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Old 19th October 2003, 09:00 AM
Steve Thesken
 
Posts: n/a
[FFML] [Fanfic][R1/2] Quantum Destinies 21 (Part 2 of 2)


Hi all,

A little later in delivery than I thought it would be done. Please email
me if you need the first half I released a while back.

Steve


(continued from part 1 of 2)

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

"I'm home," Ranma called out tiredly as he kicked off his shoes in the
entryway area, closing the front door behind him. Even after being
treated by Dr. Tofu and being assured that nothing was broken, he still
felt like he wanted to sleep for a week. Luckily, the man was as
skilled as the ones that Ranma knew from those other lives. After
showing up at the house he and Kasumi lived in together and explaining
the situation, he had let them in with a professional smile.

Dr. Tofu had worked on him first, since he was worse off. The man had
flipped him around, adjusting wrenched joints and popping everything
back into place, all in under thirty seconds, even poking pressure
points that would speed healing. Then, as he recovered on the couch
and drank some orange juice that Kasumi had kindly offered him, Tofu
had repeated the process with Nabiki. Hearing Nabiki yelp a bit as she
was getting fixed up had certainly made him feel a little better about
her beating up on him earlier.

It was nice to see Kasumi married and living a more normal life, but it
was also weird to see her anywhere else other than taking care of the
Tendos. And there had also been something that felt a little false
about the smile she gave him, as if she was tense about something, but
it was probably just his imagination. Kasumi was one of the happiest
people he knew, in any world he was familiar with so far, so he was
sure he had just been seeing things due to his exhaustion. Besides,
Nabiki didn't seem to notice anything out of place, so nothing could
have been wrong. He decided to chalk it up to a minor variance between
worlds and leave it at that.

After dropping Nabiki off at her house, he had come straight home. All
he wanted to do was fall down and sleep. He started to walk towards
the stairs.

After classes were over tomorrow, he needed to begin constructing a
copy of Ranko's device, but incorporating within it the ability to home
in on transponder units like the one he had instructed his father how
to create. Of course, once it was built, he would then have to test
it, trusting in his own technical expertise that he would be able to
return to this world, to the transponder unit he would leave in his
lab. If the test failed-

No, he couldn't think like that, shaking his head. Nothing would go
wrong, and he would return to his lab on the Kuno estate.

Nodoka came out of the kitchen, smiling as she wiped her hands on a
towel. "Hello, Ranma. How was your eve-" she began, then stopped,
staring at his battered appearance. "Ranma! What happened?"

"Hmm?" said Genma, coming into the room. "Something happen on your
date with Nabiki, boy?"

"I don't really wanna talk about it," Ranma muttered, walking past them
both and heading towards his room.

Nodoka was worried. She turned to Genma. "Perhaps you should talk to
him, Dearest. I think this is one of those times when a boy needs his
father more than his mother."

Genma nodded and grunted, and then he headed off to Ranma's room. He
knocked once at the door and then walked in without waiting for any
response. He saw Ranma in the midst of pulling his shirt off, and he
noted the bruises the boy had. Shutting the door behind him, he said,
"So, what happened, Ranma?"

Ranma wadded up his shirt and tossed it into a corner of his room. He
glared at Genma and said, "Look, Pop, I've had a really bad day. The
last thing I need right now is you."

"Nabiki beat you up on your date?" Genma ventured, grinning a bit. He
shook his head. "I swear, you're an even bigger loser with the girls
than my own son is. If it was all left up to you, you and Nabiki will
never get married."

Ranma hung his head and tried to repress the urge to kill Genma.

"Luckily, you've got me in your corner, boy. It looks like the first
thing we need to work on is your conditioning. It just won't do to
have you getting beaten up by your own fiancée. Don't you have any
pride at all? What kind of a man loses to a woman?"

Ranma's temper finally snapped, and his eyes flashed as he glared at
Genma and sprang to attack. "DIE, OLD MAN!"

There was a brief commotion heard from within Ranma's room, and then
Genma's body went flying out the window. Luckily, the opening was just
sizable enough to fit his bulk through, although Ranma still had to aim
pretty carefully. After Genma slammed into the ground out in the yard,
Ranma shut the window, drew the curtains closed, and then turned off
his lights and went to bed. He fell asleep within moments.

Genma rested upside down on the lawn briefly before falling over,
unconscious.

Nodoka sighed as she went out to pick her husband up and assist him
back into the house. If only she knew what the trouble was between
them, then maybe she could help them sort it out.

Still, it had been a very good throw on Ranma's part, she noted with no
small amount of pride in him, pleased at the high level of his fighting
skills. She hoped that things were working out as well for him with
the girls in his life now as his training was going. Other than that
nice Utena girl, he hadn't brought any of the others home yet.

Well, she was probably worrying over nothing. They all seemed like
such nice girls, even Kenseiko's daughter, Kodachi, and she was glad he
was enjoying an active social life now. It hadn't been good for a boy
his age to spend all his time cooped up inside some lab. And he was
acting much more manly lately, so there was likely nothing for her to
worry about.

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

Kodachi slumped to her knees, sweat beading upon her body as she felt
her reserves running low. Her muscles trembled with exhaustion as she
panted, her lungs on fire from the intensive workout. Not even when
she had prepared for the toughest gymnastics tournaments had she made
herself train so hard.

At least the exertions helped quiet the voices in her mind and their
concern over Ranma and her current irritation with him, especially that
he was acting as if their kiss had never happened. She rolled into a
sitting position as she rested her arms on her knees, still catching
her breath. She knew she had to get herself in better condition, and
the only way to do that was hard work, pushing past her limits and
reaching out for more. That damned Nabiki Tendo was making her look
like a fool every day during their sparring matches, and she was far
past being tired of it.

Kenseiko stood outside one of the doors to the training hall, watching
her daughter rise to her feet again and begin practicing some more.
She felt so proud of the girl, and a smile lit her face as she saw the
determination in Kodachi's eyes, and the fire that was there. She was
startled when a hand fell upon her shoulder.

"It's good to see you taking such a serious interest in our daughter
again, Kenseiko," she heard her husband say. "How is her training
going?"

Kenseiko patted his hand on her shoulder, feeling comforted by his
presence. "It goes very well. She does the Kuno name proud." Her
gaze moved to look at him, a slight smile appearing on her face. "The
servants tell me that Tatewaki is showing improvement as well."

Lord Kuno grunted and nodded. "He is very determined to defeat young
Ranma Saotome." What he left unsaid to his wife was that Tatewaki's
desires for the Tendo girls were undiminished as well, especially for
Nabiki. Beating her was just as strong a desire for his son as his
desire to win against Ranma, only for very different reasons. "How go
the preparations for meeting this potential bride for our son? If we
could wed him to an Arisugawa girl, it will strengthen the positions of
both families greatly in the Empire."

"They go well," Kenseiko replied, closing the door and leaving Kodachi
to continue her late-night practice on her own. "We agreed to hold it
in a few days. Lady Arisugawa seemed most eager to have her daughter
meet Tatewaki."

"Good." His arm slipped down around her waist as he began drawing her
away from the door to the training hall and heading in the direction of
their bedchamber. "I've heard the girl fancies herself a duelist. She
and Tatewaki should have something in common then."

Kenseiko smiled at him as she let herself be led, looking forward to
exchanging intimacies with her husband, but inwardly she was in a more
pensive state. Nodoka had called earlier in the evening and asked for
a meeting tomorrow. What could her old enemy want to say to her that
could not have been said over the phone?

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

Defeat. Failure.

Kinnosuke Kashuoh lay in his bed, his wounds wrapped in gauze, and
considered both words, finding a strong distaste for them. He rested
in between a bandaged Lynx and Panther, and both catgirls were now
sleeping. Tiger had been banished from his bed for her part in the
fiasco, for leading him to believe victory was within his reach. He
should be enjoying that victory now, but he held only ashes. The other
two had narrowly escaped sharing Tiger's fate, but they were on notice
that he would not tolerate any further mistakes.

However, the truth of the matter was that it was all Ranma Saotome's
fault. He had stacked the deck in his favor against the other boy,
chosen his terrain carefully for their duel by exploiting a known
weakness in his enemy, and then was victorious over Ranma, savagely
beating him unconscious. But he had won the battle only to lose the
campaign to claim Nabiki Tendo. In turn, she had defeated him in
single combat and forced him to abandon the field of battle and retreat
to consider his loss.

However, he could not bring himself to hate Nabiki. No, her victory
over him had only strengthened his desires for her, to have her at his
side as his mate. Her power and skill were undeniable, and defeating
her at the height of her abilities would make his inevitable conquest
of her all the sweeter.

This was only a minor setback for him. He would let Nabiki have back
the pieces of her organization. It no longer interested him, and pawns
were meant to be sacrificed after all, as he had sacrificed the Wolf
Pack when they proved too weak for his uses. No, his only interest was
for the queen now. He had let himself get distracted from that goal,
playing petty games with pawns. But, once the queen was taken, the
game was all but won.

That left the matter of Ranma Saotome, the enemy king. Kinnosuke felt
his anger swell again within him at the mere thought of the pigtailed
boy. Time after time, Ranma had disrupted his plans and cost him
allies. He closed his eyes and reviewed what he knew of the other boy.

Where had Ranma learned how to fight so well? Until several weeks ago,
he had been Akane Tendo's favorite target for bullying, displaying no
talent whatsoever for martial arts, apparently unable to fight back
even as the youngest Tendo gleefully tyrannized him. But that had
obviously been a clever disguise of the pigtailed boy's true skill. It
was obvious now that he was always much more than he had let himself
appear, and now he was even the new apprentice to the Arena legend, Jun
Fan Lee, also known as the Dragon.

No, no one suddenly woke up one day and manifested fighting skills like
Ranma's. Ability like that took years of training, so Ranma must have
had them all along. He had simply kept them hidden until the youngest
Tendo must have just pushed him too far one day.

Kinnosuke frowned. How he hated Ranma Saotome now, with a clarity of
passion that was almost liberating in an odd way. The next time they
faced each other, there would be no clever tricks or traps. It would
just be the two of them in single combat, doing battle in a Darwinian
test of fitness, and Ranma would fall before him, leaving the field
clear for him to claim Nabiki Tendo for his own as a mate.

Kinnosuke sighed, his injuries still paining him a bit. He knew he
needed some time away from this situation, time to heal and prepare.
Grandfather had suggested Whitehall, and it would be a simple enough
matter for him to transfer there. Money and influence helped in such
things.

He closed his eyes and snuggled down with a warm body on either side of
him, and he let himself sleep and dream of conquest over his enemies.

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

In her bedroom, Tiger sat on her bed with her knees drawn up, dressed
in a sheer nightgown in pink her master had once given her as a gift.
She had worn it hoping to cheer herself up, but it wasn't working. Her
face was wan with sadness.

Kinnosuke-sama was angry with her.

After returning to the manor, he had called her useless and upbraided
her as a failure. She sniffled at the memory of him yelling at her,
blaming her for what had happened with Ranma and Nabiki, while Lynx and
Panther watched her fall from grace with glittering eyes. She lowered
her face to rest between her knees and let herself cry. How had it all
gone so wrong?

Tiger felt miserable as she desperately tried to think of some way to
return to her master's side. There had to be something she could do.
At this point, she would do anything to escape this sadness filling
her. The night felt so lonely without being near him.

Even though her master had defeated Ranma Saotome, she received no
credit for bringing him the information on the pigtailed boy's fears.
While Kinnosuke-sama certainly had not needed it, didn't she deserve a
little leniency for finding out such a thing about Ranma? Perhaps this
really was her fault. Why did she not remember until it was too late
what had happened when his fear had overcome him? Nabiki Tendo had
done as Ranma had that final day they had fought each other, becoming
this fearsome fighting machine.

Why could she not remember what had happened? Just what had occurred
between her and Ranma during that fight? There was this vagueness in
her memories from the point Ranma changed into that bestial mode, and
then her first clear memory was of waking up cuddled next to him in his
cot, both of them naked. She suddenly felt confusion as she explored
these thoughts, and her personality governors redirected them away from
Ranma. She sighed, feeling lonely for her Kinnsouke-sama, for the time
being having already forgotten her musings about Ranma.

She went back to hugging her knees, her catlike ears flat on her head
as she began softly sobbing.

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

The next morning was rainy as Ranma walked along with his bookbag slung
over his shoulder, a black umbrella shielding him from the light rain.
He yawned. A good night's sleep after Dr. Tofu fixed him up had left
him feeling a bit better, but he was still pretty stiff and tired. He
shifted his bag to the hand holding the umbrella and rotated his now
free arm, trying to work out a bit of stiffness in his shoulder. As he
was doing so, he felt a tap on his arm.

"Mornin', Ranchan," said Ukyo when Ranma turned around, standing there
with a bright smile on her face, holding an umbrella of her own. She
studied him for a moment, noting the bandage on his cheek. "You okay?
Looks like you ran into some trouble. Was it that group of girls I saw
going up against you yesterday?"

"Nah, they're not so bad," he replied, bragging a little, shifting his
bag back to his other hand as they started walking along together. "I
just wish I knew what was going on with that."

"Well, maybe I could do something about that." Ukyo's smile turned
into a playful grin. "I can be pretty sneaky. Maybe I could find out
what's up."

Ranma laughed. "I'll bet you could. No, thanks anyway though. This
is my problem."

Ukyo shrugged. Even though Ranma didn't want her help, she was curious
about the matter herself. She walked alongside him in a companionable
silence for a while, enjoying the warm feelings he awoke inside her
just by his nearness. She wondered if what she was feeling was love,
and she blushed at that, a shy smile appearing on her face.

Even though it was raining, nothing seemed able to spoil her day now.

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

The Saotome household was quiet as Nodoka came into the bedroom. Now
that Genma and Ranma were safely off, she could prepare for her own
activities for the day. She slid open the door to the walk-in closet
in the master bedroom and stepped inside, her hand reaching up to tug
on a slender chain. A single bulb hanging from the ceiling lit up in
response.

Kneeling down, Nodoka reached into her kimono and produced a key on a
thin silver chain she wore around her neck. She slipped it off over
her head and used it to unlock the small trunk she kept in the back of
the closet. Mementos of her past days of youth were reflected in the
items and photo albums that could be seen carefully stacked within it
as she opened the lid.

She began carefully removing them from the trunk one by one, but she
paused at one photo album in particular. With a wistful smile on her
face, she flipped it open and began paging through it, remembering what
once was. Various pictures of herself and Achika as teenage girls
filled most of the pages, and she stopped on one of her younger self,
shown flashing a victory sign at the camera while she hugged Achika
with one arm and grinned. How long ago it all seemed sometimes.

Turning the page, Nodoka felt her heart flutter at the sight of the
photo on the next page, of a roguishly handsome young man with a lithe
build, dressed in casual clothing. He was perhaps sixteen or seventeen
years old, smiling at the camera as he held a naginata in a martial
pose. He stood next to her younger self in the picture, who was posing
with a bokken in hand and looking both fierce and happy. Tears swelled
within Nodoka's eyes as she gazed at the treasured photograph, and her
fingers gently brushed the edges of it.

No matter how hard she tried, she could not remember his name, and she
did not know who he was. She could not even remember this picture ever
being taken. But looking at it always awoke something within her,
something deeper than conscious memories.

She had discovered the photograph in a box of her old things years ago,
while her husband and son were off on their trip. She had kept it in
this album ever since, the only picture she had of this boy, whoever he
was. She had never shown it to anyone else, not even her best friend
Achika, for reasons she wasn't even sure of.

After several moments spent gazing at it, Nodoka shut the album. She
had more urgent things to do right now than wallow in memories and
mysteries from her youth. Setting the album aside, she reached into
the bottom of the chest and pulled out a small lacquered box. Opening
it, she saw a single book inside the box, no more than two or three
centimeters thick. It was plainly bound, without title, and it was
wrapped on the outside with what once had been a white ribbon, now
grayed with age, the ends sealed with red wax. Her family mon was
imprinted into the wax.

She carefully put all the other items back into the chest before
shutting the lid. After picking up the small box, she stood up and
turned off the light as she exited the closet and closed the door.
There was a possibility, albeit a rather small one, that she would not
be returning from her task today, and she had to make sure the book
remained in safe hands.

Nodoka sat at the desk in the bedroom, setting the box down near her
right hand. She pulled out some paper and a pen, and she began to
write, a letter that she hoped Ranma would never have to read.

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

Ryoko was surprised to see her mother in the small training hall behind
the Masaki household when she arrived there for her usual morning
workout. Rain spattered against the windows, and dark clouds hid the
sun as she watched Achika going through a swordfighting exercise at a
blur, her every motion as clean and precise as it was lightning-fast.
She set her towel down and waited while her mother flowed through the
movements of the Masaki family's sword style.

"You're training pretty early, Mom," she said in a conversational tone
of voice when her mother had concluded the exercise. "Normally, you
don't get in here until the afternoon."

Achika bowed once to the small shrine and turned to face her daughter,
briefly bending over to pick up a water bottle near the edge of the
mat. "Ryoko-chan, come over here and sit down. I think it's time we
had a little talk, mother to daughter." She took a drink from the
water bottle and picked up a towel to dab at the perspiration on her
face.

Uh-oh, Ryoko thought. But she did as she was told and knelt down in
front of her mother, looking a little nervous. "Uh, so what did you
want to talk about?"

"Ryoko-chan, I've been doing some thinking ever since you came home."
Achika paused and studied her wayward daughter, briefly overlaying the
tough little girl she had once been over the beautiful and strong young
woman now before her, and she wondered where she had gone wrong as a
mother. She had tossed and turned for two nights now, her mind caught
up in all kinds of fearsome imaginings about her daughter and this boy
she had brought to their home. "Is there something you'd like to tell
me about that Ryoga boy? Are you and he... involved?"

"Mom!" Ryoko yelped, suddenly blushing. "There's nothing going on
between me and Ryoga-kun."

"I'm not stupid, Ryoko-chan," Achika said a little crossly. "You go
off on one of your training trips, I don't hear from you for a couple
of weeks, and then you show up on our doorstep with some strange boy in
tow. What am I supposed to think, knowing my daughter has been alone
with some teenaged boy out on the road? I was a girl your age once
myself. I know what it's like when youthful hormones get going."

Ryoko's blush deepened. This was not the sort of thing any teenaged
daughter wanted to hear from her mother. "Nothing happened, Mom! We
just did some sparring while we traveled together, and we talked a bit.
That's all!"

"All right," said Achika, relenting her tone a little. "But I've come
to a conclusion from this event. As your mother, who only has your
best interests at heart, I've come to realize it's high time I arranged
a husband for you. After all, your brother has a fiancée, and he's a
full year younger than you are."

Ryoko gaped. She started to sputter a denial when Achika held up her
hand.

"Save it," Achika commanded, motherly steel reappearing in her voice.
"My mind is made up. Now, I've spoken with your father, and he agrees
with me that a girl your age should start planning for her future, and
part of that is having an arranged marriage to look forward to."

"But-" She didn't want a fiancé.

"I've given it a lot of thought about who would be a good candidate for
you, and my best friend Nodoka has a boy who's only a little younger
than you."

"But-" He sounded too young.

"He has a fine future ahead of him in the Science Ministry, and he's at
the top of his class at the Imperial Academy."

"But-" He sounded like a weakling.

"Nodoka has also been telling me all about his abilities as a martial
artist too. Why, just recently, Master Jun Fan Lee himself even took
him on as an apprentice. Even you should appreciate what that says
about his skills as a fighter."

The last statement caught Ryoko off-guard. She blinked, unable to even
think of a single rebuttal, not that she had been able to get a word in
edgewise yet.

Achika smiled and pressed her advantage. "Now I know this is quite a
shock to you, Ryoko-chan. I remember how surprised I was when my own
mother told me that I was going to marry your father, but everything
worked out for the best. Marriage is far too important a decision to
be entrusted to youthful lusts and desires, but you needn't worry.
Nodoka's son is very handsome and well-mannered, and I'm just positive
you'll come to love him in time, as he will you."

"Now, there are a few other girls already pursuing him, or so Nodoka
confided in me, and she's told me there aren't any formal arrangements
yet. I'm confident that you could turn the boy's head, if you set your
mind to it." She smiled proudly. "Besides, nothing would please me
more than to see you marrying my oldest and dearest friend's only son,
uniting our two families together in an honorable marriage."

Ryoko sighed, realizing she was beaten for the moment, now that her
mother had played the honor card. "So, what's his name?"

"Ranma. His name is Ranma Saotome." Achika beamed to see that Ryoko
actually seemed to be considering it. She had been anticipating more
resistance, possibly even a physical confrontation with her oftentimes
willful daughter to get her to accept her decision. Achika wasn't sure
where Ryoko had gotten her stubbornness from, but she was glad that she
didn't have to deal with it today. "Well, as soon as I talk to Nodoka,
we can arrange for you to meet him." She strolled out of the training
hall and headed for the house, intending to call her best friend later
that morning and invite her out to lunch to discuss the matter.

"Great," Ryoko muttered dispiritedly at her mother's departing back.

Left alone now, Ryoko grumbled and gnashed her teeth a bit as she sat
in the middle of the room and realized her mother had gone off the deep
end over her bringing Ryoga home with her. She thought with a grimace
that it was going to be no use trying to talk her out of it now, as
stubborn as the woman was. She would have left Ryoga by the side of
the road somewhere, if she knew things would turn out like this. Now
look what she had to put up with, being forced to meet (and likely
marry) some boy she didn't know, with her mother waving the family
honor card in her face if she even tried to balk.

Ryoko rested her chin on her hand, her elbow resting on her bent knee,
mulling gloomily over this latest development in her life, when a stray
thought suddenly occurred to her. She sat up. There was an easy way
out of this, she realized. All she had to do was go find this Ranma
guy and threaten him a bit to get _him_ to be the one to break it off,
thereby preserving the Masaki's honor.

She decided to take Ryoga with her, which might add to her intimidation
factor, on the pretext that she was helping him find this Ukyo guy he
was hunting for. They could spend the morning on that task, and she
could hunt down Ranma before lunch. At the very least, it would get
them both out of the house and far away from any possible interrogation
attempts by her mother. Luckily, Ryoga still seemed unaware of how the
woman felt about his presence.

Her fist cracked solidly into her other palm, and then Ryoko slowly
rubbed the knuckles. No way was she getting engaged to some guy she
didn't even know, let alone love. Luckily, all it should take was a
little bit of bullying to scare Ranma off, maybe even some applied
force if he really was good enough to study with a teacher of Master
Lee's high caliber.

Ryoko wasn't concerned, if it actually came to violence. She had never
met a boy yet she couldn't beat into the ground in a fight. It seemed
a good, workable plan, nicely simple and straightforward, practically
guaranteed to work.

Ryoko stood up and started her training, already feeling better.

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

Out in the hallway, a figure silently emerged from the shadows. Ryoga
had been looking for the bathroom when he had gotten lost in the house,
wandering through seemingly endless corridors before ending up in the
downstairs hallway that led to the training hall in the back. When he
had heard Achika coming, he had quickly hidden himself, using a stealth
technique that Ukyo had once taught him when they were younger. He was
pretty pleased with himself that he had finally gotten it to work when
he really needed it to.

While eating meals with the Masaki's for the past couple of days, Ryoga
had gotten the impression that Ryoko's mother was bothered by his
presence, although she hadn't said anything to him. Now he knew why.

While he had been unable to hear the whole conversation between mother
and daughter, having somehow found himself in a broom closet when he
had thought he was drawing nearer to the door to the training hall, he
had heard enough. Poor Ryoko was obviously being forced by her mother
into a marriage that she didn't want. As her friend, it was up to him
to do something about it.

Turning around, Ryoga began wending his way through the enormous house,
while he thought about how he would help poor Ryoko. Maybe he could
offer to pretend to be her boyfriend?

Then again, maybe it didn't have to be pretend. She was the first girl
he had ever spent so much time with, and she was really beautiful too.
A glazed look came over his face, and he drifted off into a pleasant
fantasy about the older girl.

In the midst of this fantasy, Ukyo inexplicably appeared in Ryoko's
place, and Ryoga snapped out of his fantasy with a cold shudder, his
heart suddenly pounding with horror. His hand balled into a tight fist
at the thought of the boy ninja, and he trembled with a sudden rage,
smashing his fist into a nearby oaken wall post, almost shattering it.
Even within the privacy of his own fantasies, that damned Ukyo still
haunted him.

The unwanted feelings of intense attraction he felt for the ninja, and
the dark stain they left on his soul, would only be expunged when he
faced Ukyo in combat and defeated him. Maybe when the other boy's
shattered body was laid out broken and bleeding in front of him, then
Ukyo's spell over him would finally be ended. He would finally be
freed of this dark torment he felt inside, and the intense shame of
feeling attracted to another boy. Then he would be free to love Ryoko,
if she would have him.

In his trek to find the bathroom, Ryoga tramped up and down innumerable
stairs, counting at least six floors in the building, his rage slowly
building to a heavy boil. Luckily, Ryoko's little brother, Tenchi, he
absently recalled as his name, came across him before he finally lost
his temper at finding himself back at the guest room for the ninth time
and started breaking walls in his frustration. He was certain that the
house was somehow mocking him by shifting its innards around and hiding
the bathroom from him. A proper Hibiki house was only a single floor
with few rooms, one easy to navigate around in, not this multi-level
monstrosity. How did anyone ever find anything in this place?

"Um, can I help you, Hibiki-san?" Tenchi asked uncertainly. This was
the first time his sister had ever brought a boy home, and he was
uncertain how to act around Ryoga. Now that he thought about it, he
wasn't even sure how he felt about his sister having a boyfriend.
Ryoko had never dated, as far as he was aware, so this was totally
unknown territory.

Ryoga turned to face him, a pained look on his face from his bladder
feeling like it was going to burst. He struggled to remain calm. "Uh,
I'm having trouble finding the bathroom. Can you help me?"

"Huh?" Tenchi blinked. He pointed to a door directly across the hall
from the guest room Ryoga was staying in. "Uh, it's in there."

"Argh!" Ryoga stomped across the hallway and flung the door open,
before he quickly disappeared inside and shut it behind him.

There were a few more bangs and crashes, and then Tenchi saw light come
out from underneath the door. He raised an eyebrow and wondered if
Ryoko's new boyfriend was slow in the head or something. He shrugged
his shoulders.

At least Ryoga's idiosyncrasy with directions gave him something to
tease his sister about when it came to her relationship with the guy.
After all, she had certainly tormented him enough about his engagement
to Rei Hino, constantly teasing him about when he would finally have
the guts to kiss Rei and asking him when he was going to start doing
this and that with his fiancée. None of which he had done yet. He
blushed at the thought, knowing he wasn't anywhere near being ready yet
to take such bold steps with Rei, even if they were promised to each
other in marriage.

As he headed to get his things for school, Tenchi idly wondered if his
sister was still a virgin, not that he was about to risk life and limb
just to satisfy that curiosity. Ryoko had always been, and still was,
archetypically tomboyish in her attitudes, disdaining activities that
most other girls seemed to like. Until she had shown up with Ryoga, he
could not recall his sister ever spending any time with any boy,
outside of fighting with them, and she had left a very long trail of
defeated foes behind her, ever since he could remember. Nowadays, she
mostly fought with the local gang types, where she had earned her
nickname as 'The Demon Ryoko' from them.

Tenchi was looking forward to teasing his sister about her love life.
It was about time she gave him some ammunition like this.

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

Yumi eyed her empty restaurant, the last of the morning crowd having
already left for work or other business, leaving her alone to enjoy the
quiet. She bent back and twisted her shoulders from left to right,
hearing a few crackling pops softly reverberating up from her spine.
She sighed with relief.

Working out with Ukyo each morning was proving to be just what she had
been needing. In her prime, she had been undefeatable, but years of
easier living had seriously dulled her fighting edge, which was a
dangerous thing. However, sparring with her young niece was gradually
honing that faded edge back to its old level, restoring her back to the
powerful warrior she had once been. That was good.

A rumble of thunder rolled across the sky, just before the front door
was slid to one side. Yumi put on her best professional smile, with
just the proper twinkle in her eyes to put a customer at ease. When
she saw who it was, her eyebrow raised slightly.

"Welcome to Yu-chan's," she said pleasantly, gazing at the two figures
standing in her doorway. "It's been a while, Ryoko. Who's your young
friend?" She smiled archly at the girl.

Ryoko came in with Ryoga in her wake, wondering about the expression on
the older woman's face. "G'morning, Yumi-sensei." She glanced back
and frowned. "Hey! Close the door, Ryoga."

"Oh! Right. Sorry." Ryoga hastily slid the door closed, shutting out
the rain. There was a pleasant scent of okonomiyaki permeating the air
he could smell. It reminded him of the times Ukyo had fixed him lunch
during his weekly visits to her grandfather's place in the mountains.
Reminded of Ukyo, he felt the old rage kindle within him.

Drying her hands on a cloth, Yumi watched the girl. "So, what can I do
for you, Ryoko? How was your training trip?" She slid her gaze over
to the boy with her. He looked angry about something, she noted.

"That's why I came here this morning, Yumi-sensei." Ryoko pointed at
her companion. "This is Ryoga Hibiki. He's looking for a boy that
might be related to you. Maybe a nephew?"

"Do you know where Ukyo Kuonji is?" Ryoga demanded, stomping up to the
bar. "I have to find him!" He was almost choked with equal measures
of eagerness and rage, now that his quest was nearing its end.

Yumi's gaze narrowed. A typical Hibiki, she mused. She was about to
deny knowing anything about Ukyo when their words finally sank in.
They both thought Ukyo was a boy? This could be entertaining.

"Sure, I know Ukyo," Yumi said with a smirk, setting her towel down.
"He's a fine young man. He's staying with me while he's in town."

"Is he here?!" Ryoga's gaze somehow became even more manic.

Yumi casually picked up her battle spatula from underneath the bar and
whacked him over the head wit it. "Calm down, Hibiki-kun," she said in
a mild tone as he stood there, looking a bit stunned. While her battle
was looking a little dented, at least the blow seemed to calm him a
bit. To the shocked girl she said, "Ukyo isn't here right now, Ryoko,
but I know where he is. Both of you make yourselves useful and help me
clean up, and I'll tell you where you could find him when you're done.
Ukyo's not too far."

When Ryoga started to bluster out another demand to know where Ukyo
was, Ryoko promptly decked him. While Ryoga picked himself up off the
floor, she bowed to the older woman and said, "Okay, Yumi-sensei." She
then bent down and whispered to him. "Let's get to it, Ryoga. The
sooner we do this, the sooner you can find Ukyo."

Grumbling all the while, Ryoga did as he was bid. But he blamed this
latest indignity on Ukyo. The ninja was going to pay when Ryoga Hibiki
finally caught up to him. Oh yes, how he would pay.

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

In the Saotome household, the sound of a telephone ringing broke the
silence. After four rings, the answering machine picked up.

"Hello, you have reached the Saotome household," came Nodoka's voice in
a pleasant tone. "There's no one here to take your call right now, so
please leave us a message. Have a nice day." There was a pause, and
then a beep.

"Nodoka? This is Achika. Please pick up the phone if you're there. I
wanted to talk to you about something." There was a pause. "Okay, I
guess you aren't home. Please call me when you can. Bye." There was
a click heard from the other end as the call ended.

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

The rain started letting up while Nodoka waited in one of the sitting
rooms of Kuno Manor. The chair she sat in was comfortable and the
surroundings were pleasant, but they could not seem to ease any of the
disquiet she was feeling in her spirit. It galled her, coming here to
the home of her oldest enemy like some kind of supplicant. Then her
hand gently stroked her belly for a moment, imagining she could feel
the child growing within her, and a soft sigh escaped her. It was for
her future child's sake that she was doing this, she reminded herself.

After a time, the door opened, and Kenseiko Kuno entered the room in
her typically grand fashion, looking every inch the noblewoman in her
manner. She was dressed in a magnificent kimono in light green, one
obviously made of the finest silks and laced throughout with heavy gold
thread. Her hair was braided in back and reached down to rest between
her shoulderblades, a white ribbon wound into the braid. Elegantly
coifed hair spears framed her face in front.

"Saotome-san, it's so wonderful of you to visit," Kenseiko said with a
bright smile, but there was a touch of gloating in her gaze and voice.
She sauntered across the short distance that separated them as Nodoka
stood, then she bowed in greeting, taking care to remind Nodoka of
their relative social stations by the brevity of her bow. It pleased
her greatly to see the slight tic that crossed Nodoka's face at the
gesture.

"Thank you for seeing me, Kuno-sama," said Nodoka, bowing back more
deeply in reply out of politeness, the honorific almost choking her to
say.

Kenseiko seated herself gracefully, gesturing for Nodoka to sit as
well. "Please, we can forego the proper formalities when we're alone.
After all, you and I have known each other for a long time. Tea?" She
snapped her fingers imperiously and a house servant scuttled in with a
tray.

"Uh, thank you," Nodoka said, bowing again slightly. She doubted that
Kenseiko had poisoned it, but old habits died hard.

The servant poured the tea quickly and withdrew from the room, leaving
the two women alone. The storm occasionally tossed a burst of rain at
the glass, but the earlier fury was dying down. Kenseiko sipped at her
tea in a ladylike fashion.

"It's not poisoned, Nodoka," Kenseiko said with an arched eyebrow when
she saw that her guest was not drinking and guessing her thoughts. She
chuckled somewhat throatily.

Nodoka took a cautious sip of her tea, realizing she was probably being
a bit silly. There was an odd citrus sweetness to it, and she looked
at the cup suspiciously. Then she glanced at Kenseiko. "What's in
it?"

"It's flavored with a few drops of condensed pineapple juice," said
Kenseiko with a sly smile. "Odd, I know. It's a taste that my husband
acquired when he visited one of our plantations in Hawaii, but I've
gotten to like it myself over the past few years." She continued to
sip her tea calmly.

Nodoka drank her tea, occasionally glancing at the dwindling power of
the storm outside. A Swiss-made grandfather clock sitting in one of
the corners gave off a deep tick-tock sound as the two women sat in
silence. She felt decidedly odd, sitting and drinking tea with a woman
she had fought with in countless brutal battles when she had been a
girl. At times, when it was cold, she still felt a twinge in her left
shoulder from the time that Kenseiko had snapped her collarbone and
savagely dislocated that limb.

"So why have you come to see me, Nodoka?" asked Kenseiko finally, as
she set down her teacup. She studied her old enemy warily, wondering
what sort of devious trick Nodoka had up her sleeve this time. She
rested her hands in her lap, briefly touching her right leg, the one
that Nodoka had broken in two places many years ago, in the last fight
they had with each other. It had been their fiercest, their most
savage, and perhaps their most glorious fight together.

Kenseiko flashed back to battles past with the woman seated before her.
Nodoka had been the one foe in her life who had forced her to stretch
her combat skills farther than she would have ever done on her own, and
she could admit to feeling a grudging sort of gratitude over that.
Their mutual enmity towards each other had somehow forged an abiding
bond between them. Thinking on it further, Kenseiko was startled to
suddenly realize that she felt much closer to Nodoka because of that
bond than she did with any of her peers among the nobility, as if she
and her hated nemesis shared a perverse form of deep friendship. But
that was a ridiculous thought.

Nodoka set her teacup down, steeling herself inside as she locked gazes
with Kenseiko. "I have come to ask for-" Then she paused, looking
for the right word, feeling the weight of her samurai ancestry upon
her, calling out to her to engage her enemy once again in glorious
combat and crush her. "I have come to ask you for a reprieve from
fighting with you." Nodoka nibbled her lower lip for a moment, pained
at her vulnerability as she saw Kenseiko studying her with a rather
malicious glint in her eyes.

"I see," Kenseiko said finally. Then she sighed, losing some of her
usual imperious attitude and feeling an unfamiliar concern towards her
old nemesis that surprised her greatly. "What did that doctor tell
you?"

"That I'm pregnant." Nodoka did not take her eyes off of Kenseiko, as
the two women gazed at each other warily.

"You're certain?"

"Yes."

"Damn you, Nodoka," Kenseiko suddenly whispered, looking away, feeling
an odd mixture of emotions swirling inside her. "I finally receive the
chance to pay you back, to deal to you the first of many such defeats I
had planned for you, and then you pull something like this."

"Pull something?" growled Nodoka, standing up suddenly. "How dare you
say that to me! You think I planned this?"

Kenseiko sprang to her feet, grabbing Nodoka roughly by the front of
her kimono. "This is exactly the sort of underhanded surprise you used
to pull on me when we were younger, whenever I managed to obtain any
kind of advantage over you!"

"Like you ever really had any chance to beat me," sneered Nodoka, her
hands grabbing the front of Kenseiko's kimono in reply. "The only time
you ever came close was when you made me fight that stupid duel with
you when I was three days sick with the flu! And I still won!"

Kenseiko growled back, "You bitch." She tightened her grip in Nodoka's
clothing, her fingers whitening. A blazing fury began filling her.

"Same to you!" Nodoka snapped, finally losing her ladylike demeanor in
the sudden rage which possessed her. How could she have ever thought
to try and make peace with this creature? "You were a bane to me then,
and you're a bane to me now! I've never hated anyone more than I hate
you! Thank the gods your daughter is nothing like you!"

Kenseiko immediately retorted, "You leave Kodachi out of this! She's a
far better girl than that whelp you call a son deserves!" She pulled
Nodoka in closer, until they were nearly touching nose to nose. "He
should count himself fortunate to be marrying her. Once he becomes a
Kuno, I'll teach him how to be a proper nobleman, despite the handicap
he has of having _your_ blood in his veins."

"You think I'm going to give up my only son to you?" Nodoka's eyes
narrowed in her wrath. "If your daughter's anything like the spoiled
brat you were at that age, my son would be better off without her!"

Clothing began to tear as the two women suddenly started struggling
fiercely with each other, both of them far too angry now to employ any
proper combat techniques. With a sudden shift of weight, the snarling
pair went tumbling over one of the couches and knocking it over in a
flurry of flailing limbs. Nodoka's kimono-covered elbow was briefly
seen over the couch as she cocked her fist back for the first punch.

For the next several minutes, the only sounds in the room were those of
fists striking hard against flesh and loudly-grunted curses as the two
women grappled and pummeled at each other in their savage fury, rolling
around the floor of the room. The pair exchanged blow after blow as
they raged against each other, struggling with each other fiercely.
But, after a time, it slowly began winding down as their emotional
frenzies finally expended themselves against each other, and then it
abruptly stopped.

A hand slowly rose up over the back of one couch, and then a rather
disheveled-looking Nodoka appeared, a thin trickle of blood trailing
from her mouth, and her nose looking somewhat swollen and maybe a bit
crooked. One of the arms of her kimono had been torn clean off. She
swallowed the coppery taste that was welling up in her mouth from her
split lip and probed gingerly at her teeth with her tongue.

A few moments later, an almost equally disheveled-looking Kenseiko
slowly arose next to her, her right hand cautiously rubbing at her jaw
as if to make sure it was still connected. The area around her right
eye was pretty severely bruised, promising a very colorful result, and
her once-fine kimono was tattered and torn. She looked at her old
enemy, her battered face neutral in its expression.

"You still throw a pretty good punch for a woman your age, Nodoka,"
Kenseiko admitted with a grudging look. She tongued at her teeth,
grimacing when she found a molar that seemed a little loose. She
grinned suddenly. "Seemed like old times, didn't it?"

"Yes, it did," Nodoka replied thoughtfully. "You still have a pretty
solid right yourself, Kenseiko." There was a pause as Nodoka looked at
the other woman. "So, do I get that reprieve until I have my baby, or
do we go another few rounds with each other first?"

Both women suddenly started to laugh, beginning with a chuckle, and
then finally exploding into full-blown laughter.

"OH HOHOHOHO!" Kenseiko's ringing, demented-sounding laughter mixed
with Nodoka's more demure ones, and the two of them kept laughing for a
brief time. Kenseiko was the first to stop, feeling pain flaring up
from a deep bruise on her ribs, courtesy of Nodoka's fist early on in
their struggle. She suddenly put a companionable arm around the other
woman for a moment.

"You can't imagine how long it's been since I could cut loose like
that, Nodoka," said Kenseiko with a conspiratorial look. "I missed it
so much."

"I know what you mean." Nodoka dabbed at her face with a handkerchief,
grimacing when it came away bloody. "After getting married and having
our own families, we both turned into our mothers, didn't we?"

"Now _that_ is a frightening thought." Kenseiko looked a bit pensive,
remembering what her own mother had been like. Very gingerly, she
moved away from Nodoka and headed to the front of the couch they had
ended up behind. She plopped down into it, sighing with relief. "But
I suppose you're right." She waved a hand grandly. "I'm going to give
you that reprieve you asked for, Nodoka, but only on one condition."

"Condition?" Nodoka asked suspiciously, still leaning over the back of
the couch as she continued trying to catch her breath. "What sort of
condition?"

"If you have a son, then Ranma will join the Kuno family register. But
if you have a daughter, he'll stay a Saotome and Kodachi will join the
Saotome family register." Kenseiko filled her teacup and took a large
drink, swishing the liquid around in her mouth a bit before swallowing
it. It helped dull the pain in her jaw a little. "I also hope that
you'll continue to visit me from time to time. I promise a much less
strenuous encounter next time."

Nodoka blinked in surprise. "Did I miss something somewhere?"

Kenseiko chuckled and said, "Believe it or not, I realized something
while the two of us were down there on the floor trading blows, that I
missed those carefree days of our youth, Nodoka. With you, I can just
be Kenseiko again, instead of Lady Kuno." She studied the leaves in
her teacup, and her gaze hardened. "Anyway, that's the deal. Take it
or leave it."

Nodoka laid her hand on Kenseiko's shoulder, and she wasn't sure who
was more shocked of the two of them. "I accept."

Kenseiko turned her head and met Nodoka's gaze levelly. "Excellent.
Mind you, I'm only giving you this reprieve until you've given birth
and had some time to recover and prepare yourself. Don't take this as
an offer of friendship. It's not. And I won't go so easy on you in
our next fight."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," said Nodoka with a wolfish smile,
her hand moving to gently stroke at her belly. Everything is going to
be all right now, little one, she thought.

Kenseiko chuckled, and then both women started to laugh out loud again.

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

"I don't suppose you're willing to tell me how you got those bruises?"

Ranma remained silent as Master Lee studied him. The two of them were
on one side of the gymnasium area, as it was raining outside. He could
see Nabiki and Kodachi sparring on the other side of the room, under
the watchful guidance of Coach Fujinami. They looked like they were
going at it with their usual vigor, although Nabiki seemed a little
slower today, possibly due to lingering effects of her injuries from
last night.

As much as he wished to, Ranma could not meet the man's gaze. He still
felt shame over losing to Kinnosuke on top of losing to Nabiki. He
heard a sigh from the older man.

"Well, since you appear a bit too injured to spar today," Master Lee
said, sitting down in front of the pigtailed boy on the mat. "We will
talk instead." There was a pause. "Ranma, look at me."

Ranma looked up. If this had been Genma, not his real father but the
other one, he would have seen disappointment on the man's face over his
losing to Nabiki. Thinking on it with regret, he was depressed at how
his counterparts in those other two worlds always seemed to find a way
to win their fights in the end. But he had lost two important fights
in only a few days.

However, when he looked up, he saw that Master Lee did not seem to be
disappointed. Instead, the man appeared thoughtful.

"Ranma, let's start with a basic question, from master to apprentice.
Do you know why I chose to train you instead of Nabiki Tendo?" Master
Lee looked solemnly at the pigtailed boy and waited for an answer.

Ranma was a bit taken aback by the question. He shook his head. "Not
really, Lee-sensei. Why did you?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here," the older man said, still
looking at him thoughtfully. "Do you consider me a true martial arts
master?"

"Of course!"

"Then tell me what you define as mastery of the martial arts."

Ranma instinctively stated the answer Pop had taught him a long time
ago. Actually, to one of his analogs. "A martial artist is someone
who knows how to fight well, who has trained his body and spirit for
combat and proves it by defeating all foes."

Master Lee shook his head. "That's not mastering the martial arts,
Ranma. That answer means someone is a great fighter, yes. But to
perfect the forms, to memorize the lore, or even to be the best fighter
around, none of that shows a mastery of the martial arts. No, to truly
master the martial arts is to master oneself. Everything else is just
window dressing."

"But you fought in the Arena," Ranma interjected. He paused for a
moment, regretting his outburst. He looked at Master Lee. "I mean,
you showed the world that your martial arts skills were the strongest,
that you were the best."

Master Lee smiled and chuckled slightly. "Yes, I fought in the Arena.
I was young like you once, and eager to prove myself. I faced many
great fighters in that crucible of combat, and I learned a great many
techniques. But simply defeating others does not make one a martial
arts master, Ranma. A true master of the martial arts is determined by
what's in here." He poked Ranma in the chest with a forefinger. "And
in here." He tapped Ranma's forehead. "It's not by how skillfully one
wields their fists or feet, or even what special techniques they know."

"This is why I chose you over Nabiki, Ranma," Master Lee said calmly.
"You are both surprisingly similar in many ways, as if somehow cut from
the same mold, but there is an arrogance in Nabiki Tendo you don't seem
to share, at least not to the same degree. While I have no doubts at
all that her physical skills are currently superior to yours, and may
continue to remain that way if she is diligent in her training, I find
myself wondering if she truly has the potential to be anything more
than merely a great fighter, like I think you can."

Ranma tried not to, but he winced a bit at Master Lee's comparison of
his fighting skills to Nabiki's. It took him a moment to pick up on
the rest of what the man had said.

"As to your bruises, you don't have to tell me how you received them."
Master Lee paused and glanced over at Nabiki and Kodachi's sparring
match, noting how Nabiki was dominating the contest, a confident smirk
on her face. He frowned at the sight. Someday he would ask Ranma how
he and Nabiki knew the Anything-Goes style, but for now he would leave
the matter alone. "I imagine Nabiki wasn't too happy with you over my
choice," he said mildly.

"Nabiki didn't do this to me," Ranma stated emphatically, looking up,
honestly surprised at the suggestion.

Master Lee looked back at him, meeting his gaze. "I believe you,
Ranma. However, as your master, it doesn't look good upon me to see
you all beaten up like this." He leaned forward. "So I'll make you
this promise. I'll train your physical skills as far as you're willing
to take them, so that few, if any, would be able to do something like
this to you again." There was a pause. "But the rest of it will be up
to you."

"I can make you a great fighter, Ranma, if that is all you wish to be.
However, I believe you can be more, to someday truly master the martial
arts, and I can help you. But only you can make that choice. No one
else can. And the road will not be easy."

"I understand, Lee-sensei," Ranma said sincerely. He was suddenly
aware that he was in for a much different experience than his analogs
had learning from the likes of Happosai, Cologne, or Pop. He bowed to
the man. "Thank you."

Master Lee grunted and nodded, an inscrutable look on his face. "Don't
thank me yet. Let's see how far you can walk the path first, my young
apprentice."

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

"Well? What do you think?" asked Ukyo, gazing at Ranma expectantly as
he ate the lunch she had prepared for him.

Ranma swallowed. "It's good," he said with a grin.

Ukyo grinned back, pleased to see Ranma enjoying her cooking. She had
been making a sincere effort to improve her okonomiyaki skills with her
aunt's assistance, and it looked like her efforts were paying off. She
started grilling him up another one on her portable unit. She had
commandeered a seat near Ranma's desk to share lunch with him, since it
was too cold and rainy to eat outside.

Ranma ate the next one that Ukyo made him as quickly as he had consumed
the first, his body needing to refuel. He was still recovering his
strength, and Ukyo's delicious cooking helped a lot. After yesterday's
ordeal, not to mention the one he faced that morning when he arrived on
campus, he felt worn. His morning training session with Master Lee had
ended up as another grueling affair as well, and there was still the
afternoon left to face.

He had barely made it through the gauntlet of girls today, and using
the boost had been very tempting. They might have taken him down, but
Ukyo had interfered before he was forced to unleash it. While he was
grateful to her for her assistance, it bothered his pride that she had
helped him. He didn't feel he should need anyone else's help where a
fight was involved, but he really needed to deal with that particular
situation before it turned into something more dangerous. After all,
they could start showing up at his house or something.

In the back of the class, Minami and Gosunkugi repeated their glaring
at Ranma and Ukyo from yesterday. Minami was growing convinced that
she was going to have to do something drastic to save Ukyo from Ranma's
perverted interest in the ninja, unable to miss the signs of attraction
between the two boys. Sitting next to her, Gosunkugi was simply making
plans for the pigtailed boy's destruction. Ukyo was a lesser bother to
him, but Minami's growing interest in the other boy still irritated
him, although he would be hard pressed to say why.

Many of the other girls in the class also eyed the pair, an occasional
sigh heard. Yuka was one of those girls, as she watched Ranma and Ukyo
having lunch together. Sitting in the desk next to her, Sayuri sipped
at her juice and occasionally rolled her eyes. Yuka had been like this
for the past few days, ever since Ukyo started attending classes at the
Academy.

"Isn't he wonderful?" Yuka sighed, gazing at Ukyo.

"Yeah, wonderful." Sayuri's tone was matter of fact. She eyed the
lunch in front of her companion, seeing it was barely touched. "You
going to eat that omelet?"

Yuka absently slid the box over to her friend and sighed again, gazing
raptly at Ukyo.

Sayuri just shook her head and started eating from both lunches. First
Tendo-senpai, her idol among the upperclassmen, started losing her
previously unshakable cool over Ranma Saotome weeks ago, and now even
her best friend Yuka was practically drooling over the newest addition
to the campus. With Yuka uncommunicative, it was looking like another
boring lunch period.

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

Standing on the grounds of the Imperial Academy next to Ryoko, Ryoga
gazed up at the windows of the main building. After spending the
morning cleaning the Yu-chan, his quest was finally drawing to an end.

The rain came to a stop while they stood there, so he folded up his
reinforced bamboo umbrella and was about to slip it back into the
straps on his pack when he saw a familiar visage through one of the
upper windows. Rage contorted his features when he saw that laughing
face, and he charged in the direction of the building and then leaped
high into the air, his fury propelling him across the distance that
separated him from his target.

Ryoko blinked when Ryoga suddenly sprinted off and then leaped, taking
his umbrella in both hands, his mouth opening to scream.

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

Ranma was about to take another bite when he heard a voice coming
through the window, one that he had never expected to hear in this
life.

"UKYO KUONJI! PREPARE TO DIE!"

Time seemed to slow for Ranma as he took a single glance at the human
missile heading straight for them. Without thinking, he grabbed hold
of Ukyo and leaped for safety. An instant later, it was like a bomb
went off as the window and that section of wall shattered inward, the
concrete and steel ripping aside as an enraged Ryoga Hibiki plowed
through it, his red parasol umbrella in hand and leading the way.

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

Kodachi paused in eating her lunch, feeling the entire room suddenly
shake and hearing a nearby rumble. She had chosen to avoid Ranma
today, still feeling miffed at him over his recent actions towards her.
So she had been enjoying a quiet lunch with some of her new classmates,
in the classroom right next door to the one that Ranma was in.

Several cadets immediately rushed for the windows, trying to see
outside. A flurry of conjectures began being quickly exchanged.

One of the girls who had stuck her head out one open window suddenly
said, "Hey, some kind of martial artist guy just attacked the next
class. I can just see him standing there in this big hole in the
wall."

"But we're on the third floor!" another girl said in disbelief.

Kodachi was the first one out the door, leading the charge to see what
was happening in the next classroom.

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

Nabiki paused in eating her lunch when the building suddenly shook,
interrupting her discussion with Yohko on the matter of the Kashuoh
heir, as well as the shopping excursion they would be doing that
weekend. She glanced at the young Devil Hunter, and both of them
looked around. It had sounded like an explosion of some kind had just
occurred, coming from the floor above them. Several cadets were now
rushing to the windows, to try and see what was wrong.

"Hey, some girl dressed like a martial artist of some kind just leaped
up to a big hole in one of the upstairs classrooms," one of the male
cadets suddenly said. "And she's a babe."

Nabiki's first thought was of Ranma. She hastened out of her seat and
leaped out the window past a startled Kyosuke, grabbing hold of the
upper frame and agilely swinging herself up to the next level while her
fellow classmates gaped at the casually acrobatic move.

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

Ryoga Hibiki paused as bits and pieces of glass and concrete continued
to rain down behind him, his umbrella resting in the center of a wide,
rounded depression in the concrete floor of the room. Fortunately for
the class, no one had been sitting right where he made his entrance.
He stood up and looked around for Ukyo, catching sight of the ninja boy
held by some guy with a pigtail who was wearing a blue uniform. His
gaze narrowed darkly at the protective way the boy was holding Ukyo.

In the back of the classroom, Minami and Gosunkugi watched the tableau
with interest, both of them secretly hoping that Ranma was about to be
beaten up by the intruder but unaware that they shared the same desire
on that front. Like the other cadets, they both began moving away from
what was looking like a fight about to begin. There was an odd feeling
of importance to the scene that Minami could sense, like a momentary
concentration of those strange energies she had been sensing on campus
since arriving for her first day.

Heedless of Ryoga's attention falling on him, Ranma quickly asked Ukyo,
"Are you all right, Ucchan?"

"I-I'm fine," she replied. "I just had the wind knocked out of me a
bit when you grabbed me." She smiled at him. "Nice save, Ranchan."

"Wow!" said an unfamiliar voice from the window, followed up by a brief
whistle, as Ryoko made her appearance, having leaped up to the new
opening in the wall. "I gotta say, you really know how to make an
entrance, Hibiki-kun."

Ranma glanced back at Ryoga and back at Ukyo. "You two, uh, know each
other?"

"He's a friend of mine, sort of," Ukyo replied, looking confused. "But
I don't know why he's so angry."

Ranma glanced back at Ryoga again and wondered why his life was turning
into some twisted reflection of the life his analogs lived. Now Ryoga
had shown up. But why was he hunting Ukyo? It had better not be over
some stupid bread, he thought. This was all getting too weird and too
coincidental for him. He started to move when Ryoga suddenly gave out
a growl and charged to the attack.

"How dare you ruin my life, Kuonji! Die!" He leaped at Ukyo, and the
two on the ground rolled apart as Ryoga brought his umbrella down on
the area they had just occupied, deeply cracking the concrete floor.
The boy with the pigtail came leaping at him, and Ryoga batted him
aside without a second thought and continued charging towards Ukyo, his
current focus. "I'm going to kill you!"

Whoa! He's fast! Even though he knew he wasn't in his best shape at
the moment, after what had happened last night and this morning, he
couldn't stand by and let Ryoga beat Ukyo to a pulp. But he had been
caught offguard by Ryoga's speed, and the umbrella slammed him in a
solid blow across his midsection. His trajectory carried him towards
the new opening in the wall, but he came to an abrupt stop when he
suddenly impacted headfirst into Ryoko's chest, burying his face in
between her breasts. The sheer force of the collision stunned him and
actually knocked her back half a step.

Ukyo met Ryoga's charge head on as cadets started evacuating from the
classroom, and the two came together as his umbrella strike was blocked
between her crossed and upraised arms. While she was shoved back a
ways from Ryoga's momentum, her feet skidding on the floor, she managed
to keep herself upright. The two of them then began a dazzling display
of fighting skill as they clashed, her opponent having a murderous look
on his face.

"What the hell's your problem, Ryoga? What are you doing here? What
did I ever do to you to make you so mad? Is this about that money I
owe you?" She knew she was at a bit of a disadvantage here, with her
battle spatula currently in her locker, since the Academy had a strict
policy against students coming to class armed.

"I'll tell you," Ryoga replied, thrusting his umbrella against past
Ukyo's evading body, narrowly missing her. She grabbed hold of the
umbrella, trying to wrest it away from him, and both combatants leaned
into the brief test of strength. Ryoga shouted into her face, "You
made me gay!"

Ukyo blinked and looked startled, and so did the few cadets who still
remained in the room. Even those who had been desperately trying to
get out through the door came to an abrupt halt to stare at Ryoga. It
was very quiet for a moment.

Just then, Kodachi appeared in the doorway, having struggled to get in
past the flow of cadets streaming out of the impromptu battle zone.
She gaped at the new opening in the wall, and the strange boy glaring
at Ukyo, but her only concern right now was Ranma. Hurriedly, she
scanned the rest of the room looking for him, deeply concerned for his
well-being.

When she saw him with his face buried in the bosom of some strange girl
with weird hair, her concern for him abruptly vanished, and she turned
away with a feminine harrumph. She trudged back to her own classroom,
a frown on her face. He obviously didn't need her, and she hoped that
Ukyo wretch was severely beaten by that unruly boy, whoever he was.

Ryoko paused for several moments, startled by the boy who had impacted
into her as well as Ryoga's revelation. She glanced down at the guy
with his face currently stuck between her breasts, and a vein suddenly
sprang up in her forehead. She grabbed him by his uniform and hauled
him up to her face, his head coming free from her bosom with a slight
popping sound.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she raged at her still
somewhat insensate assailant.

"That sounds like a question I should be asking you," said Nabiki's
voice suddenly from her right and just behind her, a hint of menace in
it. "Let Ranma go."

"Ranma?" Ryoko glanced once at Nabiki and then back to the pigtailed
boy she was holding. "Are you Ranma Saotome?"

Ranma blinked, startled by the question as he dangled in the strange
girl's grasp. "Uh, yes."

Ryoko paused, ignoring the furious melee currently going on over on the
far side of the room. She studied him for a moment, and she suddenly
realized he was pretty cute. She smiled, for the moment forgetting her
original reason for coming here was to frighten him off, baring her
fangs a little in the process.

"Hey! I told you to let him go!" demanded Nabiki, interrupting the
brief tableau when she grabbed Ryoko by the wrist, feeling the muscles
bunched in the other girl's forearm. She must be another Hibiki, she
decided, noting the fangs. "Let him go _now_, Goblin Girl!"

Ryoko paused, but she did not release her grip on Ranma. "What did you
call me?" she asked, her tone turning dangerous. She shot Nabiki a
very sharp look. "What the hell did you just call me?"

"With those fangs and that weird hair color, I called you a goblin,
Goblin Girl," Nabiki replied with a fierce grin. "Now let Ranma go.
If you want a fight, face me." Even though she was still injured, she
knew she was in better shape for a battle than he was.

"Um, girls?" Ranma ventured, but both of them were now ignoring him,
their attention focused on each other.

Ryoko absently released Ranma, and he decided to get out of the way and
let Nabiki handle this one herself.

"What's your name?" Ryoko asked, taking a moment to crack her knuckles
dramatically before assuming an easy stance, ready for anything. She
was looking forward to utterly pulverizing the annoying girl who had
dared to mouth off to her like that. She quickly estimated that it
would take maybe five seconds at most, but that was probably being
pretty generous.

"Nabiki Tendo. What's yours?" Nabiki assumed a more nonchalant pose,
visibly unimpressed by the other girl, even if she was a Hibiki. It
was a common ploy of an Anything-Goes stylist, used to distract an
enemy and make them lose focus by insulting them while waiting for them
to make the first move.

"Ryoko. Ryoko Masaki." She gave Nabiki a nasty grin. "Maybe you've
heard of me? They call me Ryoko the Demon."

Nabiki seemed to consider it, then she shook her head. "Hmm. Can't
say that I have." Although the name Masaki was familiar to her for
some reason. It would likely come to her in time.

"Then let me show you why I'm called that," Ryoko growled, her fury at
Nabiki growing by leaps and bounds from the other girl's arrogance.
She started to take a step forward.

Meanwhile, Ukyo managed to catch Ryoga in a solid blow across his chest
with a roundhouse kick, and he flew towards the window, blasting aside
a few desks in his path and narrowly missing Ranma. Ryoga impacted
hard into Ryoko, and the pair went sailing out the window. She took
that opportunity to leap out the door, intent on retrieving her spatula
from her locker.

Nabiki spotted Ukyo's abrupt departure, and she went after the other
girl, looking for answers. Just what trouble had Ukyo brought with
her?

Ranma took a moment to catch his breath. His ribs were aching, and he
knew he was pushing his still healing body too hard. He tried to focus
past the pain as he looked around for Ukyo. He didn't see her, and
Nabiki was gone as well.

As he fell, Ryoga flipped himself into a landing position and absorbed
the impact in his knees. Next to him, Ryoko did the same. He sprang
back immediately, landing lightly amidst the debris of his initial
arrival. Ukyo wasn't around, but the pigtailed boy was, the one who
had tried to stop him from taking his righteous revenge on the ninja.

"You!" Ryoga snarled, catching Ranma by the front of his school uniform
and hauling him close. "Where's Ukyo?" He shook him to emphasize his
point, rattling the pigtailed boy's teeth a bit. "Tell me!"

"Hey, let Ranma go, Ryoga." Ryoko laid her hand on his arm. "I don't
want you to hurt him. He doesn't have anything to do with your feud
with Ukyo."

Several emotions went through Ryoga at that moment: surprise and joy
that Ryoko was touching him, but then ending with misery and jealousy
as her words sank in. With an effort, he released his grip on Ranma's
uniform jacket. Ryoga glared menacingly at the pigtailed boy, his
emotions seething darkly within him.

Ranma was startled by the look, but familiar responses within him took
over. He met Ryoga's gaze, and the two locked glares. Tension filled
the air between them, like heat lightning.

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

"Hold it, Kuonji!" Nabiki commanded, grabbing the other girl when she
caught up to her in the hall. "What was all that about back there?"

Ukyo managed to slip free of the grip and straightened the jacket of
her uniform. "I really don't know, Tendo-senpai" she said, adding the
honorific a bit grudgingly. "But I need to get my spatula, if you
don't mind." Without waiting for a response, she headed towards the
stairs.

"I think I do mind." Nabiki leaped in front of Ukyo. "Just what is
Ryoga's problem with you?" She then blinked, noting the masculine look
that Ukyo was sporting, wearing male clothing and with her breasts
bound down, and suddenly remembering Ryoga's words. "Oh, so that's
it." She then started to chuckle. "You're such an idiot, Kuonji."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Ukyo faced the Tendo girl,
her hands balling into fists. "If you want a fight, you're going to
have to wait your turn. I've gotta deal with Ryoga first, then you're
more than welcome to take a shot. I've got no problem with knocking
you on your ass once I'm finished with him." She brushed past the
other girl and continued stomping towards the stairs, her look grim.

Nabiki suddenly smirked behind Ukyo and shook her head, already
considering possible angles to turn this situation to her advantage.

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

"I've got no time for this," Ryoga suddenly announced, breaking off his
staring contest with Ranma, trying to focus past the anger he felt at
Ryoko's sudden change of heart. "I don't know who you are, and I don't
really care. I'm just looking to finish things with Ukyo." He shoved
Ranma aside abruptly and charged out of the room. "Where the hell are
you, Kuonji, you coward? I'm going to kill you!"

Ryoko sighed. She gave Ranma a shrug and headed out after Ryoga.

Left behind, Ranma looked around at the partially demolished classroom
and wondered aloud. "What the hell just happened?"

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

After finally retrieving her battle spatula, Ukyo looked around the
building for Ryoga. With his usual bellowing that shouldn't have taken
her very long, but it had been a little while since she last heard his
voice in the halls. Where could he have disappeared to?

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

"WHERE THE HELL AM I NOW?"

Ryoga stood on a street corner somewhere in the Nerima area and looked
around for some sign that was even vaguely familiar. Passerbys eyed
him, and his rage just seemed to intensify at the interest they paid
him. With a growl, after putting his fist through a nearby stone wall,
he began stomping down the street, certain that the campus was around
here somewhere.

"DAMN YOU, KUONJI! JUST WAIT UNTIL I FIND YOU!"

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

Ryoko called her house from a payphone and left a brief message on the
answering machine before starting her search for Ryoga. He had left a
pretty clear path of destruction after leaving Ranma's classroom, such
as holes in walls and other such destruction of property. But she had
lost the trail when he left the main building for some reason. Could
he really have gotten lost that easily?

Well, it shouldn't take her too long to find him. After hanging up the
telephone, she headed off, looking for the wayward Hibiki boy. In the
back of her mind, Nabiki's taunting voice was heard, and she frowned,
feeling anger simmering within her.

"Nabiki Tendo," she muttered, her hand tightening into a fist. "When I
see you again, I'll show you why nobody gets away with talking to me
like that. Nobody calls me names."

With that, she began her search for Ryoga Hibiki.

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

After classes were over for the day, Ranma walked Ukyo home.

"Crazy day, huh?"

Ranma glanced at Ukyo, walking along with her battle spatula slung over
her shoulder. He nodded and said, "Yeah, but I'm kinda getting used to
them."

"Oh?" Ukyo looked over at him and smiled.

Ranma shrugged. "So how long have you know Ry- uh, that Hibiki guy?"

"Since we were both little kids," Ukyo said as they continued walking
alongside each other. Her look was thoughtful, and maybe a little bit
sad. "I thought we were pretty good friends, but I guess I must've
done something to make him hate girls."

Ranma blinked, realizing he had been just about to put his foot in his
mouth. Of course Ryoga must know Ukyo was really a girl. A guy would
have to be really stupid to not notice, not after so many years, even
if she did dress and act like a guy. He filed that piece of info away.

"Friends don't usually try to beat each other up," he observed. "Well,
not seriously, at least. Sparring can be fun."

"Yeah." Ukyo grinned at him. "You wanna spar with me sometime?"

"Sure," he said, grinning back. "Sounds like fun. How about in a few
days? I ran into some trouble last night, and I need to heal up a bit
first. But once I do, I'd love to spar. How about this Friday, after
classes? We could grab dinner and do something afterwards. It'll be
my treat."

Ukyo's grin grew wider. "It's a date, Ranchan." She sidled up to him
and said, "Mind you, I won't go easy on you. Hope that doesn't bother
you."

"Nah," Ranma said, shaking his head, feeling glad that things were so
comfortable with Ukyo, unlike how it was with Nabiki and Kodachi. "I'm
looking forward to it."

They arrived in front of the Yu-chan, and the early dinner crowd was
already going in. Ukyo waved goodbye to Ranma and ran in to help her
aunt out. Ranma watched her go, then he turned around and headed home.

The day had started out kind of rough, but it ended on a pretty good
note. His step was light, and he hoped that this meant he was turning
a corner, and that things would finally start getting better for him.

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

Toga Kiryu leaned back, allowing his head to rest against the side of
the hot bath as his tense muscles unwound. Of all his personal rooms
in the Kiryu Estate (his wing of the mansion being larger than most
commoners' houses) the bath was his second favorite. The first was his
bedroom, since over the course of the last few years he had spent more
time there than anywhere else.

His eyes scanned the room, enjoying the texture of the place. He had
never cared much for Japanese style baths, and had instead opted for
something more grand in an ancient Grecian style. Fluted columns and
marble were everywhere. The tub was built flush with the floor, like a
pool, and closer in size to one rather than a standard bathtub. A
number of hand-sculpted statues of exquisite nude men and woman rounded
out the decor. Like most things Toga Kiryu owned, it defined the term
opulent. But when one was due to inherit control of the fifth largest
zaibatsu, there were certain expectations to uphold. Doing everything
in extravagant style was one of them.

"Hard day, sir? I know how difficult it must be doing nothing." The
statement was issued in crisp, clear, and very dry, tones.

Toga idly lolled his head to look in the direction of the only other
occupant of the chamber. He was a gaijin, English, specifically. Dry
and wrinkled, as befitted his ninety years, he looked like a piece of
leather than had been left out in the sun to long. Still he retained a
full head of immaculately groomed hair, and stood with posture so stiff
Toga wagered one could have set a greased rubber ball atop his head and
it wouldn't move a millimeter. His tailored suit was fitting that of
his position in the Kiryu household: Butler. Not a post used often in
the Empire, it was seen as too foreign and there were other jobs that
filled the same requirements and whose names were native to the land.
But that was the title Laughlin insisted upon when he was introduced to
others. It had been the name of the job when he had been hired; it
would remain so until the day he died. And despite the man's advanced
years, Toga would not be surprised if the wizened butler outlived at
least another generation of Kiryus'.

"I was thinking, actually, Laughlin," Toga answered. "I need the
measurements of a woman."

"Shall I take them while she's riding your baloney pony, sir, or would
you like me to wait until you're done with her?"

"Actually, she hasn't shared my bed yet."

"A girl you haven't slept with? I didn't think there were any of those
left."

The corners of Toga's mouth curled upward slightly. "You're being
exceptionally impudent today."

"Indeed. Perhaps it would be best if I was released from my position."
The withered face betrayed no emotion. Only the voice held its
distinguished tone, despite the sarcasm of the words.

"What would you do with all that time on your hands?"

"Find peace of mind? Allow these ancient bones to have some rest? Not
have to put up with impudent, decadent people that won't even wash
their own back?" He paused for a moment, then continued. "You're
right, there is nothing for me, is there?"

Toga laughed slightly. Laughlin's sharp tongue was one of the reasons
he liked the man whose origins were shrouded in mystery. All anyone
really knew was that when Toga's legendary grandfather (legendary in
both his business dealings as well as decadence), Maasaki, was a young
man, he had gone to England to strike some sort of huge business deal
with the monarchy there. Rumor had it that just when the deal was
about to be finalized, Maasaki left abruptly, the deal falling through
and with only a young man he had taken on as his butler to show for the
journey. Since then the Kiryus never had any dealings with England,
and the English wanted nothing to do with the Kiryus. No one knew
exactly what happened, and no one spoke about it save in hushed tones
when they believed none of the Kiryus were about.

As to Laughlin, he was an enigma. It was common knowledge around the
house that he was Maasaki's personal manservant, going everywhere with
him and being so perpetually at his side that people commented
something was missing when he wasn't present. Toga was also convinced
the butler was every bit as impudent then as he was now, which was
probably why his grandfather had favored him above all others,
including most of the family. From what Toga understood, Laughlin was
probably the only man his grandfather would have called a friend.
Certainly the butler had been treated far better than any servant Toga
had ever heard of. His salary was the equivalent of a highly paid CEO
of their zaibatsu, and upon Maasaki's death, Laughlin inherited an
enormous quantity of stock as well as a home and lands in the Hawaiian
islands.

The salary and inheritance had been a cause of consternation among the
Kiryus but Maasaki was a force no one ever crossed, even in death.
Those that tried never lasted long. He had made the Kiryus into the
second most powerful zaibatsu in the Empire when he was alive, and had
personally held the Emperor's ear. Having no proper successor was why
the Kiryu fortunes and prominence had slid slowly over the last decade.
No one had ever replaced the old man. However, Toga would change all
that, once he was given control of the family. Everyone agreed he
inherited Maasaki's wits (and rather decadent tastes when it came to
women), and it had been decided internally that he would be groomed to
be the successor of the family. Such unanimity in a succession was
nearly unheard of. There were always power struggles within the
nobility for the right to control the family fortunes when there was no
heir apparent, but the Kiryus agreed something had to be done to
prevent the downward spiral which hurt all, and it was likewise
decided Toga would be their best chance for salvation. Oh, the members
of the family would court his personal favor, but none would challenge
his rule.

Shortly after the matter had been settled, Toga decided he wanted
Laughlin to fulfill the same position he had when Maasaki had been
alive. No other member of the family could stand the man's scathing
tongue, and he had been left to run the household instead of personally
taking care of anyone. Despite his age and surly nature, he ran the
vast Kiryu Estate like no other. Toga once tested Laughlin's skill by
giving him a list of a hundred things he wanted done by the end of the
day. Within an hour everything had been completed. It was after
accomplishing that remarkable feat, and far exceeding Toga's
expectations, that he informed Laughlin he wanted him as his personal
butler. The old man simply gave a flat, "Oh, goody," and promoted his
second-in-command to take over the house. Kazuya was a good man, but
never managed things as well as Laughlin could.

Oh, Laughlin could retire at any time, but Toga was fairly certain he
enjoyed being scathing to those that were supposedly his betters far
more than any enjoyment retirement could give.

"I find I fancy this girl," Toga explained at last. All secrets were
safe with Laughlin. He wouldn't even betray any of Maasaki's to Toga,
no matter how hard he tried to cajole the butler about some of the
secrets only he knew regarding Toga's grandfather. "I mean I really
like her. There's something intangible about Nabiki that draws me to
her like no other I've ever met."

"Ah, a flavor of the month, then. I see. Given up on the Tenjou and
Arisugawa girls, have you? Or are you planning on inviting them in a
four-way?"

Toga laughed at the imagery. "I think not. Juri is... let's just say
she's beyond even my impressive means. As to Utena, well, she would be
a rather pleasant girl, but not really someone I would want to keep
around for very long. Nabiki's different, though. Very different.
She's intelligent and clever, I could tell from the first time I laid
eyes on her. She's someone with a quick wit, and not lacking courage,
even in the face of danger. I did a background check. She's not
nobility, but her family is well connected. A very interesting girl
indeed."

It was while he was marking some of Nabiki's more intriguing aspects
that Toga espied something odd about his butler. A rarely seen
reaction in a man that wouldn't react to a gunshot wound. "What is
it?"

"What is what, sir?" Laughlin asked.

"Your eyebrow shot up. You only do that when something catches your
interest. Something that you think shouldn't catch your interest, but
did anyway. On you, it qualifies as an emotional outburst."

For a moment, it appeared Laughlin would dismiss the accusation.
Instead he said, "For the first time in your vapid little life, you've
mentioned a woman's intelligence before her appearance. It's quite
shocking."

Toga was about to argue that --he had noted women's intelligence before
mentioning their looks-- then realized he only did so in the company of
others. When he thought of Nabiki, though, it was her mind, not her
looks, that came to the forefront. How very... interesting. The
junior security cadet was affecting him in ways he wasn't fully aware
of. And they had only met twice, neither being a particularly
remarkable experience. Of course, Nabiki was quite attractive as well.
Not with model gorgeous features, like Juri, but definitely visually
appealing.

However, it was that mind that excited him. Even now he was trying to
maneuver things before the dance so that he had the upper hand against
his newest romantic interest. He wondered how she'd react to his
present. It was something of an unusual approach to courtship, this
scheming for an advantage, but they were exceptional people, and needed
to do things in exceptional ways.

In a tired voice, Laughlin said, "I see your periscope has surfaced,
sir. Shall I send one of the bath girls to scrub it free of barnacles
while I acquire the information you desire?"

Toga looked down at the part of his anatomy Laughlin was referring to.
Thoughts of Nabiki had made him feel frisky. "Yes. Send that new
girl, Natsuki." With her short, almost pageboy haircut, she looked a
bit like Nabiki. If Toga tried hard enough, he could probably envision
it was his true interest that would be taking care of his physical
needs. Something that, with a little skillful manipulating, would
become a reality before overlong.

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

Laughlin instructed the head of the servants to send the requested girl
to Toga. Natsuki knew what was expected of her, it was one of the
reasons she was hired in the first place. He then continued on to the
basement and the cellars below. It took him but a moment to locate his
target.

A man in his late thirties was stocking shelves for some of the more
exotic foods that were needed for the cooks. The Kiryus' frequently
entertained guests and prided themselves on being able to serve any
dish a person could request.

Laughlin said, "You there, the nameless stockboy we pay half as much as
myself. The young master wishes to know the measurements of a Nabiki
Tendo. If I need to tell you more than that, you're not doing your
job, and will be released from your duties." He bowed and left.

The 'nameless stockboy' growled under his breath. As head of the
Kiryus' ninjas, it was his job to ferret out secrets almost before they
became secrets. He knew of Toga's recent interest in Nabiki Tendo. He
knew all the names in Toga's little black book, having made certain
every girl was who she was supposed to be and not someone trying to get
close and discover some of the secrets the Kiryus held. All the truly
notable families tried to spy on one another. But that damned butler
was an enigma that no one had ever figured out, no matter how hard the
Kiryu (and other families' spies) had tried. That he seemed to know
everything before even the ninja did was even more annoying. He was no
danger, betrayal would have come long before now and any been intended.
He was more like an itch that couldn't be scratched.

He put Laughlin in the back of his mind and decided to personally
acquire the Tendo's measurements. Toga was the future, and while he
was not wont for emotional decisions, too many failures would result in
demotion and possible firing. The task would be simple enough, and it
would be a break from his cover of being a simple stockboy. It would
be a simple enough matter to sneak into the school and go through the
medical files on her. He had just the right costume. No one ever
questioned a janitor, after all.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Thanks go out to D.B. Sommer for the last couple of sections, one of
his many contributions to the Quantum Destinies storyline.

Stay tuned for Part II of Yin and Yang. Coming soon (as fast as I can
write it).



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