"He did *WHAT*!?" "He cut Ranma's braid off," Ukyou replied in hushed tones. "And I said, keep your voice down!" She frowned. There was little chance people would miss the fact that Ranma's pig-tail was gone, cut by chance during a would-be fight between Ryouga and Kunou. Everyone knew Ranma; they'd see her new 'haircut' and be spreading rumors about possible reasons for her shorter hair by the afternoon. She hoped no one knew what had happened in the restaurant... the less everyone else was aware of the truth, the less Ranma would be embarrassed. Hopefully. "What did she do after that?" Yuka lowered her voice. "I bet she got really mad, huh? She really liked that braid." No one could determine *why* Ranma had been so fond of her pig-tail. The group suspected that Akane and Nabiki knew the reason, but Akane denied any knowledge of Ranma's reasons, and it was common belief that Nabiki would charge a tremendous sum of money for any such information. Ukyou's frown deepened. Before bringing everything to a screeching halt at the restaurant, Kunou revealed to all Nabiki had not only told him that someone was out on a date with his 'pig-tailed goddess,' but Nabiki had also mentioned where Ranma and her date would be. The only thing preventing Ukyou from telling Nabiki to mind her own business with a fist or two rather than with words was that neither Akane nor Ranma would appreciate her beating up their 'older sister.' She mentally sighed, hoping that Ranma hadn't missed Kunou's reference to Nabiki and would deal with her 'sister' herself. Ukyou recalled. Ukyou decided to return the focus of her thoughts to Ranma. There was little point in making plans to teach Nabiki a lesson unless she could out-think the middle Tendo sister, as opposed to out-fighting her. Ranma and Akane were in a better position to do that, at any rate. But where *was* Akane? Was she off on some sort of Goddess training journey with Skuld, and possibly Ranmira? Or did Ranma's earlier paranoia about Akane and the Goddess crew avoiding her have some merit? What would be wrong that might cause Akane to avoid everyone? If the Goddesses had done something to change their world, would they even be able to see that things had been changed? Ranma's misfortune, for example, could be attributed to the strangeness in her life and especially the people she knew. But what if she was supposed to have led a *different* life? Ukyou dismissed the idea. An Aa! Megamisama / Ranma 1/2 Crossover Instruments of Change Part Seventeen written by Mike Koos ---------------------- "Isn't that Akane and Skuld over there?" she heard Yuka say. Sayuri glanced in the direction her sister indicated. "I think so... Hey, Akane! Skuld!" she called out to the pair crossing the main path through the school's primary courtyard. "Over here!" "Where have you guys been?" Yuka asked the approaching Akane before Ukyou could think to put a question to the Goddess of the Future and her apprentice. "Is Ranma okay?" Akane blinked. "Uh... we just got back from a trip to... um..." "The heavens," offered Skuld. "...and came straight here. What happened? Is something wrong with Ranma?" "No," the girl in question replied from behind Skuld and Akane. The group started as a whole. "Ranma!?" wondered Skuld. Akane, meanwhile, was more concerned with Ranma than wondering if Ranma did indeed have the skill to sneak up on people without being detected, or where she'd learned it. She knew Ranma - even *this* Ranma - too well to accept her 'sister's' word that nothing was wrong with her. Now, what was it that had troubled Yuka and the others...? Then, she noticed it. Ranma's hair. Her scarlet hair had been cut short - shorter than Akane's, in fact, in a style tapered at the back. Ranma's trademarked braided pigtail was gone; at the moment she unfortunately had no way of forming another without letting her hair grow out. "Ranma?" Akane gaped, trying to keep her voice from wavering. "What... what happened to your hair?" "I wanted to see what I looked like with short hair, so Kasumi took me to get my hair cut last night," Ranma answered in a tone that sounded both hollow and dismissive. Akane blinked once more. Something was undoubtedly bothering Ranma. Her hair? Perhaps. Ranma had considered the pig-tail important even as a boy... the mess with the dragon's hair aside. How would this Ranma regard her hair? Would she have cringed at the thought of having her hair cut short, as Akane once had? That couldn't be the entire story, of course. The others had been talking about Ranma's 'problem' *before* Ranma arrived, which meant that there was likely more to this than Kasumi taking Ranma to have her hair cut. But what could it be? She doubted she would get much more information from Ranma - Ranma, who seemed depressed and intent on making her new hairstyle seem like nothing at all. "I'm going to class now," announced Ranma. Akane withdrew her breath in a quiet gasp as Ranma began to walk away. "Ranma, wait! We'll go with you!" "No," the girl said, forcing a weak smile. "I just... well, I want to be alone for a little while. See you in class." After Ranma was well on her way into the school's main building, Akane and Skuld turned their attention back to the rest of the group. "Okay, I'm guessing you guys know what's going on here. What really happened?" Akane put the question to them, folding her arms in a no-nonsense manner. "Well..." Shampoo took a second to clear her throat. "Everything started when we talked Ranma into going out with Ryouga on a date, yesterday." "A date......?" asked Akane in disbelief. "A date - with *Ryouga*!?" Skuld blurted almost at the same time, loud enough to draw glances from others sitting near them in the yard. Ukyou restrained herself from the urge to pound Skuld with her combat spatula. Skuld was a Goddess, after all, and Ukyou did not feel like risking the wrath of a Goddess or Kami-sama over a simple matter such as keeping one's voice down. She settled for shushing Skuld, instead. "We're *trying* to keep the details a secret as much as possible." "Yeah," Sayuri agreed. "Ranma's in the public eye. You know how quickly they'll be gossiping about her." Beside her, her sister muttered under her breath, "You should know..." Sayuri turned a glare on her. "What?" "Er, nothing!" Yuka waved her hands before her as if to distract Sayuri from the issue. "Nothing!" "*Anyway*..." Akane impatiently tried to prod Ukyou or Shampoo into resuming their story. Had Ryouga been responsible for cutting Ranma's hair short? she wondered. In her 'original' reality, Akane knew, Ryouga had been primarily to blame for doing just that to *her* hair... could Ryouga have done that intentionally, in either case? "Well, you know how Ryouga acts around Ranma and how she never notices it?" That much was true; Ranma was unfortunately rather naive whenever matters of love were involved. Even when Akane had thought to confront Ranma with the possibility that Ryouga might have developed feelings for her, Ranma had trouble believing that of the boy. For her part, Akane was still having difficulty viewing Ranma as a girl who had her own life, one somewhat different than that of the Ranma she had come to know. "Yeah," she muttered, feeling slighly numb. Ranma was in her seat by the time Akane and Skuld joined her in their homeroom class, staring rather absently at the chalkboard at the front of the room. She didn't seem to recognize that they had entered the room, though Akane wondered if her 'sister's' senses had detected the two of them *without* having to look at them. If this Ranma was better than her original self in some aspects of the martial arts, who could tell what she was capable of doing? Well... except for the Goddesses, anyway. Ukyou had told them the true story of the result of what was officially Ranma's first date. Despite how they both regarded Hibiki Ryouga at the moment, they knew he wasn't entirely to blame for what had happened to Ranma. For some reason, Nabiki had informed Kunou that Ryouga was going out on a date with Ranma, and where to find them. Kunou had behaved predictably enough - believing that none but him were worthy of even being near Ranma, much less dating her, he'd clearly set out to 'punish' Ryouga. For a moment Akane wondered how the Kunou of this reality compared with the Kunou of her true reality, without someone like the male Ranma to consistently put his full skills to the test? It was hardly a secret that Kunou held back when fighting a female opponent... Why had Nabiki found it necessary to ruin Ranma's date? Why had she sent Kunou after Ryouga? Nabiki occasionally seemed to have her own agenda, Akane knew, and wasn't beyond involving members of her family in her plans - even a family member who wasn't related to her by blood. Had Nabiki hurt Ranma out of spite? Perhaps. But would she risk destroying her 'younger sister's' first date and more merely to spite her? If Nabiki had wanted to make Ranma feel terrible, she had seemingly done just that. As the morning proceeded, the crimson-haired girl did little more than stare off into space, her thoughts no doubt on something else. Akane felt a touch of sympathy surge within her. She believed she knew what Ranma was feeling, if only in part, and assumed the rest. She wanted to tell Ranma that everything would be fine, soon. Akane breathed a quiet, depressed sigh. She noticed Ranma sighing as well. Ranma wasn't taking this whole affair that well, was she? Being manuevered into a date with Ryouga, only to have her hair cut when Kunou made an appearance to break everything up, courtesy of Nabiki. Not paying attention during class and daydreaming was more or less how the 'original' Ranma behaved, but this Ranma was different. It wasn't until lunch break that Akane had the chance - and had gathered enough nerve - to confront Ranma about the entire mess at her desk. "Are you *really* okay, Ranma?" she asked. Ranma hesitated. "I'm fine... you don't need to worry about me, Akane." "Right." Akane folded her arms. "I know you too well. *Anyone* can tell when there's something bothering you. You've always been miserable at keeping it hidden." No response. Time to try attacking the problem from a slightly different angle. "If you're upset because your hair got cut, remember, the same thing basically happened to me a while back." Ranma stared at her for a moment. "This... doesn't really have anything to do with my hair." "It doesn't? But..." "Well... okay, I was a bit upset about that at first, but then I started thinking about something else and... it doesn't seem as important anymore." Unsure where Ranma was taking this discussion, Akane decided to keep silent. "I think you may have been right, Akane. I think Ryouga might be in love with me." Akane's eyes widened. "Oh, my," she withdrew her breath slightly. "Are you... How do you feel?" She felt foolish for blurting out questions without taking the time to determine the 'right' thing to ask. In response, Ranma reached a hand into her bookbag, which rested against one of the legs of her desk. When she brought her hand back into Akane's line of sight, Akane could see that Ranma held the halved remains of a gold bracelet within it. "Ryouga was giving this to me when Kunou showed up," explained Ranma. "U-chan brought it by last night when she came to check up on me." Akane carefully studied the bracelet, asking herself why Ukyou and Shampoo hadn't included the bracelet or the fact that Ryouga had given it to Ranma in their story. Was the bracelet real? There had to be ways to determine that - she could ask Yggdrasil for the bracelet's composition, for example. But to do that here and now wouldn't be a good idea, and risked damaging her current friendship with Ranma... as Nabiki had done. In any case, the bracelet had been a gift from Ryouga to Ranma, and trying to establish its true worth wouldn't help matters much - besides which, any attempts would probably be in poor taste. "...I began to wonder if I should reconsider what I said, you know?" Ranma was saying. "Maybe it wouldn't hurt to have a boyfriend, after all..." Akane nearly swallowed her breath. "What?" she spluttered. "But... you said... you said you were too much of a tomboy to even think about having a relationship, at least not for another few years!" Ranma shrugged. "C'mon, Akane, you know I only say things like that so I don't have to think about it. But that date last night proved to me that I have to make a decision *right* *now*. If I don't, I'll just have that idiot Kunou chasing after me forever and beating up any boy who tries to talk to me. People will keep wondering whether or not Hikaru-kun really is my boyfriend, and I'll always wonder how Ryouga truly feels about me." Realizing she had left her mouth hanging open for some time, Akane shut it. "So, what have you... decided?" she managed, her mouth strangely and abruptly dry. "I haven't come to a decision yet," admitted Ranma. "I guess you can say that's what's been bugging me. What do you think, Akane? I can't keep avoiding the issue forever. It's not fair to me, Hikaru, Ryouga, or anyone else." "I... don't know," Akane answered, truthfully. As much as she didn't want to think about the Ranma of this reality having relationships and going on dates with anyone else, Ranma *did* have a point - the longer she and the 'original' Ranma neglected to address their relationship, the longer their lives would continue to be plagued by the nonsense revolving around that relationship. Her father and Mr. Saotome were forever forcing the two of them together, and countless others believed they could claim Ranma or Akane for their own, to date or marry. "I have to think about it." Ranma nodded. "That's what I've been saying. But I haven't been able to decide anything for sure." Akane thought, pursing her lips. "Ranma!" they heard a voice call from the classroom's door, where a girl whom Akane couldn't recognize stood. "Hiromi-chan," Ranma said, blinking. "C'mon out in the hall, Ranma," Hiromi motioned with a finger. "I want to talk to you for a little bit. You don't mind, do you, Akane-chan?" Akane shook her head. "No." After Ranma had excused herself and left the classroom, Akane returned to her desk and sat down, burying her face in her arms. She was certainly grateful to have the ability to check Yggdrasil for information on this reality whenever she felt it necessary. The only drawback to the checks - aside from the fact that any Goddess could sense whenever she made her requests, if they were close enough to her - was that her facial markings glowed brightly with the transfer of information and power, a glow that was difficult for others not to notice. Akane hoped that hiding her face within her folded arms would prevent everyone from detecting that glow. Fortunately, she was merely making a simple information request of the computer that helped control the whole of reality. Were she to cast a spell or otherwise attempt to use herself as a conduit for Yggdrasil's power, the changes in atmosphere around her, among other indications, would be markedly more difficult to conceal than the glow of her markings alone. The thought of facing this 'new' reality without a guide frightened Akane. Bugs had invaded the Yggdrasil system and caused one or two changes to Ranma's files, changing Ranma into a girl from birth, without a curse. Others' lives had been changed. Ranma was regarded as a sister by Nabiki and Kasumi. She had several friends, including Shampoo, who was going so far as to sever or mask most of the links to the person she had been. The cheerleaders looked up to Ranma as their second-in-command. Akane knew this wasn't her proper reality, and that everything was due to be reset, soon. So *why* did this altered reality and the Ranma who belonged to it trouble her? Would it have been so terrible if the Ranma that had come to live with her family had truly been a girl? She'd been relieved, after they met, that Ranma was a girl and not a boy. Ranma was someone who possibly shared her interests and could relate to the problems of being a martial artist whose 'family honor' rested largely on her shoulders. Discovering the truth had brought about the first of way too many changes to her life to count. Briefly, Akane wondered how much influence the Goddess of Change had had in those events, then shelved the thought for later. Akane had gone from learning that there really was such a power or force as 'magic' in the world - in the form of curses that changed their victims' forms - to discovering that she was the daughter of a Goddess and becoming a Goddess-candidate whose original Mortal mother was being given a chance to resume her life. For some reason she couldn't determine, a temporarily-altered reality was upsetting her more than anything she had experienced after meeting Ranma. Yggdrasil passed her the information she had requested. Nakao Hiromi was the captain of the cheer team, and one of Ranma's friends. Aside from that fact, however, there wasn't much in Hiromi's profile that stood out - at least as far as Akane was concerned. A sudden thought came to her. Would Hiromi think to demote Ranma as a member or the team or dismiss her because her hair had been cut, or because Ranma had seemingly been acting depressed and withdrawn the entire day thus far? Akane admonished herself. Surely, Hiromi wouldn't do anything of the sort to Ranma. But if she *did* resort to such extremes... Akane intentionally shifted her thoughts to a different subject, to avoid thinking about what Hiromi might be discussing with Ranma. The others. Shampoo was in a different homeroom than the rest of the group; Ukyou had left the room to debate where their booths were going to be located at an upcoming festival. Yuka and her sister were part of the crew preparing the school's auditorium for an academic contest later in the week. "What are you thinking about, Akane - as if I didn't know?" That left Skuld, who - as luck would have it - was presently assigned to the desk immediately behind hers. Akane pivoted in her seat to study the Goddess' face. Skuld hadn't been reading her thoughts, had she? Skuld's eyebrows rose. "No, I'm not reading your thoughts, Akane. Admit it - you really haven't been thinking about much else since we integrated ourselves into this reality." It had appeared rather obvious to the Goddess of the Future since meeting both Ranma and Akane that the two did care for, and perhaps love, each other. Getting either of them to admit that fact to themselves, much less each other, had proven to be a long, uphill battle. Oh, if only she knew what her older sister, Ranmira, did about Ranma... Having been a part of Ranma, so to speak, Ranmira was fully aware of the 'original' Ranma's feelings for Akane - and might have been in a position to indirectly recognize Akane's feelings as well. Procedure dictated that Ranmira couldn't reveal that information to anyone else, save Kami-sama, which frustrated Skuld. The more she understood her apprentice, the better she could work with Akane, rather than work at second-guessing what Akane might do. Considering that Akane exhibited a lot of power, even largely dampened as her powers currently were, Skuld regarded allowing Akane to go through her lessons without as much supervision and control as possible a bad idea. What kind of Goddess would Akane make, if she did get herself promoted to the status of a full Goddess? Her power levels alone guaranteed her an interesting range of choices for her field - not all of which required her to fight. Akane's temper did pose a problem in that regard, however. Skuld wondered what field Akane would be assigned - or pick, if she was given the choice. She'd seen and heard signs that Kami-sama had a plan for Akane... Ranma's return to the room cut Skuld's musings short. "Ranma?" Akane asked, sliding out of her seat. The expression Ranma wore was hardly different from the nearly emotionless expressions she'd worn throughout the day. "Are you all right? Did anything happen?" Ranma shook her head. "Nah. Hiromi-chan only wanted to ask me if I was okay. You don't have to worry about me, Akane... I'll be fine." A thought came to Akane's mind. She forced a smile. "You know I'm going to worry anyway, huh?" "If you want," Ranma shrugged. ** ** ** That evening, Skuld sat with her back against the dojo wall, watching Ranma spar with Akane. she asked herself. Ranmira was now almost half an hour late for her weeknight training session with Ranma. Ranma, in the meantime, was trying to get Akane to tell her why the other girl wasn't taking their practice match seriously... almost as if Akane were worried about striking her for some reason. Skuld slouched in her seat. Her charge seemed to have a considerable problem with knowing when she should be subtle - or how to be subtle in the first place. The Goddess of Change chose that moment to walk into the dojo. "I apologize for being late," she said, tightening the belt of her gi. "However, I had to go to the Goddess Relief Administrative offices... they informed me that they have finally ended their investigation and come to a decision." Skuld drew herself to her feet, concerned. "Oneesama?" Ranmira offered her sister a faint smile. "There is nothing to worry about, Skuld. I am simply being placed on leave for a time. Other than that, everything is fine." "Oh, oneesama - I'm so sorry..." Skuld hugged her sister. "Does this mean you're going to stay with us at the temple?" Pause. "I don't have anywhere else to stay at the moment, save for our home in the heavens... though I would be rather lonely if I remained there." Skuld took a step back, her expression becoming serious. "Will you and Urd start talking to each other again?" "I'm afraid I don't know who you're talking about," the older Goddess stated, folding her arms. "You know, Urd. Your eldest sister," Akane thought to say. "Yeah. Our sister. Urd," concluded Skuld. "The Urd who went to the heavens to argue your case for you." Ranmira lost her composure. "She *what*?" "She even considered having Ranma pretend to be you for a little while so that Ranma could talk to the Relief Office administrators in your place, but oneesama and I talked her out of it." Ranma blinked. "Me? How would anyone be convinced I'm her? Even if I still had my braid and dressed like her, surely I wouldn't be able to fool any God, Goddess or demon who looked at me." "You'd be surprised what could be done," Skuld smirked. "She..." Ranmira cleared her throat. "She really went to the Offices to argue my case for me?" Skuld nodded. "Uh-huh. I think she did it to apologize for getting you upset, because you haven't talked to her since then." Ranmira's cheeks colored for a brief second. Akane knew exactly what had happened between Ranmira and Urd - well aware how Urd and Skuld behaved in regard to each other, Akane had opted to ask Belldandy for an unbiased version of Ranmira's 'argument' with Urd. Ranmira had been somewhat distressed, then, and had reacted unexpectedly to Urd's offhand advice... misinterpreting the suggestion that she not take her problems so seriously as an observation that she needed to change who she was. After that, Ranmira refused to speak to her eldest sister and fell short of denying Urd's existence, much as Akane had denied her connection to Peorth and Ranma was presently angry with Nabiki over what Nabiki had done in order to ruin Ranma's date with Ryouga. Akane quietly snorted a laugh to herself. "I... suppose we had better get this training session started. Akane, when we're done here, they're waiting for us in the Yggdrasil Primary Data Transfer Center," Ranmira told Akane in an obvious effort to change the subject. "The interface is ready for you." Ranma gave them both a look of slight puzzlement. "Interface? What's this all about, Akane?" Okay, so she wasn't to be privy to the secrets of the heavens as Akane was, but living in the same house as Nabiki had taught her a few things about the art of latching onto whatever information others let slip, if she remembered that she needed to pay close attention. Ranmira smiled. "It's nothing to worry about. We're merely hoping to resolve a few things in the system by having Akane directly interface with Yggdrasil." Now, if only she'd learned how to better gauge how much of the truth was in others' words. Thank goodness Ranmira wasn't one to lie to her... "I guess I'll have to take your word for it," Ranma said at last. She walked across the dojo floor to her accustomed starting spot. "If you're in a hurry, we'll try to get this session done with as soon as we can." "We aren't really in any sort of hurry, Ranma." Ranma laughed. "Actually, I figured we weren't gonna get too much done in tonight's session. Ranmira, I believe you're ready to start practicing the more advanced moves and techniques." "Sensei?" The idea that a Goddess would be addressing *her* as 'sensei' still amazed Ranma. "We'll only be touching on a handful of those moves tonight. Later, we'll start practicing each move one at a time." Having assumed her own start position on the dojo floor opposite Ranma, Ranmira responded with a bow. "Thank you, sensei." ** ** ** "Are you completely sure you're ready?" Skuld asked as she and Ranmira escorted Akane through the incredibly vast corridors within Yggdrasil. Akane wondered for a second why Skuld would ask that question. An image of Ranma, her hair cut short, appeared in Akane's mind next to an image of the 'original' male Ranma. *That* Ranma would insist on having things restored to the way they had been - and had insisted, in fact, before she became the Ranma of this reality. It wasn't right to leave Ranma in a reality in which he refused to live. Given the opportunity, Ranma himself would fix everything. Akane steeled herself. "Yes. I'm ready." They paused before the doorway leading into the Data Transfer Center, the warm, bright light filtering from the chamber causing the three to blink as their eyes readjusted. "Akane." Ranmira met Akane's gaze. "There is one final issue to resolve before we enter." "How do you truthfully feel toward Ranma? Do you love him?" Akane bit her lower lip. There was no dodging the issue this time; she had to decide if the jumble of emotions she felt toward Ranma did mean that she had fallen in love with him. Could she imagine living the rest of her life without the gender-switching, too-overconfident-for-his-own-good baka - regardless of whether or not she became a Goddess? She quickly ran through the life she had lived after meeting Ranma. Before that day, her life had been rather average, in her opinion. Now, anything could happen, at any time. She faced true challenges and risked her life for any of a number of reasons. Nearly all of those events happened to her because she was Saotome Ranma's iinazuke, and he was hers. There was the way her adrenaline raced and her head felt light whenever she was on an adventure involving the two of them... Akane fought to keep the blood from rushing to her cheeks. "Yes," she said. "I guess... I guess I do. Er, love him. I guess." Ranmira nodded, motioning Akane to the door. "If you are absolutely sure, follow us into the light." Akane watched Ranmira and Skuld enter the room. After hesitating for a handful of seconds, she urged her body to carry her into the light. ** ** ** Kasumi added the last empty dish remaining on the table to the stack of dishes she carried in her arms. She chuckled quietly to herself. The evening meal, as usual, hadn't lasted much more than fifteen minutes between the combined efforts of the Saotome and Tendo families. Akane had yet to return home from wherever she and the Goddesses had gone... though Mrs. Saotome had occupied her seat, subduing Ranma's behavior at dinner as a result. A bright flash of golden light from the direction of the koi pond outside caught her attention. "Ara... Akane must be here," she murmured, setting the stack of dishes on the table for the moment. "Kasumi-oneechan!" Akane greeted her, making her way from the outdoor garden into the house. "Is Ranma here?" Kasumi blinked. "I believe he's in his room, Akane-chan. Is something the matter?" "Not really," Akane tried to make herself appear calm. "I just want to see if everything's the way it's supposed to be." She sprinted into the hall and up the stairs before Kasumi could ask her to clarify what she had said. Kasumi turned her attention to Ranmira and Skuld. "What did she mean by that?" "Well..." Akane knocked on the door to Ranma's bedroom. "Ranma? Are you in there?" Silence. She warily edged the door open. Ranma lay draped at a strange angle across his bedroll, only a few steps from snoring, Akane guessed. She knelt and extended a hand to nudge Ranma's shoulder, shivering as a momentary feeling of deja vu struck her; she'd had to wake Ranma in a similar manner to tell him... *her* that a large portion of reality had been changed. "C'mon, Ranma - wake up." Ranma's eyes opened with a start. "...Huh? What?" He looked up to see Akane watching him. "Akane? What's going on?" He drew himself up to his feet... then froze. "What's wrong?" inquired Akane. "I feel...... Something's wrong." Slowly, Ranma brought his hands up and pulled his shirt off. Akane saw his eyes go wide as he stared at his chest. "Wh-wh-what is this?" "Ranma?" "I'm a *boy*, aren't I?" he shrieked, grabbing Akane by her arms. "What did you and those Goddesses do to me!?" <...to be continued...> ------------ Credits: Written by: Mike Koos Prereaders: Richard Beaubien, Kevin D. Hammel, Jonathan Ng, Andrew Norris, Shadowmane, Tom Williams With apologies to Takahashi Rumiko and Fujishima Kosuke... All parts of this series are available at the RAAC archives at ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works/Ah-My-Goddess/ Instruments-of-Change/ 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?