Pain shot forth from the point where Kunou's sword had made contact with Ayumi's undefended flank. He instinctively reached to cover it, momentarily forgetting about the snapshots and a no-longer proper descent. He was crying; a single tear found its way out of an eye. He blinked to keep it or any other tears from getting anywhere... he couldn't let anyone see him cry! Ranma, still peering out from behind the granite field marker, understood that she was breathing faster than she should have been and tried to regulate it. "Ranma?" Ranma nearly jumped three feet into the air upon hearing her name. Quickly and quietly calming herself down, she turned to see who had made the mistake of sneaking up on her. Blast! This wasn't the same as when Tofu-sensei surprised her last week with a masked presence; Ranma knew she had been enough on edge that the entire Fuurinkan High student body and faculty would undoubtedly be able to sneak up on her unnoticed. Part of her apprehension was due to what Ayumi had asked Kunou shortly after she arrived. "Okay, so if I defeat you, you'll give up on her?" Perhaps he had found out somehow about Kunou's declaration of love for her - not that the loudmouthed moron would've kept it a secret for long, at any rate - and Ayumi felt he needed to do this for her sake. It was bad enough she had asked Ayumi to face Kunou in her place. At least the solitary person behind her wasn't harboring a threatening presence. "Naka!" she exhaled, somewhat relieved. "What are you doing here?" He didn't take his eyes from the fight. "Question is, how come Ayumi's out there and you're hiding over here?" When Ranma failed to respond, he decided not to press the issue. "I had a feeling this situation would get out of hand." Naka smirked. "Kunou-chan hasn't failed me yet." The reference was lost on Ranma. "Huh?" "Never mind." In the meantime Ayumi had landed, a bit unsteadily, to his feet, proceeding to grab all of the photographs of Ranma before they hit the ground... all the while contorting himself to pull his body out of the range of Kunou's wooden sword. The pictures were just as bad as he feared. Whomever had taken them was apparently playing on Kunou's affections. Now, who would be able to get close enough to take these pictures and then give them to Kunou? Ayumi had a very good idea who the mystery photographer was... "Allowing yourself to be distracted during a fight is a tremendous mistake, Tendo! It only shows how utterly poor your supposed skills are in comparison to mine own!" To prove his point Kunou attempted to push the bokutou forward into Ayumi's face, to Ranma's shock. Ayumi nonchalantly avoided the attack by rolling head-over-heels backward - straight, as it turned out, toward Ranma. He was surprised to see her there. The look on her face changed to one of annoyance and displeasure. "I hope you're taking this fight seriously. The guy's not a pushover, you know!" Practically standing on his head right in front of her, Ayumi frowned. "Gee, thanks for the information! I never woulda figured that out by myself!" She couldn't even fight her own battles, for pete's sake, and here she was telling *him* how to fight? Who did she think she was? "Oh, by the way," he said in a sarcastic voice, peering under the hem of Ranma's dress, "I just *love* the underwear with little blue polka-dots." Her face reddened. "Why you..." She place-kicked Ayumi back into Kunou's range. "*PERVERT*!!!" How dare he! He could go ahead and get himself killed, for all she cared! And if he survived the fight with Kunou, she felt as if she just might finish the job herself... Ayumi rearranged himself in midair to keep his defense raised while he reentered the fight. That little interlude with Ranma had given him a chance to gather himself, particularly after that blow to his side. Kunou prepared for Ayumi's arrival by pulling his blade back to intercept Ayumi before the boy could land. "I'm finished toying with you!" Ayumi blinked. Still wearing the same smile, Kunou let his wooden sword fly in an explosion of sword thrusts almost too fast for Ayumi's trained eyes to pick out. "Wah!" was the only reaction Ayumi could think to use. Fortunately, none of the strikes hit him directly and only shredded parts of his clothing. He landed on his feet, letting himself be forced back by Kunou's nonstop attack. The granite marker Ranma and Naka were hidden behind had begun to crumble from the air pressure of Kunou's attacks alone. As Ranma yelped and stepped back, Ayumi turned his head to track her. He could see Ranma was still directly in the path of the debris. "Baka! Get out of there!" He saw that Naka was there as well but had had the good sense to keep a safe distance. Good; he was going to have some explaining to do once this fight was all over... Seeing another opening, Kunou brought his sword down for a final blow upon Ayumi. "Look out!" Ranma cried as the sword arced toward Ayumi. No... she couldn't let this happen! Thinking quickly, she raced in and executed her own series of rapid blows against Kunou with her foot. She cartwheeled away from both Kunou and a startled Ayumi, and as she did so Kunou collapsed. "What just happened?" Naka asked. Ayumi stood. "You just HAD to interfere again, didn't you? Every time I'm about to beat him, you run in and screw things up!" he shouted, not resisting the urge to yell at Ranma. "*What*!? He was about to slice you in half, stupid!" she retorted. A curious Naka decided to roll the unconscious Kunou over onto his back. That was when they noticed the results of Ranma's attack: prints from her sneaker marked pressure points from Kunou's stomach on up to his forehead. "Wow," Naka remarked. One more for the list of interesting martial-arts abilities Ranma possessed. If only he'd studied fighting himself, as Dad had wanted him to... or better yet, what if he'd been Ranma's iinazuke? With her acting as muscle no one would dare try to back out on a business deal with him... Ah, but that was no longer an option. "You sure move fast. I didn't see your feet connect." "Hmph!" snorted Ayumi. He had done most of the work, hadn't he? Ranma kicks him, he falls over and Naka congratulates *her* instead? "He *is* a big pushover, anyway. Even you could beat him, big brother." Naka thought. Ranma looked at Ayumi in surprise. "A pushover? I thought he got in one or two good hits!" "Didn't hurt a bit," the Tendo boy lied. Well, then... "Let's see... he hit you right about here, I think." The spot wasn't too difficult to make out; it was a positively inflamed area under the biggest tear in his shirt. So if it didn't hurt, he wouldn't mind if she gave the wound a little tap... Pain jolted through the right half of Ayumi's upper body. He fell to his knees, unable to hold his tears back this time. "Oh, stop crying! It didn't hurt a bit, remember?" Then Ranma noticed the photographs Ayumi held close to him. "Say, are those what you were going after when Kunou hit you? What's so special about those things that you let your guard drop?" Ayumi moved the pictures out of her line of sight. A glance at Naka told him Big Brother was beginning to drift away. In that instant, however, Ranma bent down and snatched the pictures out of his hands. She smoothed out the photos in order to get a better look at them... and didn't like what she found. "What is this?" She turned a whole new round of anger on her would-be iinazuke. "What are you doing with these... *pictures* of me..." "Idiot!" Ayumi swore, and grit his teeth in frustration. "Those were Kunou's! I think Naka must've sold them to him!" At that Ranma whirled about to find Naka carefully tiptoeing away. "Naka! Did you do this?" It was increasingly obvious from the girl's expression that she meant to do great bodily harm to him if he admitted he was, in fact, the mastermind of this scheme. Time for an act, then. He raised both arms before him. "Yeah... but please, don't hurt me! I was only trying to make a little pocket money off the guy..." She relaxed a little. "Well... okay. But next time..." Naka's face brightened. "Why anyone would want such ugly pictures is beyond me." Thank goodness little brother Ayumi was around to take Ranma's attention away from him. "I mean, it's not like you're attractive or anything, and I certainly wouldn't want to be stuck with you--" Ayumi never had a chance to complete his comments, for Ranma angrily set to beating him up, much to Naka's bemusement. Destiny's Wish Part Four: What You Don't Know... written by Mike Koos --------------------------------- "Dreadful. How truly dreadful!" Doctor Tofu Orisa ran a hand through her wiry dark brown hair and shook her head in amazement. "What happened to him?" Ranma felt too embarrassed to reply. After 'punishing' Ayumi for his insults, she had taken him directly to Dr. Tofu's clinic to have him fixed up, good as new. After all, that wound Kunou had inflicted did need prompt attention... From another perspective, one might think she had brought him in so that Ayumi could be restored for the next time she felt like pounding on him, but the thought hadn't crossed her mind. Tofu-sensei turned Ayumi on his side to bring the wound into view. "This wound was inflicted by a bokutou, wielded by someone who is skilled with its use. But these bruises and dislocated joints require more immediate attention, in my opinion. He's very lucky he doesn't have a concussion." Ranma fidgeted where she stood. Oh, was the guilt evident on her face? She hoped not. "Yes...... truly dreadful," repeated the doctor. "Who did this to him?" She looked at Ranma with urgency. Ranma shifted from one foot to the other, locking her hands together and avoiding the doctor's gaze entirely. "A-ano..." If Tofu-sensei found out, everyone would say Ayumi was right. They'd say she was a wild, uncontrollable tomboy and have pity on him for being engaged to such a renegade. "You poor boy," they'd say. She would be disgraced and the marriage called off, and she and her father forced to return to the streets. Or her alone, because Dad wouldn't be all that grateful to her for ruining his comfy setup. All alone, walking by herself through the roughest of weather... Ayumi stirred. An attempt to say something. Tofu leaned in closer... "Yes?" ".........An... unattractive tomboy... did this......" Something clicked in Ranma's mind as she heard the words. She grabbed one end of the examination table, hoisting it high. Ayumi slid off the table, blanket and all, nearly imbedding into a spare crutch on his way down. "How DARE you say that!" Ranma realized that Tofu-sensei was still watching her. She froze, dropping the table. "You're Ranma, aren't you? Did you do this?" "Y-yes," blushed Ranma. "But......" Ayumi watched the scene from the floor with disgust. She seemed to want to shrink in on herself. With a single motion the doctor righted the bed. "I thought so!" She brought Ayumi up from the floor using her feet as well as her hands. Ranma was too busy being penitent to notice. "It's best not to keep feelings of guilt locked away. They tend to destroy you from the inside out, and I'm afraid that's something even I can't repair," laughed Tofu. She went to work repairing Ayumi's wounds. "I must say, Ranma-chan, you do have a distinct style. Even in an uncoordinated beating it is possible to tell things about an attacker." Had she been paying closer attention to Ranma at that instant, she would have seen that using the word 'attacker' might not have been a good choice. "Anyway, I hear that the two of you are engaged to be married." That snapped Ranma out of her reverie. "Our parents arranged that without our permission!" "I suppose it is a little soon for you two to worry about marriage. You're both still children." "I..." Ranma started to say, but thought better of it. They *were* still children in the eyes of others. Nothing she said now would change that. "There! All done!" Ayumi flexed his muscles to make sure they worked properly. "Thanks! I feel a lot better!" He hopped off the examination table. Darn thing was a little on the uncomfortable side, anyway. "Glad I could help. Ayumi, perhaps you should be nice to Ranma so I won't see you in here as often?" the doctor smiled, escorting them to the door. She sighed inwardly. They did make a cute couple, regardless of age. Now why couldn't her relationships be delivered on a platter? The man she loved didn't realize she loved him. That relationship wasn't going to be as easy to fix. Ranma and Ayumi? Hmmm... "Ayumi-kun, wait." Ranma nodded and went on ahead to wait by the gate. "I'm guessing you don't like this engagement much, either. Am I right?" "Well......" Tofu studied him. For all Ayumi's macho bravado and skill as a fighter, he could be a decent person if he had to be, although he wasn't as refined or mature as his two older brothers. "Ranma seems like a nice girl. Regardless of your parents' arrangement, couldn't you try to be friends with her?" "I don't know," Ayumi cast a glance at his iinazuke. "She's always overreacting and arguing, no matter what I do!" "You might be surprised, if you gave her a chance. She could just be one of the most compassionate, kindest girls you've ever met." "What? Compassion? Kindness? Where? Are you sure we're talking about the same girl here?" Disbelief filled Ayumi's voice. "Remember what I've said," chuckled the doctor. "Why not treat her with the same kind of respect you'd like to be given?" She gave Ayumi's lower back a quick pat. "I have a very good feeling about her." Ayumi was still skeptical. Hadn't she behaved basically the same tomboyish way since day one? If he let his guard down around her, she would only run over him, or something like that. She was the bad guy here! Then as he walked away from the clinic to join her, he could see her gentle features, not contorted by anger at him or anyone else. Her hands, not balled into fists. Soft brown eyes that complimented the color of her face and the black hair falling all around it. Her voice brought him back. "What was that all about?" "Not much," he answered. Time to rebuild the defenses. "She told me she felt sorry for me, being engaged to a bone-breaking tomboy like you." She didn't react. And here he'd prepared himself to fend her off. "Oh..." Her head lowered. Shouldn't she have punched him by now? He made an attempt to meet her gaze, but every time he tried Ranma looked the other way. Finally Ayumi had had enough. He grabbed the little white bow tied at the end of her pigtail of hair and pulled hard, forcing her back. "Hey, I was lying." She frowned. Good, he was making progress. "And you fell for it. What an *idiot*." A measure of indifference worked its way onto Ranma's face. The frown turned into a scowl. "What're you talking about, *brat*? You wanna get hurt again?" "Ha!" Ayumi stuck out his tongue. "Go ahead and try! You won't even get a nosebleed out of me!" "Nani yo!?" Ranma swung her backpack at him. He stepped back, laughing. Back within the relative safety of the clinic, Dr. Tofu put her cup of tea down long enough to check the clock on the wall. Three more seconds. At that precise instant Ayumi's legs decided to go on strike and buckled underneath him. The laughter died in his throat. When Ayumi failed to move from the same spot for several seconds Ranma moved closer to find out what was wrong. "What's the matter?" she asked, crouching in front of Ayumi, who was concerned with trying to get one leg or the other to budge. "I can't move them," he said at last. "My feet, my legs... I don't think I'm getting any feeling in my rear, either." The thought made Ranma cringe. "Why are you telling me this?" "She did this to me. I just know it!" "Tofu-sensei?" "Yeah! Right before I left... she gave me some kind of pat on the back. I didn't think much of it at the time, but... She must've put some kind of pressure-point whatsis on me." "Why?" <'You might be surprised, if you gave her a chance.'> Ayumi shook his head. "I don't know." "Whatever she did to you, I don't think it's permanent," Ranma helped him spread his legs out and examined them more closely. Tofu-sensei had the knowledge, all right, but she didn't strike Ranma as the type of person who would put that knowledge to ill use. She removed her backpack. "C'mon, I'll carry you home." "What!? You can't do that!" "Why not? Your legs are disabled!" Not one to give up easily, Ayumi placed both hands on the pavement behind him and started turning himself about. "As you can see, I'm perfectly capable of making it home on my own, so I don't need your help, thank you." She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You're actually thinking of walking home like that?" "Yes." "Have you ever done any *real* walking on your hands for a long time?" Ranma fell in beside him, keeping pace... which wasn't hard to do, considering he wasn't even moving at a speed of one mile per hour. "No... why?" "Your hands are gonna start hurting real soon. A lot sooner, because you're on pavement. And you can run over a sharp rock or glass without seeing it." Ayumi scoffed. "I didn't know you cared." "I don't, baka! I wanna know why you're so scared to let me carry you!" "I'm NOT scared!" he insisted adamantly. "I'm a guy. You know how embarrassed I'll be if someone sees me being carried home by you? I'll never be able to show my face at school again!" "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! You mean I'm not allowed to help because I'm a *girl*?" Ayumi kept quiet; he didn't feel like risking the loss of the rest of his body. "Wait - I've got a better idea," he heard Ranma say, and looked up at her. She took Ayumi's bookbag and emptied the contents of her backpack into it. "How about you don't show your face *now*?" Before Ayumi could ask what she was up to she fitted the backpack carefully around his head. "There!" Had bag-over-head jokes not been long overused, she might have considered one. Ranma could only imagine his expression inside the backpack. "This'll never work." "When did I ask you if it would work?" She bent down in order to shift Ayumi onto her back. "I'm going to carry you home on my back. We'll get there faster this way." "*Piggyback*? You really want to embarrass me, don't you?" The boy's voice was muffled slightly by the backpack. Thank goodness for that, at least. "Shut up," muttered Ranma. "You could use a little humility." Ayumi was silent for the rest of the trip. <'You might be surprised, if you gave her a chance. She could just be one of the most compassionate, kindest girls you've ever met.'> ** ** ** Within the gates of the Tendo residence the following morning, Genma and his daughter ran through the current variation on their morning warm-up. They crossed paths in midair directly over the small koi pond, not too far from the family room. Trading blows in such a manner provided an element of danger, a potential risk. It wasn't the same as fighting over, say, a bed of razor-sharp spikes or a raging blaze, yet the Saotome family liked to believe they took on whatever challenges they were handed head-on. It hadn't been that long since their quest for a suitable challenge took them through the cursed training grounds of Jhusenkyou. Both Genma and Ranma had learned to adjust to fighting in their alternate, cursed forms. It was more or less only an inconvenience now, particularly for Ranma. At school she had to adhere to their dress code; there was far more chance for embarrassment if she happened to be splashed with cold water while wearing clothes obviously meant for a girl. Not a boy... Ha, and they said the teenage years were rough! Bet none of them ever had to go to school while suffering from a Jhusenkyou curse. Genma successfully blocked her kick with his leg. Early on there had been a time in Ranma's life where her father either underestimated her or went easy on her because, well, she was a girl. No longer. If Genma fought her, it would be for real. She preferred it that way, although a desire to get back at her father for all the trouble he'd put her through all these years had a bearing on her fights with him. Guess this was how he would treat a son, she supposed. Both fighters were dimly aware of a voice asking for their attentions. "Breakfast is ready!" Genma caught hold of the leg Ranma hadn't yet retracted, pinching it between both his feet in a scissors-lock and proceeded to turn himself into dead weight. "Thank you. We'll be in in a minute, Kasuga." Ranma struggled to free herself from the hold, but to no avail. Her father pulled her down into the water. Kasuga sighed, walking back to the kitchen. It looked like it was going to be another normal day in the Tendo household. Genma the panda took a long, slurping sip from his bowl of miso soup. Once the elder Saotome had convinced Kasuga that he could eat Human food even as a panda Kasuga agreed to fix normal meals for him regardless of Genma's form. Naka had been secretly relieved as well - he didn't feel like having to add crates of bamboo shoots to the family's expense list. Or explain to anyone why they needed them. Pets were not an easy luxury to come by. As a panda Genma mostly lounged around the house and otherwise did everything the same as he would in his proper form, right down to his infrequent shogi matches with Soun. He had even figured out a way to communicate while unable to speak, by scrawling words on little wooden signs he had gone to the trouble of putting together out of scrap wood. Since he actually moved around very little, he could afford to keep a small stash of signs handy to write on. [I'm starting a new job today,] his newest sign read. "A job?" Ranma couldn't believe her eyes. Unlike Genma, she had taken the time to revert back to her true form and dress for school before coming to breakfast. Already she was giving thought to keeping an insulated container of hot water with her everywhere she went, just in case. But Saotome Genma, work? Most of the time he came into money by winning it from gambling, or weaseling his way into a good deal. she amended. "Don't tell me you're using my zoo idea, Dad..." [No, I'm not!] Unknown to either Saotome, Naka was enjoying the banter. At least Mr. Saotome planned to pull his own - *ahem* - weight around here rather than sit around, eat, sleep and whatever else the giant panda did all day. And why did his father never say anything? "I think you *both* belong in a zoo," Ayumi offered in between bites of his breakfast. "Or, yeah, the circus! 'See the amazing double-gender tomboy freak!'" The girl settled for giving him a glare of pure ice. "Ayumi, what have I told you about the name-calling?" warned Kasuga. Some people... Why was Ayumi doing his best to keep a rift in between him and Ranma? It was no secret that neither Ayumi nor Ranma liked their predicament much, but Ayumi was going beyond the expected levels of displeasure. "Oh... before I forget, Ayumi, could you drop something off at Dr. Tofu's for me after school?" He left the room momentarily, returning with a book. "Please?" Only Ranma thought she understood Ayumi's sudden hesitation at the suggestion. "I... might not have the time, Kasuga." A lie, and both he and Ranma knew it. "Oh?" Kasuga turned his attention to the others in the room. "Oh, well, I suppose it can't be helped. Naka, how about you?" "Busy," Naka said through a mouthful of fish and rice. That left few choices for Kasuga; he didn't wish to impose on his father and Mr. Saotome, and Ranma? She usually waited for Ayumi and walked with him, so if Ayumi wasn't able to go... "Ayumi? I can arrange it so you'll have to go," offered Ranma. In anger Ayumi slammed his hands down on the table and got to his feet. "Come *on*, Ranma. We'll be late!" Before Ranma could check the time on her wristwatch Ayumi took hold of her pigtail and yanked her out of the room. Naka checked both the clock on the wall behind him and his watch. "They've still got forty-seven minutes!" Kasuga thought. It wasn't so easy to tell with Ayumi and Ranma, anymore. It was, quite possibly, one of the best days Nerima had seen of late - at least in terms of weather. Not a dark cloud in the sky, no freak rainstorms, nothing planned in the weather forecasts. Of course, neither Ayumi nor his companion paid attention to the forecasts, so it wouldn't have meant much to either of them to begin with. He didn't particularly care how fast he was running, or that he ran fast enough to keep the girl he pulled along by her pigtail airborne like the tail of a kite. "Wait! Ayumi!" He ignored her. "What's the rush?" Why did she insist on butting in? *Why*? Make her his iinazuke and she sticks her nose into his social and private lives! Had he not told her time and time again to mind her own business? He kept running until they reached the open school gates and swerved into the area just behind the gates. "Well, Ranma?" fumed Ayumi, pushing her against the wall by her collar. "What's it gonna take to get you to shut up?" "You'll have to be a bit more specific than that." "You know what I'm talking about! Quit trying to--" All at once the Tendo boy realized the morning crowd had filed in behind him to wait. And here he was forcing Ranma against the wall as though he were going to do something unthinkable to her... Ayumi released her collar and turned to face the new threat. "What're you looking at?" Ranma voiced, not yet prepared for the fight of the hour. Good old Ranma, always on the defensive. "Come on, which one of you wants to be the first to fight?" Ayumi readied himself. As if on cue, all the boys - even the ones whose faces were hidden behind masks - began to cry, tears streaming down their cheeks. "We have come to say that our fight with you is now over. Your engagement to Saotome Ranma effectively removes you from Kunou-sempai's declaration!" wondered Ranma. Ayumi apparently wasn't satisfied. "What's this all about? Is this some sort of trick?" "It is no trick, I assure you," the boys' appointed speaker replied. "We merely wish for the two of you to be happy." Ayumi glanced sidelong at Ranma. "Hmph," came a noticeably muffled voice. "You believe that Tendo Ayumi and Saotome Ranma have bested Kunou Tatewaki. If that is true, then you are a fool. It is nothing but a lie spread to save face!" It was, without a doubt, the great, eloquent Kunou, looking for all the world like a bandaged mummy underneath his samurai's robes. Only his hair and eyes peeked out from the bandages that covered his chest, neck and head... although most of those doubted covering his eyes would make much of a difference. "I can NEVER be defeated!" The crowd watched him for a second before giving their collective attention back to Ayumi and Ranma. "He used to be the strongest here..." "...and at the same time, the worst pervert..." "How *dare* you call me a pervert!" Kunou addressed the boy who had made the comment. The boy withdrew. "I always thought *you* were the biggest pervert around here," Ranma whispered in an aside to Ayumi. "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that," Ayumi whispered back. Kunou began unwrapping the bandages from around his head. "I, on the other hand, will never give up!" He let the cloth bandages settle around his neck, revealing the prints from Ranma's sneakers from the day before still imprinted upon him. "As you can undoubtedly see, I cannot and have not been defeated by the attacks of that worthless coward, Tendo Ayumi!" "Who's a coward?" The word grated on Ayumi's nerves. It came so freely to the swordsman's lips and mind, what little of it existed. Unlike *defeat*, which Kunou believed was thoroughly impossible for him and therefore never took place. "Can't you get it through your thick skull? You lost! Again and again!" Though, Ayumi had to admit he *hadn't* won that last fight against Kunou - Ranma never allowed him that luxury. It came as a bit of a surprise to Ayumi when Kunou disregarded him and went straight to Ranma. "My dear girl, you've come!" he sobbed, taking her hands in his. "How you must suffer in Tendo Ayumi's presence!" Ranma thought about the words for a second. "Well..." "*Ranma*!" Ayumi exclaimed. Again, Kunou paid no attention to him. "Your fate and mine are intertwined, young Ranma. Our second date--" Wait - *second* date? When had they gone on a *first*? "Memories are fleeting... It seems I was mistaken." "In truth, we have been on *three*." Ranma kicked him in the face again, this time leaving a vertical print against the two horizontal footprints already there. The swordsman fell over with a satisfying crash. "Guess that's that, then!" The morning crew departed. "Best wishes to the both of you!" Ayumi led Ranma away, grimacing. "Uh, yeah... whatever." ** ** ** Afternoon bells signaled the beginning of the Physical Education class for Ayumi and Ranma's homeroom. Ayumi took to the high bar, swinging as gracefully up and over as his abilities allowed. Form wasn't on his side; but then he preferred to have talent and skill first, before appearance. He landed solidly, both feet placed together. "Well done, Tendo. Next?" Elsewhere on the field, not too far from where the boys were being tested, was the softball diamond where the girls were engaged in a game. Ayumi knew Ranma was there, somewhere. He heard the sounds of the game drifting toward them as he took a seat next to two familiar faces, Daisuke and Hiroshi. "Ayumi..." sang Hiroshi. Ayumi raised an eyebrow. Now what? "You've had plenty of time to get intimate with Ranma. So come on, tell us all about it!" "What?" "You're engaged to her! You couldn't have gotten that far without doing *something*, right?" Daisuke leaned in close. Ayumi realized they were attempting to double-team him. He should have known they were going to start in on this sooner or later... "I've done nothing." "Yeah, right! Look at her! She's a babe!" Ayumi followed Hiroshi's finger out to the softball diamond, where Ranma had leaped high into the air to catch the ball for the final out of the inning. "A *baby*, you mean." "Change!!" As Ranma's team walked to the batter's box, Ayumi watched her teammates congratulating her. Though Ayumi couldn't quite see it from where he sat, her hair was somewhat mussed and her P.E. uniform - cream-colored sleeveless shirt and crimson bloomers, as all the other girls wore - a little dirty from the game. She was having fun, and her beaming smile struck a chord in him... He suddenly realized he could almost hear the pounding of his heart. he told himself. "How can you say that? She really is cute!" "She's *not* cute. She's nothing but a violent tomboy and a--" Ayumi never sensed the foul ball coming until it had buried itself deep in his right cheek. Ironically, Ranma had been the one to hit the ball the wrong way... his way, as if she knew he was insulting her again. She stood at home plate, still holding the bat, a look of shock on her face not quite matching those of the other girls on the field. "I thought you were supposed to be a hot-shot martial artist or something, Ayumi," Hiroshi remarked, innocently enough. "Why didn't you dodge or catch the ball?" The ball fell to the ground. "I was preoccupied, okay?" "Are you sure you're okay? It doesn't still hurt, does it?" No response. Ayumi kept walking, not even acknowledging her question... or look. She wasn't exactly eager to look his way, either. She'd done it again. Every time she tried to be a normal girl, something bad happened. "Mou...! Haven't I apologized enough already?" The face of a familiar panda awaited them outside the entrance to Dr. Tofu's clinic. "I don't believe it," murmured Ayumi. "Dad? You break a bone lying around the house?" The panda waved the snide comment aside and continued to sweep the leaves off the walkway. "Don't you get it, baka? This must be the job he was talking about this morning." Suddenly the bandage covering his wound felt like a lead weight. Dr. Tofu's timely appearance saved Ayumi from the wrath of another glare. Ranma had developed a glare for every occasion anyway, and if she didn't glare at him now, she would save it up and glare at him later. "Ah, Ayumi, Ranma. Coming home from school?" Dr. Tofu came to examine the panda's work. "Good job, good job. I don't suppose you've met my new employee, Mr. Saotome?" she turned to ask the home-bound pair. "Oh, really? He's your father, Ranma? I didn't realize that." Tofu tended to the instant hot tea-maker as Ayumi took a seat on a wheeled examination stool. She grinned, eyes partially hidden by her thin glasses. "You two don't resemble each other." "Now, what happened to your face, Ayumi-kun?" "I got hit with a ball during P.E. class," Ayumi gave the plate of rice balls Mr. Saotome carried in a dubious once-over. On request, he removed the bandage so the doctor could get a better look at the bruise. "You've been in here a lot lately. Hmm... wait here; I have some medicine that should help." Shortly after she ducked into the storeroom, the phone rang. "Ah... would you mind getting that for me, Mr. Saotome?" Genma answered the phone. The way he held the receiver to his head suggested instinct, for neither end of the receiver met his panda ear or mouth. Ranma closed her eyes and sighed, at Genma's attempts to give the panda equivalent of "Hello?" "Here, I'll do it." Ayumi took the phone. "Hello? Sorry to keep you waiting." Ranma took the opportunity to give her father a glancing blow to the arm - as she believed he had far too much padding protecting most everything else as a panda. "You know you can't talk like that!" Honestly, what use was he in this line of work if he couldn't talk and took up far too much space? "Yes, I understand. Bye..." Ayumi slowly placed the phone back on the cradle, then headed for the door. "Umm, I think I should come back later." "What about your bruise...?" Ranma's voice was unreadable. "It's just a bruise. It's not going anywhere." No offense to Ranma, but he *had* to get out of here, right now... "So why not get it taken care of now, while you're here?" "Not now, Ranma." "C'mon," she insisted. "You can tell me. Do you have a crush on Tofu-sensei?" "No way! She's an older woman and she's in love with someone..." "The person on the phone?" "Yeah. He's on his way here......" Ayumi's voice trailed away. The door at the front of the clinic slid open to let an elderly man through, pulling himself along with the aid of a metal cane. "Please excuse me..." "*That's* the guy?" Ranma felt a cold shiver coming on. "Tofu-sensei's got weird tastes in men..." "Idiot! That *isn't* him!" "Then who...?" "Stick around. You'll find out." Kasuga strolled through the outskirts of the shopping district, a small box of take-out fast food in one hand, the book he had borrowed from Dr. Tofu in the other. "Hello, Kasuga-kun," one of the shopowners greeted him as he passed. "Out for the day?" "Yes. I thought I'd run some errands and then return this book to Doctor Tofu." The shopowner waited until Kasuga turned onto another street to let his anxiety show. Kasuga was planning to visit the Doctor's office? Everyone must be warned... (...to be continued...) ---------- Credits: Written by: Mike Koos Pre-readers: Richard Beaubien, David Wills, Tom Williams With apologies to Rumiko Takahashi... All parts of this series are available at the RAAC archives at ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works or from my WWW pages at http://www.fanfic.net/~makoto/ Comments and questions welcome. * Mike ('Kino Makoto') Koos: makoto@cal.net * http://www.fanfic.net/~makoto * * "I can do nothing to stop you. Your background music is too strong * for me." - Sam Johnson, Whose Line is it Anyway?