Quantum Destinies
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
By Steven Thesken (quantumdestinies@cox.net)

Ranma 1/2 and its characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.  This story 
is inspired by her works and the stories from some of my fellow fanfic 
authors.  Among these are DB Sommer's "Shampoo 1/2", Jim Bader's "A 
Very Scary Thought -aka- Nabiki 1/2", and John Biles' Elseworlds 
series.  All C&C is welcome.

Other chapters of this story may be found at this website, or you can 
email the author for them:

The Quantum Destinies Homepage
http://members.cox.net/quantumdestinies/


The list of worlds reoccurring in this chapter:
Earth  0.000,0.000 - The world of Scholar-Ranma (Baseline cluster)


What has gone before in this story (or at least what will help you 
understand what is going on):

On a parallel Earth that diverged from the standard Ranma timeline over 
five hundred years ago, the Empire of Japan rules almost half the world 
and has done so for almost a century.  Theorizing that one could travel 
to alternate timelines by possessing counterparts in them, a young 
scientist named Ranma Saotome, through use of a device of his own 
invention, accidentally obtained the skills and memories of a martial 
artist version of himself.  After viewing some other alternate lives 
and dealing with some unexpected situations, Ranma decided to intensify 
his workouts to bring himself up to the level of his counterpart on 
that other Earth.  Fuyutsuki mentioned a mysterious plan that involved 
Ranma and several of the cast.  Meanwhile, Soun put the first stage of 
his plan into play to ensnare Ranma, and Hinako learned something about 
Ranma's past.  Nabiki snuck into Ranma's lab and managed to activate 
his device, contacting and duplicating the skills from an alternate 
version of herself, one who went on the ten-year training journey with 
Genma instead of Ranma.  Forever changed by the experience, Nabiki 
dealt with two enemies using her new skills and has decided to make 
Ranma an offer that will prove difficult for the boy scientist to 
refuse.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 6 - Travelling the Path of a True Martial Artist, Part II

     There are no set paths to the future.  Your path will only
     form after you run forward.

                              - Tomoe Midoh: Battle Athletes Victory

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


*** Earth  0.000,0.000

Nodoka arrived at Hanna Miller's and looked over the exterior of the 
building.  Earth-toned paint colored the walls, broken up by fancy 
woodwork on the eaves of the roof, and around the windows, that were 
painted green.  It had the ambiance of a French restaurant, and it was 
a very popular place to eat among the trendy.  She had heard that the 
service was good, as well as the food.

"Welcome to Hanna Miller's," the maitre d' greeted her when she came 
into the restaurant, a smile on his face as he bowed to her.  "Do you 
have a reservation?"  Beyond him, she could see that the eating areas 
looked quite full.

"Well, I am meeting someone here for lunch.  Do you happen to have a 
reservation in either the name of Mitsuma or Saotome?"  She waited as 
the middle-aged man checked through his list, occupying herself with 
watching the waitresses efficiently moving around the restaurant.

"Ah, here it is," said the maitre d' with another smile, looking back 
up at Nodoka.  "Mitsuma, party of two.  Let me summon your waitress to 
take you to your table."  He caught the eye of an attractive brunette 
with a long ponytail of hair and waved her over.  She looked to be in 
her late teens at the oldest.  The girl practically sprinted on her way 
to the front, and she bowed in a very perky manner to Nodoka after she 
stopped in front of her.

"Good afternoon.  I am Yuka Takeuchi, and I will be your waitress."  
Nodoka returned the girl's sunny smile.  Like the other young women 
working in the restaurant as waitresses, Yuka wore a snug white blouse 
with a frill of ruffles that ran down the middle of the front, and she 
appeared to be extremely well-built for her age.  Her long, chestnut 
colored hair matched the color of her eyes and was tied with a red 
ribbon that was the same color as her uniform dress and the small bows 
on each of her short, puffed sleeves.  Unlike the other girls, she wore 
a pair of tan, fingerless gloves that appeared to be weighted above the 
wrists, and her feet were shod with red and white athletic shoes.

Nodoka followed the girl to the table, one of those next to a window up 
front, and sat down.  She smiled at Yuka when the girl handed her a 
menu.  Such a nice, young lady, she thought.  Yuka bowed to her once 
again before heading off to another of her assigned tables.

After picking up the menu and looking it over, Nodoka tried hard to 
distract herself from her sudden nervousness.  This will be such a big 
step in my son's life, she thought with a worried smile as she browsed 
through the various dishes available on the menu.  I hope that Ranma 
appreciates the delicacy of what I'm about to do for him, but I'm sure 
that he will.  After all, such a decision is one of the most important 
ones that he will ever be involved in.  I just have to make sure that I 
pick a girl for him that will match all of his temperaments.  He needs 
a woman who can provide him with a good home, and also be a good mother 
for his children.

While waiting for Otsu to arrive, and also trying to decide what to 
order, she thought a bit about her plans for the rest of the day.  She 
had a session scheduled with her best friend, Achika Masaki, for some 
sword practice, (actually it could more correctly be called one of 
their usual duels), and she didn't want to have anything too heavy in 
her stomach for it.  The other woman was an extremely crafty opponent, 
possibly the best swordfighter that Nodoka had ever faced, and she did 
not want anything hindering her fighting movements.  The two of them  
had been getting together for such matches three or four times a week 
since their own school days, so many years past.

Nodoka briefly found herself remembering the history that Achika and 
she had had together, and the other friends and enemies that they had 
lost touch with over time.  So many years have gone by, she realized, 
wistful over the days of her past youth.  She was still amazed at times 
that she and Achika had ever managed to become as close of friends as 
they now were.  After all, they had been semi-bitter rivals at one 
time, mainly due to each of them being equal contenders for the topmost 
slot in the Martial Arts Club at Shibaiki Women's Finishing School.  
Nodoka was usually the one who seemed to emerge the victor in their 
fights, but the two women had somehow slowly forged a close friendship 
where once only a warrior's rivalry had existed.  But they still tested 
each other's skills on a regular basis.  The training helped them both 
keep their figures trim, after all.

Despite her rivalry with Achika, they had both always backed each other 
up when enemies from outside their school had challenged the strength 
of their club.  She sometimes found herself wondering whatever happened 
to some of those fierce, teenaged girls that used to regularly test her 
and Achika's combat skills in those wonderful days of their youth.  But 
Nodoka's regular opponents were the ones that she still remembered 
best.

For example, there had been Kenseiko Idomo, the haughty and nasty girl 
from Blackhall, who had always worn her long hair done up in a single 
ponytail.  She was a strong opponent with her chosen weapons, a pair of 
fans.  However, Nodoka had always enjoyed humbling the obnoxiously 
arrogant girl whenever she came around to pester her.  It was a great 
stress reliever, and it was also a lot of fun.  The aristocrat girl had 
always refused to admit that Nodoka was clearly the superior fighter, 
and she kept coming to bother her with challenges.

Then there had been the soldier girl, Kimiko Nakakami, who hailed from 
Furinkan Military Academy, perhaps her fiercest rival in martial arts 
ability in those days, far more than even she and Achika had ever been, 
although lacking the hatred she and Kenseiko had felt for each other.  
Her many close-fought duels with Kimiko, their wooden blades flashing 
as they both gave their all to best the other, had been glorious.  She 
was the one opponent that Nodoka occasionally found herself missing 
over the years, and she thought that to be strange, since they had been 
about as far apart from being friends as one could imagine.

However, towards the end of their schoolgirl days, their rivalries with 
each other had faded away in the face of their oncoming adult lives.  
In her thoughts, Nodoka had always imagined that, like herself and 
Achika now were, both other girls were now wives and mothers whose 
husbands were probably not even aware of their past adventures as 
brawling teenagers.  She was certainly uncomfortable discussing any of 
her own hellraising days with Genma or Ranma, since she did not want to 
spoil her present image as a gracious lady, especially to their son.  
While her husband would understand, having encountered her a few times 
when they were both younger and wilder, to tell their son they had both 
once run around and fought with juvenile delinquents as teenagers was 
unthinkable.  Ranma would never understand, so it was a dark secret 
that she and Genma would take to their graves.

She was so absorbed in the selections available on the menu that she 
did not immediately notice the woman who was approaching her table, led 
by the waitress, Yuka.

"Saotome-san?" asked Otsu pleasantly.

Nodoka looked up and bowed in greeting without arising from her seat.  
A tall woman, with her lustrous black hair worn straight, stood next to 
her table, dressed fashionably and carrying a small attaché case.  She 
smiled pleasantly as Nodoka looked up and returned the smile.

"Yes, I'm Nodoka Saotome," replied the matriarch of the Saotome family.  
"It is an honor to meet you in person, Mitsuma-san."  She gestured for 
the new arrival to join her, and the tall, older woman sat with regal 
grace.  Yuka quietly handed her a menu and bowed before she left.  Otsu 
set her attaché case on the table.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Saotome-san."  Otsu frowned 
mildly.  "Traffic was more than I was expecting in this region of the 
city during this time of day."  She flipped open the attaché case and 
removed several thick portfolios from within it.  When she had all that 
she needed, she closed the case and placed it onto the floor under the 
table.  The portfolios were placed onto one of the empty chairs where 
they would not disturb their meal.

"Do not be concerned, Mitsuma-san.  I have been enjoying the ambiance 
of the restaurant while I examined the menu.  They have quite a good 
selection."  Nodoka flipped through the pages of the menu for a moment 
before looking at the other woman.  "I confess that they have so many 
selections that I never know what to try."

"I am told that the onion soup here is simply the best," said Otsu with 
a smile.  This will be easier than I initially suspected, she thought 
contentedly behind her fake smile.  Her guest was obviously off-balance 
by being in a restaurant such as this, one that she must not normally 
be able to afford, so manipulating her into a proper decision would be 
child's play.  Then she could collect her promised bonus and take a 
long vacation.

"I was extremely pleased that you called me when you did."  Nodoka 
smiled again, looking up from her menu once more.  "A very good friend 
of mine used your agency in the recent past, and they found her son an 
excellent girl that he is now engaged to.  I have high hopes for what 
you can do for mine."

"I'm sure that one of the three will make a fine match for your boy, 
Saotome-san," said Otsu cheerfully.  She perused the menu in front of 
her with a smile.  Since this was all going onto an expense account to 
be presented to Soun, she planned trying some of the more expensive 
foods on the menu.

Both women finally made their choices and Nodoka caught Yuka's eye with 
her own.  She decided to go with a lighter lunch: a bowl of French 
onion soup and shaved roast beef served with a mushroom sauce over wild 
rice.  The attractive brunette made her way over to their table, her 
notepad out and a pen in her hand.  She smiled at the two women 
brightly.

"May I take your orders now?"

Nodoka was making light conversation with Otsu when their soup bowls 
arrived.  She picked up her spoon and tasted the thick, brown broth, 
and she discovered that the other woman had not led her astray at all.  
The French onion soup was very tasty indeed, and she consumed it with 
well-mannered gusto.  The shaved roast beef and rice that she had 
ordered went down in the same manner.  When she was done with her food, 
she dabbed at her lips with the cloth napkin while Otsu finished her 
own meal.  She was not long in waiting for that.

"That was simply delicious," said Otsu with a smile after she set her 
napkin down on the table.  "There is nothing like eating a good meal 
before conducting business, I always say."

"I thank you for inviting me to meet you here."  Nodoka smiled gently.  
"The food here is excellent."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," said Otsu, her smile still firmly in place.  
She was eager to get her business done, but such could not be seen from 
her mannerisms.  After the dishes had been cleared from their table, 
they relaxed with some green tea.  She pulled the three portfolios 
nearer to her, and her companion's eyes lit up with happiness.

"I can hardly wait to see what you have to show me from those," Nodoka 
replied sincerely, an undertone of eagerness in her voice.  Each 
portfolio only had a code number on the outside, instead of a name.  
She supposed that it was how Otsu's agency kept their records.

"So what did your husband think when you told him about your meeting 
today?"  Otsu picked up one of the portfolios with a smile.

"I have not told him yet," said Nodoka slowly, feeling embarrassed by 
the question.  "He and I have discussed the matter of obtaining the 
services of a matchmaker several times, but he felt it was too soon for 
Ranma.  My husband has said that to engage him now would be foolishly 
premature, as if a mother does not know what is right and good for her 
own son."  Her voice had risen a bit in volume as she related her 
irritation with what she obviously felt was a very silly attitude of 
Genma's, and she quickly lowered it back down as she continued to 
speak.  "He told me that I may do as I wished, but he wouldn't 
participate in it.  Men simply have no understanding of how important a 
thing this is, so feel free to ask me any questions about my son or my 
family."

"I'm sure that we'll find your son a fine bride," said Otsu in an 
attempt to reassure Nodoka, as she picked up the first portfolio.  "I 
believe you already know that many of the very finest families in the 
Empire are registered with us.  When I was researching your family, I 
was very impressed.  From what I saw, the Saotomes have managed to 
accumulate a very distinguished history.  Your husband's father even 
earned the Imperial Star during the last war, I saw.  That was quite an 
accomplishment."

"Genma's father was a brave and honorable man," agreed Nodoka, smiling 
with a hint of sadness.  "My husband took his loss rather hard.  It 
happened shortly before he finished his time at the Imperial Academy, 
where our son Ranma is attending now, and it changed him.  Sometimes I 
think his father's death, while fighting for the honor of the Empire, 
was what might have finally turned Genma against following the way of 
the warrior."  She paused and looked thoughtful for a moment, as if 
unsure how much to say on this matter to a stranger.

"That is understandable," said Otsu with false sympathy. "Please go 
on."

"My husband was once a great martial artist in his youth, taught by his 
own father," Nodoka continued, after taking a sip of her tea.  "He even 
spent an entire year training and travelling in China before attending 
the Academy.  But when his father died, I think that something died 
inside Genma as well.  He stopped studying the martial arts entirely, 
but, as his wife, I can tell that he still misses it quite a bit.  I 
keep encouraging him to take it up again for his health, since it is 
such good exercise for a man of his age, but he hasn't as of yet.  
However, I'm sure I'll wear down his resistance eventually."  Her smile 
turned a bit conspiratorial.

"I'm sure that you will," agreed Otsu, remembering how she was with her 
own husband when he proved resistant to her wishes.

"My husband is a good man though, and he raised our son to be a fine 
scholar."  Nodoka spoke with pride showing in her eyes.

"I'm sure you must be proud of him," said Otsu with some genuine 
emotion.  "Your son Ranma seems like he is an outstanding young man 
indeed.  Earning an invitation to study at the Imperial Academy is 
quite an achievement."

"Ranma is a credit to his generation.  As his mother, I just know that 
he will do great things for the Empire.  I only hope that I can find 
him a bride that will be able to stand at his side as he goes forward 
to meet that future."

"Well then, on that thought, let us begin to look at some of the fine 
young ladies that have been selected for your son," said Otsu, flipping 
open the first of the three thick portfolios with a smile.  She settled 
it before her to use as a reference, and then looked at Nodoka with a 
smile.

"The first of them comes from a fine family in the Koga Mountain 
region.  Her name is Ukyo Kuonji."  A palm-sized photograph of a 
serious-looking teenaged girl was presented to Nodoka, a head and 
shoulders shot.  In it, Ukyo was dressed in a traditional yukata with 
her hair worn in a single ponytail that was tied with a white ribbon.

"She's a lovely girl."  Nodoka noted the spirit displayed by the girl 
in the picture by the set of her jaw and the no-nonsense look in her 
eyes.  Such a one as this does have the clear look of a warrior, at 
least in manner, she thought approvingly.  The girl reminded her of 
herself at that age, for some reason.  I am sure that she would bear 
strong children to my son and raise them well.  She looked up from the 
picture to focus in again on what Otsu was saying about Ukyo.

"Centuries of traditions are represented by the Kuonjis, and many past 
members have served Emperors," said Otsu.  She noted Nodoka nodding 
approvingly with a sinking feeling in her stomach and continued on, 
"They are descended of a proud line of warriors, and are reputedly one 
of the last of the true ninja clans still in existence in the Empire.  
Her family now takes care of a large Shinto shrine in the mountains 
near Koga, one that they have held for generations."

"She sounds very spiritual."

"The Kuonjis have apparently devoted their energies to only two 
things," said Otsu with a somewhat more genuine smile.  "Perfecting 
their shadow warrior arts and maintaining the Kuonji Shrine."

                   ******************************

The trees barely whispered with the light breeze, and the noonday sun 
kept the day warm.  A single figure slowly maneuvered down the walkway, 
lazily sweeping away the dust and stray leaves from the broad stone 
path.  It was a teenaged girl, dressed in the white and red robes of a 
Shinto shrine maiden.  Her chestnut-colored hair was pulled back into a 
single loose ponytail that fell to just below her shoulders in the back 
and was tied with a white ribbon.  Behind her, a short distance away, a 
large shrine building loomed, dominating the background with a sense of 
ancientness.  In front of her was a long series of stone steps that led 
down to a small mountain lake.  It was a tranquil scene as the insects 
buzzed in the trees around her.

Ukyo paused in her sweeping and closed her eyes, letting the mild 
breeze dry the sheen of perspiration from her forehead.  She took a 
deep breath and sighed, scratching at her side at a recurring itch.  In 
addition to being hot and rather uncomfortably heavy, her robes were 
itching her again, and she looked forward to removing them and changing 
back into her more comfortable boy's clothes for her afternoon martial 
arts practice.  However, for the present, her mother had insisted that 
she stay clothed in the proper garb for a shrine maiden as she did her 
chores, in case there were visitors.  It was another reason why she 
missed her time in the back mountain regions with her grandfather.

Mother just doesn't understand, she thought disconsolately.  She picked 
at the material of her robe, frowning.  This isn't me, some frail and 
feminine girly-girl.  Dressing and acting like a guy is just so much 
more comfortable to me, but Mother won't even try to understand my 
feelings.  Ukyo sighed once again, recalling her mother's numerous and 
desperate attempts to find her a husband over the last several months.  
Things were just so much simpler when it was only me and Grandpa, 
training in the mountains.  After all, I don't need some dumb guy 
around complicating my life, and all of them are just a bunch of 
hormone-driven perverts anyway.  Well, except maybe for one.

Opening her hazel-green eyes, she looked around the temple grounds with 
a sudden smile as her thoughts turned to happier things.  Grandpa 
Kuonji had promised her that he would come around today to test her 
skills.  She wanted to show him how hard she had been practicing at 
them.  It was then that she noticed a sudden silence; the insects had 
stopped sounding.  Ukyo glanced around, her hand moving to release a 
hidden catch on the handle of her broom, readying her weapon from its 
place of concealment.

Her ears heard the faint whisper of cloth against the bark of a tree a 
moment before a figure came leaping at her from a high branch.  She 
dodged away from several shurikens that came streaking at where she had 
been standing.  The deadly blades buried themselves into the wood 
bordering the walkway as her body soared over the head of her attacker, 
her robes rustling.  Her acrobatic leap landed her ten feet away from 
where she had just been standing, facing her assailant.  The only sound 
upon her landing was the soft clopping of her sandals against the stone 
walkway and a final rustling sound from her robes.  Her broom had been 
transformed into a short naginata in her hands.

"Well done, my young apprentice," said her assailant.  She relaxed as 
her attacker was revealed to be the wizened figure of a man, dressed in 
the traditional black garb of a ninja but without the mask.  He was 
shorter than she herself was by several centimeters.  "Your skills have 
grown greater, my boy.  I actually had to work a little bit to sneak up 
on you.  Your mother must be so proud to see how her son has grown up 
into such a fine young shadow warrior.  Your disguise as a woman almost 
fooled even me."

I see Grandpa hasn't changed a bit, Ukyo thought with a mental sigh.  
As much as I love him, the senile, old fool just refuses to see that 
I'm really a girl.  She had given up trying to correct the old man as 
to her gender a long while ago, and she had even taken to binding her 
breasts for the last few years of her training to keep from upsetting 
him. It was an act that she still retained, mostly out of long habit, 
especially since she saw how all of the guys at her local school 
treated any girl, so she just attended school as a boy.  It was much 
easier for her, even though it freaked her mother out a lot, but it 
made Ukyo a little sad that no guy had penetrated her disguise yet.

However, she was very happy to see the old man.

"Grandpa!" she exclaimed with a smile at the sight of the familiar 
figure.  "Do you really think that I've gotten better?  I've been 
practicing everything that you ever taught me."  Her face broke out 
into an even broader smile.

"I can see that, Ukyo m'boy," the kindly-looking old man agreed with a 
thin smile.  "But now we will test your combat abilities.  Prepare 
yourself."

"We?" asked Ukyo in surprise.  She glanced around as fully half a dozen 
ninja warriors seemed to materialize from out of the trees.  They were 
dressed in the traditional garb of the shinobi, only in camouflage 
colors.  Her eyes narrowed briefly as she quickly studied each of her 
new opponents.  "Oh, I see."  Her look turned confident at seeing only 
six of them.

She shrugged out of her heavy outer robes and sandals in a few moments.  
Her bare feet did not make even a whisper of sound as she stood in the 
light underclothes that she had worn under her robes, her breasts held 
down by her tight chest bindings as was her usual habit.  Her build was 
a bit broad-shouldered and barrel-chested to be called girlish from her 
many years of martial arts training, and her close resemblance to an 
attractive boy was more obvious now without the female clothes.  She 
fished a pair of light shoes out of a pocket of her discarded robes and 
slipped them on.  The total time for her quick wardrobe change was 
under five seconds.

"Ready," Ukyo called out with a grin.  She flipped her ponytail back 
over her shoulder to rest between her shoulderblades and took a firm 
grip on her weapon.

The six figures came at her in pairs, attempting to flank her and 
quickly overwhelm her defenses.  She went into a blur of motion as she 
met the first pair at a dead run.  Her naginata whirled into proper 
position with ease against her attackers' blades, blocking both deadly 
strikes with great skill.  Her right foot slammed hard across the jaw 
of one ninja, the blow spinning him about to receive the haft of her 
weapon across his skull a moment later.  The shadow warrior went down 
hard.

One, Ukyo thought to herself.

The first ninja's companion was a female.  Like the first, she did not 
recognize this one from her stance or her movements, but the girl had a 
high measure of fighting skill, enough to occupy her for several very 
critical moments.  Ukyo dueled with her, naginata against sword blade 
in a rapid-fire exchange of strikes and blocks, even as the four 
remaining ninjas raced towards her.  Each girl tried to power her way 
through her opponent's defenses, but Ukyo's far greater skill quickly 
showed.

The female ninja was a fraction of a second too slow on one block, and 
Ukyo quickly slashed her across the stomach, twisting her wrists 
outwards at the last moment.  Dark fluid quickly dampened the heavy 
cloth on her opponent's belly.  It was a bloody blow, but Ukyo had 
pulled it so it was not deep enough to kill.  The female ninja fell 
back, her sword falling from her hands to clatter loudly upon the 
stones, clutching her stomach in pain as her vital fluids leaked from 
between her splayed fingers.  Ukyo quickly spun around and hit her with 
a solid backfist blow, knocking the girl unconscious in an instant.  
Her opponent's body fell to the earth and did not move.

Two, she thought, her body just warming up to the movements of combat.  
She became even more fluid and swift in her actions.

The third and fourth ninjas both leaped at her from right angles to 
each other, their deadly blades aimed to spill her brains from her 
skull.  Leaping off the ground to meet them in mid-air, she blocked one 
with her weapon and the other with her hand.  Before any of them began 
to fall back to earth, her foot buried itself hard into the gut of one 
of them, in a blow that he felt all the way through to his spine.  That 
ninja warrior went down hard, clutching his stomach helplessly as he 
slammed into the ground.  The other ninja joined him barely a moment 
later from a quick knee strike up into his groin, followed up by a 
hard-driving elbow strike up under the jaw as his head came down in 
reflex.

Three and four, Ukyo thought, a grin on her face now.  She alighted on 
the ground with the grace of a cat and posed briefly with the blade of 
her weapon flashing from the sunlight.  She was in her element now, the 
intense rush of combat upon her.

The last two warriors didn't throw themselves at her in a mad rush like 
the first four had.  Instead, they moved to opposite sides and began to 
test her defenses, but she wasn't having any of that.  She swiftly 
feinted at one with her naginata, and then she leaped at the other.  
Her powerful thighs locked around his neck as she fired two quick 
punches into his face.  Before the one had even begun to fall, she 
sprang off his now unconscious body to deliver a spinning roundhouse 
kick into the shoulder of the other one.  He immediately dropped his 
sword as his fingers splayed open in reflex, and Ukyo followed up with 
a smashing punch to his jaw.  She saw the last ninja's eyes roll back 
into his head behind the mask, and he fell to the ground with a dull 
thud.

Five and six, she thought triumphantly.  She was guessing that the 
entire fight had taken less than thirty seconds to finish, almost a 
personal best for her.

An arm suddenly wrapped around her windpipe, and the familiar sounds of 
her grandfather's voice breathed into her ear in serious tones, "Always 
be aware of any potential new opponents coming up from behind you."  
She briefly struggled against his grip, knowing that he could snap her 
neck in an instant if he applied the proper pressure.  For several 
tense moments, neither of them moved.

Then, as quickly as his arm had grasped her around the throat, it 
withdrew as he let go of her again a few moments later.  She whirled to 
face him with her weapon ready, only to see his kind face smiling at 
her.  She blushed at falling for his attack so easily.  It was a stupid 
thing for her to do, and she frowned at her foolishness.

"Sorry, Grandpa," Ukyo said as she bowed her head to him.  "I let my 
overconfidence get the better of me.  I was arrogant."  A ninja groaned 
softly behind her.

"That is a dubious privilege of the young," her elderly grandfather 
replied sagely.  "Even a warrior as highly-skilled in the deadly arts 
of our clan as you are should always remember to watch his back when 
alone.  If I had been a true enemy, then you would be dead, your neck 
broken like a sapling tree.  The Kuonjis can ill afford to lose such a 
promising warrior as yourself to arrogant carelessness."  He frowned at 
her slightly.  "I taught you better than that, Ukyo."

"Yes, Grandpa."  Ukyo bowed her head again.  "I swear upon my honor 
that I will not repeat such a mistake.  I will do you and all your 
teachings proud, and I intend to be the finest shadow warrior that I 
can."

"You are a dutiful child, Ukyo," said the elderly man.  He clapped her 
on the shoulders.  "You make an old man proud that he can soon rest in 
the earth, leaving the future of our clan to one such as yourself.  I 
have given as much of our lore to you as I have been able to pound into 
that thick head of yours, Ukyo m'boy."  He rapped her hard on her 
skull.  "So don't waste my time by falling for such simple tricks as 
that in the future."

"I won't, Grandpa," said Ukyo with a grin, only to earn another rap on 
the head from the old man.

"Remember, m'boy," said her grandfather.  "After I'm gone, you will be 
one of the last to have learned the old ways properly.  So many of our 
kind have fallen victim to the lure of serving the wealthy and the 
powerful, who prize us only as a child would a shiny toy.  They are no 
longer pure.  And too few of my peers in these mountains passed on what 
they knew to the younger ones, and jealously hoarded their lore until 
it was too late.  On the other hand, I have tried my best to educate 
you in the true way of the shinobi, the Path of Hidden Honor, so do me 
proud."

"I will, Grandpa," said Ukyo with a serious look.  "I will make our 
clan strong once more."

"The deeper shinobi magics are yours to command, what few that you have 
managed to master so far."  The old man gazed at her face.  "I expect 
you to pass on all that you have learned to your children, and to your 
children's children."  His solemn look promptly changed into a slight 
grin.  "So, when are you going to find a nice girl for yourself and 
settle down, young one?"

Ukyo coughed.

"Uh," she muttered.  "I'm working on it."  She blushed at the thought 
of marriage.  A year ago, her grandfather had made her study some 
scrolls brought back from some Korean village named Sinanju by one of 
her ancestors, on the twenty-seven steps to bring a woman to the 
heights of sexual ecstasy.  She had tested a few of them on herself, 
out of curiosity to see if they really did work, but she had found 
herself unable to concentrate well enough to progress at all beyond 
step six.  She strongly suspected that any man who used all of the 
twenty-seven listed steps on a woman would reduce even the most frigid 
one to a quivering, happy, mindless sex slave.  Just the thought of 
having every step that was on those ancient scrolls used on her by a 
vague future husband made her blush even more intensely.

"You're working on it?" asked the old man, sounding disappointed.  
"Boy, I expected to hear far more from you than that."  He shook his 
head slowly as he stared at the ground.  "Why, when I was your age, I 
had the women simply flocking to me.  There must be at least a couple 
of dozen pretty girls your age in the regions around this village that 
would love to be your wife.  I think I'll speak to your mother about 
this."

"NO!" shouted Ukyo, before chuckling nervously.  She rubbed at the back 
of her head with one hand.  "I mean, I'd prefer to do this on my own.  
I need to find the right, uh, girl to be with."

"Do like I did," said the old man with a grin.  "Just pick some cute, 
likely-looking girl that you see and go after her.  Your grandmother, 
became my wife that way.  There isn't a woman alive that can resist one 
of us Kuonji men, especially after you use a few steps from those 
scrolls of secret techniques that I made you study on your fifteenth 
birthday."  The old man nudged her in the ribs with his elbow and 
grinned lasciviously up at her.  Her blushing face somehow grew even 
brighter.

"Yes, Grandpa," she squeaked, her cheeks a bright red now.  I swear 
that I'm going to die right here of embarrassment if he keeps talking 
about this, she thought fiercely.  She found herself hoping for another 
fight to take her mind off her thoughts, but none appeared to be 
forthcoming to her.  So she quickly replaced her shrine maiden's robe 
in an attempt to occupy herself.

Her grandfather watched as a few members of the clan emerged from the 
trees to tend to the several fallen warriors.  Ukyo moved up to stand 
beside him, enjoying the cool breeze from across the valley that had 
suddenly sprung up.  The old man suddenly looked up as he sniffed the 
wind delicately, and then he slowly turned to her with an enigmatic 
smile.

"You have been my very finest apprentice, Ukyo," said the elderly man.  
"But I can sense something coming for our clan, looming on the horizon.  
I want you to be prepared for it."

"Yes, Grandpa," Ukyo replied solemnly.  "I promise."

                   ******************************

"This young lady seems like she would make a fine daughter-in-law to 
me," said Nodoka with a pleased smile.  "Such an illustrious family 
background that she comes from.  I am deeply honored that you feel that 
my son is worthy to marry a daughter of such a clan."  She put the 
picture of Ukyo away with a smile.  The girl seemed to her like she 
would make an excellent match for her son.

Hmm, thought Otsu, a little bit surprised at the other woman's quite 
unexpected reaction.  That wasn't how it was supposed to go here.  She 
closed the portfolio and placed it on the bottom of the pile.  I even 
played up the warrior aspects of the girl as I was told, and she seemed 
even more pleased with her.  I suspect that Tendo-san may have grossly 
misread this woman, but I will proceed with the plan as he instructed 
me.  I suppose he is counting on the face-to-face meeting to torpedo 
the matchmaking, rather than doing so at this time.  She picked up the 
portfolio that contained Kodachi's information next.

"This next young lady comes from one of the minor families of the 
Imperial nobility," she said, noting that Nodoka's eyes had lit up a 
little at that one.  She passed to the other woman a palm-sized 
photograph of the Kuno girl.  This one showed a smiling Kodachi wearing 
her best clothes for the picture, and it was a head and shoulders shot 
as well.  "Her name is Kodachi Kuno, the only daughter of House Kuno, 
and she comes with a sizable dowry.  While the Saotome line was 
ennobled by Imperial decree a century ago in reward for the faithful 
service given to the Empire for many generations, the Kunos actually 
have Imperial blood flowing within it from a direct link to the Royal 
Family some six centuries ago."

A daughter of the nobility, thought Nodoka breathlessly, gazing at the 
picture with a smile even greater than the one that she gave to the one 
of Ukyo.  Her place in society alone will enable Ranma to start in a 
position that would normally take years to get into.  She paused and 
contemplated the possibilities.  My only son, a lord of the Empire.  Of 
course, he would be expected to take several mistresses and a second or 
even a third wife, and I'm sure that the other two girls would be 
thrilled to be ennobled themselves.  My son is so manly, he must have 
them ALL!

She studied the picture more closely.  I recognize her! she suddenly 
realized with surprise, and what she remembered about the girl in the 
photo only increased her favor in Nodoka's eyes.  She won the gold 
medal in France some months back, at the World Gymnastics Competition.  
Such a lovely child, and an obvious athlete as well.  With her figure, 
she looks like she will be able to bear many strong children, but there 
is also something vaguely familiar about her face.  It is just on the 
edge of my memory.  I wish that I could put my finger on it.  She 
tapped gently at the top of the table with one fingernail as she 
listened to Otsu begin to speak about the girl.

"Kodachi Kuno is an accomplished athlete in gymnastics and dance," said 
Otsu, her professional smile once more firmly on her face.  "She comes 
from a background that has taught her to be a gracious lady for a 
household.  The Kunos have served the Empire for many centuries, and 
their landholdings extend throughout its length and breadth.  They are 
descended from solid warrior stock, and they are rumored to be raised 
from birth to respect strength of arms above all else.  However, 
Kodachi is a gentle child from all accounts that I have been given, 
unwilling to cause harm to anyone."

                   ******************************

I swear that I shall punish that Tendo wench severely for her gross 
effrontery when it comes to her attempting to claim Saotome-kun for her 
own property! thought Kodachi fiercely.  She walked along slowly at his 
side as he carried her bookbag; his own he had apparently left in his 
lab space, or so he had told her when she asked.  She calmed herself 
and smiled as she looked at him once again, another soft sigh escaping 
her lips.  You need a gentle, loving woman to care for your every need, 
Saotome-kun, not some barbaric savage like that little hussy, Akane.  A 
brief blush crossed her cheeks as she felt another surge of desire for 
him when she stepped closer, and her thoughts turned to wondering about 
some of the pigtailed boy's 'needs.'

"Are you sure that you're feeling well enough to walk, Kodachi?" asked 
Ranma solicitously.  "I mean, you took a couple of pretty bad hits from 
Akane."

"I can walk just fine, Saotome-kun," she said a little stiffly, feeling 
her pride warring with her desires to have him carry her home, but her 
family's traditions of martial strength was affecting her mood as it 
never had before.  "My injuries from that altercation with her are not 
causing me any difficulty."  However, after she finished saying that, 
she stumbled a bit and fell against him.  His arms went to hold her up, 
grabbing her at the waist, and a warm quiver went through her at his 
touch upon her body.

Oh, thought Kodachi dreamily.  She leaned against him, her head angled 
down away from his view as a bright blush heated her face.  It felt so 
good to her for him to simply hold her that she could hardly believe 
it.  She heard her own blood thundering in her ears as her head lay 
pressed against his chest.  She could hear his heart beating, even over 
the sound of her own pulse in her ears, as it thudded strongly in his 
chest.  After a mere moment, she felt his whole body stiffen up at her 
nearness, and he immediately dropped his hands from her waist where he 
had caught her and prevented her from falling.

Ranma swallowed and kept his eyes locked straight ahead of him.  His 
mind had gone strangely blank, and he felt himself to be frozen in 
place.  His body was giving him all sorts of weird signals that he had 
never felt before.  To deal with it, he just let himself react with his 
natural impulses, since that seemed to be the logical thing to do.  He 
quickly backed away from Kodachi.

"S-sorry," he said nervously, regaining his voice when he was a few 
feet away from her.  "I was just trying to keep you from falling."

"What?" she blurted out.  She cocked her head slightly to one side, 
very puzzled by his reaction to her being close to him.  "It's all 
right, Saotome-kun.  Thank you for helping me.  I guess maybe my legs 
are still a little unsteady."  She extended one leg and looked it over, 
and his eyes tracked down by reflex.  She noticed his attentions out of 
the edge of her eyesight and smiled.  She lowered that leg and raised 
the other, appearing to be looking it over for injuries.  She saw him 
swallow once more, and he seemed to be sweating a little.

"We should get you home then," he said quickly.  He broke eye contact 
with her legs and turned around.  He held her bookbag behind his back 
and began rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, a tuneless 
whistle coming from his mouth.

"Home isn't far," said Kodachi, starting out once again.  The pigtailed 
boy quietly followed her.  She noticed that he continued to remain wary 
of getting near her, and a delicate frown appeared on her lips.  Does 
he find me unattractive? she thought with a strong note of worry.  Am I 
being too forward with him?  Perhaps I should take it a little slower 
with him.  She nodded as she thought about it.  Yes, I will let that 
brutish Tendo wench scare him away from her with her forwardness, the 
nasty little thug.  I, on the other hand, shall play the gracious lady 
and win his heart with gentleness.  After all, that ill-mannered 
barbarian is no match for me in such things, so Saotome-kun is sure to 
be mine!  A smile of victory crossed her lips.

Unaware of Kodachi's thoughts towards him, Ranma walked along a pace 
behind her on her right flank.  The young noblewoman would have been 
extremely disappointed to learn that his thoughts had already shifted 
from her to his appointment with Nabiki.  I wish I could figure out 
what Nabiki's game is, he thought, studying the ground in front of his 
feet as he walked.  I guess I'll just go easy on her until I can figure 
out what she's up to.  After all, it's not like her martial arts skills 
will be any threat to me.  I dealt with Akane pretty well, and I doubt 
that she'll be as tough.

The duo eventually arrived at the main exterior gate of the Kunos' 
mansion after another several minutes of walking.  At the sight of the 
immense stone and wood edifice atop the hill, Ranma found himself 
comparing it with the memories from his counterpart's life and finding 
the present reality's version to be even more amazing and awe-inspiring 
in scope and size.  The building's surrounding grounds, for example, 
easily constituted several city blocks in both directions, an almost 
priceless amount of real estate for the region in which it lay.

Impressive, was his first thought, as he studied the tall, forbidding-
looking stone walls that surrounded the grounds as he walked alongside 
Kodachi.  He dropped back a pace as she walked up to a smaller side 
gate and removed a magnetic access card from her bag, before quickly 
sliding it through a reader.  The light atop the unit turned green 
quickly and the door unlocked with a faint buzz and a click.  Kodachi 
opened the heavy metal gate with a smile back in his direction.

"Come on, Saotome-kun," she said, beckoning him to follow her as she 
held the small gate open.  "Let me show you where I live."

With a bemused look, Ranma followed her through the portal, onto the 
spacious grounds of the Kunos' demesne.  On the other side of the gate 
was a short tunnel that led to a small flight of stairs.  He just 
followed along behind her as they both climbed the stairs that finally 
emerged in a garden area with a koi pond.  A Zen rock garden stood off 
to one side, the patterns in the gravel and the placement of the stones 
a rather soothing thing for him to behold.  He was tracing out the 
patterns of the gravel when he felt a tugging on his sleeve.

"Come on, Saotome-kun," implored Kodachi, a smile on her face.  He 
ignored the tingle that briefly raced up his arm at the slight contact 
of her hand against his as she let go of his sleeve.  He smiled at the 
koi pond, extremely grateful that he had nothing at all to fear from 
all of that cold water, especially since volumes of it did not seem to 
seek him out in this life like it did his counterpart.  With a swift 
shrug of his shoulders, he followed her.

She kept up a running description of the places that she took him to 
see around the mansion area: the tennis courts and enormous swimming 
pool in the backyard region; the outdoor training area for the 
household, neatly arranged with wooden practice forms and other such 
accessories; the flower garden, filled with such a wide variety of 
botanical splendor that even Ranma found himself hard-pressed to 
remember the names and scientific designations to the plants neatly 
arranged and pruned; and finally, the garage area, filled with a large 
assortment of vehicles, including a collection of motorcycles of all 
styles, both classic and modern.

Ranma admired the shining chrome and painted steel with wonder visible 
in his eyes, and Kodachi smiled to see his interest.  She quietly 
watched him running a hand gently along the curves of one of the 
motorcycles, one of her father's latest acquisitions, a Mendo Motors 
Katana Class 9000.  Her father had once told her in one of his more 
candid moments that it was reputed to be one of the fastest motorcycles 
in current production.  She smiled gently as she thought about the many 
hours that her sire spent polishing his small collection of treasures, 
and it appeared that Ranma might share a little of that interest.  That 
pleased her a great deal, since getting her father to like the 
pigtailed boy was part of her ultimate plan to win his heart for 
herself.

"They're magnificent," said Ranma in a soft tone.  Despite their 
glaring inefficiencies as a method of transport, he had long held a 
love for vehicles using an internal combustion engine, especially 
motorcycles.

"They're my father's," said Kodachi with a smile.  She saw him turn to 
look at her with an odd smile, as if hearing something that did not 
quite compute to him.

"Princip- I mean, Kuno-sama rides them?" he asked with a great deal of 
surprise.  He turned to look at the row of both classic and modern 
motorcycles and whistled.  There must be over two dozen bikes here, he 
thought with amazement.  The thought of Kodachi's father on one of them 
simply wasn't meshing with his preconceptions about the man, based on 
his memories of the Hawaiian-obsessed man from his counterpart's life.  
I guess I should watch out for pre-judging others, based on what I 
think I know about them.

"Oh yes," said Kodachi brightly in answer to his question.  "Father has 
an absolute mania for motorcycles and the mystique surrounding them.  
Some of the household servants have confessed to me that he was a bit 
of a rough sort when he was a teenager."  She pointed at the wall, and 
Ranma turned to see a black-and-white photograph in a frame there.  
"That was my father back then.  He's the one in the middle."

He peered closely at the old and faded picture and saw in it several 
rather disreputable-looking young men, a few of them armed with various 
martial arts weapons, all casually posing around one young man in 
particular.  The specific young tough that she was pointing out looked 
a little bit like Tatewaki, he noticed.  In the weathered picture, the 
then-young Lord Kuno was wearing a dark leather jacket and casually 
held a bokken in one hand, resting the other end on his shoulder, as he 
mugged for the camera.  His eyes were hidden behind a pair of dark 
sunglasses.  Ranma was curious as to who the others in the picture 
were, but water damage or something had blurred all of the forms in it, 
except for that of Kodachi's father.

"I've been told by several of the older servants that my father was 
quite an interesting sort in his younger days," she said, a smile 
evident in the sound of her voice.  "But I am told that he calmed down 
a lot after meeting Mother.  I look at them now and occasionally wonder 
what they were like when they were our age.  I cannot ever see Father 
acting as the roughcut young hellraiser that the older servants have 
described him as being like in his youth."  She walked up beside Ranma 
as he stared into the photograph hung on the wall.  "Other than Mother, 
motorcycles are the other major love of his life.  I would learn to 
ride myself, but she does not think it is very ladylike."

"Kodachi-sama," said a voice behind them.  Ranma almost levitated into 
the air from his surprise at recognizing the voice that had spoken up.  
He turned to see Sasuke standing there, dressed in a dark pair of pants 
and a gray shirt, rubbing his hands on a dirty cloth.  Oil stains were 
spattered on his clothes.  He stepped forward and gave the pigtailed 
boy a mildly suspicious look before turning to smile at the Kuno girl.  
His tone with her was gentle and very respectful.  "Milady, why aren't 
you in school?"

"Uh, well," she murmured, looking uncertain.  Sasuke took a closer look 
at her in the dim light and blinked in surprise.

"By the Emperor!" exclaimed Sasuke as he saw the mussed state of her 
clothes and the several small bandages arrayed on her face and nose.  
"What happened to you, Milady?  It looks like you were in some sort of 
accident or a fight.  You weren't fighting again, were you?  Has your 
mother seen you yet?"  The little man began wringing his hands and 
looking very worried as he noticed that she looked embarrassed.  "It 
was a fight then.  The Mistress will be absolutely frantic to see you 
like this.  You know how she feels about fighting."

"I know, Sasuke-kun," said Kodachi with a pained smile.  She well 
remembered the long lecture that had greeted her on her return home 
after her first fight with Asuka.  Her mother had been absolutely 
horrified to see her little girl in the shape she had been in after 
that first combat.  She had gone on for over an hour on how a true 
noble lady does not brawl in the streets like a commoner, and also how 
'when she had been Kodachi's age, she had never engaged in such brutal 
activities.'  It was an experience with her mother that she was not 
looking forward to repeating.

"I ran into a little trouble today," she said quietly.  "There is no 
need to trouble yourself over it."

"T-trouble myself?" choked out Sasuke, looking like she had just kicked 
him right in his manhood.  "Milady, as a loyal servant of House Kuno, 
it is my sacred duty!  Any threat to you must be dealt with immediately 
and without mercy.  Towards that end, I shall assemble a squad of our 
finest shadow warriors, as soon as you inform me of the perpetrator of 
this horrific crime against your most noble personage!"

"Take it easy, buddy," said Ranma suddenly, watching the little man 
working himself into a mild frenzy.  "Kodachi's all right.  She was 
just a bit beaten up in a fight, but she gave as good as she got."

Saotome-kun, sighed the girl, sending him a loving look as she felt a 
new surge of purpose filling her.  I must strive to be worthy of you by 
crushing that Tendo wench utterly in my next combat with her.

"Who are you to dictate to me how I should act in the course of my 
duties, sir?" asked Sasuke stiffly.  He eyed the pigtailed scholar with 
obvious distaste for a moment, before he turned to Kodachi.  "Milady, 
who is this ill-mannered person with you?"

"This is Ranma Saotome," said Kodachi, amused at Sasuke's little 
antics.  "He is my friend."  Her look suddenly turned cross.  "I order 
you to treat him with respect.  I expect that you will be seeing much 
more of him around the grounds in the future."

"B-but, what of Tatewaki-sama?" asked Sasuke nervously, his eyes 
twitching between Kodachi and Ranma.  "He won't like this."

"What my dear brother thinks is no concern of mine, Sasuke-kun," she 
said, a touch of irritation in her voice.  "I am almost a grown woman, 
and I can be friends with a boy if I so desire."

"Yes, Milady."  Sasuke bowed low to her.  "My apologies if I have given 
offense."

"Come along, Saotome-kun," said Kodachi, entwining her arm with his.  
"I suppose that I could use your support when I go to speak with my 
mother."  With that, the two of them walked off, Ranma caught up in a 
new wave of tingling from her nearness, and the young noblewoman 
clamping down on her renewed desires for the pigtailed boy through 
sheer force of will.

"So you have ninjas running about on the grounds?" asked Ranma with a 
hint of nervousness.  He realized that, other than Sasuke, he had not 
seen a single servant walking about, not even a gardener for the 
expansive gardens.

"Oh, yes," Kodachi breathed, smiling.  "All of the household staff are 
from a ninja clan that has served under the Kunos for generations, the 
Makimachis.  Sasuke is the sole exception to this, for reasons that my 
father has never chosen to explain.  Mother has even given me my own 
personal ninja guardian, although she is more of a companion.  I don't 
use her as a bodyguard."

"Really?" asked Ranma, surprised.  He looked around casually.

"Well, many in the nobility have them," she said cheerfully.  "It is a 
sort of status symbol, but I am quite capable of defending myself.  I 
look on that as a point of pride."  Her eyes sought out his own, and 
her expression turned unreadable.  "You do not think a woman who can 
fight is unfeminine, do you?"

"Uh, well, no, of course not!" stammered the pigtailed boy.  He laced 
his fingers behind his head and chuckled softly.  "I would never call a 
girl who can fight unfeminine."  He was rewarded with a gentle smile 
from his companion, her eyes twinkling a little.

"Good," she said, very obviously pleased.  "I am gladdened that my 
fighting ability does not repel you.  I would like to be your friend."  
She turned her face from his, blushing slightly.  "I have not really 
had any friends before I met you."  The young noblewoman turned back 
and gave him another gentle look that left him confused as to what to 
say or do, so he remained quiet.  They continued on their way into the 
manor house.

Looks like another thing to be aware of that's different, mused Ranma 
with a smile.  The Kunos with a whole ninja clan at their disposal.

A few minutes later, he was within the halls of the main house, 
removing his shoes at the rear door and slipping on one of the many 
pairs of house slippers available.  He forced himself to look away from 
admiring Kodachi's trim form once again as she slipped off her school 
shoes and put on a pair of house slippers as well.  He was apparently 
getting used to her touch upon him, but the smell of her delicate 
perfume was still mildly intoxicating.  It kept filling his mind with 
strong desires for her, so he kept a very tight rein on his feelings 
because of it.

"Dachi-chan!" came a female voice calling out to them.  Kodachi winced 
a little and turned to face the oncoming figure of her mother as she 
swept into the room.  Ranma took the opportunity to move a little bit 
aside from her as she greeted her mother with a wave and an abashed 
smile.

"Hello, Mother," said Kodachi, but the very attractive woman had 
already turned from her and rounded on the pigtailed boy.  She was more 
than a little surprised to hear not a single comment from her mother on 
her beaten-up appearance, but it seemed that her showing up with a boy 
in tow was an even more interesting thing for her.  She hoped that her 
mother would not embarrass her, but that hope died quickly.

"Is this your new lover, Dachi-chan?" asked Kenseiko brightly, as she 
examined Ranma from up close.  "My, he does seem to be a very fine 
specimen of a young stud.  I approve of your taste."

Ranma blinked and started to look extremely nervous.  Such intense 
scrutiny as he was now undergoing made him feel like a horse about to 
be purchased.  He even half-expected her to open his mouth and check 
his teeth, but she never actually touched him.  Instead, he put up with 
feeling as if he was being undressed by her eyes and his manliness 
judged.

"Mo-ther," said the young aristocrat, drawing out the word a little bit 
in her embarrassed exasperation with her parent's antics.  "Saotome-kun 
is not my lover.  How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"Well, why not, dear?" said Kenseiko with a smile.  She looked Ranma in 
the eyes and examined his face, then let her gaze trail down his body 
as she studied him.  "Such a handsome young man.  I imagine that you 
have to fend off the young ladies with a stick."

He started to sweat a bit, and his mind was depressingly blank.  He was 
finding Kodachi's mother to be a bit overwhelming to his sensibilities.

"She's not normally like this," said Kodachi softly, as she sidled a 
bit closer to him.  She gave her mother a scathing look, as only a 
daughter can give to her mother.  Her voice had a note of annoyance in 
it as she spoke through gritted teeth.  "I think she is only doing it 
to try and embarrass me."

"I-it is an honor to meet you, Kuno-sama," said Ranma, grateful to 
finally get some words out of his mouth.  He bowed to Kenseiko very 
deeply.  "I only meant to escort your daughter home, since she was 
injured fighting, uh-"  He looked helplessly at Kodachi, but her eyes 
had gone wide.

"Fighting?" asked Kenseiko, a moment before she gave Kodachi's bandaged 
face her full attention, and her steel-gray eyes took it all in with a 
glance.  Her tone turned very serious.  "Kodachi, have you been 
fighting again?"

"Uh, maybe I should be going," Ranma ventured to say.  He was afraid to 
find out what the woman would do if she learned that her daughter had 
been fighting over him.  When no one replied to him, he found that he 
could not bring himself to move.  To do otherwise would be to offer 
possible insult, so he remained at his position and listened to the 
uncomfortable conversation.

"It wasn't anything that I could not deal with on my own, Mother," said 
the girl, shuffling her feet a little bit as she refused to meet her 
mother's gaze.

So much like I was at that age, thought Kenseiko with an internal 
grimace.  She looked at her daughter and found herself remembering some 
of the times when she herself had come dragging back home to face her 
own mother's stern reaction at seeing her daughter in such shape.  It 
was only the knowledge that her opponent was injured almost as badly as 
her own bruised self that had made it palatable to her.  She pulled a 
fan out of her yukata and waved it absently in front of her face as she 
considered the girl's injuries, and also the fierce expression on her 
daughter's face that was so much like her own had been in the same 
situation.  I wonder who she was fighting?  She sighed softly.

"Thank you for escorting my daughter home, young man," she finally 
said, turning to face him.  "I presume that your name is Ranma Saotome, 
he who she has spoken of at the dinner table?"  She saw him startle a 
bit at that question.

"Uh, yes, Kuno-sama," said Ranma nervously.  "I mean, my name is Ranma 
Saotome.  I am happy to be of service."  He bowed once more to hide his 
growing uncertainty.

"You will of course have dinner with my family one night," she said 
solemnly.  It was not phrased as a question, but as a command.  "I can 
tell that my daughter favors you, and I find it good to see my little 
girl spending some time with a responsible young man."  Ranma glanced 
at Kodachi out of the corner of his eyes and bowed once more.

"Yes, Milady.  Whenever you desire.  I am at your command."

"You may go, Saotome-san," said Kenseiko, gesturing with her fan.  "I 
wish to speak alone with my daughter.  Again, you have my thanks for 
escorting her home.  You appear to me to be a most honorable and polite 
gentleman."  She favored him with a smile.

He practically bolted from the house after slipping his shoes back on.  
The two Kuno women watched him run across the grounds with differing 
expressions.  Kodachi had a slightly amazed look on her face, and her 
mother wore an amused expression.  The older woman raised one of her 
eyebrows slightly when she saw Ranma run up the wall in one corner, his 
feet bouncing from one side to the other as he ascended, before finally 
vaulting over it, one hand poised on the top as he swung his legs over.  
A moment later, he was gone.

"Such an interesting, and obviously quite athletic, young man," mused 
the woman.  "He does not strike me as a 'despoiler of an innocent 
virgin,' as I believe that your older brother accused him of being."

"Saotome-kun is every bit a true gentleman," replied Kodachi with 
certainty.  She looked her mother squarely in the face, a defiant fire 
burning in her eyes.

So much like me at that age, Kenseiko thought once again.  She had 
tried her best to raise her daughter up to be a very quiet and shy 
girl, representing what she saw as being best in noble womanhood, 
hoping that her own little girl could avoid the violence-filled life 
that she had lived as a teenager.  And yet somehow, that delicate 
flower of femininity that she had worked so hard to cultivate had very 
recently grown thorns, but she could not bring herself to be truly 
angry with the girl.  As if from out of nowhere, for the last several 
weeks she had seen the warrior's fire begin burning inside of Kodachi, 
the same fire that had once burned so strongly in her own heart at that 
age.  She had thought at first that it was only due to a new boy in her 
life, but it seemed to be more.  She fanned her face slowly, pondering 
the many changes in her once very shy and retiring daughter.

                   ******************************

Such a fine, young lady for my Ranma, thought Nodoka solemnly as she 
gazed at the small picture of Kodachi.  If he does not find the young 
ninja girl Ukyo to his liking, as I hope he will, then perhaps this one 
will be more appealing to him.

"But now we come to the finest of the lot, in my humble opinion," said 
Otsu with her usual smile, perhaps a little more broad than the 
previous ones.  She flipped open the last remaining portfolio and 
handed a color picture to Nodoka.  She took the photograph with a sense 
of almost trembling anticipation.

The finest of the lot? wondered Nodoka with amazement.  After listening 
to the impressive qualities of the first two, she was practically ready 
to engage Ranma to this girl on the spot without even hearing anything 
further.  If Mitsuma-san favors this one, then how could I think to do 
otherwise?

"The next family is one that is currently in high favor among the 
Imperial Court.  The Tendo family has three daughters, but the middle 
daughter is the one that I present to you now, a descendant of a very 
proud military history.  The family has served with notable distinction 
within the Security Directorate and armed forces for well over two 
centuries."  Otsu gently tapped her finger on the photo in Nodoka's 
hand.  "Her name is Nabiki Tendo."

"She looks like an attractive and intelligent girl," said Nodoka with 
definite approval in her voice as she looked over the photograph of 
Nabiki, dressed in her Imperial Academy cadet uniform.  She studied the 
face of her third prospective daughter-in-law, and her initial reaction 
was that she seemed like she would be a very fine addition to the 
Saotome family register.  The girl managed to convey an air of grace, 
intelligence, and feminine strength as she smiled brightly into the 
camera.  Nodoka was also strongly convinced that she had seen this girl 
somewhere before.  Much like when she had looked at Kodachi's picture, 
there was something in the eyes and the shape of her face that was 
strangely familiar.

"Nabiki scored second only to your son on the Imperial Academy entrance 
examinations," said Otsu, a fact that even impressed herself.  "She is 
currently attending there, the same as your son is, only Nabiki is in 
the Officer's Training Program for the Security Directorate.  Since her 
admittance, she has quite regularly received the highest marks across 
the board from all of her instructors.  From all accounts, she is a 
charming young lady, and I am sure that she would be able to give you 
many fine grandchildren."

Nodoka smiled with great interest at that.

                   ******************************

The walk home with Akane was a quiet one for Nabiki.  She spent most of 
her time thinking about the events of the day since she had awoken this 
morning.  In a few hours I have my first sparring match with Ranma-kun, 
she mused.  Instead of sounding unpleasant to her, there was a feeling 
of almost breathless anticipation that accompanied that thought, and 
she found herself studying the ground in front of herself casually.  
I'm actually looking forward to the challenge a great deal.  How very 
unlike me.  Yet for some reason, the oddly pleasant feeling was not 
going away.  She had been challenged, and as the new, even though 
wholly unofficial, heir to the Anything-Goes School on this Earth, she 
felt strongly that that challenge must be answered by her.

"What'cha thinking about, Nabiki?" asked Akane suddenly, intruding upon 
her older sister's train of thought.

"Oh, nothing much."  The older Tendo absently closed her hand into a 
fist, studying the calluses gained over the years, both from training 
with her mother and her Academy combat classes.  "I was just thinking 
about a private affair that I must deal with later today."

"An affair?" asked Akane, her brow furrowing a little bit.  "It almost 
sounds like a date."  She grinned at her older sister and was surprised 
to see a brief blush cross the other girl's cheeks before her usual 
cool look was restored.

"No, not a date," said the elder Tendo girl calmly.  "I just have to 
give a demonstration of sorts.  There is an individual who needs to be 
taken down a few pegs in arrogance, and I feel that I'm ideally suited 
to do it."  She smiled a wolf-like smile.  "I'm actually rather looking 
forward to it, and I was just savoring the anticipation."  She lowered 
her fist to her side and relaxed it back open.

"All I'm looking forward to is a long soak in the furo," said Akane 
with a tired grin.  "Fighting with that debutante bitch was quite a 
workout."

"I noticed that."  A rather smug look briefly crossed Nabiki's 
features.  I wonder how long it would have taken me to win against 
Kodachi?  The thought of losing never crossed her mind.

"She's a strong opponent," admitted Akane with a smile.  "I really 
enjoyed the fight with her."  Nabiki glanced at her younger sister with 
a neutral expression.

The sooner I get you away from Ranma, the better, little sister, she 
thought.  I'm a much better match for him than you are, and that goes 
double now that he and I have gone through the experiences that we 
have.  We have a connection of sorts now, a common bond between us.  It 
will be interesting to see how our skills measure up against each 
other.

The couple continued walking towards home in silence.

                   ******************************

"Three young ladies to choose from for my son already," said Nodoka 
with a smile.  "A mother should always have such problems."

Otsu nodded.  "I am pleased that I was able to meet you today and go 
over the candidates."

"As am I," agreed Nodoka with a bright smile.  "I can hardly wait to 
show him the choices available to him for his new bride.  I plan to do 
it after dinner tonight."

"You will not make the choice yourself?"  Otsu felt a small amount of 
panic arising.  "I thought that you, and possibly your husband, would 
be making the final selection."  She began putting away the three 
portfolios, leaving Nodoka with only the pictures that she had been 
given.

"Ranma will be allowed to make the final choice himself.  But I will 
want to meet them all in person myself to judge their fitness to marry 
my son.  However, based on what I have seen and heard of these three 
candidates so far, any one of them would be acceptable to me for my 
future daughter-in-law.  I suppose I could even engage him to them all, 
and then let him choose one for himself."  Nodoka briefly chuckled at 
her little joke while Otsu raised a single eyebrow, and then she looked 
at Otsu with a serious expression.  "I do want my son to marry for love 
though, Mitsuma-san.  Genma and I were an arranged marriage in our 
youth, but we love each other too."

"Well, my personal recommendation is the Tendo girl," said Otsu mildly 
as she closed up her attaché case.  "Based on what I now know of you 
and your son from talking with you, I feel that Nabiki would be the 
best choice.  I hope that you will keep Chrysanthemum in mind when it 
comes time to plan the wedding."  She resumed her smile as Nodoka put 
the pictures of the three girls away into her purse.

"Oh, I shall.  I know, whichever girl he chooses, that Ranma will make 
the right choice."

I hope so, thought Otsu with an internal grimace.  I sincerely hope so.

                   ******************************

As he tried to leave the Kunos' mansion, Kodachi remembered that Ranma 
had to go back to the Academy.  Unable to think of him being late 
because of her, she insisted that the family car drive him back.  He 
fought the suggestion until her mother announced that he would ride in 
the car or her family's hospitality would be dishonored.  Because of 
this, he found himself alone in the changing room a full half-hour 
before his match with Nabiki.

He was surprised to find an unexpected present inside his locked locker 
when he first opened it: a large folded-up shopping bag resting within.  
He still had not yet opened it up, and the humble package had mocked 
him silently as he undressed.  However, while he stood there, dressed 
only in his boxer shorts and socks, his curiosity could no longer be 
denied.  He set down the T-shirt that he had been about to put on and 
pulled the bag out from his locker.  It was a plain brown in color, of 
a type that could have come from any one of ten thousand different 
shops in Tokyo.

I wonder where this came from?  He unfolded the bag open.  Inside it 
were several soft objects wrapped in tissue.  He reached in, and his 
questing fingers pulled out a disturbingly familiar item from among one 
such tissue-wrapped bundle, a silk Chinese-style shirt in red with 
white cuffs.  A small piece of paper fell from within the shirt to 
softly land on the floor at his feet.  He did not move for several 
moments, his eyes studying the shirt with an oddly fascinated look in 
them.  After a moment, his gaze shifted to look down at the small 
innocent-looking piece of paper, and he bent down to pick it up.

The kanji was precisely scripted in a feminine style, and he read the 
short message silently, 'Wear these for our first match - Nabiki.'  He 
held the small piece of paper in his hands with disbelief writ large in 
his eyes, but a moment later his gaze quickly shifted to the red silk 
shirt held in his other hand.  A mirthless smile slowly came across his 
face, and he mentally slapped himself for not putting things together 
even sooner and figuring out who his unexpected visitor was already.

So it was you, eh, Nabiki? he thought, with that same, odd smile still 
on his face.  This is going to be interesting, after all.  His few 
retained memories of that life, where it was Nabiki who was heir to the 
Anything-Goes School, instead of himself, were not as clear to him as 
the imprinted ones from his first test.  However, he suspected that he 
was in for a true challenge of his newly-gained martial arts skills.  
His smile grew broader.

A short time later, Ranma emerged from the locker room, dressed in an 
outfit that felt like a second skin on him, not something that he wore 
for the very first time: a red, Chinese-style silk shirt with wooden 
ties holding the front together and broad white cuffs folded back, a 
pair of black gi pants with the cuffs tied tightly at the ankles, a 
thin black belt around his waist, and a pair of black slippers on his 
feet.  The feel of the clothes on his body was both new and all-too-
familiar to him at the same time.  However, it felt oddly right to be 
dressed this way, and that feeling brought a hint of genuine amusement 
to his eyes.

Nabiki looked up when the pigtailed boy walked around the corner of the 
building, and she had a smile on her face that was very similar to the 
one he wore.  It looks like I figured correctly, she thought, noting 
how easily he moved in his new clothes.  He now looked identical to the 
image she had from her new memories, and her expression changed to a 
pleased smirk at the sight.  Red suits him, she finally decided, 
nodding her head to him for a moment as she continued to stretch out 
her long legs in front of herself and limber up.  When her gaze briefly 
locked with his, she noted the light of battle that appeared in his 
eyes upon sight of her, one she was sure was also within her own.

A few seconds before meeting her gaze, Ranma had eyed her sparring 
outfit with a smirk, showing not a whit of surprise on his face, as if 
he had simply confirmed something for himself that he had already known 
to be true.  Her clothing was nearly identical to his own, except for 
her wearing a light blue shirt instead of a red one like he was.  He 
met her gaze with a cocky look on his face, still confident in himself.  
Their eyes locked for a moment, and he took note of the confident look 
she wore as well.  The desire to test himself against her grew a little 
stronger, and from the look on her face, he was sure that she felt 
similar desires.  A breeze arose briefly, blowing a few scattered 
leaves and cherry blossoms between them.

Then the moment was gone, and their gazes broke from each other.  Her 
eyes slowly moved up and down his body, studying him in an appraising 
fashion, as he shook his head briefly to clear it.  What had been the 
most jarring thing to him in that moment though was the incredible 
feeling of rightness at being in her presence, being dressed as he was, 
and seeing her dressed as she was.

Besides, Ranma thought, studying the Chinese-style clothed girl, she 
actually looks pretty cute dressed like that.  After he thought that, 
he shook his head worriedly once again and tried hard to put a neutral 
expression onto his face.

"Looking good, Ranma-kun," said Nabiki with quite genuine appreciation 
when she finally lifted her gaze back up to look him in the eyes once 
more, catching him right in the middle of admiring her and causing him 
to look uncertain once again.  Feeling playful, she sat back, resting 
her hands palms-down on the ground behind her, the artful pose 
emphasizing the sizable swell of her breasts beneath the silken shirt 
and bringing a large lump to his throat.  Apparently quite satisfied 
with the effect that she had had on him from the look on his face, she 
smirked at him very confidently and seductively asked, "So, are you 
ready to test your might against me today?"

Before he could make any sort of response to that, she shifted her 
position forward, her hands reaching down her legs to grasp both of her 
slippered feet as she lowered her head down, another intentionally 
artful pose on her part that earned her a faint sort of groaning sound 
from the pigtailed teen.  As she went back to stretching out her leg 
muscles some more, she heard him settle himself nearby with some soft 
grumbles.  His proximity to her was once again evoking the same mildly 
pleasant tingling within her that it had always done before, but they 
were now given a new depth, colored by her new awareness of him as a 
rival in combat skill.  The Tendo girl found herself grinning, and her 
sense of anticipation for the match was increasing.

"Just be ready to lose, Nabiki," grumbled Ranma, a little sullenly, as 
he began to do his own stretching routine.  He sat a little ways away 
from her to give them both plenty of room to warm up, and he tried to 
ignore her presence as best he could, focusing all of his mental 
faculties on his own body and preparing himself for the match.  
However, his eyes kept drifting back to look at her during random 
moments, and he found himself admiring the clean lines of her body.  He 
was just studying her for possible weaknesses, or at least that was 
what he kept telling himself that he was doing.  And, much as it had 
been before his match with Akane, he felt his pulse quickening, his 
breathing deepening, and the same competitive fire that had filled his 
soul then began burning within him once more.  It helped him focus his 
thoughts on his current purpose for being, to fight with all of his 
skill and all of his strength.

Nabiki had her legs spread wide apart, straining slightly against the 
resistance of the muscles in her inner thighs as she found her eyes 
once again drawn to Ranma, flustering her concentration a little bit.  
Other than her confrontation with him in Fuyutsuki's office, this was 
the first time that she had seen him since her experiences the night 
before, and her new awareness of him as a person, as an equal, left her 
feeling oddly agitated.  She forced herself to ignore the feelings that 
he was evoking within her merely by his nearness through sheer force of 
will, and her thoughts finally calmed.  She continued to limber herself 
up for the match, feeling her body almost instinctively readying itself 
for combat, her mind clearing of all other thoughts but for a single, 
driving purpose, to unleash the warrior soul now within her.  She 
sensed her heart rate speeding up, the blood within her body beginning 
to flow more strongly as her muscles loosened up, and her breathing 
deepening.

The two coaches, Takami and Fujinami, watched the young couple from a 
short distance away.  Takami had casually pulled the other man away 
when Nabiki emerged in her unexpected choice for workout garb.  They 
consulted with each other quietly, both feeling something in the air 
was about to happen.  Shortly after Ranma walked out in a similar 
outfit to hers, Fuyutsuki had emerged from the main building to stand 
with them.

"I see that I'm not too late for the show," he noted with a mild smile.

"No, you're right on time," said Takami.  "They should be ready to 
begin in a little while.  I was planning on having them get the 
sparring match out of the way first, before I put them through their 
paces."

"They make an intriguing pair," rumbled Fujinami, eyeing the two 
similarly-garbed youths.  He was a rather large-framed man, almost six 
feet in height, and his heavily-muscled build showed very few signs of 
deterioration, despite the bright streaks of gray stretching back from 
his temples.  "They both show surprisingly great internal strength to 
my eyes, despite their youth."

Fuyutsuki turned to face him.  "Indeed?  Fascinating."  He turned to 
look at the two teenagers, a broader smile appearing on his face, and 
he felt an almost paternal pride now that he was about to see them in 
action.  He set down the small video camera and data recorder where 
they would be able to capture all of the action, or so he hoped.  I can 
hardly wait to see them begin, he mused.  This is so thrilling.

"Watching them fight each other will prove instructive for me, so that 
I may better gauge their abilities," said Fujinami.  "I feel that 
today's match will be most enlightening."  A very rare smile crossed 
the man's craggy face.

Fuyutsuki nodded at that, but most of his attention was on activating 
the small pieces of equipment near him.  He eyed the small video 
monitor in his hand, and then he activated the miniaturized data 
recorder unit.  A stream of very tiny numerals began scrolling on the 
screen as the small computer began its task of gathering data on the 
two youths.  It would not be until after the end of the match, when he 
was able to analyze the data using the more powerful system in his 
office, that he would be able to obtain a rough estimate on their 
current combat capabilities.

After their initial warm-up drills were over, the two teenagers moved 
back onto the large, padded mat that had been laid out on the concrete 
for their match.  They knelt across from each other, only a scant few 
feet of mat separating them now, and then Ranma once again smiled 
confidently across at Nabiki, his cool, blue eyes level with her own 
gaze.  She returned the smile with an equally confident, perhaps a 
trifle smug one of her own as they both studied each other carefully, 
and, as if by mutual consent, they each eventually found themselves 
held by the other's gaze.  There was almost a gentleness in their 
regard for each other, a calm sensuality in the attraction that they 
both felt, so unlike the raw sexual need that Ranma had experienced 
with Akane at a similar time.
 
"Think you can take me, Ranma-kun?" asked Nabiki suddenly, a soft husk 
in her voice as she spoke, briefly breaking the subtle spell between 
them for a moment.  Her body felt ready for combat.  Her focus was now 
exclusively on the pigtailed boy, her chosen opponent.  However, other 
unexplored feelings for him hovered in the back of her mind as an 
almost comforting presence.

"That sounds much more like a question I should be asking you, Nabiki," 
he replied with a steady look into her unwavering gaze.  "It looks as 
if we'll soon see who takes who though."  He felt very much aware of 
himself and his surroundings, especially of the quite attractive and 
intelligent-looking girl now kneeling before him.  He felt oddly 
intimate with her, but also very much aware of the subtle cues that her 
body was giving off that told him that she was a capable opponent, and 
one to be respected.  It was a strange mixture of desire and challenge, 
and the moment of truth between them was very near now.

"Yes, we will, Ranma-kun."  Nabiki spoke almost absently.  Her lips 
parted slightly as she felt her passions kindling and building within 
her, mixing into her awareness of Ranma as an opponent and as a man.  
It was like a primal instinct was awakening and flickering into life 
within her.  Her gaze did not waver at all as she noticed the faint 
aura that suddenly emerged around him, a bluish light that aroused an 
almost carnal awareness of him from somewhere very deep within.  She 
continued to hold fast to his gaze, while wearing her now vaguely 
predatory smile, one that matched his.  She felt a deep longing growing 
within her, as if she burned with a desire to fulfill the purpose to 
which she was born to, one which she had been unaware of until she saw 
it reflected from his eyes.

To Ranma's view, there suddenly seemed to be an odd halo of dim bluish 
light that rose up around Nabiki's body, an almost unnoticeable nimbus 
of energy.  At perhaps that same moment, he felt himself being 
surrounded by one as well, clothing his body like an intangible and 
invisible veil.  It was as if something within him had apparently 
answered to, or perhaps had given, an unspoken challenge as the result 
of a previously unknown instinct.  It was as if he and the girl before 
him had each triggered something in the other, something new to both of 
them, a mere hint of a previously unsuspected and untapped power within 
each of them.  The odd effect only lasted for a few moments though, 
dissipating almost as rapidly as it arose.  His eyes remained firmly 
locked onto hers, as her gaze was still riveted to his own.

"Fascinating," murmured Fujinami.  The energy, invisible to the average 
eye, had been quite clear to his trained senses, and he again marveled 
at the sight of the two youths.  That they appeared to have done it 
only by reflex, rather than by conscious intention, made it even more 
astonishing to him.  As he studied the two youths closely, he was oddly 
reminded of two powerful predators suddenly finding themselves face-to-
face with each other, especially from the odd smiles that they were 
giving to each other.  He slowly walked over to them to act as the 
referee, and he sensed them become aware of him without taking their 
gazes from each other.

"This is only sparring, you two," said Fujinami in his very deep voice.  
"So keep the damage levels down to a low roar, but show me what each of 
you is capable of.  This is to be a test of skill, not an Arena 
deathmatch.  I assume that that is acceptable?" Both of them nodded 
with a jerk of their heads as they stood up, eager to begin, their 
attentions still mainly on the opponent who stood opposite them.

Unlike when he had faced Akane, Ranma did not feel possessed of the 
almost animalistic desire to assert his male dominance over Nabiki, not 
quite.  There did exist an oddly intense awareness of the girl before 
him, but he also felt a strong sense of camaraderie with her as well.  
He wanted to win against her, but he didn't exactly want to bend her to 
his will as he had felt himself desiring to do with Akane.  Instead, he 
felt an eagerness to challenge himself against an equal, one whom he 
subconsciously recognized as somehow being both a rival and a friend at 
the same time.  They were both accidentally-adopted heirs of the 
Anything-Goes School, and that created a subtle bond between them that 
was undeniable, both within the ring of combat and outside of it.

As the last few moments before the sparring match was to begin ticked 
away, Nabiki experienced a multitude of sensations and feelings filling 
her that were both new and exciting, yet they also felt as familiar to 
her as her own breath.  She felt the muscles in her body almost humming 
with the desire to begin, and her nerves and reflexes felt sharp as she 
studied her opponent.  Her lungs filled and emptied of air in a deep, 
regular pattern, and the blood almost seemed to sing in her veins.  She 
flipped Ranma a quick thumbs-up and a coy smile before raising her 
hands up into a guard position, feeling felt ready for anything.

Coach Fujinami moved off to one side.  He was reasonably certain that 
they understood the instructions, and neither of them looked like they 
intended to kill the other.  He slowly raised his hand and then dropped 
it swiftly.

"BEGIN!"

The pair came together in a rush, and they met each other in the exact 
middle of the space between them.  Their initial exchange of blows was 
almost cautious, despite their mutual eagerness for what they were now 
doing.  Still, each of them held nothing back of their martial arts 
skills, as Fujinami watched them carefully, analyzing their abilities 
with care.  The two young fighters began testing each other, both of 
them quickly becoming caught up in the thrill of the struggle going on 
between them, as they drove each other to the limits of what they were 
capable of.

Nabiki quickly found herself to have a modest edge in speed over Ranma, 
despite his many recent weeks of intensive physical training.  However, 
she was now undergoing her second year of the Academy's physical 
training program, and she was at the very top of her class in ability, 
even if she hadn't really been pushing herself to her body's full 
limits.  It was also quite clear to her that her martial arts skills, 
so newly-gained from her counterpart, were roughly equal to the 
pigtailed boy's own (and likely better), but it was difficult for her 
to judge since neither of them had managed to land a solid blow on the 
other yet.  However, she did know that she was enjoying this test of 
her new skills a great deal, finding an intensely powerful sense of 
satisfaction in challenging herself against a very worthy opponent, 
like Ranma was quickly proving himself to be.

As he struggled to overcome the Tendo girl's surprisingly equal level 
of skill, Ranma quickly discovered that he was not feeling the absolute 
certainty of victory now that he had against Akane, and yet that very 
same uncertainty filled him with an excited thrill.  He was even now 
pushing his speed, power and skills to their present limits, and he was 
finding that she was able to match him every step of the way.  As their 
struggle against each other continued, the balance between them quickly 
swung back and forth, never seeming to move too far from equilibrium.  
He was finding that it was only his slightly greater physical strength 
and reach that enabled him to offset her marginally faster speed and 
possibly greater skill.

Coach Fujinami analyzed the patterns of their attacks and defenses as 
both young fighters moved at an astonishing level of speed against each 
other.  What intrigued him most was that they were both using a common 
central style to their movements, but it was one that he had never seen 
before in his entire life.  This mysterious central style was very 
difficult to pick out as they moved against each other, yet it was 
undeniably present.  To his added amazement, he also counted no less 
than three dozen different martial arts styles being utilized in the 
two young warriors' individual combat repertoires.  Bits and pieces of 
each form's best elements were all being overlaid on top of this 
unknown, central style.

Amazing, thought Fujinami with a solemn look.  Their skills are most 
impressive indeed.  I look forward to training them to reach the limits 
of their capabilities, if they even have any.  Never before have I seen 
two fighters with such high levels of potential.  He remained standing 
at his position, his impassive, stone-gray eyes calmly watching the 
events proceeding before him as the two adolescents fought hard against 
each other.  It was appearing as if Nabiki was gaining the upper hand 
ever so slowly, but it was difficult to say for certain.

You're good, Ranma-kun, thought Nabiki with a wolfish grin as she 
ducked under his fist.  You're very good indeed.  Her lightning-fast 
counterstrike narrowly missed his jaw as he parried it with a forearm.  
Her knee blocked a kick, and one of his quick evasions kept her foot 
from slamming into his gut on her next counterstrike.  However, after 
over ten minutes of heavy sparring, she was starting to feel the first 
hints of exhaustion beginning to slow her limbs, but she just forced 
her body to maintain its present, full-speed fury.

It was now, during their current jockeying for dominance in their 
sparring match, that she finally realized something interesting to her.  
On her counterpart's world, that version of herself was clearly the 
best by far to any of the other young fighters in her peer group, and 
she presumed that it was the same on that other world where Ranma had 
gained his own, equally impressive skills from.  But here, neither of 
them could claim to be the clear and absolute best, and that fact 
intrigued her a great deal.  So they continued to duel against each 
other, their full skills unleashed, both battling intensely for control 
of the course of the fight, and each refusing to yield the smallest 
amount to the other.

"We seem to be even on the ground," admitted Ranma as he eyed Nabiki 
momentarily during a brief lull.  They had broken apart from each other 
to circle warily, each of them mustering their strength back up before 
engaging the other once again.  "So let's see how you deal with this."  
He gathered his legs beneath him and sprang into the air to attack her 
from above, or at least that was his plan.

"Nice try, Ranma-kun."  Nabiki grinned wolfishly, her reflexes already 
triggering her legs to leap up to meet him in mid-air, before she had 
even begun to consciously think about it.  "But aerial combat is a 
specialty of the Anything-Goes School.  You should know that."  The two 
of them came together in a furious display of talent, fists and feet 
flashing against each other for the brief time that they almost seemed 
to hang suspended in the air.

Such skill they both have, such wondrous martial arts skill, thought 
Fuyutsuki, gazing with unabashed admiration as he watched the two 
adolescents battling hard against each other, a sort of paternal smile 
upon his face.

For several long minutes, the two struggling martial artists managed to 
achieve a rough stalemate with each other, but it could not last 
forever.  They landed only a few feet apart, but each was now filled 
with a fierce desire for victory that would not be denied, both caught 
up in the passions that were swirling between them.  A single moment 
later, they each launched into the sky once again, unleashing another 
rapid-fire exchange against each other, neither one quite able to 
penetrate the defenses of their opponent.

Until the final moment.

Time seemed to stand still as there was the distinctive sound of two 
fists striking solidly against flesh and bone.  The two young martial 
artists seemed to hang suspended in the air for a moment, as the three 
onlookers finally saw what had just happened.  Nabiki's left fist had 
caught Ranma squarely across the jaw, a powerful blow backed by her 
whole shoulder behind it that had kayoed him almost instantly upon 
impact.  However, his right fist had slammed into her cheek at exactly 
the same moment with equal strength, driving it through the small hole 
in her defenses and achieving a double knockout.  Both fighters wore 
very surprised looks on their faces in the moment before they each fell 
unconscious and plummeted down to land sprawled out upon the mat.  The 
pigtailed boy ended up landing face-down, his jaw already purpling, and 
the Tendo girl fell to land face-up, her face also bearing a large 
bruise on her left cheek.

"Hmm," murmured Fujinami.  "A cross-counterstrike punch to end their 
first match.  Interesting."  He slowly settled himself next to Nabiki, 
bending his knees deeply as he reached out one hand to turn her head 
from side to side.  He looked up at Fuyutsuki.  "She appears to be 
simply stunned and should awaken shortly."  He moved over to Ranma and 
gently flipped him over onto his back, before his fingers moved to 
lightly touch the unconscious boy's jaw.  He grunted when he was 
satisfied that there was no significant damage done to either of them.

Fuyutsuki moved nearer, his thoughts unreadable behind a mask of 
professional calm as he looked down at the girl, her face slack-jawed 
and bruised.  You did very well, my dear, even though it was a tie.  I 
now know that you will be able to obtain your five victories against 
young Saotome, which will stifle his protests as to your physical 
capabilities.  After what I have just witnessed, I don't see that as 
being any sort of difficulty now.

"They were fighting using the same style," noted Fujinami, looking over 
at Fuyutsuki, who was now squatting down to study Nabiki's unconscious 
form more closely.  "It was a Kempo style, of that much I'm sure, but 
it was nothing like I have ever seen before.  I heard the girl call it 
the Anything-Goes School during the match.  I have to confess that I've 
never heard of any such school of martial arts."

"Indeed?" asked Fuyutsuki, his eyes studying the fallen couple.  Where 
could they have gained such skills?  It did not make any sense.  He 
paused in his thoughts and smiled slightly.  Still, it didn't really 
matter.  They have them now, and I intend to see how far they are able 
to drive each other.  Now, more than ever before, I am certain that the 
two of them will make an excellent pairing.

After several minutes, Nabiki groaned and blinked her eyes open, her 
hand moving up to touch her cheek and wincing at the pain.  I guess I 
lost, she thought, sitting up slowly only to see that Ranma was 
returning to consciousness now as well.  Perhaps not.

Owww, was Ranma's first conscious thought, his jaw feeling like someone 
had hit it with a sledgehammer.  He blinked his eyes open to see Nabiki 
sitting there near him on the mat, her knees pulled up in front of her 
as she smirked at him.  I lost?  To Nabiki?  He stared at the Chinese-
style clothed girl for a moment.

"Welcome back to the living, Ranma-kun," she said, a more normal smile 
now on her face.  She noticed his attention being drawn to the bruise 
on her cheek, and smirked at him again.  "You hit pretty hard.  Trying 
to break my face?"

"Not especially."  Ranma sat up.  He felt the pain of his jaw pulsing 
in intensity, but it was ignorable.  "You hit pretty hard, too."  He 
paused, a half-smile on his lips as he continued, "for a cute girl, 
that is."

"You got that right, Ranma-kun," she said, staring him right in the 
eyes, her smile turning almost coy.  "Don't you ever forget it, 
either."  She lowered her knees slightly and rested her palms on the 
ground behind her once again.  She saw his eyes drifting down her front 
reflexively before he pulled them away.  She felt pleased at his 
attention.

"Ah, I see that my two new pupils are now awake," said Fujinami in calm 
tones, interrupting the scene, his deep voice rumbling.  "You two 
youngsters show a lot of promise as martial artists."  He walked over 
from where he had been talking with Takami.  Fuyutsuki was no longer 
present.

More than you know, thought both youths at almost the same time.  They 
looked at each other briefly, appraisingly.

"But now that you're both recovered, it's now time to train," said the 
large man.  "So get off your butts and hit the track.  I want each of 
you to finish ten kilometers.  You have thirty minutes."  He frowned 
when they did not immediately get up, and he roared at them with a 
truly astonishing amount of presence, "I said, GET GOING!  And because 
of your laziness, whoever comes in last must give me a hundred sit-ups 
and push-ups after we finish the rest of your workout today!"

The two of them leaped to their feet and took off at a run, the dust of 
their departure scarcely settling before they were halfway to the 
track.  Fujinami stared after them with a neutral look on his craggy 
face, but inside he was smiling.

                   ******************************

Fuyutsuki took the small disk from inside the recorder unit that he had 
taken with him and inserted it into the computer on his desk.  He 
hummed softly as he waited for the software to download the data and 
images that he had recorded of his two special students.  A nameless 
technician had developed this particular program a few years earlier 
for use in the Arena, to evaluate the combat potentials of the various 
fighters for odds-setting purposes, but it was also ideally suited for 
his current needs.  He made a mental note to get a record of the Kuno 
girl's data, in addition to a video of one of her fights for his 
analysis of her progress.

After several minutes, the system finally beeped that it had finished 
processing the data and video images, and he leaned forward to see the 
results on the monitor.  He punched up Ranma's information first and 
watched as the screen cleared and a video sample taken from the fight 
was displayed in one window.  In another box, the computer began 
running down its preliminary calculations for the teenaged martial 
artist's vital statistics.

Name: Ranma Saotome
Age: 16
Sex: Male
Height: 1.71 meters
Mass: 67 kilograms
Physical Capabilities:
    Structural Integrity:  82.51
    Muscle Strength:  85.78
    Lung Capacity:  83.24
    Eyesight:  82.96
    Auditon:  94.98
    Dynamic Eyesight:  94.63
    Metabolism:  95.19
    Neuroreflex:  93.99
Offensive Capability:  80.75 
Defensive Capability:  83.94
Recoverability:  88.92
Speed:  86.45
Perseverance:  87.89
Objectivity:  82.38
Perception:  90.12
Judgment:  87.44
Adaptability:  89.65
Estimated Current Fighting Capacity:  1490.82

"A most excellent beginning, Ranma," he said, smiling.  "I have very 
high hopes indeed that you will only grow stronger still.  As it is, 
your abilities would stand up against some of the best Arena fighters 
of around your same age.  Now, let us see how Nabiki is rated."  He 
punched a few more keys and the view on the screen quickly changed to a 
few highlights of her movements and a new list of calculated statistics 
appeared.

Name: Nabiki Tendo
Age: 17
Sex: Female
Height: 1.68 meters
Mass: 52 kilograms
Physical Capabilities:
    Structural Integrity:  80.27
    Muscle Strength:  80.29
    Lung Capacity:  81.99
    Eyesight:  83.22
    Auditon:  96.05
    Dynamic Eyesight:  95.11
    Metabolism:  95.37
    Neuroreflex:  94.82
Offensive Capability:  81.39
Defensive Capability:  84.25
Recoverability:  88.14
Speed:  88.72
Perseverance:  88.06
Objectivity:  85.11
Perception:  91.25
Judgment:  89.86
Adaptability:  87.41
Estimated Current Fighting Capacity:  1491.31

"Marginally better than the boy's, but so close as to be almost the 
same," he noted with mild surprise.  A difference of fifty basis points 
or less was considered to be roughly an equal match.  "It will be quite 
interesting to see how they do, now that they will be competing against 
each other.  I must make a point of monitoring their training more 
closely now."  With the tap of a few keystrokes, he quickly saved all 
of the files, and then he closed down the software with a somewhat 
bemused look on his face.

Fuyutsuki steepled his fingers together and turned his chair to face 
out the window in his office, watching the shadows lengthening around 
the building as the sun lowered in the sky.  He was mildly troubled by 
such an unexpected, overnight improvement of the two as fighters, but 
it had put him ahead of his timetable so he did not question his good 
fortune.  I am sure that I will learn the reason why in time, he mused.  
He smiled, content for the moment at the course of events.

                   ******************************

Ranma hung his head wearily as he stood beneath the blast of hot water 
that was sluicing down on him from the shower nozzle.  He and Nabiki 
had hardly spoken during class, both of them concentrating on outdoing 
the other, and the extra push-ups and sit-ups that he had to do for 
coming in a single pace behind her had pretty much drained the last of 
his reserves.  The ache in his jaw had finally stopped a while ago, and 
he rubbed the back of one hand gently against it.  To find out that he 
had tied her had been a surprise to him, but he was looking forward to 
their rematch tomorrow.  He planned on practicing a little before 
classes in the backyard, to try and give himself some sort of an edge 
that he could use against the girl he now had to contend with.

Nabiki beat me, he thought, feeling just a little irritated at that. 
Well, actually she tied me, but the principle is the same since I 
didn't win.  He lifted his face up and let the hot water spray him in 
the face.  It feels rather strange to meet a girl who is now my equal 
in skill, especially with it being her.  I wonder how the other Ranma 
would handle it?

His tired mind was not giving him the answer though, and it was perhaps 
just as well.  He shut the water off and let himself drip dry for a few 
moments before grabbing his towel and drying off briskly.  He sauntered 
out to the locker area and opened up his locker.  He pulled the dirty 
workout clothes from within and placed them back into the paper bag, 
taking a moment to examine the red silk shirt with a slight smile.  He 
then stuffed the bag into his bookbag.

He quickly changed clothes, and put his uniform back on.  He slung his 
bag up onto his shoulder and walked out of the locker room.  It had 
been a very long, odd day today, and he simply wanted to go home, eat, 
and not have to think about girls, martial arts, or the very chaotic 
confusion that his life seemed to be quickly becoming.

                   ******************************

At the main gate, the setting sun illuminated the waiting figures of 
Kuno and Mikado.  They had been standing, solemnly waiting, for the 
better part of an hour after the last cadets had filed out past them, 
but the target of their wrath had not made an appearance yet.  It 
looked like he had already left, and Kuno was feeling more than a 
little put out by that.  Mikado was simply bored.

"I don't think that he's coming," observed Mikado.  He tapped the tip 
of his wooden weapon against the ground.

"That wretch, Saotome!" grumbled the other boy, his hand gripping the 
handle of his bokken more tightly.  "He probably saw me waiting for him 
and has fled like a coward from my awesome prowess!"  His stomach 
suddenly rumbled loudly, and he grimaced.  "Perhaps I shall pursue my 
vengeance anon, but my wrath shall be even greater for the delay."

"I should be getting home to dinner as well," noted the other boy.  "I 
have to face my prospective fiancée once again."  He sighed at the 
thought of having to marry a ditzy, little airhead like Azusa 
Shiratori, but the girl's family was gaining in prominence in the 
Empire and his father thought it would make a good match.  Of course, 
now that Kuno-kun is so concerned about his sister spending time with 
this Saotome fellow, perhaps now might be a good time to try and 
persuade my father to pursue a match between me and sweet Kodachi-chan, 
he thought with a calculating look towards his friend.

"I will have my driver drop you off on my way home," said Kuno.

"I thank you," replied Mikado.  "Perhaps we can try this again tomorrow 
morning?  We can catch Saotome when he arrives."

"An excellent plan!  The morning sun shall bear witness to the fall of 
Ranma Saotome at my hand!"

The two young noblemen turned around and entered the limousine that had 
remained waiting by the curb for them to finish their duel with Ranma.  
The long vehicle sped away from the front gate, back towards their 
respective manors.

                   ******************************

Less than two minutes later, Ranma walked around the corner of the main 
building, rubbing his neck with one hand to relieve a stiff muscle in 
it.  He headed out from the campus through the main gate area, his left 
foot stepping right where Kuno was just standing, and then continuing 
past to continue on his way home.

When he arrived at the Saotome household, he was very tired and hungry.  
He slipped off his shoes and left his bookbag by the door.  He could 
smell dinner waiting, and he was powerless to resist its siren call.  
His stomach was sending urgent messages to his brain.

Nodoka heard the front door open and close, and the distinctive sounds 
of someone fumbling around in the entryway area, as she was putting the 
finishing touches on dinner.  She turned down the heat on the stove and 
checked the rice cooker, and then stepped into the hallway.  "Ranma?  
Is that you?"

"Yeah, Mom," Ranma replied as he pulled his shoes off.  "It's me."

He called me Mom?  She then noticed a bandage on his face and frowned.  
Since when does my son take to using slang talk?  What sort of uncouth 
people has he been spending time with?  She took a closer look at her 
son.  "What happened to your face, young man?"  Her tone of voice was 
one that mothers have used since the dawn of time.

"Just something that happened to me during my training class," he 
replied, not meeting her stern gaze.  "It's only a bruise, really.  
See?"  He quickly peeled the bandage away from it, revealing a purple 
and yellow contusion on his jaw to her view.

He's been in a fight again, she noted as she narrowed her eyes a little 
at the sight, since it clearly looked like a fist strike to her eyes.  
He looks awful.  First there were all those bruises and injuries on him 
yesterday, and again he looks hurt today.  What is going on with him?  
Has he joined some sort of gang?  She was more than a little concerned 
that her only son was coming home looking like he'd been in a fight 
once again, but she decided to refrain from commenting now.  So she put 
a smile on her face and welcomed him home.

"Welcome home, Son.  Your father said he'd be working late at the 
Ministry tonight, so dinner will just be you and me.  Take your place 
at the table, and I will serve dinner."  She turned around, walked back 
into the kitchen, and busied herself at scooping food into serving 
bowls.

"That sounds great, Mom," said Ranma, a little tiredly, after her 
retreating back.  He walked over to his usual place at the table and 
slumped down there.  He noticed his mother looking over at him with 
concern.  Maybe before I go to sleep, I'll do a little research on the 
datanet tonight, he thought with a slight yawn.  I'll see if I can find 
listings for some of the others.  If I'm here, and the Tendos are here, 
then maybe Ukyo and Shampoo are too.  He settled back to wait as he 
softly tapped his chopsticks against the table.

Nodoka came out of the kitchen with a serving tray.  She started to set 
bowls of food down on the dining room table.  Ranma felt his mouth 
begin watering.  His appetite had been going up with all of the added 
exercise that had been getting, and the urge to consume everything on 
the table was becoming almost overpowering.

"Tough day, Son?" she asked.  Perhaps engaging him to Ukyo would be 
prudent, she thought seriously.  I'm sure that she could protect Ranma 
from whoever keeps beating him up.

"It wasn't one of my better ones," replied Ranma, a little sullenly.  

Nodoka set out the last item, a large serving bowl of rice.  She 
finished serving her son and herself, and he immediately began eating 
at a rapid pace.  She watched in stunned silence, her chopsticks 
halfway to her mouth with a piece of chicken, as Ranma consumed all of 
the food in his bowl in seconds.  Didn't he eat at all today?  She saw 
that he was almost ready to hand her his bowl for another serving of 
rice when she set her bowl down and just stared at him, but he 
continued to eat at his manic pace.  She coughed politely into her 
fist, but he didn't appear to notice her as he scooped up the last bits 
of rice.  She coughed again, a little louder as she looked at him.

Ranma paused, suddenly realizing what he was doing.  Uh oh, he thought 
worriedly.  Mom hates poor table manners.  He set his bowl down, and 
smiled innocently as he swallowed the food in his mouth.  She continued 
to look at him with a slight frown on her face.

"My goodness, Son.  I haven't ever seen you so hungry before.  Did you 
skip lunch or something?"  She hurriedly dealt him out another generous 
helping of rice and chicken, but she still frowned deeply at him.

"Uhm, sorry," he said.  He had been so hungry that the other Ranma's 
instincts had just seemed to take over.  "I guess I wasn't thinking too 
clearly."

"Yes, well, you clearly have had a rough day, but that does not entitle 
you to display such atrocious manners at the dinner table," said Nodoka 
sternly.  "I would hope that all my weeks of coaching you in the proper 
etiquette would be showing more results by now.  Is this how you expect 
to eat when in polite company?"  She sighed.  She did not want to spoil 
her good news by upsetting her only son, so she smiled before speaking 
once again.  "But it's all right, Ranma.  Just don't make a habit of 
eating like this.  After all, how do you expect to win a girl's heart 
if you eat like some kind of wild animal?  I shudder to think how you 
may act when we have visitors next week."

"Visitors?" he inquired of her as he picked up his bowl and began to 
eat at a more acceptable pace to his mother.  She smiled and set out a 
few photos in front of him.  Ranma glanced down in mild curiosity.  He 
almost swallowed his chopsticks when he saw the three faces that stared 
back at him from the photos.  The mouthful of rice he'd just swallowed 
seemed to be lodged in his throat.

"Well, I had wanted to wait until after dinner to show you my little 
surprise," said Nodoka with a bright smile.  "But now is as good a time 
as any for it.  I took the liberty of visiting with a matchmaker this 
afternoon."  Ranma suddenly looked like he was having some trouble 
breathing.  "These are the three girls that she showed me as potential 
brides for you.  All of them are fine ladies from very good families.  
I'm in the process of making arrangements for you to spend time with 
each of them next week."

Ranma pounded his chest to get the rice he swallowed to go down.  He 
coughed for a moment, and then he gulped down some of his tea.  Nodoka 
looked on in concern.  I certainly never expected this sort of 
reaction, she thought in surprise.  He almost looks scared.

He finally got himself back under control.  He blinked several times as 
he stared at the faces in the photos, as he already knew two of them.  
At least Akane wasn't one of them, he thought with a measure of relief.  
That would have been too much for him to handle at this time, what with 
the youngest Tendo recently developing some sort of potentially violent 
fixation on him.  The third photo was actually a pleasant surprise in 
comparison, but the thought of Ukyo suddenly dropped into his life was 
worth a fear reaction all its own.

"M-m-marriage?" Ranma finally managed to stutter out.

"Why, yes," said Nodoka with a smile, puzzled by his strange reaction 
to the sight of the pictures.  "The nice lady that I met from the 
matchmaking service told me that all three come from fine families in 
the Empire.  You already know the Tendo girl, I think.  The middle one, 
Kodachi Kuno, lives not very far from here.  And the third girl, Ukyo 
Kuonji, comes from a very well-respected family in the Koga mountain 
area, one of the last of the ninja clans.  But her family has managed a 
large shrine in the area for several hundred years."

Ninjas? thought Ranma, getting a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach 
for a moment.  When did the Kuonjis practice Ninjutsu?  But I guess 
that might explain how such a silly thing like a fighting style based 
around okonomiyaki could arise.  At least she's not going to be walking 
around dressed like a boy.  Then he realized that he was probably being 
silly over nothing.  What are the odds of anything strange happening?  
Kodachi is normal, Ukyo looks normal enough, and as for Nabiki, well, 
she did look awfully cute in that outfit.  His mother had gone back to 
looking at him with a puzzled expression.

"Well, what do you think?" asked Nodoka, noticing him holding Nabiki's 
picture the longest of the three of them.

"I guess I should meet them then," he said, somewhat grudgingly, after 
a moment.  "Since you're going to all this trouble of arranging things, 
that is."  He tapped one of his chopsticks on the table as he thought.  
"I'm curious as to something though."

"What is that?"  Nodoka took a sip of her tea.

"Well, why did you feel the need to arrange for a bride for me so 
soon?"  Ranma picked up his cup of tea, and noticed that his hand was 
trembling slightly.  He drank it down quickly.

"Well, you don't have a girlfriend.  I wasn't ever sure if you would be 
able to tear yourself away from your studies long enough to find a girl 
to marry, so I decided, as your mother, who only has your very best 
interests at heart, to arrange for you to meet someone suitable.  I'm 
having the matchmaker arrange for each girl and her parents to visit us 
over the next week."  She set down her teacup, and gave him a 
reassuring smile.

Ranma wasn't feeling reassured at all.  When did I lose control of my 
own life?  But his stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly again, 
still not satisfied with what he had consumed so far, so he decided to 
leave off such worrisome thoughts until later.  His thoughts kept 
drifting to two particular girls though, each of them attractive to him 
for different reasons.  While he still felt a little like the walls 
were starting to close in on his life, he also felt a vague attraction 
to the thought of marriage to one of the two.

Finally, after four bowls of rice and a sizable amount of chicken and 
vegetables had crossed his lips, he sat back and sighed, his hunger now 
satiated.  He got up from the table, thanked his mother for such a 
delicious meal, and headed up to his room with the intention of doing 
some research.

When Ranma got into his room, he eyed the Navi sitting on his desk, 
eyed the futon laid out and ready for him, and sighed.  It can wait 
until tomorrow, he decided.  He peeled off the bandage, grateful to see 
that the bruise was much better than it was a few hours earlier, and by 
morning he was sure that it would be gone.  He undressed, laid down on 
his futon, and he was asleep within moments.

                   ******************************

Ranma found himself in the Tendo Dojo.  His twin sat just opposite him.  
They were dressed nearly the same, except the other boy was in a blue 
shirt instead of wearing a red one like himself.  He wasn't quite sure, 
but he seemed to be wearing the ghost of a smirk on his face.  He 
looked around while he opened his eyes slowly.

"Welcome back," said the other Ranma.  "It looks like you've had a busy 
day."  He smirked more obviously.

"Tell me something I don't know," replied Ranma.  "Now I have my mother 
looking at Nabiki, Kodachi, or Ukyo to be my future fiancée."

Martial-Ranma dropped his feet flat to the floor and suddenly bent over 
as if in extreme pain, hugging his knees.  His body began to convulse, 
and strange, muffled sounds were coming out of him.   While Ranma kept 
looking at his twin, the other boy suddenly reared back and laughed 
deeply.  "Y-you-"  The rest went unsaid as he just continued to laugh 
and laugh.

Ranma didn't sleep well that whole night.

                   ******************************

"I told Ranma about my meeting with the marriage broker during dinner, 
Genma dear," said Nodoka happily as she sat next to him in bed.  He was 
reading a book, and just grunted acknowledgment.  "I think that this 
will work out well for him.  Any one of these three girls seems like 
she would make a good bride for our son."

Genma just grunted again.  It had been a long day at the Ministry, and 
he simply wasn't interested in what he viewed as Nodoka's foolish 
chattering.  His wife, more than a little irritated at his inattention 
to her, grabbed the book away from him, and he blinked his eyes 
owlishly at her.

"Genma Saotome!" she thundered.  "You will listen to me when I'm 
talking about our son's future!"

"Yes, Nodoka-chan," he replied.  He put on his most attentive look.  "I 
still think that Ranma's too young to get tied down with a wife."

"Tied down?"  Nodoka blinked.  "Genma Saotome, are you going to sit 
there and tell me that you've felt trapped and tied down by being 
married to me?"  She folded her arms, looking wrathful.  Genma sighed.

"Of course not, Nodoka-chan," he said in soothing tones.  I'm not that 
stupid, he thought quickly.  "I just think that you may be a little 
premature in trying to find Ranma a bride right now.  The boy still has 
some growing up to do."

"Marriage will do that for him," she said confidently.  "Our son needs 
a strong woman to give him guidance."

"You're probably right, dear.  Can I have my book back now?"

Nodoka narrowed her eyes even more angrily at him.  Genma gulped, and 
he started to sweat a little.  As much as he loved her, Nodoka had 
always intimidated him a little, and she had ever since they were 
married.  If you know what's good for you, my son, you'll prolong the 
decision as long as you possibly can, he thought sincerely.  He began 
placating her, and by the time the lights were turned out they were 
both occupied with something other than arguing.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Special thanks go out to Jim Bader for his permission to borrow from 
his work Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) for Earth +4.614,+4.496 
(Ranma 1/2 cluster).

Thanks to my pre-readers for all of their help and advice:

Michael Allen
Jim Bader
Donny Cheng
David Eddy
David P. Gao
Doug_W
Rhialto
ShortYes
DB Sommer
T.H. Tiger