Amethyst

Chapter 1: Starting All Over

by Celeste Byrd

========================================================================

Insert your standard, boring disclaimer here.  It's tough to keep the
legal people happy, so why try?  I'm not doing this for any monetary
gain, and we know the characters in the story belong to their respective
creators.  So there.

Any comments and criticism is welcome at [belldandy@studio-aesir.net]!

========================================================================


     "Finally!" Ranma shouted, throwing his broom into the air.  "Over a
thousand shrine steps cleared of snow!"

     "In under an hour, too!" Tenchi whistled.  "Beats me how you do it.
It can't all be martial arts training!"

     "Wanna bet?" he grinned.  "If you had put 'martial arts' in front
of ANY task back then, I'd have tried to master it.  Cooking, sweeping,
you name it."

     Tenchi looked down the expansive stairway in astonishment.  "I
remember you telling me that.  Thought it was all a joke, actually."

     "Don't worry about it," he assured him.  "Grandfather Katsuhito's
the only one I know who hasn't cracked up when I talk about it."

     "Really?  I swear I see him smirk and shake his head when you turn
around."

     "Wouldn't be surprised.  If the old man finds it humourous, then I
doubt anyone else would understand.  Except you, of course."

     "Glad to know my brother has some faith in me," Tenchi chuckled.

     Ranma smiled, then shivered as he realised how cold it was outside.
He wouldn't have tolerated the weather if it wasn't for the beauty of
the shrine grounds during the winter.

     "Anyway, let's go back to the house," Tenchi suggested.

     "Sure thing!"

     They were finished the yardwork for the day.  There wasn't much to
do in January--other than the thousand of steps, of course--but work was
work.  In a few hours the boys were going to have dinner and then tackle
their homework.  But for now, Tenchi and Ranma Masaki took the time to
relax.

     Wiping his brow with the sleeve of his robe, Ranma surveyed his
handiwork as he and Tenchi descended the steps.  A few years ago, the
very thought of him doing anything like Kasumi would have elicited some
laughter from his fa--Genma, and a tirade about him being a girl.

     "You forgot your broom, Ranma," Tenchi reminded him.

     "Whoops!"  He ran back to where it had landed.  "Gramps is going to
kill me if I leave it laying around."

     Ranma was far away from the madness now.  He had built a wall
around his past, and no one was going to break it down.  It would take
years for him to accept that unfortunate chapter of his life, and taking
up the Masaki name was one step towards that goal.

     "Why don't we spar after we eat?" Ranma suggested.  "I could use a
workout before I study."

     "Barehanded or weapons?" Tenchi asked.

     "Weapons," Ranma replied.  "I need a lot of practice with edged
blades."

     "Oh, come on!" he rolled his eyes.  "You're almost as I good as I
am with swords!  You kick my arse in everything else, too!"

     "Don't downplay your skill, Tenchi," Ranma patted him on the back.
"You had a more sane life, and it's worth more than all the training I
went through.  Besides, you're catching up to me in barehanded attacks!"

     The Wishbringer was gone; no longer needed, it had disappeared.
Ranma imagined that it had teleported back to wherever Kuno had gotten
it.  He didn't really care.  Katsuhito had given him a sword of his own
to practice with.  Though he was no stranger to swordfighting, Ranma
didn't like the sword as a personal weapon.  He preferred the bo staff
over the sword, for it served two practical purposes, in his mind;
sparring with Tenchi, and cleaning around the shrine--with the help of
an attachable broom head, of course.  With no enraged fiancées or
martial artists out for his blood, and no Saotome training trips to
take, learning how to fight was no longer something he felt as
necessary.

     "I guess you're right," Tenchi nodded.  "Still, I need to practice
some Kempo..."

     "Okay," Ranma thought about it.  "How about we spar half with
weapons and half without?"

     "Yeah!" Tenchi agreed.

     It was strange, but he couldn't feel the thrill of martial arts
anymore.  The fighting part, that is.  He still enjoyed practicing the
forms and the techniques, but he couldn't bring himself to actually go
seriously against an opponent.  Though he still absorbed the offensive
stances as quickly as he saw them, it was the defensive techniques that
he applied most often.  The only people he willingly sparred with
nowadays were Tenchi and his grandfather, and even then, he often
resorted to dodging.  It had gotten him into heaps of trouble with
Katsuhito, for the old man would constantly remind him with his bokken
about the effectiveness of attacking for defense.

     Eventually, Ranma had agreed to fight all out against them, and had
been surprised when he couldn't land a blow on the old man.  He had
known he wasn't as proficient with swords as Tenchi and Katsuhito, but
he had refused to give up.  The determination to learn new martial arts
manoeuvres was an integral part of him, he realised, and he eventually
accepted it as fact.  Now he used the sparring sessions to vent his
frustrations as well as to learn the Masaki weapon style.

     "Learn anything new from Grandfather?" Tenchi asked.

     "No, not today," Ranma answered ruefully.  "Other than telling us
to clear the path of snow, he hasn't spoken to us all day."

     His grandfather seemed to have replaced Genma as the hard
instructor, but there were three noticeable differences.  First,
Katsuhito Masaki was an honourable man, which spoke a lot about his
character.  Second, he was much kinder, much more helpful, and didn't
use cheap insults to drive anyone into learning things.  And third, he
was much better than the fat panda would ever be at everything.  That
third point was the clincher.

     "Hoping he'll confront you today?" Tenchi smiled.

     "No way!" Ranma shook his head vigorously.  "I only learn martial
arts stuff nowadays because I'm forced to!  It's just..."

     "I know," Tenchi said seriously.  "It's hard to give it up after
being through so much."

     "I can't give it up," Ranma admitted.  "Like it or not, it's a part
of me.  The only thing I can do is try to make it less of a factor in my
life."

     The energy he once channelled into the art he now focused on his
studies.  While he excelled at Physical Education, he was more
interested in the Sciences and Technology.  Engineering he found
particularly fascinating.  Thanks to the fact that he no longer had to
fight five people every day, he was also decent at other subjects.
Catching up on ten years of education was a far greater challenge than
expanding his repertoire in the martial arts.

     "It's amazing that you've come this far after only three years,"
Tenchi shook his head.  "I still have a hard time believing Mister
Martial Arts Ego is now Mister Tech-Head, Artist and Top Student with
Slightly Smaller Ego."

     Ranma shook his head, remembering WHY he had become interested in
the avenue of Technology, and in school in general.  The teacher had
talked about how technology is virtually indistinguishable from magic.
Something like that, anyhow; he wasn't too sure on the exact wording.
In any case, he had burst wide awake when he thought of the
possibilities.  Why, he could just make a machine that would cure his
curse!

     The legendary Saotome obstinacy had kicked in, and he had spent
months in the local library pouring over theories, terminology,
practices, and schematics.  Another few months had been spent trying to
comprehend the jargon he was reading and trying to sketch what he was
seeing.  Ranma had been quite surprised when he discovered a talent for
drawing, and for painting.  Katsuhito had explained to him that it had
to do with his ability to visually absorb new techniques in a short
period of time.  Tenchi had translated it for him, telling him that he
was good at recalling things he saw.  Ranma had decided that they were
talking nonsense, and promptly forgot about it.

     One road merged with another, and Ranma found himself dabbling a
bit with bionics and cybernetics.  Journals in the library revealed
interesting ways to simulate human body parts with mechanical ones.  He
managed to obtain access to some ancient Chinese medical texts, and from
them he discovered ways to heal the body through chi and pressure
points.  He even had a chance to work with the eccentric Kyusaku Natsume
on the combination of man and machine through cybernetics.  It only took
three years, but the knowledge he had acquired was enough for a Master's
Degree in engineering and computer science, and it was also enough for a
licence in chiropractic medicine.

     Though his ego was no longer at the usual maximum machismo level,
he did feel proud that a "dumb jock" had turned into a great scholar in
such short time.  He had the notebooks and blueprints to prove it, too.

     "Gonna clean up the studio anytime soon?" Tenchi asked.

     Ranma nodded.  "It's a real mess right now," he said.  "I have a
hard time figuring out what's mine and what's yours."

     When he wasn't learning or drawing in school, he was sharing his
knowledge and helping other students.  The need to fuel his ego
connected him to Genma, and so he abandoned the notion altogether.  At
least, he tried to.  Old habits were hard to break, for his mouth
occasionally bested his rationality, and there was still his desire to
be the very best.  As a result, he found himself with a few bitter
rivals in his senior high school year, both on the field and in the
books.  Without any need to prove himself though, Ranma revealed his
gentle and compassionate side, which kept him on neutral terms with
everyone else.  Neutral, because there was still the curse--a big
obstacle for his acceptance in society.

     "Watch it--" Tenchi began, but he was too late.

     Ranma sighed as the puddle he stepped in splashed up and hit the
rest of his body, triggering the change.

     "Oh crap."

     "You've gone female again."

     "Way to state the obvious, Tenchi.  Not like I couldn't tell."

     The curse was still a part of him, but it was something he could
live with.  Tenchi knew about it, and so did his grandfather.  The only
person who didn't at the shrine was Tenchi's father, Nobuyuki, but Ranma
was rarely splashed nowadays for it to be of any concern.  School was
another story, however.  Some circumstantial events had revealed it, so
now everyone knew about it, and distanced themselves accordingly.  The
other students made fun of him for his curse, but they still turned to
him when they needed some help, whether it be in school or sports teams.
He found it quite ironic in a way, but he could deal with it.  They
weren't violent about it, for one thing.

     Ranma wandered off to the side of the steps.  She scooped up a
handful of snow, then melted the flakes with a burst of chi.  The now
heated water she splashed in her face, returning him to male form.

     It had been a year before he eventually admitted to himself that he
couldn't cure his curse.  Stubborness was still one of his main traits,
for he tended to stick to something until he was convinced that he
couldn't do it.  It was a little disappointing when he came to the
conclusion, but he rationalized that at least he could help people live
better lives with the knowledge he had received from research.

     "Helping others in need is far more important than helping
yourself.  The art is to train the one in order to help the many."

     Ranma was amazed that he still remembered that, even after ten
years of suffering at the hands of Genma.  But his code of honour was a
part of him, a part of what made him himself.  Being true to oneself was
much more important than living up to someone else's expectations.
Silently, he gave thanks to Grandfather Katsuhito for reminding him of
this fact.

     "Who's doing the cooking tonight?" he asked casually.

     "I am," Tenchi replied, shrugging.

     He made a face.  There were a few things he didn't like about this
new life, and Tenchi's cooking was one of them.  The food was edible at
least; he didn't need a stomach pump at each meal.

     As the two boys reached the bottom step, Ranma broke into a smile.
Even with all the little faults, life was much better than it had been
in Nerima.  It was more peaceful, more quiet.  For once, he was eager
about his future.

    --------------------------===- ** -===--------------------------

     "Ranma, one of the best martial artists in the world with an ego
easily rivalling that, turns into a kind, conscientious, and considerate
person?  Come on, Urd.  I think this exceeds the size a small change can
be."

     "I'm telling you, Toltiir, I did no such thing!"

    --------------------------===- ** -===--------------------------

     "Pretty cool stuff," Ranma commented as he wrote down another note.
Who knew television programmes would have interesting and useful
information?

     "Masaki School of Note Taking, again?" Tenchi asked his brother.

     "Yeah."

     "How do you manage to remember all this stuff?" he rubbed his eyes.
"I think I'd go blind after looking at book after book of one single
thing."

     "I don't remember everything."  He indicated the notebook.  "That's
what these are for, you know.  This is so that I can forget, then come
back and remember if I need to."

     "I'm surprised that you've caught up in school so quickly, though,"
Tenchi commented.  "You've gone from a 61 in first year to an 95 now!"

     "Thanks to you," Ranma smiled.  "And thanks to Grandfather, too.
Can't believe he tricked me into going to school."

     "That's what you get for being stubborn."

     "Yep."  Ranma went back to his note taking.  "I kinda feel like
Kintaro Oe doing stuff like this."

     "The legendary 'Wandering Student'?"  Tenchi was watching the
programme intently, since it was his favourite show as well.

     "Yeah.  I heard he once programmed an entire database application
in one week, with only a few days worth of knowledge in C."

     "So you've done some impossible feat in a week or something?"

     "No.  I'm not quite up to that level yet."

     "You've been peeping then?"

     He facefaulted.  "No!" he shouted.  "I meant taking notes!  Why the
hell'd I do something perverted like that?!"

     "Sorry," Tenchi whistled innocently.  "Just that you KNOW the
Wandering Student's also renowned for being a lech."

     "That's true."  Ranma skimmed through his twenty-seventh notebook.
It was amazing how easy it was to recall something after you've written
it down.

     "Oh, when you're done, Ranma," Tenchi began.  "Could you draw me a
picture?"

     "Of what?" he asked, scribbling down another note.

     "Um..." Tenchi looked around him, then lowered his voice.
"Htmisn."

     "I can't hear you," Ranma leaned sideways.  "Who?"

     "Hitomi-san," he answered nervously.  "Just a small one?"

     Ranma tried to recall who Tenchi was talking about.  There were
many new classmates this year, and he had a hard time remembering names.
"What does she look like?"

     "Um, long black hair, blue eyes..."

     "She the one with the 'Hello Kitty' sticker on her book bag?"

     Tenchi blinked.  Ranma surprised him sometimes with all the
insignificant details he could remember.  "Yeah."

     "Why not?" he nodded.  "Should only take a minute."

     Neither boy could understand it.  Girls rarely paid Tenchi any
attention at school.  Though both boys were rather handsome, it was as
if they had merged into the background.  They used to pester Ranma, but
then the curse was revealed, and it no longer happened.  While Ranma
knew it was bound to happen to him, he knew it bothered Tenchi.  He was
the normal one, after all.  He was also incredibly shy, which was why he
turned to Ranma whenever he wanted someone's picture.

     Ranma pulled out the sketchbook Nobuyuki had given to him for his
birthday, and went to a fresh page.  Closing his eyes so he could see
the girl's face more clearly, Ranma began to draw.  His hand blurred
over the page, and with each pass the picture began to take on detail.
About five minutes later, he had a nice portrait drawing of the girl
Tenchi had a crush on.

     "Took a bit longer than I thought," he apologised, ripping the page
out from the rings.

     "Thanks!"  Tenchi carefully folded the page and placed it into his
pocket.  "I owe you one!"

     "Don't mention it," Ranma replied.  "What time is it, by the way?"

     "Uh..."  Tenchi glanced at the clock.  "Nine-thirty."

     "Time to finish my homework, then."  He closed his sketchbook and
his notebook, then stood up, massaging his arms.

     "You're not done yet?" Tenchi blinked.

     "Nope.  It's boring, it's icky, and it's no fun at all."  Ranma
struck a mock-pose.  "Fate may blow my sails and steer me off my course,
but he can never change the pattern of the stars!"

     "In other words," he smirked.  "You hate doing your homework."

     He nodded.  "That about sums it up."

    --------------------------===- ** -===--------------------------

     "Some things were meant to be," Toltiir chuckled.  "How is it going
to end up, do you think?"

     "I don't know," Urd sighed.  "I never intended for this to happen."

     "You're not supposed to intend anything," Toltiir smirked.  "It'd
be no contest if everyone knew what was supposed to happen in their
altered timeline."

     "I never knew Ranma could develop so differently from the
original," the goddess brushed some hair from her eyes.

     "Yeah, I'm kind of surprised too."  His tail twitched.  "I guess
this is what you can become if you no longer have to fight to prove
yourself, no longer have Genma as a role model, and no longer have
multiple engagements over your head."

     "Why isn't he more popular, though?" Urd asked.  "You'd think the
girls at school would show more interest in a great guy."

     Toltiir shrugged.  "He's still a complete pushover in everything
else but fighting and studying," he replied.  "Just now he doesn't go
around boasting his ego.  I don't think many of the girls know what he's
like, or what he's capable of."

     "The quiet boy, huh?" Urd shook her head.  "Why are they always
looked over?"

    --------------------------===- ** -===--------------------------

     "Hey, Ranma!" Tenchi called.  Where the heck was he?  It wasn't
like him to miss his usual sparring session with Grandfather.

     He looked down at the package Katsuhito had told him to give to
Ranma.  Tenchi was getting one too, but Ranma needed it to keep track of
all his notes.  It just wasn't practical to carry around boxes of
notebooks, Grandfather had said.

     Ranma was going to be surprised, that was for sure.  Tenchi was
curious about the package's origins, for neither Grandfather nor his Dad
had purchased it.  The Masakis were pretty wealthy, so he wouldn't have
been surprised if they had.  He had a feeling that it had been his aunt,
who lived in Juuban.

     Though she had never met Ranma face to face, Tenchi was certain,
she seemed to be very concerned about his well-being.  Just yesterday,
he had overheard his grandfather talking on the phone with her, talking
about Ranma's progress in school.  Perhaps Ranma reminded her of her own
son, whom she hadn't seen ever since her husband took him away.

     Tenchi walked quietly down the hallway, stopping to open doors to
look for the pigtailed martial artist.  After training under both his
grandfather and Ranma, he was proud that he could now walk without
making the slightest noise.  He had almost caught Ranma unawares once,
and that was a major accomplishment for him.

     He opened the door to their room, the last room in the house that
he hadn't checked.  Sure enough, he found Ranma hunched over on his
desk.

     "There you are!" Tenchi grinned.  "Look at what Grandfather got for
you!  Or at least, someone who gave it to him to--"

     "Zzzzz."

     Ranma had a nasty habit of sleeping whenever he was in the middle
of something and felt a bit tired.  Right now he was completely out
cold.

     "Sheesh, Ranma," Tenchi sighed, pulling him off his desk.  He hit
the floor with a loud smack, but it wasn't enough to wake him up.

     "How the hell does he do it?" he wondered.  "It's late afternoon,
and he's out like a light."

     He didn't know that Ranma had stayed up all night studying for the
entrance exams which were in two weeks, so Tenchi simply sniggered at
his prone condition.  A little bit of prodding with Ranma's broom proved
that he was incapable of getting up, even if the world was about to end.
Tenchi even tried mentioning dinner, too.

     "Ah well."  Tenchi shoved aside some books and placed the package
carefully on Ranma's desk.  "This'll get him up when he sees it!  He'll
get a kick out of this!"

          ----------------------------------------------------

     "Grfl," Ranma mumbled.  It was the most intelligible thing he said
all day.

     There was one thing he really hated about this time of year.  The
entrance exams.  These tests were so hard to pass that the entire
experience had been dubbed "Examination Hell" by the exam candidates.
Only two-thirds of the high school examinees made it into post-secondary
education on the first try.  Hundreds of thousands fail the exams each
year and have to study hard in remedial and cram schools until February
rolls by.  At that time, they can take the exams again.

     Ranma refused to be one of those ronin, so he took it upon himself
to pass all in one go.  Even if it meant more sleepless nights.

     He searched around him for the bandanna he used for study sessions,
and located it underneath his desk.  He wrapped it around his head on
the third try, then used his arms to help navigate his body onto his
seat.

     Noting that Tenchi was asleep, he set his desk lamp to one of the
lower settings, then turned it on.

     His books had been moved around, but they all were still there.
Ranma searched through the stacks for his history text.  History was his
worst subject, and it was the only one that he couldn't apply his usual
logic in understanding concepts.  Everything else had some sort of
pattern that made it easy to remember.  Memorising was the key to
history, and he was horrible at it.

     Ranma moved the laptop to one side so he could pick up the
textbook.  It was one of the thick ones, and he knew how much he was
going to hate going through it.

     His mind suddenly registered something as incredibly odd.  There
was something about this situation that was much different than his
sleepy mind would expect.  He took a look at his desk again in effort to
find out why.

     Nothing was out of place.  Other than the shuffling of his books,
he still had everything.  There was his current notebook, his set of
pencils, a half-filled sketchbook, a calculator, and a notebook
computer.

     It took a few moments for Ranma to realise that the laptop was NOT
a part of his usual belongings.  He blinked a few times and scratched
his head.

     "What the heck?" he muttered.

     He checked his desk clock, which registered the time as ten-thirty.
It was pretty late at night, and Ranma was still tired.  Seeing things
he couldn't afford.  What next?  A workstation?

     It would probably be gone when he looked again, anyway.  Knowing
that he had missed dinner, Ranma decided that he needed something to
eat.  He noticed that he tended not to hallucinate when he wasn't
running on empty.

     About fifteen minutes later, he returned to the desk in a better
state of mind.  There was nothing like good food to kick-start the brain
cells.

     The laptop was still there, he discovered.  Ranma carefully pulled
it off his desk.  Noting that it wasn't ethereal and that he was still
holding it, Ranma found and removed a card attached to the base.

     "For Ranma Masaki," it read.  As he flipped open the cover, a
letter fell to the ground.  Wondering who might have given to him such
an expensive device, Ranma picked up the letter, unfolded it, and read
the message.

     "Dear Ranma,

     You might be wondering who might have given
     this to you, but unfortunately I can't tell
     you just yet.  It's not very much, but I hope
     that this portable computer will help you in
     your studies.  Your grandfather has told me
     how many stacks of notebooks you go through in
     a week, so this might also help you save paper.
     Don't worry, it's a gift.  You don't have to
     pay anything, unless you count studying hard
     as a form of payback.

     Wishing you the best of luck."

    --------------------------===- ** -===--------------------------

     "Those things are expensive.  Who'd have given it to him?"

     "Guess."

     "Whoops, you're right.  I completely forgot about her."

    --------------------------===- ** -===--------------------------

     Ranma folded up the letter and placed it back into the card.  He
then wedged the card into the pages of his notebook.  The handwriting
was unfamiliar, but the message was quite clear.  Though he now owed
someone a great debt, he vowed to pay it back somehow.

     Putting the laptop aside for a moment, he opened his history
textbook and began to read silently.

     "You're still awake, Ranma?" Tenchi asked sleepily.

     "Yeah."  Ranma turned to look at his brother.  "Who gave me the
laptop, do you know?"

     "No idea," Tenchi murmured.  "When do you plan on going to bed?"

     "I have to study for the entrance exams."

     "Ranma," he sighed.  "Don't push yourself too hard.  You're gonna
end up falling asleep when it's time for you to write them!"

     "Some of these subjects are so hard though!" Ranma waved his
textbook around.  "If I don't start early, I'll never be able to pass!"

     "If it means so much to you, how about you try and explain these
subjects to me?"

     "Sure," Ranma answered.  "Where should I start?"

     "Wherever you feel like, and in a language I can understand."

     Ranma blinked.  "How do I do that?  The terminology itself is
already hard to understand!"

     "My point exactly," Tenchi nodded, still half-asleep.  "No point in
studying it if you can't teach it to someone else.  Regurgitation is one
thing, actually understand what you've memorized is another."

     "I guess you're right," Ranma sighed.  "It won't do me any good if
I can't figure it out, huh?"

     "Could you study tomorrow, at least?" Tenchi muttered.  "The desk
light's driving me crazy."

     "Sorry," he grinned.  "Maybe I should turn it up a bit.  I have a
hard time reading the fine print and Chinese characters."

     "That's not funny!"

     "Okay, okay."

          ----------------------------------------------------

     "Pocky, Tenchi?" Ranma waved a red box in his face.

     "No thanks," he replied, turning back to his textbook.

     "Okay, suit yourself."  He shrugged and pulled another stick out.

     "I have my own, see?" Tenchi indicated the box beside him.  "Can't
study without the proper fuel!"

     Ranma laughed.  "Sure hope we have enough boxes to keep studying."

     It had been about a year ago when the two were introduced to Pocky.
They had unanimously declared that it would be the official snack when
studying for tests and exams.  The number of boxes they went through in
the course of a study session was enough to boost Glico's stock up by
seven points.

     In this case, they were studying for the most important exam they
would ever take.  Their scores were going to make or break their future.
It was because of this that there was a cardboard crate of Pocky right
in the middle of the living room.  Nobuyuki had raised an eyebrow when
they carried it down the hall.

     The living room was adjacent to the kitchen and a steps away from
the washroom, so it was the natural place to set up camp.  The floor was
littered with textbooks, scribbled notes, and empty Pocky boxes.

     Occasionally the boys would fire questions at each other, trying to
test not only the other's knowledge, but also their own memory.  Their
longest session that night had lasted forty minutes, with constant
streams of dialogue followed by the crunching of chocolate-covered bread
sticks.

     Eventually the heat died down.  The Masaki boys were so confident
in their knowledge that they decided to call it a night.  They cleared
up the mess, washed the drink glasses, and put the textbooks away.

     "How many boxes of Pocky do we have left?" Tenchi asked.

     Ranma peered into the crate.  "Three," he answered.

     "Pass one over, please?"

     They finished what was left of the Pocky, then brushed their teeth
in the washroom.  Now in their night clothing, the two decided to go to
sleep.

     Unfortunately for both of them, the very fact that the exams were
tomorrow would keep them awake for another hour.

     Tenchi broke the silence.  It was always before he slept that he
pondered the meaning of life.  Not that he did it often, but the
atmosphere in the room seemed to convey a slumber party, and everyone
knew what kind of questions were asked.  "Have you ever wondered if
someone was watching you somehow?"

     "What kind of question is that?" Ranma blinked.

     "Just humour me."  Tenchi stared at the ceiling.  "Have you ever
gotten the feeling sometime that you were being led by some unknown
force?"

     "In a good way or bad way?"

     "I don't know..." Tenchi searched for a way to explain.  "Sort of
like destiny or fate?"

     "Ah."  Ranma paused.  "I used to think Fate was determined by your
own actions, and Destiny was your goal...  Now I'm not so sure."

     "Really?"

     "I always thought my destiny was to be the best martial artist in
the world," Ranma said eventually.  "When I was in Nerima, that's almost
all that I thought about.  Even if I had nothing else, being one of the
greatest fighters in the world had a certain appeal."

     Tenchi remained silent.

     "But then I thought to myself.  Was THAT what I wanted to be?  What
would I get out of it?  What have I gotten out of it so far?  The more I
thought about it, the more I realised how blind I was.  For sixteen
years I had been abused, used as a meal ticket, fought after like a
prize, and lied to.  No one had ever asked me what I wanted out of
myself, but I was forced to be what others wanted me to be."

     "What did YOU want?" Tenchi asked eventually.

     "My life," he answered promptly.

     "Huh?"

     "I wanted control over my own life.  I always thought I had it, but
the Wishbringer made me realise how much of it I lacked.  If I stayed in
Nerima, with Genma and the others, eventually I'd lose everything that I
believe in.  That's why I left Nerima."

     "And you ended up here," Tenchi concluded.

     "Yeah."

     An comfortable silence rolled over the two boys as they thought
about what they were going to say next.  It was Ranma who spoke first.

     "But you know," he added.  "To answer your question, I'll have to
say yes.  For some reason, I don't believe the Wishbringer was given to
me by coincidence.  I can't understand why, but I think someone IS
watching me, guiding me somehow.  There's no way I can explain it in
words, but whenever I think about it, I feel safe, and not alone."

     "I think I know what you mean."  Tenchi closed his eyes.  "I get
the same feeling whenever I'm near that cave Grandpa keeps telling me to
stay away from."

     "The demon cave, huh?"  Grandfather Katsuhito had told him the
legend.  He wasn't sure if he should believe it or not, but it was hard
to discount the story considering his previous life.

     "Uh huh," Tenchi nodded.  "I've been playing there ever since I was
a child, and I've always wondered what it's like inside.  It can't be
bad if I feel safe there."

     "Wanna find out after the exams?" Ranma asked.

     Tenchi shrugged.  "Grandfather has the keys, and I always get
creamed whenever I try and find them."

     "You've told me that before," he replied.  "But maybe we'll be
lucky this time."

     "I hope so!"

     They could hear the wind rustling in the trees, and their swaying
branches cast shadows that danced and played in the windowsill.

     "Ya know," Ranma said, "sometimes I wonder what happened to those
guys back in Nerima.  Even though they were a pain in the butt, I can't
bring myself to hate them.  The only person who actually ruined my life
was Genma, and even then, I can't seem to loathe him completely."

     "Why?" Tenchi wondered.  "I'd certainly wouldn't want anything to
do with my Dad if he did the same thing to me.  If he dumped me into a
pit filled with cats--"

     "Don't say that word!" Ranma fought off his natural reaction.

     "Sorry."

     "Anyway, I can't help but wonder how everyone's doing.  How's Ukyo,
for one thing?"

     "Is she that okonomiyaki chef you told me about?"

     "Yep, and she was my best friend.  Also, I hope Shampoo and the
Chinese gang are all right.  Did they go back to China?  I really want
to believe Shampoo won't be dishonoured because I couldn't marry her."

     "Sometimes you can't help but hurt someone."

     "I don't want her to be hurt.  She was also a friend, even if she
was too forward about the engagement.  If I had a chance, I'd like to go
back and see how she and Ukyo are doing."

     "What about Akane?"

     "Akane?" Ranma looked sad for a moment.  "No.  She never understood
me, and never tried to.  She was selfish, self-centred, delusional, and
stubborn.  Kuno was better than her at martial arts, even though he
shouldn't have let her win like that.  Too many victories went to her
head.  She couldn't grasp the concept of working at something to be good
at it; she expected that she'd instantly gravitate to the top.  I mean,
you only have to take a look at her cooking and domestic skills to
realise that!"

     "But you liked her, right?"

     "Yes... but not anymore.  I thought I could work something out with
her, but it was meant to be.  Besides, I know Ryoga would make her much
happier than I.  And that's what else I want to know.  Has he gotten
anywhere with her?  What about Kuno?  He was the one who gave me the
Wishbringer, after all."

     "Sounds like an interesting group."

     "I kinda miss them," Ranma admitted.  "It took me a while to
realise that the problem wasn't actually them, but Genma Saotome.  HE'S
the reason why I lived a life like that.  If I knew it at the time, I
might have wished for something else, something less selfish."

     "You really want to beat up your father, don't you?"

     "Absolutely.  I just hope my wish helped the others out, but I'm
too scared to go back and find out," Ranma muttered.  He wasn't going to
let anyone take control of his life anymore.  "Besides, I've got more
important things to think about right now."

     "Exams."

     "Bingo."

     He was more worried about this "Examination Hell" than the one
named Nerima.  For one thing, he had to travel through it tomorrow.

    --------------------------===- ** -===--------------------------

     "I see what you mean.  He really is a smart kid, he just needs some
prodding to send him in the right direction."

     "Good thing he gets it with a cattle prod in this timeline, huh?"
Urd smiled.

     "I wouldn't know.  I've never been touched with one."

     "This is great, though.  A universe where things are going right in
Ranma's life for once."

     "What do you mean, 'right'?"

     "No chaos in his life.  I call that a miracle."

     Toltiir sighed.  "Now you've done it, Urd."

     "What?"

     "Now that you've said something like that, it can only get worse
from here."

    --------------------------===- ** -===--------------------------

     "Ranma!" Katsuhito bellowed.  "You're not concentrating at all!"

     "Huh?"  Ranma attempted to duck a sword swipe, but ended up getting
tagged in the shoulder.  "Did you say something, Gramps?"

     "Yes, I did!"  The older man performed a series of thrusts and
jabs, none of which Ranma blocked.  There were numerous cuts and tears
in his robe, but the younger Masaki was too distracted by something to
notice.

     "Um, Ranma?" Tenchi ventured.

     "What is it, Tenchi?"

     "You MIGHT want to concentrate on sparring, or you're not going to
have anything to wear in the next few minutes."

     "What?" Ranma looked down, and finally knocked himself back into
reality.  "Hey!  What's the big idea?!"

     "Ah, we'll forget the lesson for today," Katsuhito rolled his eyes,
exasperated.  "If you can't even register when you're hit, then there's
no point in continuing."

     "Okay."

     "What's bothering you, by the way?" he asked, patting the younger
Masaki on the shoulder.

     "I don't know," Ranma looked down.  "I think it's just lack of
sleep."

     "All right.  Call me when you're up and alert, and we'll spar
then."

     He left in a huff, and the two boys watched his retreating form.

     "What was that all about?" Ranma asked.

     "I think Grandfather is sort of, but not really, pissed that you're
ignoring the sparring lesson," Tenchi pointed out.

     "We were sparring?" he blinked.  "Can't say I noticed..."

     "What's eating at you, Ranma?" Tenchi asked.  "You're usually not
like this."

     "Well..." he shuffled his feet.  "I'm really worried about the
exams."

     "Come on!" Tenchi shook his head.  "They're over!  You've nothing
to worry about now!"

     "What if I screwed up?  I'm sure I misread at least five sections!"

     Tenchi could tell that there was no changing Ranma's mind.  But if
he didn't do something, Ranma was going to kill himself about his test
score before they were even posted.  It was nearly the end of February,
and the scores wouldn't be up until the end of March.

     "How far are you in transferring your notes to the laptop, by the
way?" he asked, trying to get Ranma's mind off the exams.

     "Oh, just one more to go," Ranma replied.  "It was really hard to
get the sketches in as well, so I had to use the school's scanner."

     "Are you going to get rid of the notebooks when you're done?"

     "No way!" Ranma answered.  "What if the computer's damaged or
something?  I'd lose three years of accumulated notes!"

     "Are you going to leave them laying around?" Tenchi asked.

     "I'm going to put them in some cardboard boxes and store them in
the studio, if that's okay."

     "No problem, I guess.  There's plenty of room in the house, and
Grandpa said that it was okay if you needed a shed."

     It didn't take very much to get Ranma's mind off the exams.  Tenchi
had been expecting to work a bit harder at it.

     "Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Ranma sidled closer.

     "About what?"

     "When do you want to find those keys?" he asked.  "I'm pretty sure
they're laying around somewhere in Grandfather's shed."

     "But he'll kill us if he finds the key missing."

     "Hey, he won't kill you.  He might beat you up, but he'll forgive
you afterwards.  I'm the one who has to worry about my life here."

     Tenchi conceded that he had a point.  It wasn't the nicest of
facts, but Grandfather was a lot more lenient on him than he was on
Ranma when they sparred.  Then again, that's what Ranma had asked for.
After the discovery that Katsuhito was much better than his original
'sparring' partners, and after he got over his pacifist attitude, he had
asked the older Masaki not to hold back.

     "I don't really mind, though," Ranma added.  "It'll be worth it if
it'll satisfy your curiosity.  Besides, I want to know what's in that
cave too!"

     Tenchi nodded cheerfully.  For some reason, Ranma always sounded as
if nothing could go wrong.  He always seemed to give others a feeling of
optimism.

     "But where could he have hid them?  I've looked around in his
office for countless hours, and I haven't found a thing!"

     "Maybe he put them in a really obvious place," Ranma rubbed his
chin.  "If I wanted to hide something from Genma, I'd always put it in
the second-most obvious spot where it could be.  I used to do that with
money I earned at various part-time jobs."

     "But Grandfather's not an idiot, you know."

     "Good point."

     The two boys sat down on the steps, trying to think of places the
old man could have hidden a set of ancient keys.  Having lived at the
shrine for just under three years, doing his chores and whatnot, Ranma
had a pretty good picture of the shrine grounds.  Tenchi had a much
clearer picture, of course, but he couldn't think of a place he hadn't
looked yet.

     "Excuse me!  Can you help us, please?"

     They were broken out of their reveries at the voices.  Looking down
from their seat, the two could see a group of girls climbing the steps.
Tenchi was instantly on his feet, ready to meet these guests, while
Ranma shuffled over uninterestedly, allowing them to pass.  They
probably wanted to visit the hot springs.

     He tuned out as soon as Tenchi tried to get his vocals chords
working long enough to welcome them.  From this perspective, one would
have thought that Ranma hated girls or something.  His attitude wasn't
because of his lack of interest in the opposite sex, far from it.  He
often dreamed of a girl that he could make happy and vice versa.

     When he came to the shrine long ago, Ranma believed that he could
start over completely.  With a new life and a new name, it seemed so
easy.  Going to school, meeting people, making friends, hanging around,
going out on dates; he thought he could live the life of a normal guy
for once.  It was about halfway through the school year when he had
mustered enough courage to ask a girl out, and he had been ecstatic when
she had accepted.

     It started out nicely enough, until a car sped pass them and
splashed rainwater all over Ranma's clothing.  The girl had screamed and
ran away, calling him a freak.  He knew he should have expected it to
happen, but it had been all so sudden.  The next day the entire school
had gotten wind of it, and he was then ostracized by his peers.  It had
taken him a full year and a half to prove to them that he was just
cursed, and not some sort of lab experiment.

     The incident had been a stunning blow to his morale, but it took
him a while to realise that Nerima was possibly the only place where
such things could be taken in stride.  It saddened him somewhat, but it
was far less chaotic here in Okayama than it was in Tokyo.  He enjoyed
it here a lot more than Nerima, school withstanding.

     "I can't believe I blew it," Tenchi sighed, sitting back down next
to him.  "I had a chance, and then I let it go by me by screwing up."

     Ranma patted Tenchi sympathetically on the shoulder.  "I feel sorry
for ya, Tenchi.  I can't understand why you're never paid attention to."

     "Maybe I'm just destined to never have a girlfriend."  Tenchi
started brooding.

     "That's a stupid thing to say," Ranma shook his head.  "I bet that
you'll have at least two women after you by the end of this month!"

     "Yeah, right."

     "Hey, you never know."  Ranma looked up at the sky.  "Maybe they'll
come from another world!"

     Tenchi couldn't help but grin.  "And how about you?" he asked.
"Think some girl will come from the skies?"

     "Who knows?" Ranma answered, joining in the game.  "Maybe she'll
have no problem with my curse!  Or even better, she might actually treat
me like a person!"

     The boys lay back on the steps, watching the sun fade in the trees.
Sometimes they'd do this, just relax and wait for the rays of light to
turn orange before vanishing completely.  The patterns of light were
always different, and always breathtaking to witness.

     Ranma started chuckling.

     "What's so funny?" Tenchi asked.

     "Just remembering when your Dad tried to peep on a group in the
baths a few months ago.  Did he ever find the other lens to his
glasses?"

     "I really don't know why my Dad's a pervert," Tenchi mumbled.  "He
couldn't have gotten it from Grandfather, and his side of the family is
perfectly fine."

     "Maybe he was influenced by his roommates in university," Ranma
suggested.

     "Couldn't be.  One of his roommates was Ryo Saeba."

     "The infamous City Hunter?" he blinked.  "I didn't know your Dad
knew him.  Saeba's the greatest private eye in all of Japan, right?  The
one who stopped the Shinjuku bombing?"

     "Yep.  Anyone THAT good can't be a pervert, 'cause he'd have too
much stuff on his mind.  And in his pants."

     "Nobuyuki-san had to have picked it up from somewhere..."

     "I really don't want to think about it," Tenchi said, preventing
the conversation from going any further.  "I'm just glad I didn't pick
it up myself."

     "Yeah, I'm kind of surprised.  Every time some girls come up to the
shrine, your Dad leers at them from a distance and makes some stupid
joke!"

     "At least the jokes aren't perverted," he pointed out.

     "Yeah, thank goodness for small miracles."

     "Anyway, what should we do?" Tenchi asked.  "There's a good hour or
two left before dinner."

     "I dunno," Ranma shrugged.  "What do YOU want to do?  I wanna spar,
but I decided the last time.  It's your turn now."

     "I have no problem with that.  Why DON'T we do some sparring?" he
suggested.

     "Why not?" he winked.  "I need to be pegged down a few notches."

     "You always say that, and I'm the one who ends up on the ground.
Even when you hold back!"

     "That's only because you don't concentrate enough.  You're ten
times better than Kuno with a bokken, and you could boot me to the moon
if you tried!"

     "You're lying, aren't you?"

     "Well... yeah.  Sorry."

    --------------------------===- ** -===--------------------------

     "There's something that bothers me about this timeline, now that I
think about it," Toltiir began.

     "What?" Urd asked, her eyes not leaving the scrying pool.

     "Why hasn't Yosho told the boys that they're cousins?" he wondered.
"I mean, if they knew that they're truly related by blood..."

     "Then what?" Urd asked.  "It doesn't really make any difference,
does it?"

     "Ranma might feel betrayed that no one told him that he and Tenchi
are related.  After all, he's been living there for three years without
anyone telling him."

     "Tenchi doesn't know that they're related either."

     "That's true."  Toltiir considered his next statement.  "If Yosho's
not talking, then there must be a good reason.  I think I have an idea
on that, too."

     "Spill it."

     "I think Yosho wants them to develop a bond of friendship so strong
that when he reveals their origins, their bond of kinship will be
amplified by it."

     "How does that work?"

     "Well," Toltiir drew a breath, "if they knew from the very
beginning that they were related, then Tenchi and Ranma would treat each
other like distant relatives, rather than close friends."

     "I think I see it.  If they were ever in a situation where the
other needs help, it'd be more of a 'duty and honour' thing rather than
a personal one, huh?"

     "Yep.  Since they're the only potential heirs left to the throne of
Jurai, it'll be best if they believed in each other."

    --------------------------===- ** -===--------------------------

     "There's one thing I really hate about these techniques," Ranma
commented as he thrust out with his staff.  "They're all really
devastating when ya use 'em, and some are really impressive to look at,
but they always have one big flaw that undermines 'em."

     "What kind of flaw is that?" Tenchi asked as he parried with his
bokken, then delivered a series of sword strikes.

     "The names of 'em," he answered, sidestepping and using the staff's
momentum to hit Tenchi in the side.  "They always have stupid names!"

     Tenchi tagged him a couple of times in the chest and swept low
before answering.  "Like the 'fisherman's paddle'?"

     Ranma hopped over the bokken, preventing the other boy from
tripping him.  "Yeah, moves like that.  Nice shot, by the way.  Got me a
few times there, but no finish for you!"

     "Oh yeah?!"

     The two boys increased their tempo, and the sound of wood striking
bamboo reverberated against the rocks around the shrine.  Sometimes the
rhythm was interrupted as Ranma leapt over an attack, rather than
blocking it, or Tenchi ducked instead of parrying.

     "Gotcha!" Ranma yelled, whirling his staff around in effort to snag
the other boy.

     "Good try," Tenchi grinned as he barely stepped out of the staff's
range.  "Try this!"

     He moved in and lashed out from the side, expecting Ranma to try
and block it.  As he did, Tenchi angled his sword down and in, just a
few centimetres away from Ranma's chest.  He didn't intend to hit him
with that, however.  Seeing that Ranma was facing to his right now,
which gave him the distraction he needed, Tenchi thrust in three quick
successions, each thrust aimed for a different point on the body.  Ranma
weaved through the first two, but got tagged by the third strike in the
stomach.

     "Two points!" Tenchi shouted.  "I've almost gotten up to a third of
the number of points you have!"

     "Ya got me there," Ranma wheezed.  "Got a name for that technique?"

     "'Calming the central state'," he winked.

     "See?  The good ones always have the weird names.  It's my turn,
now!"

     Ranma brought his staff down.  The staff struck the ground in front
of him, then slid forward.  Tenchi stepped back, falling for the feint.
Ranma used the advantage to swing around with the staff as a pivot, and
caught Tenchi's shoulder with the heel of his foot.  The attack pushed
the smaller boy back, and Ranma spun around and followed through with a
downwards slash.  The staff rapped soundly against Tenchi's head,
stunning him.

     Ranma pulled back and waited in an open stance, the staff running
the length of his arm and behind his back.  Tenchi recovered shortly and
moved into his usual angled stance.  They faced each other for a few
seconds like that, waiting for the other to move.  Then they rubbed the
places where they were hit.

     "Good shot," Tenchi massaged the bump on his head.  "Got a name for
that attack?"

     "Nope," Ranma shook his head, trying to get some feeling into his
shoulder, and trying not to throw up.  "Waste of breath if there was.
Too many names to keep track of, anyway."

     Tenchi settled into a crane attack stance.  "How about one more
bout before we go down?" he asked.  "I still need to hit you with the
'Squealing Pig' technique."

     "No thanks," Ranma chuckled.  "I'd rather not, especially with a
name like that."

     "Fine then," Tenchi shrugged.  "Why don't we cool down with some
kata practice?"

     "Don't have a problem with that!"

     As they began their routines, a thought struck Tenchi with the
impact of a thrown brick.  It didn't hurt as much, though.  It was
another one of those things Tenchi never understood, and he had to find
out.

     "Ranma?" he asked.

     "Yeah?"  Ranma continued through the motions of his kata.

     "Ever since you've arrived here, you've been teaching me lots of
martial arts techniques, right?"

     "'Course, unless ya thought they were dance lessons."

     "Thanks to you, I've kinda gotten the hang of it, and I'm finding
it pretty interesting.  I've been getting more and more confident going
against Grandpa when we spar nowadays.  He praised me once for actually
managing to hit him a few times."  Tenchi sounded proud of his
accomplishment.

     "No problem," Ranma shot him a grin from his backflip in the air.
"I wouldn't be a good brother if I didn't teach you what I know."

     "But why don't you ever ask for anything in return?  I mean, I know
you're my brother and all, but it doesn't seem fair for you."

     "Hey, you and Gramps gave me plenty," he replied, sweeping with his
legs, cartwheeling and then rolling into a crane stance.  "You guys gave
me my life back.  I owe YOU a lot more than you owe me."

     Tenchi had never considered that.  Ranma believed that he held a
debt to him and his Grandfather, and was trying to pay it back in
whatever way he could.

     "That's not true, though.  You got your life back on your own.  All
I ever did was help you study for history tests."

     "Well, I don't like the thought that my brother's such a wimp.  I
mean, it really hurt to watch you go against Gramps.  How's that?"

     "I still don't think it's fair," Tenchi mumbled.  "And I wasn't
THAT bad."

     "Forget about it, Tenchi," Ranma sighed.  "This is one of those
things that I can't explain just yet."

     "I guess..."  He didn't understand completely, but he hoped he
would eventually.  It had something to do with Ranma's father, he knew.
Three years was still too early to let go of sixteen years of hell.

     Ranma was currently doing aerial somersaults.  Tenchi looked on in
envy.

     "Don't tell me that's all martial arts!" he said disbelievingly.

     "I've told you constantly, Tenchi.  It's just Kempo.  When I was on
the road, I had to learn it by practicing up in trees and stuff.  Genma
would go on and on about me being a girl if I failed, so I ended up
working really hard just so he'd shut up.  It's how I ended up learning
most of my techniques, actually."

     "How many martial arts styles do you know?!"  Tenchi immediately
realised that it was a stupid question.  "Is there any that you DON'T
know?"

     "Definitely.  I mean, there's hundreds of schools I've heard of,
but haven't seen yet.  For instance, there's Martial Arts Restaurant
Service, Sewing, Musical Instruments, Debating--"

     "That's what I don't understand.  Even if you were on that training
trip for ten or some-odd years, how can you master so many styles so
quickly?"

     Ranma stopped his kata as he thought about the question.  "I really
don't know," he admitted.  "I just seem to pick it up very easily.  Of
course, some styles make absolutely no sense at all, like Martial Arts
Takeout and Tea Ceremony.  Some techniques are just modifications of
basic Shaolin Kung Fu or traditional Kempo."

     "I take it Genma tried to teach you every martial art in existence,
huh?"

     "Most of the time.  I'm just glad he didn't try and teach me some
of the more... risqué styles."

     Tenchi blinked.  "What risqué styles?"

     "Don't ask," Ranma shook his head, and his cheeks flushed slightly.
"I'll be much happier if you don't ask.  He tried once, and I'm just
glad that we never got beyond the first lesson."

     "Okay.  It kinda makes sense now that I think about it.  You've
been doing martial arts for so long that you can pick up new stuff
really quickly.  You're almost a master of Grandpa's weapon style, you
know."

     Ranma almost facefaulted.  "I don't believe you.  I still haven't
beaten the old coot!"

     "It's true.  He told me himself."

     "Seriously?"

     "Don't look so shocked," Tenchi smirked.  "I should be pissed that
you got this far when it took me three times as long to get where I am
now."

     "Are you?" he wobbled a bit, but didn't lose his concentration.

     "Not really," he shook his head, still smiling.  "I don't envy your
past life one bit."

     "Good.  I wouldn't wish that life on anyone, even if I hated them."

     Tenchi sat down on the stone floor, waiting for him to finish his
kata.  "Is there a name for that kata?" he asked.  "Looks pretty cool."

     "Yes, it's got a name.  Don't know if you want to hear it, though."

     "No, I really do."

     "The broom has no eyes," Ranma shouted, "so it sweeps away all
injustice!"

     "Eh?!" Tenchi facefaulted.  "What kind of name is that?!"

     Ranma stopped in the middle of his technique, and in mid-snicker.
He looked around the yard, wondering if someone was watching them.  He
hadn't noticed it before in the midst of sparring, but now that they
were cooling down...

     Tenchi got back up.  "What's wrong, Ranma?" he asked.  "Did
mentioning the name freeze your joints or something?"

     "Did you hear giggling just then, right after I announced that
kata?"  Ranma tilted his head and strained his ears, hoping to hear it
again.  It was the laughter of a girl, he was sure.  There was a rather
pleasant and musical quality to it.

     "No, I didn't."  Tenchi glanced around him.  "You think someone's
around?"

     "Shouldn't think so, since I don't feel any other auras.  But I'm
pretty sure I heard..." Ranma shook his head to clear it.  "I guess it
was my imagination then."

     "Wouldn't be surprised if someone WAS laughing, though.  That's one
weird name for a technique!" Tenchi smirked.

     Ranma shrugged and smiled.  "Blame it on the monk who taught me it.
He knew all sorts of manoeuvres with common household implements."

     "In China, right?"

     "Yeah.  Like I said, if Genma heard about it, I was dragged into
learning it."  He dropped the staff and stretched his arms.  "Anyway,
I've had enough for the day.  Let's go find something to eat!"

     "All right, I'm kinda hungry too!" Tenchi agreed.

     The boys looked around to make sure their grandfather wasn't
around, then ran as quietly as they could down the steps.  A few seconds
later, they ran back up to gather their practice weapons, then raced
back down again.

    --------------------------===- ** -===--------------------------

     "This is strange, if you ask me."  Urd looked thoughtful.

     "What's strange?" Toltiir asked.  "This timeline isn't strange in
the least, as long as you don't count the fact that Ranma's Nerima pals
aren't after him, yet."

     "Well, that's also weird," she admitted.  "But I was wondering why
Ryoko and the Jurai royalty haven't arrived yet.  They're a year behind
schedule, aren't they?"

     "I think it's because Ranma's presence at the shrine is causing
some delays in the timestreams.  Remember, he's only supposed to be in
Nerima for the next few years, and then he'll go off to China to help
defend the Jusendou.  At least, before it was altered by Goldie, and
then you.  I kind of liked the one where he married all the girls,
especially Astrild."

     "Bell's best friend?  I've gotta see that sometime."

     "Anyway, maybe the second alteration caused some imbalance in the
timestream, allowing for cross-rippling and such."

     "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, Toltiir."

     "Oh well.  I think it's about to happen soon.  They're looking for
a way to release Ryoko right now.  Unintentionally, of course."

    --------------------------===- ** -===--------------------------

     It was the perfect opportunity.  Nobuyuki was in Tokyo, taking care
of some business.  Katsuhito had some matters that he needed to look
after.  The sky was pouring heavily, so they weren't expecting visitors.
That meant the two Masaki youths had the entire shrine grounds to
themselves.

     They weren't the sort to throw massive parties when the folks were
away, but what they were doing was already considered pretty daring.  It
was completely against Grandfather Katsuhito's wishes, and he'll come
down on them like a tonne of lead weights if he found out, but it was
all considered secondary.  Practically everything became secondary when
you had a burning curiosity to satisfy.

     Right now the two were snooping around in their Grandfather's
office, looking for the set of forbidden keys.  Hey, it wasn't as if
they had anything better to do.

     Ranma had rarely been in Grandfather's office, and he wasn't sure
as to where he should be looking.  He wasn't even sure if he wanted to
know what the older Masaki kept in his sacred dominion.

     Tenchi was too busy searching in drawers and crevices to notice
Ranma's agitation.  He'd been in here many times in the past, trying to
find the exact same thing they were looking for right now.  Though past
searches ended up in vain, he had a feeling that they were going to get
lucky this time.

     "Are you sure that this is the only place Gramps could have hidden
the keys?" Ranma asked.

     He nodded.  "I've went all over the shrine grounds with a toothcomb
and I've never turned up anything.  Every time I come in here, though, a
lot of things are moved around.  I'm sure Grandpa's hidden them in this
place somewhere."

     Ranma put his hands against the wall, feeling for any mysterious
irregularities in its surface.  Perhaps there was a panel somewhere,
concealing an alcove where the old man hid things that he considered
important.  If he was so adamant about Tenchi not going into the cave,
the keys were probably highest on his list of things to hide.

     "Watch where you putting those," Tenchi warned.

     "What?"

     He looked at his hands.  One of them was about to knock over one of
the many pictures on the mantelpiece.  Ranma immediately pulled back.

     "Sorry."

     "No problem," Tenchi shrugged and went back to searching.

     Ranma was about to probe the opposite wall when the line of photos
somehow beckoned him.  Unsure as to why he was feeling this way, he
turned back to look at them.

     "Are these pictures of your family, Tenchi?" he asked, examining
the photographs.

     "Yeah."

     "Can I have a look?"

     Tenchi stood up and walked over to where Ranma was standing.  "Just
be careful with them."

     "Don't worry," he assured him.  "I'm not a klutz."

     "That's all I'm asking."

     He pulled a random one off the shelf and studied it.  "This is you
when you were a kid, isn't it?"

     "Gee," Tenchi grinned.  "Can't think of anyone else that looks like
me, except for maybe me."

     "'Maybe' you?" Ranma smirked.  "Sounds like an identity crisis to
me."

     The two spent the next few minutes admiring the pictures.  It was
the first time Ranma had a look at them, and Tenchi was more than eager
to help his brother out.

     Tenchi took another photo off the mantel and passed it to him.
"This is one of Grandfather Katsuhito and Grandmother Itsuki."

     "Wow, Gramps sure looked cool when he was younger."  Ranma nodded
appreciatively.  "And you look just like him, minus the hairstyle."

     "That's what everyone said, before Mom died," Tenchi said, a bit
sadly.

     "Sorry," Ranma apologised.  "I didn't mean to--"

     "It's okay, Ranma," Tenchi waved off the apology.  "It was a long
time ago.  I don't remember her very well, to be honest.  And that's
what my aunt said, anyway."

     Ranma put the picture back, then removed one that had captured his
interest.  "Is this her?" he asked, handing it over to Tenchi.

     Tenchi nodded.  "Her name's Achika.  She and Dad met in high
school."

     "Who's the girl beside her, though?" Ranma asked.

     "Auntie Nodoka," Tenchi replied.  "My mom's older sister.  She
visits the shrine from time to time, but I haven't seen her in a while.
She lives in Juuban.  She's the one who gave you the laptop, by the way.
I'm not totally sure, but I think so."

     "Really?  I'll have to call and thank her sometime.  How come
Gramps never mentioned her?"

     "He and Nodoka were never on the best of terms," he said sombrely.
"He didn't approve of the boy she wanted to marry, but she went ahead
with it anyway.  She's the most strong-minded person I've ever met, you
know.  And she's amazing at Kendo!"

     "She looks kind of familiar..." Ranma trailed off, scrutinizing the
woman's features.  "Dunno where I've seen her before, but I'm sure I've
never been to Juuban."

     "Auntie Nodoka does kind of look like you, doesn't she?" Tenchi
commented.

     "It's a coincidence, I'm sure," Ranma answered.  "Does she have any
children?"

     "Grandfather says that she has a son, but that's all I know.  He's
never come and visited.  You won't find a photo of him or of my aunt's
husband."

     "Oh."

     "It's just as well.  Grandpa told me that Nodoka's husband is a
lying, thieving, dishonourable, sorry excuse for a man.  And that's only
on a good day."

     "Sounds a lot like Genma, if you ask me," Ranma grinned.  "For sure
I'll never treat MY kid like he did!"

     Tenchi put the photos back.  "Anyway, let's find what we came here
for," he remarked.  "Grandfather will be back soon, and I don't want him
to catch us."

     "You're too late," Katsuhito responded, stepping into the shed.  "I
take it you're not in here for rakes, eh?"

     "G-grandfather!"

     "G-gramps!  Back so early?!"

     "It was only a short trip."  Katsuhito then frowned at the boys.
"Looking for the keys again?"

     "Y-yes," Tenchi looked down.

     The older Masaki sighed.  "How many times to I have to tell you to
stay away from the cave?" he asked.  "It's dangerous for you to wander
there!  I've told you about the demon that sleeps there, haven't I?  Do
you two want to reawaken it?"

     Not that the demon was fully asleep, Katsuhito amended silently.
Her spirit often roamed the vast shrine grounds, while her body remained
imprisonned in the pool.  He knew how much she had changed, and how she
longed to return to the waking world.  Perhaps it was time, after all.
Seven hundred years was enough repentance.  And then, he'd be able to
educate the two on their heritage.

     "Because you two are so eager to find out, I'd might as well let
you," he sighed.  "I suppose the two of you are old enough."

     "All right!" the two boys high-fived.

     "On one condition, though."

     They instantly deflated.  It was probably some impossible task he'd
force them to go on, and then they'd regret ever thinking about getting
the keys and venturing into the cave.

     "If you can take them from me," he pulled out a ring of rusted iron
keys from his robe and dangled them in front of their eyes.

     He was too quick, even for Ranma's Imperial Chestnut Fist
technique.  The keys disappeared before he was able to touch them.

     "Nice try," Katsuhito smirked.  "Remember, this is a formal
challenge, with as many rematches as you wish.  If either one of you can
take them from my grasp during a match, I'll let you have them."

     "That's it?" Ranma asked, cracking his knuckles.

     "I think I can handle that," Tenchi agreed, drawing his bokken.

     His glasses gleamed.  "What, you wanted a greater challenge?"

          ----------------------------------------------------

     "How the heck are we going to do that?" Tenchi asked.  "Grandfather
is way too fast, even for you."

     "Gotta try," Ranma replied.  "If we can lower his guard enough so
that we can snatch them away..."

     "Are you going to try again?  You did manage to hit him a few
times..."

     "Why not?" he shrugged, then winced.  "Gotta find out what's in
that place, right?"

     "Grandfather's going to kick our butts again, you know that."

     "Yeah."  Ranma then grinned.  "But I've never backed down from a
challenge, and I think it'll be a big insult to Gramps if we don't try
as hard as we can."

     "I don't know..." Tenchi began.  "He did quite a number on you, and
on me.  Are you sure that's a good idea?"

     "If I don't manage to get them on my fifth try, or if you can't
recognise my face, whichever comes first; I'll forget about it.  How's
that?"

     He sighed.  "Just like you, Ranma," he smirked.  "How many
techniques do you expect to learn after this is over?"

     "I'm not doing this 'cause I want to learn some more martial arts!"
Ranma tried to look offended, but it ended up as a lopsided grin.  "I
never turn down a challenge, and you know it!"

     "Suit yourself."  Tenchi grinned back.  "Who knows?  I might learn
a thing or two from this."

    --------------------------===- ** -===--------------------------

     "They seem very determined."

     "Stupid is a better term, Toltiir."

    --------------------------===- ** -===--------------------------

     "OW!!  WATCH WHERE YOU'RE PUTTING THAT!!!"

     Ranma continued to yell in agony as his grandfather reset his
joints.  The scene would have been more humourous to Tenchi if he hadn't
been subject to the same ministrations in the past, but he chuckled
anyway.  It wasn't everyday that one could see Ranma act like a complete
baby.

     "Hold still, Ranma," Katsuhito commanded.  "It hurts more when you
move about, you know."

     He suffered for a few more minutes before the older Masaki allowed
him to leave.  Rubbing his neck, Ranma staggered around a bit before
straightening up and walking over to Tenchi.  Katsuhito was like Doctor
Tofu in that respect.  He would feel as if he was being tortured by the
Inquisition, and then he'd walk out as if he had just been relaxing in a
nice, hot bath.

     "I take it you didn't get them, huh?"

     "Nope."  His eyes burned with determination.  "But I'll do it next
time!"

     Tenchi smirked.  "Wait your turn!"

          ----------------------------------------------------

     "Almost there," Ranma encouraged.  "You were pretty close this
time."

     "Almost had my arm broken, too!" he winced.

     Ranma snapped the bone back into place.  Tenchi yelped, then
started to yell as the pain accumulated with all the other bruises
Katsuhito inflicted upon him.

     "It's my turn now," he grinned.  "Boy, do I feel suicidal today."

     "I don't know whether to be surprised or relieved."

          ----------------------------------------------------

     "That's GOTTA hurt," Tenchi winced.  "I really don't think anyone
can bend that far with their spine, martial arts training or not."

     Ranma would have agreed, but he was currently unconscious.  It was
hard to give your opinion when you were in that condition.

     "Giving up?" Katsuhito asked, a bit mockingly.

     "No way, Grandpa!" Tenchi retorted.  "Until we get those keys,
we'll never give up!"

     "Good.  I was afraid that you two were afraid of a venerable old
man like me."

     After Tenchi dragged Ranma into the house, Katsuhito winced as he
soothed his own bruises.  He had taken quite a few hits that time.  The
two boys had actually been able to land a few devestating blows, and
they were starting to take their toll.  While Tenchi was much easier to
defeat, Katsuhito had to resort to his special attacks to slow Ranma
down.

     At the rate this was going, he had this sneaking suspicion that
he'd have to give up the keys a lot earlier than he expected.

          ----------------------------------------------------

     Even with his extensive knowledge in the martial arts, Ranma knew
that he was outclassed by the older Masaki.  No matter what he tried,
the old man always seemed not to be there to receive it, or hed shrug it
off.  In a way, Ranma realised how Akane must have felt on their first
meeting; she'd try and hit him, and he'd simply weave out of her
attacks.  It was extremely frustrating to experience.  There was no
gender barrier in this case though, and Ranma found himself trying to
dodge the other man's attacks, with limited success.

     The pain wasn't enough to deter Ranma from his goal, however.  He
was absolutely resolved to get that set of keys for Tenchi, and it was
because of the combination of his stubborness with his confidence that
he would eventually win.  He never lost where it counted, after all.

     "Here we go.  First prize goes to Tenchi Masaki!"  Ranma dropped
the rusty mass onto Tenchi's palm.  At least, he attempted to.  The keys
missed his outstretched hand and clattered to the floor.

     Tenchi would have picked it up if his arms didn't hurt from his
last attempt against his Grandfather.  "How did you manage it?" he
asked, sitting down and picking at the corroded metal with a finger.

     Ranma made sure his jaw could handle the stress of conversation
before he spoke.  "By flying into one of the shrine walls, I think," he
replied.  "Either that, or from Grandpa's 'Flying Swallow' strike.  I
never thought you could use the bokken in those patterns."

     "Finally beat him, huh?" Tenchi shook his head, taking care not to
stretch his neck too much.

     "Nah," he winced.  "I caught hold of them as he flung me across the
room.  I did pay him back for some of the earlier strikes, though."

     "Ouch," Tenchi replied sympathetically.  "He's going to find out
sooner or later that the keys are missing."

     "After he resets his shoulder, though.  Besides, the challenge was
if we could take them from him, and we have."

     "True.  But what if he..."

     "Don't worry about it!" Ranma smiled wanly.  "Gramps ain't the sort
to change the meaning of his words.  He's not a lawyer, you know.  In
fact, he formally declared that I won!"

     "Ah.  Did you get down the 'Flying Swallow'?"

     "Yeah, I think I have one or two of his techniques clinched now.
I'll teach them to you after we check out the cave."

     "Sure thing!"  One thing the two brothers had in common was the
determination to learn all of Grandfather Katsuhito's tricks.  On many
an occasion the two would surprise the elder Masaki by launching attacks
Ranma had seen him perform earlier and taught to Tenchi.  They never
connected, of course, but it didn't hurt to try.

     "Wanna go now after we heal a bit?" Ranma asked.  "I think we
should do it before it gets dark."

     "All right," Tenchi agreed.  "You don't have to come, of course.
This is just something I've always wondered about since I was a kid."

     "Hey, don't leave me out of this!" Ranma smirked.  "I'm your
partner in crime.  I also got the keys, so I'm entitled!"

     "If you really want.  It'd be nice to have company."

     "I'm curious, to be honest.  I wanna see what ya find so
interesting about a cave, and check out this 'legendary demon' for
myself."

     Tenchi smiled.  At least one other person understood him.  "Do you
really think the demon is still alive?"

     "Who knows?" he shrugged.  "Gramps said she was sealed about
seven-hundred years ago, by one of your ancestors.  I haven't a clue as
to how long demons live."

     "What else do you think might be in there?" Tenchi pondered.

     "Ask me again when we get to the cave, all right?" Ranma winked.
"No point in asking if we're on our way!"

    --------------------------===- ** -===--------------------------

     "Well, looks like it's time for the peace and quiet to end, huh?"

     "I don't think those two ever had a quiet life, no matter what
timeline they're in."

     "Now that Ryoko's released, what are the chances that Tenchi's life
will be normal?"

     "About the same chance as Ranma not being found out by Nabiki
within the next year."

    --------------------------===- ** -===--------------------------

     "Ranma."

     "Yes."

     "Tell me this is a nightmare."

     "It is.  I'm not supposed to be scared of anything, but I am.
That's all I need to know that this is one very bad dream."

     "Good.  I can't wait to wake up."

     "Was THAT the demon, Tenchi?  How can she still be kicking?"

     "It's all a nightmare, Ranma, remember?"

     "Oh, right."

     "It never happened, Ranma.  It's not real."

     "Right."

     "Could you at LEAST sound sure of yourself?"


========================================================================
To be continued...                             Celeste Byrd [04.05.2000]