Prologue *** Earth 0.000,0.000 It was nighttime in Moscow. Outside the window of the hotel room, a cold rain pattered heavily against the glass. Next to an unopened letter that rested on the nightstand, a fresh cup of tea, recently poured from the pot, gave off light swirls of steam. On the bed sat a young man, a little over sixteen years of age, a thick book opened before him. It was a text on cosmology, lit by the lamp just to his right. His name? Ranma Saotome. Closing the book, the young scholar sighed because he just couldn't maintain his focus. His thoughts kept jumping to the letter laying next to his tea. It represented the end of his present chapter of life, and the beginning of a new one. The long white envelope bore the distinctive seal of the Imperial Ministry of Education. Ranma knew what was in it without even opening it. It was his official welcome to join the first-year class at the Imperial Academy of Japan, the most prestigious institution of learning in the Empire and quite possibly the world. It also represented the return to his life in Japan, a life that he had left behind almost ten years earlier when his father, Genma, had begun his educational travels. Again sighing, Ranma picked up the television remote, intent on distracting himself from his thoughts. He aimed it at the screen and pressed the power switch. The television came on with a flurry of colored snow that quickly resolved into the evening news. "<...the Kaiser's regime in Germany has continued its aggressive posture towards the Polish government,>" said the pretty, blonde newscaster in Russian. "" Not really interested in the political games of the balkanized European aristocracies, he flipped to the next channel. "<...are seeing pictures showing the results from the latest Irish attack against Her Majesty's forces in Dublin,>" said a buxom redhead in English, speaking with a faint Scottish accent. "" "Oh, great," he complained to no one in particular. "Just what I want to see, more news." Switching the station again, he settled on the next channel in rotation. "<...make a point to visit the scenic nation of Virginia, a country set in one of the most beautiful regions of the American continent,>" drawled an attractive brunette in English. "" "I hate commercials," he mumbled as he turned the station again. "<...but I love you, Alexia,>" said a male actor on screen. "" Ranma snorted. Soap operas. Like real life could ever get that complicated. The screen suddenly changed to a station identification and a deep male voice announced, "" "Pass," he said, flipping channels once again. "...but it is our duty to fight against the Shadow Demons, Ki," said a desperate female voice in Japanese. On the screen an animated drawing of a girl in a skintight outfit was pleading with an animated drawing of a young man dressed similarly. "If we don't somehow manage to defeat them and their minions, then the Empire will be destroyed by their evil. Don't you remember what it means to be a Shadow Hunter? We swore a sacred oath to the Emperor when we gained our powers that we..." "Anything but anime," he said with a sigh, clicking to the next channel. "...and when we return, we will be having an interview with the baddest of the bad girls fighting in the Imperial Arena, that sexy package of violent beauty, the incomparable Mina Li," said a cheerful announcer. "So stay tuned to 'Arena Today.'" Ranma paused on the channel for a moment, but grew bored quickly when the commercials began. Ranma shut the television off and flopped back on the bed, arms spread wide on the thick quilt atop it. He turned his head to eye the underside of the table where the letter from Japan was sitting. One hand reached over and fumbled blindly across the table top, nearly spilling his tea on himself. He finally found the envelope and picked it up. Sitting up, Ranma ripped open the envelope along one end. He held it by the edges and blew down the center, splaying it open. Reaching in, he pulled out the letter within, flipping it open one-handed. The letter read just as he expected. It started with a rather long- winded greeting, complimenting him on his decision to attend the Imperial Academy and congratulating him on his exam scores. Ranma grinned broadly when he saw the comment in the letter that he had achieved a perfect score on the entrance exam, the single highest score ever recorded since the Academy was first founded. The course of study would take three years, and the letter expressed hopes that he would consider enlisting for a term of service with the Empire once his training at the Academy was up. Not likely, thought Ranma with a wry smile as he continued to read. Joining the military held absolutely no interest for him. However, he needed to get through the Academy in order to win a place in the Ministry of Science. Joining the Academy would also give him access to materials that would enable him to prove his father's theories on parallel worlds, and that was paramount to him. Ranma was so close to solving the design problems that he could taste it. The equipment that he had been working with so far had proven to be insufficient for his needs. He needed some of the prototype equipment that he could requisition through the Academy, that would help him complete his invention. The quantum neural resonator, he thought with a smile. He was rather proud of the name for his device. He looked over at his thick, black notebook, bulging with design specifications and needed parts lists. Once I get it built, my life is never going to be the same. He could hardly wait. From a two year old dream, the idea came almost fully developed, like a flash of revelation from the heavens. In his vision, an enormous, clean blackboard sat in front of him, when suddenly symbols of blue fire etched themselves onto its surface. Ranma found himself looking at a multitude of circuit diagrams and mathematical formulae crammed together haphazardly. Luckily, his eidetic memory had allowed him to bring all of it back to the waking world. Some of it was blurred and incomplete, like junk data in a computer system, but the rest had been some of the most beautiful equations and diagrams that Ranma had ever seen. He spent many hours writing them down, even the incomplete material, fearing that they would fade from his mind like the dream that they had come from. Ranma was able to recognize most of the basic theorems from his father's own work on quantum mechanics. The rest required almost two years of painstaking effort on his part to solve. The partial circuit diagrams had been filled in as well over time. If he could just get the proper components together, it should work. Assuming that his mind had been processing his father's work on its own, Ranma took the vision as his subconscious's way of proving the senior Saotome right. His father, the acknowledged pioneer in the field of quantum mechanics and parallel universe theory, never found a method of proving their existence. Ranma's dream had given him the method. He only had to build it, and build it he would. It represented quite possibly the single most exciting piece of research that he had ever attempted in his young life. If, no, when he succeeded, then the potential for learning from other timelines would be enormous. Attending the Academy was a small price to pay for achieving his dream. However, the closer the reality came, the more leery of it that he became. What if it didn't work? What if the Academy wouldn't let him build it? What if it turned out to be dangerous? These were the questions that had plagued him late at night. Worst of all, how would he handle being around people his own age? Ranma would never admit to being frightened, as his personal sense of self-confidence was very strong from many years of being praised for his intellectual abilities. He was the best of his generation, and he knew it. However, he could admit to feeling somewhat concerned at dealing with his peers. Having spent his entire life thus far around older men and women, studying the combined knowledge of the world, Ranma's social skills could, at best, be described as anemic. His father had lavished enormous amounts of time and effort on training Ranma's intellectual abilities, restricting Ranma from forming any form of social bonds outside of his teachers. They had moved around too much for that, so Ranma had never had any friends his own age. He had never even gone out on a date, so he wasn't even sure how to relate to girls. All of the women that he had ever come in contact with during the course of his studies had all been old enough to be his mother, or even older. All of which made him feel somewhat anxious about his future at the Academy. Ranma suddenly shrugged and finished reading the letter. I'm sure that everything will turn out all right. It's not like a girl's going to hit me for looking at her wrong, right? He chuckled a little at that, his calm restored. Due to his previous study commitments in Russia, he had already missed the Academy welcoming ceremonies and several weeks of the new term. A special exemption for late arrival was mentioned in the letter, and it was hoped that he would be able to make up the backlog of work with a minimum of difficulty. The letter was signed by the Dean of the Academy, Kozo Fuyutsuki, who included a brief personal note that he would be expecting Ranma for a one-on-one interview at his arrival. Ranma frowned slightly. Dealing with people on a social level was not one of his strong suits. There was a knock on the door to his room. Ranma folded the letter up and put it back into the envelope before replacing it on the table. "Come in!" he shouted. The door opened, and his father, Genma Saotome, came walking in. He waved a pair of plane tickets in one hand. He was wearing a dark blue suit, the latest style from Berlin, and his usual wire-rimmed glasses. "You can congratulate your father on his ingenuity once again, Ranma," said Genma with a grin. "It took a little bit of doing, but I managed to get us a couple of first-class tickets for the next supersonic transport flight back to Japan. By this time tomorrow, you'll be able to sleep in your old room." Genma put the tickets away in the front coat pocket of his suit. "It will be nice to see Mother again," said Ranma in a calm tone. "It's been such a long time. I barely even remember her." That had always troubled him a little, like his life had only truly began when he was five years old. The events before that age were fuzzy and dreamlike in comparison, vague images and flashes of memory. His memories of his mother were comforting, but the upcoming reality of seeing her left him feeling a little bit nervous. "She's excited that we are finally returning home," said Genma. His voice took on a wistful tone. "It's hard to believe that it's been over ten years already. It seems like only yesterday that I started your education and took you out to see the world." A brief silence fell across the room during Genma's reverie. "Do we really have to go back to Japan right now?" asked Ranma, his nervousness finally urging him to speak. "There's still so much that I wanted to study here in Moscow. The Physics Department has just started planning the new fusion reactor for the University, and they invited me to participate. I had a few ideas on improving heat exchange efficiency that they found intriguing." Genma looked at his only son for a moment. "Ranma... Son, it's time to go home," said Genma in a serious tone of voice. "Everything that you could study here in Russia you can learn about in Japan. The Imperial Academy has the finest facilities that a boy of your capabilities could need in the world for learning. It will also be good for you to be among people your own age. You've spent far too much time around crusty old men like your father." "I guess that might be kind of fun," admitted Ranma. "I read the letter from the Academy. They are holding my spot open, pending my arrival." "Kozo Fuyutsuki's an old friend of mine," said Genma. "I knew that we wouldn't be able to get back in time for welcoming ceremonies, so I asked him to help us out like that. He was glad to do it, and he's expecting you to pay him a call after your arrival." "I will, Father," said Ranma. "I promise." "Good," said Genma with a nod. "You'd better get to sleep now. We have an early plane to catch in the morning." xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Quantum Destinies A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic By Jurai Knight (sthesken@earthlink.net) Ranma 1/2 and its characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi. This story is inspired by her works and the stories from some of my fellow fanfic authors. Among these are D.B. Sommer's "Shampoo 1/2", Jim Bader's "A Very Scary Thought -aka- Nabiki 1/2", and John Biles' Elseworlds series. All C&C is welcome. A brief explanation of some of the terminology and pseudo-science used in this story will appear in the Appendix, as well as the meaning behind the Earth designations. This section is inspired by the information presented in TSR's role-playing publication "Tangents." Other chapters of this story may be found at this website, or you can email the author for them: The Quantum Destinies Homepage http://home.earthlink.net/~sthesken/fanfics/qd.html xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Chapter 1 - Genesis And so it begins. -Ambassador Kosh: Babylon 5, First Season xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Nodoka hummed a soft tune as she went through her morning mail. She pulled out a small postcard with a polar bear on the front and turned it over. Seeing a message from Genma, she started smiling. Honestly, she thought with amusement, that husband of mine can write page after page of research papers, but he can't bring himself to do more than send a postcard once a month to let me know that he and Ranma are still alive. She read the brief message. "Nodoka. Bringing Ranma from Russia. Genma." Well, he still certainly knows how to make a woman happy, thought Nodoka with a larger smile. It will be so good to see them again, especially Ranma. How he must have grown. I wonder if I'll be able to recognize him? She went back into the house and began to prepare for the arrival of the two men in her life. ****************************** In the center of Tokyo lay one of the most austerely impressive buildings in modern Japan, the Imperial Security Directorate. It was responsible for dealing with all threats to the well-being of the Empire, both internal and external. Established almost three centuries ago, it provided a means for the Empire to maintain control of every inch of territory that had come into its possession. Its ranks were composed of the cream of the Empire, men and women who had dedicated their lives, and sometimes their deaths, to insuring its continued safety. Each had taken an oath of obedience to the Emperor. It was almost a tradition in some families to choose to serve here. One such family was the Tendo household. Soun Tendo sat behind his desk in the Security Directorate and looked through the thick stack of paperwork that had managed to accumulate on his desk since he had gone home the night before. As was his usual policy, he arrived early, and he was planning to work late. As the Assistant Director for the Commercial Security Bureau, the segment of the Directorate under his direct control, he was responsible for monitoring the huge amounts of money and resources that traveled about the Empire and powered the Imperial economy, monitoring that always seemed to generate enormous amounts of paperwork. Those under him handled the routine matters, investigating frauds, illicit trade, counterfeiting, and piracy. They also monitored data traffic and telephone communications, keeping under surveillance those who might impede the flow of trade carried on under the control of the various zaibatsu (the great industrial or financial combinations of the Empire). At his level, and that of his immediate subordinates, Soun dealt with the higher profile people, those that the Empire had tagged during their lives for much more intensive monitoring. One of the files that he had been watching for many years had finally crossed his desk again, a dossier that was not normally one he would have concerned himself with. Soun smiled slightly when he spotted the file, and the brief note that sat atop it. How I've waited for this day, he thought with a brief but unexpected moment of happiness. Ranma Saotome was finally coming home. Soon his plans for his family would finally be coming true. Soun reached out and pulled the file in front of him, flipping it open as he pulled out and lit up a cigarette. He perused the information on Ranma's recent activities, but they were rather sketchy. It had grown more difficult to operate in Russia for the past few years, ever since Tsar Alexander had initiated a purging and intensive cleanup of Russia's Komiter Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti (Committee of State Security, or KGB as it was more commonly known) shortly after his ascension to the throne. Before, KGB agents had been little more than a joke, and Directorate agents had been able to cross into and out of Russia with almost complete impunity. Now, that was no longer true. The sole operative that Soun had been able to keep near Ranma had to be careful to avoid being discovered, so the information on the boy's activities was less detailed than Soun cared for. Soun leaned back in his chair and blew a puff of smoke from his lips, watching the stream dissipate in the air above his head when he heard the door to his office open. "Those things are going to kill you someday, you know," said a pleasant female voice from the doorway. Soun glanced down, surprised that it was not his secretary. He briefly cursed in his mind before allowing a smile to rest on his face. A rather stunning beauty of a woman stood in his doorway, smiling mildly at him. She was Hinako Ninomiya, the Assistant Director overseeing the Special Investigations Bureau. Even when wearing the standard gray, female Security uniform, she always seemed to radiate sexuality. She was rather tall, and a trifle top-heavy for Soun's personal tastes, but otherwise an impressive figure of a woman. She was also the bane of Soun's existence. He had been forced to deal with her for the last two years, ever since her assignment to her present level of authority. Soun suspected that her meteoric rise in the Security Directorate had been due to her sleeping her way upwards in rank. However, he knew that she also had a sharp mind and an uncanny way of ferreting out secrets. It was also possible that she had been judiciously using that ability for blackmail purposes to obtain her present rank. Either way, her mere presence set all of Soun's internal alarms off, making him feel extremely cautious and nervous around her. They maintained an uneasy truce with each other, occasionally exchanging barbed comments. It was an interesting sort of intellectual exercise to keep a woman that capable off balance, and Soun always found himself actually relishing the challenge. He suspected that she felt the same, so they had continued the game with each other over the past couple of years. "What can I do for you, Ninomiya-san?" asked Soun brusquely. The sooner that he dealt with her and got her out of his office, the better. He stubbed out the final embers on his cigarette and pulled out a new one, lighting it up with a practiced move. She walked towards his desk, every move seemed to be designed to entice a man to desire her. "You can start by putting that nasty thing out while I'm trying to talk to you," she said, reaching across his desk to pluck the cigarette out from between his lips. She ground it out next to the remains of the other one, before taking a seat in the chair in front of his desk. "Please, have a seat..." murmured Soun under his breath. He watched her as she sat down gracefully and crossed her legs demurely. "What brings you to my office this day?" he said more loudly, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "Do I really need a reason to visit with a colleague that I have known and respected for a couple of years now?" Hinako asked, her usual seductive smile back on her face. Soun stared at her coolly, waiting for her to get on with it. "Fine," she snapped, before regaining her composure. "We'll be totally business-like about it." She uncrossed her legs and quickly recrossed them the opposite way. "I understand that you've been utilizing a fair amount of Directorate resources over the last several years towards monitoring a particular citizen, due to arrive back in Japan within the day. Is this some sort of pet project for you?" "Who is it that you are referring to, Ninomiya-san?" asked Soun calmly. "I have many files that cross my desk during the course of a day. I'm afraid that you'll have to be more specific." Soun smiled pleasantly and rested his hands on his desk, interlacing his fingers together. "I don't know what sort of game that you think that you're playing with me, Soun Tendo," said Hinako coolly. "Don't play coy with me. I know for a fact that a young citizen by the name of Ranma Saotome has been receiving a fair amount of attention from your Bureau over the last several years alone. I want to know why." "It is none of your concern, Ninomiya-san," said Soun brusquely. "My concerns about individual citizens and monitoring of their activities for possible impact upon the Empire's economy are part of my Bureau's responsibilities. It is not your place to question or investigate the comings and goings of other departments." Soun didn't like where this conversation was going. He noticed her eyes lock onto Ranma's file. "Ranma Saotome," Hinako stated more warmly. "He has grown into such a promising young man, and one worthy of great interest, judging by the size of the dossier right in front of you. So what is your interest in him?" Soun sighed slightly. "What do you know of young Saotome?" asked Soun, retaining his calm. "Not much," said Hinako pleasantly. "I know that Professor Kozo Fuyutsuki, over at the Ministry of Science, was a colleague of the boy's father on some top-secret project several years ago. In addition, it was the eminent Professor Fuyutsuki's respect for Genma Saotome that paved the way to allow him to take Ranma on an around the world tour of high-level academic learning, all at the Ministry of Science's expense. I personally find that curious." "It sounds like you've done your homework," acknowledged Soun. "I still don't see what interest that you could have in my supposed interest in Ranma Saotome. He's part of my assigned workload, and that's all." Hinako thought, he isn't seriously expecting me to buy that, is he? Her face retained its smile, but she sighed mentally. It was time to play her remaining card and see what sort of reaction it prompted from Soun. She wished that he didn't have to always be so difficult to deal with, but it always made the game much more satisfying whenever she outsmarted him. "How do you explain the reports that I discovered on matchmakers being investigated by the Directorate then?" asked Hinako absently. Her keen ability at reading people noticed a slight spike in Soun's anxiety level from the subtle movements that his body made. He had very good control of himself. It was one of the things that Hinako truly did admire about him, and it always made their games more challenging. "I noticed that two of your daughters have been placed with some of the companies being investigated. Your eldest daughter was placed with a different service entirely." Soun twitched an eye slightly. He desperately wanted a cigarette to calm his nerves. If she wasn't so highly placed, I could simply have the witch eliminated, he thought. I'll have to try finesse instead. "Indeed?" asked Soun, raising one eyebrow. "Did any of these supposed investigation requests come from my office, or those of any of my subordinates?" "No," acknowledged Hinako with a slight frown. "They came from an unassigned workstation in another part of the building. Ranma's file has received an inordinate amount of attention over the years from your office though, so I assumed that the two were related. You wouldn't happen to be trying to play matchmaker, Soun Tendo, would you?" "Of course not," lied Soun in a totally believable tone of voice. He leaned back comfortably in his chair, confident that he had regained control of the conversation. "My only concern is the future safety and well-being of the Empire. It would be a violation of my duty to allow any personal concerns to come into play." "I see," said Hinako as she stood back up, the cloth of her skirt falling back down to its usual length on her legs. "I thank you for clearing that up for me." She walked towards the door to his office. When she reached it, she paused and said in a mildly sultry tone of voice, "Perhaps I might be allowed to make up for my suspicions about you with an offer of dinner in the near future? As a peace offering?" Soun almost snapped the fountain pen that he had just picked up in half. Spending any more time than necessary with Hinako Ninomiya was not a wise course of action in his eyes. He looked up into her eyes and his own expression of reluctance caused a hardening of the lines of her jaw. Before he could say anything, even one of his usual parting remarks to her, she swept out the door and slammed it shut behind her. Soun shrugged and went back to his paperwork, thoughts about his fellow Assistant Director already fading from his mind. Damn that man! Who does Soun Tendo think he is? Hinako thoughts were boiling as she stormed by the desks leading into her own section of the building. A few of the agents under her command briefly looked up from their work but immediately dropped their eyes again at the sight of her glowering face. She was not a woman used to having men showing reluctance to be in her presence; it did not make her happy at all. ****************************** The morning sun was bright as Akane Tendo and her older sister Nabiki walked to classes at the Academy. Both of them had on the standard gray uniforms with black piping that designated a female Security cadet. They were of the new designs, a bit more feminine with the substitution of a skirt, replacing the previous design with pants. The only real difference that they showed was a double hashmark on Nabiki's right sleeve, compared to Akane's single one, denoting her as a second-year cadet. Akane thought the skirt flattered her figure rather nicely. Nabiki had far preferred the practical feel of pants to the draftiness of wearing a skirt to classes. As the pair walked along, Akane wore her usual unhappy frown, and Nabiki had her standard thoughtful look on her face as she walked with the unconscious stride of a professional. The sisters were an interesting contrast. The older one was a master at covering her emotions behind a wall of cool detachment, while the younger one wore every emotion on her surface and was as changeable as quicksilver. Sighing softly, Nabiki remembered her father's denial of the modest increase in her allowance she needed. The refusal forced her, once again, to find other, more creative means to afford the new outfits and presents that she deserved. It just isn't fair, Nabiki thought a bit grumpily. Look what Daddy has forced me to do since he won't give me more allowance. Lately, Nabiki had hit upon the idea of starting up betting pools on Akane's daily fights, and they were proving to be more profitable than she had expected. Having a little more money available, she had also soon discovered the value of loaning it out to her fellow cadets at rather high interest rates. It was even sort of fun, in a way, to hold power like that over her peers. However, blackmail money proved to be her most valuable source of income. Nabiki considered it to be good training for her future career in the Security Directorate to be able to discover secrets that her fellow cadets wished to remain hidden. If the targeted cadet proved difficult to deal with, or actually threatened her back, then Nabiki would turn the matter over to Akane. Akane took a disquieting pleasure, to Nabiki's eyes, in inflicting pain upon others. She had proven very useful though, since she had started attending the Academy with Nabiki. For the last several weeks she had been Nabiki's personal enforcer and received a cut of the profits for her efforts. It gave an outlet for Akane's aggressive tendencies and benefited Nabiki's financial needs at the same time. Still, it bothered Nabiki a little bit that her sister was the way she was, it wasn't the way for a future Security officer to behave. As she walked next to Nabiki, Akane wrestled with her own thoughts. Another day of the same thing, she mused. I'm almost completely through with my challenges against the toughest boys going to the Academy. She recalled the last fight that she had yesterday. She was either getting better or her opponents were getting worse. She had managed to get a solid knee strike up into the boy's groin fairly early in the conflict. It had been over all too quickly after that; she had not had much of a challenge to her skills. Akane had come to the sad conclusion that boys were all weak. She now suspected that there was never going to be anyone to ever really challenge her. However, it was her goal to fight with each and every male student at the Academy until she found someone who did. Maybe if she bullied enough people, she would discover the fighter that she felt that she was born to meet. ****************************** The plane touched down at Tokyo Airport with a hard bump, lurching Ranma awake from his pleasant dream. He had been having a picnic lunch with a pretty girl whose face had remained hidden somewhat in shadow, so he had been unable to see her face clearly. He stretched his arms up over his head. "Welcome back to Japan, my son," said Genma as Ranma turned to look out the window at the bustling airport. He looked over at his son and set down the pad of paper that he had been writing upon, containing many notes on one of the many research papers that he was currently working on. "The air looks cleaner than I remember it being," commented Ranma. Genma chuckled behind him. "Most of the heavy industry has been moved off of the home islands over the last few years," said Genma as he looked out the window, trying to see around Ranma's head. "The majority of it is located in the Korean prefectures now. However, about half of the original factory buildings and facilities still remain here, maintained against possible need, but they are inactive. I'm sure that the air will smell as sweet as it did when I was a boy." They debarked from the plane and retrieved their luggage. They passed through Customs quickly, Genma flashing his identification from the Ministry of Science to speed things up. Ranma struggled with the two large suitcases that contained everything that he owned as he managed to keep up. He had never really been in the habit of collecting much in the way of things, other than a few texts on various subjects and his clothes. He carried his two bags out to the curb as he followed his father. When they reached the front curb, Ranma set his suitcases down with a sense of relief. He sat down on one and ran a hand down the back of his head. He touched his short pigtail and then paused. He had worn it for so long that he had forgotten about it. He shrugged his shoulders. If it was a problem, he was sure that Dean Fuyutsuki would mention it to him. Until then, he was going to leave his hair as he was accustomed to. ****************************** Nodoka put the finishing touches on dinner. Genma had called from the airport in Moscow to let her know when they would be arriving. She had busied herself for the day getting her already spotless house even cleaner, determined to present herself as the perfect mother when Ranma walked in the door. After she had greeted her only son, then Genma would receive his own greeting. She sniffed the aroma coming off of the pot of miso soup that she was making. Satisfied with it, she moved on through the other courses that she had prepared. She was determined to have everything be perfect for the arrival of her husband and her only child. If she had anything to say about it, this meal was going to be the best that they had ever tasted. ****************************** Ranma walked through the gate in the wall surrounding the Saotome family property. He set down his bags while he heard his father settling up with the cab driver behind him. This place was the one memory that was clear to him from his earliest days. He smiled at the large cherry tree in the yard and the small koi pond that rested below it. A sense of peace filled him. The front door of the house opened, and a woman appeared in the doorway. Mother, Ranma thought with a smile. He watched Nodoka walk quickly towards him, maintaining her propriety, but with a large smile on her face that matched his own. She caught him up in an embrace and all of his worries disappeared. He was home. The word had never meant so much to him as it did in that moment. "Welcome home, my son," said Nodoka with tears in her eyes. She looked at him for a long moment and then hugged him to her again, even more tightly than before. Ranma quickly found that he wasn't able to do something he considered quite essential. "C-can't... breathe," he managed to mutter out before the world went dark around him. Nodoka let go of Ranma, so proud that her only son had returned to her looking so handsome and manly. Ranma's face was slack and his eyes were closed. Nodoka was surprised, to say the least. He couldn't be sick, could he? She spotted Genma carrying in his bags. "Genma!" shouted Nodoka. "Ranma's fainted!" Genma looked up from picking up Ranma's discarded suitcases and dropped them. He trotted over to his wife and son. "What happened?" "I-I don't know," said Nodoka through fresh tears. "I was so happy to see him that I just kept hugging him. When I let him go, he was like this. Did he catch something in one of those strange foreign places that you took him to?" Genma chuckled softly. He had forgotten how air-headed Nodoka could be at times. However, she was his wife, and he loved her dearly. He took Ranma from her arms and carried the boy inside. Nodoka trailed along behind him, still crying slightly. ****************************** Akane set down her chopsticks with a satisfied sigh. Dinner had been good tonight. It looked like the new housekeeper that her father had hired was going to work out just fine. She was an attractive young widow named Kyoko Otonashi, and she had been hired to cook and take care of the house a few weeks ago. Akane found her to be nice enough, but there was an air of melancholy about her. Nabiki finished her own meal and set her bowl and chopsticks down. Not being much of a hand at cooking herself, let alone housework, she had encouraged her father to hire on a new housekeeper to replace the old one, who had moved north to be with her family. Kyoko had been a prime find, as far as Nabiki was concerned, and she hoped that the woman would remain with them for a long time. Nabiki glanced at the clock as Akane went into the main room to watch television. Their father hadn't come home yet, which wasn't an uncommon occurrence, but it made the house seem that much more empty now that Kasumi was gone. Nabiki smiled at the thought of her quiet older sister finally settling down to be a housewife. Nabiki had thought that Kasumi had found her true calling studying medicine, so it was a bit of a surprise when she decided to marry. It was perhaps inevitable that Kasumi would marry a doctor, and Nabiki was a little envious of the man that the matchmaker had found for her sister. Doctor Tofu Ono was a brilliant young physician, with the degrees and awards to show for it. Their father had agreed to the marriage quickly, and Kasumi seemed content with it. A rare smile came to Nabiki's face at her sister's good fortune. Nabiki stretched her arms out in front of her and wandered upstairs to work on her homework. She passed Akane on her way to the stairs and saw that her sister was watching the fights at the Arena again. Shaking her head, Nabiki walked upstairs. Behind her, Akane cheered for one of her favorite Arena fighters as the girl unleashed a devastating combination of strikes on her hapless male opponent. Man, that Shampoo is the best, thought Akane with a smile, mimicking some of the hand strikes that her idol had just done. Akane chuckled as she watched the Amazon on the screen. She's so much better than any of those other bimbos that they have fighting. The fight was soon over, to Akane's disappointment. I could beat those wimps that they keep sending against her, she thought with a confident look. If I ever got a chance to be in the Arena.... Akane indulged herself in a brief fantasy, a smile on her face, as the scene changed to two male warriors slugging it out on screen. ****************************** Ranma woke up on an unfamiliar couch and looking up at an unfamiliar ceiling. He blinked his eyes and saw his father sitting there in a chair near him, reading a book. That familiar sight was extremely comforting. He sat up slowly. According to the clock on the wall it had only been a few minutes that he had been unconscious. "Feeling better, Son?" asked Genma as he put his book down. "I forgot to warn you that your mother can be a little emotional at times. She's in the kitchen making you a fresh pot of tea. Shall we join her?" Ranma nodded and stood up. He felt rather foolish for passing out like that. He also hadn't been expecting his mother to be so strong. He knew that she studied kenjutsu, the samurai art of swordsmanship, but her arm and shoulder strength had been quite impressive. When they entered the kitchen, a plethora of wonderful smells filled Ranma's nose. He inhaled deeply and smiled. The aromas brought forth memories from his young childhood, all pleasant ones. His mother bowed to him. "I apologize for choking you like that, my son," said Nodoka as she kept her head down. "I forgot myself. I was just so happy to see my little boy again." "It's all right, Mother, really," said Ranma as he put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back upright. "I'm fine. However, I'm also feeling a little bit hungry. They didn't feed us much on the plane." The words were hardly out of his mouth before he found himself seated at the dining table, a bowl of rice in one hand and chopsticks in the other. Nodoka bustled in and out of the kitchen bringing more food than Ranma had ever seen at one meal. His eyes goggled a bit at the sight. She doesn't expect me to eat all that, does she? By the time she was done, Ranma imagined that he could hear the table groaning under the load. "Ah, it does a man's heart good to see such food," said Genma with a broad smile. "I've missed your cooking while we were away, Nodoka-chan. Russian cuisine, for example, leaves much to be desired, and don't get me started on Spanish food." Genma began eating quickly, and Ranma duplicated him. Nodoka looked on in horror. Genma had taken Ranma out to acquire the knowledge of the world, but he still ate like he had when she had married him. Now Ranma was doing the same. She slapped her hand down on the table. "Genma! Ranma! What do you think you're doing?!" Ranma paused, a mouthful of rice preventing him from speaking, except to give a muffled "Whmifit?" He looked over at his father, and saw Genma suddenly look abashed. "Sorry, Nodoka-chan," said Genma. "I'm afraid that my son picked up my table manners. All that eating on the run, only so many hours in a day for learning, and all that." He smiled at her in an attempt to deal with what he feared was coming. Nodoka didn't lessen the wrathful look on her face one iota, causing Genma to visibly wilt under her stern expression. Ranma chose that moment to try and swallow his mouthful of rice. Her gaze suddenly met his in mid-swallow, and he almost didn't get it down. "Now that my son is home, I see that I will have to make sure that he is educated in proper manners," said Nodoka in serious tones. "You could use a refresher course as well, Genma dear." She picked up her bowl of rice and began to eat. Ranma quickly mirrored her motions and it seemed to appease her. Genma quickly did the same. ****************************** Ranma set down his two suitcases and eyed the prepared futon with a neutral look. After ten years of sleeping on Western-style beds in good hotels and apartments, it was going to take some adjusting. He began to unpack his suitcases and put everything away in the large dresser. In a few minutes, he was done. Ranma went over to the closet and slid open the door. Several brand-new Imperial Academy uniforms greeted his eyes, done up in dark blue with light gray piping, the sign of a Science cadet. Ranma figured that his father had sent his sizes to his mother so that she could pick them up. He pulled one out and eyed it with distaste. I suppose that I could learn to like it, he decided after a while. He slipped out of his old clothes and decided to try on one of the uniforms. It fit almost perfectly, but it was a little large on him. Perhaps his mother expected it to shrink with washing or something. He buttoned up the collar and eyed his appearance in the mirror. Not bad, he finally decided. Nodoka chose that time to come walking in through the open door. Ranma looked over at her and saw her eyes shining with tears again. "Oh, my son, you look so handsome!" she said with a broad smile. "Thanks," Ranma replied. He was nearly blinded when a small flashbulb suddenly went off, almost in his face. Ranma blinked, seeing large red dots in his vision. He hadn't even seen a camera in her hands a moment ago. Now he wasn't seeing much of anything at all. "Just a few more," said Nodoka. "I want to remember this moment with pictures." There were more bright flashes. Ranma smiled and hoped that his eyesight returned quickly. Nodoka shot off the whole roll of film, quickly hugged him once more, and then departed. I hope she calms down soon, Ranma thought with a smile. He bumped his head into the wall, almost knocking himself unconscious, as he tried to move around before his eyes had fully recovered. He sat down on his futon and hoped his body adjusted to the six hours of jetlag quickly. Getting up six hours earlier than he was used to wasn't going to be fun. ****************************** Genma watched Nodoka enter the bedroom with a smile. The camera that she was carrying was left on the dresser. She turned to face him and returned his smile, walking over to where he was seated on his futon bed and knelt down. They turned to face each other. "I have missed you, husband," said Nodoka with a soft smile. "It is good to have you home once more." "It was certainly a homecoming that Ranma will never forget, Nodoka- chan," said Genma with a smile. "It is good to be back. I have missed having you sleep by my side." Nodoka smiled, briefly got up to turn off the light, then returned to her position next to Genma. They embraced, kissed, and then explored a long-delayed reunion of their love. ****************************** The next day dawned far too early for Ranma's tastes. By his estimate, he had received something less than four hours sleep when his mother came into his room to wake him. She knelt by the side of his futon and shook him awake. "Wake up, Ranma," said Nodoka pleasantly. "You have to get up and get ready for your first day at the Academy." Ranma murmured something unintelligible and promptly went back to sleep. Nodoka shook him awake again. Her command to wake up was less pleasant in tone the second time around. Ranma stumbled into the bathroom and almost fell into the tub in his dazed condition. He removed his clothes and filled a bucket with cold water to wake himself up. Dumping it over his head produced the desired reaction in himself and his sleepiness vanished like morning fog. After cleaning up, he dressed in one of his new uniforms. It chafed a little at his neck, something he hadn't noticed when he had tried it on the day before. He had memorized a detailed map of the area and made mental note of the best route that he could take to reach the Academy. After eating a surprisingly large breakfast, Ranma headed out the door, carrying the new bookbag that his mother had purchased for him. It was filled with his lunch and necessary school supplies. He would pick up his texts at the Academy. He waved at Nodoka as he left. "Have a good day at school today, Ranma," said Nodoka as she watched him head out the front door. I hope he makes some friends, she thought with a smile. ****************************** At the Academy, Nabiki was already conducting her morning business with one of her slower paying loan recipients, a second-year cadet wearing a blue uniform. They were over at Nabiki's usual place to conduct private negotiations, around the side of the main building. Akane stood behind Nabiki, slowly popping the knuckles in each hand and smiling evilly at the boy. "I'm not eager to have Akane here have to hurt you, Jun-kun," said Nabiki in a falsely sympathetic tone of voice. "However, you didn't make your payment yesterday. I would assume that it had simply slipped your mind, but you also tried to hide from me. That made me think that you might have been trying to avoid me." "Honestly, Nabiki, it wasn't like that," said the boy, alternating his gaze between the Tendo sisters. "I can give you the money today. Right now, in fact!" He held up a small, folded stack of currency notes. "I didn't have the money yesterday, but I knew that I would have it today. Please... take it." Nabiki reached out and plucked the money from the cadet's hand. She quickly counted it and then smiled coldly. "You're short," she said mildly. "What?" asked Jun in confusion. "It's all there, all six thousand yen." "That covers you through yesterday," said Nabiki pleasantly. "But it doesn't cover the penalty charges for making me have to ambush you like this, as well as another day's worth of interest. You owe me another five hundred yen." "B-but that's all the money that I have left for this week," said Jun in stuttered protest. "That's not my problem," said Nabiki in cooler tones. "You can either pay me the rest, or I let Akane have you." Akane smiled another wolfish smile behind her sister; she enjoyed this part of her agreement with Nabiki. "H-here it is," said Jun weakly, as he pulled the remaining note from his pocket. Nabiki pulled it from his unresisting fingers and stepped back. "Go on now," said Nabiki mildly. "We're through here, unless you'd like a loan to pay for lunch this week?" She smiled. Jun bolted away, running for the front of the Academy. Nabiki didn't care; he always came back to her. He was typical of the type of weaklings that kept her supplied with nice things, aided by the substantial threat of Akane. "That was fun," said Akane with a smile. "He never seems to learn, does he?" She took the money that Nabiki held out to her and pocketed her share. "Do we have any more business this morning?" "Well, we can see if we can catch a look at this new student that is coming today that I've been hearing about," said Nabiki as she pocketed the remaining yen notes. "He's supposed to be brilliant. He's been studying in Russia until recently." "What's his name?" asked Akane with interest. A new student meant a possible new challenge for her skills. "Have you heard if he can fight?" "His name's Ranma Saotome," said Nabiki as she started walking towards the front of the Academy grounds. "Daddy's mentioned the name once or twice that I can remember, but it doesn't sound like he's the fighter that you've been looking for. From what I hear, Ranma Saotome isn't any kind of fighter at all." "Darn," said Akane as she kicked a loose stone from her path. ****************************** Ranma walked along the quiet streets of the Nerima region of Greater Tokyo, enjoying the early morning sunshine as best he could on as little sleep as he had had. A few other cadets were seen heading in the same direction as himself, dressed in either science blue or security gray uniforms. He got a few curious looks from a few of them. Finally, he reached the outer wall that surrounded the grounds of the Imperial Senior Academy. It reminded him unpleasantly of some kind of prison complex, several imposing looking buildings filling the middle and visible over the tall wall. Built almost ninety years ago, it was a very stolid but very dreary-looking structure. The Emperor of that time had wanted to construct a site for serious learning, along the lines of the finest schools of far-off lands such as Germany or Russia. The architecture was to mirror the seriousness of the purpose it was built for, but Ranma just found it oppressive. When he reached the gate, small groups of cadets were standing in the front courtyard region and chatting with each other. Ranma walked in through the gate, ignoring the whispered conversations and furtive looks cast in his direction. He paused inside the gate area. His first order of business was to locate Dean Fuyutsuki's office. Spotting a small group of male cadets wearing blue like himself, he approached them. "Hello there," said Ranma, offering a polite bow of greeting. "I was wondering if someone could tell me how to find Dean Fuyutsuki's office?" ****************************** Akane and Nabiki stood with a small group of Nabiki's other informants and operatives. In essence, Nabiki ran her own little fief on the Academy grounds, composed of first and second-year Security cadets. Some did it for the money that Nabiki paid them for useful information or assisting her with expanding her other business interests. Others did it out of a desire to attach themselves to someone with as promising a future career as Nabiki already had laid out. "That's him," said one of the second-year cadets, a tall girl named Yohko Mano. As the 109th-generation Devil Hunter of her line, she was expected to follow in her family's traditions, but her abilities had earned her a slot at the Imperial Academy, nominally as a Security cadet. Yohko shared Akane's passion for the martial arts, and they sometimes sparred. Before Akane arrived, she had been Nabiki's primary enforcer, but Yohko far preferred gathering information to making people bleed. Akane looked Ranma Saotome over and wasn't very impressed. Dressed in uniform, he looked much like any other male Science cadet on campus, except for his short pigtail. From the way that Ranma moved, Akane could tell that he had no combat training at all. Disappointment filled her, even as she felt a sudden warmth on her cheeks that surprised her, when he passed nearby. Akane noticed Nabiki looking at her and felt angry at herself. The heat faded quickly from her face, so she hoped that none of her fellow cadets had noticed. Nabiki was curious to see the cadet who had somehow surpassed her on the entrance exams. According to her source in the administration offices, Ranma had received a perfect score, the first ever in the history of the Academy. He looked ordinary enough to her, and she glanced over at Akane to see what sort of impression that the boy in question had made on her sister. Nabiki was surprised to see Akane actually blushing. Her sister's face then got an angry look on it, and Nabiki filed those two events away for future reference. Nabiki could admit to herself that she felt a subtle attraction to Ranma herself when he passed nearby, almost as if she had recognized him from someplace. It was strange, Nabiki had always considered herself to be above such matters like romantic impulses. If I know Akane, there's a simple way to ensure that she doesn't come between me and Ranma until I can determine my own level of interest in him. With that analysis out of the way, Nabiki began to plan out her strategy. ****************************** Ranma stood outside Dean Fuyutsuki's office and knocked on the door. "Come in," said a voice from within. Ranma opened the door and stepped inside the office, closing the door behind himself. The office was rather spartan in design, a few books on the shelves, three paintings on the wall, a computer terminal in the corner, and a single plant in the window. The paintings were all Western works, Renaissance era, if Ranma was correct in his guess. He couldn't identify the painters, but art had always been a weak region of his scholarly studies. "Dean Fuyutsuki?" said Ranma with a slight nervousness in his voice. "I'm Ranma Saotome." The older man behind the desk looked up and smiled at him, in a rather grandfatherly sort of way. How you've grown, Ranma, thought the Dean approvingly. Genma has done very well with his assigned part in the Project, raising you on his own out in the world, without a mother's influence to corrupt male socialization. Now that you're here, I'll have to see if we can train your physical abilities to their full potentials. From his reports, I can see that Genma somewhat neglected that area of your development. "Have a seat, Cadet Saotome," said Dean Fuyutsuki. "Let me be one of the first to welcome you to the Imperial Academy. I just know that this is the beginning of a very bright future for you." "Thank you, Dean Fuyutsuki." Ranma sat down as Dean Fuyutsuki reached behind himself and pulled a pair of teacups out, setting one in front of Ranma. The Dean retrieved a small teapot and poured some in each cup. "So tell me a little about yourself, Cadet Saotome," said the Dean with a smile. "After we're done here, I'll have my secretary hand you your class itinerary, and then I'll escort you to your first class." "That sounds fine, sir," said Ranma in respectful tones. "I was wondering if I could make a special request though, while I'm here?" "Go right ahead, Cadet Saotome," replied the Dean. He folded his hands and leaned forward to listen with interest. "I've been working on a personal research project for quite some time, and I was hoping that you might have some private lab space that I could use, as well as helping me obtain some equipment. I have lists prepared of what I would need. Would that be possible?" "Of course, Cadet Saotome," said the Dean with a smile. "Your father has told me of this secret work that you've been up to. Something that will change the face of modern quantum physics, I believe Genma said. You leave the lists with my secretary, and she will see to it that you get everything on it." "Thank you, sir," said Ranma with a smile. "You don't know how much this means to me." ****************************** The overhead fluorescent lights clicked on in the empty storeroom in one of the sub-basements of the Academy. Ranma looked at the small piles of junk that occupied the corners, as well as the thick layer of dust on the floor, with a wry look. This wasn't quite what I had in mind, he thought slightly sullenly. Behind him stood Dean Fuyutsuki. "This is the only unused space that we have available right now that you could use for a lab, Cadet Saotome," said the Dean. "However, it's yours for the asking. The door is solid steel and quite strong, and the electrical system should be adequate for your power needs. There's a sink in the corner for water, and you can tell by the dust on the floor that it's dry. Once you clean out the junk in here and sweep it out, you'll have a nice place to work." "It looks like it will be fine, Dean Fuyutsuki," said Ranma agreeably. "I know that I'll be able to do big things with it. A month from now, you won't even recognize the place. I plan to turn it into a first-rate lab." "Excellent, dear boy," said the Dean pleasantly. "Now I'll take you to your first class, and you can start getting to know some of your fellow cadets." "All right, sir," said Ranma as he shut off the lights and closed the door, pocketing the key that the Dean had given him. ****************************** "Class, I'd like to introduce a new student to you; his name is Ranma Saotome," said the instructor. "He is recently joining us after completing studies in Russia and Europe." Ranma quickly bowed a greeting to the class. He had been assigned to Room 3-A for his first-year term. Apparently, first-year cadets were on the top floor, second-year on the middle floor, and the third-year ones were on the ground floor. The administration and other offices shared space on the ground floor with the senior cadets. Ranma resigned himself to climbing a lot of stairs. Ranma looked out at those who were going to be his classmates for the next three years. About thirty adolescent boys and girls stared back at him, in a roughly even mix of blue and gray uniforms. He realized that he should probably say something rather than stand there like a mute. "Hello," said Ranma. "I am honored to be here." The instructor directed him to an empty seat near one of the windows and continued the interrupted class. It was on mathematics. Ranma was bored in less than five minutes. He pretended to listen to the instructor as he made a few notes on some of his equations and schematics. ****************************** Akane was running late to her next class, the one that she enjoyed most during the day. One of Nabiki's junior assistants had needed to get some notes from her on what had been covered in history class yesterday, so she was now late. She burst into the locker room area at a running pace, came to a fast stop at her locker, and immediately began to strip off her clothes. Akane was the only occupant of the room, the rest of her class having already changed clothes and gone on ahead. She hurriedly removed her jacket and skirt and hung them up as neatly as she could, as she kicked off her shoes at the same time. Akane unbuttoned her blouse and removed it quickly. Her hands went to remove her bra next, her thoughts already on class. ****************************** Ranma stuffed his new textbooks in his assigned locker on the way to his class in physical education. He felt quite confident that he could perform to the instructor's satisfaction. While on the plane, he had read the Academy manual on the required performance levels and did not think that they would be difficult to attain. He had been running over ten kilometers a day, as well as doing moderate calisthenics and some weightlifting for the last couple of years, to stay in shape and keep from getting to look like his overweight father. This class won't be any trouble at all, he thought confidently. He was wrong, but not for any reason he would ever expect. Most of the other members of his class were already outside and ready when Ranma finally arrived at the locker rooms. He stopped to take a quick glance at the symbols on the doors to determine which one was the men's side. A moment later, he opened and ran through the door on the left side. After the door closed, Nabiki calmly walked by and switched the signs back to their proper placement, a wicked grin on her face. This was going to be one of her best gags on her little sister yet, and it would have the added benefit of souring any possible interest that Akane could have in Ranma. She checked with her lookout and received a nod that nobody had seen anything. Smiling, Nabiki walked to her next class. ****************************** Akane was clad only in her panties when Ranma suddenly came to a halt right in front of her and froze. They stared at each other for several agonizingly long moments. A small trickle of blood appeared below Ranma's nose, and Akane felt a surge of warmth flood across her face. The calm did not last. "Uh," Ranma started to say, and that snapped Akane out of her reverie. "HOW DARE YOU?!" shouted Akane in rage. She felt so angry and embarrassed by the unexpected intrusion that she reverted to her easiest reaction option, violence. "YOU PERVERT!!" Ranma barely even saw her move when Akane's fist struck him across his jaw. His head snapped around, and he saw an entire galaxy of stars explode across his vision. He impacted against the lockers, struggling to remain standing upright. Akane quickly followed up and slammed a knee strike up into Ranma's stomach when he didn't do the sensible thing and immediately collapse where he stood. His mind was still trying to figure out what was happening while Akane kept attacking him. Akane punched Ranma in the face a second time, and her hand came away with some of his blood on it. He faltered and finally collapsed to his knees, and Akane finished him off with an axe kick down on his shoulder. Luckily for Ranma, Akane didn't put her full power into it, or his left shoulder would have been dislocated from the impact. A comforting darkness embraced Ranma as his thoughts faded away into unconsciousness. Akane stared down at the fallen boy and slowly regained control of herself. The red haze that had seemed to fall across her vision faded away as she absently wiped Ranma's blood off of her knuckles. What a pathetic weakling, she thought with mild disgust. A few hits and he folds. I guess Nabiki was right after all, saying Ranma Saotome wasn't a fighter. One of the assistant instructors came in as Akane finished dressing for class. Akane had checked Ranma to make sure he wasn't going to die on her, but had otherwise left his body where it had fallen. The worst of his injuries was a bloody nose, the source of the blood that had smeared her knuckles earlier. She looked up at the instructor. "What happened here?" asked the woman in confusion. She knelt down and examined Ranma. "This pervert came in while I was changing, and I beat him up for it," said Akane calmly. She really wanted to get going to class now. Thoughts of Ranma made her feel uncomfortable, so she did her best to ignore him laying there. The instructor told Akane to stay where she was while she went for help for Ranma. Akane sighed and did as she was told, nudging Ranma with a foot and blaming him in her thoughts for what had happened. I won't ever forget this, Ranma Saotome. You made the biggest mistake of your life when you tried to peep on me. ****************************** Later, while standing in front of a glowering Dean Fuyutsuki, Akane actually felt a little worried. She had been called into his office a few times before for fighting with other cadets, but she had always gotten off with a simple reprimand. Not this time. She received a week's worth of detention for harming Ranma. The Dean hadn't bothered to listen to her excuse, that Ranma had walked in on her while she was almost naked. Oh no, thought Akane sullenly, recalling her impression of the Dean's words. Ranma must have made a simple mistake and walked into the wrong side. Yeah, right. "Damn you, Ranma Saotome," muttered Akane under her breath, as she walked to her last class of the day. "I'll make you pay for getting me into trouble like this. I swear it!" ****************************** Ranma woke up in the nurse's office, an ice pack resting against his jaw. He felt awful. An attempt to sit up made his stomach muscles protest, so he decided that laying where he was for a few more minutes wouldn't hurt. He lightly rubbed his nose and felt a dull ache instead of a sharp pain, so it was apparently unbroken. Thank Heaven for that, he thought with a grateful sigh. He looked over at the clock on the wall and saw that it was after four, his classes were over for the day. Tomorrow had to be better than this day was. ****************************** Nabiki walked home after classes were over by herself, having learned that Akane had gotten detention for attacking Ranma. Little sister is so easy to manipulate sometimes, she thought with a smile. Playing little mind games and pranks on Akane was good practice for Nabiki's own future career in the Security Directorate, or at least she thought so. She was a little disappointed that Ranma had been so easy to fool with her little trick. Nabiki had expected more of him than to fall for something as simple as reversing signs. Oh well, thought Nabiki. I can have some fun with those two while I make my decision about Ranma. She walked home with a happy spring in her stride, pondering Ranma's possibilities as a potential prospect for a suitor. ****************************** Later that afternoon, Nodoka stared at her battered son in mild shock. "What happened to you, Son?" "I'd really rather not talk about it," replied Ranma. "It looks worse than it is." He sipped at his tea, wrinkling his nose slightly under the strip of medical tape covering it. According to the nurse, his injuries were simple bumps and bruises. "Yes, but it looks like you were in a fight," insisted Nodoka. "Were you?" "I can honestly say that I wasn't fighting, Mother," replied Ranma sincerely. Yeah, I just got beat up by some nearly-naked girl named Akane Tendo. "I just had an accident at the Academy. That's all. I'll be more careful next time." "Leave the boy be, Nodoka," said Genma, finally chiming in. "If he says that he's fine, then he's fine." "Yes, but Genma..." said Nodoka in a worried tone. "I said, leave it be," Genma said a little more strongly. Nodoka glanced at him with a mildly angry expression, and he sighed mentally. I'm going to be paying for that one for a day or two, he realized very quickly. Nodoka doesn't like to be ordered around like that. Genma briefly wondered if he would have been happier with a more compliant woman for a wife. Probably not, he decided with a wry smile, as he sipped his tea. ****************************** The next morning, Ranma overslept again. Nodoka hoped that it was only the jetlag still bothering him, since Genma hadn't quite readjusted yet either. Like the dutiful mother she knew herself to be, she shook Ranma awake and hustled him into the bathroom to get ready. Honestly, she thought with a smile, I hope that this isn't going to be some sort of regular occurrence. I'm his mother, not an alarm clock. At least he healed up all right since yesterday. He doesn't even have any bruises left. ****************************** Ranma arrived at the Academy and made his way into the building. He managed to make it to class with less than a minute to spare, and he spent the time in his morning classes working on his equations. Ranma listened every now and then to make sure that he wasn't missing anything that could be important, but so far it had all been material that he was very familiar with. When it came time for physical education, he carefully made sure that he walked in the right door for the locker rooms. He was a bit irritated with himself for making such a stupid blunder yesterday, but 'The Thug' (a nickname that he had chosen to dub Akane with) could have waited for him to explain his presence before attacking him. Coach Harumasa Takami made it clear what he thought of Ranma on that first day of class. The instructor was a retired military man, a twenty-year veteran, and he treated his students like recruits. Ranma, arriving late in the term for his class, apparently warranted 'special' attention from the man. "So you expect to pass this class, boy?" barked Coach Takami into Ranma's face as he stood at his place in line. Ranma blinked in surprise. "Yes, sir," answered Ranma in a clear voice. He was uncertain why the instructor would think otherwise. "What was that?!" barked Coach Takami, a little louder. "I can't hear you!" "YES, SIR!" Ranma blasted back. He focused his eyes on a point in the distance and didn't let his attention waver from it. It seemed to be the most sensible thing to do at the time. Coach Takami walked around Ranma's slender form and muttered darkly to himself, apparently very disappointed with the state of its physical condition. Ranma didn't catch too many of the words, but he resented being referred to as a weakling as well as all of the alternative phrases that Coach Takami used that meant the same thing. At her place in the girl's line, Akane felt smug. She was one of Coach Takami's favorite students and the most skilled athlete in the class. Akane was going to enjoy showing Ranma up in class this term. She still felt a faint, simmering anger at his actions in the locker room the previous day, smothering any other feelings that she might have had earlier. She also felt disappointment that he had been so weak. After an unexpectedly grueling hour for Ranma of doing very intensive calisthenics and several kilometers of running at a faster pace than he was used to, the instructor had thrown up his hands and declared Ranma to be a sad waste of an Imperial citizen. Ranma was given two hours of extra training time after normal classes each day until his condition reached 'acceptable' levels, acceptable to Coach Takami that is. Ranma still had enough strength in his body to groan at what was to come. Ranma practically dragged himself to the locker rooms, one of the last ones in. He noticed Akane Tendo, already showered and changed, standing next to the locker room doors. She put an arm across his path when he tried to walk past her. He sighed and waited for her to speak. "Let's get something straight between us, Saotome," said Akane coldly. "I don't want you to say one word about whatever you might have seen of me yesterday, okay? If I hear you bragging about peeping on me, I'll come down on you harder than an entire division of Imperial marines." "Believe me, Tendo-san, when I say this," said Ranma tiredly. "I just want to forget about yesterday. Nobody is going to hear anything about you from me, so can I go shower now?" "They'd better not," said Akane as she waved a fist under his nose. "I have a lot more of what I gave you yesterday, if I even hear a hint of you bragging about seeing me naked." Like I would ever brag about seeing your naked form, Tendo-san, thought Ranma sullenly. Wisely, he said nothing of his thoughts, but nodded woodenly instead. "They won't hear a thing from me." Akane walked off with a harrumph sound, and Ranma tiredly went in to get a nice hot shower. If he had been thinking clearer, Ranma would have seen that she seemed almost disappointed that he hadn't stood up to her. ****************************** Ranma finally reached his last class period of the day, before he had to report back to Coach Takami for his extra exercise classes. He quickly unlocked the door to the basement storage room that was now going to be his lab space. He reached around the corner and flicked on the lights. They snapped on with a slight hum. Ranma eyed the boxes of junk strewn about the room and sighed, thinking, this isn't going to get itself cleaned up, so I'd better get started. Almost an hour later, Ranma dragged the last of the boxes out of the room and dumped them into the trash incinerator. He had checked each box to see if anything interesting was in them, but they all seemed to contain useless trash: moldy old textbooks and discarded newspapers. It had taken him less time than he had thought it would to remove them all. That left sweeping to do, and then he could start bringing in all of the equipment that he would need and beginning work. ****************************** Akane stared out the window of the detention hall, as the sun lowered in the sky. One of the junior instructors had given her a paper to write on the benefits of controlling anger, but she had finished it quickly. Now all she had left to do was watch out the window as the remainder of her hour ticked away. The only bright spot to her was where the window looked out on. Outside, Akane could see Ranma puffing his way around the track while Coach Takami shouted at him through a bullhorn. "COME ON, SAOTOME!" shouted Coach Takami through his bullhorn. "PICK UP THE PACE! I'M GETTING OLD AND GRAY WAITING FOR YOU TO FINISH YOUR TEN KILOMETERS! DON'T FORGET THAT YOU STILL HAVE TO DO WEIGHT TRAINING TO BUILD UP THAT LAUGHABLE EXCUSE FOR A BODY YOU HAVE!" Ranma thought dark thoughts and kept running, his anger keeping him going at the pace that Coach Takami had set. He was not about to give the old man the satisfaction of seeing him break, so he kept going. Ranma's lungs were burning in his chest like fire, his legs were aching from the strain of his pace, but he was not about to quit. The kids got guts, thought Takami with a grudging amount of respect. He could see that Ranma was actually in fairly good shape for the average citizen, but he couldn't let Ranma know that. He would have instituted a somewhat lighter regimen for Ranma, but Fuyutsuki had given him his orders. "Take Saotome to his limits, and then push him a little harder," Fuyutsuki had told him. That was what Takami was doing. If the Dean wanted to give Ranma a test of his physical abilities, then Coach Takami was determined to take the boy to the ragged limits of whatever he was capable of. He would treat Ranma to as rigorous a training regimen as he could think of. Besides, the overtime pay would be nice. ****************************** Two weeks passed, and Ranma slowly settled into a routine. He finished cleaning out his new lab space and even went so far as to repaint the walls and floors with a fresh coat of white paint. All of Ranma's equipment requests began arriving in small lots, and he started to assemble the bare bones of his invention. A small but well-equipped electronics workbench took shape in the center of the room through his efforts, and he found a long couch in another one of the storage rooms that was perfect for his needs. One of the most vital, key components that he had needed was one of the prototype superconducting neural interlink headsets. It was almost beyond state of the art, a bleeding-edge piece of hardware, designed and built by 'the' name in computers and high-end electronic components in the Empire, Shinohara Electronics. In recent months they had begun doing some experiments with various methods of linking man and machine electronically. The headset linked with the cerebral cortex by means of electromagnetic induction, and it would allow Ranma the much-needed interface with his device. Ranma sat with his notebook on the table in front of him, occasionally glancing at it as he worked on the circuit board in front of him. It was going to take many more days of careful work to test and align all of the components before he was ready to begin work on the heart of the system, the quantum flux coil. He still didn't have all of the materials to begin creating it. ****************************** Ranma puffed around the track as fast as he could manage while Coach Takami kept yelling some impressive threats at him. After only a couple of weeks, he was already beginning to notice a marked difference in his physique. His mother had commented on his increase in appetite, but it was necessary to keep up with his new energy needs. He could admit to himself that he was eating twice as much as he had needed before and was still often hungry. ****************************** Another month passed. Ranma was now not only able to keep up with the manual's stated physical performance requirements, but he had surpassed them. However, Coach Takami didn't let up on him, to Ranma's surprise. If anything, the workouts became even more grueling. The highly intensive program of weightlifting and calisthenics began to add a surprising amount of muscle and definition to his frame for so short a time. When Ranma had thought to complain about the unnecessary added work that was still being given to him, Dean Fuyutsuki calmly informed him that the Academy was individually designed to train its cadets to their best possible levels. If Ranma was able to do more, then he would be trained harder. It made a certain amount of sense, even if it did feel sadistic, and the exercise had produced the very surprising effect of sharpening his mind and focus even more than he was capable of before. Ranma continued to excel at all of his classes, he was getting near to finishing the quantum flux coil, and he was getting stronger with each passing day. Ranma kept one arm behind his back as he did pushups with the other. His posture was rigid, his legs straight and spread apart. The muscles on his arms and shoulders had filled out from exercises such as this. Sweat slowly dripped from his face onto the pavement from his efforts. Ninety-seven... ninety-eight... ninety-nine... one hundred, he mentally counted off as he finished a set. Ranma quickly switched arms and began all over again. Off to one side, Coach Takami smiled. This boy is just incredible, he thought as he checked over the charts detailing Ranma's development once more, still unable to believe how rapidly Ranma was improving. His physical abilities were increasing at a rate that was at least three times what a normal human should be able to improve at, even with the extra training that he was undergoing. Every time that Takami thought that he had found the boy's limits, Ranma would exceed it. The only slow portion of Ranma's improvement had been in his combat skills. Akane Tendo seemed to take great pleasure in proving that to him every chance that she could. ****************************** Ranma slammed down onto the mat and laid there, stunned for a moment. A sympathetic, muted groan came from his fellow male cadets, most of them grateful that they were not out there working with Akane Tendo as their practice partner. Ranma wished once again that he knew why Coach Takami hated him so much as to keep pairing him with 'The Thug.' "Saotome," said Coach Takami, while shaking his head. "That was truly pathetic. Now get up and try it again." Above him, a cheerful Akane waited for him to try getting up once more. They were practicing barehanded combat while wearing white dogis. She smiled down at Ranma. "Yeah, Ranma, that _was_ pathetic. Are you going to let me keep throwing you around like this? Not that it isn't a lot of fun." If there is true justice in the universe, then someday I'll find a way to wipe that smug look from your face, Akane Tendo, thought Ranma as he got up to his knees and stood up once more. A few seconds later, Ranma crashed to the mat once again. He decided to lay there for a while, at least until the room stopped spinning. ****************************** Ranma was finally ready to test the new quantum flux coil to see if he had it right yet. Weeks of effort, and several previous attempts, had yielded nothing more than a slight headache and a faint sort of buzzing sensation in his skull. He kept adjusting the tolerances minutely and knew that he was getting closer. This was his third try, and he hoped that it was the charmed one. Ranma booted up the stripped-down software algorithm that he had written to operate the hardware for these initial tests. The full linkup package was disengaged since he was just working on establishing a signature phase lock, instead of full immersion, with an alternate reality. The software finished its self-test and Ranma found himself crossing his fingers. Seated, with the neural interlink headset on his head, Ranma let the system slowly run through its calculations as it scanned his brain's electromagnetic pattern. He already had several ideas on speeding up the scanning process that had occurred to him, but he had yet to attempt to implement any of them. Ranma wanted to get the core of the software debugged before he began adding modifications and enhancements. "Okay," Ranma softly muttered to himself. "Scan is complete. The quantum pulse is activated. Let's see if I can make contact." He tapped a couple of keys, and the screen cleared. *STAGE ONE INTERLINK SOFTWARE RUNNING.... STAND BY.... Ranma suddenly experienced a brief flash of... something. He hurriedly began tapping keys, watching a mathematical representation of two sine waves slowly moving into synchronization. The software slowly began adjusting itself. "Come on..." Ranma muttered. "Synchronize!" ****************************** *** Earth +0.001,-0.004 Ranma blinked as a migraine headache suddenly hit him. He set down the book of classical Chinese poetry that he had been reading and closed his eyes. That seemed to lessen the pain in his head as he took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves. He felt a hand on his arm. "Ranma?" asked Nodoka's voice. "Are you feeling all right?" "I'm fine, Mother," Ranma replied. "I just seem to have developed a slight headache right now. Perhaps some tea might help." "You're probably working too hard, just like your father," said Nodoka as she headed for the kitchen. The pain suddenly disappeared as quickly as it had began. ****************************** *** Earth 0.000,0.000 Ranma stared at the two sine waves as they moved apart once more. He still didn't have the paraequipotential phase variance aspect in his equations quite correct, and he had been so sure. He cut the power to the quantum flux coil and let it cool off as he went back to work on adjusting the algorithm. I was so close, thought Ranma. I almost managed to achieve full synchronization. ****************************** The next day Ranma made the mistake of taking his lunch break near where Akane and Nabiki conducted their daily business dealings. He had his back against a tree when he heard footsteps and faint conversation a short distance away from his position. He peeked around the edge of the tree to see Akane and Nabiki confronting a male cadet. Akane held the blue uniformed first-year cadet up against the wall as Nabiki spoke with a calm voice behind her. Akane kept one fist cocked back in striking position. "Now, Hideo-kun," said Nabiki calmly. "Despite my previous attempts to resolve the matter of your loan peaceably, you continue to avoid paying me what you owe me. Your debt has grown to a rather sizable amount, almost fifteen thousand yen according to my records." The boy began to protest when Akane's hand squeezed down on his throat, stifling his voice to a gurgle. He thrashed a bit and tried to pull Akane's hand away from his windpipe. She buried her fist into his stomach, ending his efforts to free himself as he sagged down weakly. Ranma moved closer and noticed that none of the other cadets appeared to see what was going on. The nearest ones all seemed to be wearing gray uniforms, and they seemed to be acting as lookouts. Ranma finally managed to get within hearing range of what was going on. "That was very stupid, Hideo-kun," purred Nabiki as she leaned in towards the boy. "It's hard enough for me to control Akane's temper without you trying to resist." Hideo started to whimper a little. "Now that isn't going to help matters at all," said Nabiki calmly. She reached her hand under Hideo's chin and lifted his face upwards. "This is very simple. Where's my money?" Hideo reached a trembling hand into his pants pocket and pulled out a billfold. Nabiki's eyes took on a happy glow as she saw the object of her desires. She snatched it out of his hands and began counting off notes. She suddenly frowned as she realized something. "There's more than enough here to pay off your loan, Hideo-kun," said Nabiki softly. "We could have avoided all of this unpleasantness if you had simply spoken up more quickly." Nabiki pulled fifteen yen notes from out of the stack and tossed the billfold back to Hideo, as Akane released her grip on his neck. "Sorry, Nabiki," said the boy quietly as he stooped to pick up his money. "You won't have to worry about me doing anything like that again." He placed the billfold back in his pants pocket. Akane noticed a gleam of steel appear in his hand suddenly and shoved her sister out of the way as Hideo made a wild slash with a long knife. Akane cursed under her breath as she realized that she should have taken the time to search him, a mistake that she swore to herself that she would never again make in the future. She ducked under his next swing. Ranma found himself frozen into the spot he was in for a moment as he watched the deadly duel take place. As much as he disliked Akane for her actions towards him, he wasn't really happy with the thought of her getting stabbed. He started to rise up slowly, unsure what he should do, when Akane took matters into her own hands. Akane ducked under Hideo's weapon arm and shoved it aside as her other hand came up underneath the boy's jaw in a palm strike. There was a loud, crunching noise as her palm impacted with his jaw. She quickly followed up by capturing his outstretched arm with her blocking hand and driving his wrist towards her uprising knee. Hideo gave out a cry of pain as his wrist gave off a popping sound, possibly broken or at least sprained, and his knife sailed off a few feet away. Akane left him there, cradling his wrist and moaning softly, as blood appeared at the corners of his mouth. She backed up warily and retrieved the knife, before handing it to Nabiki. Nabiki stared at the blade in her hand, surprised that such a thing had taken place. She debated having Akane hurt Hideo further, as an object lesson to anyone else seeking to harm her, but finally decided against it. It was going to be hard enough to explain how he had gotten injured to the Academy administration without causing a black mark on anyone's record. Despite the rather ruthless reputation that she had carefully cultivated, Nabiki didn't enjoy seeing anyone in pain. It struck her as wasteful effort. "Look at me, Hideo," said Nabiki calmly. The injured boy raised his eyes up slowly. "We were finished. You didn't have to attack me. So, why?" "I-I was tired of being afraid, Nabiki," said Hideo in a trembling tone of voice. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Hideo burst into tears and slumped down even lower than he had been, the picture of misery. Ranma moved away as silently as he could. He retrieved his book and snuck away, grateful that he hadn't been seen. ****************************** A week later, Ranma made his breakthrough. He tapped in the last of the program changes and waited for it to compile. Now I've got it, he thought in triumph. He settled the neural interlink headset on his skull and waited for the scanning cycle to finish. He had managed to cut the time down to less than a minute. "We have quantum pulse..." he murmured with a smile. "Let's do it." He tapped a couple of keys, and the screen cleared. *STAGE ONE INTERLINK SOFTWARE RUNNING.... STAND BY.... Ranma felt that familiar brief flash of... non-existence, for lack of a better term. The screen showed the two sine waves slowly moving closer together as he made the last few adjustments in the program manually, operating almost by feel alone. As Ranma watched, the two sine waves kept moving into synchronization as the software finished its last adjustments and began to stabilize. "Yes," Ranma muttered. "Synchronize, damn you. Come on, synchronize!" ****************************** *** Earth -0.003,-0.002 Ranma paused in his playing, and the sounds of the piano stilled. He looked out at the skyline of Paris as a faint buzzing sensation seemed to appear inside his skull. It was like a handful of bees had been released inside his brain. The buzzing steadily grew louder. ****************************** *** Earth 0.000,0.000 Ranma let out a cheer when the two sine waves coalesced into a single waveform. He waited for the final waveform to stabilize, and a line of text suddenly scrolled across the screen. *SIGNATURE LOCK ESTABLISHED: 100% SIGNAL STABILITY "I did it!" he whooped to the ceiling. "I DID IT!" ****************************** *** Earth -0.003,-0.002 Ranma suddenly felt the buzzing sensation cease. He shook his head, and his thoughts felt fuzzy, like he was drunk. He continued to stare at the early morning sky over Paris. ****************************** *** Earth 0.000,0.000 When he was certain that the signal was stable, Ranma activated the shutdown procedure. There were still some minor bugs in the core software, but he would iron those out as he finished up his preliminary tests. He removed the headset and cheered once more. ****************************** *** Earth -0.003,-0.002 Ranma immediately felt like a veil had been lifted from his mind. He shrugged, deciding that it probably wasn't anything important, and then returned to his playing. The sounds of one of Beethoven's most famous piano concertos began to fill the room once more. ****************************** *** Earth 0.000,0.000 Ranma leaned back and closed his eyes. After two years, his work was finally showing results. He sighed happily and settled back down before the computer screen. After pulling the keyboard close, he began typing, cross-linking other components that he had coded separately into his main software to construct the final version. He stopped right after he installed the remaining modules and ran a few more tests, studying the alignment of the paraequipotential flux. His equipment could compensate for a certain amount of phase differential, but it still had a limit to what it could deal with. When Ranma loaded in his new scanning module to the software, he tested it and was pleased to learn that he had cut the scan time down to less than fifteen seconds. He was almost done with his final version of the software when he looked up at the clock to see that it was now nearly four in the afternoon. He had to get to his extra training class. Ranma shut down power to his equipment, pleased that he was finally about to enter into the final stage of testing, full immersion into an alternate life. He pulled the main circuit board and made mental notes of where he needed to replace the wire-wrapping with solder before he began his first full-power test run. A broad smile was on his face throughout, and he knew that tomorrow was going to be the day that he changed the world. ****************************** The morning quiet was interrupted by a loud ringing sound. A hand emerged from beneath a light blanket, slowly reaching and fumbling around for the source of the noise. A muted grumbling was heard from beneath the blanket as the hand took several long moments to track the sound to its source on the table. A brief struggle was won, and silence reigned over the bedroom once more. A few minutes later, the door opened with a loud bang. A pair of pink slippered feet made their way into the room and stopped next to the futon. A rather angry female voice suddenly made itself known. "Ranma! You are _not_ going to be late for your classes again if I have anything to say about it!" The figure waited to see what reaction occurred, slowly tapping one slippered foot. More grumbling was heard from beneath the blanket, then a little bit of motion. The motion became more and more frantic over the next several seconds, accompanied by more grumbling. Ranma emerged from beneath the covers. "I'm up, Mother," said Ranma sullenly, as his pleasant dream promptly evaporated into nothing. Satisfied that her son was now awake and would not be late for his classes, Nodoka swept out of the room to finish making breakfast. Ranma sat on the edge of his futon, and wished for the thousandth time that his parents weren't such traditionalists that he could have had a bed. His mother would be scandalized at the thought, and his father would simply agree with his mother. Ranma got up off the floor and walked over to his small closet. When he reached it, he slid open the door. He pulled his Academy uniform out of his closet with a hint of distaste. Even though it was tailored to fit quite well, he still disliked wearing it on general principles. He put on a clean shirt and socks from the drawer. He eyed the hated uniform for a moment before struggling into it. Now I look like a proper student for the Imperial Academy, he mused, looking at his reflection in the mirror. His mind was full of sincere hopes that he wouldn't run into any trouble today. Today was going to be his first full-power test. The last thing that he needed was trouble distracting him from that. Breakfast was the usual quiet affair. Genma kept his nose buried in the newspaper, occasionally turning pages or grumbling at one of the new developments in the world. Nodoka busied herself with delivering the usual delicious meal to the table before she herself sat down to eat. The family ate in relative silence. Ranma gobbled down his food as fast as he could while under his mothers watchful eye, trying to avoid her usual morning lecture on his table manners. Genma occasionally gulped down some food, briefly emerging from behind the barrier of his newspaper. All in all, it was another typical morning in the Saotome household. Upon finishing with his breakfast, Ranma picked up his bookbag and stuffed his personal notebook deep down inside. Inside it was all of his work so far on his experiments, complete with all of his revisions for his calculations. He slung his bookbag up onto his shoulder, put on his shoes, and headed out the door. His parents watched him as he headed down the street. "I swear I don't know what is with that boy lately," grumbled Nodoka. "All he cares about is that project of his." Genma grunted noncommittally. Nodoka turned to look at him, and her look was one that Genma had come to see lately all too often. "He wants to prove your theories correct. Do you think he can?" "Ranma will succeed," replied Genma with certainty. "He will prove himself to be the greatest mind that the Empire has ever seen." Pride filled his voice. "If you say so, Dearest." She smiled slightly. ****************************** Ranma walked along at a leisurely pace. Classes at the Academy were not what he really looked forward to anymore, not that he did poorly at them. On the contrary, they were too easy for him. After following his father all over the world for so many years, having learned at the feet of every scholar and scientist that Genma could coerce into teaching him, attending normal classes had been a relief. Boredom had quickly set in though, and his lack of social skills hadn't helped with his classmates. Ranma almost collided with one of the annoyances in his life when he turned the next corner. He stumbled, dropping his bag, as a deft footsweep caused him to lose his balance. The day was still new, and it was already looking bad. "Watch out, you clumsy weakling!" shouted an angry female voice. Ranma looked up and grimaced inwardly. Standing before him, in her usual gray cadet uniform, was Akane Tendo. Her older sister Nabiki stood next to Akane with a smirk on her face. "Ranma-kun," purred Nabiki, "you should make more of an effort to be aware of your surroundings." She flashed a cool smile that chilled him to the bone. Ranma was sure that Nabiki Tendo already had a promising future mapped out for her in the Security Directorate. This is all I need today, thought Ranma, keeping his expression composed as he got back to his feet. 'The Thug,' as he referred to Akane in the privacy of his own thoughts, watched him stand up with a frown on her face. Nabiki watched him with her usual cool look of detached interest. He bowed his head after regaining his feet. "My sincerest apologies, ladies," said Ranma, hoping that the faint hint of mockery that he felt was not present in his voice. He kept his head down as Akane looked at him for a long moment, before she turned with an angry sniff and stomped away. Nabiki gave him another cool smile, and her hand reached out to caress his face. Her hand felt warm, but his skin crawled at her touch. "Be more careful in the future, Ranma-kun," said Nabiki. "We both know that Akane is one to bear grudges for the smallest of slights." Nabiki then turned with proper military form, and hurried only slightly to catch up with her sister. Ranma watched them both walking off before taking a slightly different route to the Academy. ****************************** "You should learn to take it easy when it comes to Saotome, little sister," said Nabiki pleasantly. She walked at her younger sister's side with an unconscious precision to her stride, her appearance was that of a proper Imperial officer. "All that anger can't be good for you." "I still haven't forgiven him for what he did," Akane said with a slight growl to her voice. She kicked a stone through the fence and out into the drainage stream as she stomped along in a foul mood. Damn you, Ranma Saotome. I wish you weren't always such a weakling. "As I recall it, that incident was just an accident," said Nabiki with a smile, recalling Akane's mood that day after Ranma had walked into the girl's locker room. It had been one of her better pranks on her little sister, and it had also served Nabiki's purposes by keeping a distance between Akane and Ranma. The few of Nabiki's associates who knew of her involvement would never tell; Nabiki chose her allies carefully. "I still think it was just an excuse that Ranma made up in order to peep." Akane felt her insides begin to seethe from the memory. "You also got detention for a week for harming the star intellect of the Academy," observed Nabiki with a smirk, as Akane blushed with very obvious annoyance. Despite their closeness as sisters, baiting her little sister had long been a favorite game for Nabiki, and it served to prove a realization that she had made about Akane a long time ago. The Tendo family had served with distinction in the Security Directorate for almost two centuries, but Nabiki just could not see Akane rising very far in rank due to her aggressive nature. Akane grumbled softly to herself the rest of the way to the Academy, annoyed at her confused feelings for Ranma. They showed no signs of ever being resolved anytime soon. ****************************** Ranma finally arrived at the gate in the wall surrounding the Imperial Senior Academy and walked into the courtyard. He nodded to a few of his fellow Science cadets, receiving respectful nods in return as he headed into the main building. He did not really have any friends on campus, as his work kept him too busy for much socializing. Thinking about his upcoming experiment, he failed to notice appraising looks given to him from a number of the female cadets. His morning classes were dull, as usual, even in the accelerated program that Ranma was in. Falling asleep was a constant danger, but he had no desire to end up holding buckets for an hour if he did. To compensate for the dullness, Ranma composed mathematical proofs and wrote research papers in his head. For example, in his Imperial History class, he listened half-heartedly as the instructor droned on about some of the lesser-known aspects of Earth's history. Who really cared about some failed revolution in Britain's old North American colonies? Most of the western region of North America had been colonized by the Empire for over a century, after a long war with Spain. Would the shape of the world really have changed that much? There had been peace in the world for the last several decades, since it was divided up among the three remaining superpowers after the Global War: Japan, Germany, and Russia. England had only recently managed to recover in the last few years from the three nuclear weapons that had been dropped on it during that conflict, almost two decades ago. France was still a going concern only due to its preeminence in space, but the Empire was not far behind. Amaterasu Station, the jewel in the Empire's space efforts, heralded the beginning of the colonization of the solar system by Japan. Finally, having received written permission from the instructor of his mathematics class, Ranma headed down to his small lab located in the basement levels. Today was going to be the day when he finally achieved his dream and saw another world. ****************************** Almost got it, thought Ranma, carefully adjusting the small soldering iron, as he placed the last chip back into its place on the circuit board. It snapped into place, held solidly by a few small daubs of solder. He pushed the board back into position and ran the system through final checkout. The monitor brightened into life next to him, as he sat with the keyboard in his lap. Ranma tapped a few keys when he was prompted for a user entry. *SELF-CHECK COMPLETE *ALL LOGIC COMPONENTS ARE FUNCTIONING WITHIN DESIGNATED PARAMETERS *QUANTUM FLUX COIL IS FUNCTIONING WITHIN DESIGNATED PARAMETERS *NEURAL INDUCTION SENSORS ARE FUNCTIONING WITHIN DESIGNATED PARAMETERS *SYSTEM HAS 4 QUANTUM COORDINATES STORED IN STABLE MEMORY *SCAN FOR NEW COORDINATES: YES *SELECT QUANTUM REGION FOR SCAN: RANDOM *SET CYCLE INTO ACTIVE MODE: YES *SET TIME DURATION FOR TEST: 60.00 MINUTES *WAITING FOR SIGNAL FROM NEURAL INTERLINK HEADSET Ranma sat back and contemplated the machine assembled in front of him in his private lab. He was hardly able to believe that it was finally finished. Two years of working with the equations and schematics from that strange dream, about a month of carefully assembling a mishmash of prototype components, and it was now done. The quantum neural resonator was finally finished, and now he was finally going to prove that his father was right. Ranma picked up the neural induction headset. All of his numerous calculations told him it should work, and every piece of the device had been checked and re-checked. If he was going to do it, it might as well be now. The random search module was active but would not engage until he put the headset on. That would give the system a comparison model to use as it began searching for a likely quantum signature match. Ranma could have used one of the alternate timeline coordinates that he had already obtained during his earlier limited tests, but he decided that the first full-powered test should be to a new parallel scanned from scratch. That way would test the complete system, from initial scan to final recall. Ranma took the precaution of locking the lab door, and the recall mode for the resonator had already been set for an hour. That should give me sufficient time to look around, he mused. Ranma settled back onto the couch in his lab. The headset rested easily onto his head, the background hum of the resonator feeling like a faint tickle along the inside of his skull. Like bees humming in my head, he thought. He tried to relax and make himself comfortable. This is it, thought Ranma, feeling a little nervous. This was going to be his first attempt at total immersion. I wonder what it will feel like? In the background, the computer spoke in gentle tones, its artificial voice repeating over and over for several seconds as it scanned through the alternate timelines, "Searching...searching...searching...." Suddenly, it spoke the words that he had been waiting for, "Quantum signature match found. Initiating upload cycle." ****************************** *** Earth +1.614,+1.502 There was a brief and mildly disturbing moment of dislocation, of a sort of non-existence, and then Ranma found himself in another place, another life. After a few moments of adjustment, as he blinked his eyes, an unexpected rush of memories from that other life filled his awareness. It was distracting and even more disorienting, leaving him confused a moment by his surroundings, so he didn't immediately realize that someone had been addressing him. "Saotome!" shouted an angry male voice. "Have you fallen asleep in my class again? What is the answer to the question?" Ranma looked up in surprise at the annoyed-looking instructor who was shouting at him and blinked again, before glancing around himself quickly. A classroom full of students looked back at him, and the uniforms even looked similar to the ones that he was used to, only the colors were different. Ranma patted at his clothes and realized that he wasn't wearing a uniform. How strange, he thought. To add to his surprise, Akane Tendo was sitting behind him and glaring at him. She was even wearing her hair the same way that he remembered from his home timeline. Ranma looked puzzled, and Akane pointed at her text with a final glare. He turned around, glanced down at a similar book in front of him, and flipped to the same page. Luckily for him, it was apparently a mathematics class. A rather easy mathematics class, in fact. "The answer to the problem is the cube root of seventeen, sir," Ranma answered absently. The instructor looked more than somewhat surprised, to say the least. "Th-that's right," he said, in a slightly stunned tone. "You are correct, Saotome." He started to ask another student about a different problem, still looking surprised. "So you _did_ manage to study last night after all," a female voice stage-whispered behind him. "I thought you were too busy training nowadays for Ryoga's challenge. Did you decide that school has value after all?" "I, uh, found the time later," Ranma whispered back. Who the heck is Ryoga, and what is this about a challenge that this Ranma is so busy training for? The answers to his questions refused to come to him, and the very randomness of the memories that were becoming available to him was almost maddening. It was like trying to read all of the books in a library by pulling stray pages from each book and reading them all mixed up. However, as moments went by, the memories were slowly beginning to sort themselves out. Ranma sat at his desk and found himself somewhat overwhelmed by the memories of a life that he had never lived, but he found himself rather intrigued by them too. This Ranma had traveled for over ten years with his father to learn martial arts, a curious parallel, and his life was a rather confusing kaleidoscope of random memories. Short flashes of events seen, people met, and various fighting techniques learned filled his mind. For a brief moment, a strong image of a valley of pools of water filled his mind, but it was quickly gone before he could clearly focus on it. Jusenkyo? Another strong image appeared in his thoughts, this time of a redheaded girl, somehow associated with the name of that place. He felt that he should know this person, this girl that he was thinking of. A new wave of memories flooded across his mind, of all the women that this Ranma was involved with. Ties of honor bound him to most of them, often the results of actions by the Genma of this world. This Ranma was engaged by his father to marry Akane Tendo, but several other girls also claimed him. Many of their claims seemed equally valid. Engaged to marry Akane Tendo? The very thought made Ranma feel slightly ill. From this Ranma's memories, he could tell that Akane Tendo was perhaps as much of a thug here as the one that he knew from his own timeline. Ranma found himself feeling sorry for the poor fool, but he felt even more surprised when he sensed strong feelings of love and affection for Akane associated with the memories. However, they were somewhat deeply buried beneath thick layers of denial. Ranma Saotome loves Akane Tendo? As he thought about that, Ranma stared out the window. Ranma Saotome is in love with a brutish, angry girl who constantly beats him up? This Ranma needs some serious mental help, he concluded. Ranma continued looking out the window as he mused on the very strange life of his quantum counterpart. The bell rang while Ranma was still pondering these things. Lunchtime, Ranma realized with a start, and his stomach suddenly rumbled softly. He looked at the clock on the wall. I have about fifty minutes before recall occurs, he observed. Ranma sat at his other self's desk for a minute before the smell of food from his bookbag finally got the better of him. He pulled out his lunch, and set it on his desk as his mind wandered. Whatever it was, it smelled fantastic. He felt his mouth salivate. Even though the snowstorm of memories was finally settling down, it was not too surprising to him that most of the memories of this Ranma's life were rather incomplete. Apparently immersion into another life did not immediately provide complete access to all of the memories from that life. Perhaps I'll have to set the timer for longer next time, thought Ranma with a faint smile. That should let me get a better feel for the life of one of my quantum doppelgangers. Ranma felt a tap on the back of his skull. "Are you just going to sit there and ignore me through all of lunch?" asked Akane from behind him. The sound of her annoyed voice disturbed his upcoming enjoyment of what smelled like a delicious lunch. Ranma sighed softly, and turned around. "Sorry about that," said Ranma pleasantly, which seemed to catch Akane off-guard. "I was just thinking about some things and got distracted. I hope that you will accept my apology." He thought that if he managed to sound meek enough, it would act to defuse the infamous Akane Tendo wrath. Akane softened her gaze at Ranma's apology, which surprised him a lot. His own Akane had never looked at him with even the slightest amount of softness or warmth, occasionally with amusement when she was tossing him around or hitting him. She apparently just saw him as some sort of a weakling, since he hadn't spent his life learning how to break bricks with his fists like she had done. However, based on the differences that he was seeing in his own quantum duplicate's life, it should have been no surprise that the Akane Tendo of another timeline could be vastly changed as well. This Akane did feel different, and Ranma had to revise his opinion of her a little and try not to think of her as being like his own Akane. In this world, Akane Tendo was a fairly ordinary girl, for the most part. She wasn't training to be a member of the Imperial Security Directorate, and she had been on a few minor adventures with the Ranma of this world. Maybe if I don't do or say anything that this Ranma normally did to make her mad, she might even smile at me, he mused. A puzzled look suddenly crossed his features briefly. Where the hell did _that_ thought come from? He blinked a moment in sudden confusion. "Are you okay, Ranma?" asked Akane, looking at him in mild concern. "I'm fine, Akane," he replied. He even risked a smile, and she smiled in return. "Nihao, Ranma!" suddenly spoke up a perky female voice behind his head. The pleasant look on Akane's face darkened into a scowl, and she turned her head aside with a slight huffing sound. Ranma turned around to see a bouncy female body to match the perky voice. She was sitting perched in the window, holding a delivery box. Shampoo, his new memories prompted, proud Chinese Amazon warrior girl. He smiled at her, and she smiled in return. "Ranma happy to see Shampoo?" The girl leaped at him in a single bound and hugged him without dropping her delivery box. Ranma had never been greeted by a beautiful girl like this before, it was more than a little pleasant. He started to return the hug, but a quivering at the back of his skull made him glance behind him. Akane was glaring at him again. "Ranma," slowly said a furious Akane, "what do you think that you're doing?" "I was about to give Shampoo a hug." The words seemed to just slip out before he could think about the possible repercussions. "What do you think about that?" "DIE, RANMA!" Akane screamed. She picked up and threw a random desk at the couple for further emphasis of her point. She sure changes her moods quickly, Ranma thought in amazement. The pigtailed boy reacted without thinking, grabbing Shampoo and jumping over the hurtling desk, which promptly sailed out the window. It managed to do so, amazingly enough, without even touching any of the edges of the open window. A loud crash was heard from below a few moments later. "Ranma save Shampoo from violent girl!" exulted the Chinese girl in his arms, and promptly began snuggling in his arms happily. Many romantic visions of Ranma's heroism danced in her head, and she began to make purring sounds as she snuggled against him. Ranma felt like he had died and gone to Heaven. "Ranchan?" asked a new female voice, edged with anger, one that his fragmentary memories didn't recall immediately. "What do you think you're doing?" A large metal object attempted to pry Shampoo out of his grip, and another girl was on the end of it. Ukyo Kuonji, Ranma's new memories flashed up, only recently-arrived as a new transfer student. She was an okonomiyaki chef and also engaged to Ranma. He quickly let go of Shampoo, and Ukyo pried the Amazon off of him. She then immediately moved between himself and Shampoo. "You stay away from Ranma, you Chinese bimbo!" Ukyo snarled out. She took up an aggressive stance, her combat spatula at the ready. Ranma thought he saw a blue glow swirl around her body for a moment, but he decided that it had to have been a trick of the light. "Ranma is husband of Shampoo, stupid spatula girl!" Shampoo yelled back. She took up a combat stance of her own, looking ready for anything, and Ranma saw that same blue light effect for a moment. He rubbed his eyes, and it was gone. Perhaps it's some sort of visual illusion caused by some sort of mild phase imbalance, Ranma thought. One that was too subtle to be able to be compensated for by his equipment. The two girls continued to glare at each other, apparently waiting to see who made the first move. I've never had women wanting to fight over me before, Ranma thought with mild envy, as he marveled at the novelty of the experience. Both girls looked pretty determined to fight over him, and Akane just stood to one side and glowered at all three of them. "Please don't fight," said Ranma, rather louder than he had intended. All three girls looked at him in surprise, and Akane was so surprised that she forgot to glare at him for a moment. "I just wanted to eat my lunch in peace today." "Shampoo brought you delicious lunch," declared the Amazon, as if daring anyone to question the fact. She grabbed her delivery box off of a nearby desk and pulled out a bowl of something. Shampoo whipped it under his nose, a steaming bowl of ramen noodles, and then smirked at Ukyo. "I've got your lunch right here, Ranchan," Ukyo said quickly. A small grill suddenly appeared as if from nowhere, and a blur of cooking took place. Faster than Ranma would have imagined possible, Ukyo presented him with a plateful of okonomiyaki while she stuck her tongue out at Shampoo. Ranma felt that he was rapidly reaching the limits of his ability to deal with the female of the species. The whole situation was simply bizarre to him, despite its earlier appeal. The two women nearest him alternated adoring looks in his direction with murderous gazes at each other. Akane just looked upset at all three of them equally. "Uh, that's fine," said Ranma mildly. "Just put it on my desk, and I'll try to eat it all." He sat down and started to eat the original lunch that he had brought out, and two more full lunches were immediately set down next to it by the two girls. Both of them sat down at two of the recently-vacated desks next to him and sighed as they watched him eat. Akane just kept glaring in the trio's direction. I think I could get used to this, thought Ranma, as he ate with a smile. Akane moved off to eat with some of the other girls in class, still glaring at the pigtailed boy. ****************************** Ranma suddenly shook his head to clear it. The clock on the wall read an hour later than he last remembered it. Did I fall asleep sitting up? He frowned, then a worse thought occurred to him. He missed lunch! Yet he didn't feel hungry, which was odd. Ranma decided that he would have to ask Akane if he had missed anything important. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx My heartfelt thanks goes out to all of my readers for their comments and suggestions. A special thanks goes out to D.B. Sommer for his welcome assistance with my clumsy writing, and also to Michael Allen for his help with the pseudo-science and several plot points.