Love Letters from the Edge
A Ranma 1/2 Elseworlds by the Scriviner

Foreword:
	What actually set off this story was an episode 
of Kinyo Chui Ho Wapiko-chan, I saw a couple of 
months back, where one of the characters hit her head 
and had a long elaborate dream sequence where 
everyone was acting the opposite of how they normally 
acted. I figured it was a great idea for a fic... but 
then I figured, it'd be more intriguing to see if I 
could make a single change which would result in a 
cascade of events which would lead to the resulting 
opposite personalities/behavior in people. 
	In any case, rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, 
and I wouldn't dream of trying to steal em. C&C 
always welcomed. And now... on with the story...
- - -

Chapter 7: The Bedroom Shuffle...
	It wasn't until a week later that Ryouga was 
even anywhere within the vicinity of the Nerima 
district. Or Tokyo for that matter.
	"Hey, Akane, Ranma!" Kodachi called out to them 
at the courtyard.
	The two Tendo siblings turned at the same time 
to look at her. Ranma smiled happily and Akane looked 
curiously.
	"Hi, Ko-chan," Ranma said cheerily.
	She winked at him and smiled back, "Hi, Ran-
chan, Hi, Akane. Have you guys got group-mates for 
that classical lit project we have to submit?"
	Ranma slapped his forehead, "I totally forgot 
about that!"
	"Me too..." Akane said a little worriedly. 
She'd immersed herself a little too deeply in the 
running of Furinkan's dynamic little economy that 
she'd forgotten about most of her school work. And it 
was an easy way to forget that she and Nabiki still 
hadn't spoken to one another since last week.
	Kodachi smiled, "Well, I don't have a group 
either, the two people the teacher assigned to be my 
group mates decided they were more than happy to let 
me do all the work. So you guys want to help me out?"
	"Sounds good," Akane said, "But isn't it due in 
two days?" she added after a moment.
	"It is? Aww man... we're gonna have to stay up 
all night for the next two days to finish this!" 
Ranma did not look at all happy about the prospect.
	"Do you guys want to sleep over at my house 
tonight?" Kodachi asked, "We can get some of the 
research done using Tatchi's books... and I'm sure 
father will allow us to use his computer to type it 
up with."
	Ranma's face suddenly brightened, "That sounds 
great!"
	Akane nodded, "Sure. We'll just tell daddy 
where we'll be staying tonight at the house and pick 
up some change of clothes..."
	Kodachi clapped her hands, "Great! Come around 
eight, I'll have Sasuke make dinner for us."
	And as the three departed the school grounds, 
the bedraggled figure of Ryouga stepped out of the 
bushes, looking disoriented.
	"This doesn't look like Nagasaki..." he 
muttered to himself. Overhead the clouds began 
gathering and a distant rumble seemed to promise 
rain. Ryouga stared worriedly up into the sky, 
pulling his umbrella from its straps, just in case.
- - -
	Akane stretched back luxuriantly in the Kuno 
family bath. Quite frankly, it wasn't large enough to 
qualify as a swimming pool, but it would do in a 
pinch. It was HUGE. The water was heated just right 
and there was a generous amount of steam all around. 
It was a great place to be especially on such a cold 
and miserably rainy night like this one had turned 
out to be.
	Kodachi smiled at Akane, relaxing a bit and 
allowing the warm water to ease her tense muscles.	
	"Who would've thought they'd assign something 
as... well... interesting as the Tale of Genji for a 
report," Kodachi smiled.
	"Mmm-hmm..." Akane said lazily, as distant 
thunder rolled, "We should be glad its not as dry as 
some of the other stuff they could've given out."
	"Well, Father has always been of the opinion 
that learning should be fun for the students," 
Kodachi replied with a giggle, "So he's made it a 
point that the readings be of... that nature."
	Akane echoed her giggle, "Yeah. Furinkan's the 
first school I've ever gone to that included the 
Pillow Books as a possible resource material."
	"Oh, Mother suggested that," Kodachi smiled, 
"She's one of those progressive thinker types."
	"An aggressive modern woman, hmmm? I knew there 
was a reason why I liked your mom so much." 
	"Wasn't that because she always baked you 
cookies when we used to visit?"
	"That too," Akane agreed.
	After a few long moments, Akane said, "I love 
this bath."
	Kodachi winked, "Yeah. Anytime you want to drop 
by and use it, feel free."
	"You mean it?"
	"Sure. And don't forget to bring Ranma with you 
too," Kodachi added with a slight blush.
	"Oh..." Akane grinned, "Well, I'm not one to 
stand in the way of true love."
	Kodachi's blush deepened, "Akane..!"
	"Hey, you mind if I ask you a personal 
question?" Akane said seriously after a moment.
	Kodachi glanced at her, "Not at all. Feel 
free."
	"How are you and Ranma doing?"
	"Ahh... it's rather... we're okay. I'm not sure 
I understand the question though..."
	"Well..." Akane spoke, "You two have been 
dating for... what, a month now? Have you two decided 
to make it official yet or something?"
	Kodachi replied hesitantly, "Oh. We... well... 
we never really talk about that... as such..."
	"Oh." Akane nodded.
	"And what about you and Tatewaki..?" Kodachi 
ventured.
	"Huh? What do you mean?"
	"It is kind of hard to ignore all of the rumors 
I've been hearing... about al the time you two have 
been spending together... and how maybe you're 
thinking of stealing him out from Nabiki."
	Akane tsked, "Vicious unfounded rumors. I'm 
just... you know... pretending to be interested in 
him for the plan, remember? To keep our parents happy 
until they can dissolve the engagement without loss 
of honor to either side."
	Kodachi lowered herself into the water even 
more, glancing thoughtfully at Akane, "So you and 
Nabiki aren't fighting over him?"
	Akane reddened slightly, "Where did you hear 
that?!"
	"Well... Ranma and I do talk. A lot..."
	Akane muttered, "Can't keep his mouth shut to 
save his life."
	"Don't blame him, I was sort of curious after 
I'd heard the various rumors. Not to mention the fact 
that I haven't seen you two talk this past week..."
	"Course not! I've just been busy." Akane said 
with a slight bit of defensiveness in her voice.
	"Ahh."
	They spent a few minutes in uncomfortable 
silence before Kodachi rose to her feet, reaching for 
one of the towels placed on a high rack, "I'll get 
going to bed, Akane..." she said.
	"Okay," akane replied, sinking a little lower 
into the warm water when the door suddenly slid open.
	"I have you now!" cried out a voice 
triumphantly as a muscular figure burst through the 
door way. It was Ryouga.
	There was a long, long moment of silence as 
everyone stared at everyone else. Akane gave Ryouga a 
slow annoyed glare. Kodachi stared at Ryouga in 
shock. Ryouga meanwhile was wondering why this 
Tatewaki Kuno person wasn't in his bedroom and why 
there was all of this white tile and steam in the 
area. His eyes for some reason were refusing to focus 
properly on something pale and pink right in front of 
him... silhouettes of human figures... female 
silhouettes...
	Kodachi finally recovered enough of her wits to 
scream piercingly. In her panic, she dropped the 
towel she was reaching for and was forced to do her 
level best to cover herself with her hands. 
	Ryouga's eyes, prompted by the sudden scream 
finally focused and it occurred to him he was in fact 
looking at a rather well proportioned view of a naked 
screaming female. He slammed his eyes shut, "Ahh... 
er... it's not..! I didn't mean... It was an 
accident!"
	"Ryouga, get out!" Akane shouted at him.
	He managed to tear his gaze away from Kodachi 
or where he would be gazing if his eyes were open and 
looked, or rather turned his ead in Akane's 
direction. He opened his eyes just a crack to see 
that Akane was still half hidden by the water, but 
was starting to rise, "Out!" she shouted even louder.
	"A-a-a-akane! It's not what it looks like! I 
mean really..! Er..." he glanced around desperately 
seeking the exit when his eyes happened upon 
Kodachi's towel. He reached down, averting his gaze, 
"Erhm... miss, your... um... t-t-to-towel... you 
should cover..!"	
	Kodachi stopped screaming just long enough to 
gather a new breath for a fresh bout of screaming. He 
managed to stand up straight, holding the towel out 
stiffly to her, the corner of the towel touching her 
hip, which only caused her already piercing screams 
to go supersonic.
	Ryouga's eyes blinked open at this point as he 
winced at the screaming, "Hey, quit that... I'm going 
alrea--"
	It was at this precise point in time that 
Tatewaki Kuno burst into the bath, a bokken held 
awkwardly in both hands, "Who goes... You!" he 
shouted as he saw Ryouga.
	"You not only insult Akane Tendo but also seek 
to assault my sister with your base lusts?!" he raged 
at Ryouga, his body tensed and for the most part not 
noticing the scene except for the fact that in their 
current positions, Ryouga looked as if he'd just torn 
the towel off of Kodachi's body. 
	Ryouga whirled on him, "I didn't come here to 
do that! I came here to destroy you!!" he cried, 
cracking his knuckles loudly.
	"Then why," Tatewaki asked pointedly, "Are you 
standing so close to my unclothed sister?!"
	"Whu?" Ryouga turned around and got a good, 
long, clear look at Kodachi's body... with a spurt of 
blood out of his nose, Ryouga dropped into a dead 
faint.
	Tatewaki blinked in surprise as Ryouga fainted. 
Only then realizing that Akane Tendo was likewise in 
the bath and was in a similar state of undress... on 
the other hand she was making no move to cover her 
nudity, unlike Kodachi who was already grabbing 
quickly at the towel which was pinned under Ryouga.
	Tatewaki Kuno got a quick glance at first 
Kodachi... then at Akane... his eyes glazed over... a 
thin trickle of blood leaked out of his nose... and 
he keeled over, also unconscious.
	Ranma leapt through the door, "Who was 
screaming?!" he shouted, worriedly looking around.
	Kodachi who'd barely managed to cover up her 
front with the towel bit back a scream. "That... 
um... that was me."
	"But why..?" Ranma started to ask and noticed 
the unconscious forms of Ryouga and Tatewaki, "Oh."
	He glanced at the two of them, registering that 
they were in fact naked, but not being unduly 
affected by it, save for a slight blush on his 
cheeks. "Hey, you guys better put some clothes on. 
It's kinda cold outside. I'll bring these two out. 
I'm gonna want to hear about this."
	Kodachi blinked at Ranma as he levered Ryouga 
then Tatewaki onto his shoulders, then looked at 
Akane as he walked out, "He... didn't faint?"
	Akane smiled playfully, "Ranma's used to female 
bodies."
	"Ah... you don't say." Kodachi said slowly.
- - -
	Akane knelt next to the sleeping Ryouga, 
lightly stroking his hair, "You idiot," she muttered. 
She'd said it in a tone which could only be described 
as half annoyed and half fond.
	"So this is your boyfriend?" Kodachi said 
thoughtfully next to her, eyeing the couple.
	"Yeah. It really isn't his fault. He's got a 
lousy sense of direction," Akane replied weakly.
	"I suppose. Anyone really intent on being a 
pervert wouldn't have fainted after just one look," 
Kodachi conceded, "How's Tatchi?"
	"Oh, Ranma tucked him in. He's out like a 
light."
	"So... um..." Kodachi glanced over her shoulder 
at the door.
	"Ranma's turned in. He gets worn out easily by 
too much studying." Akane said with a smile.
	"Do you mind if I sleep in with you guys in the 
guest bedroom? I mean there's a couple of extra 
futons in the closet... I don't really like the idea 
of having to walk all the way back to my room in the 
dark." Kodachi aid apprehensively.
	Akane chuckled, "Well, it's your home. I don't 
mind," she gave Kodachi a wink, "And I doubt Ranma 
would either."
	Kodachi nodded, yawning, "That's... good. I'm 
just glad he didn't wake mom and dad up... I can just 
imagine them calling the police to haul him away."
	Akane shook her head, "No... I don't think we'd 
like that to happen."
	"Yah," Kodachi murmured her eyes already 
beginning to close.
	"Hey, why don't you go catch some sleep?" Akane 
suggested, "I'm not tired yet, I'll just stay here 
with Ryouga for a little while in case he wakes up."
	"You sure?"
	"Course. You get some sleep. I'll be fine."
	Kodachi gave a sleepy nod, rising to her feet. 
"Okay..." she muttered as she stepped out of the 
door.
	Akane watched Ryouga sleep silently for a few 
more minutes. Just watching his breathing, continuing 
to lightly stroke his hair.
	She said softly, "Your sense of timing never 
was so great either, you great big lumox."
	And with that she leaned down, kissing him 
tenderly on the lips, her fingers continuing to 
lightly caress his face.
	"Why couldn't you have caught up with us 
sooner?" she asked him softly. No answer was 
forthcoming.
- - -
	Ranma was having trouble sleeping. He had his 
eyes shut, definitely... he was doing his best to 
relax his whole body and was doing a pretty good job 
of that as well. The futon he was on was relatively 
comfortable and he even had a couple of nice throw 
pillows, comforters and sheets.
	Unfortunately, an essential element was 
missing. He tossed uneasily, shoving the pillows he'd 
piled on his chest to one side. It just wasn't the 
same. For one thing it was all nice and cozy but 
not... warm enough. They also didn't weigh enough... 
And he was used to having something soft to cuddle up 
against. The pillows, exceptionally gifted with soft 
qualifications, were severely lacking in the cuddle 
department.
	With a sigh, he opened his eyes, glancing 
around. He knew he and Akane were supposed to be 
sharing the guest bedroom, but exhaustion, while 
enough to send him to bed, wasn't enough to get him 
to sleep. His eyes finally accustomed themselves to 
the dim half-light and could vaguely make out a 
female form sleeping easily on the next futon. He 
smiled inwardly, "Boy Akane must be really exhausted 
to drop off to sleep so fast... must've been seeing 
Ryouga..." he said to himself.
	He glanced at the closed door, making certain 
to himself that no one was likely to burst in on 
them... after all, he knew their behavior wasn't 
entirely... acceptable to some people for two 
teenagers. Especially not for brother and sister. 
Even if he was adopted. He shrugged, shoving the rest 
of that debate to the back of his mind as he crawled 
over to the sleeping figure, crossing a futon laid 
out between his and hers... and slipped into it. 
	He gave a happy sigh as he snuggled against 
her, his arm wrapping easily around her waist from 
behind. He nuzzled her neck lightly, his half-
sleeping mind not entirely registering the fact that 
the girl's hair was loose, and not in the expected 
braid...
	She squirmed slightly, sleepily in his grasp. 
Pressing against him with a soft half-dreaming 
giggle. Her hands intertwining with his.
	It is difficult, if not impossible for someone 
to sleep with someone else, every night for six years 
and not be able to identify them by any one of a 
thousand different means. The shape of the body, the 
texture of the hair, the way they move, but most 
importantly, scent. It's a pity Ranma was too 
exhausted to do any sniffing at right about this 
point. 
- - -
	Akane had gotten a little turned around. The 
Kuno household, large as it was proved to be 
exceedingly difficult to negotiate in the dark, 
especially for someone unfamiliar with its outlines. 
She'd fallen asleep next to Ryouga and she wasn't 
certain how long she'd been sleeping... she'd stepped 
out to look for the guest bedroom, intending to curl 
up with Ranma and had gotten promptly lost. She knew 
more or less what the door to the guest room looked 
like... but then again, drowsy as she was it would've 
been very easy to mistake one door for another... 
like so.
	She stumbled into a large room... not really 
paying attention to her surroundings. She blinked 
blearily and for a moment she thought she was in her 
own room back at the Tendo Dojo... and there was 
Ranma on the bed already... lucky stiff. How dare he 
go to sleep without waiting for her? She gave a 
contented sigh as she lifted the sheets up and 
crawled in with him, her arms encircling his neck as 
she climbed on top of him... she snuggled against him 
sleepily, handily ignoring the fact as her mind 
swiftly drifted off to complete sleep, that he was 
taller than usual.
- - -
	Ryouga snapped awake with the usual questions 
going through his mind. First of course was "Where in 
the world am I now?", which was followed in quick 
succession by "What am I doing here?", "How did I get 
here?", and "Is there somewhere else I should be?"
	Of course the first question was, as always 
never an easy one to answer, especially for a Hibiki. 
He wasn't sure what time it was, but he could vaguely 
recall he'd been awakened by the cold. He was pretty 
sure he was warmer a while ago.
	He sat up and glanced around. It looked like a 
bedroom... small... dark... kinda expensive 
furniture. Totally unfamiliar.	That wasn't 
entirely surprising either. He shrugged. He had a 
pretty good idea that he was supposed to be looking 
for Tatewaki Kuno. The man who'd stolen his 
girlfriend and ruined his life. 
	His face was creased by a frown as he began to 
wake up fully. Yes. He was here to destroy Kuno. 
Wherever the heck here was. With a resolute attitude 
and a stern gaze he got to his feet and started 
looking for the way out.
	It was an hour later when he finally found the 
only door. It had been at the foot of the futon. What 
a silly place to put a door.
- - -
	Kodachi was sleeping happily. She was having a 
very nice dream of her and Ranma, snuggling in bed... 
she knew it was a dream... it was so very warm and 
cozy. She never had dreams like this before... it was 
almost... scandalous. She didn't realize her sub-
conscious had gotten such... such... bold thoughts 
about Ranma. This was even more embarrassing than 
that one dream when she kissed him. On the cheek.
	She felt lips brush against her cheek for a 
moment and she smiled again in her sleep. She could 
most definitely get used to this... her eyelids 
fluttered for a moment as it occurred to her that she 
COULD feel arms around her... she leaned back again, 
savoring the warmth of the embrace for a moment when 
it occurred to her that she was supposed to be 
dreaming this... but those felt like real arms... 
	With a protesting sigh, she managed to bring 
herself up all the way to consciousness. Only to find 
that she was in pretty much the same situation she'd 
been in in her dream. She turned her face slightly to 
find Ranma was holding her closely to him. Sound 
asleep. She blushed immediately in the darkness, eyes 
wide. She was in total shock... how could she have 
imagined that he was so... so bold!
	He pulled her a bit closer to himself in his 
sleep, his face rubbing slightly against hers and she 
stiffened in panic. This... was too much! He was so 
close! Too close! It was positively scandalous!
	She squirmed trying to get out of his grip, 
turning slightly so she could pry his arm off of her. 
With some difficulty, she managed to lever his arm 
off... it came up stiffly, pushing him away from her 
a little as well... but her hand slipped and as his 
arm came back down on her, his body pivoted onto her 
also, his lips brushing against hers suddenly.
	Kodachi's blush deepened even more as his lips 
pressed against hers in that inadvertent kiss. She 
gasped involuntarily as she felt a bit more of his 
weight press against her and his lips pressed closer 
still... she allowed herself to savor it for all of 
five seconds, almost, but not quite relaxing into the 
kiss... accidental as it was... before the reflexes 
her father and mother had ingrained into her suddenly 
kicked in. 
	Her free arm pulled back without warning, and 
swung forward with considerable speed, slapping Ranma 
powerfully on the cheek and sending him flying to the 
other side of the room.
	He blinked awake at the sharp pain, "Hey! Ow! 
What did you do THAT for?!"
	Kodachi sat up, primly arranging her sheets to 
cover her bare legs, she said hesitantly, "Sorry... 
I... um... you kissed... and I... well... um..."
	"Kissed you?" Ranma asked blearily, "No I 
didn't..."
	"You were asleep at the time..." Kodachi added, 
obviously embarrassed and unable to look at him 
directly.
	"Asleep? What're you... but..?" Ranma blinked.
	"Now, I know we've been getting kind of close 
these past few weeks again and, yes I do feel very 
strongly about you... I really like you but... um..."
	"Oh... um... really..?" Ranma blushed.
	Kodachi continued as though she hadn't heard 
him, "I really... really think we should wait after 
marriage if you... you know... like me that much... I 
mean you want to do THAT... and you can wait, 
right..? I mean we're still young and its stuff... 
and yes, I do... I well... that is to say want... but 
not want... you get what I'm saying?"
	"Not a word." Ranma admitted.
	Kodachi's face had gone well beyond a blush... 
"You know... that... the stuff they taught us in 
biology... with the... um... you know..." she looked 
at him suddenly resolved, "Not til we're married and 
that's final."
	"Are you proposing?!" Ranma asked unbelieving.
	"No! That's not it!"
	"Ahh... then what..?" Ranma groped around 
mentally, trying to locate Kodachi's train of 
thought, but the station it'd left from... he blinked 
in surprise as he glanced around, "Hey... where's 
Akane?"
	Kodachi looked around, "Not here, I guess..." 
she breathed a sigh of relief at the change in topic.
	Ranma looked alarmed, "She's not? But I 
could've sworn..." he looked right at Kodachi, 
"Erhm... was that what you were talking about?"
	"Akane?" Kodachi asked, baffled.
	"Ahh... no, I mean... was I... you know... 
um... had my arms... or me, rather... somewhere I 
wasn't supposed to be..?"
	Kodachi nodded quickly.
	"Ack! I can explain! Honest!" Ranma said 
quickly, "I was... I... um... dreaming, yeah, that's 
it..."
	Kodachi's face looked a little disappointed, 
but she rallied spectacularly, "You mean you didn't 
crawl into my futon with me to... um... try 
anything?"
	"No!" Ranma said shocked at the idea... and 
VERY embarrassed that he'd obviously crawled into the 
wrong futon... where had Akane gone?
	Kodachi breathed a sigh of... well... let's 
call it equal parts relief and disappointment, "Oh."
	Ranma mentally ticked off their conversation in 
his head... "Did you think I was trying to... um... 
you know..?"
	"Um... kind of... sort of..." Kodachi said, 
acutely embarrassed.
	Ranma blushed, "Well... I wouldn't do that! I 
mean... not... if... you know... you... didn't... 
want..."
	"Well..." Kodachi blushed even deeper as she 
admitted, "Well... um... I might've... it IS you... 
and... but..." she took a deep breath, "Not til my 
wedding night. I want it done properly." She said 
firmly.
	"Ah." Ranma nodded. He nodded slowly thinking 
over her precise wording, "So... you... um... 
considered me for a possible..."
	Kodachi looked away, the blush on her cheeks 
still burning furiously.
	Ranma looked down, also blushing and very 
flattered... "Er... um... maybe we should get some 
more sleep... okay?"
	"Um... yes, right," Kodachi said, laying back 
and pulling her covers tight around her.
	"Right," Ranma said after a moment, going back 
to his now cold futon.
	The two of them spent long minutes feigning 
sleep before Kodachi finally said, "Do... do you want 
to share the futon? Just... just to sleep," the 
darkness hiding the fresh blush on her face. She 
shivered... she never imagined she could be so... 
improper!
	Ranma looked at her across the room, also 
shivering in his cold sheets but more from the cold 
than anything else... the invitation was welcome, 
certainly... and he'd never be able to sleep 
otherwise. He smiled shyly and wordlessly in the 
dark. He slipped under the covers with her. They 
snuggled for a few moments and before too long, both 
had drifted off into a deep pleasant slumber.
- - -
	Tatewaki was driven awake by a combination of 
two sensations. Sort of. First was the total lack of 
sensation in his arm from the shoulder down. There is 
nothing quite so unpleasant as to wake up to find 
that you'd fallen asleep with your arm pinned... or 
as pleasant as finding a warm lithe body snuggled up 
next to your side, which was in fact the body which 
had fallen asleep on the arm in question.
	He blinked sleepily trying to wake himself 
up... there was someone sleeping next to him on the 
bed. Whoever it was (she... definitely a she... he 
could feel... well, he didn't want to think about 
that... you know... against his chest) was keeping 
his arm pinned. 
	He glanced at the face only to find Akane's 
upturned face looking back. Or she would be looking 
back if she were awake. She was sleeping quite 
peacefully, her lips slightly parted. He could only 
blush.
	She moved a little in her sleep, her arms 
snaking around his torso as she pressed even closer 
against him. Unable to get any leverage, Tatewaki 
found himself on his back, his arm freed, but now 
Akane was pinning him to the bed with her own body. 
Not to mention that she had her hands pressed against 
his back. 
	His face was a mask of panic as he realized her 
face was now only inches from his, her lips all but 
touching his face. Her body, definitely touching his 
body and producing... much to his chagrin... 
reactions. Definite... rock-solid... reactions.
	He had no idea why she was there and was not in 
any mental shape to think about it... a majority of 
his attention was devoted to trying to keep as little 
of himself from touching her. Especially the parts 
which were... reacting.
	His arm was in agony as the sensation of pins 
and needles washed up and down its length... this was 
just the thing to get his mind off of... his other 
body parts. With his other hand he tentatively began 
trying to push her off... which was about as 
effective as poking at barnacle with a damp noodle. 
She stayed on top of him. 
	She gave a sleepy moan, shifting herself 
slightly on top of him. Causing some of her to rub 
against... here... and there... oh, and most 
especially THERE. Tatewaki found himself thinking 
desperately of waterfalls and the Antarctic. And the 
latest baseball results, only he didn't really follow 
them so that was little help. A less than entirely 
successful tactic, but enough to stay relatively 
sane.
	Akane nuzzled against Tatewaki's neck and it 
was almost too much to bear... no longer caring about 
the consequences, because quite frankly, he had to 
get her off of him NOW. He reached a tentative hand 
up to shake her by the shoulder. She smiled slightly 
in her sleep and cuddled closer against him.
	Tatewaki's face was a mask of panic... he had 
to get her OFF! No, not like that! Off of him! Out of 
his bed! Out of his room! His face had already gone 
beyond the blush of mere minutes ago. He had to keep 
himself... chaste!
	Desperately, Tatewaki put his hands on her 
shoulders and tried his best to shake her, calling 
her name softly, "Akane... Akane... Akane..!"
	She gave a soft moan... possibly in protest. 
But it sounded like a very definite moan.
	Ryouga who had spent the past hour negotiating 
the Kuno household, and incidentally, entering the 
same bathroom twelve times in a row. He was already 
wondering why there were so many bathrooms in this 
place, and had decided it must be some sort of 
expensive public bath. So, he boldly opened another 
door, fully expecting to see nothing more than 
another bath. It was the precise scene described 
above which he found himself staring at.
	Akane on top of Kuno, both covered somewhat by 
the sheets, at least from the waist down... Kuno, 
calling out Akane's name softly as she rocked on top 
of him, moaning. Use your imagination. Kuno was too 
concerned with awakening Akane to notice the door 
opening... Ryouga was too shocked to do anything 
unfortunate to Kuno... but his hand closed on the 
doorknob, crushing it in his grip.
	Ryouga quickly turned away and ran down the 
hall...
	As the door shut, Akane slowly awoke. "Whu..? 
Ranma? Oh, Tatewaki? What am I doing here?"
	Tatewaki gulped nervously, "I don't know! Um... 
would you mind awfully, releasing me?"
	"Oh... sorry." Akane said sheepishly, getting 
off of him, "I must've gotten the rooms mixed up."
	"Quite..." Tatewaki replied weakly, doing his 
best not to cringe away from her and simultaneously 
keep his hands and the sheets covering his... 
reaction.
	"Um... could you show me how to get to the 
guest room?" Akane asked tentatively, "I don't want 
to get lost again."
	"Certainly." Anything to get you out of my 
room, Tatewaki added to himself, as he levered 
himself awkwardly out of bed, doing his best to 
maintain concealment. It was perhaps the longest walk 
of his life.
	Akane stepped into the dark guest room just as 
Tatewaki quickly turned on his heel and walked 
stiffly back to his room. Still doing his best to 
hide... the as yet obvious reaction. Akane giggled 
quietly at his retreating back. So cute. 
	She yawned, spotting Ranma near the opposite 
wall... and his braid... she locked the door behind 
her, and slid gratefully into the futon. She kissed 
him on the cheek and murmured, "You'll never guess 
where I've been."
	Her arm moved around his waist to embrace him. 
Her sleepiness was suddenly driven away as she 
realized there was someone ELSE in this futon, 
besides Ranma.... she looked over his shoulder and 
found Kodachi snuggled up against him. Akane's jaw 
dropped. She knew they were getting close, but she 
didn't realize just how close... she shut her jaw 
with an audible snap as a small smile ceased her 
face. One should never waste an opportunity, she told 
herself as she slipped out of the futon to root 
through her bag... she was certain she had her camera 
with her. She never left home without it. She'd just 
have to risk turning a light on to get a better 
picture.
- - -
	Ryouga grit his teeth as he tore down the hall, 
doing his level best to keep from screaming out his 
anguish. This bathhouse was so hugely difficult to 
maneuver in that he still couldn't find the exit. He 
opened a door to find yet another bathroom. Or so he 
thought. Actually this made the thirty first time 
he'd looked into this particular bathroom. He'd been 
doing his best to keep from just tearing through a 
wall to get out, but his mounting anger and 
frustration were getting harder and harder to 
control.
	He screamed out, "Why?! How could she betray 
me?!" as he drove his fist into the wall. This has 
never been a particularly recommended tactic for 
relieving stress. As in the case of most people, this 
merely results in corporeal damage to the person 
involved (ie. you hurt yourself). In Ryouga's case it 
was the opposite. He usually carried some extra 
emergency money on his person for accidental damage 
he caused to things he bumped into.
	His fist rammed hard into the wall, shattering 
it. And the pipe just behind the thin layer of 
cement. Ryouga winced and bit back a scream as the 
cold water sprayed him. He stepped back in surprise, 
slipping on the now wet floor, and hitting his head 
rather sharply on the edge of the bathtub. 
	It is fortunate that the Hibiki head is 
constructed quite solidly against sudden impacts, but 
it can only take so much... she was out cold.
- - -
	Kuno finally managed to make it back to his 
room. He was NOT a happy camper, but at least he'd 
managed to get himself under control again. As it 
were. He blinked sleepily at his doorknob, wondering 
how long it had had that kind of damage... not to 
mention those looked like finger marks... He shrugged 
it off and shut his door... he knew he'd definitely 
have trouble falling asleep again, especially after 
THAT... so he brought out his journal and started 
writing.
- - -

Chapter 7: Lost girls...
	Morning. The birds were chirping. The sun was 
shining, people were waking up. Some of them anyway. 
	Ranma awoke feeling, while not entirely 
terrific, greatly refreshed. He had to admit it had 
been the best night's sleep he'd had in a long time. 
He smiled and opened his eyes intending to turn to 
look at Kodachi. It was only when it hit him that 
BOTH his arms were pinned down, that he was on his 
back, and that there was a whole lot more weight 
pressed against him than normal that he realized that 
something unexpected had occurred in the night.
	He blinked and glanced down to his right... 
Kodachi was snuggled happily against his side, her 
head resting on his shoulder, her hand on his chest. 
He glanced to his left... there was Akane, she'd more 
or less entangled her legs with his left leg, her 
head resting mostly on his chest, and one of her 
hands had slipped under the bottom of his tanktop and 
her fingers were resting lightly on his abdomen. 
	He wondered how he was going to untangle 
himself when he heard a soft voice call through the 
door, "Kids? Are you up yet? It's time for school."
	It was Auntie Nodoka's voice.
	The knob turned...
- - -
	Kochou Kuno hummed a merry little tune as he 
walked down the hall towards the family bath. He'd 
just finished his morning workout and was quite 
looking forward to a nice long soak in the tub before 
he had to go to school. He usually had the car drive 
him there, and while he often invited the kids to 
ride with him, his wife had been very firm that they 
learn to get along just like all the other kids, and 
hence they walked to school most of the time.
	As he got to the door, he was surprised to find 
that the door was ajar and that the area of the hall 
at the door was quite wet. He poked his head into the 
bath and was even more surprised to find a young 
girl... sixteen if he was any judge of it, out cold 
on the floor... she had a pretty nasty bump on the 
back of her head that he could see quite clearly.
	He knelt down and gently shook her.
	Her eyes snapped open, took one look at the 
elder Kuno's large, bluff face, screamed piercingly 
and slapped him right into the wall where the thin 
trickle of water was still flowing from the cracked 
pipe and cracked wall.
	It was a very good scream. A loud scream. One 
that managed to make itself heard all over the house.
- - -
	Nodoka started in surprise when she heard it. 
she turned in the direction of the scream, her hand 
falling away from the door knob. It sounded as if it 
had come from the bath. She hurried off in that 
direction, gathering her kimono around her.
	Behind her, in a rush, Ranma, a newly awakened 
Akane and the still half asleep Kodachi stumbled out 
of the door. It was a good thing they'd been jarred 
from their sleep as they had. The distraction kept 
Kodachi from noticing, much less commenting on the 
night's sleeping arrangements.
	Ranma and Akane easily managed to outdistance 
Nodoka despite her lead. Reaching the bath well ahead 
of the Kunos. They found a rather attractive girl 
sitting up in a largish puddle of water, a very 
confused expression on her face. Her hair was a 
startlingly bright shade of red, held back by a 
spotted yellow and black bandana. Her eyes were green 
and were looking around the place, baffled. She was 
quite petite, but with a surprisingly well endowed 
figure for her age. It was rather difficult NOT to 
notice when one considered that her coarse linen 
tunic was thoroughly soaked, and clinging quite 
fetchingly against her body. It was also not that 
difficult to ascertain she wasn't wearing a bra.
	Ranma skidded to a halt, then slipped on the 
wet floor, skidding off into the bath, right next to 
the girl, "Agh!"
	She screamed again.
	Akane noticed the water immediately and gave it 
wide berth. Especially considering the occasional 
squirts of what must've been cold water from the 
shattered wall, where the elder Kuno was still more 
or less plastered to, only half conscious.
	"Hey calm down!" Akane said.
	The girl managed to catch her breath, edging 
away a bit from the stunned Ranma, "Um... okay..."
	"Who're you?" Akane asked.
	The girl stared at her expectantly, "Um... 
don't you know?"
	It only took a moment for Kodachi and her 
mother to catch up. Nodoka took in the entire scene 
in one long sweeping glance. Then said firmly, 
"Alright... everyone up and out of the bath. What's 
going on here?"
	Kochou groaned as he peeled himself off the 
wall, "I was going to take a bath... then I found her 
here..."
	"Ow." Ranma grunted as he tried to get to his 
feet.
	"I tried to wake her up then she slapped me 
into the wall," Kochou added with a thoughtful sniff 
as he traced the hole in the wall, "Pretty good 
backhand at that. Tight swing, no effort wasted, lots 
of power," he nodded slowly.
	Nodoka sighed, then turned to the girl, "And 
you dear, how'd you get here? Who are you?"
	"I..." the girl started hesitantly, "I don't 
know. I just kind of woke up here..." she reached up 
to hold the back of her head, "My head hurts..."
	Nodoka knelt next to her, unmindful of the 
water as she gingerly touched her head, "Oh my... 
that's quite a nasty bump you have there... you 
must've hit your head on something."
	"Could be amnesia or something..." Akane chimed 
in.
	Nodoka nodded, "Possibly. Well, we'll just get 
some ice for you, then dear... and you're soaked! You 
must've been out in the rain all night. Although how 
you got into the house..." she shook her head as she 
helped the girl up.
	"I heard screaming, what's happening..?" 
Tatewaki asked indistinctly as he finally arrived, 
large eyebags under his eyes.
	The redheaded girl gave a sudden snarl and 
pounced at Tatewaki. Only Ranma's sudden grab for her 
shoulders kept her from him. He staggered back 
cowering she extended her hands clawing at the air to 
get at him... she dug in her feet, managing to drag 
Ranma along with her as she stalked closer.
	"Ack!" Kuno managed to cry out. His parents 
blinked in surprise at the girl's reaction.
	Akane looked closely at the girl a second time. 
Her fangs were flashing as she screamed and 
incoherently ranted in Tatewaki's direction. Akane 
stepped in front of the girl, blocking her view of 
Tatewaki and asked clearly, "Your family name 
wouldn't happen to be Hibiki would it?"
	The girl snapped out of her rage and blinked at 
Akane as if she were mentally trying the name on for 
size, "Yeah..." she said slowly, "Yeah, I think that 
sounds like it... I'm a Hibiki..."
	Akane nodded.
	"How did you know?" Ranma asked.
	Akane shrugged, "Well, it kinda stands to 
reason she's got the Hibiki family's strength, same 
teeth, Ryouga always wore a bandanna like that... I 
wouldn't trust her with a map either, if I'm any 
judge," she added in an aside to Ranma.
	"She must've wandered in accidentally like 
Ryouga did." Kodachi said.
	"Who's Ryouga?" Nodoka asked.
	"Er... he was here last night," Kodachi said.
	Tatewaki frowned, "Where is he?"
	"Ryouga..." the girl said slowly... "I think... 
my name's Ryou... Ryouko?" she said uncertainly, 
"Ryouko Hibiki. I think that sounds right."
	Kochou glanced at his watch, "We can talk about 
this over breakfast. Otherwise you kids will be late 
to school."
- - -	
	"So you've got absolutely no idea who you are 
or how you ended up in the Kuno bathroom?" Akane 
asked.
	Ryouko shook her head, "Nope. No idea. Although 
I think you're right, though. I can sort of vaguely 
remember some stuff, and about my parents... and 
someone named Ryouga, so I guess I must be his 
sister."
	"You must've been with Ryouga when he went into 
the house the other night," Kodachi said 
thoughtfully, "Kinda irresponsible if you ask me. 
Bringing your sister along on a mission of vengeance. 
Honestly."
	Akane looked over her shoulder at Kodachi and 
rolled her eyes a bit. Kodachi giggled, "Sorry."
	"Well, I guess Ryouga'll turn up sooner or 
later," Ranma said.
	"I'm just curious, though," Kodachi asked, "I 
mean if you were living at the Hibiki's for as long 
as you did, why didn't you recognize Ryouko?"
	"Well..." Ranma said a little uncomfortably, 
saying it quietly to Kodachi, "You know their sense 
of direction. Its sorta possible she was lost the 
whole time we were staying there."
	Kodachi glanced up the road as they walked, 
"Well she and Akane seem to be getting along quite 
well."
	Ranma nodded glancing at Akane and Ryouko 
walking a little ahead of them, chatting easily. "She 
still doesn't know why she attacked Tatewaki like 
that?"
	"She has no idea," Kodachi replied, "Although 
you should hear some of the theories dad had," she 
giggled.
	Ranma smiled weakly. He'd heard a few of them. 
Tatewaki was sulking as they'd left and he'd decided 
to ride with his father for a change instead of 
walking with them. Auntie Kuno was quite insistent. 
He'd looked pretty sleepy too. Probably up all night 
again, she mentioned.
	There was a brief interval as Ranma dredged 
through his limited store of small talk, "Um... It 
was awfully nice of your Auntie and Uncle to offer to 
let Ryouko stay at your place."
	Kodachi smiled, "Yes. Although I think dad was 
more impressed by how she walloped him into the wall 
than by anything else. Did you see the damage? I 
guess he probably figures she's a natural for the 
Kuno school."
	"Although its kinda strange how he practically 
shoved her into our class at school. I mean, she's 
got amnesia and all, you'd think he'd let her have a 
day or two to rest."
	"Well, the doctor said there wasn't anything 
physically wrong with her," Kodachi replied, "She's 
quite healthy. And... well... father does tend to be 
a bit enthusiastic when it comes to academics. It was 
easy enough for him to have her enrolled at Furinkan, 
he IS the principal after all."
	Ryouko looked over her shoulder during a lull 
in the conversation with Akane. She smiled warmly at 
Ranma and gave a small wave. Ranma blinked and waved 
back sheepishly.
	Kodachi's eyebrow twitched slightly. She felt 
once more that twinge of jealousy. She'd been feeling 
it a lot more often nowadays. Practically anytime he 
was in the near vicinity of another woman she felt 
it. She glanced over to Ranma and said, "You know... 
I think she rather likes you," Kodachi ventured.
	Ranma blinked at her, "Hey, where'd that come 
from? All she did was wave at me!"
	Kodachi nodded and added a little pointedly, 
"And she was staring at you through most of 
breakfast."
	"Maybe my face looked familiar! We had photos 
we left behind at the Hibikis. Besides, she was 
staring at Akane, too you know," Ranma replied.
	Kodachi humphed and took Ranma's hand in hers, 
"Well don't you dare encourage her, Ranma."
	"I wasn't! Honest," he said weakly. He sighed, 
giving Kodachi's hand a slight squeeze, "You'd think 
you knew me better than that, Ko-chan."
	"Yes, I suppose, Ran-chan." Kodachi said 
finally, staring at Ryouko's back. She squeezed 
Ranma's hand a bit more as they continued walking to 
school. Although she still felt that she didn't quite 
know him as well as she once had.
	Akane meanwhile kept looking thoughtfully at 
Ryouko as they talked... there was something odd 
about her. Something Akane couldn't quite place. 
- - -
	Tatewaki caught up to Nabiki just as she 
stepped through the gate. He was resolved. He'd spent 
the entire night thinking it over and quite frankly, 
he had to have some peace of mind. He couldn't take 
it much more.
	"Nabiki-san..." he called out.
	She whirled on him her eyes narrowed and 
suspicious, "Yeah, what do you want?"
	"Um..." Kuno flinched under her stare, "I need 
to talk to you. Would it be alright?"
	She thought it over, noting how meekly he held 
himself. And at the same time she knew perfectly well 
how fierce he could be when he lost his temper. At 
least so she'd heard, regarding the Ryouga incident 
at school. Of course that could've just been for 
Akane's benefit, and she didn't know why, but that 
last thought made her feel a little guilty. She 
sighed and snapped, "Alright. I guess."
	"Excellent," he took a deep breath, preparing 
to say something when he chanced to glance around. 
The other early students were watching the two of 
them rather intently. They never knew. In the 
continuing soap opera that was Furinkan High School, 
any time the two of them got together was certain to 
a ratings sweeper. Or to mix metaphors another way, 
the rumormongers could certainly smell a fresh brewed 
story when they saw one, "Not here. Too many people," 
as he grabbed her by the wrist and led her off behind 
the gym.
	Nabiki gave a squawk of protest as he dragged 
her off, but did not resist too much.
	This raised even more eyebrows.
	Nabiki tore her wrist from his grip as they 
disappeared around the corner, away from prying eyes, 
"Stop pulling me already!"
	"Sorry," Tatewaki said, "I just rather this 
stay private. It is something of a delicate matter."
	Nabiki raised an eyebrow, "Delicate matter? 
Okay, I'll bite. What've you got to say and make it 
quick, we don't want to be late."
	Tatewaki took a deep breath, "I... I just think 
perhaps that we should abandon Akane's plan... and 
simply take the time for both of us to speak to both 
of our parents. Perhaps they will see reason."
	"Well, I hate to admit it, but for once I agree 
with you," Nabiki replied glumly.
	Tatewaki heaved a sigh of relief, "Excellent."
	"What brought this on, though? I thought you 
were enjoying all of that attention she was giving 
you," Nabiki asked pointedly.
	He gulped adjusting his glasses nervously, 
"I... that is... well... perhaps I think she may be 
taking her role as the... erhm... other woman MUCH 
too seriously."
	"You don't say."
	"The attention is quite, quite flattering, she 
is certainly an attractive girl..." he continued.
	"Yes..?" Nabiki prodded, her voice low and 
thoughtful.
	"There's the matter of her old boyfriend who is 
something of a ruffian. I would like to have words 
with him at that..." his eyes were hard for a moment, 
"But... well... also I am not certain how much more 
of your simmering malevolent disposition I can take!"
	"What did you say to me?!" Nabiki snarled, 
rushing forward, lifting Kuno up by his lapels. Quite 
a feat when one considers that she was half a head 
shorter than he was.
	"Er... ah! What I... that is... what I meant to 
say was that missed the days when you simply treated 
me with your quiet disdain for simply being a member 
of the male half of the human species! Now I have 
been singled out for your animosity and it is quite 
frankly wearing my patience to the limits!"
	Nabiki snorted, "So what?!"
	"So what? So what?!" Kuno snarled back, 
managing to kick his way free of her grip, "Nabiki... 
it is not my fault that I have been chosen by our 
parents to be engaged to you! Nor is it my fault that 
you are so beautiful that men willingly break their 
bodies against your fists just for a chance to be on 
a single date with you! If you must hate all men feel 
free to do so, I certainly am not one to try and 
impose my will on others, but for goodness sake, I 
should think I deserve better treatment than to be 
hated and reviled in their place! If you must hate me 
at least make certain its for what I've done rather 
than on general purposes!"
	Nabiki was surprised by the intensity of 
emotion Tatewaki had put into his statement. He was 
usually so mild mannered, that this entire discussion 
took her by surprise. Everything he'd said had kind 
of made sense... and she did feel a little flattered 
about that beautiful bit... but she was not going to 
let anyone... ESPECIALLY not a man get away with 
shouting at her.
	She poked him in the chest, "So you want me to 
stop hating you?! Is that it?! You want me to be mad 
at you for good reasons?! Fine, I've got GREAT 
reasons for hating you!" she took a powerful swing at 
him, which he leaned back avoiding easily. This only 
served to infuriate her even more. So she started 
chasing after him, fists swinging. With some 
difficulty he managed to evade all of her strikes, 
but he was breathing hard. He ducked under another 
roundhouse and stood up well inside her guard. He 
poked her hard on the forehead and snapped, "Fine! 
Name them!"
	"..." Nabiki was taken aback... she'd lost her 
temper and HAD been going all out against him. And 
he'd still managed to hit her first. It wasn't much 
of a hit, but she'd still been tagged! She tried to 
think of something to say, some fault for which she 
could hate him for. She couldn't think of a single 
thing... perhaps for hugging Akane? No, Akane had 
hugged him at least by all reports... no... it wasn't 
his fault their parents had engaged them... acting 
too meek? That always annoyed her about him... no, 
wait, he certainly wasn't acting meek now... dammit! 
He'd been more or less a perfect gentleman... she 
couldn't find a single fault in his behavior! "How 
dare you be so... so..." she struggled, looking for 
something to fault in him, "... nice," she finished 
weakly, slightly deflated.
	"What..?"
	Nabiki sighed, "Fine... right. Okay. I can't 
think of any reason why I should be mad at you. Other 
than maybe you dragging me off now and probably 
starting even more rumors about us."
	"Oh... sorry," Kuno replied. He then said 
thoughtfully, "They would nevertheless find something 
to make gossip of us soon enough, regardless of what 
we do."
	"Yeah," Nabiki said, smiling a little.
	"Alright.... can we now... please, please, 
please try to get along? For our sakes? I mean hating 
every man you see all the time surely must wear you 
down."
	"I guess," she shrugged.
	Tatewaki hazarded a small smile, "Good."
	"Good."
	"Great."
	Nabiki nodded, "Great." 
	The bell rang.
	"Ack! We gotta get to class!" Nabiki cried out, 
running for the main building.
	Tatewaki's mouth snapped shut and chased after 
her, "Right you are. Um, say..."
	"What?" she called back as they ran.
	"Would you like to have lunch with me later?"
	"Hey, we usually eat together anyway..." she 
answered.
	"No, no, no... I meant, just us. Let's see if 
we CAN get along without our siblings attempting to 
defuse the situation. I'm certain our parents would 
appreciate it."
	Nabiki considered this all the way to the door 
of the main building. She grinned then shrugged, 
"Okay. But its your funeral if you piss me off."
	He called back, "Understood. Now, up the 
stairs!"
	"I'll race you!" she called to him.
	"Hey! There's supposed to be no running in the 
halls!" as he struggled to catch up to her.
- - -
	Furinkan High School. Lunch. Akane and Ryouko 
were sitting at the usual tree, eating happily.
	Ryouko shyly accepted the food Akane proffered 
to her as she said, "So... let me see if I get this 
straight. You're by brother's girlfriend... right?"
	Akane nodded, "And he's been looking for me for 
the past two years."
	"Couldn't you have written back to him or 
something? Or him to you?"
	"I did write back," Akane replied, "Couple of 
times. I guess he just wasn't home when the mail 
arrived."
	Ryouko conceded, "Okay... but still two years. 
And now he's mad at you?"
	"Yeah. Kind of," Akane said slowly, "He caught 
me and a good friend of mine kinda during an 
unguarded moment... so I guess it must've looked 
really bad."
	"Unguarded... moment?" Ryouko twitched 
slightly.
	"Yeah," Akane sighed, looking wistfully off in 
the distance, "He was hugging me because I'd given 
him this book that he'd been wanting for a long time 
now."
	"It was a present?" Ryouko asked curiously.
	"Not really... more like a working incentive. 
One of the perks of the job," Akane replied.
	"Job?"
	"Yeah, he works for me, sometimes."
	Ryouko blinked, "What... kind of work?"
	"Oh, just writing love letters and stuff..." 
she giggled, "Most of the guys in this school 
couldn't be bothered to write their own, so they 
retain the services of a professional like him. 
Through me of course. Plus my nominal cut on the 
fee." 
	Ryouko just stared at her, "You've got to be 
kidding."
	"Nope, no joke."
	"Okay, okay... so my... brother... saw you two 
hugging and got mad?"
	"Yeah," Akane replied, "He's always been the 
jealous type, but I expect you know that... or 
not..."
	Ryouko smiled a little embarrassed, "Okay. But 
there wasn't really anything going on between you and 
the guy, right? So once Ryouga understands that, 
everything should be okay?"
	Akane started to nod but caught herself, 
"Well... yeah... I... um... there isn't anything... I 
mean he's engaged to my sister and all..."
	"Ah. So Ryouga has nothing to worry about?" 
Ryouko pressed.
	"Er... yes," Akane said finally. Her gaze had 
gone distant and thoughtful once more. She squinted a 
bit through her glasses as she noticed two people 
approaching the tree, "Hey, it's the two lovebirds."
	"Lovebirds?" Ryouko glanced in that direction.
	"Yeah, my brother and Kodachi," Akane smiled.
	As the two approached closer, they waved to the 
two at the tree. Ranma and Kodachi were holding 
hands, smiling happily. As they neared, there was a 
sudden rustling from the outer edges of the tree as a 
rather large student popped his head out of the 
foliage, "Whassa passwoid?"
	Ranma and Kodachi both took a step back, 
startled, "Sho! I don't need a password to sit down 
with my own sister!"
	"Miz Akane does not wish to be distoibed," the 
dangling thug rumbled at Ranma."
	Kodachi and Ryouko both stared at the other 
student. Ranma was glaring at Sho and starting to 
roll up his sleeve.
	Akane rolled her eyes, "Hey, Sho, let them 
through. When I tell you I don't want to be disturbed 
that doesn't include my brother or the Kunos, 
alright?
	"Sorry ma'am," the embarassed thug smiled 
sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, "I'll go 
tell da boys..."
	Akane nodded.
	Sho suddenly roared, "Youse heard da boss you 
big dumb lugs! You let her bruther and da Kunos thru 
widout da passwoid!"
	Other parts of the trees foliage swayed in 
response, "Got it!"
	"Sure thing, boss!"
	"What wuz da passwoid?"
	"Huh? I thought you knew what da passwoid was!"
	"We don't know the passwoid?!" Sho roared at 
the rest of the tree.
	Akane sighed and hung her head, "It's so hard 
to find good help these days."
	"Escuse us a minute boss while we um... 
conference," Sho called down to Akane before his head 
slipped back into the cover of the tree and there was 
a continued muted rustling as an argument regarding 
what the password was precisely filtered its way 
quietly down through the tree.
	Kodachi glanced up into the tree and murmured, 
"Well... you've certainly got... security."
	"I don't know how secure I'd feel with those 
guys hanging around all the time, though," Ranma 
replied, glancing up as the out of sight argument got 
more and more heated.
	Akane shrugged, "Actually, I'd rather they 
didn't do it, but they start moping if I don't give 
them something to do. And they like guarding me," she 
grinned mischievously.
	Ryouko waved shyly to Kodachi and Ranma. They 
both waved back, although Kodachi regarded her a 
little coolly.
	Akane noticed the slight undercurrents and 
spoke to help diffuse the situation, "You guys eaten 
yet? Ryouko and I are nearly done, but we can hang 
out with you guys for a while.
	Ranma sat down next to Akane at the tree, 
leaning his back against it, "Nah, we've eaten. But 
we saw something really, really weird just a while 
ago, that we figured we should tell you about."
	Kodachi nodded as she took her usual place next 
to Ranma, "Very strange."
	Akane pushed her glasses up her nose a little 
and smiled, "Really? What was it?"
	"Tatewaki and Nabiki are having lunch in the 
cafeteria," Kodachi said.
	"What's so weird about that?"
	"They're at the same table," Ranma said 
quietly, "And they look like they're actually 
enjoying themselves."
	Akane blinked, "You're kidding."
	"No joke," Ranma and Kodachi said together.
	Akane suddenly looked up into the sky, scanning 
it beyond the foliage of the tree...
	"What're you doing?" Ranma asked her pointedly.
	"I'm looking for the four horsemen..." Akane 
muttered vaguely, "The end of the world must be at 
hand.
	Ryouko blinked worriedly as Ranma hit Akane's 
arm, "Quit joking like that. I just thought you might 
want to hear about it."
	"This I HAVE to see for myself. Let's go 
Ryouko!" as Akane surged to her feet. There was an 
odd expression on her face, and much as it would've 
pained her to admit it... there was a certain tiny 
bit of jealousy in her eyes as she moved.
	"But we haven't finished lunch yet!" Ryouko 
said mildly.
	"Worry about that later! This is a news event!" 
as she rushed to the cafeteria, dragging Ryouko with 
her.
	After much more rustlings from the tree, four 
heavy set students dropped out of it like overripe 
fruit and gave chase to their boss.
	Kodachi snuggled up to Ranma as the last of 
Akane's goon squad gave chase, "Alone at last."
	Ranma chuckled, "Almost like it'd been planned 
or something."
	"Or something." Kodachi agreed.
- - -
	Akane sat glumly at the Tendo porch, watching 
the koi pond. Her expression was distracted and quite 
frankly, she wasn't feeling particularly chipper.
	Ranma rounded the corner and smiled at her 
before he plopped down at the spot next to her, "Hey, 
sis. What's that matter?"
	"Nothing."
	"Don't give me that, Akane."
	Akane sighed, sinking a little lower as she 
rested her chin on her forearms, "I don't know... I 
just feel kind of... weird about seeing Tatewaki-
sempai and Nabiki together."
	Ranma raised an eyebrow, "I'd've thought you'd 
be happy. I mean if they start getting along this 
means we won't have to go through with your cunning 
scheme to convince dad and Uncle Kuno to cancel the 
wedding."
	"That's not the point, Ranma," Akane replied 
with a sigh.
	He rested his chin on one hand and leaned 
against the table, "So what is the point? I don't 
usually see you moping around like this."
	"I'm not sure... I think... I think I feel 
jealous," Akane said tentatively.
	Ranma blinked, his hand slipped out from under 
his chin as his face fell onto the table, "You're 
what?! You mean you really do like Tatewaki?!"
	"Maybe... I don't know... I think... 
something..." 
	"But what about Ryouga?"
	"Nah... it's just... I really don't know. 
Seeing Tatewaki-sempai with Nabiki... and... I mean, 
I've been thinking about that... and well... there's 
Ryouga who's never around... but says he still loves 
me... and... it's really confusing..."
	Ranma put a sympathetic arm around Akane, 
"Hey... there, there... relax, it can't be that bad."
	Akane continued on, not having noticed what 
Ranma said, still staring in the distance, "On the 
one hand, there's Ryouga... sure he's lost all the 
time and he's got a nasty temper, but he's so nice, 
so sweet, so romantic, a great athlete... buff as 
hell... and the tightest buns I've ever see..."
	Ranma coughed.
	"Except for yours of course, bro." Akane added 
with a wry smile. She sighed and continued, "On the 
other hand there's Tatewaki, who's very intelligent, 
articulate, well read, very sweet even if he is a 
little reserved and shy... not to mention he's from a 
good family, and ridiculously rich."
	Ranma mumbled to himself, "I knew that'd come 
in somewhere..."
	Akane sighed again, trying to sink even lower 
into the table. She suddenly clenched both fists and 
hopped to her feet, "Whichever shall I choose!?!"
	Ranma blinked at her, "Hey, calm down, sis it's 
not exactly like you've got a--"
	Nabiki walked in with a wry expression on her 
face, a slight frown creased her features as she 
looked at Akane, "Choose what, Akane?" she asked.
	Akane whirled on her, her own face moving into 
a frown, "Oh. Hi, Nabiki. Finally speaking to me?"
	Nabiki shrugged, "Well, it seemed kind of 
ridiculous for us to not talk over HIM of all 
people."
	"You don't say," Akane snapped before she could 
stop herself, "This have anything to do with your 
having lunch with Tatewaki?"
	"Not really... I mean..." Nabiki seemed a 
little puzzled by Akane's reaction, but her own 
annoyance was beginning to flare slightly as well, 
"What's with the third degree?"
	"Did you have a nice time with him?" Akane 
prodded.
	"Actually yes, he's actually pretty good 
company." Nabiki replied, frowning at Akane now.
	"How nice. I could've told you that."
	"What's THAT supposed to mean?!" Nabiki's voice 
rose.
	"Nothing. Nothing at all."
	"Oh, really?"
	"Yes, really."
	Ranma noticing that the conversation was 
reaching critical mass had learned his lesson from 
the last time and quietly slunk away.
	He headed out, shaking his head in disbelief. 
He never thought he'd see the day. Akane hadn't lost 
her temper like that in a long time... she was 
usually so in control of herself. More often than not 
she'd just content herself with getting revenge some 
other way at a more opportune moment. Course, she 
could probably still be sore at Nabiki from before. 
That could've been it. 
	So wrapped up was Ranma in his own thoughts 
that he hardly noticed Tatewaki standing just inside 
the front door. Until he'd bumped into him.
	"Ack!"
	"Ow!"
	"Oh, Tatewaki-sempai... I didn't notice you."
	"It's alright, Ranma... I... um... I was just 
walking Nabiki home and she insisted on getting me 
something to drink before I left." Tatewaki replied a 
little hesitantly. He blinked curiously, trying to 
see around Ranma, "Is anything amiss? I can hear 
people arguing..."
	"Oh, that," Ranma replied glancing over his 
shoulder, "Um... that's nothing, just Akane and 
Nabiki having a kinda heated discussion... why don't 
you stay here, and I'll go get that drink for you?"
	"Oh... only if it's no trouble..." Kuno 
averred.
	"No trouble... honest..." as he turned to head 
for the kitchen... he was mentally working out how he 
was going to get the two of them to keep quiet. It 
wasn't seemly to have people arguing when there was a 
guest in the house.
	Just before he could round the corner though, 
Nabiki's voice suddenly rose loudly enough to be 
heard clearly. Quite possibly all the way to the next 
neighborhood, "I am NOT in love with Tatewaki and I 
am NOT interested in him in that way! I'm already in 
love with someone else!!!"
	Ranma skidded to a halt. Whoo-boy, Akane 
must've pushed the right buttons he mused. No way 
Nabiki would've admitted to that unless she were 
really pissed. He heard an odd half strangled sound 
behind him and he turned to look.
	Tatewaki had fallen to his knees. His eyes 
behind his glasses were glazed and staring.
	Ranma moved next to him quickly, "Hey, 
Tatewaki... Tatewaki, you okay, man? Speak to me."
	"She's... in love with someone... else?" 
Tatewaki managed to force the words out slowly.
	"Er... well... yeah... kinda..."
	Kuno blinked at Ranma, "You knew of this?"
	"Er... sorta. She told me to keep it a 
secret..."
	Kuno continued to stare blankly for long 
moments as the distant argument began to taper off to 
silence.
	"I... " he spoke slowly and deliberately, "... 
see." His flat, dead tone indicated a passion Ranma 
had never seen in Tatewaki before. His fists were 
clenched and his eyes still glazed.
	"Dude... stop that you're scaring me..." Ranma 
said slowly.
	Kuno looked up at Ranma and said quickly, in a 
more or less normal voice, "I'm terribly sorry for 
the inconvenience, Ranma-kun. I really must be on my 
way. Kindly convey my apologies to Nabiki that I 
could not wait," and with that, he hopped quickly to 
his feet and dashed for the door. Ranma could almost 
swear he heard Kuno muttering under his breath.
	"What was that all about?" Ranma muttered.
- - -
	Ranma yawned sleepily as he waited for Nabiki 
to step out of the bath.
	"Oh, Ranma," Nabiki nodded to him as she opened 
the door, "Bath's free if you want to take one."
	"Thanks, sis," Ranma smiled, "Er... you okay?" 
he asked gently.
	"Hmmm? Oh, fine, fine. Just me and Akane 
fighting again." Nabiki shrugged, "No big deal."
	"You sure?" Ranma prodded.
	"Yeah. I'm not even sure what we were arguing 
about," Nabiki flashed a grin."
	"But are you guys talking?" Ranma asked.
	"No," Nabiki said flatly. She then realized 
something and looked around, "Where is she? I thought 
you two always took a bath together."
	"Yeah, we do usually, but she wanted to blow a 
little steam off so she's at the dojo." Ranma said 
without thinking.
	Nabiki raised an eyebrow, "Ah. Maybe I'll join 
her," she smirked as she turned and stalked down the 
stairs. Ranma shrugged, a little sleepily and stepped 
into the bath, intent on getting himself relaxed. 
	It was an hour later when Ranma and Akane 
cuddled sleepily in bed.
	"Are you two talking again?" Ranma asked 
tiredly.
	"Kind of. We worked things out in the dojo," 
Akane replied sullenly.
	"Yeah, I noticed you were favoring your left 
leg a while ago," Ranma murmured.
	"She's got that vicious roundhouse kick..." 
Akane sighed, "I don't know what it is about Nabiki 
that keeps pushing all the wrong buttons with me. I'm 
not usually so... out of control."
	"Yeah, I know," Ranma replied, tightening his 
arms around her. They stayed silent for long moments 
before a thought occurred to him, "By the way... what 
happened to Ryouko?"
	"She got lost on the way to cafeteria. If we 
need any more proof that she's a Hibiki, that was 
it," Akane added with a slight grin.
	"You know, you and Nabiki can't keep this up," 
Ranma said, steering the conversation back where it 
should be, "If Kasumi finds out you two have been 
fighting again, she's going to need another lie 
down."
	"I know, I know... quit bugging me about it. 
I'll apologize to her tomorrow, okay?" she sighed, "I 
just realized how stupid we are for fighting over 
Tatewaki of all people..."
	"Yeah... he looked really spooked when he heard 
you two arguing," Ranma replied.
	"He heard us?!" Akane half sat up, alarmed.
	"Turned out he'd walked Nabiki home and he was 
still there while you and big sis were fighting. He 
was kinda freaked out towards the end there..."
	Akane sat up, taking Ranma's hands in her own, 
"Alright, Ranma... tell me every detail," she said in 
her sharp precise tone as she put her glasses back 
on, "Don't leave anything out."
	Ranma blinked then smiled in the darkness. This 
was more like it. This was the Akane he knew. He 
leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek 
before he started telling her everything that had 
happened earlier in the afternoon. Every single 
detail. Before Ranma stopped talking Akane was 
already wearing a very blank expression on her 
face...
- - -

end chapter 7

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