Disclaimer: This story is a compilation of some of my favorite manga and anime. I don’t own any of these characters. This story is intended for free and simple enjoyment of anyone interested in reading this. It uses characters and situations ranging from Ranma ½, Evangelion, Sailor Moon, and Ah, My Goddess!. Enjoy the story. If you would like to send criticism, compliments, questions, or have an interest in tae kwon do, email me at: .

Once again, enjoy the story.

KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!-chestnut punch

Mouko Takabisha-ki blast

BAKUSAI TENKETSU!-breaking point

KIJIN RAISHUU DAN-vacuum ki blast

Hiryu Shouten Ha - cold attack for tornado, Rising Dragon Ascension

defeat

MOUKO KAIMON HA-ki charge kick

RENSHA-HAPPA-DAN-build MT then using KTA, shoot hundreds of blasts

By Michael Fetter

It was a new day at Furikan High School and as such a large group of boys had formed at its gates, waiting for the arrival of Tendo Akane. This was nothing new to her. Ever since high school had started, the idiot Kuno decided no one could date her until they beat her in combat. That suited Akane just fine, though. None of the hormonal boys could beat her and she relished pounding the jerks into the pavement.

Akane stood across the street from the congregation with her sister. She wore the usual girl’s school outfit and a cute crinkle on her nose to indicate she was angry. Her long black hair fluttered in the wind, held together by a yellow ribbon. All she needed was tumbleweed to roll by and she would feel like the hero in an old western movie.

"Could you hold this for me sis?" Akane handed Nabiki her backpack and got herself into a ready stance. Nabiki sighed and rolled her eyes, but took the backpack and preceded her little sister into the school. She had to check that her underlings had today’s betting pool set up, after all.

In unison, the boys charged the lone girl, screaming a war cry that sounded much like praises to her beauty and requests for a date. Akane roared in anger and rushed the boys.

Everything fell silent.

I must be getting good at this, Akane thought. I must’ve scared them silly! Akane was still screaming but stopped just short of hitting her first opponent when she realized he wasn’t even taking notice of her anymore. There was something wrong she decided. Looking around, none of the boys were looking at her. Instead they were focusing on something behind her, some had even started drooling.

"What the hell?" Not that Akane minded having the fan club not attack her, but this was definitely weird. By their glazed over expressions, she decided it was safe to turn around and see what they were staring at.

The sun was slightly above the horizon, being early morning, and there were very few clouds to block out its glare. This didn’t change the fact that a very attractive red head was walking along the opposite side of the street, seemingly emanating a light all her own. She had a slight yet very well developed body. Her clothes seemed to be Chinese and a little too big for her frame, but it drew tightly across her chest, accentuating her curves and adding to her beauty. She was carrying a rather large pack with a heavy bamboo umbrella strapped to the top. The red head was still walking, minding her own business, until the silence sent off alarms inside her head. Cautiously, she turned her head and stopped walking. Fear was gripping her chest when she saw an entire assembly of salivating schoolboys looking at her.

They charged again.

The red head had only just come to grips with the situation when the boys suddenly swarmed her.

"Shit!" Akane could take on the swarm, but then she was also the best martial artist in all of Nerima. This new girl didn’t look like she could crush a flower without help. "I’ve got to help her!" Akane started to dive into the pack when the collar of her dress suddenly choked her. Nabiki was holding onto her, staring intently at the fight.

"Why’d you do that! That girl is going to get creamed!"

Nabiki smiled slightly. "I don’t think so, Akane. Did you notice her reaction to the swarm? It was-"

"It was petrified is what it was!!"

"No. Just before the group surrounded her she fell into a fighting stance and I swear I saw her smirk."

"What?" Akane was thoroughly confused. Who would smile at a bunch of sex crazed jocks jumping them?

"Look." Nabiki pointed into the street brawl.

As if to answer Akane’s question, half a dozen of the boys were hurtled through the air landing with a revolting, teeth clenching crunch at her feet. The red head was suddenly visible. She had abandoned her pack and was gracefully weaving in between the baseball players, kendoists, and others that made up the Akane Fan Club. All the while, knocking several of them out each time she struck. It took the new girl less time than Akane had ever done to completely wipe the floor with the unconscious boys.

Nabiki took her hand off Akane when she was satisfied her little sister wasn’t going to head into the fight again. Meanwhile, the redhead was wiping off her hands on her green Chinese military pants and shrugging the pack on to her shoulder once again.

"Ahh! The fair Akane Tendo has yet again dealt swift justice to the perverse male populace. It brings me great joy to know that you have suffered so to now face me, Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furikan High, in what shall be a duel of love." Kuno stepped out from behind a tree and was now striking a pose with his bokotu raised above his head. He wore his kendo uniform to show himself as the captain of said club.

Akane grimaced at the sound of Kuno’s voice, but set herself up to fight the arrogant upperclassman. "Look Kuno. I’m really getting tired of having to knock you out every day and besides, I didn’t beat up your damn gang today."

"Ha. For sure my ears deceive me as I’m certain you crushed the opposition now unconscious at your-," Kuno blinked, choked, and then did a double take. With hearts in his eyes, Kuno followed the movements of the red head across the street.

As she was beginning to walk off Kuno suddenly appeared before her, glomping onto her hand and presenting a bundle of roses in his right. "What heavenly visage doth appear before me that I would kneel before her without hesitation?"

"Huh? I’m Ran-"

"My pardon, sweet goddess, but it is impolite to ask your name without first presenting mine self. I am the Champion of Nerima, Noblest of Men, Tate-"

"Tatewaki Kuno, Blue Thunder of Furikan High. Yeah, I heard you the first time." The girl held Kuno’s mouth closed with her hand and accepted his offered roses. "I’m Ranma. What can I do for you Kuno?"

Akane and Nabiki, not to mention the rest of the gathered students still conscious, including Kuno, gapped at what the girl had just done. Never in all the years of Kuno’s life has anyone ever accepted his roses and taken his outrageous persona with such ease. Kuno looked blankly into Ranma’s eyes and tried his best to speak, "I . . I . . I. . me . .uh."

Ranma frowned a bit and looked around her surroundings. "Hey! Is this guy your friend? I think there is something wrong with him." Nabiki was the first to recover from the initial shock and walked over to the waiting red head.

"Yeah. He’s fine. Just a little taken back by your kindness, I think." That said, Nabiki placed her hand on Kuno’s head and tipped him over. He fell with a heavy thud, cracking the cement beneath him. "You say your name was Ranma? I’m Nabiki, Tendo Nabiki." Nabiki offered her hand. Ranma shook it casually, looking over the other girl critically. Nabiki was slightly taller than herself with short cut black hair and a business like demeanor hung about her. Really, the first thing Ranma noticed was how cold Nabiki appeared, but felt the warmth coming from the girl. Not much warmth, but it still contrasted with the way the girl appeared to her.

"Hmm. That’s too bad. He was kind of cute." Ranma smelled the roses in her right hand and almost purred when she smiled at the aroma. After a moment she sighed and looked back at Nabiki. "Well I best be off. Tell your friend Kuno ‘Thanks for the roses’. It’s not everyday I get flowers from a handsome stranger. ‘sigh’ Bye." Ranma stepped lightly past Nabiki and waved with her free hand.

There was a short pause in Nabiki’s brain as she tried to work out the praise Ranma had given Kuno. Ewe! She then noticed Ranma was walking down the block. "Hey wait! You’re leaving?" Nabiki couldn’t believe she almost let the greatest money making scheme in her life simply walk by with a wave.

"Where are you heading?" Akane finally came out of her daze and crossed the street to stand beside her sister. Ranma quickly made an about face when she saw this new girl. Akane was slightly smaller than Nabiki, but her hair was much longer and came together in a bow. Unlike Nabiki, Akane was very expressive. Ranma could see happiness and concern in the new girl’s eyes and a smile on her face, which Ranma hoped was somehow for her. Ranma had never met anyone like her before, she was so cute.

"Wow, you’re cute." Akane blushed at the flattery then she realized who had just said it and started to feel a little uncomfortable. She could tell, looking at the ground that Ranma was still staring at her. "I’m Ranma. What’s your name?" Ranma bent over at the waist to get a better look at the bashful girl.

"I’m Akane."

"Here." Ranma handed Akane the roses. "I think you deserve these more than I do." Akane blushed even more and accepted the roses. Nabiki stood stunned at how openly Ranma was flirting with another girl, her sister none the less.

"S-So where are you headed?"

Ranma turned back to Nabiki after giving Akane a cock-eyed grin. "Nowhere really. I haven’t got any permanent residence or nothing. You could say I’m on a rather long stroll through the park."

"Oh? You haven’t got anywhere to stay? That’s terrible. Your much too young to be out on your own." Concern came creeping back into Akane’s eyes as she studied the redhead.

Ranma looked over at Akane with another disarming smile, "You trying to offer me a place to stay, cutie?" Akane blushed again and returned to staring at some very interesting piece of pavement.

"That sounds like a perfect idea." Nabiki stated.

"Huh?"

Normally, Ranma would have expected someone to say that in a friendly and inviting manner. But there was a certain undertone of hunger in the way Nabiki said it.

"We’ve got school now, but if you could meet us here afterwards we could take you to our house Ranma." Nabiki smiled as she looked at the redhead. She could smell the money making deals in the air.

"Nabiki! You can’t just ask Ranma to live with us. She probably has family waiting for her."

Ranma studied Akane carefully and sighed. "Yeah Nabiki. I wouldn’t want to impose or something, but thanks for the offer." Nabiki could almost cry. She had Ranma in her clutches and her idiot little sister was sending her away. She had to do something to get Ranma to stay, just long enough to convince her to-

"Hold on, Ranma. You helped my sister take care of her fan club so the least we can do is offer you a place to stay for the night anyway." Ranma stopped and looked back around her pack at Nabiki. Good, now all she had to do was sweeten the deal a little. "I’m sure you haven’t had a good meal and a hot bath in a while." That did it. Ranma immediately turned back around and nodded happily at Nabiki.

"Great. Then we’ll see you after school." Nabiki quickly grabbed Akane’s arm and ran into the school before the bell could ring and to keep her little sister from changing Ranma’s mind again.

Ranma watched the two girls hurry off to class and sighed happily. She took a look around the slowly reviving boys and felt it best to leave the school for now. Kuno was still wide-eyed and slobbering on the pavement where Nabiki had pushed him. She scratched his name from her mind; pathetic.

Akane wasn’t able to concentrate the entire day at school. The conversation with Ranma kept repeating in her head. ‘Wow you’re cute.’, did she mean it? Sure, Akane had tons of boys trying to date her daily, but this was the first time a girl had said anything like that to her. But that wasn’t right. Girls shouldn’t say things like that to other girls. It just wasn’t right.

Akane still had the roses Ranma offered her. She couldn’t take her eyes off of them. The red petals reminded her of Ranma’s red hair, and when Akane thought of the red hair she couldn’t help but remember the girls smile and gentle features. Akane blushed once again.

This line of thought would repeat itself through each of Akane’s classes and it seemed to be the prompt for her teachers to snap at her and ask if she was paying attention. At this rate, Akane would be serving detention for the rest of the week and it was only Monday.

Lunchtime finally arrived. Akane needed to get her mind off of Ranma. Hopefully her friends could distract her enough when she met them out in the courtyard like she always did for lunch. Sayuri and Yuka were already outside at one of the benches waiting for her. They waved when Akane stepped out of the main doors; she waved back. Then Akane stopped short of meeting her friends when she noticed someone a little further off waving to her. The person was sitting by the trees and it was hard to make out features due to the tree’s shade but the red hair was a definite give away. Ranma was kneeling down by the trees, a book in her hand and some food sitting in a bowl next to her.

"Hey, Akane, who is that?" Sayuri looked curiously at Ranma who had returned to reading her book.

"Uhm."

"I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before. Is she a new friend of yours?" Yuka asked.

"That’s uh . . . that’s . ." Akane never got the rest out, but walked over to Ranma and stared down at the red head. "What are you doing here?"

"Hmm?", Ranma looked up from her book. "I didn’t know when your school got out and I had no where to go so I picked up some noodles and thought I’d wait for you and your sister here. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Akane looked at Ranma’s big blue eyes and became captivated by the pretty girl once again.

"Would you like to join me? I’ve got plenty." Ranma smiled and indicated the bowls of ramen sitting beside her.

"Sure." Akane kneeled before the girl, still unable to take her eyes off Ranma. Ranma seemed not to notice but smiled sweetly and looked at Akane’s friends. Sayuri and Yuka were looking at Akane with similar looks of curiosity and concern for their bewildered friend.

Akane noticed Ranma’s gaze and snapped out of her daydream. "Oh, these are some of my friends, Sayuri and Yuka." Akane didn’t seem capable of saying much else so Ranma continued for her.

"I’m Ranma. Nice to meet you Sayuri and Yuka." The other two girls sat down beside their friend and tried to make conversation and not notice the strange way Akane was acting. Ranma handed each of them some ramen in bowls she kept in her backpack.

"Hey this is really good." Yuka commented.

Sayuri agreed through a full mouth. "Yeah, were did you get it."

"Oh, I make it myself."

"Really?" The two girls chorused together and continued to eat. Akane finally took notice of the bowl in her hands and lifted the chopsticks to her mouth and had some of the noodles herself.

"Yeah. My great grandmother taught me how to cook ramen while I was in China." Ranma simply beamed with pride at the praise her cooking was getting from her new friends.

"You are from China, Ranma?" Akane asked through bites of ramen. Her mouth was watering with each bite.

"No. I don’t think so, anyway."

"You don’t know where you’re from?" Yuka stopped to stare at the blushing red head.

"I . . it doesn’t matter as much as where I’m going." Ranma sidestepped the question as best as she could.

"Oh? Where are you headed?" This time it was Sayuri who took a moment from her ramen to question Ranma.

Ranma smiled at the girl, "I don’t know that either . .", and looked at Akane and purred the last part, ". . . yet."

Akane looked at Ranma, falling into those deep cobalt eyes once again, she blushed and returned to eating the ramen. Ranma smiled and returned to reading her book, the moment was completely lost on Sayuri and Yuka, but they stayed quiet and ate, unsure about what to do about their unusually somber friend.

Ranma was still waiting outside reading when she noticed a group of kids in gym clothes at the baseball diamond. They were cheering ‘Akane’ so Ranma decided to head over and see what was going on. She dropped to the ground gracefully and watched as Akane stepped up to the plate with a bat. People in the outfield started backing up even further knowing what was to come.

"Man, Akane is coming up to bat." Some boy was talking to his friend behind and to Ranma’s right.

"Yeah, she is so hot. Wearing those shorts and white t-shirts. Oh boy, that always brings an erotic dream to me."

"Hehe. Don’t I know it." His friend snickered and continued to leer at Akane. "Man, if she were my girlfriend we’d be-"

"Laughing at all of your failed attempts to get her into bed." Ranma had enough of these assholes going on about Akane.

"Huh? Hey-!"

"You probably don’t have the slightest clue as to how to treat a woman. Talking like that definitely won’t get you anywhere. So unless you want me to make sure you stay a loner the rest of your life-!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Akane saw Ranma sitting on the sideline. Losing all concentration on the game she hit a foul ball which sped into the sidelines, straight for Ranma.

"Oh no!" Akane dropped the bat and brought her hands to her mouth in fear of what was to come.

Ranma talked back to the insolent boy, not watching the ball heading straight for her head.

"Ranma!" Akane yelled a warning.

The ball smacked Ranma, hard. She didn’t notice however as she had caught the foul tip with her left hand and continued, "-don’t act like such a JERK!"

The two boys gulped and watched the ball become pulverized in Ranma’s hand. With no more prompting, the two boys took their leave and ran to the boys’ locker room before the stain on their pants became noticeable. Akane watched Ranma with fascination as she caught the ball and crushed it with one hand.

Ranma returned to the game and yelled a cheer, "Yeah, Akane! Go get them tiger!" Akane blushed from head to toe.

"Hey Ranma! I heard you stuck around all afternoon." Nabiki was the first to get out of school and find her.

"Yeah, well." Ranma looked around expectantly. "Where’s Akane?"

"She’ll be along as soon as she ditches Kuno."

"Oh. He chases her around a lot, huh?"

"You could say that."

The two girls suddenly turned around when they could hear a loud ruckus coming from the main gates. "Forget it, Kuno! I’m NOT DATING YOU!" The figure of a boy in a kendo uniform could be seen making an arc in the sky.

"Hmm. Her aim is getting better." Nabiki noted.

"What?"

"I’d say Akane has punted Kuno right into the zoo this time." Ranma stared at Nabiki, shocked and followed Kuno’s flight a little while longer.

"Jerk." Akane was still broiling with anger when she caught up with them. Noticing Ranma’s gaze, Nabiki walked ahead of them to the Tendo home. Ranma smiled at Akane and waited for her to catch up. Again, Akane blushed when she thought of Ranma. "Stupid Kuno thought I was going to go out with him when he saw the roses you gave me." Ranma noticed the roses hanging out the back of Akane’s backpack and smiled a little more to herself.

"I’m sorry about that."

"That’s alright, it wasn’t your fault."

"So Akane," Nabiki cut in, "I heard about your baseball game today. Seems they still haven’t recovered that ball you hit." Akane blushed remembering how much she wanted to impress Ranma. She didn’t even know why she did it.

"Yeah, Akane. You are quite a major league slugger."

"Thanks for cheering me on Ranma."

"Sure thing kitten." Nabiki raised her eyebrow at this, but kept quiet. Akane certainly didn’t seem to mind or she would’ve done more than giggle like a child.

"Kitten? I thought you called me tiger before?"

"Yeah, but I didn’t want to embarrass you."

"Embarrass?"

"Hey, I can see under all that fierceness is a cute little kitten." Nabiki rolled her eyes and walked ahead of the two girls once again.

"Well, I’ll see you to lovebirds later. I need to get going."

"Hey, it’s nothing like that!" Akane yelled after her sister.

"See you at home Ranma!" Nabiki took off down another side street. Akane stormed ahead of Ranma. She was not a lesbian, so there was no way that Ranma was going to stay on her good side if she could help it. Rumors like that can spread very quickly in Nerima. The very idea of Ranma and herself becoming an item. Sure, Ranma was very attractive, brave, and friendly, but that didn’t affect Akane one bit. Finding something on the ground to look at, Akane hoped Ranma didn’t notice her blush.

Ranma saw Akane walk ahead of her in huff. Oh great, now she’d done it. Ranma knew she must have been to forward with the poor girl and she hadn’t even told her about her secret yet. Boy, Akane is going to be mad at her if she finds out. Maybe it would be best if she didn’t, Ranma decided. On a side note, Ranma had taken a great interest in the way Akane’s hips swayed slightly as she walked.

Akane just wasn’t sure how to act around the pigtailed girl. If she were a guy it would all make sense, but she wasn’t. She couldn’t help but feel a little awkward under the girl’s gaze. Was Nabiki right? Could Ranma be hitting on her?

‘Of course, dummy. The answer is practically staring you right in the face or would be if you weren’t walking ahead of her. What are you trying to do? Let her look at your butt? Maybe you are a lesbian.’

"I am not a LESBIAN!"

‘Nice one. You just said that loud enough to inform everybody but a couple in Hokkaido.’

‘Shut up!’

"Hey Akane?" Ranma made a small skip to put herself next to the bigger girl.

‘Yeah, tell me to shut up. I’m just your mind talking to you.’

‘If you don’t shut up, I’m going to break something.’

"Akane?"

‘Like what? You aren’t going to hurt me.’

‘Arghh!’

"Akane, are you-gak!"

‘Now you’ve done it Tendo. Hit your new friend just after you met her.’

"Oh, Ranma. I’m so sorry! Are you alright?" Ranma was unable to reply however as she was discovering the hidden meaning to pavement under the tutelage of a large mallet Akane had pulled out of thin air.

"Mmgph."

"What was that?" Akane lifted the mallet off the other girl’s head.

"Ow, that hurt." Ranma collapsed, unconscious.

Ranma woke up some time later in a white room. It must be a hospital, Ranma thought, only so many places smell like antiseptic. Akane was sitting in a chair in a corner of the room, her head hung and shoulder slumped. Ranma took a moment to get her bearings. She was basically in good health except for a sizeable headache that would be gone in a few minutes. Ranma had always been a quick healer, she figured it was due to her martial arts. She would be completely healed already except that she had found a while ago that she heals faster when awake and concentrating. Ranma could hear Akane whimpering and cursing her temper as tears fell to the floor.

"Akane?"

She looked up and saw Ranma staring at her, concerned. How could she have been so stupid? Hitting her knew friend like that! She didn’t even know what had come over her. There were just so many emotions at play and she only knew of one way to deal with things like that, so she lashed out. But that is not an excuse. Ranma probably wouldn’t want to be her friend anymore. Damn her temper!

"Akane, are you crying?"

There was no anger in Ranma’s voice. She should be angry, so why did she sound upset? Akane lifted her head and Ranma could see the tearstains on her cheeks, answering her question.

If there was one thing Ranma couldn’t handle was seeing a girl cry. "Come here, Akane."

Akane stood up, but seemed reluctant to stepping any closer to the girl.

"Akane, I’m alright. I’ve taken worse hits before. Now come over here." Ranma’s voice was gentle and soothing. Akane couldn’t help but feel drawn to the pigtailed girl. She soon found herself being cradled in Ranma’s arms while she cried and tried to apologize to her friend.

"Shh." Ranma held her new friend close to settle the poor girls crying fit. "It’s ok, Akane. Do you want to tell me what was bothering you?"

"Oh, I’m sorry Ranma. I didn’t mean to hit you." Akane wasn’t sure if she could tell Ranma exactly why she was upset. What if she was wrong and Ranma wasn’t really interested in her? She was still pretty sure that she liked guys, anyway.

‘Really? Is that why you spend most of the day cursing them?’

‘You again? You are really annoying!’

‘Whatever. If you listen to me this time it might work out better you stupid tomboy.’

‘TOMBOY?!’

‘Yeah! Who else would be so physical and hurt an innocent girl like that.’

‘. . . ‘

‘Ranma is a sweet person and she would probably understand if you told her how you feel.’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Yes, you do. You just need faith in your friends.’

Reluctantly, Akane conceded to her inner voice, ‘Ok.’ "Ranma."

"Yeah?"

Akane hesitated under the redhead’s gaze. She could feel a lump catch in her throat, but with determination she swallowed and firmed her resolve. "I like you, but not the same way you like me."

"Uhm. Would you care to elaborate on that a little?"

"I just don’t think I feel the same way about girls that you do."

Ranma was not stupid. She had grown up in an Amazon village for a good portion of her life and she knew there were women who were attracted to other women. She also knew that those views were not the most popular. Ranma had learned to appreciate the female body quite a deal but she also liked guys so she could understand Akane’s feelings. That is, if Ranma was right about where this conversation was headed.

Ticking off the facts in her head, Ranma was fairly certain that she had screwed up the girl’s views on sexuality. ‘I probably came on too strong again. But she did blush at my compliments and she didn’t seem to complain over the attention I was giving her. Then she blew up on our walk to her home about lesbians. Yep, I’ve confused the hell out of her. She either wants me but can’t let go of men, or she likes me but hates how I come on to her. I wonder if I can change her mind about women?’

"I’m sorry, Akane. I was a little too forward with you I guess."

Akane sighed and sat on the bed table next to Ranma. "It’s alright, I should’ve talked to you sooner before I did something rash. So why’d you do it anyway?"

"I . . well, you are a pretty girl." That wasn’t the only reason, but it would be the easiest for Akane to understand. Ranma didn’t get much in the way of affection from her adopted family and everywhere she went there was usually someone waiting to pick a bone with her. She didn’t easily admit this to herself for a while, but she was desperate for love, real or imaginary, so she was always on the look out for a prospective candidate. Of course, Ranma did have her standards, no pathetic losers. That cut the numbers down quite a bit.

"Does your head hurt?"

Ranma checked but seemed fine. "Looks good, just a slight bruise is all. It’ll be gone in a little while. Look, Akane, I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I do like you. How about you?"

Akane nodded her head as she leaned back up against the red head.

"Ok. Let’s get out of here and talk for a while." For Ranma, friendship was just as rare as love, but it was a good consolation prize. And who knows. Given time, Akane might change her mind and they could . . . oh fuck. Ranma wasn’t going to be around Nerima forever, not much more than a month really. She had no where to be now, that was true, but she couldn’t stay for long. Nothing in her life was that stable.

"Ahem."

Dr. Tofu stepped into the room and waited for the two girls to compose themselves before he gave Ranma a final look over. He was in his mid twenties, Ranma guessed, and wore a white gi. A fairly handsome man in glasses and slicked back hair, his touch was very gentle which Ranma appreciated greatly.

"So what happened? This looks like it was a pretty heavy hit Ranma. Did Akane take a swipe at you?"

"Yeah, she’s a regular powerhouse."

"Hey!" She couldn’t believe Ranma was insulting her after they just had that heart to heart talk. "I said I was sorry!"

Ranma and Dr. Tofu looked up at Akane surprised.

"I was just making a joke. I didn’t know you were really that strong."

Akane blushed and stayed quiet until Dr. Tofu finished checking Ranma. Ranma had just been teasing. She really needed to watch her temper.

There was a knock at the door. "Doctor? Are you in?"

"K-K-Kasumi?!"

Ranma looked at the doctor confused. A moment ago he was an ordinary professional doctor now all of a sudden he was falling apart. A tall girl stepped into the room. She had long black hair like Akane and it was pulled together in a blue bow draped over her left shoulder. She was a very pleasant looking woman with a motherly attitude about her.

"Kasumi!" That was as much warning as Akane could get out when suddenly Ranma felt a terrible crack in her neck. Dr. Tofu had been probing her bruised head; now stuck at an odd angle. The surprise in her eyes spoke for itself.

Kasumi greeted her sister and then came across Ranma. She tilted her head a little to get a good look at the redhead.

"Kasumi! F-Fancy meeting you here! Can I get you some tea?" Dr. Tofu’s glasses had fogged up and he was currently talking to a medical skeleton standing in the corner of the room.

"You are so funny, Dr. Tofu." Kasumi giggled. "I brought you the book I borrowed last week."

"Hmm? Oh thank you, thank you, hehe." The book was passed to Dr. Tofu and then flipped out the closed window.

"Well we should be going Ranma." Akane decided to save her friend before things got much worse. "See you at home Kasumi."

"Ok Akane." The two girls left in a hurry. More sounds of breaking glass could be heard as they closed the front door to the clinic. Akane sighed and walked for home.

"Is he always like that?" Ranma was having sort of a difficult time walking with her head fixed at such an odd angle. She could still see how depressed Akane had become though.

"No. He’s only like that around Kasumi."

Ranma took a close look at her friend, "You liked him, didn’t you?"

"Yeah." Akane walked on thinking about Dr. Tofu. "I’ve had a crush on him since I was little, but I guess that’s all it was." Silence fell over the two girls as they walked the rest of the way home. Only stopping to pick up Ranma’s backpack which proved to heavy for Akane to even budge. She would have to remember to ask Ranma about that.

They arrived at the Tendo home a half-hour later. Akane’s father, Soun, was out. Nabiki said he had gone out to celebrate the return of one of his old friends. Kasumi returned soon after and had dinner ready later. Akane and Ranma spent the time working on the homework for the evening. To Akane’s surprise, Ranma was actually a very smart person for someone who had spent so much time out of school. Ranma told her about her great grandmother in China and how she was forced to read textbooks to get an education.

"So eventually, I’d gotten so used to reading whatever my great grandmother gave me that it sort of became a habit of mine. I didn’t really start getting into this math and science stuff till I first came back to Japan. Great grandmother usually gave me Amazon lore and what she called worldly literature." Ranma sat cross-legged on Akane’s bed flipping through the same book she had out at school.

Akane looked up from the math book on her desk to study the girl on her bed. "How come you left your great grandmother Ranma?"

"Hmm? Oh, she wasn’t my real great grandmother, but she raised me alongside her great grandchild for six years, so I just got used to calling her that. Anyway, I didn’t really belong with the Amazons, so when I was old enough I decided to leave. Find a place where I belonged, you know?"

"Um. Did you ever try to look for your parents?"

"I really wouldn’t know where to begin."

"What’s you last name?"

"That’s the problem, I don’t know. I doubt they’d even recognize me either. Besides, from what great grandmother could tell me about my father, I don’t think I want to find them." Akane noticed that Ranma’s voice stayed perfectly neutral. She had obviously given up on her family a long time ago. This made Akane feel slightly depressed, but also a little more sure about Ranma. In the short time that she had known this girl, she had somehow opened her heart and shared it with her.

Akane thought of her own parents. Her father was an emotional man. Crying most of the time when something didn’t go the way he wanted it to. He’d been like that ever since her mother died. Akane couldn’t remember much about her mother, except how kind and caring she was. Kasumi reminded her of Kumiko, which is probably why Akane treated Kasumi like the mother of the house. Akane’s thoughts drifted back to Ranma and thought how terrible it must be to not have a real family, someone you could feel in your heart and knew they cared for you.

"Ranma, I want you to stay here."

"Maybe for a while, Akane. Thank you." Ranma had nowhere to be for a little while. Sticking around with Akane could be fun. Even if nothing happened between the two of them, she was a nice person. Ranma felt the soft comfortable bed beneath, much softer and warmer then the ground she normally slept on.

"Great! I’ll show you where the spare room is and I’ll help you get settled in. We should hurry though, I think Kasumi will have dinner ready soon."

Ranma noticeably perked up at the mention of food. Her ramen was good, but eating it for months tended to get on anyone’s nerves. Akane tried again to pick up Ranma’s backpack with the same result as before. Looking a bit sheepish, she moved out of the way so Ranma could lift it.

"How can you do that?" Akane was still amazed by the little girl lifting that huge pack. Ranma was much smaller than Akane, she had trouble figuring out where the girl hid her extra muscle.

"Many years of training, grasshopper."

Akane rolled her eyes at that and led the way down the hallway to the guestroom. Nabiki stepped out of room next to Akane’s in time to see Ranma enter the spare room. This looked as good a time as any to learn something about Ranma. Nabiki could tell from the first time she saw Ranma that there was a mystery to the girl and it wasn’t lesbianism. That was as obvious as a neon sign blinking on the girl’s forehead. She had hoped that Akane would get Ranma talking more about her life in China, but set her earphones down when she heard the conversation wouldn’t be progressing much further.

The spare room had a small futon, dresser, and a simple desk with a lamp. It wasn’t much but the Tendo’s hadn’t gotten company like Ranma in a while. Akane and Ranma had opened the main pouch of the pack and were putting away the girl’s clothes into the dresser.

"Need some help?"

"Hi, Nabiki. Sure, that’d be great." Ranma smiled pleasantly at the older girl and resumed folding one of her red silk blouses and placing it in the drawer. Nabiki took a step closer to the pack and decided to open one of the smaller pouches for more information. She found various jars and packets filled with spices, she guessed.

"Where do you want these?" Nabiki picked up one of the flasks to examine it. The label was written in Chinese, but looked like all the other spices Kasumi used to make her meals.

Ranma looked at the flask and had to hold herself back from snatching the bottle from the girl’s hand. As long as Nabiki had no idea what it was she wouldn’t make the girl suspicious. "I won’t be needing those for a while since I’ll be staying here, so I guess they can just stay in the pack." That would have to do for now until she could hide some of them.

Nabiki continued her search into another of the pouches. She found one tucked between the main pouch and the seat of the pack. It was obviously meant to be a hidden pocket. "Hmm, now I wouldn’t have expected this to be a necessary in survival gear." She hefted a ten-millimeter Glock, careful not to put her finger near the trigger.

Ranma jumped at the gun and snatched it out of Nabiki’s hand, quickly checking that everything was working properly. Akane looked more than a little shocked. "It’s . . uh . . it’s not mine."

Akane turned red with anger. No one should ever bring a gun into her house. It threatened her family’s safety and that was something she wouldn’t have. "Ranma! What are you doing with a gun in my house!" Out of nowhere, Akane came at Ranma with a mallet, ready to cave the girl’s head in.

"Hold on, Akane." Nabiki held her sister’s shoulder and looked back at Ranma. She was no fool, attacking someone with a gun, who also displayed the ability to hurt others was not smart. Taking a less violent path would hopefully insure their safety. "I’m sure Ranma is going to explain this to us very quickly."

Akane stopped but held onto her mallet. "It better be good."

Ranma thought this over for a moment. Sure, she liked Akane, but she wasn’t ready to trust the girl. Ranma could always tell a lie. That would be easy. Just say, you took it from some bad guy but had no way to dispose of it. That would work, but it would also get the gun taken away from her. Ranma needed the gun, so that was out. Oh well, that left one other choice. She sighed. Ranma was so looking forward to a homemade supper.

Without saying a word, Ranma stepped past the two Tendo girls and snatched up the clothes she had been putting away. Dropping it all unceremoniously into her bag, she zipped up the main pouch and stuffed the Glock back in its place.

"I’ll be leaving now." Ranma hefted her backpack, much as she was hefting her new found depression, and proceeded out the door. She stopped for a moment at the front door, the Tendos standing behind her, "Thanks for your hospitality." Ranma left.

Akane and Nabiki stood at the open door, watching the redhead make her way down the street. Her head hung low on her shoulders and the backpack seemed to drag the girl down just a bit more. Akane was still mad, however, and didn’t pay any attention to how pathetic Ranma looked.

"Was that your friend, Akane?" Kasumi came out of the kitchen to see what was going on.

"No, she was just passing through." Akane turned on her heel and headed back up to her room.

"That’s too bad. She seemed like such a nice girl. I thought at least she would stay for dinner." Kasumi turned back into the kitchen to finish dinner. Nabiki was still puzzled by the girl. Why would Ranma have a gun? Was she in danger? Or was she going to cause it? Whatever the answer, Nabiki was certain that they would be much safer with Ranma gone.

Nabiki closed the front door after watching the clouds build up in the sky. Somehow she couldn’t help but shake a dark premonition from her mind. Rain started to fall and in the distance she could see lightening followed up by loud clap of thunder. This was going to be a nasty storm.

End Chapter One

Dinner had gone by quietly. Akane and Nabiki didn’t know what to say about Ranma. Was there anything to say? The girl had brought a dangerous weapon meant for killing into their home. They did the right thing to send the girl away, didn’t they?

Akane picked at her food for a while before standing up and leaving the table. She told Kasumi she wasn’t hungry and left for her room.

Nabiki, for her part, felt a bit of loss now that Ranma was gone. She didn’t really care for the girl but she could have made so much money off the girl and the dojo could use all the support she could get. Oh well.

Kasumi never noticed anything being amiss. She sat in her seat, smiling and thinking about her visit to Dr. Tofu’s. He’d been so silly, like usual. She wondered why he acted in such a way. It must get expensive, paying for all those broken windows. Thus she didn’t notice when Nabiki left after clearing the rest of the table.

Akane was scribbling furiously on her homework paper. She couldn’t believe how easily Ranma had been playing her. She was probably planning on waiting until her family was asleep then shooting each of them in their beds. What a fool she’d been, falling for a pretty face and some deep blue eyes-

No, she was upset at Ranma. That pig-tailed girl was probably out there somewhere laughing at how stupid she was. Akane’s anger was increasing exponentially now. Her pencil snapped in her hand and she just exploded. "Damn you Ranma!"

Her homework flew across the room soon to be followed by the broken pencil and the few books resting on her desk. She still needed something to throw or hit or . . something, but she needed to do it now!

Focusing on her bed, Akane started pounding her pillow until she was too tired to continue. Taking deep breathes, she rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. Akane wasn’t sure what she was feeling. She was upset at Ranma, but a part of her wanted the girl back again. Ranma had been a strange outlet for her emotions and it was something Akane needed desperately. That and a comfortable bed.

Something was sticking in her back and she soon realized it was a book. Reaching around with her right hand, Akane pulled a black, leather bound notebook from beneath her. It was Ranma’s, the same one she’d been reading at school and even scribbling in earlier in her room. She didn’t want to be a snoop so Akane hadn’t asked what was in it, but with Ranma gone . . .

The leather strap come off easy and Akane started leafing through the book’s contents. Most of it was written in Chinese. It seemed to be notes on martial arts and Zen stuff. Occasionally, she found drawings of people performing special kicks and punches, with details further on. Other pages seemed to contain recipes and started to be written in Japanese. Akane guessed this was when Ranma had come back and was learning the language.

The book had about three hundred pages in it and was only a third of the way filled. When Akane came to the last couple of entries she held her breath and stared at what she saw. They were pictures. Pictures of her. Ranma must have done some of these while she was sitting in Akane’s room. There were some practice etchings of her face on the first couple of pages but after that, there were scenes of Akane hitting a homerun, or walking home with her book-bag in tow, or sitting at her desk and doing her homework.

There was obvious talent in Ranma’s work. Was this the same girl she had just thrown out of her home? None of this made sense. How could someone who could draw with such passion and act so caring be bad? Thinking for a while, Akane couldn’t remember anything in Ranma’s attitude that would cause her to thing that the girl could act maliciously. Something else had to be going on. Something was forcing Ranma to carry that gun.

Akane clutched the book close to her breast. Ranma would be back for it and Akane would wait. She needed answers.

"Akane?!" Soun was calling his family together for a family meeting. Akane wondered what it could be about.

"Coming daddy!"

Downstairs, Akane found her father in one of the receiving rooms. Her sisters were kneeling on one side of a low table. Kasumi was in her dress still while Nabiki had changed into kimono. Why’d she do that?

On the other side of her father sat three people she didn’t know. One was an old man in a white gi and a bandana on his forehead, poorly covering the fact he was bald. The second was a woman in her forties who had aged quite gracefully. She carried a katana covered sheathed in silk. The last was a young man with black hair tied back into a pigtail much like Ranma’s, blue eyes like Ranma’s, and wore Chinese clothes like Ranma did.

"Ah, Akane. Have a seat." Her father gestured to a seat by Nabiki, "This is my old friend Genma Saotome, his wife Nodoka, and their son Ranma." Akane took in a quick breath when she heard the boy’s name. "I have something very wonderful to tell you."

Ranma-chan sulked. It’d been months since she had received such an offer to stay at someone’s house. Eating real food, having a warm bath, sleeping in a comfortable bed; she’d give almost anything to have any one of those things right now. Now she was out in the rain, no camp set up and a mission to fulfill. Ranma still shivered at the thought of what she was here to do. She hadn’t even pulled out the handgun to check it in weeks because it gave her the creeps. Martial artists don’t use handguns. There was nothing elegant about a gun. It was indiscriminate and had only one use, killing.

Travelling by herself had given Ranma plenty of time to think about what the Council had asked her to do.

Some time ago, a Japanese scientist, along with a Commander in their army came to the village-seeking recruits. They asked specifically for Ranma because they claimed that she had an innate talent they required. Something required to function something called Evangelion.

Even without television or radio, the Amazons had heard about Second Impact. Great grandmother told Ranma it happened in the middle of the night and shook the entire earth for a few minutes. The Amazons had no idea what caused it but when it was discovered that half the planet, 2.5 billion people, were dead because of it, the Council was eager to cooperate to prevent something like that from happening again. Before they left, the Commander had given Ranma a handgun for her protection.

Cologne, her great grandmother, had told Ranma to prepare to travel to Tokyo-3. The Commander had promised to send a helicopter to pick her up in a couple of months when everything would be ready, but Cologne had insisted that the journey was necessary to focus Ranma’s destiny.

Ranma was only a dozen or so miles from her rendezvous point, but it was too late in the day to continue her journey and she still had three weeks before they needed her to be there. She stopped in a park, and set up camp beneath a bridge.

Lost in thought over what had just happened at the Tendo home, she fell asleep without making dinner. Her dreams were of Akane and how much the girl must hate her now. She didn’t sleep well the rest of the week.

Ranma had spent the last five days in the mountains near Nerima. She needed to get away from the city, someplace where she could concentrate on her martial arts, and forget about Akane.

The last couple of days of her training, Ranma had been concentrating on furthering the control of her ki. She’d been quite pleased with herself when she was able to focus it into a tiny shaft of light and not lose any of the power she normally had behind it. Who needs a gun when you’re a martial artist?

She was heading back to Nerima to spend the night under the bridge she used the last time and from there she’d make her way to Tokyo-3. It was still a week too soon, but the Commander probably wouldn’t mind and she could spend the time getting to know the place. Ranma still wasn’t sure what she was going to be doing, but wasn’t too concerned. The one thing that was a constant in Ranma’s life was adventure. She couldn’t go a full week without someone challenging her or trying to marry her. It made for interesting writing in her diary.

Thinking about it, Ranma realized it’d been a while since she’d written in her diary. She rarely had anyone to confide with. Even her great grandmother didn’t give her the time talk about the things that had been troubling her. Ranma appreciated, the old ghoul for taking care of her, but life had still been hard on Ranma. In the village she was treated like an animal. They all knew she wasn’t a born Amazon and felt that that was reason enough to push her around. Even her sister thought of Ranma as a servant. Cologne had seen the potential in Ranma and so trained her to be a warrior. At first, Ranma thought Cologne was trying to show her affection, but later Ranma found she would be used as the front line when they declared war against the Musk. Ranma had grown up a lot in those years, more than anyone should.

After defeating Herb, Prince of the Musk, Ranma decided to leave the village. She traveled all over China, meeting different fighters and learning new techniques. During a short trip into Japan, Ranma met a couple of exceptional martial artists, Kounji Ukyo and Habiki Ryouga. She spent a year living with them. They were very nice people. Ranma had even gotten a crush on Ryouga, but he and Ukyo had eventually gotten together. A little rejected, Ranma left the couple to their lives. Ryouga had decided to give her the heavy pack filled with supplies and bamboo umbrella to her, saying he’d traveled all over the world with it but he was done travelling now. It was damned heavy, but she got stronger and even learned to wield the heavy umbrella as a weapon the same way Ryouga had.

Ranma returned to the Amazon village after a few months of wandering and took up the role of Enforcer, alienating herself from the rest. It wasn’t long after that that Commander Gendou came to the village looking for her. Of course, the Amazons were only too happy to hand her over to NERV, but the Council hid it the best they could. Despite it all, Ranma still had some respect for Cologne as a great martial artist, and followed her orders to help the Commander.

Ranma had reached the bridge a little while ago and was staring at the river flowing by. Dropping the pack and her clothes, she entered the water to clean herself of the dirt she’d accumulated over the past couple of weeks. People couldn’t normally do this, but after Second Impact, there were far fewer people to object to her indecency. After her bath, she fixed up the tent and set to making some dinner.

Warming up some ramen, Ranma sighed, and started shuffling through her pack for her diary. It was in the top flap of her pack along with her pencil. Or it had been, anyway. When Ranma didn’t find it, she started sifting through another pouch, not there either. Damn, where is it? She started to tear apart her pack, pulling out her clothes, pots, pans, spices, mystical items, and an assortment of weapons. Still nothing.

Ranma had forgotten about her dinner and was frantically going through all of her things again with no luck. Where did she leave it? It had everything in it, her thoughts, interests, magic spells, martial arts techniques; it was the only thing that made her feel comfortable while she was out on her own. It had to be here!

Tears were starting to form in Ranma’s eyes. She’d give anything, absolutely anything to get that book back. No family, friends, or a life beyond the art, that book was all she had and now she didn’t even have that. Where could it be?!

Akane.

Ranma remembered drawing in it while she was with Akane, in her room. She must have left it lying on the bed when they had gone to settle her into the guestroom. Could she go back there and get it? Ranma remembered how angry Akane had been when she discovered the handgun. Silently, Ranma cursed the Commander for making her take the thing. Her martial arts could protect her better than any gun and it didn’t make her feel so damned nervous.

Great grandmother would say she was being silly, but she couldn’t leave her diary behind. Ranma made up her mind. She’d go back and get it, and hopefully she could do it without being noticed. The less confrontation the better.

Quickly, Ranma packed her belongings and started making her way back to the Tendo dojo. With very little effort she bound on to the nearest roof outside of the park and hopped from one to the other. Normally, this would be impossible and with a pack that weighed almost a ton it was doubly impossible, but for Ranma this was simply the fastest way to travel.

Something on the edge of her mind wondered if Akane had been mad enough to destroy the diary. Ranma ran a little faster.

How do you like that? This had been one of the worst weeks of Akane’s life. First she falls for some passing girl. Then later she kicks the same girl out of her house in rage. Finds the leather bound notebook in her room, filled with some of the sweetest things she’d ever seen, and now her family pushes her to become engaged to a guy with the same name, age, and style as the girl she fell for. He would be a perfect copy of Ranma-chan except he’s an idiot and acts like a jerk!

Thank god his mother was there to stop him before he put his foot in his mouth too far. Akane had been two seconds away from smashing the table on his head, but Mrs. Saotome had intervened and told Ranma that he was bringing shame to himself and the family.

Nodoka and Genma had left for the Saotome home, leaving Ranma behind so the two of them could get to know each other better. Akane had shown him to the spare room and left before he could say anything stupid.

Things had settled down a bit once Genma had gone. Ranma acted like a jerk a little too often, but he had his sweet moments which reminded Akane of Ranma-chan. Akane still wondered about the coincidences, but this would at least be easier for Akane than the relationship she would’ve had with Ranma-chan. Ranma-kun and Akane got into plenty of arguments, ending with her flattening him under one of her mallets, but he always did something to apologize.

Things had been going so well, that Ranma had even taken Akane out to dinner and a movie. Sure, not incredibly original, but she couldn’t really expect too much from the baka. The movie was an old Jackie Chan flick; Akane would have chosen something romantic, but then she remembered whom she was with. Afterwards they had taken a stroll through the park, holding hands and passing the time by talking about their lives. By the end, Akane was really enjoying the date, but Ranma had to go and say something stupid. Insults were thrown about, Ranma said something about Akane’s hips, Mr. Mallet made an impromptu appearance and they ended the date early.

After stomping into her room, Akane sat on her bed and threw her pillow at the door. She stopped when she saw Ranma-chan’s book. Akane had been certain the girl would have come back for it. A week had passed and Ranma had not returned. Akane still got upset at herself for letting the redhead go, wondering about what might have been. Her anger gone, Akane picked up the book and pillow and sat back on her bed, sifting through the pages once again.

Akane laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling, but not really seeing anything but the sketches in Ranma-chan’s book. It was clutched tightly against her breast in both hands like a child would with a teddy bear. Akane could only think of the good things about the Ranma-chan and silently wondered what she was doing. She hoped Ranma-chan wouldn’t hold a grudge if they met again. Her fears had been fair and Ranma-chan hadn’t offered any sort of explanation.

Remembering the huge pack the girl carried around, she imagined Ranma was sleeping in a tent under a bridge somewhere. Poor girl.

Akane fell asleep late that night, thinking of Ranma-chan again.

‘Geez, doesn’t this girl ever go to sleep?’

It was raining out and Ranma-chan had been waiting on the roof above Akane’s room waiting for the light to go out, her clothes were soaked and her lip trembled from the cold. The pack was left on the side of the house because it would surely have broken through the roof if left sitting for too long.

It had to be past midnight when the light finally did go off. The storm had picked up and lightening could be seen every now and then. She waited another half-hour before checking to see if Akane was asleep. As quietly as possible, Ranma dangled by her legs from the rafters to look into Akane’s room. She could see the girl sleeping under the covers, clutching something to her chest. The window was unlocked, so Ranma swung herself into the bedroom and landed on her feet without making a sound. Part of the carpet was becoming soaked from the water dripping off of Ranma-chan’s clothes. Closing the window again, the rain continued to pitter-patter against the pane.

She started with the desk and trash bin. They were the most obvious place to put a book left by someone you were mad at. Nothing. She checked each of the desk drawers, vanity area, closet, and clothes drawer, the flashes from outside dispelling the darkness so she could see. Nothing.

‘Damn! It just has to be here. Where else could Akane have put it?’

Scanning the room again, Ranma-chan came across Akane’s form shifting under the covers. A sharp edge stuck out of the sheets. It was definitely something clutched in her arms. Ranma swore, that had to be it.

Edging close to the bed, she started to pull back the covers a little to make sure it was her diary. Ranma-chan blushed when she saw the nightie Akane was wearing lit up by another flash of lightening. Under different circumstances, she might have enjoyed this a little more, but right now all she wanted was her diary.

‘Why is Akane holding onto it in her bed anyway? She must have looked through it. She might even have known that I was going to be back for it. But, if she’s mad, why would she hold it in her sleep so securely?’ Ranma-chan thought about this a moment, but decided it wasn’t worth exploring, not while her entire life was held in some strangers hands.

Taking and edge of the book, Ranma-chan hoped she could slip it out of the sleeping girls grasp without disturbing anything. Fate, however, had other plans. Akane slowly turned over in her sleep so she was resting on her side, facing Ranma.

"Hi, Ranma."

Ranma-chan’s heart skipped a beat. She was sure Akane was still asleep, had she been caught?

"You really think I’m cute?"

Ranma-chan watched the other girl a moment and saw her blush as she heard Ranma-chan’s response in her dream. ‘Maybe she isn’t upset at me anymore if she’s dreaming about me.’ Tugging again at the diary, it came loose and Ranma-chan let out a soft sigh of relief.

"Ranma."

A hand shot out and grabbed her arm, frightening the hell out of the redhead. Akane’s grip on her wrist wasn’t strong but neither was it going to let go anytime soon. Akane’s breathing was still slow and deep so she was still asleep; Ranma had to think. If she waited for Akane to let go on her own, she’d be able to leave unnoticed. That was supposing Akane was going to let go and if she didn’t fall asleep first. Maybe if she worked at it slowly enough she could . . .

Akane’s hand started to move on it’s own. It was not the dreamlike movements Ranma wanted though. This was someone slowly gaining consciousness.

"Ran- . . RANMA!"

Akane shot up in her bed still hold on to the frightened red head. She held the wet girl by the wrist and noticed the book in her hand. Without thinking, Akane grabbed the book from the girl’s hand and held it close to her body.

"A-Akane! I didn’t mean to- . . I . I didn’t mean to-"

"Wake me up?!"

"Uh."

"You’re not getting this book away from me that easily. I want some answers Ranma." Ranma-chan stared desperately at the book that was once again, out of her reach.

"Look, I’m sorry about the gun. I wouldn’t have it around if it were up to me."

Akane smiled. "So there is something going on. I knew you weren’t a bad person, but I need to hear the truth from you."

"B-B-But Akane! I can’t! I was told I could get into trouble if I said anything." Though Ranma-chan was becoming flustered by her inability to tell Akane what she wanted to hear, she kept her eyes locked on the book, afraid that if she looked away it may vanish forever.

"Well that’s too bad Ranma, cause I’m not giving you back this book until you can make me feel better about who you are."

Ranma was getting very upset. Her diary was only a few feet away from her, held tightly in the other girl’s arms, but she couldn’t do anything. Ranma wasn’t ready to hurt the girl for the book, but she didn’t feel secure without it. She was wet, cold, angry, helpless, and without her diary she felt even more alone. Tears started to well up in Ranma-chan’s eyes. "Akane . . . Akane please give me back my book. Please."

Akane saw the tears fall from Ranma’s eyes, but if she’d been tricked before, she wasn’t going to be so easily tricked again. "Give me one good reason, Ranma. Or maybe I should just tear this thing in two." Akane grasped the binding with two hands to show she was willing to rip the book apart.

"NO!!" Ranma scrambled over to the bed and tried to take it from Akane. They struggled for a moment, rolling across the bed and falling off the edge, neither one letting go. "Please, Akane, I don’t have anything except this book. Please, Akane!!"

Akane blanked at this startling revelation. Could Ranma really be so alone? Again, she thought of Ranma when she first met her.

‘S-So where are you headed?’

‘Nowhere really. I haven’t got any permanent residence or nothing. You could say I’m on a rather long stroll through the park.’

Ranma-chan’s hands let go of the book and pulled back into a punch. A feint blue aura was beginning to form around the redhead’s hands as she threatened Akane with violence, the water on her hands turned to steam as she squared off with the bigger girl. Akane would’ve taken up a defensive stance in retaliation, but the tears Ranma-chan was trying to hold back without success caused her to hold back. She saw a silent and desperate plea in the girl’s blue eyes; Akane’s hands loosened their grip of the diary.

"Okay." The book slipped through Akane’s grasp and became wrapped up in the other girl’s arms. This was not a dangerous person, not this small girl, frightened to have a book taken from her. Akane still didn’t know the truth about the gun, but she figured it was a whole lot less terrible than she first thought.

Ranma was still cuddling the book, her knees tucked into her chest, edging herself away from Akane. Her eyes were closed as more tears threatened to fall. She shook every now and then, not from the cold, but from the fear of almost losing a piece of herself.

"Ranma?" The redhead was startled out of her crying when a hand grasped her shoulder. Akane was sitting on her knees beside her trembling friend. Whatever life Ranma had lived, it was apparent the girl had survived emotionally, barely. "Ranma, I’m sorry."

Her whole life she’d spent alone, emotionally. Great grandmother never cared for her except that she was a good fighter. Not being born Amazon, most of the others treated her like a slave if they acknowledged her at all. She thought if she became the greatest warrior that things would change, but she was only pushed further. Just a tool to be used.

Ranma tentatively reached out to Akane. When she saw the other girl hold out her hand Ranma crawled over and embraced her, crying softly into her shoulder.

Akane held onto Ranma for a while, her nightie becoming wet from the excess water rolling off of the other girl’s clothes. Stroking the girl’s red hair and rubbing her other hand in a circle over the girl’s back, she attempted to soothe Ranma-chan’s trembling. After some minutes, the quiet sobbing turned into a little sniffling and then faded completely. Akane continued the embrace even as Ranma fell asleep, the soaked nightie forgotten as Akane sighed in contentment after the redhead began to snore lightly. The storm outside died down to a light downpour.

"Aahhhhh!"

The Tendo residents were slowly beginning to wake up peacefully until they were startled by a cry coming from the bathroom. Ranma-kun came running out into the hallway, swiftly pursued by an angry brunette with only a towel clasped about her chest.

"I’m sorry Nabiki! I thought no one else was up, I . . ."

"Get back here Saotome Ranma. You are gonna pay for walking in on me!" Truth be told, Nabiki wasn’t really that upset considering Ranma had walked in on her in the buff. She stared long enough to get a good idea of the opportunity she passed up by giving him to Akane. Chasing the half-naked Ranma around the house like this was just an easy way of making him ‘apologize’. She was already thinking of the shoes she saw last week in the mall. "What would your iinazuke think if she found you looking at another woman, and her own sister at that!"

"Hey, you know it wasn’t like that, besides I noticed you got a good look yourself. And I didn’t want this engagement in the-" Backing away from Nabiki, Ranma failed to notice one of the small footstools by the closet and began to tumble backwards. Yelping in surprise, he stumbled, arms flailing, and crashed into Akane’s door, knocking it open.

"Smooth move. I thought you were a martial artist. Shouldn’t you have . . been . . able-" Nabiki stopped and blinked. With Akane’s door open she got a good look at her sister sleeping soundly in her bed. The sun falling over her soft features and smiling face; it was almost angelic. What shocked her, however, was the second person cradled in her sister’s arms.

"I was thinking of something else, so I didn’t notice the stool so-" Ranma hesitated in the middle of explanation. Nabiki had gotten a nervous tick happening on her eyebrow he’d never seen before. She was obviously shocked about something. Following her gaze, Ranma came upon the couple sleeping in Akane’s bed. "Holy heck!" Ranma thought a moment, this would be his perfect opportunity to break out of the engagement. "I believe you were going to say something about infidelity Nabiki."

Nabiki still hadn’t moved or even averted her eyes. She only muttered something so softly Ranma had a hard time of picking it up.

"RANMA!!"

"Ow! Wait till I back off before you scream in my ear!" Ranma-kun twisted a finger in his right ear to stop the ringing.

Nabiki took a moment to settle her nerves and scanned the hall to be sure Kasumi and her father weren’t there. Then, without hesitation, Nabiki grabbed Ranma by the shoulder and pushed him further into the room and closed the door behind her.

"Akane?" Nabiki walked to the side of the bed and shook her sister’s arm.

"Hmm? What? Is that you Ranma?" Akane’s mind wasn’t yet quite operational and thus did not realize that Ranma-chan was in her arms and a totally different person was trying to rouse her.

"Ahem."

That wasn’t right. Ranma was next to her on the bed. Did she throw her voice? Who threw their voice to cough?

Something finally clicked and Akane shot up in bed. Ranma-kun blushed at seeing his fiancée in a simple nightie and focused his attention on a very interesting piece of carpet.

"Nabiki!"

"Akane."

"Wh-What-What are you doing here?!"

"Oh, I don’t think that is as important as what she is doing here." Nabiki pointed accusingly at Ranma-chan, still clutching Akane’s waist and mumbling something in her waking slumber. A slight rosy hue developed across Akane’s face.

"Ranma came back last night for a book she left behind and we had sort of a heart to heart."

"No we didn’t."

Akane hadn’t noticed Ranma-kun in her room and should have remained that way, if the rising anger in Akane had anything to say about it. "What the hell are you doing in my room you PERVERT?!"

"Hey! I’m not the one sleeping with another girl and Nabiki forced me in here." Said Ranma-kun matter-of-factly.

"I thought we should minimize the damage by keeping as many people in the dark as possible." Nabiki supplied.

Clutching the sheets to her bosom, Akane turned back to Nabiki. "But why did you bring him in here!?"

"Well, you don’t want him to go running around telling everyone you’ve been sleeping with girls, do you?" Akane frowned at this, but her sister was probably right. If anyone found out, rumors would be flying around Furikan before the end of the day.

"Tell them to go away, Akane." A groggy redhead started to stir beside Akane. "It’s too early to wake up yet. . ."

"Uhm, Ranma. We have company."

"Huh?"

"My sister is in the room and a pervert boy."

"What?!" Ranma-chan did a repeat act of Akane’s wake up with a few more results. During the night, she had taken off her shirt and pants to get more comfortable. When she sat up, Nabiki gawked at her proportions, and Ranma-kun barely kept himself from fainting due to a massive nosebleed he procured. "Eeep." She was back under the covers in a flash, not even sticking her head out this time.

Blushing a bit more, Akane turned back to Nabiki, "Could you two give us a moment to change."

Nabiki’s first thought was to sell some pictures of Ranma-chan. Her second thought was how crazy her little sister was to sleep with such a dangerous person. Frowning a bit, she decided to give Akane the benefit of the doubt and grabbed Ranma-kun’s locked body on her way out.

"They’re gone." Akane whispered to the shifting bundle of sheets, trying not to react to the warmth she felt at her waist.

Ranma slowly appeared from beneath the covers to check the room before looking at Akane.

"Blue?"

Akane gasped at Ranma’s observation and smacked the girl over the head with a pillow. She could still hear the snicker from beneath the pillow and turned another shade of red.

"So who’s the chick with Akane." Asked Ranma-kun once he and Nabiki had settled themselves in the hallway.

"That was Ranma."

"Huh? You mean we’ve got the same name?"

"Boy, you are a quick one, aren’t you Saotome?"

"At least I’m not the one standing in the hallway with nothing on but a towel." Nabiki gasped and looked down at her half naked body and ran for her room.

Ranma snickered. He had been opposed to the arranged marriage as much as Akane had been, but he couldn’t argue with his mother. Sure, she was cute, but Akane had a very violent temper. He could still feel the lump on his head where her mallet had struck him. With this new revelation, his parents may be the ones to end this engagement. Things might just go his way after all.

If not, well, Ranma-kun couldn’t deny that Nabiki had a really nice body. It was a good thing she had left before noticing his arousal.

The four met in Akane’s room five minutes later, this time fully dressed, bright eyed, and bushy . . . whatever.

"So what are you doing back here Ranma?" Nabiki asked.

"You told me to come."

"I think she’s talking to me, moron." Ranma-chan snapped at the boy. "Unless your name is Ranma." It was. There was a little discussion, which resulted in Ranma-kun simply staying quiet while they talked.

"So, why did you come back?"

"I didn’t want to, but I had to get my book."

"It must be an important book." There was some skepticism in Nabiki’s voice.

"It’s true, Nabiki. I think we misjudged Ranma the first time she was here." Akane figured she owed Ranma-chan for the way she had acted last week.

"She brought a gun into the house Akane. Who knows what else she has in that bag of hers." Ranma-kun startled at this. He started eyeing this red head critically. She didn’t look dangerous, but he had learned long ago that things aren’t always what they seem. She was strong, and from what little he’d seen of her she was definitely a martial artist. It was something in the simple grace she put into every gesture.

"I’m sorry about that Nabiki, but you weren’t supposed to find it." Ranma-chan mumbled with her head down.

"What’s wrong did I ruin your plans to kill anonymously?!"

"Nabiki!" This time Akane had had enough of her sister’s condescending and accusing tone. "Ranma is not a dangerous person. She has a very good reason for having that gun."

"Which is?"

Akane drew a blank. She’d sort of forgot to get an answer about that last night. "I . . I . . Ranma?"

"I’m not supposed to be telling you this, so you better keep quiet. It could get us into trouble." Ranma waited until she had the full attention of the teenagers around her. "I’m on my way to Tokyo-3 to become an Eva pilot. Don’t ask what that is, cause I don’t know. But great grandmother seemed to think it was very important that I go and help. Before I left the village, a military guy gave me a handgun. He said there were people out here that might try to kill me or something. I refused at first, cause I knew how to use weapons from training, but he said that if these people were close enough to be hit by my umbrella then I would already be in over my head."

Everyone took a moment to digest what they’ve been told. Nabiki was the first to speak up. "So you are going to be an Eva pilot?"

"Uhm, yeah, I guess so."

"So what’s so special about you?" Ranma-kun had gotten tired of simply listening to the conversation. The girl didn’t look all that special. He was still thinking of what she said about her umbrella. He must’ve been wrong about her being a martial artist. But she was definitely getting angry about something.

"There’s a whole lot more to me than you’ll ever know, jerk!"

"Ha! As if you could really compare to me."

Ranma-chan stood over Ranma-kun and glared at him. "You want to settle this outside buster!?"

"Forget it." Ranma-kun waved his hand dismissively. Ranma-chan took it as a sign of his cowardice. "I don’t fight girls."

Ranma-chan’s anger grew but she kept her voice as neutral as possible. "Oh, really."

"Hey I-ugk!" Ranma-chan hefted Ranma-kun by his shirt collar and threw him out the open window. She soon followed under her own power and landed softly by the fallen boy. Akane and Nabiki rushed to the window expecting to see the two lying on the ground, instead they found Ranma-chan and Ranma-kun squaring off over the koi pond.

"What did you do that for you tomboy!?"

"We’re gonna find out if you are filled with as much hot air as I think you are, jerk."

"I already told you I don’t fight girls." Ranma-kun kept a defensive stance despite his statement.

Ranma-chan cracked her knuckles, "Get over it." She leapt at the pig-tailed boy, hands clenched and ready to smash him into the ground.

Her hand passed through air as Ranma-chan swung at her opponent. The boy had ducked and was tumbling over her kicking leg. She snapped her feat together and flipped backwards to land in front of the boy again. Ranma-kun had barely enough time to set up his defenses when the first barrage of attacks came at him. Many of the strikes came within millimeters of hitting him before he was able to raise his arm. After about a minute of this, Ranma-kun was breathing hard and sporting a new line of bruises along his forearms. Ranma-chan took a step back to admire her handy work, not even breaking a sweat.

"Well that was a good warm up, huh? Now what say we really start a fight?" She took an offensive stance and waited for Ranma-kun to reply.

"I . . uh-I"

This fight was going well. Ranma-chan hadn’t found anyone that could move as fast or put up with as much abuse as this Ranma-kun was. He was still slower, but given time, he could be a decent challenge. She had to get him into this. "What’s wrong Ranma? Afraid of getting beaten up by a girl? Is that why you don’t fight girls, cause you can’t win?"

"WHAT?!" That’s it, get angry kid. "I don’t fear nothin!" Ranma-kun took up his own fighting stance. "And I don’t lose!"

Ranma-chan smirked and rushed the boy once again. This time, however, he did not just dodge, but fought back with the same skill. Hands and feet flew, loud slaps of flesh against flesh could be heard, but neither of their attacks was getting through the other’s defenses.

Akane and Nabiki had rushed downstairs to watch the fight unfold. But they were having trouble following as the two combatants moved faster than they could follow.

"Akane, can you see what they’re doing?"

Akane wasn’t able to respond as she watched the fighters. She’d never seen anyone move this fast. Akane had always assumed she was the best, but in one morning two people showed her how wrong she was.

Ranma-chan flipped in the air and came to rest on the other side of the pond, looking over at her gasping opponent. He was good, but she was far better. Ranma-chan hadn’t even gone her hardest yet, but she was hoping Ranma would be able to go just a little further. First, she had to see how far she could push the arrogant boy. "Oh Ranma. It looks like you’re tiring. Do you want to give up while you still have some dignity?"

Ranma-kun was doubled over holding himself up on his knees. How could this girl not be tired, yet? Even oyagi couldn’t put up as much of a fight as this girl had. What was worse, he could tell she was holding back.

So lost in his thoughts, Ranma-kun had barely heard Ranma-chan’s taunt. As soon as it registered that she was teasing him again, Ranma-kun grew angry. He looked at the smirking redhead with vengeance in his eyes.

Now that’s more like it, Ranma-chan thought. I just love a man that doesn’t know when to quit.

As Ranma-chan watched Ranma-kun’s anger grow she was a bit startled to see his aura take shape around his body. It was red and looked much like the center of a flame.

Hmm, must have hit a nerve. I’ll have to remember that one next time. Now this fight gets interesting.

Akane’s mouth gaped as she saw the two separate once again after throwing a couple hundred punches at each other. Ranma-chan seemed unaffected by the whole fight, but Ranma-kun, who had been keeping up barely, was gasping for breath like he’d been hit in the stomach with a hammer. From her place inside the house, she could hear Ranma-chan take a jab at Ranma-kun’s pride. What was surprising was it got results from him. His body began to glow a deep red.

This is getting dangerous, Akane thought. I’d better stop them before someone gets hurt.

Akane paused at the door as a thought occurred to her, how do I stop two crazed martial artists so far ahead of me?

Ranma-chan watched as Ranma-kun discovered his aura for the first time. It really is a special occasion. She may not like him particularly, but at least she had respect for him now. If only she could keep him around long enough, she might be able to help him reach another level in his ability. "Well, Ranma? Are you still too afraid to attack me?"

Ranma-kun’s response to this was a roar followed by a jump over the koi pond, foot ready to side kick the girl into tomorrow.

He was only a couple of feet away from Ranma-chan when her hand shot up and grabbed his ankle. Using his momentum, Ranma-chan flung Ranma-kun into the ground still holding onto his ankle.

Ranma was dazed for a moment, but woke to find himself in a crater, half buried in dirt. To say the least, it hurt. Nothing was broken, but he’d be surprised if he didn’t have a full body bruise in a little while. The girl had his left leg in her hand and used it to roll him over.

"Still conscious? That’s good. I wouldn’t want my new student to fall asleep during his training."

"Hey, I ain’t nobody’s student." Ranma-kun spat back at her.

"Oh really? Well let me give you something to think about Ranma." Ranma-chan raised her hand, palm facing Ranma-kun. He could see her concentrate a little after dropping his leg.

Good. Now if I can just get enough time to sit up, I can tackle her into the pond and hold her there until she says uncle.

Ranma never got time, however. A glowing ball soon found it’s way to Ranma-chan’s outstretched arm. He stared wide-eyed at the ki ball, something he never thought possible. In the next instant, Ranma-kun was hit straight on by the blast and knocked unconscious by the redhead.

Ranma-chan smiled proudly and wiped her hands of the dirt. She absently tossed her pigtail over her shoulder and walked around the koi pond to the Tendo house.

Akane ran out of the house once the battle was over. "Ranma! How . . . How did you-?" A look of concern grew on her face as she stared at the human crater then turned back to the other girl ready to pounce her.

"He’ll be fine, Akane. He’s actually the first person I’ve met that could go so far against me. I hope he reconsiders and lets me train him a bit. I’m sure I could turn him into a good sparring partner."

"What makes you think he’ll want to practice with you after the way you just beat him?" Akane growled at the smirking redhead.

"Come on, Akane. He’s a martial artist. He may not like learning things from a girl, but I think I’ve given him a good reason to take me up on my offer."

The two girls started to make there way into the house when Akane realized something else, "Wait! We have to help him."

"Why? I told you he’ll be fine."

"Yeah but if my father sees what condition my iinazuke is in, he’ll start crying again."

Ranma-chan frowned at this. Iinazuke? "Since when did you get engaged?"

"Uhm. Last week actually. After you left."

Ranma-chan raised her eyebrow and looked at Akane a little upset. "Boy, you don’t wait long do ya?"

"Hey, it wasn’t like I wanted to get engaged to the jerk! Our parents forced us together!"

Ranma-chan scowled and looked back at the unconscious boy. There is more incentive to having him as a student than I thought. I get to beat the snot out of the guy who stole Akane away from me! No, it wasn’t his fault either. Like Akane said, their parents arranged this.

"Do you like him?"

Akane looked at Ranma-kun, lying peacefully in the dirt, anger raising once again. "Like him? I don’t even like being near the macho, arrogant, thick-headed, perverted, JERK!"

A small smile crept across Ranma-chan’s lips. Kneeling into the impact crater, she picked Ranma-kun up and threw him over her shoulder, barely noticing the extra weight. Ranma-chan walked back into the house heading for the spare room she guessed Ranma-kun had been sleeping in. Walking out of the room, she passed Akane at the door.

In a quiet, affectionate tone, Akane looked at the Ranma-kun, "Thanks, Ranma-chan."

Ranma-chan despaired. It didn’t take a genius to see Akane was already falling for the boy even if all she’d done with him was fight. It was in the tone of her voice. Ranma-chan had heard it while Akane had been insulting him.

Ranma sighed, "I’m gonna take a bath if you don’t mind."

Without taking her eyes off of Ranma-kun, "No. Go right ahead, Ranma-chan."

Ranma-chan sighed again and walked downstairs to the bath. Oh well. At least Akane wasn’t mad at her anymore. She hadn’t meant to confuse the girl so much. Ranma-chan just thought it’d be fun to have a fling with the girl until she had to head over to Tokyo-3 and NERV headquarters. ‘I wish I’d just told her the truth from the beginning. Maybe things could’ve been different.’

"Oh, hello there. I didn’t think we’d so you again. Did you just arrive?" Kasumi came out of the kitchen when Ranma-chan finished with her bath. The eldest Tendo daughter never knew why Ranma-chan had left, but she was also thinking of other people at the time.

"Hi. I’m Ranma. Yeah, I got here not to long ago. I’ve been catching up with Akane."

"Ranma? How strange. Have you met Akane’s iinazuke? His name is Ranma too." Kasumi led Ranma-chan to the table where she had breakfast already set. Mr. Tendo was in his seat reading the paper and sipping on some tea.

"Yeah, I . . I sort of ran into him a little while ago."

Kasumi smiled and set an extra plate down before Ranma-chan before turning to her father. "Daddy, this is Ranma."

Not looking up from his paper, Soun replied, "Yes, I know Kasumi. I was there when they were engaged remember?"

"No daddy. This is not Ranma, this is . . . Onna-Ranma." This could get confusing.

Soun dropped his paper to look at the small redheaded girl sitting across the table from him. His eyes widened as he inspected the girl. Her hair was tied in a pigtail, she wore Chinese clothes, same eye color . . .

"Ranma, my boy?! What’s happened to you!" Soun rushed over to Ranma-chan and held her by the shoulders staring at her body and face. She looked exactly the way Ranma would if he were a girl with red hair. "Did something terrible happen to you while on your training trip? Were you somehow cursed into turning into a girl? Oh, why didn’t you tell us sooner?! We should’ve pushed you and Akane together sooner so we could at least have an heir!"

‘Geez, what was with this guy? Curse? Where did he get that idea? A Japanese manga?’

Ranma-chan blushed a little as she thought of Ranma-kun being pushed to have a child, then replaced Akane’s image with her own.

‘Where the hell did that come from?! I don’t even like Ranma!’

That sounded a little absurd in Ranma-chan’s head.

‘I mean, I don’t even like that arrogant jerk!’

Kasumi giggled at her father’s silliness. "Daddy. This isn’t Akane’s iinazuke, this is her friend. They just have the same name."

"What? Are you sure? I could’ve sworn that- . . I mean I just had this weird feeling of déjà vu that the author was leaving something out."

‘Hey! Let’s not give anything away! This is my fanfic and I’ll tell it the way I want to tell it!’

Everyone in the room stared at Michael and formed a sweat drop on there brows.

"Ahem, yes, well . . nice to meet you Ranma. Hehe." Soun took his seat again and set the paper aside while he ate. "So, Ranma, how do you know Akane?"

After watching Soun begin to eat his breakfast, Ranma-chan felt it safe for her to help herself. "Oh, I met Akane at school a week ago."

"I see, so you share classes with her?"

"Well, no."

"You two study together?"

"Not really."

"You aren’t a teacher are you? I heard one of them was young?" Soun eyed her critically once again. "You don’t sap people’s ki energy do you?"

‘What kind of school does Akane go to?! She’s attacked by a mob of boys everyday and she has a young vampire for a teacher!?’

"Uhm, no. I’m actually just passing through Nerima and I ran into Akane."

"So where are you heading to then?"

"Nowhere, just wandering." Ranma didn’t want to continue in the direction this conversation was heading. She shouldn’t even have told Akane and the others as much as she did. "So, are you the dojo’s master?"

"Yes, until my daughter and Ranma, er, her iinazuke marry. Then they will be receiving the dojo as inheritance. Do you study martial arts?"

"Quite a number of them really." Ranma-chan smiled. She liked talking martial arts because it was mainly all she knew.

"You should see Ranma, he’s a very talented fighter. Has a good sense of honor to I might say. He doesn’t fight girls and he has defended Akane from some challenging martial artists."

"Really?" Ranma-chan was a little surprised that someone challenged Ranma-kun already, but seeing how hectic her life was, she wouldn’t dismiss it. "Anyone, I might know?"

"Oh I really doubt it. They were teenagers, not enough time to make a name for themselves. But there was one boy who showed up recently. He was quite powerful. What was his name Kasumi?"

Kasumi swallowed her food and answered, "I believe it was Ryouga, daddy."

Ranma choked.

‘What was he doing here? Why was he attacking Ranma-kun? I thought he would still be with Ukyo. Maybe something happened. Perhaps he is available again.’

"That’s right. He even brought his wife along. Ranma had a tough time taking the both of them on."

"Yeah but it was nothing the heir to the style of Anything Goes Martial Arts couldn’t handle." Soun praised as Ranma-kun strode into the dining room, clean and presentable once again.

Ranma-chan looked more annoyed than ever at this arrogant boy. ‘He beat up Ryouga and Ukyo?’

"I thought you didn’t fight girls?"

Ranma-kun sat down at the table and started shoveling food into his mouth. Between bites, "Who said . . I was fighting . . girls?"

"You did. You fought with Kounji Ukyo, right?" Ranma-chan watched Ranma-kun eat and was slightly revolted. Then she became annoyed as she noticed he was stealing food off of other people’s plates.

"Yeah . . so?"

"Ukyo is a girl."

Ranma-kun balked in the middle of stuffing his mouth to stare at Ranma-chan in confusion. "The Ukyo I saw was a guy."

"Wore a bandoleer, and a large spatula strapped to her back?"

"Yeah, that’s him."

"That him is a her. Ukyo is a cross dresser."

Ranma stopped completely and sagged his head. "Gee, I didn’t know that. I hope she’s not still hurt." Ranma-chan was beginning to see the depths of Ranma-kun’s honor in his views of fighting girls. It was obviously something his parents taught him. Ranma-chan was going to have to break him of this habit. Girls can be just as dangerous as boys and Ranma-kun would have to be able to fight both if he wants to become a sensei. "You don’t know where she lives do you? I think I should go apologize, or something."

Soun started bawling when he heard Ranma-kun finish. "Oh, you make me proud boy. That is quite a display of compassion for the weaker sex."

"Father!" Soun was startled by his eldest daughter. Kasumi never raised her voice, she must be upset. "You shouldn’t say such things. You know it’s not true, not to mention Onna-Ranma is at the table. She is a martial artist too."

"Onna-Ranma?"

Ranma-chan looked over at Ranma-kun and shrugged.

"Nonsense, Kasumi. I’m sure Ranma realizes that she can never be as strong a martial artist as Ranma." Soun beamed proudly at Ranma-kun. "Especially since he has been partially trained by the master of our art. I should think there is no one save the master alone who could beat, Ranma."

Ranma-kun blushed under the praise but scowled when he heard Ranma-chan snicker.

"Oh I’m sure he’s quite good, but no one is unbeatable." Ranma-chan said while taking another bite from her plate.

"My poor girl, I’m sure you would feel quite embarrassed if you chose to fight Ranma."

Ok, this was starting to tick Ranma-chan off a little. Looking over at Ranma-kun who was trying desperately to focus on his food, "Maybe we should have another fight?!"

Ranma-kun cringed at the idea of another fight after being beaten not to long ago. Soun didn’t notice, "Like I said, the boy is too honorable to dare harm a delicate flower such as yourself, Ranma."

Ranma-chan screamed in outrage and flung the Ranma-kun into the koi pond. She smiled again when she heard the splash.

Kasumi looked disapprovingly at Ranma-chan. "Now Onna-Ranma that is no way to act in someone else’s house. Besides, taking your aggravation out on Ranma was quite misdirected."

Akane made her way into the room, hearing part of what Kasumi just said. "Ranma, did I just hear you throw Ranma-kun into the pond?"

"Uhm, maybe."

Akane sighed and sat down in the seat next to Ranma-kun’s. "Well, he can carry himself this time."

"This time?" Soun looked concerned at his daughter. "You haven’t been fighting with your iinazuke again have you Akane?"

"Oh, no daddy. It was Ranma-chan."

Soun sputtered his tea, dribbling some of it down his chin. Kasumi politely offered her father a napkin and smiled at Ranma-chan.

"Why would you do that Ranma?" Soun asked.

"Cause I thought I’d take him on as a student."

"What?!"

Ranma-chan took a moment to look evenly at Soun, "You have done quite a good job with him thus far, but he still has far to go."

"What could you possibly teach him?"

A little irritated, "Well for starters I could teach him to not act like a jerk."

"Ahem."

Ranma calmed a little at Kasumi’s rebuke and changed her answer. She extended her hand, palm up and focused a ki ball into her palm. "I can teach him to control his ki. The practice of this alone should improve upon the skills he already has." She watched Mr. Tendo gape at the glowing energy and cocked her head. "Have I changed your mind about the frailty of women?"

Soun’s only response was to nod dumbly. "Amazing. Very few martial artists have been able to obtain the ability to harness their ki. You have humbled this old sensei, young lady."

Ranma-chan bowed back at Soun, "Nonsense. Things have a way of changing without our knowing. I just showed you how they’ve changed recently."

A wet Ranma-kun was walking back into the house and sat down in his seat again.

"Well, I’m glad Ranma has such a good teacher. I’m sure he’ll make an excellent student." Soun returned to his meal.

"WHAT?! You’re not serious are you?! That fight was just a fluke!"

"Now, now Ranma," Kasumi smiled sweetly at Ranma-kun as he picked up his eating where he left off. "I’m sure Onna-Ranma can teach you many things."

Ranma-kun simmered down at Kasumi’s remark. She just had a way with people that rarely required her to raise her voice. Still, this wasn’t going to keep him from trying to out maneuver Ranma-chan. Grinning a little he attempted to steal some food from her plate.

Ranma-kun’s chopsticks were caught in Ranma-chan’s, hovering just above her plate. With a smile at Ranma-kun, she snapped his chopsticks and snatched all the food on his plate and offered it to Akane and herself.

Ranma-kun had barely blinked when Ranma-chan’s hands became a blur of motion. In less than a second his plate was clear and Akane and Ranma-chan had full meals sitting before them.

Akane was again surprised by her friend and stared at the smiling redhead. "Wow, Ranma. I don’t suppose you could teach me too, could you?"

"I don’t know, Akane, but I’ll give it a shot."

"Sure, why wouldn’t you. After all, you are already planning extra curricular activities with Akane." Ranma-kun quipped.

"RANMA NO BAKA!!"

Ranma-chan grimaced as she heard the mallet flatten Ranma-kun onto the ground. "Well, it looks like you get the first lesson, Akane. Let’s finish up breakfast and head over to the dojo. Ranma-kun can catch up when he revives."

Akane smiled and finished up her breakfast as quickly as she could.

Akane spent an hour alone with Ranma-chan in the dojo learning to find her aura. She was having a good deal of difficulty harnessing her ki. When Ranma-kun gained consciousness he headed over to the dojo to work with Ranma-chan. He didn’t like being taught by a girl the same age as him, but learning to use ki the way she did was worth swallowing his pride for. For Ranma-kun, learning to focus on his aura and then manipulate the ki only took half an hour. Akane still hadn’t gotten a handle on it, but when she saw how quickly Ranma-kun was progressing, her aura quickly flared into existence.

"Alright, you two. We better go outside for this next part." Ranma-chan stood up and led her students into the backyard.

"Why are we out here Ranma-sensei?" Ranma-chan smiled at Akane’s attitude. She started calling Ranma-chan sensei shortly after they started.

"This second part is a little more destructive, so it’s best if we keep the damage to the house to a minimum."

"So what is the second part, Ranko?" Ranma-kun was another matter. He entirely forgot Ranma-chan was a girl and his age once he got into his training, but he started calling her Ranko because he said it would cut down on the confusion. Still, he was doing so well, she didn’t want to make an issue about it. Ranko would rather have a sparring partner.

"I’m going to teach you to focus your ki into something useful like this." Ranko demonstrated the blast she had performed on Ranma earlier during their fight. Her students nodded understanding and waited for her to continue. "Alright, now find your aura like we practiced in the dojo."

Ranma brought his blue flame to life after a couple minutes of concentration. Akane was still having trouble, but after hearing Ranma taunt her a little bit, her red aura returned. Ranko understood that ki required an emotional catalyst. Teaching Akane would be very difficult if it weren’t for Ranma. His taunting prompted Akane to become angry, a very strong emotion in her case. Ranko watched Ranma smile when Akane's aura took shape.

‘He must know her anger focuses her aura. Ranma is learning things faster than I ever did, he should become quite powerful.’ Ranko also noticed his taunting was a way for Ranma to hide his true feelings. Having seen Akane’s feelings for him Ranko decided there were other ways she could help her students. It was better to give up on Akane now while she could still keep the girl as a friend.

"Well done, both of you." Ranko took a moment to bring up her aura. It was blue like Ranma’s, but sparkled with golden flashes and was much deeper in color. "Now concentrate on gathering your ki and focusing it into your hands."

This was one of the hardest parts. It required the person to focus their ki using, not muscle, but will power and focus. Sort of like finding your way out of a dark room and only bumping into the walls. Not even Ranma could focus that well the first dozen or so times. Ranko just kept pushing them though, offering advice when she could and helping them regain their aura when the ki dissipated.

After an hour of trying, Ranma was sweating profusely, but was unwilling to give up. Akane had fallen from exhaustion after the first half-hour; she was now sitting on the ground panting.

"Don’t push yourself too hard, Ranma. We have plenty of time for you to master the technique. Why don’t you take a break for a while?" Ranko put her hand on his shoulder. His aura had fallen to a gentle glow since training began.

"No . . . I can do it."

Still too tired to sit up Akane cursed at him, "Baka! You’ve been at it an hour. Do you want to exhaust yourself completely before Ranko-sensei can teach us more?"

Ranko smiled at Akane but kept her hand on Ranma’s shoulder. "It’s ok, Akane. Ranma can do this." Squeezing his shoulder reassuringly, Ranko leaned in a little closer to Ranma. "I know you can do this Ranma."

Ranma smiled and blushed slightly at the praise. His aura gained some of its lost strength and he tried once again. Suddenly, his ki disappeared and reformed between his hands. It was small, but it swam with the blue energy that had been around his body.

Ranma couldn’t contain his excitement, "Yatta!"

Ranko grinned as the ki dissipated and Ranma turned to her with a smile on his face.

Ranma was overjoyed with his accomplishment. It took him over an hour to do it, but it felt so good to be able to prove himself in such a difficult feat. He couldn’t help himself, Ranma grabbed Ranko’s hands and danced around a little then picked up Akane by her waist and twirled her in the air.

Akane was startled when she was suddenly lifted by Ranma’s powerful arms and blushed a little when he hugged her. Ranma had obviously missed his fiancée’s blush and continued to hug her until he saw Ranko watching with an amused smile. He looked down to see Akane hugging him back and smiling.

"Yikes!" Ranma leaped out of Akane’s grasp and stared at the ground blushing. Akane grew a little upset, but Ranko only giggled at Ranma’s bashfulness. Akane calmed down a little once she realized she was also a little embarrassed, but decided to heck with it and started giggling with Ranko.

"Great job Ranma. Let’s go inside and rest for a little while and then we’ll start again when you are both ready." Akane nodded at the idea and grabbed Ranma by the hand. Ranma, of course, whined a little but followed Akane into the house. "They make such a nice couple."

Ranko picked up towel she’d been using to keep the sweat out of Ranma and Akane’s eyes and tossed it over her shoulder. Ranko thought of her new name and decided to keep it since her new best friends had given it to her.

Something stirred in the air. Ranko had noticed it before and recognized it as someone’s aura. It was close by but they hadn’t done anything and Ranko didn’t want to provoke them while she was with her students. The last half-hour the unseen enemy had drained away his aura and she had thought they left, but it suddenly flashed once again.

"Hiding won’t do you any good. I know you’ve been there for a while. Why don’t you come out and introduce yourself?" Ranko stared in the direction of the dojo roof where she believed her enemy to be waiting.

"I suppose I should." Ranko may not know the aura, but the voice was definitely familiar.

"Ryouga?" Ranko’s face brightened with a smile. What was he doing here?

"Hey Ranma." Ryouga jumped down from the roof and landed a few feet in front of Ranko. "It’s been a while." Ranko jumped into Ryouga’s arms and she kissed him on the lips and hugged him hard.

Inside the house Ranma and Akane saw the lost boy jump into the yard. They heard Ranko call for the unseen man and believed she was just tired. When Ryouga jumped down, however, they both rushed to the door and took an offensive stance.

"Get out of the way Ranko. He’s dangerous." Ryouga glared at Ranma but smiled at him.

"Come on Ranko!" Akane pleaded. "He and his girlfriend attacked Ranma a few days ago."

Ranko smiled at her students. "Yeah, I heard. Ranma, Akane, this is my friend Hibiki Ryouga." She turned to the man still in her arms. He was setting himself up for another fight with Ranma when Ranko tugged at his collar. "I also heard, Ranma beat you and Ukyo when you guys attacked him. Care to tell me why you were attacking my students?"

Ryouga stumbled slightly and looked back at Ranko. "Students?"

"That’s right. They are also my friends and I’d be terribly disappointed if my old friends started fights with my new friends." Ryouga dropped out of his fighting stance and looked at the ground. "Good, now where is Ukyo?"

Ryouga tensed and looked around the house for his love. "We split up to get the drop on Ranma and attack him from both sides."

Further back in the house and loud kiap could be heard coming closer to the back door where Ranma and Akane were standing.

"No! Ukyo!" Ryouga called out.

Ranma and Akane turned around, shocked to see a young man swinging a large spatula at them. Ranma was only able to raise his arm before he felt the wind whipping around the spatula. Opening his eyes, Ranma saw Ranko standing before him, stopping the swing of the spatula with her left hand.

‘How the heck did she move so fast? I didn’t even know she was here until I opened my eyes!’

Ranko smile at the surprised okonomiyaki chef, "Hey Ukyo!" Leaning forward, Ranko planted a kiss on the cross-dressers mouth.

Ukyo was not expecting to have her spatula stopped so easily. When she saw the red head lean forward and kiss her, Ukyo dropped the spatula in shock. "Ranma! Is that really you!"

"How many naturally red-headed Japanese girls do you know, Ukyo?"

Ukyo was now ecstatic and grasped her friend in a powerful embrace. "Oh, I’m so happy to see you! Where have you been all this time?"

"Oh, you know, here and there." Ranko turned to look back at Ryouga who was smiling happily at the reunion. "Are you guys going to be sticking around?"

"We are now."

"Great! Let’s go inside and catch up!"

Ranma and Akane had relaxed during Ranko’s reunion with her friends. Akane felt it was a good time to make her presence known, "So, does this mean you aren’t going to attack Ranma anymore?"

Ukyo looked at Akane, confused. "Why would we attack Ranma? We’re old friends."

Ranko took a step back from Ukyo to eye her critically. "You know she was talking about Ranma-kun. Now why were you guys attacking my student?"

"Uh, gee, Ranma. We didn’t know he was your student." Ukyo offered.

"Ryouga!" Ranko growled. "This isn’t some petty thing you’re fighting over is it?"

"B-B-But, Ranma. This is a bread war."

"You two are fighting Ranma over bread?"

"Yes."

"Hell no!" Ukyo exclaimed. "He and his father stole my dad’s yatai."

"That’s not true." Ranma protested.

Ranko took in Ukyo’s angry face. "What yatai?"

"They stole it when I was young. My father offered it as a wedding present when we were engaged. And they just ran off."

Akane turned red and faced Ranma. "You are already engaged!"

"Of course not! Why would my father engage me to a guy?!"

Ranko couldn’t hold it in, and giggled. Ukyo and Ryouga looked ready to kill so she cut it short and walked over to Ukyo. "Excuse me, Ucchan." Ranko reached up and undid Ukyo’s hair. Then slipped her arms under the chefs shirt and pulled out a length of cloth wrap. "You shouldn’t hide your feminine side so much. You are cuter without the boy stuff."

Ukyo blushed.

Ranma was barely able to recover his jaw, which had dropped to the floor. He remembered what Ranko said earlier about Ukyo, but hearing about it and seeing it are two different things.

"Come on guys. I think we’ve got plenty to talk about."

Ranko led everyone into the Tendo home. Old friends making new friends and averting disaster for the most part. Eventually, Ukyo and Ryouga apologized for attacking Ranma, who was only too happy to let bygones be bygones.

They were so lost in conversation, the group didn’t even notice it was dark until Kasumi called them all in for dinner where introductions were made again. Mr. Tendo was so grateful for Ranko teaching Akane and her fiancée how to use their ki, he gladly allowed Ryouga and Ukyo to stay.

When it was late, they each retired to their rooms. Ryouga and Ranma shared the guestroom, while Ukyo and Ranko slept in Akane’s room.

Ranko didn’t fall asleep immediately like the others. Gracefully swinging up onto the roof, she sat stared up at the sky. Ranko kept thinking about the day and how wonderful it had been. Meeting someone as good in the arts as Ranma was a treat for a morning warm-up. Then training Akane and Ranma to begin to manipulate their ki. Ranko blushed slightly when she remembered Ranma’s enthusiastic response to learning one of the most difficult beginner’s ki exercises. Then having Ryouga and Ukyo arrive finished her day off nicely.

This was a day for her diary to remember. Reaching into the air, Ranko opened a subspace pocket and plucked her diary out. After losing it the first time, Ranko decided keeping it in subspace would keep it safest. It was an old trick she had learned from one of the other outcasts in the Amazon village, Mu Tsu. She pulled out a pen next and started scribbling in her diary. It took up two pages when she was finally finished. Her heart content after releasing all of its emotion.

Locking the book and pen back in subspace, Ranko stared up at the full moon. On days when she was feeling particularly content, Ranko would forego her tent and sleep under the stars and spend hours staring at the moon. There was something about it, its grace as it worked its way across the sky, or the gentle glow, but whatever it was it brought her a feeling of hope, somehow, even home.

Her hand reached up to stroke its image and felt a slight rush of warmth. A pocket of subspace opened and flashed a golden ray upon her, before closing again. In her hand, a pen. Not the same as the one she’d used to write in her diary. This one was translucent and contained no ink. To one end was a symbol; a large circle encapsulating a smaller one, resting on its edge. Ranko wasn’t sure what the symbol meant, but the pen was familiar somehow. She never found it, it found her in subspace. There were memories associated with the pen, but they were old memories. One’s she still had problems accessing. Oh, well. There was enough to think about without trying to recall dreams.

"Hey, Ranko."

Ranma was walking across the roof to her, still in his Chinese clothes. Ranko smiled at their similarities. She was sure others had noticed, but no one asked. Ranko hadn’t really noticed until she started teaching Ranma. Without thinking about it, she tossed the pen over her shoulder before Ranma noticed it, hiding it in subspace.

"What brings you up here, Ranma?"

He stopped next to Ranko and sat down on the roof next to her.

"I just wanted to apologize for before. I have a way of sticking my foot in my mouth sometimes. Call it a Saotome technique."

Ranko smiled at the joke. "It’s no problem, Ranma. I’m just glad I met you."

"You are?"

"Sure." Ranko saw his confused expression and decided to lighten the mood. "I haven’t had anything close to a decent fight like ours in a while."

"Well, you know, I am the best."

Ranko could tell he meant it, and let the arrogant remark slide. You have to accept people for who they were, even for their faults. She sighed and thought about Ranma’s aura. So similar to her own, Ranko guessed that if it weren’t for her experience, their auras would probably match perfectly. It was based on an emotion the two of them shared intimately. It was why Ranko had fought all those boys at Furikan, and been so open with Akane, and even took on Ranma as a student. It was the same reason Ranma had fought with her as hard as he did and struggled to complete the second ki exercise in one day. Confidence.

Ranma may lack it on some occasions, but give him a couple of years, Ranko thought, he’ll be where I am perhaps.

"Say, Ranko."

"Yeah."

"Did you . . I mean . . did you ever wonder why? I mean, about us."

Perplexed, Ranko sat on her elbows and watched Ranma, staring right back at her. She hadn’t noticed the color of his eyes before. The were the color of the ocean on a clear day. A deep blue with flecks of black, and she could stare into them all night, exploring his soul, a soul that looked much like her own.

"The two of us. There’s something more than just coincidence. Our eyes, ages, hell even our names. I don’t think I’d be surprised if someone jumped out of the bushes and said ‘Surprise! You’re related.’" Ranma looked back up into the sky, "Probably just crazy, huh?"

Ranko wasn’t sure. He had some good points, though he left out they were both arrogant martial artists, but let him discover the source of his ki later. Now, she was really beginning to wonder. Ranko heard about Ranma’s training trip earlier that night. Even some of that was a shared path. His father, Genma, had started training him when he was four. The first couple of years, they spent in Japan learning basic techniques in the Art. Then a little while after that, he had taken a trip to the training grounds of Jusenkyuo in China. Ranma said he couldn’t remember much from that time, but his father took them to an Amazon village after that. He didn’t know why, but they stayed in the village where he trained with various Amazons for three days before a group of old people.

Ranko assumed the group to be the Council. She wondered if Ranma visited while she was there.

It was strange, but Ranko’s memories of those were very similar to his. Hopefully there would be time to find out the truth behind these mysteries.

"I don’t think they’re that crazy actually." A smile came to Ranko’s face, "But don’t think that means I’m going to go easy on you the next time we spar."

"Next time we spar, I promise to fight back."

They laughed at their own personal joke and watched the sky a little longer in silence until they were ready to go to bed.

End Chapter Two

Quietly.

The sun had risen a couple of hours ago, but everyone in the house was still asleep.

Stealthily.

Ranma slept on a futon near the window. He wore boxers and a muscle T-shirt. In a rather amusing way, Ranma talked in his sleep. It was more mumbling and incoherent to anyone trying to listen. He was half way out of the covers, his muscles contracting and relaxing in the morning light. The sight was beyond peaceful. Anyone could see the attraction Akane held for him in this light.

So peaceful and . . . unprotected.

"YAAAAHHHHHHH!!"

Ranma hit the koi pond causing a huge splash. Resurfacing, he spit out the water in his mouth and searched the area for his assailant.

"Morning." Ranko smiled cheerily and threw Ranma a pair of his black pants when she hopped out of the second story window connected to his room.

"What the hell did you do that for?!"

"Well, I can’t have you slacking off now that you’re my student." Ranko took a fighting stance a few feet from the koi pond.

Ranma, with his pants on, grinned back and assumed his own fighting stance.

"And remember, Ranma; a promise is a promise." Ranma knew full well Ranko was referring to what was said a few nights ago when he met Ranko on the roof. Since then, Ranko had been ‘waking Ranma up’ for morning sparring sessions. He didn’t feel so bad about fighting girls when it came to Ranko. Probably because, she was a whole hell of a lot better than him, but slowly he was improving.

"Be careful this time, Ranko. You may find yourself in the-"

Ranko didn’t give him the chance to finish as she rushed under his defenses and used a Hapkido throw to put him back in the water.

"-koi pond." He finished, spitting out more water.

Ranko giggled and waited for Ranma to get out of the water. Ready this time, Ranma launched his own attacks. Ranko still didn’t go her hardest, but at a level where he wouldn’t be crushed to continue fighting with her.

Ranma was very good at fighting in the air, where the two of them spent much of their time due to the need to jump over the pond. Ranko had never been taught much about this particular style of fighting, but found her speed and skill was enough for her to adapt. Ranma didn’t realize it, but Ranko used the aerial techniques she saw in his style until she could improve upon them. It didn’t take long before she had mastered many of his moves.

The sound of fighting was becoming a normal occurrence around the Tendo dojo. After Ranma arrived, people would come to the dojo, or Furikan, or jump out of a convenient bush to challenge him. No one was prepared for that except Ranma. Then Ranko returned. This ended up being something not even Ranma was expecting. He soon found himself fighting Ranko whenever he wasn’t to tired to throw a couple hundred punches.

Ranko was enjoying the daily routine, blissfully. Living in the village, people attacked her, hoping to maim or even kill. She had no friends or people she cared that much for. At the Tendo dojo, she found a family she’d always wanted and she planned on enjoying it as much as possible in the time she still had left.

Ryouga and Ukyo stayed with them, though they got their own room once Soun found out they had married a couple of months ago. The attic wasn’t as spacious as the spare room, but it suited the couple fine. Ukyo had insisted she help Kasumi around the house, and Ryouga assisted Soun with his classes.

It was quite a wonderful arrangement. Ranko was sad that it would soon have to end. She spent as much time as she could with her ‘brother’, met his parents, and trained him as well as she could, especially in the area of relationships. Akane appreciated all of the help she could get.

Ranma set Ranko up for another rapid sequence of attacks, which she either dodged, blocked, or turned against him. She pressed him a little more to the end, a twist kick to the gut followed by a jump turning kick to the face. Ranko didn’t worry much about it, Ranma was tough and knew how to take a hit.

She taunted him a little during each fight, bringing his aura to the forefront. Ranko had taken to showing Ranma the use of manipulating his ki after an hour of sparring. He would only see a couple of her techniques before he landed in the koi pond for the last time, strangely enough, not long after Kasumi called them in for breakfast.

"Nice job today, Ranma."

Ranma pulled himself out of the pond once again, squeezing the water out of his pigtail. "I’ll get you next time." He smiled at her.

"Yeah."

Ranma stopped ringing the water out of his clothes. Ranko’s normal comeback would be much wittier, like ‘So you’re an optimist now, huh?’ or ‘We all have dreams, Ranma-kun.’ This time her voice was low and a little sad.

"Is something wrong, Ranko?"

"Hmm?"

"You seem a little . . depressed."

Ranko dropped her head some and started heading into the house. "It’s nothing for you to worry about, oniisan."

When she entered the dining room, Ukyo, Kasumi, and Akane were already there at the table. Since Ryouga had started helping with morning classes, Mr. Tendo had begun to sleep in a little. Nabiki, never woke up before eleven during vacation, saying ‘she earned it’. From the money Nabiki extorted out of everyone, Ranko decided to agree with her. At least until her debt was paid.

"Morning, Ranc