With the steady improvement of her skills, Akane was quickly 
reaching the point where she'd be a decent sparring session.  Ranma 
knew this because Akane was already getting the odd strike in.  Nothing 
powerful, but it was enough that Ranma had to acknowledge the blow.  
And Ranma wasn't dodging as cleanly anymore.  Akane's strikes were much 
faster, to the point that Ranma had to be a girl to give Akane a 
smaller and faster target.
	"Not bad.  I think in another week, you'll be sparring with me 
and pops." Ranma-chan complimented Akane.
	Akane acknowledged the compliment, but knew that it was an effort 
at distracting her.  Akane also knew that were she to lower her guard, 
Ranma would do something strange.  He'd been acting bizarrely since 
that first day.
	"Well, probably not pops.  He's kinda stupid in his way of 
thinkin'.  He believes women are weaker than men.  Yeah, let's see him 
say that to Elder Cologne's face." Ranma-chan commented idly.
	"Elder who?" Akane inquired, nicking Ranma-chan with a spinning 
double kick.
	"Cologne.  She's a kooky old lady.  When we go to China, I'll 
introduce you." Ranma-chan answered.
	"How'd you meet her?  And why do you call her 'elder'?" Akane 
asked, pausing.
	Akane regretted that instantly.  She hit the far wall of the 
dojo.
	"Ooops!  Sorry Akane!  I forgot to hold back..." Ranma-chan 
apologized.
	"...S'okay...  I gotta learn how to take a few full power lumps 
or I won't be able to handle sparring with you or your father." Akane 
replied.
	That didn't seem to ease Ranma-chan's apprehension.

	Soun looked at the scroll.  It was sad to say, but he had not 
managed to create very many special techniques.  He regretted not 
searching more deeply for techniques as he was beginning to rediscover 
the joy of training Akane.  With her new chipper attitude, she rarely 
frowned or got angry anymore, especially with the 'Morning Horde' 
slowly evaporating in size.
	Apparently, with Tatewaki no longer stoking the flames of 
perseverence, the easily duped were leaving while the die-hard fans 
remained, but even they were losing strength to continue as word that 
Akane hated pushy boys got around.
	The sudden change was definitely for the better, Soun Tendo 
decided.  His little girl was finally growing into a rather beautiful 
young woman, just like her mother had been.  Soun stifled his tears.  
He shouldn't waste time crying.  He'd found a new purpose in life.  To 
develop more techniques worthy of being taught to Akane.
	Soun Tendo stood and headed to the dojo.  It was time to 
rediscover the warrior in his heart and ascend in the martial arts.

	Genma was confused.  While those who hated him would say he was 
always confused in one way or another, this time he was openly showing 
his confusion rather than hiding it behind a mask of blind ignorance or 
stupid confidence.
	Genma knew many things.  One of which was that he and his son had 
both been gifted with a certain natural charm that made women swoon.  
Well, he'd possessed it in his youth and it had faded when he grew 
older.  But, if he tried, he might still be able to 'slay' a few women.
	His son was taking a serious interest in Akane.  That was beyond 
excellent in Genma's mind.  However, Genma was seeing an apprehension 
in the boy's eyes.  Apprehension was one thing Ranma never showed 
before.
	"What's bothering you, son?" Genma inquired.
	"Well, I was kinda wondering if you... hadanytipsonaskinggirlson 
dates." Ranma half-blurted, half-mumbled.
	Recognition hit Genma.  He'd never really gotten around to 'that 
talk' with Ranma.  It was partially to keep Ranma from becoming too 
interested in girls before they reached the Tendos, but it was mostly 
because the school system had already taught the boy what he needed to 
know for the 'after hours'.
	After the intense trauma of turning into a girl, (Genma could 
still feel some of the bruises when he'd made the foolish mistake of 
trying to wake Ranma-chan when she had that damn club in her hands) 
he'd feared the boy's curse would weird Ranma out until the day he 
died, preventing him from even thinking of consumating marriage with 
Tendo's daughters.
	While he may be too late to introduce the boy to sex like he had 
been (being given an overly perverse set of manga by a friend), he 
wasn't too late to give the boy the finer tips on dating.  Genma 
reached into his gi and removed the scroll he'd made for this day.
	"Read this, my boy, and you'll have her crawling on her hands and 
knees, begging for your attention." Genma told his son.
	Ranma took the scroll and smiled, "Thanks, pops."
	"Don't mention it." Genma said, beaming with pride.
	Ranma didn't waste much time looking over the scroll, memorizing 
it's tips and secrets as best as he could.  Then, he looked at the 
manga, "Maison Ikkoku".  Glancing back and forth, he noted disturbing 
similarities.  No, he wouldn't make that mistake.  Or that one.  He 
might have made that one without a little help, but not anymore.
	Finally prepared, Ranma rolled up the scroll and put both of them 
into his pack.  Time to put his newfound knowledge to use.

	"Hey, Akane, I just heard this really funny joke.  It goes like 
this: Two guys walk into a bar, the third one ducked." Ranma said.
	Akane snickered, "That was _bad_, Ranma."
	Ranma chuckled along with her, then tried to go for the next 
pitch, "A buddhist walks up to a okonomiyaki vendor and says, 'Make me 
one with everything.'"
	Akane laughed a little more, "I was wrong, THAT was _BAD_."
	Hearing her laugh harder, he decided to go for it, "If it was so 
bad, then I guess you'll have to teach me better ones.  How about-"
	Ranma's offer for a date was interupted when he saw a certain 
young man with short black hair, a tiger-stripped bandanna, a yellow 
sweater and black silk pants.  On his back was a massive backpack with 
a red umbrella on top.
	"YOU!" Ranma shouted.
	The boy looked over at Ranma, "Oh, hey Saotome."
	"'Oh, hey Saotome'?!  That's all you can say?!  RYOUGA HIBIKI, 
PREPARE TO DIE!!!" Ranma roared, charging.
	Ryouga Hibiki blinked as a brief feeling of Vuja De (1) hit him 
before he leapt out of the way of Ranma's initial attack.  He landed on 
the cement wall surrounding Furinkan High School.  Ranma followed him 
onto the wall.
	"What are YOU so pissed off about?" Ryouga inquired.
	"Because of you, I've seen HELL!  I won't rest until you lay 
beaten on the ground!" Ranma cried, lunging again.
	Akane arched an eyebrow.  Just what had Ryouga done to make Ranma 
so mad?
	"Righteous Fist!" Ryouga yelled.
	Akane blinked in surprise as Ryouga's right hand began glowing 
with a bluish aura.  However, it faded halfway to Ranma and the Saotome 
managed to dodge it completely while roundhouse kicking the Hibiki boy 
off the wall.
	Akane hopped onto the wall, "What in the world did he do to tick 
you off so much, Ranma?"
	Ranma glanced at Akane, blushed, then returned his focus on 
Ryouga, "I don't wanna talk about it in public.  I'll tell you later."
	Ryouga was already back on his feet and had ditched his backpack 
next to the wall, "Ow!  Why didn't the Righteous Fist wor..."
	Ryouga's ruminations were cut off as he noticed Akane on the 
wall.  The boy began trying to peek up her skirt in a not-so-discreet 
manner.  A descending elbow to the face from Ranma stopped that attempt 
cold.  Akane noticed people could see up her skirt and hopped down on 
the far side, where no one else was present, save for Ranma and the 
dazed Ryouga.
	"Jeez, why are _you_ so mad for, Ranma?  After all I've done for 
you, too." Ryouga began.
	"That's exactly why I hate you!" Ranma growled.
	Ryouga thought about it for a few seconds, then came to a 
realization, "Say.... you didn't go to Jusenkyou, did you?"
	Ranma faltered, "How do you know about..."
	Ryouga grinned, "'cause I went there and found me a blessing in 
disguise."
	Ranma GLARED at the boy, "You didn't."
	Ryouga grinned wider, "But I did."
	Ranma snorted in disgust, "Now that I know that, I don't want 
anything to do with you."
	"Fine." Ryouga huffed, before walking over to Akane, "Hey, hows 
about you and me find some bushes and play 'hide the snake'?"  Ryouga 
waggled his eyebrows suggestively.  Akane smiled politely.
	The next thing Ryouga knew he was doubled over, clutching his 
stomach.
	"Pervert." Akane 'feh'ed, before telling Ranma, "I'm heading 
home.  If he tries to follow me, kick his ass."
	"Oooh, tough love.  I think I like 'er." Ryouga commented.
	Ranma punted Ryouga Hibiki and his backpack into LEO.
	"Jerk." Ranma growled.
	Seeing that Akane was probably _not_ in the mood for a date, 
Ranma sighed and turned to find something to eat downtown just as a 
rain storm passed over.  Ranma groaned as the rain came down.

	When it came to food, Ranma Saotome wasn't picky.  He loved all 
sorts of food so long as it tasted good.  Mostly because, thanks to his 
father, he'd had to stomach just about every possible consumeable 
available.
	Indeed, Genma Saotome was a genius from time to time, even though 
many claimed that it was against his entire existance to be clever.  
There were many times when chefs would try experimenting with food of 
different nations, and rather than subject unwilling customers to bad 
food, hired professional food tasters.  In those times, Genma and Ranma 
Saotome (who, thanks to Genma, had managed to create quite the 
reputation when it came to cooking) bravely let their mouths and 
bellies feel the agony of failure or the warm and delicious flavor of 
victory.
	Takoyaki intermixed with pork buns were his favorite snack foods, 
though.
	That was why Ranma-chan was heading home, munching away at pork 
buns and takoyaki.  That was, until she saw a girl standing in a vacant 
lot with three guys wearing bandages all over and carrying gymnastic 
pins.  Pausing at the bizarre sight, Ranma-chan paused.
	"So, you haven't learned your lesson." the girl stated.  She 
stood about Nabiki's height with a ponytail tied to the left side of 
her head and a flower on the right side.  She wore a standard school 
uniform, but it wasn't Furinkan High's.
	"We won't stop until we pay you back!" came the angry yet muffled 
response.
	The girl pulled out what looked like a gymnastics ribbon and 
began snapping it at the men, knocking them backwards onto their sides 
and causing them to drop their weapons.  The ribbon cracked across 
their bodies like a whip, sending them to the ground, whimpering.
	Just as the girl was prepared to launch another attack with the 
ribbon, Ranma-chan decided to interfere.  It was one thing to defend 
oneself, but it was quite another to bully the weak.
	Grabbing the ribbon, Ranma-chan turned to the the girl, "You've 
already won.  You shouldn't bully the weak."
	The girl's reaction was a bit different, "You caught my ribbon.  
I'm impressed... that has never been done before."
	The girl's foot caught on a fallen club and kicked it up to the 
girl's hand.  She lunged, seeking Ranma-chan's head and missing as 
Ranma-chan ducked and performed a spinning sweep kick which the girl 
leapt over.  Landing on the far side of Ranma-chan, the mystery girl 
reevaluated the redhead as Ranma-chan turned to face her.
	"Not bad.  My name is Kodachi the Black Rose.  Remember that." 
the girl said, tossing Ranma-chan a black rose.
	With that, Kodachi leapt up and away.  Ranma-chan sighed.  There 
was something about her that attracted weirdos.
	Just then, the three guys who had attacked Kodachi began crying.
	"Hey, don't cry.  You're men, after all, right?" Ranma-chan 
inquired.
	"That's what you think!  We're the Furinkan High Girl's 
Gymnastics team!" the leader cried, tearing off the bandages on her 
face.
	Ranma-chan blinked as she realized the girls in front of her were 
from her class.

	Akane was halfway home when she remembered that Kasumi had asked 
her to buy eggs.  She stopped at the grocery store to buy a dozen and 
was just exiting the store when a pink blur knocked her over.
	"HEY!" Akane shouted angrily as she lost balance only to fall 
into the arms of a young man.
	Akane looked at him.  He was fairly handsome with brown hair that 
had been styled and frozen in place because of a lot of hair spray.
	"I was just walking along and an angel fell into my arms.  How 
fortunate.  May I know your name, sweet angel?" the boy said with an 
inflection that spoke volumes of 'smooth'.  Indeed, the average 
heterosexual girl with little experience with dashing and/or handsome 
boys would have melted in his arms, but Akane was neither average nor 
heterosexual.  In fact, she knew this boy's type rather well.
	Akane glared at him flatly, "Hanako Dokusoi."(2)
	"Beautiful, just like you.  My humble name is Mikado Sanzenin."
	"Thanks for the save, but I've got to get going."
	"Surely, such a deed as saving your life requires a kiss...." 
Mikado suggested.
	"Sure, close your eyes." Akane told him.
	He did so.  She set down the grocery bag with eggs, grabbed a 
nearby alley cat and stuffed the angry animal into Mikado's face.
	"RAAAAAAAWR!" the cat yowled before glomping on Mikado's face.
	"Oh dear, that vicious alley cat came out of nowhere.  Well.  I 
guess I shall have to put that kiss on raincheck." Akane deadpanned as 
Mikado's screams of pain were muffled by the cat, who's claws had sunk 
into the boy's head.
	Akane picked up her groceries and headed for home.

	Ranma-chan paused as she began opening the door, as she got a 
feeling... one she'd not felt since-
	"SHAMPOO IS SO HAPPY!"
	A purple-haired chinese girl wearing a gold-embroidered pink 
shirt and purple silk pants lept at the young Saotome.  *GLOMP*
	Ranma-chan staggered a bit as she found herself in a typical 
Flying Amazon Friendship Hug, which was followed by the not-so-typical 
Amazon Friendship Kiss.
	"Sh-shampoo... nice to see you again." Ranma-chan replied, her 
response a bit forced as Shampoo was nearly crushing the air out of 
her, but also because she didn't recall being close enough to Shampoo 
to warrant the Friendship Kiss.
	"It's nice to see you again too, Friend Ranma." Shampoo said, 
smiling brightly.
	"So, Ranma, finished having your teeth checked by your _very_ 
friendly dentist?" Akane teased as she walked past the two girls.
	"Shampoo was just giving Friend Ranma the Amazon Friendship 
Kiss." Shampoo told Akane in a haughty tone as she let the redhead 
down.
	"Hey, chill.  I was just teasing." Akane said defensively, 
raising her hands as a sign of peace or at the very least, in hopes of 
stating "I don't want or need a fight at the moment."
	"Akane, this is Shampoo.  Shampoo, this is Akane Tendo, one of 
the girls Pops hopes to engage me to." Ranma-chan said, introducing the 
two girls.
	"Hopes to engage?" Shampoo inquired.
	"Japanese families sometimes arrange marriages in advance in 
hopes of either improving their social standing or ensuring a decent 
candidate.  As such, things cannot be finalized until both families are 
in agreement.  We're just finding out if Ranma is compatible with us 
before the engagement is finalized." Akane explained.
	Shampoo nodded in understanding.  It was similar to the Amazon 
Rite of First Pick.  Every generation, each caste would have a 
challenge and the winner's children would be allowed to choose a 
potential husband or wife material before all others.  After all, the 
strongest and best were more often in danger, thus such privileges were 
only fitting.  There was also a startling similarity to the Amazon Rite 
of First Wife in cases of polygamy.
	"So, why are you here, Shampoo?" Ranma-chan inquired.
	"Shampoo has come with Elder Cologne.  She wanted to see if 
Friend Ranma wanted to become Husband-Wife to Shampoo.  Barring that, 
Elder Cologne wanted to see if Ranma wanted to start the special Amazon 
Warrior training as offered." Shampoo responded.
	"Amazon Warrior Training?" Akane inquired, intrigued by the idea 
of becoming an Amazon like Ranma had apparently done.
	"Indeed." came a voice from behind Akane.
	Akane yelped and spun to find... nothing.  Sighing, she tilted 
her head enough to force the very light form off of her head.  The 
figure hopped down in front of Akane, who arched an eyebrow, "I take it 
that you're Elder Cologne."
	The woman was about four feet tall with long silvery white hair.  
She looked very much like Shampoo with signs of being in her late 
sixties at the very least.  She wore a long green robe with exotic red 
patterns sewn into it.  She held a long staff made from a tree branch.
	"Yes I am, young lady.  I'm actually named after another Cologne, 
but she passed on a year ago." the very mature woman explained, before 
smiling, "I'm impressed that you knew I was on top of your head."
	"Your staff is heavier than you think, Elder." Akane responded 
politely.
	"Ho ho ho ho!" Elder Cologne laughed, "I think you're hiding 
something, but since you are such a polite girl, I won't press you 
about it just yet."
	"Elder Cologne, I didn't think you'd come to Japan." Ranma-chan 
commented.
	"I figured your father would tangle you up in something just to 
make sure I didn't train you.  His arrogance about women is beyond 
stupidity itself, but at least he's not a thief or a pervert." Cologne 
explained.
	"Yeah.  One good thing about traveling with pops is that he knows 
better ways to get meals than by stealing." Ranma-chan commented.
	"Really?" Akane inquired.
	"Pops figured out that there's a surplus of chefs who like to 
experiment with foreign cuisine, but don't want to subject customers to 
it.  We got free meals and money by being food tasters.  Fairly good 
work, but it can get pretty tiring tasting the same thing over and over 
until they think it's right." Ranma-chan explained.
	"Hmmm..." Akane replied.
	"Akane, you've got some visitors..." Kasumi called from inside 
the house.
	"All right." Akane responded, before turning back to the 
visitors, "It was nice meeting you, Shampoo, and you as well, Elder 
Cologne."
	With that, Akane hurried inside with the groceries.
	"A very spirited young lass.  She might be worth consideration." 
Cologne noted.
	"You is serious, Grandmother?" Shampoo inquired.
	"Very much so.  Her martial potential is almost as high as yours, 
Ranma." Cologne noted.
	Shampoo blinked in surprise.  Ranma had a potential that exceeded 
even her own and if this 'Akane' was almost as high... that meant the 
tribe could deal with the Musk more equally, rather than having to back 
down every so often to keep a war from erupting.

	Akane sighed as she looked at her fellow classmates.
	"So, this Kodachi the Black Rose has been attacking you all 
before the match?" Akane inquired.
	Kimiko, the gymnastics team leader, nodded, "Please, Akane!  
You're the best person we could think of!  If we don't win this, it'll 
be the twentieth times Saint Hebereke's team will win because of 
forfeit this year!"
	"I suppose if I know all the rules, I can try..." Akane 
suggested.  In truth, while Ranma was helping with her acrobatic 
skills, she wasn't entirely confident that she could beat a trained 
gymnast in her own element.

	"No kidding?  You managed to find both of 'em?" Ranma inquired.
	"It wasn't difficult to find Ten'ou-san.  She's currently living 
in Tokyo, Juuban District.  I found an Ukyou Kuonji, but I should tell 
you that Kuonji is registered as female." Nabiki warned.
	"That's probably Ucchan then.  I was only a kid and Ucchan was 
always wearing a chef outfit.  Back then, I thought girls only wore 
skirts and stuff." Ranma noted.
	Nabiki arched an eyebrow.
	"Hey, I was a five at the time, fer cryin' out loud.  It made 
sense at the time.  It was that or do a 'Pat Pat'.(3)" Ranma protested.
	"Anyway, here are their addresses if you wanted to write to them.  
I think that you should include our phone number so that they can 
contact us if they're the wrong people.  No sense sending letter after 
letter to someone if they aren't the right one." Nabiki told him.	"Right.  Thanks, Nabiki." Ranma said, smiling.
	"It's okay." Nabiki responded, "It was a favor to Akane, anyway."

	"You seem troubled, child." Cologne commented as she entered the 
dojo to see Akane in the process of training in a somewhat strange 
manner.
	Akane glanced back at the Elder Amazon, "I guess it's just 
that... I don't like using weapons.  Or rather, I hate using such 
flimsy weapons." Akane said, motioning to the 'arsenal' the gymnastics 
team had left her.  A ball, a length of cord, a ribbon, six sets of 
clubs, and a hoop.
	"Well, now, it would seem you simply don't have enough trust.  
Even as feeble as these may seem, a chi-enhancement technique could 
make these as hard as steel." Cologne explained.
	"Don't you mean 'ki'?" Akane inquired.
	"Japanese call it 'Ki', Chinese call it 'Chi', the Koreans know 
it as Qi and some places just call it 'life force'.  You say 'Potato', 
I say 'Potahtoe'.  It doesn't really matter what you call it.  It is 
the concept you must grasp." Cologne answered.
	"I understand the concept of using ki to enhance my own body, but 
how do I harden something else?" Akane asked.
	"Take this cord." Cologne said, handing Akane the cord, 
"Visualize it becoming as stiff as a board and as hard as steel, then 
allow some of your energy to flow into it while keeping that 
visualization."
	Akane looked at Cologne doubtfully, then sighed.  It was either 
try the technique or lose in one week.  She focused on the image of the 
cord becoming like an iron pole and slowly began channelling the energy 
into the cord.
	Cologne smiled knowingly as the cord flexed a few times with 
uncertainty, then snapped out like a cobra into the shape of a staff.  
Akane hadn't put in nearly enough to make the cord like steel, but it 
was hard like an oak staff.
	"See, it isn't quite so hard." Cologne said as Akane opened her 
eyes and stared in a gleeful awe that she had performed the technique 
Cologne had suggested.
	"Wow!  You were right!  Thanks, Elder.  This will make my fight 
much easier." Akane laughed giddily, as she bowed to the elder.
	Cologne sighed in contentment.  Her mother had been right.  There 
was something magical about teaching students.  Seeing the happy looks 
on their faces as they conquered another hurdle.
	Yes, Akane could definitely be included in the amazon training 
that Ranma would undergo soon.  But for now, she and Shampoo were 
simply visitors.  At least until Shampoo had gotten as far with her 
lingual skills as she could.

	Ranma was enjoying a quiet night.  Shampoo was helping Kasumi 
clean up after dinner while Genma and Soun played another round of Go.  
Nabiki was upstairs studying.  Cologne was watching Akane train for the 
fight with that Black Rose girl.
	Peace and quiet.  It felt nice.  Ranma had come to enjoy the 
simple things.  Like the sound of Akane's laugh.  The sight of sweat 
glistening off of Akane's skin.  Seeing that determined look in Akane's 
eyes...
	"Hey ya, Ranma."
	Ranma knew that Ryouga would be back.  He had a tendency to show 
up and turn any mood sour.  Which was impressive if one's mood was 
already bad.
	"Ryouga." Ranma said, saying the word as one would refer to an 
obvious flaming bag filled with moist bulldung.
	"So, that's yer girlfriend, huh?  I was wondering why ya seemed 
so protective.  You lucky dog!  Have ya done with her yet?  How was 
she?" Ryouga grinned lecherously.
	"I'm warning you, Ryouga.  I'm not going to put up with you doing 
to Akane what you did to poor Haruka." Ranma growled.
	"Ten'ou liked it.  Besides, she's lucky any guy would even think 
of doing 'er with that hardass attitude of 'ers." Ryouga replied 
lazily.
	Ranma's eyes narrowed.  Genma looked over and saw Ryouga.  Soun 
watched as Genma's eyes hardened and glanced at the stranger.
	"Who's that, Saotome?" Soun inquired.
	"Ryouga Hibiki, an evil and lecherous boy from a cursed family.  
We'd best go check on the girls, Tendo.  With that boy around, I don't 
want any female unguarded.  I dare say his habits are worse than the 
master's, even if he has barely a fraction of the skill." Genma said.
	Soun had seen his friend that serious before and he didn't want 
to risk being wrong a second time, "I'll go check on Nabiki, then 
Akane.  You go make sure Kasumi and Shampoo are all right."
	"Don't worry so much about Akane.  Cologne's with her.  She's not 
nearly as powerful as the master, but I know she can take Ryouga if 
need be." Genma replied.
	Soun nodded as Ranma lunged at Ryouga, battle aura flaring.

	Akane groaned as she entered her room.  She'd spent the last few 
hours perfecting her enhancing techniques on each of the weapons.  
Using her ki so much was very exhuasting.  She was sure, though, that 
she would get enough endurance in time for the match that she could 
trounce Kodachi.
	That reminded her...
	[If I were a sneaky high-class cheat, I'd wait until my opponent 
had exhuasted herself training on the first day, then attack her in her 
room, probably by dropping from the ceiling and braining her with a 
mallet.] Akane thought to herself.
	"AKANE TENDO, PREPARE TO DIE!" Kodachi the Black Rose cried as 
she descended like a hawk upon a rabbit, if said hawk had an enormous 
wooden mallet and was prone to calling out death threats.(4)
	Akane's hand snapped up and caught the heavy wooden mallet aimed 
at her head.  The mallet's holder was surprised and very impressed.  
Even though Kodachi the Black Rose didn't weigh much, gravity and the 
mallet's weight should have allowed her a heavy blow.  At the very 
least, the girl's arm should have twitched when she caught the mallet.  
Kodachi found herself hanging in mid-air while Akane held her mallet 
perfectly still.  Kodachi allowed her arm muscles to loosen enough that 
she landed.
	Akane yanked the weapon out of Kodachi's hand before Kodachi 
could think about pulling it away and glared at the black-haired 
gymnast, "So, you're Kodachi the Black Rose.  I've heard some 
unpleasant things about you.  I'm sure you would like to stay and 
'play', but I'm afraid we don't allow visitors past eight."
	A foot raised and struck Kodachi before the gymnast could react.  
Kodachi found herself flying out of the same window she'd snuck in 
through.  Unconscious, though.
	"Eep!  I think I hit her too hard..." Akane said.  She estimated 
Kodachi's landing point and yelped as she turned and hurried 
downstairs.  She might not like Kodachi, but she wasn't going to let 
the gymnast drown to death.

	"RIGHTEOUS FIST!" Ryouga cried, thrusting a fist forward.  Ranma 
dodged the uncharged hand.
	"Why doesn't that work?" Ryouga wondered aloud, before recalling 
why.  He wasn't righteous.(5)  It tended to slip his mind.(6)
	*BOOT*
	Ranma sighed as Ryouga Hibiki was once again sent spiraling away.  
He didn't want to kill Ryouga.  No, that honor was left to Haruka, the 
girl he'd traumatized.  The last he'd heard, Haruka was certain she 
could extract revenge on Ryouga.  He'd gauged both Ryouga's current 
skill with Haruka's skill over a year ago.  If the Ten'ou girl had kept 
up her martial training, she could easily trounce Ryouga.
	Then, Ranma heard someone hit the pond.  It was a girl.  He 
quickly leapt into the pond and pulled the girl out.  Akane practically 
leapt out of the house to Ranma-chan's side.
	"Is she okay?" Ranma-chan asked.
	"No, I think she's not breathing!  I think she might have water 
in her lungs!  We have to do mouth-to-mouth!" Akane responded.
	"I..uh.." Ranma-chan began, "I don't know how."
	"That's okay, I do..." Akane responded.

	Someone's lips were pressed against hers, then slid their tongue 
inside, exploring Kodachi's mouth.  After that, Kodachi felt air fill 
her lungs before she coughed.  Someone turned her head so she could 
spit up, then she felt someone press on her torso a few times, before 
the lips pressed against hers again and explored it once more.  Air 
filled her lungs again.  Kodachi sputtered awake to see her rescuers.
	"Kodachi-san, I'm glad you're all right.  I didn't mean to hit 
you so hard." Akane Tendo apologized.
	"Were you the one to-" Kodachi began.
	"Ranma here gave you mouth-to-mouth." Akane said, gesturing to 
Ranma-chan.
	Kodachi looked at Ranma-chan and backed away slowly, staring 
nervously the busty redhead.  Glancing back to Akane, Kodachi found her 
voice, "I thank you for saving my life.  I'll find some way to reward 
you both... eventually..."
	Kodachi staggered to her feet with assistance from Akane and left 
via the front door as she was far too weak to leap away in her 
customary style.
	"Why do you think she gave me that strange look?" Ranma-chan 
inquired.
	"I haven't the foggiest idea." Akane responded.

=======================================================================

(1) Vuja De: The sensation that something is occurring that has never 
happened before.  Immortals often desire this experience.
(2) Dokusoi is the sound Sumo Wrestlers make.  This is a reference to 
Excel Saga.
(3) This is a reference to Dragon Ball.  Young Goku couldn't tell men 
from women, so he patted their groin.  If their groin was 'lumpy', they 
were boys.  If their groin was flat, they were girls.
(4) Which, as we all know, can only be found in Detroit.
(5) The Righteous Fist doesn't require one to be 'Righteous' per se, 
but one does need to have to be doing something noble or be pure of 
heart.  This Ryouga Hibiki is neither.
(6) Like how often he bathed and why girls didn't like his pick up 
lines.



	Chapter 2, Complete.

	Stay tuned!

	Next chapter:
	Kodachi versus Akane!
	Haruka Ten'ou and Ukyou Kuonji get letters!
	Ryouga Hibiki remains an evil bastard!
	Amazon training!
	And Soun develops a new technique!