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"The Nature of the Curse"                             A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
by Douglas MacDougall                  http://www.dougmacd.net/fanworks/
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  Ranma 1/2 (c) Rumiko Takahashi / Shogakukan * Kitty Film * Fuji TV. 
  Exclusively licensed throughout the United States and Canada by Viz 
  Communications, Inc.  This fan fiction is for private home use only;
  it may be freely redistributed, but not altered or used for profit.

  Not Rated.  Parental Guidance Suggested.

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Part 13:  The Dew of Love
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    Tonight, Ranma wasn't worried about a thing.  He wasn't worried
about his mother asking him to undress in front of her.  He wasn't
worried about Akane being friendly to him, all while eroding his sense
of masculinity.  Perhaps most importantly, sleeping arrangements were
a non-issue.

    Because tonight, he was getting the hell out of the house.

    He was coming back, of course.  Just as soon as he retrieved the
people responsible for making last night such an... unforgettable
experience.

    He carefully scrawled a note for his mom, Kasumi, or whoever came
down into the kitchen:  "Gone to get the old man and Mr. Tendo."

    For the second night in a row, the two men had gone out drinking. 
Last night it was in celebration of Akane 'proposing' to Ranma. 
Tonight it was in commiseration that the proposal had never actually
happened.

    Yep, tonight he was going to drag the two back so things could
start going back to normal.  Nodoka wouldn't ask him to come to bed,
and Akane could start hitting him again, instead of being so... 
understanding.

    He scratched his head, feeling the remnant of a bump.  Then again,
just because she was starting to sympathize with him didn't stop her
from hurting him.  Like throwing chairs at him while he was tied down
to a table in the nurse's office.

    Only now, she was hurting him in order to HELP him, instead of
punish him.  He sighed and slipped off into the night.

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    Nabiki didn't notice his departure, as she was staring rather
intently at a small package on her desk.  She'd gone to some trouble
to acquire the item, but still hadn't found a good use for it.

    Tomorrow she'd do something about that.

    The retail price was tens of thousands of yen; if there was a
wholesale price, she'd never heard of it.  No, it was truly a niche
product, but one with remarkable potential.  If she repackaged the one
she had, she figured she could sell a half-dozen to a hundred units.
With the proper pricing, she could make a killing, even with the high
cost of source materials!

    Unfortunately, it would require some testing to figure out just
how much she could get out of her one copy.  It was part of the reason
why the package sat untouched on her desk for as long as it had.  How
fortunate, then, that Ranma had given her such a wonderful idea this
afternoon.

    Yes, she'd have a GREAT deal of fun experimenting with this little
baby.  Now all she had to do was visit Mrs. Hinamoto's kid in the
morning...

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    After an hour and a half of searching the streets for vendors and
vending machines that sold sake, beer, or any other sort of booze,
there was still no sign of anybody with Mr. Tendo's height or his old
man's girth.

    At the moment, Ranma was crouching on a wall opposite a yatai.  It
was a small noodle cart with a red lantern hanging by it -- indicating
that it served drinks -- and it was the fourth such place he'd visited
that night.  Unfortunately, the only person there other than the owner
was some guy in a scruffy-looking uniform.  He was sitting down,
resting his head on the counter.  A couple of small sake flasks lay
about him.

    Maybe the owner had seen the two fathers.  Or maybe, he knew
another place where they might have gone.  Ranma didn't really know
where to go to find booze himself, and had only gotten as far as he
had with the help of the other vendors he had met.

    It was just as well that the two older martial artists had been
permanently kicked out of every bar in Nerima and other nearby wards. 
He didn't have any particular desire to go to one of those places
again.  Not after the last time he had been splashed just after
entering, and had to endure the pickup lines of dozens of salarymen.

    Trying to forget the memory, Ranma slipped down from the wall and
walked across the street to the yatai.  He ducked his head under the
overhanging cloth noren, which separated the 'inside' of the cart from
the outside, and waved for the owner's attention.

    "Hey, mister.  Have you seen two middle-aged guys?  One's tall
with long hair and a mustache, and the other's big, bald, and wearing
glasses?  They were both probably wearing martial arts gi."

    The yatai owner dried a bowl with a dishcloth as he answered. 
"I'm afraid not, son."

    Half-expecting the answer, Ranma asked his next question, "Do you
know any other places around here where they might have--?"

    He was interrupted by the customer, whose forehead was still
pressed against the small counter.  "Rranma?"  He turned his head --
or rather rolled it to the side -- and looked over.  Ranma belatedly
realized that the uniform was from Furinkan High.  Much to his
annoyance, he recognized its owner, too.  The collar was still torn
off from when Ranma had picked him up earlier that day.

    "Akira.  What the hell are you doing here?"

    The other boy slowly lifted his head up and wobbled slightly. 
"Please, sit down!"  He patted a stool next to him.  "Join me in
drink!"

    "I don't think so.  I've got people to find."  He wanted to wait
for the vendor's answer, but decided he really didn't want to hang
around Akira.  He turned around to leave when the other boy grabbed
his wrist.

    "But I'm celebrating for you; you're the guest of honor!"

    Ranma used his free hand to hold Akira's fingers in place, and
twisted the other hand around within Akira's grip, wrapping it around
the other boy's wrist.  He then subtly changed the angle of his hands.

    The resulting change in angle of Akira's arm was far more
impressive.  Yelping in pain, the boy scrambled off the stool and onto
the ground, to reduce the torque Ranma was applying.

    "I don't think so," replied Ranma.

    "Ow... But aren't you happy?  Now that we know you're one hundred
percent man..."

    Surprised, Ranma released the other boy, who took a few moments to
recover.  "So you finally figured it out?  Wait, I thought you lost
all your proof."  The little test Akira had arranged to 'prove' that
Ranma's curse affected his mind had ended with something of a
disaster.  Akane had managed to knock him, a lie detector, and a
series of photographs into a mess on the floor.

    Akira shook out his arm and took his seat again.  "You forgot my
ace up the hole!"

    "In the hole."  Ranma frowned.  "What're you talking about?"

    "Why, Ryoga, of course.  I found him after school, and he agreed
to help me out.  Told him to hide in the bathroom until I knocked. 
When he did come out, I could see your, heh, reaction."

    "But Akane said that I..."  His mouth twisted with distaste.  "She
said that my eyes DID get bigger."  Supposedly meaning that he was
interested in Ryoga.  His girl body, that is!

    "Yes."  Akira nodded.  "They did, indeed.  But not enough."  He
frowned.

    "Come again?"

    Akira sipped some sake from a shallow cup.  "Your pupils dila...
diar...  grew bigger, but that was just from surprise.  You remember
when I asked you about Mr. Principal Kuno...?"

    He frowned.  "Yeah, you said he was a hermaphrodite."

    "Well, I didn't actually say it, I just let you BELIEVE it. 
Anyway, that was to gauge how large your pupils get when you're
surprised, normally.  When you saw Ryoga, they didn't even grow that
large.  You're not interested in him at all.  I might even think that
you dislike him."

    Akira refilled his shallow sake cup and poured another for Ranma. 
"So let's celebrate together.  To your manhood!"

    Ranma waved away the offered cup.  "No thanks."  His experiences
with sake hadn't been very fun.  Kuno had shoved a bottle down his
throat (her throat at the time) during the Romeo and Juliet play, and
there was that time he fell into a warm sake pool, during the hot
spring race.  He'd swallowed most of it before crawling back out.

    "Come on, be a man!  Have a drink!" pressed Akira.

    Ranma twitched.  "Look, just forget it.  Why should I celebrate,
anyway?  Just because you found out what I always knew?  I gotta find
my old man, anyway."

    "Fine then.  You go home and find your daddy.  Maybe he'll give
you some candy," Akira sneered.

    "And what the hell does THAT mean?"  Ranma clenched his fists.

    Akira grinned maliciously.  "Nothing.  They say that you use your
female body to get free food.  Only, the way I hear it, it's cutesy
food, like parfaits and gumballs and things.  I guess that makes
sense, though.  I mean, girls like sweets, right?  It must be awfully
convenient, being able to change..."

    "Look, just because I have ice cream, occasionally..."

    Akira scratched his chin.  "Although, I thought in Japan, only
girls were supposed to like sweets.  Men are supposed to like
alcohol!"

    Ranma fumed.  "I am NOT a girl!"

    Akira pulled back.  "I know that.  That's the point."  He leaned
over and barked, "That's what I'm, trying to CEBEL-- CELEBRATE for
you!  But for some reason, you decline to drink."

    It wasn't true.  So he ate girly food.  He ate all types of food! 
And just because he didn't drink booze, or occasionally ate something
sweet, didn't mean he wasn't a man.  It didn't.  Ranma stared at the
cup.  The clear surface of the sake mirrored his face in the light of
the red lantern hanging by the cart.  The distorted reflection made
him uneasy.

    Well, it would get the moron off his case.  And it was just one...
 Ranma picked up the small cup and drank it down.  "There.  I drank
it.  Satisfi--?  Hahhhhh!"  He was quickly reminded of the weird
sensation alcohol makes as it goes down your throat.

    "Ha!  Takes practice, Ranma."  He refilled the cup.  "Feels good,
doesn't it?  Drink up.  It'll get rid of your worries."

    "R- Really?"  Ranma glanced dubiously at the clear liquid, and
took another drink, this time more carefully.  It did feel kinda nice
going down.  Warm.  Thinking about it, he realized he'd never really
drank before.  Just had it poured down his throat or accidentally
inhaled it.

    Of course, that was also due to the fact that he was just a high
school student.  The owner didn't seem to have a problem selling to
minors, though.

    "Yep.  Drown your sorrows!  KANPAI!"

    "Uh, kanpai."  Ranma raised his cup with Akira's, and they drank. 
Akira gave Ranma a refill as soon as he finished.

    "Yep.  No curse will make YOU act like a girl."  He suddenly
swigged the rest of the sake straight from the flask.  After finishing
it and catching his breath, he added, "To Rei!"

    Ranma gave Akira a puzzled look.

    Akira exhaled with a grimace, and put the flask down in front of
the vendor.  "Another, if you please, good sir!"  The vendor obliged
him, placing another flask out.

    As Akira made sure his cup was full, he said, "Rei, my good
childhood friend.  The last time I saw him was two weeks ago.  A day
before my parents suddenly decided we were moving to Japan, and a day
after...  After I met her."

    Ranma sipped at his sake, trying to decide whether he liked the
taste or not.  His old man said that a true man should be able to
handle his booze.  Of course, that didn't mean he had to drink as much
as his pop, but it wouldn't hurt to get a little... practice in.

    Only boys coughed after drinking.  Men just chugged it down.  He
didn't want to look like a kid.  And the more he drank, the less the
weird sensation bothered him.  Actually, it was kinda nice.

    Akira continued to prattle on.  "I was working in the clinic with
the doctor when she came walking in.  She was wearing clothing at
least two sizes too big for her, with mud plastered to her front, and
grass embedded into her knee.  She was holding one hand up at an odd
angle, and had a dazed look on her face."

    Ranma glanced at Akira, who was drifting off into his own story
world.  It figured that a guy like him would be a talkative drunk.

    "It was immedi- immidri- It was obvious she'd taken a fall.  She'd
hurt her hand, and possibly hit her head.  I brought her into the
examination room and gave her a bed on which to sit down."

    Ranma took another slow sip of sake.  He really ought to find
Genma and Tendo.  Well, after he finished this drink.

    Frowning, he noticed that the small cup was empty.  Well, maybe
after the next drink.  He helped himself to another serving, starting
to pay more attention to Akira.  It sounded like the other guy might
have some female problems of his own.  It was nice to know that he
wasn't the only one.

    "I asked her what had happened, but she seemed confused.  Her eyes
followed my finger when I moved it in front of her eyes, but she
didn't answer when I asked her if she could remember the date.  When I
asked her name, she said, 'Akira.'"

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    "Really?  Your name's Akira?"

    "N- No.  That's your name," she clarified.

    "You know me?  I don't think I've seen you in the village." 
Indeed, a striking girl such as she would have caught the eyes of any
male.

    Judging from her muscle tone and the firmness of her skin, she was
a fighter.  The cut of her hair proved it.  Long hair is considered
beautiful among the Amazons, but most of them tie it back, so it won't
get caught in battle.  This girl obviously didn't care at all for
other's ideas of beauty, and had shorn her hair to only a few
finger-widths wide, perfect for battle!

    And the clothes.  No normal Amazon would be caught wearing
unfeminine clothing like that.  There was something special about the
girl.

    "Yes, I'm Akira.  But what's your name?"

    "I'm--"  The words seemed stuck in her mouth.

    "You don't know?"

    At that point she looked down into her lap and started to blush. 
It was an intriguing sight, seeing the fighting woman act so demurely.

    Unfortunately, there were other priorities; the girl was showing
most of the signs of a concussion.  The doctor came in and greeted the
girl.  While the two were talking, she efficiently probed the girl's
scalp, looking and feeling for signs on injury.

    She asked the girl her name, age, and the date.  The older woman's
presence seemed to make the girl more responsive, but while the
mystery girl answered the other questions, she couldn't -- or wouldn't
-- say her name.  It became clear that she had indeed fallen, but she
wouldn't say how or where.

    After a few minutes of questions and gentle probing, the doctor
said that there was nothing wrong with the girl that a few hours of
rest shouldn't cure.  It wasn't a concussion or anything more serious.
 She had sprained her wrist, however, which the doctor left to me.

    As I wrapped the strips of medicinally-soaked cloth around her
hand, powerful muscles twitched in her forearm.  With that much
strength, one couldn't help but wonder how she could have bent her
wrist so badly.  When I asked her, she only turned her head aside,
flustered.

    Soon the bandages were secure, and I returned the remaining gauze
to its drawer.  "Would you like to go for a walk?"

    "W- Walk?  Um, sure."  She meekly lowered her head again, in a
decidedly un-Amazon manner.

    "The fresh air and exercise will help clear your head."

    "Oh..."  The disappointment on her face was obvious.

    "Actually, let me show you a place I've found outside the village.
 There's a path I know about that has the most amazing views.  You can
find all sorts of beauties on it."  I winked, and reached out my hand.
 "Ready?"

    If I hadn't already been struck by her beauty and intriguing
character, I would have fallen for her just from that smile.  It was
honest and heartfelt, as if sharing an inner happiness she felt with
all those who saw her.

    She took the offered hand and stood up.  "Lead the way."

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    Ranma stopped paying attention to the sake he was drinking, and
started focussing on the story.  Akira had taken the girl walking on a
trail, watched the sun set, and had come back to the village to eat at
a restaurant.  If Ranma didn't know any better, he'd say it had turned
into a date.

    And, as loath as he was to admit it, he DIDN'T know any better. 
He knew nothing about dates.  What Akira described was nothing like
his own experiences.  There were no awkward pauses.  No
misunderstandings.

    No hitting.  No fighting.

    No jealous girlfriends trying to break them up.

    It was possible that he was just skipping over those parts.  He'd
heard Daisuke talk about a date or two.  Somehow the subject had come
up with Akane, and she'd heard a completely different story from the
girl's point of view.  The two accounts barely fit at all.

    But this didn't sound like he was putting a positive spin on
anything.  It was just a fond reminiscence.

    It was the first time he'd heard a guy talk about women as if he
actually understood them.  Maybe, living in a tribe of women, ALL the
men learned about women.  They knew what to say to make them happy, or
laugh.  They could make a girl believe them when you said there was a
perfectly good explanation for why Shampoo's shirt was in your hands
and not on Shampoo...

    Maybe they could do or say the right thing to a girl so they
wouldn't be mad at you anymore.  They could--

    Wait.  Wasn't Mousse an Amazon?

    Oh well.  He refilled his cup, and listened back to the story. 
Maybe he could get an idea or two for a date, himself.  He wondered if
Akane would like to go on a hike....

    Akira's narration continued, and even the yatai owner listened,
cleaning dishes and rinsing out the used flasks of sake.  "The next
morning was beautiful.  The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and
there was a gentle breeze through the mountains of Bayankala.  It was
the perfect weather to match the mood of a young man in love...."

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    The morning went painfully slowly.  Every spare moment I looked
outside the clinic for some sign of the mysterious girl from
yesterday, but there was no sign of her.  As the afternoon passed, the
doctor sensed my anxiousness, and dismissed me early.  Instead of
going home, I decided to go to the outskirts of the village to visit
my best friend.

    "Rei!  Hey, Rei!  Are you ready?"

    A deep voice rumbled from within the house.  "I know you weren't
raised in a barn, Akira-Su.  Don't you know how to knock?"  The front
door of the small house opened, to a reveal a large, well-muscled
woman in her middle years.  Her face was scarred, complementing the
scowl she leveled.

    I smiled back at her.  "None of the Amazons knock on doors, Mrs.
Za."

    "Last time I checked, you weren't an Amazon, but a MALE. 
Honestly, I should have tried harder to encourage your mother to raise
you as a proper boy."

    "You know Mother's not a normal Amazon, herself."

    "Yes, that's true.  But she's got fighting spirit.  If  Mrs. Su
hadn't already adopted your parents into her family, I would have." 
She lowered a large, callused hand onto my hair and ruffled my hair.

    "Mrs. Za..."

    "And then I would have made her a REAL Amazon!"  She laughed
heartily -- a deep rumbling sound that startled some animals in the
nearby woods.

    "Akira!  Sorry I took so long!"  Rei appeared behind his mother,
his voice as much deeper than hers, as hers was to mine.  He was just
as muscled as she, although his width was in his shoulders, instead of
his hips.

    His mother spoke to him before letting him pass.  "Rei, I don't
want you disappearing again.  Where are you going, and for how long?"

    "I'll be hiking up in the hills with Akira, Mother.  I should be
back in a few hours."

    "You'll be back in time to finish your chores?"

    "I finished them last night, Mother."

    'Really?  Then I suppose you can go out.  But I want you back in
time to make dinner."

    "Yes, Mother."

    "Good.  So go off with your friend.  And don't pick up any bad
habits from him."

    "Yes, Mother."  He smiled widely, matching the one on his mother.

    We walked quickly out of sight, before Mrs. Za could think up any
errands for Rei to do while he was out.

    "Already finished your chores?  My, aren't you the dutiful son?"

    "Very funny.  I was just in a good mood last night, and decided to
finish the chores before going in for the night."

    "Yeah, I was up most of the night, too.  The weather was amazing,
wasn't it?  The air was cool and breezy.  The clouds were drifting
along under the gibbous moon..."

    "Uh, whatever."  Rei just shrugged his massive shoulders and
scratched his bare arms, humoring me.

    We spent the next couple of hours hiking up the trails to the
heights of the rocky mountains.  They weren't the same ones on which I
had taken the girl; these were fainter and more treacherous.  Still,
Rei and I walked them with confidence, having used the path many times
since our childhood.  Our minds were more on the conversation than the
ground before us.

    Or the darkening skies about us.

    As we were near the top of the second peak, weaving through the
old and gnarled trees overlooking Jusenkyo, I changed the topic.  "I
met the perfect girl yesterday."

    "What, again?"  He smiled lightly.

    "This time for real.  I've never seen her before.  She was
amazing; not like the other girls."

    "You sure are a fast mover..."  Rei chuckled.

    "What?  It's been a week since Shao."

    "No no, I mean that other girl you met yesterday."

    "What other girl?  There was just the one."  I paused.  "Wait, do
you know her?  About this tall, with short dark hair...?"

    He stopped walking, and a strong breeze cut through the trees,
pulling at our clothes.  Up in the heights of the mountains, the
temperatures dropped quite a bit.  Rei rubbed his bare arms,
shivering.  "Th- That's your 'perfect girl'?"

    "You do know her, don't you?  What's her name?  Where does she
live?"  Grabbing a nearby tree branch, I swung around in front of Rei.
 "She wouldn't give me her name or tell me where she lived.  I don't
even know if I'm going to see her again!"

    A rumble of distant thunder filled the air, making Rei look up. 
"We gotta get back.  My mother'll kill me if I come home drenched." 
He turned around and walked away from me.  Soon he started picking up
his pace, taking long strides down the path.

    I tagged after him.  "You're ducking the subject, Rei.  How do you
know her?  Wait, she's not your girlfriend, is she?"

    "Girlfriend?"

    "I wouldn't want to--"

    His response was clipped, and his tone emotionless.  "Yeah, that's
it.  She's my girlfriend."

    "Oh."  Rei continued along, not slowing down.  In fact, he was
picking up his pace, almost jogging.  His silence was getting a little
unnerving.  "I'm sorry about putting the moves on her."

    He was quiet for a while longer, before saying, "That's all right.
 Just don't do it again."

    He wasn't reducing his pace, and hadn't as much as looked back at
me while he spoke.  "Are you sure you're all right?  C'mon, slow down
a bit."  We were approaching a part of the path with a steep cliff on
one side.

    "Don't worry about it.  We've been on this part of the trail a
hundred times."  It was true, but we'd never gone as fast as he was,
then.

    "C'mon!  It's not THAT important that you get back before it
rains.  You'll break your neck if you keep running like this!"  I put
my hand on his shoulder, but he shook me off.

    I don't know if I caused him to spin when I grabbed him, or if he
was already turning to face me, but as he pivoted on some pebbles on
the narrow trail, his legs slipped out from under him.

    I could only stare in shock as he started to fall, his massive
legs pulling the rest of his weight over the cliff.  He reacted
instinctively, swinging a massive arm to grab the ground.  It stopped
his movement for a second, but his fingers didn't have purchase on the
packed earth, and he started to slip away.

    "Sh- Shit!"  He realized he was going over the edge.

    I finally managed to react to the situation, dropping onto my
stomach and grabbing his wrist.  But my strength was hardly enough to
keep his mass from pulling me over -- I could feel my stomach start to
slide on the earth.  "Get a handhold!  Use your other hand!!"

    The muscles of his chest and arm tensed, pulling him slightly up,
but his legs and other arm dangled uselessly below him.

    "Use your other arm!  I can't hold you!!"  Panic filled my voice.

    Slowly, he fumbled for something to grab with his free hand.  I
managed to wrap my leg around a small shrub to stop sliding towards to
edge, but I wasn't going to be able to hold on forever.  Another wind
blew up, sending a fine mist of water into Rei's eyes, and making the
arm I was holding slippery.

    "REI!!!"

    He finally brought his other arm onto the ground, and pulled
himself up using his upper body strength.  I'd like to say that I
helped him, but I doubt I did little more than keep him from falling
further, in that first second.

    As soon as he was up, I dragged him as far away from the edge of
the trail as possible.  We ended up in the low, thick shrubs.  They
were difficult to move through, but wouldn't become slick when the
rain started to fall.

    "Geez, what were you thinking?  I've never seen you try a macho
stunt like that.  Trying to pull yourself up with one hand.  You could
have been killed!"

    He winced at my words, and I noticed him rubbing the wrist of the
arm he had been reluctant to use.

    "Are you alright?"  I took his hand, and felt the wrist.  Judging
from his grimace, it was obvious he'd hurt it somehow.  Fortunately,
no bones were broken.  "When did this happen?  Never mind, let's get
out of here before the rain really starts falling."  Indeed, the mist
had given way to droplets, which were starting to fall.

    "As soon as we get off the mountain, I'll take you to the clinic."

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    Akira paused, staring at his shallow cup of sake.  He spun it
gently, watching the clear liquid swirl about.  "I guess, hearing it
now, what happened next will come as no big surprise to you.  But when
I was there, in the heat of the moment, I was in no position to piece
together the facts...."

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    "Rei?"  The rain had started falling in earnest, and was blowing
across my eyes.  Even so, there was no way I could mistake the way he
changed in front of me.  It was as if the water was working over some
piece of clay.  But instead of simply washing the material away, the
rain molded his form, directed by some unseen artist.

    The water cascaded down his hair, lengthening it as it dripped off
the ends.  Instead of his normal almost-shaven cut, he now had hair as
long as mine, just covering his eyes.  His face became smaller,
somehow, and his features more graceful.  The water continued to sheet
down his body, working its transformation.  The mass of his shoulders
washed away to nothing; some of it seemed to collect at his hips, and
the rest, in unnatural bulges, at the front of his chest.  The bulk in
his torso, arms, and legs was completely lost, losing its robustness,
instead tapering and becoming more slender.

    The rain puddled at his feet, giving no sign of where it had
dissolved most of his body.  It had left behind only a fraction of
what he was, causing his oversized clothes to hang off him in an
unusual way.  He stood perfectly still, with his newfound bangs hiding
any expression that might have been in his eyes.

    After a few seconds, I stopped seeing the things that had
individually changed, and saw the whole.  Not what had happened to
Rei, but who he had become.  I blinked the water out of my eyes, but
it didn't make the sight go away.  He was she -- the same girl who had
come into the clinic yesterday.

    "Rei?"

    He finally lifted his face, and the raindrops splattered all over
his face.  I couldn't tell if he was crying, but from his tortured
expression, it looked like he wanted to.  His eyes seemed to lock onto
mine, trying to tell me something.  His eyebrows were angled up,
wrinkling his forehead with anguish.

    "Why are you... that girl?"  I asked dumbly.  I thought about the
things I had done with her, the day before.  "Is this some sort of
joke...?"

    I never got his response, as he turned and fled from me.  I
worried about him falling off again, but his new form proved to be
more surefooted than mine.  While I ran through the shrubs, ripping my
pants, he simply bounded over them.

    When I finally got back to the trail,  I caught a glimpse of the
dark-haired girl I had met yesterday dashing along a switchback below
me.  Leaning over and yelling didn't get her attention, nor did my
yelps as I nearly slid off.

    I wanted to press on, but it wasn't possible in the weather.  The
shower ended quickly enough, but the winds that cut through the many
peaks tried their best to push me off the slick trails.  By the time I
got home, it was already nightfall.

    I cursed the fact that Rei and his family didn't have a phone. 
Things could have gone so much differently, otherwise.  As it was, I
thought that I would be up all night with worry, but at some point I
managed to fall asleep.

    The next day I got up with the first light to see Rei.  I ran
almost all the way to his house, but only his mother was there,
worried out of her mind.

    "Rei's a good boy.  I know he would have come home.  What
happened?  Is he hurt?  Why didn't he come back with you?"

    I wanted to tell her the truth, that her son must have fallen into
the Spring of Drowned Girl, but I couldn't do it.  The spring had
obviously affected his mind, and I... felt responsible.

    No one has ever lived near Jusenkyo.  Except the Guide, of course,
but that's part of his job.  And his house is high in the hills, not
down among the springs.  Most people don't know the exact nature of
the valley, but everyone knows it's magical and cursed.

    When my parents showed up years ago, walking out of the valley,
and when they decided to settle down next to it, everyone thought they
were crazy.  And when I was born into that cursed land, there was some
question of whether the curse had affected me.

    The elders assured the adults that it couldn't happen, but there
was no convincing the children.  They all treated me like less than
dirt.  Bad enough that my parents had been adopted into the Amazon
clan instead of being born into it, but we all lived in that 'bad
place' that the children were forbidden to go.  To them, that meant
that I was bad, too.

    Only Rei stuck up for me.  He lived pretty far outside the village
himself, on the outskirts closest to us.  When his father had been
alive, he had been a collector of herbs, both flavorful and medicinal,
that only grew in the peaks of the Bayankala mountain range.  His
mother, a consummate warrior, had agreed to move the household closer
to the source of their livelihood.

    Rei was considered something of an outsider himself, but he had
always been big for his age.  He became my protector, looking out for
me when the other kids were insulting me, and using his size to
single-handedly hold off the groups that attacked me.

    It was why we became best friends.  Eventually, as the children
grew up, they forgot about their superstitions, but he was always by
my side.

    And now he had become cursed.

    Was it because he had tried to come to see me?  Had he fallen in
coming towards my house?  Maybe where we lived really was bad luck,
and Rei had finally paid the price for being too close to me.

    I know it's not very logical, but it's what I felt.  If I told
Rei's mother that he had been cursed, would she blame me?  And so I
told her a half-truth:  Rei had become upset over something and nearly
fallen off the cliff.  He ran back, and we had become separated.

    I assured her that I hadn't seen his body anywhere on the way
down, so at least I knew that he hadn't fallen.  As to why he couldn't
come back, I let her draw her own conclusions.

    Mrs. Za wasn't completely convinced, but she took me at my word. 
Clearly, she could see that I was as upset as she over the whole
matter.  And so we decided to split up and try to find him as quickly
as possible.  She would go into town, and I would search the
wilderness where we hiked together.

    Of course, even if Rei was in the village, he was probably a girl
-- his mother wouldn't recognize him.  I tried to head off any worry
she might have when she couldn't locate him.   "Don't worry.  I'm sure
he's alright.  Everything will work out."

    That was when the first tremor struck.

    Mrs. Za was physically unaffected.  As an Amazon warrior, she
always stood in a ready stance.  When the Earth trembled, she merely
adjusted the weight over her feet.  As she picked me off the ground,
however, her emotional state read something entirely different.  I'm
sure we shared the same disturbed expression.

    Without another word we went our separate ways, trying not to
think about the possibility that what we had experienced was an omen.

    If it was, then there were many more that followed.  As I traveled
to the wilderness near Jusenkyo, the Earth continued to rage every few
minutes, and the air grew unnaturally hot.  The sky was clear, but I
could hear thunderous explosions and howling winds from the valley.

    After about half an hour, the sounds and the shaking stopped. 
That helped my immediate sense of unease, but I still couldn't find
Rei.  I went to all the mountain clearings and trails that we visited,
but didn't see a trace of him.

    Several hours later, I still hadn't found him.  Maybe he had gone
into town, or better yet, maybe he'd changed back and gone home.  I
glanced up at the sky, which was now covered with darkening clouds. 
The heat kicked up from earlier in the day must have evaporated a lot
of water from the valley.  As the temperature dropped, clouds formed. 
Time for me to get under cover, myself.

    No sooner had the thought crossed my mind when the rains started. 
Fortunately, I was near some natural shelter.  I ran to the end of a
small valley, a few hundred meters long.  Tall rocky outcroppings
formed three walls, making a corridor that protected from most of the
elements.

    As soon as I entered, the mountainous sides blocked the winds and
cut down the rain.  I continued to walk about half the length of the
valley, which should have protected me even more, but the rain was
still pouring.  It must have been a positive deluge in the open.

    "Akira."

    The voice had come from the opening of the valley, behind me. 
Turning around, and protecting my eyes from the rain, I watched the
other figure approach.  The clothes were different, but I recognized
the face immediately.  Rei.

    I let him walk a few meters closer before asking, "Where on Earth
did you get that?"  I pointed at the battle dress: a sleeveless white
top, with black, full-length pants.  He wasn't wearing the typical
leather breast piece, but a single arm guard covered his sprained
wrist and forearm.  The winds whipped at a sash on her waist, and
something wrapped around the bracer.  "If anybody sees you in that--"

    "What?" he challenged.

    "Look, you'd just better get out of it.  We've got to get you
home, and you don't want anyone thinking you're a pervert."

    "What's perverted about me wearing this?"  He gestured at the
outfit, hands lingering on the blouse, now plastered wet against his
skin.

    "Males shouldn't wear Amazon clothing!"

    "Do I look like a male?"  He narrowed her eyes.

    "Y- You might not look like one now, but you are.  C'mon, Rei,
you're no fighter.  Just take that off and--"  I grabbed his arm by
the bracer, but he swung his arm up, dislodging my hand.  I could see
now that the two halves were tied together with medical gauze, of all
things, instead of the usual leather strips.

    His fingers twitched.  Even with the hard leather restricting the
free motion of his injured wrist, the quick movement had to have been
painful.

    Even through the pain, he grinned.  "I'll show you who can fight."

    That's when he took a swipe at me, hitting me in the head.  It
didn't hurt, but it was rather distracting.  "Wh- Why'd you do that?"

    His response was to punch me in the chest.  The blow knocked be
back, and left me dazed, gasping for air.  His female form was strong,
but only like a mule, instead of the ox of his normal body.  Even so,
I didn't want to be hit again.

    Fortunately, I knew a bit more about martial arts than he.  Which
only means that he knew next to nothing.  Raised as a traditional
Amazon male, he learned how to watch over and maintain the home.  On
the other hand, my father had tried to teach me swordplay.  I never
learned any techniques, but I remembered some of the principals.

    'Strike fast.  Even if you miss, your opponent may flinch, giving
you a chance for another attack.'

    And so, as swiftly as I could, I grabbed his other arm, tightly
enough so he wouldn't be able to shake me off.   I was about to jab a
pressure point when I saw a wild gleam in his eyes, and a feral smile
on his lips.

    With no more warning, he tried to kick me in the crotch.  I
quickly let go of him and desperately swatted the leg away.  Instead
of its intended target, his foot caught me in the quadriceps.  I
doubled over in pain, grabbing my upper leg, and he took the
opportunity to punch me in the back of the shoulder.

    Somehow I had managed to forget that Rei grew up with plenty of
practice in the fights protecting me.  Brawling wasn't as refined as
martial arts, but it did the job just fine.  As I thought about it, I
realized that I didn't stand a chance.

    I hop-skipped away as fast as I could, wincing as I put weight on
the injured leg.  "What the HELL are you doing?!?"  I turned to face
him.

    To my surprise, he was cradling his bad wrist, wincing in pain. 
Maybe he'd used the wrong hand to punch me?  Hissing through a
grimace, he asked, "Still think I'm not a fighter?"

    "Okay, so you're a fighter, already!"

    "So I have every right to wear this battle dress!"

    "..."

    "I guess you still need convincing."  His grimace reformed into
something resembling a smirk, and he approached me again with his weak
hand balled into a fist.

    Not willing to take another beating, I started to back off, trying
to figure some way to get away.  Fortunately, the adrenaline was
helping me ignore the throbbing in my leg.

    When I spied a long stick on the ground, I bent over and picked it
up, holding it out in front of me.

    "Trying to remember the lessons your father gave you?"  Rei asked.

    Embarrassed, I realized that I was holding the stick in something
resembling a ready position for a bokuto.  Of course, my father
wouldn't have agreed, pointing out flaws in my grip or stance.

    I kept the tip pointed directly at Rei, and continued to back off,
while he kept pace with me.  "Rei, look, you can wear the dress, I
don't care.  There's no reason to fight."

    "I have my reasons."

    "What, did you fall in Spring of Drowned Angry-at-the-World
Amazon, or something?"  I felt my back press against a rock face.  I
glanced to either side to see another way around, but there was none. 
I had retreated into the end of the valley; there was no where else
left for me to go.

    Rei knew it, too.  He flicked the strands of hair out of his eyes.
 "What makes you think I'm angry?"  He stood in front of me, blocking
the only exit.

    "Well."  I scratched my head.  "You seemed pretty upset when I
said that a boy shouldn't be wearing--"

    "I AM NOT A BOY!!" he screeched.  He flexed his hand -- his bad
hand -- and a strip of gauze around the bracer snapped off.  The rest
of the makeshift wrapping was pulled taut, and I could hear the
creaking of stressed leather.  His hands twitched, as if looking for
something to grab.

    "O- Of course not!"  I swallowed.  "Why, you're a very pretty
girl."  I laughed, hoping he wouldn't pick up on my unease.  If he
suspected what I was about to do...  "You're the most beautiful girl
in the village.  Remember, I told you yesterday?"

    He blinked and clapped both hands to his cheeks.  "You think so?" 
He giggled.

    With his hands otherwise occupied, I struck out, jabbing the stick
at his chest.  The wood was rotten, wet from the rain, and snapped at
the pressure.

    "Don't poke those!  They're sensitive!"  While he grabbed his...
(er) the bruised region, I dropped the makeshift sword, lunged
forward, and desperately grabbed his injured wrist.

    Slick from the rain, he squirmed it free.  However, as it came out
of my grip, I was able to grab a loose strand of the wrapping, and
gave it a healthy jerk.

    He yelped in pain as it violently pulled his hand.  I continued to
run forward, pushing myself into him.  We both tripped and fell onto
the ground.  Quickly as possible, I tore the wrappings off and pulled
off one of the leather halves of the arm guard.  I then put my thumb
against her wrist and ruthlessly applied pressure to his wound.

    "KYAAA!"

    Trying to ignore the pain in my friend's voice -- or rather, the
new voice that belonged to this body -- I got on top of him, pinning
his torso with my legs, and each arm with my hands.  Quickly finding
the pressure point on his other arm that I hadn't been able to press
earlier, I drove in a knuckle.

    He squirmed underneath me, arm spasming, trying to get free. 
"Forget it, Rei.  You could throw me off in a second with your normal
body, but I outmass you by tens of kilos, now."

    He continued to struggle for a moment, before challenging, "You
haven't beaten me, yet!"

    "Are you kidding?  What are you going to do?"  One of his arms was
injured, and the other should have been numbed from the pressure
point.

    Frowning, he surveyed his situation.  "Is this how you treat all
your girlfriends?"

    It almost worked.  I felt the urge to get off her and scramble
away before anyone could see.  It didn't look good, with me straddling
him and pinning his arms down.  But this was Rei, not really some
girl.  He had to break free of the delusion that he was one.

    "Rei, give it up.  I'm taking you home to your mother.  We're
going to get some hot water, and clear this up."

    "You can keep me pinned here, but what makes you think you can
take me home?"  He stared at me challengingly.  "You haven't beaten
me, yet."  The corner of her mouth turned up into a smirk.

    Why was she so insistent of making this difficult?  Very well, if
he wanted to be difficult, I could as well.  "Okay.  I challenge you
to break free."

    "Wh- What?"  He blinked.

    "If you can't get free, here and now, you have to admit that I
beat you."

    He stared at me suspiciously.  "And...?"

    "The terms are, if you lose, you come back with me without causing
any problems.  Of course, you don't have to accept the challenge...." 
Would his weird fascination with Amazon fighting would include not
backing down from a challenge?  If not, I didn't know how I was going
to get him back home.

    "Very well.  I accept your challenge."

    Thank goodness!

    His smirk turned into a smile, and I thought I saw a glint in his
eyes.  I tensed, in preparation for an all-or-nothing attempt to break
free.  Instead, he merely spoke.

    "I admit defea--"

    Never have I moved so fast in my entire life.  Before the last
consonant had escaped his lips, I was fifteen feet away, and running
for my life.  I didn't look back once, even as his words dogged my
heels.

    "Y- You JERK!!!"

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    For the first time since starting his story, Akira took a drink of
sake, draining his cup.  Ranma waited for him to continue, but the
other boy seemed preoccupied with his thoughts.

    "What?  You ran away?!?  Why'dya do that?" he asked incredulously.

    "Because," Akira replied.

    "Because WHAT?"

    The upperclassman turned to look Ranma in the eyes.  "Because he
didn't care if he won or lost."

    "So?"

    "So, at that point, there was no way for me to win."

    Ranma twitched with annoyance, and rapidly ran his hands through
his hair, disheveling it.  "Wha'dya MEAN, there was no way to win?  He
was giving up!"

    "Only giving up the fight.  He would have won what he wanted."

    Ranma was seriously considering strangling the older boy again. 
Enough with the riddles, already!  "And what did he want?!?"

    "To marry me."

    "..."

    Akira grabbed a flask and drank it straight, leaving his cup on
the counter.

    "Excuse me?"

    "He wanted to marry me.  That's why he fought me in the first
place.  If he won, he could claim me as his... husband."  Akira
shuddered.

    "Amazon law?"  It sounded stupid enough to be one.

    "Well, the law of Nature, really.  The weak have to obey the
strong.  If they don't, well..."  He shrugged.  "The strong have
already proven they can beat you up."

    Ranma beat his head on the counter.  "So why didn't you just
accept his surrender?  Then you would have shown that you were
'stronger.'"

    Akira slowly turned around, and stared at him as if he had grown a
third head.  "You don't understand anything about Amazon marriages, do
you?"

    "Hey, I know plenty about Amazons.  A outsider guy beats up a
girl, and then she has to marry you.  And..." he added cleverly, "You
ain't no outsider!"

    "Heh.  I guess you've got some experience after all.  If a woman
should be defeated by a man, she may make him her husband, in order
that she strengthen the blood of her family," he quoted.  "Now, women
usually don't get beaten, so it's a major loss of face if they do. 
They can regain honor by claiming the man as their husband.  Of
course, to lose to an outsider is the greatest loss of face at all."

    Ranma frowned.  "Hey..."

    "In that case, she HAS to marry the man, to keep any face.  When
the male isn't an outsider, well..."  He leaned over and whispered
conspiratorially, "Say, do you wanna know the SECRET about Amazon
marriages?"

    Ranma found himself leaning over, and whispering back.  "I
guess..."

    "It's all about two things.  Strength, and a woman's pride."  He
looked up at the sky, and spoke as if quoting long-memorized words,
"If a person wishes to marry another, and defeats their intended in
combat, that person has won their spouse."

    Ranma's mind, becoming affected by the alcohol, took a few moments
to wrap itself around that.  "Okay, so a girl can beat up a guy to get
a hushband, and a guy can beat up a girl to get a wife?"  The first
part made sense, but he wasn't so sure about the second.

    "Quite so, BUT!"  Akira waggled his finger.  "Don't forget 'a
woman's pride.'  A man only has one opper-- opportin--  One chance to
win his combat; if he fails, he can never again challenge that woman. 
But the women don't want to be subject to the men, so they can have as
many chances they want -- to win a husband, or to get an annulment
from men who defeated them."

    Akira started giggling.  "Mu-Su blew his chance when he was a kid!
 He didn't start to learn martial arts until AFTER Shan-Pu kicked his
butt.  Now he'll never get another chance to challenge her for her
hand.  He spends his free time trying to convince her to marry him
without fighting.  The bitch."

    Ranma noticed Akira's brow starting to furrow, and nudged him to
get back his attention.  "Oh, yes.  So, anyway, consider the Amazon
who wants to be married, no matter what.  She attacks her
husband-to-be.  If she beats him, the case is closed -- he has to
marry her.  But if he beats her, she can claim him as her husband, to
save face!"

    Ranma blinked.  "But wait, that means if a Amazon girl wants you,
you have to marry her... no matter what?"

    "Preciser-- uh, exactly!"  He swung his hand about
enthusiastically, spilling the contents of his cup at Ranma.  "Hey,
what do you know?  Sake triggers your curse, too."

    She frowned, pushing locks of wet hair out of her eyes.  "Jeez, I
coulda toldja that."

    "Anyway, you see my dilemma.  As it happens, though, there is one
recourse:  'If a woman comes after you to pick a fight, run for the
hills.'  Ancient Amazon male saying.  Very wise ancestors."

    Ranma shook her head.  "But Rei wasn't really a girl, right?  You
wouldn'a had to marry him."

    "Yeah, that's true.  But if would have meant telling the other
Amazons that he was really a boy.  I couldn't do that!"

    "Huh?  Why not?  You wouldn'a had to worry about marriage."

    "Can you imagine how they would have reacted?  Finding a proper,
demure male suddenly acting like he were a warrior?  They would have
been completely insulted.  They've had real training, and undergone
rites of passage to affirm their titles as Amazons.  And some male
comes along, pretending that he can be one of them?  Who knows how
they would've punished him?  I couldn't put him in that sit--
siturei-- position.

    "Anyway, it never came down to that.  The next day, my parents
told me we were leaving for Japan, first thing in the morning.  I
tried one last time to find him before dawn.

    "First I went to Jusenkyo, to try to get some Spring of Drowned
Man water, but the springs, for the first time I can remember, were
all flooded."  He stirred his sake, and flicked the excess liquid of
his finger.  He then rubbed the finger against his thumb, feeling the
moisture.

    "With the valley filled with water, I wasn't able to get across. 
Hours later, when my parents and I left, we couldn't even get to the
village.  The only other route in traveled a winding path around the
mountains that would have taken too long.  We left by another
direction, directly for the next town, and I never saw Rei again.

    "For all I know, the way he was acting, he probably thinks of
himself as a real Amazon, now.  He might not WANT to change back.  The
curse has claimed him."  He raised his cup and toasted, "To Rei." 
Akira covered his eyes with his hand, and become silent.

    It made Ranma a little antsy.  Was he crying?  She felt the vague
stirring of guilt in her stomach, for some reason.  "Uh, don't feel
too bad."  She patted his shoulder.  "It'sh scary falling into the
Spring of Drowned Girl.  I know I freaked when I fell in."

    She scratched her nose.  "If I didn't have my old man to help me
take out my anger, who knows how I would have reacted?  Maybe Rei
just, I dunno, freaked.  Snapped in the head, or somthin'.  I'm sure
it'sh temporary insanity!  The next time he changes back, he'll snap
out of it."

    "I hope so..."  Akira turned to Ranma and smiled.  Rubbing redness
out of his eyes.  "Maybe you're right.  But I still worry that it's
some weird mental effect of the spring he fell into."

    "Huh?  I thought you said the nyannichuan didn't have any mental
effects?"

    Akira's eyes widened, and his glasses slipped down his nose.  "You
don't know, do you?"  He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket
and pulled out some photos.  Selecting one, he passed it over to
Ranma.  "Maybe you'd like to see a picture of Rei?"

    "Sure, I guess."  She reached over and looked at the photo.

    "That was the woman I thought was my perfect girl."

    Upon looking at the picture, Ranma immediately felt sick.

    "Akanenichuan.  There is a tragic story of a young girl who was
kidnapped and drowned there by the enemies of her lover, two weeks
ago.  They stole her form to entice him to his doom...  Very tragic."

    Ranma started spluttering.  "Say WHAT?!?"

    "There wasn't originally a pool there, but some of the people from
Phoenix mountain dug a hold for one.  The waters filled in from
below."

    "Wait, what's this about her 'lover'?"

    "Of course, Rei couldn't have known about it.  And so, one day as
he was walking along his normal spring-free path, he must have fallen
in."

    "Akane is NOT my lover!"

    "I didn't find out until later, of course.  The Guide explained it
to me, when I tried to go back to the Springs."

    "We haven't even slept together.  Well, there was last night..." 
Ranma pressed her fingers together.  "But we weren't in the same bed. 
And we were both girls at the time anyway.  Although," she blushed,
"she did say that she loves me..."

    Akira blinked.  "She said that to you?"

    Ranma smiled, nodding.  Remembering Akane's words made her warm
inside.  Or maybe it was the booze.

    "Do you love her, too?"

    Ranma blushed, but continued to nod.

    "Congratulations.  I'll be happy to tell Shan-Pu the news."  He
grinned cruelly.

    "I just wish she coulda told me when I was -- you know -- a guy."

    "She told you when you were a girl?"

    "Yeah.  It was right after your 'test'."

    "But, wouldn't she still think you're a girl?

    Ranma blinked.

    Akira clarified, "You're the first person I've told about the
test; she still thinks your girl-side's a real girl, right?"

    A memory, Ranma resting her head on Akane's shoulder, walking back
from school.

    A memory, Akane almost in tears, saying that she didn't care about
anything Ranma might have done with Ryoga; she still wanted her.

    A memory.  Akane saying that she loved her.

    She'd been a girl.

    Every time she'd been a GIRL!

    She grabbed a flask from the counter, and let it drain straight
down her throat.

    "You're learning how to drink, now!" cheered Akira.

    Swallowing the last of it, she finally caught her breath.  "How
could I have forgotten.  She hates boys..."  She slammed the flask on
the table, cracking it.  "She isn't in love with me.  She's in love
with my girl-side!"

    She tightened her hand into a fist, smashing the flash to pieces. 
Shards were scattered on the table and some stuck to her hand. 
Inspecting the situation, she pronounced, "Hey, this thing's broken. 
Bring me another!"

    The vendor stared nervously at the small girl, and Akira nudged
her.  "You sure you should have any more?  You have been putting them
back for a while..."

    She turned slowly to face him, head wavering slightly.  "Yeah,
well, you would too if you foun' out yer fiancee wash a lesbian!"

    "Hey, my best friend wants t'marry me!"

    "That does suck, does'nit?"

    Akira's face scrunched up, struggling for an answer, but settled
at, "Yeah, what you said."

    "S'good thing we're gettin' drunk."

    "You said it!"

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    "You know, you're a lucky man, Saotome."  Akira poked Ranma in the
chest.  "You look like that but still are as manly as they come."

    Ranma punched Akira in the face, knocking him off his stool. 
"Don't poke those!"  She rubbed the lanced part of her anatomy,
frowning to herself.  "They're sensitive."

    After a few moments lying on the ground, Akira climbed back into
his seat.  "You don't want to marry me now, do you?"

    "What?"  Oh, that Amazon law-thingie.  "You're not my type."

    She wanted someone kind and caring, with short, dark hair. 
Athletic, and strong.  They definitely had to be strong...  An image
of Akane popped into Ranma's head.  She was jogging up to him, waving
and smiling.

    She lost herself in the vision.  Akane looked so cute and
determined, wearing that athletic headband.  Too bad she didn't have
little fangs.  Then she'd be even cuter when she smiled.

    "Saotome."  The fair-haired boy swatted Ranma's shoulder. 
"Saotome!"

    "Wha?" she barked.

    "You're a lucky man, you know that?"

    "Y'already said that!"

    "You're a girl, but you're a guy, too.  And I was so sure that the
curse messed with your head.  I mean, look at Rei.  Look at her.  Him.
 Whatever.  He turned into a girl, and he really was a girl!  She
wanted me!  And she was SO hot, too!  I almost didn't care that she
was a guy.  I mean, she didn't act like it!  She didn't FEEL like it!"

    "Hey!  That'sh my lesbian girlfriend's body, yer talkin' about!"

    "No way would Rei act like that, normally!  It HAD to be the
curse.  He was just acting like the girl that fell in the pool,
right?"

    Ranma waved her hands.  "No no NO!  If that wash the case, Rei'd
only like girls, see?"

    "Yeah.  Well, you show'd me wrong, too."

    "..."  The bits of data bounced around through Ranma's brain like
pachinko balls.

    "I hope he wasn't -- you know -- THAT way all along.  That'd be
weird."

    A single bright, shiny ball landed perfectly into the jackpot
slot.  "Hey WAIT, you mean you didn' KNOW Rei was acting weird because
of the curse?"

    "Huh?  Hell, I still don't know why Rei was acting like that."

    Ranma stood up, taking a few extra steps to the side to maintain
her balance.  "You tol' ME the curse makesh me act like a girl!"

    Akira adjusted his glasses.  "Well, it does makes sense."

    "MAKE SHENSE?!?" screached Ranma.  "You just made it UP?!"

    "Hey, I thought about it for a long time!" protested Akira.

    "Why you!"  She reached out to throttle his neck, but he stepped
back.  "Stand still so I c'n kill ya!"

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    "We're pathetic," declared Ranma.

    "Huh?"  Akira turned to face her.  His neck was bruised, and there
were scratch marks over his face and body, shredding his clothes.  The
redhead also noticed a bite mark on his hand, which he was rubbing. 
Where on Earth had he gotten that?

    She tried to remember, but it was proving difficult.  Oh well, it
probably didn't matter.

    "I got... I got FOUR girlsh who want me.  No, no, wait.  I got
THREE girlsh who wan' my BOY-side.  And Akane wantsh my GIRL-side. 
Heh, maybe Ukyo, too.  Hee-hee!  And, and Kuno's hot for me."  She
giggled.  "Too bad he's 'n idiot.  He's rich'n good lookin'.  A girl
could do worse."

    "Huh?  A what?  Whad'you say?"

    She leaned over Akira, putting her face within centimeters of his.
 Tilting her head, then closing an eye she declared, "You're kinda
cute, too.  Sorta look like Kuno.  Kuuuuuno!"  She pressed his nose
with her index finger.

    Akira blinked repeatedly.  "I'm what?"

    "What?  You shy'r somthin'?"

    "Are... You feeling arli--?  Al--?  You OK?"

    "I feel GREAT!  I don' need 'Kane.  I could have ANY boy I
wanted!"  She winked.  "I'm a hot number, ya know."

    "Any BOY?"  Akira leaned forward, grabbing Ranma's arms just below
the shoulders.  She considered throwing him off, but she was kinda
tired, and it didn't feel so bad.  Strong hands...

    "Ranma."  His voice sounded deeper.  He was looking at her. 
Staring at her.  Into her eyes.  Into her soul.  His eyes...  She felt
herself being drawn into them.

    "Wow..."

    "Are you a guy or a girl?"

    That's when she decided to throw him off.  "Whash WRONG with ya?" 
She frowned at the boy, currently sprawled on the ground.  "You blind
or somethin'?"  She ripped open the front of her shirt, exposing her
chest to view.  "Do I LOOK like a guy?"

    He swallowed.  "So... you're...?"

    She yelled in frustration, and jumped down on him, pinning his
waist and putting her hands on the ground to either side of his head. 
"Do I have ta... demonshtrate?"  She leaned down, pressing against
him.

    "I- It's true!"  He started to grin maniacally, and tears of joy
poured out of his bloodshot eyes.  She ignored the weird reaction and
concentrated on increasing the warmth and pressure she felt against
his body.  Rubbing around and pressing against him seemed to help.

    "Mmm."

    "Wait.  You shouldn't do this, Ranma.  You're a guy..."

    "Letsh go to your place."

    "...OK!"

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    There was something under her right breast.

    She was lying partially on top of something, and it wasn't
comfortable.  In fact, it kinda hurt.  Rolling over, she ended up
falling out of bed, pulling the covers with her onto the ground.

    She moaned as soon as she landed.  "Oh, gawd, my head."  It was
throbbing with pressure.  Her mouth had some awful aftertaste in it,
and her whole body felt slow and clumsy.

    Wait a minute.  Whose bed had she fallen out of?  A panic attack
got her to her feet, trying to figure out where she was.  She hadn't
accidentally ended up in Nodoka's bed, had she?

    Once she was standing up, Ranma quickly regretted the action.  The
pressure in her head became even worse, and she couldn't keep her
balance.  Lurching forward, she caught herself on the bed before
falling on her face.

    A man moaned from the bed.  "Ranma?  What time is it?"

    It was Akira.

    Lying on his back, he blinked and squinted at Ranma, scratching
his stomach.  Ranma's eyes were drawn to a scar two centimeters wide
and perhaps three decimeters long, running along the side of his
abdomen.  Rubbing her fingers together, she had the vague impression
that she had felt the scar some time last night.

    Then more important information filtered into her brain.  She
could see his stomach.  He wasn't wearing a shirt.

    Glancing down at herself, she realized something else.  Neither
was she.

    Suddenly, Ranma felt very very sick.

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    "Darling, where is the paper?"

    "Where it always is, Buru."

    "Where it always is," he repeated.  With some annoyance he started
moving around the piles of papers and envelopes, lifting the stacks
up.  After a few minutes, he found the day's paper on the bottom of
one of the stacks.  Why on Earth had she put it there?  Couldn't she
have put it aside?  Or at least on top?  "Woman, why must you always
make my life difficult?"

    "You love it and you know it!" she called from another room.

    He grumbled, but didn't see fit to contradict her.  He sat down by
the kitchen table, and had just started to unfold the paper when a
pigtailed girl streaked through the room.

    He blinked a few times before asking,  "Darling?"

    "Yes?"  The man looked from the direction the woman had spoken. 
It was neither in the direction the girl had run from or run to.

    "You are wearing your clothes, yes?"

    A woman poked her head into the room.  She was wearing a nice
business suit, with a small yellow bow holding back her pigtail. 
"You're getting frisky again, Buru.  What makes you think I'll ever
let you have me again?" she cooed.

    Buru blinked.  "Do we have guests?"

    The woman frowned at him.  "Pay attention to me when I'm seducing
you."

    Akira suddenly dashed into the kitchen, buttoning a shirt.  "Dad! 
Mother!  Have you seen Ranma?"

    "Ranma?"  Buru frowned.  "A pigtailed maiden?  No shirt? 
Well-endowed?"  He made a demonstrative motion with his hands in front
of his chest.  "Ow!"

    His wife expressed her dissatisfaction with a blow to his head. 
"The only pigtailed girl you'll watch is me, Dear."

    "Yes, Darling."

    Akira's mother tapped her chin, and looked at her son.  "Wait. 
THE Ranma?  Ranma Saotome?"

    Akira answered, "That's she.  Which way did she go?"

    "Bathroom,"  Buru said, while flipping the page.  He loved his
wife dearly, even after their recent revelation in China, but thought
it best not to make any more comments about pigtailed girls.  It was a
sensitive issue for her, and while she was not precisely jealous, she
could make her displeasure painfully clear.

    Fortunately, at the moment her attention was turned on her son. 
"Now, I think it's wonderful that you're already bringing home
girlfriends, Honey, but... how do I put this?  Ranma isn't like the
other girls."

    "Yeah, she's a guy."

    "You know?"  She seemed honestly surprised.  "Of course, you go to
the same school as him.  Well, as long as you're aware, I support any
decision you make."  She winked at him.

    "Wha--?  MOTHER, I'm not like that!"

    "I raised you not to be close-minded, Akira.  You're always
bringing home girlfriends.  Never a boyfriend.  Are you sure you've
never experimented?  Maybe the reason you can't find your 'perfect
girl' is that--"

    "MOTHER!"

    Buru sipped some tea and read the next page.  The paper concealed
a rather large sweatdrop on the side of his head.

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    Ranma lifted her head from the toilet bowl, wiping her mouth with
distaste.  Why did she feel this way?  She could barely remember
anything about last night.  What she did recall was starting to look
for her father, drinking, and putting her hand under Akira's shirt.

    Maybe some things were best left forgotten.

    Anyway, here she was, in a strange house, throwing up into
someone's toilet.  Akira's toilet, she supposed.  After all, she'd
woken up in his bed, right?

    Another wave of nausea spread over her, threatening to make her
throw up again.  She managed to keep it down, having had some
experience dealing with Akane's cooking.  But even that had never made
her throw up.  Well, more than once or twice.  And it was always
immediately after she had eaten.

    She hadn't had a thing to eat since she got up, so why was she
getting sick first thing in the morning...?

    As understanding came, she took a deep breath.

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    Buru was a few steps behind Akira and his wife as they ran to the
bathroom.  They opened the door to see the pig-tailed girl inhaling
for yet another scream.

    Akira dashed over and asked, "Ranma, what's wrong?!"

    Buru stood by the door with his wife and scanned the room.  There
was no sign of an intruder in the room, and all the windows were still
closed.  He lowered his bokuto.  He supposed they'd have to wait for
an explanation from the girl.

    Ranma latched onto Akira with her eyes, and instead of screaming,
used her next breath to yell, "YOU!!  You did this to me!"  She leapt
like an animal and wrapped her hands around his throat.  "You got me
pregnant!!!"

    Akira gurgled, but couldn't breathe or respond.  Ranma started
shaking his head, knocking it against the bathroom tiles, cracking
them.  Akira tried to pull Ranma's hands off, but they were wrapped
too firmly around his neck.

    Buru blinked.

    His wife smiled widely and said, "Akira!  Why did you feel the
need to hide this from me?"

    Akira finally gave up trying to pry Ranma's arms off, and started
stabbing at her chest with two fingers.  Buru supposed that he was
trying to find a pressure point, but his aim was screwed up by his
bobbing head.

    Finding a pressure point on a fighting opponent was not the same
as it was for a willing patient at a clinic.  If only his son had
learned the family martial art, he wouldn't have this problem.  As it
was, he was blindly groping the girl.

    Obviously his wife had noticed him admiring the maiden's
impressive... assets, as she quickly elbowed him in the gut. 
Apparently satisfied that he had learned his lesson, she addressed the
other redhead.

    "Young lady, do you mind not killing my son?"

    The pigtailed girl looked up from her position, sitting on Akira's
chest, holding his now-limp neck.  "Your son?"

    She smiled and shrugged her shoulders, holding up her hands to
either side of her body.  "Or, 'the father of your child,' if you
like."

    Their guest's face turned blue at the words, and she scrambled off
of Akira to start dry-heaving into the toilet.

    "Check on our son, Dear."

    "Yes, Darling."  Buru stepped past his wife and stood over his
son's battered, unconscious body.  He bopped it on the head.  "Son?"

    "pain..."

    "He's alright, Dear."  Putting down his sword, he leaned over and
helped his son sit up, propping him against a wall.  He took off
Akira's cracked, fogged glasses and put them in the sink.

    "Son, you're going to have to learn not to upset redheads.  They
can be exceedingly violent."

    His wife bashed him over the head with a bucket.

    "Of course, there are compensations..."

    His son finally started becoming coherent, mumbling, "I didn't DO
anything to upset her..."

    The girl disagreed.  "You got me drunk, you asshole!  You slept
with me, and now I've got morning sickness!"

    Akira's mother frowned, "You didn't really get Ranma drunk to
sleep with her?"

    "No!  She-- He got drunk on his own.  And we didn't sleep
together!"

    "I woke up in your bed, you perv!"  Ranma wiped a bit of wetness
from the corner of her mouth.

    "Is it my fault you wanted to sleep with me?"

    "What?" shrieked Ranma.  "Why would I want to sleep with you?  I'm
a guy!"

    "So's Rei," muttered Akira,

    "What was that?"

    "Look, YOU'RE the one that wanted to jump my bones.  Rubbing all
over me and feeling me up.  You're the one who ripped off my clothes. 
Thank goodness you passed out before you could do anything..."

    "Ha!  So you would have slept with me if I hadn't passed out?"

    "I--  No, of... of course not!  That'd be taking advantage of
you..."

    Buru's wife chimed in, "I'm glad you know better than to take
advantage of helpless girls."

    "I'm not helpless!  And I'm NOT a girl!!!"

    "Says the woman with morning sickness..."

    "Ack."

    "Mother, will you please stop that?"

    "Why, whatever do you mean?" she said daintily, batting her eyes
coquettishly.

    "He doesn't have morning sickness.  You know damned well that you
don't get morning sickness the 'night after.'  He just has a
hangover."

    "A hangover?"  Eyes wide, Ranma blinked in confusion.

    The other woman's eyes narrowed.  "I didn't raise you to spoil my
fun, Akira."

    "Shall we get started on how you DID raise me, then?"

    As mother and son started to bicker with each other, Ranma looked
carefully at the lady -- she seemed awfully familiar.  In her
mid-thirties, or perhaps late twenties, and was a centimeter or two
taller than Ranma's girl-type body.  She had hazel eyes and
reddish-brown hair pulled back into a pigtail.  Some hair that didn't
reach the back of her head instead fell in locks between her face and
ears.

    The woman noticed her staring, and gave her a knowing grin.  It
creeped Ranma out.  "Like what you see, Miss?"

    Ignoring the gender comment, she asked the older woman, "Do I know
you?"

    There was a pause before she answered.  "Yes and no.  You could
say we've already met."  She smiled enigmatically.

    "Oh yeah?  Where?"

    "Where?  Hmm..."  She rubbed her chin.  "Let's just say that the
first time you would have seen me was in China."

    "Oh, yeah, you guys are Amazons, right?"

    She smiled.  "Yes.  That's right.  Anyway, it was a long time ago.
 You probably don't remember."

    A man's voice called out from the hall, "Dear, you really should
be leaving soon, if you don't want to be late."

    She tsked.  "Work calls.  Well, Miss Saotome.  You make sure to
treat my son right, okay?  Be gentle with him."  Wink.

    Ranma started blubbering denials.

    Akira added his own.  "MOTHER!"

    "Off I go.  Honestly, meeting a buyer on a Sunday..."  she
muttered to herself as she left the bathroom.

    Ranma looked at Akira, who was brushing the remaining bits of
broken tile and plaster dust out of his hair.  "Uh, so I guess you
didn't sleep with me..."

    "Well, obviously I SLEPT with you," he began.

    Ranma's pigtail started to rise.

    "I mean, we both woke up in my bed.  We just didn't have sex."

    "Uh, right."  Thank goodness.  "Uh, sorry for bashing your head
into the floor."  She smiled crookedly.

    "That's okay.  Sorry about that," he gestured at her chest.  It
was riddled with red finger marks from his repeated pokings.  "You
hungry?"

    Her stomach answered for her.

    "Why don't you change back, and I'll get you some breakfast."

    She couldn't complain about that.

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    Back in his normal body, Ranma was already feeling much better. 
Filling up on the miso soup, pickles, fish, and plenty of helpings of
rice helped, too.

    Too bad about the company, though.

    "Sorry about Mother.  She's got a weird sense of humor."

    "Un," Ranma muttered through a full mouth, staring at the other
person at the table.

    "Son, I'll be retiring to my office."  The man turned to Ranma, 
"Good day, young man, and give my regards to the fair pigtailed
beauty, wherever she's spirited herself."  He gave the slightest bow,
and glided out of the room.

    "Too freaky."

    Akira looked up from his pickle.  "What's that?"

    "Your old man.  He's just like Kuno."

    "Ugh.  Don't say things like that!"

    "Maybe you're related?"

    "Can you please drop it?  I'm not related to that moron."

    "Don't be so sure.  Your father is his frigging twin.  Who knows,
maybe you're cousins, or somethin'?"

    "Dad's not like Kuno at all!  They're completely different!"

    "Their height's the same, build's the same, eyes are the same,
hair's the same..."

    "Hey, my father's hair is long.  It's pulled back into a ponytail.
 And he doesn't wear a kendo uniform in his spare time."

    "Although he carries around a wooden sword."

    "He's a kendo master; they do that."

    Ranma stared at Akira, raising an eyebrow.

    "Well, maybe there's a passing resemblance..."

    "I think he must be Kuno's real father.  I mean, Kuno doesn't look
anything like the Principal.  You're probably the 'Blue Thunder's
half-brother."  Ranma nodded to himself solemnly.

    "I'd beat the crap out of you for saying that," growled Akira, "If
I didn't know you'd just kick my ass."

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    It turned out that Akira lived in one of the better areas of
Nerima ward.  It was a wealthy neighborhood, and he lived in a good
house.  As such, Ranma didn't immediately recognize any of the
landmarks or rooftops.

    Akira walked the two of them out the short private driveway and
down the road.  "Normally Mother could give us a ride, but since she's
out, I'll take you down to the bus stop."

    "If you just tell me the directions to Furinkan, I can get there,
myself."

    "Planning on leaping across the rooftops?"

    Ranma shrugged.  "If you can do it, it's a great way to get
around."

    "Maybe so, but I don't like to think what it would to the property
values to have some weirdo bouncing on people's houses."

    "What do I care about property values?"

    "Anyway, I have the SNEAKING suspicion that you're not exactly
used to having a hangover, so strenuous exercise might not be the
greatest idea right now.  I don't want my guest to end up splattered
on the ground because of a misstep, or impaled on some antenna."

    "Yeah, yeah, whatever.  Trust me, I'm fine.  Martial artists like
me recover real fast.  I have perfect control of my body."

    "You certainly knew how to use it last night...."

    Ranma stopped and glared at Akira.  "I was drunk.  And how do I
know you didn't slip me something, huh?"

    "Please.  Like I need drugs to attract a woman."

    "Well, you sure as hell did something.  I don't act like that
normally!"

    "I didn't do anything!  Why would I want to attract a GUY?"

    "...When you've got a perfectly nice guy who's already attracted
to you back in China," sniped Ranma.

    Now Akira was the one glaring at Ranma.  "Listen up, Mr. Perfect
Martial Artist, you think you're--"  He stared off into space. 
"Martial artist..."

    "What?"

    "Your Dad's a martial artist, right?"

    "That's what he claims."

    "And Mu-Su and Shan-Pu..."

    "Yeah, so?"

    Akira suddenly laughed out loud.  "I've got it figured out!"

    "What?" replied Ranma blandly, hiding his curiosity.

    "I know why Rei was affected by the curse, and you aren't.  Or
Mu-su or Shan-Pu!"

    "And why's that?"

    "It's because," he paused for dramatic effect, "you're all martial
artists!"

    If that was supposed to mean something, it was completely lost on
Ranma.  "So?"

    "Don't you see?  The curses affect your subconscious.  They give
you access to the knowledge of how to use your cursed form, but they
hide it in the shadow of your mind.  The curse doesn't make you use
the knowledge; it just leaves a blind spot so you don't REALIZE you're
using it."

    "Your point?"

    "It takes a great deal of mental focus to avoid the subconscious
mannerisms.  But you're all martial artists!  Like you said, you have
perfect control of your bodies!  Now, obviously martial arts training
doesn't help you notice cold water, but it does keep you completely in
touch with yourself and your body.  You've had years of mental
training, so you're completely centered, and immune to the changes in
your personality!"

    "Mental training?"  He was pretty sure Genma'd never given him any
of that.

    "That's why you were clumsy when you were first cursed.  Everyone
else comes out having complete command of their body, because they're
using the subconscious programming from the curse -- they move
instinctively.

    "But you don't move by instinct; you move by training.  You direct
your body in precise ways, but that training was for your male body. 
The directions you were giving to the new female one didn't quite
match up!

    "And last night!  You were piss-drunk!  It not only destroyed your
mental focus, it released all your inhibitions.  And in this case, the
inhibitions were against acting like a girl!  So take those two away,
and all the subconscious baggage from the curse comes to the top and,
BANG, you're one hundred percent sex-kitten!"

    "I am NOT a...  I'm not one of those."  He shuddered

    Akira waved his hand dismissively.  "Whatever you want to call it.
 The curse gives you the capacity to be that sexual creature, but
because of your extensive mental training, it doesn't normally affect
your self-image."

    "Why, this might explain why Jusenkyo is used as a training
ground.  It's not about balancing on poles, or jumping around, but
seeing if your mental training is strong enough to stay yourself, even
when cursed!"

    Akira started grinning wildly.  "And Rei doesn't have any martial
artist training!  So THAT'S why he's acting like a girl!  He didn't go
crazy after all!"  He grabbed Ranma's shoulders and started shaking
them.  "This is great!"

    Ranma snorted.  "Great.  Right.  I have this so-called mental
training that keeps me from acting like a girl, but it's lurking
there, ready to jump out any time I get drunk?"

    "Oh, not just drunk," replied Akira helpfully.  "A loss of
inhibitions will do it, but I imagine anything that would make you
forget your training would have the same effect.  That's probably a
good motivation to continue training for the rest of your life. 
Perhaps it's another reason why Jusenkyo is a training ground?"

    "Oh, yes, the training ground that just keeps on giving..."

    "It's not all that bad.  I mean, if you drink in moderation, and
avoid head injuries, you should be okay."

    "Avoid head injuries?"  That wasn't likely with all the fights he
got into.

    "Well, a concussion or amnesia would certainly affect your mental
focus."

    Ranma remembered the time Akane had punched him back, cracking his
head on a rock.  Everyone claimed that he had started acting like a
girl.  Not that it really happened, of course, but if something like
that could happen...

    "Anyway, it's nothing to worry about.  It's not like you're going
to act like a girl every time this happens.  You have to be in your
cursed body, too.  If you stay out of your cursed form, there's no
problem."

    Ranma raised an eyebrow.  "Right, like I can avoid changing
whenever I want."  And, as if to prove his point, a rain shower
started, wetting the two boys.

    "Perhaps you've heard of a little product called Waterproof Soap?"

    "Oh yeah, I've heard of it," replied Ranma, flipping the wet bangs
out of her eyes.  Akira finally came to a halt by a sign that marked a
bus stop.  Ranma was a little annoyed that there wasn't a shelter
provided.  Instead, they stood out in the rain.

    "Just use it when you wash, and you don't have to worry about
changing!  I can even give you some at a discount.  I'll have to wait
for the inventory to be shipped over from home, of course."

    "Don't bother.  You can't trust that stuff -- it washes off."

    "Well, yeah, with hot water."

    "No, cold water'll do it, too."

    "What?"  Akira blinked.

    "And you never know when it's going to wear off.  Kinda defeats
the purpose, right?"  She leaned over the curb to look down the street
for the bus.

    "What?  Why didn't Mother ever--  GAN!"

    "Huh?"  Ranma turned back around, but Akira was gone.  She caught
a flash of movement around the corner, followed by a ripping sound and
a yelp.  Ranma rushed to where the noise had come from, but there was
neither hide nor hair of Akira.

    His pants and shoes, however, were lying on the wet ground.

    Gingerly she picked them up, but didn't see anything underneath. 
She glanced around, but didn't see anything that anyone (or any
animal) could hide behind.  "Akira?"

    No answer.  She picked up the clothes and noticed that the toes of
the shoes were ripped open, as was the seat of the pants.  "What the
hell?"

    She threw the pants over her shoulder, and held the shoes with the
fingers of her right hand.  Leaping to an adjacent roof, she looked
down at the pedestrians for any sign of a disturbance, but found
nothing.  Looking up and covering her eyes from the rain, she didn't
notice any ducks or birds or flying-tentacled-yeti.

    "What the hell happened to him?"  She glanced at the clothing. 
"He changed into SOMETHING.  I bet he had a curse the whole frigging
time!  The jerk.  No wonder he was always walking into water."

    "And here he's bugging me with questions about my curse when he
could have just asked himself."  Muttering to herself, Ranma went back
to the bus stop.  As she leapt back down to the ground, she failed to
notice a form cowering behind one of the rooftop vents.

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    Ranma took the bus to the shopping district, and traveled the rest
of the distance on foot.  She didn't really know where the stops were,
or how the schedules worked, so she figured this was the easiest way.

    "I'm ho-ome!"  Ranma dropped her soaking slippers and Akira's
shoes by the front door and tried to squeeze the loose water out of
her shirt.  Even after the wringing, the clothes were still completely
wet, so she decided to just strip out of them and put on new ones.

    Maybe a bath would be better.  Although she did have one before
leaving Akira's.  Still, it'd help her warm up, and she could change
back to normal before putting on her clothes.

    "Ranma!"  Familiar arms wrapped around her from behind, and gave
her a fierce hug.  Reflexively, she glanced around for a certain irate
short-haired fiancee.

    "Geez, Shampoo, I--"

    She twitched as his attacker hit her on the head with a tiny
mallet.  "Who are you calling Shampoo?"

    Dazed, she turned around to face Akane.  "Wha?"  She glanced
around.  "Where'd...?  Who...?"

    Akane ignored her.  "You had us all worried!  You didn't come home
last night.  We thought something had happened to you!"

    "I didn't find the old guys, and it was so late that I, ah,
just... slept over at... a... friend's house?"  Yeah, right.  "And it
was so late, I didn't want to call."  She was so drunk that she
probably wouldn't have remembered how to use a phone, anyway.  "I left
a note!"

    "That's the only reason I'm not out now looking for you.  Why
didn't you call in the morning, then?"

    "I forgot, okay?"  She thought she'd slept with Akira, and was
freaking out.

    Akane arched an eyebrow.  "Who is this 'friend,' anyway?"

    "Uh..."

    "And are those his pants?"

    "Uh...!"  Ranma realized she was holding her shirt in one hand,
and Akira's pants, which had been slung over her shoulder, were
entangled with them.  She tried to think of an explanation, when she
realized that she wasn't wearing anything on her top.

    Akane was going to kill her, she realized.  She got jealous over
the slightest little thing, and was never happy went Ranma wasn't
showing any 'feminine modesty'.  She tried to think of an excuse when
she noticed that Akane was wearing a blue cotton shirt.  Which was...
darker... in certain regions.

    She swallowed.  When Akane had grabbed her from behind, those
parts must have been pressed up against her wet skin, and...  Was it
getting hot in the room?  She tried to adjust her collar, but as she
wasn't wearing a shirt, he hand ending up gesturing oddly by her
throat.

    Brain frozen with panic and other emotions she didn't care to
identify, Ranma said the only thing she could think of.  "Gotta go
change!"

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    Akane blinked as her fiancee suddenly dashed off.  "What on
Earth?"  When she mentioned the pants, Ranma'd looked at her and
started blushing like a maniac.

    What was Ranma doing with some boy's pants that was so
embarrassing?

    The answer, of course, was obvious.

    A few seconds later, she dashed after Ranma into the bathroom. 
The other girl had dumped the shirt and pants, and had shucked her own
wet pants and underwear onto the changing room floor, where the water
dribbled down the tiles, and drained down the grille in the center of
the room.

    She slid open the door to the furo and walked in on a naked Ranma,
who was running water from the tap, holding her hands in the stream to
feel the temperature.  The redhead jumped when she opened the door. 
"Akane!"

    She strode up to Ranma and pulled her hand from the water, and
grabbed the other.  She wrapped the hands in her own and stared into
Ranma's eyes.  "Please, don't do that again!"

    Ranma's eyes widened with surprise, and she blinked with
incomprehension.  "Akane?"

    "I know you're still upset about Ryoga, but it's too soon."

    "Huh?"

    "You're on the rebound!   If you go looking for a new boyfriend,
someone will take advantage of you!"

    Ranma's eyes widened still further, and her pigtail stood straight
up, twitching.  She ripped her hands out from under Akane's and yelped
denials, "I am NOT looking for a boyfriend!!!  That's gross!"

    How could she deny it?  The evidence was in the next room.  A
boy's pants, seams ripped, obviously having pulled off in a fit of... 
She swallowed.  Passion.  But Ranma seemed so earnest with her
denials.  Maybe she didn't want a boyfriend.

    Maybe she just wanted a 'quickie'?

    Akane bit her lower lip.  She'd heard stories about redheads and
how passionate they were, both in daily life and in bed.  Ranma had
done nothing to disprove those stories for the former case...

    She realized she was breathing faster.  She might have understood
Ranma sleeping with Ryoga.  After all, he was a nice, gentle, honest
guy, but if Ranma had gone off in the night to 'get some'...

    "You didn't sleep with him, did you?"  She winced as she said it. 
It sounded so accusatory.  She'd only just found out how the
pig-tailed girl really WAS a girl, and wanted to be supportive, but
she was also her Ranma, and she didn't want to share her with anyone.

    Ranma answer was not inspiring.  "No, we-- Actually, uh, that
is..."

    Akane drooped.

    "Well, we didn't have sex!"

    Oh.  Akane smiled a bit.  So it wasted that bad.  She must have
just chased him down.  No doubt when she had grabbed the boy's pants,
he had ripped out of them in order to get away.

    Ranma blinked.  "Wait, you don't know about the curse, yet!  I was
talking to Akira, and he said--"

    Akane covered Ranma's mouth.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean for it to
sound like that.  I know you're still getting used to being a girl." 
Ranma started to shake her head, but Akane shushed her.

    "You don't need to deny it.  I accept you for you are.  When you
first came here, you were a girl, and I asked if you wanted to be
friends.  When you turned out to be a boy, well...  We know how that
turned out.

    "It look a long time to rebuild that friendship.  There was always
a nagging sense of... not exactly betrayal, but what could have been. 
It made it harder for me to accept you as a boy.

    "And now that I know that, well, there really is something to that
girl that I met a year ago, I want to make up for it.  For all the
things I said and did to you.

    "I know you're not a different person.  Your body changes, and
your mind too, but you're still Ranma.  With the same memories and
hopes and dreams.  But you're also a girl, and I want to be friends
with that girl.  In the same way I'm friends with your boy-side.

    "Maybe it doesn't make any sense, but I know there are things I
could say to you that I could never say to your boy-side.  Girl talk. 
Sure, you'd remember it when you changed back to a guy, but... I don't
know.  I think it would be more special.  We could share more."

    Wow.  It was really difficult saying these things.  She took a
deep breath and got out the one last thing she wanted to say, to make
sure Ranma understood.  "I said I... I love you, Ranma, and I do." 
Keep talking, keep talking!  Keep the blush down!  "And that means
accepting both halves of you.  I know it makes you uncomfortable when
you're a boy, and I don't want you to be uncomfortable, but... Don't
deny your female side, Ranma.  I think it can make us closer.

    "Don't ever feel the need to hide anything from me, or worry about
how the curse makes you act.  I love you for who you are."  And,
somewhat tentatively, she leaned forward and gently kissed Ranma on
the forehead.

    Ranma sat completely still, flabbergasted.

    Akane couldn't help but smile a bit.  "I'm sorry.  What was it you
wanted to say to me?"

    The girl blinked for a moment, and then slowly shook her head. 
"N- Nothin'."

    "Oh.  Um..."  Glancing around she realized how awkward this must
be for poor Ranma:  cornered naked in the bathroom.  "I should be
giving you your privacy."  She backed out of the room, blushing. 
"I'll see you after you change."

    Entering the changing room, she slid the door shut behind her, and
leaned into it.  She let out a deep sigh.  Wow.  That was exhausting,
baring her feelings like that.  But she felt sort of energized, too.

    She brushed her fingers on her lips, wondering what it would have
been like if the kiss had been on the lips.  And Ranma had been a guy,
of course!  With a little worry, she glanced back at the frosted door
and hoped that girl-type Ranma hadn't taken what she had said the
wrong way.

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    Inside, Ranma used one hand to turn the faucet, waiting for the
temperature to rise and for the water to wash away the blood from the
tiles.  With the other hand, she kept her nose pinched shut.  The
damned thing had practically exploded after Akane left the room.

    Thoughts raced through her addled brain.  She kissed me.  She
wants to be friends with my girl-side.  She kissed me.  She doesn't
want me to ignore my feminine feelings.  She kissed me.  She's a
lesbian.

    Who cares?  She kissed me.

    Finally, the water was hot enough, and she filled a plastic
bucket, upending it on herself.  Now a he, Ranma glanced at the
frosted door to the changing room, seeing Akane's silhouette behind
it.

    He'd take what he could get.  If Akane thought he was all the way
a girl in his cursed form, and wanted to be 'friendlier' with him, who
was he to tell her different?

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    The room was filled with a gentle humming.  It was a tuneless
melody -- really just random notes -- but they were somehow relaxing. 
He didn't really feel sleepy, but Ranma had absolutely no motivation
to move from his spot.

    He glanced over at the source of the humming, watching the Tendo
sister mend Akira's pants.  With a practiced rhythm, she drew the
needle close, giving it a gentle tug, and brought it back down,
pulling it through the rip.  Slowly but methodically she joined the
two halves of fabric.  The whole thing was somehow hypnotic.

    For a moment he considered the possibility that he was literally
correct.  After all, he was laying down on his stomach in front of his
schoolbook, watching Akane pretend to be Kasumi.  He should have made
a remark about her trying to be feminine, but couldn't bring up the
energy.

    Well, it had been an exhausting day.  First the mess in the
morning.  Then the fight with his old man and Mr. Tendo, expressing
his 'disapproval' of their late-night drinking.  Maybe he was just
tired.

    Then the humming stopped, and Ranma heard a faint pop.   Akane
pulled an excess piece of thread and the needle from her work, smiling
at it brightly.  "Perfect!"  She held up the pants and admired her
stitching.

    Ranma leaned over to make his own remark, but the stitching did
look even.  Actually, the thread matched the color of the pants
perfectly, so you could barely see it.  "Too weird."

    "What?"  She frowned ever so slightly.

    "You're almost acting like a lady."

    The corner of her mouth twitched.  "Almost?"

    "Yeah, it's weird.  You've been acting differently the past few
days."

    His fiancee didn't respond immediately, instead folding up the
pants and putting them on top of her lap.  "Have I?"

    "Yeah.  I dunno.  You've been... more confident of yourself." 
You've been nice to me, and haven't gotten jealous in a long time."

    Akane got up and smiled.  "Maybe I've finally admitted some things
to myself.  I feel like I'm not hiding anything anymore.  About who I
am."  She looked into Ranma's eyes.  "What I want."

    After a few moments, Ranma found his voice again.  When she said
that, she looked so... Wow.  It made him giddy but really nervous, at
the same time.  He frantically wondered what he was supposed to say or
do.  Akane looked like she was expecting something.  "Uh..."

    "Gawd, you are so pathetic, Saotome!"

    Ranma jumped at the voice.  "N- Nabiki!"

    "I sometimes wonder if you two kids are ever going to get
together."  She sighed dramatically.  "It's too bad things keep
getting in your way whenever you try to get close."

    Akane barked, "And whose fault is that?"

    Taken aback, the middle sister placed her hand on her chest. 
"Surely you don't mean to suggest I'm holding you back?  Why, I'm
trying to HELP you two lovebirds." she winked.

    "L- Lovebirds?" stuttered Ranma.  He glanced over to see Akane's
reaction, but she appeared nonplussed.  That made him even more
nervous.

    Nabiki leaned against the doorframe.  "Yep, I'm here to tell you
your sleeping arrangements for tonight."

    "Sleeping arrangements?"  The two sixteen year-olds looked
confused.

    "You can't sleep with your folks, tonight, Ranma."

    "Why not?!?"

    "Because your parents want to sleep...  alone."  She grinned
widely.

    "So where do I sleep?"  And why didn't they want him to sleep with
them?

    "Why, the same place you slept the night before last," she replied
innocently.

    Ranma tried to remember where that was.  All he could remember was
where he had woken up this morning.

    Nabiki answered his unspoken question.  "With your fiancee."

    Ranma slowly turned to look at Akane.  "Uh..."

    "Your futon's still in her room.  Nodoka and Genma decided to take
advantage of the privacy you've been so considerate as to give them. 
And, of course, they heartily approve of the two of you sleeping
together."

    "No way!  No way am I sleeping with that--"  He wilted under
Akane's glare.

    "Am I so horrible that you can't even sleep in the same room as
me?"

    "Uh..."

    "It's not like we're going to be in the same bed--"

    "Unless you want to!" interjected Nabiki.

    Akane favored Nabiki with a half-lidded gaze.  "There isn't going
to be a boy in my room, tonight."  Then she produced a glass of cold
water, splashing her fiance.

    Ranma glanced down at herself.  It was never fun going to bed
after being splashed.  She pouted at Akane.  It wasn't like she was
gonna put the moves on the tomboy or nothin'.  There was no reason to
splash her, just because they were going to be...  sleeping... in the
same... room...

    Wait.  Did Akane want to...?  As a girl?

    Nabiki glanced at Ranma with some curiosity as Ranma's pigtail
slowly curled up, and she pulled her arms against her chest, with her
hands balled under her chin.  "Eee?"  Ranma squeaked, starting to turn
bright red.

    Akane didn't seem to notice the reaction, and grabbed one of
Ranma's hands.  "C'mon, let's go to my room.  I know!  We can have
some girl-talk!"  She giggled, pulling the stiff-jointed Ranma behind
her like some awkward marionette.

    As they left the room, Nabiki tilted her head.  If she didn't know
Akane better, she'd swear that her little sister was off to do
something naughty with her fiancee.

    Of course, there HAD been those rumors at school the other day
that Ranma's girl side was "all the way" girl.  Other rumors quickly
started circulating that that was the way Akane liked it, and it was
the only reason she had accepted the engagement to a boy.

    Nabiki had dismissed those rumors as just that:  rumors.  She'd
had plenty of experience with her sister and brother-in-law-to-be to
know they were both as straight as you could get.  It was really a
pity, though.  Akane wouldn't be able to take full advantage of all
the features Ranma came equipped with.

    "And one should always try out all the potential features..." 
With a grin to put the Cheshire cat to shame, Nabiki almost skipped to
bed.  Time to play with her new toy!

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    In her room, Kasumi lay on her back, staring at the ceiling. 
Chewing her lower lip, she held her breath for a moment and listened
intently.  There WERE noises coming down the hall, but she couldn't
identify them.  Letting out her bated breath with a sigh, she pulled
her covers a little higher.  That only made it worse, not knowing. 
Her imagination was trying to fill in the gaps--

    Her thoughts stopped short when she heard a muffled squeal. 
Again, she held her breath, but no other identifiable sounds followed.
 What were they doing?

    Kasumi pulled the covers over her head, chiding herself.  She was
a grown woman.  These sorts of things shouldn't bother her. 
Comforting herself with these thoughts, she tried to get back to
sleep.

    About a minute later, she pushed back the covers.  This wasn't
working.  Sliding her legs off the bed, she put on her slippers and
silently got out of bed.  Shuffling over to the door, she very quietly
opened it and looked out into the hall.

    The noises were louder, but not much so.  There was a rumbling
bass punctuated by female noises.  Giggles and moans.

    Kasumi gulped.

    Stepping out into the darkened hall, she quickly confirmed that
her sisters and Ranma were asleep.  At least, there was no light
coming from under their doors.

    Stealthily, she walked to the junction of the two upstairs halls,
where they met like the letter T.  On the top were Kasumi, Nabiki, and
Akane's rooms.  At the bottom of the T were the stairs, and at the
left of the trunk, below Kasumi's room, was the guest room where the
Saotomes were staying.

    Only, it was just Mr. and Mrs. Saotome, now.

    She stopped in front of Nabiki's door, at the top of the hall. 
The noises were definitely louder, here.  She put her ear up to her
younger sister's door, but only heard the steady breathing of someone
sleeping.

    She turned around and looked down the hall.  If she concentrated,
she could just barely make out words.  Driven by curiosity (and other
urges), Kasumi padded over to the door of the room.

    "...missed you..."

    "...so long..."

    "...love..."

    Kasumi startled herself when she realized her ear was pressed
against the door.  Just go back to bed, she told herself.  Don't pry;
it isn't any of my business if they're...  being intimate.  They are
married, after all.

    While she agreed with the words in principle, she still found
herself standing by the door.  In fact, she was about to crack open
the door and peer inside!

    She bit her knuckle when she realized what she was doing.  She was
acting like some sort of voyeur!  She knew Happosai liked to peep, and
Nodoka seemed to think it was a good thing, but surely that was the
realm of young men.  Well, and aged martial artists.

    She didn't need to look at what the lovers were doing in the room.
 As a grown woman, she could do any of those things, too.

    Only, she hadn't.

    Mother and Father had done this, too.  She was a child when she
first saw them.  At first it looked like Daddy was hurting Mommy, but
then she heard the giggles.  They were kissing each other a lot --
which the young Kasumi knew was a symbol of love -- and hugging.  Very
closely.  And without clothes!

    At one point it looked like they were bouncing on the bed. 
Kasumi's small brow had furrowed with jealousy.  They never let her
jump on her bed!  After a short period, the movement stopped, and
Daddy started snoring.  Well, they weren't playing anymore, so Kasumi
could go back to bed.  Closing the door with a click, she went up the
stairs, and started climbing them back to her room.

    She had made it about halfway when Mommy appeared behind her. 
"Kasumi?  Is that you?"

    "Mommy?" she squeaked.  She knew she wasn't supposed to be
downstairs, or up this late!

    "Kasumi, what are you doing down here?"

    "N- Nothin'," she peeped.

    Her Mommy smiled, and asked, "Were you watching us?"

    "N- No..."  She spoke through her hands, which were covering her
mouth.

    "Kasumi, it's alright to be curious."  She leaned over and picked
the small girl up, carrying her back to her room.

    "What were you an' Daddy doing?"

    "We were making love, Kasumi.  It's something two people do, when
they are very much in love with each other."

    She tilted her head.  "Can I make love to Daddy, too?"  She loved
her Mommy and Daddy very much.

    Mommy's eyes widened at that point, and then she smiled.  "I'm
afraid not, Kasumi.  You have to be older."

    She pressed on, "When I'm older, then?  Can I make love then?"

    "Yes.  But not to Daddy.  Only people who are married should make
love, and I'm already married to your father!"  She tapped Kasumi's
nose, making her giggle.

    "But, I wanna show Daddy how much I love him!"

    By now they had reached Kasumi's room, and her Mommy was putting
her back to bed.  "He knows, Kasumi.  And he loves you very much, too.
 We both do.  Someday you'll find a boy you like, and you'll marry
him, and then you can make love to him."

    "Ew!  Boys!"

    Mommy pulled up the covers.  "Tell you what.  When you start
liking boys, then you can make love.  But only after you're married!"

    "Yuck, I'll never like boys."  She yawned.  "They're mean."

    "Some are nice, dear.  Like your father.  You'll meet a nice man
when you grow up..."

    Her mother had kept talking, but Kasumi had quickly fallen asleep.
 It was one of her most cherished memories of Mother.

    And here she was, about to peek at more lovers.  Somehow she
didn't think Nodoka would be as understanding.  But... she was
curious.  She knew from biology class what sex was, but she wanted to
know what making love was like.  She'd seen it as a girl, but now she
was old enough to understand...

    Kasumi opened the door a crack.

    "Oh... Oh, my!"  Belatedly, she covered her mouth.  Had they
heard?  She was frozen with panic for a few moments, but there was no
sign that she had been discovered.

    Mr. Saotome was so big!  And he was on top of Auntie Nodoka!  He
had to be squishing her, under all that weight.  She was moaning, but
it didn't sound like she was in pain.

    "Nodoka..."  He caressed her hair, hanging loose.

    "My dark horse, shouldn't I be riding YOU?"  The two rolled and
bounced a bit on the bed, and now Nodoka was on top of Mr. Saotome,
legs straddling his hips.  He smiled and grabbed her hips, pulling her
against him.

    It got more interesting after that.

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    "Mom!"  Ranma sat bolt upright at the scream.  She looked at the
bed, but saw a confused Akane, who was waking up, herself.  That's
right, she was in her fiancee's room, tonight.  Getting up, she went
to the door and dashed out into the hallway, running to her regular
room.

    She was intercepted by Kasumi, who had just turned around and had
her back to the door.  "D- Don't go in!"

    How on Earth had she gotten there before him?  It must have been
her preternatural sense of everything that went on in the house.  She
must have been aware of the problem before Ranma had even heard
anything.  "But my Mom--!"

    "She's alright!"  Kasumi blushed.  She spoke again in a whisper. 
"Don't disturb them."

    "But the screams."  And the moans, still coming out of the room. 
"The old man's doing something to her!"

    "I'LL say."  Nabiki leaned against the frame to her door, at the
end of the hallway.  "And pretty well, from the sounds of it."

    "But--"

    Akane had come out of bed, too, and grabbed Ranma's arm.  "Just
come back to bed."  She, too, was blushing.

    Nabiki's eyebrows shot up.  "To BED?  Geez, like father, like son,
I guess."  She smiled broadly.

    "No!  You mustn't!  Not until you're married!"

    "He- He's sleeping on the floor!"  She glared at her sister for
suggesting such a thing to Kasumi.  "Geez, Nabiki!"

    "But my mom..."  Ranma still glanced at the door Kasumi guarded. 
What if she's hurt?

    "I'm sure she's QUITE happy with whatever he's doing to her." 
Nabiki tried to lean around Kasumi to peek through the door, but her
older sister stepped in the way.

    "Guys shouldn't hurt girls," stated Ranma.  "Hell, my old man is
the one the taught me that."

    "Someday, you'll be doing that to Akane."  Nabiki thumbed towards
her younger sister, who blushed brightly enough to see in the
darkness.

    "N- No way!"  Ranma covered her mouth, having spoken above a
whisper.  The noises inside the guest room continued unabated.

    "You'd better."

    Kasumi chastised her sister.  "Nabiki, you shouldn't say things
like that!"

    Nabiki snickered.  "Hey, they'll be married someday, right?"  She
watched Akane drag Ranma back into her room.  "Besides, I didn't say
it."

    "What?"

    "'Night, Kasumi."

    Kasumi blinked.  "G- Goodnight, Nabiki."  If she hadn't said
it...?  She bit her lower lip, glancing at Akane's now-closed door. 
Yes, she really should be going to bed.

    And after a minute listening for any sounds from Akane's room, she
did.

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    Moments before Akane's alarm clock went off, a young man tossed
and turned under his covers.  If his fiancee had been awake, she might
have heard him mutter under his breath.

    "How can you love me if we're both girls?  ...You like me the way
I am?  But..."  He shook his head side to side, turning over.  "You
deserve a real man..."

    He reflexively hit the top of the clock when it started its
irritating buzzing.  Opening up his eyes, he rested his arm across his
forehead, and stared at the ceiling.

    "What a weird dream."  He glanced over at his fiancee, who was
still sleeping soundly; he'd stopped the alarm clock before waking her
up.

    "Do I really feel that way about her...?"  Still half-asleep, he
stared at the ceiling, waiting for the lethargy of sleep to drain
away.  He was scratching his chest when he started to feel an uneasy
sensation.

    It had something to do with the pressure between his legs.

    What the?  He reached under the covers, just below the waistline
of his pajamas, and felt a wet spot.

    "N- No way..."  The uneasy feeling suddenly become oppressive.  He
looked back at his sleeping fiancee.  "I don't feel THAT way about
her.  I--"

    That's when Akane finally woke up.

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    Kasumi looked up from her cooking when she heard the steps
thundering down the stairs.  She turned around just in time to see
someone running through the hall, with covers over his head.  The
person looked something like a Halloween ghost, only instead of a
single sheet, the unidentified figure had all the covers over them.

    Soon there was a loud thump and a grunt of pain.  Oh, yes, and
Halloween ghosts had eyes cut out of their sheets.  She poked her head
out of the kitchen to see the covered person stand up, and turn down
the hall to the bathroom.

    "Hello?" she asked politely.

    Whoever it was ignored her and shambled into the bathroom.  She
moved breakfast off the burners, then curiously followed whoever it
was.  When she got to the bathroom, she saw Akane, dripping wet, and
wearing only her top.  She was trying to shove her covers and pajama
bottoms into the washing machine.

    "What are you doing?"  She stepped forward to get the covers. 
"Did something spill on them?"

    Startled, Akane turned suddenly and cried out. "Kasumi!"

    Kasumi pulled her head back, startled by the outburst.  "Are you
alright, Akane?  I can put those in the wash, if you'd like..."

    "NO!"  Akane grabbed the covers possessively.  "I'll- I'll wash
them myself!"

    Kasumi could only blink.  "It's no problem--"

    "Myself!"  Akane had a crazed look in her eyes.  "Don't touch
them!  I'll take care of it!"

    "O- Okay, Akane."  The young woman slowly backed away from her
agitated younger sister.  She held her palms out, hoping to soothe
her.

    "Oh, Kasumi, I didn't mean to sound like..."  Akane quickly
apologized.

    Girl-type Ranma walked into the changing room, looking annoyed. 
"What's the big deal, waking me up like that and making this racket?"

    "R- Ranma!" squeaked Akane.  "I, uh..."  She stepped in front of
washer, leaning back and trying to hide the lump of fabric behind her.

    Ranma about-faced and announced, "I didn't see anything!"

    "What?  You DID see, didn't you?!"

    Ranma just violently shook her head, still turned away from the
sisters.

    Akane stomped up to Ranma, grabbing her by the shoulder and
spinning her around.  "If you didn't see anything, why won't you look
at me?"  Kasumi shielded her eyes, not willing to see the violence
that was about to be committed.

    However, there were no sounds of knuckle on flesh.  She peered
through her fingers.  "Why would I, um, want to look at a tomboy like,
uh..."  The standard response was marred by Ranma's surreptitious
glance down.

    Akane followed the look, and realised she wasn't wearing any
pants.  Kasumi covered her eyes, again.

    Seconds passed.

    "So you only saw that?"

    "Yes.  NO!  I wasn't looking!"

    "Oh.  Okay."

    Kasumi removed her hand and opened her eyes as wide as possible. 
Akane sounded relieved!

    "I guess I should get something on."  Her sister laughed
nervously.

    "O- Okay."  Ranma nodded, continuing to look at Akane.

    "Um..."

    "Oh, my!  I almost forgot about breakfast!" announced Kasumi. 
Ranma and Akane both jumped at little, having forgotten that anyone
besides each other was in the room.  Kasumi walked out, gently pulling
Ranma with her.  "We should leave Akane alone while she changes."

    "Oh, uh, right."  Ranma glanced back down the hall to the
bathroom.

    Kasumi maneuvered Ranma until she was sitting down by the
breakfast table.  "The food will be out in a minute."

    Ranma made a non-committal grunt.

    "Oooph!"

    "Ha!  Foolish boy, that's what you get for not paying attention!" 
Genma posed on the deck, laughing at the now-soaking Ranma, who was
shaking her head and pulling herself out of the pond.

    "You stupid old man!"

    Kasumi ignored them as the two started to play, attending to the
food.  However, her thoughts were somewhere else.  Since when did
Akane think it was okay for Ranma to look at... her?  Had something
happened that she wasn't aware of?

    Did something happen last night while they were alone?  Maybe she
should have stayed outside their room longer to make sure the Saotomes
hadn't given the two of them any ideas.

        *           *           *           *           *           *

    As soon as they finished breakfast, Akane grabbed Akira's pants
and ran out the door, pulling Ranma beside her with the crook of her
arm.  With mask of complete determination, she set off for school. 
The behavior was a little weird, but Ranma wasn't complaining.  Once
again, Akane was holding his arm, and steered them away from potential
water sources.  She seemed a lot more agitated about it than a couple
days ago, though.

    After a number of close calls Akane didn't notice until the last
minute, they arrived at school.  Akane turned and spoke to Ranma.  "If
you see Akira, tell him I need to talk to talk to him.  It's
important."

    He shrugged.  "Okay.  I kinda want to talk to him about something,
anyway."  Like a little conversation about hiding a curse all this
time.

    "NO!  I need to talk to him first!"  Akane, still holding his arm,
had begun to crush his forearm in her hands.

    Making a soothing gesture with his free hand, he said "Okay! 
Whatever you want!"  When she calmed down, he pried himself out of him
grip.  Flexing his arm, he massaged the muscles.  "What's the big
deal, anyway?"

    "Nothing!  Nothing at all."  She took a step back, grinning madly.
 "Why would anything be wrong?  There's nothing wrong with me."

    Ranma blinked.  "I didn't say anything's wrong with you."

    "Well, there isn't, so you thought the right thing.  Anyway, when
you see Akira," she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down
to her level, "I NEED to ask him something."

    "Whatever..."  What did she want to ask that could be so
important?

    "Ranma.  Akane."  Speak of the Devil...

    Akane released Ranma and attached herself to Akira.  "Akira, I
NEED to talk to you about something."

    "Um, what is it?"  Rather than pulling him down, Akane had ended
up pulling herself up Akira's chest.  He was holding a book bag in one
hand, and dropped the opened umbrella in his other, reflexively
putting his arm around her.

    Watching him hold Akane, Ranma found himself with an intense
feeling of... something towards Akira.  "So," he said louder than
necessary, "What does your curse turn YOU into?"

    The upperclassman's eyes nearly popped out of his head and he
jumped over to Ranma, hissing, "Not so loud!"

    Akane slid off, jarred by the landing.  "You've got a curse? 
But... we splashed you!"

    Akira adjusted his collar.  "Waterproof soap."  He glanced up into
the cloudless sky.  "Which my parents threw out last night because
there were broken bits of tile in it."  He glanced meaningfully at
Ranma.

    "So you've got to worry about water the same as the rest of us,
huh?"

    "No one can know about my curse.  You've got to promise me."  He
looked back and forth between the martial artists.

    Ranma shook his head.  "No way, forget it.  I ain't falling for
that again."

    Akane blinked.  "Again?"

    "N- Never mind."  Ranma took the pants Akane had been carrying,
and handed them to Akira.  "Here's the pants you busted out of
yesterday.  Akane sewed them up for you."

    Akira took the pants, bowing slightly to Akane.  "Thank you!"  He
unfolded them and opened the top to inspect the sewing.  "That was
very... kind of you."

    After some tugging, it became apparent that Akane had sewn the
back of the pants in the front, effectively making the legs go all the
way to the top, like some weird pair of long fabric binoculars.

    "And I thought I did such a good job, too..."  Akane pouted.

    "Well, the stitching seems quite sound."  Indeed, Akira's efforts
to gently pry apart the opening between the two legs was not meeting
with success.

    "So I figure you've got a tail, right?  And big feet?  Your shoes
were ripped up, too.  Maybe a kangaroo?"

    Akira hissed again, "Not so loud!"  He glanced around, but didn't
see anyone in earshot.  "It doesn't matter what I turn into.  It's not
going to happen again."

    "What if you get splashed when you're not paying attention?  You
said the curses make it so you can't tell, right?"

    The other boy frowned, but didn't say anything.

    "What if you get in trouble?  Maybe someone will try to cook you,
or put you in a zoo."

    "No one's going to cook me, and I won't be put into a zoo.  I can
take care of myself."

    "So what is it, a velociraptor or something?  People will freak if
they see a monster."

    "A velociraptor?!?  They've been extinct tens of millions of
years!"

    "An alligator, maybe?  No, wait, that doesn't explain the
shoes..."

    Akira sighed and said, "All right.  If you see something pink and
furry, it's me, okay?"

    Ranma furrowed his brow.  "Pink and furry?  What the hell's that?"

    "If I have anything to say about it, you'll never know."  He waved
dismissively and walked around the side of the building.

    "Wait!" yelled Akane.  "I still need to ask you something!"  She
followed him around the corner.

    Ranma noticed the umbrella Akira had left behind on the ground
just before a now-familiar sequence of events occured.

    From three stories up a girl cried, "Hey, don't dump that
outside!"

    "Don't worry about it."  A boy pointed from the same window. 
"Ranma's over there."

    There was the sounds of Akane yelling and scrambling away before
the water hit.  After the splash, she yelled again, this time in
fright.

    Ranma was about to run around the corner to see what was wrong,
when a body moving in the opposite direction collided with him,
sending him sprawling onto his back.  Glancing up at his attacker, he
could only stare.

    The bits didn't belong together.  He could identify the source of
most of the body parts, but overall, the only word he could think of
to describe the creature was, well...

    Pink.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
End Part 13    End of "The Nature of the Curse"
               To be continued in "The Nature of the Beast"

First posted 2000-02-14.                       Last Modified 2001-01-17.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to D.F. Roeder for his last-minute prereading effort!


 
    The sounds and smells of breakfast cooking drifted into the
bathroom.  Ranma stood in front of the sink, looking into the mirror. 
So she hadn't slept with Akira.  That, at least, was a relief.  Not
that it did anything for her headache.  She rubbed her temples, which
seemed to help a little bit.

    "I'm never drinking again."  The throbbing in her skull didn't
bother her much as not being able to remember more than a vague
snippet or two of what had happened the night before.  "And that
horrible aftertaste."  She stuck out her tongue.  "Why would sake
taste like that?"

    "Like what?" asked Akira.  He walked back into the bathroom,
squinting and looking for something.

    "I dunno.  It was," she scruntched her face up, remembering the
awful flavor.  "Sorta salty.  And sticky, like some sorta scum all in
the inside of my mouth.  Why would sake be salty?"

    Akira plucked his glasses from the sink, popping out the shattered
lens, and rewarping the bent frame into a something resembling its
original shape.  Putting them on, he pushed up on the bridge, so it
settled higher on his nose.

    "Maybe it was something else you swallowed last night."