Kodachi Kuno was doing something new.  She was meditating.  
Though her brother was often doing it, even moreso nowadays, she 
herself had not done it.  She was a scientist and a gymnast.  Such 
things incalculable as love were like the daydream technology seen in 
Science Fiction movies.  However, her science and skill could not find 
the answer, while her brother had experienced love.
	Thus she'd asked for him to teach her meditation techniques.  
Tatewaki had expressed approval over her wanting to learn how.  His 
focus was true now and he saw that he had merely lusted after Akane, 
foolishly believing it true love.  She needed to find a way to get her 
mind off the fact that the red-haired girl who had awoken her the other 
night was the same who had caught her ribbon.
	Kodachi Kuno, the Black Rose of Saint Hebereke High, was trying 
to decipher whether or not the feeling that arose whenever the 
redhead's face popped up in her mind was that of revulsion, hate, 
acceptance or love.  She was hoping for revulsion and hate.
	"What troubles you, dear sister, that you cannot meditate?" 
Tatewaki inquired.  The manner in which he had instructed Kodachi had 
been for the beginner in meditation, yet her sister seemed unable to 
reach the state necessary even for the first step.
	"Brother, how do you know if you love someone?" Kodachi asked 
hesitantly.
	"I do not." Tatewaki responded, taking time to glance in her 
direction.  So his sister believed she may have found love.  That was 
interesting.
	"But you love that Akane girl..." Kodachi began.
	Tatewaki sighed, "In truth, dear sister, the path to love is 
rarely true.  What you may see as something you desire will reveal that 
it is, in fact, not what you desire at all.  Akane Tendo, while a good 
person at heart, was an obstacle in my river that I had to but pass.  
Yet, like a branch on a rock, I became hung up on her.  Were it not for 
her savage yet true words, I would have spent many a misspent day 
longing for her."
	Kodachi sighed in relief.  Then that meant this was simply 
something she was hung up on-
	Tatewaki interupted her thoughts, "However, there may be a chance 
that whomever you speak of is indeed your love true.  After all, not 
all streams and rivers have to be long in order to remain as they are.  
You must seek your true self, lest you be mistaken."
	Kodachi didn't immediately panic.  While she was no closer to the 
answer she sought, she did have a method for finding that answer.  Her 
brother had given her a formula by which to find the answer, now all 
she had to do was take all the factors and run the equation.
	The problem was finding out all the factors.  Finding out if X + 
Z equaled Love would be a whole lot easier if she knew what X and Z 
were.

	"FINALLY!" came a cry of evil glee.
	Michiru Kaioh gazed at her partner with an concerned look.  The 
smile on the shorter-haired woman seemed to SEETHE with repressed 
anger.  Finally, the wavy-haired violinist spoke up, "Something the 
matter, Haruka-chan?"
	The athletic blonde turned to Michiru, "Ranma found Ryouga."
	"Ryouga..." The aqua-haired woman puzzled over the name, before a 
memory came to her, "you mean that Hibiki boy?"
	Haruka nodded.  Michiru's eyes narrowed, "Where is he?"
	"He's in Nerima.  And knowing him, he won't be able to leave for 
a month or so." Haruka said, with a tone of relief and glee that was 
unnatural for the moment.
	"I'm coming too, darling.  We BOTH have to pay him back for what 
he did." Michiru told her.
	"I can't promise anything, but I'll try and leave a corpse for 
you to kick." Haruka replied.
	Michiru nodded and gently embraced Haruka, "Once you've gotten 
your revenge, the nightmares can finally end."
	Haruka sighed and embraced Michiru back.

	Akane Tendo was mentally and physically prepared for the fight.  
Nothing short of victory would satisfy her.  She had no real animosity 
towards Kodachi Kuno, but when she'd heard that Kodachi had never lost 
a match due to her less-than-legal methods, it became obvious to Akane 
that Kodachi feared losing.
	Unfortunately, fear of losing was not enough to account for 
cheating in Akane's book.  Were something riding on it, such as a 
person's life, freedom or all of one's possessions, then cheating was 
allowable, but none of those three things were on the line as far as 
Akane could see.
	It was time for a spoiled rich girl to discover that there was 
always someone better.
	"So, Ranma, whaaaa-y are you a girl?" Akane inquired.
	"Sprinkler system." Ranma-chan responded glumly.  She'd been 
hoping to be male so she could propose a date for after the match.
	"Ah." Akane replied, figuring Ranma was simply upset at being 
female again.
	Kodachi's voice caught their attention, "You seem to be doing 
well, Akane Tendo.  I do hope you'll give me a good challenge today."
	Akane arched an eyebrow, "That's funny, I was expecting something 
underhanded."
	Kodachi lowered her head, "I decided not to attack you or your 
friend as a gift for saving my life the other night."
	Kodachi turned abruptly and headed back to her changing room.  
Akane arched an eyebrow, but said nothing.

	In many other dimensions, Setsuna Meiou was an experienced and 
accomplished warrior of justice and the sole guardian of the Gate of 
Time on Pluto with an oblique title of 'Sailor Pluto, Guardian of the 
Gate of Time'.
	Being the so-called Senshi of Time, as her duty required her to 
be around the Gate of Time and saying 'Senshi of the Gate of Time' is 
entirely too long to say in one go, Setsuna is assumed to do naughty 
little things like peek into the future, bend the weave of time, make 
herself young and beautiful forever, master all sorts of abilities and 
skills and make sure she always looks cool.
	Not much of that applies in this world.
	"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!  I'M SOOOOO LATE!" Setsuna cried as 
she raced out the door, a half-eaten piece of toast dangling from the 
side of her mouth.
	With practice only gained from many, many, MANY days of being 
late, Setsuna managed to pull the rest of the toast into her mouth.  
Setsuna groaned as she KNEW she _could_ use her Senshi abilities to 
simply hop into the past and hurry to school, but she was young and new 
to all of this 'Senshi' business.  If it weren't for the fact that 
she'd been visited by that white talking cat with the crescent moon on 
it's forehead, she probably would have simply thought the blonde that 
it belonged to was just crazy.
	Being Sailor Pluto and the guardian of some Time thingy wasn't 
really what she wanted to think about.  She was more concerned about 
the make-up English exam she had today.  Of all the subjects in the 
world, she was absolutely lousy at English.  The aforementioned 
language made very little sense, especially when it came to writing.  
She wasn't so bad at speaking it, but she stunk at spelling.  And 
considering that she had an american as a teacher, she couldn't weasel 
by tricking the teacher.
	Setsuna hoped she got at least a 70 on her test.  She could live 
with only a C- in English.

	The match opened.  Akane felt embarrassed wearing a green 
leotard, but it was the only one she could find that covered her thighs 
and arms.  It had been almost impossible to find it and it just 
happened to be the only outfit she could feel comfortable in.  And it 
was a light greenish-yellow, too, the kind she'd always hated because 
it made her nauseaous.
	Kodachi's entrance was a bit grandoise with her being carried in 
on a devan sofa carried by the rest of the St. Herbereke gymnastic 
team.  Some of the St. Herbereke gymnasts sprinkled black flower petals 
on the path as Kodachi stepped down from the devan and onto the red 
carpet that the lead members of the team rolled out seconds before 
Kodachi began her descent.
	Kodachi stepped elegantly into the ring, posing in her stylized 
black leotard with purple rose design, before gazing at Akane.  Akane 
noticed a pained twitch on Kodachi's face, but it was well hidden.  
They approached each other as the referee motioned them from their 
corners.
	"I know, but it's the only leotard I could get." Akane explained 
in a low tone, her face still a tad flushed with embarrassment.
	"I would have gladly given you one." Kodachi responded in an 
equally low tone.
	"Too late now, Kunou-san." Akane said, before extending her hand, 
"Let's have a good match."
	Kodachi smiled honestly and shook Akane's hand, before steeling 
herself and declaring, "I won't go easy on you."
	"I wasn't expecting it." Akane replied.
	The two returned to their corners.
	"She may seem nice now, Akane, but don't let your guard down." 
Ranma-chan warned.
	"I wasn't planning to, but thanks anyway." Akane responded.
	"BEGIN!" the referee called out.
	Kodachi drew her cord and a gymnastic pin.  Akane smiled as 
Ranma-chan passed her own cord and gymanstic pin up to her.  Kodachi 
lashed out with her cord as Akane raised hers and focused her ki into 
the cord.  Both girls were sent backwards by the sudden vibration 
caused by steel meeting something with the same strength.
	In silent but mutual agreement, both girls ditched their cords 
and attacked with their clubs.  Kodachi was amazed at how strong her 
opponent was as Akane all but knocked her onto her back after a few 
exchanges left her with three broken clubs.  In terms of pure strength, 
Kodachi realized she was not simply woefully underprepared, she was 
like a little girl versus a professional weight lifter.
	Akane knew how to strike with a club.  It was the only weapon she 
felt even a bit comfortable with, mostly because it's use was similiar 
to a hammer.  As such, it was much easier to focus her energy into 
making it hit harder.
	Kodachi wondered briefly if Akane had perhaps corked (1) her 
clubs.  This train of thought was curious for Kodachi, as it was 
usually HER doing all the cheating and not her opponent.  Her second 
tossed Kodachi razor hoop up to the gymnastic's champion.  Kodachi 
didn't even call out the attack as she wordlessly hurled the hoop 
towards Akane.
	Akane hurled her club at the hoop, breaking it, but at the cost 
of the club.  The wooden tool clattered to the ground in three pieces.  
The look on Kodachi's face was a bit confusing, but Akane wasn't about 
to get too distracted.  Ranma-chan hurled her the ribbon.  Akane 
groaned.  The one weapon she hadn't quite mastered.
	The ribbon was something Akane hated.  If not for the fact that 
she could get some basic whip-like attacks down, the ribbon was utterly 
worthless in her hands, except maybe as a replacement cord.
	Kodachi had her own ribbon out and ready for use.  Yelping as she 
dodged Kodachi's fearsome snake-like ribbon, Akane brought her own 
ribbon to bear.  Both girls blinked in utter astonishment as they 
managed to knock the ribbon out of the other's hand.
	"Ranma, ball!" Akane commanded, before receiving said weapon 
upside the head.  Akane caught it a split-second later.
	"Sorry!" Ranma-chan called, wincing at the fact that she'd just 
beaned Akane.
	"I think it's time everyone found out how strong I am." Akane 
announced, before slamming her ball into the ring.
	The ball bounced up off the ring and down off the ceiling so fast 
that it was a solid red line that moved.  Kodachi threw her own ball in 
an effort to deflect the bouncing red projectile, but the ball simply 
bounced back at her head.  Kodachi bent backwards amazingly fast to 
dodge the weapon before Akane's ball struck her full in the stomach.
	To Kodachi, it felt like being struck by a two hundred pound 
sledgehammer.  Her body convulsed and collapsed on it's own, her mind 
reeling from the pain that she felt.  Gasping, she slowly began 
regaining her breath and hearing to hear the referee calling out the 
number five.  Then six.  Then seven.  There was something important 
about that.
	Kodachi's mind rebooted enough that she turned over onto her 
stomach and latched a hand onto the bottom rope of the ring.  She 
pulled herself up onto her knees at the count of nine and was fully 
standing before the referee could manage ten.  Kodachi stumbled a bit 
as she turned, her body not having fully recovered from that strike.
	"A good fight so far, Akane." Kodachi complimented her opponent.
	"Are you okay?" Akane inquired, knowing full well that Kodachi 
was hurting herself by forcefully standing.
	"Not only am I fine, but I'm more than strong enough to put an 
end to this little game." Kodachi retorted, not feeling even half as 
confident as she sounded.  She was hurting and losing badly.  Her 
ribbon mastery was about all that might pull her from total defeat.  
That or serious cheating.  But that would require Akane being injured 
rather horribly and that wasn't something Kodachi wanted to do.
	In truth, the only thing that was keeping her from quitting was 
her pride as a gymnast.  She refused to lose to someone who'd only 
trained for one week in gymnastics, prior experience be damned.

	A brown-haired girl in Kyoto looked at the postcard.  She arched 
an eyebrow as she noticed the return name, "Ranma Saotome.  There's a 
name I haven't heard in a while..."
	"Kinda funny that you'd forget him, seeing as he was the only boy 
you swore eternal vengence on before you two wound up becoming best 
friends.  A'course, I don't totally blame you, seeing as you two were 
both rather young." Her father, Akira, spoke up.
	"Eternal vengence?" Ukyou inquired, an eyebrow quirked.
	"You two would spar somethin' fierce.  At first, you'd come home 
crying your eyes out and spitting curses at him.  But after about a 
week, you started coming home, blathering on and on about he was the 
boy you wanted to marry." Akira responded with a smile.
	Ukyou frowned.  She didn't recall anyone like that.
	"You two even had pet names for each other... you'd call him 
'Ranchan' and he'd call you 'Ucchan'.  I figured that was why you 
started telling me that 'Ucchan' was going to be the name of your 
resturaunt." Akira continued.
	"'Ranchan'..." Ukyou continued, before the memory finally 
returned to her, "OH HIM!  I've gotten letters from him before, but I 
guess I forgot for some reason."
	"Yer mind's as sharp as yer mother's.  She keeps losing her 
glasses when they're right on toppa her head!" Akira joked, before 
catching his wife's thrown ladle upside his head.
	"It might be fun to visit him and catch up on all that's 
passed." Ukyou commented.
	"You won't tell him... everything... will you?" Yumi inquired as 
she picked up her thrown ladle.
	"No, not EVERYTHING," Ukyou said, rolling her eyes at her 
mother's wording, "But it will be nice to catch up."

	"They're both quite accomplished, wouldn't you say?" came a 
comment from Ranma-chan's right.
	Ranma-chan spared a glance at the person in question, Cologne, 
"Yeah, they've been at it for an hour now."
	Indeed the two combatants had.  The ring was littered with broken 
gymnastic tools, instruments, chairs and even the announcer's table.  
Most of it had been thrown by Kodachi's ribbon and broken or knocked 
aside by Akane.
	Cologne noted the heavy amount of worry in Ranma-chan's voice as 
the young redhead watched the fight with intense focus, "Don't worry, 
the fight will be over soon.  As much as that Kunou girl would rather 
not admit it, Akane's strike with the ball took quite a bit out of 
her."
	Ranma-chan blinked.  Cologne was right, Kodachi's movements were 
very conservative, using her ribbon to hurl objects at Akane.  But the 
objects were getting smaller and smaller as the Kunou girl lost 
strength faster and faster.  Akane saw that her opponent was extremely 
tired, even moreso than Akane herself was, but unwilling to simply give 
up.  Panting, she grabbed a chair and hurled it at Kodachi, before 
grabbing her ball and three clubs.
	Kodachi managed to leapt over the chair, landing on the nearest 
corner post just as Akane hurled her clubs and ball at the St. Hebereke 
gymnast.  Kodachi managed to block the ball and two of the clubs, but 
the last slid through her defenses and struck her square in the 
forehead, causing her to topple off the corner post to land in the arms 
of her worried teammates, who quickly shuffled her onto a stretcher and 
off to the nurse's room.
	"AKANE TENDO IS THE WINNER!" the referee announced, raising 
Akane's arm.
	The spectators roared in praise or booed in anger.  Either way, 
it became very loud for a minute as the head announcer scurried into 
the ring for a victory speech.
	"That was a spectacular match, Akane Tendo!  Do you have anything 
to say?" the announcer asked, extending her microphone to Akane.
	"THANK YOU CLEVELAND, GOOD NIGHT!" Akane cried in english, before 
fainting backwards onto the mat.
	The room hushed a little at that bit of strangeness, but soon 
returned to it's former roar.
	"Her display of skills was admirable, don't you believe?" Cologne 
inquired.
	"Akane take pity of opponent for first bad injury and play fair, 
but she waste much energy to do so.  She really as good as Great 
Grandmother say?" Shampoo asked.
	"Even playing fair, I'd say she won by a very large margin.  
Given an extra week or two to prepare, I think she could've won in much 
less time." Cologne responded.
	"Is true... she not bad for one week trainee.  Amazon no improve 
that much in one week." Shampoo agreed.
	"Come, Shampoo.  Let's go meet them at home." Cologne said, 
hopping away with Shampoo trailing closely behind.

	Soun gathered his ki.  He was sure this was going to be it.  
Extending a hand to the pile of loose soil in front of him, he extended 
his energy into the mound and began controlling it, forming an exact 
replica of his own right hand... at a scale of 10 to 1.  He used his 
left to test it's hardness.  Hard as stone.
	Smiling as he clenched his fist, causing the large replica to do 
the same, Soun Tendo knew he was at last ready to begin creating new 
techniques.
	"Earth Hand.  First one." Soun commented to himself as he left 
the energy dwindled and the soil returned to it's former loose state.

	Akane awoke in her own bed.  Her muscles were a bit stiff, so she 
decided she wouldn't do anything serious for a little while.
	"That was quite a show yesterday." came the compliment from 
Cologne.
	"Elder Cologne." Akane said, nodding to the elder before rubbing 
her neck.
	"You were wasting your time.  She was all but defeated after your 
first ball strike." Cologne responded.
	"I knew that halfway through the fight when she couldn't lift 
another chair." Akane answered, "But I wanted to beat her without 
taking advantage of that injury.  Even if it's not seen as cheating, it 
would make me a bully."
	"You are indeed a rare specimen, girl.  I've been doing some 
thinking and I believe you are indeed good enough to join Ranma in her 
amazon training." Cologne told her.
	"Really?" Akane inquired.
	"Really." Cologne answered.
	Akane smiled brightly, "Thank you!  I'm honored!"
	"Hohohohoho... you might not think that when you actually 
start." Cologne told her.
	"Tough or not, I'll do it.  I've made it my goal to always 
improve my skills." Akane responded, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm 
going to take a bath because I reek."
	Cologne smiled as Akane stood and headed for the bath.  As the 
door closed, Cologne's smile faded.
	[No doubt about it.  Her energy isn't totally compatible with her 
body.  That means only one thing.] Cologne thought to herself.

	Ryouga Hibiki sneered as he felt her mind flare.
	"What do you want?" Ryouga demanded.
	//Let me out.//
	"No, not unless I want some lezzie lovin'." Ryouga huffed.
	//I don't think you understand.  I said "LET ME OUT".//
	Ryouga fell to his knees as she flared angrily in his mind.  Were 
he to say there was a bad part to his 'curse', it was HER.  She was a 
sorceress of immense power, capable of rending reality, but she was 
currently trapped in him.
	Both of them looked upon the other as the ultimate annoyance.  
While Ryouga didn't mind her having similar tastes, i.e. women, he 
didn't like the fact that she was so demanding of her freedom.  He 
didn't particularly like her or any woman trying to take control of 
him, which was why he stayed male most of the time.
	"Jeez, you're such a crab.  Christ, I haven't felt this bad since 
I got diarrahea and stomach cramps eating Mexican." Ryouga groaned.
	//Thank you SO much for that information.//
	She was also a quick learner when it came to 'slang'.  When they 
first spoke to each other, she was all 1030s with "thou art a talking 
ass".
	"Hey, you got any magic to get us back to that Akane babe?" 
Ryouga inquired.
	//Talk to the hand, 'cause the face ain't listening.  Oop, call 
waiting.//
	"Geez and here I was, ready to give you control..." Ryouga 
teased.
	//Then turn female.  I refuse to have YOUR body.//
	"Why bother if you've got that kind of magic?" Ryouga inquired.
	//Because my body has the proper connections to the leylines.  
Your body would take years, even decades to use even a light spell.  I 
swear, your method of energy usage is entirely ass-backwards.//
	Ryouga was about to make a biting retort when it began raining.  
Energy flared from his body, changing he into she.
	Ihadurca stood six feet five inches tall, a half foot taller than 
him.  She had bluish-green hair tied back into a ponytail, long black 
leather gloves that reached her upper arms, black leather thigh high 
boots, and black backless and bellyless dress that had slits up both 
sides.  Said dress was staying in place thanks to Ihadurca's large 
chest.
	Strange red tattoos covered Ihadurca's forehead as well as parts 
of her exposed chest and stomach.  Not only that, but floating about a 
foot behind Ihadurca, a casual observer gifted with an ability to see 
magic would be able to barely make out a set of etherial white wings.
	"At last, the world will know the power that I, Iharduca, 
possess!" she laughed.

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

	(1) Corked - Usually used as a baseball term.  It generally 
refers to a wooden bat that's been hollowed out and filled with a 
strong metal, like steel.  This allows the batter to strike with much 
greater force.  The practice, I believed, is basically ignored nowadays 
with metal bats being allowed.

	Chapter 3, Complete.

	Stay tuned!

	Next chapter:
	The Kachuu Teshin Amiguriken!
	Haruka and Ranma talk!
	Soun goes on a training journey!
	All this and a skating duel!