They Are My Noble Masters Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Virtua Fighter Fan Fiction ❯ Nodoka 2/1 ❯ Chapter 07 - The Art of Pi ( Chapter 7 )

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

Nodoka 2/1
The Chroma Series
Act 0 Part 07

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DISCLAIMER
Most of the characters and other elements are owned by people who are not me, though I did make up a few here and there... but none of the main ones. The rest are owned by many talented people, and a few faceless corporations, such as Rumiko Takahashi and Sega respectively (and many others). Bla bla bla, don't sue me, it's a waste of your time, and resources, I have nothing.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES

-WARNING-
Once again, this chapter is getting a bit more 'limey', something that will be happening more often as the kids get older. You have been warned!!
Special thanks to my "Agent" and "Publicist" Hiryo, for proofreading, prodding, posting advice and so much more, and thank you to all of you who have commented.
I do not have much to say here this time, so once again, I will just say, 'thank you for reading and commenting'! I hope you all enjoy.
-I told several of you that Chapter 8 was the plan for the introduction of the Amazons, but this chapter got too detailed and ran WAY over, and I had to split it into two, again. I apologize to everyone who is excited to see what happens with Shampoo, the curses, and the rest, and I hope you feel that the ecchi wait was worth it.

A minor note on Nabiki asking for proof. During the monster fights, they are usually a bit busy to be taking photos, not that she would believe that either and would asssume they are faked as well (even if Ranma and company are not the ones doing the faking), but asking for proof, would be tantamount to calling him a liar, and at least in Japan, would be considered incredibly rude, so that won't happen. Even if she thinks he is lying, she would not accuse him of it directly without proof of her own. Mostly, she believes that they are being gullible, more than they are lying to her intentionally. However, she won't believe it herself until she sees it with her own eyes. Fake photographs have been around as long as photography after all.

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


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GLOSSARY (from the last chapter)

Nujie Zu - The Mandarin pronunciation of the 'Amazons'. The Japanese pronunciation is Joketsuzoku. Literal translation is Female Hero Tribe.

Ding - Mandarin for 'Vessel', A group of Daoists used it to describe a female sexual partner. (I didn't make that stuff up).

Aikyou - charm; attractiveness; amiability; winsomeness; courtesy; entertainment; amusement; fun.

Bake Renkangeki Suijin - 'Renka' strikes the opponent with a powerful and fast onslaught of strikes in every direction.

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CHAPTER 07
The Art of Pi

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Hong Kong was not as picturesque a city as they had been led to believe, easily making it a low point in their travels. The odor was not pleasant, the crime rate was high, somehow it seemed even more crowded than Beijing and as tourists, they felt like they were almost in the majority. Luckily, sightseeing was not their goal, if they had not been there for a reason, they never would have stayed.

"Kaa-chan, I hope we do not plan to come back here when we go home."

"It certainly would not be MY first choice."

"Even the souvenirs are all cheap, tacky, and overpriced."

"Well, of course, they wouldn't be souvenirs otherwise."

"Yeah, but this seems worse than most, by far, and look at that Buddha statue, it seems to be moving, let's do the same!"

"Hai, Ranchama, I think it is following us, and giving me the evil eye!"

As they were arguing about souvenirs, and whether or not there were any worth buying, they voted 'no', they heard the sounds of someone being attacked, again.

Ranma located the ally it was taking place in, and jumped into the midst of the battle, with Ukyo right behind him, shocking all of the participants into momentary inaction. Ranma had read the auras on the way in, and saw that they were all angry, but the gang had the most killing intent. However, after his encounter with the weresnake, he was a bit gun-shy, and did not want to make the same mistake again, so he asked, "\Girl no monster, yes?\"

So confused by Ranma's bad grammar, the thug did not even think to lie. "\Huh? No, we are kidnapping the girl for the boss, as the intended bride!\"

"\I am NOT gonna marry that bastard, no matter what you do! Liu's too old for me anyway!\"

Ranma and Ukyo had heard enough, and went into their usual 'damsel in distress' procedures. Ukyo ran over to help the girl out of the line of fire, ready to back Ranma up if needed. As she grabbed the girl to get her to safety, she heard Ranma shout, "Jan Kenpo!" and heard a loud crash. Her charge, however, did not exactly take well to being rescued.

"\I am not helpless you know. Put me down!\"

"\Sorry, bad for Cantonese, no speaking well.\"

"Really? I hadn't noticed. You are Japanese, ne? Can you put me down now? Your boyfriend might need help. Those guys are Koenkan! They are really tough!"

Ukyo was relieved that the girl had stopped fighting her, and that she spoke Japanese as well, it made things easier. "So is my Ranchama, most of the time, but just in case, we should keep an eye on him. Miomo-sama and Puppy will be there to help too, so don't do anything rash. We do this sort of thing all the time. You are quite safe with us." As they crept back to check on Ranma and what was left of the thugs, Ukyo added, "Oh, and Ranchama isn't my 'boyfriend', and can date whomever."
{*Miomo = polite form of 'mother'*}

"Sorry."

"Don't be, Ranchama was my 'boyfriend' at one time, but that was a long time ago. It's complicated. Were you wanting to try for the position?"

"NO! I didn't mean THAT! I just ...oh never mind. Let's go kick some butt!" As they turned the corner, they saw a slightly bruised Ranma, as he knocked down the last of the thugs.

"Told you." Ukyo stuck her tongue out with a wink.

Ranma began tying up the 'gang members', "These guys were a bit tougher than the usual thugs. Thanks for the help Ryoga."

"Of course Ranma! As a martial artist, thugs who pick on the weak deserve no mercy!"

"Hey! Who are you calling 'weak'?!?!" The ox-horn tressed girl in the blue silk qipao with matching pants, got up in Ryoga's face.

"Uh, sorry, I didn't mean it like that!"

"So what DID ya mean?"

Ryoga started to stammer, so Ranma tried to defuse the situation with the somewhat volatile girl they had just 'saved'. "So, you speak Japanese? That sure makes this a lot easier. Who were those guys trying to kidnap you? Do you know them?"

"They are the Koenkan, a 'martial arts' organization that has almost total control over the city. I was trying to escape to America, where they don't have control."

"They don't sound like real martial artists to me, they sound more like thugs, or yakuza."

"That's pretty close to the truth, they actually ran the Tang out of town, and took over most of their operations. I swore I would take them down, with my own two hands, but I am not ready yet, I need more time to train. I probably could have beaten those low level guys, but with how many men they have under their control, they would eventually overpower me." She looked depressed.
{*Tang = Chinese Mafia, it literally means 'hall' or 'gathering place' (we also spell it 'Tong' in English)*}

"Well, that's what we are doing, traveling around, training wherever we can find someone to teach us something new. You can come with us, but I would not really feel right leaving if they are as bad as you are implying. What do you guys think? Should we take down another 'evil dojo'?"

"My son is so manly! I am so proud of you!"

"You know it, Playboy! People like that, give martial arts a bad name!"

"Ranchama, you know I would follow you to the depths of hell itself. Whatever you decide, I am with you."

The girl thought to herself, '\They sure have a lot of confidence in him, I wonder if they are as reliable as they seem. It would be nice to not have to run away, but I did not want to have to ask for help, and that one in the yellow shirt is rude. I would rather fight than run away any day though, so I guess I should give them a chance.\' Aloud she said, "My name is, Pai Chan, and you were called, Ranchama?"

Ranma laughed, "Only by Ucchan, over there." He pointed toward Ukyo. "My name is Ranma Saotome, and these are my friends, Ukyo and Ryoga, and my mother, Nodoka. We probably shouldn't be standing around talking about this out in the open though, their friends are sure to come looking for them, eventually. Do you have somewhere we could all talk in private?"

She looked sheepish for a moment, blushing, "Um, not really, no. I was running away, after all."

"Well, do you know where we could rent a nice, large room, maybe one with good food?"

"I know a few that aren't owned by the Koenkan, at least not yet. Follow me."

"Great! You can tell us what you know there, and after we eat, we can make a plan."

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Nabiki was glad she had been able to work a deal with their previously unknown 'house guests', the idea of losing her memories terrified her, and the way the underling had been eyeing that metal bat, had not been instilling her with a lot of confidence in their 'memory erasing technique'. She would keep their secret from Genma, and help them implement their 'suggestions' into the Kaji Ken curriculum. In exchange, they would let her keep her memories. Not the best deal, but she was not in a strong bargaining position. At least she could talk to Ranma about them, since he knew them, even if he did not know they were in the house. That is, once he finally got to a place where he could receive her mail again. On the other hand, they might prove useful, and these new tunnels were nice. In addition, the senior ninja promised to give her stealth lessons! She was looking forward to that. That was a type of training they could really use in their school, a good servant was discreet, after all.

Now normally, the 'Memory Blast' technique, would have made her think that they were not very good at their jobs, but the fact that they had built all of this, and lived here for years, without her finding out about them, said something for the rest of their skills.

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Ranma and Ukyo had been critiquing the food, pointing out what they liked about it, but not being overly impressed with the meal overall, but it was filling, and not poisoned, so, it could have been worse. Ryoga emphasized this point, by reminiscing about the days before they had 'adopted' him, when he would be reduced to eating pictures of food out of magazines.

"You really ought to let us teach you to cook more than instant noodles, Lap Dog. It isn't that hard."

Ryoga grumbled a definite 'maybe'. Knowing better than to mention how he did not agree that cooking was a manly thing to do. He did not want to relive that experience, nor hear about the male chefs of the world, and who knows how Pai would take it... She already did not seem to like him, and he did not want to make it worse. He was a bit jealous that all of the girls seemed to gravitate toward his friend. The best he usually got was indifference, the Ma girls, practically ignored him completely. It was not as if he wanted hoards of girls to throw themselves at his feet, but everyone wants some positive attention occasionally. Although, he had to admit, the fact that he was usually being led around by Nodoka, wearing his 'leash' was probably NOT helping his 'image'. Nodoka had told him that she would get him a similar present for his birthday, as she had gotten Ranma, but that he would be better off waiting until they were in a nicer town. He was not quite sure what that meant, other than he did not get much of a present for his birthday last week. Ryoga continued to grumble to himself about relative luck, while the others began talking about the situation, completely missing most of what was said.

"Koenkan started as a martial arts school, teaching the art of Koen-ken, the \Tiger Swallow Fist\. It is a style that combines the strength of the Tiger style, and the speed of the Swallow style. It is fast, powerful, and gets straight to the point. It is a very strong wushu. Luckily, there are few real masters of the style right now. In addition, many of them that did exist had left for other countries to start their own branches. It was bad enough when that bastard of a founder was in charge, but now, no longer takes an active role, and it has just gone downhill ever since. The acting head of Koenkan, Liu Kowloon, is the one trying to marry me." She paused, her anger boiling to the surface, as she fought to keep it under control.

"Yeah, why exactly is that, no offence, I mean, you are quite cute and all, but you don't look any older than us. Aren't you too young to get married?"

Her anger faded as the complement caused her to blush. "Well, yeah, I just turned fourteen, they were planning to keep me locked-up until I turned sixteen, and could legally be married, 'with parental consent'."

"How could your parents 'consent' to such a thing?!?!?" Ranma was outraged! Little did he realize how close he had come to being able to relate to that problem.

Her anger returning, Pai replied, "My mother is dead, worked to death, trying to support us, while my bastard of a father was off 'perfecting the art'!"

The sympathy was clear on all of their faces, as each one of them could relate to certain aspects of her sad story. Nodoka put her arm around the girl, trying to offer what comfort she could. "I swore, I would make that bastard suffer for abandoning my mother to die like that! Oh yes, father will pay!"

"You aren't planning to...?"

"Oh, no, I don't want to kill the bastard! I just want to beat the Koen-ken, with my own Ensei-ken, the \Lost Track Fist\. Well, and not be forced to be a prisoner, and not have to marry some jerk, who is way older than me, let alone one I don't even like!"

"Yeah, you never explained what the connection was there, how did they get parental consent?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you? My father is the founder of Koenkan."

Our heroes picked themselves up off the floor from where they had fallen, as Pai continued. "Maybe if father learns that Koen-ken is not the strongest kung-fu, this abuse can stop!"

"Well, that's an easy one, because there is only one 'Strongest Martial Art' out there, and it is Anything-Goes!"

Pai looked at the boy with incredulity, he did seem pretty strong, but few could stand against her father, as she had seen, repeatedly. "Perhaps you would like to test that theory."

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Pai was disappointed, she had known that she needed more training, but to be that outclassed, really bothered her, especially when it came to aerial combat, a specialty of her style. As if only being able to land a couple of blows wasn't bad enough, the boy had been holding back so much that he had not even had to hit her once! He only used restraining moves, and before it was over, he had her bound-up so tightly, she could not move even a millimeter. It was humiliating. "Why did you hold back so much, I really wanted to see what you can do."

"To be honest, I do not like hurting pretty girls ...unless, of course, they enjoy it. Do you?"

"Well, not particularly..."

Ukyo was a bit jealous at that point, not because he called Pai 'pretty', she was, but because he didn't hold back with her much at all. She was not exactly sure how to take that. "But, Ranchama, you hit me, am I not pretty?"

"Ucchan, you are indeed, very pretty, cute as a button and sweet as pie, but if I hold back too much with you, you would clean my clock! Besides, you always seemed to enjoy it a bit..." He grinned evilly at her, and she blushed in response.

Pai was torn between blushing at being called 'sweet', and being annoyed at the assumed familiarity. This time, annoyance won out. "How do you know how 'sweet' I am?"

"Well, you probably are, you are willing to stand up to injustice, maybe we will find out for sure one day but, I didn't actually mean you, I meant the dessert pie, cherry perhaps? Let's get a pie, anyone else want pie? I wanna eat pie..." Embarrassed at the misunderstanding, he stammered along until Pai slapped him for the way his babbling came out.

"I didn't mean it like that! I just said I didn't mean you! ...unless you WANTED me to mean it like that... no? Okay then. I am sorry, I just like baked goods. Ucchan and I have studied desserts from around the world, and pie is one of our favorites, especially cherry. Although, I am sure if you hang around us long enough, you will become a favorite too." Pai slapped him again, but not near as hard this time. "...or not, whatever you want."

Ryoga grinned at all of this, enjoying watching his friend twist in the wind. "You really stuck your foot in your mouth this time, Playboy!" Ryoga could not hold it in any longer and started laughing.

"Hey Puppy, at least I have HAD girlfriends. On the other hand, I really DID stick my foot in my mouth. Sorry Pai, that all came out wrong, but seriously, would you like some ...dessert?"

Pai had raised her hand as if to strike, just waiting for him to say 'her name' like that again. She was a bit sensitive to certain references after being engaged against her will and more recently, being tied up in a slightly kinky way. For not the first time in her life, she was quite glad to be wearing pants under her qipao.

Ukyo tensed at the way Pai started to react, not wanting to see Ranma struck again, but relaxed as Pai dropped her hand and they all started laughing at Ranma's 'joke'. She was relieved that she did not have to interfere, she was starting to like Pai, but she would not stand for that type of abuse to her Ranchama. She was going to have to take steps to ensure this type of thing did not persist. Ranma needed girls he could count on, not ones who would abuse him because they did not know how to deal with their own emotions. After all, 'Nodoka's Rule number thirty-nine: Abuse is not to be tolerated, from anyone'. While rule number seventeen said, 'forget injuries, never forget kindnesses', it did not say anything about not trying to prevent those injuries in the first place!

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Akane, who was now wearing two 'Maid Guy Badges', was walking with Maid Guy to replace what had been damaged in Akane's latest attempt at 'getting creative' in the kitchen.

"Kukuku. Goshujin, you should not rush when cooking. Cooking is to be done with love, and you cannot rush love."

"I know, but I just get so excited!"

"As an old philosopher once said, 'the faster you work, the longer it takes you to get done'."

"Oh, who said that?"

Suddenly, they were interrupted by what sounded like the wail of a banshee. Looking toward the noise, they saw what appeared to be a young girl, about Akane's age, hopping from roof to roof, trying to escape from what appeared to be three monsters, fish-people, or something, they could not tell what, exactly.

"Oh, that poor girl, we have to help her!"

"If that is goshujin's command." Maid Guy's 'skirt' began to spin, letting him take off into the air. He flew over to intercept the three deformed creatures. Interposing himself between them and the fleeing figure, and said, "Maid Guy: Freeze Voice!" Visible sound waves emanated from his mouth, enveloping the three monstrous figures. All three of whom instantly stopped moving on their own. Unfortunately, for them, they were in mid-leap, when they were hit by Kogarashi's hypnotic attack, and while they were unable to move on their own, momentum and gravity continued to have an effect. They landed, very painfully, in a broken heap, after they had slid down the wall that they had just crashed into.

Akane had continued after the figure clad in a medium-red shinobi dogi, with a long, black ponytail, shouting, "Wait! It's Okay! You're Safe!"

After a few moments, said figure, noticed that the pursuers were no longer pursuing, and slowly came to a halt, and leapt to the ground. Maid Guy caught up with them within seconds, saying, "Just as you ordered goshujin, they have been stopped."

"What WERE those things?"

The shy acting 'kunoichi' responded using very feminine language and tones, "Oh my no, they were my step-mother, and step-sisters."

"What? Should we not have stopped them? I am sorry!"

"Oh, no, thank you for that." the 'kunoichi' bowed deeply in gratitude. "They really are quite troublesome."

"What happened to them? Are they possessed, or cursed or something?"

"Cursed by bad genetics perhaps, and a bad temperament to boot. I suppose I should go and tend to them. We would not want their corpses to stink up the place."

"Kukuku, they are not dead, but they will not be able to move for a total of one thousand, eight hundred seconds. The person who hears Maid Guy: Freeze Voice can see, hear, and even move their lips, but they cannot move their fingers, their eyes, nor even blink! Although, judging by how they landed, if they are normal humans, and not monsters, they will probably need medical attention."

"Drat! Oh well, at least I do not have to avenge their deaths now. ...assuming I could figure out who could have done such a dreadful thing!" The 'kunoichi' was on one knee, arm extended, in a very dramatic pose. Returning to a standing position, "They are monsters, but not the supernatural kind. You know, I really should go bury them, it would probably be for the best."

"Why do you stay with them?"

"Well, I do not really have anywhere else to go. My mother died when I was young. After some time, my father remarried, and died soon after that. All I have in this world, are my evil step-mother and evil step-sisters!!!"

"If they aren't possessed or cursed or anything, then why were they chasing you?"

"Oh my, it was because I made more tips than they did at our club today. The fact that I was not even working, but rather just cleaning up, might have played a factor..." The 'kunoichi' pulled out a microphone, and began to speak more melodramatically. "Could it be? Could it be that they are jealous? Yes, that must be it! They are jealous of my beauty!"

"Do you need a place to stay? We will help you stay safe. My sisters run a very nice homeless-shelter, and I am sure they would let you stay, or I can talk to my dad, he might let you stay in our dojo. Do you want some ice cream? It will make you feel better." Akane smiled. "My name is Akane Tendo, of the Saotome-Tendo Training Hall. Do you wanna be friends?"

The 'kunoichi' accepted Akane's handshake, and replied, "My name is Konatsu, and I think that I would like that. Thank you very much, Akane-sama. You and your, um, maid, are too kind."

"This is me, Maid Guy, at your service."

"Don't worry about this guy, Kogarashi-san is weird, but means well, most of the time!" She gave him a dirty look for a moment, and then went back to talking with Konatsu. Konatsu gave Maid Guy a look Akane did not quite catch, admiration perhaps, but she figured she had misread the look, and ignored it.

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Later that evening, Ukyo and Pai had been sneaking along the main Koenkan building, looking for a stealthy way in. Ukyo was not thrilled about being away from Ranma for that long, but when Ranma had to admit that her stealth skills even surpassed his own, she was beside herself, beaming with pride, literally, as she had used a doppelganger technique. In addition, Ukyo was ecstatic to have been given such an important mission, two of them in fact. The first was to gather any intelligence she was able to find, but had to bring Pai along because Ukyo did not speak the language, nor know her way around. The second was to make extra sure to keep Pai safe, while the girl was very stealthy when compared to the lumbering Ryoga she was no ninja...

They had chatted a bit about all sorts of things on the way over, but grew silent as they neared their location. For the moment they found themselves hiding in a tree across the street, watching, waiting for the right time to enter the building.

They continued their conversation as they waited, so quietly that they could barely hear one another, never mind anyone outside of the tree. "So, what is the deal with Ryoga, and why do you guys use the nicknames, 'Puppy' and 'Lap Dog'?"

"Well, you see, Ryoga has this problem, several in fact. The worst one is that guy's sense of direction is worse than abysmal, I mean think of the worst person you know with directions, and multiply it by a thousand and you might start to get close to an idea of how bad it is, and then picture that the whole family has this curse. We first found Ryoga more than seven-hundred and fifty kilometers from home, looking for school. So you see, at this point, Puppy had not seen its own mother in months, and had not seen Hibiki-san in years. So when we started to help, and miomo-sama began to act 'motherly', Ryoga started to follow us around like a lost puppy, and the name just stuck. Then when we got home one day, and saw the child's leash, nothing could erase the nickname."

Pai had trouble containing her laughter, and had to hold her hands over her mouth to avoid making a loud noise. After calming down, Pai then asked the next question on her list. "Ranma is then called 'Playboy', is that accurate?"

"Well, my Ranchama is becoming quite a man, but while you could count Renka, I suppose, and there are a few girls back home in Japan, who might be interested in the job, officially speaking, I have been the only real 'girlfriend', and that was when we were six. As nice as that time was, I am much happier the ways things are now."

"...and 'how are things now'?"

"Hold that thought, do you see that open window on the fourth floor?" Pai nodded. "That looks like an office, and the last person just left the room, I think we can get in there, can you make the jump from here, or will you need a hand?"

"Jump? From here?? Are you crazy???"

"I will take that as the latter, hold on tight, and don't make a sound." Ukyo scooped Pai into her arms, and leapt from their position in the tree, to the ledge on the building across the street, without making a sound. Pai was a bit less discreet, not expecting such a thing was even possible, let alone carrying someone. She could leap a story or so, but that was pushing it. Luckily, her 'eep' went unnoticed by the residents, as far as they could tell anyway, and they climbed into the open window, and began to snoop around.

They found many things that might be useful, some more helpful than others. Unfortunately for Ukyo, Pai was needed to figure out exactly what each thing was, and if it was useful. Pai's curiosity got the better of her though, and she tried to continue their earlier conversation.

"But, back to what we were talking about. You call Ranma 'yours' but you say you are not a 'girlfriend', why do you say that? What does that mean?"

"I say that because Ranchama is my world, my everything. Ranchama does not belong to me, if anything it is the other way round. I am, after all, proud to call myself, 'Ranchama's concubine', it is the best 'position' anyone could ask for."

"WHAT?!?!?!?!?"

Pai's scream brought with it the sounds of many heavy feet, getting louder. Ukyo quickly returned the ledger she was examining, threw one hand over Pai's mouth, and the other grabbed her by the waist, as she leapt back out of the window, and began roof-hopping away, almost faster than Pai could react to what was happening.

Pai did not like being 'manhandled' in such a way, but it only took her a moment to realize that Ukyo was doing what she had to do to keep them safe.

As soon as they had gotten far enough away that Ukyo was sure they were not being followed, she set Pai back down, and reacted rather harshly, something Ranma would not have believed his friend capable, even if he had seen it with his own eyes. "What the hell, Pai? That was a stealth mission, incase you've forgotten! You could have gotten us captured, or killed! And now they are going to be on guard for a while, and that we were not able to put everything back as it was, just makes it worse!"

Pai looked appropriately sheepish over her actions, "I am sorry, I really am, I didn't mean to, but it's just what you said, you are what?"

"I am Ranchama's concubine! Is that so hard to grasp? Didn't most great men in history have them? Many women did too. You couldn't ask for a better deal in life. I am being raised and supported by a rich loving family ...which they would have done anyway. I am treated like a queen. I can do anything I want to do. On top of all of that, I get to keep my family name. As the last member of my family line, that is important to me. If I have children, at least one of them will be a Kuonji, and carry on my family's art.

"My father requested that I become Ranchama's bride, but I turned that 'job' down, a wife is chosen out of duty, and has many responsibilities, whereas as the head concubine, my only requirement is to love, and be loved by, the man of my dreams... What part of that sounds like a bad deal?"

"Well, when you put it that way, but ...wait-a-minute, did you say 'head concubine'?"

"Well, of course! A gentleman (or lady) should have as many concubines as they can 'take care of', in more ways than one, and my Ranma-sama can make you climax with a touch of a finger, even getting your hair brushed is an orgasmic experience! You have no idea. Ranma-sama is so skilled, that I doubt any woman could handle it alone!"

"Are you sure it's not just you?"

"Oh no! I have seen many girls fall victim to the skill of those fingers. Even miomo-sama fell victim to it, when the skill was first developed, before we knew what it was doing."

"Ewww!"

"Yeah, that's what we said when we figured it out. I feel for both of them, especially miomo-sama, who cannot enjoy it, it's just so sad. Miomo-sama wouldn't explain what happened, just said never to do it again, but to become a man, that technique needed to be mastered, so I became the 'test dummy'. I can't recommend it enough, really, even a scalp massage would change your life. ...it's way better than anything I can do to myself, that's for sure. See for yourself. Look at the faces these girls made in these pictures I took." Ukyo held out a small handful of pictures, showing women and girls, from Renka to Kyoshi, all with looks of extreme ecstasy, unable to resist the pleasure they were feeling. "This is just from a massage, and Ranma-sama just keeps getting better all the time."

Shocked at the fact that the girl even had pictures, let alone what was in those pictures, some of the most beautiful girls she had ever seen in her life, making faces, she had never seen on anyone before. One of them had to be at least as old as Nodoka. "How long have you two been ...intimate? And, were you the only one Ranma has been with? Or have all of these girls done it too?"

"Well, that depends on what you mean by the word 'intimate'. We have been very close friends ever since we were children, long before they unofficially adopted me, and Ranchama has been making me feel wonderful for years, but did not 'turn me into a woman' until my last birthday. Outside of Hong Kong, that is the age of consent here in China. If we had been back home, miomo-sama would probably have had us do it a year sooner, since that is the legal age there. But we haven't really done it that many times, we both felt like we were too young yet and wanted to wait, it was more of a cumming of age, ceremonial thing, like red beans and rice. I have been the only one so far, unless you count the 'instructor' Miomo-sama sent us to, before I was old enough to join in. Ranma-sama needed to learn from the best, after all.

"However, I am the one who judges who is worthy of the master's touch, and I was given only two tasks tonight, and now I have to go back and, for the first time, say I have failed at the lesser of the two tasks! Since any helpful information, other than floor plans, that we collected is most likely useless now, since they were alerted to our presence by SOMEONE I won't mention."

"I am really sorry, I am, I was just so shocked. You talk about that, like it is normal, but really, it's not. Most women I know would not want to share their man, and most men I have known are rather possessive of their woman. Jealousy is a very common trait out in the real world. You are more accepting than I am. I don't think I would be willing to share my man with another woman, no matter who it was. I can't imagine..."

"What, you never learned to share? Jealousy is one of the worst emotions our species has, it's something we should be ashamed of, not proud! Jealousy and greed are 'vices', not 'virtues'. If giving up on jealousy is the 'price' I paid for the happiness I have in my life, then it was a very small price to pay indeed, one I would gladly pay a hundred times over. I have been saved by Ranchama more times than I can keep track of, I owe them my life and happiness many times over. That is why I have sworn my oath of loyalty, and why I will follow, and take care of Ranma-sama's every need. Until the day I die, I will do everything in my power to get between anyone or anything that tries to do harm to my Ranchama. Kami-sama saw fit to drop them into my life when I needed them most, and I will do ANYTHING to keep them safe, do you get me, girl?"

"What? Are you trying to say I am not good enough for your 'Ranma-sama'? Is that it? Because of one simple mistake? Who said I even wanted that? I wasn't trying to come between you."

"I say you want that. I saw that look in your eyes. It is a look I have seen in many eyes, especially those I see in the mirror. For that matter, I am willing to overlook what happened tonight, because only we were in danger, and not even mention why we failed in our task, though, careless mistakes as a martial artist cost people their lives, but hey, we all make mistakes, ne? But let me ask you this, What have you done so far, that makes you feel that you are worthy of Ranma-sama's attention? I will grant you that you are very pretty, but there are a lot of girls out there that are just as pretty, if not prettier. Why should I allow my precious family to continue to put themselves into harm's way for you? You who would strike that beautiful face simply because your name happens to sound similar to our favorite dessert? Give me one good reason not to tie you up, hand deliver you back to these Koenkan guys, and tell my family that 'the problem was solved, the guy was easier to handle than we thought'."

"You wouldn't!?!?!" Pai was slowly trying to back away, looking panicked.

"Try me! I know how outclassed you were in the spar, and I am almost as good, it would be a simple matter, and I would still succeed at my second task. Since you would be 'safe' in the hands of your 'future husband'."

"What exactly was your second task anyway? I only knew about sneaking in there, what are you not telling me?"

"Isn't it obvious? The same as it was when we first met, Ranma-sama ordered me to keep you safe, and by the Kami, THAT is what I will do! Now as I was saying, give me one good reason not to change the definition of 'safe'. That is all I am asking for, one reason, and we can go back to happy land. Hell, I might even help you, if I like your reason."

"So let me get this straight, this is mostly about the fact that I slapped him, because of my misunderstanding? Is that the real issue you have with me?"

Ukyo nodded. "You got it, sister. Although, obviously, if we train together, I won't have a problem with you trying to land a blow, as long as it doesn't go overboard. But I will NOT stand by and let anyone harm that man for no good reason! Even if our healing techniques work really well. Ranma-sama will not be abused nor taken advantage of if I can prevent it!"

"Look, I am really sorry about that, I wasn't thinking, I have a bit of a temper, I know. I react without thinking, it's part of my style. It's based on speed, and quick reaction time. Well, that and I have always been kind of ...high strung. It's a flaw, in myself and in my training. I am trying to work on it, but it's just that most of the men I have known were jerks, and well, that didn't help. I am just so used to most men, starting with my father on up, treating me badly because I was a girl, or because I was young, or whatever, I just expect the worst. I really didn't mean to. Please, can't we start over?"

"Sure, Sugar. I guarantee that Ranma-sama is not like that. You could not ask for a kinder, more gentle man. Sometimes, too kind for his own good, that's why he needs people to look out for him." Ukyo wrapped her arm around Pai's shoulders, with a big smile on her face and in her eyes, and a sweet tone in her voice. "So, let's be friends." She scooped her legs up in her other arm, and started hopping from roof to roof, on the way back toward their hotel. Her voice got even sweeter, as she continued, "I will even help you train, we will be sure to break that bad habit. Because if I find out it happened again, I will accidentally break one of your fingers."

-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

Pai was a bit unnerved as they returned. Even though the 'scary Ukyo' was gone, and the 'friendly Ukyo' was back, chitchatting all the way back to their room. Studying English in her preparations to leave for the United States, she had heard about their 'scared straight' program, but she did not think it was supposed to work like this! What she said was true, she did want to change, and if what Ukyo had said about Ranma was true, he might be good therapy for her. Worst-case scenario, if she really needed to hit someone, she could always hit Ryoga, the scary girl didn't seem to mind that too much. Although, that made Pai feel bad, considering what the lost boy had been through in his life. While she was lost in thought, concern written on her face, Ranma began to inquire how their mission went.

"So, how did it go? Learn anything useful? I hope you girls had fun, and got along without me." Ranma grinned at his friend.

"Of course, Ranma-sama, we got along swimmingly. Pai is a wonderful girl. Make sure you treat her well. That girl really needs your care and understanding." Ukyo instantly lost her previous cheer, and was down on her knees almost instantly, begging for forgiveness. "I am so very sorry Ranma-sama, we did get a bit of information, but we were noticed, so it is likely that anything we learned about scheduling will no longer hold true. We did get a good look at the area, and found what looked like their boss' office. We also learned some disturbing information on one 'Project D'. If at all possible, we really should put a stop to that. We did not have time to learn much about it, but from what we did learn, the implications are ...unpleasant. Brainwashing, copying people's skills, implanting memories, some evil stuff out of science fiction nightmares."

"That IS bad. You are right. We need to see if we can find a way to stop that. More importantly, are you two okay? You didn't get hurt during that did you?"

"No, Ranma-sama, as you ordered, keeping Pai safe was the top priority! On the other hand, I do have one more thing to add Ranchama. I got four points while we were out!"

Ranma pulled Ukyo to her feet, and took her into his arms, giving her a hug. "You know keeping yourself safe, is just as important to me, I figured that went without saying. Even if you are trying to rack up points while I am not playing'..." He kissed her on the cheek and said, "I kept the bath warm for you, so why don't you two go get cleaned up. I brewed the ki tea we got from master Shun and filled our gourds, and set up a few other tricks for us, but in light of what happened it might be best for us to lay low for a while. Ofukuro-chan and Puppy went out to call her contacts, and pick up a few supplies, so save them some hot water."

Ranma started to let go, but Ukyo leaned in and whispered into his ear, "Would you please brush and fix our hair when we get out? It would help us relax after the stressful night." A bit louder she added, "You know, you could come and wash my back too, I know I would find that especially relaxing. How about you, Pai? Would you like this big strong man to wash your delicate back? Ranchama is really good at it, I am sure you would enjoy it." She giggled as Pai stiffened up.

"You guys bathe together?!?"

"Ever since we were kids. Mixed bathing was pretty common around much of Asia, Japan, Korea, Cambodia, and so on. It's starting to fade out now, due to western influence, but we are an old-fashioned family. If you are against it, it's okay. I have had my bath already, so you two can wash each other's backs. I understand. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

Not wanting cause any more problems with Ukyo, especially since the girl had kept the reason for their failure to herself, but still not wanting to spend that much time alone with her, not after the evening they had. She had been so scared for a moment there, that she had almost lost control of her bladder. She certainly did not want to do anything that might set her off again. Therefore, as weird as it seemed to her, the prospect of bathing with Ranma in the room seemed better than without. However, she wanted to try one last attempt at getting out of it, and maybe score some points with Ukyo for helping her get some alone time with Ranma. "It's not so much that I am against it, per say, it's just odd to me. Why don't you two go first, and I will wait until..."

Ukyo cut her off by grabbing her arm and pulling toward the bathroom. "Oh no you don't, Sugar. You are not getting out of this that easily! You too Ranma-sama, we need you."

"...wait... I'm not ready! I am not mentally prepared for this...!"

"Ranma-sama will just be washing your back, it's no big deal! Trust me, you'll love it. It will be well worth any embarrassment you might feel."

"How many times do I have to tell you Ucchan? You just like being embarrassed. Not everyone is like that. If she doesn't want to, it's fine."

"No, it's okay, I don't really mind, exactly. I would actually kind of prefer if you were there. It will make me feel 'safer' ...you know, incase someone attacks us, or something." She quickly amended, not wanting to let on that it was Ukyo she was more afraid of than anything. Pai knew that if Ukyo wanted to try something, there would not be anything she could do to stop it. Much more training would be needed.

Ukyo, knowing the rest of the story, was able to deduce Pai's reasoning, and gave a sly smile. She was quite happy with the way her plan was working out, even if it meant she had to be the 'bad guy' momentarily. It was for the girl's own good after all. Pai had had a hard life, and she deserved some happiness. Not to mention, she felt Ranma needed more pretty girls following him around, it was hard to take any satisfaction in being the 'head concubine', if you were the only one after all, besides, she was tired of being the only girl in their group. Nodoka was great, but it was not the same as having another girl around the same age with them. Getting Renka to follow seemed to have failed, but maybe better luck will be had with Pai...

-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

The bath went much better than Pai had hoped, the last time she had bathed with anyone else, was with her mom, and that was long before she had died. Oh sure, she was extremely embarrassed at first, but Ranma had been a perfect gentleman (and specimen), never leering, and almost always looked her in the eye, as far as she could tell anyway, not that she could say the same thing. She assumed that her theory was true, that Ukyo would not do anything mean as long as Ranma were present. In fact, the self-proclaimed 'concubine' had been incredibly nice and helpful, as if none of the day's events had occurred and they had been friends for a long time. It was all very strange to Pai, she was not sure what to think.

However, when Ranma started to wash her back, she had lost all interest in thinking or anything else. Pai had never felt anything like it before, it was as if little sparks of electricity were entering her body as his fingers scrubbed her back, which, being wet, would not have been good, if accurate, so it had to have been something else. Pai tried to resist the feelings at first, by reciting, '\Three point one four, three point one four, three point one four...\' but her resistance did not last long, partially because, ironically, Pai didn't know 'pi' very well. She could not even remember getting into the tub. They must have helped. When Ranma started to wash her hair, she lost what had remained of her awareness of the surroundings. She could have been anywhere and did not care. The sensations of the fingers scrubbing and caressing her scalp traveled down her spine and to the rest of her body. She did not notice her toes curling, nor her body convulsing as she had her very first orgasm, let alone one from a scalp massage. She failed to notice the other teens help her out of the tub, and over to a stool, where they began to dry her off. Nor did she notice Ranma drying and brushing her hair, nor Ukyo cleaning her up after her second climax squirted across the room. She did not notice Nodoka's camera peeking into the room, recording all of this to 'embarrass Ranma with' later, nor the other teens dressing her and carrying her to a bed. She did not even hear Ranma say to Ukyo, "The ki treatment went well, I am surprised how well. When Pai wakes up, we will need to explain it. We wouldn't want anyone to get hurt, due to lack of control."

Having never felt so relaxed, Pai slept like a baby, which was not to say she woke up every couple of hours, but rather, did not wake until hearing Ranma's voice, and feeling his hand lightly touching her shoulder. "Konichiwa, sleepy-head. You slept through breakfast, so I figured you would be starving. I brought you 'lunch in bed'. I hope you like it. I made it myself. You will need your energy, so eat up."

Pai's eyes fluttered open, and looked right into Ranma's steel-blue eyes, filled with concern. "Jousahn Ranma." The look of slight confusion on the boy's face, quickly brought her out of her stupor, and helped her to realize she was speaking her native Cantonese. "Sorry Ranma, I thought I was still dreaming, I never could have expected something like this," she said indicating the food, "to really happen. Ukyo was right, you really are a kind man."
{*Jousahn = 'Good Morning' in Cantonese*}

"We need to talk, Pai. Go ahead and eat, and especially drink the tea, it will help you feel much better. I need to explain to you something I did last night."

The mention of the prior evening brought with it, her incomplete memories of what they had done, and she instantly got embarrassed, the blush lighting up the room, in more ways than one. Ranma was momentarily distracted by how cute she looked when blushing like that. "What exactly DID happen last night?" Mentally she added, 'and why can't I remember much of it?' "I can't remember much after you started washing my back and hair."

"Well, that happens sometimes," It was Ranma's turn to look embarrassed, "it does get a bit easier to 'stay aware', the more you get used to it, or so Ucchan tells me."

"Are you saying you are going to do that to me again?" Pai was not sure how she felt about that, she had never felt so good before, and it kind of scared her. Her life had been so focused on revenge, that she was not sure how to deal with it. Since her mother died, the only time she had been able to put her anger and mistrust aside was when she danced. Dancing was her only joy in life, and even that was more of a neutral state, rather than actual joy. Nonetheless, she enjoyed dancing. It let her tune out all of her problems, unlike the art, which helped to focus them. The prior evening had blown all of that out of the water, making her realize how sad her life had really been.

"If you want, I am used to it, ofukuro used to have me practice on both of them, but one day told me I had gotten too good at it, and had to stop. So now, I only get to practice on Ucchan most of the time. It was nice to have someone else to practice on, and your hair is beautiful, you must take good care of it."

"You really think so? I do use a special herbal shampoo that I got from one of my father's teachers. Did I hear you right? That you said you trained under a Shun? Was that Shun Di, the herbal doctor?"

"Hai! So you know Shifu? I learned a lot, shifu Shun was one of the best teachers I have had. The training was hard, but worth it!" Ranma always got excited when talking about training, this was no exception.

"That's great! We haven't seen each other in a long time, but I used to love when we would go visit. Such a wise and kind old man."

"Isn't that the truth? I learned far more than the art while we stayed there. Truly a wise man indeed."

"Look Ranma, last night felt really good, I mean REALLY good, but I am not sure how I feel about it. I am not used to being naked around others, I normally bathe alone, and I am kind of shy." Pai's voice got quiet as she finished, "But if I am going to bathe with anyone else, I want you to be there to protect me."

"Pai, if you ever need help with anything, I will always be willing to do what I can, but why would you need 'protection' in the bath?"

"Oh, no reason, just call me paranoid." Pai laughed uncomfortably. "It's just that you are the first person I have felt I could really trust." Pai tended to trust her instincts, they tended to be pretty accurate, most of the time.

Ranma's face darkened at that, "Well, what I have to tell you might change your mind."

Pai looked concerned at that, her mind quickly tried to fill in the blanks in her memories of the night before.

"I did something to you last night, which apparently you haven't noticed yet. Something that I probably shouldn't have done without your permission. Ucchan was persistent, and you really DID seem to need it, but that does not change the fact that I took liberties with you that I should not have done, and we need to talk about it. I deserve one hundred percent of the blame, it was completely my fault!"

Pai was in a panic. 'That Bitch! I was not ready for that, at the very least, I wanted to remember it! It's NOT FAIR!' She DID want to hit the handsome boy. It was only that promise and fear of fingers being broken that kept the instinctive reaction in check. "You didn't!?!?! You mean you RAPED ME?!?!?" As it was, she had almost knocked over her half empty tray of delicious food in the process anyway. Luckily, Ranma was quick to react, and kept it from spilling a drop.

"HELL NO! I would NEVER! No, no, no. I would hurt anyone who even tried to do that!!! Just ask Ucchan what happened to the last guys who tried that! Those guys will never rape anyone again! A real man would never have sex with someone who is not a willing participant! Wait, wait..." Ranma took a moment for them both to calm down. Ranma's reaction was certainly not what Pai had expected, the hurt and anger in those eyes scared her, but, strangely, at the same time, put her mind a bit more at ease before Ranma continued. "I do owe you an explanation, and an apology, let me explain fully first, then you can hit me, or whatever, if you want. I did do something bad, but not THAT bad. Let me ask you this first, how much do you know about ki use?"

"Not a lot I guess, mostly from movies."

"Okay, I guess I need to start at the beginning, do you want the long or short version?"

"Um, short I guess, if I need more, I will ask you to explain, is that okay?"

"Sure, no problem." Ranma smiled, as warmly as possible, after being accused of rape. "Ki, qi, or chi, as you guys say here, is life energy, mana, your battle aura, and more. Every living thing has it, even the planet (or so I was taught). True martial artists train to use it, and can employ it to do amazing things. The way you are able to jump almost a story in the air and land safely, being able to sense an attack without seeing it, being able to heal faster than most people, all ki use. You have it and use it every day, whether you realize it or not. I started training in its specific use when I was four years old. Kiyoshi-sensei is a ki master. Just don't make jokes about my mom being the gate-keeper."

"What?"

"Um, never mind. Kyoshi-sensei taught us some amazing things, some things that many people would consider 'magical'. Like this." Ranma held out a hand, and created a ball of golden ki, that looked as if it were 'flaming'.

Pai was amazed. It was even more amazing than in the movies. "Isn't that hot?"

"Nope. Here, touch it." Ranma held out that hand and Pai passed her hand through the 'flames'. "It can be hot, but I am not using 'angry ki'. If I use different emotions to 'power' it, I can make it cold to the touch, or even warm and comforting."

"Wow... and you are saying that I can learn how to do that?"

"Oh sure. It would take some time, but I can teach you if you want. You would have to put up with us for a while though." Ranma started to regain his humor, and grinned at the cute girl who was listening eagerly to every word. Concentrating, the ball formed into the shape of a pink card, which Ranma tossed into Pai. The girl jumped at first, but was almost instantly filled with feelings of comfort and joy. Pai relaxed, feeling more content than anytime the girl could ever remember in her life.

"As cool as that is, what does it have to do with what you were talking about, and why am I supposed to get mad? You are not trying to force me to love you are you?"

"NO! I would NEVER! That is SO wrong! I only want you to be happy, to succeed. You deserve all of the joy and happiness you can find in life. It's none of my business who you love! Now, as I was saying. You have and use ki every day, even if you were not aware of it. You use it to make yourself stronger, tougher, faster, and more. We all have a bit of subconscious control over it. Each of us can only hold so much, and it takes a while to 'recharge' when used. We can also channel it from our surroundings, but that is harder, slower, and you need to be careful not to take too much, too quickly, or you can kill the things that are 'loaning' you their life force. The point is, that the more you use it, and the better control you have over it, the more you can 'hold' and the faster it will regenerate. I learned a technique, a long time ago, that can slowly boost a person's ki abilities."

"And THAT was what you did to me? THAT is what this is all about?"

"Well, yes, yes it is. But there was also a slight problem." Ranma got rather embarrassed, his hands behind his back, as he shuffled his feet a bit.

Pai was feeling a bit worried at that. "So, what was this 'problem'?"

"Well, it can be dangerous, and you see, um, you were in such a 'receptive state' that, um, well, it was far more effective that I had intended. I need to train you carefully for a while, and you MUST take it easy, if you are not careful you can seriously damage your ki system, and maybe never fight again, or even die, worst case scenario. So, I am begging you, even if you cannot forgive me, please let me train you for a few days, at least, so you can get used to what you can do now. I just want to make sure you do not hurt yourself or anyone else accidentally." Ranma was on his knees, hands pressed together, and his head was bowed. "I am really sorry Pai, I went too far. I have no excuse for what I have done, and I swear I will make it up to you, anyway I can!"

"Ranma, between what I have seen of you guys capable of, and what you have told, and shown me this, um, morning? You have impressed upon me the need for this training, and you were only trying to help me. I don't know why, but when I am near you, I just feel like I can trust you. It's the strangest thing, most people give me the opposite feeling, if anything."

Ranma stood up, clasped Pai's hand in both of his, and said, "Thank you, I promise you will not regret it, if you stick through the training. It won't be easy at first, but I swear to you, that it is worth it. To answer your question, you may not be able to see them yet, but we will work on that, but you can feel mine, and other's auras when you are near them, as I said, you are using it, even if you are not aware of it."

Pai blushed a bit when Ranma took her hand, enjoying the touch and the 'electricity' she felt with that contact. "So, you mean to tell me, that you can 'see' auras?"

"Certainly, I have gotten into the habit of 'reading' almost everyone I meet, it keeps me from repeating a mistake I make a while back. Point is, I read yours when we met, it is how we knew we could trust you, why we are helping you, and why we are letting you stay with us. I wouldn't do this for just anyone, no matter how cute they are."

"So, I have to ask then, you think I am cute? Er, I mean, what does my aura look like?"

"Oh yes, very much so, quite beautiful in fact, but, to really explain the other thing, I need to tell you about the different kinds of auras. There are several levels of aura reading. The most basic ability lets someone see another's battle aura, when it is active. The battle aura is purely based on emotion, whatever you are feeling will influence the colors of your battle aura. If you advance beyond that, you can learn to see auras that are not being actively used. This aura is the 'outer aura'. It is a mixture of your emotions, health, and personality. Few users ever get to this level, and fewer still ever get beyond that. The most advanced users can see the 'true' or 'inner' aura. This requires a lot of skill, and is not something you can 'see' with your eyes, you must 'look' with your aura itself. It requires you 'separate' your aura from your physical self. Kind of like what they call 'astral projection'. At the lower levels of this, you leave your body vulnerable, and it is dangerous to use when you are not in a safe place. Recently I have been able to only extend my aural senses part way out, so I can still maintain control of my body, but it feels weird, like I am controlling a puppet underwater. But, time seems to slow down in 'spirit form', so it is hard to say, that might be why it feels that way, I have only just started to get the hang of it." Ranma's eyes lost focus, and he slumped for a moment, when he spoke again, his voice sounded a bit hollow and far away.

"But back to your original question. Your true aura, the one that matters most, is a mixture of shades of blues, meaning that you are a loving, caring, and truthful. There are shades of pink swirling around in there, that indicate that you are innocent, healthy, kind, gentle, and intuitive. But there are also flecks of other, darker colors, some sadness, pain, loss, and desperation." Ranma's posture improved, as his eyes regained focus. "This is why I am willing to trust you, and why I want to help you. Anyone with an aura that nice deserves to be happy, and I want to help you rid yourself of that darkness. You have the potential for greatness, to be a shining beacon to others, and spread joy, wherever you go, you just need to see it for yourself, and strive for the stars."

Pai was almost in tears, not even her own parents, had ever been so supportive and encouraging. Her father was too self-absorbed, and her mother had always been too busy, working several jobs to support them. She was completely at a loss for words, and was afraid that if she did try to speak, it would come out as sobs. She wanted to tell Ranma that he was full of it, and that she wasn't going to fall for his flattery. The problem was, she was 'falling for it', from the look on his face, the emotion in his voice and eyes, and the feelings she got when he was close, all screamed at her that this was no trick. After all, if he had wanted to do anything to her, he could have already, and she would never have even been aware of it. These people, whom she had just met the day before, had shown her more trust, caring, and respect than she could remember. Her father cared more about his art, her mother had never had time for her (for which she blamed her father), and the Koenkan only wanted her as a trophy, a tool to use for Liu's ambition for power. If he married her, and officially became a member of the family, her father might name him the successor to Koenkan, instead of just the acting head. Something he wanted badly.

While Pai was lost in her thoughts, Ranma turned to her and put his finger to his mouth in a 'shushing' gesture, and winked. He slowly crept over to the door of the room, and gave the door a hard thump, not enough to damage it in any way, but hard enough to make a loud noise and send vibrations through it. He then opened the door, sending Nodoka and Ukyo into a frantic attempt to look busy, and certainly not in any way eavesdropping or anything. Ranma gave them both a dirty look, as he closed the door and returned to Pai's side.

Pai was stifling a laugh at the reaction she had just witnessed. Seeing 'the dreaded Ukyo' getting caught by Ranma and panicking so comically, had gone a long way toward helping her switch from a crying sort of happy, to a laughing sort of happy. Pai's day just kept getting better. She was not thrilled about being spied on, but the looks on their faces were priceless. It made it worth being overheard, it's not like they had really talked about anything the others didn't know about anyway. Besides, it seemed like the training she could get here would go a long way toward her goal, even if slightly adjusted. America could wait. "Let me ask you one question first. If I accept this training, would I need to join your school? Stop practicing my style? Or anything like that?"

"I would make sure you were accepted if you wanted to join, but there would be some requirements, we can discuss later, if you decide to do so, but no, I owe you this for what my carelessness caused. It would not be right to force you into anything because of my mistake. We are the Saotome branch of Anything-Goes, Martial Arts Study. Our philosophy is 'anything-goes', we study every style we can, and adapt as much of it as we need into our personal styles. Every student has their own unique variation of the style, and the Saotome branch specializes in aerial combat, and now ki use. Your style would actually fit right in with ours." Ranma gave her a broad grin, which made her want to both giggle at how silly it looked, and melt at how dashing it make him look, in a wild sort of way.

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The girls sporadically received mail from Ranma, Ukyo or both these days, but it had been a while, and since they had not spent any time in one place for long since the month they trained with the Ma school, they had not been able to receive any of the mail the girls had sent. It had been a long several months without 'proper communication'. They were a bit surprised when they had gotten a separate letter from each of them, that usually only happened when the girl was trying to hide something from Ranma, and it was a long way until his next birthday, so they were a bit confused.

Curiosity got the better of them, and they put Ranma's tape aside, and opened Ukyo's letter first.

'Dear girls,

As you know from listening to Ranchama's sexy voice on the tape, we finally made it to Hong Kong, trying to find the exile, and as you should also know (because I know you would choose to listen to that, before reading any of my pathetic words, I know I would), that he stopped to help another girl named Pai, who was being kidnapped by people who wanted to force her to marry against her will, and that she is staying with us, while we stay here and take down the criminal organization that was targeting her (isn't he just awesome?), and find the exile that we hope will lead us to the Nujie Zu. But I am sure he explained it better than I ever could, and you would enjoy hearing him talk more than reading my humble words. We are not planning to be here long, and probably will not be able to get the mail forwarded yet.

BUT, I didn't write this to tell you about that stuff, this is time for some 'girl talk'. As you know, it is difficult for me to find private time to write this, but since Ranchama is helping that girl train, I have had a bit of free time. Ranchama's massage techniques are getting much better, I hope we do find the Nujie Zu, it will grant many more opportunities to refine the technique. I can't wait for you girls to get to experience it, you will just die, well, not literally, in fact, I will bet heaven itself pales by comparison. Even the desserts that man makes are not as good, and they are heavenly.

I included some more pictures for your collection. There are some in the coat I made, many without a shirt on, a habit I am enjoying a lot. There are also quite a few from 'family bath time'. You will notice that Pai has joined us, for now at least. I hope the girl stays. It would be nice to not be the only girl in our group. Ranchama deserves only the best, ne? Like you three. At first the girl was a bit rude to Ranchama, but after a short talk, Pai is taking to the rules quite well.

She is a cute girl, and speaks Japanese quite well. I am sure you will get along nicely, assuming I can get the girl to come... with us that is. I will end this letter now, and let you go to what I know you would rather be doing, staring at sexy pictures of Ranchama!

Love,
~Ukyo.'

The three girls went straight for the pictures, quickly flipping through, until they came to the bath time pictures. Most of the 'bath' pictures were only of Ranma, and the three drooling girls enjoyed them quite a bit, but when they got to one that had Pai in it, the reactions were mixed.

Nabiki scowled, she was not sure why she was unhappy, it could be that she did not like the idea of this incredibly cute girl that close to Ranma, or if she was jealous of not being the one making that face, but either way, she was jealous. 'That's not fair, I want Ranma-kun to wash my back too!'

"Oh my, that girl certainly is pretty, ne?"

Fubuki nodded, "Hai, Kasumi-sama, he looks quite skilled too, if the look on Pai-sama's face is anything to judge by." Fubuki got lost in thought, imagining herself in the bath, with her 'master' behind her, scrubbing her back like that. She might have to 'borrow' that scrapbook later in the night... What she did not know, was that the other girls were having the same idea.

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Kasumi was sneaking into the clubhouse from the garden entrance, doing her best not to wake anyone. She moved quietly down the secret passage toward their main room. When she opened the hidden panel in the hidden passage, she saw that someone had beaten her there.

"Fukibuki? What are you doing here at this hour?"

"Um, er, I, uh, I mean... getting a cookie?"

Kasumi looked Fubuki up and down, tracked where she was heading and said, "From the bookshelf? ...Fukibuki, are you here for the scrapbook too?"

Fubuki blushes, looking down at the floor, then looks straight at Kasumi. "...too? You mean..."

Now it was Kasumi's turn to blush as she nodded. Kasumi's voice got ever quieter than the whispered tones they were already using, and said, "Well, we could BOTH 'borrow' it..." She did not want to deprive her friend of her entertainment for the evening, but she didn't want to do without her own either. They were blushing so brightly, that if the room had windows, a pink light would have been emanating from them, lighting up the yard. Luckily, the lighting tubes for the room were closed.

The two girls ran off to find a place where they could have some privacy, to 'read'.

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Unknown to her, Nabiki arrived in the clubhouse shortly after the others left, to find that the scrapbook, that she had wanted to 'study', was missing. She gave this some thought, it seemed familiar somehow, as if this had happened before, or something very like it. Now why is that?

After pondering the mystery for a short time, she remembered her onee-chan sneaking the book from her room, to the clubhouse one night, a couple of years ago. She never did solve that mystery. Maybe she has it again, and if so, maybe she could figure out what she was doing with it. Mystery in hand, Nabiki forgot all about her original plans of drooling over the naked pictures.

Nabiki snuck off to check Kasumi's room. She listened at the door, and didn't hear anything, so she peeked inside, and saw nothing, no one was in the room.

The mystery deepened. Nabiki then checked their bathroom, the kitchen, the living room, she ignored the guest room, where that 'kunoichi' was staying, but went on to check both dojo buildings, and still found nothing. That left the obvious deduction that she was in the Saotome house. Since she started in the clubhouse, she skipped that, and used the passages to peep into the rooms on the first floor, and still, found nothing other than Maid Guy in his room, and Genma snoring away on his bed. Nabiki was glad Genma was not sleeping in the nude, and that he was under the covers, but kicking herself for having forgotten which room was his from inside the passages in the first place. She decided to skip the new area in the new subbasement area, because as far as she knew, they were unaware of them. Can always check them later.

Unfortunately, the only passages she knew about for the rooms upstairs, were under the floorboards, and not between the walls, making that difficult to check, so she elected to just sneak around up there the old fashioned way. She checked Fubuki's room, very carefully, expecting her to be in the room, and not wanting to disturb the hard working girl, but had to check anyway. The fact that she was not in her room either, mean they were likely together, curiouser and curiouser. Next she moved to the Saotome-furo and looked in each area, and still no Kasumi, nor apparently Fubuki, who is also missing.

There was only one room left, 'They can't be!' Nabiki almost ran for the last, unchecked room, unable to believe it. She quickly opened the door to Ranma's room, honestly expecting it to be empty. Nabiki was not wrong very often, but this was one of those times.

There, in the middle of the floor, surrounded by naked pictures of Ranma, were a nude Kasumi and Fubuki, making out and playing with each other. Nabiki's usual eloquence, and grasp of this and other languages, left her completely, as she sputtered out, "Wh... Wha... What are you doing?!?!?"

"Well we started off just looking at the pictures, enjoying ourselves, then we tried pretending to wash each other's backs, and, well, one thing led to another..."

Nabiki's voice cracked badly, and her words began to slur, "Chaos Pony Investigations solved another mystery!" Then she promptly feinted as her voice trailed off, "I never get to have any F. U..." *THUMP*

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Over the next week, Ranma trained Pai, in addition to their 'normal' training, which she had been allowed to join. Pai progressed well, and after the first day and a half of training, Ranma resumed her ki modifications, being careful not to do them during 'family bath time' again. A concept, to which, she was beginning to grow accustomed. At first, she had been nervous about Ryoga, but it turned out that she did not have to worry at all, since the lost boy spent most of this time staring at the ceiling or a wall. She had felt more stares from the other women than either of the men. Whenever she would get close to Ranma, they would stare at her, with evil grins, which caused her to shrink behind Ranma for 'protection', which only caused them to grin harder. It really confused her, and made her really glad that Ranma was there, being near him was a comfort when she started to get uncomfortable.

After their workouts, Pai had been watching the other two women being massaged by Ranma, and she was a bit jealous of the fact that she was being left out. However, Ukyo had insisted on being the one to give them to Pai. Pai did not want to argue the point, and they were really good massages, so she could not really complain either. Even though in the back of her mind, she longed to be touched by the boy any time she could get him to do so, but she could not say it aloud, especially not to Ukyo. She was not even willing to admit to herself that she liked Ranma like that, never mind admitting she wanted to let the boy play with her body like a toy. On the other hand, she WAS willing to ask him to help with her hair, and wash her back every time they bathed as a 'family' (even if she did have to 'wait her turn'). There was nothing wrong with that after all, right? Since she felt the safest with him, Pai had been spending every moment she could, enjoying his calming aura.

Little did Pai realize that Ukyo had two reasons for the semi-torture. The first wanting to practice her own massage technique, and the second being that she was training Pai to fight her jealous tendencies, and instinctive violent reactions. Pai was actually doing well at this training she was not aware of doing, in part because even if she wanted to strike anyone, her body felt like rubber and could not really move well anyway. Ukyo knew that if Pai were to be accepted into their group, she would need to be willing and able to see Ranma with other girls, a good concubine should not be selfish.

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Near the end of the week, Pai had accidentally overheard Nodoka and Ranma talking about an exile from the Nujie Zu, someone named 'Facial' or something. While not completely sure, Pai did recall one of her old friends mentioning someone moving in a while back, someone who had a really strange name. While they were busy, Pai snuck out to pay a visit to an old friend, to see what could be found out about this person. She wanted to help her friends, but did not want to tell them yet, incase it was a false lead, did not want to get their hopes up until she knew for sure.

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Success!!! The plan worked out even better than Pai could have hoped. Not only was that the right name, but her friend had been able to direct her to where the strange woman lived. In addition to finding the woman, Pai had been able to get her to agree to meet with Ranma. The woman said something about needing to warn them if nothing else. Nonetheless, she was thrilled that she had been able to help Ranma and his family in return for all they were doing to help her. Now all she had to do was return and tell them.

Walking back to the hotel, Pai was lost in thought, so much so that she did not notice that the van approaching her was unusual until the men inside had thrown a net over her and pulled her inside, pummeling her until she stopped resisting.

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Ryoga was alone in the hotel room, they had been training him not to open locked doors, so they could leave him in the room and not worry about him wandering off, without having to tie him to a post like an animal, for which Ryoga was grateful. It came as a surprise when there was a knock on the one locked door in the rental, the front door, not that he could tell one door from another. Ryoga was not sure what to do, he knew the others would not expect him to answer it, but they were searching for Pai, who had been missing since the day before, and maybe it was someone with information. After an internal debate, Ryoga finally decided that opening the door would be okay, as long as he did not pass through it, and relocked it when he was done.

On the other side of said door was a tall and very beautiful woman with long pink hair. The woman spoke in Cantonese, and Ryoga did not understand a word, his Mandarin was bad, but his Cantonese was much worse. Even the rest of the family, whom Ryoga felt must have a 'knack' for languages, had not picked up a lot of it yet. However, he DID recognize one word, 'Pai'.

"You know where Pai is? Please, tell me what you know!"

The woman looked just as confused as Ryoga had a moment before and said, "/How about Mandarin, do you speak that?/"

"/No well./" Ryoga's words were slow, and painfully spoken to the woman's ears.

"/That's still better than nothing, sorry about that./" The woman's responses were also slow, due to having to think about what the boy was saying, and decipher his horrible pronunciation and grammar.

"/Me sorry too. Others speak more good, be back soon, this one hopes. We looking for Pai, you see it?/"

"/The girl came to my place yesterday, and asked me to come speak to a Ranma Saotome, are you Ranma?/"

"/Ranma gone, hope be back soon. When you see Pai?/"

"/At my place, early afternoon, but the girl left, and was to return here to tell you about me./"

Ryoga pointed to himself, "/Ryoga. Who you?/"

The tall woman smiled at the boy, "/My name is Fei Sha. I have heard you were looking for me. May I come in?/"

"Facial? /Oh, yes. Please, come. Tea want?/"

"/Close enough, and no, I am fine./" Ryoga let the woman in, and locked the door behind him. This caused the woman to raise an eyebrow, but she said nothing. It wasn't as if she could not unlock it, or even make a new 'door' if it became necessary.

"/You know Pai well?/"

"/No, we had not met before, but one of the girl's friends helped me, when I first arrived in this city, so I wanted to help Pai in return for the favor. Besides, if you people are going to look for my ex-people, than there are things you will need to know. It's not safe for you./"

Luckily, for the both of them, Nodoka entered the room, from the same locked door. "Ah, Ryoga-kun, did you leave without us? Is this the type of woman you like? Your girlfriend is very pretty, though a bit older than I would have expected."

"No, Okaa-san, this is Facial, Someone Pai met yesterday ...I think, but doesn't speak Japanese."

Nodoka turned to the pink-haired beauty, "/I heard you speaking Mandarin, I hope that is okay, none of us speak Cantonese well. My name is Nodoka Saotome. Ryoga said you spoke with Pai?/"

"/Yes, we spoke yesterday, the girl asked me to speak with you. My name is Fei Sha, or it was, before my exile from the Nujie Zu, technically now, I have no name. I had assumed you would have been informed of my visit./"

"/Oh my, that IS wonderful news. Unfortunately, Pai has not returned from the excursion. We were unaware of this outing, so you were the last one to have seen the girl. We have been searching since yesterday./"

"/Oh dear, that is not good, many bad things happen to pretty, young girls in this city. Do you have any leads?/"

"/Only one, and my son and concubine are investigating it as we speak./"

Just as she was finishing the sentence, Ranma entered the room, by way of an open window, quickly followed by a disheveled Ukyo.

"Ranma-kun, /You should refrain from doing things like that to Ukyo-chan while we are out looking for your other girlfriend!/"

Noticing the new woman in the room, and the fact that his mother was speaking Mandarin, Ranma followed suit. "/Um no, It wasn't me who did that, Ucchan's dress got caught on a branch of a tree, while we were hunting down a lead. But, as I was saying, we found where Pai is being held! But, um, who's our beautiful friend?/"

Not waiting to be introduced, the woman winked at Ranma for the compliment, and spoke up. "/You are Ranma?/" Upon seeing the nod, continued, "/My name was Fei Sha, I used to be a member of the Nujie Zu, before I was exiled. Your friend Pai came to ask me to see you, but it seems as if you have more pressing matters, may I offer my assistance?/"

"/Oh, that's great! Well, not the part about you being exiled, but the fact that Pai found you, and that you are willing to help us, but that is just all the more reason we need to go get Pai back!/"

"/Don't worry about it, considering the alternatives, exile was one of the best things that could have happened to me. Though I suppose I could have ended up in a nicer place, but hey, it could be worse, at least here, they mostly don't mind a nameless exile here. I get work, I have a place to live, and no one bothers me. Best of all I don't have to listen to those old women who try to enforce their archaic laws on anyone who passes by. But that's a story for another time, you said you learned what happened to the poor girl?/"

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Pai was not having a good time. She was strapped to a chair, with a helmet on her head, which was covered in wires and electrodes. This helmet was doing something to her head, pulling out her memories of Ranma, and replacing them with images of Liu. Not only was this process quite painful, but particularly distressing to Pai. They were replacing the best memories of her life with those of the one man she hated more than even her father.

Needless to say, she was screaming, "\Ranma! Wait! No, I don't want this! I don't want to forget you Ranma! Don't want to forget! Not about Raaaaaaanmaaaaaa! Noooooooooo!\"

Aside from the woman who was controlling the machine, who seemed to enjoy torturing the girl, the few other people in the room were having to cover their ears, the longer it progressed, the louder and higher pitched her voice would get. At this point it was reaching a pitch that would shatter eardrums as it reverberated off of the metal walls of the room.

"\Is this going to take long?\"

"\Well, our equipment is severely lacking, and the procedure is experimental, so it is hard to say. It could be hours or days, we have no way of knowing at this point. But unless they want to get a fake ID card, take the girl to another country, or get the laws changed, we have almost two years, so what is the hurry?\"

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Ranma and Ukyo explained what they had learned from witnesses, that several men take Pai off of the street, and into Koenkan. They quickly came up with a plan. This new woman knew exactly where the large building was, and agreed to guide Ryoga and Nodoka there as back-up, knowing they would never be able to keep up with Ryoga in tow. As soon as the plans were formed, Ranma and Ukyo were once again, jumping from the window and across the rooftops, moving as fast as their ki enhanced legs could carry them (which was really fast).

As they approached the building, they slowed down and looked for the safest path to climb the building unnoticed. "Let's try to get as high as we can, she is bound to be near the top, and the higher we get before we enter, the less resistance we will have to face, they won't expect us coming in from above!"

"Hai, Ransama!"

Using all of the stealth they had learned from their ninjutsu lessons, and a couple of years playing 'The Game', they made their way over the outer wall, and began their climb. They quickly made their way up the side of the wall, being careful not to be seen from inside, and doing their best to stay hidden from view below, making great use of the fact that most people never look up.

As they began to near the top, Ukyo paused, "Ransama, I think I can hear her screaming! Let's hurry!"

"Right!" Another floor up and Ranma heard it as well. They were getting close. "Poor Pai! I will make sure they pay for this!"

A few more floors up, and they were even able to make out some of the words being screamed, most notably, Ranma's name. "We're going in, now!" Ranma hardened his fingernails into claws with his red-hot ki, and cut through the thick glass as if it was paper and he held razors in his hands. They jumped through the newly made opening and knocked out the few guards in the room.

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Nodoka was keeping an eye on the trail of ki left behind by Ranma and Ukyo as they ran, noticing that it was even then, beginning to fade, giving her a hit of how rapidly they were moving. Deciding that haste was in order, she made a decision, and quickly barked out an order. "Ryoga, get on my back. Time is of the essence! /We need to go faster, try to keep up, please. I am sorry about this./" Once Ryoga was holding on tightly, Nodoka poured ki into her long legs, and began 'running'. What looked like impossibly long strides, were actually jumps, not unlike the ones they use to jump over buildings, yet all directed into forward motion for maximum speed. Fei Sha, unburdened by a passenger, was barely able to keep up.

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Ranma and Ukyo followed their ears, moving as quickly as they could without drawing any more attention than was necessary, knocking out any guard unfortunate enough to get in the way. As they got closer to the room they needed, they had to try to tune out Pai's screams, instead of listening closely or their ears would have started bleeding. Opening doors and knocking out guards as they went, they opened one set of doors, and saw a man in a very expensive suit, clapping.

"Welcome to Koenkan. I am Liu Kowloon, and you must be that boy for whom Pai was yelling. Honestly, I did not think you would come at all, never mind getting this close. I suppose if you are going to do this much damage to my building, I owe you a beating. You and me, Let's go!"

"With what you are doing to Pai? You don't even have to ask!" Ranma's aura raged as he cracked his knuckles and started moving slowly toward the man in the English suit.

"I am not going to ask you a second time. Where is Pai?"

"You don't get to know that, until you defeat me."

Ranma started to prepare an attack, "Consider it done!"

As Ranma said this, Ukyo yelled out, "JAN KENPO!" and a huge hammer crashed down on top of Liu, embedding him in the floor.

"Ucchan!"

"Sorry, Ransama, you were taking too long, and her voice got louder when you opened the door, so we know she is this way."

They took off into the room, following the voice through several more doors, into a secret-looking lab. As they ran, Ranma asked, "A hammer?"

"I have been working on variations, so sue me!" Ukyo stuck her tongue out at Ranma. "Every Japanese girl needs a mallet."

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Nodoka followed the trail, and saw it leading up the building. This worried her a bit, even though she know she would be able to make the climb, she was not so sure about the others, and did not really want to take that risk. The alternative however, was to fight their way through the building. She was not sure about Fei Sha, but knew Ryoga's skill in stealth was sub-par at best.

Fei Sha was breathing heavily, "/Out of shape, shouldn't have, stopped training.../"

"/I have an idea. We need to look professional though./" Nodoka repeated herself for Ryoga's benefit, and straightened their hair and attire, and wiped off any perspiration. "/Follow my lead, you are my assistant and translator./ Ryoga-kun, you are my bodyguard." Handing the leash to Fei Sha, she added, "/Oh, please hold this as discreetly as you can./"

They entered the building, heads held high, as if they belonged there. Heading over to the front desk, Nodoka spoke in Mandarin, while Fei Sha translated into Cantonese for the receptionist.

"\This is Nodoka Saotome, an investor from Tokyo. We have an appointment to see Liu Kowloon this afternoon.\" '/Oh, this is SO not going to work!/"

The woman was looking through her book, trying to see if there was such an appointment, and wondered why she had not been aware of it, when another person entered the building, a man in dark green, silk pants and matching shirt, with black slippers, a mustache, and a very long braid, that went passed his waist. The woman behind the desk was visibly shocked. "\Master Chan?\" The man looked over at her. "\Shall I alert Master Kowloon?\"

"\No, that will be all right, I will find Liu myself. I have learned a few things lately, and I wish to speak in private. In fact, will you please tell everyone, quietly, that the workday is over, please? Then you may take the rest of the day off as well.\"

"\Of course Master Chan!\"

"\Chan? As in Lau Chan?\"

Lau turned to the trio, as if just noticing them, "/I speak Mandarin too, and who might you be?/"

"/I am Nodoka Saotome, and we need to have a nice, long talk about your daughter./" The glint in her eye, contrasted with her calm demeanor, and left no room for the older martial artist to refuse. No matter how important his plans were, the look on her face made him unable to say 'no' to this woman.

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As Ranma and Ukyo entered the room, the shocked woman in the white lab coat started pressing buttons frantically. She finished as the two teens were still taking in the scene, and spoke into a small device. "\Stop the intruders!\"

Several things, that looked like female, chrome, robots, came out of a side room, and moved toward Ranma and Ukyo, who looked at each other, nodded, and both said, in unison, "Bake Renkangeki Suijin!!!!"

Their bodies and fists started flying in every direction, making quick work of the robots, leaving them dented and unable to move.

The woman looked scared as Ranma said, "\Free Pai, NOW!\"

"\Sure, no problem, just as you ask.\" The woman started undoing the restraints and removed the helmet. She pulled another small device out of her pocket, and said, "\Pai, get them!\"

Pai started toward Ranma, with a blank look in her eyes. "Pai, it's me, Ranma, remember! I know we haven't known each other long, but this isn't you! Fight it!"

Seeing that Ranma was not about to defend himself, Ukyo yelled at the brainwashed girl. "PAI! You know what I will do to you if you hurt Ranma-sama!!!" Ukyo rushed forward to get between them.

Pai's fingers started to twitch, and she stopped moving, rubbing her knuckles.

Ukyo turned to Ranma, keeping her body between them, and said, "Ranchama! Now, do the thing now!"

"Huh? Oh right." Ranma, picked up on Ukyo's unspoken cue and flipped over their heads to land behind Pai, and pressed a few places on her lower back.

Pai's brainwashed state had even less defense to pleasure than she normally did, and she started to convulse. Ranma caught her in his arms, and held her tightly, to keep her from lashing out, or hurting herself. They looked around the room and realized that the woman had escaped in the confusion, and decided they had more important things to worry about for now.

As Pai's fits were slowly calming down, her eyes fluttered open, and looked up at the other two teens. "Ranma? Ukyo? What? Why are you holding me like this? I barely know you!" As soon as he had set her down, she started to slap him and could not, though she did not know why, her body was not obeying her. Failing that, she opted for asking questions, "Why are we in this place? What is going on?"

"We are in that Koenkan, they kidnapped you, and were brainwashing you, but you remember us, as least, so we seem to have snapped you out of it, but..."

"I DO remember you guys, but it hurts when I try to remember anything in detail."

Ranma's eyes lost focus as he looked deeply at her aura. "Something really doesn't look right. Please Pai, I need you to trust me, and sit here and try to relax as much as you can. I am going to try and see if my healing technique will help."

"I guess, that seems a bit intimate. Do I really know you that well?"

Ukyo interjected, "Yes, yes you do! Please trust us Pai, we only want to help you."

"I guess, do you know what you are doing?"

"Mostly, I mean I haven't tried to heal brain damage before, but there shouldn't be any way for it to do any harm, I am just speeding up your body's natural healing process."

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Omake 7a - by Hiryo (Not recommended for the kind hearted.)
Your last warning!

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(It is recommended to hear the following song on YouTube, while reading the Omake. Look for: "1, 2, Freddys Coming for You - xYGRxSH" First entry.)
Not recommended for the kindhearted. Your last warning! If you're easily scared skip to //END//

What if the scrapbook scene went differently?

//Start//

A cleaver was slammed into the table.
-
"One, two, Nabiki's comin' for you."
The cleaver was ripped from the table
with chunks of wood raining onto the floor.
-
"Three, four, better lock your door."
Bloodshot eyes searched for their target.
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"Five, six, grab your cookie mix."
Heavy footsteps followed the cookie crumbs.
-
"Seven and eight, gonna stay up late."
Fubuki munched on her cookies in her room,
sharing some with Kasumi.
-
"Nine, ten... "
The door opened up revealing the contours in silhouette,
resembling Akane holding a cleaver, with red gleaming eyes.
"...never sleep again."
-
Nabiki jumped at the thieves... "COOOOOOOOOOKIEEEEEEES!!!"

//End//

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Omake 7b {This was my reply}

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One, two, Akane's commin' for you...
Three, four, she'll break down your door...
Five, six, she'll beat those with dicks...
Seven, eight, horror on a plate...
Nine, ten, never eat again.

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End Omake

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Author's Notes

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Pai Chan
-As with the Ma family, there were some discrepancies with her name, since Cantonese is her native language, her name should be Pui Chan, but for the same reasons as the Ma family, I have decided to stick with the 'official' spelling, to avoid confusion. Apologies to the linguaphiles out there. I have taken liberties with the plots of both the anime and the game,

Liu Kowloon
-His given name spelled Ryu in Japanese, but since they are in China, I will use the Chinese spelling.

Mother
-There are many forms of this word in Japanese. Some are used to describe a mother, other are used to address them. Ranma and Ukyo use Okaa to address Nodoka directly, but when talking about her they use other words. Ukyo is using a polite form, Miomo, and Ranma is using the one he used in the cannon, Ofukuro.

He/She/Him/Her
-These words to not exist in Japanese (the closest they have are words that actually mean boy/girlfriend, used only when translating the pronouns into Japanese), I am doing my best to refrain from using them as much as I can, especially in conversations, since the characters would not be using them. However, it is a difficult thing in English. Therefore, I am having to use them more in the narration than I would like due to the gender confusion of many of the characters. I will use them more when a paragraph is from the perspective of a character and I am referring to them. In addition, occasionally I just miss it or cannot think of another way to word it. But if something seems strangely worded, that is likely the reason.
The same can be said for Chinese, at least in Cantonese, there is one word for all three, he, she and it.

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*CHARACTERS USED*

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{Here I will list all of the important, 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
Kaede Tenjoji - The headmaster of Hakureiryo Academy from Ladies vs. Butlers.
Mikan is her 'assistant' and the Head Instructor.
Mori - A maid, who will later, like her mother, to whom she bears an uncanny resemblance, work for the Amatsuka family, in GJ-Bu.
Shun Di - The drunken master and herbal doctor from the Virtua Fighter series. Some versions, including this one, say he also taught Lao Chan.
Renka Ma - From Kenichi, History's Strongest Disciple.
Pai Chan - Taken from Virtua Fighter.
Lao Chan - Pai's father.
Liu (Ryu) Kowloon - A character from the Virtua Fighter anime.
Fei Sha (Facial) - A exiled member of the Nujie Zu, that I made up. (Fei is said Fay, incase you can't figure that out).