Source: Page 134 of White Noise Keywords: "behave," "peevishly," "ruin," "because"

From: thrythlind@yahoo.com (Luke Thrythlind Green) Subject: [FanFic] A New Life Date: 12 Jun 2002 Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime.creative

"How to deal with this," an ancient figure muttered. "Can't have them hanging around here anymore. Cologne is enough to deal with, three gods, that's beyond what I want to try." He tapped his foot, and considered the situation. Ranma still thought of Happosai as a comparatively harmless sort of evil, and he was right. Most of the time. Happosai's primary joy in life was in groping woman and stealing their underwear, no more than that. He had set about becoming a martial artist for that goal, since he especially loved the idea of getting the better of powerful women. That did not make him evil, however. There were plenty of perverts out there like him and none of them quite reached the status of evil. What made Happosai evil wasn't that he enjoyed grabbing a woman's breast or buns or bra. What made Happosai evil was that he enjoyed twisting other people onto his path. The path of self-appeasement and ease. Those he couldn't corrupt, he ruined. It was a matter of jealousy in some ways, he hated seeing people that reached his level of power without making the same sacrifices. Soun's emotional stability had been shattered. Hinako Ninomiya had to live with her cursed body and mind. Genma had all but shifted to Happosai's path, but he was lazy and stupid. His evil was all accidental, not intentional like Happosai's. He did not really care much one way or the other about any of the more obvious sorts of evil. Which was just as well since they attracted a lot of attention. No Happosai's evil was the silent, pernicious kind that grew like cancer. This generation he had not accomplished much, no Shi-Shio, no Naraku. But he was capable of a little murder and mayhem if he wanted. That was not what worried him though. An evil man could pass under the radar of a deity if they didn't attract attention. Diabolism, however, that was a different matter. Especially if the diabolist in question had courted the powers of hell rather than being tempted into it. Happosai had worked hard to become the martial artist he was, and that work was all his own. The techniques, however, the ancient techniques that he had used to build his own deadly style of martial arts out of his Jujutsu knowledge had to be located first. A large number of them had been lost for ages before he found them. The Anything Goes Style, as he practiced, it was a match for the Amazon Wu Shu for one simple reason. Happosai had made a deal all those years ago. The locations of where every martial arts technique known might be learned, in exchange for his mortal soul. He had hoped to drag Ranma down, for the boy was quickly going to surpass his capability. Not to mention the fact that he barely needed to find ancient techniques, he created new ones as he needed them. And that really frightened the ancient pervert, since the map he had sold his soul for showed no technique that had been created since he had asked for it. That would never happen now. Instinct would keep the three of them on the more or less straight and narrow. Bringing a god down to hell was nigh impossible for a demon even. A mere diabolist had no chance. So now Happosai was faced with an odd choice. Find a way to make Nabiki and Ranma leave with that little brat, or leave himself. And he wasn't about to concede defeat to that either the punk or miss frigid. Especially not since Nerima was the region of Japan most friendly to him. A "harmless" evil like him could hide in this weird place. He had to do it soon before they felt the wrongness about his souless body, and before Ranma learned to control his mana any more. If he was lucky he could even get Nabiki and the little brat killed. That might certainly convince Ranma to leave Nerima and never look back. So, a word in the right place... ***** "So why does everyone have to go?" Ranma asked. "Think about how much we have to buy, baka," Akane said irritably. "You think you're going to carry her and all that by yourself." "Right," Ranma said, looking like he wanted to scratch the back of his head in consternation. "Heh." "Besides," Nabiki said. "This is a daughter you're shopping for, and the more women involved the better." "Exactly, Nabiki-chan," Nodoka said smiling. Ranma grimaced. He glanced around for a moment nervously. "Something wrong, Ranma-kun?" Kasumi asked curiously. "I thought I heard something," Ranma muttered. It was like whispering from the alley's as they passed. He'd thought he'd heard his name, only it wasn't his name not as his friend's said it anyway. Something out of his dreams or nightmares... "I'm sure it was nothing," Akane said. She was acting a little less petulant now, but she still seemed to be taking this accident as a direct afront to her woman-hood. ***** They didn't quite reach the stores. "Oh shit," Ranma gasped suddenly. He'd heard another "name" in those whispers, and this time understood the jist of the message. He turned to Nabiki. "Get out of here!" "What?" Nabiki asked as Ranma handed her Midori. "Your the only other one that can take care of her," Ranma said. Nabiki frowned, and would have snapped back if it weren't for the serious look on Ranma's face. "What seems to be the matter?" Nodoka asked. "Hurry!" Ranma said. "Just say what..." Akane started. "Shampoo's coming!" Ranma said. "And she's not going to give us time for a story!" Nabiki's eyes widened. "Damn!" she muttered and turned head back down the road to the dojo. Too late. Shampoo landed, sword in hand, on the path only a leap away from the group and looked from Ranma's face to Nabiki's and the baby's. Being too far away, she failed to note the Chinese features on the girl. "Is TRUE!!!" Shampoo growled. "Airen have baby with greedy girl!!!" Her face darkened to purple with rage as she launched herself forward. "Get out of here!" Ranma snapped as he intercepted the Amazon. Nabiki nodded and headed down the road, Nodoka and Kasumi going with her. "Airen get out of Shampoo's way!!" Shampoo growled as she slashed with her sword. Ranma could practically see the arc of motion and breezed around the strike, then using Shampoo's own momentum to send the Amazon away from them. "She's not Nabiki's daughter!" Akane shouted moving to stand next to Ranma and getting in stance. "No!" Ranma snapped moving past Akane to intercept Shampoo again. "Go with them!" "Shampoo KILL THEM!!" Shampoo shouted, before being redirected by a few well placed taps and shoved into a tree. "But," Akane started. "I can't watch them while I'm fighting Shampoo!" Ranma shouted. "Go keep an eye on Nabs and Midori!" "Nabs," Akane repeated with narrowed eyes. She shook her head, now was not the time for jealousy, even she saw that. Shampoo again tried to get around Ranma and again was sent into a piece of the landscape. Akane chased after her sisters and Nodoka. "Ranma, how dare you abuse my Shampoo's trust!!!" Mousse shouted as he entered the scene. Ranma could already feel the chains edging for his back, and Shampoo was positioning herself to go past Ranma while Mousse kept him busy. Ranma spun around and met the first chain with a touch of hand. With the same efficiency of motion that he had been using to deal with Shampoo, he altered the chains' course. He seemed to almost casually touch the chain and lightly push it to intercept the next, and that one to intercept the next and so on. To the naked it eye it almost seemed as as if Ranma had waved his hand and the entire array had curved around toward a new target. "SHAMPOO!!?" Mousse shouted as his chains wrapped around to force Shampoo to a skidding stop as they barred the path before her. "Stay out of this Mousse!" Ranma shouted as he moved to place himself between Shampoo and the retreating Tendos again. "How DARE you!?" Mousse demanded. He landed and leaped again launching a volley of daggers. "Shampoo no want to hurt Airen," the female Amazon warned. "You want to hurt them, you have to get past me," Ranma snapped, casually spinning back to avoid the daggers. He hadn't even technically attacked them yet, merely used their own motion against them. He always did that, but against artists of such caliber as Shampoo and Mousse, what he was doing should have been impossible. It was like his instincts about the way motion could be manipulated had increased a thousandfold. Shampoo charged forward with a swipe that was a feint, Ranma could already feel the kick building up. At the same time, Mousse was lashing out with his own kick. Ranma walked into the sword slash, away from Mousse's kick, ducking under the blade and pushing tapping the inside of the blade with one finger while pushing up on Shampoo's leg with his other hand. With what seemed barely a touch of two fingers, Shampoo was sent in a dizzily twirling path straight into Mousse. "Give up," Ranma said seriously as he again arrayed himself in stance between the Amazons and his family. He hadn't even broken a sweat yet. ***** Nabiki stopped dead as Ukyou stepped into her path. "It's not my baby, Ukyou," Nabiki said quickly. The chef looked to the baby with a sour face and then up again. "I had to see if it was true," Ukyou said grimmly. "It's not my baby," Nabiki repeated, stepping back. "Young lady," Nodoka said. "This is most unseemly." She stepped forward, drawing her katana. Nodoka rolled her eyes and easily disarmed the woman with a tossed spatula, slicing open Nodoka's hand lightly. "This ruins everything," Ukyou repeated, not moving from her spot. Nabiki started to relax, feeling that Ukyou wasn't about to attack them. "Ukyou-san," Kasumi said desparately. "There is a reasonable explanation!" Ukyou looked bleakly to Kasumi, and the Tendo sisters felt a pang of pity at the look. Akane caught up with them at this point. "GET AWAY FROM MY SISTERS UKYOU!!!" Akane roared "Oh for goodness sakes!" Ukyou snapped. "All right!!! You want a fight?! You GOT ONE!!" Ukyou dodged Akane and readied her spatula. "Great," Nabiki said as she broke and ran from the fight, carrying a wailing Midori. Kasumi was helping Nodoka and didn't see where her sister had run, but someone else had. ***** The Amazons both hobbled to their feet looking determined to continue. Shampoo's eyes flicked past Ranma to where the Tendos had vanished in the distance. Mousse was upset that Ranma hadn't been addressing him in that imperative. The pig-tailed martial artist had only one person in his focus. "Ah ha!" a new voice said. "So tis true that the vile sorcerer has been trifling with the affections of the Chinese Princess." Kuno shouted. Almost instantly launched into his thousand strikes. Kuno lacked Shampoo and Mousse's near absolute control of their momentum. This time Ranma did merely raise his hand to catch and deflect the first blast of air pressure. Shampoo and Mousse watched in shock as Kuno suddenly rocketed the way he had come from and slammed into a brick wall unconscious. "Give up," Ranma said again. Shampoo seriously considered it. ***** Nabiki took paused and took a seat on a bench to catch her breath and quiet down a crying Midori. A shiver went down her spine as she suddenly felt that she wasn't alone. "So this is the abomination I was told of," a tight voice declared. Nabiki, terrified and very alone aside from Midori, turned to see Kodachi standing a little ways down the path. Her ribbon was in hand, and Nabiki was well within reach. ~I'm sorry, Ranma,~ Nabiki thought. ***** "Hmmm," Happosai said. "It is a very good thing I didn't try to take him on myself. He hasn't even used any mana beyond enhanced physical capabilities yet, and that hardly at all." Then he noticed another newcomer, one he hadn't expected, and smiled. This would be a decent test of what Ranma's abilities truly were. ***** "RANMA!!! PREPARE TO DIE!!" Ryouga shouted. Ranma turned to see the other boy and expected him to be as enraged as Mousse or Shampoo. Instead he saw the small smirk on Ryouga's face that signified that he had no specific grudge against Ranma at the moment and merely wanted to get in on the fun. Shampoo welcomed the Lost Boy's unfortunate appearance with an evil smile as she made use of Ranma's distraction. She broke for the path the Tendos had taken. Ranma felt the shift and moved to block her again, but found Mousse in his way. And Ryouga was still following behind him. Ranma didn't have time to stop both the male martial artists and still get in front of Shampoo, but if he ignored them, the hits would slow him down to much as well. Frustrated and desparate beyond anything before Jusendo. Ranma lost his temper. "ENOUGH!!!!!" Ranma shouted angrily. Suddenly a blast of golden energy radiated out from in a brilliant flash. When it cleared only seconds later, all three of his opponents were in their cursed forms. Ryouga's umbrella was embedded in a wall near Kuno's head. Shampoo, Ryouga and Mousse glanced around in confusion. Shampoo was too shocked to notice that Ranma was approaching her without fear, until he picked her up by the scruff of the neck. She hissed and yowled angrily, and Ranma recognized the sounds coming from her mouth as the whispers he had heard earlier. The ones that had warned him of Shampoo's coming. He filed that away for later, along with the fact that he wasn't terrified of Shampoo's cursed form. "You went too far this time Shampoo!" Ranma growled, his marks still flared brilliantly. All three of the Jusenkyo-animals vainly fought the desire to abase themselves. "You shouldn't have tried to kill my daughter!" That same golden light moved from his hand into Shampoo's body. Ranma almost lost his grip in surprise, but maintained it. "Never," he said. "NEVER try that again!! This is your only warning!" He dropped the shivering cat on the ground and turned to Ryouga as Shampoo ran for the Nekohanten. Both the pig and duck were on the ground and staring at him in shock. As the light of his marks faded they began to glare at him. "Mousse," Ranma said seriously. "I ain't interested in Shampoo. I'll never marry her, and I'd rather never see her until she changes. So get it through your head that I'M not your obstacle. She is. Oh, and sorry Ryouga, bad timing you know?" Ranma reached down into Mousse's robes and pulled out a thermos which he poured on Ryouga. Before the Lost Boy could do more than growl at him and get grab his clothes Ranma was heading away. "We'll fight later!" Ranma said. "I gotta make sure Nabiki and Midori are alright." ***** "Well," Happosai said sourly as he finished cowering. He had felt the divine aura even as far away as he was. "It's apparent that most of the Jusenkyo cursed types have no chance against Ranma anymore." He didn't like not knowing the limits of his old pupil, even if he hoped to drive him away forever. ***** Ranma found Akane and Ukyou wearily glaring at each other. They were circling and getting ready for another round of battle, though neither looked in a condition to continue fighting. "Ranma-kun!" Kasumi called out. "You have to stop them before somebody seriously hurt." "She was attacking Nabiki," Akane said, she was bleeding from several small cuts and looked fairly battered as well. Both fighters were covered in flour. "I was not!" Ukyou snapped. "I came to see if what I'd heard was true, that's all!" Ukyou was holding her spatula one handed. "You attacked Saotome-san!" Akane countered. "Actually," Nodoka said. "She disarmed me when I threatened her." "See!" Ukyou snapped. "She attacked me, just like you!" "Where's Nabiki and my daughter?" Ranma demanded finally. Everybody froze and looked very nervous suddenly. "She ran off when the fight started," Ukyou said. "I didn't notice which way." "I was looking the wrong way," Akane said. "Oh my," Kasumi said. Ranma paled and looked around in desparation for a moment. He almost missed Nabiki's and Midori's scents, not used to these new senses. Fortunately he caught and recognized them and took off running. ***** "This is the abomination that would take my Ranma-sama away from me," Kodachi said coolly fingering her ribbon. She stepped forward gracefully, like a serpent. ~Okay, how do I get her to go away,~ Nabiki asked herself. The usual way that Nabiki got what she wanted was to give someone something else that they desired. She had always been exceptionally good at figuring out what someone needed, and offering it. But she couldn't give Kodachi Ranma. Or was that what she really wanted. "You don't really think Ranma will love you if you hurt his baby, do you?" Nabiki asked nervously. "Ranma can't possibly want this noisome little burden," Kodachi said. "And I believe you've been a trouble yourself from time to time." "Why do you even like Ranma?" Nabiki asked, carefully not moving except to cradle the crying Midori tighter. Kodachi smirked at the question and shook her head. "That is a ridiculous question," Kodachi said. "I don't think so," Nabiki said, trying to keep her voice from cracking. "He's poor, ill-cultured, and by your standards low-born. So what's the attraction." Kodachi laughed again and shook her head, though she seemed to look a little disturbed. "How many other men with whom could a share the thrill of flying through the air?" she asked. "There are several throughout Nerima," Nabiki countered. "But none better than Ranma," Kodachi countered. "And its only the best for the Kunos." "What's the real reason," Nabiki asked, gaining confidence as Kodachi kept talking. Nabiki didn't see Midori's markings flaring lightly, nor did she notice her own glowing just slightly. Not enough for Kodachi to notice from her position. "If it is your dying wish," Kodachi said, she sounded uncertain though. "Fine. He was kind to me." Nabiki heard all the varied layers of meaning to that simple statement. "That's all you want?" Nabiki asked, somehow knowing the answer. She stood up. "Isn't it?" Midori's cries came to a small end. Kodachi no longer seemed so intimidating, in fact she seemed very sad and pitiful. The gymnast's shoulders didn't seem so firm as before, they were almost slumping. "D..don't try anything," Kodachi stammered, wondering just when she had lost the initiative. "You don't really want to hurt anybody," Nabiki said, stepping forward. Kodachi took a step back branishing her ribbon. "You don't think Ranma can be kind to more than one person?" "Stay b..back," Kodachi gasped as Nabiki's markings flared brighter now. Nabiki tried to ignore the fact that she was taking Midori and herself closer to Kodachi. She had unnerved the gymnast somehow, and if she wanted to get out of this she had to maintain her confidence. And she found herself truly wanting to help the girl somehow. "And you don't think anybody else would truly be kind to you," Nabiki said coming closer. Kodachi stumbled back, somehow terrified and ashamed. She dropped her ribbon but managed to keep her feet. "Pl..please don't hurt me," Kodachi whimpered as Nabiki closed the distance. Nabiki shifted Midori to one hand and reached out to circle an arm around Kodachi's shoulders. "Ssh," Nabiki said. This felt unusual, this comforting. Especially considering that Kodachi had been intent on killing her. And for some reason Kodachi was still looking at her as if ashamed. "I'm sorry," she said softly. Nabiki reached her arm up to Kodachi's head and softly pulled it down to her shoulder. She stroked the other girl's hair soothingly, the way Kasumi had to her. "It's okay," Nabiki said. "I'm not going to hurt you." Suddenly Kodachi's arms were around Nabiki and the girl was crying loudly into her shoulder. Nabiki's and Midori's marks ceased glowing, and the gymnast continued weeping. Midori turned in Nabiki's arms and looked at the strange person that had seemed scary before but now wasn't. She made a questioning noise and reached out a tiny hand to pat Kodachi's head in a manner similar to what Nabiki was doing. "Nabiki!" Ranma's voice called out. "Is Midori okay? Are you hurt?" Nabiki nodded and continued soothing the sobbing Kodachi. Midori was cooing something that almost sounded like melody. "We're fine," Nabiki said. She sighed as she came to an uncomfortable conclusion. Ranma walked over and took Midori from Kodachi, and Nabiki nodded her thanks as she used her other arm to hold Kodachi while she cried. They waited patiently and quietly for Kodachi to calm down before anything else happened. Nabiki stepped back from the now subdued Kuno and held her eyes. "Now I want you to go to my sister Kasumi and talk to her, okay?" she said. "Tell her anything that bothers you, okay? And don't get into a fight with my little sister, okay?" Kodachi nodded with each "okay." "Thank you, Nabiki-sama," Kodachi said silently, wiping her eyes. She turned to Ranma and muttered the same before leaving. "What happened to Kodachi?" Ranma asked. "She got what she was needing," Nabiki said. "I think. What happened to Shampoo?" "I think I scared her away for now," Ranma said. "We can't stay here, can we?" "No," Nabiki said. "We can't. Ukyou wasn't going to attack I think, but there's still Shampoo. And if Tarou or someone on like Herb shows up...I don't know how we're going to handle it. And if Happosai or Cologne had gotten involved..." She shrugged and looked around seeming haggard. "Yeah," Ranma said soberly, looking at his daughter. "I have to leave Nerima with Midori." "We, Ranma," Nabiki said. "We. "You don't have to..." "This is my responsibility, too," Nabiki insisted, then she smirked. "Besides, you'll need my help." "Yeah, well, we should say goodbye to people," Ranma said. Nabiki nodded. "But make it short," Nabiki said. She didn't feel safe saying that she thought they should come back eventually. She'd tell him that later. ***** "Excellent," Happosai smirked rubbing his hands. "Just according to plan." Next: Meeting the Goddesses Oh yeah, I'd like to name Brian Drozd's "Deification" and Tarqhan's "A Divine Daughter" as inspirations for this fic... ************************************************************** Nabiki counted out the money and frowned. "After living expenses, we're about ten-thousand short," she said. "Again." "Damn it," Ranma said. "An' Midori's gonna need some new clothes again." Midori was watching TV across the room, occasionally glancing back at the whispering adults. She had been growing fast, not nearly as fast as Ranma's quick pregnancy, but still fast. She looked more like she was three years old than anything else. "We aren't getting anywhere staying in motels like this," Nabiki said. It was a rather standard catch twenty-two situation. They couldn't use their family names for fear they'd be tracked down. So, despite the fact that they hadn't renounced their families, they were considered ronin virtually everywhere. That made it difficult to earn money, especially for two teenagers with a young child. They had eventually decided to start a new family name, at least until they felt they could safely return home. They even had a name picked out, a nice, simple common hard to distinguish name like "Tanaka". Doing this was possible, but...it took money. And getting money, again, was hard. They had cut out a number of expenses. Somehow, they discovered that they didn't have to eat, and so "food" was limited to Ranma's sodas and food for Midori, because they weren't risking her health. Nabiki, having discovered that money had the same effect on her that caffeine had on Ranma, originally kept a few yen notes and coins around for anytime she felt peckish. Unfortunately, she soon discovered that if she didn't use the money it didn't do anything for her. No, she was revitalized by the action of spending, receiving and otherwise handling money. Saving was okay, but outright hoarding seemed to invalidate the effect. "We need to find new living quarters," Nabiki said, glancing around the motel room that was eating their so much of their funds. "Worse comes to worse," Ranma said. "We can always ask for help." "Last resort, Ranma," she said. Midori watched from her bed as her mommy and daddy talked quietly among themselves. She understood, basically, that they were trying not to worry her. She still felt the tension though. "Play in sand," Midori cried out, almost singing the words. "Mommy play in sand?" "Maybe a walk would help clear things up," Nabiki agreed. ***** "I'm sorry, Megumi," a girl said apologetically. "We just can't afford that rent." "Not even split three ways," her friend agreed. "Listen guys," Megumi said, almost hysterically. "It's the ONLY place I can find. I can handle half the rent on my own! I can even handle the first two months on my own. That's plenty of time for you both to figure something out." "Sorry," her friend said shrugging. "I'm not going to take the risk, I got a place already, I don't want to lose that and end up not being able to make it." "Besides," the second girl said. "You can always just move in with your brother." "He doesn't have that much space anymore," Megumi said sorrowly. "Sorry," her friend said again. "Excuse me," a new voice said. Megumi turned around to see a brown-haired teenager sitting on a bench watching the playground's sandbox. "Yeah?" Megumi asked wearily, she was too frustrated to notice the blue tattoos on the girl's face. "I couldn't help but overhear your predicament," Nabiki said. "I think we can help each other." "Really?" Megumi said doubtfully, the girl couldn't be older than eighteen. The girl nodded and looked toward the playground where some men were joking around with another teenager on the basketball court. Megumi shook her head irritably at that, some big bad jocks they were, making sport of a kid like that. "Ranma!" she called out. One of the children from the sandbox stood up and walked over to her. Megumi glanced at her, still missing the marks, but noting the girl's dark violet hair. "Huh?" the teenager said, turning to Nabiki. As he did one of the college jocks stole the ball from him with a laughing smirk. "What happening, Mommy?" the girl asked. Megumi's eyes widened. The girl turned to her daughter for a moment before answering Ranma. "Don't worry, Midori, everything is fine," she said soothingly. Then she turned back to Ranma. "Cut it early, okay? I think I found something." "Oh! Got it," Ranma called back. Megumi was about to ask what Nabiki what she meant by cut it early when the teenager flew into action. Ranma leaped from mid court, with no run, and caught the ball in mid arc from the jump lay-up the college jock had set it into. Then he brought it through the hoop as he landed. The college jocks, and virtually everybody else stared in shock as Ranma walked to the free throw line holding the ball. "Change," he said. Then he threw the ball and it swished through the net and bounced off the pole back to Ranma, who didn't have to move to recover it. "Change. Change. Change. Change. Change. Change. Change. Change." This went on for minute or two. "You, you, you lied to us!" one of the jocks shouted as Ranma sunk the last goal in to reach the set score. "Uhh, I just tricked you is all," Ranma said. Really, he couldn't lie, it never worked. People always knew somehow when he tried to. He hadn't figured it out yet. Nabiki had mentioned something about a poker face, but Ranma didn't know what his bad poker face had to do with lying. "Same thing," the jock snapped. Megumi shook her head clear as she and her friends vaguely followed Nabiki to the altercation. "All I said was that I hadn't played basketball before," Ranma protested. Nabiki smirked a little, her coaching was really paying off of late. "I never said I wasn't an athlete or nothin'." "I'm not paying a ronin street hustler," the jock snapped back. Ranma crossed his arms and frowned. He glanced back to Nabiki and Midori and then glared meaningfully at the jock. "Hey, Kenji," Megumi said walking up. "Do you want it to get out that all four of you lost to a 'ronin street hustler?'" The looks on their faces clearly said no. "Here's your money, kid," Kenji said finely giving the Ranma a small roll of cash. Then he walked away, looking sore. "Thanks," Ranma said. "Now, uh, what're we doing?" "Are you really going to talk to them, Megumi?" one of her friends asked quietly. "Well I have to get that place somehow," Megumi said. ***** In Nerima, meanwhile, Akane was silently fuming as she went through a day in her senior year. Nabiki and Ranma had run off together with that brat and barely a goodbye. Nabiki had given her some lecture about growing up, not being ready, and trust, but Akane hadn't really paid attention. All she knew was that her sister and fiancee had betrayed her. When she discovered "P-Chan", she was doubly incensed. She was mad enough that she actually seduced Ryouga in the illogical assumption that it would get back Ranma and make him jealous. Certainly he and Nabiki were having such fun together. Though she wouldn't admit that outloud. Which brought her to her current predicament. The one that was going to slow down her college plans. And she'd be damnded if she accepted KODACHI'S help with this. Ryouga had not worn protection. "When I see that pig," she muttered to herself at lunch. She was sitting alone today, she liked to be alone when her temper was at its worse, she didn't want to hurt anybody. She sighed and shook her head, some of the anger releasing. SHE had made the effort to seduce Ryouga, not the other way around. And then she had TOLD him what she had done. Spat in his face, stomped on his heart and laughed at him. She had no right to accuse him of anything, and that was the source of her frustration. To make matters worse, he was spending a lot more time with Akari lately. And the last time she had seen him, he had been less than happy to see her. He had virtually flinched away like a beaten dog. At the time it had amused her, now... "What am I going to tell Kasumi?" Akane wondered quietly. "What have I done? What am I going to do?" ***** Cologne sighed at the sound of a clattering tray and she looked out to where Shampoo was angrily clawing up a salaryman's leg. Said salary man was screaming like a little girl to the enjoyment of the patrons, especially the female ones. Cologne guessed what had happened fairly well. The salaryman had probably grabbed some piece of anatomy he shouldn't have. Shampoo, forgetting herself, had probably decided to mangle said salaryman into something unrecognizeable. Once the actual decision to seriously hurt someone had been reached. Poof...instant Shampoo-neko. "Mousse if you would please dislodge Shampoo from the customer," Cologne said dryly. The blind boy nodded and moved to grab Shampoo, and found himself grabbed instead, as the scream of pain testified. Cologne hadn't yet figured out exactly how the son-in-law had called down a divine curse on her daughter to alter the Jusenkyo magic. She did know why, however, and after hearing about the whole story was, to put it mildly quite disappointed with her grand-daughter. The changes were still reversed with hot-water, but now there were two changes. Cologne remembered what had happened when some abusive boyfriend had caught Shampoo's attention by smacking his girlfriend in front of the store. Cologne was about to do something herself to teach the young man a lesson, but Shampoo beat her to it. A cat-hybrid Shampoo that had caught the second slap and then proceeded to crush the hand while growling angrily at the man. So, Shampoo had a curse that gave her power if she used it according to Ranma's code, protecting the weak, but took it away if she tried to hurt someone for petty reasons. It was a vast disappoint to Cologne that Shampoo had not yet realized this fact. She was on the verge of telling the girl herself, outright. Cologne briefly wondered why she bothered staying in Japan. But that question was easily answered. There were several reasons. First, Shampoo insisted they stay. She often took her days off seeking out Ranma and Nabiki's whereabouts. She swore every time that she had almost found them, but every time she sought them out it was a dead end. Cologne especially remembered the close call with that girl and her private eye guardian. Suzuki-san had certainly LOOKED like Ranma's girl form, but that was all. Ranma did not speak so formally, nor did he use a Katana in that manner. The second reason was that she liked it here. The kids were mostly of a good sort, and she made it her business to check up on them from time to time. Some were doing better than others with the changes that happened a year ago. The last reason was that she didn't trust Happosai. The old man had always struck her as more than he seemed, or maybe less, and she made it her business to watch him. ***** Ukyou sighed wearily as she closed up her restaurant. They said that once you lost your youth, it never came back. She thought she had lost it more than ten years before. There were times that she contemplated ending it all, but she didn't. She wasn't certain why, except that doing so would hurt a lot of people. Konatsu needed her, Ryouga would probably starve without her, surprisingly Cologne seemed to be giving her attention recently, as was Kasumi (though that was less of a surprise) and Ranma still cared for her. At least she thought so from the fact he and Nabiki said goodbye before leaving, and she didn't want to put a burden on him that he caused her death even by suicide. Besides, suicide was a weak person's way out. So Ukyou trained with Konatsu, sometimes Cologne, and ran her Okonomiyaki shop, and existed. "Ahh, tis the wonderful smell of Kuonji-san's cooking," a new voice said. Ukyou frowned, thinking that a certain samurai was paying her a visit. "Look Kuno, I'm not..." Ukyou blinked as she lifted her eyes and recognized Pantyhose Tarou. She'd served him once or twice in between his pestering Ranma and Happosai, but she hadn't seen him for a long time. "You actually thought I was that idiot?" Tarou said rolling his eyes. "Really, so, Crossdresser #2, do you know where Crossdresser #1 is today?" "Ranma left Nerima a year ago, jerk," Ukyou said. "What?" Tarou demanded. ***** Happosai was having the time of his life. Most people still refused to actively learn from him, but that could always come later. As it was, he was free to persue his primary past time. Stealing girl's underwear. "Whatta a haul," Happosai declared cheerfully. "What a haul! Hee hee. Not so fun without the games any longer, but some of the second-stringers around her can be fun." Happosai's ear caught the sound of someone bemoaning his life. "Why! WHY! Can't I make her see me?" a scrawny kid, yelled. "Ranma's gone and she still won't say anything to me." Happosai pulled out his pipe and examined the boy. Dark circles under the eyes, gangly, stringy, featherweight. A rather small potential, but perhaps, an interesting challenge. "Perhaps we can come to a deal, boy," Happosai said, surprising Gosunkugi almost to death. ***** "Well," Ranma said as they left the city offices. "That's that I guess. We're finally Mr. and Mrs. Tanaka..." "Finally," Nabiki agreed. "Legally married, with a child." It was rather momentous actually. They had spent the last year several times sleeping in the same bed, but just that, sleeping. Nothing else the rest of the Nerima crew might have been thinking. It just made it safer for Midori to be between the two adults, that's all. There was certainly no other reason for it. He/she couldn't possibly be interested in that with her/him. Could he/she? "Now we can get some real jobs and make some real money," Nabiki said. "Okay," Ranma said. "Let's go help move the stuff into the house." Nabiki nodded, and glanced down at the little girl between them. "Are we done now?" Midori asked wearily, yawning. "We're done now," Nabiki assured her. "Yay!" Midori cheered. "Can I ride on your shoulders, Daddy?" "Sure kid," Ranma said, reaching down to pick her up and place her on his shoulders. After that Midori spent the time humming a random wordless tune that changed from moment to moment and watched the world go by from the shoulders of her father. Her parents were talking about "explaining the growth spurts" to that Megumi person, and they were using lots of words she didn't know. Well, Nabiki was, Ranma was being vague and using as few words as possible. In any case, Midori paid close attention to the conversation, she really loved learning new words. ***** "I thought she said this came fully furnished," Urd said peevishly. "And she has roommates, why does she need us to help move things around." "Urd," Belldandy chided. "We should be happy to help Megumi settle into a new home." "Remember the last new apartment she got?" Skuld asked nervously. She still had nightmares about ghosts from that. "Really, it can't be as bad as that," Belldandy said. "Let's hope not," Keiichi sighed. "Well here we are." Megumi appeared on the small sidewalk in front of the house and waved vigoursly. The need for help was obvious, the house, in good condition itself, seemed to be a disaser zone, with lots of trash being removed. "Hey guys!" she called out. "Over here, isn't it great?" "Oh, how charming!" Belldandy said, though Keiichi thought he detected a strained tone in even HER cheerful manner. "Yeah, great Megumi," Keiichi said dryly. Skuld was crying her eyes out and Urd was trying to scheme a way to get out of this. "Go inside and get something to drink," Megumi said. "And then we can get to work." "All right," Keiichi said, following Megumi's advice and heading inside with his own housemates. "I wonder where her roommates are?" "I'm sure they're around," Belldandy said. The sound of working in the back of the house drifted to their ears. "See." "This is a big house," Skuld noted, much less despairing when she saw the, comparatively, cleaner inside. "So where are the drinks?" Urd asked wearily as she entered the house and started looking for the kitchen. Keiichi shrugged and turned to a door and opened it. He saw nothing interesting, just more debris and "storage." ~Fully furnished,~ Keiichi muttered to himself with narrowed eyes. ~Right.~ He opened another door and found himself faced with a brown-haired teenager cleaning the room while a small child followed her around "helping." The girl turned around to look at who entered the room and Keiichi saw the goddess marks. "Who that, Mommy?" the little girl, also with goddess marks, asked. The girl seemed about to answer but Keiichi beat her too it. "Excuse me," Keiichi said, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind him, leaving a confused Nabiki. "Is something wrong Keiichi?" Belldandy asked as she caught up to him. "You seem pale." "There's a goddess and her daughter in the room behind me," Keiichi said. "Oh my," Belldandy said. He felt the door opening behind him and jumped away from it. Nabiki came out quickly, face curious and a little anger. "Excuse me do you have a pro...?" Nabiki's anger was derailed as she saw the marks on Belldandy's face. "...blem?" "Oh, hello," Belldandy said. "Uhh, excuse me," Nabiki said. "Where'd you get those marks on your head?" "Oh I see you met Nabiki and Midori," Megumi said coming in. "Belldandy, Belldandy!" Skuld came running, shouting. "There's a god in the...back...room...there's another one...err...two." "Gods," Nabiki and Megumi said dizzily at once. "Yeah," Urd said, joining the scene. "What did you think these little things on your face were?" "Hey Megumi," Ranma said. "Who was the little kid that came back here and then went running." He looked around at the various faces, confused. "Did I miss something?" ************************************************ "What was that about 'gods?'" Megumi asked. "Uhhh, Goth," Keiichi said, suddenly. "She meant Goths, they're ones that paint themselves blue right?" "Actually, that's the Celts," Urd said. "You're not helping, Urd," Keiichi muttered under his breath while his sister's eyes were on the white-haired goddess. "Right," Megumi said, eyes narrowed. "Is that what you meant, Skuld?" "Uhh..." Skuld stood there trapped. She couldn't lie, well she could, but that would be very bad. She didn't really want to tell the truth either, and in her predicament she forgot the rule of answering questions with questions. Midori meanwhile watched this curiously, holding Nabiki's hands and humming. "Who believes in gods these days?" Nabiki asked dismissively a smirk on her face. "Really, that's a silly idea. Like something you'd hear out of Juuban or Nerima." "Yeah," Ranma said, confused. He was about to add more but he caught a look of Nabiki flashing him the "keep quiet" face. "Weren't we going to have break when they got here?" "Right," Megumi said. "It is silly. Especially since that would mean my brother's been shacking up with a bunch of goddesses, and I just know that's not possible." She shrugged with a smirk toward a fuming Keiichi as she left the room to get the promised sodas. "We shall need to talk to you later," Belldandy said. "Of course," Nabiki agreed almost off-handedly. Then Megumi came back with sodas and they all retreated to their intangible corners. "Okay everyone," Megumi said. "These are my housemates, Ranma, Nabiki and Midori Tanaka. And this is my brother, Keiichi. His girlfriend, Belldandy, and her sister's Urd and Skuld." She gestured toward each person in turn. "I am pleased to meet you," Belldandy said, bowing politely. Urd waved and seemed to be trying to dissect (oer maybe dismantle) them visually. "Yeah, us too," Ranma said. Nabiki nodded from her seat next to Ranma. Midori at this point felt herself falling to sleep, and fought valiently against the emerging yawn. It eventually came out in a loud, stretched yawn. This produced the reaction she was dreading. "Oops," Ranma said. "Looks like nap time." "I don't need nap, Daddy," Midori protested, blinking and yawning again. "Don't try to fool us, little girl," Nabiki said in an amused voice. "Let's go. Ranma want to help me with this?" "No problem," Ranma said, following Nabiki. "Don wanna," Midori complained loudly as Nabiki picked her up and carried back to one of the cleared rooms. "She even sings her whining," Megumi noted, blinking at the departing family. "Well," Urd said watching them go. "I've had my fill, why don't the squirt and I go and get started on cleaning one of these rooms?" She grabbed Skuld, who was discovering the wonders of the root beer float. "But..." she said hesitantly before being dragged away, barely managing to save her drink from spilling. "Well, that was a shorter break than I expected," Megumi said somewhat surprised, more at Urd saying she was heading to do some work. That statement worried her actually. "I'm sure they'll be right back," Belldandy said. "Yeah," Keiichi said. "When was the last time you knew Urd to work for longer than ten minutes at a stretch?" ***** As they set Midori down for her nap, which she struggled greatly but vainly against, Ranma and Nabiki looked at the girl's little bed with its safety bars. "I don't know if I'm going to be able to get used to this," Nabiki said as she watched Midori sleeping quietly. "Yeah," Ranma said. "Be kinda odd sleeping alone now." "Who says you'll be sleeping alone," Nabiki asked, a trifle hurt. "But..." Ranma started before Nabiki cut him off. "You don't think it would be a little funny for a married couple our age to be sleeping separately in this day and age?" Nabiki asked. "Really, we've gotten by this long without anything happening." ~Just barely,~ both thought in addition to that. ~Good thing I never tried anything.~ "Besides," Nabiki said. "You're better, and cheaper, than an electric blanket." "Errr, thanks," Ranma said blushing. ~I wish she wouldn't tease me like that.~ "Now, uhh, what did I miss?" ~I really shouldn't tempt myself like that,~ Nabiki thought as she softly rocked the crib. Ranma stood right behind her, less than an inch away, but she barely noticed that. "Saffron called himself a god, right?" "Yeah," Ranma said. "Why?" "And you said our auras resemble his, right?" she asked. "Sorta," Ranma said. "We're more whole and balanced, and a lot more powerful. Though you still don't fight the best. But I sorta interrupted his growth or somethin' so maybe that's why." "So is there a possibility that we're gods?" Nabiki asked. Ranma's gaze broke from his daughter to look into Nabiki's face, now turning up from the little girl to look at him. ***** "Okay squirt," Urd said. "We're clear now, pull down some files." "You almost made me spill my drink Urd!!" Skuld whined. "I would have lost all the ice cream!" "Just figure out who these gods are and what they're doing her," Urd asked. "There's something odd about two gods with an infant daughter coming to midgard." "Don't I know it," Skuld said, producing a square out of her pocket that unfolded into a computer. She typed at hyper speed for a few moments, and then laughed out in victory as her computer began to display three files. "All three third class gods," Urd noted. "Provision, Change, and Rebirth. Okay, okay, this is all the basic stuff, can you pull up affiliations?" "Of course, I already glanced at that," Skuld said, rolling her eyes at the unintenional insult. "There are no official affiliations, but Ranma's a cat deity." Contrary to popular belief, and Bast's supporting implications, there were many cat deities. Just like their were many powers connected to ravens and wolves and bears, and so on. Bast was just the most well known. It wasn't really a domain, the afforementioned "Goddess of Cats"' official title was "Goddess of Pleasure and Pregnant Women." (A domain she had acquired for obvious reasons) However, those deities connected to animals did have certain tendencies attached to them, however. "And a dual god(dess)," Urd noted whistling. "Cat, that makes him trickster, war, or hearth." "Or all three," Skuld said. "Primarily concerned with hearth and home, very strong martial aspect and trickster trends. Nabiki has a trickster aspect strong enough to be her secondary domain. Still most likely a hearth goddess." "What about the kid," Urd asked, reaching around Skuld. "Hey!" Skuld snapped irritably as Urd scrolled down. "Hearth," Urd said as if it were predictable. "If she grows up with that father she may have a martial aspect before long, too. Now to pull up their backgrounds." "Urd," Skuld said warningly. "Get your hands off my computer." ***** "Do gods live hand ta mouth?" Ranma asked. "Do mortals go without food for a ten months?" Nabiki countered. "Because, before that meal with Megumi yesterday, that was the last time either of us had eaten anything." "It don't make sense," Ranma said shrugging. "And you conceiving and giving birth within two days does?" Nabiki asked. "Point taken," Ranma said reluctantly. "And that is something straight out of a myth," Nabiki said. "What made you think of this?" Ranma asked. "Something Megumi's friends let slip," Nabiki said. "Oh yeah," Ranma said. "Did you notice they have those same marks on their head that we do?" "You don't say Ranma-Baby," Nabiki said dryly. At which point there was a muffled explosion and scream. Nabiki glanced to Ranma, who nodded before leaving for the sound. Nabiki looked down nervously at Midori and then back at Ranma. "Don't be concerned," a voice said as Belldandy appeared in the door to block Ranma's path. "My sister's sometimes fail to get along." "Urd, Skuld!" Keiichi called out from elsewhere in the house. "Can't you two avoid destroying other people's property for once?" "My poor house!?" Megumi cried out, somewhere near her brother. "Is this a regular occurence?" Ranma asked tightly. "Because we left our homes to avoid situations like that," Nabiki added. "Random explosions and such." "Bad for kids," Ranma finished. "Urd and Skuld would never allow any child to be endangered," Belldandy said. Then she laughed. "In any case you live with Megumi, not us." "Good point," Nabiki said. ***** "Really," Megumi said irritably. "Sneaking off to play video games, I thought better of you Skuld." "Hey, what about me?" Urd protested cutely. Keiichi, Megumi and Skuld glanced at Urd before turning back to Skuld. "Yeah, Skuld," Keiichi said. "I thought at least you knew how to behave maturely." ~Better than Urd at least.~ "Hey!" Urd protested. "Well," Belldandy said returning with Ranma. "Nabiki is watching Midori, but I suggest that the rest of us get started on working." "Right," Megumi said. "The sooner we get started the sooner we're finished." "Aww, man," Urd sighed. "I should have skipped while I had the chance." ***** It took most of the day to clear out the house of all the junk infesting it. Urd kept grumbling to herself about "easier ways" and Skuld about manual labor. There was little other complaint, however. Everyone was certainly impressed by Ranma's physical skills. Keiichi kept worrying that the pig-tailed god was going to blow the goddesses' cover. If he had known that Ranma was doing what had been mild labor before ascending, his eyes would have bugged out. "Thanks a lot for the help guys," Megumi said cheerfully, as she considered the bath she was going to draw in a moment. "Come by and visit anytime!" "And you and your friends may visit us as well," Belldandy said. "As usual, at any time." "Of course," Megumi said. "As usual." "Thanks for the offer," Nabiki said bowing. "Can we go home now?" someone whined. It wasn't Skuld, but it was female. "Be careful, Megumi," Keiichi said. "Bye bye!" Midori sung. He wasn't too worried. With a couple of gods watching over her, his sister was probably fairly well protected. Until, of course, he remembered the "act of god" clause on most insurance policies. It was the reason most such policies were useless in his life. "Stop worrying, Bro," Megumi said, waving off the concern and waving goodbye as the temple group walked down the path. She turned to Ranma and Nabiki. "I don't know about you two, but I'm getting a bath and heading for bed, see ya." "Good thing there's a separate shower in this place," Nabiki said. "I'm tired and I don't feel like waiting for the bath." "But why can't I sleep in the bed with you?" Midori whined wearily when they set her in her bed. "Because you have your own bed now," Nabiki said. "You're getting to be a big girl, and big girls don't sleep with their parents." "If you need us we're right in the next room," Ranma said. "Are we going to get a TV?" Midori asked petulantly changing the topic of conversation. "We'll see," Nabiki said. "Now, go to sleep." And her tone allowed for no argument, though it was laced with affection. "Night, kid," Ranma said. "And if there are monsters under your bed you know what to do." "Tie 'em into knots," Midori said proudly, yawning. Then she was pleading. "Can you tell me a story Daddy?" "Yeah, you do that and I'll get my shower," Nabiki said, patting Ranma on the shoulder. "Uh, okay," Ranma said shrugging as he tried to remember a story to tell Midori. "Tell me about the silly panda again!" Midori asked, clapping. Ranma sighed as Nabiki rolled her eyes on the way out. **** Ranma and Nabiki looked at the western bed they had salvaged. It was full-sized, not much room. Still, they'd shared smaller beds with Midori between them before. Nabiki and Ranma settled down on opposite sides of the bed, their customary foot or so apart. By habit they both lay facing the other. "How do you think they're doing in Nerima," Nabiki asked. "I hope they're doing good," Ranma said. "You know we'll go back to make sure they're all right and help them if not. We promised that." "Yeah," Nabiki said. "But how soon? Good night, Ranma-Baby." Nabiki yawned. "You too, Nabs," Ranma answered, yawning himself before shifting around for a little and falling asleep. Midori yawned as woke up later that night and wiped at her eyes. She looked at the safety bars for a moment in puzzlement before finding the "childproof, hidden" latch and unlocking it. She slipped out of bed and rubbed at her eyes some more as she walked to through the darkness to where her parents were. She opened the door quietly and yawned loudly Nabiki shifted forward in bed, reacting unconsciously to hearing Midori, and reached out with arm to locate the noise she had heard. At the same time Ranma also reached out to unconsciously protect and sooth his daughter. Midori giggled musically as her mommy's hand found her daddy and, fogged by the fact that Nabiki was technically asleep, grabbed the young man tightly and pulled herself closer, reaching one hand up to a strangely tall child's head. Still she was quite strongly asleep, and even the presence of an arm holding her gently and securely also went mostly unnoticed. Nabiki started to snuggle closer to the big warm thing that made her feel safe. Her sleeping mind had somehow forgotten Midori once it had determined that Midori was not in her bed. And now she was grasping more like someone seeking comfort than giving it. Ranma's arms held her tighter, but still gently. The thing in his arms didn't seem to be Midori, and something in the back of his sleeping mind reminded him that she was in her bed, but he still responded to the other's desire to be held. Then Midori took a step and tripped on a loose section of the floor. The charm of the scene was ended as she smacked into the floor and loudly complained about the impact. Ranma and Nabiki had originally been deep sleepers, the both of them. The earth could move and they wouldn't even notice, and that had been proven in the last earthquake. This was before parenthood. They both woke up and realized exactly the situation they were in. The pose wasn't sexual, but was very intimate, more intimate than sex on its own really. Rather more intimate than they had expected, especially considering they had fallen asleep about a foot apart originally. They did not dwell on this issue at all, and it was hardly a split second before they were out of bed to see what Midori needed. Later, after Midori had been soothed back to sleep, they stared across from each other cautiously. "Well, Ranma-baby?" Nabiki asked trying to keep her voice at its usual tone. "I think we need to talk," Ranma said. "Yeah, that seems obvious," Nabiki said. "Right now?" Ranma asked nervous and tired. ~I need more time,~ Nabiki thought. "Maybe tomorrow." "Yeah, tomorrow is good," Ranma agreed. ~Whew that was close.~ They both lay back down on the small bed and Ranma started to pull the covers. "It really doesn't make sense to sleep so far apart," Nabiki said, not noticing the implications of her choice "so far." "Yeah, it'll be more comfortable in the center of the bed," Ranma agreed. Ranma and Nabiki, cautiously at first, snuggled closer, in more or less the same position they had been on waking up, before letting themselves fall back to sleep.

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