[Ranma][FanFic] AlternatePast

[VTHokies]

By X-ile
xi...@crosswinds.net
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/BookStore/7706/

"Stupid old lady," a red head girl muttered. "Can't believed she got me
wet." Not knowing anything else to do, the young girl made her way to the
front gate of Furinkan High School. She was a bit shocked at the
welcoming crowd. <<Weird>> Ignoring the stare from the group of boys, she
walked to the front entrance expecting the group to depart. However, the
boys just stared at her and didn't move one bit.

"Would you mind getting out of the way?" she snarled.

"Little Lady, please escort yourself from the presence of I, Tatewaki
Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High School," Kuno said proudly.
Unfortunately, he didn't bother to watch the glowing red girl in front of
him.

"WHAT THE F*** DID YOU SAY?" the redhead growled.

"As expected, such foul manner from the peasant that you are."

"PEASANT!?"

"Oh, such boyish attitude from one so young. Such unladylike mannerism.
Unlike the fierce tigress of Tenod Akane. For no such female exists that
surpass the might of my love."

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!" The redhead charged Kuno with pure rage.

"Hahaha, for one so young to attempt to best the mighty Kuno. Very well,
if you win, I shall allow you to date me." Kuno took his fighting stance
as the redhead charged.

<<I'm going to pound the F*** into the ground so hard, he's going to
emerge on the other side.>> Red curtain covered her eyes as she leaped at
the so called samurai. With a twist in mid, air, she landed a few feet
away from the kendoist and went full out. With kicks and punches faster
than the eye could register, she became a blur around Kuno.

The audience watched in awe as the redhead pounded the living day light
out of Kuno. So immerse in the display, they completely ignored the
approaching Akane.

Like usual, Akane ran into the hoard of boys like the day before. The
problem was, no one was attacking. Her temper immediately rose a couple
of notches at the fact that they had the nerve to ignore her. With a
scream, she charged into the unsuspecting crowd.

Before the group even registered the scream from Akane, they were sent
flying. Once finished, Akane scanned the surrounding and almost lost her
footing at the sight a few meters away. Before her, a red blur surrounded
the Kendo captain. Even from this distance, she was certain that Kuno was
already unconscious, but his body was jerking within the blur.
<<Kami-sama! They're going to kill Kuno. I got to stop this.>> Akane
quickly made her way and shouted at the top of her voice, "STOP THIS!"

Suddenly, the blur dissolved into a figure with its back toward Akane.
The body was still tensed and breathing heavily. The sudden impact of
Kuno on the ground startled Akane out of her gaze. Akane ran over to the
prone Kuno and turned him over. She quickly gasped at the sight. Kuno
was completely covered with bruises and cuts. From the way the body was
bent, she estimated that he had several joints dislocated. His shallow
breathing indicated possible cracked or broken ribs. She was about to
tell someone to call an ambulance, but stopped at the sound of approaching
siren.

Akane looked at the figure and stomped toward it. Though, she didn't like
Kuno, she had never in her life attacked him that seriously. She was
going to give a peace of her mind at the reckless of this girl's action.
<<I don't care who you are, but you're not going to get away with this.>>
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING"

The figured ignored Akane and turned toward the entrance.

Akane quickly grabbed her shoulder and forced the girl to face her. As
soon as she saw the pure hatred and cold stare, she knew she made a big
mistake. Akane audibly gulped at the sight. A cold shiver ran down her
spine.

Without word, the redhead turned and left the area. As soon as she was
out of sight, Akane drew a few nervous breaths. For the first time in her
life, she was scared. Terrified was more like it. The hatred she saw in
the redhead's eyes plagued her. She wasn't certain what happened to the
redhead, but she knew one thing for certain, she was dangerous. Deadly
dangerous. Akane quickly grabbed her bag and ran to class.

Some floors above the fight, Nabiki stared at the retreating form. She
was extremely thankful that Akane was able to stop the fight without
getting injured. As soon as the fight started, she left immediately and
called the hospital. For some reason, she knew that pompous head Kuno was
in way over his head and if the fight didn't stop, Kuno would probably be
dead. Who ever that redhead was, she needed to know. Both for her family
safety as well as everyone else.

Just as Akane arrived in class, the final bell rang. As soon as she was
seated, she noticed a boy with pigtailed standing at the front of the
class. From the way he stood, she knew he was a martial artist.
Unfortunately, he was a boy and she hated boys. Just as she was about to
look away, something caught her attention. He has the clearest blue- gray
eyes she had ever seen. The eyes were almost identical to the redhead
this morning. <<Could it be they're siblings?>> Though Akane wasn't
completely certain, she needed to talk to him about the redhead. If
they're really siblings, then maybe he could talk to her about this
morning fight.

The teacher entered the room and the class rose to their feet and bowed.
"Everyone, I would like you to welcome Ranma, er, .."

"Just Ranma," Ranma flatly.

"Er. Right. Lets welcome Ranma to our class. Please tell us a little bit
about yourself."

"No."

"Er. Well, umm.. Just take that seat behind Miss Tendo," the teacher said
nervously as he pointed to the seat near the window.

As Ranma was about to move, a girl shouted, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"None of your damn business," Ranma said coldly.

The comment startled everyone in the room. The teacher didn't know what
to say. He thought about disciplining the new student for the foul
language, but the coldness in the voice stopped him. <<I'll just ignore
it this time.>>

Akane stared blankly at the boy as he made his way to his desk. As he
passed, she felt an aura of extreme anger and sadness. Again, she felt
shivers ran down her spine. It seems that Ranma was just as angry as the
redhead girl from this morning, Akane thought. <<Maybe, I'll just wait
before talking to him.>>

At lunch, Ranma made his way out of the room and found a tree nearby.
Unfortunately, it's the same tree that Akane sat with her friends.

Some distance away, Akane and her friends were talking about today `big'
event, namely Ranma and the redhead girl. Most of the topic came down to
his attitude and how much it resembled the redhead. Lost in their
conversation, they didn't noticed Ranma until they were a few feet away.
The group stopped and watched, as Ranma ate his lunch, not entirely
certain on how to approach this.

Looking up from his lunch, Ranma asked flatly, "Is there a problem?"

Quickly, two of the girls shook their heads. Akane was about to tell him
that he was sitting in their spot, but her friends quickly dragged her
away. Turning to her friends, she snarled, "What you do that for?"

"Come on, Akane. He's in a bad mood and messing with him is a bad idea."

"Yeah, very bad," confirmed another.

"We'll just sit at a different tree, ok?" pleaded Yuka.

Akane just sighed and nodded. They found a tree nearby and sat down to
finish their lunch. From where Akane sat, she had a pretty good view of
Ranma. Ranma was in a lotus position and eyes closed. Suddenly, she
noticed a dark red aura surrounded Ranma and disappeared. Seconds later,
the aura reappeared with the same color, but much denser.

<<Concentrate, damn it. Can't loose control like that. Breath.
Breath.>> As Ranma concentrated on his meditation, the dark red hue
enveloped his entire being. He knew about it, but ignored it since it's
pretty common. Common for him. What he didn't know was the growing crowd
that came to watch. Some with fear, others with curiosity, few in awe,
and the rest didn't know what to make of it. None of this ever
interrupted his meditation until a horrid laughter echoed through his
mind. He tried desperately to ignore the voice, but to no avail.
Frustrated, he released his aura along with the scream, "AAARRRGGHHH!"
Painting from the released, he eyed the startled crowd for the source of
the sound and stopped upon a brown ponytail girl holding a black rose.

"Hohohoho, my what a man," Kodachi whispered. "Please, let me introduce
myself. I am the rising star of St. Hebereke High School, Kuno Kodachi,
the Black Rose."

Unfazed, Ranma narrowed his eyes. <<Kuno?..Kuno?.. Kuno! The same family
of that idiotic fool.>>

"You may introduce yourself to my presence, commoner," said Kodachi,
confidently.

Ranma raised his brow and sneered at her. <<She's not worth the
trouble.>> With a wave of his hand, he turned and walked away from the
stunned gymnastic.

"H-How dare you turn your back in my presence, commoner!" Kodachi
screeched.

Everyone at that time wisely decided to move away from Kodachi. Ranma on
the other hand continued to walk away completely ignoring Kodachi and her
ranting. Just then, his sixth sense kicked in and he leaped out of harm's
way.

"I suggest you leave before I give you a free visit to your idiotic
brother," Ranma warned.

"To think a commoner like yourself could ever defeat me in a combat,"
Kodachi said, nose held high.

"Yeah, and only a psychotic moronic fool would stand there," Ranma
snickered.

"Vile peasant! I shall show you no mercy," yelled Kodachi as she leaped
into attack. Only moments later, she flew back toward the wall
surrounding the school. With a loud crash, the wall crumbled to the
ground.

Ranma made his way over to the fallen body and picked her up by the neck.
"Next time, I won't hesitate to kill. Listen and listen very carefully.
I fight to kill. So unless you wish to die, then you better leave me
alone. I don't even want to hear your voice. Is that understood?" To
his surprise and disappointment, the girl laughed her head off. Shaking
his head, he connected his fist against her head, knocking her
unconscious. He warily dropped her on the floor and left the scene.

Everyone quickly made way for him. From the look in their eyes, one
emotion dominated all others, fear. Fear for their life. Fear for their
friends. Fear for their family. Fear no one dared denied. Even the
so-called `Ice Queen' of Furinkan felt that fear. As it turned out, many
members of the audience had to leave quickly to change their uniform.

Akane watched Ranma walked pass her and the rest of the student body in
the yard and shuddered at the fact that he didn't have any objection to
hitting girl, pretty, rich, or not. As soon as he disappeared in the
building, her knees gave and fell to the floor where she decided it was
best to stay until she could find the nerve to walk back to class. The
worst part was she sat right in front of him and she had no idea if she
could remain calm enough for the rest of the day.

After what felt like several hours, she finally gathered enough courage to
walk back to class where she found Ranma seating at his seat staring out
the window. She noticed that everyone was standing as far away from him
as possible. She also didn't need any special ability to see that a dark
purple aura surrounded him. She gulped as she slowly made her way to her
seat and tried to push down the fear she felt growing with each step.

By the time she made it to her seat, the bell rang, startling her from her
intense concentration. It also stopped Ranma from glowing in class and
the rest of the student found enough courage to find their seat while
keeping very aware of him. She released a breath of air as the teacher
entered the room and began her lesson. She didn't hear much of the
lesson, though. She was too much aware of the presence behind her.

Akane was very relief when the last class came around as she quickly left
the room to change into her PE uniform. Today, they played softball while
the boys watched. In the beginning, she was very tense but soon loosen as
she forgot about her trouble and enjoyed the game. Near the end of class,
she stepped up to bath and hit a line drive that headed directly for the
meditating Ranma. Her eyes widen in horror as it planted itself on his
right cheek.

Ranma opened his eyes and scanned the field and stopped his gaze on Akane.
She was holding her bat loosely, her eyes wide with fear, her left hand
trembled, and her body tensed. He removed the softball and held it in his
hand and squeezed until it exploded into dust. He dusted himself and left
the field without saying a word. Even the teacher ignored him.

Akane sighed in relief as he left the field. She wondered if she should
go and apologized to make sure there was no hard feeling and that he
didn't come back for revenge or something similar. With a heavy sigh, she
walked off where Ranma last disappeared. As she reached the top of the
hill, she found Ranma walking by the pool and almost tumbled down the hill
at the sight of a soak red head. She quickly gathered herself and
followed him to an abandon building.

She quietly crept through the building, cautiously scanning the area all
the while keeping her guard up. Even with all her precaution, she never
felt the presence behind her.

"Why did you follow me?"

Akane `eeped' and jumped away from the source and took up a fighting
stance. She found damped Ranma standing loosely and his expression hard,
eyes staring at her intently.

"I-I." she began, but lost her voice. She took several deep breaths and
started again, "I-I came to say. um.. I-I'm sorry."

Ranma looked at her curiously, "What for?"

"F-For the baseball. I didn't mean to hit you," she explained.

Ranma snickered and waved his hand, "It's nothing. I had worst, much
worst." Wit that said, he turned and walked deeper into the building.

Akane watched him for a moment and rushed after him. "Wait!"

Ranma never paused, "What now?"

"T-The redhead."

He paused, "What about her?"

"S-She's you?"

They remained silent for a moment, "Yeah," he stated flatly.

"Um. How?" she asked, her curiosity got the better of her.

"It's a curse. That's all you need to know."

Ranma walked up the stairs until he reached a large living area. From the
scene, it was recently cleaned and made livable. She watched him removed
some items from a pack and began cooking.

"You live here?" She took the grunt as a `yes' and wondered around the
area. The building had been a small apartment complex that was abandoned
after a fire several years ago. There were still some old sofas, wooden
chairs, and tables left standing or were partially touched by the fire,
but wasn't worth repairing. She paced around the room while keeping Ranma
at the corner of her eyes. He was cooking some rice and fishes.

"Why are you still here?"

Startled by the sudden questions, she paused for a moment to compose
herself. She thought about and realized that she didn't know. She should
had left after apologizing to him and forget she ever met him. So, why
was she still here? Was she curious? Maybe.

She shrugged, "Don't really know. I guess I'm just curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat," he spoke plainly.

Then she remembered who she was talking to and felt a shiver ran down her
spine. With that thought, she backed away to the stairs and ran out of
the building as quickly as her legs would carry her. After some distance
away, she leaned against the wall and placed her hand over her chest. Her
heart was beating almost erratically.

By the time she reached home, it was almost diner and quickly went into
the bathroom to clean up. As she left, she found Nabiki standing at the
door with an intent look.

"You followed him," she said in an accusing voice.

Akane didn't say anything. There was no denying, especially to her
sisters.

"Why?"

"I-I just wanted to apologize," she said weakly.

"For what? What could be so bad that you need to do something so stupid?"

"I-I hit him with a baseball," she whispered. Somehow the reason didn't
seem so strong right now.

"Who cares! I could care less if a car hit him."

"It was the right thing to do," she retorted.

"Right thing!? Are you crazy? He's dangerous! You could have been hurt
or even kill for that matter," she yelled in anger. It wasn't like her to
loose her control so easily, but what Akane was totally reckless and she
needed a good scolding.

"I can take care of myself! I'm a martial artist too!" she shouted
defensively.

Nabiki cried in frustration, "You might be a martail artist, but there's
no way in hell you can take him on. So, shove that stupid martial art
pride of your and think logic for a moment. He took out Kuno Kodachi like
it was nothing. He hit a girl! So don't even think he'll hold back
against you!"

Akane looked dejected with her head lowered. She knew she wasn't in
league with Ranma, but she didn't like to be reminded of it, especially by
her family.

"Listen Akane. Stay away from him. For your safety, stay as far away
from him as possible."

Akane just nodded and left for diner. Nabiki watched for a moment before
joining her for diner. She had a lot of research to do. So far, there
was little information available other than those she got from the school
record, which was close to useless. Strange, that there was no family
name listed in the record. Other than the basic information of height,
age, etc, there was nothing else.

No relatives.

No guardian.

No one.

Just him.

Just Ranma.

Diner at the Tendo was relatively quiet until Soun cough, eliciting
everyone attention.

"I have great news from a old friend of mind," he said happily.

Nabiki watched her father intently while keeping a neutral expression.
She had more important issues to consider than worry about some friend of
his. If she knew her father, and she does, that friend will be some fat
freeloading bald guy with a big appetite, which mean the income will be
strain even more. If that were the case, she would have to find new
source of income. With Kuno in the hospital, she won't be able to gather
her regular allowances.

"He and his son have been on a ten years training trip and have recently
crossed China," Soun continued.

"Oh, China," Nabiki tried to sound enthusiastic.

"So, what's so good about China," Akane voiced her rather annoyed tone.

"Heheh. Well, he and his son should be returning soon."

"What are their names?"

"Saotome Genma and his son Ranma."

At the mentioned of `Ranma', but Akane and Nabiki gasped and stared wide
eyes.

"What does Ranma look like?" Nabiki asked after her business expression
returned.

"Heheh, I don't know," he said nervously.

"You know know."

"Nope," he shook his head.

"Do you even know how old he is?"

"He's the same age as Akane, I believe."

"Do you know when he's coming?"

Again, he shook his head, "No."

"Then how do you know he'll be here?"

Soun pulled out the postcard from his sleeve and handed to Nabiki.

"'Bringing Ranma home from China. Genma'" Nabiki read. She flipped the
card over and found a picture of a panda chewing a bamboo with a postmark.
She eyed the imprint. "This date almost seven months ago."

Soun nodded. "They should be here any day now."

"Right. Well, I'll just hold my breath till they're here," she said
sarcastically.

"That's spirit," he said, completely missing the undertone.

Nabiki dragged Akane from the diner table and headed to her room. Once
inside, she locked the door and motioned for her to sit at the bed.

"Do you think this is the same Ranma?" Akane asked.

Nabiki shrugged, "I don't really know, but I would definitely place my bet
on him."

"What're we going to do? What if he comes to live with us?"

"I don't think that's going to happen. From all indications, I don't
think he even knows about us."

"What about his father?"

Nabiki was silent. What if Genma did come? Father would blindly bring
him into the house along with Ranma without realizing the danger. How can
you prevent that?

"I don't know, Sis. But I'm going to everything to make sure they never
step a foot into our home," she said, determined.

"I hope so," she said with hint of uncertainty.

"Don't worry. I always keep my promise. First, I need to confirm if our
Ranma is the same Ranma dad was talking about."

"Couldn't we just ask him?"

"Are you kidding? We have no idea on how he'll react."

"I guess you're right."

"Let me worry about the detail, but I want you to stay away from him."

****

"Save me. Please. Save me," the voice echoed in the darkness.

"I'm coming!"

"Please, help me!" it cried out, desperate.

"Hang on!" the other voice assured.

"Ran-chan! Help me!"

"Ko-chan! Just hang on!" it pleaded.

"I'm sorry," the voice came weakly.

"NO! Imouto!" it cried out in pain and agony.

"HAHAHA! You'll never get to her!" another voice taunted.

"NNNOOOOOO! Ko-chan! NOOOOOO!" Ranma awoke screaming in the abandon
building, sweat coated his forehead and hair. He swallowed the lumped and
pulled his knees to his chest and cried softly.

"I'm so sorry, Ko-chan. I'm so sorry," he whispered between his sob. His
body shook as his sobbing became louder. After a while, her regained his
control over his emotion and sat still. He reached into his backpack and
pulled out a photograph of a red hair girl in blue silk shirt and black
pants. He traced the face and his control whimpered for a moment. He
closed his eyes and returned the photo to it secure place. He walked over
to the broken window and stared at the morning sun as it peaked over the
hill.

*****

"Remember what I told you yesterday," Nabiki reminded her sister.

"Yeah, I know. Stay away from him," she repeated with slight annoyance.

"This isn't some game, Akane," she scolded.

"I know. You don't have to repeat it."

The two sisters walked along the canal in silent until Akane spoke, "What
happened to the Kuno?"

Nabiki shrugged, "They're in the hospital. What else?"

"Are they ok?"

Nabiki quirked her eyebrow, "What? Do you care about him?"

"Of course not," she shouted. "Even though he's a jerk, I don't think he
deserve to be hospitalize or worse."

"Well, from what I gathered, he was released from intensive care last
night and is in stable condition. He has fractured bone on his left arm,
cuts, bruises, concussion, several broken ribs and one of them gazed his
lung. Nothing serious, though. The doctors operated on him and they said
he would be ok in a few weeks. Don't worry. Before you know, he'll be
back annoying you."

"Yeah, swell." After a moment she asked, "What about his sister?"

"She's in psychiatric care. After they took her hospital and fix her up,
they tried to talk to her, but all she did was laughed her head off. It
didn't take long for them to come to a decision."

Akane remained silent for a moment and gave a soft sigh, "I guess some
good came out of it."

Nabiki only shrugged and pointed ahead, "It looks like your admires are
waiting for you." She gave a quickly glanced to her sister before running
ahead.

"Just great!" she gritted. She clenched her fist and prepared for her
morning bout. She took a deep breath and prepared to dash into the mass
when she noticed something out of the corner of her eyes. She looked
toward the roof and found Ranma hopping over the rooftop in a casual pace.
Moments later, he landed near the front of the gate with his back to her.
She noticed that he paused for a moment and pulled something from behind
his back.

****

Ranma stood before the assembled male students. With a detached view
he noted that they were just standing there staring at him. He wondered
if they had forgotten about the previous day. He placed his hand behind
his back and moved across the yard. Once he reached the leader of the
group, he cocked his head and asked, "Why are you still standing there?"

The poor guy snapped back to reality and fell on his posterior. He
quickly rose and composed himself. He swallowed once and said nervously,
"I'm second in command of the Kendo club at Furinkan High School. W-We're
gathered here to a-announce that y- you're not welcome at this school."

"Said who?"

"Our Keno's Captain Kuno Tatewaki."

"Really? And if I refuse?"

"By order of our captain, we will force you," he said with more confident
as his fellow members prepare themselves.

"And how do you expect to force me?"

In answer, he and those behind him drew a katana from behind their back
and took their stance. Ranma smiled at the crowd and then grinned.

"Are you willing to die for your captain?" Ranma asked politely as he
matched before the group.

"W-What?" the leader asked, started.

"I said, `Are you willing to die for your captain?'"

"W-What does that have to do about anything?"

Ranma paused in his step and glanced side way, "Because I will kill you in
a challenge," his voice was cold. Before anyone could grasp the meaning,
he darted into the crowd faster than the eyes could see. Several metallic
sounds echoed through the morning and flashes of metal flickered in
between the group. Once the echoed die, Ranma was standing in front of
the leader with his tanto neatly held against the throat.

"Now, let me ask you again. Will you die for your captain?" His eyes
bored into the senior student with such hatred that he wet his pants as he
gave a whimper `no'. "Good." Ranma withdrew his blade and it disappeared
behind his back. The leader collapsed on the ground, shaking, and finally
fainted. Ranma gave him a glance before moving pass the parted crowd. As
he did so, everyone one of the blades held by the Kendo's club fell to the
ground, all cut in half.

****

Nabiki cursed from her position at the window. She cursed the Hiro
for his stupidity for following Kuno's order when he should have known
better. She cursed her lack of attention when she came in this morning.
She should have seen that coming. That idiot Kuno was going to get people
hurt or even killed. If she wanted everyone to be safe, she needed to
talk some sense into Kuno. It was be the only thing that might save him
from a confrontation with Ranma once he healed. She called her lackeys
and gave them specific instructions to follow Ranma, but keep their
distance and to keep her update with Kuno's progress.

****

Akane watched in amazement and fear as Ranma moved through the crowd and
sliced through the blade with single movement. It was like he knew
exactly where the next movement would be. Her fear became full blown as
she saw the tanto arched toward Hiro. She nearly collapsed in relief when
it stopped before breaking the skin.

She couldn't quite hear what was said, but whatever it was, Hiro was
shaken because he fell to the ground, on the verge of tears. She hurried
to check on him and found he only fainted and almost laughed when she
noticed the wet spot on his pants. As a matter of fact, she saw welt spot
on all of the members of the Kendo's club as she walked pass them.

As she approached her class, she found the entire class roster standing
outside in the hall, all-waiting for the teacher. She peaked through the
door and found Ranma sitting at his seat, staring out of the window. She
backed away and scanned the students again and sighed. They were all
waiting for her to take the first step. She steeled herself and entered
the classroom with as much confidant as she could.

"Are you Tendo-san?" Ranma asked just before Akane seated.

She nearly jumped in surprise. "Y-Yes."

"Are you related to a Tendo Nabiki?"

"S-She's my sister," she said nervously as a more amount of fear entered
her voice.

"I need to see her. Can you take me to see after school?"

`Why does he want to see Nabiki? Did she do something to him? Is he
going to hurt her?' The last thought caused her anger to boil. "Why do
you want to see my sister?" she said in control anger.

Ranma stared at her for a moment and said flatly, "I need information.
Rumors from the students suggest that she could help."

"Y-You're not going to hurt her?" She had to make sure.

"Why should I?"

Akane was at a lost for words. She wasn't sure if that meant he won't
harm her or not. "Well."

"If your sister find the information I'm looking for and don't give me any
trouble, I have no intention of harming her."

"I-I see." After a moment, she nodded, "I'll talk to her at lunch and see
where she wants to meet."

Ranma only nodded before turning to the window.

Akane sat in her seat and released a breath in relief. `That was more
intense that my regular workout.'

****

"Come in, Akane," Nabiki called from her seat.

"Hi sis."

"What does Ranma want?"

Akane shrugged and sat down. "I don't really know. He just asked to
speak with your about finding some information."

Nabiki thought for a moment, "Is that all?"

"Yeah. That's about it."

"Did he mentioned anything else? Like what he would do with that
information?"

She shook her head, "Nope. He just want to find some information."

"I see." She paused for a moment, "Fine. Tell him to meet me here after
school on the promise that he will never harm anyone within our family and
I'll do what I can to get whatever information he needs."

Akane nodded. "When he asked to see you, I asked him if he was going to
hurt you."

She raised her eyebrow. "And?"

"He said, `Why should I?'"

"What else?"

"He just said that he has not intention of harming you as long as he gets
the information he wants and left along," she said as she ate her lunch.

"That's comforting," she snickered.

"Oh, did you find anything about him?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. It seemed that a Genma Saotome is wanted in
several cities throughout Japan for petty thief and the dishonor of
several family he stayed at."

Startled, "What did he do?"

"Apparently, he promised Ranma to the family in return for food, shelter,
or a heir to the Family's Dojo. Afterward, he and his son would
disappeared with their dowry."

Shocked, "Y-You're kidding?"

"Afraid not. Looks like Genma planned to do the same thing with us."

Akane jumped to her feet and fumed. "There's no way I'm letting him take
the Dojo. I'll kill him."

Nabiki grabbed Akane's sleeve before she could march out of the classroom.
"What do you think you're doing?"

"What else? I'm going to make him pay!"

"This is not the time. Also, I don't think Ranma was even aware of what
was happening."

Anger forgotten, she gave a confused look, "What do you mean?"

"Sit down, Sis, and listen. Good. Most of the claims are about 10 years
old."

Still confused, "So?"

Nabiki gave an exaggerated sigh, "Ten years ago, Ranma would only be about
6 or 7 years old at most. There's no way he could have known of the
engagement."

"You mean he was should when he was that young?!"

"Apparently so," she said nonchalantly.

"B-But, how could his father do that to him?"

"There's more."

"More?"

"Ranma has a sister. A twin sister with red hair and blue eyes." She
waited for a few moments before the comment registered, "Sound familiar?"

Akane made an impression of a fish, "You mean that same girl that was here
yesterday?"

"Exactly. She matched the description exactly. I've been trying to
locate her since yesterday, but she somehow disappeared."

Akane was about to comment on the curse, but decided to wait. She didn't
want to upset Ranma because she reviewed something he didn't want. If
Ranma were wondering around Japan with his father with his curse, people
would think they were twins. How did Ranma get the curse? Was he born
with it? If not, who gave him the curse and why? She shuddered at the
thought of living with a curse all her life that changed her into a boy or
something worst. Is that why he always angry, yet sad at the same time?

"Hey, Akane," Nabiki nearly shouted.

"Huh? What was that, Sis?"

"Yessh, You haven't listen to a word I've said the last 15 minutes. What
were you thinking anyway?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking to myself," she said quickly.

Nabki was not convinced, but ignored it for now. "Whatever. Just stay
away from him when you're not in school."

She waved her hands as she left the room without saying anything.

****

Akane met Ranma as he was about to enter the class. "Hi," she said
sheepishly. He stared at her for a moment and gave her a nod before
entering. She stood there at the door and blinked a few times before she
realized that she was standing alone. She walked up to Ranma and said,
"Ranma, I talked to Nabiki and she said that you can see her after school
in her classroom."

"Thank you," he said without looking at her.

She bit her lower lips as she contemplate on what else she should say, but
found nothing so she sat in her seat and stare at the chalkboard. After a
few minutes, she gave a frustrated grunt and turned to face Ranma. She
stuck out her hand and said cheerfully, "I'm Akane. Do you want to be
friend?"

Ranma was startled at the proposal. Since his return to Japan, this was
the first time someone had taken the chance and offer friendship. For a
moment, he thought about hugging the girl, but quickly pushed the idea
away. He stared at the hand and then at her face. He noted that she has
a smile on her face that seemed to lighten his day. He also noted that
there wasn't any fear behind the eyes, but hope. Hope? Why? He wasn't
sure how to respond so he stared at the girl.

Akane watched Ranma carefully and was surprise to see confusion etched his
face. It was like he never had a friend before. The thought saddened her
and found herself sympathetic with him. She also saw a glimmered of hope
behind his confusion, but he continued to stare at her, wondering what he
should do.

Just as he was about to reach for he hand, a shout from the door stopped
him and his blank expression returned. She silently cursed the
interruption and glared at the entrance, only to find an angry Nabiki
glaring back. She left her seat and followed her sister outside.

****

Nabiki grabbed Akane by the elbow and dragged her back to her classroom.
"What the hell do you think you were doing?"

"What?"

"Don't give me that! Just what the hell were you thinking! He's
dangerous."

"I was only asking to be his friend," she replied hotly.

"I don't give a damn. You don't come near him. He's dangerous!"

"B-But," she tried to retort.

Nabiki interrupted, "But nothing. Stay away from him. That's not a
request, Akane. As your older sister, I'm ordering you to stay away."

Akane clenched her fist and grind her teeth, "Fine."

Nabiki grabbed her elbow again, "Promise me!" she demanded.

Akane paused, "I promise to stay away from outside of school." `Unless he
accepts my friendship,' she mentally added.

Nabiki looked like she wanted to say something more, but released her grip
instead.

****

At the last bell, Ranma followed Akane to Nabiki's classroom where
Nabiki waited with some of her lackeys. At Ranma presence, she dismissed
all but one. She motioned for Ranma to sit at a desk across from her.
Akane settled next to Nabiki, on the other side of the lackey.

"I hear you're looking for information," she said flatly. She raised her
hand before Ranma said anything. "Before we get started, I want to make a
few things clear. First of all, my service isn't cheap. However, I'm
sure we can work out some kind of deal. Second, I want you to guarantee
that no one in my family is harm. If they are, I'm going to make your
life hell."

Ranma scowled but said nothing as Nabiki listed her criteria. Once done,
he gazed at her and said coolly, "As I told your sister, I won't harm
anyone as long as I'm left alone. As for payment, I can handle that."

"Good, it seem we understand each other. Now, what kind of information do
you need?"

"I need you to find who Saotome Genma married and locate her."

"Why?"

"Personal reason."

"Fine. I usually charge for this kind of research, but I have an offer
for you."

He narrowed his eyes, "What?"

"I want your promise that once you have your information, you'll leave
Nerinma and never returns."

"Even if I do agree, how do I know that your information is accurate?"

"You'll just have to trust me."

"I trust no one."

"That's too bad, because I'm not moving a finger until I get your
promise."

Ranma thought for a moment, "Fine. If your information is correct and I
do find her, then I won't return to Nerinma. Otherwise, I'll be back
looking for you."

"Then we have a deal," she said with a smug face.

Ranma stopped at the door, "Oh, one last thing Nabiki-san. I don't like
threats and I don't like your hounds following me. The next time I
notices them, I will retaliate." Ranma smiled, "Have a good day."

The girl next to Nabiki looked at the departing Ranma nervously. "Nakike?
Do we still. you know. follow him?"

Nabiki took a moment before answering, "No. I don't think there's any
need and I don't want to risk getting rid of him. I want everyone to
concentrate on finding Saotome Nodoka."

The girl nodded and quickly left the room. As soon as she was out of
sight, Akane turned to her sister, "What was the big idea of running him
out of town?"

"The idea is to get rid of him," she retorted.

"He just wants to find his mother," she shot back.

"And he will once we locate her."

Akane looked like she was about to pull out her hair. She glared at her
sister before stomping out of the room.

****

Ranma rested on the sofa in the abundant apartment and stared blankly
at the ceiling. He was lost in his daydream when he heard footsteps from
below. He flipped off the sofa and pulled out his tanto and faded into
the background and waited. Moments later, he saw a shadow and leaped at
it from behind, tanto drawn and held at the neck.

"R-Ranma!" the voice shouted in surprise and shock. "I-It's me.
A-Akane."

Ranma blinked a few times before he recognized the voice and lowered his
tanto, but still remained tense.

"What are you doing here? You could gotten kill!"

Akane heaved a sigh of relief and swallowed a bit. "I-I came to see you
and apologize."

Ranma quirked his brow, "Apologize? For what?" He handed her a cup of
water.

"Thank you. I want to apologize for my sister."

He snorted, "If your sister wants to do something, I'm sure she can do it
on her own."

"I know. I just want to say I'm sorry anyway."

Ranma nodded and settled on the sofa with the tanto on his lap. After
long silent, he spoke, "Why?"

Confused, "Why what?"

"Why did you offer your friendship?"

Akane shrugged and sat across from him. "I don't really know. I just
thought you could use a friend."

The two remain silent until Akane offered with outstretched hand, "Do you
want to be friends?"

Ranma stared at the hand for a long time before he slowly reached out and
clasped it. He gave her a small smile and said softly, "Thank you, Akane.
This means a lot to me."

****
[End of Chapter 1]