[AMG/Ranma][FanFic] Instruments of Change, Part Thirteen

[Mike Koos]

Ranma's alarm clock abruptly came to life, sounding the last few
notes of a pop-rock song before giving way to a commercial.
She was already awake, however. Years of training and life on
the road had given her an instinctive habit of waking up at five in
the morning. True, while she normally did wake up rather early,
Ranma now went back to sleep... simply because she had the option.
Yet on this morning, Ranma had chosen to lay awake in bed,
taking stock of her life and surroundings. And with good reason; the
day before she had been a boy with a water-triggered Jhusenkyou curse
that physically changed him into a girl, more relationship problems
than he could count and most recently, a whirlwind of confusion
involving actual Goddesses and demons.
Now, she was only a girl, with no curse. Her life had seen
quite a bit of change ever since Ranmira's 'recovery.' Having actual
bugs in the system that controlled the whole of reality cause his
files to be rewritten, turning him into a girl from birth, was only
the latest round.
Ranmira, Skuld... even Akane had tried to reassure her that the
crew currently in charge of maintaining Yggdrasil was working hard to
reset her files back to 'normal,' but one of the truths of this
matter was that until that time, she would soon lose her memories of
her former life and become the Ranma of this reality. She would never
know she had lived in any other reality.
Maybe this was some higher power's idea of a joke... someone's
way of laughing in her face, showing her exactly how much control she
*did* have over her life and existence. At a time when most of that
control was already leaving her...
It wasn't fair! Not blasted fair at all!

An Aa! Megamisama / Ranma 1/2 Crossover
Instruments of Change
Part Thirteen
written by Mike Koos
--------------------

With one hand, Ranma grasped her alarm clock and pulled it
forward, yanking the thing's plug out of the wall socket. She pitched
it in the direction of one of the far corners of the room, not caring
at all where the clock landed or what it hit.
It bounced noisily off the wall before landing in her clothes
hamper.
She heard someone knock on her door. Sighing, she tried to will
her irritation away for the moment. Who would bother with knocking on
her door other than Kasumi, her mother or one of the Goddesses?
Everyone else in the house barged into the room, rather than knock.
Then again, the nature of her reality *had* been changed, hadn't it?
"Yeah--" Ranma caught herself, clearing her throat. "Yes?"
The door opened. Kasumi stepped quietly into the room, her gaze
moving from Ranma to the table where the girl had kept her alarm
clock until she found the clock itself. "You didn't break it, did
you?" she asked. Her tone bordered on scolding; Ranma wondered how
many clocks she had destroyed in this reality.
"Uh... I'm sorry, Kasumi," she fumbled an apology.
Kasumi took a seat on the nearest edge of the younger girl's
bed, absently brushing a lock or two of Ranma's scarlet hair from her
forehead. Ranma was so very much like Akane, sharing enough traits
between them that it was easy to imagine the two as twin sisters.
Certainly, she, Nabiki and Akane treated Ranma as a sister... though
with Akane training to become a Goddess, Kasumi privately despaired
that Akane might have to leave them, as both their mother and Peorth
had. "Is something the matter, Ranma?"
"I... well... I guess I'm just upset over some of the changes
that've happened around here lately," Ranma replied, drawing herself
up on her elbows.
Kasumi pursed her lips. A good portion of those changes did
affect Ranma, from Ranmira's separation from Ranma to her reunion with
her mother. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure how to console Ranma while
coping with all of the changes, herself. Ranma had regained her
mother, was training a Goddess how to be a martial artist and possibly
losing one of her best friends.
What could she tell Ranma to reassure her, when she couldn't be
sure everything would turn out well for all of them?
"I'm not sure what to tell you," she said, hesitantly, "but if
you spend your time sure that bad things will happen, chances are that
*is* what will happen."
Ranma appeared far from convinced. "Wishful thinking."
"Maybe. But wouldn't you prefer not to be depressed or unhappy?"
The eldest of the three Tendo sisters smiled. "Come on - it's time
for you to get ready for school. Akane and Nabiki are already getting
ready, and Skuld will be here soon. You wouldn't want them to leave
without you, right?"
Ranma let herself fall heavily back onto her pillow. "I'll think
about it." She didn't truly feel like bothering with school for a
while, not today, but Kasumi probably wouldn't accept her excuse -
even with Goddesses around, why would Kasumi have any reason to
believe Ranma wasn't living in her proper reality?
Kasumi stood, laughing in her usual gentle manner. "Don't be
long. You know how quickly breakfast can disappear if you take your
time."
"Okay, Kasumi," Ranma nodded as Kasumi left the room. "Thanks."
<Well, THAT hasn't changed,> she thought sourly. Her father
still ate food like a Human black hole, pulling in not only his meal
but food from the immediate area... unless Nabiki had developed a
habit of overeating. Akane and Skuld were unchanged, as the Goddesses
supposedly existed somewhat 'removed' from the timelines in the Mortal
Plane.
She'd tried to find memories of her present life. If she would
become the Ranma of this reality sooner or later, wouldn't those
memories eventually be there? All she had found were the memories of
her former life.
That left - for now, anyway - what details Ranmira and Skuld had
told her after they had brought her back to consciousness. The
basics.
Nearly seventeen years ago, her mother had met Ranmira and made
a wish - only this time, for a daughter, not a son. Ranma was sure
her father hated that fact, assuming he knew... which he more than
likely did.
Ranmira was temporarily silenced, and without her 'guardian
angel' to guide her, young Ranma was taken from her mother to begin
her career as a student of the Saotome class of martial arts.
She *had* gone with her father to Jhusenkyou, but through luck
and good sense, had somehow avoided the curse of that ancient
training ground. That struck Ranma as being rather odd. Didn't
nearly everyone who visited Jhusenkyou leave with a curse?
Ranma supposed it could be further proof that someone was using
her for either a practical joke or some sort of experiment. Thinking
a few steps further, she told herself she shouldn't be getting angry
over all of this unless she had a sensible idea what to do with her
anger. Her own temper could easily match Akane's, at times. Besides
which, what would she do? Confront Ranmira or Skuld and demand to
speak to Kami-sama? *That* wouldn't do her much good at all.
Choosing to settle down, Genma had brought Ranma to the Tendo
home. With only daughters to their name and no sons, Soun and Genma
were certainly unable to fulfill the arrangement they had made even
before Kasumi's birth to someday join their families - but at least
Ranma and Soun's three daughters could combine the Saotome and Tendo
classes of martial arts, and keep them from being forgotten, somehow.
Neither Soun nor Genma could see an alternative. Soun had no
desire to remarry, and Genma had assured himself that Nodoka would
want him and Ranma dead if she ever saw them again. In retrospect,
Genma also regretted never having considered the idea of throwing
Ranma into the Nan-Nii-Chuan while at Jhusenkyou, for he hadn't known
such a pool might exist until well after he was away from the cursed
training grounds. Dragging Ranma back to Jhusenkyou and doing just
that had become something of a threat the elder Saotome used on
occasion... although he knew he could never execute it. Ranma and
her 'sisters' alone would never let him.
Ranma considered asking the Goddesses to help her gain the
Nan-Nii-Chuan curse; she could be a boy again, even if he might not
look like the original Saotome Ranma. And since she came across
cold water more often than hot water, the curse would work in her
favor... though she supposed Fate would merely find ways to send her
more hot water.
She snorted. Getting herself cursed wouldn't be of any real
help. The Ranma of this reality would hate abruptly finding herself
with a Jhusenkyou curse, much less one that made her become a boy. Of
all things... she was free of the curses for now, and yet she was
giving thought to putting herself through *that* all over again? Even
if this reality would be gone once the problems in the Yggdrasil files
were fixed, intentionally getting a curse would be the choice of a
fool. Something her father would do.
In that regard, it probably wasn't a good idea to hide from the
world or her problems, and wait for her 'other' self to take charge,
either. For a second the idea of leaving a note to herself crossed
her mind, though she wasn't sure if the Goddesses and Akane would
verify anything she wrote.
She drew herself out of the bed, heading immediately for the
closet where her school uniform would most likely be. Akane kept her
uniform on a clotheshanger near her door, but Nabiki had chosen better
things to do with her wall space. Apparently, Ranma had done the
same.
Her room reminded Ranma of Akane's room, but with a notably
simpler feel - almost as if she were reserving the right to give it a
more masculine feel at any moment. <I'm probably as much of a tomboy
as Akane.>
She found her uniform - a sky-blue jumper worn over a white
dress-shirt - hanging apart from the rest of her clothes at the end of
the rack. Without thinking much about it, Ranma shrugged out of her
pajamas... and then hesitated after she caught a glimpse of herself.
Being a girl and dressing completely as a girl, down to the proper
underclothes, was nothing new for her. But now... she was *only* a
girl, and worse, sixteen years old. That meant she would have no
excuse for not knowing most of the considerations involved in being a
sixteen year-old girl. Even as a tomboy, she could not continue
acting as she had, as a girl who knew she was a boy 'in the wrong
body' and could easily return to being that boy. People had known
Ranma, and understood that she would behave the same no matter which
form she wore.
Akane had maintained that although Ranma could transform into a
girl, the boy-turned-girl didn't truly know how to behave as a girl.
That usually earned Akane a dubious look - after all, Saotome Ranma
was a man. Why would he want to properly emulate a girl?
Still, however, Akane had been right. When she did pretend to
be a girl for one reason or another, Ranma often wildly exaggerated
her 'feminine' act. A severe blow to the head had once made her
believe she was completely a girl, mentally as well as physically,
but she had still behaved in a somewhat extreme manner.
<Okay,> Ranma surmised, digging through 'her' drawer of
undergarments for the least daring set. <I've gotta avoid calling
attention to myself.> Everyone most likely was aware of how she
normally behaved, and with Akane and Skuld possibly drawing
attention, it wouldn't be hard for someone to notice *her* acting
strangely.
She drew the dress-shirt half of her uniform on and quickly
buttoned it up. How many people were aware that Akane was training
to become a Goddess, or that Skuld and her sisters *were* Goddesses?
They'd told the Ukyou of their original reality the entire story.
Kunou had his own version of the truth, and apparently, so did
Ryouga.
But who knew about it in this reality? For that matter, who
*did* she know in this reality? There was no reason to believe she
had the same friends and enemies.
Ranma pulled the jumper over her head. Skuld and Ranmira had
already apologized for not being able to give her more details. With
people scanning the sectors in which her files had been temporarily
stored and making sure the bugs hadn't caused any other problems,
downloading her entire life history in detail from the Yggdrasil
archives would bog things down for *someone*, somewhere. They would
try accessing the system again today - but only for answers to
simple, direct questions about her life, which Ranma would no doubt
have by the afternoon.
For the first time since being awakened in this alternate
reality, Ranma smiled. Running into situations without every last
possible bit of information could almost have been considered a trait
of hers.
She made herself step through Akane's normal morning routine in
her mind. For now, it would have to be her routine as well.

Skuld was indeed waiting at the family-room table, only mildly
interested in watching everyone else eat their breakfast by the time
Ranma stepped into the room, but it was Nabiki who spoke first. "There
you are, little sister," she minced. "I almost thought we'd have to
have Akane go up and drag you off to school again." Nabiki paused
long enough to swallow another bite of her meal, raising an eyebrow
for effect. "But then, I figured you wouldn't want to miss the chance
to be with your boyfriend."
Ranma was almost too caught up in reading into Nabiki's use of
the words 'little sister' that she came close to missing the opposite
end of the remark. "Boyfriend?" she instinctively snapped. "I don't
have a boyfriend."
She heard a small gasp from Akane, not at Nabiki's declaration
but the one *she* had just made, and realized what she had done. How
did *she* know whether or not she had a boyfriend?
"So you're always saying," noted Nabiki.
"She has no time for a boyfriend," Genma insisted adamantly, for
once not present at the table as a panda. More often than not he ate
or did whatever it was he did around the house in panda form, for no
reason anyone except perhaps Soun could guess. "Especially someone as
weak in spirit and body as that *boy*."
Ranma glared at him. "Always trying to control my life, aren't
you, Dad?" She bristled. "If I want to fall in love with someone,
I'll do it whether you want me to or not."
Nabiki's clapping broke the silence that fell after Ranma had
spoken. Both Ranma and Akane had backbone enough to stand up to their
respective fathers, which was occasionally needed of late... what with
the two adults hoping to make everyone follow their crazy schemes in
the name of honor and what-not. She was glad none of them *had* been
born male, in passing; their fathers would probably have put a boy
through far more of their nonsense, and that they had planned an
arranged marriage long ago meant that whoever fell into that scheme
would definitely be miserable.
Then again, their fathers could very well be treating all of them
with more harshness than was necessary because they *were* girls, not
boys. In theory, each of them - though Nabiki wasn't sure whether or
not she should count Goddess-candidate Akane - could marry into a
different family, taking that family's name.
She glanced for a second at her wristwatch, blinked, then reached
for the bookbag resting on the floor near her. "Well, as much fun as
we're possibly having, it's time for me to go."
Privately, Ranma thought about asking her to stay a little
longer. Nabiki liked leaving for school early, a habit she had begun
immediately after Ranma and his father moved into the Tendo home, to
avoid most of the general nonsense of the morning. But today, Nabiki
was one of two people who could give her clues as to her 'boyfriend'
without consulting Yggdrasil. The other was her father, who had
obviously been thinking of a solitary person. For some reason Ranma
felt as though she would have a better chance of getting the
information from Nabiki than her father.
Skuld hemmed. "We really should be going, too, Ranma."
"What?" Ranma felt her eyes widen. "Why?"
Akane grabbed Ranma by the wrist, pulling her out of the room.
"We have to make a few stops along the way, and besides, there's
something we need to talk to you about."

"Baka!" Akane hissed, making an effort to keep her temper under
control as she walked alongside Ranma and Skuld. "Don't you remember
what Ranmira told you last night? How she told you to pay attention
and NOT go around arguing facts with anyone until you know if they're
true or not?" She sighed. "Honestly. For all you know, you could've
been dating someone for the past year!"
"I could've known if you'd asked the big computer," Ranma
retorted. "You know, the one that's the reason why I'm like this?"
Skuld leveled a glare at her. "Yggdrasil is NOT to blame, Ranma.
It's the bugs. Yggdrasil can only act on the information it has or
receives. If a bug changes that data, or damages Yggdrasil in some
way, reality can and will be altered. So blame the bugs. *Not* the
system."
"But if the computer *didn't* process my information, then it
wouldn't be able to change my reality. Right?"
Skuld had no immediate answer for that question.
"Don't you keep backups of everything?" asked Ranma, recalling
something of the computer discussions she had heard while at school.
"Er... yes," Skuld hesitated. "But they are a part of the
reality which was changed."
"Swell."
Akane decided it was time to change the subject. "Ranma, if
you'd kept your mouth shut, I might have been able to tell you I did
ask Yggdrasil for information on your supposed 'boyfriend.'" She
glanced at Skuld, who nodded. "With permission, of course."
"You did?"
"It was one of the first things I thought I should check,"
smirked Akane.
Ranma was clearly nonplussed. "Gee, thanks. So who's the guy
everyone thinks is my boyfriend?"
".........Gosunkugi Hikaru."
"HIM!? Gosunkugi!?" Ranma very nearly fell forward in sheer
disbelief.
"Yes," Akane tried to regain a measure of seriousness.
"The records say that you saw some people picking on him one day, and
took pity on him. You've been defending and training him how to
fight, though you haven't really noticed how he feels about you."
Ranma feigned a gagging motion. "Anything *else* I should be
getting sick about?"
"Not yet. But I'm sure there will be."

A familiar voice called their names as they crossed through the
gates leading into the main courtyard of the Fuurinkan High School
grounds. "Ranma! Akane! ...Skuld!"
They turned toward the source of the voice. Akane's expression
brightened. "Yuka!" she waved. "Sayuri-chan!"
Sayuri ran, skidding to a halt near her friends. Yuka opted for
walking. "Ranma?" the former inquired while catching her breath.
"Why didn't you call yesterday? I thought we were gonna go see a
movie or something?"
<Because I was a guy yesterday,> thought Ranma. "Uh... well,
Dad made me spend most of the evening in the dojo sparring with him."
She hoped her excuse would work; that Sayuri and Yuka were now her
friends as well as Akane's had come as a slight surprise. Often, the
duo would be the first to join Akane in criticizing him.
Ranma briefly wondered if Skuld would hold the lie against her.
Thankfully, the Goddess only nodded when Ranma hastily glanced in her
direction - how could she tell the truth about the previous day's
events when she'd never experienced them?
"Again?" Yuka winced. "Why can't your dad be like Akane's? I
mean, he doesn't push her through all sorts of sparring exercises
every single day, and she's turned out to be a great martial artist,
right?"
Ranma wisely kept her mouth shut.
"That's the only way he knows how to teach," said a new voice
from within the courtyard. Ukyou was walking toward them, with
another girl Ranma couldn't immediately place at her side. Both
newcomers wore - oddly enough - the Fuurinkan High girls' uniform.
"Bullying people around, trying to make it look as if he's actually
worth something." The words had ended in a snarl, implying that this
Ukyou didn't care much for Saotome Genma, either. Now, what was her
opinion of the man's daughter?
The girl standing beside her exhaled softly, closing her eyes.
"His training methods are good. He simply doesn't understand that
it's not good to scare your students or make them resent you."
Akane blinked. She hadn't recognized Ukyou's friend, either;
the girl's features did look familiar, but there were signs that she
was attempting to draw others' attention away from those features
with makeup. Her black hair, cut in a basic style, barely reached to
her shoulders.
The voice was somewhat easier to place. She was unusually
reserved, yet speaking in a clipped, deliberate manner... almost as
if she were consciously masking the Chinese accent with which she
spoke. Despite that effort, Akane was surprised to find that she did
recognize the girl. And, judging from the surprise Ranma was barely
managing to hide, Ranma had also recognized her.
It was Shampoo.
This was *not* the Shampoo to which Akane had become accustomed.
In fact, Shampoo seemed fully intent on hiding herself - hiding the
person Akane thought Shampoo could or should be. Why? What in the
world had happened to Shampoo to cause *this* kind of change?
She pretended to be distracted for a second, turning her head
away from the others. Hopefully, no one would notice the markings on
her face glow for the fraction of a moment it took to request the
information from Yggdrasil.
Shampoo had met Ranma in much the same manner as she had
before... at least as far as Akane could tell from what she recalled
of Ranma's story.
While chasing Ranma to kill her, Shampoo had found it next to
impossible to murder Ranma - the girl seemed almost to have a higher
power protecting her, at times. She had watched Ranma closely
thereafter, studying her... and saw the red-haired girl execute acts
of charity and kindness here and there, when her father wasn't
looking or the threat of death was relaxed. Ranma, giving away what
was left of her food to a child or even what little money she had kept
from her greedy father's hands.
Shampoo had lost her conviction. Did the girl really deserve to
be murdered simply because she hadn't known the village rules *and*
was a decent fighter, enough to take Shampoo by surprise? With any
luck, Ranma would leave China and never return, and Shampoo could
return home with the claim that she had killed the outsider girl.
She shadowed Ranma until the girl and her father were on a boat
headed out of one of the major ports, then began her trip home.
Unfortunately for her, however, she hadn't been alone in her pursuit
of Ranma. Three other warriors from her village had shadowed *her*,
watching her grant mercy to Ranma. Shampoo returned to her village
only to be exiled in shame.
Shampoo eventually made her way to Japan, where she found Ranma
and Akane, informing them of her fate. With their help, she learned
to speak proper Japanese, enrolled in school and used the last of her
money - earned in fights while traveling to Japan - to open a
restaurant: the Nekohanten.
Ranma, still feeling largely responsible for Shampoo's exile, had
spent a lot of time acting as one of the Nekohanten's waitresses, as
had Akane.
While Shampoo had made efforts to distance herself from her
former life, parts of it would come back to haunt her on occasion,
such as Cologne and Mousse... both out to defeat Ranma, blaming her
for Shampoo's exile. Shampoo had remained on the side of her new
friends, though, and taught Ranma and Akane a few of the special
techniques they would need to survive a fight against Mousse or her
former great-grandmother.
Akane shuddered. One small change in Ranma's life had resulted
in sending Shampoo's life down a notably different path. And, if
Shampoo's life had been changed this much, was Ukyou's life that much
different?
Her triad of amethyst markings glowed softly for a second, and
she had the answer.
Ukyou's story had also been much the same as what Ranma had
recounted of his first meeting with Ukyou... until one day when Ukyou
chased Ranma far from the yatai, cornered her and helped Ranma to see
that what she was doing wasn't right. Ranma explained that the 'game'
had been her father's idea; Ukyou had snorted, admitting that fighting
Ranma had been *her* father's idea.
Ranma's ego led her to boast that regardless of the 'game,'
Ukyou had no real chance of beating her in a fight. Soon, they had
agreed to hold a friendly match, in which Ukyou surprised Ranma by
doing better than Ranma had expected.
They became friends, although they hid their friendship from
their fathers behind the 'game.' Every day, both Ranma and Ukyou
would run far from the Kuonji yatai to talk, spar and otherwise
have fun.
Later, when Ranma learned that her father wanted to move on, she
ran off to tell Ukyou... who was sad that her friend was leaving, but
they both agreed to meet again in the future and test their fighters'
skills against each other.
While they talked, Genma ran past them along the nearest dirt
road, dragging the Kuonji yatai behind him. Mr. Kuonji had believed
that Ranma was a boy - though Ukyou and Ranma had both known they were
girls - and had agreed to an arranged marriage between the two
children. Genma, of course, had only made the arrangements for his
own benefit. Spotting Ranma, he grabbed her and fled, leaving behind
a confused Ukyou.
Ukyou returned to her father and discovered what had happened.
She explained the truth of the situation; that Ranma was a girl,
*and* her friend.
Her father finally agreed that the deception and resulting
arrangements hadn't been Ranma's fault, but Genma's. Recalling what
Ukyou had said about sparring with Ranma, he encouraged his daughter
to definitely continue training... perhaps one day, she would find
her friend, test her skill, and confront her friend's honorless crook
of a father, Saotome Genma.
In the present, Ukyou had been reunited with Ranma. Yet somehow,
whenever she had the idea to confront Genma or beat him up, the man
disappeared. Ukyou had become Akane's friend as well, and tended to
concentrate more on her business, cooking and fighting than romantic
interests. Her own restaurant, the 'U-Chan,' maintained a friendly
rivalry with Shampoo's restaurant.
"Akane? Hey, Akane?"
Ranma's voice. Akane blinked, returning her attention to the
group of people who were now her close friends in this reality.
"Sorry. I was just... thinking about something."
Ranma gave her an odd look. "Shampoo was just reminding us that
we're supposed to come in and work for her this weekend."
"You really should pay more attention, Akane," Shampoo smiled
faintly.
Akane sniffed. "Hmph."
"I'll come, too, if you want," Sayuri volunteered.
"Me, too," chimed Yuka.
"Sure," Ukyou grumped. "Leave me without help for the weekend."
Shampoo's smile became a smirk. "You'll manage." At once, she
returned to being distant. "We should be going inside, now. I don't
want to be late for class."
"Go on ahead," Skuld told the group, raising her voice slightly.
"I need to speak with Ranma and Akane about something."
"Okay, see you three in class!" Sayuri exclaimed, waving to them
as she followed the others into the school's main building.
Skuld faced Akane, her expression all at once serious. "What did
you learn, Akane?"
"You... know?"
"Are you kidding?" the Goddess of the Future grinned. "Do you
think I couldn't sense you accessing the system, while standing next
to you?" She had the pleasure of watching her apprentice's cheeks
redden in a blush.
Akane hurriedly gave Skuld and Ranma an abbreviated version of
Shampoo and Ukyou's histories.
"So *that's* why Shampoo was like that," sighed Ranma. It
seemed that no matter in which reality she existed, she always turned
out to be the cause of at least *one* person's 'miserable' life.
Thank goodness Ukyou hadn't been trapped in the arranged-marriage
confusion this time around...
She became aware of the sound of someone sprinting toward them.
Only one person often greeted her and Akane in the mornings with such
a blunt approach. "Kunou?" frowned Ranma, her body instinctively
tensing. A fight just might make a worthwhile change to an otherwise
mediocre morning.
Ranma offhandedly realized she had never fought while dressed in
a girl's school uniform - her 'other self' was likely much better at
it, as was Akane. But if Akane didn't find the uniform restrictive
when she fought, it wouldn't make a difference here. Not against an
opponent like Kunou, anyway.
The sense of another presence immediately behind her told her she
shouldn't have focused the whole of her attention on the possibility
of an attack from Kunou. Gosunkugi was cowering behind her. Using
her as some kind of human shield, she supposed. "Ranma-chan!" he
pleaded. "Help! He's after me again!"
She stared at him for a brief moment. Gosunkugi - her supposed
*boyfriend*! - had never had much strength or backbone to call upon.
And even if she'd been training him, how much difference could that
make? One advantage to the martial arts was that one didn't need to
be a muscle-bound fighter in order to learn them; agility, dedication
and intelligence, perhaps, but having a lot of strength was not a
prerequisite.
So who would be 'after him,' Ranma wondered? If word around
school had it that she was defending him, which boy would have the
nerve to continue tormenting Gosunkugi?
Never mind that the sheer absurdity of this entire arrangement
was making her feel ill.
As she'd anticipated, Kunou bounded into sight. "I should have
known you would hide and cower behind an object of true beauty,
believing yourself safe from my sword! Why the fair goddess Saotome
Ranma takes pity on a lowly wretch such as you, I shall never know--"
His words trailed into the horizon along with his entire body as an
annoyed Ranma place-kicked him away from them.
"I hate it when he does that," was all she said, without missing
a beat. Glaring at her 'boyfriend for a few seconds longer, she
grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him into the building behind her
without a word.
Skuld shrugged, muttering the words "Everything changes" to
herself before following Ranma inside.
<What did she mean by that?> Akane made a mental note to run the
phrase past Ranmira, later. Surely, the Goddess of Change would be
able to explain a remark about change.

** ** **

Kasumi was seated at the family-room table that evening, enjoying
a small cup of hot tea when Ranmira emerged from the electrical
outlet which powered the television.
"Ah, Ranmira-san," she pushed herself away from the table,
greeting the Goddess. "Ranma is upstairs. She thought she would
finish her homework while waiting for you."
Ranmira absently nodded. "How has she been doing?" she asked,
taking care to choose her words. How *was* Ranma coping with this?
Being awakened one night to discover she was a slightly changed person
in a slightly changed world... and that shortly, she wouldn't even
recall that she'd come from a different reality. Even someone as
strong-willed as Ranma might find the scenario a bit too much to take.
She had some or more of Ranma's traits now. That was why
Kami-sama had instructed her to have Ranma train her as a fighter, a
martial artist. Ranmira wasn't sure what would come of her training,
though, despite the assurances she had given Skuld.
Ranma had literally dedicated almost his entire life to the
martial arts, unlike her, but because she had been an unconscious part
of him fragments of that training and knowledge were present in her.
She continuously reassured herself that this training was to help her
become properly conditioned, to keep her from accidentally doing
something regrettable with her 'new' instincts and abilities.
Tonight, her concern was more with Ranma than herself. Kasumi
studied her momentarily, as if wondering what to make of Ranmira's
question. "She did seem a bit depressed this morning, but other than
that, she seems fine."
For Ranma, Ranmira knew, that either meant Ranma was hiding her
emotions from Kasumi and everyone else, or worse - from everyone *and*
herself.
She offered Kasumi a smile. "Kasumi? Would you mind if I
waited in the dojo for Ranma to finish her homework and come
downstairs?"
"Not at all. I'll tell Ranma you're here."
"Um... would you tell her not to rush? I don't want her to feel
she has to rush merely because I'm here," Ranmira suggested.
Kasumi breathed a sigh that hinted at exasperation. "She'll more
than likely come running once I tell her." Ranma was doing well
enough in school that it wouldn't hurt her to slack on an occasional
homework assignment here or there, but Kasumi wished Ranma could
dedicate herself to other things as readily as she did the martial
arts. A life on the road had deprived the girl of several things,
especially the chance to merely be a girl without her father forcing
her in different directions. It was no secret - *now* - that Mr.
Saotome had intentionally tried to raise Ranma as a boy once he had
taken his daughter away from Nodoka; that fact was a point of
contention with Nodoka, and with Kasumi as well. Kasumi didn't doubt
in the least that the man *would* have thrown Ranma into a pool at
Jhusenkyou if he learned the waters would give his daughter the
body of a boy.
Kasumi knew her own father wasn't beyond doing the unthinkable,
either, as he had proved in a few instances. That dedication to the
martial arts and honor, even at the expense of their own families and
what was right, was the reason Kasumi hoped to help Ranma see beyond
her existence as a martial artist.
Her 'little sister' deserved more than that. "On the other
hand," Kasumi took a deep breath, then walked toward the door that led
into the hall, "I think I'll make sure she does finish her work."
Ranmira laughed, scarlet hair fluttering slightly back and forth
as she did so. "I'll be in the dojo."

She stood in the dojo's large main doorway, staring up into the
evening sky. Afternoon was changing into evening, through a warmly
beautiful expanse of colors. Everything of Nature had an aspect of
beauty to it... as far as she was concerned.
Eventually, the sky would allow the stars to be seen, countless
stars for those who took the time to watch them.
Well... that wasn't entirely true. Yggdrasil could give her an
estimate of how many stars she might see from where she stood, if
necessary.
It wasn't.
Ranma had enjoyed simply standing still on rare occasions and
watching Nature, she knew. Some martial artists used the practice to
achieve serenity or calmness, although Saotome Genma seemingly did not
believe in it. The Saotome class of martial arts focused on a
relentless assault that kept a fighter and his or her opponent
face-to-face until one or both collapsed. This was a part of what
Ranma was teaching her, much as she had only two or three reasons for
learning how to be a fighter.
Her thoughts flashed back to her 'fight' with Marller. Marller,
who had put Kunou, Akane and others at risk by way of the Dalanis
Sword. She had chased Marller across a fair portion of the district,
trading shots with her and dodging without thinking. All while being
rather angry at Marller for what the demon had done.
<Not bad. She's better than you, Urd,> Marller had taunted Urd,
after dodging a pair of lightning bolts which Ranmira had sent her
way.
<I've become a fighter without realizing it,> Ranmira mused.
"What are you looking at?" her voice asked, softly.
She started. No, that question hadn't come from her. It had
come from a person who shared her voice.
Ranma joined her, turning her gaze to the stars which were now
beginning to appear. "I used to stare at the stars..." Her voice
trailed away.
Ranmira glanced at her. "Is something wrong, Ranma?" she asked,
pointedly. Ranma had invited her to ask, in a sense, though she knew
Ranma wasn't beyond locking her concerns away even if she did ask.
"My memories," Ranma continued in the same distant tone without
turning away from her view of the stars. "I'm probably gonna turn
into that other Ranma, soon. I still can't remember anything about
this life, but my memories of my real life... they're..." She
gathered herself. "They seem like they're just daydreams. Like I
invented it all or something. I have to force myself to remember
every detail."
There was a note of sadness within Ranma's voice, yet for some
reason she didn't sound as upset as Ranmira had assumed she might be.
"You know, even with everything that has happened, I think I might
like this life more."
Ranmira's eyes widened. "Do you mean that? Even considering
that we're working on restoring your proper reality?"
"I'm... not sure. But I do know that here, I don't have a lot
of people forcing me to marry someone. I'm not cursed, people treat
me like a normal person and my life actually doesn't seem as insane as
it did before. I know I'm probably being selfish, and in this reality
some people's lives have turned out worse, like Shampoo's, but--"
"What about Akane?" prodded Ranmira. "Are you willing now to
forget about the relationship you had with her?"
Ranma froze. "I..." Her shoulders slumped. "I forgot to
consider that."
"In this reality, Akane is only your friend. You and she have
been through a lot, together, though only as friends." Ranmira
steeled herself. Ranma had had a blind spot when it came to his
relationship with Akane. Most of the time, the only way to get him
to examine that relationship was to directly confront him about it.
"Ranma, I want you to give me an honest answer. Before your memories
disappear. Do you love Akane?"
Ranma was silent for several minutes. Ranmira didn't press her
further; that would only lead Ranma to raise her defenses. This was
a question Ranma definitely had to consider.
More silence.
Finally, she answered in a near-mumble. "I don't know."

<...to be continued...>

------------
Credits:

Written by: Mike Koos
Prereaders: Richard Beaubien, Kevin D. Hammel, Jonathan Ng,
Andrew Norris, Shadowmane, Tom Williams

With apologies to Takahashi Rumiko and Fujishima Kosuke...

All parts of this series are available at the RAAC archives at
ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works/Ah-My-Goddess/
Instruments-of-Change/
or from my WWW pages at
http://www.anime.usacomputers.net/~makoto/index.htm
Comments and questions welcome.

*****************************
* Mike ('Kino Makoto') Koos * "I can do nothing to stop you.
*---------------------------* Your background music is too
* email: mak...@mother.com * strong for me."
***************************** - Whose Line is it Anyway?
www: http://www.anime.usacomputers.net/~makoto/index.htm