"BEGIN!" Barked out Ranma for the match to begin. The flames rose even higher at the sound of his voice and Akane jumped forward to end the match with a single punch. She may not be better than Ranma, but she could still beat Kuno and the boys from school with ease. One frail little woman shouldn't be much of a problem. As she neared her victim, she could see Kasumi made absolutely no movement to compensate. She smiled as she opened with a right fierce punch, intending to follow it with a left kick when the bitch tried to move out of the way.

Kasumi saw her opponent charge recklessly and remained calm. Such a tactic was mostly to intimidate your opponent, to defeat him or her before the attack was even started. She read the move in Akane's right shoulder. *A direct attack.* She wasn't expecting something so forward, but didn't object. As the punch neared, she made no move to get out of the way. Her feet firmly placed on the ground, Kasumi caught the punch with both her hands.

Akane smiled, knowing such a weak looking woman wouldn't have enough strength to stop her attack. She was glad Kasumi wasn't like Ranma, trying to avoid everything without attacking. In this kind of fight Akane had the advantage, her strength. Her eyes widened when she didn't feel any impact, but a tug on her fight arm.

Kasumi redirected the punch. One of the main principles of the TodohRyu Kobojutsu was using your opponent's strength against him or her. She pulled the punch downward, forcing Akane to double over as she couldn't brake her momentum. Then Kasumi attacked.

The audience watched shocked as Kasumi was about to block one of Akane's punches. That would surely hurt. They were even more shocked when they saw the expression on Akane's face when Kasumi pulled her into a trap and delivered an upward palm-strike. Akane was thrown into the air and fell on her shoulders with a loud thump. During all the attack Kasumi's expression didn't change in the least.

Akane landed heavily, feeling her jaw on fire and the wind knocked out of her. *Damn.* She thought as she started to get up shakily. She had to do something to beat this bitch.

On the sidelines, Kasumi turned to her sister Nabiki. "What style is that?"

Nabiki shrugged without taking her eyes from the fight. "TodohRyu Kobojutsu. Or at least that's what it says in the front." She sighed as she considered the documents she had in her hand. They were as useless as her gi. "I was as surprised as you to find a dojo here. I don't know a thing about their style of martial arts."

Kasumi frowned slightly as she turned back to the fight. Akane hadn't attacked again and her opponent was patiently waiting. "Akane is in trouble. That Todo woman seems to use the strength of her opponent to her advantage."

Nabiki looked at her sister oddly. Since when did Kasumi know so much about martial arts?

The fight resumed as Akane found something to do. If she couldn't attack on the ground she would make her move in the air. Jumping high she delivered a spin-kick meant to connect on the temple.

Kasumi caught the heel and spinning with the blow slammed Akane in the wooden floor. Akane barely had time to roll out of the way of an axe kick. She used her arms to lift herself into a kick, hoping to catch the woman by surprise. Kasumi again pulled on the leg as she let go and spinned on herself, she punished Akane's back with her left elbow. As Kasumi resumed her fighting stance, still breathing normally, Akane rolled on the floor in pain and took labored breaths.

*That hurt! She's cheating somehow.* Akane thought to herself as she once again had to get up. Suddenly Kasumi took one step forward, followed by another, and another. Akane realized Kasumi was advancing on her to finish the fight. *And there's where I beat her. She can't defend herself like that when attacking.* Akane assumed a defensive stance, ready to give as good as she was getting.

Kasumi frowned as Akane barely stood up. She sincerely wanted the match to end. Akane didn't stand a chance and would end up hurt if the fight continued. She decided to finish it and started advancing on the panting girl. Kasumi opened punching down to the midsection with her right fist. Akane caught the fist and smiled wickedly as she started to twist. Her smiled disappeared as Kasumi landed another upward palm-strike with her left hand, then followed with a back-kick and swept Akane's legs from under her.

Akane landed painfully, not being prepared to absorb the impact. She got to her knees and threw a sloppy hook. Kasumi knelt on one knee in front of her, with her right fist tightly closed and upward while her left hand was touching her forearm with the palm away from the body. She caught the fist with her left hand and punched upward, hitting Akane on the jaw once again.

Akane almost lost consciousness with the blow. She landed on her back and started to get up only because of her fighting instinct. Rational thought had left her mind after that last attack.

Kasumi sighed sadly. "You should give it up, Tendo. I can see you have a lot of perseverance, but you are in no condition to fight anymore."

Akane snarled as she fought to keep her balance. "Shut up! I won't lose to a cheating floozy like you. I'll show you what a real martial artist can do."

"Akane." Whispered the eldest Tendo sister from the sidelines. She had a worried expression on her features.

Akane charged, putting all her remaining strength in one punch. She could brake lots of cinder blocks with punches like these, why wouldn't it work?

History repeated itself as Kasumi redirected the attack, only this time she kneed Akane in the solar plexus. The sound of cracking bone could be heard all over the dojo as a whimper of pain escaped Akane's lips. Ever so slowly Akane's limp body landed on the floor, she remained there completely motionless. Thin lines of blood come out of Akane's open mouth.

Kasumi stood back and bowed to her opponent. Even if the match had been an easy win she had to respect Akane's determination to fight.

Ranma stood up. He had remained motionless during the entire encounter. "The Todo Dojo wins the match." He announced with no emotion in his voice.

"AKANE!" Soun cried as he rushed to his downed daughter. He checked her for a pulse, and after finding one he turned dangerously on Kasumi, who looked at him with sympathy. "HOW DARE YOU HURT MY BABY?!"

"HOLD!" Ranmas commanding voice stopped Souns tirade. The Tendo patriarch turned to the one he considered a boy with a glare. Ranma wasn't affected as he said. "A challenge was made and your daughter lost. Show some honor and leave it at that."

"HOW DARE YOU!" Soun bellowed in full Demon Head attack mode.

Ranma remained impassive. "Or you can challenge the dojo again. Of course, if you do so and we win, we'll take your dojo sign." This deflated Soun considerably. Akane's challenge didn't mean anything if she lost. Challenging Ranma or Kasumi again could bring grave consequences. Ranma's expression softened. "Take your daughter to a doctor, Tendo-san."

Genma went over to them and helped Soun carry Akane. "We'll be back, boy." He promised before leaving. Everyone watched as Genma and Soun carried Akane out of the building. Ranma's wife walked to her husband's side while Kasumi stopped at the door and turned to them. The look she gave the married couple evoked gasps from everyone that saw it except for Nabiki and the Todos. It was a look of pure controlled hatred that promised pain. She turned on her heels and left the dojo as well.

Ranma broke the silence as he said. "Well, class. Now that we have taken care of that we can start with today's lesson." Soon everybody got their attention in learning as much as they could. The images of how Kasumi fought Akane without breaking a sweat made boys and girls alike push themselves to achieve that level of skill.

---------------------------

Class ended after two hours and the students left the dojo practically dragging themselves. It was obvious it would cost them a lot of work to advance in this martial art. Most of them paid close attention to how Kasumi made every move. They wanted to learn from her branch of the style because they all thought she dominated the offensive one. The way she attacked Akane left them in awe at the precision of her assault.

As the last couple of students left Ranma and Kasumi wiped the sweat off with towels. It had been a long morning. "That was a good show." Nabiki said as she approached the couple. She had her expressionless mask on.

Ranma smiled to Kasumi, who nodded and left the dojo in a hurry. "Konichiwa, Nabiki. How's school?"

Nabiki didn't give him the pleasure of setting the ground of the conversation. "Don't give me that, Ranma. I want to know what's going on here."

Ranma smiled at her. "I'm sure you already figured it out. You didn't ask how we planned to pay you back."

Nabiki showed him the contracts for the movies. "This is how you're paying me back."

Ranma shook his head. "I don't think so, Nabiki. I'm a martial artist, not a stunt actor."

Kasumi reentered the dojo with an envelope in her hand. "This will be the first payment, Nabiki." She handed it to the middle Tendo sister.

Nabiki peeked inside, and just as fast closed the envelope and turned all around. *Kami-sama!* It was a small fortune. This amount covered more than those contracts as stunt actor all put together.

Ranma smiled at Nabiki's expression. "We are gonna have something to eat. Will you join us?"

Nabiki looked hesitant, but Kasumi finished. "Yoko's been asking what happened to her Aunt Biki." Nabiki smiled at that. She didn't know why, but she was starting to grow fond of the little girl. They all went into the house.

Left in the dojo the pyres consumed and the flames died. The day's activities were over. But there always was a tomorrow.

---------------------------

Ranma, Kasumi and Yoko were spending some time in the park. Nabiki excused herself a couple of hours before, explaining she wanted to check on Akane. They were celebrating their first day of teaching in Nerima. "Your father would be proud, love." He said placing an arm around her shoulders.

Kasumi smiled faintly as she leaned on him. It still hurt like hell, but Ranma reminded her so that she could face her pain and get over it. "I'm sure he would have been shocked at seeing you take over the discussion, anata. He never really saw you impose yourself that way in the dojo."

Ranma shrugged. "I never felt the need to, since your father was the authority and it was his dojo. Now that you are the head of the clan I feel directly involved in its affairs."

Kasumi smiled as Yoko ran past them and started to chase a butterfly. "Don't talk as if you were lower than me. We are together in this, as we are since we married."

Ranma stopped as he turned to her. "As we'll always be." They stared at each other's eyes. Ranma lifted her chin lovingly with his hand and started getting closer. The other people in the park thought those two were young lovers. Would they be surprised if they found out they had been married for eleven years already?

"Otosan, look!" Cried Yoko happily as the butterfly had decided her head was a good place to take a rest. The girl giggled happily as she tried to look through her forehead, and failed miserably.

Both Ranma and Kasumi laughed. "Trust her to brake the moment." Said Kasumi with a soft smile. They continued walking calmly, hands locked together, with their daughter jumping happily from one place to another.

They finally stopped and sat on a bench with view to the small lake. Yoko went close to it to throw stones in. Kasumi rested her head on Ranma's shoulder. "How are you holding up?" She asked suddenly. When Ranma didn't answer she pressured him. "Ranma, I know you."

Ranma's head hung low. "I don't know what you're talking about. Everyone is being very nice to us. We even have the dojo now after a week of working on it. There are more students than before, and they all show promise. We should feel very grateful."

Kasumi frowned. "You're not being honest with me. I know you hurt because the people close to you don't accept of me being your wife."

Ranma smiled faintly. "Never could fool you, huh?"

"Or anyone else for that matter. You're an awful liar." Kasumi said offhandedly.

Ranma chuckled a little. "Right." They saw as Yoko tried to lift a very big rock. Big for her age, that is. They laughed when she gave up and started looking for smaller ones. "You're right, Kasumi. I hurt a lot. The people I cared for when I was young seem to hate my guts. The ones that haven't found out yet will hate me when they do find out. I don't know what to do."

Kasumi hugged him tighter. "We'll always be here for you. Just remember to ask for help when you need it. Besides, I don't think everyone will hate you."

Ranma lifted an eyebrow at that. "Then guess again. The guys already wanted to see me dead before the accident. They should be happy I'm a married man and can't take their loves away, but they'll find a way to blame me for something else and try to kill me. The girls that wanted to marry me will now try to either kill the both of us or kill you, which is the same thing. Take Akane for example, she's the least dangerous of them all. Imagine the wonders that makes for my mood."

"We'll face those things as they come. No need to worry about things that haven't happened yet." She said reassuringly. They both relaxed as a soft breeze was felt. "That's not what pains you the most though."

Ranma hugged her even tighter. "Yeah. Seems like we both lost our families, huh?"

Kasumi didn't take offense at that, she knew Ranma had come to love her family. "At least you know your parents are still alive."

Ranma nodded. "But they could very well be dead. It hurts, love. Knowing they are so close and yet unreachable. I had already mourned for the loss when I ended up in your world, but now I have to relive that. And it's worse, because I know they don't accept me."

"They'll come to their senses." She said with confidence. Or at least she sounded confident. In truth, and from what she had seen, she thought Ranma was as much an orphan as she was. Nodoka seemed like a woman that lets honor overrule all other things, and Genma had such little tolerance for anything that didn't accommodate to his needs. She felt Ranma tremble a little, and heard as he tried hard not to laugh. "What?" She asked.

Ranma controlled himself and said. "You might be a wonderful liar, but I know you so well I can tell when you aren't honest with me." They shared a light laugh at that.

Kasumi sobered. "Seriously, now. What do we do about the Tendos? It's obvious to me that Akane won't give up that easily. The fight was proof of that."

Ranma nodded. "She can be very stubborn. Also she's bad at recognizing when others are better than she is. I don't think we have seen the last of her, not by a long shot."

"You still like her." Kasumi stated. She wasn't jealous, she knew well enough Ranma would never betray her, but was curious as to why her husband didn't hate someone that had made him suffer so much.

The man shrugged. "I always had a weak spot for her. Akane can have good moments, though her temper gets the best of her most of the time. Maybe deep inside I still want her as a friend, but that will never happen as long as she threatens my family." He said coldly. And it was truth. He had renounced his family name and rejected his parents for Kasumi and Yoko. He could sacrifice a possible friendship for the happiness of his loved ones.

Kasumi decided to change the subject, since Ranma remained silent for a few minutes. "Nabiki isn't the way you described her."

"I noticed. I don't know what happened. The Nabiki I remember always took advantage of me even if the situation seemed like it couldn't get worse and it did. Today she was starting to act as the mercenary I remember, but stopped after the fight. The gleam in her eyes whenever she's about to make money disappeared during the confrontation I had with Soun Tendo."

Kasumi laughed softly. A sound Ranma always loved. "Remember the look on her face as she entered the dojo?"

Ranma laughed as well. "That was worth a picture. I'd never seen Nabiki so surprised in my life. Can't blame her, though. I'm still surprised myself."

"I was shocked when Hiroshi and Daisuke returned with more than twenty boys and girls the next day to work on the dojo. They even helped around the house as I finished cleaning it." Kasumi turned an inquisitive look at her husband. "What did you do in that place that so many people are willing to help you?"

Ranma shrugged. "Beats me. I guess that's just how people are around here. The only thing I did was bring chaos to town and turn everyone's life into hell."

Kasumi kissed him lightly on the lips. "You can turn my life to hell as much as you like."

"DIE, DEMON!" A crazed cry could be heard approaching. They both turned instantly to see a kendoist running towards them, a katana ready in his hands.

"Kuno." Ranma said as he stood up and readied himself to deal with the threat. He was taken completely by surprise when the kendoist didn't charge at him, but at a certain girl who had resumed trying to lift a very big rock. "YOKO!" He yelled as he ran to intercept Kuno.

Kasumi didn't waste any time in running for Yoko as well. Then all happened in slow motion.

Kuno stroke downward at the form of the still struggling little girl, he could hear the sound of air being cut as his katana neared the target. Ranma jumped forward extending his right hand to try and deflect Kuno's strike, his every muscle straining to reach the weapon before it struck. Kasumi also launched herself forward but with a different objective, her arm extended to take hold of Yoko's little arm.

Two things happened simultaneously. Ranma's middle finger managed to deflect the blade ever so slightly, while Kasumi got a hold of Yoko's arm and pulled as much as she could in her precarious position. Kuno's katana missed the little girl by less than half an inch, cutting the rock in two pieces and imbedding itself in the ground.

Yoko yelped as she felt the sudden pull, but rolled with the fall and so avoided getting hurt. Kasumi smiled as she herself rolled, remembering not to scold her daughter when she practiced her rolling in the mud. Ranma took the chance to brake Kuno's katana in half with his left fist and sweep his legs from under him extending his right leg as he still had to land from his forward jump.

Kuno saw as his righteous blade missed the target and cursed. His words hadn't even started to leave his mouth when he felt himself fall to the side. He rolled with the fall and stood up to try again, but found his path blocked by the accursed Saotome. A snarl on his face, Kuno struck with a mighty and swift swing that cut the cur in half. Only problem was, no blood and no Saotome falling down in pieces. He struck again, and again, and again. Each attack more precise and deadly than the last. He would eventually hit the evasive monster.

Kasumi quickly went to her daughter and hugged her tight. Tears of joy left her eyes as she saw the little girl smile up at her and touch her nose with a dirty index finger. She turned to see Ranma fight off the kendoist, and did a double take at what was happening.

Ranma stood in front of Kuno ready to kill the bastard for what he almost did to his daughter. He stood at the ready as Kuno attacked with his broken katana. *Huh?* Was his only thought as Kuno kept striking as if to kill. That is, if he still had a complete katana. Ranma's rage was something more dangerous than the usual 'I'll kill you no matter what' routine Ryoga did. When Ranma went berserk his thoughts cleared, doubts left his mind, and most importantly of all, he didn't act rashly. That was something bad when a person actually attacked him with the intent to kill, since his mind was completely focused on the fight and he could retort with efficient and brutal accuracy and strength. But Kuno was different. As Ranma studied the kendoist, he could feel emotions that didn't usually emanate from the crazy idiot. This time the pigtailed martial artist felt only pain and suffering instead of hate and pride. Something was most definitely wrong. Ranma narrowed his eyes as he saw the clouds of insanity completely obscure Kuno's eyes.

Kuno finally had enough, as his arms couldn't move any more, and he stopped attacking. Labored breaths indicated the great effort he put on each and every attack. His eyes burned in rage directed at nothing in particular, his mind completely lost to the world. "What kind of sorcery?" He asked. There was no way someone could stand to his superior skill and heavenly disposition. SLAP.

The world stopped at that sound. Kuno took a hand to his abused cheek, to the burning sensation. Never had he been subject to such treatment. Kasumi watched in astonishment as Ranma slapped the boy instead of tearing out his heart, as she feared he would do, Ranma could be very frightening if something endangered his family. Yoko smiled happily as she saw the stone was now two little pieces and disentangled herself from her mother to go and throw it in the river. Kasumi stood up, but didn't stop her. She simply placed herself between the kendoist and her daughter, happy that her little girl wasn't scared, didn't understand what had just happened.

Kuno's eyes were wide with shock. The stinging sensation on the skin of his features giving him more pain than any other hit before. It wasn't because of the physical pain, it was the significance. He straightened and glared at Ranma. "How dare you peasant..." SLAP. Now the other cheek. The pain was becoming unbearable for the young samurai. Such humiliation at the hands of a peasant. Of someone clearly of lower breed and station. He wouldn't allow his royal persona being subject of such treatment. He would down the villain and return honor to his family. He was about to carry the sentence of heaven when something caught his eye. A young girl was giggling as the water of the lake had soaked her. *That wretched thing.* Some part of his mind thought, but it was getting weaker. In his present state of mind he could see the innocence with which the little girl played, ran and laughed without a care in the world. He could recognize part of what he loved of the pigtailed goddess in that little bundle of energy. Such fire, such life. *What have I done?* He asked himself in shock. "I can't remember." He said to himself. Somehow he knew the girl was a demon, somehow he knew he had to slay her to free the spirit of the dead pigtailed girl. "I can't remember." He said letting his weapon drop and clutching his head in a vain attempt to get an answer. "The pigtailed goddess...demon...must kill to free..." His mind was a swirling mass of images and emotions. He could see darkness and light, feel warmth and coldness, taste sweetness and bitterness, hear laughter and sobbing, smell a good wine and vinegar. He could sense peace and chaos. He was confused, so very confused. He knew it was wrong to kill her, but didn't know what to do to ease the pain. Then something snapped out of the confusion. A foreign contact was like a ray of light in the middle of the darkness of craziness. He heard a voice, male, friendly, familiar yet unknown. "Look at her." And he did. He saw the little flower giggle as yet more water splashed her. He heard the melodious sound of her happiness, and knew he had sinned. His eyes cleared, free of the darkness that had besieged them for so long he couldn't remember. His mind, an eternal labyrinth of insanity, turned into a straight road he could follow without resorting to fear and negation.

Tatewaki Kuno opened his eyes that day. The sound of thunder could be heard in the background, followed by the familiar sensation of water falling from the skies. Kuno's eyes were open to see his most hated rival turn into his most beloved fantasy. He relished in the feeling of water running down his body. In the cleansing effect the pure water had. But most of all, he was glad the water that ran down his face would conceal the tears that flowed from his eyes. For the great Blue Thunder cried sadly for his lost innocence and happily for his regained sanity.


END PART 3


Author's notes: Wow! Another part in so little time. This is not going to last, but I'm going to enjoy it for as long as it does. This chapter is rather short, but again I didn't want to leave things halfway done with what I have planned for the next. Also, I'm experimenting with this story to see if it's easier to post lost of not so long chapters instead of taking longer to post them.

Again, tell me what you think about it. By the way, the question will remain for the next update. What's the other universe I'm using for this? I'm curious.

Anyway, see you in Part 4!