Centaur

a Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by Vince Seifert (seifertv@csus.edu)

Ranma 1/2 characters and situations are copyright 1987, 1999
by Takahashi Rumiko.  Publishing rights (Japan) by Shogakukan
Inc.  Publishing rights (North America) by Viz Inc.  This work
is not intended to infringe those rights.

Chapter 2: Disciplinary Actions

     ~~~~~

     "Do you think they decided not to come?"  Michi stared out
into the rainy gray afternoon for a moment longer, then turned
away from the sliding glass door of the Thompsons' rec room and
let the curtain fall back into place.

     "Relax," Junko advised her without missing a beat in the
chopstick-throwing game; she caught Sachiko's double-flip
crossover throw and threw the sticks on to Eriko the same way.
"I'm sure they'll be along soon.  Akane would call if they
weren't coming."

     Michi stalked past where the other three sat in an open
triangle and flopped onto a beanbag chair.  "I guess."  She eyed
the platters of snacks on the low table and surreptitiously
reached for a tasty-looking tamago-nigiri.  Eriko spotted her
movement and diverted her throw, and the pair of chopsticks spun
across the room to smack into Michi's wrist.  "Ow!"

     "Wait for Ranma and Akane," Eriko said firmly.  "It's their
party."  She stood gracefully and retrieved the chopsticks as
Michi subsided, muttering.

     Suddenly Eriko cocked her head.  "Doorbell!"  She darted for
the rec room door and out.  The others followed, clustering on
the second-floor hall balcony as Eriko skimmed down the curving
stairs.

     Eriko's mother got there first.  Mrs. Thompson, a matronly
woman rather different from her willowy daughter, opened the door
and peered out into the rain.  "Oh, Akane-chan, welcome back!
And you must be the other...."

     "Saotome Ranma," a deeper voice responded.  "Uh, pleased to
meet you, Tomson-san."

     "The pleasure is mine!  I've heard so much about you!
Please, come in."  The girls on the balcony watched as Eriko's
mother stood aside, allowing Akane and Ranma to come in.  Ranma
shook off their umbrella outside and set it by the door.

     "Wow," Michi breathed.  "What a hunk."

     Junko nudged her.  "Stop it.  She's, er, he's as taken as a
guy gets."

     "I know, but I can still look, can't I?"  Michi suited
action to words.

     "Well, be polite about it.  Here they come."  Eriko led the
newlyweds up the stairs, and the others fell in behind as they
went into the rec room.  Michi took the opportunity to admire
Ranma's butt; Junko glanced at Sachiko and rolled her eyes.

     "So," Junko said when they were all in and the door was
shut, "congratulations!  May your wedded life be long and happy!"

     "Long and happy," the others chorused in agreement.

     Akane and Ranma glanced at each other, blushed, and smiled.
"Thanks," Akane said.  "And thanks for the party.  The food looks
great!"  Ranma had evidently noticed the same thing; he was
reaching for a morsel even as Akane spoke.

     "So, Akane," Michi asked slyly, "is Ranma long and are you
happy?"

     Ranma choked, turned red, and started coughing.  Akane
blushed fiercely.  "Michi!"  She glanced sidelong at Ranma and
smirked.  "I suppose so."  She gave Michi an exasperated look.
"Is this the way this chat's going to go?"

     "I hope not," Ranma muttered.  "Jeez, I feel like
livestock."  He selected a drink and eyed the girls warily.

     "That was a bit crude for mixed company," Junko told Michi
reprovingly.

     "Mixed?  Ranma's not just a man, he's a woman too, isn't
he?" Michi retorted.

     "All right, very mixed company, then."  Junko smirked at her
own wit.

     Eriko said something under her breath.  "What was that,
Eriko?" Junko asked.  Eriko blushed and looked down, shaking her
head.

     "She said she'd rather Ranma was a girl," Sachiko said
quietly.  She looked apologetically at Ranma.  "It's still pretty
strange for us, you know.  In a way, we've only met you a few
times; it's the other Ranma who's our good friend."

     "I am her.  She's me," Ranma said slowly.  "One of the
things I learned while we were away was that I can be a guy and a
gal both.  It's not so bad any more."

     Sachiko nodded.  "I know.  I'm just saying it'll take a
while for some of us to get used to it.  Michi, on the other
hand...."

     "Guy, gal, whatever," Michi said cheerfully.  The others
snickered; Michi's attitude was well-known.

     "I could change," Ranma offered.  "If it would help."

     Akane touched his shoulder.  "Ranma, I'd rather you were a
man right now."

     "Yeah, but, well, I can be a guy later, right?  And it's
buggin' 'em."  He indicated Eriko, Sachiko, and Junko, who were
looking ashamed; Michi appeared to be annoyed with them.  "I
dunno.  I just think maybe this is one of the times I oughta be a
gal.  Like when Kasumi and Nabiki wanted to talk girl-talk."

     "Well...."  Akane gave Ranma a searching look.  "If it's all
right with you...."

     "Sure, sure."  Ranma scanned the table.  "Anybody got some
cold water?"

     "I'll get it," Eriko volunteered.  She hurried out and was
back shortly with a cup of water.  Ranma took it and stood up.

     "See you some other time, maybe."  He half-smiled and poured
the water over his head.  The other three girls looked away
politely-- and a little uncomfortably-- as Ranma shrank and
curved, but Michi watched avidly.  "Better?" Ranma asked,
tightening her waist drawstring and adjusting the fit of her
shirt, still with the same half-smile.

     "Yes," said Eriko, visibly relieved.  "Thanks, Ranma.  I'm
sorry...."

     "It's okay."  Ranma sat down next to Akane and reached for a
cut of maki-sushi.  "Hell, it was weird when your mom greeted me
like a stranger.  I almost said 'Hiya, Tomson-san' like I always
do when I come over here."

     Eriko giggled.  "Yes, that would've confused her, all
right."

     "I hope I'm not gonna have to think too hard about who I'm
supposed to be a guy for and who I'm supposed to be a gal
for...."

     "We should probably start spending more time with you when
you're, er, a man," Sachiko mused.  "Not in school, of course,
but there's after school, weekends, holidays... we'll get used to
it, I'm sure."

     "Yeah, that oughta do it.  I hope so.  There's times I
really wanna be a guy, you know."

     "I'll bet," Michi said.  She glanced at the others, but
gestured to Ranma and Akane.  "Look at 'em.  They were a great
couple before you guys got squeamish, and they're still a great
couple."

     Junko, Sachiko, and Eriko took in the affectionate, familiar
way Akane's hand rested on Ranma's thigh, and the way Ranma was
leaning just a little towards Akane.  Akane and Ranma glanced at
each other and blushed a little, and for a moment it seemed that
Akane might retrieve her hand, but then her chin came up.  "This
is my husband," she said steadily.  "No matter what he looks
like, he's my Ranma."

     "Speaking of which," Junko suggested while Michi dealt with
a sudden attack of sentimental sniffles, "Michi wants to hear
about the honeymoon, but I want to hear how the wedding went."

     "It was successful," said Akane dryly.  "It wasn't big, and
it wasn't fancy, but at the end of it we were married, and that's
what counts."  Ranma nodded emphatically.  "Happosai showed up,"
Akane continued.  The girls grimaced; they remembered Happosai.
"He splashed Ranma, but--"

     "We clobbered him good," Ranma put in.

     "Then Kodachi's brother showed up.  The idiot saw me in my
wedding dress and Ranma in his tuxedo-- he was female at the time--
and he couldn't decide which one of us he wanted to marry, can
you imagine?"

     "We clobbered him good, too," Ranma said happily over the
snickers.

     "I think I see a pattern developing," Junko observed.

     "Then Kodachi showed up."

     "And Akane clobbered her good," said Ranma proudly.

     "And that was about it.  We finished the ceremony, and I got
my good kiss... there was a keg of sake, and a few gifts, but I
was, um, a bit distracted."

     "Oh, yes, gifts," Sachiko said suddenly.  "We have something
for you, too."  She fished a flat package out from under the
table and proffered it.

     "Oh, you shouldn't have-- but thanks!  Here, Ranma, you open
it."

     "I know this girl who knows this guy who was at Teiketsu
Academy that day you defeated the Souda twins," Sachiko said
while Ranma stripped the paper off.  "He's pretty good with a
camera...."

     "Wow," said Ranma hoarsely.  The four girls watched as Akane
looked over Ranma's shoulder, and they had the satisfaction of
seeing Akane's eyes widen and her jaw drop.  They knew what she
was seeing: a simple frame holding a large print of a photo taken
just after the announcer had proclaimed the winners of the match.
Akane had her clenched fists raised over her head and a look of
triumph on her soot-streaked face, the look of a winner who
hadn't been sure she would win.  Ranma had a different look; she
was turning away from the referee to gaze at Akane from the side,
and the love and pride in that covert glance had been captured
perfectly by the long lens.  They knew, as Akane knew, that Akane
would never have seen it had she been looking at Ranma instead of
at the roaring crowd; it would have been overlooked in the
excitement of the moment, or gone in an instant, or never allowed
to surface at all.

     Tears rolled down Akane's cheeks.  "You... you... I never...
oh, Ranma!" she sobbed, then twisted suddenly and buried her face
in Ranma's chest, wrapping her arms around her.  Ranma's free
hand was still holding the picture; she put it down carefully,
then held Akane as best she could.  Her eyes flicked up to give
each of the girls in turn a look that mingled bafflement and
gratitude, but the gratitude was stronger.  They were sniffling
too.

     Akane eventually unwound herself from Ranma, took the tissue
Junko offered, and wiped her eyes and nose.  She picked up the
picture and examined it again, then shook her head.  "Thank you,"
she said thickly.  "Thank you so much.  This is... very
precious."

     "We thought you'd like it," Sachiko said, dabbing at her own
eyes.  "Fumi called me after the match; she said she'd been
looking through the pictures and this one just sort of jumped out
at her.  Jiro-kun gave us a print, and we all chipped in for the
frame."

     "Yeah, it's a great picture of Akane," Ranma put in.  The
others all stared at her.  "What?!"

     "Oh, you baka," said Akane disgustedly.  "You're hopeless."
She settled down again right next to Ranma and put an arm around
her.

     "Right, now let's get down to it," Michi said firmly.  "You
made us wait, now we want the whole story.  The honeymoon."

     Akane glanced sidelong at Ranma.  "Well, the train was late
and the bus blew a tire...."

     ~~~~~

     "...so we were in the onsen, feeling quite, um, romantic--"

     "She means 'horny.'"  Bop!

     "--and all of a sudden this shinentai shows up."

     "Excuse me, did you say--"

     "--'shinentai?'"

     "Yup.  A yearning ghost, and what she was yearning for was
MY husband, thank you very much."

     "You're joking."  Junko evaluated the seriousness of Akane's
look, and the "no shit, there we were" honesty of Ranma's.
"You're not joking.  Eeek."

     "'Eeek' is right."

     ~~~~~

     "...the next thing I know, Ranma's telling me that the hotel
guys are scared out of their tiny little minds because of one
little ki blast, a whirlwind that hardly did any damage at all,
and a poor ghost who just wanted to get, um, laid."

     "You left out the screamin'."  Bop!

     "Screaming?" Michi asked pointedly.

     Ranma deftly fended off Akane's attempts to put a hand over
her mouth.  "Yeah.  Akane."

     "But why was--"  Michi noticed the color of Akane's ears and
grinned.  "Oho."  She saluted Ranma.  "I'm impressed.
Screaming's supposed to be really good."

     Ranma blushed.  "Well, it was pretty good for me too...."

     ~~~~~

     "...so we told our families this same story-- well, more or
less; you got a lot more detail-- and then we went up and found
out that they'd rearranged my room while we were gone.  You know,
set it up for a couple instead of just me.  You'll see next time
you come over."  Akane took a deep breath.  "Then my sisters
wanted to talk and shooed Ranma out.  He left, but I just knew he
was coming right back, and he did-- as a woman."

     Sachiko laughed.  "I'll bet that made an impression."

     "I've never seen Nabiki look so stunned," said Akane smugly.
"And Kasumi fell off the bed."

     Ranma smirked.  "It was great.  They wanted all the details,
same as you guys, but with me there they were a little, uh...."

     "Inhibited," Akane supplied.  "They think of him as male,
same as you think of him as female, right?  So they didn't ask
half the questions they wanted to."  She smiled a little smile
the girls were beginning to recognize.  "It was just as well.  It
was getting on towards bedtime anyway."

     "What's it like, being married?" Michi asked seriously.

     Akane looked startled.  "It's... about the same," she said
after a moment.

     The others looked surprised at that, but Michi noticed that
Ranma was nodding slightly and didn't look surprised at all.
"Ranma?"

     "Yeah.  Yeah, it's about the same.  We're still going to
school, and we're still doing kempo, and we're still best
buddies.  The only big change is, uh, where I'm sleeping, and
that doesn't have that much to do with being married--"

     "Yes, it does," Akane interrupted darkly.  "I was saving
myself for marriage, and if I hadn't married you I'd be going
right on doing that."  She looked at the others.  "Ranma's right,
though.  We'd been engaged for over a year, and for most of that
time we were sort of thinking we'd be married someday, so we got
used to the idea.  He's still the same Ranma, and I'm still the
same Akane."

     "The sex sure seems to agree with you, though," Michi
observed enviously.

     Akane blushed, but didn't drop her eyes.  "It's good, yes."
She thumped Ranma without looking; she was sure Ranma's ego would
need deflating.  "It's not because either one of us is some kind
of over-endowed sex-star, though.  It's because I love him, and
he loves me.  He didn't do anything special the first time, other
than be there, and be Ranma.  That was special enough.  It helped
that he didn't say 'Oh, Shampoo!' at the wrong moment, of
course...."

     "Look, you--!" exclaimed Ranma heatedly over the others'
laughter.  Akane smiled teasingly and kissed her on the cheek,
and she subsided.  "Hmph."

     "So being married isn't that much different from being
engaged," Akane continued.  "We worked out a few things on the
honeymoon, but that's between us and shouldn't affect anyone
else."

     "Other things're still the same, too," Ranma grumbled.
"Shampoo's gone, and Ukyo got the message, but Kodachi's still
after me, dammit."

     Junko smirked.  "Oh, yes.  'I'll hit you, Ranma-sama!'  What
was that all about, anyway?  We heard you proclaiming your love
for your, er, husband, and then things got weird...."

     Ranma rolled her eyes.  "She wanted to help me get a
divorce.  Then she wanted to be my, uh, concubine.  Then she
clobbered me," she said, raising her voice over the giggling.
"Then she sent a note to the Head telling 'em to pour hot water
on me."

     The giggling stopped cold.  "Oh, dear," Junko summed up.
"So they know you're a guy now?"

     "Nope.  I tricked 'em.  I didn't change."

     "But--"  Junko stopped and made a throwing-away gesture.
"Never mind.  I don't care how.  Thank goodness."

     "Yeah.  But I can't just blow this off.  I'm gonna get even
with Kodachi.  I dunno how yet, though."

     Junko glanced at Sachiko and raised an eyebrow.  "Plan C?"

     Sachiko pondered.  "Maybe.  If--"

     "What are you talking about?" Akane broke in.

     "Better tell them, Junko," Michi said soberly.

     Junko nodded, then addressed Akane and Ranma.  "Well, we've
been at St. Hebereke's a lot longer than you have, and we've been
putting up with Kodachi all that time.  When you came, we saw a
chance to change things.  Kodachi couldn't intimidate you,
because you're tougher than she is.  So we, er, defected from her
faction and joined yours."

     Ranma looked at Akane.  "We have a faction?"  Then she
remembered what Kodachi had said on their date:

          "I see you've made some little friends, too. Starting a
     clique of your own?"
     
          "Uh, joinin' theirs, more like. They're not bad. A
     couple of 'em made the roster for this meet comin' up."
     
          "Well, don't forget that I'm the team captain."

     "Son of a bitch," she breathed.  She stared accusingly at
Junko.  "We ARE a faction, and Kodachi knew it.  You planned all
this."

     Junko shrugged.  "Not exactly.  But we'd sure rather be on
your side than Kodachi's.  You've been good friends.  Kodachi's
just a pain."

     "So what's 'Plan C'?" Akane asked warily.

     Junko looked Akane straight in the eye.  "Have you ever
considered trying out for martial-arts rhythmic-gymnastics team
captain?"

     Akane's brow crinkled.  "What?  No--"

     "Well, think about it.  Kodachi gets away with a lot of the
stuff she pulls because she heads the team.  Some of the girls
are solidly with her, but most of them are just afraid to make a
fuss.  Give them a choice, and they'll take it."

     "Hmm...."  Akane obviously was thinking about it.

     "Hey, why her?"  Ranma hooked a thumb at herself.  "I'm the
one who beat Kodachi.  I'm the one who's teaching Akane, and you
guys.  If anyone's gonna replace Kodachi, it oughta be me.  Ow!"

     "Well, thanks for trampling right over me!" said Akane
hotly.  "Honestly, Ranma!"

     Junko raised her voice, but kept her tone calm.  "We thought
about that.  One, if Ranma's captain and the curse gets out, the
whole thing falls apart; if Akane's captain, she might be able to
talk them out of lynching Ranma.  Two, the captain stuff takes up
time; Akane can handle that, leaving Ranma free to do what she
does best: training.  Three... no offense, Ranma, but Akane will
probably get along with the other girls better, at least
initially."

     "Huh?  I got along with you guys just fine!"

     Michi smirked.  "Yeah, but we're almost as odd as you are."

     "Gaah."  Ranma put her elbow on her knee and her chin in her
hand and looked away, clearly prepared to go on sulking for a
while.

     Junko sighed.  "Look, Ranma, you've told us a lot of stories
about the people you've met, and most of them have one thing in
common: they start out wanting to beat you to a pulp, and it
takes them a while to get to like you.  Wouldn't it make sense to
skip the beating-to-a-pulp?"

     "But that's the fun part," Ranma muttered.  The other girls
snickered, and Ranma looked up with a reluctant smile.  "Oh, all
right, already.  Akane for captain.  Rah, rah."

     "I'm touched by your enthusiasm," Akane said dryly.  She
turned back to Junko.  "Just out of curiosity, what were plans A
and B?"

     "Plan A was giving up on gymnastics and doing something
else.  The archery team's kind of dull, though.  The dance club's
about as good as it can be without guys, and the kendo team's all
right, but we really wanted to do gymnastics."

     "Plan B was what happened, sort of," Michi interjected.  "We
thought if we found someone to help us, and made an effort, we
might get good enough at gymnastics that Kodachi wouldn't be able
to hide us under the ring any more.  It didn't happen quite like
that...."

     "No plan survives contact with Ranma," Akane remarked.

     "This one won't either," Ranma said suddenly.  "Bumping
Kodachi out's gonna be messy.  Start another team instead.
There's, what, more'n twenty gals on the gymnastics team now,
including us?  Enough for two teams."

     "Well, the idea was to get Kodachi out of power," Junko
pointed out.

     "Nah.  Don't wanna do that.  Listen, Kodachi's beat already,
she just doesn't know it.  She goes up against me or Akane, she
loses, that simple.  But if there's another team, then the teams
will fight."  Ranma rubbed her hands together briskly.  "That's
gonna be a lot of fun.  Nothing's better for training than
fighting all the time."

     The other girls looked dubious, but Akane's face lit up.
"Ranma!  You really are smarter than you look!"  She smirked at
Ranma's rolling eyes and turned to the girls.  "Look at it this
way: Kodachi's going to be too busy fighting, scheming, and
training her team to make much mischief.  And it's a lot easier
than trying to take over."

     "Hmm."  Junko glanced at the others.  Michi gave an
enthusiastic thumbs-up.  Sachiko nodded, smiling.  Eriko looked
apprehensive, but shrugged.  "All right," Junko said.  "We'll try
it your way.  We'll need to talk to Hasegawa-sensei, and then see
if we can convince a few of the others to join us...."

     ~~~~~

     Kodachi's predatory smile met Akane when she walked into
their homeroom the next morning.  It lasted just long enough for
Kodachi to notice Ranma coming in behind her, looking no
different than she did on any other morning.  Akane and Ranma
took their seats next to each other and conferred for a moment,
ignoring Kodachi, then straightened as Kogara-sensei rapped on
her large desk at the front of the room.

     "Good morning, class.  I have a few announcements before we
begin today...."

     Ranma pretended to listen, but she was watching Kodachi in
her peripheral vision; Kodachi's expression, both puzzled and
frustrated, warmed her heart with the heat of victory.  She could
see Kodachi trying to catch her eye, but was determined to
stretch out her adversary's suspense just as long as she could.

     It wasn't until the change of teachers two hours later that
Kodachi was able to wander over.  "What are you doing here, Ranma-
sama?" she hissed into the ear opposite Akane.

     Ranma raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised by her lack of
subtlety and seizing on the opportunity to appear surprised by
the question.  "Studying.  What's it look like?"  She winked at
Akane, who was observing the exchange with barely-concealed
amusement.

     Kodachi frowned tightly.  "Please do not fence with me,
Ranma-sama.  I hear there was an... incident... yesterday
afternoon."

     "Heh.  'You hear'.  Right.  Yeah, the Head wanted to ask me
some questions.  She was, uh, satisfied with my answers, though."

     "But--"  Kodachi suddenly realized how much her face was
giving away and restored her usual mask with unusual effort.
"Well.  We'll discuss this later, Ranma-sama."  She straightened
and started back for her desk.

     "Maybe, maybe not."  Ranma watched Kodachi break her stride
slightly, but she continued to her desk and settled gracefully
into her seat.

     Akane leaned across the gap between them.  "You get a gold
star, Ranma," she whispered.

     "Heh.  That was fun.  Junko had her pegged just right."

     "I'm looking forward to this afternoon."  Akane sat up
straight as the math teacher came in, cutting off Ranma's
response.

     ~~~~~

     "Come in!" Hasegawa called when she heard the knock on her
office door, but she didn't raise her eyes from the paperwork on
her desk until Akane and Ranma stood before her.  "Good
afternoon," she wished them.  Her eyes flicked sideways to the
closed door, and one eyebrow rose a little.

     "Good afternoon, Sensei," Akane said respectfully.  Ranma
ducked her head.  "If you have a few minutes, there's something
we'd like to discuss with you...."

     Hasegawa put down her pen and leaned back in her chair,
rubbing her hand absently.  "Really.  And what might that be?"

     "Well, um, a few of us were thinking... well... since there
are so many girls on the team... er...."

     "We were thinking there's enough gals for two teams," Ranma
put in.  "We'd like to start another team, but we need your OK
for that, of course."

     "Of course," Hasegawa agreed.  "And who, exactly, is 'we'?"

     "Junko, Michi, Sachiko, and Eriko," Akane replied.  "And the
two of us."  She shrugged.  "And maybe a few others."

     Hasegawa smiled slightly.  "Ah.  Those dissatisfied with
Kuno-san's leadership, eh?  Hmm."  She regarded them for a
moment.  "And who would the captain of this second team be?  You,
Ranma-san?"

     "Uh, actually--"

     "They suggested me," Akane said evenly.

     "Did they.  Well, well."  Hasegawa drummed her fingers on
her desk.  "It's an interesting idea.  I'll consider it and give
my decision within the week."  She picked up her pen.  "In any
event, thank you for your suggestion."

     "Hai, Sensei."

     "But--"

     "Come on, Ranma!"

     When the two girls had gone and the door was closed again,
Hasegawa put down the pen and frowned thoughtfully.  She reached
for her file drawer, ran her finger along the tabs, and pulled
out a file, then two more.  Opening them on her desk, she pulled
a pad closer and began to make notes.

     ~~~~~

     "Hi, Hatsue-kun."  Junko fell into step with another girl in
the hubbub of girls going to and fro at lunchtime in the halls of
St. Hebereke's.  "Got a minute?"

     Hatsue eyed Junko, her expression neutral.  "Sure.  What's
up?"

     "Well, you're on the gymnastics team too, but I know you're
not getting as much out of it as you'd like to...."

     "So?"

     "So what if you could be on a gymnastics team where you had
a chance to really train and compete?"

     Hatsue snorted. "Like that's going to happen as long as
Kodachi--"  She glanced at Junko.  "You're not talking about
getting rid of Kodachi-san, are you?"

     Junko shook her head.  "Not exactly.  But what if there were
another gym team?"

     Hatsue's eyes widened.  "You mean Saotome-kun?  Saotome
Ranma-kun, I mean?"

     "Well, she's in on this too, of course, but Saotome Akane-
kun would lead the team."

     "Oh.  And what people say about them, is it true?"

     Junko smiled.  "Well, that depends what people say about
them, doesn't it?"

     "You know," Hatsue said, blushing and lowering her voice.
"That they're both, um, interested in girls."

     "Heh.  You know they're both married now.  I can tell you
for a fact that neither of them is interested in any of us that
way.  Trust me, you're safe."

     "Sorry.  Um, has Hasegawa-sensei approved this?"

     "Not... yet."

     "Oh."  Hatsue raised a hand and touched her long hair where
it was braided and coiled behind her head.  "I don't know....  I
mean,  Kodachi-san can make my life here pretty miserable.  It's
just too... well, you know."

     "Give it a try," Junko urged her quietly.  "You've seen how
things have been for me and my friends since Akane-kun and Ranma-
kun came here.  Things could be different for you too."

     Hatsue looked tempted, but shook her head.  "I can't.  I'm
sorry."

     "No problem," Junko said, but her disappointment was clear.
"Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me."

     "Yes.  Thanks for thinking of me...."  Hatsue waved and
vanished into the crowd as Junko stopped.

     "Rats."  Junko changed course.  She found her way to a
sheltered courtyard where a few watery rays of late-winter
sunshine were making the stone benches almost comfortable.  Ranma
and Akane were there, eating from bento that appeared to be
prepared with more enthusiasm than skill.  Michi, Sachiko, and
Eriko had already finished lunch and were flinging their
chopsticks back and forth.

     "Any luck?" Michi asked, catching Eriko's throw and casting
the sticks back.

     "Nope," Junko said, choosing a spot and sitting down to
unwrap her own bento. "Oh, good, ten-don.  No, she wanted to,
but...."

     "Kodachi," Michi finished disgustedly.  "This sucks.  What a
tyrant."

     "She might change her mind if-- when-- Hasegawa-sensei
approves the team, though."

     "Cowards," Michi muttered, throwing the sticks to Ranma.
Ranma swept them out of the air one-handed and flipped them to
Sachiko without putting her bento down, then took her own
chopsticks out of her mouth and resumed eating.

     Akane giggled.  "Baka, don't food with your play."  She
shrugged at Junko.  "We'll just have to wait and see, I guess."

     "Don't sweat it," Ranma said comfortably.  "Even if she
turns us down, it's no worse'n it is now, and right now it's
pretty good."  She belched indelicately, put her empty bento box
down, and basked in the weak sunshine.  Three pairs of chopsticks
and a used shrimp-tail hit her as soon as her eyes closed.
"Hey!!"

     ~~~~~

     When Akane came in from the other room, Ranma was already in
bed with the quilt drawn up to his chest, his hands behind his
head, and his eyes closed.  He wasn't asleep, though; the faint
smile betrayed his wakefulness.  She turned the light off and
slid under the quilt, then found his face in the dark and kissed
him.  It wasn't exactly a good-night kiss; it said "you'd better
be glad to see me, because you're not getting any sleep just
yet."  Fingers slid across her breast, and she shivered
delightedly as they brushed her nipple through the thin cotton of
her pajamas.

     Ranma pulled back far enough to say, "I dunno why you
bothered to put these on."  He tweaked the pajama top
mischievously, then flicked the top button out of its hole.

     "Ha.  What about you?  You're wearing boxers," Akane
whispered, snapping his waistband.

     "Heh.  You got me there."

     "I sure do...."  Akane anticipated his first touch on her
bare skin as the rest of the buttons yielded swiftly to Ranma's
quick fingers; her own fingers were already caressing his
muscular chest--

     Suddenly she remembered something very important.  "Wait!"
she whispered urgently, pulling away.

     "What?!"  Ranma's voice was half frustrated, half worried.
"You all right?"

     "I'm fine--"

     "Fine?  Then what the hell's the matter with you?!"

     "Keep your voice down!" Akane hissed.  "Nothing's the matter
with me!"  *Well, not exactly.*

     "Then what?  Sure seemed like you were in the mood...."

     "Are you in the mood to be a father?" Akane burst out.

     Dead silence answered her for several seconds; Ranma wasn't
even breathing.  Then: "...what?"

     Akane sighed.  *Baka.*  Her own frustration wasn't helping.
"We need to talk."

     "You mean you wanna tell me some things?" said Ranma dryly.

     "No, not this time.  This time you get to decide."

     Another silence.  "I don't get it."

     "Well, I can TELL that," Akane muttered, half to herself.
"I'm turning on the light."  She got up and turned the light on,
then came back and sat on the futon next to Ranma, buttoning her
top back up.  "I don't want you distracted," she said in response
to Ranma's slight frown of disappointment.

     "Like that'd distract me!"

     Akane started to cloud up, but then got a better idea.  "Oh,
really?"  She fixed Ranma with a steamy gaze and began to
unbutton her top.  Ranma kept his eyes on hers right to the
bottom button, but when she slowly opened the front, his eyes
flicked down momentarily.

     "Damn."  Ranma looked away, but the corners of his mouth
twitched.  "Good thing Pops doesn't know; he'd put me through
some sort of Saotome-ryu Not Looking At Boobs training."

     "Not if I have anything to say about it."  Akane buttoned
back up, trying not to smile too triumphantly, then looked
serious again.  "I meant what I asked, Ranma.  Do you want to be
a father?"

     "Uh... I dunno.  What the hell kinda question is that?"

     Akane gestured to the two of them.  "Well, this is how that
happens...."

     "Well, yeah, but...."  Ranma's eyes widened as certain
abstract facts suddenly became very concrete; he quit looking
frustrated and started looking stunned.  "Oh, man."

     Akane frowned.  "Ranma, if you don't quit looking like a, a
condemned prisoner, I'm going to get really mad.  We're married.
It's okay for us to have a baby.  I just thought you might want
to decide whether we do or not."

     Ranma had acquired a puzzled look.  "'Decide'?  I thought it
just sort of, you know, happened.  Or not."

     "Didn't your father tell you ANYthing?"  Akane took in
Ranma's blank look.  "Of course he didn't.  Honestly, I can't
believe... oh, never mind."  She shook her head.  "And of course
your mother wouldn't; she's sure you already know.  So I get to
be the one to tell you about the facts of life.  Wonderful."

     Ranma looked nettled.  "Well, if it's such a big problem for
you, then just forget it.  I'll go sleep in the other room."  He
stood abruptly, then noticed that Akane was still sitting on her
shins with her hands folded in her lap and her face downcast, and
something deep in his mind flashed a little red light.  "What?"

     "We've made love at least once every day since we were
married," Akane said, so quietly he could barely hear her.  "I
wanted that to go on for a while yet.  I guess I'm just being
silly."

     The red light was suddenly much brighter.  Ranma flinched,
then knelt beside Akane and patted her shoulder clumsily.  "Nah,
you're not silly... or if you are, then I am, too."

     Without looking up, Akane reached up and laid her hand atop
his.  "I'm glad."

     "But what's different about tonight?"

     "I... um... I'm, er, fertile tonight.  More fertile, anyway.
Probably.  This is so embarrassing...."

     "Uh, yeah."  Ranma clearly didn't have the vaguest idea what
she was talking about.

     "My cycle!  You're a woman too sometimes, you have to know
what I'm talking about--"  Akane broke off and turned to look at
Ranma.  "You don't, do you."  Ranma's blank look said he didn't.
"Lucky you.  Well, I'm not going to talk about periods until I
have to.  Just take my word for it.  Some times of the month I'm
a lot more likely to get, er, pregnant than other times, and
now's one of those times."

     "Okay.  So now what?"

     Akane leashed her temper, with some difficulty.  "Do.  You.
Want.  To be.  A father?"

     "Uh...."

     The leash broke.  "Dammit, how hard a question is it?!"

     "Pretty hard," Ranma said evenly.  He eyed her.  "Do you
want to be a mother?"

     "Yes," she blurted, ambushed by the reversed question.
"Very much.  But not just yet.  Not until we're out of school, at
least."

     Ranma relaxed and nodded.  "'Not just yet.'  Yeah, that's
about right."  He blushed suddenly and twiddled his fingers.

     "What is it, Ranma?"

     "Uh... well, when me and Ryoga were little kids from those
mushrooms... you... uh... I think you'll be a pretty good mom."

     "Ranma...."  Akane suddenly felt a powerful urge to become a
mother immediately, enhanced by the proximity of Ranma's bare
chest and shoulders.

     "...but if we wait, you'll have more time to get better at
cooking for the kid, though."

     The urge vanished like a popped soap-bubble, and Akane was
about to administer a clobbering when she noticed Ranma's teasing
smirk.  "Baka," she said fondly.

     Ranma's smirk faded.  "So, no foolin' around 'til you're,
uh, not fertile anymore?"

     "That's one way."  Akane controlled her embarrassment and
pressed on.  "There's other ways.  The pills are illegal, darn
it, but there's... wait a moment."  She went into the other room,
rummaged for a moment, and came back with a small packet.
"There's these."

     Ranma stared.  "What's that?"

     Akane's ears heated up again.  "You put it on your, you
know, and it contains the, um...."  Her gestures were not exactly
eloquent, but Ranma got the general idea, and he blushed too.

     "They're not the right shape, though, are they?" he said,
examining the packet.

     "Um... how should I know?  I'm not the kind of girl who
knows about these things!  Didn't your father ever tell you...?"

     Ranma snorted.  "You're talkin' about the guy who left a
perfectly good wife for a ten-year training trip.  He didn't tell
me nothin' useful about women.  Or stuff like this.  Besides," he
continued, "I kinda got the idea our parents are expecting you to
be, er, expecting...."

     "Good point," Akane muttered.  She pulled herself back on
topic.  "There's ways to make love that don't risk getting
pregnant, too.  The scroll Cologne gave us showed some."

     "Huh.  Yeah.  I was wondering."

     "Or..." Akane managed, staring down at the futon, "you
could, um, become a woman...."

     "I, uh, suppose I could."  Ranma's voice was carefully
neutral.  "If you wanted me to."

     "I mean, if you don't mind, well, I don't...."

     "To tell you the truth, I wasn't gonna bring it up, but I'm,
uh, kinda glad you did."

     Akane looked up at Ranma suddenly.  "Really?"

     It was Ranma's turn to examine the futon.  "I mean, if you
don't mind, I think it'd be better than those things, and it's
gotta be better than not doin' it for a while...."  He stood up.
"I'll go change."

     "No, wait.  I'll go get you some water.  I mean," Akane
continued when Ranma looked puzzled, "if someone sees you, they
might get--"

     "--the right idea," Ranma completed, chuckling.  Bop!
"Hey!"

     "Shush.  I'll be right back."  Akane made sure all her
pajama buttons were done up, then slipped out the door and moved
silently down the stairs.  In the empty kitchen, she filled a
glass with water, glad no one was there to see--

     "Thirsty?"

     Akane spun around, managing not to spill the water.
"Nabiki!  I thought you were in bed!"

     "I thought YOU were," Nabiki said offhandedly, coming into
the kitchen.  "Especially given the company."  She eyed the glass
of water.

     "Um, yes, Ranma wanted some water," Akane said hastily,
blushing.  "He, um, was thirsty."

     Nabiki smirked.  "Uh-huh.  And you're being ever so nice and
fetching it for him.  Suuure."

     Akane glanced down at the glass of water, then up at her
sister's knowing look....

     ~~~~~

     "What took you so long?" Ranma complained as Akane came in
and shut the door behind her.  "And what was that yelling?"

     Akane was having trouble keeping a straight face.  "I, um,
spilled the first glass of water and had to get another."  She
held out the glass as Ranma got up and moved off the futon.  He
raised it over his head and poured the water in a thin trickle
until the change swept over him, then set the glass down on the
chest.  Akane wordlessly handed her a towel and watched Ranma dry
her hair.

     "Ready for bed," Ranma said, as nonchalantly as she could.

     Akane nodded.  "We're still the same as we were at the
onsen," she said gently.  "I love you, Ranma."  Ranma's response
wasn't what she expected: instead of gazing lovingly into her
eyes, or even blushing and fidgeting, Ranma was looking over her
shoulder and frowning.  Akane whirled in sudden surmise.

     Happosai was plastered wide-eyed to the outside of the
window, a thin trail of drool running down the glass.  Akane's
battle aura flamed with indignation and embarrassment as Ranma
blurred past her and flicked the window open.  "SWEE--!"  POW!
Whap!  Thump!  WHAM!  Punt!  Still ascending, Happosai
disappeared into the night.

     Ranma slid the window shut and pulled the curtains.  "Good
shot.  That oughta keep him out of our hair long enough," she
said with satisfaction.  "Now, where were we?"

     "'I love you'?"

     "Yeah, that was it."  Ranma turned the lights off and moved
unerringly into Akane's waiting embrace.

     Akane giggled softly in the dark.

     "What?"

     "It sure is different, kissing you when I'm taller than you
are...."

     "Well, I hear everyone's the same height lying down."

     "Really?  Let's see."

     ~~~~~

     Junko stopped suddenly on her way out of the shower room, so
suddenly that Michi almost bumped into her.  "Hey, watch it!"
Michi protested, then did a doubletake.  "Oh--"  She shut up and
watched Kodachi walk past them into the showers, carrying her
bucket of toiletries.

     "So, Her Majesty deigns to mingle with the common folk,"
Junko observed acidly in a tone pitched for Michi's ears alone.
"I wonder why-- oh.  Uh oh."  Kodachi had chosen the shower right
next to Akane; Akane, as usual, was next to Ranma, who was next
to the wall.  Kodachi knelt gracefully and began to wash herself
off.  Akane glanced sideways, did a doubletake of her own, and
then looked the other way at Ranma.  Even from where Junko and
Michi were standing, it was obvious that Ranma had already gotten
an eyeful and was determined not to get another; her head was
lowered and she was blushing visibly.  "I think we'd better stick
around," Junko muttered.

     "You kidding?  I wouldn't miss this for anything."  Michi
toweled herself off slowly, but her eyes were glued to the
developing drama in the corner.  "You have to admit, she has a
great figure...."

     Junko snorted.  "I wonder what Ranma thinks.  It's pretty
clear what Akane thinks."  Kodachi's motions were slow and
sensuous, obviously intended to arouse any male who might be
watching even if he happened to be female at the time, but Akane
was scrubbing at her own skin with unnecessary roughness.  Ranma
was hurrying through her ablutions with amazing speed, evidently
bent on getting out of the corner she was in before Akane
clobbered someone.  She finished and stood, carefully turning
away from Akane and Kodachi, and in that moment Kodachi made her
move.

     "HOT WATER!" Junko shouted in warning as Kodachi snatched up
her bucket and straightened.  Ranma whirled, saw the splash of
water from Kodachi's bucket arching over Akane where she
crouched, and leapt up out of the way.

     Akane sprang to her feet, catching the tail end of the
splash full in the face.  "Gah!" she spluttered, wiping at her
eyes, then caught sight of Kodachi's disappointed look as Ranma
sailed past her, still female.  "You!"  She swept up her
showerhead on its flexible hose and turned it on Kodachi.

     "Eeek!"  Kodachi evaded the spray of water at her still-dry
hair.

     "Waaaaaa!"  Ranma landed neatly on someone's soap and went
skidding across the shower room to collide with Yuriko.  They
went down in a tangle of nude arms and legs.

     No one ever figured out who yelled "WATER FIGHT!!"  The
suggestion was immediately and enthusiastically adopted by all,
and the peaceful shower scene dissolved into a flurry of water.

     Junko gestured to Michi, grinning.  "After you."  Michi
whooped, flung her towel to safety in the locker room, and dove
into the fray.  Junko followed, heading for Akane, who was locked
in a hydraulic battle with Kodachi that was sending water
spraying all over the room.

     "Uh, sorry 'bout that," Ranma gasped to Yuriko as she tried
to disentangle herself without touching any more of her
unintended victim than she already had, which was most of her.
"I didn't mean to-- whoops!"  She slipped on her soapy foot, but
caught herself one-handed and vaulted into the air to avoid a
spray of water from a squealing girl she didn't have time to
recognize.  "Hey, cut it-- YAAAH!"  She was hit by a slosh of
water she hadn't seen coming; she cringed, anticipating the
change.

     Nothing happened.  Ranma suddenly realized that no one in
her right mind water-fights with hot water.  As cold as you can
make it, that's the stuff.  "Whee!"  She somersaulted over
another spray, grabbed an unattended showerhead, twisted the cold
tap full on, and doused her attacker.  "Gotcha!"

     Junko slithered in under the flying water and reached
Akane's side.  Akane rolled slightly wild eyes at her.  "Ranma--"

     "She's fine," Junko emphasized, grinning.  She took over the
showerhead Ranma had abandoned and joined sprays with Akane,
finally soaking Kodachi's coiled and pinned hair.  "Yes!  Take
that!"

     Ranma came bouncing through the sprays, wearing a manic grin
and nothing else, and slid to a stop by Akane.  "Damn, this is
fun!" she yelled over the shrieks, splashes, and laughter.
"Here, lemme borrow that a minute--"  Akane handed over her
showerhead without thinking.  Ranma promptly soaked her with it.
"Hah!  An opening!"

     "Why, you--!"  Akane shielded her face with one hand,
grabbed the showerhead with the other, and tried to wrestle it
away from Ranma.

     "Oh-hohohohoho!" Kodachi chortled at the sight.  It was a
grave tactical error.  As one, Akane and Ranma turned the
disputed shower on her.  "Eeek!  Ranma-sama!  No!"  She retreated
hastily, only to fall prey to Michi's sneak-attack.  "Eeee!"

     "Now that she had coming," Ranma smirked.  Akane nodded
cheerfully and took advantage of Ranma's overconfidence to wrest
the shower out of her grasp and douse her with it.  "Wah!"

     "You had THAT coming, traitor!  Hah!"

     "STOP THIS AT ONCE!"  Hasegawa's voice from the doorway cut
through the melee.  Everyone froze.  The drama of the moment was
spoiled by the showerheads, which continued to throw hissing
sprays of water to and fro.  "Turn off those showers," Hasegawa
said less loudly, but there was no mistaking the lash of command
in her voice; the girls nearest the taps hurried to comply.
Silence was restored, save for the dripping of water from soaked
hair.  "Line up.  For just a moment, try to pretend that you're
athletes instead of children."

     Hasegawa surveyed the line of girls, all of whom had gone
well past the "wet" look and now sported the "drowned-rat" look,
and managed to keep her face stern.  "Who started this?"  No one
said anything.  Hasegawa came into the room and approached the
end of the line.  "Ranma-san?"  Ranma shook her head, keeping her
eyes fixed on the far wall.  "No, it wouldn't be you, would it,"
Hasegawa said, almost to herself.  Ranma controlled herself with
an effort.  Hasegawa examined Akane, Junko, and Kodachi in turn,
then paced along the line of girls.  "Come now, someone had to
have started this.  Speak up."  Again silence answered her.

     "Well, something will definitely have to be done about this
excess of energy and lack of discipline," Hasegawa said crisply.
"Kuno-san.  Saotome Akane-san.  Get dressed and come see me in my
office."  She turned and left the shower room.

     A few seconds after she left, a mass sigh of relief sounded
though the showers.  Kodachi threw a venomous glance at Akane and
stalked out with her still-dripping head held high.  Ranma's
features relaxed into the grin she'd worn earlier.  "Now that's
what I call good clean fun," she muttered.

     Michi and Junko snickered appreciatively, but Akane frowned.
"Well, you sure seemed to be enjoying yourself!  I saw the way
you ogled Kodachi's, er, assets.  And groping Yuriko like that!"

     Ranma's face fell, acquiring a wounded look.  "Dammit,
Akane, it wasn't like that and you know it," she said in a low
voice.  "You're the one who told me to have fun with the fights.
I was having fun.  Clean fun, like I said.  Jeez."  She looked
like she was about to add something else, but then she flicked a
glance at Junko and Michi and walked out, moving quickly.

     "Ranma--"  Akane lifted a hand towards Ranma's departing
back, then let it drop.

     "It sure was nice to see Ranma happy like that," Michi
observed to the air with her hands behind her head.  She bounced
on her heels and glanced sideways at Akane.  The implied
criticism wasn't lost on Akane, but it wasn't harsh enough to
demand a response; besides, she found herself agreeing with
Michi.  Michi, however, wasn't one to leave well enough alone.
"It's a good thing Ranma's so insensitive, or you might have hurt
her feelings."

     "I'm the one with the hurt feelings here!" Akane hissed.

     "Well, maybe," Michi said, "but that doesn't mean you have
to spread them around, does it?"

     Akane gave her a sharp look.  "Michi, you talk too much."
She stalked out of the showers.

     Michi grinned, unoffended.  "So everyone tells me," she said
cheerfully, following Akane out.

     Ranma pointedly turned away from Akane and continued
dressing when Akane came up to her between the rows of lockers.
Mindful of Hasegawa's summons, she let the rebuff pass, but
resolved to take the matter up later.  She dried off and dressed
quickly, then hurried out.

     Ranma appeared to be over her huff when Akane and Kodachi
came out of Hasegawa's office five minutes later.  Kodachi,
looking furious, departed immediately; Akane, looking stunned,
wandered over to her friends.  The others clustered around her.
"Well, what?" Ranma demanded.

     "Um... Hasegawa-sensei said that since we're so energetic
and undisciplined, we need to, um, 'express our competitive
spirit.'  She's letting us form a second team."

     "Yes!" Ranma erupted.  "We did it!"

     Akane still looked stunned.  "Wait, Ranma," Sachiko said,
noticing.  "There's more, isn't there, Akane?"

     Akane nodded weakly.  "She said we're on probation.  If she
doesn't like the results, we'll go back to one team.  Until
further notice, though, there are two teams... but only one team
will take part in meets with other schools."

     "Oh, crap," Ranma said, as disappointed as she had been
exuberant.  "Kodachi's team, right?"

     Akane shook her head.  "Not exactly.  She'll hold a match
between the teams before each meet.  Whichever team wins, goes to
that meet."

     Ranma's face lit up again.  "Well, that's great!  Of course
we'll win!"

     Akane turned haunted eyes on Ranma.  "I hope so.  I sure
hope so.  She's made me responsible...."

     "Us," Ranma said firmly, and was immediately supported by
nods from the others.  She rubbed her hands together and grinned.
"This is great!" she repeated.

     "Hasegawa-sensei sure is clever," Junko observed admiringly.
"I wouldn't have thought of that angle myself, but it makes a lot
of sense."

     "I wonder what Kodachi will do now," Eriko put in.  Everyone
looked at Ranma.

     "Good question," Ranma said.  She shrugged casually.  "Beats
the heck outta me."  She frowned back at the disgusted looks
directed at her.  "Like I know how she thinks.  Well, I know what
we're gonna do: train.  We'll just have to wait and see what
Kodachi does."

     "When you say 'train'...."  Michi trailed off.

     "Tomorrow," Ranma replied.  "Right now, I'm for home.
Akane?"

     "Um, sure," Akane responded distractedly.  She retrieved her
bag and walked out with the others.

     A few moments later, Yuriko came out from behind the
lockers.  She looked down the exit hallway and nodded to herself,
then headed for the stairway to the roof.

     ~~~~~

     "Well?" Kodachi demanded when Yuriko emerged from the
trapdoor and trotted across the roof to her.

     "She said Hasegawa-sensei approved two teams, with her as
the captain of the other one.  She said the teams would fight to
see who gets to go to meets--"

     "I know all that!  I was there when Hasegawa-sensei told
us!"

     Yuriko flinched.  "Yes, I suppose so, but it was news to
me...."

     "Never mind that.  What of their plans?"

     "They don't really have any, they said.  They're just going
to train, and wait to see what you do.  Captain?"

     "Yes?"

     "If Hasegawa-sensei makes captain fight captain, then you'll
fight Akane--"

     "What of it?"  The edge in Kodachi's voice was very sharp.

     Yuriko chose discretion over valor and decided to skip that
question.  "What if I have to fight Ranma?"

     "Hohoho.  You'll lose, of course.  However, Ranma-sama is a
gentleman; I doubt he will hurt you badly."

     Yuriko gulped; her leotard collar suddenly seemed rather
tight.  "Oh, dear."  She cheered up a bit.  "I suppose she, uh,
he is.  When he ran into me in the showers, it was just like
being knocked down by a girl.  He had the perfect chance to grope
me, but he didn't."

     Kodachi sighed and looked misty-eyed at the gray sky.
"Would that I had been in your place!  To have Ranma-sama's nude
body touching mine, even by accident--"  She stopped suddenly and
grimaced.  "Eurgh.  But not when he is in his female form.  What
was I thinking?"

     Yuriko wasn't sure either, and really didn't want to find
out.  "But what about the other girls, on our team and theirs?  I
hate to admit it, but I think they can beat us.  Ranma and Akane
have been training them hard."

     Kodachi smiled viciously.  "You may leave that to me."

     ~~~~~

     Ranma and Akane walked home silently after the others had
gone their own way.  Akane couldn't tell what Ranma was thinking,
but she was missing the happy Ranma and trying to think of a way
to get her back.  Finally she spoke.  "Ranma?  About Kodachi and
Yuriko...."

     "Ah, don't worry about them," Ranma said with a dismissive
wave.  "We'll handle whatever they come up with, same as we
always do."

     Akane grimaced.  "No, I meant the ogling and groping--"

     "I told you already, that's not how it was!"

     "I didn't mean it that way--"

     "Well, how did you mean it, then?"

     "Give me a chance and I'll tell you," Akane said with an
edge in her voice.  "You might even help me out a little.  Like
you want me to do when you can't say what you mean."

     Ranma sighed and rubbed her forehead.  "Okay, okay."

     Akane decided to approach the issue from a different angle.
"Do you think Kodachi's pretty?"

     Ranma cocked an eyebrow at Akane.  "Man, I wish I knew how
you want me to answer that."

     "The truth."

     "Yeah?  I think you want what I say to be what you want to
hear more'n you want to know what I really think."  Akane
flinched; that one tangled sentence had hit with the pinpoint
precision of a tsubo strike.  "But I dunno what you want me to
say, so why don't we just skip right to where you start beatin'
on me for not closin' my eyes fast enough?"

     Akane stopped walking.  *He really IS upset!*  Ranma stopped
a stride further on, turned, and eyed her warily.  "Dammit,
Ranma, I'm trying to apologize here!  And you're making it very
difficult!"

     "But you said--"

     "I KNOW what I said!"  Akane took a deep breath and let it
out.  "I'm sorry I said you were ogling Kodachi and groping
Yuriko.  There, are you happy now?!"

     "Yeah, I guess."  Ranma didn't look happy.

     "The waterfight WAS fun," Akane admitted.  "And I wish I
hadn't, er, dashed cold water on your good mood."

     Ranma snickered, suddenly looking nearly as cheerful as she
had in the waterfight.  "Well, I got you first, so that's fair."

     Akane laughed.  "You!  I can't believe I trusted you--"  She
broke off, looking stricken: it had finally dawned on her what
had hurt Ranma's feelings.

     Ranma's cheer had evaporated too.  "You trust me with little
things, but you won't trust me with big things," she said slowly.
She shook her head.  "You got it just backwards, Akane."

     Akane was only half listening as shards of memory flashed
across her thoughts.  *Trust.*  Dozens of times she'd caught
Ranma in what appeared to be compromising situations, only to
find out later that he was more-or-less innocent.  When Ranma had
caught her in similar situations on the date with Kodachi, he
hadn't flown off the handle, he'd just teased her.  On their
wedding night, she'd known that she was his first, despite all
the temptations.  It was all summed up in Kasumi's soft, slightly
exasperated "Well, you always think that, and it's never been
true before, has it?"

     "I do, don't I...."

     "I'll tease you and I'll play rough with you, but I won't
ever let you down when it really matters.  Not ever.  I
promised."  She flicked the wedding ring braided into her pigtail
by Akane's own hand, making it chime faintly.

     *...forsaking all others....*  "You did, didn't you."  Akane
dropped her bag, took the one step separating her from Ranma, and
embraced her.

     "Jeez, people can see," Ranma muttered.

     "I don't care," Akane said over Ranma's shoulder.  She
lowered her voice to a whisper.  "I'm sorry, Ranma.  I guess I
still have a lot to learn about being married.  I'll try, though,
really I will.  But I can't help what I feel.  I know about the
things you're afraid of.  Well, there're things I'm afraid of
too.  Kodachi's one."

     "What?  But you said it yourself: you can beat her any time
she's dumb enough to try you.  I don't get it."

     Akane let go of Ranma and backed up far enough to look into
her puzzled eyes.  "Not that way.  Ranma, do you think Kodachi's
pretty?  I want to know what you really think.  I need to know."

     "I think I'd rather you hit me some."

     "No hitting.  It's important, Ranma."

     Ranma sighed.  "All right.  Get your bag."  They resumed
walking.  "Yeah, I think she's pretty.  She's got great legs."
She glanced sidelong at Akane to gauge her reaction.

     Akane wrestled down the green-eyed monster.  "Well, you've
seen her legs before; those leotards she wears don't hide them.
But you were blushing this afternoon.  I saw you."

     "She caught me by surprise," Ranma said, shrugging
uncomfortably.  "You know she's never come into the showers
before when we were there...."

     "Her bust's better than mine.  Her, her everything is better
than mine, and she's trying to, to tempt you," Akane muttered.
"You couldn't even stop yourself from looking at MY chest; you
had to have taken a good look at hers."

     "Well, what if I did?  I still like yours better."  Ranma's
voice was matter-of-fact, but she was blushing.

     Akane smiled a little in spite of herself, but said, "Get
real.  What have I got that she hasn't got more of?"

     "Well, me," Ranma said dryly.  "Man, that's such an old line
even I know it."

     Akane swatted Ranma on the shoulder.  "Be serious."

     "I am, dammit!  I coulda married Kodachi, same as I coulda
married Shampoo, or Ukyo.  I didn't.  I didn't want to."

     "Well, no, but that doesn't mean--"

     "Look, what were you expectin', that Kodachi wavin' her
boobs at me was gonna make me grab the hot water and lay 'er
right there in the shower?  Or was I gonna wait until later and
drag her into the janitor's closet?  Oh, I know, I was gonna
sneak out of our room at night and run over to her mansion, then
be back before you woke up."

     Akane bit her lip.  When stated in Ranma's disgusted
feminine voice, her fears did sound pretty ridiculous.  "You do
and I'll beat you to a pulp," she said feebly.

     Ranma smirked.  "Heh.  I do and I'll deserve it.  I won't,
though."  She looked up at the sky.  "Jeez, you'll still be
clobbering me when I'm sixty-four, for lookin' at sixty-three-
year-olds...."

     Akane caught her breath.  "Ranma, do you really think of us
still being together when we're that old?"

     "Well, sure."  Ranma's eyes shadowed suddenly.  "Unless we
lose an all-out battle first."

     *...until death do you part....*  Akane shivered; that was
Ranma's greatest fear-- and hers.  Compared to that, the threat
Kodachi presented was petty.

     "Akane... look, I don't really mind when you hit me.  But I
can't stand it when you get all upset.  And after everything we
been through, it just kills me that you don't believe I'll keep
my promises to you."

     "I know," Akane whispered.  "You have every right to feel
hurt.  I'm sorry.  I guess I'm just being silly again."

     "You're bein' a ba-a-ka.  Biii-da!"

     Akane's head snapped up to see Ranma's flapping tongue, and
she laughed at the sudden release of tension.  "Ranma!  I'll
pound you for that!"

     "Gotta catch me first, slowpoke!"  Ranma evaded Akane's
lunge and bounced away, with Akane in hot pursuit.

     ~~~~~

     "All right, Captain, command us."  Michi's tone was happy
rather than sarcastic; the new team was assembled for its first
practice.

     Akane laughed and looked around the gymnasium.  "The mat--
no, the mat's in use."

     "So's the parallel bars," Ranma said.  "And the trampoline,
and the vaulting box, and even the balance beam.  Damn."  It was
true.  For the first time anyone could remember, the girls who
usually sat around and chatted or clustered around one apparatus
were spread out, ostentatiously using everything.

     "I have a bad feeling about this," Akane said slowly.

     "I think you should," Sachiko remarked.  "They're trying to
crowd us out."

     Akane smiled a lazy-seeming smile she'd learned from Ranma.
"Well, they're not going to."  She swung the rope in her hand.
"Get your tools and let's go practice.  We're using the mat."
She strode across the floor, with Ranma just behind her and to
one side.  The others followed.

     When Akane reached the mat, Kodachi was there to confront
her.  "This apparatus is in use, Tendo.  Train your wretched
followers elsewhere."

     Akane felt her lips pulling back against her teeth, but she
managed an acid smile.  "Exactly where else do you suggest,
Kuno?"

     "I consider that to be your problem," Kodachi said casually,
examining her fingernails.  "We were here first, and we will stay
here as long as we wish to."

     "Oh, you will, will you?"  Akane burst out.  "Well, we'll
just consider you and your team to be part of the equipment,
then--  What?!" she snarled, rounding on Junko.

     Junko stood her ground, but let go of Akane's elbow.  "Cool
it.  Hasegawa-sensei's watching."  She indicated the bleachers.
Akane looked, and there was Hasegawa, wearing a warmup suit and
making notes on a clipboard.  From twenty meters away, she could
see Hasegawa's slight smile.  Akane deflated.

     "Hey.  We can use that," Ranma said, nudging her and
pointing with her chin at the match ring.  It had been pushed
aside to make room for the big floormat, but it was there and it
was an apparatus, and no one was using it.

     "So we can.  Some other time, Kuno."  She turned her back on
Kodachi and walked away, surrounded by her team.

     Hasegawa got up and came down from the bleachers, meeting
them at the ring.  Akane bowed to her.  "Sensei."

     "Good choice," Hasegawa said.  "There's also a little matter
of tradition to take care of, Akane-san."  She unzipped her
warmup jacket, revealing the leotard underneath.  Ignoring the
dropped jaws around her, she stripped off her pants and vaulted
into the ring.  "Come spar with me, Captain!" she called.

     Akane collected her scattered wits.  Hasegawa was always
around-- in her office, watching from the bleachers, standing by
an apparatus making helpful suggestions, occasionally correcting
form-- but she'd never seen her in a leotard before, and
certainly not in the ring!  Kodachi was always the one who
actually did the gymnastics, who actually sparred with other
students.  "Uh, sure!"

     Ranma grabbed her before she could jump over the ropes.
"Careful.  She's good," she hissed, then let go of her arm.
"I'll be your second," she said loudly.  Akane stared at her,
then nodded and leapt into the ring.

     "Excellent.  Junko-san, if you would be so kind as to be my
second?  Sachiko-san, come up here and referee.  Michi-san.
Gong.  Eriko-san, you shall judge form."  The girls sorted
themselves out rapidly.

     Akane and Hasegawa met in the center of the ring.  Akane
cleared her throat.  "Sensei, um, why?"

     Hasegawa's gray eyes-- very much like Ranma's, Akane
realized suddenly-- regarded her levelly.  "I know Kodachi-san.
I need to know you.  I need to know if you're fit to captain a
martial-arts rhythmic-gymnastics team."  She smiled suddenly.
"Besides, I'll enjoy the workout."  She lost the smile.  "I know
your abilities.  This is a sparring session, by practice rules,
not a battle.  Understood?"  Akane nodded firmly.  "Good."

     Hasegawa stepped back and waited for Akane to bow, then
bowed back, not quite as deeply.  She retreated to her corner and
waited.  And waited.

     Akane, in her own corner, suddenly realized what she was
waiting for.  "Sachi!" she hissed.

     Sachiko started.  "Ah, right.  Ready?" she asked.  Both
nodded.  She pointed at Michi, who rang the gong with enthusiasm.

     "Clubs!" Akane called.  Ranma flipped them to her.  *Just
like chopsticks,* she thought, catching them.  She eyed Hasegawa
spinning a rope in one hand, swallowed, and charged.  "Hyaa!"

     The coach flicked the rope into a loop and snapped it tight
between her fists, snaring one club.  The other bounced off the
rope as Hasegawa cartwheeled sideways, taking the snared club
with her.  Akane flipped backwards, throwing the other club as
she went, and called "Hoop!"  Ranma already had it, and it was in
her hand before she landed from her second flip.

     "I admire your optimism," Hasegawa smiled, darting forward.
Akane sailed the hoop at her with a flick of her wrist and dove
out of the way, going for her discarded clubs.  She rolled to her
feet, threw one, swung the other--

     The gong rang.  "Point!" Sachi called.  Akane stared in
disbelief at her wrist, caught in the same sort of rope-loop
Hasegawa had used on her club.  Instinctively she started to pull
free, sure that her strength was greater than Hasegawa's, but
then she stopped.

     "Good," Hasegawa said quietly, reading her.  "Very good."
She flicked the rope again, freeing Akane.  "Best two of three?"

     Akane let her teeth show a little.  "Absolutely."  She
retired to her corner and waited while Sachiko retrieved the
tools and returned them to the seconds.

     The gong rang again.  "Clubs!  Ribbon!"  Again Ranma had
anticipated her, and a second later Akane had her two favorite
tools.  She set the ribbon twirling and waited for Hasegawa to
make a move.  Nothing happened; the coach, also armed with a
ribbon, was evidently waiting for Akane to make a move.  A ripple
of laughter floated up from the spectators.  Akane half-smiled
and saluted with the clubs.  She darted forward using one of
Ranma's advances, a leaping, flipping dash that was not pretty to
watch but was even less pretty to see approaching.  The coach's
ribbon snapped around her ankle, but she was ready for that; she
caught herself with her club hand and vaulted back into the air.
Hasegawa darted under her and she flicked her own ribbon, slowing
Hasegawa just long enough for the clubs to spin down.  Hasegawa
could parry one, but not both-- but she did, sweeping them out of
the air like Ranma did chopsticks.

     Akane landed and bounced back, trying to get clear.  Again
the ribbon around her ankle hampered her, but again she was ready
for it, compensated, and landed cleanly.  While Hasegawa had her
ankle caught, Hasegawa couldn't use the ribbon--  The ribbon
flicked clear even as she thought it, and they paused,
disengaged.

     From there it settled down to a duel of ribbons, leaping and
twisting while the silk curled back and forth across the ring.
Hasegawa threw one of the clubs, but Akane plucked it out of the
air.  Suddenly she saw an opening, and her ribbon took Hasegawa
around the knees and dropped her.  She sprang forward, going in
low.  She knocked her opponent's other club away with the rod of
the ribbon in her right hand, and the club in her powerful left
struck downward at Hasegawa's head.

     The club tapped the coach's forehead gently.  The gong rang.
"Point!"

     Akane stood up and reached down to help Hasegawa up.  "Well
done," the coach said, breathing heavily.  She turned to let
Akane unwind the ribbon wrapping her.  "Particularly the, er,
coup de grace.  Unless you'd like to try one more point, I'm
willing to let it go at a draw."

     "As you wish, Sensei," Akane said, and immediately knew
she'd scored another sort of point.

     "Very good."  Hasegawa smiled.  "Lead your team to victory
and honor, Captain."

     "Hai, Sensei!"

     ~~~~~

     "Go!"  Eriko ran across the mat right at Ranma, launched
herself into the air with a handspring, and struck at Ranma with
her clubs as she arced overhead inverted.  Ranma parried with her
rope stretched between two fists, pivoted to slash at Eriko's
receding back, then watched Eriko land neatly and come back on
guard.  "Not bad," she said, walking over slowly enough that
Eriko wouldn't take it as a renewed attack.  "Didn't take you
long to learn to keep your clubs when you plant your hands on the
mat.  You didn't push your attack hard enough, though; it was
like you were goin' for my rope instead of my head.  That's no
good."

     "Hai, Sensei."  Eriko smiled shyly.  "Now what?"

     "Gotta take a leak," Ranma said.  "Back in a few."  She
trotted off towards the toilets, dropping the rope on a pile of
gear by the mat as she went past.

     Ranma sighed in relief when she saw that the toilets were
empty; she'd overcome her vestigial reluctance to use womens'
rooms long ago, but she still preferred not to share them with
members of the opposite sex.  She'd just finished and was pulling
up her leotard when someone came into the room.  An object flew
over the door and fell into the stall.  Instinctively, Ranma
snatched it out of the air.  She just had time to recognize it as
a black rose before it exploded gently in her hand.  The cloud of
gray smoke faded to black.

     ~~~~~

     Consciousness returned slowly.  Even before his eyes opened,
Ranma knew that he was male, lying on his back, and nearly naked;
something was draped insecurely over his midsection, and other
things were wrapped around his wrists and ankles.  His eyelids
opened sluggishly, and his attempted leap to a ready stance
resulted in barely a twitch.  *Paralyzed.  Oh, great.  I just
hate being paralyzed.*

     "Oh, Ranma-sama!  I'm so glad you're awake!"

     Ranma's eyes bugged out.  The myriad chain-mail links of
Kodachi's itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny nickel-plated steel bikini
jingled faintly as she put one knee on the bed and bent over him.
"Nnngh!"

     "I'm afraid I miscalculated slightly," Kodachi admitted.  "I
must remember to put more sleeping powder and less paralysis
powder in the blend next time; I fear it may have had, er,
unfortunate effects."  She gestured ruefully to the fabric
covering Ranma's private parts, which were apparently as limp as
the rest of him.

     Ranma closed his eyes gratefully, then opened them again,
fixing Kodachi with as steely a glare as he could manage under
the circumstances.  "Wurrawe?"

     "What, darling?  Oh!  This is one of the theatrical storage
rooms, under the stage," Kodachi informed him.  "Isn't it cozy?"

     Ranma rolled his eyes around; he could dimly see piles of
unidentifiable things stacked in the shadows around the walls of
the room.  Flickering candlelight illuminated the four-poster bed
in which he lay.  Kodachi stretched over him to adjust the heavy
silk rope securing his right wrist, affording him an excellent
view of her cleavage as the chain mail drooped.  Ranma shut his
eyes tight.

     "I hope the restraints meet with your approval," Kodachi
murmured.  "Silken bonds, much like the bonds you have placed on
my heart...."  She sighed romantically, apparently not seeing
Ranma's frantic headshaking; of course, the fact that his head
was only moving about a centimeter couldn't have helped.

     "Le'o 'ee, 'odashi," Ranma mumbled indistinctly.  Kodachi
heard what she wanted to hear.

     "Oh, darling, I'm so glad!  Now, how would you like me to
hurt you?  I've come prepared...."  She jumped off the bed, bent
over something on the floor, and straightened again.  "It's a
little ordinary, I suppose, but I thought you might prefer the
classics," she said, turning to face Ranma and brandishing a
bullwhip.  "I think I should be able to do well with this; it's
quite a lot like a ribbon...."  She swung it experimentally; the
lash cracked among the piled props, and a bust of some anonymous
Roman fell over with its left ear damaged.

     Ranma's eyes bugged out again.  "'O!  Cu'i'ou'!"

     Kodachi's eager face fell.  "No?  Well, perhaps this, then?"
She turned away again and put away the whip.  The cat-o'-nine-
tails that emerged next looked even worse to Ranma.  Kodachi
stepped over to the bed, leaned over Ranma again, and drew the
tails of the cat slowly over his chest.  "Do you like that, Ranma-
sama?" she whispered.

     Sweating, Ranma tried very hard not to think about the name
of the whip.  "N-n-no!"

     Kodachi shrugged and tossed the cat over her shoulder.  "To
tell you the truth, I was rather hoping you wouldn't; it seems a
trifle extreme.  How about these?"  She lifted one shapely leg
and set her foot on Ranma's chest, displaying the stiletto heel
of her shoe.

     "Nod dad eezer!  Lemme go!"

     "Oh, I'm sure you don't really mean that, Ranma-sama,"
Kodachi said archly, but she removed her heel from his chest.
"Please, darling, do tell me how you'd like me to abuse you.
This guessing is becoming quite... frustrating."

     "Ya go' i' all wrong!" Ranma slurred, twitching.  "Lemme go,
Godashi.  Zis's, uh, undinnified."

     "Yes!  Yes!  See how I'm willing to cast aside my dignity
for your sake, Ranma-sama!" Kodachi cried ardently.  "You cannot
imagine that I truly desire to hurt you like this, but I am
willing to descend into the pit of perversion-- well, a few
steps, anyway-- if it means winning your love!"

     "Yer nutsh," Ranma stated with conviction, but without
diction.

     "I didn't quite catch that, Ranma-sama.  Oh, I know, what
about hot wax?"  Kodachi knelt straddling Ranma's supine form and
reached for one of the candles burning nearby.  She held it
poised over his chest and smiled down at him.  "Now, where would
you enjoy it the most?  Oh-hohohohoho!"  She tilted the candle.
Ranma's crazed gaze locked onto the drip of molten wax.  He
desperately willed his lax muscles to respond, and they did,
rolling him aside just far enough for the drip to miss his ribs.

     "Oh, splendid!  The paralysis is wearing off!" Kodachi
exclaimed.  Ranma nodded happily, flexing his fingers.  In
another few moments he'd be strong enough to tear out of his
bonds--

     To Ranma's horror, he suddenly realized that another part of
him was recovering from the paralysis too.  He squeezed his eyes
shut and thought of Akane, but that just made it worse.  He tried
thinking of Akane clobbering him repeatedly with a very large
hammer, but for some reason that didn't help either.  *Ice.
Lotsa ice.  Soul of ice... oh, damn.*

     "Oh, my goodness!  Ranma-sama!  You ARE happy to see me!"

     Ranma gritted his teeth and convulsed, fueled by pure
embarrassment.  "Ungh!"  The silk bonds were strong, and so was
the bed; stronger than he was, at the moment.  It'd be a few
minutes before he could break free, and almost as long before he
could use special techniques to escape, and he didn't want to
wait that long; Kodachi looked like she'd enjoyed riding out his
struggle to get loose entirely too much.  It was time to resort
to guile.  "Say, Kodaji...."

     "Yes, darling?"

     "If ya untie me, I'll, uh, show ya how I like it...."

     Kodachi's face lit up.  "Oh, Ranma-sama!  Really?"  Still
straddling him, she reached up and undid one wrist-bond, then the
other.  Ranma waited impatiently, trying not to ogle the body
arched over his and very grateful for the existence of chain
mail.  "I don't recall tying them this tight-- ah, there."
Kodachi rolled aside barely in time as Ranma sat up and reached
for his ankles; she admired his torso for the very short time it
took him to untie himself.

     Ranma rolled off the bed on the side opposite Kodachi and
crouched, panting.  Kodachi's lowered gaze and blush told him
that he'd forgotten something important; he hastily scooped up
the cloth and secured it around his waist.  He'd been thinking
only of escape, but suddenly another thought occurred to him.  He
flexed one arm and wriggled his fingers.  *Good enough--*

     Unable to stand the suspense, Kodachi lunged forward and
bounced on the bed, facing him.  "Ranma-sama--"

     "Hold it right there," Ranma grinned.  He slid forward and
his hands whipped back and forth.  Kodachi, mesmerized by the
grin, suddenly found herself prone on the bed.  A busy moment
later she discovered that her wrists were held by silken bonds,
and then her ankles were pinioned.

     "Oh, Ranma-sama, how forceful you are!" she exclaimed,
trying to look over her shoulder at him.  "Are you going to... to
SPANK me?  How naughty!"  Her voice suddenly sounded rather
uncertain, even anxious.

     Ranma shook his head, still grinning.  "Nope.  I told you
I'd show you how I like it, and this is it.  'Bye!"  He removed
the chair holding the door closed, slipped out the door, and
closed it gently behind him.

     Kodachi's cry of "Ranma-sama!  Wait!" faded behind him as he
flitted down a dark hallway.  He raised his eyebrow at a shrill
"Damnation!" and shook his head, smirking.  The janitor's closet
had a water tap, and a moment later Ranma was very relieved to be
female again.

     "Clothes," she muttered, drawing her precious cloth tighter
around her.  She found a door marked "Wardrobe" and opened it.
"Clothes!" she cried happily, rummaging.  She rummaged some more.
"Oh... crap."

     ~~~~~

     "What the heck is THAT?" Junko muttered, nudging Akane.

     Akane turned.  "Ra... Ranma?!"  Her head tracked slowly as
Ranma, clad in a bright pink tutu, walked casually across the
gymnasium to intercept Yuriko.  Ranma stretched to whisper in the
taller girl's ear, then threw a long-suffering look in Akane's
direction and disappeared down the hallway leading to the locker
room.  Yuriko hurried off.

     Akane skidded into the locker room in time to see Ranma wad
up the tutu and stuff it into her locker.  "I'll put it back
later," she muttered, heading for the showers.  "C'mon, let's
call it a day."

     "But....  What happened?"  Akane hastily stripped out of her
leotard, grabbed her bucket, and hurried after Ranma.

     "Tell you on the way home.  Nothin' important, though."
Ranma clammed up, and stayed that way through the shower,
dressing, repeated inquiries from her teammates, and a minor
commotion over in the direction of the theater.  True to her
word, she didn't say anything informative until she was alone
with Akane on the walk home.

     "She WHAT?!  I'll KILL her!"

     "Heh.  No, not like that.  You're supposed to say something
like 'Kodachi!  Because of you, Ranma has seen HELL!  Prepare to
die!'"

     Akane's fury struggled with a rising belly-laugh and lost.
"Baka," she complained afterwards, wiping her eyes.  "You really
do miss Ryoga, don't you?"

     "Yeah....  Who'd'a thought, hey?"

     Akane eyed Ranma.  "Well, this is putting a real strain on
the 'trust' thing, though.  Why aren't you more upset about it?
I mean, if a guy had drugged me, tied me up, taken my clothes
away, and threatened me with whips, I--"  She broke off,
shuddering.

     "Once you got loose, they'd be scraping bits of him off the
walls," Ranma said, nodding.  "And if I was there, I--"  She
broke off the same way Akane had and carefully opened her tightly-
clenched fist.  "Yeah.  I can see why you want to make Kodachi
sorry."

     "More than sorry.  If she'd hurt you, I'd...."  Akane ran
out of steam.  "I don't know what."

     "Heh.  See?  You're not the type to say 'Die!' and mean it."

     "I might be... for you."

     Ranma nodded.  "Yeah...."  They shared a look of complete
understanding and grim purpose.  "I just can't take Kodachi that
serious, though.  I guess maybe it's different for a guy," she
said pensively.  "Hell, nobody but you would believe I didn't
actually enjoy it.  I bet there's guys who'd give a lot to have
Kodachi work 'em over...."

     Akane examined a mental image of "Kodachi, Mistress of Pain"
and snickered.  "Sounds like a wonderful career choice.  I'll
have to suggest it to her sometime.  After I beat her to a pulp."

     "Nah.  She's annoying, but she doesn't really mean any harm.
She had the whips and chains, but she didn't exactly have the
'Call me Mistress!' bit down.  She coulda done a lot worse, but
she didn't."

     "I suppose.  So how did you get out of it?"

     Ranma looked uncomfortable.  "I talked her into untying me."

     "And just ran away?"  Akane gave her a skeptical look.

     Ranma looked even more uncomfortable.  "Uh... not exactly.
I tied 'er up first.  But nothin' else!"

     Akane gaped, then giggled suddenly.  "You had her tied up in
her own bed and just left her there?  Now that's sadistic."

     "Heheh.  Yup.  She never had a chance.  If I want to be
abused, I know where to go."

     "What?!  Where?  Oh."  Akane colored.  "I, um....  Ranma.
Home.  Hot water.  Hurry."

     "'Yes, Mistress.'"

     "AARGH!"

     ~~~~~

     Sachiko happened to be nearby when Hasegawa's door opened
and the coach came out, wearing a warmup jacket over a leotard
and carrying a sheet of paper.  She nodded cordially to Sachiko,
then posted the paper on the bulletin board beside her door.
Sachiko walked up to the board as Hasegawa departed.  She read
the message twice, then hurried off.

     "Akane!"

     Akane turned as Sachiko trotted up.  "Oh, hi, Sachi.  What's
up?"

     "Hasegawa-sensei's posted another meet," Sachiko told her.
"With Amagiri High, in nine days.  The, er, playoff's the day
after tomorrow."

     Ranma had appeared while she spoke.  "Great.  The sooner the
better."

     "Maybe not everyone's as ready as you are," Akane pointed
out in mild reproof.  She turned back to Sachiko.  "Are you
ready?"

     Sachiko shrugged.  "I hope so.  As Ranma always says,
there's one sure way to find out."

     "Damn straight," Ranma said firmly.  "We'll kick their
butts."

     "Kodachi's team, or Amagiri's?" Akane inquired.

     "Both."

     ~~~~~

     Eriko Thompson sometimes wished her father had been just a
little richer, or just a little more indulgent, and arranged for
a car to take her to and from school.  At other times she wished
she could take the straight path, bounding over rooftops as
effortlessly as Kodachi, Akane, and Ranma did.  But just at the
moment, she wished she hadn't walked home alone....

     "Oh-hohohohoho!  Foolish girl, your treachery will now be
punished!"

     Eriko gritted her teeth and prepared to defend herself as
Kodachi leapt down from the rooftop where she'd appeared and
landed lightly in the alley ahead of her.  Kodachi already had
her ribbon out, and all Eriko had was a schoolbag; no clubs, no
rope, certainly not a hoop or a ball.  "You can't get all of us,"
she said defiantly.

     Kodachi smiled.  "Ah, but there you are mistaken, my dear.
You are the last; your associates have already fallen."

     "No..." Eriko breathed.  "You can't have beaten Ranma or
Akane!"

     Her opponent's smile hardened.  "My Ranma-sama is a warrior
of great valor, even in that feminine form he is forced to wear
by circumstance, but your precious captain is by no means
invincible.  However, I was speaking of the other members of your
team.  They didn't put up much resistance; I do hope you'll be
more amusing."  The ribbon lashed; Eriko swung her bag up to
block it and cartwheeled sideways, wishing for tools.

     "Good, but not good enough!"  Kodachi darted forward as
Eriko sought to put a lamppost between them.  The ribbon flicked
and curled around the post, raising a welt on Eriko's arm.  She
tried to trap the band of silk against the post, but it whipped
free, searing a stripe across her palm.

     "You, you cheater!  Why won't you fight fairly at the
match?"  Eriko retreated in a rapid series of backward flips, but
Kodachi stayed right with her, and the cruel ribbon bruised her
arms and legs.

     "They all say that," Kodachi sighed, ensnaring Eriko's ankle
and yanking her off-balance.  "How very tedious."  Desperate,
Eriko converted her fall into a handspring right at Kodachi and
struck with the unfamiliar weapon of her fist.  Kodachi danced
aside.

     Eriko leapt to the top of a nearby wall.  Kodachi followed,
and Eriko realized her mistake: Kodachi was much better off the
ground than she was, and the wall constrained her to retreat in
one direction as the ribbon continued to smash at her.  She
jumped for the street, but Kodachi anticipated her.  The ribbon
snapped into her forehead, drowning her in a wave of darkness
scented with rose petals.  As she crumpled to the ground she
thought she heard Kodachi say, "Pity...."

     ~~~~~

     "Moshi moshi?"

     "Hi, Thompson-san.  This is Michi.  Is Eriko there?"

     "Yes, but I'm afraid she's, er, not well...."

     "Heh.  I'm 'not well' too.  That's what I'm calling about.
Please, I really need to talk to her."

     "Well... all right.  Just a moment, please."

     "Moshi moshi?"

     "Eriko?  How bad are you?"

     "Oh, Michi, you're even blunter than Ranma.  And what's
wrong with your voice?"

     "She got me on the throat.  I think it was on purpose, damn
her.  How bad are you?"

     "Well, I'm probably not going to school tomorrow, and I'm
sure not going to fight...."

     "Damn.  Me too.  And Junko.  And Sachi."

     "Oh, no.  What about Ranma and Akane?"

     "I'm sure they're fine...."

     "You didn't call them?"

     "I, um, can't.  It's just too awful to tell them.  Akane'll
look at us like we're poor abused children, and Ranma'll look at
us like... like losers.  I just can't."

     "We are losers, Michi...."

     "Don't talk like that!  We may not be good enough yet, but
we will be!  There's gotta be a way!  Look, she wouldn't have
taken us out if we couldn't have beaten those cronies of hers in
a fair match, right?"

     "I suppose not."

     "Good.  Just... just get better.  See you soon, hey?"

     "All right.  Thanks for calling, Michi."

     "Sure.  Bye."

     ~~~~~

     Ranma looked around as they walked in the front gate of St.
Hebereke's the next morning.  "Where're the gals?"

     "Well, how should I know?" Akane retorted.  "I was hoping to
talk to them, but I guess we'll just have to catch up with them
later. Come on, we have to get to class."

     Kodachi's smug look when they walked into their classroom
caused Ranma and Akane to share a concerned glance, but it wasn't
until lunchtime that they were sure what had happened.  Ranma
continued to hope until just before the match was set to
commence, but Akane knew they had lost.

     Hasegawa, Kodachi, and Kodachi's team were waiting by the
ring when Akane and Ranma came out of the locker room.  Hasegawa
checked her watch.  "It's time," she said.  "Akane-san, where's
the rest of your team?"

     "I don't know, Sensei.  I'm sorry."

     "Well."  Hasegawa looked disappointed, but not, Akane
noticed, surprised.  "I'm afraid this means you forfeit the
match, then."

     "The hell with that!" Ranma shouted.  She stepped past Akane
and glared at Kodachi's team.  "I'll fight 'em!  One at a time or
all at once, whatever they like!  But don't gimme this 'forfeit'
crap!"

     "Your spirit does you credit, Ranma-san," Hasegawa said
evenly.  "But the rules are quite clear: five bouts, five
combatants from each team."

     "Well--  At least let us fight our matches, then!  Akane'll
take on Kodachi, and you--" she turned burning eyes on Yuriko--
"you're mine."  Yuriko quailed and stepped backward.

     Hasegawa shook her head.  "There's no point.  The match is
best of five, and with three forfeits, you've already lost."

     Ranma's mouth tightened.  "Dammit all to hell!"  She turned
and stomped away.  Akane watched her go, half afraid that Ranma
would take out a wall in frustration, but she disappeared down
the hallway without any destructive outbursts.

     Kodachi looked like she had something snide to contribute,
but Hasegawa's presence appeared to be restraining her.  Hasegawa
took Akane by the shoulder and led her away a few steps.  "You
have something else to say?" she prompted quietly.

     Akane had been controlling herself rigidly for some time.
"Yes.  Why do you let Kodachi do this?  It's not fair."

     "Life isn't fair," Hasegawa said seriously.  "You will find
yourself in many unfair situations in your life, and you will
meet many people who take unfair advantage.  The sooner you learn
that, and how to deal with that, the better."

     "But...."

     "As for Kodachi-san, she has lessons to learn as well."
Hasegawa looked like she was about to add something, but changed
her mind.  "You have advantages Kodachi-san might consider
unfair, you know.  Perhaps next time the outcome will be
different.  It would be partisan of me to hope so, so I'll just
wish you better luck in the future."

     "Um, thanks, Hasegawa-sensei."  Akane bowed and left.  She'd
been given a lot to think about, but right now she just wanted to
collect Ranma and go.

     As she trotted down the hallway, Akane heard a rhythmic
crashing noise coming from the locker room.  She rounded the last
corner and stopped.  Ranma quit banging her head against a locker
and blinked at her.

     "Good thing you didn't use your full strength," Akane
observed tartly.  "That's MY locker."

     Ranma blinked again, then focused on the label.  A ghost of
a smile flitted across her face.  "Huh.  So it is."

     "Skip the shower," Akane told her, pushing her aside and
opening her locker.  "We didn't get sweaty.  We didn't have a
CHANCE to get sweaty, dammit.  Let's just get the hell out of
here."

     As was usual on a Saturday, hopeful guys hung around outside
the gates of St. Hebereke's after noon, waiting for a girlfriend
or the chance to acquire one.  They'd learned better than to
approach Akane and Ranma, though.  Even if they hadn't, it would
have taken a very brave or very foolish young man to accost two
girls wearing such thunderous expressions; they were left quite
alone.

     "Ranma--"

     Ranma held up a hand, interrupting Akane.  "I know, I know.
Seems like every other time we walk home, we have a serious talk.
Well, I ain't in the mood right now.  I'm gonna run, then I'm
gonna work out, and after that I'll listen to you."

     "Heh.  Good enough."  Akane broke into a run as Ranma did,
matching her stride for stride as they leapt to the roofs.

     ~~~~~

     "Ready to talk now?"

     Ranma propped himself up on his elbows on the dojo roof and
looked at Akane, sitting next to him.  "Yeah, I guess.  Man, you
hit hard today."

     "So did you."  Akane shifted slightly to ease her ribs a
little.

     "Uh, sorry 'bout that."

     Akane waved a hand.  "Don't be.  I'm glad you hit me hard,
Ranma."

     "And you call ME a masochist.  Jeez."

     Akane smirked, then sobered.  "I wonder how the others
are...."

     Ranma frowned.  "Probably got bandages all over them, just
like those gals from Furinkan way back when.  Man, I can't
believe they let themselves get taken out, after everything we
taught them.  What a buncha-- OW!  Hey, you--!"

     "Ranma!  Don't you DARE say that, or anything like that, to
their faces!  I mean it, Ranma!  It would just crush them to hear
that from you!"

     Ranma gulped, taken aback by Akane's sudden outburst.
"Okay, okay."

     "Don't forget, they're not like us, or even like Kodachi.
They're in good shape, and they're good at gymnastics, but they
don't really know how to fight.  Take away the tools and the
ring, and they don't know what to do."

     "I guess not."

     "If it's anyone's fault, it's our fault.  We know darn well
what Kodachi does to opposing teams.  We should have realized
that she'd think of us as one and take us out before the match.
I'm still kicking myself for not thinking of it."

     "Yeah."  Ranma smiled wryly.  "Actually, that's why I was
banging my head against the lockers.  She didn't take US out,
though--"

     "Yes, she did."  Akane's gaze was merciless.  "Think team,
Ranma.  She took us-- you and me-- out as effectively as if she'd
actually beaten you and beaten me."

     "Damn."  Ranma stared off into the distance for a while.
"Well, I'm not gonna let that happen again.  We gotta come up
with a way to protect them next time.  Maybe they can all spend
the night here or something?"

     Akane looked dubious.  "That might work once or twice, but
we need a better answer."

     "I wonder if they wanna learn Musabetsu Kakuto," Ranma
mused.

     "That's what I was thinking.  It sounds like a better
answer, but... are you willing to take on more students?"

     "I guess.  It's good practice anyway.  And, well, you been
doing okay with teaching 'em gymnastics; maybe you can help teach
'em Musabetsu Kakuto."

     Akane felt that electric thrill again.  "Ranma... do you
really think I'm ready?"

     Ranma blushed, disarmed by her ardent gaze.  "Yeah, probably--
oof!"

     "Oh, Ranma!"  Akane had knocked him flat on the roof-tiles.
She kissed him happily.  "Thanks, Ranma.  It really means a lot
to me when you say things like that."

     "Well, I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it...."

     "I know.  That's why."  Akane disentangled herself without
haste and sat up.  "Well, we can go see them later and suggest it
to them.  But remember, don't even think that they're losers, or
anything like that, and definitely don't say it.  We need to
encourage them, not discourage them."

     "Yeah, yeah.  I got it the first time."  Ranma stood up and
stretched.  "Ready to spar some more?"

     "Sure.  It's my second favorite thing to do with you."

     "Second?  What's first?  Oh.  Uh.  Never mind."

     Akane smiled demurely.  "I can wait."

     ~~~~~

     "Er... hello?  Anyone home?"  Junko rapped on the doorframe
of the Tendo house and peered into the anteroom.  The others
clustered behind her, sporting an assortment of bandages and
plasters.

     A young woman wearing a gi, her long brown hair tied back
with a ribbon, came out of the hallway and smiled at them.  "Oh,
hello, Junko-san!  How are you?"

     Junko smiled wryly.  "A little short of fine, Kasumi-san,
I'm afraid.  We're here to see Akane and Ranma, if it's not
inconvenient."

     "Oh, no, I'm sure they'll be glad to see you.  Come in,
everyone, please."  Kasumi led them into the house, then along
the covered walkway to the dojo.  The doors were closed, but the
yells and thumps coming from within made it clear who was inside
and what they were doing.

     Suddenly the sounds stopped.  "Oh, good, they're done,"
Kasumi remarked.  She slid the door open.  "Oh, my!"

     Ranma and Akane were standing in the middle of the dojo
kissing passionately-- until they heard the door slide open and
Michi's low whistle.  Their eyes snapped open and flicked
sideways just as Kasumi slid the door shut, blushing.

     "Aww," Michi pouted.  "It was such a good show, too."

     "Now, now, Michi-san, they get little enough privacy as it
is," Kasumi said, her soft voice tinged with just a hint of
reproach.

     The door was opened from the inside and Akane stood there,
looking annoyed.  "Sis--" she began, then caught sight of the
others.  "Oh, no!  You look terrible!"  Eriko and Michi exchanged
rueful looks.

     Ranma joined Akane in the doorway and inspected them.  "Huh.
We've seen that before, hey?" he said to Akane.  He moved aside
and beckoned.  "C'mon in.  We were just about to go see how you
guys were."

     "Yeah, we noticed," Michi said, smirking.  "You're such a
cute couple."

     "I'm not 'cute'," Ranma muttered.  "Handsome, yeah--"

     "You are cute," Akane said firmly.  "Live with it."

     "Gaah."

     "I'll just go get some refreshments, shall I?"  Kasumi
departed without waiting for an answer.

     "So," Ranma said, "what happened?  Kodachi, right?"

     "We're sorry, Ranma," Michi said, sniffling.  "We fought,
but she beat us.  Easily."

     "Yeah, well, she's not bad.  You tried to fight her using
gymnastics, the thing she's best at-- besides cheating-- and
without tools, right?  And she whipped you.  Just be glad she
wasn't using her ca-cat o' nine tails," he added darkly.

     Junko frowned.  "Excuse me?"

     "Nothin', never mind."  Ranma shut up, blushing.

     Akane took over.  "We had an idea, once we realized what had
happened.  We're really sorry about that, by the way; we should
have realized what she was going to do and planned against it.
But you can defend yourselves against Kodachi the same way I did
the first time: Musabetsu Kakuto."

     "Your families' martial art?  But that takes years to learn,
doesn't it?" Junko objected.

     Ranma shrugged.  "Sure.  It never stops, you know.  I've
been training since I could walk, and Akane almost as long, but
we're still training."

     "But you're pretty good already, thanks to the gymnastics,"
said Akane.  "You just need to learn a few things, and then you
can keep Kodachi from taking you out."

     "What things?" Michi asked eagerly.

     Ranma held up four fingers.  "Defense.  Attack.  Toughness.
Cunning."  He folded the fingers down one by one as he spoke,
then smiled grimly at them past his closed fist.  "And fighting
spirit."

     "You need to decide that you're willing to fight, and that
you're willing to hurt someone who's trying to hurt you," Akane
elaborated.  "But you also need to decide that you're willing to
BE hurt, and that you're not willing to hurt your opponent any
more than is necessary to win."

     "Looks like we're going to get hurt, willing or not," Michi
grumbled.

     "Well, that's where toughness comes in," Akane said.  "Take
Ranma, for example--"  Without warning, she pivoted in a flash
and slammed her fist at Ranma's ribs.  "TE--!"

     Ranma spun away, letting Akane's strike graze past his side,
and his foot swept around in a blurring arc aimed at Akane's
shoulder.  Akane dropped under it, but not quite quickly enough,
and had to block with her forearm.  Whack!  Ranma planted one
hand on the top of her head and vaulted over her swift follow-
through.  "How come I have to be the practice dummy?" he
complained, landing with a soft tap three meters away.

     Akane opened her mouth, closed it, and shook her head,
smirking.  "Too easy."

     "Violent tomboy."  Ranma folded his arms and looked away as
the girls laughed.

     "You want to be the one that hits, not the one that gets
hit?  Hit me," Akane said flatly.  "I won't break."

     Ranma glanced uncomfortably at the others.  "Yeah, but...."

     "Ranma, we've been through this.  You're a sensei training a
student, or a martial artist sparring with another, not a man
beating up a woman."  Akane kept her eyes on Ranma, but spoke to
be heard by their friends.  "If you train them, you'll have to
hit them, too."

     "I guess so, but... oh, all right.  Ready-- HA!"  Ranma
slithered forward and struck.  Akane blocked the first three
punches, but the fourth slammed her back into the dojo wall.  The
heavy wood boomed with the impact, and the small audience gasped.
Akane rebounded, landed on her feet, and straightened.

     "How can you do that?" Michi demanded.  "You darn near broke
the wall, and you aren't even breathing hard!"

     Akane shrugged.  "If you get hit often enough, your body
gets used to it.  I've seen Ranma take devastating blows and
bounce right back."

     "'Seen', hell," Ranma grumbled.  "Usually you're the one
doing the hitting-- waha!"  He flipped clear of Akane's
rejoinder.

     "But how much did you have to get hit to get that tough?"
Michi was looking a little green.

     "A lot.  Ranma didn't want to, but I talked him into it.  I
didn't want to be, well, soft.  No offense.  It hurt at first,
and sometimes it still hurts, but that's the price."

     "All right," Junko said.  "Attack and defense I understand,
and you've explained toughness and spirit, but what about
cunning?"

     Akane smirked.  "That's Ranma's department.  Go on, Ranma,
explain the difference between cunning and cheating."

     "Look, you!" Ranma began heatedly.  "They ain't the same!
Cunning's matching your strength against the other guy's
weakness, and cheating's unfair!  Like drugs an' stuff!"

     Akane turned to the onlookers and shrugged.  "He keeps
saying that.  I think it's cunning if you win, and cheating if
you lose, but--"

     "It ain't like that, dammit!"

     "--but I can't convince him of that.  I wonder why."  She
smiled sweetly at Ranma's glower.  "Anyway, he can teach you to
cheat, er, to be cunning in battle."

     "I'm for that," Michi stated firmly.  The others nodded.
"But we're not exactly in shape to take more hitting right
now...."

     "Yeah, but laying around isn't gonna help either," Ranma
pointed out.  "You need to get your blood moving.  We'll start
you on stances, blocks, and strikes, and then some basic kata,
but no hitting yet."

     "Styles," Kasumi suggested.  The girls jumped; they hadn't
heard her come in.  She smiled and began to hand out cups from
the tray she carried.

     "Yeah, Kasumi's right.  Junko, Sachi, I think you should
work with Akane, mostly.  I'll take Michi and Eriko."  Ranma
nodded to the two he'd chosen.

     "Er... not that I'm arguing, Ranma, but why?" Junko asked.

     "'Cause you and Sachi are strong, and Eriko and Michi are
fast, sorta," Ranma said.  "It's the way you are...."  He
appeared to be searching for the proper words, then dismissed the
matter with a shrug.  "You wanna start, or what?"

     They put their cups back on Kasumi's tray and hobbled out
onto the floor with much groaning.  Ranma moved over to Eriko and
confronted her.  "You okay with this, Eriko?  Me being a guy, I
mean?"

     Eriko forced a smile.  "I'll manage, Ranma.  This is your
place.  It's not like school, or girl-talk.  You're my new
sensei."

     "It's still me in here, though," Ranma told her.  He smiled
wryly.  "Heh.  First time I've said that when I was a guy."  He
moved back to his place beside Akane.  "Now do what we do...."

     ~~~~~

     On the way out of the gym, Ranma and Akane passed the
bulletin board beside Hasegawa's office door, stopped in unison,
ran back, and read the sheet posted there.  "Oh, my."

     Michi joined them.  "What?  Another meet already?  It's only
been a couple of days since the last one with Amagiri High....
such as it was."

     "Maybe Hasegawa-sensei really doesn't like it when the other
school's team has to forfeit," Ranma suggested.  She noticed
something.  "Whoa.  Look at the order of the bouts."

     "Hmm?  Kimi and Eriko.  Yuriko and Ranma.  Kodachi and
Akane.  Hatsue and Sachi.  Ryoko and-- me!  Hooray!"  Michi
clapped her hands and jumped up and down.

     Ranma shook her head disgustedly.  "You're not getting it,
dummy.  Look again."

     "I don't get it either, Ranma," Akane said in an edged
voice.

     "Well, then you're a dummy too-- ow!  Cut it out!"  Ranma
rubbed her head and glared at Akane.

     "Explain it to us dummies, Ranma," Akane commanded.

     "Okay, okay.  Best three of five, right?  If I'm the second
match, and you're the third, it means we fight.  If we'd been
fourth and fifth, and the first three were all wins for one side,
we might not."

     The light dawned.  "Aaah.  Hasegawa-sensei must really want
us to fight, then."

     Ranma nodded.  "Yup.  Damn, she's cool.  I wish she'd spar
with ME," she added wistfully.

     "The pre-meet match is the day after tomorrow, during gym
period," Akane noted.  She looked around; Junko had joined them
while they were talking.  "Where are Sachi and Eriko?"

     "Dressing-- no, here they come," Junko replied.

     "Oh, good.  For a moment I was afraid they'd been ambushed
in the locker room.  I guess I'm just being paranoid...."

     "Told you before, Akane," Ranma said darkly.  "Paranoid's
when no one IS out to get you."

     "Point.  Let's go; we have plans to make."

     ~~~~~

     Shortly thereafter Team Akane was gathered in the dojo,
sipping drinks provided by Kasumi.  "No more damn forfeits,"
Ranma vowed, stating the agenda of the council.

     "Kodachi's still better than we are, though," Junko admitted
reluctantly.

     "In the ring and using gymnastics tools and rules, yes.
Otherwise, maybe not," Akane said.  She glanced at Ranma.  "On
the street, in your bedrooms, in the locker room, and so on,
Musabetsu Kakuto's pretty effective-- if you remember to use it."

     "Bedrooms?" Michi said dubiously.

     Akane smiled, remembering.  "That's where she attacked me
first: right in my own bed.  She surprised the heck out of me,
but I fought her off anyway.  Of course, the fact that Ranma
slammed a door on her by accident while we were fighting didn't
hurt... well, it didn't hurt ME, anyway."

     "Eeek."

     Ranma suddenly gave Akane a meaningful look, touched her
ear, and pointed to the back of the dojo.  Akane's eyes widened.
She nodded and continued as Ranma got to her feet and slipped out
the front door without making a sound.  "So we have to be
prepared for any treachery.  She uses drugs, trick tools, ambush,
that horrible laugh of hers, and even--"

     "EEEEE!"  The scream came from outside the dojo.

     Akane nodded in satisfaction. "--even spies," she completed.
The door slid open and Ranma came back in, dragging a weakly-
struggling girl along by her left earlobe.  "Hi, Yuriko-kun.  So
nice to see you.  How are you?"

     "I, um, was just passing by and I, well... oh, forget it."
Yuriko hung her head as far as Ranma's precise grip allowed her
to.

     "How is she?  She is 'surprised'," Junko observed dryly.
"She is also 'caught'.  And she appears to be 'embarrassed'.
There may be hope for her yet."

     "So, what do you want me to do with her?" Ranma asked.

     Akane giggled.  "She hasn't met Grandpa, has she?"

     Ranma's jaw dropped as the other girls erupted in delighted
laughter.  "No way.  Man, I wouldn't wish that ol' lecher on
ANYone."

     "You're such a softie, Ranma," Akane said fondly.  "It's up
to you, then."

     "Okay."  Ranma effortlessly swung the taller girl around and
fixed her with a flat stare.  "You and me, we're gonna be in the
ring in a couple of days.  Don't spy on us any more.  You got
that?  Good.  Oh, yeah: don't forfeit.  I really, really wouldn't
like that."  She released Yuriko.

     "I can go now?" Yuriko asked, unable to believe her luck.

     "Yup."  Ranma grinned.  "We're the good guys.  I'll show you
out."  She escorted Yuriko out of the dojo.

     "Eeek," Michi repeated.  "Ranma scared ME.  I'm surprised
poor Yuriko didn't pee her panties."

     "He's as good an enemy as he is a friend," Akane told her.

     "I'll bet-- wait, did you say 'good'?"

     "That's what I said."  Akane paused while Ranma came back in
and sat down, rejoining the circle.  "Now, where was I?  Oh, yes,
treachery.  Ranma, that's your department."

     "Dammit, I told you--!" Ranma expostulated over the giggles,
then gave up.  "Oh, never mind."  She turned her attention to the
others.  "Kodachi can't take us out.  She's gonna go for you guys
again.  Your best bet is to pair up.  Sachi and Eriko, if you
guys can have a sleepover or something, I don't think Kodachi can
beat you.  Michi and Junko, same for you.  Walk to and from
school together, and so on."

     The girls looked at each other and nodded.  "I think that'll
work," Junko said.  "Are you sure we can hold her off, though?"

     Ranma frowned.  "I told you about fighting spirit.  If you
think you'll lose, your enemy's halfway to winning.  I think you
can win."

     "Point taken.  Thanks, Ranma."

     "There's more.  Musabetsu Kakuto's basically an unarmed
style, but we use weapons too.  Lots of things you find laying
around can be good weapons.  Sticks, books, rocks--"

     "--tables, stone lanterns, buckets, tanuki statues, frying
pans, dumbbells, legendary magical artifacts... oh, and mallets.
How could I forget mallets?" Akane said idly.  She smiled at
Ranma.

     "Uh, yeah.  Ahem."  Ranma got up and went to the closet,
coming back with a bag.  "These might help."  She dumped the bag
in the circle with a clatter.

     Michi picked up a heavy hardwood stick about thirty
centimeters long and a centimeter in diameter.  "It's a bit small
for a bokken, isn't it?"

     "Silly.  No, it's for throwing.  That chopstick game we
play?  It's not just a game."  Ranma picked up a stick and threw
it with a quick snap of her wrist; it flipped four times and
whacked end-on into the wooden wall of the dojo.  "Eriko, you're
pretty good with the sticks, and the rest of you aren't far
behind.  Carry a couple of these with you, and you can really
mess someone up."

     Eriko hefted one of the sticks.  "Oh, yes," she breathed,
grinning as evil a grin as they'd ever seen on her.  "Thanks,
Ranma."

     "You bet."  Ranma slapped her thighs and stood up.  "Now for
today's lesson, we're gonna practice surprise attacks... er, make
that defending against surprise attacks.  HYAA!"

     "EEEK!!"  Whack!  Pow!  Smack!  Thump!

     "Hey, not bad.  Ow."

     ~~~~~

     "I hate this," Sachiko muttered the next day on the way to
Eriko's house to spend the night.  They'd spent much of the last
24 hours in a constant state of apprehension; they were past the
jumping-at-shadows stage and had reached the retaliating-at-
funny-noises stage.  "Maybe she's not going to try to take us out
after all."

     "No way am I going to believe that," Eriko said tensely.
"YAAAH!"  Whap!

     "MRAOWR!"

     "Relax, Eriko, it was just a cat," Sachiko said, leaning
against a telephone pole and waiting for her heart to slow down.
"And now it's a bruised cat.  You know, if this keeps up, we'll
be too frazzled to fight well tomorrow anyway.  Maybe that's her
plan."

     "Hohohohoho!  What a fine idea.  Perhaps next time."  Eriko
and Sachiko turned as one and there was Kodachi, silhouetted
against the sunset.  Eriko felt herself steady down; the waiting
was over, it was time to fight, and the dojo feeling from Ranma's
training was filling her limbs.  She reached into her bag, found
the sticks and pulled them out, then let the bag drop.  Out of
the corner of her eye, she saw Sachiko readying the ribbon she'd
been carrying around.

     "Ah, how prudent you are," Kodachi said archly, dropping to
the street.  "It won't save you, though-- ha!"  Sachiko snapped
the ribbon at Kodachi, and Eriko let fly.  Kodachi dodged the
ribbon, but the stick took her neatly in the shoulder.

     "Got you!" Eriko exulted, too soon.  Kodachi's face twisted
with fury and her ribbon lashed back and forth between Eriko and
Sachiko.  They dodged frantically, but the ribbon struck hard and
accurately, and Sachiko wasn't able to score at all.  Eriko took
a hit on the arm to throw again, but missed.  It wasn't working.
They needed a plan.  A cunning one--

     "Oh-hohohohoho!"

     "Surround her," Sachiko hissed.  "Here!"  She flipped the
ribbon to Eriko, and Eriko understood: she was speed, Sachiko was
strength.  She snapped the ribbon at Kodachi and darted past her
in a fast combination of flips.  Kodachi swung to face her, but
looked wary for the first time.  Eriko saw her intention to
spring for the rooftops, read Sachiko's eyes, and pulled her best
trick.

     The ribbons tangled and jerked tight.  Kodachi flicked to
free them, but in the split second before the knot loosened
Sachiko darted in and struck.  Whack!  "Oof!"  Kodachi used the
recoil from Sachiko's fist to flip back, and Sachiko's followup
fell short.  Kodachi's ribbon fell in coils around Sachiko and
flung her hard into the wall, but Eriko took advantage of the
opening to snap her ribbon around Kodachi's ankle.  Kodachi spun
into the yank that followed, but underestimated Sachiko; the
other girl vaulted to her feet and slammed a spin kick into
Kodachi's unprotected side.  Wham!

     Kodachi fell and rolled to her feet, then sprang straight
up.  She landed on the roof and stared down at them, panting.
"Barbarians!  How dare you!"

     "Come down and we'll show you how we dare again," Sachiko
invited her, smiling slightly.

     "You will pay for this outrage, I promise you!" Kodachi
twirled her ribbon, obscuring herself in a shower of black
rosepetals.  "Oh-hohohoho!"  The laughter dwindled in the
distance.

     "We won," Eriko said dazedly.

     "We didn't lose," Sachiko corrected her.  "Ow, ow, ow."

     "Oh, dear.  Are you all right?"

     "Not quite, but I will be in time for the match, I think.  I
hope your mother can spare an ice pack and a few aspirins."

     ~~~~~

     The team reconvened under their umbrellas at the school gate
the next morning.  "Well, we're all here," Ranma observed
unnecessarily.  "That's a good start.  How'd it go?"

     "She attacked us on the street last evening," Sachiko
reported.  "We took some lumps, but I think we gave as good as we
got."

     "Great.  That's one thing about Kodachi: she doesn't take
hits well.  How about you guys?"

     Michi responded indirectly.  "Akane, I believe you about the
bedroom now."

     Akane gasped.  "No.  She didn't."

     "She did," Junko confirmed.  "With exploding roses.  Michi's
brothers got involved right after we passed out, though; they
took most of the lumps, but they got rid of Kodachi."

     "Poor guys," Ranma commiserated.  "Too bad they're not good-
looking enough for Kodachi; that'd solve one of my problems.  Oh,
well."

     "Yuck," Michi said.  "I do NOT want Kodachi hanging around
my brothers.  Sorry, Ranma, find your own sacrificial lamb.
Anyway, we're ready."

     "We gotta survive the rest of the day first," Ranma reminded
them.  "Stay alert, and watch each other's backs.  See you at
lunch."

     ~~~~~

     Hasegawa surveyed the teams, lined up opposite each other,
and checked her watch.  "Excellent.  Shall we begin?  Kimi-san,
Eriko-san, at your convenience."  She sat down behind the judges'
table and watched as the gymnasts scurried to their places.

     "Competition rules, no restrictions," the referee told the
combatants.  "First knocked out or out of the ring loses.
Ready?"

     Gong!  "Clubs!"  "Ribbon!"

     The ribbon came flying up from Sachiko, and Eriko snatched
it out of the air and deployed it.  Kimi caught her clubs and
advanced cautiously, evidently regretting her choice of weapon.
Eriko cartwheeled sideways, flicked the ribbon at her, watched
her parry, and saw an opening wide enough to drive a yatai
through.  The coils dropped around Kimi and closed, binding her
arms to her sides.   "Wah!"  Eriko set her feet and gave a
smooth, strong pull on the ribbon, transforming Kimi into a human
top.  "EEeeEEeeEEee!"

     Kimi wobbled to a stop, and Eriko noticed that her eyes were
still revolving.  She somersaulted forward, came to her feet
behind Kimi, and prodded her gently with the ribbon haft.  Kimi
fell over.

     Dead silence filled the gym as the referee came over and
inspected the fallen gymnast.  She straightened and shrugged to
Hasegawa.  "Out."

     Gong!

     The audience murmured discontentedly.  Eriko cringed a
little and smiled, blushing.  "Sorry...."  She hastily jumped out
of the ring and joined her team.

     "Well, that wasn't much of a show," Ranma grumbled.  Bop!
"Ow!"

     "Ignore Ranma," Akane told Eriko.  "You did fine."  She
glanced sidelong at Ranma, then back at Eriko.  "Maybe next time
you could be a bit more, er, merciful, though."

     "I guess I overestimated her," Eriko admitted.  "I haven't
sparred with her since I started training with you."

     "Well, you wanna see mercy, watch this," Ranma said, heading
for the ring.

     ~~~~~

     Yuriko couldn't stop her knees from quivering a bit as she
faced Ranma across the ring.  She'd watched her-- him-- many
times, and she'd thought she had a pretty good idea of how fast
and strong he was, but that was before she'd been lurking beside
the Tendo Dojo and a silent blur had dropped out of the evening
sky to parade her before her leader's enemies.  Now she was very
sure that she had no idea at all.  Kodachi had offered her
special tools, but she'd refused; she figured the most those
would accomplish would be to annoy Ranma a little, and there was
no way in hell she was going to risk that.

     Gong!  "Clubs!"  "Ball!"

     Yuriko held her clubs up before her and waited for doom.
Ranma didn't seem to be in a hurry, though; she was leaping and
flipping around the ring, and her ball was dancing along with
her.  Yuriko's jaw dropped.  The bitch-- the son of a bitch was
doing a routine!  Suddenly she was mad.  She flung the clubs hard
at Ranma's head, but somehow they hit the ball instead and
bounced off, coming right back to her.  She caught the clubs and
stared at them.  "That had to be an accident."

     "Sure.  You go right on believing that," Ranma's low voice
came back.  She tossed the ball into the air, leaped impossibly
high, and spiked it while inverted.  The ball whistled down and
caromed off the mat right at Yuriko's face.  She barely managed
to deflect it in time; the ball went high, dropping just outside
the ring, and Ranma was there to reach out and catch it without
breaking her routine.

     Ranma passed tauntingly close by, and Yuriko struck at her
with her clubs.  Ranma parried with the ball held behind her
head.  Yuriko pursued, dimly aware that her attacks and
recoveries were actually forming a counterpoint to Ranma's ball
dance as she followed the elusive girl in a contracting spiral.
"Damn you, take me seriously!" she hissed, swiping at her
tormentor.  "Stop playing with me!"

     "Heh.  If you only knew--"  Ranma broke out of the spiral
pursuit and was suddenly behind her.  "C'mon, work with me here.
You're not bad."  She flipped away and dropped the ball outside
the ring.  "Clubs!" she cried, holding her hands out to each
side.  They came spinning up from Akane in high arcs to drop
precisely into Ranma's hands.  The audience clapped.  Ranma
saluted, grinning, and attacked.

     Yuriko parried and counterattacked desperately, and again
she realized that their combat had a rhythm and a pattern.  Ranma
was running her through a standard club kata, but at blinding
speed.  Yuriko had never been this fast before.  It was Ranma.
Ranma was training her while they were fighting-- no, while SHE
was fighting.  Ranma was playing, but not cruelly; she was
actually making Yuriko look good!  Ranma let Yuriko back her into
a corner, then hopped up to balance atop the post without
stopping the clattering club duel.  She disengaged, cartwheeling
along the rope and dropping back into the ring.  Again came the
applause.

     "Rope!" Ranma called, tossing the clubs over her shoulder.
She caught the rope and started skipping it.  The audience
laughed, and Yuriko couldn't help but smile.

     "Ribbon!" Yuriko called, dropping one club but keeping the
other.  She flicked the ribbon out and started twirling it,
saluted Ranma with the club, and darted in.  She knew what was
about to happen, but somehow she didn't mind.  Her ribbon strikes
fell all around Ranma, and then she was too close.  She feinted
with the ribbon-haft and stabbed with the club, giving it her
very best shot.  Rope closed around her wrist, her feet left the
canvas, and she was flying, flying--

     WHUMP!

     "Birdies," Yuriko mumbled, smiling.  "Flying with the
birdies--"

     "Are you all right?"  Ryoko's concerned face loomed over her
for a moment before she was shoved aside by Kodachi.

     "You fought bravely, my loyal lieutenant, but were honorably
bested!  I shall avenge you!"

     "Don't bet on it," Yuriko muttered, sitting up carefully.
She looked around.  She'd fallen dead-center laid-out on the
vaulting-block landing-cushion, and she knew very well that there
was nothing coincidental about that.  *How about that.  The girl
IS a gentleman.*

     "What did you say?"

     "Er, good luck on your bout, Captain."  *You'll need it.*

     ~~~~~

     "Don't mess her up TOO much," Ranma whispered to Akane as
they stood beside the ring.

     Akane gave Ranma a hurt look.  "Her?  What about ME?"

     "Ah, you'll do fine," Ranma said confidently.  "She hasn't
got a chance against a brutal tomboy like you.  Ow!"  Ranma
rubbed her head, but she was smiling.

     "You baka."  So was Akane.

     "Heh.  Watch out for those damn trick tools, though.
Just... be paranoid, hey?"

     "I will.  Wish me luck?"

     "Sure.  You don't need it, though."  Ranma flashed Akane a
cocky grin and bent to check the pile of tools at her feet as
Akane vaulted into the ring.

     Kodachi entered a moment later, leaping to a handstand on
one post and falling gracefully forward to stand in the ring, a
maneuver which put her back to Akane as she waved to her team.
Akane seethed inwardly, sure it was a calculated insult.

     Kodachi turned absently, then affected surprise on catching
sight of Akane.  "My goodness, I must chastise the janitors;
they've done a very poor job of cleaning up the equipment."

     "Give it a rest, Kodachi," Akane sighed, rolling her eyes.

     "Hmph.  I will give YOU a rest; you are evidently badly in
need of beauty-sleep."

     Akane smiled and yawned, patting her mouth with her hand.
"Yes.  My husband often keeps me awake long into the night...."

     Kodachi's mask cracked.  "How dare you!"

     "...with his snoring.  Why, whatever did you think I meant?"
Akane smiled sweetly; the snickers from the audience were music
to her ears.

     Kodachi recovered her composure.  "Have a care, Tendo.
You're on my home ground now."

     "It's my home ground too," said Akane softly.  "And my name
is Saotome.  As you well know."

     Again Kodachi had to control her expression.  "So.  What are
the stakes for this match?"

     "Oh, forget it," Akane snorted, waving a hand.  "It's not
like you'll get anything you want, even if you win, and I don't
stand to gain when I win; you don't keep your promises."

     "Ladies."  Hasegawa's sardonic voice interrupted Kodachi's
retort.  "This is a gymnasium, not a debating society or a
bookmaker's shop.  Proceed."

     "Ready?" the referee asked, glancing both ways.

     Gong!  "Hoop!"  "Clubs!"

     Akane darted forward, intending to pummel her opponent
soundly, as Kodachi twirled the hoop in a vertical circle in
front of her.  The hoop was practically useless as a weapon,
either attacking or defending; she knocked it aside and--

     The heads fell off her clubs.  "Yeep!"  It was the razor-
hoop!  Akane flipped rapidly backwards, barely evading Kodachi's
slashing attack.

     "Oh-hohohoho!"

     "Baka!  Paranoid, I told ya!"

     "Ball!" Akane shouted, dancing aside.  Ranma rifled it
across the ring at her, aimed high.  Akane leapt to meet it and
slammed it down at Kodachi, right through the middle of the
spinning hoop.  "Ha!"

     Kodachi spun the hoop at Akane, aimed to intersect her
descending ankles.  She was in the air and falling, with no way
to change course.  "Wah!"  Akane tucked in midair, snatching her
feet out of the way, and snapped them through the hoop to land.

     "Rope!" Kodachi called as Akane carefully flicked the hoop
out of the ring with her foot.  Not as gracefully as Ranma would
have done it, perhaps, but she wasn't about to use the thing
against Kodachi, or let Kodachi use it against her.

     "Clubs!" Akane called.  They dropped into her hands with
Ranma's usual casual precision.  Her target was stretching the
rope between her hands, giving it a twist and a yank.  Akane ran
in, prepared to take a few rope welts in order to give Kodachi a
club lump she'd remember.  Kodachi swung the rope in a whirring
arc at her face and she raised her arm to block it.

     The rope stuck, wrapping around her left arm and torso,
immobilizing the arm as Kodachi let go and spun clear.  She still
had a right arm, though, and then she saw the ball, her own damn
ball right where her foot was going to land on the next stride,
right where it would give her the same sprained ankle that had
disabled her for a week two years ago and made Ranma fight HER
match against Kodachi--

     Akane twisted improbably in midair and shoulder-rolled past
the ball on the shoulder that wasn't festooned with sticky rope.
Off-balance, she came upright and staggered backward into the
ropes around the ring.  The sticky rope trapped her there like a
bug in a spiderweb; her struggles merely got her stuck worse.

     "Ribbon!" Kodachi called.  Akane flinched; Kodachi was going
to lash her into pulp right there if she didn't get loose.  *Wait
a minute.  Kodachi let go.  The ends can't be sticky!*  Akane
dropped her club and grabbed for the end of the rope with her
free hand.

     The ribbon hit.  Akane gritted her teeth and took it; it
didn't hurt as much as a good kick from Ranma.  Peeling the rope
off her arm, though, that hurt worse, but she took that too.
Shuddering under the impacts of Kodachi's ribbon, she got the
rope off her arm, but it still had a lot of her leotard.  *Hell
with it!*  RIIIP!

     Akane dove away from the ropes and out from under the
snapping ribbon, leaving the back of her leotard behind.  Enough
remained to hold it up, but at the moment modesty was far from
the top of Akane's priority list.  She scooped up her ball,
noticing with a flicker of amusement that Kodachi's ribbon was
stuck to the rope she'd torn out of.

     She was losing, though; she'd taken a lot more hits than
Kodachi had, and, worse, Kodachi had the initiative.  It was so
tempting to use her skills to just finish her; one punch, one
kick, and Kodachi would go down.  For a moment she understood
Ranma's feelings about rules, but in the next moment she
understood the depth of Ranma's self-control.

     "Clubs!" Kodachi called, abandoning the ribbon.  Akane
rushed her; even a ball would hurt if it was in front of a
piledriver fist.  Kodachi stabbed at her with her club.  Akane
wasn't going to block it, but then she saw the spikes shoot out.

     "Eeeep!"  Akane slammed the ball sideways into the club.
Hissss!  Akane left the deflated ball impaled on the spikes and
dove aside.  She didn't see the fat blue sparks snapping on the
end of the other club as Kodachi drove it into her thigh.

     "KYAAAAAAAAAAA!"  Akane convulsed, screaming and writhing on
the canvas, while Kodachi ground the electric club into her leg.
Through a red haze, she saw Ranma's mouth open wide in a shout;
she couldn't hear her, but she knew Ranma was shouting her name
as she crouched to leap into the ring.

     "NO!  RANMA, NO!"  She had to win on her own, no matter
what!  Shampoo was one thing, but Kodachi?  If she couldn't beat
Kodachi on her own--  She saw Ranma's face contort, but she'd
hesitated long enough for Junko and Sachiko to reach her, and a
moment later the searing pain in Akane's leg eased.

     "Oh-hohohoho!  I am victorious!"

     Akane pushed herself up and tried to stand, but her spasming
leg wouldn't support her.  "Not yet," she grated, hauling herself
up on the ropes.  "Not now, not you, not ever--"

     Kodachi turned, eyes wide.  "You still--  It can't be!  You
should be paralyzed!"

     "Rope!" Akane called.  Eriko threw it to her; Ranma's
perfunctory struggle was still being restrained by Sachiko and
Junko.  Akane's lip twitched; if Ranma had really been afraid for
her, she'd have taken Kodachi out seconds ago, restrained or not.
The thought restored her shaken confidence.  Her leg, though,
that was still a problem.

     Kodachi snarled and jabbed the shock club at Akane's face as
the half-paralyzed girl dropped to one knee.  Her head moved
sideways, just enough.  Her left hand twitched a loop into the
rope in time for Kodachi's hand to slip through.  Her right hand
reached under, seized the rope, and tensed.

     Overextended, Kodachi hung in an arch over Akane, her wrist
caught in the same rope-hold Hasegawa had used, the rope-hold
Ranma had copied, improved, practiced with Akane, and used to
send Yuriko flying.  Now Akane's iron grip on the loop held
Kodachi's wrist pinioned to the top ring rope.  Her left hand
reached over almost lazily and plucked the club out of Kodachi's
hand.  She held it up, found the hidden stud, and pressed.

     Zap!

     Kodachi's eyes met Akane's.  "You wouldn't--"

     Akane smiled happily, touched the club head to Kodachi's
rear, and pressed the stud.

     "AAAIIIEEE!"  Kodachi's legs spasmed, propelling her up and
over the ring rope, pivoting around her bound wrist.  Akane let
go as she passed vertical.  Kodachi fell outside the ring.

     Gong!

     Akane slumped, spent, unable to assist the hands that gently
picked her up and carried her out of the ring: Ranma's hands.
"You idiot, you let her hurt you...."

     "I won, though," Akane whispered hoarsely.

     "You would have lost if you hadn't put Kodachi-san out,"
Hasegawa observed, peering over Ranma's shoulder.  "Your form
was, to put it bluntly, poor.  We'll have to work on that."

     Akane laughed.  It hurt.  "Hai, sensei."

     ~~~~~

     Steam rose from the furo, veiling two heads that poked up
out of the water on opposite sides of the tiled bath.  Akane
shifted a little, winced, then relaxed with a sigh.

     Ranma opened his eyes.  "Still hurting?"

     "A little.  Well, more than a little.  It was worth it,
though."

     "Yeah, that's how I feel."

     "You really do live to win, don't you?"

     Ranma shrugged, rippling the steaming water.  "Well, sure."

     "I never really understood that about you before."

     "And you do now?"  Ranma's voice sounded amused.

     "Well, this was a big one, and we had to work really hard
for it.  I beat Kodachi, and you should have some idea of how I
feel about that, even if you are a blockhead--"

     "Hey!"

     "You beat Yuriko so thoroughly it's a good thing she's not a
Joketsuzoku--"

     "She's never seen me as a guy!"

     "Neither had Shampoo, and look what happened.  If she comes
after you, I'll beat her up and give her to Grandpa."

     "Violent tomboy."

     "Hush.  Eriko made it very, very clear that you're a better
sensei than Kodachi; I wouldn't be surprised if her team starts
defecting."

     "Three teams," Ranma said dreamily.  "Man, I wish."

     "Well, I meant to us, actually, but that's fine too.  You
got Kodachi so well it still gives me goosebumps."  Akane
giggled.  "I'm saving that one for a special occasion.  'Oh,
Kodachi, is it true that you have to tie men up in your bed to
keep them from running away?'"

     "Heh.  That's so cruel.  Akane...."

     "Hmmm?"

     "Uh, well, I'm glad you trusted me for that one.  I mean,
that one coulda got real nasty if you'd come in on us in the
middle.  It looked a LOT worse'n it was."

     Akane looked uncomfortable.  "I hope I'd have listened to
your explanation, at least.  I hope I'd have believed it.  I'll
really try, Ranma."

     "Thanks.  That means a lot to me.  You get so uncute when
you're jealous-- ow!"

     "Ow!  Darn it, it hurt ME to hit you!"

     "Uh, sorry?"  Ranma looked at Akane.  Akane looked at Ranma.
They both snickered.

     "Where was I?  Oh, yes, we get to go to that meet with... do
you know, I forgot who we were fighting to fight?"

     Ranma scratched his head.  "I saw it, but I got distracted.
Wait, I've got it--"

     Ranma and Akane stared at each other.  In unison, they
exclaimed "Furinkan!"

     ~~~~~ end chapter 2 ~~~~~