*** Earth  0.000,0.000

Nabiki found herself standing on a rocky promontory, dressed in her gray 
uniform, staring out over the crashing ocean waves far below.  The far 
surroundings had a hazy quality to them, and the sky was a pale pink and 
reddish-orange as the sun settled down in the western sky.  It was a 
familiar scene to her, but her memory was fuzzy as to why.  The skirt of 
her Academy uniform rustled almost soundlessly around her legs.

"Hello," said a voice behind her.  Nabiki slowly turned around, and the 
figure that she saw behind her was in very sharp contrast to the 
haziness of her surroundings, somehow being more "real" than the rest of 
the world was.  The face on the figure was Nabiki's own, and she blinked 
at the sight before quickly taking in the rest of the image before her.

The other Nabiki was dressed in Chinese-style garb, a loose silk shirt, 
light green in color, with wooden ties securing the front, and loose, 
black gi pants with the ankle cuffs tied snugly.  A sense of an athletic 
and trimly-muscled figure was only partially concealed beneath the loose 
clothing.  Her feet were shod in black, slipper-like shoes.  Nabiki's 
doppelganger stood in a relaxed stance, her face smiling as she watched 
the setting sun.

"Who are you?" asked Nabiki in surprise, although her oddly fragmented 
memories suddenly held the answer a moment after she had asked the 
question.  Her double dropped her eyes from watching the skies to look 
into Nabiki's own.

"I'm Nabiki Tendo, Heir to the Anything-Goes School of Martial Arts," 
the other Nabiki said, bowing slightly.  "Pleased to meet you."

"What?" asked Nabiki, suddenly feeling confused.  Her memories were a 
little frayed at the edges, and this dream (for she was certain now that 
it was a dream, but she could not say how she knew) was different from 
any that she could remember ever having before.  She had done something 
before she had gone to sleep, but she could not quite grasp what.

"Take your time," said her double and then sat down on the grass.  "I 
guess I'm a little more used to weirdness like this."

"Ranma's device," Nabiki finally remembered.  "It did something to me."  
She moved away from the edge of the cliff and sat down in front of her 
duplicate.  A moment later, her posture became a mirror of the martial 
artist version of herself.

"What do you remember?" asked Martial-Nabiki, her hands resting on her 
knees as she sat cross-legged.

"I activated the device, and something happened," said Nabiki, her face 
showing a slight frown as she struggled somewhat to remember.  "I became 
you for a time."  She suddenly remembered how free that she had felt, 
how gloriously free.  No regimentation to her life, no need to wear a 
uniform, her future not planned out to the last detail, just being able 
to embrace each day as it came and live life to the fullest measure 
possible.

"Interesting," said Martial-Nabiki, calmly looking around at their 
surroundings.  As she watched, images suddenly began to materialize in 
the air, fragments of memories.  Martial-Nabiki watched them with 
interest, laughing at some, and looking sadly at others.  They floated 
in the air like bubbles, each one only showing for an instant before 
being replaced by another.  Neither of the girls seemed to be in control 
of them, and that was made clear when Nabiki started to see memories 
that she knew were not her own.

"What's going on?" Nabiki asked, staring at one image that seemed to be 
more powerful than many of the others.  She turned to look at the other 
Nabiki, and her duplicate was frowning.

"It's nothing that you need to worry about," said her double, rising to 
her feet.  "But that is Jusenkyo Valley.  A place that changed my life, 
in more ways than one."  A reflected image, as if seen in a pool of 
water, appeared in another bubble of memories.  This image was of a 
handsome young man dressed much as her martial artist doppelganger was, 
and there was sadness on his face.

"Who is that?" asked Nabiki, her eyes bright as she looked at her 
duplicate.  "He's gorgeous.  Is he your brother or something on your 
world?"  She turned to look back at the image for another moment, before 
she heard muffled laughter behind her.  When she turned around, that 
same young man that had been in the bubble image was there.

"Surprise," said Nabiki-kun to a startled Nabiki.  "Behold the power of 
Jusenkyo."

All of the memories of that first transformation in the cursed Spring of 
Drowned Man were suddenly Nabiki's, and she was only able to stare in 
shock at the male version of herself.  Nabiki-kun posed for a moment 
while Nabiki felt herself absorbing the memories of that terrifying 
time.

Her duplicate suddenly reached behind himself and pulled out a steaming 
teakettle.  He poured the water over himself and his form lost several 
centimeters of height, transforming back into a duplicate of Nabiki, 
save for the clothes and the more muscular build.

"That was amazing," Nabiki said softly, both a fear of the curse and a 
strange fascination for it filling her.  That she felt such a 
fascination was disturbing to her, so she buried that thought deep.

"It has made my life more interesting," said the once-again female, 
alternate version of Nabiki in a slightly dry tone.  "There are times 
that I am thankful that it happened, but it has made my life hellish 
too.  If it wasn't for my fiancé, Ranma."  Her voice trailed off as she 
looked very thoughtful.

"I guess he is rather special, in any world," said Nabiki, feeling an 
odd blush cross her cheeks.  She clamped down on her thoughts with her 
iron will, and the feeling went away.

"Interesting memories you have of yours," said Martial-Nabiki, her 
attention returning to the bubbles of scenes hanging in midair.  The 
first was of Nabiki's very first meeting with Ranma, of feeling that 
powerful electric tingle that had overwhelmed her control for even a 
short time.  The Chinese-garbed Nabiki blinked and smiled.  "Wow!  That 
was something else.  Even as much as I love my Ranchan, I never felt 
that much of a turn-on from him."

Nabiki just felt very embarrassed that her iron control had proven 
insufficient during that incident, the Ice Queen melting for a brief 
time in a blast furnace of unexpected passions.  And to see such open 
emotions displayed on her other self was also... odd.

"I like him, okay?" said Nabiki, watching her other self replaying each 
of her meetings with Ranma.  Feeling vulnerable from the desires that 
Ranma had awoken in her, and not liking the feeling, Nabiki had 
reinforced her cold, disdainful attitude whenever she saw Ranma.  Her 
teasing of him had an edge to it that she now felt very unhappy to see 
in her memories.

"Sorry," said Martial-Nabiki.  "I didn't mean to pry, but I can feel how 
much you seem to care about him deep down.  Why be so mean to him all 
the time?"

"To keep him at a distance, I guess," said Nabiki, her eyes looking 
outwards in a thousand-meter stare.  "It is far better to be feared than 
to be loved, after all."  Her voice suddenly choked a bit, but she 
quickly recovered.  "Ranma Saotome isn't anything special.  No guy is."

"Right," said her double, disbelief plainly evident in her voice.  In an 
attempt to change the subject to something easier for them to deal with 
than men, she said, "Hey, you wanna try some sparring with me?"  She 
went through a quick sequence of moves.

To her surprise when she tried them, Nabiki was able to duplicate them 
exactly, and her double nodded.  "I thought so."

"The fight I had," said Nabiki, suddenly remembering it.  She recalled 
how easy it had been to deal with the two toughs, as if they had been 
moving in slow motion.  "I have your skills."  She went through a kata, 
her body a moving a little more gracefully than it was able to in real 
life, but not by much.

"It looks like it," said her doppelganger, smiling with a twinkle in her 
eyes.  "I worked my ass off for years following Uncle Genma around Asia 
to learn all of this, and you take a nap for a little while and do the 
same.  But at least my body is in better shape."

"I'm not that far behind you," muttered Nabiki, suddenly feeling a 
little defensive next to her other self's accomplishments.

"No, I guess you aren't," agreed Martial-Nabiki, looking a suddenly 
naked Nabiki over, noting her body's athletic musculature from her 
Academy training, and the calluses on her hands and feet.  "A few months 
of intensive training, and your body should build up to my level.  The 
skills and the reflexes are over half the battle, and you already have 
those from me."

Nabiki tried willing some clothes around herself, feeling strangely 
unembarrassed at her unexpected nakedness, but all that appeared was a 
twin of the outfit that the other Nabiki was wearing, only with a red 
shirt.  She shrugged her shoulders.

"Let's spar," said Nabiki, raising her hands into a guard.  Her twin 
smiled at her.


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.

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


The list of worlds reoccurring in this chapter:
Earth  0.000,0.000 - The world of Scholar Ranma (Baseline cluster)
Earth  +1.614,+1.496 - The world of Martial Nabiki (Nabiki 1/2 cluster) 


What has gone before in this story (or at least what will help you 
understand what is going on):

On a parallel Earth that diverged from the standard Ranma timeline over 
five hundred years ago, the Empire of Japan rules almost half the world 
and has done so for almost a century.  A young scientist named Ranma 
Saotome, through a device of his invention, is now possessed of the 
skills and memories of a martial artist version of himself.  After 
viewing some other alternate lives and dealing with some unexpected 
situations, Ranma decided to intensify his workouts to bring himself up 
to the level of his counterpart.  Dean Fuyutsuki mentioned a mysterious 
plan that involved Ranma and several of the cast.  Meanwhile, Soun put 
the first stage of his plan into play to ensnare Ranma, and Hinako 
learned something about Ranma's past.  Nabiki snuck into Ranma's lab and 
managed to activate his device, contacting and duplicating the skills 
from an alternate version of herself, one who went on the ten-year 
training journey with Genma instead of Ranma.  Forever changed by the 
experience, Nabiki dealt with two enemies using her new skills and has 
decided to make Ranma an offer that will prove difficult for the boy 
scientist to refuse.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 5 - Travelling the Path of a True Martial Artist, Part I

         The path of a true martial artist is fraught with peril.

                         -Soun Tendo: Ranma 1/2, Episode 1

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  

Nabiki rolled over in her bed and found herself staring at her clock as 
she blinked her eyes open.  Her dreams of the night before faded away 
like smoke as she blearily read the time.  Five-twenty-eight in the 
morning?  She groaned mentally at the time on her clock, not being very 
much of a morning person, especially not this early an hour in the 
morning.  Nabiki closed her eyes and attempted to go back to sleep for 
the time remaining until her alarm normally went off, but it was to no 
avail.  Yawning, she sat up in bed and stretched her arms up and back.

I guess I should get to my morning workout, Nabiki thought with a tired 
sigh.  She slowly rolled out of her bed and wandered over to her closet.  
She had been going through it for several minutes before it occurred to 
her to wonder, Morning workout?  Since when do I do a morning workout 
lately?

Shrugging her shoulders, Nabiki continued rummaging through her closet 
and found her old workout gi in the back.  Seeing that it was now easily 
about two sizes too small for her since the last time that she wore it, 
she tossed it onto her bed and continued looking for something else to 
wear.  She made a mental note that she needed to buy some new clothes 
that would be suitable for martial arts training.  Those Chinese-style 
outfits that her martial artist counterpart wore yesterday had felt 
pretty comfortable to wear for such activities.  Nabiki finally settled 
on a plain white T-shirt and dark-blue sweat pants, figuring that they 
would have to do for now.

A few minutes later, Nabiki was in the medium-sized training hall back 
behind the main house.  Her parents had received the house as a wedding 
gift from her father's parents, and her mother's parents had paid to 
construct the hall after her mother had retired from active service in 
the Imperial Army.  Originally, it was so that her mother could maintain 
her skills in combat, but she later used it to teach her daughters how 
to fight and passed on the traditions of honor.  For Nabiki, that 
training began when she had first begun to walk and continued, alongside 
her two sisters, until the passing away of her mother six years ago.

Nabiki had not been inside the building for the purpose of training for 
several years, but it felt so right to be there now, as if she was 
reclaiming an abandoned part of herself.  The subtle smells of the 
training hall filled her nostrils, triggering a multitude of memories of 
times past.  Nabiki briefly reminisced about the many long hours spent 
out here under her mother's patient tutelage, a little girl training to 
be a warrior like her mother before her.  That training had not seemed 
to matter as much after her mother had died, one of many things locked 
away and deliberately forgotten about to avoid the pain that they 
evoked, but now it did to her once again.  Her mother had been so very 
proud of them all, and Nabiki felt a renewed desire to become the 
warrior that her mother had always told her that she was.

"Mommy is so proud of you, 'Biki-Bushi-chan," she remembered her mother 
always saying with a loving smile on her face.  "You keep training like 
that, and someday you'll be a great warrior."

"Like you, Mommy?" Nabiki had once asked as she had paused to wipe sweat 
from her brow.  She had been ten years old at the time, but the memory 
still lived for her as if it was yesterday if she closed her eyes and 
remembered.  This particular memory was one of the more precious ones to 
her.

"You're going to be as good a fighter as I ever was, Nabiki-chan," her 
mother had said more seriously.  "I can somehow see it out there in your 
future.  Someday, if you're very diligent about your training, you'll 
become a superb warrior.  Maybe you'll even be better than your mother 
ever was."

"Really?" the younger Nabiki had asked, wide-eyed with surprise.  She 
had always thought that Kasumi would be the warrior in the family, or 
maybe Akane.  Kasumi had never let up on her regimen after their mother 
had died, and she still continued to train for two hours every day, even 
after her recent marriage.  Akane had made perfecting her combat skills 
into her own personal religion even before that time.  Nabiki, on the 
other hand, had simply stopped trying to improve.  Without her mother 
around to prove herself to, there simply didn't seem to be much point.

"Of course, Nabiki-chan," her mother had replied, poking her in the 
forehead with a fingertip and a grin on her face.  "But don't think you 
can take your broken-down, old mother in a fight yet.  I may be older 
and slower than you, but age and treachery will always win out over 
youth and speed."

"Let's see about that, Mommy!" Nabiki had cried, launching herself into 
an attack, a broad smile on her face as they fell to sparring.

Nabiki leaned against the door post and let herself remember other 
things from the past.  There were so many memories that she had not 
allowed herself to recall for so many years.  She was quite surprised to 
suddenly realize how much all of them had changed after her mother's 
death.  Her father had almost completely retreated into his work, and 
the cheerful man that she remembered from her childhood had evolved 
almost overnight into a much colder sort, a pure professional.  Nabiki 
knew that she had been emulating him in order to gain approval from her 
only remaining parent, an approval that she now wondered might have 
carried too high a price for herself.  The memories from her counterpart 
gave her a rare opportunity, allowing her to re-examine the path that 
she had been on and think about the choices that she had made.

In that other life, I am the center of attention, loved by some, hated 
and feared by others, and respected by many, Nabiki thought as her gaze 
roamed around the training hall.  Here, I am known as the Iron Bitch, or 
as the Ice Queen of the Imperial Academy, a person both feared and 
respected, and a true heir to the ways of my father.  She sighed softly, 
like the sound of a soul that has realized how lost it was for the first 
time.  Perhaps it is not too late to change, but change to what?  I am 
not that other self, nor do I wish such a chaotic mess of a life, but 
perhaps some of her attitudes might be worthwhile to take for my own.  
It was something to think about.

Nabiki thought that talking to Kasumi would help.  Her older sister had 
gone through changes almost as great as her father had.  Before their 
mother's death, Kasumi had been a flighty innocent, popular with the 
boys and seemingly without a single thought in her head for the future.  
Afterwards, Kasumi became this quiet presence in the house, projecting a 
Zen-like area of calm around her as if she were a Buddha who had taken 
mortal female form and come to live with them.  She had also begun 
studying medicine and martial arts with equal fervor, and never went out 
on dates, to the extreme disappointment of a great number of boys in the 
area.

Kasumi had also begun to help their previous housekeeper, a grand old 
lady that was a friend of Kimiko's, keep the house clean and assist with 
the cooking.  Nabiki had not cared to engage in such activities, and 
Akane had proven herself to be utterly hopeless at doing such things as 
cooking and cleaning, much like their mother had been.  At least Kasumi 
always seemed to enjoy doing most of the cooking, and Nabiki was 
grateful to her for it.  Nabiki would be the first to confess that she 
missed her sister's comforting presence in the house.  It just was not 
the same without Kasumi humming as she went around the house with one of 
her medical books in hand or cooking in the kitchen.

Now to see how much work I have ahead of me, Nabiki thought with a mild 
grimace.  She knew that she was fairly well-muscled and well-toned for a 
girl her age due to her requisite physical training class at the 
Academy, but her counterpart easily had several more kilograms of solid 
muscle on her and was in even better shape.  To  match her duplicate's 
figure was going to take some time and a lot of effort and sweat.  
Nabiki strongly suspected that Ranma had also discovered the same thing 
about his own counterpart.  Nabiki also deduced that that was almost 
undoubtedly why he was continuing with his current rigorous training 
schedule, despite what she had heard about his present levels of 
performance at athletics.  She had seen him running through his regimen 
a few times, and it looked fairly brutal.

Nabiki walked to the center of the training hall and sat down on the 
cold wood, the sensation triggering even more memories of happier times 
in her life.  It was a little chilly that early in the morning, but the 
cold was invigorating to her as she began doing a light warm-up and a 
regimen of stretching exercises.  Nabiki spread her legs as widely as 
she could and was pleased to note that she was almost as flexible as her 
counterpart as she bent down, grasping her right foot with her hands and 
lowering herself over that leg.  She then repeated the process with her 
other leg.

Perhaps I should volunteer to participate in Ranma's training class with 
Coach Takami, mused Nabiki as she pulled herself down lower and lower 
onto her outstretched leg, stretching out the muscles as much as she 
could.  I'm going to need a more intensified workout schedule if I hope 
to improve myself, to become a physical equal to my counterpart.  I 
could also use a good sparring partner to hone my reflexes and skills 
on, and I would bet money that Saotome-kun is undoubtedly the perfect 
person for that.  As she pondered such things, Nabiki then went on to 
stretch the rest of the major muscles in her body, striving to maximize 
her flexibility.  She smiled when she finally finished stretching the 
last area and stood up slowly.

As she stood there for a few moments, Nabiki briefly wondered about what 
Ranma's other life was like, the life where he had received his new 
martial arts skills from, and what the Nabiki of that world was like.  
In my own counterpart's life, I am the best martial artist in all of 
Nerima, she thought with a measure of borrowed pride.  There is a Ranma 
there who is, at best, a second-stringer in fighting capability next to 
my own counterpart.  I wonder how good a fighter I am in the world where 
the counterpart dwells that he received his skills from?  Is that Ranma 
also trained in the Anything-Goes style?  Nabiki made a mental note to 
ask him these questions, along with a score of other questions that she 
had for the young scientist.

Nabiki settled herself into a stance and began running through a kata, 
letting her body slowly move through the half-familiar motions.  She 
grimaced slightly as she felt her body moving at significantly less than 
perfect form and focused herself on eliminating as many of the 
imperfections as she could.  Nabiki felt very rusty at the activities, 
but that didn't surprise her very much when she paused to think about 
it.  The skills from her counterpart would take time to absorb, assuming 
that they were as permanent a part of herself as she suspected they 
might now be.  She pushed herself even harder, trying to recapture that 
graceful fluidity of motion that she had experienced yesterday.  A light 
sheen of sweat began to accumulate on her body, dampening her white T-
shirt despite the cool morning air.

This is so incredible, Nabiki thought as she continued pushing herself 
harder and harder, increasing her speed as much as she could.  It was 
strange, but the less she thought about the motions and just let herself 
move as her body would, the better she did at them.  She purposely let 
her mind drift away to other things as her body continued moving through 
the regimen that she had set herself for this morning.  As she did so, 
her body's posture slowly changed to a near-match of the other Nabiki, 
and her movements increased in grace and speed.  She closed her eyes and 
embraced the freedom.

After about half an hour of that, Nabiki then went over to the heavy 
leather bag, hanging from a thick chain on one side of the room.  It was 
one of a pair in the room, both somewhat worn from the efforts of her 
sisters during their own training over the years.  She settled herself 
in front of it for a moment.

"Hiyah!" Nabiki suddenly cried, driving her fist into the thick black 
leather.  It responded by jerking back slightly from the impact with a 
rattling sound from its heavy chain, and she immediately launched 
another blow into it with her opposing fist.  She repeated this back and 
forth, punching the heavy bag a hundred times with each fist, feeling 
the impact on her knuckles.  As she worked through a second set of 
punches with each hand, an almost pleasant ache slowly built up in her 
shoulders and arms, and there was something rather satisfying about 
landing blows into the bag.

When Nabiki was done with her last punch, she began working on her kicks 
next.  Her leg flashed up to solidly strike the bag, knocking it back on 
its chain, and she felt the shock of impact all the way to her hips.  
Again and again, she landed kicks into the bag, driving it back.  The 
efforts brought a heavy sweat to her brow, and her T-shirt now clung to 
her body.  She was almost done with her second set of a hundred kicks 
when she heard a voice speak up behind her.

"What are you doing out here, Nabiki?" asked Akane's voice from behind 
her.  Nabiki paused and turned around, seeing her little sister standing 
in the doorway of the training hall in a well-worn, white gi.  "I 
thought I heard someone out here, but I never expected it to be you."

"Just working out a bit before getting ready to conquer the new day, 
little sister," said Nabiki with a smile, as she panted a little.  "I 
woke up early, and I felt inspired to see how much I could remember from 
the training that Mom gave us."  The lie came quite easily to her 
tongue, but they always had.  Akane just stared at Nabiki in slight 
confusion.

"Well, after I've warmed myself up, are you interested in doing some 
sparring?" Akane asked, suddenly smiling.  "With Kasumi gone, I miss 
having someone around to practice with.  Do you think you might take up 
your old level of training again?"

Nabiki debated the matter in her thoughts.  I wonder if I could take my 
little sister in a sparring match now?  She felt a sudden and rather 
unexpected urge to try and nodded.  Akane looked pleased.

"That's great!" Akane said, beaming even brighter.  "With my help, I'm 
sure that you'll get to be a great fighter.  Not that I mind helping you 
out as a bodyguard, I mean."

"Let me know when you're ready," said Nabiki, turning her back on Akane 
before beginning to kick the bag once more.  She put more effort into 
each kick, feeling a soft burning building up slowly in the muscles in 
her legs.

A short time later, Akane called out that she was ready.  Nabiki turned 
around with a smile, breathing hard and deeply to replenish her strength 
quickly as she began walking over.  She saw Akane standing in the middle 
of the mat, moving slightly from side to side.  By the time that Nabiki 
reached the middle of the mat, her breathing had calmed almost back to 
normal.  Her mother had always commented that Nabiki always seemed to 
recover the fastest of the three sisters from the strenuous efforts of 
training.  She was proud to see that her abilities at recuperation 
remained undiminished.

"Ready when you are, little sister," Nabiki said, settling herself into 
a combat stance.

Akane decided to go easy on Nabiki, at least at first.  She smiled when 
her sister blocked the first few strikes with seeming ease.  I guess 
Nabiki hasn't been letting up on her training as much as I might have 
thought, she mused.  Still, I should have gotten at least one punch 
through by now.  Akane continued to attack, and Nabiki continued to 
block or evade every punch or kick.  Her constantly missing was 
beginning to irritate the youngest Tendo.

Either Akane is going really easy on me, or I'm much better now after 
that experience in Ranma's lab than I thought I was, noted Nabiki with 
mild pleasure as she flowed around all of Akane's efforts to strike her.  
The recent experience of her fight with Hayate and Kena last evening 
notwithstanding, Nabiki had not been expecting to be doing quite this 
well against her younger sister.  So far she had simply been defending 
and was pleased to see that Akane was starting to look frustrated at her 
inability to connect.  Nabiki decided to up the ante a little bit and 
lashed out with a quick punch of her own.

Why isn't Nabiki fighting back? Akane wondered, annoyed.  I've been 
leaving a few openings in my defenses on purpose that she could have 
exploited by now.  Why doesn't she try and hit me?  Nabiki's sudden 
punch burst through Akane's guard a mere moment later and impacted 
squarely into her face.  Akane blinked at the strike, more surprised 
than really hurt.  She hadn't even seen it coming.  Wow!  Nabiki is even 
faster than I thought she was.  Akane increased the tempo of their 
match, her natural aggressiveness emerging.

"Nice punch, Nabiki," said Akane with a wolfish smile on her face.  "I 
guess you might be some competition for me, after all.  All right, this 
time for real!"  She lashed out with a complex combination of kicks and 
punches that had only ever failed to take an opponent down once, that 
opponent being Ranma Saotome.

"Whatever you say, little sister," said Nabiki with a slight smirk on 
her face, a note of smug mockery in her voice.  She wove through all of 
Akane's powerful strikes like smoke, some of the blows failing to 
connect by mere millimeters.  "I guess I'm better than you expected, 
ne?"  Nabiki blocked one of Akane's hands, locked a quick hold onto the 
extended limb, and then flipped her.

"Yeek!" screeched Akane in surprise, landing flat on her back onto the 
mat in the training hall with a dull thud.  Internally she cursed 
herself for letting Nabiki get the better of her so easily and sprang 
back to her feet.  An intense fury filled her as Akane attacked Nabiki 
with her full strength, but she only managed to shatter a fist-sized 
hole into one of the walls of the training hall, instead of laying 
Nabiki out on the mat, unconscious.  A light blow suddenly hit Akane 
squarely on the back of her neck a moment later, what would have been a 
knockout or even killing blow if it had landed with more force, and she 
blinked in surprise.

Akane pulled her fist from the hole in the wall and turned around, 
looking at Nabiki in shock.  Her older sister stood there in an almost 
casual stance, but still ready for further combat, a thoughtful look on 
her face.  Akane shook wooden shards from her hand, her anger at Nabiki 
diminishing a bit due to sheer surprise.  Her older sister had been 
standing right in front of her, and then she suddenly wasn't.

"How'd you do that?" asked Akane with a puzzled look, her surprise at 
her sister's combat abilities briefly overcoming her anger.  "I hardly 
even saw you move.  Wherever did you learn to fight like that?"

"It's a secret," said Nabiki, feeling a strange urge to keep the 
knowledge of Ranma's invention to herself.  "I'll tell you about it 
someday though, okay?"  Nabiki smiled, feeling not quite like herself at 
that moment.

"Okay," said Akane, her sudden anger at Nabiki so easily evading her 
already fading, but she still felt suspicious.  "You must have found a 
new teacher on the side, it looks like.  It sure wasn't anything like 
the stuff that Mom ever taught us, or even what the Academy makes us 
learn.  So what was it?"

"It's a style of kempo," answered Nabiki.  "I really shouldn't say 
anything more about it.  Okay?"

"Sure, Nabiki," said Akane.  "Just promise me that you'll teach me 
someday."  She attempted to duplicate one of the blocks that Nabiki had 
used during the fight.  "It looked like a powerful style."  Nabiki 
simply nodded, feeling a strangeness to her thoughts.

Oh yes, Akane, Nabiki thought while she kept nodding.  It's quite a 
powerful style.  One that I've never even heard mention of before my 
experience yesterday, and now I know it, and I suspect that Ranma does 
too.  How very strange.

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

At about the same time in the Kuno household, Kodachi finished pummeling 
the heavy leather bag in the mansion's training hall.  The muscles in 
her limbs ached slightly from the intensive efforts that she had given, 
but she knew from experience that her body would recover very quickly.  
In her original life, she had not pushed herself to the true limits to 
which she was capable of.  In her present life, she kept pushing what 
she thought of as her limits further and further, and her body kept 
improving in strength and speed.

Kodachi smiled as she went through a brief kata, enjoying the supple 
strength of her physique.  Many years of intensive gymnastics and dance 
training had given her counterpart a body that was ideal for performing 
as a martial artist.  Lithely muscular, as fast and graceful as a cat, 
and with a well-proportioned female form overlaying it all, Kodachi felt 
quite confident that she would be able to overcome any difficulties in 
her pursuit of Ranma.

Ah, Ranma, Kodachi thought with a pleasant sigh.  Once I deal with that 
annoying Akane Tendo today, then you and I can explore a romance to 
equal anything in literature.  I will prove the strength of my love for 
you by utterly defeating that little, brutish thug in your name.  Her 
right fist snapped out with near-lethal power, the sleek muscles in her 
forearms standing out in base relief.  Kodachi whirled through a quick 
sequence of strikes and blocks, every movement done with precision.

When she was done, Kodachi picked up her towel and dabbed the sweat from 
her brow.  Her chest heaved a bit from her deep breathing, as her lungs 
quickly rebuilt her strength after her efforts.  I have to confess that 
I will sort of miss fighting with Asuka though, thought Kodachi as she 
padded across the floor in her bare feet.  There really isn't anything 
quite like dealing with a near-equal opponent on a regular basis to keep 
the reflexes sharp.  Maybe I can talk Ranma into sparring with me.  That 
thought sent a surprisingly pleasant quiver through her body, a brief 
fantasy of yielding herself to a victorious Ranma like the heroine of a 
romance manga running through her mind.

Kodachi looked at her brother as she passed him, a frown crossing her 
face at his earlier refusal to spar with her.  She had politely asked 
him if he had cared to, after completing her warm-up and stretching, but 
he had demurred.  It was the only thing that she could think of to prove 
her strength to him, and her ability to take care of herself.  I will 
simply try again tomorrow, she decided.  An impish, little smile 
appeared on her lips.  Perhaps if she insulted him a bit next time.

Kuno watched his sister leave the room out of the corner of his eye, the 
remainder of his attention on practicing his form.  Today is the day 
that you fall before me, Ranma Saotome.  My gentle and innocent sister 
is not for the crude hands of the likes of you, nor shall the sweet and 
virtuous Akane Tendo be thine.  A brief but vivid fantasy of a maidenly 
Akane dressed in traditional garb, greeting him with a kowtow as he 
returned home, filled his mind.  The image of her gave him new 
determination to visit doom upon Ranma Saotome following classes today.

Perhaps I should consider Father's advice and transfer to the Imperial 
Academy, thought Kuno, slashing through the air with his weapon.  
T'would bring me closer to the fair Akane, and my guarding hand would be 
ever-present to defend my sister from the grasping and lecherous Ranma 
Saotome.  One such as he is entirely unsuited to consort with my fair 
sister.  T'would be a noble sacrifice, but necessary I think.

Kuno slashed through a wooden target with his bokken, and the top half 
fell to the side with a crash, sheered clean through as if by a razor-
sharp blade.  Count the hours you have remaining, Ranma Saotome, before 
you face my righteous wrath.  My sweet sister and the innocent Akane 
Tendo must be defended from thy lustful desires.

A short time later, Kodachi fussed with her bow as she observed herself 
in the full-length mirror in her room.  This was to be her first day 
attending the Imperial Academy, and she wanted everything to be perfect.  
She felt a bit out of sorts wearing the standard-make, wool and linen 
uniform for an Imperial Academy Science cadet, not being able to obtain 
any tailored ones suitable for one of her refined breeding on such short 
notice.  So, for a day or two, she would simply have to forego finer 
fabrics and tolerate these more plebian ones.  As she finished adjusting 
her bow, she found herself looking forward to dressing Ranma in silks 
and satins as well, as she felt he deserved.

Finally satisfied with her appearance, Kodachi blew a seductive kiss at 
her reflection.  She practically skipped down the stairs, buoyed up by 
the happiness filling her heart.  She quickly raced through eating her 
breakfast, more than a little impatient to be off.  Her father had left 
the house early to attend a meeting with some of his fellow Lords, 
leaving her mother to preside over the breakfast table.

"You seem most eager to see your new lover, Dachi-chan," said her mother 
in a teasing tone of voice.  Kuno promptly snapped the set of chopsticks 
in his hand in half in mid-bite.  Kodachi's face blushed bright red 
across her cheeks.

"Mother," said Kodachi in a put upon tone of voice, a touch of whining 
mixed in.  "I have told you that it is nothing like that.  I am simply 
eager to learn what the Imperial Academy has to teach.  Ranma Saotome is 
most certainly _not_ my lover."  She began eating what was left of her 
breakfast more daintily.  Although he would indeed be most welcome to 
become so, Kodachi brazenly thought, embracing an impulse that brought 
another maidenly blush to her cheeks.

Kuno grumbled under his breath, more and more convinced that the 
dramatic changes in his sister were due to the morally corrupting 
influences of Ranma.  His thoughts were filled with a simmering anger 
against the young scientist.  When we finally meet, Ranma Saotome, you 
will face the unleashed fury of Tatewaki Kuno, he who is the 
quintessentially supreme duelist of this modern generation.  At that 
meeting between us, only one shall remain standing, and it shall not be 
thee, Ranma Saotome.  He began gobbling down the remainder of his 
breakfast as fast as propriety allowed.

After breakfast was over, their mother saw them off at the front door, 
while servants handed them their school supplies.  Kuno gave his mother 
a brief kiss on the cheek, part of his morning routine since he was five 
years old and first left home for school.  Kodachi gave her mother a 
gentle kiss on the opposing cheek a moment later.  Their last sight of 
their mother was of her in her usual position, a quiet smile of farewell 
on her lips.

The ride in the limousine was quiet.  When the car stopped in front of 
the Imperial Academy, Kodachi departed from her brother with a brusque 
nod.  He returned the nod, his hands resting lightly on the hilt of his 
bokken as its point sat on the floor of the vehicle.  Kodachi shaded her 
eyes with her hand as she emerged from the dimly-lit interior into the 
morning light.

Back inside the limousine, Kuno pondered his course of action for the 
day.  The temptation to smite Ranma Saotome as soon as possible weighed 
heavily upon him, but he decided to proceed with his initial plan of 
action.  He tapped on the window and motioned the driver to continue on.

Kodachi took in a deep lungful of the fresh, morning air and let it out 
with a pleasant sigh.  She was rather early, so she occupied herself 
with watching her fellow cadets arriving as she waited at the gate for 
Ranma to make his appearance.  Several groups of cadets eyed her 
curiously, obviously noting that she was new, but she ignored them.  Her 
eyes waited for only one young man.

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

Ranma strolled along, grateful that he had managed to get out of the 
house this morning without having to hear his mother give yet another 
lecture about the joys of an arranged marriage.  It was a sunny day, the 
birds were singing in the trees, and he felt glad to be alive.  Life 
just can't get any better than this, he mused.

"You have an interesting fate clinging to you, boy," said a voice from 
behind him, startling him from his good mood.  Ranma stopped and turned 
around, blinking in surprise when he saw a small figure dressed in the 
robes of a wandering Buddhist monk, a straw hat hiding the face, and a 
tall staff in one hand.  The wooden staff was metal-shod at both ends 
and was topped by three jingling rings of brass attached to a circle of 
metal at the upright end.

"What?" asked Ranma, a little irritated at the unexpected event.  "Did 
you say something to me, old man?"

"I said that you have an interesting fate clinging to your aura, boy," 
said the wizened voice.  The hat tipped back, and an ugly little gnome 
of a monk gazed up at him.  "It has been some time since I have seen its 
like.  A strange and possibly dark destiny awaits you, young one."  The 
old man's voice had dropped into spooky tones at the last.

"Who the hell are you, old man?" demanded Ranma, not only irritated at 
the unexpected delay in his morning routine, but also now more than a 
little weirded out to be accosted like this by the strange individual.

"I am Cherry," said the ugly, little, wizened figure.  "Just a simple, 
wandering monk, and a student of arcane lore.  By the way, do you have 
any extra food on you, by chance?"  When Ranma did not reply, he 
shrugged then pointed at Ranma with the head of his staff, the rings 
jingling slightly.  "Mark my words, boy.  Your destiny calls to you, and 
I am but a humble harbinger of its approach.  Powerful and strange 
forces swirl about your life, and a vast storm looms on the horizon of 
things.  I can clearly see that you have been chosen for a great task.  
It is Fate."  Ranma could actually hear the capitalization of the final 
word from the manner in which the old man spoke it.

"What the hell are you babbling about, you old geezer?!" snapped Ranma, 
finally breaking the brief spell of wonder that the mysterious, old man 
had cast over him.  He turned his back on Cherry and started to walk 
away.  "I don't have time to listen to such mystical nonsense."

"Then you are the fool, boy of science," remarked Cherry.  "I will take 
my leave of you until you finally come to your senses, Ranma Saotome."  
The little gnome of a monk wandered into the gloom of a nearby alleyway 
while Ranma blinked in surprise that Cherry had known his name.  The 
gentle ringing of the monk's staff receded into the alleyway.

"Hey!" shouted Ranma, turning back around and taking two steps to bring 
him to the mouth of the alleyway.  He goggled in surprise, for the old 
man was gone, leaving behind only the fading echoes of the jingling 
rings on his staff.  Now where the hell did that old man go? wondered 
Ranma for several moments.  Was he some sort of master ninja or 
something?  He couldn't possibly have managed to clear the distance to 
the other end of the alley.  He was only out of my sight for a second or 
two.  And how the hell did he know my name?  Argghhh!  I don't have time 
for this right now!

Ranma decided to leave off from exploring his questions for another 
time, since he didn't want to be late for classes this morning.  The 
word was that they were getting a new substitute instructor for 
homeroom, as a temporary replacement for Tokimo-sensei while he went on 
a long sabbatical.  I hope they found someone with a little more 
personality than that dried up old prune, Tokimo.

The remaining time spent walking to the Academy grounds were devoid of 
any further strange occurrences, and Ranma was glad.  He had experienced 
too many of such things over the last few days.  My life used to be so 
quiet, he thought with a sigh.  Hopefully after I get Akane Tendo over 
her little fixation with me, then my life can return to normal.  A 
little excitement in my life is one thing, but this is getting to be 
ridiculous.

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

Akane and Nabiki walked along, enjoying the morning.  Each girl
wandered in her own thoughts.  Nabiki analyzed the abilities that she 
had gained overnight and wondered at how great she felt after the heavy 
morning workout.  Akane fantasized about her future life at Ranma 
Saotome's side as his wife, lover, and best friend.

Akane was completely convinced now that she was obviously the best 
choice for Ranma's wife, and she looked forward to a long life fighting 
at his side, in what she was sure would be a martial arts filled, 
romantic adventure like some of her favorite television programs.  A 
great many of her imagined scenes were taken from one of her most 
favorite anime series, "Young Warriors."  It was a story about a pair of 
highly-skilled, teenaged martial artists, a boy and a girl, and their 
adventures around the world fighting against many new and recurring 
foes.

Briefly breaking out of her fantasy, Akane also very much looked forward 
to brutally stomping on her only perceived rival for Ranma's affections, 
Kodachi Kuno.  Once I take care of that pushy little debutante bitch, 
then nothing further will stand between me and my destiny with Ranma, 
thought Akane, feeling a wave of happiness fill her.  She closed her 
right hand into a tight fist and smacked it into the open palm of her 
other hand.  I'll have to talk with Daddy about arranging a marriage 
meeting with the Saotome's, but that shouldn't be a problem.  Then Ranma 
will officially be all mine.  I can hardly wait.

Akane looks like she's thinking about Ranma again, noted Nabiki in her 
own thoughts, observing the starry-eyed gaze in her little sister's 
eyes.  Since Ranma's battle with Akane, it had become a very common 
occurrence.  In addition, every now and then this morning Akane's visage 
would darken, and she would mutter dire imprecations about Kodachi Kuno 
as she clenched her right hand into a fist and released it.  It did not 
bode well for the young aristocrat.

I may have a fight on my hands after all, once I finally get myself 
engaged to Ranma, thought Nabiki with mild concern.  Akane won't just 
roll over and play dead after I do.  And what is Kodachi Kuno doing 
showing up like this?  How did she suddenly develop an interest in 
Ranma?  She never had any interest in him in that other world, and yet 
here Kuno claimed that Ranma was having some sort of sordid relationship 
with his sister.  It looks like I'm going to have to start taking steps 
to deal with any more unexpected surprises appearing on the playing 
field.  The absolute last thing that I need is to have to contend with 
any more complications in my pursuit of Ranma.  She paused for a moment, 
her hand clenching into a fist.  Still, anything worth having is worth 
fighting for, so let them all come, if they dare.
 
They continued walking, reaching the front gate to the Academy a few 
minutes later.  Akane eyed the new addition to the campus cadet 
population with extreme distaste, an expression that was coolly returned 
by Kodachi Kuno.  Nabiki looked at Kodachi with moderate interest, 
having heard Akane ranting a little bit over dinner about the girl who 
was plotting to steal "her" Ranma away from her, now that she had 
finally found the man that she had waited so long for.

Still, while those two keep each other occupied, I can take care of 
everything needed to win Ranma for myself, thought Nabiki with a smug 
look briefly coming over her face.  Face it, girls.  Next to me, the two 
of you are hopelessly outmatched.  However, I do want to see everyone 
happy if I can, and eliminating an enemy by taking away their reason to 
hate you is always good strategy.  Akane wants a warrior, and Kuno may 
be insufficient in ability to defeat her.  I wonder if there's a certain 
Ryoga Hibiki free in this world to pick up some of the slack?  While she 
mused on this, Nabiki wandered over to a small cluster of her usual 
cronies, several plans for dealing with all of these new developments 
tumbling through her mind.

Akane broke away from Nabiki's side and approached the young noblewoman 
at a measured pace.  She stopped a short distance away from Kodachi, and 
they sized each other up.  Akane slowly closed her right hand into a 
fist and reopened it, her breathing deepening slightly.

"Tendo-san," acknowledged Kodachi with cold politeness, nodding her head 
slightly, her voice almost resonating with disdain.

"Kodachi Kuno," replied Akane coldly.  "I didn't think that you'd have 
the guts to show up, after the warning I gave you yesterday.  Ranma 
isn't around to save you from getting my fist planted into your face in 
the next few moments."

"You really are a crude and unpleasant sort, aren't you, Akane Tendo?" 
observed Kodachi in a conversational tone of voice.  "How a brutish 
barbarian like you could possibly think that such primitive behaviors 
would attract a peaceful and refined soul like Saotome-kun's is quite 
beyond me.  Still, if you're looking for a fight with me, then I'm more 
than willing to teach you some manners.  I would even go so far as to 
say that I would consider it a distinct pleasure."

"Why, you arrogant-" snarled Akane, dropping her bookbag.  She sprang at 
Kodachi with fire in her eyes, grabbing the other girl firmly by the 
collar of her uniform with her left hand and pinning her against the 
wall just inside the gate.  Kodachi willingly went along with the 
motion, a faint ghost of a smile briefly appearing on her lips.  The 
cadets began jostling each other for position, hoping to get a good view 
of the upcoming action.

Nabiki noticed the commotion and began accepting bets, quickly 
instructing her assistants to do the same.  She set the odds to favor 
Akane slightly, laying out quick spreads as to duration of fight and a 
few other betting options.  Ranma is sure to see them fighting over him 
when he arrives, thought Nabiki as she began scribbling down receipts 
while fistfuls of money were shoved at her.  How he reacts to that will 
be quite educational.  I'll just act as my usual self for now.  Wouldn't 
want to give away the new Nabiki too soon, after all, and surprise is 
always a valuable tactical advantage in any situation.

"Let go of me, Tendo," said Kodachi in very icy tones, dropping even the 
pretense of politeness.  Her school bag had been kicked to one side 
during Akane's sudden rush.  She wrapped her right hand around Akane's 
wrist as the two girls locked eyes in a battle of wills.  Akane 
increased the pressure of her forearm against Kodachi's shoulder.

"In a moment you're going to learn that you shouldn't mess with me, you 
stuck-up bitch," said Akane angrily.  She slowly curled her right hand 
into a tight fist as she drew it back and cocked it.  The crowd watched 
in breathless anticipation but kept a good distance away from the pair.  
A fight involving Akane could move around quite quickly.

"Oh?" wondered Kodachi pleasantly, suddenly driving her knee up into 
Akane's stomach and knocking the other girl away.  "Why is that, Tendo?"

Akane gasped for air, taken by surprise by the hit.  The crowd made some 
appreciative noises at the unexpected tactic, and even more money flowed 
into bets on Kodachi to win.  Akane's eyes narrowed in fury, and a red 
haze seemed to fall over her vision.  Fine, she thought darkly.  That's 
what I get for underestimating the little debutante bitch.  But no one 
makes me look like a fool.  No one.

Seeing the move, Nabiki decided to modify the odds to even.

Akane launched into a furious and powerful assault against Kodachi, but 
her punches and kicks were turned aside by deft blocks and parries time 
and again.  To counter this, Akane became even more fanciful in her 
strikes and dealing out even greater power in each of them, spinning 
kicks around her body to add more force to them as she leaped into the 
air.  Against previous opponents this had proven to be a devastating 
tactic, delivering bone-crushing impacts against the upper body and 
face.  Against Kodachi it was much less effective, and Akane's kicks 
failed to connect as the young noblewoman ducked and whirled around her.  
The air was filled with the sounds of grunted effort on the part of both 
girls and the muttered comments and occasional loud cheers from the 
crowd.

Kodachi countered the assault with a level of skill that was Akane's 
equal.  Where Akane had the definite edge in raw power, Kodachi made up 
for it in grace and speed.  One of her punches cracked across Akane's 
cheek, but she shrugged it off.  To her surprise, Kodachi found herself 
enjoying the challenge of the fight, and the two girls pushed each other 
to the limits of their abilities as they contended against each other.

Yohko Mano watched the fight with professional interest from her 
guardian position next to Nabiki, as she had often picked up a few 
pointers to add to her own techniques by watching Akane's skill in 
action during previous fights.  A slick move could sometimes prove to be 
the only thing standing between life and death for a Devil Hunter.  
Inside, she cheered her friend Akane, only showing it outside with a 
faint grin on her face as she tried to maintain a professional demeanor.

Yohko noticed Kyosuke in the crowd watching the fight, standing next to 
Gosunkugi.  Other cadets were giving the two former Mobius Institute 
cadets a very wide berth without looking as if they were trying to do 
so.  Yohko sighed, briefly forgetting her present irritation with her 
boyfriend over his staring at that Ayukawa girl.  Yohko knew how much 
Kyosuke wanted to be accepted as just another Security cadet, but the 
small pin on his collar seemed as if it would set him forever apart from 
regular humans.  Perhaps it's time for me to forgive him, Yohko thought, 
her attention briefly drawn from the fight.

Akane-chan, thought Gosunkugi with a sigh, glorying in the sight of the 
supple power of each movement of his love goddess.  He swiftly pulled 
out a mini-camera from a front pocket and began snapping pictures, a 
feat that only his senpai standing next to him noticed.  She is so 
graceful and strong.  Oh Akane, your every movement is like a symphony 
to me.

What are you doing, Hikaru? asked Kyosuke mentally, directing his 
thoughts to his fellow esper.

My apologies, senpai, thought Gosunkugi with a faint coloring of 
embarrassment.  I just love her so.  Every movement of her body is so 
graceful and powerful.  There is just something special about a woman 
who can move like that.

Yes, there is, thought Kyosuke in reply, a brief memory of some of his 
time spent with Yohko Mano accompanying it.  Any luck in your attempts 
at courting her?

She doesn't even know that I'm alive, senpai, thought Gosunkugi with a 
ringing note of misery.  And now with Ranma Saotome in the picture, I 
don't know what to do.  He had confirmed the rumors that he had been 
hearing, and a depression had filled him.  He consoled himself by 
snapping another couple of photos of Akane in action.

Why don't you talk to her? thought Kyosuke in exasperation.  At least 
let her know that you're interested.  You don't see me going about 
acting too afraid to talk to a girl, do you?  His thought sending was 
colored with pride.

Not even Ayukawa-san? teased Gosunkugi, briefly grinning at his senpai's 
sudden frown.  She has been in your thoughts a great deal the last few 
days.  Are you thinking of leaving Mano-senpai?

My private life is really none of your concern, Hikaru, thought Kyosuke 
stiffly, walling off his deeper memories.  I suppose I could say much 
the same thing about you and that young Ghost Sweeper girl studying at 
the Institute.  What was her name again?

All right, senpai, you've made your point, grumbled Gosunkugi, ignoring 
the question and turning his attention back to Akane and Kodachi's 
fight.  Only a few seconds had gone by during the mental conversation.

Kodachi found herself operating on the defensive, letting herself take 
Akane's measure, or at least that was the initial plan.  She kept trying 
to get some distance between her and Akane to let her use her powerful 
kicks, but the other girl was relentless.  Her mistake was in using the 
same strategies that she had always used against Asuka, and she was not 
adjusting quickly enough to the tactics of a new opponent.  Kodachi 
missed a block, and Akane's fist streaked in to slam low and hard into 
Kodachi's chest, right underneath her breasts.  The pain from her lower 
ribs was intense, and Kodachi was surprised once again at the sheer 
strength behind Akane's fist.  She staggered back, slightly stunned, and 
Akane quickly followed up with a smashing uppercut across her jaw.  
Flecks of blood spattered against the wall behind her back, shortly 
before Kodachi collapsed against it, her head spinning.

Akane stood back a pace, actually quite surprised that Kodachi had gone 
down so quickly from only a couple of strikes.  The young noblewoman 
wasn't proving to be as much of a challenge to her as she had vaguely 
hoped, and it was ending far too quickly for her tastes.  Akane rubbed a 
bruise on her cheek from one of Kodachi's fists with the back of her 
hand, tasting a little blood in her mouth from a cut inside her cheek.  
It was one of several minor injuries that she had received on her face 
and body from the young noblewoman.  Seeing that Kodachi wasn't 
springing back to the attack quickly enough to suit her, Akane started 
to shout at the other girl.

"Come on!" yelled Akane tauntingly, gesturing with her hands briefly 
before returning her fists into a ready position in front of her body.  
"Get up, you weakling!  I still have quite a few things to teach you!"  
She circled around Kodachi warily, holding down her desires to pummel 
the aristocrat while she was down through sheer force of will.  Akane 
had done it before to other challengers, driving her fists into the 
bodies of unresisting opponents after she had knocked them down, but it 
never offered her the same intense sense of satisfaction that going toe-
to-toe with a strong foe who could defend themselves did.

Kodachi caught her breath while she leaned against the wall and 
grimaced, shaking her head slightly to clear it.  Akane's strength was 
great, and her blows were powerful.  Still, Kodachi was now certain that 
she was slightly faster, and she remained confident that her skills 
would yet prevail, despite the blood that she now tasted in her mouth.  
This has gotten too far out of hand, she thought dazedly, while she 
regained her breath.  I can't afford to waste any more time with this 
foolish girl.  I'm sure that Saotome-kun will thank me for putting this 
barbarian savage down for the full count.  Kodachi gathered herself, 
slowly pulling herself up the wall.

"Ready for more?  Good!" said Akane, a smile appearing on her face.  The 
crowd cheered for Kodachi in a few scattered locations as they watched 
the aristocrat pull herself back up to her full height.  Akane came 
rushing in with a very straightforward attack, more one of raw power 
than skill.  She wasn't expecting to see any more fight left in Kodachi, 
so Akane's defenses were weaker while she went into her all-out 
offensive.

That was all the opening that Kodachi needed.  Her left foot exploded up 
from the ground in a powerful side kick that drove hard into Akane's 
stomach.  Quickly dropping her foot, Kodachi used it as a pivot for a 
reverse spin kick that whirled her body about, focusing all of the 
energy from her torquing hips into her swiftly-uprising leg.  The crowd 
gasped as her right heel slammed across Akane's face with a bone-
crunching sound of impact, spinning the other girl around in a dazed 
condition.  However, a sudden blurring in Kodachi's vision when she 
dropped her foot back to the ground prevented her from finishing Akane 
off at that moment while she was stunned and off balance.

Nabiki actually stopped what she was doing at that moment to watch the 
unexpected turnaround in the fight.  She had not been expecting Kodachi 
to give her little sister such a challenge, and for several long seconds 
there were no motions from either fighter.  This Kodachi is far more of 
a threat than she initially appeared to be, if she can stand up against 
Akane as well as she has, noted Nabiki, filing away the information in 
her mind.  There were no clever tricks being used by this version of 
Kodachi, no wielding of ribbons or other odd weapons of rhythmic 
gymnastics to fight with.  No, this version of Kodachi Kuno was simply a 
well-trained unarmed combatant, to an extraordinarily high caliber of 
skill.  This looks to be more and more interesting.  I do so love a 
challenge.  Nabiki smiled.

Gosunkugi started forward to help Akane when a hand came down on his 
shoulder.  Kyosuke shook his head when the younger boy looked back at 
him.  Do you really think that Akane would want help in a fight? he 
thought at Gosunkugi.  Win or lose, it must be by her own hand.  Do not 
interfere with the two Mundanes, my young friend.  You will not earn 
Akane's appreciation if you do.  She is a girl of intense pride.

Gosunkugi nodded, but his thoughts were dark as he stared at the 
ponytail-haired girl who had struck his love goddess so brutally.  You 
have made a life-long enemy this day, Kodachi Kuno, the young esper 
thought fiercely.  I will not forget your actions against my Akane-chan.  
Ever.

Amazingly, to those in the crowd who had witnessed both kicks landing 
solidly into her body and face, Akane took both powerful strikes and was 
still managing to remain on her feet.  Her mouth slowly leaked blood 
from a split lip, and it felt like one of her molars had come loose 
during the impact of Kodachi's second kick.  Akane probed the inside of 
her mouth with her tongue for a moment to confirm it, and then she 
grinned savagely.  Other than against Nabiki and Ranma, she hadn't had 
this much of a challenge in a long time.  It was an enjoyable experience 
to find yet another opponent that she could cut loose on.

I don't believe this, thought Kodachi with annoyance as Akane came back 
up into a ready stance after several moments.  That kick would have 
floored some of the best Arena fighters.  This Tendo girl must be part 
cockroach or something.  However, Kodachi also felt an unexpected quiver 
of savage joy run up and down her body as Akane smiled a bloody smile at 
her in the bright morning light.  All of her fights with Asuka had not 
forced Kodachi to reach quite so deeply into herself as this fight had 
required, and she had to admit that she was strangely grateful to find 
such a worthy opponent.  After all, the greater the challenge, the 
sweeter the victory.

Kodachi raised her hands back up into a guarding position again, a smile 
that was eerily like Akane's own on her face.  The two girls circled 
each other again, both far more wary of the other's capabilities than 
when the fight had begun.  Each of them now realized that they faced an 
opponent who was roughly their equal.

"Was that your best shot, debutante?" asked Akane contemptuously.

Kodachi's eyes glinted angrily, but she didn't feel like wasting any of 
her breath on replying.  Her jaw hurt a great deal, and she knew that 
she was going to have some colorful bruises all over her body after this 
was over.  Kodachi didn't feel that any of her bones were broken, and 
she suspected that Akane's damages were equally superficial.  She did 
notice that Akane was moving slower, but Kodachi was surprised that the 
other girl was still able to move at all.  Putting the Tendo girl down 
was not proving to be as easy for her as she had first thought.

"Come on, princess," Akane coaxed, gesturing for Kodachi to close with 
her.  Akane spit out some more blood, the pain of her injuries was 
dulled through the mask of her hatred for the other girl.  However, now 
mixed in with that hatred was a grudging respect for a worthy opponent.  
She circled around Kodachi, eyeing the aristocrat for any weaknesses in 
her defenses, while her body recovered its strength.  Akane felt a 
savage joy in her soul.  Fighting always made her feel truly alive, and 
she now anticipated the day more than ever before when she faced Ranma 
like this in combat once again.

She took a couple of my best kicks and didn't fall, noted Kodachi with 
clinical detachment, taking a few moments to study Akane as she searched 
for any weaknesses in her defenses.  This Tendo girl's skill at fighting 
is impressive.  Far better than I anticipated from her.  She is even 
tougher than she looks.

Akane quickly tired of waiting for Kodachi to make a move, and she 
suddenly came in with a series of punches, elbow strikes, and kicks.  
Kodachi had no choice but to try and see if she could slip any blows 
past Akane's defenses while doing her best to block and dodge the new 
assault.  However, for every punch that she threw, Akane returned one in 
exchange.  They moved across the courtyard in a dazzling display of 
martial arts skill.

Asuka Saginomiya watched the combat from a nearby tree with envy filling 
her soul as she witnessed her sworn enemy, Kodachi, fighting with Akane, 
her unexpected new rival for the heart of Tatewaki Kuno.  Not that she 
ever actually considered Akane to be a true rival, only an annoyance in 
her life that she would soon deal with.  Asuka had not realized before 
how skilled Kodachi truly was, and it rankled her that the Kuno girl had 
actually been holding back her true ability, as if she, the White Lily 
of Blackhall Academy, had not been not worthy of its full measure.  
Asuka made a mental note to hire the finest teachers that she could 
find, so that she could improve her skills sufficiently to best Kodachi 
Kuno once and for all.

Next to Asuka perched her right hand woman, Ayako Mitsui, easily 
balancing on the tree branch on the balls of her feet.  Asuka looked 
over to see that Ayako was not following her instructions but was 
instead watching someone else in the crowd.  She followed the line of 
Ayako's vision to see what her friend and sparring partner was looking 
at, and she was surprised to see an identical twin of Ayako standing 
amidst the crowd, next to the sister of Akane Tendo.

"Yohko," murmured Ayako, venom filling the single word as she softly and 
slowly spat it from her lips.  She noticed Asuka looking at her and gave 
a quick bow of her head to her mistress in apology.  "I'm sorry, Milady.  
It is an old family score that I must deal with at a later time.  Please 
forgive me for my inattention."

"It is nothing, Mitsui-san," said Asuka calmly.  "In fact, it gives me 
an excellent idea for a future task for you."

"As always, Milady, my honor is to serve you," said Ayako humbly.  
"Through me as your personal ninja, the Mitsui Clan is ever at your 
disposal.  Name the task, and it shall be done."

"Soon, Mitsui-san, soon," breathed Asuka softly.  "For now, I am content 
to watch the beating that Kodachi is taking from that savage, little 
Tendo girl.  You don't know how pleasant it is to see that bitch sister 
of Kuno's receiving such punishment.  I only wish it was myself doing 
it."  Asuka's eyes glittered in the morning sunlight streaming down 
through the tree branches.

Down below, Kodachi's head rocked back from another one of Akane's 
uppercuts, and she responded with a quick footsweep that caught Akane 
behind her ankle.  She pressed her attack and pounded three more hard, 
quick punches into Akane's face and torso while the other girl struggled 
to regain her balance.  Once she had, Akane drove a punch into Kodachi's 
ribcage that landed just enough off-center to prevent several bones from 
cracking.  Kodachi, on the defensive, found herself unable to get past 
Akane's guard without leaving herself more open than she cared to be, so 
it quickly became a battle of endurance.  Both girls traded hit after 
hit as they both refused to yield.

Kodachi is a wonderful opponent, thought Akane, pausing for a moment to 
catch her breath.  She's strong, fast, and skilled.  If Ranma's skill is 
greater than hers or Nabiki's, then I have to see what a fight to the 
finish with him is like.  Akane couldn't stop grinning at the thought of 
her inevitable confrontation with Ranma.  This was what she lived for, 
the challenge of the fight.  However, tempering that was a desire to 
follow the example of her Arena idol, Shampoo, and yield herself to a 
strong male.  Akane considered herself to be an Amazon at heart, and she 
was looking forward to finding out if her ideal man was indeed Ranma 
Saotome.

Akane and Kodachi traded punches and kicks once again, in a wild flurry 
of action that carried them back and forth across the paved area in 
front of the Academy.  Kodachi blocked a punch and counterstruck in the 
same smooth motion, her fist snapping Akane's head to the right.  But 
Akane came back with a lightning-quick return strike of her own, her 
backfist hitting Kodachi across the face.  They broke apart for another 
moment.

I was wrong, thought Kodachi, wiping at a thin line of blood that leaked 
from her nose.  Akane is a lot tougher than she looks.  She started out 
this fight angry, but now she keeps grinning at me.  What does she keep 
grinning about?  Does she think she's won?  Kodachi paused and tried to 
think of a way to win.  All of her usual strategies had failed to put 
Akane down, and she had taken much more abuse in this fight than she had 
in a long while.  She can't be able to take much more of this.

"The dancing is over, Kodachi," said Akane suddenly.  She could feel one 
of her eyes swelling up, and the taste of blood had not left her mouth 
in some time.  "Now you and I are going to get serious."  She started 
moving forward, ignoring these distractions.

Kodachi readied herself.  She felt bruises on top of bruises all up and 
down the length of her body, and she now felt like she was fighting in 
mud, her movements were so sluggish.  Her injuries had tired her out, 
but it looked like Akane was able to take even more punishment still.  
The thought of losing to someone like Akane was anathema to Kodachi, so 
she wasn't about to willingly give up.  No retreat, no surrender, 
Kodachi thought grimly to herself.  I am a Kuno, a samurai, and I refuse 
to yield!  Her focus restored, Kodachi moved forward to meet Akane.

The eyes of their many watchers were riveted upon them as the two girls 
came together in a last sequence of strikes.  Powerful blows that would 
have been easily blocked or dodged earlier, slipped through defenses now 
ragged from exhaustion.  Akane took a solid shot up from beneath her jaw 
from Kodachi's elbow.  A split second later, Kodachi felt Akane's fist 
impact against her shoulder right at the joint, turning her entire left 
arm numb.  Akane followed up by driving her knee low into Kodachi's 
right side, but the young noblewoman managed to blunt the blow's damage 
by twisting away at the last moment.

Her left arm hanging limp, Kodachi managed to execute a side kick that 
gave her the satisfaction of hearing her foot crack against Akane's 
ribs, but she was unable to tell if she had broken any bones.  However, 
the effort to do so had cost her dearly, and her vision was graying out.  
Kodachi felt herself stumble back and fall against the high stone and 
cement wall behind her, but she struggled to remain standing even as her 
knees gave out on her.  She's so strong, thought Kodachi as her thoughts 
blurred.  She's so strong.

"Unhh!" Akane cried, staggering back from Kodachi's last-ditch assault, 
her ribs flaring with agony.  She fell to her knees on the cool 
pavement, wrapping her arms around her torso, her vision blurring from 
her exhaustion and pain.  Akane looked up and dimly saw Kodachi slumped 
against the wall by the main gate, her head bowed.  I c-can't lose, she 
thought as she struggled to rise once again to her feet.  Mother didn't 
raise me to be a loser.  I'm a warrior, just like she was.

Akane managed to slowly stagger over to Kodachi and lifted the other 
girl's face up by the hair to punch it, but she had already fallen 
unconscious.  Akane felt a powerful thrill of victory surge through her 
over her downed foe.  It even managed to overcome the pains of the 
multiple bruises and other injuries that was making it hard for her to 
concentrate now.  She sat down against the wall, sliding down next to 
Kodachi, suddenly feeling so very tired.  I won, Mother, thought Akane 
as her thoughts blurred to a gray fog.  Now, I'll just rest here and 
catch my breath.  Nabiki will cover for me again.  She always does....  
Akane's last thought faded to black as she fell unconscious.

Nabiki left her assistants to pay off the bets on Akane and rushed to 
her sister's side.  She was right behind Gosunkugi and a few others from 
Akane's unofficial fan club on campus.  The spooky little esper boy was 
patting Akane's wrist, trying to wake her.  Nabiki shouldered him aside, 
earning a dark expression from him that lasted for only a moment before 
being replaced by one of Gosunkugi's usual obsequious looks that he 
always gave her.

Nabiki looked Akane over, even peeling back each eyelid to see how 
dilated Akane's pupils were, all of her training in advanced first aid 
techniques being put to good use.  Looks like little sister is simply 
out cold, she thought calmly, surveying the damages to her sister.  No 
broken bones as far as I can tell, except for maybe those ribs.

"Somebody see to Kuno-san," ordered Nabiki.  She and Yohko picked Akane 
up between them and carried her off to the Academy infirmary.

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

"Let's go," said Asuka suddenly, her voice neutral, startling Ayako from 
her observance of the activities over by the wall as cadets rushed 
towards the fallen pair.  "I've seen enough of this.  I now know all 
that I need know, to achieve my victory over Kodachi when I face her 
next.  She has obviously run from my growing skills at combat, but I 
intend to see to it that she kneels before me and acknowledges my 
supremacy before all of Blackhall Academy, or I shall deal with her just 
as that vicious Tendo girl did.  Now it is time for me to train for my 
destined day of victory."  A sudden burst of chilling laughter came out 
of Asuka, and a moment later she and Ayako were gone over the wall.

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

Ranma arrived at the campus a few minutes later, while the cadets were 
still talking about the fight, but he did not pay them any heed.  His 
mind was already preoccupied with thoughts about the strange event that 
had occurred during his walk to the Academy campus.  He slowly wandered 
past several knots of cadets, unnoticed by all save for a single 
exception.

Hikaru Gosunkugi eyed the pigtailed scientist with a sullen look of 
hatred filling his sunken eyes.  It was for your sake that my Akane-chan 
now lies injured, Ranma Saotome, thought the esper boy with a deeper 
anger than he had ever felt before towards anyone, even against Kodachi.  
He had very quickly probed Akane's mind while she lay unconscious, and 
her many scattered thoughts about why she had fought with Kodachi had 
shocked him deeply.  It was not enough for you that you charmed sweet 
Akane-chan by revealing your skills as a martial artist to her.  Now you 
draw another woman that you have ensnared into your webs to this campus, 
and that she-demon fought with my beautiful Akane-chan over you.  If I 
only had the power to destroy you, I would.

Unaware of the level of emotion directed at him, Ranma continued on into 
the main building.  It was only when he was outside his homeroom that he 
stopped to wonder why Akane hadn't assaulted him yet today.  He had been 
half-expecting her to be lying in wait for him at the main gate.  It was 
a relief to him that she was not.

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

"Explain yourselves to me."

Hayate and Kena looked at each other nervously, both of them now swathed 
in more bandages than the day before.  To one side, Hiei wore a look of 
supreme displeasure that somehow made his face even more frightening-
looking to the two bullies.  Naka stood with his bokken resting on his 
shoulder as he studied his two teammates, a smile on his lips that did 
not reach his eyes.

"It was-" the rest of Kena's speech faded off into a mumble as he looked 
down at the floor.  Hayate, his mouth wired shut from his broken jaw, 
somehow looked even more miserable than he had before.

Atop the raised area at the end of the room, the figure of their boss 
moved in the shadows that he favored.  He thought that it made him look 
cooler as a leader to do so, but his anger at this new disruption to his 
plans overcame that.  He strode forward into the light and grabbed Kena 
by the collar of his uniform.

"Tell me the name of whoever did this!" thundered the brown-eyed boy as 
he shook Kena by the collar.  "Was it Ranma Saotome once again?!"

"I-it was Nabiki Tendo," said Kena, his eyes refusing to meet those of 
his leader.  "She broke Hayate's jaw and broke my nose again.  I'm so 
sorry, Kashuoh-san!  Boss, let us have another chance!"  With a look of 
extreme distaste, Kinnosuke Kashuoh released his follower and let him 
slump to the floor.

"Nabiki Tendo," muttered Kinnosuke, straightening his Science blue cadet 
uniform.  "She takes a direct hand against me now, rather than let 
others continue to do her dirty work."  A solemn look on his face, he 
walked back to his chair.  Shortly before he reached it, he turned to 
the Wolf Pack and ordered, "Leave me to my thoughts.  I must make new 
plans."

"Yes, Boss," muttered each of them, Hayate's only coming out as a few 
unintelligible syllables.  They quickly filed out of the room, and 
Kinnosuke leaned forward, a brooding look on his face.

"Why do you put up with those idiots, Kinnosuke-sama?" asked a female 
voice from behind him.  Three tall, female figures emerged from the 
shadows to stand near him as the lights came up in the room, all dressed 
in very stylized versions of the Academy's Security cadet uniform: the 
speaker, a short-haired redhead, wore a military cap as an accessory to 
her uniform; a blonde with the bangs of her straight hair swept over one 
eye; and a black-haired girl with deep blue highlights in her tresses.  
The now fully lit room lights revealed Kinnosuke's personal bodyguards, 
and the reason behind his iron control over the warriors that made up 
the Wolf Pack.

Each girl appeared to be in her late teens at the oldest, dressed in 
individually modified versions of a female Security cadet uniform that 
had abbreviated blouses and jackets, leaving part of their trim midriffs 
bare.  They were each approximately one-point-seven meters tall, the 
blonde being the tallest by an extra couple of centimeters, and all of 
them were somewhat broad-shouldered for women, with athletic and quite 
well-proportioned figures.  The tailoring of their uniform jackets hid 
little of their assets in that particular regard.

Their most distinctive features however, were the two tapering, cat-like 
ears atop their heads and their slit-pupiled eyes, both features marking 
them as creations of Genom Corporation.  Other than these two non-human 
features, they were all beautiful women in form.  Each of them was an 
experimental prototype to Genom's three new lines of Catgirl Synthetics, 
humanoid replicants created for the purposes of being exotic sexual 
companions and bodyguards for the very wealthy, and these prototype 
units were named after their series designations.  They were designed to 
follow up on the great success of the original Puma Series.

Like the Pumas before them, these new models had received strong mental 
conditionings and personality overrides implanted into them, and at the 
core of their identities, all three of them had been given two main 
motivations.  They had been imprinted to love and to be loyal to their 
master without question, and they all did so with a passion.  They were 
eager to please him, willing to do any and all tasks that he bade them 
do, even if it meant dying on his behalf or killing in his name.

For these three prototypes, that master was Kinnosuke Kashuoh, the heir 
to the Kashuoh Family's vast financial holdings, among which was a 
controlling percentage of Genom itself.  Due to the desires of their 
creators, each of them was presently a teenager physically, but they 
would age and mature as a normal human would.  Like his father before 
him, Kinnosuke had received the three catgirls as a present, a mark of 
his ascension into manhood.  His father presently had two Puma Series 
units as his "companions."

"We await your bidding, Kinnosuke-sama," said the redhead.  All three 
young women then knelt before him, their eyes lowered to look at the 
floor until they had been given his permission to rise.  Each of them 
had their ears cocked forward to listen to his command.  From where he 
stood, Kinnosuke, a cold smile on his lips, took a long moment to study 
them.

The redhead with jade-green eyes was named Tiger, and she was the semi-
official leader of this trio of lethal lovelies.  She wore a pair of 
long trousers that flared out at the knees, Prussian style, before being 
tucked into calf-length boots, and her military-style hat was perched at 
a fashionable angle between the two cat-like ears atop her head.  She 
was also the eldest, after a fashion, the first one decanted and given 
in service to Kinnosuke at Genom's facilities.  Her model's hardwired 
reflexes and skills in combat were arguably the greatest of the trio, 
programmed into her nerves and brain during her creation.  In addition, 
she was also implanted with several optional skills beyond those of a 
strictly combat nature.

The middle one was named Panther.  She was the muscle of the trio, her 
model was designed to be a little stronger physically than the other 
two, but she was also a little bit slower as well, both physically and 
mentally.  She was the most aggressive of the three catgirls, and she 
had enjoyed the task of beating up the members of the Wolf Pack for her 
master.  Her long blonde hair was worn straight, and a lock of her bangs 
seemed to perpetually cover one of her steel-colored eyes, usually the 
left one.  Like Tiger, she wore long trousers tucked into calf-length 
boots, but hers fit snugly against her long legs over their entire 
length.

The last one was Lynx.  She was the quietest of the trio, an athletic 
and trim dark-haired girl with cobalt-blue eyes.  Her model was the 
weakest physically by a small margin than the others, but her mind had a 
special ability to analyze an opponent or a combat situation with 
incredible speed.  And she was also a little bit faster physically than 
even Tiger.  Unlike how the first two were dressed, she wore a very 
short skirt that was slit up one side to her hip, exposing her long, 
shapely legs.  Instead of boots, she wore fashionable shoes on her feet.

Kinnosuke considered all three of them to be useful tools in his plans 
while he attended the Academy.  They had "convinced" each of the members 
of the Wolf Pack to serve him as his agents among the masses by beating 
them brutally to gain their loyalty, but that action was now appearing 
to be a severe mistake.  Two of the Wolf Pack, hand-picked for their 
supposedly high-caliber skills at combat, had already fallen to totally 
unexpected opponents, first Ranma Saotome and now Nabiki Tendo.  

Nabiki Tendo, thought Kinnosuke with an angry look, before it turned 
wistful a moment later.  How I long to claim you for myself, to bend 
that iron will of yours to my desires.  I would have you as my own 
consort, placing you by my side at your proper place as a woman.  If you 
would only yield to me as your master, as is my right as a man.  After 
all, I should be the one who runs things at this Academy, not a mere 
woman such as yourself.  Women were made to serve men, and I will see 
your beautiful body bowing down before me, even as my three pretty 
playthings do now.  Someday soon, you will be mine to do with as I 
please, Nabiki Tendo, and nothing will stand in the way of that goal.  I 
intend to own you utterly, body and soul.

"Rise, my pets," said Kinnosuke.  The three catgirls stood up, all of 
them gazing at him with clear adoration evident in their eyes, their 
cat-like ears cocked forward to listen to his every word as they awaited 
his orders.  He turned his back upon them, pacing back to his chair 
before turning around to face them once more.  "I am very troubled by 
these new developments."

"Kinnosuke-sama," said Tiger, an almost purring undertone to her voice, 
a seductive sound that appeared to have no effect on him.  She walked 
over and stood behind him, her hands rising to begin rubbing at his 
shoulders.  "Allow me to soothe you, Master."  Her strong hands began to 
gently knead at the tautness in his muscles.  The other two catgirls 
started to move forward, but a cold glance from his eyes froze them in 
their places, and their ears drooped in sadness.  He shrugged Tiger's 
hands from his shoulders with a brusque movement of his arms, and her 
ears flattened gloomily like the others, a clear barometer to her mood.  
"Kinnosuke-sama?"

"Not now, Tiger," reproved Kinnosuke coolly.  She backed up a single 
pace from him.  "I have to get to my first class now, but I will have 
tasks for you later though.  I want all of you to wait for me here, and 
I will return during lunchtime."  He walked towards the door.

"Yes, Kinnosuke-sama," intoned all three of them, bowing their heads as 
they watched him depart, their ears twitching slightly.  Once he was 
gone, they turned to face each other.

"He was thinking about _her_ again," said Tiger, a deep frown on her 
face, her ears flat with her anger.  "How I have grown to hate the name 
of Nabiki Tendo!"

"Why would he ever want such a frail human woman when he has us?" 
wondered Panther, anger in her voice.  "I could break the little bitch 
in two with my bare hands."

"That would most likely displease Kinnosuke-sama, if we killed her," 
said Lynx, her ears laid back as she thought about the matter.  "He 
wants her for himself as a consort."

"The very idea," snorted Panther.  "Only the three of us are suitable 
consorts for Kinnosuke-sama.  When I think of how her defiance has hurt 
him, I want to kill her!"  She flexed her hands into fists.

"Killing her is not an option at this time," said Tiger with a note of 
regret.  "However, she has revealed herself to be a fighter of some 
skill.  That opens up another option."

"You have an idea, Tiger?" quickly asked Panther, both of her ears 
swiveling forward to listen to her "sister."

"Perhaps," said Tiger.  "We defeated those four useless fools in the 
Wolf Pack easily enough, even when they fought together, and they were 
supposedly the strongest fighters at this Academy, next to Akane Tendo.  
Defeating a single human woman like Nabiki Tendo should pose no great 
difficulty to any one of us, and then we can force her to kneel before 
Kinnosuke-sama and swear loyalty to him.  I'm sure that such a thing 
would please him greatly, though why he would want a soft, human girl 
like her when he already has three strong consorts like us, all eager to 
please him, is simply beyond me."  Tiger's tone of voice betrayed her 
deep contempt for all human women.

"But he has not bedded any of us in a while," said Lynx softly, her tone 
a little mournful.  "Does he not find us desirable anymore?"

"Shut up, Lynx!" said Tiger, her face blushing as red as her hair from 
her own unfulfilled desires for their master.  "It has not been that 
long.  He is simply distracted by his frustrations with the Tendo girl.  
She is at fault for this, do you hear me?  This is all Nabiki Tendo's 
fault!"

"What about Saotome?" asked Lynx, ignoring Tiger's outburst.  Her soft 
voice was thoughtful, and one ear was cocked forward to point in Tiger's 
direction.  "He might act to defend her.  He defended the other Tendo 
girl, after all."

"If he interferes, then we destroy him," said Tiger in a matter of fact 
tone of voice.  "He caused pain to Kinnosuke-sama by daring to interfere 
with his plans for the younger Tendo bitch, and for that act alone I 
would cheerfully break Ranma Saotome in two."  Tiger made a fist with 
both hands and pantomimed the action, a fierce light glinting in her 
slit-pupiled green eyes, her ears flattened to her head.

"It sounds like a good plan Tiger," said Panther.  She smacked a fist 
into the open palm of her opposite hand.  "I look forward to this.  So 
when do we put your plan into action?"

"I'm not sure," replied Tiger, her ears cocked in puzzlement.  "I 
suggest that we watch and wait for a while.  It may be that we will be 
sent against Nabiki Tendo today, and then we can have some fun with her 
before we present her battered body to Kinnosuke-sama."

"I miss Kinnosuke-sama already," said Lynx softly.  Her ears drooped in 
sadness.

"Shut up, Lynx!" shouted the other two catgirls in stereo.

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

The limousine arrived at the grounds of Whitehall Academy, and Kuno 
waited briefly inside for the driver to open the door for him.  He 
tapped the hilt of his bokken with two fingers, and his thoughts were 
dark as he had found himself growing concerned during the short ride to 
Whitehall to have his sister be so far from him, her fragile innocence 
unguarded from the lustful depredations of the commoners and even the 
lower-born nobles that infested the Imperial Academy.  The thought of 
her consorting with the likes of Ranma Saotome set his teeth on edge.

This day will be long, thought Kuno, as he emerged from the interior of 
the vehicle.  He saw Mikado lazily lounging on the front steps.  Kuno 
gave a brief wave of greetings to his fellow among the Duelists of 
Whitehall, as the members of the Kendo Club were more commonly known.  
Kuno felt that their nickname was appropriate, and he prided himself on 
being known as the pre-eminent Duelist among all of his noble peers.

"Greetings, Kuno-kun," said Mikado, standing up and brushing an 
invisible particle of dirt from his trousers.  "I see that your sister 
did not arrive with you."

"Truly you do not know how lucky you are, Sanzenin-kun, to not have to 
put up with the whims of a younger sister," grumbled Kuno.  "A sister 
can be a sore trial to a nobleman, especially when she has been turned 
against her own brother by the schemes and honeyed words of a wretched 
knave."

"So does this walking dead man have a name?" said Mikado with an oddly 
neutral expression.  Kuno looked at him and chuckled.

"Aye, he does," said Kuno, his hand firmly gripping the pommel of his 
bokken.  "Ranma Saotome.  I intend to humble the vile wretch in single 
combat before all who are there to witness it.  As the undefeated 
warrior that I am, he shall prove to be little challenge to my prowess.  
Then, when he is licking the dust at my feet, after I have humbled him 
utterly, I intend to show my sister what a weak and worthless man she 
has chosen to love."

"If by some chance you fail," said Mikado in as diplomatic of tones as 
he could manage.  "I shall challenge him as well."  A light shone in his 
eyes as he spoke.  No one is worthy of your sister, my friend, but me.  
I shall gladly help you in dealing with this low-born upstart.

Kuno grunted and nodded, grateful to have such a selfless and faithful 
friend as Mikado to act as his second.  "It shall be a glorious day 
today," said Kuno.  "I shall smite the villainous Saotome with my trusty 
weapon.  However, If I should somehow fail, then my second shall take my 
place on the field of battle, but only a God-given miracle can save 
Saotome from my puissant prowess.  Mark my words, gentle friend, I shall 
defeat Ranma Saotome, and he shall rue the day that he ever heard the 
name of Tatewaki Kuno."

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

Ranma sat at his desk and looked out the window as he waited for their 
new instructor to arrive.  He had just overheard the talk about the 
fight between Akane and Kodachi from some of the male cadets in his 
class, and the news had left him feeling morose.  This day is already 
starting to look bad for me, he thought, his eyes following a cloud 
moving across the sky.  I think I'm just going to go hide in my lab 
after homeroom period is over.

The door opened, all eyes but his turned to face the door, and there 
were some immediate soft whistles made by several of the male cadets.  
Ranma, puzzled by the sounds behind him, turned to face the door and saw 
the new instructor, a rather stunning-looking woman.  Instructors were 
not required to wear uniforms like cadets, and her outfit revealed more 
than it concealed her figure.  She was dressed in a low-cut black top 
that showed a moderate amount of cleavage beneath a white jacket, a gray 
skirt that rested several centimeters above her knees, and a pair of 
black pumps.  Topping all of this was a lustrous mane of reddish hair 
that fell between her shoulders like a wave of fire.  Her eyes swept the 
room in a cool gaze, and calm was quickly restored.

As a unit, the class rose and bowed to the new instructor before they 
retook their seats.  Ranma, finding the new instructor to be far easier 
on the eyes than the old man who had been it before her, hoped that 
Tokimo-sensei stayed away for a long time.  She shut the door behind her 
and strode the short distance to the desk, her heels making a soft 
clicking sound on the hardwood floor.  She set her attaché case on the 
desk and turned back to face the class, clearing her throat gently.

"I am your new instructor for your homeroom, Ayaka Kisaragi," she said 
in a clear voice.  She sat down on the edge of the desk and crossed her 
long legs, and the sound of several male throats swallowing as one 
accompanied the action.  A few of the girls looked very unhappy with 
several of the boys in the room.  "I expect you to listen to what I have 
to teach you with respect, and we'll get along fine.  Cross me, and 
you'll regret it.  Do we understand each other?"

"Yes, Sensei!" roared the class, Ranma's voice among them.

"Good," Ayaka said pertly, uncrossing and recrossing her legs the 
opposite way.  Heh, she thought with amusement, letting a smile find its 
way to her face.  This will be an easy assignment.  Her eyes swept the 
room as she nodded, pleased.  She pulled out the attendance roll book 
from her attaché case and began to read off names.

"Saotome," said Ayaka finally, after reading off many names and 
listening for the replies.

"Here, Sensei," Ranma called out.  She gave him a very enigmatic smile 
for a moment, before moving on to the next name.  Ranma went back to 
admiring the new instructor.  His concerns about the events of this 
morning faded to the back of his mind.

"Ranma Saotome," suddenly crackled the speaker in the classroom.  
"Please report to the Dean's office immediately."  Ranma got up, Ayaka 
nodded her permission for him to leave, and he headed out of the 
classroom.

I wonder what the Dean could want to see me about now?

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

Akane slowly returned to consciousness, and the first sensation that 
greeted her was pain.  Her body hurt all over.  She sighed and tried to 
relax back against the soft mattress beneath her.  Even such a simple 
thing as breathing hurt, so she made herself take little panting 
breaths.  When she finally opened her eyes, the first sight that she saw 
was Nabiki looking at her from a nearby chair, a smile on her face.

"I see that you're back among the living, little sister," said Nabiki in 
a pleased voice.  "Looks like you bit off a little more than you could 
chew this time.  Does it hurt much?"  Nabiki examined the bandages 
wrapped around Akane's chest.

"I hurt all over," Akane moaned out.  "How badly am I injured, Nabiki?"

"Not too badly," answered Nabiki.  "You have some bruised ribs, a few 
moderate contusions, and some minor muscle damage.  Luckily, none of 
your internal organs were injured, and you also managed to avoid a 
concussion by some small miracle.  The doctor said that you should be 
fine in a couple of days if you take it easy."  Nabiki paused as she 
looked over her beaten up sister.  "That means no fighting with Ranma 
over that time, and no morning spars with me.  So, was it worth it?"

"Every fight is worth it," said Akane, nodding slightly.  "A fighter can 
only improve by challenging and defeating strong opponents."  It was 
something that their mother used to say, a phrase that Akane had taken 
to heart over the years since her death.  Akane looked her older sister 
squarely in the eyes.  "You don't know the thrill of combat like I do.  
You can't understand what it means to me to fight."

Oh, I think I do, mused Nabiki.  Or at least I'm beginning to.

"Tendo-san?" said the nurse, looking at Nabiki.  "The Dean wishes to 
speak with you.  Your sister needs to get her rest anyway."

"All right," said Nabiki.  She smiled down at Akane.  "You take care of 
yourself, little sister.  Get some sleep.  I'll be taking you home over 
lunch period."

On a cot similar to the one that Akane was resting on, Kodachi woke up 
to the sounds of the two Tendo sisters speaking, and she immediately 
wished that she hadn't.  Her face felt puffed up and hurt quite a bit, 
and her body had pains all up and down its length.  That's what I get 
for fighting with so much arrogance.  Fighting with Asuka was one thing, 
but Akane Tendo is another level of threat entirely.  She is a much 
stronger fighter.  Kodachi relaxed back into the bed she was lying in.  
That's what I get for underestimating you, Akane Tendo.  However, the 
next time I face you will be different.

Kodachi looked out the window, where a songbird had begun to sing in the 
tree outside.  "Oh, Ranma," she sighed softly, her voice only a bare 
whisper.  "I will prove myself worthy of you.  I will train myself more 
diligently for the next time, and then Akane Tendo will learn that I am 
the superior woman.  Nobody is going to have you but me."  She closed 
her eyes and tried to sleep.

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

Ranma was waiting in the area outside the Dean's office when Nabiki 
walked in the door.  When she saw him, a warm flutter went through her 
heart that surprised her with its intensity.  Ranma gave her a neutral 
look, his own thoughts well-hidden from his face.  She walked over and 
sat down across from him in one of the other chairs, her usual cool 
poise quickly returning to her.  She crossed her legs and arranged her 
skirt demurely.  A quick glance of her eyes showed that Ranma was 
looking away from studying her.

What is it with you and girls lately, Ranma? the pigtailed scholar asked 
himself.  The brief sight of Nabiki's trimly muscular legs seemed to 
burn in his thoughts.  There was something different about the way that 
she was walking today, he had noticed, but he wasn't sure what it was.  
It's probably nothing important, he finally decided.  To occupy his 
mind, and prevent him from staring at Nabiki's body again, he picked up 
a magazine from the table and thumbed through it.

This is so strange, thought Nabiki.  Here I am sitting near him, and I 
can't think of a thing to say to him.  After all, it's not as if I can 
say, 'Oh, by the way Ranma, I know all about what you're doing in your 
lab since I broke into it last night.  I tried your device and now I 
have all the skills of a martial artist version of myself in my head.'  
Yeah, right.  That would really endear me to him.  She shifted her 
position in the hard, wooden chair, the electric tingling that Ranma 
conjured in her was distracting her once again, but she was surprised 
that it was occurring at such a distance.  Almost two meters separated 
their knees.

I wonder what Nabiki is doing here? wondered Ranma.  For that matter, 
why am I here?  Fuyutsuki-sensei has taken much more interest in me over 
the last few days than he has in all of the weeks that have gone by 
before.  Ranma shifted his position, trying to get comfortable in the 
chair and failing.  The strange tingling feeling that he had experienced 
around each of the two Tendo sisters, and now also Kodachi Kuno, was 
back once again.  The smell of her soft perfume drifted across his nose, 
but he forced himself to ignore it.

The door to the Dean's office opened at that moment, disrupting the 
uncomfortable scene.  Dean Fuyutsuki smiled at them from the open 
doorway and spoke, "Please come in.  I have some important things to 
discuss with the two of you."

The two cadets filed in.  Ranma let Nabiki walk in first, and he caught 
another whiff of that faint perfume that Akane, Kodachi, and Nabiki 
always seemed to be wearing.  It was both invigorating and slightly 
intoxicating to him whenever he smelled it.  However, he was getting 
used to it, so the effect was lessened a little from what it had done to 
him during previous times.

They took the two seats in front of the Dean's desk, both of them far 
more comfortable than the hardwood chairs that were outside in the 
waiting area.  Nabiki crossed her legs as she sat down, and Ranma stole 
another glance at them as she arranged her skirt.  He pulled his eyes 
away from the sight quickly and returned his attention to the Dean.  
Ranma and Nabiki just missed noticing the looks that they had given each 
other when the other wasn't looking, but the Dean did not.

The possibilities that their actions raised did much to justify his 
recent decision regarding them.  It's a shame that I will be losing the 
younger Tendo girl soon, he thought, glancing at the request for 
transfer that he had received via fax an hour ago.  But it looks like 
Nabiki and Ranma might be all I need.  And there is also the Kuno girl 
to be considered.  Judging from my view of the fight that she had with 
Akane earlier, Kodachi's abilities are considerable as well.  She will 
make an excellent replacement for Akane.

Akane was being transferred to Furinkan Military Academy as of tomorrow, 
a place that was filled with several decades of traditions, of producing 
the very finest soldiers of the Empire.  An abnormally high percentage 
of its graduates went on to fill the few available slots each year in 
the various Special Forces training programs.  Akane's mother, Kimiko 
Tendo, was herself a former graduate of its hallowed halls.  Fuyutsuki 
understood that she was something of a local legend there, with several 
still-unbroken performance records.  For his part, the Dean thought that 
Akane would fit in well there.

"I suppose that you're both wondering why I have called you to my 
office," said Dean Fuyutsuki pleasantly.  He sat down in his large chair 
and folded his hands together on his desk, a fatherly smile appearing on 
his face.  "I have been requested to institute an immediate change in 
your training schedules.  Specifically, in your physical training."

Nabiki blinked in mild surprise, the coincidence a little jarring to 
her.  I was going to volunteer to join Ranma's training class, she 
thought, sneaking another glance at the pigtailed boy seated next to 
her.  That can be the only reason why Ranma and I would both be here.

"What sort of a change, sir?" asked Ranma.  He noticed Nabiki glancing 
at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Coach Takami and I have consulted about you and Nabiki," said the Dean 
calmly.  "And we have decided that it would be in both of your best 
interests for Nabiki to join you in your extra training class.  We feel 
it would give both of you a chance to excel to the full limits of your 
capabilities."

Ranma looked briefly at Nabiki, and said, "But Nabiki's a girl.  She 
won't be able to keep up with me."  Ranma blinked.  Why the hell did I 
just say that?

"What was that, Saotome?" asked Nabiki, an odd glint suddenly appearing 
in her eyes.  "My, we are full of ourselves, aren't we?"  She stood up 
and planted her hands on her hips, her cool gaze not quite glaring down 
at him.  "Did I just hear you challenge me to be able to keep up with 
you?"  From deep inside herself, Nabiki felt an almost undeniable urge 
to compete against Ranma suddenly come boiling up to the surface.  "I 
can keep up with any training that you can do, Ranma Saotome."

"I doubt that," said Ranma, his male ego now running dangerously out of 
control.  His newfound sense of macho pride absorbed from the other 
Ranma had just taken full possession of his mouth.  "Guys are just 
naturally better at doing physical stuff."  Nabiki raised one eyebrow.

"Oh, really, Saotome?" asked Nabiki, her irritation growing.  "I happen 
to know that I can beat you at anything, but how about martial arts?"  
Now it was Ranma's turn to get a funny look on his face.  He sprang to 
his feet.

"If you think that you can take me on, then you're welcome to try," said 
Ranma, a little irritated at Nabiki's smug certainty that she could beat 
him.  "Ranma Saotome doesn't ever back down from a challenge."  Both of 
them were now wearing similar looks, confidence bordering on arrogance.

"Neither does Nabiki Tendo," she said firmly, moving to stand nose to 
nose with Ranma, her eyes almost level with his.  "Care to put it to the 
test?"

"Anytime you say, lady," said Ranma.  "You can't be as tough as your 
tomboy of a sister, after all."  

For his part, the Dean was simply observing, finding the whole exchange 
to be simply fascinating.  He watched them face off, their postures 
matching in aggressiveness.  Such strongly competitive spirits in each 
of them, he mused with a pleased feeling.  This will surely bring out 
their best efforts.  But, it does seem a little bit out of character for 
them both, based on the results of their last psychological profiles.  
Interesting.  He chose that moment to interrupt the two with a loud 
whistle.

Both Nabiki and Ranma blinked at each other, looked at the Dean with 
rather abashed looks, and then quickly sat down in their chairs.

"Now that I have your attention," said Fuyutsuki with a smile.  "I can 
see that you two have a difference of opinion to work out, so I propose 
a test.  Beginning today, Nabiki will join you in your physical training 
class, Ranma."  Ranma started to grumble, and the Dean held up a hand.  
"I'm not finished with spelling out the nature of the test.  For 
starters, you two are going to have a sparring match every day for the 
next two weeks, to see who the better fighter is, since you both seem to 
be so convinced that the other one isn't.  If Nabiki manages to defeat 
you in at least five of the twelve matches, Ranma, then you will cease 
your protests and work with her in your class as a full partner."

"That won't be a problem for me, sir," said Ranma confidently, sparing a 
glance at Nabiki.  "How about you, Nabiki?"

"Not a problem for me either, Saotome," said Nabiki with a smirk.  "I'll 
have those five wins before the first week is out."

"In addition," continued the Dean with a calm voice, before the two 
cadets could come to blows right there in his office.  "Nabiki will be 
following your same exercise regimen, Ranma.  Seeing that she is a year 
ahead of you in her training, I'm anticipating that to be the least 
problematic part of the test for her."

"A little competition will be good for you, Saotome-kun," purred Nabiki 
with a wry smile, finding that she enjoyed teasing him like this.  I 
wonder how much of this immense ego is from him, and how much is from 
his counterpart?  For her part, Nabiki was not normally quite this 
openly competitive, and she knew it, but there was just something in 
Ranma's overly macho attitudes towards her that had triggered an almost 
primal desire to test herself against him, similar to the one that she 
had felt this morning that had inspired her to spar against Akane.  She 
suspected that it was some of that other Nabiki's personality showing up 
in herself.

"If you can keep up with me, Nabiki, then you're welcome to try," said 
Ranma, finding a strange pleasure in the thought of a challenge to his 
newfound abilities.  "I won't go easy on you."

"Neither will I against you, Saotome-kun," said Nabiki with another 
brief smirk.  "I hope that you're as fast with your fists as you are 
with your mouth."  The two of them were now wearing matching smiles, 
each of them subconsciously recognizing something in the other that 
their counterparts had possibly never encountered before.

"My secretary has your new schedules at her desk, you two," said 
Fuyutsuki, briefly interrupting the staring contest.  "Pick them up on 
the way back to your classes."

"Yes, sir," they said, almost in stereo.  Ranma got up and walked to the 
door, followed closely by Nabiki.  The Dean smiled at the door after it 
had closed behind them.

"Interesting," said the Dean to the empty room, a smile on his face.  
"It will be quite fascinating to see where this leads."  He pulled out 
his notebook and began to write.

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

Nodoka heard the telephone rang while she was folding up the morning 
laundry.  She quickly muted the sound coming from the television with 
the remote and picked it up.  Genma had just left to teach his morning 
classes, so she had the house to herself for the next several hours.

"Hello.  Saotome residence," Nodoka said into the receiver.

"Good morning," said a pleasant female voice on the other end.  "I am 
looking for Nodoka Saotome.  Do I have the honor of speaking to her 
now?"

"Yes," said Nodoka, nodding slightly as she spoke.  "This is Nodoka 
Saotome.  Who am I speaking with?"

"My name is Otsu Mitsuma," said the voice on the other end of the phone.  
"Your name was given to me on a referral.  You have a son by the name of 
Ranma Saotome?"

"Yes, I do," said Nodoka, puzzled at where this was going.  "What is 
this all about?"

"This is your lucky day, Saotome-san," said Otsu.  "Your son's name has 
been selected to receive a complimentary matchmaking from the service 
that I work for, all free of charge to you."

"What service is that?" asked Nodoka, wondering at her good fortune.  It 
sounded too good to be true to her.

"Why, I'm calling from Chrysanthemum, the Empire's finest service for 
matching the youth of the Empire," said Otsu brightly.  "We offer a 
complete line of marriage services, but we are the best-known name in 
the matchmaking game.  And I have been authorized to provide you with 
the names and portfolios of three young women, each a possible wife for 
your son, Ranma.  If you're available, I can meet you anytime today and 
present them to you.  I think you'll find the daughter-in-law that 
you've been looking for among them."

Nodoka found herself breaking out into a smile.  This phone call was the 
answer to her prayers.  Genma had been concerned at the cost of 
arranging for a matchmaker, claiming that Ranma was still too young for 
such an expense, but now she had been given an opportunity to bypass 
that objection.  This was wonderful news.

"I could meet you for lunch, I suppose," said Nodoka, not wishing to 
sound too eager if this was some sort of scam after all.

"Excellent notion, Saotome-san," said Otsu.  "How does Hanna Miller's 
sound to you?  It's an excellent restaurant."

"That sounds fine to me," said Nodoka.  She had always been curious to 
eat there.  "Shall we say noon?"

"Noon it is then," said Otsu.  "Until then."

Nodoka hung up the phone with a broad smile on her face.  I'm going to 
find Ranma a bride today!

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

Ranma unlocked the door to his lab, having just come from his meeting 
with the Dean.  He flipped on the lights with a casual move, moving into 
the room and shutting the door before all of them could even flicker on 
fully.  Why the hell did I mouth off like that in front of Nabiki? he 
wondered, flopping down on the couch and putting an arm over his eyes.  
I must have sounded like a complete jerk.  If I had said such a thing to 
my female quantum counterpart, Ranko, they'd be prying my body out of a 
wall.

He replayed the incident from his memories, but all he could seem to 
focus on was the glimpse of Nabiki's legs, exposed as they were to her 
knees for that brief instant that he had been looking at them.  He shook 
his head and sat up, disturbed at his thoughts.  And yet, where does she 
get off acting so tough?  She must know that I beat her little sister in 
a fight, so why does she think that she could win against me?  Maybe a 
few days ago she could, since she has been training here at the Academy 
a year longer than me, but I now have the skills of an Heir to the 
Anything-Goes School of Martial Arts inside me.  That Ranma always wins 
in the end, and I think I'm gaining on his physical abilities in my own 
training, so pretty soon I'm going to be the best fighter in the region.  
There's no way that Nabiki Tendo is going to be able to match that.

Ranma decided that a little work would distract him from his new 
problems, so he powered up his equipment.  While it was warming up, he 
pulled out his notebook and began to make a few little notes in the 
margins around his new entries taken from Ranko's work.  A brief time 
later, he was writing in his notebook when he noticed something strange 
in the startup messages, on the periphery of his vision.

*SYSTEM HAS 6 QUANTUM COORDINATES STORED IN STABLE MEMORY

What the-? thought Ranma, surprised to see that.  But there were only 
supposed to be five.  He tapped at some keys, breaking out of the 
program running to pull up the general system log.  He scrolled through 
it casually before he noticed something odd, and he stared in brief 
amazement at the screen.  Someone ran a full immersion test at 4:17 p.m. 
yesterday?  Ranma tapped away at the keyboard, pulling up the file in 
question and looking at its individual log.  But that was when I was in 
the middle of my training class.

Ranma restarted the program and loaded the file.  He tapped a few keys 
and was surprised once again to see where this new one was placed among 
the timelines.  "That same region of paraverses again," he mused aloud, 
tapping his index finger against his chin as he rested it on his palm.  
I'm beginning to think that there's something odd about that region of 
the parallel timelines, since it keeps drawing my equipment's scanning 
pulses to it more than statistics would indicate.  But this world wasn't 
found using a scan of me, so whose mind was used as the template for the 
scan?  Since it wasn't me, it may not even have a counterpart for 
myself.  Ranma shrugged his shoulders.  There's only one way to find out 
for sure.

His fingers tapped away at the keyboard quickly, setting up all of the 
usual specifics for a test run, but only for ten minutes.  Shortly, 
Ranma tapped on a few final keys, before he pulled the headset off of 
the workbench and laid back on the couch.  He fumbled the headset onto 
his skull and closed his eyes.

"Initiating upload cycle."

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

*** Earth  +1.614,+1.496

The brief period of nonexistence that accompanied a transit into the 
mind of one of his quantum counterparts passed quickly.  Ranma had his 
suspicions that he was simply getting used to it, but it still left him 
feeling unsettled each time.  He blinked his eyes, finding himself to be 
seated at a desk in a classroom that was similar to the one in the other 
timeline.  It gave him a very odd feeling of deja vu, even though the 
classroom that he remembered was now farther from him than the farthest 
star.

Ranma looked down and saw that he was wearing a school uniform for 
Furinkan High School.  The classroom was oddly quiet, only the faint 
scratching of pencils on paper.  Ranma looked down at the paper on his 
desk.  An English test?  Half of the page was filled out, but a few of 
those answers were wrong.  Not knowing what else to do while he waited 
for the memories of this life to appear, Ranma started to fill out the 
rest of the page.

While he was diagramming a sentence for one of the questions, the 
expected kaleidoscope of new memories suddenly whirled through his mind.  
In this life, he had been raised by his mother and Soun Tendo while his 
father had taken Nabiki (Nabiki?) out on the ten year long training 
mission, the Heir to the Anything-Goes School.  A little over six weeks 
ago they had returned, and a world of strangeness had come with them.

Nabiki was cursed to turn into a young man by the strange powers of 
Jusenkyo's pools, and his father was once again cursed to turn into a 
panda.  Why does Pop keep turning into a panda? he wondered for a 
moment.  Is there some strange meaning behind the curses?  At least I 
don't turn into a girl in this life.  But Nabiki turns into a guy?

More of the memories whirled past his mind's eye, too fast for him to 
really lock onto anything but the most basic experiences.  His other 
self had had a crush on Kodachi Kuno here for many years, but she had 
never returned his interest.  Tatewaki Kuno was a friend of his in this 
life, and he also pursued Nabiki as a love interest in her female form, 
but as an enemy in Nabiki's male form.  It was like watching the life of 
his other counterpart reflected in a funhouse mirror, people were 
similar but also different.

Ukyo Kuonji had shown up, and so had Ryoga Hibiki.  Ryoga had nursed a 
crush for Nabiki, and he had ended up as this Ranma's rival, even though 
he was now interested in Akane.  Akane had been his fiancée, but that 
had been a doomed effort for years.  After Nabiki's return, events had 
followed a path that led him to becoming her fiancé, to carry on the 
Anything-Goes School.  Events had spiraled off into a radically 
different path from there.

One thing stood out in this life that made Ranma feel strangely sad; he 
was not the center of attention.  In that other Ranma's life, where he 
was the Heir to the School, he was the hero who dealt with all of the 
problems that arose.  Here, he was only a supporting character, and that 
bothered him a little.

Other images roared through his mind with the speed of thought:

Happosai, the Founder of the Anything-Goes School and possibly the most 
perverted man to have ever lived.

Perfume and Shampoo, Amazons that had pursued Nabiki from China.  
Shampoo was pregnant with Nabiki-kun's child.  Ranma's mind reeled at 
that one.

The Principal of Furinkan, the Kunos' father, with a fetish for all 
things Hawaiian.

Ukyo and Perfume became a couple.  Ranma blinked, but the memory was 
gone quickly.

The Road Ronin came to Furinkan....

Ranma's vision suddenly grayed out, and scattered all his thoughts 
across the gulfs of superspace that he had crossed.  There was something 
in that last partial memory, something important to know, but it was 
gone in the nonexistence of retrieval.

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

*** Earth  0.000,0.000

"Retrieval cycle complete," intoned the computer voice.

Ranma laid on the couch and let his mind try and sort through the 
memories.  He had hoped for a clue to whoever had used his device, but 
none had appeared from his counterpart's memories.  That other Ranma had 
lived a fairly normal life, until Nabiki had returned.  She was the 
Heir, not him, and the world was changed so drastically in the wake of 
that different choice.

Sitting up, Ranma laid the headset on the workbench, his thoughts full 
of a strange wonder.  So many possibilities in the way things could have 
turned out, he thought with an odd smile on his face.  He closed his 
hand into a fist, feeling the muscles in his forearms tighten up.  I 
just wish I could shake this feeling that the other shoe is about to 
drop, somewhere.

There was a thought nagging at the back of his mind, penetrating his 
musings.  It was something that he had noticed in the log file for the 
test run.  Shrugging his shoulders, Ranma sat down on the chair in front 
of the terminal and started typing.  He brought up the log file for his 
just-completed test run.  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  He saw 
that the system was running at a little above normal baseline in a few 
areas, but everything appeared to be fine.

Then Ranma pulled up the log file for the test run that was done during 
the time he was in his training class.  He ran the numbers, watching the 
graphs of the various system calculations as it made the many minute 
adjustments that were needed during a test run to keep the quantum pulse 
signal optimized.  It was there that he finally saw it, and his eyes 
widened.

"What the hell?" Ranma asked himself in a low tone.  He closed down that 
log file and ran the one from his first test.  The same thing was there, 
to an identical degree of variance from baseline.  He quickly ran 
through the log files to each of his other tests, but there was only one 
other occurrence of significance.

What he was seeing was a minor power surge in the quantum flux coil 
itself.  During the retrieval cycle of his first test run, the power 
levels had surged up over five percent variance from baseline for two 
full seconds.  On the test run that had occurred yesterday afternoon, a 
two second surge had also taken place during retrieval, also to a level 
over five percent above baseline.  There were other fluctuations that 
had taken place over other test runs, but none of them had climbed over 
half a percent, except for one of them.  During Ranma's visit to Ranko's 
Earth, the log showed yet another five percent surge during retrieval in 
the quantum flux coil's power levels.
 
These mysterious surges might explain how I ended up with my martial 
artist counterpart's skills in my brain, he thought, cupping his chin in 
his hand as he stared at the graphs on the screen.  But who was the 
subject of the test yesterday?

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

Nabiki sat in her class on Imperial History and was rather bored.  She 
had read the material being discussed over two weeks ago, and it had 
bored her then too.  She occupied her time by thinking about how dull 
her life had been before yesterday, but it had taken a shock to her 
system like looking at her life through new eyes to see how gray she had 
let herself become inside.  She no longer wanted the life that had been 
her only option before yesterday, not really.

You and I need to talk, Ranma-kun, Nabiki thought, as her ancient fossil 
of an instructor droned through the lesson.  After I show you that I'm 
as good as you are.  No, better.

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

Slowly scratching towards consciousness, Akane awoke to find herself in 
the infirmary awaiting Nabiki's escort home.  She had been having the 
most wonderful dream about Ranma and his fighting skills, one in which 
she was the founding matriarch of a new and better tribe of Amazons.  
All its members were women of superb Japanese stock and full of life, 
similar to the Chinese Amazons who all aspired to marry men of the 
Empire and become full Citizens.  She might even let a few of the 
Chinese Elders teach her tribe, at least until they had no more to teach 
her.  Akane hugged herself gently, feeling a faint quiver of pleasure at 
the fading memories of that dream, one in which Ranma had finally 
conquered her as she had long hoped to have a man do, but the pain of 
her bruised ribs quickly stopped that action.

A few hours of sleep had restored much of her energy, even if it had not 
healed her injuries.  She felt the aches of her bruises and frowned, 
slightly surprised that they were as deep as they were.  Normally her 
bruises were almost half gone after a few hours.  Kodachi is a great 
fighter, but not as great as I am! she thought with annoyance.  Her 
injuries represented the reasons why she would have to leave off from 
her pursuit of Ranma for a day or so.  Her frown soon turned into a 
smile though, as she remembered the glorious fight earlier in the 
morning, and her eventual triumph over her foe.  But at least I showed 
that annoying bitch, Kodachi Kuno, who the better woman was, she thought 
happily, as she made a fist with her hand and remembered how good it had 
felt every time one of her blows had struck home into Kodachi's body.

Akane put her hands behind her head, linked her fingers together, and 
gazed upwards at the plain white ceiling.  There were several mild pains 
coming from various points on her upper body at the action, another 
reminder of the battle with Kodachi.  Akane had long ago trained herself 
to acknowledge an injury, catalogue its severity, modify her tactics if 
necessary, and then ignore it while she fought.  Slower than many of her 
better opponents, she had learned how to take a hit and keep fighting as 
the mainstay of her tactics.  It was a good thing that she had too, 
since she was sure that Kodachi's final strikes would have kayoed her 
otherwise.  Akane tongued the inside of her jaw, feeling the slightly 
loosened molar.

Such strength Kodachi has, mused Akane, almost disappointed that she had 
won.  Still, she should have expected to lose when she challenged me.  
After all, I am a true warrior, tested in battle, like my mother before 
me, and my own strength has proven itself many times.  If that pampered 
debutante knows what's good for her, then she'll run back to that school 
full of weakling nobles where she belongs.  I've now shown her that 
Ranma rightfully belongs to me.  He deserves a strong woman at his side, 
someone who can keep up with his martial arts skills.

A curtain surrounded her bed and separated her from the next cot in the 
infirmary area, but Akane could sense that another occupant was in the 
room.  She reasoned that it was most likely Kodachi.  Akane wasn't sure 
how she knew of the other girl's presence, but she did.  She debated 
saying something for several moments.

On the other side of the curtain, Kodachi rested uncomfortably.  Her 
body ached a bit from the severe abuse that she had undergone a few 
hours earlier, but bedrest had helped restore her a great deal.  She 
slowly rolled over onto her side, trying to get more comfortable as she 
thought about her morning fight with Akane, and her loss.  I'm sorry 
that I failed you this time, my darling Ranma, she thought, wincing as 
she tried to find a position that would ease the pressure on her 
bruises.  I let myself be overconfident during the fight, and that was a 
very costly mistake.  It is one that I don't intend to make again.

Kodachi closed one hand into a compact fist, the muscles of her forearm 
standing out due to the tightness that she held it.  She raised her fist 
up and held it over her chest as she made a silent and solemn vow to 
herself.  Akane Tendo shall fall by my hand, my sweet Ranma, I swear it, 
and then you and I will be free of her annoying interference.  You 
deserve a loving woman like myself in your life, someone to make a home 
for you.  Leave it to me, and I will take care of that little, vicious, 
female brute.

A pleasant fantasy of the embrace that Ranma would give her after her 
eventual triumph over Akane brought a smile to Kodachi's face as she 
laid her now open hand across her chest.  She could see it now in her 
thoughts.

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

The battle had obviously been brutal and savage up to this point, a 
long, hard struggle from which only one could win in the end.  Two 
mighty female warriors were locked in mortal combat, fists and feet 
trading punishing blows as the fight between them wound down, blood 
dripping from several wounds and mixing with their hot sweat.  One 
warrior, Akane, had a cast to her face and body that was vaguely 
demonic.  And the other warrior maiden, Kodachi, carried an air of noble 
virtue in her form.  With one powerful blow, the fight between them 
finally came to an end.  One warrior fell, her body unable to continue 
the fight, a look of fear filling her eyes as she gazed upwards at the 
victor.

"I'm sorry, Kodachi!" Akane cried out in terror as she fell to her knees 
before the other girl.  Tears poured from her eyes as she began to beg 
for mercy and forgiveness, her heart filled with sorrow for even 
attempting to rise above her station and claim the handsome figure who 
stood behind Kodachi, knowing that he was above such a lowly wretch as 
herself.  Even her brute strength and animal-like cunning had shown 
itself to be no match for a true warrior such as Kodachi Kuno.

Ranma stepped forward, his body clothed in fine silk robes, the very 
image of a noble Lord of the Empire.  His gaze was cold as he looked 
down upon the pathetic figure humbling herself before his one, true 
love.  He scornfully turned his back on Akane's weakness, as she 
continued to cry out and beg for mercy and forgiveness.  He gently took 
Kodachi's hand in his own and helped his lady-love to walk from the 
place of battle.

The couple walked off a short distance, and as the sun began to rise, 
they paused and stared into each other's eyes, a true love for the other 
burning within each.  Ranma swept Kodachi up in his arms, grateful to 
her for her efforts at saving him from one who was so unworthy.  He 
brought her eager lips in for a warm and passionate kiss.  She felt a 
maidenly blush upon her cheeks at the depths of his desire for her.

Oh, yes, Ranma, she thought with certainty.  For you, I shall defeat any 
foe that stands between us and our destiny together.  No other woman 
shall have you, for your fate lies with me.

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

Kodachi's fantasy faded, and she found herself staring at the curtain 
around her bed.  There was an itch at the back of her brain telling her 
that an enemy was about, and she was sure that that could only mean one 
thing, that Akane Tendo was nearby.  This realization pulled her 
thoughts away from her fantasy, and her eyes glared at the curtain.

"Are you awake, Kodachi?" Akane called out, her voice neutral in tone.  
"I can hear you moving around."

"What do you want, Tendo?" grumbled Kodachi.  She rolled onto her back 
once more.  It was about the most comfortable of the many positions that 
she had tried to lie in.

"So, are you going to give up on trying to take Ranma away from me now?" 
asked Akane, purposely putting a taunt into her words, a smirk on her 
face as she stared at the plain ceiling.  "I've shown you that I'm the 
better woman."

Suddenly, the curtain by Akane's bed was ripped aside and a furious 
Kodachi stood there, almost blazing with anger.  The dramatic effect was 
quickly ruined though, when her brief surge of adrenaline faded away, 
leaving her to slump a little against the curtain frame, her body 
trembling slightly.  Kodachi's eyes glared into Akane's, and her facial 
expression spoke volumes.

"You think you've beaten me?" demanded Kodachi, anger resonating in her 
every tone.  Her breathing deepened a little.  "That was only round one, 
Akane Tendo.  Our battle with each other over Ranma has only just 
begun."  She dropped back to sit on her cot, but her eyes remained 
locked onto Akane's face.  "Besides which, you did not defeat me.  It 
was a draw, neither one of us left the field under our own power is my 
guess.  Otherwise why are you here, and why were you unconscious just a 
few minutes ago?"

Akane felt an odd sort of joy fill her, mixed with anger at Kodachi's 
continued willingness to defy her.  She smiled in a disturbing fashion 
as she realized that she had found a new sparring partner, one who would 
test her fighting skills to the limit over a prize that Akane knew was 
worth fighting for all the way to the core of her being.  A moment 
later, her face fell into a deep frown as she sat up on her cot, all of 
her movements stiff from the pains of her injuries.  She glared at 
Kodachi and said, "Oh, yeah?  Looks like I didn't hit you hard enough to 
drive you away.  There's more of what I gave you this morning just 
waiting for you!"

"You are not woman enough to win the war declared between us, Akane 
Tendo," said Kodachi coldly.  "You were simply lucky today, since I 
underestimated your capabilities as an opponent.  However, the next time 
will be different, and it will be I who shall be standing over your 
beaten body at the end.  Savor your assumed victory over me today, as it 
was your last."  Her fists gripped the sheets on the cot as she felt the 
deep anger rising in her once again, and the need to protect Ranma from 
the other girl who was matching her glare for glare.

"Better bring friends next time, Kodachi, lots of them," said Akane 
angrily, as she quickly swung both of her legs over the edge of the cot.  
She bunched her right hand into a fist, the muscles in her forearms 
equal to the ones in Kodachi's own.  "It's you who isn't woman enough to 
beat me.  I'm going to have Ranma for myself, and you won't stop me.  
He's mine!"

The two leaped to their feet.  Both of them looked a little unsteady on 
their legs as they glared into each other's eyes with anger.  Akane 
reached out and took a tight grip on a handful of the material of 
Kodachi's white blouse with her left hand.  Kodachi, from her facial 
expression visibly affronted at such an action, mirrored the move and 
grabbed a fistful of Akane's blouse as well with her own left hand.  
They pulled each other nose to nose, their faces separated by only a few 
inches, each with naked hatred for the other blazing in their eyes.  
They both tried to stare the other down and failed.

"You'll get Ranma over my dead body, Akane Tendo," thundered Kodachi in 
icy cold tones, her body resonating with her outrage.  She could feel 
the adrenaline beginning to rush through her battered and weakened body, 
and her breathing deepened a little more.  "The last thing that he needs 
is a little savage such as yourself.  A barbarian like you could never 
give him any of the love and tenderness that a man such as Ranma needs.  
You probably don't even know the first thing about how to be tender with 
a man, I would bet."  That her statement could be taken a few ways did 
not appear to concern Kodachi at the moment.  She was damned if she was 
going to let the girl staring her squarely in the eyes have Ranma.

"Oh, yeah?" growled Akane.  "As if a strong man like my Ranma could ever 
find any use for a soft, pampered, inbred debutante like yourself."  Her 
voice dripped with heavy sarcasm as she smirked at Kodachi.  "I already 
showed you once that a spoiled, little rich girl such as yourself isn't 
capable of taking my Ranma away from me.  So go back to dating your 
cousin/brother/father, whichever you prefer to call him!  Ranma Saotome 
is mine!"  Akane folded her free hand into a fist, moments away from 
driving it through Kodachi's face, and the other girl was doing the 
same, when a voice interrupted them.

"I just can't leave you two alone for long, can I, ladies?" asked a 
rather sardonic voice from the doorway.  Nabiki watched Akane and 
Kodachi turn to look at her in surprise, and she made a tisking sound in 
her mouth at the sight of the two girls prepared to beat each other to a 
pulp again.  "I mean, really, couldn't the two of you wait until you 
both healed up a bit before starting another fight with each other?"

"Your sister started this, Nabiki Tendo," growled out Kodachi, her eyes 
returning to glare at Akane once again, the fist that was already 
gripping Akane's blouse tightening a little more.  She felt Akane doing 
the same action in response, and they returned to glaring at each other.  
"She has a very nasty tendency to lay claim to things that do not truly 
belong to her."

"Who says that Ranma doesn't belong to me?" Akane growled back.  Her 
right fist was cocked back into striking position, and so was her foe's.  
"I'll fight anyone who tries to take him from me."  She briefly smirked 
at Kodachi.  "And I'll win, too."

Nabiki's sudden whistle surprised both girls enough to break it up 
before they could start throwing punches at each other again.  She 
stepped into the infirmary and was grateful that the nurse was out of 
the room.  With a brief smirk, Nabiki picked up Akane's jacket from the 
chair that it was laying on, and then she looked at both girls 
meaningfully with one eyebrow raised.  They reluctantly released their 
grips on each other's clothes and stepped apart.  Nabiki tossed Akane 
her jacket.

"Get dressed, Akane," said Nabiki.  "I'm here to take you home.  You 
need to rest up if you want to be able to fight again soon, right?"  She 
stood with her foot gently tapping the ground as she watched Akane put 
on her jacket.  Kodachi sat back down on her bed and just glared at the 
younger Tendo sister.

Those two really do have a pretty serious hatred going for each other, 
thought Nabiki with another brief smirk.  It's a pretty good thing that 
I decided to talk to Daddy tonight about getting Akane away from here 
soon, or I'm afraid that they might kill each other.  And little sister 
really will be much happier at Furinkan, since I've heard that the whole 
student body there loves to fight as much as she does.  I'm sure that it 
won't take her long to find a guy there to take Ranma's place in her 
heart, since all she really needs is a strong martial artist to fight 
with.  Then all I have to worry about is getting rid of Kodachi.  While 
Nabiki was considering things, Akane finished fixing up her clothes, 
except for her uniform tie, which she left off.

"See you around, Kodachi," said Akane with a smug look as she patted 
Kodachi's face.  "I won't be so gentle with you the next time."  Akane 
picked up her bookbag and sauntered out of the room.  Nabiki sighed and 
followed along behind her.  The two of them walked down the hallway, 
leaving Kodachi to glare at the half-closed door.

I'll show you the true meaning of pain, the next time that we duel, 
Akane Tendo, thought Kodachi with a mental snarl.  She began to 
straighten up her blouse and get dressed.  Her jacket was lying folded 
over one of the chairs, and she picked it up.

Out in the hallway, Ranma peeked around the corner once more and was 
finally rewarded with the sight of Akane and Nabiki walking away down 
the hall to the main door of the Academy.  He breathed a sigh of relief 
when they went outside.  He had been feeling somewhat responsible over 
Akane's actions against Kodachi all morning, and it had been distracting 
him from his work.  All he had to show for the several hours spent in 
his lab this morning were a few doodlings in his notebook.  It was just 
not like him to be so easily distracted, but there was so much going on 
in his life right now.  He kept feeling like an explosion or something 
was imminent, and it was making him jumpy.

I wonder if Kodachi would even be glad to see me? he thought as he 
looked around the corner once again.  Akane probably beat her up because 
of me, so I wouldn't blame her if she was mad at me over it.  I mean, 
after all, Akane went out of her way to make it seem pretty clear that 
she was my girlfriend or something.  Mustering up what little remained 
of his courage, Ranma casually walked down the hallway to the infirmary 
room.  He peeked in the doorway to see Kodachi putting on her uniform 
jacket, but her tie was off and a couple of her blouse's buttons were 
undone.  He winced at the sight of the dark bruises on her face.  Maybe 
this wasn't a good idea after all.  He had had a vague notion of walking 
her home, since he felt responsible for the whole thing.

Kodachi spotted somebody looking in on her through the partly-open door 
as she dressed, but she wasn't able to make out who it was exactly.  She 
quickly stomped over to the door and flung it wide open, her hand 
reaching out to grab the pervert who was peeping in on an innocent 
maiden such as herself, intent on doing grave bodily harm to that 
person.  Her eyes immediately went wide when she saw that it was Ranma, 
her hand stopping mere inches from grabbing him up by the cloth of his 
jacket.  She quickly raised her hand to her mouth as she blushed, 
embarrassed at her near mistake.

Ranma jumped a bit when Kodachi practically ripped the door off of its 
hinges when she flung it open.  He started to quickly stammer out an 
apology of some sort, a reflexive protest of his innocence almost being 
spoken before he managed to swallow it back down.  All he did instead 
was paste a nervous smile on his face and stand there like an idiot.

"S-Saotome-kun," said Kodachi, her eyes looking into his eyes with some 
confusion.  She quickly gave him a proper bow of greeting, her heart 
fluttering with her nervousness and other emotions washing over her.  
"I-I am happy to see you, Saotome-kun."  She could see that Ranma was 
looking uncomfortable, and she quickly glanced down to make sure that 
her blouse was buttoned up sufficiently high.  Only the topmost two 
buttons were undone, and she breathed a brief sigh of relief at the 
preservation of her modesty, her cheeks blushing slightly as a quick 
thought or two went through her head of another nature.

"I-I came to see how you were doing," said Ranma nervously.  He bowed to 
her quickly, perhaps a little bit lower than Kodachi felt was necessary 
between them given her feelings for him, but it warmed her heart to see 
his respect for her station in the Empire.  "I heard about your fight 
with Akane."

"The little witch attacked me," said Kodachi huffily, before quickly 
bringing her hand back up to her mouth to laugh nervously.  Starting 
over again in as sweet and gentle a voice that she had, she said while 
demurely looking at Ranma's belt, "I mean, Akane Tendo started the 
fight, and I defended myself from her.  However, I feel that I gave a 
good accounting of myself against her.  And now that I've taken her full 
measure, if she does it again, I'll knock every tooth from her head."  
She smiled in an attempt to reassure Ranma of her ability to take care 
of herself.

"Uh, yeah," said Ranma.  He started to open his mouth to say something 
more, but the words just would not emerge.  It was strange to him, but 
Kodachi's beaten-up form still looked beautiful to him, an almost 
wildness to it that had not been not present in her oh-so-proper self 
before.  He tried again to speak, the words spilling out in a quick 
rush, "Ithoughtifyoudidn'tmindthenIcouldwalkyouhome."  Kodachi blushed 
across her cheeks once again, her heart filling with warm feelings for 
the pigtailed scientist before her.

He does care about me, thought Kodachi, a gentle sigh of happiness 
escaping from between her lips.  She lost herself briefly in a fantasy 
about her and Ranma, with him as her husband as she greeted him at the 
door with proper modesty, as a true lady of nobility would.  From 
between her lips another soft sigh emerged, as her thoughts quickly 
wandered into areas of quite improper actions for an unmarried young 
lady of noble birth to think about a young man.  She reined in her 
thoughts as she gazed at him, but her eyes sparkled with desire.  Oh, 
Saotome-kun, I would fight in a thousand battles to be allowed to remain 
at your side, and ten thousand more to win your love.

Ranma shifted his stance nervously.   Kodachi was looking at him in a 
funny way, a sort of Hearts-and-Flowers look, and he wasn't sure what to 
make of it.  His memories from his female counterpart, Ranko, were still 
only coming in spottily, so he wasn't relying on them yet to interpret 
the women in his life.  Kodachi seemed to be happy to see him though, so 
that made it okay with him.  The look that she was giving him still made 
him feel nervous though, a warmly soft-eyed gaze that made her eyes seem 
to be even bigger than normal.  He cleared his throat nervously, and 
Kodachi came back to herself from her brief fantasy.

"I would be honored to have you accompany me home, Saotome-kun," said 
Kodachi softly.  Her eyes were downcast as she had been taught was 
proper for a young lady of quality, and she stood there with her arms 
clasped behind her body, unconsciously straightening and showing her 
figure off to stunning effect.  Ranma frankly goggled at the combined 
result, and he blinked several times nervously as he gazed at her body 
being displayed so casually for his viewing pleasure.  Kodachi held the 
very demure yet casually seductive pose for several of the longest 
seconds in Ranma's young life.

"Uh, yeah," said Ranma, before swallowing down a throat gone dry.  It 
was the second time that she had summoned up such feelings of 
nervousness in him.  He moved out of the doorway as Kodachi gathered her 
things, and she was back at his side shortly.  Her face beamed with 
happiness as she looked at him, the few bandages on her jaw and nose 
somehow not diminishing her beauty.  Ranma felt that to be strange, 
wondering if he was secretly becoming attracted to women who were 
fighters.

The pair walked down the corridor in silence, Ranma due to his lack of 
knowledge about how to act in such a situation, and Kodachi due to her 
happiness at simply being with the man that she cared about so strongly.  
It was a moment of pure bliss for her, and the pains of her injuries 
were a very small price to pay for such a thing, as she now had Ranma at 
her side, and it was good and proper in her mind.

It looks like I won after all, Akane Tendo, thought Kodachi with a smug 
look crossing her bruised face.  Ranma came to see me, not you, and now 
he is walking me home.  Life is good.  She heaved a soft sigh of 
contentment, moving a little closer to Ranma.  She thought about taking 
his arm, but she did not want to appear to be too forward.  The last 
thing that she wanted to do was to scare him off by appearing overeager.

Ranma walked along, feeling the strange tingling that the three girls: 
Akane, Nabiki, and Kodachi, instilled in him.  He focussed his mind on 
other things, such as the mystery that he had discovered in his lab, and 
the new problem of dealing with Nabiki Tendo.  He was looking forward to 
showing her up, but there was also an undeniable attraction that he was 
feeling for the middle Tendo daughter.  He had actually been somewhat 
aroused by her defiance, and he very quickly changed the course of his 
thoughts.  He focused on the upcoming match that he was going to have 
with her instead.

You won't stand a chance against me, Nabiki, he thought with a high 
level of confidence.  After all, I have within me all of the skills of 
an Heir to the Anything-Goes School.  If Akane isn't able to take me now 
in a fight, then what chance do you have?

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

Nabiki sneezed.

Akane looked over at Nabiki while her sister rubbed lightly at her nose.  
"It was sure nice of you to do this for me, Nabiki" she said, smiling at 
her older sister.  "I hope that you aren't losing too much of your 
lunchtime business income because of it.  I'll have to make it up to you 
somehow."

"Yes, you will, Akane," said Nabiki coolly, before suddenly grinning 
impishly at her little sister.  "Don't worry about it.  I'll be able to 
make up most of it easily enough after classes."  She gave Akane a 
reassuring look.  "The money will still be there a few hours from now.  
I'll just have to shake a few different trees to find it."

"Okay, Nabiki," said Akane, returning to her own thoughts.  She 
contented herself with recalling the fight between herself and Kodachi, 
a little smile appearing on her face as she remembered how good it had 
felt to lay into Kodachi like she had.  That debutante bitch is going to 
have to be carried home in pieces after I get done with her the next 
time, she thought angrily.  No way am I going to let her have my Ranma.  
He's mine to fight with.  The thought of losing to Ranma after fighting 
her hardest against him brought a blush to her cheeks.

Nabiki's thoughts had also drifted to consideration of the subject of 
Ranma Saotome, and she closed her free hand into a tight fist as she 
recalled his surprising arrogance in the Dean's office.  In her other 
hand was her bookbag, and the leather handle squeaked a bit from the 
squeezing that she was giving it.  It wasn't wise of you to dismiss me 
so casually, Ranma-kun, not at all, she thought with a smirk.  This 
woman is going to show you that I can keep up with anything that you can 
dish out.  Just you wait.

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

The three catgirls were lounging around the room that Kinnosuke had 
appropriated in one of the Academy sublevels for his private 
headquarters.  Tiger was reclining in a chair, her hat resting on one 
knee as she read through the latest issue of 'Imperial Woman,' trying to 
see what new advice was being offered for winning the love of that 
special man.  Her cat-like ears were cocked forward, showing her rapt 
attention for what she was reading.  To her left, Lynx was quietly 
sitting cross-legged on the floor with her eyes closed and her ears 
resting flat to her skull, apparently meditating.  And, in the back of 
the room, the muscular Panther was working out in a pale blue leotard 
and green legwarmers, her body covered in a light sheen of perspiration, 
and her skintight outfit leaving little doubt as to her high level of 
physical fitness.

"I'm hungry," announced Lynx with a sigh, her eyes remaining closed.

"Kinnosuke-sama will be back shortly," said Tiger, most of her attention 
still on her magazine.  "When he arrives, then we will eat.  You have to 
learn better control over your appetites, Lynx.  You don't hear me 
complaining, do you?"  Tiger's stomach suddenly rumbled with hunger, a 
loud growl.  Lynx opened her eyes and giggled, and Tiger looked annoyed.

A few minutes later, the door opened and Kinnosuke walked in.  The two 
seated catgirls sprang up to their feet in an instant, Tiger only taking 
a single moment to hide her magazine behind her chair.  Her cat-like 
ears pricked up with happiness at his arrival, Panther quickly stopped 
her exertions and sprinted over to stand with the others.

"Welcome back, Kinnosuke-sama," the three catgirls chorused in near-
perfect harmony.  He merely grunted at them absently and sat down at the 
table in the room with a look of annoyance.  While Panther went to clean 
herself up quickly and change back into one of her normal outfits, the 
other two young women brought out the lunch that had been prepared by 
the Kashuoh Manor's chef and began to serve him.  Kinnosuke simply 
treated it as his due, his eyes more on the food than the two beautiful 
catgirls serving him.  And while they were still serving, Panther 
returned, her skin a little reddened from the quick sponge bath that she 
had given herself before dressing.

"I have been thinking about the problem with Nabiki Tendo," said 
Kinnosuke, beginning to shovel rice and meat into his face.  Tiger and 
Lynx sat attentively, waiting for his approval before they began to eat.  
He swallowed before speaking again, "And I am very troubled by the 
unexpected failures of my chosen agents.  If Hiei fails me during his 
upcoming challenge with Saotome, then I have a plan that will require 
you three to assist me with it."  He absently noticed the rather hungry 
look on Lynx's face and nodded that they could eat.

"We live to serve you, Kinnosuke-sama," said Tiger with a sparkle of 
love in her eye, before she began to eat quickly.  She paused again and 
swallowed after consuming half the rice in her bowl.  "But what is it 
that you would have us do?"

"Initially, I plan to make my challenge to Nabiki's own organization 
more open," said Kinnosuke with an evil light appearing in his eyes.  
"The three of you are to begin pressuring her sources and encouraging 
her agents to defect.  I want to squeeze Nabiki hard until she gives 
in."  He chuckled at his own cleverness.  "Then, when her organization 
is crumbled around her, I intend to play my trump card and challenge her 
personally.  Once I have crushed her resistance to me, she will pledge 
her loyalty to me as my consort, and then she and I will rule the 
Academy from the shadows."

Lynx finished the last of the rice in her bowl and daintily wiped at her 
face with a napkin, her expression neutral.  To her left, Panther was 
now working through her second bowl of rice, as well as seeming to enjoy 
the pieces of fresh salmon that she was eating with it, but a very faint 
glimmering of tears showed at the corner of one of her eyes.  Tiger 
simply frowned at her rice bowl before she turned her attention back to 
her master.  The food that she had just eaten was now sitting leaden in 
her stomach after hearing her master's plan for Nabiki Tendo.

"As you command, Kinnosuke-sama," said Tiger.  She wanted to cry, but 
she knew that her master did not like to see tears on the faces of his 
playthings.  Instead, a cold rage filled her soul, one that she would 
someday unleash with full force upon the source of her pain, Nabiki 
Tendo.  Her eyes met Lynx's and Panther's, and the three catgirls shared 
a moment of understanding.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Special thanks go out to Jim Bader for his permission to borrow from his 
work Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) for Earth +1.614,+1.496 (Ranma 
1/2 cluster).

Thanks to my pre-readers for all of their help and advice:

Michael Allen
Jim Bader
Donny Cheng
David Eddy
David P. Gao
Doug_W
Rhialto
ShortYes
D.B. Sommer
T.H. Tiger