Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Shinji Saotome ❯ Chapter 8 - Rising Pressure ( Chapter 8 )

Shinji Saotome

Chapter 8 - Rising Pressure

Ryouga Hibiki was lost…as usual. Shinji had given him the idea to try and concentrate while walking and even though his sense of direction had indeed improved somewhat, he was still hopelessly lost. Heck, just yesterday he had been in Tokyo one minute and in Moscow the next. Therefore, he didn't have a clue where he was now.

At least he was back in civilization, where he could ask for directions.

He walked up to a person on the street: A pretty boy who looked to be around his own age and was clad completely in black had just stepped out of a restaurant.

"Excuse me, but do you know the way to Nerima?"

The boy focused his gaze on him and regarded him quizzically.

"Well yeah, all you have to do is keep walking on this street. In fact, I'm heading there myself."

"Do you mind if I go along with you?" Asked an eager Ryouga.

The boy looked at him suspiciously and fingered the handle of whatever weapon that was strapped to his back.

"Why?"

Ryouga scratched the back of his head nervously.

`I might as well just tell him.'

"Well, you see…I have this problem with directions. As my friend Ranma would say it, `I can't find my way out of a closet'."

Suddenly the boy was standing directly in front of him with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Did you say Ranma? This wouldn't be Ranma Saotome, would it?"

Ryouga took a step back.

"Ah yes, that's him, all right. Do you know him?"

The boy's face clouded over.

"Yeah, I know him, all right. Come on, the sooner we get to Nerima, the sooner I can make that jackass pay."

The next moment the boy was already walking down the street, which enabled Ryouga to see the big-ass spatula strapped to his back.

`What does he need a giant spatula for?'

Then Ryouga quickened his pace to walk beside the other boy, he wanted to know what the stranger had against Ranma.

"By the way, I'm Ryouga Hibiki."

The boy glanced at him.

"Ukyou Kuonji. Pleased to meet you, sugar." (1)

After introductions were made, Ryouga, being Ryouga, got straight to the point.

"What did Ranma do to you to get you so riled up?"

Ukyou flashed him an angry look.

"Oh nothing, the jackass just ruined my whole damn life."

Usually Ryouga tended to miss sarcasm when it was used, but the way Ukyou's words were practically dripping with it even he couldn't miss it. Then the meaning of the words hit home and Ryouga couldn't help but chuckle.

"What's so damn funny about that to you, jackass?"

Ryouga winced. Laughing about something like that wasn't the best move to make.

"Nothing, it's just that I thought exactly the same when I was searching for Ranma."

Ukyou raised an eyebrow.

"So the jackass has ruined your life as well? You seem awfully friendly with him for that."

Ryouga shrugged.

"Well, yeah, I used to blame him for everything that has happened to me, but someone made me see reason. Ranma maybe a self-centred, arrogant, insensitive jerk but he doesn't let anybody down. In fact, I'm pretty sure whatever happened between the two of you is either a big misunderstanding or his idiot father's fault."

`Wow that was actually meaningful!'

Ukyou regarded him suspiciously.

"You actually think I believe that?"

Ryouga shook his head in resignation.

"No not really. The only one who seems to be able to clear up this kind of situation without violence is Shinji. All I ask is that you don't go and try to kill Ranma the moment you see him. Let him explain the situation."

Ukyou didn't react to his request immediately and kept walking for a moment.

When he spoke, his voice was heavy with barely concealed emotion.

"I...will try and keep my temper in check…no promises though."

Ryouga didn't answer and simply concentrated on not getting lost. This was all he could ask for now.

A few feet ahead of him Ukyou Kuonji was having an internal battle with herself. What the bandana wearing boy had told her threw her world view right out the window. She had been training 10 years to get revenge on Ranma for abandoning her and now this boy came by and tried to tell her it was all for nothing? No way! Maybe Ranma truly hadn't known what was going on, but Genma would get a beating, no matter what!

`Oh well, no use dwelling on that. Now if I only knew who this Shinji person is…'

**********************

At the same time

Shinji and Ranma were watching Kaori, Akane and the other race participants when a chill ran down their respective spines.

They looked at each other for a moment.

"Do we want to know?" Ranma's voice sounded oddly resigned.

"Even if we don't, you know as well as I that we'll find out anyway." Shinji's voice was just as resigned as Ranma's. He was getting far too many chills for his liking since he had met up with Ranma.

It wasn't long before the announcer asked everyone to go into position.

Akane and Kaori, who was still dressed in her cumbersome Kimono, were standing next to each other, takeout box in hand.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the annual anything goes martial arts takeout race. There are no rules concerning the actual race. Winner is the first lady to cross the finish line with her bowl of noodles, which is inside the takeout box, intact. Okay ladies, take up position, ready, set…"

Suddenly Kaori Daikoku jumped straight up into the air and threw off her Kimono.

Underneath the heavy garment a pair of black trousers and a blue blouse had been concealed.

Landing lightly on her feet, Kaori smirked at Akane.

"Did you know that our school specializes in martial arts takeout?"

Akane decided not to comment on that, but cursed her bad luck inwardly. First she got roped into making sure Ranma the idiot wouldn't get another fiancée, which would lead to Shinji getting one, and now this girl was rubbing in that she didn't stand a chance.

`Just you wait Kaori, I'm going to show you what I can do!'

Up in the bleachers, Genma and Soun glared at Mr. Daikoku.

"Why didn't you tell us about this? We had a right to know!"

Mr. Daikoku blinked innocently.

"You never asked. And who knows, maybe your daughter can find a way to defeat a master of martial arts takeout? Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!"

Needless to say even a delusional loony like Soun could see that his daughter was at a serious disadvantage here. So he did the only logical thing in such a situation:

"WAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" …He started wailing using wail #569 (I feel cheated) and wail #570 (the schools will never be joined because Ranma has another fiancée!) to let the world know of his misery.

Next to him, Genma wondered how much water it took for his curse to activate.

"BWAAAHHHHHHHHHH"

*poof*

The Panda sitting next to Soun frowned.

`At least now I have my answer'

Next to the starting line, Ranma and Shinji looked wide-eyed at the newly revealed girl.

Ranma cursed his bad luck and sighed.

"Well, if she's really a master of martial arts takeout I can guess who gets her as fiancée...No way the tomboy can beat her."

Shinji shrugged.

"Look at the bright side Ranma, at least she's cute."

Ranma rolled his eyes.

"Wow, that's a real consolation."

Meanwhile the announcer had finally gotten his bearings back and finished what he had started.

"…GO!"

*bang*

Like a thunderstorm, the whole field started moving forward with Kaori and Akane in the lead followed closely by….Kodachi Kuno!!????.

Next to the start line, Ranma and Shinji looked at Kodachi wide-eyed. Neither had seen the girl before the start.

"What the hell is _she_ doing here?" Shinji wasn't at all happy about her appearance. Past references showed that she usually spelt trouble either for him or Ranma.

Ranma, whose opinion of the deranged girl was only marginally better, made a face.

"I don't know, but it can't be good. Come on, I wanna see what happens!"

***************************

Akane ran as fast as she could without losing her delivery box, but no matter how fast she was going, Kaori was always next to her, smiling like this was nothing more than a walk in the park.

"So Akane Tendo, do you want me to show you a few of my school's techniques?"

Akane didn't answer and poured on the speed.

Kaori kept even as usual.

"I will take your silence as a yes. DELIVERY CASE CRUSH"

Akane jerked her box upwards when Kaori stabbed at it with her fingers.

Kaori missed and instead hit the box of another contestant, reducing it to fine dust. Needless to say the girl who just lost her box looked a little disbelieving.

Kaori seemed a little surprised as well.

"It seems I didn't give you enough credit Akane-san. Very well, another try: DELIVERY CASE CRUSH"

Once again Kaori missed Akane's takeout box.

"Will you stop it already? What do you think you're doing?"

Kaori blinked.

"What do you mean? It isn't named `Anything goes' for nothing, you know?"

Akane gave the other girl a dark look.

"All right…two can play that game! HYIA!"

This time it was Kaori who found herself pressed to keep her box intact.

Akane missed her as well.

The contestant who was just about to overtake Kaori wasn't so lucky and found herself sprayed with the contest of her box.

Kaori and Akane smirked at each other

"I'll cream you!"

From her position behind the two battling teens, Kodachi could only watch with grudging respect. She may have been a madwoman, but she wasn't blind. It was clear that Kaori had a lot of skill, and it seemed since she had last met Akane, her quasi-rival for her Ranma-darling had polished her abilities as well.

Of course, the black rose wasn't there to win this silly competition, no her motivation to be here lay somewhere else.

Sasuke, whom she had ordered to keep an eye on her beloved, had told her of this contract the fathers had made. While Kodachi wouldn't have minded to see Ranma free from the clutches of the Tendo engagement, she didn't want the Daikoku girl as a rival either, because Kaori's family had as much, if not more money than the house of Kuno. And money was a _very_ powerful ally that the Tendos didn't have. That was why she preferred the Tendos to this girl. While they had a valid engagement, she had a lot of money to go around with. Kaori on the other hand had both …

The fact that Kaori's loss would result in her being engaged to the little twerp Ranma called his brother was very unfortunate in Kodachi's mind, but it wouldn't stop her from getting what she wanted. She planned on giving the other girl her regrets for getting such filth as fiancée after the race was over, though (2).

Yet, it seemed like Akane was holding her own and for the moment was not in need of her assistance.

***********************

Up on the rooftops, Ranma was following the field with Shinji in his arms, because the latter *still* couldn't roofhop.

Both of them looked at the trail of destroyed takeout boxes and devastated opponents with interest.

"Seems like Akane and Kaori are really going at it. They sure have thinned out the field. The training I did with Akane over the last weeks helped a little in evening things out."

Shinji was clearly surprised that two people could cause so much mayhem while fighting each other.

Ranma snorted slightly.

"I very much doubt that Shinji. Akane may have gotten better because of your regular sparring matches but she doesn't stand a chance if Kaori is truly a master of her style. Heck, you know as well as I do that you've already surpassed her, even if only barely."

Shinji looked up at Ranma, slightly confused.

"She doesn't? I have?"

Ranma didn't answer but started going a little faster instead.

He didn't want to miss the end of this race.

**********************

Kaori was starting to get frustrated. It was clear that her current tactic of simply attacking Akane's delivery box wasn't working, so maybe she needed to get a little more personal.

She evaded another of Akane's attacks and slowed down a little.

When Akane was a good 15 feet in front of her she attacked.

"UNBREAKABLE NOODLE NOOSE"

When she heard Kaori's cry, Akane turned around only to see a rope made out of noodles wrap itself around her right ankle. Akane couldn't fight inertia and found herself toppling over

"Ahhhhhhhhhh…."

*thud*

Akane breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that her box was still balanced on her right hand, it was the only thing that didn't hit the ground when she fell.

Unfortunately that wasn't the end of it.

The moment Akane tried to put weight on her ankle again, a sharp pain shot up her leg. This hindered her mobility and left her wide open for the next attack Kaori was preparing.

Akane turned around to her opponent. No way was she going down without a fight.

"I think we should finish this now, don't you agree Akane-san?" Her posture made it clear that Kaori was sure that she had already won.

That changed very fast when a ribbon came out of nowhere and wrapped around her, preventing her from dishing out any further punishment.

"I agree fully, Ms. Daikoku. Why don't we get a little more acquainted while Akane Tendo finishes her race?"

Kaori glared at the interfering girl.

"What do you think you're doing? I will get you for this! And why are you helping her?"

"Yeah, what are you doing Kodachi?" Akane was just as surprised at Kodachi's sudden appearance as Kaori.

Kodachi gave Akane a haughty look.

"My motivations are of no concern or you, I doubt you would understand anyway. Now, instead of asking silly questions, would you please finish this race? "

Akane glowered at the snobbish pony tailed girl, but started limping towards the finish line, which was already in sight, anyway. She could care less why Kodachi was doing this.

******************

Up on the rooftops Ranma and Shinji watched as Akane limped over the finish line while Kodachi held Kaori in check with her ribbon.

Needless to say Shinji looked a little down. While he didn't know Kaori that well yet, he wasn't looking forward to having her as fiancée. This would only further complicate things.

Suddenly the depressed boy found himself grabbed by Ranma and both of them sailed down towards the street, right next to Akane.

While sailing down to street level Ranma smirked.

`This should help to get Shinji out of his funk.' The pigtailed martial artist had immediately noticed when Shinji's mood turned dark thought that distracting his brother was a good idea to keep him from worrying too much. This didn't have anything to do with Akane. Nope, he wasn't the least bit concerned about the tomboy.

*****************

Akane sank to her knees the moment she crossed the finish line, totally ignoring the audience, which was applauding her victory.

Her ankle hurt like hell. At least her father would be happy that Ranma was still engaged to them.

She didn't even acknowledge Ranma's arrival when he landed in front of her with nary a sound, Shinji held in his arm.

"Congratulations on your victory Akane." Said Ranma by ways of introduction while setting Shinji down on his own two feet.

Akane looked at him like he was crazy.

"And just what about this victory is good huh? I only agreed to this because daddy would have been angry otherwise and now I even got a sprained ankle for my troubles! Do you think I'm happy you're still engaged to me or my sisters?"

"Hey it ain't like I'm *oof*"

Shinji removed his elbow from Ranma's side and looked at him innocently. His older brother still hadn't learned to keep his mouth shut so he had to help him a little from time to time.

Ranma for his part mumbled something about little smartass brothers but got the message anyway. There was no need to aggravate the situation further by hurling insults at Akane. Now what to say to her…

"Ah…uhm…what I wanted to say is…you know, it's not like we had any say in this. Why don't we call it a truce for now? There's no reason for us to kill each other over this stupid engagement right now. Let's just forget it for the now…. Friends?"

A hopeful note entered his voice as he stuck out his hand for Akane to take.

Akane looked at the hand doubtfully. She knew Ranma had wanted to insult her again at first, but his proposal sounded sincere enough. Besides, she could live with him far better as a friend than as fiancée…at the moment.

She accepted his hand and he pulled her to her feet.

"All right, friends…for now."

Ranma gave her a roguish smile.

"Good, and as your friend, my first action will be to get you to Doctor Tofu to check that ankle of yours."

The next moment Akane found herself swooped up in his arms and then they where jumping away.

"Ranma you dummyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Next time give me a little warning…."

Shinji smiled slightly as he watched the duo disappear over the rooftops. He had been a little surprised that Ranma had actually made that suggestion. By elbowing Ranma he had only wanted to keep him from insulting Akane, but this was infinitely better! Maybe as friends these two could get along better than as potential fiancées.

It wasn't long before Kodachi and Kaori came walking towards him. The glare Kaori was directing at Kodachi was speaking volumes about what she thought of Kodachi's earlier interference.

The leotard wearing nutcase was totally ignoring the hostile looks sent her way and focused her attention on him instead.

"Where is the harlot I helped win her match, peasant?"

Shinji's eyebrow twitched slightly. Normally it took a lot to get him angry…but a few words from this nutcase were enough to make his blood boil. Instead of reacting to the disdainful way she spoke, he gave a mock bow towards her and coated his following words with as much sarcasm as possible.

"Why my lady, your love interest has taken her to see a doctor because of her bruised ankle. Methinks her health is more important to him than yours."

"I am surprised to receive such concern from your end, peasant. Thank you for the information. I will be going after my Ranma-sama now!" Without waiting for him to reply Kodachi was bounding away.

Shinji pried his face from the concrete after his face fault.

`What the hell? How could she _not_ have noticed I was making fun of her????'

Recovering from her own face fault Kaori had to wonder the same thing. Even she could tell her …fiancée…had ridiculed the other girl and she hadn't noticed?

Then Kaori looked at Shinji.

Shinji looked at Kaori.

An awkward silence ensued.

Shinji shifted on his feet. This had to be one of the most awkward moments in his life.

Kaori shifted on her feet as well. This _was_ the most awkward moment in her life.

After nearly two minutes Shinji, being more used to these situations, was the first to speak.

"Guess that's means we're fiancées now?"

Kaori smiled weakly.

"Uhm yeah, seems like it. ...I'm sorry for making you look like second rate for picking your brother at first."

Shinji waved it away.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. I can understand why you preferred Ranma. He's as old as you, he's a far better fighter than me and he looks better. I can't really blame you for your choice at all."

Kaori frowned slightly. Her new fiancée had a serious attitude problem. She walked up to him and gave him a playful punch in the arm.

"Now, listen here. I won't have my new fiancée degrading himself! Our age difference isn't all that bad. Fighting isn't everything in life and you don't look too shabby yourself."

Shinji blushed slightly. Compliments had that effect on him.

"Ahh, thanks I guess."

Kaori shrugged.

"Nothing to thank me for, I only told you the truth. You just need to stop putting yourself down."

Shinji's shoulders slumped.

"I know, I know. Ranma has been telling me the same thing since I first met him. You should have seen me back then! I was a real wreck."

Kaori smiled and wrapped her right arm around his waist, causing our resident wimp…eh…I mean Shinji…to blush. That his face was only a few inches from her bust thanks to Kaori being over 6 inches taller than himself didn't help matters either. His reaction didn't go unnoticed by Kaori, causing her to smile even more. She wasn't normally this bold, but Shinji looked like the type of guy who needed a very forward girlfriend.

"Well, that only proves I can work with you! I'll have you bursting of confidence in no time. But now we should get back to daddy so we can work out a date for our marriage."

Shinji stiffened at the word marriage.

`I'm only 14 for Christ's sake! Besides I can't marry!'

"Uhm...listen Kaori-san…there are a few problems involved with that."

Kaori raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, and what would those be? Don't tell me you already have a fiancée as well."

"You're quite right child, he has...two actually."

Shinji winced.

`This won't be pretty:'

Kaori let go of Shinji and whirled around, only to squeak slightly when she spotted the hideous creature before her.

"Eep...it's a mummified white-haired dried-up monkey!"

Cologne bopped the girl on the head with her cane.

"You shouldn't speak like that about your elders child. I admit you have a lot of creativity though, I haven't heard that one yet. Now let me introduce you to somebody: Pepper and Spice, they're Shinji's wives under Amazon law."

Pepper and Spice stepped forward and bowed. For now things would be kept civil.

"Pleased to meet you."

Kaori regarded the girls for a moment. Both looked around the same age as Shinji. Their long black hair was falling freely down to mid-back and even at this age the girls had curves in all the right places. There was no doubt in her mind that these two could give her a run for her money in the looks department once they were old enough. Not good.

Finished with her short analysis, Kaori bowed to them as well. It wouldn't do to antagonize a potential rival because that lowered the chances of solving this problem in a diplomatic manner.

"Likewise."

Standing at full height, Kaori looked at the Amazon trio intently.

"Now then, if you would please tell me how Pepper and Spice came to be Shinji's wives?"

It didn't take long until Kaori was told the full story by the Amazons with Shinji throwing in a few comments where he felt it needed.

Needless to say once they were finished, Kaori looked a little incredulous, as did several other people who had been listening in.

"You're telling me he's their husband because he wasn't strong enough to beat them in a fight he didn't even want?"

Cologne nodded.

"Basically, yes."

Then she noticed that a lot of people were listening in now that the last participator of the race had crossed the finish line. It seemed they were a lot more interesting than the fat panda(aka Genma) who was just now taking the prize for Akane's victory into his paws since Soun was still crying and he hadn't managed to get him out of it.

She glared at the patrons surrounding them and brought her aura into the visible spectrum.

"I would advice all of you to leave and do something else."

And leave they did…some with soiled pants.

Kaori was too angry to have cared for Cologne's little display. Her left eyebrow was currently twitching up a storm.

"You do realize that's tantamount to rape, don't you?

Pepper glared at Kaori .

"That's not true!"

Kaori looked her in the eyes.

"Oh it isn't? I don't know, but he has no say in being your husband or not and he doesn't have any chance to get out of it….sounds pretty much like rape to me in the end."

Spice, whose temper was now flaring as well, stepped forward threateningly.

"Our husband has a chance to get out of this arrangement!"

Shinji blinked.

"I have?"

Pepper and Spice winced, realizing their temper had gotten the better of them.

The accusation hurled their way stung a lot. In their village every man who tried to rape a woman (not that there were any) would die and yet they were doing nearly the same because it was only logical that Shinji would have sex with them at some point in time if he were to be their husband…willingly or not. Looking at things like that may have been a little extreme, but still true. Both of them knew there was only one way for them to disarm Kaori's argument.

They nodded at each other and bowed to Shinji in tandem.

"Hereby we give you the power to be free and dissolve our marriage at any point in time if you so wish."

Behind the twins Cologne nearly fell from her cane. Pepper and Spice had just given Shinji the `binding of love'. It was a law that could only be used when a husband, outsider or tribesman, was won by the `fight of marriage' and gave him the power to dissolve the marriage without any repercussions for both parties. Officially it was used for an Amazon to show her deep love, trust and respect for a weaker husband but if she remembered correctly this particular law had been designed to give Amazons who had second thoughts about forcing somebody into marriage; a way out without loss of honour for both sides. Weird as it sounded, the law had been made some 600 years ago after someone brought up just the same point as Kaori for discussion.

Yet, as interesting as all of that was, her concern lay with Shinji. It was clear to her that the lad had something big on his mind and would rather have done without marrying anybody. Therefore it wouldn't be much of a surprise if he dissolved their marriage right on the spot.

Shinji could only look at his `wives' dumbly.

"You mean I can just say I don't want to be married to you and *poof* that's it?"

Pepper and Spice nodded sadly and Pepper spoke for them.

"Yes, you can do that. We wouldn't want to force you into marrying us; the decision is up to you."

Shinji had an unreadable look on his face.

"Then why didn't you do this sooner? Last week you were insisting that I was your husband and there was no way around it."

Both girls looked rather guilty.

"We just wanted to make sure you got to know us and after that we would have told you. You have to believe us."

Shinji looked from Pepper to Spice and back, both of them had their head bowed in shame.

Needless to say, seeing any girl like this melted Shinji's heart faster than any N2 mine ever could.

"Hey, don't be so glum. We can still get to know each other better and after that I can decide. Is that all right with you two?"

Both girls looked up at him with surprise written all over their lovely features.

"Thank you!"

At that point Kaori decided to get back into the conversation.

"Now wait a moment there Shinji-kun. You still have to marry me, so why don't you just end this farce and we can be on our way."

Pepper looked at her sharply.

"Oh, so now that we showed that we aren't forcing Shinji to anything you try to get him with the same technique. I believe you called it `tantamount to rape'?"

Kaori winced as if struck. That had hit home far closer than she wanted to admit. The disappointed expression Shinji directed her way didn't help either. She probably sounded like a cold-hearted bitch to the man she was to marry. That wouldn't do. She knew her father would give her hell for what she was about to do, but anything was better than marrying somebody who hates or ignores you because he thinks you to be a cold-hearted bitch.

Lowering her head she sighed.

" I am ..truly sorry for what I just said. I am making you the same proposal as Pepper and Spice just did. We can get to know each other better and after that you may decide which one of us you want to marry, if any of us."

Shinji looked very nervous and confused all of a sudden. Kaori had basically given him the chance to marry or not marry whoever he wanted. While this brought a lot of freedom…it also brought a crushing responsibility.

Before he had met Ranma, Shinji would have broken off all engagements without a second thought, believing himself not worthy of any of these women without regarding their feelings on the matter; But he had learned that you couldn't run from everything and not look back without hurting someone and doing that wasn't on his list of `things to do'.

"I...thank you Kaori…if you will excuse me now, I need a little time for myself."

No one stopped him when he started walking away because Cologne stopped the girls by shaking her head. Once he was out of sight, Cologne regarded them all.

"He needs a little time alone to sort this out. You have just put him into a position where he can reject all of you, but in doing so he would hurt your feelings and judging from the fact that he didn't jump at this chance of dissolving the engagements, I suspect he does not like harming anyone's feelings." Suddenly her tone took on a more dreamy quality "Such a considerate boy, he would make the perfect Amazon husband…aahhh to be 280 years younger again…" (3)

Kaori, Pepper and Spice started edging away as Cologne started daydreaming. This was just too creepy.

*****************

Kaori and her father were currently sitting in their limo facing each other. The glare Kaori was giving her father could have melted through steel.

"Goddammit father, I will not force Shinji into marriage. Either you give me this chance to get to know him on a friendly basis or we can go home right now!"

Mr. Daikoku regarded his daughter coolly. When she had set her mind to something it was almost impossible to talk her out of it.

"What about family honour? Would you just throw that out the window?"

Kaori gave him a flat stare.

"Better honourless married to a man I love than married to somebody who hates me! All you have to do is give your approval and honour won't be an issue!"

Mr Daikoku sighed. Before they had come to Nerima his little girl didn't have any objections, but now she seemed almost appalled by the idea of marriage because of some promise made between fathers. He didn't understand it, but he loved his little girl too much to not to give into her demands.

"Very well Kaori, you may decide if you want to marry Shinji on your own. I will see to it that you get enrolled in school here and find you a nice place to stay so you can visit you fiancée anytime you want."

Immediately Kaori's face lit up.

"Thanks daddy!"

Mr Daikoku sighed.

"You're welcome darling."

********************

Later that week

Ranma was walking home alone. He had gotten detention for beating the crap out of Kuno and had to stay behind while Shinji and Akane had gone home. Today even Nabiki had gone home right after school.

When Cologne landed on the fence he was walking on; he just knew this shitty day was about to get even shittier.

"What do you want old ghoul?"

In contrast to Ranma's voice, Cologne's was light and reprimanding.

"Aren't you happy to see me son-in-law?"

Ranma rolled his eyes.

"No, of course not! What do you want?"

Cologne smirked, causing Ranma to cringe. She was really ugly like that.

"I want to fight you son-in-law. I haven't been interfering up until now in hopes that you would willingly come with us, but it seems that won't happen."

Ranma gave her an arrogant smirk of his own.

"Bring it on old ghoul! There's no way you can beat me!"

"We will just have to see about that son-in-law." Cologne seemed unconcerned as she got into a ready stance (as ready as you can get while balancing on a cane.)

Ranma did likewise and neither of them moved for nearly a minute.

Cologne sighed.

"I didn't come here to stare at you."

The next moment Ranma was frantically trying to dodge hundreds of jabs and punches thrown in his direction by Cologne. It didn't take long before his defence was overwhelmed and Cologne struck several points all over his body. Then the onslaught suddenly stopped and she was once again standing ten feet away like nothing ever happened.

"You're not bad son-in-law, but you're a hundred years too young to beat me."

Ranma looked at her in defiance.

"Hah, what do you know? I barely felt the few hits you landed."

Cologne grinned, causing Ranma once again to wince.

"That's good for you. I hope you like my present."

The next moment Cologne was hopping away from his position. Once she was out of sight Ranma groaned and toppled over straight into the canal next to the fence they had been fighting on. After a mighty splash a now female Ranma dragged herself out of the water and lay down. The few punches Cologne had landed hurt like heck and even though she hated to admit it, Cologne was right. She was a hundred years too young to beat her. And just what was that about a present?

`Oh well, I can figure it out later, wanna go home and back to male first.'

******************

A little later

Ranma walked into the kitchen to find Kasumi _not_ preparing a meal but reading a book.

Before she could even say anything the older girl gestured to a kettle on the stove.

"I have already heated some water for you."

Ranma blinked.

"Uhm, thanks...how did you know?"

Kasumi smiled.

"Because you almost never make it back home being male."

Ranma shrugged her shoulders. That made sense. Then she reached for the kettle and grabbed the handle.

"YOWZA, HOT HOT HOT!!!!"

Kasumi looked at Ranma confused.

"What's wrong Ranma-kun? The kettle can't possibly this hot."

Ranma stopped blowing her hand and glared at the kettle like it was her mortal enemy.

"I don't know Kasumi, sure felt like my hand was on fire."

Kasumi shook her head.

"Really Ranma-kun, you and your antics. Sometimes I think Shinji is older than you. Here I'll even pour the water over you myself."

Saying so, Kasumi took the kettle into her hands. Ranma looked a little surprised but shrugged it off. It was probably just a fluke or something.

Of course, when Kasumi started pouring water over her hand Ranma revised her opinion very quickly.

********************

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Shinji and Akane froze in their current activity, namely kicking the crap out of each other when they heard the ear-splitting scream.

"That sounded like Ranma." Shinji did clearly not believe his ears. Ranma _never_ screamed like that

"Yeah, wonder what the baka did now." Akane was simply annoyed at the interruption. She was sparring with Shinji on a regular basis now and as much as she hated to admit it, this way she was improving a lot faster than before. Being interrupted didn't exactly sit well with her because getting Shinji to fight her a second time would be almost impossible. The guy was too tame for his own good! What irked Akane even more though was the fact that Shinji was actually better than her even when she fought with a clear head now. How someone who wouldn't hurt a fly to save his life could have such a talent for martial arts was beyond her.

Shinji on the other hand didn't mind the interruption. Frankly he felt a little uneasy sparring with Akane because he knew he could hurt seriously her if he didn't watch himself. The chance was slim, but it was there. With Ranma or Genma he didn't have that problem and could always go all out because he knew both of them could take everything he dished out a hundred times over. Yet it seemed he was the only one who wasn't satisfied with the current arrangement. Akane didn't want to fight Ranma, because he would just keep dodging her no matter how much Shinji had tried to convince him to fight her for real and Ranma didn't want to fight Akane because `he didn't like fighting girls.' Shinji could have used the same argument himself, but he didn't. Otherwise Akane might have blown a blood vessel out of frustration while fighting Ranma.

Therefore it wasn't a great surprise that Shinji was out of the dojo faster than Akane could tell him to stay.

To Shinji's great surprise Ranma wasn't missing a limb or anything equally lethal when he found her in the kitchen. Ranma-chan was currently cooling her left hand under cold water and a concerned and guilty looking Kasumi stood by.

Needless to say the situation confused the hell out of Shinji. Ranma wouldn't have screamed unless he was missing a limb, so what was going on?

"What happened? I heard Ranma screaming all the way to the dojo."

Ranma turned her attention from her now pleasantly numb hand and looked at Shinji.

"I don't have the slightest clue, but somehow I've become extremely sensitive to heat. I couldn't even hold the damn kettle without burning my hand. I thought it was a fluke and let Kasumi pour the water on my hand…and well…it felt like someone was pouring lava over me."

"I'm so sorry Ranma! I didn't know!" Kasumi had her head buried in her hands and seemed to be holding back tears.

Seeing Kasumi crying wasn't an option in Ranma's book though and so she walked over to the distraught girl and patted her on the back awkwardly.

"Hey Kasumi, it's all right. It wasn't your fault and I'm all right now."

Kasumi looked up, her face hopeful.

"Really?"

Ranma nodded.

"Thank you Ranma-kun!" said Kasumi as she hugged the smaller Ranma-chan affectionately.

"I'll even make you your favourite meal for dinner!"

Ranma was blushing bright red by the time Kasumi let her go and even the proper Tendo sister was blushing a little as she realized what she had just done.

Deciding to end the embarrassing situation Shinji spoke up.

"And you have no idea how this happened Ranma?"

Ranma shook her head.

"No, I don't have…hey, wait a second." She remembered back to her fight with Cologne. " I hope you like my present…so that's what the old ghoul did. She's so gonna pay for that."

As Ranma stormed out of the kitchen, Shinji barely managed to latch onto her arm.

"Ranma, take it easy. I'll go with you! I don't think Cologne will react very well to you storming into her restaurant and ruining her front door _again_."

Ranma glanced at Shinji coldly, making the younger boy shiver as a slight tremor of fear ran down his spine. When Ranma spoke, her voice was decidedly cold.

"Okay, but I don't promise anything. I will _not_ waste away the rest of my life as a girl, no matter what you say!"

Shinji thought it best not to say anything else and instead tried to follow Ranma's furious pace to the best of his ability.

***********************

Several patrons sitting in the Cat Café decided now was a good time to go when a very angry redhead stalked through the entrance with murder in her eyes. Some of them patted the poor boy walking slightly behind her on the back. It probably wasn't easy to deal with such a fiery girlfriend…if they only knew how much experience he had with angry redheads.

Shampoo, who was currently witnessing their entrance, would have jumped her airen anyway, but she was too busy juggling several plates of food at once.

Shinji wondered why everybody gave him sympathetic looks while Ranma simply ignored everyone.

"Old ghoul, I know you're here, come out now!"

A moment later Cologne came hopping into view from the kitchen.

"Hello son-in-law, hello Shinji, what can I do for you?"

Ranma glared at her.

"You can undo whatever you did to me!"

Cologne chuckled.

"I'm afraid it won't be so easy son-in-law. You have two choices: Go back to our village and become Shampoo's husband willingly or ..." she held up what looked like a pill that was hanging on a necklace. "…you manage to get the Phoenix pill from me! It will undo the full-body cats-tongue pressure point I afflicted you with."

Ranma glared at her some more.

"I'll have that pill faster than you know!"

Without prior warning Ranma dashed forward faster than Shinji could follow and tried to snatch the pill from Cologne's outstretched hand. The old crone evaded her grab easily and cackled as the next dozen attempts to capture the pill also failed. When Ranma stopped attacking to find a way to get the pill, Cologne used the break to speak again.

"Did you really think it would be that easy son-in-law? You are too confident in your own abilities for your own good. Nonetheless I will give you one last pointer on how to get the pill, if you would please follow me. Shampoo, Spice and Pepper can take care of everything for a few minutes."

Grudgingly Ranma followed Cologne out the backdoor; she needed every advantage she could get in this.

Shinji decided to follow them before either Spice or Pepper, who were currently working in the kitchen, spotted him. He wanted to know what Cologne would show Ranma.

**********************

Several minutes later Cologne had made a little fire in her backyard and was looking at Ranma and Shinji sternly.

"I will only demonstrate the technique to you once. After that you are on your own."

She took a handful of chestnuts out of nowhere and threw them into the flames.

Ranma and Shinji watched intently as the old woman positioned herself before the fire.

"Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

Suddenly her hand vanished in a blur of motion and the next moment she was holding up a dozen chestnuts.

Shinji simply stared. Unlike Ranma he hadn't even seen her move. One moment she was just sitting there, the next she was holding a dozen chestnuts in her hand.

Ranma barely stopped herself from drooling. With such a technique in her arsenal she would be unbeatable and she could get the damn pill as well!

"All right! I'll have that pill faster than you can say Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken old ghoul! I'll be at the dojo training, Shinji!"

Before either Cologne or Shinji could react, Ranma was already gone.

Cologne chuckled.

"Eager, isn't he? I wonder how long it will take him to figure out the catch."

Shinji sighed. If Ranma got something into his head nothing would stop him, save for a lot of pain.

"It'll take him until he first trusts his hands into the fire. With the full-body cats-tongue active he won't even get his hand halfway in before screaming his head off."

Cologne looked at Shinji respectfully; she hadn't expected him to figure it out so quickly either.

"You catch on fast Shinji."

"Thank you. If I may ask though, why are you doing this to him? You're not this harsh with me either elder."

Cologne got a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"I'm doing it to him because unlike you, Ranma must really marry Shampoo, no way out …for him. Of course, if you truly feel I'm treating your brother unfair I can always do the same to you!"

Shinji edged away from Cologne and chuckled nervously.

"Uhm...now…I don't think there's any need for that, is there?"

"But of course there is. Maybe this will help you a little in choosing your future wife from Kaori and Pepper and Spice."

Before Shinji could throw in anymore protests, Cologne came rushing at him and he started dodging and blocking as fast as he could. He knew it was a lost cause, but he tried anyway because that's what Ranma would have done.

On her end of things Cologne was enjoying herself immensely. While her little squabble with Shinji wasn't at all taxing for her, she marvelled at his abilities. The boy was currently fighting at a level that should have been beyond him for nearly two years. That observation only referred to his strength and speed though, his actual skill in the art was at the level she expected him to be.

Seeing how observing him in battle wouldn't help her unravel the secret he had, Cologne upped her speed a little.

To her great surprise, Shinji did so as well and his chi supply expanded slightly, as did his aura. Cologne knew the boy couldn't hide his chi yet so where did it come from? It just didn't make sense.

Hoping to observe the strange occurrence again Cologne sped up even more, only to be matched by Shinji again. Yet even when she was paying close attention to the boy's aura she couldn't understand were the additional reserves came from. Yet something was tickling at the edges of her well-honed senses.

She tried the same tactic another five times, at which point they were going nearly twice as fast as at the beginning and Shinji looked ready to faint.

Deciding to put the boy out of his misery, Cologne made use of her full speed and overwhelmed him in seconds.

When Cologne broke through his defences with her inhuman speed, Shinji was already clinging to consciousness with all his might. He knew he hadn't even come close to the speed at which they were going before, but right now that wasn't all that important.

Getting sleep was.

Once Cologne stepped back from her assault he immediately ceased moving.

`I will _never_ _ever_ say anything about unfairness to the old ghoul!' (4)

Then his eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted dead away.

Cologne regarded Shinji's form intently and watched as his aura and chi level returned back to his `normal' levels. Then she hopped back into the restaurant. The boy would be up and about in a few minutes.

At least she hoped so.

End chapter 8

***********************

If you didn't see this one coming you are truly pathetic (at least if you've seen Ranma)

Yes, that's how much Kodachi hates Shinji for his interference in her relationship with Ranma.

Hey, I know it's sick, but this chapter was too heavy for my liking so I ended it on a lighter note

After getting his ass kicked by Cologne you have to excuse Shinji for using one of Ranma's favourite names for her.

Author's notes:

Well, there it is. Chapter 8 is finished and things are heating up in Nerima.

Will dish out some ass-kicking once she gets to Nerima?

Will Ranma find himself in the same fiancée-situation as in the original?

How will Shinji handle his own girl-trouble?

Is Nabiki really interested in him that way?

Just why was Kasumi blushing back there?

What the hell is wrong with Shinji's aura?

Are Soun and Genma really working now?

Will both Saotome brothers master the chestnut-fist?

That's a lot of questions. Don't even begin to hope I'll answer them all in the next chapter. I'll try though.

AND I'll try even more if you do me the favour and review. I want to know what you think when reading this and what I can do better! Please go to the trouble and review or send me an e-mail.

(Wow, I'm good at begging *gg*)

Once again I would like to thank my pre-readers NuStrike, Ranshin, kuracao for their invaluable help in making this readable. I'll try to make fewer mistakes next chapter guys!

WARNING: The following Omake is not pre-read and _will_ cause permanent mental trauma

OMAKE

After finishing the latest chapter of SS the author (me) hears a knock on his door.

Me: come in

Nabiki: (enters and gives me glare of death) What do you think you're doing you little creep?

Me: (tries to look clueless) What do you mean?

Nabiki: I don't have a single scene in this chapter! My contract says I have at least one! (starts smirking all of a sudden) Now, you can either pay the fee of 1 million dollars for breaking the contract or…you do me a little favour and I'll forget all about this.

Me: (swallows) What can I do for you?

Nabiki: (sits on the edge of my desk and) I want a lot of screen-time with Shinji-honey next chapter…if you know what I mean(licks her lips).

Me: (starts sweating) Now Nabiki, I don't think I can do that. It would throw over my whole plot so far.

Nabiki:(smiles innocently and stands up) Okay, I'll call my lawyers

Me: (grabs Nabiki desperately) wait! I'll see what I can do about it!

Nabiki: (smiles brightly) I knew you would see it my way! (walks out)

Another knock on the door.

Me: (groans) What now?

A half naked Ranma and Shinji enter and close the door behind them.

Ranma: (frantic) You gotta hide us, the girls are trying to get all mushy and stuff again

Shinji: (shuddering) I'll never star in another one of your fanfics with these freaky girls around, that's the third set of clothes I'm missing this week!

Me: Now, I'm sure it can't possibly be that bad.

Something crashes into the still closed door.

Shampoo's voice: Airen come out and play with me!

Kaori's voice: Come out Shin-chan, we need to consummate our marriage.

Ranma and Shinji : We're _not_ married damn it!

Silence fills the room for a moment and Ranma and Shinji relax slightly.

Suddenly the door exploded inwards, sending Ranma and Shinji flying into me and my computer.

Kaori: (standing in doorway with triumphant expression) now we will have some fun.

Ranma and Shinji are dragged out of the room by most of the female cast.

Ranma and Shinji: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Me: (looks at destroyed computer, door and desk and sighs) Where am I going to get the money to repair that?

Ranma and Shinji from somewhere outside: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Me: (shakes head) and how am I going to pay for another raise of their salary? Looks like I will be spending a few days earning some cash, that means no writing……….