Ranma 1/2: The Insanity Continues

Volume 2 - Reflections and Changes 

By: Lord Archive.

Authors note: 

This series deals with a married Ranma and Akane, so there are some 
sexual references and innuendoes in the story. 

Legal babble: Ranma 1/2 and all characters (except the delivery-men) are 
copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Video, ect... and is used without 
consent. I am only borrowing them. I will return them... eventually.

< > represents a character's thoughts.




			------------------------------
			*Chapter 1 - Honey Moon Blues*
			------------------------------


Intro: Hello! Saotome Akane here. Yes, you heard right, Saotome- I 
finally married that baka, one month after the bombed wedding. It 
happened after I had a long private talk with Ranma, found out about 
Ryoga's curse, and got pregnant. You would think that this would end at 
least some part of the insanity of the past year and a half, but it 
didn't.

---------------------------------------------------

She had lost him. Without him, she was nothing, cared for nothing, had 
nothing. Eleven years of her life, her childhood, her womanhood, all 
wasted chasing a man she could never have. And he had just married 
someone else. What was worse, she couldn't exact her vengeance upon him 
because she still loved him. 

Kuonji Ukyou sat on the floor of the restaurant she had built for her 
love, cursing him and the memories her restaurant brought up. After ten 
o'clock, she got off the floor and grabbed some pens and paper. 
Motioning to Konatsu, who had been watching her from the shadows the 
entire time, she handed the writing equipment to him.

She stated with a sob, "Write down any ideas you have to remodel this 
place."

"Huh?"

She did not reply as she walked over to the counter, pulled out her 
whoop-ass spatula and decimated the counter.

Konatsu shouted, "Ukyou-sama, Stop! What are you doing?!"

"My old life is over," she said, not looking up from the debris for a 
moment. Then she turned to him, looking at him with tears in her eyes. 
"So I'm preparing to make a new one."

"What are you planning to do?" Konatsu said in a worried voice.

"I'm going to gut Ucchan's and open Ukyou's in it's place. And when I 
see Ranma and Akane again I'll... I'll... I don't know what I'll do."

"They didn't mean to hurt you. They are your friends. Please don't push 
them away."

He did not get a reply as Ukyou resumed her destructive outpouring 
against her restaurant.

---------------------------------------------------

Kuno slowly marched into his room, crestfallen. The loves of his life 
just married each other. Well, one of his loves, the other was a lie. He 
glared at a poster of the girl he once called his pig-tailed goddess.

He raised his bokken to the poster and shouted, "You vile cur. You have 
deceived me, the Blue Thunder, with your heinous magic. For that alone I 
have the right to seek vengeance, but you have also captured the heart 
of the beauteous Tendo Akane. For that the swift punishment of heaven is 
not enough. You deserve the slow agonizing revenge of hell!"

He shredded all the pictures of onna-Ranma off his walls, and then his 
eyes befell the pictures of Akane.

"You are now lost to me for all time. You the fairest of woman, lost to 
the evil Saotome. I shall honor your wish and not interfere, but I shall 
have my revenge on Ranma, somehow. Now I must commit the ultimate 
sacrifice and lay low my love for you."

He took down all the pictures of Akane. As he removed the final poster, 
he noticed a picture that had been placed over two years ago, before his 
obsession with Akane.

"Maybe it is you who is truly the love of my life. A girl of cunning and 
intellect that reviles no other, but your spirit does not match what a 
noble warrior such as I should have as a wife and love. After all this 
time, there is still something that beckons me to you though. I shall 
sleep on this thought."

He walked over to his bed and fell dead asleep.

The only picture remaining on his wall was tattered and faded with age. 
It was almost indistinguishable, however, the image of a fifteen year 
old girl with short brown hair could still be seen.

---------------------------------------------------

Overnight the unusually warm weather passed and gave way to the cold 
chilling rains of winter. Ranma and Akane didn't care, they weren't 
going anywhere while on their honeymoon. Most of their friends and 
rivals, however, felt the weather suited their mood perfectly.

-----------------------------

Ryoga stood at the door of the Unryu farmhouse, watching Akari feed her 
pigs. He was lost in thought. He lamented the lost of Akane, and hoped 
he was not losing Akari. He made a mistake at the wedding. A mistake he 
doubted she would truly forgive him for. Akari returned from her morning 
chores and looked at Ryoga with concern.

Akari asked, "Ryoga are you okay?"

Ryoga looked at her with sorrow filled eyes, "I'm fine."

Akari shook her head, "Ryoga, I realize it's hard to let go of someone 
you love. But you should know first loves never work out."

"Who was your first love?"

Akari sighed, "I guess if I tell you, it'll help you get over Akane. 
Well, he was this guy at school and when he laughed he sounded like a 
pig...." 

---------------------------------------------------

"Here you go Mu Mu-chan," said Kasumi as she placed some food and water 
near Mousse.

Mousse quacked his thanks. He was thankful Kasumi allowed him to be her 
temporary pet, so as not to inconvenience the Saotomes and the Tendos. 
He sat in the kitchen and watched Nodoka and Kasumi get into a pleasant 
argument over who should cook. 

He really didn't mind being Kasumi's pet, as it was better than being 
Cologne's pet. Even if he had to be Cologne's pet, he would be happy. 
Shampoo was free of Saotome and he now has the chance to win Shampoo 
through combat. 

He wanted to go to Shampoo and declare his love to her, but he knew that 
would cause him no end of pain from either Shampoo or Cologne, possibly 
both. He just sat there and took comfort knowing that soon he will be 
able to prove his love.

He was distracted from his thoughts by Nabiki asking, "So what are you 
doing here, Mousse?"

"Quack, quack."

"Oh, he's been thrown out of his home until he can defeat Shampoo," 
answered Kasumi.

"Decided to play the P-Chan act, huh?" Nabiki asked.

Mousse nodded. "Quack."

Nodoka, realizing this was the same guy Shampoo threw into the koi pond 
at the wedding reception, asked, "Why is he staying a duck?"

"He insisted because he doesn't want to inconvenience us," answered 
Kasumi.

Nodoka shook her head, "My son certainly has some interesting friends."

---------------------------------------------------

She did not understand how she had lost him. She was cuter than Akane, 
she was a better fighter than Akane, she was a better cook than Akane... 
in fact, she was better than Akane at everything else she could think 
of, as well. She lay on the bed, bemoaning her loss.

Shampoo had loved Ranma with all of her heart, but after he got Akane 
pre... pre... pregnant, he had to marry her. Shampoo had never managed 
to get anything more than a hug or a kiss from Ranma. Who was she 
kidding? All of the times he hugged her were drug induced, and she 
forced all of the other hugs and kisses upon him. She had never gotten 
anything from him.

Shampoo rolled over, revealing the tears in her eyes. All she wanted to 
do was to be able to wake up and find this was all just a nightmare, but 
she knew in her heart that it wasn't. Ranma was lost to her...

---------------------------------------------------

Cologne worked the Neko-hantan alone as Shampoo was still in bed. 
Cologne would have to get her downstairs soon to help with the lunch 
rush. 

Cologne wanted to help Shampoo get over the loss quickly, but she had 
long since raised a child or dealt with these matters. She had spent the 
last year guiding Shampoo as a warrior and had rarely given what could 
be considered motherly advice. What she told Akane after being freed 
from the imprisonment gem was something she had said to many young 
mothers before and probably will say it again in the future, and were 
not exactly her own words. 

Cologne used her last chance to get Ranma as a protector and possible 
addition to the amazon tribe by making Akane an Amazon, and it worked. 
The only man who has a chance to defeat her had pledged to help the 
Amazons in times of trouble and there by gained a powerful protector. 
Ranma still remained an enigma to her as he was only seventeen yet he 
was among the strongest warriors on the planet.  she mused. She pushed the thought aside to be pursued 
again in the future. 

She decided to see if she had a potion that could dull the love Shampoo 
felt for Ranma, and wished she had realized the need to use it on Akane 
before it was too late.

---------------------------------------------------

Ranma slowly woke with a smile on his face. He frowned a little when he 
realized that Akane wasn't there.  he thought. He heard a 
noise approach the door and was suddenly filled with dread, thinking, 
 

The door opened to reveal Akane holding a tray with two bowls, two 
glasses, two spoons, container of milk, container of orange juice, and a 
box of cereal. Akane saw the frightened look on Ranma's face and was a 
little angry.

Ranma relaxed at the sight of cereal and smiled, "Good morning."

There was a short battle in Akane's head to either be angry at Ranma or 
to forget about it. She forgot about it.

"Actually it's afternoon now," she blushed. "You can thank your Mom for 
suggesting cereal for breakfast. She thought it best for me to keep 
things simple, at least during the honeymoon."

He nodded in agreement, thinking, 

---------------------------------------------------

Under the trees, in the cracks and crevices, and along the rooftops of 
Furinkan High School were hundreds of male figures. Some were wearing 
all black in mourning, some were plotting and planning, and some were 
designing highly explosive land mines. All, however, shared one common 
feature, they were all crying over the loss of Akane. 

Hiroshi and Daisuke were among the few who were happy. Sure Akane was no 
longer available, if she ever was. The wedding freed Ukyou and Shampoo 
to enter the dating circuit.

"So which one do you want to go after the Amazon or the chef?" asked 
Daisuke.

"I prefer the chef. The Amazon seems too...well...she's easily swayed by 
mood swings and is extremely violent," replied Hiroshi.

"But that would also describe Akane, and you know what kind of following 
she had. Besides Shampoo is a much better looker."

"Looks are good, but not everything."

"True, but it is a large part of the consideration."

Hiroshi leaned toward Daisuke and asked, "Are you foolish enough to 
challenge her to a fight?"

Daisuke grinned, "Challenge her to fight, no. Set a trap to defeat her, 
yes."

Hiroshi shook his head, "Are you stupid? If you defeat her like that she 
might decide to kill you. If she doesn't you'll have to marry her and 
move to China. Leaving everything behind."

Daisuke leaned back, "It might just be worth it."

"You are stupid."

---------------------------------------------------

Nabiki picked at her lunch. She was trying to figure out what money 
making schemes to start considering her main source wasn't going to 
generate as much money as it used to. Her last scheme was to open a 
betting pool on how long it would be before Akane got pregnant. This 
didn't fool many of the students as several bets were placed that she 
already got pregnant. Three people won so far out of the forty-two who 
placed bets. Most of them thought she's been pregnant for more than a 
week.

She looked over her mental list of people who made her money,  She absent-mindedly wrote down 
some of her ideas.

Nabiki looked up and said to one of her cohorts, "I want to set up a 
betting pool based on Mousse's attempts to win Shampoo. Bets should be 
taken on date of first battle, winner of said battle, if Shampoo is 
defeated and/or married before Mousse can defeat her, and if Shampoo 
accepts Mousse if he wins."

---------------------------------------------------

Two of Akane's friends sat eating lunch, thinking about yesterday.

"That was an interesting wedding," Sayuri said.

"Certainly was," agreed Yuka.

"It seems that nothing is normal for them."

"They lead an interesting life. Just be thankful we get to watch from 
the sidelines."

"Wouldn't want to get involved in some of that craziness."

Yuka nodded, "It would prove rather bad for our health."

They giggled a little. Sayuri started to pick at her food and said, "It 
seems odd that Akane got married."

"How so? She was engaged to him for a year and a half and they love each 
other."

"Yes, but before then she screamed daily, 'I despise men!' And she's the 
first to get married and to someone who's, 'a man amongst men.'"

Yuka giggled, "Maybe she wanted to marry his girl half."

Sayuri laughed, "I doubt it."

---------------------------------------------------

 Nodoka thought as she walked 
to the restaurant section of the market. She stopped as she noticed 
Ukyou and Konatsu taking a broken table to the trash.

"Hello," Nodoka greeted cheerfully.

Ukyou and Konatsu replied, "Hello."

"Ukyou, I thought you would be at school now."

"I don't feel up to going to school right now."

"What seems to be the matter?" Nodoka asked.

"Everything is wrong," Ukyou replied angrily.

"Why don't we talk about it? It would make you feel better."

"It couldn't hurt anymore than I feel now."

Ukyou led Nodoka into what used to be Ucchan's. Konatsu continued to 
clean up what was left of the place. Nodoka was shocked at the damage.

"What happened here?"

"I ripped the place apart," Ukyou said, unemotionally.

"Whatever for?"

"I built this place out of my love for Ranma. I built it here so I could 
be near him. And if he had chosen me, I could have supported him. This 
place was a symbol of my love for him, and he rejected that love. This 
is what's left of that love." Ukyou finished as she waved her hand 
across the decimated room.

"Ukyou dear, Ranma didn't reject your love. He still cares for you. It's 
just that there is someone more important to him. He wants to stay 
friends with you..."

Ukyou angrily interrupted, "That's all I ever was! Just a friend! He 
never gave me chance to be more than friends. I wanted us to be married. 
Why didn't he choose me? I love him more than Akane ever could."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Even Ranma admitted I love him more than she does! He means everything 
to me and he left me behind. Again!"

"Why does he mean everything to you?"

Ukyou looked a Nodoka for a moment. "Because he's the first person to 
see the real me."

"Did he really see the real you, or the you you wanted to be for him?"

"What he saw was the real me."

"From what Ranma told me about you, the Ukyou he knew would never have 
attacked him at the wedding attempt nor destroyed her own restaurant. 
Yet you've done both. You've been hiding behind masks your entire life, 
first as a guy and then as Ranma's cute, friendly fiancee. I suspect 
neither of them are the real you."

"Who am I then?" Ukyou asked sarcastically.

"I don't know. But, you've been given the opportunity to find out. You 
might even realize that you never really loved Ranma in the first place, 
but was in love with the idea of being in love with him."

Ukyou replied angrily, "But I love him, not some idea of love."

"When you thought of your future with Ranma, was it always perfect."

"Of course."

"You realize if I asked Ranma or Akane that, they would say otherwise."

"Huh?"

"They realize their life will have problems, especially with the 
insanity my son seems to bring with him. They'll fight to make things 
better, because of their love for each other. They know a perfect ideal 
life is impossible for them."

"I could've made his life perfect."

"Are you willing to put up with the life my son leads? Not knowing if 
the animal that entered your home is really an animal or not. Having 
demons crash into your living room. Going a week without something 
magical or supernatural happening would be a rare event. Knowing that 
one of his adventures will be the death of him, you, or someone you care 
about. Have you ever thought of these things would be part of your 
perfect life?"

Ukyou stared at Nodoka. She had never thought about his future in that 
context. It was always of him being a loving husband with him helping 
her or her helping him in their chosen professions. For some reason she 
felt the insanity would end with his marriage.

Ukyou, uncertain how to answer, asked, "Did you ask Akane this?"

"Yes, after the wedding attempt, when I realized just how much craziness 
my son's life has. Akane told me that her time in China proved to her 
how much she loves Ranma, and his love for her. Did you know they both 
almost died trying to save each other?"

"But I'd die for him too!"

"Would you also put up with being kidnapped and used for bait?"

"I'd never get kidnapped."

"Really. Do you think you could fight off dozens of attackers that are 
dan all level martial artists? What if they fly? Use magic?"

"I don't know." Ukyou looked at floor. 

Nodoka put her hand on Ukyou's shoulder. "Ukyou, Dear. I think you've 
been living in a dream. A dream that ended with an outcome you didn't 
want. It's time you looked at things for what they really are, and not 
what you want them to be."

Nodoka's words struck at Ukyou. Everything she thought she knew about 
her life had just been shredded apart. What did she know? She knew how 
to make the best okonomiyaki, but right now it seemed she didn't really 
know anything else.

Ukyou gave Nodoka a confused look, saying, "I'll think about what you 
said. I need to get back to fixing this place."

"If you need to talk, call me," Nodoka said as she pulled a peace of 
paper and pen out of her purse and wrote down the number to the Saotome 
home. "If I'm not there, I'll be at the dojo."

Ukyou nodded and said, "Thanks."

---------------------------------------------------

Ryoga and Akari sat quietly in her kitchen eating lunch.

"Akari?" Ryoga began, "You're not completely over your old boy friend, 
are you?"

Akari shook her head, "I guess not. I thought I was, but talking about 
him brought back some memories. I guess there will always be a place in 
my heart for him, as Akane has in yours."

Ryoga nodded, "It gets easier, right?"

"You mean easier to not think about them."

"I guess."

"It does get easier, and the pain of missing them also decreases over 
time."

"I'm lucky, I found someone before I lost Akane," he smiled weakly.

"It's too bad about Ukyou and Shampoo, though, from what I understand 
they don't have anyone else."

Ryoga nodded in agreement, "Especially Ukyou, besides Ranma, her only 
friends are Akane and Konatsu. And, well, you can guess what she thinks 
of Ranma and Akane now."

"Maybe we should visit Nerima soon, and help."

"That would be great," he smiled. While he was beginning to like staying 
at the Unryu farmhouse, he still disliked being near a pig farm.

----------------------------------------------------

After that little incident with Ukyou, Nodoka began to worry about 
another person hurt by this marriage. Because of that she decided to 
drop by the Neko-Hanten and check up on Shampoo. Besides, she was 
hungry- she hadn't had lunch yet.

"Nihao," Shampoo greeted sadly.

"Hello," Nodoka returned.

Shampoo lead Nodoka to a seat. "What does mother-in... Ranma's mother 
want?" 

After a second of looking at the menu, "I guess I'll have Pork Ramen. 
Oh, Shampoo, when you have some time I'd like to talk to you."

"Shampoo no want to talk now."

Cologne appeared next to Shampoo and interrupted, "Shampoo would be 
happy to talk with you after the lunch rush is over."

"But..." Shampoo said before Cologne gave her a stern look. "Okay, 
Shampoo talk with Ranma's mother later."

Cologne went back to the kitchen, thinking, 

Shampoo walked over to her various customers. She talked to them in a 
somber voice. And, much to the dismay of the male clientele, she didn't 
bounce around like she normally did.

Shampoo had devoted her attention to the customers, until Nodoka was the 
only one left. She sighed and walked over to her. "Shampoo free to talk 
now."

"How are you feeling?"

Shampoo began to study the floor, saying, "Not good. Shampoo trying to 
understand why ai... Ranma chose violent girl over Shampoo."

Nodoka replied with a smile, "The simplest of reasons, love."

"But why Ranma love violent girl?"

"I couldn't begin to even try to know all the reasons."

Shampoo shook her head, "Shampoo is better than Akane in everything, 
Ranma should love Shampoo."

"Dear, if being better meant anything, I would never had fallen in love 
with Genma. Even after all his failings and mistakes, I still love him."

Shampoo blinked. "How love man who isn't even good panda?"

"I'll let you know when I figure it out."

"Don't know?"

Nodoka shook her head, "No, I don't."

"One should love someone who's perfect, like Ranma," Shampoo protested.

Nodoka laughed, "No one is perfect. To truly love someone you need to 
recognize their failings, and accept or even prefer them."

"Ranma not perfect?"

"If Ranma was perfect, would he have kept his relationships unresolved 
as long as did, lied to me about his curse, or insult someone he loves?"

After a moment, Shampoo answered, "Shampoo don't think so."

"Akane recognizes these faults, and even sees some that aren't even 
there, and yet she loves him. Ranma also sees her faults and accepts 
them too."

Shampoo shook her head, "Thought Shampoo knew what love was. Now not so 
sure."

"Love is something that is unexplainable. If you can explain it, it's 
not love."

"Maybe should talk with Mousse, about this. Mousse can list why love 
Shampoo."

"Then maybe he doesn't really love you, he just thinks he does."

"Like Shampoo thought love Ranma," Shampoo said somberly.

"While you may not have really loved him, it doesn't mean you don't have 
strong feelings for him that resemble love. You'll still miss him and 
yearn for him, but it's not true love."

"Not true love," Shampoo repeated as she turned away and walked off, 
lost in thought.

"Thank you. You've helped a lot," Cologne said as she arrived at the 
table.

"It's the least I could do, considering my son is the cause of her pain. 
If she needs someone to talk to, I'll being willing to do it." Nodoka 
handed Cologne a peace of paper.

"She just might take you up on that offer."

---------------------------------------------------

Ranma was awake in bed with Akane sleeping on him. He gently stroked her 
hair.

"You may be uncute, but now you're my uncute wife," he whispered.

Akane was not as asleep as she appeared. She opened her eyes, letting a 
hidden tear fall. "Ranma," she sniffed. "Why do you still call me that? 
Do I really look that bad to you?"

He sighed. "Akane... I'm not insulting you by calling you uncute. And 
I'm not talking about how you look, either. You're a very beautiful 
woman, but you aren't cute." Akane didn't quite look so sad, but now she 
looked very confused. Ranma sighed. "You aren't some giggling school 
girl, you aren't some bubbly flirt, you don't act very... how do I put 
this... you aren't TOO feminine. You're cute enough, especially when you 
smile... but you're not what people generally consider cute. You don't 
fit the 'ideal' model, you're don't have Kasumi's innocence. You aren't 
a ditz like... say... someone like Azusa or Shampoo. You aren't 
subservient or child-like... you're too mature for me to consider you 
cute all of the time. I don't think I could have fallen in love with you 
like I did if you weren't..."

She snuggled closer to him. "Well, I guess I might not have fallen I 
love with someone who wasn't a bit of a pervert."

"Who is calling who a pervert? You're the one that seduced me."

---------------------------------------------------

Ukyou lay in bed, eyes open, staring at the ceiling and thinking 

She rolled to her side, still thinking. 

She rolled over.  Ukyou sighed. 

Ukyou rolled onto her back. 

She rolled to her side, still thinking, 

---------------------------------------------------

 Nabiki thought as she sloshed 
into class. She really didn't like the longer amount of time it took to 
get to school from Nodoka's home. Seeing Kuno's bright cheery face this 
morning didn't help matters. 

She sat down at her desk and opened her school bag. When she went to 
place a couple books into the desk, she felt something was in there. 
Something she did not remember putting there. She bent over to take a 
peek inside. Her eyes widen at what she saw. It took her a couple 
seconds to regain composure. She didn't remove it. Rather, she proceeded 
to empty her book-bag into her desk to keep anyone from seeing it. Once 
done, she noticed that Kuno's smile was much bigger and that he was 
failing rather badly at looking inconspicuous.

---------------------------------------------------

After school, in the auditorium of Furinkan High School, a large number 
of guys were in a meeting.

"Now that Akane has married Ranma, we must disband the Tendo Akane Fan 
Club. But, we can form a new club and set our goals on another girl," 
the guy at the podium announced. He pressed a button on the podium and a 
picture was displayed on the screen behind him. "This girl, Shampoo, is 
an Amazon. Unlike Akane, defeating her in battle will not get you a date 
with her, but married to her!"

"Why Shampoo? I think we should go after Ukyou," one of the guys 
retorted.

"Look at Shampoo! She is beyond cute. How could you prefer that 
cross-dresser?" another guy shouted.

"She doesn't have a homicidal maniac chasing away her suitors," answered 
yet another guy.

"Hey, what about Kodachi? She's gorgeous," one guy said before being 
thrown out.

"Let's put it to a vote. All in favor of Shampoo raise your hand," 
stated the guy at the podium. He quickly counted the hands. "Now, those 
in favor of Ukyou." After he finished counting, he announced, "23 votes 
for Shampoo and 23 votes for Ukyou. Hey, how can we have 46 votes from 
41 people?"

"Simple, some of us just want to get a girl."

The guy at the podium smacked himself in the head, and then his eyes got 
wide as an idea hit him, "I got it! We'll make two clubs. One club goes 
after Shampoo, and the other Ukyou."

Most of the guys nod in agreement. After hours of bickering and 
nit-picking the two clubs were formalized, the Get Married to Shampoo 
Club or GMSC and the Ucchan Fan Club.

---------------------------------------------------

Nabiki stayed late at school. She always found one thing or another to 
help her make money while there. This afternoon it was the formation of 
the two clubs designed to snare Ranma's ex-fiancees. The GMSC promised 
to be the more profitable of the two.

While making money was her normal reason to stay late at school, 
however, it was far from the only reason today. She didn't want anyone 
to see what someone had put in her desk. It was a couple hours after 
school and most of the sport teams were already on their way home. She 
decided now would be the time to get the item. She removed the books 
from her desk and placed them into her school bag. She then reached in 
and pulled out the item, a bouquet of red roses. She inhaled the aroma 
of the sweet pollen, bringing a smile to her lips. She noticed the card 
attached and read it.

	To one whose beauty outshines the morning star,
	and whose cunning and intellect exceeds others by far.

				with love,
				Your Secret Admirer.

Nabiki couldn't stop laughing, "Secret admirer! Who's he kidding! Ranma 
could figure this one out." She breathed in the fragrance of the roses 
again. "Well, it is kind of sweet," she smiled. She carefully placed the 
roses into a large paper bag that she had brought with her.

She left, thinking, 

---------------------------------------------------

A truck with Nerima Furniture written on its side sat in front of the 
Saotome-Tendo home. Two men stood at the front door and knocked. A 
disheveled looking girl with red hair answered the door.

"What do you want?" a tired yet angry Ranma asked.

The taller of the two men said, "We're hear to deliver a futon couch to 
Saotome Ranma."

Ranma replied, "I'm him."

The delivery men blinked simultaneously. 

"If you would sign here, we can bring it in," the shorter man said. 

He handed Ranma a clipboard and pen. Ranma looked it over for a second 
before signing it.

An equally disheveled girl with short black hair entered the hallway and 
asked, "Ranma, who's at the door?" 

"It's the delivery men with our wedding present from my Mom."

"Oh. Better clean up our room while they get it."

Ranma handed back the clipboard, "You can bring it upstairs."

The two men looked stupefied. They turned around and went to get the bed 
from the truck.

"Wedding present?" the taller man muttered, "Aren't they both girls?"

The shorter man mused, "Changing times I guess."

When they returned, they saw the same short-haired black girl helping a 
guy with wet jet black hair, dressed exactly the same as the redhead, 
move a mattress.

"You can put our futon in that room," Ranma said as he pointed.

They shook their heads in disbelief.  the two thought simultaneously



		   -------------------------------------------
		   *Chapter 2 - Martial Arts Press Conference*
		   -------------------------------------------



>BRING<
>BRING<
>BRING<

"Huh?"

>BRING<

"Phone. Ranma, can you get that?" Akane asked, still asleep.

>BRING<

She opened her eyes lazily and saw Ranma was dead asleep. She shook him 
in an attempt to wake him.

>BRING<

He hugged her tightly.

"Baka! At least let go of me."

>BRING<

Whoever was calling was persistent. "I have to get the phone," she 
muttered as she tried to remove Ranma's arms from her.

>BRING<

"Guess I have to go with what works," she said, knocking him off the 
bed. His arms still holding her, brought her down with him.

>BRING< 

They landed with a thud and his arms let go.

>BRING<

She got off the ground and ran to the phone. 

>BRING<
>BRING<

"Hello?" Akane said, after picking up the phone.

"About time you answered the phone, Sis," Nabiki answered from the other 
end of the line.

"Nabiki, why are you calling?"

"Two reasons: First, if you set your alarm last night, you would be up 
right now."

Akane looked at a clock. It read, "7:47." She wasn't pleased, they're 
already running late for school.

"Second, I wanted to know how you planned to deal with the rumor horde."

"Um, haven't thought about them," Akane replied with a sense of dread.

"You know you're going to have to deal with them, otherwise, they'll 
come up with some of their own twisted rumors about what's happened."

Akane really didn't like the question she was about to ask, "So, what do 
you suggest?"

"I suggest you two lovebirds hold a question and answer session after 
school today. I can go to school now and set it up so they won't pester 
you two with question until then."

Akane sighed, "It would help, I guess."

"Great, I'll make sure everything is set up. By the way, Kasumi should 
be back before you get home from school and father is staying at 
Auntie's house. The Saotomes and father will be alternating between 
staying there and here. I'll see you at school. Bye."

"Bye," Akane said, hanging up the phone. She sighed, she expected that 
they would come up with that kind of arrangement. She expected their 
parents would stay away for the next month or so. But, when the baby 
comes closer to being due, she wouldn't be able to get rid of them.

Akane rushed back into her room. Ranma was still asleep on the floor.

"Wake up!" she yelled, kicking him in the side.

He rolled over and snored a little.

"Maybe a kiss will wake the Baka Prince," she said with grin.

She kneeled, leaned forward and kissed him. He responded by wrapping his 
arms around her and returning the kiss passionately. 

Akane broke the kiss and said, "Good morning."

It was only now that Ranma noticed he was on the floor. "Huh? What am I 
doing here?"

"You fell off the bed when I went to get the phone."

"Oh," he replied, looking a little confused.  Then he 
looked up at Akane.  

He moved in for another kiss. "Sorry," Akane interrupted, holding him 
away with a hand to his chest. "It's already almost eight o'clock, too 
late for that. We have to get ready for school... and you know if I 
start kissing you, I'm not going to stop for quite a while..." 

"Can't we skip school?" Ranma asked, disappointed.

"And face whatever punishment Principal Kuno would have for us?"

Ranma sighed. "Uh... It probably would be bad. I guess not..." 

"Okay, now let go of me so we can get ready."

---------------------------------------------------

The cold rain of winter fell upon the students of Furinkan High as they 
made there way to school.

"You understand the plan?" asked a chem club member.

"Tis truly a simple plan for revenge against such a foul sorcerer as 
Saotome, that I, Kuno Tatewaki, can do nothing other than execute the 
plan without flaw!" He turned upon the student. "If it fails, however, 
you shall face my wrath!" 

The student shrugged, how could it possibly go wrong? "Yeah, just lure 
Ranma to the sidewalk slab in front of you and the landmine will do the 
rest."

"I know what to do," Kuno said angrily.

"Here he comes!" shouted another chem club member.

The two chem club members ducked behind some bushes.

"Saotome Ranma, I, Kuno Tatewaki the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, the 
rising star of the Kendo school, challenge you for deceiving me with 
that foul curse."

Ranma stopped several feet in front of Kuno. "I'm too tired to fight you 
right now. Akane has been keeping me awake."

"Ranma! Don't talk about that!" Akane shouted, blushing.

"Come on Akane. It's not like I said anything about our sex life."

"Ranma no BAKA!" Akane attacked Ranma with her school-bag.

Kuno became enraged. "You dare have sex with a pure flower such as 
Akane!"

Akane turned from her attack to look at Kuno disbelievingly. "Um, Kuno, 
we're married..."

Ranma chuckled. "Yes, we are. And, it'd be unnatural if we didn't have 
sex." He sidestepped Akane's school-bag, and playfully stuck his tongue 
out at his new wife. Ranma started jumping back, dodging her angry 
swings.

"YOU SHALL DIE FOR..." Kuno's shout was interrupted as he took a step 
forward.

*>BBBOOOOOMMM<*

"Kuno's into landmines now?" Ranma blinked. Akane once again stopped her 
attack and turned to see the shattered, carbon-stained concrete.

"He WOULD step on it, even if he did know about it," Akane rolled her 
eyes.

"That idiot!" screamed one of the chem club members, "That egotistical 
pervert couldn't get that simple plan right!"

His companion glanced behind him, and started trembling. "Uh, that truly 
great and highly noble student is right behind you..." 

"I'm going to feel such pain as I've never felt before," he said as he 
looked at Kuno. Kuno's bokken at the ready.

---------------------------------------------------

Ranma's and Akane's last class before lunch was completely silent. The 
history teacher had given a nice, quiet reading assignment so as to not 
wake the two exhausted newlyweds who had succeeded in sleeping through 
ALL of the morning classes without interruption. 

Over by Ranma's desk were a number of male students, each waiting to 
pester Ranma with questions once the bell rang. By Akane's desk was also 
a number of female students waiting to ask their own questions.

The teacher looked at them, hoping one of them would speak before the 
bell, just to enact his own twisted punishment on the students: writing 
20 plus page reports due tomorrow. He would have punished Ranma and 
Akane for sleeping, if Ms. Hinako hadn't threatened him.

Once the bell rang the guys violently shook Ranma in an attempt to wake 
him.

Yuka tentatively shook Akane, saying, "Saotome-chan. Wake up, 
Saotome-chan."

Akane wearily opened her eyes and emitted, "Huh?"
"Wake up, Saotome-chan," repeated Yuka.

Akane slowly blinked her sleepy eyes and sat up, frowning. Hearing 
'Saotome' she started looking around for Ranma, only to see that she was 
surrounded by girls, and they were asking for her. She shook her head, 
trying to clear it. "Saotome-chan?"

"Well, you are Mrs. Saotome now," Sayuri replied.

Akane nodded, "I'm just not use to that yet."

"So, are you going to tell us what's it like?" a girl asked.

"Ah, what's what like?"

"Sex with Ranma," replied a girl, giggling.

Akane blushed, and shook her head furiously. "You expect me to answer 
that HERE? I don't think so! Besides, I thought Nabiki set up a question 
and answer session after school."

"Well, she did. But, she's asking 500 yen admission and not all of us 
can make it."

Akane was still shaking her head, "I'll try to get a transcript of it 
for the class tomorrow."

"Come on, Ranma, WAKE UP!" a guy screamed.

"He fell asleep, too?" Akane asked.

"Yeah, you two must have been keeping each other awake since the 
wedding," answered Yuka.

Akane blushed. "Hmm... How to wake him up?" she asked herself as she got 
up and walked over to where Ranma was sleeping. She got an idea after 
noting what time it was. "Sorry boys, but no questions until after 
school," Akane said. She leaned down next to Ranma's ear and shouted, 
"LUNCH TIME!"

Ranma was immediately standing. "Lunch?" he questioned as he looked 
around room.

"You fell asleep during class. It's lunch hour now," Akane said.

"They didn't wake me up?" Ranma asked, confused.

"Nah, Ms. Hinako threatened the other teachers if they did wake either 
of you two up, she'd drain there chi," answered Hiroshi.

"Either of us?" Ranma looked at Akane.

"You got more sleep than I did," Akane replied and then blushed.

"Oh, right," Ranma laughed nervously.

"Let's hurry up and buy our lunch. We need to talk about what to say at 
the Q&A session."

---------------------------------------------------

Over a third of Furinkan High showed up at the school auditorium for the 
question and answer session. Ranma and Akane stood off to the side of 
the stage, waiting for Nabiki to finish setting up the microphones. 

Ukyou was among those attending. She was curious about how they would 
answer some of the questions.

"Are you sure about this?" Ranma asked, nervously.

"Would you rather have to answer them a hundred times or just once," 
Akane answered, nervously.

"I'd rather not answer them at all..."

"Oh, you rather let them come up with there own answers? Remember some 
of the rumors they've came up with in the past."

"I guess this is better."

On the auditorium speakers, Nabiki announced, "I thank you all for 
coming here and refraining from bothering Ranma and Akane. They will 
answer most of your questions, but they retain the right to refuse to 
answer certain ones." Several students expressed their displeasure. 
"Ranma, Akane, you have the floor."

"Hello," Akane said, nervously, "We will start taking questions." She 
looked around at several people waving their hands.

"Do you really love that idiot?" some guy shouted.

"Yes, I do," Ranma replied, smirking.

Akane smacked him in the arm. "He was asking me. And to answer the 
question, yes, I love him, even if I can't understand why."

"Did he use a love potion on you?"

"No."

"You're sure?"

"Yes!"

Ranma looked at someone waving their arm. "What's your question?"

"How long have you've been in love with each other."

"I fell in love with her from the start, though she didn't make it easy 
for me to realize it," Ranma answered.

 Ukyou thought 
angrily.

"I wish I could say the same, while I felt something for him at the 
start, my love for him developed gradually," Akane answered.

"Why did you string along your fiancees?"

"In the case of Shampoo, I guess she was a means to delay things. Ukyou, 
however, was more of someone to fall back on if Akane ever left me. If 
different things had happened, I might have married her."

 Ukyou thought, bitterly.

Ranma pointed at one student.

The student asked, "Is Akane as violent in bed as she is in a fight?"

Ranma shook his head in disgust. "Next question."

"You," Akane pointed at a student.

"How long have you two been having sex?"

"Can we please get off the topic of sex?" Akane asked angrily.

"NO!!" replied everyone.

"Why don't you answer some of the general questions?" Nabiki asked. 
"They're going to pester you until you do."

Akane's grip on the podium cracked it. "Nothing specific."

"So, is Akane violent in bed?" 

Ranma looked at Akane who reluctantly nodded. "No, she isn't violent, 
exactly... she's... well, I guess 'imaginative' would describe her..."

"Have you done it girl to girl?"

Ranma backed away a little as Akane replied, blushing, "We will not 
answer that."

Most of the students noted their reaction and assumed they had done it.

"How long have you been having sex?"

"A couple days."

A couple groans and curses were heard from the crowd.

"Did you have sex before marriage?"

"Er... next quetion," Akane said sheepishly.

Mainy students grinned at the non-answer. One shouted, "Was she pregnant 
at the wedding?"

"Next quetion," Akane said sternly.

"I'll answer that question," Ukyou shouted angrily. "Yes! Akane was 
pregnant before the wedding."

Ranma and Akane paled. The crowd went into a roar of commotion.

"U-Ukyou, why?" Ranma stammered, shocked.

"They should know the truth. The reason you married her was because the 
slut seduced you."

Akane started to glow blue.

"THAT IS NOT TRUE!" Ranma yelled. "WE MARRIED FOR LOVE! Her pregnancy 
only moved up the date. It didn't change the fact WE planned to get 
married our senior year. WE decided that even BEFORE having sex. The 
ONLY thing I regret about all of this is the pain I caused you and 
Shampoo. I should have made it clear that you WERE NOT going to marry me 
from the beginning. For that, I cannot apologize enough. I want to make 
this clear to all of you: I LOVE AKANE WITH ALL OF MY HEART AND THAT IS 
WHY I MARRIED HER!"

Akane's aura faded as she heard what Ranma said.

"Come on Akane, I've had it with their questions," Ranma said angrily. 
He grabbed Akane's hand and walked off the stage.

The crowd said nothing, they were stunned. 

Ukyou watched Ranma and Akane leave. She saw Ranma look at her, his face 
showed how hurt, angry, and betrayed he felt. 

"All right time to collect your bets," Nabiki announced.

---------------------------------------------------

Ranma and Akane walked home in the rain. Ranma muttered to herself the 
entire time. Akane followed closely lost in thought.

"We're home," Akane said absent-mindedly as they entered their home.

"How was school today?" Kasumi said politely.

"School was fine," Akane answered.

Ranma paid them no attention as she went to the dojo.

"Akane, what's wrong? Did you and Ranma have a fight?" Kasumi said 
noting the sorrowful look on Akane.

"No. Ukyou told the school I'm pregnant."

"Oh my."

"I can't believe she did THAT!" Akane screamed angrily.

"Why would she do that?" Kasumi asked.

"Because she's... she's...a vengeful bitch!" 

"Vengeful?" Kasumi asked.

"She upset and hurt because I married Ranma," Akane answered, her anger 
waning.

"You didn't mean to hurt her."

"Does it matter if we meant to or not? She's still in pain for losing 
him."

"Oh," Kasumi said. 

---------------------------------------------------

Nabiki enter the dining room with her school-bag and a brown paper bag. 
Ranma, Akane, and Mousse were sitting at the table. Nabiki set the bags 
to the side of the room and joined them.

Nabiki looked at Mousse, who was covered with bandages and bruises, 
asking, "What happened to you?"

Mousse glanced at Ranma and replied, "Training."

"Next time fake being sick when Ranma is mad."

"Somehow I don't think that'd work."

"You train through illness. Your enemies don't care if you're sick," 
Ranma said, bitterly.

Akane shook her head. "Ranma, I know what Ukyou did hurt. She did it 
because she's in pain, and we caused it. I can understand why she did 
it."

"Who said anything about her?"

"She's the reason you're upset. You trusted her to keep that a secret, 
but she used it to hurt you because you had hurt her."

"I didn't mean to hurt her," Ranma said defensively.

"No, but she is hurt and retaliated at us for causing it."

Ranma looked down at the floor. "You're not upset at her?"

"Of course I'm upset with her, but I understand why she did it. Think of 
what would've have happened if the roles were reversed and you married 
Ukyou."

Ranma thought for a second and then shuddered. "At least a hospital trip 
for me, and you might have said the same thing about Ukyou."

Akane nodded gravely, she had thought about it since she got home and 
came to a similar conclusion.

Ranma, wanting to get off this topic of conversation, asked, "Nabiki, 
what's in the paper bag?"

"Just another present from a secret admirer," Nabiki replied.

"Secret admire?" Ranma squeaked in surprise.

"Of course I know who he is," Nabiki added with a slight grin.

"Who is it?" Akane chirped.

"Why don't I let you figure it out," Nabiki replied. "I'll be back in a 
second."

Ranma and Akane shared confused glances with Mousse. 

Nabiki returned a moment later with a flower vase filled with some 
water, and placed it on the table. She pulled a bouquet of red roses 
from the bag and put them into the vase.

"Tell anyone about this, and I send you through hell," Nabiki warned.

Akane saw a card hidden among the flowers and took it. She read:
 
	Of glorious beauty thou has indeed, 
	and in my heart is placed love's seed. 

	A love from afar, Your Secret Admirer.

"So, he's chasing you again," Akane commented as Ranma snatched the card 
from her hand.

"Looks like it," Nabiki replied.

"This isn't who I think it is?" Ranma asked.

"And who do you think it is?" Nabiki returned.

"Kuno."

"Then you thought correctly."

Ranma started to laugh, "You have my sympathy."

Mousse quickly followed, "And mine."

"So, what are you going to do with him: swindle away his fortune or make 
it clear you want nothing to do with him?" Ranma asked.

Ranma became confused when he saw Akane scowl at him.

"Neither, I'm going to try and make the relation work," Nabiki answered 
matter-of-factly.

Ranma's and Mousse's jaws dropped to the table.

"Find it hard to believe that someone finds him attractive," Akane said.

The guys nodded dumbly.

"What do you see in him?" Ranma asked.

"I don't know. There is something I like about him, and it's not his 
yen. But, that doesn't hurt, though," Nabiki answered.

"That something is love," Akane chirped in, squeezing Ranma's hand.

"What? Me love the dense, egotistical, pervert!" Nabiki denied.

"Gee, that sounds familiar," Mousse commented.

Akane and Mousse started laughing. Ranma shock his head. 

Nabiki glared at Mousse. She wanted to change topics and asked him, "So, 
have you made arrangement on where you'll be staying?"

"Um, not yet. I, er, was going to ask if it'd be all right if I stayed 
here," Mousse answered.

"Of course you can stay here. You can use Ranma's old room, except when 
his parents visit, then we'll come up with some other sort of 
arrangement," Akane answered.

"Thank you."

"You should do somethings for us, considering you're being trained and 
given room and board," Nabiki added.

"I'll help around the house, and I can do some repair work," Mousse 
offered.

"That'll do for now," Nabiki replied.

"Why aren't you staying at the Neko-Hanten?" Ranma asked.

"I can't return until I defeat Shampoo."

"Why not?"

Mousse sighed, "Because Cologne won't allow it."

It was apparent there was more to this, but he also wasn't going to 
talk. They decided not to press the issue as Kasumi brought in dinner.

-----------------------------------------

Ukyou returned home late in the evening to find that Konatsu had 
finished cleaning out what was left of the restaurant.

"Where have you been?" Konatsu asked, concerned.

"Wandering around," Ukyou replied, morbidly.

"Did you see Ranma and Akane?"

"Yes."

"So, what happened when you saw them?"

"I told the school Akane was pregnant."

"W-why did you do that?" Konatsu asked, shocked.

"Because I wanted them to hurt, like they hurt me."

"Did it make you feel better?"

"No."

"Revenge never makes someone feel better."

"Sure it can. I felt better after beating the crap out of Genma," Ukyou 
smiled weakly.

"That's because you hate him. You don't hate Ranma."

"But, now he hates me."

"I'm sure he doesn't hate you. Upset at you, probably, but he doesn't 
hate you. They're your friends and they'll forgive you," Konatsu assured 
her.

"Am I? Am I still their friend? I hurt them. Do you have any idea how 
many problems they'll have at school because of what I said?"

"I wouldn't know. But in terms of regaining their friendship, I suggest 
you apologize and try to help them at school."

Ukyou nodded as she walked off to her room. 

----------------------------------------------

Ranma laid in bed stroking Akane's hair. "Can love really be that 
blind?" he muttered.

"What was that?" Akane asked.

"I'm trying to figure out why Nabiki is in love with Kuno."

(Unheard by Ranma and Akane, "I am not in love with him," Nabiki 
retorted from her room, wearing headphones.)

"Stranger things have happened. Look at me, I fell in love and married 
someone who changes sex with water, scared of cats, a 'man amongst men' 
which is the type of guy I usually hate, and has super-human abilities."

"Now Akane, you particularly like the first and last one," Ranma said 
with a hentai grin.

"I didn't know that I'd like that until recently," Akane retorted.

("My sister is a hentai!?")

"Still what could she possibly even like about him?"

"Ranma, I've been asked that question thousands of times about you. My 
answer is 'I don't know.' There is something about you that I find 
undeniably attractive, something that goes beyond logical reasons."

"I guess love can be blind. I fell in love with an uncute, macho chick 
after-all."

"Flattery will get you everywhere," Akane said with a hentai grin.

("Flattery? She calls that flattery? I'm going to have to talk with 
her.")




				---------------------
				*Chapter 3 - Lessons*
				---------------------



Ranma stood at the gates of Furinkan High, facing off against Kuno. 
Kuno's aura glowing yellow.

"You have befouled the bed chamber of the lovely goddess before taking 
her hand in marriage. You honorless cur. I SHALL SMITE THEE!"

Before Ranma could say anything, Akane reminded him, "Keep your mouth 
shut." She knew he might just make a comment of Kuno's latest love 
interest.

Nabiki stared at Kuno coldly.

Ranma knocked Kuno out cold, and continued towards class followed by his 
pregnant wife.

Nabiki grabbed Kuno and dragged him to the nurse's office, muttering, 
"Pathetic."

--------------------------------------

Ranma and Akane made their way to their classroom, fully aware of the 
comments made about them as they passed.

"He certainly didn't waste time." 
"Mr. and Mrs. Hentai." 
"Can you believe she's pregnant?" 
"It's the slut." 
"They're so lucky."

"Can't they mind their own business?" Ranma muttered angrily.

"You should know the answer to that," Akane replied.

When they entered their classroom, they saw a wall of students, all 
asking questions. Most wanted to know if Akane was really pregnant.

Akane shook her head at the sight. "Yes, I'm pregnant. So what?" she 
said angrily.

The class fell silent.

"Oh, Akane, congratulations!" Yuka elated.

"Didn't take long for her to get pregnant, did it?" Hiroshi commented.

"Nope," replied Daisuki, counting money. "I'm glad it didn't."

"Won the bet I see."

"Yep."

"So, how far into the pregnancy are you?" Sayuri asked.

Akane was flushed by the sudden good natured outpouring of affections 
her female classmates. "Six days," Akane replied.

"Six days?" the female students questioned.

"Cologne can detect pregnancy at it's earliest stages," Akane answered.

"Six days down, nine months to go," a girl commented.

"You're certainly a stud, Saotome. Getting her pregnant so quickly, and all," a guy commented.

Before anymore comments were made the bell rang and chibi-Ms. Hinako 
entered the classroom. "All right students, sit down." She noticed she 
was being ignored and stepped between Ranma and Akane, pulling out a 
fifty-yen coin. "I SAID SIT DOWN!" She blinked, because of the sudden 
dust cloud that used to be a wall of students. By the time she could see 
clearly only Ranma and Akane weren't seated.

Ranma and Akane quickly moved to their seats.

"Oh Akane," Ms. Hinako said. "I hear congratulations are in order."

Akane blushed. "Er... Thanks."

--------------------------------------

Ukyou watched Ranma and Akane eating lunch from a distance. She could 
tell they were upset with her about what she said yesterday. Both of 
them had been avoiding to look at her. She didn't blame them, she did 
the same thing to them the day before.

Ukyou was surprised that a good number of students were encouraging 
Akane and congratulating her about the pregnancy. Ukyou was also upset 
at those that ridiculed Akane about it, and even tore down some 
defamatory notes concerning Akane.

 

Ukyou sighed as she picked at her lunch.  Ukyou shook her head.  she tried to convince herself. 



--------------------------------------

After school Ranma and Akane stopped at Dr. Tofu's for Akane's 
appointment.

"Hello, I'll be with you in a moment," Dr. Tofu greeted.

Ranma and Akane sat in the waiting room. After a moment Dr. Tofu ushered 
out an elderly patient.

"I can see you now, Akane. Ranma, you should wait here," Dr. Tofu said.

Ranma grumbled as Akane went to the office.

"How have you been feeling?" Dr. Tofu asked.

"Perfectly fine," Akane replied.

"How have you been feeling emotionally?"

"I guess I've been feeling the full range of emotions."

"Why's that?"

"Between fear of the future and happiness of marriage. Having people at 
school either ridicule me or encourage me about the pregnancy."

"They know about that?"

Akane sighed. "Ukyou told them."

Dr. Tofu shook his head. "Akane, now about the pregnancy, how far into 
it are you?"

"Almost a week."

"I see," Dr. Tofu said, holding his hand to his chin while deep in 
thought. "I had planned to give you a pregnancy test, but it might come 
up negative for a couple more days still. I'll give you that test next 
Friday."

Akane nodded.

"I'd still like to run some tests. They'll just be to check for possible 
complications."

--------------------------------------

Nabiki returned late from school again, carrying yet another brown bag. 
Kasumi was in the hallway cleaning the table, she looked a little 
unsettled.

"Hi, Kasumi," Nabiki greeted.

"Hello, Nabiki. More flowers?" Kasumi returned.

"Nope," Nabiki replied. She pulled out a cute little dolly.

"How cute," Kasumi said, her normal pleasantness missing.

"Kasumi, what's wrong?"

Kasumi didn't answer as she cast a worried glance towards the kitchen.

A dread filled Nabiki when she realized a disaster was brewing.

"Akane, STOP!" Ranma was heard screaming.

"Why?" Akane shouted.
"Look what you're putting into the food."

"Oil. That's what the recipe calls for."

"But that's motor oil."

"Motor oil? Why is there motor oil in the kitchen?"

Kasumi face was locked in fear.

"Come on Kasumi, let's go out to eat," Nabiki suggested firmly.

"B-but my kitchen..." Kasumi stammered.

"It's their kitchen now. They can destroy it if they want."

"B-but my kitchen..." Kasumi repeated as Nabiki dragged her out of the 
house.

--------------------------------------

It took a while for Nabiki to get Kasumi to the restaurant. Kasumi kept 
insisting that she should be home in case something went wrong. Nabiki 
wouldn't have any of it, and practically dragged Kasumi all the way 
there.

Kasumi looked at the restaurant, The Otaku Bar and Grill, and asked, 
"Why are we eating here?"

"I've got a coupon for a free meal for two," Nabiki replied.

"Oh."

They entered the restaurant and initially had trouble being seated. 
Nabiki wasn't liking having to wait and asked to see the manager. When 
she stated her name, they were promptly seated.

Kasumi sat at the table fidgeting. Nabiki knew she had to distract her 
from thinking about what their younger sister was doing to the kitchen.

"So, Sis, what are you going to do about the good doctor?"

"Dr. Tofu?" Kasumi sighed. "I don't know. He just gets so... so silly 
around me."

"Love just drives him crazy."

"Is it really love? Ranma and Akane don't act like that towards each 
other."

"We each express our love in our ways. Dr. Tofu goes wacky, Ranma 
insults her, Akane hits him, I charge less interest."

"So, how much interest do you charge Kuno?"

"Standard interest, of course."

"Considering he's rich, that shows a lot."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"That you love him."

"I do not," Nabiki denied.

Kasumi gave her a knowing smile.

 Nabiki shook her head. 
"Now back to talking about the doctor, how do you feel about him?"

"I'm not sure. I guess I like him a lot."

"Is that why you're always borrowing his books?"

Kasumi blushed a little. "I think so."

"So, is this love?"

"I don't think so," Kasumi mustered her best denial.

Nabiki eyed Kasumi critically. 

"You don't believe me?"

"Nope."

"See, trying to deny it doesn't work."

Nabiki chuckled dryly.  "Well, I can't deny that one...  Okay, MAYBE I 
do feel more for him than I'm saying...  For now, though, I don't think 
I do. Okay?"

"If you say so."

Nabiki was thankful as their waiter arrived with their food. She hoped 
they could move off the topic of what she felt for Kuno.

"Do you think Akane will have a boy or a girl?" Kasumi asked.

Nabiki picked at her food for a second. "Honestly, I think it'll be both 
a boy and a girl."

"My, you think the curse is inheritable?"

"Considering everything that happens to them, yes."

"They do seem to have an interesting life."

"I've experienced more things than most people will in their entire 
life, and I haven't seen a tenth of the adventures Akane has, let alone 
Ranma. I hope she knows what's she got herself into."

"She does. Auntie Saotome asked her after the wedding attempt if she 
really wanted to marry Ranma and the insanity he brings with him."

Nabiki sighed, "I regret I stopped that wedding. I thought Dad bribed 
Akane into marrying Ranma, but she made it painfully clear the only one 
being bribed at the time was Ranma."

"You didn't know what China did to her."

"I should have asked or found out. I did something without first 
obtaining all the information, and that's an error I should've never 
done."

"We all make mistakes."

"I guess."

--------------------------------------

Kasumi and Nabiki finished there dinner with some idle chatter, and were 
walking home. Thankfully to Nabiki, little of the idle chatter concerned 
love interests. Kasumi's insistence that she loved Kuno was starting to 
annoy her. She would be happy to get home and work her daily accountings 
of her profits.

"This would be a good night to walk with a loved one," Kasumi commented.

"Are you still pushing that? You're getting as bad as Dad and Ranma's 
parents."

"I was just commenting how it's such a nice night."

"Yeah, whatever."  An idea flashed through Nabiki head. "Why don't you ask 
Dr. Tofu to go for an evening stroll?"

"I can't. If I asked he'll just grab Betty-chan and dance around town."

"We're going to have to cure the good doctor of his silliness."

"I wish I knew hooOouch..." Kasumi said as she tripped on the sidewalk 
and fell awkwardly. 

"Kasumi, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I just hurt my ankle a little."

"Hmm... You should see Dr. Tofu about that," Nabiki said with a devious 
grin.

"It's not that bad. Besides, he'd never be able to control himself."

"Now Kasumi, this is best opportunity to help him with his problem."

"How is that?"

"That doctor goes nuts when he sees you, but in order to help you he'll 
have to touch you. And, he'd never hurt you. Right?"

Kasumi nodded.

"So, if you come as a patient he'll have to stay in control, or he'd 
hurt you. I'm willing to bet he'd stay in control."

"Do you really think it'd work?"

"Yes. Now let me help you get to Dr. Tofu's." Nabiki helped Kasumi up to 
her feet and helped her get to Dr. Tofu's clinic.

--------------------------------------

Dr. Tofu was cleaning up his office after his last customer had left 
when he heard a knock at the door.  he wondered as 
he opened the door and saw Kasumi, looking rather sheepishly, leaning on 
Nabiki. "K-Kasumi, what a surprise to see you here of all places."

"Dr. Tofu, Kasumi HURT her ankle and you NEED to examine it," Nabiki 
ordered.

"Oh my, you  hurt your ankle. Come with me," Dr. Tofu said. 

He picked up Kasumi and carried her to the examination bed. He placed 
her carefully on it and studied her ankle. Kasumi was blushing the 
entire time.

"Does this hurt?" Dr. Tofu asked.

"A little."

Dr. Tofu walked over to the counter and picked up a bandage. He then 
started to wrap Kasumi's hurt ankle. 

"It's a light sprain. You should avoid putting pressure on it for a few 
days." Dr. Tofu looked up at Kasumi.  he thought realizing just what he has done.

"Thank you, doctor." 

"K-Kasumi, it was my pleasure." Dr. Tofu closed his eyes trying to hold 
onto his control  He stammered "I-I 
w-was w-wondering if-if y-y-you w-w-w-would g-g-g-go o-o-o-o-out 
w-w-w-w-with m-m-m-m-m-me S-S-S-S-S-Sa-t-t-t-t-t-t-tur-d-d-d-d-d-d-day?"

Kasumi smiled, "I'd love to."

For a moment Dr. Tofu stared at her in shock, and then he ran over to a 
skeleton. "Betty-chan did you hear that? She wants to go out with me!" 
he elated as he danced out of his clinic with Betty-chan in his arms.

Kasumi shook her head. 

"So, the plan worked," Nabiki said as she entered the room.

Kasumi looked at Nabiki, a big smile on her lips. "Yes. Yes, it did." 

--------------------------------------

Kasumi leaned on Nabiki as they returned home. She couldn't wait for her 
date with Dr. Tofu, and hoped he could control himself. Her big smile, 
the one that she wore since leaving Dr. Tofu's, dropped a little when 
she noticed the eerie silence of her home. 

Nabiki was also unsettled by the quiet and knew where the source would 
likely be.

They carefully walked toward the kitchen and peeked inside. The kitchen 
was a complete mess, no real surprise there. In the middle of the 
kitchen sat Ranma and Akane glaring at each other, also not much of a 
surprise. 

Kasumi shook her head, they had been doing so good. Nabiki frowned at 
this, she hoped that they wouldn't have to worry about major repair 
bills for a while. They were startled by a noise from the two in the 
kitchen. Ranma and Akane were laughing.

"You look pretty silly," Akane snickered.

"Look who's talking," Ranma replied, flinging some food(?) at Akane.

"Too bad this stuff really isn't edible. It would've been fun to clean 
off if it was," Akane commented with a hentai grin.

"I can think of some fun ways to get clean," Ranma returned with his own 
hentai grin.

"But my way would've been funner," Akane faked a pout.

"True, we'll have to try that later. We'll get Mousse to clean the 
kitchen, now let's go take a bath."

"Yes," Akane grinned.

"You two go have your fun. I'll clean the kitchen," Kasumi interrupted 
with a big smile.

Ranma and Akane mega-blushed.

"Now Kasumi, remember the doctor's orders: keep pressure off your foot 
and date him tomorrow. We'll get Mousse to clean this," Nabiki 
corrected.

Akane's eyes widen. "You've got a date with Dr. Tofu?"

Kasumi nodded.

"About time," Ranma commented.

"Yeah, the same can be said about you two. Now go have your fun. I'll go 
find Mousse," Nabiki said.

"He's in the dojo," Ranma informed.

"Go on you two, have your fun," Kasumi insisted.

Akane grabbed Ranma's hand, saying, "You heard them, let's go."

"Who would have thought peace in our own time," Nabiki commented.

"Make love, not war," Kasumi added.

Nabiki eyed Kasumi suspiciously, "Just how far do you plan on going on 
your date?"

"Nabiki! I wouldn't do anything that wasn't proper," Kasumi retorted, 
pleasantly.

"And whose view of being proper are you referring to?"

Kasumi shook her head. Nabiki was going to tease her by twisting 
whatever she said to her own wishes. Kasumi found she was actually 
liking it, though, Nabiki was treating her more like a sister than the 
mother that she had been for them.

--------------------------------------

Shampoo arrived at Furinkan High just before the Saturday classes ended. 
She wanted to deliver her great-grandmother's message to Akane without 
the possibility of seeing Mousse. When the bell rang she scanned the 
students leaving the school watching for signs of Ranma, for where ever 
Ranma was, so was Akane.

Shampoo was startled when she heard several  battle cries erupt from the 
main entrance of the school. She saw almost two dozen students rushing 
out of the school and racing towards her. 

"Shampoo, my love shall defeat you!"
"Defeat for marriage!"
"I love you!"
"My love shall knock you out!"

Shampoo's eyes took a predatory gleam. "Stupid boys think they can 
defeat Shampoo. Shampoo show them who is greatest Amazon fighter of her 
generation."

Shampoo launched herself into the fray, dodging attacks and sending her 
new would-be suitors to unconsciousness.

"Love knock-out pu..." a guy wearing boxing gloves said before going 
unconscious from Shampoo's blow to the head. He was the last one to 
fall. 

"Hmpf," Shampoo snubbed. "Mousse imitations, not even make Shampoo break 
a sweat. Need much more training." She turned around when she heard some 
people laughing.

"So, there going after you now," Akane giggled. "But, this seems to be 
only half the group."

"The other half is going after Ukyou," Hiroshi informed.

Ranma rolled his eyes.

Akane shook her head. 

Shampoo raised an eyebrow. "What going on?"

"This was half of the `Tendo Akane Fan Club,'" Akane said with obvious 
disgust.  "But, seeing as I married Ranma, I guess they set their sights 
on you and Ukyou."

"Aiya! Shampoo no want leftovers, especially from pervert girl."

"What do you want anyway, Shampoo?" Akane asked angrily.

"Great-grandmother want to see pervert girl."

"What for?"

"Great-grandmother need to inform pervert girl about Amazon laws."

"I'll see her after I visit Dr. Tofu."

Shampoo nodded as she got onto her bicycle and left.

Ranma blinked. He had seen Shampoo and she had not registered his 
presence. He half expected Shampoo to glomp onto him as soon as she saw 
him, but she hadn't even looked at him.  He shrugged, at 
least he didn't have to worry about Akane hitting him. But, something 
still felt wrong about Shampoo's lack of attention. 

Akane's anger subsided when she realized that Shampoo had avoided 
looking at Ranma.  

--------------------------------------

Nabiki didn't have to wait for the school to empty before removing 
today's present, a single red rose. She could easily hide it from view.

 Nabiki wondered. She eyed the card attached 
to it, a smile crept across her face as she read it.

	Oh cunning, beauteous one,
	I cannot bear to sit alone.
	My heart yearns for thee.
	Would you meet me by the tree,
	by the field racers run,
	at the setting of the sun?

	-Hopefully soon to no longer be
	 just a Secret Admirer of thee.



--------------------------------------

Ranma and Akane were setting in Dr. Tofu's office. Dr. Tofu was going 
over some files.

"Good news," Dr. Tofu related. "Nothing to report from the initial tests 
that I ran. I'll be able to give you more information from the other 
tests next week."

Akane and Ranma nodded.

"I'd like to talk to you about some of the things to expect about the 
pregnancy. First, in about three weeks you'll start to experience what 
is called morning sickness..."

Ranma's mind shut off as he watched Dr. Tofu go into a long winded 
discussion of pregnancy, occasionally Dr. Tofu would hand Akane a 
pamphlet. By the end of it, she had about two dozen. Ranma hadn't 
responded to the entire discussion until Akane waved her hand in front 
of his face.

"Huh?" Ranma emitted.

"Baka! You zoned out. How much of the discussion did you even listen 
too?" Akane angrily asked.

Ranma tried to think quickly, trying to decide on truth or lie. He 
sighed, either way meant pain. "None of it."

Akane shook her head, sighing.  "At least you're honest about it...  
Okay, you're going to have to read these pamphlets, though if you'd paid 
attention you wouldn't have to."  Ranma was stunned as Akane did no more 
to him than just throw the stack of information packets at him. "Now, 
let's go to the Neko-Hanten.  The sooner we're done, the sooner we can 
go on our date."

"Date?" Ranma asked, surprised.

"Don't tell me you forgot about taking me out on a date?"

Ranma quickly searched his memory concerning asking Akane out for a 
date.   "No... no, I didn't forget about OUR 
date.  But... between us having sex for the first time, finding out you 
were pregnant, us getting married, our honeymoon, and that press 
conference Nabiki arranged for us, I've kinda forgotten what date TODAY 
is.  Also, with that punishment thing, I was... well... I thought you 
didn't want to go out after that."

"Why wouldn't I?" She was visibly shaking with anger.

"I-I-I don't know..."  Ranma held up his hands in a warding gesture.  
"I... well... why are we still here?"  He asked, trying to regain some 
of his composure.  "The sooner you've finished with the old ghoul, the 
sooner we can go on our date."

Akane's anger relented, "Okay, let's go." 

Ranma smiled as he grabbed Akane's hand and led her out of the clinic.

A smile touched Akane's face. It was hard for her to not punch Ranma 
through a wall, but if she had, any chance for the date later in the 
evening would have been nil. She had given Ranma a chance to talk his 
way out of it, and was only a little disappointed about what he said. 
She hoped this would get easier though, he still had that annoying 
foot-in-mouth habit.

Ranma was happy. He had somehow avoided getting hit by Akane. She 
actually gave him the chance to talk rather than hit him. He could tell 
he came very close to gaining another flying lesson. He wished he knew 
how to avoid saying the wrong thing, like questioning Akane's reference 
about the date. Then she might not need to fight to control her anger... 
at least not as often.

--------------------------------------

Shampoo sat at a table in the corner of the Neko-Hanten with several 
books detailing Amazon law. Cologne was still working in the kitchen, 
dealing with the remnants of the lunch rush.

Ranma and Akane entered the restaurant holding hands. Shampoo 
immediately started to study one of the books. 

"Hiya, Shampoo, old ghoul," Ranma greeted.

"Greetings, Honor Elder. Greetings, Shan Pu," Akane greeted with a bow.

This caused Cologne and Shampoo to stare at her.

"I've been talking to Mousse about some of the Amazon customs," Akane 
answered their unspoken question.

"Ah, well, I'd like Shampoo teach you the ways of a true Amazon," 
Cologne said.

"Why does Shampoo have to teach pervert girl?"

"Because you need to refresh your memory of Amazon laws. This foreign 
life threatens to corrupt you," Cologne answered in Chinese.

"All right. Shampoo teach pervert girl."

Akane shock her head.  Akane thought. She reminded 
herself, in an attempt to keep from getting angry, that she was doing 
this to prevent further problems of the Amazon variety.

Ranma was annoyed to find out that they wouldn't let him learn any of 
the laws because he was a man, but soon he felt some relief as he 
realized it meant he wouldn't need to sit through another 'class.'  
Between learning how to deal with a pregnant wife, learning how to deal 
with his classmates, and just plain learning at school, he found that he 
already had more than enough to study for.

Ranma sat at a table eating ramen. He grew impatient after he polished 
off three bowls.

"So, old ghoul." Ranma began as he caught a plate Cologne tossed at his 
head. 

"Don't call me that. Refer to me as your wife does."

"Whatever, old ghoul."

Cologne shook her head, there was no teaching him about social graces. 
"What do you want?"

"I, ah, was wondering... what can you tell me about the baby?" Ranma 
asked.

"Not much. Just that it's there and healthy."

"That's good to know at least," Ranma answered, somberly.

"Unsure of the future, are you?"

"Maybe."

"I'm sure you and Akane will do fine. Look at how much your father 
screwed up, and you turned out fine."

"Oh, that magic you used on my wedding ring actually works. It fits 
snuggly in either form."

"You doubted it?"

"I have plenty of reasons to distrust if magic will work."


Akane was getting bored from listening to Shampoo's lesson in Amazon 
laws. The only thing she really caught so far was that she wouldn't be a 
true Amazon until she competed in the annual tournament. This gave Akane 
over a year to decide if she wanted to truly be an Amazon.

"...That all Amazon women must learn bakusai tenketsu," Shampoo 
continued in her lesson.

"Why would I need to learn breaking point?" Akane asked.

"The reason to learn technique is to increase resistance to damage. This 
helps prevent possibly injury during pregnancy. Learning technique 
would've been good idea, if pervert girl wasn't already pregnant," 
Shampoo answered.

"Why can't I be trained now, before I'm too far into the pregnancy?"

"Means of training may cause injury which result in miscarriage."

"Oh... Um, Shampoo, can we continue this later?"

"Shampoo guess so."

"How about next Saturday?"

"That'd be fine."

Ranma attention was drawn to Akane as she got up from the table. "Can we 
leave now?"

"Anxious for our date are we?" Akane asked critically.

"Yep," Ranma replied.

Shampoo muttered something unpleasant in Chinese.

Akane smiled. "So am I."





		--------------------------------------------
		*Chapter 4 - Saturday Nights are for Dating*
		--------------------------------------------




Ranma and Akane returned home, holding hands. 

"Hello, Ranma, Akane," Mousse greeted as he swept the sidewalk.

"Hi," Ranma and Akane returned.

"Akane, your sisters want to see you in Nabiki's room," Mousse informed.

"Thanks," Akane said as she left the guys and entered the house.

"Um, Mousse, I'm going on a date tonight with Akane, and I'd like some 
help in figuring out where to go," Ranma asked sheepishly.

"Well, sensei," Mousse said with an edge of sarcasism. "I could tell you 
some of the things I've overheard people say about their dates." 

Ranma nodded.

"First, take her someplace nice to eat.  Anywhere which serves good food 
and has friendly service will do, some place like the Ucchan's or the 
Neko-Hanten would do, though, for reasons which should be obvious, those 
two would NOT be a good idea right now..."

Ranma nodded, trying to think of a good place to go.

"Then, go and do something fun.  Movies are good, but only if you both 
like the same type of movie... OR if you plan on keeping each other too 
busy to watch it."  At the implications of that statement, Ranma flushed 
a bit. Mousse let him burn with embarrassment for a few seconds before 
taking some pity on him.  "You might try something like miniature gold.  
If you two decide to compete though... I'd suggest you let her win." 

"In Shampoo's case it's the opposite, though, she'd love it if her man 
is better than her." Ranma said, frowning a little at Mousse's last 
suggestion. He knew Akane would really like it if she defeated him in 
something, besides card games.

Mousse considered that for a second and then shrugged.  Ranma was 
probably correct, he had realized that himself some time ago, but that 
was something to be stored away for later.  Akane wouldn't appreciate 
being constantly reminded of Ranma's athletic superiority.  "But Akane 
wouldn't.  I suggest you finish off the date with something moderately 
romantic, some people like taking their dates out on boat rides, but 
with your curse, that's probably not a good idea.  Maybe a stroll 
through the park." 

Ranma nodded, "Thanks Mousse"

-----------------------------------------

Akane knocked at Nabiki's door and entered when she heard, "Come in." 
She saw that Nabiki and Kasumi were getting ready for a night on the 
town.

"What are you getting dressed up for, Nabiki?" Akane asked.

Nabiki smiled wryly as she tossed Akane a small card.

"He asked you out? Didn't take him long," Akane commented.

"Nope, but Kuno-chan is a bit of the impatient type," Nabiki replied.

"So, Akane, where is Ranma taking you out tonight?" Kasumi asked.

"Dinner and a movie, I think," Akane answered.

"Nothing fancy?" Nabiki asked.

"Well anything fancy would be a drain on our money supply, not to 
mention that he would probably embarrass the hell out of me."

"Two very good points, Sis," Nabiki said. "Though, if Kuno-chan doesn't 
do anything fancy, I'll be very disappointed."

"I wonder if he's going to take you someplace nice and private," Akane 
grinned.

"If he does, Nabiki, promise me you won't do anything improper," Kasumi 
added.

"Depends on whose view of proper you're talking about," Nabiki replied.

"Nabiki!" Kasumi said firmly. 

Akane giggled.

-----------------------------------------

Dr. Tofu nervously approached the Neko-Hanten. All of his plans to 
remain in control around Kasumi had, so far, failed. Now was the time to 
ask for help.

He arrived, seeing that Cologne was serving a few customers. 

"Hello, Doctor. What can I get for you?" Cologne greeted. 

"I was wondering if you could help me with a little problem I have?" Dr. 
Tofu asked nervously.

"Would this be your problem of wooing a certain girl," Cologne smirked.

"Yes. Whenever I see her, I can't think straight. It's been getting 
better... but I have a date with her tonight."

"Ah, but why should I help you? You've been an annoyance to me in the 
past, helping Ranma avoid marrying Shampoo."

"I'm a doctor and he needed help, so I helped. I could not, in good 
conscious, stand by and let anyone go through some of the things you put 
him through, even if I thought they were of good intention."  "I would consider this a big favor that I'd owe you."

"Oh, and what sort of limit would this 'big favor' have?"

"As long as it wouldn't hurt or kill anyone."

Cologne grinned, "What if the favor was to help the Amazon village if it 
was under attack?"

"I would help with the wounded and help defend them."

"Good enough. I'll see what I can do. Wait here," Cologne said as she 
began her search.

-----------------------------------------

Nabiki tapped her foot. She hated to wait, even if she was early. She 
thought maybe it was more than being impatient, she banished that 
thought. 

The sun set the sky aglow with shimmering red, orange, and yellow as it 
started to dip below the horizon.

"The beauty of the sky is a canvas painted by Kami, Himself. But, that 
is trivial to the wondrous creature before me."

 Nabiki cursed herself as her heart suddenly sped 
up. She took a second before calmly saying, "Hello, Kuno-chan."

"My heart, doth leap at your acceptance of meeting me."

"Well, I had nothing else to do tonight," Nabiki replied.

Kuno frowned as he asked, "Shall we go, your carriage awaits?"

"Certainly." Nabiki was led to a horse driven carriage.  she thought, smirking.

-----------------------------------------

Dr. Tofu arrived at the Tendo house in a form fitting suit, and roses in 
hand. Ranma sat outside the Tendo front door.

"Hey, Doc," Ranma greeted.

"Hello, Ranma. Do you know if Kasumi is ready?" Dr. Tofu asked.

Ranma raised an eyebrow, noticing the doctor did not stutter, nor were 
his glasses showing signs of fogging. "Aw, you know how girls are, they 
take their time to get anything done." 

The door of the Tendo opened, and Ranma felt the back of Akane's hand on 
his head. "We do not," she retorted. She wasn't surprised nor pleased 
that Ranma hadn't gotten dressed up for the date.

Ranma looked up at Akane. She was wearing a red dress with a matching 
jacket. "You actually look good," he commented.

"And I don't look good all the time?" Akane replied with a hint of 
anger.

"Er, of course you look good, ah, all the time. It's just you look 
better than usual," Ranma said, attempting to keep Akane from getting 
angry.

It worked. "You really think so?" she asked, doing a spin to show the 
entire dress.

"Yeah," Ranma said with a relieved expression.

Dr. Tofu watched with a grin on his face. His expression turned to awe 
as he saw Kasumi come into view. "You're beautiful," he said clearly.

Akane thought for a second he was talking to her until he saw that the 
doctor's eyes were not looking at her. She was surprised, as everyone 
else was, that Dr. Tofu hadn't shown his usual signs of love-sickness.

Kasumi exited the house with a long blue dress and a white jacket. 
"Thank you," she smiled. "And you look rather handsome yourself."

"Thank you. These are for you." Dr. Tofu handed Kasumi a bouquet of red 
roses.

"Oh thank you, I'll put these in a vase. I'll be right back," Kasumi 
said with an impossibly big smile.

"So Doc, how come you aren't acting... um..." Ranma asked.

"Goofy? Stupid? Out of control?" Dr. Tofu asked.

"Um... yeah," Ranma replied.

"Well, I asked Cologne for some help and got a potion that moves my 
reactions to someone a little more negative than normal. By loving 
Kasumi a little less, I can stay in control. But, if I run into someone 
I dislike, I'll hate them."

"Oh," replied Ranma and Akane, wondering who their friendly doctor could 
dislike.

-----------------------------------------

Nabiki had a smile on her face. While her smile looked normal enough, 
for those who knew her would say it was the biggest smile she ever had. 
This was not caused by her companion, though, which he hoped it was. She 
was smiling because he took her to a very exclusive restaurant that she 
couldn't hope to set foot inside. The restaurant was called, The North 
Wind, and it caterred only to rich nobility. While Nabiki could pass off 
as being rich, she wasn't a descendant of high enough nobility for this 
place.

Kuno was happier than he'd been in years. He was on a date with a 
beautiful girl who actually listens to him. While his heart still 
yearned for Akane and her physical prowess, her sister had an 
intellectual cunning greater than anyone else he knew. And for some 
reason that was what attracted him to the girls, they were better than 
him at something. While he held above them a social superiority, they 
had proven to be his better. So he felt it was his duty to make them 
socially superior to others through marriage.

They talked through dinner over various things, pointedly avoiding 
topics concerning Ranma and Akane. They didn't really speak about much 
of anything. Kuno spoke a lot about his favorite poetry and Nabiki 
talked a little of financial interests. 

-----------------------------------------

Kasumi was a little nervous. She was finally on a date, something she 
had denied herself so she could take her mother's place and raise Akane 
and Nabiki. She was nervous about Dr. Tofu. He was normally insane with 
happiness around her, but tonight he appeared to be in a constant state 
of a sane, sweet bliss.

Dr. Tofu led Kasumi to a French restaurant named, Chez Rie's. They 
talked about various things, and Dr. Tofu was surprised at just how much 
medical knowledge Kasumi apparently picked up from the books she 
borrowed. She could make an excellent nurse, if not a doctor.

-----------------------------------------

Ranma and Akane walked hand in hand to the restaurant section of 
Nerima's market district. They went pass Ucchan's, and were surprised to 
note that it was closed and the name taken down. They passed 
Neko-Hanten, much to Akane's relief. Eventually ending up at a small mom 
and pop style restaurant, called Auntie's.

Auntie's interior was similar to that of Ucchan's, in that it had a long 
counter with rows of seats and several booths lining the outer walls.

Akane liked the homey atmosphere the place seemed to give off. She 
really liked that the restaraunt wasn't associated with anything that 
happened in the past year and a half.

After being seated, a middle-aged waitress approached them. "So kids, 
what can Auntie get you?"

Akane's face showed her apparent dislike of being called 'kid.'

Ranma decided to order first and answered, "I'll have the number three 
special with a Coke."

Akane then ordered, "I'll have what my husband ordered, but with water."

"Husband? Aren't you two a little young to be married?" the waitress 
asked, surprised.

"Not if you've already faced death and come back," Akane replied, dryly.

The comment made the waitress uneasy. She proceeded to make sure they 
were well served, but avoided her usual small talk she normally would 
have with her customers.

Ranma and Akane talked mostly about school. Akane explained some of the 
things that occur in early stages of pregnancy.

-----------------------------------------

"Ah, to fly over the people as a kami, knowing full well the position 
you hold over them," Kuno said. Looking out the window of the helicopter 
he had rented for the night.

Nabiki shook her head. 

The pilot rolled his eyes, wondering how much trouble he'd be in if he 
accidentally lost the arrogant, rich idiot of a passenger somewhere over 
a thousand feet.

"Servant, take us over the Nerima ward. I wish to look down upon the 
dwelling of Saotome."

Nabiki glared at Kuno.

"N-N-Nerima?" the pilot stuttered. "That area is designated as a hazard 
fly zone."

"Do you need your hearing checked, servant? I told you where I wish our 
destination to be."

"But small, low-flying aircraft are not supposed to fly there, due to 
unidentified projectiles," the pilot replied, nervously.

"Don't worry about it. Only one of the three more common projectiles can 
be considered active and he hasn't been seen since last week. It is 
reasonably safe to fly over Nerima tonight," Nabiki said.

"If we crash, I'll lose my job, if not my life," the pilot replied.

"You will be properly compensated if something unfortunate happens. The 
heavens shall be generous to you if you adhere to my wishes, and frown 
greatly upon you if you do not."

It was not the words of Kuno that made the pilot obey, but the bokken 
Kuno held in his hands. He began to sweat as he changed directions to 
fly over Nerima. 

-----------------------------------------

To put it mildly, Kasumi was bored. While she was enjoying her date with 
Dr. Tofu so far, she really didn't like watching movies. She never 
really saw the point of wasting one's time watching a story that someone 
probably hacked apart when she could be doing something more 
constructive, like reading how the story was supposed to turn out, or 
cleaning.

Dr. Tofu was extremely happy. He wasn't really paying attention to the 
film, but enjoying the feeling of holding Kasumi's hand and not running 
around like some raving lunatic. He hoped he could maintain this control 
even after the potion wears off, whenever that was.

-----------------------------------------

Akane had a big grin on her face, while Ranma grumbled.

Akane stood still, bent over slightly, a golf putter in hand. She tapped 
the ball, sending it into seventeenth hole. "That's two strokes, and 
this will be your third."

"Don't remind me," Ranma grumbled, trying to forget the bad run-in with 
the water hazards on holes two and eleven, which fortunatly hadn't 
caused him to transform. 

Akane giggled, "Aw, does Ranma hate losing?"

Ranma nodded. "Yes." While Ranma decided he wasn't going to attempt to 
win, he wasn't going to intenially lose either. He was just going 
through the motions of playing. He still hated to lose, even if it 
actually wanted to. 

"Tough." 

Ranma tapped the ball into the hole.

They moved to the eighteenth hole. It was a set on a slant with a spiral 
shape. A ball hit into it would spin through the spiral and end up 
entering one of several holes. Each hole had a different effect to the 
score.

Akane went first, sending her ball into the minus two hole.

"That gives me thirty-five. In order for you to win, you have to get 
that minus ten hole."

 He thought to himself, sending the ball 
straight for that hole. "Hey, I got a free game!" Ranma elated, at least 
being able to claim he won something.

"Yeah, but I still beat you."

"You didn't have to remind me," Ranma pouted.

"Yes, I do," Akane smirked.

-----------------------------------------

Nabiki listened to Kuno babble on as he compared the view with his 
favorite poetry. She found it somewhat odd that she didn't exactly 
dislike it. In fact, she sort of liked it. 

The pilot wanted nothing more than have Kuno to shut up. He sat there, 
listening to the drivel about how great his family home was and how it 
pained him that some guy named Saotome forced himself into the Tendo 
family line. Even if he was paid a million yen, this job was not worth 
it.

"What the hell is that?" the pilot yelled as his fears of flying over 
Nerima were answered by what looked to be a flying minotaur.

"That is Pantyhose," Nabiki replied, and was startled as Pantyhose 
turned and looked at them. "Damn he has good hearing," she muttered.

"What foul demon is this? It must be one of Saotome's evil demon 
servants."

The pilot freaked as Pantyhose flew closer.

"Just land the helicopter," Nabiki said, trying to be a voice of reason.

The pilot didn't move he sat there, staring at it in fright.

Pantyhose flew up to the helicopter, grabbed a skid, and then ripped the 
door off. He then roared something that sounded suspiciously like 
Happosai.

"Get back foul..."

"Shut up, Kuno!" Nabiki screamed, putting her hand over his mouth. "Ah, 
Tarou, we don't know where Happosai is. We haven't seen him for almost 
week." She hoped she answered his question.

Pantyhose then roared something else, but received puzzled looks as a 
response. He roared again this time sounding like Ranma.

"Don't know where he is right now," Nabiki replied.

Pantyhose growled and left, but not before ripping the skid of the 
helicopter.

The helicopter wobbled in air as the pilot was frozen in shock.

Nabiki removed her hand from Kuno's mouth.

"Why did you prevent me from combating such a vile creature?" Kuno 
asked.

"That creature is the only person who has consistently beaten Ranma."

"That foul creature must be purged from this Earth. Servant, land now!"

The pilot nodded dumbly as he saw the Furinkan soccer field, and decided 
to land there.

"Kuno-chan, you don't want to fight him. He wouldn't care if he killed 
you! Believe me, he can."

"Such obscenities should not walk this Earth."

"Please, for once, don't be stupid. Pantyhose is dangerous, he can kill 
you as easily as you could kill Gosunkugi."

"It is my family honor to destroy demons. I most slay him!"

"He's not a demon, just a super powered, Jusenkyo cursed, martial 
artist. You should avoid fighting him."

They stopped arguing as the helicopter attempted to land. The pilot, 
having regained a sense of sanity from focusing on flying, hovered off 
ground for a moment and said, "I expect to be paid now."

Kuno tossed a large wad of cash at the pilot and jumped out. He ran in 
the direction Pantyhose flew. 

Nabiki muttered, "Baka." She then jumped out and ran away from the 
helicopter.

The pilot managed to land, the rotor blades barely missed touching the 
ground. He cursed himself for being stupid enough to be talked into 
flying there, until he noticed the money he was tossed had to total 
several million yen. 

-----------------------------------------

Dr. Tofu and Kasumi were walking, hand in hand, towards the 
Saotome-Tendo home on the suddenly vacant streets. She didn't wear her 
normal pleasant smile, but a smile of happiness.

Dr. Tofu was in sweet bliss, walking with the one he loved. He had 
dreamt of this on many occasions, but today it was reality. So lost in 
being together with Kasumi, he did not notice Pantyhose fly over head 
nor the Kendoist running up behind them.

"Part thy ways to let me pass, so I can do as family honor demands and 
destroy that foul demon!" Kuno yelled. He started speaking too late and 
ran between Kasumi and Dr. Tofu, violently causing them to let go of 
each others hands.

"Kasumi! Are you all right?" Dr. Tofu asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," Kasumi replied.

Dr. Tofu examined her hand anyway, noting it was slightly bruised. 
"Kasumi, I-I'll make him pay for hurting you."

"Oh my," she uttered as Dr. Tofu ran off and full speed, with a look of 
anger she had never seen on him. She wondered why he reacted so 
strangely. This wasn't like the friendly doctor she thought she knew.

-----------------------------------------

Ranma and Akane walked through the park, holding each other closely. 

Akane sighed, "It is a nice night, even if it's a little cold out."

Ranma hugged her closer to his body. "I can think of a place that's nice 
and warm," he grinned.

"Later. For now let's just enjoy this, the things we should have done 
during our engagement."

"But that is over, we're married now. Why should we do this?"

"Because we were too stupid to do it then. We kept on arguing with each 
other so much we missed the obvious signs that we loved each other. If 
we had half a brain or half our pride, we would've known, or been able 
to admit, our feelings much sooner."

"When did you become so philosophical?"

Akane sighed. "After China. I looked at my life and started to see 
things as they really are. How you felt about me, and how stupid I was 
for not seeing it sooner, were the things I noticed most. Not to mention 
that I denied acts that indicated my love for you, because at the time, 
I didn't think I was. But, I'm not the only one to blame, though. You 
carry the same blame for not realizing it sooner."

They  remained quiet for a moment. Ranma sighed, "I guess I've done just 
that. To think about somethings you've done and not know that you love 
me seems pretty stupid now. I actually thought the only reason you 
agreed to marry me for that first attempt was because  you were bribed."

"Yeah, well, I should have told you the reason why I agreed to marry you 
had nothing to do with the Nanniichaun, not just that I knew you loved 
me, but because I love you too."

They stopped walking and Ranma bent his head down and kissed Akane, 
embracing her tightly. After several minutes and as they felt their 
necks starting to cramp, they stopped kissing and resumed walking.

"I'm surprised that nothing happened on the date. Something always 
happens around me, and yet this evening was perfect," Ranma commented.

"Enjoy while it lasts. I doubt it'll stay this way," Akane said.

They stopped when the heard some familiar sounds.

"Bwahahahahaha... What a haul!" Happosai gleefully laughed as he passed 
by them.

A roar was heard from the monster, Pantyhose, as he flew after Happosai.

"Get back here! You will pay for the damages you made to my restaurant," 
Cologne yelled, chasing after them.

"Shampoo no let lech touch. Shampoo kill!"

"Come back here with my undergarments you miserable troll!"

Shouted Shampoo and Kodachi, respectively, as they followed.

"I'm actually a spectator to one of these things," Ranma chuckled.

"My love! Let me help you!" Mousse elated, running after Shampoo.

"Happosai, prepare to DIE!" Ryoga snarled, also involved in the chase.

Ranma and Akane shook their heads, laughing.

"Come back here you foul creature. By my family honor, I SHALL DESTROY 
THEE! So, swears the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" Kuno bellowed, 
running after them.

Ranma and Akane blinked as an enraged Dr. Tofu followed in the chase.

"Ryoga... stop! Come... back! You... don't... have... to... do that." 
Akari tried to shout, stopping to regain her breath.

"Hi, Akari," Akane greeted. 

"Hi," Akari returned.

"I thought you and Ryoga were going to stay at your place," Ranma said.

"Ryoga and I decided come back for a visit. We were almost at his house 
when... that thing grabbed me," Akari answered, still a little winded.

"You can stay at our place for the night," Akane offered

"Thanks," Akari said, knowing it's too late to go anywhere else.

Akane looked at Ranma. "Why don't you chase after Ryoga and bring him to 
our home?"

Ranma sighed, "I guess I'll never really get to just watch." He started 
running in the direction that everyone went.

-----------------------------------------

Akane and Akari arrived at the Saotome-Tendo home to find Nabiki and 
Kasumi sitting in the kitchen, eating some left over wedding cake and 
ice cream. Akane tried to figure out where the left over cake came from, 
because she thought it was all eaten at the wedding reception. She also 
noticed neither of them were exactly happy.

"What happened on your dates?" Akane asked.

"Kuno decided Pantyhose was a demon, and that he must be destroyed," 
replied Nabiki.

"Dr. Tofu got upset at Kuno for running into us and chased after him," 
Kasumi answered, shaking her head.

"Guess Dr. Tofu doesn't like Kuno," Akane commented. "Any cake left for 
us?"

"Sure," Nabiki answered, pointing at a plate on the counter.

Akane got herself a piece and another one for Akari and sat at the 
table. They talked a little about their dates. Akane failed to mention 
that Dr. Tofu's strange reaction at the end of his date was probably due 
to Cologne's potion.

-----------------------------------------

Author's Note:
Thanks to David Tatum, Brent Neef, and The Rams for pre-reading this 
volume.

The idea of Kasumi's hurt ankle can be traced to Nabiki's suggestion to 
Kasumi to fake an injury in M. A. MacKinnon's "Doors Best Left Unopened" 
The 'kitchen aftermath' scene however was plotted before I read that 
story so similarities on that point were coincidental. 

How many of you doubt this volume will be the only mention of Akari's 
old boy friend. Well, if did doubt it, shame on you. He'll show up 
sometime around volume 4. He's a Sumo Wrestler with special attacks 
based on his bulk. He's also harder to hurt than Ryoga, but Gosunkugi 
is faster than him.

    Source: geocities.com/tokyo/fuji/9061/TIC