"School?" Ranko asked that night.

"Yes. You two are still to young to be out of school, and you are under my care." Genma said, gravely.

Rolling her eyes at the man, Ryoko said, "Yeah, sure. We don't mind."

"What do you think the kids will say when they see us?" Ranko said, giggling as she imagined the surprised faces.

"Probably ask why we didn't come to school when they did." Ryoko said, nodding at the two boys. They were presently sprawled in front of the TV, watching some martial arts contest or something.

"Hmmm. Well, doesn't matter. There's only one thing I'm worried about" Ranko said, frowning. Ryoko blinked at her.

"What?"

"Kuno."

"That idiot?"

"Well, last time we met him was when he was still acting funny. But he seemed to like us. I just don't want to have to deal with him." Ranko said, frowning deeper.

"Well, we'll just have to see what happens tomorrow, won't we." Ryoko said, shrugging in a 'What comes will come' fashion. Ranko sighed.

"I guess."

* * *

"Class, we have two new student today." The teacher said, gesturing for the girls to introduce themselves. The girls had decided the night before to have a little fun, as they remembered exactly how Ranma and Ryoga had done this before.

"Ranko Saotome." she said with a wave.

"Ryoko Hibiki." she said with a shy smile. Ranma and Ryoga burst out laughing as they caught the joke. Grinning at them, the two girls took the two empty seats beside them. When the teacher was busy writing on the board, many of the girls took the opportunity to send the two girls notes.

Checking to make sure the teacher was still occupied, they read the notes. Most were very similar:

"Are you guys twins?"

"Why didn't you come to school with your brothers?"

"Are those fangs real?"

"Your brother's really cute!"

"Does your brother have a girlfriend?"

"Is your hair dyed, or is it really -red?-"

"Why do you guys dress the same?"

"What are your three sizes?"...Obviously some of the boys had taken the opportunity to send them notes as well.

Class went pretty much as expected. The teacher droned on, students fought sleep, Ryoko wondered how much trouble she'd get in if she ice blasted the teacher.... Finally, at long last, the lunch bell rang.

"Gods, I don't remember class being that boring before!" Ranko complained.

"That's because you never paid attention before." Ryoga explained.

"You would always spend the time talking, remember?" Ranma added. The two girls just sighed and trudged after the boys to their usual tree. Before they got halfway there, however, a shadow passed across them and a figure blocked their path.

"It is the pig-tailed girl and the bandana-girl. I'm afraid I never got your names." Kuno said, gazing down at them and ignoring the two boy's as they turned to glare at him. The girls regarded him with undisguised disgust, but answered in polite enough tones.

"Ranko."

"Ryoko."

"Ah. I see you were not lying when you said these were your brothers." Kuno said as he waved absently at the two fuming boys. "I was wondering..." Kuno began, but was cut off as Nabiki walked up, smirking.

"Hey Kuno. I got some more pictures for you." she said, and was pleased to see his face turn slightly panicky.

"Ah...I see...I will come by later for them." Kuno said, trying to regain his composure as he waved Nabiki off.

"Ah, but see here, I've got business later, so why don't we settle this now." Nabiki said as she hauled out several different pictures. Curious despite themselves, Ranko and Ryoko leaned forward slightly to see what the pictures were of, as Nabiki held them for easy viewing. The pictures were of them in various states of undress.

"No! I mean, how dare you suggest that I would want such pictures!" Kuno said, sweating as he almost absently reached for the bokken he no longer carried around. Instead, he dislodged several of his own pictures, each looking very similar to the ones Nabiki held in her hand. For a moment, both girls were frozen in shock. Then Ryoko clenched her fist.

"KUNO NO HENTAI!" was all the warning he got as two mallets descended upon his head -very- thick head.

"What were the pictures of?" Ranma asked. Nabiki smirked as she showed him and Ryoga the pictures. It didn't take long for the kendoist to go flying with a warning of "STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"

"Don't worry. I only gave him those to set him up." Nabiki explained quickly as the four turned furiously on her. "No one else has them, and I don't intend to give any more out to him."

"You'd better not." Ryoga growled at her. Smiling still, Nabiki went off whistling, absently ripping the pictures up and tossing them into a garbage can.

"Told you he'd bug us." Ranko grumbled.

"Hmph!" was all Ryoko would say on the matter.

"Let's go eat, guys." Ranma suggested, trying to divert the still fuming girls. Food would usually distract any of them. And of course, it worked.

"'Kay!"

* * *

"Hey Ryoko! C'mere." Ryoga said. It was one again, thankfully, the weekend.

"Hmm?" Ryoko asked as she came over to where he was regarding several trees. They were out practicing in the woods again, as they did every weekend now. Akane still tagged along, sparring with whoever was free or practicing the magic she'd learned, but Nabiki stayed home after the first time.

"You should learn how to use that." he said as he tapped her bandana.

"Huh? What do ya mean? What else do you do with it aside from wear it?" Ryoko asked, a bit confused.

"This." Ryoga said, stripping off a bandana and giving it a practiced whirl. It sliced cleanly through the tree, which toppled slowly sideways.

"Cool!" she squealed enthusiastically. "How'd you do that?"

"Family secret." he said, smiling down at her.

"You gonna teach me?" she asked, regarding him curiously.

"Sure. Your my twin, so you should know." he said nervously. When she remained silent, he cleared his throat. "Anyways, its a matter of focus, really." he continued.

"So how do you keep so many on at the same time?" she asked.

"I don't, only need to wear one." he said, and proved it as he took it off and handed it to her.

"That's great!" she said appriciatively.

"Yeah, it's really useful." Ryoga grinned as he retied his bandana. "First, though, you have to learn how to get more than one." he said as he stripped off three in rapid succession.

"Hmmm. It's kinda like..." Ryoko began, but broke off. No need to explain the mallet thing. Besides, it took all the fun out of it. "Never mind. But I think if I just..." So saying, Ryoko tugged at her own bandana. It came off, and she didn't even have to check to tell that another bandana still encircled her head.

"Wow. Not even I learned it that fast." Ryoga said raising an eyebrow, truly impressed.

"Yeah, well, what can you say if you're the best!" Ryoko bragged, and ducked the blow he aimed at her.

"You're not the best, and I'll prove it to you." Ryoga countered, getting into a stance. Ryoko mirrored him, but before she could launch and attack, he straightened. "After you learn the technique." he finished.

"Yeah, yeah. Lets get this over with so I can pound you." Ryoko said straightening up as well.

"We'll see. Besides, this will take a while. Learning how to throw right isn't as easy as learning the bandana trick." he said. Over the next couple hours, he showed her how to get the bandana going, and infuse some 'ki' as Ryoga called it, into the bandana before releasing it, making it razor sharp. Of course, she then tried to use the new technique to pound Ryoga, but he was giving as good as he got.

"What the heck happened here?!" Ranma asked as he came into the newly made clearing. He was sure it hadn't been there earlier...

In the center of the clearing and amidst the fallen trees, Ryoko and Ryoga were facing off, bandana in each hand. A second later, Ranma had to dive out of the way as one of the bandanas came whirling toward him. It neatly sliced the tree behind him, and Ranma swallowed nervously when it toppled over.

"Stop already before you kill someone!" he bellowed, getting back to his feet. No need now to ask where the clearing had come from...

"Huh?" came the double reply. Ryoko had captured one of Ryoga's arms with a bandana, while Ryoga held her other arm at bay. Both were blinking in surprise at the destruction around them.

"What happened here?" Ranko echoed as she and Akane entered the clearing as well. All turned to stare at the two teens, who quickly released their weapons.

"Um...Opps?" Ryoko said, chuckling nervously.

* * *

"Have you been teaching each other your style of martial arts?" Akane asked Ranma and Ryoga. They were taking a break while the other two girls sparred nearby.

"Don't extend so far!" Ranma called out as Ryoko recovered from the result of her form break. "What do you mean?" he asked, addressing the question to Akane.

"Like that. I just noticed your styles were very similar. Do you study a branch of Anything Goes?" she asked Ryoga.

"Huh? Of course not! I study my family's style." Ryoga said indignantly.

"Are you sure? If you look at them, they fight almost exactly the same except one stays on the ground more." Akane said, pointing again to the sparring girls.

Ranma and Ryoga studied the forms obediantly. Ranko and Ryoko were undoubtedly using the same style, though Ranko modified hers toward aereal attacks while Ryoko's were more ground based. And both boys saw their own styles reflected in every move.

"Damn. I never would have thought we could mess up this bad." Ranma muttered.

"What's wrong?" Akane asked, startled.

"We worked so closly together, we pretty much combined our styles." Ryoga explain grumpily. Now he'd have to relearn all the basics again...

"So? Just call it a new branch of Anything Goes." Akane said resonably. "I'm sure Ranma's always modifying his style, so he has no problems."

"Hibiki school of Anything Goes?" Ryoga asked skeptically.

"Why not?" Ranma agreed, shrugging. "Since you've studied under oyaji, you -are- technically a student of Anything Goes. You could start your own branch if you wanted. Besides, could you really give up on the style now you've worked it so long?"

"I guess. But I don't like the idea of abandoning my family's martial arts." Ryoga said.

"You're not abandoning it, just modifying it and changing it's name." Akane explained. "Besides, Anything Goes means just that. It's always being changed and modified depending on the situation."

"And we have a different element than any other martial arts with our dragon forms." Ranma added. "Do you think your style was made to handle such change?"

"Alright! I'll change it." Ryoga said, laughing and holding up his hands. "But that mean that the Hibiki style is the best, of course."

"Only if you're prepared to defend yourself." Ranma said, grinning and getting to his feet. Akane smirked as well and got up to stand next to him.

"You have to be able to beat both of us! After all, I have to uphold the Tendou school!" she said proudly.

"You need to get stronger if you even have a hope of defeating me, ya macho chick!" Ryoga said, shooting to his feet and grinning at her.

"And you need to get faster if you want to defeat me, ya clumsy tomboy!" Ranma agreed, also grinning at her.

"And you both need to learn to check behind you before you insult me." Akane said, raising an eyebrow at them. They whirled to come face to face with...absolutely nothing.

*WHAM!*

"Wonder what they did this time?" Ranko asked as the boys went crashing through the trees via Mallet-sama and Akane Airways.

"Does it matter? They'll just do it again later." Ryoko replied. Shrugging, both girls returned to their fight.

* * *

Dinnertime. Normally a pleasant time, where people can get together and relax at the end of a long day, and enjoy a fine repast. Of course, this was the Tendou house, so let's forget all that, shall we?

It may have been bad when Ranma, Ryoga and Genma fought over the food, and it got even worse when the two girls joined in, but the fact that Akane had also joined in for fun and now regarded it as speed training meant that the other three who shared the table had a hard time getting enough to eat. Of course Kasumi, being ever thoughtful, made sure there were tasty snacks for after the carnage for those who didn't participate.

Still, it was pretty neat to see food seemingly flying everywhere but not getting on anything. And the random panda that appeared always produced a laugh.

This dinner was actually significant, however, and Genma somehow managed to stay in human form through out it. As everyone pushed back empty plates, he looked around sagely.

"Ranma, I think now is the time to tell you."

"Told me what, pops?"

"Now that you're rid of that annoying curse," Genma began, but cut off at the evil looks Ryoko and Ranko gave him and rephrased what he'd been about to say. "Now that school is out for the summer, it think its time we went to see your mother." Ranma looked at Genma in shock.

"What!?" he asked, stunned. "She's still alive? I never knew..."

"You didn't even know if your mother was alive or not?" Akane asked, horrified. Her mother meant a lot to her, even if she was dead.

"Well, pops never talked about her much. I haven't seen her in ten years." Ranma said sadly. Then he brightened. "But I get to see her now! When do we leave?" he asked eagerly. Then, seeing Ranko watching him apprehensively, added, "And can Ranko come? I'm sure mom would love to have a daughter." He smiled as Ranko's eyes went a little wide in surprise. Sure, they already considered themselves siblings, but to have a mother again...

"Now, Ranma..." Genma began, but support came from a surprising source.

"Genma, my old friend, I think it would be good for the girl to have a mother." Soun said gravely. "And she and Ranma are practically brother and sister already, so Nodoka is the logical choice. It reminds me of my dear wife. Oh Kimiko!" Soun said, and began bawling profusely. As it was the only way to get Soun to stop from drowning them, Genma had to give in.

[Alright, alright. Ranko can come. But no promises on the mother part.] Genma signed unhappily, wondering exactly how Nodoka would kill him for this stunt.

"Alright! You hear that, Ranko! We get to go see mom!" Ranma said happily. Ranko was bouncing up and down squealing in excitement.

"You guys gonna come?" Ranma asked, turning to the other two expectantly.

"Sure, I'd like to meet your mom." Ryoga said, shrugging.

"Yeah, me too. I wonder what she'll think of me, though." Ryoko said apprehensively. "I mean, no offense or anything, but I don't exactly want to be a Saotome."

"Of course not." Ryoga scoffed. "Everyone knows the Hibikis are better."

"Hey!" came the chorus of the offended. Ryoga and Ryoko just smirked at the other two smugly.

"I don't think it will be a problem." Ranma said after some thought. "And it's up to you, anyways."

[There is one matter we must discuss] Genma-panda signed, waving it a bit to get their attention. They could go off into their own little world for hours and not notice.

"Yeah, what's that pops?" Ranma asked, too happy to get annoyed at the idiot.

[Long ago, when I first] *flip* [took you on our training] *flip* [trip...]

"Change back first! Stupid oyaji..." Ranma yelled.

"How'd he write on three sides?" Ryoko whispered to Ryoga.

"Dunno." he said.

"Yes, well, as I was saying," a restored Genma continued. "When I took you on our training trip, I made a promise to your mother. I told her I'd bring you up to be a man-amongst-men, and now that the matter of the curse is cleared up..."

"Hey! Are you saying we were going to avoid mom because of the stupid curse?" Ranma demanded.

"Quiet, boy, I wasn't finished. The promise was that if I didn't bring you up as man-amongst-men, we would both commit seppuku..."

"What!" came a resounding cry from every person in the room.

"Mr. Saotome! How could you promise something like that!" Akane demanded.

"Oh my! That was a rather silly thing to do, wasn't it."

"Stupid oyaji! I might never have been able to meet mom because of you!"

"I was right. Not even Kuno is dumber than he is. Now, how much do Hiroshi and Daisuke owe me..."

"How stupid can the panda be?" Ryoko demanded of Ryoga as Genma somehow changed forms again and was now wielding a beach ball and a sign saying 'I'm just a cute little panda'

[Anyways, there's no problem now. We leave in the morning.] Genma signed to them when the murderous muttering had subsided.

"I think my daughter should accompany you." Soun said, suddenly.

"What? Why?" Akane demanded.

"She should get to know her soon to be mother-in-law." he explained.

[Excellent idea, Tendou.] Genma agreed.

"Great." Akane muttered. She'd hoped they'd forgotten about it, but no such luck.

"Oh my!" was all Kasumi managed to say.

Nabiki stared thoughtfully at her little sister.

"I'll have my eye on you, Akane." she said cryptically, and left for her room. Despite herself, Akane couldn't be too sad. It would be fun to get out for a while and do some traveling. From what the others said, it was great fun. She was NOT going to marry Ranma, however. It was just too, weird. Like marrying one of your best friends. Too bad, because even though she'd never admit it to any one, not even herself, she thought Ranma was cute.

* * *

"Hey, oyaji! How far is it to Juubun, anyways?" Ranko demanded the next day as they set off.

"About 5 days travel." he said.

"Joy. More camping. And I was getting used to being under a roof." Ryoga muttered.

"C'mon 'Nii-san. Stop whining like a weak little -boy-!" Ryoko teased. Ryoga glared at her, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"I like that." Akane said laughing. "Just like a little boy!"

"Hey! It's not like its really an insult." Ranma groused.

"And calling someone a weak little girl is?" Ranko shot back, grinning.

"Aw, we stopped using that a long time ago. Leave off already." Ryoga moaned.

"Just teasing ya." Ranko said gaily and skipped off ahead a bit.

While the boys were occupied with some guy thing, Akane took the advantage to ask Ryoko some questions.

"You know, I've kinda been wondering," Akane said a little nervously.

"What?" Ryoko prompted.

"Well, you said Myria didn't die or anything when you fought her back then, so are you going to go after her?" When Ryoko remained silent, Akane hastily added, "I'm sorry! You don't have to talk about it."

"No, it's alright, Akane. I don't like thinking about it, but I won't avoid it." Ryoko said, wincing. "I don't know about Ranko, but I'd prefer staying away from her." she replied softly. <That would mean Myria could still manipulate people.> a small voice seemed to say in her head.

Was she being cowardly? The only memories she had of the fight were always blurred. All she really remembered was the feeling of the water closing over her head and how her lungs burned for air before...

"What the?!" Ranko's surprised shout broke through her inner musings, and Ryoko glanced up to see her dodging strange looking creature. It was mostly head, with a kind of mohawk style hair, green skin, and sharp teeth, and was about waist-high all told. About half a dozen others were charging towards them.

"What are they?" Akane asked, too surprised to act.

"They're goblins, I think." Ryoko replied, and ran to help Ranko who was frantically dodging three of the creature's attacks. Ranma and Ryoga had two each to deal with, but the kicks and punches they landed didn't seem to do much good.

"What's going on?" Ryoga asked as he punted one of the runts into the air.

"They're monsters, obviously attacking us." Ranko said. Her breath was becoming a bit ragged. The creatures broke off, giving them some time to think.

"You said they were goblins?" Akane asked, coming up to line up with the others, facing the monsters.

"Yeah. We used to have to deal with them all the time." Ranko replied.

"What was that?" Ranma suddenly asked, a strange feeling washing over him.

"What do you mean...uh oh. Here they come again." Ryoga said, and met one of them with a roundhouse kick. It went flying back the way it came, but the other goblins ignored everyone but Ranma.

"What...the...heck?" Ranma panted as he dodged the dozen or so creatures. Akane charged in to help him out, but a strange tingling sensation made her pause for a second. The next moment, all the creatures turned and began attacking her.

"Eep!" she squeaked, and backpedaled while avoiding the attacks. A few got through, and her arms and legs sported several cuts. Ranko was trying to help her, but couldn't get through the crowd to get near Akane.

"I don't get it. They were after me, now Akane." Ranma said, frustrated as he pressed a hand over a bit on his arm.

"Thinkthinkthink..." Ryoko was muttering, scanning around. There was something important, something she should know...

"There's another one in the trees." Ryoga said as he stopped briefly by them to catch his breath.

"That's it!" Ryoko cried, then quickly explained while the goblins fell back yet again to regroup. "There is one of them controlling the rest. It's pink, instead of green. It knows some sort of spell. If you feel anything funny, get ready." Ranma and Akane nodded in understanding. "The spell controls the others. If we can get the caster, the others won't fight as effectively. We need to kill the boss goblin..." Ryoko began, but was cut off.

"Kill! No way." Ranma said flatly.

"We're martial artists, we don't kill." Ryoga agreed, crossing his arms.

"We don't have time for ethics! If we don't get rid of 'em, they'll kill us. It's obvious were not doing much damage to them." Ranko snapped.

"She's right. Now's not the time to worry. We can discuss this later." Akane added, though she didn't like the idea either.

"How are we gonna get them?" Ryoko asked. "We have no weapons..." she broke off as a stick embedded itself not three feet away. Four more quickly followed it. Looking at where they'd come from, they saw a panda high up in the trees.

"Coward though he is, I'll have to remember to thank him." Ranko muttered as she jerked one of the makeshift spears out of the ground. Feeling a familiar tingle, she warned, "Here they come. I'll distract them, you guys get the boss."

Leaping away from the others, Ranko went into a whirl of motion, trying to keep her skin whole against the onslaught of teeth. Ryoko wasted no time and charged her target, the others trailing nervously behind. The boss goblin was surprisingly fast, but it had to keep most of its attention on Ranko and its subordinates.

The combined effort of the four martial artists was enough, and Ryoko took an opening, driving her weapon all the way through its head. To the surprise of the others, the monster disappeared, leaving no trace behind.

"Where'd it go?" Ranma asked, looking around warily. He'd be damned if he let it sneak up on him.

"It's dead. The others shouldn't be too much of a problem now." Ryoko said, panting. She turned and followed Akane who'd already gone to help a very battered Ranko.

"'Bout...damn...time." Ranko gasped as she fell back to let the others fight. The goblins, without anyone to direct them, had turned on anything that moved, including each other. In a minute, all had faded to nothing.

"What...the hell...is going...on?" Ranma demanded as he leaned on his stick, catching his breath.

"I don't know. Something is definitely up, though." Ryoko said as she sank to the ground. Genma slid down from the tree he'd taken refuge in and approached them, looking around warily.

"I don't think I can go on any farther." Ranko said faintly. She was a mess, rips on her sleeves and pants showing where the goblins had managed to get through her defense.

"Damn. C'mere, you." Ranma said, then dug through the packs they'd discarded earlier, pulling out a first aid kit. "We're gonna have to camp here tonight. Pops?" he added, not sure if he could ask Genma to go out alone.

[I'll get firewood.] he signed back, unusually serious. As he was the only able bodied one at the moment, no one could protest.

* * *

It was only much later, after they'd been doctored and fed, that anyone got around to discussing what had happened. They all huddled wearily around the campfire, throwing different ideas around.

"We could go back home..." Akane suggested.

"No. We'd probably run into more monsters no matter which way we went." Ranko said, shooting down that idea.

"And if they're following us, which they might be," Ryoko said defensively when several of them glared at her, "we don't want to lead them back to town."

"I don't think they're following us in particular." Ranko disagreed. "I remember fighting them before, and it was nothing big like that."

"But why do we have to kill 'em. Even if they are monsters, I don't like killing." Ranma complained.

"I have to agree with Ranma." Akane added. "Back then we didn't have much choice, but I don't feel right about it."

"Actually, its probably best to kill them." Ryoga surprised them by agreeing. "You saw how they acted. They're just mindless creatures."

"I still don't like it." Ranma muttered.

"I know, 'Nii-san. But I don't think we have much choice." Ranko said, putting a hand on his arm.

"If a rabid bear attacks you, you kill it. It's not pleasant, but its necessary." Ryoga supplied.

"But how are we supposed to get anywhere if the fights keep taking so much out of us." Ranko asked, indicating her heavily bandaged limbs.

"Point." Ryoko said. "But if we eat some of these berried the monsters left behind, it should help us heal faster. Remember, Ranko?" Ryoko asked, pulling out a bag full of little green berries.

"We'd you get those?" she asked, startled.

"I told ya. The goblins left them when they, um, vanished." she explained.

"Speaking of which, why did they disappear like that?" Ranma asked as he grabbed a handful of the berries. They made him feel surprisingly better. He could almost feel his energy come back to him.

"I don't know. They always do. Maybe because they're evil?" Ranko asked as she too ate a handful of the berries. Her injuries almost instantly stopped hurting, and she sighed in relief.

"Wow. Those things work. What kind of berry are they?" Ryoga asked.

"Dunno. You only find them when the monsters disappear." Ryoko shrugged, offering the bag to Akane. She grabbed the last handful, and sat regarding them for a moment.

Popping them in her mouth, she asked, "Can we take care of them using magic? The goblins, I mean."

"I don't know. We only know a few spells, and they take a lot of energy to cast. You know how tired you get after only a few spells." Ranma said. "Its not much better for us. And we don't have many spells that can hit all of them at once. Killing off them one at a time with spells just wouldn't work very well."

"Could you guys..." Akane began, but Ryoko quickly put a hand over her mouth and glanced at where Genma was adding more wood to the fire.

"No." she said simply.

"He doesn't know?" Akane asked when Ryoko released her.

"Do we look stupid." Ranma said flatly. "Either he'd try to disown me, or he'd try to sell me or something."

"Ohhhh." Akane said in comprehension.

"Alright, time to get some sleep." Genma said as he came over to their little group. "We need to get moving early tomorrow."

"Yeah, what ever pops." Ranma grumbled.

"I'll take first watch." Ryoko said as she stood up and stretched. "I don't want anything sneaking up on me in my sleep. I'll wake Ryoga. You wake Akane, then Ranma, then Ranko." she instructed. The other nodded and yawning, quickly found their sleeping bags.

Despite her good intentions, the fight had taken more out of Ryoko than she'd anticipated. Before long, she too was asleep. She didn't even stir when Genma placed a blanket over her. He sat for a while, watching the stars wink back at him. Then, sighing, he made himself comfortable to sit the night out. Genma's not all that bad. Just really really stupid.