Chapter 9. The Demon's Weakness

On Monday morning when the gates of the school came into sight, Ranma and Akane paused at what they saw. Tatewaki Kuno was standing there, along with a line of fellow students, each of them a former member of the hentai horde. The boys were all holding water guns, pointing them directly toward Ranma. The two teenagers got a bad feeling concerning what was about to happen.

Ranma turned to Akane and made signs that she read as “Stay here. You don't get wet.” She looked mulish for a moment, but then nodded.

Ranma sprinted toward the gate and Kuno called out, “Remember. The demon must be kept off balance. Fire in turn, first those with cold water, then the ones with hot, and continue so. This will allow us to defeat the creature, and thereby banish it.”

Four guns fired at the same time. Ranma jumped and twisted, but couldn't dodge them all, feeling the familiar shift to his female body. As he landed and jumped towards his opponents, more water struck him, hot this time. He landed in front of the boys as a male. As he reached for the first of them, he changed back to female once again.

Ranma found the experience dizzying, as he was never sure from one moment to the next how much reach his hands and feet had. He made a mental note to get Akane and someone else, perhaps her father, to help him practice fighting under such conditions, in case anyone else should try the idea again. That might be important if he were up against a more serious opponent, which these boys weren't. In relatively short order, most of the guns were smashed and their wielders were lying on the ground unconscious, or wishing they were so.

A soaking wet, currently male, Ranma turned fierce eyes on Kuno. The taller boy found himself feeling suddenly nervous as he took in the look in those eyes, the more so as he could not adequately defend himself with his right arm still in a cast. A demonic grin spread across Ranma's features, and he picked up an undamaged water gun, whose reservoir proved to be filled with hot water. Ranma pounced on Kuno before the boy could make his escape, shoved the gun down the front of his pants, and proceeded to discharge the entire reservoir.

When Ranma entered the school, it appeared to the other students as if he might have fallen into the swimming pool, a minor embarrassment at worst. When Kuno entered the school, he flushed at the tittering which surrounded him, realizing that it appeared as if he had failed to reach the restroom before an accident had occurred. He added another debit to the demon's account for which he would make it pay.

During the morning classes, Ranma was observed making odd hand gestures from time to time. It was further noticed that Akane seemed to attach some meaning to them, due to smiles, frowns or other facial expressions in her reactions. Once she even pulled out an eraser and handed it to Ranma, just as if he had passed a note asking for it.

Several of her friends cornered Akane about this new behavior during lunchtime, and she was kept busy explaining about the sign language course which she and Ranma had been taking. Some of the students soon departed, satisfied by the explanation. Others were simply curious, wanting to know more. Then there were the annoying ones, the ones who tried to attach some special importance to the whole thing, as if it implied there was something indecent going on between herself and Ranma and that Akane was attempting to conceal it.

When the class departed for gym, the boys were shocked to see a grinning Ranma join them in the locker room. He handed a sheet of paper to Daisuke, at the top of which was written, “Please read this out loud.” Daisuke proceeded to do so for the rest. “This is a note from Ranma. He says, I finally have permission to take gym class. One word of warning. Anyone who splashes me in here will find himself facing an extremely pissed off redhead. Er, the word ‘extremely’ is rather heavily underlined.” All of the boys turned to look warily at Ranma who met each one's gaze with clear intent. As one, they swallowed hard and turned back to their lockers somberly.

Unsurprisingly, there were no incidents that day as Ranma changed clothes before and after class, nor did anyone make a big deal of his unaccustomed presence.

It was a couple of nights later, at dinner, when completely out of the blue Nabiki asked, “So, father, what do you know about Picolet Chardin, of the La Belle France school of Martial Arts Dining?”

Soun Tendo's chopsticks snapped as his hand convulsed. “Eh, heh heh, who's that, Nabiki dear?”

Nabiki eyed the broken chopsticks with a scowl. “A boy. A boy to whom you promised the hand of one of your daughters, yet unborn, in marriage. Something about paying off the debt for a meal, I believe?”

Sweating profusely, Soun stammered, trying to figure out the best thing to say. “Um, er, well, ahh ...”

Akane's eye twitched. Kasumi paled and said, “Oh, father. You didn't?”

Fighting down the surge of anger, Akane turned to her middle sister and asked, “How do you know about this, Nabiki? Has this Chardin guy come around looking for us?”

Nabiki shook her head quickly, without taking her eyes off their nervous parent. “No. It's was something Ranma said a while back. About our fathers maybe having secrets from their younger days, things they had never told us. I hired a private investigator to dig into daddy's past, looking for any time bombs that might blow up in our faces if they weren't defused.” She turned to Ranma and added, a little grudgingly perhaps but sincerely, “Thanks for the idea, by the way.”

Ranma shrugged, as if to say that investigating her father had been Nabiki's idea. He had merely pointed out that Soun might possess guilty knowledge of other things Genma and himself had gotten up to in the past.

All three girls turned to glare at their father in accusation. Akane spoke seethingly, “Is that all we are to you, bargaining chips?”

“You weren't born yet?” Soun offered anxiously, as though that could somehow mitigate matters.

“Just how many arranged marriages did you make for us?” Kasumi inquired in a gentle tone which somehow made her disappointment all the more obvious.

Soun was sweating even more heavily. “Er, ah ... I'm pretty sure it was just Saotome and Chardin.”

“Pretty sure!” Akane yelled, jumping to her feet. “Don't you know?”

Soun started to cry. “I can't be certain!” he wailed, knowing that the answer would only serve to increase her fury. “There were some incidents involving sake ... The memories aren't very clear ...”

Akane turned back to Nabiki and asked through clenched teeth, “Is there any way we can get out of this?”

Nabiki waved airily. “Already taken care of. After running a background check on the family, I wrote to the Chardin's and explained that I was willing to satisfy the debt if necessary. I explained the terms by which I would be willing to agree to the engagement, such as the size of the wedding I would expect, which would include invitations to heads of state from France and Japan. I sent along a prenuptial agreement as well, which would entitle me to seventy percent of everything in the event of a divorce. They'd have to mortgage their estate just to pay for the type of wedding I insisted on. Let's see ... there was a medical report, listing the numerous food allergies from which I suffer. Oh! And I also included a photograph of myself, except I ‘accidentally’ mixed it up with a photograph of Nakatani-san from a couple of blocks over.”

“Oh my,” Kasumi said from behind the hand she had raised to her mouth. “Isn't she the rather, um, exceedingly thin young woman in your class? The one with the, ah, problem with her complexion?”

Nabiki looked up toward the ceiling innocently. “Yes, that's right. For some reason, she's convinced that she's fat, and is always on some diet or other. I, uh, made myself a mental promise to see if I could find her some help with her, uh, issues, in compensation for her involvement in my little mix-up.” She cleared her throat. “In any event, Monsieur Chardin wrote back with his apologies, that arrangements were already underway to engage him to someone else, and he included a notice that father's debt was canceled.”

No one took notice as Soun slipped out of the room, hoping to escape retribution.

Akane was looking flabbergasted, but then she saw the humor in the situation. Her lips curved up and she began to chuckle. “Gee, I wonder what you would have done if you'd found out about daddy's arrangement with Saotome-san before Ranma showed up,” she mused quietly. “I hate to think what plot you would have whipped up to keep poor Ranma away.”

Ranma made some motions with his hands. Akane suddenly blushed, but managed to make some gestures back toward him. Kasumi hid her mouth behind her hand once more, eyes dancing, before making her own hand gestures which caused the first two to choke back laughs.

Nabiki, on the other hand, frowned, wondering what it was that they were saying. She could assume, of course, that it involved suggestions for how she might have convinced the Saotomes not to come to Nerima, but had no clue beyond that. For the first time, Nabiki wondered if, perhaps, she should have gone to the trouble of taking those sign language classes as well. It hadn't occurred to her at the time that the others were going to be able to hold private conversations right in front of her, the content of which she could only guess.

Ranma wanted to give Akane another chance to dress up that Friday, but realized that the state of his finances would not allow him to take her out to eat at a restaurant again. After giving the matter considerable thought, he approached Soun with the idea that the older man might take the whole family to a show at a kabuki theater. Although by no means as penny pinching as his old friend Genma, Soun at first showed little enthusiasm for this proposal. However, the further suggestion that such an outing might help to smooth over the lingering resentment stemming from the Chardin affair did much to convince the Tendo patriarch. In the end, he happily agreed to the idea.

Thus it was that on Friday night, the whole family left the house for an evening of entertainment wearing full traditional dress — from elaborate hairdos for the girls, to the kimono everyone was wearing, down to the zori on their feet. No one commented on the fact that during their walk to the theater, Akane's hand rested on Ranma's arm.

Ranma felt pleased with the result. It was his decided opinion that the style suited Akane's looks particularly well, and while sitting in the theater he considered the question of how he could manage to escort her to similar venues in future. Finally, and reluctantly, he concluded that family outings like this wouldn't work very often. In fact, in order to give Akane the chance to go out to the sort of places he had in mind, he was clearly going to need a little money, and that probably meant getting some sort of part time job.

A slight frown crossed the boy's features at the thought, as most of his previous employment consisted of working in fields and other rural occupations, for which there wasn't much call in Tokyo. He hoped he'd be able to find something on his own, without having to ask Nabiki for any favors. Knowing Akane's mercenary sister, accepting any help from her might end up costing him more than he could earn.

In accordance with these thoughts, while walking home from school Monday afternoon Ranma paused at an intersection but indicated to Akane that she should go on ahead. His hand gestures signaled that he wanted to stop off to see Doctor Tofu. The unusual request aroused some slight concern on Akane's part, but she did not want to intrude on what might, after all, be a private matter. So she wished him well and continued on her way, albeit with a few backward looks.

Doctor Tofu was surprised to find Ranma in his waiting room, but when asked admitted that he could spare him a few minutes between patients. He invited the young man to take a seat in his office, closed the door, and asked, “What can I do for you today, Ranma-kun? Are you doing okay? No injuries, I hope.”

Ranma made the signs for “no,” “I,” and “okay,” then flushed and pulled out his pad to write it down instead. To his surprise, Tofu made the sign for “good” followed by a series of rapid gestures which the boy couldn't begin to follow.

Ranma hurriedly made the sign for “wait” before turning to his pad and writing, “You know sign language? Couldn't follow you. Just started learning.”

“Sorry if I assumed too much,” Tofu said with a grin on reading this. “Yes, I learned it several years ago. I thought it would be useful in helping people who were deaf. Word got around, and now I have several patients of that sort. Which, of course, helps me to keep in practice.”

Ranma nodded, as this made sense to him. Tofu continued speaking, “So if you don't need my medical attention, may I ask why you stopped by to talk?”

The young martial artist wrote carefully on his pad, his tongue protruding slightly between his teeth as he concentrated for once on his penmanship. When he handed the sheet over, Tofu read, “I'm looking around for some sort of job, to earn some spending money. I was wondering if you might have some chores that need doing around here?”

Tofu's first reaction was one of surprise, but then his features relaxed and he looked pleased. “As a matter of fact, I could use someone to do some manual labor about the place. Sweeping, washing, general tidying up. Taking care of the courtyard outside. Maybe even a little filing. How much time were you thinking of?”

Ranma shrugged, then wrote, “Couple of hours a day. After school. After workout with Akane. Not Tue, Fri — need to see Mitaka-sensei then. Maybe some time Sat afternoon too?”

Tofu accepted the piece of paper with a nod of thanks then frowned slightly. Seeing his reaction, Ranma began to worry that his suggestions sounded unreasonable. Until he'd written it out, he'd never given thought to how much of his time was already given to other commitments, things which he couldn't, or wouldn't, break.

But the doctor's frown was only the result of puzzling out the abbreviated remarks. Once he worked through them, he nodded his comprehension and they negotiated briefly over the exact times and wages. At the end, both men stood and bowed. Ranma promised to be back right after his training session with Akane, then left to go home. He explained about the job to Akane while they were in the dojo, since she might otherwise worry when he left the house after practice. Ranma informed the rest of the family of his new job that evening, over dinner.

Hiroshi took another swig from his water bottle, glancing over several heads seeking the friend from whom he needed a favor. His eyes passed over Ranma, where the silent boy was sitting on a bench changing into his gym uniform. Hiroshi gave an inaudible sigh as he thought about the fact that the best-looking girl in their class was really a guy, and what a shame it was that she, or rather he, was changing clothes right there in the room with them, yet there was nothing to see. With another sigh, his eyes continued on to where his friend Daisuke was reaching into his locker, and walked over to stand beside him.

“Hey, Dai,” he said, tapping on the other boy's shoulder. “Can I borrow your algebra notes later? You know, from when sensei had me standing out in the hall?”

Daisuke turned to him with a smirk, but only replied, “Sure. Maybe next time you should try to be less obvious when you're reading manga during his lecture.”

Hiroshi gave a mock growl, punched his friend lightly in the shoulder, then turned back toward his locker. Taking another drink from the bottle, he tripped over a backpack someone had left on the floor. “Crap!” he yelled, trying to catch himself. As Hiroshi landed on his hands and knees, his eyes widened as he watched his water bottle describe a perfect arc, which ended by spilling its contents down over Ranma's head.

At that precise moment Ranma was wearing only boxers, and the boys lucky enough to have lockers near his got quite an eyeful as he suddenly transformed into a buxom, topless, red-haired girl. Ranma froze for a moment before whipping a T-shirt across his chest to hide the view. He slowly turned around, and Hiroshi saw his life flash in front of his eyes.

Springing to his feet, Hiroshi ran out of the room, crying, “Waaah! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!” Ranma's glaring eyes tracked the departing figure, but he remembered his promise and did not give chase. Fighting his emotions back under his control, he marched over to a shower, turned on the hot water, and quickly changed back to male. His eyes swept the room, daring anyone to comment, and all of the boys spun back to their lockers to hastily continue preparing for the gym class.

The class was being held on the field outside. The coach announced that today they would confirm that everyone could meet minimum standards at certain exercises — sit-ups, chin-ups and the like. They would begin by having everyone pair off to do one hundred sit-ups in turns, one boy holding the other's feet and counting them off before changing places. He held his clipboard and began calling out pairs of names.

Ranma interrupted before the coach had barely begun, holding out his pad so the man could read what he'd written. “May I be paired with Hiroshi, sensei?”

The coach nodded. “Of course. Yanaka-kun, get over here! You'll be Ranma-kun's partner.”

The eyes of the other boys in the class turned toward Hiroshi sympathetically. He trudged over as if there were lead weights attached to his feet. When he stopped, he nervously stuttered, “H-hello, R-Ranma. N-no hard f-feelings, right?”

Ranma's only answer was a grin which showed a lot of teeth. He dropped to his back and motioned Hiroshi to grab his ankles. Ranma went through his hundred sit-ups like a clockwork figure, not even breathing hard when he finished. They then switched places.

After Hiroshi had done about eighty sit-ups, the coach wandered over. “How many so far?” he asked Ranma.

Ranma held his hands up, extended all ten fingers, closed his fists, and then extended all ten fingers again.

“Twenty, huh?” the coach said. “Hurry up, Hiroshi. You can do better than that.”

Hiroshi was staring at Ranma in disbelief, taking in the evil grin on the martial artist's face. Nonetheless, he couldn't quite bring himself to openly call Ranma a liar in front of the teacher. After another eighty, he asked nervously, “How many is that, Ranma?”

Ranma indicated that he was now up to forty. Hiroshi groaned, and struggled to continue.

Later in the locker room, Hiroshi confided to Daisuke, “Owww. Man, my stomach's so sore, I think I may throw up. I am never bringing anything to drink in here again.”

Daisuke nodded sagely. “Me, neither. In fact, I don't think anyone will. I plan to be damn careful using the showers as well.”

Hiroshi nodded his agreement. “I knew the curse was embarrassing to Ranma. I never realized it could be downright dangerous to me.”

It was early Friday evening, shortly before dinner, and Akane was perusing the newspaper her father had set aside, seeking some sort of inspiration. She glanced through the open shoji to where Ranma was sitting on the edge of the engawa, apparently just looking at the yard and doing nothing at all. Akane wasn't going to admit it to anyone, but she was feeling just a little ... disappointed ... that apparently they wouldn't be going out to a show, or a restaurant, or anything else that night.

She told herself to stop being silly. It wasn't as if she and Ranma were dating or anything. All right, so they had gone out to eat a couple of times, together. That didn't mean a thing. Those were just victory celebrations. And her father was the one who had taken them out to a show last week. That had been a family outing. She certainly didn't want Ranma thinking that he was her boyfriend or anything. Absolutely not!

Out on the engawa, Ranma was stumped. He wouldn't get his first paycheck from Doctor Tofu until after work tomorrow, and the small amount of money he had left wasn't enough to take Akane any place nice enough. He had come up with and discarded other ideas, like maybe a walk in the park, or going out someplace casual, such as for ice cream or a movie.

Unfortunately, none of these ideas was quite right. The problem was that they all sounded too much like the sort of things a boy would suggest to his girlfriend. And Akane wasn't his girlfriend. No way! He just wanted to do things for her, give her a chance to show the non-tomboy side of her personality. He firmly ignored the small, internal whisper which asked if he was sure that was all he wanted.

A burst of music came from the television set which Nabiki had just turned on. Akane looked up from the newspaper, and Ranma looked in from the engawa, to see a handsome man on the screen twirling a beautiful woman. He caught her at the waist and dipped her almost to the floor before Nabiki changed the channel to the financial report. Eyes blinked, and both Ranma and Akane returned to their earlier contemplations.

Upon turning her eyes back downward, an advertisement caught Akane's eye. In bold print it announced an offer of dancing lessons, for a small fee, starting that night and for the next two Fridays. To participate, people only had to show up with the money. Akane raised her eyebrows at the slightly amusing coincidence with what she had just seen on the television. She then shrugged dismissively, and turned the page. Dancing was something that couples did, and she and Ranma weren't a couple.

As she tried to read an article on the next page, the observation intruded on her mind that dancing was supposed to help people learn to be graceful. She snorted lightly at that thought. Her martial arts training with Ranma was doing a great deal more to teach her grace than dancing ever could; some of the kata he was teaching her now were quite exhilarating. As she tried to concentrate on the article, the thought arose that if she learned some dancing techniques, that she might be able to incorporate them into martial arts moves to make them even more graceful. The idea worried at her as her eyes skimmed through the next few pages of the paper, enough so that she failed to remember any of the words that she read.

Finally Akane gave up, folded the paper closed and looked over to the boy on the engawa, speaking quietly, “Um, Ranma? Could I ask you about something?” She half hoped he hadn't heard her.

The young man looked up at the sound and turned to regard Akane with a quizzical expression on his face. On taking in the slight degree of agitation she exhibited, he rose to his feet smoothly and walked over to kneel beside her. Akane turned back to the page with the ad. “I was, er, wondering ... do you think ... if we took these, uh, classes ... maybe it would help, me at least, to move a little more, um, smoothly, you know, gracefully, when I'm doing martial arts?”

Ranma bit his lip, once again glad that he couldn't use his mouth to say the first stupid, insulting thing that occurred to him. Truthfully, when he had begun training Akane, the gracefulness of her movements had proven to be an inconsistent thing. It usually came down to trying too hard — when she did so, she could act like a klutz. But that had been many weeks ago. He hadn't caught Akane making that sort of mistake in quite some time. At least, not when it came to martial arts.

He was about to dismiss the whole notion, as it was highly unlikely that a few dancing lessons would be of any benefit whatsoever. However, Ranma caught himself just before doing so. He remembered the scene on the television before Nabiki changed the channel, and it suddenly occurred to him that if they did take the lessons, then it would be the most natural thing in the world to recommend that they not let those lessons go to waste. He could suggest that he and Akane go out dancing once in a while, just to keep in practice of course. He could already picture Akane wearing some clinging dress, with a touch of makeup, a hint of perfume ...

Ranma blinked rapidly, trying to dismiss the picture. This was supposed to be about her, not him, he forcefully reminded himself. He gave her a smile, and nodded, but then frowned and pointed at the fee. He made a couple of signs to indicate that he didn't have any money.

Akane sighed her understanding, but then smiled and said, “It's only a few hundred yen, Ranma. After the dinners you treated me too, paying for this is the least I can do in return. I'll be right back.”

Akane rose with a look of determination on her face. She left the room and found her father in the kitchen talking with Kasumi. Standing in front of him, and with no trace of apology in her voice, Akane asked, “Father, could I have an advance on my allowance for next week?”

Soun blinked, being unaccustomed to this question from any of his daughters. Nabiki would not ask such a thing, because she paid for her extra expenses through means upon which he preferred not to dwell. Kasumi and Akane were simply much more careful not to overspend or otherwise indulge themselves unduly. Finally he inquired, “May I ask why?”

A hint of rose colored Akane's cheeks. “Ranma and I were thinking, well, to help with my martial arts, that is, to help me be a bit more graceful, that we might take some ... dancing lessons. They start tonight.”

Akane was looking off to the side now, rather than at her father. Soun responded, “I'm not really sure how ... iteeee!”

Akane spun back around at the exclamation to see her father favoring one of his feet, but not in time to observe how Kasumi's heel had slammed down on that foot. Kasumi declared, “I think that's a very good idea. Some dancing lessons might prove very helpful. Don't you agree, father?”

Soun looked at the expression in his oldest daughter's eyes, and managed to say, “Er, yes. Of course!” He left the kitchen and returned a few moments later with the requested allowance. Akane thanked him sunnily and bounced out of the room.

After Akane's departure, Kasumi rounded on her father and told him, “Honestly! I'd have thought that you would jump for joy at the idea of Akane and Ranma going out dancing together!”

Soun rubbed a hand through his hair and chuckled self consciously. “Heh heh. Um, I hadn't thought of it like that. Do you think ... was that whole bit about helping her with her martial arts just an excuse then? Was she trying to fool us?”

Kasumi smiled gently in the direction Akane had left. “I don't think it was us that she was trying to fool.”

After dinner, Nabiki followed Akane up to her room and watched as her sister prepared to go out somewhere. It clearly wasn't going to be anywhere elaborate, as Akane wasn't bothering to change her clothes, but she did get out her purse and put on a slight touch of makeup.

“So, where are you and Ranma going out tonight?” Nabiki asked with a purr in her voice.

Akane shot her sister a quelling look. “Just something to help us with our martial arts, okay?”

“Oh, come on, tell!” Nabiki pleaded. “You know I'll find out anyway.”

Akane huffed. “We're going to take some dancing lessons, if you really must know. But don't read anything into it!”

Nabiki stared at her younger sister for a moment. Did Akane really believe that she'd accept such a lame excuse? Nabiki thought about it some more, and a grin spread across her face.

“So,” Nabiki drawled, “looking forward to being held by Ranma? Feeling his hands on you?”

Akane shrieked, “Nabiki!” There were flashes of lightning in the depths of her eyes.

Nabiki ignored the warning. “There are easier ways of holding him close, you know. And, you don't have to pay for them. I could suggest it to Ranma, if you like. Tell him you want him to.”

This time the shriek held no words which were discernible, and the flashes in the eyes were nuclear explosions. Nabiki gulped, suddenly aware that she had pressed too far, and fled the room. She heard Akane's light footsteps right behind her.

“Aaah, Kasumi!” Nabiki cried out, as she leaped down the stairs. Kasumi didn't even have time to step out of the kitchen before Nabiki had run behind her, holding on to the back of her apron, trying to hide.

Akane slammed to a halt after running through the kitchen door. She stood there with fists clenched, chest heaving, eyes hidden behind her bangs. “Please step aside, Kasumi,” she growled.

Kasumi heaved a massive sigh. “Did Nabiki say something about you and Ranma going out tonight to learn to dance?”

“Um, yeah, sorry.” Nabiki's voice came from behind Kasumi, in a quavery squeak. She was much more accustomed to the boys at school being on the receiving end of these temper tantrums, while she watched from a safe distance.

Akane's voice was a grating of steel over gravel. “She needs to die for what she said.”

Kasumi sighed again. “I'll deal with it, Akane.”

“But ...”

“I said, I'll deal with it.” Kasumi's voice was velvet over steel. “You have my word. Now you'd better hurry, or you'll be late.”

With a last growl and menacing look for Nabiki, Akane stomped out of the room.

Kasumi turned around to regard Nabiki, who was trying an unconvincing grin. Kasumi pointed to a chair and said, “Sit.”

Nabiki sat. They remained frozen in that tableau until they heard Akane and Ranma walk out the door. Nabiki then tried to say something, but Kasumi interrupted, overriding her.

“You are of course aware of all the problems Akane had with boys before Ranma showed up.” It was a statement, not a question. Nabiki nodded. Of course she was aware of them. Most of them had accrued financial benefit to herself in one way or another, and she had even helped a couple of them along for that reason.

“You are also aware that Ranma, for obvious reasons, and some reasons which are probably less obvious, is skittish on the whole subject of relationships.” Again Nabiki nodded, swallowing heavily.

Kasumi went on, her voice making it clear that these statements were indisputable facts. “You and I are also aware that a relationship is forming between Akane and Ranma. However, neither of them is ready to admit it. You will cease your attempts to force Akane into admitting it. If you don't, either Akane or Ranma might feel forced to do something to prove you wrong, and I would be ... quite disappointed ... if that were to occur. Am I making myself clear?”

Nabiki nodded nervously.

“Good.” Kasumi's voice held grim satisfaction. “So please understand that if you continue in this behavior, I might decide that it's time for another lesson.”

Nabiki paled, her mind shying from the last time Kasumi had used that word in that tone of voice. Some of the things it had presaged had been obvious in retrospect, such as Nabiki's laundry going unwashed or her portion at the dinner table being almost inedible. But Nabiki had never been able to track down the reasons why all of her little schemes and projects had suddenly been losing money by the bucketful. No doubt it had been at least partially due to Kasumi calling in favors from people in the neighborhood, but that didn't begin to explain everything. She shuddered at the thought of going through another such experience.

“I promise, oneechan, I'll behave,” Nabiki said quietly. “I'll leave them alone from now on.”

Kasumi nodded sharply, then smiled her cheerful smile. “Thank you, little sister. I'm very glad to hear it.”

Nabiki made a fast exit and shut herself up in her room. As she lay on her bed, Nabiki pondered how it was that sweet and gentle Kasumi was the only person who was ever able to make her just crumble like that.

Meanwhile, in a room across town, Ranma was holding one of Akane's hands, while his other hand was on her waist. He was trying to follow the teacher's instructions, but his feet didn't seem to be cooperating. He felt mildly annoyed that Akane seemed to be picking this up faster than he was. Of course, it didn't help that he knew he was blushing every time he put his hands on her. This was mitigated only slightly by the fact that Akane was blushing nearly as much.

Akane winced as her foot was stepped on again. She looked at Ranma with a touch of exasperation, but her mind recalled a memory of the ice skating match. “Listen, Ranma,” she suggested, “just pretend that it's Martial Arts Dancing. Okay?”

Ranma gave her a bewildered look, but then it changed to a cocky grin and he nodded. It did not escape Akane's attention that her partner seemed to improve markedly after that point. She felt a sense of contentment wash through her, and Akane settled down to enjoy herself.

The girls' gym class was doing gymnastics, and Akane was working out on the balance beam. A boy in her homeroom, one Hikaru Gosunkugi, was kneeling at a window snapping photographs of her workout. He got a nice photograph of her midriff at one point when she was doing a handstand and her shirt rode up.

A trio of boys came up behind Hikaru — Hiroshi, Daisuke and a third boy from their class. Daisuke guessed what he was doing and inquired with a raised eyebrow, “So, shooting pix of Akane again, huh? Aren't you worried about what'll happen if she or Ranma catch you?”

Hiroshi grinned. “Make me copies of 'em, okay? All of 'em!”

Barely had the words left his mouth when a heavy hand landed on Hiroshi's shoulder. He turned his face slowly to look into Ranma's eyes. Ranma was very clearly not smiling. Hiroshi gulped, wondering just what kami he had managed to piss off in a previous life.

Ranma held out his hand toward Hikaru, who wisely ejected the film from his camera and handed it over. Ranma ostentatiously pulled the film from the canister, exposing it to the sunlight, before tearing it up. He hooked a thumb over his shoulder, and the boys scattered.

Ranma continued walking toward the office on his current errand, while shaking his head over the behavior of his classmates. It wasn't as if he didn't feel ... urges ... himself. And he was ready enough to admit that Akane was very pretty. But to treat a girl as if that was all there was to her, it was just something he couldn't understand. Even before the attack on him, before his curse, Ranma had known that honor dictated one did not act like that. Although truthfully, shyness and lack of experience with girls would have held him back as much as honor from such behavior. He was so deep in these contemplations that he didn't notice Hikaru timidly shadowing him, face fixed in a dark scowl.

Ranma passed by Kuno just before he entered the door of the school, and gave the upperclassman a cheery wave. Kuno snarled back, “Foul demon! When I am healed at last, I shall see you banished from this honorable institution!”

Hikaru, still smarting over the destruction of his film, and upset over how Ranma seemed to stand between him and Akane, approached Kuno. In his own way Hikaru was almost as delusional as Kuno himself. He was convinced that destiny would ensure that Akane must finally notice his constant devotion and fall deeply and madly in love with him. If only Ranma didn't keep interfering. It occurred to Hikaru that an alliance with Kuno against a common foe might prove useful.

Standing just a little behind the kendoist, who was still glaring at the door of the school, Hikaru stated in his quavery voice, “They say that every demon has a weak spot. If you find it, then the demon is easily defeated.”

Kuno turned to look down his nose at the younger student behind him, noting the unkempt hair and dark circles under the boy's eyes. “What are you?” he asked disdainfully.

“Hikaru Gosunkugi,” the young man introduced himself. “First year student, group F. You wouldn't know me. No one does. But if I were to tell you Ranma's weak spot, then you could strike him there and drive him away.”

Kuno reached out and grabbed the front of Hikaru's shirt, filled with indignity that anyone would suggest that he would strike at an opponent through a point of weakness. But then he paused as he remembered that the opponent in question was a demon. Was there any dishonor in seizing whatever advantage presented itself, when your enemy wasn't even human? Kuno nodded decisively.

Hikaru nearly had time to work himself into a gibbering fit, as the hand wrapped in his shirt held his toes dangling above the ground. But Kuno spoke at last. “Very well, tell me of this Ranma's weak spot.”

Choking out words past the collar digging into his neck, Hikaru answered, “But ... but ... I don't know what it is yet!”

Kuno scowled menacingly. “Then you will have to find it and soon, little man! Inform me as soon as you have discovered it.” He thrust the boy away, causing Hikaru to stumble and land on his rear. Kuno strode off, leaving Hikaru to wonder if he were better or worse off than before.

The next week was not one of the better weeks in Hikaru Gosunkugi's life. He tried talking to various people who knew Ranma, to see if they could, or would, divulge the martial artist's weak spot. They were all willing to talk about Ranma, his speed, his strength, his love of food. But whenever Hikaru turned the conversation around to weaknesses, they found they had other places they needed to be. Unfortunately, the only one who seemed at all inclined to help was Nabiki, and the fee she requested for doing so was out of his reach.

He also tried following Ranma around, taking photographs of the boy, or girl, at unexpected times. He hoped that by studying these, he could glean some clue as to his classmate's weakness. Yet as it turned out, Ranma disapproved as strongly of having his photograph taken, however surreptitiously, as he did of someone taking photographs of Akane without her knowledge. After Ranma smashed the second camera, Hikaru decided to settle for simple observation instead. The destroyed cameras seemed to indicate that Ranma was aware of his presence, but the martial artist didn't seem to feel more than annoyed by the surveillance so long as Hikaru wasn't taking pictures.

Hikaru wasn't too happy to have so little information when he met with Kuno in the kendo training hall at the school, but he did have an alternative plan in mind. He gave a nervous chirp on entering to see Kuno swinging a bokken with his left hand, the right arm still resting in a sling. He clutched the box in his hand more tightly.

Kuno imperiously demanded, “Report, peasant.”

Hikaru stammered, “Er, I-I h-haven't f-found anything yet, s-senpai, but ...”

At that moment Ranma walked through the door, taking notice of the other two curiously. Kuno strode over, grating, “How dare you set foot in this sacred place, demon!”

Ranma pointed at Hikaru, who took advantage of the distraction to fling the contents of the box over Ranma. Coincidentally, this meant that they landed all over Kuno as well.

Kuno looked down at the snakes, toads, spiders, centipedes, lizards and other vermin which now decorated his gi and hakama. His face froze in a rictus of shock as he collapsed to the floor, and lay there twitching. He didn't make a sound.

Ranma regarded the similar creatures adorning his body, then sighed and started picking them off one by one. Hikaru nervously asked, “Aren't you scared of those things?” Ranma shook his head.

Kuno bounced to his feet. “Liar! Even Tatewaki Kuno is afraid of such vermin! Yet you claim that you do not fear them?”

Ranma pulled out his pad and wrote something, which he handed to Kuno. Hikaru looked around the taller boy's side and they both read, “Reminds me of dinner. Spend ten years on the road, not knowing when you'll eat next, and you won't stay afraid of these.”

As a matter of simple fact, Kuno despised the demon before him. From his point of view, it was necessary to remove the creature in order to save Akane Tendo from its clutches. Even so he found that he was able to feel a twinge of sympathy on reading these words, especially as he looked at the foul things creeping or slithering across the floor. Manfully he pushed such feelings aside, telling himself that such food was appropriate for a demon.

Kuno pointed his bokken at Ranma. “Mark my words, Saotome. I, Tatewaki Kuno, shall discover your weakness. When I have done so, I shall banish you from this realm for all time!”

Ranma merely smirked at him, then turned around and walked out the door. Kuno turned to Hikaru and declared, “You must redouble your efforts to find his weak spot, minion! Leave no stone unturned!”

At that very moment Ranma tore back into the room, his face a mask of terror. He ran across right in front of Kuno, and left the room through the opposite side. This was quite a feat, as there was no door in that wall, or at least there had not been one until Ranma's exit.

“Saotome was scared!” Kuno stated needlessly. He hurried to the door through which Ranma had just come, to see if he could find what had terrified his enemy. Although he and Hikaru looked over the area carefully, they found nothing frightening, only a tree, two bushes, a discarded hockey stick, and a cat licking its front paw. Angry at their failure to discover Ranma's weakness, Kuno stormed back into the training hall, while Hikaru wisely crept off unheeded.

The next day Hikaru was hanging around near the Tendos' front gate when he saw Akane's oldest sister walking in, holding some sort of pet carrier. He crept closer to the gate, and heard Akane's voice on the other side, greeting her sister.

“Hello oneechan! What do you have there?”

Kasumi's cheerful tones answered, “This is Hanachiyo. A friend asked me to take care of her.”

Akane replied, “Hanachiyo?” There was a pause, then Akane continued in a tone which indicated that something was very wrong. “Kasumi, that's a cat.”

“Yes, Akane, she's my friend's pet.”

“But Ranma ...”

There was a sudden gasp. “Oh my! I completely forgot about Ranma when I said I'd take care of Hanachiyo. How in the world ...? I don't believe that I forgot! What am I going to do now? Do you suppose that if I keep her in my room and don't let her out of the carrier, that he wouldn't mind too much?”

Akane's voice was dubious. “Well, I suppose so, especially if he never sees her or even knows that she's there. You'll need to be careful though. He saw a cat at school yesterday and it made him have a bad nightmare about the attack again.”

“Of course.” Kasumi's voice sounded as if she were scolding herself. “Oh, the poor boy. Goodness, I'm not accustomed to doing something so foolish. Will you go on ahead of me to my room, and make sure that Ranma isn't anywhere that he'll see?”

The two voices departed and Hikaru, rubbing his hands gleefully, departed as well.

A couple of days later, after the dismissal bell rang, Akane stood beside Ranma at his locker as he prepared to go home. Other students on cleanup duty were walking by with brooms. When Ranma opened his locker, he saw a piece of paper lying on top of his shoes and pulled it out. His eyebrows arched higher and higher as he quickly scanned over the words, then held it out to Akane with a bemused expression.

Akane read, “Ranma, help me! Terrible villains are holding me hostage in the gym! Sincerely, Akane.”

Akane exclaimed, “What the ...!” Ranma shrugged to indicate he had no better idea than her what this was about. Curiosity aroused, he turned around and headed back toward the gym.

When they stepped through the large double doors, the two teenagers saw that the basketball team was preparing for practice, and there was someone on the stage in a girls' school uniform with rope tied around her torso. She immediately yelled out, “Oh Ranma! I'm so happy! You've come to rescue me!” When Ranma simply stood there looking bewildered, this person added, “Don't you know who I am? It's me! Akane!”

Ranma turned to look quizzically at Akane standing beside him. She, however, did not waste time on looking confused — she was already beyond upset. Leaving Ranma, Akane stormed up onto the stage, where she was finally able to recognize the person as Hikaru Gosunkugi, one of the boys in their homeroom. Akane grabbed him by the collar of the blouse he wore, demanding, “What ... do you think ... you are doing?”

At first Hikaru was unable to speak, so overcome with emotion was he by the fact that Akane Tendo had not only spoken to him, but she was holding him close, her face near his. Once Ranma joined them on the stage, he managed to get a grip on himself, then gave an evil laugh. He announced, “You have fallen into my trap, Saotome!”

Ranma and Akane were both looking at their fellow student like he was nuts. Hikaru made a chopping motion with his hand and Kuno, who was standing backstage and only had an imperfect view of where they were all standing, pulled a lever. A trapdoor fell open in the stage floor.

As Ranma and Akane felt the floor begin to give way under their feet, they both sprang away. Unfortunately Akane didn't react quite as quickly, and her jump lacked the power to get her beyond the edge of the hole. Instead she landed lightly on the floor below, while Ranma looked over the edge to where she was standing in the square of light coming through the hole. Hikaru was lying on the floor beside her. The idiot had foolishly been standing on the trap door himself, and did not land anywhere near as lightly.

As Akane gathered her legs underneath her to jump back up through the hole to rejoin Ranma, the trap door swung closed with a thump. Ranma heard a voice from backstage laugh and proclaim, “I have you now, foul demon!” It only took a moment to identify the voice as Kuno's, and he turned toward it with a frown, but did nothing immediately as he wondered whether he should be doing something to help Akane first.

There was a bit of dim light coming from ventilation grills at the front of the stage, and Akane took a moment to direct a furious glare upon the boy lying at her feet, but decided to delay pounding him into paste. She looked around for some sort of exit, and the first thing to capture her attention was that the room was filled with cats. It didn't take a huge leap of logic to guess that Hikaru had somehow discovered Ranma's fear of cats, and had planned this as a deliberate attack on Ranma through his phobia.

With an immense effort, Akane held back from kicking Hikaru across the room, although she swore retribution would come later. She yelled up through the closed trap door, “Ranma! I'm all right! Whatever you do, don't come down here! The place is full of cats!” Hoping that he heard her, Akane took another look around. She spotted a door which was obviously the exit. Akane yelled once more, “I see a door! I should be out in a minute!” She walked over, grabbed the knob, and flung the door open.

Ranma heard and understood Akane's yells, so remained where he was, waiting for her. He eyed Kuno narrowly as the taller boy emerged from backstage. Kuno in turn stared at Ranma in surprise before shouting, “Demon! How did you avoid the trap?”

Basketball practice still had not begun. The players and coach were too busy watching events on the stage in fascination.

Ranma was contemplating taking some violent action against Kuno, despite the cast on the boy's arm. This train of thought was derailed when a piercing scream came from below the stage, and Ranma promptly forgot everything Akane had said in panic over her safety. The echoes of the scream hadn't faded before Ranma's foot descended like a battering ram on the trap door, smashing a huge hole in it, through which he immediately dropped.

The direction in which he was facing happened to place Akane right in front of him, and Ranma immediately ran over and placed his hands on the shoulders of the frozen, shivering girl. He looked her over quickly, but could see nothing immediately wrong. Her eyes were stretched enormously wide, and she managed through chattering teeth to whisper, “R-Ranma. B-behind you.”

Ranma turned around and immediately saw the huge tiger which had flowed into the room, apparently through the door behind it which was now standing open. He felt something bump into his feet and looked down to see Hikaru, who had backed away from the tiger crablike on all four limbs. Unfortunately, Ranma also saw something else. A couple of dozen cats, as terrified of the tiger as the humans, were clustering around Ranma's legs. He released an uncontrolled whimper of horror.

The tiger was neither hungry nor particularly anxious, and was taking the time to examine its surroundings. It could smell the fear of possible prey nearby, but had not yet made up its mind whether to go to the trouble of attacking. The humans watched as it swiveled its head back and forth.

Ranma was fighting a losing battle with his fear of the cats. He was unable to move, with one arm around Akane who had her face pressed into his side, and with Hikaru and a collection of house cats pressing equally against his legs. Feeling his humanity unraveling away, Ranma grasped after the painful memories of the attack he had suffered, hoping to gain at least partial control over the neko-ken. This proved to be too little, too late, although it had the effect of allowing a very small vestige of human awareness to remain.

A sudden, deep, furious yowl split the air, and echoed throughout the stage and gymnasium, where it made Kuno and the members of the basketball team shiver uncontrollably. Akane pulled back and stared at Ranma, in shock that she was once again hearing a roar coming from his mouth. The tiger's head sprang up, as it suddenly sensed the nearby presence of another predator. A wild aura sprang up around Ranma, filling the small room below the stage, and a shimmer of ghostly claws appeared at his fingertips.

The tiger, like most animals, was sensitive to emanations from beyond the physical. As soon as it became aware of what it faced, its instincts did an instant calculation, then communicated a decision to the rest of the brain. The tiger turned and ran for its life, back through the door into the other room in which it had been locked, where it promptly tore down the flimsy door on the other side of that room and kept running.

The smaller cats, as adept at evaluating danger as their larger cousin, were right on its tail. In his feral state of mind, Ranma chose to give chase to these creatures, leaving Akane and Hikaru behind. Akane left Hikaru to fend for himself and chased after Ranma, wondering what she could do to help him.

Up on the stage, Kuno suddenly found himself facing his sister's tiger, which he had borrowed for this endeavor, as it charged straight at him. It ran past, stopped, and leaned against his back, as if trying to hide from something. A herd of cats then flowed over them, leaving several scratches in their wake. One cat stopped on top of Kuno's head, digging its claws into his hair for purchase.

Out in the gymnasium, the players took one look at the tiger, and the cats streaming toward them, and decided that this was a little too much. As they all departed the gym in haste, the coach called out the practice was postponed until later.

Up on the stage, Kuno saw Saotome stalking toward him on all fours, apparently in full demonic mode. He swallowed hard, remembering the threat the demon had once made, and held his bokken in a low guard position. He began to wonder if perhaps this idea hadn't been something of a mistake.

Ranma moved slowly toward Kuno, identifying him as an enemy, some memory remaining to him that the tall boy had played a part in the current events. The cat personality sneered at the useless weapon held in its opponent's left hand. He reached out a paw and shredded it into wood shavings. He then began to contemplate the degree to which he wished to shred his prey, while the tiny portion of humanity still awake in him tried to pull back from any such action.

As Akane passed through the room in which the tiger had been kept, a bag had caught her eye and for some reason she paused momentarily to investigate. She immediately realized that it was catnip and, although she saw no reason for it to be there at that moment, it came to her that it might be useful in bringing Ranma under control. Thus she picked it up, and continued her chase. As a matter of fact, the bag had been left there by Hikaru, who had used it to help gather the horde of cats he had put under the stage.

Akane emerged on the stage to see a white and shaking Kuno standing there, the tiger crouched behind him, and a piece of wood in Kuno's grip which apparently used to be the hilt of a bokken. Ranma was on all fours in front of them, apparently contemplating whether to attack.

Some additional numbers added up in Akane's head, as she realized that Hikaru had not been alone in setting this up. She called out, “Kuno! Did you have a hand in this?”

Despite his current state of concern, which was requiring him to clutch his groin muscles tightly to avoid an extremely embarrassing accident, Kuno managed to answer, “The demon must be banished from this institution, and its power over you broken!”

Akane growled. “Ranma is human, you moron! And he's my friend! Now listen. If you will swear to me that you will stop persecuting him, then I'll call him off!”

“But Akane-kun, my fairest, ...”

“I'm not yours, you jackass! And I never will be!” Akane was seething. “You'd better hurry up and decide! I don't think Ranma's going to wait much longer.”

Kuno looked at the creature in front of him, unwilling to accept that it should be permitted to remain, or to keep Akane under its thrall. On the other hand, he must survive if he were eventually to deal with it. An oath sworn under duress had no force, did it?

“Very well!” Kuno called out. “I agree!”

Akane pulled out one of the packages of catnip and crushed it, releasing a pungent fragrance. “Ranma! Come see what I have!”

Ranma had previously turned to look at Akane when she had been speaking to Kuno, identifying her on levels which went right down to the instinctual. Now his nose lifted and sniffed at the air. Eyes glazing slightly, he began to move slowly in Akane's direction.

She began backing toward the gym doors. She spoke loudly, but without yelling. “Kuno, as soon as I have him out of here, I suggest you leave in a different direction.”

Ranma had almost reached Akane when she arrived at the door and opened it. In a sudden motion, Akane threw the bag out into the schoolyard, and Ranma leaped after it. He managed to pounce on the bag in midair, tearing it open and wallowing happily in its contents as they fell to the ground.

Several students out on the grounds witnessed this event, but were puzzled, not understanding what they were seeing. Ranma rolled around in the catnip, tossing packages into the air, rubbing them on his face. The small spark of human awareness present observed his actions, but was too incomplete to feel any embarrassment over engaging in this behavior in front of his fellow students.

Glancing back inside, Akane saw that Kuno had disappeared, and so turned her attention to the problem of how to bring Ranma out of the neko-ken. She decided to try Nabiki's solution, and lure him to someplace where she could get some water to splash him. Akane slowly walked toward the boy, wondering if it was truly safe to approach.

The cat personality which was currently dominant looked up from a drugged haze to see Akane walking toward it. It recognized Akane as being a female of its own species, however mysterious it was for that to be the case. A female it further regarded as beautiful. Indeed, the depths of Ranma's brain were sending the message to the cat that Akane was the single most important person in the world to him. The thread of humanity which was present felt happy as he looked upon her face.

The cat decided to express its approval of Akane's presence. It leaped toward her, wanting to rub against her legs, to purr its satisfaction, perhaps even to be petted.

Akane saw Ranma, fully in the grip of the neko-ken, jumping through the air toward her. Students around the yard cried, “Watch out, Akane!” She froze, wondering if she were about to feel invisible claws tearing at her skin. For a moment, it felt as though her heart stopped beating in her chest.

So unprepared was she for Ranma's actual intention, that when he landed at her feet and pressed against her legs, Akane fell right over, sitting hard on the ground. Not expecting this sudden development, Ranma fell over on top of her, lying across her lap. It only took a moment for the cat to decide that this was good too, and curled up as it considered taking a nap.

Akane started breathing again, as it became apparent that Ranma was not going to hurt her after all. She inquisitively said, “Ranma ...?” but then stopped, not knowing what it was she wanted to ask. Ranma turned his face up to look into her eyes.

The few coherent thoughts which remained of Ranma's humanity looked across the centimeters into the face of the only girl for whom he had ever cared. She who had become the truest friend he had ever had. The girl for whom he secretly longed, a fact hidden even from himself, the more so as he could not believe himself worthy of her. The cat felt the surge of all of these emotions, but was not inclined to make things as complicated as a human would, and decided to express its feelings according to its best understanding of how humans dealt with such matters.

Ranma the human felt the cat reach this decision, but there was too little of him present to form any objection. In fact, the little that was there didn't have the wit to realize that there might be good reasons not to carry through on this intention.

Akane watched, startled, as Ranma's face suddenly closed the distance between them. Before she realized what was going on, Ranma's lips were pressed firmly against hers. ‹Ranma's kissing me!› The thought crashed through her mind like an enormous explosion of thunder, obliterating all further ability to think. Akane felt her own lips respond by instinct, pressing back against Ranma's. For a brief moment, nothing else existed except the two of them and the kiss.

But only for a moment. Reality insisted on reasserting itself. The thought forced itself into Akane's mind that Ranma was kissing her while in some weird mental state where he thought he was a cat, instead of deciding to do so when his mind was fully human. No, wait! That didn't come out right. Wasn't the real problem that the idiot was kissing her in the schoolyard where everyone could see? No, that wasn't quite it either.

Ranma was kissing her. Period! Right! That was the problem!

Akane shoved Ranma off of her lap, screaming, “What are you doing, baka?!” She was blushing furiously, trying not to meet any of the two dozen or so pairs of shocked eyes staring at her. Mortified, not knowing how she could face anyone, Akane turned and ran for home.

Nabiki walked up with a pail of ice cold water, figuring that it had worked the last time. She dumped the contents over his head, and onna-Ranma jumped up, looking around wildly, evidently confused. He was also shivering with cold.

Nabiki gave him a scathing look. “You are in soooo much trouble.” She shook her head, wondering if her recent promise to Kasumi covered this interesting turn of events as well and deciding reluctantly that it probably did. With a deep, heartfelt sigh, she turned and walked off, leaving the bewildered and dripping girl standing there. Ranma was totally at a loss to understand what had just happened, and why he appeared to be in trouble. Again.