"Miss Hinako?" Ranma blinked at what appeared to be a over-sugared little girl. The teacher's child form could wear Azusa down. "What are you doing here?" "Saotome-san, is Tendo-san home?" Ranma breathed a sigh of relief, she was just here to try and talk to Akane's dad. "Nah, he and pops went to a 'town meeting'," Ranma shrugged and rolled his eyes. "In that case…" Ranma did not like the sound of that. "Are you ready for your make-up class?" "Make-up class?" Ranma asked nervously. "When I have I been absent recently?" "Oh, don't you remember?" the child-like teacher asked sweetly. "You fell asleep in one of your classes and never made it to history." "But that was weeks ago!" Ranma blubbered. The teacher crossed her arms and tapped her foot angrily. "Are you going to come to your tutoring session or do I have to drag you?" "You got bored," Ranma asked resignedly. "Didn't you?" "Saotome-san, please do not make such accusations," she sniffed. "Its disrespectful." "Okay, I'm coming," he sighed. "Let me get my books." "What?!?" she facefaulted. "You're NOT going to fight me?" "No, don't feel like it." "Meanie." The teacher pouted in the hallway while the teenage martial-artist collected his books. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Oh, hello Kodachi," Kasumi smiled as the dark-haired girl strode into the living section of the Tendo dojo. "We missed you at dinner yesterday." Kodachi blinked, there was something about the eldest Tendo that made her feel…regretful. She did not miss the mild reproach in the young woman's voice though. "I was doing nothing improper," she insisted, proudly. Embarrassing was another matter, if Tatewaki had heard about such idiocy as with that bowl of ramen. She shivered, and Kasumi glanced at her curiously. "You seem……sleepy," the quiet girl noted. "Perhaps you should go to bed." "It is hardly past noon," Kodachi retorted. "I can last for a few more hours until a proper bed time. And where is Ranma?" Kasumi turned a sweet smile on the girl, and nobody aside from Nabiki or Cologne would have caught the hint of suspicion in her eyes. "Tutoring session at the school," she answered. Kodachi paled almost imperceptively. "But, it's a free day." "Miss Hinako was quite insistent." "And everybody else?" "Nabiki is finally getting some rest, my father and Mr. Saotome are at a 'town meeting'," Kasumi noted the gymnast eyes widen slightly at each absence. "And Akane is practicing in the dojo." All the arrogance and coldness returned in an instant. "I suppose she needs it," Kodachi laughed walking off in that direction. "After all, she is not a Kuno. She needs all the help she can get. OHOHOHOHOHO!!!" "Training is a good idea," Kasumi agreed. "If you are fully rested." "Why would I lower myself to train with her?" Kodachi asked. "Besides, a real match is so much more productive." "Perhaps it was your choice of training partners." Old habits flared in Kodachi. "My brother was an exceptional teacher," she declared proudly. "I was clumsy, I didn't learn quickly, I..." she snapped her mouth shut. "Your brother is a psychotic maniac," Kasumi said sweetly. The quiet woman bowed slightly and returned to the kitchen. "Try to get some rest soon." Kodachi didn't try to argue. She walked quietly into the dojo proper. She almost instantly felt a surge of envy at seeing Akane run through katas. It was a further reminder that Kodachi was the lowest end of the martial artist totem pole around here. "Damn that baka," Akane grumbled. "How are we supposed to get anything done with him stuck in class?" Akane spent several minutes complaining about Ranma in general while she ran katas. She didn't notice Kodachi watching her, and fidgeting nervously. The gymnast was reminded of something several years back, about the time she managed to achieve a level of perfection that kept her brother off her back, others would have said "when she finally snapped," but Kodachi hadn't been in her right mind for close to five years. Kodachi listened to Akane rant about Ranma for several minutes. Each "insult" took a little more hope from her. There was frustration and anger, of course, but there was also affection and a little concern. Kodachi had always caught it in her rival's speech, but now it was stronger. Recent events had forced her to face such feelings recently, and she had accepted them apparently. Kodachi finally latched onto one idea, maybe, if she were as good as Akane. The gymnast stood up and cautiously took stance a few yards behind Akane. The shorter girl in her yellow gi quickly and flawlessy ran through a simple kata. Kodachi attempted to imitate it, but she had never fought without weapons before. She felt dangerously clumsy. It took her about twice as long as Akane, to finish it. She was about to try again before she noticed that the Ranma-bashing had silenced. She looked up nervously to see Akane watching her critically and a little suspiciously. They all did that, watched her like a cat arching its back at another cat. "You're not doing that quite right," Akane said simply. The gymnast defiantly shifted into a stance she knew much better, producing a ribbon from where it had been hidden in her dress. "Whoah!" Kodachi snarled viciously as she whipped her ribbon at the surprised Akane. "I'm not going to be trained by anyone, anymore!" Kodachi yelled as Akane ducked under her ribbon and closed. The gymnast barely had time to blink before Akane rose up inside her reach and snatched the ribbon away. Kodachi flipped backwards a few times and turned to face Akane, and didn't find her. Kodachi froze when she felt someone tap her on the back of the head. "What was THAT all about?" Akane grumbled walking around in front of the gymnast. Kodachi was confused when Akane simply shifted back into stance. "Start like this. Well? If you're going to be practicing behind me at least do it right." Kodachi nervously took the stance indicated, she recoiled as Akane approached her. "What's the big deal?" Akane demanded, dropping into a battle stance herself. She relaxed at the look Kodachi was giving her. She wasn't very worried, she had improved over time, and Kodachi had not. Outside rythmic gymnastics and dirty tricks she had never been much of a threat anyway. "Now do you want to learn anything or not?" "I'm through with training," Kodachi declared arrogantly. "What does a born talent like a Kuno need with training." Akane merely tapped her foot, irritably. "Are you going to take stance again or not?" Akane demanded. Kodachi slowly, reluctantly took stance again. Akane circled her and looked on critically. She took Kodachi's forward arm and shifted it into proper position gently and firmly. She then turned her attention on Kodachi's shoulders and other arm. "That's better," she muttered. "You got the legs positioned right, must be the gymnastics. Turn like this a little more." Kodachi hesitated and then did so, her muscles tensed, but she recognized the sensation. This was an unfamiliar stance, but it wouldn't take long before she developed the proper muscles. She watched Akane's movements with her eyes cautiously. The Tendo stood beside her a few feet and took the same stance. "This is what you call….training?" Kodachi asked nervously. Akane gave her a questioning look, and then it seemed as if the shorter girl remembered something, and her bored and suspicious look softened slightly. "Hey, I'm bored, and it's always better to practice with someone," Akane said. "Now the first movement goes like this…" Kodachi watched as Akane twisted her body forward. "Is there not a strike in that?" "One thing at a time," Akane said irritably. Kodachi blinked and tried to duplicate the motion, she inwardly cowered as Akane watched her, obviously seeing something wrong. "You almost got it, slow down a little for now." "Like this, sensai?" Kodachi asked, unconsciously using the title. Akane blinked at the question, then she shrugged and the critical expression returned to her face. "Okay, that's good. Now try it again." "Hai." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Can't you be the least bit disorderly?" "All that will get me is a ki draining," Ranma muttered. "You're behaving on purpose," the teacher demanded angrily. "Aren't you?" "May we continue the lessen, sensei?" he asked, oozing politeness. The grin on his face more than answered her question. "Please, can I have a little bit of disruption?" "No….its not good for me right now." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Great-Grandma, what you talking to Nabiki about?" Shampoo asked as they shut down for the post lunch rush for a little lunch themselves. "The girl has a plan that might prove effective," Cologne answered as she swallowed some noodles. "What plan that?" Shampoo asked. She continued thinking to herself, "And why she not tell me?" "She was not specific with the details," Cologne admitted. "That one never is." "Take one to know one," Shampoo whispered. "What was that?" Cologne directed narrowed eyes at her great-granddaughter. "Nothing great-grandma," Shampoo answered cheerfully, sweatdropping. "Shampoo win airen? Won't violent-girl be mad?" Cologne smiled "Not if this works," Cologne laughed. "If this works everybody will come out of this satisfied, except, perhaps that Kuno girl." "Oh, that good," Shampoo answered cheerfully. "How Nabiki, she look bad." Cologne stared at her searchingly. Shampoo was obviously concerned for the not quite trustworthy Tendo. "She should not be up and around," Cologne noted, "but her injuries could have been much worse." Shampoo relaxed visibly. "Stupid girl should stay in bed," Shampoo hmphed. Cologne and Shampoo thought they heard a breeze pass through one of their rear windows. "Mousse home, yes?" "Perhaps not," Cologne noted. "If that was him he and the Kuno girl could prove to be a problem." "I handle Mousse," Shampoo waved him off. "And crazy-girl weak martial artist." "Still, perhaps you should go to the Tendo dojo and keep an eye on her," Cologne suggested. "Mousse will attempt to contact her before he does anything." "Yes, great-grandma," Shampoo agreed readily, leaving the restaurant at a brisk, leaping run. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mousse slipped quietly into the room and glanced about cautiously. He had a sudden sense of walking into the dragon's lair. Glancing about he relaxed. This particular dragon was deeply asleep and likely to stay that way for a long time yet. Still, caution was in order. He cast about the room looking for anywhere that the Tendo-girl could have hidden something. A blush rose softly to his cheeks as he opened Nabiki's underwear drawer, and after only a cursory check he shut it again. He opened the next drawer and searched through it a little more thoroughly, still being as quiet as he could be. He found nothing again. Nabiki Tendo's room was spartan, practical. There didn't seem to be many places to hide anything. He stood up frustratedly for a moment and looked about. "The closet," he whispered to himself, and silently made his way there. "Shampoo," he stopped and glanced at the shape under the thick blankets. Nabiki's wistful expression slowly dissolved away into the cool emotionless mask that usually had its place on her face. With his poor vision and the speed of the change he couldn't be certain that he had actually seen it or not. He decided it must have just been his imagination and continued with his search. He tapped the back of the closet wall, listening for the echoing sound of a hollow panel. He heard a more rustling behind him, but dismissed it as nothing more than more of Nabiki's restlessness. He was frowning as he listened, where did the girl have everything hidden? "What are you doing in here?" Mousse turned to face what he thought was an irate Nabiki, he swallowed nervously. He could beat the middle Tendo to within an inch of her life without breaking a sweat, but their was still something innately intimidating about the girl. "Nabiki-san, this isn't what it looks like," he tried. The blur reached out and grabbed his ear and dragged him along. He caught a sight of the girl in the bed shift up and eye him dangerously as he was dragged out. If he had been startled by what he had assumed was Nabiki, now he was terrified. He breathed a sigh of relief when the door closed behind him and his unknown captor. "I really expected better of you, Mousse," the girl said, using Kasumi's voice. She tsked him shaking her head sadly. "But she…" Mousse was reeling with shame and embarrassment. Kasumi was disappointed. Considering the amount of strangeness she took on face value that was a particularly condemning statement. Somewhere in the background a door opened and closed and Mousse heard a whiny high-pitched voice enter the house. "And what would Kodachi think?" "I was trying…wait a minute, why would Kodachi care?" Kasumi ignored him "And its not like you'd actually find anything." Ranma appeared in the hallway. "Hey, Kasumi," he paused and looked at Mousse, then looked about nervously. "Kodachi not with you Mousse? And how'd you manage to get on Kasumi's bad side?" "I'm going to catch you misbehaving Saotome-san," a highly annoyed little girl declared following Ranma up the stairs. Mousse blinked at the absurdity of the sentence. What could this little girl do to a master martial artist like Ranma Saotome? "I just caught Mousse sneaking about Nabiki's room," Kasumi hmphed. "And her in there asleep." Ranma looked from Kasumi to Mousse and then to the hyper-active little teacher. A very familiar expression was crossing Hinako-san's face. "I think he's about to pay for that," Ranma said smiling broadly. "Just what do you mean by…." "DELINQUENT! I see you need punishment!" Ranma and Kasumi stepped back as Mousse looked on confused at the little girl. "What are you going to do with that coin?" Mousse asked sarcastically. "Happo 5 yen satsu!" Ranma and Kasumi watched calmly as Mousse was drained of ki to a point of near-insubstantiality. "There, feels much better." The now very adult and sultry Hinako-san turned about to leave the Tendo Dojo. "Later Hinako-san," Ranma called out. "Be at school on time, Saotome," the teacher returned. Kasumi examined the shocked expression on Mousse's ki-drained face. "Oh dear, was that really necessary?" Ranma shrugged. "Is Akane still in the dojo?" "I believe so," Kasumi said sweetly. "Hmm, it seems to be time to begin on supper." Ranma shrugged and walked off heading back down the stairs a little ahead of Kasumi. Neither of them gave Mousse much more of a thought. After all, his ki would recover on its own, and he had deserved it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nabiki listened to what transpired outside her door and relaxed. She'd let the blind-boy sweat it out a few days, but she was satisfied. Still it did mean that she needed to put her plan into practice a little sooner than she intended. Not that she would have waited long on any account. She looked to the Jusenkyo water's hiding place. It wouldn't be much longer before Kasumi finally noticed its presence in the house. Nabiki was good, but she wasn't good enough to keep magic like that under her sister's nose forever. Of course, Kasumi might just ignore it and let things develop as they would. She did a lot of that, so far she hadn't asked about Nabiki's choice of battlefield either. Nabiki sighed irritably, things got so much more complicated when magic was involved. "And dangerous," Nabiki muttered, and suddenly the world seemed all that much lighter. Nabiki turned her mind to more practical matters, lying back in her bed to think and rest at the same time. "Now, how to splash Ranma with out him knowing it was me, or at least on purpose." She let her body slip back into sleep as she considered her problems. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ukyou only barely recovered from her surprise to catch the descending Okonomiyaki. "You found Nabiki, WHERE?!?" the chef demanded as soon as everything was well under control again. Ryouga blinked, what was she so upset about, it wasn't like she was the one cursed. "At the edge of Jusenkyo," Ryouga grumbled. "And I'll probably never get back there again." "Nabiki was at Jusenkyo," Ukyou pointed out. "Do you think she was there to fight Copycat Ken, she knows better than that." "So what was…" Ryouga narrowed his eyes and then paled. "Nabiki with Jusenkyo water." The horrifying possibilities paraded through his and Ukyou's mind. Of course, Ryouga had no problem with one of those possibilities, the one that saw him getting cured. The others, however, the ones that had Nabiki in every corner and the idea of being cursed with any of a number of other forms for annoying the little loan shark. Those were the possibilities that really terrified them. "Okay, we have time," Ukyou forced herself to breathe. "She was about dead on her feet earlier, we can wait until Ucchan's closes and then check this out." "And what are we going to do, sneak around her room while she's asleep?" Ryouga asked narrowly. "No, thank you," she paused a moment to frisbee an okonomiyaki out to a customer. "What kind of insensitive idiot does something like that?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A still barely conscious Mousse sneezed as Ranma disappeared towards the dojo. "Hey, Akane," he shouted cheerfully. "I got through an entire tutoring session without being…" Ranma stopped cold when saw what Akane was doing. "Hey, Ranma," Akane called back cheerfully, as if she weren't teaching a dangerous lunatic anything-goes martial arts. She turned to Kodachi for a moment. The shorter girl irritably corrected some small point in the gymnast's stance. "You still need more work on that," Akane muttered, then entered stance and shifted positions. "Try that a couple of times." "Hai," Kodachi said and nodded determinedly. Ranma blinked, there were apparently no Kunoesque speeches coming from her at the moment. "Uh, Akane," Ranma whispered walking up next to her and eyeing Kodachi. The gymnast's forehead was crinkled in determination while she practiced the motion Akane had shown her. "What are you doing?" "I'm training Kodachi," Akane answered simply. "I see that," he watched Kodachi perform the indicated motion slowly and then a little faster as she got the proper feel of it. "Why?" "I was bored, you were stuck with Hinako-san," Akane shrugged. "And I think she could use some." Ranma couldn't argue with that last one. "Okay, I think you got that down…now the strike is like this, can you do that." "Like this, Tendo-sensai?" Kodachi asked imitating the motion. Ranma face-faulted. "Tendo-sensai?" Akane sweatdropped. "I can't get her to stop calling me that," Akane explained, frustratedly. Ranma examined Kodachi closely for a moment. Every once in a while her glance would flicker nervously about the room. Other than that she was calm, quiet, and; most strange of all; nearly……normal. Ranma thought about it and realized that in the time she had been living at the Tendo dojo, he hadn't had near as much trouble with her as he should have. In fact the only time she had really flown off the handle was when they had to pull her off his father that one time. He still hadn't figured out what Pops had done to provoke her, of course Genma's overly vehement denials of responsibility didn't help the sometime-panda. "Uh huh, you don't mind if I keep an eye…" *CRASH* Akane and Ranma sighed as the dojo wall caved in. Both of them saw Kodachi flicker through a moment of panic before that familiar haughty expression passed over her face. Suddenly that Kodachi was back. "Nihao!" Shampoo called out cheerfully. The dust hadn't settled by the time Shampoo crossed the dojo and glomped onto Ranma. "Airen no talk to Nabiki-sister and crazy-girl." "Tempestous wench!" Kodachi shouted. "You dare to flaunt your low brow attempts at seduction in front of Kodachi, the Black Rose of St. Hebereke? Very well, we shall see how you fare. OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!" "RANMA!!" The aforementioned boy cowered as he saw the looks on the other two-girls' faces. He barely had time to slip out Shampoo's glomp and leap back from mallet range. Shampoo, he noticed rather cheerfully avoided Kodachi's ribobn and landed directing a bih at her apparent rivals. "Wait a minute," Ranma muttered. "Since when has she let me go that easy?" "What are you doing here?" Akane growled. "Silly girl, do you think to accomplish with this idiocy! You can't possibly win Ranma-darling's heart with us as competitors." Ranma and Akane blinked. "'Us?'" "Think stupid-Mousse up to something," Shampoo explained casually. "Then why are you here?" Akane yelled. "I haven't seen Mousse. Have you seen Mousse?" "Not since leaving the Nekohanten," Kodachi answered with an upturned nose. "Not that I see why I should have to explain myself to this primitive tease." Kodachi was still braced to fight, Akane noticed a small paper packet in her hands. Shampoo growled. "What about you Ranma?" Akane narrowed her eyes as she saw him examining a spot on the ceiling. "Okay Ranma, where is he?" The building battle auras of the other two girls dissipated as all eyes were turned to Ranma. "Well…." Ranma sweatdropped. He really didn't want to be the cause of three angry females tracking down the hidden weapons expert, he'd only get blamed for it later. On the other hand, not saying anything could get three angry females on him now. Fortunately the decision was taken from him. "Saootome…" Mousse moaned as he stumbled into the dojo and fell flat on his face. "What happen to Mousse?" Shampoo asked curiously, but without much excitement. "What could do this to such a valiant and powerful warrior?" Kodachi gasped. She kneeled down turned over the ki-drained Mousse. "He's been drained dry!" "So what did Hinako-san punish him for?" Akane asked, recognizing the symptoms. "Hinako-san?" Kodachi asked. "That ki-draining she-demon educator?" "Oh, Shampoo no like fighting around her." "Well, Ranma," Akane waited impatiently. "What did he do? Jaywalk, speak out of turn?" "Hey, why don't you ask him?" "Because he's…..coming around." "What was that for," Mousse demanded wearily, sitting up. "I mean it wasn't like I was peeping on her or anything." "Uh, Mousse," Ranma was too late to help the oblivious chinese boy. "Peeping on who?" Akane asked levely. "Nabiki, of course," Mousse answered. "What happened to you Ryouga?" "Oh man, now he's going to get it." "I'm Akane! And what are you doing peeping on my sister?!!" "Akane…but…but…" "What do you need my help with Shampoo for?" Kodachi shouted. "You seem to be busy enough with that cold-hearted calculator." "Kodachi, is that you?" "Stupid Mousse bother hurt and tired Nabiki?!" Battle auras flared. A mallet, gymnast club, and bonbori smashed Mousse to the ground. "I tried to warn you," Ranma said backing away. "What you mean 'help with Shampoo'? Crazy-girl no match Shampoo with blind-idiot!" "OHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!" Kodachi laughed. "We'll see who's an idiot, you primitive little trollop." "Hey wait…what are you?" Akane dodged back out of the fight range to watch with Ranma. "This isn't a fair fight." Akane scowled at Shampoo. The amazon was teasing Kodachi. They both ducked a ribbon propelled barbell that clonked a bihhing Shampoo in the back of the head. The surprised Amazon tumbled forward into a roll coming up with a snarl. "Where am I?" Akane and Ranma looked down at the awakening Mousse. "Sneak into my sister's room again and you won't have to worry about that," Akane growled at the still dazed martial artist. Ranma arched an eyebrow at Mousse, what exactly did it take for this guy figure out the phrase "shut up." Glancing back at the fight, Ranma noticed that Shampoo's bonbori had come out. "Shampoo's getting a little serious," he muttered before moving. Akane looked up and saw Kodachi's ribbon snag a bucket across the dojo, something Ranma didn't notice considering he was moving to disarm Shampoo. Akane did not bother asking how the bucket got there. Her personal belief was that the water and its containers tended to materialize around jusenkyoites. "Ranma, look out!" Ranma turned around in time to see a flash of gray and a familiar shimmer before he was hit from two directions. Fortunately for those in the vicinity who were not-Akane, he took virtually all of the water and so nothing splashed into Shampoo. Kodachi saw it coming way too late to do anything, and she didn't see why she had to anyway. It wasn't like this was training, this was a fight. Nothing REALLY bad happened in a fight. Then the water cascaded over her Ranma-darling and something miraculous happened. A Kuno figured out about Ranma. As Ranma landed, momentarily dazed, Kodachi watched him become a her in an instant that seemed to last forever. "Ahh! Ranma!" Shampoo shouted, noticing that her Airen's head had some how gotten in her bonbori's way. She would have helped Ranma-chan up if the red-head wasn't already angrily sitting up, rubbing her head. "You hurt your head?" Ranma dazedly looked up and noticed Akane stalking over. Some thought about getting through Hinako-san's tutoring session and karma flashed through his mostly recovered head. "Get off of me, Shampoo," Ranma-chan shouted desperately. "Get off of me!" Se glanced over at Kodachi and noticed the gymnast on her knees with her head bent at an angle. Kodachi was just sort of staring at her. "Oh shit." He barely noticed Shampoo releasing him quickly and backing up. "Shampoo think she see…must be tired." "RAN-MA!!" Ranma cringed as the mallet came out, frantically pointing in the catatonic gymnast's direction. When the mallet didn't land she blinked open an eye, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the mallet was gone. Ranma-chan noticed Shampoo pouting behind her. "Kodachi?" ~Ha! She didn't smash me with the mallet this time.~ Ranma-chan almost felt like sticking her tongue out at the Amazon. The thought of Kodachi sitting like a life-size doll killed that thought. "She's ummm….not laughing…any guess as to what that means?" Mousse groggily looked over to see a white blur and a red blur standing over a black blur. Somewhere to the right of the trio of blurs was a greenish blur leaning against a wall. He noticed quickly enough that Kodachi's usually shrill, edgy voice was missing from the conversation, and in fact she seemed to be the subject of the conversation. Mousse slipped his mangled glasses down over his eyes, and then began searching out for an unbroken set of spares. When he finally found a set he discovered them standing over a catatonic Kodachi. "What did you do to her Saotome?" Mousse demanded grabbing Ranma-chan by her collar. "I changed," Ranma said dryly. "In front of her." Mousse released Ranma and turned an about face. "Kodachi! You have to snap out of it!" Akane resisted the urge to mallet him and instead turned the blind boy to face the named girl. "She's there, baka." Mousse sweatdropped momentarily and started to shake the non-responsive gymnast. "Crazy-girl snapped big time," Shampoo noted with at least a trace of concern, not much though. This was the girl that had, for the past few years, been alternately drugging and ambushing every martial artist in Nerima. Mousse glared at her, or tried to, and then took Kodachi up in his arms and leaped through one of the as yet unrepaired holes in the dojo. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kodachi was sitting in her room and quietly regarded her reflection in the mirror. There were no more distractions on her mind now, the last door was closed. She couldn't remember why she had left it open so long. All that noise and fuss, it wasn't fitting that a lady of rank should have to put up with it. The reflection Kodachi saw in the mirror, and the image she held, would not have been recognized by most of the Nerima group. Her skin was a healthy tan, her eyes lacked the bloodshot look of a cornered animal, and she was dressed in shorts and shirt. Not really lady-like, but this she was around the house, so it didn't matter. The important thing was, and she didn't consciously consider this, there were no scars to cover with cloth or makeup. Her hair hung loose over her shoulders as she walked to her bed and laid back with a content sigh. She sighed happily at how…how…her brother would be so proud of her. She was beautiful, educated, and talented. There was no better gymnast than her in the area, she was popular, and she had a wonderful boyfriend. She picked up a photo of her boyfriend and…blinked. "How did this get here?" she said looking at the picture of a familiar Chinese boy. She ripped the photo out of the frame and prepared to toss it, but stopped herself. Why was that familiar, it was some friend of….of…her boyfriend. She mumbled irritably for a moment and crumbled the photo up, a little bit of searching found the noble and serious face of her boyfriend. The sound of a door creaking open irritated her a little further, and she hadn't even gotten to dwell on her love's shapely face. Walking to the door she heard the whispering outside, and cringed. "-haired girl," the voices whispered. "Tatewaki wants you dead. Ranma loves Akane…" Kodachi's cheerful expression returned as she softly shut the door. Kodachi glanced at the mirror and screamed, her reflection was changed. The skin was deathly pale, she was thin, almost dangerously thin, and the irritated veins in the eyes had returned. The reflection smiled rolled a shoulder of her t-shirt down to view the scar of an old training injury. The reflection held a cold beauty, an arrogant voice and a feeling of viciousness. "This is my brother's love," the reflection growled as it faded away. "He's tried to kill me twice." "Training is dangerous," she tried to retort. Kodachi dashed into her bed and hid under the covers gripping her boyfriend's photo. She glanced down and saw him and some girl happily cuddling on a rooftop. The photo flew across the room with an almost growl. A window slammed open and the voices outside filled the room. Kodachi felt a wind passing over her as she approached the window and sealed it shut. Then all was quite again, safe in the room. "OHOHOHOHOHO!!!" Kodachi turned toward her reflection, which merely laughed at her. "Quit that," Kodachi pleaded. The reflection kept laughing, pointing at her hysterically. "Please stop that." A pair of windows on opposite sides of her ripped open and the voices started streaming in. Kodachi cringed in the middle of her room, which was suddenly decorated with lethal instruments of all kinds. Then the sound of the words seemed to slow down and turn softer. "Please wake-up," she heard someone say, that wind was rushing past her again. "I am awake," she whimpered. Suddenly there was the wind again, as if she were leaping through the air. Kodachi looked down and screamed. She looked like that horrid lunatic version of herself. "We're almost to Dr. Tofu's already." "Tofu?" Kodachi asked herself. A memory sparked, sitting on a bed after having a broken leg splinted.. *"Listen, Kodachi, there's this other family that comes to me," Tofu insisted. "The oldest sister even shows your talent for healing. Maybe you could stay with them. Then there'd be someone instantly on hand when you have one of your 'accidents.'" She stopped smiling as she considered that. "They run a dojo."* "It isn't important," Kodachi snapped, trying to ignore the thoughts that she couldn't bare. At least she was thankful for her room, the voice couldn't all reach her here, and soon she'd seal them away as before. Her room, the nice pleasant room that been changed to a torturer's dream, seemed to shatter around her. She was alone in the dark with the voices and memories, memories uninfluenced by self-lies. "Move it, girl," something shouted through the shimmering darkness. "Do you want the darkness forever?" Kodachi almost didn't hear, again overwhelmed by the voices that all belonged to her. The new voice scared her and she nervously backed away. "Everything is going to be okay," Kodachi whirled to where she thought she'd heard the sound. It was away from the Fear Voice, and she fled after it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mousse landed in front of the clinic and was stopped short as Kodachi's hands whipped up around Mousse's shoulders and neck. He looked down and saw Kodachi looking at him, shell shocked and speechless, but no longer that unnatural, empty stare. "Everything is going to be fine," he smiled at her. She nodded quietly and let herself be carried into Dr. Tofu's office. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kasumi breathed a sigh of relief as Nabiki's breathing and ki returned to normal. Her sister wasn't telling her everything, but at least now she was getting some real sleep after her trip to china. The girl shifted in her sleep piling the blankets as she pulled them together. Kasumi watched as one tear worked itself from of Nabiki's long time dry eyes, and a melancholy expression passed softly on her face. Kasumi sighed worriedly, she was going to have to have a talk with Nabiki.
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