(Previously:  In this alternate world, the Jyuusenkyo springs 
alter minds as well as bodies, thus Ranma's female form is essentially a 
separate personality who calls herself Ranko.  Last time, Akane fought 
Kodachi, Black Rose of Hebereke Girls' School.  She won, just barely, but 
at the cost of Ranma appearing before a large crowd in Ranko's 
clothing.)    
			TWILIGHT EXISTENCE
			by Scott K. Jamison 
			(Takahashi disclaimer)
			Chapter Eight

	Understandably, Ranma was less than thrilled with the rumors 
going around at school about him.  Akane told me he was acting even more 
macho than usual in an effort to dispel any "unmanly" impressions. 
	Either it worked, or fear of being pounded stilled tongues, as by 
the end of the week, the only person who still brought up cross-dressing 
was Kunou. 
	My week was rather frustrating as well, as I kept trying to ask 
Father about Mother.  He deflected or ignored all my attempts, and 
refused to talk about Ranma's life before they went on the road. 
	"That knowledge would only bring you sorrow, Ranko.  It is best 
you do not ask."  Of course, this pronouncement only made me more curious 
about the woman who was so important to me, yet I had never met. 
	Akane was healing nicely, and asked Father to show her some new 
moves.  "I only won that fight by luck.  Next time I want to win with 
skill."  She admitted to me, but asked me not to tell Ranma, that she 
didn't want him to think of her as a liability. 
	We went shopping Saturday afternoon, as my outfit had pretty much 
been ruined during the fight with Kodachi.  Akane said we'd go skating 
afterwards. 
	Akane tried to show me the differences in style and color that 
made one outfit fashionable and another awful, but my taste still ran 
towards the garish and overfrilly.  So it was a struggle to find things I 
liked she wouldn't veto. 
	As we headed towards the ice skating rink, we ran into Ryouga.  
He put on a big fanged smile when he saw us.  
	"Hello, Akane, Ranko.  What are you doing in Hiroshima?" 
	"This is Tokyo, Ryouga.  Oh, you have the wrong map!"  Akane 
gently indicated which was the proper one from the maps sticking out of 
his pack. 
	"Thank you.  That reminds me, I have something for you."  Ryouga 
dug into his pack and pulled out a stuffed animal.  It was a little black 
pig he'd tied one of his bandanas around.  "To commemorate your victory." 
	"That's so sweet!  Thanks a lot, Ryouga.  We're going ice 
skating.  Would you like to come with us?"
	He blushed a bit.  "I-I'm afraid I can't.  Places to go, you 
know.  See ya!"  He ran off before we could stop him. 
	"Shyer than you would think, eh Ranko?  Hmm, I think I'll call it 
`P-chan'."  She gave it a hug, then put it in her shopping basket. 
	"Um, Akane, you do realize he's being nice to you just to get 
back at Ranma, right?" 
	She smiled.  "I don't think it's *just* to get back at Ranma.  
And since my fiance is about as romantic as a rock, maybe this will give 
him a much-needed hint."
	"Did I hear you right?  You just voluntarily called Ranma your 
fiance?" 
	"Well, he is, at least as long as our fathers have anything to 
say about it.  And I can see some good in him, when he lets his guard 
down a bit.  I don't think I'll be ready to get married to anyone for a 
long time, if ever.  But we should at least work on getting along." 
	"That would be nice."  Unspoken was the other major obstacle to 
the engagement.  Me.  As long as I was around, Ranma would only have a 
half-life, and vice-versa.  We were trapped in a twilight existence, not 
quite here nor yet there.  Could we really subject Akane--or anyone 
else--to a half-marriage? 
	I tried to put glum thoughts aside as we entered the arena.  I 
rented a pair of skates, and Akane already had her own.  It soon became 
abundantly clear that I couldn't skate, but Akane could, quite well.  
After a couple of minutes coaching, she got me at least able to stand up 
in the darn things, then went to talk with some of her friends. 
	While I struggled to keep my balance, I didn't notice someone 
skating up to me. 
	"May I be of assistance?"  It was a tall, tousle-haired fellow in 
a white "formal wear" skating costume.  He had handsome features and a 
sparkling smile. 
	"Um, yeah, I could use a little h--" I admitted, as he swept me 
up in his arms. 
	"All right then, put your left foot down, good, now push with 
your right foot, no, a little to the side, no, a *little* to the side, 
now the same with the feet reversed, that's it..."  He held me very 
close, which was comforting and frightening at the same time. 
	We went three times round the rink, and I began to sense my 
balance adjusting to the skates. 
	"I think I'm all right now.  I'll try it on my own.  Um, you can 
let go." 
	"But my dear girl, no Mikado Sanzenin skating lesson is complete 
without the crowning touch!" 
	"Wh--*mfml!*"  He took me all the way into his arms and gave me a 
big kiss right on the lips!  My first kiss, and it was someone I didn't 
even know.  From the gossip of the other girls, I'd thought a first kiss 
would be incredibly romantic and passionate.  But instead it just felt 
odd, and a little mechanical, as if he'd practiced this a little too 
often. 
	"Leggo!" I said, pushing him away.  He skated off looking smug. 
	"Another satisfied customer." he was saying. 
	"Don't let it get to you, honey." said an older girl.  "He pulls 
that stunt on all the cute beginners.  Sanzenin has some kind of neurotic 
need to kiss girls.  Heck, with his looks, most girls volunteer.  A 
couple even go back for seconds.  Fools."  She sighed, and skated off. 
	Akane caught up with me, and we skated for a bit longer.  I was 
still no great shakes at it, but I wasn't falling nearly as much at the 
end. 
	Afterwards, we got a snack in the attached cafe.  (Extra-cushiony 
seats on the chairs, good planning.)  Akane got P-chan out of her bag to 
look at on the table.
	"You look like a pretty good skater, Akane."
	"Thank you.  My mother taught me when I was little.  I was really 
clumsy at first, and I almost gave up, but Mom kept encouraging me, and 
eventually I got the hang of it."  Her smile was a little sad.  Akane 
didn't talk about her mother much, but I knew she missed her. 
	Suddenly, there was a high-pitched squeal.  "Charlotte!"  An arm 
darted in and grabbed the stuffed pig.  "Charlotte come to Mommy!" 
	It was a wavy-haired girl in a skating costume so cutesy I felt 
jealous.  She was bouncing up and down, holding P-chan above her head and 
giggling. 
	"Give that back!" said Akane.  She reached for the toy, but the 
other girl bounced out of the way. 
	"Mine!  Azusa's darling Charlotte!"
	Then it was plucked from her fingers.  It was the boy from the 
rink, Sanzenin. 
	"I must apologize for my partner--"
	"Gimme back Azusa's Charlotte!" the girl shrieked, pounding him 
with her tiny fists. 
	"--but she has the unfortunate habit of naming any cute thing she 
sees and making it hers."  Azusa had grabbed a tray from a passing waiter 
and was bashing her partner over the head with it.  He seemed used to the 
sensation. 
	"Um, thank you--"
	"The only thanks I could want is your sweet lips meeting mine."  
He bent towards Akane, who stiff-armed him.
	"--but I'm not *that* grateful."  She grabbed her piglet back, 
and we left. 
	We met up with her friends outside. 
	"You turned down a kiss from Mikado Sanzenin?!" wondered Ritsu.  
"He's so dreamy!" 
	"How many times do I have to tell you, I hate boys." 
	"Oh, riight."
	"Besides," I put in, "he isn't really all that good a kisser."  
At least I hoped so.  It would be really sad if it didn't get any better 
than that. 
	"Major slam!  At least he has his Martial Pairs Skating to fall 
back on."
	"Martial Pairs Skating?"  Akane seemed as surprised as I was.  
	"Couples fight on an ice skating rink.  Mikado and his partner 
Azusa Shiratori are the Golden Pair, champions of Kolkhoz High.  You mean 
you've never heard of them?"
	"I only skate for fun, and I've never had a partner, so I don't 
pay attention to team events." 
	For some reason, Ranma took that stolen kiss a lot more seriously 
than I did.
	[How *dare* he!]  I'm gonna find this Sanzenin jerk and pound his 
face into hamburger!]
	Fortunately, I was able to read that before he actually caught up 
with Mikado.  I quickly scribbled, [Don't, Ranma!  It isn't that big a 
deal.  Besides, he does Martial Pairs Skating, so if you challenge him, 
he'll choose that form of combat.  First, unless there's something you've 
been holding back, you don't skate any better than I do, which makes you 
a liability on the ice.  Second, it's a team event, and you don't have a 
partner.  You'd have to learn to work with someone, probably Akane.]
	I think it hurt Ranma's pride a little, but he admitted I was 
right, at least about the skating part.  So he took every afternoon for a 
week to practice skating with Akane (which really ate into our monetary 
and time budget, but he said he'd make it up to me later.)  Then another 
week of practicing combination maneuvers with Akane, which made her feel 
good, even though they were clumsy together at first.
	"I think we were almost going to kiss for real last night," Akane 
confided. "We were so close and talking so seriously!  But then it turned 
out the whole family was listening in, and we got so embarrassed we 
started fighting again."  I was secretly a little glad they hadn't 
kissed.  I wasn't sure I wanted them to get along *that* well! 
	Then they finally went out and challenged the Golden Pair.  The 
skaters had forgotten all about Akane and me by then, but after Mikado 
tried to kiss Akane again, and Azusa tried to steal Ranma's pigtail (she 
named it "Bearnaise") there was enough fresh animosity to make a match 
inevitable.
	I am given to understand the match itself was quite spectacular 
(there's a wonderful writeup in the Kolkhoz High school paper for that 
week) but since I wasn't there, I'll just quote a bit of what Akane told 
me about it.
	"Then they got us in something called the Couple Cleaver, where 
they whirled us around real fast.  The idea was to make Ranma let go of 
me to save himself, but he wouldn't let go!  Finally, Azusa lost her grip 
and both Ranma and I were flung away!  Ranma tumbled us in midair so he 
took all the damage from hitting the wall.  How are you feeling, by the 
way?" 
	"I hurt all over.  He must have shocked *everything*." I replied. 
	"I begged him to stay down, but Ranma insisted on continuing, 
especially after Mikado started bragging how he was going to take me away 
again. 
	"Ranma and I went towards them, and when he told me what he 
wanted to do, I thought he was crazy at first.  But I went along, and we 
were right back in the Couple Cleaver.  But this time Ranma tricked them, 
and it was the Golden Pair who went flying!  After they hit the wall, 
they were easy pickings, and we won."
	Akane smiled again.  "You know, I think just maybe Ranma actually 
loves me!"

		To Be Continued

Next Time:  "What's *she* doing here?!"

SKJAM!
"Learn a few foreign words or phrases:  "Where is the toilet?" "Give me 
your money."  Foreigners will be flattered and it will speed up your 
visit." (From the "Viking Handbook" by Dik Browne)