[Ranma][FanFic] Ranma's Fiancees - Part 5

[jstai...@earthlink.net]

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Ranma 1/2: Ranma's Fiancees
By Lady Tesser and Jack Staik
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A light rain began to fall over Nerima, the afternoon light had darkened to
dusk. Nerima lay in stillness, the collective breath of its inhabitants that
had stayed were held in expectancy. They had seen their share of typhoons
through the centuries, and they respected the power of the Gods of Sea, Rain,
and Wind.

Nabiki crept up, making sure they couldn't see her, watching as Ranko dragged
a somewhat-reluctant Ranma behind her.

"C'mon, silly!" Ranko chided her twin while pulling on his hand. "I've wanted
to do this for the longest time, and you won't stop me now!"

"Shouldn't we ask Akane about this?" he said. "She *does* have a say in this,
y'know."

"We'll do it later! Right now, I want *Action*!"

<Yow!!> Nabiki thought. <And I thought Shampoo was forward!> She dashed off to
get her little sister, who was putting away groceries.

"Akane!" Nabiki said breathlessly. "C'mon! Hurry!" Grabbing her sister's
wrist, she pulled Akane along.

"What happening?!" she asked, annoyed.

"The mirror-tramp's making her move!" Nabiki replied.

Akane gasped. "She wouldn't! ... Yes she would! Where?!"

Nabiki led her to the screen leading to the den, now shut, where Ranko had
dragged Ranma.

Akane stepped up beside her, motioning toward the room. Nabiki nodded, holding
up two fingers and pointing to the screen. Akane swallowed the lump in her
throat.

<Ranma wouldn't leave me, not now he wouldn't.> Akane babbled in her mind. <I
won't let him. It'd be Ranko's fault if he left me, she took him away. He told
her he wouldn't - even though she was willing. Now that she's out, she'd have
a better chance. I can't let that happen.>

Nabiki moved away from her little sister, seeing the pained battle aura flick
on, a faint shadow around her. Someone was going to Get It, and she wasn't
sure if it was going to be Ranma or Ranko, or even both.

Their murmurs got louder, and they clearly heard Ranma say, "Hey, get offa
me!"

"Nuh-uh, Ranma-kun," Ranko replied, giggling. "I've got you pinned!"

Akane's ears perked up. Was Ranko trying to ... ?

"Not so rough, little girl!" Ranma stated.

"What's wrong? I thought you liked it rough." she giggled.

"Ya' didn't give me a chance!"

Akane reached out, grabbing a mallet, and held it high over her head. Nabiki
fumbled for the edge of the screen door, her heart racing in the manifestation
of her fears. She was shocked that it would lead to this.

"Is it *my* problem you can't get on top?" Ranko chuckled.

"Okay, okay. Stop hurting me, I'm new to this."

"SHI-NE, CHINSHA!" Akane shrieked.

Nabiki pulled the screen back to find ...

Ranma and Ranko seated in front of the television set, controllers in their
hands, and playing Akane's Tekken game. From the looks of the screen, Ranko
was winning.

Both turned, seeing Akane in full Mallet Battle Mode and Nabiki with her jaw
detached in disbelief.

"Akane-chan," Ranko asked. "Is there a problem?"

"I *knew* we should have asked her if we could play it first!" Ranma said.

Akane's own jaw dropped, seeing that her fiance was not being used for the
depraved pleasures of his twin. The mallet fell from her hands and landed on
Nabiki's head.

"OW!" her older sister, moaned, rubbing her bruised head.

"Akane-sama?" Ranma ventured, getting up. "Are you all right? Do you need to
lie down?"

"I- I- I thought that ... "

"What?"

Akane wrapped her arms around Ranma and turned on the waterworks, tear arcs
spilling from her eyes. The resemblance to Soun was uncanny.

"WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! I didn't want to doubt yooouuuu, Ranma-sama! It sounded
like- like you and her- "

Ranko started giggling, falling back on the pillows and laughing hysterically.

"She thinks we were- BWA-HA-HA! *Who* has the dirty mind *now*?"

Akane reached over and clocked her.

"Owie!" Ranko rubbed her head. "Okay, I deserved that one. Gomen nasai."

"Akane-sama, you thought we were - that Ko-chan and I - ?" he blushed.

She nodded, laying her head against his chest. "Nabiki said ... " Then she
turned to her sister, who was edging away from the doorway. "*Nabiki* said!"

Nabiki didn't expect this. She thought her sister would react the same way she
always did; think it was Ranma's fault and mallet him, and even after finding
out that there wasn't really any hanky-panky, she'd mallet him anyway for
making her think that. Any way you looked at it, Akane would be mad at him,
and things would be back to normal.

But the battle aura, directed towards *her* for the first time, was
terrifying. She saw Akane's eyes light up with anger-fire, and The Mysterious
Mallet of Doom reappeared in her hands.

"NABIKI NO BAKA!!"

"Aw, kuso," Nabiki whimpered and began to run, with Akane chasing her, Ranma
and Ranko following to keep her from killing her sister.

"YOU MADE ME THINK THAT HE DIDN'T LOVE AND WANT ME! YOU'RE WRONG! MAMA WAS
WRONG! HE *WANTS* ME! HE *LOVES* ME!"

"I-don't-wanna-die-I-don't-wanna-die-I-don't-wanna-die!" Nabiki chanted,
racing through the house.

"Akane-sama, please!"

"Oneechan, don't!"

Kasumi held up the oil lamp as the teenagers ran around her, in chase.

"ONEECHAN!! HELP!! DON'T LET HER KILL MEEEEE!!"

"HOLD STILL SO I CAN BEAT YOU!!"

"Oh, my," she stated. "Such rowdiness."

Ranko and Ranma reached out together, each snagging a running girl. Then they
bounded away to opposite ends of the house.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ranko hauled off the frazzled Nabiki upstairs to her room, resting her in her
desk chair.

"Th-th-that is *scary*!" Nabiki finally blurted.

Ranko nodded. "Now you know how Ranma and I feel about it - and why he was so
afraid of telling her."

Nabiki held her head in her hands, mumbling, "I blew that one sky-high, eh? My
baby sister, about to kill me for a stupid conjecture on my part."

Ranko settled on Nabiki's desk, her knees drawn up to her chin.

"You still have a lot of doubts on where Niichan and I stand with each other,
hm?"

"I shouldn't, right?" she chuckled. "I've always wanted Akane to be in love
with someone who loved *her*. That's why I goaded Kuno into making that stupid
proclamation about defeating her in order to date her - to scare away anyone
who might hurt her, who wasn't serious about her.

Nabiki looked ashamed. "You know what I did at the wedding - don't you?"

"I had my suspicions." Ranko replied. "All those loons showing at once was
just a bit too ... convenient."

"I knew that our fathers were bullying them both into it, so I - stopped it.
It wasn't enough that they were in love. I realized a long time ago that Akane
*is* in love with Ranma, but I also wanted *him* to be in love with *her*. I
care about my baby sister."

"You two turned out quite differently from Kasumi. Is that why you always
looked after Akane in that respect?"

Nabiki shrugged. "Mama ... never planned for either of us. She just wanted one
child, and Kasumi happened to have been born first. Daddy adored all of us,
but Mama's real affections were always for Kasumi. She ... put up with us,
even loved us a little ... but we never were 'hers'."

Ranko nodded, reaching out to brush her new sister's hair from her eyes.

"You wanted to make sure Ranma-kun loved Akane, totally and fully, before you
were going to let her go."

"She's very emotional, Ko-chan," Nabiki stated, smiling crookedly. "When she
falls, she falls hard. And I don't want her in a loveless marriage where her
husband is pining for some other woman."

"So, you still believe I intend to bed him, hm?"

Nabiki's expression remained neutral, yet the blush crept over her face.

"It *sounded* like you were doing more than 'bedding' in there."

Ranko broke into a giggle, her face letting the slightest blush cross it.

"You needn't worry. I wanted to play Akane's video game since she got it, and
Ranma was too shy to ask her if we could use it, so I dragged him in to play
it anyway."

"Oh," Nabiki giggled. "If I had recorded you two, *you* would have thought the
same thing."

The redhead shrugged, "Still, the fact is that you don't trust anyone or
anything - especially Ranma's love for Akane."

Nabiki nodded sheepishly. "This is too sudden. The Wedding Fiasco was less
than three weeks ago, and then finding out about you, and then they're
suddenly 'together' and catching up with all their feelings? It's too quick!"
She looked Ranko in the eyes. "And I *distinctly* heard you two proclaiming
undying love to each other."

Ranko smiled. "Love comes in a thousand different shades, Biki. No two are
ever alike. I love him deeply. I know him better than he knows himself - and
that is how never the twain shall meet between us. His love for Akane is Meant
To Be, and he's loved her for ages, though he wouldn't admit it. But I knew,
and I pressed him to tell her, and he'd become frightened, paralyzed with
fear. He was afraid of her rage and afraid of her rejection."

"That's why it took him so long?"

"Yep. Akane had to allow herself to open to him before he could open to her.
He was terribly alone, and needed someone who knows of the same pain and
loneliness." Ranko paused briefly. "That's why we got along so well. He wasn't
sure of Akane before, but he knows now."

A peal of thunder rumbled outside, gently shaking the windows behind their
boards.

"It's getting worse," Nabiki looked up to the ceiling. "Do you think Akane
will forgive me for assuming that you two were - ?"

"Rumpling the sheets? Knocking the boots? Doin' the Wild Thing?" Ranko
giggled. "I don't know. I think she will. You just have to explain all that
when she calms down."

She nodded. "I'm still not sure about you."

"Understandable. All I can say is just trust the Gods and see that I'm not
going to interfere with their love. I worked too hard to bring them together,
and I'm not going to ruin it for fun and grins," She paused, listening to the
thunder nearing. "I have to double-check the outside and make sure everything
is secure."

"Yeah, I need to go talk to Akane. I'll wait in the dining room for her to
calm down."

* * * * * * * * * *

Out on the laundry porch ...

"LEMME GO!! LEMME GO!!"

"AKANE-SAMA!"

Akane became aware of *who* was holding her, and how closely. She threw her
arms around him. "How could she?! How could she do that to me - to US?!
Doesn't she CARE?!?"

Ranma soothed her, hugging her close. "Yes, Akane, she does."

"Didn't *look* like it."

"Mebbe you should let her explain."

"Explain WHAT?!? What could she possibly say to explain trying to make me
think my fiance was cheating on me with his own sister?!?"

Ranma sighed. Akane's inability to listen to explanations was epic in scope -
as he could well attest. "Akane-sama ... please? Let her *try* to explain?"

She was silent for a moment. "O-okay. For *you*." she agreed.

"That's all I ask." he said, sitting down on the floor. Akane settled down in
his lap and made herself comfortable (getting some amusement out of him trying
to hide his arousal). Holding each other close, they held one another in a
sweet silence, with only the sounds of the storm outside to intrude.

"Ranma-sama?" she asked.

"Yes, Akane-sama?"

"Why are you so ... forgiving? Buta-hentai, Kuno, all those others who tried
to kill you, Nabiki and her pictures, your baka father - even *me* - and you
don't hold a grudge or anything."

He shrugged. "Oh I do, I give as good as I get - I just don't hold them too
long. Life's too short to carry around too much crap. I don't want to waste
time hating." He kissed her cheek. "I've already wasted a year not loving.
That's the most I intend to lose."

Akane thought back - was it less than a month ago? - on Phoenix Mountain ...
when she saw her body in Ranma's arms, saw the Bright Light, and her
grandmother - and heard Ranma cry out 'I never got to tell you that I love
you!' A cry that called her back from the Light, from the Peace, back to a
world of pain and loneliness.

The world where Ranma said 'Ai shiteru' and held her close.

<Life *is* short.> she thought. She felt cold at that thought, and held
herself closer to her fiance.

Ranma squeezed her tight, trying to drive the pain out of her soul. <You don't
deserve to be hurt like this, Akane-sama - especially by yourself. If it takes
the rest of my life, I'll make you happy. I swear it.>

"Ai shiteru," he whispered to her. "Always."

She gently pressed her lips to his, and the world went away.

* * * * * * * * * *

It was barely eleven in the morning, but it was so dark and overcast that the
streetlights were on. The wind was stiff, the trees swaying, and a fine mist
was driven through the air, stinging the flesh of the bandana-wearing boy who
walked through the storm.

<At last!!> Ryoga thought. <Only four hours! The first time I went from Tofu's
clinic to the Dojo, it took five days! My sense of direction's improving!>

"Now, Ranma, vengeance!" he snarled. "For the pig curse, for stealing Akane
from me, for betraying your vow of secrecy, for everything else - I shall have
BLOOD!"

Ryoga marched in almost a straight line for the Tendo Dojo, with resolute
determination, seeking vengeance.

Ranko checked the boards again, making sure the nails were tight in the wood
on the sills. Hopefully, there wouldn't be much damage. She tried to be fast
as well as careful; she wanted to get in before the rain picked up and avoid
having hot water dumped on her, as the electricity was becoming more shaky.

"RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!!"

Ranko twitched to one side, letting the impossibly-heavy combat umbrella smash
into the ground. Just in time to see the fist heading for her head.

"YOW!" she yelped, jumping straight up, flipping in mid-air, and landing
delicately on the porch.

She turned back to see a very pissed off Ryoga staring her down, ready for
battle.

"Hey, Ryoga, weren't you told to stay out?" she asked, going to look at
another board covered window.

"HOW DARE YOU TRY TO IGNORE ME!" he bellowed, charging. He swung at her over
and over, watching every blow fail to connect.

"Hey, watch it, Ryoga-baby, bound to get hurt."

"HOLD STILL!!" he roared and charged at her. She gently stepped out of his
freight-train path, allowing him to crash into the side of the house, clipping
him on the back of the head with a knife-edge blow as he passed.

"What was that?" Ranma asked against Akane's lips, surfacing for air.

"Thunder," she replied, diving back down to his lips again.

"What is your problem, Lost Boy?" Ranko picked up the dazed Ryoga's head,
holding him up to her face to stare him eye to eye. (She'd never actually met
Ryoga, but from Ranma's dreams and stories, felt quite familiar with him.)

"I'll have my vengeance, Ranma! Your tricks won't work forever!"

"Ran-KO, you dip. Ranma's inside."

"You think I'm stupid enough to -" he began, then remembered the chart he read
in Tofu's clinic. "You're - Ranma's curse?"

Ranko smiled. "We like to think of each other as brother and sister. I think
Genma is his *real* curse."

"Got a point there - but Ranma has a *CURE*!" He leapt up and started swinging
madly. "WHAT IS IT?!? WHAT'S THE CURE?!?"

"We don't *have* a cure, you pig-headed twit!" she said, trying to avoid his
fists.

"LIAR!!" he yelled. "You're *standing* there!! How could you be here if Ranma
doesn't have a cure?!?"

<Better make this quick.> she thought. "KACHU TENSHIN AMIGURIKEN!!"

Ryoga grunted as several hundred blows struck him in the head. He flew back
several meters, dazed.

Ranko put her hands in front of her and cried out "MOKO TAKIBISHA!"

A few sparks sputtered in her cupped hands.

"Huh?" she said. <I *know* I recovered from Happosai's draining. What
happened?>

"SHISHI HOKODAN!!"

"Chikuso!" she exclaimed as she leapt over the energy bolt.

"Now I'll *beat* some answers out of you, Ranma!"

"RANKO, you simpleton!"

The light mist became a drizzle, falling on their already-moist-from-the-mist
bodies, pushing them over the vague and ill-defined Jusenkyo Limit.

P-Chan shook his head free from his encumbering clothes and went to growling
at ... *him*?

"Great," her voice dipped lower, as P-Chan discovered he was held in
male-Ranma's hands. "You just *had* to keep me out her and let me get wet, you
slab of bacon."

"Bweee?!" he exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Oh," Ranko-kun laughed heartily. "Why am I a guy? I tried to tell you,
P-Chan. I'm not 'Ranma's Curse'. I'm a new person who changes into a guy with
cold water, so there. Now, you better get back to Tofu-sensei's clinic before
he misses you."

P-Chan didn't like the way she shifted his wiggling form in her hands, so that
his rump was to her, held out at arm's length.

"Ranko Saotome, first sex-changing Japanese football star, makes short order
of Ryoga 'P-Chan' Hibiki. Oh, and say hi to Tofu-sensei for me."

He whimpered, closing his eyes.

A swift kick up and the black piglet sailed high in the air, heading toward
central Nerima.

"WOO-HOO!" she cheered. "What a punt!" She brushed off her red Chinese shirt.
<Better go change.>

Doctor Tofu had wandered in to Ryoga's room to check on him, and found the bed
empty of young Hibiki.

He scratched his head, and became aware of the high-pitched squeal coming from
above the roof.

"Oh, no, not with the typhoon coming!"

P-Chan crashed through the ceiling, landing in a nest of plaster and wood. The
rain dribbled in, soaking the bed.

Tofu shook his head. "Didn't Kasumi-chan tell you were not welcome at the
Tendo household? Which one 'dropped you off'?" he asked while fetching the hot
water.

P-Chan remained still, already plotting his next battle amid the dull pain. If
he can't do it now, he'll do it later, and with better protection from the
water.

Perhaps a custom-made rain slicker ...

* * * * * * * * * *

Out on the rain, two figures stood watch as the ballistic pig departed. The
small withered figure on the staff seemed unconcerned, while the figure
besides her - in a rain slicker, galoshes, and holding an umbrella - seemed
miserable.

"When do we go?!?" Shampoo whined. "Shampoo no like standing out in rain like
this!"

"When the time is right, child. Soon, the power will go out. This will give us
a short window of opportunity before the Tendos adjust. Then we can acquire
muko-dono and be gone."

Shampoo grumbled. The raingear was uncomfortably hot, and the rain made her
feel clammy. It wasn't even good raingear; if it weren't for the Jusenkyo
soap, she'd have changed already. <Patience may be a virtue, but it can be
overdone.>

* * * * * * * * * *

Ranko came into the living room, drying her hair with a towel after she
changed back into her girlish form and got back into a dress (oh Gods but she
enjoyed dressing properly!). Nabiki silently sipped tea, seated next to
Kasumi.

"They've been in the laundry room a long time," Nabiki commented.

"It's probably taking little sister a long time to calm down," Kasumi added,
nose buried in a book.

Ranko remained silent, only a small smile to betray her silent laughter. After
what she saw when she accidentally walked in on them earlier, she was pretty
sure there were other things going on, making them *not* calm in there. She
settled on the other side of the table and poured herself a cup of tea.

"What's the position of the typhoon?" she asked casually.

"The mid-section is heading right into us. The winds should be reaching
gale-force is less than an hour," Nabiki said. "The eye is going to clear us
by fifty kilometers at least."

"Still strong enough," Ranko nodded. "Most of the power is just outside the
eye, especially from the northeast."

"I hope the walls hold up," Kasumi murmured. "We're still paying for the
wedding and can't quite afford to fix the place anymore than we have to."

Nabiki flinched, and Ranko smiled, reaching over to chuck her chin. Nabiki
smiled back gently, and looked up to hear the pounding coming from the front
door.

"Expecting company, Oneechan?" Ranko asked her.

"No," Kasumi said, "No one is expected, especially in this weather."

Nabiki got up and went to open the front door. A red umbrella was facing them.

"Ryoga ... ?"

Ranko stood up, knowing that she had just punted him far enough away to keep
him lost for a day or two.

"Oh, of course not!" a female voice chirped, shaking the umbrella and lifting
it up. Nodoka appeared from under the edge, smiling gently. "Is that any way
to greet me?"

"Nodoka-obachan!" Nabiki bowed her head. "A pleasant surprise." Her
Coincidence Meter went on red alert. <What's Nodoka doing here, just at this
moment? Genma's little plan, perhaps?>

Kasumi put down her book, and stood up to greet her. "Welcome, Obachan. What
brings you here in this storm?"

"I came as soon as I heard the good news," she answered cheerfully, shrugging
off her rain coat and umbrella.

"What news?" Ranko asked.

She stared at the woman who had given birth to her brother, whom she shared
the same genetic make-up, of whom she would call 'mother' if she were born
like everyone else.

And all she could feel was disgust and anger toward her.

"Why, you finally agreeing to marrying Akane," she replied, sizing up Ranko.
"Interesting, the way you have your hair down now. Get out of that wet dress
and into some normal clothes, we have a wedding to plan."

Ranko stood speechless, her defenses for Ranma automatically went up and her
battle aura snapped on with a threatening glow.

"Nobody is making Niichan do what he's not ready for, you failure of a woman!"

<Piku-piku> Nodoka blinked, looking at the redheaded girl. "Ranma, I'd
appreciate if you treat me with the proper respect as your mother."

Nabiki shuffled Kasumi back, wanting to not be in the way of the impending
battle.

Ranko's hair stirred from the increasing aura. Her eyes glowed, causing Nodoka
to hold the katana up.

"You are no mother!" she snarled. "Allowing your own son to be tortured by his
father, sold for food, wrapped in fish and thrown in a pit of starving cats
for several months! Have you any idea what Genma-baka put him through to make
him into a 'man among men'?"

Nodoka was shocked. Her son had never spoken like this before. And why was he
talking like he *wasn't* Ranma?

"He became an emotional cripple without any social skills at all!" Ranko
continued, a lifetime of bitterness finally being given vent. "He's backward
in almost every possible way because of what Genma has taught him about being
'manly'! As if *Genma* would know anything about being a *man*!

"And what do you do? You make them pledge seppuku - willing to kill your son
if he doesn't match *your* deviant notions of manliness! 'Manliness' - HA! You
wanted a cheap brawler with the morals of Happosai and the mental
accomplishments of a chimpanzee! What kind of a mother are you to do that to
him?!"

Ranma and Akane had come out of the laundry room, and stood in shock at the
impending battle in the living room.

Nodoka drew her katana, standing ready. "What demon are you, to possess my son
like this?!"

"I am *not* your son!" Ranko raised her fist in the air -

And Ranma grabbed her wrist, pulling his sister close, murmuring, "Calm down,
calm down, Ranko. Please don't hurt her, she didn't know, she didn't know.
She's only doing what she thinks is right."

The Tendo girls watched as Ranma held Ranko tight, trying to calm her battle
aura down.

Both were in tears. Everything was going so right in his life right now, he
didn't need any troubles, especially between his Ko-chan and mother. He didn't
want them to be enemies, even though he knew Ranko's opinion on Nodoka Saotome
was ... less-than-fair.

Ko-chan always protected him, was always willing to take care of those that
had wronged him. Like a mother looking after her young, as she had explained
it once. If she was being a mother, then perhaps Nodoka was no mother, but she
was the only mother he had.

Nodoka wrapped up her katana again, and turned to Kasumi and Nabiki. "What's
going on? Who is this?"

"Long story, obachan." Kasumi answered, smiling. "Have some tea with us and
warm yourself."

Akane approached the Saotomes, and placed her hand on Ranko's back. "Ko-chan?"

She sniffed. "I'm so sorry, Ranma-kun, I never really liked her, but I didn't
know it would be so ... intense. I'm so sorry, you two."

Ranma pulled Akane into a hug with them, and she pulled her arms around
Ranko's waist, comforting her as best she could.

"It looks like we both have messed up mothers," she whispered. "Mama actually
told me I was worthless, while yours practically abandoned you."

"But she didn't ... " Ranma protested.

"Yes, she did!" Ranko said angrily. "When she ditched Oyaji, she ditched you
as well. Then she comes around with a seppuku pledge on your heads, unless you
can prove you can act like a depraved gorilla. What is the use of that? What
kind of woman - or mother - would consider panty-stealing and
fight-instigating as desirable in a male?"

Ranma sighed. "Just - please, don't hurt her, Ko-chan."

She breathed deeply, and squeezed both of them. "I promise, Niichan. I won't
strike her. But don't expect me to be nice!"

"That's my Ko-chan," he kissed her forehead and looked down at her. "Did you
lock the laundry room door on us?" he whispered.

Ranko smiled, calming somewhat. "Privacy with your love is always needed. You
two should learn to lock doors when you make out."

Akane blushed to her hair roots, and Ranko squeezed her around the waist.
"Don't worry, Akane-chan," Ranko said, "I won't tell."

"Arigato." she answered

"Now," Ranma cleared his throat. "I think we better explain to mom - "

The power flickered out, and everything was in darkness. Thunder rumbled
outside, and the rain and wind increased harder against the house.

"Good thing I found the lamp!" Kasumi chimed from the dining room.

Suddenly, a 'thunk' was heard, and Akane felt a pair of arms leave her. A
draft swept across her body, then settled.

"Ranma-sama?!" she asked in alarm, feeling around wildly. her hand landed on a
breast. "Oops, gomen."

"Yeah," Ranko whispered. "Niichan's been snatched!"

"By who??" Akane felt tears well up in her eyes, and Ranko felt for her hand
to squeeze it.

"The Fiancees, of course. Which one is the problem."

Akane felt the old familiar emotion of rage pour into her, and her battle aura
flicked on.

"Steal *MY Ranma?!? I - think - not!! NO ONE lays a hand on *MY* Ranma!!"

"Then get a rain jacket on, let's go look for him."

Akane turned and her foot landed on something. She picked it up and felt the
object.

"What is it?"

"A miniature spatula."

"Okonomiyaki Girl," Ranko stated.

"She's dead." Akane declared.

"Got that right, Oneechan."

"Let's go!" Akane growled, grabbing her raincoat.

"Um, we'll be right back." Ranko said. "Nabiki, Kasumi, you stay here, we
should be back soon." Ranko slipped on a coat and ran out, changing to her
male form before she got to the front gate.

"YOW!!" Ranko-kun cried, almost doubling over. <Panties and suddenly turning
male does *not* mix!> he thought, trying to adjust himself.

As he ran down the street to catch up with Akane, curious eyes followed his
path.

"Hiba-chan," Shampoo asked. "Why does Airen wear a dress? And why he not
change?" <Does he have a cure?!? Instant Nannichuan? *Something*?>

"I'm not entirely sure, granddaughter." Cologne answered. "But our nageteppos
won't work in the rain, and we can't possibly take him when he's conscious. So
we'll follow him."

The Amazons took off after what they assumed was the fleeing form of Ranma in
a dress.

------------------
To Be Continued