Many times over the years did Mamoru Chiba wonder exactly 
why his parents had gone over the edge of a cliff in their car.  
He also wondered constantly about his lack of other relatives.  
That was why he had hired a private investigator years ago to 
try to dig up his past and maybe find a relative or two.  After 
he had become Tuxedo Mask and met Usagi, he had forgotten the 
investigation into his past.  That is, until now...

              Twin Dragons Under Moonlight
             A Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon X-over
                   by Ben Bradley

      Mamoru practically staggered up the stairs to his 
apartment.  It had been another late night fighting one of the 
Daimons that the Witches Five never seemed to run short of.  It 
didn't register immediately that there was someone waiting for 
him by his apartment until a polite cough caught his attention.
      "Excuse me, but are you Mamoru Chiba?"  The man asked.  
When Mamoru finally saw him, he found an unshaven man wearing a 
tan trench coat.
      "And you are?" He asked flatly.
      "My apologies, I should have introduced myself."  The man 
bowed briefly and handed him his card.  "Ichiro Yamada, private 
investigator.  You hired me to find out what I could about your 
family quite a few years ago."  Ichiro gave him a wry smile; 
"I'm not surprised you had forgotten, seeing as how I couldn't 
find anything until recently.  May I come in and share my 
findings with you?"
      Mamoru was shocked fully awake by this revelation.  "You 
mean, you found something?"
      Ichiro smiled and held up a manila envelope, "Mostly on 
your Mother's side of the family."

      Mamoru led the man inside and quickly prepared some tea.  
When he returned to the living room, Ichiro was looking about 
with a fair amount of interest.
      "You got some pretty nice digs here.  Not too fancy, but 
not shabby at all."
      Mamoru frowned slightly as he placed the tea on the 
table.  "I believe you are here to talk about my mother, not my 
lifestyle."
      "Of course."  Ichiro sat heavily and then opened the 
manila envelope.  He overturned it onto the table causing a few 
pieces of paper and a single photograph to fall out.  "Your 
mother's maiden name was Yuriko Hibiki."
      "Yuriko Hibiki?"
      "Yes.  Once I had her maiden name, I was able to locate 
one of your cousins."  Ichiro picked up the photo and handed it 
to a stunned Mamoru.  The photo showed a young man with a wild 
shock of black hair held out of his eyes with a yellow and 
black spotted bandanna.  A small smirk held his lips, causing 
one of his prominent fangs to peek out from behind his lip.  
His hazel-green eyes seemed to be narrowed slightly, as if 
challenging the person taking the photo.  Well-muscled arms 
were crossed and a large pack was on his back.
      "His name is Ryouga Hibiki.  He's about sixteen years old 
and has been seen a lot near a place called the Tendo Dojo.  
It's amazing really..."
      Mamoru looked up curiously, "Why is that?"
      Ichiro shrugged and leaned back into the couch, "The 
Hibiki families' lack of a sense of direction is legendary.  
Heck, they have a standing account with my office for finding 
members of their family, usually from people that married into 
the family of course."
      "Wow." He murmured, "I wonder how I was spared?"
      Ichiro shrugged, "No idea.  I did find out one other 
thing that you might not want to hear..."
      "Go on."
      "Well..." he fiddled with his hands for a few moments 
before he continued, "Your mother was the one driving the day 
your parents died.  I'm sorry."
      "My parents were killed... because of her bad sense of 
direction?"
      Ichiro only nodded as he stood.  "I'm sorry Mamoru.  
Here, this is the address for the Tendo Dojo.  If you want to 
find him, that's the best place to look."  He handed a folded 
slip of paper to Mamoru before he headed towards the door.  He 
paused when he had the door half-open.  "Mamoru?"
      "Yeah?"
      "Be careful when you go to Nerima.  It may not have 
monsters like we do here in Juuban, but they have a lot of 
crazy martial artists running around there and Ryouga is one of 
them."
      With that parting statement, Ichiro left and softly 
closed the door behind him.  Mamoru looked again at the photo 
he still held in one hand and then the slip of paper he held in 
the other.
      "Family..." He said softly to himself.

      The next day was a Sunday, and the morning light found 
Mamoru browsing through a store looking for a frame for the 
photo.  He finally found a fairly plain oak frame that was the 
right size.  As he left the store he clutched the newly framed 
photo to his chest as if it was more precious than anything 
else in the world.  He was so lost in his thoughts; he didn't 
even notice when Usagi tried to wave him down from the other 
side of the street.
      "That's strange," she said to herself, "Mamo-chan usually 
sees me first."  With a determined nod, she crossed the street 
and continued to try to catch his attention as he walked along.  
After trying for almost five minutes to get his attention, she 
finally ran up to him and clutched onto his arm.
      "Mamo-chan!"  She almost wailed, "Why are you ignoring 
me?"
      Mamoru practically jumped out of his skin when he finally 
noticed her.  "Usako!  I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you 
it's just..."
      "Just what, Mamo-chan?" She asked, a hint of growing 
irritation invading her tone.
      "It's just that, I finally found a relative."
      "Really?!"  She squealed, "I'm so happy for you Mamo-
chan!"
      "Thanks.  Here, this is a picture of him."  He offered 
her the framed photo.
      Usagi looked at the photo for a few minutes before she 
looked back up at Mamoru.  "Wow, he looks kinda mean, doesn't 
he?"
      "Well, a little," He rubbed the back of his head.
      "But, there's this sadness in his eyes, like he's not 
really happy or maybe even really lonely."  She finished a bit 
sadly.
      "I plan on finding out.  Do you want to come with me to 
Nerima today to try and find him?"
      "Sure!  Let me tell the others where we'll be real quick, 
I was going to go shopping with them today."  She giggled as 
she pretended to use the phone and used her communicator to 
contact the rest of the inner Senshi.
      "Hey Ami-chan!  Mamo-chan and I are going to Nerima to 
see if we can find his cousin there!  Would you tell the 
others?"
      "Of course, Usagi-chan," Ami frowned slightly, "Nerima?"
      "Yeah!"
      "Be careful Usagi-chan," Ami cautioned her, "There's 
enough strangeness in Nerima to make me wonder why the 
Negaverse decided against starting their attacks there."
      "Oh?"
      "Yes, things like Youma attacks might have actually gone 
unnoticed until it was too late."  Ami sighed, "Promise me that 
you'll be careful."
      "Alright, Ami-chan.  I promise.  Bye-bye!"  She shut off 
her communicator and latched onto Mamoru's arm.
      "Ok, let's go Mamo-chan!"  She enthused as she 
practically pulled him to the train station, still clutching 
the photo tightly in her hand.

      Some time later found Usagi and Mamoru wandering around 
Nerima.  Even during their short walk away from the station 
they had born silent witness to a short battle between a few 
martial artists that resulted in mutual knockout.
      "Mamo-chan, where are we going?" Usagi asked as she hung 
off of his arm.
      "Some place called the Tendo Dojo."  He replied without 
looking down at her. "We'll ask about it at that police box up 
there."  He pointed up the street.

      Shampoo-neko would have smirked to herself as she crept 
into the Tendo home if cats could smirk.  Held gently in her 
needle sharp teeth was a small bag.  She watched from the 
shadows as Kasumi placed lunch on the table.  Shampoo-neko 
tensed, knowing she only had a few seconds from the time that 
Kasumi announced lunch before Ranma would arrive with Akane in 
tow.  The two of them were getting too close, and it was time 
for some action.
      Grateful for the fact that they always sat in the same 
seats, she sprung into action the very second Kasumi left the 
table to get the rest of the family.  Once she reached Akane's 
seat, she carefully poked one claw into the bag and let a small 
amount of a strange smelling brown powder fall into Akane's 
tea.
      Her mission accomplished, she scrambled for the door and 
barely made it away without being seen.

      "Today very happy day, Great Grandmother!"  Shampoo 
giggled upon her return to the Nekohanten.
      "Oh?"  Cologne turned her wizened face away from the soap 
opera she had been watching.  "Why is that, child?"
      "Today is day Shampoo make violent girl hate airen!  
Shampoo use this on Akane."  She held out the small bag to 
Cologne.
      Cologne's eye's widened and she knocked the bag away from 
Shampoo.  "Wash your hands now child!  Quickly!"  She poked 
Shampoo with her cane a few times when she failed to move fast 
enough for her.
      "What for?  Powder is having no effect on Shampoo."  She 
said defiantly.
      "Listen to yourself child."  Cologne sighed, "The powder 
is working.  That is it's most insidious effect, the victem has 
no idea that their perceptions have been scewed to the point of 
being constantly confrontational."  She sighed again, "This 
could be disasterous for the Tendo girl, she has enough trouble 
with her anger as it is."
      "So?  Is good thing.  Violent girl hate Ranma, and then 
Ranma come to Shampoo."
      "She may lose herself in her anger so totally that she 
may become a danger to her own family.  They have nothing to do 
with this, Shampoo.  I think you need to learn to be more 
careful with your tactics, this is a very sloppy move on your 
part."
      "Shampoo not care for tone, old woman!"  Her eyes flashed 
dangerously as she reached for her bon bori.
      Cologne merely tapped a pressure point that caused 
Shampoo to stiffen like a board.  "Lucky for you, I know you 
are under the effects of the powder.  Another elder might have 
killed you on the spot."  Cologne growled as she pogoed up the 
stairs into her room.
      A few minutes later, she returned with a small part of a 
leaf held very carefully between some chopsticks.
      "Be brave, child.  This cure is much worse than the 
diesease, but it doesn't last long."  
      Shampoo's eyes widened in fear as Cologne slowly brought 
the leaf fragment towards the paralyzed Shampoo.  With one 
wizened hand, Cologne cupped Shampoo's jaw and forced her mouth 
open.
      "What are you doing to Shampoo, you ghoul!"  Mousse 
demanded as he walked into the room.
      "Shut up and help me, boy!"  Cologne snapped, "She's been 
poisoned and I need you to hold her."
      "Shampoo!  I'm here for you!"  Mousse said in all earnest 
to a nearby potted plant.
      A quick rap on the head caused him to face in the correct 
direction.
      "Hold her mouth open and keep a wooden spoon on her 
tongue."  Cologne demanded.
      Once Mousse complied with her orders, she very carefully 
brushed the leaf against Shampoo's tongue.  Almost instantly 
the amazon girl began to thrash and convulse.  Cologne pulled 
the leaf safely away from the thrashing girl.
      "Don't let her swallow her tongue!"  She admonished 
Mousse.
      After a few minutes of convultions, her body became 
totally limp.  Her sweat covered skin was flushed and very hot 
to the touch.
      "That's all we can do for her.  Take her upstairs."  
Cologne sighed, for once feeling her age as she watched a 
worried Mousse carry out her command.  "Dear child, have you 
any idea as to what you've done?"

      Lunch was begining to wind down at the Tendo Dojo and 
Akane was leaning back a little and siping at her tea while 
enjoying the pleasant weather.  She frowned slightly after one 
sip.
      "Hey Kasumi, does the tea taste a little... I don't 
know... Odd to you?"  She asked suddenly.
      "Not at all, Akane."  Kasumi smiled as she gathered the 
dishes, "It's just a different brand of tea."
      "Oh.  Ranma?"
      "What?"
      "Do you want to spar in a little bit?"
      Ranma gave her a funny look and then shrugged, "Yeah, 
sure.  I could help ya train fer a bit."
      "Really?"  She asked with a mild blush.  She sat there 
for a moment, waiting for Ranma to say something, but no answer 
came.  When she looked around, she found herself alone in the 
dining room.
      "Honestly..."  She muttered to herself as she stood.  
Inexplicably, she found herself getting upset about it.

      Akane faced off against a bored looking Ranma some time 
later in the Dojo.  He had dodged each and every one of her 
attacks with the most negligent seeming moves he could think 
of.
      "Come on, Ranma!  You said you'd train me!"
      "Yeah, yeah.  I'll train ya as soon as you're ready."
      "And just when will that be?"  She asked dangerously.
      "When you're ready."  He shrugged,  "Right now, I don't 
think your ready."
      "Alright then.  What do I need to do to be ready?"
      "Take the Art seriously.  I can't train ya seriously 
until you take the Art seriously yerself."  Ranma paused for a 
moment and watched her face slowly turn red.  "Let's face it 
Akane.  You're always yellin' about how your a martial artist 
too, but you don't have enough focus to do a quarter of what I 
do.  Heck, half the time your too angry to do anything but 
brawl."
      Akane almost visibly deflated.  "But, Ryouga's always mad 
at you..."  
      "Mad?  Mad ain't the word.  Thing is, he's learned how to 
focus past his anger.  Most of tha time anyways, you can see it 
when his anger gets the best of him.  You ain't ever gonna be a 
martial artist until you can learn how to do that."
      "But I'm a martial artist!"  She protested angrily.
      "Yeah, your martial arts are about as good as your 
cooking, or maybe as good as your swimming."
      "What did you say?" She screamed.
      "I said you can't cook, can't swim and can't do the 
martial arts right!"  He yelled.
      "Why you...!"  She growled.
      "Oh, sure Akane, get angry.  Fat lot of good it's gonna 
do ya ta help change my mind."  He crossed his arms and looked 
away with the most bored expression he could come up with on 
his face.  He saw her hand coming and sighed inwardly.
      ::Here we go again...:: He thought.
      "RANMA, YOU JERK!!!"  Akane screamed as she slapped him.
      Ranma slowly turned his head to face Akane directly 
again.  "Ya see what I mean?  No focus, no control, just yer 
stupid anger."
      "So I'm stupid now too?"  Akane growled
Ranma slowly turned his head to face Akane directly again.  "Ya 
see what I mean?  No focus, no control, just yer stupid anger."
      "So I'm stupid now too?"  Akane growled, "Anything else, 
o' great and wise one?"  She asked sarcastically
      "Now that ya mention it,"  Ranma smirked a bit, "Bein' 
angry like that ain't helpin' yer looks none."  He peered 
closely at her face, "I think it's givin' ya wrinkles."
      "What?!"
      "Heh, an uncute macho chick with wrinkles that can't even 
kick...  This has gotta be a first."
      Akane's face nearly turned purple from her rage and she 
picked up a cinder block and prepared to pound Ranma with it, 
but before she do anything else, her father and Genma burst 
into the Dojo.
      "That's quite enough of that!"  Soun said sternly, "I've 
told the both of you before that this dojo is for training, not 
brawling!"
      "You worry me, boy.  I taught you better than this."  
Genma said as Ranma and Akane knelt in front of their fathers 
in preparation for another lecture.
      "Ranma, Akane, I know that the two of you have had your 
many differences, but don't you think that it's about time the 
two of you stop fighting and finally get married?"  Soun spoke 
carefully as he knelt across from his daughter and soon to be 
son-in-law.
      "No way!  No way am I going to be married to such a 
pervert!"  Akane snapped.
      "Like I want some uncute tomboy like yerself!"  Ranma 
half yelled back, a flaring red handprint on his cheek a silent 
testament to the reason behind this attempt at peacemaking.
      "Be quiet!"  Genma roared.  "Ranma, you should know 
better than to argue with your elders and to give them the 
respect they are due!"
      Ranma smirked, "Sure I do, Pops, that's why I ain't got 
no respect fer ya!"
      While Genma struggled to keep his cool, Soun made his 
move.  "Akane, I know you want to do the right thing.  I'm 
certain that the two of you can work out your differences after 
you're married."
      "There's too many differences Dad!"  Akane retorted.
      "No kidding, you're a klutzy, uncute tomboy that can't 
even boil water without written directions and close 
supervision!" 
      "That's it!  Die, Ranma!"  Akane screamed as she leapt to 
her feet and grabbed a nearby bamboo practice sword.  Ranma 
dodged the wild swings and waggled his tongue at her as he ran 
for the yard.  Soun sighed and held his face in his hands as he 
retreated back into the house with Genma.
      "What's the matter?  Truth hurtin' ya too much?" Ranma 
taunted as he continued to dodge her attacks.  His attention 
wandered for a moment when he noticed a bewildered looking guy 
at the gate with a younger blond girl with the weirdest hairdo 
he'd ever seen.  He barely noticed himself breaking the 
practice sword Akane was wielding as he searched his memory for 
whether or not he knew either of them.
      Akane stared in shock for a few seconds at the broken 
bamboo sword in her hands before she finally noticed the two at 
the gate.  Without even thinking about it she stormed up to 
them.
      "And just who are you?" She yelled in Usagi's face.
      "Usagi Tsukino, it's nice to..."
      Akane cut her off, unable to stop the rising tide of 
anger. "Are you some new fianc�e for Ranma?!  Let me guess," 
She turned and poked at Mamoru's chest, "Ranma's dad made some 
sort of deal with your dad and now your here to marry your 
little sister off to him?"
      "Well actually..."  Mamoru started.
      "I knew it!  She'll just have to get in line then, 
because he's engaged to me and several other girls!"  Akane 
yelled, not letting him finish.
      Mamoru began to look annoyed.  "Now look here, why don't 
you try and calm down for a second and let me explain!"
      "Calm down?!?!  Calm down?!?!"  Akane screeched.
      "Yeah Akane, chill out and let the guy talk."  Ranma 
quipped.
      "Shut up Ranma!"  She yelled as she turned and slammed 
him with her mallet.  "Serves you right!"  She snorted at his 
twitching form.
      Usagi gasped and held her hands in front of her mouth in 
horror.  Mamoru took advantage of her lapse of attention and 
moved between Akane and Usagi.  When Akane turned back around 
he swore he could see flames burning in her eyes.
      "Get out of my way!" She yelled as she roughly shoved him 
to one side.

      Ryouga sighed to himself.  He knew he was somewhere in 
Nerima, but he couldn't seem to find the Tendo Dojo anywhere.  
He passed through another intersection and he could swear he 
heard Akane's voice.
      "Oh, Akane.  Will I ever be able to tell you how I feel?" 
He asked himself as he stared at his feet.  "Can I possible 
calm my heart down enough to even speak to you?"
      "Calm down?!?!  Calm down?!?!" His head snapped up as 
Akane's screech roused him from his daydream.
      "Akane?!?"  He said to himself.  "Akane!"  He yelled as 
he ran the short distance to what he now recognized as the main 
gate for the Tendo Dojo.  "Ranma is probably being a jerk once 
again, and now Akane is angry with him." A snarl grew on his 
face as he neared the gate,  "Ranma!  You will pay!"  He yelled 
as he turned to go through the gate, but skidded to a dead stop 
as he saw Akane push some older guy into the wall and start 
yelling at a younger girl with blond hair.
      "Akane?"  He asked nervously as he approached, "What's 
going on?"
      "Butt out!"  She screamed at him before she turned back 
at the blonde girl and continued to yell at her.  Ryouga began 
to frown when he noticed that the girl was getting ready to 
cry.
      "What did Ranma do this time?  Is he engaged to her too?"  
He tried asking in a calming tone.
      Akane half whirled on him, "I thought I told you to butt 
out Ryouga!"
      "Ryouga?"  Usagi asked suddenly.  She took a quick glance 
at the photo she had in her hand and then a searching one up at 
Ryouga's face. "Ryouga Hibiki?"
      "Uhm... Yeah?"  He said cautiously.
      "We found you!  Oh Mamo-chan, we found your cousin!"  She 
gushed as she gave Ryouga a nosebleed-inducing hug.  "Mamo-
chan?"  She disengaged herself from Ryouga for a second and 
looked about the yard for Mamoru.  She found him in a crumpled 
heap by the wall.
      "Mamo-chan!"  She rushed over to him, totally ignoring a 
shell-shocked looking Akane and a flustered Ryouga.  "Are you 
alright?"
      "I will be once you get the number of the Youma that hit 
me..."  he muttered as she helped him to his feet.

      Ranma regained consciousness to find the blond girl 
helping the man he saw earlier to his feet while Ryouga and 
Akane seemed more like statues than people.
      "Hey P-chan, when did you get here?" He asked as he 
flipped to his feet.
      "A cousin..."  Ryouga muttered.
      "Huh?"
      "That guy's my cousin..."
      "Whoa."  Ranma rubbed his head for a second.  "I guess 
they came here lookin' fer ya, not me.  That's a new one"
      "I'm Mamoru Chiba, and I'm your cousin, Ryouga." He said 
as he bowed.
      "Uh, hi?" Ryouga stammered as he returned the bow.
      "You mean, you didn't come here for Ranma?"  Akane said 
quietly, for some reason her mood had swung around 
dramatically.  Usagi threw her a quick look.
      "You never gave us a chance to explain."  She stuck her 
tongue out at Akane before she smiled brightly and bowed to 
Ryouga, "My name is Usagi Tsukino, I'm Mamo-chan's girlfriend!"
      "Hey Ranma," Nabiki said as she exited the house, "looks 
like there's at least one girl out there that doesn't 
automatically fall down and worship the ground you walk on."
      "Ha ha, Nabiki."  Ranma deadpanned.
      "So, what's with blondie?" She asked.
      "Don't call me that!"  Usagi pouted.
      "Well now, guests."  Soun smiled as he joined Nabiki in 
the yard, "Please, come in and have some tea."
      "Thank you sir!"  Usagi gushed, "Come on Mamo-chan!  You 
can tell them all about how you and Ryouga are cousins!"

      Quite some time later, Mamoru finished telling everyone 
how he was related to Ryouga, and what happened to his parents.
      "So,"  Ryouga said sadly, "Aunt Yuriko died a long time 
ago.  Mom always did wonder why she stopped writing."
      "I'm so sorry, Ryouga."  Akane said.
      "Man, what a bummer."  Ranma muttered, "It musta sucked 
for ya, livin' by yourself for so long."
      "Yeah."  Mamoru looked down for a moment, "It was 
difficult with no family."  He glanced at his watch and stood 
up.  "It's getting late, we should be going."
      "You're more than welcome to stay for dinner."  Kasumi 
smiled up at him.
      "I appreciate your hospitality, but we should be going.  
Ryouga?" He turned a hopeful gaze on the young man, "Would you 
be willing to come and stay with me at my apartment for a 
while?  It would be nice to spend more time with the only 
family I can find."
      "I, what can I say?"  Ryouga stammered.
      "Please say you'll come with us Ryouga!"  Usagi turned 
her most pleading look on the flustered lost boy.
      "I guess so...  Sure."
      "Yay!" She gushed.
      "I'm happy for you Ryouga!  I know you haven't seen 
anyone in your family in years." Akane smiled at him.  Ryouga 
didn't seem to notice, however.
      Ranma perked up suddenly as an idea hit him.  "Hey, mind 
if I go with ya and keep my old buddy from getting too far out 
of shape?"
      "What?"  Ryouga asked, totally confused by Ranma's change 
in attitude.
      "You'd dare to leave Akane here alone?"  Genma demanded.
      "Feh.  The way I see it, I'll be able to live fer a while 
without gettin' pounded every time I turn around!"
      "Is that so, Ranma?!"  Akane demanded angrily.
      "Yeah!  Not to mention I'll be safe from your cooking for 
a while at least!"
      "DIE!"  Akane yelled as she leapt after him.  Usagi 
watched them for a few minutes before she purposely placed 
herself between Akane and Ranma.
      "Wait a second, Akane!"
      "WHAT?"
      "I thought you two were engaged?  Don't you love each 
other?"  Usagi asked with an intent expression on her face.
      "Me, love that pervert?  Never!"
      "Yeah, well who would want an uncute tomboy like you 
anyways?"  Ranma taunted.
      "Why can't you ever do anything the way I want you to?" 
Akane demanded.
      "Why should I?"
      Usagi looked between the two of them and then slowly sank 
to her knees and began to cry.
      "It's so sad!" She wailed, "People who are engaged should 
really love each other with all their hearts!  They shouldn't 
be arguing like this!"
      "My sentiments exactly, young lady!  Well said, well 
said."  Soun said cheerfully.  Genma crossed his arms and 
nodded sagely.
      "Usako..." Mamoru said softly as he moved to comfort the 
distraught girl.
      Ryouga looked over at where Akane and Ranma continued to 
argue until she finally pounded him into the floor.  "Well, it 
would be good if he came along to keep me there for a while."  
He admitted haltingly.
      Ranma sprang up, "Great, I'll go get my pack!"
      "Don't do this boy!"  Genma warned.
      "Who's gonna stop me?  You?  Don't make me laugh Pops."  
Ranma said as he dashed upstairs to pack.

      "So, you're really gonna just leave like this?"  Nabiki 
asked from the doorway to the guestroom.  Ranma looked up from 
his packing.
      "Yeah, well...  I just want to get away for a while, 
maybe let things settle for a bit." He grunted as he closed the 
pack and threw it onto his back.
      Nabiki looked thoughtful as she followed him back down 
the stairs.
      "Have a good trip, Ranma.  Please remember to write us." 
Kasumi said as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
      "Yeah, thanks Kasumi."
      "You ain't going nowhere, boy!"  Genma yelled.
      "And how do ya think you can stop me?" Ranma retorted.
      "Simple!  I get rid of him!"  Genma replied as he leapt 
to attack Mamoru.  
      Usagi screamed as she was pushed roughly aside.  "Stop 
it!  What do you think you're doing?"
      "I'm ensuring the future of our schools!"  Genma replied 
as he attacked Mamoru with a fierce combination of punches and 
kicks.  Mamoru's limited skill enabled him to dodge or block a 
few of the blows, but more and more hit home and he was 
beginning to wear out.
      Ryouga watched from the side for a few moments when he 
saw that Mamoru had some skill, but it quickly became evident 
that he was way overmatched.
      Genma smirked to himself.  The young man he was facing 
had nowhere near the skill that even Akane had.  Just as he was 
about to land a devastating punch intended to launch his 
opponent over the wall, he found his fist intercepted by 
Ryouga's open palm.  Mamoru fell unconscious as his cousin 
faced off against the bald martial artist.
      "What do you think your doing?"  Genma demanded, "This 
has nothing to do with you!"
      "Weren't you listening?"  Ryouga snarled as he began to 
attack, "He's family!"
      Genma groaned to himself as he tried to defend himself 
against Ryouga's furious attacks.  Everyone else there gaped as 
the furious lost boy shrugged off the few punches that Genma 
managed to slip in and continued to pummel him.  Finally, 
Ryouga picked up his opponent and threw him, aiming for the 
tree on the other side of the pond.  In a desperate attempt at 
a counter, Genma grabbed Ryouga's wrist and managed to pull him 
forward a few steps before he lost his grip.  Ranma saw what 
was going to happen a split second before Ryouga did and he ran 
forwards, even though he knew he was going to be too late.
      With a great splash, Genma landed in the pond, soaking 
Ryouga.  With a despairing squeal, P-chan worked his way out of 
his clothes.
      "R-R-Ryouga?!?"  Akane gasped, "You, you're... P-chan?!?"
      P-chan warily backed up a step as Akane continued to 
stare in shock.  Usagi shrieked when she saw Genma-panda rise 
out of the pond, but calmed down slightly when she noticed that 
no one else had reacted.
      "What's going on here?"  She asked, her confusion showing 
as she looked rapidly between P-chan and Genma-panda.  "Did 
Ryouga just turn into that pig?"
      "Ranma," Akane growled as she clenched her fists, "You 
knew.  That's why you always teased P-chan.  You knew and 
didn't tell me?!?"  She shouted as she spun to glare at Ranma 
the look of death in her eyes.
      "Lemme explain..." Ranma said quickly as he backed up a 
few steps.
      "No!  No way!"  Akane screeched as she turned her back on 
Ranma and started stomping towards P-chan.  "First things 
first, I need to get rid of Ryouga for good, then I'll take 
care of you!"
      P-chan merely hung his head and waited for the 
inevitable.  He could feel the raging anger that swirled from 
Akane's aura and he couldn't help but shiver in fearful 
anticipation as her shadow blocked the light of the sun. That 
was the last thing he noticed before pain obscured everything 
else.
      Usagi looked on, horrified.  She couldn't believe that 
Akane was kicking the poor piglet.  One particularly powerful 
kick sent P-chan hurtling into her chest, knocking her off her 
feet.  She looked down at the battered form of P-chan and held 
him protectively as Akane walked over.
      "Give him to me, now!"  Akane ordered.
      "Chill out Akane!"  Ranma said as he picked up Ryouga's 
stuff.  "He can't even defend himself when he's like that!"
      "I don't care!  I'll kill him!"
      "No!"  Usagi said as she rose to her feet, a determined 
look on her face.  "I won't let you hurt him anymore!"
      "Do you have any idea what he's done!"  Akane screeched.  
Usagi shook her head and backed up a step, ready to run if she 
had to.  "He's been pretending to be my pet!  He's snuck into 
my bed, heard all my secrets and even watched me change!"  
Akane screamed, "I _trusted_ that little swine, and this is how 
he repays that trust, with deceit!  That pervert!"  Akane made 
a grab for P-chan but Usagi pulled him out of her reach.
      "Give him back!"  Akane snarled.
      "No!"  Usagi half turned away from her, "You haven't 
heard his side of the story yet!  It sounds bad to me, but 
everyone deserves a chance to explain!"
      "What is there to explain?!?  He used his curse to get 
close to me, to _sleep_ in my bed, to watch me get changed!  He 
deserves to die!"  Akane yelled as she lunged towards Usagi, 
fully intending to go through her to get at P-chan.  Usagi 
screamed and tried to dodge but Akane still managed to slam 
into her shoulder and send her sprawling across the lawn.  
Usagi curled protectively around P-chan.
      "I won't let her hurt you anymore," she whispered, "No 
one deserves to die like this."
      "Now!  Give him to me!"  Akane demanded as she stood over 
the fallen girl.
      Usagi looked up with a tear-streaked face,  "I can't 
believe you, can't you just stop and listen to what he has to 
say?"
      Akane stopped and looked bewhildered for a moment, but 
the anger returned to her just as quickly.
      "Chill out Akane!" Ranma said as he moved between them.  
"The way I see it, it was you who decided that Ryouga was going 
to be your little pet piggy!"
      Akane turned her glare towards Ranma.  "And just why 
didn't you tell me about this?  You're just as bad as he is!"
      "Man, what is it with girls?  Do they always get like 
this before... um.. er... never mind... Uh oh..." Ranma winced 
as he saw Akane go from volatile to full-blown fury.
      "Get out!"  Akane yelled as she swung a vicious kick at 
his head, "I never want to see you again!  We aren't engaged, 
we aren't anything!  Never come back here ever again!"
      "Oh my.  Akane, are you sure?"  Kasumi asked.
      "Well, Ranma.  Looks to me like she means it this time."  
Nabiki smirked from where she stood.
      "Oh stow it Nabiki!"  Ranma said as he dodged another 
kick, "Fine then, I'm outta here!"  He jumped over Akane's head 
and landed next to where Mamoru had fallen and threw him onto 
one shoulder.  "Alright... Usagi right?  Let's get outta here."  
He held out one hand as he moved to help her up.
      "Don't forget to write us, Ranma!"  Kasumi called as 
Ranma turned for the gate.
      Nabiki ran up to him and poked him in the chest a few 
times.  "Don't think I'm going to forget about your debt!"
      "Yeah, good-bye to you too Nabiki."  Ranma ignored his 
father's signs and paused in his walk to the gate only long 
enough to kick him back into the house.
      As Ranma and Usagi walked out of the gate, Akane merely 
stood there and shook her fist at them and yelled.  "Don't you 
dare ever to show your face to me again!  You don't even exist 
to me!"
      "Do you think he will come back?"  Soun asked Kasumi.
      "I don't know, Father, I don't know." She sighed.
      "I, for one, don't think he'll be back," Nabiki said as 
she sat down at the table, "After all, how much more could he 
have taken before he left on his own?"
      "Nabiki!  Don't even think that way!"  Soun half yelled.
      She regarded him with a raised eyebrow before she rested 
her chin in her palms.  ::Well Ranma,::  she thought, ::Looks 
like its time for you to grow up.  I hope everything I've done 
keeps you from getting suckered too often.::

      Mamoru awoke to the slightly swaying motion of a train.  
He found his head in Usagi's lap and Ranma sitting next to her.  
She was holding a battered looking black piglet and was gently 
treating its cuts and bruises.
      "Mamo-chan!  You're awake!"
      "Usako..."  He looked around the bus as he sat up, 
"Where's Ryouga?"
      Usagi held up the piglet, "He's right here."
      "Wha... What happened?"
      "He's cursed."  Ranma said grimly.  "Every time he's hit 
with cold water, he turns into that little black piglet.  Hot 
water will change him back."
      "Oh no...  How did this happen?"
      Ranma sighed and began his explanation about Jusenkyo.  
"In the mountains of China, there's these springs that change 
whoever falls in to change into whatever drowned there a long 
time ago.  Ryouga fell into the spring of drowned black piglet.  
Pops fell into the spring of drowned Panda."
      "That's terrible!"  Usagi gasped, "Did you fall into one 
as well?"
      Ranma looked out the window and crossed his arms, "I 
don't wanna talk about it."
      Usagi placed her hand gently on his shoulder.  "It's ok, 
you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
      Ranma nodded and stuck his hands into his pockets, only 
to pull a note out.  "What the...?"  He muttered as he unfolded 
the scrap of paper and read the note.

      Ranma, 

      Good luck out there.  Get away from our fathers for a 
while and grow a spine.  Remember that Kasumi and I will always 
be willing to talk to you about your problems, even if Akane is 
too stubborn to realize what a catch she had and let slip 
through her fingers by grasping too tightly.

                                                Always, Nabiki


      "Heh, I didn't know she knew how to care."  Ranma 
chuckled.
      "What is it?"  Mamoru asked.
      "Just a good-bye note that Nabiki must have slipped into 
my pocket before we left."  Ranma looked out the window for a 
moment, "It's going to be difficult for a while.  I ain't got a 
place to stay.  I guess I could camp out fer a while."
      "Maybe we can help, after all it is kinda our fault for 
getting you kicked out like that."  Usagi looked down sadly.
      "Naw, don't sweat it."  Ranma smiled, "Actually, the 
peace and quiet'll be nice fer a change."
      The train lurched to a stop and announced they were at 
Juuban.  They got out and began walking towards Mamoru's 
apartment building.  Ranma looked around and smiled.
      "I think I'm going to like Juuban."

      Inside Mamoru's apartment, he and Usagi sat down on the 
couch while Ranma took P-chan into the bathroom to get him some 
hot water.  Ranma threw his clothes at him once he was changed.
      "Well, P-chan, looks like you've got some explainin' to 
do."
      "Shut up, Ranma."  Ryouga said halfheartedly, "After I 
tell them everything I've done as P-chan, they'll hate me."
      "Geez, ya gotta chill out man!  They ain't gonna get near 
as mad as Akane.  Hell, Usagi saved your bacon at the Dojo by 
keeping Akane away from ya."
      "Well, I guess I better go out there and face my cousin 
and Usagi."  Ryouga hung his head and walked through a door.  
Ranma slapped his forehead and reached through the door and 
grabbed Ryouga by his collar.
      "That's the shower, Ryouga."
      "Shut up!"

      Guided by Ranma, Ryouga entered the living room and knelt 
in front of Mamoru and Usagi.  "Uhm, about P-chan..."
      "Usagi has been telling me what happened while I was 
unconscious." Mamoru said coldly, "Care to explain why you were 
masquerading as that girl's pet pig?"
      "Mamo-chan..."  Usagi said softly.
      "Yes, well...  I've been living as her pet pig P-chan for 
quite a while now.  Used to be that just seeing her face was 
enough to make me happy."
      "So, you turned into a pig to spy on her as she changed, 
pervert!"  Mamoru snapped.
      Ryouga looked hurt, "I wouldn't dare!" 
      "No kidding, if he did something like that, he'd die of 
blood loss!" Ranma laughed.
      "What?" Usagi went from upset looking to concerned.
      "If he saw so much as a hint more than anyone else does, 
he'd get a nose-bleed and pass out!"
      "Shut up, Ranma!"  Ryouga growled.
      "I still think he's a peeking pig!  I'll bet your just 
waiting for the chance to change again and follow some other 
unsuspecting girl home and then watch her get changed as well." 
Mamoru snorted.
      Ryouga's face suddenly turned bright red, "I couldn't 
possibly do something like that!  You have no idea!  I grew up 
basically on my own on the road.  Akane was the first person 
other than my family that ever showed me even the slightest bit 
of affection."  He looked away as he spoke; "Now, thanks to 
this curse, she wants me dead and my cousin thinks I'm some 
kind of pervert.  I'm totally alone..."
      "Don't talk like that!"  Usagi said, "But what do you 
mean by you grew up alone on the road?"
      "I... have trouble getting where I'm going..."
      "You mean you have no sense of direction whatsoever, you 
can't read a map, don't even realize that the sun rises in the 
east..." Ranma cut in.
      "She gets the point!"  Ryouga snarled at him before 
subsiding.  "Now, I just want to try and get back to a normal 
life, maybe go to school again."
      Usagi looked up and placed a finger on her chin, "Well, 
tomorrow after school, a few of my friends and I are going to 
be getting together for a study group.  You could study with us 
for a few days and then take the placement test!"
      "A study group?"  Ryouga asked uncertainly.
      "Sure!  There'll be Mako-chan, Minako-chan, Rei-chan and 
Ami-chan!  Ami-chan is so smart!  I'm sure she could tutor you 
in no time!"
      "Lucky you, piggy," Ranma snorted, "You'll need all the 
help you can get to keep out of elementary school."
      "Are you saying I'm stupid?!?"  Ryouga half rose from his 
seat, his face turning red from his anger.
      "Well, duhh!"
      "That's enough, Ranma!"  Usagi scolded as she walked to 
where Ryouga was, knelt and hugged him from behind, "Can't you 
see the pain he's in?"
      Ryouga turned an even brighter shade of red before blood 
shot out of his nose and he collapsed.
      "Eeeeeeeeeeee!"  Usagi jumped straight up and clasped her 
hands into little fists under her chin, "What's wrong with 
him?!?"
      Ranma laughed as he flipped Ryouga onto his back, "I'd 
say he thinks your cute, he doesn't usually get a nosebleed 
that easily.  That does show ya what I was talkin' about 
though."  He gestured to the bloodstain on Ryouga's shirt, "If 
that's what happened when you just hugged him, what d'ya 
think'll happen if he sees a naked girl?"
      "Will he be ok?" She asked tentatively.
      "Yeah, just give him a few minutes and don't stand over 
his head while you're wearing that dress."
      Usagi eeped and jumped backwards into the wall, her 
ponytails sticking almost straight up.  Mamoru grumbled as he 
fetched a mop and bucket to clean up the blood.
      "By the way Ranma," he asked as he worked at cleaning up 
the blood, "Why the hell did your father attack me to keep you 
from leaving?"
      Ranma shrugged, "Who knows?  Maybe he thought that if he 
got rid of ya, I wouldn't leave or something."
      "Ok, why didn't you help me out then?"
      "Because you know how to fight, a little."  Ranma 
shrugged, "If he had attacked Usagi, I woulda been all over him 
in a heartbeat.  By the time it was obvious that you weren't 
luring him into a false sense of security or nothin', Ryouga 
was already in there taking over fer ya."
      "What are you going to do now?  Seems to me that you 
can't go back to the Dojo anymore."  Mamoru sighed, "I guess 
you could stay here for tonight if you want."
      Ranma shook his head, "The sooner I start doing things 
fer myself the better.  There's gotta be a park or a vacant lot 
or somethin' around."
      "There's a park near my house, you can camp out there if 
you want!"  Usagi said, "It's getting really late and my 
parents'll kill me if I'm gone too much longer."
      "Sounds good ta me.  Lead the way."  Ranma grabbed his 
pack and gestured towards the door.  Usagi gave Mamoru a quick 
hug before she left with Ranma in tow.
      "Well Ryouga,"  Mamoru spoke to his unconscious guest, 
"Looks like it's going to be just us tonight."  He looked 
towards the closed door and sighed, feeling just a little upset 
that Ranma was walking Usagi home.  Not jealous, but angry that 
the younger martial artist did not seem to care about the fact 
that he was walking someone else's girlfriend home.

      Sailor Pluto frowned as she looked through the Time 
Gates.  The vision of Crystal Tokyo seemed to be wavering more 
and more rapidly.  Without warning, the edges of Crystal Tokyo 
frayed and broke away.  Sailor Pluto could only watch in shock 
as the future she had labored so hard to protect and nurture 
simply crumbled and split into many different possible futures. 
      "No..."  She breathed, worry marking her features until 
the vision of Crystal Tokyo solidified again, but now it wasn't 
quite as certain.  "What could have caused this?"  She asked 
herself as she delved into the timeline, following the 
splinters back to their origins.  Sailor Pluto frowned when she 
saw Ranma or Ryouga at the pivotal point in each split.  She 
remembered her future counterpart's warning too late.
        'Under no circumstances, if you want this to be the 
future, should you allow the princess to meet the wild horse 
with the lucky fang!'
      "How was I supposed to know I meant their names 
literally?"  Sailor Pluto sighed, "Now, what can I do to 
salvage this?"  She sat and considered her options for a few 
moments before she decided to see what kind of effects they had 
on the timeline.  She focused on Ranma first, but found to her 
surprise that she could not follow him more than a few minutes 
into the future without encountering a multitude of alternate 
possible futures.  Curious, she followed the course of the most 
probable future and only got a few hours more before there was 
another split.
      "Amazing!  His ability to alter the time stream is 
unbelievable!"  She sighed as she pulled out of the time stream 
again and gazed at the visual representation of the future.  It 
was frayed around the edges, but still quite solid.  Some of 
the alternates that had spun off were very similar, only fairly 
minor changes from the original, but there was one that worried 
her.  It showed no sign of Crystal Tokyo at all, in fact it 
showed no life left on Earth.  She stepped into the time 
stream, fully intent on warning Usagi about the dangers of 
associating with Ranma.

      Even as Sailor Pluto appeared concealed by some trees, 
Ranma's ears caught the faint sound of displaced air.  He 
glanced around, slightly annoyed that Usagi was humming to 
herself as they walked into the park near her house.
      "Shh.  I thought I heard something."  Ranma hissed.  
      Usagi stopped humming and looked at him curiously.  "What 
is it?"
      Ranma didn't say anything, but turned and faced the tree 
that the now untransformed Setsuna was hiding behind and took 
up a defensive stance.
      "Is someone there?"  Usagi asked, just a little 
frightened.  She almost fainted with relief when Setsuna 
stepped out from behind the tree.  "Setsuna!  You scared me!"
      Ranma relaxed slightly, but keep a wary eye on the 
elegant woman that was approaching them.
      "Usagi," She said in greeting, "may I speak with you for 
a moment?"
      "Sure!  This looks like a good place for you to stay, 
Ranma!  Setsuna and I are gonna go to my place!  See you 
tomorrow at the Hikawa Shrine!"  She waved happily to him as 
she and Setsuna walked off.

      Once they were well away from Ranma, Setsuna turned to 
Usagi seriously.  "Usagi, there may be something wrong."
      "Hmm?"
      "The time stream is, for lack of a better term, 
splintering."
      "What?  What do you mean?"  Usagi was shocked.
      Wearily, Setsuna tried to explain,  "The time stream has 
been splitting, and the chances of Crystal Tokyo forming are 
shrinking ever so slightly... So far.  If things don't change 
soon, it may not come to pass at all."
      "But, we've been there!  We've seen the future!  How can 
that change?"
      "Every time someone makes a choice, it causes several new 
threads of possibility in the time stream.  For most people, 
it's fairly harmless and has no real effect on the outcome of 
Crystal Tokyo.  Now, say you make a different choice."  Setsuna 
stopped to pick up a short stick.  "This stick will represent 
your thread in the time stream, showing that you've been making 
the same kinds of choices you normally make, thus leaving a 
fairly straight path.  Then something happens to cause you to 
make a different kind of choice," She snapped the stick and 
held the splintered end up to Usagi, "Suddenly there are 
hundreds of new paths, some showing a higher potential of 
happening than others.  So, if something like this were to 
happen, the chance that Crystal Tokyo will be founded would 
shrink each time this happened until it became just one remote 
chance amongst thousands, even millions of different futures, 
with no way of telling which one will become reality."
      "I don't understand!"  Usagi sniffed, "What could I have 
done that would cause something like this?"
      Setsuna sighed.  "Today, you met someone who could best 
be described as chaos incarnate.  Not the being Chaos, but the 
principal.  Ranma Saotome."
      "Ranma?  But he's nice... Well, when he's not being a 
jerk to Mamo-chan's cousin, Ryouga."
      "That may be so, but I can't follow him or Ryouga more 
than a short time forward in the time stream before their path 
splinters much like this stick."  She holds up the stick again 
to emphasize her point, "Just being near them can be dangerous.  
They may unwittingly destroy Crystal Tokyo, maybe even the 
Earth."
      Usagi looked scared at this revelation, "That's terrible!  
What can we do?"
      "The best way to remove their influence from the timeline 
is to kill th..."
      "No!  Absolutely not!" Usagi interrupted.  She glared 
angrily for a moment before she regained her composure before a 
slightly ruffled Setsuna.  "We are supposed to protect 
everyone!  If we start killing people just because they may 
change the future, how much better are we than the Death 
Busters?"
      "Then don't talk with them or hang around them, for the 
sake of everyone in Crystal Tokyo!"  Setsuna said sternly.
      Usagi shook her head, accidentally hitting Setsuna with 
one of her ponytails.  "I'm already friends with them, and 
Ryouga is Mamo-chan's cousin.  I'm going to be introducing them 
to the others tomorrow.  Ryouga's gonna be studying with us 
after school so he can take the placement test!"  She smiled, 
"It's gonna be fun!"
      Setsuna sighed.  "Please be careful, Princess. I don't 
want to lose everything again."
      "You worry too much!"  Usagi giggled, "What could go 
wrong?"
      ::Everything,::  Setsuna thought darkly as she watched 
Usagi skip the rest of the way to her house.

      It wasn't long before Usagi had firmly closed herself and 
Luna into her bedroom and was getting ready for bed.
      "Ami told us about how you and Mamoru were going to go 
look for his cousin.  Did you manage to find him?"  Luna asked 
as she hopped onto the dresser in front of Usagi.
      Usagi giggled for a moment, "Yeah, boy did we find him!  
He showed up just in time to try and stop a mean girl named 
Akane from yelling at me."
      Luna looked startled, "What did you do to make her so 
angry?"
      "I'm not sure, something about taking Ranma away from 
her, but she doesn't seem to like him anyway."  Usagi's eyes 
suddenly started to water, "Oh, Luna, I saw the most saddest 
thing ever today!  Akane and Ranma are engaged to each other, 
but they don't seem to like each other at all!  She's always 
yelling and hitting him and stuff!"
      "Slow down Usagi!"  Luna said as Usagi suddenly began 
crying, "Usagi?"
      After crying for a few minutes, she straightened up and 
wiped her eyes, "I'm sorry, but it's just so sad!"
      "What about Mamoru's cousin?"  Luna asked patiently.
      "Oh yeah!" She seemed to cheer up instantly, "He's a 
martial artist and he's staying with Mamo-chan right now.  He's 
got this weird curse that turns him into a little black piglet 
whenever he gets wet.  Apparently, Akane kinda adopted him as 
her pet, and he was too embarrassed to tell her the truth.  You 
shoulda seen how angry she was when she found out today."  She 
began to look sad again, "It's all our fault!  If Mamo-chan and 
I hadn't shown up, Akane wouldn't have found out about his 
curse, and she'd still be engaged to Ranma."
      "Who's Ranma?"
      "He's another martial artist!  He and Ryouga don't get 
along too well, but they could be such good friends if he would 
just stop teasing Ryouga for a minute."  She giggled again, 
"But Setsuna doesn't like them at all, and she's saying that 
they are causing the time line to splinter or something.  She 
wanted to just kill them, but I told her no 'cause it's our job 
to protect people and stuff."
      "I'm sure that that was a tough decision to make."  Luna 
said sagely, "It could have had disastrous consequences for all 
of us."
      "I don't care!"  Usagi snapped, "I'm not going to allow 
any of the Senshi to kill an innocent person just because they 
may harm Crystal Tokyo just by living!"
      "I'm not arguing that at all!"  Luna gestured with her 
paw for Usagi to calm down and then began pacing back and forth 
as she lectured, "I was merely saying that most other people 
would have found some excuse to kill them just to make their 
life easier in the long run.  A true ruler would be find a way 
to work with them or around them to gain the goal they desire.  
I'm proud of the way you are maturing, Usagi.  Usagi?"  Luna 
looked over to the bed when she didn't get a response from her 
charge and smiled slightly when she saw that Usagi was sound 
asleep in bed.
      "Sleep well, my princess."  Luna whispered as she settled 
in as well.

      The next morning found Ranma outside the gates of 
Furinkan High once again.  This time, however, he was there 
long before Akane or any other student was due to show up.  He 
had a mission and he wanted no distractions.  Confident smirk 
in place, he made his way to the administration office.
      "I wanna transfer outta here."  Ranma announced to the 
receptionist.
      "What school are you going to transfer to?" She asked 
with only a hint of elation in her voice as she pulled out the 
transfer forms.
      "Uhm...  Juuban High."
      The receptionist fed the forms into a typewriter and 
typed rapidly for a second before she asked the next question.  
"What is your new address and phone number?"
      "Uhm... I'm kinda camping in a park."  Ranma admitted 
while rubbing the back of his head.
      The receptionist gave him an odd look, but continued 
typing.  "I'm going to put on here that your address has not 
changed.  Just make sure you get to school everyday."
      "Alright."
      "Ok then, all we need now is your father's signature 
right down here and you'll be all set!" She handed him the 
forms and smiled, "Good luck at your new school."
      "Thanks."  Ranma sweated a little as he took the forms.  
::How am I gonna get Pops to sign this?::  He thought glumly as 
he wandered the halls, ::Maybe Nabiki can help me out.::

      Ranma watched from the rooftop for Nabiki to show up.  
Not surprisingly, she was among the first students through the 
gate.  She didn't make her way inside immediately though, but 
rather worked her way around to the side of the building among 
some trees before she sat down and pulled out a notebook and 
began writing in earnest.  Rather than loose sight of her by 
going through the school, Ranma clambered down the wall a short 
ways before jumping down to land right in front of her.  Nabiki 
shot to her feet with a half-strangled shout as he landed.
      "Don't you dare do that again!"  Nabiki said as she held 
one hand over her rapidly beating heart, "You nearly scared me 
to death!"
      "Sorry 'bout that,"  Ranma said, "but I need your help."
      Nabiki cocked an eyebrow at him, "What can I do for you 
today?"
      Ranma handed the transfer forms to Nabiki, "I need my old 
man's signature on these so I can transfer outta here."
      Nabiki looked appraisingly at the papers. "Shouldn't be 
too hard, but how are you going to pay for this?"
      "How's about I keep your gettin startled this mornin' a 
secret?"  Ranma asked hopefully.
      She pretended to think it over for a few minutes before 
speaking, "Is that all?"
      "Well, that and this note ya slipped me before I left 
yesterday.  I'm sure Mr. Tendo would love to see that."
      Nabiki actually laughed, "Ranma, Ranma, Ranma.  You'd 
never make it as a blackmailer.  Just leave that kinda stuff to 
me.  I'll take care of it right now."  She turned to leave the 
school grounds, "Ranma," She looked over her shoulder, "You 
stay in that tree right there so I can find you."
      Ranma nodded and leapt into the branches and seemed to 
disappear.  Nabiki smiled as she hurried past the early 
students.
      When Nabiki got back to the Dojo, she ran into Akane as 
she was leaving.
      "What's wrong, Nabiki?"
      "I forgot something, you run on ahead."
      "See you later!"  Akane said before she walked off.
      Nabiki smiled viciously as she looked around the house 
for her target.  She found him moping by the koi pond.  She 
pulled a piece of carbon paper and another contract out that 
happened to have the signature block in the same place as the 
transfer forms and put them all together.
      "Mr. Saotome, I have a proposition for you," she said in 
her most businesslike voice.  He looked up, his face a total 
blank other than the silent tears rolling down his face.
      "I'll do everything I can to locate Ranma for you if 
you'll just sign this contract saying that in return for my 
services, you will give me a thousand yen a week."
      Genma snatched the contract and signed it without 
hesitation.  "Just find my son, without him, the Saotome School 
of Anything Goes Martial Arts is doomed."  He said as he handed 
the contract back to her.
      "Nice doing business with you, Mr. Saotome.  I'll let you 
know once I find anything."  Nabiki didn't allow herself to 
smile until she was back out of the gate.

      When Nabiki made it back to the school, the bell was 
about to ring.  She hurried to the tree where she had left 
Ranma. "Ranma?"  She called softly, "Are you still here?"
      Ranma dropped out of the tree and landed in front of her.  
"Did you get it?"
      Nabiki flourished the papers, "Was there ever any doubt?  
I can assure you that no one will find out from me where you're 
going to be for at least three months.  After that, I'm going 
to have to let it slip to keep my reputation."
      "Well, it's better than nothing I guess.  Thanks Nabiki."  
He said as he took the papers.
      "Kasumi and I will do everything we can to stall your 
Dad.  Daddy isn't going to be a problem at all, but it's 
Shampoo and Ukyou that are the most likely to find you.  Be 
ready for them."  She warned as she headed for the building.
      "Thanks again!"  Ranma called after her before dashing 
back to the administration office.  He handed the papers to the 
receptionist with a smirk on his face.
      "That was quick," she commented idly as she filed a copy 
and gave two more to Ranma, "The top one is for your new 
school, and the other one is for your records.  Have a nice 
day, Mr. Saotome."
      Ranma practically danced all the way back to Juuban.

      When Ryouga woke, he found that a blanket had been placed 
over him as he slept.  He sat up slowly and looked around.  
Mamoru's apartment looked no different than when he had seen it 
last, but there was a sheet of paper taped to his chest.  He 
pulled it off and read the note on it.

      Ryouga,
By the time you wake up, I'll probably already be at class.  
For goodness sake, don't leave the apartment!  Usagi will be 
coming by this afternoon to take you to a study group.  Do your 
best with the placement test!
                                          Mamoru

      Ryouga glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly 
noon.
      "Geez, I can't believe I was out that long!"  He muttered 
to himself as he started going through his kata.  Soon, he lost 
himself in the bliss of the exercise, forgetting for a moment 
that Akane hated him now.
      After nearly an hour, he decided that he would need to 
get cleaned up before Usagi showed up.  After grabbing some 
clean clothes from his pack he began his search.  He shook his 
head when he found that the front door had a note on it saying 
'Do Not Open!'
      "I'm not that bad." he muttered as he continued looking.  
A few minutes later, he found the bathroom.
      After showering and getting dressed he made his way back 
into the main room just in time to hear knocking on the door.
      "Coming!"  He called out and then promptly walked into 
the bathroom.  He swore under his breath and stalked back into 
the main room.  After a few minutes, he finally found the front 
door and opened it to reveal Usagi and a few of her friends.
      "Hi Ryouga!" Usagi said cheerfully, "Sleep well?"
      "Yeah, I guess I did."
      Usagi gestured to her friends, "Ryouga, I want you to 
meet Ami Mizuno and Makoto Kino!  They're really good friends 
of mine."
      Ryouga bowed deeply.  "I am honored to meet you both.  My 
name is Ryouga Hibiki."
      "There is no need to be that formal, Ryouga."  Ami 
smiled.
      "Yeah, you need to loosen up a little."  Makoto waved 
over her shorter friends, 
      "Come on, we're going to have to hurry if we want to get 
to the study group on time."  Ami admonished them.
      "Let me grab my pack."  Ryouga said as he walked back 
into the apartment.  When it seemed that he was going to head 
back into the bathroom, Usagi gently guided him back to where 
he had left it.
      "Ah, heh... Sorry 'bout that."  Ryouga said, a slight 
flush creeping to his face from his embarrassment.

      "So, you're into martial arts?"  Makoto asked as they 
made their way to the Hikawa Shrine.
      "Yeah.  The Art has been the one thing that has kept me 
from giving up all hope."
      "Really?" Ami asked, "How long has it been since you were 
last in school?"
      "Some time in junior high.  It was a few years ago..."
      "Don't worry!  I'm sure that with a little help you'll do 
just fine!"  Usagi said cheerfully.
      "See if you can't apply that same enthusiasm to your own 
studying, Usagi-chan!"  Makoto quipped.  Ami giggled a little 
as Usagi fell over.
      "Not you too, Mako-chan?!?"  Usagi half wailed.
      "It just takes a little dedication."  Ami tried to 
encourage her friend before turning to Ryouga.  "I've looked 
into the placement test, I think that things like Math and 
Social Sciences would be the areas that you need the most help 
with."
      "I guess...  I'm pretty good with local history from all 
my travels."
      "You travel a lot?"  Makoto asked a bit wide eyed, "Wow, 
that's so romantic!"
      Ryouga rubbed the back of his head a bit nervously.  
"Uhm... I guess you could say that...  It was more like an 
extended training trip."
      "So you left school to become a wandering martial 
artist?"  Ami asked curiously.
      "You could say that..."
      Usagi giggled a bit, "Wouldn't it be so romantic is Mamo-
chan took me on a trip around the world going to all of the 
most romantic spots?  Not to mention all that time spent with 
just him and me together with nothing around but our tent?"  
She sighed.
      "I wouldn't reccomend it,"  Ryouga snorted, "Walking all 
over the place isn't as fun as it might sound.  For one thing, 
it's sometimes weeks between baths and you need to know how to 
live off of the land.  There's no way someone can carry all the 
food they need while traveling by foot."
      Usagi facefaulted while Ami and Makoto laughed politly.  
"No fair, Ryouga!  You ruined a perfectly good daydream!"  She 
mock punched his shoulder, but ended up holding her hand in 
pain.  "Owwie..."  Tears began formin in her eyes.
      "Geez Usagi-chan.  How can you hurt yourself that way?"  
Makoto asked as Ami took a quick look at Usagi's injured hand.
      "He's like a rock!"
      Ryouga rubbed the back of his head nervously, "I learned 
this technique that makes it hard for people to hurt me...  I 
didn't realize how tough it made me."
      "Right..."  Makoto drawled as they started walking again.
      They walked in almost complete silence then, the only 
sound that could be heard was an occasional whimper from Usagi 
as she massaged her bruised hand.
      "Here we are!"  Makoto gestured at the stairs leading up 
to the shrine.  "Our friend Rei lives here, and her place has 
the most space for our study group."
      "Wow."  Ryouga looked stunned as he took in the view of 
the temple.  He followed the others up the stairs almost 
mechanically.  He looked around the grounds with a certain 
amount of awe.  "This place is beautiful."

      Minako Aino sighed as she made her way up the stairs to 
the temple.  She had missed out on going shopping with the 
other Senshi on Sunday thanks to her parents and had barely 
escaped detention for being late that morning.
      "Why can't anything go right for me?"  she asked Artemis 
idly. "Is it too much to ask to be happy?"
::Uh oh,:: Artemis thought, ::She's in that mood again.::  
"Cheer up, Minako!  Things can't be that bad."
      She smiled down at the moon cat, "Thanks for trying, 
Artemis," she sighed as she neared the top of the stairs, "Why 
can't I meet... a... cute... guy...?"  Her voiced trailed off 
to a whisper as she reached the top of the stairs and saw 
Ryouga talking with Usagi and Makoto.  He was holding his pack 
in one hand, causing the muscles on his bare arm to ripple.  
She blushed so hard that her neck had turned red as well.  
      "Wow..."   She breathed before she swallowed hard and 
willed herself to be composed.  She had barely managed to get 
herself under control and had started to take the last step 
when Ryouga turned his head and looked straight at her.  Minako 
swore her heart had stopped in the instant that their eyes met.  
Artemis shook his head and decided that now would be a good 
time to try and figure out where Luna was.  Without so much as 
a goodbye, he ran off in search of the black moon cat.
      ::Kami-sama, he's cute!  What a hunk!::  Minako thought 
as she walked up to them.  She didn't even notice Makoto 
talking to her until she started waving her hand in front of 
her face.
      "Hello?  Minako?  Are you in there?"  Makoto joked before 
she leaned closer to her friend and whispered, "I saw him 
first!"
      That snapped Minako out of her trance like state.  She 
glared for a second at Makoto before she introduced herself to 
Ryouga with a quick bow.  "I'm Minako Aino, it's a pleasure to 
meet you."
      "Ryouga Hibiki."
      "He's Mamo-chan's cousin!  He hasn't been to school in 
ages, so we're going to help him study for the placement test!" 
Usagi said happily while Ryouga merely rubbed the back of his 
head nervously.  Minako barely heard any of it, she was too 
busy gazing at him with stars in her eyes.
      "Hey!  Are you going to stand out here all afternoon?"  
Rei demanded as she came out of the house next to the temple.
      "We just got here!"  Usagi protested, "Besides, Ryouga 
was just admiring the temple."
      Rei's attitude visibly shifted when she finally noticed 
Ryouga.  ::There's something about him...::  She thought as she 
stretched her senses towards him, only to recoil when powerful 
waves of depression, loneliness, anger and sadness washed over 
her.  Her eyes widened when she saw that his outward bearing 
showed no sign of his internal struggle.  She bowed to him to 
cover her shock at that discovery as she introduced herself as 
well.
      "Rei Hino, I apologize for my rudeness."
      "Uhm, no problem.  Ryouga Hibiki."  Idly, he wondered how 
many more friends Usagi had.  He sighed a bit sadly to himself,  
::If only I could make friends that easily...::
        Makoto rolled her eyes a little and looked back towards 
the stairs just in time to see Ranma bounding up the stairs.
      "Oh my goodness... Check out that hunk!"  Makoto sighed.  
The others turned and followed her gaze.
      "That's Ranma Saotome, he's kinda Ryouga's friend."  
Usagi said.
      "What do you mean by 'kinda'?"  Rei asked.
      "Well, Ranma teases Ryouga a lot."  She ventured.
      "He's no friend of mine!"  Ryouga snapped as he crossed 
his arms.
      "Nice to see you too, pig butt."  Ranma said pleasantly 
as he walked up to them, "Hey, Usagi, I got my transfer 
paperwork done.  I'm gonna be in Juuban High startin' 
tomorrow."
      "That's great, Ranma!"  Usagi enthused.
      "School... That reminds me, I need to study for the 
placement test!  I want to take it this Friday."  Ryouga 
clenched his fist, "I will make it into High School, just you 
watch Ranma!"
      "Geez, it ain't like it's a fight, P-chan."
      "Stop calling me that!" Ryouga snarled.
      "Don't blow an artery man!  Look, I'll come back when 
you're done so we can spar a bit before turning in.  Maybe 
that'll help ya relax a bit."  Ranma gave a careless wave as he 
turned to leave. "See ya!"
      "What a dream..."  Makoto and Rei said at the same time.
      "That shirt looked awfully tight..."  Ami trailed off and 
blushed as the other girls gave her a questioning look.
      "He looked like my old sempai... Who am I kidding?  My 
old sempai never looked that good!"  Makoto giggled.
      "Well, I think Ryouga's cuter!"  Minako declared as she 
hugged his arm.
      Ryouga's face turned beet red and he struggled to keep 
himself conscious.  ::She thinks I'm cute!  Cuter than Ranma!  
Now what do I do?::  He thought frantically.  Slowly and 
shakily, he turned his head to look down at Minako who was now 
resting her cheek against his shoulder.
      Rei smiled and whispered to Makoto, "Looks like Minako-
chan is laying it on a little too thick for him."
      "We're starting to run late for our study session, so 
let's get started."  Ami announced to a short chorus of groans.
      "Come on, Ryouga.  Let's see how much you need to do to 
catch up!"  Minako smiled cutely and walked backwards while 
gently pulling him into the house.
      "O-oh kay..."  Ryouga said in a weak voice as he allowed 
himself to be dragged into the house.  Usagi giggled at that 
and tried to pick up Ryouga's pack to bring it in as well, but 
ended up falling on her rear when she couldn't budge it at all.
      "What's wrong, Usagi-chan?"  Makoto asked as she turned 
to see what was keeping her friend.
      "I can't pick up his pack!"  Usagi said as she tried to 
just drag it to the house, with no success.  Makoto smiled and 
shook her head.
      "You're just a little weak.  Here, let me help you."  She 
grabbed the other strap and pulled hard, fully expecting to 
lift it.  When the pack didn't even budge, she too lost her 
balance.
      "What the?  This thing weighs a ton!"
      "What's wrong you guys?"  Rei asked as the rest of them 
came back out of the house, "We almost started without you!"
      "We're having a little trouble getting Ryouga's bag into 
the house."  Makoto explained while Usagi nodded vigorously.
      "Yeah!  It's really really heavy!"
      "Oh come on you two.  How heavy can it be?"  Rei asked.
      "About a hundred kilos."  Ryouga said calmly.
      "A HUNDRED KILOS?"  The girls exclaimed and stared at him 
in shock.
      "Uhm... Yeah.  For just the pack anyway.  I'm not sure 
how much the umbrella weighs."  He rubbed the back of his head 
as he picked the bag up with his left hand.  Minako clasped her 
hands and watched him with starry eyes.
      "You're really strong, Ryouga!"  Minako sighed dreamily.

      The study session seemed to last forever to Ryouga.  Ami 
seemed to take a personal interest in his study habits while 
Minako spent most of the afternoon staring at him.  There were 
short spurts of quiet before Rei and Usagi would begin arguing 
over something trivial again.  By the time Ranma showed back 
up, Ryouga was more than ready for the respite.
      "How's the studyin' comin' along?"  Ranma asked as he 
peeked into the room they were studying in.
      "Fairly well, actually."  Ami smiled up at him, "Your 
friend, Ryouga, is doing very well all things considered."
      "I did start to study for this test before,"  Ryouga 
admitted reluctantly, "But something came up and I got 
distracted."
      Ranma let out a short bark of laughter, "Wasn't that the 
time that the old lech tried dressing up as P-chan?"
      Ryouga crossed his arms and nodded solemnly while the 
girls looked at each other in shock. 
      "Some time soon, you two are going to have to sit down 
and tell us about your adventures."  Makoto said firmly.
      After a few minutes worth of clean up, they left Rei 
behind and headed off into the evening.
      "Ya get lost yet?" Ranma asked suddenly.  Ryouga grumbled 
something unintelligible while all the girls except Usagi 
looked at him in surprise.
      "What do you mean?" Makoto asked.
      "Ryouga's totally clueless when it comes to maps and 
directions and stuff like that."
      "Shut up, Ranma."  Ryouga growled.
      "No, Ryouga, he has a point.  If you are really that bad 
with directions, maybe one of us should keep an eye on you so 
that you don't get lost."  Ami pointed out.
      "I'll do it!"  Minako said as she raised one hand into 
the air and latched onto Ryouga's arm with the other.  "I won't 
let him out of my sight!" She declared.
      ::Won't let me out of her sight?::  Ryouga thought as his 
face turned a bright red, ::But, that would mean...::
      Ranma noticed Ryouga's eyes roll back into his head as 
his face turned bright red.  His hand flashed out with blinding 
speed to pinch Ryouga's nose a split second before it started 
bleeding.
      "What are you doing?!?"  Minako demanded when Ryouga 
suddenly went limp and crashed to the ground at her feet, a 
small trickle of blood coming out of his nose.
      "Keepin' bacon breath from bleedin' on ya."  Ranma said 
as he stuffed a tissue into each of Ryouga's nostrils.
      "I thought the blood was supposed to rush elsewhere..." 
Ami commented before suffering the startled looks of her 
friends.  She looked away, her face as red as a tomato. They 
leaned him up against a fence and stood around talking while 
they waited for him to come around.
      "So, Usagi says that you're a martial artist.  How good 
are you?"  Makoto asked with a gleam in her eye.
      "I'm the best there is."  Ranma stated with pride.
      "Do you want to have a match sometime?" She asked.
      Ranma looked embarrassed for a second, "I don't fight 
girls."
      Makoto stifled her anger at that chauvinistic statement.  
"Why not?  Are you saying that girls can't be martial artists 
too?"
      Ranma held up his hands as if to ward her off, "That 
ain't it at all!  I just don't like it.  Training an' stuff 
don't bug me, but I really don't wanna hurt no girls."  He 
thought back to all his fights with Akane and he suddenly 
looked depressed.
      "Ranma,"  Usagi said softly, "You shouldn't get yourself 
down over what happened at the Tendo Dojo."  She placed her 
hand on his shoulder, "No matter how you may have felt about 
her, she didn't care about anything other than what you or 
anyone else could do for her."
      "Thanks, Usagi."
      "Now I'm curious.  What happened to you in Nerima, Usagi?  
How did you meet Ryouga and Ranma?"  Minako asked.
      Usagi spent the next few minutes recapping the previous 
day for her friends, but left out the part where she learned 
Ryouga's curse for some reason.  When she finished, both Makoto 
and Minako looked very angry.
      "Maybe we should go back to Nerima and teach this Akane a 
lesson in courtesy!"  Makoto growled as she cracked her 
knuckles.
      "I can't believe her!  Doesn't she know that a bird in 
the hand should be taken to the bush?"
      They sweatdropped as Ami politely corrected her. "That is 
supposed to be a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
      "Oh."
      Without warning, the girls' communicators all started 
beeping at the same time.  They looked nervously at Ranma for a 
second.
      "Uhm... Oh no!  I forgot, we were supposed to meet Naru-
chan at the mall!  Could you get Ryouga back to Mamo-chan's 
apartment?"  Usagi sounded rather lame.
      "Sure, no problem."  Ranma said and threw Ryouga onto his 
shoulder and walked off.  As soon as he was out of sight, the 
girls opened their communicators.
      "Hey!  Where are you guys?"  Chibi-usa demanded, "There's 
a Daimon attacking near the movies!"
      "We're on our way!" They said as one and dashed off down 
the street.

      Only a short time after leaving the girls, Ryouga woke 
up.  "You can put me down now, Ranma."  He said half heartedly.
      "Ain't you grumpy when you wake up."  Ranma smirked as he 
dropped the lost boy.  "Hey, ain't you lucky.  One day away 
from Nerima and you already have a girlfriend!  A bit of an 
airhead, but at least she's cute."
      "Shut up!  Minako isn't an airhead!"  Ryouga blushed, 
"Besides, I haven't known her long enough for her to be my 
girlfriend."
      "That ain't stoppin' her from hanging all over you!"
      "Shut up!"
      "Is the li'l' piggy embawwassed?"
      Ryouga's aura sprang to life, "Ranma Saotome, prepare to 
die!" he yelled as he attacked Ranma.  Laughing the whole way, 
Ranma led him to the park that he's staying in before engaging 
the enraged lost boy.

      "I can't believe these daimon!"  Makoto muttered as the 
girls walked together back towards the park they had sprinted 
away from only minutes earlier.  "It's getting to the point 
where we can't have so much as one night in peace without an 
attack."
      "I agree, this is getting to be too much!" Usagi yawned 
loudly.
      A beeping noise from the Mercury computer interrupted 
them.  Worried, they gathered around Ami as she began taping 
away at the keyboard.
      "There's an unusually high amount of energy being 
concentrated nearby.  It's impossible to tell if it's a daimon 
or not, but the readings are very close to the energy that 
Beryl was so desperate to capture."
      "The Negaverse is back?"  Minako asked, a slight frown 
creasing her forehead.
      Ami shook her head.  "I'm not detecting any evil energy 
yet, but I think we need to check it out."
      "Can't we just go home and go to bed?"  Usagi whined a 
little.
      "Grow up Usagi!"  Chibi-usa snorted before turning to 
Ami, "Isn't this the kind of thing that we should check out?" 
      Usagi glared at her future daughter as Ami nodded.  "Fine 
then!  Let's go."  Usagi stomped off into the park with the 
others right behind her.
      As they walked deeper into the park, they could hear some 
shouting and heavy impacts.
      "It almost sounds like a fight, if bulldozers were being 
used."  Makoto said softly.
      "The air is thick with emotions here,"  Rei said, "It 
feels familiar though, at least part of it."
      "You're just imagining things, Rei,"  Usagi tried to 
laugh it off as she pushed her way past some bushes.  A split 
second later she came crashing back through with one hand on 
her locket.
      "What's wrong, Usagi?"  Minako asked, her henshin rod 
firmly in her hand.
      "OhmygoditsRanmaandRyougatheylookpossessed!!"  Usagi said 
as quick as she could, "Moon Cosmic Power, Make Up!"
      The other Senshi transformed as well and followed Usagi 
into the clearing ahead.

      Ranma smirked as Ryouga charged at him again with battle 
aura that was practically a bonfire of aggression.  More than 
once he found himself starting the spiral, but broke himself 
out of it every time.  ::I don't need to use the Hiryu Shoten 
Ha for this fight!::  
      "Wait just a moment!"  A clear voice rang across the 
battlefield just before they clashed.  Without thinking about 
it, they both stopped and turned to face the voice.  The bushes 
seemed to part dramatically to reveal five rather shapely 
silhouettes and one much shorter one.
      "Who on Earth?"  Ryouga asked as he fell into a defensive 
stance.      
The silhouette in the middle began to go into several poses 
while speaking.  "For love and justice, the pretty soldier in a 
sailor suit!  Sailor Moon!"  Sailor Moon stopped posing for a 
moment to cross her arms, "For possessing young men dedicated 
to the martial arts there can be no forgiveness!"
      Ranma and Ryouga looked at each other, dumbfounded as 
Sailor Moon went back to posing and her speech.
      "In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you!"
      "You've got to be kidding!"  Ranma burst out.
      "Possessed?"  Ryouga said as he grabbed Ranma's head and 
began to examine it, "I don't see any horns..."
      "Right!"  Ranma grabbed and twisted Ryouga's wrist, 
forcing him to release his grip.  He then vaulted over Ryouga 
and landed with Ryouga in a choke hold, "I ain't seeing any 
horns on him either!"
      "Let go of me!"  Ryouga yelled as he began running 
backwards towards a fairly large tree, fully intent on smashing 
Ranma against it.
      The Senshi stood and watched as Ranma nimbly dodged out 
of the way at the last second, leaving Ryouga to smash into the 
tree and knock it over.
      "Ouch!  That had to hurt!"  Sailor Venus winced in 
sympathy.  All of the Senshi sweatdropped as Ryouga rose from 
the splintered tree and leapt at Ranma without any apparent 
injury.
      "What's going on, Mercury?"  Sailor Jupiter asked, "I'm 
pretty good at martial arts, but this looks like it's straight 
out of a kung-fu movie!"
      "It's unbelievable!"  Sailor Mercury gasped as she 
watched the readings scroll across her visor, "These two have 
enough energy by themselves to almost match the total amount of 
energy the Negaverse tried to steal!"
      Sailor Mars looked grim, "It's a good thing the Negaverse 
never went after these two then.  They wouldn't have had to 
make attack after attack, those two would've supplied all they 
needed."
      "What do we do about those two?"  Sailor Chibi-Moon asked 
as she pointed at the furiously fighting pair, "They'll kill 
each other at this rate!"
      "I'll try talking to them again!"  Sailor Moon said as 
she strode out into the midst of the battle, purposely placing 
herself between Ranma and Ryouga who were in the middle of a 
head to head charge.
      "You idiot!"  Sailor Mars yelled and tried to grab Sailor 
Moon's collar and yank her back, but just missed.  The Senshi 
could only watch paralyzed as Ranma and Ryouga hurtled towards 
the point where Sailor Moon stood to intercept them.  A great 
cloud of dust rose from the point of impact, obscuring them 
from the Senshis' worried gaze.
      Sailor Mercury was the first one to break out of her 
paralyses and she rushed towards the dust cloud, fully 
expecting to see a smashed Sailor Moon at the feet of the still 
fighting Ranma and Ryouga.  What she did see when the dust 
cloud cleared caused her to stop in amazement.
      Ranma had picked up Sailor Moon and twisted halfway 
around and seemed to have kicked at the same time.  Meanwhile, 
Ryouga's legs had ploughed a furrow in the dirt up to his 
ankles and he was firmly holding onto his opponent's foot.  
      "Geez, what d'ya think yer doin'?"  Ranma snapped, "You 
coulda gotten hurt gettin' between Ryouga and me like that!"
      Ryouga dropped Ranma's foot.  "He's right!  If we had 
seen you a second later, I'm not sure you would be ok."
      Sailor Moon seemed to be at a loss for words as she 
stared up at Ranma's face.  Ryouga shook his head slightly as 
he pulled his feet out of the ground.
      "Uhm... You ok?"  Ranma tried asking again.
      "Oh, yes!  I'm fine thank you!"  Sailor Moon blushed a 
bit, "Could you put me down now?"
      "Oh, sure."  Ranma placed her back onto her feet and 
stepped back to stand next to Ryouga as the other Senshi 
gathered around Sailor Moon.
      "Excuse me, but just who the heck are you guys supposed 
to be?"  Ryouga asked as he crossed his arms.
      "You've never heard of the Sailor Senshi?"  Sailor Mars 
asked.  When the two boys shook their heads, the Senshi gave 
each other blank looks.
      "Not even Sailor V?"  Sailor Venus asked hopefully.  Her 
hopes were dashed when they merely shook their heads.
      "Well, we're the pretty suited warriors of love and 
justice!"  Sailor Moon announced proudly.
      Ranma and Ryouga looked at each other blankly for a 
moment before Ranma fell to the ground laughing.
      "You've got to be kiddin' me!  How can ya be warriors 
with outfits like that?!?"  He gasped out.
      Ryouga nodded solemnly,  "You have to admit, those 
uniforms of yours are really unpractical.  Whoever heard of 
fighting in heels?"
      "I'll have you know we've saved the world a number of 
times already!"  Sailor Mars retorted.  The other Senshi nodded 
in agreement
      Ranma snapped back to his feet, "Sorry, but ya gotta 
admit, ya wouldn't exactly think that a bunch o' girls wearing 
the funkiest set of fukus would be some kind of warrior team.  
I'd expect cool lookin' armor and stuff."
      Anything else that might have been said was interrupted 
as Sailor Mercury's computer started beeping urgently.  After a 
quick check she looked up at her teammates.  "There's some sort 
of evil force in the park.  It's still too small for a daimon 
though."
      "We have to find it and get rid of it!"  Sailor Jupiter 
declared, "Any idea as to where it is?"
      Sailor Mercury tapped at her computer while the others 
waited impatiently.  Ranma sighed and looked up.
      "Man, this is unreal.  Check out that little floating 
white rock." He pointed at a slowly moving daimon egg.
      Ryouga looked at it as well.  "I dunno.. that thing gives 
me the creeps."
      Suddenly, the daimon egg turned and flew quickly towards 
Ryouga's pack.  Ranma and Ryouga watched as it slowly merged 
with the weathered material.
      "Uhm... I think that's your evil over there." Ranma said 
to the Senshi.
      "What?"  The Senshi turned just in time to see Ryouga's 
pack reform into a vaguely female shape.  The daimon appeared 
to be covered with bulging pockets and had a huge deformity 
that resembled a back-pack.
      "Packin!"  The daimon declared before it pointed at them.  
One of the pockets on its arm opened and a glowing rope snaked 
out towards them.
      Ranma and Ryouga leapt out of the way, but the Senshi 
were caught and bound quickly.
      "That's a cheap shot, pal!"  Ranma snarled as he landed 
and charged the daimon.  Ryouga pulled his belt and infused it 
with his ki and ran for the rope.
      "Keep it busy!  I'll see if I can get the girls free!"  
Ryouga called out.
      Ranma didn't bother to answer as he engaged Packin.  He 
quickly found himself on the defensive though.  ::My punches 
and kicks aren't having an effect!::  He thought as he leapt 
backwards to gain some space.
      
      Meanwhile, Ryouga was hacking at the magical rope that 
had bound the Senshi.
      "Rrrgh... This ain't working..."  He grunted.  Rather 
than giving up, he began to use more and more strength until it 
finally severed.
      "Thanks!"  Sailor Venus gave him a quick salute before 
she fired her Love-me Chain, forcing the daimon to dodge away 
from Ranma.
      "Leave this to us now!"  Sailor Jupiter said as she 
charged.  "Sparkling, Wide Pressure!"  She threw the ball of 
electrical energy at the daimon, only to have it suck the 
attack into one of it's pockets.  Packin grinned nastily and 
re-opened the pocket to release a veritable storm of lightning 
bolts.  They dodged the wildly arcing bolts, but Sailor Moon 
tripped over a tree root.
      "Hey!  Look out!"  Ranma yelled as he ran through the 
hail of lightning and picked her up a split second before a 
bolt struck where she had fallen.  He put her down next to a 
tree and turned to face it.
      "Now you've gotten me mad..."  He growled as his battle 
aura flared.
      Sailor Moon was speechless as Ranma charged in again to 
the attack, only this time his punches seemed to be having an 
effect.
      Sailor Mars began to charge up her attack, but Sailor 
Mercury grabbed her wrist.
      "Don't!  It will just suck the attack in and send it back 
at us!"  She cautioned.
      "It's distracted by Ranma right now, it might be our only 
chance!  Let's double team it!"  She declared.  Sailor Mercury 
thought about it for a moment and nodded once she saw that both 
Ranma and Ryouga were harrying it.
      "Ok, just be careful not to hit Ranma or Ryouga."
      "Burning Mandala!"
      "Shine Aqua Illusion!"
      As the two blasts of energy neared the daimon, Ranma and 
Ryouga managed to dodge out of the way.
      "Watch it!"  Ranma yelled as he rolled back to his feet.
      "That things' still standing!"  Ryouga yelled as he 
cupped his hands, "Shi Shi Hokkoudan!"
      The Senshi watched wide eyed as Ryouga's aura coalesced 
into a green ball and shot towards the daimon.  Sailor Mars 
clutched her head in pain as the ball of angst laden ki 
exploded against the daimon.
      "My turn!  Mouko Takabisha!"  Ranma's blue ball of ki 
shot forth from his hands.  The remnants of Ryouga's blast 
mixed with Ranma's leaving a bluish green circle of flames 
around the daimon.
      "What was that?"  Sailor Venus demanded of Sailor 
Mercury.
      "I'm not sure, but it was almost as if they concentrated 
a portion of their life energy into an attack."
      "Emotions..."  Sailor Mars gasped, "Such overpowering 
emotions!"
      
      Ranma and Ryouga warily approached the fallen daimon.
      "Did that do it?"  Ranma asked warily.
      Before Ryouga could respond, the daimon shot to it's feet 
and grabbed Ranma and Ryouga by their necks.
      "Foolish children!  Did you really think that you could 
hurt a daimon?"  Packin taunted them.
      Ranma kicked ineffectively against it's chest while 
Ryouga had grabbed the hand holding his neck and began to pull 
on the thumb and forefinger.
      "Let them go!"  Sailor Moon yelled as she rushed towards 
the daimon, her tiara in her hand.  "Moon Tiara Action!"  She 
yelled as she threw it and without waiting for it to hit she 
dived at the Daimons legs in an attempt to tackle it.
      Packin screamed in pain as the glowing disc cut into it's 
arm a split second before Sailor Moon hit the back of it's 
knees, forcing it to fall backwards.  Ryouga spun around so 
that one leg was on either side of the arm that was holding him 
and he quickly pulled it down as hard as he could.  He was 
rewarded with the sound of breaking bone and a shriek of pain 
from the daimon.  He didn't stop, though, but rather continued 
pulling on the arm while kicking it in the face.
      Ranma managed to pull himself free a slit second after 
Ryouga had broken it's arm and he pulled Sailor Moon away from 
the flailing daimon.
      "That's it!"  Packin screamed as she pulled a cord that 
was connected to the back-pack like protrusion on it's back.  
Without warning, there was an explosion that sent Ryouga flying 
into a tree.
      "Ryouga!"  Ranma yelled as he leapt to where the lost boy 
had fallen.  Ryouga sat up and grinned toothily.
      "That move cost it an arm."  He deadpanned as he held up 
the dismembered limb.  Ranma laughed at that, sure that the 
explosion had killed the daimon as well.  Unseen behind them, a 
very burnt looking Packin was walking out of the swirling smoke 
left after the explosion.
      "Look out!  Shine Aqua Illusion!"  Sailor Mercury yelled.  
Packin jumped up over the attack and let it fly straight at 
Ranma and Ryouga.  They barely dodged out of the way and they 
watched dumbfounded as the entire tree was frozen solid.
      "Geez..."  Ranma breathed, "They can dress any stupid way 
they want to if they can do stuff like that."
      Ryouga nodded as he fought to stand.  Ranma helped him to 
his feet as three more sailor suited girls joined the fray.
      "World Shaking!"
      "Deep Submerge!"
      "No!  Don't!"  Sailor Jupiter tried to warn them too 
late.  Packin grinned nastily as it sucked in both of the 
attacks and re-released them tenfold back at the Senshi and the 
boys.
      "Ah crap."  Was about all that Ranma and Ryouga could say 
before a Deep Submerge hit the ground right in front of them.  
The backlash of magical water obscured them from the Senshi for 
a split second, but not before they saw Ranma change.
      "What happened?!?  Ranma turned into a girl!"  Sailor 
Moon asked incredulously.
      "Never mind that!  We have to defeat this thing quickly!  
I couldn't see what happened to Ryouga!"  Sailor Venus said as 
she dodged a World Shaking and ran towards the daimon.  Once 
she was right in front of the daimon, she feinted once to her 
left and then circled around Packin to the right and twisted 
its remaining arm behind its back.
      "Now!  Sailor Moon!"  she called as she struggled to hold 
the daimon.
      "But..."
      "Just do it!  Don't worry about me!"
      Sailor Moon nodded and reluctantly began the spin that 
charged up her attack.  "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!"
      Sailor Venus grit her teeth and closed her eyes as the 
heart shaped attack sped towards them.  ::This could hurt...:: 
She thought right before a pair of strong arms pulled her away 
from he daimon.  She opened her eyes and saw that Ranma-chan 
had pulled her to safety just before Sailor Moon's attack had 
destroyed the daimon.
      "Ya gotta learn to dodge that on yer own."  Ranma-chan 
said as she turned to watch Ryouga's pack expel the daimon egg.  
A gentle rain began falling as the Inner Senshi regrouped 
around Sailor Venus and Ranma-chan while the Outer Senshi made 
a discreet departure.
      "Excuse me,"  Sailor Mercury said as she walked up, "But 
how did you change into a girl?"
      Ranma-chan made a face.  "It's a curse.  If ya don't 
mind, I gotta find Ryouga before he wanders off."  She leapt 
off before they could protest or stop him.  She landed long 
enough to grab Ryouga's pack before leaping off again.
      "I'm not even going to pretend that I understand what 
happened tonight!"  Sailor Jupiter declared as she helped 
Sailor Mars stay steady on her feet.
      "Are you alright?"  Sailor Moon asked.
      Sailor Mars nodded.  "Yeah, I just wasn't ready for those 
two to be projecting their emotions around like that.  I could 
feel the ego that Ranma used for his, just like I felt the 
pain, suffering and depression that Ryouga forced out of 
himself to do his attack.  I'll be better prepared for the next 
time though."
      "I'm sorry I couldn't help..."  Sailor Chibi Moon said, a 
bit shame faced.  Sailor Mars smiled and patted the top of her 
head.
      "Don't worry about it."
      "Yeah,"  Minako chimed in, "there's always next time."
      "Let's go home..."  Sailor Moon sighed.  ::Why didn't 
Tuxedo Mask show up like he usually does?  We really could have 
used his help on this one.::

      After they had transformed back into their civilian 
clothes, they split up to head back to their homes.  Minako 
shivered as the rain picked up.
      "This is just what I need."  She grumbled as she made her 
way out of the park.  A soft squeal caught her attention and 
she looked around only to find a small black piglet balanced 
precariously on a tree branch next to her.
      "What's this?"  Minako asked as she picked up the little 
black piglet, "A piglet?  Are you someone's pet?"  She asked.  
She giggled as P-chan shook his head.
      "What a smart little piggy!  Come on, let's get you home 
and out of this rain."  Minako began to run for her home.

      Once she was home, she headed straight for the bathroom.  
"Ok, piggy, let's get you warmed up!" She smiled as she wrapped 
him up in a towel.  P-chan sneezed a few times as he was being 
dried off.
      "You're still cold, aren't you?"  Minako asked sweetly 
before she sneezed herself, "I'm cold too, piggy!"  She stood 
and shed her soaked school uniform.  P-chan squealed and turned 
away, somehow managing to blush through his black hide. He 
didn't move a muscle as Minako picked him up, at least not 
until he saw the steaming furo.
      "Stop squirming, that tickles!"  Minako giggled as she 
stepped into the bath, holding P-chan firmly.  She sighed as 
she sat down and then smiled at the frantic pig in her hands.
      "Ok, it's you'r turn!  In you go!"  She said as she 
brought the pig into the water.  She had barely put the pig 
under the water when it suddenly started to grow.  Startled, 
she pulled the pig back above water, at least she thought it 
was the pig.  In her arms was a very naked and very embarrassed 
Ryouga.  They sat there for a second, staring at each other's 
face.
      A small trickle of blood started to run out of Ryouga's 
nose as Minako screamed.
      "Pervert!!!"  Her voice hit a painfully high octave as 
she proceeded to flail at him.  The small trickle of blood 
coming out his nose suddenly turned into a steady flow as his 
eyes rolled back into his head.  He collapsed backward into the 
furo, small bubbles trickled out of his mouth.
      Minako jumped out of the furo and grabbed a towel and 
wrapped it around herself before she pulled his head out of the 
water.
      "Ryouga?!?!" She gasped as she finally recognized his 
face.  She spun around as she heard loud footsteps in the 
hallway, "Oh no!  Daddy'll kill him if he sees him here!"  in a 
panic, she yanked him all the way out of the tub, knocking over 
a bucket of cold water.  She watched in wide eyed disbelief as 
he shrunk back down to the little black piglet she had found 
earlier.
      "MINAKO!!!!  ARE YOU ALRIGHT!!!" her father yelled as he 
burst into the bathroom wielding a golf club.  "Where's that 
pervert?!?"
      ::I hope my acting is up to par..:: she thought as she 
put on her most frightened face, "There was a peeping tom in 
the window!"
      "I'll kill him!"  her Father declared as he ran out of 
the bathroom and headed for the back of the house.
      Minako gathered P-chan up in her arms and made for her 
bedroom.  ::I gotta hear his story!:: she thought as she closed 
the door. ::Let's see, what caused him to change...::  She 
paced the room for a while, pausing only to deal with her 
overwrought Father who tried awkwardly to comfort her.  After 
she got him to leave, she finally remembered that he changed 
only after he had been dunked in hot water.  She quickly got 
into a nightshirt and went to kitchen to get a cup of tea.
      When she got back to her room, she found P-chan awake and 
watching her with a rather dejected look.
      "Ok Ryouga, let's hear what you have to say for 
yourself."  She placed him on the floor and dumped the hot 
water over him.  She blushed, but did not look away as the 
transformation took place and he desperately tried to cover 
himself.
      "Could I have that towel please?"  He asked in a very 
small voice.  Without ever taking her eyes off of him, she 
fumbled for the towel for a second before handing it to him.
      "How did you do that?" She finally asked after he had 
covered himself with the towel.
      "It's a curse," he looked up as he recalled what had 
happened, "Almost a year ago, I was travelling in China looking 
for Ranma to finish a duel when I fell into Heituenniichuan, 
Spring of Drowned Black Piglet.  Now, whenever I get splashed 
with cold water, I change."
      "And you didn't tell us about this while we were 
studying?"
      "It's not the kind of thing you tell anyone!" He snapped, 
"What am I supposed to do?  Walk up to someone and say, 'Hi, 
I'm Ryouga Hibiki and I turn into a little black pig'?"
      Minako thought back to what Usagi had said right before 
the Daimon attack.  "Wait a second, is your curse why, what's 
her name?  Akane, was so mad at you?  You never told her did 
you?"
      He looked down in embarrassment, "No, I never did tell 
her.  It was too embarrassing."
      "Not as embarrassed as she felt when she found out one of 
her so-called friends was peeping at her!"  Minako retorted 
angrily as she put her hands on her hips.
      Ryouga turned red.  "I couldn't possibly... I meant I 
wouldn't... I couldn't.."  He babbled on like that for a few 
minutes before Minako interrupted him.
      "OK, so you didn't peep at her, but it doesn't change the 
fact that you slept with her as a pig."  She scowled as Ryouga 
winced at her words
      "I...I'm sorry." He hung his head, "I'll be going now, I 
won't bother you again."  He stood to leave only to get pushed 
back down.
      "Oh no you don't!"  She said firmly, "You're going to 
stay right there while I talk to Usagi and see what she says 
about all this!"
      Ryouga sighed as Minako stomped off to supposedly use the 
phone.  ::Now she hates me too...::

      Usagi wearily lifted her head from her pillow as her 
communicator started beeping.
      "Hmmm?" She blinked at the tiny picture of Minako on the 
screen.  "Minako-chan?  Don't tell me it's another attack!"
      "No, nothing like that,"  Minako reassured her, "It's 
just that, well, did you know Ryouga has a curse?"
      "Yeah," Usagi yawned, "Turns into a little black piglet.  
Why?"
      Minako blushed rather fiercely at this point, "I kinda 
picked up his cursed form and then..."
      "And then?"
      "I took a bath with him.  I thought he was just a lost 
little piglet that was really cold from the rain!"
      Usagi stared at Minako's blushing image in the 
communicator for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.  
If it was possible, Minako blushed even harder.
      "It's not that funny!  Why didn't you tell us about 
that?"
      "I thought that he'd tell everyone else once he was 
comfortable."  Usagi sighed, "How's he doing?"
      "He's sitting in my room with only a towel on."
      "Ooooooh!  Don't stay up all night with him!"  Usagi 
teased.
      "Oh be quiet!"  Minako snapped.
      "You've got him in your room already?  You little vixen 
you!"
      "It's not like that at all!"  Minako protested as she cut 
the connection.

      When Minako re-entered her room, Ryouga looked up at her 
like a condemned prisoner would look at his jailers.  Despite 
her already fading outrage at him seeing her in the bath, the 
look of total dejection and depression tugged at her heart.
      "Look, Ryouga, Usagi said she knew and thought you would 
tell us when you were ready.  I, I guess I can't really blame 
you for not wanting to talk to anyone about it."
      "You, you aren't going to hit me?"  He asked with a bit 
of trepidation in his voice.  Minako gave him a startled look 
before she started giggling.
      "No, silly!  I only hit you in the bathroom because you 
had scared me!"  She gave him a vicious look, "If you had asked 
to join me though..."  She trailed off and gave him a wink.  
Ryouga's nose seemed to explode with blood.  Smiling, Minako 
pinched his nose shut.  "I was only kidding with you!"
      "You... You don't hate me?  For being a pig?"  He 
stammered.
      "Of course not!"  She sat down on the bed and put her 
hands on her hips, "It doesn't matter if your cursed at all!  
One shouldn't judge a book by it's words!"
      Ryouga sweatdropped.  "Uhm... Isn't that 'Don't judge a 
book by it's cover?"
      Minako looked up, "I guess you could say it that way 
too..."  She looked back at Ryouga and smiled again, "Not that 
it really matters.  What we need to worry about now is what we 
are going to do with you."
      "Me?"
      "Well, I can't just turn you out into the rain, you'd 
just become a piglet again.  She held up her now cold cup of 
tea, "I think I have a solution.  But you gotta promise me one 
thing!"
      "What?"
      "That you won't climb into my bed in the middle of the 
night and start pawing around or I might decide to just throw 
you out the window."
      Ryouga turned beet red and waved his arms in front of 
him, "I promise! I promise!"
      "Good!"  She splashed him with the cold tea and watched, 
fascinated by the transformation.  She dried him off with the 
towel and then put one of her spare pillows on the floor for 
him.  "G'night Ryouga."
      "Bwee."  P-chan settled into the pillow and was fast 
asleep in a few seconds.
      Minako smiled at the sleeping piglet before jotting down 
a quick note to Artemis about P-chan.  She left the note on her 
desk and settled in for bed herself.
      ::I wonder where he is anyways...::

      Outside, a thoroughly drenched white moon cat shook his 
head at what he had seen through the window.
      

	

**End of Chapter 1

Author's Notes:

I know the whole idea of crossing Sailor Moon and Ranma 1/2 has been
done to death, but I felt that there was still an original way to do
it.  

I do hope you've enjoyed this, and feel free to holler at me about it.
I thrive on feedback, of almost any sort.  





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