Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Changes ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Five

As Nabiki and Akane approached the school gates they found Ranma leaning against a telephone pole across the street as if waiting for them to arrive. Akane was still undecided as to whether she should be angry about Ranma's `good meal' comment and as usual decided that Ranma was obviously in the wrong and strode up to Ranma crossed her arms and glared, working herself up to either driving Ranma towards the outer reaches of Nerima or just chipping him over the school gymnasium. Nabiki however just smiled at Ranma, doing nothing to improve her sister's mood and walked into the grounds of Furinkan High to check on the current odds on the anticipated Saotome v. Kuno bout.

Akane glared at Ranma psyching herself up after deciding that a pitching wedge shot over the gymnasium would both satisfy her and still allow Ranma to get to class on time. Ranma did something unexpected and produced a small bottle of cold water and pouring it over his head.

Akane blinked, her bad mood momentarily forgotten as Ranma-chan looked about, obviously checking for something, but what Akane could not fathom.

Ranma-chan gave a small smile to herself and strolled happily through the gates of Furinkan. Akane followed, obviously Ranma had something planned.

Since Ranma's arrival in Nerima Akane's life had been turned upside down. While she could admit that her life wasn't perfect before Ranma's arrival at least it had a distinct pattern and devoid, mostly, of the craziness that surrounded Ranma.

Akane was a few steps behind Ranma sstill trying to figure out what the pervert was up to this time when Kuno spotted Ranma.

Kuno was certain that this time he would defeat the devil Saotome, as certain as he had been the last two hundred times, but last night Kuno had dreamt of victory! The great Miyamoto Musashi himself had praised him and called him sempai! Today victory was certain.

The first emotion that came to Kuno as he spied his beloved pig-tailed girl stroll through the front gates was disappointment that the foul sorcerer Saotome had failed to appear. It was only momentary however as his heart was filled with a joy so profound he felt it would burst free from his chest to fall at the feet of his beloved. Behind and slightly to the side of the pig-tailed girl was the beautious Akane Tendo, truly today he was blessed. His loves had been freed from the evil one Ranma Saotome and even now hungered for his embrace.

Tears of joy marked Kuno's face as he sprung forward his arms outstretched to comfort his beloved pig-tailed goddess in his arms.

Ranma-chan dodged Kuno's arms nimbly and cried piteously, burying her head in the crook of her left arm she held the other arm stretched out with the palm of her hand up in the stop position.

"Stop!" Ranma-chan sobbed and though her face was hidden the crowd circling the pair could see tears streaming from her eyes.

"Oh my pig-tailed goddess, cry not!" Kuno proclaimed as his pants dropped to his ankles revealing that he had forgotten to wear boxers this morning. "Let your servant the great Kuno Tatewaki the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High sooth your troubles and relieve you of the terrors that plague you so."

Ranma-chan looked up at the Kuno's beseeching eyes "Stay away from me you foul despoiler of women! Leave me be! Don't you understand your attentions are unwanted, how you have tortured me? Can you not leave me alone"

Kuno still oblivious to his state of dishabille made small sounds of protest.

"Though my valiant brother……...."

"Brother?" interrupted Kuno, still kept at bay by one outstretched hand while Ranma-chan wept softly into the crook of the elbow of her other arm.

Kuno gazed lost at the glorious form of his beloved as she sobbed piteously, her shoulders heaving with the terrible emotions that were tormenting her flowed through her body causing her to quake.

"The foul demon Saotome has gone too far this time, I must free my beloved from his awful depredations' Kuno vowed to himself.

"My dear brother" Ranma-chan continued "Ranma Saotome has tried to protect me from your foul molestations, but to no avail."

"Brother…. Saotome?" Kuno muttered disbelievingly as Ranma-chan paused as a fit of sobbing overtook her.

"Now…….. " she sniffled "now I find I cannot stand the sight of men and I find myself attracted only to women!"

"Eep" said Akane blushing furiously.

"Brother?……..Women?"

"I have become a lesbian!" declared Ranma-chan.

One of the male students near Nabiki started weeping on his friend's shoulder while his friend patted him on the back making `there, there' sounds.

Nabiki turned to stare a look of disbelief on her face. "You realise that Ranma is really a guy right?"

"Uh-huh" the student sniffed "But, I mean he's the best looking girl in the school………. and now he's a lesbian."

Nabiki shook her head "Idiots!" she breathed rolling her eyes.

As Nabiki turned back to Ranma-chan and Kuno she could see a disturbance begin at the gates to the school. Two police officers were shouldering their way through the crowd until they stood in the clear ground at the centre of the crowd around Kuno and Ranma.

As Kuno started to protest once more he felt hands settle on his shoulders.

"Tatewaki Kuno?"

Kuno struck out "What foul peasants dares defile the magnificence that is I, Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High? Can you not see that my love and I are discussing matters of great import beyond your puny understanding?"

Kuno slapped their hands away, ignoring the fact they were police, drew his bokken in preparation of dishing out his rightful vengeance upon the offending peasants.

"Tatewaki Kuno?" the first policeman said.

"Who are you that dares interfere with the love talk of Tatewaki Kuno and his beloved pig-tailed goddess?"

"I'm Sergeant Asuma Shinohara and this is Officer Noa Izumi" said the male officer.

Realising at last that these were representatives of the law enforcement community Kuno allowed his attention to be momentarily diverted from his beloved pig-tailed goddess. "Depart, minions of the law there is nought here for you. If there is punishment to be dealt out here it is the province of I…"

"Yeah, yeah the great blue blunder etc. etc." Asuma rolled his eyes "drop the sword and lie face down on the ground with your hands behind your head."

"Never! Do you not underst…"

"Indecent exposure……" started Asuma.

"That'll get dropped for lack of evidence" smirked Noa looking downwards.

"Assaulting police officers" continued Asuma glaring at his partner "stalking and don't even get me started on the charges we're going to hit you with for carrying that sword."

"Foolish minion of the law do you not……"

Whatever Kuno was going to say was lost as he suddenly spasmed from the jolt of electricity from the tazer fired by Officer Noa and fell to the ground.

Asuma raised his eyebrow at Noa "Was that necessary?"

"Felt good." Was the terse reply from Noa as she looked down at Kuno with disgust "Creep."

As the two officers bundled Kuno up and carted him off to their waiting police car Ranma-chan stood quietly weeping. Once the police car had travelled out of sight Ranma-chan stopped crying, wiped her eyes and started walking through the shocked crowd that parted to let her past.

As Ranma-chan strolled jauntily by Nabiki she dropped something in the garbage bin by the side of the path. Nabiki watched Ranma walking towards the school building and then walked over and peeked into the bin, in the bottom of the bin were Kuno's belt and boxers.

"Hey. Ranma" Nabiki called.

Ranma stopped and looked back at Nabiki, who was hurrying to catch up.

"A lesbian huh?"

"Well I am a guy, right?" explained Ranma.

"Yes." Nodded Nabiki.

"And when I'm a girl I'm still a guy inside, right?"

"Yes."

"Well when I'm a girl I still like girls. I'm a lesbian!" explained Ranma like it was the simplest thing in the world.

Nabiki looked down at the smaller girl and laughed "In that case I better not be seen talking to you, people will start making up stories about me."

Ranma's mind raced, there was he decided very quickly a response to this, a response that would be amusing. He had seen television shows! He had seen movies! What would the leading man of a movie do at this point in the movie?

`That is of course if the leading man became the leading lady when splashed with water' Ranma thought sourly.

Only seconds had passed when he arrived at what he thought was the appropriate response. Ranma grinned and winked at Nabiki then turned and walked away still smiling while he went searching for some hot water.

Nabiki just stood and watched Ranma walk away blushing furiously.

Akane had not moved from the spot she was standing when Ranma had uttered the `L' word. She was, she decided, at least partially satisfied with the mornings exchange between Ranma and Kuno. Ranma had admitted he was a pervert, after all he had publicly declared he was a lesbian.

* * *

Somehow Akane had managed to rouse herself, with the help of friends, in time to walk to her homeroom before the first bell. The halls of Furinkan were eerily quiet. Everyone it seemed was still coming to grips with Ranma's latest salvo in his ongoing war with Kuno.

Furinkan High was unnaturally quiet. The quietest it had been in fact since a wandering Master of Martial Arts Feng Shui and his disciples had passed through Nerima and rearranged all of the classrooms, for three days classes were taught and lessons were learnt all in a quiet and oddly school-like manner. Of course Principal Kuno closed the school and workmen spent three days putting things back the way they were. But for a short time at least Furinkan High was a real school.

`Ranma' Akane thought angrily, grinding her teeth `he really is a pervert. Yuka and Sayuri don't understand.'

Akane ran through her earlier conversation with her two friends as they tried to convince her that it was all just another scheme by Ranma to get Kuno out of his hair. As always Akane remained unconvinced and as she neared her homeroom her unease grew.

`I'm going to have to sit near Ranma' she worried `who knows what perverted schemes he's now contemplating.'

The rest of the class was quiet as she walked through the door and made her way to her desk, doing her best to ignore Ranma.

* * *

Ranma had surprised Nabiki yet again.

As she looked around her homeroom, noting the absent seat left by Kuno she contemplated how this was going to affect the morning betting pools when Kuno got back, how Akane was going to react to Ranma's morning revelation and ……...

Nabiki sighed.

`Things were so much simpler when Ranma never used his brain. On the other hand…' Nabiki thought smiling to herself as she remembered the Ranma's wink and smile.

* * *

If there was one person more uncomfortable then Akane at Furinkan High that morning it would have been Gosunkugi. If someone had been paying attention to him for the past week, which no-one ever did, they would have noticed his unusually high spirits.

This was due to the fact that one of his schemes had come to fruition, now while his original plan had not worked exactly as planned the results could not be argued with. Six days ago he acquired a lock of Akane's hair. There was no doubt in his mind that he had acquired the genuine article and in truth he was right.

Once he had acquired the lock of hair it was only a matter of waiting for the proper moment, that is the correct alignment of the moon and stars and Akane through the unfathomable mysteries of the voodoo arts would be his.

Using clay, a set of dolls clothes, chicken blood and the precious lock of Akane's hair Gosunkugi crafted a doll in Akane's image. Once constructed all that remained was to perform the proper ritual, chant the proper chant and make the proper gestures at the right time and she was his.

Gosunkugi left nothing to chance, he practised the ritual, the chant and the gestures, not at the same time of course but separately and until he could do them in his sleep.

Fortunately he did not have long to wait to perform the ritual for the proper alignment was last night. Midnight.

`It's always midnight!' he could remember grousing to himself `why can't they have rituals for say six in the evening, just before dinner?'

Grousing aside, he did not falter in his preparations, he napped so he would be rested at the time of the ritual, he carefully scribed the proper symbols and set up the area for his ritual with care. Then at the exact moment he had calculated he started casting the spell, the spell that must be complete at exactly midnight, he had practised, he had timed himself practising, it was time for the ritual and it went perfectly.

Of course that just before it went all wrong.

One of the things that he had not taken into account was the time difference between Nerima and Jamaica. The ritual was supposed to be performed at midnight Jamaica time, a common mistake among amateurs, not midnight Nerima time. So while the ritual, chanting, symbols and all the paraphernalia associated were perfect the time difference spun out of control with as much certainty on the results coming out the right way as if he had spun a roulette wheel having bet everything on blue, he wasn't going to win and there was no telling on what the results would be.

The ritual complete Gosunkugi sighed gratefully, it had to his thinking at that moment gone off without a hitch, tomorrow at school Akane would be his. He glance down to where the eight inch tall replica of Akane breathed easily and then her eyes fluttered and looked around momentarily unable to focus.

`The doll shouldn't be breathing' he thought `I am sure of that.'

He studied the small figure closely. What had been a close approximation of the features of Akane was now a perfect replica, exact in every detail, even the clothes (a Sailor Mercury outfit, one of Gosunkugi's recurring fanatasies) had been transformed into a Furinkan school uniform.

Nervously Gosunkugi stretched out his finger to poke the miniature Akane in the chest and softly brushed her cheek. The skin was real skin! He could feel her breath blowing lightly against his skin.

He looked even closer and he noting the way the hair of his miniature Akane mirrored the hair style of the original, the only difference was that his Akane was only eight inches tall, but still a perfect replica of Akane.

As he watched he could see his little Akane slowly come to full wakefulness and her eyes focussed on him.

"Aaaaaaarrrrrrrgh!" she screamed "Hentai!"

The next thing Gosunkugi knew she summoned a mallet many times her own size and proceeded to pound him into the floor.

The rest of the night was like the worst parts of bad slasher movie as the miniature Akane stalked him through the house. It was only with the rising of the sun that he some relief as the she told him the engagement was off and she stormed out of the house.

As he lay a twisted wreck upon the floor he hoped as she left that some stray cat might mistake her for a mouse and end her existence, though he doubted it.

She had attacked him again on the way to school, his only warning a scream of "HENTAI!" before she descended from a tree laying him low once again with her oversized mallet.

As Gosunkugi sat quietly in the back of the classroom, he twitched and started with every sound fearing another attack.

`The real Akane' he mused `is nothing like this little monster.'

He sighed a deep sigh, his eyes for a moment stopped scanning the windows, the doors and the air-conditioning ducts as they lost focus as he descended into a daydream of the day Gosunkugi would be his.

A soft rattle and Gosunkugi woke from his reverie and dropped to the floor his arms instinctively covering his head.

"Um, Hey Gos?" one of his classmates asked "Can you pick up my pencil for me while you're down there?"

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Some semblance of calm had returned to the Nekohanten after the breakfast crowd had died away.

Chaos had reigned at the Nekohanten and Cologne, Elder of the Chinese Amazons, has not coped with it at all well.

While Ranma it seemed to Cologne had self-control of legendary status being able to resist the temptations of the flesh as offered to him by various suitors, Shampoo, Cologne had discovered did not.

To put it bluntly Shampoo had no control whatsoever when it came to satisfying her carnal urges. Well, maybe one, all her carnal desires were focussed on her new airen, Ryouga, and if it wasn't for Ryouga's near super-human endurance Cologne suspected he would have collapsed and died from exhaustion days ago.

If Cologne did not keep a close eye on Shampoo she was forever dragging Ryouga off into a closet, bedroom, or anywhere that offered some privacy. Now Cologne could, would and did indeed find it very satisfying that at last her grand-daughter had found a husband to take back China. She was also disappointed that it wasn't Ranma. To be certain Ryouga was second on the list of the most powerful young martial artists in Nerima but he wasn't as near a close second as most people thought. Cologne suspected Ranma had as yet untapped reserves and had decided long ago that Ranma never went all out in any of his fights.

This was good. After all it wouldn't be a good thing for a mere male to achieve his full potential. No, that should be up to his children, preferably amazons and definitely daughters.

Ranma also didn't get lost.

Ryouga got lost between the kitchen and table three, a journey of ten feet.

Cologne had splashed Mousse with cold water early in the morning to spare the restaurant being turned into a war-zone and currently Mousse resided in a securely locked basket where he hissed angrily and tried to bite Ryouga every time he passed by.

Shampoo shamelessly flirted with Ryouga and goosed him every time Ryouga was within range. This in turn was flustering Ryouga even more making it ever more difficult for him to decide which way to turn and driving Mousse the duck into a berserk rage as he tried ever harder to get loose and attack Ryouga.

Now that the crowd had dwindled Cologne gave herself a few moments for quiet reflection.

`Stuff it' she thought `I just go out back instead and have a nice quiet breakdown."

* * *

Hinako Ninomiya was the most feared and most popular teacher at Furinkan High.

At the moment she was curled up in Ranma's lap clutching an oversized lollipop. Ranma's lap she had decided, as an seven year old, was possibly the most comfortable place to be, as a twenty-four year old she had also decided that ranma's lap would be very comfortable, though for very different reasons.

Hinako-sensei had developed a crush on Ranma. Before his recent change in behaviour she had liked the pig-tailed martial artist, but the new Ranma who used his brain for something other than stopping his skull from imploding made her take a fresh look at him and she liked what she saw.

As an adult this wasn't a great concern, she kept her distance, after all he was a student and that sort of thing is not acceptable but, as a child she had no shame, hence her current location.

Akane kept stealing glances across at Ranma and Hinako-sensi. Knowing as she now did of the true depths of Ranma's perversion she feared for the safety of her teacher. Horrible visions of the depraved plans that could be forming in Ranma's mind kept running through her mind. With dizzying speed they flashed past her mind's eye, his teacher, his other fiances, her sisters, her….

And then Akane screamed.

* * *

Ms Oujima was the youngest school inspector in Japan. This owed as much to the fact that no-one else wanted to cover the Nerima district as her abilities and in fact nerima had not had a district inspector for five years.

An unfortunate encounter with a team of martial arts basketballers and a road paving machine had cut short the previous inspector's career. The education department had actually stopped advertising the vacancy a no-one could be found who would take the job on and it was only by sheer chance ms Oujima had discovered the vacant position.

Now as she stood before the gates of Furinkan High a place, which if her colleagues were to be believed, she was destined never to return from. In truth she had not planned to start her inspection tour of Nerima at Furinkan, but news of a disturbance that required the attendance of the police had forced her hand.

After a brief visit to the police station where she had spoken to the arresting officers, the psychiatrist and the student, in that order Ms Oujima did not consider that she could put the visit to Furinkan off.

The offer by the psychiatrist of counselling, which he sure she would need after her visit was greeted with arching of one perfect eyebrow.

Her eyebrow was not the only thing about ms Oujima that was perfect. Her dclothes, a conservative grey pinstripe skirt and jacket with pale green blouse was perfect.her shoes gleamed with a cleanliness, shine and condition generally unachievable outside of a fashion shoot. Ms Oujima herself was perfect, her skin was without blemish, her features symetrical and her grooming and deportment left no room for improvement.

While her workmates classified her as an aggressive go-getter, secretly they were intimidated by her looks, drive and intelligence. It was with a great sense of relief that her co-workers were able to see her off to start her new job.

The first thing that Ms Oujima noted about Furinkan was how ordinary it looked. OK, there were a few too many palm trees and there appeared to be impact craters from small meteorites dotting the school grounds and a profusion of scorch marks on the school walls. But after what she had been told to expect she was thinking something more along the lines of Dracula's castle or maybe Colditz.

But this was refreshingly ordinary compared to what her imagination had been conjuring up.

`Still' she thought as she made her way to the front doors of the school `the stories had to start somewhere and it will pay to keep my eyes peeled.'

She was still a few yards short of the front doors when the silence was shattered by a blood-curdling scream that chilled her to the bone. The scream rolled around the empty school yard before dying, not a quick sudden death but as if choked out, as if someone had sucked the life out of the scream leaving a empty husk behind.

Suddenly Furinkan did not seem so ordinary and as one of her perfect hands reached out to push open the doors she could detect a slight tremor in her hands. She stopped, steadied herself and then reached out again, this time there was no tremor and with a perfect façade now hinding her racing heart ms Oujima stepped into the halls of Furinkan High.

* * *

After his confrontation with Kuno before school the rest of the day seemed anti-climatic to Ranma. Akane's scream did create a moment of excitement before Hinako-sensei drained Akane's ki and left Akane to slump bonelessly to the floor her scream momentarily taking on an eerie warbling note.

The side effect of Hinako-sensei draining Akane's ki was that Ranma was now nursing a suddenly adult and very feminine teacher. A very well developed adult female teacher as Ranma was discovering much to his discomfort as Hinako-sensei's rapid growth had thrust her cleavage into Ranma's face. This would have been the fulfillment of many of the male student's (and a few of the female students) dreams, however most students do not have numerous fiances all with large weapons, short tempers and the inclination to use both.

Not that Ranma wouldn't enjoy his current situation, it was just at moments like this he was usually about thirty seconds away from one of the neighbouring suburbs. So while his conscious mind was preparing to be mashed, spatula-ed and/or launched skywards, his unconscious mind was busy cataloguing the whole experience for later digestion and enjoyment by the rest of him.

Ms Hinako for her part was enjoying her sudden growth to adulthood and ranma's lap was every bit as comfortable as she had hoped, unfortunately she noted this was not the time or the place to be enjoying the comfort of a students lap, if there was such a time and place. Also knowing Ranma's fiances as she did if the current tableau was witnessed by his fiances this would cause more problems.

Reluctantly Ms Hinako stood and affectionately patted Ranma's cheek before walking to the front of the classroom.

* * *

The miniature Akane watched the bustling crowd pass her by from the safety of a high windowsill.

She was a little confused

Who was she?

What was her name?

What is she doing here?

And where the hell did that mallet come from?

OK, she knew that freak from last night was her fiance, was being the operative word.

`How could I become engaged to a pervert like that?' she wondered as she looked around at the crowds in the street.

`In fact this place is full of perverts!' she noted as some poor woman squealed as some pervert pinched her bottom.

"Pervert!" she growled.

`So, who am I? It's like I almost know, it's something like A….. Ak…..Aki…. no that's not right' she pondered over the name thing for a while `Well the A seems right so I suppose A-chan will do for now.'

She was distracted by a minor disturbance in the street below.

"Another pervert!" she hissed "they're everywhere! Someone ought to do something."

A-chan thought back to the previous night where she had hunted down her perverted ex-fiance, recalling the satisfaction she felt when she visited the vengeance of the poor, the downtrodden and the poked, prodded and pinched upon the perverted carcass of Hentai-boy.

`That felt right, that felt good. It felt as if that was what I was created to do' A-chan smiled broadly at the road her thoughts were taking her down/

"Yes!" A-chan said aloud `they must pay, all the perverts must pay. Perverts everywhere tremble, your nemesis has arrived - A-chan the Pervert Pounder!"

A-chan summoned her mallet and struck a heroic pose with the mallet raised above her head. Unfortunately without her battle aura to boost her strength her mallet over-balanced her and she fell towards the garbage bin situated below her perch.

She only had time for a quick "Oh crap!" before the garbage bin claimed her.

* * *

Ms Oujima's head was spinning.

She could not believe the chaos that infected this school. She looked at her list.

1. Security crabs.

23. Exploding pineapples.

38. Disciplinary haircuts.

45. Hawaiian themed swimming pool.

`OK maybe that ones not so bad.' she decided.

67. Hula dancing as a compulsory course.

Plans to change girls swimming costumes to bikinis with coconut shell tops.

`I can't believe this place. What is wrong with these people?'

She stopped as she reached the school yard which was currently filled with student enjoying their midday meal break. Ms Oujima walked over and stood next to a teacher who looked close to her own twenty-four years.

For a moment they both stood saying nothing. Ms Oujima looked out at the milling students trying to spot who or what the teacher was looking at.

It only took her a moment there bouncing, it was the only word she could use to describe it was one of, she assumed because the boy was not wearing a uniform, Furinkan's students.

She could easily understand why the teacher was watching him, he was amazing.

`Ok he isn't that handsome' she admitted to herself `well, maybe he is, but it's a masculine handsome, not pretty boy handsome.'

"He's definitely has something" she said not realising she had spoken aloud.

"Yes" the teacher beside her sighed.

Ms Oujima looked more closely at the teacher, she thought she had met all the teachers but, this one she seemed to have missed.

"Eri Oujima" Ms Oujima said introducing herself.

"I know" replied the teacher "we met earlier."

Ms Oujima frowned, for a moment wrinkling her perfect brow "I don't recall…"

"Hinako Ninomiya"

"The little girl…:"

"That was me." Hinako smiled at Eri.

Eri Oujima looked at Hinako with a look of disbelief so profound that Hinako could not help but giggle.

"I have a condition."

"A condition?"

"Sometimes I'm an adult, sometimes I'm a child. It all depends on ki. I drain people's ki and I assume my adult form, I use it up and I go back to being a child."

Eri was becoming lost and decided to steer the conversation back to safer ground while she was still able.

"Um, the boy?"

"Ranma Saotome."

Eri looked back at the boy, no young man she decided, still bouncing around the school grounds.

"We didn't have anyone like him where I went to school." Eri almost sighed.

Hinako looked across at Ms Oujima "Another victim of the Saotome charm?" she smiled.

Eri smiled back "I guess so. Full of energy isn't he."

"Smart too" Hinako smiled with a faraway look in her eyes "I bet he's got enough energy to keep me up all night."

"Ms Ninomiya!" Eri gasped in mock shock.

Hinako looked and Eri and Eri looked back and the both of them giggled.

"Besides" Eri whispered conspiratorially "it's about whether he's got enough energy to be up all night."

Both of blushed red to the roots of their hair and near collapsed in laughter.

"Call me Eri" said Ms Oujima smiling broadly.

"Hinako"

* * *

Akane walked slowly home, today had been draining. She had done a lot of thinking today, little of it about school.

Yuka and Sayuri had worked on her each recess break trying to convince her that Ranma was no pervert. They had some good arguments and maybe they were right, maybe Ranma had just arrived at a bad time in her life.

`Like every day since momma died' she thought sadly.

Maybe if Furinakn was an ordinary school, maybe if Kuno and the hentai horde didn't attack her every morning.

`Kuno and the Furinkan hentai horde' Akane laughed softly to herself `if you say it like that they sound like a rock group.'

Kuno, the horde, her father never getting over the loss of her mother, no-one getting over the loss of her mother it was all too much for her.

Then Ranma.

Larger than life Ranma.

`Good at martial arts, good at everything he put his mind to' Akane thought unhappily `and the people that followed him here Ryouga, Shampoo, Mousse, Ukyou and all the others it's as if they came here to make me miserable.'

`As if they were out to get me personally and it's all Ranma's fault.'

`But maybe Ranma's not a pervert. Maybe it's not his fault!'

`Maybe I just need to really talk to him.'

Akane sighed `Maybe. Maybe he's not so bad. Maybe I should give him a chance. It's just so hard momma should be here. She should be here to help me.'

`It's not fair.'

Akane stopped, suddenly depressed and saddened by the trail her thoughts had run, a low wall ran beside the road here and Akane sat down on top of it lost in her thoughts trying to decide what she should do.

"Pound `em!" said a strangely familiar voice.

"What?" said Akane spinning around trying to find who spoke.

"Perverts, everywhere gotta pound `em!"

Akane looked down, there on the wall about three feet from her sat a tiny figure. Akane looked closer, her eyes widened in surprise.

"You're me!" Akane whispered "You're me!"

Akane pinched herself disbelieving the evidence of her own eyes "You, you, you must be my conscience, like in that movie, with the nose. You're my conscience."

The small figure continued to mutter to itself, still not having noticed Akane.

"What should I do?" Akane asked.

The small figure looked up at Akane and did a modest double take on seeing her larger double seated beside her.

`Looks like me' the A-chan thought unimpressed and somewhat smugly `Only bigger, much bigger. Living proof that bigger isn't always better.'

The A-chan continued to assess the bigger her and decided that this large her was obviously a tomboy, large thighs, big muscles, terrible hairdo, A-chan was seriously unimpressed.

"What should I do?" Akane repeated.

"Pound `em" A-chan said with conviction "Perverts pound `em. They're everywhere!"

"So you think it's a good idea?" said Akane surprised.

"Yeah" A-chan continued "Pound 'em, pound `em flat. Perverts everywhere."

The small figure lapsed into an evil little laugh.

Akane stared, her conscience, her inner voice was telling her that pounding perverts was the right thing to do.

`Yuka and Sayuri were wrong. The movie was right, what did it say, be guided by your conscience, or something like that.' Akane thought, things were suddenly a lot clearer.

"So I should pound Ranma?"

"Pound `em, pound' em all!" the little figure cried out as it hopped of the wall and disappeared into the bushes.

As she marched purposefully through the bushes the A-chan pondered on her larger copy `Bigger body, smaller brain. Sad.'

The larger Akane could only stare in wonder at what she had seen.

Ranma by unhappy happenstance chose this moment to walk up to Akane as he wound his way home.

He had only time for a quick "Hey Akane! Whatcha doin'" before Akane launched him towards the horizon.

`What did I do now?' Ranma wondered as he headed towards the horizon and `I think Akane may be developing a bit of a slice.'