ranma. Why are all those girls staring at me?" Akane whispered to Ranma.

Ranma taking notice of the attention for the first time shrugs and whispers back "Well, since I'm already engaged," (-Like that's stopped anything before.) "then it must be that they think you're cute or something."

<The girls think I'm cute?> Akane thinks to herself, giving a little shudder and her stomach turns a little at the though before she finally pushes it away.

***///***

The two walk into the first class just before the bell and presentations are made. Ranma introduces his 'cousin' to the class and tells them the story they'd prepared, including Akane's illness. Since the class is already full, Kouma coincidentally sits in the same desk as Akane. The morning classes proceed uneventfully, which in itself is a little unusual considering the normal outbursts, arguments, small battles, large battles, full scale fiancee or rival wars (-Some classify as both depending on who you talk to.) that usually occur, but I digress. Needless to say, quiet, for a change. (-Change. Change is good.) After the bell, Ranma and Kouma head to the cafeteria to grab something to eat where they meet up with Ukyou who'd been absent in the morning.

"Ranma-honey, come on over here. I saved you a seat." she cries out waving him down.

Ranma turns with a smile for his friend, Akane however turns to look with daggers in her eyes. Ranma catches this and kicks Akane in the shin. She hops on one leg for a moment before turning her gaze upon him. "What was that for?" she hissed.

"Tone it down, KOUMA. You're not supposed to know Ukyou, remember?" he said out the side of his mouth. Realizing that he had a point, Akane did manage to calm down, dropping from "Stay away from my fiancee or I'll deal you severe bodily harm." to "I'm putting up with this because I have to." as she still simmered a little. Seeing the change in attitude, Ranma, followed by Akane, walked over to the table where Ukyou was still waving.

"Hey Ran-chan. Did I miss anything in this morning's classes?" she asked as the two sat down. "Say, who's your friend?" noticing the other arrival.

"Nah, classes were boring as usual Ucchan, and this" jerking his thumb towards the boy beside him (-No, no , no. The one on the other side.) "is my cousin, Kouma Saotome. Kouma, this is my friend Ukyou Kuonji, best okonomiaki cook in all Japan." Ukyou blushes a little at the unexpected praise before extending her hand which Akane grasps a little firmer than necessary.

"Nice to meet you. Any friend of Ran-chan's is a friend of mine." (-Except of course when they're prospective brides.)

"Same here." Akane replies in an attempt to be cheerful.

"So what brings you to Furenken, Kouma?"

*Insert one well rehearsed explanation here.*

"Oh, so you're moving because of your dad's business. What does he do for a living?" Ukyou said trying to make polite conversation. Ranma and Akane both looked at each other. This was not something they had thought about, though fortunately Akane recovered first.

"Um, he's... a martial artist like Ranma's dad." <Better to stick to as much truth as possible, it'll be easier to remember for later.> Akane thought. "It runs in the family," (-My father has it, I have it, my sister... oops, wrong story.) "and he's been offered a job at a local dojo." <There, that's not too far off the mark.>

"It wouldn't be the Tendo dojo would it?"

"Um, no. Why do you ask?"

"It's a long story Honey. Anyway, why don't we have some lunch? I'll whip us up some okonomiaki in just a couple of secs." she says turning around and begins working on the gas grill behind her.

(-Now hold on here. That wasn't there a minute ago. -That's Ukyou's interdimensional gas grill, it's there whenever she needs it. -I thought interdimensional objects were limited only to hammers. -Nope, you see, interdimensional space contains a multitude of weapons, vehicles and various other objects which can be pulled out of its native space into our own. However, since the stuff doesn't actually belong to our reality, after a short time, anything that has been pulled from interdimensional space eventually snaps back to its original position. That's also why you can retrieve it again and again because it's always in the same spot. Only a few people have the strength and ability to pull things from interdimensional space on a regular basis though. -Huh? Wha? I'm awake, Sensai, I'm awake. I was just resting my eyes. -*sigh* Baka.)

After a few minutes, Ukyou flips the warm okonomiaki onto three plates and sets them down on the table. "Thanks Ucchan." Ranma says as he digs into his with relish (-Ugh. He puts relish on his okonomiaki?) "Um, yeah, thanks Ukyou." is Akane's reply before she picks up her own to take a bite.

"Hey, it's the least I can do. After all, we're going to be family soon, isn't that right Ranchan?" Ukyou replied, looking at Ranma with adoration in her eyes. Ranma's brain momentarily ceases to function and Akane chokes on a piece of okonomiaki after hearing Ukyou's statement.

"Uh, uh, um..." is Ranma's reply as he tries not to look embarrassed, and fails miserably.

HACK! COUGH! COUGH! Akane flails her arms wildly as she tries to breath around the food she'd partially swallowed. Ranma thumps her soundly on the back and knocks the piece of okonomiaki loose (-Probably along with that lizard from earlier.) and Akane gasps for a few moments.

"You ok Sugar?" Ukyou asks a little concerned.

"Y-yeah, I'm ok." *cough cough* "Something just went down the wrong way." *wheeze*

"Good, can't have you dying, especially from something I cooked," (-The distinction of killer cooking belongs to Akane. -Yeah, really.) "otherwise you'll miss the wedding."

"W-w-w-wedding?!?!" Akane turns to glare at Ranma who has a giant sweat bead running down the side of his face and is laughing nervously.

"Yeah, Ranma's my fiancee. Didn't you know?"

kathoom!

Ukyou is spared the reply that had been coming as the three of them, not to mention the rest of the students in the cafeteria, turn to look in the direction of the noise.

Kathoom!!

This being Furenken, and Nerima in general, the other students have learned that avoidance promotes long lives and they begin to clear out of the room, leaving only Ranma, Ukyou and Akane still sitting at their table.

KATHOOM!!!

The wall suddenly gives way in a large explosion and a figure emerges from the dust cloud and clattering rubble.

"Ni hao Ranma." Shampoo calls out waving. "Shampoo bring special ramen for Airen."

"The door, Shampoo? Really handy you know. You should try using them some time. A lot easier than smashing down walls all the time." he said putting his head against his palm.

"Shampoo know what door is Ranma, Shampoo not stupid like violent pervert-girl. But door take too long. Shampoo want see Airen as soon as possible."

Standing up, shaking with rage "And who are you calling OW!" and Akane grabs her shin again and proceeds to hop around on one foot.

"Oops, sorry Kouma. I didn't see you there." Ranma said with a little smirk as he got up from the table.

Being the only other female still left in the room, Ukyou comes to the only logical conclusion "Are you implying that I'm a violent pervert Shampoo?!?" she asked questioningly as she too stood up and reached over her shoulder to grab the handle of the giant spatula there.

"I no talking to you spatula-girl, I talking about Akane. But spatula-girl is violent too, and is lousy cook. Can only make stupid pancake."

"That does it! Trying to take Ranma away from me is one thing, but no one, BUT NO ONE insults my cooking you got that!?! Defend yourself." and Ukyou unleashed several small spatulas at Shampoo and followed it up with a swing from the large spatula from her back.

Shampoo manages to dodge the small weapons but the delivery case is neatly sliced in half by the larger blade, spewing the contents across the floor.

"Grrrrrr. That for Ranma, and you ruin it. Now Shampoo get even with spatula-girl." and she pulls out her bonbori. (-Dimensional space? -You got it.)

Ukyou and Shampoo proceed to battle for the next several minutes, neither managing to injure the other being too evenly matched but begin racking up a great deal of collateral damage. Akane just managed to stare on with disbelief as the two smashed tables, chairs, walls, ceiling fixtures and anything else to slow to get out of the way (-Oh yeah right. Like furniture is going to get itself out of the way of those two wrecking balls.)

"Ucchan. Shampoo. Now cut it out. You're trashing the place." Ranma said trying to come between the women, and gets clonked on the head with the bonbori and spatula for his troubles. Ukyou and Shampoo are so involved with their fight though that they don't notice Ranma slump to the floor unconscious and continued their deadly dance around him and each other.

"Hey!" Akane called out as she ran over to check on Ranma, and seeing that he had two grapefruit sized welts on his head but was still breathing, she turned around to face the other girls who were still fighting but were now across the room. Glowing blue and pulling out a hammer at least four feet in diameter, she charged them crying "ALL RIGHT YOU TWO! THAT'S ENOUGH!" and proceeded to mash them both into the linoleum and leaving the hammer on top once she'd finished. Seeing that neither of them was moving, with the exception of a twitching arm or leg that was sticking out, she dusted off her hands and walked back to where Ranma was lying. Grabbing a nearby glass of water from one of the cafeteria tables that had survived, Akane used her usual method of revival and

~~~splashed~~~Ranma in the face.

"Huh?!? Wha?!? Oh, Akane." Ranma-chan takes in the mass destruction around her and rubbing the welts on her head "What happened? Where did they go?"

"They're over there, but I don't think they're much in the mood for fighting anymore."

"You beat them BOTH?" Ranma asked a little surprised <Hey, not bad.>

"You don't have to act so surprised Ranma, I can handle myself. I am a martial artist after all."

Both hear a clattering over the other side of the room and turn to look.

***///***

Shampoo pushes the hammer aside extracts herself from an impression in the floor shaped very much like herself. (-That probably has something to do with the fact that it was her who made it.) The purple haired amazon sees that Ukyou is still currently face down on the floor and considers herself the victor of their battle since obviously she's only one now standing. (-Conveniently leaving out the fact that she too had been unconscious if you'll notice.) That decided, she turns her attention to find her other aggressor.

"Where Akane?" she asks to herself angrily as she scans the room. "Akane only one who use hammer, but Shampoo no see her. Hmmmm." Giving up on her search, she instead spies another person. "RANMA!!!" and with a huge grin on her face she bounds over to him, as she gets closer

however, she notices for the first time that he's not alone and stops short to study the other face.

<Hmmmm... where Shampoo see this boy before?> As Shampoo thinks for a moment, she gets a flashback from the last few minutes. While fighting Ukyou she heard a loud cry and saw something moving towards her from the corner of her eye. She turned to look, something her great-grandmother would berate her over later about becoming distracted during a fight, and recognizes the face now in front of her, remembers seeing a large brown blur which preceded a sharp pain in her head, and then, darkness.

<Uh oh. Outsider defeat Shampoo, AGAIN! What do now? No want strange new boy, want Ranma, but law say must marry male outsider who defeat me. What Shampoo do? Hmmmm... Remember Great-grandmother say that amazon woman many year ago have many husband. Well, what good for ancestors good for Shampoo too.> And with her mind made up, she pounces.

***///***

Ranma and Akane watch Shampoo lift herself off the floor and stare at Ukyou before she nods in self satisfaction. They see her scan the room for a minute or so as she mumbles something to herself before finally she stops and looks in their direction. Ranma watches on with apprehension as Shampoo calls out his name and bounds towards him, Akane simply glares with ferocity. Both are surprised when she suddenly stops and carefully scrutinizes 'Kouma'. They watch her facial expression move from serious thought to confusion before finally settling on determination, and then...

"Woda Airen!" Shampoo calls out as she glomps onto Akane.

Both Ranma and Akane are again surprised. Ranma because that for once he isn't on the receiving end of such loving attention, Akane because she now had another girl wrapped around her, that is, his chest in a passionate embrace. Akane feels the heat rising in her cheeks and the Earth is about to get another satellite when Ranma-chan falls down laughing, which does nothing to improve her mood.

"HEY! Get off of me!" Akane says as she unsuccessfully tries to pry the amazon off. "And what are you laughing at Ranma!"

"HAHAHAHA! I... hahaha... just realized.. haha... that you... hahahaha... defeated Shampoo... hahaha... and now you... hahaha... have to... haha... marry her! HAHAHAHAHA!" and Ranma-chan continues to roll around on the floor holding her sides.

"Is true. Amazon law say that Shampoo must marry man outsider who defeat her." continuing to snuggle up against Kouma's chest.

Near the boiling point "BUT I'M NOT A..." <Wait a minute, if I tell her who I am, then she'll give me the "Kiss of Death" and try to kill me, but if I don't she's going to hang off of me all day. ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!! I HATE THIS!!! I wonder if this is how Ranma feels?> (-DING! We have a winna! Give the young lady a cupie doll.) <Hey, that's it! Ranma!> "Hey Shampoo."

Shampoo looks up with adoration in her eyes "Hai?"

"Why aren't you latched onto Ranma like you normally are? You giving up on him is that it?" <There. Maybe that will get her off of me.>

Still hugging fiercely "Shampoo not give up on Ranma. Ranma already know Shampoo love him, so now Shampoo need show new boy she love him too." (-Uh oh! Is it just me or do I sense a Kuno complex coming on here? -It's just you. -Gee, thanks for the support.) "What is new boy's name?"

<Eeeewww!!! I think I'm going to be sick!> Akane thought as an intense shiver when through her body at Shampoo's expression of love, consequently making her miss the question. "Eh? What was that? And would you get off of me!?!" she says with barely restrained anger as she finally manages to unlatch Shampoo's arms from around her.

Taken a little aback by such a cold reception to her affection. "New boy not like Shampoo? Not think Shampoo make good wife?"

"That's not what I said. I just..." "Good." and Shampoo pounces again, but this time Akane side steps and Shampoo stumbles past.

"Look! I'm not interested Shampoo!"

"That beside point. Amazon law say Shampoo must marry... What you say name is?"

"Kouma. HIS name is Kouma." Ranma said finally rising off the floor and wiping a tear away from the corner of her eye she'd been laughing so hard. "And you can't marry him Shampoo."

"Why not Ranma?"

"Because he's not an outsider, he lives here. You're the outsider here Shampoo, so your law doesn't apply." A lightbulb appears over Ranma's head

(-All right, the dim bulb brightens. -Yes, he can be taught. -Who are you? -I'm a genie. -Hey, we're the only one's who are supposed to be in here. -You sure about that? -YES! YES! -All right, all right. I know when I'm not wanted.) Oh great, now I've lost my train of thought. (-Chooga chooga chooga. Woo Woo! Train now arriving on track 1.) ALL RIGHT!!! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!!! CUT! IT! OUT! (-Oops! Gomen, gomen, gomen, gomen, gomen!) That's better. Now where was I? Oh yes, the lightbulb. A lightbulb appears over Ranma's head...

"Hey, so since I defeated you here too, then that means that you don't have to marry me either. Isn't that right Shampoo."

"Hmmmm...." Shampoo turns around, bows her head and puts a finger to her lips as she ponders the new information. The only sign of her inner deliberation is the incessant tapping of her foot. After a minute or two she turns back. "Ranma is right, law no apply because Shampoo is outsider, not Kouma. Shampoo no have to marry Kouma... unless Kouma want to marry Shampoo? Kouma would be strong warrior in tribe."

"NO WAY!!! NOT ON YOUR LIFE!!!" Akane shouts as she is finally able to vent some of her previous anger and frustration.

Shampoo looks at Akane blankly for a moment after the outburst before turning away with her nose up and giving a sniff. "Hmmph. Kouma's loss. At least Shampoo still have Ranma." and this time Ranma is the one on the receiving end of a glomp.

"Hey Shampoo! Would you just... Come on, cut that out." Ranma tries ineffectually to free herself. "I thought you said I was right and you didn't have to marry me."

Looking up from the snuggle "Shampoo say Ranma right about Kouma. Ranma beat Shampoo as boy in Japan, but you also beat Shampoo in amazon village where law apply, and Shampoo know that even with curse, Ranma is all man." she finished a little sultrily.

Akane's face had by this point gone a deep red and little tendrils of smoke snaked from her ears. Ranma on the other hand looked like an animal caught in headlights, she was shaking nervously, swallowing hard a couple of times and sweating profusely. All considering not a terrible strange reaction from either of them considering the VERY feminine form draped across Ranma's body.

"HEY!" Shampoo is narrowly spared becoming a human pancake for the second time in ten minutes (-And Ranma for the first.) as the three of them turn towards the shout. Ukyou has finally pulled herself out of the impression in the floor and is bracing herself with the giant spatula as she stands up. "Ranma's my fiancee so you stay away from him you hussy. Besides, I'm not finished with you yet."

"Hmmm... spatula-girl is more stubborn than Shampoo thought." she gives Ranma a quick peck on the lips "Ranma wait here. Shampoo finish fight and then be back." She pulls out her bonbori and charges Ukyou and once again they move around the room doing damage to the furnishings and none to each other.

Ranma throws up her arms in frustration. "I give up. Come on Akane, lets get to afternoon class." but Akane doesn't move. She is still beet red and trying to bore holes through Shampoo with her eyes. "Yo! Akane!" Ranma waves her hand in front of Akane's face with no effect. <All right, you asked for it.>

"OW!" Akane hops around on one foot for the third time since the start of lunch. "HEY! What was that for?!?"

"Look, you can go kill Shampoo later if you want to, but I have to go find some hot water now before class, and since I'm 'escorting my cousin around school today' then you'll have to come along too."

"All right." she finished with a grumble "But lay off my shins from now on."

"No problem." and the two of them walked from the cafeteria leaving the chaos still swirling behind.

***///***

The boys' gym class pours inside after a game of soccer on the Furenken's fields behind the school. Ranma and Kouma bring up the rear of the group and are speaking quietly.

"So, have you adjusted to your body yet Akane. I bet all of your reactions are still screwed up."

"Huh? How'd you guess what I was thinking?"

"I was watching you on the field and noticed that you were having some problems. I was the same way my first couple of days when I became a girl, my body didn't move like I expected it to."

"So what did you do?" Akane asked curiously.

"I adapted. I relearned how to move with a smaller, lighter body. It was probably easier for me than it is for you since you have more mass to move around than you're used to."

"You got that right, though I notice too that I have a lot more strength as a guy."

"I think the goalie noticed that as well. I don't think the swelling will go down for a week after he was hit with the ball you kicked. Man, and I thought you were butch before."

"Care to repeat that Ranma?!?" Akane breathed hotly as she ground her teeth.

"Not particularly." Ranma said as he gave a small grin and skipped a couple of steps away.

Akane walked on for a few more steps, and even through her annoyance Akane detected a strange smell, and for the first time she realized that it was coming from her. Taking a sniff of the sodden shirt she was wearing <Do all guys sweat this much? I really need to take a shower.> She noticed that they were coming up on the change rooms and turned in through one of the doors, and was immediately greeted with a shower of shampoo (-A shower with Shampoo. Ah! At last my dreams have come true! -Baka! Wait till he's finished, and it's shower of, not with.) bottles and screams. Absent mindedly, Akane had walked into the girl's changing room by mistake and was now exiting very quickly spouting apologies as calls of "Pervert!" and "Peeping-tom!" along with less secular comments followed through the door. Apparently the girl's class had ended a few minutes earlier than normal.

Ranma came back out into the hall way after hearing the noise and noticed Akane looking equally embarrassed and frustrated.

"Hey Kouma. You can't go in there. That's the GIRL'S side."

Speaking in low tones "I am a girl, in case you haven't forgotten you baka."

Replying in an equally low voice "No I haven't forgotten that you're a girl, but you said, and I quote..."

***///***

*Flashback to yesterday.*

"Spend tomorrow as a boy? No way! Leave me out of your sick fantasies Ranma." Akane turns around and starts walking out of the room.

"Akane. Ranma has a point. As your father, I feel it is your duty as Ranma's fiancee to do this."

Akane pivots and turns back to face the room "NANI!?! Why are you on his side all of a sudden?" she asks with growing suspicion and anger. (-Why do you suppose that Akane always gets so mad all of a sudden? -Not enough fibre in her diet? -Don't think so. Suppose it could be the fact that her father got her engaged to a boy she'd never met who is light years beyond her in martial arts skills and has a near constant following of girls around him?... -Nah. Nah.)

"I think that this is the perfect opportunity for you two to get to know each other better. It would give both of you something in common to talk about." (-Oh yeah, lets just forget about the fact that they're both competent martial artists.) "Besides Akane, Ranma has to live with his curse non-stop, perhaps even for the rest of his life. All he's asking is that you go through it for a single day. Surely the heir to the Tendo training hall can do that." (-Ya got me ya varmit. Right in my... pride *snicker*.)

Akane once more takes in the ring of faces before her. Soun face conveys self determination while Kasumi has her patented "Don't worry, every thing is going to be alright." smile on. Genma, since he's still a panda is of course unreadable. Nabiki is taking this time to jot something down her ever-present notepad, and from what Akane can see of it, she appears to be working out the odds on out how long she'll last if she agrees the crazy idea. She finally turns to look at Ranma who appears as confident as ever with himself, but his eyes... In his eyes she sees something else, something very different for him. Was it he was hoping for her to agree, almost pleading? From Ranma? <Couldn't be.> she thought as she shook her head in attempt to dislodge the thought, and when she turned to look again, she saw the anxious anticipation for her answer, but nothing more. <Did I imagine it?> Finally, under the combined stares, Akane concedes.

"Alright. For the honor of the Tendo training hall, I'll spend one full day as a boy. But not because Ranma asked me to." There. She couldn't let him think he'd gotten the better of her.

"Agreed." was Ranma's response.

***///***

"... 'I'll spend one full day as a boy.'" Ranma finished.

"Yeah, I know what I said Ranma, but it doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Well come on then." and Ranma turns back into the change room.

"Wait!" Akane cries out and Ranma pauses halfway through the door and looks at her.

"What?"

"I can't go in there, that's the guys' side."

"So, you're a guy, at least as far as anyone else can tell. What's the problem?"

"The problem is that I... that is... I JUST CAN'T OK!" Akane finally blurted out as she grew a bright shade of crimson.

"You can't spend the rest of the afternoon wearing that Akane, and besides, we both need to clean up."

"But there are naked guys in there!"

"You've seen naked guys before haven't you Akane? At the very least, you've seen yourself."

Akane shade of crimson deepens as she recalls that morning.

***///***

*Flashback to earlier today.*

"Rise and shine Akane."

~~Splash!~~

*Hack!* *Splut!* Akane is jolted awake, waving her hands in front of her as if to fend off some attack as she sits upright. Even though her mind is not fully alert she is still able to identify the source of her annoyance.

"RAN-MA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM YOU PERVERT?!?" and proceeds to throw several heavy objects at him which for some odd reason she has many of lying around her floor. Ranma simply avoids the projectiles and ducks out into the hallway.

Poking his head back through the door, twice if you count him dodging a barbell after the first time "Just wanted to make sure that you were awake in time for school Akane. See you at the breakfast table." and this time he disappeared without coming back.

Akane flops back down on her bed with the intent of sleeping a few more minutes but finds it impossible due to the fact that her sheets and pajamas are partially soaked with cold water. Grumbling, Akane pulls herself out of bed and still half asleep she makes her way to the bathroom.

<These pajamas are getting a little tight. I wonder if they shrunk in the wash.> she thinks to herself as she shuffles along the hallway. She slides the bathroom door behind her and makes her way over to the toilet and sits down. It's at this point that her sleep drugged brain registers for the first time that something just isn't right. Looking down, she realizes that the something is the new addition in her life, make that HIS life, and with this come the memories of yesterday's conversation and her agreement.

"RAN - MA!!!!"

***///***

"Thanks for the wake up call. You could have at least let me go to the washroom before you splashed me."

"One whole day, remember? From the time you get up until the time you go to bed tonight. Now come on before last class starts." and Ranma enters the change room.

Akane lets out one final "AAARRRGGGGHHH!!!" before she finally concedes defeat an pushes the door open and walks through. Inside she is assaulted (-Gee. That's kind of harsh considering all she did was open the door. -I told you, wait for him to finish. *smack* -Ite. All right, all right.) with the sight of the boys' class in several stages of dress and undress. A few guys are wearing just towels around their waist as they head to the shower, a couple more just returning are wearing even less as they head back to the lockers. Akane tries to ignore everything and everyone moving around her and makes a bee line to where Ranma is starting to take off his shirt and sits down beside him. After a moment's hesitation and embarrassment, Akane pulls off her damp clothes, puts on a towel, readjusts it from around her chest to her waist, grabs a bar of soap and heads to the showers. There are a couple of snapping sounds and yelps of pain as she enters the washing area and she makes a note to avoid the boys using towels as whips.

<Thank the Kami for enclosed stalls.> Akane thinks in a moment of silent prayer and enters one of the booths. <Never thought I'd say this but I'm glad Principal Kuno's remodeled certain things American style.> Closing and locking the door behind her, she leans against it and breaths a sigh of relief. She'd made it, it wasn't easy, but she'd made it. Taking off the towel, she hung it on the provided hook and stepped into the small tiled basin where the shower was. Turning on the tap, she enjoyed the hot water as it cascaded down her body and allowed her taught muscles to relax. She grabbed the soap and began washing her arms, legs, breasts, BREASTS?!?! Suddenly Ranma's words from earlier came back with painful clarity.

<'This is your 'cursed' form remember? Getting splashed with cold water when you're like this doesn't affect you. It takes hot water to transform you back. That, by the way, is why you were a girl when you woke up yesterday.'>

<Chikuso!> Akane punches the wall in frustration, cracking a few tiles which dig painfully into her hand. She pulls her fist away from the wall and massages the knuckles. <Ite! How could I have been so stupid?!? Here I am, wet, naked and in the middle of boys' changing room. What do I do? What do I do?> She would have paced but there just wasn't the room for it. <Hey, wait a minute, I can just turn back with cold water and everything will be ok.> Turning the handle from left to right, icy water comes out of the shower head and covers her, but she doesn't change back. <Huh??? Why doesn't it work, why won't I change back?!?> slight hysteria begins to enter her mind at the prospect of being found in her current form and condition.

<'As you'll probably remember, the effects of the instant Nannichuan are only temporary.'>

The words echoed hollowly in her head, mocking her.

<Dummy! Dummy! Dummy!> she berated her self, punctuating each word with banging her head against the wall again. She barely feels the pain from her temple, in fact her whole body was beginning to go numb, from slight shock or the cold water still raining down on her she wasn't sure. Deciding to eliminate at least one of the factors she turned the handle back to the left and tried to warm up again. Shivering a little <Well, I guess I'll just have to wait until everyone has left before I get out and hope no one notices.>

After a few minutes, the sounds of the other showers stop and the voices gradually fade into another part of the changing room as they echo against the wall. She considers taking a peek out the door to see if anyone is still around when there's a tapping from the other side.

"You ok in there Kouma?" It was Ranma's voice.

"Ranma." she called out in a loud whisper. Her heart lept for joy at hearing his voice. He would get her out of this. Part of her mind said that this was all his fault, but it was ignored as she clung to the idea that she could get out of this with some of her dignity intact. "I can't come out. I forgot about hot water. Can you get everyone out of the change room so that I can leave. Please?" Some of the hysteria from earlier entering her voice.

"Sure, I can do that. You sure you wouldn't prefer this? Here. Catch." and he tossed something over the door.

Akane caught sight of the cylindrical object and after a few fumbled attempts with her wet hands, managed to get a firm grasp on it. IT turned out to be a thermos. "What's in it?"

"More Instant Nannichuan."

Rasing her voice, finding a focus for her embarrassment "You knew this was going to happen? And you didn't warn me?"

"Hey. You know full well the effect of my curse and about yours too so don't take it out on me. If you don't want the stuff you can just toss it back and I'll go guard the door."

Akane looked harshly at the door as if by doing so she could see through to stare at Ranma, but for some reason, this time the anger didn't have the same edge. She looked down at the thermos in her hands and realized <He was right, IS right, and I am... I am... AARRGGHH!!! Damn it, I can at least admit it to myself, I'M WRONG!> Instead of feeling bitter at the statement, Akane actually felt a slight relief. A small part inside no longer caged and locked away, but freed. Akane gave a quirky little smile at the irony of it. <How many times have I kept myself from saying something like that just so he wouldn't hear? So no one else would hear it?> Opening the cap on the bottle, she upended half the contents over her head. <Never know, might need some of this for later.> She grabbed her towel from off the hook, wrapped it around her waist and opened the door. Ranma was still standing there, apparently sulking a little, thought he would never have admitted it.

Bowing slightly "Thank you Ranma."

"Huh?" This was not the reply he'd been expecting.

"I appreciate you thinking ahead for my sake." and she walks toward the locker area. (-Hey. How come she gets sake and we don't get anything. -She's not talking about rice wine, baka.)

Following behind "Um, yeah, no problem Ak... Kouma. I'm surprised that you made it this long considering what a water magnet I am."

Taking a seat on one of the benches in the room she turns to him "Next time?"

"Yeah?"

"Remind me before I go into the shower."

"Hey, part of the Anything Goes training is learning from and overcoming your mistakes. But there won't be a next time. You agreed to do this just for today, right?"

"Yeah, just for today." Strangely, the words didn't have the usual angry force behind them. <Why did I say 'Next time'?> Pushing the thought back for later pondering, Akane changed back into her clothes for the next class.

***///***

Finally the last class ends and Ranma and Akane make their way back home from school. Ranma is once again up on the fence while Akane walks below. She stops after a moment and quietly watches him walk effortlessly walk along, envying the casualness of it. After a dozen or so steps, Ranma notices that there's no one walking below him and turns around.

Making sure that no one was in ear shot "What's wrong Akane?"

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

She gives the fence a kick which sends vibrations down the line and causes Ranma to go down on all fours to keep his balance. "How can you just walk along like that like it was nothing? Can't you just walk along like a normal person for once?"

Ranma pulls down the corners of his mouth with his fingers and sticks his tongue out a little. "Why? You jealous Akane?"

<Figures I couldn't get a serious answer out of him.> Akane turns her head away from and starts walking again.

Ranma keeps up the face for another moment but drops it as she goes past without a word or pulling down her eyelid. <What's with her now?> He jumps down and follows her for a few silent steps. Seeing that she was not going to say anything further "What's wrong Akane?"

Turning on him hotly "What's wrong?!? You're wrong. Why can't you ever take anything I say or do seriously? Am I always some big joke to you?" Her eyes glistened for a moment, but she shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts of the emotion before turning back and continue walking.

Dumbfounded by the outburst, Ranma just stares at her back for a moment before catching up and walking just behind her again. She remained quiet.

Trying to break the uncomfortable silence between them "Hey, I didn't mean it like that Akane."

No reaction.

"I don't think of you as a joke, uncute maybe..." Akane's back stiffens but she still walks on. <Chikuso! Why don't I just stick my other foot in my mouth while I'm at it.>

Running out of words and ideas "Do you want me to show you?"

She stops.

"Show me what, Ranma?" she asks with a little venom, still not facing him.

<At least she stopped.> "Um, it's not that hard, it mostly takes practice."

She turns around to look at him again, her gaze a little suspicious as it scrutinizes his face. Seeing that he at least appears sincere "Do you mean it?"

"Sure, but lets start you on something other than chain link." he said thinking back to the several times he'd nearly skewered himself when he'd first picked up the habit and wasn't used to the slick metal over wood or stone. Walking a little further on they came to a sturdy stretch of stained wooden fence bordering the drainage ditch.

Ranma jumped up with ease and waved for her to join him. "Come on up Akane."

Akane faced the fence and then leapt up landing on the top. Almost immediately she started to teeter over and started frantically waving her arms for balance. Ranma reached over and grabbed her outstretched arm and brought her back to a standing position.

"Lesson 1. Jump up facing the same direction the fence runs. You're less likely to overshoot the top."

"Thanks for telling me that now." wobbling a little as she spoke.

"That was the point. Explaining how to do something only goes so far. You have to experience certain things first hand to really understand, now you'll never forget it. Now try walking."

"Ok." Akane moves along the top of the fence like she was on a balance beam, arms stretched out for balance and swinging each leg around to the side before placing it in line with her body. Irritatingly, Ranma walked along the fence backwards, not even looking where he was going as he observed her.

"Hold up Akane."

She stopped but still kept her arms out. "What is it?"

"You're not walking."

A puzzled expression crossed her face "What do you mean I'm not walking? What was I doing then?"

"You're balancing. You're too afraid of falling."

"I am not afraid of falling, Ranma."

"Whatever, but you're not walking. I've got an idea. Close your eyes for a minute would ya?"

Akane looks at him strangely for a moment before she complies, wobbling a little worse now that she can't see. "Ok, but I don't see what you're getting at."

"Just trust me Akane." (-Oh, sure! Like we haven't heard that one before.) "Now just imaging that you're on the sidewalk. Grab that image and hold it in your mind. Think that you're standing on the nice, wide, solid ground. Can you see it?"

"I guess so. Now what?"

"Now walk."

Her eyes fly open and she stares at him "With my eyes closed? Are you crazy? I'll fall."

"I thought you said you weren't afraid of falling."

"Being afraid and having common sense are two different things Ranma."

"Do you want me to teach you or don't you?"

Akane swallowed the comment she'd been about to throw back and managed to get a firm grasp on her temper. "Yes, I want you to teach me."

"Then close your eyes and think of being on the sidewalk again."

Akane closes her eyes again and concentrates.

"Just walk in a straight line. Don't worry Akane, if you slip, I'll catch you."

She smiles a little at the reassurance and taking a deep breath, hesitantly takes a step ahead. Feeling her foot land firmly on the 'sidewalk', she takes another step, and another, gradually gaining confidence and picking up the pace slightly.

"Ok, now open your eyes."

Akane opened her eyes and immediately stumbled on her next step. Ranma grabs her shirt from behind and hauls her straight again. <Wait a minute. When did he get behind me?> She looks over her shoulder at him.

"Lesson 2: Don't look down at the ground. Look ahead or at the top of the fence if you have to, but not the ground. You'll always tend to go where you look. You were doing good Akane." Letting go of her shirt, "Now try it with your eyes open."

Akane gets her balance back and starts over. Taking one tentative step after the other, at first looking at the fence, but slowly, and again with growing confidence, began picking up the pace and lifted her eyes to look ahead of her. After traveling a few dozen yards, a small smile broke out on her face. <I'm doing it.> "Hey Ranma what do you think?" and she looked over her shoulder, careful to maintain her center of gravity. She almost lost her footing again. Ranma wasn't behind her like she'd expected, he was standing nearly 20 feet back from where she was, a small grin tracing his mouth.

"What the heck are you doing back there Ranma?"

He quickly covered the distance and stopped about two feet from her, "Watching you of course. Lesson 3: Have confidence in yourself and your abilities. You thought I was right behind you to catch you, and I was at first, but you did that on your own Akane, without my help. You didn't need it. Congratulations, you passed." With another small smile he jumped down and began walking home along the sidewalk.

It was now Akane's turn to watch his retreating back, surprise and shock a mixture on her face. Eventually his words finally sunk in, and then a pleasurable smile took their place. <Hey. He's right, I did do it. I can do it, on my own.> and she walked along the fence to where he was.

"Oh yeah, one last thing Akane."

"What's that Ranma?"

"If you plan on doing this again in the future, you'll need to get yourself a pair of shoes like mine. The flat heeled shoes you normally wear as part of your school uniform won't provide enough traction."

"And how would you know that?" she asked mischievously. There was no malice or suspicion behind the words this time, she was feeling too good about herself right now for that.

"I..." "DIE RANMA!!!"

***///***

In the distance we can see a lone figure walking slowly along the road, their image distorted as waves of shimmering heat rise from the pavement. The image gradually grows larger as the person approaches until it is possible to make out details. It is a young man who looks travel weary, yet determined in his quest. He wears loose dark greenish-brown pants which have been strapped to his legs with yellow cords and black slippered shoes, a yellow shirt, and on his back he carries a large brown backpack with a red bamboo umbrella tied to the top. A yellow and black striped bandana tied around his head keeps his hair out of his eyes. The young man stops, looks at his surroundings and after not recognizing anything, tilts back his head and shouts "WHERE THE HECK AM I NOW?!?!?" Ryoga is back in town.

Ryoga takes a deep breath to calm himself briefly and then looks around again. He considers asking for directions from a passerby, but strangely this side of the street is devoid of them. (-It could have something to do with the fact that some strange guy just bellowed at the top of his lungs and scared the wits out of everyone. Just a thought mind you.) Giving up on the idea, he continues to walk for another few minutes before eventually coming across a police box and goes up to the window.

The officer approaches the window. "Yes? Can I help you sir?"

"Yes. Can you tell me what year it is?"

The officer looks at Ryoga strangely, and even Ryoga is a little taken aback by the question.

(-Hey, alright. Those ventriloquism lessons finally came in handy.)

YOU!!! (-Uh oh..... *) COME BACK HERE!!! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU... WHERE'D HE GET TO? (-Sorry, can't help you there.) CAN'T OR WON'T?!?! (-Can't. I can't help.) Grrrrrr! No one writes this story but me. Got it?!? (-Got it. Don't worry about anything from me. You won't hear a peep.) Good.

"What I mean to say is, can you tell me what city this is, you see, I'm kinda... well... y'know... umm..."

"Lost?"

"Uh, yeah." Ryoga has an embarrassed look on his face and sticks his arm behind his head.

"Looks like you've been traveling quite a while. Where you headed?"

"I'm trying to find the Tendo Dojo. It's in Nerima, Japan."

"Why, this is Nerima."

Instantly brightening "It is? You mean I made it? And it only took me three days this time." Speaking to himself "Oh, Akane. It must be love that has drawn me back so soon." turns back to the officer "Thanks for your help. Bye now." and Ryoga takes off down the street.

Sticking out the window "Hey wait. Don't you want directions to the dojo?" but the words fall on deaf ears as Ryoga is already out of sight. "Crazy kid." the officer mutters as he returns to his seat inside.

***///***

<Maybe I should have waited for directions.> Ryoga thought after a few minutes as he wove his way through the streets of the city suburb. <Probably wouldn't have mattered anyway knowing my sense of direction.>

"What's that Ranma?"

<Huh? Ranma? Who said that? It came from over there.> looking in the direction of the voice he jumps on to the roof of a nearby house.

Looking down he can see someone walking along a fence. This someone also happens to be wearing a Chinese style red shirt and black pants and is talking to another person walking along the sidewalk out of his sight.

<So there you are Ranma. Now I pay you back for all the suffering you've caused me, and once you're out of the way, Akane and I can at last be happy.> Dropping his pack on the roof, Ryoga launches himself off, fist pulled back to release a blow. "DIE RANMA!!!"

***///***

"I..." "DIE RANMA!!!" Ranma is cut off as he hears the familiar battle cry and instinctively drops into a defensive posture. Looking up, he's not surprised to see Ryoga overhead, but <Man. That guy can get lost even with a direct line of sight.> as it appears that his rival is overshooting his position. Or... is he? Time seems to slow down for a minute as he takes a quick glance over to where Ryoga should land, he sees... himself, or rather someone who looks much like himself, black hair, Chinese clothing and walking along the fence. <Cuso! He thinks Akane is me. I've got to stop him or he's liable kill her.> "Ryoga! No! Stop!" and he leaps as time once again speeds up.

***///***

Akane watches Ranma as he tries to come up with a reasonable answer to her question, enjoying the small embarrassed blush on his cheeks.

"I..." "DIE RANMA!!!"

Akane looks up at the shout, and her eyes widen a little. <Ryoga? What's he doing here? He looks really angry, but why is he heading at me..eee...eee... woah woah woah" Akane cartwheels her arms, teetering towards the ditch on the other side of the fence having lost her concentration.

***///***

Ranma catches Ryoga by surprise in a mid air tackle and the two fall to the ground in a jumble limbs. Akane finally loses the battle with gravity and falls over the far side of the fence, landing soundly on her rump and tumbles down the small grassy slope and into the ditch with a small

~splash~

Heaving the body off of him and standing up to face his attacker "Hey! What's the big ide... Ranma? B-but if you're here, then who...?"

After taking another quick glance to the fence <Good. She got out of the way for once.>, he turns back to his opponent "Doesn't matter who it was Ryoga, but if you want a piece of me pig-boy, you've got it." and drops into a crouch awaiting Ryoga's first move, a small sneering smile on his lips.

"Who are you calling PIG-boy, Ranma?!?!" Ryoga yells, charging.

***///***

Akane slowly picks herself up out of the shallow water, taking in her soaked, mud stained clothing and rubbing her rear end slightly to ease the pain. <Ite. Looks like I'm becoming a water magnet just like Ranma. At least it wasn't hot this time.> Pulling herself up the steep bank she can hear the sounds of fighting on the other side of the fence. <Oh right. Ryoga. Ranma better not be picking on him again.> she thought as an angry frown creased her brow and she lept over the fence. As she lands on the far side she is not disappointed to see that Ranma has Ryoga locked in a Royal Octopus hold. [1]

*WHACK*

"Ranma! How many times do I have to tell you not to bully the weak? It's not right that you're always fighting with Ryoga. You know he's not as good as you."

"Ite!" Ranma releases his hold on Ryoga as he instead clutches the now growing lump developing on his head "Hey! Wha'd you do that for Akane?" and the two begin one of their usual spats.

Now free, Ryoga turns to thump Ranma but sees that someone wielding a hammer has already beaten him to it. Somewhat indignantly "Don't interfere. This is a man to man fight and..." <...'bully the weak'?... ...hammer?... ...Akane?!!!> Pointing to the unfamiliar boy "A-A-A-Akane??? I-is t-that really y-you?" he barely manages to say, his mouth dry and mind numb with the possibility.

Both Ranma and Akane turn to face Ryoga after his initial outburst realizing that they'd both forgotten about him as they argued, and now after his accusation they now both very much regret that they had. Looking at each other, then back to Ryoga, then back again to each other, Ranma finally gives a small shrug in defeat. "We might as well tell him."

Closing her eyes, Akane lets out a small frustrated sigh. <Great! Just when I thought I'd be able to make it through the entire day without anyone figuring it out.> she looks up at Ryoga with a mixture of embarrassment and slight annoyance. "Um, hi Ryoga. Yeah, It's me Akane." she said sheepishly.

"B-b-b-but how? When?" the Lost Boy fumbled for words as the idea sunk into his brain.

"I guess you could call it a curse, kind of like Ranma's, but it's not permi..."

"You're cursed?"

***///***

<She's cursed? How on earth did that happen? Ranma! He must have been the one behind this. He's always making her life miserable and now he's finally done this to her. Saotome! I'll make you suffer for hurting Akane.>

'Now wait a minute bandanna boy. This is the perfect opportunity. Don't go wasting it.' Ryoga balked for a second at the sound of his own voice resounding in his head.

<What do you mean 'perfect opportunity'?!? Akane's doomed to spend the rest of her life turning into a guy every time she's splashed with cold water. How is that perfect?> he retorted angrily.

'Doomed for the rest of her life, eh? So, does that mean there is no cure?'

<Yes! No! I mean... there are the springs.>

'Look, both you know and I know what kind of direction sense you got there. Your chances of finding China, let alone Jusenkyo again, are practically nil. And even then there's no guarantee that just jumping into another spring will cure you.'

<B-b-but, the springs have to work. I can't stand being a pig anymore.>

'You think Akane likes being a guy? Look. She knows now. She knows what it's like to go through the transformation, her mind forced to wear a body not her own. Who knows? The springs might work, but it could take you months, years even before your cured. Just tell her and get it over with.'

<But-but if I tell her, she'll hate me. I don't think my heart could take that.>

'You've been lucky so far, but how much longer do you think it will take her to figure it out that you're her pet pig. She'll be angry, sure, but she'll be even more angry if she finds out you've been her widdle P-Chan that snuggled up in her bed at night, and you never had the guts to tell her the truth.'

<I-I don't know. What if...>

'What if, what if. You'll never get anywhere that way. Are you a man, P-Chan?'

<Yes! I am a man.> Ryoga shouted back at the voice, rankled at the comment.

'Well, man, are you honorable?'

<A man without honor is no man.>

'Are you honorable?!?'

<Yes!>

'So then, man of honor, tell Akane. It is the only honorable thing to do after all.'

<I-I...>

'Would you chose love over honor?'

<If it meant being able to stay with Akane? Yes.>

'A man without honor is no man. Your own words. If you have no honor, then you are no man deserving of Akane's love. Tell her!'

<I-I will.>

'You may not think so, but this really is the perfect time. She's cursed too now, so in some small way, she'll be able to understand what you've gone through and with time she'll forgive you. She's always been one to forgive others.'

***///***

"You're cursed?" 'Are you a man?... ...This is the perfect time... ...She's always been one to forgive others.' "W-why that's... great!"

Both Ranma and Akane look at Ryoga like he's just said that aliens were just about to invade.

(-Hey, you can't rule anything out when it comes to Rumiko Takahashi. -What are you doing back here? The author's out for blood this time. You'd better make yourself scarce. -Oh, yeah. I forgot, thanks...*)

Akane is the first to react to Ryoga's statement "My being cursed is a good thing? Am I missing something here?"

"W-well, no, you being cursed is terrible of course, but now you know what it's like having a body not your own." Taking a deep breath "There's something I need to tell you Akane. Something I've avoided telling you for a long time, but now you can really understand. You see, I'm c...*erk*" he's rudely interrupted and spends a moment peeling Ranma's sole from his cheek before turning on him hotly "Just what the heck do you think you're doing Ranma!?!"

Placing himself between Ryoga and Akane, a strangely serious expression on his face "This is a really bad idea Ryoga."

"And why is that, Ranma?"

"You really don't know the whole story, and despite everything else between us I think you're making a big mistake."

Ryoga looks confused for a moment, and then a knowing smile crosses his face. "Heh! So that's it. You're jealous. Jealous about me and Akane, and now you're trying to keep us apart aren't you."

The statement bites painfully somewhere inside, but Ranma swallows the usual words that were ready to spring from his mouth. Instead, he pours on the sarcasm "Oh sure, go ahead and HOG all the attention you want." Ryoga was not quite as immune to the taunt as a low rumble escaped his throat. <Good. If I can get him mad enough maybe I can lure him away from Akane before he spills his guts.> "Here I am just trying to offer my help to pull your FAT out of the FRYING PAN," Ryoga bares his fangs in a snarl "and here you throw it back in my face. Next time you won't see me trying to save your BACON."

Ryoga finally snaps "DIE RANMA!!!" and swings into action as he unleashes a flurry of kicks and punches.

Ranma manages to evade, barely. <Woah. He's really ticked off now. At least he's attacking the right target this time.> he thought with slight irony <Now to lead him away.> he finished leaping up onto the nearest house, Ryoga in close pursuit.

"You can't escape me that easily Ranma. I'll follow you to the ends of the earth if I have to, but I will have my revenge."

The two fight their way across the top of several houses before finally disappearing from sight. Akane, still absently holding onto her hammer, can only look on with... Confusion? Anger? Frustration? At this point even she wasn't sure. Screwing up her face in thought <What the heck just happened here? Maybe if I think this over it will make some sense. Let's see, Ranma was picking on Ryoga. Again. I whacked him on the head and then we fought. Ryoga figured out who I was and then was about to tell me something, something important he said, before Ranma butt it. Jeez, can't he let two friends talk without interrupting? And then... and then Ranma actually seemed... concerned? about Ryoga? and then they took off again. Sure. Makes perfect sense. Only problem is it means I've gone insane.> Looking up across the roof tops where she'd last seen the two "He's got some explaining to do once he gets back."

"When who gets back?"

"Eeep." Akane turns around at the voice to find Ranma perched atop the fence. "Don't do that Ranma. You startled me." Panning around "Where's Ryoga?"

"Hmmm? Oh, I lost him a few blocks over. I don't think we'll see him again for about a week or so. Why do you wanna know?"

"Well he was trying to say something to me before you rudely interrupted. YOU wouldn't happen to know anything about it would you? You seemed awfully concerned about something."

"Ahhh... well... ya see," <Think quick, think quick.> "I made Ryoga a promise, 'Code of the Warrior' and all, that I wouldn't tell anyone."

Akane mulled this over for a few seconds "O-kay. Mind explaining why your promise not to tell me would keep Ryoga from telling me himself?"

"Uh... well... Ok, ya got me there. Tell you what, next time you see Ryoga, if he still wants to tell you, I won't interfere. Promise."

Knowing Ranma holds his pride and honor above all, Akane knows that he won't go back on his word. "Ok, seeing as how you're not going to get anything further from you now, that's the best I can hope for."

"Just one last thing though."

"Hmmmm? What's that?"

"Ya gotta tell him about the Instant Nannichuan first and it's not really a curse. The guy's thick and maybe he deserves whatever he gets, but he shouldn't just go blurting out stuff like that. He really needs to know this before hand or he may regret it afterwards."

Akane looks confused for a moment, and after a few seconds she realizes that it's not just from Ranma's instructions. "Ranma, you're actually concerned about him aren't you?" she says in a statement more than a question.

"Huh? Me? Concerned for that jerk? Why would I be? I mean, what's good about him? He could get lost in a closet, he challenges me night or day, he's as dense as a brick and he's constantly trying to take you away from m....." and that's all he says as he suddenly clamps his jaw tight.

The slight slip does not go unnoticed by Akane however, she smiles a small, quirky little smile at the almost admission. Straightening the expression on her face first "Well, I guess I won't get a chance to speak to Ryoga for a while, so why don't we just head back home for now."

"Sure. Oh yeah, I just remembered. With all the excitement this morning I missed my usual workout with Pop. Would you be interested in sparing with me once we get back? It would also probably help you adjust your reaction timing a little better."

Akane frowned inwardly at the question. Ranma being better than her had always been a sore point with her, and it didn't help the situation either that he never fought back, dodging all her blows with ease. She hated the fact that he never considered her an equal, the frown now showing on the outside. He did have a point though about learning the limitations of her new form though. True it was only for the rest of the day, but anyone or anything could show up (-And they/it usually do/does.) before now and then and it is always best to be prepared. Letting out a small sigh "Alright, but you better not spend the whole time just bouncing and jumping around. Deal?" She extended her hand towards him.

Reaching down from the fence, Ranma grasped Akane's hand with his own. "Deal."

~~~///~~~

[1] AUTHOR'S NOTE: For those of you who don't know what this is, watch the flashback episode from the end of the first season. Ranma has Genma in one of these as they are sparing. Ryoga also has Ranma in one in the third episode of the Martial Arts Figure Skating Competition. Looks painful. 8^)

~~~///~~~

***///***

Ranma and Akane squared off against each other in the dojo. Ranma was wearing his normal Chinese clothing while Akane had on her usual yellow gi, though it didn't quite fit as well as it used to over her masculine form and she had to leave it loose in the front. Both were in defensive postures though Ranma kept his form loose and more open than Akane.

"I'm ready whenever you are Akane." he said nonchalantly.

Akane frowned inwardly again <Great! We haven't even started and he's already treating me like I'm inferior. Well, I guess I really didn't expect too much more from him.> Akane performed one last kata to clear her mind and then attacked, throwing a punch with a loud "KAIYA!"

She had expected him to dodge the punch and planned to follow it up with a series of kicks as he moved out of the way. What she didn't plan on was that she would end up on her back. Instead of dodging, Ranma had grabbed her outstretched arm, and using her momentum, flipped her over onto the mat. Akane shook her head for a moment, pulling in a deep breath as she rolled over and pushed herself back up onto her feet. A glance over at Ranma showed him to still be in the same loose defensive posture as though the punch had never occurred. Despite the casual air to his stance, his eyes remained serious and alert. She'd missed that the first time.

<I guess he meant it when he said he'd wouldn't just dodge me.> She focused herself and once again as she took up her stance. <All right then. Time to really get serious.> She charged once again, intent on delivering a quick series of punches while keeping her form tighter so that he didn't pull the same trick on her again. It was less than successful. After the first punch, Ranma easily slipped inside her defenses, knocked her arms wide with his own and delivered a flat palmed strike to her chest that knocked her back several feet.

From her position on the mat, Akane looked up at Ranma with a mixture of shock and confusion. Her mouth open and closed like a fish, but no words came out. When words finally did come they were barely audible "What are you doing Ranma?"

"Huh?" Ranma dropped the stance for the moment and gave Akane a puzzled look "What does it look like Akane? I'm sparing with you." Taking in her expression he became a little concerned "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes I'm alright. But why did you do that?"

Now thoroughly confused "Do what Akane?"

Ranma's blow to her chest hadn't hurt, what had hurt was... "Y-you hit me. Y-you've never hit me before." She turned away from him, her expression obviously pained as she considered the implications of this. A small part inside spoke up 'This is what you wanted wasn't it? Not to be treated like a china doll. Weak. Fragile. As an equal, not an inferior? How many times have you wished he'd fight you, that he wouldn't hold back against you. And now that he isn't you go and start whining.' <Oh shut up!> she snapped back at the voice <Yes I've never wanted to be inferior to him! Yes I wished he'd treat me equally! And yes I've wished that he wouldn't hold back against me, but...> 'But what? Isn't this what you wanted. What you've always wanted ever since you first met him? You can't hide the truth from me. So what's wrong? What's the real problem?' <Ranma doesn't fight girls.> she thought back quietly <He's said so many times. Even when he's been mad at me, or even Ukyou or Shampoo, he's never, ever used force before. What if... what if...>

"Akane?"

Akane turns, broken out of her inner monologue by the sound of a voice. Ranma's to be exact, the expression on his face matching the tone in his voice. Concern. "You ok Akane? You don't look so good."

<I have to know.> Taking a deep breath Akane looks Ranma straight in the eye. "I thought you said that you never fight girls."

"Eh? I thought you wanted me not to just avoid you all the time."

"I know what I asked, but I never expected you to actually hit me."

Ranma looks confused momentarily before understanding appears "Well that's because I don't fight girls."

"Nani?" Now it's Akane's turn to look confused.

"Look. Do you remember when Ucchan first showed up? She had that grill shaped like a fighting ring out the back of the school." A small scowl shows on Akane's lips but she nods slightly.

"Well I thought she was a guy then, so when we took the fight out of the ring, I was trying to hit her then. Ever since I found out that she really was a girl," he mumbles a few words that sound like 'Pop' 'baka' and 'engagement' "I've never fought with her."

"O-kaaaaay. And what does all this have to do with me?"

"Simple. You're not a girl, at least not now."

"Oh. So since I've got a boy's body, even though I'm a girl inside, then it's ok?" Ranma nods once "WHAT KIND OF TWISTED LOGIC IS THAT?!?!"

Wincing slightly at the intensity of her shout "A guy's body can take a lot more punishment is all."

"So you're saying I'm weak, is that it. Is that what you're saying?"

Ranma once again fails to see the danger signs of Akane near boiling point and on cue opens his mouth without thinking. "Yeah, physically."

Akane's voice has a dangerous calm to it "Here I was all worked up about something that only exists in that warped brain of yours," her voice is less calm but no less dangerous "and then you go an insult me!" She pulls out a large hammer and swings. "DIE RANMA!!!"

In one smooth motion, almost faster than the eye can see, Ranma delivers a round house kick that knocks the hammer from her hands, sending it scattering across the dojo floor and into the far wall. Completing the circle, he sweeps low, knocking Akane off her feet and back onto the mat where pins down her wrists with his own hands, their faces only a few inches apart. Akane takes deep gulps of air to replace what was knocked out of her when she fell. Not even bothered by the exertion, Ranma takes slow, even breaths. For one long moment, they look into each other eyes, the only sounds are their breathing, when he releases her from the pin and stands. He offers Akane his hand to help her up. Still stunned, she takes it.

Trying to get her mouth and mind to work "But?... How?... " looking in one of the corners where the hammer lies "I didn't hit you. You knocked the hammer out of my hands. You never did that before."

"I've always been able to do that Akane." she ignores the hammer and looks intently into his face "I've been training in the Art since I was six, against both armed and unarmed opponents, and since I came here there's been Kuno, Ryoga and Mousse. Nothin' personal Akane, but they are way better with their weapons than you are with that hammer."

"So why..."

"Why haven't I ever done it before? Like I said, I don't hit girls." He waves in a dismissive gesture as the annoyance returns to her eyes "Um, lets not get into that again. But that aside... I-I've never wanted to hit you Akane." the last part trailing off into a whisper.

<Oh Ranma.> Again, not quite the words her heart ached to hear, but close, closer than they'd been before.

After a moment, Ranma turns and looks out the door of the dojo before continuing "You've seen me fight with Ryoga and Kuno. Gentle persuasion just isn't in their vocabulary and sometimes I have to go all out against them. Mousse too. He isn't quite as thick headed as those two, but his weapons and other hidden stuff make up for that. You're good at the Art Akane, but you don't have the length of training that I or they've had. If I didn't hold back against you... well, you've seen the damage I can do. I just don't want to see you get hurt, and I especially wouldn't want it to be me who would hurt you."

Akane's eyes glistened as she heard the admission. Quietly, "I... I understand Ranma."

Turning back to face her, a small amount of hope in his eyes "Do you? Really?"

She nods once "Hai. And... thank you Ranma." and gives him a small smile. After a moment, he returns it. They might have stayed that way for several more minutes, they might have even said more, but...

"Hello? Is anyone here?"

(-Hey, I recognize that voice. That's... Nodoka! Nodoka!)

***///***

Nodoka casually walked along, enjoying the sun and pleasant breeze as she traveled to the Tendo dojo, the ever present silk wrapped bundle draped across her back. It'd been ages since her last visit and she was anxious to see if her son or husband had returned from their latest training trip, or at the very least, to hear of any news about them from Soun or the girls. As she neared the gate she heard some voices, and at least one of them sounded like a young man's. <Could it finally be him?> she though, her interest in the visit suddenly rising a few notches and barely restrained herself from dashing the last few meters to the door. <A lady running like a young school girl just isn't proper. I've waited this long, a few extra seconds won't kill me.> She knocked twice on the compound's large wooden doors, listening carefully, trying to hear the voices again as she waited for someone to answer. After a couple of minutes she hadn't heard anything further, neither had anyone come to let her in, and curiosity got the better of her. She pushed gently on one of the doors and it swung open easily. <Best to announce myself. I think I heard those voices come from the dojo, so that's where everyone must be if they didn't hear me knock.> She walked gracefully across the grass to around behind the house she could indeed hear two people talking though she couldn't make out what was being said though. As she approached the steps, the voices had faded again and the dojo was silent once more.

"Hello? Is anyone here?"

She caught the sound of a sharp intake of breath, the sound of someone running quickly across the floor, a splash of water, and finishing with a ring as something metallic fell and rattled against the floor. A bucket by the sound of it. Puzzled, Nodoka walked up the few steps to the dojo and peered in through the door. "Is everything alright in here? Oh, hello Ranko." she spied the redhead near one corner of the dojo, dripping wet and standing in a puddle. The metallic ring had indeed been a bucket which now stood on it's side at the young girl's feet.

"Hello Auntie Saotome. I didn't hear you come in." Ranma-chan replied putting on her 'cutsie' look as she wrung out her pigtail slightly.

"Are you alright? You're soaking wet. You should change into some dry clothes or you're liable to catch cold."

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. I was... just going to clean up the dojo a little when I slipped. Silly me. I'll go inside and change in a few minutes, but what brings you here Auntie?"

"I thought I'd stop by for a visit to see if Ranma was here. I heard a young man's voice earlier and thought it might have been him." Realizing that the voice must have had a source, and obviously it couldn't have been Ranko, she turned to see a handsome young man in a yellow gi watching the conversation with slight interest. "Oh, hello. I must apologize, I didn't see you there at first." She gave his features a quick appraisal, and found herself a little disappointed that they didn't match her own or those of her husband. Pushing the disappointment aside she presented a warm smile as she turned back to Ranma-chan "Ranko, could you please introduce me to your friend here?"

"Uh, sure." <Gotta remember to keep all this straight. Just keep to the story we came up with earlier, simple is better.> "Kouma," she stressed the name slightly "this is my Auntie Saotome. Auntie, this is Kouma S..." Ranma paled. <Damn! Can't tell mom he's my cousin Kouma, because I don't have one and she'd know. Think fast, think fast.> "KUNO!" she blurted out. <Gack! Of all the names why did I have to pick that one? Too late now.> Ignoring the frown from Akane, Ranma-chan plowed on, sweating slightly "Yes, this is Kouma Kuno."

Smiling, Nodoka made a polite bow "Pleased to meet you Kuno-san."

Akane returned the bow "Um, same here Mrs. Saotome, but please just call me Kouma." <Why'd that baka have to give me that of all names? As if already being stuck with 'Kouma' wasn't bad enough. >

Straightening, Nodoka took the two in with a look "I'm sorry for having interrupted your conversation. Are Soun or the girls about? I thought they might be in here since no one came to the gate."

"I think it's just us here right now." Ranma-chan replied "Kasumi left a note saying she'd gone for groceries, I think Nabiki had a meeting at school, and I'm not sure where Mr. Tendo is right now, but he wasn't here when we arrived."

"Oh, that's too bad, I was hoping to speak with them. Is Akane around then?"

"I'm..." Akane caught herself but not before attracting Nodoka's attention. Akane didn't know what to say now as she was caught under an expectant gaze, so she said the first thing that came to mind "...I'm pretty sure she's with Ranma right now."

Nodoka was originally opposed to the idea of an arranged marriage when she'd first heard what Genma and Soun has proposed, but family honor demanded that it should be allowed to continue. After she'd spent some time getting to know Akane a little better through her recent visits, she found that she didn't mind the prospect of having her as a daughter-in-law, and eventually accepted and welcomed the idea. Her curiosity piqued once again, she asked the obvious question. "Oh, are they on a date together then?" she asked innocently.

On hearing the 'D' word, both responded as expected "NO!" "NO!"

They turned an looked at each other with slight annoyance, then back at Nodoka who looked surprised at such a forceful response, at which point they both regretted the tone they'd used.

"Er, that it to say..." Ranma-chan said as she stumbled for words.

"...They didn't have plans for one." Akane finished. She paused momentarily, considering the possibility of making plans for a date with Ranma. Finding strangely that she wasn't totally opposed to the idea, especially in light of the recent events and their conversations, but pushed them away quickly. <Can't be distracted now. I need to keep my focus on the conversation or I'm bound to slip up.> 'Later then?' the tiny voice inside asked. Akane paused again before replying <Maybe.> 'I'm going to hold you to that.' Akane wasn't sure, but she'd swear that the tiny voice was smiling.

"Oh, I see. Well wherever they are, I hope they're having a good time." Ranma-chan and Akane steal a glance at each other for a moment before smiling a little and giving a small laugh.

<I thought so.> Nodoka thought with a small smile of her own. "Perhaps I'll have a chance to talk with them when they come back, but while I'm here, why don't we spend the time with a little conversation?"

"Um, sure Auntie. What would you like to talk about?"

"Well, how long have you and Kouma-kun been seeing each other Ranko?"

Both Ranma and Akane pale slightly.

Ranma blanched "S-s-seeing each other, Auntie?"

"Why yes. It's been many years since I was last a school girl, but I can still recognize the signs. Taking quick glances at each other, finishing each other's sentences." Putting on a friendly smile "So, is there anything 'official' between the two of you?"

Ranma and Akane briefly look towards one another, trying to decide how to best respond to the question.

"No." "Yes." They say at the same time, darting a sideways glance to the other before saying

"Yes." "No."

Nodoka looked at the two of them with a confused expression. "Are you saying that you don't know if you're a couple?"

Ranma-chan give a small sigh before turning to Akane. "Do you want to tell her, or should I?"

"The truth?" Ranma nodded once "You'd better tell her."

If Nodoka didn't look confused before, she certainly did now. "What truth? What are you two talking about?"

"Ummm... well... ya see, we're kinda engaged. Aheh heh." Ranma-chan finished with slightly embarrassed grin.

"Engaged?!? Why that's wonderful Ranko! I'm so happy for you." Nodoka says with a huge smile before hugging Ranma-chan. "Congratulations to both of you." Both manage to develop a healthy blush and Ranma finally manages to return the hug, but not without thinking somewhat sadly <I only wish it weren't 'Ranko' you were hugging, mom, but soon... soon, maybe it won't have to be. I promise.> Finally breaking the embrace "So, have you set a date yet?"

"Ummm, no there's no date, but we weren't thinking we would even get married."

Nodoka looked confused again, and then it was replaced with slight shock "You don't mean that you two are just planning on..."

"Nonononononnonono!" Ranma and Akane waved their hands and shook their heads, both equally appalled with the thought of them... them... doing, that... together.

Nodoka placed her hand on her chest and let out a small sigh of relief. "Well, I'm glad to see that you aren't considering that, but, if you're engaged, why wouldn't you get married?"

"It was our fathers' idea. They arranged the whole thing from just after we were born, and they just keep pushing and pushing 'Don't say that to your fiancee.' 'Why don't you two go out together?' 'I give you my parental consent.' and on and on and on. I don't know why they don't just give it a rest sometimes. We both hate it, and besides, we're only sixteen. We've got our whole lives ahead of us."

Nodoka listened patiently as Ranma-chan talked, listening carefully to the words and watching their expressions. From what she could see, neither of them liked having the situation forced on them. Ranko, from what she'd learned of the girl on her visits to the Tendo home, with her lack of feminine modesty <Honestly. The girl should wear a bra or at least a heavier shirt lest boys get the wrong impression of her.>, and competitive nature, she seemed almost like a boy at times. Girls like her were always strong willed and resisted to being pushed around. Kouma on the other hand, she did not know, but like all boys, he probably liked his freedom. From experience, she knew that being a martial artist on top of this would only increase his sense of independence and reluctance to be forced into a situation. His expression as Ranko talked only confirmed her suspicions. Something about this also seemed strangely familiar thought for the moment she couldn't think why. <I'm not sure if I should really interfere, but Ranko deserves to be happy with her life and... I'm sure I saw something.> Taking on a serious expression "Ranko?"

"Hmmm? Yes Auntie?"

"I know that this isn't really my place, but I'd like to try to help you two. How do you feel about Kouma? Do you like him?"

"Me? Like that kawaiikune..."

"RANKO!" Ranma flinched a little from the hardness of Nodoka's voice. "There's no call for that. Even if you were engaged by your parents, Kouma is still your fiancee, and at the least he's a human being with feeling and emotions. Thoughtless words like those may not leave a mark, but it doesn't mean that they don't hurt." Ranma deflated a little at the scolding, and even managed to look a little guilty. Seeing this, Nodoka softened her expression "I'm sorry for yelling at you like that dear, but I'm a little surprised that your mother never taught you that."

Ranma-chan looked up at Nodoka, a slightly sad smile tracing her lips "I-I never knew my mother as I was growing up." she said quietly.

"Oh." Nodoka said equally quietly, a guilty expression now on her face. "I'm... I'm sorry Ranko. I didn't..." making a formal bow "Please! Accept my apologies." Looking up, she saw that the smile was still there, but now no longer sad.

"Hey, it's ok. I mean, I know that she still loves me and I love her too, that's the important thing right? Besides, I know that one day we'll be together again."

Nodoka gave Ranko a warm smile "Again, I'm sorry. My words were ill chosen." her expression became serious once again, though it was gentler than before "Do you really not like Kouma?"

"L-like Kouma?" Ranma-chan swallowed hard "Umm, I uh, well I don't exactly not like he-him." she said blushing slightly.

<Well, it's a start.> Nodoka thought to herself. She turned to look a Kouma who had been following their conversation and seemed particularly interested in what Ranko had had to say. "Kouma-kun?" there was no response so she repeated herself a little louder "Kouma-kun?!?"

'That's you dummy.' Akane was shocked out of her inner thoughts by the tiny voice. <Nani? Oh, yeah, right.> "Umm, yes, Mrs. Saotome?"

"I was wondering what you though of Ranko. I must admit, I haven't known her for very long, and even though she's a little fiery tempered at times, she seems like a honest and open person." Ranma-chan's cheeks turned a little red at the praise, mostly from the shame burning there but Nodoka mistook it as a sign of modesty and smiled. "And you'll have to admit, she is a fairly attractive young lady." she said with a slight wink. Ranma turned an even deeper shade of crimson, and Akane's face was not too far off from his.

After a few moments, Akane managed to regain her composure and voice "Well, Ranko can be rude and insensitive, and acts tough a lot of the time... " Nodoka frowned a little at this but refrained from speaking. She was not about to make the same mistake twice, especially with someone she'd just met, but she didn't have to as her gaze said more than enough. The effect did not go wasted on Akane as she faltered under the stare "B-but, there are times when h-she's not so bad. When she lets her guard down, that is."

<I'm beginning to think that these two would rather go through hours of extensive root canal surgery than admit their honest feelings.> Nodoka though to herself with exasperation <Though I'm glad to see that little trick I used to use on Genma still works. He always got straight to the point after that look. I'll have to remember that for when I finally see him again.> she finished with a wry smile.

"Hello everyone. I'm home from shopping." the melodic voice of Kasumi rang out across the yard and entered the dojo. Nodoka's expression immediately brightened at the return of the eldest Tendo daughter. She'd always felt a sort of kinship between herself and Kasumi. (-Besides, no one can stay angry for long when Kasumi's around. Super powered martial artist she may not be, but there isn't a person alive that can stand up to that smile.)

Turning to take in the 'couple' in with a look <Well, I think there's hope for them yet, but maybe I can give them one last push...> "I'm certainly glad we had this opportunity to speak with you two, but you'll have to excuse me now." she said before standing up. Ranma and Akane followed suit and stood as well. "I know it's not really my place to interfere with your relationship, and if you'll excuse me one last indiscretion, I'd like you both to consider something." Ranma gave a shrug of indifference and Akane simply nodded. "You two seem to resent each other more from the fact that you were forced together than from actual dislike of each other."

Akane considered the words carefully. Did she really hate Ranma? Well, she never really liked it when he called her uncute, or downplayed her skills as a martial artist, or constantly insulted her cooking, or had one girl or another hanging off of him, but... before that, on the first day she'd know him, she resented him. Hated him even. Why? The comments, insults and fiances came later and that's what kept the fire of hatred stoked since then, and she'd never much liked boys to begin with, no thanks to Kuno, but it had been the fact her father had taken away one of the most important decisions in her life. It was not so much him as what he represented... a loss of control. The choice of who to love. She looked over at Ranma, only to find him looking back, sharing the same expression, a little surprise and... understanding.

Nodoka smiled <I was right. There is something there.> She cleared her throat knocking the two out of their reverie "Well, if you ever want a breather away from your parents, why don't you visit me some time Ranko, and of course you as well Kouma. I always enjoy company and don't often get a chance to entertain guests." She gave them one final smile and walked out of the dojo to the house leaving Ranma and Akane alone with their thoughts, and each other.

***///***

Nodoka spent the day in pleasant conversation with Kasumi, Soun and Nabiki, and she finally ended up staying for dinner at the dojo at Kasumi's behest. She took the fact that Ranma and Akane hadn't returned for the evening meal with mixed feelings. On the downside she regretted once again not being able to see her son, but on the other hand, the fact that the two of them had spent the entire day out together was surely a sign of their growing relationship. Kouma had apparently also been invited to stay over for dinner as he joined them at the table. She noticed that he took the place Akane normally sat next to Ranko, but dismissed it as there was not much extra space around the table to begin with. Along with the Tendo's, rounding out the group in the room was Mr. Panda who was slowly munching on the food from his bowl. Existing on a diet exclusively of bamboo with no variety must not be much fun so she'd made sure that Kasumi saved all the vegetable peels and extra leaves as a special treat for him.

<I wonder how they manage to keep an animal that size well fed? Or for that matter, how they managed to keep a panda as a pet in the first place. I had thought they were an endangered animal. I'll have to ask them about it on one of my future visits.>

Throughout dinner she noticed the reactions between Ranko and her fiancee. Though they didn't say much to each other, they seemed to be more at ease with one another then they had been when she'd spoken with them that afternoon. She smiled at the thought, glad that she'd been able to help them out in some small way.

After dinner was concluded, Nodoka stayed for a short while longer speaking with Kasumi, swapping recipes and somehow ending up with Dr. Tofu. How his name had entered the conversation in the first place neither woman could remember clearly afterwards, but both were sure that it had been a good thing. Finally, Nodoka adjusted the silk wrapped bundle to a comfortable position between her shoulder blades and bid the Tendo's a good night. She gave Ranko one final hug and bowed politely to Kouma, giving each a small private smile, before heading out into the deepening evening of Nerima. She turned at the gate, giving one last backwards glance to the group at the door, promising to herself that she'd take the time to come back soon to visit again, she turned and walked down the street, bathed in warm red-orange light from the last rays of the dying sun..

***///***

Akane soaked in the furo, letting the tension and the slight ache in her muscles ease away from her body, luxuriating in the feeling of what was once again her own body.

"Mmmmmm... I never thought that a hot bath could feel this good." she said to herself as she slid even deeper into the tub leaving just the portion above her mouth unsubmerged. For several long minutes she thought about the events of the day, waking up first thing this morning, Kuno at the front gate, Ukyou and Shampoo during lunch, Ryoga on their way home from school, her sparring session with Ranma, and finally dinner with Nodoka. <Quite a full day. I'm glad I don't have to go through that all the time.> Akane face scrunched in thought at her own words before relaxing after a few seconds. <I guess that's just a little of what Ranma has go through all the time. How does the expression go? You can't judge a person until you walk a mile in their shoes. Whoever said it was right... though they didn't warn me that I'd get sore feet.> Akane gave a little smile at her own joke before once again relaxing in the water. <Now there was something else I wanted to ask Ranma earlier. What was it?> Her only response was the slow rhythmic *plunk* as water dripped from the faucet into the tub.

She was startled awake from a knock at the bathroom door. Shaking her head to ward away some of the cobwebs <Now when did I fall asleep? Today took more out of me than I thought.> She turned around in the now lukewarm water to look at the door. "Yes? Who is it?"

"It's me."

From his side of the door we can see Ranma standing near the inner door to the bathing area, his hand poised a small distance from the frame where he'd knocked. There's a sudden loud splash as Akane falls back into the tub to cover herself and a *tock* as a bottle of something bounces off the door.

"Don't you dare think of coming in here, Ranma." Akane yelled through the door, covering herself up with her arms as best she could, she felt the familiar heat in her cheeks as her anger rose.

At the accusation Ranma felt himself falling into his own familiar territory and returned the scathing remark "And what make's you assume that I want to come in there with a kawaiik..." <'Thoughtless words like those may not leave a mark, but it doesn't mean that they don't hurt.'> Nodoka's words came back to him as he remembered the expression she wore, embarrassment, disappointment and a little anger. "Uhhhh..., that is..., I just came to check up on you. I was hoping to talk with you after your bath but you've been in there for close to an hour now and there hasn't been any noise in a while. I just wanted to make sure that you were still in there, you know, what with the number of times people have been kidnaped and all sorts of weird magic and all."

Ranma waited for some sort of reply, but the only sound from beyond the door was the occasional drip of water. He frowned slightly. He'd expected something along the lines of 'I'm a martial artist too and I can take care of myself', or 'You're really worried about me, aren't you?'. The silence seemed out of place, and it's own way, unnerving and began to erode away his resolve. "Ummm..., well since you're all right, I guess I'll let you finish your bath." and with that he turned to walk out of the laundry room.

"Ranma, wait." Ranma stopped mid stride and turned to look back at the bathroom door. From behind it came the sound of splashing water as Akane stepped out of the furo and the slight slap of her wet feet against the tiles coming in his direction. He panicked slightly, eyes going wide as the door began to slide open and her bare arm snaked out between the gap, but then released a small sigh of relief, or was it disappointment?, as the arm retreated with a couple of large while towels in tow. The door slid along its track and clacked shut again. There was a brief shuffling of cloth before she spoke again "Are you still there Ranma?"

"Uh, yeah. Did you want to ask me something?" he queried the door.

From her side of the door we see Akane give a small smile as her hands work a towel through her hair. "Hey, that's my line. You're the one who came in here and said you wanted to ask me something. What was it?"

A shadow appears through the paper of the door near the floor, looking very much like the outline of Ranma's back. The door gave a slight creak as his weight settled against the frame. "Well, I was just wondering... errrr, that is... how was it?"

Akane draped the towel from her hair over her shoulders as she gave the door a puzzled frown. "How was what, Ranma?"

"How was it spending a day as a boy?"

Akane considered the question and how to best put her reply, absent mindedly adjusting the towel around her chest. "It was... interesting, Ranma. With your dad or shampoo in their cursed forms, people tend to think of them as being only an animal, or as a person's mind in another body. But when I was a boy today, at school, the teachers and other students, even some of our friends, they all expected me to act differently, like a boy would I guess. Granted that no one knew it was me except for Ryoga, but even if they did, I think that they still would have reacted to me in the same way, and I find that little disconcerting. It wasn't all bad though and it did have its occasional good point, but it's not something that I'd care to repeat anytime soon." She gave a wry little smile at the shadow outline on the door, "That was the point of all this wasn't it?" she said more a statement than a question.

<Yatta!> "Yeah, that was the point. It's not that it doesn't have its benefits, its just that before I was so used to being in control of my life when I was on the road with Pop, and now a lot of that control seems to be gone thanks to a curse that forces me into a girl's body whenever and wherever cold water happens to be. I'm glad that you understand now why I hate my curse so much. It's like I said earlier, you always learn about something better if you experience it first hand." The shadow disappeared from the door and his voice now came from a point several feet higher, "Oh yeah, one other thing. As you say, people tend to treat you differently when you have a different body." Akane detected a slight amount of humor in his voice, a private joke she guessed, "If there's sometime in the future if you 'want to get away' and be somebody different that no one else knows about, just let me know. I still have a few packets left of the Instant Nannichuan."

<That's what I couldn't remember earlier.> "Say Ranma? Where exactly did you get those packets in the first place?"

"You remember that Christmas party that Kasumi organized a little while back?"

Akane nodded, and realized the futility of the gesture considering the door between them. "Yes, I remember it. What does this have to do with it?"

"Well, there was the gift exchange late that night. I didn't find it until later but there was a package for me from Shampoo that she left behind. It was a nice wood carved box with the packets of Instant Nannichuan inside. I think there was also a note about being able to go swimming with her as a guy." Ranma suddenly realized the he'd said more than he intended to and noticing a slight glow behind the door hurriedly added "N-not that I ever intended to actually go swimming with her. Heck, I'd never even brought them out until yesterday."

Akane felt her anger slip away slightly. He had told the truth about not going swimming with Shampoo. If he HAD, she would have never heard the end of it from the Amazon. She was still angry now that she'd found out that Shampoo had tried yet another scheme to get Ranma closer to herself. However, now that she'd thought about it, it was due to Shampoo that today had happened. Even with the 'special attention' she'd received from the Amazon, today had been a good day, and she had Shampoo to thank for it. 'Why don't bake her a cake then?' Akane wasn't positive, but she could swear that the voice insider her head gave a slight evil grin. She thought about it for a moment before grinning mischievously on her own <Why not?> (-So many ingredients, so little culinary skill. You know, I think I already feel sorry for Shampoo.) Akane let her current thoughts go and snapped back to the present. Her mind had wandered for a minute or so but she still managed to catch the end of Ranma's last statement.

"Ranma, you said you hadn't used the Instant Nannichuan until now, how come? I thought you'd take ever chance you could to be a guy considering how much you say you hate your curse."

Ranma's expression grew thoughtful as he replied. "I considered it, but the more I thought about it, the less it made sense. It's only a temporary fix, so even if I did use them, I'd only be deluding myself that I was back to normal 'cuz eventually they'd run out and I'd still be cursed. So I figured, why put myself through that and stuffed them away for an emergency or somethin'." he paused giving a slight yawn, "Anyway, it's kinda late so I'm gonna head to bed. 'Night Akane." She heard the slight slap of his feet on the floor followed by the far door slide closed on its track.

"Good night, Ranma."

***///***

Akane lay awake deep in thought on her bed, dressed in pajamas that once again fit her. She realized, perhaps for the first time, that there were more levels to Ranma than she'd first thought, a complexity she hadn't seen before but now found herself solidly immersed. How did he feel about her? How did she feel about him? Even with all the protests to the engagement, all the insults that she was an 'uncute tomboy' and he was a 'macho jerk', how much of it did they mean and how much was just... bluster? Akane yawned and realized how tired she still was even after the small doze in the tub. Tomorrow. Tomorrow after she'd had a complete night's sleep and was rested, maybe then she'd be able to come up with an answer. With that in mind, Akane rolled over and snuggled deeper under her comforter. In a few minutes, the blankets rose in fell in a slow even rhythm. What she dreamed of, only she would know and the dawn would bring with it the beginning of a new day.

***///***

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

***///***

(-Hey! Where'd you get to? The story's over now. You can come out.)

(-Is it safe?)

(- I think so. So what were you doing all this time?)

(-Well, a little of this and a little of that. You know, stuff.)

(-Care to elaborate on that?)

(-I suppose you could say that technically I never left.)

(-Nani?)

(-Ok, how about this. 'Recognize me now?')

(-You mean... that was you talking inside their heads all this time?)

(-Yup. Gotta admit, I did a pretty good jo*ERK!*)

GOTCHA! You're all mine now! I warned you about interfering with my story.

(-*Ack!* You said it was safe.)

(-I said I thought it was safe.)

(-Oh great, now you tell me. *Gasp! Choke!* Ummm... look, there's no real reason for violence here.)

What do you mean no real reason?!? Here I am writing my first fanfic and you keep popping up and messing with things. Now I'm going to delete your little digital butt.

(-No! Wait! I mean, look, I can't help myself. It's in my nature. Besides, the story's over, what purpose would it serve to delete me now?)

It would give me the satisfaction of knowing I randomly scattered your electrons across my hard drive, that's the purpose. Now get ready to d...

(-Aaaaaa!!!! Wait!!! You, ummmm.... , you can't delete me, yeah, that's it.)

Oh, and why is that?

(-Well, ahhhhh, that is..., you can't get rid of me because... I'm a part of you. You can't get rid of me any easier than you can cutting off your arm.)

.... Damn! I hate it when I'm right. *drop* Ok, so I guess introductions are in order then.

These are MY inner voices. ID and Super Ego, say hello to the nice readers.

(-Hiya!) (-Hello.)

Originally, ID started out as just silly side comments that eventually grew into some sort of spectator of the story as it happened. Super Ego came out because ID needed someone to banter back and forth with. One sided conversations aren't much fun and the arguments are just plain boring. It was never my original intention to include them, but they kind of just developed over time.

(-Yeah. You never know when I'm going to show up, though I come out a lot at all those anime showings you go to.)

Ok, ok. That's enough. I think they get the point.

(-I know, I just like the fact that I can talk now that I don't have to worry about getting removed. La la la la la la. Nya nya nya! I am invincible.)

Oh, now I wouldn't exactly say that! SMITE!

(-No! Wait! I was only joking! I... hey wait a minute. I'm still here. I'm***)

Heh heh heh. Delayed Smiting. Gets them every time.

(-Well, you did warn him.)

Well that's it. It's taken me many months working on and off on this between my work term and university, but I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I kind of left the story open ended I realize, but without definite finality I felt that this allowed it the chance of future possibilities. It's not really my plan to continue this story, but depending on the kinds of responses I get, I may consider extending it. I have several more ideas in the works and partially written down, so look for more stories from me in the future. I can't promise that they'll come with any consistency, but eventually they will come.

You can bet I'll be there.

Yes and he'll... HEY! What are you doing back here. I got rid of you.

I told you before, I'm a part of you. You can't get rid of me, and now I'm free. FREE!!! Mua hahahahahaha. No more being contained inside those stupid brackets. Now I can go off to write my own story about a 22 year old math student who finds himself in...

Oh, so you want to get personal now do you? Ok, the kid gloves are off then.

Oh yeah? And just what are you going to do this time?

Not much. Just two little words.

(-Oh, hey! You don't mean...? Uh, now, calm down you two let's not do anything rash.)

Wimp! What could he possibly do to us?

I'm gonna do it.

(-No! Please! Anything but that. I'm begging you.)

Ooooooh. I quake in fear.

This is it!

(-No! Fate is cruel. I don't want to die! This is all your fault you know.)

Yeah, yeah. Come on, give me everything you got.

Ok, you asked for it.

(-It's been nice knowing you. Ja ne!)

THE END

Heh heh heh.

"He who laughs last, laughs best." -anon.

***///***