As Ranma Saotome awoke, he found himself pined underneath Akane Tendo in a small collapsed chamber. Both of them had just weathered a very large earthquake.

"You ok Akane?" Ranma asked while sounding very concerned.

"Something hit me in the head," Akane said as she rubbed the back of her head as she rolled off Ranma.

"Are you feeling okay?" Ranma asked as he mentally surveyed the chamber the two were trapped in finding that it was some kind abandoned service bunker.

"No I'm really dizzy," Akane mumbled as she kept her eyes shut.

"Does your neck hurt?" Ranma asked as he noticed the exit to the bunker was covered with rubble as well as half of the bunker thankfully Ranma saw that there was a source of water and light.

"No just my head," Akane mumbled as she opened her eyes and began to assess the situation. "Doesn't look like there's anyway out of here does there?"

"No but at least we got light and water *sniffs the air* and the air seems fresh enough," Ranma said as he got up and looked at rubble pile.

"To bad you don't know the breaking point technique," Akane quipped as she continued to look around.

"I could probably copy it but I wouldn't risk using it sense this place looks like it's about ready to collapse again," Ranma said as he sat down.

Akane's only reply to this was to glare Ranma however as she did so a huge wave of sexual euphoria hit her causing her to scream as her body spontaneously reached orgasm. Needless to say Ranma was next to her in less than a second asking what the hell was wrong. Akane only reply was to shut her eyes tight as she tried to ignore Ranma's proximity to her; surprisingly enough it worked.

"What happened Akane?" Ranma asked again after Akane had caught her breath.

"I don't know the second I made eye contact with you I had an orgasm," Akane stuttered out before she began to blush not only at the event itself but at how easily she just admitted it.

"I wonder that knock on your head as anything to do with this?" Ranma asked curiously

"Ranma you've..." Akane said before her eyes snapped opened causing her to have another orgasm. A few seconds later Akane recovered enough to say, "Never mind," while sounding a bit irate.

"hay don't worry about it all we have to do is wait for them to dig us out and then Doc Tofu can use all of his knowledge pressure points to straighten your head out," Ranma said before he patted Akane on the back causing her to have another orgasm.

"RANMA!" Akane growled after recovering.

"Sorry about that," Ranma said in his usual sheepish manner to which Akane only replied by grumbling.

"So what did you want to talk to me about anyhow?" Akane asked as she remembered that Ranma had brought her to the underground bunker to talk about something before school.

"Something mom did before the wedding bombed yesterday," Ranma answered.

"Well it couldn't be worse than what daddy was trying," Akane mumbled grumbling.

"Well if you're dad was going behind our backs and transferring our names between our family registers: that's exactly what mom was doing. The only thing though is that mom succeeded," Ranma said sheepishly.

"WHAT!" Akane bellowed as she opened her eyes and bellowed at Ranma. Ranma naturally went into a brain shut down mode. However, due to Akane's head injury she had another orgasm and collapsed into Ranma's arms where she proceeded to have another one. The combination of the two and the three she had just gone through less than a minute earlier caused Akane to pass out for a moment.

"You ok?" Ranma asked sheepishly.

The only reply Akane gave to this was to start crying as she pushed herself off of Ranma. "Please, please don't rape me," Akane cried out.

"Hey, you know I'm not that kind of guy," Ranma protested before adding, "...at least I hope you do."

"You'd never..." Akane said as she tried to regain some level of dignity.

"On my honor," Ranma replied sincerely.

"...but," Akane stuttered out.

"...but nothing Akane I'm a martial artist and real martial artists don't go around doing crap like that," Ranma replied angrily before trailing off and nervously adding, "not to mention I want my first time to be special. I'm no big romantic sissy mind you but when I do it, I'm going to do with who I love and on my wedding night."

Akane's reply to this was to turn her head and look at Ranma who currently had his head down and was blushing severely.

'He's serious,' Akane thought to herself before an uncomfortable silence fell over the two. "So what did your mom say about it?" Akane finally asked just to break the silence.

"Hmm, she said that I should talk to you about it and why you agreed to go through with it yesterday and if we agree mom says she'll let it stand," Ranma answered.

"I agreed because I love you despite all of our arguments, all of the fighting, the fiancés, and your terminal case of foot in mouth disease," Akane responded before asking, "So what about you?"

"I don't know I really don't," Ranma answered nervously a moment later.

"How do you feel about the others?" Akane asked nervously.

"I wish they would just quit but they never listen to me and they also treat me like some kind of prize. None of them really care about how I feel or even take the time to be friends. Kodachi well I don't have to say anything about her. To Shampoo I'm just a sperm factory not even a real person. I at least thought Ukyou was my friend but she's probably just been nodding and not really listening. Ryouga's out to kill me daily; same thing with Mousse and Kunou. Then there's you calling me a pervert for anything. Dammit Akane, you never give me anytime to explain myself and you should know by now I'm horrible at anything that doesn't have to do with the art," Ranma said before he started to glow with a sickly green aura. "I'm tired of it Akane even I've limits. I've tried to make friends out of enemies and fiancés but it just isn't working what happened yesterday really made that clear."

"I'm sorry," Akane said shamefully.

"Don't worry about it. Just give me more than one second to explain myself from now on," Ranma said with a sigh.

"Ok," Akane answered while sounding a bit embarrassed.

"Why do you get angry so easily, anyhow?" Ranma asked curiously.

"I don't know and I didn't used to be this was. I used to be able to control my anger," Akane said as she looked up at the ceiling of the chamber they were in.

"When did it start?"

"After Kasumi graduated from high school," Akane said sadly. "That's when everything started collapsing. Kasumi was supposed to go to college but she was turned down at the last moment. It crushed her and her personality completely changed. A few weeks later Kunou went crazy literally overnight and dumped Nabiki. She swore no one would hurt her like that again and turned into the mercenary of diamonds we all know and loathe. Then to top everything daddy broke his leg just before a big challenge. Daddy lost most of his students because of that and the ones that remained finished their black belts soon after. Then on my second day of high school Kunou made that stupid declaration," Akane explained sadly before adding, "If all of that wasn't enough the night after Kunou made that declaration I slipped and fell in the koi pond and hit the back of my head hard. That was the final straw, I snapped, and since then I've barely been able to control my anger," Akane explained as she clenched her hands. "Then just before you arrived Sayuki was 'raped'. That's when Akane the great avenging angel that hates all men was born. The first order of business was to get revenge on Sayuki's rapist. After I ... gods I broke his arms and his legs..." Akane said before trailing off in tears. "What happened to me!? I'm a violent maniac!" Akane screamed before breaking down completely.

Ranma's reply to this was to nervously wrap his arms around Akane who was lost in self-loathing barely noticed it but she did notice the soothing sounds Ranma made which quickly cause Akane to relax. "It's not your fault okay," Ranma said reassuringly.

"...but?" Akane objected as she continued to cry.

"Remember that time I hit my head in the koi pond," Ranma asked.

Akane's only reply to this was to gasp as she reached for the spot on her head that had been hit just as she looked up at Ranma. A second later Akane's eyes rolled up into her head as she had another orgasm. After Akane recovered, she mumbled something incomprehensible about head injuries and the craziness of Nerima before looking at a nearby pile of rubble and saying, "remind me to get rid of that personality altering hunk of granite when we get home."

"Will do," Ranma answered before noticing Akane was leaning against him and not having a spontaneous orgasm at around the same time Akane did. "Well it looks like what ever happened is wearing off," Ranma said.

"I ... I don't want to go back to being a violent maniac," Akane sobbed.

"Doc Tofu can do something to help I'm sure of it," Ranma said confidently. Akane however knew Ranma was boasting but chose not to say anything about it.

With said the two began waiting patiently to be rescued while listening to the sounds of the room around them: The dripping of water from some unknown source, the sounds of the small aftershocks that accompanied all large earthquakes and the sounds of the ground settling around them. All in all the two sat in silence for at least an hour just enjoying each other's company.

"You know I think this is the longest amount of time we've been able to spend together since I got to Nerima," Ranma said to which Akane only replied by nodding silently.

"Ranma why don't you hit me when we spar and I want the truth not your usual 'I don't hit girls' line'," Akane asked seriously.

"Because you've got almost no control over your self," Ranma replied.

"Can you help me?"

"Yeah," Ranma answered.

Akane's reply to this was to nod her head and hope Ranma could keep his word.

"You feeling better yet?" Ranma asked as he blushed.

"If you're wondering if I'm still horny as hell yes," Akane replied while sounding a bit annoyed.

"I wish there was something I could do to help," Ranma said with a deep sigh.

"Ranma did you want yesterday to happen?" Akane asked with an odd tone to her voice.

"I don't know."

"Can you see yourself married to me?" Akane asked.

"I don't really know. I mean, what's it supposed to be like?" Ranma queried.

"I don't know either but knowing Nerima our lives probably won't change much. Heck knowing our luck life will probably get crazier. After all for us getting buried alive in an underground bunker after an earthquake is fairly mundane when you can throw ki spheres around."

Ranma's reply to this was to chuckle and nod his head. "Yeah you do have a point but it would be nice to have some time by ourselves."

"...and do what?"

"Talk like were doing now and stuff," Ranma answered.

"What kind of stuff?" Akane asked curiously.

"I don't know but for one day I would like not to be challenged or attacked by someone," Ranma answered before sighing and adding, "although I will admit I wouldn't know what to do with a whole day without challenges or somebody attacking me," with a dry chuckle which Akane could tell was forced.

"How well do you know your self?" Akane asked.

"I used to think they knew myself but nowadays I look at the mirror every morning I see a complete stranger," Ranma answered while sounding as depressed as Ryouga. "Sometimes -especially lately- I wonder if I'm a guy or girl," Ranma mumbled so quietly he thought Akane didn't hear him.

Akane however didn't hear him but chose not to say anything about it mainly because another wave of sexual euphoria had just hit her.

"It's getting worse," Akane mumbled as she struggled to maintain control.

"Come on you can fight it," Ranma encouraged.

"Not forever and knowing our luck we'll still be in here long after I can't fight it," Akane responded before putting her arms around Ranma and pulling him into a gentle hug. Naturally, this made Ranma very nervous and the nervousness only increased when Akane asked, "Ranma do you want to kiss me?"

"I I I," Ranma stuttered out before Akane bopped him on the side of the head causing him to stop stuttering and start blushing, "... guess it would be nice but."

"I know in my current state that would only be the beginning and definitely not very romantic as a wedding night," Akane replied before whispering into Ranma's ear, "Ranma I know your confused and not ready for love but do you think you could still try?"

"Try what?"

"I'm your best friend right?"

"Yeah," Ranma admitted.

"My mom once told me the best of friends can become the best of lovers and I'm asking you; do you want to try that? Can we be friends and lovers?"

"What if I find out I don't really..." Ranma said before trailing off.

"Then I'll be hurt and angry but I'll will let you go so you can be happy," Akane answered tearfully.

"What's love supposed to be like?"

"Trust your heart Ranma and you'll find out," Akane replied.

'Trust my heart? I'll try Akane,' Ranma thought to himself before reaching deep within himself to parts of his soul that he had long denied where he began searching for the answer. Up and down, left and right, higher and lower, Ranma searched for the answer as images of his father yelling about how real men don't express emotions swirled around him. Ranma didn't care about the images of his father since he was searching for the truth not what his father wanted. However, the images of his father kept blocking the way and so Ranma finally turned to the images and began blasting them with mental energy blasts shattering them. After half an hour of doing so Ranma saw much to his dismay that, the fragments of every image that he had shattered had gathered together in one huge image. Naturally enough Ranma adjusted his collar at seeing and hearing the image bellow at him but Akane's words still echoed throughout his mind and so Ranma made a decision and gathered as much mental power as he could. "I don't care what you say any more pop," Ranma said flatly before holding his hands forward and focusing all of his energy into a huge mental ki blast and with the shout of, "KOSEN BLAST," Ranma unleashed a huge energy wave that totally obliterated the image of the bellowing Genma Saotome. When the smoke and debris settled Ranma saw a pinprick of rainbow colored light floating towards him. Ranma of course picked the light up in his hand, which caused it to glow brightly for a second as it vanished. Ranma's only response to this was to say, "Emotions; so deeply buried they had no way to show themselves at all freed from shackles a decade old," before exiting his trance and kissing Akane passionately.

Akane's response to this was to squirm in pleasure as she started to unbutton her shirt. Only to be rudely interrupted by a 6.0 aftershock, which caused the roof to collapse, revealing the way to freedom. Akane's reply to this was to annoyedly look at the hunk of concrete that had fallen as she buttoned her school uniform. After she was done Akane said, "You're sleeping with me tonight baka."

"No argument," Ranma replied before it started to rain. Ranma-chan's response to this was to curse her luck. Akane however just leaned down and kissed Ranma-chan passionately. Needless to say, the redhead was very surprised.

"I love you no matter what form you're in," Akane said before getting off of Ranma-chan.

Ranma-chan's only reply to this was to blush before the two climbed out of the hole in the ground they were trapped in. What they saw before them was a site of ruin that was what they had expected after what both suspected was over an 8.0 earthquake: Major damage to everything that hadn't had been involved in the mayhem of the previous year. After all, the parts of Nerima that were involved in the shenanigans of the previous year had been reinforced to stand far worse then an earthquake of the measly magnitude of 8.0.

A moment later the two continued on to Dr. tofu's clinic where they explained what had happened after which Dr. tofu nodded and asked Ranma-chan to retrieve the personality altering hunk of granite that was sitting at the bottom of the koi pond. Ranma-chan did is in record time after which Dr. Tofu began looking at the stone while shaking his head as he frowned deeply. After dr. tofu finished examining the stone, he began to examine Akane and about 2 hours later started hitting pressure points on her head, which caused Akane's increase sex drive to return to normal. However, a few seconds later after Dr. Tofu finished Akane felt something else. Dr. Tofu immediately explained the stone had hit a pressure point on her head that had prevented her anger from draining away naturally which had effectively cause her ki to become saturated with anger. Ranma-chan's comment was that it had been more like poison then saturation. After Dr. Tofu laughed at Ranma-chan's comment, he explained that the rock had hit a few pressure points that had impaired Akane's perception and judgment in several mostly minor ways that added up to very odd and intermittent perceptual problems. Hearing this Akane asked Dr. Tofu if he could tell her what the problems were. However, Dr. Tofu merely shrugged his shoulders and told Akane she would have to find out what problems were on her own. Akane's reply to this was to sigh deeply before she and Ranma-chan left the clinic and headed back to the dojo.

However before the two got back to the dojo Ranma stopped as he looked up at the fence that he had usually been on when shampoo landed on his head using her bike.

"We're going on the training trip," Ranma muttered darkly as he thought of what shampoo had done the previous day.

"What about our fathers?" Akane asked nervously.

"Them? We'll just a big argument on when we get home and the next thing we know we'll be packed and on the train," Ranma replied with a shrug.

Akane's reply to this was to nod her head in agreement, as she giggled.

Once they arrived, they found Soun and Genma playing shoji, Nabiki working on her ledgers, Kasumi and Nodoka trading recipes and sipping tea. In other words, nothing was out of the ordinary.

After taking a deep breath, the two began arguing about going on a training trip and quite particularly within the hour, they had been booted out the door and put on a train with their camping supplies and only one good tent. For sake of appearances, the two kept up the act of the baka and the tomboy until they were well out site of the train station after which they both broke down laughing.

"Kami-sama that was fun," Akane said with a laugh and a smile to which Ranma only replied by looking at Akane with a smile. "Ranma?" Akane asked curiously, as she looked at Ranma smile.

Ranma's response to this was to look out the window of the train for a long moment until he explained what had happened in his trance a few hours earlier. After Ranma finished he added, "Pop only said those exact things during a training method he came up with to help me control my emotions," well sounding haunted.

"...and?"

"I told you I destroyed all of those images and I'm pretty sure by doing so I also got rid of the training method itself," Ranma answered.

"Go on," Akane encouraged.

"Now I feel more in control of my emotions than I ever have and I also feel well more alive," Ranma answered while starting to look very distant. "One of the few things pop ever said that made sense was 'knowledge is power' but ..." Ranma said before trailing off as his head started to hurt.

"Knowledge is power Ranma but what happens when you get bad knowledge," Akane responded.

"Oh kami-sama," Ranma muttered quietly as comprehension dawned on him with more force then Akane's mallet impacting his skull. Less than a moment later Ranma's face changed from comprehension to unadulterated rage as a powerful red aura sprang into been around him. A moment later however Ranma dismissed the anger and the aura around him forcefully and took a few deep breaths before saying, "well pop has to be one of the best sources of bad knowledge in the world. So I'm going to do a lot of housekeeping up between ears," well sounding somewhere between calm and pissed off beyond believe.

Akane who had hidden underneath the train seat only nodded from her hiding spot before Ranma crossed his legs and began to enter a trance.

Akane's reply to this was to crawl out from her hiding place and say, "good luck fighting your demons, Ranma."

Meanwhile Ranma appeared with in his mind, he found himself looking at not the familiar emptiness he was used to but a swirling mass of light and energy. Seeing this: Ranma smiled and muttered, "Pop was definitely wrong about emotions making you week," before he started to fly through his own mind looking for something, anything, out of the ordinary. In the end however, Ranma could find nothing new except for his newly freed emotions and so reluctantly left his trance just in time to hear the train he was on screech to a halt.

"Any luck?" Akane asked from the opposite side of the train cabin the two were in.

"Nothing besides my emotions," Ranma said before standing up and hefting his travel pack. Following Ranma's lead Akane did the same and with a nod the 2 set off; making sure of course that no one was following them.

Late that night Ranma and Akane finally arrived at a secluded training ground where they promptly set up camp after which the two who were very tired fell asleep in each other's arms.

********************

As Ranma awoke to the early morning smells of the forest he yawned loudly and in the process awoke Akane who swatted him on the back of the head as she grumbled something incomprehensible about mornings. Ranma's reply to this was to chuckle, which caused Akane to bolt up right and look at Ranma as if he had lost his mind. A moment later, however she remembered what Ranma had said about his emotions the previous day and just turned away as she apologized.

"Don't worry about Akane," Ranma said in a haunted voice as he thought about what he had just done. A moment later Ranma shook his head and added, "after breakfast I want to see you practice now that you got your head screwed on straight again."

Akane for her part suppressed the urge to pound Ranma on the head for his rude comment as she mentally mumbled, ' emotions he's got back. Tack however is another story,' before she got up and followed Ranma out of the tent.

As Akane exited the tent, she sat down on a nearby log and watched Ranma cook breakfast with a practiced ease that she had only seen Kasumi demonstrate before. Absently Akane wondered why she had never noticed how skilled Ranma was at cooking. With a sad mental sigh, Akane realized it was probably related to her personality altering head trauma. As she continued to watch him, Akane also noticed that Ranma seemed far calmer then she had ever seen him before.

'What kind of horrible training method did Genma put him through to cause him to change so much,' Akane thought absently as she examined Ranma who was more emotional now that she had ever seen him before.

A few minutes later Ranma finished cooking breakfast and handed Akane a plate full of food, which Akane gladly ate as Ranma served himself and began to eat slowly as he thought to what Akane said about bad knowledge. Ranma's final thoughts were mixed considering he knew his father was a genius a martial arts surpassed only by the likes of Cologne and Happosai but Ranma also knew Genma was lousy -to say the least- at everything else in life.

"It's going to take me a long time to sort through what's bad and good," Ranma muttered as he finished his breakfast. Akane made no reply to Ranma statement considering she knew Ranma was not speaking to her. A few seconds later however, Ranma added, "okay Akane time to see what you've really got," before getting up and walking off to a clearing where he told Akane to attack him. Akane did so and Ranma quickly found that the Akane standing before him was clearly better then Shampoo. However, Ranma still dodged every blow without effort. As the two finished their sparing session Ranma started to chuckle happily causing Akane's temper to rise slightly until she noticed Ranma was smiling mischievously. "Well the good news is you really are better then shampoo the bad news is you're not good enough," Ranma stated before his mischievous grin developed a very Nabiki like quality to it.

Akane's response to this was to wonder how much pain she was going to experience during the next week as she simultaneously wondered how good she was going to get during the same week.

********************

That night at around 10, we find a very sore Akane Tendo thinking about how nice it would be to take an ice cold bath to south her bruised and battered body when Ranma started screaming in his sleep.

"Daddy what did I do wrong!" Ranma screamed as a convulsed as if he was being hit.

Akane's immediate reaction to this was to hit Ranma on the head with her mallet, which promptly cause Ranma to wake-up in a cold sweat.

"Kami," Ranma muttered as he tried to regain some measure of control.

"What was that nightmare about?"

"Flashbacks of pop beating me and calling me a sissy girl any time I displayed emotion," Ranma said while sounding haunted.

"Ranma, why does your father constantly complain about anything remotely feminine?" Akane asked curiously

"I don't know," Ranma, answered before looking out the plastic window of the tent. "...but pops has always been like that."

"Ranma the flashbacks you just had could you remember those things before you blasted away that emotion block?"

Ranma's reply to this was to blink a few times before scratching the back of his head for a moment after which time he shook his head. "Weird, huh," Ranma commented before turning his gaze to the stars above.

"Actually it sounds like that training method made you suppress those memories," Akane answered causing Ranma to blink and look at Akane with a raised eyebrow. "You don't hang out around Kasumi without learning a little bit of psychology," Akane answered.

"Oh," was Ranma's flat reply before yawning and adding, "So why do you think pop does it?"

"I have no clue but if he's half as bad as I think there's something more going on then meets the eye," Akane responded as she yawned as well.

Ranma's response to this was to nod his head before going back to sleep.

Akane however realized perhaps for the first time that Genma was for the most part terrified of women. A few minutes later, after thinking and concentrating on the events of the past year she realized Genma's reaction to anything unknown was, attack, destroy or conquer. Akane's response to this revelation was to shake her head sadly before falling asleep.

"Yes I completely understand Ms. Hinako and I will talk to Ranma about his schooling when he returns Sunday evening," Nodoka said before hanging up the dojo's phone and wondering for the millionth time why her husband considered schooling unmanly. 'Knowledge is power, dear, and having ridiculously enormous amounts of power is very manly.'

With a deep sigh, Nodoka shook her head and walked off to the washroom where she was to help Kasumi with a laundry while Soun and Genma plotted about weddings in the tearoom.

"Do you ever think those two will stop arguing?" Nodoka asked Kasumi as she entered the washroom and started to sort through Ranma and her husband's laundry while thinking of the events of a few hours ago.

"No I don't think so their arguments are very much part of their relationship," Kasumi said as she folded a large sheet. "However if they have enough time alone they will find love I'm quite sure of it," Kasumi added with a smile before a small aftershock occurred causing a overhead cupboard that was hardly used to spew its contents over what Nodoka was working on. Nodoka's response to this was to turn white as she saw a box containing a very feminine product with Ranma's name written on it in English.

Kasumi also turned white as she realized Nodoka understood the writing on the box.

Clutching her omnipresent katana tightly Nodoka spoke, "Kasumi dear what's the meaning of this," as she pointed to Ranma-chan's signature.

Still quite pale Kasumi looked at Nodoka's katana, which Nodoka was putting a death grip on before straightening up and saying, "I can't say Nodoka-San I promised Ranma on my honor not to," while mentally mumbling something about the futility of her statement.

Nodoka's reply to this was to clinch her jaw at Kasumi's defiance but a moment later, she took a deep breath and said, "I will not push you to say anything against your honor Kasumi-san but as Ranma's mother I have a right to know and you know that."

Kasumi's reply to this was to look at Nodoka's katana nervously before taking a deep breath and saying, "you must promise me on your honor that you will not have Ranma commit seppuku."

Nodoka's reply to this was to take a step back and clinch her jaw at Kasumi's demand. A moment later however, Nodoka looked at her sword and sighed, "Do you really think that badly of me?"

"You were going to have Ranma commit seppuku that time you caught him in that girls school uniform," Kasumi said.

"I couldn't have gone through with it," Nodoka said as she crumpled to her knees holding the Saotome honor blade. "I would've released him on the shakiest of points that's why I wanted to look at his face. I've had nightmares for ten years about having to go through with it and even in those nightmares something would always come up."

"Do you think Ranma has fulfilled the contract?" Kasumi asked.

"Yes I do; as I said after he rescued me," Nodoka said proudly before adding, "I have not drawn that blade in relation to that contract since that day."

"Then why do you still carry your family honor blade with you?" Kasumi asked nervously.

Nodoka's reply to this was to blink a few times before drawing the sword which was not a blade of steel but that of a shimmering iridescent mental that glowed with powerful looking magical runes. "I don't dear this is my own personal katana given to me by my mother."

"Did you ever tell Ranma or uncle Genma that?" Kasumi asked.

Nodoka's only answer was to shake her head, as she said, "no."

Kasumi's reply to that was to sweat drop and face fault as she said, "perhaps you should tell Ranma."

"If you think it's necessary," Nodoka said before looking back up at Kasumi pleadingly.

"Do you promise not to have Ranma commit separate go because of this?" Kasumi asked as she sat down opposite of Nodoka.

"Yes," Nodoka said.

"Ranma-san I hope can forgive me for this," Kasumi said quietly before getting up and leading Nodoka to a very secure location where they could talk alone.

********************

Two days later we find Nodoka walking through the woods following a map Kasumi had drawn her when a tree was heard crashing in the distance along with the shout of, "come on tomboy you can hit harder than that!!" which was followed by the sound of another tree biting the dust. Nodoka's reply to all of this was to nervously head towards the sound of her son's voice. Moments later Nodoka found Akane and Ranma sparing with ferocity she had rarely seen. Seeing this Nodoka shed a silent tear as she remembered her mother and father fighting with the same kind of fire she saw Ranma and Akane fighting with. A moment later, however Nodoka's revelry was interrupted when Akane missed Ranma and flayed a tree, which came crashing in her direction. Nodoka's response to this was to immediately draw her sword and slice the incoming tree into ribbons.

"MOM!" Ranma muttered as he watched the dust settle around his mother.

"Oh my, it's been years sense I've done something like that," Nodoka said with a large blush as she looked at her sword.

"I'm really sorry about that Aunt Nodoka," Akane said sheepishly.

"Don't worry about Akane-chan," Nodoka said before looking at Ranma sadly. "I must apologize to you right away Ranma, I made Kasumi break her word of honor and tell me something you did not want anyone to know of." Ranma's reply to this was to go almost completely white as he nervously looked at Nodoka's blade. Nodoka's only reply to Ranma's nervous stare was to slam the blade into a nearby boulder burying it hilt deep in the process before saying, "I have no need for a blade right now. Now, Ranma we have much to discuss," before she and Ranma walked off.

Akane's only reply to the events that had just transpired was to nervously look at the katana buried in the boulder as she wondered what the hell the thing was made of.

********************

After a few moments of walking, Ranma and his mother sat down on two convenient boulders.

"So how did you find out?" Ranma asked with a morbid curiosity.

"Me and Kasumi were doing laundry Monday after you left and an aftershock caused your box of tampons to fall right into my hands," Nodoka replied.

Ranma's response to this was to shake his head and chuckle at the absurdity of it before turning back to his mother and asking, "So why did you come?"

"I don't really know but I just had to come and talk to you about it," Nodoka answered before sighing deeply. "It must be very hard on you."

Ranma's response to this was nod, as he looked distracted. "Mom, why exactly does pop hate anything feminine?"

"He doesn't but..." Nodoka said before trailing off.

"...but what mom?" Ranma asked nervously.

Nodoka's reply to this was to clinch her hand tightly against the boulder she was sitting on before saying, "we were worried about you from the beginning. When you were a little boy before you want off with your father you were very 'confused'."

"Huh," Ranma said intelligently.

"You don't remember do you? Well I'll tell you would you were a little boy you acted normally half the time and like a little girl the other half the time," Nodoka explained as her grip on the boulder she was sitting on increased so much a small piece of it broke off in her hand while Ranma's face went absolutely white. "We didn't want you to be confused. It drove your father to the breaking point and after he crossed that point, he took you on the training journey," Nodoka explained before looking up at Ranma.

"That explains a lot," Ranma mumbled while sounding haunted.

"Ranma I am sorry Kasumi told me some of the things he did," Nodoka said tearfully before looking at Ranma and asking the most personally painful question she could ever asked her child, "Ranma please tell me which do you *moistened her lips* prefer?"

"I don't know mom," Ranma replied before standing up and taking a deep breath. "I need some time to think. So why don't you go back to the campsite and cook some lunch for Akane," Ranma added before walking off into the forest.

Nodoka's reply to this was to gather her frayed wits and walk back to where Akane was.

"Where's Ranma?" Akane asked nervously.

"Thinking," Nodoka said shakily before walking over to her katana and pulling it out of the boulder, she had buried it in after which she sheathed the blade. After a moment of silence, the two walked off to the main campsite where Nodoka began preparing something for Akane to eat.

********************

As Ranma sat down against an old tree, a familiar feeling he had long denied surged up with in him as he began to meditate.

Moments later Ranma was with in himself looking around at the swirling masses of light and emotion but now inhabited his mind. Ranma however ignored all of this and perhaps for the first time in his life willingly and purposefully sought out the yin within. As Ranma journeyed through the recesses of his mind searching for his yin images of his father training everything that was remotely feminine out of him blocked his way. Ranma paid the images no heed as he vaporized them with small Kosen blasts. Deeper and deeper Ranma journeyed until he found the source of all of his femininity. It was not want Ranma expected. Before the pigtailed martial artist floated a huge sphere of energy, which crackled every so often while it tried to escape the bonds formed by years and years of denial and brainwashing. Ranma's only reply to this was to will some of you escaping energy into his hand what he felt from the energy was pure female. Ranma's reply to this was to look at the sphere of energy strangely considering what he had just felt was not what he felt when he changed into a girl. After moistening his lips Ranma took a deep breath and willed the energy in his hand into his being and as the spike of femininity faded and completely merged into him Ranma wasn't sure whether to cry or scream 'Ranma no baka' at himself. A moment later, however Ranma settled on muttering, "I am the whole not chan or kun but kun and chan."

With that stated Ranma gathered all of his energy and with the great shout of, "KOSEN BLAST," Ranma blasted away the bonds that had held his femininity prisoner for so long.

As the dust settled the sphere of pure feminine ki stopped crackling violently.

Ranma's answer to this was to hold out his hand, moisten his lips, and will the mass of ki into himself. The process as Ranma found was a combination between excruciating pain and unbelievable pleasure. All in all Ranma accepted the pain and the pleasure in full. The reason for this was simple: Yin and yang.

********************

"He's been gone an awfully long time," Nodoka said nervously as Akane finished her lunch.

"Don't worry when Ranma takes a long time to think about things," Akane said reassuringly.

Nodoka's reaction to this was to reluctantly nod her head. After which Akane and Nodoka began waiting for Ranma to return. They didn't have long to wait Ranma returned only 15 minutes later. Both instantly sensed Ranma had changed.

"Ranma?" Akane asked nervously as she stared at Ranma who was calmer than she had ever seen the martial artist in his life.

"Both," Ranma stated with a serene calm before he sat down and executed the Amaguriken attack on his food. Surprisingly not a single morsel of food was sprayed anywhere. After putting down his plate Ranma said, "We'll began practicing again after you eat another plate of food," before walking off back to the training area.

"What did you say to him!!?" Akane asked as she glared at Nodoka.

"I suppose you should know," Nodoka said in a whisper.

********************

"3...2...1..." Ranma counted down before a shrill and powerful scream echoed through the forest.

"RANMA HAS A WHAT!!!!!"

"Well she took that better than I thought she was going to," Ranma thought with a smirk before beginning another mental countdown, which ended the moment Akane came barreling into the scene looking whiter then a ghost. Ranma's response to this was a simple nod to which Akane responded by taking a short nap-- after all superpowered martial artists don't faint. Ranma's reply to this was to walk over to Akane and pick her up after which he slapped her a few times on the cheek. "We can discuss things later student but in the meantime back to training," Ranma said with an evil looking smile.

Akane's only response was to pale for a different reason she had a moment ago.

********************

As Ranma and Akane (who was leaning heavily on a quarterstaff) returned to camp that night, they found Nodoka waiting for them with dinner.

After this, things proceed quietly until Akane had finished her meal.

"How long?" Akane asked.

"Since a month after I got the curse," Ranma answered simply causing both Nodoka and Akane to pale somewhat. "My mental training helped me control mood swings to the point I don't even notice them, the cramps and stuff well I've had a lot more painful stuff happen to me physically. The craving for ice cream I get however well *blush* I get that every month in any case."

"What about the?"

"That what the hardest part of it but if every other girl in the world can handle it I figured I should be able to without complaining about it," Ranma said as his eyebrow twitched as he remembered the first time.

Akane's reply to this was to nod silently and guiltily.

"Ranma," Nodoka stated after clearing her throat.

"Yeah, mom," Ranma stated cautiously.

"I believe it is time for me to go," Nodoka stated simply before getting up and walking off much to Ranma and Akane's surprise.

The two martial artists only reply to this by watching Nodoka leave.

As Ranma and Akane returned home early Sunday afternoon they were pleasantly surprised by the site of a panda and a crybaby tied to a tree with a giant sign labeled, 'Baka pounding free of charge' nailed to the tree above them.

Ranma and Akane's only reply to this was to smile demonically before cracking her knuckles and taking the invitation to do as the sign suggested.

After the two martial artists left the crybaby said, "Saotome, old friend perhaps we should be a little bit more cautious about making wedding plans in the future."

The panda's only reply to this was to grown which the crybaby translated as an affirmative answer before unconsciousness claimed both of them.

********************

As Ranma and Akane enter the tearoom, they found Nodoka sitting with an adult Ms. Hinako.

"Hello Hinako," Ranma said with a dark edge to his voice.

Ms. Hinako for her part flinched at Ranma's disrespectfulness but did nothing more.

"Your teacher has informed me that your grades are well below average son," Nodoka said.

"Yeah well when your teacher drains your ki it's a little hard to stay awake," Ranma said angrily.

Ms. Hinako's reply to this was to reach for a 5-yen coin only to find a katana at her throat. Ms. Hinako's response to this was to nervously sit back down before saying, "you do have a point Mr. Saotome but you sleep in my class..." before being interrupted by Ranma again

"I have deal with constant midnight challenges, have to sleep with a panda that stores louder than a chainsaw, and numerous other things."

Ms. Hinako's reply to this was to start fidgeting with her coin as she said, "I see, but the fact remains that your grades are beyond atrocious. Normally at the point you are at you would be expelled but considering what you have just told me, I will give you one last chance before I sign the expulsion papers. That chance is completing your science project on a practical applied use of the principles of flight," Ms. Hinako said before getting up and adding, "...and even if you complete the project and get a good grade on it you will still be very close to being expelled," before she left.

Ranma's reply to all of this was to clinch his jaw angrily before walking off to his room.

Akane's reply to this was to sigh deeply knowing that the instructions for that science project were such that Ranma couldn't accept anyone's help.

"Do you think he can do it?" Nodoka asked.

"This time I don't really know," Akane said before walking off to her room.

********************

"There's no way I'm going to be able to learn everything I need to finish that science project in two weeks," Ranma muttered to himself as he looked at his school bag. After a few seconds, Ranma sighed deeply as the possibility of a total defeat became a distinct possibility.

"Too bad you always spend all your time reading martial arts stuff or you might've had a chance to actually win this one Ranma," Nabiki said with a coy smile as she opened Ranma's door.

Ranma's only response to this was to glare at Nabiki with a piercing gaze. The gaze actually scared the mercenary of diamonds enough that she made a strategic and hasty exit. A few moments later Ranma scratched his chin got up and walked outside trying to remember the year he had gone to school with Ryouga. Naturally, the moment Ranma left the dojo Ryouga attacked him. However, Ranma's only response to this was to palm strike Ryouga just below the diaphragm after which Ranma put the eternally lost boy in a chokehold and drug him off to the abandoned lot near the Tendo dojo. Once there Ranma released Ryouga who immediately attacked. Only to be subdued by a karate chop that stopped an mm from his Adam's apple.

"So what's up Ranma?" Ryouga asked while trying to act civil.

"How good was I with school stuff back when we were at the same school?" Ranma asked as he continued to look thoughtful. Ryouga's react to this was look at Ranma strangely before Ranma added, "...and no I can't remember some of pops training methods really made Swiss cheese out of my memory."

Ryouga's reply to this was grumble and say, "just like everything else you were better at it than anyone else."

Ranma's only reply to this was grumble something about his father before walking off towards the Tendo dojo.

"So you really don't remember doing well in school?" Ryouga asked as he followed Ranma.

"I can't even do anything more than basic arithmetic anymore without a giving me a migraine anymore," Ranma said angrily while mumbling something about his father again.

"Your pop's really screwed you over hasn't he?"

"Let me see the Neko-ken, the brainwashing he did to block my emotions, hauling me off to China and the springs, engaging me to Ukyou, and it also looks like he brainwashed away any smarts I have," Ranma said with obvious anger.

"Your father made you go to China?" Ryouga asked.

"Yeah I had been waiting for you for three days at that challenge field when pop came by and hauled me off to China," Ranma said before stopping cold and blinking a few times. "He had a brochure on Jusenkyo and I remembered something about a training method but I can't remember what it was called."

"It was your father that made you leave the challenge field?" Ryouga asked.

"Yeah," Ranma answered as the two arrived in front of the Tendo dojo.

With the information that Ranma's father (the one man that Ryouga considered even more dishonorable than Ranma)

had made Ranma leave their man-to-man challenge Ryouga's mind started to churn slowly before slipping a gear as the foundation of Ryouga's 'everything is Ranma's fault' train of thought was derailed by the fact Ranma hadn't willingly left the challenge field but was dragged off by his father. This along with the fact he had to jump out of the way of Ranma's father at the springs which caused Ranma -who had been dragged off to China before he could finish his man-to-man with him- to run into him and nock him into the spring of the droned pig. Ryouga's mind also reminded him it was Ranma's father that had tried to make him into sweet-and-sour pork.

"Ryouga are you okay in there?" Ranma asked as he waved his hand in front of Ranma's face.

Ryouga's only response to this was to start fuming before saying, "it's all the panda's fault all my suffering is the panda's fault." Ranma who had just opened the gates to the dojo raised his eyebrow before Ryouga screamed, "DIE GENMA!!" and ran off to kill the panda. Ranma's only reply to this was to blink a few times as Ryouga chased the panda out of the Tendo dojo.

"Would you mind explaining that?" Akane asked as she exited the Tendo home and walked up to Ranma who was still standing by the gates of the dojo.

"I wish I could," Ranma said while sounding completely clueless as he walked off towards the training hall leaving Akane to shake her head and walk off.

********************

As Ranma sat down in the training hall, he entered a deep meditative state and quickly found himself within his own mind, which was now represented a vast and lush open field. Ranma's response to this was to smile as he looked at the field before willing himself to float far above it. After a few moments of thought, Ranma took off trying to find some sign of a storehouse of knowledge. A huge library was his exact target. Strangely, as Ranma searched through his mind he found it unusually devoid of the images of his father bellowing about things. This naturally caused Ranma to become quite nervous considering he was expecting the images appear almost immediately. However, about half an hour later Ranma figured he wasn't near enough to his target for the images to even know he was looking for it. Ranma's only reply to this was to scratch his chin for a moment before smirking and shouting, "I'm the greatest genius in the world! I know everything," after which the pigtailed martial artists watched for signs of knowledge destroying bellowing images of his father which appeared about five seconds later all coming from a location dew east of Ranma's current location. Smiling to himself Ranma charged the images blasting them away easily as he streaked across the sky of his mind. After about an hour of blasting images Ranma finally arrived at a huge library that was protected by a huge gorge that was bellowing fire into the sky. "I've heard of tough security but this is a bit ridiculous," Ranma commented as he watched the bellowing tower of flame shoot into the heavens above. A moment later however, Ranma shrugged, stretched his neck, popped his knuckles and used the Kosen blast to collapse the gorge in on itself. Satisfied with his work Ranma floated up to the library's main doors.

As Ranma landed, he found this particular library was not only protected by a gorge of fire but by a huge set of steel doors, which were welded shut. Ranma's response to this was to use a tightly focused Kosen blast to cut a door of his own in the massive doors, which he then used to enter the library.

As Ranma entered the library, a powerful but pleasant musty odor filled his nostrils. Looking around the library's main hall, he found several massive stone blocks barring entrance to the hallways that led away from the entrance. Curiously, Ranma found a symbol etched in the marble archway of each hallway that was barred by the massive stone blocks. The first was a sword and shield. The second was a beaker and a microchip. The third was a man holding a quarterstaff, the fourth was a man outlined in an aura. The fifth was an image of a man that was dotted with technical information on his body. The sixth symbol was that of a cloaked figure watching others from the shadows.

After Ranma had finished examining the scene, he walked over to the stone block barring the entrance to the hallway that had a sword and shield symbol above it and focused his ki as he remembered and mimicked what Ryouga had done so many times before. After a few moments, Ranma smiled and poked the massive stone block, which crumbled into dust. "Copied and improved," Ranma stated with a smile before walking past the dust and into the hallway where he found a myriad of weapons floating aimlessly and in front of each weapon there was a stone column holding a book. Ranma's reply to this was to walk up to the stone column that stood before a katana and pickup the book, which he completely before putting down. "Techniques and a lot of them," Ranma commented before turning around and leaving that wing of the library. As Ranma reentered the entrance of the library, he looked at the statue that was in the center of the room. "The thinker," Ranma muttered as he remembered seeing this statue in front of him several times in his journeys around the world. A moment later, hundreds of images Genma bellowing about men not needing to think were heard outside the library. Ranma's only response to this was to walk off and retrieve the katana he had just read how to use and walk out of the library. The sounds that echoed on the battlefield outside for the next two minutes were a combination of steel slashing and energy waves exploding. When the sounds finally ended Ranma reentered the library he walked over to the statue the thinker and touched it causing it to crumble into dust out of which a glowing sphere of energy appeared. Ranma's only reply to this was to absorb the energy before unsealing all of the other hallways in his mental library. "Now it's time for me to go to the real library," after which the pigtailed martial artist left his mind and then the training hall.

********************

'I wonder why pork for brains was chasing after Ranma's father,' Akane thought to herself sometime after she had left the dojo only to encounter Ryouga who was not surprisingly lost. Akane's reply to this was smile not unlike her older sister before walking up to Ryouga and tapping him on the shoulder.

"A-A-Akane-san," Ryouga stammered out.

"Would you like to go shopping with me?" Akane asked in a tone of voice that anyone but Ranma and the rest of the Tendo family would perceive as very sweet.

"I'd love to," Ryouga stuttered out as he nervously returned Akane smile.

"Wonderful," Akane said as a Nabiki like glint appeared in her eyes.

"So what are you going to shop for?" Ryouga asked as he and Akane started to walk towards Nerima's shopping district.

"Oh I'm going to get a new outfit," Akane answered with a smile.

Ryouga is only reply to this was to nod before following Akane to Nerima's largest clothing store. Once there Akane told Ryouga to sit on a convenient bench that was outside the store. Ryouga naturally enough obeyed Akane's order without thought and started fantasizing about his perfect life with Akane. An unknown amount of time later however, Ryouga was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. Ryouga's natural reply to this was to spin around and when he did so he found Akane wearing an outfit he would've never dreamed Akane would wear. The outfit consisted simply of an indigo blue vest, very daringly cut yellow tube top, very short black miniskirt (of the type Ryouga had seen a group of crazy girls in Juuban wearing once), and a pair of skin tight black leggings. Ryouga's natural reaction to this outfit was to stutter severely as he became very dizzy.

"So what do you think?" Akane asked to which Ryouga only replied by stuttering some more. Akane's response to that was to chuckle slightly before dragging Ryouga off to a nearby cafe. Once there she ordered some iced tea for herself while Ryouga ordered nothing. As Akane sat down, she frowned deeply as she swirled her iced tea.

"Is anything wrong Akane-san?" Ryouga asked.

"Oh I'm just worried about p-chan," Akane said in a distracted tone of voice as she looked away from Ryouga who had just begun to sweat.

"What's wrong with him?" Ryouga asked as he tried to keep his cool.

"He's getting more and more violent as he grows up and I'm afraid there is only one way to solve that problem and that's to fix him," Akane said flatly.

Ryouga's reply to this was to suddenly look extremely uncomfortable before asking, "so what does Ranma think about it?"

Akane's reply to this was to sip some iced tea before saying, "he started acting really nervous when I told him about it. I swear sometimes I think he thinks you're p-chan," while chuckling. "I mean that's just silly."

Now sweating bullets Ryouga nervously chuckled, "yeah really silly."

"Of course if you really were p-chan I have to borrow aunty Nodoka's katana," Akane said with a mischievous smile.

"...and do what?" Ryouga asked as he crossed his legs.

"The same thing I'm going to p-chan the next time he comes home," Akane said with a pleasant smile.

"You're joking right?" Ryouga asked as he started to sweat entire munitions factories.

"Only if you're not p-chan," Akane responded after which she 'accidentally' knocked over her iced tea.

Ryouga's response to this was to run off so quickly he left a hole in the door of the café.

Akane's only reply to this was to smile in a very Nabiki like manner before leaving the café and heading back to the Tendo dojo only to encounter Ukyou pounding a mailbox over the horizon.

"Damn can't the weirdos leave me alone?" Ukyou mumbled to herself before noticing Akane. "Hello Akane," Ukyou said nervously as an embarrassed blush appeared on her features.

"We have a lot to talk about," Akane said flatly before the two walked off to find a private place to do just that.

********************

Late that afternoon as the sun was setting we find Ranma walking back to the dojo when he encountered Ukyou who looked like she had the stuffings beat out of her leaning heavily on her battle spatula which was almost as badly beaten as she was.

"Ranchan remind me never to get Akane angry," Ukyou said as she stopped.

Ranma's only reply to this was a nod. "Did she challenge you?"

"Basically," Ukyou said as she continued on.

Ranma's only reply to this was to sigh and make the mental comment of, 'Akane sure isn't wasting time,' before continuing on to the dojo where he found Akane sitting alone in the training hall looking at the shrine that honored her mother. "What happened?" Ranma asked.

"What I expected to happened," Akane responded as she sat down on the training hall floor. "Mother once said that sometimes the easiest fights are the hardest battles. Today I learned with that meant," Akane added a moment later before getting up and leaving the training hall.

Ranma's response to this was to sigh deeply before sitting down and pulling out a large book on physics, after which he said, "now let's see how fast I can come up with my own version of the Buku-Jutsu."

'What am I going to do? When great-grandmother finds out about Ranma defeating Saffron, she's going to cancel my kiss of marriage and just make him an Amazon warrior,' Shampoo thought to herself before deciding to formally challenge Akane in a duel.

********************

"Is it me, or does sis seem a lot calmer?" Nabiki asked as she and Kasumi watched Akane feeding the koi.

"No, in fact I've never seen her calmer," Kasumi responded as she watched her younger sister who was ignoring the fact Genma had just ran by being chased by Ryouga.

"Speaking of odd behavior Ranma sure has changed since he came back last week," Nabiki said as she took a sip of her tea.

Kasumi's only answer to this statement was to nod her head thoughtfully before saying, "not that the change has been bad."

'That depends on your point of view sis,' Nabiki mentally muttered as she fumed over the fact she hadn't been able to manipulate Ranma in any capacity for the past week.

Meanwhile out by the koi pond Akane sat thinking about her battle with Ukyou and what had happened the day after; specifically Akane was thinking about why Ukyou had left Nerima without a word to anyone, even Konatsu.

'I hope she comes back someday,' Akane thought with a sigh before sensing danger. Akane's reply to this was to turn to the source of danger immediately, which not surprisingly -as far as Akane was concerned- was Shampoo.

"Shampoo challenge kitchen destroying pervert girl to duel for Ranma," Shampoo declared.

Akane's reply to this was to calmly say, "The challenge field 10 minutes," to which shampoo replied by nodding and bouncing off.

"Sis, are you crazy shampoo's going to...." Nabiki shouted before Akane interrupted.

"Ranma's been training me."

"Oh well in that case shampoo's going to get thrashed, bashed and mashed," Nabiki said before walking off.

Stretching her neck Akane absently stood up and popped a few other joints before walking off to the challenge field.

"I give it 5 minutes," Nabiki said as she sat down by Kasumi.

"No 10 I'm quite sure Akane is going to play with shampoo," Kasumi responded.

Nabiki's only reply to this was to nod in agreement as Nodoka left the kitchen in the background.

********************

As he sat behind a huge pile of books in the training hall Ranma occasionally made small meditative sounds such as; huh, hmm, ahh, ah-ha, ok, as well as many others. Ranma's deep meditation and study however were interrupted a moment later when his mother entered with a plate of food.

"How are things progressing?" Nodoka asked as she sat down next to Ranma.

"Propulsion," Ranma muttered absently as he began to inhale his food. "I've got levitation and stabilization down but I still need some kind of propulsion," Ranma added after finishing his food seconds later.

"To bad you can't just use a jet engine like a real plane," Nodoka muttered thoughtfully as she walked off.

"Hmm," was the pigtail martial artists only reply as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

********************

'I wonder how great granddaughter's duel with Akane is going," Cologne thought to herself before shampoo entered looking like she had been run over by a heard of elephants. 'So Akane finally got control of her temper and with devastating results I might add,' Cologne thought to herself with a hidden smirk as shampoo mumbled profanities to herself as she limpid off to her room.

********************

Meanwhile back at the dojo Akane tended to her own wounds, which were a few bruises and a couple of cuts as Ryouga chased Genma around in the background. 'I wonder why in the world he's been able to stick to Genma like glue,' Akane thought to herself absently as she finished covering her last cut with a small Band-Aid. Akane's reply to her own question was to shrug as she decided that Genma's bad mojo, karma and others such things at finally caught up to him. After all Ryouga had taken into upon himself to punish Genma Saotome for everything he had done in his miserable life and that was as far as Akane was concerned was enough for all the kami and ancestors to give Ryouga the ability to track down Genma Saotome no matter where he hid. Which was fine with all of the Nerima wrecking crew after all none of them -accept Nodoka who still understood the vengeance of the gods- to let Ryouga pummel Genma every chance he got.

Satisfied with her work at bandaging herself up Akane closed the first aid kit and decided to see how Ranma was doing in developing his version of the Buku-Jutsu. However before she had even stood up Ranma shot through the roof of the training hall and into the sky screaming something about using too much power just before a sonic boom was heard. Akane's answer to this happenstance was to sweatdrop as she shook her head.

"Well at least he'll ace his science project tomorrow," Ryouga commented as he walked up to Akane while Genma sat KO'd in the background.

"True," Akane muttered as she and Ryouga sat down to watch Ranma who was trying to gain control over his new technique.

"Looks like it's going to take him a while to master this one doesn't it," Ryouga commented as he watched Ranma zooming around the sky.

Akane's only response to this was to nod her head.

********************

"How in the name of the ancient elders' did he learn the Buku-Jutsu," Cologne muttered to herself as she watched Ranma speed around Nerima's skies. A moment later after watching Ranma streak by the cat cafe at twice this speed of sound she noticed something odd. "Ancient elders' something's happened to the boy something immense. His ki is over three times stronger and infinitely more balanced than it was when he came back from China," Cologne mumbled to herself as a shiver of fear arced up her spine. A moment later Cologne shook off her fear and mumbled, "if Ranma has become who I think he has it's very possible he created his own version of the Buku-Jutsu from scratch and the knowledge he has about the world and ki manipulation means it's time for the truth to be revealed to him." With that said Cologne took a small jewel out of her pocket and said something in an ancient language, which caused the gem to vanish in a flash of light. "By the time I tell Ranma who his next sensei is and return to China with shampoo and mousse the progenitor and guardian of the cursed springs will arrive here in Nerima," Cologne said with a wry chuckle before walking off to the Tendo dojo.

********************

Meanwhile in the skies above Nerima we find that Ranma has finally managed to gain control of his new flying technique.

"Damn this technique is powerful," Ranma muttered as he flew back to the dojo where he landed by the koi pond where Akane was absently watching Ryouga chase the panda as she munched on some popcorn. Ranma's response to this was to sit down next to Akane and start eating popcorn as well.

The afternoon entertainment lasted for about half an hour before the panda jumped over the wall Ryouga hot on his trail.

"Ahh the panda and pig show the most entertaining in Nerima," Akane said cheerfully.

"You really should tell Ryouga you figured him out," Ranma said as he ate the last of the popcorn.

"Why it's more fun to torture him by telling him how I'm going to 'fix' p-chan," Akane said with an evil smile.

'Well at least I know she and Nabiki are really sisters now,' Ranma mumbled to himself before a certain old ghoul was seen pogoing into the dojo. "What do you want old ghoul?" Ranma demanded immediately.

"Nothing I'm here to congratulate my new great granddaughter, son-in-law," Cologne said as she smiled at Akane who only blinked a few times as a reply. "As by my right as elder Akane Tendo you are now an Amazon warrior as is your husband. However, I will not be able to train either you since I needed back home. Because of this I have arranged for my sensei to come here and train both of you in magic," Cologne added with a chuckle before pogoing off.

Ranma and Akane's duel response to this was to imagine a three-foot undead mummy that was over a thousand years old.

"I don't like the sound of this," Akane mumbled as she crossed her arms.

Ranma's response to this was to make a sound Akane interpreted as in agreement.

"Saotome-san, are you telling me you wrote all of this by your self?" Ranma's science teacher asked Ranma as Ms. Hinako who was suffering from a severe case of jaw dislocation stood nearby.

"Yep," Ranma said as he sat back down in his seat only to notice the skeptical look in the science teacher's eyes. "Look teach outside of some ancient musty scroll how else do you think I could've come up with a way to levitate stuff using my ki?"

"A good point Saotome-san and once I'm finished reviewing the science of this project I expect a full demonstration of it," the science teacher said before setting Ranma's 200 page description of how to levitate things using ki aside. "Now let's continue on with the next project," the science teacher added as Ms. Hinako left the room mumbling something in intelligible.

********************

"Can you believe that Ranma actually wrote a 200 page paper?" Yuka questioned Sayuki that day at lunch.

"No he probably copied it off of someone," Sayuki replied.

"...and how exactly would he copy something like the Buku-Jutsu, Sayuki," Akane asked her friend as she walked up.

"I don't know but Ranma doesn't have the smarts to ever come up with something like that," Sayuki said defiantly as she crossed her arms.

Akane's only reply to this was to shake her head before everyone noticed Kunou approaching Ranma so he could receive one of his 5 or so daily pummelings. However before he could do so everyone heard the school's new music teacher bellow, "Tatewaki Kunou stop where you are," which of course Kunou did not do as he continued to march towards Ranma. The music teacher's response to this was to cover the distance between him and Kunou in record time for anyone that was not a superpower martial artist at which point he glared at Kunou. "Kunou you are being very disrespectful," the music teacher said with a dark edge to his voice as he held a violin bow in one hand.

Kunou's reply to this was started bellowing about foul sorcerers that needed to be destroyed.

"Kunou-san I can't allow you to harm any students so report to the principal right now or I shall make you report by force," the music teacher said as he slipped into a stance that both Ranma and Akane recognized as a very loose fighting posture.

Kunou's response to the music teacher's demand was to start attacking as he shouted something about his father. The music teacher for his part defended himself flawlessly from Kunou's attacks with the simple use of the violin bow he was carrying. A few seconds later Kunou over extended himself with a lunging strike attack to which the music teacher replied by wrapping the bowstring of his bow around Kunou's bokutou after which the music teacher used his free hand to strike Kunou in the neck with a simple chop which KO'd the annoying kendoist without further ado. After straightening out his shirt and tie the music teacher said, "Children these days are so disrespectful," after which he picked up Kunou and walked off.

Ranma's response to this whole series of events was to raise his eyebrow slightly before returning to what he was doing.

********************

"Good afternoon class. I'm Ken Ongaku and I will be your new music and art teacher," the new music teacher said as he entered Ranma and Akane's class after lunch had ended with a very old looking violin under his arm.

"What kind of art?" Hiroshi asked nervously.

Chuckling Mr. Ongaku said, "In all the arts except martial, which I have no qualification to teach," before looking at his notes. a few seconds later Mr. Ongaku added, "Now for the first order of business. Since this is the beginning of a new semester everyone needs to pick out an instrument, which you will be required to learn how to play well enough to give several recitals. These recitals will make up the music portion of your grade in this class." After the groaning of the students died down Mr. Ongaku sat down in his chair and added, "Oh, by the way if you do not have instruments of your own here by tomorrow you will be given a violin as your required instrument," as he pointed to his own violin

Hearing this there were of course this standard series of reactions and excuses, which the teacher ignored.

'Gods Ranma's going to get stuck with a violin I just know it!' Akane exclaimed to herself as she looked at Ranma through the corner of her eye while Mr. Ongaku began to continue on with class.

********************

"You should've kept your big mouth shut Ranma," Akane commented that day after school as Ranma walked home with a school issued violin.

"It wouldn't have mattered tomboy after all I don't have an instrument of my own or any money to get one on short notice," Ranma replied as he continued to walk along the fence.

Akane's response to this was to roll her eyes before noticing Ranma's distant look. "Anything wrong, baka?" Akane asked after a few moments.

"I don't know..." Ranma finally answered as he stopped and sat down on the fence top, "...but this thing seems awfully familiar to me."

"It does?" Akane asked as she raised her eyebrow.

"Yep," Ranma said before snapping back to reality as Ryouga chased the panda down the street. "I'm going to do a little meditation when I get home," Ranma added a moment later to which Akane only nodded in agreement.

********************

As Ranma entered his mindscape after arriving home from school, he found that the endless open field had changed into a diverse landscape. Ranma's response to this was to smile absently before flying of in search of the reason why the violin seemed so familiar to him. "Art," Ranma mumbled to himself sometime later as he continued to fly long. "Music is an art even I know that and martial arts takes skill to learn. So, I'm looking for a training hall of some sort," Ranma added a moment later after which the pigtailed martial artist started looking for a training hall.

Five minutes later Ranma found a dojo that had nearly 100 training halls. However, most of the training halls were incased in some kind of energy field. Ranma's response to this was to power up and fire off a Kosen blast which much to Ranma's chagrin bounced off of the energy field and almost hitting him in the process.

"Looks like the direct approach isn't going to work," Ranma mumbled before landing next to the house that was at the center of the dojo. Not surprisingly, the house Ranma landed next to was a near perfect copy of the Tendo home.

However as Ranma quickly found out the house was totally uninhabited which left him feeling more than spooked.

"Something isn't right around here," Ranma mumbled to himself.

"What ever gave you that idea?" a suspiciously voice from behind Ranma said with an evil chuckle.

Hearing the voice Ranma immediately whipped around to face himself? or more precisely a doppelganger that was wearing an outfit identical to himself. However, the doppelganger was also wearing a pair of very dark sunglasses and his hair was a combination of red and black streaks. Most disturbingly, however the doppelganger had a long tail that was striped red and black as well as two cat ears', which naturally enough were red and black.

After a moment, the doppelganger smiled to reveal two feline canines, which looked evil to say the least.

Ranma's reply to the figure before him was naturally one of anger and fear. This was because Ranma could sense that the figure before him was completely evil and had obvious direct access to the Neko-ken.

"Today has been an introduction Ranma, next time we shall fight," the evil doppelganger said before smiling as he walked away only to add, "by the way I given the images protecting the training halls a little power boost," as he vanished with an evil demented laugh that Kodachi would be scared by.

Before Ranma had even commented on his evil doppelganger, at least 50 powered up Genma images appeared drooling acid saliva from their 8 in. serrated dagger teeth as they swung their electrified white-hot katana with expert and practiced ease.

"He calls this a little power boost," Ranma commented to himself as the images started to advance at which point he added, "This is going to take while."

********************

"Well that takes care of those baka," Ranma said to himself a 'while later' as he finished destroying the last of the beefed up Genma images. After dusting off his hands Ranma added, "After I'm done here I'm going to hunt down that evil doppelganger," before he popped his knuckles and concentrated all of his mentally energy and will power on the energy field, which popped almost instantly. "This is my mind and that means here I have the power of kami!!!!" Ranma shouted before reaching out into his mind and concentrated all of his mental power on his evil doppelganger. Needless to say the evil doppelganger didn't know what hit him.

"HOW DID YOU GAIN SO MUCH POWER?" The doppelganger demanded as it appeared before Ranma bound by chains of pure mental power.

Ranma's only response to this was to raise his hand and fire off an unusual energy ball at the doppelganger, which caused him to split into a black and red puma, and a nasty looking demon wearing sunglasses.

"What gave me away god slayer?" The demon asked demonically.

"Those sunglasses aren't my style," Ranma said with a demonic smirk of his own before turning around and hopping onto the roof of a nearby training hall just as the puma escaped its bonds. Its first target naturally was the demon who escaped Ranma's mind only after suffering a fierce claw strike to its eyes.

The next target on the puma's agenda was Ranma. However, the pigtailed martial artist just stared down the cat as it hopped up onto the roof.

"It's time to end the nightmare," Ranma stated flatly before the fight was on.

********************

As Ranma awoke the next morning, he smiled as he remembered his victory over the Neko-ken before setting up and saying, "it's amazing what a few tremors can do."

[End]

[Epilogue]

"I will have god slayer's head and power for what he did to me," a certain demon -who fact was a very powerful demon lord- said as he looked at his ruined sunglasses and scarred face neither of which could be repaired by even magical means.