WARNING: While there will be no actual 'Lemon' content contained herein, adult situations, language, violence and acts of a sexual nature are strongly implied.

Disclaimer: The rights to 'Ranma 1/2' are owned by its creator, Rumiko Takahashi. The rights to 'Gold Digger' are owned by its creator, Fred Perry. The rights to characters from other sources, which are likely to make cameo appearances, are retained by their respective creators. This story is for entertainment purposes only and written without expectation of monetary or material profit.

Notes: While drawing primarily from the original 'Ranma 1/2' Manga series, some elements and characters from the 'Ranma 1/2' Anime series may also be utilized. This is BOTH a 'Continuation' and an 'Alternate Universe' fan-fiction in regards to the characters and events of 'Ranma 1/2' and 'Gold Digger', meaning: the characters WILL be 'Out-of-Character' to one extent or another and that canon events the reader is familiar with may or may not have been altered to a greater or s degree. This fan-fiction is also a 'Crossover', combining elements from the two aforementioned sources. For most of the story, we will attempt to adhere closely to canon, in regards to Fred Perry's 'Gold Digger' series, but at some point, events will diverge from canon and concessions will have to be made for the intermingling of the two base series.

Furthermore, it is 'presumed' that the events of the 'Ranma 1/2' Manga series take place over a span of less than one year, as there is little, if any, real indication of the passage of time in canon. Therefore, Ranma and Akane are still freshman at the time this story begins, while Nabiki and Kunou are juniors.

Timeframe: Immediately following the failed wedding attempt at the end of the 'Ranma 1/2' Manga series; there are several months remaining until the end of the current school year at Furinkan High... ('Gold Digger' timeframe will become apparent when introduced into the story.)

WARNING: This is self-beta'd if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, please PM me with the paragraph and fix.

BATTLE MAGE

By

Ryan Slicer

(original story concept, writing and guidance)

Tai Khan

( general story expander, editor and sounding board)

Book One: Control

Part Three: Cold Shoulders Social Training

The rest of the week had passed, but as far as a pigtailed martial artist was concerned a month could have passed by him and he would wonder when the year would be over with. And while there was an initial incident between one of the fiancées causing a rift between her and her future intended, the other two had decided to leave well enough alone for the moment. Though that was only while they were at school. In the Tendo-ke, however, that was another story altogether.

Soun sat in his bedroom, thinking of what to do about his future son-in-law and what needed to be done to get him married to his youngest daughter. During the week, he saw a steady decline in the fighting between his youngest and the Saotome heir, but no forward movement from a relationship perspective. Soun knew that he would have to take things into his own hands. He took out a small sheet of paper that held everything that he needed to do to retire in peace. But that piece of paper could not be shown to any of his daughters. He folded the paper and slid it back into a small floorboard that contained several scrolls and documents that he kept for himself. One of the documents was the marriage certificate between himself and his deceased wife, Kimiko. Another was the marriage certificate between Akane and whomever she married, which had been filled out with the name of Ranma Saotome, but it didn't have the hanko stamp mark on it. Earlier that week, just before the fiasco that was called a wedding, He had gotten Akane to sign and put on the Tendo hanko stamp for her name in front of the governing official that was there. All that was needed was Ranma's hanko from the Saotome's and they would have been married.

'Why couldn't you just let Ranma sign the certificate in front of the official while he was here, Saotome-kun.' Soun thought as he set the documents aside and placed the folded paper beside the scrolls. 'I would have been able to give Akane the Tendo scrolls for her to give to Ranma as her wedding gift to him. But you had to ruin it by going after that cask of Jusenkyo water.' While it was true that Genma wasn't as stupid as he portrayed, there were times that Soun wondered if his friend was hit in the head too many times. 'Still, we must do what we can so that both of our dreams can come true.'

The Tendo patriarch stood up after replacing the floorboard to cover the contents within and stepped outside of his bedroom. He stopped by the small shrine of his wife and quietly paid his respects to her departure then went to the tearoom to begin his day.

The Nekohanten, as many would tell you, is one of the better restaurants in the Nerima district. The sideshows that happened whenever the waitresses were out made you wish to stay, while the food was above par than some other foreign cuisine that was done. Currently it was not open for business as the morning was just starting. However, a bird of prey swooped down through an open window and perched itself upon a stand that was made for it to rest upon once it arrived. The hawk twisted its head about for a few minutes before squawking out to the inhabitants that it had arrived.

Ku Lon hopped down the stairs upon her trusty staff that made her stand almost roughly five foot five inches in height. Though the actual height of her body was slightly over a foot. Green robes covered her body and her hair fell past her waist in shades of bluish gray. Wizened eyes found the bird perched on its stand and finding that attached to its leg was a message sheath. She took a moment to look at the bird before hopping herself over towards it to find out why it was there. Once she was close enough to the hawk, she pulled the message out of its sheath and began to unravel it. 'I wonder who could have sent this message. The only ones that I know of that would use a messenger hawk would be either the council, or the message couldn't be trusted by anyone else.' The message told her everything once she saw the seal that ordained the top of the sheet of paper. She turned towards the stairs and gave a shout, "Xian Pu. I need you in the kitchen."

The purple haired beauty came down the steps once she heard her name called. Her muscled flexed slightly as she walked, displaying the reason why she was called an Amazon of the Jusenkyo valley. The traditional chinese mini clung to her busty body covering everything from her neck down to her mid thigh. Taunt and tone legs of a lightly tanned brown color stretched until they reached her feet, which were covered in soft slippers that reminded her of her intended. Long purple hair was pulled into a tight braid for the evening, as she hadn't had time to put it into the small buns that she normally wore it. Power and beauty in this very alluring package that made many men walk into things. Though most of the males in Nerima knew that if the woman was very pretty, she may also be very deadly as well. Once the woman stepped into the main dining hall, she headed straight for her great grandmother.

"Yes, Elder. You asked for me?" The soft and sexy voice escaped her lips as she spoke in her native tongue towards the Elder of her village.

"Yes child. I have some information about your intended." Ku Lon started, knowing that this news might break her great granddaughter of her joyous attitude.

"What news do you have, Great Grandmother?" Xian Pu nearly bounced upon the balls of her feet in anticipation, "Do we have permission to take my husband from this land without any consequences from both the national and Japanese governments?"

Ku Lon shook her head slightly as she read the message once more. It was short and to the point like most messages by messenger hawk. However this had confused the Elder for a brief moment as she reviewed it the second time, "Unfortunately, we don't have any permission at all." The aging elder slid the paper over to her great granddaughter for her own review of the parchment, "It seems that the council has decided to put your pursuit on hold for the time being as they discuss what to do with Son-in-law."

Xian Pu frowned as she read the message she was given. While it didn't say that she couldn't continue pursuing him, it said specifically not to anger the young man that captured her heart. "Why have they made that decision?" She couldn't believe that the elders of her village would let such a prime specimen of battle prowess and battle intelligence go.

"Son-in-law has done our tribe a service that makes him a very powerful individual. We can not anger him or turn his wrath against our village." Ku Lon stated quite clearly to her confused granddaughter. Throughout their history, the Amazons had to let very powerful individuals go for the sake of keeping their village secure and not a threat to said individuals. While this made the person's value soar to the Amazon who could capture them, they were told to tread carefully around such individuals. And usually the laws could not be enforced upon them.

"So what do we do in the meantime, Great Grandmother?" Xian Pu tilted her head slightly in a very curious manner that betrayed her cat-like mannerism of her Jusenkyo curse.

"For now, we will tread lightly around Son-in-law. I want you to still pursue him, just not as jubilant as you have been in the past. Give him some breathing room and let him make some choices."

"Of course, Great Grandmother." The two parted ways to get the restaurant ready for its first early morning customers. Both women thought of the man that they were discussing and wondered to themselves if the choice they made now would help bring the young man closer to their village, or cause issues further down the road.

Nabiki was never a morning person, as her family could tell you just from the way she woke up in the mornings. However she was either early or on time for anything that helped her get ahead in life. It was what drove her to always leave for school early enough to get to class, but give her plenty of time to make the bets for the day. Such was the morning before the week's end that had her walking towards school to begin her day. She turned a corner to see Furinkan High School in the distance before glancing at the timepiece that adorned her slender wrist. 'At least I'm making good time today. Unlike most of the week.' She thought as she remembered the chaos that was occurring around the pig-tailed man. She knew what might have happened if she tried to force Ranma into doing things her way, but when he asked her out himself that brought a twist into their relationship. 'He's willing to do what he wants to do and not let anyone else decide for him.'

"Senpai!" Nabiki's head turned towards the voice, seeing her friend Ryonami jogging to catch up to her.

"Ryonami. You're running a little late today aren't you?"

"Well I had to figure out if I was going to be free the night of the party." Ryonami answered her question, "Are you thinking of going?"

Nabiki took a moment to think about the day that she heard the party was going to be on and figured that she could make it without any issues to it, "I might grace this party that'll be held. Isn't it the end of the year school party?" Her associate nodded in response to her question as they crossed the threshold of the school gates.

"That is what it's for, but we all know the true reason why it's being held." Ryonami grinned at her friend before nudging her slightly in the ribs, "So?"

"So what?" Nabiki returns the smile before applying her business facade to mask part of her emotions so none of the other students could see what she was thinking.

"So I heard that you went out on Sunday evening. And that you were spotted with a guy at a club." Ryonami gave her mentor a knowing grin. "Do you wish to tell me who you were with?"

The middle Tendo sister took a playful swat at her subordinate before shaking her head, "A girl never tells about her dance partners."

"But Senpai..." The brunette looked to the younger girl as she saw the eyes she used on her unsuspecting victims to con out treats for information. A girl had to eat as well.

"You know that doesn't work on me, Ryonami-chan." Nabiki admonished the girl. The little information game of cat and mouse turned the tide as the older junior leaned forward into Ryonami's personal space. "Besides you haven't told me about who you might be going with this week."

"Hmph." Snorted Ryonami as she stepped away from Nabiki when they reached the school itself. She had enough time to talk to the older girl before their business transactions were to be conducted, "Fine. I was hoping to go with Wantabe, but he's going to be busy with his finals. So Takana decided to try to get me to go to one of the newer clubs."

"You'll have to tell me how it goes." Nabiki stated, before she slowly became the center of attention among her associates. The bets were taking place and she had to get them organized before the bell chimed and school started. Her group was given their instructions and they all left to complete their tasks for the morning. 'Hopefully Saotome remembers he has his own date at a club tonight.' She thought to herself once she entered her classroom.

Ranma sat in an empty classroom waiting for a few moments before the door slid open and two individuals stepped in. A short girl in a female Furinkan school uniform with shoulder length black hair tied back into a ponytail and thin glasses perched upon her nose. Along with an average boy wearing the male uniform along with a lab coat, black hair shaped in a bowl cut from the first time Principal Kuno got to him.

"Ranma-kun!" The girl grinned as she found the pig-tailed sitting in the classroom they were going to meet him in. "We found what you were looking for." She pulled the science club member in with her before stopping in front of Ranma. "I hope that you appreciate what I had to go through to find these texts."

Ranma knew exactly what the girl was talking about, but figured that the guy with all the papers in his hands did the work of finding his request. He figured that she offered him a way to help out and she would get most of the credit, "That's great, Yuki." The girl's cheeks tinted red at the praise he gave her, figuring out that a little more confidence would help her when she meets the guy she wants to be with, but not to make it look like she had a chance with him. "What were you able to find for me?"

Yuki elbowed her compatriot that 'helped' her get the information the Saotome heir needed. The guy shuffled his papers around to find exactly what he was looking for to give to Ranma. He pulled out several sheets of paper and handed it to him before speaking up. "We were able to find some information that was directly related to the problem you described…" The girl elbowed her fellow club member and shot him a glare that could put down several men.

"Keitaro! Ranma-kun doesn't have a 'problem.'" She looked at Ranma with an apologetic glance, "He is finding out about a technique he was taught. Right Ranma-kun?" The pigtailed man nodded in her direction before looking at Keitaro, giving him a sympathetic look as he knew what the guy was going through. He gestured for him to continue with a slight movement of his hand.

"Yes, yes. I know." Keitaro returned the glare he received before focusing on the martial artist once more. "What information we found about this 'technique' is that it originates from a set of Hieroglyphics at a temple that was found south of the Valley of the Kings." Keitaro indicated on the paper he handed to Ranma. The paper itself showed a map of the valley and the location of the temple, as well as the pictographs that they found which indicated the technique that was described to them.

"I'm assuming that there was something else besides the pictures found inside the temple right?" Ranma responded. Keitaro gave the martial artist a nod in response to his query and was about to continue with his observations before being interrupted by Yuki, who was bouncing from side to side like a child in a candy store.

"Yep! Legend has it that the technique was originally used to become closer to the Goddesses Isis and Baset." Ranma took a moment to look at the paper in his hands before nodding his head for the two to continue, figuring out that they had what he was looking for and hopefully he would get a chance to examine the legend and information to help him with that 'technique' he was looking for.

Keitaro gave Yuki a slight nudge of his own to indicate that he was supposed to be giving Ranma the information, making the girl blush even more as she stayed closer to Ranma, "These glyphs directed the archaeologists further into the temple towards a section that was previously thought to be a dead end. After they found that the wall behind it was sealed, much the same way a Pharaoh's tomb was. They quickly found a way to remove the wall to explore deeper into the chasm. What they found was a scroll that was unraveled with most of the technique that you described. Probably a predecessor to the flawed technique that you were taught."

The Saotome heir's eyes grew wider as his interest in the scroll increased. He hoped that this was what he was looking for and maybe, just maybe, he could get a trip there to view the original scroll in its entirety. "So where is this scroll now?"

Keitaro passed another sheet of paper over to Ranma while Keitaro read from his notes from a copy of the same sheet of paper he passed to him that showed the scroll opened in a case that was sealed. "This was a picture sent to us from one of the local archaeologists in Cairo. When we told him of what we were looking for, he was able to find a current picture of it so we could see the scrolls information itself." Keitaro grinned at the achievement he was able to accomplish in the name of scientific education, "What you're seeing is the scroll and its display case that is in the Cairo Egyptology Museum in Cairo Egypt. On display in what they call the Valley of the King's section until they can make room for a section for just the temple itself. What the picture doesn't say is that they were able to unravel the scroll a bit more and record more of the glyphs on the scroll to give us that bit of history they believe it to be a part of. It's taking some time to unravel more of the scroll so they don't destroy it or its contents."

After taking a glance at the paper, noting several of the steps that were shown as pictures of the technique's main part. "Yes this seems to be the technique all right." He turns the paper around, pointing at the specific part of the picture that indicates what he was meaning. "This was the part of the technique that made it a powerful part of it." He looked up at the two before he voiced his thoughts that proceeded when he heard of what was found. "Is there any more of this that they found before this main part?"

Yuki glanced towards Keitaro, who gave a slight shrug to indicate his response, she answered with as much honesty as they could explain. "I don't think so, Ranma-kun." She frowned, as she was upset that the parts that they gave Ranma for what he was looking for was not what he needed.

"If there is any information like that, it wasn't found in the temple or the scroll so far. But there seems to be some sort of meditation or aftermath to the technique that has been found, but it is not discernible at this time."

Bowing his head in acknowledgment, Ranma held the piece of paper close to him. One step closer to completing this technique and he was at a roadblock right now, "Well, what information you can get about the rest of the technique will be helpful if you can."

Yuki spoke up as she fidgeted with her fingers, "I... We will let you know if there is anything, Ranma-kun." Ranma gave both of them a nod and courteous bow once more before leaving the room. His hopes a little higher and his mind a little clearer about the path he needed to take.

Akane sat at her desk and looked towards the empty desk that Ranma would have sat in. The bell was about to ring and she was getting worried that he wouldn't make it on time. 'Not like I care that the big oaf is late to class.' She told herself in a quiet huff, forcing herself to look away from the desk in question and towards the second empty desk in the room.

The other desk that had been empty for the latter part of the week was where Ukyo sat. After the confrontation between Ukyo and Ranma, the chef hadn't come back to school, almost causing a riot from her customers at school not able to get food that tastes better than the cafeteria. Akane held on a little grudge that the cross dressing fiancée had gotten Ranma to react after the wedding disaster, even if it was in anger. She wouldn't have put up with Ranma yelling at her like he did to Ukyo, and she proved it by knocking him out of the school grounds.

'And he hasn't talked to me since.' She sighed as she remembered the silent stare he would give her when she walked into the room, then he would get up and leave so as not to give her a chance to talk. 'He's been so quiet. It's like he isn't even home.'

The classroom door slid open and Akane turned towards it, 'Speak of the devil.' She grumbled to herself, trying to remove all sympathetic thoughts from her mind. She noticed that he held some papers in his hand as she sat at his assigned desk. He was quietly flipping through them and even took a pencil out to mark on them. Akane studied his posture and look, wondering to herself what those papers were about.

Suddenly the bell rang and she turned towards the front, waiting for the class representative to help start the day. The one thing she did notice out of the whole week, Ranma had started participating in his classes more and more.

Class continued through the morning, surprising Hinako for the first time that she did not have to punish any delinquents that normally caused a ruckus in her classroom. She was a bit suspicious when her favorite delinquent was somewhat awake in her English class.

The morning was more productive than usual and she dismissed the class for lunch when the bell rang in a calm manner. 'Seems like I'm making some kind of difference in their lives.' Hinako thought to herself, her younger form sitting in the large chair of her desk in the teacher's office as she munched down on some Pocky.

She did, however, wonder about the Saotome boy in her class. 'Something's just not right with that boy.' Finishing off the last bit of her Pocky stick and turning to the side before jumping off of her chair, she calmly walked over to the file cabinet that contained her all of the delinquent student files she made. She was about to find the Saotome file before being distracted by a bag of candy she left in the drawer. "Ooh. Sweets!" Hinako exclaimed while taking the bag out of the file cabinet drawer and heading back to her desk so she could finish her lunch in a happy, sweetened bliss.

Unbeknown to her, a few of the teachers wiped their brow at another mishap of finding out the truth behind the Saotome boy. They knew exactly why she was reaching for that file cabinet, and they always made sure that there was a bag of sweets just before she found Saotome's file.

Akane stepped out into the courtyard, letting her eyes wander around to find the pigtailed martial artist. She damned well was going to give him a piece of her mind about his attitude towards her. When she did spot him, she also spotted her sister getting up and giving him a pat on the shoulder. She paused, taking a quick moment to watch her sister and fiancée, before shaking the negative thoughts from her head 'Nabiki knows that he is my fiancée, what does she think she is doing?'

She stalked over to Ranma, intent upon getting exactly what she wanted. "Ranma!" She called out, causing the pigtailed young man to look away from Nabiki towards her. "What is wrong with you?"

"What do you mean, Akane?" Ranma responded. He tried to figure out what he did this time to upset the youngest Tendo.

"Your not acting like yourself." She spoke up, having reached her destination, she crossed her arms and tried to make herself more intimidating to him. 'Not like it would work on him.' Her mind casually mentioned to her as she completely ignored that part to focus on her fiancée.

'So she finally notices something.' He commented to himself, "Well I was just told what might happen to me at the end of this year."

Akane blinked, taken aback by what he said. "What do you mean? What will happen? Are they going to hold you back or make you transfer?" Her thoughts took her question to a new level as she imagined Ranma being held back, surrounded by other girls to which he could flirt and ogle. Even him transferring to another school, where he would be free to do as he pleases.

'Does she really think that they would transfer me from Furinkan.' The martial artist's eyes widened for a moment before he shook his head. "If I don't pass my tests this semester, I'll have to do a summer study, or even repeat the grade if I don't improve." He lied, looking down at his lunch.

'Summer study. That shouldn't be too bad.' Akane moved and sat down next to him, "Was that what you were talking to Nabiki about?" she casually mentioned, looking down at her own lunch that her oldest sister made her.

'Not that specifically.' Ranma thought as he took a few bites from his lunch, noticing how quiet it had gotten between them. "Just some business Akane, nothing more."

"What business?"

"Study sessions."

Akane huffed at that, looking at him with a hard stare, "And why couldn't you have come to me to help you study?"

"When have we sat down and studied together without our fathers harping on us to get married afterwards?" Ranma shot back, ignoring the stare for the food in front of him.

"I.." The youngest Tendo stopped before she began, actually taking the time to think on what he was saying. Sure both of their fathers would have seen this as an opportunity to start the wedding ceremony without them noticing until it was too late. In fact, that's exactly what happened as soon as they got back from China and the Saffron Incident, as she was not fondly remembering.

The rest of their lunch was spent quietly eating their food, in quite possibly the calmest lunch either of them had in the last few days.

Kasumi quietly sat in the tea room by herself, sipping upon one of the newer flavors that appeared in the market today. The store owner was kind enough to let her have enough samples to brew several cups of the interesting flavor to see how she liked it. But that wasn't why she was in the tearoom. Most of the cleaning was done for the Tendo-ke and the Dojo itself; while there may have been a few things left to clean she felt the need to take a break.

She turned to look around the clean environment before stopping to look at a bird perched on a branch in the yard. The eldest Tendo sister took another sip of the bitter tea and stood up, taking the cup with her into the kitchen where some vegetables were sitting out waiting to be prepared for dinner that evening. 'I wonder how Ranma-kun is doing.' She took a moment as she washed the vegetables, making sure they were cleaned before placing them on the cutting board, 'and little sister too.'

Kasumi continued to wash the rest of the food and brought out a pot to which she would place them in. Taking the time to fill the pot first and cut the vegetables she cleaned. She heard the front door open and close, with a rough "I'm home" being heard from the entryway. Her father then stepped into the kitchen and went towards the fridge before being stopped by Kasumi.

"Now Father, I've already made some tea and snacks for you in your room." She chided.

"Ahh, yes. Well thank you Kasumi." Soun smiled at the memories of his own wife doing the same thing to him when he would come back from council business. He slowly strode out of the kitchen and went to his room, not as urgently as he would have liked but he did not need to rouse suspicion on his part.

Kasumi turned back to what she was doing; 'Now if I can just keep him away from the sake tonight, we might have a normal family dinner.' She opened the cupboard that held the sake and pulled out several bottles that were stored there, placing them in another cupboard where she kept the cooking wines, and turning the bottles so the labels were not shown. She moved back to fixing dinner as it would take a while for the meat and vegetables to soak in the broth she was going to make next.

Soun entered his room and slid the door shut so he wouldn't be disturbed. He knew he told Kasumi that it was ok to clean his room while he was away from the house. What he saw was a clean room with nothing out of place, the tea and snacks on the small table in the middle of the room where his eldest daughter left them right where she said she did. He took a breath of relief that none of his daughters found his hidden possessions that had his plans as well as Genma's on getting the trusts open for them.

'Now if we can only get Akane married to Ranma we'll be set for life.' The Tendo patriarch thought for the moment, taking a sip of the tea that was provided to him by his daughter, 'Maybe that'll get rid of the Amazon's going after Ranma because he will be married.' The older man nodded to himself while thinking of ways to get his youngest daughter to marry the Saotome son.

The bell rang a final time for the week and the student body was ready for the weekend. Each student got out of their desks and converged together with their friends to discuss what plans that they had for the upcoming weekend. This was not lost on Akane, as her friends Yuka and Sayuri had plans to go out and wanted to see if she would come. She didn't want to brush them off but she wanted to keep an eye on her fiancé. 'Maybe I should go out. He hasn't done anything to warrant being punished for.' She thought to herself. Picking up her school bag and moved all of her homework that Hinako-sensei wanted them to complete. 'If I show that I trust him, he might come around and ask me to marry him.' The youngest Tendo daughter closed her school pack with all her homework and turned towards where Ranma would be at, finding him not there. She spotted the open window and gave a contemplative sigh as she looked out the same window and saw the red shirt of her pigtailed fiancé dodging around the groups as he made a beeline towards the school gates. Akane shook her head and stepped away from the window, exiting the classroom and building like normal students would.

Just on the floor below and several rooms on the other side of the school, the other Tendo daughter watched the same pigtailed boy leave the school as she figured out the profits she made from the bets and transactions that occurred though the day. Her cohorts in this endeavor counted the money they had received and totaled it all up against the rest of the week. She took a moment out of that time to think of which club to head to this evening with her pigtailed dancer before turning to her associates and dividing up the payments with the profits, "Here you go, girls. We had a nice week coming in on Monday, and the weekend is already here." Nabiki states, before putting an additional five thousand yen into each of their respective piles, "so I figure a little incentive to keep business going on though next week like it has been this week will be beneficial." It wasn't often that Nabiki gave her associates a bonus which was included in the pay she was giving them every week. The brunette knew how to keep her cohorts happy. Treating them every once in awhile helped keep the employees happy.

"So what do you plan on doing this weekend, Senpai?" A short haired girl asked, picking up her pile of yen that was in front of her.

"A little bit of dancing and relaxing, especially because of last week." Everyone in the group knew about the disaster from the week before and would want to do a bit of relaxing on the weekend. The middle Tendo sister stood up after collecting the rest of the profits from the week and placing them into her school satchel, "Well, ladies, we'll reconvene next week to discuss our profits." With that Nabiki's cohorts got up and left the classroom.

Ranma had left the school grounds as quickly as possible once the bell had rang, and he was halfway out of the school when he remembered that he had a date with a certain Tendo. He figured that he would leave the planning in her capable hands and wouldn't worry too much about it. He was worried about what his other suitors would think about him actually going out, 'It might freak some people out that I would actually want to go out and have fun without any martial arts.' He thought while dodging several students that were blocking the exit out of the school. He twisted his body to slip past the students and made sure that he didn't hit anyone along the way. Once he was past the school grounds, he went full out in his strides to get back to the Tendo-ke before anyone else could stop him. 'Now the only thing I need to make my weekend start off bad would be the Old Freak. But we haven't seen hide, or panty of the old geezer.' Ranma realized,'I wonder what happened to the old goat.'

Said old goat was bounding down the street with a sack over his shoulder. It wasn't as if he was in any danger, he just knew when he was not wanted. Of course there were things being thrown at him that he subconsciously dodged or moved away as he continued through the city. He suddenly stopped and looked at one store; eyes glistened before pushing his octopus face against the glass window.

"Oh these would look good for my Ranma-chaa- Ahh—Aaah- Choo." The old hermit sneezed, hitting his head against the glass and falling onto his back. This gave the individuals, most of whom were women, enough time to catch up and start kicking and stomping on him for all the trouble he caused.

The Saotome-heir shrugged, not too worried as long as the old freak wasn't causing him problems at the moment. He turned a corner and was about to jump into the next fence when he stopped and turned his head.

ring ring

Ranma thought he heard something, and was about to shrug it off before he heard the noise again.

RING RING

"Nihao Airen!" Was the last warning he got before he was caught into a glomp that brought him down to the ground. His arms instinctively wrapped around the buxom Amazon as they fell, but once he was on the ground with her, he let go and started waving his arms to get her to let go.

"Shampoo!" Ranma began, almost growling at her, "Get offa me!"

"Airen playing hard to get, Xian Pu will not let go..." She started, before she yelped at the burning sensation she was feeling on her arms and chest. She jumped off of Ranma and rubbed her arms and chest. "Ow! Airen you..." She looked down at Ranma, only to see his Aura flaring into existence. It wasn't his normal blue of confidence, but one of anger and frustration.

"I'm not playing anymore, Shampoo." He spoke calmly, but with a tone that showed his frustration at her attaching herself to him. Xian Pu took a moment to get into a fighting stance and looked at her potential husband. Ranma also brought himself into a fighting stance as well, moving his school bag down and next to a fence as he positioned himself, "You and the Old Ghoul don't get to decide what I want." He shifted his back foot a bit to power his next move as needed as he watched Xian Pu. "You both think that I want to go with you back to China. I Don't!" He growled out, his Aura flaring a bit as he spoke. Thankfully there wasn't anyone on the street as the two fighters faced each other so no pedestrians would be hurt if the fight escalated. "Everytime you and that short stack you call an Elder dangle something to cure my curse, it gets destroyed or doesn't work at all the way it's supposed to. And you both are pissing me off because all you care about is what is in my pants as a guy!"

Xian Pu physically took a step back as Ranma verbally attacked her with the accusations he mentioned, her guard dropping a bit as she listened to him. 'Is this what Great-Grandmother was talking about? Not wanting to upset him where he will attack the Village.' she shook her head and began to speak to Ranma, hoping to defend her actions, "Is not true!" Xian Pu started, "Xian Pu love Airen for Airen, not for snuu snuu and babies."

Ranma took a sliding step forward when he saw her step back, "Then why are you always sneaking into my bed and trying to have sex with me!" He took a forceful step towards her once again, causing her to step back once more, "You don't care about me as a person, Shampoo. You treat me like I'm the prize in this tournament between Akane, Ukyo and you!" His Aura flashed again, growing bigger and brighter than before, "And the way you act around me makes me think you don't care about my opinion, like those men in your village."

"THAT NOT TRUE!" Xian Pu screamed at him. Her hands clenched in fists as she finally responded to the accusations Ranma was flinging her way, "Let Xian Pu prove. Let Xian Pu take on one date!" Her hair fell limply against her back, "You no give Xian Pu chance." She lowered her head and relaxed her stance as she felt defeated, remembering how she felt when she was defeated after the tournament which started this whole thing. "You no give chance to prove Xian Pu love you." She body began to shake as she held herself from showing any more weakness to her beloved.

Ranma kept his stance up, not willing to show the same weakness he had shown because of her previous tricks, 'She isn't going to catch me in something this time.' Ranma thought as he responded to her, "Just like you never gave me a chance at the wedding to make my own choice?" Anger still seeped into his voice as his aura grew. "Just like you didn't give me a chance to explain when you got hit by your own weapon because I didn't want you to kill someone I just met." His anger peaked as he took a few more steps closer, noticing that Xian Pu looked very scared and ashamed at what he was talking about, "Or how about when you gave me the Kiss of Death? Did I have a chance then? To explain or even talk?" Ranma winced slightly to himself as he brought that one up. Realizing that particular issue was his to own up on as he took without asking, and then fought her for her mistake.

"No." Xian Pu stated, her head finally bowed and looking at the ground, "Xian Pu no give chance for any."

"That's right, you didn't give me any chance at all." His stance stopped being aggressive as he lowered his hands, but he kept his guard up, "You always said I was your husband, never once asked me what I wanted." He grabbed his school bag and continued on his way towards the Tendo-ke, "I'm done dealing with you and your Great-Grandmother."

"But you care about Xian Pu." Xian Pu called out, "You save from Phoenix Tribe and nasty Cat Spirit." She reached out and tried to grab his arm to stop him, "You even save from mean jewel."

Ranma stopped, looking at the hand that reached out, 'Yes I did do that.' Ranma thought as he watched her for any more movement. "Yes Shampoo, but you've made a lot more mistakes to sour what might have been a good friendship." He breathed out a sigh that felt more like he was going to add more onto his plate, "I don't know what else to do with you Shampoo." He focused his sight on her face, wanting to make sure his message got across, "I can't trust you anymore, and you don't even listen to me when I talk to you." He dropped his gaze and felt a little better about what he was going to say. "So if you were in my shoes, should I try to let you try again?"

Xian Pu looked at him questioningly, making her look more like a feline than Ranma was comfortable with, "Xian Pu don't think that Xian Pu would let see, like Mu Tsu."

"That's how I'm feeling right now." Ranma said, "I don't want to even see you right now."

"But Airen, Xian Pu know you care!"

Ranma was holding himself back from venting any more frustration on her because she couldn't understand what he was saying. He knew she was smart, or she wouldn't be able to learn all those moves that he Great-Grandmother taught her. "Shampoo, I do care..."

"Then go on date with Xian Pu. Let Xian Pu show you can trust again."

Ranma sighed, groaning as he felt like he was in a rock and a hard place trying to get Xian Pu to understand and not make her go back with her honor lost and force her to be stuck in her cursed form, "I don't think.."

"Please Airen!" Xian Pu knew that if she didn't push now she wouldn't get another chance to show that she does care and does want him for more than his babies. "Xian Pu ask for one date. Give Xian Pu one date to show you." Tears started to fall from her eyes, her own stubborn pride finally dropped and she began to show her more feminine side, "Airen never even take on date." She cried out, "You even took Spatula-Girl on date, but not Xian Pu, even when you promised!"

Ranma choked up a bit as he remembered that he did promise Xian Pu for a date after she helped him. He groaned as he clenched his hand into a fist before letting his hand relax. "Alright. One date, but that's it." He growled, "I'm only doing this date because I didn't fulfill my promise to you." He was about to finish speaking when the bubbly amazon jumped up and captured him into the famous Amazon glomp.

"Thank you, Airen. Promise not to disappoint." She gave him a soft hug as she stepped away, wiping her eyes so as not to show she was crying. "Will come find and let know when we can go on date."

Ranma looked at her in a new light as she picked up her bike, she looked over her shoulder and gave him a wink before getting on the bike and cycling away towards the market. 'What have I gotten myself into now?' he thought as he watched her disappear around the corner. He sighed and started back on his path back to the Tendo-ke.

"I'm home." He called out while slipping out of his slippers and putting them away so that Kasumi wouldn't have to.

"Welcome home Ranma-kun." Kasumi replied while stepping out of the kitchen, "Dinner will be ready in a few hours." She reminded him.

"Thanks." He responded, running up the stairs next to the kitchen entrance and into the guest room. He put away his book bag and looked through his pack for his nicest set of silks that he could wear. He thought that Nabiki would put something in his room or leave a note for him on where to meet up, but he didn't find it. 'Well it wouldn't hurt to get everything ready before we head out. She'll figure out a way to meet up with no one following.' He laid out his clothing he was going to wear for the evening, a pair of blue silk pants with a yellow silk shirt that had a pictograph of a fight on its back. Placing his bathing supplies next to them as well, he left the room and headed to the Dojo, letting Kasumi know he was headed there so she didn't have to look for him later.

While Ranma began performing his warm up, the youngest Tendo arrived and announced that she was home before slipping her shoes off and bounding up the stairs. The eldest daughter welcomed her younger sister just as she had with the Saotome heir. Akane gave a brief acknowledgement of her sister's words as she changed out of her school uniform and put on a short, multi colored skirt and a light blouse. She left the room and headed back down stairs, "Kasumi, I'm going out with Yuka and Sayuri. I'll be getting dinner with them." She said to her sister through the kitchen door.

"But Akane, I figured we could—" The door slid shut from the front entrance and she gave a slight huff as she figured that since Akane wouldn't be here, it would be just Ranma, Nabiki, her father and herself having dinner tonight. She knew Ranma wouldn't have any issues tonight since Akane wouldn't be at home so a quiet evening with the rest of the family and guest would be all right.

Ranma began to wind down from his extracurricular exercise, taking a deep breath before stopping his stance with one foot slightly out in front of him, his hands clenched into a light fist at his side. He released his breath then stood at attention, bowing to the shrine and turning to leave. Once he left the dojo, he headed up to his room to get his bathing supplies and clothing. He went downstairs to the furo and knocked gently upon the door. He heard no noise or call that someone was in there before sliding the door open and placing the occupied sign out for anyone to see. He stripped down and placed his dirty clothing in the hamper for Kasumi to clean. Sliding open the inner door to the bathing area, he shut it and began to clean up for the evening. Turning on the cold water, he splashed himself and began scrubbing her body. She took the time to get her hair done and wash all the grime and sweat off of her body from the workout. Ranma-chan then quickly dumped the water over her head again to rinse off. She shivered slightly at the cold water before taking a quick dip in the furo itself, changing back into his male form.

Nabiki had just returned home and heard the furo door open and shut, hoping that it was Ranma getting ready for tonight. She walked towards the kitchen and saw Kasumi getting things ready for dinner, "How's it going, Sis?"

"Just fine, Nabiki." Kasumi replied as she stirred the noodles in the pot for dinner that night, "We're having sukiyaki tonight. I hope that's alright with everyone."

The middle Tendo daughter smiled and came up behind her sister, "Sounds wonderful. I think we'll enjoy it tonight."

Kasumi smiled back, getting ready to chop the vegetables and slice the meat for the dish, "Akane won't be joining us. Said she was going out with her friends and eating dinner with them."

Nabiki's smile became a little wider, as that was one less obstacle that she would have to navigate to get Ranma out to the club she was taking him. "I guess we will see her later then." She replied, "I'm going to change out of this." She told her sister, pointing to her school uniform once Kasumi looked back.

"Alright, Nabiki." The eldest responded, finishing up the vegetables and cleaning off the cutting board before starting on the meat.

Nabiki stepped away from the kitchen and back up the stairs to her room, stripping off her school uniform and taking a deep breath in just her bra and panties. She grabbed her favorite type of outfit and slipped it on before writing down a quick note for Ranma. A quick jaunt down the stairs once more and towards the bathing room, she opened the door quietly and saw Ranma's clothing set out for him to change into. She grinned and tapped on the door, setting the note on top of his clothes.

"Occupied." Ranma called out, hearing the tapping on the door.

"Just me Saotome. Wasn't sure if anyone was in there." She purposely responded, she slid the outer door open, "Kasumi was almost done with dinner when I got home, so hurry up."

"Alright." Ranma responded, taking the hint that it was time to get out. He stepped out of the furo, grabbing a towel and drying himself off before stepping out into the outer room. He noticed the note and set it aside so he could get dressed. Once he was done, he read the note.

Meet after dinner, train station.

Ranma nodded to himself, crumpled up the note and threw it into the wastebasket before stepping out of the bathing room. He headed over to the living room when he noticed Kasumi carrying the large bowl filled with sukiyaki. "Kasumi, you are a goddess among chefs." Ranma thought as she sat the bowl down, the plates and bowls were already set at the table before Ranma sat down at one end of the table. Nabiki came down the steps and sat to his left once Kasumi brought the rice cooker and set it next to her. She was just about to get up again when Soun entered, dramatically taking a big whiff to smell the dinner that was set out.

"It smells wonderful, Kasumi."

"Thank you, Father." Kasumi smiled, holding her hand out for his bowl. Soun took his bowl and gave it to her as he finally noticed something.

"Where's Akane?" Soun asked, hoping that a quiet dinner would help her and Ranma see that they were meant to be together

"She was going out with her friends." Kasumi replied, handing him back his rice so he could start eating.

"As long as she's safe." Soun remarked, taking the bowl back and plucking out a few pieces of meat from the sukiyaki bowl. Soun continued to watch the rest of his family and their guest as they ate, seeing his middle daughter sitting next to Ranma made him pause for a second before mentally tossing the thought out the window. 'She's sitting there because Akane isn't. There isn't anything to worry about.' He took a bite from the piece of meat and ate some of his rice, quietly contemplating how to get Akane and Ranma together.

After dinner, Ranma began helping Kasumi out in the kitchen by cleaning up the dishes with her. Hoping to give Nabiki time to slip out quietly while he was busy. Soun made his way back to his bedroom after dinner, letting the kids do what they wanted as it was the weekend. The school wasn't having Saturday classes due to the Principal trying to make the schedules more like the schools in Hawaii, or so they were told. As Ranma and Kasumi finished the dishes, he dried the last plate and put it away for Kasumi, while she wiped down the sink one last time to get rid of the excess water.

Ranma left the kitchen, and walked out to the backyard, looking around to make sure no one was watching, he jumped over the back wall and walked a steady pace towards the local train station. He continued to look around him as he walked, making it look like he was looking at specific buildings, but he was watching to see if he was being followed. As he reached the station, he saw someone step out from behind a pillar.

"Took you long enough, Ranma-kun." A sensual voice spoke to him, Ranma didn't show much emotion, but the shiver that ran down his spine told him who it was.

"Nabs." He grinned, getting a rise out of her as she scowled at the shortening of her name.

"Saotome, you had better have a good reason for making me wait." Nabiki walked up to him, lightly swatting his shoulder.

"Well I had to make sure our third lover didn't see me leaving after dinner." his cheeky grin grew a little more. Another swat from his date before she grabbed his arm and pulled him into the station.

"Another comment like that, and I might not take you to where we're going." Nabiki shouldered him as she got the tickets for the train. She passed one ticket to Ranma and headed off to the station proper.

Ranma was able to finally get a good look at the middle Tendo sister and she was dressed for success. She wore two inch black heels, which made her slightly taller than him. Smooth, shapely legs came up to a mini dark purple skirt that covered her pert rear, the light blue blouse under the purple jacket completed her ensemble. Her ears were pierced with small studded earrings, her hair was parted and pulled back, leaving one side covering half her face, the other side pulled up and back with a few barrettes.

"So where are you taking us to this time? Not the same dance club as before?"

"I've got something better than that, Saotome." She replied, "Think of this as your next lesson in social workings."

"What have you got going on, Nabiki?"

"You'll see, Saotome." Nabiki replied as their train stopped. They both exited the train and headed away from the station towards the downtown area. Once there, Nabiki took a turn down an alley and one more turn before coming up to a line of people. Nabiki walks towards the head of the line to the entrance of the "Lucky Lucky" Club. "Toroshi!" Nabiki called out as she drew closer to the entrance.

"Well if it isn't 'Icey' herself." 'Toroshi' replied, the broad shouldered man relaxed his stance, "You know I can't let you in looking like that." the bouncer looked her up and down, then over at Ranma, who folded his arms and slightly puffed up, "The stiff's gotta head to the back of the line, which means you have to as well."

"Toroshi, you still owe me for that last bet you made." Nabiki playfully put her hand under her chin and tapped her index finger over her lips. "I believe that it's time for that favor you owe me."

"You pullin' that for getting in? Must be desperate for company for that favor."

"Not desperate, just want to take this stud here and get him to relax."

'Toroshi' looked at Ranma once more, looking him up and down again to judge him, "Looks like he's a thoroughbred, you sure about him?"

"Oh he's more than man enough for what's inside." Nabiki smirked at the horse reference, remembering what she saw in the furo after the wedding, "You have no idea that this 'Wild Horse' lives up to his name."

'Toroshi' feigned having a heart-attack, "Oh God, did I just hear 'Icey' tell a joke? I think the world's coming to an end." He gave a hearty laugh and gently slapped a hand on Ranma's shoulder, "If 'Icey' says you're good, then I got no problem with it." He opened the rope barrier and waved them both in, "Just remember the rules 'Icey'."

"I'll explain them to the 'Wild Horse' before we start dancing." Nabiki waved back at 'Toroshi' and headed in with Ranma following behind.

Ranma looked at Nabiki as she pulled him towards the bar at the back of the club. Weaving in and out of the dancers who were holding and grinding their way into their partners. Once they reached the bar, Ranma focused his attention to the young woman who held up two fingers as the bartender came closer. The older woman behind the bar nodded and turned to get the drinks. Nabiki then turned to face Ranma and pulled him closer so she didn't have to talk loudly at him.

"There are a few rules you need to abide by here at the Lucky Lucky club." Nabiki started, her head near his ear as she talked to him, causing him to get goosebumps across his neck and back, "Rule one: if you drink, you will be told to stop if they think you've had too much."

Nabiki's hand came up and she ran her fingers into his hair, "Rule two: if a girl wants you, she will let you know. If a guy wants you, he will let you know. If they say no and you continue to bother them, you will be kicked out. And Rule three: you don't flirt with the Bartender, they flirt with you." Nabiki finished her telling him the rules with a soft kiss and nip of his earlobe. "and one more rule, you have fun Ranma."

The bartender set two shots down in front of them and looked at Nabiki with her eyebrows raised. "Icey, seems like you brought someone over for a visit." The older woman smiled, leaning over the bar a bit to show her generous assets. Ranma was definitely focused on Nabiki as the bartender tried to flirt with the young man, "Two mint schnapps and a kiss from the hunk later."

Elbowing Ranma's side, Nabiki smiled and looked back at the bartender, "Maybe he will take a raincheck on that kiss." The bartender nodded and winked at Ranma with a smile before moving to other patrons along the bar.

"Boy, you weren't kidding about the bartender's flirting with you." Ranma replied once the older woman was a bit further away from them. He looked at the drink in front of him as he saw Nabiki pick up her shot and downed it.

"Well it's been a while since I've been here, and bringing a guy here isn't what I normally do."

"Oh?" Ranma questioned, looking at the middle Tendo sister. "Who do you normally bring with you?"

Nabiki looked away for a moment out into the crowd of dancers before turning back to Ranma and responding, "Usually Ryonami."

Ranma's eyebrows rose a bit at that and took a moment himself to remember how Ryonami looked like before his eyes widened as well, "Must have been some lonely nights for you to go out with her."

Nabiki gave a slight scowl at that remark as she reached over and pinched her date's arm, "Next time you make a remark like that I'll leave you here with the bouncer in your female form."

"What did I say to piss you off?"

"I'll give this one to you as a freebie because I'm starting to like you." Nabiki looked over at him and pulled him closer, "You only come to the Lucky Lucky club to get lucky. I was lucky enough that Ryonami didn't mind being taken here and kept most of the guys from trying to get lucky with me." She leaned in and bit his earlobe, causing him to yelp a bit at that.

Ranma grabbed his ear that his date bit, rubbing it lightly to lessen the pain, "I'm sorry, Nabiki, I didn't mean anything by it."

Nabiki's scowl softened before she reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, gently tracing his ear she bit, "I'm sorry too, Ranma-kun. But it's a sore subject for me."

Ranma took her hand and then pulled her hand away from his head, "Come on," he took the other drink that was left for him and downed it as well, "We came here to dance didn't we?" He took a few steps towards the dance floor and tugged her along. "So show me some more dancing."

Nabiki began to smile and let Ranma pull her to the dance floor, once in the middle of the crowd, Ranma pulled her close and let her place his hands where she wanted them. Nabiki took advantage of that and grabbed his wrists, pushing them down just around her waist, taking his hands as she slid her hands to place them on her pert rear. She then took a moment to slide her hands up to his shoulders and pulled him close, "Now that I have you here, I don't think I'm going to let you go." She grinned up at him while pulling herself closer to him as she shifted her body to trap one of his legs between hers.

Ranma's eyes began to widen as he felt underneath her skirt as she ground herself on his thigh. He also began to feel her own thigh pushing up against him as she moved up and down his body. He squeezed her rear as she went down, as if to hold her from falling, before pulling her up as they continued to dance in the middle of the floor. He began to follow what he thought was the movements, but each time she moved and grounded her sex against his thigh, he almost froze up. His thoughts about what he was feeling for the middle Tendo sister started to override his mind. He got back on track quickly and followed up by moving his hands back up her backside, to which she would reach back with one hand from his shoulders and slide them back down to her pert rear. "Na..Nabiki?" He questioned as he held her.

Nabiki pulled the pig-tailed martial artist down so she could talk in his ear. "Just go with it." She replied, her fingers stroking the back of his neck, "Just keep dancing like this." She purred out, almost feeling like she had her top position in controlling the young man in front of her. Her body kept moving and dancing with him, she was feeling ecstatic while grinding against his leg. "You seem to have gotten a few admirers like last time, Saotome-kun." She looked over the man's shoulder as she saw several women licking their lips, watching them as they continued to dance and grind together. Nabiki almost groaned in pleasure as she twisted around Ranma, her hands never straying from his upper body while she walked and danced.

Ranma released a breath that he had been holding, feeling close to exploding in his pants as she continued to dance around him. His eyes never strayed from Nabiki as she moved, but he did notice more women were looking at them with this uncanny look he got sometimes from the girls in gym class, and some of the guys when he was splashed 'accidentally.' He knew that there might be trouble, but then he remembered Gina's words about cutting loose and letting the anxiety energy control his movements and actions. On Nabiki's next walk around, he grabbed her hand and pulled her close, his right arm went around her waist, and his left hand came up and caressed her cheek before he spun her round once, then he placed both hands on her shoulders and slid them down as he was also going down to the floor, touching her sides, hips and legs and back up again. His right arm once again wrapped around her waist with his left hand on her shoulder.

Nabiki's face was flushed red with the exertion of the dance and moves as she held herself up against Ranma, "Not bad, Ranma-kun." She gasped in his ear, trying not to sound like she was embarrassed at the pleasure she felt at his touch. She looked over his shoulder and noticed his admirers were also looking a bit flushed and jealous. "I need a quick break from that last dance." She pulled away from him slightly and pointed back to the bar. "I'll be there when you're ready to dance again."

Ranma nodded and was about to turn towards his admirers, when he felt a female body slam into him. The woman's arms wrapped around his shoulder and waist as she tried to hold herself up. The woman wore a nice blouse and skirt combination that were a little green. Her brown hair was done up in a ponytail with a simple ponytail holder Ranma noticed before she steadied herself. Once she stood up, Ranma had to look up at the 5'8" woman as she stopped for a moment and looked at him.

"Senpai?" She slurred out, her hand coming up to caress his cheek.

"I don't think..." Was all Ranma could get out before the woman wrapped her arms around him and started crying on his shoulder.

"Senpai!" She hiccupped, holding the young man tightly and not wanting to let him go. "I finally found you after years of searching!" The woman began to sway unconsciously to the music that started back up again.

Ranma wasn't sure what to do at the moment, but he held her so she wouldn't fall down on him. "Hey, I don't think I'm your..." Ranma started to speak over the music, but she held him close and nuzzled his neck while continuing to sway.

"Mmm. Ran-senpai." She mumbled, her breath hitched as she kissed his neck like a long lost lover, "You don't know how hard it was on me when you left." She danced and kissed along his neck before leaning back to look at him. "I took your lessons to heart, and kept defending the weak. Even if it got me in trouble."

Ranma looked up at the woman and narrowed his eyes as if trying to remember anyone on his journey that he would have taught anything. "I still think you have the wrong..." He stopped speaking when he received a kiss from her on the lips. It was warm, with a hint of chocolate and cookies. He felt her pushing him down because of her height, but it wasn't forceful. She released the kiss with a soft sound before she looked at him with desire in her eyes.

"Senpai, I'm glad I found you again." she smiled at him, before gently pulling him off the dance floor towards an alcove to continue. Ranma gently held her wrist and forced her to look at him.

"Look, I'm serious, I honestly think you have the wrong guy." He stated, he watched as she looked at him with some confusion before he took her other hand and continued to guide her off the floor, though not in the direction that she was planning to take him. "I don't know who you are, I really don't." He squeezed her hand to make sure she was focusing on the conversation as she looked down at the floor.

"But you look like my Senpai. And you seem to be his age and everything." She hiccupped, she felt his hand on her cheek as he guided her to look at him once more.

"Do you remember his name? Maybe I've heard of him."

The woman hiccuped and sniffed softly as she wiped her eyes free of moisture, "He was Ran-senpai. Or Sao-something." She groaned and rubbed her fist against her temple, "But I remember the ponytail and his blue-grey eyes."

Ranma almost smacked his forehead against the palm of his hand, if it wasn't already against the woman's cheek. "If I remember him, I'll let you know." He gave her a soft smile, which she returned, "By the way, what's your name?"

"Kino. Makoto Kino." She softly leaned down and gave him a hug, "May I ask for your name then?" She held him close and closed her eyes.

"Saotome, Ranma Saotome." Of course, by the time he said that, the young Kino was lightly sleeping on his shoulder. Standing next to a booth, he eased her down onto the seat, pushing her up against the wall so she was a bit more comfortable. He was worried that someone would take advantage of her when we noticed Nabiki walking towards him. He gave her a brief smile as she got closer, noticing she had two drinks in her hand.

"Thought you didn't want any hanky panky, Saotome." She quipped, handing him the drink. Ranma looked at the glass and up to her, "Don't worry, it's water." She slid into the seat across from him and Kino. She saw that Makoto's eyes were closed and she was leaning against the wall, "Wear her out before you could get to anything?"

Ranma gave her a quick evil eye at the joke before shaking his head. "Not exactly." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "She thinks I'm her Senpai because that's all she would call me." He grumbled, "Now I'm trying to remember if I've seen her before or not. And what I did. Or the Panda."

Nabiki shook her head and started laughing before reaching out to grasp his hand, "Life truly isn't a dull moment with you Ranma, is it?" she squeezed his hand softly before looking back at Kino, "So what are you going to do?"

"Well I can't obviously leave her here. Maybe ask one of the bartenders to watch her until she wakes up?"

Nabiki smiled at him, 'Obviously he wants to make sure that she's not hurt or anything.' she thought as she squeezed his hand once more, "Good answer, I'll watch her for now while you go talk to the bartender." Another squeeze and she let go of his hand after he took a quick sip of his water.

Ranma nodded to himself and got up after his sip. He walked past the dance floor and over to the bar. The woman behind the bar smiled up at him and winked.

"Come to get that kiss?" She spoke huskily to him.

Ranma gave a shy smile before shaking his head, "No. But I do have a favor to ask."

"Sure thing, Honey, what do you want?"

"There is a woman in that booth," Ranma started, pointing to the booth he was just in, Nabiki waved back to the bartender and pointed to the other young woman on the opposite side of the booth, "who I think had a little too much to drink and is resting it off. Can someone sit and watch out for her until she wakes up?"

The bartender looked over again and then grabbed one of the other bartenders as they were walking behind her. She leaned into the woman and whispered something into her ear before the other woman nodded and went to put what she was carrying away and headed towards the table. "There you are, Honey." She leaned over the bar slightly, displaying her generous assets to Ranma, who was starting to get slightly flustered, "You going to show 'Icey' a good time tonight right?" Ranma nodded at her question before the bartender reached over and cupped his cheek, bringing him closer to her, "You treat her right, or if I hear anything bad happened to her, you'll answer to me. Got it, Stud?"

"Before you even know what happened, she'd fleece me of everything I own." Ranma replied as the bartender leaned back and shooed Ranma back to Nabiki. As Ranma headed back to Nabiki, the waitress that the bartender asked was almost there. As she spoke to Nabiki, the middle Tendo daughter stood from the booth and the woman sat back down in her seat. Nabiki met the young man she brought into the club and gently grabbed his arm.

"You did your good deed for the day, Saotome." She gently pulled him back to the dance floor. "They'll keep an eye on her and make sure she's okay tonight." Ranma nodded as she pulled him close in for a slow dance. She wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. "They do that all the time." She held him closer as she turned him on the dance floor.

Ranma nodded once more and wrapped his own arms around the middle Tendo sister. His head gently resting on her head as they continued to dance slowly. He never knew that they would play any slow songs in a club like this. He took a moment to review to himself what this new Nabiki was doing, and found that he started to like this Nabiki. However there were some things he really needed to know about.

"Nabiki, I wanted to know..." Ranma started, but was hushed by Nabiki dragging her finger down his cheek and over his lips."

"Can we talk afterwards?" Nabiki pulled back a bit to look at him. "I want to enjoy this." Once she saw him nod, she pulled him closer to her and leaned her head back on his shoulder.

They spent most of the evening dancing and staying close together, though Nabiki noticed that her partner would look back at the table where the bartender and woman were. Once she glanced back there herself and saw the bartender begin to escort her out of the establishment. Once she was outside, she felt Ranma sighing before she glanced back at him.

"Come on. Let's get out of here." Nabiki mentioned before taking his hand and walking him out of the club and back onto the streets. They walked down the street, with Nabiki holding onto his arm. She looked up and saw a small coffee shop still open, to which she pulled the martial artist into. "My treat, for what you did."

Ranma gave her a courtesy glance and nodded quietly as she pulled him in and grabbed a seat for them. Once seated, she ordered a black coffee for Ranma and a Mocha for herself. Ranma looked a little disdain at the coffee order, but wasn't one to ignore anything for free if someone else was paying.

"Nabiki, thank you for the dancing. It was really great." Ranma genuinely smiled at her as they waited for their coffee.

"Well, you asked me out. I just happened to know where to go." Nabiki smiled back and smiled at the waitress who came with their coffee. Once she set them down, the waitress looked at Ranma with a gleam in her eye. Nabiki, however, noticed and reached over to cover Ranma's hand.

Ranma was slightly obvious to the interaction between the two women, so when he felt Nabiki's hand cover his, he glanced down at them before looking up at a slightly blushing Nabiki. "Nabiki?"

"It's nothing, Ranma-kun." Nabiki mentioned as she squeezed his hand and pulled her hand back once she saw the waitress was out of sight. "Now what did you want to ask me?" She questioned him.

"I wanted to ask you again, why can't I marry Akane?" He took his coffee and took a sip before sticking his tongue out at the bitter taste. When he set the cup down, Nabiki reached over for the creamer and poured one of the small cups in for him and stirred it. "I know it has something to do with an inheritance. But whose?"

Nabiki waved her hand while sipping her mocha coffee. "Ranma-kun, I wouldn't even begin to suspect anything from your side, but I know Mother set something up for us." She continued to sip her coffee before reaching back out to Ranma's hand once she saw the waitress coming back to their table. "Just don't bring it up again, Ranma-kun. I'll have to get more..." She paused once the waitress was near before she spoke again, "creative with our activities." She winked at him as she heard the faint gasp from the waitress before she walked away, leaving the couple alone for a while.. "Besides, it's not good to share secrets, even if I had all the cards." She remarked, taking a sip of her coffee and smiling at the taste. "Just fix your problems here." She reached over and poked Ranma on the forehead, "Then this part will fix itself." She poked again at his chest, letting her finger rest against his pectoral and even rubbing it gently.

Ranma watched her as she poked and rubbed his chest, wondering if she really was that exhausted. He reached up and grabbed her hand before gently placing it back on the table. "Fine. But I'm not sure I can fix that even fully." He let her hand go and almost felt like he should hold her hand again, but mentally shook it off as exhaustion from the night. A few sips of his coffee and he pushed it away, clearly not wanting it. Nabiki finished her drink and slid the exact change in the middle of the table. She stood, brushing off her dress and straightening it as she walked.

"Come on, Ranma-kun. I think it's time for us to head home." Nabiki mentioned as she headed towards the door. Ranma got up and followed her, keeping a steady pace as Nabiki was taking her time heading back to the station. "So what happened this afternoon with Akane?" Nabiki looked over at him and saw the light scowl on his face.

"She thought you were going to steal me away from her." Ranma grumbled as they walked, "Seemed to think that even her sister is on the list of taking her fiancée away from her." He then heard a soft snicker, before a quiet laugh came out of his companion.

"Let me guess, she was a little green around her gills?" She chuckled softly and continued to laugh behind her hand. "I thought she was paranoid before the wedding, but now..." She had to stop for a moment as Ranma looked over at her with a questioning look.

"But aren't we on a date now?" Ranma asked. Not fully confused about the situation, but more along the lines of that they were doing exactly as Akane thought they were doing.

"Please. Dates are just a way of getting to know people in a social environment." Nabiki reached up and put her hand on his shoulder, "Akane doesn't have too much to worry about with me taking you out now and then." She then leaned against him, "Though if she decides she can't handle it, I might be persuaded to take on the family honor." Ranma shivered as she had spoken the last line directly into his ear in a soft whisper, causing her to laugh once more.

"So then, what do you call this then? A date or a social experiment?" Ranma shot back, a little angry, but remembered that he had asked her out.

"Right now, just friends going out and having a good time. While keeping other 'young maidens' from tasting the 'forbidden fruit.'" the middle Tendo daughter replied, resting her head on his shoulder. They had finally arrived at the train station and were now waiting for the train to board. "Honestly Ranma, I'm still trying to figure out what we are."

Ranma gave another nod, mostly as he was trying to make sure he understood where Nabiki saw him as. He knew that most of his fiancée's just see him as an end to their means, but Nabiki and Kasumi saw him differently.

What he thought Nabiki might see him as, was just as he thought he and his father were. A few freeloaders who weren't helping with the Dojo and putting a strain on their finances. While now, he wasn't too sure what she thought. He hoped that he was starting to become like a friend to Nabiki, even if it was a one-sided view.

Kasumi, on the other hand, really started to see him as a little brother. Someone who needed help and wanted to make sure he did his best outside of martial arts. She was always willing to listen to him, even if he wasn't in the mood to talk. She always met him with that soft smile of hers and a few snacks to tide him over and then he would just talk, with her listening attentively to him.

He jolted slightly as he felt Nabiki take his arm, her fingers threading between his as she pulled him closer to her.

"I had a good time tonight Ranma-kun." Nabiki mentioned, squeezing his arm slightly. The train arrived at the station and they both got on. Finding a seat, Nabiki rested her head back onto his shoulder. This time, Ranma didn't jump at the contact, gently reaching behind her and laying his hand on her hip. Nabiki scooted closer as the train left the station towards Nermia.

"I had a good time too, Nabiki." He said quietly to her,

When the train made the announcement for the Nermia station, Ranma looked over at Nabiki and found her almost asleep. He hated to wake her, but he knew that she would want to walk home. "Nabiki. We're here."

Nabiki shook her head slightly before waking up. "Oh." She rubbed her eyes with her right hand before standing up. "Thank you, Ranma-kun." Ranma made sure she was steady on her feet before walking with her off the train after the doors opened up.

As they walked down the streets from the train station, Nabiki continued to hold his arm as they headed back to the Tendo Dojo. They rounded the corner and saw that all the lights were off, except the front door light. 'Kasumi must have figured out we were out after dinner.' Nabiki thought to herself, and she knew that Kasumi would have left the light on for them as she had done for Nabiki in the past when she went out dancing with friends. She reached the door with Ranma, pulled out her spare key from her purse she had on her, and opened the door. Ranma, being a bit more of a gentleman than he had been for a while, held the door open and made sure her shoes came off easily. Nabiki picked them up and started heading for the stairs when she almost stumbled on the first step.

Expecting to crash and wake the whole house, she was pleasantly surprised that she was held up by some very strong arms, which made her turn and look at a red-faced Ranma that was holding her up. Her arms came up slightly to hold on to his arms as she leaned back onto him. "Thank you, again Ranma-kun." she sleepily whispered as Ranma began to guide her to her room.

About halfway up the stairs, Ranma begins to hear Nabiki softly breathing shallow breaths. He looked down and found her asleep in his arms. He gently adjusted his hold on her shoulders and scooped her up in a bridal carry and continued on down to her room. He fumbled a bit with her door knob and was able to get her door opened. As he looked in the domain of the Mercenary Queen, he found the room very lack-luster. A few pictures on her desk, some pictures on her walls next to the bookshelf. And her bed near the window. He gently shut the door behind him, as he didn't want anyone to come up behind him while he was laying Nabiki in her bed. He took a moment to use his foot to move the sheets down enough to where he could lay Nabiki in bed without disturbing her to cover her back up. As he began to lay her down, she woke up slightly and gently wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down onto her for a kiss. A kiss that deepened ever so slightly as he also began to kiss her back. She let go of his neck and wrapped her arms around his torso to pull him down on top of her, letting her control where he was to lay on the bed with her.

In her sleepy state, Nabiki continues to kiss Ranma and tease him slightly before she lets him up for some air. She opens her eyes and looks at him with a gaze that Ranma didn't think would ever be on the Ice Queen's face. "You were such a thoughtful gentleman tonight Ranma-kun." She raised a hand from his torso to his cheek as she caressed it lovingly, "Maybe you should have acted like that while we were engaged." She poked his nose gently before she giggled to herself as she closed her eyes to go back to sleep. "I might have not given you back to Akane if you had."

Ranma felt her other arm loosen around his torso and slide back onto the mattress before he saw her fall back asleep. He took a deep breath to calm his excitement before he rearranged her in bed and covered her up. As he stood, he gave one last look at her and quietly slipped out of her room and back into the guest room, where he stripped off his clothing and got himself ready for bed. Thankful that his Old Man left him some room to sleep on the floor and was not in his panda form tonight. As he lay on the futon mattress, he licked his lips and found the taste of black cherry lingering on them from the kiss. His thoughts as he finally started to fall asleep carried the question, 'What do I do now?'