Most everyone in the Nerima district of Tokyo awoke Sunday morning to rain. A downpour, in fact. It had been wet since the middle of the night and showed no signs of tapering off for a time to come. Waking up to such weather was nothing new to anyone who lived in the area; the worst reaction was to curse the bad weather and move on. Of course, most people didn't have Jhusenkyou curses to worry about. Excess water spilled slowly over the edges of the koi pond in the Tendo garden. Fortunately, the small koi that lived there had sense enough to stay put, as did the inhabitants of the house. Upstairs, Ranma lay buried underneath her covers, asleep and fully intent on staying dead to the world. P-chan rested comfortably under one of Ranma's arms. She woke, cast a glance up at Ranma to see that her 'owner' was still asleep, and resettled herself to go back to sleep. She wouldn't have long to do so... for the relatively tranquil peace of the room was about to be destroyed in a by-now common manner. "RANMA!!" her father burst through the door. After she had pulled herself down from the ceiling, Ranma threw her pillow at him. "Don't you *EVER* knock!? You're supposed to make sure a girl is decent before you come in, at the very least!" "Quit whining, Ranma! You shame me with your poor behavior!" the head of the Saotome family folded his arms. To everyone except Ranma the pose made him appear somewhat intimidating and formidable. "Why don't you SHUT UP, old man!?" yelled Ranma. She had looked forward to being able to sleep in whenever she could. They'd shelved their morning training workouts, because frankly, Genma was too lazy to get up each morning for the sake of practice, now that he lived the good life rent-free in a real home. "I really hope you haven't come in here just to give me another stupid lecture." Genma's stern authoritative expression didn't change. "I wanted to inform you that Kasuga-kun has fallen quite ill and will be staying in bed until he gets better--" "Oh?" Ranma's voice went from anger and sarcasm to concern. "That's terrible! What does he have?" "Until that time, as the only girl in this household and the only other person with the necessary skills, it is your responsibility to take over as the housekeeper." Wait. Had she heard that right? "What!?" she asked in complete disbelief. "You are a girl. And, as Ayumi-kun's iinazuke, it is your duty to be able to assume all of the household duties and be a faithful wife." By now, Ranma was fuming. "If you want a Saotome to marry that weirdo pervert so badly..." She proceeded to place-kick her father out through her door. "THEN WHY DON'T *YOU* MARRY HIM!!?" Downstairs, Soun sat at his established place at the family room table, reading the daily newspaper without concern for the abrupt commotion upstairs. Since the arrival of the Saotome father-and-daughter duo, such disturbances weren't unusual early in the morning. Ayumi and Naka, meanwhile, sat closer to the other end of the table. Naka rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. "Guess this means Ranma's awake," he said, nonchalantly. Undaunted, Genma marched back into Ranma's room. "And what about that stuff about my training?" Ranma asked, before he could say anything. "You want me to give all that up for your *convenience*?" "Of course not! You've done this exact same thing all your life! You have done all the housekeeping and cooking, while managing to keep up with all your lessons." "I didn't have a choice! It wasn't like YOU were going to do any of the work! Now you want me to do the same thing for *six* people instead of two?" growled Ranma. "Ranma, I must remind you that you are a girl. Your role in life is to gladly accept all of these tasks in addition to any others. Plus, as my daughter, you must always show me the proper respect. As a student of the Saotome class of martial arts, I know you'll be able to overcome this and every other challenge handed to you..." Finally, Ranma had had enough of the speech. She kicked her father out the *opposite* end of the room - through her window! Genma flew outward until he reached the koi pond, at which point he sank like a stone. Seconds later, a wet panda surfaced from the pond. Odd that the rain by itself hadn't changed him... but then, he'd been thrown through it too fast to let a significant amount land on him. He wondered in passing whether the fish enjoyed having a giant panda present in the small pond with them. Destiny's Wish Part Sixteen: Prelude to a Storm written by Mike Koos -------------------------------- Naka turned a frown of contempt on the panda towel-drying himself off in the far corner of the family room. "Do you *have* to do that here?" The panda only looked at him indifferently for a few seconds and then went right back to what he had been doing. Naka sighed, returning to the table. "Ayumi? You know if Ranma's cooking is any good?" Ranma had reluctantly agreed to cook breakfast... after complaining that the entire household would fall apart without anyone to cook for it. Except, possibly for Naka, who had enough sense and money to go out to eat when necessary. "I don't know," Ayumi shrugged. "She's never cooked for any of us, remember?" Privately, Ayumi had to admit to a few misgivings about the whole idea of Ranma preparing their meals for them. A girl who had spent most of her life on the road training in the martial arts was expected to cook and clean for everyone? Worse, this was the girl everyone expected him to live with for the rest of his life. They expected her to be his wife - to take care of all household duties in their house - even though Ranma would never agree to play that role. Ayumi still couldn't picture himself married. On those rare occasions when he could, he had a difficult time imagining a marriage to anyone who would be submissive. No, they'd force him into a relationship with an overly independent tomboy of a girl, curse notwithstanding. Neither of them had been given the opportunity to choose who they wanted to marry - or if they wanted to marry! And now, they were stuck with someone else's decision... She felt somewhat miserable and knew exactly why. In the kitchen, Ranma had wasted no time in laying out everything she needed in neat little rows. After that, she had decided to stand there and stare at it all for a while. She sighed. Unless her mother had been anything like her father, which she doubted. She couldn't imagine Genma remaining married for long to a woman who refused to let him have his way, much less long enough to have children. P-chan noticed from her seat atop the formica counter the single wistful tear that rolled down Ranma's cheek. Why was Ranma crying? She normally held in her tears unless she had a truly emotional reason to cry. P-chan didn't think cooking was reason enough; it had to be something else buried within Ranma. It was a first for the little pig... being in a kitchen with no danger of being part of an upcoming meal. From Mr. Saotome's account, at least, Ranma was supposed to be a fair cook, so the chances of an accident were small. "I guess we'd better get started, huh, P-chan?" Ranma forced a weak smile. Her pet gave a short squeal in reply. She walked over to the cabinet where the aprons were kept and opened the door slowly. Well, if she was going to make breakfast, it wouldn't do to risk getting it all over her, now, would it? First on the left was the simple apron Kasuga always used... a cheerful design, one that featured a baby chick walking with the words "Piyo Piyo" painted above it. Out of respect for the eldest Tendo boy, she moved on to the next apron. Hmm... too new, as was the apron after that. She'd hoped to find an apron that was fairly worn and wasn't Kasuga's favorite. If she approached cooking with the attitude that virtually anything could happen... well, why not be prepared for the worst? There. The very last apron in the row, a weathered old number. Frayed blue trim... the remnants of a sunflower pattern wearing away. The best one for the job! Decent fit, too. She hurriedly tied the apron's straps behind her back. "Okay!" Ranma said in confidence. "No problem. I can do this. All I need to do is adjust the portions for more people. Right, P-chan?" She chuckled to no one in particular. Saotome Ranma, the second most powerful student of or heir to the exclusive Saotome class of martial arts - whichever way one chose to view it - housemaid to an entire family. The thought brought a smirk to her face and an even louder laugh. ** ** ** "Be sure to call and order yours today for the low, low price of only 2,000 yen! We can't guarantee this awesome price for much longer! So--" Click. Naka changed the channel. No point in watching such a desperate pitch. Some people just didn't know how to sell anything. Oh, well. There had to be something better on... if Ranma took much longer with breakfast, it wouldn't *be* breakfast! Ayumi watched his older brother flip through each of the channels and back. "Can I put in a video game?" "No." Naka felt a low rumbling in his stomach as he shut off the television. He fixed Ayumi with a stern gaze. "She's *your* iinazuke. Can't you go in there and tell her to hurry up?" "Yeah, if I wanna get hit in the face with a frying pan." Naka raised an eyebrow. "It'd help those looks of yours." That earned a snort from his brother. "Hey, if you're so anxious to eat, why don't you just go in there and complain?" Because Naka knew Ranma wasn't above punching him, if he angered her. She'd wanted to do so ever since she learned he had sold slightly suggestive pictures of her to her biggest fan, Kunou Tatewaki. Maybe she wasn't carrying a grudge after all... but Naka also knew not to give Ranma a reason to start using him as a punching bag. Unlike Ayumi, he wasn't trained to take a punch. Or more, for that matter. "No reason." "I'll bet," Ayumi snorted again. Naka turned around to find the panda sitting in front of the television. [Turn the TV back on, please.] Naka crashed to the floor in disbelief, then regained his composure. "Why don't you just push the *on switch* in front of you, Mr. Saotome?" he asked through his teeth. "Or better yet, why don't you go in the kitchen and see what's taking Ranma so long? You're her father..." Naka added, mentally. The panda grinned. [Do it yourself.] Left to himself, Soun was in the process of reading the last of the daily newspaper. The only members of the family not present in the family room were Kasuga, Ranma and her pet pig. Everyone else was bickering... which was what the family room was primarily used for at present. But then, that was to be expected in a household with five men and one independent girl. Could Ranma be counted among the boys? She did have that curse, after all. "Sorry to keep you waiting!" Speaking of the cursed girl... Ranma entered the room, holding a tray filled with plates of food and five empty plates. She sat at the table and began serving. [What took you so long?] Genma scribbled a sign for her to read. She glared at him yet kept dishing out portions of rice, fish and vegetables for everyone. Once she had put together a plate for everyone else - except P-chan, who had managed to disappear between the kitchen and the family room - she sat back in order to see what the others thought of her cooking. Warily, they turned their gazes in unison from Ranma's bright, hopeful expression to the innocent-looking food on their plates. Was it safe to eat? Ranma was a skilled enough cook who made her food *appear* edible... Ranma forced a cheerful tone. "C'mon, let's eat! I know you've gotta be hungry..." That did little to inspire their confidence, unfortunately. Then they noticed the panda wolfing down his breakfast. Genma may have had a cast-iron stomach, but if he had no problem eating the food, that must mean it would be tolerable for the rest of them. But first, they needed to pick a guinea pig. Soun and Naka stared expectantly at Ayumi. So did Ranma, for a different reason. Ayumi sighed, swallowed his pride - not an easy task, admittedly - ultimately placing a small amount of Ranma's creations in his mouth. With every chew the tension in the room grew stronger. All eyes on the room were on him. Couldn't they see how nervous they were making him? It would be all their fault if anything went down the wrong pipe... of course, Ranma's cooking could get him either way. He swallowed. Was it just him, or could everyone hear that? "Hey - this isn't bad!" The tomboy really *did* know how to cook, after all! "Really? You really think so?" Ranma's sharp intake of breath betrayed her thoughts. She had let her hopes rise, unsure if everyone would appreciate her cooking. [Can I have more?] wrote Genma. Soun was the second to finish his meal. With a surprising burst of strength and tears spilling from his eyes, Soun dashed to where Ranma sat to embrace the startled girl. "Ranma, my dear... you're like the daughter I never had." Ranma blushed. "Uh... um......" she hesitated. "Maybe you should consider helping with the cooking and housework more often. I'm sure Kasuga would appreciate your help--" Soun's voice trailed away, as his eyes came to rest on the apron Ranma still wore. Soon all that was left in the room were the sounds of the panda gulping down the remainder of his meal after the Ayumi and Naka fell silent. [What?] "What's the matter? What's with the silence?" Ranma asked once a handful of seconds of silence passed. "That apron." Naka pointed. "That apron was Mom's favorite apron." "Oh...... Oh, no..." Embarrassed, Ranma lowered her head, joining the others in not saying a word. ** ** ** Kasuga heard a sharp yet reluctant knocking at his bedroom door. "Who... is it?" he spoke up, making sure to get a dry cough out of his system first. "...It's me," stated Ranma. "I brought you some food and thought I'd see how you're doing." "Thank you. Come in." Kasuga sat up in bed as Ranma opened the door. It wasn't easy to do so; if he moved anything other than his eyes he risked another burst of muscle pain. "Are you all right?" Ranma set the tray of food down on Kasuga's nightstand and rushed to brace Kasuga. "Yes," he reassured her. The damp washcloth covering his forehead finally fell into his lap. Ranma retrieved the cloth, then set the tray in its place. "Here. Let me take care of that." Though it hurt somewhat, Kasuga turned his head to watch her leave the room. "I see you took off the apron?" She stopped cold, her hand still gripping part of the door frame. "How... did you know about the apron?" "Naka came by a little while ago and told me what happened." Ranma lowered her head and arms to her side again in embarrassment. "Please, don't trouble yourself over it. You had no way of knowing." Kasuga paused, sampling some of the food. "While we're on the subject, you're welcome to help with the housework any time you wish. In fact, Father's idea about you helping on a regular basis sounds like a good idea." He definitely could benefit from someone else's help - the rest of the household crew rarely assisted him with anything beyond the occasional minor task. Ayumi and Naka were at an age where they felt they had much better things to do than help anyone cook or clean. Father and Mr. Saotome were polite, but dodged responsibilities more often than the rest. Then there was Ranma, a tomboy who secretly wanted to be able to live the life of a normal, average girl as long as no one forced her to do so. She was the only hope for help in a household that could possibly fall apart without Kasuga to take care of all the chores. The cursed girl was unsure how to respond. "I've been told you've done the same kind of work most of your life when you lived alone with your father. Given the chance, I'm sure you'll do fine. Just think of it as another martial-arts challenge, if that helps," Kasuga said, weakly and in between coughs. Ranma frowned. "That's what Dad said." Could Genma have been right, for once? ** ** ** Naka found Ranma in her bedroom. She had just finished changing to her faithful, worn two-piece Chinese outfit - the one with the button-up shirt and long black canvas pants. "Going out?" Naka asked her. It was the middle of the afternoon now; the rain had died down but could start again at any time. Ranma dressed in the clothes she wore now whenever there was a high chance it would rain while she was out in public. She could be changed into a boy and not look out of place as she would if she wore her normal clothes. She knew the curse was her main source of embarrassment. That was good, for Ranma would never forgive herself if she allowed herself to become comfortable with being cursed. Especially this particular curse. There was a cure out there, somewhere, and she'd vowed that she would find it, someday. "Yeah. I'm going down to the market to pick up some stuff for dinner. You seen Ayumi around anywhere?" "No, but if I see him I'll tell him you're looking for him," Naka shrugged. "Why do you want to know where he is?" Ranma showed a hint of a smile. "I need someone to help carry everything. Unless you wanna come along..." Naka backed away. "Me? No way! I... think I'll go see if I can find Ayumi." He left Ranma there, her lips widening into a broader smirk. As was the case with Ranma, Ayumi was in his room at the other end of the hall. He had shut himself in... what else was there to do? It made perfect sense to stay indoors, what with the off-and-on rain and all. Tendo Ayumi may not have had a Jhusenkyou curse, though that didn't mean he *wanted* to trudge around outside when it rained. He'd bought a new paperback novel on his way home from school Saturday afternoon. With any luck, he'd be able to read through the first two chapters before anything crazy conspired to take him away from reading. "Ayumi!" Naka barged into the room. Ayumi sat up, tossing the book over his shoulder. "So much for that idea." He hadn't even made it through the first *page*. "What do you want?" "I thought I should warn you--" "How much am I gonna have to pay you for this warning?" Ayumi narrowed his eyes. "I'm shocked. What makes you think I would charge my own younger brother for anything?" Ayumi made a face. "Hmm, I wonder..." "Hanging around Ranma's made you too paranoid, little brother." "Uh-huh. So what did you come in here for?" Naka cleared his throat and picked up where he had left off. "Ranma's looking for you. She wants you to go with her to the market." "Aww, man!" Ayumi protested, walking over to the bedroom door to make sure it was closed. "Why do *I* have to go? It's not like she needs anyone else to go with her! Kasuga goes by himself all the time, so the tomboy can go by herself!" Of course, it would have been a better idea *not* to have raised his voice while standing near the door. The next thing he knew, his door was kicked open, causing him to start in surprise. Scowling, Ranma yanked Ayumi out of the air and dragged him away. "I guess that's one way to do it," smirked Naka. ** ** ** "I still don't see what you need me along for." Ayumi was doing his best not to look Ranma's way while she led him through the streets of the marketplace, stopping occasionally to give something a closer examination. Ranma picked out an arrangement of green onions and paid for them. "We're almost out of everything. I needed someone to tag along to help carry everything. Besides, I'm buying a few extras for a new dish I wanna try." She grinned, handing the small bag of onions to Ayumi, who had to shift it among the bags he already held to keep it away from his eyes. he sighed to himself. He would have complained were his arms not full of groceries. Ayumi was aware he wouldn't get far arguing with her while having to worry about an armload of food. Ranma would easily be able to beat the you-know-what out of him, then... "Did I hear you right? You're going to *experiment* with a new dish?" "Yeah. What of it?" Ayumi blinked. "Well...... you might be good at cooking the stuff you know, but how are you at the stuff you don't know? I've seen how you take to new things..." She turned to face him. "What's that supposed t'mean? You don't know how I take to new things!" "Oh? What about the 'Combat Gymnastics' stuff?" "That wasn't exactly new!" Ranma said through her teeth, trying not to let her voice rise too high. Ayumi shrugged - in as much as he could with his burden. "Whatever." "Is that so? And what about your skating debut? As I recall, you couldn't even stand up!" She had him on that point. "Just my luck to be stuck with such an uncute tomboy." Ranma turned her back to him once more so that he wouldn't see her smirk. "And mine to be stuck with a hentai pervert like you." "Hmph," Ayumi snorted. They'd long since grown used to using these names against each other that the insults came easily to them whether the intent was true or not. As a result it was becoming harder for observers to tell when they were seriously fighting or not. Ayumi remained silent for a while. Eventually, Ranma ran out of space to hold everything in Ayumi's arms and moved on to using her own. He found little comfort in that fact; Ranma had attempted to force as many bags into his arms as possible before giving up. Thank goodness they weren't out shopping for larger, heavier and more solid objects which Ranma wouldn't be as careful about damaging... "So, you've been taking care of the household chores all your life?" he attempted to break the silence. What a stupid question to ask - of course she had! Mr. Saotome was far too lazy to commit to physical labor when he could get others to take care of it for him. Still, Ayumi found it hard to believe that Ranma would give in to household work so freely, given the tomboy's nature. Ranma absently nodded. "Don't worry... just a few more things and we're done." "Great. So what did you have to do around the house?" "Everything. You name it... dishes, laundry, cooking, scrubbing the floors and bathrooms by hand... You ever had to do any of that?" "Not really," admitted Ayumi. "Mom took care of most of the chores. When she... died, Kasuga took over. I was too young to do much of anything." Ranma looked at him for several seconds. "You really miss her, don't you?" "Of course I do," the Tendo boy nearly snapped, but thought better of it. "I got to know her the least before she left us." He allowed his thoughts to drift momentarily. "...Now, I've dedicated my martial-arts studies to her," Ayumi added, as though the two thoughts were supposed to easily fit together. "What was your mother like?" Ranma had never had the chance to get to know her mother; she had been taken away from her home and mother at an early age. "I'm not completely sure. I remember she was gentle, and kind...... everyone liked her a lot..." Ayumi fell silent again. But he wouldn't remain that way for long. He felt a couple of drops of rain fall on his exposed forearm. "Ranma! It's starting to--" That was when the downpour began. Ranma's body changed gender before his eyes. "--rain." Now male, Ranma scowled. "I hate this curse." ** ** ** After returning home Ranma rushed upstairs to the bath room. Without removing his shirt, he turned the hot water for the shower on full-blast and shoved his head underneath the rushing water, yanking it back out as soon as the transformation was complete. Ranma turned the water off, shaking her head back and forth to rid herself of some of the excess water and let out a depressed sigh. One of these days she'd have to figure out the exact temperatures needed to trigger the transformations, even if that meant she had to do so by dumping a lot of hot and cold water on her father. Who better to be a guinea pig? That plan would be best saved until a later time... say, for example, if Genma woke her up early on a Sunday morning again... She made a stop in her room to change clothes to a T-shirt and pair of denim cutoffs, then bounded down the stairs three at a time, running to the kitchen. Okay, time to start dinner - not to mention her small 'experiment.' She peeled each of her vegetable purchases free of their soggy paper sacks, making a mental note never again to go grocery shopping when there was a chance of rain. Fortunately, nothing seemed damaged. A fleeting thought occurred to her. Where had P-chan gone to? All she had to do was set P-chan down for a few minutes in order for the pig to disappear for a few weeks. Ranma closed her eyes and sighed. Oh, well; she guessed it couldn't be helped. The only other thing was to keep P-chan on a leash, which Ranma viewed as cruelty to animals. No matter where the little pig went, however, she always returned home, eventually. Ranma was aware her pet had a tendency to get lost rather easily... like Ryomi, but Ranma liked to believe P-chan had a much better sense of direction than Ryomi. After all, she saw P-chan much more often than she saw Ryomi, didn't she? After carefully sorting through the array of raw materials Ranma set to preparing the evening's meal. The remaining four members of the household had again converged within the family room in anticipation of dinner. Soun was currently playing a dedicated game of shogi against the elder Saotome, who had yet to change back to his proper form. No one knew why they insisted on doing this to pass the time - since each game more often than not ended with Genma cheating his way through the game. Ayumi had commandeered the television for a different game - one of the one-on-one fighting video games that Naka didn't care for at all... more so, since Naka had wanted to use the television to watch something else. "It's my turn to use the TV, Ayumi! My show's on!" Ayumi kept his eyes on the screen. "You can wait for the tape or laserdisc versions to come out." "We don't HAVE an LD player, dummy! I don't want to wait that long!" Naka tried an unexpected new tactic: pushing the game system's Reset button. "Hey!" exclaimed his brother. "I was almost at the end!" Rather than allow this argument to lapse into a childish exchange, Naka felt it was time to chide Ayumi about his trip to the market with Ranma. "Oh, I almost forgot. Did you enjoy going to the market, alone, with Ranma, little brother?" Genma raised another scribbled sign to the light before Ayumi could respond. [A date? At last...] "It was NOT a date!" Ayumi snatched the sign away from Genma, throwing it out the door into the garden. "She just forced me to go buy some vegetables with her even though I didn't want to, that's all!" "Oh, come on," Naka grinned. It was the kind of grin he used when he wanted to let others know they were in extremely deep trouble. "You mean you don't know that going to the market's one of the most romantic things a boy and a girl can do?" Soun blinked. "It is?" "He's lying, Dad." Ayumi started a new game. "There's nothing romantic about the market." Naka couldn't believe Ayumi had left him with such a good opening. "So you're now an expert on romance? I'll bet you and Ranma are going on all sorts of romantic dates and everything when we're not watching." He then proceeded to tell a story about how two longtime lovers met at a produce booth - both reaching for the same vegetable at the exact same time. First their hands met, then their eyes, and... "Shut *up*, Naka!" "Ayumi, you and Ranma have been together for quite some time now. When are you going to... show some interest in her?" "Naka!" Ayumi said, aghast. Both Soun and Genma nodded in unison to indicate that they also wanted to know the answer to Naka's question. "Not that my love life's any of YOUR business, but you're NOT going to force me and Ranma together if I can help it! Stop trying to--" "Trying to what?" asked Ranma innocently. Ayumi nearly hit the ceiling in utter surprise. When had she entered the room? More importantly, how much had she heard? "Er, nothing!" he forced an extremely uneasy laugh. "Nothing! We weren't talking about anything important." "It sounded like you were arguing." She looked at Soun, her father and Naka for clues, though none of them would meet her gaze. "Oh, *that*," Ayumi made a rather pathetic attempt to conceal his uneasiness. "Naka and I were just arguing over the game." At least that had a small grain of truth to it. Ranma saw that Ayumi's game was currently paused on the television screen. "Hey, when did you get that? I was wanting to take a look at that game just the other day..." "Later. How's dinner?" "It'll be ready in fifteen minutes. But first..." A collective sense of dread descended upon the entire room. Ranma brought forth a plate of food prepared in a way Ayumi hadn't seen before. Naka had, however. "That's ramen, isn't it?" "Yeah. It's a new ramen dish I've been hearing about and wanted to try for a while. I thought I'd give Ayumi a chance to taste-test it before I serve it with dinner." "Me? Why me?" Ayumi backed away from Ranma. "Why not let Naka try it? *He* recognized it..." "Don't be a baby! It's only ramen. It isn't going to hurt you." "That's right. Ayumi, as Ranma's iinazuke, you should be the one to assist her with her cooking," minced Naka. Soun and Genma again nodded in unison. Ayumi glared at them all disgustedly. Ranma handed the dish to Ayumi. "Just try it, will you? One bite. You don't have to eat the whole thing!" Ayumi watched a look of hopefulness rise on Ranma's face as he raised a sample to his mouth. Ranma was a fairly good cook, but if he said he liked it, she'd be happy about it and everything... and then Naka, Dad and Mr. Saotome would make a big fuss over it. He and Ranma would be that much closer to being happily married in their minds... so therefore, he had to do something about it. He chewed the food a few times to remove the taste before swallowing. Not bad... "This is the worst food I've ever tasted." Ranma's happiness abruptly changed to outright incredulence. "What!?" Ayumi had chosen his plan to drive a little space in between him and Ranma, to keep then from getting too close both in their opinion and everyone else's. What he hadn't taken the time to choose were his words or how far he should have gone. "Absolutely! How can you say you're a good cook if you come up with garbage like that? Or maybe that's what you put in it to begin with..." Everyone - save Ayumi - was wise enough to distance themselves from Ranma and Ayumi in advance. The girl's fury reached a boiling point. "AYUMI!" Ranma drew a large wooden mallet from out of nowhere and chased Ayumi out the door that led to the garden. Thank goodness it wasn't raining at this particular time - although she wouldn't have cared if it was. "Ayumi no... *BAKA*!!" Her mallet connected with the back of his head, sending him flying into the koi pond with an embarrassing splash. [He deserved that,] Genma produced another sign. "Yes, he did," agreed Soun. Naka turned away. "Is it too late to order out?" (end) -------- Credits: Written by: Mike Koos Pre-readers: Richard Beaubien, Tom Williams, David Wills With apologies to Takahashi Rumiko... and everyone who thought THIS was going to be the story in which Shampoo made her debut... ^_^ 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?