Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They belong to the wonderful Romiko Takahashi and her licensees (Viz Communications in North America). This work is strictly for the non-profit enjoyment of fans. No copyright infringement is intended. Authors comments : My thanks to the many people who have given me comments on this story, both good and bad. Special thanks to Greg Young for his wonderful prereading job on the whole story. Several others did some prereading, particularly of the final chapters. Unfortunately I lost my list of those people when I swtiched systems. Thank you all! And I promise I'll be more careful with my list next time. One last comment, for those who feel the ending is a little weak. I agree. The real story ended at the end of chapter 7, this chapter is mostly to tie up some loose ends. Thought of the Mongoose Chapter 8 (Final) A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Tom Wrensch Akane wasn't exactly running toward the school gate, although she was moving quickly. She'd been held up after class because the teacher wanted to know how she and Ranma were doing on the mountain of homework they had to catch up on, as well as try to subtly pump Akane on the changes in Ranma's boy form, something she was getting a lot of these days. "Hey, Akane! Wait up." Came Sayuri's voice behind her. When Akane stopped and turned she saw Sayuri and Yuka running up behind her. "We're going shopping tomorrow afternoon, do you want to come with us?" Sayuri continued when they caught up. She thought about their offer, because she wanted to go out with them, but..."I'm really sorry, I'd like to, but Ranma and I have a picnic planned." Akane's two friends shared a knowing look before turning back to her. "Gee, Akane, you hardly ever have time to hang out with us anymore. Seems like you spend all your time with Ranma these days," Sayuri said. "Not that we blame you. He was a hunk before, now...," Yuka heaved a big sigh and winked at Akane. "Well...I really do have to go on that picnic tomorrow. We're all supposed to get out of the house so Dr. Tofu and Kasumi can have a little talk." "Is Dr. Tofu back?" Sayuri asked. "My mom has really missed him, she says her new chiropractor just doesn't get her back right." "He's back in town, but I don't know if he's going to reopen his clinic. Maybe we'll know after tomorrow," Akane said. She really didn't know where Dr. Tofu was staying these days, he'd showed up for dinner a few times in the last two weeks, supposedly to check on the injuries that "What if we all get together and study tonight?" Akane suggested. "Sounds good, but don't you have to make sure Ranma studies too?" Yuka asked, elbowing Akane and winking. Akane scowled. "Huh! That baka never studies. If he doesn't get his grades up he's going to have to go in for tutoring before we start next semester." "He does okay in some classes." Yuka said. "And really bad in others. Besides, we still have to finish catching up from missing that week." "So bring him along, my mom doesn't mind his girl...oh yeah, no more girl Ranma." Sayuri said, frowning a little. She'd always seemed to like the short redhead, and had treated her as if she was separate from Ranma's boy form. "Come over to my place, then we can try to get him to join us at least part of the time," Akane said. "Okay, sounds good," Yuka said. "Yeah! See you after dinner?" "Great!" Akane waved and ran off, hoping Ranma and Nabiki hadn't left without her. * * * Nabiki was walking home with Ranma and Akane, a habit she'd picked up since their relationship had gotten to be the most interesting thing happening in the area. Today, though, she'd positioned herself next to Ranma rather than Akane. It was time to get her little bet with Mousse started. "Hey, Saotome, I had a talk with Mousse earlier," Nabiki said. "So?" Ranma said without looking at Nabiki. "So he was talking about some kind of martial arts form I never heard of. He was wondering if you wanted to learn it...kind of a thank you for not being Shampoo's 'airen' anymore." Akane leaned forward to peer at her sister on the other side of Ranma. "Hmmph. He should be teaching it to me, not the baka here." "Much as I hate to admit it, Akane's right. She had more to do with it than I did," Ranma said, still not looking at either of them. Akane put her arm around him and gave him a quick hug. "And don't you forget it," she said fondly. "Gak." Nabiki pantomimed sticking her finger down her throat and gagging. "I think I liked it better when you two fought all the time." "At least it's cheaper this way, less damage to the house," Ranma said with a grin, finally looking at her. Nabiki grinned back. "But now I've got to worry about paying for another wedding." Akane skittered to a halt. Nabiki looked back at her curiously. "Something you're not telling me Ranma?" she said quietly. "Huh? Oh. Nope, I think Nabiki's kidding. He looked over at Nabiki with a hint of desperation in his eyes. "Right?" "Umm, yeah. I was just kidding Akane, what's up with you?" "Nothing," Akane said with a sigh. "I just keep expecting Ranma to surprise me." "Huh?" Nabiki said. "Well, last time he woke up wearing a tux and the wedding about to start. Last week he said that since he got to decide when, he should do the same to me." Nabiki looked up at Ranma who had the grace to blush. "Since when do you decide?" "Err...just a little agreement we have. Say, I better go talk to Mousse about that new martial arts form," Ranma said and bounded up to a roof and away. "What kind of agreement?" Nabiki asked Akane this time. Akane sighed again and started walking. "Before the fight with Cologne Ranma asked me to marry him right away. I wanted to wait until after the fight so I was sure he wasn't doing it just to save me. So I said no, but told him he could decide when we got married." "Not smart, Akane," Nabiki said. Akane smiled a little. "Oh, I don't know. He's been a lot more relaxed about the whole thing since it's up to him." "Maybe, but now you probably won't get married until you're fifty." Akane's smile grew a little wider. "I can always try to *convince* him to do it sooner." Nabiki gave Akane a sidelong glace and didn't comment. * * * Ranma was in heaven, or at least dog heaven. He shifted his head a little on Akane's lap so she could reach his other ear. He signed as she scratched gently behind his left ear. This was the life. A nice day, a picnic with great food made by Kasumi, a game of frisbee in his cursed form, and now Akane's expert petting. He was beginning to understand why Ryoga spent so much time as P-chan, being a pet was very relaxing. He whined and gave Akane a mournful look when she pushed him gently off her lap. "Oh, stop it. It's getting late and we have to get back. Even Dr. Tofu should have had enough time to talk to Kasumi by now, and we still have to catch up on our homework." She shook her finger at him like she was scolding a small child - or a pet - and continued. "If you'd showed up to study with us instead of working with Mousse on whatever that new form is, you wouldn't have as much work to do." Ranma signed again, and stood. He nodded to Akane who was looking at him like she expected some kind of response. Then he stretched while Akane folded the picnic blanket and packed it in the basket with the dishes and his clothes. Too bad he couldn't change back, it would be nice to have her hold his arm like she did on the way here, even if she was yelling at him for not studying. One of the drawbacks of his dog form was that he couldn't wear clothes, so changing back meant changing back to a naked man. It was a lot harder to keep people from noticing a dog turning into a naked man than a girl turning into a guy. He did *not* want people to find out about his new cursed form, and so far they'd managed to keep his it a secret, mostly anyway. Except for his family, the Tendos, and Cologne's bunch the only one who knew was Hiroshi. Actually, Hiroshi finding out had probably been a good thing, as he'd been a really big help in keeping it secret at school. Of course, almost everyone knew his female form was gone, and everyone knew about Akane's new pet 'D-chan'. As long as they didn't connect the two he was okay. They'd even gone so far as to get a collar and tags for 'D-chan', if he got lost in his cursed form he'd eventually get sent back to the dojo without having to reveal his curse. Ranma grinned a moment as he remembered how much of a kick Akane got out of seeing him wearing his tags when he was human. Good thing the collar stretched when he changed. Ranma decided to spend the trip back practicing his dog act. Rather than trotting at Akane's side, he wandered around, sniffing interesting objects and generally acting as much like a dog on a walk as he could. Besides, it was good practice for his sense of smell, which was truly phenomenal in this form. When they reached the Tendo dojo gate Akane said, "Heel, D-chan." Ranma gave her his best hurt look and trotted up next to her. He slipped through the gate as soon as it was wide enough and waited for Akane to come through. "Smart ass," she said when she came through the gate. "I'll put your clothes and a bucket of hot water in the bathroom." Ranma yipped his thanks and ran into the main room. He wanted to see what was going on with Kasumi and Tofu. * * * Kasumi and Tofu were sitting on opposite sides of the table sipping tea. Ranma headed over to Kasumi, she was always willing to pet 'D-chan' and knew how to get that spot just in front of his ears that Akane always missed. Halfway there he stopped and sniffed the air. He only had a few weeks experience with his new sense of smell, but it smelled like... He took a few steps closer to Kasumi to be sure. Uh-huh, there wasn't much doubt about it. Instead of going over to Kasumi he went over to Tofu and offered him his paw. "Umm...what's this all about Ranma?" Tofu asked. "Oh! Oh dear, I think he's congratulating you," Kasumi said. Ranma didn't need color vision to tell she was blushing badly. "I see," Tofu said. He took the paw and shook it gravely. "I trust this will go no farther?" Ranma nodded and yipped once in agreement, then trotted over to Kasumi and licked her cheek before heading to the bathroom to change. He knew his tail was wagging like crazy, but he just couldn't help it. It was about time those two got together. Besides, catching Kasumi, miss 'you should wait until you're married' like this was kind of fun. * * * "Hey, Mousse!" Nabiki's voice. Good, he needed to ask her about their little bet. "Hi Mousse baby, how's the English Martial Arts going with Ranma?" Nabiki said as she came up to him, breathing hard from running up to him. "It is going well, though that's not what I'm teaching him." "That's the agreement Mousse," Nabiki said. He could hear the frown in her voice, though he couldn't quite make it out on her face. "He is learning English. The name of the art, or what else I might teach him does not matter." "Good enough. As long as he shows a marked improvement before the interim tutoring session ends." "He will not need tutoring--at least, not in English," Mousse said. Nabiki laughed. "Oh Mousse, I doubt that. He's going to need English and Math at least." "Nabiki..." Mousse began. He wanted to tell her that she'd picked an incredibly simple area for him to teach as martial arts. He'd studied foreign language martial arts when he was ten, how did she think he'd picked up Japanese in just a few weeks? Every time he was about to tell her she came up with a comment like that. Maybe he should just let her lose. It wasn't his fault she hadn't heard of the Many Tongues School of martial arts. Yet he felt like he was taking advantage of her lack of knowledge. Perhaps he could come up with some kind of compromise that would salve his conscious. "Nabiki, why don't we make this more interesting." "Oh?" "I will teach Saotome both Math and English using martial arts. If he learns both, then you will do whatever I want for *two* months. If he learns neither, then I will do whatever you want for two months. If he learns one then it is a draw." Nabiki thought about it for a moment, then grinned and stuck out her hand. "Deal," she said. "This is going to be fun." "Deal," Mousse echoed, shaking her hand gently. "Well, I've got to go. My big sister is having it out with the good doctor and I want to see how it went. Good luck with Saotome, you're going to need it." Nabiki waved and ran off. Mousse thought. He was deep in thought as he did the marketing for the Nekohauten. He shook himself out of it as he reached the last stall on his usual route. "Mousse! Good to see you!" The owner said. "Got some good stuff for you today, some greenhouse grown vegetables at a good price." "Greenhouse grown? Is that good?" Mousse asked curiously. "Does keeping them out of the weather make them better?" "Hell, I don't know," the man said with a laugh. "The stuff they send me is always in good shape and has good flavor. Let them worry about the details." Mousse nodded, but his mind was suddenly elsewhere. * * * Akane was angry. Ranma had some kind of secret and wouldn't tell her! He just kept grinning and humming cheerfully and wouldn't tell her why. When she'd threatened him with her mallet the baka had actually slipped between her arms and *kissed* her. So she was angry. Or at least a little irritated. Okay, maybe 'frustrated' would be a better word because he just would *not* tell her what was going on. "Please?" she asked again in her best cute little girl voice. "Sorry, I promised not to tell." Akane decided to change tactics. Threatening violence hadn't helped, and begging hadn't worked. Maybe it was time to pull out the big guns. Ranma was sitting on her bed, maybe she could scare him a little. Akane launched herself at Ranma, knocking him back onto the bed with her on top. "Then I guess you'll just have to do something to take my mind off your little secret," she purred. Instead of stuttering and backing away as she expected, he put his arms around her and started kissing her again. Well, if that was the way he wanted it, she could play that game too. Akane started sliding her tongue along his lower lip and put her hands around his shoulders, pulling herself in and shifting her body so she was pressing against him with her full body. After a moment Ranma made a funny noise and the kiss got rougher. He'd never done that before and it felt surprisingly good. She matched him, pushing her body even harder against him and shifting her hips side to side a little. Ranma rolled her over so he was on top. This was even better, now she could use her hands on his muscular back. That went on for a few minutes. Akane was trying to remember whey she'd started this, whatever it was didn't seem very important right now. "Oh, excuse me," someone said. Ranma froze for a second, and Akane wondered why when the voice and words penetrated the hormone induced fog around her brain. Dr. Tofu must have walked in and... For a second she was tempted to ignore it. What she and Ranma had been doing had felt so right, so powerful. She wanted to keep feeling it. After a moment good sense won out, barely. She pushed Ranma away and sat up. He was breathing hard and looking at her in a way she had never seen before. She realized she was breathing just as hard as he was and wondered what he saw in her eyes right now. After a moment Ranma got his breathing under control. "Wow," he said. "I'm sorry for all those times I called you sexless." Akane giggled. "Thanks, I think." Ranma's face took on a serious look. "Akane, I'm sorry. I kind of lost control there." "It's my fault, and it's okay. We *are* engaged after all." "Yeah, but we're not married." "Do you...want to wait that long?" Akane asked cautiously. An hour ago she would have said she wanted to wait, now she wasn't so sure. "I..." Ranma began. Then he grinned. "Who says it's going to be very long?" "Ranma! I'm warning you! I said you could decide. I *didn't* say you could surprise me." Akane tried to sound angry, but couldn't keep the smile off her face. She felt to good to be angry. "Okay, I promise to give you at least two hours warning. That's more than I had." "Baka. Go see what Dr. Tofu wanted. I'll be right down. I've got to comb my hair and straighten up a bit or neither of us will have a choice about when we get married." "Okay. I'll see you in a minute my sexy tomboy." Ranma got out fast, so fast the pillow hit the closed door rather than his grinning face. * * * Ranma spotted the doctor coming out of Kasumi's room. "Dr. Tofu?" "Oh Ranma. I apologize again. I did knock, but I heard what sounded like fighting, and I thought..." "No problem," Ranma said. "I know *you're* not about to say anything. Besides it was pretty much your fault we were like that." "Excuse me?" "Akane figured out I had some kind of secret. She was trying to get me to tell her and things got a little out of hand." "You didn't tell her?" "Of course not! I promised," Ranma said, sounding offended. "Relax, Ranma. I just didn't expect you to have to put up with such, ah, *vigorous* persuasion, and I know how hard it is to resist those Tendo girls. Anyway, I just came up to tell you that dinner would be in a few minutes. Kasumi and I are going to make some announcements and I wanted to make sure you and Akane were there." "Me miss food? No way! I'll tell Akane and get washed up." Ranma stopped partway to the door and turned back to the doctor. "Did Kasumi get out extra towels yet?" "Umm...no, why?" "You'll need 'em when Mr. Tendo hears your announcement. Tell her I'll bring some from the changing room." Dr. Tofu just chuckled. Ranma shrugged and headed to wash up. * * * "Ready Kasumi-chan?" Dr. Tofu asked. "Oh dear, I'm not sure. Dinner is ready, but I'm not sure I know what to say to father..." "I'm making the announcement. You don't have to say anything. Just relax Kasumi, everything will work out." "I hope you're right. Oh! I need to get extra towels for father!" Tofu gave Kasumi a funny look. "Ranma said he'd bring some. Is that really necessary?" "Oh yes. Father gets quite emotional sometimes." He shrugged. "You know best. Do you want me to get everyone else now?" "Yes, that would be nice." Tofu gave her a quick hug and went off to find the rest of the family. he mused. Oh well, Kasumi was worth anything, even being related to Genma. * * * Ranma put the towels next to Soun's usual place and helped Kasumi finish setting the table. "So you and Tofu finally decided to get married?" He asked Kasumi. Kasumi blushed and looked down. "Hey, it's okay Kasumi. I know you love him, and he's crazy about you," Ranma said. "It's not exactly what you think," Kasumi said quietly. "Uhh..." Actually, now that he thought about it, he really *didn't* want to hear explanations or details. Especially not details. "...look, you really don't have to explain to me." Ranma said, hoping to avert hearing more than he really wanted to. "I just want to apologize. If I hadn't insisted you and Akane stay apart, maybe you would have started getting along sooner." Ranma felt extremely nervous. If it wasn't for what had happened between he and Akane a few minutes earlier he would simply have denied being interested, he might have even believed it. As it was he couldn't really lie, not to Kasumi. "Kasumi, I...think you did the right think. Akane and I weren't ready," he started to explain. Kasumi smiled her usual smile. "And you are now?" she said. "Erk." Ranma was saved from further embarrassing conversation by the arrival of Tofu and Akane, quickly followed by the rest of the household. Dinner seemed fairly normal, though even Ranma could tell there were some interesting emotional undercurrents between Kasumi and Tofu and also between his parents. Another difference was that Akane was eating one handed and had the other hand on his leg most of the time. As the last person finished his food Tofu stood. "Excuse me everyone, Kasumi and I would like to make an announcement," he said it in a serious voice, but his lips twitched into a smile. Everyone looked up expectantly. Soun started to tear up, but didn't start his typical wail. "Earlier today I asked Kasumi to marry me, she said yes, subject to her family's approval." Soun turned on the water works full force. "Waaa, my little girl is getting married." Genma grabbed one of the towels and handed it to the Tendo patriarch. "I'll take that as a yes," Tofu said, now with a full smile. He turned to look at Nabiki and Akane. "Of course, Sensei!" Akane agreed cheerfully. Nabiki gave him one of her twisted little smiles. "You're off the hook, brother-in-law." Then he looked at Ranma. "Huh? It's not like I have a say in this." "The whole family," Kasumi said, smiling at him warmly. "Well sure. It's about time," Ranma finally said. There was about ten minutes of congratulations, where Genma pounded him on the back, Soun got himself under control, and everyone wanted to talk to the couple. Finally Nodoka silenced everyone by standing and kissing Tofu on the cheek. "Though Genma and I are not technically part of the family...yet," she gave a significant look at Ranma, "We welcome you." "Good idea Auntie," Nabiki said. She jumped up and kissed Tofu too, only she did it on the lips and put her arms around him. Tofu looked around wildly. When he noticed that Kasumi was smiling at him he shrugged and returned the kiss. "My turn," Akane said. "Turn around, Ranma." Ranma blinked at Akane, then turned to face the door to the hallway. After about a minute there were a few catcalls from Genma and Nabiki and he had to force himself not to look. "Okay, Ranma. You can look now," Akane said. She sounded kind of breathless. Ranma was, in a sense, saved from having to react by another uncomfortable situation. This time it was Happosai. * * * "Hi everyone! Miss me?" Happosai cackled, bouncing around the room with his sack of stolen...goods. Ranma put his head in his hands. Akane stepped back from Tofu to dodge a possible glomp by Happosai. "So what's the occasion? Young Tofu here isn't normally around, much less making out with Akane-chan," Happosai said. He settled to a spot at the table next to Soun. "I was just greeting my future brother-in-law," Akane said, feeling her face heat up in a blush. "Looked like quite a greeting," Happosai snickered. "So boy, when are you moving in?" "I am not. I will be reopening my clinic and Kasumi and I will move in there." "What!" Happosai said, pulling himself up to his full unimpressive, height. "Take away the best cook in the house? I do not condone this marriage." "No one gives a damn what you think old man," Ranma said. "Ah, Ranma-chan. We haven't had a chance to get reacquainted after my long absence." He produced a bucket of water from nowhere and did his usual splash-and-glomp. This did not work out as he'd planned. "He-he, nice doggy, good doggy, you wouldn't *really* bite...OUCH!" Happosai jumped back, rubbing his fundament. "I see you two have let things get out of hand while I was away," Happosai said to their fathers flaring his battle aura. The two fathers cringed back from their old master. "First of all I'll take care of this pup who thinks he can take Kasumi-chan away. Then we'll see about fixing Ranma-chan's curse." Happosai leaped at Tofu. Akane's cry to watch out died on her lips as Tofu dodged and dived out the door, rolling into a ready position by the koi pond. Happosai recovered from his miss immediately and followed the doctor out the door. "Oh dear," Kasumi said. There was a splash behind her and she heard Ranma's voice saying 'Thanks, Nabs.' Then Ranma was behind Happosai, wearing just his boxers. It was a truly amazing fight. Tofu was almost as fast as Ranma, and while he wasn't as strong, his knowledge of pressure points made him a deadly fighter. Ranma was at the top of his form, dodging everything Happosai could throw at him and slipping in the occasional hit when Tofu disrupted the old man's defenses. Unfortunately they had a few problems. Ranma and Tofu had never trained to fight together. Happosai knew a lot about pressure points too, and the old man wasn't holding back in the slightest. After a few minutes Ranma left a small opening in his defenses and Happosai hit a pressure point on his neck. He paid for it by losing the use of his arm to another pressure point delivered by Tofu. Despite that, Tofu alone didn't stand a chance against the old master. In a matter of seconds he was down. Kasumi let out a strangled cry as Happosai poised his pipe over Tofu's neck, ready to plunge it down in a death blow. They never found out if Happosai was going to kill him right there, or just threaten to. The pipe was ripped from Happosai's grasp as he went spinning across the yard, impacted the wall hard enough to crack it. "Touch them and die," Akane said, crushing the pipe in her hand. * * * Ranma was paralyzed, unable to do anything but blink. The only good thing was that he had fallen so he faced the yard and had a pretty good view of Tofu getting creamed. He also saw Akane move in in high-speed mode and knock Happosai away from Tofu. He hopped they'd worn the old man down enough for her to take him out. "Touch them and die!" He heard Akane say. "Stay out of the way Akane-chan. Little girls shouldn't fight, they might get hurt," Happosai taunted. Ranma thought. Happosai charged Akane. Akane stood there in a defensive posture, looking like she was going to wait for him. At the last second she blurred into motion and Happosai was again flying toward the wall. Akane was standing there in her defensive posture again. Standing, he realized, in front of himself and Tofu, protecting them from Happosai. Ranma felt uncomfortable being protected by a girl, but at least it was a girl who was good enough to beat him. he thought to himself. Again Akane waited in a defensive posture. She wasn't using her new technique all the time as she had before. That was good too, Akane would last longer, as long as Happosai didn't sneak an attack in while... As he was thinking it, it happened, Happosai used his dragon ki attack, catching Akane by surprise. Akane flew back past him where he couldn't see her. "Not bad Akane-chan." Happosai said, then he narrowed his eyes. "But I won't allow a woman to beat me, especially not one from my own school!" With that he leaped over Ranma in the same direction Akane had flown. He could hear the sounds of fighting, but with all of the action happening behind him he couldn't see anything. At least he knew Akane was still fighting. He blinked - the only thing he could do - when he felt a hand slide down the back of his neck and suddenly he could move again. He got up and spun around, barely noticing the half-conscious Tofu behind him. Akane was losing. She was still holding off the old freak, but didn't look like she was getting many hits in herself. Somehow Happosai had the use of his arm back. On the other hand, Happosai was fully occupied. Ranma cracked his knuckles and dashed up next to Akane. They had about three seconds where Happosai was forced to split his attention between the two of them, and they both took merciless advantage of it. Then Akane passed out. * * * Ranma stepped over Akane's form and faced Happosai. The old master wasn't in very good shape, as even he couldn't handle fighting off three master-level martial artists without taking some damage. "Looks like it's you and me *master*," Ranma said. "How could you boy?" Happosai said, sounding truly distressed. "How could I what?" "How could you let a girl become better than you." Happosai sounded truly upset and angry. He'd always thought that male bravado stuff was mostly an act. While it was true that most of the woman martial artists he knew weren't up to the same level of skill as the men, there were enough exceptions for him to accept it. So the old man was upset, and couldn't handle the idea of woman martial artists? Maybe he could use that. "Yeah, she is good. Almost as good as Cologne. Cute too, being married to her's going to be interesting." "Boy, you can't marry a woman who's better than you!" Happosai thundered. The effect was ruined by Happosai gasping and coughing from the effort. "Maybe you can't, but *I'm* up to the challenge." "Idiot!" Happosai said. "I won't have my heir married to such a woman, it's not natural." "In case you haven't noticed, you're in no shape to demand anything." Ranma grinned. "Unless you think you can take me?" Happosai growled and launched himself at Ranma. Good, he was fighting mad, which made him more dangerous in some ways, but also meant he'd leave openings - like the one under his right arm... Ranma attacked with his fastest chestnut-fist speed, hammering Happosai's side. The old martial artist looked surprised as he was knocked against the wall and slid down into an unconscious, bloody heap. Ranma watched him carefully. When he was sure it wasn't some kind of trick, he scooped up Akane and walked over to the porch. Kasumi was fussing over Tofu, who was assuring her he was fine. Privately, Ranma thought he looked pretty bad. "I'm going to go put Akane into her bed, I think she'll be okay in an hour or so," Ranma said. His mother nodded. Soun was incapacitated by severe emotional stress, and his father was busy trying to cajole him back to reality. "Ranma, when you're done please come down and help Tofu-chan up to my room," Kasumi said, without looking up. "Umm...sure." As he walked up the stairs he heard Nabiki start to tease her sister and Kasumi's embarrassed excuses. He couldn't understand why Tofu didn't want to stay at the dojo. Life would be so *boring* anywhere else. * * * [An Epilogue of a sort] Life over the next few weeks certainly wasn't boring. Tofu ended up staying, at least until they could get the new clinic ready. Happosai managed to drag himself away while everyone was occupied, so he was around somewhere. Ranma managed to develop the beginnings of Mathematics Martial Arts. It turned out to be an exceptionally versatile system that fit well into the philosophy of the Anything-Goes school. It also earned him a B on his math final. He aced English, the only one in the class to get a perfect score on the test. Nabiki started training with Mousse in hidden weapons martial arts. She grumbles about it, a lot. Shampoo seems to be getting jealous of all the attention Nabiki is getting from Mousse. No, life wasn't boring. And there was still Happosai out there, and Taro, and two fiancees Genma hadn't mentioned to anyone yet. And word was getting around about the girl who was possibly the best martial artist in Nerima, and maybe the best in Japan. That was drawing the attention of those who always felt the need to test themselves against the best. Not boring at all. === End Thought of the Mongoose === C&C *very* welcome, flames ignored. Please send comments to twrensch@geocities.com. My completed stories and relatively complete drafts are posted at http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Dojo/5201/.