Disclaimer:  Ranma Saotome and company are owned by
Yumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan Inc, and Viz Video.

Credits: 
Based on the events chronicled in Equal Halves,
written by Deborah Goldman, whose approval I received
for this spin-off.  Deborah's work includes Genma's
Daughter, Equal Halves, and Notes from Julliard, all
extremely well written pieces of fanfiction, all I
highly recommend for anyone who enjoys a very good
read.  

Kobayakawa Yuriko and Nishi Seiya created and owned by
Deborah Goldman.

Original concept for Genma's Daughter by Steve Pardue

Deborah Goldman's website: 
http://homepage.mac.com/dgoldsmith/gd/daughter.html

Timeline:  Takes place two weeks after Ranko leaves
the canon Ranmaverse to go back to her own.

Authors Notes: 
I really enjoyed Equal Halves and often wondered what
happened/would happen to Ranma and the Tendos after
Ranko left them.  Finally, my curiosity got the better
of me and I emailed Deborah and asked if I could write
a spin-off sequel of sorts to Equal Halves.  She
graciously said yes and well, here is the result. 
Enjoy!

I really need pre-readers to help me finetune this
story.  So, if any of you are willing, please....  

Listened to:  The Best of Bach, Mozart's Eine Kleine
Nachtmusik (KV 525 Allegro), Beethoven's Fur Elise,
Piano Concerto 1 2nd Movement, and Fifth Symphony, and
also Pop Goes the Weasel by Dalmaine.  

Untitled

Chapter 1

Ukyo Kuonji wondered where her fiancee was.

She'd looked all over Furinkan for him.  He wasn't
busy fighting with Kuno, arguing with Akane, or at any
of his usual hangout spots.  Daisuke and Hiroshi both
had no idea where he was.  None of his teachers knew
either.

Heck, even Nabiki was in the dark regarding that
jackass.

Of course, there was the slight possibility, however
unlikely, that Ranma had gone to the Cat Cafe to snack
on some hot ramen.  A second later, Ukyo snorted and
confidently tossed that theory out of the window. 
>From what she had observed, Ran-chan remained a little
upset at everyone involved in demolishing the Saotome
home.  And that definitely included her; ever since
then, he'd treated her differently, giving her the
cold shoulder every now and then.

Recently, however, she'd detected that his attitude
was beginning to melt somewhat, which she was thankful
for.  Ukyo didn't know if she could live with Ranma
hating her guts for the rest of his life, although she
couldn't find it in her heart to fault him if he did.
She'd been trying to make it up for him by cooking his
favorite combo, shrimp and lobster, every day (free of
charge, of course).  The chef knew that an okinomiyaki
a day didn't amount to the repair bill, but it was a
start in mending the fences.  A few days after the
wedding fiasco, she'd apologized openly to Nodoka.

For her part, the Saotome matriarch had been able to
keep a firm grip on her emotions and had graciously
accepted.  Nodoka had even gone as far as to tell Ukyo
that by doing what she'd done, the older woman was
impressed by how much Ukyo loved her son.  Another
point in her favor was the level of restraint she'd
shown; instead of using explosive gunpowder that
could've really hurt people, she'd opted for what
amounted to harmless flashbangs.

The young chef shifted her introspection back to
Ranma.  Now that she thought about it, it was pretty
unusual even for him to suddenly disappear like this. 
Furthermore, ever since Ranko had gone back to her own
dimension, her Ran-chan was acting a little strange. 
He'd been unusually quiet and pensive, as if giving
something a serious amount of consideration. 
Initially, Ukyo suspected that it was some new martial
arts technique that he was trying to learn; however
when she called him on it, his answers were vague and
uninformative, quickly followed by him trying to
change the subject.

There were other days in the past when he'd suddenly
skip class, but usually for obvious reasons, like say,
stopping Happosai from stealing lingerie from the
girls' gym room.

Yes, Ukyou was positive that his secrecy was something
new, and with being unable to find him, plus not
knowing where he went, was really getting on her
nerves.

The first person she'd asked was Akane, who, out of
all of Ranma's 'fiancees' was the one she liked the
most.  Their relationship could be seen as a much
friendlier version of Ranma and Ryoga's rivalry.

Surprisingly, the youngest Tendo had shaken her head
and had told Ukyo that Ranma didn't see fit to tell
her where he went.  Then, she'd growled under her
breath and threatened to smash some sense of
responsibility into Ranma's brain.  Ukyo had wisely
left before Akane could work herself into a blinding
fury.

She signed.  Some things never changed.  Deciding to
take a little comfort in that, Ukyou finally decided
to ask Ranma when she saw him again.

/**********/

Akane grinned in satisfaction, letting her rant die
out as she watched Ukyo disappear around the corner. 
Not for anything that she'd gotten the part of Juliet
way back then. What she told the okonomiyaki chef was
the truth.  Strictly speaking, Ranma didn't TELL her
where he went.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the NWC, she and Ranma had
been getting along much better than before.  Of
course, they still fought and argued, but even those
were significantly toned down, sometimes even having a
playful undertone to it all.

They both owed Ranko so much.

These days, Akane found herself willing to trust Ranma
a little bit more than she had in the past.  Even with
his disappearance at lunchtime didn't faze her that
much because, aside from himself, she was the only one
who knew where he went.

She slipped the small piece of paper that Ranma had
given Sayuri to give to her out from her notebook and
proceeded to shred it to unreadable bits.  Ukyo Kuonji
wasn't a bad sort at all, but it just wouldn't do for
anyone to bother Ranma now.

/**********/

A few blocks away from Furinkan High, a familiar
pigtailed individual suddenly appeared out of nowhere
on top of a two-story house, crouched down to provide
the lowest profile possible.

"Stupid idiots.  Don't they got somethin' better ta
do?  If I didn't learn th' Goshin-Dai-Ryu-Sei-Fu, I'd
never had a chance of avoidin' 'em.  Sheesh, th'
things a man's gotta do...."

Ranma Saotome, currently male and dressed in his
customary silk Chinese attire, remained kneeled and
carefully looked around him.  So far, his entire trip
via roof-tops had been amazingly clear of any NWC
presence.  His plan was going smoothly, which was a
first.  

It seemed safe, at least for the moment.  Ranma
mentally jotted down the last known location and
status of each person.

Akane Tendo, currently at Furinkan High.  The only
person who knew where he was.

Nabiki Tendo, currently at Furinkan High. Ukyo Kuonji,
 currently at Furinkan High.

Tatewaki Kuno, currently at Furinkan High. Xian-Pu,
out making deliveries.  As of now, last seen three and
a half blocks ago.

Mousse, presumably at the Cat Cafe, being bossed
around by Cologne.

Cologne:  see Mousse. 

Kodachi Kuno, last seen five minutes ago, laughing
maniacally and snapping her ribbon while bounding
rooftop to rooftop.

Happosai, at large.  Location unknown; presumably off
raiding women's undergarments.

Ryoga Hibiki, location unknown; presumably lost
somewhere in Japan.

Ranma grinned in satisfaction.  What he was doing now
was something really private, and he wanted to keep it
a secret from certain individuals who would try their
hardest to ruin his day.  He was in no mood for anyone
butting in his business.  Ever since the wedding
disaster, his toleration for being suddenly attacked
and/or glomped had been diminished quite a bit.

It wasn't as if he was afraid of them or anything like
that.  Ranma simply didn't want anything to interfere
with his new hobby and letting his destination be
public knowledge would accomplish just that.

Just to be sure, he scanned the rooftops around him;
thankfully, it remained clear. Ranma looked down to
make sure he wouldn't be landing on someone and hopped
on down.  A few people looked at him with boggled
eyes, but for the most part, Ranma's seemingly inhuman
act was casually ignored.  This was Nerima after all.

Deciding that being out in the open was still a bit
risky, Ranma moved.  Utilizing his formidable speed,
he dashed across the street towards the open space in
between a laundromat and a ramen shop.  Backing up
against the laundromat's wall, the pigtailed martial
artist carefully looked out.

Still no one.

Taking a deep breath, he cautiously allowed himself to
relax a little.  So far, so good.  With the
Goshin-Dai-Ryu-Sei-Fu, he'd made it this far without
being followed; now the rest was up to him.  Reaching
into his right pocket of his black silk pants, he
pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and, for the
umpteenth time, read its contents.

Kobayakawa Yuriko Phone:  (565) 107-9644 Address: 
25th Yakami Street, Nerima

Both he and Akane had called the number listed in the
phonebook, of course, but they'd only gotten
Kobayakawa-san's answering machine.  This had remained
the same after nearly a week; after that, Ranma
decided that a more direct approach was needed. Thus,
the reason why he'd utilized the
Goshin-Dai-Ryu-Sei-Fu, and, thus the reason why he was
skulking between the two buildings.

According to the address Akane had written down for
him, Kobayakawa-san's house should be three buildings
down the street.

Stuffing the paper back into his pocket, Ranma squared
his shoulders in determination, quickly looked both
ways, and stepped back out into the open.

As he walked down the sidewalk, his senses were primed
and ready.  He was a tight bundle of nerves; eyes
flicking left, right, and above, ready to spring into
action should he be suddenly ambushed.  His ears
strained to hear the slightest of sounds; the scraping
of a foot on a rooftop, the loud announcement of a
challenge, anything like that.

Fourteen feet to go.  Things looked okay....so far.

Ranma killed the urge to break out into a run.  Though
it felt ridiculous, it seemed to him that if he acted
hastily in anyway, the currently peaceful state of
things would instantly collapse on his head.  He
chanced a look backwards and up, his edginess
increasing every second he remained visible.  Sure, he
could've cloaked himself from view, but he didn't want
to frighten Kobayakawa-san by suddenly appearing in
front her.  He might give her a heart attack that way.

If she was home, that is.

Ranma had long found out that she wasn't employed as a
music teacher at Furinkan.  The administration wasn't
even thinking about hiring a new one.  He'd also
considered hiring Nabiki to locate her, but ever since
the literally bombed wedding, his trust for the middle
Tendo daughter, never high to begin with, had dropped
to a flat zero.

Ever since Ranko had helped discover his talent for
playing the violin, Ranma had been slowly, yet
steadily growing aware of how focused he'd been on the
martial arts.  In all consideration, the violin was
probably his first hobby that he truly enjoyed; thus
the young Saotome wanted it to last as long as
possible.

With the ruined wedding constantly serving as a hard
reminder, Ranma knew that should knowledge of his
whereabouts be out on the 'market', he could count on
his rivals and other fiancees' on their interference.

Thus the reason why Nabiki was kept in the dark.  Thus
the reason for all his sneaking around.  It chafed at
his ego, but for once, he clamped down on the
instinctive response; it was difficult but manageable.

Thank Kami-sama, it looked like he'd arrived at the
front door of her home, miraculously without being
ambushed or spotted. Giving the area around him a
quick once-over, Ranma rang the doorbell.  When there
was no answer within fifteen seconds, he rang it
again. And again.

Finally, there was a response.  A faint "Haaaaaai!
Matte kudasai [1]!" came from within the house.  A
moment later, the door opened and a slender,
middle-aged women stood there with a slightly puzzled
look on her face.

Ranma opened his mouth, and to his horror discovered
that he'd concentrated so hard on getting HERE that he
hadn't worked out exactly what to say to her.

Well, if nothing worked, fall back on what you know
best.  

"Errrr, I'm Ranma Saotome.  Sorry 'bout this."

/**********/

Sulking, Ranma angrily kicked an innocent can, folding
it in half and sending it flying away.  It'd been
fifteen minutes since he'd met Kobayakawa-san, and he
was more than a little irritated.  He was also late
for his second class in the afternoon but he didn't
care about that.

All that trouble he'd gone through, sneaking around,
making sure he wasn't followed, being paranoid.....
and it turned out to be for nothing.

Simply put, she couldn't teach him.  And not because
she had too many students, not because he looked,
acted, and sounded like a barely educated jock, no, it
wasn't because of any of the above.  It was because
she didn't have the time.

Unlike Ranko's version of her, Kobayakawa Yuriko in
HIS world wasn't a teacher; she was a performer. 
Consequently, she wasn't home more than half the time,
and was usually invited to play at concert halls,
universities, or in other parts of Japan.  She'd been
shocked to hear that there was no music teacher at
Furinkan and had said that if she had taught music,
she'd probably applied there because it was close, and
she'd preferred working with teenagers over children.

She also said that she had given private lessons to a
limited extent, but that was years ago; these days she
was just too busy to bother continuing it.

Scowling at his bad luck, Ranma decided to think about
it later.  He still had another stop before heading
home.  But first though, he had to find some water.

Invoking the Goshin-Dai-Ryu-Sei-Fu once again, Ranma
disappeared from sight and started searching

/**********/

Nishi Seiya reflexively looked up as the bell jingled,
announcing that a customer had arrived.  It had been a
slow day, so any distraction was welcome.  As he did
so, his mouth dropped and a little bit of hope flared
up in his heart.

Walking slowly towards him and curiously looking
around his shop was a familiar looking redheaded young
woman.  Saotome Ranko, his memory instantly provided. 
An exceptionally talented violinist, whose name he'd
never forget and had the honor of meeting last month. 
But wait a second, wasn't she supposed to have left
already?

And besides which, Ranko-san had told him that she was
leasing a violin for someone .... who was it?

Oh, that's right!  The memory came back to him in a
flash and he gazed at her in bemusement.  Kami-sama,
she really did have an identical twin.

As the redhead came closer, Nishi realized that
Ranko's description of her sister had been dead on
accurate.

["Ummm, she /is/ my identical twin, but... she's quite
a tomboy, actually."]

Now that he could see her more clearly, his eyes not
what they were twenty years ago, Nishi readily agreed
with her assessment.  It was as if Ranko's sister was
raised to think herself as a boy; it was obvious in
her walk and body language, and not to mention the way
she carried herself.  She also looked damp, as if
she'd been caught in a sudden rainstorm, which struck
Nishi as strange because the weather as of late had
been quite dry.

And there were other differences too, minor but also
important.  Conspicuously absent were the earrings,
the lipstick, the eye shadow, and even the
free-flowing fiery hair, all of which were present on
Ranko.  Her twin, (what was her name?) had her hair
tied up in a short pigtail and wore a red Chinese silk
shirt along with black silk pants.  What were commonly
called as "kung-fu slippers" completed the girl's
apparel.

Nishi smiled warmly at her, "Good afternoon Miss
Saotome."  Though he had no idea why she flinched at
that.  Shrugging it off as unimportant, he continued,
"My name's Nishi Seiya, though you probably already
know that considering it's on my front door.  How may
I help you?"

Ranma Saotome was very uncomfortable visiting a place
she'd never thought herself going to.  After all,
being on the road for more than ten years focusing
only on martial arts, as well as having a martial arts
obsessed father for a role model, doesn't exactly
encourage a child to develop hobbies or other
interests.

Stupid panda.

But, however, Nishi-san's kind aura (who was as far as
you could get from the majority of adults in her life)
was helping her to relax a little.  Although she did
feel a surge of annoyance at being called a 'Miss',
Ranma realized that it couldn't be helped; Nishi-san
only met Ranko, her alternate counterpart, and didn't
know Ranma had a Jhusenkyou curse.

Quickly banishing the annoyance, Ranma returned his
smile and gave her customary introduction.

"I'm Ranma Saotome.  Sorry 'bout this."

Nishi shook his head.  "It's no problem at all. 
Thanks to your sister Ranko, I've been waiting to meet
you, though is a bit of a surprise.  I haven't
expected to see you in here for another two weeks."

The Anything Goes heir laughed nervously and
automatically scratched the back of her head.  "Err,
well, that is, ummmm...."

"Don't misunderstand," Nishi began.  "I've actually
been kind of curious to meet you, so this is quite the
delightful surprise.  I presume you're here about the
violin?"

Thankful at not having to explain some of the aspects
of her life, though slight as they were, Ranma
frantically nodded four times.  "Yeah, umm, it's 'bout
that!  Ya see, I'm here ta pay th' second payment fer
it!  4000 yen, right?"  She dug into her pockets and
pulled out a corresponding amount of cash, holding it
out to him.

"That's correct," Nishi confirmed, his eyes widening a
bit.  "But, Miss Saotome,  the second payment isn't
due for almost another two weeks.  Why the rush?"

Managing to suppress yet another flinch, Ranma rolled
her eyes and said, "Well, I figured that I might as
well pay ya while I got cash.  Just in case, ya know?"
 Technically, it was Akane and her money combined, but
Nishi-san didn't need to know that.  Just like he
didn't know that living with someone like Nabiki
Tendou often resulted in leaving a person broke a good
90% of the time.

There was also the fact that she'd spent the past week
planning this particular day, trying to minimize the
risk of being followed, even with the Umi-senken. 
Ranma knew that her specialty was adapting to events
as they happened, not long term strategy and so took
great care in plotting out her approach.

Nishi nodded.  "Very well," he said, taking the money
from her and pulling out his receipt book from behind
the counter.  "Please wait a moment while I process
this."

As he began writing, the storeowner said, "So, Miss
Saotome, have you been practicing with the violin?"

"Yup," was the answer.  "In between my martial arts
practice.  An' by the way, jus' call me Ranma."

"All right then, Ranma.  The martial arts, huh?  I
thought you looked pretty fit when you walked in. 
What style?"  There was a definite tone of interest in
his voice.

Ranma answered in a prideful tone, "I'm th' heir to
th' Anything Goes School of Martial Arts."

"Any relation to the Tendo School of Anything Goes
Martial Arts?  I usually walk past their dojo in the
morning to open up my store."

"Yeah, Pops and me have been stayin' there for a year
now.  He and Soun Tendo are old buddies and studied
th' Art together a long time 'go."  For Ranma, this
was quite a novel experience.  Unlike the majority of
adult figures in her life, Nishi-san was turning out
to be quite an easy person to talk to.

"Hmmm, I see.  Does your twin sister study the martial
arts too?"

Ranma instantly recalled the single match they had,
which she'd won, naturally, but it had led to her
beginning to respect Ranko's skill.  "She an' I had
th' same trainin' under our Pops.  She's pretty good,
though I'm better than her." Although if she hadn't
switched martial arts for the violin, maybe she
could'a been as good as me.

"How is Ranko doing, by the way?"

A rueful smile appeared on Ranma's face.  "Last I
heard, she's doin' okay.  Her violin's comin' along
pretty nicely." 	The pigtailed girl inwardly winced. 
Lying to another person was never easy for her. 
Considering the fact that Ranko had been magically
transported back home a month ago, there was no way to
find out how she was doing. But then again, Ranma was
absolutely confident that Ranko's skill as a
violinist, unparalleled as it was, had probably
improved a good deal in the two weeks since she
disappeared.  She was, or had been, a Ranma Saotome
after all.  If a person looked at it that way, it
wasn't really a lie more like an educated guess.

She guessed she could live with that.

"I can imagine."  Nishi-san's eyes grew distant as he
called forth the memory of a redhead in a dress,
standing almost exactly where Ranma was, and
masterfully playing the violin.  "It's a real shame
she had to leave Nerima.... Listening to her playing
the Bach Partita in E Major was almost a divine
pleasure.  She's got undeniable talent that will take
her far."

"Ya better believe it," Ranma said with a smirk. 
"That girl's gonna be th' best violinist there ever
was."  Contrary to common knowledge, it really wasn't
that hard for Ranma to actually compliment another
person's abilities.  In this case, she considered
Ranko and herself to be almost one and the same, and
in that light, it surely wasn't hard for Ranma to
compliment herself.

A silence fell upon  the two of them.  The storeowner
returned his attention to the receipt and the martial
artist began looking around in curiosity.  When her
eyes caught sight of the numerous violins on display,
she immediately asked,  "Anyways, Nishi-san, mind if I
check 'em out?"

The older man followed her pointing finger.  "Go right
ahead, Ranma-chan, and let me know if you have any
questions."

"Ummm, ya can jus' call me Ranma."

Nishi chuckled.  Such a tomboy.  But all for those
rough edges, a very nice young woman.  "Sure thing,
Ranma-chan."

'Ranma-chan' was about to say something, but changed
her mind at the last second.  She shrugged and then
returned her attention to observing the violins,
mentally comparing hers to them.  Nishi-san really was
a nice old man, as far as a cry from Happosai as there
was, so Ranma decided to make allowances for him.

Nishi smiled and shook his head at seeing the
differences between the two sisters.  It was amazing,
he thought, opposites DO attract.  It was obvious to
him that Ranko and Ranma were very close, despite
being totally different in some areas.

A few seconds later, Nishi finished the receipt by
signing his name with an exaggerated flourish.  He got
Ranma's attention and said, "Well, here's your
receipt, my dear.  My apologies for the long wait." 
Like before, there was another flinch, causing him to
chuckle inwardly.  Tomboy indeed.

"Domo," Ranma said, accepting the little piece of
paper.  She stood there a second longer, scratching
the back of her head as if not knowing what to do
next.

At this time, Nishi asked the question he'd been dying
to ask.  "So, Ranma-chan, if I may, how did your
studying the violin under Ranko go?"

She blinked twice, looked at him, and then laughed
nervously.  "Well, she only had time to teach me the
basics, I guess, and a few kid songs, nothin' much
like that Back Partitane she always used ta practice."

"Bach Partita in E Major," corrected Nishi.  He gave
her an encouraging smile.  "If it's okay with you,
Ranma-chan, I would love to hear what she taught you. 
Scratch an old man's itch and all that, if you don't
mind."

Ranma fidgeted and was surprised to find herself
uncertain.  "I dunno.....  Like I said, I ain't that
good yet at this sort of thing."

The young Saotome found herself in an unfamiliar
quandary.  If it were a martial arts technique, she
would've had no problems agreeing to that request and
show-off what she'd just learned.  True to that
mindset, her ego demanded that she prove outright her
talent for the violin, but on the other hand, Ranma
was well aware that she was still a beginner and was
uneasily reluctant to boast of something she hadn't
quite mastered yet.

Familiar pride and newborn humility roared and crashed
against each other, each seeking dominance.  For
several moments, Ranma struggled with indecision while
Nishi waited patiently, a look of eager anticipation
on his face.

Then finally, she was able to come up with a
compromise.  Ranma looked around the store, ensuring
that they were the only two present.   "Um, Nishi-san,
I have a deal fer ya."

"Go ahead, Ranma-chan," said the older man with a
gentle smile.

"Umm, okay how 'bout this.  I'll play somethin' I
learned last week and when I'm finished, ya play
somethin' ya think can be a challenge fer me."

Nishi thought it over for a bit, and his smile
deepened.  Nodding in acceptance, he said,  "That
sounds great, Ranma-chan.  Though I must say it's been
a while since I've played but I think I can still
handle it."

Ranma was about to seal the agreement when her ego
prompted her about something else.  "Oh yeah, one
other thing.  Ya gotta promise that ya won't laugh or
poke fun at me.  On yer honor as a..."  She trailed
off, suddenly feeling embarrassed to be demanding such
a thing from an old, kindly man.

"As a well-to-do store owner?" Nishi finished for her,
an amused grin on his face.  They both laughed.  "On
that, I do promise."

Ranma unconsciously licked her dry lips, suddenly
feeling a little nervous.  But the next moment she
abruptly remembered one very important detail.

Her face coloring, she closed her eyes, berating
herself silently.  "Um, Nishi-san, my violin's at
home.  Sorry 'bout that.  I completely forgot."

Ranma had barely finished her sentence when she felt
something being pushed into her hands.  Opening her
eyes, she saw a full-sized violin, in fact, one of
those she'd been looking at.  The price tag named it
at 2,800 yen per month.

Nishi said in barely suppressed curiosity, "There you
go, Ranma-chan.  Problem solved." "Arigato,
Nishi-san," the redheaded martial artist bowed her
head in his direction and then went about tuning the
violin.  When she was satisfied, Ranma lifted it to
her chin and set the bow accordingly.

"I'm gunna try somethin' I heard on T.V. last week." 
She took a deep breath, screwing up her courage, and
muttered, "Here I go.  And remember, no makin' fun."

Looking down at her violin, Ranma took a moment to
focus and then began.

/**********/

Less than a minute later, the last of the musical
notes slowly died away as Ranma finished her chosen
song, feeling the melody connect, as it always did,
with something deep in her soul.  She stood blissfully
motionless, an unconscious yet happy grin plastered
openly on her normally reserved face.

Ranma couldn't put it in words but like now, every
time she learned a new song on the violin, it felt a
little like when she mastered a difficult martial arts
technique.  Not as strong, but at the same time
strangely fulfilling.  It made her feel like she
accomplished something important, making her want to
learn more, so she could do more.

When she lifted her eyelids, Ranma anxiously looked
for Nishi-san's reaction, some part of her seeking
approval and hoping to find it with him.

It turned out that she had nothing to fear.  An
impressed light was showing in the older man's eye and
he was smiling in praise.

"I know that song, Ranma-chan," he began.  "Pop Goes
the Weasel, isn't it?"

Ranma carefully handed the violin back over to him. 
"Is that what it's called?" she asked.  "I didn't know
that.  Like I said, I only heard it bein' played on
some American comedy in black and white; The Three
Bakas, I think the name was.  It sounded pretty good
ta me so I decided to see if I could play it myself."

Nishi's eyes widened.  "Wait one second, Ranma-chan. 
You played it by ear?"  At her confused expression, he
said, "I mean, did you learn it just by listening to
it and copying what you heard?"

She nodded.  "Yup."

"Ranma-chan, you DO know that not everyone can do
that?"

She shrugged.  "Nope, had no idea.  What's so hard
'bout it?  It's just listenin' closely and imitatin'
what I heard.  'Sides, they must'a played it a hundred
times in that show.  Anyone could'a done it."

Nishi slowly shook his head, then brightened as an
idea suddenly occurred to him.  "I doubt that....but
you've given me an idea. Wait here a second."  With
that, he disappeared into the backroom of his store.

Ranma scratched her head in confusion, wondering what
the old man had in mind.

/**********/

Whatever Nishi-san was doing took him quite some time.
 When he finally reemerged, he was clutching a sheet
of paper and a black and white cassette tape.  By now,
Ranma was already restless, shifting her weight from
foot to foot.  She was now very curious to see what
the storeowner had in mind.

"Nishi-san, what're those?"

He gave her a mischievous grin and set the paper down
on the counter.  "This," he stated proudly, holding up
the tape (thus allowing Ranma to see it had some
writing on it), "is a collection of some of my
favorite pieces by Mozart."

"Mo-Mozart?  Bwahahahahaha!  Heheheh...who in their
right mind would name their kid M-M-Mozart? 
Hahahahaha!!"  Tears began leaking out of Ranma's
eyes; to her it was that funny.

With the patience that came with age, Nishi rolled his
eyes and tried his best not to be offended by the
girl's ridiculing of his idol.  It was clear to him
that Ranma was a beginner of beginners, having only
learned the basics of playing the violin and obviously
not knowing a thing about the classical music genre.

He waited for her to regain her composure with a faint
look of displeasure on his face, one that Ranma
completely missed.  When he judged that she was done,
he said, "You mean to tell me that you've never heard
of Mozart?"

"Course not.  He Japanese?"

This time, Nishi had to control an urge to sigh out
loud.  "No, Ranma-chan, he's from Austria."  Receiving
a blank look from her, he sought to elaborate.  "In
Europe."

Nishi looked at her askance for a bit, wondering what
they taught in high school world geography these days.
 Pushing those thoughts aside, he began talking.

"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the most famous
classical music composers known to man.  He's up there
with the greats, Beethoven, Hadyn, Handel, Bach---"

Insight gripped Ranma.  "Ya mean Bach as in that Bach
Partita?" "Yes, the one and the same.  Now, as I was
saying...."

Several minutes and a couple of interruptions later,
Nishi finally winded down from his lecture and took a
deep breath.  It had been a while since he'd spoken
that long, but it was worth it.  Ranma's amusement had
since transformed into a sort of casual interest.

Before they could continue speaking, the bell chimed
and two people, a man and a woman, walked in.  The
door had just been closed for a few moments before it
opened again, this time admitting a whole gaggle of
junior high students.

Nishi glanced at them and said, "Ah, Ranma-chan, I'm
terribly sorry but I have to cut our conversation
short."  He nodded in the direction of his new
customers.

Ranma showed that she understood and told him
good-bye, assuring Nishi that she would stop by again
in a few days.  Before she turned to leave, Nishi
called for her to wait.

"Ah, Ranma-chan, I was going to play this piece for
you, but anyway, do you have a tape cassette player?"

Ranma's immediate reply was to say no, but she
suddenly remembered that Kasumi owned one, which Ranko
had used to play along with.  "Umm, yeah, I know where
I can get one."

Nodding in satisfaction, Nishi picked up the paper
sheet and, along with the cassette handed it over to
Ranma, who stared at them dubiously.

"Uhh... Nishi-san?  Are those for me?"

"Since I don't have time today to do my part on our
agreement, and, as a way of showing my appreciation
for you for paying ahead of schedule, I've decided to
let you borrow the Mozart tape, and this sheetmusic
for the full length version of 'Pop Goes the Weasel'."

Ranma's mouth dropped open at his generosity, but
recalling all her experience with previous 'gifts',
she eyed him warily.  "What's th' catch?"

Ignoring the temptation to roll his eyes at the
teenager's paranoia, Nishi said, "Nothing much,
really.  You can make a copy of the cassette tape and
return mine whenever you feel like it.  As for the
sheetmusic, I would like to hear you play the entire
song next time you come back.  Is that okay?"

Dipping her head in a short bow, Ranma thanked him,
carefully gathered them up, and then made her way to
the exit.

Since it was a rare thing for her to be given anything
without some disagreeable strings attached, Ranma
quickly made her way out of the store.  So anxious was
she to get home and check out her new acquisitions,
she ignored the lustful stares of the hormone driven
junior high school boys and the angry frowns of their
female companions.

/**********/

Ukyo Kuonji had returned from school and was in the
process of opening her restaurant for the evening
crowd.  To her disappointment, Ran-chan hadn't
returned from wherever he'd gone to.  When she'd left
school, Akane had been overheard telling Yuka and
Sayuri that when she caught Ranma, there would be hell
to pay.

The chef had just shaken her head in sympathy and
prayed that her fiancee wouldn't be too hurt this
time.

She was putting up her banner when a very familiar
voice suddenly spoke up from behind her, "Hey Ucchan,
what's up?"

"Aaahhhhhhhh!" Ukyo screamed and jumped up in the air.

Taken aback at her rather extreme reaction, Ranma, now
in his male form, blinked cluelessly.  "Hey, Ucchan,
ya okay?  What's wrong?"

Though she was growling loudly and her eyes were
flashing with murder, Ukyo somehow controlled her urge
to smash him flat with her spatula, choosing instead
to give him a light tap on the head.  "Ran-chan no
baka!  What the hell were you thinking, you jackass? 
You scared the living daylights out of me!"

Chuckling nervously, Ranma reached back and tugged his
pigtail, a gesture which Ukyo found cute and quickly
killed her irritation at him.  "Sorry 'bout that,
Ucchan.  I thought you could hear me.  I wasn't tryin'
ta be sneaky or anythin' like that, ya know."  He
shrugged apologetically and eyed her with a
mischievous grin.

Ukyo could never stay mad at him, and that grin was
just like a needle popping the balloon.  Her anger
completely drained out of her as she asked, "So,
Ran-chan, where'd you disappear to after lunch?"

A look of hesitation appeared on the young Saotome's
face, then quite  uncharacteristically (at least when
it came to food), it hardened into a stare of pure
resolve.  Glancing away from her, Ranma said, "Sorry
Ucchan, but I can't tell ya.  It's private.  Sorry
'bout it, but that's the way it's gonna be."

The martial arts okinomiyaki chef was surprised but
decided to test the limits of her fiancee's resolve. 
"Aw come on, Ran-chan!  You can tell your cute
fiancee, right?  How does four special okinomiyakis
sound to you?"  She flashed a heart-warming smile, one
that would have knocked any other boy dead.  But then
again, despite discovering her true gender after all
those years, her Ran-chan seemed to view her as one of
the guys, and an old childhood friend.

As soon as Ukyo said the word 'special', Ranma's taste
buds instantly began to salivate.  Although he ate
lunch only three hours ago, his stomach told him in no
uncertain terms that the offer sounded REALLY good. 
His mouth opened and the word 'Yes' were at the tip of
his tongue when all of a sudden.....

A lone memory floated up; his mom's house, destroyed
just because his other fiancees and rivals wouldn't
allow it.  They'd heard of it via Nabiki's
invitations, and like a red light to a bull, their
reaction had been predictable and disastrous.  Now,
Ranma's mind replaced that image of what would happen
if word had gotten out about him going to Nishi-san's
store. He blanched as his imagination painted a pretty
vivid picture of the potential disaster that would
result.

Besides, he liked the storeowner, and didn't want him
to get hurt at all in the crossfire.

Ranma's mind instantly hit the brakes and his stomach
wailed in protest, but for once, it was no contest. 
As the old saying went, it was mind over matter, and
with Ranma's willpower enforcing this particular
decision, the urge to stuff his face was squelched.

Breathing out deeply, Ranma wiped sweat off his brow;
that had been quite a struggle.  Though he felt some
regret, the satisfaction that resulted in knowing that
he had successfully protected a secret of his own more
than made up for it.  He turned to face his so-called
'cute fiancee', with a determined air about him.

Ukyo was completely amazed when Ranma, whom she'd
expected to immediately snatch up her offer, just
shook his head and smiled ruefully.  His following
words shocked her. 

"Thanks but no thanks, Ucchan."  He looked down the
street and then back at her.  "Anyways, I gotta go. 
See ya at school t'mmorow."

With a wave and a leap, Ranma continued roof hopping
towards the Tendo household, leaving an open-mouthed
Ukyo behind.

"Okay, what just happened?" she asked herself out
loud.

/**********/

Nodoka Saotome was sitting at the dinner table and
idly chatting with Kasumi about one recipe or another.
 She, like Akane, was still a bit depressed at being
deprived of Ranko.  Thus in an attempt to distract
herself, over the past two weeks she'd taken Kasumi
under her wing and had taught her all sorts of cooking
recipes and techniques.  Her son, while not the most
perceptive individual around, had nonetheless realized
the source of her ache and had tried his hardest to
avoid being splashed with cold water.

She really appreciated that.  There was only so much
pain she could handle, and daily seeing Ranma's cursed
form - a mirror image of Ranko, sans pigtail - would
have probably pushed her into a fresh bout of weeping.

"Tadaima!"  Speaking of Ranma....

The Saotome matriarch turned around and graced him
with a warm smile.  "Welcome home, son.  How was your
day?"

He gave her a faint grin in response; judging by his
relatively relaxed manner, Nodoka was able to guess
that he had a rare, trouble free day.

"Well," he began, automatically kicking off his
slippers and entering the house.  "It was all right;
better than most, I guess.  Besides Kuno-sempai, no
one bothered me." He paused and looked at the eldest
Tendo daughter.  "How about ya, Kasumi-neechan?  How
was yer day?"

"It was quite educational, Ranma-kun.  Your mother
really taught me a lot today.  I can't wait to try out
one of things I learned for dinner tonight."

Ranma gave her a wink.  "Whatever it is, I'm sure it
will be delicious."  He smiled at her, then hatched
the question he wanted to ask.  "Umm, Kasumi-neechan?"

"Yes, Ranma-kun?"

"Would you mind if I borrowed yer cassette tape
player?"

"Of course, Ranma-kun.  Are you thinking of listening
to some music?"

He grinned weakly.  "Err yeah, somethin' like that."
Kasumi told him where he could find it in the kitchen,
and Ranma was off in a flash.

Walking back out of the kitchen with the tape player
in hand, Ranma turned to his mom and asked, "Hey, mom,
if 'Kane comes home, can ya please tell her that I
wanna talk ta her in th' dojo?"

Nodoka agreed to do so; Ranma thanked her and left.

The two women looked at each other with knowing gazes.

"Ranma-kun and Akane-chan are getting along so much
better, aren't they?"

"Yes they are, Auntie.  Why, it's been a whole two
days ever since their last fight."

The older woman nodded absently, focusing on Ranma's
request.  There was no doubt about that it had
something to do with the violin.  This led to her
thinking about Ranko, reawakening an ache in her
heart.  She missed her 'daughter' horribly and was
constantly amazed at the amount of influence she had
on Ranma during her brief visit.

Nodoka smiled sadly, remembering the harsh fight she
had with Ranko over Ranma's curse.  In the end, Ranko
had managed to convince her to try and understand the
karma that went along with it.

As she looked back on it, Nodoka realized that she was
grateful for the influence.  It had left behind two
heartbroken women, true, but at the same time, it had
also given Ranma a significant boost in finally
growing up.

In addition, thanks to Ranko, Nodoka's view and
opinion of Ranma being a 'man among men' and forcing
him to focus on martial arts had softened a bit.  From
the stories she heard from Akane, especially the one
about Saffron, combined with watching him soundly beat
her husband without fail in the past few weeks during
their daily spars, Nodoka had to agree that the
Anything Goes School had an undisputed heir in the
form of her son.

Thus she didn't say anything when Ranma made time for
playing the violin.  It also helped a lot that he was
male when he practiced, having already adjusted for
his bigger hands.  Besides, as she was slowly
beginning to discover herself, what parent could NOT
be proud when their son showed great promise in more
than one area?

/**********/

Genma Saotome was not a happy camper. Sure, he'd
enjoyed having a real life 'daughter', though at the
time, he didn't really show it.  But it was obvious to
him that Ranko had been a bad influence on the boy. 
It seemed to him that these days, Ranma was spending
more time with that violin than he was practicing the
Art.

He'd considered the matter carefully (well, what
passed as carefully for him).  Although Genma did
acknowledge the fact that everyday they sparred in the
morning and evening, he somehow failed to notice that
it'd been a while since he'd won.  In fact, if Genma
had cared to think back on it further, he would've
been alarmed that more often than not, for almost a
month straight he had been losing to his son.

But since he didn't think about those other facts, he
focused on the part that struck a chord of fear within
him, thus alerting the same survival instincts that
had forced him to have Ranma to hide from his mother. 
Genma reasoned that should Ranma continue this hobby
of his, there was a very good possibility that he
might abandon martial arts for it.  And that would
mean.... his nightmares would come true.

Seppuku.

Although Nodoka had accepted Ranma as being more than
manly enough, Genma still a bit wary of her.  After
all, she might change her mind, declare Ranma NOT a
man among men, and demand Genma to deliver on that
promise, made more than a decade ago.

Genma didn't know about his son, but he for one liked
his head as it was, attached and all, and would like
to enjoy it that way for a long time to come.

No, in order to preserve his life, Ranma's father
decided that he would have to take action.

Now, where was that foolish boy of his?

/**********/

The foolish boy in question was, naturally, in the
dojo.

Only, he wasn't doing a kata or practicing a new
technique; in fact, he was there for something
unrelated to martial arts.

Ranma sat in the middle of the dojo, his violin, the
cassette and the sheetmusic he'd gotten from
Nishi-san, and the tape player all lying around him. 
Attached to the tape player was an extension cord
plugged in all the way from the living room, since the
dojo didn't have an outlet handy.

At the moment, Ranma was starting out with the
'shortened version' of Pop Goes the Weasel he'd heard
on T.V.  After he was done with that, he would listen
to what that tape had to offer.  Then, right after
dinner, he would tackle the sheetmusic.   It was a
good thing that Ranko had taught him the notes,
otherwise he wouldn't have been able to make heads or
tails out of it.

Ranma had finished playing Weasel twice and was about
to go for thirds when he sensed a familiar presence
behind him.  Without looking around, he sighed out
loud and said, "Yeah Pops?  Whaddaya want?"

"Ranma m' boy, put that musical toy away.  It's time
for sparring."

His son rolled his eyes.  "We ain't sparring until
7:00.  It's still 3:00.  We got four more hours ta
go."  With that, he put the violin against his chin
and raised the bow.

However, the older man wasn't so easily put off.  He
walked over to his boy and cleared his throat.  "Huh,
you've gotten soft boy!  I guess it's up to me to
toughen you up once more.  Now, like I said, put that
toy away, right now!"

Genma's tone of voice got on Ranma's nerves, but he
shrugged it off, determined to do what he wanted for a
change.  Making a show of ignoring his father, he
began playing the first few notes.

This, of course, made Genma more than a little
annoyed.

"Cheeky boy!  Show some respect for your elders!" he
roared, unleashing a kick at Ranma's head.

/**********/

Nodoka and Kasumi's conversation was briefly
interrupted by an identified flying martial artist.

"Yaaaaaaaaahhhh----!"

<Splash!>

And the koi pond claimed yet another victim.

Nodoka sighed.  These days, it seemed that her husband
always picked the wrong time to harass their son.  Was
it really too much to ask for the two men in her life
to have a respectable, proper father-son relationship?

Had it been really worth it to allow Genma to make
that twelve-year training mission?

/**********/

"Stupid old man.  Th' heck's his problem?"

Knowing that his father wouldn't bother him again
until 7:00, Ranma pushed the whole incident aside and
played one more round of Pop Goes before moving on.
His face wrinkled in curiosity, he scooted closer in
front of the tape player and reached over to pick up
the cassette tape.  He held it before his eyes, and,
with little difficulty, managed to effectively mangle
the name of the first song.

"Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (KV 525, Allegro)."

"Huh, weird name," he remarked out loud.  Placing it
in the tape player, he closed the cassette tray and
hovered his finger above the 'play' button.

"Okay, Mozart-san, let's see whatcha got."

End Chapter 1

Author's Notes:  

I have a feeling that the chapter is too fast.  Please
help me with that, if you will.    


Dave Wong

a.k.a. DarkWing
"Let's get dangerous"

Website: www.geocities.com/darksoar/start.html

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