Prologue

Bright morning sunlight streamed through the unadorned window and pried Ranma's eyes open. Reluctantly, he gave in to the sun's wake up call. He raised his head off his pillow and unleashed a mighty yawn, making a face at the funny taste in his mouth. He scratched his crotch as he waited to fully come around. As he took care of the itch, he noticed a bad case of morning wood was upon him. He'd have to do something about it.

As his mind started to catch up with the rest of his body, his attitude shifted from reluctant riser to optimistic seeker of a prosperous future. Things were good. He was living with three attractive girls. He had a roof over his head. And he was an all-around great guy. The signs indicated things would get even better with a little luck and patience. He had a lot to look forward to.

Noticing the blanket-covered lump of his father still sleeping, and snoring, soundly, Ranma decided to not harass the man and rose quietly. He dressed in his favorite red shirt and black pants and exited the room, careful not to make a sound. Once out in the hall he moved more easily, a hop to his step. This was the start of a brand new morning, and even if he didn't score with the Tendou girls today, he would make major inroads at the least. Good things took time, and all of the girls were definitely hot enough that it was worthwhile to take some time winning them over.

His original thought of heading to the dojo for his morning warm up before the inevitable workout with his father crashed and derailed when he came across Akane. She was just exiting the lavatory, dressed in a bathrobe, the top of which was tied loosely. The front was open enough to allow him to see a significant portion of the valley between her breasts. At first she failed to see him, eyes closed as she dried her hair with a towel, but she looked up just in time to keep from bumping into his stationary form.

"Don't stand in the middle of the hall," Akane reproached, either unaware or unconcerned that his eyes were riveted to the area of her flesh that was showing. She side-stepped him, adding, "Don't forget, we have school today. Me and Nabiki will show you around. Try not to take too long to get ready." She continued on without a backwards glance, leaving him to stare after her as she headed around the corner and upstairs to her room.

Going to school with Akane and Nabiki? Right. His father had mentioned school, but not that it would be the same one as the girls. That would be good. Schoolwork would give him some common ground to work with them, as well as giving him the opportunity to meet other girls. It was a situation rife with opportunity, and he vowed to himself that this time it was going to work out. He could feel it in his bones, as well as his boner, which had still refused to go down despite Ranma's being awake for a while. Though seeing Akane's robe so open had only encouraged him to maintain his aroused state.

Rather than risk being late, Ranma decided to skip the morning workout and go directly to the bath, and while cleaning up, he would also take care of the throbbing going on between his legs. It was his first day of school, and walking around with a perpetual hard-on might make meeting people a bit awkward. It was difficult starting a decent discussion with a girl when his thoughts were continuously wandering to what they would look like outside their clothes. Ranma wasn't naïve enough to believe he would be getting any action the first day he met a chick. He had to make a better first impression than that of 'Peeper' like he had with the Tendou girls. Relieving his 'tension' would enable him to talk with a clear mind, not make him feel any unnecessary pressure, and make walking considerably easier.

And besides, whacking off just felt darn good.

His hand was on the door knob of the bathroom when a voice behind him seductively purred, "Ranma-kun."

Unused to hearing his name uttered in such a manner, Ranma turned, and his cock nearly doubled in hardness.

Nabiki was leaning against the wall, striking a pose that would have had any man drooling over her. Like her sister, she wore only a bathrobe. Unlike Akane, who had shown only a bit of her top, Nabiki's robe was just barely belted at the middle. A huge 'V' of flesh was visible, stopping just short of her loins. It was so wide towards the top that Ranma swore he was just able to make out a faint hint of coloring right about where her nipples would be.

Nabiki's bottom half was in an equally loose state. One shapely leg was thrust forward, poking out far from the robe, which was short around the bottom to begin with. The limb was thrust so far forward that what lay between her legs was shrouded in darkness by only the slimmest of margins.

Struck stupefied by the sight, Ranma remained motionless as Nabiki came out of her pose and approached him, very much matching the appearance of a tigress sizing up a lamed gazelle as its next meal. She sidled up to Ranma, brushing against him as she said, "Good morning. I see you're up bright and early." Just as she emphasized the 'up,' her hand brushed across his crotch, causing him to nearly shoot his wad then and there.

Nabiki ran her hand along his arm, caressing the material of his shirt until she came upon the hand that was gripping the doorknob. She rested it on top of his for a moment, fingertips dancing across his flesh and sending a tingling that touched every portion of his body.

The situation was becoming too much for Ranma. This was a complete turnaround from her attitude yesterday. What could it mean? Had she slept on the fiancé matter and decided he was the one for her? Had his manliness overwhelmed her senses and driven her into a lust that could only be satisfied by the two of them grinding their body against one another in passionate sex? Or was he misreading something, and this was only a friendly (very friendly) gesture she used with anyone staying at the house?

Nabiki went from merely playing with his hand, to lifting it up and holding it in her own. That sealed it as far as Ranma was concerned. It was obvious she wanted him in the worst way possible. And who was he to deny such an attractive woman her heart's desire? No, he could never resist helping a woman in her moment of need. He would take whatever steps were necessary to give her what she obviously needed.

Ranma was about to say as much when Nabiki released his hand, opened the door to the bath, and stepped inside. She smiled, waved at him, and then closed it behind her.

Ranma stared at the piece of wood in confusion. That hadn't quite gone the way he had expected. In fact, it hadn't gone the way he wanted to at all. It took a moment for her to be out of sight, and once his hormones had calmed down, for Ranma to understand what had happened.

"Argh! That tease!" Ranma rammed his head into the door. Really, she could have asked to use the bathroom first, or flashed him a little tit. Either one would have been enough for him to allow her to use it first. But instead she had simply outmaneuvered him by showing a little flesh and implying he was going to get more than just a look. He was tempted to barge in on her and take a little look at what she had misled him with.

Now that he thought about it, that idea had merit. Not the barging in, of course, but catching a look at her body. She was a potential fiancée, and he had already seen bits of Akane and Kasumi. It was only fair he got an accurate idea of what Nabiki had to offer, especially since she had teased him with the implication he could look at it once already.

Besides, having her outmaneuver him like that made him feel like he had lost a fight. And he absolutely hated that feeling.

Course decided, Ranma went to his room to grab a coil of rope from his bag. He then headed upstairs and went out one of the windows on the upper floor, easily leaping up to the roof. The morning air was a touch on the warm side, promising an unusually hot day for this time of Spring. He enjoyed the weather as he walked across the slate tiles until he was directly above where the window to the bath was. He uncoiled the rope, secured it around a television antenna sticking out of the roof, measured out the appropriate amount, then looped the excess around his waist before tying it off in a knot. Eager to embark on his course, he didn't bother to double check his tie as he skillfully lowered himself over the side of the roof, traveling down the outside of the building until he was directly above the window.

Giving a quiet snicker at the idea of outmaneuvering Nabiki, but getting what was tacitly implied by her in the corridor, Ranma positioned himself so that he could peek from the top of the window just enough to see everything inside the bath while keeping the absolute minimum of his head showing. It was a difficult balance to maintain, but he was a highly trained martial artist. He could do just about anything.

Ranma paused a moment to make sure he wasn't going over 'the line', as his father put it. Admiring women was one thing, but one had to be careful not to go too far by molesting or mortally offending a girl. Peeping was strictly non-touch, and growing up, his mother had encouraged him to peep on girls when he felt like doing so. She told him it was a sure sign of manliness to express interest in a woman's body, and all women liked it when someone showed an interest in their bodies. It was healthy and normal, or so she had told him. It was actually something of a shock for Ranma to discover that viewpoint was not held by the majority of society, as evidenced by the number of times he was caught peeping and ended up slapped, kicked, and maced. However, his early indoctrination held firm despite the abuses he suffered. Getting an occasional peep wasn't really all that wrong in his opinion. Especially when the girl got something out of it too, like Nabiki had in tempting him with her body solely to sneak into the bath ahead of him. She owed him one, and he intended to collect right now.

Conscience laid to rest, Ranma poked his head below the window frame and took a look inside.

Ranma had an ideal view of the bathroom. He watched as Nabiki, already well into cleaning herself, stood up from a stool and poured water over herself, washing away the soapy bubbles that clung to her recently scrubbed body. Ranma's "Oooh" was drowned out by the water as it struck the tiles of the floor.

Ranma was sorely impressed by the sight. Nabiki was certainly well formed and adequately developed for a girl of seventeen. Her breasts, while not as generous as Kasumi's or as firm as Akane's, were right in-between, a delectable sight if ever there was. Her bottom was neither voluptuous nor small; very proportional. It wasn't quite as cute as Akane's, but no way would he complain about touching it either. Her body was in good shape as well — not Akane's martial arts kind of fitness — but a healthy one with no noticeable fat, indicating she worked out enough to stay in shape.

But the most riveting feature to Ranma's eyes was her pussy; it was shaven completely bare, something of a rarity from his experiences in the women's baths he had infiltrated in his cursed form. From his position, he could see that bare slit looking at him, and there was nothing more he wanted to do that to feel it for himself. He wanted to know how the bare skin would feel beneath his fingers.

Ranma was forced to shift a bit as his hard-on stiffened to as rock-hard a state as possible. Any motion was only serving to rub the material of his boxers across the head of his manhood, exciting him further. He was starting to become incredibly uncomfortable.

Making certain the last of the suds were washed away from her body, Nabiki walked over to the filled tub. She lifted up one of her shapely legs and tested the water with her toe. Satisfied with the probe, she stepped inside, eventually lying back draping her arms over the side, leaving her breasts poking above the waterline as she relaxed in the tub.

The new position placed Ranma in two minds. On the upside, Nabiki was nearer, and he had a much better view of her body with her close proximity. On the downside, her bottom was now underwater, and he lost his chance to stare at her nether regions. The water was moving too much to get anything other than the most general of details.

Ranma was trying to look past the distortion created by the water when Nabiki's hands went to her breasts. She began fondling them, rubbing gently and paying close attention to her nipples. She drew circular motions with her fingers around the nipples, moaning softly as they hardened with each revolution until the tips pointed forward in their aroused state.

Ranma eyes widened to twice their original size. This was something he had never actually seen a woman engage in before, outside of a few hentai tapes he had managed to watch. But seeing it on a television screen was one thing; watching it actually happen before his eyes was quite another. It was far more sensual seeing it for real, and Nabiki's body could easily compare with most of the actresses he had seen. And all without that cheesy porn music playing in the background.

One of Nabiki's hands left her breast and disappeared underwater. Almost instantly her low moaning increased, and one of her legs bent enough that it broke the surface of the tub. Her eyes were closed as she began murmuring softly.

Unconsciously, Ranma started whimpering softly at not being able to see what was going on beneath the surface. Even the playing with her breasts wasn't enough to keep him from trying to stare through the moving waters to what was happening below. "Come on out," Ranma whispered to himself.

Almost as if she had heard his plea, Nabiki did indeed rise out of the tub and sat on the edge as water dripped from her body. There was just enough of ledge for her to lie on her back, her legs dangling into the water. Her fingertips were at her lower lips, and once she was situated, began plunging inside her lower regions. With no hair to obscure his vision, Ranma could see everything as the soft folds of flesh parted, showing a bit of pink as two fingers began working their way inside.

That was all Ranma could take. Balancing himself with one hand, he lowered the zipper on his pants and worked his hand through the opening in his boxers and removed his cock. His free hand began stroking his shaft in conjunction with Nabiki's own manual manipulations.

As Nabiki's thumb began playing over the top of her pussy, fingers still plunging in and out, she removed one hand and began playing with her breast. She moaned out loud, almost pleading as she said, "Oh yes, Ranma. That's it. Work it in."

Ranma's eyes nearly fell out of his head and his mouth was agape. Even his hand stopped working up and down his shaft. She was fantasizing about him? It was too good to be true. His first impulse was to shatter the window and leap on top of her, giving her what she obviously wanted from him. But then his mind, mostly dormant for the majority of the morning, asserted control over his hormones. Just because a girl fantasized about a guy did not mean she would appreciate him barging in on what was meant to be a private matter. Knowledge that he was peeping on her when she was 'vulnerable', might even serve to push her away rather than drawing her closer, despite her obvious lust for his manliness. So, with a resolve he regretted possessing, he forced the thoughts of intruding from his mind, satisfying his own heady case of lust by doubling his hand action.

Besides, he could proposition Nabiki later if she was this hot for him. No need to rush in now and make a mistake.

While he had been wracked by indecision, Nabiki had been hard at work. Both fingers were shoved all the way inside now, thrusting more vigorously back and forth. Her pussy made squishy sounds as her inner lining tried to cling to the digits while her thumb played over her clitoris. Her moaning increased as she chanted, "Yes, Ranma, that's it. Right there. Right there. Right… there." Her body arched and she bit down on her lip. Her fingers remained buried in her and her legs tried to clamp around a body that wasn't there, simply curling in reflex at the orgasm that shook her body.

Seeing her flushed body writhing on the tile was more than Ranma could take. Wired as he was from all of the skin he had seen before and right at this moment, he absolutely needed to explode. He closed his eyes and imagined it was Nabiki's hand, her own fluids still clinging to her digits, handling his shaft, stroking it up and down with increasingly vigorous motions.

Ranma's hand dwelled on his sensitive tip with each stroke, bringing him higher and higher until he couldn't handle it anymore. He envisioned Nabiki's mouth poised before his cock and open and waiting for his sperm-filled load. And then his climax hit. He grunted, bursting with powerful spurts; over a week's worth of cum stored in his sack. He sprayed the wall of the house with each jet, and was barely aware enough to keep his hand over his dick, in order to keep the handful of final dribbles from ending up on his person. Hanging upside down as he came would have been bad if any stuck to him. It would be difficult to explain why cumstains were on his shirt rather than his pants. Why, a person might have thought it was some other guy that came on him, rather than it being a result of his own actions.

A profound sense of contentment and release of tension coursed through him. Self-service or not, it was a relief to finally expend himself. All night his dreams had been wracked with fantasies of the Tendou girls doing with him what they would. Now that he had released some measure of his ardor, he was actually able to think with a clear head.

Ranma sighed, and opened his eyes.

A smiling Nabiki stared back.

"Ah!" Ranma cried, nearly slipping out of the rope from his panic. Being caught in the act was something he had long since become used to. Now he was really going to get it.

Nabiki slid the window open to confront Ranma. Rather than being offended, she seemed amused. She smiled coyly and said, "Like what you saw?"

Ranma was stupefied. This was an ideal situation to be labeled a pervert and end up hammered through the air. It had happened often enough that he couldn't think past it. "Um, well, ah."

She looked above him to see his cock still in his hand, and the results of his 'handiwork' on the wall. "I guess you did. Want a kiss?"

Ranma was definitely uncertain what to make of the situation. Kissing some girl that had just masturbated in front of him while he was hanging upside down from the outside of a building after having given himself some hand action at the same time, seemed too surreal to enjoy. "Ah, no. Not now. I mean."

Nabiki shrugged. "Okay. In that case it'll be five thousand yen."

Ranma looked behind him, wondering if she was issuing the demand to someone else. "Ah, what will be five thousand yen?"

"The show I just put on for you."

"Huh?"

Nabiki sighed. "Surely you don't think I masturbate like that if someone isn't watching."

"You don't?"

"Crawling out of the tub and giving you an ideal view? And calling out your name? Please." Nabiki scoffed. "If I'm doing it for my pleasure, it's fast and efficient. Just simple in and out until I'm done. As soon as I'm finished I move right on to other things. I spotted you when you poked your head in the window. I put that on just for you."

"Oh." The knowledge that it had all been an act was somehow disappointing to him. "But I don't see why I have to pay. It's not like I asked you to do it."

Nabiki's amusement disappeared. She turned her head towards the inside of the house, and began to shout, "Daddy! Ranma's peeping on me while I'm in the—" She stopped abruptly as she saw the silencing gestures Ranma was making with his free hand. "Did you have something to say?"

Ranma managed to pull out some money from his pocket and thrust it out for her while maintaining his balance upside down.

Nabiki plucked the offered bills from his hands. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, Ranma. Any time you want me to put on another show, you just ask." She waved good bye and slid the window closed.

Ranma watched with a bit of irritation as she walked away from the window and dried herself off before throwing on her robe and exiting the bath. There was definitely something disappointing in having to pay to watch. Not as much thrill at being so naughty. And there was the fact she was not actually fantasizing about him, but was just using his name for his benefit rather than hers. "Although she did put on a good show," he admitted. Thinking of it brought a definite smile to his face.

"Whal, whal, whal. Lookie here, boys. It looks like we got ourselves a gen-e-wine pre-vert on our hands," an unfamiliar voice with a Kansai accent so thick Ranma could barely understand it said from somewhere below his upside down body.

Suddenly put on the spot, Ranma winced. He had barely enough resolve to look down and see the speaker. Below him was a group of men. They wore identical uniforms, consisting of black pants with beige tops and badges pinned to their chests. Mirrored shades adorned each of their faces, Ranma's surprised face reflecting back in each one. And, most importantly, each had a belt that contained a wide array of equipment that could be used to incapacitate a person, from pepper spray to nightsticks to stun guns. The group all peered upward, their reflective visages staring expectantly at him.

Ranma laughed nervously. "Ah, hello there, Officers. Is there a problem?"

One of the policemen, a man with a big gut that hung out over his equipment belt, said, "Well, Son. We dun got a call about some pre-vert, peeping in a house. And lo and behold, we dun found one."

The leader's thick accent served to trigger a memory from long ago that Ranma quickly suppressed. He tried acting as deferential as possible as he said, "Ah, I'm no pervert, Sir. I was just, ah, painting the house."

"That there is an interesting basecoat you dun applied to it." The rotund man pointed with his nightstick at the spot Ranma had blasted his load.

Ranma managed to laugh nervously once before he was hit simultaneously with three stun guns. His body jerked so much from the electricity that the knot around his waist came undone and he fell to the ground, landing on his head.

The fat man stood ominously over Ranma, slapping his nightstick in an open palm. "The only thing that I, Sheriff Heero T. Justice, hates worse than a pre-vert, is a pre-vert that tries and act like he's not a pre-vert. Beat the hell out of him, boys."

The group fell upon Ranma enthusiastically.

Any and all C+C is appreciated. You can contact me at sommer@3rdm.net

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters and settings belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Kitty, and Viz Video.

Since this is a lemon, no one under eighteen should read this for fear of having your eyes burn out of your head.

Foreword: -Lemon Warning- This chapter is fairly lightweight by lemon standards, though definitely more lemony than the last chapter. But I don't want to overdo it too soon. The next chapter will have more standard heated lemon scenes and should be more indicative of the lemony tones of the series.

Throughout the series I will be using the 'Ranma-chan' appellation to denote female Ranma due to gender being important to this, despite the fact it is technically improper.

Chapter 2

"Jeez, Ranma, it's a good thing we were able to convince Sheriff Justice you lived here and we let you hang outside of windows like that." Akane applied a final bandage to his forehead.

"What's his problem, anyway?" Ranma snapped. It wasn't so much that he was hurt, his martial arts resilience made shaking off a beating like that easy. It was being publicly labeled a pervert that served as a blow to his dignity.

"He has a personal vendetta against perversion of any kind. If he thinks you're a pervert, you're history," Nabiki explained.

"But I'm not a pervert!" Ranma insisted.

"What were you doing hanging upside down outside the house anyway?" Akane asked.

Ranma flushed slightly. He looked over to Nabiki, who surprisingly offered nothing in explanation. She just gave Ranma a coy little smile. "I was engaged in a martial arts exercise," Ranma told Akane.

Nabiki's smile grew wider, but still she remained silent.

"You'll have to show me it sometime," Akane said.

"Ah, I don't think so," Ranma was quick to say.

"How come?" Akane persisted.

"It's an advanced technique," Ranma insisted.

"I can handle it," Akane said.

Nabiki finally interjected herself. "I don't think you have the right equipment for that sort of technique."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Akane asked.

Ranma was quick to say, "I'll teach you something a little later."

"Okay. Now we have to get going, or we'll be late for class." Akane grabbed her book bag, then handed Ranma his.

Nabiki joined them as they exited the house and walked out to the street. By the time they made it to the first corner, Nabiki headed off in a different direction. "I have some people to meet. See you later, Ranma-kun," she said playfully before walking off.

Once Nabiki was out of earshot, Akane said, "Let me warn you about Nabiki. She's nice enough when it suits her, but she is a bit on the mercenary side."

"I hadn't noticed," Ranma said flatly. He was about to add more, when a car raced past, splashing some water on Ranma and narrowly missing Akane. The water served to trigger Ranma's curse.

Ranma-chan looked down at her body's new dimensions. "Great, just great. I can't go to school looking like this."

"You mean you're going to keep your curse a secret?" Akane asked.

"Of course I am. I don't want people to think I'm a freak." It would be impossible to pick up girls if that was the case. Men, on the other hand, were horny little bastards and just might think he was dateable material. The whole idea of guys hitting on him gave him the creeps.

"I don't think you're a freak. I think you just had some bad luck," Akane said.

"Thanks," Ranma said sincerely. Besides the obvious moral support, it meant hitting on Akane properly would be easier, once he had a decent opportunity. She seemed interested in martial arts. Perhaps that would be a good place to start with common ground and an offer to train her.

There were other matters to deal with first. "I need some hot water. Got any idea where I can get some?"

Akane shifted uncomfortably. "Well, there is someone close by that will let you have some. But I'm not so sure if going there is a good idea."

"How come?"

"It's kind of hard to explain. But if it's only you getting some hot water, there shouldn't be a problem. I think."

Whatever unease Ranma-chan should have felt by Akane's caution was quickly undone by the opportunity to get her hands on some hot water. Agreeing to Akane's proposition, Ranma-chan allowed her to lead the way.

It was a quick walk to the small building Akane led them to. On the outside of the building was a sign indicating it was a doctor's office.

"Here we are," Akane said as they stood before the front door. Akane knocked on the door, then darted to the side, leaning up against the wall next to the door. "Why don't I wait out here, and you go on inside?"

"What's going on?" Ranma-chan asked.

"It would be for the best if Dr. Tofu didn't see me," she said in a quiet voice.

"Why?" Ranma-chan asked again.

A "Come on in," came from within.

Ranma-chan looked again at Akane, who was holding a finger to her lips to indicate silence. Reluctantly, the martial artist opened the door, expecting the worst.

Much to Ranma-chan's surprise, the interior looked just like a doctor's waiting room should. It was tastefully, if sedately, decorated. There were a number of chairs spaced around the room. In the center was a large table with a number of magazines, containing innocuous titles, spread out on the top. Several charts and diagrams of human anatomy hung on the wall, and there was an antiseptic smell to the whole thing. There was nothing suspicious that Ranma-chan could detect. Nothing at all.

A man emerged from a door in the back that presumably led to the examination room. He was in his late twenties or early thirties, and appeared completely ordinary in every way. Even his outfit was a plain-looking brown gi. There was nothing intimidating about him in the slightest. He appeared frighteningly normal.

"Umm, Dr. Tofu?" Ranma-chan asked.

He looked curiously at the smaller girl. "Yes, I am Dr. Tofu, Miss. How can I help you?"

Ranma-chan's first impulse was to ask for the hot water and to get the heck out. But the guy looked harmless enough, and why was Akane acting so weird, as though he might attack her or something?

Deciding it was time to discover the truth, and that she could deal with whatever the consequences of it might be, Ranma-chan grabbed Akane by the arm and forced her into view. "Akane here said you could help me get some hot water."

The doctor's glasses immediately fogged up. "Ak… Ak… Akane-chan. So nice to see you again. It's been so long."

"Now you've gone and done it." Akane's voice was heavy with recrimination.

Ranma-chan stared between the two, hopelessly confused. "Done what? I just let him see you. What's going on and why did his glasses get all foggy?"

Dr. Tofu walked up to the pair. "It's been a long time since you've had a checkup, Akane-chan. Why don't we get started right away?" He grabbed Ranma-chan by the hand and led her to the back.

"What are you doing? I'm not Akane, you idiot!" Ranma-chan shouted as she was forced back into the office.

"You keep him distracted while I grab the water," Akane said, then darted into the lavatory connected to the waiting room.

Once Ranma-chan ended up in the medical examining room, she forced herself out of Tofu's surprisingly firm grasp. "What's the big idea? I don't want no physical exam. I just want some hot water."

Obviously oblivious, Tofu rambled, "No need to be concerned, Akane-chan. We'll do a thorough examination." He reached behind the girl's head.

Ranma-chan got as far as putting her hand on his elbow when she felt him tap a point at the base of her skull, and her whole body below the neck went limp. Her legs lost all muscle control and she started to slump to the floor, but the doctor was quick enough to grab her under the arms and prevent her from falling.

Tofu was just as quick to bend her over the exam table. With one deft move, he dropped both her pants and boxer shorts around her knees.

"Ah! What are you doing, you pervert?! I'm really a guy! A guy I say!" Ranma-chan tried escaping, but all she could do was pivot her neck to see what was going on behind her.

"I'm just going to take your temperature," Tofu said, going for one of the instruments on a nearby table.

Ranma-chan's eyes bulged as she saw what he had in his hands. "That's not a thermometer, you jerk! That's one of them enema things!"

The end of the implement, filled with its liquid payload, seemed to shine in the doctor's hands as brightly as his glasses. "Don't worry, Akane-chan. This won't hurt a bit. And once we're done with your examination, we can move on to mine."

"Ack!" Ranma-chan said as, by either design or chance, Tofu got the correct end of the instrument pointed at the motionless girl's behind. Despite having no muscle control, Ranma-chan could still feel sensations. She felt everything going on back there in painstaking detail. The tip of the instrument pressed against the 'Exit Only' portion of her anatomy. She grunted as it was forced past the puckered part of her anus and inside.

"I don't want no enema!" Ranma-chan declared, her eyes crossing at the intruder making its way into the tight ring of muscle. "And at least you could use some lube!"

The gleam to the Doctor's glasses remained as he said in a soft voice, "Don't worry, Akane, I'll lube you up very nicely."

Ranma-chan gasped as the doctor's fingers brushed against a VERY sensitive portion of her lower lips. Against her will she let out a soft gasp, and a warm fire, heretofore unknown, made its presence known in her lower regions. It was unlike any she had ever felt as a man. While it was clearly not unpleasant, it was disturbing to have her largely unfamiliar cursed form manipulated so easily.

It was at that moment Akane reappeared, bucket of water in hand. She gasped slightly at the scene. Thinking quickly, she pointed out in the waiting room and shouted, "Look, Dr. Tofu! It's Kasumi and Nabiki!"

Tofu's gleaming glasses tore themselves away from Ranma-chan's backside. "Kasumi-chan and Nabiki-chan?"

"Ah, yes. Betty-chan is trying to kidnap them. If you hurry, you might be able to rescue them from her, and I'm sure they'll show you some of their… gratitude."

"Gratitude," Tofu sighed. He looked down at Ranma-chan's bottom and began talking to it. "Don't worry, Akane-chan. I'll rescue your sisters, then we'll do an intensive examination of all three of you." Without waiting for a response, Tofu ran out of the office and out the building, shouting, "Betty-chan, you naughty girl. Bring back Kasumi-chan and Nabiki-chan! I'll let you help examine them too!"

Once in the clear, Akane sat down the bucket and moved closer to the bent over redhead. Akane winced at the object sticking out of her backside. "He did that to me once. Not the most pleasant of experiences, but I sure felt cleaned out afterwards."

"Just pull it out," Ranma-chan snarled.

Akane got a firm grip on the middle of the instrument and pulled. Ranma-chan grunted as the object was removed.

"I can't move," Ranma-chan said.

"It's just a pressure point thing. They usually go away in a few minutes," Akane assured her. "Let's see if switching your form helps speed things up." Akane splashed the contents of the bucket over Ranma-chan's body.

The gender switch took only a moment. Ranma found he was able to stand up after the dousing, soggy, but with some degree of motor control. Using that newfound motion, he made a fist and pointed it in the direction the doctor had taken. "That guy's going to pay for sticking that thing up my ass."

Akane placed a hand on Ranma's raised one, gently lowering it. "It's not Dr. Tofu's fault. Come on, let's get out of here and I'll explain."

Even after they went outside, it took Akane a few moments to settle Ranma down and not chase after the doctor seeking some sort of revenge. She told Ranma, "Dr. Tofu's actually a nice man and very competent doctor."

"Aside from his inability to tell one person from another and trying to give complete strangers enemas!"

"Like I said, it's not his fault," Akane insisted. "You see, Dr. Tofu has sort of this condition. He kind of loses it when he encounters a woman he really likes. He becomes unintelligible and has a problem doing anything right."

"I hadn't noticed," Ranma said dryly. "So he thinks you're hot."

"Well, it's not just me," Akane sheepishly explained. "Kasumi and Nabiki cause him to do the same thing. Originally it was just Kasumi, but later on Nabiki and I had the same effect on him."

"And it's just you three?" Ranma asked.

"To the best of my knowledge."

"What is it about you three that sets you apart from anyone else? Not that you're unattractive or anything, just that I'm sure the doc sees plenty of other attractive women as well."

Akane laughed sheepishly. "Well, you know. We all sort of had better than the standard 'Doctor to Patient' relationship with him."

That caused Ranma to miss a step.

Akane went on, cast adrift on memories of yesterday. "When I was younger, Kasumi used to take me to doctor Tofu to help with my injuries. She had some sort of effect on him that she didn't realize; she thought he was always that way. Well, after a few years of that, one day I sort of told her that he didn't act goofy except when she was around. I sort of figured out it was because he was attracted to her. So I told her that. She didn't believe me at first, but I guess she sort of confronted the doctor about it. When she discovered it was the truth, she thought she'd help him get over his infatuation by… well, let's just say one thing led to another. Unfortunately instead of curing him, after every time she'd stop by, he'd be out of it for the whole day instead of when she was in his line of sight."

Ranma looked at Akane in confusion. "You mean she slept with him?"

"She tried every trick in the book, but nothing seemed to work," Akane said. "Pretty soon she stopped dropping by altogether to keep his practice from falling apart."

Ranma tried visualizing the extremely attractive Kasumi banging a walking goofball like that doctor. His mind revolted at the very idea. The idea of that moron sleeping with Kasumi without even trying while Ranma only got a couple of flashes of her pussy just wasn't fair. "So Nabiki had the same effect on him too?"

Hesitating a moment, Akane said, "Well, not at first. Which was sort of the problem. Nabiki felt jealous that Kasumi could have such an effect on him when she didn't seem to have any at all. So she tried to induce the same effect on him by doing the same things Kasumi did."

Ranma's mood soured even further. "And then?"

"It worked," Akane said with an embarrassed laugh.

"And you?"

Akane turned slightly red. "I couldn't help myself. Dr. Tofu was one of the kindest, nicest men I even knew. I got sort of a crush on him, and one day I couldn't help myself. I sort of miss the old doctor. Although I will admit the sex was surprisingly good. Even when his brain's scrambled, he still seems to subconsciously know what to do. And he has some of the softest hands I've ever known. It must come from practicing medicine."

Akane turned to see Ranma had collapsed on the ground and was convulsing. "Ranma! What's wrong? Is it some delayed effect from the pressure point thing?"

Ranma gurgled in rage rather than from some aftereffect of the attack. It just wasn't fair that a walking idiot like Tofu had a piece of not one, but all three of the Tendou girls' cute asses. And worse, they hadn't been willing to jump in the sack with a handsome, suave, starved for affection guy like Ranma, who was such a better choice than that deluded putz.

Not that he could say that to Akane, not in seeing that she held some affection for the doctor, even if it had obviously been left in the past the after the whole sex thing. Oh, but he could curse the gods over the fact.

Eventually, Ranma was able to recover some measure of control and continued with Akane, turning once again on their path to school. And Ranma thought he couldn't be more grumpy after the way the morning had turned out. It was getting worse by the second. But the bright side to that was that things could only get better from here. Maybe he'd meet a cute girl and they'd hit it off right away.

It was as they were almost at the gates that Ranma came up with a way to possibly come out ahead from the whole Tofu mess. He said to Akane, "I'm planning to become a doctor, too."

"Really? I though you said you wanted to teach martial arts."

Oops. He had mentioned that the other day. "Um, I was thinking of doing the doctor thing on the side."

"That's nice," Akane said, and turned away from him.

Ranma snapped his fingers. Apparently it wasn't the medical thing that had lured Akane to Tofu in the first place. He'd have to give it a try around Kasumi later and see if she'd react to medical bait.

Just as the wall surrounding the school came into the pair's line of sight, they ran into Nabiki.

The new arrival looked curiously at the duo. "What kept you guys from making it here earlier?"

Akane explained the Tofu incident.

"You turned down a free enema? For shame," Nabiki teased.

"If you think it's so hot, I'll be more than happy to give you one," Ranma snapped.

Nabiki laughed. "No thanks, Saotome. Nice to see you have some bite in you, though."

There are lots of places I'd like to bite you, he made sure not to say to her. Instead he opted for a much safer, "Looks like we're going to make it in plenty of time."

"Not quite," Nabiki said as the trio passed by the school gates. "I'm afraid there's one little thing we still have to get out of the way first before we can get along with classes. It's sort of a morning ritual."

"Eh?" Ranma said. It was then he noticed a horde of boys, most of them dressed in various athletic uniforms of many different sports, standing expectedly in front of the school. Their attention was riveted to the front gates.

"There she is!" One of the youths, dressed in a rugby uniform, cried out, pointing in the direction of the trio.

The proclamation had an immediate effect as the horde surged forward in a wave, heading for the same spot right on the inside of the gates. As one, they cried out, "Akane Tendou, in order to have our way with you, we must defeat you!"

Rather than take any sort of aggressive or defensive posture, Akane swooned and said in melodramatic fashion, "Oh, woe is me. I am about to be set upon by a mob of ravenous creatures who seek to have their way with me. Whatever shall I, who am at the mercy of this horde, do?"

Ranma wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but he knew an unbelievably great opportunity to impress a girl when he saw one. He boldly shouted, "Don't worry, Akane. I'll take care of this pack of losers." And ran forward.

Akane stuck her foot out just as Ranma was about to pass by, tripping him and causing his face to end up in the dirt.

He rose up and shouted, "What did ya do that for?!"

Nabiki placed a hand on Ranma's shoulder and moved him away from Akane and the approaching pack. More quietly, she said, "Akane already has a protector and she likes him just fine. She doesn't want you muscling in on his turf."

"Protector?" Ranma asked.

His query was answered as a loud explosion came to the left of the horde of attackers. A rippling wave of force kicked up a huge gout of dirt that stretched across the entire length of the front of the crowd. It cut right into them, taking out the first line of the group and sending bodies flying everywhere.

The horde stopped, the fallen men crawling away from the carnage while the rest stood in mute anger over what had happened to their comrades.

Through the dust from the inexplicable attack came a shadowy figure. Slowly, dramatically, he walked, eventually emerging from the cloud, which seemed to part for him. Unsullied by the dust, he walked expectantly through the school grounds, the epitome of assurance and confidence.

All present could make out his features. He was a young man dressed in the traditional garb of a kendoist, wooden sword held idly over his shoulder as he casually strolled to the center of the school yard. He stopped once he was directly between Akane and the horde, and turned so that he was facing the men. He took a moment to glance over his shoulder and give Akane a look of assurance before turning to confront the men.

Firming his grip on his bokken, he pointed it accusingly at the group of men. "Look at the lot of you. Little more than a pack of animals rutting in the dirt. How dare you foul creatures try to force your attentions on a woman by force of arms! Truly only the lowest of worms would act in such a bestial manner. Have you no shame? No dignity? No honor?"

One of the boys, a baseball player judging by his garb, and the bat in his hands, said, "But everyone knows that if you beat Akane Tendou, you can, uh, you know, do it with her."

One of the kendoist's eyebrows began twitching. "And you believe this vague rumor gives you the right to beat senseless a helpless woman? That you may slake your animalistic urges on the opposite sex in such a primitive manner?" He pointed his bokken to the heavens. "Nay. Romance is the key to gaining another's affections, not the strength of muscles nor skill in arms. Win their hearts by courtship and ritual, by showing them you care about their feelings and thoughts. Let down your false pretenses and show them the light of your inner being, baring unto them your soul rather than baring your body. That is the way to win another's heart."

He leveled his bokken at the boys once again. "But no, such thinking is beyond your ilk. Instead, you seek to force your passions on them by prying open their legs and satisfying your urges. You disgust me to the lowest portion of my being. You do not have the right to call yourself men. None of you do! Now taste the ire of the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, Tatewaki Kunou."

Anger having reached a crescendo, Kunou fell in among them. The mob was prepared for his attack, but preparation proved to be different from the actual ability to defend themselves. The kendoist was a dervish, his bokken seeming to strike everywhere all at once. Ranma watched as, in a blurring of motion too fast to follow a sumo, baseball player, and hockey player all fell at the same time. With one slash of Kunou's bokken, six others fell at once, obviously unconscious. Everywhere Kunou walked, bodies fell, no one able to come close to striking him. He was all offense, seeming to strike two people on opposite sides at the same time, and making it look as easy as waving an arm. He continued until suddenly, there was no one left to fall.

Standing in the center of the carnage, surrounded by the littered remains of the rabble, Kunou appeared the picture of serenity. He tucked his bokken to his waistband. Dealing with the mob had taken him less than ten seconds. He had failed to break a sweat. Not a hair was out of place to indicate he had been in a fight at all. He had the air of someone whose accomplishment had been merely walking down the street, not even sparing his handiwork a second glance.

All the girls in the schoolyard gave a thunderous cheer as the youth approached Akane. Ranma overheard the girls saying, "He's so dreamy." "No one is as handsome as Kunou." "He's the only real man in this entire school." "I wish my boyfriend would act more like him." "I wish he was my boyfriend, period."

Ranma decided he really didn't like the guy.

Kunou continued with his slow and steady stride until he was directly in front of Akane. "Those animals have been taken care of once again. Your honor is safe and still intact, Akane Tendou."

"Thank you for protecting me from those awful people, Kunou-chan," Akane gushed as she turned bright red.

"Akane Tendou, I have told you many times it is improper to be so familiar with me," Kunou reprimanded.

"Yes, Kunou-sempai," Akane said, rebuked.

Kunou accepted the correction. "It is quite the nuisance to have to continually beat upon those voracious animals every morning. I would like to know who it was that spread those awful lies about how if you are defeated one can do as they would with you."

Akane placed a hand behind her head and laughed embarrassedly. "Yeah, I'd sure like to know who spread those rumors, too."

"How fortunate you warned me in advance that such a rumor had started so I could be present to protect your honor when they made their attempts to molest you."

"Yes, how very lucky she knew about them in advance," Nabiki smirked at her sister, causing Akane shift uneasily and laugh even harder.

Having enough of Akane's preening over some flashy pretty-boy, Ranma finally decided to insert himself into the conversation. "Ah, those guys weren't nothing. Just a bunch of undisciplined, untalented punks. I could have taken care of them even faster."

Kunou turned his nose in Ranma's direction. "Who are you to belittle my accompl—"

And then Kunou's eyes fully turned on Ranma, taking him in for he first time. Instantly he was before Ranma, easily violating his personal space. Ranma took a half step back, unprepared for the kendoist's quickness.

Kunou bowed and smiled warmly. "You are absolutely correct. They were little more than an afterthought for a man of your obvious talents. Tell me, you are new to this school, are you not?"

"Ah, yeah," Ranma said, taken aback by the curious absence of the earlier haughtiness Kunou had used with everyone else.

"I thought as much. One whose appearance is as striking as yours I would remember."

Ranma accepted the compliment. "Yeah, I'm a striking kind of guy."

Eagerness dripped from Kunou's voice. "And your name?"

"Ranma Saotome."

"Ranma Saotome." Kunou dangled every syllable upon his tongue as though it was the most delicious of pastries. "It is a name full of strength, courage, and open-mindedness. Welcome to Furinkan High, Saotome-kun."

The friendliness demonstrated by the kendoist made Ranma's initial dislike lessen. "Thank you, Kunou-sempai."

Kunou grabbed Ranma's hand and held it in his. "Such formality is unnecessary. I insist you address me as, 'Kunou-kun'."

"Ah, okay." Ranma tried extracting his hand, but had little success.

Kunou made a show of looking at the clock tower on the school. "Alas, I must tear myself away from your charming personality and meet with several members of my team. I am the captain, and have a responsibility to them." He released Ranma's hand. "I am certain that with time, we will become the very best of… friends." Kunou gave an enigmatic smile, and departed. The moment he left, a gaggle of schoolgirls flocked to his side, cooing about his willingness to stand up for a girl's honor with no expectation of receiving anything in return.

Ranma watched the pack walk away. Once Kunou was out of earshot, he said, "What the heck was all that about?"

In answer, a furious Akane punched him in the face.

"What was that for?!" Ranma rubbed at his cheek.

Irate, Akane snarled, "You jerk! How dare you act that way in front of Kunou-chan!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"I saw the way you were looking at him," Akane accused.

"What?"

Nabiki interjected herself between the two. She said to Ranma, "Don't get too angry with Akane. She's just mad that you got further with Kunou in two minutes than she has in two months."

Ranma scratched his head in confusion. "Further with him? What's that supposed to mean? He just walked up and said 'Hi,' and shook my hand. Except he didn't really get to the shaking part." Ranma looked at his hand curiously.

Nabiki looked askance at Ranma. "Um, you do understand that Kunou was coming on to you there, didn't you? He couldn't have made it more obvious if he reached down and started stroking your cock."

"He's gay?!" Ranma shouted, looking at his hand as though he had been informed he had just handled a bag full of leprosy. "Does anyone else know about it?"

"Duh, everyone knows it," Nabiki said. "It's not like he did anything to hide it, now did he?"

Ranma watched Kunou disappear into the building, the flock still crowding around him. "But then why are Akane and all the other girls making such a big deal about him if he's gay?"

Nabiki shrugged. "He is the most suave, handsome, noble, virtuous guy around. He'll go out of his way to help any girl in need and do it on principle rather than as a way of trying to impress them and get into their panties. That he's openly unavailable makes him even more irresistible to some girls. It's not that surprising. Why do you think bishonen guys are so popular with girls?"

"But why would they be wasting their time hitting on him if he's gay?" Ranma insisted.

Irate, Akane said, "Kunou-chan's not gay. He's just… confused."

Nabiki said, "Yeah, he's so confused he keeps sticking his 'bokken' in guys' butts instead of girls'."

"Ew, don't say stuff like that in front of me." Ranma squirmed. He was already uncomfortable with his encounter with an enema. He did not need to visualize the sort of action Nabiki was saying on top of that.

Akane said, "I'm sure he's at least bi-sexual and doesn't realize it yet. I'm just helping him realize his full potential."

"What was he said last week? Ah, yes." Nabiki's posture shifted as she took in a more haughty air. Her voice deepened as she pontificated, "'A man find comfort in a woman? Such foolishness and naiveté. Only a man can truly understand what another man suffers through on this arduous path that be known as life. It is only in the company of men, lying in the arms of another man, that true peace and happiness can be obtained'."

"That just means Kunou-chan needs a little convincing," Akane insisted.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Ranma began turning a pale green. He desperately tried shifting his thoughts to a more heterosexual topic. It took only a moment before his mind hit on something. He looked to Akane. "What was that about defeating you and being able to… you know?"

Akane laughed nervously again. "Haven't got the faintest idea."

Nabiki said, "Actually, Akane is the one that started it, then told Kunou about the 'rumor' and asked him to protect her." Nabiki ignored the glare her sister shot her. "She figured it was a way to get in good with him, but so far, you've seen the results."

Ranma nodded his head. "That makes sense. I sort of figured something was up since she could have handled those guys pretty easily."

A pair of girls called out, "Hey, Akane," and waved at her.

Grateful for the distraction, Akane waved back and ran over to them.

Yuka said, "It looks like Kunou rushed to your defense again. Make any headway?"

"Not this time," Akane said mournfully.

Sayuri said, "You should give up on him. He is just a guy. They're all alike."

Akane crossed her arms. "Not to some of us."

"Like that guy that was standing next to Akane," Yuka said, a hungry gleam in her eye. "Who is he?"

Akane looked over her shoulder and realized who she was talking about. "Oh, that's just Ranma. He's moving in with us."

Yuka said, "He's cute. Did you sleep with him yet?"

Sayuri swatted her friend on the shoulder with no small amount of force. "That's just plain rude. You know Akane's quit doing that sort of thing ever since she set her sights on Kunou. Pathetic as it is."

"It's not pathetic," Akane insisted.

"It's as bad as some guy wasting his time hitting on me," Sayuri stated plainly.

"It's not the same thing." There was a hint of doubt in Akane's voice though.

Yuka, not perturbed in the slightest, asked, "So, is Ranma available?"

Akane weighed the matter of revealing the truth in her mind. She decided there was nothing to be gained by keeping it private, especially since Nabiki would probably talk about it if nothing else. "Actually, my dumb father promised his dumb father that our family lines should be united. Which means either me or my sisters are supposed to marry him. But we're putting a hold on it until we can decide if one of us wants him."

"So he's available?"

Both Akane and Sayuri sighed at their friend's enthusiasm. Back when Akane first befriended the girl, she was far more reserved and straight-laced, the product of overprotective and conservative parents. They barely let her go out on only the most chaste of dates. But after spending some time with Akane and listening to her views on life, Yuka abandoned that lifestyle and led one that was more akin to Akane's free wheeling one. Actually, she was far worse than Akane or any of her sisters had been. She was typical of a lot of girls in similar situations: acting like a child allowed to run loose in a candy store for the first time and wanting to sample every 'treat' there was. Akane hoped the girl slowed down soon. She was either going to burn herself or every male in their school out before too long. An exaggeration, of course, but not much of one. Yuka usually had three different 'boyfriends' at any one time, and would exchange an old one for a completely new one about once a week. Even Kasumi at her worst had never gone through them that fast.

By all rights Akane should have admitted that Ranma was available — neither she nor her sisters were interested in him at the moment — but there was something that made her hold her tongue. "With that family promise thing hanging over his head, I don't think we can consider him as such."

"Oh." Yuka appeared crestfallen, though not as much as Akane thought she should.

Ranma looked the two newcomers over as they began an animated discussion with Akane. "Hey, those two are pretty good-looking. Are all of Akane's friends as attractive as them?"

Nabiki started to say something, but then gained a mischievous look to her eye. Ranma's attention was too wrapped up with the girls for him to notice the shift.

Smirking, Nabiki said, "Nope. Those two are the only good-looking ones. They're Akane's two best friends: Yuka and Sayuri. Yuka's the one with short hair. On the whole they're usually nice enough, except for one tiny little problem with each of them."

That caught Ranma's attention. "Oh?"

Dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, Nabiki said, "Well, you see. Yuka might not look it, but she's a major league man hater."

"Maybe she hasn't met the right guy." Ranma struck a bold posture.

Nabiki was barely able to keep from laughing at his silly look. "Actually, she's met lots of guys, much to their eternal sorrow. Oh, she'll act all nice and sweetness, like she's interested in you. But it's just that; an act. The moment she gets you alone and gets your pants around your ankles, she'll starting hitting you in the balls and not stopping until you're nearly dead."

Ranma squeaked and crossed his legs.

Nabiki gave him a level stare. "I heard one of her victims was pissing blood for a week later."

Ranma gave a frightful look at the girl. "Her friend's the same way, huh?"

"Oh, no. She puts out all the time."

Ranma's mood brightened considerably.

Nabiki passed her hand in front of Ranma's face several times to regain his attention. "Ah, a word of warning, though. She likes to play hard to get. Actually, she's only interested in the most persistent men. So she'll act like she has no interest in you and tell you to go away, but in this case 'no' means 'keep trying because it's the only way I'll say yes'. Mind you, don't force yourself on her; she's not into that. It's just that you're going to have to keep hitting on her no matter how hopeless it seems. Eventually she'll give in, and then it's all the pussy you can handle and then some."

Ranma's smile threatened to split his face in half. "Thanks a lot for the inside info, Nabiki. I owe you one."

"Oh, I assure you the pleasure's all mine," Nabiki said with an amused grin. She was definitely finding playing with Ranma amusing to no end.

Tatewaki Kunou was barely able to sit still in his class seat. A haze had come over his thoughts. He was like some inexperienced schoolboy overcome with joy. But perhaps it was not so unreasonable a reaction. After so many years of searching, Kunou had discovered his soulmate at last. The instant he laid his eyes upon this 'Ranma Saotome' he knew he was different from every other man Kunou had ever met. An inseparable bond had formed between the two of them the instant they laid eyes upon one another. It was the red string of destiny yanking on their pinkies.

Ranma was incredible. Those deep blue eyes. That cute pigtail like a teasing finger as he shook his head. That really nice, tight butt. All of it made for the perfect package any man could want. Together they would walk through life hand-in-hand, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes, their hearts beating in tune with one another. Their souls would know the peace that only true love could bestow. And they would have mad, passionate sex as well. It was all either of them could ever want.

Kunou shot to his feet and shouted, "I cannot stand it anymore!"

An eraser bounced off his head. "Then you'll stand out in the hall!" the teacher shouted.

A hail of boos assailed the teacher as almost all of the girls told him to quit picking on Kunou.

Their entreaties went unheard by both teacher and subject. Kunou left, actually delighted at being given an excuse to go out and find Ranma Saotome. He had to relieve his newfound love's concern, a concern no doubt having been fostered by Kunou's lack of commitment. That would all change. They could now officially be a couple. They would begin dating today. All Kunou had to come up with was how to maximize Ranma's joy by informing him of the news. Kunou began prowling the halls in search of his beloved.

Yuka Fujinami was deep in thought as she made her way through the halls between periods, returning from an errand a teacher had given her. Yuka's mind was awash with plans for what to do next about the new guy that was supposed to be Akane's potential fiancé. Yuka had to make him hers somehow.

It wasn't that Yuka disliked Akane; they were friends, very good friends, and Akane's viewpoint on life had helped to change Yuka's for the better. She had been a miserable wreck with no self-confidence when she had first met Akane. In the beginning, Yuka had been a bit cautious about hanging out with someone like Akane, who, like her sisters before her, had a reputation for being loose and easy with the boys. But after a while, Akane's shining personality won her over. Then, after they got to know one another, Akane's openness in living life more hedonistically convinced Yuka that was the way life was meant to be lived. And after the first time she had sex, she knew there was no going back.

Within a couple of months, Yuka had started to get a reputation of her own, one she lacked the least bit of shame about. In fact, she was very proud of the way guys cast their hungry glances her way, whereas before her newfound freedom, she might as well not have existed to them. Jocks, studs, and rich boys all vied for her attentions. And oftentimes she gave them some, though not for very long. She had no intention of being tied down to any one man. She had a lot of catching up to do, and was intent on making up that lost ground as quickly as possible.

However, after a while of indulging herself, Yuka became aware of something: no matter what her own reputation was, Akane's was still held in higher esteem. In the beginning it didn't matter to her, but as time passed it became increasingly obvious that she was not making any headway throughout the school's gossip line.

And then came the worst. Yuka was making out with Miki, one of her longer boyfriends (about two weeks) in the front seat of his car at a drive-in. They had already gone all the way on earlier dates, and this one was shaping up the same way. She already had his cock out of his pants and was getting him ready for a little oral satisfaction to warm things up (and to make sure he lasted longer when they finally fucked, since he had a bad tendency to come fast the first time), when she had remembered Akane mentioning going out with Miki earlier in the year. Out of curiosity, Yuka asked. "So, how do I compare to Akane?" And proceeded to give him a few licks.

Miki's response was to snort derisively and say, "You got a long way to go before you get as good as her."

The quickness of the reply made Yuka almost bite down. But she recovered her senses and came up with a different form of revenge. She took her time and concentrated on unleashing the best head she had ever dealt to any guy. Just as Miki was on the brink (he made girlish-like sounds when he was about to come, a very distracting tendency) she abruptly stopped and told him she had to go to the bathroom. Left protesting with a painful case of blue balls, Yuka exited the car and left the drive in altogether. She stopped at the closest bus stop and headed directly home from there. The next day she let the ignorant jerk know he had been dumped via sleeping with his best friend and making the friend brag about it. She judged it appropriate revenge for his snide little comment.

After that, Yuka made it her mission in life to get one up on Akane. However, it proved to be a near impossible task. Yuka targeted guys Akane had slept with before, and after several times would work in the question of how she compared to Akane. Most of them had enough sense to either evade answering the question or hesitate a moment before claiming the girl they were with was far better than they one they had previously had. But Yuka could tell the truth in their eyes; she just wasn't as good at sex as Akane was. Even with Akane out of circulation for a while over the whole Kunou mess, she was still held in higher esteem than Yuka.

The unfairness of it began eating away at her. Yuka had finally come up with the idea of stealing a man away from Akane to prove she was better, but for some reason Akane had fixated on Kunou, (like so many of their classmates) and Yuka had more sense than to try tilting that particular windmill. Lately she was becoming extremely bitter over the matter, when the events of the morning happened and a new idea popped into her head. Before her was a guy Akane was potentially supposed to marry. Obviously Akane had not tried sleeping with him yet, but once she grew tired of throwing herself at Kunou (and Akane had privately admitted she was becoming very horny with the lack of sex she had endured), she would revert to her previous ways and sleep around with one of the first men available. Perhaps even Ranma.

And there was the catch. If Yuka slept with him first, she would spoil him and make him refuse Akane, or at least have Akane come in second in his eyes. That would be a way for her to finally come out on top and have their friendship be on more equal terms, at least in Yuka's eyes.

Of course there was the problem of actually getting Ranma alone so she could seduce him before Akane did it herself out of interest or boredom. The seduction part wouldn't be a problem: it's not like he had a girlfriend, and from the number of men that had been eager to sleep with her, Yuka was obviously regarded as very attractive. All she really needed was a chance to snag Ranma while he was alone. She was still trying to come up with a solution when one presented itself for her.

Ranma grumbled in a low voice as he made his way down one of the halls of the school between classes. It wasn't his fault his paperwork was incomplete. Making him leave class and go to the administration office to finish it was annoying. But at least it was out of the way and he could get back to class. The actual schoolwork was as boring as it was in every other school he had attended, but at least the class was loaded with cute girls, Akane being one of them.

Ranma's mind was filled with visions of those beauties when he found one right in front of him, giving him a warm and happy (almost hungry) smile. He looked more closely at the girl. There was something familiar about her.

"You're one of Akane's friends, right?" he asked.

"Yuka Fujinami," she provided. "And you're Ranma Saotome."

"Yep."

"It's an honor to meet you." Yuka bowed. "Say, you haven't been given a proper introduction to the layout of the school. Allow me to show you around." Without waiting for a response, she grabbed his hand and began leading him away.

"Um, I was supposed to go back to class." Despite being able to easily extricate himself, Ranma found he couldn't resist her tug. The hand-to-hand contact was quite pleasant.

"They won't mind if a student is just being friendly and showing you around," Yuka said.

That made sense, Ranma stopped resisting and allowed her to lead the way.

They traveled through the halls at a somewhat quickened pace. Passing by most of the rooms in a near blur.

"These are the science labs." Yuka pointed out the classroom as they made their way quickly past.

"Shouldn't we check them out?" Ranma asked.

"Why bother? They just have chemicals and Bunsen burners and things."

"Oh."

"This is the nurse's office."

"I see." Ranma watched it go past as quickly as it came.

Finally Yuka slowed down, then came to a complete stop in front of a nondescript door. "And this is where they keep the extra gym equipment."

"Okay." Ranma said, wondering why they had stopped in front of such a dull place.

"Why don't we check it out?" Yuka opened the door and gestured him inside.

Ranma scratched his head. "But it's just a storage room."

"Oh, I can guarantee you'll find something of interest in here."

The way she said it, with an enigmatic smile, aroused Ranma's curiosity. He went inside, noting she closed and locked the door behind her. Her move made Ranma gulp audibly.

Yuka moved into the room. The sunlight that streamed through a rear window was the only illumination in the otherwise darkened chamber. There was indeed a large amount of gym equipment stored there. Pommel horses, kendo practice dummies, archery targets, gym mats, among a host of others.

It was one of the latter Yuka grabbed, flipping it on an open spot in the floor, one it fit perfectly in. "This is a gym mat. It's nice and cushioned." She stood on the middle of it.

"I can see that," Ranma said, mystified at her behavior.

Yuka then reached under her skirt, looping her fingers through the sides of her panties and sliding them down her legs. She picked one foot up, then the other. She held the garment up for Ranma to inspect. "These are my panties."

Ranma couldn't find figure out how to work his jaw anymore. He just stood there, staring at the item as though it was the key to his very survival.

Yuka lay down on her side, right in the middle of the mat. She hiked up her skirt and parted one leg so Ranma could have a clear view of the bounty that lay there. "And this is my pussy. Why don't you take a closer look?"

All moisture seemed to abandon Ranma's mouth as he continued standing there, dumbfounded. It was just like in all his dreams. Some cute girl was so turned on by his presence that she immediately took him aside and fucked him, all pretext of romance, annoying small talk, and meeting her parents first abandoned. It would just be a hot, sweaty fuck without all the hassle of saying the right things and spending money on two or three dates before she'd let him into her pants. It was too good to be true.

Ranma was in the process of unzipping his fly and freeing his raging hard on when a sudden thought forced its way through his veil of lust: it WAS too good to be true. Higher brain functions reasserted themselves as he hesitated momentarily. Why would some girl randomly pull him from a crowd and be so eager to fuck him? As confident as he was in his looks, no other girl had ever come close to doing that. What was so different about him to make her do this? He couldn't come up with anything, so he turned his thoughts to her. What was so different about her that she would do this to him?

And then Nabiki's warning flashed in his mind.

His heart nearly exploded in his chest. Now it all made sense. Of course. It was a trap, and a darn good one, too. Without that little warning, courtesy of Nabiki, Ranma would have chucked off his pants and tried to jump right on Yuka. And just as he was about to nestle himself for a pleasant fuck between her legs… WHAM! Mr. Happy would be Mr. Beaten And Twisted Into A Crumpled Mess. Now he really owed Nabiki one.

Panicked at how close he had come to near castration, Ranma blurted out, "Sorry, I really have to get to class." He quickly turned around and exited the equipment room.

"What the hell just happened?" Yuka said, still in her pose with her legs spread wide.

Kunou watched, concealed by a nearby corner, as Ranma exited the gym equipment room in an obvious hurry. That was a relief. Leaving his cover, Kunou began once again to tail Ranma, staying just out of his sight.

It was obviously Fate that had led Ranma to be wandering about the halls just as Kunou was searching for him; another sign that they were meant to be together. He was about to approach Ranma and inform him of the good news of their official union when he spotted that Yuka girl approach Ranma and began leading him away. That was cause for concern. He knew from rumors (and the fact a couple members of the kendo team had bragged about it) that the girl was a slut that tried to seduce the fair gender from the far more proper path of brotherhood of men. A path an icon of manliness like Ranma undoubtedly followed.

Kunou chose to follow surreptitiously from the shadows, concerned as to why Ranma was being so tolerant of the girl's far too familiar behavior. When she led the pair to an equipment room, one that had a reputation of being an out of the way place for a quickie, her intentions became obvious. The kendoist's concern grew when Ranma failed to immediately return. Kunou was convinced he was going to have to enter the room and interject himself when Ranma reappeared in a highly agitated state. What had happened within the private confines was evident; Yuka had mistakenly tried to seduce someone who was complete immune to her charms. It was another clear sign he and Ranma were meant for one another.

Kunou continued following until Ranma headed towards a men's bath. A place that was off limits to members of the opposite gender. Once again Fate had asserted itself by giving them the perfect place for men to declare their love for one another.

All that was left were the words. Kunou mentally came up with them as he headed to the bathroom.

Ranma entered the men's bath, nearly out of breath. Despite having masturbated once in the morning, he was going to have to do it again. The situation put him such an aroused state that the image of Yuka's pussy would give him a perpetual hard on for the rest of the day unless he took care of it now. What a waste it was for such a hot chick to be such an angry man hater. But there were plenty of girls in the ocean. He didn't have to settle for trying to reform some psycho one when there were plenty of others eager to accept his manly charms.

Ranma went to the cleanest sink to wash off his hands. Cleaning up before and after one jacked off was something that should always be done, circumstances allowing.

With a flick of the wrist, Ranma twisted the knob and held his hands under the spray. Instantly he was hit with cold water, triggering the change. "Shoot, gotta pay more attention to what I'm doing," the now female Ranma-chan grumbled.

She was about to twist the knob for the hot water when the door to the bathroom burst open and Kunou strode in.

Kunou declared, "Ranma-kun, I have come to set your mind at ease, my tiger of passion. There is no need to be concerned for my feelings. They run as deep within my breast as yours does. Let your heart rest easy, as I now give you permission to date me."

"Who the hell would want to date you, you creep?!" Ranma-chan shouted.

Kunou looked contemptuously at the speaker. "I was not addressing you, girl."

"The heck you were… Oh, right." Ranma-chan suddenly remembered what gender she was. That had been a close one.

"Ranma-kun, where are you?" Kunou thrust his head in each stall, only to discover them empty. He looked at the solitary window in the bath, the covering it bars still intact. Concerned he turned to the girl and shot her an accusatory glare. "Where is my beloved Ranma-kun?"

"He ain't your beloved anything, you limp-wristed fairy!"

"I see the green-eyed monster has reared its repellent features." Kunou considered the situation. "I know I saw my beloved Ranma-kun enter through the only aperture to this room. However, but mere moments later, he is not present. Only a girl, who has no right to be in a men's room, is. A fiery-haired temptress who is concerned about Ranma Saotome, as though his concerns were hers. A serious matter, this is."

Ranma-chan felt increasingly nervous with each accusation. She wanted to protest, try to continue to hide her condition, but each fact he mentioned made trying to come up with an excuse impossible.

Kunou declared, "There is only one reasonable explanation."

That was it. The jig was up. Ranma-chan started to babble, "Look, it's not my fault and I'm not no pervert. It was an accident. I—"

Kunou leveled his bokken at the girl. "Save your excuses. I know that you have stolen my beloved Ranma-kun away through sorcerous powers."

Ranma-chan flinched. "Well, I guess that's one way of putting it, except I'm sort of—"

"No excuses!" Kunou waved the bokken under her nose. "I can see plainly that you are trying to tempt my Ranma-kun away from the path of true men under which he belongs. I will never allow some sluttish harlot to steal him away from his one true love."

That statement made the girl realize that Kunou was not accusing her of being Ranma. The sorcery remark threw her for a moment. Then she realized what Kunou was saying. "Hey, look, pal. Whatever my connection to Ranma is, I can tell you one thing for certain. He is not some fudgepacking homosexual."

Kunou sniffed the air disdainfully. "Such crude appellations show your ignorance to the natural order of things. Only a man can appreciate the hardships another man undergoes. Women are little more than leaches that drain away man's life, a bane holding them under their thumb by seduction and guile, not truly able to understand what makes a man's heart beat like thunder and what salve his soul needs when it is wounded. Too few understand that basic truth. But I tell you Ranma is a man that does, and he will never relinquish his heart to one such as you, no matter what spells you cast upon him."

"And I'm telling you he's not gay!"

Kunou tightened his grip on his bokken. "I see. Words will not sway you from your evil course. I have no choice but to employ force of arms to make you renounce your hold upon him. Have at—."

Kunou was cut off as Ranma-chan leaped over his head, using it as a springboard to vault past him and out into the hall. In the closed confines of the bathroom, Kunou would have the advantage with his weapon. Out in the open, where Ranma-chan could use her mobility, she would be able to dispatch him with ease.

Ranma-chan did an elaborate handspring backward to gain more distance from her opponent. She could have just run to achieve the same thing, but she wanted to gain the psychological edge by rubbing her superiority in the kendoist's face.

"I'm giving you one more chance to back off," Ranma-chan warned.

Refusing to answer, Kunou advanced with an impressive show of speed of his own, bokken drawn back to unleash his strike.

Ranma-chan was easily able to take a hop backward and out of the way of the slash he tried to deliver at her. The swipe fell an entire meter short of its intended target.

Kunou smirked, "I regard that blow as fair warning to you. Now I demand you swear to me that you will forever forsake Ranma-kun, pigtailed tramp."

"Warning my butt. You weren't even close," Ranma-chan bragged. But then something odd happened. The material above her breasts suddenly parted, as though a blade had slashed through the shirt. She looked down at it in surprise. She knew the bokken hadn't come close to touching her, so how had Kunou caused that to happen?

"Do you yield?" An air of assured superiority surrounded the kendoist.

The arrogance was too much to take. Ranma-chan turned to the side, only giving him her profile, and squared her shoulders, throwing her chest out slightly. With the shirt already stretched farther that it was intended, combined with a lack of any sort of bra, the slit in the chest was both long and low enough that the weakened material gave out. Ranma-chan's impressive bust increased the size of the tear and spilled out, allowing both her globes to burst free of any restraint.

Kunou sneered at the display. "I see you endeavor to seduce me as well by revealing the gross deformity nature has bestowed upon you. But I am fully immune to your sluttish ways, man-seducing bitch."

"I'm not trying to seduce or reveal anything! You're the one that slashed my top open, you pervert!"

The shouting caused the door to the nearest classroom — Ranma-chan's own — to explode outward with a swarm of students. All of them stared in surprise at the tableau before them. Reactions were evenly divided, given the fifty-fifty ratio of the genders in the class.

From the boys' half were comments along the lines of "Whoa! Look at that hot chick with the big tits!"

The girls' exclamations were along the lines of, "That little bitch is trying to seduce Kunou-sempai!"

Ranma-chan, already irritated at Kunou's interest in her male half, was even more put off by all the guys leering at her. True, they weren't knowingly ogling a naked guy, but in the martial artist's mind it still boiled down to a bunch of guys looking at her as a sexual object, creeping her out worse than she already was.

She covered her chest and shouted, "Quit staring, you bunch of perverts!"

Two boys (Ranma-chan thought she remembered them as Hiroshi and Daisuke) looked at one another, then emerged out of the room and headed towards Ranma-chan. She thought they were going to attack her, but then they turned around and faced Kunou.

Hiroshi said, "We cannot allow you to harm this girl, Kunou."

Daisuke also took a stand. "We'll protect her with our lives if necessary."

Ranma-chan was taken aback. Not too many people ever put themselves at risk for her. "Gee, thanks for sticking up for me, guys."

The pair turned around. Daisuke said, "And after we've defended your honor and everything, how about if we go out on a date?"

Hiroshi nodded his head in agreement. "It would be only fair for us risking our necks out for you."

"I ain't datin' no guys!" Ranma-chan shouted.

"A proclamation I agree wholeheartedly with: You shall date no men!" Kunou again lashed out with his bokken, the swipe falling far short of its mark. Ranma-chan, sensing something amiss, leaped upward. Something invisible slammed into Hiroshi and Daisuke, hurling them halfway down the hall and leaving them weakened to the point where they could not rise.

"Do you think she'll go out with us even if we failed?" Hiroshi asked his friend.

"Yeah. All the girls like it when a guy tries to defend their honor," Daisuke muttered.

Towards the back of the pack, Akane decided she did not like what she was seeing. As good as Ranma-chan was from their workout the day before, she knew from previous experience Kunou was highly skilled as well. In her opinion, it was probably an even match. However there seemed to be something wrong with Kunou. Unless Akane was mistaken, he was a bit out of it. There seemed to be a glaze over his eyes, somewhat similar to Tofu in his love blind state, though not to that terrible degree. Moreover Kunou was clearly the aggressor and Ranma-chan was trying to avoid the fight. If Akane talked some sense to her would-be fiancé, that could probably end the fight quickly. Of course that would mean siding against Kunou, which Akane was reluctant to do. She wanted to help someone, but didn't know who. She really wanted Kunou, but Ranma-chan was sort of being picked on here, and Akane hated seeing people picked upon. And Kunou was acting like he was no longer interested in Ranma-chan anymore, which lightened Akane's view of the boy-girl considerably.

While Akane stood by, wrapped in indecision, the rest of the class backed away, either content that Kunou was winning or unwilling to risk Kunou's ire, even if the short redhead had an unbelievable rack.

Kunou launched an attack again. It was a vertical stroke, falling short like the other blows did. Ranma dodged right, just in time as the wall and floor split open as easily as her shirt had earlier. She was beginning to get a feel for what Kunou was doing. It was something with the air.

A second vertical stroke, slightly to the left of the first made Ranma-chan dodge left, the floor and wall opening up again. A neck level strike was ducked under, sundering the wall behind her. Now she understood. Kunou's strikes were somehow fast enough to cause the air to hurl forward with such speed it could cause just as much damage as if it was made of steel. It was like a wind-shear multiplied a hundredfold. It also meant she would have to move in close to strike him, otherwise he would simply continue to slice away until he started connecting with the hardened air blades.

Surprisingly, Kunou was the one that lunged forward, bokken drawn back again. "It ends now," he boasted.

Ranma-chan was watching the bokken carefully, intent on avoiding the next strike, then retaliating since her opponent would be within striking distance. Instead, Kunou surprised her by cutting across the ground in front of Ranma-chan's feet instead of directly at her.

And then Ranma-chan felt the floor under her feet buckle and fall away. Now she understood what had happened. Kunou had set her up with his previous thrusts, shearing away the support for the side of the building Ranma-chan had been standing on, right next to the wall leading outside. With the floor destroyed, she would have no choice but to fall three stories down and to the ground below outside the building.

"And so it ends." Kunou saluted her as Ranma-chan began plummeting downward with the section of the hallway he had loosened.

Ranma-chan's hand lashed out just as she was falling, snagging the bottom of Kunou's hakama. The garment, never fitted tightly given Kunou's slender waist, in conjunction with Ranma-chan's full weight, was pulled down and around his ankles, leaving him with only his underwear — in the form of a leopard-spotted thong — to cover the lower portion of his anatomy. To make matters worse, the hakama caught around his ankles, wrapping around them and pulling him down as well. Caught off balance, he went plunging over the side of the hole he had created himself.

The class watched as the third floor hit the second floor. Rather than simply continuing to drop straight through to the first floor, the second floor held, causing both Ranma-chan and Kunou to hit it hard. Then the wall of the second floor gave completely out just as the second floor sagged, causing the third floor the pair rested on to tilt downward. They slid across the length of the ruined section, hands scrabbling and failing to grip anything. With the second floor's wall to the outside destroyed, there was nothing to stop them from sliding out into the open air, only to land in the pool directly below, causing a huge splash.

Everyone stared as the two figures disappeared into the water.

Most of the boys felt their stomachs lurch at having to see Kunou's pale butt cheeks stare back at them as he fell downward. Most of the girls thought it was one of the most divine sights they had ever seen and vowed to buy even more such underwear and bestow them upon him as gifts.

Only Akane, as delighted at the sight of Kunou's bottom as the other girls, maintained enough of her wits to know she had to help before serious damage was inflicted on one or the other of the combatants.

While the others were distracted, Akane grabbed one of the buckets — used for punishing disobedient students — from the class, and raced to the nearest washroom.

Ranma-chan swam upward, close to panic. She hadn't had a chance to catch her breath before falling into the pool. Worse, she had to dodge falling masonry from the building's destruction as it fell into the pool after her. Most of the pieces of debris were large enough end up hurting or even pinning her under water. Death would be a rather ignominious end to her first day of school.

It took several moments for Ranma-chan to reorient herself underwater. Once she managed to do so, she saw the daylight above her head, and the life-giving air that awaited her above. She kicked out, intent on swimming straight up, but then something snared her pants from behind. It gripped them at the waist and prevented her from swimming even a single centimeter further upward.

Ranma-chan turned to see that Kunou had recovered as well. To complicate matters, judging by his bulging cheeks, he had managed to catch his breath before hitting the water and plunging into the cold depths of the pool.

Ranma-chan tried kicking harder, but her female body simply didn't have the strength to pull both herself and the weight attached to her pants — a weight pulling against her — to the surface. With his one-handed grip firmly on her bottom, and being behind her, Ranma-chan couldn't manage a decent kick, and didn't have much in the way of underwater combat training to begin with. The situation was not good.

Desperate for some air, Ranma-chan fumbled with the drawstring of her pants, her struggles preventing Kunou from striking her with the bokken in his other hand. Eventually her kicking allowed her to wiggle free of her pants. Her legs now free, she managed to plant a foot right in the middle of Kunou's face, using it to help propel her to the surface.

Vision starting to falter, Ranma-chan swam as quickly as she could for the surface. In what felt like an hour, but was only a trio of second, the girl broke the surface of the water, bad air bursting from her lungs and immediately taking in the good.

Ranma-chan swam to the edge of the pool, keeping her gasping head above the water at all times. Sluggishly she dragged her water-drenched body out from the pool, never so grateful for the feel of dry ground beneath her in her life.

A chorus of male voices began clamoring, "Hey, I think she isn't wearing any panties!"

Ranma-chan looked up to see faces now filled every window of the school, the entire student body observing the events outside. Her view switched to looking down. The martial artist grimaced as she noted that not only had she lost her pants to Kunou's deathgrip, but her boxers as well. A cool breeze sent a tingling sensation across her damp pussy.

Embarrassed and annoyed at her cursed body's betrayal at this critical time, Ranma-chan immediately shot to her feet and began tugging her shirt downward in an effort to hide her pussy from the prying eyes of the boys. The downward motion had the effect of ripping the cut in her top even wider, completely freeing her entire breasts and putting them on display.

Now competing chants of "Take it off!" and "Put your clothes back on, tramp!" filled the air. Ranma-chan noted this was easily the second worst school experience she had ever suffered in her entire life.

As the martial artist found herself at a loss for what to do, a huge gout of water shot out of the pool. She looked up to see at the peak of the waterspout an enraged kendoist emerge; one intent on making it the worst school experience Ranma-chan ever faced courtesy of his bokken.

Ranma-chan leaped back out of the way of the airborne attack launched in her direction. The ground where she had been standing on moments before ripped up, hurling a shower of rocks her way and battering her body. None of the blows were telling, but they did not feel good either.

Kunou landed on the ground in front of her. Now the students' cries switched, the boys making disgusting noises while the girls made catcalls and cheered. Ranma-chan got her first good look at Kunou since she had begun her fall from the building.

"Ewww!" she recoiled at seeing him in his tiny thong. Worse, he seemed to be packing a good bit of equipment inside. Not the largest she had seen, but more than enough to encourage women to want to become acquainted with Kunou better. At least he wasn't as large as… Well, she didn't like to think about that one.

The crowd's attention and cries were proving too much of a distraction for Ranma-chan. She decided it was time to change the battlefield to one where she could be unconcerned about her unclothed state and ran for it, gritting her teeth as she heard guys whistling and complimenting her on her behind. Why oh why couldn't she have been a guy and have the girls calling out like that? It just wasn't fair!

Ranma-chan looked over her shoulder to see Kunou was following hot on her heels. At least he wasn't leering at her body. Not that knowing the body he really wanted to leer at made Ranma-chan feel much better.

The girl led a merry chase, her speed forcing Kunou to use all of his strength on pursuit rather than attack. Eventually Ranma-chan discovered an out of the way location behind a run down looking equipment shed. Surrounded by trees, no one would be able to see inside easily. It was the perfect spot to have a private, final showdown.

Turning in an instant from hunted to hunter, Ranma-chan caught Kunou off-guard, the kendoist mistakenly believing that she had been running away in naked fear rather than selecting a different battleground. She managed to plant a kick cleanly into his gut, the blow sending him backward and to the ground.

Sensing she finally had the advantage, Ranma-chan came in ready to deliver a punch that would make Kunou's head go spinning. Instead she found that he had rolled with the blow, able to come up in a stance and jab forward with his bokken. He caught her cleanly in the ribs. A hiss of pain slipped past her lips as she pulled back before he could unleash a second thrust and possibly cause some serious damage. However, as Ranma-chan pulled back, her top snagged on the end of the bokken. The backward motion was strong enough that instead of stopping her, it ripped completely off, leaving her completely naked. She made a gurgling sound of protest at her unclothed state.

Kunou looked with distaste at the garment on the end of his bokken. "Ignorant slut. How many times must I tell you I am immune to your pathetic attempts at seduction? And yet you continue to throw your garments at me." He flung the torn shirt aside.

"You're the one that ripped my pants and shirt off, you idiot!" She tried covering herself, but the realized it would just handicap her ability to fight, and it wasn't as though Kunou cared in any case.

Angry at having her clothing, as well as a good bit of her dignity, stripped from her, Ranma-chan attacked once more with a punch for his jaw. Again Kunou surprised her with his skill by flowing out of the way of the punch, sinking low and to the side. As he spun, he built up velocity in his strike and came up out of the crouch, striking Ranma-chan in the back of her unprotected neck. The blow, easily the worst yet, caused a girlish squeal of pain to slip past the martial artist's lips. She fell several steps forward and ended up leaning against a tree. The rough bark scraped against her nipples, a painful sensation rather than a pleasant one.

"Give my Ranma-kun back to me!" Kunou snarled, and unleashed another of his hard air attacks towards the girl's unprotected back.

Ranma-chan sprang up at the last second, the slash of air cutting a six centimeter deep groove in the trunk of the tree. While executing a flip in midair, she lashed out with a foot at the base of a leafy branch. Her foot, hardened over the years by tens of thousands of kicks against every object imaginable, impacted with the wood, splintering it and freeing it from the tree. She continued on her flip, grabbing the branch with her hands. Using her other leg, she coiled it against the trunk of the tree and kicked out, the limb in her hands and leading the way straight to Kunou.

The limb struck him in the chest. It landed on top of him, the wood and girl's weight pinning him to the ground. Instinctively he lashed out with the bokken, severing the branch in half. He barely rolled out of the way of a kick aimed at his skull.

Kunou came up in an aggressive stance again, bokken held in front. Gasping for breath, he grudgingly admitted, "You have some small measure of skill. Never has anyone provided me with such competition."

"I'm going to provide a fist down your throat in a second." Ranma-chan waved her fist in front of him for emphasis, jiggling slightly.

"The next blow ends this conflict," Kunou swore.

"Only if I land it." Ranma-chan thought she could, too. For all of Kunou's obvious skill, he seemed more offensive that defense oriented. The blows Ranma-chan landed seemed to have more of an effect than his on hers, despite her attacks being less powerful than his. Considering how the morning fight went, he probably wasn't used to absorbing the punishment he had taken so far. One truly solid blow could conceivably end it all. She just needed an opening.

And then Ranma-chan spotted a figure emerging from a tree behind Kunou. For some reason, Akane had a pair of panties wrapped around her head, as though it could somehow conceal her identity. Ranma-chan was about to ask what Akane thought she thought she was doing, when the youngest of the Tendou girls pointed to a bucket with steam rising out of the top of it.

A smile crept across Ranma-chan's features. Yes. A little hot water would enable her to end the fight in a heartbeat.

Sensing Ranma-chan knew what she intended, Akane swung the bucket back, then forward. Given her strength, it was an easy matter to hurl the bucket far and high enough so that it would land next to Ranma-chan.

Seeing a movement out of the corner of Kunou instinctively brought his sword up and unleashed his hard air attack as the bucket passed overhead.

Sensing Kunou start to react. Ranma-chan too acted instinctively as she formulated an attack and leapt high up in the air her course taking her directly over Kunou.

The hard air strike severed the bucket in half, sending the wood away, well before it reached its intended target. The air went through the contents of the bucket just as easily. However, the rest of the water simply flowed around the attack and continued on its original course.

Ranma-chan met the stream in midair, instantly triggering her change. Reaching the apex of his arc, Ranma then came downward, right where he had intended to from the beginning.

Kunou brought his bokken back, intending to launch yet another attack at the impetuous girl. He aimed at the person headed toward him when he noticed an unexpected feature on his attacker, an altogether pleasant sight that brought a smile to Kunou's features.

And also made him drop his guard momentarily. It was in that moment that Ranma landed his kick right between the kendoist's eyes. With his guard drop, Kunou absorbed the entire force behind the blow. It dropped him like a rock.

Ranma stood poised over Kunou, hands still curled into fists. "All right, you stupid fairy. I'm really going to let you have it nOW!" Ranma cried as a hard fist planted itself in his face, throwing him to the ground and away from Kunou.

"What'd ya do that for?!" Ranma shouted at Akane.

Akane went to her knees and cradled Kunou's head on her lap. "Dummy, I gave you the water so you could change into a guy and end the fight peaceful by explaining things. I didn't mean for you to beat up poor Kunou-chan."

"Poor Kunou?! He's the one that picked the fight with me!" Ranma complained.

"I'm sure it was a simple misunderstanding. Kunou-chan is too noble and good of heart to attack someone without good reason."

"He thought I seduced me," Ranma explained, and then realized it wasn't much of an explanation. "And why do you have a pair of panties around your head?"

Akane appeared embarrassed. "I was trying to conceal my identity from Kunou-chan so he didn't know I helped you. I didn't want him to know I'd helped you against him, even if I was only trying to bring a peaceful resolution to the fight."

"Right," Ranma said slowly. "Anyway, I need to cover up with something so I can get out of here."

Akane removed the panties form her head and held them out for Ranma.

"I don't think so," he said dryly.

Akane reconsidered things. Then she looked more closely at the person resting in her lap. A small smile crept across her features. Hands moving from obvious experience, she removed Kunou's top, making certain to run her hands over his chest as often as she could as she slowly peeled it away.

She held it out for Ranma, "Here you go."

Ranma was not enthusiastic about the choice of clothing, but since it was either that or a pair of panties, he reluctantly accepted it, trying it around his waist so it covered his lower features

"Perhaps you should wear his underwear, too." Akane licked her lips as her hand began working its way down to the front of the thong, the fingers finding purchase on the part between his leg.

"I'd sooner wear your panties than any of his underwear," Ranma said with open distaste.

Akane pouted, but left her hand right where it was. "I'll stay here and nurse Kunou-chan back to health."

Seeing the way Akane was handling Kunou, Ranma made a show of wincing in pain at the bruise along his ribcage and said, "I think I can use some nursing too."

"Nurse's office is on the second floor, right wing, number 201." Akane continued stroking Kunou's body in an effort to 'revive' him.

Seeing what part was threatening to revive first, given Akane's ministrations, Ranma hurried off.

Akane looked down in joy. This was her big chance to look good in Kunou's eyes. She continued stroking his body until he mumbled, "Oh, Ranma-kun, you do that so well."

Akane made a disgusted noise and stopped. That darn Ranma. Why did he have to come along and make things more difficult than the already were? Kunou and Ranma. There was a situation doomed before it began. She had to figure out a way to convince Kunou that Ranma was never going to be interested in him, and at the same time make herself look good in Kunou's eyes, so he would realize what a nice girl she was. Then that would lead to dating, and then they would be together, just like they were destined for.

Akane wondered if she should foster Kunou's dislike for the 'pigtailed harlot', then inform him it was merely Ranma in a cursed form. But that was a bad idea. Kunou had already lost his temper once, and she didn't want him to attack Ranma again. There were limits, after all, and she did find herself sort of liking Ranma. Not the same way she liked Kunou of course, but he wasn't all that bad-looking and his personality seemed interesting on the surface. Seeing his male form standing there naked did get her pretty hot, not that seeing Kunou in a thong had a different effect. It had been quite a while since she had any form of sexual relief. Forsaking other men to impress Kunou was proving increasingly difficult by the day, and Ranma looked like he wouldn't be a half bad lay, at least if he stopped trying so hard to get laid. It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't so painfully obvious he was desperate. Heck, now that she thought about it, it was a pity Kunou wasn't more normal, since taking both him and Ranma on at the same time in this out of the way place would have definitely cured her abstinence woes.

Akane shook those sorts of thoughts from her head. Kunou-chan was the one (and only one) for her and that was that. She was just going to have to keep working at it. Good relationships required a lot or work anyway. This one would just take a lot more than usual was all.

But for some reason, Akane had a feeling that, thanks to Ranma's presence, it was going to make the work that much harder.

Why did it always seem to be the hard way?

To be continued.

Author's notes: And here endeth chapter 2. This was one of the reasons chapter one was so short. I knew this chapter would be way longer, and I wanted people to get adjusted to this world at first. Hopefully a somewhat more dangerous, (and light on his feet) Kunou will make for an interesting variation. I sort of liked the idea of Kunou actually being a school idol for a change and respected and desired in the way mainstream Kunou always wanted to be. Of course, the only way it would really be fun is if this Kunou didn't care for such attentions.

As to Ranma getting a hard time in this new world, he is. But it's an adjustment period for him. Once he gets on his feet and oriented, he'll be changing his luck. Of course, knowing Ranma, it'll probably be for better and for worse, depending on the situation. ^_^

Next up we have Ryouga renew his own feud with Ranma, although it too will have a little twist of its own. And as an added note, this things isn't completely Ranmacentric, and rather there will be a definite 'sharing of the wealth' for various characters in a number of different scenes, though Ranma is still the primary protagonist of the series.

Thanks for reading.

And special thanks to TH Tiger, Ginrai, and Jim Bader for looking this over.

D.B. Sommer

Webmaster: Larry F
Last revision: May 21, 2007