“Are you breathing
What I’m breathing,
Are your wishes the same as mine?
Are you needing
What I’m needing –
I’m waiting for a sign…”

Ukyo was, in a word, pissed.

“OOOOOOOOOhhhhh…how dare he!”  Hands moving at near-rocket speeds as she put together okinomiyaki after takoyaki after yakisoba after foodstuffs galore, she made food for the lunch crowd as they filled in and out of her restaurant, the rush being larger than normal, and she was busting her buns to keep up with it.  And so far, it wasn’t looking good.  But that was just one of a dozen of problems she had so far this month.

First, Konatsu finally decides to move on with his life.  That hurt her a bit.  While she never loved Konatsu romantically, he was a close friend, one of the few she had; kind of like a brother of sorts.  His decision to found his own school of ninjitsu in Hokkaido was something he had to do, he said; he had built his confidence over the years thanks to Ukyo and now it was time to make her proud.  He had left a couple of weeks ago, and she remembered him leaving, dressed for the first time in years like a guy and ready to make a life for himself – stressing the him.

To make up for it, she’d had to hire some new help, a couple of girls from Furinkan High looking for a part-time job after hours.  Rin was a nice enough girl, if she was timid to the point of barely being able to speak, but her friend Kazuko was just brash to the point of throwing herself all over the male – and quite a few of the female – clientele.  Ironically, this was a huge customer draw, as no one had been that shameless since Shampoo…and that, Ukyo felt privately, was a good thing.  Regardless of how much they worked, the fact was that Konatsu worked for room and board and some occasional cash, while these girls were standard payroll types – and that was already costing her quite a bit.

Then there was the fact that her supplier was raising the price on all of his shipments.  Ukyo knew why; it was simply the fact that she was a young woman with her own restaurant, successful enough to blow away business at many of the other okinomiyaki-yas in the area, and the rest of them were run by men.  Moving into a man’s world like that upset their little balance, and all it took was the right word here and there to make the supplier suddenly complain about “the unfairness of having to raise the rates on his favorite customer,” meaning that she was the most successful, so she could afford it.  Sure, she could probably solve the whole thing by going out with that letch – he was single and in his early 40s and a young thing like her could probably take care of him – or Kazuko would probably volunteer, knowing her, but Ukyo wouldn’t have any of that.  She had morals, even if it was costing her far extra.  But still, it pissed her off.

“My hands tremble,
My heart aches,
Is it you calling?
Is it you calling?”

But nothing like that, nothing even close, torqued her spatulas like the news she got just now.  After two whole years of biding her time, after everything that she’d spent her life with, and after being so close, and now, the most important thing in her world was about to slip away from her hands, and bring her life crashing down on her like so much fragmented shards…

“If I’m alone in this,
I don’t think I can take
The consequences of falling,
The consequences of falling…”

“WOULD SOMEONE SHUT THAT DAMN RADIO OFF?”  Before she knew it, she had turned around, a fierce look in her eyes and her hands clenched in fists so tight she’d snapped one of her hand-held spats.  All the customers in the restaurant turned and stared at her; and of her two employees, Kazuko was leaning over the radio, her face pasty white with shock and her too tight waitress’ outfit looking as though she was somehow smaller in it.  As for Rin, she shivered in fright and her eyes began to well up in tears before the terror of the situation overcame her and she passed out, faceplanting into someone’s okinomiyaki platter.

Ukyo shook her head at making a complete idiot of herself.  I don’t deserve this. 

“Well, that went over well,” a voice at the counter said.

She stared at the owner of the voice with eyes like daggers.  “Oh, shut up.  I can’t believe you’d come in here and give me news like that.  And you call yourself my friend?”

Ryoga shrugged.  “Hey, would you rather have found out the hard way?  Don’t shoot the messenger, Ukyo; after all, someone had to tell you that Ranma’s dating again – how was I supposed to know it wasn’t you?  I came over to congratulate you.  Jeez, what’d I do?”

Ukyo dropped the broken spat into the trash, then grabbed another and signaled to Kazuko that she should take Rin and put her in the back office for the time being.  Turning back to Ryoga, she sighed and said, “Yeah, I know it’s not your fault.  But it bothers me that…Well, you and Akari are getting married next month, and Nabiki’s engaged to Kuno, and now Ranchan….”

Ryoga nodded.  “Look, I’m sorry.  I know you still love him and I really did think it was you.  All I heard from Kasumi was that when I talked to her on the phone last week, she mentioned that he was dating again.  I just assumed it was you; I mean, why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because he looks at me as his best friend,” she answered in a soft voice, “and never as a woman.”  The chef looked down at herself and what she was wearing; the monogrammed UCCHAN’S T-shirt and jeans made her look even more boyish than her old yukata did, and the only notion to her womanhood she’d made was that she stopped binding her chest.  Even the recent haircut she’d gotten made her look like a boy with shoulder-length hair, rather than a girl of the same.  Turning back to Ryoga, she gulped and asked, “Tell me: is she beautiful?”

“To be honest, I haven’t a clue,” Ryoga answered in rare diplomatic form.  “Other than the fact that I knew, I know as little about the new girl as you do.”

“You know, you’re no help, you know that?”  She paused again and moved back to the grill long enough to grab Ryoga’s lunch.  Setting it down in front of him, she leaned over the counter and said, “I think life hates me sometimes.  All my life, all I’ve ever wanted was Ranchan, and now that I have the chance, I’ve been beaten out by this new girl – assuming she is new.  What if it’s someone we already know?”

“I don’t know,” Ryoga said between bites.  “Ranma’s not really the social type, and there are few girls left in the area that were around at the time of your fiancée wars.  Add to that he’s got a kid, and that tends to turn off a lot of girls our age, and….”  Ryoga shrugged again.  “Hey, it could be anyone.”

“You’re right, it could be.”  She looked at him, eyes meeting eyes, and even in Ryoga’s view it was clear that she was hatching a plan.  “And let me tell you, sugar, I mean to find out.”

The phone rang in the Kuno mansion.  Kuno Tatewaki, owner of the mansion, ignored it; he had more important things on his mind.  Additionally, it didn’t go off in that special ring that said it was his beloved betrothed on the phone, his glittering diamond Nabiki wishing to speak to him.  That there made it not worth his effort to answer.  There were, at times, he wished he didn’t live alone in that huge manor, that Sasuke hadn’t retired and left him be.  A part of him had even wished that his mother hadn’t passed away, that with her alive his family life would have been that much more…well, normal, if maybe a tad less ornate and a bit more pedestrian.

As it stood now, he had the house all to himself, with no retainers or servants of any kind.  He hadn’t spoken to his father in years, and there was likely no chance of that ever changing.  His demented sister was locked away in a mental institute, her mind shattered by a combination of her toxic chemicals and the failure of her attempts to win the love of that cretin, Saotome.

Kuno shuddered with the shame of his personal failure.  Time and time again whether through trickery, cheating or luck, Saotome had always come out on top, despite Kuno’s most noble and valiant efforts to stop him.  It had been Ranma who had won the hand of the fair Akane, despite the obvious fact that Ranma was a cad of the most superlative kind.  It had been Ranma who had failed to save Akane’s life (and admittedly, the suffering that Saotome seemed to go through as a result of that was something that not even Kuno would wish on his worst enemy).  It had been Ranma that had somehow managed to retain the trust and concern of the remaining Tendo sisters even though it was he who cost them the life of their sibling and indirectly, the family patriarch. 

All of those crimes in and of themselves were galling.  But now, the crème de la crème had been added to them all: the Pigtailed Girl, the ruby-maned beauty whose name was so breathtaking of angels that Kuno’s mighty mind faltered when he sought to remember it, was once again falling under the clutches of that rascal.  Just before his marriage to Akane, that vile charlatan had told Kuno that he had “no more dominion over the fair Pigtailed One” and that the only one in his perview now was the most beauteous and graceful Akane; Kuno, in a rare moment of trust, had believed that.  That had been a fatal mistake on Kuno’s part, and a year later, just a week after Akane had become a mother and he’d begun to court the beautiful Nabiki, did he find out what his mistake was.

That was over two years ago, and he had yet to forgive himself.  Perhaps if he’d been fiercer in his defense of Akane, she would still be amongst the living.  Perhaps if he’d repelled the horrid knave when he’d first arrived in Nerima, things would be different, and much for the better.  Maybe if he’d been able to corral that Chinese harridan Xian Pu, she would have not committed an act that for once made the cretin Saotome look good.  Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.  These were all shames that Kuno would carry until the end of his days, with no end in sight.

Or is there?  A month ago, Kuno had found out from Nabiki that Ranma was dating again, and from the descriptions she gave, it was none other than the Pigtailed Girl herself!  Nabiki had been overjoyed at the news, probably an indicator that she was glad that he would soon be leaving their lives and troubling them no more.  But, Kuno had wondered, was it true?  Was the Pigtailed Girl back?  He wasn’t sure, since she had been seen little in the past couple of years.  But sure as the rain coming from the skies, that rumor had been confirmed a day later when he and Nabiki ran into the pair at a rather unsightly Italian restaurant not too far from the Ginza.  The Pigtailed Girl had returned…and she was, once again, trapped in the clutches of Saotome Ranma.

Something obviously had to be done about that.  Kuno had the grandest chance now, a great chance to redeem himself for his sins and failure to protect the Tendos.  He had the chance to free an innocent beauty from being caught once more in Ranma’s spider web of evil (and to be sure, though she’d clearly escaped once, now that she was back, he was convinced that Saotome would never let her free again).  But most important of all, he had the chance to finally drive Saotome away from Nerima, to send him back to the nether regions from which he was spawned and to never let him darken the civilized world again.

Right thought leads to right action, the saying goes, so I must be careful.  Finishing his meditation, Kuno stood up and moved to the wall where he kept his swords.  Grabbing his old familiar bokken, he began to move in a practiced, deliberate kata, practicing and perfecting swings, counters, thrusts and strikes that were so familiar to him, yet something that needed to be done to keep him atop the bevy of his contemporaries.  He wasn’t known as the Blue Thunder of the Olympic Kendo circuit for nothing, and only a few others, like Shimoko Eiji or Shidou Satoru could come close to his talent.  Yet he needed to be better still, because this time there were lives and not just honor hinging on this.

From the lightning speed of the Tembatsu Da, to the devastating whirlwinds of his Sempuken, from the crescent of power that was the Kosenbado Shogekiha to the pummeling and brutal slam that was the Insen Ikazuchi Bakuon.  Any of these was good against a lesser opponent; put together they made for a formidable and fearful arsenal.  Yet still they always somehow managed to come up short against Saotome’s black magic and ill-starred intents.  At times it almost seemed – almost, because it was clearly impossible – that Saotome was simply the better combatant.  Yet the score remained, even if by false action, heavily in Saotome’s favor.

So perhaps a new approach has to be taken.  That meant to him, simply put, if he could not gain victory by going through Saotome, the only other choice meant going through the Pigtailed Girl herself.  He would have to test her mettle and prove the victor, if he was to free her.  As he thought about it more and more, it made sense; after all, as Ranma won, he spread his dark arts to make his foes weaker, how many times had he beaten and subverted the Pigtailed Girl’s true nature?  If that was the case, the only hope for her lay in the fact that Kuno Tatewaki and his noble and honorable strength.  After all, as the old saying went, Did One Not Understand What An Honorable Blade Stood For?  If Kuno were to forget that, then he would be nothing but a pompous, foolish, vainglorious braggart of an idiot with a wooden sword and too much knowledge of the classical works.  That was something he was most certainly not, and the quote was something that was with him always.

He nodded to himself and allowed a smile for himself.  The course was now chosen, the cause just.  Though it would wound him to cause any injury or infliction to the Henna-haired belle, the cost of letting her remain under the nefarious auspices of Saotome Ranma was far, far worse.  If it took strikes of care and assaults of kindness to bring her back to her senses and away from that wolfshead’s ill charms, so be it.

Saluting the air with his blade, he smiled clearly now, the first time in days that he had.  “Fair Pigtailed Girl, fear not what is to befall you, for it will be the kindest thing that you have suffered in a while.  You may be bruised but for a small while, but your more dangerous wounds will be gone forever more!”  Finishing up his kata with a flourish and moving the bokken to the steady position, he turned and left his training room.  He had many plans to make and many thoughts to collect before he worked his plan; all must be perfect lest the damnable Saotome suspect and put a stop to the rescue notion.  Kuno, however, was sure that all would be perfect; it was, after all, he who was coming up with this noble and honorable quest.

“We have to talk,” Satoru said as he addressed his brothers.  The three Shidou males were seated at an outdoor café near Hizarasu AB, where Kakeru was stationed.  Though they all led different lives now, the three of them were still as close as brothers were, and were oftentimes in agreement when it came to such vital issues, as, say, their baby sister.  Satoru, the eldest, had taken it on himself to care for the family upon the untimely accident years ago that had killed their parents, and looking at his siblings, it was clear that he’d done an excellent job, one that was to be admired by one and by all.  “We have a situation at hand, and it’s up to us to take care of it.”

Kakeru, seated next to him in his JASDF uniform, looked at Satoru in his casual clothes and Masaru in his sarariman attire and smiled.  “Well, it’s gotta be pretty important when all three of us have to meet together so far away from the home – and without Hikaru-chan.  I take it this involves her?” he asked, knitting his fingers together and resting them just under his chin.

Masaru nodded.  “Yes, it does.  It seems our little sister has become a woman now, and has found another’s heart to call her own.”  Masaru grinned, feeling giddy about saying that.  He’d heard it once in a samurai drama, years ago, and it stuck in his mind as something to say when the time came about his sister.  Besides, as the lone married member of the trio, he understood more than the others what love was about and what it portended.  “Yup, our little kitten’s got herself a boyfriend now.”

“Hikaru?  Not Hikaru – she’s too innocent for that sort of stuff.  Hell, I’m only a year and a half older than her and I’m not even dating,” Kakeru pointed out.  “I just can’t see Hikaru with anyone yet.”

“Well, she is 22,” Satoru pointed out, “and most of her friends are already married – didn’t Umi and Fuu marry foreigners and move to Europe a few years back?  Besides, it’s human nature – we all do it sooner or later, I guess.”

“Yeah, but how are you two so sure that she’s dating anyone?  I’m sure she would have told us.”

“Well, I found out through my wife,” Masaru answered.  “It seems that Chidara and Hikaru have been getting along just fine – too fine, which made me confused, since they normally don’t get along too well.  I talked to Chi, and she confessed that Hikaru’s been asking her about dating advice in regards to her boyfriend.  On the one hand, it’s nice to see them friendly towards each other.  On the other hand, it made me wonder about what Chi said.”

“And?” both Satoru and Kakeru said at once.  A good deal of this information was new to Satoru, and Kakeru was interested in the whole thing.

Masaru opened his briefcase, pulling out some papers.  “They’ve been talking for quite some time now, and it seems our innocent sister isn’t as innocent as we think.”  Both of the faces of the other Shidou men grew dark, and it was clear they weren’t happy about that.  “Oh, relax – it’s not like she’s on the pill or anything.  But apparently, she’s talking to Chi because she had a boyfriend back when she was sixteen – some gaijin, I think – and it didn’t work out, so she wants to make sure she’s doing everything right this time.  Apparently, she’s really got it bad for this guy.”

“How bad?”

“Well, remember the time she said Kuu and she were going to Hakkone for a weekend?  Well, it turns out that it was her and her boyfriend, and she didn’t want to tell anyone because, well….”  Masaru shrugged. “You get the picture.”

Both Kakeru and Satoru nodded.  The eldest asked, “Well, then, our choice is clear: I promised our father that if something were to happen to our parents, I would ensure that whoever marries Hikaru would be worthy of her.”  He took a sip from the glass that sat in front of him, then looked at the light that danced in its liquid form as he held it up towards the sun.  “I think you know what I mean, don’t you, you two?”

Kakeru raised his eyebrow.  “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding.  That’s overkill.  What if the guy doesn’t know anything about the art of the blade?  It’ll be a slaughter, Satoru!”

Masaru, on the other hand, looked a bit graven.  “Normally, I’d be inclined to agree with Kakeru, but in this case, I think your comments are quite justified.”

“Oh, really?” Satoru asked.  “You make it sound as though she’s dating someone with some ability.  What, is she dating another kendo artist?”  Masaru was about to respond, but the oldest brother continued.  “If you’re that confident about his abilities, he’d have to be someone top tier, someone good enough to square off against one of us.  Let me think of who’s single in the Olympic circuit.”  He ticked off his fingers, mentioning names as he did so:  “Let’s see: there’s Mineta Kaede, Uchida Kenzo, Watanabe Yoshiaki, Kuno Tatewaki….”

Masaru reached over and covered his brother’s fingers, then handing both his brothers the documents he’d pulled out of the briefcase.  “If it were only that simple, guys.  It appears that our little sister’s gotten herself mixed up with a bit of a celebrity.” 

He inclined the papers, and the two other Shidous began to read.  A few silent minutes went by as the pair read about their sister’s new paramour.  After Kakeru was done, he dropped the paper and shook his head, moaning, “Oh, boy.  OOOOOOOoooooooooh boy.  Hey, if you guys want, I have a friend in the bomber squadron.  Maybe he can swing by and drop a payload and make things more fair.”

“For him?”

“For us.”  The look in his eyes indicated Kakeru was not kidding.

Satoru gave his youngest brother a patient look.  “Kakeru, he’s just a man.  Trust me on this.  Besides, I promised our father that we’d see to Hikaru’s best interests, and we can’t back out on that.”

“We’re aware of that, and we’d never let Hikaru down,” Masaru commented.  “In any case, while I have to agree with you on that one, I have to admit he’s got a point.  This guy’s not someone to take lightly.”

Kakeru rolled his eyes.  “‘Not to take lightly,’ he says.  Guys, we’re not talking about some guy off the street, we’re talking about Saotome Ranma!  The owner of the Saotome-Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts!  I’ve seen this guy in action!  He’s got some serious moves!”  He shifted in his seat and continued.  “Look, I got to see the guy back when I was in high school.  Some high school was having a martial arts competition against ours and he was there with this cute brunette with short hair – I think he was her coach or something.  Anyway, some guy on our side got lippy with the girl, and he stepped in and clocked the guy with one punch.  After that, the entire team got cocky about it and attacked him.  Well, the end result of that was that our team got disqualified because they all got cold-cocked by him, and he didn’t even break a sweat!  Thirty guys, Satoru, and that when I was sixteen; he’s probably about the same age as me, if I’m guessing right.

“Plus, if that ain’t enough for you, these pictures from a magazine, as well as sports magazines and such, tell you he’s famous.  And in the martial arts, you only get famous if you’re a movie star or if you’re really damn good.”  Kakeru reached over and picked up a copy of an American martial arts mag.  “Foreign publications have him on the cover.  He’s really made a name for himself as someone who knows his stuff, and you want to take him on?”

Satoru sighed, realizing his brother had a point.  “Still, I can’t back out, and neither can you.”  All three agreed on that.  “This is for Hikaru’s sake, and I’d rather we have problems than for her to be stuck with someone not worthy of her down the road.  So, are we agreed?”

Early evening descended on the Saotome-Tendo household, and a familiar redhead walked from the dojo, onto the engawa and into the house.  She looked tired, the result of a long, long day of working out and furthering her martial skills, but as always she was long used to the grueling workouts, knowing that it was just a part of the lifestyle she chose long ago. 

“I’m soooooooo exhausted,” Hikaru said as she stretched, yawning as she sat down on the couch.  “You were right, Kasumi – learning kempo is a lot different than learning kendo.  But if I didn’t find it so fascinating enough to learn on my own, I’ll bet that Ranma or Nabiki would have insisted I learn – they seem to get in a lot of spots, it seems.”  She gave Ranma’s oldest sister a sincere smile as she sat down on the couch.  “And I really appreciate you staying here to allow me to practice what I’ve learned while they’re out of town.  My own family’s dojo doesn’t have the equipment for the hand arts.”

“You’re more than welcome, Hikaru-chan,” Kasumi said as she smiled beatifically.  “But, to be honest, I love being here at home sometimes as well.  Of course I love my own family, but there’s a lot of times when I can just come here and remind myself of when I was younger, when it was just me, my parents, and Nabiki and Akane.  Besides, you’re a wonderful person and a nice friend and someone wonderful to talk with, so it’s no trouble at all.”

“Thanks a lot, Kasumi-chan.”  Hikaru gave another sunny smile, and saw what everyone else noticed about Kasumi – she was absolutely a dear, and reminded her in many ways of a female counterpart for her older brother, Satoru.  But where Satoru was overly protective, Kasumi tended to have a very disarming personality, enough so that oftentimes it seemed she was in the need of protection.  In Hikaru’s mind, that made for the best sort of defense, and for a wonderful aspect in Kasumi’s personality.  Kasumi was kind enough that Hikaru idly wondered for a second if she could give Kasumi the mantle of the Pillar, as the domestic housewife would likely make a much better goddess than the redhead did.

“Well, while you were practicing, I made some tea.  Would you care to have some?”

Hikaru nodded eagerly, getting comfortable on the sofa, noting the Western-style redecoration that Nabiki had done on the place a few weeks ago, something that she’d said came in handy when entertaining guests for her business or handling the affairs of the dojo.  Although someone familiar with the home could still see the original Japanese lines within the old Tendo home, much had been changed over the years, such as the downstairs second bedroom having been turned into a den, and the old master bedroom converted into an office.  The changes had been necessary, the younger Tendo daughter had said, since the dojo was now prosperous enough that an office was needed.  And while many of the cozy items of childhood were now gone, the ever forward-thinking Nabiki had tried to make the home as restful as possible.  And on that, the redhead decided, she had done so in spades.

Kicking her feet up and laying on the couch, Hikaru idly pictured herself living here.  It was funny, she thought, that she and her boyfriend had only been together for a matter of months, and she was already comfortably ensconced in his life.  There was no doubt in her mind that she was in love with him, and she was pretty sure that he felt the same way, even though she understood that he still carried a torch for his deceased first love, the one he’d married and had a child with.  That sort of thing was obviously difficult to get over, especially with little Akama being around. 

Part of her wondered, would that be her fate, someday?  A mother to Akama and maybe more children, in this household?  She had to admit it was possible.  She’d only been with Ranma for four months, but to her it felt like a lifetime, and for her to contemplate a life here made her pause to wonder how she could have ever thought of a life with…with….

With Lantis, she finally thought out.  It was only a few years ago that I had thought about being his wife.  But that was before I found out what kind of person he was, and before I lost my innocence.  She chose to cut that line of thought off; whatever happened in the past was just that, and whatever the ultimate fate of Lantis and Umi was, it had no impact on the life of Shidou Hikaru.  That part of her life was over with, and goddess of Cephiro and its like worlds or not, the past was the past and she had a different life to live now, maybe even with this…wonderful man…named…Ran…ma….

“Tea’s ready!” Kasumi chirped as she came back into the living room.  She paused and stopped.  “Oh my….”  There, completely asleep on the couch, was Hikaru, curled up, apparently having worn herself out over the day’s workout session.  Kasumi smiled, remembering all the times when she’d seen another, similar redhead sleeping the sleep of angels; that person had become a key figure in her life now, and something told the lady of the hearth that this redhead might someday become a permanent fixture around the house as well.  To Kasumi, that would be just wonderful; Ranma had suffered so much since Akane’s death, maybe even more so than Nabiki and Kasumi themselves, and to see that happiness was finally coming his way was something that she very much wanted for him.  Looking fondly at the dozing redhead once more, Kasumi went upstairs to fetch a blanket for her.

Ukyo stood at the door of the Saotome-Tendo home, more nervous than she’d been in quite some time.  A flit of a shadow moved in her peripheral vision, enough so to make her jump from being startled – way to go on that calmness, she chastised herself.  Ranchan’s really going to find that cute, you acting as timid as a mouse.  She shifted anxiously from one foot to another, not knowing what to say or even how to bring the subject up.  After all, what could she say?  Hi, Ranchan, do you have a girlfriend instead of me, when you know I’ve been here for you all my life?

She was more afraid, however, of what the answer would be.  Would it be him laughing softly, telling her it was nothing to worry about, that he had no one – and thus still giving her a chance?  Or would Ryoga be correct, in that the door to Ranma’s heart was shut permanently now, the key under the hand of someone else?  Or would the worst-case scenario come about, that he was completely and totally in love with this new mystery girl and would just forget about her?  That scared her the most – to her, Ranma wasn’t just the man she loved, but also her best friend, makeshift family and just about the lone pillar of her life in the world. 

Does that make me obsessive? she wondered, thinking back to the conversation that she and Ryoga had as she was closing the store.  He didn’t like the idea of her heading to the dojo, he had told her; he thought it would be best if Ranma had brought it up to her and left it at that.  Ukyo argued that such a course would be painful for her and Ranma; she loved him dearly but had no illusions of how imperfect he was.  Finally, when she made up her mind to go confront Ranma directly on it, Ryoga bowed out, saying he highly disagreed, but he’d be there if she needed a shoulder to cry on.  Even now, he was waiting at her place for her own tearful return, as though he was expecting inevitability rather than the fact that he could be wrong. 

But what if he wasn’t? 

Well, only one way to find out, and sitting out here in the night air was not it.  Gently knocking on the door, she hoped Ranma would answer the door directly; she hated to have to involve Nabiki even though she’d be just as helpful and probably a bit more direct and tactful.  She stood there for a few more minutes as the door didn’t slide open and nothing moved.  She tried knocking again, only to have no answer.  That was odd; Nabiki’s car was in the driveway, and the lights were on….

I wonder if everything’s okay.  Well, she was a close friend of the family; she was sure they wouldn’t mind if she just came in.  Sliding the door open just enough for her to get herself in, she got into the house, then slid the door shut again, pausing only to take off her shoes.  As she came in, she saw the redecoration that they’d been talking about for months; the place that she’d remembered so much during her teen years was gone, replaced by a nice, if different looking home that she was sure she’d adjust to being in when she was the lady of the house here.  But the question remained, even with the lights slightly dimmed and the unfamiliar furnishings: where were the occupants?

Looking around for a few more seconds gained her the answer.  Asleep on the sofa, complete with blanket draped over his sleeping form and looking as peaceful as an angel, was her Ranma.  He was currently in female form, a small teapot thoughtfully put on the coffee table by Nabiki for when he woke up.  Ukyo’s heart swelled, just seeing her beloved like that, so innocent and pure.

That brought something to mind that Ukyo hadn’t completely thought of before: spending the rest of her life with the man she loved, also meant that spending time with that person meant in a sense, she was spending time with two.  In short, she had to realize that her very loving Ranchan was, unfortunately, capable of being more “chan” than Ukyo at times.  Curse or not, whether their circle of friends knew or not, the public at large didn’t, and that could cause problems en masse.  She’d already been disowned by her family for her failure to win back Ranma – she didn’t need any more ostracism in her life, thank you very much.

Was she ready for this?  Could she be?  Under the most ideal circumstances it would take the most accepting and tolerant of persons to handle the morass of dilemmas that came with Ranma’s curse; the undeniable fact that Akane, by no means the symbol of tolerance or placidity, had been there from the very beginning and through thick and thin, spoke volumes about her love for Ranma.  No doubt also that had it not been for Shampoo, she would still be – and Ukyo would not be forced to make that decision on her own.

But a decision it was, nonetheless; if Ukyo was willing to make the step of being the future second Mrs. Saotome Ranma, then she had to learn and accept this aspect of his life.  Besides, if anything, when it came to Jusenkyo curses, the old adage that it was not the outside of a person but rather the inside that counted rang truer than ever.  It didn’t matter how the person looked in cursed form if the nature of the soul remained true; Ranma as female was still very much the soul of Ranma as normal.  And it was that person that the okinomiyaki chef cherished and wanted in her life.

Ukyo, pausing to gaze at Ranma’s still, sleeping form, realized that it wasn’t the form of her lover that counted so much as the love.  She could be strong enough to withstand a relationship with him and all that it entailed, whether good fortune or ill.  Her heart welled up; something within her told her this was the right choice.  After all, she’d given up just about everything in her life to be with him, and had even reconciled herself to being nothing more than his best friend at one point if it made him happy.  By any indicator, that was a sign of truest love, always sacrificing for the benefit of the loved one.  And Ukyo was one who knew sacrifices far too well.

Before she was even aware of what she was doing, she found herself leaning over her love, debating if she had the strength to do it.  A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh, the words from that old Western song rang in her head.  Akane had admitted that she kissed Ranma once or twice as a female and had been no worse the wear for it.  If Ukyo was going to live her life with Ramna, sooner or later that was going to have to happen, to show affection and love to her mate.  If she could do it now, she could prove to herself and her love that she was serious about their relationship.

Whispering a soft “Ai shiteru, Ranchan,” she let herself go with abandon and leaned forward, kissing the man that she loved. Sighing softly in contentment that she’d finally made peace with her lover’s curse, she let herself free, knowing that when he opened his eyes, there would be Ukyo and Ukyo only, and all this nonsensical rumors about other girlfriends and such banished to the depths of nonexistence as they deserved to be.

The redhead responded happily to the kiss for all of a portion of a second.  Then she opened her eyes…and was completely stunned by what was going on.  Completely stunned by the situation, Hikaru did the only thing she could do to escape.  Grabbing the arm of the couch, she called upon the years of kendo strength and gymnastic ability that she had within her and curling, pulled herself away from her unusual attacker, rolled out of the woman’s grasp and launched herself away from the furniture, to land unsteadily against a nearby wall and to crash dizzily against a nearby floor lamp.  Immediately, though, she picked herself back up and dropped into a standard kendo defense by habit, momentarily forgetting that she was not armed.

Meanwhile, Ukyo found three interesting feelings within the span of a minute.  The first was the complete and total love she gave to her beloved Ranchan through the kiss, waiting for him at any moment to wrap his arms around her and tell her that she was the only one for him.  The second was the sudden shock of Ranma being torn out of her grasp; she had only seen the merest flash of ruby hair jetting by her.  The third thing she felt was a slamming kick to her face as she was jolted violently back, spinning out of control for a moment to crash against the coffee table, breaking it in half. 

It was this noise that brought Kasumi out of the kitchen, headphones not having been loud enough to mask that kind of noise.  As she walked in, hand immediately went up to her mouth as she gasped.  “Oh, hello, Ukyo,” she bowed, acknowledging her new guest before taking note of the situation.  “Oh my…what a mess, dear me…is everyone all right?  I can make more tea, if you’d like.”

“No, that won’t be necessary, Kasumi-chan,” Hikaru said, somewhere between shocked and angry at what just happened to her.  Who was the stranger, and why did she attack her like that?  How did she get into the house?  Was this one of the other Tendo sisters that Ranma had told her about, the two that were busy playing wandering martial artists somewhere in the world?  Or was this someone else?

Ukyo ignored her, instead looking at Ranma, who was surprisingly in combat mode.  “Ranchan, what’s gotten into you?”

“‘Ranchan?’” Hikaru parroted, still confused as to what was going on.

With her perpetual hyper-sunny outlook on things, Kasumi gently said, “Oh, Ukyo that’s not Ranma – he’s in Ryugenzawa, remember?”  Looking at Hikaru, she continued, “You look very tired, Hikaru-chan.  Did you have a pleasant nap?”

Hikaru nodded but did not answer, as she continued to stare at the stranger in the room.

Meanwhile, the stranger was even more confused.  “‘Hikaru’?  Nani?  What’s this all about, Kasumi?”  The okinomiyaki chef suspected she wasn’t going to like the answer, not one bit.

She was correct.  “Oh, that’s right – you haven’t met each other before.”  Still smiling with that oblivious sweet sunny nature, she introduced the pair.  “Hikaru, this is Ranma’s best friend and a longtime friend of the family, Kuonji Ukyo.”  Then motioning towards the redhead, she added, “And this is Ranma’s new girlfriend, Shidou Hikaru – it’s just amazing how much she looks like Ranma’s girl half, isn’t it?”

Ukyo barely heard the woman.  Instead, she stared at the redhead standing in front of her, the shock melting away on her face as she examined the person before her.  This redhead had a far longer ponytail than her beloved’s; it snaked down her back and stopped just past her waist.  Additionally, there were less muscles on this girl; though she was in a combatant’s pose, it was clear that whatever martial skills she had were not of the hand arts variety.  Lastly, where Ranma’s eyes were a beautiful blue that reflected the innate honor of his soul, this woman’s were a red-tinged brown, like a redwood or a light cherrywood, eyes that might normally show warmth like embers but right now were showing smoldering, restrained emotions.

“Pleased to meet you,” both women said in icy tones simultaneously.  

Pleased that both women had met and were getting along just fabulously, Kasumi chirped, “Good, I’ll go make us some more tea.  I’ll be right back!”  Turning, she headed straight back into the kitchen, leaving the two combatants to stare at each other with dagger eyes.

“So you’re trying to take my Ranchan from me,” Ukyo said in a flat, angry voice.  So the rumors were true – part of her wanted to cry, part of her wanted to just drop to the floor and die.  The words that Kasumi had spoken, though never intended to hurt, may have well been a serrated dagger plunged into her body in a connect-the-dots fashion.  She never thought that her greatest fear would ever come true.  It took her a long, long time to get used to the fact that between her and Akane, she’d lose.  But to find out that between her and someone else – a newcomer, an unknown – she still lost.  But there was another part of her that felt that she had to do something, anything, to regain Ranma’s love, and something within told her the only way to do that was to counter this redheaded little tramp – in any way possible. 

Meanwhile, Hikaru had her own ideas.  Relaxing slightly, a thoughtful cast crossed her mind.  “Oh, you thought I was Ranma-kun.  Oh, that probably explains why you tried to—”

“You tricked me!” Ukyo growled, unconsciously dropping into a combat pose of her own.  “Plus, you’re trying to take my Ranchan from me, so do you think I’m going to give you any slack?  I don’t think so.”

Hikaru’s eyes grew sad as she relaxed from her combat pose, realizing what was going on here.  It was clear that this Ukyo girl was closer to Ranma than he thought.  Hikaru, for that matter, didn’t realize that Ukyo was female; he’d mentioned her before, but the redhead had always assumed that like Ryoga, Ukyo was also male – the gender-neutral name didn’t help things along, either.  Now that she was seeing things in a different light, it was clear that to Ukyo, Hikaru was an intruder in their life and had Hikaru not been there, Ukyo might have successfully pressed her suit.

Not that Hikaru was going to give up on the man she loved, however.  Trying to be as calm as possible, she said, “Look, Kuonji-san, I can appreciate how you feel.  I…um, I….”  Hikaru paused.  She was thinking of telling Ukyo about Umi, but the fact was, she didn’t think that trying to show herself as the jilted woman herself would help.  Additionally, the only ones she’d confided to about that part of her past were Ranma and Kuu – she hadn’t told her brothers, and she wasn’t really about to trust this woman with that sort of information.  So instead, she swallowed her word and replied with, “I know this is painful for you, and it’s obvious that you love Ranma.  But so do I, and I won’t let him go.”

Ukyo’s eyes narrowed – she knew a challenge when she heard one.  “You won’t let him go?  Sugar, I don’t think you have much of a choice.”  Reaching behind her, she grabbed her battlespat and pointed it at Hikaru.  “It’s clear you have some sort of talent, though I don’t think that it’s hand to hand.  So I’m going to give you this one last chance: give him up now or I’m going to make you regret it.”

Hikaru shook her head sadly; yet another stupid fight because of reasons not worth fighting about.  It was clear that Ukyo was not interested in solving things easily, nor was Hikaru going to give up the man she loved.  But at the same time, she wondered about herself, ironically; it was only a couple of years ago that Hikaru had been in the same situation as Ukyo had been.  She’d loved Lantis then; why didn’t she challenge Umi for his hand, especially when it had been clear that Umi didn’t love him, that it would be a marriage of convenience based on a night of drunken lust?  Hikaru was a goddess; was she any less worthy to fight for the man she had loved at the time?

But in those thoughts came the answer: had loved.  Those words were in the past tense, meant that those actions were in the past, a different time ago that had no bearing and meaning on the here and now, despite their similarity.  Hikaru was in a different situation, not one where she’d been rocked by betrayal and misfortune.  In any case, her feelings for Ranma were much stronger, even though she’d been with him only four months now; it was the difference between the first love a person has, and the love of a person that would be there forever – and there was more chance of Ranma being there years from now than Lantis.

Folding her arms and forcing herself to wipe the look off her face into something more stoic, she said, “While I understand and sympathize how you feel about him, Kuonji-san, I will not just simply give up and go away, dismissed like some dalliance.  Ranma and I are a couple, and you, whether you like it or not, are his best friend…and the fact that you are not with him means that such is your role to him.”  Hikaru hated talking in an imperious manner, as it wasn’t her style, but considering the circumstances, she had little choice; if Ukyo wasn’t going to listen to reason, then she’d have to listen to something more forceful.

“Why you bi….ARRGH!”  Ukyo bit off the expletive, so angry she was becoming incomprehensible.  “Okay, if that’s how you want to play, I’ll play hardball.”  Thumping the sharp end of her battlespat down on the ground, unaware that she ripped the carpet in the process, she snarled, “In two days.  Daiba Ward, at Shiokaze Kaihin Park.  Noon.  Winner gets to keep Ranma, agreed?”

Hikaru crossed her arms.  “Do you really love him?  Because if you do, you’re not showing it very well.  He’s a person, not a trophy.”

“Shut up!” Ukyo snarled, getting so angry that tears of rage began to well in her eyes.  “If you don’t have the courage to show up and fight for the person you love, then you’re not even worth his time, do you hear me?  Although from the likes of it, considering how you were trying to trick me, I think that speaks volumes of how little you value him!”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, I think you damn well know what I mean, Red.”  Ukyo reslid her battlespat in the holster loops in the back of her shirt.  “And if you really want to put your money where your mouth is, and you mouth somewhere else instead of where it shouldn’t be, then you better show up.”  Ukyo relaxed her arms to her side, then made a quick motion, flickers of sliver coming from them.

Hikaru dodged the blades as they came in her direction, though she didn’t need to; they came nowhere near her, instead, hitting property all over the place.  Angry at this newest attack, Hikaru leapt forward, and before she was completely aware of what she was doing, her hand came across Ukyo’s face in a sharp, stinging slap.

“How dare you!” she shouted.  “You claim to be Ranma’s best friend, yet you’re treating him like an object.  You’re supposedly in love with him, yet you show that love by destroying his home.  And you actually think that just because you’ve been around longer that I’m going to give up my boyfriend as though we’re waiting in line for something.  Small wonder that his first wife married him instead of you – at least she seemed like a sane person!”

“HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT AKANE, YOU HUSSY!” Ukyo screamed in Hikaru’s face.  “YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HER!”  Ukyo’s hands, at her side, formed fists so tight her knuckles were white.  Raising them up to Hikaru’s chin, she seethed, “You and I will have this out now.”

Hikaru just looked evenly at Ukyo with eyes of challenge.  “Ready whenever you are.”  The two tensed, and it became a matter of which woman threw the first blow.

Fortunately, fate chose to intervene.  Her headphones on again, Kasumi danced into the room with a new tray of tea, she called out, “Tea is ready!  It’ll give us girls a chance to talk and get to know one another better, right?”

Ukyo looked at Hikaru, then back at Kasumi, and that was enough to drain her anger for the moment.  Like so many others, the chef considered Kasumi like family and wouldn’t fight in front of her.  Bowing slightly to Kasumi, she said, “Sorry, Kasumi, but I have to…um, take care of some things back at the restaurant.  I just…um, came by to see if Ranchan was here.”

Kasumi somehow managed to look sad at Ukyo’s departure while not removing the smile from her face.  “Oh, it’s such a shame you can’t stay, Ukyo, but I understand.  As for Ranma, well, he and Nabiki had some business to take care of in the southeast and shouldn’t be back home for another week – you know how my brother and sister can be.”

“Oh,” Ukyo replied in a monotone.  “Well, I’ve got to get going now, Kasumi, but I hope you’ll come and swing by my restaurant some time; we haven’t talked in ages.”  Looking at Hikaru with an emotionless face that nevertheless held eyes of anger and rage, she said, “And I’ll see you soon enough, Red.”  Nothing further to add, Ukyo showed herself to the door.

Watching her departing form, Hikaru was able to whisper a “You can count on it,” before she sat down on the couch, feeling physically drained.  Sitting there for a few minutes as Kasumi poured some tea, the redhead contemplated telling Kasumi about what just happened, but in the end decided to keep it to herself.  Not only might not Kasumi believe her old family friend capable of what Hikaru had seen, but she might even take Ukyo’s side.  Aside from that issue, it just felt somehow wrong to discuss problems around the oldest of the Tendo clan.  So, instead, Hikaru kept it in, sighing as she drank from her cup.

“You look tired, Hikaru-chan,” Kasumi said after a silence of a few minutes.  “Would you like to stay here the night?  I can make sure the guest room is set up for you, if you’d like.”

“Thanks, but no,” Hikaru thought.  “I have to get up early in the morning and take care of a few things,” Hikaru replied, mentally adding, Like prepare for battle – and how do I explain to Ranma-kun that I’m going to be fighting his best friend?  He won’t be happy about that.  “But I am rather tired, though.  Do you mind if I call home?  I’ll have one of my brothers come pick me up, then I should be able to take a shower before he gets here.”

Kasumi nodded.  “Okay.  I’ll go ready the furo for you.”

Hikaru smiled genuinely; no matter what had happened tonight, somehow Kasumi always managed to make everything somehow better.  “Thank you, Kasumi-chan, I appreciate it.”

The brunette flashed Hikaru a knowing smile before disappearing around the corner towards the lower bathroom.  While she did that, Hikaru went over to the phone and dialed Masaru’s cel phone.  There were a few seconds of quiet while the phone dialed before she was able to connect with him.  “Oh, Masaru-nichan?  I need a favor, and I hope I’m not disturbing you and Chidara.  Would you mind terribly picking me up at a friend’s home?  I’ve had a long day, and….”

As Ukyo walked home, she felt a tangled morass of emotions.  Ranma, the man she loved more than anything and was sure that he thought her as critical to his life, was with another woman.  Again.  Once more, Ukyo was left adrift, standing as she watched the man she loved slip out of her hands and over the horizon of life, but willingly this time – for the second time.

She let herself move on autopilot as she headed towards her new home, a little house she’d bought across the street from Furinkan High.  She’d bought the house from the old woman who’d lived there; the woman, with no family to leave it to and who Ukyo had befriended many a time, sold it to her on the condition that when the woman had passed on, Ukyo would take care of her funeral expenses – the price of the sale.  That had been about five months ago, and though the chef mainly lived at her home now, she hadn’t quite moved out of the old apartment above her restaurant.  That was soon to be renovated into a second floor for the Ucchan.  Once, her ultimate goal had been to leave this house of hers as a temporary respite until she moved into the Saotome home as his wife, after which she would have given the house to Konatsu as a gift for his faithful friendship.  Now, it seemed that she might be living in it a bit longer – possibly until the end of her days, alone and unloved.

What have I done wrong? she asked herself, rounding the corner that took her past the riverside road that led her to her home.  I’ve been faithful and loyal, and true to him.  I’ve saved myself for him, and I even was willing to be Akama’s mother in Akane’s place.  Yet for all of her qualifications, she was cast away like some okinomiyaki ingredients than had passed their freshness date.  Somehow, this redhead, this one-in-a-million person that looked like Ranma’s female half had slipped out of nowhere and taken over his life and heart, not even giving Ukyo a chance to win it.  She’d hoped that slow and steady, just like the turtle, would win the race.  Instead, she found out that while the turtle might beat the hare, it doesn’t do a damn bit of good against weasels like…like…like that damn….

“Pigtailed Girl.”  

Ukyo paused; that wasn’t her voice.  Moving slightly to her left to center herself in a light from one of the streetlamps, she called out, “Okay, who are you and what do you want?  Don’t get too cocky, I’ll put you in your place!”

“I said, Kuonji Ukyo,” the voice spoke from behind her, “that’s it’s clear you don’t care much for the Pigtailed Girl.”  She turned, ready to fight, only to find Kuno, walking into the light.  He was wearing darker clothing than usual, a black polo shirt and charcoal gray slacks, giving him an almost casual appearance.  “Before you say anything,” he added, “I should apologize to you.  I had been headed towards the dojo to say hello to my beloved Nabiki, but it seems that I caught you and the Pigtailed One in an argument…over Saotome, no less.”

“I don’t see how it’s any of your business.”

“Oh, quite the contrary, O Beauteous and Magnificent Mistress of Culinary Delights.  I believe that you and I can be of mutual assistance to each other, and both find what we are desiring in our heart of hearts.”

Ukyo relaxed a tiny bit – it wasn’t as though Kuno was a threat or anything – and crossed her arms.  A look of skepticism on her face, she asked, “Spare me the flowery speech, Kuno – I’m not an idiot.  There’s something you want, and I bet it has to do with Ranchan, doesn’t it?  You’ve never liked him, so don’t tell me that you’re so interested in doing him a favor.  And besides, you’re engaged to be married.  What do you find so interesting about that henna-haired hussy?”  Apparently Kuno thought Hikaru to be “the pigtailed girl”, and Ukyo was in no hurry to correct him.

Kuno tousled his hair with his hand while he laughed softly, then motioned for them to continue walking towards her place.  As they moved on, he continued.  “Yes, you’re correct.  I loathe Saotome, and frankly, I think he is a curse upon mankind.  But it is also clear to me that you love him dearly and would do much to be with him.  And while my heart belongs to my sweet Nabiki, I must needs confess that the fact that the Pigtailed One has been under his spell for so long vexes me.  I would like to see her free from his influence.”

“And into your bed?” Ukyo asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.  Granted, she didn’t give a damn about what happened to that Hikaru girl, but Nabiki was a friend and if Kuno was about to two-time her….

“No, never that.  I merely wish to see her on her way, free to live her life away from the dark influences of that malefactor, Saotome.  Once that is done, perhaps you, with your charming feminine wiles, could bring him back to a semblance of humanity, though I doubt it.” 

“You’re not exactly getting my attention with comments like that,” Ukyo grumbled.

“Again, I apologize.  I know your love for him is strong, and though I fail to understand why, if you feel it is your fate to be with such a boorish dolt like Saotome, I cannot stop that.  But my goal is to free the Pigtailed Girl from her bonds of slavery with that fiend, and if you wish to place yourself in those bonds, I cannot stop you; that is your choice.”  The pair rounded the corner, approaching Furinkan High and her place.  “But I caution you: you will find yourself in bonds of doom should you decide to lower yourself for that scandalous knave.  But that is none of my concern.”

The chef held back a retort, then debated if she should deck Kuno here and now.  He was insulting both her Ranchan and herself, and she wasn’t entirely sure that he was on the level regarding his feelings for the Pigtailed Girl and how they related to his relationship with Nabiki, but those were the problems inherent with dealing with the devil, and this was certainly one hell of a dark pact of sorts.  As they stopped in front of Ukyo’s home, she asked, “What are you proposing?”

“An alliance, of course.  As much as it pains me to strike the fair Pigtailed Girl, I heard your duel challenge.  If we can beat her, we can force her to leave for now and for good, leaving her free and leaving him with you.  Once that’s done, you’re free to take him and make him yours; and the Pigtailed Girl will be free to live the rest of her natural life in the way she chooses.”  Reaching in his pocket, he gave her one of his business cards.  “Call me in the morning and we’ll discuss details.  We have two days to set the perfect trap for her, and time is running short.”

She held the card as though it were a live snake.  Nabiki’s fiancé or not, Kuno wasn’t the type of person to trust easily.  Additionally, he wanted to inflict pain and suffering on Ranma; how could she find herself in a partnership with that sort of person?  Yet, the fact was, it meant that Kuno was offering to hand her the keys to Ranma’s heart on a silver platter, and all it would take would be the removal of that bitch Hikaru, sending her packing and sending Ranma into Ukyo’s arms.  But something felt dirty about it, and as Ukyo watched Kuno walk away into the night, she continued to stand there, in front of her house, feeling more torn than she’d ever been. 

As she entered her home, she found Ryoga, sitting on the couch, watching TV.  He took one look at her, and though they’d not discussed it before, there was somehow something in his eyes that said he knew exactly what was going on.  His voice spoke honesty, yet somehow there was a tinge of accusation in it.  “Gee, Ukyo, you don’t look to good.  Something wrong?”

She looked at him, but couldn’t meet his gaze for long.  Turning away, she sighed and said, “Ask me tomorrow, old friend.  Ask me when I can look in a mirror.”  Nothing more to add, she quickly crawled into her room for a night of fitful sleep.

Ryoga watched as the door to Ukyo’s room closed.  Hrmm, I wonder what brought that on, he mused as he went back to his television programs.

“Thank you again for assisting my sister in furthering her skills,” Masaru commented as he bowed to Kasumi.  “I was not aware that she was working to improve more than just her sword skills.  You say that she’s actually becoming adept at the hand arts?”  Masaru was surprised.  He knew that his little sister was capable of learning things very fast, but from the descriptions of how rapidly she was picking up kempo, it practically bordered on the magical.

“She is apparently very talented,” Kasumi said, returning the compliment.  “Apparently my brother and sister were able to teach her the basics, but from there she surpassed them.  I would say that she’s learned a few years’ worth in a matter of months, but to be honest, I’m not an expert on it.   Ranma would be a better judge of that, though.”

Masaru nodded, and not just to acknowledge the other’s statements; it was a sign of impression as well.  Hikaru-chan’s learning abilities aside, if Ranma was able to make this much of an impression on her, he must be one talented artist, indeed.  Masaru rested his hand on his chin in thought.  Though it’s the student that is mostly responsible for the improvement, it is undoubtedly the sensei that nurtures the effect.  Continuing, he commented, “Is your brother here?  I’d like to thank him for what he’s been able to show my sister.  Maybe I can even get him to show me a thing or two as well.”

“Oh, I’m sure that he would very much like that, Shidou-san,” Kasumi replied sweetly, “but I’m afraid he’s out of town right now.  He’s in the south helping a friend of the family.”  A few more minutes passed as Kasumi explained the current mission of mercy that Ranma and Nabiki had decided to head off on, and the two continued to chat on while Masaru digested the information that Kasumi had just given. 

She knows where he is, he thought.  Maybe I can get her to tell me.  “That’s a shame.  I was hoping to meet him.”

“Well, if you’d like,” Kasumi commented, “I can have him contact you as soon as he returns from Ryugenzawa next week.  I’m sure that he would love to meet you as well.” 

“Ryugenzawa?  Where’s that?  Near Okinawa?”

“Oh, no, not that far.  It’s in Shikoku, in the center of the island.  He has a friend there who works as a forest ranger and he needed some help, so Ranma and Nabiki went there to give a hand.  It’s so sweet of them to think of others first.”

“Indeed,” Masaru noted, impressed not only by the mention of Ranma’s kindness but also the advantages of forest combat.  The Shidou school of kendo specialized in close-quarters combat, gleaned from years upon years of samurai warfare in such locales.  The location, now that he knew the general area, shouldn’t be hard to reach, and the three Shidou brothers could get there with a minimum of fuss.  Once there, they could then go on about the necessary but not-too-savory function of challenging Ranma.

And that, Masaru mentally added, would be a whole new world of problems.  He remembered what Kakeru had said about the brown-haired girl the other day and figured her to be Ranma’s other sister; she would be an unknown if they attacked and he’d have no idea of how she reacted; it could be a case of going from three against one to three on two.  If Ranma was as good as Kakeru said, and certainly good enough to teach Hikaru, it could be trouble if a sister joined in.  But that would be something to worry about at a later date.

“Masaru-nisama!” Masaru turned around and noted Hikaru walking towards him, and what he saw gave him cause for concern.  Before meeting Ranma, his sister was light and springy, the ideal form for kendo combat.  But now, as she walked towards him, she was wearing some form-fitting Chinese clothing…and saw that his sister was becoming well built, her body slightly more muscular and certainly better toned.  Before, she could occasionally best him in a kendo contest by virtue of her speed and skill – where she picked up the extra expertise, he had no idea.  Now, however, she looked as though she could easily outmuscle him as well.  “Thank you for picking me up.  I appreciate it.” 

“It’s no problem, Hikaru-chan,” her brother replied.  “Kasumi-san and I here were just talking about your skill in kempo and how much you’ve improved since you started.  I have to admit, though I haven’t seen where you started at, it shows on you that you’ve learned a lot.”

Hikaru blushed from the compliment.  “Thanks, Masaru.”  She then looked at Kasumi and said, “Oh, before I forget – I forgot to bring a change of clothing, so I borrowed…Nabiki’s, er, clothing.  Do you think she’ll mind?”  Hikaru felt bad about blatantly lying in front of her brother, but the redhead knew very well that she couldn’t explain that the smaller, more petite clothing was not Nabiki’s, but Ranma’s, built for his female form.  Though it looked very much like his normal attire, it was clearly made with the curves of a woman in mind.

“Of course not,” Kasumi replied, recognizing the clothing instantly and also understanding why Hikaru couldn’t be upfront about it.  Even after all these years the house matron had a hard time accepting that her dear brother led a double-gendered life, and not by his choice.  But that was something to discuss for a later moment and not here and now.  “You can just return it the next time you’re here.  Will you still be coming by in a couple of days?”

“Actually, if you don’t mind, Kasumi-chan, I’d like to come by tomorrow.  I’d like to try out a couple of routines that might allow me to combine my sword skills with the maneuvers Ranma taught me.”  And I’ll have only the one day to do it, Hikaru mused.  No doubt that Ukyo woman is far more expert at shifting between pure hand, pure weapon and between, so that’ll put me at a disadvantage that I’ll have to get over pretty quick.  Doubtless the redhead could have used her skills as the Pillar to compensate, but that was not in Hikaru’s nature.  If she was going to get into a combat situation, she was going to fight as fair as she could.

“That’s no problem at all, Hikaru-chan.  Just give me a call tomorrow and let me know what time you’ll be over.  If I’m not here, you know where the spare key is located.”  Kasumi bowed to Masaru and added, “It was nice meeting you.  I hope we get the opportunity to meet again.”

Masaru returned the gesture.  “I hope so as well, Kasumi-san.”  Well, if anything, Ranma’s worthy from a family standpoint; his sister could easily pass for a female Satoru.  I just hope he’s as good all around as Hikaru told Chidara, and as the magazines say he is.  With a quick wave and hug between the two women, Masaru and Hikaru headed out to his car, parked in front of the dojo.

As the pair drove off, a tired Hikaru yawned momentarily, then fell asleep in the passenger seat.  That was fortunate for Masaru, as it gave him plenty of time to talk.  Dialing up Satoru and Kakeru on a multi-line call, Masaru said, “Brothers mine, I have the information that we need.  Kakeru, how much time would it take for you to get the next few days off?  We’ve got some traveling to do, and if we’re going to pull it off…

[[…it will take imperative timing on your part, Kuonji-san,]] Kuno’s voice answered as it came through the speakerphone.  [[The Pigtailed Girl may be enslaved, but even still I warrant her to be a powerful enemy, even if she does not know what she is doing under Saotome’s spell.]]

Ukyo stared out the window of her home office, looking at the iron gray sky, as though searching for a clue.  Something felt very, very wrong about doing all of this, but at the same time, it might be her only chance of getting rid of this newest problem before it was too late.  And that was part of the problem, she realized.  Before, she never had a problem making deals with the devil; during the period they all referred to as the “fiancée wars”, all the girls at one time or another were used to scheming together to break up Ranma and Akane.  Ukyo had even schemed with Shampoo many a time, and that was even as Akane was becoming a close friend of hers. 

So then why did this feel different?  Why did she feel so dirty about what she was going to do?  The fiancée wars were long since over, and this was something entirely different.  It was now just her and Ranma and this newcomer, and Kuno was merely providing, if unaware of it, a way for Ukyo to finally shine for once and for all.

“Okay,” she finally said into the phone.  “Meet me at the Shiokaze Kaihin Park in Daiba, tomorrow at 10:30.  That should give us at least an hour or so before she’s there.  We can work out some kind of plan.”

[[Very well, Kuonji-san.  I shall see you on the morrow.]]  With that, Kuno hung up on his end and the line went dead for a second before resetting back into ready tone.

Like the card, Ukyo held the phone as though it were a snake.  Now having committed herself to the deception, she somehow felt dirty, as though she wasn’t going to win Ranma’s hand the fair way.  Setting the phone down in its powercradle, she sighed and went back to the bookkeeping before she opened the restaurant for the day.

“You know,” Ryoga’s voice came unannounced as he walked into her office, “we’ve seen some times, you and I.  And we’ve probably done some things we regret when we were younger.  But I don’t think I’ve ever done anything like what you just did.”

Ukyo looked at him, her eyes narrowing.  “Were you eavesdropping on me?”

He shook his head.  “No, just, um, looking for the toire.  Unfortunately, I ended up here…and maybe it’s a good thing that I got lost this time.”

“Sugar, I hate to be brusque, but it’s none of your business.  This is between me and Kuno—”

“—and Ranma’s new girlfriend,” the lost man interjected.  “I’m not the smartest person in the world, Ukyo, but I remember what it was like to scheme and plot, even if they weren’t great ones.  You and Kuno have something planned against Ranma’s girlfriend, I know it.”

“So what’re you going to do?” Ukyo said in cool tones.  “You going to tell Hikaru or something?  Or Nabiki?  Or Ranchan?”

“No, because you’re my friend as well, even if you’re straining the relationship like this.  But it saddens me.”  The dangerous look on her face turned to one of confusion, and Ryoga clarified.  “It was two years ago that Akane was killed by a woman who refused to understand that there is such a thing as going too far.  Two weeks after that, you were attacked and scarred by a woman who was also willing to do anything to get Ranma…and she nearly killed Nabiki as well, remember?  So tell me this: did you learn from those events…or did you learn how to be just like Shampoo and Keiei?”

Ukyo reacted as though she were slapped.  “I can’t believe you said that!”

Ryoga shrugged.  “Someone had to.  I don’t think you thought of that.”

Ukyo’s face darkened as she scowled.  She was clearly going to lash out at Ryoga, but instead mostly held her tongue and snarled, “Leave me the hell alone, Ryoga.  You’re hardly one to lecture me on restraint.”

The look in his eyes was sad as he heard that.  “I know, which is why I’m telling you this: no matter what, you’re going to lose this battle, even if you win.  You just can’t see that yet.”  Walking over to her, he gave her a friendly hug, something rare for him and commented, “If you need me, you have my cell phone number.  I think I’ll be heading back home tonight – you don’t need someone to help you adjust, you need a collaborator…and you and Ranma are too good friends of mine to watch the dance of betrayals start again.”  Before she could say anything, he walked out of her office, and a few minutes later she heard him leave through the front door.

Great, Ukyo, piss off your friends as well as make a pact with someone you don’t trust, she derided herself.  Is there anything else you’d like to try?  Unable to answer her own question, she found no peace while searching for the answers within.  Eventually she gave up and got ready to go to work, hoping that a day at the Ucchan would be better than sitting in an empty house that signified what her life was like now…and was she not willing to go the extra distance to succeed, the way her life would always be.

“So, are we ready to go?” Satoru asked his brothers as the trio stood at the gate to their plane.  “Masaru, Kakeru, do you have everything you need?”

Kakeru nodded.  “Yeah, fortunately I have a friend in the colonel’s office that was willing to talk the old man into giving me a week’s leave.”  Holding up a camouflage duffle bag, he added, “I also have a friend in the GSDF who was willing to lend me some of his unit’s navigation maps of the Ryugenzawa area.  He said it’s a damn weird place, but that for our ‘training’ purposes it should suffice nicely.”

Masaru, for his part, held up a small satchel he’d been carrying.  “Yeah, I got us set.  It’ll take us about an hour to fly down to Takamatsu, then we’ll stay overnight at the Takamatsu JAL Hotel.  After that, we’ll take a rental car in the morning and drive down to the southern end of Ryugenzawa.  There’s a town there, and mostly where people enter the place.”  A second later, he digested Kakeru’s words and asked, “What’s so weird about it?  The map doesn’t suggest volcanoes or hot springs or anything like that in the area.”

“No, that’d be normal,” Satoru answered as he nodded at his brothers’ research, “but I did some looking up of information on the internet last night and needless to say, Kakeru’s friend’s right – the place is weird.”  Pulling out a small book of his own, he added, “The park ranger is a hereditary job, handled by the Ozusano family.  Normally, that’s useless information, but it seems that the job is hereditary because the family was placed in charge of it by the Imperial Family themselves – the Ozusano clan are reputedly the descendants of Susano and Kushinada.  Moreso, Ryugenzawa is supposedly the sleeping home of the Orochi hydras – there’s more than just the Yamata-no-orochi.  How much of that is true, I don’t know, but the Ryugenzawa forest is known for being the only place in the world with abnormally sized animals.”  For proof, he showed them a picture he printed off the net, a picture of a fox the size of a tourist bus – with the bus next to it for comparison. “The animals apparently are trained not to leave the forest, but anyone who enters there is in for serious problems – probably why the GSDF uses it as a training site.”

Masaru gave Satoru a curious glance, as this was all clearly extra information that he didn’t have before.  “Unusually large animals.  The descendants of mythical heroes.  Oh, and while we’re there, we’re going to challenge our sister’s boyfriend and maybe have to fight his sister as well, maybe even this forest ranger friend of theirs if the misunderstanding gets out of hand.”  Burying his face in one of his hands, he asked, “I wonder how much else of this is going to turn into a problem for us?”

“Still not too late for me to call in an air strike first,” Kakeru cracked.  “I know someone at the bomber wing down in Fukuoka, and they are doing training runs this week….”

Satoru rolled his eyes in a manner that showed parental patience with his brothers.  “Remember, this is for Hikaru.  Why else would we do this?” he asked, as he cocked his head to hear the announcement that their flight was now boarding.  “Frankly, I’ve also done some reading up on Saotome-san, and by all indicators, it should be a fair fight, and one I’d normally avoid.  But this is not a pointless fight; it’s one we’re doing for our sister’s sake.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Masaru admitted.

“I’d do anything for Hikaru-chan,” Kakeru added.  “Even something this insane.”

Looking at each other once more, the three brothers steeled themselves in their resolve to do this all for their sister’s sake, and with nothing else to add, changed the conversation topic as they made their way down the jetway to their flight.

A flash of silver.  A spark of red.  A blur of black.  As the sun sank in the sky, sunset began to give way to nighttime and the silvery stars that graced the nocturne sky over Tokyo with their presence.

A flash of silver.  A spark of red.  A blur of black.  Three targets fell, downed by relatively fierce attacks that they could not withstand. 

Standing in the center of the dojo, Hikaru moved into an arcane position, a defensive posture that was quite unusual for Terran fighting stances but perfectly normal for the skills of Cephiro.  Standing on one foot, she required all her combined skills to pull the move off, balancing herself on that single foot, while with the other raised, ready to strike out.  Her sword arm held not her shainai, but rather the razor-sharp blade of her katana, ready for battle for the first time in two years.  Arced slightly back from her but pulsing with power, her left hand held a primer charge of her fire magic, ready to loose at the next target if need be.  It was clear by any stretch that Hikaru was readying for combat.

She’d been at this all day, and to be honest, it had turned out to be a blessing that Kasumi was unable to come by the Saotome-Tendo home.  It made it easier for Hikaru to ramp up the workouts, and to practice her fire magic’s defensive and low-level offensive spells with a minimum of explanation necessary.  Though she wouldn’t have problems telling Kasumi, there were some things, such as Cephiro that Hikaru didn’t think best to reveal; even so, everyone thought Hikaru to be absolutely normal and she was in no hurry to change anyone’s mind on that score any time soon.

As she stood there in concentration, images formed in her mind.  She could almost hear Umi’s teasing, taunting voice again, hearing how much her “accident” cost Hikaru everything and how “sorry” she was; the redhead compared that with the fevered imagination of Lantis and Umi destroying what Hikaru and the swordsman had so very dearly built together.  The redhead’s blood boiled and, as was normal for her when she was furious, her eyes changed from their normal brownish hue to a brilliant red, the red of anger. 

No one’s going to do that to me again! her mind shrieked.  I will not be toyed with again!  For too long she suffered in the dark, dank pits of loneliness, only to find herself out once more when Ranma came into her life.  Now, someone was threatening her happiness, and Hikaru was not going to stand idly by.  Perhaps the more innocent Hikaru of many years ago would have found her older self’s actions disturbing, but that Shidou Hikaru had long since been destroyed, torn to bits by the betrayal of her best friend.

As if the world were in slow motion, Hikaru slowly brought her feet to even keel, moving her sword arm back and moving her magically-imbued hand in small circles, creating a small fire shield.  She paused for a second, ready to hit the next set of dummies, ready to strike them down, whether by blade, spell or physical prowess.  Her anger was building, rising, feeling a part of herself that she hadn’t encountered in a while.

Hikaru dropped the sword instantly and sank to her knees, tears rising to her face.  Once again, she almost fell to her darker nature.  Most people had a darker part of their soul that they were ashamed of; few had ever had to face it outright.  Only Hikaru had ever had to face it in the way she had, in a warped, violent, amorous version of herself that she called Nova.  No.  Never.  Despite the supposed peace that Hikaru had made with that fractured part of her soul, she still feared Nova’s existence, feared that someday she might lose control of herself and loose the psychotic pseudo-elf on an unsuspecting world.  Worse still, losing control of herself as the Pillar would be far worse than anything that Emeraude could have come up with.  Emeraude’s problems were caused by a lack of being able to express her emotions as she should have.  Hikaru’s would come from too much of it, all of it exponated by her own godhood.

Anger was clearly not the way to go.  Feeling dejected about it, and knowing that she had scant hours to push herself to her limits before tomorrow’s skirmish, she sat down to meditate, searching for her center.  Hikaru focused, closing her eyes, going deeper within, searching for something truer within herself.  Within herself, she began to walk towards a light, a bright, warm, all-consuming light.  It shone, within the depths of her inner being, the lighthouse in the storm of all else.  Knowing what it represented, she continued towards it eagerly.

Memories of the past four months with Ranma filled the girl’s head.  A dozen smiles, kisses, sighs of tender love and all that left the girl paused in thought.  Months had passed, yet sometimes it didn’t feel like it.  Instead, it felt more like an endless procession of joyful moments, holding hands in the park, looking deeply into the other’s eyes and feeling sensations and emotions far different than either individual had ever felt before. 

I love him, she thought as revelation struck the young woman with a force 10 blow.  It’s not a matter of not wanting to let go of him, it’s a matter of that I can’t.  He’s so important to me, so vital to my life….  I can’t let go, I just can’t!  He’s my world, the man I lov—

Tingling sensations began to rip and dance through every pore of Hikaru’s being; every bit of her, every cell, every molecule began to chant with emotional power and something stronger than her fire magic, something just as pure and dynamic as the mystical natures that made her the pillar.

I won’t give him up!  I won’t give up my love for Ranma!

Her eyes snapped open, burning red once more, but not with embers of anger.  Instead, they glowed with a brighter hue, as if they were twin beacons of light, dual lamps of hope in this challenging time for her.

What happened next happened so fast, it felt to Hikaru as though it were naught but a dream.  Leaping to her feet automatically, she did a complete flip in the air, grabbing her katana while on the 180-degree portion of her cycle.  Landing normally, she slid into an easy, standard attack posture, in the center between three targets.  Closing her eyes, she began to glow with a halo of fire, magical flames emanating from her though not setting anything in the immediate vicinity on fire.

Dropping low, she swung the blade in a sharp arc.  The air burned with intense energy as her blade ripped a path through its motion and at the apex, a blast of energy tore along the ground to pound against the nearest target, waves crashing against the shore.  Before a second had passed, the strike turned the heavy wooden target into woodchips and flame, after which it exploded with the force of a pinecone crackling apart in a forest fire. 

However, Hikaru wasn’t quite done yet.  The second she finished her swing, she released her blade, letting it sink into the dojo floor.  Spinning with an expertise born of years of gymnastics and kendo training, the swordswoman rushed the second target and the second she moved into range, assaulted it with as many punches as she could throw in a matter of seconds.  Though nowhere near as fast as Ranma’s Chestnut Fist (or for that matter, any number of high-speed attacks the local martial artists possessed), Hikaru’s attack left a little extra something.  As her punches connected, her whole body glowed, and blasts of fire magic erupted from her fists on contact.  The target was rocked back, its bulk set ablaze by sheets of flame.  Finally, in a finishing strike, she spun and hit it with a fierce arc kick, causing a detonation that turned the item into a momentary bonfire.

Still not enough, by the time the pyre had begun to increase, she a