Ranma and his friends belong to Rumiko Takahashi. They're used here
without permission.

------------------------------
newRanma 14: Beleiving

by Chris Jones
------------------------------

	If Friday night went poorly, Saturday was sheer hell. Ukyou
refused to talk to Ranma anymore, and the more Ranma tried to
explain her way out of the situation, the worse it got.

	This was a fairly severe problem in Ranma's esitmation,
because Akane stayed locked in her room most of the day, up until
early afternoon, when she stormed out and announced that she was
going to cook dinner for the family.

	Ranma didn't dare go to Nabiki for help, becuase that was
what got her in trouble with both Ukyou and Akane in the first
place. A quick call to the Nekohanten revealed that the shop was
closed. It had been more and more often since Shampoo reunited with
her mother.

	Luckily for all of them, Kasumi supervised Akane in the
kitchen. Dinner was bad, but not lethal. Ranma and Nabiki both
choked down several bites and retreated to their respective rooms.

	When Hiroshi called a few hours later, indicating that he,
Daisuke, his sister, and her friends had decided to have a movie-
marathon, Ranma literally jumped at the chance to get away from the
Tendous. She stuffed a change of clothes in her backpack, and leapt
from the window of her bedroom.

	Ranma was introduced to Ryouko, Hiroshi's sister, and Saya
and Tinaka, her friends from school. They were already in the middle
of watching a cheesy horror movie, so Ranma settled right in for the
duration.

	It was fairly pleasant, all told. There was snack food and
soda in vast quantities, and no alcohol seemed to be present. When
Ranma curiously whispered her observation to Hiroshi, he nodded his
head toward the girls.

	"Ah. I see," Ranma said.

	In truth having both sexes present created a subtle balance
in which Ranma was comfortable. Hiroshi and Daisuke were both
behaving quite a bit better than they usually did, even when the
girls changed into pajamas.

	They alternated action movies with horror movies. Ranma got
to watch quite a few really good films she hadn't seen before.

	It was after everyone started to grow sleepy that Ranma
headed into Hiroshi's kitchen. She leaned over the sink and drank
from the faucet.

	"You're really a boy, right?" A voice behind her asked.
Ranma turned and wiped her mouth. It was Ryouko, Hiroshi's fourteen-
year old sister.

	"Yeah." Ranma thrust out her chest. "I certainly look like
one, don't I," she said self-mockingly.

	"I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, but I was curious. Oniichan
tried to explain it to me last night, but..."

	"Don't worry about it. Yeah, I'm really a guy. It's a
curse."

	"Really?"

	Ranma nodded. "Stay away from southwestern China if you have
the option. There's all sorts of crazies around there. Beleive it or
not, getting this curse was probably the most normal thing that
happened to me in that part of the world."

	Ryouko's eyes widened. "What happened? Can you talk about
it?"

	It was strangely cathartic to tell someone about her
adventures in China, first before she was cursed, and then later,
when bird-people from Phoenix mountain assulted Ranma and her
friends. Ryouko was wide-eyed and her expression was disbeleiving,
but Ranma shrugged at the end of her story. "That's what really
happened."

	When she and Ryouko returned to the main room where everyone
else was dozing in front of 'Drunken Monkey Master 4' Ranma looked
around curiously. "Where did Daisuke get to?"

	"And Saya?" Ryouko asked.

	Hiroshi blinked himself awake breifly. "I think they went to
bed." He promptly dozed back off.

	"Sounds good. Tinaka's already asleep," she said, pointing
to the couch where one of her friends had stretched out. "I'm going
to go get in bed too."

	Ranma nodded, and pulled out her backpack. Filled with
clothes, it neatly doubled as a pillow. She stretched out on the
floor across the room from Hiroshi and allowed herself to doze off.

	Only a few minutes later, Ryouko was shaking her shoulders.

	"Saya's gone!" she hissed.

	"What?"

	"She's not in my room."

	"Maybe she went for a walk?" Ranma suggested.

	"She's afraid of the dark," Ryouko insisted.

	Ranma wondered why she said the next thing she did for some
time.

	"Maybe she's busy making out with Daisuke or something."

	Ryouko blinked. "I don't think so."

	"Don't worry about it, then."

	Unfortuneately for Ranma, Ryouko did worry about it, and
wouldn't let her sleep. Apparently she trusted Ranma because she was
a girl, at least at the moment.

	Ranma walked down the hallway and nudged Hiroshi's bedroom
door open.

	"Hey, Daisuke. You seen Sa-- Never mind. Sorry."

	"What?" Ryouko asked as Ranma closed the door.

	"Like I said," Ranma whispered. "They're busy making out."

	"What?!"

	Ranma held a finger to her lips. She hadn't seen much... but
she had seen enough. She *wasn't* going to start spying again. That
just caused too many problems.

	"But--"

	"It's none of our business," Ranma said in exhaustion,
hushing the girl. "Go to bed."

* * *

	Ranma left the next morning before anyone was up and around.
She could only imagine the fallout from Daisuke's late-night
adventure, and didn't really want to be a part of it.

	Grudgingly, she made her way back to the Tendou dojo, where
Kasumi was preparing breakfast. Neither Nabiki or Akane was up and
around yet.

	"Did you have a good time?" the older girl asked.

	"It was okay. We watched movies most of the night. I talked
with Hiroshi's sister quite a bit. That was pretty cool."

	"Oh no! Surely there weren't girls there."

	"Yeah," Ranma informed her. "What's wrong with that?"

	"It's just not proper, Ranma," Kasumi said.

	"Okay, explain this to me. I still don't understand."

	"When boys and girls our age are alone together, naughty
things happen."

	Ranma blinked, remembering the single, solitary instant she
had seen Daisuke and Ryouko's friend Saya together. Saya was sitting
in Daisuke's lap with one of his arms wrapped around her. Their lips
were locked together and Daisuke's other hand was snaked up under
the girl's top.

	Perhaps Kasumi was right. Maybe things like that were
inevitable whenever males and females came together. Still, she
didn't see anything wrong with what had gone on. Saya left the room
shortly after the two were interrupted. Ranma knew that she wasn't
much of a judge, but she didn't think the two had done anything more
intense than fondling eachother a little bit.

	"It's not proper because those things can have bad results,"
Kasumi continued. "You know where babies come from don't you?" she
asked.

	Ranma nodded.

	"Well, if those naughty things go on, then that can result,"
Kasumi said. "Nobody's immune from it. Having a baby should be a
wonderful thing, but if it happens to people who aren't prepared for
that responsibility, it can be a very bad thing."

	Ranma had never really considered that aspect before. She had
always thought that Kasumi was rather over-concerned about the
relationships between men and women, but this understanding was a
new side of her.

	"You really think so?"

	"Oh, I know so!" Kasumi said. "I know that I certainly
wouldn't be able to resist if a handsome man came to me late at
night. If I really loved him, I don't think that I would stop to
consider... precautions."

	Ranma fell over, stunned by the older girl's words.

	"The feelings are impossible to control. Some people have a
better time of it than others, I would imagine, but I think more
people should wait before they begin experimenting with that sort of
thing.

	Ranma was silent all though breakfast, ignoring both Akane
and Nabiki. Kasumi had shocked her to her core. Sweet, gentle Kasumi
had those same kinds of feelings?

	After breakfast, Kasumi came to her again, dressed in fairly
nice clothes.

	"Would you like to come to church with me this morning,
Ranma?"

	"Huh?"

	"Sunday Mass is always so beautiful," Kasumi said. "I don't
know what direction your faith leans in, but you seem troubled
today. I know that I always find peace if I go Mass."

	Ranma wasn't sure she wanted to go. She had never seriously
considered *any* religion before, let alone Christianity. Still, if
anything was going to provide answers, it was in her best interest to
look.

* * *

	Ranma was less than comfortable in the dress and pumps
Kasumi stuck her in to go to the small cathedral. Still, it wasn't
bad as some of the things Ranma had been through recently.

	She waited patiently as Kasumi went into a small booth Ranma
learned was called a confessional. She wasn't sure what sins Kasumi
had, but the girl was certainly inside confessing them for long
enough.

	Afterwards, Kasumi stopped in front of a rack full of lit
candles. She lit a small candle, added it to the group, and prayed
breifly. Ranma wasn't certain, but she thought Kasumi was praying
for her father to be safe as he traveled overseas.

	The ceremony itself was fairly tedious. Most of it was
composed of different kinds of prayers to the Christian God. Ranma
wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew that the brass sculpture
near the front of the sanctuary was rather grotesque. It displayed a
haggard and tired-looking man with several thorn branches wrapped
around his face. His feet and wrists had been nailed to the bottom
three points of a cross, and there was a large, open wound in his
side.

	His face was peaceful, however. He gazed upwards, apparently
waiting to be freed from his torture.

	At one point during the ceremony, Kasumi ate a small cracker
and drank a tiny glass of what looked like juice. Ranma realized
that this was part of a ceremony she knew nothing about, so she
abstained despite the fact her stomach was grumbling.

	What really interested Ranma was the serene, radiant
expression on her face. Kasumi normally looked peaceful, but this
was something else entirely. Was Kasumi so truly exultant in her
faith that it made her this happy?

	The ceremony took slightly less than an hour from beginning
to end. Afterwards, Kasumi moved slowly to the cathedral's entrance,
happily greeting several acquaintances.

	Ranma was feeling rather crowded, and was ready to be free
of the gathering and, more importantly, out of the dress she was
wearing.

	It was with Ranma's typical luck that she and Kasumi met
someone they knew.

	"Hello, Kunou-san!" Kasumi said. "How are you doing today?"

	"Oh no," Ranma groaned as they came to a stop on a stairway.

	"I'm doing as well as can be expected, Tendou-san." Kodachi
Kunou greeted her. "Well, if it isn't the pigtailed-girl," she said,
glancing at Ranma. "My brother is most wroth with you."

	"Good," Ranma muttered. "Maybe he's finally learned to leave
me alone."

	"I think he's busy trying to figure out what he's done to
upset you."

	"I don't get it. I've punched him maybe a few thousand
times, and he doesn't get the hint, but I run off crying one time
and he goes to pieces."

	Kodachi actually laughed at Ranma's statement. It wasn't her
usual roaring cackle, but instead a truly amused giggle.

	"Well I'm glad somebody's amused."

	"It's not you, I'm laughing at, pigtailed-girl. It's my
doltish brother. If you need some lessons on manipulating the poor
sap, I would be glad to share my secrets. Anything to get him out of
the house and away from me. Tell me..." she said anxiously, chaing
the subject. "In return for such instruction, tell me when can I see
my Ranma-sama again."

	Ranma blinked. "It's not even worth explaining to you again,
is it?" She sighed. "Well, I don't really care about manipulating
Kunou. I just want him to stay away from me. You can see your Ranma-
sama again in about three weeks. First of the month. That's when
they'll let me change back. I can't tell you how much I'm looking
forward to it."

	Ranma closed her eyes for a second, thinking about how
wonderful it would be to never ever menstruate again.

	Two unshed tears stood in the corners of Kodachi's heavily
made-up eyes. "Must you be so cruel and keep him from me the entire
time?"

	"Listen, Kodachi. If I could, I'd let you see him right now.
Beleive me, this is every bit as rough on me as it is on him."

	It was at that moment, Ranma heard the tinyest of clicks.
There were mechanical sounds of all kinds in the cathedral, both
from the ancient plumbing and the fairly new airconditioning system.
The flourescent lights made their quiet humming noise overhead and
Ranma was fairly certain that there was a vacumn cleaner running
somewhere in the building. Still, this noise stood out in her mind.
She was certain she had heard it before.

	"What was that?" she asked Kodachi and Kasumi.

	"What ever do you mean?" Kodachi replied.

	"I'm afraid I don't hear anything," Kasumi said.

	*click*

	"There it is again."

	Kasumi shook her head sadly.

	"I beleive I heard it that time," Kodachi said, wiping her
eyes. "Surely, it's the thermostat or something similiar."

	Ranma glanced around, looking for the source of the the
noise. She happened to glance down, and see a glint of light from
the darkened base of the stairwell. It dissapeared almost as quickly
as Ranma turned her face downwards.

	"Oh, God-Dammit!"

	"Ranma!" Kasumi scolded. "Don't say that, especially not
here of all places."

	"What is it?" Kodachi asked.

	"Camera. Some asshole was taking pictures up our skirts!"

	Kasumi gasped. Most of the people were gone from the
cathedral by this point, so there was no one around to panic. Kasumi
held her hands to her mouth in shock and gasped out loud. "Surely no
one would do that in a house of God," she said doubtfully.

	"People have done truly horrible things in houses of God,
Tendou-san," Kodachi said. "I don't doubt for a second that we are
being preyed upon." She drew her ribbon from her blouse and began to
twirl it menacingly.

	"I must tell Father Nagisa."

	Ranma nodded at Kasumi. "You do that. C'mon, Kodachi. Let's
go find that pervert before he gets away."

	Kodachi nodded, snapping her ribbon tight. Both teens simply
leaped over the bannister of the stairwell, their dresses flaring
out around their hips as they fell. Kasumi ran back up the
stairwell, presumably to find the head priest. Ranma grabbed a piece
of pipe just before she landed, swinging around and landing lightly
on her feet.

	Kodachi hit the floor rolling, coming up in a graceful
somersault.

	"This way," the gymnast said, pointing off in the darkness.
"There is a maze of old offices and classrooms down here. Our
stalker has no doubt intends to take refuge in one of them."

	"Let's keep him running then," Ranma said. "Don't give him a
chance to go to ground."

	The two ran through a long, featureless hallway, and into a
large, dimly lit room. It appeared to be a cafeteria of some kind.

	"To the left," Kodachi instructed. "If we corner him in a
classroom, he'll no doubt try to make a stand of some kind. We're
only women to be preyed upon after all," she said derisively.

	"That brings up a point," Ranma said. "I'm not really
supposed to fight because of my injury. I'll help if I gotta, but if
we can, I need play bait and let you take this guy out."

	Kodachi nodded. "I thought as much. Akane Tendou made a
great deal out of both Ranma-sama's and your own doctor's orders."

	Ranma shrugged. "There!" she said, catching a glint out of
the corner of her eye. The perverted photographer was trying to hide
in the darkness of an alcove, just outside the cafeteria but the
glint of his camera lens gave him away.

	Kodachi's ribbon snaked out, snapping into the darkness. The
man they were chasing yelped, and started to run. Kodachi lashed out
again, and caught the man around the ankle. He twisted agilely,
however, managing to spring himself from her trap.

	Ranma was ready for him. She had picked up a couple broken
tiles off the floor and sent them spinning through the air. Both hit
him. He yelped, crying out in pain, but didn't stop running. He
dodged into a nearby classroom.

	"That classroom has an exit in the next hallway," Kodachi
said in a whisper tone.

	"Let's cut him off," Ranma said.

	The two raced around the corner. Ranma threw open the door
of the classroom.

	The flash from the man's camera blinded the both of them.
Kodachi spun and hit wall face first, unable to see where she was
going. Ranma felt the man rush past her and tried to grab him, but
lost him in the bright lights that covered her field of vision.

	"Hurry," Kodachi said, trying to get back to her feet.

	"Wait a second," Ranma said. "Let your night vision come
back. I can still hear him running."

	"I can too," Kodachi noted.

	"How do you know so much about this place?" Ranma asked,
waiting for her sight to return.

	"The church used to maintain a school down here. There was
an... incident... when I was in junior-high. I transferred here for
several months while that blew over."

	"Ah." Ranma didn't press, but remembered that Kodachi had
been stalked and nearly raped at St. Hebereke when she was younger.
That was almost certainly the incident she was referring to.

	"I'm ready, pigtailed-girl."

	"He went this way," Ranma said.

	After a few seconds, they could clearly hear the man's
footsteps again.

	"He's going for the stairs," Ranma noted quietly as they
approached the abandoned cafeteria.

	"There is another staircase further down," Kodachi said. "If
you hurry, you can cut him off before he makes it out of the
building."

	"I'll try to herd him back towards you. Let's corner him."

	Ranma rushed off. She had no trouble finding the second
stairwell Kodachi mentioned. She almost flew up it, leaping from
bannister to bannister. She knew that she would be in serious
trouble if Tofuu-sensei ever found out what she was doing, but this
seemed more important than that. It was simpler than everything
Ranma had been exposed to lately. There was no confusion in the
chase, or the battle that would inevitably followed. It felt good to
be running, even if Ranma was out of shape.

	At the top of the stairs, she kicked the locked door open
that hid them. The photographer, clad all in black, was running
directly towards her, his camera held out in front of him. His head
was turned, and he was looking back behind him, probably for
Kodachi.

	"BOO!" Ranma yelled, leaping out at him.

	He screamed like a little girl and dropped his camera. He
fell backwards, and scrambed away from her in terror.

	The camera hit the floor at Ranma's feet and shattered. She
was too stunned to move out of the way, however. She was too numb to
notice the sting as a shard of the broken lens nicked her leg just
below her knee.

	The man in front of her wore the white collar of a Catholic
priest.

	Kodachi appeared in the hallway before Ranma recovered. She
vaulted the bannister easily and threw herself at their stalker.

	"Wait, Kodachi!"

	It was too late. The sight of the man's eclesiastical garb
seemed to ignite the gymnast. She was upon him before Ranma could
stop her. She screamed in anger and rage. Abandoning her ribbon, she
balled her fists and began to rain down blow after blow on the man's
unprotected face. He screamed in agony as Kodachi pummled him.

	"Stop, Kodachi!"

	In the distance, Ranma could see Kasumi running up, with
both the priest who had conducted the ceremony earlier, and a much
younger priest. Also with them was a burly man in a grease-smeared
coverall.

	"Kunou-san!" The older priest yelled. "Stop at once! Your
behavior is an offense to God and our holy mother!"

	"My behavior!?" Kodachi screeched, her eyes dialated and her
nostrils flaring in outrage. "What about his behavior?" she
demanded. "Is the church in the business of letting its preists prey
on young girls? Tell me who is more offensive in the eyes of God,
Father Nagisa!"

	Ranma winced back away from the exchange. If she remembered
the story she overheard Kunou recounting correctly, it had been a
preist who had stalked Kodachi. She could see the pain and anger on
Kodachi's face. This was no doubt very hard on her.

	"Stop, Kodachi," she said, grabbing the gymnast's arm.
"There are better ways to deal with this."

	"Indeed," Father Nagisa said, looking down at the cringing
priest on the floor. "I thought it might have been you, Chietsu. I
tried to warn you to repent, but now you've brought the wrath of God
down on yourself."

	"What will be done to this wretch?" Kodachi demanded.

	"Don't Judge, Kodachi-chan," the preist said calmly. "That
is the duty of God alone."

	"You ain't just gonna let him go?" Ranma said in disbeleif.

	"Indeed we're not. If I'm a man of God, I have to stop this
sort of thing at the root."

	"I've already contacted the police," the younger priest said
sadly. "They'll be here in a few minutes."

	"Good," Ranma said vehemently.

	Behind her, Kasumi knelt down and pulled the ruined film out
of the remains of the camera. She took it back to the sanctuary and
pulled the candle she had lit earlier out of its place.
Determinedly, she set the film afire.

* * *

	Afterwards, Ranma watched Kodachi leap and dodge around the
courtyard behind the cathedral. The gymnast girl was hooting and
crowing. Her ribbon snapped out at tree branches and rocks.
Eventually, laughing her mad, roaring laugh, she scaled the side of
the building, apparently burning off all the nervous energy she
accumulated during the fight. Once on top, she began to do a balance
beam exercise on the ridge-row of the Cathedral's roof.

	Ranma sighed, and wondered about the things she had seen.
Everything seemed so simple during the chase, but then got hideously
complex again once it was over. She couldn't help but wonder how
Kasumi could find peace and happiness in the same place that
generated abusive people like the stalker they had caught.

	"You look upset, Miss."

	Ranma spun on her toes to face a man standing several feet
away from her. He was carrying an old, straw broom, and was slowly
sweeping the walk in front of him. She stared curiously at the man.
He was tall and broad-shouldered, with the alien features of an
American, but was smiling broadly at her. She stared at the
incongruity of the Hawaiian shirt he was wearing with the dark-
colored jeans and tennis shoes.

	"Huh?"

	"You don't look very happy," he said in accented Japanese.
"Did you hear something that upset you?"

	"You could say that," Ranma hinted.

	The man chuckled. Ranma wondered if the person just enjoyed
irritating others.

	"What are you doing here?" she asked.

	"Me?" The man paused, leaning on his broom. "Just helping
the old priest out. It's a good place to volunteer my time, and
there's not a lot of weeds to trigger my allergies. It's one of the
few places in this city that I feel like I can see nature and not be
miserable at the same time. I'm not Catholic, if that's what you
mean."

	Ranma boggled, unsure of the individual's motives. Why would
he be here if he wasn't Catholic? "Why not, if you don't mind my
asking?"

	"People do funny things in the name of religion," the man
said. "Worse, they presume to speak for God. Still, that doesn't
mean they're all bad, or that they don't do good things. The
Catholics in particular have some funny ideas about morality that I
just don't agree with."

	"It's funny you should say that," Ranma noted. "I'm starting
to wonder about morality."

	"I understand you had some excitement earlier. You're one of
the girls who caught the guy who was taking certain pictures?"

	Ranma nodded. "But he was a preist! How could.... Why did...
I don't understand anything anymore. I don't even understand why do
everything they do or why they have pictures of that guy who got
crucified everywhere. This is a really messed-up religion."

	The man paused and shifted his broom around. He smiled
broadly at the girl.

	"Don't let the actions of one or two men take your eyes off
what really goes on here," he said. "It's difficult to understand,
but remember that this church isn't just a few preists or pictures
of 'crucified people'. In other churches, in other parts of the
world, they do things differently. Look there," he said, pointing
towards Kasumi and that sad-looking young priest as they came out
the door of the building. The two were talking and, if anything, it
looked like Kasumi was cheering the young man up after such a
traumatic experience. "That's what the church really is," the odd
man said. "It's people coming together to help each other, or learn,
or worship."

	"I think I understand," Ranma said after several seconds.

	"You know that guy they hung on the cross?" the man in the
Hawaiian shirt asked. "He had the same idea. Christians beleive that
he is their savior because he tried to help everyone in the world.
He was tempted with every kind of evil known to man, and then he
sacrificed his life in order to attone for everyone else who did or
ever would commit one of those evils."

	"He was even tempted with taking pictures of pretty girls?"
Ranma asked derisively.

	The man chuckled. "It's different depending on who you ask,
but one of his closest friend was apparently a prostitute. I
imagined that he was tempted with lust more intensely than your
perverted photographer was. They made a movie about that a little
while back. It had a great soundtrack." He paused for a second,
staring up at the clouds. "Personally, I think it's a bit ridiculous
to spend so much time thinking about how he died because the really
important thing about him was the way he lived."

	Ranma started a little bit at the statement.

	"So you go to church?" she asked after several seconds.

	"Absolutely not! I can barely stand the places. That doesn't
mean I don't worship in my own way. Everybody worships in their own
way. Maybe this kind of worship isn't for you. Don't give up on
understanding it just because one guy acted like an asshole."

	"I'll think about that," Ranma said.

	The main smiled and started to sweep again. He began to
whistle a horrid, off-key tune.

	Ranma walked away, intent on catching up with Kasumi, and
maybe checking on Kodachi.

	For some reason, she suddenly felt really content. The world
was no less confusing, but Ranma suddenly understood that at least
in some small way, today she had helped make it a better place.

-----
~to be continued...


Hey kids. I'm playing pretty fast and loose with Catholocism here.
The closest I get to it is the fact that my Mother-in-law is
Catholic. Most of what I know comes from conversations with her.
Corrections on the details are always welcome.

Please remember that my characters are strictly fictional. I'm not
trying to bash the Catholic church, or any other church for that
manner. It may be a priest who is stalking the girls, but let's not
forget that I've also made both Kasumi and Kodachi devout Catholics
in this story.

Honestly, I'm not getting much work done on 'THE CLAN'. 'newRanma'
is occupying all my time, and I am having a *great* time with it.
I'm not hitting any blocks, or having a difficult time writing at
all. I've got chapters 15 and 16 plotted. 15 is even halfway
written. I may be overestimating myself, but I think you can start
looking for 15 (which will be lime at the very least, and probably
pretty lemony) by the end of next week. I promise that I'll start
work on 'CLAN' again, just as soon as newRanma is done or slows
down. ^_^