This is something a little different from the other 
crossovers you've no doubt seen. I've tried to catch the spirit 
of both worlds without making it too much like one or the other. 
Despite the names shared by these characters with their 
originals, the characters may not necessarily act the way their 
namesakes would. Keep it in mind. I've tried to make it a bit 
more mature, but still keeping a bit of absurdity to keep things 
interesting. Also keep in mind that there are quite a number of 
cameos from various sources. Spot them all and win a prize! (Not 
cash, sorry...) Please send C&C and any suggestions on the story 
to [email protected].  

	Standard fanfic disclaimer averring that all characters, 
situations,  places and events with even a vague resemblance to 
the work of Rumiko Takahashi, Fujishima Kosuke's, CLAMP, whoever 
did Koko  wa  Greenwood or any one of a number of works, probably 
was borrowed in  the  first place. Apologies to all. Rights are 
to whoever owns them. Don't bother to sue, though. I'm broke.

I hereby present, for the reader's perusal:
        Sore wa Nibunoichi Megami-sama.
        (That's 1/2 My Goddess.)
        A Ranma 1/2 - Oh! My Goddess semi-crossover fanfic by 
Scriviner

Part VII: Of Obvious Chances and Veiled Possibilities

	Morning. Not a favorite in the temple. Certainly not by 
Ranma. This morning, as with every other morning since they moved 
into the temple Akane shook him awake. Unfortunately she was in a 
particularly foul mood today, having not so much shaken him awake 
as kicked him in the head a couple of time until he snapped 
awake. A glance out the rainspattered window confirmed it. She 
was royally pissed. He blinked a couple of times as she bustled 
off to the kitchen without so much as a word.
	"What the heck am I doing in the living room?" He muttered 
as he picked himself up, rubbing the sore spot on the back of his 
head as he did so. Last night was pretty hazy... the last clear 
thing he could remember was having a great dinner with Akane... 
then the two of them decided to sit on the couch to watch some 
TV... it was some sort of romantic movie... Sleepless in 
something or the other... she snuggled up to his side... he 
vaguely recalled putting his arm around her... then he must've 
drifted off because he couldn't remember anything clearly past 
that point. He could vaguely recall a weird dream where Akane's 
sister stepped out of the TV... then Ranko said she was in love 
with him... then... then... something about Akane's sister 
sticking around indefinitely... 
	"I wonder why she's mad at me this time?" Ranma muttered to 
himself, looking around, "I didn't grab her in my sleep again, 
did I?"
	He wasn't too sure about that... that dream was pretty 
vivid about the details when it came to Ranko kissing him. He 
blushed violently... whoo boy... I must really be turning into a 
pervert or something, he thought to himself... I don't even think 
of Akane like that...
	He made his groggy way into the bathroom... it was 
difficult to be wary this early in the day, but he knew he had to 
keep on his toes. Ranko sometimes tried to get him before 
breakfast. The thought of Ranko trying to grab him set off that 
particular train of thought again... I didn't realize my 
imagination was that vivid, he thought to himself... What a 
kiss...
	Ranma, his mind still caught up in his guilty musings, slid 
open the door to the bath area, blithely ignoring the 'Knock 
First' sign which he himself put there. What he saw there could 
not possibly be adequately described in a few words by a one 
handed typist.
	Nabiki, Goddess of Transactions was rising from the bath, 
water still glistening on her body just as the door slid open... 
a drowsy Ranma walked precisely two steps into the bathing area 
and was already beginning to unbutton his shirt when the sight of 
the naked woman finally filtered through his sleep and guilt 
fogged brain.
	"Agh!! Who are you?!" Ranma screamed, stumbling back, 
trying simultaneously to cover his eyes, turn away and take a 
step back.
	Nabiki smiled calmly, stepping out of the bath and extended 
a hand towards Ranma, "Would you mind passing me the towel, 
Ranma? I don't think Akane would appreciate it too much if you 
continued to stand there staring at me."
	"I am not staring!" Ranma protested, clamping a hand firmly 
over his eyes as he groped along the wall closest to him for the 
towel rack... where was that thing anyway..? There!
	Nabiki took another step closer to the door, accepting the 
proffered towel from Ranma's shaking hand. She wrapped it around 
herself and said calmly to Ranma, "There. I'm decent now. You can 
look."
	"I don't want to!" Ranma said firmly.
	"You may as well, you know. I'm going to have to charge you 
for a few seconds worth of looking the same as for a whole hour."
	"You... what..?" His hand dropping away from his face out 
of sheer surprise.
	"Did you forget who I am already Saotome?"
	"You're Nabiki Tendo! But you were just someone out of a 
weird dream I had!"
	Nabiki's face took on a look of flattered satisfaction, 
"You were already dreaming about me? After just meeting me 
once... my, my, my Saotome... I didn't realize I'd made such an 
impression on you."
	"That's not what I meant!"
	"Nevermind," Nabiki gave him a tiny calculated smile and 
said, "You had precisely twenty four seconds worth of looking at 
me while I was in the nude. And another twenty seven seconds 
while I was wearing this rather thin towel." she paused to lift 
up a corner of the material. "I intend to collect the same from 
you Saotome. See more of you later."
	Ranma was left gaping at Nabiki as she brushed past him... 
he ordered his brain not to register the fact that the towel was 
indeed rather thin... and that she had that nice freshly scrubbed 
scent which was... 
	"That... that was Nabiki..." Ranma babbled to himself, 
collapsing to his knees, "It wasn't a dream... Ranko did kiss 
me... Oh, boy... Oh boy did she kiss me..."
	A hand touched him on the shoulder and a familiar voice 
asked, "Ranma? Are you alright?"
	Ranma looked up to find Akane looking down at him, her face 
a mask of concern. Quite a far cry from her earlier expression of 
disgust when she was trying to kick his head in. He sprang to his 
feet, continuing to babble, "Akane! It wasn't really my fault! 
She kissed me! I didn't have anything to--!"
	Akane cupped his cheek in her hand and smiled at him, "I 
know... no need to worry about it, Ranma. There's no need to 
explain. I understand..."
	"And furthermore... I... I... you... you understand?" 
Ranma's ranting sputtered to a halt as he stared down at Akane in 
wonder.
	"Of course. It's not your fault you're so irresistible." 
She favored him with another warm smile.
	"Um... uh... I don't know what to say."
	"Don't say anything then," Akane replied quietly before she 
suddenly grasped his collar and pulled him down to kiss her.
	Ranma's brain... which had already undergone more shocks 
this morning than any decent man's mind ought to be subjected 
to... blanked out. Leaving his body (which incidentally is the 
one really in charge of this sort of thing) to enjoy the kiss.
	After an indeterminate amount of time, Ranma finally 
mustered sufficient willpower to break free of the kiss, "What 
was that for?" he asked breathlessly.
	Akane smiled, "I felt like it."
	Ranma sighed but wondered to himself why that kiss felt... 
familiar... very familiar... very pleasantly, if very guiltily 
familiar...
	'Akane' laughed as she gave her head a quick shake, 
dispelling whatever illusion she'd woven around herself. Ranma 
found himself staring at an openly grinning face that was not 
Akane's.
	Ranma's jaw dropped, "Ranko?!"
	Ranko sighed happily, "That was fun... thanks for the wake 
up."
	Ranma opened his mouth to protest. To rant. To rave. To do 
something. Ranko however preempted him by dashing off for 
elsewhere in the house.
	Not once... not twice... but thrice! Ranma whirled around, 
ripping his shirt off as he threw it into the hamper in a fit of 
pique. I think I liked it better when she was just trying to 
annoy me, he thought heatedly to himself. It was all too much. 
Just when he thought he was starting to understand the situation, 
it changed on him. He HATED it! And to think he was already 
beginning to start to like Ranko a little and enjoy their little 
impromptu sparring sessions... she had to start to pull this... 
whatever IT was..! Several months worth of frustration (Most men 
would be frustrated too if they were him. Think about it... he's 
been living with two beautiful goddesses for several months and 
he's been sleeping alone the whole time... nevermind) plus a bad 
night's sleep combined to make him finally lose his temper.
	Akane, who as chance would have it, was just outside the 
open door at that precise moment. She had been trying to decide 
whether or not to apologize to Ranma for her earlier treatment of 
his head and had not seen Ranko giving Ranma the last breath-
stopping kiss (which would most assuredly have crystalized her 
decision in the other direction)... She had finally decided to 
apologize to him just as he screamed at the top of his voice, 
"Why can't you just leave me alone!"
	Akane's face hardened, "If you're going to be that way 
about it, Ranma. Fine. I will."
	Ranma whirled suddenly, only now realizing that Akane was 
there, "No! Wait! I didn't mean you! I meant Ran--"
	Akane slammed the door shut in his face. She gave a 
disgusted snort and stormed down the corridor. Storm here is 
taken literally, as the rain outside began to pick up in 
intensity with thunderclaps rattling the Temple's windows.
	"--ko... Damn..." he finished lamely... barely managing to 
take a step back to avoid getting the tip of his nose torn off.
	Ranma collapsed, sulking with his back to the wall, every 
so often banging his head against the wall and muttering to 
himself, "You idiot..." not entirely certain if he meant Akane, 
Ranko or himself.
	"Why doesn't somebody just kill me now and end it all?" he 
sighed.
	He was so busy wallowing in self-pity, his bath forgotten, 
that it wasn't until he chanced to look in the mirror that he 
noticed that he'd turned female again.
	He stared at himself or rather, herself. Ranma heaved a 
long suffering sigh, "Great... now I've got to ask Akane to 
change me back... not when she's in that mood... I guess I'm 
going to be stuck like this for a while."
	Funny, she thought to himself... I don't remember changing 
when Ranko put her hand on my cheek... maybe it's because she 
looked like Akane at the time? Maybe not... and I don't think 
she'd've kissed me while I was a girl... then again this is 
Ranko...
	Ranma gave another sigh and wondered just how she was going 
to take a bath without looking at herself. This was going to be 
embarrassing. Even the tank top she was wearing was pretty 
revealing... she gave her head a slight tilt as she examined 
herself more closely in the mirror. She never really paid 
attention before to just how good Ranko's figure really was... 
she was just about to lift a hand up to her hair to strike a pose 
when she caught herself...
	Ranma sighed and tore his eyes away from the image on the 
mirror, "This is getting just way too weird..." She had to stop 
herself from putting a hand to her chest. 
	This was the first time Ranma found herself stuck in female 
form for longer than a few minutes... and her curiosity was 
starting to get the better of her. Reasoning it out carefully and 
taking her time, Ranma came to the conclusion that the bath was 
an essential portion of his... no, her... no, his! daily routine, 
and the fact that she, or rather he, was now a woman didn't enter 
into it. Ranma placed her hands tentatively on the bottom of the 
tank top, taking a half nervous, half excited gulp of air before 
preparing to pull it off. She leaned slightly forward, catching a 
good view of her cleavage in the mirror.
	It wasn't precisely as if Ranma was entirely unfamiliar 
with the female form. She'd seen magazine pictures and so 
forth... not to mention the fact that naked women had a 
disconcerting habit of walking into or being in bathrooms Ranma 
was already using or intending to use. It had more to do with the 
fact that this was a perfect copy of Ranko's body... and the fact 
that she... no, HE! Was wearing it... it just felt... wrong. 
Ranma couldn't put it into words clearer than that thought.
	Ranma gave a resigned sigh, straightened up and moved for 
the door. May as well go find Akane and try to calm her down... I 
can't go through the day like this, she thought, Even if she 
won't calm down, I could just try and tackle her or something so 
I can change back... he added sourly. He squashed that thought 
about as quickly as he did his thoughts just minutes earlier 
about Nabiki's thin towel... tackling Akane wasn't likely to 
improve her mood. Maybe she'll let me touch my pinky to her 
ankle.
	Ranma's fingers touched the handle of the door as she 
caught sight of herself again in the bathroom mirror. He made a 
sound that was half chuckle and half sigh, "Yeah... Ranko is 
pretty good looking, I guess."
	She never had the chance to pull the door open, as the 
mirror began to glow suddenly. Ranma took a step away from it... 
he recognized this... this was the same glow which had come from 
his bath water that fateful day Akane had stepped into his life. 
He raised an involuntary cry just as a pair of of delicate hands 
pushed out of the mirror, curling to catch hold of the sides of 
the frame. These were followed by a woman's face, which looked 
around rather inquisitively.
	"Excuse me, please, ma'am... is this the residence of Mr. 
Ranma Saotome?" the face asked Ranma in a gentle voice.
	Ranma nodded mutely... now what?
	The woman's face brightened up, "Oh, thank you! I've been 
looking for so long."
	She pushed herself the rest of the way out, stepping 
gingerly on the tiles as she finally pulled entirely free of the 
mirror. Ranma gaped as she watched the woman's progress from 
mirror to floor... it was as if she fell in slow motion. Ranma 
could swear that the woman was floating. She's gotta be another 
goddess... thought Ranma... What is it about me? Am I some sort 
of magnet for this or what?
 	She was a quietly beautiful lady in her mid-twenties. Her 
hair was kept in place by a head dress that looked vaguely like a 
turban, but was open at the top to allow her long brown hair to 
spill out. She wore a simple pale blue robe edged in gold, over a 
modest white dress, both cinched at the waist by a thin gold 
belt. She was at least a head taller than Ranma currently was, 
but she guessed they would be about the same height in her normal 
form.
	The woman dusted herself off and smiled at Ranma, taking a 
deep bow, "Hello. I'm Kasumi Tendo, Goddess of Tranquility, 1st 
rank, 2nd category. Is Mr. Saotome in? Or perhaps a Ms. Akane 
Tendo?"
	"Uh, yeah, Akane's in and... um... well... I'm... uh... 
Ran--" he started to reply.
	Kasumi's eyes suddenly widened as she looked intently at 
Ranma's face. Her hand flew to her mouth as if in horror and she 
took a step back, "Ranko? Is that you?"
	She rushed toward Ranma, her voice full of concern as she 
put a hand against Ranma's forehead, brushing her bangs out of 
the way, "What happened to your hair? And your limiters? And your 
Goddess markings?!?!"
	Kasumi pressed both hands to her mouth as she continued to 
stare in horrified fascination at Ranma, "Oh my... What happened 
to you?"
	"Um... look, lady... er... Kasumi, right? I'm not--"
	"Don't you even remember me, Ranko-chan?" Kasumi broke in, 
sympathetically. She'd calmed down somewhat but was still 
obviously very worried, "You don't remember Kasumi? I used to 
take care of you when you were little? Oh... don't worry Ranko-
chan. Kasumi's right here, I'll take good care of you!" She 
hugged Ranma suddenly and with great feeling.
	"But... but..." Ranma started to reply. The rest of the 
reply was lost as the door flew open, nearly ripped of it's 
hinges, nearly barreling into Ranma and Kasumi.
	In the doorway stood a fierce looking Akane wearing one of 
Ranma's Chinese shirts, her hammer in a ready position; a curious 
Ranko wearing a similar Chinese shirt; and a rather bored looking 
Nabiki, wearing a robe.
	Not again... Ranma thought... how can the same thing keep 
happening to the same guy over and over and over again?!?!?!?!?
	"What happened?!" Akane demanded, "We felt somebody using 
magic here then a scream--"
	"Calm down, Akane... we don't necessarily have to bash 
whatever it is..." Ranko replied.
	Nabiki calmly looked into the bathroom. She gave a small 
cheery wave at Kasumi, who was hugging a now male Ranma, "Hello, 
Elder sister."
	Kasumi turned to face the other goddesses, blinking in 
confusion as she did so, "Akane? Nabiki? Ranko? But-- Oh my..." 
	She turned to look at whoever it was she was hugging only 
to realize she was now looking directly into a rather handsome 
MALE face which was burning red with embarrassment and sweating 
bullets.
	Kasumi looked into Ranma's face with a little surprise, but 
hardly as much as could be expected from someone who found 
herself in the situation of hugging a half naked total stranger 
in a bathroom, "Oh my... is something the matter, sir? You seem 
to be flushed. You're also sweating quite a lot..." she put the 
back of her hand to Ranma's forehead, "Oh my... you're quite 
warm... you might be running a fever."
	Ranma choked on a reply, his face turning even redder, if 
that were possible. Akane tried to bite down on a growl... this 
was her sister Kasumi after all. It was very difficult for Akane 
to think of Kasumi as trying anything like THAT on a man... but 
this was coming perilously close to it.
	"It seems Akane's caught a slight cough too..." Kasumi 
continued, hearing her.
	Nabiki smirked, "I think you're embarrassing him, Kasumi. 
And making Akane jealous."
	"I am?" Kasumi seemed puzzled, "Am I making you jealous 
Akane?"
	"I am NOT jealous!" Akane snorted, "If that stupid, girl-
chasing pervert wants to flirt with my entire family, why the 
hel-- heck should I care!?!"
	"Watch that lie quotient, Akane-chan." Nabiki muttered.
	Kasumi nodded slowly, as if only starting to understand 
then turned to Ranma, "Am I embarrassing you?"
	Ranma nodded quickly, after stealing a glance at the 
furious Akane.
	Kasumi quickly let go, also beginning to turn red, "I'm so 
sorry," she bowed, "Oh, I feel so embarrassed at having done 
that..."
	Ranko gestured airily, "No need to feel that way, Kasumi-
chan. Ranma-kun's used to it. Happens all the time. Isn't that 
right?" She ended her statement with a wink.
	Akane's frown deepened if that were possible... the wind 
outside was really howling now...
	Kasumi's eyes widened slightly in understanding, "Oh, so 
this must be the famous Mr. Saotome." She turned to bow to him, 
"I am most pleased to meet you, sir."
	Ranma returned the bow awkwardly, "Um... likewise." Famous?
	Kasumi blushed some more then turned to Ranko as if 
remembering something, "Now, now, Ranko-chan... how many times 
have I told you not to talk like that?" She moved to her fellow 
goddesses, trading greetings and 'how are you doings' with each 
in turn. Ranma could see that they were all obviously very happy 
about her appearance and were all now ignoring him, which was a 
bit of a relief, except for Akane who would steal an angry glance 
at him every so often. He was starting to feel that this was 
going a little too far. Especially for this early in the morning. 
He hadn't done a thing. It all kept happening to him!
	He cleared his throat loudly catching everyone's attention.
	"This is all very touching and it's very nice meeting you, 
Miss Kasumi," Ranma said trying to keep his voice even, but his 
annoyance was obvious, "But I'm trying to take a bath here... and 
I don't want any company while I'm doing it!! Am I making myself 
clear?!"
	Ranko looked as if she were about to make a flirtatious 
comment, but Nabiki caught his mood and quickly elbowed Ranko to 
silence.
	Ranma pointed out the door, "Out. Now. Please." He turned 
to Akane as she cast a last glance at him, "I won't be having 
breakfast, Akane... don't bother setting a place for me."
	Akane replied in a voice that could not only freeze water 
to ice, but crack it into cubes as well, "Fine. Anything you 
say."
	Kasumi opened her mouth as though to speak but reconsidered 
and hurried after her fellow goddesses, her face a blushing red 
mask of worry.
 
	Ranma spent the day avoiding thinking about anything even 
remotely connected to his home situation. The day had been quiet 
enough, by his standards... except for the inordinately large 
number of people (women especially) who kept going up to him and 
patting him on the shoulder and telling him they understood. Or 
asking if he wanted to talk. Or if he needed a shoulder to cry 
on. Or if he wanted to be comforted. Or something...
	The school lecher collared him in the hallway and shook his 
hand gratefully for some reason... saying over and over that he 
knew it wouldn't last and that his hero had yet to fall... 
	"What the hell are you talking about Moroboshi?!" Ranma 
asked finally.
	The infamous lecher raised his eyebrows and elbowed Ranma 
playfully, "You sly dog... ahhh... the use them and lose them 
school of relationships, you're definitely the master! I heard 
about you and Akane... it's all over the school!"
	"What?" Ranma's eyes narrowed, "What about me and Akane?" 
He'd had more than enough of other people sticking their noses in 
his business.
	"About you two--" Moroboshi began to reply, but he was 
suddenly cut off by a sudden cry from the other end of the 
hallway.
	"Dah-ling!!!! Where are you?!?!" Called out a high pitched 
voice.
	Moroboshi's eyes widened in fear as he dashed down the 
other end of the hallway, "Whoops! Gotta run, Saotome. See ya!"
	Ranma watched the lecher scramble down the corridor, his 
green-haired girlfriend flying past in an obvious rage, "Dah-
ling!!!"
	That does it... Ranma thought, I'm going to find out what 
the hell is going on here even if it kills somebody. He grabbed a 
random passerby by the collar.
	"What do you know about me and Akane?!" He demanded the 
skinny unfortunate.
	As luck would have it, he had managed to grab Hikaru 
Gosunkugi. His former dorm mate. An utter social outcast whom no 
one talked to. In the entire school, he was perhaps the only one 
who hadn't heard a thing. No one told him anything.
	"Um... nothing?" Gosunkugi replied nervously.
	Ranma gave a disgusted grunt and released Gosunkugi, who 
promptly collapsed in a heap at his feet. Coordination was not 
one of Gosukugi's strong suits. Ranma stalked off to find someone 
who did know. Unnoticed by him, a SD-Kasumi followed quietly.

	Within a few minutes, Ranma had reached the walkway leading 
to the Martial Arts Varsity Dojo. He was glad that it was a 
covered walkway, as the rainstorm was still raging. Akane was 
definitely very very pissed. He found himself suddenly tackled 
from the side by a missile with severely braided purple hair. 
	"Ack!" Ranma cried out as he found himself being hugged by 
Shampoo.
	Shampoo looked at him worriedly over the tops of her 
glasses,
"Saotome-sempai! Shampoo hear it all over school! Shampoo so 
sorry for you Saotome-sempai, you need shoulder?" She raised one 
shoulder slightly higher than the other as if to offer it.
	"What is everyone supposed to have heard?" Ranma asked in a 
tone a good deal gentler than he expected to use, finding it 
difficult to be too annoyed with Shampoo. He liked her a good 
deal. Largely because she didn't try to catch him like 
practically every other woman did.
	"That you and Akane make big break up. You tell Shampoo it 
no true?" she asked, brightening slightly.
	Ranma replied thoughtfully, "Well... we've been having a 
few arguments and a couple of problems lately, but..."
	Shampoo hugged him tighter, "Is going to be okay, Saotome-
sempai! Pain pass... everything okay soon-soon. Really."
	The rest of Ranma's reply was lost as Shampoo proceeded to 
crush his ribs. He wondered how to tell Shampoo that the fastest 
way to make the pain pass soon-soon was if she let go of him...
	There was a loud tsk-tsk from the door of the dojo as 
Mousse stood there with his arms crossed, his white overcoat 
flapping in the wind.
	Shampoo noticed him and quickly let go of Ranma, her face 
burning red with embarrassment. 
	"Shampoo-chan, what did I tell you about displays of 
affection?" Mousse chided her gently.
	Shampoo, blushed harder, looking down at the ground, "That 
we no longer in home village," she replied meekly, "And have to 
show best side of Juketsuzoku culture and no show as much 
affection when in foreign country as when at home because they 
have different ways."
	"Besides..." Mousse added quietly, "What if someone had 
seen the two of you and gotten to thinking that you were the 
reason for Ranma and Akane's breakup?"
	"But Mousse-sempai, Saotome-sempai need hug. Is okay for 
even most powerful warrior show he need comfort."
	Ranma had never really heard them discuss their culture 
before, but he was hardly in a mood to pay too much attention to 
it.
	"That may be, Shampoo... but give him comfort in private. 
I'm not having your name get dragged into the mud like Saotome's 
name so often does."
	"Gee, thanks for the support, Mousse." Ranma replied 
sarcastically.
	"Anytime, Saotome," Mousse replied oblivious to the 
sarcasm, "Let's all of us go in, shall we? It's pretty cold out 
here."
	"So how's my name getting dragged into the mud this time, 
Mousse?" Ranma asked as they stepped into the dojo.
	"Well... everyone has heard about you and Akane breaking 
up, I should think it was rather obvious. Rumor has it you've 
been seeing another woman on the side... although there's some 
rumors going around that it was your insatiable sexual appetite 
which drove her away. Quite possibly even inviting another woman 
to bed with you and Akane..."
	Shampoo, who had recovered somewhat, blushed again, 
"Mousse-sempai! No talk like that! No nice."
	Ranma's mouth quirked as he nodded irritably, "Does anyone 
bother to confirm these rumors before they spread them around?"
	"Of course not, Saotome. That's why they're rumors." Mousse 
replied. He looked around. The dojo was empty except for them. 
Most of the students had decided to stay home because of the 
storm, "I think we're in private now Shampoo. Please continue."
	Shampoo nodded and locked Ranma up in a powerful but oddly 
comforting hug again.
	Ranma acked, "You people are weird."
	Mousse smiled, "We seem that way to you Saotome, but kindly 
remember that we're from a much older culture than yours. We've 
got 3000 years of tradition and law backing us up."
	"Aren't you even going to ask me if the rumors are true or 
not?" Ranma burst out. Shampoo was rubbing her cheek against his 
chest and murmuring something in Mandarin. Mousse didn't appear 
to even notice what she was doing.
	He replied, "Well... Ryouga and I are running a betting 
pool for the school as to which of the various rumors are true... 
after all we need the funds after having to buy all of your stuff 
back." Mousse seemed almost petulant. "But please, try not to 
tell anyone but us which of the rumors are true until we've 
collected a little more. We do need to refigure the odds a 
bit..." Somehow, Mousse was suddenly holding a clipboard which he 
looked over, "We've got fifty to one currently on 'Got caught en 
flagrante delecti inside the bathroom'. I certainly hope that 
isn't it."
	"Why you dirty rotten--!" Ranma reached for Mousse, who 
quite wisely took a step back, the clipboard vanishing again into 
the depths of his coat. Ranma's hands clawed uselessly at thin 
air as he realized that Shampoo was practically immovable and he 
couldn't get out of her grip... geez, the girl was strong.
	Shampoo turned to Mousse with a slightly disapproving 
expression, "Hibiki-sempai no nice to try to make money off of 
Saotome-sempai bad time."
	Ranma was pretty sure it was probably Mousse's idea... it 
usually was, but Shampoo would never believe anything bad of her 
Mousse-sempai.
	Mousse flipped his glasses up on his head and looked 
thoughtful... "Speaking of Ryouga... have you seen him around? I 
haven't seen him since yesterday when he was going to the 
bathroom across the hall..."
	Almost as if in answer to his question, a soaking wet 
Ryouga opened the door to the dojo and walked in. There was 
something very wrong with his face that the other three couldn't 
quite place. Even leaving aside the fact that most of his hair 
was plastered down on his face... something was definitely wrong.
	"Hello, everyone," Ryouga said cheerfully. He sighed 
happily and said, "What a beautiful afternoon."
	Shampoo and Ranma glanced out the window to find the 
downpour unabated. Mousse found himself staring at one of the 
training dummies, where he imagined the window was.
	Shampoo loosed her deathgrip on Ranma's ribs in shock, 
"What wrong with Hibiki-sempai? He have funny look on face..."
	"Why? He looks alright to me." Mousse replied, looking in 
the wrong direction. Now freed, Ranma reached over and gave him a 
thwack on the head, knocking his glasses back down over his eyes.
	Mousse studied Ryouga's face for a moment before it finally 
occurred to him what was wrong, "Ryouga... you're... you're 
smiling... you're smiling happily... it doesn't look natural..."
	Ryouga nodded, "Yes... the world is a wonderful place to be 
in. It's been so long since I've felt that way."
	Shampoo bounced over to Ryouga and put a hand to his 
forehead, "He no have fever... but he still talk like crazy 
man..."
	Mousse grabbed Ryouga by the front of the shirt and shook 
him roughly, "Alright you... what have you done with the real 
Ryouga?!"
	"I am the real Ryouga... the really happy Ryouga... isn't 
it wonderful?" Ryouga said, smiling lazily up at Mousse.
	"No you can't be! The real Ryouga would have hit me 
repeatedly on the head for grabbing him!"
	"Oh, go ahead Mousse..." Ryouga continued happily, "It's 
alright. I've got other shirts, wrinkle this one all you like."
	"Ai-yah..." Shampoo whispered, "Mousse-sempai, make him 
stop... he scaring me.
	Ranma watched the tomfoolery for a few moments more with a 
small smile. Well, I can always count on these guys to do 
something to make me forget some of my problems... usually by 
giving me bigger ones. He bowed to Shampoo and thanked her for 
trying to cheer him up. She smiled happily. The other two seemed 
too busy to notice.
	He snuck out of the dojo, pausing long enough to grab his 
bag which he'd left the day before, as Mousse continued to try to 
browbeat Ryouga back into his familiar misery. At least Ryouga 
seemed pretty happy. That makes one of us, he thought bitterly. 
He'd known Ryouga for a long time now and this was probably the 
first time EVER that he'd seen the man happy. It seemed almost 
impossible and he'd bet anything that the goddesses had something 
to do with it. They had a way of making very strange things 
happening... especially when it came to him and people in his 
vicinity. 
	He sighed. His classes were over and he didn't really have 
any excuse to stay on campus... Home wasn't a particularly 
desirable option, but it was better than getting rained on. But 
not by much.
	Kasumi, still miniaturized, continued to follow him. There 
was a proper time and place to talk to someone about things. She 
was quite willing and content to follow him until the right 
moment came up.

	There is a thing to remember about heavy rains. On 
occasion, drainage systems designed to handle a certain load find 
themselves totally unable to cope with a sudden influx of 
extended precipitation. In other words, a sudden heavy rain can 
totally screw up the local drainage. This results in localized 
flooding. Which in turn results in traffic jams. Now keep in mind 
that Akane had been angry since the night before. This is not a 
particularly good state of mind to be in for someone who can 
control weather.
	Ranma sighed in resignation. A number of streets had been 
rendered impassible due to the flooding and he had somehow 
managed to get his van entangled in a traffic jam trying to get 
through the few roads which were still of any use.
	His wipers had conked out and he couldn't see anything 
beyond fuzzy blurs through his windshield. "This is just 
great..."
	"It is?" asked a small voice innocently from the passenger 
side of his dashboard, "Oh my, I didn't realize being trapped in 
traffic while half blind was a good thing. I must remember that.
	"Not really... but I guess it beats going back to that 
madhouse--" Ranma stopped suddenly and closed his eyes... he had 
either snapped and was now starting to hear voices, or...
	He turned to look at the source of the voice and found 
Kasumi, all of six inches tall. Her tiny hands were pressed 
against the windshield as she strained to look out the glass, 
"Really? There's a madhouse near here?"
	"Uh... What are you doing here?" Ranma asked unable to 
think of anything better to say.
	Kasumi turned away from the glass to face Ranma. She folded 
her hands over her skirt, "I wanted to apologize for earlier this 
morning. I didn't realize I was causing you so much 
inconvenience, Mr. Saotome." She bowed low.
	Ranma returned the bow, awkwardly. After all, he was 
sitting behind the wheel and had his seatbelt on. "No... it's 
okay, really. I sort of lost my temper a bit... I ought to 
apologize. I was being a real jerk back there."
	Kasumi straightened up and smiled sweetly at him, "Oh my, 
no need at all to apologize at all, Mr. Saotome. Your reaction 
was perfectly understandable.
	"I'm glad you think so." Ranma replied a little ruefully, 
"Uh... and would you mind calling me Ranma?"
	"Alright. Please call me Kasumi." She replied still 
smiling, "Would you mind if I sat down?"
	Ranma gestured, "Huh? Oh, sure, go ahead..." At her current 
size, she could sit comfortably on the ashtray, he thought.
	Kasumi jumped off the dashboard and landed softly on the 
passenger seat. Ranma recoiled slightly at the small puff of 
smoke as she suddenly grew back to her full size, "Thank you, Mr. 
Sa-- Ranma."
	"No problem. You'd better buckle up your seatbelt, 
Kasumi..." Ranma said as the traffic began to move.
	Kasumi looked at him curiously, "My what?"
	"Seatbelt... just reach up behind you, back there..." Ranma 
replied, trying to keep his eyes on the road, even through his 
rain spattered windshield and point to the seatbelt at the same 
time. "You just sort of reach up and grab the metal thing and put 
it in that slot there..."
	"Oh, I see." Kasumi replied as she followed his 
instruction. She continued delightedly, "How clever! I've never 
seen anything like this before."
	"Really?" Ranma asked, risking a glance at Kasumi.
	Kasumi nodded and smiled, "Really. This is the first time 
I've ever been to Earth. It's quite exciting."
	"I guess it must be..." Ranma replied while avoiding 
another pothole, mostly by watching the cars in front of them and 
avoiding the ones they hit, "Say... if you don't mind my asking, 
Kasumi, why did you drop by for a visit?"
	"Oh I don't mind at all." Kasumi replied, animated, "After 
Akane and Ranko both answered your wish request, it became pretty 
lonely without my little sister and my cousin... Nabiki is always 
so wrapped up in her work it's a little difficult to talk to her 
sometimes..."
	"You don't say..."
	Kasumi nodded as she continued, "In any case, just 
yesterday, my local area supervisor told me that my section had 
to be shut down for a Contract Review...
	"Section..?" Ranma asked, not realizing how narrowly he had 
missed a lamppost.
	"My section of the Ygdrasyl system is the one monitoring 
the system force on your contract."
	"Ah."
	"So, since they put me on paid leave anyway, with no work 
to do... and I had a little vacation leave squared away... I 
decided to drop in for a visit... I mean, I haven't seen Akane or 
Ranko in so long..." 
	"Yeah... Akane," Ranma nodded absently, still trying to see 
through the rain, was that a tank or a towtruck?
	"Are you having a difficult time, Ranma?" Kasumi asked a 
mild trace of concern in her voice.
	"Er... Sorta... it's pretty tricky... It's hard to see 
where we're headed..." he squinted out the window this time, that 
blur was most definitely a tank... and it was just a little too 
close for comfort.
	"Oh my, well... Akane does seem a little miffed..." Kasumi 
said thoughtfully. "I might be able to help, if you like."
	Ranma was momentarily confused... did Kasumi mean the rain 
or with Akane? "I guess--" he started to reply. Well... he did 
need all the help he could get, either way.
	Kasumi closed her eyes and seemed to say something softly.
	"Um... what are you doing, now?" Ranma could see she was 
perfectly calm, but he noticed that the mark on her forehead was 
glowing very softly. There was a brief burst of light which 
momentarily dazzled him... when his eyes were clear, he realized 
that his engine was now dead... and wherever he was, it wasn't 
raining, he could barely hear the muted sound of rainfall and 
thunder. He rolled down his window and looked out. He was in some 
sort of underground parking garage... 
	Kasumi opened her eyes and smiled at him again.
	"What did you just do?" Ranma asked, baffled.
	"I told you I would help you and being stuck in traffic was 
hardly what needed to be done." She opened her door and tried to 
exit the van but found herself unable to leave her seat, she 
calmly gave a concerned sigh, "Oh my... I'm stuck. You didn't put 
a spirit ward on your van did you?"
	"Er... wait, here... let me help you..." Ranma realized 
that she'd managed to get herself fouled up in her seat belt. She 
definitely was not kidding when she told him she was new to 
Earth. He stepped out of the van and went over to her side of the 
vehicle. "Here... you just push that button to release the buckl-
!"
	Kasumi pushed the button as she'd been told to do and was 
so surprised at the sudden release from the tight bonds of the 
seatbelt that she tumbled into Ranma's arms.
	"Oh my!" she cried in surprise.
	"Easy, there, Kasumi... are you okay?" He was surprised to 
find that Kasumi was very light in his arms... somewhat how he 
imagined Akane would be like. He took a moment to look around and 
make sure no one saw. He already had far too many rumors 
springing up about him, he hardly needed any more.
	"I'm fine, thank you, Ranma. Perhaps just a little weak... 
I might have used too much power..." She looked up into Ranma's 
face as he supported her, "You seem to be blushing again... Am I 
embarrassing you?"
	"Uh... no you aren't." He replied blushing just a bit more, 
"Can you walk?"
	"Yes... I believe I can." She replied taking a few 
tentative steps with his support, "Thank you again, Ranma."
	"No problem... um, so why are we here?" he took another 
look around, "And where is here?"
	"Well, you said you needed some help." Kasumi paused for a 
moment as if lost in thought. "We're just around the corner from 
the restaurant where Akane has her... job? Yes, I think that's 
what she said... at a place called..."
	"Ucchan's?" Ranma asked, still keeping an arm around 
Kasumi's waist to help hold her up. He wasn't even really 
thinking about any possible implications to it... there was 
something about Kasumi that was so... innocent. 
	"Yes," Kasumi replied, delightedly, "That's it exactly. Up 
there..."
	He helped her up a flight of stairs (after making sure that 
the van was securely locked) and they found themselves on a 
fairly familiar portion of covered sidewalk. Ranma could already 
recognize the neighborhood. Kasumi had taken them to the one 
access to Ucchan's which didn't involve getting doused by the 
rain. Something bothered Ranma as he helped Kasumi walk and at 
the same time, kept her from being jostled by the other 
pedestrians... something about the building around the corner 
from Ucchan's... he realized after a moment that there was a 
rather large number of couples passing the two of them by. He 
discarded the thought as he and Kasumi rounded the corner. It's 
probably nothing, he added silently. Must be getting jumpy.
	Ranma entered Ucchan's still supporting Kasumi slightly. 
The dinner crowd had the place more or less packed. In one corner 
a loud and obviously drunken party was taking place. One of 
Ukyou's newer waiters, looked very harassed as he talked to an 
attractive woman who seemed to be the only quiet one at the party 
table. Ukyou in her usual polo and tie, also looked mildly 
harassed. She was at her usual place behind the grill frying up a 
fresh batch of okonomiyaki. 
	Akane was moving through the crowd, efficiently delivering 
food to several tables. Every so often she'd trade a familiar 
greeting with a regular. Ranma couldn't help but notice a large 
number of the men in the room were staring at her while her back 
was turned. Most of them had goofy expressions on their faces.
	Ukyou looked up to greet the new arrivals, but immediately 
noticed Kasumi... and the placement of Ranma's hand at Kasumi's 
back. She raised an eyebrow and gave them a level stare as they 
approached. The noise made it difficult to hear, so Ukyou had to 
raise her voice, "Is this why Akane's been moping around all day, 
Ranchan?" She addressed Ranma, but had a spatula, (Sharpened, 
Ranma noted) pointed at Kasumi, "I swear if you've been two 
timing Akane, I'm going to shove this spatula somewhere really 
unpleasant."
	"Huh?" Ranma asked stupidly, only then realizing where his 
hand was. He quickly raised both hands defensively, "That's not 
it! This is Akane's sister, Kasumi!"
	"With her sister no less?!" Ukyou asked, her voice nearly a 
growl, "I've been hearing really bad rumors, Ranchan... you'd 
better explain things fast..."
	"Akane's two sisters dropped in at the temple and they 
might be staying a while," Ranma replied quickly, "Kasumi felt a 
little faint, so I had to help her! That's it, I swear!"
	"Oh." Ukyou turned to Kasumi, "Sorry about that. Didn't 
mean to accuse you of anything."
	"No trouble at all." Kasumi smiled sweetly, "It's nice to 
see that Akane has such a loyal friend."
	"Thanks." Ukyou smiled, "I'm Ukyou Kuonji, by the way. 
Welcome to Ucchan's."
	Kasumi bowed, "Kasumi Tendo, pleased to meet you, Miss 
Kuonji."
	Ukyou raised an eyebrow and smiled, returning the bow. Few 
people could tell that she was a woman when she was in her 
outfit. Her estimation of Akane's sister went up a notch. "Nice 
to meet you too, Kasumi. Better call me Ukyou, though, sugar." 
She poured a little batter onto the grill and smiled at Kasumi, 
"Would you like an okonomiyaki? First one for the sister of my 
best employee is free."
	"I wouldn't want to impose..."
	"Not a problem."
	Ranma fidgeted nervously trying to get Akane's attention, 
but she continued to ignore him. He was pretty sure that she had 
seen him. Several times.
	"Argh." Ranma muttered quietly, "Fine. Be that way." He sat 
down at the counter and sulked next to Kasumi.
	"You seem to be very busy, Ukyou..." Kasumi started to say.
	"Yeah. It's Friday night." The chef shrugged as she passed 
Kasumi a plate of okonomiyaki, she noticed Ranma's agitation and 
wondered what was going on, "Here you go, sugar. Fresh off the 
grill."
	"Thank you." Kasumi replied, pulling out a pair of 
chopsticks from the dispenser. Kasumi was about to lift the 
okonomiyaki, when Akane's voice cut through the noise of the 
crowd, accompanied by a peal of thunder.
	"No! I do not want to join you! I do not want to go out 
with you! And I most certainly do not want to kiss you!"
	Ranma sprang to his feet immediately and pushed his way 
rudely through the crowd of people. He reached Akane's side to 
find her preparing to slam her tray against the head of a 
somewhat tipsy, but well dressed man with slicked back hair whom 
Ranma did not recognize. Before Akane had a chance to swing, 
Ranma had managed to reach them, grab the man by his tie and lift 
him out of his seat.
	"Is this guy bothering you Akane-chan?" Ranma asked, giving 
the man the evil eye.
	Akane sniffed and lowered her tray, "Not at all, Mr. 
Saotome. He was being only mildly obnoxious. You don't need to do 
anything."
	Ranma frowned as the man smiled... or at least tried to, 
considering the difficulty involved in doing it while being 
dangled by your neck.
	The man squeaked, "You heard the lady, my good man. Who are 
you, anyway?"
	Ranma moved his face close to the other man's until they 
were practically nose to nose. It would've been utterly 
unnecessary at that point to shout, considering that the rest of 
Ucchan's had quieted down (even the party) "My name is Ranma 
Saotome. Heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial 
Arts. I'm Akane's fiance. Do you have a problem with that you 
slimy little jerk?!"
	The man's eyes widened in fear... realizing only now that 
multiple shots of liquid courage (sake to everyone else) only 
went so far, "Ranma Saotome... the guy who's won the Martial Arts 
Invitational for the past four years running..."
	Ranma nodded then continued in a softer tone, "Yeah. And if 
you ever hit on Akane again... If you so much as look at her, 
I'll tear off your head then shove it down your neck." He 
released his hold, depositing the man unceremoniously on to the 
floor. The slick fellow, not as stupid as he looked, quickly 
covered his eyes and crawled out of the restaurant.
	Ranma turned to find Akane staring furiously at him.
	"What did you do that for?! I could've handled him!"
	"But--!"
	"Precisely! Butting in when you aren't wanted!"
	"Me?! ME?! I'm the one butting in?! I'm not the one who 
suddenly popped into the occupied hot tub one day!"
	Akane blushed furiously.
	There was a mild collective gasp from the rest of the room 
on hearing this. No one really had a firm idea on how Ranma and 
Akane had met, but this was obviously going to turn juicy. 
Ranma's schoolmates brought out notebooks and recorders just to 
make sure they missed nothing.
	It was only at that point that Ranma and Akane realized 
that they were in the middle of a sea of curious onlookers. 
	Ukyou called out to them, "Do you two want to take this 
somewhere private? People are trying to have dinner here."
	The general tone of the crowd ran to cries of, "NO way!" 
"Work it out right there, we don't wanna miss a thing!" "What was 
that about the bathtub again?" "Heh-heh-heh... she said 'butt'." 
"This is better than TV. I love this restaurant."
	Ukyou's voice cut through the babble, "Akane take a break." 
She jerked a thumb at the door to the storage area. Ranma's old 
room. The two started to weave through the crowd.

	Ranma closed the door behind him, "Sorry... I didn't mean 
to shout that."
	Akane sniffed angrily at him, "There's no need for you to 
continue to pretend to be nice, Ranma. I know perfectly well that 
the only reason you always stayed with me before was because if 
you didn't have me, you could've been permanently stuck as a 
woman. That and you didn't have a choice. Well, you've got one 
now."
	"What are you babbling about?! Where the heck did that come 
from?"
	"Don't pretend you don't know!" Akane said jabbing a finger 
at his chest for emphasis. "With enforcement down, you can touch 
Ranko all you want and not have to worry about turning into a 
girl. You can have the one you obviously prefer..."
	"Waitaminute!! What do you mean enforcement's down?! What 
does that have to do with anything..?" Ranma's mind skittered to 
a halt as he finally remembered what Nabiki had told him the 
night before... "You think I'd run off with Ranko?"
	Akane crossed her arms, "Well, duh! She's better looking 
than I am... and she'd kiss you and probably do even more at the 
first opportunity..." Akane blushed, seemingly unable to 
continue.
	Ranma slapped his forehead, "How can you be a goddess and 
still be so stupid?"
	"What did you call me?!" Akane asked furiously 
embarrassment gone.
	"Get this through your thick skull Akane, I do not want 
Ranko!"
	"Well, you certainly looked like you liked it when you two 
were kissing..."
	"Didn't you pay attention to who started it and who pulled 
away first?!"
	Akane had to stop at that one...
	Ranma took a deep breath and put a hand on Akane's 
shoulder, "I don't want Ranko, Akane. I wouldn't want anyone 
else. I don't want anybody else."
	Akane looked up into Ranma's eyes... 
	Ranma's thoughts ran quietly through his head, "All of this 
weird stuff keeps happening to me and all I do is just sit there 
and let it happen to me. Not this time, I'm going to do 
something... on my own... nobody pushing me around... This is 
entirely my decision."
	Akane's eyes widened even more, "What do you--?"
	Ranma leaned down, a hand cupping her cheek... his heart 
pounding as he brought his face closer to the stunned Akane. He 
was within a few inched of her when his nerve broke. He turned 
her head slightly and planted a chaste kiss on her cheek.
	He straightened up and backed away quickly, both of them 
blushing slightly, "Um... I think Ucchan's going to need you in 
the restaurant... shouldn't... um... you get back... or 
something?"
	"Uh... yeah... I... um... guess." Akane felt very odd. 
Almost light headed... they'd come closer to kissing than they 
ever had the whole time they'd been together... she was feeling a 
slight regret over it. But she certainly had no intention of 
becoming a... a... a wanton like Ranko. Never. Well... maybe not 
never.
	Outside... the rain finally stopped.

	It wasn't until a few hours later that Ranma and Akane 
finally left for home. When they left the storeroom, Kasumi had 
already gone ahead home... although the way Ukyou described it, 
she'd disappeared in the bathroom. The other waiter had also had 
to leave... something about bringing his landlady home and away 
from the bunch of drunks she was with. Ranma volunteered to help 
out as a waiter for the night, just to keep Akane company. 
Although Ranma had an unfortunate tendency to growl quietly at 
any man who's eyes happened to linger too long on Akane, and 
Akane would stare daggers at any woman but Ukyou who tried to 
flirt with Ranma. All in all, it was an evening well spent for 
the both of them...
	Ranma and Akane rounded the corner, arm in arm, both 
smiling and singing together, if slightly off key. 
	"Ranma, where are you parked, anyway?" Akane asked after a 
giggling fit when both of their voices broke on a high note at 
the same time.
	"Well, Kasumi teleported the van into the parking lot of 
that building right there..." Ranma pointed... only to realize 
that it was the 'Young Lovers' Hideaway, Love Motel'. He realized 
finally what had been bothering him earlier. All of those 
couples... no wonder.
	Akane's eyes also widened in shock, "In... in there?" she 
turned to Ranma and said in a heavy mock sarcastic tone, "From a 
kiss on the cheek straight into a love motel? Who do you think I 
am, Ranko?"
	"It's not like that at all!" he protested, which called a 
bit of attention to the two of them from the other nearby 
couples.
	Akane sighed, "Well... Kasumi is a bit unworldly. I don't 
think she noticed where she had taken you to. All I want to know 
is how we're going to get the van out of there without looking 
like we're planning to... um... you know..."
	Ranma snorted, "Fine... let em think what they like. If I 
get spotted near here anyway, all sorts of rumors are going to 
crop up. We may as well give them a rumor that's as close as 
possible to the truth."
	"What do you mean--?" Akane began to ask as Ranma suddenly 
grabbed her by the arm and brazenly walked into the parking 
garage to retrieve the van. Let us merely say that the act did 
not go unnoticed and rumors did not go unspread.


To be continued...


-----------------------

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