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Disclaimer: The characters of Ranma 1/2, of course, belong to Rumiko Takahashi (and lots of others). Sati Li, and any other strays that may appear, belong to me, unless otherwise noted.

A Werewolf in Nerima

By: USA Tiger

Author note: Thanks to my beta Silver-Tiamat from DeviantART.

Chapter 23

"N-n-now Nodoka...dear... j-just calm down," Genma pleaded, he hadn't see his wife this angry in a long time and he had hoped to never see her like this ever again.

"Shut up you fool!" Nodoka said, her sword pressed a little tighter against Genma's neck. If he moved the wrong way it would have sliced his skin if not cut off his head. "Have you completely lost your senses?! What possessed you to do the things you did to my son!?"

"It was all in the name of the art!" Genma defended himself then gulped loudly as Nodoka started to display a fiery-looking battle aura.

"In the name of the ART!!! Nothing you did was in the name of anything! You put my son through idiotic and even dangerous training techniques not in the name of the art!" Nodoka yelled, pushing the terrorized Genma back so the man landed back on the couch again, it groaning under his sudden weight. "You made my son steal from food vendors!"

"We had no money and it was good for stealth and speed training!" Genma said.

"I sent you money every two weeks!" Nodoka said. "You had Ranma steal just so you wouldn't have to spend any money and claimed it was for training. Then on top of that you didn't even let Ranma have any of the food himself! And that is just the tip of the ice berg! Making Ranma run from a pack of rabid wolves while he carries you on his back!? You could have broken his neck or back like that and what if those wolves were faster than him while he carried your fat ass!

"And what possessed you to try and teach Ranma the Neko-ken!?"

"Th-the pamphlet sa-said it was the ultimate technique," Genma stuttered. "I-it wasn't until after I read that it was..."

"Even if a piece of paper told you it was some powerful move, common sense should have told you that throwing a child of any age into a pit of starving animals while wrapped in food is a bad idea!!" Nodoka screamed at her husband. "But you have made clear you have no common sense! If you had common sense and didn't listen to your greed, you and Ranma wouldn't have gotten into everything that you have!"

"Everything I've done I did for Ranma!" Genma argued in his defense. He eeped as Nodoka leaned over him, the tip of her Katana pressed against his chest.

"No, everything you've done was either out of stupidity or out of greed! Sending Ranma to steal is not a lesson in martial arts and teaches him that stealing is okay when it's not! Engaging Ranma to several different girls just to feed your fat stomach or to take an heirloom they offered as a dowry."

"I did not-" Genma said as he tried to defend himself again.

"YOU PROMISED RANMA TO A YOUNG GIRL JUST FOR A BOWL OF RICE, A FISH AND TWO SLICES OF PICKLES!" Nodoka yelled loudly, making Ranma and Sati who were in the hallway watching flinch at the volume.

"Wow, your mom can be scary when she's mad," Nabiki whispered to Ranma. Everyone in the house had been woken up when Nodoka started to yell at her husband. The Tendos, Ranma and Sati were now all in the hallway watching the show and Ranma was enjoying seeing his father getting reamed by his mother for all the man had done to him over the years.

"I was starving, the man wouldn't even share a little with me unless I engaged Ranma to his daughter," Genma said.

"You could have stood to live off your fat for a while," Nodoka said dryly. "One time in desperation is one thing but you continued to engage my son to different families for food! You took two families lively hood from them after they were offered as dowries! What in the world were you going to do with an okonomiyaki cart? You don't even know how to cook!

"The only reason I allowed you to engage Ranma to a Tendo daughter is because I was already friends with their mother and we were enchanted by the idea that our children would one day fall in love and marry," Nodoka said. "But not only have you broken your promise to the man you claim as your oldest and best friend, but you dishonor the other families as well!"

"Tendo and I's agreement to join the schools is the only engagement that matters!" Genma said.

"You should have thought about that before engaging Ranma to almost every family you came across that had something you wanted!" Nodoka yelled back. "And even worse on top of everything else, you attempted to keep my son away from me after taking him on your stupid training trip for 10 years! All because he is cursed to turn into a girl!?"

"The seppuku agreement!" Genma pointed out quickly. "You wanted Ranma to be a man-among-men, how can he be if he turns into a weak female? I did not want to present Ranma to you until after he was cured!"

"Did you not think I could tell that Ranma is still a man even when he is a girl!?" Nodoka said. "If you had just told me, I wouldn't have tried to force Ranma to act and dress like a girl and would have been able to spend time with my child!"

"How was I supposed to know that?" Genma asked.

"Common sense should have told you to at least /talk to me/!" Nodoka said. "But I forgot, you /have none/. If you did, then you would have at least bothered to learn at least basic Chinese and even research the areas you wanted to take Ranma to! Did you even bother to learn anything about Jusenkyo before you dragged Ranma there?"

"A man we met in a town in China told me about it," Genma admitted. "He only told me it was a legendary training ground; I thought it would be a good way to end the training trip."

"And when you arrived, did it not occur to you to listen to the guide?" Nodoka asked. "Of course not! If you had then neither of you would have been cursed! If you had taken the time to learn anything about the area or had listened to your guide then you could have avoided several things! Even I found out a lot about Jusenkyo and that was from my home! Just by doing a little research!" Genma cowered further into the couch as Nodoka's battle aura seemed to flare up.

"S-so I made a few mistakes," Genma said as he tried again to defend himself. "B-but Ranma turned out alright, he's still a man-among-men."

"No thanks to you. If Sati hadn't decided to join you after you threw my son into a pit of cats and curbed some of your more bone headed plans, I would hate to think what Ranma would be like. You didn't even enroll him in any schools until she arrived!" The dark red headed woman said.

"Ranma didn't need to go to school, he doesn't need it to learn the art," Genma said.

"In the past that may have held some truth but in today's times, everyone needs an education! Ranma will have to go to college just so he could run his own Dojo one day! That requires a license and you need an education for that!" Nodoka yelled. "Thank Kami he's not your son by blood, whoever his birth mother and father are he must have gotten his common sense from them."

"SHHH!" Genma said waving his hands, he hadn't told Soun about Ranma's adoption and he didn't plan to either.

"Do you shush me you fool panda!" Nodoka said. She then reached into the folds of her kimono and took out a stack of papers, throwing them to her husband.

"Wh-what are these?" Genma asked as he picked them up.

"I know you can read Genma," Nodoka quipped. Genma pushed his glasses further up his nose and read what was on the papers.

"You're divorcing me?!" Genma yelled after a few minutes, a few gasps in surprise coming from behind Nodoka. "Why?"

"After everything that’s just happened, you're asking that?" Nodoka asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well if you divorce me that’ll mean you'll have no contact with Ranma," Genma quickly said in a gamble to get Nodoka to change her mind.

"Keep reading and you'll find that it's you who will have no contact," Nodoka said darkly. Genma quickly turned back to the papers, quickly reading each page until he found the part his soon-to-be ex-wife meant.

"You can't do this!" Genma yelled as he jumped up, jabbing a finger into the page where it said Nodoka had full parental right to Ranma and Genma had none.

"You'll find that I can and the judge agreed with me once I offered him all the proof he needed to see that you are a bad father," Nodoka said smugly. "Once the divorce goes through you will no longer have any say at all in Ranma's life. I have the support of both mine and your family in this." Genma paled at Nodoka's words.

"You spoke to my family?" He asked. (1)

"Yes, imagine their surprise when they found out not only had Tatsuo died but that we had adopted another child," Nodoka said. "I had wondered why they did not attend Tatsuo’s wake, cremation or when we buried him. Now I know that you haven’t even bothered to inform your father that his grandson had died! Or that he had another in Ranma!"

"Wait, so Ranma is adopted?" Akane asked softly behind her. "Doesn't that mean the whole joining of the families is useless then?"

"Ranma is still Mr. and Mrs. Saotome's son Akane," Kasumi said just as softly. "He's still a part of their family." Genma looked up as he heard the whispering.

"Boy, your mother is trying to rip apart our family, talk some sense into her," Genma command. Ranma stiffened slightly in anger, his blue eyes narrowing at the man he had called 'Pops' his whole life.

"No," He said softly.

"What?! Do as I say Ranma," Genma said. Ranma stepped into the room and close to his father.

"I said 'no'," Ranma repeated calmly. "I will not try to change Mom's mind because I agree with everything she said. You have abused me and starved me my whole life. You made me to steal from those carts and stores when I was little but never let me have any of the food that I stole. I was lucky if I got a small bowl of rice until I was big and fast enough to steal the food from you. You put me through horrible 'training exercises' and then yelled at me not to be a girl when I cried.

"You threw me again and again into that pit with those c-cats even when I begged you over and over not to. Then you yelled at me again when I cried at night because of how much I was hurting from all the scratch and bite marks you didn't even bother to even clean or bandage up or when I had nightmares about the monsters in the pit." Ranma said all this in a clear, soft, even tone that had a bite of ice behind it. All while he stepped closer and closer to Genma who stepped back until he hit the edge of the couch and fell onto it again. The sudden weight was too much for it and the couch broke under the man. "You also used me my entire life in one way or another. You used me to get you free food and you used me as a barraging chip. I always wondered why you encouraged me to make friends with the daughter of whatever family was nearby, I didn't question it then since I was just happy to have a friend. And once I made a good friend and had a new playmate, you’d snatch me up in the night and run off, not even giving me a chance to say goodbye.

"I know now that you wanted me to get close so you could offer me up as each girl's future husband just so you could get your greedy hands on whatever they had to offer. That stopped after Sati started to travel with us but you still tried sometimes. And it's not just my life you tried to ruin, look what you did to Ucchan. You knew we were really good friends and when her dad offered their cart you snatched it up. You claim that I chose the cart over Ucchan but you forget to mention that you had one of their okonomiyakis shoved in my face and that I hadn't eaten for a while so of course I'm going to choose the food right in front of me." Ranma towered over Genma, his voice getting colder and colder in tone as he spoke.

"Even Ryoga blames me for stuff that is your fault in the end. He blames me for stealing his bread in the all-boys school we both went to because he was hungry and hadn't even in days. He doesn't know that I haven’t eaten yet either, you held back on all the food you could when Auntie wasn't around to make you feed me, and I was starving as much as he was. That bread sometimes was the only thing I got to eat some days. Then you knew Ryoga and I agreed to have a man-to-man fight and even agreed we would stick around until Ryoga showed up so we could have it before going to China. You knew it could take a while with Ryoga's sense of direction but as soon as I collapsed in exhaustion you grabbed me and took off. Claimed that I won because Ryoga hadn't showed up when I asked later." P-Chan made a soft bweeing noise from Akane's arms; he hadn't known about that, he always assumed that Ranma was just being a jerk and a coward.

"Then on top of that, you kept me from my mother all these years. You told me she was dead when I asked when I was little only for me to find out she's been alive this whole time and I had to hide from her because of a curse that is your fault," Ranma placed his hands on the back of the couch and leaned over Genma. His blue eyes were starting to get a feral look in them as the pupil started to slit like a cat's and his teeth started to change into a set of impressive fangs. His sharp claw-like nails dug into the couch as well while slight strips started to appear in his hair, only noticeable under the right light. "So no, I'm not going to tell Mom to change her mind. I completely agree with her and I’m behind her 100%. After everything you've done to me and had me do, I don't want anything to do with you. I want you out of my life." The last part was said in a hiss and a small growl in warning down at the large man cowing under him. Genma gulped loudly, Ranma's coldly calm spoken words were a lot scarier than Nodoka's yelled ones. Added with Ranma shifting slightly, it made a terrifying image. Ranma gave one final wolf like growl then pushed away and left the room so he could get himself back under control before he fully changed into one of his other forms.

Everyone watched Ranma storm out of the room then turned back to Genma who was still frozen on the broken couch, a wet patch spreading on the crotch of his pants giving away just how badly his son had scared him. Nabiki gave him a disgusted sneer and turned on her heel, rushing out after Ranma. Nobody stopped her, all of them still staring at Genma in shock. No one had ever seen Ranma that angry before and they were all shocked into silence.

"How dare you Mr. Saotome," Kasumi's quite voice said from the back of the group. The other's turned to look at the eldest Tendo daughter. "How dare you treat your own son like that? How dare you treat your wife like you did?"

Kasumi walked past the others and up to the man who was just starting to recover.

"Ever since you got here, all you have done is taken advantage of my family's hospitality. You eat up our food, use up our water and play games with my Father all day long," Kasumi continued, her hands on her hips. "And you do nothing to help out in our home. All the money you earned at Doctor Tofu's clinic has never gone toward paying for anything in our home. You lied to Father over and over again about everything."

"What do you know, you're just a weak woman," Genma said. "You're place is taking care of the house and cooking. Your job is to take care of us men and to keep your mouth shut. Tendo's opinion is the only one that matters within this house so keep your opinions to yourself."

SLAP!

Genma looked up at Kasumi in shock, a red mark appearing on his check where Kasumi slapped him.

"I am not a weak woman," Kasumi said as she pointed her finger into Genma's face. "I had to take care of both my sisters and my father since my mother died. I have been mother and caretaker since Mother died. And at the same time I have gone to school and finished my education and even now I take college courses on line. So do not think that I-"

"Kasumi that is enough," Soun said. Kasumi stopped and looked back at her father in surprise. Genma looked smug as Soun stepped up to him and Kasumi, pulling the young woman away. That smug look melted away as Soun pulled back his fist and planted it right in the middle of the large man's face. Genma flew out of the sliding rice doors, destroying them in the process, and landed in the yard.

"Soun what?" Genma asked as he held his hand up to his bleeding nose.

"Do not speak to my daughter in such a disrespectful way!" Soun said as he triggered his demon-head attack. Genma cowered under the large demonic purple head as Soun yelled at him. "I want you out of my house Saotome! I want you far away from my daughters! Ranma is allowed to stay if his mother allows but you are never allowed to set foot inside my home or dojo again!"

"Soun my old friend," Genma tried to reason, he didn't want to be out on the streets now that he had a cushy place to stay. Free food, he didn't have pay for anything, he could cheat at games all day long with Soun, it was the life! He had been planning all of this for years ever since they first came up with the idea to join the schools! It was why he wanted that ungrateful whelp Ranma to marry Soun's daughter so Ranma could take care of him the rest of his life. "Surely you don't mean that! Think of everything we've been through. Think of the hardships we had under the master."

"OUT!" Soun roared as a chi studded mace, much like Akane's chi mallet, appeared in Soun's hand and he started to chase Genma around the yard. Thinking it was better to high tail it and wait until Soun calmed down, Genma jumped over the wall and ran off into the night. (2)

Soun came to a stop right before crashing into the wall, giving an annoyed snort of anger as his demon head attack disappeared as well as the chi mace. He turned back to the house and sighed as he saw the damage he had caused in his anger.

"Nodoka, you can stay the night if you wish," He said to Nodoka in a tired tone. Nodoka bowed her head in thanks. "We should return to bed I think. I will call over our usual repair man in the morning to repair the doors."

"I can call him Father," Kasumi said. Soun shook his head, gently laying a hand on his oldest child's shoulder.

"Let me take care of it Kasumi-chan. You can go pick out a new couch, no doubt Nabiki will send Saotome the bill," Soun said.

"Of course Father," Kasumi said with a smile. Soun returned her smile, he felt better than he had in a long time chasing Genma off.

**

Nabiki looked around once she got outside, searching for Ranma. She looked up at the roof when she heard grumbling coming from above her and sighed.

'Of course, that's where he always goes,' Nabiki thought to herself. After getting the ladder, Nabiki climbed up and looked over the edge of the roof. Just like she thought, Ranma was sitting in the middle of the roof, his arms crossed over his chest as he muttered angrily to himself. Parts of Ranma’s body were still trying to transform in his anger. Pulling herself up onto the roof, Nabiki walked over to Ranma and knelt behind him.

She draped her arms over Ranma's shoulders and pressed up against his back. Ranma jerked in surprise, he was so angry that he hadn't even noticed that Nabiki had joined him on the roof.

"Nabiki?" He asked as he turned his head to look at the older teen.

"How you feeling Ranma-baby?" Nabiki asked. Ranma sighed and stared out in front of himself again.

"I've never been so angry in my life. Not at Akane, Ryoga, Herb or even the old ghoul or the old pervert has pissed me off as much as Pops did tonight," Ranma said. "I mean, it's been my whole life I've had to put up with his crap. All he ever did was use me. Sure he taught me a few things but the way he did... why would he do that? Because I'm not really his son? Would he do all that stuff to Tatsuo if he lived?"

"I think he would have. Mr. Saotome is a fat greedy coward who's always looking for the easy way out," Nabiki said. "He doesn’t seem to care about anyone but himself. If he loved Mrs. Saotome he would have never treated her like he has. If your brother had lived and grown up, I think Mr. Saotome would have done the same thing to him."

Ranma sighed and rubbed his forehead, his features fully returning to human as his anger bled out of him. Nabiki tugged Ranma back against her so he was leaning back against her. Her hands rubbed circles on Ranma's chest and arms to get him to relax.

"And think about this, with Tatsuo being his son, he could have ended up just like Mr. Saotome. We could have ended up with two of them in this house," Nabiki pointed out. Ranma shuttered, it made him happy he wasn't Genma's real son. The idea that he could be just like Genma was terrifying, if Akane disliked him as he was now, she would have really hated him as a Genma Jr.

"I am really glad that he's not my real dad," Ranma said, his head leaning back on Nabiki's shoulder. Both teens looked up as they heard yelling below them, peeking over the edge of the roof to see Soun chasing Genma around with a mace. "Wow... I didn't know your dad had it in him."

"I didn't know Daddy had it in him either," Nabiki said. "I don't think Mr. Saotome is gonna be back for a while."

"Good," Ranma said as he leaned back on the roof again, pillowing his head on his arms. "I hope he's gone out of my life for good."

"If your mom has her way, he will be," Nabiki said as she lay out beside Ranma, draping herself over his chest. Ranma looked a bit startled but didn't make her move. Nabiki spread out her hand over her fiancé’s chest, Ranma was still a bit tense from what had happen and glancing up at Ranma's face she could tell he was still thinking about it.

/'We can't have that, time to take things into my own hands,' /Nabiki thought to herself as she propped herself up to look down at Ranma. "You're so tense Ranma," She said as she snaked her hand under his muscle top.

"Just can't stop thinking about everything," Ranma said, blushing slightly as he felt Nabiki's hand wondered.

"I can take your mind off of it," Nabiki suggested as she leaned down and captured Ranma's mouth in a kiss. Ranma was startled by the sudden kiss but he needed the distraction so much right now. He wrapped his arms around Nabiki and kissed her back with a groan. Their tongues dueled for a minute until Nabiki pulled back breathlessly. "It's chilly out here; let's go inside to my room."

Ranma gave a soft growl and gathered Nabiki up into his arms as he stood. Nabiki's window was thankfully open, letting Ranma enter her room from the outside. Once in, the two teens fell onto the bed, hands wandering and exploring while pieces of clothing were tossed around the room.

***

Akane's head was bowed as she sat at the low table, listening to Kasumi clean up the mess left behind by Genma. Her thoughts were whirling and part of her was in a bit of shock, she had never seen Ranma that angry. Sure, she had seen him mad before and sometimes she was the one to make him angry but to be fair he made her angry as well.

Even when he was stuck in his cursed form Ranma had never been that angry. The anger Ranma had displayed tonight was soft but cold. It had been a silent kind of anger, one that had frightened her like nothing else and hoped that it was never directed at her. A shiver passed through Akane's form and she decided that she would cut back on her insulting Ranma for now. Unless he did something that truly make her angry.

Akane wasn't the only one in deep thought; in her arms Ryoga was also deep in thought. Ranma's cold rant at Genma had scared him almost as much when Ranma had nearly torn out his throat. It was almost worse, this time Ranma had all his wits about him and was in control of himself unlike the primal attack from before. But that wasn't what had Ryoga thinking, it was what Ranma had said.

Ryoga had never realized that Ranma's life had been so much worse than his. Sure, his life wasn't easy. He had no idea where he was most of the time and was almost always camping out in the wild, he was lucky when he found home or his school when he still went. But at least he knew his parents, Ryoichi and Ayako Hibiki, cared for and loved him. His mother always tried to leave him something to eat when she was at home. Of course since both of his parents had the same problem as him, it could be days or even weeks before he was at home and by then whatever his mother made was inedible. But it was the thought that counted. His father also called often to check up on his wife and son and made sure Ryoga had plenty of money to use.

Ryoga knew his parents would never do what Ranma's father had done. He never knew Genma had starved Ranma, it would explain the hurried way the other teen ate, like he was trying to eat before his food was taken away from him. It also shocked him that Ranma had tried to stay long enough for Ryoga to show up for their man-to-man fight only to be dragged away by Genma once Ranma was too tried to fight. For over a year Ryoga had called Ranma a coward and done everything he could to try and make his... his friend's life hell. Ryoga remembered now what Ranma had said after he vowed to Ranma’s unhappiness, the other teen had turned to Akane and asked if he was happy.

Ryoga thought Ranma was mocking him but now Ryoga had a feeling that Ranma was being serious when he asked.

"Akane-chan, go on up to bed," Kasumi's sweet voice cut through Akane and Ryoga's thoughts. "I can handle this and you need your sleep."

"Hai Nee-chan," Akane said as she stood up from the table, P-chan cradled in her arms. She walked up the stairs to head to her room and stopped outside of Nabiki's room, looking at the door confused. She thought she heard a groan coming from inside and was worried that her older sister was hurt. "Nabiki, are you ok..." Akane opened the door and poked her head inside.

"Erk!" P-Chan’s eyes widen as he caught sight of more flesh as the two bodies in the room moved, a trickle of blood coming from his piggy snout. Akane calmly stepped back and closed the door to Nabiki's room. Once the door was closed, Akane's brown eyes rolled up into her head as she collapsed into a heap as she fainted. Ryoga has swirls in his eyes as well, passed out from the blood loss.

"Oh my," Kasumi said when she came upstairs a few minutes later and found her youngest sister passed out in the hallway. "Akane-chan, this isn't a very comfortable place to sleep," She said as she picked up the younger girl and pig, carrying them both to Akane's room. Kasumi tucked Akane into her bed then cleaned up the blood off of P-Chan’s face before tucking the cursed teen into bed as well.

***

Ranma made a noise in the back of his throat as he held up a hand to block the light streaming through the window right into his face. He was confused for a moment; the room he used at the Tendo's didn't have a window that faced the sun.

"Hmmm," Ranma's eyes snapped as he heard a female moan softly and a weight shift against his chest. He looked down and saw Nabiki with her head pillowed on his chest as her arm draped across his waist, panic started to build up in him until memories of the night before slammed into him.

"Ohhhh," Ranma breathed as he remembered his mother yelling at his father while serving the useless lump of a man with divorce papers before Genma had turned on him and ordered him to stop Nodoka. He remembered telling Genma off for the first time ever and how good it had felt even if he had been extremely pissed at the time. His memories had then led up to afterward where he spent the night with Nabiki.

"Hmf, alright there Ranma-baby?" Nabiki asked sleepily as she lifted her head to look at her younger fiancé.

"Yeah... just remembering last night," Ranma said.

"Hmm, was it good for you too?" Nabiki teased. Ranma's face became red as he blushed hotly making Nabiki smirked slightly. "Calm down lover boy. But you are feeling better right?"

"Yeah... I think I am," Ranma said. "I think it's really hitting me what happen last night; I was too pissed at the time to really process it."

"Well you'll have all the time in the world now that Mr. Saotome is gone out of your life," Nabiki said as she sat up. Ranma snorted soft as he sat up as well. "What?"

"You really think Pops is gonna give up?" Ranma said. Nabiki frowned for a second then concluded that Ranma was right.

"No, Mr. Saotome is too greedy and has put too much on joining the schools," Nabiki agreed as she climbed out of her bed, Ranma's eyes sliding down her back to rest on her round bottom. "He'll try to smooze up to Daddy again before too long. I just hope Daddy sticks to his guns for once," Nabiki grabbed her bathrobe and pulled it on, blocking Ranma's view of her ass.

"I hope so," Ranma agreed.

"Well I'm taking a bath, you can sneak back to your room, Daddy'll try to drag us before a priest if he finds out we spent the night together," Nabiki said. Ranma made a sound of agreement and pulled on his boxers and muscle shirt. While he snuck out the window to go back to his room, Nabiki walked downstairs to the bathroom. As she reached for the handle to the furo, the door opened with Akane on the other side. Akane looked up at her sister with a 'deer in headlights' look before stammering a good-morning then running quickly out of the bathroom.

"Hmm, I wonder what's up with her." Nabiki said as she watched Akane run out then shrugged her shoulders, whatever her little sister's problem was it didn't have anything to do with her.

**

An hour later Ranma exited the bathroom after his morning workout and headed into the dining room/living room as he toweled out his hair. He was a bit tired of having to keep his hair in a braid at all times, it made washing and drying it while male a pain in the ass. Once again he regretted eating the rice porridge with the Dragon's Whisker but he had been starving like he often was at that time. He hoped that the effects of the whisker would wear off soon but he didn't really know how long the Dragon's Whisker magic lasted. It would be nice to let his hair out of its braid while male and not have to worry about it growing uncontrollably.

"Good morning cub," Sati said as Ranma sat down, the towel draped over his shoulders.

"Morning," Ranma said.

"Have a good time last night?" Sati asked with a bit of a teasing smirk. Ranma's face heated up and he avoided looking at his mother figure. "Don't be so embarrassed cub. You're a healthy teenager, it's natural. As long as you and your partner are both willing there is nothing wrong with it."

"It's kinda embarrassing to talk about it with you, it's sorta like talking about it with Mom," Ranma said. Sati laughed softly and picked up her coffee mug.

"Alright, I get it," she said. "After you're done eating I want you to come with me. I have something to show you before school."

"Oh... ok," Ranma said, wondering what it was Sati wanted to show him. Nabiki and Akane joined them a few minutes later, Akane avoiding looking at either Nabiki or Ranma. Ranma wondered for a moment at why but all those thoughts went out the window as Kasumi placed breakfast on the table.

"Eat up everyone," Kasumi said with a smile.

"Where's Daddy at?" Nabiki asked as she noticed that the head of the Tendo family was missing.

"He took Auntie Saotome home," Kasumi said. "To make sure Mr. Saotome doesn't harass her."

**

"Where are we going?" Ranma asked as he walked behind Sati on the top of the fence.

"You'll see in a few minutes," Sati assured him. After the girls had ran off to school Ranma had left with Sati, she still hadn't told him what it was she was going to show him. After a couple of minutes Sati jumped off the fence and turned down a street, motioning for Ranma to follow her. Now highly curious Ranma followed the older Lycan down to a house a few lots down from the main street.

"Good morning," An older woman said as she opened the door with a smile. "You must be Ranma, thank you for taking care of them. I'm sorry Sati, I'm late for work and my daughter already headed off to school this morning, can you show him where they are?"

"Don't worry, I'll show him what to do," Sati said. As soon as the woman rushed out and left Ranma and Sati behind, the teen turned to Sati with a confused look.

"Them? Take care of whom?" Ranma asked.

"You'll see in a minute," Sati said as she led Ranma into the back part of the house. In the back sun room there was a card board box with soft noises he could just barely hear coming out of it. "Open the box."

Ranma knelt beside the box on one side while Sati sat on the other side. Pulling back the top flaps and looking inside, Ranma gave a small yelp as he fell back onto his ass.

"C-cats!?" Ranma said.

"Kittens," Sati said. "Baby cats. Ranma, you are going to take care of these little babies by coming over every day to feed them."

"Wha? Why? I mean I still freak out a little around cats!" Ranma said.

"You are nowhere the level you were before Rara helped you," Sati said soothingly. "Come here cub; just look in the box again."

Ranma gulped but leaned over to look in the box again. Inside was three little kittens that were making little mewling noises as they blindly crawled around.

"They are so little that they couldn't hurt a flea even if they wanted to," Sati said softly. "They are completely helpless, weak little things that only eat and sleep."

"WH-what about the mom?" Ranma asked.

"Hit by a car," Sati said. "So they are on their own now. They need to be fed several times a day; you are going to fed them in the afternoon."

"So they’re orphans?" Ranma asked, looking down at them again.

"Yes. Pick one up, it's not going to hurt you," Sati said with a wave of her hand. Ranma gulped again then slowly reached in. He gently scooped up a little black and white kitten who gave a loud mewl then quieted down as it moved its head against Ranma's fingers. Ranma was shaking slightly; he hadn't touched a cat on purpose since he was little, before the Neko-ken training.

"WH-what is it doing?" Ranma asked as the kitten tried to suckle on Ranma's thumb.

"It's suckling, it's trying to get milk out of your thumb because it's hungry," Sati said with a laugh. "Come here, I'll show you how to prepare their food and how to feed them."

Sati showed Ranma how to mix the formula and what temperature it should be. Then after filling up a tiny eye dropper and gently picking up a little gray kitten, she showed him how they should be fed. Ranma was still a bit freaked out, he was holding a /cat/, but the part of him that always protected the weak and helpless couldn't let him drop the tiny creature and kept him steady enough to feed the first kitten he had held. The pig-tailed boy watched with fascination as the tuxedo kitten eagerly suckled on the eyedropper until its tiny belly was full and curled up into the warmth of Ranma's hand.

"See, that wasn't that too bad, was it," Sati said with a smile as Ranma gently placed the kitten back into the box with its siblings and picked up the third and final kitten to feed. He was still a little bit shaky but felt he had to see this through.

"I guess not," Ranma said as he fed a little calico. "They don't look much like the cats I see all the time."

"They are barely a week old, they'll grow into their looks," Sati said. "In that time I hope you will realize that not all cats are monsters. They are going to depend on you Ranma, don't let them down."

"I-I won't," Ranma promised. He still unsure about this, he had just got to the point where he could look at a picture of a cat without jumping now he was holding one. It was a little unreal to him.

***

Later that day during school Ranma took a chance to spend a little time to himself. Nabiki was off doing her thing with her friends/lackeys and while he hadn't been spending any time with his two friends Daisuki and Hiroshi like he use too, Ranma felt he needed to clear his head after everything.

Since Ranma was off in his own little world, he didn't notice anyone coming up on him until a large object was dropping beside him, making the Lycan teen jump in surprise and turned to see Ryoga sitting down.

"Geez, warn someone will ya?" Ranma asked.

"You were the one not paying attention," Ryoga said, he was glad he managed to find Ranma so fast. Since he left the Tendo's that morning he had been looking for his friend/rival for once not looking to start a fight. "Was it true what you said? About your father?" Ryoga asked after a few seconds, looking straight out ahead of him. He couldn't bring himself to look at Ranma just yet; he couldn't get the image of Ranma and Nabiki out of his head. Too much naked female flesh.

"Yeah, it's all true," Ranma said with a sigh, looking out over the grounds of the school as well. "Pops would eat as much food as possible before I could eat when Sati wasn't there to stop him. He always claimed that I should have been faster and gotten something to eat before he ate it and that it was training. So when I got to school I would grab whatever bread they were tossing out to eat. And to be fair, it was a first-come first-serve thing."

"That's true, I was just so hungry by the time I made it to school I didn't care about that part. You also tended to use my head as a spring board so that didn’t help either." Ryoga admitted. The fanged boy was quite for a few minutes before he sighed and turned to face Ranma. "Look Ranma I think I should apologize,"

"You don't have to Ryoga," Ranma said, he wasn't use to Ryoga acting like this.

"No, let me finish, I have do to this," Ryoga said, holding up a hand to stop Ranma. "I have blamed all my problems on you for the last year. Stealing what I considered my food, for thinking that you ran off on our fight, knocking me into that pool at Jusenkyo, list just goes on."

"I did knock you into the Heitowennichuan," Ranma pointed out.

"Yeah you did but looking back on it I don't think you even noticed I was there and I know it was an accident," Ryoga said, Ranma nodding in agreement as he still didn’t remember much of what happen after he was cursed other than wanting to beat Genma to a pulp. "And you never told anyone about my curse, most everyone found out on their own."

"I swore after I figured out you went to Jusenkyo that I wouldn't tell anyone about whatever your curse was. I thought the neighbor’s dog was you to be honest, I didn't know you were the pig Akane found until I tossed you in the bath," Ranma said. "I sure didn't know it was my fault that you fell in. Of course I didn't know you were going to pretend to be Akane's pet when I made that promise either." Ryoga had the good graces to blush and ducked his head.

"I know I should stop but I feel like I'm in too deep now," Ryoga said. "If she finds out Akane is going to kill me."

"She will and then she'll kill me for letting you pose as her pet without telling her," Ranma said with a sigh of his own.

"I just wanted for apologize for everything, never once did I ever stop and think what your side of the story was," Ryoga said.

"Don't worry about it Ryoga," Ranma said with a shrug. "I ain't no saint either; I went overboard with my teasing and tricking you all the time too."

"Yeah, you did but you think I would learn to recognize your female form by now," Ryoga said with a snort.

"Look Ryoga, I don't have many people I can call friends," Ranma said. "Most of the people I wouldn't mind calling friends are too busy fighting over me or fighting me. I have always considered you my friend even if you piss me off sometimes and let me be honest you are the only person who can give me a proper challenge that's my age."

"Not anymore, you've got a big boost lately," Ryoga said with a soft laugh, alluding to Ranma's transformation.

"Like that's going to stop you, you will go off and train and end up getting stronger than me again," Ranma said with his own laugh. "And I'll still be better than you."

"Just you wait Ranma, one day I'll finally and fairly defeat you," Ryoga said with a smirk. He felt a lot better, he got want he wanted to say off of his chest and he still had his friend.

"You wish bacon breath," Ranma said with a laugh as he pushed the slightly larger boy.

"Ranma I... I can't believe your dad treated you like that," Ryoga said as he turned serious again. "I mean I can, your dad is a lazy greedy bastard. My parents would never…"

"Not all parents are like Pops," Ranma pointed out. "I remember your Mom the couple times I met her, she really loves you. Maybe if I was Pops real son he might have treated me better. But maybe he wouldn't have. I'll never know."

"I guess, I've seen a lot of type of people over the years and see some parents that don't care for their kids at all," Ryoga said. "And it always shocks me."

"I guess I'm used to it," Ranma said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey, at least I've got a mother figure in Sati and a Mom in Nodoka. Mom had a lot of guts to stand up to Pops like that."

"Let me tell you, you're scary when that angry," Ryoga said. "I never want you to be that mad at me ever."

"Pops just pissed me off so bad," Ranma said. "Mom listed everything that he did to me over the years and then he demanded that I tell her not to divorce him... I just snapped it was too much."

"Is that what got you in such a funk?" Ryoga asked.

"A bit, I guess it's just one more thing on top of everything else," Ranma said. "It's not as bad as last night."

"Yeah, Nabiki took care of that," Ryoga muttered softly. Ranma still heard the other boy and blushed hotly.

"Wha... how do you know about that!?" Ranma asked. Ryoga cursed softly to himself, he forgot that Ranma's hearing was better now.

"Akane and I saw last night, she heard a noise from Nabiki's room and open the door to check on her," Ryoga explained.

"How much did both of you see?" Ranma asked.

"More than I wanted to, seeing you have sex is not the highlight of my day," Ryoga said. Ranma groaned and leaned his head back against the tree behind him.

"Great, now Akane is going to really call me a pervert," He said with an annoyed sigh, now he knew why she was giving him and Nabiki weird looks all day.

"Maybe not, Akane fainted right afterward," Ryoga said. "So did I to tell the truth. Someone moved us into Akane's room afterward and when Akane got up I think she might have thought it was a dream."

"I guess that's something," Ranma said. "If Mister Tendo and Mom found out they might have tried to force us to the altar. I guess that's why she was looking at me weird in class."

Ranma looked up as he heard the bell ring to signal lunch was over and sighed as he stood up.

"Don't stay lost too long P-chan," Ranma said as Ryoga got up as well and put his pack on his back.

"Don't call me P-chan Saotome," Ryoga said with a shake of his head. He clapped Ranma on the shoulder briefly then picked a random direction to walk off in. Ranma watched him for a moment then shook his head and headed back to the school building, that had to be the oddest conversations he ever had with the other boy.

***

Ranma was a bit surprised but he did feel a bit better after talking to Ryoga. He was happy that he and Ryoga had cleared the air between them once and for all. It was like... he fully had a pack mate back. He wondered if that was the werewolf part of him that was making him feel like that.

As the school bell rang to signal the end of the school day, Ranma quickly left the classroom, switching his school shoes for his preferred black slip on shoes. He heard a few of his classmates whisper as he passed them, heading toward the doors to leave. Most everyone had noticed that he and Akane were not talking very much anymore, and that he was spending more time with the middle Tendo daughter instead. But they hadn't figured out that he was no longer engaged to Akane and Ranma wondered why Akane hadn't told anyone. After all she was very vocal about not wanting to marry him time and time again and now that they weren't getting married for sure, Akane hadn't said a thing.

'Maybe she doesn't want those stupid fights to start again,' /Ranma mused. He had no idea /if the fights Akane went through when he first arrived would start again when everyone found out that Akane was truly free again but he guessed Akane thought they would and was trying to put it off.

ggrroowwlll Ranma's thoughts were cut off as his stomach growled in hunger; he hadn't really eaten since that morning and had spent lunch time moping behind the school until Ryoga had found him.

'I'm starving,' Ranma thought to himself. 'Hmm... Some of Shampoo's ramen sounds good right now.' A satisfied soft rumble came from Ranma at the thought of eating the purple hair girl's food surprising Ranma, not even thinking about Ukyo and her food had caused that to happen and wondered what it meant.

"Halt Saotome!" Ranma groaned as Kuno stood in front of the gates of the school, his bokken held out in front of him. "Release Akane Tendo and-"

"You can have her Kuno," Ranma said as he crossed his arms behind his head. Kuno blinked and lowered his sword slightly.

"Tis this one of your tricks Sorcerer?" The older teen asked with suspicion.

"Nope, not a trick," Ranma said as a small crowd gathering around them, many of them thinking that they were going to get to see another fight between the boys. "I'm no longer engaged to Akane," he said in a loud clear voice.

"They're not getting married anymore?"

"Akane's free?"

"What do you think has happen?" This was what Ranma heard his fellow students saying all around him.

"Truly?" Kuno said.

"Yeah it's true Kuno-baby," Nabiki said as she stepped out of the crowd, wrapping her arm around Ranma's shoulder. "My baby sister and Saotome here are done. He's my problem now."

"Tendo Nabiki, thou make no sense," Kuno said.

"Well here's a freebie for you then," Nabiki said. "I am Ranma’s fiancée now, Akane is single again." Kuno blinked them smirked, turning to the rest of the students.

"Truly this is a day to remember! I, Kuno Tatewaki the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, have freed the fiery Tendo Akane from the vile Saotome Ranma!" Kuno said while holding his weapon above his head. Ranma crossed his arms over his chest while rolling his eyes. "But wait, what of the pig tailed girl?"

"Sorry, nothing has changed there," Ranma said. A look of rage crossed Kuno's face.

"Release the pig tailed girl Saotome!" Kuno said.

"I can't you idiot!" Ranma said.

"Then I will kill you to end you're foul hold on her!' Kuno said, banishing his bokken at Ranma again.

"So you'll kill the pig tail girl too?" Nabiki asked with a raised eyebrow. "Because that is what will happen if you kill Ranma."

"What nonsense do you speak of Tendo Nabiki," Kuno asked with a frown.

"Ranma and the pig tailed girl's lives are tied together," Nabiki said with a wave of her hand. "Whatever happens to him happens to her and the connection goes both ways." Ranma could hear everyone start to whisper again around them.

"I guess that makes sense."

"They are the same person."

"Do you think I should ask Akane out before Kuno tries to claim her again?"

"Foul sorcerer, what spell have you cast over the pig tail girl?" Kuno asked Ranma. "Release her Saotome!"

"Do you think I want any of this?" Ranma asked, setting his hands on his hips. "It's a curse Kuno. I didn't cast it, it was put on me." Ranma had long since accepted his curse; the only thing he didn't like about was his inability to control when he changed.

"You lie Saotome, you want to have your wicked way with the innocent pig tailed girl," Kuno said.

"Believe what you want Kuno, telling you anything else doesn't seem to get through to you," Ranma said. "I'm out of here."

"Where are we going Ranma?" Nabiki asked as she wrapped her arm around one of Ranma's, leading him out of the school gates.

"Err, I was going to the Nekohanten," Ranma said.

"Hmm, that sounds good," Nabiki said. "I could do with some ramen and you can visit our local Amazon cutie."

"And you're ok with that?" Ranma asked.

"Remember, I'm not Akane," Nabiki said. "I'm a lot more open minded than my sisters." Ranma wasn't sure if he should be scared of the smile that crossed Nabiki's face when she said that.

***

"Nihao Ranma!" Shampoo greeted excitedly as Ranma entered the Nekohanten in her usual way by glomping onto Ranma. Her arms were wrapped tightly around the boy, her ample breasts pressed up against his chest, and an excited squeal escaped as Ranma pulled her closer for a brief second. "Ranma take Shampoo on date soon?"

"Yeah, I'm taking you on a date soon," Ranma promised as he left the girl go. Shampoo flashed him a brilliant smile then turned to Nabiki.

"Nihao Money-girl," she greeted pleasantly, she got along better with Nabiki than she had with Akane. For one, Nabiki didn't stand in the way of her pursuing Ranma; in fact she seemed to encourage it. Shampoo also felt they had come to a comfortable understanding during the days they spent together in the woods. "Money-girl and Ranma sit, Shampoo bring ramen for both!"

As Shampoo turned and bounced away toward the kitchen, Ranma's eyes were glued to her rear end. Since the full awakening of his hormones Ranma couldn't help to notice all this things about the girls he had around him.

"Come on, you can ogle her later," Nabiki said with a laugh as she pulled Ranma over to sit at one of the tables. "You stirred up a hornet nest at school this afternoon."

"I know, but I thought Akane would have told everyone that we weren't engaged anymore by now anyway," Ranma said.

"Still, Akane is going to be mad," Nabiki said amused. Ranma shrugged his shoulders not really caring.

"I'm not at fault, I'm sick of Kuno constantly coming after me because of her," He said while Shampoo came back with two bowls of ramen.

"Is good good ramen," she said while sitting down with the other two teens.

"Thanks Shampoo," Ranma said as he dug in.

"Kuno is still after you but I'm hoping he'll curb it a bit if he thinks he'll 'hurt' his beloved pig tailed girl too," Nabiki said as she pulled her bowl closer.

"What silly bokken boy do now?" Shampoo asked. Nabiki told her what had happen at the school sending Shampoo into a fit of giggles.

"Violent girl get what come to her," Shampoo said.

"I'll be making money off of her again, make up for some of my loses," Nabiki agreed, she could already see many of the Hentai Horde coming to her for photos of Akane once again. They had stopped when the morning fights had, thinking that Ranma would beat them up for buying and having the photos. Except Kuno of course, he always ready to by photos of his two 'beloveds'. But now that Akane was free once again the surge in sales would go up which would make up for the lost since she stopped selling pictures of Ranma's girl form.

"She'll blame it all on me," Ranma said between bites of his ramen.

"What's new there?" Nabiki asked. "To bad we can't blame this all on Mr. Saotome; I still have to charge him for the damage to the house."

"What stupid Panda man do now?" Shampoo asked. "Not see Panda man lately."

"Pops was hiding from Sati," Ranma said. "Idiot came back when he was drunk last night and Mom really let him have it, giving him divorce papers and everything."

"Divorce?" Shampoo asked as it wasn't a word that she heard before.

"It means that they are getting un-married," Nabiki explained. "And everything he's done, I can't blame Mother Saotome."

"Shampoo not hear that before, only time marriage end is when spouse die or when find out new husband is not able to give wife a child," Shampoo said.

"It's pretty common in some places," Nabiki said.

"I'm glad Mom and Pops are getting divorced," Ranma said his grip tight on his chop sticks. "He better never come near her again."

"Aiyah... why Ranma so mad?" Shampoo asked with wide eyes. Nabiki glanced at Ranma who just tensely nodded then explained to her fellow fiancé what had gone on that morning at the Tendo’s from Nodoka telling Genma off and giving him the divorce papers to Ranma's own deadly calm words with the man afterward. She then had to explain a bit more about Ranma's life that Shampoo hadn't known about. By the end of Nabiki's tale both of bowls were empty and Shampoo had a scowl on her pretty face. "Stupid Panda man, Shampoo should have killed long time ago."

"Please don't go after my Pops," Ranma said. "At least not until Auntie gets everything she can out of him."

"Shampoo promise not go looking for Panda man but if come across Shampoo make rug out of him and present as gift for husband's mother," Shampoo said in a serious tone. Ranma shook his head; he didn't really want any of them going after Genma.

"Wait, what time is it?" Ranma asked as he remembered his promise to Sati. Nabiki looked at her watch and told him it was near 4 in the afternoon. "Crap! I've got to go!" Ranma left out of the Nekohanten in a red blur, leaving his fiancées at the table confused.

"Why Ranma in hurry?" Shampoo asked.

"I have no idea," Nabiki said with a shake of her head.

**

Ranma unlocked the back door of the house where the kittens were. He stopped and listened for a second, all he heard were the trio of kittens in their box. Entering further into the house Ranma peeked in on the kittens, breathing deeply to steel his nerves. He had to get over this! These little guys were counting on him and Sati was counting on him to take care of them.

He quickly made the formula and sat down by the box, reaching into pluck out the black and white kitten.

"Here you go," Ranma said as he held the eye dropper to its mouth. He watched with fascination as the tuxedo kitten ate, part of him still couldn't believe he was holding a c-cat. Once the tuxedo kitten's belly was full, Ranma fed the Calico and gray kittens next.

Once all three were all fed Ranma gulped and reached in to gently run his fingertips down the kittens' backs.

'Huh... they are really soft,' he thought to himself as he petted them. The kitten’s squeaked and mewled then settled back down in a content pile. 'I guess... this isn't so bad,' he mused as he watched them, ignoring the bit of fear that still lingered in the back of his mind. He wondered how the others, at least those who knew about the Nekoken, would react to him sitting and watching cats without running away screaming his head off.

"I'll beat this and show everyone I ain't scared of nothing," Ranma murmured to himself softly.

**

Akane had quickly noticed the looks. The looks of pity that some of the girls in school were giving her while other girls looked smug. The looks of most of the boys in school, the lustful looks not unlike the ones from the beginning of the school year after Kuno had made that stupid announcement. They had started that afternoon, after school. Akane had stayed behind to help Miss Hinako, who weeks later was still in her adult form. A passing thought of what had happen to her teacher that allowed the woman to stay in that form passed through Akane's head briefly, it was something everyone wondered.

"Sayuri, Yuka!" Akane called as she caught up to her friends. "Do you know why everyone is staring at me?"

"Oh Akane-chan, why didn't you tell us?" Yuka asked. Akane blinked at her friend in confusion.

"Tell you what?" She asked.

"That you and Ranma weren't engaged anymore," Sayuri said. "Ranma announced it in front of the whole school."

"What!?" Akane yelled.

"Yeah, Upperclassman Kuno confronted him again at the gates," Yuka told her.

"And Ranma told him that you were free again," Sayuri added.

"No, that idiot!" Akane cried she hadn't wanted Ranma to blurt it out. She had planned on telling everyone once she figured out a way to keep all those perverts away from her.

"You mean it's not true?" Sayuri asked. Akane sighed as her shoulders slumped.

"No, it's true," Akane said with a sigh. "Nabiki nee-chan took over the engagement, Daddy agreed to it."

"Cheer up Akane, you're always complaining about Ranma anyway," Yuka said. "You should be happy."

"Oh I'm happy Ranma isn't my problem anymore, not that I was going to marry that pervert anyway," Akane said. "But he was good for keeping all those other perverts away from me."

"Oh that's right," Sayuri said. "Do you think Kuno is going to make everyone fight you again just to date you?"

"That would suck," Yuka agreed.

"I don't know," Akane said with a sigh. "But boys are idiots... I wouldn't be surprised if he did." Her two friends nodded their heads; a lot of the boys in their school were idiots there was no doubt about that.

***

Author notes: (1) the only family of Genma's is mentioned is his ancestors, I think he's the black sheep of his family so had no contact with any of them.

(2) Well... Akane had to get the ability from someone.

Edit 6-4-14: Didn’t have too much to fix here, just little things that was missed the first time.