Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ State of Ours ❯ First ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

State of Ours





Story: State of Ours

Storylink: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2372391/1/

Category: Ranma

Genre: Drama

Author: Shall-Iin

Authorlink: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/477239/

Last updated: 09/02/2013

Words: 51848

Rating: T

Status: In Progress

Content: Chapter 1 to 13 of 13 chapters

Source: FanFiction.net



Summary: Sequel to State of Mine, dealing with furthering of relationship of RanmaAkane and the problems they encounter with their 'friends'.





*Chapter 1*: Chapter 1


I own nothing but the following Idea.

By popular demand, here is a sequel/continuation of 'State of Mind'.

This starts the day Ranma goes in for the final verdict on whether he can stop using the soap to stay in his male form.

SECTION WITH DOCTORS STARTS

"So what's the verdict, docs?" Ranma asked while Akane and he waited in the neurologist's office. They'd redone all the scans and x-rays that morning to double-check the healing from the surgery.

The three doctors- Tofu, Yasamoto, and Yosami- were now conferring over the results of the scans and the previous ones taken both before and immediately after the surgery. Tofu, as Ranma's regular doctor had the most on hands experience with his incredible healing and had the strongest vote. Yasamoto as his gynecologist had the weakest as it had been mainly her area to make sure of the changes and health of Ranma's female form. Once he was able to transform into his female form again. Yosami, as the neurosurgeon who'd performed the operation, had a strong say, as he was the one with the most familiarity on the inner workings of the brain and it's secrets. Tofu's vote for or against could void the votes of the other two doctors should he disagree with them. He had final say, though it would take a concensus to assure his freedom.

If they didn't think he was physically and emotionally ready to go through the transformation, then he would have to wait another two weeks before being allowed to stop using the curse blocking soap.

It was Dr. Yosami who replied. "Well, from what I can tell, it almost looks like there was never any injury at all. There's almost no scarring. That is extremely unusual, as the brain's surface usually does not heal well. See here, " he pointed at on image of Ranma's inner skull. "Even the missing chips of skull from the original injury have been replaced with new bone growth. Only some of the larger gaps remain to be filled in. It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. From a purely physical standpoint, I see no problem with your no longer using the soap."

Ranma and Akane had triumphant looks on their faces as they beamed at the doctors.

Tofu smiled along with his favorite patients. "I know you've had a difficult time adjusting to the changes that have been awakened inside you after your surgery, Ranma. But you've shown an amazing amount of self-control and patience. I know that Shampoo hasn't always obeyed the restrictions we had placed on her, and neither has Ukyo. The only real break you've had was that Tatewaki and Kodaichi were still in the institute until yesterday. Ryoga of course is no longer among your sphere of acquaintances, though I have no doubt he will show up sooner or later to seek some type of misplaced revenge against you. And Mu Tsu has nearly vanished, though there are rumors of a fight between him and Xian at the Furinkan field next week."

Ranma nodded, and squeezed Akane's hand to help her at the mention of her former rival and their former friends. "Sure, that's all true. Seems Shampoo was being eve more of a pain then usual, so Mouse decided he'd had enough of pretending and that it was time to show her how strong he really is."

Akane agreed. "It's true, he stopped by the dojo and spoke with Ranma and I for a bit. He's been staying in the dojo. He's been helping Ranma teach me some advanced forms, now that I've calmed down some, I noticed how sloppy my kata and fighting had become. If I had to fight the old Horde now, I probably wouldn't have beaten them. At least, not as easily as I used to. I had stopped training, because I allowed my anger and jealousy at Ranma's skill, and the skill of those who were chasing him/me/us was so much beyond my own. Sure, I could hold my own against the weakest of the new challengers, but that isn't good enough. It isn't good enough for me personally, for me as Ranma's fiancée and future wife or for me as the heir to my school. I needed to refocus on the art, and after the little bastard was outted, Ranma felt it was time for me to learn. And Mouse showing up was only help, since unlike the Saotome school, the Tendo ryu doesn't ignore weapons as useful tools. And around here, Mouse is without a doubt a true weapons master. He's also not so enamored of a single weapon style that it's easy to fit his style into that of the Anything Goes school."

Tofu nodded. "I always suspected that there was more to Mu Tsu then he let on. He was a little too aggressively blind to be real."

Ranma chuckled. "Yeah, that's true. It's even more then that. Seems he's got pretty good eyes. He'd had an operation that fixed the damage done to him by Xian Pu and Ku Lon when he was a kid. He's been wearing special contacts to simmil... simular... simulate? That's it. Simulate. He's been wearing them to simulate being blind."

"That same goes with the stupid tricks and stuff he was always pulling." Akane added. "He's got a pretty good mind for battle. He's nearly as sneaky as Mr. Saotome."

Tofu laughed. "That's saying a lot, really. Saotome-san is one of the sneakiest people I've ever met."

Ranma chuckled and gave the older man a sly look. "Yup, that's Pop alright. And coming from you, that's a saying a lot. You're pretty sneaky yourself doc, the way you and Kasumi been sneaking out to meet each other late at night."

Tofu blushed and froze. "Er, ah. I, ah, don't know what you're talking about?" he finished weakly.

"No need to be shy, Doc. None of us mind." Ranma stated. "We all just want Kasumi to be happy, and you make her happy."

"Yeah doc." Akane stated with a calm smile. "Even Daddy doesn't mind Kasumi sneaking in in the morning all rumpled and with a huge smile on her face. He's been pretty annoying lately, breaking out in tears whenever she sneaks out or in. Going on about how proud mother is of her little girls and how they've all grown up into such strong loving women."

Tofu just continued to babble, no longer really present, but lost in a world of confused denials and acceptance of his love.

Grinning, Dr. Yasamoto took her turn. "Well, while I haven't had much to do with you on a physical level, I have spent a lot of time conferring with the doctor's who've been doing your psychiatric sessions. They agree that you've adapted to your new situation better then expected. We were all worried that you would change totally. That the new pressures and sensations would overwhelm you and you would loose control. You might not believe it, but even gradual or slow changes to a person's mind have caused even greater personality changes. You've hardly changed at all. A little more mature, and you've had a few . . . ah, shall we say surprises and embarrassing moments." The specialist winked saucily at the young man, who blushed furiously, while his fiancée just smiled wickedly. "But from what I hear, your fiancée has been helping you with that?"

Ranma's blush deepened and his mouth dropped open. Akane just grinned and leaned over to whisper in her fiancé's ear. What ever she said caused him to turn white and start trembling. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and a trickle of blood started to roll out of his nose. He started to tilt to one side and fell with a crash, twitching every few seconds as his poor mind struggled to deal with what Akane had whispered to him.

The doctors all moved to stand even the now reawakened Tofu, but Akane waved them off. "Don't worry about it, Drs. He's just still not used to my talking about certain things so . . .openly. You should have seen the way he reacted the first time I . . . er. .. Well. Let's just say, that he's still not used to the changes that I've gone through as well as the changes he's undergone. He'll come out of it in a few seconds."

The doctors exchanged looks and shrugged. "Anyway, like we were discussing. I agree with Dr. Yosami. Ranma is cleared to stop using that soap. And I want to schedule a full gynecological exam once his system is cleared of the blocking properties."

Ranma groaned from the floor and returned to his seat. "Ah, Doc! A full exam? Can't you just do a partial? You know, just a peek to make sure it's all there?"

Yasamoto chuckled. "Sorry, Ranma. But I want to take a full exam, as well as do the same MRI/Cat scans again. I want to see how much difference the surgery will make on your female self. We now that you weren't as repressed in the female form as in your male form, but now that the blockage has been removed, you're going to go through a less extreme shift of sensations and emotions. But there will be changes. In fact, I would recommend at least 2 weeks of staying in female form as much as possible to adapt. Maybe 3 or 4 days at home, but you won't have to use the soap. Just try to remain female for as much of the day as you can and only go male when you have to."

Ranma and Akane looked at each other and their eyes held a silent conversation. Ranma turned to the doctor, his hand seeking out Akane's. "Ok. So I don't have to use the soap any more?"

The three doctors smiled at the young couple and nodded. "No. Not unless you want to use it. But like Dr. Yasamoto mentioned. It would be best to not use it. To get used to the sensations of your female form and to the change in sensation and thoughts when you switch genders." Dr. Yosami added. "Any way, that's all for now. Why don't you two get out of here and head home? It's a beautiful day out, and I'm sure you're families are waiting for you at home."

The pair nodded and left, still holding hands. The three doctors remained behind to set up appointments for Ranma's next visit with the various doctors. Tofu would take the schedule to them that evening, but for now, the two were going to spend their afternoon window shopping in downtown Tokyo, a place they rarely visited, despite living only a half hour from it. There were supposed to be some interesting little stores, as well as the larger head stores for the chains.

All in all, it was a great start to their day, as the sun was shinning, there were few clouds in the sky, and there was little chance of their being tracked by their normal annoyances since they would never think to look in downtown Tokyo for the embattled pair.

DOCTORS ENDS

KASUMI STARTS

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Kasumi was humming as she glided around the familiar confines of her family home. She moved from room to room, cleaning, straightening and tidying to her hearts content. She, like all children, was a product of her parents, and she viewed dust, dirt, and disarray as her personal enemies. It was her duty, as eldest of the family, to make sure that those enemies did not overcome the family home. She adapted the early teachings of her father and what little she remembered of her mother's arts to set a routine that allowed her to continue her martial studies and her family duty. Akane was the one who would further the heritage of the school. And Nabiki would make the Tendo name known throughout the world. It was up to her to continue the long traditional role of the Tendo women, and she did so by taking online classes and correspondent courses in the hopes of getting a medical degree.

She paused in the entrance to the engawa, and studied her father as he faced off against his oldest friend in a battle of wills over the Shoji board. Her good humor grew as the two men used every means possible to distract each other and cheat. The games were never about who won, but mostly about who could be the most underhanded and not get caught. Though she didn't personally like Genma Saotome, she had to admit that ever since his arrival, her father had become much more animatedly and lively. He was slowly starting to return to the father she remember from before her mother's death, and though she doubted he would ever heal completely from his loss, she knew he was getting much better then he had been in the years up to the Saotome's arrival. The one wish she had regarding her father's recovery was that it was not so focused on her little sister and Ranma's marriage. She had known within days of Ranma's arrival that he was exactly what her sister needed, and had done her best to subtly guide their relationship into a healthier medium, despite the interference of all the outsiders, their parents, and even Nabiki.

Deciding to leave them to their game, Kasumi went on her way, finishing with the 1st floor and heading upstairs. She started with the guestroom, as with both Ranma and Genma in there, it was usually the worst. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad and there was mostly Genma's few belonging's lying around the room. Frowning, something struck her as odd. There was something missing from the room. She closed her eyes and opened her mind, seeking the disturbance within the small room. Her eyes opened wide with shock and she stared around the room with an expression very different from what anyone would expect on her. She noticed what was wrong, or more accurately what was missing.

She blushed at the implications of the missing gear, and almost hoping she was wrong, she made her way to her sister's room. She pushed open the door with the little wooden duck, and strode into the room. Nothing seemed any more out of place then usual for Akane's room. Dumbbells, weights, and schoolbooks were scattered in near equal number on every flat surface in the room. The bed was unmade and there were dirty clothes piled against the side of the hamper next to the closet. A dark piece of fabric was hanging out of a dresser drawer, and the closet door was stuck from closing against a thick piece of leather.

Going further into the room, she went to the closet and pulled it open. Not surprisingly, a leather and burlap sack fell over against her feet. The piece holding the door open was one of the shoulder straps to Ranma's favorite backpack. Fearing/praying for the worst, she went to the dresser and opened the not quite closed door. Inside was the contents of which were usually contained inside the pack. The hanging fabric she had noted was one of the legs on a set of Ranma's usual kung fu pants. The dresser was filled with his pants, and undershirts. She opened the one under it, and found his shirts, and various wrist and ankle bracers. Blushing, she opened the top drawer, and found Ranma's boxers, and a few feminine style outfits. Glancing over her shoulder into the open closet, she idly noted that the few dresses and a kimono for Ranma's girl form were hanging in the closet next to Akane's few feminine outfits. The more traditional female wear, and the new, more revealing dresses that Akane rarely wore. Her normal skirt/blouse combos were still in the dresser, though obviously, she had made room for Ranma's things.

Not knowing, or at least not willing to admit what she hoped not to find, she strode over to the nightstand next to the bed. She opened the drawer, and rifled through it, fear and something else guiding her to perform the act of petty espionage. She didn't know whether to be upset that she didn't find anything, or that there wasn't anything to find. Though it had been embarrassing for all of them, she had made sure that her sister's had known the more . . .primal aspects of life and that they knew of the ways to protect themselves against certain ... consequences of some actions. She knew that Nabiki had made use of her advice, but had never thought to wonder if Akane ever remembered that conversation. It was not long after they'd held that frank and open discussion, that the Kuno boy had started bothering her imouto-chan at school, and Akane had turned away from the few boys who might have mildly held her interested. Until Ranma's arrival, the only person Akane had ever shown even slight interest in was Tofu-sensei, and Kasumi had no doubt that nothing would ever happen between he and her sister.

With the recent changes in Ranma's mental state, and the progression of their relationship, she couldn't help but worry that Akane and Ranma might be getting closer then they should. She sincerely hoped that her finding that Akane had moved Ranma's belonging into her room wasn't a sign that their relationship had advanced to the final step just yet. Though she was well aware of their not-quite-innocent explorations of their burgeoning sexuality, having walked in on them on several embarrassing incidents. Luckily for her, they had been too tied up in each other and what they were doing to notice her, and luckily for them, they hadn't yet progressed fully into their desires.

Debating with her self for a moment, Kasumi sighed and realized that she couldn't really blame her sister for wanting to . . . explore that aspect of the relationship with her fiancée. Ranma was, after all, a very attractive specimen of the male gender, and if circumstances had been different she might have gone after him herself. But, not long before Ranma's arrival, something vast and amazing had happened. Smiling gently, she reached for the chain that she wore and pulled it from beneath her blouse. As she always did, she kissed the intricate, if small, cross that had been her mothers. Next to the cross was a ring. Not just any ring, but a three-diamond, 10-carat white gold engagement ring. The two small stones were pink diamonds, and the larger central piece was a bright yellow. Engraved inside were the words 'To my beloved, Ono'.

Coming to a decision, she went over to her own room, and opened her own nightstand drawer. She removed two boxes and a couple of pamphlet's and returned to Akane's room. She put the boxes and the pamphlet on the nightstand with a sigh. She didn't especially want to do this, but it was time. Akane was no longer a child, and if she wished to express herself as an adult in her relationship with Ranma, she would have to take on certain responsibilities of an adult, and that included the use of prophylactics and other means to prevent pregnancy or disease. Though she seriously doubted either had any illnesses, it was better safe then sorry. Who knew what he could have contracted without knowing. The sheer amount of time he had spent in hospitals was not the usual thing for someone his age. Especially in smaller, less 'advanced', communities where they weren't always as sterile as they should be. Such communities were not known for the cleanliness of their medical practices.

While she was there, she did the bed, and gathered the clothes to place them with the wash for that day. She left the dumbbells and books, since the first were too much for her to shift easily, and the later were placed in some pattern that Akane must be using to study and she didn't want to disrupt her sister's path.

She bypassed Nabiki's room for now, and went down to the laundry room. She placed the hamper of clothes next to the one with the assorted linens and towels. She would take care of them later. Still humming she decided to go sweep out the dojo, though that was a task she usually left to those who used it most often. Still, it was a beautiful day out, and she wished to spend some time outdoors. Maybe she'd practice a few forms while it was quiet. It had been a while since she and Tofu had practiced together, and she didn't want to lose her 'edge'.

KASUMI ENDS

NODAKA STARTS

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Nodaka sat calmly in the booth of the restaurant, waiting for her meal and her allies. The smell of broth and noodles perforated the small confines of the dim restaurant. She had been meeting here every day for the last few weeks, ever since her son had returned to school after undergoing the surgery. She had watched him closely, and was pleased to see that he was beginning to behave and react like a normal man to the inhabitants of the Tendo home, though she found his embarrassment of his reactions frustrating. He lived in a home with two attractive girls and a harpy, and he chose to fixate on the harpy, instead of the much more pleasant Kasumi, or the more intelligent and worldly Nabiki.

She might have approved of her son's engagement to the youngest Tendo, but those days were past. The girl was too rude and self-centered to make a man like her son a good wife. He needed a wife who wouldn't abuse him or restrict his manliness the way that Akane seemed inclined to do. Nor did he need a wife who seemed as attracted to his female form as his male. She wouldn't begrudge her son some exploration into the pleasures granted by his female form, for that was a very manly and responsible thing to explore, but that the Tendo girl kept encouraging him to accept and behave as a female. That wouldn't do.

Ranma was too much a man for any one woman to satisfy, and it was clear to Nodaka, that Akane wasn't willing to accept that Ranma would need a mistress or three. The girl was too modern in her thinking and ignorant of the old ways. Nodaka wondered at her son's attitude and prudish nature, not for the first time wondering how such a repressed man could have spent so much time with the much more open and free Genma. Had he not taught his son anything, of the manly arts? Did he not do as he promised and hired the women to teach their son? How could he have emasculated their son in so many ways? Not the least of which was the injury to his brain.

A cheery voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up to see a purple haired goddess bearing a tray with her meal. She smiled warmly at the girl, and gestured for her to sit. They still had two more to await, so Nodaka filled the silence with details she'd noted of her son's newly awakened manliness, including a detailed description of the changes his body had undergone. The amazon warrior was drooling, and shifting in her seat, her breath coming quicker and her eyes glazing over as she listened to Nodaka's words.

Nodaka smiled as she noted the effects her words were having on the amazon. This was a girl any mother would be proud to have as her son's mistress. It was a shame she was gaijin, for she would have made a good wife for her son. But her son could not marry a foreigner- he had to marry a pureblooded Japanese woman. Someone with a strong bloodline and a proud heritage. Someone, like the two girls who had just entered the restaurant and started making their way over to them.

Each of the pair had good and bad points in their favor. The Kuonji girl was an excellent chef, and her restaurant was a steady income that would finance Ranma's many training trips and feed their children. But the girl was a little too masculine and modern to make her son a good wife, much like the shrew. She would want Ranma to remain loyal to her, and to remain at home to help her with the restaurant, cutting greatly into the time her son could spend training. She hadn't given her son up for ten years just to have him become an okonomiyaki chef in a small family restaurant.

The Kuno girl, however, came from an immensely wealthy family. Ranma would never have to work a day in his life and could concentrate on his training and the arts. The Kuno fortune would be a big aid to raising a large family, and the girl was quite comely. Their children would be the envy of all. The main point against Kodaichi was that there seemed to be some instability in the family bloodline. Hopefully though, the strong Saotome bloodline could keep the hereditary illness that infected the Kuno clan at bay.

As an additional bonus, Tatewaki Kuno was growing into a fine example of manhood. Her son could learn a lot by being such a manly man's brother. And, with Tatewaki's infatuation with her son's female form, there was the extra chance that her daughter would produce a child. She would just have to work on convincing her son that it was manly and right tat he allow Tatewaki to father a child on his female form.

She just had to convince him first to leave that shrewish harpy he was fixated on and allow his natural manliness to take over when he was alone with his other fiancées. Even if she weren't sure which would be a good wife, any or all would make excellent concubines for her manly son.

'Oooohhhh. Think of all the grandchildren!' she thought giddily to herself before starting their little meeting.

NODAKA ENDS





*Chapter 2*: Chapter 2


I own nothing but the following Idea.

By popular demand, here is a sequel/continuation of 'State of Mind'.

Ch2 of State of Ours.

I was very pleased to get 20+review of State of Ours within 2 days of it's posting. Thank you to all who have reviewed, and as many of you have commented, Nodaka is indeed loony. And I'm not looking forward to the confrontations myself.

And Ranma has been helping train Akane for a month now, so she's improved a lot. She's always been better then she is often showed in fanfic, but if you go back and watch the anime or read the manga, she's not really that far behind some of them. It's just that Ranma is so far beyond them all that she doubts herself too much. He's helped her get over her doubts, and she's going to be an equal match for at least Kodaichi and Ukyo.

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Ranma was leaping the rooftops of downtown Tokyo with Akane in his arms. They had decided to take the train back to the Nerima station after leaving their purchases in Tofu's care. He had volunteered to bring them to the Tendo-ke, but they had asked him to keep them at the clinic until they returned. There were some . . . private items in the purchases, and they were well aware that if Tofu brought them to the house, then their fathers and Nabiki would be rifling through them within moments.

They had then gone to watch a movie both had been waiting for with some anticipation. It was a new Jet Li movie, and they had been impressed with the martial abilities of the stars. Now, they were hopping the roofs in order to make it to the station on time to catch their train.

They were also discussing future plans and ideas for how to deal with the fiancées now that the doctors had removed all the restrictions on Ranma. Both agreed that they didn't want to fight if they could avoid it, but they both knew that with the people they were dealing with, there would be a fight. Possibly several fights, but they wanted to put the fighting off as long as possible. At least until Ranma had as firm handle on the changes in his female form as he now did on his male form.

They landed in an alley behind the station, out of view of the throngs waiting for their cars. They had learned early that it was not a good idea to display their true abilities to the general public, especially those who'd never encountered anything outside of what was considered 'normal' for a human. They were just happy to live in Nerima, where even long before their births, the unusual had been the norm.

Ranma moved to leave the alley, but Akane held him back for a moment.

"Akane?" the youth asked.

She grinned impishly and drew his head down for a soul-searing kiss. Ranma returned the kiss, sliding his hands up and down her back while Akane's were locked around his neck. They held each other close, feeling a growing need to connect. Akane eventually broke the kiss and smiled serenely up at her fiancé.

Blinking at the feeling of loss at the broken contact, Ranma gazed down upon the love of his live. "What was that for, Akane?" he asked, his voice husky with desire. Evidence of the effect Akane had on his body was pressed against her thanks to the strong hug they were sharing.

"Because I love you, silly. And to let you know that just because you will be turning back into a girl that I will still love you. I don't care if you're a man or a woman, to me you are always Ranma. The person I love."

Ranma's heart melted at the sincerity of his lover's words. Never in his live had he ever had anyone who cared so much for him. Not his father, who saw him as a tool to use against Happosai, or his mother, who saw him only as a means to continue the family line. He'd been so happy once he'd reconnected with his mother but with the clearing of his mind thanks to the operation, he'd realized how manipulative and controlling she really was. He saw that she didn't see HIM, but only a means of breeding more Saotome's. After witnessing her behavior towards Akane since the surgery. He remembered the way she had tried to separate him from Akane before the surgery and the terrible way she had treated his fiancée. He was forced to come to the painful conclusion that his mother was nearly as nuts in her own way as his father.

"I love you, Akane. No one else, but you. Mother is up to something, she's been too quiet lately. Ever since you stood up to her, she's been insulting you and pushing me to break our engagement and ...'date' ALL of the others. But for the last week or so, she's been quiet. Hasn't mentioned the others, or said anything about you. Whenever it comes up, she changes the subject, asking about my school work, or effects of the surgery."

Akane sighed. She had always thought that Auntie Saotome was just an older version of Kasumi, but it was becoming clear that the older woman was as bad as any of the parental figures in their lives. The woman still hadn't spoken to her since the incident before Ranma's surgery. She left the room whenever possible when Akane entered. Whenever she entered a room and found them together she would do her best to draw all of Ranma's attention to herself, forcing Akane out of the conversation. Akane had not wanted to draw Ranma's attention to his mother's actions, considering all he had went through to find her and have a relationship with her in spite of his father's stupidity. But now, it seems Ranma had noticed and didn't like what was going on any more then she did.

"I didn't want to say anything, Ranma. She's your mother, and you should be able to have a relationship with her. I don't know what I'd do to have a chance to have my mother in my life again. But you are right. She's been acting differently the last week or so then she was after I told her off. I know how much you love her and didn't think it my place to try and place a barrier between you."

Ranma sighed. He let her go and mover next to her, placing an arm around her shoulders while allowed her arm to slip around his waist. He took a moment to adjust himself so that his excitement was quite as prominently displayed. Akane giggled and ran her hand gently over the area, causing Ranma to draw in a sharp breath. Akane had grown a lot bolder since the first time he'd woken and found her in the room after one of his dreams and she'd explained to him what was happening. She seemed to delight in causing him to reach this state, and took even greater pleasure in helping him resolve the situation. She was constantly touching him, not necessarily in a sexual way, but she seemed to always hand a hand on his shoulder or waist. She hugged him every time they had to separate and every time they met up again.

They shared a short but passionate kiss before leaving the alley to join the people milling around the station. They made their way to the giant map and found which platform their train was loading before heading that way. The speedy train pulled into the station, and after the passengers unloaded, they boarded. Soon the powerful engine pulled the twenty-car train out of the station and Ranma and Akane were heading home.

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Kasumi hummed quietly as she glided through the street in the direction of Tofu's clinic. She giggled to herself as the people on the street realized where she was heading. She found it amusing how Tofu was forced to act in order for them to get some privacy. If any one suspected the truth, they would be hard pressed to believe that Tofu's irrational and hyperactive behavior was all an act. The way in which he began the act would tell her a location, and then she would go there and wait for him. A few minutes later, he would show up, and they would have some quiet time in absolute privacy. It was during one of these secret meetings not long ago that he had proposed to her.

Soon though, they would have to bring an act to a close. Akane and Ranma were growing up and there was little reason for the act to continue now that they accepted and were eager to be married. Father would no doubt be pleased that she was engaged, though he would insist on a traditional marriage for his eldest daughter. She would mention it to Tofu before bringing up the fact that Akane had moved all of Ranma's belongings into her room. She didn't see when her little sister would have had the time to do so, since she knew that the night before all of Ranma things had been in the guestroom with his father's.

She reached the clinic and entered, causing the few people waiting for Tofu to return to look up. Seeing her, they nudged others, and with panicked expressions on their faces, they hurried out, calling out to tell her to let Tofu knew they'd try again the next day. She placed her shoes into the little cubby hole Tofu had made for her, and put on the silk slippers he'd had made especially for her. She wandered through the clinic, straightened out when she saw something was amiss and making sure that everyone was gone.

Once she was certain that it was empty, she locked the doors, and flipped the sign to show that the clinic had closed. She then made her way upstairs to the little apartment above the clinic that Tofu occasionally used. He did have a larger place closer to Tokyo, but stayed here as often as not. It worked out cheaper for him to have both, since the other was just a small apartment of similar size in a complex that his family owned. He kept most of the family related heirlooms and items there, and kept this apartment where he stored all his work-related things. Mainly the library of books and scrolls on healing techniques and the journals from the Medical Sciences, but also a few gifts and momentoes from patients.

Seeing that the place was as neat as always, she decided to head to the compact kitchen to prepare a light lunch for her and Tofu. Though small, the kitchen was well equipped and the cupboards and mini-fridge fully stocked with their preferred foodstuffs.

She prepared a simple meal of miso soup, rice, and boiled chicken. She made the chicken first, and used the water stock from it for both the miso soup and the rice. She added a bit of soy sauce and some spices she knew Tofu to enjoy. She also set a couple of pickle slices on each pile of rice, and a sprinkle of salt over each helping. She set the meal on trays she placed in the small over, and set it at lowest setting to keep it warm until Tofu arrived. She then set the small table after soaking the pots in the sink.

She glanced at the clock and noted the time, calculated the usual time it took during the day to drive from downtown Tokyo to Nerima, and what she felt was a decent length for the appointments to have lasted. She judged that she had a few minutes before Tofu would return, so she sat on the futon and picked up the magazine she'd been reading the last time she'd visited her fiancé in this home away from home.

It was only ten minutes before she heard the whine of Tofu's car pulling into the small drive. She set down the magazine, first marking her place, and went to the window overlooking the drive. She smiled as she noted that the back of his small car was filled with various bags, but frowned when she saw that he was alone. She brushed her concern aside as he looked up at her and gave her a brilliant smile. Wordlessly, he asked if he should go into the act, and she gestured for him to simply come up.

She opened the door and then went into the kitchen to remove the trays from the over. She placed the bowls and plates on the table and was just setting the teapot into the center when Tofu entered and approached.

She turned and gave a loving smile, stepping into his embrace. They shared a sweet, gentle kiss, and then she stepped back and gestured the table. "I made a light lunch, Ono-chan. I didn't want to take the chance of you getting a stomach upset if the news had been bad."

Tofu chuckled and sat at the table while his fiancée sat facing him. They bowed from their seats and started to eat. "Nothing to worry about, koi'. Ranma's tests were all excellent, and he's been cleared to return to normal."

"So how long do you think until the soap wears off?" Kasumi asked as she neatly and steadily made her way through the meal.

"Oh, no more then a day or so. He used it last night, and I think it should wear off by tomorrow morning. Certainly no later then tomorrow evening."

Kasumi paused, as she pondered the possible conflicts of the coming days. "I wonder how he's going to react to his female form. His male form has grown a few inches in height and from what you were saying, his female form should change even more. Do you know if it will happen all at once the first time he changes, or will it take some time?"

"Ku Lon and I are not sure. We suspect that the biggest changes will take place when he first changes, and the lesser once as time passes. We did recommend that he try and spend most of the next two weeks or so in his female form as much as possible to give himself time to adjust to the changes. His body will be more sensitive, and we suspect that he will begin menstruating more regularly as well. You had mentioned that he has had a period once or twice when he spent a full day or two in his female form. We think that now that the hormones will be more accessible, he will experience them on a slightly altered schedule. It will depend on how much time he spends in female form."

Kasumi blushed, recalling the conversation in which she'd shared that detail with her fiancé. It had been nearly as embarrassing as trying to explain to Ranma what was going on. It didn't help that Ranma had ignored all her advice and denied the evidence of his femininity.

"Is he still going to be meeting the psychologist?" she asked to fill the silence.

Tofu nodded and finished the last bite on his plate. He smiled gently at the love of his life, thanking all the gods that he had somehow managed to win her love and respect. He prayed daily to his ancestors for the ability to be worthy of her. "He will have a few meetings, and then it will be up to him. If he wishes to continue seeing her, she is willing to wave all the standard fees. She has told me that she has never had a more interesting case study, and even though she will never be able to discuss the situation with any of her colleagues she wished to continue with the sessions. She claims that by speaking to Ranma and studying his situation, she will better be able to help others with sexual identity issues."

Kasumi nodded. She finished her rice, and took a sip of tea. "I will speak to Akane about it. She will have a better idea of Ranma's state then even Ranma himself. No one knows Ranma as well as she does, no matter how much she had tried to deny it before. And no one has been as close to him since the surgery. He spends as much of the day with her as possible. Why just today, when I was gathering laundry, I found that she has moved all of Ranma's belongings into her room. I know that his things were in the guestroom last night. So she must have woken early in order to convince him to move into her room."

"That's certainly a . . . bold move." Tofu commented, pouring himself some more tea. "I wonder how your father and Ranma's parents will take it?"

"Father will be happy that they are making such strong ties in their relationship. I don't know about Genma, he's very difficult to read. I don't think he's as stupid as he pretends to be. As for Nodaka, she is completely opposed to their relationship. She has behaved rather irrational lately. I believe she is making plans to try and separate them."

Tofu reached over and gently grasped her hand. He allowed his finger to caress the spot where he hoped to see his ring very soon. "Then we will have to stand behind them and do our best to support them through the coming troubles." He leaned forward and kissed the finger on the spot the gems on the ring would rest. "On another subject, do you think it's time we end the charade?"

Kasumi glowed at the love flowing into her from her fiancé. "It would seem appropriate, would it not? Perhaps others will begin to grow up if we too stop the silly charade of our relationship. Shall we go slow, or make it quick?"

Tofu's expression changed to a sly grin. "A bit of both, koi. Have you not noticed that recently, I have not been acting insanely when we are near? At least, not when we are at your home or discussing Ranma's situation? We will claim that while Ranma was undergoing his treatment, I was able to overcome my condition with the help of the same doctors he has spoken with. We were able to express our love, and I requested that you become my wife. In fact, if I may?" he asked, gesturing to her necklace.

Kasumi slowly removed the gold chain and it's precious ornaments. She passed it to Tofu, who removed the ring. He set the chain on the table for a moment before retaking her hand.

"Tendo Kasumi, I Tofu Ono do humbly and sincerely request that you grant me the honor or becoming my wife. I am but a poor practitioner of the healing arts and have little to offer someone of you line. All I have is my love and a promise to make certain that you never have need or want of anything for all your years." he held the ring to her finger, awaiting her reply.

Kasumi felt her heart expand as the words washed over her. It was an even more beautiful moment then his first proposal, and tears streamed silently from her eyes. "I, Tendo Kasumi, do consent to take you, Tofu Ono as my husband. I have no need of material things and gladly accept your offer of love, for it is all I have ever needed or wanted. Though my line is old, we have struggled in modern times and I also have only my love to offer you. What little we do have is destined for my sisters." Kasumi glanced down as Tofu slid the ring down her finger. A feeling of peace unlike anything she'd ever felt filled her at the gesture. A soft reddish glow formed around her, echoed by a similar glow from the man across from her. Their eyes met and the glow filled the room with its gentle pulse. Time passed and the auras wound together, forming unbreakable bonds between the lovers.

The sense of love and peace they shared spread from the little apartment. It spanned across the hamlet of Nerima, filling those of like mind with the joy and happiness of newly expressed love.

To those with closed minds and hearts, nothing changed. For the few with false hopes and dreams, a crack formed in the foundation of their manufactured realities. It was a small crack, unnoticed among the throng of lies and half-truths they used to give themselves hope, but it was there.

And in a little restaurant several blocks away, an old woman grinned and cackled long into the night. For she alone of all the inhabitants of the area recognized the source of the feelings and what they heralded.





*Chapter 3*: Chapter 3


I own nothing but the following Idea.

By popular demand, here is a sequel/continuation of 'State of Mind'.

Ch3 of State of Ours.

Ranma and Akane share the good news with the rest o the family. How will they react? What is Nodaka planning? What color was the cause of the Prussian War? Who didn't kill JFK? What ,exactly, is a knoll? Why is 2 larger then 1? Think deeep thoughts, my friends. Otherwise, we might as well be dogs. Or some other kind of monkey.

Ok. Lets be serious. I'm going to do some exploring of several characters thoughts in the moments following Ranma's news that he is healed enough to stop using the soap and ...uh, get back to his normal gender bending self.

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Ranma was frowning. The news he'd shared about hte end of his restrictions and return to his somewhat unusual normalcy had not been met with the enthusiasm he'd expected. The only one who'd really seemed happy about it was Kasumi. Even Nabiki had been reserved and more quiet then usual. His mother had been particularily displeased, nearly begging him to do whatever it took to get more of the soap that kept him from turning into his cursed form. His father and Soun had quickly agreed, though he thought it might have something to do with his father wanting the soap from himself.

He studied the faces sitting around the table. He felt that something was amiss. Something was going to go wrong. And when it did, he would need to be ready because it was going to be bad. He'd have to warn Akane to keep her focus up.

"But Ranma, why would you want to be forced to allow the curse such a hold on your life? Just ask the Elder what it would take to get a lifetime supply of the soap so that you never have to return to that other form and can remainaman, not a girl?" his mother pleaded, wringing a serviette in her hands.

He felt the instictive tug on his heart to obey his mother, but fought it off. He'donce though he'd do anything to make his mother happy, and not that long ago, it had seemed tgat to make her happy he should accept the curse and act 'feminine' when in his girl form. But now that he was preparing to do so, his mother changed her mind and wanted him to ignore the problem.

Well, Ranma had had enough of ignoring the problems in his life. It was time for him to take an active stand against the forces trying to control him. He would seize the reigns of his destiny and ride the waves in to the future. And he could do this because he had Akane by his side.

He spared a glance at his fiancee, wondering what she really though of his allowing the soap to wear off. Her reactions to him had always been odd when he'd been female. At times, she had seemed to prefer when he was agirl, and with his newly awakened mind, he could tell that part of the reason had been his clearer thinking and speaking when female. His male self had always had trouble communicating, and this had led to most of the problems between them. Thankfully, some good had come of the curse, as it had allowed his female self to think more clearly and less sluggishly then he had prior to it.

He himself was feeling a little oddly about letting the curse loose again. For the most part, he'd always disliked being a girl. He'd been raised to be a man among men, and taught that girls were weak and inferior. In his childhood, the ultimate insult given by his father was calling him a girl when he failed to complete a task. And then they'd gotten to Jhusenkyo and his idiot father had knocked him into one of the two springs that he would hate to be cursed with. The Spring of Drowned Girl was only slightly less horrible for him then the Spring of Drowned Cat.

He shuddered at the horror of that thought, then took another look at the people around the table while they waited for his reply.

"Mother, I can't do that. It would be denying a part of myself that I have denied for to long. The curse is just a way to show a part of myself that has been hidden and festering inside myself. Like Pop and the Panda. It shows that he's hidden his less redeemable qualities. Like my girl side let me explore my feelings and thoughts more then my male side could. I needed it to let me see what my guy side couldn't. And I still need it, even now. I've changed, maybe you don't like it, but I have changed. I'm no longer that little boy stuck in a teenagers body. I'm now, aside from a few little things, a mostly normal teenagers. I can understand my feelings and know what they are trying to tell me. I can know that what I feel for Akane is different from what I feel for you, or Kasumi. I know that I'm never going to be exactly normal, and there's no point in trying to live a normal life. The curse, it's a way for me to let out my emotions. Because even with the changes, I still find it hard to talk about or show how I feel. You can't just get rid of everything I was taught just by opening up my skull and taking out a few pieces of bone. And while I might not be exactly what you wanted in a son, I can only be who I am. And part of that is, well, Ranko." he stated, trying to get his mother to understand. He didn't hold much hope, having had similar conversations with her over the last month, but all he could do was try.

POV CHANGE

Nodaka frowned. She'd not expected Ranma to gain such a strong will so quickly after his surgery. She'd hoped to be able to mold him as est she could into a perfect son, who would do as she wished and marry the girl she chose. He was obviously man enough to keep a wife and several women satisfied, and why he would choose to tie himself to such a vicious, tempermental, and not all that attractive, girl was beyond her. Especially when he had such beauties as Xian Pu and Kodaichi who were so openly affectionate with him. Unlike that wicked girl who beat him and was cruel to him for simply being manly. Even with the problems he'd had because of the injury, which she still didn't really believe, he should have had at least 1 bastard child by now. He was nearly 18! By that time her borthers had already spawned several children on their mistresses.

Why, if not for her standing, her father would have given her as mistress to one of several suitors. They had not had the history or purity of line of Genma's family, though she had not met her husband until a week before the wedding. All the arrangments had been made by her father and his, and they had been wed. Ranma had been born only a year or so later, and after his birth, Genma had not laid a hand on her, though he did sate his needs with the whores and prostitues of some of the lesss reputable areas of Tokyo.

Sometimes she wished that she'd been given to another, as Genma was far from a decent husband, even by traditional standards. He wasted away the dowry and his inheritance within months of receiving them on his gambling, drinking, and whoring. She had no problem with his taking part in any of those activities, but to waste the sheer amount of funds that had been given to them by her father, and that he'd received upon the death of his parents was irresponsible. There should have been enough money to keep him happily in booze and floozies until Ranma came of age to continue the line.

That was partially the reason she'd agreed to allow Genma to leave, though she hated giving up her only child. Not long after he'd left, she'd gone to college and gotten her degree in business, then joined the ranks of her families company. She lived frugally, saving most of the money she earned through her hours of work for the care of her son's future children. She'd known that being raised by Genma would make Ranma unable to fit into normal society, but she' d wanted more for her son then to be a simple salaryman like his cousins and uncles. She was disappointed by the lack of education in matters of woman caused by Genma's choices, but had vowed to give Ranma that education herself.

She'd taken steps by approaching his most ardent admirers to open negotiations for his affections. But he'd shown no inclination to agree to her, even in matters unrelated to the subject. He seemed glued to the side of that horrible Tendo girl, listening solely to her counsel, and disregarding all others. She had to find a way to get her son away from the disreptive influence of that she-demon. Get him alone, and he'd likely see reason. And if not, there was always those interesting little packages Kodaichi and Xian Pu had prepared.

POV CHANGE

Kasumi watched it all with a steady smile on her face. No one had yet noticed the addition to her finger, and she was somewhat grateful that Ranma's news was distracting the others. She didn't want to have to deal with Nodaka's ideas of what was proper for a woman of standing and how it was improper of her to make her own arrangments. She had enough trouble not snapping at the woman when she interfered in her carefuly plotted cleaning schedule.

Still, her mild concern about the elder woman's reactions was growing stronger. Nodaka was definitely hidding something. She was planning something that would hurt her sister, and Kasumi could not allow that to happen. She'd sacrificed her own life up to this point to make sure her sisters would grow in as gentle a manner as possible after their mother's painful death. She didn't regret the choice or hte lost time, but she did regret that it had been neccessary for her to take on the role so young. She hadn't had the chacne to mourn her mother as strongly sas she would have wished.

She'd gladly taken the task of controlling the household chores while her father was paralyzed with grief. And Nabiki, even at the tender age of 7, had been a true phenom in the field of accounting and book keeping. She'd managed to help keep the dojo going even though there had been a stretch of nearly 4 years without any students. Not that there were many now, but they were slowly recovering the interest of the people thanks largely in part to the arrival of Ranma and his special brand of chaos. Nerima had never been a normal neighborhood, but the weirdness had increased ten fold with the arrival of the Saotome males.

It had been good for her sister, even if there had been some problems. She was well aware that Akane had long been attracted to both men and women, though her sister had refused to admit it even to herself. She'd fought it as hard as she could, and it hadn't helped that Nabiki had incited that foolish Kuno boy and his followers into their attacks on the emotionally shy Akane.

And now the rather immature and outright rude behaviour Nodaka was displaying towards Akane didn't help matters. Though surprisingly, Akane had held her temper extremely well. There had been no outbursts of any kind since they had first received the news of Ranma's injury and the way it affected his behaviour. She'd been almost too calm, really, but Kasumi had her suspicions as to what, or rather who, was helping her keep calm. She gave a short glance towards Ranma, who was studying them all, and blushed, trying NOT to think about what he and her sister might have been doing to help keep their control in check. And what they MIGHT be doing in the near future.

POV CHANGE

Nabiki just watched idly as Ranma completed his third survey of the room. She could tell that he was puzzled by the reactions his statement had caused. His mother looked terrified, Kasumi was smiling as usual, their father was looking worried, and his father was staring impassively into the distance, seemingly not paying attention to anything that was going on. She knew that her face was a studied mask of indifference, though inside she was nearly jumping with joy. And for once it had nothing to do with making money.

No, she was happy because her little sister was about to get everything she'd ever wanted, all in one package. She and Kasumi had occassionaly spoken of Akane's confusion regarding her sexuality. It was not hard to see that Akane was as attracted to girls as she was to boys. Though the stubborn fool was too blind to see for herself. Nabiki was more open about her preferences than Akane. She made blatant use of her appeal to both men and women to get the things she wanted and that their family needed. She wasn't afraid of her sexuality or attractiveness, unlike Akane. She was proud to be as attractive as she was, and worked hard to remain as beautiful as she could. Even given her weakness for rich foods and sweets.

So when Ranma had fallen into their laps upon his arrival, she had seen immediately how good he could be for her little sister. Akane, more then either her or Kasumi, needed someone to care for and look after her. Needed someone they could rely on to put her first above all else. To always be there, with either a look or a helping hand. To love an dcherish, but not control. Someone strong enough to handle her temper, yet gentle enough to see her for who she wished to be. Someone who could help her become the person she had always meant t obe.

And Ranma was that person. Nabiki had known in those first few confusing moments when she had reached out and grabbed a breast when she should have felt a muscular pec. The curse had explained a lot, though it had been difficult to start believing in magic, she had adapted. It was what she did. She adapted and formed plans to ease futre adaptations. Seeing Ranma and Akane, and how they sparked off each other, had shown her that she would settle for nothing less in her own love life. She had stopped her boy hungry ways and instead had started doing nearly all she could to remake herself as a cold, unfeeling, heartless money hungry woman she oculd be. She'd even gone as far as selling near nudes of Akane, and practical nudes of Ranma to enhance her image.

And it had worked. She was soon the Ice Queen of Furinkan, and students came to her with their needs. She gathered info about everyone and sold harmless tidbits to those requesting it. She'd played Kuno and gotten him hooked on getting his info from her, instead of his going to less . . .respectable sources. She knew that the Kuno family had ties with some rather . . . questionable personages. People with less then honorable or legal means of gaining information. Who knows what they could have done and who they would have hurt to get what they wanted. But she'd managed to play to Kuno's delusions and gotten him to rely solely on her for any info regarding Akane and the PigTailed girl.

It had been rough to treat her sister and her fiancee so cavalierly, but she'd done what was needed to try and open Akane's eyes to the prize she'd won. She'd trade places with Akane in a heartbeat if Ranma would have her, but she knew that Ranma's heart had belonged to Akane from the moment their eyes had met. And she'd seen too many terrible things in her life to interefere in the first bit of true happiness she'd ever seen in her sister.

Now it was time to put away the Ice Queen, and become herself again. At least, for the family. She'd have to slowly work her more expressive self into the Ice Queen persona so as not to cause a panic with those she'd been dealing. She could start by being a little friendlier to some of her workers. Make them friends instead of just cheap labor.

She shot a glare towards Ranma's mother, wondering what the woman was thinking of. She had to have something planned, given her actions towards Akane lately, and it would be up to Nabiki to find out what. That she would do gladly, now that she knew for sure that Ranma wasn't just toying with her sister and the other girls. Well, she'd never erally believed it, since Ranma was a horrible liar and actor, but she'd had to be prepared for that situation, and had behaved accordingly. But, from some of the conversations and special moments she'd overheard, they were getting along great. Better then, even. And she was glad that her sister had been able to control herself from taking the final step in their relationship. She had to wonder though, how Akane had been able to restrain herself. The kami knew that she would ahve given into the temptation within minutes of confirming Ranma's awakened maturity.

POV CHANGE

Akane was as calm as she'd been that morning. She was a little surprised by the lack of reactions around the table .She would have expected her father to start wailing and talking about 'now they can finally be wed' and Genma to goad him on. She'd also though that Nabiki would be rushing around, making plans to trick Ranma into posing for her camera. The only reactions she'd expected were Kasumi's calm acceptance (though she suspected it wasn't news to her elder sister. Really. Who did Kasumi think she was fooling wearing that huge ring on her finger and not think they would notice? It was about time those two stopped pretending.) And the other was Nodaka's fearful reaction. She'd been well aware that Nodaka was not looking forard to Ranma's being able to change into a girl, but frankly, she didn't care what the old shrew thought. Any woman who would give their only son to Genma to be raised had problems.

Besides, Akane was looking forward to getting Ranko back. While helping Ranma come to terms with his sexuality and the new things going on in his life, she'd finally come to terms with her own. She was no longer afraid of admitting that she liked girls as much as boys. And she was looking forward to exploring her acceptance with Ranko. She ignored the harsh looks Nodaka kept throwing her, and reached over to grab Ranma's hand.

Ranma's head turned to her and he paused his speech. "Akane?" he asked gently.

"I think that's enough for now, Ranma. Why don't we let them get used to this, while we go practice in the dojo? I want to try and get that crossover step throw you showed me the other day. I think I found a way to counter it that you didn't show me."

Ranma's smile widdened at the thought of his two favorite things happening at once:

Practicing his Art, and spending time with Akane, alone.





*Chapter 4*: Chapter 4


I own nothing but the following Idea.

By popular demand, here is a sequel/continuation of 'State of Mind'.

Ch4 of State of Ours.

Okay. Reviewers: I am aware that most places consider the proper spelling to be Nodoka, not Nodaka. I am using Nodaka for a reason. It is NOT a typo. I am trying to stress the pronunciation ( NO DAh KA, not NO DOugh KA).

Ranma and Akane share the good news with the rest o the family. How will they react? What is Nodaka planning? What color was the cause of the Prussian War? Who didn't kill JFK? What, exactly, is a knoll? Why is 2 larger then 1? Think deeep thoughts, my friends. Otherwise, we might as well be dogs. Or some other kind of monkey.

Ranma wakes to find himself back to his 'normal' self.

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Ranma turned over with a grunt, trying to get comfortable on the mattress. As a gift for having survived this long without resorting to fighting his enemies, his doctors had chipped in and bought him a western style bed set for his room. Now that his father was permanently back to sleeping at the Saotome-ke with his mother, there was more room in the former guestroom, so the doctors had conspired with Kasumi and Soun to purchase Ranma a few items they deemed necessary. These mainly included a large Queen sized western bed, a small desk, a dresser, and a small bookcase. He appreciated the effort and thought that had went into the gifts, but was not used to sleeping on the soft mattress of the bed. He was used to sleeping on the ground, or on the traditional bed roll mats.

A slight disturbance of air was all the warning, and though he was half-asleep he still managed to block the sudden source of danger he felt directed to his head. Instead of his arm meeting a fist, he was startled into awareness by a flash of cold water on his skin and sat bolt up in bed. He glared at his fiancée who just giggled cutely while vainly trying to hide the bucket behind her back.

"You could have just shook my shoulder, you know?" Ranma asked as he removed his wet shirt to ring the excess water out. As he did so, he noticed Akane staring at his chest with a now familiar look on her face. "See something you like, Akane?" he taunted.

Blushing Akane brought her eyes to meet Ranma's, startled as always by the bright green color. "Ah, Ranma, have you noticed something different this morning?" she asked using all her willpower not to glance down.

Ranma paused while shaking out the shirt, trying to think of anything. "Nope, not really."

"Maybe you should look down, Ranma." Akane said, boldly glancing down her fiancée's body.

Ranma did so, and blushed at seeing his body in female form exposed to the world. She clutched the damp shirt to her chest, noting the effect the cold water was having on certain anatomical portions of her new anatomy. Or maybe it was just because Akane was here.

"Er, What made you decide to wake me up this way?" Ranma asked, covering as much of her large chest as she could with the small shirt.

Akane blinked at the question and drew her eyes away from the rising and falling of Ranma's breasts. "Ah. Well, I wanted to see if the soap had worn off yet. And if it hadn't, this would have been a good way of getting you upset enough to spar with me this morning."

Sighing, Ranma decided to ignore the tactic by his fiancée. She stood and dropped the muscle shirt, walking towards her fiancée. She stopped about a foot away, feeling a sense of pleasure and pride, as Akane was unable to move her eyes from Ranma's chest. The red-haired girl felt her boxers beginning to slip as she took her first step, but luckily her hips kept them up and protected what little modesty she had. Not that it mattered, as when she reached her goal, she pushed the boxers down, revealing her full form to her fiancée.

She watched with growing excitement as Akane's eyes wondered down and widened at the sight before her. She felt a thrill of victory go through her when the blue-haired girl had to swallow and lick her suddenly dry lips. Ranma could feel her heart rate increasing and felt her body warming at the attention from the woman she loved. There seemed to be a pool of heat forming near her navel, and her breasts were tingling in anticipation. She felt incredibly womanly at the moment, enjoying the attention being given to her by Akane and thrilling to Akane's reaction to her body.

Akane swallowed again, her breathing ragged and sharp as she noted a sliver of pink flesh among the red curls of hair covering Ranma's mons. She dragged her eyes up to meet Ranma's face, desperately trying to control her raging hormones which screamed at her to grab her fiancée and teach her to really enjoy being a woman. "Ranma? What are you doing?"

Ranma smiled saucily. "Why, I'm just making sure you haven't forgotten that even when I'm a girl, I'm still your fiancée." Ranma then closed the distance and pressed herself against Akane, noting for the first time that she seemed to be a bit taller then she had been last time she'd been in female form. She placed her arms around Akane's neck and kissed the frozen girl with all the passion and desire coursing through her body. She held the kiss until Akane's arms surrounded her waist and her tongue started caressing her lips.

She pulled back and pushed Akane away, shocking the other girl once again. "Ranma?" the confused girl asked. She'd just started enjoying their first kiss in Ranma's female form when said kisser had pushed the kissee away.

"Go down to the dojo, Akane. I'll meet you there, I have to get dressed." Ranma guided Akane out the door to her room, and shut it in her confused lover's face. She leaned heavily against the door, barely controlling the desire to throw open the door, grab Akane, and collapse together on her oh so convenient bed. She held a small hand to her lips, savoring the feel and taste still lingering from the passionate kiss. "Wow, I think I'm going to like being a girl if I can get Akane to react like that more often."

On the other side of the door, Akane was as confused and frustrated as she'd been from the moment Ranma had removed her shirt. She could still feel the gentle pressure of Ranma's body against her and the sweet torture of her lips being caressed. It had been so different, yet familiar to the kisses she'd shared with Ranma's male half. Not better or worse, but different. Ranma's male body was ...rough. It was strong, and hard, and powerful. He was all hard muscle and angular plains. His female form was gentle, soft, and curvaceous. Still muscular, but with much less bulk and smoother flowing. She was beginning to realize that she didn't prefer one over the other, but considered both of them as Ranma and could no longer really differentiate between his bodies. Ranma was Ranma, and it didn't matter in any way if he was male or female.

Akane was still trying to come to terms with these truths when she felt someone tap on her shoulder. She had been so involved in her thoughts, that she had missed Ranma slipping out of the room dressed in a white gi and carrying an extra set of clothes.

The tap on the shoulder shook her out of her internal reverie and she turned with a frown to confront her sister, annoyed at the interruption. "What is it Nabiki?" she demanded.

Nabiki rolled her eyes, not the least intimidated by her growling sibling. "I want to get by. Unlike you and lover boy, I have to go to school today, and you're blocking the hall way."

"Oh, sorry." Akane stated, moving aside to let her older sister by. Nabiki took a few more steps, then paused.

"Did it work?" the middle Tendo daughter asked, her voice lacking it's usual mocking or superior tones.

Akane paused from a moment, debating what to tell her blackmailing sibling.

"Well, I splashed him and he changed. So I'm guessing the soap's worn off now." she stated quietly, hoping that her preternaturally alert sister would miss the odd husky ness of her voice as long as she spoke at a lower level then usual.

Nabiki was about to turn around but even her half-asleep ears could hear the pure lust in her younger sister's voice. She grinned, considered several parting shots before settling on one that would redden her sister's face. "So who kisses better? Ranma-kun or Ranma-chan?" she asked.

Akane blushed, knowing that she'd again falling into her sister's word games. "I wouldn't know." she stated. "I don't like girls that way." she didn't want to lie, so she couldn't say she hadn't kissed Ranma's girl side.

Nabiki raised her eyebrow and leaned against railing. "I didn't say anything about girls, imouto-chan. I asked about your kissing Ranma-chan. No matter what he looks like, Ranma is not a girl. And considering how touchy-feely the two of you have been lately, I doubt you haven't kissed Ranma yet. Unless you've done things other then kissing?" she asked mockingly, enjoying the waves of embarrassment rolling off the younger girl.

It was at this point that the door behind Akane opened and Ranma-chan walked out. The red head paused, studying the posture and body language of the two girls. Rolling her eyes, she moved to her fiancée and dragged the girl into a long, passionate kiss.

She watched out of the corner of her eye as her future sister-in-law's mouth dropped and her thin eyebrows disappeared into her bangs. Grinning inside, she broke of the kiss and stood next to her fiancée with her arm around her waist and her head on her shoulder. "Nabiki, what Akane and I do in the privacy of our bedrooms is none of your concern. But, just so you know, I prefer kissing Akane as a guy, but neither of us is going to avoid intimacy just because of the curse. I love Akane, and Akane loves me, and it doesn't matter to either of us whether I'm a boy or girl because I am always who I am. Ranma Saotome, martial artist and arrogant jerk."

Nabiki shook herself forcibly and turned away, stun by the sheer emotion shimmering in the air between the two of them. It caused an ache in her heart, a longing for the connection the two shared. The last time she'd seen a bond that strong was the last time she'd seen her mother and father together. The love her parents had shared had filled the house with a sense of rightness and joy that had been missing since her death. Since then, it had been filled with sorrow and depression, until the arrival of a dripping panda and soaked red-haired girl.

The house had been filled with chaos and anticipation since that day, though lately, the sense of love and joy the young lovers felt had been slowly returning the house's aura to the state it had held during the occupation of Soun and Kimiko Tendo. Nabiki didn't say anything though she gave a tentative smile to the pair who were basking in their love. She felt her heart grow as she watched, thawing the ice that hard formed over the years. She vowed to herself that she would do everything in her power to insure that her sister and brother lived a long and happy life together, no matter the cost. May the kami have mercy on anyone who tried to separate the two, because she won't.

94949494949494994949449994949

Nodaka frowned as she watched her sorry excuse of a husband lounging lazily in his cursed form. She was still unsure of what to do about the bastard who had ruined her son with that horrible curse and the witch of a fiancée. The girl was still interfering in her rights as Ranma's mother to arrange for his future. How dare the shrew refuse to allow HER son the right to have as many female companions as he desired? Someone of his family background and stature deserved at least 2 concubines, as well as any number of casual dalliances with whomever he chose. But that cursed Tendo girl had corrupted him with the false Western belief of monogamy and fidelity.

Her own father had had three concubines, and had dallied with most of the female help and employees at the company his father had founded. She didn't even know how many bastard siblings she had, and it didn't matter. The only issue sired by her father that mattered were herself and her two brothers. They had gone into the family business, while her father had opted to wed her to Genma in hopes of continuing the family's tradition as martial artists. He had disliked and mistrusted Genma from their first meeting, but he'd wanted his only daughter to have the strongest and most . . . unique husband he could find for her. And Genma had fit that bill perfectly. Even the dislike and mistrust had suited her father, as he had no intention of being close to her husband, only wanting someone powerful and talented to father a strong male child into the family bloodlines.

Genma's own low-class origins had not mattered, as a careful purview of family history had shown that his family had been powerful fighters and warriors for many generations. And allowing Genma to sire a child with his daughter, one who had lived up to his most stringent dreams, had been the only purpose behind their marriage. Though she had grown fond of the bastard who was her husband before he'd stolen her son, that fondest had vanished. She only remained wed to Genma because he had done what had been desired of him: Made Ranma the premier martial artist of his generation. The blood of samurai and nobility flowed through her son's veins from her ancestors, and some of the strongest and most dangerous peasant warriors through Genma's line.

Her main regret was that her father had not lived to see how powerful her son had become, though she was glad he had been spared the dishonor of seeing his hope for a true heir weakened due to the curse inflicted upon him by his father. She had no doubt that if he still lived, her father would have forced her to honor the seppuku pledge she'd drawn from Genma. And while she had no problems with Genma's death, she had no desire to see her son harmed any further then he'd already been forced to endure.





*Chapter 5*: Chapter 5


I own nothing but the following Idea.

By popular demand, here is a sequel/continuation of 'State of Mind'.

Ch5 of State of Ours.

okay, some part sof this might seem recycled form earlier chapters and even from the prequel, and in a way they are, but I want to show what Ranma is sthinking while watching Akane practise during their sparring match. It's the first time they spar with Ranma as a girl, and he has problems adapting to the new body and sensations and to the new Akane.

For all those wondering, I am a guy and have never experienced sex from a woman's perspective. So I hope my descriptions of reactions and such aren't too absurd for those women reading my story. I would gladly accept any advice on the female gender any one wishes offer, as I am male, and throughouly lost when describing things I've never felt myself.

Okay. Reviewers: I am aware that most places consider the proper spelling to be

Nodoka, not Nodaka. I am using Nodaka for a reason. It is NOT a typo. I am trying to stress the pronunciation ( NO DAh KA, not NO DOugh KA).

Thanks to those who took the time to sent me emails responding to my request for beta readers. Holy-Vuplix(aka Gear Girl), Gie(aka Phowah), and goku gohan were the beta's for this ch. I thank them all for their help and opinions. The words in BOLD text are changes they suggested.

ENJOY!

/9787987897

Ranma frowned as the weight on her chest drew her off balance again while attempting to dodge a strike from Akane. She corrected instantly and managed to block the blow, but had to concede that it was more then just her lost familiarity with her female form after a full month as a male that was making htis sparring match as even as it was.

Akane had made tremondous strides in the Art during the month of his recovery from cranial surgery. Her anger and jealousy no longer drove her to distraction, allowing her body to flow with the movements that had been ingrained into it since childhood. She had reached the point of allowing her bodies knowledge and memory use what it knew instead of constantly trying to force herself and the movements.

Previously she had struggled because she was too busy trying to think of moves to perform instead of allowing her body to perform them. She had spent her time trying to remind herself how and when to use certain moves, instead of just letting her body do what it knew to do.

But since she had learned of Ranma's former . . . illness and been convinced of Ranma's feelings for her, she had lost much of the anger(which had been a mask to hide her fear of loosing him as she had lost her mother). She knew with certainty that she had nothing to be jealous of. Ranma loved her and no one could take him away from her, not even his mother.

Without the fear driven Anger controlling her, her natural talent and skill had resurfaced, and with Ranma's help, she'd been able to grow rapidly in the Arts. She was still a long way behind Ranma, but she was rapidly becoming a near match for some of his lesser rivals and the chaos that surrended them.

This match was the first time she'd been in female form in over a month, and she had to readjust to the difference in balance points and weight distribution across her frame. Her female body was more top heavy then her male one, and her center of balance was higher as well. Her breasts were a distraction both in their movement drawing her off balance, and in the sensation they sent through her frame as they bounced around under her shirt. She'd never really felt those sensations before the surgery, and she almost wished that she wasn't feeling them now.

If it wasn't for the fact that their bouncing under his shirt and nearly out of the shirt was distracting Akane as much as they were distracting herself, she would have been seriously frustrated with them. She was man enough to admit that if she had to be a woman part of the time, she was at least glad that she was an attractive woman and that her fiancee wasn't sickened by looking at her. She, like any male her age, was curious about the female anatomy, now that she was able to understand and feel the same drives as other teens, and that curiousity did extend to her own body and the potential pleasures she and her lover could share. Akane had been teaching her and learning with her in her male body, and she hoped that the blue-haired girl would also wish to explore and learn about her female form.

It had taken many sessions with the psychiatrist for Ranma to be able to come to terms with his male sexuality, and they had also discussed his female form's potential sexual needs. Akane had been there with him most days, helping him adjust to his new life and physical situations. Neither had spoken of it, but they each knew that the biggest test in their relationship was going to happen when Ranma was cleared to return to his 'normal' state as a, as Nabiki had termed it, aquatransexual. For Ranma it would be adapting again to being female. But now with the shield of the muted hormone produciton caused by the bone chips gone, the change would be much more difficult as teh psychiatrists and doctors agreed that the female hormones would cause a few changes in his, or rather her, personality the same way that the increased male hormones had altered Ranma's personality.

Ranma didn't see any changes in himself beyond the physical, but he had heard as the doctors interviewed him and those around him about his thoughts and actions since the surgery, and most seemed to agree that he had changed. Not a great change, but there were some small differences. Oddly enough, they all said he was calmer and more accepting then before and not as prone to the 'foot-in-mouth' statements that had been a trait of his presurgery behaviour. They said he was more thoughtful, and less rash. He simply felt freer and less fuzzy then before.

She ducked, twisted and flipped as Akane did a three spin reverse right roundhouse series. She landed off balance and had to fall back into a roll to avoid the counter sweep kick as Akane reversed the momentum of her spin and lashed out with the left foot in a power side kick followed with an attempt at an inside Kenka kick to her knee. Ranma rolled and was able to avoid the series, but she was impressed by her fiancee's increased speed and tactics. She could tell that Akane had been thinking, not of HOW to do the moves, but of WHICH moves to perform to get Ranma into a position for a blow to land. Most of the kicks had been to set Ranma up for the Kenka, and if Ranma had been even a little slower, or tried to block/dodge in a manner different then the backroll, she would have been hit had with the kick, and then the follow up punch to the chest Akane threw.

She rolled to her feet in time to block a series of punches at a speed faster then Akane had ever shown before. She grinned as her fiancee kept up the pressure, adding a few kicks, knees and forearm/elbow strikes to try and break through Ranma's defenses. Ranma judged that Akane was now at the speed that she herself have been when she'd learned the Kachuu Tenshin Amiguriken and decided that she'd ask Akane after the session if she wanted to learn how to do the speed enhancing move.

She blocked a high kick, and turned her hand over to hold the ankle. Twisting in and under the upheld leg, she pushed up on the ankle, and did a low sweep kick taking out Akane's other leg. Akane fell onto her back, but was able to grab Ranma's shirt and drag her down as well. Akane landed on her back, and Ranma landed on top of her, earning each a shocked gasp as they collided against the floor and each other.

She moved over her fiancee, straddling her hips and using her arms to pin Akane's shoulders to the mat. She was breathing hard and felt tired. She was a bit out of shape after a month of inactivity for her female form and even though it was magically created, she had learned from discussions with Cologne that aside from its origins, a cursed form had all the traits and needs of a being born into that form. So, a person with a dog curse, would have all the biological needs of a real dog, including the proper diet and protection against canine diseases like heartworm and ticks. And if neglected, a cursed form could be come ill while the original remained healthy, though if you died or were injured in one form, the injury did carry over as best as possible to the other form. It would adapt for the form's physical state or origin. The example she had used was Mousse. If in Duck form Mouse broke a wing or cracked his bill, then when returned to human form, his arm would be broken, or his jaw.

So while he'd been getting his male form in shape, his female form had been neglected. Not that he really minded, since it had given him an entire month as a man without worry of being changed into a girl at a bad moment. It wouldn't take her long to return herself to true form, since it was only a month's lack of training, and not, say, a year's.

Akane squirmed from beneath her, trying to get loose, but Ranma leaned forward, trying to place more weight on her shoulders. She felt a growing sensation in the pit of her stomach due to the way their bodies were positioned and rubbing together in what Ranma was learning was a VERY sensative spot. They both froze and stared into each others eyes for a moment before Akane's eyes glanced down and stayed positioned on Ranma's chest. During the fall, Akane had grabbed Ranma to pull her down, and had pulled the shoulder of Ranma's gi. Now, Ranma's gi was open, and her chest was covered only by a thin, nearly clear with sweat, tank top. The movements had caused a reaction in Ranma, and her nipples had hardened in pleasure and were poking outwards of the thin sweat soaked shirt. Akane's eyes were fixed on Ranma's heaving chest and the movement of those peaks under the shirt.

The look of desire on Akane's face feuled the reaction growing within Ranma, and for the first time, the redhead felt the effects of arousal on her female form. It was both a familiar sensation, as well as an oddly disturbing one. There were similarities to how his male body reacted, but there were also some almost frightening differences.

Their lips met in a kiss and Akane's arms slid around Ranma's waist, holding the smaller girl in place. Ranma's arms moved without conscious thought to surround Akane's head and neck, her mouth opening to deepen the kiss.

There were subtle, but marked differences in the feel of the kiss compared to when she was male. Differences that had little to do with the feel of her breasts being pressed against Akane's, or the different sensations spreading out from the growing pool of liquid heat slightly south of her abdomen. The feel of Akane's lips against her own, and the movements as they deepened the kiss were different, softer, gentler. It was more of a sharing then battle for dominance that often seemed to mark their kisses in her birth form. There was a slight feel of a battle when HE kissed her, as each unconsciously sought to exert some type of control over the other during their intimate moments. That edge was lacking in this kiss, as instead of battling for control, each sought simply to give themselves to the other.

Ranma broke the kiss with a whimper as Akane's hands caressed her hips. "Akane. We need to stop. Anyone could come in, and I don't think I'm ready for this yet."

Akane blinked and took a moment to gather her breath and her thoughts. She had never expected to so easily lose herself in the touch of the female Ranma. She'd known and admitted to herself since the surgery that she was as attracted to Ranma's cursed form as she was to his normal form, but she had never expected to get lost in her desire so quickly and easily. She'd also not expected Ranma to get so caught up in his female form's reactions with so few reservations. But then, the doctors had agreed that the increase in hormone production might affect him very strongly when he first returned to female form, though he would soon regain control of his body's reactions.

"I guess we should take our time, Ranma-chan. It's just that you kind of surprised me and it's been so long since I've seen this part of you, I guess I just got carried away." Akane brought her hands up and grasped the edges of Ranma's gi. She closed the top and tied the belt, covering the tempting view of Ranma's chest from her sight.

"Yeah, I guess I kinda lost control too. I wasn't expecting to feel so . . .so. . . well, horny." the red head admitted, her face matching her form. She stood hastily, looking away from her fiancee while trying to harness her control of her heightened emotions.

Akane studied Ranma's profile while she slowly regained her self control. The doctors had been right. Ranma's female form had gone through more changes then his male form. She was taller now, nearly the same height as Akane or even his male form pre-surgery. There was a fullness and solidness to her body that had been lacking before. It was the sign of maturity, of womanhood in Ranma's female body. Her face had filled out and now showed a woman's beauty instead of a child's pixie cuteness. Her bust didn't seem to have grown, but it was clear that her form was now fully mature. Akane felt a pang of loss at the changed form, but also felt that she could easily grow to appreciate the changes in her lover.

She watched as Ranma walked around the dojo, working to calm down her racing heart and cool down from the workout. There was something different about the way Ranma was moving, and it took a moment for the girl to realize what it was.

Prior to the surgery, Ranma's gait had always been the straight on walk of a man, even when in female form. His entire posture had been male and only rarely strayed into the realms of female body language. And mostly that was only when he was trying to get something out of someone he couldn't fight for some reason. Now though, Ranma was moving as a woman, and there was an unconscious grace and sensuality to her movements that had been lacking before. Everything about Ranma's movements cried out 'look at me, I'm a girl and I'm hot.' Akane licked her lips as she felt the surge of desire rise again as she watched Ranma stretch out the kinks in her back, inadvertently thrusting her already impressive chest out even more.

Akane stood and stretched herself, aware that her motion drew Ranma's eyes to her body. She decided to tease her lover as she had just unconsciously teased her. She took her time stretching out, making sure to give Ranma a good view of her legs, buttocks, and chest while twisting out the kinks as slowly as she could. She could here Ranma's breathing growing more strenuous and smirked to herself, feeling a rush of pride that she was able to cause such a reaction in the normaly non-expressive teen. He only reacts like that for me. Not Shampoo, Not Ukyo and not Kodachi. Only me she thought gleefully to herself, strolling over to her finacee. She put as much sex as she could into her walk, and felt a thrill of pleasure as Ranma's eyes widdened even further and the redhead's entire body shook with repressed desire. Lust was coming off Ranma in waves and Akane did her best to match those with her own projections of desire and love.

She reached Ranma and pulled the only slightly shorter girl into her arms. She leaned in and whispered into Ranma's ear, thoroughly enjoying the chance to finally express her desire for the other girl. "We should go up and change. Since you need to stay a girl for a bit, you should try those bras and other things we bought. You need to get used to wearing them." Taking a chance, she brought her hands up and caressed Ranma's breasts, causing the other girl to whimper and shudder as the pleasure rushing through her body. "You'll be able to balance better if these aren't bouncing around and distracting you." she teased the nipples of Ranma's breast with her thumbs, and lightly nipped at her earlobe. The mix of sensations sent the inexperienced redhead crashing over the edge. If not for her arms around Akane's waist, and Akane's arms going around her, she would have collapsed to the ground as she experienced her first orgasm in female form. Her legs turned to jelly and her entire body arched into Akane's embrace, dragging the sensitive tips of her breasts against Akane's chest and the coarse material of her own top.

Akane felt a moment's surprise that Ranma had reached the Clouds and Rain so quickly and from such little stimulation, but was again reminded of the doctors advice that Ranma would be very sensative to physical sensations and mental stimulation for the first few days after retaking her female form. She took pity on her lover, and moved to her side, making it look more like they were simply holding each other for the pleasure of it instead of the fact thtat she was practically carrying the red head. She brought Ranma inside, the other girl still lost in the pleasant haze of sensations.

She nodded to her sister, who was sitting at the table working on the accounts, but ignored the question in the short haired older girl's eyes. She maneuvered them out of the engawa and to the stairs, struggling to maintain her grip on the bone weary redhead up the incline. She noted absently that both her father and the Saotome's were not at the usual places by the Go board and that her eldest sister was in the living room, watching some program or another on TV. She carried her lover into the former guest room, taking a moment to curse their parents for interrupting her plans by moving Genma back to the Saotome residence and buying the new furniture for this room for Ranma's use.

She had gone to all the trouble of making room in her closet and dresser for Ranma's possessions, and just when she finished moving them in, his mother goes and says it wouldn't be proper for them to share a room until and if they married. She snorts to herself while laying the nearly comatose girl on the soft matress of the double sized bed. Yeah, like that's a worry to them. They've wanted us to share a bed since Ranma first got here, and now, three years later, they don't think it's right until we get married? Who's the cow trying to fool? She's only done this to try and keep me and Ranma apart. We finally start being . . .intimate with each other, and she suddenly decides that it's not right for us to sleep in the same room, then goes and buys all this stuff and has it set up, making Ranma feel guilty if he doesn't use it. Like he's betraying her if he ignores her 'present'. she sighed while looking down at the still dazed, but slowly rousing Ranma.

Ranma came to her senses slowly, still feeling a general sense of contentment and well being. What the hell was that? she asked herself, before the answer came to her mind. Oh. That is really . . .different from when I'm a guy. She took a moment to look around, noting she'd been brought up to her room and was lying on her new bed. She sighed as she saw the look of slight displeasure on her fiancee's face. I don't like what Mom did any more then Akane, but until I'm more in control of myeslf in both forms, I think it's best that we sleep in different rooms. As much as we've . . .explored during the last month, neither of us is really ready to take that last step. No matter how much our bodies are telling us otherwise. Even the stuff that happened in the dojo is a little more then I'm ready to handle. "Akane, I know you aren't too happy with Mom right now, but I think this might have been a good thing"she stated as her mind was now able to focus on something other then the pleasure she had just experienced thanks to her beautiful fiancee.

Akane blinked for a moment before refocussing her gaze on the red head, who was now partially up, leaning back on her elbows. "How do you mean, Ranma? You know she only did this because she didn't want us spending more time together and is trying to make you leave me."

Ranma kept her gaze steady with Akane's, feeling her lover's pain as match for her own. "I know Akane, and I can promise you that nothing and no one is ever going to make me leave you. The only way I'll ever do so, is if YOU tell me to leave. Nothing any one does or says is going to make me stop loving you. Because I do love you Akane. More then I ever thought possible and more deeply then I even knew I could. The last month has been like a revelation to me, the way my mind has cleared up. For the first time, I'm thinking and feeling like a normal person. My mind and feelings aren't blocked by a haze or fog that seemed to exist before the surgery. I know that you mean more to me than anyone and anything I've ever met said or done. Nothing matters more to me then you, Akane. The best part of the day for the last month was that moment I when I first saw you in the morning and the worst was having to leave you to come here to sleep.

"But it's worth it for now, Akane. Because I know that one day I'm going to wake in the morning and see you the minute my eyes open, and that the last thing I see before I fall asleep is going to be your face. We just have to work through this problem with Mom for now, and when we are both ready, FULLY ready, then we will take the next steps in our relationship. But right now, I'm not ready yet to take that step. I'm still learning about my body. Both of my bodies. And while I don't mind doing most of that learning with you, there are some things I need to learn on my own." By the end of her speech, Ranma was sitting on the edge of the bed, having moved there as Akane walked closer to the bed. Now she was holding the other girl's hands in her own and looking up at her with a pleading expression on her face.

Akane felt a twinge of anger and disappointement that Ranma didn't feel they were ready to commit to the last step in their explorations, but that was swallowed quickly by the realization that the other girl was right. As close as they had become, they weren't ready to cross the final barrier just yet. While they had settled things between them, they hadn't worked out everything with the others yet. Ranma's mother was their main problem now, as most others had accepted that Ranma wasn't interested or able to have a relationship with them. The Kuno's didn't count as they were too far gone from reality for the truth to penetrate into their deluded minds. It was Ranma's mother, and her giving false hope to Shampoo and Ukyo that they still had a chance to win Ranma's heart that was the problem they needed to work on at the moment. That and getting Ranma fully adjusted to the new thoughts, feelings, and sensations that were running wild in both his bodies. He was nearing at least 'normal' control of his male side, but today was the first time he'd felt the full rush of female thoughts, feelings, and the sensations of his female form. It would take him a while to come to grips with the changes in his self and to accept that he was no longer the person he had once been, but was now both a Man and a Woman.

Akane moved to sit next to Ranma, placing an arm around the other girl's shoulder. Tears streamed down her face as she realized that as far as they had come in the last month, they still had a long way to go before they could give themselves fully to each other. "I know, Ranma. I know. It just hurts a bit to realize how much we still have to do after everything we've been through the last month. After everything we've gone through the last few years." She looked fondly at the girl she loved who was looking up at her so lovingly, blue eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "I love you, Ranma. More then I thought I would ever be able to love anyone since Mother died." She placed a short, loving kiss on Ranma's cheek. "I'm willing to wait until we're ready, Ranma. We both have gone through a lot of chances in the last month or two, and it's going to take time for us to be really ready to finish our . . .explorations. But I want you to know, that I don't want us to simply stop our 'lessons.' I rather enjoy most of what we've 'studied', and I don't want to go back to the way it was, with neither of us feeling comfortable expressing ourselves to each other. We've worked too hard to get to this point to go back, Ranma. I want you to know that you can come to me at any time, for any reason. If you want to talk, that's great. If you just want to cuddle, that's fine too. And if you feel the need to . . .'study', then I'll be right there ready and eager to 'study' with you. Guy, girl. It doesn't mean a thing to me. You are and have always been Ranma to me."

Ranma lost the battle and tears started running down her face as her emotions over rode her control. She didn't understand why she was crying if she wasn't hurting or feeling sad. "What's wrong with me, Akane? I don't understand why I'm crying."

Akane grinned through her own tears and placed another kiss on Ranma's face. "Nothing is wrong, Ranma. It happens to all of us. These are happy tears, anata. Sometimes, we get so full of emotion, that it has to come out somehow. And so we cry. It even happens to guys, so you don't have to feel unmanly or anything." she said, one hand coming up to wipe at the tears.

Ranma gave a wry grin. "That means nothing to me any more, Akane. I've got learn to accept that I'm not just a man anymore. I'm also a woman. Not half and half, but all of both. And until I know what that means for how I live my life, I won't be ready to take on that last responsibility." A blush rose on the red head's face and her head lifted from Akane's shoulder to look at the small window in the room. "But I don't think I want to just stop 'learning' all together. I wouldn't mind if you could help me get used to this form's reactions the way you did my male form. I REALLY enjoyed what you did in the dojo. I hadn't realized how different it would feel for a girl. Have I ever made you feel like that?"

Akane felt a warm flush of renewed desire as the memories of some of their more . . . private moments flashed through her mind. "I don't know if I've ever been as . . . high as you were Ranma, but you have brought me to the Clouds and Rain a few times."

Ranma's head swung back to her. "Clouds and Rain?"

Akane felt a small blush burn her cheeks. "It's a phrase to describe that feeling you felt. I think it was really strong for you since it was the first time you felt it, and you're new to all the things about being a real girl. So everything feels more intense for you right now."

Ranma blinked, then a sly look came on her face. "I think I need to 'practice' more if I wasn't able to make you react that strongly. After feeling what you did to me, I want you to know how high you made me feel. But right now, I think you should go to your room and change. Then you can come here and help me pick out a nice outfit. I think we should go out on a date tonight, and I want to look nice for you."

Akane smiled gently and placed a last kiss on Ranma's cheek. "I'll go get dressed, then come back and help you pick out something. I love you, Ranma."

"I love you, Akane. Now go. While you're getting dressed, I'll go wash up a bit. I'm more out of shape then I thought with this more grown body."

The two went their own ways. Ranma to the furo to wash off the sweat of the training session, and Akane to prepare for their date.





*Chapter 6*: Chapter 6


I own nothing but the following Idea.

By popular demand, here is a sequel/continuation of 'State of Mind'.

Ch6 of State of Ours.

Okay. Reviewers: I am aware that most places consider the proper spelling to be

Nodoka, not Nodaka. I am using Nodaka for a reason. It is NOT a typo. I am trying to stress the pronunciation ( NO DAh KA, not NO DOugh KA). What the Kanji characters, which one reviewer demonstrated, translate too, doesn't matter. I AM TRYING TO SHOW MY DISRESPECT FOR HER. Have I not made that clear? I will now be deleting any review that mentions the 'mis' spelling of her name.

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The date was going well. Akane had come down dressed in a nice pantsuit to compliment the dress Ranma was wearing. Even the colors matched. Ranma's dress was a deep green full length dress, not too formal, but more then simply casual. She was wearing comfortable low heeled open toed shoes of a lighter green. She'd also brought a green purse. She'd curled her hair and tied it back loosely. Akane was wearing a dark blue blazer, a lighter blue blouse, and navy pants. Her hair was slicked back in an even more masculine style then usual, giving the illusion of a normal young man taking his girlfriend on a date.

At the moment, they were at a dinner on the outskirts of Nerima after having just finished watching a movie they'd both been wanting to see. It had been an odd night in it's normalcy, and Ranma had had a few moments were she'd nearly been over welled by her emotions. They both laughed it off with comments about being glad they'd avoided the other choices at the Cineplex, which included several tear-jerkers, a teen date comedy, and the typical romance films. Instead, they'd gone to the only action movie, a Western film done with an Eastern flare.

"You know, I wouldn't have thought someone from the West could even do some of those moves that guy pulled off. He looks almost as good on screen as Jet Li and Sammo Hung." Ranma stated while swirling her straw in her drink. They were waiting for their meal to arrive. The dinner was one of several 'specialty' restaurants in Nerima, this one priding itself on serving 'Foods of the World'. Ranma blushed a little and leaned forward lowering her voice. "And his bald head is kinda sexy."

Akane giggled and leaned forward, ruining the image she'd been trying to represent as a young man. "I like his voice too. All deep and scratchy. And the accent. Very sexy."

Ranma giggled again. "I didn't even understand the words, and I have to agree. His voice does make you shiver, doesn't it? I'm just glad that it was subtitled and not dubbed. I hate it when they dub good movies like that. They always kill what people are really trying to say."

Akane leaned back and grinned widely as she enjoyed the atmosphere of the evening. This was really their first date and one of the first time's Ranma had left the Tendo-ke since the surgery. He could have left after the first three weeks, but hadn't wanted to risk running into any of the weirdness that usually defined their lives. So aside from the doctor's and occasionally shopping trips with Kasumi, he'd rarely left the grounds. The Kuno's were now being treated on an outpatient schedule and the restraining orders against them had been extended in both length of time and distance. So far, they'd been behaving, but neither Akane nor Ranma was really trusting in that little document to keep them from resuming their normal crazed behavior once the doctors lessened their bonds of observation.

"So how are you feeling? Still keeping control?" Akane asked after the waiter dropped off their food.

Ranma paused while looking down at her plate consisting of Tacos and nachos. "There was a bit during the movie when I almost lost control. Everything just got to be a bit much. We were having a great time, and I was so happy and the movie was good. Then you placed your arm around my shoulder, and well, I nearly lost control again. Luckily, learning how to do that as a guy helped me control it as a girl."

"Er, sorry about that. I didn't even think about how you might react. I just wanted to hold you and show you how much I enjoyed being there with you." Akane blushed, twirling her fork in her spaghetti.

Ranma looked up and met Akane's eyes, her own shimmering slightly. "Don't ever feel bad about wanting to hold me Akane. I love you and I know that this isn't what you probably wanted for your life, but I am so happy that you care about me." She looked away, towards the other people in the restaurant. "I was so scared when I first got here and met you. Then you wanted to be my friend. I hadn't had a real friend since Ukyo, and you know how that turned out. I'm just glad that I haven't driven you away. I don't think I'd have been able to live through the last month if you weren't there helping me."

Akane leaned forward again and took Ranma's slim hand in her own. "I couldn't leave you to go through all this on your own, Ranma. Not after all the times you've come to my rescue. This time, it was my turn to help you."

Ranma frowned a little. "You would never have needed to be saved if you never met me, Akane. I've brought so much chaos and danger into your life. I'm surprised you don't hate me."

Akane gently stroked the back of Ranma's hand with her thumb. "Ranma, my life was crazy and full of chaos and danger long before you came into it. Or have you forgotten that Kuno was chasing me before you came and that he'd excited that mob of boys to attack me every morning? Or that I had met Shinnosuke when I was about the same age you met Ukyo?" She tugged gently on Ranma's hand, indicating silently for Ranma to come closer. The red head did and they were inches apart when Akane spoke next.

"Do you really think those boys would have stopped and been happy with only a date if they'd beaten me? Don't you realize what they would have done to me if any of them had beaten me?" She saw the dawning of knowledge in Ranma's eyes and continued. "Part of why I was so mean to you at first is that I was scared that once you learned about Kuno's proclamation, was because I thought that you might listen to him and do what I was scared of. A few months before you moved in, one of my friends was raped by her boyfriend and some of his friends at a party. I was at the party, Ranma, and his friends had tried to get me to go upstairs with them. I refused and tried to find her so that we'd leave, but she wanted to stay with her boyfriend.

So there we were, me already scared and hating boys for what they'd done to my friend and what could have happened to me. And you, so much stronger and better then I was that you could do whatever you wanted to me and I couldn't do anything to even slow you down. You could hurt me, hurt my sisters, and no one would do anything to stop you, especially after that stupid contract between or fathers and both of them pretty much doing everything they could to get you to do it.

But over the months I watched you and I came to realize that you wouldn't do what I was scared of. And I saw how much you cared about everyone around you, even those who seem to hate you and try to kill you. But by then it was too late. We were already in that cycle of insults and poundings, and I couldn't see a way to get it to end. After Saffron, I had hoped that we'd be able to clear the air, but then the wedding and those idiots blowing it up." Tears shined in Akane's eyes as she recalled the day and the damage done.

"You looked so handsome in your tux, I had trouble breathing when I first saw you. But then that argument about if you loved me or not when I knew better. I knew then as I know now that you do love me Ranma. It was just that you didn't know what love was, you COULDN'T know thanks to your idiot father and what he did to your head. When we learned there was something physically blocking you from, well, growing up, I couldn't turn away from you. Nothing, not dragons or gods, multiple fiancées or demons, ghosts or even brain surgery will ever make me stop loving you. As for the curse, that matters even less then anything else. I will be with you and love you, no matter what form either of us are in so long as you want me with you, Ranma. Only you can make me leave, and it will take something very drastic for me not to try and stay with you."

Tears were streaming down Ranma's face, leaving streaks in the makeup the girl had applied. She closed the distance and kissed her fiancée with all the love she could put into it. Both moaned at the intense flow of emotions washing over them during the powerful kiss. They ignored the people buzzing around them as they slowly broke the kiss. They shared a shorter, less passionate kiss before leaning back and taking up their meals. Both were red cheeked as they started to eat, occasionally leaning forward to share tidbits from their plates with each other.

Neither noticed that at the back of the restaurant, eating in a booth alone, was a tall, dark haired woman in formal kimono with a wrapped bundle resting on the bench next to her. The woman, her dark red tinged hair tied in a severe bun was glaring at the pair of lovers, the remains of her shattered teacup cutting into her palms as anger and disgust flowed through her.

'How dare that wanton sow attempt to seduce my son's female form in such an open and public manner. Has she no sense of propriety and decency?' Nodoka's face became an icy mask worthy of the coldest of marble statues. 'I must hasten my plans. Those foolish girls are taking too long and letting that sow have too much control over my son. I must contact my friend at the drug company. She should have that new, stronger batch of drugs ready by now. And further enhanced with Passion Spice should make the Viagra and Extasy even more powerful. There's no possible way my son will be able to refuse the girls offering themselves to him. Now I just have to get him to my home with the shrew so that I can slip the drugs into his food without his noticing. Then the three girls can come in and do what they need to ensure I get my grandchildren.' She continued to glare as the girl's finished their meal, occasionally leaning forward and sharing a kiss. She waited until the pair had left before signaling for the waitress and her check, only then noticing the blood running down her palm and arms from the shards of broken china. 'How did that happen?'

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So what do you all think? was the date good? Nodoka evil enough?

Anyone care to guess who they were talking about? And what movie they went to see?





*Chapter 7*: Chapter 7


I own nothing but the following Idea.

By popular demand, here is a sequel/continuation of 'State of Mind'.

Ch7 of State of Ours.

Here's the long awaited next chapter in the ongoing saga of mine. Hope you all enjoy. I'll try making it longer then the last chapter.

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"This being a girl thing isn't so bad." Ranma mused quietly to herself as she posed in one of the outfits Akane had recently helped her buy. It was a short negligee, with a sheer bodice and panties that didn't show more of her body then she was comfortable showing. It hugged her body tightly, without being constrictive. It was smooth and cool on her skin, and while doing a great deal to highlight her beauty, it was also more concealing then some of the bikinis and other outfits she'd worn when she'd used to try and fool some hapless idiot into doing what she wanted.

The date had ended about a half hour ago, after she and Akane had shared a series of heated kisses in the engawa before parting to their own rooms. Akane had tried to get Ranma to join her, not for anything overly intimate, but simply to cuddle and hold each other over night. And while Ranma had been very tempted to join her fiancée, she doubted she'd have been able to sleep beside Akane without giving into the feelings that burned through her body whenever they touched. It was difficult to control her emotions when she was in his normal body, but things in his female body felt even more intense. She knew she'd have to get used to the feelings and that once she was, they would affect her as strongly as they were right now. A part of her was saddened by this, but she could understand that she couldn't live her life as a slave to her emotions and physical sensations, in either form.

Thanks to Akane and a lot of hard work, she'd been able to if not master, at least come to terms with the new 'abilities' of his male form. Now, she just had to get used to those same sensations in this body. And sleeping with Akane, no matter how innocent the suggestion, would not be conductive to her gaining that control.

'Still, that didn't mean that they could have a goodnight kiss or two', she thought to herself with a giggle, checking herself in the mirror one last time before sauntering to her fiancée's room.

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Nodoka waited patiently for her friend to return from her lab with the new, enhanced drug combination. She'd called this morning, still angry at the way her child and the hussy had been acting at the diner the previous evening. She wanted to get the drug and have a chance to test it before she set the plan into motion. So this evening, at the Tendo-ke for dinner, she'd slip some of the drug into Genma and Soun's food. Just a fraction of what she would give to her wayward son in order to get him to break through whatever spell the hussy had on him. If the drug worked, then the pair of fools would rush from supper for the nearest geisha house, or might even go to a low class whore house like the ones Genma used to frequent and tried to hide from her.

She arrived early, and made polite conversation with the eldest Tendo daughter. She wasn't overly fond of any of the girls, but found Kasumi to be the least objectionable. Her values and behavior were far more proper and traditional then either of her sisters. It's unfortunate that their mother had died before being able to better control her way ward daughters.

"I have a new recipe I would like to try this evening, Kasumi dear. A friend of mine sent it to me from America." she said as she sipped at the customary glass of tea.

"That sounds lovely, Obasan. I'm sure Ranma and the others will enjoy trying something new. Especially from America. Will you need anything special that we don't normally have?" Kasumi asked, clapping her hands together. She was doing her best to avoid the sense of apprehension she felt when the older woman mentioned the recipe, but even for her, it was difficult. The tension between Auntie Nodoka and her sister was a very tight string that might snap at any time. If Auntie did or said anything to anger Akane, then she didn't doubt that Ranma would turn away from his mother. And as painful as it was for him right now, she knew how much it would hurt him to cast his mother aside from his life.

"Oh, I don't think there's much we would need. It's a fairly simple recipe. Would you have any fresh ground meat? Unfortunately, tofu isn't a good substitute for this particular meal."

"Moue. No, we tend not to keep meat here since it spoils so quickly. We'll need to stop at a butchers and get some there."

"Then we should hurry. The recipe is simple, but it does take some time to cook." Nodoka stated, putting down her teacup gently. "Oh, where are my son and your sister? I had wanted to ask Ranma if he would like to spend some time with me on Sunday. I thought he might like to visit some of my family."

"Oh, I didn't know you had any family left, Auntie. Uncle never speaks of any family, either his own or yours." Kasumi finished her tea and gathered the tray. "I believe Akane is at school, and Ranma was going for an appointment with his gynecologist today." As she moved gracefully from the room, she noted the wince of the older women's face at the reminder of how complete Ranma's curse was. "The doctor wanted to run a base line on the changes in his female form to try and judge when Ranma should expect to have a period. We know from what Khu Lon has told us of other's with Ranma's curse, that it depends on how much time Ranma spends as a woman. The cycles will take the same amount of time as a normal woman's, but will seem longer depending on how often Ranma is a girl and for how long he remains a girl when transformed."

Nodoka frowned and stood stiffly to her feet. She waited as Kasumi slid into the kitchen to place the tea tray on the counter and returned. "I'm afraid I don't really understand that, Kasumi-chan."

"Oh, it's quite simple really. I'm just not used to explaining it without getting into the language the doctors used. Basically, Ranma will have periods, but they won't be every month. It will depend on the time he spends as a girl. Most women have their cycles about 27 days apart. That's about 648 hours. So for Ranma, at an average of 3 hours a day as a women, it would take 216 days to have a period. Less if he spends more time as a girl."

Nodoka frowned as she moved to the door and slipped into her shoes, setting her slippers into the box by the door. She would have to ensure that her son spent as little time as possible as a woman until he'd impregnated his brides and then she could have him spend a month or two as a woman to prepare him for his husband. She'd want Kuno's seed to catch in her daughter as fast as possible, since despite his wealth and manliness, he was a bit of a fruitcake and could get damn annoying with the Middle English take on the language. Still once Ranma was carrying his child, she could manipulate him into signing over his fortune to his heir, and have him done away with. It was, after all, something of a family tradition. Maybe her parents would take her back into their lives if she presented them with both their grandchild, great-grandchild, and a fortune to rival that which they had lost during the occupation, which had forced them to sell her to Genma for far below her true worth.

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Ranma wandered around the neighborhood, having felt the need for a break and for once, she too the needs of her body into consideration instead of forcing through the pain to appease her father. She had been scared by the doctors warnings, especially when the doctor brought her and Akane to a Head Trauma ward at the hospital and she'd seen what might happen to her if she didn't obey the doctors instructions.

She'd finished at the doctor's office earlier and immediately gone for ice cream. She'd wanted Akane to go with her, but she had to get used to going through the exam on her own since for the next few months she'd be having one every month. Yasamoto-sensei had given her a notebook calendar to track how long of each day she spent as a girl compared to as a guy in order to try and get some type of framework to track her periods. She blushed horribly every time the doctor mentioned this fact of her new life, but there was little she could do, except try and control when she had them by either limiting her 'Girl Time' or maximizing it to hurry her cycle through.

She paused to look into the window for a shop, and admired some of the dresses that were displayed. She caught her self doing so and started to berate herself but stopped as she recalled what her psychiatrist had told her about accepting the changes in her personality that might happen instead of fighting them. Akane had agreed with the doctor, and Ranma would do nearly anything to make Akane happy. The thought of making Akane happy reminded her of their good night kisses from the night before and how aggressive Akane was becoming with her. She guiltily looked at the dresses and thought about how she might look in several of them and how Akane would look in others.

She wished she'd brought more money to maybe buy a dress or two, but most of her money had been spent a few days ago when she and Akane had gone shopping to buy clothes for the changes her female body had gone through. She was much taller then she'd been before, and was of a slightly different shape, slimmer in some places and wider/thicker in others. Her bust wasn't much bigger, but it was differently balanced on her larger frame, with more space between the breasts resulting in larger cleavage, and a fuller appearance. They rested higher up, making them stick out more, which gave the illusion of greater size. She would have been upset about that since it drew even more attention, but Akane seemed to like how she looked, so she decided to enjoy it. Like she'd said before, if she had to be a girl, at least she was a damn hot girl. 'Young woman now, Ranma.' she stated quietly to herself, while making a mental note of the stores name so that she could come back when she had some money to spend. Maybe Akane would like to come as well and they could spend a day out together away from the normal problems that lingered in Nerima.

Nabiki was starting to slide a bit back to her mercenary posturing, and their fathers were obviously up to something and hiding it. Not to mention that she'd heard that Ukyo and Shampoo still hadn't completely given up on winning her heart, and were in serious training together to try and win her from Akane. The Kuno's were back in the Institute, but there was always the chance they could be released or could escape at any time. No one had seen Happosai since just before her surgery so that meant the old letch would be coming back around to bother them all soon, and she would present an even more compelling target for the perverted Master. Ryoga had disappeared after Akane tore him a new one, but she didn't doubt that the lost pig had somehow managed to twist things around to make Akane's words some kind of plot by Ranma to keep the fanged freak from his beloved pure hearted Akane.

Ranma couldn't repress a lady-like snort at the thought of Akane being pure of anything. She'd learned in the last month or so that her fiancée was one of the most perverted people she'd ever known. There was almost nothing that Akane hadn't been willing to try with her male body during the month he was locked in it. And even though they hadn't done all of why they each wanted, Akane had eagerly tried anything that Ranma had been brave enough to mention. A blush rose on her face, and her body temp increased as she recalled some of the things they had done to each other in the privacy of the furo and their bed rooms. The rush of sensation and desire she felt coursing through her was growing ever more familiar to her in this form.

She was starting to really enjoy the 'perks' of being female. It was much easier to hide being aroused when female then when male, so as she continued to walk to the bus depot to catch her ride back to Nerima, she was fairly certain that no one else was aware of the 'interesting' thoughts running through her mind. Thoughts of just what she'd do to Akane, the next time they were alone and he was able to be male. Not that various ideas of 'interesting' moments between Akane and her in her current form didn't also cross her mind, but she was much more comfortable with thoughts of her birth form giving and receiving pleasure from her fiancée.

The desire and lust grew, making Ranma even more eager to get home and back to Akane as soon as possible. Deciding that the wait for the bus was too slow, she headed out of the station and with a few rebounds off the taller buildings was soon hopping the roofs of the 10 story building level as easily as most of the people on foot was walking the streets. A few people looked up and caught sight of the red head racing her way from rooftop to rooftop, but just shrugged and went about with their own business. Super-powered people using the roofs and skies of Tokyo as their own highway system were so common, that unless one fell out of the sky and landed on someone, then no one noticed anymore.

Ranma made her way to the train depot across the city, thoughts filled with images of a seductive looking Akane beckoning her with lust filled gaze. She put an extra effort into the next jump, and leapt over the intersection some 120 feet above the ground. She almost missed a step on the landing, thrown off by the changes in her body, but recovered and moved on. As she leapt over the next alley, she was passed in midair by another jumper, who simply nodded at her in passing before continuing on his way.

Ranma paused, not used to seeing other people travelling in her preferred method. She glanced at the boy who was already halfway across the gap of the intersection. The boy was relatively nondescript, but his aura showed he was a skilled fighter, and on another occasion, Ranma might have followed him to find out his training style and abilities, but there were more exciting concepts on her mind.

She leapt off the last roof and landed in the alley between the station and the museum next to it. She made her way into the terminal and checked the schedule. There was no stop in Nerima, but there was one just outside of the community so she would have to get off the train there. After checking the price of the ticket, she realized that she didn't have the price of the fair. She thought for a moment of calling home for some help, but decided that if she couldn't afford to ride in the train, she'd just rider on top of the train. She should be able to hang on with her ki to keep her in place while it moved at it's normal 200+ kilometers an hour. She could then simply leap off when it slowed to enter the station nearest Nerima and roof hop the rest of the way home.

Smiling, she leaned against a pillar just outside the station and about ten feet higher then the roof of the train. She would leap on while it was still gathering speed and that would make it easier then catching it at full speed. She allowed herself to drift off into pleasant daydreams of lace and satin wearing Akane gently teasing her newly matured body, while keeping only the bare minimum of her mind focussed on the train. So intent was her focus on the fantasy playing through her mind and heating her body, she didn't even realize that the train passed and she'd hopped the roof and anchored herself in without conscious directive until it started to slow down for it's first stop some ten minutes later.

She reached the block with the Tendo-ke just as Kasumi and her mother left the compound. She would have rushed to join them, but she wasn't feeling overly eager for her mother's company right this moment. Her mother had been less then receptive to Ranma's desire to accept her female half as part of her true self. She stayed out of their sight until they rounded the corner then bounced into the yard and through her open window to her room. She decided that since her fiancee wasn't around to help her 'relieve' her awakened needs, she should get some practice in.

She changed into the new gi that Akane had bought her, as well as the sports spra and undies before heading out to do some kata until her fiancee returned. Most of the restrictions were now off of her and she was to return to school the next day, but she wanted a few more hours alone with her fiancee to talk about what she would be facing at school.

She had also heard that the Kuno's would soon be able to leave the clinic they were currently residing at and she had no doubt that she and Akane would have to beat them down a few dozen times to get the new situation into their heads. She also expected Ryoga to show up again some time soon, despite Akane's warning to him not to return.

Ryoga was the closest thing to a friend she had in her life during the rough times before meeting Akane, and while she was angry and disappointed in the idiot, she didn't want to loose his friendship. Without Ryoga, some of their adventures would have gone a whole lot different, and who knows if she and Akane would be together now without Ryoga's goading her on by playing on her jealousy towards any one who could openly show Akane what they felt. Her feelings for Akane might have been muted by the injury up until she'd had the surgery, but they had existed and while she might not have understood why she was always so angry when Ryoga spent time with her fiancee, but she couldn't deny that she had hated seeing the Lost Boy touching the blue-haired beauty.

She moved smoothly through the forms, automatically adjusting for the differences in balance and weight by the mature form of her cursed body. She was adapting to the changes in her female form with more ease then her male form, but that was simply common sense really. Her male form had gone through muc hgreater changes then her female form. Her female form had changed more physically, though his male form had also grown up a bit. His male had gone through the most mental adjustments since it had been the most affected by the bone chips blocking the hormone production needed for a person to grow from boy to man.

She was just finishing up when a shout of dismay from near the koi pond attracted her attention and she rushed to the doors and through them open. She was bot hshocked and somewhat pleased at the sight that greated her eyes.

"Ryoga!"

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Note for Readers:

I know a lot of the last few chaps might seem repetative, but Since this is an attempt at trying to get Ranma to mentally come to terms with his situation, I feel he needs to think about it a lot and from several different angles, which I hope I am showing. There is the angle of pure physicality I am trying to show, the mixed up hormones and sensations that are so different from his male body, the newly awakened libido and burgeoning sexuality. I'm trying to show that while he's starting to accept that a part of him is female, it's still hard for him to just accept it and sometimes he has to work hims way through why he's even trying. And since he is now a 'normal' teen with their puberty driven hormone levels spiking in both forms, and he's now able to appreciate Akane's body as well as his own(both forms), it's often causing him problems of concentration on other matters.

I am thinking of performing, what to my mind at one point, is the ultimate sin: starting a blog or journal of daily thoughts regarding ALL my stories, even those I'm not actively writting or pursuing incase someone wants to run with them. I get a lot of ideas for stuff to write, but I don't have the time to write them all. Lord knows that is obvious from how slowly I update some stories I have posted.

I am planning on creating my own homepage to post all my stories, their inspirations, and inspiring images that have lead to storylines and plots.

It all depends on the upcoming purchase of my laptop. If I am declined by the company I want to purchase, I will then have to go with a lesser system for higher cost and time do to shipping and freight, instead of just being able to walk into the store in town and pick the one I want. So once I do get the laptop, I will be doing a great deal more updating for all my stories. I can pretty much pay most off in cash right now, but there is a bit of credit. I can pay off what I cant now, in 2 or 3 checks (4-6 weeks). I will have the laptop by Xmas, even if I have to hide my money somewhere and lock it up so I don't spend it then take the whole price in cash to buy it at the store.

Donations are being accepted. For more info, contact shall-iin's email address shall-iin dotcom.(no spaces)





*Chapter 8*: Chapter 8


I own nothing but the following Idea.

By popular demand, here is a sequel/continuation of 'State of Mind'.

Ch8 of State of Ours.

Here's the long awaited next chapter in the ongoing saga of mine. Hope you all enjoy. I'll try making it longer then the last chapter.

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From previous chapter...

She moved smoothly through the forms, automatically adjusting for the differences in balance and weight by the mature form of her cursed body. She was adapting to the changes in her female form with more ease then her male form, but that was simply common sense really. Her male form had gone through much greater changes then her female form. Her female form had changed more physically, though his male form had also grown up a bit. His male had gone through the most mental adjustments since it had been the most affected by the bone chips blocking the hormone production needed for a person to grow from boy to man.

She was just finishing up when a shout of dismay from near the koi pond attracted her attention and she rushed to the doors and through them open. She was both shocked and somewhat pleased at the sight that greated her eyes.

"Ryoga!"

Now...

"What? Who are you?" Ryoga asked as he watched the well endowed red head bouncing towards them. A rather beautiful, well shaped, and sexy redhead with an amazing smile...Ryoga felt the blood boiling and start trickling out his nose, as his eyes remained glued on the girl's . . . generous assets.

"What the hell's the matter with you,buddy? Don't even recognize me?" the girl asked, stopping about five feet from Ryoga. Ranma frowned as she noted that Ryoga wasstaring at her chest, and looked down, blushing when she realized that the gi top had loosened and her bra was showing. "Hentai." she muttered, one hand firmly closing the shirt, while the other swung out and smacked Ryoga hard. Akane had taught her a little bit about feminine modesty in the last month. "It's me you idiot- Ranma."

Ryoga blinked and took a better look at the girl's face. Delicate features, bright green eyes, long, soft red hair tied in a loose ponytail. She was standing with her hands on her hips, posture upright and almost rigid, which had the effect of enhancing her already impressive bust. Her face was set in an irritated frown, a look he'd often seen on Akane's face but never on Ranma's. There was something about the whole body language that screamed 'Female', a natural effect all woman had that not even Ranma was able to copy.

"You can't be Ranma. You're a girl." the lost boy stated in confusion, his eyes locked on the blue material peeking through the gap in the gi.

Ranma saw where Ryoga was looking and two things happened. One was that one of her hands came up and closed the gap on her gi, and the second was that her other hand reached behind her, and flew forward to slam a small, wooden mallet down on Ryoga's head. As Ryoga collapsed to the ground, Ranma stared at the mallet in puzzlement before a saucy smirk came to her face. She tested the heft and weight of the mallet, before noticing an engraving on one of the faces. She pulled it closer to read the inscription:

'Pervert Masher 2006-Starter Model masher to punish perverted boys, demons and dirty old men. Guaranteed to punish the pervert no matter how skilled/powerful in the mystic or martial arts. Serving deserving girls since 1443 B.C.'

Ranma giggled a bit to herself as Ryoga started to come around, feeling immensely pleased with her self. 'I can't wait for Akane to get home and see that I've finally learned enough feminine modesty to be able to use a Pervert Masher. She didn't think I would do it for a few more months.' She looked at the mallet, only slightly larger then a crab/lobster mallet, and frowned. 'A bit small right now, but it does say this is a starter mallet. I can't expect to start with one the size Akane uses.'

"R...Ran...RANMA! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? HOW COME YOU"RE MORE OF A GIRL THEN BEFORE?" Ryoga screamed as he got woozily back to his feet. That mallet was smaller then the ones he'd seen Akane use on Ranma and Happosai, but it hurt as bad as one of Ranma's punches. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOUR GIRL FORM? HOW COME IT'S GRO-URK" His tirade was stopped when Ranma-chan punched the wind out of his body with a short blast of Amaguriken punches to his solar plexus, leaving him gasping for air and struggling to listen as Ranma explained the situation.

"The surgery I had allowed my body to finish going through puberty, or at least, to get me to where I'm supposed to be at sixteen, Ryoga. The doctor's had mentioned that this would happen once the surgery was done, remember? You were there right?" Ranma said, her voice more . . . adult than Ryoga had ever heard it.

Ryoga paused, trying to remember the events of a month or so ago.

FLASHBACK (1)

"What this is showing is the part of Ranma's brain currently being affected. It is the part of the brain that is in charge of regulating the hormones produced in order to provide sexual arousal. It is also prodding an area we have long believed to control emotional growth. With these spikes in their current positions, it would be physically impossible for Ranma to react either in a physical or emotional manner appropriate for someone of his age. What I mean is that emotionally, Ranma is stuck at the age he was when he suffered the injury. We are guessing, from what he's told us of his past, that this would be around 10 or 11 years old."

Dr. Yasamoto continued when Dr. Yosami paused. "Because we are dealing with the brain, there is a slight chance of danger to Ranma during the operation and the recovery period. We estimate, from what he and Tofu have been able to tell us, that he would need at least a full month to physically recover from the surgery. This means that he will be restricted from fighting for that time. Any one who attempts to provoke him will be seen as pressing an assault against him and will face the full penalties of the law and justice system. For that month, as it's been for this week, any one who in any way harms Ranma, either physically or emotionally, will be arrested and tried for crimes ranging from assault to attempted murder. There are no exceptions."

"Leave, Hibiki. I want nothing to do with you ever again. If I ever see you, in any form, I will show you what pain is. I reject your so-called love, for if you had loved me, no one would have stopped you from telling me the truth about your curse within days of our meeting. Yet you have continued to use your curse to cause pain to my fiancee, using the secrets I confided to my pet against him and causing me to attack him for defending himself against your abuse. You are the worst kind of scum in the world, for you are too stupid to admit what you are, even to yourself. Ranma does have flaws, but he knows they are there, even though he pretends they don't exist to others, he works to overcome them. Even his father and Happosai are more honorable then yourself. Happosai might be the worlds biggest pervert, but he admits it. Damn, he's PROUD of it. Ranma's father might be a greedy, foolish, pathetic liar, thief and all round scoundrel, but he never pretends to be anything else. He takes pride in what he is, no matter how generally unacceptable that is to most people."

"You, however, can not even admit that it was your fault that you missed the duel with Ranma. He waited at the assigned place for 3 days, Hibiki. And the grounds were right accross the street from your home. Then you CHOSE to follow him to China, he did not force you too. If you were so foolish as to stand on the edge of a cliff while watching a nearly naked girl chasing a panda, and then too immature to control yourself when she leapt over your head and you saw something private that you lost your balance and fell from the cliff, then it is your own responsibility. You wonder how I know this, and I will tell you. I have heard your discussing this with Ranma on several occassions, though I missed the part about your landing in a pool and being cursed."

END FLASHBACK

The rest of the conversation from that day, and the events of not long after flared up in Ryoga's mind, and he froze as he realized that he was at the Tendo compound when he'd been trying to get to Akari's farm. Rage started to grow as he recalled the pain and betrayal he'd felt when Ranma had revealed his curse to Akane. How his world had shattered at Akane's belief in Ranma's lies and refusal to even listen to the truth. His aura burst around him , dark flickering green. "RAAAAAANMAAAAAA!" he growled, his voice deepening with his rage. "I WILL KILL YOU!" he shouted, his hand moving towards the red-head's throat with a speed he'd never before posessed.

Ranma blinked as the expression on Ryoga's face changed and the aura burst into life around her friend. Before she could ask what the problem was, Ryoga's hands were reaching for his throat, and it was only Ranma's expreience with the Amaguriken and fighting Kirin that allowed him to see what happened.

Less then a hands breath from the soft skin of Ranma's throat, Ryoga's hands stopped, paused for a moment, and then retreated at a speed far greater then the attack. Ryoga's whole body was moving backwards, thrown by the force of a kick from a previous unsespected source. Ranma blinked and shook her head, trying to clear her vision as she saw what appeared to be a glowing Kasumi moving to stand between her and Ryoga.

"Kasumi?" Ryoga exclaimed once he caught his wind from the kick and the impact with the wall. "What are you doing?"

Kasumi's face was set in expression few had ever seen on her. Pure Rage. A flash was the only indication of movement before another impact shattered the bridge of Ryoaga's nose. "Do not refer to me in such a casual manner, Hibiki. You have lost the right to be familiar with the members of this family." she snarled in response, her voice so unlike Kasumi's that Ranma was beginning to wonder who the imposter was and how they'd managed to make a 'Spring of Drowned Kasumi' without any one knowing that Kasumi had gone missing.

"What. . . what do you mean?" Ryoga asked, though his voice was someone muffled as he took a moment to reset the cartilage in his nose.

"By your actions and dishonor conducted agaisnt my sister and her chosen spouse, you have made your self an enemy of our family, Hibiki. By my sister's own words, you were banished from our presence, and yet here you are, once again demonstrating your own lack of honor by disobeying her commands. Not only that, but you have disobeyed a legal decree by openly attacking Ranma, who is still recovering from her operation and is thus sancrosanct against any hostile action. I have already alerted the authorities that you have broken the agreement, and they shall soon be here to escort you to you new accomodations at a specially constructed facility to restrain those of your abilities. I shall give you three seconds to leave this premise and await the authorities outside this compound before I take matters into my own hands and revert to the old laws regarding an enemey incursion into our fiefdom."

Ryoga blinked, not sure what was going on. He glanced at the red head, who'se face had set into stone as Kasumi's words reminded her of her lover's pain and rejection of the lost boy's presence. He didn't even notice that Kasumi had reached three until a sharp sting across his chest drew his attention and he realised that the older girl had drawn the Tendo Family Sword from some hidden space and slashed him with it. "What..." he started before the sword rose to swipe at him again. Seeing the serious expression and mannerisms of the girl, Ryoga decided that it was best to leave, and leapt over the wall, landing somewhere in Europe, where he stood leaning against a stone wall, waiting for the police to arrest him.

Ranma was completely frozen in shock. It took several minutes before her head cleared enough to let her blink and review in her mind what just happened. "Er, Kasumi, why'd you do that? I was kinda hoping to spar with the idiot."

Kasumi whirled on Ranma, her face still set with fury. "Ranma, you are not to have anything to do with Hibiki. He is not your friend, and has never been. It is time for you to realise that. He has betrayed your trust in him with his behavior and brought shame to this house by his meer presence. Remember what Akane told him? He is no logner welcome in the presence of any member of either the Tendo or Saotome families and if you insist on maintaining your ilusion of friendship with him, you will bring further dishonor and shame to the families and especially to Akane, who ordered his ban."

Ranma blinked as Kasumi's words took root in her mind. She clearly remembered her lover's reaction when she'd learned of Ryoga's curse and his use of it to interfere with their relationship. She bowed her head as the realisation of how close she'd come to betraying her fiancee's trust. She would have to work at reminding herself that thigns had changed and that she had to think not only of her own honor but also of Akane's. Ryoga was no longer a friend or even an acquaintance. He was now basically an enemy of their family and needed to be treated as such.

"Sorry, Kasmui-oneesan. I didn't forget really, just didn't understand how seriously it would effect or lives. I guess I thought I could still hang out with Ryo- er, Hibiki and spar and stuff, as long as Akane wasn't around. I didn't really think about it, because as dishonorable as what he did was, I've always thought of him as a friend. He's done a lot to help us in the past, saving both our lives. I didn't want to loose that I guess. He's been a part of my life for a long time." Ranma said.

Kasumi's face softened as Ranma spoke, understanding where the younger girl was coming from. Ranma had lived a lonely, and difficult childhood and Ryoga was one of the few ties to a relatively peaceful and tame part of his life. Those times were few and far between for the young martial artist and his scoundral of a father. "I know this is hard for you, Ranmachan, but it is for the best. Hibiki, Ryoga, has used you and your belief in friendship often in order to drive a wedge between you and Akane. No matter how much you considered him a friend, or how helpful he has been in the past, he had his own motives to help, and he has never accepted your friendship. He is too bound by his own selfish desires to see what you were offering to him, and because of that, he had lost more then the illusion he had of Akane's love, Ranma. He's lost he only family he's ever really known. He can no longer be a part of us, as long as he remains unwilling to acecpt his own mistakes. He must learn to stop blaming others for problems of his ow making. And until he does, he is unwelcome here, and we are not to associate with him in any way."

Kasumi placed a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder, drawing her close for a hug. Ranma went without resistance, tears prickling the corners of her eyes. "I was not lying when I mentioned the police, Ranma. Ryoga's presence and anger towards you would have lead to a fight, and you are still under doctor's care and orders not to fight. The Ryoga Hibiki who you considered a friend is dead to us, and you must learn to accept his passing. I know that you don't like to hold grudges, but this is not something you can set aside. Not if you wish to be the man you are slowly becoming. Mourn his loss, and keep the good things you know about him in your heart, but never forget that he was also a hateful, angry young man incapable of admitting his own faults."

Ranma leaned into the hug. For the first time in her life, she felt no shame or weakness as she allowed the emotions she felt to flow out in the medium of tears and sobs as she mourned the last link to the inocence of childhood and her newfound growth towards adulthood.

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AN

I hope you liked it and found the balance of humor and 'real' emotion to work well.





*Chapter 9*: Chapter 9


I own nothing but the following Idea.

By popular demand, here is a sequel/continuation of 'State of Mine'. (as a helpful reviewer noted, the first story is properly Mine, not Mind

I suggest that you READ EVERY WORD, INCLUDING PREVIEW AND AUTHORS NOTES. It WILL help understand some of what happend IN the story. Warning: some sexuality occurs in this chapter. Nothing overly graphic, but lots of mention of things of sexual nature and innuendo.

Ch9 of State of Ours.

Ths is long, there's a lot of reflection, and a flashback that isn't. POV from Nabiki, Kasumi, and Nodaka all reliving the same sequence of events. Then the aftermath of those events, which brings us back to where the chapters started. It got long enough, I thought of splitting it in several smaller chapters and slowly putting them out to torture you all as you torture me with low review numbers, but I couldn't do that to you people. You've been so nice to me, I couldn't be that cruel. Or could I?

There's a lot of explaination in the author's note section. You can skip it, but you might miss something you'll find interesting. If I didn't find it interesting, I wouldn't have written it. If anyone who knows more about Japanese traditions and language thinks I made any errors, feel free to call me an idiot and correct me, both in reviews and emails.

Here's the long awaited next chapter in the ongoing saga of mine. Hope you all enjoy. I'm also going to try something new. a flashback from one character's view, but it' current events for others. So the flashback will be in italacs(as explained below) and the parts where that person wasn't around and someone else was will be in regular text.

I also put in a few Japanese words and sentences. I've put translations in the authors notes (most anime or fanfic readers know at least a few), but I'm not 100percent sure about some of them. See author's notes for explanation on how I translated into Japanese.

main language they speak is japanese. I will occassionally use real Japanese words or phrases, but it's mostly written in English.

If you see the following, then remember the descriptions listed:

thought, foreign language , "main language speech"

(an1, an2-author note reference), flashback, strongly stressed word in a phrase

it will be like this in all future chapters, and most of my stories.

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Nodaka frowned as she stared at the inate figure laying on her bed. She had woken not long ago, feeling ill and suffering from symptoms she'd usually seen in her husband after one of his drinking binges. It wasn't until she'd noticed the figure next to her, however that she'd dashed to the bath room to be ill.

What's wrong with me? Why am I so ill? How did my simple plan go so wrong. she asked herself between the heaves caused by her nausea. She struggled to clearly remember the events of the previous day and night. My plan was perfect, now it-and my honor- are shattered. I have lost my son to that wretched girl because of what actions I must have commited. I must seek a way to regain my honor.

It was as she stood and flushed the results of her illness that she heard a groan of pain at the entrance to the bathroom. Fearful, she looked up and froze, again feeling ill at the sight of her bedmate. Luckily it was a simple matter to return to her previous position to heave once more into the porcelain recepticle.

"Nani desu ka?" the figure asked, looking around the small are with a glassy look in his eyes. It was clear that he had no idea of where he was or what happened. "Chikuso! Atama ga itai desu."(an1)

Nodaka took one more look at her companion and shivered in revulsion. She rushed over to the bathing station and ran the water as hot as it could get, her mind filling with the details of the previous evening. Once the water was hot enough to scald, she grabbed her scrubbing brush and the harsh soap she prefered and starting scrubbing at her skin, trying to remove the foul presence of the man's being from her form.

The man looked at her and frowned. "Kibun ga yokumai arimasu ka?"(an2) the man asked as he watched her. "Is something wrong, wahina? Everything seemed to go well last night." He approached and turneddown the hot water, before sitting on the stool opposite her and grabbing the second wash brush. "It has been a long time since I've had such an . . . eager bedmate."

Nodaka looked at the man and felt the heaves start up again. She rushed back to the toilet and emptied what little remained, her eyes closed and her mind screaming in horror. This is not happening. This is a nightmare. This is only a dream. Nothing could have made me dishonor myself and my family with that . . . that . . . thing!

Satisfied that she had indeed been having a nightmared ue to the stress she was under, she flushed the toilet and slowly stood. Opening her eyes she turned to the bathing station and sighed. The man was gone. See, I told you it was a nightmare. she thought. Her mind shattered when she turned to the furo and saw the man seated comfortably in the just warming waters.

"Well, wahine, are you going to join me or not?" the man called as he gestured to his side.

Nodaka screamed and fainted, her head cushioned from the fall by the towels stacked under the sink. She would later be heard to comment that she wished she'd been a step closer to the sink, because then her head would have cracked against it, and she might have split her skull open and died.

Her conciousness fled, the evening's events played before her eyes, again torturing her with the knowledge of her horrible fate.

FLASHBACK

Nodaka hummed happily as she prepared the special meal for her son. She'd taken no chances this time. She'd seen his future concubines fail in this task too often to risk it. Not only had she drugged the meal, but she'd also coated her son's utensils with the clear liquid solution that her friend had provided. And knowing that her son was the only one not to drink coffee, she'd laced the coffee pot with the antidote -which was a pale yellow and smelled faintly of oil- as all of the food contained the drug, and she certainly didn't want her self affected by it. She then placed the drug and the antidote behind some old tins of American beans that were in the cupboard over the oven, knowing that no one would look there.

She left the kitchen to call everyone down for supper, never seeing the girl hidding behind the door to the kitchen. The girl who had witnessed everything she'd down.

Kasumi frowned as she watched the older woman stirring some unknown liquid onto all the foods she was preparing. She had heard the woman humming to herself from the hall, where she'd been placing the linen into the storage cupboard next to the furobu.(an3) She'd gone to ask why Auntie was so happy, since she had been rather fussy lately, but as she'd approached the kitchen area, she'd felt a sense of minor disturbance. There was a rather unpleasant aura coming from the kitchen, and so instead, she'd slid into the slight grove in the wall next to the western style swinging door.

The grove was formed by a support that jutted out from the rest of the wall. The interior of the house had been remodelled when her mother inherited it from her parents in order to upgrade the kitchen. The support that now stood out from the wall and served as somethign of a door stop used to by even with the wall when the door used to be in the traditional sliding shoji style. But they'd had to move the door from it's former location in order to install the proper wiring for the modern conveniences in the kitchen and the rest of the house. The carpenters at the time had left an opening in the wall so that person in the kitchen could look out into the dining area across the hall so they'd know when everyone was seated and ready to be served.

This opening had later been covered from the kitchen side, and used as a shelf on the hall side. But time had warped the cover, and there was a gap between it and the doorframe, which allowed a person standing in Kasumi's current location to look in and watch the person in the kitchen, if they nudged the weakened cover. From the kitchen side, you could not move the cover, since it was even with the wall and there was no evidendence that it existed. Unless of course, you knew that it was there.

Kasumi used that gap to watch as Nodaka poured a liquid over the food. She then watched her prepare the trays to bring out to the dinning table, and saw her coating Ranma's utensiles with the liquid. The older woman also coated each of the bowls and cups with the liquid. She frowned as she bore witness to Nodaka poured from a second vial, this time into the coffee. The yellow liquid was quickly stirred into the brown beverage, and Kasumi's frown deepened as it occured to her that Ranma was the only one who didn't drink coffee. The rambunctious youth that had so revitilized her family didn't drink any cafinated beverage, except for the occassional variety of strong tea. He prefered natural drinks such as juices, milk and water.

Kasumi remained in her spot as Nodaka moved over and hide the two vials behind the old beans her father had brought home not long after their mothers death. It had been the last time Kasumi had allowed him to go for groceries on his own since only he could stand the horrid flavor of the sauce used by the american company who'd made the beans. And once she'd started cooking, he'd forgotten all about them. She kept them there as a reminder of the difficulties her family had experienced with her mother's loss and how she'd realised that her father had also been lost. It had not been until Akane's begging and pleading to learn martial arts that he'd shown the slightest spark that he still lived and hoped.

She waited patiently as the Saotome matriarch left the kitchen, glad that the jutting support and open door hide her from the older woman's view. She waited until she sensed the woman stop to talk with the elder males as they cheated their way through yet another new game. She quickly moved into the kitchen, going to the cupboard and grabbing the vials. She emptied the clear, odorless liquid down the drain, and moved the food to pour the yellow liquid into the food. She paused and instead, reset Nodaka's tray with new bowl, cup and utensils while washing out the ones she'd had. She then made sure to pour some of the yellow liquid -she assumed it was an antitode of some kind since everyone but Ranma would have ingested both it and the clear liquid- into the open container of orange juice and also into the teapot.

She paused and studied the vials. The yellow vial she refilled with a mix of vegetable oil and lemon juice, but the clear oil presented a dilemna. It was thicker then water. It had been odorless, so vinegar could not be used. She finally decided to use the liquid spray cleaner she prefered for the microwave. Mixed with bit of water, it formed the perfect thickness and there was only the slightest hint of a smell. She replaced both vials and left the kitchen, entering her room and sitting on the rocking chair that had once been her mothers. She picked up the book she'd been reading, this one a novel about a mentally challenged man who'd been cured by a special treatment, but chose to resume his former life by ending the ongoing treatments.

It was about ten minutes later that Nodaka entered her open door to advise her dinner was ready. She smiled pleasantly at the woman and put down her book, marking her place with oneof her mother's favorite ribbons.

Nodaka had left the kitchen in a good mood, certain her plan would not fail. She decided to advise her husband and his friend that dinner would be ready soon before seeking the children. She frowned as she noted them playing yet another new Western game. As best she could tell, it involved moving pieces around a board based on a pile of cards, a role of oddly triangular pointed die, and correctly answer the type of question that corresponded to an image on the face of the die and the card. The questions seemed to range from history to politics to science.

Unsurprisingly enough, despite their standard method of cheating attempts, neither had moved very far down the board. Soun's piece -a half inch high figure of a samurai- as slightly ahead of Genma's -some type of futuristic vehicle. Soun had always paid more attention to such things then Genma, whose only interests had been food, fighting and . . .well the Westerners had an interesting word that fit the pattern of Genma's interests. Now, Genma's only interests were food, fighting and playing games with Soun. His previous . . . appettites had shown no sign of returning with the rest of him. She found this very upsetting as she had been the reciprocant of his rather . . . impressive talents in that area and she had looked forward to resuming her wifely duties when she'd found him again. She might have gone into her marriage under her father's orders, and she might find most of Genma's traits reprehensible, but she had greatly appreciated his talents in that particular dynamic of their relationship. She wanted him to regain an interest in the 3rd 'F' in his former '3F' list of interests.

But since he'd shown no interest in her, or in the various 'establishments' in the area, she had to surpress her own urges. So she had turned to her son and been appaled at the lack of interest he'd shown in this area. A young man his age should think of little else. He should have been bedding girls since he started his growth spurt and his voice deepened. A boy, not a young man as attractive and powerful as her son should have any and all the female companionship he desired. Physically, he certainly had all the proper apperance and growth of a man. But he'd not shown the slightest interest in any of the various well endowed girls who constantly threw themselves at him.

She had come to accept that the surgery had affected him, and she'd seen plently of evidence lately that he was responding qutie visibly on a physical level. He had rarely left his room that first week after the surgery as his response had often occured suddenly and without warning whenever any of the admittedly attractive Tendo daughters where in the same room. She had been quite flattered -and excited- to see that even if Genma no longer desired her, at least her manly son could recognize her feminine charms. What bothered her was that even with such obviously attractive woman who cared deeply for him, he had not bedded any of them. Not even that cow he seemed to favor. She didn't count those little explorations they'd enjoyed together.

Those were little more then a childs exploration. It was ovious that -as much as she had grown to dislike her- the youngest Tendo indeed desire her son, and yet still he refrained from properly taking his pleasure, instead allowing her to use wasteful methods to bring him the relief he deserved. As far as she was concerned the girl should thank the kami that he had even a slight interest in her and keep her mouth shut and her legs open instead of the other way around.

And the same went for the other Tendo girls. They should respect their elders and be honored that a man such as her son would use them for his pleasure. If she was ten years younger, and not his mother, she'd have bedded him the moment she first saw evidence of his interest, irregardless of where they were and who was watching. She couldn't believe how . . prudish the girls of today were. Why, if her father had told her to, she and her sisters were to be engaged to a boy, then they would do their duty and allow the boy to choose his wife after he'd been given the chance to test all three to see which one he would prefer to have in his bed.

After her discussion with the only others physically her age -if mentally still children-, she went in search of her son. She found him, currently in his female form, waiting by the entrance to the grounds. She frowned as she took in his form. He had obviously cleaned and changed since his light work out in the dojo that afternoon. He was currently wearing an attractive little sundress. It was tight across his impressive chest, and swung freely in the breeze, the hem sliding along skin as smooth as silk. The girl was looking down the street through the open door, seeking something. For a moment, Nodaka was hopefull that some boy had finally caught hte girl's eye, but as the young woman's face lit in a bright smile, she turned to gaze at the source of her hapiness and saw only the annoyance that was the youngest Tendo as she returned from school.

She turned back to her child, and felt a flash of irritation as the girl was now shuffling her feet and squirming in place. Even from her position, Nodaka could make out that the girl was not wearing a bra, and she sincerely hoped that it was the cold that had affect her, but unfortunately, she also recognized the other signs. She sighed, and wondered why her daughter couldn't find a nice young man to bed her instead of her perverse relations with the Tendo girl. Maybe a young man that would enjoy both of her child's forms. If only her son desired the touch of a man as much as she. It was a rather traditional relationship, going back to the Shogun and Samurai. The love between men was traditionaly considered the only pure love that existed, and if her son travelled that path, she could respect his decision. After all, the curse would still allow child to be born of such a union. But no, he was too caught up in his juvenile feelings for that girl.

What is the point of a union between two woman? she thought as she watched Ranma greet Akane by molding her body to Akane's form, and searing the other girl's lips with a kiss. She saw her child shudder and shake in the arms of the larger girl, and felt a surge of sympathetic heat in her loins. The only goal of a joining of two woman is in order to please and arouse the man whom they both serve. It is inappropriate for a woman to desire another woman's touch, no matter how pleasarable such acts are.

She called out to them, and ignored how wobbly her child was as they walked over. "Dinner will be ready soon. Ranma, go change. I want you to be male tonight."

"Aw, mom. I'm supposed to stay girl all week!" Ranma whined, not wanted to have to change clothes after she'd gone through all the trouble of making herself look pretty for Akane. It was the first time Ranma had made the decision solely on her own, and for her own benefit to be as feminine as she could. Thanks to Akane, she'd learned that being feminine did not necessarily mean acting giddy and foolish as she'd heard from her father. She could be feminine, but still enjoy sports and martial arts.

Nodaka frowned darkly. Before that whore perverted her with her unhealthy lusts, Ranma would never have refused me. Especially not when it regarding his returning to his real form and not this false shell. "Ranma, it is only for this evening. I am sure it's alright. I just want to have a meal with my son, is that too much for a mother to ask."

Ranma grumbled under her breath for a moment then sighed. She stepped away from Akane's supporting arm, but was still slightly wobbly on her feet. "Okay mom. Come on Akane, help me to my room, would ya?"

Akane's smile widdened and such an aura of happiness filled the air, that Nodaka nearly forgave the girl for her mistreatment of herself and her son. Then she recalled the actions of the Tendo daughter, and looked at her son's recent actions and was reminded of why she hated the thrice damned girl.

"Sure Ranma. Come on, I'll be glad to help you out of that dress and into some nice, hot water." her voice was deeper and huskier then usual, and Nodaka was torn between frowning in disgust at the girl, or feeling pleased that even such a beast of a girl could so desire her manly son. She settled on feeeling both.

She watched with a sneer as the larger girl pratically carried her son into the house and up the stairs. She nearly snarled as she saw her pawing her son's admittedly shapely buttocks through the thin material of the dress. The dress was thin enough that for a moment, she thought her child was wearing nothing underneath it, but she heard her telling the Tendo girl that she was starting to get comfortable with the thong style panties they'd purchased.

Nodaka snorted and went in search of the other Tendo girls, finding the middle girl in her room studying some type of book she hastily closed when Nodaka entered. Nodaka actually had high hopes for hte middle daughter. She seemed to exude the proper attitude at times, and Nodaka could tell that the girl was as attracted to her son as any of his suitors, though she controlled herself best. Ranma's reaction to her had shown that her son thought she was quite attractive, though he too had better control now. And with Nabiki's ambition to conquer the business world, she'd be a perfect fit as one of her son's mistresses.

It would work perfectly for both. Nabiki would be allowed the pleasure of her son's touch, and Ranma would be able to pleasure himself with her form, and then not have to deal with her domineering personality. She might even make a good wife for Ranma, as she would no doubt have no care who her sone bedded, as long as he was kept busy and out of her world until her desire for him become too great. She was only a woman after all, and she was sure once her son pleasured her, she'd never want to stop receiving his gift. If Ranma had inherited half as much of his father's former talent in this area as he had in the field of martial arts, she had no doubt that girls and women would beg him for his pleasure.

Nabiki frowned as a flashing caught her attention. She paused in her exercise and moved to her computer, loading up the surveillance program. She noted that Nodaka was in the kitchen cooking supper. Something seemed off and she zoomed in on her. She saw her pouring some into and onto the food, and then watched as she used a second substance to coat their bowls and cups. She frown when the older woman used the first substance to coat the supplies on Ranma's tray. For the first time, she was glad that she had allowed Kasumi the expense for the personalized trays.

She watched the women move off camera, and cursed, realising she didn't have a goo angle on that location. She'd fix it the next day. Whatever the older woman did, it left her with a pronounced evil smirk as she moved to leave the kitchen. She switched camera's and saw her leave. From the new angle, she picked up a sliver of movement at the door begun to swing close. Part of the wall just moved? Oh, I forgot about that old servant's window in the kitchen. The door swung closed, but swung open inwards as Kasumi entered, a slight frown on her face as she marched to the off camera location.

She reentered the frame carrying the two vials Nabiki had seen earlier. She reversed what Nodaka had done, and Nabiki cheered silently. She had few guesses about what kind of liquid was in the vial given Nodaka's recent behaviour. With the amount she'd loaded into the food and the extra coating on the peripherals, Ranma would have been as high as the Tokyo Tower and hotter then the heart of Mt. Fuji. She doubted that he would have protested anything after that. Nodaka had certainly played the whole thing better then the idiots who'd tried drugging Ranma in the past. She just hadn't counted on Kasumi seeing everything. Or on the hidden camera's.

Then it would have only been a matter of waiting for the lust potion to hit Ranma's newly awakened hormones, and bang. He'd be off doing anything female that was within reach. She had no doubt that he would have tried to stay with Akane as long as possible, but given his stamina enhanced by the drug, no one woman would have been able to satisfy his desire. After he'd pounded Akane into unconciousness, he'd have sought out others to sate his needs. And that was her and Kasumi. And while Ranma was using the three of them, Nodaka could quietly and calmly call the fiancee brigade and tell them to prepare themselves.

But the gods smiled on them, and her plot was foiled. Nabiki grinned as she saw that Kasumi had changed Nodaka's bowls for uncoated bowls. Whatever was in that mixture Nodaka cooked up, she was about to feel it full force herself.

For a moment, Nabiki felt sorry for the older woman. She was only trying her best to make her son happy after all, and for normal men, having a harem of several exotic, extremely well formed woman catering to his every need both physical and material was a dream come true. She didn't even blame Nodaka for trying to supply hint to Nabiki and Kasumi to seduce Ranma.

Even now, if she thought for even a moment that Akane would allow it, she'd rip his clothes off and ravage him on the dining room table with the whole family looking on.

The biggest mistake she'd ever made was the day Ranma had arrived and she'd pawned him off on Akane. The realisation of that mistake came the first time she walked in on Ranma in the furo and she'd seen the evidence of Ranma's maleness herself in it's uncovered wonder. She punished herself daily for that mistake, and her frustration caused her to retreat even farther from her siblings and their guests. She'd done things since then to Akane that she never would have thought of before, trying to punish her sister for being so blind as to not realise what a prize she'd been handed with when she'd uttered 7 simple words that had won her Ranma's heart, body, and soul.

The most difficult thing she'd ever done was during that whole mess with Akane renouncing the engagement and giving it to her. She had to tread a fine line, and maintain absolute control overherself as she used their 'engagement' to torture Ranma in hopes of getting him to admit that he loved her sister. She had done so when all she wanted to do during that whole period was tie the boy to her bed and teach him what pleasure was meant to be. Not that it would have done much good, now that she knew that it would have been nearly impossible for Ranma to enjoy what she'd so wanted -and still wanted- to do to him. She didn't kid herself though. She didn't love Ranma the way her sister did. She just wanted to use his body to bring her to heights of pleasure she'd never experienced before, and if he enjoyed it, well that was fine too. That was what had given her the power to resist her lust this long. Akane truly loved Ranma, and he loved her.

It might surprise many, but Nabiki prized love over any monetary amount. It was love of her family that she most treasured, and if she could ever find someone she felt even a tenth of that Akane and Ranma felt for each other, she'd be happy for the rest of her life to life a modest life. It was love that had driven her to become the person she was now. Love of her sisters, her father, and the home that held the last remnants of existence left by the shared loss of the daughters mother and father's beloved wife. She'd done what she'd needed to do to keep them together at time when the loss was still too fresh in her father's mind to function in his role. She and Kasumi had become the caretakers of not only their younger sibling, but also their near catatonic father.

Her love had forced her to make harsh decisions that no child should make, restricting the budget and limiting luxury items, purchasing only what they needed to survive and keep the ancestral home. She raided 2nd hand shops for their clothing, began gathering information of interest on everyone around them in case she failed and they needed an escape. Akane never realised how hard her older sisters had worked to insure she had as happy a childhood as a bereaved child who'd lost her mother could. Love kept them together and out of the childcare system that would have torn them apart. It revived their father when he was at his lowest and the youngest of them decided she wanted to learn the Art he held so dear.

It brought him back even further when the Saotomes arrived and he was reunited with his oldest friend and partner in crime. He was nearly the father she remembered from the dim recesses of her microscopic childhood. He smiled, and laughed again. He begun teaching. He even started looking after the yard, freeing up much needed money from the neighbors they'd been secretly paying to help.

Oh yes, it was love for her sister that allowed her to overpower her lust for the man they both desired, if in slightly different ways. And now, it was love for the family that allowed her to overcome her understanding of Nodaka's behaviour to provide her own revenge against the woman. She had nearly managed to overcome her desire for Ranma, when she'd started making subtle suggestions that maybe Akane was the wrong Tendo that should fullfill the Famly Oath. Now, she was stuck once again, night after lonely night, fantasizing about what her sister was doing with Ranma. Forced to recall the dreams where she'd been the one to instruct Ranma in the pleasures of the flesh, both male and female. She had to fight nightly against the urge to dye her hair blue or throw on a wig and sneak into the boy's room pretending to be Akane. In the dead of night, drowsily waking from dreams of her, he wouldn't know it wasn't his beloved Akane until longer after they'd both reached completion several times. She'd make sure of that. If she wasn't doing her hardest to fight the desire.

No, for reawakening her desire to torture Ranma with pleasure just when he and Akane were finally getting their act together and not only talking about their feelings, but also acting on them, Nodaka Saotome must pay. And pay she would.

Grabbing her cellphone, Nabiki dialed a number from memory. Hearing the voice she wanted, she spoke quickly. "Listen, you don't like Ranma very much, right? Good. Want to make him suffer, even a little? Excellent. This is what you do..."

Nodaka served the meal with Kasumi's help. She'd prepared yakitori, sashimi, and yasaiitame to go with the rice and miso(an4). There was enough to feed a small town -or two male Saotomes-. And all of it was flavored with the extra ingredient her chemist friend had prepared. She checked Ranma's tray to make certain nothing had changed, and was pleased to note that the hidden signs she'd made on everything were still there. She served out the foot and gave her son a bright smile. "Itadakimasu!" she said as she started daintily eating, beginning with the soup, which she was displeased to see her husband and son drink from the bowl as though it were tea. She paused and poured coffee and tea for all, but only tea and grapefruit juice for Ranma, who thanked her.

The meal passed quietly, Akane and Nabiki discussing school and Akane mentioning the homework that the teachers had gave her to bring Ranma. Genma tried to start his usual 'training' of stealing his son'sfood, but Nodaka slapped his grubby paw away and reminded him that Ranma was still under the doctor's care and that stealing his food was a break of the rules that they'd been forced to abide by. He had grumbled and gone back to eating his food, occassionaly stealing something from Soun, who half heartedly retaleated.

About half way through the meal, she started to feel rather odd. It was a familiar feeling, one that she'd been experience more and more often lately as ten years of neglecting certain bodily needs begin to take their toll on her. She found herself watching her son as he ate, marvelling at how he seemed to grow more attractive each moment. She turned away, a little disturbed to feel such things for her son, only to catch sight of Soun. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment and she had to force herself to control her breathing.

"Is something wrong Auntie?" Kasumi asked from from her position next to her father.

Nodaka blinked and shook her head and the image of a nude Soun approaching with lust blazing around his powerful form faded. She turned to look at the younger woman, and gasped silently as it finally struck her just how beautiful the young woman had become. "I'm fine, dear. Just a little tired." she replied, turning to look down at her food and starting to eat a little faster, if still in a civilised manner.

A knock at the door sounded through the house, and everyone paused, frowns on their faces, and all but one sharing the same thought : Who could be rude enough to interupt our dinner with the doctor's order still in effect?

"I'll get it, it's probably for me." Nabiki stated as she leapt to her feet and moved quickly to answer the door.

"Well, I find this most inappropriate of Nabiki to invit a friend to stop by during supper hour." Kasumi stated as she took a last bite of sashimi with rice. She always ate each separate food in the same order. Soup, Tofu, Noodles(east or west style), Fish, other meats(beef, chicken mainly), and then vegetables, taking little bits of rice with each depending on the the meal. She picked up one of the yakitori skewers and enjoyed the flavor the of seasoned chicken.

Nabiki grinned as she answered the door. "Perfect timing. It's already starting to happen. You sure you are willing to do this?" she asked the person behind the door. She placed the plate she had taken with her on top of the shoe box kept near the door for indoor slippers.

"Ah, wahine, I be doing my best to teach de proper manners to de little keiki Saotome, but he no be listening to me. I hear you plan and think 'What de little keiki do when hear oh dis? He be crushed by what his mutter do. ' That's what. Are you ready, wahine?"

Nabiki thought for a moment. What she planned had the potential to ruin Nodaka's life and reputation. And it would hurt Ranma, no matter that he was having difficulties with his mother. But compared to the pain he and Akane would feel if Nodaka's plan had worked, it would be a pitance. Especially once she showed them the tape of her deliberately spiking only Ranma with the potion, while the rest were given the antidote. "Ranma won't like that I set this up, but he'll get over it considering what she wanted to do to him. You wait here, I'll send her this way. Are you sure you'll be able to do this? I mean, do you think you can actually get her to do this with you?"

Principal Kuno grinned and took off his glasses. He tightened his relaxed pose and unbuttoned his Hawaiian shirt. He then leaned on one arm against the door frame and flashed her a cocky grin, looking almost completely different from the usually clownish self he presented. "So Tendo-san, what kind of man are you attracted to?" he asked in perfect Japanese in a voice that sent shiver's down the young woman's spine.

Oh. My. God. If he was like this all the time instead of that idiotic self, he'd be beating the woman off with a stick. she thought as the full effect of the change struck her. She gulped, and got a strangle hold on her sudden surge of lust. "Do you mind if I ask you something?" she asked, some of the shakiness she was feeling inside escaping in her voice.

"Ask ahead, Tendo-san." the unfamiliarly attractive voice replied.

"Is the whole Hawaii thing an act? And why would you do that?" she asked studied his toned and tanned form. She had never expected him to be this put together, but considering his fights with Ranma and his son, the man obviously did get a lot of exercise.

The elder Kuno seemed to consider her words before nodding. "It didn't start as an act. After my wife died, I lost myself for a while and needed an escape. She had always enjoyed those movies that showed Hawaii, with the hula girls, and the palm trees and everything. I think I must have been half insane, because I remember thinking that if I went there and looked hard enough, I'd find her. So I made arrangements to have my business interests looked after, and Tatewaki and Kodachi looked after then lefto n my search. Instead of finding her, I lost more of myself until I was indeed as I show myself to be. I returned to Japan in the hopes that my children would welcome me back and have grown into something I could be proud of without my interference. I knew I wouldbe a bad influence on them. My wife was always the calmer of us. There is a malady in the family line, and it runs through me to my children. The westerners call it obsessive-compulsive disorder."

Nabiki nodded. She had studied some psychology texts over the years in order to better learn to manipulate and predict peoples actions. "I've heard of it, but always though it not too serious."

Kuno-jiisan chuckled. "It can be very serious and the symptoms take many forms. The most common is that most people suffering from OCD also suffer from various levels of hypochondria and are often extremely phobic towards various things. Often, the symptoms doesn't go out of control until you reach adulthood. For Tatewaki and Kodachi, it hit earlier. In our case, it generally makes us totaly focused on a few things. For me, it was Hawaii and hair cuts. I've always been a hair person, but it became much worse during my stay in Hawaii. For Tatewaki, it has become his dream of being a samurai, your sister and Ranma. For Kodachi it is her potions, pets, Ranma, and gymnastics. By the time I returned, I was the nutball I show the world. It had become my defense to shield myself from the pain of loosing my wife, and causing such pain to my children.

But not long after, I ran into the doctor who had first realised what my condition really was and helped me gain control early. It was because of him that I met my wife, and that I was a man she could love. He talked me into going back on medication, and since then I have slowly become the man I once was. The man my wife married. But it's so easy to slip into the habit, that I decided to continue the act. It is easier for me to do somethings I feel need to be done, if I go overboard on others that don't really matter. That way, when I do something that does matter, my political opponents on the school board don't take me seriously while my allies and I quietly set about improving how the private schools such as Furinken are governed. I can get away with saying or doing things that some of the others can't."

"And the fights? The reason you want to punish Ranma by doing this?" she asked.

"Ranma needs to learn something I learned long ago, Tendo-san. It's a harsh leason, but I think that he would prefer to learn it from me, then some of those who might teach it to him in the future."

"What is that, Kuno-san?"

"No one is untouchable, Tendo-san. You know this as well as I. No matter how powerful, no matter how rich, how young, or how old, we are all just human, and all of us have the same fate hanging over our heads. Death and loss comes to us all, Tendo-san, and Saotome needs to learn that he is not untouchable in this. That even the strong can be brought down. In truth, I hold a lot of respect for the young Saotome. He isn't the best student I've ever had in my school, but he's brighter then he lets on. He has to be, in order to have lasted this long. I know I was a rotten father to my children, Tendo-san. But what Ranma was put through by both of his parents is beyond criminal. It's just this side of pure evil, what they are doing to him. I feel that if he'd had better role models growing up, he could easily have been in the top three of the entire district."

He held up a hand as Nabiki started to laugh. "Before you laugh, Tendo-san, imagine this: A Ranma Saotome who had spent his life putting as much energy, concentration and love into school as he does in martial arts. You and I both know Tendo-san, that Ranma is destined to be the best martial artist the world has ever seen, if he keeps growing as quickly as he has shown. Even now, I would match him against any of the ranked competitors and place his opponent as the underdog. I would match him aagainst any of the unofficial fighters as well."

"If you really think he's that good, then why the continued act? Why not talk to him like you've talked to me?" she asked, shivering as she imagined a Ranma as Kuno described. She had to bite her lip to stiffle her moans of pleasure at the thought and her shivering became a full blown shaking for several seconds. Oh damn, I think I just had an orgasm in front of Principal Kuno! she thought, discreetly shifting and feeling the distinct and famliiar feelings from between her legs. Oh yeah, definitely hit the O-zone. And without a single touch. Damn it, I can't believe how much I hate Akane right now. I can't believe I'm giving her Ranma.

The older man sighed and for a moment, she caught a glimpse of his true self. Then the mask of the seducer was back. "Because by the time I regained my senses, it was too late to do any good, for anyone. Ranma would never willingly accept that I was trying to help him, so I am forced to sneak my help in with those silly plots and idiotic plans." He paused and looked deeper into the house. "So how do you want to do this? Should I go back to the table with you?"

Nabiki shook her head and grabbed the plate. "No, wait here and knock again 5 minutes after I'm gone, I'll keep Kasumi from answering the door, and by then, she'll be eager to get away from Ranma and my father. No matter how affective this drug is, there are limits and she is much too proper to perform incest even if she is thinking about it. And my father is as close to Genma as a brother. She won't get what she'll need from anyone in there." She presented him the plate. "I didn't want to dorce you into thise, but I brought this incase. These have the same drug that everything else does, only everyone but Nodaka also has the antidote. Except this plate. I think it might help if you eat this. But if you want to do this without it, then just leave it here, or bring it home and feed it to her later."

Kuno-jiisan looked down at the plate and sighed. "I suppose I had best eat this. That way, no one ever needs know that you planned this. You can just say that I happened by while you were talking to your friend and stole your plate. The sad thing is, everyone will believe it more easily then the truth."

Nabiki sighed and looked down, feeling an odd emotion. "I'm sorry for getting you into this. If I'd known that you weren't . . . that way any more, I would have found a different way to do this."

"Don't worry about it, little wahine." he said still in his deep, husky voice. "I'm going into this wide open. I agree with you. This is a lesson for Ranma and for Saotome-domo. She needs to learn to allow her son to make his own choices, just as I have while Ranma needs to learn a bit of humility and how to deal with humiliation of a form Genma could never provide. I am the best object to be used for this lesson, and I appreciate your allowing me to help." He paused as he finished the first of the skewers. "In return, all I ask is that you keep this little talk between us. After all, " he said, his voice slowly changing, "De big Kahuna have de reputaion to tink about." His voice changed again as he ate more of the drugged food. "It won't exactly be difficult to feign interest. It's been a long time since my wife died, Tendo-san, and Saotome-domo is a very attractive woman."

Nabiki bowed her head in a gesture of respect. She understood the principal much better now. That makes it easier to control him. a small part of her thought while the rest hoped that he would not suffer too much by this.

Nodaka thought she was slowly going insane. She had realised that somehow, she'd mistakenly been given the drug, but not the antidote. Or something was interfering and had stopped the antidote from working. She just no longer cared. All she cared about was trying to find a way to escape from this meal and drag her husband home and force him to pleasure her as he used to do. If she didn't leave soon, she might end up ravaging her son, or worse, Soun. She didn't know why she was thinking it would be better to have her way with Ranma then Soun, but for some odd reason she was.

She'd already reached the Clouds when Genma had brushed against her while reaching for more food, but that only seemed to make her desire grow strongter. Damn it, where was Nabiki? She had to get out of here and couldn't leave until the Tendo girl returned to be ravaged by her son once the drug overcame his obvious struggle to control himself. She could see how rigidly the boy was holding himself, and the sweat on his brow. She could hear the quickening pace of his breath, and she imagined that if she looked under the table, she'd enjoy another glimpse of the succes of her son's operation.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the damn girl returned and took her place. She had long since finished eating, as had Kasumi and the other girl, but the Saotome men were still refilling their bowls and plates, and even Soun was still eating, though he was doing so at a much more sedate pace, slowly adding occassional amounts to his plate. The yakitori were long gone, as was the sashimi. All that remained was the rice and the vegetables. Even the coffee was gone, and Kasumi had refilled the teapot already.

"Who was at the door, imoutochan?" Kasumi asked as she drank her tea. She had taken the empty serving dishes into the kitchen for later washing and replaced them with a tray of sweets. The elder Tendo daughter was well aware of her sisters security system of camera's and microphones and had no doubt that she was aware of everything that took place that after noon in the kitchen. Neither did she doubt that Nabiki was arranging her own revenge against the Saotome matriarch. I just hope she doesn't get any one too badly hurt. Another incident like the wedding and who kows what will happen?

Nabiki saw the sweets and quickly loaded her plate before either Saotome got to them. "It was Junko. She had some things to go over that took longer then I thought, or I would have invited her in. We got through it fine on the stoop." She replied before stuffing one of the chocolate confections into her eager mouth. As Nabiki sat, she saw Akane discreetly remove her hand from below the table and wipe it on her thigh. So little sis is getting a little adventurous in their games, is she? I wonder if she'd let me join them for a night or ten?

Nodaka shifted herself closer to her husband, who glanced at her and then shrugged. Damn how can I still want him so much after the pain he's caused our son? Not to mention the extra weight. she thought as she studied her husband. Unlike some others, she well knew that Genma's appareance was an act. He might have decided to let himself look non-dangerous, but she was well acquainted with the power and strength in his forms. Ummm. Especially his hips. she thought as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She could feel evidence of her excitement marking her clothing, and wondered if it would go through everyhting to mark the cushion upon which she sat.

A second knock at the door came and everyone paused again. As one they turned to Nabiki who frowned.



"It's not me. Junko's the only one coming by tonight." she made a gesture towards the door. "Someone else get it this time." Nabiki was almost insulted by the insinuation that the door was for her. She told them her part of the plan, making what others would think was a mindless gesture, but was the sign for 'Stop' in sign language.

Nodaka turned her head to Kasumi. It was technically the girl's duty after all. This must be part of Nabiki's plan. the young woman thought as she considered her sister's sign. I hope it's not too dangerous. Or painful.

"Oh, Auntie, can you answer the door please? The meal is sitting rather heavy at the moment, and I'd rather not chance any accidents until it calms itself."

Nodaka smiled at the girl, feeling herself melt at the hopefull and loving look on her face. "No problem dear. I'll be happy to get it." she said as she stood. YES! Finally. A reason to leave. Now if only I can find an excuse to go home and wait until this passes.

She answered the door and frowned as the man had his back to her. Her frown turned to a gasp of pure surprise. Standing before her was the shining example of what she wanted her son to be. Her eyes greedily took in the powerful form, passing over the ripling muscles of his chest, the six-pack of his abs, and lower, pausing and widening as she watched the bulge grow ever larger. Gulping and forcibly dragging her eyes to his face, her breathing quickened beyond control. Her heart was racing, and she felt the stirrings of longing grow ever stronger. "May I help you?" out of your clothes and into my body and bed? she asked, hoping she hadn't said the second part outloud.

The man's grin was filled with confidence and his eyes burned with desire. "Yes, actually, I think you can." he said before pulling her to him and kissing her soundly.

She tried to resist, but the potion and her own building lust was too powerful. She threw her arms around his neck and frantically begun rubbing herself against his chiseled form as he deepened the kiss by sliding one hand up to her hand and the other to caress her buttocks. She ground herself against the bulge of his groin, whimpering as the arousal became nearly painful.

"Tell your family you have an emergency at home. Nothing urget, nothing you can't handle, but something you need to do now." the man ordered in a confident tone of voice that caused Nodaka to reach the Clouds once again. "And don't take long." he ordered her, giving her a smack on the butt.

Gasping in surprise more from the flash of pleasure the slap ignited then pain, she hurried to give her excuse to her family. She was beyond guilt at the thought that she was leaving to go and betray her vow of fidelity to her husband. She had not qualms about a man's infidelity, and indeed had been taught that it was the proper thing for a wife to remain faithful while ensuring her husband had all the woman he could ever desire.

After making her excuses, she returned to the man by the door, pausing as an odd thought occured to her. As she kicked of her slippers and stepped into her shoes, she turned to him and asked "May I inquire as to your name, sir?"

The man chuckled. "Of course you can." he answered, his hand dipping between their bodies and pressing against her most sensitive and personal parts. She gave a small cry as the world was again washed away by the Rains. "But does it really matter right now?" he said, pressing and rubbing his hand harder, while he moved to suckle her breast through her dress's blouse.

"It can wait until morning." she said breathlessly moving to stand so he could have and arm around her waist. "Come, let us hurry. I am in great need of your assistance. My home is this way." she said.

The pair of them walked away from the Tendo-ke, never seeing the eyes of their watchers.

"Are you sure you did the right thing?" a voice asked as Nabiki prepared for bed.

Startled, the middle Tendo girl quickly hid her special friend under her pillow before turning lazily to face her sister. Wonder what Kasumi would think if she knew what I was about to do? she thought with a mental smirk. "I did what had to be done, for all fo us. You know what she wanted to happen. Do you think you would have been spared?"

Kasumi sighed and moved to look out Nabiki's window. "But involving Principal Kuno? You know what that will do to Ranma, don't you?"

"I know, and that's part of why he agreed. He said soem things today, that I never thought about, but that I realise are true. As much as this is going to hurt Ranma, what Nodaka wanted and wants from him would hurt him far more. He needs to have his eyes opened, sis. He needs to see that no one is perfect, not even the mother he's idolized from afar for the ten years of the training chips. He needs to use this to strengthen himself and learn to tell her, and the other girls, 'No'. A flat out denial of their claims, even if it hurts them. It can't go on, Kasumi. It needs to stop, and thanks to Nodaka -ironically enough- it will stop. We need to take him aside tomorrow, just him and Akane and tell them what she tried to do and show him the tape. So that he's prepared for when he learns what happened after."

Kasumi sighed and joined her sister at the side of the bed. "Then I have just one more thing." she stated softly.

"What's that?" Nabiki asked, as little uncomfortable with how cloes Kasumi was standing considering she no doubt would be able to smell her younger siblings unique scent quite well.

Kasumi smiled broadly and reached under the pillow, removing the large dildo from it's hidding place. "Can I borrow this tonight? I don't think that my little one will be enough and I know you have several others in that lockbox in her closet."

Nabiki's jaw dropped as she stared at her sister. Numbly she nodded, and was rewarded by a kiss on the cheek that caused her to blush, since the device was practically rubbing both their cheeks and it was still damp from her previous use just minutes before. Wait, how did she know about that? she asked as Kasumi glided from the room with a giggle, one hand gently stroking the length of the tool. Faint moans from the room next door caught her attention and she hurried shut her own door before stripping and sliding into bed, blindly reaching into her night stand and pulling out the twin to the device Kasumi had borrow. I know Ranma changed back to a girl right after supper. she thought while slowly caressing her body with her toy. But damn, I still wish I was in there watching them. Sighing, she resolved herself to a night of lonely self-pleasure to the background sounds of the pleasure seeking couple and the occassional image of her supposed innocent older sibling performing the same actions she was performing on herself.

END FLASHBACK

"What's wrong, lover?" the man asked as he studied the shaking form of Nodaka Saotome.

The woman screamed and lashed out. "DON'T SAY THAT! DON'T EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN! LAST NIGHT WAS A MISTAKE! IT WASN'T REAL. NONE OF IT. IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF THAT DAMN DRUG!"

"Oh, you mean the drug you tried to poison your son with so he'd go an a rampage and rape anything female that came within his reach? The drug you used on all the food so that there was no chance of his avoiding taking some in? The drug you have been planning to use for some time to drive a wedge betwen your son and the woman he loves? All because your pride was hurt by her actions defending him from your prejudiced and hateful words?" Kuno stood and moved out of the furo, standing above her prone form and glaring down.

Nodaka gulped as she looked up at him from her knees, reminded painfully of the events of the previous evening and a similar position they'd each been in at various times during the evening. "You know nothing of this matter!" she declared. "You are nothing but a nightmare caused by the drugs. You took advantage of my state to seek your own pleasure." she declared, ignoring the fact that under other circumstances -such as Ranma doing the same with his concubines- she would have been enamored of Kuno's manliness. But conviently since she was the 'victim' of the situation, such actions must clearly be wrong.

Kuno laughed and leaned over her, bringing certain parts to a hairs breath from her face. "I too sampled the dishes you prepared, Saotome-domo. And I learned something from it. The drug, no matter how powerful can not CREATE emotion, it can only amplify what is either already there, or what might be there. Every thing that happened last night, everything we did, we BOTH did becase we WANTED to. NEITHER of us forced the other. We were both willing participants, and don't delude yourself into thinking otherwise. Or are you going to deny that right now, this morning, with no drugs controlling you, you aren't as aroused as you were last night? Because woman I can see, " one hand moved down her body to grasp at her core, causing her to whimper in a mix of fear and pleasure. "-feel and taste the evidence." he said.

Nodaka lowered her eyes and gave up, defeated. She could not deny that she found this man powerfully arousing. He reminded her greatly of Genma, back when he'd shown an interest in her. "Nothing can come of this." she stated quietly, refusing to look up, knowing what she'd see.

"Perhaps not. But for now, we need not part ways so soon." Kuno-san stated, grasping Nodaka's chin and raising it until their eyes met. "Let's go back to bed, and take take of our mutual neglect."

Nodaka shakily got to her feet, and allowed him to lead her back to the bedroom where they remained for the entire day, bringing each other to ever higher peaks of pleasure as they worked of their combined 18 years of enforced sexual abstinence and repression.

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Author's Notes

I hope you enjoyed it, and found Nodaka's fate equal to her plans.

The thing I'm using to help translate doesn't explain how to ask someone else what I'm trying to say at certain points, only how to say that 'I' can do it/have it/so on.

ie it tells you how to ask for help, but not how to ask if someone else needs help. So I used what I saw in other parts that did ask 'Do you' and combined it with the parts I needed to make my sentences. Hopefully I got it right, and if any Japanese are reading this, or people who can and do read/write/speak Japanese, feel free to correct my mistakes. In fact, in future, I might even ask you for other translations if you are willing and give you credit for your help.

If anyone wants to offer me help on some Japanese I might like to use while writting, please feel free to email with a subject heading of either the story name, or Language help or something. In fact, I'm also looking for help in Russian for one of my other stories, and possibly Chinese as well as UK slang. Gaelic, Welsh, British, Scottish, any of it would be a help. I don't want to offend people by using one of the horrible on line translators that are wrong 9/10 times.

1-Nani desu ka translated to What is it? or What is going on?

Chikosu! Atama ga itai desu becomes Damn, I have a headache.

2-Kibun ga yokumai armisau ka should translate to Do you feel ill? I was trying for Are you feeling ill, but could find translations for this. But studying other Do you questions that are translated, I saw that do you comes out as arimasu ka(ka is always used when it's a question. if you see ka at the end of a japanese sentence when reading, that sentence is a question. if you see ne, it's like the canadian use of eh. can be anything from an ironic or ssarcastic comment to a hypothEtical question or general comment about something.) ANY QUESTION THAT HAS DO YOU, HAS ARIMASU KA IN IT, NO MATTER WHAT ELSE IS IN THE SETNENCE. so I had the translation for I am feeling ill (Kibun ga yokumai desu). Since desu is indicative(as best I can tell) of a personal possesive(singular, not plural, in the I am, or I have vein), I added the arimasu ka to make it a do you question. Hope this worked.

3-Okay, from what I have gathered, a furobu is the room where you find the furo, a tub that is usually filled with warm water(temp can vary depending on personal likes) that a person sits in after having scrubbed themselves clean. It IS NOT A BATHTUB. They do not use it to wash in. They wash at a special area generally close by, BEFORE they get into the furo. Traditionaly, the bathing area is like a large shower stall, except that instead of 'showering' as Westerns have come to do, they fill bucket with water and use that to lather the soap to wash themselves and rinse off. A station will usually have a stool or bench of some kind for the bather to sit on while scrubbing. A person keeps their personal equipment (scrub brush, shampoo, soap, etc...) in their bucket. New, or western style apartments built to save space have the western arrangement of shower stall or shower/bathtub comination.

4-yakitori is chicken on skewer sticks, usually barbequed on bamboo skewers, sashimi is slices of raw fish, and rice and miso are staples of Japanese diet. Miso is soybean soup usually served as breakfast, but like rice, I believe it can be served with most meals. if not, well, the Tendos do because it's relatively inexpensive and you can make a lot of it at a time, like rice, so there.





*Chapter 10*: Chapter 10


See previous chapters for disclaimers.

State of Ours Chapter10.

Italics is thought, bold is emphasis.

I'm starting a new job soon. Hopefully. I have to get 2 references from my former co workers, but I'm having trouble getting in touch with them. I forget most of their names (there was an insanely high turnover rate for that kind of job) and those I do remember have unlisted numbers or only cell phones that aren't listed. I had to get a Police background check and other stuff. The only thing I've had a problem getting was the two references (my photo id will be in soon.)

Any way, wish me luck.

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Ranma grumbled as she trailed along behind her fiancee, carrying the bags which had the supplies she and her eldest sister had purchased that morning. It was once again that time of the year, and the combined Tendo-Saotome families were preparing for a week long vacation to the seashore. The trip necessitated a visit to several shops in order to stock up on needed items. This list included practical items such as sunscreen, bug spray, and foodstuffs, as well as (in Ranma's mind at least) frivolities such as new bathing suits and other beach wear.

The one good thing about that was getting to see Akane trying on those skimpy bathing suits Kasumi talked her into trying on. The currently female martial artist conveniently ignored the fact that the angelic Tendo woman had forced her into outfits just as -if not more- outrageously revealing swim wear.

Even thought Ranma was beginning to sometimes enjoy being a girl, she was still uncomfortable with the idea of flaunting her new found comfort by putting herself on display. She would have liked to talk to her mother, but the elder Saotome woman had practically disappeared after their last family meal the previous week. During that time, Nabiki had been unusually prideful and full of herself. The middle daughter was never low on self-esteem, but for the past week, she'd been cocky and self-assured to a degree on par with the Kuno's.

And for the same period of time, Kasumi had seemed . . . less serene then normal. In fact, in anyone else, Ranma would have said that she was troubled and racked by guilt. But as it was Kasumi, that was not possible. Kasumi was never troubled by anything that happened nor was it conceivable for her to be guilty of any thing other then being too kind and gentle.

"So Ranma, which of those cute little outfits are you going to wear first?" Kasumi asked as they stopped to allow the traffic to flow.

"If I have any thing to say about it, none of them." the red-haired beauty stated as she rubbed her scalp. After the surgery, she had decided to keeper her hair short for a while. She had needed to even it out, so she had shaved it all to about a two inch length. The shaved patch that surrounded the surgical area was only now matching the rest in length. At times, she still missed her lost pigtail but Akane seemed to enjoy running her fingers through her new length. So it was a fair trade in Ranma's book. She heartedly approved of anything that brought her closer to her beloved.

"there's less material on all four of them then in one pair of my normal panties." she finished, a faint blush on her cheeks at the memory of just how much of her body was displayed by the . . . outfits.

Kasumi grinned almost evilly at the younger girl. "You didn't seem to mind the way Akane was staring at you. Especially when you bent over or stretched."

Both of the younger girls looked at each other, wearing identical blushes as equally identical surges of heat spread through their forms. Neither would have expected such comments from Kasumi (or for that matter, the rather risque choices in swim wear) and that was just one of the reasons why they had chosen to go with her, instead of the much more openly suggestive and almost sexually aggressive Tendo sister. Despite the fact that it was an open secret, they preferred not to have their families knowledge of their intimate relationship thrown in their face. It was still new to them, and they much preferred to explore this new avenue on their own without tips, hints, or suggestions from their embarrassingly open family.

"Kasumi!" Akane exclaimed, more surprised then angry by her sister's words. It was something she'd expect from Nabiki, not her eldest sister. That is why I asked her to come instead of Nabiki. she thought to herself. Nabiki would have been teasing us from the time we got into the store. I would never have even considered Kasumi teasing us. she glanced at her fiancee and her eyes automatically travelled over her generous figure. Still, I can't deny that she's right. I could barely keep myself from dragging Ranma into a changing room with me to 'practice' what we 'studied' last night.

"Oh come now, Akane. After the last few weeks, surely you no longer deny that you are just as attracted to Ranma-chan as you are to Ranma-kun. Judging from the sounds coming from your room since Ranma moved in, you certainly seem to be enjoying your fiancee's multiple forms."

Akane stared at the older girl, not believing that Kasumi had made yet another openly suggestive statement. "Kasumi! What's gotten into you? You sound like Nabiki. Frankly, it's a little scary."

Kasumi giggled. The light finally changed and the three crossed, Ranma still trailing slightly behind the sisters. Kasumi glanced at the younger girl and smirked as she realised the red heads eyes were glued to Akane's swaying posterior. the only time Ranma's' eyes moved from her buttocks was to ogle the flashes of skin on Akane's legs as they walked. Akane was wearing a shorter skirt then normal, one that showed of her well toned legs.

"Now that you and Ranma are getting along and growing up, I felt it was time to stop hiding myself so much. You are old enough and mature enough now to realise that I'm not just the oblivious home maker I've shown myself as since Mother died. I do have a sense of humor and am not oblivious to what has been going on. I had to put that part of myself aside while you and Nabiki were too young and immature to handle Mother's passing. I had to do what I could to take her place, although no one could ever replace her in our hearts. Now you've reached a point where you are able to know and understand more adult matters."

Akane smiled and made sure to lengthen her stride while slowing her pace. She was well aware that Ranma's eyes were tracking her swaying hips and flashing thighs. She was pleased she'd decided to wear the skirt she'd borrowed from Yuka for this trip. She was getting increasingly aroused by the knowledge that her fiancee was having so much trouble remaining in control of herself over such simple actions. It doesn't help knowing that some of those suits were a bit too small for Ranma's new form. The results of which she were well aware from personal experience. She'd suffered through the same stimulation that Ranma had felt from the too tight clothing.

Ranma was just learning to understand and control those sensations while Akane (and every other girl in the history of the world) had had many years to learn to control and generally ignore those feelings. Thought controlling herself had become harder in recent weeks with the advances in their relationship, the drives and urges of her body had increased greatly.

"I guess I shouldn't keep underestimating you, oneechan." Akane replied. "There's a lot going on right now. Ranma and I completely forgot about the summer break. We were planning on her going to school as a girl for the last week of class. All the teachers have been moderately happy with the work they sent home for her."

"Yeah doing it was a lot easier while I didn't have to worry about the Idiot Brigade or the Fiancee Squad jumping out of nowhere to either fight or date me. Or worse- do both." Ranma added, tearing her eyes away from the hypnotic movements only partially hidden by her fiancee's short skirt.

"I'm sure that it was, imouto-chan. Though you've had other distractions on your minds."

Akane blushed even as she joined in her sister's giggling. She could get to like this new Kasumi. As long as she doesn't become too Nabiki like.

The three continued to chat about the upcoming trip to the beach. Surprisingly enough none of Ranma's or Akane's suitors had copied their plans and decided to follow them to the beach. Ukyo and Konatsu would be going to see Ukyo's father, the Amazons were staying in Nerima with the Nekohanten. Ryoga was banished from their presence (no one doubted that he'd be back and would continue to both them, but the friendly nature of their rivalry was no more). The Kuno's were being forced to remain in Nerima and to obey a restraining order that forbid them from interacting in any way with any of the residents of the Tendo-ke.

The miscellaneous other weirdos in their lives were usually a result of their dealings with the Fiancee Squad or the Idiot Brigade. As much chaos as came to Nerima since Ranma's arrival, a great deal of it actually revolved around the principals of what locals had taken to calling the Nerima Wrecking Crew. Nodaka had also called ad told Kasumi that she wanted some alone time with Genma and to send the panda home, so those two problems were taken care of. Nabiki had stopped being a problem after Kasumi had taken her aside and chided her on her childish jealousy towards her younger sibling and her handsome fiancee.

The sleeping arrangements had been changed for this year. With no Genma or Nodaka or any of the 'suitors' staying with them, they could afford a smaller, but more upscale beach house. Soun would have his own room as always, while Kasumi roomed with Nabiki and Ranma with Akane. There was a chance Tofu would be coming with them, and if he could make arrangements to cover his patients, he would either room with Soun or rent a room at the nearby resort.

"Ranma, which of the outfits did you like best on Akane? I thought she looked very sexy in the V-String. Or that little mesh outfit."

Ranma was never so glad to be female or more mature. She knew that if she'd been male and as inexperienced as even just a few weeks before,she'd have likely died from the blood lost due to the nose bleeds caused by any one of the skimpy outfits any of them had tried on. Now, thanks to her experiences with Akane, she was affected in a different manner.

Now, instead of the childish and immature reactions of other teen males, she reacted as a woman or man would react. The rush of longing and desire had replaced the adolescent urges of the flesh. While Ranma still felt those urges as strongly as any other teenager, she had an understanding of and a control over those urges that most teens took years to gain. No, mere displays of flesh were no longer enough to disable Ranma, but that is not to say she remained unaffected.

The most difficult thing for Ranma was actually dealing with the physical sensations of her new form. Every breath of wind, or sliding of material felt like a lover's caress on the more sensitive parts of her anatomy. She was learning to ignore the sensations or to at least set them aside for a more appropriate time.

"Hey Akane, when we get home, why don't we go workout in the dojo for a while I want to see how close you are to being ready to learn some of the more advanced stuff you can do with your ki."

Akane beamed and squeezed her fiancee's hand. They had just taken their seats on the train and were sitting next to each other with Kasumi facing them across the aisle. "You mean the Amaguriken or the Mouko Takabisha?" she asked eagerly, already picturing herself casting a massive ball of ki at Ranma's other so called fiancees.

"Er, kinda. But there's other stuff too. Sensing danger, finding a specific person in a crowd, always knowing where you are and how to use everything around you to your advantage. Things like that."

"I look forward to it. And later, I might put on a private show for you tonight." she whispered into Ranma's ear. "Who needs a change room when it's just us?"

Ranma blushed, but got a wicked gleam in her eye. She leaned over and put her lips near Akane's ear. She gently blew a gust of air across the organ and nibbled on the fleshy lobe. "Maybe I'll put on a show for you, koibito. I have some . . . interesting clothing Mom bought me I haven't dared to wear yet."

Kasumi smiled as she over heard the pair's whispered conversation. It took all her control to keep from blushing as images of her sister and her fiancee parading around each other in their skimpiest lingerie entered her mind. She already knew more then she felt comfortable with about her imouto's burgeoning sex life. Still, she was glad that they had not yet learned of what had happened to Nodaka or of the woman's failed plan. She had nearly succeeded at completing her plan. It was luck that Kasumi and Nabiki had discovered and neutralized the scheme.

She just hoped that Ranma would not bee too angry with her for her part in his mother's disgrace.

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AN

I recently had to move, and am currently living at my parents place until I can put together enough for an apartment. I won't be able to update often, but will try to at least write as much as I can so I update a bunch of stuff when I do have the chance.

This chapter was actually hand written before I typed it in. I did it this way since I didn't want to bother anyone with the sound of typing late at night. I typed it in when I had the place to myself on Sunday afternoon.





*Chapter 11*: Chapter 11


State of Ours.

as always, I own nothing but the idea of how I put this together. all characters real and imagined are owned by the appropriate owners, of which I am not one.

here is a long awaited chapter for state of ours.

hope you all enjoy. character death warning.

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Ranma frowned as she looked at herself in the mirror. One hand tugged down on the skirt while the other tried bulling the blouse away from her chest. 'Damn perverts.' she thought to herself while considering the source of her outfit.

"Still don't like the uniform, Ranma? I don't either. But the doctors agreed and the school ordered that if you are going to be going as a girl, you need to either wear a uniform or at the very least a dress." Akane stated from were she was seated on her bed, watching her fiancée get dressed for their first day back to school. She ignored the now familiar fluttery feeling and growing hear in her core that was now a welcome reaction to watching Ranma slowly dress herself. It had taken a great deal of self control to keep from rushing over and taking advantage of Ranma's state of undress. She had to dig her fingers into the mattress to remain in place as the busty redhead adjusted the bra cups. They had returned only a few days before from a trip to the beach, and Akane fondly recalled watching Ranma doing the same adjustments with her bikini top. But not nearly as fondly as she recalled 'helping' Ranma adjust the cups. It had taken a while to find bras that would even come close to containing Ranma's assets, and every time she put them on, she had to manually adjust the placement for maximum comfort.

'Well there was that one bra.' Akane thought to herself. 'But Ranma is no where near ready to wear that kind of thing to school.' Luckily they had found some sports bras that Ranma was willing to tolerate, along with a few pantie/bra sets in colors that weren't too effeminate for the confirmed tomboy. 'How she can have so much trouble wearing plain bras while wearing practically nothing at the beach is beyond me. Not that I can complain about the view.'

"I guess I'm ready Akane. Still wish they'd at least let me wear a boys uniform. Stupid perverts are gonna be tying to look up my skirt or down my shirt."

Akane grinned and then sidled up to Ranma, using her newfound confidence in her own sexuality and attractiveness to entice her lover into visually caressing her as she approached. She reached the frozen for of her female fiancée and pulled her into a hug. The press of their bodies was both familiar and new, as they had most recently had contact in far less clothing then they were wearing now. Akane leaned in and kissed the redhead, allowing one hand to slide sensuously down her back until she was fondling her pert little bottom. The other hand slid up to brace her head while gently stroking the healing network of scars barely hidden by her slowly regrowing hair.

Akane broke the kiss and grasped Ranma's hand, cheering inside at the glazed, passion filled eyes and kiss swollen lips . "Come on baka, don't want to be late on your first day back." 'Damn I'm such a pervert. I want to skip school and take her upstairs and finish the rest of what we haven't had a chance to do. And when she's exhausted, grab some hot water and do the same to him.'

Ranma took control of her breath and her hormones. "Let's get this over with."

The duo left the home and started the walk to their school. Akane bravely continued to hold Ranma's hand as they walked. She moved closer, so that their hips and thighs would occasionally brush against each other. They had agreed that they would not hide the changes in their relationship, but had not decided if they would be openly affectionate. Ranma realized instinctively that Akane was making that leap and making it clear that the two were a couple. And she was also making it clear that their relationship was not diminished when Ranma was in female form. Male or female, Ranma was Akane's lover, and the blue haired girl was making it clear.

They chatted quietly as they walked, neither eager for the return to a place that had caused them so much pain. Akane hated that the idiots like Kuno had nearly destroyed her trust in men. This had lead to her always believing the worst of Ranma, no matter his obvious naive and decent nature. She had not been able to trust in him enough to believe his claims regarding the constant stream of unbelievable encounters.

"Have you decided what to do about gym?" Akane asked. It seemed odd to her that as little as 2 months ago, the though of Ranma joining and showering with the girls gym class would have sent her into a murderous rage. One that could have made the damage of Godzilla's attacks look like a child's tantrum. Now, she was eager to watch her fiancée bathing. It was confusing but thanks to doctor, they were both more comfortable with themselves and each other.

"Doc thinks I should take some more time and spend it as a girl. I know they wanted me to spend at least 2 weeks being a girl as much as possible, and we spent that time at the beach. Tofu wanted me to spend some time as a girl when we go back to school. I'm not going to force anything and pretty much let stay in whatever form I'm in when we get ready for school. Though I am bringing a change of clothing for both forms in case I get reversed during the day. I will not spent the day as a guy wearing this getup." Ranma let her eyes wander and she noted several neighborhood figures watching them intently. "He also asked me to take it easy to make sure that I heal fully, so I'm gonna spend at least gym as a girl everyday. There's less chance of contact, though I realize that girls are not automatically weaker then guys. Besides, there are more important things than being the best at everything or letting my pride interfere with being happy."

Akane's heart fluttered as she caught the emotion in Ranma's words and displaying plainly on her face. "I love you Ranma." she stated, for the first time feeling no twinge of shame or doubt.

Tears glimmered in Ranma's eyes. "I love you too Akane. I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you before. I think I always have, but I didn't really understand. Everything is much clearer now. Thank you Akane, for loving me enough to help me grow up. For teaching me what it means to be a person and not some prize or weapon. Thank you for helping me learn to be a woman and still be a man."

Akane pulled Ranma into a hug, not caring about the nasty looks old Mrs Nagoya (a.k.a Ladle Lady) threw at them. Releasing the hug, the pair wiped their eyes. "Enough mushy stuff. Race ya to school, tomboy?"

"Hey!1 You're the tomboy. I'm all woman." Ranma replied, striking a sensual pose. Akane leered at her defiance's bust as it strained the material of her blouse. "Believe me, I know." she giggled as Ranma blushed a shade as read as her hair.

Laughing and more at ease, the pair clasped hands again and began to lightly jog towards the school.

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Shampoo watched from the roof of someone's home as Ranma and Akane openly expressed their newly admitted love. Despite being 2 blocks away, she heard every word they spoke, and in her heart the last embers of hope died. For the first time, she could admit that she had lost the fight. That there had never been a fight as Ranma's heart was lost to Akane long before the girl even knew that there was a struggle taking place. There was nothing here for her now. And worse, there never was. All her scheming and plotting had done was ensure that her quarry would never trust or respect her. With tears draining silently from her eyes, she leapt from the roof and raced home to the Nekohanten. Once there she paused outside, steeling herself for what was to come.

She strode through the doors, ignoring the heads that turned to eye her well developed form. She reached up and released her hair from the ornate ties that held it in place. She shook her head to allow the purple tresses to cascade freely down her back. She walked determinately to the chopping block behind the counter, and moving swiftly so her Elder could not stop her, laid her head on the block. She reached out and grabbed the great butcher's blade and swung in one motion.

The dining room filled with screams of horror. A second scream followed as the hand and knife rose again, before slamming down a 2nd and then a third time.

Every one watched as Shampoo slammed the knife into the block and stood. Horrified gasps filled the air as Shampoo stood silently with her back to the crowd. She raised her other hand, then threw down the thick cluster of her former pride and joy.

"It is over. I have failed and am not worthy to wear the mark of a warrior. We must return to the village so I may face my punishment for the dishonor I have brought to myself, my family, and my tribe."

Khu Lon looked down at the thick pile of 4 foot long strands of hair. Her heart wept for her descendant, knowing the suffering she would have to endure to regain her place in the tribe. A woman's hair was a mark of her personal skill, social position and rank among the guard. By lopping off her long flowing locks, Shampoo had placed herself with the lowest rank in social and professional circles. She had basically declared herself a child with no standing to make decisions for herself. She would be at the mercy of any of the Council or members of the guard. And no doubt several of her rivals would make terrible use of her.

"Oh Shan Pu, what have you done?" she asked knowing in her heart the only possible reply.

"I have failed. Untold times I have attempted to complete the tasks our laws and history have placed on me and untold times i have failed. But the worst failure was also the first. It was not caused by law but by my own selfishness and pride. I should have accepted the defeat by Ranma and offered her the Hand of Friendship. Instead in my own humiliation, I went back to the most archaic and mostly forgotten laws and invoked the Kiss of Death. Nothing else that followed would have had the same ... insanity if I had but swallowed my pride and become friends with a poor, wandering young girl. Our tribe could have risen to glory as great as any of our ancestors. Instead we are lucky that I have not caused a Blood Feud. We must go home."

Khu Lon bowed her head, proud of the child's strength. She raised her head and nodded, turning to face the silent observer's, only a few of whom had been able to follow the conversation. "I thank you all for your patronage, but I must ask that you leave. Due to family matters, we will be closing the restaurant and returning to our home in China. Please consider this last meal a gift for you valued business. MU TSU! Begin packing. We are going home."

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Nodoka stared down at the table, he mind a whirl of activity. Laid out before her were 3 pieces of fine stationary, already covered in her precise and ornate script. Just past the paper work was the Saotome family blade, unsheathed and resting on a rack. The blade was shining in the light of the candles at each corner of the low table. The edge was up, and the gentle curve of the blade carried it's weight on the wooden display rack. Below it on a small pillow, covered by a red silk sheet embroidered with the Saotome crest was a matching tanto blade in it's proper sheath.

She could no longer deny her actions. Written before her was the sum total of her recent experiences. Written thrice as a means of both self purging and atonement. One copy would go to her son, the child he had lost so long ago. The child that she had lost a second time due to her own inactions. Her brief moments of clarity since the events of that night had allowed her to see just how badly she had treated her son. She had been stuck in a fantasy world, as self deluded in her own way as any of the accursed Kuno family. Her upbringing had taken away all chance of her having a real relationship with her son and husband. And now she had committed the worst transgression. She had continued the torrid affair that had begun the night she had attempted to poison her own son into cheating on his chosen fiancée

Guilt filled her and disgust. She had been so starved for attention that she could not stop herself from seeking out the man who had used her. She could not live again without the attentions of a man. Yet she had destroyed her honor by bedding a man not her husband. This was something that could never be forgiven, no matter how poor a spouse Genma had been. Her family would be dishonored once her actions were know, but hopefully that dishonor would rest on her and not be taken against her son. That was what the third letter was for, a plea to her remaining clan to allow her attempt to appease her dishonor and not have it affect the offspring she herself had betrayed so horribly. No matter how badly they had treated her, she could not allow her son and his potential children to bear the burden of her dishonor.

Straightening herself, she loosened the knot on her obi, exposing her chest and stomach. Reverently she reached forward and carefully removed the silk sheet, exposing the hidden blade. Grasping it in both hands, she drew it to her forward and bowed low. She drew the blade, kissing the Saotome mark near the grip before placing the sheath back on the pillow. In a departure from the usual ceremony, she used her free hand to gather the hand written notes and will, and placed them in a pile on a shelf behind her. Turning back to the low table, she raised up as high as she could while remaining crouched on her knees. With both hands on the handle, she thrust the dagger home, gasping as the cool metal parted her flesh. She drew it sharply down and then across. With the last of her strength she placed the blooded weapon on the pillow next to the sheath and allowed herself to lean forward. As the life started to withdraw from her form, she fell forward onto the Saotome blade. Her head hit the table and bounced off onto the tatami floor.

Thus ended the life of Nodaka Saotome. In death, as in life, unable to overcome the outmoded traditions of her family.

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AN::

I know the end is a little morose and I don't want any one to feel that I disparaging tradition or the Japanese society, this is just my take on how those traditions could be perverted and taken too far by someone who was not quite well balanced in her life. Nodaka lived her life by a perversion of the old traditions that were instilled in her by her family. She could not overcome them and could not live with the fact that she had betrayed those traditions. In a moment of clarity she saw what she was doing to her son, and was too weak to come to terms with it all and took her own life. I could have had her step in front of a bus or shoot herself, but since this is a setting in the Japanese society, I thought it appropriate that if she was going to kill herself, she do it in a manner somewhat respectable in her mind.





*Chapter 12*: Chapter 12


STATE OF OURS 12

another chapter for state of ours. As always I own nothing but the situations I place the characters in, all characters are the property of their legal owners.

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'Duck, dodge, dive, dip and drop' Ranma though to herself as she maneuvered through the field, avoiding the hard rubber balls thrown at her by her classmates. Her timing was off and she still got a little dizzy if she moved her head too quickly, so she was eventually tagged as all of the members of the other team targeted her.

Laughing and filled with a sense of rightness, Ranma moved over to the bench to watch the rest of the game. She had been nearly giddy since the girls had accepted her presence in the locker room. They had greeted her, exchanged a few looks and shrugs and proceeded to ignore her as they all dressed for gym. She was grateful for her girl training with Akane, otherwise the casual display of flesh would have rendered her comatose. As is, she had to avoid looking at her fiancee or risk loosing control. Akane might have trained her responses too well.

The teacher had expressed concern, but the girls had assured her they had no issues with Ranma, provided she could keep herself from being overly affectionate with Akane. The pair had blushed deeply,as thoughts of how affection they now were consumed them. The startled teacher had then firmly, if with a little bit of shock and embarrassment, stated that there would be no shows of affection accepted in the change rooms or Ranma would be exiled to the boys class.

Ranma cheered as Sauri's throw knocked Kumi out of the game and winced as Terra's hard throw hit Sauri in the face. The ball bounced up off her face and was caught by Rei, so Terra was out and Sauri stayed in the game, although she looked a little dazed. Kimiko took advantage and showing a little compassion lobbed the ball off Sauri's leg. Sauri then staggered over and sat heavily next to Ranma, poking her now tender nose to wage the damage.

The game progressed quickly and soon only Akane was left from her team. Facing her were 3 members of Ranma's team (the two had been placed on opposite teams to even the odds). Sooki, Sora, and Ayane. All were armed, Akane holding 2 of the 5 in play balls. Ranma and her teammates cheered on their trio, while Akane's showed their support for the girl left at 3-1 odds. Ranma, more sure of herself tried to distract Akane with her attempts at flirting which had improved greatly thanks to Kasumi and Nabiki's tutelage during their beach trip.

The trio exchanged looks and whispers as Akane taunted them with a juggling display. They raced as one toward the line and released, 2 of the balls speeding ahead with the 3rd following slightly behind and lower. A cocky Akane had to rush, using her balls to reflect the attack. The 3rd almost got her but at the last moment she spun, kicking it into the air while launching her 2 balls. Since they were right at the line, they had no chance. Luckily, Akane had pulled her throw and while they were still processing, Akane caught the ball she'd kicked into the air and threw, hitting the 3rd opponent and winning the game.

Despite loosing, Ranma cheered her fiancee as loudly as any of the girl's team mates. Thanks to the help her her doctors and the surgery, she was no longer as driven as she had been. She'd come to understand that it was okay not to be the best at everything she did or have to always win every event she took part in. If she won great, but loosing, especially at something as inconsequential as a gym class dodge ball game was not something to stress over.

Besides, the way she'd come to realize, if her team won, she could 'console' Akane with hugs and kisses. And if Akane won, she could congratulate Akane with hugs and kisses. Either way, the most important thing was getting to openly hug and kiss (and grope- must never forget the groping) her fiancee. This was much more important then the score in some random game.

'Akane has spoiled me.' she thought to herself as she wrapped her arms around the blue haired beauty and welded their lips together, ignoring the catcalls and laughter of their classmates as well as the sensei's frantic calls for them to behave.

Eventually they separated, teams were reformed and the games continued. The period ended and they hurried to the change room where they showered and re-dresssed in their uniforms. Ranma felt a surge of contentment as the girls in the class showed their acceptance of her presence by treating her like one of them. They all joked around about the games, gossiped about some of the boys. A few of the bolder girls even tried to get details from Ranma about the boys 'attributes'. Ranma shuddered and firmly advised that boys avoided even the appearance of checking since that could lead to various unwanted responses ranging from teasing to violence to - worst of all- returned interest.

After they had dressed, they made their way to their next class. The sensei expressed pleasure towards Ranma's return and the work that had been done during her absence. Ranma blushed at the teachers praise, unused even to the concept of positive reinforcement. Akane and her sisters were trying to change that but it was going slowly. Likely due to the vastly different styles of reinforcement employed by each of the three sisters mixed with how deeply her father's style of instruction had been beat into her. They were such total opposites in every way, yet still different enough from each other to have a strong delayed reaction in the red haired girl.

The day passed quickly and despite herself, Ranma felt a sense of pride as she caught more then one boy sneaking glances at her. Before the surgery and Akane's training, she would have attacked a boy who looked at her the way they were now. Instead she felt flattered and pleased by their attention, even as she felt no real attraction of her own towards the male gender. She was secure enough now to be able to admit that some of the boys were quite handsome but of no personal interest to her.

Occasionally she did wonder what it would be like if Akane were a boy. And though she would not want her fiancee to suffer as she had suffered, the thought did occur to her about Akane becoming cursed. And surprisingly, a growing part of her wanted that to take place, if for no other reason then to be able to let Akane feel the differences of boy vs girl. The same thoughts also reflected her desire to know why and what it felt for a girl with a boy. However, the boy in question was only ever Akane. She felt no such desire or curiosity to explore with anyone except her fiancee.

About halfway through the class, they were drawn out of the less interesting English novel by the intercom.

"Saotome Ranma, Tendo Akane, Tendo Nabiki. Please report to the main office. You are excused for the remainder of the day."

Sharing confused looks, Ranma and Akane gathered their belongings and homework assignments before making their way to the office, walking just slightly apart but close enough to bump shoulders or hips. They reached the office and sat next to Nabiki, who's usual mask of indifference was missing as she looked almost ready to bawl.

She spoke as they settled in. "Kasumi is in the office with Tofu." she told the younger pair. "They looked like a weak breeze would knock them over. I've never seen Kasumi look like that. Not even when. . . when mommy died." It was a testament to how shaken she was as Nabiki only ever referred to her mother in the most formal tones.

With nothing else to do, they sat quietly, all three holding hands in preemptive comfort. Ranma and Akane knew that anything that could shake Nabiki's control must surely be most terrible.

Eventually the office door opened and a blank faced Tofu and tear streaked Kasumi exited. Tofu motioned for the trio to follow and they left the school. No one spoke as they walked the paths to the Tendo-ke. Ranma noticed the sympathetic looks being given by various people and began to worry. Something had happened. Something so terrible it had shattered Kasumi's control.

Once they got home, Tofu told then to change and put their books away in their rooms, which the three did quietly. Once out of their uniforms into more casual outfits, they met up in the dining room. Kasumi was already there, her head bowed and tear tracks clearly showing on her cheeks. Tofu reentered from the kitchen carrying a tray of tea. He silently poured them each (including himself and Kasumi) a cup and motioned for them to drink.

"Okay what's going on?" Nabiki asked, her impatience and frustration boiling over. "Where's Daddy and the FatMan?"

Tofu remained silent for a moment. He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Something happened... it's not easy to explain. First, Soun and Genma are fine. They are at the Saotome home with the police." He turned to face Ranma, who was shifting nervously and gripping Akane's hand. "Your mother . . . your mother . . . she . . ." Taking a breath and drawing strength from Kasumi's hand on his shoulder, he continued. "Your mother is dead, Ranma. She . .. she committed seppuku. The full right of a shamed warrior. She left a note. It seems that . . . she did some things she was ashamed of and it shocked her out of her recent behavior She . . she wrote that the shame of her actions was too great a burden and her behavior towards you and Akane was unforgivable in this life."

Ranma sat back heavily, stunned beyond speech. Unnoticed, tears slipped from her eyes as the words started to process in her mind. Everything seemed to slow and fade as disbelief and sorrow began to rise within her. Only Akane's sudden embrace kept her grounded as she struggled against the swirling, twisting miasma of feelings that coursed through her. She let out an anguished cry before turning and burying her face in Akane's shoulder, clutching desperately at her fiancee. Dimly she could hear Nabiki talking to Tofu, but her mind was too clouded to understand or process anything else that was being said. 'You mother is dead,....is dead ..... dead.....'

So filled with misery and pain she barely noticed Akane speak to the others before gathering her completely in her arms and effortlessly lift her while rising to her feet. She held on, still keeping her face buried in Akane's shoulder as her fiancee carried her up the stairs and into her room. Mechanically, Ranma allowed Akane to first undress her and then redress her in a nightgown. The blue haired girl drew back the covers on her bed before slipping into her favorite PJ's. Re placed Ranma into the bed, but when she tried to let go and back away, the red head whimpered and clutched her tighter.

"Stay. Please." she whispered faintly, her voice marred by the sobs that racked her slim frame.

"I'll be back. I'm going to close the door and be right back." Despite her own horror at the situation, a surge of affection and prided filled her. 'Ranma needs me. He wants me to stay and comfort him Not one of the Bimbos. Me.' She gave the red head a quick peck on the cheek then went over, closed the door and light then returned to the bed.

Ranma held the covers open, then as Akane settled into position, enveloped her in a hug, again resting herself comfortingly against Akane's shoulder. For her part, Akane wrapped Ranma in her arms, rubbing along her back in a soothing gesture while whispering comforting words into her soft hair. These were interspersed with gentle kisses into the still short mop and along her temple. Eventually, the pair drifted off to sleep, emotional exhausted.

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Nabiki rocked back on her heels, shock and disbelief filling her in equal measure. Nodoka had always seemed such a strong, independent woman and Nabiki had respected and admired her strength. Sure some of her ideas were old fashioned, but she also promoted more modern ideas for women. She had encouraged Nabiki to pursue her dreams just as much as she praised Kasumi's more traditional life choices. Her main conflict had seemed to be that she believed you had to choose between the traditional or modern lifestyle, and could not live a combination of the two. Which was oddly hypocritical of her given her own life choses.

Still, to commit seppuku in a male tradition was a final thumb in the eye to Ranma. Well, depending on what was in the note. Maybe it was a last ditch attempt to give her approval for the duality of Ranma's life. Or it might be a last blow to show her distaste for that duality.

"What was in the note Doc?" she asked as her mind filled with a multitude of possible after effects resulting from this act.

"She indicated a realization of the pain she was causing to both Ranma and Akane. She apologized for her behavior She also indicated that she had . . . made inappropriate plans with Xian Pu, Ukyo, and both younger Kuno's in an attempt to separate Ranma and Akane and to control Ranma's life. She also admitted to attempting to drug Ranma and basically let the 3 girls 'use' him, then transform him into Ranko and giver her to Tatewaki. She also wrote that the bowls were switched and she had an affair with the senior Kuno. The disgrace and shame she felt she inflicted on all by her actions shocked her into a brief well call it stability. She chose her next act as the only means she could find to find some type of atonement for her acts. She was seeking redemption."

Nabiki snorted. "More like she was too much of a coward to face everyone knowing she'd slept with Palmtree head." Nabiki paused, her face getting pal as she filtered Tofu's statements. "Oh Kami! It's my fault. I switched the bowls and called Kuno. I sent her off with him, knowing she was as horny as hell and there was no way they weren't going to screw each other blind. I wanted her to suffer that disgrace. Stupid bitch, even in death she fucks up my plans."

Kasumi gasped, looking up for the first time. "Nabiki! Watch your language." She took a breath before continuing. "I was as much at fault. I knew of her plans and of your actions and did nothing to stop either of you."

"No one is at fault, Nabiki. Nodoka chose her path and was aware of the consequences. What happened was horrible, but if her plan had succeeded, what would have happened to Ranma and to Akane would have been worse. While we might have played a minor role in her shame and actions, we did so to protect our family, something that she had lost sight of."

Nabiki put down her teach, her watery eyes looking in the distance. Despited Kasumi's words, she couldn't ignore the guilt of her own complicity. Nodoka might have chose the path, but it was she who had diverted that path into an avalanche.

Which was worse:

Ranma and Akane betrayed, their honor and love destroyed for Nodoka's perverse vision of manliness and childish devotion or Nodoka shamed and dishonored, her will to interfere in Ranma and Akane's lives broken? How could she have known that the woman would go to such extremes? Then again considering how much the spiteful bitch paid service to tradition, what better way to get back at her child in this situation? This could destroy Ranma's fragile emotional control and if Ranma cracked, how long would Akane last before following Ranma into madness. 'Damn that woman!Even with her death she tries to ruin her son and his chosen iinazuke.'

Kasumi rose. "I think this calls for something stronger then tea. Would you prefer sake or beer?" Kasumi wasn't a big drinker and neither was Nabiki, but a beer or a caffer of sake was definitely appropriate for their current situation.

"Bring anything we have. I want to get so shitfaced I don't remember this conversation." Nabiki stated. "If we're going to pull a daddy, might as well go all the way."

Kasumi nodded, leaving her sister and iinazuke to wait while she gathered several bottles of beer and a couple of smallish bottles of sake. She hoped that Ranma and Akane could rest tonight, tomorrow would be another day in hell.

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AN

Here ends another chapter of stat of ours. I hope you enjoyed





*Chapter 13*: Chapter 13


STATE OF OURS 12

another chapter for state of ours. As always I own nothing but the situations I place the characters in, all characters are the property of their legal owners.

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Ranma sat with her head on her knees, arms wrapped around her legs. Her face was matted with drying tears as she looked off into the distance beyond the Tendo-ke. The news that had been shared with her earlier had hit her hard. She had known that her mother was having trouble accepting her as she was, but would never have expected her actions. If her mother had succeeded, Ranma would likely be in her current position instead as she would never have been able to accept what her mother tried to force on her. How a woman could claim to love her child and then attempt to do that to them horrified her.

The only reason she hadn't come to hate her mother was that her mother's punishment had been administered with a finallity and swiftness that had not given her time to truly process all her emotions yet. That was part of the reason why she was sitting here up on the roof, the chill night air helping her stay awake and focused as she went through her memories of her mother and tried to see if there was something she had missed that could have warned her just how far the woman had drifted. But she had spent so little time with the woman and so much time away, that she couldn't claim to really know anything about her.

Akane had quietly offered her support, but Ranma had needed some time alone to think about everything that had been going on in her life. From the revelation that her previous behavior was the result of actual physical damage to her brain, the sessions with the doctors to determine the extent of the damage and feasibility of repairing it, to the surgery itself and watching as the doctors carefully pulled piece after piece of bone shards from her skull to the positives of the advances in her relationship not only with her fiancee, but with her sister's and schoolmates. A great deal of change had happened in a relatively short time and her emotional advancement was struggling to process everything properly. The fear and pain of hearing what her mother had planned for her, and the woman's inability to accept her as both daughter and son was fighting against the growing love and sexual maturation that was being forced on her by her bodies adaption to the healing of her previous damage.

She knew that she loved Akane with all her heart, and she was learning to differentiate those feelings of love and the equally strong lust and desire for her. But it was confusing at times, and as much as she wanted to now share everything with the other girl, she also felt that there were somethings that were even too private to share with her. Those things were oddly only safe to discuss with someone who was not as close to her, like the wonderful doctors Tofu-san had found for her. The physical changes were as drastic as the emotional changes. She had grown about 4-5 inches in about the last 2 months, and put on some mass to go with it. Her bust hadn't increased greatly, but it had -for lack of a better word- matured and was more adult in appearance and her body had also taken on a more mature look in shape.

Wiping her eyes, she stood quietly and moved to the edge of the window. She bent and gripped the edge, ignoring the slightly offsetting sensation of dizziness and lowered herself off the roof. She swung silently into the open window of the room below and landed in a crouch. She turned back and closed the window, glancing over her shoulder towards the bed and the occupant who was laying quietly. A sad smile crossed her face as she moved over to the desk on quiet feet. She slipped off her large trademark red shirt, revealing a rather feminine undershirt that had been a gift from her fiancee's oldest sister. She laid it over the back of the chair and undid the knot in her pants, letting them drop to the ground, revealing a matching pair of woman's briefs. Slipping her feet out of her slippers and the pants, she moved over to the bed, watching her fiancee sleep peacefully, indulging in the desire to study her beautiful features.

Akane was laying on her back, as she had since Ranma had slipped out of bed earlier. Her arm still lay across the bed where Ranma had been using it as a pillow while they spooned earlier. As gently as she could, the red head slipped into position in the bed, using her feet to pull the blanket back over them. Unlike Ranma and her somewhat intimate apparal, Akane was wearing a full top and pant sleep-set that was a bright yellow with blue ducks on it. She had several similar outfits, and while she had some that were designed more for attention then these, this had not been a night for such things. Ranma had felt the need to demonstrate her new attitude of accepting her dual gender nature after the events of today, so had chosen to wear something decidedly feminine and intimate. She had also for the first time, purposely and deliberately changed in full view of her fiancee. Sure, they had seen each other nude before, even doing so earlier that day at school, but this was the first time either had done so with a more intimate and sexual intention. Akane had returned the offer and the two had stood nude before each other for several moments, before moving towards each other and sharing a loving and passionate kiss. They had held each other tightly for a few moments, allowing their desire for each other to simmer and stir in the open, no longer hiding from each other. They had done nothing further, but dressed, making the effort to dress as sensually as possible.

After wards they had clasped hands and moved to the bed, where Akane positioned herself first and pulled/helped Ranma slide into position with her. They spent a few minutes squirming into position, allowing their hands to explore each other over their clothes before they settled into position with Akane spooning behind Ranma, her left arm being used by the smaller redhead as a pillow, and her right gently caressing her hip and upper thigh. Ranma had sighed contentedly as Akane kissed the back of her neck and the thin scar that was all that was left of her surgery. Their breathing had settled into familiar patterns and they had drifted into sleep.

Now, as Ranma positioned herself facing her fiancee, she allowed the love she felt for the girl to fill her, pushing aside the grief and anger towards her mother. Quietly she leaned a little closer and kissed her cheek before resettling herself and whispering into the still air. "I love you Akane. I won't let her ruin what we have. I will be strong for you."

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Nabiki groaned as she felt the light of the sun sneak across her face. Throwing her arm over her eyes she swore as this caused her entire body to shift and caused a stronger reaction from the pain pounding in her head. Her stomach churned and she felt a surge that was dragged back down. Carefully she turned to her side, away from the horrible shaft of hateful light, pushing her face to the edge of the bed to where she knew there should be a garbage can. 'god, if this is what happens every time, I don't know how the hell the old men can do this to themselves every night.'

She felt a movement behind her but didn't want to risk emptying her stomach by turning to see what was happening. "Kasumi, is that you?" she asked in a hoarse voice, throat still raw from the volume of alcohol she had consumed the night before.

"Hai." came the surprisingly short and terse reply. "Mou, I will never understand people who do that for enjoyment." the older woman stated as she continued to shift around, causing the younger's stomach to quiver in greater intensity.

"Stop moving! " she ordered the older girl as she worked to settle her stomach.

"Fine, but hand me that glass of water on the bed table. And take a drink yourself. It will help your stomach. And take some of the pills I left, they'll help your head." came the informed council from the older and wiser sister.

It was as she was reaching for the blessed vessel that Nabiki noticed something. "Uh, Kasumi, why are we naked? What did we do?" Nabiki felt panic rise within her. 'What the hell happened?' she asked herself, as thoughts and feelings she'd long buried were tweaked in her mind at the position she was in.

"Oh, nothing like that, Nabiki-chan. We both were quite ill at one point, and decided not to redress after we left our clothing in the basket." Kasumi was well aware of her sister's hidden desires, but went out of her way to ignore the longing looks and lust full gaze she sometimes felt coming from the younger girl. She did not return that misguided interest and hoped dearly for her sister to find someone else to focus her desires on. She ignored the stare of the younger girl as she stood from the bed and moved towards the door, a faint blush on her face as she caught a glimpse of her sister's appreciative expression in the mirror on the door.

"Uh, Kasumi? Don't you want something to wear?" Nabiki asked as she pushed aside the slight desire she felt.

"There's no need at the moment, Nabiki-chan. Father and Uncle are not here and Ranma and Akane are still sleeping. Besides I am going to the furo. I am feeling not quite myself this morning and a quick scrub and hot soak will hopefully help me find my center."

Nabiki blinked. 'How does she know that?' "Okay, I think I'm just going to lie here for a while. I already let the school know when we left yesterday that none of us would be in today."

"Rest well then, I'll wake you in a few hours for a light lunch. Try and drink some more of the water on the desk."

Nabiki pushed herself back into the bed, closing her eyes. She hated the weakness she felt now and had been displaying the last few days. She would have to speak to Ranma sometime today and explain what she had done and why. Hopefully, he would understand and not hold it against her that her actions had lead to Nodoka's dishonor and death.

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The day was unusual for Nerima. For possibly the first time in generations there were no sound of battle filling the air anywhere in the district. News of the previous days revelations had spread rapidly and there was a sense of despair in the air. Those who were usually a part or cause of the conflict were noticeably absent from their usual haunts. Passerby's near the Nekohanten felt a sense of loss and emptiness fill them as they neared the building, which was given an aura of darkness. Those who neared Ucchan's shivered and whimpered as they were bombarded with longing and loss.

The students of Furinkan were talking wildly amongst themselves as rumors and gossip spread through them like a wildfire. The absence of Ranma and Akane was understandable to their minds, but such was her reputation that no one could understand why Nabiki would not be there selling them information and pictures of recent events. Not even those closest to her (perhaps more servants then friends) knew what was going on and thus were unable to sell anything. Like all business', Nabiki's group had their rivals and they were happy to spread misleading and outright lies to the gullible few who had not yet learned to distrust them.

Akane's closest friends and the group of girls that had started to become friendly towards Ranma, once they realized that the boy who could change was as much one of them as their rival gender worried about their friends and what they must be going through. But they all realized that given Ranma's fragile state that rushing over and demanding to see them would cause the part time girl more pain then showing patience and letting the pair come to them when they are ready. It was more then just Ranma and Akane that had been growing up recently and it was starting to show in the behavior of their friends.

Of course there were still those that were as immature as ever and suffered for their ignorance at the hands of those who chose to side with the couple and respect their grief and loss. Many boys were walking around with red marks on their faces and the most vicious and vile of them suffered in that way most particular to idiotic males. Many voice were raised in pitch that day, and for those girls who chose to follow their poor examples, much status and hair was lost. Among all this mania strode the only member of the staff that had both the respect and fear of the students, Hinako Ninomiya wandered the crowd, draining the worst of the offenders and trying to direct students to head to their classes. She was of course respectfully ignored and considering the situation, she didn't offer much resistance to the students defiance of her requests.

She was watching the crowd, trying to find the most likely source of extreme reactions but was unable to find either the student or his father. In fact no one had seen either in a couple of days. She had received a call from the elder, who for the first time since she met him had spoken in a normal tone and with proper language instead of the perversion of Hawaiian dialect and dialogue. He claimed that he would be away for some time as he had issues to resolve relating to the Saotome situation and thus would be unavailable for an unknown period of time. He had warned her to watch out for his son and daughter, neither of who had taken the recent news and revelations well. She continued her patrol, determined to keep the students and staff safe from potential dangers.

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Mu Tsu sighed as he gathered his belongings. The time had come and he was free to return home. No longer would he slave himself to a person who loathed him. One who had shown that she had little honor and no respect for others. Xian Pu's recent actions and her attempts to subvert Ranma's affections through underhanded means, working in collusion with the depraved Saotome matriarch had shaken him free of his obsession. He could finally see the purple haired bombshell for who she really is, and frankly she disgusted him. He had gone to the Elder and explained what he had witnessed, and not to his surprise she had already known.

The surprise was that she seemed proud that he had finally came to the truth and advised him that he was free to return home, as his mother had forgiven him his actions in departing the village without permission. He was looking forward to seeing his mother again, though he knew that there would be some form of punishment for his departure and his behavior during his mistaken quest to win Xian Pu's affections. So knowing a punishment was coming anyway, he had dared greatly to question the Elder regarding her knowledge of her descendant's behavior and why she allowed it.

She had paused for a moment and studied him before sighing and rather gently popping him on the head with her staff. "I knew the moment I met Ranma that Xian Pu would never have him. He would never accept the role of a Jokoketzu husband. His father had trained his pride and arrogance too well for him to fit with the expected position of a male among our people. I have tried for 200 years to ease our people into a more ...equal lifestyle, but the other elders have fought me tooth and nail. You believe that your life has been hard, having to learn secretly arts that have long been banned by our people, yet when I was your age, I saw dozens of males killed or enslaved for doing so little as attempting to learn to read and write. Our people need to change Mu Tsu, and I had hoped that by allowing Xian Pu to be exposed to the outside world, she would come to learn that there is more to life than our village. I love our people and history, Mu Tsu, but some of our traditions are dangerous in today's world. The PRA could and would slaughter us all if Xian Pu had behaved as she did here in Japan anywhere in the major cities. And despite our 3000 years of martial training and our skills that might seem like magic to those outside our region, the weapons that the modern world have the ability to completely wipe out the village at a distance that not even our most capable warriors would even see them launched.

Xian Pu has failed, not in the quest to win Ranma's heart, but to grow into a mature and responsible person. She has shown that she is not now, and likely will never be one that our people can trust as a member of the Council. Her continued attempt to use under handed and even outright banned means to steal Ranma's love from the Tendo girl have shown she can not be trusted with the future of our people. And this saddens me greatly Mu Tsu." The old woman sighed and wiped a tear from her eye. She was feeling every one of her 294 years today. "Return to the village Mu Tsu. I am canceling the challenge. You need not face Xian Pu in battle. It pains me to say so, for I lover her dearly, but she is not worthy of you, Mu Tsu. Return to our home and hopefully find someone who will care for you the way you deserve. You have proven to be an honorable man Mu Tsu, and I hope you will find happiness."

Mu Tsu bowed to the elder, feeling his eyes water at the honor she was showing him. "I will do as you command, Elder. May the ancestors help you find some way to show Xian Pu the errors of her actions." With that he turned and picking up the last of his bags left he building, never to return to either the restaurant or Japan itself.

Watching the bespectacled youth depart, a pain of despair struck her heart. She felt that she herself would never see the land of her birth, as she worked to undue the damage her descendant had caused. There was much for her to do, and she feared she might not have the time to do it. Damn her granddaughter and her insidious teachings to her great granddaughter. If that fool had taken to her lessons instead of fixating on long dormant or at least unused laws, drilling ancient stories of glory and domination into the purple haired child's empty head. Until Xian Pu no one had used the Kiss of Death/Marriage laws in nearly 150 years. The girl had been a fool, she had lost honorably to a superior opponent but her mother's foolish instructions had not allowed her accept her defeat graciously and make a friend of the village out of the girl, instead risking the village's destruction in a futile quest first for revenge and then teenaged lust.

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A short update after a long time away. finally started to get back in the mood and health to be writing again.