RanHearts08 The Horse and Butterfly By Jim Robert Bader (Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi) Intermission. Nexus of Worlds---Limbo, Time Patrol HQ, Station #317 "What were you two thinking by setting this up?" Nabiki demanded, "Visiting a timeline that was close to our original parameters, making alterations to the past that caused the timeline to deviate radically from base neutral, in complete violation of all regulations and standards. Don't you know you could both be kicked off the force for pulling a stunt like this?" Ryonami and Gosunkugi had their heads bowed with mutually sheepish expressions, both effecting contrite expressions while privately hoping that their friend and supervisor would be in a more forgiving mood if they did not directly challenger her in mid-tirade. "Well?" Nabiki scowled, "Speak up...I'm waiting to hear an explanation. If this were something Ranma would pull I could understand, but you two...?" "Sempai..." Ryonami began to say. "Don't Sempai me," Nabiki growled, "It's been a long time since we were classmates at Furinkan, and I'd expect a lot more adult behavior out of the both of you than to run around playing interdimensional Cupids. We're not teenagers anymore, Ryo-chan, so please don't act like you can worm your way onto my good side by appealing to our former relationship..." "Boss," Gosunkugi spoke up for his partner and girlfriend, "We really weren't trying to stir up any trouble..." "I don't care what you were trying to do, Gos," Nabiki snapped, "The fact is that you deliberately altered the past on Continuum #69482317, and now I have to make up some explanation for our superiors that will sound halfway justifiable, and don't you know how your conduct reflects upon me when higher-ups see what goes on in our division...?" "What we mean to say, Boss," Ryonami began again, "Is that we really didn't do anything wrong. I know it looks and sounds like a policy violation, but Continuum #69482317 was already an altered timeline before we decided to play with it..." "Say what?" Nabiki blurted. "It's true, Boss," Gosunkugi assured her, "The timeline was formerly a Bet timeline, one altered by the Gods in one of their numerous attempts at exploring alternate possibilities. It...didn't pan out, so they decided to return it to a state of relative neutrality by undoing the alteration..." "Which meant that an entirely new pattern emerged since a history once altered can never flow exactly the same way again," Ryonami concluded. "It may look the same and come within a 99.9999% proximity of resembling the timeline we knew back in own past, but there is just enough subtle variation to allow us a margin of play, and so we decided---Gos and me, that is---to have a little bet of our own, just to see what might come of that alteration." "A bet?" Nabiki asked suspiciously, "What kind of a bet?" "Ah...well..." the slightly built technician wilted under the glare of his immediate supervisor, "It was...kind of about you and Ranma..." "We wanted to know if it was possible to bring you two together by making a slight alteration in the circumstances of how you met, Boss," Ryonami hastily supplied, "So we...kind of arranged it for you to meet him in an entirely neutral setting BEFORE either one of you found out about the engagement...just to see if you'd...well...hit it off without any outside prompting..." "Outside prompting...other than by you two goofballs, you mean?" Nabiki inquired. "Ah...more or less," Gosunkugi adjusted his glasses, "A timeline where it was you, and not Akane, who got engaged to Saotome Ranma, only by your own consent and not just because your parents said so." "And it worked great!" Ryonami brightened up, "The minute he rescued you from getting run over in traffic it was like hearts and flowers were in the air, and you could see how much the big guy worked his charms on you, and how much he was getting to like you...um...before your fathers interfered and sprang the news of your engagement." "Right," Nabiki said in a droll tone of voice, "Right before the me of this timeline got it into her head that our meeting was not purely accidental, at which point she began to suspect the Ranma-kun of this time continuum to have plotted to arrange said meeting purely so he'd be able to get on her good side." "Well," Gosunkugi winced, "We admit that there were a few flaws in the program..." "But look, it still turned out great," Ryonami nodded to the monitor screen and gave the vocal instructions, "Play out scene 347.2E, the time just before the match with the Golden Pair." Nabiki briefly considered countermanding her assistant's directions, but as she turned her head to see the image that was called up she found herself momentarily intrigued, for there was a much younger version of herself sitting down inside the dojo applying bandages to an obviously bruised and battered teenaged Saotome Ranma... Chapter Seven. Wild Hearts Won't Be Broken! "Hold still, don't squirm so much," Nabiki told her male patient, "You're such a big baby..." "But---OW---that stings, Nabiki!" Ranma protested, "You don't have to do this...I'll be all right in a few more hours..." "Now Ranma-kun," she chided, "I'm your manager and I know what's best for you, so grin and bear it for now. I don't care how fast you heal, it still wouldn't do for you to get an infection and ruin those good looks of yours...I mean, how do you expect me to make any money off you if your face is all swollen and stuff? The girls at our school would be heartbroken..." "Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Ranma said resentfully. "Huh?" Nabiki paused, "And what the heck is that supposed to mean?" "You really like it when other girls come onto me?" Ranma glowered sullenly. "Ah...well...it's good for my business," Nabiki said in neutral tones both wary and guarded. "Well, I don't like it when other guys come onto you," Ranma informed her, "Like that Senzenen guy...and are you really gonna let him kiss you if he wins the match? Now that he's got a prayer of beating me, of course..." "Ah...well," Nabiki said, "I wouldn't want anybody to say that I don't live up to my...obligations, but..." "Hah, you see?" Ranma snapped, "And how do you think that makes me feel anyway? Not that a Mercenary like you gives a damn about my feelings..." Nabiki blinked her eyes to that then scowled back at him, "Would it surprise you so much to know, Saotome, that I do, in fact, have feelings? Sure, I don't express them all over the place like you do, but..." "Yeah, but kissing a guy's nothing special to you, right?" Ranma challenged in tones of studied indifference. "Ah...well..." Nabiki glanced down and did not meet his accusing expression. "So I'm supposed to just sit here and be cool with what you do because it's none of my business, and even if Pop says we are engaged, you can do you own thing because we really don't mean nothing to each other, right?" Ranma said as he glanced away with a nonchalance that was belied by the tone which he was using. "That's not fair!" Nabiki flared, "I'm not out to flaunt myself in front of you or anything like that, Ranma..." "Sure...whatever you say, 'Biki." Her eyes got very rounded at this and she shot back, "Well, how was I to know you'd act like such a knuckle-dragging caveman all of a sudden? What am I to you anyway? A trophy wife? Wake up and smell the soba, Ranma-kun, the world doesn't revolve all around you, you know...I have a life, too, and I'll be damned if I go around having to consult with you on every little decision that I make..." "Yeah, you can do whatever you want, just...leave me out of it!" Ranma said sullenly, "'Cause like you say, it's just all about business." Nabiki glared at him a full minutes before her glare lost steam and she found herself looking down again with a more contrite expression, "That wasn't called for, Ranma-kun. I am worried about you...it's a manager's job to worry, after all, and if you're not fighting at your best..." "Then what?" Ranma asked, "You'll have to pucker up and kiss that frog, Mikado?" "Do you honestly think I want to kiss that...lech?" she snapped, "I'd sooner kiss you, Saotome..." "Hah, that'll be the day!" Ranma snapped, "You wouldn't have the guts to do a thing like that." Nabiki rocked back on her ankles and just looked at him with rounded eyes, then in a puzzled voice she said, "You mean that? Why...Ranma-kun, that almost sounds like a challenge." "Huh?" he half-turned to look at her again, only to feel his pulse lurch as he recognized the sly and cunning look that she was turning in his direction. "Shouldn't I be the one issuing that sort of challenge to you?" she continued slyly, "After all, I happen to know for a fact that you've never kissed any girl before, right? Let alone me. Maybe I should be betting you that you won't have the guts to kiss me." "Hah? But...what?" Ranma blinked in evident confusion. "That's right," Nabiki gave her iinazuke a look that would have done credit to a Cheshire, "The big, strong He-Man is afraid of kissing a girl, so what do I have to lose if I challenge you to kiss me? I'd bet anything that you'd chicken out and find some way to avoid going through with the gesture..." "But...wait a minute!" Ranma said in growing panic, "Are you saying you want to kiss me?" "Urk!" it was Nabiki's turn to look caught off guard and confused, but she managed to rally herself with a, "Well...what's wrong with that, huh? I mean...you're a nice enough guy to look at, even if you've got a personality that's got room for only one Ego in that fool head of yours..." "Oh yeah?" Ranma sensed the time of verbal battle turning in his favor and smiled back at her, "Sounds to me like you're the one who wouldn't have the nerve to kiss me. You'd do it with Mikado, but not the guy you're actually engaged with..." "Well, why not?" Nabiki tried to rally her defenses, "At least Senzenen knows how to act like a gentleman, even if he is a serial molester. You, on the other hand, wouldn't even know what to do with a girl if she kissed you on the mouth..." "Yeah, let's test that out, shall we?" Ranma said as he fluidly turned to Nabiki and reached out to tap her on the chest with his index finger, tilting her back as he smoothly moved to catch her so that he was bent over the swooning girl with Nabiki looking up at him in round-eyed surprise and amazement. "Okay," Ranma said as he stood poised hovering above her with only a few inches separating their two faces, "I'm gonna do it now, but only because you dared me. It ain't like I wanna do this or nothing...I mean...I...ah..." he seemed to lose track of what he was saying the longer he stared into her eyes and saw her looking up at him with a timid, confused and yet expectant expression. Nabiki wondered what was happening to her...her heart was beating like a fluttering bird trying to get loose from a cage as she stared up into the blue eyes of the boy holding her in such a vulnerable position. Her back was only six inches above the floor and she had the thrilling sense of raw power in the arms that were supporting her, had a much closer sense of the raw manliness being projected by the handsome boy who was threatening to kiss her, and had an absolutely certain conviction that there was nothing that she could either do or say that would deter him in this course of action. She was totally at his mercy, a small dove held by a large predator...and yet with a sense that the predator himself was just as confused and uncertain as she was. As the seconds ticked by into a full minute the two of them just stared at one another with the question looming large over which of them was the hunter or the hunted. When at last Nabiki thought that the hesitation would win out over the resolve that she sensed within Ranma she started to relax a bit and smiled up at him with a challenge on her lips, "I knew you wouldn't have the guts to go through with it, Saotome." As expected that firmed his resolve and he looked even more determined than before as he said, "All right...but don't say you didn't ask for this..." He moved his head closer and brought his lips closer to her own, but just shy of contact he hesitated, feeling again the tremendous sense that he was holding a girl within his arms and was frighteningly aware of the subtle differences between their two bodies. Nabiki was in good shape for a girl her age, but certainly nothing to compare with his own robust physique, and as such she felt more delicate and fragile, like a small thing in his arms that he could crush if he was not careful. She felt so soft and light in his arms that he wondered if he were doing this the right way, or if he might accidentally hurt her by applying too much pressure. In truth it felt very nice to hold her, and there was an odd perfume-like scent about her body that made him hesitate, in no great hurry to rush through the moment. Again Nabiki felt the hesitation and doubt winning out within Saotome Ranma, which amazed her as much as the strength of her own resolve as she waited for him to kiss her. She felt an impulse to reach up and draw him into the circle of her own arms but held that in check as she waited to see what he would do now that he had her where she wanted him. In truth her curiosity was getting the better of her as she smelled the strong aroma of his own body-scent, slick with sweat from his earlier exertions yet somehow overpowering at this close proximity, entirely male and fairly reeking of all things masculine, which made her feel all the more the differences between them. But then a slight clicking noise off to the side distracted both of the prospective lovers, causing them to turn their heads in order to see the gathering that stood at the doorway to the dojo, which included both of their fathers, Kasumi and a very impatient-looking Akane. "Well?" the latter asked, "Are you two gonna kiss or not?" Nabiki blinked when she saw what was in the hands of her younger sister, "Is that my camera?" "Ah...yeah?" Akane asked nervously, "What about it?" Nabiki and Ranma exchanged looks, then all at once they realized what the position they were in must have appeared like and almost immediately flew apart, each turning their backs to the other as they saw looking way in opposite directions. "Well?" Soun Tendo demanded, "What is it going to be, you two? Are you going to sit like this forever?" "Be a man, Boy!" Genma flared, "Get back to what you were doing and kiss her!" "Oh my," Kasumi fretted, "Is this seemly behavior, Father? After all, they're not even married yet..." "URK!" both Nabiki and Ranma gulped together, then the latter said, "Hey, we weren't doing nothing!" "That's right," Nabiki assured her family, ignoring the way her voice trembled, "Nothing, not a thing, just practicing for our match the day after tomorrow..." "Oh yeah, right," Akane snorted, "I knew you guys would chicken out sooner or later..." "Hey, it ain't none of your business what we do, you Tomboy," Ranma snapped, "If 'Biki and me want to just sit here then it ain't nobody else's business..." "Biki?" the girl in question winced, "I told you to stop calling me that, Ran...ah...Saotome." Akane sighed as she got to her feet and then reluctantly approached the "non- couple," winding the camera up into her sleeve so as not to allow it to show too much before the eyes of her sister, "Well, you're right, it's none of my business, but I thought you ought to at least know that there's somebody else who's looking for you, Saotome. He says he used to be a friend of yours from middle school named Hibiki Ryoga...ring any bells that?" "Hibiki Ryoga?" Ranma blinked, then he repeated it again, "Hibiki Ryoga...yeah...I know that name from somewhere...it's been a while, a couple of years at least, but..." "Well, he says he wants to kill you now," Akane resumed, "He says you broke a man-to-man promise, and he seems really upset about it." "A man-to-man promise?" Ranma seemed even more confused over this, "What the heck are you talking about? I've never backed out on any promise in my life..." "Especially the ones you've actually agreed to?" Nabiki asked with a return of her sense of equilibrium now that her heart had decided to stop racing like frightened deer, "Can you describe what this guy whose after Ranma looks like, Akane?" "Oh sure," Akane brightened, "Well, he's nice, very polite, and he's extremely handsome, in a rude, barbaric sort of way, and I don't think he's been staying indoors much lately because he looks like he's been sleeping in his clothes for days, maybe even weeks..." Something about the way Akane was smiling when she said this caused Nabiki's instincts to sharpen, "Would you say he's cute for a guy?" "Oh yeah," Akane smiled, "Why do you ask?" "Just how old is he anyway?" Nabiki wondered in deepening suspicion. "About our age," Akane shrugged, "Hey, if he's the same age as Ranma..." "And would you say that he acts like a drooling pervert?" Nabiki wondered. "ACK!" Akane winced, "Certainly not! Why would you say that?" "Because I've never heard you describe a boy your own age as anything less than one," Nabiki pointed out, "And you just called him cute..." "I did not!" Akane insisted. "That's funny," Ranma said, "I could have sworn I heard that..." "You keep out of this, Ranma!" Akane snapped, "Besides, what do you know? You did something to make this guy feel extremely angry towards you, and he waiting for you right now at our high school just so that he can meet with you in the morning and hash it out..." "What?" Ranma blinked, "He's...waiting for me?" "You mean he's camped out at Furinkan High School?" Nabiki marveled. "I've just gotta check this out," Ranma said, straightening up, "I'd swear I know this guy...he sounds familiar, but...I gotta see for myself if it's who I think he is..." "Then I'm coming with you," Nabiki said as she also straightened up. "Hey, if it's a fight this guy wants, then it ain't no place for a girl..." he started to protest. "But I'm not just any girl," Nabiki countered, "I'm your manager, Saotome, and if someone has a grudge with you, then I've every right to be there to sound him out so that I can determine if his grudge is legitimate or not." "Legitimate?" Ranma blinked, "Hey, when did you start deciding who I can fight with or not?" "Now Ranma-kun," Nabiki's smile was all confident and business-like again, "What kind of a manager would I be if I let you fight with just anyone? After all, there aren't many people who could give you even a halfway decent workout, and it would hardly be sporting if I let you pick on weaklings. Besides, there's no money to be made in letting you give free demonstrations to every Tom, Dick and Mikado..." "This I just have to see," Akane rolled her eyes, "Come on...I'll show you guys where I left him. He ought to still be there..." "Assuming he didn't wander off and get himself lost someplace," Ranma half- smirked, "'Which the guy I knew tended to do a whole lot..." The fathers exchanged looks and then Soun said to Genma, "What do you think, Saotome-kun?" "It sounds like it might be as diverting as a game of Shogi," Genma agreed, "Assuming the fellow can put up a decent fight against the boy, which---as his fiancée says---is not very likely." "Oh my," Kasumi remarked, sensing what was looking like a family outing in progress and wondering to herself whether or not to pack away sandwiches as someone was bound to get hungry... "All right," Nabiki said levelly to her two subordinates, "I'll admit this has got me intrigued...but I'm still not happy that you pulled this thing off behind my back." "We're sorry if we put you on the spot, Boss," Ryonami said contritely, "But you have to admit that this is turning out to be a very viable timeline." "Assuming that our supervisors don't order us to void it," Gosunkugi duly noted. "Which is assuming that I will tell them of what the both of you cooked up together," Nabiki remarked, "Which all depends on what is about to happen when this version of Ranma has his first meeting with Ryoga..." "Well?" Ranma asked as he glanced around, "Where is he?" "That's odd," Akane looked around, "He said he was going to remain right here at the base of this tree and not wander off anywhere...but where...?" Nabiki heard a slight shuffling noise coming from directly overhead and started to turn to investigate when she heard Ranma cry out with a sharp, "GET BACK!" and all at once he scooped her up into his arms and started leaping. Nabiki had one dazzling instant to appreciate being in total freefall before the arms of her reluctant "client" tightened to absorb the brunt of a massive shockwave that rang out in the space where they had been standing. Another few breathless moments later and Ranma alighted on the ground, cushioning her landing as he straightened out again, turning to see the massive crater that had been created in the space they had so abruptly vacated. At the center of a rounded bowl gouged out of the ground was a figure hunched down over some sort of cane-like object. That figure straightened out again and revealed himself entirely in the dwindling light of a setting son, as tall and ruggedly handsome as Ranma himself but for the oddly careworn yellow shirt and baggy green pants that he was wearing, a tiger-striped bandana around his forehead adding to the differences as he flashed a look of triumphant annoyance. "Saotome Ranma...at last I've finally found you!" "Ryoga-kun?" Akane asked as she, too, had instinctively dodged the attack, "What...?" "I'm sorry," the strange boy replied, "I didn't mean to involve you too, Akane...but when I saw my hated enemy standing here..." "Ryoga?" Ranma blinked, setting Nabiki down on her feet as he turned to face his would-be antagonist, "Hey...wait a minute! I do know you! It's been a couple of years, but I'd know you anywhere..." "SHUT UP AND FIGHT!" Ryoga snarled, hurtling the object in his hand with great force as it unfolded to become an umbrella, and then it sliced the air where Ranma had been standing. "Whoah!" Ranma said as he swept Nabiki out of the way, even as the hurtling object kicked up a wind that set her hair and skirt to swirling, "What the hell are you doing? You wanna hurt somebody doing that?" "Just you, Ranma!" the other boy cried as he leaped towards his intended target, "Stop hiding behind the girls and fight!" Ranma dodged a powerful kick as Ryoga leaped to the attack without further warning. The other boy recovered and whirled about before launching a series of punches and kicks in his direction, each blow missing Ranma by mere inches as the latter dodged away, taking his measure of his angry opponent. Each thrust kicked up a furious wind that seemed to whip past Ranma's elusive form as they dodged along the periphery of the crater, one movement followed by another in rapid order as they darted around the schoolyard, Ryoga on the offensive, Ranma avoiding him by inches. "Saotome," Soun remarked as the two fathers stood off at a distance watching the pair going at it in a one-sided brawling match, "Those moves..." "Yes, Tendo, I see," Genma agreed, "The boy fights using the Anything Goes system, but it looks more like it's been tempered by the Righteous Fist school..." "I was saying that he reminds me of someone," Soun remarked, "Someone we both used to know quite well..." "Don't say it," Genma urged, "Hopefully the boy came by himself this time. No sense in jinxing things by mentioning names..." "This time?" Soun asked with arched eyebrows, but the question went unanswered as the fight between Ranma and Ranma escalated to a new and more furious level. "Stand still and let me break you, Ranma!" Ryoga was snarling. "Oh yeah, like that's gonna happen," Ranma sniffed, "What's the matter, Ryoga? Why are you so upset? You're not still bothered about that bread thing, are you?" "Bread?" Ryoga's nostrils flared, "You think this is about BREAD??? DIIIIEEE!!!" "Well," Akane remarked, "You have to admit, they're both awfully good..." "But who the hell is he?" Nabiki declared, not wanting to concede that she was worried about this strange boy's formidable fighting technique, or that Ranma appeared to be entirely on the defensive. "I don't really know," Akane remarked, "Maybe they're old sparring partners, do you think? I mean, they're Ryu is almost identical...except maybe that Ranma is a little faster, and Ryoga-kun looks pretty strong and has a lot of stamina..." "Ranma-kun!" Nabiki called out, "What are you doing playing with him like that? Get serious, will you?" "Hey, don't tell me how to fight," Ranma said, "I can handle this guy, no problem." "You mean you wish, Ranma!" Ryoga snarled, revealing his pronounced canines, which for some strange reason caused Soun and Genma to inwardly shudder, "Don't tell me you're holding back on account of some girl?" "What?" Ranma almost allowed himself to be nailed as he hesitated by a fraction. "You heard me, Ranma!" Ryoga taunted, "You're running away, just like you did from our man-to-man fight! This is just like when you broke your word to me two years ago..." "I didn't break my word to you, Ryoga!" Ranma snapped, "You're the one who got himself lost and missed our fight!" "So I got a little sidetracked," Ryoga countered as he tried to sweep the legs of his opponent out from under him, only to see Ranma vault back out of his reach, "You still should have waited..." "I did wait for you, Baka!" Ranma snapped, "I stood for three whole days in that vacant lot waiting for you to show up!" "Three days?" Akane blinked. "Oh sure, you waited for three days," Ryoga scoffed, "But by the fourth day, when I showed up, you are long gone, you Coward!" "Hey!" Ranma caught Ryoga's fist in the palm of one hand and stopped it cold, then did the same with the other, "Nobody calls me a coward, Man! Besides, I didn't run away, Pop came and carried me home, and the next day we left town, so it wasn't like I was avoiding you or nothing!" "Then what the hell were you doing?" Ryoga snarled, "I chased after you, I followed you everywhere you went, but you kept running away so that I never could catch up and find you..." "Hey, you got lost, that's all," Ranma countered, "And we were traveling the whole time, even went as far as China..." "I KNOW!" Ryoga snarled, "I followed you there, but you still avoided me! Don't tell me you weren't running the whole time..." "Not from you!" Ranma snarled back, only to pause as he added, "China? Ryoga...don't tell me you followed us all the way to Jusenkyo?" Ryoga broke the stalemate by butting his head forward, driving Ranma back and almost to his knees at it had been an unexpected maneuver. "That's right, Jusenkyo!" Ryoga snarled, "I even followed you to that damned Amazon village, but you kept running away from me, but now I'm going to finish you off so you can never run away from me again!" "WHOAH!!!" Nabiki called out, "HEY, TIME OUT! BELL RINGS AND ALL OF THAT! BOTH OF YOU---JUST COOL IT!" "Huh?" both Ranma and Ryoga turned to look at her as the middle Tendo girl stood near to hand with her hands raised in a classic "T" formation. "Good," Nabiki said, "Now that I've got your attention, would you mind clarifying a few points? For example...this fight you're having now...how did it get started?" "Oh," Ranma shrugged, rubbing his forehead, "Well, it just happened on account of the school we were in. It was an all-boy's academy...you know anything what they're like?" "Somewhat," Nabiki replied as she folded her arms over her chest, "But do go on." "Well, things get pretty competitive around lunchtime, and sometimes you have to fight for a meal, know what I mean?" Ranma asked, then continued as his iinazuke nodded her comprehension, "So you see...we often got into fights about the bread rolls they served, and they just never seemed to make enough of them to go around, so everybody fights for the last piece when it gets thrown into the middle, and that's how Ryoga and me met, when I took the last roll that he thought was his..." "It was mine, you Thief!" Ryoga snapped, "I had it good and square, but you kept stealing from me at the last second..." "Yeah, well...that's how it started between us," Ranma shrugged, "But after a while we got to know each other pretty well and I started helping you out by showing you the way to school and everything. You still got pretty worked up about the bread thing, so I started sharing mine with you, and then when I found out you were into the martial arts we started sparring together, and then we had that fight over which of us was better, which is how you wound up challenging me to meet you behind your house..." "Huh?" Akane blinked, "Behind his house?" "That's where the vacant lot was that was to be the place of our big match," Ranma explained. "You mean where it was to be your gravesite, Ranma!" Ryoga snarled, "But because you ran away..." "I told you, I waited three days!" Ranma shot back once again, "It was Pop who convinced me that it wasn't worth waiting around forever..." "Wait...I'm confused here," Nabiki pleaded, "You say the fight was to be behind your own house...and yet you couldn't find your way there in four days?" "Yes," Ryoga said, then paused before saying, "Um...who are you?" "She's my sister, Nabiki," Akane explained, "And she's engaged to marry Ranma." "AWP!" both Ranma and Nabiki sputtered together before the latter said, "I keep telling you, it's just a business arrangement! I'm his manager and..." "Manager?" Ryoga turned a questioning look towards Ranma, "You're marrying her?" "Hey, it ain't like it was my choice or nothing!" Ranma sputtered, "It was the Old Man's idea, not mine! You think I'd marry a girl who put money before everything else, including honor? Get serious, guy..." Nabiki scowled then coyly said, "Oh yes...we all know how much you care about honor, Saotome. Take this fellow, for example, who was expecting you to wait to meet him for an honorable challenge match..." "Hey, I waited three days, was I supposed to wait forever?" Ranma snapped. "Maybe," Nabiki coolly replied, "After all, aren't you the one who's always reminding me that Budo comes before everything and that you can't lower yourself to put profit above your own ego?" "Man, you are so uncute when you start talking like a Mercenary..." "At least I keep my eye on the bottom line so that my family doesn't starve to death, Mister." "Hey, money isn't everything, you know! You can't tell me it means more than fighting opponents fairly without resorting to unfair means..." "And when have I ever asked you to do that? I've only said you ought to consider taking it easy with some of your fights so you can generate more interest..." "So you can collect bets on the winner and make money at my expense, 'Biki?" "What's wrong with turning a little profit, and I told you to stop calling me that!" "Oh, struck a nerve, huh? What wrong with me calling you 'Biki," 'Biki?" "Hey..." Ryoga started to say when both Nabiki and Ranma rounded on him with a savagely snarled, "YOU KEEP OUT OF THIS!" to which Ryoga actually back-pedaled. "Those two," Akane sighed, "Honestly the way you fight all the time you'd think you were already married..." "HAH!?!" the verbal combatants turned to look at her with mutually shocked expressions. "She's right, you know," Soun beamed, "They do sound a lot like a married couple..." "Brings back memories of our own wives and how they used to talk to us, eh, Tendo?" Genma remarked with cheerful camaraderie. "Oh yes," Soun replied, only to think a moment about this before he began bursting out with tears and sobbing, "Oh...Kimiko-chan...!" "Oh Father," Kasumi sighed in gentle-voiced exasperation. "A married couple?" Nabiki cringed, "You've got to be kidding me!" "Me marry the Mercenary?" Ranma snorted, "It'll never happen." "Like I'd ever debase myself into marrying a mindless Jock like you..." Nabiki shot back. "I see," Ryoga remarked with deceptive calm, then his anger rekindled itself as he snarled, "And what makes you think you deserve her as your fiancée, Ranma? A nice girl like that, and all you can do is call her names and insult her honor?" "Huh?" Ranma blinked, noticing that the other boy was starting to generate a powerful battle aura. "And to think all this time you've been avoiding me while you try and seduce an innocent girl with your charms," Ryoga snarled in a more bestial voice, "You don't deserve someone like her after what you've put me through, Ranma! On account of you, I've seen HELL!" "What the heck are you talking about---HEY!" Ranma cried out as he sensed a renewed attack coming. The other boy launched into an attack that was powerfully delivered with perfectly executed timing, and the only reason the blow did not connect was that Ranma flowed away from the punch and caught it with both legs, pinning Ryoga by the arm as he fell onto his back and catapulted him over both hedge and nearby fence, causing the angry boy to tumble out of sight with a resounding "SPLASH!" that informed everyone of where exactly he had landed. "Oh great," Akane huffed, "You threw him into the pool...nice going." "Hey, he was trying to do a lot worse to me!" Ranma shot back as he straightened up once again, "A little dip like that ought to cool him off a bit, and what are you defending him for, anyway?" "He happens to be a very nice guy who has a valid grudge with you, Ranma," Akane snorted, "Or didn't you figure that out when you asked if he'd followed you all the way to China?" "W-what?" Ranma blinked, but the dark haired girl was already storming past him, and as it was getting too dark to see clearly he could only assume that she was headed for the school pool area to check up on Ryoga. "Well, that was anti-climactic," Nabiki said, "You fight like that against Senzenen and we might just have a chance, Saotome." "Aw, I was just playing with the baka," Ranma assured her, "He never would have nailed me if I didn't get surprised about him following me all the way to that Amazon village..." "Amazon village?" Nabiki arched her eyebrows. "Yeah, but you don't want to hear about that right now, do you?" Ranma huffed, "It's getting dark now, so what say we go home and have dinner." "Oh my, yes," Kasumi responded, "I'd almost forgotten, and now everything will be getting cold..." "Don't worry about it, Kasumi," Soun reassured his oldest daughter, "I'm sure that anything prepared by your hand will taste as good warm or cold." "And I'm hungry enough that I wouldn't notice either way," Genma added with a contented rubbing of his belly. "By the way," Nabiki said, "What should we be doing about your friend, Hibiki?" "What do you expect me to do about him?" Ranma asked, "He'll probably wander off and get lost, so my guess is we won't be seeing him around for a while." "Well then, I guess you are the expert about such things," Nabiki made a point of turning her back on her iinazuke, "After all, what do I know about enemies? Even if they are good enough to give you a moderate workout." "Huh?" Ranma found himself vaguely troubled about the tone that she was adopting towards him, "What are you mad about now?" "I'm not mad, Saotome," Nabiki said in her most aloof tone of voice, "I don't have feelings, remember? I'm just a heartless mercenary." "Huh?" Ranma stood his ground for about five seconds as he watched the older girl go walking off by herself, and then he found himself saying aloud, "Hey! Nabiki, wait up! I didn't mean it like that..." Meanwhile Akane was silently fuming to herself, "Those two...they're such Bakas! They never say exactly what they mean at the right time..." She finished climbing down off of the fence surrounding the pool and headed out to where she assumed Ryoga had landed. There was some lighting here provided by an overhead lamp, but most of the power had been shut off to save on electricity. There was a light on inside the pool that allowed her to stare down into the water, so if Ryoga had gone under she was reasonably certain that she would be able to spot him. Of course what she would do if she did find him drowning was a different question entirely. Akane had never been able to swim and tended to sink like a stone whenever she got into any body of water. Too much negative buoyancy she reasoned, the result of her intensive training, which gave her greater muscle and bone density than other girls her age with less of the baby fat that other girls might use for flotation. If it came to jumping into the water in order to save the boy from drowning then she might well ask who would dive in after to save her. At best she might be able to call in for Ranma or Nabiki's assistance, though Kasumi was just as good a swimmer, or maybe even their fathers... This line of thought was abruptly halted as Akane gazed into the pool only to find---much to her surprise---that the only thing visible for her was a pair of shirt and pants that were presently floating without their owner being in them. It took a full moment for her to register the significance of this, and then she caught a movement out near the far end of the pool and saw a small black form frantically trying to climb up on the side railing. "Ryoga?" she blinked, dawning awareness giving her an odd sense of the utter unreality of the moment. The black shape paused in what it was doing, turning a pair of beady eyes her way, and then the tiny creature started scrambling with greater effort, managing to hook its forward limbs over the edge of the concrete so that it managed to pull itself over the edge, at which point it started to scramble for the nearest bushes. "WAIT!" she cried out, hurrying to move around the edge of the pool itself, "Don't go! I need to talk to you!" She heard a mild squealing noise that sounded inquisitive, but by the time she got to the far end she could see no trace of the small creature which---she deduced---was huddling within the concealment of the bushes. "Ryoga?" she asked, "Is that you in there?" "Bwee?" came the softly bestial answer. "I was right, wasn't I?" Akane asked, "You did follow Ranma into China, and that's what you were really so angry about. You must have gone to Jusenkyo..." "Bwee?" came the squeal again, this time evidencing more surprise in its inflection. "What happened to you?" Akane asked, "Did that Baka somehow knock you into one of those cursed springs, like turns him into a girl and his father into a panda?" "BWEE?!?" "You didn't know?" Akane blinked, "They both have Jusenkyo curses, and so do you, right? You turn into something else when you get wet, don't you? No wonder you're so angry...I can hardly blame you." "Bwee?" "Yes, I mean...if I fell into something like that, then I'd be upset too," Akane tried to reassure him, "Believe me, I don't hold it against you at all...so why don't you come out of there and let me see what your cursed form is like." "Bwee." "Oh come on," Akane pleaded, "Don't be such a big baby. I know it must be embarrassing for you, but..." "Bwee?" "Of course I promise not to laugh," Akane smiled, "Honestly, boys can be so sensitive about the silliest things..." "Bwee!" "Oh, not that I'm calling you silly or anything like that," Akane hastily corrected, "So...you might as well come out of there or you won't be able to get your clothes back. I can fish them out of the water with the net for you, but you have to promise to trust me. I won't do anything bad to you, honest." "Bwee?" there was more hesitation in the voice, but then a resigned, "Bwee," signified capitulation. A moment later Akane was rewarded with the sound of brushes being pushed aside, then out into the open moved a dark figure that was no more than a foot long and moved on all four cloven hooves, a curly tail just adding the right note to the otherwise cute package. Akane reckoned that the lighting was pretty bad, but she was reasonably certain that she was gazing upon a small black pig, and that said pig had a tiger- striped bandana tied around its neck, but---amazingly enough---the eyes of the pig reminded her very much of the boy whom she now knew was trapped in such an innocuous cursed form. "R-Ryoga?" she asked tentatively. "Bwee." "That is you then?" Akane found the edges of her mouth begin to tug into a grin, but she stifled the impulse, not wanting to break her promise, "You fall into the water and turn into a cute little..." "Bwee!" "Okay, okay, don't need to snap at me about it," Akane hastily amended, "I mean...well...I suppose it could have been worse, but still..." "Bwee!" "All right, it's pretty bad," Akane conceded, "I'll bet you've had lots of problems with people trying to capture and make a pet out of you, or...even worse than that, right?" "Bwee," the piglet said in quiet resignation. "So this is why you're out to kill Ranma, eh?" Akane found it harder to stifle the grin that kept tugging at her face, "And I'll bet the Baka doesn't even have a clue what he's done to you either. Well...fair enough. I can see how being small like that would be a problem..." "Bwee." "Hey, I'm not laughing at you," Akane was entirely serious as she said this, "I'm just trying to get used to the idea...I mean...you're pretty tough for a guy, and to get turned into something that...well, can you defend yourself at all while you're like that?" "Bwee." "Okay then," Akane said in resolve, "Then I'll look after you and protect you. You need a friend to look after you, so why don't you let me be your friend and I'll get you some hot water." "Bwee?" "Because I think you're a nice guy, and you clearly have had some bad breaks that you didn't deserve," Akane informed him, "Why? Is there a problem with me being your friend?" "Bwee," the tone was uncertain, but then the pig lowered its snout and said, "Bwee." "Hey, it's no problem for me," Akane said as she turned and sought out the long- handed net pole from its corner rack, "Can't have you running around naked, now can we? You really wouldn't want to go challenging anybody without your clothes on." "Bwee?" the pig actually blinked in a nearly audible manner. Akane stuck the pole into the pool and said, "Don't worry, when you change back, then I won't look. I'll respect your privacy and I won't go around telling people all about you, honest, though that Ranma is going to choke when I tell him about this..." "Bwee!" "Huh?" Akane said as she fished his shirt out of the water, then went next for the pants, setting them carefully down on the sides as she next went after his shoes and leggings, "You don't want him to know about this? But..." "Bwee." "I just mean that it's all his damned fault and..." "Bwee." "Oh come on now," Akane said, "You're being silly..." "Bwee." "Oh, so that's it, huh?" Akane mused as she set the net back in its corner rack, then went to fetch his soggy clothing, "You don't want him to know that you have a weakness. You think he'd exploit your curse if he knew about it?" "Bwee!" "Hmm..." Akane frowned, "You may have a point about that...he's baka enough to take advantage of anything in order to win a fight. I guess it wouldn't do to hand him more ammunition..." "Bwee." "Well, we can sort through all of the rest of this later," Akane remarked, "Right now I suggest we find an all-night public bathhouse, then I'll treat while you get yourself back to being human. Agreed?" "Bwee," the piglet nodded in the affirmative. "Then let's get started," Akane said as she finished winding his wet things into a neat little ball, "And what the heck, might as well have these smelly things get washed while we're at it. I'd ask Kasumi to do it, but...well...we need to talk a bit before I let you anywhere near the house. You're pretty strong and very destructive after all, and it wouldn't do for you to bet starting up any fights until we get this sorted out between you and Ranma..." "Bwee?" "Why?" Akane interpreted, "Because he's my sister's boyfriend, and while I don't much like the creep, I happen to know that Nabiki is hung up on him, so I can't have you trying to kill him and everything, at least not until we've had a chance to find other means of settling this..." "Bwee," the piglet said in non-committal reply, but even as it trotted along at the side of the dark haired girl he was thinking about her short-haired sister, the one who had stood up for Ranma, and scowled a bit more darkly, wondering how his hated enemy could ever rate a woman like that for his iinazuke, and knowing beyond question that he did not like the implications... Continued. Comments/Criticisms/Cell-Phones for Anime Stars: shadowmane@ridgenet.net The match between Ranma, Nabiki and the Golden Pair is on, but are our heroes skating on thin ice, or is there really a payoff at the end that will deepen (or break) the romance between this Ranma and his Nabiki? Tune in next time for: "Crash and Burn at the Wall of Love," or, "Cleaving the Couples!" Be there! X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: http://s11.sexshare.com/~jbader/jimbader.html All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works.