Amid the sounds of Kendo swordsmen practicing in the Kendo Club building, a lone voice rose above all else. "Do not trifle with me, Gosunkugi." Kunou frowned at the boy who looked as though he had spent a year without food or sunlight. "You have truly learned Tendo Ayumi's weakness this time?" Everything seemed to be going well. The Fuurinkan Kendo Club was practicing for their assured victory in the upcoming tournament, and now he was mere steps away from learning Ayumi's weakness and being able to have Saotome Ranma stand by his side as his intended. Hikaru nodded. The practicing swordsmen made him feel somewhat uneasy, their identities hidden behind full Kendo gear and masks, and all of them fighting fiercely. "All you have to do is wait in the gym and you'll see for yourself." He had already given Kunou the details of the arrangement; Hikaru was eager to escape. Dealing with Kunou alone was one thing... contending with him in a room full of his swordsmen was unnerving, to say the least. Hikaru didn't have the same amount of courage to offer as would someone with true experience in fighting. It was considerably easy for him to wind up in situations where that lack of courage was obvious. Kunou's thoughts were a different matter. He inhaled, breaking into a fit of laughter. He imagined a hilled plain swept clean by lava from an active volcano in the distance. He wore samurai's robes; Ranma wore a kimono. Despite their elaborate clothing, both deftly bounded across gaps in the streams of white-hot lava sifting through the plain. Both were laughing. Ultimately, he caught her. They vowed that their love for each other would never fade, not even after death, and they kissed... Destiny's Wish Part Twenty-One: It Takes a Cat written by Mike Koos ------------------------------- At that exact instant, Ranma cringed, shuddering. Ayumi came to a stop. "Something wrong?" She shrugged. "Just had a weird image, that's all." Sayuri had told her that Ayumi wanted to see her about something important, and Ranma had finally found him wandering the halls, looking for her. "So you said someone wrote you that note saying it's from me?" she asked, glancing at the piece of paper Ayumi held crumpled in his hand. He handed her the note. "See for yourself. I know what your writing looks like - and that isn't it." Privately upset that anyone would dare to pretend to be her, Ranma studied the note. Indeed, it wasn't in her handwriting. Rather, it was in somewhat shaky handwriting, and whoever had written it had deliberately tried to make the writing look overly 'feminine' - which instead made it look extremely ridiculous. That, and whoever had written it had worded it in the same manner, lacing it with so much saccharine that it was enough to give Ranma a full set of toothaches. frowned Ranma. The note asked Ayumi to come to the gym to rescue "Ranma." "This is stupid! First, I'd NEVER need you to save me and second, if I did I wouldn't write you some dumb note like this! Or be able to!" "You'll get no argument from me," Ayumi stated wearily, as they arrived at the gym. "Well, you wanna go in?" Ranma snorted. "We'll never find out who wrote that note if we don't." Ayumi pulled the door open, gesturing to the doorway. "Ladies first." "To beat you up?" she asked, shoving him into the gym. A voice called out to Ayumi. "Oh, *thank you*, Ayumi-kun! You came to save me!" There was someone kneeling on the platform used as a stage, at the rear of the gym. They walked closer. "It's me, Ranma! Over here! Please, hurry!" Finally, they reached the stage... to find Hikaru, dressed in a Fuurinkan High girls' uniform - much like the one Ranma wore - and apparently bound with rope. Ayumi screwed up his face into an odd smirk. Ranma, on the other hand, was thoroughly repulsed by the sight of Hikaru pretending to be her. "I'm gonna kill him!" She didn't even want to know where Hikaru had *found* a girls' uniform. Ayumi seemed to be taking it all in stride. "Hey, at least he's not wearing a girls' outdoor P.E. uniform." "Oh, shut up," she muttered, nonplussed, hoping to keep the image of Hikaru in a T-shirt and bloomers from coming to mind. She grabbed the boy by the collar of the uniform that obviously didn't belong to him. "What in the WORLD do you think you're doing!?" seethed Ranma. Hikaru grinned uncontrollably. He gathered himself, removing the ropes that 'bound' him and stood, laughing. "I'm so glad you could make it, Tendo-kun!" Ayumi sighed. "*Ahem*..." Hikaru reached up and pulled on a rope they hadn't noticed before, one connected to a pulley nestled deep within the rafters... A trapdoor opened underneath Ranma. She fell into the special-purpose room beneath the stage, her dress billowing around her as she fell. Hikaru peered over the edge of the trapdoor, making sure that the girl of his dreams had landed safely. "Ah... I didn't mean for that to happen..." Ranma picked herself up from the mattresses that were kept underneath the trapdoor for anyone who fell through. "Oh, I'm REALLY gonna get him now..." she muttered. "Lemme guess..." Ayumi perched on the back of Hikaru's head as the other boy continued to peer into the room below the stage. "I was supposed to be the one to fall in there, right?" Hikaru managed a strained laugh. "Ah..., but I have a backup... plan! One more trap for you to experience!" Actually, it had been a part of the first trap, but Tendo Ayumi did not need to know that. A rather large and heavy raccoon statue, suspended by a chain, descended rapidly upon them from overhead. Ayumi hopped backward and let the statue crash into Hikaru, causing Hikaru to fall to the mattress below. He bounced - and so did the statue, before it smashed into him again. Ayumi climbed down through the trapdoor. "Ooh, I'll bet that hurts, doesn't it?" Meanwhile, Ranma was staring at Hikaru; how could anyone have such terrible luck? "I guess I'm done for, then." "Huh." Hikaru reached inside the collar of the jumper he wore. "Please, take this as a reminder of this encounter," he said, offering a loop of fish-cakes to Ayumi. The Tendo boy hesitated. His face was expressionless. "Fish-cakes...?" Ranma blinked. But... why would Gosunkugi give Ayumi a string of fish-cakes, unless he happened to know something about the fear Ayumi considered to be a weakness? Ayumi shuddered. "No... what's going on here? What's this all about?" To Ranma's surprise, she sensed several new presences in the room. The dim lighting, which had previously only served to allow them to see the motley arrangement of old sets stored in the hidden room, reflected off many, many pairs of cats' eyes, giving each a dull glow. The three of them were surrounded by a mob of cats! Were the cats being drawn to the fish-cakes Ayumi held? Ranma wondered. The loop of fish-cakes *did* smell more potent than usual, though that couldn't be the only thing drawing the cats to them... Wait. Cats were everywhere around them, making an awful lot of noise... Ayumi would have to be blind and deaf not to notice their presence. And knowing how he felt about cats... Hikaru saw Ayumi freeze. "Oh, yes. I know your weakness, Tendo-kun. *Cats*." He laughed once more. "So go ahead and scream your fear-filled little heart out!" Ranma thought, plugging a finger in each ear to soften the impact of the inevitable screams. Yes, Ayumi *would* scream. His fear of cats was irrational enough to paralyze him or cause him to flee in terror from the sight of a cat alone. Oh, the baka would definitely scream... All the signs were there - especially the trembling, nervous sweat, shaky voice... She hadn't expected Ayumi to break out into laughter, however. But that was precisely what Ayumi did. Ranma removed one of her earplugs... no mistake. He continued laughing for almost a full minute. "Baka! Do you honestly believe I'd be scared of a few little CATS!?" Ayumi yelled at Hikaru while tearing the loop of fish-cakes apart with his bare hands. The cats at his feet gratefully set upon the remains of the food. Hikaru withdrew as though he had been slapped. "What? It can't be! Where did I go wrong?" Ranma watched Ayumi force more of his uneasy laughter. But Ayumi wasn't quite over his fear, yet. That would take time and support from others. "C'mon... time to go, Ranma..." Huh? She glanced up and noticed that Ayumi was trying to lead Hikaru away, his arm around the other boy's shoulders. Clearly, Ayumi, in his delirium, thought Hikaru was her. The girls' uniform Hikaru wore was similar to hers, and that probably had something to do with it. Hikaru also had black hair, but no braided pigtail. Ranma figured she should solve the problem Hikaru posed before tackling the much-bigger problem - Ayumi. She ground Ayumi into the floor head-first with the heels of her sneakers. That out of the way, she spun to face Hikaru, brandishing a pair of threatening fists and growling, "Would you AT LEAST get out of that stupid disguise!?" Hikaru did as she asked, pulling off the jumper. Many of the cats had come to climb all over Ayumi by this time, and were curled up against him, purring. Ranma could hear the occasional wheezing of laughter from within the cat-pile. She thrust a cautious hand into the pile and found Ayumi's shirt collar. Dragging him out - letting the cats tumble all around him - she brought his face closer to hers, could see the dull, vacant look there... "There is NOTHING funny about this!" Ranma growled. "Mmmm..." brooded Hikaru, who had placed himself off in a corner. Even the cats were more interested in Ayumi than him. Not only that... Kunou would *kill* him when the Kendo swordsman learned. Hikaru had told him to wait in the gym for a show of weakness that was never going to come. And it was too late to back out now... Kunou was probably already waiting in the gym. If anything, this little... *experiment* had given him an excuse to talk to the girl of his dreams. Kunou wouldn't be happy about that, though. No, Kunou wanted Ranma for himself, as Ayumi did. When Ranma saw that he was the ideal person for her - when she was at last convinced that no one in the universe could love her as he did - everyone else would have no choice but to abandon any claims they mistakenly thought they had to her. Even Kunou. As Kunou himself had said, he was bound by honor. Once Ranma made her choice, Kunou would have to forget her. He would not attack Hikaru for winning Ranma's hand fair and square. At least, that was what he believed. When he looked up, Ranma was dragging Ayumi toward the room's only exit. And behind that door waited... "Ah... Ranma-san, don't--" She glowered at him. "Nani yo!?" As far as she was concerned, Hikaru was thoroughly responsible for this entire sorry spectacle... including, and not limited to, Ayumi losing his mind. Ranma scowled. Her hand grasped the edge of the door. Maybe after she got Ayumi safely away from this den of cats, she'd come back to do just that. Yes... even if Hikaru ran away and hid, she would find him and pound a few measures of sense into him. She allowed her temper to remain in control and angrily yanked open the door. A giant Bengal tiger waited to greet her on the other side of the door. It stared her back down the stairs leading up to the door, padding casually toward her. "...There's something dangerous behind that door," Hikaru said. Kasuga sat beside his father at the family room table. "Didn't you ever *try* to cure Ayumi of his fear of cats?" he asked, a deliberate tone to his voice. While he respected his father, Kasuga couldn't forgive what Soun had done to his younger brother as easily. "Who is to say that I didn't?" Soun took a slow sip from his cup of tea. "I subjected him to the Nekoken training again and again so that he might learn not to fear the cats..." Kasuga paled, then caught himself. "That's NOT what I meant, Father!" Soun continued. "And then, the final indignity of the Nekoken took hold." "Uh-oh," the eldest of the three Tendo boys settled back into his seat. "Something tells me I'm not going to like this." The tiger had succeeded in backing Ranma, Ayumi, Hikaru and all of the terrified cats against the opposite wall of the small room underneath the stage. "And WHY did you chain a tiger behind that door!?" Ranma raised her voice above the tiger's growls. "T-Tendo-kun was supposed to be afraid of--" She bit her lower lip. "Yeah, skip it! Did it ever occur to you-- oh, never mind!" Gritting her teeth, Ranma turned her attention to the tiger. She wasn't intimidated by it for the most part; Dad the giant panda could be more frightening than this thing, and besides, she wasn't feeling like trying to tame a tiger. Best to add it to the top of her list of things to kick and get on with it... ...No, wait. She smirked. Here she'd told Ayumi less than an hour ago she would never need him to rescue her. Ranma intentionally drew herself close to Ayumi - though the thought made her feel queasy - and buried her face close to his shoulder. "Kyaa!" she yelped for effect, acting as though she was very much afraid. She'd done some acting here and there in her school life... not all of which she was proud of, but hopefully, it would be enough to convince Ayumi she was terrified. Hikaru looked at the tiger, then Ranma and Ayumi, then back at the tiger. The cursed girl stepped up her act. "Ayumi...!" she cried, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She wasn't sure if she was getting through to Ayumi. Ayumi seemed more concerned with the cats climbing over him in the hope that they could get away from the tiger - or perhaps that he would protect or shield them from it. Soun took another sip. "Eventually, however, Ayumi's fears will be strained to the limit... and then he will no longer be afraid." "But... you said..." Kasuga said pointedly. He'd asked his father to elaborate on the specifics of the Nekoken... or more precisely, how it applied to Ayumi, and this technique was unlike any he had ever heard of. To think - if he hadn't set aside his training to take over the majority of the household chores after the passing of his mother, *he* could have been the one his father chose to train in the Nekoken. He could have been the one with the irrational fear of cats... and, if he was to believe his father's words, the end result of that same fear... "That is when the change occurs." "Mrrrreeeeowww........." Ranma started. Had that been one of the cats? It had... *sounded* like a cat. Sort of. She could have sworn that that particular cat's meow had almost sounded as though it came from *human* vocal cords. Whatever had made the sound, was behind and slightly above her. Ayumi meowed again, and she caught it. She gaped. There was both a fierceness and a sense of absence in his eyes; Ayumi's personality had been replaced by that of a cat. He bared his teeth, hissing, all the while sizing up his opponent - his prey. The tiger. A numbness rose from Ranma's legs and concluded in her cheeks. What in the world was going on here? Why was Ayumi acting like a cat? She watched him pad through the throng of amazed cats on all fours. Somehow, she knew he hadn't overcome his fear. He had lost to the fear, instead. "Then anyone who is in the area is in terrible danger." Soun folded his arms. Kasuga inhaled. "Oh, dear!" Ranma regained her composure. "A-Ayumi..." Ayumi was warily circling the tiger from a distance. For its part, the tiger was unsure of what to make of this new 'threat.' Neither, for that matter, was anyone else in the room. The tiger sniffed the air to see if it could catch a hint of its enemy's scent. it finally dawned on Ranma. <*This* is the Nekoken...!> What else could it be? A transformation, in mind - and, to an extent, body - into a cat, triggered by an overwhelming irrational fear of cats and constant exposure to them. That had to be it. But... what advantage could there be in such a transformation? Given half a chance, Genma was liable to have tried to teach her the Nekoken in the same manner as Soun had taught Ayumi, making the same mistakes with the same results. The only reason he hadn't taught her the techniques in the book, as he had told her the night before, was because he wanted her future potential husband out of the three Tendo boys to be even stronger than she was. Ayumi had taken up a pose that was familiar enough to Ranma. She had seen it on the occasional ceramic cat statue - crouching like a cat with an outstretched... *paw*, as it were. The look he wore was comparable to that of a jungle cat waiting to strike, biding its time... <"All you have to do is wait in the gym and you'll see for yourself."> Hikaru's words echoed in Kunou's mind, replaying themselves over and over for his benefit. The suspense was wearing away at him. He had to admit to a fair amount of impatience, more so than usual. Surprises were one thing he could do without. The only reason, then, he had allowed Gosunkugi to proceed with the plan was because potentially, it meant the end of Tendo Ayumi and that the beautiful Saotome Ranma would finally be his, by Ayumi's own words. He sat on the edge of the stage, mentally laughing. The class playing an abbreviated basketball game in the gym paid him little attention. Everyone in the school was well aware of Kunou's delusions of grandeur. Come to think of it, maybe it would be a better idea to share the good mood with everyone. He laughed megalomaniacally. "Once Tendo Ayumi is gone, *no one* will stand in between me and the embrace of my true love!" Everyone was also well aware who Kunou considered to be his true love, and that Ranma would prefer to beat him up rather than embrace him. Anyone who tried to convince Kunou of that fact, though, was liable to wind up on the wrong end of a wooden sword. Where was Gosunkugi? Kunou had been waiting here for nearly ten minutes past the time Gosunkugi had told him to come, without so much as a scream of terror. The noise from the game probably drowned out everything else, anyway. He was about to insist on their silence when a strange rumbling began in the area below the stage and spread throughout the rest of the gym. Before the tremors died away a literal geyser made entirely of cats erupted from the spot where the trap door Ranma, Hikaru and Ayumi had passed through previously existed. The cats arced outward like drops of water, raining down on the startled basketball players. As fortune had it, the largest of the cats fell into Kunou's arms - the tiger, fearing for its life. Kunou kept his composure while he stared into the frightened animal's eyes. "Only my true love is allowed to enter into my arms. I have not given you permission to be my true love, filthy beast!" Several of the students within earshot nearly collapsed to the floor in disbelief. "I don't think he's applying for the job!" one snapped. A dark shape - an apparently human one - bounced several times off each of the walls, floor and ceiling almost too fast for Kunou to see. "Hm?" he frowned. His senses were warning him about this... whatever it was. If it was to attack him, it would be stopped at swordpoint. *Nothing* made it past Kunou Tatewaki... The attacker approached. Ayumi's snarling face, bared teeth and raised hands suggested he were attacking like a cat at high speed. "Ten... Tendo Ayumi!" Kunou acknowledged... unaware of the faltering in his voice. The tiger cowered behind his back. Ayumi slashed a would-be paw downward as he raced past them, carving a wide trench in the varnished wood-strip floor. Kunou hopped backward in amazement. How had Ayumi done that? But it was clear Ayumi wasn't in complete control of himself; the Tendo boy was acting completely like a cat! "Have you lost control of your little mind?" Kunou swept his sword through the area where Ayumi had been. Neko-Ayumi had leapt straight upward in anticipation of the attack, and descended on the sword, happily clawing the bokutou - and half of Kunou's robes, as well as the floor he stood on into little more than streamers on the wind. The cats and students stepped gingerly around the paper-thin ribbons. "I barely saw him touch the wood, and now look at it!" someone exclaimed. "He's gotta have a lot of power to do that with his bare hands!" blurted another. Kunou was barely impressed. His sword had become little more than a cat toy, or the wooden equivalent of one of his sister's favored ribbons. He stared at it for a second. "How *dare* you desecrate my sacred sword!" Pause. Ayumi's eyes told him the pseudo-cat was focusing intently not on *him*, but... Ranma caught up to them as Kunou threw his former sword through the open doors into the school's courtyard. "Fine, then! You can have it!" Ayumi turned and galloped after the sword, meowing eagerly. "*Ayumi*!" shouted Ranma. She felt responsible in a sense for Ayumi's condition, and that she had to help him, even if he didn't deserve it. And the biggest moron at Fuurinkan High could never be counted upon to help. Kunou turned away, putting on airs. "Hmph. Just as I thought; he ran away at the first opportunity." Ranma frowned. She sensed a sizable presence cross her path. The tiger was venturing closer to her. Maybe it thought she was an easier target than cat-boy Ayumi, she didn't feel like stopping to think about it. At any rate, now was the perfect time to do what she had wanted to earlier - place kick the tiger out of her way. A few more steps, and she kicked Kunou out of her way as well. "Ayumi!" "Ayumi-kun!" "Ayumi! Hey, Ayumi! Here, boy--" Ranma glared at Hiroshi. "He thinks he's a cat, not a *dog*, baka." "Sorry," the boy apologized. Most of Ranma's class, the basketball players and members of other classes were searching the Fuurinkan grounds for Ayumi. Bringing more people in on the search meant that they would find Ayumi sooner, but it also meant she and Ayumi would have to explain why Ayumi was acting like a cat to a lot more people. "There!" cried Yuka. "Look! Up there, in that tree!" Sayuri seconded it. "I see him, too!" Ranma followed their gazes, cupping a hand over her eyes to protect them from the afternoon sun. On one of the thicker branches of the tree Yuka had pointed out, seven feet up, was Ayumi. "What's he doing?" "He's... he's scratching himself like a cat," a boy who had felt confident enough to stand closer to the tree replied. Ranma narrowed her eyes for a better look. That was what he was doing, all right. "Ranma...?" She was dimly aware that Hiroshi and Daisuke were edging closer to her. "Why... is Ayumi acting like this? What's going on?" She wasn't up to inventing an excuse for Ayumi's behavior, and wasn't all that sure if she should. "I'll tell you later. Right now--" Ranma sensed Soun coming to stand off to her side. "We must help Ayumi." "Uncle...?" She withdrew her surprise for later. "How do we help him? You didn't tell us he would flip out like this!" "Actually, I did. This is part of the Nekoken. I merely did not give you the specifics of it." He hadn't, at that, no matter how much Ranma, Kasuga and Naka had tried to press him for details on the Nekoken after they had learned about the technique. "Once Ayumi reaches a breaking point with his fear of cats, the Nekoken assumes control and causes him to *become* a cat. If he is allowed to run loose, there is no telling what his considerably destructive power will do!" Out of the corner of her eye Ranma saw Hiroshi and Daisuke nodding as though they understood... which they didn't. She had seen enough evidence to support Soun's claims, and shuddered at the thought of neko-Ayumi hurting anyone. "So how do we change him back to normal? Hit him on the head or something?" Actually, the former idea sounded good to Ranma. Ayumi was about due for another malleting. Soun observed her for a second. "No. Eventually, the effects of the Nekoken will wear off, and Ayumi will return to normal." Ranma pursed her lips. "We can speed up the process if we can keep him in one place and help calm him down." He saw in Ranma's overall expression that she wanted to know how they could calm Ayumi down, figuring he had better answer before she suggested throwing a net over Ayumi or using tranquilizer darts on him. "The last time - which was also the first time - this happened, he found an elderly woman who lived in the area, and curled up in her lap like a cat." Ranma made a face. "You mean we've got to find an elderly woman in order to--" Another presence registered in her senses. Genma dashed to Soun's side. The elder Saotome had disguised himself to look like an elderly woman... "DAD!?!?" she screeched. Everyone else in the area backed away from the sight. "There's no need for that, as you can see," Soun showed the beginning of a smile. He handed Genma a large cloth bag, presumably to trap Ayumi in. Ranma smirked - which Genma noticed, giving his daughter an 'I'll-deal-with-you-later' reproachful glare. Mindful of the slight resistance his aging body provided Genma sprang up onto the branch Ayumi had taken refuge on. In true cat-like manner Ayumi arched his back, hissing defensively. "Bad cat," frowned Genma. "*Bad*." Ayumi hissed again and attacked. A cloud of dust and wood shavings rose around them to obscure the fight. "I really don't think he's helping," said one boy. Another boy agreed. "No, not at all." When the dust-cloud dissipated nothing was left of the top half of the tree except shreds, much to everyone's amazement. Genma fell to the ground in an undignified, disheveled pile. Ayumi, on the other hand, bounded into the treeline. "He's escaping!" someone shouted. Ranma stopped to think. "Hmm... if he really does think he's a cat, then maybe... Minna!" she called. "We've got to find some catnip!" "*Catnip*?" Nevertheless, everyone eagerly raced away to find a source of catnip. It wasn't that often any of them had a chance to participate in any of the unusual circumstances that seemed to follow Ayumi or Ranma around, and they appreciated the opportunity. Nearly ten minutes later they had each returned with a small portion of catnip. Ranma gathered all of it into the cloth bag Genma had attempted to use. Now wasn't the time to ask where anyone had found their catnip, anyway. As long as her plan worked... She tied the bag to the tip of a practice arrow she'd borrowed, along with a bow, from an equipment storage room - and aimed for Ayumi, who was bouncing amidst the treetops. "Isn't catnip supposed to, like, get cats drunk or something?" she heard Hiroshi ask. "Something like that," replied Daisuke. Ranma loosed the arrow. Except for a bit of drag caused by the rocking bag, it flew toward Ayumi. Ayumi rounded on the bag and brought a 'paw' to bear on it. Yuka inhaled sharply. "It's not going to work! He's gonna tear it to pieces!" The gathered crowd withdrew their breath in addition to Yuka's. For now, all any of them could do was wait and hope Ranma's plan was a success. Ayumi's fumbling tore open the bag, causing the catnip to burst out at him. Within seconds he was no longer able to escape the draw of the catnip. The results weren't quite as Ranma had expected; the catnip did indeed cause Ayumi to become drunk, in a matter of speaking. He rolled and wavered uncontrollably, making a noise that sounded suspiciously like a cross between a meow and a drunken giggle. Some of the crowd dived for cover as Ayumi the cat scampered aimlessly between them. Finally, the image of Ranma blurred in his mind. Somewhere in his feline thoughts that image brought up feelings and senses he liked. He changed direction and pounced... Sayuri gasped. "Look out, Ranma!" The warning came too late. Ranma screamed. "Kyaa--" When she opened the eyes she had held tightly shut, she found she had been forced to her knees by Ayumi - who was curled up in her lap, purring. Ranma blinked, staring at him in complete shock. She realized she was also holding her breath in and released it. The crowd cheered. "Yeah! All right! We did it!" One of the girls from Ranma's class approached. "Wow, Ranma! You sure are in sync with your iinazuke! You really do care what happens to Ayumi-kun!" Ranma felt the blood rising forcefully in her face. "N-no! You've got it all wrong!" She quickly shifted her anger to Ayumi, who was licking his 'front paws' clean. "Get off me, dummy! You're embarrassing both of us--" Ayumi sat up and cat-kissed her full on the lips. Ranma's eyes went as wide as they could go; she no longer knew what to do, arms and legs going limp. She blushed profusely and trembled. Ayumi, meanwhile, merely curled up and yawned. "Did Ayumi-kun just kiss her?" a girl asked. "He did! Ayumi really kissed Ranma!" It took a couple of false starts before Ranma found the strength to send Ayumi sailing through the air. "Ba... **BAKA**!!" she stammered. In all her anger and embarrassment she failed to understand that everyone was discussing the kiss in whispers. "I'll bet that was the first time they've kissed. Did you see the look on Ranma's face?" "Oh, come on, Junko! They're engaged!" "Yeah! They have to have kissed already!" ** ** ** Ayumi awoke in a rather curious version of a head-stand - his head had punched a hole through the end of the high-dive board overlooking the Fuurinkan High swimming pool. He watched the pool water shift far beneath his head for a moment and sighed. At that exact moment Ranma was stomping her way home, fuming, repeating the same three words over and over. "Ayumi no *baka*." "Ayumi no *baka*." "Ayumi no *baka*." ------------ Credits: Written by: Mike Koos Prereaders: Richard Beaubien, Tom Williams, David Wills 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?