>From the Scriviner:

PART IV: Of Warm Hearts and Cold Shoulders.

      "So,  Ranchan,  any luck?" asked Ukyou as  Ranma  and  
Akane entered  Ucchan's.  It was eight in the evening  and  the 
dinner crowd was barely starting to thin out.
      "Nope. Still nothing." muttered Ranma as he and Akane put 
on their  aprons, "Everybody either wants too much or the  rooms 
are too small for one person, much less three..."
      Ukyou smiled faintly, "Oh, well..."
      "We're checking out another place tomorrow, though," said 
Akane brightly.
      Ukyou merely nodded absently.
      When  they  finally had a quiet moment, an hour  or so 
later,  the three settled down behind the counter.
      "Where's Ranko?" asked Akane. She needed to have a long 
talk with her cousin... communication done by way of hammer...
      Ukyou frowned, "Wasn't she with you? She called and told  
me something about not being able to make her shift," she 
shrugged, "I don't  pretend to understand Ranko, Akane."
      "Me neither," replied Akane, as she stood up to clean up 
one of the tables. 
      A ragged voice from the door suddenly asked, "Where am I?"
      Standing  in  the open doorway was the  bedraggled  form  
of Ryoga. He'd been walking since early afternoon and the last 
place he  clearly remembered had a lot of snow and penguins...  
but  he knew  he was supposed to find... glove? dove? 
Something...  when  he got there...
      "Ranma, isn't that your friend from school?" asked Akane.
      "Hey, Ryoga... what are you doing here?" asked Ranma  
before he realized that Ryoga didn't have any idea either.
      A look of astonishment crept over Ukyou's features,  "R-r-
r-Ryoga..?"
      "Who? Wha--?" Ryoga looked up and saw Ukyou's face. He had 
a blank  expression on his face as no recognition dawned.  Then  
he looked at Ranma and asked, "Ranma, what are you doing here?"
      "I work here you idiot! You got lost again, huh?"
      "Who says I get lost--?" said Ryoga.
      Ukyou suddenly pulled out a gigantic spatula the size of 
snowshovel from the  broom closet and rushed towards Ryoga, with 
murder in her eyes.
      Ryoga  managed  to get out of the way as  Ranma  caught  
the spatula on the down swing and embedded it into the floor.
      "Ucchan, what are you doing?!" asked Ranma.
      "I'm going to kill that jackass!!" she said shooting Ryoga 
a venomous look.
      "Excuse me, do we know each other?" asked Ryoga bewildered.
      Ukyou let go of the spatula's handle and grabbed  Ryoga by 
the shirt front, screaming sarcastically in his face,  "Do  we  
know  each other?! DO WE KNOW EACH OTHER!?!"
      "I asked you first," said Ryoga peevishly.
      "We were engaged for two years before you left me at the 
altar, you jackass!!" said Ukyou enraged.
      A look of shock passed over Ryoga's eyes as he said, 
"Ukyou? But you're a guy, Ukyou's not a--"
      "You  bet  your ass, I'm Ukyou, sugar..." she  said  
ripping open the top few buttons of her shirt, showing Ryouga a 
bit of cleavage. Ryouga's eyes focused there for a few seconds 
before he finally managed to bring his gaze back up to her face. 
Tears were forming at the corners of his eyes... and blood was 
threatening to come out his nose...
      "Now you're going to pay!" Ukyou screamed as she tore the 
spatula free from the floor.
      "Ukyou! It is you! I've been looking for you for years!" 
Ryoga said suddenly hugging her and crushing her to him. As Ryoga 
sobbed  into  Ukyou's shoulder, you could almost  hear  her  ribs 
cracking under the strain. Unable to breathe, Ukyou released her 
hold on the giant spatula out of surprise which Ranma promptly 
kicked a discreet distance away.
      "Excuse me, er... Ryoga, right?" said Akane.
      Ryoga looked up from Ukyou's shoulder and said in a  
puzzled tone, "Yes?"
      "Maybe you should let go of Ukyou now. I don't think she 
can breathe..." continued Akane.
      "Huh?"  asked Ryoga, now looking at Ukyou and  surprised  
to find  that his beloved's face was a ghastly bluish purple  
color. He quickly let go saying "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" as Ukyou 
fell to the ground, struggling for air. 
      "Are you alright?" Ryoga asked Ukyou.
      The color had finally come beck into her face, "No thanks 
to you, you jackass..."
      Ukyou's  cut  herself off in mid sentence as she  and  
Ryoga stared at each other. Ukyou's gaze was full of anger and  
outrage and  pain. Ryoga had a worshipful look on his face. 
Almost as  if he'd  been  in darkness all his life and had  
finally  found  the light.  They continues staring at each other 
for several  minutes and the painful silence dragged on.
      "Ranma," whispered Akane, "Do you know what's going on?"
      "I  have  no idea," he whispered back,  "Although  I  
didn't realize  that  these  two even knew each other,  much  
less  were fiances..."
      "Maybe we should give them some privacy..."
      "Heck, no! I want to see how this turns out..."
      "Ranma..!" Akane whispered fiercely.
      The silence continued. Ranma and Akane eventually picked 
the two up off the floor and seated them at a booth, to keep them 
out of  the  way of the customers. The entire  time,  they  
continued staring at each other. Eventually, the customers had 
eaten  their fill and left, Ranma was in the process of putting 
away the money in  the cash register, and Akane was washing the 
dirty dishes  in the  back, when Ryoga finally said hesitantly, 
"So this is  where you are-"
      "Yes," Ukyou snapped coldly.
      "I tried to find you after the wedding-"
      "That wasn't a weddong it was a farce." Ukyou returned in a 
brittle voice.
      "Um... nobody would tell me where you'd gone-" Ryouga tried 
to continue.
      "I  didn't  want to be found," she replied. You  could  
have frozen ice cubes with that voice, "Especially not by you."
      Ryoga  finally  noticed  Ranma who  was  making  himself  
as inconspicuous  as  possible behind the counter.  He  had  
already finished  with the cash register and was trying hard not 
to  make it look like he was eavesdropping.
      Ryoga suddenly said, "Ranma, do you mind? This is a  
private conversation--"
      "No, Ranchan. Stay," interrupted Ukyou, "I've got nothing 
to discuss with this jackass that can't be said in front of my  
best friend."
      Ryoga's eyes suddenly lit up with anger, "What did you  
call Ranma?!"
      "Ranchan,"  said  Ukyou  coolly, "You  remember...  my  
best friend from high school. I'm pretty sure I mentioned him 
once  or twice. How do you know him?"
      "You  mentioned  him  practically every  other  day,"  
Ryoga snarled,  "You  mean to tell me that your 'Darling  
Ranchan'  was Ranma  all  along?!" Ryoga turned to Ranma, "We 
lived  under  the same roof for two years and you never mentioned 
this once?!!?"
      "Hey!"  said  Ranma stepping back. He'd  fought  with  
Ryoga before and he knew he was better, but Ryoga had the edge 
when  it came  to strength and endurance, "You never said  
anything  about Ukyou! All you ever did was mope about how your 
fiance left  you! You mean you were Ryochan?"
      "What a coincidence, Ryoga," she said his name with the 
same inflections one would use for referring to a maggot, "You 
used to live  with  Ranma... now he's living with me," she  said  
with  a cruel smile.
      Ryoga's head swiveled back and forth between the two.  
Ukyou was coolly unreadable and Ranma had a look of panic on his  
face. You could almost see steam rising from Ryoga's head as he  
rushed Ranma,  screaming, "You already have a fiance, but you're  
living with my Ukyou! I will not have it Saotome! Prepare to 
die!!"
      Ryoga  crashed through the counter and nearly  smashed  
into Ranma. Ranma easily stepped to one side and delivered a 
strike to the back of Ryoga's neck which should by rights have 
dropped him. All it did was make Ryoga angrier as he began to 
take wild swings at Ranma, which Ranma easily blocked or avoided.
      "Ryoga! Calm down man, it's not what you think!" said  
Ranma desperately. He knew full well that when Ryoga was this  
steamed, he was virtually unstoppable... short of ramming him 
into a steel wall and even that wasn't guaranteed to work.
      Akane stepped out of the kitchen area to see Ranma and 
Ryoga tearing up the counter and some of the tables. Ukyou was  
sitting in  one  corner looking as though she were just  about  
ready  to break  down.  Akane was the Goddess of Conflicts, and  
she  could feel a massive conflict of emotions within Ukyou...
      "What  is going on out here?!" she said. Unfortunately,  
she picked the wrong time to say it. Ranma was momentarily 
distracted allowing  Ryoga to get his hands on Ranma's neck and 
pick him  up like a rag doll.
      "Gotcha!  Now  you  will pay  Saotome!"  Ryoga's  voice  
was already bordering on the irrational, "For ruining my life and 
for stealing my Ukyou!!"
             Akane didn't even hear him ranting, she saw her 
Ranma  being attacked  and she acted immediately. Pulling out her 
mallet,  she swung back and hammered him across the back, sending 
both him and Ranma  flying towards the open front door.  
Unfortunately,  Ranko was just on her way in, humming a happy 
tune.
      Ranma  and Ryoga slammed into Ranko. Ryoga lost his grip  
on Ranma  at  roughly the same moment that Ranma made  contact  
with Ranko,  resulting in his transformation. All three were not  
hurt beyond  simple  bruises, but Ryoga was a little  stunned  by  
the hammer  blow.  He  shook his head to  clear  it,  looking  
around desperately for Ranma, who had disappeared. "The little  
coward's run off again," he snarled as he stood up.
      At  his feet, a pair of attractive redheads, twins no  
doubt he thought, cowered, "Where'd he go?!" he snarled at the 
one with the  shorter braid. She raised a trembling hand and 
pointed down the street.
      With a nod, Ryoga took off heading in the opposite 
direction. The two redheads blinked in confusion, as he 
disappeared in the distance.
	"What's going on?" asked Ranko, trying  to  disentangle 
herself from Ranma.
      "Do you really think I know?" said Ranma, irritated.  She 
surveyed   herself   and   muttered,  "I   never   thought   this 
transformation thing could come in handy."
      Akane stepped out of the door and saw them on the ground, 
trying to pick themselves up, but still locked in what appeared 
to be some sort of a hug. She made a small snarling noise at the 
back of her throat which was echoed by distant thunder.
      Ranko noticed her and said suddenly in a coy voice,  "Oh, 
Ranma! We mustn't! What if Akane were to catch us?! Besides we're 
both women!"
      "What are you babbling about!?" said Ranma, who had  
finally managed to get her arms free. She noticed a shadow 
falling on her created by the light of Ucchan's doorway... she 
looked up into the seething face of Akane.
      Akane picked up the two and easily separated them, "Ranma, 
I can  appreciate  that you had to get away from  Ryoga...  but  
at least  have  the  decency  not  to  look  like  you're   
enjoying yourself..."
      Ranko glomped onto Ranma, transforming him again, "Ah, but 
my darling cousin, if he so desperately wants me why should you 
stop him? You can't really blame him.. er... her... Akane, it's 
your own fault, you know..." she said airily. Ranko snuggled up 
to the now female Ranma some more and said, "Stop being so  shy, 
Darling..." 
      Ranma gently tried to pushed her away and said,  "Will  you 
stop that!?!"
	Akane picked Ranko up by the collar and tossed her over her 
shoulder,  "What's going on Ranma!? Why was Ryoga trying to kill 
you?!"
      "Stop trying to maul my beautiful body you violent 
maniac..." said Ranko as she slowly picked herself up.
	"Why does everyone keep asking me?" asked Ranma,  "I'm the 
innocent  bystander here..." she leaned himself against the  wall 
next to the door and rubbed at her injuries. Those were going to 
be sore in the morning. 
      Ukyou stepped out of the restaurant herself. Akane, 
thinking fast reached out and tagged Ranma on the chest, turning 
him  back into his male form. 
      "So where did Ryoga go?" she asked in a brittle voice.
      "Gone... he wandered off." replied Ranma.
      Ranko took one good look at Ukyou's emotional state and  
was surprised  by what she found... she hid a smirk from  the  
others and  simply declared, "Well, I'm exhausted. I'm going back 
up  to the room to sleep," as she walked into the restaurant, she  
said, "By the way, Ranma, Tate-kun sends his regards..." 
      Ranma  frowned, "Tate-kun? Who's Tate-kun?" he  asked  
himself, but at the moment it was less important than Ukyou's 
problem...
      "Ucchan, do you want to talk about it?" he asked Ukyou.
      "We're your friends Ukyou. Please let us help," Akane 
pleaded.
	"I'm not sure you can," Ukyou said with a small sad  smile, 
"Maybe it's already to late."
	"It's never too late," said Akane with a certain sense of 
authority, "Nothing is ever totally irrevocable..."
      Ukyou sighed and shook her head sadly, as she gestured them 
into the  restaurant.  Ranma and Akane looked at each other, 
shrugged and followed. They went through the motions of closing 
up the restaurant before Ukyou finally sat the two of them  down 
at one booth and talked...
      "Ranma, do you remember my last letter to you?" Ukyou 
began.
      "Yeah.  I  still have it around here somewhere..."  he  
said thinking about rooting through the various junk he had piled 
in his room.
      "No, don't bother. Do you remember what I said there?"
	"Yeah. That you were getting married to this guy you met 
and that  you two were really happy. I called you on the day  of  
the wedding but your roommates told me you'd moved out already.  
They never  told  me  why," Ranma's brow furrowed  in  thought,  
"Your fiance was Ryoga?"
      Ukyou nodded. "We were supposed to get married on 
Valentine's Day, I had the wedding hall and the  reception  and 
everything was ready."
      "What happened?" asked Ranma.
	"Then he disappears. I waited at the wedding hall  for  six 
days  for  him.  He never showed up... I was  so  humiliated!  My 
entire  family was there... my friends..." Ukyou's voice  was 
laced  with bitterness and tears were forming at the  corners  of 
her eyes.
      "That's so sad," said Akane laying a hand on Ukyou's 
shoulder.
      Ukyou smiled faintly in Akane's direction then asked,  
"This part was  always one of the hardest to tell Akane...  Could 
you please get me some water?"
	Akane nodded and headed towards the kitchen.
      "Since that day, I've tried to forget that I was a woman," 
Ukyou  continued now addressing only Ranma, "I  started  dressing 
like  a man, acting like one... I didn't want to take the chance 
of having my heart broken again. I left Tokyo, moved out  here 
where nobody knew me... then I just sort of reestablished  myself 
as  Ukyou Kuonji, a practical person who doesn't care about  love 
or sentiment... At least until a few weeks ago."
	"Why? What happened then?" Ranma asked.
      Ukyou blushed and gave a shy smile. For the first time 
since she  realized who Ranma really was, she looked  very  
feminine... "You came back, Ranchan. My best friend in the world 
came back."
      "Here's your water Ukyou," said Akane, suddenly stepping 
out of the kitchen.
      Ranma had a look of confused shock and Ukyou was blushing 
red.  Akane looked at the two, as she sat and asked in a puzzled 
tone, "Is something wrong?"
	"Nooo... nothing's wrong at all..." said Ranma 
incoherently.
      "Anyway,"  said  Ukyou  without  missing  a  beat,  
blushing furiously,  "I  was probably just wishing...  it  would  
probably never have worked out. Him being already engaged to 
someone else and all..."
      "Yeah...  I  guess..." said Ranma,  suspiciously,  "I  
never realized,  though..." he managed to stop himself in time 
when  he noticed that Akane was here.
	"Um... are you talking about Ryoga?" asked Akane, unclear.
      "No,"  said  Ukyou  clearly,  "Ryoga  was  someone  I  
never expected to see again. I never want to see him again," she 
folded her arms and her mouth became a thin hard line.
      "Ucchan..." Ranma said, "Maybe if you talked to him 
first... Get his side. He's not that bad a guy--"
      "There can be no forgiveness. If he shows up around here 
I'll put him in the hospital," she said, cracking her knuckles.
	Akane  said,  "I agree with Ranma, Ukyou. I saw the way he 
looked at you. He's still in love with you..."
      "Hmph," Ukyou sniffed, "Maybe he just realized how much 
he's lost..." 
      "You know that might be it..." said Ranma slowly.
      "What do you mean?" asked Ukyou.
      "Maybe Ryoga got lost on the way to the wedding hall."
      Ukyou frowned, "The hotel we were staying in was right next 
to the wedding hall, how can you get lost on his way there?"
      Ranma smirked, "This is Ryoga we're talking about. He gets 
lost going across the street. It takes him to hours to find the 
bathroom in a one bedroom apartment. The man has the world's most 
pathetic sense of direction."
      "He wasn't like that when I knew him... Nobody's sense of 
direction could be that bad..." said Ukyou dubiously.
      "His is. Trust me. You can ask anybody at the University. 
How else do you explain the fact that this place is only a few 
blocks from where he lives, but he's never been here before?  We 
didn't used to let him leave the dorm alone because  it  usually 
took him weeks to get back.
      "No matter.  I don't care what  happens  to  that  jackass 
anymore as long as he doesn't show up here," she said bitterly as 
she  stood  up, "I'm going to bed now, guys. Just turn out the 
lights when you turn in, Okay?"
      "Sure thing, Ukyou," said Ranma.
      Ranma and Akane watched as Ukyou climbed up the stairs  to 
her  apartment.  Ranma was a little confused by what Ukyou had 
said...  He'd always considered Ukyou a friend, but never did he 
think that she felt that way about him. And Ryoga, while a rival, 
was also a friend of his... There was only one thing that  could 
be done. 
      Akane noticed Ranma's look of distraction and  said,  "You 
want to help them don't you?"
      "Is it that obvious?"
      "A little. So, what do you think we should do?"
      "I  don't know yet... maybe if we got Ryoga's side we  
might have something more to work with..."
      "Say no more..." she said brightly as she dragged Ranma  
out of his seat, "Follow me, we can still catch up to him."
      "Where are we going?" asked Ranma.
      "The bathroom."
      "What? How's that going to find Ryoga?"
      "I need water to move through, silly..."
      "Oh, yeah... you mentioned that."
      She  nodded as they entered the bath. Akane filled a  
bucket of water and set it down in front of them.
      "Do  I  have  to  hold  my  breath?"  Ranma  asked   
looking incredulously at the bucket.
      "No,  just hold onto me..." she said putting her arm  
around Ranma's waist.  
      "Er... like this?" he said putting a tentative hand to  
hold her shoulder.
      Akane  frowned at him, "Hold on tighter, Ranma if you  
don't want to get stranded in between."
      "I'm holding already, I'm holding..." 
      "Erhk!  Not  that tight, you idiot!" she squeaked  as  
Ranma released his grip, "That's better. Here we go!"
      Akane  jumped into the bucket, pulling Ranma in  after  
her. Ranma  didn't even have time to register what he saw  during  
the journey. One moment, he was in Ukyou's bathroom, the next he  
was standing waist deep in a public bath. The women's section.
      Most  of the women currently had their backs to Ranma  
which was a good thing. Considering how vigorously they defended  
their own virtue against peeping toms. Case in point. Ryoga 
Hibiki.
      Ryoga,  when his rage had finally run out, had  fallen  
into the  black pits of depression. He had wandered into the 
baths  by accident.  In his state of mind, he'd failed to notice  
precisely where  he was and was only snapped out of it finally  
by  finding himself  in  the  center of screaming circle of  
women  who  were pitching wooden buckets, plastic chairs, and 
anything else  which came  in handy with uncanny accuracy. Ryoga 
had managed to  avert his  eyes quickly enough to avoid a 
nosebleed, but with his  eyes closed, he couldn't find his way 
out either. Some of those bucket strikes were starting to hurt 
too...
 	Screams of "Pervert!" "Pig!" Get out of here!" were  
already echoing  through  the  baths. So Akane's sudden  shout  
of  "Stop looking you, pervert!" at Ranma when she realized where 
they were was hardly noticed.
      Ranma on the other hand didn't bother to avert his gaze.  
He quickly  dashed past the women and grabbed Ryoga by  the  
collar, hauling  him out of there as quickly as he could. Of 
course  this resulted in a fresh series of screams and thrown 
items.  
      Shouts to the effect of, "Another one!", "Get him!", 
"They're probably in cahoots!", "Isn't that Ranma?" 
      Ranma sprinted out at full speed. In the back of his mind 
he mused  that  his reputation was probably ruined...  Somebody  
was going  to  pay  for this. Following close  on  his  heels,  
Akane finally managed to catch up with him.
      "Why didn't you tell me we were going to end up in a 
women's bath, you idiot?!" asked Ranma.
      "How  was I supposed to know your idiot friend would  
wander into one!?" she retorted angrily.
      "Is  it safe to look now?" Ryoga asked worriedly as  he  
was dragged along.
      "Shut up!" Ranma and Akane said simultaneously.
      As they finally ran out of the baths, they turned the 
corner and entered an alley. They finally stopped, breathing 
hard.
      "I think we lost them..." said Ranma.
      "Where are we?" asked Akane.
      "It looked like the bath of the women's dorm..."  muttered 
Ranma.
      Akane  frowned,  "How would you know what the  women's  
bath looks like?"
      "Er... I mean the outside, Akane."
      Akane merely glared at him.
      "Is it safe to look now?" repeated Ryoga in the same tone 
of voice, his eyes firmly screwed shut.
      Ranma sighed, "Yeah, its safe, you idiot."
      Ryoga frowned at the voice before he opened his eyes. 
      When  he saw Ranma he immediately went into a wild lunge  
at him, "I'm going to kill you Saotome!"
      Ranma  quickly borrowed Akane's mallet and  easily  
hammered him into the ground.
      "I just saved your bacon in there, Ryoga! Doesn't that 
count for something?"
      "Do you think pulling me out of a women's bath can take 
away all  of  the pain you've caused me?" Ryoga asked  angrily  
as  he picked himself up.
      "What  are  you babbling about?" asked Akane,  grabbing  
her hammer back from Ranma.
      "You must have been laughing the whole time, Ranma," he 
said bitterly,  "Ukyou  always talked about her  Ranchan...  her  
best friend... she was always comparing the two of us, you 
know... She always  said Ranchan was her best friend, but she 
made you  sound more like an old boyfriend..."
      "I  didn't know, Ryoga. I only found out about this now.  
We were   just  friends..."  complained  Ranma,  "And  if  its   
any consolation, when she did write to me, she'd keep going on 
and on about her Ryochan--"
      "Enough  talk  Ranma it won't save you--" he paused  as  
the words  finally reached his brain, "You mean she used to  call  
me Ryochan in her letters?"
      "Who  else could she be talking about? She mentioned  
fangs, bandannas,  hideously  strong...  how many guys  answer  
to  that description?" Ranma shrugged.
      Ryoga's face darkened again, "That still doesn't change  
the fact  that you're living with her... she said so,  Ukyou  
doesn't lie..."
      "We're living with her..." said Akane suddenly.
      Ryoga looked at the two of them, "Huh?"
      "Ranma  is  living with her, but so am I and so  is  
Ranko," Akane continued.
	"After you kicked me out of the dorm, I didn't have 
anywhere to  stay... it was just lucky I ended up there and she 
offered us a place to stay for the night," Ranma  thought about 
it, "That was about three weeks ago..."
	"You   mean...  you  two  aren't  living   together   
living  together... you're just staying under the same roof?" 
said  Ryoga in a puzzled tone.
 	"Precisely,"  answered  Akane,  "You've got  nothing  to  
be jealous about there."
      "But, she's really mad at you, you know..." said Ranma.
      Ryoga suddenly slumped to the ground, "I know, I know... 
I'm not  even  sure  I can make her listen to  me... but if she 
did,  I  could  explain everything..."
      Akane  smiled  at him and put a hand on his  shoulder,  
"I'm sure  you could Ryoga-kun... but we've got to find a way to  
make her listen. We'll help you if we can..."
      Ryoga  couldn't help but smile back at her,  "Really?  
Thank you. Thank you very much..." he got back to his feet.
      "So what really did happen?" asked Ranma.
      "Let's  talk  about it on the way to the  dorm..."  he  
said starting  off in a random direction. Ranma blinked as he  
steered Ryoga in the proper direction and gestured to Akane to 
follow.
      "Basically,"  Ryoga said as they walked, Ranma and Akane  
on either side of him to keep him on the right track, "We were 
going to be married. Her family liked me and said it was a good  
match. Her  dad  even promised to give me the family's restaurant  
as  a dowry...  The night before the wedding, we had an  
argument...  I don't even remember what it was about... Anyway, I 
went on a walk that  night, wondering about my marriage, about 
how things  would change...  you know, trying to sort things out 
in my head...  the next thing I know its 2 A.M. in the morning 
and I'm in some place called Kansas."
      Ranma and Akane shared incredulous looks.
      Ryoga shook his head at the memory, "It took me two weeks 
to get  back... by then Ukyou had disappeared. No one would tell  
me where  she  went  and  her  family  wouldn't  even  talk  to   
me anymore..."  he continued sadly, "I haven't been able to find  
my way  around properly since. I ended up coming here to continue  
my education again. That's what happened."
      They  walked on  in silence as  Ryoga's  two  companions 
mulled  over his story. "Well, that's what I told her... that 
you'd gotten lost... but  she didn't buy it," said Ranma finally.
      "Do  you  really  think  you  can  help  me?"  asked   
Ryoga desperately as they dropped him off at the dorm.
      "We  can  help you," said Akane with conviction as they 
guided him to the front door,  "Count  on it."
	Ryoga bowed and thanked them both, as he stumbled into the 
dorm. It was highly likely that he would take the better part of 
the evening looking for his room, but at least he was there. As 
he disappeared into the building, Ranma turned to Akane and said 
skeptically, "Do you really think we can help him?"
	Akane smiled, "We live with the goddess of affection, I'm 
sure Ranko would be glad to help..."
	Ranma still looked doubtful, "Ranko? Help? Of her own free 
will? "
	"She likes Ukyou. She'd probably be glad to do it."
	Ranma got a strange look on his face as an idle thought 
crossed his mind, "She... likes... Ukyou?"
	Akane noticed the look and gave him a knock on the head, 
"Not like that, you pervert!" she calmed down a little, "She 
likes the fact that Ukyou's an independent woman. She almost 
respects that..."
	"I suppose..." he replied, still doubtful.
	Akane gave Ranma a warm smile as she took his arm, "Come 
on, we've still got that other place to check out tomorrow. We 
want to get plenty of rest."
	Ranma nodded and looked around, "How are we getting home 
anyway? Its a pretty long walk..."
	"Same way we got here, you big silly," Akane laughed, 
dragging him to a puddle of water that had collected at a nearby 
faucet.
	"Aw, man..."

	They did indeed check out the other place the following 
day... for a change, all three of them.
	"Is this place what I think it is, Akane-chan?" asked Ranma 
incredulously.
	"Looks like it," Akane replied, also slightly stunned.
	"I like it!" said Ranko with conviction, smiling broadly as 
she surveyed the grounds.
	"Can we afford this?" asked Ranma finally, his surprise 
still plain on his face.
	Akane turned to him and said, "This was actually the 
cheapest place so far... its got an even lower price than that 
apartment downtown..."
	Ranko had already wandered off to explore the garden.
	"Why are they renting this place out so cheap? It's huge! 
It's got its own grounds and everything, but it costs less than a 
fleabag one room apartment? There's gotta be something wrong with 
it," said Ranma a little uncertainly.
	"Nothing I could find, Ranma. I guess people just generally 
don't want to live here..." said Akane.
	"I can't really blame them," he replied, glancing up at the 
somewhat derelict old structure...
	"We'll take it!" said Ranko enthusiastically, bouncing back 
to the two.
	"I've still got my doubts about this..." said Ranma putting 
a hand at Akane's shoulder...
	Akane smiled at him, "No... this place feels right, Ranma."
	"Aw c'mon, Saotome!" said Ranko happily, "This is perfect! 
Where else would you expect a pair of goddesses to live but at a 
temple?"

To be continued....