I did this story some time ago. This is a revision, with a lot added at
teh end and a littel at teh start. comments graciously accepted. Flames
needed too... I cant afford to keep my digs heated properly ;)


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| A rose with any other brain just isn't the same |
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  ~Take the amulet, grasp it in your left hand, held behind your back,
and repeat the incantation. Sleep with the amulet worn around your neck
and when you next wake up you shall be closer to your true love than you
ever dreamt possible.~

(Oh boy, there are just so, so many ways to interpret this line little
magical charm. How about a fanfic challenge to use this line as a
starting point?)

  Kodachi was dubious. The amulet that Gosunkugi sold her didn't look
like much, but he DID say it held great power. Now it was only left to
complete the ritual.

  "Rydw i yn twpsyn eisiau caru, ac mi ydw i yn fod i gael beth sydd yn
dod i mi." She slowly intoned the words, hoping she pronounced them
right. These weird gaijin sounds were tricky to master. What if she got
them wrong? Would she simply take herself farther away from her
Ranma-sama? She hoped not. She made it clear to Gosunkugi too that he
should hope not.

  "Oyasumi nasai Kodachi-chan."

  "Oyasumi oniisan," She called back. "Fool." She added under her
breath. ~Soon, I shall have my Ranma-sama, while you shall still be
pining for your two loves.~

  "Konbanwa Audrey," she said as she turned to one of her potted plants.
"Are you hungry? Would you like a nice juicy locust?" She reached into a
jar by the plant and pulled out a particularly large specimen, its wings
neatly clipped by her loyal servants.

  "Don't eat it all at once now, precious one." She held the insect just
above the flytrap, the plant's jaws snapping hungrily at the insect.
After playing with the plant for a moment she dropped it into the plants
hungry maw and watched it snap shut. ~And so to bed. Tomorrow, precious
Ranma, you shall know the joy of my love.~

*  *  *

  ~dochira ni... ?~ She thought to herself. She was floating in a cloudy
purple sky. She looked around, but there was no ground, just cloud in
every direction. ~Eerie,~ she thought to herself. In the distance a tiny
speck appeared. ~Gosunkugi! This is your doing!~ Hot, angry chi blazed
around her, raising a small storm. In the distance a tiny speck
appeared. ~What's this?~ She watched intently as the tiny speck grew
into a human shape. A female shape. ~Ohohohohohoho! Gosunkugi, you shall
be rewarded if this is what I think it is. Ranma-sama, the pleasure of
your love shall be mine!~ She was delirious with delight as she realised
her plan might actually be working. As the shape grew, she began to make
out her features. She *was* the woman. ~nani... ?~

*  *  *

  ~dochira ni... ?~ She thought to herself. She was floating in a cloudy
purple sky. She looked around, but there was no ground, just cloud in
every direction. ~This isn't like my normal dreams. Where are the
flowers and things?~ She thought to herself. For the first time in her
life, she began to feel real fear. The gentle breeze became rougher, and
began tossing her to and fro, making her feel slightly seasick. In the
distance a tiny speck appeared. Slowly, it grew, and soon it took the
shape of a woman. She *was* the woman.

*  *  *

  "Oh my!" she woke with a start, frightened by her dream.

  Awake early, as usual, she looked around. "This is definitely not my
room." She said quietly to herself. She paused for a moment and felt her
throat. Something sounded wrong. That was not her voice. Somewhere in
her usually oblivious mind, something was stirring.

  ~BLACK roses?~

  "Oh my." she mumbled to herself, and then fainted back to sleep, her
mind trying desperately to cope with the strangeness.

  Meanwhile, in the Tendou dojo...

  *Splash*

  "Wakey wakey Ranchan!"

  Ranma bolted up and looked around. "Whatcha do that for?" he shouted
angrily at Akane. "I was awake already."

  "Sure, which is why you seemed so oblivious..."

  "Its meditation. I was focusing my ki. You should try it some time,
maybe you won't be so angry all the time..."

  "BAKA!"

  ~Nah, not even if she did that. She'll never be a quiet peaceful
girl.~ Ranma thought to herself as she cruised over the horizon.

  "Akane, you really should be more respectful to your fiancee." Soun
said, looking up from his shoji game. The panda quickly shuffled a few
pieces, taking advantage of the distraction.

  "Why? He's always insulting me. And its not as if I asked him to be my
fiancee either..." Akane trailed off as she noticed her father crying.

  "Morning everyone," Nabiki said, as she casually walked down the
stairs, stretching. "Where's Kasumi? She's normally up by now, but I
can't smell any cooking."

  "Wahaohohohoho!"

  "Didn't that scream come from Kasumi's room?" Akane asked, concerned.
"We'd better go check." Shortly, Soun, Akane, and Nabiki rushed upstairs
and pushed open the door to Kasumi's room. The panda looked up, smiled,
and shuffled a few more pieces.

  "Get off me you horrid little creature!"

  Everyone face-faulted audibly. Before them was Kasumi, dressed in her
nightclothes, desperately fighting Happousai off with a ribbon. They all
face-faulted again when they realised she was actually winning.

*  *  *

  *CRASH*

  "Kuso. Of all the places to crash into, why did it have to be
Kodachi's bedroom? At least she's still asleep. Maybe I can just sneak
out quietly..."

  "Oh my, I seem to have slept late. Ranma? Is that you?"

  "Err... umm..." Ranma backed away nervously. He was still in girl form
and didn't want to antagonise Kodachi.

  "I had the strangest dream. I dreamt I wasn't in my body and... oh my.
It isn't a dream."

  "Kodachi?"

  "I'm Kasumi."

  "Oh my." Ranma said lamely.

*  *  *

  ~Memo to self: take care of Gosunkugi.~ Kodachi thought to herself.
Hopefully the house believed her when she said her trick with the
ribbons was just a hidden talent that even she didn't know she had.
~Well, I suppose I *am* closer to my Ranma-sama, but Gosunkugi shall get
what he deserves in the end... and between the eyes... and the back of
the neck...~ her thoughts trailed off as she mentally laughed at her own
deviousness. ~I can't laugh out loud again if I want them to believe I
am Kasumi. What is it she says again?~

  "Oh my."

  ~Yes, that's it. Ah, soon I, the Black Rose, shall possess you, my
darling Saotome Ranma-sama.~

*  *  *

  Nabiki looked at her watch. "Akane, we'd better hurry, or we'll be
late for school again!"

  "Kasumi, aren't our bentou boxes ready yet?" Akane turned to her other
sister.

  "Sorry," ~Urgh, did I just apologise to THAT wretch?~ "I haven't had
time this morning," ~I've been busy thinking up plans for you, you
horrible girl.~ "I had a bad dream. But I'll make it up with an extra
special dinner this evening, I promise you." ~And it certainly WILL be
extra special. Akane, I promise you an extra special meal you won't soon
forget.~

  Outside...

  "Nabiki, what was that all about? We still have plenty of time before
our first class starts."

  Nabiki walked quickly down the road, motioning Akane to follow
closely. When they were out of sight of the dojo, she turned to her
sister. "Akane, don't you think it was a little odd they way Kasumi was
acting?"

  "Well, it was a bit weird the way she knocked Happousai out of the
window..."

  "Weird? Akane, look at me." She stopped walking and made eye contact.
"We both know Kasumi has never fought anything bigger than a dirty pot
before. I don't believe for a minute that that is our Kasumi back
there."

  "Well you go and search for the truth then. I could do with another
sparring partner until then." ~One who won't hold back against girls.~
She added under her breath.

  Nabiki silently cursed under her breath. Her network of contacts could
gather any amount of information within the school, but Kasumi never
went there anymore, not since she started looking after the household
full-time. When it came to watching Kasumi within the house, Akane would
have been just as good. Who else did she know who could tell if Kasumi
was ok? Ara! Toufuu-sensei would know straight away! I will go see him
at lunch and invite him for dinner.

  Meanwhile, back at the Kunou residence...

  When he saw Ranma-chan fall from the sky into his sister's bedroom,
Kunou was in the training ground, practising against a training dummy
with his bokutou. His immediate reaction was to charge back to the house
to protect the pigtailed one from his psychotic sister.

  "Oh my." Ranma-chan said lamely.

  "Osage no onna!" He cried out. "Thine eyes plead against your body to
touch these lips. You need wait no more; I come for..."

  "Back off." Ranma said as a well-aimed fist slammed into Kunou's face.
Ranma was starting to feel nervous. Here were two crazy people, crazy
even by his far out standards. One wanted to kiss him, the other was
claiming to be someone she wasn't.

  "See y'all later. I have a school to go to!" And with that he leapt
out through the same hole he came in.

  "Oh my pigtailed goddess (TM), wait, I shall escort you!" he heard
Kunou cry out as he left. Kunou looked down at his sister, crying
quietly on the ground. "Mou nakanaide, imouto." He said. "When I have
freed her from the sorcerer's control, Saotome will be able to love you
as you deserve." For some reason, this failed to comfort her.

*  *  *

  "Saotome Ranma, you are late again! Go stand in the hall."

  "Hai, Hinako sensei." Ranma abruptly halted, head hung low, about
turned, and went to the Janitor's office to fetch a bucket of water.
Better that than face her chi-sucking powers.

  "Kunou? Why are you here?" Ranma asked, looking nervously at Kunou's
bucket.

  "As it is with you, so it is with me. Your invasion of my residence
did cause me to be late. But know that that is Kunou senpai to thee.
Thou should learn to respect your superiors."

  "Kunou, I do respect my superiors, when I met them." Ranma smirked.

  "What! Have at thee! Thine insults have gone on far enough! Not only
do you toy with the minds of the fair Akane and the pigtailed girl, but
more! Despite cruelly ensorcelling these two, you still play on my
sister's feelings and string her along needlessly! Only two nights ago I
heard her cry your name forlornly. Enough I say!" With that, he threw
the contents of his bucket at Ranma and drew his bokutou.

  *splash*

  ~Shimatta. Mustn't let him see me like this.~ Ranma quickly jumped
around the corner and ran down the corridor. Kunou paused momentarily to
throw his bucket to the ground and draw out his bokutou. Predictably,
Kunou failed to notice the flash of red hair as Ranma changed and ran
for cover.

* * *

  "So that's how it happened, Ukyou" Ranma finished. He barely noticed
as he stuck his chopsticks into the freshly made okonomiyaki, ruining
the kanji characters written on it. Idly, he wondered where Akane was.
He had seen her only briefly when he arrived at the morning class, and
had decided to skip the rest of the day.

---

  Comments? This might (hah!) become a full-length feature film with a
cast of thousands and an impressive special effects budget IF I get some
comments.

dochira = where (polite) (yes, it does also means 'which' and 'who')
oniisan = older brother (polite)
mou nakainaide = don't cry (I hope that is what it means (^_^) )


  For those of you who enjoy a good linguistic joke, the magical
incantation is Welsh. It says: "Email me in private so I don't spoil it
for everyone". Sioned-chan de hon'yaku shite kudasarimashita. Arigatou
gozaimasu.

---
rhialto@earthling.net


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