Disclaimer:  Ranma ½ was created by Rumiko Takahashi.  I had nothing to do with it.  Please do not sue me; I have a family of 24 to feed.  Well maybe not, but I only have $24 to my name, I swear.

Ryoga Hibiki was lost.  Again.  The lost boy was currently camped out in a forest he didn’t think he had ever been in before.  The night was interrupted by a horrible thunder storm.  The rain pored down furiously.  The bandana clad youth didn’t care.  He had returned to Japan for one reason:  The defeat of Ranma Saotome.

Standing on a large boulder and embracing the rain Ryoga stared at the seemingly endless trees tops that surrounded him.  “Ranma, it has been one year, two months, and six days.  This time will be different!  I will not lose again!”

The dramatic soliloquy was interrupted when a bolt of lighting struck the ground only a few feet from where the lost boy was standing.

“Ummm…I think I’ll call it a night,” Ryoga quickly said as he raced back to his tent.

Chapter 3

Secrets

“Okay Ranma, I’m ready.”  Akane Tendo had never been so ready for fight.  She was much more focused for this match then she had ever been before.  Both Ranma and the youngest Tendo sister were in the dojo.  Once cocky martial artist had returned home from the Ice Cream Parlor Akane had demanded a re-match.  Having agreed to do so at school earlier that day the pony tailed fighter made no complaints and followed his fiancée into the dojo.

Ranma had once again not taken up a stance.  What’s worse he did it simply to anger Akane.  “Alright, come at me.”

Akane wasted no time as she dashed toward the Chinese clothed boy and lunged forward with a side kick to the solar plexus.  Ranma of course had simply bended backwards to avoid it.  Akane was expecting this.  As fast as she could she tried to perform a leg sweep on a seemingly unbalanced Ranma.  The pony tailed boy responded with a small backward flip that put him out of harms way.

The Heir the Saotome School was once again wearing his cocky grin.  “That was much better.  You actually made me have to think instead of relaying on reflex.  You’re still no where near my league, though. But don’t feel bad.  Not everybody can be as good as Ranma Saotome.”

“DIE, YOU EGO MANIAC!!!”

What followed was a repeat of their first fight. Akane would attack and Ranma would dodge.   This went on for a few moments.  The dark haired girl was irate that Ranma was playing with her so and mocking her skill as a martial artist.

“You’ve got…” Dodge.  “Good stamina.” Duck.  “Pretty good…” Sidestep. “Power.”  Jump.  “No control.”  Dodge.  “No speed.” Jump.

Akane was now even angrier at Ranma’s assessment.  “Stand still!”  The Tendo girl focused all her strength into a one powerful overhead chop.  Its pathetic speed would make it child’s play to escape, but the pony tailed fighter decided to make a point.  He blocked the attack wit his forearm, then looked Akane straight into the eyes.

“You’re sloppy.  You’ve obviously got the sugar coated version of the Anything Goes Style.  Ya got a long way before you can challenge me with such crappy skill.”

“WHAT…DID…YOU…SAY!?!”  Akane wasn’t sure if she had ever been so angry.  She had no time to react as Ranma introduced his fist to her stomach.  Hard.  The pain was too much, and the girl fell to her knees.  The match was over.

Ranma just shook his head.  “Feh, I ain’t gonna fight ya anymore.  It ain’t right to pick on the weak.”  He walked over to the dark haired girl in question, picked her up and began walking toward her room. Akane was not in a position to complain.

Dinner at the Tendo home was normally not too social due to the fact that within the last few months the entire family had fallen into a basic routine.  However the arrival of the Saotomes would add some topics to talk about.  All the Tendo’s were there, even Akane though she wasn’t really eating all that much.  Ranma was also there.  He was happily devouring the food that Kasumi had prepared.  He was already on his third plate.  Genma was absent.  The pony tail haired fighter didn’t seem to mind that, since his father often stole food from his plate.  Truthfully when the boy had food he didn’t seem to care about anything else.  If he did he might have realized that both Nabiki and Akane were stealing glances from him. 

Soun too gave a glance toward the boy, though his was more of a questioning one.  “Son, where has your father run off to? He left right after one round of Go.”

Ranma didn’t bother to look up from his plate.  “The old man’s probably raiding another village.  Ever since he got turned into a griffin he started attacking and stealing from farmers and little rural villages.”

Kasumi gasped at the though of that cute creature that Genma turned into picking on poor defenseless people.  “How horrible.  How could he do such a thing?”

Ranma laughed out loud (Though he continued eating and still refused look up from his plate).  “Are you kidding?  He’s making up for lost time.  The old fool used to steal, and have me steal, all the time before Mom showed up.  He’s got ten years worth of thieving to do to make up for all the times Mom stopped him.”

Soun shuttered at the fact that Genma seemed to have turned out very similar to their old master. 

Nabiki gave Ranma a look.  She smirked a little, but dismissed it quickly replacing it with a mask of seriousness.  “So Ranma, how did beating Akane within an inch of her life go when you were in the dojo?”

Everyone stopped.  Soun’s eye twitched when he heard that.  “Excuse me,” the old man said.

Ever since the Nabiki had first talked to Ranma there has been a silent contest of who could annoy the other the most.  So far The Heir to the Saotome School had been in the lead, reveling to Nabiki that the story of his life was only half told and implied that she would never find out the rest.  The Ice Queen however was far from beaten.  “Well I snuck a peek at the two while they were sparring and Ranma just laid out Akane.  Right, sis?” 

Akane didn’t get the chance to answer as her father’s head suddenly grew into gigantic demonic purple monster.  His huge yellow eyes were burning with a terrible rage.  “RANMA…HOW DARE YOU HURT MY LITTLE GIRL!”  The creature’s tongue, which was both amazingly and horrifyingly long, reached out and began chocking the unsuspecting pony tailed fighter.  Despite the fact that Ranma knew about six ways to escape and counter, he was frankly to shocked to act.

The youngest Tendo tried waving her farther off her fiancé.  “It’s okay dad.  I’m not hurt.”  That was a lie, of course.  Despite the fact that that pain from the punch she took had long past, her pride was hurting beyond belief.  She had no more excuses.  She now freely admitted that she was no longer the best martial artist in Nerima since she had lost twice to Ranma.

Soun seemed satisfied with his daughters comment and returned to his normal state, leaving a bewilder Ranma coughing and gasping for air.  Nabiki smiled wicked.  “Bet you can’t wait to marry into this family, can you Ranma?”

Ranma simply responded with a dirty look, as he was still trying to breathe.

Kasumi smiled sweetly, as usual, not seemingly noticing the chaos that just ended.  “So Ranma, can I assume that you’re done with dinner?”

Somehow Ranma was in China.  Though this China was barren, and littered with corpse.  The sky was blood red and the air was deathly cold.  The pony tailed boy looked around, hoping to find someone, anyone.  He was so lonely.  He just wanted some kind of sign that he was not alone.

“Ranma…”  A chilling voice called out from behind the young Saotome.  He quickly turned around to see his mother standing there.  He felt the tears flowing down his cheeks.  “Mom…”

“You are a failure, Ranma,” she began.  “What kind of man turns into a woman?  What kind of man kills his friends?”

Ranma was now filled with a mixture of rage and sorrow.  “I…I didn’t…I didn’t mean to do it!  I tried to save him!

A new figure suddenly appeared.  Shadows covered his face, but Ranma knew who it was. “That’s a laugh,” the spat out.  “I suggest a plan of action you were too afraid to take and you killed me for it!”

“Tenma…” was all the pony tailed boy could manage to say.

“Why did you let me die?  Why did you kill me!?”

Ranma shot up from his futon screaming Tenma’s name.  A dream, that’s all it was.   He breathed sigh of relief.  Turning to his right he saws that his father (A griffin at the time) still sleeping peacefully.  For this Ranma was thankful, because now he could weep without fear of being seen.

Soon after the nightmare, Ranma made his way downstairs.  It was still pretty early, but it seemed that Kasumi was up as well as the Saotome heir instantly noticed that the kitchen light was on.  He made his in, thinking that the polite thing to do would be say “hi.”

“Good morning, Kasumi,” he cheerfully said to his future sister-in-law.

The oldest Tendo girl returned the smile.  “Good morning, Ranma.  You’re up early this morning.”

Ranma gave his usual cocky grin.  “I’m always up this early.  I’m just going to go work on some forms in the dojo before breakfast.”

Kasumi nodded approvingly.  “That’s nice.  Well, have fun.  I’ll call you when breakfast is ready.”  The pony tailed boy smiled again, then turned to leave.  The older girl was about to let him go, but due to then nagging voice in the back of her head she called out to him.  “Ranma, wait.”

The boy in questioned turned back with a confused look.  “What is it, Kasumi?”

The light brown haired girl thought about how she should phrase her question.  Finally after a few seconds she asked, “Is...Is everything okay, Ranma?”

Ranma face became serious. “What do you man?”

“I mean…well, I’m sorry if I seem like I’m intruding but earlier this morning I heard…Well I heard you screaming.”

Despite the fact that he was inwardly worried Ranma’s expression hadn’t changed one bit.  “You heard screaming?”

“Not just a scream,” Kasumi continued.  “You said a specific word.”

“Tenma”, they both said at the same time.  The older girl nodded.  “I just wanted to make sure that everything is okay.”

Ranma sighed and internally kicked himself for being so weak minded while he slept.  “Don’t worry about it, Kasumi.  Everything’s fine.”  The boy, after saying that, turned away and headed out the kitchen door.

Kasumi, not satisfied with the way the conversation had turned out, called out to the boy once more.  “Ranma, if you ever feel like you need someone to talk to I’m always here.”

Ranma turned his head slightly to see a warm and caring smile.  Not unlike the one Dr. Tofu had showed him yesterday.  He nodded as he said “Thanks Kasumi.”  With that he left, leaving Kasumi alone with her thoughts.

Breakfast had gone smoothly, minus the brief fight Ranma and his father had over the other’s plate of food.  After they finished, Akane and the pony tailed boy headed out toward Furinkan High.  Kasumi had, strangely, asked Nabiki to help her with cleaning the dishes, something she normally did herself.  While Akane had no clue why her older sister suddenly needed help Ranma on the other hand suspected that there was more to it then just dirty dishes.  For now there was nothing to be done.

The walk toward school walked toward school was awkward and the heir to the Saotome School knew exactly why.  He decided that it would not be good to have Akane mad at him the whole day so he ignored his pride for the moment. 

“Hey Akane, I’m sorry about all that stuff I said last night,” he honestly admitted.  “I got real big problem with saying what’s on my mind all the time and not thinking about it.”

The dark Tendo girl raised her eyebrow with surprise.  She took a long look at her fiancé (Who had again chosen to walk to school along the fence).  Following in his example she too put aside her prided for the moment.  “Well…I guess I’m sorry too.  For, you know, all the beatings I gave you.  I guess I was just intimidated.”

Ranma had several wisecracks for such a response, but kept his mouth shut (And they were really funny too so it was seriously killing him to do so).  “Oh really,” was what he said instead.

Akane continued.  “I used to be regarded as the best, but since you got here you’ve proved that you’re way better than me.  I knew there were better fighters than me but I guess not having to actually seeing them helped let me believe I was the best at what I do.”

Ranma gave her a warm smile.  “Don’t worry too much about it, Akane.  You’re good.  Not as good as me, of course, but better than average.  In fact you have a lot of good points.  You just need to step up your training.  I’m sure in no time you’ll be able to give an actual work out.”

The dark haired girl wasn’t sure if that was the nicest way to put it, but decided that Ranma’s heart was in the right place.  “Thanks.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Ranma added.  “You’re still a tomboy.”

Akane again repressed the urge to kill.  “Well, you’re still an asshole.”

“Fair enough.”

They walked along a few more minutes before Akane addressed the boy again.  “What’s with the bokken?”

Sure enough Ranma had a bokken strapped to his back. Akane hadn’t mentioned it earlier mainly because she had been avoiding looking at the boy until just now.

The pony tailed martial artist simply shrugged.  “I like swords.”

“You know, Kuno may get some weird ideas about it.”

Ranma rubbed his eyes as if he was crying.  “Boo hoo; I’ll may upset Upperclassman Kuno with my bokken.”  He said nothing else until they reached the front gate of Furinkan, leaving Akane to wonder what was up her fiancé’s sleeves.

Once they arrived at school they both were in for a surprise as the mob that normally attacks Akane in the morning were all lined up crying tears of bitterness and defeat. 

The youngest Tendo sister gave them all questioning glances.  “What’s all this about?”

“Akane Tendo,” one of these soccer players began.  “We have decided to give up on you and except your engagement to Ranma.”

Before Akane could say how the engagement wasn’t real a member of the sumo club continued the explanation.  “You see, Ranma Saotome managed to defeat Kuno not once but thrice!”

“He was our greatest fighter, as well as the biggest pervert,” the student body president continued.  “And Ranma tossed him around like a rag doll.” 

This was a surprise to say the least, but Akane could not rightfully complain.  Ranma’s presence, annoying as it could be, had solved one of her major problems.

There wasn’t time for celebration though, as out of seemingly the kedoist in question appeared, his aura flushed with anger.  “I see you’ve heard the rumors, these lies that I was defeated.”

“No, we saw it yesterday,” one of the tennis players remarked.

“BE SILENT, WORM!”  Furious Kuno knocked the poor kid over the head with a painful blow form his sword.

Ranma’s eyed narrowed when the older boy did.  This expression quickly turned to cockiness (It was pretty much his standard face).  “Yo Kuno, I was hoping to run into you today.”  He drew his bokken and pointed it at the so-called “Blue Thunder” of Furinkan High. “I challenge you.”

The entire crowd was silent.  Yes it was a known fact that Ranma could beat Kuno blindfolded with his hands tied behind his.  However it seemed that the pony tailed idiot was challenging the kendo club captain to a sword fight.  Kuno was an ass, and a bit crazy, but he was unrivaled in the way of the blade.

Kuno smirked evilly.  “It is to laugh.  To think Ranma Saotome would dare raise a sword against Blue Thunder.  If thou wish to face me like a samurai then allow me to put you down as one!  If thou darest tempt me further, draw thy sword!  I accept!”

Many people wished that Nabiki was there so bets could be placed   since they lost much of their cash for betting on Kuno the first fight between the two martial artists.  With the pony tailed boy now in a fight he couldn’t hope to win the students were eager to make up their losses by betting against him yesterday.  Unfortunately the middle Tendo sister still had not arrived on campus as of yet. 

Akane Tendo, who possessed the same mindset as her fellow students, approached her fiancé in the hopes of talking him out of this foolish fight.  “Ranma, you know you can’t win.  You can’t just pick up a bokken and pretend you know how to use it!”

Ranma didn’t bother to look at her.  “Butt out Akane.  This is a man to man fight.  Girls should stay out of it.”

The dark haired girl became angry at this.  “You jerk!  I’m just trying to help!

“Help me by staying out of the way!”  With this Ranma leapt at Kuno, and swung his weapon.  The older boy was able to block it with his own bokken, but the force of impact nearly knocked him over.

Akane watched all this from the sidelines.  She was fuming.  How could Ranma be so nice one minute and then turn into such a jerk the next?  “Fine, if I’m such a bother to you then I’ll just leave you alone.” 

Ranma didn’t hear his fiancée’s statement and also didn’t notice her walking into the school.  Currently he was admitting that Kuno wasn’t nearly as bad as he first thought.  The older boy’s strength with a sword was not to be underestimated.  The battle was fast and furious. Kuno was blocking all of the pony tailed martial artist strikes, then instantly countering with his own.  Those were blocked too, of course, but it was noticed that the younger Chinese clad fighter was being forced to work. 

Kuno’s main problem was that he had not taken Ranma’s skill with a sword as a serious threat.  “Blue Thunder” was constantly attempting to disarm the Chinese clothed boy, but Ranma’s stance was to strong.  The older boy quickly realized that his opponent wasn’t just some cocky novice. 

Sweating, the kendoist decided to pull out the last resort.  He unleashed a barrage of sword strikes that moved at a speed that few of the members of the crowd could see.  Ranma on the other hand was not impressed by Kuno’s ultimate attack as he effortlessly dodged every blow. 

“Okay, I think I better end this,” thought the pony tailed martial artist as he quickly backed away from his opponent.  Strangely he suddenly closed his eyes and stopped moving.  Kuno wasn’t what to make of this.  He assumed that Ranma had given up.  It was laughable that the cur would think that he could walk away alive from sword duel.  The Kendoist charged in using an all or nothing suicide attack.  This is hen Ranma opened his eyes. 

“V-SLASH!”

Ranma’s battle cry was accompanied by the swing motion of a “V” with his bokken just as Kuno was about to connect.  The older boy was knocked clear across the court yard.  When he didn’t get up the fight was declared over.

The crowd was once again cheering for their new hero (As well as cheering for the fact that they never had a chance to bet against him).  Slowly, Ranma walked toward where Kuno lay.  He could see that the older boy was still conscious.  His cloths had been ripped in the front, sporting a “V” shape.  Had a real sword been used, Kuno would most likely bleeding to death right now.

“Oh…to think the greatness of Blue Thunder would end like this,” Kuno muttered in a soft, defeated tone.  “Very well Saotome.  I have no regrets of this world, for I have died a samurai’s death.  Finish it.”

Ranma didn’t comply.  He simply picked the kendoist up and put his arm around his shoulder letting the older boy use him for balance.  “What are you doing?” Kuno demanded.

“I ain’t a murderer, you idiot,” Ranma replied as he headed for the nurse’s office.  “Don’t worry about it so much.  It was a good fight.  You actually made me use my desperation move.”  The rest of the trip was made in silence.  This gave Kuno time to think about what had just happened.

By lunch time the news of Kuno being beaten in his own game spread throughout the school.  When Kuno didn’t return to class, however, rumors that Ranma had taken the boy somewhere and slit his throat were also heard. 

Nabiki, who had arrived at school a few minutes after the fight had ended, was once again using her free time to locate Ranma.  This time it was leaning more on personal than on business.  Earlier that day she and Kasumi had a conversation regarding Akane’s fiancé.

A few hours ago…

“So what’s up, Kasumi?” he middle Tendo sister asked.  “You don’t usually ask for help of cleaning dishes.”

Her sister nodded.  “Yes, you’re right.  I actually made it up so I could talk to you alone.”

Nabiki wasn’t sure what Kasumi needed to talk about, but when her sister asked something of you it was very hard to turn her down.  So she listened.

“It’s about Ranma.  I know that you two spent a little time together yesterday.”  Though Kasumi didn’t really approve of it, since it almost felt as if Nabiki was trying to steal Akane’s fiancé.  “I was hoping then you could confirm something for me.  This morning I heard Ranma screaming in his sleep.  He was shouting the name Tenma.”

Nabiki thought about this for a minute, and then answered “He mentioned that he had a training partner who was on his training trip.  Maybe the guy was this Tenma person.”

Kasumi regarded this for a moment, then shook he head.  “I don’t think so.  When I asked him about it he just shrugged it off and said it was nothing.”

The Ice Queen nodded.  “Well regardless as to what Ranma’s dreams are about it’s not our problem.  I don’t see why we should care what name he screams out a night.”

Though Kasumi was not shocked at her sister’s statement she was still disappointed.  “You may be right.  However have you noticed the way Ranma smiles.”

“You mean that cocky ‘I can take on anything’ grin or the ‘I’m amazingly cheerful’ grin?”

“Well, both I suppose.  When you see him smile doesn’t it seem like he’s forcing it?”

Nabiki nodded.  She had noticed that sometimes Ranma’s cheerful grin was nothing more than a mask.

Kasumi went on.  “When he smiles it’s like…like he’s hurting inside but refuses to express it.  He seems to carry a heavy burden and won’t let anyone share it.”

Nabiki gave her older sister a puzzled look.  True she herself had noticed this but she was surprised Kasumi was so observant.  Ranma indeed seem like a man in pain, but he hid it so well under his cocky, devil may care attitude.  “Maybe he blames himself for his mother’s death.”

“Perhaps, but unless his mother’s name is Tenma I think there’s more to it than that.”

“Fine, I’ll ask him about it at school.” The middle Tendo turned to leave but quickly looked back at her sister.  “Why are you so concerned abut this guy?”

Kasumi smiled.  “A nice boy like Ranma should be happy, don’t you think?”

So Nabiki was again looking for her future brother-in-law.  The problem this time was that she couldn’t find any trace of him.  He wasn’t even in the tree today.  She had asked Akane but for some reason she had denied even knowing a Ranma Saotome.  She assumed that the pony tailed boy had angered her sister again.  After a while of searching she gave up.  Lunch was almost over and she hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.  She wandered back toward the tree she found Ranma hiding in last time, sat down and began eating from her bento. 

Her thoughts were on the pony tailed youth the whole time.  She could admit she was attracted to him.  He was very good looking, he was smart (Much smarter than he let on which could either be a good thing or a bad thing), and most all he seemingly had a good amount of money.  There was also something about the mystery that surrounded the boy.  He had obviously lived a hard life while on the road, but that wasn’t too surprising since, as her father would put it, “The path of a martial artist is fraught with perils. 
Nabiki pushed the thought of Ranma out of her head.  True she wouldn’t mind dating the Saotome Heir, except for the fact that he was currently engaged to her sister.  Not to mention that if she were to show the slightest amount of interest she could end up the one being forced into marriage instead of Akane. 

She couldn’t help but wonder where Ranma was .

At that very moment, Ranma was enjoying his lunch on the roof the school.  Knowing full well that Nabiki wouldn’t hesitate to reveal his previous spot to the first person to name a high enough price, he had been forced to find a new eating place. 

His meal was interrupted when he felt something familiar in the air.  An aura he had seemingly been in contact with the past, but he was unable to identify it.  The pony tailed fighter wondered if things would finally start getting interesting around Nerima.

School past uneventful (Though Ranma again fell asleep in class).  Class ended just as it had yesterday , Ranma being harassed by his female classmates and Akane taking off angrily.  This time, to his surprise Nabiki was waiting for him outside the room.

Ranma raised an eyebrow at his fiancée’s sister.  “Hey Nabiki.  What’s wrong?  Kuno not satisfied wit the information you sold him.”

Nabiki gave him a sad expression. “I’m hurt, Ranma.  Do you really think that I would betray your confidence?”  Of course, she hadn’t seen the Kendoist all day, but Ranma didn’t need to know that.

The two teens walked down the hallway together, though the younger Saotome kept his guard up.  He didn’t really trust Nabiki all that much.

“Actually, Ranma,” the brown haired girl finally said after a few minutes.  “I must say I’m very curious about you.”

“Do tell,” was the response.

The Ice Queen of Furinkan High gave Ranma a dangerous look.  “You know it’s very rude to hold secrets from the people who are being gracious enough to let you stay in their home.”

This did not phase Ranma one bit.  “We all have our secrets, Nabiki.”

“Who’s Tenma?”

The pony tailed boy didn’t flinch.  It was as he feared.  “Been talking to your sister, have you?”

“She’s really worried about you, Ranma.  You walk around with your fake smiles and you ego the size of China but it’s pretty obvious you’ve got some major problems.”

By this time the two had reached the front doors of the school and preceded to walk outside.  “Tenma…doesn’t concern you.  But if you really want to know…” He stopped mid-sentence.  Nabiki wasn’t sure if he was trying to get out of telling her because  the look on his face suddenly had become concerned.  He was looking around the field as if he was searching for someone.

“So, it was him after…” was all the boy would say.  He turned back toward Nabiki.  “We’ll talk about this some other time.”  With that the Chinese clad martial artist began walk at a rather fast pace toward the front gate.  Nabiki, of course, followed him.

There was a boy standing there whom Nabiki did not recognize.   He was about 16 or 17, wore a leopard skin bandana, a yellow sweat shirt, and black kung fu pants similar to Ranma’s.  He also held a rather large looking back pack which inferred he was some sort of traveler.

The unknown newcomer snarled when he saw Ranma walking toward him.  “I’ve finally found you, Ranma Saotome.”

Ranma was wearing his trademark cocky smirk.  “Well, well, well, if it ain’t my old punching bag Ryuuga Haboki.”

The new comer became enraged.  “That’s Ryoga Hibiki, you bastard!  How dare you forget my name! I have been dreaming about ending your life for the last year!  The least you could do is get my name right!”

Ranma shrugged.  “I almost didn’t recognized you.  You’ve been working out a little I see, lost boy.”

It was Ryoga’s turn to smile.  “Heh, I’ve been training non-stop.  This time I’ll kill you for sure!”   His smile quickly faded as his anger suddenly took over.  He threw off his back pack that, when it landed, shattered the concrete it hit.  “Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!” 

The lost boy rushed at his pony tailed opponent, punching and kicking furiously at a speed that Ranma couldn’t dodge all that well.  He simply blocked all the attacks, but he knew that with Ryoga’s strength and stamina (Both surpassed his own) he couldn’t do this for long.  By this time a crowd had suddenly formed, including Akane who had found her way to where Nabiki stood. 

“What the hell is going on?  Who’s that guy that Ranma’s fighting?” Ranma’s fiancée asked.

Nabiki shook her head.  “I’m not sure, but he and Ranma seem to be old enemies.”

Knowing full well that Ryoga was far above the skill level of his newest rival Kuno, the Saotome Heir decided to stop holding back.

“Zanzouken Revised!” 

With that Ranma disappeared leaving an after image of himself.  Ryoga suddenly found himself being surrounded by several blurry red and black images moving at incredible speed.  He had seen this move before.  The boy closed his eyes and concentrated on Ranma’s aura.  “There you are!”  He recklessly threw a punch to his direct left connecting with his opponent’s face.  The blow seemed to hit Ranma in slow motion as a combination of blood and spit appeared to float in mid air.  The Saotome Heir was sent flying toward the concrete fence.  The pony tailed boy was able to adjust himself so that he landed safely feet first.  But the real damage had already been done.  The crowd’s reaction was not surprising.

“Holy shit!  That guy’s stronger than Saotome!”

“Did you see those fangs? Maybe he’s some kind of vampire.”

“Don’t be stupid.  It’s daylight.”

“I’m betting everything on the new guy!”

Ryoga was smirking evilly.  “You idiot.  You’ve already used that move on me before.  Don’t you think I would have figured out to beat it by now.”

Ranma was getting worried.  He really was dumb for using that move. He and Ryoga had fought enough times to know that after one sees a move once then it most likely wouldn’t work on them anymore.  The pony tailed fighter considered his options.  “I can’t beat him with strength.  I can’t hope to outlast him. My edge has always been speed, but he’s a lot faster than last time.  I guess I’ll have to go with my trump card.”  With that the boy pulled out the bokken that he had used against Kuno earlier.  He motioned for Ryoga to come on.

The two martial artists went at each other head on, Ranma using the bokken to gain in advantage.  The fought blow for blow going at speeds that most of the students looking on couldn’t hope to match.  This went on for almost a half hour.  By this time Ryoga could tell his opponent was running out of steam.  Ranma realized this as well.  He’d have to end it quick or else he’s be the one on the losing side.  He have Ryoga a fast snap kick to his stomach, giving him the few seconds he needed to unleash his ultimate attack.

“V-Slash!”

Ryoga took the bokken head on just as Kuno did.  And just like the kendoist he was sent flying several feet away.  The crowd had become ecstatic. 

“Man, it’s over!  That’s the same move he used to KO Kuno this morning.”

“I really thought this new guy had a chance.”

“See, I told you!  Saotome is the best at what he does.”

No one had noticed that Ranma was still in a defensive stance.  Except for Akane.  “Ranma.  It is over, right?”  She asked.  She had never seen Ranma take a fight so serious before.

Ryoga would answer for her by standing up slowly and obviously hurt.  The entire crowd became deathly silent.  What kind of monster was this Ryoga Hibiki?  “That was nice.”  The lost boy smirked as he said this.  “But you’re not the only one with a brand new technique.”

Ryoga raised his fist above his head than slammed it into the ground.

“Daijishin Bakuhatsu!”

The ground literally exploded as an invisible ball of chi ripped through the Earth like a hot knife through butter that, at an amazing speed, headed right for an unprepared Ranma.  The pony tailed martial artist had no way to defend against it and was struck as if he was being hit by a speeding bus.  Unable to stand up to such an attack Ranma collapsed.  He had been beaten.

The crowd was speechless, and was not sure what had happened.   Both Tendo sisters, on the other hand, rushed toward the fallen pony tailed boy.  “Ranma,” the younger sister yelled.  The boy in question slowly opened his eyes.  “Shit,” was all he said.

Ryoga had by this time walked over to where his defeated foe lay.  Nabiki was staring at the boy with no emotion being shown (Though there was a tiny bit of plotting being done).  Akane on the other hand…

“Stay away the hell back!  Don’t you think you’ve done enough?  You come out of nowhere and attack Ranma without reason!  What kind of martial artist are you?”

Nabiki eyed her sister curiously.  Since when had she started sticking up for Ranma?

Ryoga ignore the girl and offered his hand to Ranma.  “Good match?”

Ranma regarded him for a moment, then to everyone’s surprise shook the lost boy’s hand.  “Good fight.”

The Ice Queen at that moment of, upon looking at the emotions of both fighters put two and two together.  “This guy is your training mate, right? The boy your mother found?”

Akane stared at her sister.  “What do you mean?”

Ranma didn’t answer at first. Instead he allowed his old friend to help him to his feet.  “I thought I really had you there.”

“You almost did,” Ryoga admitted.  “ That V-Slash thing almost did me in.  I was running on pride alone after that hit me.”

Ranma smiled.  “It’s got nothing on that move you did.  That was some kind of chi attack, right.”

“Excuse me,” Akane said meekly.

“Yep.  It took me a whole month to get down, though.”

“Excuse me,” Akane repeated.

“I guess I’ll have to come up with my own counter attack if I’m gonna beat ya next time.” 

“EXCUSE ME!!!”  Akane finally screamed.  “Would somebody please explain what the hell is going on?!”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about you guys,” Ranma realized.  “This is my training partner and best friend, Ryoga Hibiki.”

“Yo,” said the bandana clad martial artist.

Nabiki pinched the bridge of her nose. “Wait, if you two are good buddies then what was with the whole ‘Ranma prepare to die’ stuff he was spitting out.”

“It makes the fight more dramatic,” Ryoga replied.  He turned to the crowd, who also wanted to know who this person was. “Am I right, guys?”

They all nodded.  It had seemed like the two were bitter rivals, thus the fight had been more interesting. 

         

After Nabiki collected the money from the students who had bet on Ranma, the four teens found themselves heading back to the Tendo Dojo. Ranma had explained that Ryoga had the worst sense of direction in the world.  However the way he put it was more along the lines of “This idiot couldn’t find the door in a bathroom even if you stood there pointing at it.”  That caused a brief fight between the two friends.

“So you two both trained on that trip?” Akane asked, hoping to distract the two friends before they found something to fight about. Again.

Ryoga gave her a cocky smile that was all too familiar.  “Yep.  As you can tell I’m the stronger of the two us.”

“Screw you, pal,” Ranma yelled.  “This is the first time you’ve beaten me since we were thirteen, ya jerk.”

“Anyway, I met Auntie Nodoka when I was six years old.”

Ten years ago…

Ryoga Hibiki hadn’t seen his parents in months.  They had all gone to the park but each had wandered off and gotten lost.  The child had resorted to anything in order to survive in the harsh reality of life.  Nothing was fair, and anything that could go wrong would.  These are the lessons life had taught him these past few months.

One day, as the little bandana clad boy was digging in some trash cans in an alley looking for something edible he met the person who would change his life.

“Oh my God,” she had screamed when she saw him.  She wore a fairly large back pack and held a katana, wrapped in a cloth.  “Please stop. I can buy you something to eat.”

Ryoga regarded her.  She was very pretty and was offering him not just a warm smile but a meal as well.  However he hadn’t survived this long by being trustful. He simply stepped away from her.

It was then the women noticed his bandana.  “It’s just like Natsumi’s.  Your mother wouldn’t happen to be Natsumi Hibiki, would she?”

“Y-you know mommy?” Ryoga was become hopeful.

The woman reached through her bag and pulled out a photo graph.  It was a pitcher of his mother, though younger, and this woman (And another woman who he didn’t recognized).  This woman did know her!

“I see.  You must be lost,” she realized.  Ryoga nodded slowly.  “You have inherited Natsumi’s sense of direction.  I too am looking for my family.  Perhaps we could look for your parents together.”  Ryoga happily agreed.

“In the meantime,” she continued.  “I shall take care of you.  My name is Nodoka Saotome, but you may cal me Auntie.”

“From then on I traveled with Auntie Nodoka,”  Ryoga said.  He pointed toward Ranma.  “Then I met this stupid jerk about six months later.”

“Hey I resent that.  I’m not stupid,” was Ranma’s reply.  He jokingly punched his friend on the shoulder.

“Did you ever see your parents again?” Nabiki asked.

Ryoga nodded.  “I met up with Mom a few years later.  She agreed that it would be better for me to learn the Anything Goes Style.  I saw her once more a bit more recent.  Dad, too.”

“I’m surprised you could find ‘em,” Ranma said in a mocking tone.  “Let’s not forget that you’re the guy who got lost for three days in the closet.” 

“RANMA!” Ryoga growled as he lunged at his old “friend.”     

Nabiki regarded the two.  Ryoga was sure to know about Ranma’s secrets, wouldn’t he?

Once they arrived at the dojo Nabiki took off, saying she needed to make some phone calls.  Kasumi greeted the group and informed them dinner would be ready shortly.  Upon hearing who Ryoga was she invited the lost boy to stay as long he wanted. 

“Thank you Kasumi-san.”  Ryoga politely bowed.

“It’s no problem,” Kasumi assured him.

“By the way Kasumi,” Ranma interrupted.  “Have you’ve seen pop today?’

The oldest Tendo shook her head, almost angrily.  “He said that the village that he raided from yesterday had been rude to him and he was going back there teach them some manners.”

“Stupid old man,” Ryoga grumbled. Though he wasn’t sure what Kasumi meant, he knew Genma was up to no good.  He held no love for Ranma’s father and wouldn’t mind if he could introduce him to his new techniques.

As if one cue the griffin in question suddenly floated down to Earth.  He looked a little beat up for some reason.  Before Ranma, Akane or Kasumi could greet the man turned monster Ryoga reacted predictably.

“It’s some kind of demon!” The lost boy gasped.  Before anyone could stop him he rushed at the griffin and preceded to beat on him with his massive strength.  “Monster, stand still so I can kill you!”

“Uhh, I guess Ryoga doesn’t know about your cursed forms,” Akane noted.  “Should we tell him that’s your father.”

Ranma shrugged.  “What’s the point?  He if he knew he’d still attack him.  In fact, Ryoga wouldn’t go so easy on him if he knew that was Pop.”

As a loud cracking sound was heard from the battle between Ryoga and Genma, Akane shuddered as she wondered what the fanged fighter would do when not “Going easy on him.”

To be continued…

Author’s Note:  Another Chapter done.  This is longest chapter so far.  I wonder how long I can keep up with this pace before I get a serious case of writers block.  More about Tenma is revealed, but hopefully people still won’t be able to guess who he is exactly for at least a couple more chapters.  I seemingly blew it in Ryoga’s case.  Speaking of whom I’m sure you’ve noticed that the lost boy is pretty OOC.  Take in mind he was raised along side Ranma.  His personality is mixture of the two.  Ryoga’s rocky relationship with Genma will be addressed more in the next chapter as well as exactly why Ranma’s ego allowed him to lose so gracefully.  “Daijishin Bakuhatsu” hopefully means something along the lines of Earthquake Explosion.  “If thou darest tempt me further, draw thy sword” was barrowed from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.  By the way, this week is finals week for me, so don’t expect Chapter 4 until at least Friday night.

Revision Note:  Completely deleted Akane’s “hidden strength” sub-plot as I forgot where I was going with it.

Next Chapter:  Ryoga gets to know Akane, Nabiki and Ranma hang out a bit more, and rivals who want a piece of the Saotome Clan (As well as their good friend Ryoga) show.