A wishing well, or at least, that's what the sign claimed.  "Wonder
whether Nabiki set this up?"  Ranma mused aloud.  *After all, the
sign doesn't say you'll actually get the wish, just that you get to
make one if you throw a coin in.  That's her kind of honesty.*  He
grinned for a moment and then shrugged and tossed a coin in.  "I
wish...  Man, am I desperate or what?  Even for thinking about doin'
it... I have to be nuts.  And even if it was real, you know it'd turn
out goofy, same as every 'cure' I try.  I'm probably lucky it's a
phoney."  He turned his back, "Wish I knew why it always turns out
wrong."

                               *******

"What's so bad about being a girl!" snarled Akane, fists already
clenched as she glared at Ranma.  As ever, he was dumbstruck at the
idea of explaining how he felt about that or anything.

"Now, that's an interesting question."  Both turned to face the short
man with bright blue eyes.  "Tell me, Tendo Akane, are you interested
in the answer, or are you just picking a fight?"

"Uhm, do I know you?" Akane asked, distracted from the quarrel by her
questioner's appearance from nowhere.

He tossed a 5 yen coin into the air and caught it again.  "No, but I
know a fair bit about you.  I'm actually here to fulfill a wish that
Ranma made last night.  He asked for the answer to a question.  Since
I'm feeling generous, I'll toss in an answer to your question as
well."

Ranma looked puzzled, "I asked a question?"

"Yes, you asked why your cures always seem to go awry..." the little
man paused dramatically until Akane snapped, "WELL!?"  He grinned,
"Just trying to build a little suspense.  The answer is that magic is
a conserved quantity, like mass and energy.  It cannot be created, or
destroyed, only altered and transferred.  Thus, attempts to nullify
your curse conceal it for a time, or twist it into a different curse,
but they all fail because they fail to dispose of that force within
you, fighting it, instead of releasing it."

"Ah man, how'm I supposed to do that?"  Ranma groaned.

"There are some ways, but magic has a way of demanding prices you may
not wish to pay.  Now, Tendo Akane, about the answer to your
question, you accuse Ranma of insensitivity to your feelings, but
what of your insensitivity to his?"  The little man tossed his coin
again, but this time at the apex of it's flight, it flared and
vanished.  His voice became more dramatic in it's tone:

   "Saotome Ranma, I grant you respite from your curse
   Tendo Akane, I give you the gift of comprehension
   For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction
   For every question, there is a matching explanation
   When you grasp the cost and the worth of the gift you receive
   You may accept it or not, as you please."

Water erupted from the ground in a ice cold geyser under their feet,
sending them both sprawling before either recognized a threat.
"AAAH, COLD!  Akane are you-"  Ranma stopped, horrified at the sight
of a muscular boy slightly taller than him, dressed in Akane's school
uniform.  Akane looked back at him for a moment, puzzled by an
expression she'd never seen on his face before.  Then she looked down
and screamed.

"RANMA!  This is all your fault!"

"Ranma this is all your fault!"  Some might say that Akane was being
unfair in not giving any blame to the little man who had actually
transferred a version of Ranma's curse to her, but Akane had a
practical disposition and preferred to blame people who were
available as opposed to those who wisely jump into the canal and
vanish after doing their dirty work.  "If you hadn't made that stupid
wish-!"

"Hey!  I didn't wish for that guy to give you a curse.  He just did
it!"

"But it works out pretty conveniently for you, doesn't it?"

"Oh sure, that's just what I want for a fiancé.  A guy in a dress!"

"..."  Akane stopped, mouth open.  "Wh-what if I'm stuck like this
forever?"

"C'mon Akane, it's gonna work the same way it does for me.  You
changed when you got hit with cold water.  All we have to do is get
some hot water, change you back and get to school.  After school,
we'll track that guy down and make him undo it."  Ranma reached out
to take hold of of... him... then stopped and said, "Let's run to
Doctor Tofu's.  We've still got time before school."

*He doesn't even want to touch me when I'm like this*  Akane quelled
the painful thought and concentrated on sprinting faster than she
ever had ever had before, putting just enough stress on her shoulders
to let her left shoulder seam separate.  *Oh just what I needed to
make the day perfect*  Fortunately, this body didn't seem to cry as
easily as hers.  She really didn't want to start crying in front of
Ranma in male form.  "Umm, Ranma?"

"What?"

"Could you go in and get the water and some needle and thread?"

"We don't have time, we're-"  *Oh yeah.  Akane and Tofu.*  "Right."

As soon as she had reverted to female successfully, Ranma quickly
stitched up her tear, grabbed her and let for the school grounds.

"Saotome, release the fair Akane before you feel my-  What's this
that my keen vision does espy?  Have you dared to damage her apparel
with your lascivious gropings?"  True, this was an unreasonable
conclusion but Kuno had a dirty mind.

"It's not like that at all!" Ranma protested indignantly and
automatically, as he stepped back to avoid the new form leaping
toward the two of them.

"Hello, Ranma, Tendo Akane, nice to see you.  Kuno, you dog, how dare
you betray Nabiki by flirting with her sister!"  Yamazaki Kentaro and
his brother had been the latest entries in Ranma's fiancé sweepstakes
thanks to the usual kind of identity confusion.  Surprisingly to
many, once they were convinced that Ranma was male, they'd both
switched their attentions to wooing Nabiki, with no noticeable
success.  This, however, was a new twist.  Ranma mouthed "Kuno and
Nabiki?" and Akane just gestured her confusion.  They avoided the
developing new argument and headed inside.  Where of course, they
were late.

"I am disappointed to see the two of you reverting to your old
tardiness after your improved performance in the last month.  You
know where the buckets are."

Standing out in the hall, Akane remembered Ranma's first day.  She'd
half jokingly threatened to throw her bucket at him.  It didn't seem
funny at all in retrospect, holding something that with a touch could
turn her into a joke for the whole school.  She shifted her position
slightly and froze as it seemed as if the water sloshed just a little
bit more than it should have.  "Yeah," commented Ranma quietly.
"It's almost like it's alive."  This was going to be a long day...

"So, what's with your brother and Kuno?"  Akane asked Yamazaki
Kouchi in the hall at the start of lunch.  Ranma-chan's other
"fiancé" was a delicate-looking boy whose appearance and rather
feminine mannerisms belied his considerable martial arts skills.
Ranma despised the younger Yamazaki for a variety of reasons, but
Akane rather liked him.

Kouchi looked up from the water fountain he'd stopped at, to reply,
"Oh, Nabiki said something that suggested her affections were already
engaged, so Ken-chan decided to find out with whom.  Apparently she
and Kuno-sempai meet together fairly regularly sooo-"  Kouchi
shrugged daintily.

"But that's just so she can sell him stuff!"  Akane protested.

Kouchi smiled a little, "That's comforting to hear, but who among us
really knows what goes on behind Nabiki's eyes?  It is that mystery
about her that fascinates me.  My brother on the other hand ... why speak
of the devil!  Ken-chan you look-"

"Die, you sneaky underhanded little freak!"  Kentaro braced himself
to attack the smaller boy.  Having been tricked into fighting Kuno
just so Nabiki could manipulate the odds in the school betting pool
with Kouchi's help, Ken's fuse was burning short.

Kouchi rolled his eyes, "You are in SUCH a mood today."  Kouchi was
short on power and stamina but every bit as fast as Ranma.  In a blur
of movement he zipped out of the way and Kentaro's blow struck the
water fountain, sending it exploding apart in a spray of water.

"Now look what you did.  You frightened Akane.  You think that's the
way to impress Nabiki-san?"  Both brothers looked at a pale Akane,
gasping for breath after just managing to scramble out of the blast
zone.

"Please forgive me Tendo-san.  I did not mean to alarm you."

"And I apologize for having a brother who is a jerk."

"Who are you calling a jerk!"

Figuring that a little of the Yamazaki sibling rivalry went a long
way, particularly while water was still spraying, Akane took
advantage of their mutual distraction to leave.

"I'm not going to make it, Ranma," Akane moaned as they ate lunch
outside.  "The day's only half-over, and I haven't been to Home
Economics yet.  Somebody's going to spill something cold on me, I
just know it."

"Relax Akane, I can duck getting wet at school most of the time and
so can you.  Just hold out for a couple of periods, then go home
before Home Ec.  Tell the teacher you ate something you cooked and
she'll excuse you...."  After she hit him she felt better, not just
because of the frustration outlet, but because if he was making jokes
about her cooking, that probably meant he was starting to feel
comfortable around her again.

Two hours later, Akane was in agony.  She'd taken Ranma's advice,
more or less, and headed home early, only to be caught by another of
those instant rain showers that had become so much more common with
Ranma's arrival.  She'd taken the precaution of switching into her
gym shorts and top but her feet were killing her.  They'd almost been
at Doctor Tofu's the first time she'd transformed so she hadn't
noticed much, but the walk back her house had made it painfully
obvious that her feet got larger with the rest of her.  She sat down
to slip off her running shoes then sighed in relief and wiggled her
toes.

Standing, her eyes met Yoiko's, a neighbor and former classmate of
Kasumi's who'd married straight out of high school.  Yoiko had
apparently just come back from shopping, but the look in her eyes and
the direction of her gaze suggested something other than domestic
matters might be occupying her thoughts.  Yoiko blushed, giggled and
scurried past.  *She was checking me out!  That's disgusting!  And
she's a married woman too!*  Akane suddenly felt self conscious
again ... and curious.  She slowly looked down.  A muscular, partly
bare midriff met her gaze, and a pair of shorts that were tight
enough to leave nothing to the imagination.  *I wonder what Ranma
would think if I pointed out that I'm now the better built one.*  A
vivid picture of Ranma crushing her with the living room table popped
into head.  *At least I know how to keep my mouth shut.  I feel like
such a pervert.  I have to get home and change back.*

Kasumi hummed quietly to herself.  She loved her family, and actually
enjoyed observing their frenetic activity from a safe distance, but
she needed moments like these, just alone doing some peaceful
housework, to help stay centered and calm.  Her father was in the
dojo, Mr. Saotome was at his part-time job, and the rest of her
excitable family were still in school.  Done for the moment.  Perhaps
she'd take a little walk before everyone got home.  She opened the
door and looked at the startled young man in front of her.  *Oh my!
I wonder how old he is?*.  Kasumi smiled and said, "Hello, are you
one of Ranma's friends?"  The young man looked surprisingly nervous
as he answered "Uhm, yes, I'm ... Ranma's friend."