Ranma 1/2 Presents:
Shampoo 1/2
Epilogue 2

"It's Time to Spread Love Around!"



All C+C is desired. You can contact me at:
sommer@3rdm.net

Standard Disclaimer:
I don't own any of the Ranma 1/2 characters or any from other series
mentioned in this story.

Azatlan has given Shampoo 1/2 a home at:
http://www.geocities.com/~azatlan/Special-Series/shampoo.html

Bloodblade has also put it on his webpage at:
http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/towers/5920

Slashley also has it at:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Shrine/5747/Shampoo.html



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Tatewaki Kunou contemplated what course his life should now take. Many
hours over the ensuing month since his return from China had been spent
sitting pensively as he thought, and thought, and thought, and yet he
still could not come to a decision. Even the cross-legged position he sat
in on the floor seemed to mock his indecisiveness. A prosthetic leg had
been attached to the stump that was at the root of all of his problems.
The current ones anyway.

He took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself and locate his
center, and failed once again. His bitter soul remained in torment from
his disfigurement, and he was still at a loss as to what to do. He had
forsaken the sword -considering his condition, he had little choice in the
matter- and yielded his role as leader of the kendo club to another, while
he trying to determine what more needed to be done. There was still the
option of taking his life, but that held very little appeal to him. He was
not a coward. If the situation deemed it necessary he would commit
seppuku, but it just did not seem to be the right thing to do.

As he tried meditating further, the faint echo of footsteps in the
corridor interrupted his concentration. They were not the heavy footfalls
of his father, who, remarkably, had been trying to console his son's loss
as best he could. Nor was it the light sound his sister made when she
glided across the floor; she had remained in China with her lover. Nor
would it be Sasuke; the small ninja made even less noise as he walked,
preferring to creep around the manor for even the most mundane of tasks.
Guests were practically unheard of at Kunou manor. Perhaps it was an
intruder, but if so, he should have run into Sasuke, or one of the traps
spread out among the grounds of the estate.

The footfalls paused outside the door of his room. The steps had been
unerring; whoever the visitor was, he had known Kunou was there. Kunou's
back remained to the door as it was quietly opened.

"Master, there is a girl here to see you," Sasuke's voice came from behind
him.

Kunou was about to bark out how he had not wanted to be disturbed when his
mind fell on one of the words. 'Girl.' A girl had come to see him? "Allow
her to enter."

It took him a moment to undo his legs from the position they were in
before he stood. He still wasn't used to the prosthetic leg. That
knowledge served to dampen the feelings of joy that had begun to blossom
in his chest. Before they had been completely doused, Sasuke ushered the
girl inside.

The girl bowed before Kunou. "Umm. Hello. Do you remember me?" The girl
spoke in a hesitant voice, obviously waiting with great trepidation over
the answer.

Kunou looked the girl over closely. The dress was obviously of Furinkan
origin, yet he could not place her face. That was most peculiar. She was
very attractive, and the way her hair was braided with those two large
circles on the top of her head was most distinctive...

"You are the Devil Hunter whom I rescued from that evil demon several
months ago."

Yohko Mano nearly passed out from joy. He had remembered her, even if he
was exaggerating his role a bit. Still, to have a man that good-looking
want to save her was reason enough to swoon. "Thank you ever so much for
that help."

"It was a pleasure." He bowed once again, feeling better. There was
something about the girl's attentions that seemed different when compared
to the fascination other women had for him, and it produced a most curious
sensation in him. He approached her slowly, still not having fully adapted
to his new limb.

Yohko could not help noticing Kunou's pronounced limp. "What happened to
your leg?"

A wave of sorrow once again washed away the pleasant mood Yohko's
attentions had given him. He raised his hakima high enough to allow Yohko
to see his replacement appendage. "I'm afraid I lost it in a duel. I was
not... good enough."

"Oh no!"

Kunou's misery doubled as he saw Yohko's look of horror. He should have
known that even she would mock him for being less than a full man. Why,
even now tears were forming in her eyes. He watched as her mouth opened
and then waited for the cry of disgust that would escape her lips.

"This is all my fault!"

Kunou facefaulted.

"I'm sorry!" Yohko continued as well as she could between her bawls. "It
was a demon, wasn't it?! That's what always happens to any guy I get
interested in! They're either sacrificed, or possessed, or end up being
illusions. And now a demon attacked you to get at me. It's just not fair!"

"Actually, though he almost seemed as swift as a demon, he was not one."

Yohko's tears dried up, though she continued to sniffle. "Are you sure?"

Kunou described everything that had happened to him in China, embellishing
greatly on his fight with Utsutu Mujuru as though it were the focal point
of the whole adventure.

Yohko was visibly relieved. "Thank goodness I wasn't to blame, not that
I'm happy you lost your leg," she quickly added.

Kunou simply nodded, depressed once again by the fate that had slipped his
grasp. There was nothing that could be done.

Yohko cleared her throat to regain his attention. "Anyway, I wanted to ask
you a favor."

"Yes?"

Yohko brought her hands together in front of her and began twiddling her
thumbs. Her gaze became transfixed by the action. "Well, you see, I just
transferred to Furinkan and dropped by to say hello."

"Do not allow my father to cut that wondrous hair of yours," Kunou warned.

"Ah, okay," Yohko answered, momentarily confused, but not failing to
notice the 'wondrous' reference concerning her hair. "Well, here it is.
It's kind of something I've been meaning to do but never got around to
doing." She took a deep breath and went for the plunge. "You're really
good with swords, and my primary weapon is my soulsword, I don't think I'd
have won half of my fights without it, and since I rely on it so much I
think I should get better. Since you're such an expert swordsman, I wanted
to ask if you'd teach me how to use it better."

"I cannot," Kunou said solemnly.

"If it's a money thing, I can pay you." Yohko admitted to herself she had
hoped he would simply jump at the opportunity to spend time with her, but
if it took spreading a little cash to hang around with the cute guy, then
that was all there was to it.

"It is not about money. I have forsaken the path of the warrior." Kunou
kept the anger out of his voice. It had been a difficult decision, but an
obvious one.

"Why?"

Apparently to all but Yohko. "Look at my leg! I am but half a man. And
nothing more than a complete man can be a true warrior."

Yohko stared at Kunou, bewildered. "Umm. Didn't you say that guy you
fought was a true warrior?"

"Yes." Kunou had thought he had explained it quite thoroughly.

"He was really good with his sword and at least your equal, right?"

"Yes."

"Wasn't he blind?"

"Of course he was. I mentioned that to you several times."

"If he can be blind and still be a true warrior, why can't you lose a leg
and still be one too?"

Kunou fell silent. Yohko watched on as the slow look of realization dawned
on his face. He began trembling in excitement as a manic gleam, one that
had not made an appearance since China, at last returned.

He grabbed Yohko and jumped up and down with her. "By all the Gods, you
speak true! I can still be a true warrior! This loss was nothing more than
a test of my resolve, and one I would not have passed had it not been for
you!"

Yohko was jumping up and down in as much joy. "Does that mean you'll go
out with me?!"

"For the assistance you have rendered to me, I shall allow you to date
me!"

It was Yohko's turn to grab Kunou and jump up and down with him. She had
it all now! A cute guy that quoted poetry, was heroic, didn't mind the
fact she hunted demons for a living (a REALLY big plus), and could defend
himself when the need would arise. There was probably some drawback to
him, but whatever it was she could overlook it.

Life was good for Yohko Mano.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Now remember, don't show any weakness in front of my mother. She's the
one you want to impress."

"Of course, Mousse-sama."

"But don't be too boisterous."

"Of course, Mousse-sama."

"You have to be firm, but not unyielding. Have power, but not have to show
it. You have to be-"

"Like an Amazon, yes?"

"Err...yes. Like that." Mousse wondered exactly what was going to happen.
When he had told Kodachi he was going to move back to his home, she had
announced she was going along too, naturally. "After all," she had said,
"I should meet my love's parents. It would not do to cement the bonds of
our relationship without meeting them first." Mousse understood what the
code words, 'cement bonds' meant, and figured Kodachi probably had already
picked out her wedding dress.

So the two of them disembarked from TWPOS before it had attempted its
fold. They had not been the only ones. All of the Amazons, save Shampoo
and Silk, had also gotten off and headed back to Joketsuzoku. The only
unusual addition to that lot had been Kasumi Tendo, though Mousse had no
idea as to why she was going along. The only thing that seemed unusual
about her was that she was very pale and stayed extremely close to
Cologne's side. He didn't bother to ask why. Being near the dried-up piece
of mackerel jerky that had been a thorn in his side for years was the last
thing he needed, so he avoided the party of Amazons altogether. All the
wizened elder represented to him now was a reminder of a broken dream that
could never be fixed.

A surge of emotion shot through him once more as he thought about the
ship. Yesterday, he had not been able to see Shampoo off; the pain would
have been too great. When she had come by and informed him that she would
be going away, and that she quite possibly wouldn't return, he had felt
the final dying of his love.

Ranma's returning of her feelings was what had finally, truly done it.
Before that moment, hope, no matter dismal it was, had been within him.
That was true no longer. If he had thought the love Shampoo's eyes had
held for Ranma before Mount Phoenix was painful, what was there after was
deadly. She had said Ranma's name only once during their conversation, but
the emotion it held had been enough for something inside Mousse to accept
what it meant and finally give up for all time. Denial gave way to
understanding. There was nothing in Heaven and Earth that he could do to
change her heart in the slightest. It was now over in the truest sense of
the word. Forever. There was nothing left to do, so he found himself
returning to somewhere that he would be wanted. Home.

He scratched at the burn marks around his neck. The healing salve Doc
Sangre had given him had taken the edge off the pain, but the blackened
welts would be there for weeks and the scar would never heal. And the
migraine headaches he had been suffering might very well be with him for
the rest of his life as well. Another wonderful thing to look forward to.
At least the aspirin helped.

His gaze traveled to Kodachi, who was happily walking alongside him. It
was still something of a shock to him that her presence made things feel
at least a little better. Then again, perhaps it should not have surprised
him. From her, he had received that which he had offered to Shampoo:
unconditional love, something his lonely soul craved now more than ever
after what had happened. All that was left was to figure out what to do
with it. She had stood by him even through the worst of times, never
willingly leaving his side. He knew he cared for her, but doubted it was
love. It was similar to what he had felt for Shampoo, but different at the
same time. It lacked the burning intensity that had marked his desire for
Shampoo. It was an unfamiliar feeling for him, one that was going to take
a while to figure out.

The best place to think things out would be in the safe and friendly
environment of home. It had been nearly a year since he had last set eyes
upon his family and residence. True, Japan had been an easy place to get
used to, and the males possessing the dominant role was very appealing,
but it was not the place he had grown up. Joketsuzoku was. Whatever
drawbacks living there had, they were easily offset by the joy of simply
being there.

Kodachi's presence there was going to make things a bit difficult. Making
friends had never been a high priority for her, and she seemed to rub
people the wrong way. Actually, if he did not manage to extend some sort
of protection towards her, the odds of her receiving a challenge were
good, and since her fighting abilities were superior to about nine out of
ten of the warriors, a kiss of death would probably soon follow. So it
would fall to Mousse to persuade his mother to officially accept Kodachi
as a guest and extend to her that desired protection.

That was why he was trying so hard to make Kodachi's first impression a
good one. It could all come down to that first meeting. Generally his
mother, Lo Ling, was an easy person to get along with, but every now and
then she would be in a foul mood for no apparent reason. Hopefully that
would not be the case, but one never knew, and it was always best to
prepare for the worst.

There was also the problem of exactly how his mother would react to the
idea that her only child wanted to have a relationship with an outsider.
Mousse's clan was far from being prominent. They weren't held in disgrace,
but they had no real influence and none of the current generation of
children showed any promise of making any great strides for the family.
Once he was older, Mousse began to wonder if perhaps part of his mother's
encouragement of his pursuit of Shampoo was in the hopes that the family
would gain a little influence if he married the girl who could very well
have been the next matriarch. In any case, if he did end up marrying
Kodachi (which might not ever happen, regardless of what the Black Rose
thought about 'destiny') that would be the end of anything resembling a
political marriage. Still, his mother had always assured him that his
happiness was all she really cared about. Now he would find out if that
was the truth.

"Let me talk to her first," Mousse warned. "She'll be focusing on me
anyway, so-"

"Mousse."

"Yes?"

"I know how to properly greet your mother."

"I don't think you understand. Some of the customs of my people are
drastically different from yours," Mousse pointed out.

"I understand far more than you think," Kodachi assured him. "I went over
the formalities of your people. I wanted to impress your parents and
understand your culture, so I asked Cologne to teach me your ways. She
knew from the first that we were meant to be together, so she told me
everything I would need to know so that I could properly court you."

"Oh." Mousse remained silent after that. Apparently Kodachi really had
planned quite far ahead. He began to wonder if he really stood a chance
against her after all.

It took them the better part of the day, but at last the duo crested the
top of a hill and saw their goal. The path Mousse had taken to Joketsuzoku
wasn't the most direct one, but it did afford the best view of the village
that could be taken in its entirety. Once within sight of his home, he
felt a warmth in his heart. Never before had he appreciated how his
village could look so beautiful when it appeared so simple, at least on
the outside. It was such a contrast from the seemingly endless vista of
concrete and steel that made up Japan, that he wondered how he could have
ever felt so comfortable in that now far off land.

"It's beautiful."

Mousse was surprised by the sound of emotion in Kodachi's voice. He found
it difficult to believe that she would find herself taken in by the
village, since it was such a comparatively primitive environment when
contrasted with being surrounded in her usual opulent wealth back home.

"I think I would like living here very much." Kodachi continued to stare
at the intoxicating sight before.

Mousse was amazed to discover a part of him wanted her to stay there as
well. He was suddenly seized by an odd compulsion, one he decided to act
upon. "Take my arm and let me show you around."

Kodachi was taken aback. To do so would be something of a statement of
what she meant to him. "Are you certain that's a good idea? I haven't been
introduced to your mother yet."

"Don't worry about it. I know she'll adore you." He offered his arm to
her, which she accepted with a squeal of delight.

Kodachi tried to keep herself from resting her head on Mousse's shoulder
as he gave her a tour of the village. In spite of the relatively backward
nature of the village, she found herself quite smitten by it. Exactly why,
she could not say. Perhaps, she wondered, it was because of what the place
might represent. A new life with the man she loved.

Most of the villagers gave the couple a curious glance before returning to
what they were doing. Kodachi could feel a sense of urgency in the air,
but assumed it was from the army that had been camped out on the borders
of the village. It didn't seem likely her presence alone could cause that
sort of disruption. She just relaxed and took in the scenery, trying to
project an air of confidence to those around her. Above all other things,
Cologne had emphasized the need to appear strong among the others of the
village, especially the warriors.

At last they came upon Mousse's home at the edge of the village. Like many
of the other buildings, it was a single story structure with a rather wide
layout. The construction appeared quite solid to her untrained eye, and
the blue and brown coloring appealed to her. A very nice place despite its
simplicity. The kind, she decided, that she wouldn't mind owning herself.
As long as she had someone to share it with.

She felt Mousse's nervous anticipation as he approached the front door,
hesitating a moment before knocking. It took only a moment before the door
was opened by a black-haired girl that appeared to be only slightly
younger than Mousse.

He stared at her in surprise. ""

"" She turned from Mousse and entered back into the
house.

Kodachi stared suspiciously at the girl, then back to Mousse. "Who is that
girl? You said you were an only child."

"That was my cousin, Rain," Mousse answered, still in shock at her
presence.

The duo heard Rain shout from inside the house. ""

As the pair entered, Kodachi saw Rain watching them with an amused grin as
an attractive man that appeared to be somewhere in his forties, with long
flowing black hair that fell halfway down his back, stepped out of the
kitchen, towel still in hand. Kodachi knew instantly who he had to be and
felt she would be a very lucky girl if Mousse aged half as well.

The man stared in surprise, then raced across the room and embraced
Mousse. Kodachi's suspicions were confirmed when she heard the man say,
""

Moments after his father embraced him, Kodachi saw a woman enter from one
of the other rooms. The resemblance wasn't as strong as with the father,
but Kodachi was confident it was Mousse's mother. Again her suspicions
were confirmed when the woman raced across the room and tore her son out
of his father's grasp. Kodachi saw that the man didn't look the least bit
offended as he watched mother and son with a smile on his face.

After several moments, Lo Ling broke of the embrace and held Mousse at
arms' length. She looked him over with both concern and a critical eye.
""

"" Mousse whined in the voice most children used when being
embarrassed by their parents. Kodachi wondered if she had ever sounded
like that when her mother was alive.

Lo began to run her hands over him, checking for injuries. She was
rewarded by a wince when her hand brushed across his neck. ""

""

Lo immediately opened the top of her son's robes and examined the wound
herself. "" Her voice
was laced with concern.

"" Mousse answered, trying to reassure her he would be
all right.

At last, Lo seemed to notice the companion he had arrived with. ""

Mousse suddenly found his confidence faltering. ""

Kodachi stepped forward and dropped to one knee. ""

Lo seemed impressed by the proper phrasing of the request. ""

"" Kodachi rose to her feet.

With that out of the way, Lo examined the girl more closely. ""

""

"" Lo commented. ""

""

Lo examined Kodachi even more closely, then turned to Mousse. ""

Mousse began to shift his feet nervously. ""

Lo seemed mildly surprised by the revelation, but it was Rain who spoke
the loudest. ""

""

Mousse's parents stared at him in shock for a moment, then tried to
comfort him. He felt guilty about lying to them, especially with the way
they were treating him, but it was a necessary thing in order to protect
Shampoo.

"" Rain said sincerely, her offhanded treatment of her
cousin replaced by concern.

He tried putting them at ease. ""

He turned to look at Kodachi who, in turn, blushed at the attention. She
was surprised at acting like a flighty school girl upon receiving his
attentions.

Lo Ling noticed the effect Mousse was having on the newcomer and resisted
the urge to smile. It appeared her son really had at last given up his
futile quest to win Shampoo's heart and had turned his attentions to
another. Perhaps that was for the best, even if she was an outsider. ""

"" Rain offered
eagerly.

Mousse scowled in his cousin's direction. ""

"" Rain said slyly. ""

Mousse just stared at her. ""

"" Rain explained dryly. "" She gave a wicked little look to Kodachi. ""

"" Lo added as she moved closer to Kodachi. ""

""
Kodachi assured her as she, Lo, and Rain, headed outside.

Mousse remained where he was, watching helplessly as the women left the
house. It seemed that his mother and Kodachi had hit it off well. Perhaps
too well.

His father placed a comforting arm around his son's shoulder. ""

Mousse could do nothing other than groan in agreement.


Mousse looked at the spectacle before him. Months had passed since he and
Kodachi had settled into Joketsuzoku, and things had changed quickly
concerning some of the policies of the tribe, including the introduction
of outsider women into it. Whereas once it was a rare thing to accept more
than a handful a year, suddenly close to a dozen had been accepted after
completing various trials to prove their worth. That there had been such
an influx of new blood was good, it meant Kodachi would be just one more
petitioner among a host of others, but Mousse wanted to know why the
sudden expansion in numbers was occurring.

It took him a little while, but he thought he had managed to put things
together. Cologne and Be Dea, the two most powerful and bitter arch-rivals
on the council, were seen together frequently. Also Perfume was almost
always with them. Somehow, the scar-faced Amazon had managed to influence
the pair in some way, though exactly how, Mousse was uncertain. He saw
little point in mentioning his observations to anyone. He could care less
about politics and was nothing more than a 'mere' male in their eyes,
beneath listening to in 'important matters'. Although there was a rumor of
the men being granted more influence in the tribe, something Mousse would
believe when he saw it happen.

There was also the other little detail he had figured out on his own, one
that had nearly shattered his healed heart all over again. When he had
first discovered it, he was so enraged with grief he nearly went to the
middle of the village and announced to the world that Shampoo was still
alive and cursed; his old love's betrayal of him hurt that much.

Fortunately for him, as well as Kodachi and perhaps his entire family, he
had gone to Cologne first and revealed his discovery to her. Almost as
soon as the words were out of her mouth she flung herself across the room
and paralyzed him with a touch. She then proceeded to describe, in
extraordinarily vivid detail, what would happen to everyone he cared about
if he dared to reveal either that Shampoo was alive or what had happened
involving some questionable actions of hers. Cologne had already discussed
the matter with the concerned party, and the two had agreed upon taking
steps to ensure that the truth of the matter was kept among those who had
figured out the secret. That also meant Kodachi had to be warned to
silence as well, since the rather elaborate fabrication would fall apart
with an errant word to the wrong person.

After he calmed down, Mousse agreed to the terms. That part of his life
was behind him; he just had to let go. It had taken him a while, but he
came to terms with that he had discovered, even though it still brought a
nauseous feeling to his stomach whenever he thought about it. Shampoo
would undoubtedly learn the truth soon enough, then she would have to deal
with the consequences of her actions.

It was none of his affair anymore. There were other, more important,
things to worry about, like how Kodachi would fare in her petition to
become an official member of the tribe. True, she could have become one
simply by marrying him, but she wanted it made clear to those that had
regarded her with disdain -basically those warriors that thought all
outsiders were soft- that she was worthy of being granted the status
through her abilities. Joining by marrying him would have been a cop-out
to her, and she wanted to show all of the warriors Kodachi Kunou was 'more
than capable of teaching a bunch of simple farm girls what it meant to
ridicule one who was so much better than they.'

Kodachi's people skills really hadn't improved all that much since her
arrival in Joketsuzoku, he admitted, but at least she got along well with
his family.


"" Lo asked.

"" Rain threw in before Kodachi could
answer.

The Black Rose shook her head. ""

That was the truth. Kodachi still marveled at how quickly the two women
had come to accept her with open arms. Moreover, she was surprised at her
own reactions to their acceptance. Whenever Lo gave words of approval,
Kodachi felt her pride swell, and when her words held disappointment,
shame soon followed. That pattern of behavior had been duplicated for only
one other person: Kodachi's mother. That she would react that way to
someone whom she had only first met no more than two months ago still
surprised her, but once she thought about it, perhaps it should not have
been so astonishing. Kodachi had practically worshipped the ground her
mother had walked upon, and after she passed on, it was not as though
there had been anyone to fill the void.

Until now.

And Rain. Dear, sweet, sarcastic Rain. She had been another pleasant
surprise. At first, the relationship the younger girl had with Mousse
seemed to be one in which neither person particularly liked the other.
However, that illusion was quickly shattered when it became clear that the
two cared for each other deeply. It was similar to an older
brother/younger sister relationship, with a great deal of (mostly)
friendly bickering between the two. Not all that different from the
relationship Kodachi had with her own brother, though Mousse's was a good
bit warmer and less rivalistic.

Almost from the beginning Rain had accepted Kodachi, and that acceptance
was returned. Rain's friendliness went beyond the desire to simply see
Mousse married off and moved out of the house, (although she still openly
insisted to Mousse that was her real motivation). Rain found Kodachi's
independent streak similar to her own and felt they were kindred spirits,
a feeling mirrored in Kodachi. And thus the two became friends.

Lo's hand fell on Kodachi's shoulder, snapping her out of her reminiscing.
""

Kodachi felt her heart soar with that. It was the first time Lo had ever
used those words when referring to her. "" Kodachi bowed, then turned to deliver her petition before
the Elder.


Only four members of the Counsel had gathered to witness the handing out
of tasks to the day's petitioners. Now that the admissions were becoming
more commonplace, most of them didn't bother to show up anymore.

Talcum, the one that was in charge of listening to the petitioners this
day, looked the outsider over and frowned. That so many outsiders were
suddenly being encouraged to join was going to lead to problems down the
road. The pure lines would be watered down by the outsider blood, making
the tribe weaker, not stronger. How unfortunate most of the others on the
council did not feel the same way. She was tempted to give this newest
girl some impossible task to prove her worth, but the reprimand she would
receive from the others for her actions would negate any joy she would
feel at helping to maintain the purity of the tribe.

Talcum carefully examined Kodachi as she stepped forward to make her
request to become a full-fledged Amazon. At least the girl had spent
several months with the tribe and all but joined a family already. That
softened the blow for Talcum. "" One of the better ones, of course. No need to
go easy on the outsider. Just because she was of non-pure blood was no
reason why she had to be weak too.

"" one of the warriors shouted before Talcum could choose.
Kodachi recognized her as Li Sun, one of her loudest detractors. It
appeared to Kodachi that she was going to enjoy her initiation.

Talcum nodded approvingly. The girl was good and from the looks she was
shooting towards Kodachi, eager to see to it the outsider didn't join
either. Without further discussion the two young women went to the battle
tree and loosened up, each smiling wickedly at the other, each convinced
the other would be the one to fall in defeat. The duo were all too eager
to have this little contest underway, and after only a handful of moments,
the match began.

Li Sun held her staff at the ready as Kodachi whipped out her ribbon and
spun it in a circle, releasing a cloud of black rose petals. Li Sun was
momentarily distracted by the unusual maneuver, and thus left herself open
for Kodachi's ribbon to snake its way around her ankles. A second later,
Kodachi tugged on the ribbon sending her opponent flying away.

""

Talcum refrained from holding her head in her hands; it would have been
undignified for an Elder to be seen that frustrated in public. Not only
had another outsider now been inducted, but she had a REALLY annoying
laugh as well. She did notice the recovered Li was staring evilly at
Kodachi. Talcum approved of it. Li should have been enraged at being
beaten so easily, although she should also have directed most of the anger
towards herself for being so easily distracted. It was as she watched the
angry Li that Talcum began to form a plan in her mind. Perhaps she could
help this member of the younger generation, and in turn help herself. Some
of the newer ideas Cologne and Be Dea had come up with were threatening to
destroy tradition, and Talcum lacked the influence to change those ideas
on her own. Perhaps there was a better way to go about preserving the true
ways. If at least a core of beliefs, traditional ones of course, could be
transferred to the younger generation intact, then perhaps the future of
the tribe would be in safer hands. All Talcum would have to do was take Li
Sun aside for a little while and talk to her, seeing if she would be an
acceptable vessel for holding that core, and perhaps influencing others
among her generation to see things that way too.


Even if she had known what was going on in Talcum's mind, none of those
plans would have bothered Kodachi in the slightest. She was simply
delighted at winning. She looked toward Mousse, letting him know that his
days would soon be spent in eternal bliss with her, though his father also
seemed to have placed the idea in Mousse's head that his days of 'freedom'
had just ended as well, not that Mousse looked displeased at the prospect.
It would only be a matter of days, thanks to the deal Kodachi had struck
with Lo Ling. Now that she was a full fledged member of the tribe, the
marriage would take place without delay.

Life was good for Kodachi Kunou.


Mousse watched in pride as Kodachi summarily dispatched her opponent. It
had taken a couple months, but at last he had realized what the emotion
was that he had felt for Kodachi as she first traveled at his side in
their trip to Joketsuzoku, the one that he 'knew' was not love. He had
been slightly off. It was not the intense burning he had felt for Shampoo,
so he had made the mistaken assumption that it could not be love either.
He was partially correct. It was not true love he had felt, just the first
stages of affection, an affection that had grown over the last couple of
months and had most likely already turned into love. And somehow, he knew
that the feeling would continue to grow until it was, if not the blinding
obsession he had felt towards Shampoo, a gentle fire by which he and
Kodachi would warm themselves. And maybe, in the end, it would be every
bit as intense as the one he had felt for so long for his one time
'purple-haired goddess.'

Life was good for Mousse.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx


"It was really fun meeting your parents, Ryouga-kun."

"Yeah. It was for me too." Ryouga still had the smile on his face from
seeing both of his parents in the same room for the first time since he
was about six. His tracking abilities in his cursed form had been
responsible for the reunion. He had even brought along Shirokuro while he
was at it. It seemed oddly appropriate, since the family dog was the one
that had had the most contact with the various members of the Hibiki
family over the last decade.

The reunion had been Kyoko's idea. A few months after returning to Japan
and officially being a couple, she had insisted on meeting Ryouga's
parents and telling them of their new status. At first, Ryouga had pointed
out that his parents had the same lack of direction sense as he did and
that it could conceivably take years to find them, even though he wanted
to see them as well. Kyoko then asked why he didn't use his homing senses
as a bat to find them. One facefault later, the two picked up some
supplies and spent the next few days traveling to Honshu and Hokkaido to
pick up his parents. Once again the damned curse had come in useful.

The reunion had gone extraordinarily well. Both parents adored Kyoko, and
she them. After spending several days together, catching up on what had
happened over the ensuing years (as well as tracking down parents that
went to grab something from the refrigerator and didn't return in an
hour), Ryouga decided to take a chance and return Kyoko to her home,
hoping his family didn't wander off in his absence.

"You shouldn't worry about it," Kyoko said, as though reading his mind.
"They did cuff themselves together to keep from roaming away. And even if
they do, they'll still be together."

"Until one of them removes the handcuffs," Ryouga mentioned.

"I don't think they'll do that. They haven't seen each other in years. You
know what that means." Kyoko began blushing.

"No. What?"

Kyoko blushed even more furiously. "You know, stuff married couples do."

Ryouga turned green. "They can't do that. They're my parents."

Kyoko giggled at that as she brushed back a few curly brown locks from her
that had fallen in front of her face. She'd probably react the same way if
someone had said something about her parents doing that sort of thing as
well.

Ryouga found himself smiling at Kyoko's display of joy. There was
something about making a girl laugh, her in particular, that made him feel
unbelievably happy. He was with a girl that made him feel the happiest he
had ever felt in his life. He had been afraid for so long that love would
avoid him, or he'd screw things up, but here he had found a girl who he
never seemed to say the wrong thing around. The only thing she appeared to
be afraid of was him cheating on her, something that he didn't even think
he was capable of doing even if he wanted to. Well, she did seem to get
jealous of women that talked to him over long periods of time, but the
anger was directed at them, not him. Outside of that, their relationship
seemed perfect.

But that wasn't quite true. Even if he wanted to take the next step, there
were things he had to do first. That thought triggered the first edges of
a depression that was threatening to settle around him. He loathed shaking
himself out of his happy mood, but he had thought long and hard about what
he wanted to do, and the talk he had had with his parents convinced him of
what he had to do.

"Kyoko, there's something I have to tell you. Something I don't think you
want to hear, but I have to do it."

The effect that had was instantaneous. She dropped to her knees and
grabbed his legs, bawling her eyes out. "I know what it is. I can tell by
the sound of your voice. You want to dump me!"

"Nononono!" Ryouga protested. "It's not that at all!"

She stopped crying, though remained on the ground. "It's not?"

"No," he calmly reassured her. "I just want to leave you for a while."

That brought out an even harder deluge of tears. Maybe he should have
worded that differently. Carefully he picked her up off the ground and
made her look at him. "I'm leaving you because I think maybe I want to go
on to...maybe the next stage in our relationship."

Kyoko stared at him in total confusion. "What stage? The abandonment
stage?"

"No!" Ryouga insisted. "I want to keep seeing you. I want us to be
together for..." The next part he said so softly that Kyoko missed it.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I said maybe...I'd like us to be together...you know....sort of,
maybe.... a long time."

"Really?"

"Yes," he insisted more loudly. Saying it the first time was the most
difficult. The second time it came out of his mouth wasn't even half as
tough as the first.

"Then why do you have to leave me?"

Ryouga looked down at the ground, then found the courage to say what had
to be said. "If we do stay together...for a long time, I need to find a
way to support us."

Kyoko gave a smile towards him. He really had thought about their future
together. "You don't have to do it alone. We can do it together."

"No," Ryouga insisted. "It's the man's job to support his family."

Kyoko nearly swooned. He said family. She resisted the urge to embrace
him, fearful that it would cause him to forget what else he wanted to say.

"And that means I need to figure out a way to get some money. It's not
like I've had much schooling, and getting a decent, steady job is going to
be tough for me. So that means I'm going to go out in the world and sort
of try to see if I can find my fortune."

"But I don't want you to go," Kyoko pleaded. "Can't we just support
ourselves together or something?"

"No. I'm the man. It's my job. There's also one other thing I have to do,"
he paused a moment before continuing. "I have to get rid of my curse."

"Why?" Kyoko had told him several times she thought he was sort of cute as
a bat.

"Because I'm not a real man if I have it!" he shouted to the world. "Only
if I can discover a cure will I be a whole man again."

"But Ryouga-kun, you are a real man," Kyoko insisted. "I wouldn't have
fallen in love with you if you weren't. And I've never known you when you
didn't have a curse. So that proves you're a real man."

"But I turn into a bat," Ryouga tried arguing.

"I may not be smart, but I know that what's in here," she pointed at the
right side of his chest. "Is all that really matters."

"You mean what's in my lung is all that matters?"

"No. I meant your heart," Kyoko answered.

"That's on the other side of my chest."

"You know what I meant," Kyoko sighed, and made a mental note once again
of where the heart was located in case there was another test on human
anatomy at school.

Ryouga turned from her. It would be difficult to speak if he had to see
her loving stare. It wasn't like he wanted to go, but he had to. "Well, I
don't feel like a whole man. I have too many problems that I need to work
out. I won't let myself burden you. I'll find a way to support us and
become a rea-"

"HELP, RYOUGA-KUN!!!"

Ryouga turned to see that two burly men had grabbed Kyoko and were running
off with her. He stared at them in shock for a moment before coming to his
senses. "Give her back!" he shouted as began to pursue the kidnappers.

The chase was on. Much to Ryouga's surprise, the men ran quickly with
Kyoko. Even trying his hardest, he barely managed to keep them in sight.
The two times he did lose track of them, he would see them at the far end
of a street, almost as though they were waiting for him, then the chase
would continue. Eventually the men ran with their struggling hostage into
the back entryway of a huge arena. Ryouga followed them, trying as hard as
he could to keep from losing them in the crowd, and most likely for good.
The chase continued until the two kidnappers darted into the packed to the
rafters arena itself, Ryouga losing sight of the pair for the briefest of
moments. He rushed into the arena as fast as he could and was stunned when
he heard the public announcement system shout out his name.

"AND HERE HE IS NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. EVERY MAN'S NIGHTMARE! EVERY
WOMAN'S FANTASY! THE TOAST OF THE COAST FROM HOKKAIDO TO KYUSHU. RYOUGA
HIBIKI!!!"

"Who? Me?" Ryouga said meekly as he stared at the crowd.

"AND NOW WE CAN BEGIN THE MAIN EVENT OF THE KYOKO CUP!" the announcer
continued. "AS YOU ALL KNOW, IF HIBIKI FAILS TO DEFEAT HIS OPPONENT, THE
EVERSEXY HOT PINK AVENGER, FLEX LAVENDER, FLEX WILL WIN KYOKO'S SERVICES
FOR A YEAR!!!"

"WHAT?!!!" Ryouga screamed as he spotted the two huge men throw the
struggling Kyoko into a steel cage that was promptly suspended above a
wrestling ring in the center off the arena. It was there that an eager
Flex was waiting for Ryouga. Flex's brutish, female partner, Brute Forcz,
was waiting outside the ring.

Kyoko stared down from her perch and began screaming at the announcer's
table next to the ring. "You can't lock me in a cage and enslave me to
someone for a year!"

 "We have a seventy five percent viewer rating for this event," The man
shouted back. "According to television regulations, we can do anything up
to throwing you into a tank of piranha and it's still legal." The man's
eyes glazed over. "Ohh, that'll be our specialty fight for next week. A
match over a tank full of hungry piranha." He began writing the idea down
so he wouldn't forget.

Kyoko looked towards Ryouga. "You have to save me, Ryouga-kun!"

"Don't worry! I won't fail you!" Ryouga shouted back as rushed to the ring
and leaped inside. With Kyoko's freedom on the line, he wouldn't lose.

There was no chance to prepare as the bell gave off a resounding ring,
allowing the match to get underway. Ryouga and Flex were about to lock up
when Flex pointed to the crowd, and said, "Look ref, it's your mother."

While the referee began scanning the crowd for his mother, Flex gave a
signal to his partner. Brute Forcz picked up a nearby guitar and threw it
to Flex. The wrestler began strumming the instrument, then looked crossly
at it. "This sounds out of tune, what do you think, Hibiki?"

Distracted by Flex's odd behavior, Ryouga stared at him in bewilderment.
"I don't know. I kind of think it sounds-"

Ryouga didn't get the chance to finish as Flex brought the guitar over his
head, shattering the instrument into a hundred tiny fragments.

"Now it sounds better," Flex laughed at the momentarily stunned Ryouga.

"FLEX JUST UNLOADED THE 'INSTRUMENT OF WOE' MANEUVER ON HIBIKI. WHAT A
BLOW!!!" the announcer shouted.

Ryouga shook his head free of the haze around it and shouted to the
referee. "Hey! He just used an illegal object!"

As Ryouga complained to the official, who was still trying to locate his
mother, Flex signaled to Brute Forcz once again. This time she tossed him
a lead pipe, which he promptly used to hit Ryouga in the skull.

"OHH!!!" The announcer shouted. "THAT TIME IT WAS THE DREADED, 'LEAD PIPE
CINCH' MOVE. HOW CAN HIBIKI BOUNCE BACK FROM THAT ONE?!!!"

Ryouga once again cleared his pounding head of the pain, then grabbed the
referee by the shirt and turned him around. "He just used another illegal
object on me."

The official looked suspiciously at Flex, who was now in a far corner and
looking as innocent as a choir boy. Nonetheless, the referee approached
him. "Did you just use an illegal object?"

Brute Forcz jumped up on the ring apron and held a book out for Flex to
put his left hand upon. He held up his right hand before the official, and
said, "I swear upon the symbol of Tarm-kin-toe that I did not break any
rules, nor hit Mr. Hibiki with an illegal object."

"That's good enough for me." The referee turned away from Flex, only to be
confronted by Ryouga.

"What kind of an idiot are you?" Ryouga growled as he snatched the book
out of Brute Forcz's hands. He held the tome before the man. "This is the
Necronomicon, a book of pure evil, and he just invoked the name of the Old
One associated with treachery."

"I try to keep an open mind when it comes to religions," the official
explained.

Ryouga turned away from the man in disgust and confronted Flex. Just as
the two were ready to lock up once again, Flex thumbed Ryouga in the eye,
then threw him out of the ring. The official ran up to Flex and shouted
how raking people in the eyes was against the rules. Flex responded by
bringing out a copy of the rulebook from somewhere in his tights and asked
the official to show him what page the rule was on.

As the two became embroiled in the conversation, Ryouga returned to his
feet. So, he thought, Flex had underestimated his endurance. Once he
stepped back in the ring he would sho-.

Further thoughts on the subject were broken off as Ryouga was flattened.

"OHH! THAT WAS BRUTE FORCZE'S SPECIAL, 'I JUST RAN OVER YOU WITH A
BULLDOZER' MANEUVER. I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH MORE HIBIKI CAN TAKE!!!"

Ryouga found out fifty-five minutes later, as he was barely able to stand
up over Flex Lavender's defeated form. The match probably would have gone
longer if Kyoko hadn't taken care of Brute Forcz by cutting through the
chain holding the cage up and landing on Flex's follically enhanced
tag-team partner. Once she was released, Kyoko supported her man as the
two made their way to the ring announcer's table.

Ryouga stared evilly at the ring announcer. "How dare you kidnap Kyoko and
try to make her that animal's slave! I'm going to-"

"Here's your check for winning the match." The man held out a piece of
paper for Ryouga to see.

Both Kyoko and Ryouga's eyes bulged out. Ryouga stared at the check. "Are
you sure there's supposed to be five zeros after that number?"

The man scowled at Ryouga. "Very well. I'll correct it." He pulled out a
pen and scribbled on the check, then handed it back to Ryouga.

Ryouga's eyes bulged some more. There were now six zeros after the number.

"Welcome to your new profession, dear," Kyoko said happily.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Akane decided to eat lunch outside, with the majority of the usual 'gang'
following. Minami, Tenchi, Yohko, Lum, Ryoko, Ayeka, and Kunou, sat
watching Kyoko put the cheerleader squad through maneuvers as they ate.

"She's doing a heck of a job training them," Akane commented through the
bites of her sandwich.

"I think the whip's a bit much," Yohko said as she lay back, resting her
head in Kunou's lap.

"It looks to me like she's enjoying it," Ryoko remarked, seeing the eager
gleam in Kyoko's eyes as the whip cracked above one of her trainee's
heads.

"Yeah," Minami agreed. "Since Ryouga left on the stupid, 'man's quest' of
his, it seems like training them is the only time when she's happy.'

"She isn't getting enough wrist action in her snaps. You need to be more
forceful to apply just the right touch, or else it is too painful.
Employing a whip should be an effort of love," Ayeka said as she carefully
watched Kyoko's whip handling skills.

"I know what you mean." Lum nodded her head in agreement. "My friend,
Oyuki, was very skilled with the whip. Some of the things she could get
Benten to do when she used it properly were amazing."

No one had the courage to ask the questions that came to mind. Tenchi even
backed away a few feet from the pair.


Ryouga grabbed the nearest person he could. He had traveled for ten
consecutive weeks, not daring to change for fear of losing his package,
despite the decision he had come to the day before yesterday. But every
moment he was away from Kyoko was like hell, an even worse hell than the
one Ranma had put him through. The months had been long and hard, but it
had all been for her. That was what had kept him going. Once he had
actually found it, he couldn't wait to return to her arms. It would be
sheer heaven to feel her embrace...

"Please stop hugging me," the boy Ryouga was holding gasped. Ryouga
realized he had lost himself briefly in a fantasy and released the guy
before people started to get the wrong idea.

The boy did not mind. Being threatened by people was a commonplace
experience at school, it was just that his captor had seemed to lose his
concentration and hugged him that had the youth worried.

Ryouga snapped back to reality. "Where is Furinkan High School?"

The boy pointed at the sign behind him. The one that said, 'Furinkan High'
on it.

Ryouga released him. He had found it once again. It was odd, but no matter
how lost he got, eventually he found his way to wherever he wanted to go.
It would always seem to take forever, but he would always find it in the
end. He thanked kami-sama this time was no exception.

Without further hesitation, he staggered through the gate and entered the
familiar (and there were so few places he had been around long enough to
call familiar) school grounds. Immediately his eyes fell upon the group of
people under the tree, and Kyoko, who was still cracking her whip over the
squad of cheerleaders' heads.

Before he had a chance to shout out to Kyoko he had returned, Akane beat
him to it. Kyoko halted a whip strike in mid-air and she slowly turned
around to see Ryouga standing there. The whip fell to the ground as the
brown-haired girl shouted out in joy and ran over to Ryouga, ending her
run with the greatest glomp he had ever received. He stood there for a few
moments, elated with the show of affection while embarrassed by the public
nature of it. The whistles and suggestions Ryoko was unloading in the
couple's direction didn't help matters either. Ayeka chastised Ryoko for
her behavior, receiving an insult in return about not having a boyfriend
to love. The two moved away from the group and began to argue in earnest.

Discovering Kyoko had absolutely no intention of releasing her full body
glomp, Ryouga elected to simply walk over to the others with Kyoko still
attached to him. "Food," he moaned. Akane offered hers as Ryouga plopped
down and ate the entire meal in about four seconds.

With his hungry momentarily abated, Ryouga finally managed to relax, in
spite of the girl firmly attached to him.

"So, where have you been?" Akane asked.

Ryouga gave Akane a satisfied grin. "My quest is finally complete."

Kyoko quit snuggling against his chest, though kept her arms around his
neck. "You mean-?"

"I found the Nanniichuan water," Ryouga completed for her as he opened his
backpack, tossing out the Philosopher's Stone and Holy Grail that were on
top of what he sought. At last he found what he was looking for and set
down a bottle filled with a clear fluid of some kind.

The others examined the bottle closely.

"So that stuff will turn someone into a guy, huh?" Tenchi asked.

"Yes," Ryouga answered.

"Are you sure it's the right stuff?" Minami asked. "It isn't going to be
of any use to you if it's not Spring of Drowned Young Man. I mean, what if
it's Spring of Drowned Horny Bastard or...well, I guess you could actually
use that one."

"Minami!" Akane scolded.

"Well, he has all the speed of a glacier when it comes to the romance
department," Minami explained, then added. "Not like he's the only one
here either," as she turned to Tenchi.

"Ryouga-kun just likes to move slow, and that's fine with me." Kyoko
buried her head in his chest and began snuggling again. "So when are you
going to use the water and feel like a 'real man.'?"

A look of doubt crossed Ryouga's face as he summoned the courage of what
to say next. "I'm not going to use the water."

Kyoko stopped snuggling and released him in surprise. "What's that
supposed to mean?! The whole point of you leaving me for so long was so
that you could find the water and become a real man."

Ryouga looked shamefully at her. He just knew she was going to be angry
with him. "Well, I sort of realized something, as I tried to make my way
back here. The journey made me understand that if I use the water, it's
going to be a mistake." He paused to see Kyoko's reaction to that. She was
merely looking at him, hanging on every word.

He took a deep breath and continued. "I...I keep getting lost, even when I
have something nice to go back to. I can't go anywhere I want to without
the damn curse! Oh sure, maybe in a week or two I might make it back home
when I was only supposed to go around the corner to get some milk, but
that's too long! I don't want to raise a family like the one I grew up in.
Hell, I didn't do much growing up with them at all! I know it's not their
fault, but I...I want to be a responsible parent someday, and that means I
have to be there with my children in order to teach them right and wrong.
The only way I can do that reliably is to keep my bat curse. I have to do
it, even if it means people constantly mistake me for a vampire and try to
drive a stake through my heart."

"I can buy you a suit of armor if that really bothers you," Kyoko offered.

"That's not what I was getting at."

"I know," Kyoko assured him as she continued staring at him in adoration.

"Ar...aren't you mad at me for leaving you so long on a pointless quest?"
Ryouga asked, expecting her to get angry at him any second.

"No," Kyoko answered. "I kind of figured we'd have those kind of family
problems right after we met your parents, at least if you didn't have your
curse. But you needed to discover the problem and come to a decision for
yourself. I didn't want you to feel like I blackmailed you or something
into not getting a cure."

Ryouga found himself taken aback by Kyoko's insight, especially since she
was probably right. He would have been depressed for years about his curse
if he hadn't decided on his own to keep it.

"So what are you going to do with the water?" Akane asked.

"I was thinking about giving it to Ranma. He's the only other guy I know
that can use this stuff. It doesn't help Shampoo, but at least half of
their problems will be solved." Ryouga held out the bottle before him then
put it on the ground. He couldn't help smiling at the situation. Ranma was
going to really owe him for this.

"Water that turns you into a guy," Yohko finally spoke up and shuddered.
"That's creepy."

"I thought you hunted demons for a living," Kyoko said. "How can you call
something like magic water creepy?"

"Yes. But the worst thing you have to worry about sex-wise is running into
a tentacle demon. It's not like they try to change your sex or something.
That would be the absolute worst."

"Hey! Since you're a professional, like me, I wanted your opinion on
something," Minami said to Yohko.

"Go ahead," Yohko replied.

"While we're on the subject of tentacle monsters, have you ever wondered
what it would be like to rape one of them for a change?"

"No." Yohko paled.

"I'm just saying how do you think they'd react? You think it's like some
kind of anathema to them, or that they'd enjoy it?"

"I'm going to pretend we're not having this conversation," Yohko said in
disgust, trying hard not to wonder what that strange glint in Minami's
eyes meant.

"Do you think Ayeka would enjoy a Nanniichuan curse?" Lum asked as she
looked to the skies above, changing the topic of conversation much to
everyone's relief.

Everyone just looked at her curiously. Tenchi spoke first. "No. What would
make you ask a question like that?"

Lum pointed up, just in time for everyone to see that Ryoko had apparently
gotten the upper hand in their duel and had sent Ayeka high overhead, her
body having already started on the descending part of her arc. It took
less than a second for the group to watch in horror as she landed directly
on the bottle of Nanniichuan, shattering it.

As one, the group gasped in horror and matched the pale shade Yohko had
taken earlier. As Ryoko approached, the group did the only sensible thing
they could do, since they were Ayeka's friends.

They ran for cover.


Ryoko watched in confusion as everyone fled from Ayeka. She felt sort of
bad about that since they should have known she wouldn't throw off any
major power bursts around them. Not intentionally, anyway.

She saw Ayeka remain where she was, a purple aura beginning to flare
around her. Ryoko was wondering why her longtime rival was getting
upset -she hadn't hit her that hard- when she finally picked up on what
was different about Ayeka.

"I...I'm sorry," Ryoko barely managed to stammer out. "I didn't mean for
you to... you know."

Ayeka-kun could barely hear the words. Little could pierce the veil of
blind rage around him. "LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE! I'M A MAN NOW, YOU
REPUGNANT CREATURE!!!"

Ryoko began backing away from the increasingly purple field that now
surrounded Ayeka-kun. "Umm, Ayeka. It could be worse."

"HOW?!!!"

"You could always turn into a gorilla, like Kiyone. And you aren't
unattractive, like you are as girl. And your tiny breast size is
completely irrelevant now." Ryoko really had tried her best to ease
Ayeka-kun's anxiety.

"I AM GOING TO VAPORIZE YOU!!!"

Unfortunately it wasn't good enough.


The group of friends watched as the entire school grounds evacuated in a
heartbeat. Lum was doing her best to keep Tenchi from trying to get
in-between the two girls.

"Has this sort of stuff been going on a lot since I left?" Ryouga asked.

"I'd say today qualifies as being somewhat worse than the usual," Akane
said as she remained hidden behind the tree. Martial artists were supposed
to be brave, not suicidal.

"This isn't good," said Kyoko as she stared at the spectacle in awe.
"Ranma might never get a cure since Ayeka got splashed with what may be
the last Nanniichuan water in existence and is about to kill Ryoko, and
maybe us by accident. Well, at least things can't get worse."

Kyoko placed her hands over her mouth even as she spoke the last of the
words. It was too late, as seven pairs of eyes stared evilly at her.

"Now you've done it," Akane growled as everyone began looking around to
see what cataclysm would fall upon them next.

It was then Sasami entered the school yard.


Sasami wasn't a usual visitor to the school, but Tenchi had forgotten his
lunch and she didn't want him to get hungry. So she set off with
Ryo-Oh-Ki, Kamazaki, and Adaka, when she spotted Ayeka-kun double the
power level to his aura. Quickly, she turned to Kamazaki and Adaka. "Go
try to stop Ayeka before she makes a terrible mistake!"

"But Princess, our order were specific," Kamazaki protested. "We're to
shield you from any wat-"

"There's no time for that!" Sasami insisted. "Do you want Ayeka to kill
Ryoko?"

"No."

"Then stop her." The two guardians obeyed her commands and flew off to try
to shield Ryoko from the tremendous power blast the Ayeka was building up
to. Sasami cringed in fear. "Oh, if only there was something I could do to
help."

It was then she was splashed from behind by a passing truck that hit a
nearby puddle.


Tsunami became aware of her essence being thrown out of her host's body
again. There was only one thing that could have done that. The one thing
that everyone in existence dreaded.

Sasami had been splashed with cold water.

Now Tsunami was stripped of her powers, all thanks to that damnable magic
water. The only thing she could do was project herself as a transparent
image, almost like a ghost, before people, at least until Sasami was
splashed with hot water and reverted back to normal.

She forced herself to materialize before the young girl. "Sasami, I beg
you, stop this madness."

"I'm not Sasami," the girl (now dressed in a cute little number that was
similar to a sailor fuku) said. "I'm Magical Girl Pretty Sammy!" She waved
her Wand of Love high in the air as she made her kawaii little
declaration.

Ryo-Oh-Ki ran off in terror. She had no desire to become Sammy's 'cute
intelligent animal sidekick' again.

If Tsunami still had a human body, she would have thrown up in disgust.
"You are not a magical girl. That's a delusion you're suffering from
thanks to that stupid water Mihoshi brought back." Tsunami made another
mental note to bring her flagship back down into earth orbit and
disintegrate Mihoshi the next time she saw her. Being stuck in a
goldfish's body was VERY preferable to the new alternative. "You are
cursed into a magical girl's body when you are splashed with cold water.
You are really a space princess. Now why don't we go get some nice hot
water and change you back."

"Not right now! There are problems that only I, Magical Girl Pretty Sammy,
can solve."

Tsunami watched in dread as 'Magical Girl Pretty Sammy' pointed with her
wand towards Ayeka and Ryoko.

"I'll make them friends again!" Sammy proudly declared. "Just like the
others!"


Off to the side, Akane heard the declaration and cringed. She remembered
the 'others' and what happened the last time Sammy helped two arguing
girls become 'friends' again...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Oh Minako, only you could warm the frigid ice that my heart has become."

"They don't call me the 'Sailor of Love' for nothing, Setsuna."

Makoto watched on in disgust as the two kissed once again. "Gross! We
really are becoming a group of lesbians. First it was Haruka and Michiru.
Then Usagi ends up in that three-way marriage thing, and Mamoru complains
that Usagi and Sash aren't giving him enough attention because they enjoy
each other so much, and now it's these two."

"I still think you've been looking at me funny. Are you sure you don't
find me attractive?"

"I HAVE NOT BEEN LOOKING AT YOU FUNNY AND I DON'T FIND YOU ATTRACTIVE!!!"
Makoto shouted for the third time. She wasn't certain which disturbed her
more, the question itself, or the hopeful look in Ami's eyes when she
asked.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I think Sailor Venus and Pluto make a cute couple!" Sammy happily
declared.

"They weren't lesbians until you shot them with that damned love blast of
yours!" Tsunami would have strangled her if she had a material body.

"It's time to spread love around!" Sammy charged up her wand and pointed
it towards Ayeka-kun and Ryoko. "MAGICAL GIRL PRETTY SAMMY'S ULTIMATE
BLAST, LET LOVE ROCK YOUR WORLD!!!"

Tsunami covered her eyes as Sammy released her blast.

Ryoko heard the battle cry, and knew what was happening without turning.
She quickly jumped on top of Ayeka-kun, ignoring the pain of the energy
field between them, and hurled both of them to the ground.

"What are you doing?!" Ayeka-kun shouted as Ryoko tried to smother him
into the ground. "Do you find me attractive? Is that it? You've switched
your attentions to someone whose beauty is irresistible, even when you
proclaim your love to Tenchi. You ugly hag-"

"STAY DOWN!!!" Ryoko shouted as the love blast nearly parted her spiky
hair. Once she felt it pass, she looked to see what new target the bolt
might have acquired.

She screamed in horror as it headed towards Akane and Tenchi.

Akane and Tenchi remained motionless, stunned by the sudden turn of
events. Akane simply cursed her luck. And here she had vowed never to
become involved with someone that had another suitor, let alone several of
them. She just knew it was going to be Ranma all over again, especially
since Ayeka was now cursed to become a man when doused with cold water.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Lum knocked the two out of the way of the
passing bolt, barely evading it herself. The people directly behind Akane
and Tenchi, Kyoko and Ryouga, were not so lucky.

Ryouga and Kyoko both felt the love blast go through them. After a moment
of stunned silence, Ryouga looked deeply into his girlfriend's eyes.
"Kyoko?"

"Yes?"

"I don't feel the least bit different about you."

"Me neither."

"Do you think that means we're truly in love?"

"I guess so."

Both breathed a sigh of relief.

Two others breathed a sigh of relief as well as they picked themselves off
of the ground.

"That was close," Ryoko sighed.

"Indeed," Ayeka-kun agreed. "I don't know what I would have done if we had
been hit by that bolt."

"Well, for starters you'd be more popular because you'd be hanging around
me. And you'd get a chance to ride in a real spaceship instead of those
giant toothpicks you use. I mean, all someone needs to do is create a
giant space woodchipper and there goes your entire fleet. And you'd have
had the best sex of your life," Ryoko bragged. "I'd have had you on your
knees, begging for more."

"Hardly!" Ayeka-kun sniffed. "Not that you are worthy of my attentions. In
any case, I would have been the one that would have left you weeping.
Juraian bridal training is quite extensive on how to deliver pleasure to
one's spouse."

"Yeah, but you were taught to be the bride, not the groom," Ryoko began
laughing, reigniting Ayeka-kun's anger.

"How dare you-"

Ayeka-kun was silenced as a second love blast caught both her and Ryoko in
the chest. A misty-eyed look of love was exchanged between the two of
them.

"Oh Ayeka."

"Oh Ryoko."

"Oh shit!"

After making her declaration, Tsunami looked upon the scene in horror and
began running back and forth in a blind panic. "I'm doomed! We're doomed!
The Emperor is never going to understand this. He's going to go ballistic
when he discovers his daughter has become a man and is in love with the
galaxy's most wanted space pirate!"

"I think he'll be happy. He always wanted lots of boys!" Sammy shouted
out, deliriously happy.

Tsunami looked towards Sammy with a soft gaze. She began talking to the
shorter girl in a sweet, honeyed voice. "I'll tell you what he's going to
do."

"What?" Sammy asked.

Tsunami's head bulged to fifty times it's current size, putting the
mightiest demon head Soun had ever conjured to shame. "HE'S GOING TO LOCK
YOU IN SUB-SPACE FOREVER AND CUT ME DOWN WITH AN AX!!!"

A plan began to form in Tsunami's mind. Once Sammy was splashed with some
hot water, the two of them could grab her ship and hide out in the Shi'ar
Empire for the next five thousand years. That might be just enough time
for Emperor Azusa to calm down...maybe.

Then again, maybe ten thousand years was a better idea.


Ryouga stared at the scene in horror. And here he had thought he had
problems. "The more things change...

"...the more they stay the same." Akane finished for him. There was a time
when she had lamented about how all things changed, but that wasn't
entirely true, some things never changed, and she wasn't sure if that was
a good or bad thing.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


And then there were those whose lives had been helplessly intertwined
together thanks to the actions of Ranma Saotome and Shampoo, even though
their contact with the couple had been limited. If asked, they would have
claimed that they had no role to play in the couple's lives ever again.
They had lives of their own to lead, and what grudges were held against
the two had been settled, not that further contact was desired. In fact,
they had moved away from Nerima and had no intention of setting foot there
ever again, so it was unlikely they would ever even hear the name of Ranma
Saotome or Shampoo again.

They would be, of course, wrong.

It would just take a long time. But there were other things that they
would do long before that day ever came.


Tsuyoshi Nakajima looked at the four walls of his office and sighed. For
months he had requested getting the office remodeled, but there never
seemed to be a reason for it that the head of the agency would accept. The
blasted thing was too small, not that Tsuyoshi was claustrophobic, but a
three meter by four meter office was more like a hole in the wall than
anything else. Appearances were everything when one wanted to make a good
first impression, and with such a limited amount of space the whole office
simply looked cluttered.

It wasn't like they couldn't expand. Recently, the adoption agency had
purchased the other offices on the floor when the owners of those offices
moved out to a bigger and better building, something Tsuyoshi knew would
never happen to him. No, he had been with the adoption agency for the last
twenty years of his life and would be there until the day he retired. A
salaryman to the end. Perhaps he could arrange a small fire in the office
that would force the head to remodel the place.

A burst of static from the speaker phone on his desk heralded an end to
his pity session. "The Kumons are here to see you, sir."

"Send them right in, Meiko." His secretary, Meiko Endo was the one bright
point in that helped him through the dismal days of his job. The
attractive, if short, woman that was fifteen years his junior had been
with him from the beginning. Their affair had begun within the last five
years, and he was convinced that he loved her, and more importantly, for
some bizarre reason, she seemed to love him back, a balding, not
particularly even average-looking, man in his late forties (at least he
had managed to drop the extra sixty pounds he had once carried, for her).
Of course, the fact that he was already married to a shrewish, ice-cold,
parasitic bitch of a wife that was the sister of his employer left both he
and Meiko in somewhat of a precarious position in revealing their feelings
for one another, so both lived contentedly, if not absolutely happily,
with their current relationship.

He cleared his thoughts of Meiko and took a look at the morning agenda she
had written out for him. First on the schedule was indeed Kumon, which
would then be followed by Unryuu, although apparently Meiko had made a
mistake. Both couples were listed at the same time. He wondered if
something was bothering her. She usually didn't make simple mistakes like
that.

The door opened and Meiko ushered a couple into the office, then closed
the door behind her. Tsuyochi took a moment to look the duo over. The girl
was obviously young, wearing a very pleasant dress with a floral pattern
and looking every bit like a proper young lady. The only uncommon thing
about her was the streak of pink that ran through her hair.

The black-haired gentleman was dressed in a rather sedate dark business
suit, the only remarkable looking thing about him was his rather large
frame, which showed quite obviously through the suit. Mr. Kumon was a big
man. The sort of man Tsuyochi had never been.

"Good day." Tsuyochi bowed before the couple, and received a bow from both
of them in return. Tsuyochi indicated they should have a seat while he
looked them over one more time. They were having the typical reaction of a
young couple coming to an adoption agency for the first time: both were
frightened beyond belief.

That was actually a good sign. It meant they were serious. Usually, if a
couple appeared too light-hearted or easy-going about the initial stages
of the process, he would reject them from the potential adoption list.
Tsuyochi took his job far more seriously than many of the others that were
involved with the business. No children ended up in the hands of people
that weren't up to the responsibility of raising children, not on his
shift.

"I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."

Both Akari and Ryu nodded eagerly in response.

Tsuyochi cleared his throat while making certain to smile the whole time,
hoping to relax them as they answered. "You filled out all of the forms
you were sent, correct?"

"Yes," Akari and Ryu answered simultaneously.

"I see." Tsuyochi shuffled through a few papers on the desk so as to
appear as though he were considering something on them. It wasn't as
though they were the forms that had been filled out; he just liked
appearing busy. This was the first personal interview for the couple, and
that would be what decided if the process would continue. "Why exactly are
you adopting? I know this might seem a very personal question to you, but
we really need to know why."

He saw a look of sorrow suddenly fill Akari's face, and watched with
sympathy as Ryu's hand found its way into hers. He patted it softly, her
face softening as he eased her pain slightly. Tsuyochi knew the answer
before hearing it from either of them.

"I have a condition which prevents me from having children," Akari said
softly.

Tsuyochi nodded in understanding. It was neither the first time nor the
last he would hear those words, yet he never heard them without feeling a
touch of regret himself. Still, there were other questions that needed to
be asked. He allowed Akari a few more moments to compose herself before he
continued.

"Can you raise the child in a healthy environment?"

Akari and Ryu nodded their heads vigorously. Akari spoke once again. "Ryu
and I love each other very much. There were many difficulties in starting
our relationship because of certain events on our lives," Ryu gave her a
soft look, then nodded in agreement. "But we overcame them and know we
want to be with one another forever, no matter how many problems we have."

Tsuyochi was impressed by the maturity the duo seemed to possess. They had
a much more realistic grasp of what a commitment between two people seemed
to entail.

"And we can support a family without a problem." Ryu added. "An old...
acquaintance of mine gave me permission to use my style of martial arts so
long as I only employ it to make a living."

"And just what sort of a living do you make using martial arts?" Tsuyochi
began to wonder of the boy was some kind of prize fighter. That would
explain his large frame.

"The demolition business. I use it to destroy buildings." Ryu said
proudly. "I already have a long list of clients that pay me a lot. Since I
don't use any equipment or explosives, the overhead is low and profits are
high."

Akari nodded even more fiercely in agreement. "And I own one of the
largest sumo pig farms in all of Japan. The last few years have been very
good for sumo pig farmers," She ran off a figure of how much money she
made in the last two years, impressing Tsuyochi. She could raise a family
of five quite easily on her own.

"We own a large farm that would give the children plenty of room to be
raised in." Ryu was becoming more excited by the minute. Children would be
the final bond to cement his and Akari's relationship.

Tsuyochi smiled at the couple. He spotted the 'look' in their eyes and
identified it. He wasn't always able to notice it, and even then he had
good instincts if a couple would make good parents, but those times when
he recognized the 'look', he was always right. Always. The pair would be
as close to perfect as parents could get.

He continued asking the couple questions for the next half hour, but they
were nothing more than a formality. Tsuyochi had already made his choice.
Once the interview was over, he stood up and bowed to each of them. "I
still have to do some paperwork on the whole thing, and we'll need to set
up another interview, but I'm confident we'll be able to find you a child
to love."

Seeing the glow of pure joy in their eyes made Tsuyochi's day. He never
got tired of that aspect of the job. That, above all other things, was
what made him stay despite the frustrating nature of his work. "It was a
pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Kumon. Mrs. Kumon."

"Oh, we're not married," Akari said quite happily.

The smile faded from Tsuyochi's lips. "You aren't?"

"No," Ryu said. "I had a marriage annulled once. It was totally my fault
for betraying the trust of a woman I loved. I swore that I would never get
married again after that."

"And I can't get married because of a family vow I took," Akari explained.
"So you see, we're perfect for each other. He's a man who won't marry and
I'm a woman who can't. But we still love each other with all of our
hearts."

The sweet scene before Tsuyochi of the two of them kissing would have sent

him into insulin shock if he hadn't been so horrified with what they had
just told him. "I'm sorry, but if you aren't married I can't allow you to
adopt a child."

"What?!" the two shouted out in unison.

"Our policy is to allow only married couples to adopt. I truly am sorry."
It was the truth, though Tsuyochi had thought they would make ideal
parents for any child. For the first time since he took the job he
considered waiving the rules, but he couldn't quite bring himself to do
it.

Akari just stood there in shock, then broke down and began to cry. Ryu
held her in his embrace for several moments, then spoke up.

"Akari, I'm going to try to convince this gentleman to perhaps change his
mind. Would you wait outside?"

"But Ryu," Akari cried. "This concerns me too."

"Akari." The name was said with softness, but also with a degree of
firmness that told her he was not going to give in. She assented to his
demands and left the office, closing the door behind her.

"No amount of talking is going to convince me to change my mind," Tsuyochi
assured him.

"Who said anything about talking?" Ryu cracked his knuckles.


Meiko and Akari listened to the loud noises coming from within the office.
Meiko wanted to see what was going on, but had a feeling that whatever was
happening inside would not be halted by her presence. But if she heard
even the slightest cry of pain come from her Tsuyochi, nothing would stop
her from rushing to his side.

After a full minute and a half, the noises stopped. Another minute after
that Ryu practically tore the door to the office off its hinges as he ran
into the reception area with a photo and paper in hand.

"Good news!" he picked up Akari and whirled her around in his embrace for
a moment before setting her down once more. "He's changed his mind and
said that we can adopt as many children as we want. He even gave me a
picture of a boy we can have once the paperwork gets processed." He showed
the picture to Akari.

She took one look at the photo and fell in love with him. He was no more
than six months old and had been abandoned by whoever his parents. No one
had an idea of who they were. She would practically be raising him from
birth. "I know what we can name him."

"He already has a name," Ryu pointed out.

"That's just one those people at the agency picked so they had something
to call him," Akari explained. "So that's not his real name either.
Besides, he's practically ours now. We should be the ones to choose his
name."

"And just what do you want to call him?" Ryu hadn't even considered naming
a child they adopted, boy or girl.

Akari gave a bright smile.

"Katsunishiki."


Meiko watched the couple leave, then dared to enter the office where she
had last seen her lover. As she entered she saw Tsyochi standing there
with one of the widest smiles he had ever had etched on his face. That was
most peculiar, especially considering what was missing from the office.

"What happened to the other three walls?"

Tsuyochi continued grinning broadly. "Must have been a natural disaster.
At least that's what I'm going to tell my employers. Looks like I finally
get to have that remodeling done after all."


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Special thanks to

Ryan Anderson
Jim Bader
Bloodblade
Jurai-Knight
Jason Liao
Lord Talon
Gary Kleppe
Miashara
Bryan Smith
Wade Tritschler

    Source: geocities.com/tokyo/towers/5920