Ranma 1/2 , Akane 4/2 ?!!

By Kyokukou

Disclaimer : I don't own the characters from Ranma 1/2 only the characters that 
I write myself . So please don't sue me ! But if you try to use my characters 
.....there will be ...unpleasant consequences if I find out . Do not repost or 
reprint this without my permission , however if you do ASK there is a good 
chance I will let you .


" Life is so largely controlled by chance that its conduct can be but a 
perpetual improvisation . "
                                            - W. Somerset Maugham


Chapter 7
THAT ain't good 

    " Man , that was a real trip ." He snorted . " But after I told some of the 
others about it they came up with hundreds of tactical uses for such a place . I 
would have been more than happy to let them have the glory , but the samurai 
under my command were ambitious for me . They fixed it so I had a meeting set up 
with my Lord . You don't request a audience with your master like that without a 
damn good reason . So I told him all about what Ryouga and I found , and about 
the possible uses of it ." Lowering his head until it was almost resting on his 
chest he paused .
" That was the beginning ." He continued in a soft voice , but the words flowed 
smoothly and with hinted power behind them . " From then on I was on his 'to do' 
list every day . Almost every day he would talk to me , asking questions , or 
giving me assignments that were just meant to test me . After a month he 
summoned me one day to talk privately over tea . That was when he asked if I was 
loyal to him . Of course I was , I had taken the oaths , I am a Saotome . The 
Saotome's hadn't served him before , but they served one of his allies . So my 
serving him wasn't any big surprise to anyone . Then he asked me if I would die 
in his service . I would take my own life if it pleased him . Then he asked if I 
would suffer fates worse than the death of the body . I said I would , not 
understanding what he meant . After staring at his tea for about ten minuets 
straight he asked if I would submit to training worse than the Neko-ken . The 
training would be far worse , but the power gained would be much , much greater 
. I agreed to the training before he even told me what it was . 
    " The day after that we were packed and we left . Ryouga wasn't anywhere to 
be found so my Lord's top sorcerer make some sort of gate to get us there . 
'There' was the end of the world . It's the place where our plane of existence 
fades into the rift between the kami plane and this one . It's weird , Oni , 
monsters , people , and all the weirdness you can imagine shows up there . You 
can stay there for a week an not see a bird or a hoard of Oni could ambush you 
at any moment . Then there is the fact that time tends to wax and wane there . 
Near as I can tell I didn't age a day the whole time , and neither did my Lord , 
but we still needed to eat , drink , and sleep . But our hair didn't grow , 
wounds healed at random rates and days never seemed to be the same length as the 
last one . When we got there he took me to the cave where I was going to be 
staying . We spent the day and most of the next setting up camp for the 
next few months ." Compared to the flow before his abrupt stop caused her to 
blink for a moment , as if thrown off balance .
    Ranma's head moved up a centimeter , just enough for him to look at them for 
a long , tense moment . Ranma's eyes were shockingly intense , twin indigo 
crystals stared out at them . She could almost see conflict swirling behind 
those eyes . Glancing at her sister she nearly dropped her jaw . Nabiki had let 
enough of her mask down for genuine concern to leak through her amber eyes . 
Looking back at Ranma she watched the inner conflict resolve and once more he 
lowered his eyes and head .
" My Liege Lord uses a weird combination of magic , hypnosis , torture ,and old 
fashioned brain washing techniques to mess with someone's head . But to start 
making real permanent changes he has to get rid of what was there before . And 
to do that he has to break in . 
    " To do that he has to get real dirty , first he takes your dignity away . 
Then your self control wares away , after that he starts hitting on your 
willpower . Once he gets that it's all over basically , because once you can't 
resist consciously or unconsciously all you have left is instinct and that's no 
problem to him . Only I kept finding things to hang onto to keep my will to 
resist strong . We were at it for a few weeks , and for a while there I was 
turning the tables on him .
   " Then he changed approach , he started screwing with the memories I was 
hanging onto . Like mine of Pop . I only remember what he let me keep , but I do 
remember that one of the last memories that I used to keep me going was Pop . I 
kept hearing him tell me that 'a true martial artist can take any trial , 
torture , and hardship . Call it training and ask for more' or 'that a Saotome 
would never give in to this' and all these other things . So he used some magic 
to make himself look like Pop and beat me until I couldn't move . Right before 
my eyes I saw Pop split his own skin and turn into a Oni before he told me to 
burn in hell and killed himself . It was just an illusion , but after that I 
couldn't hold on to Pop . You see , he never let you rest , never let up for a 
second . Then I used my last line of defense , my Mom . Or at least that's what 
my Lord told me . To get rid of her he had to erase all memory of her ."
    Ranma looked up only long enough to say . " I don't even know what her name 
is anymore ."
" All I know about what happened for the next week was what my Lord told me and 
what I've read from his journal . He basically redid my mind . He erased what he 
thought would hinder his purpose and remolded the rest . Once he had a good 
start on my mind he dove down to my soul ... He destroyed my mind , but while he 
couldn't do that to my soul he did reshape that too ." Trailing off Ranma 
stopped for the moment .
" What a asshole , no , that's too good for him ." Nabiki balled a fist . " Why 
didn't you kill him after he was done ."
" I couldn't even want to ." Ranma said in a small voice .
" Huh ?" Nabiki blinked . 
" He remade me from my soul up , Nabiki-san . I can't hate him even now . I know 
I should , but I can't ." Ranma refused to make eye contact . " Besides , after 
he was done I wouldn't even move unless he told me to .
    " I was what he later called the 'Pure Kodachi' . My eyes were white and 
empty , the only emotions I felt were . Desire to serve him , anger at the world 
for not serving him , and when I fought I felt the rage of some rabid animal . 
He was right , after the remolding I was faster , stronger , my senses were 
more keen , the increases were insane . Once he had me talking and mobile again 
he started teaching me . In a few months I was able to do things that you two 
can't even imagine ."
" Try us ." Nabiki interrupted . 
" I could read by peripheral vision alone . Even if I was fifty meters from the 
book ." Ranma said flatly .
" Alright you got me ." Nabiki conceded the point .
" Anyway , like I said , at first I couldn't even move unless my liege Lord told 
me to . He fixed that , but I still followed orders without any question or 
interpretation . When he left for three days to fetch maids for us he told me 
jokingly to 'stay put' . So I sat still for three days straight . As I remember 
I came within a few hours of dying of thirst . I was a perfect weapon in battle 
, but outside of a fight I couldn't even survive on my own . Of course my Lord 
fixed that problem . After he was done I even had some free will , but every 
decision no matter how trivial was still based on serving my lord best . 
    " Then a few days after that I started to have these nightmares . I wouldn't 
ever wake up , and I never remembered having them , but it scared the hell out 
of Midori-san . She told my Lord about them . Later he explained the basics of 
what was happening . My original personality was trying to reestablish itself . 
The problem was that to do that it was trying to destroy the current one , but 
it was made from the ruins of the old one . It was kinda like building a house 
on an old foundation but then the old house starts growing back like a weed . So 
I was just tearing my mind up from the inside . After a few days of preparation 
my Lord compromised . He blended the two personalities , but the way he wanted 
them to blend ." For the first time she thought she heard a hint of humor 
emerging in his voice .
    " I still remember the moment I opened my eyes and he almost fell back at 
what he saw . You see , after he wiped my mind my irises turned pure white and 
had been like that ever since . But now my natural blue blended with the white 
in a way that even he found shocking . My irises were mirrored . The same blue-
silver of a sword , he looked into my eyes and saw his reflection . I guess 
that's why he called this new me the True Living Kodachi . Now I could think on 
my own , I had free will , I even had a selfish thought every now and then . But 
still , my existence revolved around serving my Lord as best I could . Although 
now I had lost the sheer power of the Pure Kodachi . I used to be able to slice 
a Oni overlord into a hundred chunks faster than it could even realize it was 
dead , now I had trouble leaping from one mesa to the next . 
    " We stayed there a few more months to retrain me before leaving for home . 
Because of the time strangeness we had spent something like a year or more away 
but we got back only a week after we had left . Of course now things were very 
different . The men under my command were reassigned . "A weapon is used it 
does not use ." My lord said . After some political maneuvering we joined the 
current war . It was a stupid war , even the Daimyos fighting it said so . But 
once they were fighting they had to keep going until the enemy was defeated . It 
wasn't even a war to decide the Shogun . I don't even know how the damn thing 
got started . All I know is that once we joined with the southwestern Daimyos I 
was used as a special weapon . 
    " You see , it was a different kind of war back then , but some stuff was 
the same . Both sides had Masters . These were people so powerful that they 
carried the respect and power of a Daimyo by themselves , regardless of their 
bloodline . Even the most pathetic Master could take all of us out , Pop , 
Ryouga , me , and all of you Tendos . All at once , we wouldn't stand a chance . 
Now these guys were used like the big countries use their big weapons . Two 
Masters could turn the tide of an entire battle almost by themselves . I was 
used to neutralize them from the equation . At a battle if the other side sent 
in a Master or two , then I was sent in to take them out ." Once more Ranma 
paused and looked up at them before continuing .
" When he blended me , he knew there would be a major loss of power . So he 
imbedded a few failsafes ." Reaching up Ranma tapped his head meaningfully . " 
There are five phrases left up here that once I hear the first half I go back to 
the Pure Kodachi . The second half brings me back . But each one works only 
once ." 
" You said 'five left' ." Nabiki observed . " How many were there to 
start with ?" 
" Same as my Lord's age at the time , forty two ." Ranma answered in a hollow 
tone . " So I would be brought to the field and my Lord would personally say the 
first line . Then , wham , instant Pure Kodachi . Then it would be ," Ranma's 
voice turned silky soft and a octave higher . "'Kodachi-kun , see those skilled 
warriors there ? Please kill them for me , and once you are done with that task 
please return here .' It was the same little speech every time ." His voice 
returned to that eerie soft flow that he had been using before . It contrasted 
so heavily to her ears to his regular choppy lit . But it was far from 
unpleasant , in fact she fancied it would be quite soothing if he was reciting 
something other than the inhuman torture he had lived through .
" I would go out there and slaughter them . Most of the time as the Pure Kodachi 
it was almost easy . But sometimes I went up against someone who was practically 
a minor kami all to himself . I still got scars from those guys . But it got 
easier every time , every battle made me a little faster , a little stronger . 
Even my liege Lord started to be afraid when he saw me fight . That's why they 
only used me thirty seven times . The rest of the time I was either fighting 
like a regular samurai or on special assignments . After a while they totally 
threw out the Pure Kodachi as a option , ruling that it was too much of a risk 
if I ran amuck ." After a deep sigh Ranma looked up at them expectantly .
" That doesn't explain why you're not the True Kodachi now ?" Nabiki pointed out 
with a raised eyebrow .
" Well something kinda brought me back to myself ." Suddenly Ranma was looking 
intently somewhere else and scratching the back of his head .
" Like ?" Nabiki prompted .
" Uh , um ... Something I don't feel like talking about ?" He tried .
" After what you just talked about ? Yeah right Ranma , try again ."
" Hey !" Ranma's eyes flashed a angry gray . " I just shared something very , 
very personal with you two 'cause I felt that you two should know 'cause one of 
you is gonna be my wife someday . So don’t push your luck ."
    Both the iris change and speech pattern shift did not escape her notice .
" Well our Ranma is back again ." She thought to herself .
" Does that mean that you're excluding Akane ?" Nabiki probed .
" Naw , I just don't think she'd react all that well ta this . I mean if past 
experience says anything then she'd probably punt me into downtown Tokyo . I 
think you two are more reasonable than that ."



    " Hope you're not getting sick or something , Akane-chan ." Soun told her .
" Just a sneeze ." She dismissed . " Now what were you saying ?"
" Saotome-kun has told me much of Ranma's formidable fighting abilities . Now I 
have gauged what I know of your abilities with what I have been told of Ranma's 
combined with the instances I have seen him fight so far -" 
    She tuned him out for a full two minuets before refocusing her attention 
when she guessed be was done beating around the bush .
"-so I have come to the conclusion that once properly trained you may be able to 
defeat Ranma , however , that is only if he is unarmed . With a sword or any 
weapon resembling one he will be beyond your abilities ."
" Why ?" She demanded . " You always said that a weapon is a weakness , to 
limiting ." 
" Well , usually it is ." Her father looked uncomfortable . " But Ranma has 
melded sword and kenpo techniques . His sword is more than a extension of his 
body , and he uses the assumption of the sword being the source of the attack to 
his advantage ."
" Just like Nabiki does ." 
" Hai , but Ranma has taken it to a higher level than her ..." Suddenly Soun 
looked very thoughtful . " Must have Ranma teach her sometime ..."
" What about disarming him , hmmm ?" She suggested , eager to get back on the 
real subject , kicking Ranma's ass . " If he has a sword I just kick it out of 
his hands ." 
" I seem to remember Saotome-kun telling me something about skewering limbs."
" Oh . Then what about ranged attacks ? I could throw stuff at him for a 
distraction then come in to disarm him ." She pressed , undeterred .
" The time you would spend throwing he would spend closing the distance to 
finish you off ." Her father dismissed . " And why do you have to fight him 
again ? He didn't challenge you did he ?" 
" He wrote 'slowpoke' on my forehead ! I gotta show him up for that !" She 
balled her fists in determination . " I'll show him who's slow ! I'll beat Ranma 
in front of everyone !"



    " Uh oh ." Ranma said after a rather explosive sneeze . " THAT ain't good ."
" What is it ?" Nabiki quirked an eyebrow . " You coming down with something ?" 
She inquired as the trio made their way back to the Tendo residence .
" Naww , just someone just vowed to defeat me , and nothin' good is gonna come 
from that ." 
" How do you know it's not just allergies ?" She asked .
" After you've had so many people out for your head year after year you get ta 
know the feelin' before shi-um-stuff hits the fan ."
" A sneeze ?" Nabiki looked skeptical .
" That's just whoever it is vowing to the kamis their vengeance or honor or 
whatever ." Ranma shook his head in resignation . " Probably Shampoo 's turning 
around from her trip back . Just now decided ta go ahead and kill me . Or maybe 
it's Kuno and one of his speeches , or maybe that white haired jerk from Hong 
Kong got outta jail today . The list just goes on and on ." He gave a 
halfhearted laugh . " I mean , the guys that wanna piece me line up around the 
block and on into downtown Tokyo ."


  
    " Alright , Akane ." Her father nodded to himself . " Perhaps it has been 
too long since I last gave you a lesson ." 
" Huh ?"
" Ranma's first advantage over you is in raw speed ." Her father continued 
talking more to himself that her as he padded to the opposite side of the Dojo .
" So I'll fight you at twice your speed -"
" NANI !" 
" -yes , twice then I'll start reading your moves ." Absently he took a ready 
stance facing her . " Yes that should be a start ."
    Before she could protest her father's legs bent before launching him forward 
with explosive power . If he hadn't been so far away she could have never dodged 
his initial attack . As it was , caught off guard , his lunge-punch grazed her 
shoulder .
    Her father had sailed past already but she knew she had to chose a defense 
soon before he recovered . The choice was removed , however , when her father 
practically vanished as he preformed a complete 180 and made a B line for her . 
Feinting retreat she instead stop-thrusted a snap kick , missing terribly . 
However , it served it's purpose , forcing her father to halt his charge 
prematurely , dissipating his momentum .
    With a smirk she lunged in , her fists streaking in a hail of blows . In 
such a wild rapid attack , accuracy wasn't too important . If your opponent is 
always on the defensive sooner or later one slip up will do them in . 
    That is , if your skill is somewhat close to theirs .
" You've forgotten much after I let you train yourself ." Her father sighed , 
his calm voice seeming so detached from the churning blur of arms and fists only 
inches from his face . " Time to fix the damage before you even think of going 
up against Saotome-kun's pupil ."



    " Time to fix the damage before you even think of going up against Saotome-
kun's pupil ." He heard his friend sigh to Akane .
    One moment their arms were mere streaks of color to the untrained eye . The 
next , both Akane's wrists were crossed and held by her father's right hand . 
Stepping forward like a cold wind his arm pumped out and in once . Akane slid 
across the length of the Dojo before coming to a rest near the far wall .
    At first he simply stood there in shock . He had never known his friend to 
be so rough with his daughters in training . 
" Perhaps something happened on their training trip ?" He wondered . 
    He had been surprised when his friend had told him that a few weeks after 
the burial ceremony all four of them had packed up and left for their own 
journey . It had been his idea actually . Two days after the burial his friend 
had managed to pull himself together for a day , in that window one of his 
suggestions was such a trip .
" There is something about travel that washes you ." He had told his grieving 
friend that day . " It does not make the pain any lesser , but the pain will be 
bearable this way ." 
    It was true . That was a lesson he had learned painfully early in his own 
life . A journey , something about moving , gives fresh air to clot the bleeding 
heart . No amount of time or travel will ever heal Soun's wound nor his own , 
but it helps with bearing the pain .
    A resounding kiae from Akane snapped him out of somber reverie . She had 
long since retaken the offensive . Her speed was stupendous , her form flawless 
, her strategy devious , for a regular blackbelt . He and his friend had both 
left the limits of a regular backbelt far behind in they youth .
    Soun , flowed around his daughters attacks as a dancer about his partner . 
All her blows came within millimeters of connecting , but that was all that Soun 
allowed . Even a deathblow bears no sting if it fails to strike it's target . 
With a knowing smile he watched his old friend build up for the attack . Or 
rather build Akane up . With each miss she grew more frustrated , her skill 
becoming wild and reckless . 
    Yet , to his surprise Akane backflipped far out of range only a second 
before Soun committed to an attack . 
" Can she read his intention ?" He peered at the girl closely , looking for her 
intent . 
    The angry ki had dropped from near bursting , to a mere smolder in her aura 
. She remained in a defensive stance , halfway across the Dojo from her father . 
Already having enough of the game Soun charged without warning . But , Akane 
didn't budge . For a moment he thought the girl stupid until he caught a smile 
on her lips , one hidden behind her raised hands . 
    At the last instant Soun somehow shifted his momentum almost straight up . 
The leap took him to a rafter before Akane had time to look up , still in one 
fluid motion Soun sprang off of the underside of the beam , aiming a downward 
flying kick at her . 
" That's it she's finished , no time for her to change her guard ." He thought .
    Akane had raised her head to watch her father's decent , the smile grew . 
Soun saw it now , but he was already committed to the attack . He expected to 
watch his friend's foot drill Akane into the Dojo floor . Then he saw a blue 
pinpoint of light expand into a thin oval sheet of light between one moment and 
another . Soun's foot hit the barrier as if it were a wall of granite . With a 
annoyed grunt his old friend pushed off and landed in a natural stance a few 
meters away . 
" Otama !" Soun bellowed . " I thought you understood not to interfere with 
Akane's training !" 
    He looked at Akane , then to Soun . Time to ask questions .
" What the hell was that !" He started off . " Who's Otama ?" 
    Both combatants halted , and looked at him as if realizing his presence for 
the first time . 
" Sorry Saotome-kun ." Soun suddenly looked sheepish . " I think Akane and Otama 
can explain it better ," He gave the girl a stern look . " right ?" 

                         *           *          *

    " Um , uh ..where do I start ?" Akane scratched the back of her head 
nervously . Something he had rarely seen her do .
" At the beginning ." He hrumphed . " It can't be stranger a tale than Ranma's 
time traveling ."
" I guess not ." She agreed with a red face . 
    He listened to the distant sounds of his friend practicing in the Dojo as 
they sat in the main room . Akane was still gathering her thoughts . He sipped 
some of the tea Kasumi had thoughtfully prepared for them . 
" This is wonderful tea , Kasumi ." He smiled at the eldest Tendo daughter .
" Thank you Saotome-san ." The young woman gave a slight bow of thanks . " Akane 
and Otama's story tends to take a long time for them to tell ."
" Them ?" He thought looking at the youngest Tendo daughter .
    Finally Akane took a deep breath and began her tale .
" One of our side trips took us to Okinawa . Daddy thought that the weapons 
masters there could show us a lot ."
" Then there was the beach resort he found a free ticket to ." Kasumi added .
" Y-yeah . Anyway , I was twelve at the time and I didn't feel like swimming ."
" She still needs to learn how ." Kasumi added .
" Y-yeah ." Akane gave her older sister a pleading look before continuing once 
more . " I kinda lost track of time -yes I forgot my watch !-" She added before 
Kasumi could . "- and went way to far on a old mountain hiking trail . Right 
before I was about to turn back I heard a girl scream ."
    Years of training had sharpened his skills of predicting a opponent's moves 
and emotions by their expression , but even he barely caught the change in 
Akane's face and eyes . For one sentence her face set differently , her eyes 
widened , and her voice was much different .
" That happened to have been my scream of help ."
    Then it was gone and Akane was just as before .
" So I ran for it . I was already tired from the hike so it took me a while to 
get where I heard it . But , when I did all I was in time to see was some ugly , 
ugly , ugly monster get fried by some kind of fireball . Only problem was that 
it got off some spell of it's own before it died . That spell took out the part 
of the cliff that this girl had been on . I was too far away to do much more 
than watch her fall ." Akane closed her eyes and shook her head , as if to clear 
it . 
    " It had to have been at least a fourteen story drop onto rocks . I knew 
that she probably didn't survive it , but I had to make sure . So I climbed down 
there and found her ." Again she shook her head . " Kami-sama , she was a mess , 
there was blood everywhere . Some of the rocks from the cliff had crushed parts 
of her . I was sure she was dead until I heard her try to call to me ."
    Again that sudden change . Almost enough to chalk up to imagination .
" All that came out was a cough ." 
    And back to Akane . He almost shook his head .
" Then she started to reach out her good arm to me , the other was under a 
boulder . S-so I took it ." Akane's voice was almost breaking at the memory . 
" There was this jolt of horrible pain , then this kind of hazy euphoria ... I 
don't really remember much after that until a few hours later ."
    Once more that baffling change , but this time Akane didn't return after a 
short sentence . 
" So I'll fill in the blanks ." The voice was only vaguely Akane's . This one 
was a bit deeper , less shrill , a alto to Akane's normal soprano .
" I was that girl . I used to be Kazuhuko Otama , now I'm Tendo Otama , I'm a 
twenty third generation Japanese sorceress ." She gave him a polite bow of 
introduction . " I was in Okinawa tracking down a little pathetic Oni that some 
dolt in a pawn shop released by breaking a urn ." Otama closed her eyes and gave 
a embarrassed laugh . " Even my master didn't know that it was just going back 
to a huge nest of 'em . Wasp spirits , by the way ." 
    He stared open mouthed at ...well Akane/Otama . " I see ." He didn't .
" Anyway ," She continued . " I didn't find out just how many of them there were 
until I was smack in the nest ! I had no choice but to fight my way out ." She 
stopped for a moment , her embarrassed smile fading . " I thought I was home 
free once I was out of the cave , wasp spirits don't stray too far just for a 
little fourteen year old sorceress . But , they had a ally , a minor Oni lord .
    " Those things vary a lot , and it was my luck to get followed by one that 
had goat legs . In the mountains I had no chance of outrunning it . Then I knew 
I was doomed when he started flinging spells my way ."
    " I don't take death calmly , so I gave him almost all I had in one really 
concentrated mana-scourge spell . It caught him off guard and cut his barriers 
down to a quarter , then I finished him off with a standard fireball . But the 
bastard got off a grounded mana bolt before he died . I was too weak from my 
last stand to put up any real defenses , the bolt took out the cliff I happened 
to be standing on and down I went .
    " I blacked out before I hit , thank kami-sama , but I was in a world of 
agony when Akane's presence woke me up . Now , I have been trained since before 
I can remember . One of the signature spells of my line is a neat trick that 
allows a dying sorcerer to transfer himself from his dying body and trade places 
with the one he last had contact with . It was meant to be a last laugh thing , 
you know , kill the one who mortally wounded you by trading bodies . Only my 
training let me think in such a state . I didn't want to kill someone trying to 
rescue me , so I didn't finish the spell on purpose . Once I was in her I cut 
the spell off right there .
    " Only , it's not meant to work like that , heck , no one's supposed to have 
more than one person in a body . So Akane kinda got pushed back into the closet 
for a while , until I figured out how to keep us both active at the same time ."
    Suddenly her eyes flew open , and Akane was back . " But only one of us can 
have control of the body at a time , or things can get really disorientating ."
    Just as suddenly Otama was back . " So when one is in control the other has 
to take a back seat . We both get full sensory , but only from the senses we 
have ."
" Huh ?" He wondered idly back in his mind if he would ever get his mouth closed 
before his entire throat dried out .
" Well , as a sorceress I have a few extra senses , but I still don't get the 
instincts and senses that Akane has ."
" Huh ?" He repeated to display his brain's inactivity .
" I can sense mana , evil spirits , spells , wards , and so on . But only Akane 
can feel an attack coming , feel when we're been watched by somebody , and stuff 
like that ."
" Oh ," He ohed . " Um , can you two , uh , talk to each other in there ?"
" Not at first , we had to figure most of this out by trial and error ."
" Ah ," Kasumi put in with a nostalgic smile . " for the first few months they 
would have to have these odd pen pal like conversations . One would say 
something , then they would switch so the other could respond . Watching it was 
quite disconcerting sometimes ."
" I see ." He said for sake of politeness . 
    The girls just giggled , Kasumi smiled warmly in amusement .
" I just thought of something ." He announced as soon as it hit him . " How does 
this affect Akane in the betrothal ?" 
" Waaay ahead of ya ." Otama smiled . " Dad adopted me a few months after Akane 
and I met , so as a adopted daughter I'm included ."
" B-but ," he blinked . " What if Ranma wants to marry you , but not Akane ?"
    THAT got Akane back in a hurry . " WHY NOT ! We have the same body , he'll 
have to live with it !"
    Otama reclaimed control soon enough . " And if he want's Akane and not me , 
then he'll just have to live with two wives in one for a while ." In a very odd 
gesture she patted herself on the head . " I don't plan on being a freeloader in 
Akane forever ."
" Why can't you use the spell again ?" He asked . 
" On who ?" She shook her head . " And besides it only works when the current 
body is dying . I have to find another way outta here ."
" Until then I suppose Ranma has another potential fiancée to deal with ." 
Kasumi said to no one in particular .



    " That's a lot of sneezing Ranma , you sure must be popular ." Nabiki 
observed with a snort .
" Quiet ." He said rubbing his nose . " If that many people are talking about me 
it can't be good ." He said sullenly .