Well, I didn't really plan on releasing this before I finished it, but its
taking so long that I decided I'd release the first part now (I doubt I'll
need to change anything in this part for the later parts) and maybe release
the second part in a couple of days.  The way things are going now, it
looks like it'll be somewhere between 4-6 parts of about this length.
This is NOT the 'Big Guy' I've talked about before, nor does it relate to
it in any way. (one new character does share a name, but that's just
because I always include a character of this name, regardless...)

Here you go-
The Second Charlotte Cup
by David A. Tatum

Disclaimer:  Ranma 1/2 obviously does not belong to me, but I do ask its
creator, Rumiko Takahashi, and anyone else who owns the copyright on it,
that they not sue me for what I feel is simple tribute to the fabulous
world they have created. If you do decide to sue me, realize I'm a third
year college student who is a journalism major and a creative writing
minor- so I'm a broke kid with no real prospects for employment....

Author's Notes:  First off, THIS, my third released fanfic, IS NOT PART OF
THE BIG GUY that I've talked about in my previous fanfics.  This fanfic,
which my girlfriend begged (desired, demanded, 'write this for me or die!')
me to write, could not be set at any point that the Big Guy would allow it
(certain timelines overlap) so I just decided to start from the same point
the big guy starts (or a little later) and make it a completely independent
story on a parallel timeline (I actually have a half-finished fanfic which
explains this, but I'm at a loss for how to wrap it up, so that'll probably
be late in coming.  I'm working on 4 fanfics simultaneously now that I've
finished this, so I'll probably come out with one or two before this more
explanatory fanfic shows up).  Just to be a bit more confusing (and because
I always do this) I included Desaix, a character which stars in all my
fiction and so has been in The Journey of Soun and has a bit part in
Thunder's Hero (someone recently suggested that I use the title 'The
Shooting Star' for that fanfic, and I'm thinking about it, but at least
until I re-release it, I'll refer to it by its old name...) AND who will
have staring role in The Big Guy, as a major character in this fanfic.  Oh,
and if you have never read my fanfics before, I do something in defiance of
tradition to explain the appearance of Akane's mallet (I've been told it
would really weaken her, but... oh, well, this is fiction, who cares), and
that is to make it a 'Mallet of Chi' instead of having Akane grab it from
Hammerspace or some similar dimensional hole.
	(WARNING:  SOME SPOILERS TO FANFIC IF YOU CONTINUE READING THESE NOTES) 
In case your interested, these are the things my girlfriend came up with
for me to put into this fic:  First, the female new character (I have a
policy for these fanfics that, except in unusual circumstances, I will not
create a new character without creating a love interest for them, or
without completely eliminating a need to provide them with a love interest.
 I am not going to bring in a new character to fall for Nabiki, Ukyo,
Ryouga, Kasumi, Kuno, Kodachi (gag!) or any of the other characters. 
Therefore, if I create a female character, I need to create a male
character to match her with (well, it doesn't necessarily have to be male,
but I'm a bit of a traditionalist...:-) or to make her someone who
obviously doesn't need a love interest, which I can't do with this
character) was created by my girlfriend.  Basically, that's all she did
(except for coming up with some jokes), but the character kind of limited
what I could write.  This is the profile that I came up with from what she
said:  Profession- Temple Prostitute.  Yep, right there is what made me
decide that I'd call this 'lemon-scented,' even if there are no
specifically lemon scenes in it.  If you have a complaint about that, blame
my girlfriend, not me!  Name- B.B.  This wasn't enough of a name for me, so
I said that she goes by the name of B.B., but her full name is Buriko
Bakamoto (I needed to come up with the full name because I figured that she
wouldn't want to be called B.B. in her cursed form- which you'll read a bit
about later  I think you'll understand why).  I don't know if that's an
authentic-sounding name- the Buriko was a take-off on a Japanese word I
found in an essay by one of the FFML authors on some home-page (I believe
it was an essay done by Kun-chan, but I'm not certain), which was Burikko
(same pronunciation, different spelling), while the Bakamoto would mean, as
I understand it, something along the lines of 'lots of baka's,' which could
make sense, since I would picture someone in her profession to be
surrounded by them.  I normally don't give this much thought into a name
(my 'new' male character, Desaix, i.e. the person who I put in every work
of fiction I do, was pulled out of Bartlett's Book of Quotes at random. 
Other names come from t.v. show credits, sports stars with cool names, book
titles, and the occasional 'hey, it just sounds cool!') but I felt like
doing so this time (in other words, it gave me a plausible excuse which I
could give to my girlfriend which would allow me to delay starting this,
since I knew that this would be a long work for me, and since most of my
time to write fanfics is between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., well...).  Another
demand for B.B. was that she had to be so infatuated with Happosai that the
poor little old man would be scared of her (don't ask me, she came up with
this).  She also came up with a curse for B.B. to have, which really fits
in with the profession (though she didn't link it at first, she wanted this
so that I could write a certain scene which is the first night of the
'Second Charlotte Cup Competition.'  You'll know it when you see it, if you
can't guess it) she gave her.  The curse?  Spring of Drowned Holy Woman. 
The rest of B.B.'s character was explained to me by reference, so I'll
translate into Ranma-esque references.  She has Azusa's obsession with cute
things, Nabiki's cunning, Shampoo's body, Ranma-chan's 'feminine modesty,'
and Akane's temper (and, so as not to leave her out, I added a little of
Kasumi to her cursed form, but not much!).  Has this scared anyone else
yet?  So I had to work this character into a story, and of course work my
all-important trademark character, Desaix, (who is a bit different from the
Desaix in 'The Big Guy' or its prequels, but certain elements are universal
for ALL my Desaix's) and I had to finish this as soon as I could so as to
keep my girlfriend from nagging me about it.  (suddenly, David's 
girlfriend appears over his shoulder and says 'What!  I'm nagging you!?  I
DON'T NAG PEOPLE!"  *WHAM!!!!!!!!!!* "I may remind them to do certain
things, but I CERTAINLY don't NAG people!"  *WHAM!!!!!!!!*  She turns
around and leaves in a huff)  Ugh, I think I'll stop this now before I
stick my foot further into my mouth.  (END SPOILERS)

Chronological Notes (kept separate for those people who NEVER read author's
notes):  This story takes place following the last manga.  None of the
event which have occured in my other fanfics have taken place, however (at
least, not in any that I have written).

On with the story...
------------------------------

For those of you who skipped the Author's notes, this is not the 'Big Guy'
I keep talking about in my other fanfics.  Some original characters may
have similar names with stories which fall into that continuum, but this is
a completely separate story.  Now on to the real fanfic.

*	*	*	*	*

Ranma and Akane were walking to school, side by side for once.  Ever since
the failed wedding a few weeks beforehand, which they had never spoken of,
they had had an unspoken agreement to be somewhat less... violent... when
dealing with each other.  That didn't stop the bickering, but it did pull
some of the nastier punches and reduce some of the more random insults.

That Ranma wasn't walking on the fence was not a surprise anymore to Akane.
 He started walking beside her in the days following the wedding, and now,
two weeks later, she was used to feeling his presence only a step behind
her on her right.

What was a surprise was that Ranma just grabbed her up and spun around to
place himself between her and something coming straight at them at high
speed.

"Panty-thief alert!" Ranma shouted before Akane could get angry.  Keeping
her away from Happosai was about the only excuse Akane would accept which
would keep Ranma from a pounding for grabbing her like that.  Sure enough,
a three-foot tall man with a bra strapped to his head was bouncing there
way.  However, he just seemed to ignore Ranma and run away, as if he, the
most confident martial artist ever, the greatest master the Founding School
of Anything Goes Martial Arts had ever produced, was frightened to death of
something.  Ranma blinked as the ancient troll-like being flew over Akane
and himself.  Ranma blinked.

"What's with Happosai?" Akane asked, curious.

Ranma frowned.  "I dunno.  Normally, he'd stop by for a quick feel or
something..."  Before, Ranma might've continued this with a random insult
to Akane about not understanding why he would even want to get a quick feel
from someone like Akane, but his new unspoken agreement with her saved him
from a massive pounding, allowing him to continue with "but he seemed in a
hurry for some reason.  In fact, he seemed almost... scared of something." 
Ranma was a little concerned that maybe Pantyhose Tarou had returned,
seeking vengeance on Happosai again, and that half of Nerima would be
destroyed (again).  

His thoughts on that subject, however, were quickly interrupted by the
sound of a very cute, nasally high-pitched voice shouting "HAPPY-CHAN!!! 
WHERE ARE YOU!  HAPPY-CHAN!  COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE!"  The
voice was followed by a young woman, about seventeen years old or so,
dressed in a very revealing leather ensemble consisting of VERY tight
smooth black shorts and a just as tight smooth black... top.  Ranma
blinked, and quickly got a nose bleed, turning his head to look away from
the woman so as to avoid Akane's wrath (a pitifully unsuccessful attempt,
as Akane's Mallet of Ki showed up in an instant and smashed Ranma flat
right away, with the shout of 'Get your mind out of the gutter, you
pervert!').  The woman was followed by a similarly aged young man dressed
in the robes of a shinto priest, who had, tied onto a walking staff,
similar such robes designed for a female, who was desperately trying to
keep pace with her.  He didn't look like a foreigner, but he also didn't
quite look fully Japanese either- the eyes were very Japanese, but the
facial hair and the nose looked... odd.  The two of them stopped before a
surprised Akane and a slowly recovering Ranma, the young man panting in
exhaustion.

"Can you calm down for a second?" the young priest asked the woman
desperately before turning to Ranma and Akane.  "Pardon me, Sir, Madam, I
am Ken Desaix and this lady is Buriko Bakamoto-"  The leather-clad girl
smacked him on the back of the head.  Desaix grimaced, and looked
apologetic as he continued "Excuse me, this lady is B.B., and we are from
the shinto temple at Koshindo.  I humbly ask your assistance in our quest
to locate a Master Happosai, who we followed this far.  He is about three
foot tall, essentially bald, and is very ancient."  Desaix frowned.  "Last
I saw him, he was wearing what appeared to be a bra on his head."

Akane blinked, and looked from the woman to the man.  Ranma blinked and
looked from the man to the woman.  Then they both pointed in the direction
that Happosai bounded off to.

"Thank you very much," Desaix said through gritted teeth as B.B. started
running off in the direction that they pointed before running off in
pursuit, sighing as he went.  B.B. called out "HAPPY-CHAN!  COME BACK
HAPPY-CHAN!  I SO MUCH WANT TO LOVE YOU!"

That last phrase, said as she and Desaix disappeared around another corner,
caused both Ranma and Akane to facefault.  After he recovered, Ranma turned
to Akane, a strange expression on his face.

"You know," he said, scratching the back of his head where his pigtail was
attached to his head, "I have the wierdest feeling that we haven't seen the
last of those two."

*	*	*	*	*

"Ranma," Akane was saying, "If you don't eat this stir-fry I made for you,
I'll-"  A loud knock on the door interrupted her threat.

"Uh, I'll get it!" Ranma volunteered, leaping up before anyone else could
respond.

"RANMA, YOU STILL HAVE TO EAT MY STIR FRY!"  Akane shouted after him.  He
smirked as he ran to the door, glad for this at least temporary reprieve
from the death sentence Akane had issued.  

He opened the door, and a female blur (which he first thought was Shampoo
with dyed black hair) burst past him, and started bouncing between the
cracks and crevices of the Tendo Dojo, calling out "HAPPY-CHAN, WHERE ARE
YOU!?"  Ken Desaix entered behind the blur, and began what seemed to be a
prepared speech.

"Hello, sir, I am Ken Desaix, and the lady who just burst past you was...
say, didn't we already come across you earlier today?"

Akane walked in, holding a plate of some noxious murky brown liquid
substance filled with things which looked like crushed eggshells, wood
chips, and vegitables glued together in clumps with what looked like melted
plastic packaging.  "Ranma, who is it at the door... Oh, hello, Mr... what
was your name again?"

"Desaix.  Ken Desaix, but most people either call me Dez or Desaix.  And
you are?"  
The female blur which was almost certainly B.B. buzzed in front of him, but
he didn't blink.

"Hello, my name is Akane Tendo, and this is my fia... er, and this is Ranma
Saotome, who's staying here with our family.

"I take it that you failed to find Happosai, eh?"  Ranma asked, after
briefly glancing at Akane strangely.

"That is correct.  In fact,"  Desaix continued without pause as what was
now definately B.B., still dressed in her leather outfit, started picking
up random pieces of furniture to look behind them.  "We have come here
because we completely lost his trail.  I am sorry if we are intruding, but
when the trail ran cold we consulted the restraunts which we had followed
him to, and he always sent the bill to this dojo.  We assumed that he lived
or at least worked he-"  He hadn't even flinched when B.B. started picking
him up to look behind, under, and around him, but he stuttered a bit when
she dropped him hard to the ground.  "uh, here, and so came to see if we
could find a trail again."  Kasumi started to walk into the room to see
what was going on.

"Oh, my," Kasumi cried as B.B. started picking her up indelicately.  Desaix
sighed.

"Oh, geez, I guess I'd better calm her down after all.  Have you got any
cold water?"

Ranma and Akane both blinked.  Kasumi, not quite as undisturbed by B.B.
picking her up as Desaix was but still quite unflappable, called from
mid-air "I believe you'll find a fire-emergency bucket right next to the
door," before B.B. dropped her on her butt as well.  Desaix walked over and
grabbed it, while B.B. sped over and picked up Ranma to survey the area
under and around him.  Before Akane or Ranma could do anything, the water
went flying.

"Oh, my!" B.B. said in a very Kasumi-like voice as she gently set
Ranma-chan down.  "My deepest apologies!"  She set her eyes downcast and
walked over slowly and respectfully to stand beside and a little behind
Desaix.  Desaix, meanwhile, was staring aghast at Ranma-chan.  Akane was
staring at the whole scene, a little dumbfounded.  Kasumi was staring at
the floor intently, as she had noticed some dust rise when she hit the
ground.

"I never knew that there were others cursed by the Jusenkyo springs!"
Desaix broke in.  "Let me guess, the Spring of Drowned Girl?"  Ranma-chan
nodded slowly.  Desaix smiled.  "Well, at least you can talk in your form. 
Buriko, here, fell... er, rolled into the Spring of Drowned Holy Woman, and
I myself fell into the Spring of Drowned Raven."  Desaix sighed.  "I guess
I'm the only one unlucky enough to to get a curse where I can't say
anything when its active, huh?"

Ranma-chan blinked.  "Uh, no, actually.  You landed dead center in perhaps
the largest concentration of Jusenkyo-cursed people ever, and most of us
can't talk when cursed.  But, um, Spring of Drowned Holy Woman?  And I
hadn't heard of that one..."

Desaix sighed.  "So, there are others?  I'll want to ask you about them
sometime, but right now I suppose I should tell you who we are and what we
are doing here.  Is there somewhere that we can sit down, though?  My legs
ache- I've been running non-stop for the past three days..."

"Oh, certainly," Kasumi said.  "Follow me.  Would any of you like some
tea?"  She started to lead them to the patio, sitting them all around the
dining table facing the koi pond.  A panda was sleeping in the sun.

"Um..." Desaix hesitated.  Buriko nudged him.  He smiled.  "Yes, please. 
Buriko would like some too, I believe.  But, er, leave the teapot in the
kitchen."

Kasumi blinked at that request, but nodded and left.  Buriko looked down at
herself and blushed as a brisk wind blew into the room, and whispered
something to Desaix.  He nodded, and detached the robes from his walking
stick, handing them to her.  In a flash, she was dressed up as a shinto
priest, but she still was blushing.  Ranma-chan and Akane watched this,
somewhat mystified.

"Um, so why are you after Happosai, anyway?"  Ranma-chan began.  "Most
shinto priests who search for Happosai want to exorcise the demons that
reside in him, and if that is what you are trying to do I'm afraid to say
that it hasn't ever worked before, and I doubt it will work now..."

A very strained and saddened expression appeared on Desaix's face.  "Not
exactly," he sighed.  "I should begin by explaining a little bit about
ourselves, I suppose.  Hmm, where to begin.  Buriko, here, began her tenure
with our temple in unusual fashion.  I was walking around the village of
Koshindo one rainy day- I used to like to walk in the rain- and I found
this crying young woman who told me her name was Buriko Bakamoto.  I felt
very sorry for the poor girl, even though she never said what she was
crying about, and took her with me back to the temple.  She turned out to
be a very caring woman with a strong sense of virtue, and found a home in
our temple as a quasi-priestess, even though she hadn't then- and still
hasn't- participated in any of the ceremonies in order to nor has she begun
the process of officially joining the priesthood."  Kasumi walked in with
five filled teacups on a silver tray, and set it on the center of the
table.  Everyone grabbed a cup and Desaix took a sip of tea, and stared at
it, smiling, before he continued.  "It was a pot of hot tea that turned
that seemingly innocent woman into... well... into what could best be
called a temple prostitute.  See, one day, I was bringing her lunch when
she was studying some of our books- our temple has a remarkable library, by
the way- and stumbled when a six inch long centipede ran over my foot.  A
filled teapot I had on the tray went flying, and spilled its contents on
top of Buriko.  Buriko, the priestess, became Buriko, the temple
prostitute..."  Desaix paused and frowned, remembering that conversation.

"Oh, Buriko," He had said, "I'm so sorry.  I'll go get a towel to help you
clean up..."

"You know," she had replied, "I really prefer B.B.  Now, forget that towel.
 How much money do you have?"  She started altering her clothing as much as
she could without destroying it or completely removing it to make herself
look as seductive as she could.

"How much money do I have?  Huh?  Why, Buri- I mean, B.B.?"

B.B. started speaking in a cute voice.  "What?  You don't want to sleep
with me?  It'll cost you, but I promise you, I'm worth it!"

"Buriko?!  What's come over you?!"

"Oh, I was cursed at some place called 'Jusenkyo.'  Now, when I'm hit by
hot water, my personality changes one way, and when hit with cold, it
becomes another.  Now, about my pricing system, Kisses are cheap, they only
cost 1000 yen each.  Now, the further you want to go, the more you need to
pay...."

Desaix was called back to the present by a light thwap on the back of his
head by Buriko.  "Ahem, yes, she became the temple prositute.  Half the
time, she was a priestess, and the other half, she was a prostitute.  While
a prostitute, she made a lot of money, but when her virtuous side showed
its face, she always blushed, cried, and attempted to make up for her, um,
less-than-virtuous lifestyle by donating all of the money she made to the
temple.  Studying through our books, we found that the closest thing to her
position that existed historically was, in ancient Greece a 'temple
prostitute.'  And so the head of our temple named her the Koshindo Temple
Prostitute.  I refused to accept this, believing that someone as innocent
as I believed her to be should not be subjected to a curse which made her
become a... well, a temple prostitute.  So I went to Jusenkyo, searching
for a 'cure' which would allow her to be her innocent self the whole time. 
I didn't know, of course, that she had been a prostitute to start with, but
I finally understand when I fell into a spring myself, and I found out
which form was the original- the hot water form.  When I returned to the
temple, I got the story from her- she was 'employed' by someone with a
strong erotic sense of danger.  B.B., as she was known then, didn't care
about the nature of Jusenkyo as long as she was paid well."  Desaix
blushed, and everyone else blushed as he said "When she rolled off of
her... exhausted... employer, she rolled into a spring, and Buriko
Bakamoto, which was actually her full name even if she never called herself
that or allowed anyone else to call her that, was created."

Ranma frowned.  "Okay, that explains the curses, but what about Happosai?"

"Ah, see, he gave some kind of potion to her, to make her fall in love with
him.  So, she kept moping around the temple, begging to be allowed to look
for him."  Ranma and Akane facefaulted, and even Kasumi looked a little
disturbed at the concept of someone actually 'wanting' Happosai's
attentions.  "The other priests at the temple felt that she should pursue
him, feeling that a love interest might lesson some of her less desirable
'uncursed' traits.  I was sent along as a bodyguard, since, as one of my
'friends' at the temple put it, I brought her into the temple, so its my
job to look after her."

Buriko hesitated.  "I don't want to interrupt this very interesting
discussion we're all having, but it is getting late, and Desaix and I
should return to our hotel rooms shortly.  Do any of you know where
Happosai-chan lives?"

Kasumi smiled.  "Oh, he normally stays here, but he goes on trips every
day.  He hasn't come home yet, as far as I can tell.  You could always come
by tomorrow around lunchtime- he never misses lunches."

Buriko smiled.  "Oh, thank you so much.  And thank you for the tea- I loved
it a lot."

Desaix and Buriko stood up, and left quickly.  After walking them to the
door, Akane started to say something to Ranma, but then looked around. 
"Say, where'd my stir fry go?"  Ranma looked around, nervous, and finally
spotted the pot lying down outside the patio.  Akane saw where he was
looking, and smiled.  "Ah, good, you can eat my stir fry after all."  Then
she frowned.  "But its probably cold by now, so-"

The temperature of the stir fry didn't matter for long, as a second later
Happosai emerged from the murky substance, a straw in his mouth.  "Whew, I
thought she'd never leave."

"What's wrong, you old freak?  Why are you running from her?  I mean, you
did use a love potion on her?"  Ranma smirked, glad that he wouldn't have
to eat Akane's poison after all.

"That I did, my boy, that I did, but that was before I found out about her
curse."

"Oh, I see, you only want her when she isn't cursed, is that it?"

Happosai's eyes widened.  "No, actually she's pretty bearable in her cursed
form.  But when she isn't..."  Happosai shuddered.  "I don't think my
cheeks can take the constant pinching, and her hugs... And her attitude...
Ranma, imagine Shampoo with Nabiki's cunning and Akane's temper!"

Ranma shuddered, but Akane, of course, got angry.  "I do not have a
temper!"

*	*	*	*	*

Shortly afterwards, a panda who had been faking sleeping was doing some
serious thinking as it turned on the shower.

'Hmm, so the Master is actually afraid of someone?  That is interesting
news.  Maybe... hmm, I wonder if it would work..."

As the panda changed into Genma Saotome, it wondered where Soun Tendo was. 
This was very good news indeed, if Tendo would agree with a certain plan...

*	*	*	*	*

At lunch the next day, the whole household (Ranma, Akane, Soun, Genma,
Nadoka, Happosai, Kasumi, and Nabiki) was gathered around the table in the
patio, eating white miso soup and chicken teriyaki.  A knocking was heard
on the door, and Nadoka stood up to get it.

"Oh, hello," she was heard to say.  "You must be the people dearest was
telling me were coming.  Follow me."

She walked in with Desaix and Buriko (apparently in cursed form, as she was
wearing her priestly robes) in tow.

"Is Happosai-chan here?"  Buriko asked.  Half the people in the room still
shuddered when she used that term of endearment for Happosai.

"Why yes he- oh, my, that's strange," Kasumi said.  "He was here a moment
ago!"

At the spot where Happosai had been sitting, an empty plate was spinning
and an overturned soup bowl was upside down on the floor.

"Do any of you know where Happosai might have gone?"  Desaix asked, with
something of a sigh.

"No, we don't," Genma said.  Desaix and Buriko turned to go as Genma nudged
Soun.

"Oh, yeah.  Hey, you two- uh, Desaix and B.B., right?"

"NO!  I AM NOT B.B.!" Buriko shouted.  Desaix grimaced.

"I kinda need to explain that a bit," Desaix said through clenched teeth. 
"See, when she's in her cursed form, she VIOLENTLY dislikes being called
B.B.  When she's... normal... she just as violently dislikes being called
Buriko.  It gets to be a real pain when you don't know which form she's
in."

Soun blinked.  "Uh, okay.  Anyway, as I was about to say, Happosai may not
be here now, but he always shows up here eventually.  If you want, you can
wait here until he turns up.  It could be several days, so if you want,
I'll send the boy here," he smacked Ranma as he spoke.  "To go get your
stuff, and we can make some space by re-partitioning the second guest
room."  Ranma grimaced.  Now that his mother had moved in, he had been
kicked out of his old room, and was now in a room which had been
partitioned off of Happosai's room, which used to be the second guest room.
 If they were going to repartition that room to give Happosai, himself,
Desaix, and Buriko all separate rooms, he would barely have enough room to
sleep in- he wouldn't even have anywhere to keep his clothes.

Akane realized how constricting this would be to Ranma, and smirked- a jerk
like him deserved to be inconvenienced every now and thing.  After all,
didn't things always work out so easily for him?  But... she looked over
Buriko for a second.  She noticed that she had Shampoo's figure and Ukyo's
hair.  In other words, she was physically everything a man could want. 
And, if they did decide to stay, she would basically be sleeping next to
Ranma.  Okay, so there'd be a wall between them, but it would be a paper
wall.  As she thought of this, emotions she refused to identify as jealousy
prompted her to action.

"Um, actually, it'd be nice to have a roomate, if you do decide to stay,
Buriko.  At least while we decide what to do about finding you two some
more permanent spaces- the guest room would get kind of cramped if we were
to divide it for both of you."  Ranma looked at Akane uncertain why she had
really made that offer.

"Oh, we really shouldn't impose-"

"Nonsense, Buriko," Desaix interrupted.  "It'll be nice to get out of the
hotel, won't it?" Buriko nodded shyly.  "Okay, we'll move in here for a
while.  Buriko, why don't you help set up here, while Ranma and I go get
our stuff?"  Buriko nodded and handed Desaix a key labeled 'Tanaka Hotels,
Nerima,' and Ranma (after vacuuming down the last of his food) stood up and
joined him as he left.

Meanwhile, on the room, Happosai was busy trying to contain his anger. 
'So, my students, you've finally enacted a somewhat effective plan to keep
me away from your company.  It won't be for long, however- soon, I will
come up with a way to eliminate B.B., and then you shall face my
vengeance.'

*	*	*	*	*

End of part one...
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                     desaix@sysnet.net
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