They Are My Noble Masters Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Virtua Fighter Fan Fiction ❯ Nodoka 2/1 ❯ Chapter 02 - The Art of Making Friends ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

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Nodoka 2/1
The Chroma Series
Act 00, Part 02

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DISCLAIMER:
Welcome to my world, a blend of a great many things, almost none of which are owned by me. It is a crummy world of plot holes, spoilers, gratuitous Japanese, and spelling errors, poorly written, then poured into a blender, set to liquefy, spread on a cookie sheet and baked at three hundred and fifty degrees for half an hour. As my horrible metaphor proves, don't expect great art. I've never written a 'story' before. So, apologies to all of the creators who's creations are about to be abused. {Speaking of, this one chapter will also include bad accents, but don't worry, she grows out of it soon after, it won't last long}...

This story is also likely to (eventually) contain references to things like sex, substance abuse (like Rice Wine), and other 'evils' of the world. None of that will likely be portrayed in a neither serious nor respectful manner. ...Or maybe it will, who knows what I will do when I actually get to that part of the story... I sure don't (nor even if I 'will' get to that part of the story).
Either way, you have been warned!

This story has been rated 'M'[ature] by, me. It may contain mature subject matter, and if it does, it will deal with them in a very immature way.

I need to apologize for the formatting, everything I do gets removed, even the things that worked in the prior chapter, and even if I do it in html. So, I have been reduced to this... Sumimasen.

"Speech"
'Thought'
{Author's Notes & *Translations* Feel free to skip these}

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CHAPTER ONE JAPANESE GLOSSARY:

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Arigato-gozaimasu = Thank you VERY much

Demo = But, even so, nevertheless, however, etc.

Hai = Yes, OK, Sure, Alright, etc.

"Hajimemashite, Goshujin-sama. Hausu Maido, Fubuki desu." = 'Nice to meet you, Master. I am the house maid, Fubuki.'

Kami = God/Gods/Goddess/Goddesses, usually followed by a -sama, especially if referring to the head of the pantheon.

Keikogi or Dogi - Do/Keiko=Practice / Gi=Martial Arts Outfit

Nani-o = polite way of saying 'what'
Nani = Not the polite way of saying 'what'

Neko-Ken = Cat-Fist

O-kaa - mother, kaa is mother, the 'o' is 'polite'

Onegai = Please

Oyaji = impolite way of saying father, 'Pops' or 'Old Man'; can also refer to one's boss

Sumimasen = Pardon me, excuse me, sorry

-tan = -tan is a cutesy kids way of saying -chan, like -chuwan etc.
-chama = (mix of -chan & -sama)

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PROLOGUE

Two years have passed, and ...

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CHAPTER 02
The Art of Making Friends

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Deep in the woods, in the southern part of Japan, near Osaka, on top of Mount Katsuragi, there sat a clearing. Returning to their small campsite in this clearing were Ranma and his mother, Nodoka, fresh from soaking in a nearby hot spring after a long day of pushing themselves to their limits and beyond. Over the last two years, Nodoka had trained diligently along side her son and had advanced quickly so that she was able to be a sparring partner for her son when he was not training with another master. He was still better than she was, but she could hold her own, mostly owing to her longer reach. First, there was the year or so they spent with Kyoshi-sensei strengthening, amplifying and training their ki. Ever the apt pupil, once Ranma understood the concept he started 'absorbing' techniques like a sponge, even faster than Nodoka could, and she was the one being trained. Eventually Kyoshi-sensei was so impressed by how quickly he could recreate skills just by seeing them that she made an exception to her rule about never training men, and started teaching him in earnest. Almost every master dreams of having so apt a pupil, who can so rapidly master almost any technique, so it was then that she was disappointed to see her first male student leave. On the other hand, she did invite them to come back for more training anytime they felt up to it, saying 'there is always more to learn'.

After that they had a much easier time carrying the large packs of supplies they needed for training and camping and started hiking to their destination more often and taking transportation less while having their larger belongings stored until they planned to be in one place for longer periods. They began in earnest working on mastering any techniques they could from the books and scrolls they had with them as well as from any dojo or martial artist they happened to run across in their travels. And now here they were, having climbed Mount Katsuragi carrying enough camping gear to last for weeks, hunting and foraging for food supplies when they needed to devoting their very lives to the art her husband was so proud of. And pride was something that Nodoka now felt, not only in the son she was privileged enough to be raising, but also in herself and how far she had progressed in her two years of training. Everything they did together, all of their accomplishments, it brought such joy to the woman that she could barely contain it. She felt like a kid again, taking such pleasure in each new thing. There was no more humdrum of each day being a repeat of the day before, every day was something new. Going to new places, learning new things, the wonder and beauty to be found in The Art, and the world at large, it never ceased to amaze her. She almost never thought about her errant husband any more, as a matter of fact on the rare occasions she thought about him at all it was with gratitude. Because it was thanks to him, and his stupidity that (thankfully her son did not inherit) she was getting to experience this joyful life, something she would not take back for anything in the world.

"Ranma-kun, let's get cleaned up so we can prepare dinner. You did an excellent job today, I can see you are progressing quite well."

"Hai, Okaa-chan!"

Ranma helps his mother prepare their dinner, his cooking skills have been coming along as nicely as Nodoka's skills in The Art. As has his schoolwork...

"After dinner, I will handle cleaning up, but since we can't practice your kanji while we are sparring, as we do with your other subjects, I want you to show me you have the Year One kanji memorized so we can move on to Year Two soon. Afterward, we can play a game, what would you like to play?"
{*Kanji = The first writing system in Japan, made up of characters borrowed from the Chinese. Because there are literally thousands of these characters, children learn a certain set of characters each year through middle school, called Joyo Kanji, or the most commonly used ones. There are currently 2,136 characters in this set, this was raised to this around the time period of this chapter actually.*}

Ranma pulls out his trusty deck of cards, "How about 'Old Fool'?"
{You might know this game as 'Old Maid', but long ago Nodoka decided to rename it in honor of her husband when she taught it to Ranma, since they use the Joker instead of a queen. *Bakojiin = Stupid Old Man* a portmanteau word I just made up.}

Nodoka smiles inwardly at her little joke, "Sure Ranma-kun, you are getting much better at it, you almost beat me last time. Now, let's get started."

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For the last two years, Genma has not had an easy time of it. Many times, he has regretted the deal he made to train Fubuki-chan in exchange for the services of the self proclaimed 'Maid Guy'. It's not that the girl was a bad student, in fact, she was quite apt. She has gotten quite skilled with throwing knives and other projectiles and her fitness had improved considerably. No, she was not the problem at all. He actually, rather enjoyed having a student to teach, even if it was not his son. The problem lay with what he got in exchange for his teaching services...

"Kukuku, such a lazy goshujin you are!" Kogarashi's eyes begin to glow, "Even with Maid Guy: Recipes, Maid Guy: Power Drinks and Maid Guy: Fitness Training slimming you down, you are still two point eight kilograms over what is a healthy weight for your size and build. Kukuku, maybe training the Clumsy Maid isn't enough for you," He pauses to dislodge a shuriken that had suddenly found itself protruding from his forehead, "Other families have been hearing about your successful training of the Clumsy Maid here," he feels a small bat hitting the back of his head, while he ignores the small girl fuming behind him, "...and you did tell me your wife had told you to get a job. Maybe Maid Guy should arrange for you to get more students! At least once you get back from your trip, kukuku. Speaking of which, here is a letter that arrived for you. It looks important, you might want to read it now."

"A letter? I wonder who it's from... OSHOU-SAMA! Kuso! I gotta get out of here for a while..."
{*Oshou = (4) master (of one's art, trade, etc.) -This is what Soun and Genma call Happosai, Oshou-sama*}
{*Kuso = Expletive word for fecal matter; AKA Crap*}

A hand on his shoulder prevents Genma's forward progress. "What is this about, Goshujin? You don't want more training? According to 'Maid Guy: Scan' you could certainly use it."

"Oh, you just don't understand, he's a demon! He tortures us for fun. He runs out on the check and leaves us to work off his debt. He makes us steal lady's unmentionables. He makes us bring him booze that we had to 'acquire' from local villages. He is a demon of lust, who's appetite can not be sated! He makes you look almost human!"

"Maid Guy IS human, but either way it seems that you learned a lot from him then."

"Yes, yes, the Master's training was arduous, but effective."

"Especially the parts where you get others to do your work for you, avoid your problems and run out on the check. You mastered his lessons well."

Genma felt an arrow pierce his chest with each point his demonic 'servant' made, but he recovered quickly since guilt doesn't work well on those without a conscience. "Well, that being said, I believe it's time to use the Saotome Final Attack! RUN AWAY!" Once again, an iron-like claw on his shoulder halts Genma's forward progress. "Look, what part of 'I gotta get outa here' do you not understand?"

"Kukuku. You prove my point. Don't worry Goshujin, I will sort out all of your problems. Just relax and let me deal with it. Now, tell me about this demon."

And so Genma begins to relate to Maid Guy the history of The Evil Master!

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The mother and son pair were competing to see who could make it down the mountain first, and despite the advantage of her much longer legs, Nodoka was still having trouble keeping up with her energetic son, but, nonetheless, they were having so much fun they decided to keep racing until they reached the nearby town of Chihayaakasaka. They were laughing and talking about history so much so that they didn't notice the sounds of the hustle and bustle of the town until they were almost in the market district.

When they stopped, all of the sounds of the market hit them at once, the people moving goods, those who were haggling for better prices, bells ringing, and loudest of all, the 'barkers' attracting people to their shops and stands. "...nomiyaki, get yer fresh okonomiyaki here!"

"Oh, mom! Something smells good!"

Nodoka gives Ranma some money, "Well hon, why don't you go get some lunch and play for a while, and I will see if I can find the master we heard was in the area. I will meet you back here in a few hours. Have fun, maybe you can find a girlfriend while we are here." Nodoka smiled a bit as she walked away.

Blushing a bit at the 'girlfriend' jibe, "'Kay, mom! See you in a while!" Ranma runs off following his nose, trying as many different foods as he can, savoring the flavors and watching how they are made as he goes. 'Gotta show mom some new recipes when we have a kitchen again, some of these are good, but not what I am smelling, I wonder what it is.' Ranma moves on to the next food cart in the area and sees a child similar to him in age.

"Kuonji Okonomiyaki! Git yer okonomiyaki here! Best okonomiyaki in Osaka, maybe even all a Japan!"

"Okonomiyaki, what's that? It smells good!"

"WHAT'S OKONOMIYAKI?! Only tha best food in tha world, maybe even tha whole universe!"
{*Okonomiyaki = long story short, Japanese Style Pancake or Pizza-like food, a specialty of the Kansai and Hiroshima regions of Japan. Short story long, visit wiki* wiki/Okonomiyaki}

"Oh, really? Well I gotta try that then! What kind do you recommend?"

Pointing to a large, older man wearing a similar outfit, who was behind the cart, "That's mah dad, tell him Ah said ta ask fer th' house special. Ifin y'all don't like it, Ah'll pay fer it maself!"

"Sounds like you have a deal!" Ranma walks over to the man, and after a short wait in a fast moving line, "Your kid over there said ta ask you for the "House Special" and if I don't like it, they would pay for it."

"That so? Well, Ah'll have ta do muh best ta make yah a satisfied customer, then." The large man's hands moved at surprising speeds, Ranma had trouble following his movements. Within moments, a fresh, crisp okonomiyaki was flying toward Ranma's head. He snatched it out of the air and after studying it's composition for a moment he started eating, savoring every bite as he walked back over to the other kid. "Mmm, that IS good."

"Might be best in Japan, Ah've been learning ta make them my whole life!" The child proudly remarks.

"Mom's only been teaching me to cook the last couple years, but she says I have a real knack for desserts. I'll have to make something for you next time. So, what else do you do, besides make these okonomiyaki things?"

"Well, that's a part a th' family art."

"Oh? You are a martial artist too? I thought you moved with some skill, we should spar some time. Hey, lemme ask you a question?" The other child nodded. "Now don't go gettin' all mad at me, but 'Are you a girl'?"

"Uh'Course Ah'm a GIRL! What's-it matter ta ya?"

"Sumimasen!" Ranma bows, "It's just the boy's clothes... and you DID use 'boku'."
{*Boku = one of many ways to say "I/me" and is considered a 'masculine' form*}

"Well, Mah pop DOES sorta treat meh like Ah'z a boy."

"Oh, that's great! Well the 'you bein' a girl' part, not the 'he treats you like a boy' part. My mom says that girls are the best thing ever and they should be treated like they are special, and that I'll understand better when I'm older. She wants me to make a girl, friend while I am staying here. So, uh, you wanna be friends?"

The, uh, 'girl' was stunned for a moment. 'Was this boy asking meh out? ON A DATE?!' She blushed, 'No one'z evah asked meh out before.' "Yah mean, yah wanna be mah boyfriend?"

"Sure!" A smiling Ranma sticks his hand out to shake. "I'm Ranma Saotome."

Taking his hand in hers she says, "Ukyo Kuonji's the name, okonomiyaki's the game." and pulls him into a hug, kissing him on the cheek.

"You any good at cards?" She shakes her head. "Let's spar then." A grin creeps across his face. "And later I can cook ya dinner."

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Maid Guy looks at an exhausted-looking Genma with his shark-like grin. "I see, so you have tried so many things, reporting him to the police, poison, exploding lingerie (I like that one), and so on, and you have failed each time because you are not man enough stop a demon. (I'll bet you can't even interface with a printer!)"

"What does that have to do with anything? But, you don't understand, if you think you're so tough, you stop him!"

"Kukuku, it is the job of the student to beat his master! Taking the job of Goshujin, is something outside of the maid's professional duties!"

"So why did I waste all of this time here when I should have been running? I thought you were gonna help!"

"Impossible! It is far beyond any human ability to help! A miracle is the domain of the Gods!"

Genma turns once again to, "RUN AWAY!", and for a third time the iron grip of the Maid Guy's clawed hand on his trembling shoulder prevents his forward progress. "Yet, however! There is one possibility left open to us here! I will reveal my secret plan!"

Genma stops trying to run and perks up. He wanted to hear this plan, he especially liked the 'secret' part, it made it sound important to him, like it might work. His hope started to rise, but then again, we have already proven that Genma is an idiot. "A plan? Why didn't you say so?"

"I just did. If I told you sooner, it wouldn't have been a secret! Learn from past mistakes! Thus say the teachings left behind by our ancestors: 'When in trouble, pray to the Kami'!"

"Kami?! That's not much of a plan..."

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Walking back to meet back up with Nodoka, Ranma and Ukyo are holding hands. "Sure am glad your pop let you come have dinner with us, Ucchan."

"Meh too, Ranchan. Though Ah cain't believe ya beat meh evah time, Ah'm one of th' best mah age in th' area, can e'en beat th' boys 'round these parts."

The young martial artist beamed with pride, "Well, that's what I've been trainin' MY whole life to do, first oyaji taught me, but then he tried some stupid technique that hurt me really bad, and now mom teaches me!" A smile replacing the momentary frown from the painful memory, brightly covering half of his small face.

"Wow, Ah'm sorry ta hear 'bout that, but yer ma, she must be really good."

"Well, I'm better!" Ranma states quite mater-of-factually, "She didn't do martial arts much b'fore, so we're learnin' together, from books and scrolls from the family style, and whatever we can pick up from random fights and various masters that let us train under them, like Kyoshi-sensei. I learned lots from her." Somehow, his smile got even wider at that.

"Just amazin'!"

Spotting the woman in question, he points and pulls Ukyo over to her, "And there she is now. Oi! 'Ka-chan! Jus' like you asked, I found a girl friend." Ukyo blushes a bit at this.

At the sight of the two children heading her way Nodoka practically gushes at the pure 'moe' of the scene, the two children laughing, smiling and holding hands, it was just too cute. "Hello Ranma-kun, I hope you had fun. Who is your little friend?"
{*Moe - pronounced Mow-ay - a manga and anime term meaning something like cute*}

"Kon'nichiwa, Saotome-han. Mah name is Ukyo Kuonji, okonomiyaki chef, ...in training. Yer son asked meh ta be his girlfriend, an' then invited meh ta dinnah." Ukyo bows formally, "Ah'm in yer care."
{*Konichiwa = Good Afternoon*}
{*-han = Kansai-ben form of -san*}
{'I am in your care', or 'Please take care of me' "Yoroshiku onegai-shimasu" is said at the end of sentences when meeting someone or when making a request of them}

"Oh my, how polite! A bit of a tom-boy it seems, but I am sure she will become a fine young lady, and she is off to such a good start too, picking such a manly boyfriend." Nodoka winks at them, "Well, I rented us a house, but our other things will not arrive until tomorrow, I figured we could camp out again tonight, so I hope your cute little girlfriend doesn't mind dinner cooked over an open fire."

Her blush deepening even further at being called cute again, not being used to such things, but increasing her 'moe' factor by a few points in Nodoka's eyes. "Naw, Ah don't mind, campin's fun."

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After setting up their campsite outside of town Nodoka puts her hand on Ukyo's shoulder, "Ranma-kun, since you invited her to dinner, I will let you prepare the meal while I spend some time getting to know your new girlfriend..." Nodoka practically drags poor little Ukyo into her tent to 'chat', "Come dear, you must tell me everything."

Ranma sighs as he starts unpacking their cooking supplies, 'At least it's not me this time, maybe having a girlfriend won't be so bad!' Finding what he was looking for, he begins his preparations for dinner, doing his best to ignore the strange (to him) sounds coming from within the tent.

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Finishing setting the table Ranma begins serving the food as he calls the others to eat. "Dinner is ready!"

Nodoka exits the tent smiling like a cat, "Ranma-kun?"

"Hai." Getting Ranma's attention Nodoka pulls back the tent flaps to reveal Ukyo, dressed in a fancy yukata, with ribbons in her hair and even a flower, a slight touch of make-up, and even a purse. Where she had gotten the yukata, Ranma had no idea, he was sure he didn't own one with flowers on it, and his mother's would be way to big. But none the less, the overall effect left Ukyo looking rather feminine for a six-year old, and caught Ranma momentarily surprised, assuming his slack-jawed expression was any indication. Speaking softly Nodoka prompts her son, "Ranma-kun, what do you say?"
{*Yukata = A light cotton robe like outfit, like a less formal kimono, mostly worn for festivals and when coming out of the bath, especially at a public bath/hot spring, there will be more on this later, you WILL be tested!*}

Recovering slightly Ranma blurts out, "Wow Ucchan, you look extra cute in that!" Ukyo's blush at this point is coming close to rivaling the campfire's heat and luminosity, but she looks rather pleased with the reaction she received anyway.

After a moment Ranma remembered that he was serving food, looking down he was glad to find that he hadn't spilled the soup in his brief lapse. "Um, well, since we are camping, and I don't have a stocked kitchen, I kept it pretty simple. For the first course, miso soup with tofu cubes and crab, for the main dish miso glazed cod with sauteed broccoli, and for dessert, yuzu creme brulee. Douzo meshiagare."
{*Douzo meshiagare = Enjoy your meal; said by the cook.* *Itadakimasu = Said before you start eating, lit. 'I humbly receive'* *gochisosama (deshita - added when being formal) - said after you finish eating*}

Ukyo is quite shocked at the dishes her new boyfriend served, to be honest she wouldn't have been surprised if it had been boiled cabbage with mayonnaise and rice, mind you she's really glad that's not what it is, but this is almost too much, especially for camping food. 'Ah wonder ifin it tastes as good as it looks, sure smells good. His ma's right, he IS a good boyfriend!'

They all call out, "Itadakimasu!" and begin slurping their soup.

Ukyo is quite impressed with the meal as they work their way through the dishes. Knowing full well that there is no way she could do the same under the same conditions, even with the recipe! Never mind making it taste this good too. "It's no okonomiyaki, but it's still pretty good." When they finally get to dessert Ukyo feels like she has died and gone to heaven to be in the arms of her dear departed mother. But since she couldn't bring any of it with her, she had to go back for another bite 'Sorry ma, Ah love you'. Forcing herself to descend back into her body where heaven on earth was awaiting her spoon.

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Darkness. Ukyo can sense nothing else. She can not see the red light of the sun sinking below the horizon. She can not feel the light shaking of her shoulder. She can not hear the shouts of her two companions trying to wake her.

Slowly she begins to register her surroundings, "...I think she might be dead!"

"...Well, at least she looks happy..."

Slowly Ukyo pulls herself up to a sitting position as the previous few moments filter back into her brain.

"Ucchan! You're OK!"

"Are you diabetic? I'm sorry, we didn't know."

Weakly, Ukyo shakes her head and is slowly able to sit up, "Gochisosama deshita... so, good. Sweetness. never had. nuthin'. like that. Sooo good."

Ranma helps Ukyo remain sitting upright, while Nodoka gets her a glass of water and a damp cloth for her forehead. "Ucchan, you gonna be OK? Do you need us to get you anything?"

"More, ...'dessert'."

Both Saotomes turn to look at each other and promptly facefault.

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Dinnertime at the Saotome estate was a solemn affair, since both Maid Guy and Fubuki refused to dine with him. Genma wasn't even sure if Maid Guy ate at all, not that Genma would think anyone would go without food, but he had not seen it happen so he couldn't be sure. The only time he had seen him put anything into his mouth was when he was shredding documents! Fubuki on the other hand was not fond of his 'Food-Fu' training method. It only took so many throwing stars and kunai in the head for even Genma rethink his actions. Truth be told, even without him trying to steal her food, his table manners were atrocious and she preferred not to witness the horrors first hand. One of these days, when she gets stronger, she was going to try to 'correct' that bad habit of his... or so she plans.
{*Actually it would have been Gohan-Ryu (Meal-Style) but I liked the alliteration of Food-Fu. Of course, you could have had Gohan Genma's Style!*}

As Genma finishes devouring the latest of Maid Guy's culinary masterpieces, utterly wasted on a man who barely tastes his food as he inhales it,
"Tomorrow we will go to see a colleague of mine, the Diabolical Priestess, the woman who corresponds with god. Her supernatural power is terrifying, but it is in good working condition. Here, read the guidebook for yourself."

Genma catches the pamphlet out of the air and looks it over, "Okay, 'Dragon Sphere Shrine. Located at the base of Mount Fuji, encircled by deep green and standing in a secluded area. Its main purpose is to grant every possible wish ranging from local affairs to world peace! However! Due to countless pilgrims seeking divine favor, the shrine's special products and wish-fulfillment charms are scarce, and it is extremely difficult to get them.' So, what's the catch?"

"Kukuku, you will see goshujin, you will see. We head there after breakfast, be ready."

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Ukyo is surprised by the 'yellowness' of her surroundings, she sat on a large yellow spiral (that strangely had a lemony sent) that was 'floating' in yellow not-quite liquid, almost golden brown on the surface. Wherever she looked it appeared as if everything had a light dusting of snow, but yet, she was comfortably warm. She caught one of the 'snowflakes' on her tongue, and IT WAS SWEET! All of a sudden, her 'boat' rolled over and she found herself stuck in the yellow 'goop'. Not expecting this, she got a huge mouthful and was forced to swallow it, and again, it was really good! It felt like fireworks of flavor were going off in her mouth.

Ukyo begins eating her way out of her predicament, and starts to swim through the substance, eating as she goes. Not caring in the slightest that she currently looks like she has a beach ball for a body, and a smaller one for a head. She just kept eating and swimming and eating... But when she rolled over to do the backstroke her had seemed to hit something and she her someone say "OW!" Thinking she was alone, this startled the girl. So startled was she, that she jumped up and turned around almost hitting her head on the table. And behind her was Ranma, catching her as she stumbled. Behind him, Nodoka, hiding a camera, and then the rest of the campsite...

"Are you okay, Ucchan?"

"RANCHAN! Oh, Ah had a wonderful dream," about this time she notices a small hand shaped bruise on his cheek, "Did I hit you?"

Ranma's hand goes to the back of his head as he rubs it absently, "Yeah, well, mom said I should hold your head in my lap so you don't hurt yourself, but all of a sudden you rolled over and your hands started waving around... hard t' dodge without dropping you." He pouted a little.

Despite not having been trained in the technique, nor Ranma recognizing it, she performs a perfectly executed 'Crouch of the Wild Tiger' "OH Ranchan! Ah'm so sorry! Ah didn't mean to do it! Please forgive me."

"Aw, don't worry 'bout it none. Was my fault for not being fast enough. You're the one I'm worried about, are you sure you're OK?" Concern clearly written on his little face, ...next to the hand print that's already starting to fade. Neither of them paying the least attention to the faint 'clicking' sound coming from nearby.

Ukyo grabs a hold of Ranma, squeezing him for all she was worth, "Ranchan, sukkya nen!" The 'clicking' sound intensified at this point along with a faint squealing sound.
{*suki ya nen or sukkya nen = Kansai-ben for 'I love you'*}

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"Thanks for having meh over, but it's gittin' late. Ah should prob'ly git back home." Looking a bit disappointed she adds, "Could you halp me get changed back, Saotome-han? Would you like me to wash it and bring it back to you?"

"No dear, since you look so cute in it, why don't you just keep it, maybe there will be a festival soon you can wear it to. Here are your things." Nodoka hands over a small bundle.

"Maido ookini!" Bowing so much she almost gives herself whiplash. "Ah've never had such nice clothes before! Pop thinks work clothes are good enough for us all the time."
{*maido ookini = Kansai-ben form of Arigato or Thank You. Maido (in this case, it's also how they say 'maid') means 'every time' and 'Ookini' means 'Thanks'. Side note, this form of 'maido' is also used by shopkeepers, 'maido arigato gozaimasu' or 'thank you very much, every time'*}

"Maybe I will have a talk with him about that, girls need to feel feminine once in a while. Ranma-kun, remember, 'a gentleman always walks his lady-friend home'."

"Hai, 'kaa-chan!"

"And Ucchan, be sure to invite your father to our house for dinner one night, once we have it set up."

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The next morning Genma found himself climbing a steep set of stairs leading up to the shrine perched high atop one of the hills leading up Mount Fuji. "Why do these temples always have to be at the top of a steep set of stairs?"

"Kukuku, because, you lazy goshujin, man must always strive to prove himself worthy of the gods' attention."

"And I thought you said we were going to make this trip 'after' breakfast."

"I had breakfast, I told YOU to 'be prepared'."

Upon arriving at the top, they see a huge shrine, surrounded by huge wooden walls, the doors of which were at least three times Genma's height, as if they were made for giants to use. So amazed craftsmanship, and wondering if there was anything of value he could 'borrow', he failed to notice that they had been approached.

"Are you here to pray at our shrine?" Before them stood a girl who appeared to be in her mid teens, dressed in a miko's uniform with long straight plum colored hair and green eyes. Flanking her were two other miko, one of whom was carrying a clipboard. Before either of them were able to respond, not that Maid Guy was planning to attempt it, the miko who spoke began to glow with a green aura, her hair and outfit began to blow in the 'wind' that it generated. With it her pupil-less green eyes shined with a rainbow-like light. As her aura fades, she turned to the demonic-looking manservant, "Guy, you have returned."

"Kukuku. This goshujin can't solve his own problems, so I brought him to you."

The 'Diabolical Priestess' takes the clipboard and ink brush offered to her by her assistant, "Cold as always." Her eyes close, and her face loses all expression. Loosely holding the brush she begins to write on the paper held by the clipboard in her other hand, and after a moment, the brush stops moving and her eyes snap open! "Well then, Genma Saotome, you are a lazy, thoughtless, greedy, and selfish person, who lies, cheats and steals at the slightest provocation, who is plagued a perverted old master."

Genma is so shocked at the accuracy of her reading that he forgets to be offended, 'Maybe this could work out after all. Oh, Tendo, lend me your strength!'

"Normally we would not grant the wishes of one such as you, your kind typically find it easier to work with another sort of entity. But since your request IS in the public's interest, we will hear you. Wait until you are called, then follow me."

Watching the young priestess and her colleagues walk away Genma turns to his frightening companion and asks, "You seem to know your way around here, how's this supposed to work anyway?"

"Kukuku, you've never been to a shrine before? You go in, make your offering and hope that Kami will grant your request, and if so, you fulfill the requirement. Such an ignorant goshujin you are."

Not realizing the truth in those words, Genma is, once again, indignant and offended, though even he realizes this is not the place to be getting upset at the large manservant, not that it ever did him any good anyway... "But, what kind of offering? You didn't mention that before, I didn't really bring anything..."

"Genma Saotome!"

"Not that kind of 'offering'. You will face a challenge! Now, go, goshujin! Go and have your wish granted!"

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{Please pause for this station identification and the following PSA}

{*PSA = Public Service Announcement*}
{*Miko = Shrine Maiden*}
{*Kimono = A traditional article of Japanese clothing, similar to a robe, worn mostly these days for formal situations and special occasions, or more traditional people. Depending on the material, the decoration and how you wear it, a kimono can be very, very masculine or extremely feminine. Both the Kimono and the Yukata are complicated to put on 'properly' and many people require help or get it wrong. The Yukata, for example, aside from the yukata itself and the Obi (outer belt) there are nine other parts to it, including two small towels.*}
{*Hakama = Another piece of traditional clothing. Worn even less than the kimono these days, they are worn over top of a kimono, from the waist down, and are usually of a contrasting color. Typically worn more by men than women now as it was once a 'men's only' item. Miko wear them often.*}
{*Zori = traditional sandals, similar to flip-flops. They can be word by men or women, formal or informal, and made of many materials, in this case, woven straw.*}
{We now return you to your regularly scheduled fan fic, already in progress}

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Genma follows the miko who called for him, wondering just what it was he was in for. Always one to let curiosity get the best of him, he asked, "So, how does this work exactly?"

"We bare the duty of conveying your wishes to Kami-sama. However, since the population boom started a couple of hundred years or so ago, Kami-sama has become very busy. He has no time to listen to everyone's prayer. So only those who can earn his attention will have their wish heard." Rounding the back corner, they entered a flat level area behind the temple where the head priestess was waiting, along with a couple who did not appear affiliated with the temple in any way. Exasperated by the wait the man in a lime green yukata blurts out, "Finally! Now we get to find out what this contest is all about." Seeing the look in the woman's eye he adds, "Sorry, I'm Sankichi Urakishi, and this is my assistant, Koharu. Nice to meet you."

"Genma, Genma Saotome, it's a pleasure. Why are you wearing a yukata?"

"That's none of your business!"

"True, true."

The head priestess stood in the center of the clearing where she still held her clipboard and brush. "Now that you both are here we will see what is the day's contest, consecrated by Kami-sama, that will be your offering." Holding out her pad and brush, she closed her eyes as her aura began to glow again as she wrote on her pad. Her aura faded again, "Well then, I will announce it now. Today's contest will be," She turned the clipboard around so that everyone could read it, "Battle Shogi!" She slowly walked off to the side of the clearing as sixteen miko, with their faces covered, held chalk dusters and they began running around drawing lines on the ground, not one of them touching the head priestess as they pass by her, as she walked off of the 'board'.

"Battle Shogi, huh? This will be interesting." Pushing up his glasses Genma began making a mental list of all of his usual cheating techniques that would be ineffective in this over sized version.

"Battle Shogi? I never would have thought of such a thing. I like this." Sankichi grined as he thought to himself, 'this is going to be fun!'

After the board is drawn, the high priestess climbed up into a tall chair overseeing the 'battleground', "These are the rules, You will each be your 'King', the rest of the pieces will be filled in by these girls." pointing toward the door to the temple building, thirty-eight young ladies came out in double file lines, each breaking off as they exit filing into their starting places on this oversized game board. Each of these women were dressed in their usual zori, a red miniskirt and white top that appeared as if each of the short-sleeved shirts' shoulders had the seam separated about half way, exposing their shoulders, but leaving their upper arms covered. In many ways, it looked as if their usual miko outfits had been shrunk, a lot. They also each had a hat, on each of these hats was a large shogi piece to represent which piece they were playing the part of today.

{Some of you may know Koharu better by her dub name, Clarabell}
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"Well Soun old boy, it looks like your old training partner wised up a little and got away this time, you should have left sooner too, ya know. I thought I taught you better than that. Oh well, you can't train a stone."

"I'm sorry Oshou-sama!" Soun groveled.

"Nyeh heh heh heh, not to worry, you can do double the training in his place! Now let's get a move on..." The old lecher froze for a moment. He turned and sniffed the air and within moments, he was moving, bounding at top speed up the mountain. "SWEEET-OOooooo!" Soun was left with a choice, either he could do his best to follow the evil master, or to go home to his family while Happosai was distracted. For what was most certainly not the first time in his life, Soun made the wrong choice.

And so it was, that Soun also started making his way up the mountain.

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Genma was not having a particularly easy time of it, his first distraction technique worked like a charm, but when he went to move his 'piece' she refused to move, telling him, "but, it's not my turn to move!" He had tried to push her into place but he slipped in his haste and his hand went to her posterior, where she put all of her power of her indignation into a slap to Genma's face for his trouble. Confetti rained down on his head showing he earned some bonus points as a small consolation prize. He attempted to repeat the process a second time, but Kami-sama said he knew Genma would do that and 'that it's not funny if he expected it'. And after that, none of his tricks had gone off as expected. At least none of Sankichi's tricks had worked either.

"That's it folks, it seems as though the opponents are equally matched in stupidity!"

He had come up with another technique to try, "The Gamble of the Desperate Martial Artist", it needed a better name. It was risky and he hadn't been able to use it yet, but if he could just get a distraction off, he was planning to run around and switch the girls' hats. This way he wouldn't need their 'cooperation' to use his 'crafty techniques', his 'ingenious strategies', his, well, let's face it, cheats. The problem was, he was having no luck getting a distraction to work long enough to pull it off. He had tried 'look it's a penguin', 'look it's a dog', 'look it's a plane', 'look it's a frog', none of his usual tricks were working anymore, not even the most dreaded one in his arsenal, the 'Look, a hundred yen coin!' Technique, that used a REAL coin!

Genma was really starting to sweat his options, when he heard a familiar sound that chilled his blood. He assumed it was his desperate mind hallucinating, after all, what are the odds? But it did remind him of a move he hadn't thought to try yet...

"Look! It's a PERVERT!" Just as the words left his mouth a twig breaking was heard, and like a shot the perverted old man, who assumed he had been spotted, was racing around the field, flipping up skirts as he went. Genma started running around the field doing his best to swap out as many hats as he could during the distraction.

From the moment the first skirt was flipped the weather had gotten really, quite nice, the sky was a perfect shade of blue, the clouds couldn't be any fluffier, the temperature was perfect, rainbows were everywhere you looked, as were women who were trying their best to keep their panties from showing, effectively preventing Genma from executing his 'technique'. Everything was beautiful, and everyone was happy, except for the girl's whose panties were showing, the man in the lime green yukata, and the woman next to him who was beating him with her purse yelling something at him about 'not staring', but everyone else in the world, for that one shining instant, were happy. Up until that fateful moment, when Happosai started to make his first move to molest one of the women present, that's when everything changed. The sky instantly grew dark, for the briefest of moments, and then lightning seemed to come from every direction all focused on one evil gnome.

Unfortunately for Soun, this was the exact moment he too had come out from the trees and into the clearing, unintentionally blocking one of the lightning strikes, preventing it from hitting his master. Also shocking him as he has never been shocked before, leaving him bald and naked, in a smoldering heap.

As the lightning dissipates, the almost molested girls all grabbed rubber gripped instruments of destruction, donned rubber-soled shoes and proceeded to do their best to cause as much damage to the runt as was humanly possible.

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After all had calmed down to more manageable levels, Soun was being treated for his injuries, Happosai's still breathing corpse was sealed away as tightly as they were able to, buried, and then sealed again for good measure. Buried close enough to the shrine that the miko could keep replenishing the seal, but far enough away that his evil power wouldn't damage nor infect the shrine. Genma was doing his best to refrain from celebrating until his friend could enjoy it with him. While the rest of the miko were cleaning up the mess left behind.

The main miko returned to the group after her long communion with Kami-sama, "There are NO winners today. Genma Saotome, all of your problems will not be fixed, and Sankichi Urakishi, you will not be given the courage to propose to your partner, Koharu."

Sankichi was not fast enough to cover his partner's ears and for the first time she hears what his request had been. Koharu blushed, turned to her 'partner' and with tears streaming down her face, she said, "I accept! Now, can we get out of here?"

"Also! Men are no longer allowed on the temple grounds! I suggest you all leave, NOW!"

Not really sure what to do with his friend, he called for Maid Guy's assistance. Who ran in, picked up the prone martial artist and followed Genma back to the estate.

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Returning to the estate, Maid Guy took his charge to one of the unused bedrooms to be tended to. While a somber Genma went over and picked up the phone.

"Moshi-Moshi, Tendo-san?"
{*Moshi-Moshi = "Hello" on the phone (and to get someone's attention in other places)*}

"There's been a training accident."

"I'm sorry."

"No, he's going to be fine. He just needs plenty of rest, salve and bandages. I have him in one of the rooms here being tended to."

"No, of course you are more than welcome to come. I'm sure he would like that."

"If you plan to bring them, you might want to give him a few days, it looks pretty bad right now, you wouldn't want to upset them needlessly."

"Of course."

"See you then."

[CLICK]

'You know? He talks about her all the time, and yet I don't think he has ever once mentioned her name. Oh well, I can ask when she arrives.'

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THE NEXT DAY

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Soun still hadn't awoken, but his breathing was steady and his skin was starting to show signs of improvement. Maid Guy had been regularly applying more of the salve they had received from the temple and changing his bandages.

Genma had kind of expected to see Soun's wife arrive last night the way she had been talking, but he supposed she decided to wait and bring the girls later. 'It would have been hard to get transportation at that time of night anyway. I suppose I should call and give her an update on how he is doing either way.' That decided he headed back down to the phone to call his friend's home.

On the other end of the phone, loud noises could be heard, "Moshi-Moshi?"

"Moshi-Moshi, this is a friend of your daddy, is your mommy home?"

"No, she isn't, we haven't seen her since last night, she told us she was going to see father and would be back in the morning." Screams are heard in the background. "GIRLS! Stop pulling each other's hair! Akane, go get the bath ready. Nabiki, talk to father's friend, I will go try to keep lunch from burning!"

'KUSO! This is NOT good! This is not good at all. What to do? What'll I do? First, gotta keep the kids from panicking and safe.'

"Moshi-moshi?"

"Ah, yes, Nabiki was it?"

"Yeeeeees...?"

"After you eat, pack up some of your things, all of you. I will send a cab to be there to pick you up in an hour to bring you here, to where your daddy is."

"Oi, 'nee-chan, you sure this guy is a friend of daddy's? He seems kind of suspicious to me."

"I think that was the name mother said last night, Saotome. And I think I have heard father talk about them before."

"He says he is going to send a car for us to take us to daddy."

"Okay, go tell Akane-chan, we'll start getting ready after our bath."

"Okay!"

[CLICK]

Genma shakes his head, 'Kids. Well as long as they aren't upset.' And begins making phone calls, first to the cab company, then to the police... and surprising even himself he only just barely considers picking his friend's pocket for cab fare. Sadly that was all the motivation he needed to do so, but still, he almost didn't think of it, and let's face it, for Genma, that's improvement!

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Genma was feeling rather low. He never did like delivering bad news, primarily because he got the blame and hit a lot when he did, on most occasions, and it only made it worse that he felt some responsibility for the situation, something he wasn't used to. If he hadn't made that phone call, at that exact time... If he had just waited until morning to let her know. Or waited until Soun could tell her himself. Genma's head sank even lower. Should he try to keep the girls distracted and wait until Soun is awake to tell him first and let him decide what to tell his children? It could be days before Soun wakes up, is it fair to keep the girls in the dark that whole time? Well, it wasn't fair that their mother was taken from them, it wasn't fair that their father was in a coma, and it certainly wasn't fair that Genma was the only caretaker they had. It also wasn't fair that what was supposed to be a happy occasion, ridding themselves of the dreaded Happosai, has become so somber and grim. Genma needed time to think, not one of his more practiced skills. Calling on Maid Guy and Fubuki to keep an eye on the sleeping girls, he informed them he was going out for a walk. If nothing else, he should pick up a large bottle of sake. Anyway you looked at it, Soun was going to need it when he woke up, one way, or another.

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Luckily, since they had planned to be in one place for a while, their mail was being directly forwarded and Nodoka received the letter containing the news of the tragedy that had befallen her husband's friend, his family and the situation surrounding it rather quickly. 'Oh, those poor girls! What a tragic story! Although it is interesting to hear that my husband is being reliable, even taking his version of the story with a grain of salt. It just goes to show, "in every bad situation there is an element of good". I suppose I also should contact the executor of the estate to allow for a bigger food and utility budget. It might be nice to give the maid a bit of extra discretionary spending money for the girls, for clothes and fun to distribute as she felt was needed. Those girls will need all of the fun they can get for awhile... Hopefully my husband will do better helping to care for these children than he did for his own child. Since my husband seems less worthless now, I really ought to increase his personal allowance too.'

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Little did Nodoka realize that the maid in question was, herself but a girl of eight years, yet aside from a bit of help from the Maid Guy (mostly to reach the high places), she was managing quite well. Her throwing skills had also improved remarkably well. So much so, she was now focusing primarily on her melee, practicing with whatever she found lying around, a staff, a bamboo practice sword, a baseball bat... She was particularly fond of the baseball bat, it just felt natural, like it belonged there. And she had just recently begun practicing hiding useful items in her uniform, she felt as though she were carrying an extra five kilograms.

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A week had passed since the tragedy, and the occupants of the Saotome estate had slowly begun to perk up a bit. Soun had awoken the next morning, and the pain added to the news, hit him hard. He did not take it well, fainting back into the darkness almost immediately. He was now able to walk around on his own with the help of a walker, and he needed less of the salve and sake to face each day than he had needed the day before. His muscles were stiff and sore, his skin felt way too tight and his heart ached. The one bright spot in this tragedy was that his little girls were safe, and his best friend had taken care of them in this time of need. He might not be too sure what happened, but he was sure that he was glad to have a friend like Genma Saotome.

Genma had taken to training all four of the girls together, to give them something to help them keep from dwelling on the tragic events and let's face it, Genma doesn't know much else. But, surprisingly, one of his strategies bore fruit. Having to work together, the girls really started to bond, Kasumi and Fubuki grew especially close. Never one to let someone else do all of the work, even if they are being paid to do so, Kasumi would help around the house, Fubuki would teach her things, Kasumi would show her 'secret recipes' from her mother's notebook.

Nabiki spent almost as much time reading as she did playing with the other girls, luckily since Genma lived there, many of the books were written at a child's level, without kanji. Nabiki was good with her kanji, better than most girls her age, she helped both of her sisters with their homework after all, but there were just too many kanji she didn't know yet for her to be able to read adult books yet. The others were not aware of this, but she also liked to explore, Nabiki loved mysteries, but she hated leaving them unsolved, and this house was large and old. Who knows what one could find by poking around.

Akane on the other hand was having troubles of her own, while she enjoyed having other girls to train with, and having her sisters start training again was nice, why did SHE have to be the one being looked after by that pervert?! The maid who was the same age as her sisters would be looking after them, and as the youngest, it was decided she needed the extra attention and protection because mommy isn't coming back. She didn't want this new mommy, she wanted her old mommy back! This new mommy was scary, and strange. He would com into her room to wake her up in the mornings, he would wash her underwear, and she didn't like that (she didn't 'not like that' enough to want to do her own laundry, but still, she didn't like that). Wherever she went, he was there, watching. Waiting to jump out of the shadows and help her at a moments notice. As if, she wanted HIS help! She didn't want help from any boy, let alone big scary boys in dresses! Uncle Genma said she would get used to it, but she didn't WANT to get used to it, she wouldn't let herself get used to it! She wanted her mommy!

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When Genma wasn't training the girls or playing games and getting drunk with Soun, he was spending his time studying Fubuki and Maid Guy (and now Kasumi, too), as they went about their daily routine of tending to the home. He studied every movement, every use of force, every position they twisted their bodies into to get their work done. He also noted there was a heck of a lot more to it than he had ever expected! Using these notes, he started designing techniques that utilize those same movements, muscle groups and occasionally, tools. Like Maid Dusts Ceiling, Butler Opens Door, Flipping the Cushion, Rugbeater, and many more.

Feeling as though he had a respectable list of techniques, Genma called a 'family' meeting and gathered everyone together in the dining hall. "I'm sure all of you are wondering why I have called you all together this evening."

"Don't care."

"Get on with it."

"Yes, well, I have been developing a new set of techniques..." Akane's ears perk up a bit at this point, losing some of her annoyance at being there until he says, "to work with already trained muscle groups of maids and butlers. Using hand-to-hand techniques combined with regular household items that should be ingrained already due to their everyday work. This will not only make them more effective for people with these skills, but should also make them relatively easy for them to learn. Kogarashi gave me an idea last week, but then all sorts of things happened, which reminds me, we need to have a talk later Tendo, there is one piece of good news I wanted to wait until you were feeling better to tell you about, remind me after dinner. But back to the matter at hand. Once we work the kinks out of the system, I will be ready to take you up on your offer of finding us more students, Kogarashi. Fubuki and anyone else who would like to join her will begin learning these techniques and helping me refine them."

Kasumi, wanting to help and encourage her friend, raises her hand. Nabiki seeing that both of the older girls were learning this new system, and ever one to prove how smart and mature she is, chose to join them as well. Akane felt it sounded sexist, she wasn't sure what that meant, but she was sure it fit here somehow. "I'll stick to breaking boards, thank you!"

"OK, now that we have that decided, we come to the most important, critical part of our meeting, and the main reason I called all of you here. I need your help picking a name for this style, does anyone have any suggestions?"

"How about Baka Ryu!"
{*Akane suggested it be called the 'Stupid Style', but then she's six, and not pleased*}

After the little outburst and Nabiki's giggles calm down they see Kasumi has raised her hand, looking away shyly. "Yes dear, did you have a suggestion?"

"Yes Uncle, I think it should be called the Kaji Ken, or The Household Fist. Symbolizing protection of the household, as well as having the whole household behind them supporting them. They are never alone, and are always there to protect and care for those special to them."
{*Kaji = (1) housework; domestic chores; (2) family affairs; household matters;*} {*Ken = Fist*}

After a tearful moment from Soun, blubbering about various things ranging to how sweet and wonderful his daughter was, to how much he misses his wife and the hair that turned to ash during the lightning strike, a new style is born. ...and there was much rejoicing.

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Later that evening Soun catches Genma away from the others, after the girls had gone to bed, and in a hushed tone, "So, what is this all about Saotome?"

"Meet me in the garden, Tendo, and steel yourself for a shock, this is big news, I will meet you there in a few moments." Waiting until Soun had started hobbling out of the door and runs off to get a bottle of expensive sake he had been saving for special occasion and a 'go' board (having been unable to bring himself to play shogi since that day), and follows Soun out to the garden table.
{*'Go' is a board game, with some similarities to Checkers*}

"Well friend, what is this news?"

"First a toast, I have been saving this bottle for this day for years now. To friends and family, to those near, and those far away, may they always be in our hearts and with us in spirit. Kampai!"
{*Kampai = Cheers*}

"Kampai!"

"Now, Tendo, I was really hopin' to cheer you up so, what would you say if I told you that the lightning strike that you caught was actually a very small fraction of one that struck 'He-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named'?"

"REALLY?! How is he? Did he survive?"

"I believe so, but those priestesses have him sealed, locked and buried up there by that temple of theirs, with any luck we won't being seeing him again for a long time, if ever! It's better than anything we could have come up with, that's for sure."

"Well then, if not for the aftermath, I would have said it was all worth it, but in light of the cost..."

"I know Tendo, I know... The most solemn celebration we have ever had." Genma puts his arm around his old friend's shoulder and pours them each another drink, "May she live on, in those three lovely daughters of yours."

They both take their drink and yell, "Kampai!"

"We knew ridding ourselves of that great evil would come at a heavy price, I just wish I had been the one who paid that price, not..."

"You almost paid that price too, then where would your girls be? You're gonna have to be strong, for their sakes, they are going to need you, now more than ever before."

"You're right, Saotome. For them!"

"Kampai!"

"Well, you know what they say Tendo, 'You don't get drunk on sake which you do not drink.' So let's drink!"

"KAMPAI!"

"Without wine, even
beautiful cherry blossoms,
have small attraction!"

"Good one, Tendo!"

"Kampai!"

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Ranma was heading home from the day's training with his latest instructor, reviewing in his mind what he learned that day, not really paying much attention to his surroundings, until he thought a near-by bush rustled. Years of training kicking in he tenses up and sends out his aura to 'feel out' the area when he heard a whispered tone, "Pssst! Oi! Ranchan!"

"Ucchan, Is that you? What's up? Why are you hiding? Is it a game? Why are you naked? Is it fun? Can I play?"

Ukyo's curiosity got the better of her for a moment, and she almost played along, but then she remembered there was a bigger problem, 'Later!' "Naw, not a game, it's because Ah lost a game, an' lots of um... Oh Ranchan! He took mah clothes, an' th' deed ta th' food cart! Dad's gonna kill meh!"

Ranma is able to wrap his shirt around Ukyo before she throws her arms around him, sobbing into his chest. "Here Ucchan, wear this, and tell me jus' what happened. I promise you, I will take care of it, and MY mom would kill me if I broke my word to a cute girl."

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Ukyo, wearing Ranma's shirt like a short dress, and clutching his arm, leads him to where the Gambling King had set up his 'shop'. A shirtless six-year-old Ranma gently pulled free from Ukyo's grasp and strode through the crowd of children, sternly staring holes into the large man's head. Ukyo, for her part, swooned at how heroic her 'boyfriend' looked, and with her hands on her cheeks, she dropped to her knees, sitting on her feet, having a hard time keeping herself from 'squeeing'.

Ranma gets to the front of the makeshift 'stage' and still not breaking eye contact with this so-called king, though Ranma did have to admit, the man did look like one of the 'kings' on his cards. "So, you're the guy who's been taking money and clothes from little kids? How dare you make a cute girl cry!" Cracking his knuckles, aura blazing he calmly asks, "So how do you want to do this?"

"Old Maid?"

"You mean, Bakojin?"

"What did you call me?"

Ukyo whispers something into Ranma ear. "OK, Old Maid it is! First things first, if I win, you give her back her clothes, and if you win, I don't kick your butt. What? You thought I would offer you something expensive, like a building?" Ranma's aura was flaring into the visible spectrum even for people who can't normally see them, and the heat from it combining with his cold stare was almost enough to kick off a Hiryo Shoten Ha, if only he knew enough to do the spiral.

Now there's something you should know about the Gambling King, there are reasons why he only plays children, and it's not only because of his poor playing skill, it's also because he is an abject coward. He had seen enough anime to know that if someone was glowing like that and looking to hurt you, it was probably best to avoid combat if at all possible. And so, while these were not the most favorable stakes he could have hoped for, he felt it was the best course of action, after all, he always had more jokers up his sleeve, and in various other locations...

Ranma didn't even need his budding aura reading skills to tell the strange man was cheating, he was as easy to read as a child's manga. So he didn't even react when the old man slipped the joker into his hand as he was drawing his card. 'So that's the game he wants to play, fine then. Take this, Bakojin!' Utilizing one of the few techniques he still remembered from his father, "Look, it's a tengu!" Using the distraction, Ranma swaps out the Joker he was handed, for the rest of the cards in the 'King's' hand, laying all of his cards on the table, "You loose!" The look of shock on the 'King's' face when he saw that the only card he was holding was the joker was priceless, he would have to ask his mother later for a copy of one of the pictures she was sure to have taken. Strange he seemed to be the only one who could hear the rapid fire clicking of her camera somewhere near by, she is getting better at hiding her presence. She did love to think she is taking candid photos of him, not realizing he was just ignoring her. Grabbing Ukyo's clothing he tosses it to her so it lands in a neat pile on her lap. Turning back to the older man, "You might want to watch that cheating, or I'll report you for being a pervert, taking clothes from little kids... now, for their cart!"

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Ranma had won back Ukyo's family cart, the rest of the kids' money, and most of the king's money and clothes. The King himself was rather worried, he had nothing left but his crown and boxers, and this game was for his boxers, and he was not doing well, he had few hidden cards left, and boy would just catch him every time he tried to use one anyway. He was out of options, he knew it, better to quit while he retained some shred of dignity left, so unknowingly taking a page from Genma's play book, The King expertly pulls of the Saotome Final Attack, "RUN AWAY!" Dropping everything he ran, ran as fast as his chubby legs would carry him.

"Hey! Come back here with our property! STOP! Underwear Thief!" Ranma looked around for something to throw, but having already distributed the money back out to the other kids, the only thing left on the stage were the King's clothing, and they stunk, and the deck of cards they had been playing with (including a full deck's worth of Jokers). Not expecting the cards to make a good throwing weapon, but he takes them anyway and ran off after the king. Figuring it couldn't hurt to try anyway, he tried to throw a card at the king. The first card just fluttered all over the place, doing nobody any good. 'Didn't figure...' The next couple cards flew, but went wide. The fourth Joker flew straight and true, hitting the king square in the back, ...and bouncing off of his padded shoulder blades, harmlessly. 'Damn! This is harder than I expected!' He was already gaining on the man easily, but throwing these cards was fun! Ranma focused his ki into the card and threw one last Joker at the man. This time it cut through two of the curls in the man's hair and stuck in a passing tree.

With one last leap, Ranma closed the remaining gap between them, kicking him in the back of the head. As the King crashed to the ground the small boy, who landed on top on him, pulled a ball of twine out of his pocket and used another of the skills he learned from Kyoshi-sensei, Hojojutsu. Ranma began by tying the King's hands behind his back. "Not only are you a scam artist who targets children, a pervert who takes their clothing and a cheater, but on top of all that, you would also weasel out without paying your debts?" After tying the man's hands together, he took the man's boxers and tied his feet together leaving about a half a meter length of twine between each foot. Shoving the man's boxers into his mouth, he uses his handkerchief to blindfold the man and keep his underwear from coming out of his mouth.

He pulled out a brush and on the large man's back he writes, 'I swindle children out of their clothes!'. Flipping the large man over, he writes 'Look at my junk!' on the man's chest and belly. He then woke the 'King' back up, helped him to his feet, and proceeded to kick him in the general direction of town yelling, "EEEEEEK! IT'S A PERVERT!" All of the kids joined in the fun yelling and screaming about perverts as they scatter toward home or hiding places to watch the fun.

Ukyo would be joining in on the yelling but she can't stop laughing, "Serves, ...y'all, ...right!" Ranma scooped her and her clothes up in his arms and headed into the treetops, leaping toward his home, making sure they are not mixed up in the trouble today's villain would soon be in. "So, Ucchan, why haven't you gotten dressed yet?"

Not wanting to mention she was really liking wearing his shirt, almost as much as she was liking being carried like this, she skiped to the other reason, "Well, Ah was wearin' th' yukata y'all gave me, an' it's too hard ta do by mahself, especially out in the open, with people starin' at meh!"

"Well, mom says 'only ugly people should be afraid of being seen', like the King!" They both broke into giggle fits. "But, don't worry, mom will be waiting for us when we get home, she'll help you."

"But, seriously Ranchan, you really saved meh back there, not only from the embarrassment of havin' ta go home nakid, but my dad woulda killed me for losing the food cart!" She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Ranma Saotome, yer mah hero!"

They both blush, and Ranma almost faltered a little at the surprise 'attack', "Aw, ain't no problem Ucchan, that's what friends are for, and you're not just a friend, not even just my best friend, but also my girlfriend!" His goofy grin only getting wider as he says the word 'girlfriend'. Ranma didn't want to mention the fact that she was also his 'only' friend, ...so, he didn't.

{*Hojojutsu or Nawajutsu = The traditional Japanese martial art of restraining a person using cord or rope. You also have Kinbaku = Rope bondage, [lit. tight binding] and Kinbaku-bi = lit. The beauty of Tight Binding.*}

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Arriving back at the house, Nodoka goes to put away all of the rolls of film she filled up in her attempts to emulate a stalker or a tabloid reporter as the children hip over the wall and into the back yard. Seeing Ranma carrying a barely dressed Ukyo, Nodoka gushed, saying the only thing she can, "My son is becoming soooo manly!"

"Tadaima! Look who came for a visit!"
{*Tadaima = equivalent to "I'm Home", said sometimes even when alone.*}

"Konichiwa, Saotome-han!"

"Kaa-chan, will you help Ucchan back into her yukata? She was having trouble with it."

"Of course," her smile turning into a devilish grin, "but Ranma-kun, as manly as that is, those kinds of games are better left to when you are older! Now Ukyo-chan, are you staying for lunch?"

"If y'all don't mind..."

"Ukyo-chan, you are ALWAYS welcome here, with us."

"I'd love to!"

"Good then, you two go get a bath and I will start lunch, then we can get you dressed properly."

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"Ranma-kun, go finish making lunch so I can help your girlfriend get dressed."

Ranma runs off happily yelling, "HAAAAAIIII!"

Nodoka turns back toward a blushing Ukyo, "Well, I hate to break it to you, but your clothes were dirty, and smelled of old man. I can't let you put them back on like that, so I threw them in the wash..."

"Well, ifin it's jus' y'all, I guess Ah don' mind..."

"SO, I am going to have you put this on instead! I picked it up yesterday. It's going to look so cute on you!" Nodoka starts pulling out the parts of a real kimono, and all twelve of the layers that go with it. Ukyo feints.

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When Ukyo came to, she saw that she was already wearing most of the twelve layers of the kimono. "Ah, good, you are awake. This will go much faster now." Nodoka returns to humming as her hands deftly arrange the pieces of the girl's new outfit. "I got it big, so you will be able to wear it for years to come, even as you grow into a young lady."

"But, Saotome-han, wha y'all doin' this fer? Ah've never had such nice things afore."

"Well, my dear, that is precisely why. You are a very special little girl, and you deserve to have nice things, you deserve to look like the pretty girl that you are, and don't let anyone convince you otherwise. Also, it's a lot of fun to play dress-up, ne?! I always wanted to have a daughter to raise beside my son, but my husband didn't think I was worth touching after he had a son... But that's not important, what IS important is that you are my son's precious little girlfriend and I am going to dote on you as if you were my own. Let an old lady have her fun."

"But mah daddy's been teachin' meh 'bout 'Th' Value uh Money', and I know sumffin' like this costs an awful lot."

"Oh fuuu, I got it on sale, twenty-five percent off! Only seven hundred and fifty thousand Yen. But that's not something you need to worry yourself about. Now sit back and let Auntie Nodoka take care of yooof!" Before she could finish, she was cut off as the miniature chef's arms went around her neck as tears poured down her cheeks.

"Ah nevah knew mah mom, she died when Ah was born. But Ah always dreamed it'd feel like this. Sukkya nen!" Nodoka held the crying girl, crying along with her, thinking how nice it would be to have a daughter.

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After lunch Nodoka gathers the children in the living room, "Sit over here children, we need to have a little talk."

"Sure, mom/auntie!" They take a seat in the center of the couch across from her.

"Ranma-kun, I was hoping to wait a few years to have this conversation, but it seems I have little choice. considering your state of dress when you both returned. Before I jump to any conclusions and so I know exactly 'what' conversation we need to be having, please explain to me what happened exactly." Even though she had been hiding, watching and taking pictures of the event, she wanted to hear it from their perspective and make sure she has the whole story.

Ukyo had explained how she had tried to stand up for the kids being cheated out of their allowances, but lost everything too. She then explained how she went looking for Ranma. Ranma took over at this point, explaining how he had come to find Ukyo hiding in the bushes, who promptly started blushing bright crimson again. He explained how he had given her his shirt, she took his hand in response to this. He went on to explain how he had challenged the 'king', caught him cheating, beat him anyway, and how he ran away. Nodoka was swooning over her son's 'manly' actions until he got to the part where he had 'punished' the 'king' for running out on his 'wager', where she was having a hard time stifling a laugh. She had seen most of that, but had not been close enough to be able to hear most of what was being said.

Regaining her composure, Nodoka reassures the children, "Don't worry, you're not in trouble, you both were trying to protect your friends, and I am proud of you both, although getting an adult might have been a good idea, you both showed initiative by being responsible and taking care of your own problems. Now, back to the topic at hand. I understand you both might be curious, and it's fun to be naked, but you should never play these stripping games with adults, and they will be more fun, if you wait to play them until you are older. When you are older, they will be fun things you can do with a 'special someone', (...or when you are really drunk at a party), but it's never a good idea to play games like that with unmanly perverts, like that guy. Many older people will try to take advantage of you adorable children, so you must be careful."

Noticing that their 'talk' was over, they both yell, "HAI!" as they run off to play.

{The moral of this story: Teach your kids about stripping games, before they learn about them on the street, ...from some pervert dressed as a playing card.
Or if you prefer, 'Fool who play with Card Men soon have cardboard box for wardrobe...'}

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Entering her house after Ranma had dropped her off, literally, Ukyo called out to her father, "Tadaima!"

"Ukyo, yer back... Wat th' blazes?! Whutter ya wearin'?"

Ukyo looked sheepishly at the floor, "A kimono..."

"Ah kin SEE that, gurl! Whur'd ja git it?!"

"Saotome-han. She said 'don't worry, it was only seven hundred n' fifty thous..."

"ONLY?! Only?! Do ya have any idea how long it takes us ta make that much money? Months! Ifin ya saved yer allowance fer a hundred years ya still wouldn't have enough!"

Ukyo cowered a bit at that. "Well, go git ready fer bed. Daddy's got thinkin' ta do. ...if ya kin e'en git outa that thing on yer own."

Ukyo headed to her room thinking loudly to her self, 'Ah swear, Ah'm gonna learn ta wear these fancy clothes ifin it kill meh! An' Ah'm gonna be beautiful! Take that stupid old man!'

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Fubuki and Kasumi were sparring in the back yard, Akane had gone with their father to buy more boards for her to break, Maid Guy was probably following Akane protecting her from the shadows and Genma was no where to be found, leaving Nabiki to enjoy the weather. Sitting on a nearby hill she alternated between watching her older sister and older sister-like friend dueling over who gets to cook dinner or some such nonsense, Nabiki did not care, and reading a fantasy novel. Fantasy was not her favorite genera, but since most of the non-fiction in the house was far above her reading level and the Saotome's library was a science fiction free zone, she took what she could get. Apparently, their son was just barely learning to read when he left, so all of the books written only in hiragana or katakana were either far below her level, or belonged to uncle Genma. She once made the mistake of opening one of those books, and that was an experience she did NOT wish to repeat. She saw things, large women, doing ...things, things she wished she could unsee. Things she would not understand completely for many years, things she did not WANT to understand! Things she would hope to be able to forget for many years after that. Thankfully, her karma was good enough that there were no photos of uncle Genma himself! She swore then and there that she never wanted to let her karma drop that low, ever!
{*Hiragana (feminine) and Katakana (masculine) are the two main 'alphabets' in Japanese. Each character represents a vowel or consonant and vowel combination.*}

Things were rough at first, especially on that first day, when they didn't know if their father would wake up, nor where their mother was. Akane was panicking about 'The Maid Guy' being a pervert, and in walks a girl only a bit older than herself who throws a few darts into her fellow 'maid', calming Akane down some. She looked so cool in her pose and so cute in her little outfit that Nabiki and Kasumi were instantly fascinated with sparkles in their eyes and hands clasped together.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all, I am Fubuki, the house maid. Don't mind Kogarashi, he can be a bit overzealous, but he means well."

Kasumi was the first to speak up, "I'm Kasumi, this is my younger sister Nabiki, and that is our youngest sister, Akane. It's a pleasure to meet you as well, and thank you for calming them down. Things are trying enough without all of the screaming."

"I lost both of my parents about four years ago, so I understand. If there is anything at all you ladies need while you are here, I am at your disposal." Fubuki curtsies gracefully and elegantly.

"Maybe we could impose upon you for a tour? This is a big house and I would hate to get lost trying to find the bathroom or something." The girls had a good giggle at that thought.

"Certainly Goshujin-sama. I went through that exact situation my first few days here, since I wasn't shown around. Follow me please." Fubuki turned to leave the room, and Kasumi turned to her sisters.

"Coming Akane?"

"No!"

"Well, if you'd rather stay in here with him, alone, that's fine with me, but don't come to us when you can't find the potty." Giggling, Nabiki and Kasumi followed the young maid who was waiting for them out in the hallway, with Akane quickly running after them.

"That was the study, and as you ca see, it doesn't get used a lot, at least not anymore, anyway." More giggles followed the subtle joke at Genma's expense.

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Akane got bored with the tour, and left after she saw what she felt were the important rooms. She knew where the bathrooms were, the kitchen, the dining room, the TV, all of the rooms that mattered to a six-year-old Akane, if they wanted to go look at rooms filled with statues, paintings and books, let them. She was much more interested in this trophy room, full of weapons, armors, and other interesting artifacts. "Oooo, shiny!"

"Kukuku! Troublesome Goshujin-chan. Little girls should be careful playing with weapons." The scary man(?) suddenly appeared in front of Akane, who promptly screamed.

"I know what I'm doing! I'm a martial artist, you know!"

"Really? Would you like Maid Guy to train you?" He turned to pose and point at himself, trying to look cool.

"NO! I don't wanna learn from a pervert like you! If I want to learn how to put on a dress and look scary, I'll be sure to call you, until then, LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Akane turned to leave, having completely forgotten about the sharp looking weapon she was planning to pick up, determined to find something fun to play with.

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Fubuki was finishing up the grand tour, returning to the study in which they began, Nabiki was impressed at how expensive everything looked, and Kasumi was amazed at how long it must take to keep it all clean, when they heard a scream. Fubuki turned to run toward the sound, when she was stopped by Kasumi's hand on her arm, her head shaking. Nabiki explained, "That was just 'Kane, she's always like that. You'll run yourself ragged if you run every time she screams."

Kasumi added, "She's a big girl, she can come find us if she needs us, not like she would accept our help with anything anyway. She's a bit, ...high spirited."

"Are you sure?" They both nodded. "If you insist." Shrugging, Fubuki lead them back into the now empty study, and quickly turned to the other two girls with a devilish grin on her face. "Alright, you two ladies ready to see something fun?" They both nodded vigorously. Fubuki turned to a large portrait hanging on the wall and pressed on the side of it, which opened a secret passage. Pulling a lantern out of 'somewhere', she entered the passage, beckoning for the other girls to follow her. In a whispered tone she continued the tour, "I don't think anyone else knows about these passages, this house is very old." Pausing along the way to point out various 'peep' holes and places arrows could be fired from, "The main use of these passages would have been for the estate's servants to come and go unnoticed by the masters and guests. Special guards could also hide in here to watch for problems and take them out with darts and arrows. These tunnels could also be used as an escape route." She opened a door that lead out to the garden, closing the door again she continued down the passage. "Or as a place to hide, and/or store valuables." She stopped again and this time opened a 'trap door' in the floorboards revealing stairs to an almost empty, underground room. "After you, Ladies."

Following the Tendo girls down the stairs, Fubuki stoped once she reached the bottom, pointing out two levers. "This one closes and opens the passage," She closed said passage, "And this one," flipping the lever, opened several panels along the tops of each wall, filling the room with natural light. "Using glass and reflective surfaces, these panels will let in enough light to see by during the day, and they will even collect enough moon and starlight on many nights to let you see down here without an artificial light source." The girls ran around the room, examining the glass tubes and whatever few items were remained from ages past. Most notable of which were the large wooden table, that seemed to be hand-carved, the matching chairs and several, mostly empty crates.

The girls were positively excited, they never dreamed to see something like this in real life, it was right out of one of the mystery stories they were both so fond of. Almost bouncing with excitement, Nabiki suggested, "We should make this our secret clubhouse! No boys allowed!"

Kasumi tacks on to the end of that, "...no boys, for now."

{Of course Nabiki shortens Akane's name to 'Kane as a nickname, since it can mean money! Or 'O-kane' if you want to be polite about it.}

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Ukyo was running across town, looking for her 'boyfriend'. She was hoping to catch him before he left his training session for the day. She wanted to try something today, and she needed his help to do it.

As she walked up to the training hall she heard Ranma fighting someone, when she got to the main room she saw Ranma doing a back flip, kicking an older man across the room into the far wall. Ranma hoped over to the man and helped him get up. "Well Ranma-kun, I don't believe there is much else we can teach you here. In your six months here you have mastered what takes many a lifetime. I wish you the best in your future studies, I know you will do amazing things."

Ranma bowed to the older man, "Thank you, Kazama-sensei. It was fun, I learned a lot."

Cracking a grin, Kazama-sensei joked, "I believe I just said that. Remember the most important aspect of the art my boy, always have fun. 'One who smiles rather than rages is always the stronger.' Come back and see us again someday, Ranma-kun. I'd love to see what you've learned."

"Hai, sensei, I'd like that."

"Now, it seems as though you have an admirer waiting for you, I won't keep you. Take care my boy."

"You too, sensei." He hopped across the room to stand directly in front of Ukyo, surprising her, "Ucchan! Hi!"

"Ah! Ranchan! Hiya, ya got plans for th' afternoon?"

"Well, I just 'graduated' from another school, so I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that means we will be leaving soon." Ukyo looked as though she was about to cry upon hearing that, "But the good news is that after we do one thing, I am free to spend every moment hanging out with you, doing whatever you want until we leave." Ranma tried to force a smile to cheer his friend up. 'Only a heel makes a girl cry' after all.

"Aaawww, that sucks! Wut am Ah gonna do without cha? You guys are th' best family Ah ever had." Ukyo's cheeks puff out as she pouted.

"Well, we can write letters, talk on the phone, and it's not like we won't see each other again, we can stop in for a visit every time we pass by, or when we get free time. And maybe next time we rent a house you can come stay with us for a while." Ranma pasted a broad, reassuring smile across his face, "Now, come with me, I wanna show you something." At which point he scooped Ukyo up in his arms again and starts jumping from roof to roof toward the mountains and out of town.

"Ah'm REALLY gonna miss this part."

"Well, I have opened up your chakra and other ki pathways, and I have been strengthening your ki every time I carry you like this, so with a bit of practice you will be able to do it on your own."

Ukyo tried to look cross at him, and with little venom in her voice, "Ranma no aho! That's not the point! But thank you." She kissed him on the cheek, "So, what did you want to show me?" Ranma landed in a small clearing well away from town, letting his passenger get her feet back under her so she could stand on her own, eliciting small sigh of disappointment from her.

"Okay, so you remember when we were chasing that pervert a while back, and I was tryin' ta throw his cards at him?"

She noded, "Ya jus' LOVE bringin' up meh being nakid in public, Ah'm startin' ta think y'all got a complex." she spun around sticking her tongue out at her friend.

"Your the one who keeps brining up that part of it, I'm startin' to think you just like to be embarrassed!" Sticking his tongue out at her, he gave her the raspberry.

She blushed again, "Maaaybe, but since ya leavin' me, Ah guess ya'll never find out." And stuck her tongue back out again, completely ignoring that clicking sound that had been around so often lately.

"Well, like I was sayin', I threw cards at Bakojin, but the last one, it cut his hair, and stuck in a tree. I've been practicing in secret for a while now, and at first I was able to get good at throwing them, but nuthin' fancy. But then I figured out what I did, differently that last time, and..." Pulling out a card, he charged it with ki and let it fly, slicing a branch off of a nearby tree. "And depending on how I charge it, I can make it do different things. Like this." He threw another, this time at the fallen branch, when the card hit this time there was a small explosion, splitting the branch into so much kindling. "Or this." His third card went about ten meters out and then curved back toward Ukyo, who prepared to dodge when it curves again doing several loops before gently landing back in Ranma's outstretched hand.

Ukyo picked herself up off of the ground where she had fallen due to the imbalance left from her attempted dodge and her lack of needing to do so. "Ayaaaa, Sugoi! Do ya think Ah kin do that with mah kote?"
{*Kote = the small utensils used to flip Okonomiyaki, or Japanese 'turners'* No, they are NOT spatulas, no matter what anyone says.}
{*Aya = wow; whoa*}
{*sugoi = terrible; dreadful; (2) amazing (e.g. of strength); great (e.g. of skills); wonderful; terrific;*}

"I don't see why not, you are already good at throwin' 'um. Both that and the jumping are through manipulating your ki, you have to learn to focus it. Push it out through your focal points, in this case, hands and feet."

"That'd be fun! But first there's somethin' Ah need yer help with. Pa's been mean lately, an' Ah wanted ta try ta make his secret recipe fer sauce, but Ah wanna show him Ah kin do good things without him, Ah wanna do it with Ranchan instead. Let's make a dessert okonomiyaki! Ah nevah git ta eat anythin' sweet at home, before you came Ah nevah had anythin' sweet. Ah jus' want him ta be proud a meh again!"

Ranma reached down and taking her wrist he helped her to her feet from where she had unknowingly been on the ground bowing, begging for his help. "Ucchan, I told ya before, now that I have shown you what I wanted, until mom decides it's time for us to leave, we can do anything you wanna do. Besides, cookin' with you is fun!" Ranma winked at the flustered girl, picked her up in his arms and leaped off into the trees again heading back to his temporary home.

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On the way back to his rented home, Ranma had been thinking about options, so when they walked into the kitchen, "Well, first we need to decide what kind of 'sweet' you want, there are a lot of ways we could make them sweet. We could use different types of fruits, honey, caramel," Ticking off his fingers as he lists items.

"Well, fruit reminds meh uh those crape guys Ah see around, an' papa don't like them, so let's skip that fer now."

"OK, then how about caramel, it's easy to make, and it's a rich flavor. Brown sugar and butter are the main things. So we will leave out the savory items, like cabbage, and meat, then substitute something sweet. We don't want to put too many sweet things in there or it will be too much, and distract from the richness of the caramel. Maybe keep it simple, mix brown sugar into the batter and then drizzle caramel sauce on top and sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar?"

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Summer was coming to a close, and Soun Tendo was not feeling up to returing to his home. Instead he chose to have his girls enroll in the same school Fubuki had been attending, Futaba Elementary School. So it was that Fubuki and the Tendos three were returning from registering, and picking up the uniforms, for their new school. They had planned to stop at the local shopping mall to get more things to decorate their new 'secret clubhouse' when Fubuki insisted they stop and get some ice cream. She told them, "It's important for growing girls to get their daily requirement of chocolate!" Giggling their agreement, they headed into the nearby shop that had caught her eye.

Sitting down with their sundaes, they discussed what else they need to make the room perfect. "Well, Nabiki-chan has been steadily filling the bookshelves we picked up last time we were out, we have some training dummies, our 'cleaning supplies', a TV and VCR, the ice shaver, and those pretty pink balloons and ribbons that Akane made us get."

"DID NOT! That was all your idea, Kasumi!"

"We know Akane-chan, lighten up. We were just teasing you."

"Humph!"

"Alright, so who has suggestions for what else we should get? I want some plushies!"

"We should get some manga too!"

"I want an Easy Bake Oven!"

"I want some videos!"

"Akane raises a good point, what good does the TV and VCR do us if we don't have videos to watch? Let's all go pick some movies and shows! (and a nice pretty cupboard to keep them in)."

Plan in hand, they leave the ice cream shop, all looking forward to the anime they would get to watch during their last days of summer vacation."

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Ukyo was proud of herself, not only was she able to jump a bit higher now thanks to the practice they did after cooking, but she had helped design a new kind of okonomiyaki, and it was GOOD! She was really hoping her daddy would be proud of her, he had been in such a bad mood for the last year, she wanted to see him smile at her again. It had been so long.

So she was in a good mood when she entered the house, carrying the box containing her new creation. She was just about to shout out 'Tadaima!' when she saw Nodoka's shoes by the door making her even happier. She headed off for the living room to show off what she had made. She was just about to enter the room and run into Nodoka's arms and give her gift to her father, when she heard him say, "Ah jus' can't care fo' her anymore, I offer you our food cart as her dowry... Please take her with you when you leave, as your son's bride!"

Ukyo was shocked, 'Daddy wants ta git rid uh meh!'

"Well Kuonji-san, I can't promise his hand in marriage, as he has a potential iinazuke, several in fact, and I won't force his decision. It's up to him to choose his future bride. But if nothing else she could always be his concubine!" Nodoka gets a bit of a grin thinking about it.

Ukyo drops her package in shock and ranout of the house and into the night. 'Ah cain't believe him! Payin' someone ta take me away! Am Ah not good enough? Doesn't he care? How could he?! Papa no Aho! Well, at least it was Auntie Nodoka, and Ranchan, he was sellin' meh to, but still! Pa wanted meh ta be Ranchan's wife. Auntie Nodoka said I should be his 'con-cue-pine', well then, since auntie is nice and papa is mean, Ah will be th' best concupine ta' Ranchan Ah kin be! N' Ah will come back when I am good at it, and stick him with all my concupine quills! Mean old papa!' Satisfied with her logic, Ukyo looked around trying to figure out where she was, she hadn't been paying attention to where she was going and was now pretty lost.
{*Aho = Kansai-ben form of 'baka' - idiot/stupid/fool/etc.*}
{*Concupine = cross between a concubine and a porcupine that Ukyo's mind came up with since she has no idea what a 'concubine' is, she did the best she could. is this foreshadowing? or just a one-off joke? The world may never know...*}

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Nodoka was surprised, to say the least, she knew her son was manly but this is a bit unusual given the situation. "You do realize that we live on the road, we only stop in towns long enough to train at a school, then we wander and train whereever we can, this isn't an easy life."

The older chef looked serious at that for a moment, but was not deterred, "Ah understand, but ya seem ta truly care fo' her, an' ya are so good with kids, an' there is one more factor. She may have told ya about her mother, she died givin' birth ta Ukyo, and th' only other family Ah got left is estranged, we ain't talked in generations. We kept th' family art, our very history, alive, while they forsook it fo' money and business. Our side uh th' family did everything we could ta' keep our traditions alive, an' now my little Ukyo is th' last one. Ah have little time left, an' Ah need someone ta' care uh meh legacy, and y'all seem like people who honor tradition! Ah've seen th' way she looks comin' home after visiting yer house, an' she's nevah been happier. Ah won't be able ta' care fo' mahself fo' much longer, let alone a child. Ah need ta' check muhself inta a hospital, but Ah couldn't do that before Ah found someone ta' look after mah girl! PLEASE! Ah'm beggin' ya, look after my daughter! Encourage her ta' keep our traditions alive, Ah'll give ya anything Ah have!" He doesn't even look up from where he was prostrating himself, tears flowing down his cheeks. "Ah don't want mah girl to grow up an orphan, please give her a family!"

Reaching down to take his hand, "Raise yourself, your feelings have reached me, there is no way I can refuse such a request. I can't leave such a sweet girl to be left alone. I promise you, I will look after her as if she were my own!"

"OH THANK YA, Saotome-Sama! Th' gods will surely grace ya' fer honorin' this dyin' man's last request, as I said, take anything you want, all that I own is yours!"

"I will make arrangements to have her things moved along with ours when the movers come to pack up our house. Let them know what belongs to her. We will be leaving tomorrow."

"Ah jus' hope she kin forgive me. Please, don' tell her Ah am dying. Wait 'til she is old enough ta understand better. Better she be mad at me so she leaves, than sad an' refusin' ta go."

"I think she would understand better than you think, but I will honor your request."

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Ukyo was not doing well, she felt her father had kicked her to the curb, and now she was lost. Collapsing to the ground she couldn't stop the tears from flowing, but it didn't matter, none of it mattered, the only thing that mattered now was Ranma, the one who was always there to save her, she felt like she could even feel his presence there comforting her, protecting her even now. "Hey Ucchan! What happened? You ran right by me."

"Oh Ranchan! Yer always there when Ah need ja!" She grabed Ranma in a bear hug, cried into his chest again and spilled her guts as he carried her back to his house.

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Nodoka was feeling a bit guilty as she returned home. On the one hand, should couldn't be happier about having Ukyo along on their trip, Ranma needed friends his own age, and her being the sweet, obedient, and adorable 'daughter' she had always wanted certainly made it easier. 'We will need to work on her dialect though, I don't want Ranma picking that up.' On the other hand, she hated that it was due to such a tragic event. Feeling joy as a result of other's misfortune just tore her up in side, even if only indirectly. 'So many children losing their parents, ...no one that young should have to feel that kind of misery.'

So caught up in her inner turmoil she failed to even notice the children enter the house, let alone have any thoughts of how manly her son looked carrying a disheveled Ukyo. "Hi kaa-chan." *poke*

Nodoka jumped at the sudden stimuli, almost knocking over the table, "AH! Oh, children, come, sit down, we have some things we need to talk about." The two youths took their places across from her and waited for her to continue, "First off, Ukyo's father is no longer able to take care of her," she winced at the hurt look that flashed across Ukyo's tiny face, "So we will be adopting her into our family, and she will be coming with us. Second, we will be leaving in the morning, so get a good night's rest. Ranma-kun, be a dear and get the bath ready, we will be along momentarily."

"Hai, kaa-chan!" The boy ran off to do what was requested of him.

"So, he paid y'all ta take me away, did he?"

"No, he didn't pay me. I didn't accept anything for myself, the only things we will take from there will be for you. I made arrangements to have the movers pick up your things in the morning, and they will be waiting for you in our next place."

Ukyo could not hold back her angry tears any longer, "AH DON'T WANT ANYTHIN' FROM HIM!"

"Now don't be like that, Ukyo-chan, he is doing this because he loves you, and he wants you to be happy. By the way, we found your dessert. We both thought it was wonderful!"

*Sniff* "Really?"

"Truly. Now, let's go get a bath, and get you two ready for bed. I promise you, you will never be alone for long."

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After their bath, Nodoka was helping Ukyo dry off when she asked, "Auntie Nodoka, is 'concupine' better than 'girlfriend'?"

"Oh yes dear, it's even better than a wife in many ways, a wife is chosen out of duty, a concubine is taken out of love." She then muttered under her breath, "At least they aren't neglected like a wife!"

"Then THAT'S what AH wanna be then!" pride and determination plainly written on her face, "Auntie Nodoka?" Getting very shy, she waited for a nod before asking, "Can Ah call ya, 'mom', too?"

"OH, HAPPY DAY!" Nodoka dropped down to her knees and hugged the girl, joyful tears coming from her eyes.

"So, is that a 'yes' then?"

Nodoka nodded vigorously. "Yes dear, I would be honored! You have made one of my dreams come true."

Returning the hug, little Ukyo sputtered out between her sobs, "Thank you, Okaa-sama!"

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EPILOGUE

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The Legend of Ranma began early that summer, evolving and changing with each telling (and blending with popular manga of the time), growing for decades to come. The story of the shirtless boy with seven wounds, who strolled in, covered in flames that didn't burn, surrounded by naked girls clutching him! Who saved the village children from 'The Curse of the Evil Demon King'! After shaking off his 'groupies' he first humiliated the Demon King, making him look like a fool, and then he beat him so badly he exploded all over. Kids would continue to claim to have artifacts from the legend for decades, some keeping them to show off, others trying to trade them for toys and other prizes.

"This is a piece of the king's crown!"
"That's just a rock!"

"I have a piece of his shirt!"
"He didn't wear a shirt! It's not called the 'Legend of the Shirtless Boy' ironically, you know!"
"It was from his pants then!"

"All the girls want him, and all the boys want to be him (even some of the boys wanted him)!"

"I got a lock of his hair!"
"That's from your brother! It's not even the right color!"

"He was on a quest to learn every martial art in the world!"

"He had to defeat his brother, to save his girlfriend!"
"But, didn't he have a whole bunch of naked girls following him?"
"Those weren't his true loves."
"True love? His 'true love' was adventure! He was an adventuring space pirate!"
"Space Pirate?! Don't be ridicules! How is that even possible?"

"He was the manliest boy in the world!"
{...apparently Nodoka helped spread a few of these rumors herself}

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EPILOGUE NUMBER TWO

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A few months later, the two children were leaving their campsite to collect water one evening, when Ukyo turned to Ranma and wondered aloud, "Ranchama, Ah er, I am startin' ta think I need ta git mu-MY hearin' checked. Evah since we met, Ah - I keep hearin' a clickin' noise, an' it's getting' worse."

"Oh? I barely even notice it anymore, don't worry about it, there's nuthin' wrong with you, that's just mom, and her 'hobby'. She's always takin' pictures of me. Ever since I was born, she has been using dozens of rolls of film a day. I'll bet she has a whole warehouse full of pictures by now."

Ukyo's hands slapped her face as her mouth became a large 'O' shape, doing her best impression of a child from a movie that will not be made for many years to come. "Oh my! So all those times? And some of them we waz bathin' an' that time with th' king, and those times Ah kissed you... Oh, Ah'm SO embarrassed!"

"Well, since you always seem so happy when you are embarrassed, I will just say, 'I'm happy for you'." Sticking his tongue out he turned to face his companion, making silly gestures at her.

"Oh, stop, you silly." she embarrassingly stammered.

Putting his arm around her shoulder he lead her off toward the spring.

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End. Act 00, Part 02.

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MORE AUTHOR'S NOTES

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First off, thank you for reading! I hope you have enjoyed Chapter 2.

Some of you may be wondering why I chose to give Ukyo and her father somewhat 'southern' drawls. They are from the region around Osaka, called Kansai. The people of this area speak a somewhat different dialect of Japanese called Kansai-ben (-ben means dialect) or sometimes referred to as Osaka-ben. The accent pitch is different, the vowels are stronger and many words are different, for example for 'idiot', instead of 'baka' they say 'aho', or another in Tokyo-ben "cho" is a slang term for "very" but in Kansai-ben it is a shortened form of Chotto (a little), so 'Chotto Matte' (wait a little) would be 'Cho Matte' which sounds strange to someone from Tokyo (Very Wait!). There are a lot of changes including more use of honorific speech (polite language). So, many people, when translating, give people who speak with a Kansai-ben a southern accent due to the dialects having similar traits. For those of you who don't care for it, or for my way of doing it (I don't blame you, it can be hard to read, and I am not that good at it), have no fear, it won't last long, the more time she spends away from there to more it will fade. Although for some people, it comes back when they get upset/stressed.

This chapter ended up a lot longer than the first one, and I hope it is 'better'. Each chapter will be as long as it needs to be to tell the story of the time period it is to cover in Act 0, though I am hoping to stay closer to this length rather than the first one, which was more of an intro. Each one intending to cover the more important events in this twelve year span of time. Chapters one to two had a two year gap, and chapters two to three will have a four or six year gap, I think.

I don't want to ask for C&C etc. because it feels like I am begging, so I won't... But it IS appreciated none-the-less. ;)

Now, stay tuned for my first Omake, based loosely on the 'S.P.E.C.I.A.L.' system of FallOut fame.

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OMAKE
The Art of Perks

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A six year old Ranma and his mother are hiking though the woods, each carrying large, well organized packs on their backs.

"Life sure has gotten easier since we took the Pack Rat and Strong Back perks."

"Yes, it is nice to have more camping gear, and more manly outfits for you to wear for the ladies."

"Yeah, yeah, I just wish you have let me take them sooner, and not made me take the Kamasutra Master and Lady Killer perks first, besides, I wanted Action Boy first!"

"It's because you need to practice it, I mean I never see you with a girl your own age."

"Oh mom! We are always traveling, and, you know, I'm six!"

"That's no excuse! All of the ladies I talk to think you are the most adorable little man they have ever seen. Well, we will reach the Osaka region soon where we will search for the Kazama School, I want you to play with at least one girl while we are there."

Tired of this line of talk, Ranma sighs, "Yes, Mother."

A village slowly comes into view, and they hear the hustle and bustle of the market district and shouts from soon to be nearby vendors. Ranma is, of course, attracted to the food stalls.

"OKONOMIYAKI! Get your fresh okonomiyaki here! Best in Osaka, possibly all of Japan!"

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END OMAKE

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*CHARACTERS USED*

{Here I will list all of the non-Ranma characters used in the chapter and where they are from.}

Kogarashi the "Maid Guy" - the Title character from Kamen no Maid Guy
Fubuki - The future 'Maid Guy Tamer' from Kamen no Maid Guy
The 'Diabolical Priestess' (as well as the other miko and Kami-sama from that temple) - Maid Guy, as well.

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