[ranma][fanfic][lemon] Nullifier 122, part 1

[Webdragon]

Nullifier 122. The very name strikes terror into the hearts of
stout people in a world of superhuman martial artists, and magical items.
Yet, such people have a relationship with the Nullifier that is tentative,
dangerous, yet necessary to the utmost degree.

Webdragon presents Nullifier 122, a fanfic - remastered and
reworked.

[WARNING : It has some semi-lemon bits but don't let them
distract you from the story within.]

C&C is welcome.

Ranma 1/2 = (C) of Shogakukan

Nullifier 122
by Webdragon

Nullifier 122
------------------

Part One : Divisions
-------------------------

It is a special day at Furinkan High School. Today, the annual
festival and fair of all the departments is in full swing. The Arts
department is staging its own production of "The Monkey King" while
the Home Economics classes have been whipping up a batch of goodies.
The Science department is proudly showing off its homemade landmines
and improved chloroform gas while the Sports department is roughing
it up in the field and in the dojo. Akane and Ranma are touring each
exhibit one by one.

"Wow! Ranma, look at these dresses! The Fashion students are
really something!" Akane touched a dark red dress with admiration.
Ranma looked unimpressed at the assortment of dresses with low-cut
bosoms and he snorted in derision.

"What's wrong? Don't think you'll look good in them?" Akane
peered at Ranma with a sly look on her face.

"WHAT?! Keep it down, stupid!"

"I'm just kidding! Ranma, you're such a dope sometimes."

"What makes you think I'll wear a dress?! I'm a guy!"

"Not in your normal form, idiot! In your girl body! Come to
think of it, you'd really look good in one of these dresses. Especially
this red one." Akane takes the red dress out and puts it on her front.

"HEY!! I'm a GUY, alright? So what if I'm a girl half the time.
It's not my fault anyhow." He looked so hurt that it was over-
exaggerated and Akane laughed. Ranma glared at Akane suspiciously
as she put the dress back.

"Hey! What's so funny?!"

"Can't you take a joke?" Akane walks around to another dress.

"Akane!" It was Sayuri. "Come take a look at this dress!"

Akane examines a blue dress, noting the satiny feel of silk. She
blushes slightly when she sees the slit on both sides of the dress, the
better to show the legs off. Her blush turns even redder upon noticing
the low cut bosom. Sayuri notices Akane's blush and she laughs.

"The better to catch guys with, Akane." Sayuri leans closer and
she whispers into Akane's ear. "If you *really* wanted to catch
Ranma's attention, why not buy this dress?"

"What!? What makes you.....", Akane drops her voice to a
whisper, "...I mean...what makes you think I want Ranma anyhow?
He's insensitive, he insults me, he....."

"Don't be coy, Akane. Anemi and the girls know." Sayuri raises
her voice. "Anyway, I'll sell it to you cheap. Only two thousand yen.
That's a steal compared to the sort of dresses you find in the department
store."

"No thanks, Sayuri. Hey, are you still up for the slumber party?"

"Yes! Tonight, at your place, seven p.m.? All of us are coming!"

"That's great, Sayuri!"

"I hope P-Chan will be there, too. If you can find him, that is."

"I'll try my best to find him. I promise."

"Hey!" It was the fashion teacher. "Quit dawdling and come help
me, Sayuri!" Sayuri waves to Akane as she and Ranma leave.

"Well, these seem almost like the last of them. Let's go home.
I'm starving!"

Akane turned about at Ranma's words, after having waved
goodbye to Sayuri.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I said, these must be, like, the last of them. I'm hungry and I
want to go home."

"No. Don't you think of anything else but your stomach, Ranma?
We're not leaving yet."

"Why not?" Ranma looked almost beside himself in indignant
outrage.

"The map I have here says that there's one more exhibit just
around the corner."

"*One* more measly, crummy...ooof!"

Akane removes her elbow from Ranma's stomach.

"Why are you so insensitive? Now I know you're really a guy,
and not just a sex-changing pervert! A guy is always so insensitive!
Give them, whoever it is, a chance at least!"

"At least I don't go boo-hooing over the slightest thing, like girls
do." Ranma hops out of range of Akane's elbow. "By the way, who
is it?"

Akane stared hard at the map, looking at it from different angles
and even turning it upside down.

"It...doesn't say. It just says `61'."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get it over with."

As the two round the corner it seems as if the brightness and the
cheer of the atmosphere suddenly reversed itself and turned into
darkness and gloom. No lights were on in this corridor, only candles
lit the way to the Exhibit 61.

"This is creepy!" Akane instinctively inches close to Ranma, but
she catches herself and forces herself to walk at least a foot or two apart
from him.

"Reminds me of somebody, though....."

The two halt as they see Gosunkugi sitting behind a booth with the
words `Voodoo Items' on the sign. Various puppets hang from frayed
bits of cord under the sign, dangling above trinkets and bottles of
potions. He stands up and looks forlornly at them. It seems as if
nobody had visited his stand since he had it set up. The counter beside
the stand stood at a grand total of zero. Gosunkugi turns his dark-
rimmed eyes to Akane.

"H-hello, Akane!"

"Umm...you're Gosunkugi, right?" Akane peered at Gosunkugi
and tried to place a name to the face while Ranma waved rather
condescendingly to him.

"Hey, weirdo! Watcha got over there?"

Akane glares at Ranma and almost elbows him in the stomach.

"Be polite, stupid!"

"Okay, okay!"

Ranma walked up to the stand and scanned it. Mallets, nails,
various potions, candles and matches...all of it seemed like junk.
Ranma spends some time looking through the paraphernalia, picking and
discarding items as he listens to Gosunkugi's speech with a disinterested
ear. Ranma picks up an ornament.

"What's this?"

"That amulet is supposed to take your warts away."

"Right." Ranma tosses it back on the heap of junk and fishes
through it with his hand. Eventually, his fingers settled on a tiny bottle
of liquid that looked, for all the world, like a bottle of
perfume. Yet, no such perfume swirled inside its container with a life
of its own.

"Hey, what's this? Cologne?"

"That's a bottle of Nullifier, Blend 122. It's supposed to
cure curses, illnesses, and...."

"Just more of your jun..I mean, your stuff. Hmph. Supposed to
cure curses and.....", Ranma double takes. What did Gosunkugi say,
again? "Did you say...cure curses?

Akane leaned forward in interest. "Cure....curses?" she asked
with a bit of hesitation. <Oh no>, she thought, <yet another cure for
Ranma's curse.>

"Why, yes I did. But it's pretty old stock and....."

"Can it really cure curses? Can it?" exclaimed Ranma, nearly
beside himself in excitement.

"Just follow the directions, Saotome."

Ranma looks at the label.

"But...but it's in Chinese!! I can't read that!"

"Did I forget to mention that it's from the Baiyan-Kalan Range,
Qinghai province of China? Apparently it was a tribal treasure of some
sort. Now, it's a family heirloom."

"How did your family get possession of such an important object?"
Akane took the Nullifier from Ranma and looked at it.

"My father was given it by a man. More, I cannot tell."

"Well, how much for it?" Ranma started to dig into his pockets.

"You can have it, if you wish. I don't really think it will have
much effect after all these long years. Besides, you people were the
only ones to visit my stand today. It makes me feel like I've
accomplished something with this little gesture of mine."

"Thank you, Gosunkugi." Akane bows, and still manages to jab
Ranma in the side with her elbow.

"T-thanks, man" Ranma sketches a short, quick bow.

"Anytime." Gosunkugi flicks off his flashlight and plunges the
hallway into darkness. The black-out lasts only a few seconds and the
lights come back on in the hallway. Ranma and Akane are surprised,
and more than a little spooked, to see no sign of Gosunkugi or his stand.
It was almost as if he had disappeared.

"C'mon, Ranma. Let's get out of here." Akane could fairly feel
the goosebumps rising out of her skin and travelling all over her body
in droves.

"Y-yeah. Let's."

Half an hour later, Ranma and Akane are on their way home.
Ranma examining the bottle with much interest, somehow keeping his
balance on the fence at the same time. He even went as far as to open
it and take a sniff of the contents.

"Hmmm...it...it smells funny." Ranma restoppered the bottle.

"Hey, are you sure you want to use that thing?"

"What if it can really cure me, Akane? Nullifier, Blend 122.
Sounds pretty important. If it sounds important, it has a good chance of
being important."

"How are you going to read the directions on it?" Akane turned
her attention back to the path.

"I'm not. You go on home, Akane. I'll just be a second."

"Why? What do you mean....oh. Nekohanten? I'm coming along
too."

"Ummm...okay, if you want." Ranma seemed quite a bit nervous
at Akane accompanying him to the Nekohanten and he showed it by
fidgeting constantly. The two reach the restaurant in short order and the
both of them walk in. The place is nearly full and they managed to find
a two-seater table. Shampoo flounces over and gives Ranma a hug.
Akane simply sipped at her tea, seeming to pay no attention, but the tea
cup shook with her effort not to crush it into tiny bits.

"Ranma! Shampoo so happy see you! Shampoo go get ramen for
Ranma! On house!" Shampoo starts to bounce away but Ranma grabs
a corner of her apron and pulls her back. She looks surprised at first,
but it quickly changes to a smile. Akane's cup cracks, just a little.

"Could you also bring the old ghoul too? I wanna speak with..."

An expertly aimed chopstick shot out of the kitchen and landed
smack on the side of Ranma's head. Moving with incredible speed, a
short figure came out of the kitchen and stood at Ranma's side, just in
time to catch the chopstick as it fell. The diners clapped at this
incredible feat of skill and speed.

"Who's an old ghoul, sonny boy?"

"I...uh..take that back."

"I see my future son-in-law still needs a little ironing-out. Well,
enough of all that. What was it you wanted to see me about?"

"It's about this." Ranma fishes out the Nullifier from his pocket
and he hands it to Cologne, who peers at it in astonishment.

"It's a...a Nullifier, Blend 122. My tribe used to have one of
these. It was old when I was a young girl just three hundred years ago.
I was told by a village elder about its use but I forget what she had said.
It has been so long, you know. Anyhow, how did you get a hold of
this? It is exclusive to the Bayan-Kalan Range of the Qinghai province
of China and it has never been duplicated outside of China."

"We got it from Gosunkugi." Akane sets her tea cup on the table.

"Gosunkugi?"

Ranma leans back on his chair and Shampoo leaves, to take
customer's order. Cologne gives the bottle back to Ranma.

"He's some nerd at our school who thinks that magic is real and
voodoo curses work."

"What's his background?"

Akane sighs.

"We don't know. Nobody knows, not even the teachers. Why do
you ask?"

"Oh, don't worry about it, dear."

"But I'm not really following any of this. Can you explain it to us,
please?"

Cologne contemplates that question for a few moments, then she
nods and hops up on a seat. She motions Akane and Ranma close, so
others wouldn't hear what she had to say.

"Our tribe had suffering from a band of marauding tigers. Not a
week would go by without one of our tribe getting mauled or killed by
these beasts. A travelling sorcerer by the name of X'ian Taolu managed
to destroy each and every one of the beasts. In gratitude, we gave him
two of our treasures. One was this Nullifier, Blend 122. I don't
remember the second item, but it was the most important of all."

"So....this is your Nullifier, then?" said Ranma as he held the
bottle up to the light, to show off the swirling, purple liquid.

"It's very possible, son-in-law."

"But that would make the man who gave the Nullifier to
Gosunkugi's father over three hundred years old!" exclaimed Akane in
surprise.

"You would be surprised to find out just how irrational our world
is. Stranger things have happened, and will happen again."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Ranma.

"Exactly what it means. Take me, example."

"No thanks."

"As an example, foolish boy, not as your bride. Unless....you
really mean it?"

Ranma looks sick at that thought and Cologne smirks in triumph.

"Okay, whatever. What do the instructions say on the side?"
Akane took the bottle from Ranma and gave it to Cologne.

"It says to use it while taking a bath in water that's neither hot
nor cold. I assume that means lukewarm water. Effects will occur after
a few minutes. That's it. Exactly what its effects are, I don't
remember."

"Alright!! I can give this one a try then, right?" Ranma held the
bottle carefully.

"No, not yet. The elder told me its exact purpose and I wouldn't
want my future son-in-law to be exposed to unpredictable magic. Let
me try and remember it before you use it, boy. The water is the
key....."

"She's right, Ranma. Who knows what it would do?"

Ranma was in possession of another possible cure for his
condition, and he knew it well. Such cures had come and gone, and
while he felt that it was yet another cure in a long succession of cures -
he still couldn't help but feel a huge thrill of excitement and
anticipation. His curse could be nullified for good! All he had to
do was use the Nullifier 122 and whatever happens, happens. If he got
cured, so much the better. If he didn't, it won't cost him anything.
At least, he hoped so.

Cologne hops off the chair and starts to walk back to the kitchen.

"I'll get Shampoo to bring you two some ramen", she calls over
her shoulder. On the house. Remember, son-in-law, not to use it until
I remember what it's used for."

She leaves and heads back into the kitchen, deep in thought.
Shampoo comes out after a short while and places two orders of ramen
on the table. Ranma and Akane eat their food and leave to walk back
home. The afternoon sun rose high and a cool wind sweeps the leaves
from the path. The two walk into the Tendo residence. Kasumi is
drying a new batch of clothes on the line. Soun and Genma are playing
go, each trying to outmanoeuvre the other. A bird trills its song on the
branch of a cherry blossom tree, which overlooks a pond, where
graceful carp swim. Nabiki is watching TV, and Happosai...well, only
God knows where he is, or what he's doing, and He's not telling.
Akane takes her shoes off and steps into the house.

"I'm home! Kasumi, I don't need dinner tonight, I already ate.
Nabiki?"

"Yes?"

"Did anyone call for me?"

"Yes. Sayuri called at about five. Said something about a slumber
party and she would be coming with Anemi.....and two others."

Akane checks her watch. It was 5:30.

"Sounds fine to me. Thanks, Nabiki."

"I ought to charge you for that, but you're my sister and I'll make
an exception this time."

Akane heaves a sigh at Nabiki's mercenary character, yet she
knows at the same time that Nabiki did have a soft spot in her heart for
friends and family, no matter her outside demeanour. Kasumi stepped
out of the kitchen and she beckoned to Akane.

"Akane, could you come and help me make the treats for the
slumber party?"

Her words on Akane were instantly electrifying, making Akane pep
up with newfound vigor.

"I'd love to!" She was already following Kasumi into the kitchen.

Ranma snorts and takes his leave, to go practice in the backyard.
He sets up a circle of straw dummies and he begins to warm up, to
stretch his limbs and to get into the mood. Then he launches himself
into a flying kick, with his right foot just brushing the side of a
dummy's face. He followed up with his left foot from behind in a
roundhouse, slamming the ball of his foot into the dummy's side. Then,
spinning like a top, he delivered backhand after backhand to its face
with frightening speed and power, each strike making the dummy shake
and sway, and culminated with a punch from his right fist that focused
all the power of his ki and his muscles and broke the dummy off its
stand, sending it flying to the far end of the backyard - some 30 metres
away.

But he wasn't finished yet. He still had three opponents
remaining. A sidekick later and another straw dummy went to join the
first. He leapt high into the air and landed a kick on the third, then
using the third as a springboard, he bounced off and kneed the fourth in
the head. In seconds, it was all over. The wreckage of four straw
dummies lay about him and he wasn't even sweating.

He needed more of a challenge than just fighting against set
targets, but what could give him a serious workout? More importantly,
who could? Kuno was a joke, and so was Mousse, although they were
far superior to the best *average* martial artist. He sparred with Akane
sometimes, but he found her too little of a challenge to make their
matches interesting. Not that he told her, as he would be liable to
receive a mallet on the head for his comments. He needed someone
with whom he didn't have to pull his punches, or pass up opportunities
for easy victories due to flaws in defenses, and that person would still
have to give him a run for his money.

That someone was Ryoga. Through their days as budding martial
artists, Ranma had the advantage of a tutor - in his father, that was,
while Ryoga had nobody but himself and his determination to beat
Ranma. Ranma was surprised that Ryoga was such a good martial artist
without having been taught in any school or by any tutor. Ranma
looked about for him, hoping to see a glimpse of his bandanna, or his
red umbrella and his heavy pack, or even a little black pig. He saw
none of what he was looking for, even after leaping onto the rooftop
with a single bound.

He suddenly lost interest in working out today, as there were no
challenges worthy of him on the horizon, and he went inside to take a
bath. It felt strange, but refreshing to take a break from his usual
routine. As he stepped by the kitchen, he heard Kasumi asking Akane
to fetch her ingredients and other things - and he did not hear her asking
Akane to make the sweets. Though Kasumi seemed rather oblivious at
times, Ranma was not really surprised to see such insight and
thoughtfulness in her - she wasn't about to let Akane, with her
underdeveloped `cooking' skills, make the sweets that would seal her
friends' collective fates.

Ranma grabs his bath stuff from his room and puts the Nullifier
bottle into his bath pail. He was not about to let it go out of sight just
yet! He stripped his clothing off and hung it on pegs behind the door,
taking care to lock it as he did, then he filled the tub with hot water
while he sat on a plastic chair. Then he tipped a bucket of cold water over
himself and she shivered at the chilliness.

She pours more cold water on herself, making sure that she washed
every inch of herself. She lifts each of her breasts, mumbling and
muttering to herself as she pours the water under them. When she was
a guy, she never had to do this! It irked her to see, and feel, body parts
that only a girl should be most familiar with. The tub was almost full of
hot water and she turned the tap off. Now she would let it cool down a bit
while she soaped herself. As she was smaller as a girl, she could get
herself soaped faster and thereby getting into the hot tub sooner.

She couldn't deny herself the fact that she had a killer body, for a
teenage girl. Her breasts were the largest of any girl, part-time or not,
in Furinkan High and her figure rivalled that of Shampoo in pleasing
contours. What made all the difference was that this body was *hers*,
and not belonging to another girl.

As she scrubs her back, she started to wonder what it would be
like to be free of the curse...right now. Wonder changed to curiosity,
and curiosity quickly turns into temptation. The little bottle seemed to
beckon to her, seemed to invite her to pour its contents into the bath.
Ranma-chan sat unmoving for quite a long time, thinking and weighing
the pros and cons of using something she didn't even know about. But
she was, by nature, stubborn and unwilling to wait. What does the old
ghoul know anyway?

She waited until the bath water had cooled to lukewarm, then she
opened the bottle and slowly let a single drop fall out. The purple liquid
dissipated quickly. Ranma-chan hesitates for a second, then she washes the
soap off herself with a bucket of hot water and he gets into the tub. He
thought he felt a slight tingle but wasn't sure. Convinced that not enough
Nullifier was used, Ranma tips it just enough for another drop.

Unfortunately, through a combination of soapy hands and blind
fate, the bottle slips from his grip and falls with a plop into the tub.
Cursing, he flailed blindly under the surface of the water with his hands,
grabbing for the bottle, but it kept slipping out of his grasp - as if it
had a mind of its own. After three futile tries, he managed to get a
hold of it and he held it up.

Where once was purple liquid, now only water remained. The
tingle started even as his eyes widened in the realization of what he did.
The sensation felt like tiny needle pricks on the part of his body that was
submerged in the lukewarm water. The tingle quickly increased in
intensity and Ranma tried to get out of the bath. But his legs felt like
lead and the water seemed as viscous as wet cement. He tried to call
for help but nothing came out, just a strangled croak. The tingling now
probed the beginning of real pain, and Ranma was helpless! Suddenly
an explosion of light burst forth from the waters and engulfed Ranma,
delivering him into the realm of unconsciousness.
* * *
"Ice cream, everyone!" Kasumi stepped out of the kitchen with a
tray that had a tub of ice cream and a number of bowls and spoons.

Practically everyone dropped whatever they were doing and they
rushed for the table. Kasumi smiles as she begins dishing out the treat.
It was one of the many things everyone liked about her - she was apt to
spring pleasant surprises in subtle, yet tangible ways. Akane took a
spoonful of the ice cream and she licked it. Then she looked around.

"Where's Ranma? He loves this flavor of ice cream", she asked.

"Last I saw of him was when he went to take a bath, like half an
hour ago. You know, he's been in there awfully long.....", replied
Nabiki.

"Oh, my. I hope there's nothing wrong. I'll go check on him",
assured Kasumi as she stood up. Akane shoos Kasumi back and seats
her in her chair, pushing a bowl of ice cream before her.

"Don't worry about him. Let's keep his share in the freezer. He's
bound to come out any moment now."

Minutes pass and everyone finishes their ice cream and go back to
whatever they were doing before. Soon, an hour has passed since
Ranma went inside the bath. Kasumi turns to Akane.

"Akane, why don't you go check on Ranma?"

"Sure. Whatever you say. I hope nothing has happened...."
Akane gets up and she runs to the bath, fearing the worst.
* * *
Ranma-chan woke up in the bath, feeling the cool water on her
lower torso and the air on her upper torso. She found herself slumped
in one corner of the bath, one arm dangling over the edge and the other
on her lap, both her legs folded beneath her. She sat up straight and
examined herself for any injuries. She found none. Ranma-chan
glances over the edge of the tub and sees the empty bottle of Nullifier
lying there.

"Well....that didn't seem to work. Oh well, just another thing that
seemed to be a cure."

She raises herself out of the tub. And falls straight back on her
butt, splashing a considerable amount of water out of the tub. She
rubbed her eyes once, then twice. Ranma was *right there* at the other
end of the tub. She was so shocked that she couldn't even think, nor
move, nor react in any other way than to stare in surprise.

Ranma awoke from unconsciousness and lay looking at the bath
ceiling for a long moment or two. He could feel the cool water of the
bath lapping at his body. <Wait a minute.... cool water?> He
tentatively felt himself from head to toe, making sure as to what sex he
was at the moment. No mistake about it, he was male. A grab in
between his legs confirmed that to him. And that meant.....Ranma
bolted upright, a huge smile on his face. <I'm....I'm really cured!
I'm cured for good!!! I'm....> He heard a little splash from the other
end of the tub, and looked up. Ranma stared at Ranma-chan sitting at
the other end of the tub, who was staring back just as surprised, and as
naked, as he was.

"Ummm....this is just a dream, right?" asked Ranma-chan as she
fidgeted not a metre from Ranma.

"It must be a dream. No way there could be my female self right
across from me. No way." Ranma rubbed his eyes and pinched his
skin.

"But...I'm right here. Why is it....I mean...why are you.....there?"

"I...I should ask you the same question. This has gotta be a
dream! I mean....I'm male and I'm here...and you're female and over
there. It just...just doesn't make sense!"

Ranma bangs his head on the tub, a decision he immediately
regretted for he cut his forehead on the edge. He felt the pain searing
on his head and he felt the blood dripping from the cut. He tasted the
blood. It tasted salty. This couldn't be a dream! In addition to the
pain, he felt the stirrings of sexual arousement beginning, just by
looking at his naked female form.

He remembered what he was thinking about before, when he had
been female and soaping himself, and he turns beet red. He never
realized how exact and accurate his thoughts had been until now....!
Ranma-chan saw Ranma's reddening face. Putting one and one
together, she crossed both her arms across her breasts and turned her
lower body away from Ranma.

"S-sorry. Are you...are you real?" Ranma inches a little closer
to Ranma-chan.

"As real as that!" Ranma-chan shrinks away from Ranma and
nods at the growing erection between Ranma's legs, not daring to take
her arms off herself.

"I can't help it! If you're real, then take my hand. I want to feel
you, to see if you're...you're really real." Ranma stretches out a hand
which Ranma-chan slaps away, and quickly covers herself again.

"You pervert! How dare you try and feel me!"

Ranma looks at the reddening slap mark on his hand and he looks
back up at Ranma-chan.

"It's true. You're real."

"This has gotta be a dream! I can't be with you. You are me. I
am you. We are the same people.....unless.... the Nullifier really did
work. But, I thought it was supposed to nullify curses..."

"It did. I'm not female."

"I'm...I'm gonna put some hot water into the tub."

Still holding an arm over her breasts, she gets out and walks over
to the tap, which was near by Ranma. She bends over and turns the hot
water tap on. She leaves the tap running and she sits right next to the
taps, letting her body get the hot water first. Ranma sat there,
mesmerized by the naked beauty next to him.

"What's the matter? Never seen a real guy before?!" growled
Ranma-chan. She splashes some really hot water on herself, oblivious
to the pain. Ranma winced.

"What guy? I...I mean...you're still a girl."

Ranma-chan shot to her feet and tore her arms from her breasts.

"I-AM-NOT-A-GIRL! I'm a guy now! See?"

Ranma-chan thumps a hand on her chest and stands up, dripping
water from her graceful curves, long legs. Ranma's eyes goggle as he
takes in her water-slicked breasts, wet and shiny flanks, and her wet and
still-dripping pubic hair. Ranma-chan looks down at her body.

"Eeeeeeeeaaaahhh! I'm....still a girl!!" She dunks her head back
under the scalding hot water. "This should....owww!....this should do
the trick!"

"No, stop, you fool! You'll get boiled alive!!"

"Shut up, you!! I'm a guy, not a girl! C'mon, change, damn it!"

Ranma grabbed Ranma-chan by the shoulders and dragged her
kicking and screaming from the jet of near-boiling water shooting out
the tap. She tries to throw herself under the tap again but Ranma flung
both arms around her body and pulled her from the tub. His hands were
clamped tight around her firm breasts, which made rather excellent hand
holds. His still-erect manhood poked hard against her butt and
Ranma-chan shrieked. She turns around and slugs Ranma one across the
face.

"PERVERT!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!"

"H-hey! I didn't mean to do that! I was only trying to help you!"

Ranma backed away defensively, one hand trying vainly to cover
himself, the other in a defensive posture. Ranma-chan looked steamed,
literally. Her upper torso was completely red from the near-boiling
water. Suddenly conscious of her nakedness, she sinks to her knees and
covers herself with her hands, which she pulled away immediately
because even a mere touch on her scalded skin was pure agony.

"Wh-why didn't I change back? Why? WHY??!?"

"The Nullifier! It did work! But instead of curing my curse
completely, it....sort of, like, separated my female half from my male
half, or something. So we aren't cursed anymore, it's just that I'm back
to normal and you're in a normal girl's body." Ranma stands up, still
holding himself, and gets a towel. "Here, you put this on until we get
this all sorted out......"

The bathroom door slams open and Akane runs in, one hand
clapped over her eyes. Ranma yelps in fright.

"Ranma?! Is there something wrong?!" cried Akane.

Ranma, in a supreme act of willpower, willed his manhood back
to normal and covered himself with the towel in record time.
Ranma-chan is still examining herself, trying to find out why she didn't
change back.

"A-Akane!" stammered Ranma. Ranma-chan took little notice.

"Is Shampoo in here again?! I heard a girl's voice in here,
Ranma! No use hiding, Shampoo!" Akane pulls a mallet from behind
her back. "Come here, you...little...!"

"Akane! Shampoo's not in here...in fact...."

"In fact what? She's hanging all over you like a cheap suit?
There's too much mist in here to see! How hot did you have the water
anyhow, like boiling?"

Ranma-chan heard nothing but the sound of her own heartbeat, and
she saw nothing but her female body. Why didn't she change back?
Why was she still a girl? The full horror of the situation was only
beginning to assert itself onto her mind. She was no longer male. She
was a female, for good it seemed. Nothing felt right. The situation was
not good, for her at least, she felt very painful all over, and nothing of
her body seemed to move or feel okay. Damnit, she was a guy, not a
girl!!

Akane stumbled into the bathroom, blindly swinging. At length,
she simply dropped her hand from her eyes and she stalked the
bathroom, ears tuning out the sound of the hot water tap. Through the
billowing clouds of steam coming from the super-heated bath, she could
make out Ranma searching for his clothing ....and a female form on the
bath floor, hands out and resting on either side of her, her head turned
down.

"Ah-hah! There you are, Shampoo!! Hii-yaaa!" Akane lifts the
mallet up over her head and brings it down on whom she thought to be
Shampoo.

"Aaaaahhhh!!!", cried Ranma-chan as she catches the mallet in
both hands, just two or three inches from her head.

"Nnnnnggrrrrrr! Die, you!!" growled Akane as she leaned into the
mallet and strained against Ranma-chan's strength. Bit by bit, due to
Akane's leverage, Ranma-chan's arms began to give out to the
tremendous pressure.

"A-Akane!! I'm Ranma!! Take a good look!" cried out Ranma-
chan in desperation.

"R-Ranma?" Akane looks over at Ranma in his towel, and back
at the still-undefined female shape on the floor, but she did not let up on
Ranma-chan. Seeing that, Ranma ran over and turned the tap off. Then
he opened a window, to let all the steam out. The bathroom clears and
Ranma-chan is revealed, kneeling before Akane, naked and holding off
her attack. Akane let the mallet drop from nerveless fingers as she
stared from Ranma to Ranma-chan and back.

"What is going on here?! Ranma!" She turns on Ranma, who
pulls his towel tighter. Ranma-chan dropped the mallet and she put her
hands on the floor beside her, resting them. Now her thoughts were
focused on Akane and she looked upwards.

"Umm....the Nullifier dropped into the bath. All of it spilled into
the water and then this happened."

Akane knelt down next to Ranma-chan and she tentatively reached
out a hand, and touched her, getting a wince and a small gasp of pain
from Ranma-chan.

"Ranma? Are you alright?" asked Akane.

"Yeah," replied Ranma.

"She means me, stupid. Well, I got burnt by the hot water. I
didn't change back though...", said Ranma-chan. She closed her eyes
and lowered her head. Akane looked Ranma-chan over, and she noticed
finger marks on Ranma-chan's breasts - four finger marks per breast and
a finger mark on either side of her back, corresponding to the level of
her breasts. In other words, it looked as if someone had grabbed
her from behind.

"Who did that to you?!" exclaimed Akane. She looked up at
Ranma. "Ranma!! You PERVERT!!"

"I was only trying to pull her away from the hot water tap, stupid!
Tell her!" Ranma yelled at both Akane and Ranma-chan alike. Akane
got a towel from the rack and draped it over Ranma-chan. Ranma-
chan's skin begins to return to normal.

Two Ranmas. Akane looked them over and she sighed. If it
weren't for her daily diet of wackiness and crazy events, she would have
been much more surprised at this. It wasn't any crazier than super
strength soba, or fathers that turn into pandas and it didn't seem any
more earthshaking than those. There was always a cure, right? At
least, that was what Akane was hoping for. She couldn't handle TWO
Ranmas running about, could she? Akane picks the Nullifier bottle up.

"You used the Nullifier, didn't you?" It was a fact, not a question
and Ranma knew it.

"Yeah.....", replied both Ranma and Ranma-chan.

"...and it cured me of the curse!!" finished Ranma.

"...it gave me the curse!!" finished Ranma-chan.

Ranma and Ranma-chan look at each other at each other's words,
then Ranma-chan frowns.

"What are doing in my body?!" she yelled.

"Your body? This is *my* body, not yours!!" Ranma pulled his
towel tighter in a protective motion.

"But I'm a guy, not a girl!! My body is a guy's body, not this
girl's body! It's...it's *your* fault that I'm a girl, for good it seems!!"

"Wha...*my* fault?! Are you forgetting that YOU put the
Nullifier into the bath, shorty!?" Ranma was pointing at Ranma-chan
in accusation. Akane folded her arms, and a bluish battle aura began to
play about her as she fought to retain some control of her anger.

"So did you!! And who are you calling shorty?!"

"You!!"

"Hey....guys.....", began Akane.

"And you're a pervert 'cuz you tried to...."

"I already told you, I was trying to help save your worthless skin
from boiling alive, but I see you're an ingrate!"

"What do you mean by `ingrate'?!" screeched Ranma-chan.
Ranma smirked.

"And I can see you're a *girl* as well!" he said with a sly look on
his face.

"Why you....!"

"Girly-girly-girr....ly!"

Ranma-chan grabs a bucket and flings it at Ranma, who catches it
and whips it back. Ranma-chan dodged the missile and threw a bottle
of shampoo, and Ranma dodged that as well.

"See, I knew it!! Girls can't even throw straight!" taunted Ranma
as Ranma-chan hefted the bath chair.

"Eat this!!" screamed Ranma-chan as she began to throw it at
Ranma, who made a face at her.

"ENOUGH!! The both of you, shut up!" Akane had lost her cool
and she whirled on Ranma. "You're at as much fault as she is, but the
least the BOTH of YOU could do is to stop fighting!"

Ranma-chan turned to Akane.

"But he's cured and I'm not! That makes it *his* fault!" she
shrieked.

"Huh?" Akane didn't see the reasoning behind that. Ranma walks
away.

"Well, I'm not gonna stand around here like this", he called back
over his shoulder even as he grabbed his clothing and left.

"HEY, IDIOT!! THOSE ARE MY CLOTHES!!!", yelled Ranma-
chan as she wrapped the towel securely about her body and ran after her
male counterpart. Akane follows Ranma-chan out the door.

Ranma was in his room, his pants on, and he was about to put on
a shirt. when Ranma-chan tore in, wet, dripping and clothed in only a
slip of a towel. She glares at Ranma in anger.

"That's my favorite shirt you're wearing!!" she growled.

"No it's not!! It's my favorite shirt!"

"Give that to me!"

Holding the towel in place with one hand, Ranma-chan grabbed at
the shirt with the other and tried to take it away. Ranma contemptuously
pulls it away from Ranma-chan's one-handed grip. Ranma-chan fairly
snarled in anger and she took hold of the shirt with both her hands,
pulling with all her might and leaning backwards. Unfortunately her
towel took a mind of its own and fell from her body, exposing her
nakedness to Ranma. Yelping in fright, Ranma-chan let go of the shirt
and made a grab for her towel. Ranma couldn't resist the temptation
and he kicked the towel into the air with one foot and caught it.
Ranma-chan screeched and lunged for the towel but Ranma dangled it
just out of reach.

"Ha ha ha! Too short to reach it.....shorty?" Ranma dangled
it again. Ranma-chan presses up against Ranma and stretches up for the
towel, bringing a good part of her nude body against Ranma's own.
There seemed to be a slight crackle of electricity as that happened, that
both of them thought they could hear and feel, but nothing out of the
ordinary happened just yet.

Ranma noted, somewhat absently, how *soft* yet firm her breasts
were - how silky her skin felt against his......how was it he never
noticed such things when Shampoo did the same thing? This was his
female side, for crying out loud!

"GIVE ME THAT!!!" shrieked Ranma-chan in desperation. She
too felt her own body against Ranma's, and she did not like how it felt
at all. At least, that was what her mind told her. She was a guy, and
he was a guy, and guys shouldn't, musn't, do stuff like this. Yet, her
body sang a whole different tune altogether. It bombarded her with new
feelings, new sensations - things she had never experienced before.
Like the *excitement* she felt coursing throughout her body when the
tips of her breasts rubbed against Ranma's abs, for he was still
unclothed from the waist up. Or how she began to feel all hot and
bothered below, and she resisted an urge to reach down and rub between
her legs - to quell whatever was happening there.

"Ranma!!!!" Both Ranma and Ranma-chan turn around at that
voice.

Ranma had only enough time to witness a fist flying at his face
before he was whacked into the wall. Akane picked the towel up and
gave it to Ranma-chan, who was covering herself with both hands.

"Th-thanks, Akane." Ranma-chan gratefully takes the towel and
she wraps herself in it. Akane turns to Ranma.

"Ranma, you pervert!!" she snarled at him. Ranma-chan became
outraged at that.

"Hey, it's his fault!!", she yelled in protest.

"Not you, idiot!! Him!!" Akane shot back while pointing at
Ranma, who was just getting up from Akane's punch.

"O...oh. Sorry." With that, Ranma-chan began to hunt around for
clothes. Akane interposed herself between Ranma and Ranma-chan,
looming dangerously over Ranma.

"Alright, Akane! Alright!! Enough with that `I'm gonna kill you'
look, already! I was just playing with her...!"

"HIM!! I'm a guy, not a girl!!!" Ranma-chan had turned about
with a shirt and a pair of pants in her hands.

"A guy that has a pair of real breasts and nothing between *her*
legs?"

*WHACK*

A clock had somehow been displaced from the top of the clothes
drawer and now it was attached to Ranma's face. Ranma-chan dusted
her hands off and she looked for a private place to begin changing.
Seeing none, she looked at Akane with a pleading expression on her face
while holding her clothes up - and Akane drags an unconscious Ranma
out of the room. The door shuts behind Akane and almost immediately
she heard running.

"What's all the noise all about? Kasumi just told me that there
seemed to be a fight going on up here!" Soun was climbing the stairs
with Genma, Nabiki and Kasumi in tow. Genma adjusts the glasses on
his face.

"Ranma, my boy. You have fighting spirit, and so do you, Akane,
but you two should keep it in the dojo, not in the house...." began
Genma. Nabiki turned Ranma's head towards her.

"Wow, I guess this is what you would call a `timely appearance'",
punned Nabiki.

"Cut it out, Nabiki. Dad, I'd....I'd like you to meet Ranma....and
Ranma."

"Ranma...and Ranma?" Soun looked confused, as did everyone
else. Ranma's door opened and Ranma-chan breezed out, in her favorite
red shirt and black pants. She was adjusting her hair with her hands,
smoothing it back and making sure nothing was sticking out, and she
seemed to be looking for something to look into - to see her reflection.
Then she noticed six pairs of eyes on her and she turned to face them
all.

"What? What's wrong? Is it my hair?" asked Ranma-chan. She
pulled her pigtail around and examined it with a critical eye.

"Akane...tell me it's a dream", said Soun.

"It's NOT a dream, Dad."

"It's a dream for me, Akane!" Nabiki had produced a camera and
she was twirling it around on one finger.

"Oh...are they really separate people, but with the same mind?"
asked Kasumi.

"But I'm still Ranma, even though he's stolen *my* body...",
began Ranma-chan.

"*Your* body? Your body is that girl's body. My body is this
guy's body. Seems pretty fair to me."

"No it's not!! You're the one who screwed up by putting the
Nullifier into the bath!!"

"Hey, I thought I already...."

"Oh, my. Where are you going to sleep, Ranma?" asked Kasumi.

"In my room, Kasumi. Where else?" replied Ranma.

"She means me, dummy. In my room, where else?" said Ranma-
chan.

"Didn't I just say that?"

"So you did. It's *my* room and I ain't gonna share it with
nobody!!"

"No, it's *my* room and I ain't gonna share it with..."

"It's *both* your rooms. And you'll both have to stay there
because we don't have any other guest rooms", finished Akane.

Ranma and Ranma-chan look sullen for a long moment, and they
wondered if they should fight to see who would get the room. Then,
they simply grumbled their assent with Akane's order. Everyone heard
a tapping sound coming from below and Kasumi looked over. Cologne
hopped up the stairs on her stick and landed before everyone.

"Cologne!", cried Akane, "thank God you're here! Can you tell
us what's going on around here?"

"I was cleaning up in the Nekohanten when I suddenly *sensed*
something had happened. It felt somewhat related to my roots as an
Amazon, and I figured it had to be the Nullifier. I rushed over here as
soon as I could and now I see the Nullifier has done its work. I guessed
as much."

"Guess....at what?"

"The Nullifier works by cancelling the Jusenkyo curse and creating
two separate individuals. Our tribe used it in times of desperate need,
when the tribe is falling low in numerical superiority versus other rival
tribes. It was our secret weapon, and it ensured the survival of our tribe
over many generations. Our strongest warrior, or warriorress, would
jump into either the Spring of Drowned Woman, or Spring of Drowned
Man, respectively. Then they would use the Nullifier to separate their
cursed form from their normal form. Then....."

"Oh my...they get married, then?" Kasumi had a hand to her lips
in astonishment. Everyone else looked confused until after they digested
Kasumi's observation.

"You mean....you mean...they sleep together!?" Ranma and
Ranma-chan looked at each other with revulsion in their eyes. "I know
that I'm not gonna sleep with that guy!!" Ranma and Ranma-chan
pointed at each other.

"If the Nullifier had been new stock, you would have had no
choice."

"Huh?"

"New stock Nullifier has something called a lust spell. It makes
the two split halves get feelings of incredible lust for each other. In
other words, they would...how you say....*get together* and *have
fun*. The two of you would be having a lot of fun right about now, and
for two or three days to come. No pun intended."

Akane looked rather sick at Cologne's words. Cologne continued.

"BUT, luckily for the both of you it was old stock Nullifier. The
lust spell had deteriorated as the dweomer fell prey to the dragon lines
of ki, losing its energy to those dragon lines. You wouldn't understand,
suffice to say that it's probably a good assumption to believe that the lust
spell is gone for good, perhaps."

Everyone else took Cologne's words at face value, but only Nabiki
smirked and eyed Ranma and Ranma-chan with new interest. Cologne
turned about and she left, without a word or a sound. Ranma-chan casts
a dark look over her shoulder at Ranma as she went downstairs. The
rest of the family dispersed, no more surprised at this than at anything
else. Except for Akane.

"Ranma, come over here for a sec." Akane beckoned to Ranma.

"Why?" Ranma was already moving.

"Just come! I want to talk to you."

Ranma goes over to Akane and she leads him just around the
corner, where nobody could overhear her. She waited until she was
sure that Nabiki and Ranma-chan were out of earshot - indeed, she could
hear Nabiki talking to Ranma-chan downstairs, and when Ranma-chan
replied she didn't sound pleased. Akane turned her attention to Ranma.

"Ranma, I want you see the situation from...Ranma's point of
view. The female one, I mean."

"What? Why should I?"

Akane ignored that and she asked, "Do you know why she's so
angry?

"She's blaming me, but we all know that me and her are the
same person. We both dropped the Nullifier into the bath, I mean.
That's the thing she's blaming me for."

"Exactly. She knows that it was her fault, and I've never
known..um..you or her to blame other people for something that wasn't
their fault. She's ticked off because...you....you don't care at all that
she's stuck as a girl. You're too...too self-absorbed over your cure.
You're not paying enough attention to her problems because you're too
busy celebrating the end of *your* problems." Akane looked Ranma in
the eyes, to tell him that she was dead serious.

Ranma's face reddened slightly in embarrassment from receiving
a lecture from Akane, feeling almost like he was a dog who had done
something bad and was being scolded for it. He felt some resentment
at first, at being talked to this way, but gradually - as he looked at
Akane and she looked back at him - he came to see the truth of her
words. He reflected on his behaviour, and he saw that he had been very
disagreeable, and not understanding enough. He did as Akane asked,
and he imagined himself stuck as a girl....and he shuddered.

What made it more strange, and morbidly fascinating, was the fact
that Ranma-chan was him in mind and soul, if not in body. In effect,
he was stuck as a girl, yet uncursed at the same time. Ranma looked
away from Akane.

"Yeah....I guess...that I ought to go make up with him....err....
her...whatever."

"Don't say that. He, or she, is a person and not a `whatever'.
Now, tell her that you're sorry. I mean, tell him that you're sorry."
Akane turns away and she nearly bumps into Kasumi, who was holding
an armful of bedding for the new `addition' to the family. She
apologizes and leaves. Kasumi walks into Ranma's room.

Ranma slowly makes his way downstairs and he sees Ranma-chan,
one hand on her forehead and playing with her red bangs, and Nabiki
sitting next to her. Nabiki seemed to be speaking to Ranma-chan, who
was smoothing her shirt front and her hair.

"My dear Ranma! Think of the financial possibilities! I already
have a plan going on that is sure to make you a bundle!! ALL you have
to do is to cooperate."

"No thanks, Nabiki. I don't feel like selling my body for money
just now."

"Who says you have to sell your body? Listen...."

"No thanks, I said."

"Sh...I mean, he said `no thanks', Nabiki", said Ranma as he
strode up to Ranma-chan, who turned about and transfixed him with a
stare.

"Did I say I needed your help, you....you imitation? Why....",
began Ranma-chan, trying to start an argument.

Ranma ignored that as he grabbed Ranma-chan by the waist,
tucked her under his arm and ran outside, and away from Nabiki.
Ranma-chan was shocked for a few seconds, then she started kicking
and struggling. Ranma leapt to the top of the Tendo Dojo and he
deposited his bundle of red hair and flailing limbs on the roof. Ranma-
chan picked herself up and she growled at Ranma, then she began to
stride towards him with every intention of beating him up. How dare
he do that to her?!

Ranma waited impassively, until Ranma-chan threw a punch and
Ranma intercepted it with one hand. He caught it and he tried to turn
it into a flip but Ranma-chan twisted out and quickly kicked Ranma's
legs out from under him. Ranma twisted in midair, slammed his hands
on the roof and executed a kicking manoeuvre from his almost-prone
position. Ranma-chan yelled as she flipped out of range and landed at
the far end of the roof.

"You damned copy!!" spat Ranma-chan, "I'm gonna take you apart
at the limbs!!"

"Ranma....won't you listen to me, for a moment?" asked Ranma
in a calm voice as he relaxed his guard.

"Shut up!!" Ranma-chan's form suddenly blurred as she moved
with almost-supernatural speed and rammed an elbow into Ranma's gut.
Ranma let out his breath and he rolled with the strike. Ranma-chan
pressed her attack, slamming a foot into the roof even as Ranma rolled
away. After leaving a long line of foot imprints on the roof, Ranma-
chan flipped into the air and let out a shout as she launched a leap kick
aimed at Ranma's head.

Ranma dodged it and made a grab for Ranma-chan, but she
deflected his arms and began to do a series of kicks and punches, all
executed at incredible speed. Ranma was able to dodge and parry most
of her frenzied attacks, but a kick and two punches slipped through his
defenses and connected with his stomach and back, respectively. He did
not attack back even though he saw one or two opportunities to do so.

Ranma-chan, seeing that he wasn't attacking back, snarled and
lunged with a flying roundhouse with her right foot. Ranma ducked it,
and Ranma-chan followed up with her left foot while she was still
suspended in the air. Ranma popped back up and caught the foot,
immobilizing it, and he sought to bring her down on the roof. Ranma-
chan yelled in derision as she kicked his forearm and made him release
her. She landed on her feet, leapt high in the air and landed on the
other end of the roof, where she readied another stance.

<Damn, he's good!!> thought Ranma-chan as she watched
Ranma fold his arms and watch her. <And to think that I was looking
for a challenge this morning....and who'd think I had to fight my own
self?! But....but he's not better than me! I'm better!! I'll show him
who's the real Ranma!!">

Ranma-chan began to emit a blood red battle aura, focusing her
energies into the space between her two hands, into a super concentrated
Mouko Takabisha. She gritted her teeth as she felt the hot ki coalesce
and make heat waves around her. She was going to finish this once and
for all! The energy poured forth from her ki reserves, and intensified
in destructive power, until she thought she could hold it no longer.
With a cry, she thrust her hands out at Ranma and unleashed the blast.

It exploded forth from her hands as a huge beam of red energy,
searing the air as it tore across the length of the roof, destroying roof
tiles in its wake and roaring like a thing alive, bent on destroying Ranma
where he stood.

Ranma thrust his hands out and unleashed a blast of blue energy
to counteract Ranma-chan's Mouko Takabisha. The two incredible
blasts met at the halfway point on the roof and exploded outwards in a
fiery spectacle of red and blue warring for dominance. Ranma-chan's
forehead began to bead with sweat, but Ranma seemed to be maintaining
complete control. Slowly, bit by bit, the blue engulfed the red and
began pushing back on the red beam, encroaching on Ranma-chan.

Then, as if the red beam had broken from its foundations, Ranma-
chan's blast gave out and dissipated, letting the blue energy sweep in
triumphantly, and strike her. She felt her clothing singe, and her hair
burn a bit <H-how dare he do that to her hair!> as her world became
brilliant blue, then black.

Ranma walked over to Ranma-chan and he reached down to her,
to lift her up, but Ranma-chan snapped out of her unconsciousness and
kicked at Ranma. He blocked it and pinned her legs with his own. She
growled and lashed out with her right hand at Ranma. But she was still
dizzy and weak from being struck by Ranma's energy blast, and she did
nothing more than get a grunt of pain from Ranma. Ranma quickly
pinned her arms on either side of her with his own. Ranma-chan's chest
heaved as she felt a measure of fear creep into her. He had won, and
he had her at his mercy and pleasure. She quelled her fears and stared
Ranma in the eyes, infusing as much courage as she could into her gaze.

"Okay, you won, you bastard. Now, finish it! It won't end until
one of us is down!!" Ranma-chan snarled in the face of her seeming
doom, and she stared at Ranma defiantly - unwilling to turn away from
her end.

"NOW will you listen to me? All I want to say is....so...sorry for
being such a jerk in the bathroom." Ranma looked into Ranma-chan's
eyes, using Akane's technique to tell Ranma-chan - with his facial
expression and eyes - that he was dead serious. Ranma-chan blinked,
and she lost some of her anger. He was apologizing? She quickly
narrowed her eyes again.

"You're...you're lying!" Ranma-chan glanced at Ranma's hands
and feet, which were holding down her own. "You're a pervert, as well
as a liar!! Look at you, on top of me like this!! I'm a guy too! Let -
me - go!! Arrrgghh!!" Ranma-chan struggled hard but Ranma was just
too strong, too heavy.

"I just want to say that...now I understand what you're going
through....."

"Let - me - go!! Damn.....damn you!!" Ranma-chan struggled
again, feeling quite the butterfly pinned to the board, and she also felt
rather vulnerable with the whole of her body undefended by her hands
and feet. She was open to anything that Ranma would do to her!

"....and I want to make up to you. I'm sorry, Ranma, for not
seeing things from your p-point of view." Ranma let Ranma-chan go
and he stood up. Ranma-chan bounced to her feet and she bunched her
fists up.

"Now...now you're gonna pay, you!"

"Then...if it makes you feel better, you can hit me." Ranma
turned about and he waited for Ranma-chan to hit him. He imagined
that it would be pretty painful, but he saw no other way to reconcile
with her.

Ranma-chan stared at him incredulously, then she set her face and
she ran towards him. With a cry, she leapt into the air and executed a
flying roundhouse, followed by six punches - all of them aimed at his
pressure points - two elbow strikes and a number of sidekicks, ending
with a standing roundhouse and a kiai shout of released power.

None of which so much as touched Ranma, even though he was
standing stock still. Ranma-chan was panting and she moved to attack
again, but she fell to her hands and knees, her pigtail pointing down as
if in defeat. She...she couldn't hit him. Not after what he had said to
her. She just couldn't. He had apologized to her, and she just couldn't
hit him. Couldn't. Musn't. Ranma-chan felt herself gently helped to
her feet, and she looked up into Ranma's face. He looked concerned.

"Are you alright, Ranma?" he asked her.

"I'm....I'm alright." She found no more words to say as she got
to her feet and turned away from Ranma, and she stared out over the
whole of Nerima - trying to collect her thoughts, but they just kept
slipping away. They didn't say anything for a long, long time. Then
Ranma coughed and he turned slightly away from her.

"Like I said, I'm sorry that you're...you're stuck as a girl. But,
there's always a cure. We...we can go to Cologne and ask her."

"Yeah. Listen....I'm just as good as you are at this sort of thing,
which is not saying much, but....but I...", Ranma-chan hesitated and she
turned around, not meeting Ranma's gaze, "...I want to say I'm also
sorry."

"For what?"

"For....attacking you just now." She fidgeted a bit.

"Why?"

"Because...because I shouldn't have. I...was just too angry, I
guess, and lost control."

"But you and me give each other a real good workout when we
fight! I mean, I liked sparring with you better than fighting with
Ryoga."

Ranma-chan looked up in surprise, and she saw him smiling. And
what a reassuringly good sight that was to her. The last vestiges of her
anger and doubt fell away.

"You...you thought that? I...I guess I...I mean, we can look at it
*that* way....if you want."

"Yeah. Come on. Let's make up. Ummm...friends, or
whatever?" Ranma held out his hand and Ranma-chan took it after a
slight hesitation. She smiled shyly and he grinned back at her. Then,
like an infection, it quickly turned into giggles and chuckles, then
outright laughter. Ranma and Ranma-chan let out all their bad feelings,
and their tension, and fears, in their laughing fit, and they had to hold
each other to keep from falling down and off the roof.

Presently, their laughter passed and they found themselves in each
other's arms. The wind blew Ranma-chan's pigtail into Ranma's face
and he took a sniff of it involuntarily. It smelt...nice, fresh, and it had
a scent to it that he couldn't quite place down - but it still
excited his senses and made him feel....good. He could only describe it as
the way a girl would `smell', the scent of a woman as it were, and he found
that he liked it. He became aware of her small body against his own, her
breasts on his chest, and her hands on his back.

Ranma-chan opened her eyes and she took a sniff of him. He
smelt of sweat, and Ranma-chan wrinkled her nose at that, but she could
also detect something else that made her want to keep him close to her -
so that she could be held in his strong arms and rest her head on his
chest and.....

With a cry, Ranma-chan pushed herself off Ranma and she turned
away and folded her arms across her chest, as if to still her beating
heart. She looked fearfully at him over her shoulder. What was
happening to her?! Ranma had his mouth open in surprise and he
reached out to her, then he let his arm drop. The moments ticked by
with unnatural slowness, and all they were aware of were themselves
and the wind playing around Ranma's shirt collar and Ranma-chan's hair
and shirt, and cherry blossom leaves flying by on the wind, and
Ranma's deep eyes and....Ranma-chan's own eyes...and the
way.....their pigtails........waved to each other from over
their.......their shoulders...........and.......

"Ranma!! Ranma!!! Where are the two of you?! Your ice cream
is melting!"

Akane's voice snapped the two of them out of their daze and they
quickly leapt down from the roof. The next half-hour passes
uneventfully, with Ranma and Ranma-chan exploring the newness of
their peculiar relationship. Each knows what the other would do, or
say, in advance, so there was little need for talking. At exactly the same
time, the two would turn on the TV set and watch the same channels.
Eery that it is, almost all the family had no trouble adapting to the
strange situation. Kasumi went on with her work, Soun and Genma
played shogi endlessly and Nabiki readies her camera in the anticipation
of a perfect shot. Only Akane felt a little unnerved at the near-perfect
synchronization of the two - and more than a little jealous of
Ranma-chan. Imagine, Ranma's girl-side was more popular with him
than she was! The doorbell rang and Akane ran for it.

"Oh, the slumber party!! I nearly forgot! My friends are here!!"

She practically tears the door open, to admit Sayuri, Anemi and two
other girls, all of whom were standing on the porch, duffel bags in
hand.

"Hi, Akane! Ready for the slumber party?" greeted Anemi.

"You bet! Come on in!" With that, Akane ushers them inside.
Sayuri begins to introduce their other friends.

"Akane, this is Erika...", the girl with short, black hair bows,
"...and she's from another class. And this is Sayaka.....", the girl with
glasses bows and smiles.

"Pleased to meet you both!"

With that, the girls begin to chat animatedly as they drift towards
the living room, where Ranma-chan sat watching the TV. Ranma was
sprawled out at the opposite end of the couch Ranma-chan was sitting
on, doing his best imitation of a couch potato. The girls first notice
Ranma-chan, with her red hair.

"Hey, Akane. Isn't that Ranko, your country cousin?" asked
Sayuri.

"Well...umm...."

"She's the one who won that rhythmic gymnastics thing two years
ago. And she fought that Mousse guy and won! The way I hear it,
she's as strong as that cute guy from your class", spouted Erika.

"Oh, him! Hmm...yes...she's as skilled as that Saotome...how do
you call him....hunk! He's a knockout, that Saotome." That was
Sayaka.

"Saotome...h-hunk?" Akane's jaw had dropped at that and she
struggled to get a hold on herself. Knockout? Hunk?! Ranma?!! Just
how popular was he outside of the class anyhow? She turned a
suspicious eye on him.

Sayuri saw Akane acting like a fish out of water and she quickly
moved over to Sayaka and Erika.

"Umm, you guys....!" she began.

"Don't you know? He's the one with the pigtail and he never
wears a uniform. Even Hinako-sensei couldn't get him to wear the
uniform, and she's a tough one! That psycho-nutcase principal of ours
can't even get Ranma to cut his pigtail", gushed Erika, "I hear that nerd
Gosunkugi keeps telling everybody that he's cursed, or something like
that, but I don't believe a word of that junk. Nobody who looks as good
as he does can be cursed!"

"Isn't that the truth, Erika? Wait...wait a minute. WHO'S that
lying on the couch next to Ranko? Hey....that's...that's.....Ranma
Saotome!"

"It's....it's him!" For one of the few times in her life, Erika was
at a loss for words.

"He's...uh...he's Akane's fiance."

Sayaka turned to Anemi.

"Anemi, what are you talking about? What fiance?"

"Umm....Ranma Saotome is Akane's fiance....", clarified Sayuri.

"Fiance?! Wow, how romantic!" exclaimed both Sayaka and Erika
as their eyes went a little bit starry.

"Our parents arranged it....when we were young, so don't blame
me for it." Akane was smiling. Smiling too much, that was. Sayuri
and Anemi were *quite* familiar with how Akane built up to her
tantrums. She had two options, it seemed. She could either fire up
instantly, or she could conceal her anger beneath a veneer of cheer and
let it all out at a later time. Either way, it wouldn't be very friendly of
Akane, to say the least.

"Still! You're his fiancee, and he is your fiance!!" squealed Erika.

"You mean to say that you and Ranma are....", began Sayaka and
she locked her pinkies together.

"Ha ha ha! Not quite that!" Akane folded her arms.

"Lucky you. Wait till the girls hear this....they'll be so
heartbroken!" Erika turned her attention back to Ranma.

"Akane, come here for a sec," said Sayuri, "I wanna talk to you."

She leads Akane away. Erika and Sayaka are still sneaking peeks
at Ranma. Anemi is sizing up `Ranko', who was sitting next to Ranma.
Then Sayuri turned to her friend.

"We know how jealous you can get......"

"Jealous? Of whom? That Casanova?!"

"Don't be so mad, Akane. Remember, these girls are not from
our class. We can't tell everybody how to think of your fiancee."

"But..." began Akane.

"But what? You know that you're getting mad for no other reason
than to find an excuse to hit Ranma, again. Come off it, Akane! It's
not his fault that Sayaka and Erika like him...."

Akane considered Sayuri's words for a moment, then she gave her
a slight nod of assent.

"Well.....I guess so."

"Okay. Come on, let's go get Ranko for the slumber party. The
more, the better. Besides, I'd like to get to know her better since she's
not always around."

Akane and her friends walk over to the couch. Ranma and
Ranma-chan look up from the TV simultaneously. Both of them look
bored stiff. Akane introduced Sayaka and Erika to Ranma and Ranma-
chan.

"Hello, Ranma", greeted Sayuri.

"Hey, you're Akane's friend, right?" Ranma began to pull himself
into a sitting position.

"Yes." Sayuri turns to Ranma-chan. "You're Ranko, right?"

"N..I mean...yes! That's me, Ranko Tendo!" stuttered Ranma-
chan in surprise.

"Wanna join our slumber party?" asked Anemi.

"Umm, I don't know......", began Ranma-chan but Akane cut in.

"Ranko, you'll be starting school tomorrow. This it'll be a good
time to make some friends. Come along."

Ranma-chan looks up at Akane, into her brown eyes twinkling with
amusement - and just a hint of concern. Why should Akane feel
concerned over her? She was going to find a cure, like she has always
done, and she will return to normal! There's nothing to worry about.
Ranma-chan almost told Akane to relax, and not to worry, but
something stopped her from doing so. <Maybe I shouldn't say
anything with Akane's friends over>, she thought, <...that wouldn't
be a very good idea, now would it?>

She didn't want to go to school as a girl, nor was she desperate to
make friends with the girls but she did see the wisdom of Akane's
words. It would only be for the time being, and it would be better for
her in the long run. When she gets cured, she could have friends among
the girls. Of course, that would mean that she would have to be a girl
to be friends with them, but that was really quite beside the point since
friends were friends. Besides, they were not martial artists in any way
and they weren't likely to give her too much trouble, unlike girls like
Shampoo and Kodachi.

It was with this train of thought that Ranma-chan used to convince
herself to peel her body off the couch and do something more
productive.

"Oh, alright. This program was starting to get boring anyways",
she said as she stretched out the kinks in her body.

"You go on ahead and enjoy yourself...er...Ranko." Ranma
resumed his imitation of a couch potato with great effectiveness.

"Yeah, sure *Ranma*." She smiled at Ranma to let him know that
she was only joking. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed one of
Akane's friends, with short hair, leaning in to whisper to a girl with
glasses. <She...she's Erika. That's it>, she thought.

"Look at him! I'd give anything to be in Akane's shoes right
now!" whispered Erika. Ranma-chan could just make it out, but she
surreptiously leaned closer to listen in on the conversation.

"Do you think he'll be in our slumber party?" joked Sayaka. Erika
suddenly looked over at Ranma-chan, who immediately turned her eyes
to the ceiling and pretended not to have heard. Then Akane,
Ranma-chan, Sayuri, Anemi, Sayaka and Erika troop up to Akane's
room, whereupon they unpack their stuff and begin to change into their
PJs. Ranma-chan pretends to search around Akane's closet for some
PJs, thereby avoiding having to look at the girls. At length she picks
out a pink PJ with the words `China' on the front, and she begins to
leave the room, PJ draped over her arm.

"Where are you going, Ranko?" asked Anemi, who was already
clutching a blanket.

"Uhh....I'm going to the bathroom. To change." Ranma-chan
wondered if the jig was up.

"You don't have to go some place private to change. We're all
girls, after all. Nothing we haven't seen, right?" Sayuri was just
beginning to pull her PJ's on as she spoke to Ranma-chan. Akane gives
Ranma-chan a look that said `play along'. Ranma-chan sighs and takes
her shirt off.

"Ranko, where's your bra?" asked Sayaka.

"My what?" Ranma-chan was confused. Why would she need a
bra...unless.....

"Your bra. Why aren't you wearing one?"

Erika's words finally jogged Ranma-chan's brain into gear and she
put two and two together. Girls wore bras.

"Oh, well....it's kinda less restricting not to wear one in the
house. When I go out, I wear one." Ranma-chan silently congratulated
herself on her quick save.

"Be careful that you do wear a bra when you go out of the house,
then. Guys have eyes for that sort of thing. Sometimes I even think
they have eyes on the back of their heads."

Sayuri laughed at Anemi's joke.

"Uhh....yeah. I'll remember that. I will."

The girls get themselves acclimatized to Akane's room and
atmosphere, making small talk as they cuddled up to their pillows.
Ranma-chan talks with the girls, and she learns more about them. She
somehow found it less boring and more interesting than she would have
thought. Then, as the small talk died down, Ranma-chan felt as if she
might fall asleep at any moment, so warm and comforting was Akane's
bedroom. Akane's bed was soft, cozy and had a nice color tone to it,
and Ranma-chan was almost half asleep, leaning against a bunch of
Akane's pillows and listening to the girls chatter and chatter and......

"Now, what shall we do first?"

The abruptness of Sayuri's words woke Ranma-chan up from her
dozing state and everyone turned their attention to Sayuri.

"I know! Let's try and match up the guys we are likely to date
next week!"

Ranma-chan nearly choked after Anemi had said *that*. She? Go
out with a guy?! About as much chance as her friend back in her home
neighbourhood going out with a girl! *That* guy had never been able
to get a date with a girl since she had known him from grade school.

Each girl gave a list of qualities she'd like to find in a boy, and the
rest of the group gave their opinions on which boy, in Furinkan or other
schools, would suit that girl the most. Sayaka went first, followed by
Anemi, then Erika, followed by Sayuri - and everyone, even Ranma-
chan, gave Hiroshi as Sayuri's boyfriend. Sayuri had looked rather
embarrassed, and she had quickly denied it and rejected Hiroshi as her
boyfriend. Akane was next.

"Well, I'd sure like him to understand me, to appreciate me for
what I am, never to fight with me or call me names, and never run
around with other girls." Akane looked smugly at Ranma-chan, who
rolled her eyes and lay back on Akane's bed, folding both hands behind
her head.

"Ranma can't be like the guy Akane is describing", said Sayuri and
Akane nodded in agreement. Ranma-chan shot a hand in the air.

"I don't think so! Ranma isn't like that at all!" she cried in
protest. Sayaka turned to her.

"How is he, then?" she asked.

"And how do you know so much about him?" pressed Erika.

"Well, living here under the same roof as him tends to give you
some insight into his character. He's nice, good tempered, and doesn't
have *much* of a *choice* when girls come to *date* him." Ranma-
chan had been listing off Ranma's points with her fingers, counting them
out as needed.

"What do you mean that y-....I mean, he doesn't have a choice?!"
cried Akane.

"Shampoo always has that odd cure for the curse. If she doesn't,
then she has that odd trick up her sleeve to make m-...him go out with
her. Kodachi...you know...we needn't say more about *that* one. And
Ukyo has never gone out on a date with Ranma, so don't you go
attacking her needlessly."

"Not once?" Akane looked skeptical.

"Not once." Ranma-chan noticed that she had sat up and she lay
back down. <There...Akane got the message!>, she thought in
triumphant.

"Then twice?"

"He - has - never - gone - out - on - a - date - with - Ucchan! Get
it?!" Ranma-chan sat up again and she started to get annoyed. What
was it with Akane? Did she believe her, or not?

"No need to get so worked up about this, Ranko. It's only a
game, after all." Sayuri was always the mediator inside and outside the
classroom.

"Yeah. Sorry about that." Ranma-chan flopped back down on the
bed.

"Anyways, back to the topic. Which guy really suits Akane?"

Akane's friends confer for a few minutes, including Ranma-chan
in their circle. Ranma-chan wasn't listening, as she was looking at
Akane, who was looking back in turn. The two exchange gazes which
gave away nothing that either could pick up on. The conference ended
shortly and everyone else turned back to Akane.

"Well, what's the verdict?" asked Akane and Ranma-chan in
synchronization.

"Well, the only guy we know that doesn't run around with
girls....." began Sayuri.

"Wait till you hear it!" added Erika.

"It's...Gosunkugi!" finished Sayaka.

"AAAAHHHH!! No way!!" shrieked both Akane and Ranma-
chan, again as one person.

"He doesn't fight, never calls anyone names...a-appreciates and
understands girls - if he had a girlfriend, so this is just an...an
assumption - and never runs around with other girls! He's p-perfect!!"
Anemi collapses into laughter after sputtering out her words.

The laughing was so contagious that soon Ranma-chan and even
Akane were joining in. The laughter dies down and Sayuri wipes away
a tear and looks at Akane.

"Akane, you're asking too much of a guy. We all know that no
guy can be exactly like what you described. Nobody is perfect, no
matter how much we want them to be."

"Well, I think somebody's quite perfect for me! And I'm not
telling!" piped in Erika.

"Same here", added Sayuri with a smile.

"Oh, you guys! We all know who you two want!" teased Akane
and she laughed somewhat maniacally after. Sayuri and Anemi looked
rather nervous, and so was Ranma-chan, but Sayaka and Erika were
having the time of their lives.

"Ranko, now it's your turn. Give us your list!" squealed Erika.
Sayaka nodded at Ranma-chan.

"W...what? My list? I...I mean....", stuttered Ranma-chan as
she looked back between Akane and Erika.

"Don't be a spoilsport, Ranko! Come on, it's just in fun!" said
Sayuri.

"But....but I...", Ranma-chan began again. Then Akane gave her
the `play along' look, and Ranma-chan crumbled. "Oh...alright...!
He's....uh...he's gotta be...uh....strong! Yeah, that's it! Strong! And
handsome, I guess....and skilled in martial arts. Yeah, he's gotta be
skilled....and independent......an..and...."

"Say no more! I know who is perfect for you!" squealed Erika.

"Hey!" blurted Akane, though it was unintentional as she quickly
covered her mouth with her hand.

"Don't worry, it's not Ranma", reassured Sayuri. Sayaka and
Anemi nodded. It seemed as if only Ranma-chan and Akane did not
know the verdict.

"Well.....we don't even know his name, but we know how he's
dressed...!" said Sayuri.

"Well, who is it?", queried Akane.

"Yeah, who is it?", piped in Ranma-chan, who leaned forward
with some morbid interest.

Sayuri held her hands up, to still any whispers. Then she cleared
her throat and began.

"Akane, who's that guy who keeps visiting you? You know, the
one with that big and heavy pack, a red umbrella, and wears a
bandanna? He keeps fighting Ranma all the time!"

"RYOGA?!!?" shrieked Ranma-chan and Akane at once.

"That's it! Ryoga! He's always travelling by himself, he's skilled
in martial arts, very strong and he's cute! *I'd* say he's as cute as
Ranma!"

"Now that you mention it...yes. He's just as nice looking." added
Sayaka. Erika looked at Ranma-chan slyly.

"So, Ranko. When are you gonna go out with Ryoga?" she asked.

"G-go out with Ryoga?! But....but...he's...ummm...he's hard to
find!" stammered Ranma-chan.

"I saw him just today. He passed the Tendo dojo, like seven or
eight times. He had a tanuki statue on his back, a huge one mind you,
and he looked rather tired." Sayaka was looking at Ranma-chan while
she spoke. "I'm sure he would jump at the chance to date you, Ranko."

<He'd jump alright......up up and away from me, screaming in
horror!> Ranma-chan thought, and shuddered just a bit. Just.

"Okay, all of you. Enough with games for now, let's eat!" cried
Akane in delight as she pulled out the treats and sweets. All the girls
tear into the treats and bonbons made and baked by Kasumi.
Ranma-chan again gets another chance to know the other classmates
whom she had never had a chance to mingle with. She was surprised
to find that she really did enjoy talking with them, pleasantly astonished
at the breadth of their knowledge and intelligence - certainly the guys
she had hung out with had no room in their head for anything else
except for having fun and girls, and having fun with girls, the latter of
which was probably another good reason why not to hang out with her
usual male friends while under this special curse.

After a short while, thanks to Ranma-chan's voracious appetite, all
the treats and bonbons are gone and the girls turn to other things.
Akane brought a small colour TV up to her room and they watched an
anime about a romantic comedy. Ranma-chan noticed that all the girls,
other than her of course, were fully spell-bound by the story unfolding
on the TV screen. Sayaka and Anemi lay on the carpeted floor in front
of the TV, their attention far away at the boarding house where the
anime is taking place. Erika, Sayuri and Akane lay or sat on the bed
and clutched pillows and blankets as they followed the actions of the
members of the boarding house.

Ranma-chan was also on the bed but she didn't quite understand
how these girls could lose themselves so much in a TV show with
practically no action!! Ranma-chan yawned a bit and lay back, resting.
The anime episode ended and the girls started talking about what had
just happened. Sayaka was the first to speak.

"Oh, that's so sad! Why did he have to run away? Didn't he
know how much she truly loved him? Didn't he know that she would
never jump the gun and marry someone else?"

"And all because of that guy's sister's wedding! That poor, young
man didn't know that it wasn't her wedding....", added Sayuri.

"And the part when the movers came to Room 5 and moved all
his stuff out? She knew then that he really was serious about running
away! You could almost cry for him!" piped in Erika. Anemi spoke
next.

"Then she went to his new apartment...and saw that freeloading
woman tenant living under the same roof as he is?"

"Yeah, like, what was she to think? She didn't know that woman
didn't have the money to move out!!" cried Erika.

"Ranko, what did you think of that? Wasn't it heartbreaking?"
asked Sayuri.

"No, not really. She didn't take the time to understand him, and
vice versa. It's both their fault and that's what they deserve."

"Ranko! Is your heart made of stone? Where are your feelings?"
cried Erika.

"Didn't you feel anything for that poor guy?" asked Sayaka in
curiosity.

"Nope. Not a thing."

Then, after a while to recover from the anime episode, the girls
begin to chat about school affairs and classroom things. Their social
lives seem to intertwine very tightly with aspects of their everyday life.
Erika complained about how her mother limited her use of the phone to
call boys. Anemi grumbled about how she was grounded for spending
too much time out with her friends. Sayuri and Sayaka smile and listen
sympathetically.

Akane and Ranma-chan were little more than spectators,
interjecting a comment now and then. The hour grew late and the girls
pull out their pillows and blankets. Ranma-chan excuses herself and
returns to her room, with much objection since everyone thought she
was deserting them. She apologized to them, then she left and let Akane
deal with them. Ranma-chan padded down the hallway and she went
inside her room. Ranma was already beginning to get ready for bed.
He turned at Ranma-chan's arrival.

"Hey, what's with the PJ's?" he asked.

"Be quiet, you." Ranma-chan yawns. "Oh man...I didn't know
it was so tiring!"

"What's so tiring?"

"That slumber party thing."

Ranma looked confused.

"I thought you would be wide awake....being close to all those
girls and all that."

"What makes you think I was there for the girls?"

"The same thing that tells me how I would have liked to be in
there."

"No. Not really. The program was getting boring and I needed
to meet with my new friends." Ranma-chan yawned again and she
began to walk over to her futon, which was next to Ranma's.

"New friends? What's wrong with Hiroshi and Daisuke? What
about the guys?"

"I'm a girl for now, remember? Until I find a cure I can't hang
out all the time with the guys."

"Hmmm...you're right. Those guys only think of......"

"Girls. Yes, I know", finished Ranma-chan.

Ranma sat down and he winced as he touched his stomach and his
back, the spots where Ranma-chan had hit him earlier before. Ranma-
chan edged close to Ranma.

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

"Uhh...yeah. Can't really lie about that, can I? How did *you*
get so strong, anyhow?"

"Strong?" asked Ranma-chan in confusion. She? In female form?
She wasn't *nearly* as strong as Ranma...

"I mean, you only hit me three times, and it already hurts like
hell!"

"Oh....I see what you mean. Well, when I kicked you, I did a
quick Tenshin Amaguriken on you there - about twenty or thirty times.
The punches were about forty to fifty each. Does it really, really hurt?"

"What do you think? You only hit me about a hundred and thirty
times, right?" Ranma sounded sarcastic as he lay back on the bed, and
winced as his sore back touched the futon. Ranma-chan considered him
for a moment, then she smiled, reached over and pulled his shirt up.
Ranma yelped as he pulled his shirt back down.

"W-what was that for?!"

"Stupid. Come on, pull that shirt up. I'll rub those sore areas for
you." Ranma-chan pulled his shirt up, slowly, and Ranma did not
object to her delicate hands expertly kneading his abs and taking away
the pain. Such a smooth and gentle touch did Ranma-chan possess,
along with more than a little bit of sexual arousal as her fingers ran
between his well defined abs.

"Mmm...what's this?" asked Ranma-chan as she eyed Ranma's
shorts.

"None of your business!!" Ranma grabbed a pillow and stuffed it
between his legs.

"Of course."

Then, after a while, Ranma-chan pulled Ranma's shirt back down
and she sat back a bit.

"That felt so good, I feel like a new man!"

"Turn over." Ranma-chan indicated that he should roll over with
her finger.

"Why?"

"You forget about your bruises on your back. Turn over or I'll
make you."

Ranma obliged and he rolled over. Ranma-chan pulled his shirt up
and she began to rub his muscled back.

"I feel like a dog, you know, being told to turn over. And it's not
the first time today that I feel this way, too."

"Yes...so obedient. Move up?"

"Yeah....near the shoulder blade."

Ranma-chan slowly ran her fingers up to that spot and she
massaged it to perfection. Then Ranma-chan patted Ranma and she lay
down on her futon, face down.

"Now it's your turn to give me a back rub", she said.

"What?!"

"It's only fair. I scratch your back, you scratch mine."

"I...I guess so. Pull your shirt up, will ya?"

Ranma-chan pulls her shirt up to her neck and lets Ranma work
her back with his hands. Ranma marvels at the softness of her back and
the smoothness of her skin while running his hands from the small of
her back up to her shoulders and back down again. He could catch just
a glimpse of her breasts, hidden partially by her shirt and her back, and
it served to excite him even more. He turned his eyes away and he
thought of something, anything, to say - to break the silence.

"So, uhh....what do you think of the girls?"

"They're smarter than guys but they're too emotional. Crying over
some dumb show about a guy who lives in a boarding house with a
bunch of tenants and a beautiful manageress."

"Doesn't sound too exciting. Does it have any action?"

"More to the right, please. Sorry?"

"I said, does it have any action?" Ranma shifted his hands to the
right and massaged that area.

"No. Not a bit. Just a bunch of tear-jerking scenes strung one
after another."

"Is it anime?"

"Yup. No way you could pay anybody to do something like
that......but whoever wrote that story must be one helluva writer, to get
even AKANE crying a bit. You know how much of a tomboy she is,
no? Ooh! Do that again."

"Do what again?" Ranma paused.

"Rub that spot again. It feels good...." Ranma-chan trailed off.

"Your wish is my command."

At length, Ranma finishes his massaging of Ranma-chan and they
both lie on their futons, and go to bed. Ranma-chan puts her head on
her pillow and she falls asleep within seconds. Ranma let his eyes travel
a moment longer on the slim, beautiful figure on the futon next to his.
He noted the slim shoulders, the delicate arms and the long legs. He
had no idea that he was this ravishing when asleep. With some effort
he wrenched his gaze away from his female counterpart. Ranma
reflected on the events of the day.

This was strange. And weird. Here he was, and there was his
female side. In essence, two people with the same mind. But, he hoped
to find a cure so that this crazy event, though just another nutty event
in his life, would be over with. Ranma goes to sleep, wondering where
in the world he could find a cure for Ranma-chan. And he also
wondered if he should.....

As Ranma-chan slept, she started to dream. She felt herself, in
female form, taking a hot bath. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind
by strong hands which immobilized her own. She screamed in terror
and she tried to see who was behind her, but she couldn't. She heard
Ryoga's voice from behind her, saying `Date with me'. She feels his
body press up behind her and he said `Date with me' once more. She
shrieked at the top of her lungs and the nightmare shattered into a
thousand bits of darkness which scatter across the infinite expanse of the
dreamscape.

She finds herself standing on a vast plain of green, knee-high
grasses, clothed in her normal clothing. A range of white-capped,
mist-shrouded mountains lie far off to her right. The sun is high in the
sky and a few clouds scud across the horizon. A wind blows and passes
through the tall grasses with a swish, and ruffled her hair. A person off
in the distance, distinctly a man or a young man with short, black hair,
ran towards her. She somehow knew that she was seeing this guy, but
who was he? Her dream ended at this point and all was darkness
thereafter.

Ranma-chan tossed and turned on her futon, disturbed by the
mysterious omen yet reassured in some inexplicable way. She feels, yet
doesn't feel, a subtle change taking place in her body, one of many yet
to come. Darkness closed in upon Nerima ward, and soon only the
chirps of crickets broke the silence that is the night. The night of a new
beginning.)

-----------------End Part One-------

I can't tell you how relieved I am to have finished revising part 1.
Now, only about 5 more parts to revise!! ^_^ Do tell me how the
revision looks, alright? (email to : km...@odyssey.on.ca)

Revision Date : Thursday 1997, February 2nd, 1:21 am.