Into Every Life, a Little Rain Must Fall A Ranma 1/2 fanfic by Nemesis_Zero Act 2: Friction in the Machine Part 1 Pre-readers: TonyLoco Freak247 Ray Devore Goddess Esteria --%%%%%-- In a dark, threatening bramble, at a roughshod crossroads of scarcely traveled dirt paths, stood Saotome Ranma. What bits of sky that could be seen through the dark canopy were cold and gray, giving promise to an approaching storm with deep, rolling waves of thunder and the tangy smell of ozone and distant rain. Examining each trail as they disappeared into the dense forest and lingering fog, and finding them identical, he soon forgot which path had lead him to this place. "Where the hell am I now?" he suddenly shouted at whim while punching an ancient tree into splinters. If he was going to be in Ryoga's position, he decided, he might as well act the part. Lightning crackled overhead now, prompting him to push his mind harder in an effort to determine the correct path. As he thought, the rain began to fall lightly. From the shadowy depths of the woods came noises, not unlike far-off speech, drifting on the increasing breeze from all directions. The voices grew in pitch as the storm began to intensify, until he could recognize them as belonging to her many fiancées, rivals, and family members. Some were loud and filled with rage, others deep and sorrowful choked out between sobs, and yet more pleading for or demanding his attentions. None of them, however, sounded friendly or welcoming. Ranma turned slowly in a circle as the ground turned to thick mud, awaiting an ambush at any second. Still the storm grew, now stinging in intensity. Finally, he could take no more, nearly driven to madness as the voices drilled into his conscious mind. With a desperate scream, he released as much chi as he could muster, driving back the encroaching shadows in the blinding flash of energy. While the tormenting shadows were held at bay he dashed down a trail that was previously unnoticed. Instinctively she knew that this was the correct path, her path, and the path that the others could not follow. The rain disappeared at once, and he ran freely and joyously as a child, growing younger with each reckless step. Ranma, now at the age of six, fell suddenly into a darkened pit in the trail. From the darkness came noises, part hiss and part growl, all circling his shuddering form. He knew what lay beyond his vision, for he could smell the hate, the raw malice these evil beings exuded from their shadowy haunts. Suddenly the shadows melted into an endless sea of fur, claw, and glowing eyes, all directed at the cowering child. He cringed in a ball, covering his face with his arms and kicking fruitlessly at the oncoming tide, to no avail. The terror gripped him then, as it had twelve years ago, and as it had nearly every since. This dream wasn't new to him, and he knew it was a dream, but somehow the fear paralyzed him in a helpless state, tortured again and again by his memories. He cried out in desperate pain, first to his father, then his mother, and finally to anyone at all. He expected no answer, as none had ever come before. This time, however, was different. A thin hand, more bone than flesh, took hold of his arm and lifted him back into the blessed light of day, far from the horrors of the pit. He shivered uncontrollably for several minutes, but as the fear left him, his age was returned to normal. When the last of the terror had subsided, he looked up to his mysterious benefactor, this intruder to his familiar nightmare, and noted the stale smell of decay in the air. Across the trail, leaning in a very relaxed posture against a large elm, was a man. His feet, if indeed they were feet, seemed somehow out of focus, blurred into the darkness of his long flowing robe. The robe was of the finest silk, blowing gently against his form despite the eerie stillness of the air. The color of it was indiscernible; constantly shifting in the indirect light through dark, bold blues, mysterious greens, and cold, milky grays. The robe parted to reveal a gaunt chest, roped in stringy masses of muscle and tendon of incredible density, all cloaked in pale, ashen skin. The man's arms seemed almost too long, with joints far too small to accommodate the tensed muscles that crossed it, ending in delicate fingers with blackened nails that wrapped unconcernedly in his thick, unkempt hair. The tangled black mane gave way to a face that was beautiful despite its pallid, corpse-like flesh and disconcerting androgynous symmetry. A sharp chin, thin lips, and rather feminine nose lead his eyes to the awful core of the man, his nearly hollowed sockets lit dimly by threatening orbs of crimson flame. Ranma recoiled from the sight, and the man offered an understanding smile. He covered his face gracefully with crossed arms, and then quickly retracted them to his side to reveal a changed face. Ranma wasn't sure if this were an improvement, actually, as the face he now looked into was his own. In the back of his mind stirred an ancient, nameless fear, beyond the cat-fist in intensity, but allowing no comfortable refuge in blissful insanity. Only one option remained, so Ranma ran as he had never run before. He heard no pursuing footsteps, but from behind him came a distant voice, whispering "Ranma..." on the stale air. He ignored it, and continued his desperate run. "Ranma, its time..." the voice called again, closer and more direct, but still he ran through the murky limbs. "No! Leave me in peace!" He cried franticly, struggling with a stray tree branch that seemed to have arrested his flight on purpose. "Ranma!" the voice cried out repeatedly, "Ranma!" He struggled with all the strength he had, but the limb held him securely as his double loomed ever closer. --$$$$$-- "Ranma, you jerk! Get up!" Perhaps Akane's shouts hadn't yet awakened Ranma, but Nabiki had been affected. She knew it was hopeless, but she tried to go back to sleep despite the overwhelming odds that it wasn't going to happen. "Five more minutes, that's all I ask..." she pleaded with whatever deity might listen. "Gah! Cold!" "Well, Ranma's up," Nabiki thought wryly. The metallic clunk of a now empty bucket dropped onto a hardwood floor confirmed her suspicions. From outside came a splash, then a gruff shout. "You were completely open, boy!" Please, no. I've gotten so used to fight-free mornings this last week... "I'd have thought after what happened in china you would have improved at least a little. Time to renew your..." "Moko Takabisha!" Even through closed eyes, she could see the flash of bright orange energy as it filtered through her blinds. She opened her eyes just in time to watch her exterior wall visibly shake with an impact of flesh and a loud, meaty whump. Abandoning the concept of sleep yet again, Nabiki brushed aside her warm covers while rubbing her eyes. She staggered in her sapphire blue satin pajamas to the window, opened the blinds, and peeked out at this morning's scene. Genma, oddly still human, lay crumpled in a heap directly beneath her room. She noted with amusement the slight trails of smoke wisping from his inert form. Standing by the pond was Ranma, topless, wringing out her black tank top with an angry scowl. "Well, that was quick," She deadpanned as her eyes adjusted to the light. Usually Ranma wouldn't use her special techniques in sparing, probably just to keep some level of challenge in it. Still, she was probably in a bad mood lingering from yesterday, and was obviously somewhat worse for ware, so the change was somewhat understandable. It's going to be an interesting day for bets if Kuno shows again. Nabiki quickly gathered a pair of seamless black panties and matching bra, lace-frilled white socks, the required school uniform, and her basket of bath supplies. She marched tiredly downstairs and into the Furo before anyone else claimed it. After a refreshingly cold rinse and a very brief soak in the furo, the middle Tendo absently dressed and followed her daily schedule to the mirror to brush her hair and apply a hint of makeup. She frowned heavily at the sight that greeted her. A large black and yellow bruise roughly in the shape of her younger sister's palm marred her left cheek. After unsuccessful attempts with both powder and foundation cream to mask the blemish, Nabiki simply accepted that today she would have to deal with a bit more damage control than she had hopped. She applied her usual lilac eye shadow, coated her lashes, and added a light coating of lip-gloss. Finally, she left the changing room and headed in the direction of the kitchen towards an argument already in progress. --%%%%%-- Ranma made her way to the porch doors, dragging her father along the ground by one arm. She pulled him up the stairs, allowing a satisfied grin to emerge as she listened to the hollow thunks behind her as his head made contact with each board. At the top she dropped his arm, leaving Genma laying half on the deck and half on the stairs. The petite girl retrieved one of his many pairs of black tie pants, a royal blue shirt, and a clean pair of boxer shorts. She marched back up to her room to change into the dry clothing and to gather her school supplies. Heading downstairs only half dressed, she finished fastening the wooden ties and rolling up the shirt's sleeves as she walked towards the kitchen to regain her manhood. "Ranma." She quickly turned in search of the voice, and was somewhat surprised to find Kasumi facing her with only a slight trace of her usual smile. "I thought you said you would skip your sparing today. You promised me. I expected better of you, Ranma." Kasumi demonished, turning to set the table. Ranma tilted her head slightly, and gazed at the older girl confusedly. With her eyebrows set at different angles, she asked, "Huh? But I didn't spar with pop; I just knocked him cold and came inside. What do you mean?" Kasumi's voice was still soft and airy, but the usual pleasant quality was lost somehow. She began to reach toward the small bronze kettle that sat, as usual, on the stove. She was surprised and further confused when the eldest Tendo daughter stepped between her and the kettle, meeting Ranma's gaze with unblinking brown eyes. "You broke your promise to me. I clearly heard you and your father shouting, followed by a loud thump from the walls." "Oh, but that wasn't sparring, Kasumi. Pop tried to spar with me, but I just blasted him with a Moko Takabisha. He smacked into the wall and was out like a light." He thought that had explained everything, but she still bore into him with questioning eyes. "Uh, if it were really sparring I'd have held back on him, and just worked on my basic skills. I don't get anything out of it otherwise, cause he ain't even a challenge" ...unless something distracts me or he uses that stupid cradle technique, he amended mentally. "Well, it certainly sounded like sparring to me, Ranma, regardless of how you choose to narrowly define the term. Even more distressing is the fact that you used the house as a weapon in your match. I would think that after destroying the dojo you might have learned to be a bit more careful of damaging our property." Her voice was growing slightly tight and accusatory. Quickly tiring of this blaming, Ranma decided to take action. Her hands darted out, reaching quickly around the taller girl to the kettle. She tossed it in a quick flick of her wrist to spin over Kasumi's head before retrieving her hand for gestures. "Come on, Kasumi, the house is perfectly fine. It's not like I smashed him against it repeatedly, I just sorta made him fall into it. Besides, how is it my fault if Akane halfway drowns me in a bucket from a sound sleep and then Pop tosses me out the window? I ended it quick, at least." she replied loudly as she effortlessly plucked the rapidly spinning kettle from the air above her head and tipped it over her head. "You could have woken up early and told him you had other obligations, Ranma." she answered, staring into his eyes. "You made a promise last night, but it seems your word doesn't mean as much to you as I thought. Don't you think that if you were to stop acting like a spoiled child and take some responsibility for your faults, perhaps things would begin to run smoother for you?" "What are you talking about, Sis? What did this idiot do now?" Ranma turned away form the glare of Kasumi to find that the aforementioned bucket-girl was standing in the doorway, looking ready to hit him already. "Oh man, this is gonna be a long day," he sighed. "I'm just discussing a point of honor with Ranma here, Akane. We seem to have a bit of a disagreement." Kasumi's smile returned, but her eyes remained somewhat hard. "Well, big surprise there, Kasumi. Why you would possibly talk to Ranma of all people about honor is beyond me. Might as well get Mr. Saotome's opinion while you're at it, for all the good it will do you. They haven't the slightest notion of what honor is about." Akane finished her barb with a superior smirk, turning away from him towards the family room. "Excuse me?" Akane turned around at the sharp tone of Ranma's voice. "Exactly where do either of you get off questioning my honor? Have you already forgotten that the only reason you're still in this world is because I saved you a couple of days ago, Akane?" "What? What happened while you were gone? I hope it wasn't too dangerous." Kasumi's question went unheard as Akane replied. "Oh, and I see that you seem to have forgotten that the only reason I was in danger at all was because I saved your life. You should be glad that you aren't bird food right now! Besides, I was only in China at all because of you and your stupid little adventure." "Please, I could have escaped from that stuff easy with a couple of chi blasts before it hardened." The fires were burning in Ranma's eyes now as the argument grew to an outright shouting match. "And how is it my fault you got kidnapped again? It's not like I suggested it to Saffron! Geez, for all your 'I'm a martial artist too!' whining you'd think that just once you could handle things without..." "Starting early today?" asked Nabiki as she entered the room. "You usually wait until after breakfast to start fighting." Ranma glanced in her direction, but his words quickly died in his throat. "Ranma, look at me when I'm yelling at you! Akane grabbed his head and redirected his gaze to her, but he absently slipped out of her grasp and stepped around her. Ranma walked up to Nabiki as she lowered her face and turned her bruised cheek away from his scrutiny. With one hand beneath her chin, he gently raised her head and turned her face aside. "What happened, Nabiki? Who did this to you?" he asked, lightly tracing his index finger around the edge of the bruised flesh to judge its outline, careful not to hurt her. "What did I just say to you? What, Do I have to beat a little common courtesy into you?" Akane threatened loudly. Ranma turned to find Akane barreling towards him with her right fist pulled back to deliver a powerful blow. Nabiki, standing directly behind him, covered her face with her arms as Akane swung, but the blow never landed. As Akane's swing neared it's primary target, Ranma ducked slightly and twisted to the left avoiding the punch and hooked Akane's arm at the elbow with his own bent limb. Now with a bit of leverage, he pivoted at the waist to trip her over his extended left leg, using her own trapped right arm to pin her to the floor face down. "I thought it was against your honor to hit a girl, you hypocrite!" spat Akane from her awkward position on the floor. She struggled to rise but Ranma held her down by shifting more of his weight onto Akane's right arm, now pinned behind her back. Nabiki and Kasumi watched, frozen by the actions before them, as Ranma asked, "Akane, have you finally lost it completely? That swing would have connected with Nabiki if I hadn't stopped you! Some martial artist you are, taking a wild swing at an innocent bystander. Great sense of control you got there, Akane." "Stop this at once!" Soun commanded, pulling Ranma away from Akane by the arm. "Go take a seat, both of you, and eat your breakfast. I don't know how this started, and quite frankly, I don't care. This sort of behavior will not be tolerated in my home!" --#####-- Grudgingly, Akane took her usual seat next to Ranma and ate her morning rice and pickles in silence, brooding in anger. He, he actually stopped me! Then he insulted me again! That jerk! She did her best to avoid looking at him throughout the meal, ignoring the slight warmth she felt where her elbow lightly touched his. The meal was uneventful until Genma woke up and staggered to the table. Approximately eight seconds later he made a reach for his son's food, and found himself tossed into the pond with an improvised variation on Happosai's pipe trick. Wisely, at least in Akane's opinion, he decided to stay outside for a bit. Nabiki, as usual, left for school immediately after a light helping of breakfast. Akane sat in silence as Kasumi cleared the table, until Soun cleared his throat loudly. He began to speak in a dominant tone once all eyes were on him. "Yesterday's fiasco has proven without a doubt that the other girls will not give up easily. Well, for that reason, the wedding ceremony will be held off a bit longer, until your personal affairs can be sorted out...." "That mostly applies to you," she scowled in Ranma's direction as Soun paused to take a drag off his cigarette. "Sure, blame Ranma, that's what everybody around here does. Well I say it was just as much your fault. Doesn't matter if it's true, obviously, since most of the stuff I get blamed for I'm not even involved in." Ranma pounded his fist into the table with a vehemence that Akane had never seen in him before. For the first time in a long while, she felt a little scared of him. "There isn't going to be a wedding, damn it! Why don't you get it? I. Don't. Love. Her." Soun suddenly seemed quite pale. Ranma paused for a while as the room stood silent. After a moment, he stood up from the table with a tired sigh, grabbed his backpack from the floor behind him, and walked out of the room. Without turning she pointed an accusing finger to the back yard and asked, "By the way, why are 'these girls' my problem to deal with? It's all Pop's fault they're after me. If you've got a problem with the situation, Tendo, take it up with your friend, not me. I'm tired of it." Suddenly Genma, still in panda form, shot into the house and blocked Ranma's path. He Produced a large wooden sign and held it before him, occasionally flipping it around to reveal more text that simply wouldn't fit on just one side. "It doesn't matter how you feel, idiot boy! It's a matter of honor, and you will fulfill it! The girls are your problem because it's you they're after, regardless of the fault. Act like a man for once, accept responsibility, and apologize to Soun immediately for your disrespectful tone!" His attempt to drive home the lesson by hitting him with the sign was blocked with just a raised index finger and followed by a solid left to the diaphragm that floored the obtuse panda. Akane sat brooding during the brief exchange between the Saotomes, only half paying attention. His latest denial of love echoed, painfully, in her mind. It was a lie! He was just going to far this morning with the usual denials, and if she didn't intercede, he just might blow the whole thing. "That's bull and you know it, Ranma. You do lo... care for me. Just admit it, I heard you at Jusendo! Your father is right for once, you aren't acting like a man." Ranma didn't reply immediately, but the room went silent. He walked until he reached the door, then in a quiet voice said, "I don't have time for this crap. I want to see the school nurse before class, and I'll be late if I don't leave right now." He quickly slipped on his street shoes and opened the door. "Don't walk away from me, Ranma! This discussion isn't over!" Her father's command went unheeded by Ranma as he left the house. "How dare he treat me in such a way, in my own home no less! Genma! Get up and get that ungrateful son of yours!" For a few moments, Akane sat stunned into silence, watching the scene around her unfold as if it were on TV and not right in front of her. At once Akane was on her feet, her bag in hand. She ran past her father arguing loudly with a panda, put on her shoes, and rushed out the door. "Ranma, wait up! I need to talk to you!" she called as he came into view two blocks down the street. She was surprised to catch up so quickly, until she realized that Ranma wasn't running on the fence as usual. In fact, he wasn't on the fence or running, just walking along the sidewalk at a pace that was downright slow for him. "Just leave me alone, Akane," he sighed as she caught up. "I'm in no mood to talk." Undaunted, Akane resumed her questioning. "You didn't mean that, did you? You just didn't want to cave in to our parents, right?" she pleaded with a slight smile, dreading the answer. He looked at her sideways with an unreadable expression, but didn't answer. Instead, he turned away and just kept walking at this relatively snail- like pace. Eventually Akane gave up on the topic for now, curious as to the reason for this unusual, for Ranma at least, mode of travel. "Ranma, why aren't you on the fence like normal?" "Well, I'm still a bit sore from last night," he began to explain. Ding Ding! A familiar Amazon bounced off of Ranma's head from behind with her rear tire, barreling him to the ground. Apparently without even noticing Akane's presence, she went right to a glomping of legendary proportions. She sat giggling in his lap while pressing his face securely between her breasts in some sort of improvised Amazon chokehold, giggling all the while. "Airen leave violent girl, come marry Shampoo now, yes?" "Wait a sec," Akane asked, "sore from last night?!" She burst into a fury of righteous vengeance as she put two and two together and got eighteen. "You incredible bastard! I can't believe you ran out on me at the altar to screw around with your Chinese whore! I'll kill you!" She grabbed the nearest heavy object, which happened to be Shampoo's bike, and swung away. Shampoo saw it coming, and jumped free of her airen before the blow connected. Both girls watched as Ranma sailed off into the sky toward the school. "Good distance, Shampoo impressed. Must get back to work now, though." Without further incident, the Amazon snatched her slightly dented bike back from Akane's grasp and peddled off. "Hey! I'm not done with you yet!" Akane shouted, but didn't bother to give chase to the rapidly fading cloud of dust. With an angry growl she continued towards the school, with only stray pebbles and the occasional concrete wall to satiate her rage, all the while ignoring the little voice in her head that said she was being an idiot. Of course, taking the time to systematically destroy every solid object she came across slowed her down immensely on her walk. --$$$$$-- "Nabiki! What..." She raised her hands to silence the crowd that seemed to instantly materialize around her as she neared the door. "Look, don't worry about it people, it looks much worse than it is. I don't want to talk about it. Oh, and before anyone asks... No, we will not be refunding any of your gift money unless you were injured in the blast. Consider it a cover charge for the floorshow. That's all I have to say about it, so I'll thank you to mind your own business." The crowd disbursed with a collective grumble, allowing her to enter the school. As she took off her shoes in the entry hall, a voice came up beside her. "So boss, what kind of bets do you want to offer today? Just the usual time till knockout and method of attack charts?" Nabiki turned to regard her assistant, Setsuko, a mousy freshman with hazel eyes behind wire-framed glasses and long chestnut hair tied with a bright purple bow. As she put on her blue school slippers she replied, "Good question. Hmmm... Ranma is trying to hide a limp, so he'll probably end it quick today, with something simple. Go ahead and skew the payout ratios toward the longer times and the uppercut or jump kick." She pondered the situation carefully for a moment, before adding, "Hell, just for fun let's put the 'Kuno gets a hit in' bet on the board today. Shake them up a bit and see who bites." "Whatever you say." Setsuko called over her shoulder as she ran off to get the portable wet erase board from its storage space in the supply closet. The betting went as normal, fairly spread across the offered time ranges, with only Gosunkugi Hikaru taking up the offer of the optional bet. Now all they had left to do was await Ranma's eventual arrival. --/////-- "Ah, tis a glorious morn on which to meet once more my fated foe. With golden wings of day lightly kissing my face, and the sweet sent of valorous deeds on the wind, surely the heavens portend my long awaited victory." Kuno Tatewaki was quite pleased with the words he had prepared the night before, although no one else seemed to pay him any mind. "What does it take to impress these uncultured wretches?" He silently wondered. "No matter, when Saotome is fallen my glory shall be revealed again to all. Hmm, where is the coward, anyway? I'm usually unco... resting by now. Wait, up in the sky, is that..." "...Stupid tom...Gah!" A thundering sound rang across the courtyard as the object struck the clock tower, just above the second story windows. It slipped bonelessly from the solidly built impediment to fall to the ground with a heavy thud. When the dust cleared, it was obvious that the meteoric object was none other than Saotome Ranma. "Oh well, guess it had to be him. Would have been cool if it was a spy satellite or something, you know, unusual for once though." a somewhat dejected freshman commented. The majority of the crowd seemed to agree. Upperclassman Kuno was of a slightly different opinion. "So, the vile Saotome reveals his black arts with his obvious disregard for the laws of Heaven! Man was not meant for flight, foul sorcerer, as you no doubt have learned from your truly pathetic landing. As I have warned you, the vengeance of heaven is slow but sure! Prepare yourself, miscreant, for the moment of your undoing! Today you face the undefeated Blue Thunder of Furinkan high!" With the inexplicable accompanying sound of thunder rolling across the clear sky, the verbose young warrior charged the slowly rising Ranma. "Kuno, I am not in the mood for this crap. Back off before I really hurt you." Ranma threatened, his voice low but clear. He dodged several strikes without regaining his feet, simply by leaning his torso about in seemingly impossible ways. Kuno attempted a powerful overhand strike as Ranma rolled along the wall to his feet. Ranma tried to sidestep and pivot around the kendoist, but the sudden stress on his wounded ankle caused him to falter. He grunted in pain as he fell onto his back, allowing Kuno's blow to land solidly on his previously injured shoulder. "Damn it, Kuno, don't say I didn't warn you..." Ranma grabbed the bokken, still pressed against his shoulder, with his right hand and pulled Kuno towards him. With his free left hand, he pummeled the older boy, not bothering to announce his use of the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken as he delivered roughly 500 vicious blows to his opponent's head and chest. Tatewaki Kuno was thrown into almost three meters back and fell heavily to the ground, broken, battered, and very much unco... resting. --YYYYY-- Kuonji Ukyo was still a block from Furinkan High School when out of the corner of her eye she noticed movement. Glancing in the direction of the sky, she beheld the sight of her Ranchan flying in a parabolic arc until he collided with the school building. She broke into a flat run in her required boy's uniform, arriving just in time to see Kuno and Ranma's final exchange. As she approached Ranma spat towards his fallen foe, "Deny that victory, oh Blunt Wonder, I dare you." She reached his side swiftly, offering a helping arm lift, but Ranma shook off her grasp. Confused and concerned at his reaction she pleaded, "Ranchan, honey, you don't look so good. Let me help you." She tried again, unsuccessfully, to grab his arm. "And just whose fault is it I'm hurt, Ukyo? I seem to have injured myself yesterday somehow. Maybe it had something to do with those bombs thrown at me." He intoned while leaning heavily on the school wall. She flinched at the response, quickly stepping back from him. "But I didn't mean to hit you, honest. I only wanted to save you from Akane." she whimpered, unable to meet his gaze. "I just..." "You just assumed you know what's best for me, just treated me like a damn trophy like the other girls. Look, we need to talk about this Ukyo, but not today. I'm not thinking clearly yet. How about tomorrow, at your place, after school?" "I guess." She was absolutely crushed by his words, but mostly by his use of her proper name instead of the familiar 'Ucchan' she had come to love. Ranma stumbled slightly while bending over to retrieve his book bag, and though she caught him he gruffly shook off her hands. "I don't need your help, Ukyo. Just worry about getting yourself to class on time and leave me alone." He turned his back on her and hoped away on one foot toward the nurse's office. She sagged, leaning on the wall for support as she began to tear up. A sudden friendly hand on her shoulder made her jerk at the unexpected contact. "Don't worry about it too much, Kuonji, he's just had a rough week. Give him some space and it'll pass." She turned to identify the familiar voice. "Nabiki? Wow, what happened to you?" the sight of Nabiki's injured face momentarily pushed aside her feelings of loss with concern. "Guess you missed out on my earlier speech, eh? Well, since you're bound to hear it from somebody else eventually... A little while after the wedding the dojo collapsed, probably due to the rain loosening the ground around the weakened supports. Ranma came in and told us, and I went to tell Akane. She didn't take it too well, and blamed me for passing out invitations to the trouble makers, you included." Ukyo had to cringe when her guilt in the whole affair was stated so bluntly. "After a bit of an argument, she gave me this." "Nabiki, I'm so sorry. I never meant to cause that much damage, but..." "Yeah, yeah, I know. Still, building a new dojo costs a lot of money, and as I see it you owe us a share of that cash, which estimates to about 100,000." Nabiki stated with a no-nonsense glare. "I don't have that kind of cash available!" One look at the accusing glare from Nabiki, amplified by the presence of the large bruise, quickly changed her tune though. "All my money is tied up in the restaurant, but I guess I could borrow that much from my dad. I really didn't want to have to talk to him again until this matter with Ranma was settled, though. Could I maybe pay it off in free food, instead?" "Food would make a lousy building material for a dojo. I suppose we could always just sue you..." "Don't have much of a choice, do I? I could probably get a loan to cover it if I could space the payments out a bit." It'll be tight, but I can probably make that work. Just gotta think of it as a challenge, like I do about...Ranma. "Hey, what's with the sour look? I just gave you a break, and those aren't common from me. I'm not charging you for a share in the wasted food, the decorations, or the public humiliation of my family." Nabiki stated with her hands on her hips. "It's nothing, I was just thinking about something." Ukyo replied evasively. "You still worried about Ranma? Look, I have it on good faith that you are just as much in the running with him as Akane and Shampoo." Nabiki offered. "Really? But he seemed so angry... and he wouldn't let me check on him." Something about Nabiki's statement still nagged at her and wouldn't let her accept that information at face value, especially since she didn't have to pay for it. "Okay, look, I've gotta drag this moron to the nurse because I can't let him get out of his part of that sum by dying. While I'm there, I'll make sure he's ok for you, all right? Free of charge, even." Deciding that the offer seemed genuine enough, she relented. "Thank you Nabiki, I've got to run... Hey, won't you be late?" she asked, pausing halfway to the stairs. "Yeah, but I got special permission from my homeroom teacher to be late whenever Kuno gets his butt kicked and needs to be dragged off. Someone has to do it, and as long as I can charge him for it every day it might as well be me." "Okay, um, see you later." Ukyo waved as she ran up the stairs. --$$$$$-- "One down, four to go." Nabiki mentally remarked as she started the next phase of her usual morning routine: drag Kuno and charge him for it. As she began the morning ritual, a thought floated through her mind that brought out an immediate scowl. Crap, with Gosunkugi's lucky bet I probably lost money today. "Ranma just had to do exactly the opposite of what I predicted. No, I can't blame him. It's not like he intentionally let himself get hurt. She entered the nurses' office in time to hear the last bits of conversation from the next room, "...more fighting for at least a week or you could damage it permanently." "Yeah, like that's gonna happen. I'll just tell the next maniac who tries to kill me that you suggested he come back next week. I'm sure that will go over real well." "Well, try your best to avoid it then. You could always let that fiancée of yours handle the challengers for a little while..." "Are you nuts?! She'd get creamed for sure! Besides, Akane is the one most likely to hit me of all." Nabiki felt the need to jump in at this moment. "I'm sure we can convince her otherwise, Ranma-kun. Oh, hey Ms. Tatsuboshi," she added, dropping Tatewaki's arm, "guess who needs you again." The nurse nodded in her direction. "That boy again! I swear if his father wasn't the principle he'd have been expelled by now with all this fighting. I'm not sure why you're still here though, Saotome." "Because I don't start the fights, I just end them." Ranma answered matter-of-factly. "Geez, Nabiki, did you have to bring him in here with me? I just got done dealing with him once already, and now I'm not allowed to properly defend myself." "Ugh, what place is this?" Kuno asked, reviving with perfect timing. "Guess, Kuno-baby." Replied Nabiki, passing a small glass of water over his prone form to Ranma. With a scowl, he complied, using the offered escape method. Following the movement with his eyes, the Blue Thunder made a miraculous recovery. He leapt to his feet and was soon holding Ranma's hand between both of his. "Pig-tailed girl! What has happened to you to require medical attention?" Ranma held in her obvious annoyance, removing her hand from Kuno's grasp. "I was assaulted by an idiot swordsman, sempai! Please, won't you find him and punish him for me?" Tatewaki stood and struck a noble pose before her. "You needn't ask my love! Tell me of the fiend, and I will dispatch him for your honor forthwith!" "He was tall, with poofy black hair, wore a blue kimono and a black hakamma." Ranma described, offering up a pair of enormous, wet eyes and pouting lips to finish the sell. Nabiki wasn't sure if she should applaud the performance or laugh at the scene, so she just watched quietly with a hand over her mouth. "Have no fear, I will track this devil to the ends of the earth, never resting until he has suffered sufficiently for your pain." Kuno dashed out the door in a random direction, soon disappearing out of sight. Nabiki finally allowed herself to burst out into laughter, and was joined by the clapping of the nurse. "Well, perhaps you just found your solution to staying out of trouble this week, Ranma," the nurse said, handing him a padded steel crutch. "I only wish it were that simple. Kuno's the only one I know that would fall for something that stupid." Ranma scowled as he found his balance with his right foot and the crutch, keeping his bandage wrapped left foot off the ground. "Well, maybe Ryoga too, but that still leaves a lot of problems." "I'm sure you'll think of something," Mrs. Tatsuboshi replied confidently. "Do you feel well enough to stay at school today?" "Yeah, I guess. Missed all of last week, so I ought to stick it out, I guess. I'll need a pass for being late, though." He sighed. "Just hope she doesn't drain me before I get a chance to give it to her." "Here you go, and good luck." She handed over the note with a smile. "Crap, I forgot to give Kuno his bill." Nabiki suddenly realized. "Oh well, I'll just mail it to the estate, postage due of course. Come on Ranma, Time to go back to class." --%%%%%-- As Ranma approached the class, he noticed Akane and Ukyo standing by the door, with buckets in hand. They seemed to be doing their level best to ignore one another, with faces turned in opposite directions, standing side by side. Akane stared right at him during his approach, glaring but refraining from any further commentary. Somewhat annoyed by the silent treatment, Ranma instead addressed Ukyo, who had yet to notice his approach. "Hey Ukyo, you get in late or something?" he asked. "Oh, hey Ranchan. Yeah, didn't quite make it in time. When we complained she drained us and tossed us out, and said we had to hold the buckets as soon as we were able." Her eyes roamed downward momentarily, but stopped at the crutch under his arm. "How's the ankle?" "Stupid Kuno..." he grumbled, "Mrs. Tatsuboshi says I tore something, should be fine in a week or so." If I could just get away from all this crap I could probably heal it in 40 hours, tops. Yeah, right, like I'll ever get a chance to just rest. "Kuno? You let Kuno get a hit in?" Akane burst out laughing, her eyes never leaving his, in a very cold, hurtful tone. "And you question my martial arts? That's a laugh." Ranma bristled at the comment, tightening his fists. He gave Akane an icy glare, then continued to the door. "I don't have the time to waste with you, Akane. I'm late enough as it is. Excuse me." He hopped to the door, ignoring her anger. As soon as he opened the door, Ranma was met with a dismissive command. "Why are you so late? Oh, who cares. Just go back to the hall, Ranma. I'll deal with you later." Ms. Hinako waved her hand at him absently, still in her adult form from her earlier draining. "Huh? But I got a note..." he complained. "Hall, Buckets, Now!" she yelled with her left hand on her hip, with a right index finger now pointed directly behind him. Ranma crossed the room in two short bounds and slammed the note on her desk. "Here, I've got a note from Mrs. Tatsuboshi. I was attacked by Kuno today, and he actually got a decent hit in. That's why I'm late." She took a moment to scan the note, her anger fading away quickly along with her adulthood. "Well then have a seat. We're well into third period, now. Oh, you wouldn't happen to have your make-up work for last week done, would you?" she asked, knowing the answer already. "No, sensei." The class gasped as he hopped to his desk, holding a crutch under his arm. As soon as he sat down, Ukyo broke out into an angry yell outside the door. With a groan, he let his head hit his desktop. "Please, make it stop." Hinako taught on, apparently not noticing the obvious yelling from the hall. The class, however, soon divided its attention between listening to the fight and staring accusingly at Ranma. Brown-haired Yuka was the first to voice the common thought, "Ranma, what did you do now?" Sayuri glared at him from beneath her raven bangs, standing next to her friend. Tiredly he looked up from his forehead striking. "Perhaps you didn't notice, but I'm in here too. How exactly did you two decide that whatever they're fighting about out there is my fault?" He now noticed that the rest of the class now firmly eying him as well. Except, that is, for Gosunkugi, who seemed to be lost in a state of maniacal giggling for no apparent reason. Sayuri answered this time, counting her points off on her fingers. "Duh, Ranma, like you don't know. Everything around here is your fault, somehow. It's like a law of nature or something. A new kid shows up, and they're always out either to kill or marry you. A new school policy is enacted about every month so principle Kuno can try to cut your hair. A perverted gnome runs into the girls' showers, and like magic, you show up right after it. It's so obvious." Hiroshi spoke up as well, brushing his light brown hair out of his eyes. "Yeah, like that Jiro kid said this morning when you smacked into the clock tower, it would be nice if something would happen around here that wasn't related to you for once." Daisuke prepared to back up his pal. "Yeah, Ranma, you steal all the hot chicks around here! Be a good friend and share the wealth!" Well, maybe he didn't back up any of the comments, but he spoke at least. Ranma just looked at his peers, their faces crowding around him awaiting a response, and decided that now would be a good time to leave. A heavy impact against the wall seconded the motion. "On second thought, I guess I will go to the hall. Someone has to keep them from killing each other." He stood up again, but Miss Hinako, coming back from a lecture on cotton candy to the reality around her, objected. "No, you won't. You haven't done anything bad yet so you have to stay. Sit back down." She gave him a stern pout, but it ended up looking closer to cute than threatening. "Well, are you planning on going out to stop them any time soon?" he continued hopping toward the door. "Out where to stop who from doing what?" Her face was a complete blank. "Never mind." He muttered as he reached for the buckets. "Is insubordination a good enough reason for you?" Ranma grimaced as the weight of the bucket pulled at his shoulder, so he shifted both buckets to his left hand. "Delinquent! Leaving class without permission is against the rules!" She whipped out a coin as he opened the door. --YYYYY-- Ukyo leaned heavily against the wall with a sigh as Ranma went back into class. He really didn't look so good, and he must be really out of it to just blow off Akane like that. She wasn't entirely sure if he was angry or rather just really tired. Akane interrupted her thoughts with an offhand comment. "If you hadn't been in my way, I wouldn't have been late, you know." Ukyo turned to look at her partner in punishment, who was still not looking back. "Well, if you had left earlier then you wouldn't have been late to begin with, whether I was in your way or not." "I couldn't. That jerk Ranma caused all kinds of trouble this morning with our parents, and I had to wait too." Akane was facing her now, at least. "Is that why you felt the need to throw him into the clock tower?" seeing no reaction, she continued. "He's hurt, you know. Really hurt. The crutch wasn't a gag." Akane turned away with a huff. "Well, that's a good start, but not good enough. For what that bastard did, he deserves a hell of a lot more pain than just that." "What are you all grumpy about?" she asked, "It's not like the wedding disaster was his idea, you know." "No, I'm not mad about that right now. He did something far worse. You'll probably want to kill him too when you find out, Ukyo." She offered a meaningful glance at the taller girl. Ukyo was curious now. "What then? You're not blaming your dojo falling down on him, are you? That was Happosai's fault, if anything." "I wish it was just that. No, that bastard had the audacity to run off after the wedding." "So? I wouldn't want to hang around after that mess, either. He probably just went up to the roof to think like he always does." Akane paused for a moment before answering. "He went to Shampoo. This morning he admitted that they slept together." Ukyo bounced off the wall, battle aura set to full blaze. "You lying bitch, no way my Ranchan did that! You take that back!" the wall panels of the class sprang open, revealing several curious faces that looked once at the glowing, spatula-swinging girl, then turned their attention to Akane. "Is that true? No way!" commented someone from the crowd. Ukyo suddenly leapt away from the buckets and readied her battle spatula for a fight. "You take what you said about Ranma back or I'll beat it out of you!" "You can try, Ukyo, you can try. Looks like I'll get a chance to pay you back for those exploding okonomiyaki's you tossed at me yesterday" said Akane as she solidly planted her feet and brought her clenched fists up in response. Ukyo charged in with a vicious upward swing of her spatula, but Akane rolled underneath it and quickly sidestepped the sharp downwards strike that followed. Still off balance from her second swing, Ukyo was left open for a kick at her kidneys from the side. She turned into the blow to lessen its impact and batted Akane into the classroom wall with a backhanded swing. Ukyo rolled back to her feet after absorbing the strike, placing her weapon before her defensively as she reached for her bandolier. "Where the hell did you get such a crazy idea, anyway?" she asked, readying a handful of her smaller projectiles. Akane shook her head slightly to clear it as she kicked back to her feet. Noting the throwing weapons she took up a low stance perpendicular to her foe, offering Ukyo as slim a profile for her throwing weapons as possible. "From his own mouth, on the way to school" she replied as she inched forward. Ukyo tossed a volley of spatulas at Akane, who charged, weaving between the darts to throw an elbow lunge. Ukyo parried the blow and pushed back, shoving Akane slightly off balance as she brought the handle around towards Akane's gut. To her surprise, Akane took the blow with a grunt, trapped the handle under her arm, and tried to pull her off balance. Ukyo yielded possession of her spatula, but responded with a crouching spin kick to the back of her opponent's knee. Akane attempted to kick back to her feet, but Ukyo was faster and pinned her to the floor by stepping on the stolen weapon, lying across Akane's chest. She took advantage of the situation to argue, "That isn't possible. I was fighting with Shampoo after the whole thing fell apart, for at least an hour. We ended up in the park, I think. I don't remember exactly what happened because Konatsu knocked us out with sleeping darts. If the length of time I slept was any indication, then there's no way that could have happened." Akane responded in kind, "Ranma said this morning on the way to class that he was sore from the night before, and something bout being 'inside'. Then Shampoo showed up saying that they would be getting married soon. They did this all right in front of me, just to brag about it!" While Ukyo paused to digest Akane's statement, the fallen girl grabbed the offending foot and twisted it. Ukyo was forced to hop backwards to retain her balance, and Akane took the opportunity to regain her footing and to toss the stolen weapon behind her, out of reach. Sensing her disadvantage, Ukyo quickly tossed a small spatula at Akane's face as a distraction, as she charged. Her offence faltered, however, as she dove for cover to avoid a chi-draining attack from the classroom door. "You delinquent!" Miss Hinako shouted in a whiny, high voice from the door. Ranma, who stood just to the side of the open door, turned and glared at her as his aura to burst forth like an oil rig explosion, rolling menacingly with flickering shades of dark and bright reds, thinly outlined in an inky black. "Happo Five Yen Satsu!" Hinako cried angrily, this time hitting her target squarely as Ranma didn't even budge. His aura flared in response rather than waning, and as the instructor continued her attempt to drain him Ranma stood defiantly, with his still growing aura raging around him. "It can't be! How could you counter my technique? How could anyone have so much chi?" Hinako faltered, and her form began to change back to her child body. A wave of red and black rolling energy seeped from her skin and rejoined with Ranma as she cried out in pain, then collapsed bonelessly into unconsciousness. Looking back and forth between the fallen teacher, pale and thin in her child form, Ranma, standing on one leg amidst a ring of searing floor tiles as his aura faded away, and Akane, who looked on with open-mounted disbelief, Ukyo wisely decided to stop fighting. "How did you do that, Ranchan?" --%%%%%-- Ranma looked down on his hands wide eyed at Ukyo's question. "I wish I knew..." he thought before shaking off the question. "Anybody gonna tell me what this is about, or do I have to guess?" He asked tiredly, looking up from his unclenched hands. "Oh like you don't know, Ranma. You even admitted that you screwed her right in front of me!" she screamed at him. The panels of the classroom burst open behind him and Ukyo, revealing a crowd of very curious faces. "You and Ukyo finally did the nasty?" asked Hiroshi excitedly, gesturing obscenely with both hands. "No way, if he was banging anyone it was Kodachi for sure. That girl's gotta be a freak in the sack!" commented Daisuke dreamily, slightly drooling. Sayuri and Yuka bashed both idiots over the head with synchronized scowls and very thick chemistry textbooks. "What the hell are you talking about? I haven't, well, done that, with anybody!" He replied, turning somewhat red. Whether it was more from anger or embarrassment, he couldn't tell. The crowds' reaction was mixed, including snickering, gaping jaws, and the occasional disappointed frown. "This morning, walking to school, you said you were sore from the night before, and that's why you weren't walking on the fence! Then shampoo showed up talking about marriage, and instead of fighting her off you stuck your face between her breasts!" the crowd looked back to Ranma, wide eyed, waiting for his response. "Of course I was sore! Who wouldn't be after a dojo collapsed on them?" Ranma asked rhetorically, throwing his arms in the air. "And how would you know if I was fighting her off? You were too busy smacking me in the head with a bicycle to pay any attention." Almost as one, the class groaned, realizing that this was simply the product of another one of Akane's wild leaps of logic. Undaunted by the audience, she pushed on. "The dojo fell on you? So you were the one that knocked it over! I should have known." "All I did was wake up, look around, and lean on one of the posts when my ankle started bothering me. Thanks ever so much for bringing me out of the rain, by the way. Maybe next time you get knocked out I'll just leave you where you fall, so you can see how it feels to be forgotten," he threatened. Akane opened her mouth to respond, but stalled for a comment. She stood before him in silence, closing her gaping mouth slowly as her eyes wandered off in thought. Just by watching her face, it was easy enough for everyone to guess her thoughts. Her brows knitted as she desperately searched for a reason to stay angry, a way to keep from having to apologize for what she now knew was the blunder of her life. Her hands clenched as part of her mind, a very familiar part, screamed, "Hit him!" but somehow she instinctively knew that that would be the worst possible reaction. Her hands relaxed, but still her gaze was averted. The class watched, completely enthralled, as for the first time in recorded history Tendo Akane seemed to be actually thinking about her response to a situation rather than just attacking it. It was almost anticlimactic when the truth finally pushed it's way into her world. With a small voice, she finally offered, "I'm sorry." All eyes turned instantly to Ranma, and were further shocked by his response. "Who are you apologizing to, Akane? Me, for hitting me with the bike and jumping to conclusions? Or is it to Ukyo, for fighting with her for no good reason? Heck, maybe you'll even surprise me and say it's to Nabiki, for hitting her hard enough to bruise her face to the bone." "I, I don't know. I'm just sorry..." Akane reached up to touch Ranma's shoulder, but he winced and flicked her hand away. "I'm sorry." Tears were beginning to drift down her cheeks. "Yes, you are." The coldness in his voice was blunt and cruel, but something in his eyes hardened and glimmered. Akane's reaction was to run off to the girls' room, followed soon after by Yuka and Sayuri. For over a minute no one dared to speak, until Ukyo commented, "Ranma, your shoulder looks pretty bad. Are you okay?" He brought his free hand up absently to feel it, and was surprised to find a growing stain on his shirt and blood on his fingertips when he pulled away. "Crap, I must have ripped open that cut Kuno gave me yesterday. Well, that's it, I'm calling it a day." He walked back into class and grabbed his book bag. Turning to Hinako, who was sitting up slowly from the ground, he explained "Mrs. Tatsuboshi said I could go home for the day if I wanted because of my injury, and I think I just changed my mind about staying." Ranma quickly turned and hoped out of the room on one foot, still ignoring the crutch under his arm. --$$$$$-- Nabiki ate her lunch at her usual table outside, surrounded by her aids as they set about tallying up the financial business of the day. As one of her assistants came to sit before her, she asked in a friendly tone, "So, Setsuko, what's happened so far today?" "You haven't heard?! The rumor mills have gone absolutely wild about Ranma and your sister!" "Well, that's nothing new." She answered curtly, waiting for something she could actually use. "Um, Akane and Ukyo got into a fight, to start with." offered Setsuko, reading from her notes. Nabiki leaned forward. "Interesting. What about? Who won?" "Well... it seems that Akane insinuated that Ranma had sex with one of his other fiancées, and Ukyo took exception. Reports vary on just which fiancée it was, though. They were shouting about it in the hall, so loud that I could almost make out what they said from my class three doors down, over Mr. Onoda!" She flipped to another page in her notes quickly, "The fight was unconcluded because Ranma stepped in." "What? But he was hurt... Why didn't Miss Hinako do it?" Nabiki set aside her bento, curiosity piqued. Setsuko continued, excitedly. "That's where things get really interesting. She tried to use her draining-thingy, but Ranma beat her somehow and drained her instead! He was glowing in really scary colors, and she just collapsed after a few seconds. "Well, that's interesting, but not overly useful. How did he stop the fight?" Setsuko seemed to redden slightly as she continued. "Turns out it doesn't matter which fiancée Akane accused him of sleeping with, because he's a virgin!" "What! No way that's true. Even Ranma must have been with someone by now, considering the sheer amount of women that throw themselves at him," Nabiki replied, dismissing the thought with a gesture. "If not here in Nerima, then some time while he was on the road." The freshman defended her report, "Well, that's what I heard. Apparently he said it himself, and I believe it because Toshiro Mika said that he was all embarrassed right after he said it." "Huh. Well, I'd have lost that bet," Nabiki commented as an aside. Some insidious part of her mind perked up at the thought of helping him lose something in return, but she quickly squelched that line of thought. "There's a lot more, too." Setsuko continued, apparently not noticing as Nabiki was distracted for a moment. "After he convinced her that he was innocent, she actually apologized! Ranma was really mean to her though, and kept on yelling at her, asking her what she was sorry for and listing off a bunch of things, including that bruise of yours." "He confronted Akane about hitting me? How did he know?" "Who cares how he knew! What's important is that he made Akane run off crying." explained Gosunkugi Hikaru, walking up to the table behind Setsuko in his loose fitting uniform, though the candles not currently lit. "And you didn't even mention the burn marks he left in the floor tiles after he burst into flames. He was like some kind of hell beast! We were all glad to see him go home early today, before someone got hurt." "He left school? Why, I mean he seemed ok to me besides the ankle injury." Nabiki asked. "When he came back in to get his books, his shoulder was covered in blood. He just left, didn't even bother to pick up his homework." He answered with a shrug. "Blood? Whose blood? What happened to Kuonji and my sister?" "Ukyo left right after Ranma did, but I don't think she was following him. Your sister was crying in the bathroom last I heard. Yuka and Sayuri are looking after her." "Great, just what else can go wrong today?" Nabiki rested her head against her folded hands, releasing a sigh. "Why are you here, anyway? I already announced there would be no refunds for the gifts." He waved her statement aside. "Uh, no, nothing about that, I kind of expected that. I'm here to collect my, uh, winnings for this morning's fight. With the odds you offered on the 'Kuno gets a hit' bet, I believe that it comes to a total of, uh, 7000 yen." Setsuko butted in at this point. "Hikaru, you know the rules. All winnings from the pool are paid out at lunch the next day. It takes us a bit to get everything counted up and organized, you know." "But I need it now, or at least before school is out! There's something I've wanted to buy for a while now, and now I can finally afford it, but if I don't get to the store by four today I'll have to wait till next week!" He pleaded. Nabiki looked up to the whining boy with a smirk. "Ok, look, for you I'll make an exception, on account of all the information you supplied. There will be an early withdrawal fee, of course, of 1000 yen." "1000!" He was angry for a moment, but quickly it faded away as reason leaked through. "Argh, damn it, I can't wait that long. Alright, I'll take what I can get." "Fine, I'll see you after school then," she replied, wondering just what sort of store would only be open one day a week. --%%%%%-- Ranma dropped his school bag unceremoniously on the floor next to the door, and quickly changed out of his street shoes into his house slippers. "I'm home." He announced without any inflection. Hopping sure got tiring real fast. Still, as far as he was concerned, it beat using the crutch. "Ranma, why are you home so early? Go back to school, you ungrateful boy!" called Genma from the family room. He hopped into the room, eying the man as he sat with his friend on opposing sides of a go board, surrounded by multiple bottles of sake. Behind them sat the sad remains of the Tendo shrine, the various small figurines cracked and chipped, a photograph of Tendo Kimiko in a bent frame, and a few of the wall hangings from the dojo, none in good shape. "At least they had gotten the stuff out this morning," he considered, "instead of making me do it." Soun seemed to be ignoring his presence, or at least trying to appear as if he were. Ranma didn't particularly care if Mr. Tendo was feeling sociable, and so pressed on. "Akane, Shampoo, and Kuno managed to aggravate my injuries from Saffron and the wedding. I really did a number on my ankle and shoulder this morning, so I left. The nurse said it was ok." "What a weakling you've become lately. To think, a son of mine injured by two girls and an idiot. Pathetic, truly pathetic. Tomorrow I think I'll have to start retraining you." "Oh really? I bet Saffron wouldn't think me weak old man, and I certainly defeated you without any effort this morning. Heck, I could take you right now, no sweat, so I suggest you keep your comments to yourself. Either that, or pick out a comfy bit of floor to spend the afternoon unconscious on." "I just remembered, Ranma, that when you so impolitely left this morning we were discussing a promise. A promise you are honor bound to fulfill, yet for some reason continue to put off resolving it." Soun intoned gravely, with his displeasure very thinly covered. "I believe you left saying something about the wedding never happening." "Accept your fate, boy, and stop hiding from your duty." added his father. "My, That certainly doesn't sound very honorable to me, Ranma." chimed in Kasumi, taking a seat at her father's side with a hollow smile. Ranma glowered at them, eyeing all three before answering. "I have tried to salvage as much of my honor as is humanly possible in this situation, despite your constant complications to the already tangled mess of my life." He pointed an accusing finger at his father, continuing, "There are too many conflicting duties of relatively equal weight resting on my shoulders for me to fulfill any of them. This is mostly the fault of my father, who has shown time and time again that to him honor is more about face than action." Turning to face the Tendos, he concluded, "I am sorry to announce that after yesterday's fiasco I see the same traits in you, Mr. Tendo. "How dare you!" Soun was on his feet in a moment, releasing a dark red burst of energy in the shape of demonized caricature of himself. "How dare you speak in such a manner under my own roof, where you are staying as a guest!" Ranma casually dissipated the plasmic form with a tightly controlled burst of his own energies. "Nabiki told me about the cask, about where it came from and who it was actually addressed to. That's all the information I need to question your honor, Tendo. Your deception effectively stole something invaluable and irreplaceable from me, a reward for saving the lives of two innocents, and condemned me to this half-life forever." "It was addressed to the dojo, Ranma." Replied Kasumi with her eyes off and to the side. "Since we own the dojo, the claim could be maid that the contents were ours, to do with as we see fit." Ranma paused for a moment before answering, amazed at the powers of rationalization that were being brought to bare. "That is a flimsy excuse and you know it, Kasumi. You all knew damn well who that water was meant for, and instead of giving me my property you had to conspire to use it against me as a way to force me to do what you wanted." He turned around and hopped towards the stairs. "Look, this is over for now. If you want to continue it tomorrow, then I'll explain the situation in detail so that perhaps for once you will understand it as it is, not as you wish it to be. I'm tired, and injured, and going to bed. Unless you desperately want an ass kicking, I suggest you let me rest in peace." He disappeared up the stairs, leaving three very disgruntled individuals behind. --#####-- Riiiiing! "Finally," Akane thought as she gathered her books together with little enthusiasm, "this intolerable day was over." She had never been so embarrassed in all her life, not even when Ranma first came to town and let the news of the their engagement slip. Breaking down into tears in public, to her mind, made the former stain on her reputation pale. That surely was not the action of a strong female martial artist. She had to be stronger, had to keep her emotions from betraying any weakness. "Akane, will you be alright?" asked Sayuri. "You can come over to my house and talk for a while if you want to, um..." she stopped for a moment, searching for a way to put this lightly. "...Give Ranma some space. I'm sure my mom won't mind if you stay for supper." She looked at her friend for a moment, wishing that she could take her up on the offer. Deep down, though, her sense of pride wouldn't let her run from the situation. "No, thanks anyway. I'm sure that idiot has gotten his head back on straight by now, and is just waiting to forgive me." "Yeah, right," she told herself, "I'm going to have to be the one to apologize this time." Part of her really wished that Kuno had hurt her too, if only to have avoided the whispers of her classmates when she came out of the bathroom after lunch. The look on her friends' faces betrayed the fact that they knew this was self-deception, too. "Really, Akane, you should come with us. I was going to go over to Sayuri's house too, to... study up for the test on Wednesday. We could always use a third brain in figuring out these stupid English words." Now that was an interesting point. She had missed the last nine days of classes, after all, and could really use the opportunity to catch up a little. Slowly, her rationalizations began to outweigh her prideful resolutions. "Ok, I'll go with you." Part of her thoughts reminded her quickly to save that last bit of pride, if only in her own mind ", Not that I want to talk any more about Ranma, of course. I just need a little help in catching up. Let me just tell my sister, and then I'll catch up with you." Her friends left, satisfied, and she finished gathering her supplies. Soon Akane found herself trudging through the hallways, ignoring the whispers of the other students leaving for the day as she passed them. "Screw them; it's none of their business what I do or what happens between us," she rationalized. "Us... Is there an us anymore? Was there ever? Oh Ranma, what's gotten into you?" "Um, have you got the money?" Something about Gosunkugi's voice captured her attention as she spotted her sister. "Yeah, Yeah, I got it for you. Minus my fee, of course." Curious, Akane walked over to where some sort of transaction was taking place, careful not to give away her presence. --$$$$$-- "Don't remind me. Come on, Nabiki, I'm in a hurry." He whined. "Not so fast, Hikaru. What are you going to buy, anyway? Must be something interesting if the store that sells it is only open for one day. It wouldn't happen to be some magic curse to use on Ranma, would it?" Nabiki asked, playfully. Maybe she could give Ranma a little warning and help him out a bit. "You want to know?" Hikaru smiled suddenly. It was an oddly unpleasant smile. "Well, then you'll have to pay my fee. 2000 yen, please." He held out his hand expectantly. She looked at him as if he was a bug under her raised heel. "You know, it's getting late, Mr. Gosunkugi. If I don't leave soon I will miss something important at home, and your 1000 yen fee for my inconvenience will have been wasted." "You can't do that! The 1000 is to get my money from you now!" he screeched. "I said I'd make an exception for you and have the money for you after school. I never said I'd wait around forever to give it to you." She stared at him a moment, then turned to leave. Five, four, 3... "Wait, okay, um, just 1000 yen and I'll tell you. Just enough to cancel out your fee." He offered. She smirked, amused by how fast he had capitulated. "500." She didn't turn, but stopped walking. After a moment's hesitation from him, she took a step. "My, look at the time..." "Okay, okay, geez... but give me the money first." He relented. "Deal. Here you go, Hikaru. 6000 yen, as promised." She dropped the folded bunch of bills in his hand. "Now spill it." "What about the 500 for the information?" He asked, counting it. "Oh, did someone forget my standard 500 yen charge for trying to haggle my prices? It's well known throughout the school that my prices are final, Gosunkugi." "But... oh, screw it. What were the questions again?" he sighed. "The questions were; what are you going to buy, what kind of store is only open one day a week, and is that going to be paying for a magical curse or some such thing for Ranma?" "Okay, um, for the first, powdered sap extract from a 'Dragon Rose' Secondly, none that I know of. It's open all the time, but it's inventory changes depending on when you enter the store. Lastly, no, it won't be a curse for Ranma. Bye now." He took off running. "Damn, should have been more specific." Nabiki scowled, not bothering to demean herself by giving chase. "So what was all that about?" asked Akane, making her presence known. "What, are you going to hit me if I don't tell you?" asked Nabiki sarcastically. "No." Replied Akane softly, "Um, I'm sorry Sis." "Huh?" asked Nabiki, raising an eyebrow. "I heard you were offering apologies earlier, but I didn't expect you to actually carry through." "Ranma obviously didn't, either," She answered under her breath. "Really though, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hit you." "Well, I'm not as pissed as Ranma apparently is. I accept." At the mention of Ranma's anger, Akane's spirits sagged. "Hey Sis, look, I'm not going to lie to you; you screwed up big. It isn't the end of the world, or even the end of your chances with Ranma, though. Just give him some space." "But, I mean, shouldn't I talk to him? He was so... cold today. He had this odd glimmer in his eye, almost as if he was enjoying seeing me in pain..." "Oh, apologize and mean it, but then leave. Akane, you have no idea how stressed out he is right now. I talked to him last night after, well, what I just forgave you for. He was sitting in the rain, soaked to the bone, thinking crazy, desperate thoughts. If we push him too much I'm afraid he might just snap, and then somebody is going to get hurt. Just give him some time to settle down." Nabiki gave her a moment to let the advice sink in, then turned towards the street. "Come on, Akane, let's get home." "I'm going to go to Sayuri's house for dinner tonight." Akane answered. When Nabiki offered a disappointed look, she continued. "She and Yuka are going to help me catch up on the homework I missed while I was gone." Nabiki's gaze still didn't change. "Really, it's not like I'm trying to avoid Ranma or anything!" "Oh sis... you're just bound and determined to screw this up, aren't you?" Nabiki signed. "Are you absolutely sure that's a good idea? Don't you think that maybe you should apologize to him as soon as possible?" "He'll be calmed down by the time I get home, and then I'll tell him. Really, it'll be no problem." She replied over her shoulder as she turned toward the Southern gate. Nabiki walked through the Eastern gate and back to her home alone. Kicking off her shoes, she called out "I'm home." The house that greeted her was silent, not in thought but in unvoiced anger. The fathers sat in silence at the Go board, not playing but simply staring at one another with unspoken recriminations. Even Kasumi failed to greet her as she entered. Ranma was nowhere to be seen, but his shoes were still on the step in a careless pile. She found Kasumi in the kitchen, dead to the world except for the headphones on her ears. The volume was up loud enough for Nabiki to recognize the track even over the sounds of the knife and cutting board. She was surprised to note that it was a much darker, angsty sound that Kasumi usually listened too... and a track from her newest cassette, and an import to boot! As she approached, Kasumi slipped with the knife, cutting her finger rather than the celery and muttering "Ow, Shit!" Nabiki was shocked as Kasumi lightly swore, a habit definitely uncommon to her older sister. She quickly handed over a cloth to wipe away the blood, which Kasumi accepted with surprise. She held the cloth to her finger in a fist and reached up with her free hand to stop and remove her music. "Nabiki, when did you get home?" "Oh, just now. Akane won't be home for dinner; she's staying with her friends." Nabiki glanced at the borrowed tape, commenting, "I thought you only liked pop and classical music. Broadening your musical tastes, sis?" "I'm sorry to use your things without asking, Nabiki, but none of my music seemed... adequate today." She washed her finger in hot water and then applied a band-aid as she further explained. "Ranma came home early and caused quite a stir. He threatened his father, and even questioned Father's honor, all over something you told him about the cask of Nannichuan." "He had every reason to! Dad had no business trying to force him to marry, and especially not by keeping his cure from him to use as blackmail." Kasumi frowned slightly, but Nabiki new that the point was already conceded. "I don't want to know what he said to you, but I'd just drop it if I were you sis. Ranma is in a bad way right now, and he might do something rash if we all don't stop pushing him." Kasumi continued reporting the events of the day. "Father was going to throw him out, but Mr. Saotome convinced him that if he were to toss Ranma out now, they may never see him again." "Well, perhaps the panda isn't as dumb as I thought." Nabiki commented offhandedly. "If I were Ranma, I'd have left months ago. The only reason he's still here at all is because of his sense of honor." "My, what a kidder you are." stated Kasumi with light chuckle. "What? Why would I be kidding? There's no way I would be able to put up with as much trouble as Ranma does, honor on the line or not." Nabiki admitted. "I'd think that if he were truly honorable he would have accepted the engagement, rather then fighting it and cavorting with those other girls." Kasumi asked directly, "Don't you?" "Sis, those other girls are the reason that he can't just marry Akane. If he honored our engagement, then he would still lose his honor for breaking theirs." "Goodness, what a mess. In that case, I'm surprised that Father hasn't just declared the contract broken by Mr. Saotome's other promises and dropped the whole thing." Kasumi replied with an oddly superior tone. "Ranma may be an excellent martial artist and a well-meaning boy now, but he will more than likely grow up to be just as bad as his father if not worse, and surely ruin the dojo's remaining reputation." "Kasumi, what Ranma are you talking about?" She asked, not believing her older sister could be as contrary as her younger sister was proving to be. "He's nothing like his father, except for the sloppy speech and eating habits, and he can keep those in check when he really wants too. The only way that Ranma would ever turn out like that is if something happened to completely break his faith in others. Something like, perhaps, being tossed out of the only home he's ever known." "My, if I didn't know better I'd suspect that my normally very perceptive sister has been blinded by her attraction to a rather unseemly young man. I certainly hope that isn't the case. It would be most improper for such an occurrence to continue, especially considering Akane's feelings." Kasumi seemed to dismiss her, turning back to her cooking. "What in the hell is wrong with you people? Why can't you see what you're doing?" she muttered as she left the kitchen. The fathers turned to regard her, but did not respond. Escaping the oppressive heaviness of her family, Nabiki went up to Ranma's Room to check on him. She was somewhat surprised by the faint orange glow that escaped under the door, but knocked anyway. When she received no answer, she opened the door slightly, but stopped when she saw Ranma, glowing with a faint aura as he lay still on his futon mat. She moved to enter the room, but froze when one eye snapped open and stared into her with a baleful gaze, before softening and closing once again. She offered as explanation to the still form before her "Heard you left early today. I came to check up on you." "I'll live. Just leave me alone so I can meditate in peace, and hopefully speed up my recovery." She nodded, despite his lack of sight at the moment, and turned to leave. As she shut the door, he softly added "Thanks, Nabiki. It's nice to know that not everyone is out to get me at the moment." "Hey, what are friends for, Ranma-kun?" She replied pleasantly as she shut the door. Author's notes: There will never again be a disclaimer for this fic, nor will I repeat my commentary on the use of pronouns. I wrote them both quite clearly for the first act, and I feel that should be sufficient. Due to the overwhelmingly negative response to my inquires about the use of recommended background music, it has been removed. I liked it, but if it serves no purpose then I won't bother to try and find any appropriate songs anymore. And no, this is not a Sandman crossover. The similarities of the mysterious figure in Ranma's dream to Neil Gaimans' Dream of the Endless are entirely unintentional (but, in retrospect, rather oddly appropriate). Nemesis_Zero, AKA Brian #2 Reviews welcomed, appreciated, and sometimes even answered! Wow!