Disclaimer: The characters of Ranma ½ belong to Rumiko 
Takakashi. The characters of Sailor Moon belong to Naoko 
Takeuchi. If they belonged to me, I wouldn’t be writing this 
I’d be swimming in my pool of cash. I wouldn’t bother suing
me either. I got nothing you want. 	

MeSsEd Up! 
A Ranma ½ / Sailor Moon Crossover!
By Hawk
C&C welcome, as well as flames at Hawk49er@attbi.com 
(Revised Version)

Note: I’m hoping I can really mess this story up. Not in a bad 
way mind you, but in a way that makes it way different from 
the original.  ^_^. You’ll understand what I’m talking about 
when you read it. This takes place after Ranma’s battle with 
Saffron. There is some swearing in it, not a lot and it’s 
somewhat limish. Hope you enjoy! ^_^

P.S. note: Read the fight scenes slowly. I tend to read things
fast which makes reading fight scenes hard to understand. 
Just a thought of advice.

P.P.S. I’ve combined Chapters 3a and 3b. So it’s LONG! 

Chapter 3 - The New Ranma and an Interesting Idea 

	Ranko watched in fascination as Ranma casually 
walked up the two gangs. She didn’t know what to think. 
Ranma, the school nerd, appeared completely different, 
looking much better than he did before. 

	He was wearing different and better looking clothes 
which she’d never seen him wear before, his hair wasn’t 
gelled down, but instead mushed and a little messy looking. 
His grey-blue eyes seemed to twinkle with amusement which 
was quite clearly shown by the smile plastered on his face. 
There was also the way he carried himself, completely 
graceful with every step, but looked like he was doing it more
subconsciously than trying to walk that way. *Damn! He’s 
walking as gracefully as I do!* Ranko thought a bit jealous at 
how easy he made it look. 

	“So what’s everyone standin’ around for?” Ranma 
asked scanning the crowd.

	“So the cur So Do Me does show his horrididid . . . 
face!” Kuno said as he drew his bokken.

	Ranko smacked her forehead. *Horrid, you idiot.*

	“Saotome!”	

	“I  hope you enjoyed those days off Saotome, 
because the days to come are gonna be much worse,” Akane 
said cracking her knuckles. 

	Glancing at Ranma, Ranko eyes grew to the size of 
dinner saucers. He was standing there, hands in his pockets, 
smiling as if nothing was wrong. Did he not realize he was 
about to get the shit kicked out of him? Hard! 

	“Actually I didn’t. I was in a lot of pain for most of 
the trip,” Ranma replied smiling brightly, bouncing on the 
balls of his feet. 

	*Maybe he did go insane.* Ranko thought worriedly 
as she noticed Akane and Kuno getting angrier. 

	“Well it doesn’t matter! You’re a dead man, 
Saotome!” Akane shouted before she dropped into a low 
combat stance. Ranko watch as everyone else in her gang got 
into their own fighting styles. Some crouching low, and some 
standing tall. Then there was the fat one, which Ranko 
considered was using the wide stance.

	Ranko turned her attention to Ranma and was 
surprised again when he asked, “So you wanna fight me, 
huh?” Then she was surprised again.  She looked on in 
wonder as Ranma stretched his arms behind him and 
allowed his coat to slide off gracefully, landing beside his 
right foot. 

	She and everyone gasped in surprise. It was just a day 
full of them. One could see the difference immediately. 
Ranma’s arms were larger, more muscular, while the black 
sleeveless undershirt he wore stuck to his broader chest like a 
second skin. The way his bangs puffed over his face, clashing 
with his grey-blue eyes made his cute  face look even better. 
And the way he stood, so confident and powerful. He was the 
perfect definition of the work “hunk”! Of course, that was 
every other girls’ opinion of him at that time. Then he 
dropped into a low combat stance and in Ranko’s eyes, he 
became even better looking. 

	“So? Who gets to go first?” Ranma’s voice broke her 
subconscious line of thinking causing her to blink then take 
in Ranma’s stance. It was really familiar looking, almost the 
same kind she would use in a situation like that. 

	Someone charged. It was one of Kuno’s ‘Virtuous 
Kendo Men’ and he ran straight at Ranma, holding his 
bokken back as if to stab. 

	Ranko saw Ranma’s foot shift under his coat and 
before she knew it, she was yelling, “Watch out!” Everyone, 
of course, thought she was yelling at Ranma, but she was in 
fact yelling to the attacking Kendoist.

	Ranma moved.

*********

	Ranma smiled even wider as he saw the Kendoist 
charge. Shifting his right foot a bit, he lashed out with his 
right leg, sending his coat into the Kendoists face. Side 
stepping three times, Ranma kicked his would be attacker 
hard in the chest, sending him flying back five feet and to the 
ground. 

	Curling up into a ball, the member of Kuno’s gang 
began crying and gasping uncontrollably.

	The crowds’ mouths opened even further. How the 
hell did he do that? How the hell was he keeping his leg up in 
the air like that? What the hell was going on?!
	
	“What sorcery is this!?” Kuno shouted angrily 
pointing his bokken at his fallen member. (Authors Note: I
know what you’re thinking Kwok)

	Ranma, leg still in the air, explained cooly, “I kicked 
him in the center of his chest causing all of his ribs to vibrate 
rapidly. Right now I’d say he feels as if his chest’s on fire and 
he can’t breathe. Though he can.” Slowly, almost as if in
slow motion, he brought down his leg down. If one looked 
close enough, they might have notice the small tinge of pity 
flickering in his eyes.

	“That tears it, Saotome! You may be stronger, but that 
doesn’t mean you have any skill!” Akane shouted before 
charging Ranma, right fist drawn back. Once she was close 
enough, Akane swung her fist at Ranma’s head expecting it 
to connect.

	Ranma’s hand blurred, catching Akane right with his 
left. He smiled rather cruelly when he saw Akane’s eyes 
widen, nearly bursting into laughter. His right hand blurred 
catching her left before it could connect with his head.  This 
time he did laugh, he laughed right in her face at her shocked 
and somewhat fearful look. 

	Ranma narrowed his eyes. He "remembered" the 
Akane he... cared about on some level even if she was a violent
flat-chested uncute tomboy. He also "remembered" this Akane
somehow. She had gone beyond violence to be his tormentor
for many years. And it was *this* Akane he needed to stop.
Being gentle with a bully never worked out so he was going 
to do something Akane had suggested earlier. He was gonna 
just plain kick her ass.  

	Looking at Akane’s face, Ranma shouted out loud, 
“Usually I don’t hit women cause I think it’s just wrong!” 
then he whispered quite wickedly, “But for you, I think I 
can make an exception.” 

	Slowly he closed his fists around hers, listening to 
them pop from the pressure. “You’re way off balance,” 
Ranma whispered before tugging her body to his right side 
and kneeing her in the gut. Removing his knee from her 
stomach, he raised his arms above his head and brought both 
of his elbows down onto her shoulders, knocking her to the 
ground.

	Ranma hopped away from the downed girl and started 
laughing happily then dropped into a different stance. Most of 
the crowd started cheering and clapping. All the ‘Virtuous 
Kendo Men’ except Kuno began clapping as well. Those in 
the ‘Red Hammers’ gaped in surprise and shock at the sight 
of their fallen leader. 

	“Ho! Ho! Ho! The vile bitch Ten Do Akane receives 
what she righteously deserves. To be beaten by the hands of 
the path-pathetic So Do Me Ranma,” Kuno gloated at 
Akane’s downed figure. 

	“Saotome!” 
		
	Rising to her knees, gasping for air and clutching her 
stomach, Akane gave Kuno a withering glare. “I don’t see 
you doing anything, asshole!” 

	“The dog So Do Me would be no match for me in 
com . . . in a fight,” Kuno answered sharply, glaring in 
Ranma’s direction.
	
	“I hear a lot of _ramble_ Kuno, but I don’t see a lot of 
action! For all I know, you could suck worse than Akane!” 
Ranma shot back, eagerly to give Kuno a butt kicking. 

	“Fiend! You dare speak such words of my super . 
. . ior . . .ity! Die!” Kuno shouted before charging, bokken 
raised above his head. 

	Smirking arrogantly, Ranma sidestepped Kuno’s 
attack, ducked under another then right hooked him in the gut 
sending him sprawling back and gasping for air. Running up 
to the kneeling fighter, he slammed his knee into Kuno face, 
sending the Kendoist onto his back, grasping his nose. 

	‘Ohhhhs’ and winces passed through the crowd as, for 
the first time ever, they felt sympathetic for Kuno. That had 
to hurt! Others continued to stare, mouth and eyes wide in 
shock while some whispered amongst themselves. Both the 
‘Red Hammers’ and ‘Virtuous Kendo Men’ gave Ranma 
looks promising death.

	“You guys gonna attack or what?” Ranma asked, 
amusement shown in his voice and smile. “Oh wait! Now I 
understand! You guys are the background players. You just 
sit around while Kuno and Akane do everything else, right?” 
he added pointing a finger back and forth between both 
groups. 
	
	“What are we waiting for?” one of the Kendoists 
shouted catching everyone’s attention, then added, “We can 
take him! There are way more of us than him!” 

	“Famous last words,” Ranma muttered, an amused 
grin riding his face. 
	
	The gangs charged, surrounding him in the process. 

	Ranma ducked under a bokken then dodged a kick to 
stomach. After weaving around multiple bokken swings and 
punches, he rapidly punched everyone around him in the face 
numerous times sending them reeling back, grasping faces. 
Ducking under a bokken from behind, he kicked out at the 
attacker, catching him in the stomach. Jumping up, he 
scissor kicked a girl in the face, knocking her down then 
landed softly. 

	He hopped over a sweep, but was hit in the side with
a bokken, knocking him off balance. He landed in a roll and
immediately dodged another bokken aimed for his head. A
fast hit his chest, forcing him to stumble back a couple steps.
He jumped up again, kicking an incoming bokken down into
the ground with his right foot, and then kicking its user in the
face with his left. 

	He felt to hands push him from behind, causing him
to lurch forward, where he was promptly kicked in the face.
With the momentum of the kick helping, he bent over
backwards, bending below a swinging bokken. He stood back
up and threw his left arm behind him, knocking away an
incoming kick as his right fended off a girls punches. 

	Ranma crouched under a punch, side stepped a 
bokken and a kick then jumped up and shouted, “Baisuu 
Supin Handou!” Everyone around him was hit in the face 
with a non ki filled foot smacking them down and into  
unconsciousness.

	Standing  from his crouching position. Ranma looked 
around the school yard and asked incredulously, “Is that the 
best you got?”

	The crowd watched in awed silence.

	Jumping to the left, virtually gliding over the grass, he 
then he launched himself into a flying kick, with his right 
foot just brushing the side of a Kendoists face.  He followed 
up with his left foot from behind in a roundhouse, slamming 
the ball of his foot into the boy's side.  Then, spinning like a 
top, he delivered backhand after backhand to his face, each 
strike making the boy shake and sway, and culminated with a 
punch from his right fist sending the boy flying some 10 
meters away.

	He sidestepped a downward slash, and back flipped
away, only to be kicked in the side when he landed. He
stumbled to his right, lashing out with his left arm, but
missing his attacker. A foot connected with his chest, sending
him sprawling onto his back. 

	He hopped to his feet, neatly avoiding a bokken as it
stabbed into the ground where his head had just been.
Sweeping his right leg behind him, Ranma broke the bokken
in half and tripped the boy who’d been using it. 
	
	A sidekick later and another Kendoist went to join the 
first.  He leapt high into the air and landed a kick on another 
boys face, then using him as a springboard, he bounced off 
and kneed a girl in the head.  If you had blinked you would 
have missed most of it.

	Leaping up, Ranma back flipped onto a Kendoists 
back and back flipped again sending the boy face first into 
the ground. Landing softly, with barely a sound, Ranma 
swept an attackers legs out from under her before rolling to 
the side. Stopping in a crouch, Ranma did the splits and 
punched a Kendoist sending him to his knees, grasping 
desperately at his groin. Rolling backwards, Ranma slowly 
stood back up to his full height, arms relaxed by his sides. 

	3/4s of the crowd fainted. 

	Standing up, Ranma proceeded to stretch his body as 
if he’d just woken from a night of sleep, though his sides hurt 
from the abuse they’d just taken. Turning around, he faced 
his next opponent, a girl with nunchaku. He gestured to her 
with his hand. “Nunchaku. Lets see what ya got.” 

	The girl went into action, swinging her nunchaku’s 
over her shoulders, behind her waist, around her head with 
great speed. After an impressive three minute display of skill, 
the girl stopped with each nunchaku handle placed under her 
armpit. She leveled her gaze at Ranma, smirking cruelly. 

	“You beat the crap outta yourself didn’t you?” Ranma 
asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

	The girl nodded in response, her eyes rolled upwards 
into her head before falling over, bruises and lumps forming 
on her head, face and neck. 

	 Ranma dropped to one knee. He punched with his 
right arm across his body, to his left side, hitting a girl in the 
gut. At the same time, he crossed his left arm over his right 
shoulder, grabbing an incoming punch. Pulling the fighter to 
him with his left hand, Ranma brought back his right arm, 
elbowing the girl on his right side in the gut as well.  Lashing 
out his right leg, he spun around in a 360o on his left knee,
tripping both girls. 

	“Gee, so far your gangs are giving me a better 
workout than you are,” Ranma taunted the gang leaders. 

	Sidestepping a charging punch from Akane, he 
brought his elbow down onto the spine of her back.  “That’s 
for nearly drowning me the first day.”

	Crouching under a bokken swing, he casually 
elbowed  Kuno in the kidney. “That’s for smacking me in the
ass with your bokken.” Jumping up, he turned 180o in the air
and kicked Kuno in the forehead before landing lightly.

	The remaining 1/4 of the crowd fell to the ground, 
still staring in shock as the incredibly events played out 
before them. Oh yeah, all the remaining conscious girls were 
drooling too. Well, except for Ranko. She was watching 
Ranma more with interest than desire. Ok, there was _some_
desire in her eyes too.

	Abruptly, Ranma’s arm shot up by his head, hand 
curled into a fist, punching a member of Akane’s gang in the 
face. He hadn’t even blinked or made any other kind of 
motion signaling that he knew the member was there in the 
first place. Kicking straight out behind him, Ranma caved in 
the gang members gut with his foot. 

	He bent forward, foot still out stretched behind him, 
avoiding Akane’s round house kick then flipped backwards 
catching her in the chin with both feet.  Landing, he 
immediately flipped sideways, twisted in mid air and then 
landed with shins on Kuno’s shoulders. Not giving Kuno 
time to react, Ranma began punching the top his head at an 
amazing speed.
	
	The crowd winced. 

	Raising his hands above his head, Kuno was about to 
swat at Ranma when the extra weight on his shoulders 
vanished. Then he was hit in the gut. Really _hard_. Looking 
down he saw Ranma crouching in front of him, fist extend 
before falling to his knee, clutching his stomach and gasping 
for air. 

	The crowds mouths opened even further.

	“That was for all the times you accused me of flirting 
with Ranko and all the times you beat me up to “prove” 
yourself to her,” Ranma said glaring at the downed Kendoist, 
arms crossed across his chest. 

	Spinning around, Ranma caught Akane’s incoming 
wrist, and twisted it watching as her facial expression went 
from shock to absolute pain. He had twisted her arm a lot 
farther than it was meant to. “This is for locking me in my 
locker,” Ranma growled before his fist connected with her 
jaw.  Releasing her wrist, he watched as she flew back and 
landed unceremoniously on the ground.  

	Half of the remaining 1/4 crowd began convulsing on
the ground as if having a seizure.  

	Ranma took deep, drawn out breaths as he looked at 
Akane’s fallen form. He’d hit her. He’d actually done it. The 
one thing he never thought he’d do, he’d done. *I hit her. I 
never in my life thought I’d actually hit her.* Then he 
remembered all the things he’d done to him and shrugged his 
shoulders. *Oh well!*

	“Die, demon!” Kuno shouted charging Ranma from 
behind.

	Crouching down under Kuno’s decapitating attack,  
Ranma slid backwards into Kuno legs flipping him over his 
back. Walking up to the dazed Kendoist, he grabbed him by 
the scruff of his garb, lifted him slightly off the ground before 
bring his right fist back. “This is for making me your damn 
practice dummy!” he shouted then slammed his fist into 
Kuno face as hard as he could. Lowering Kuno’s form 
slightly, he abruptly brought it back up, smacking Kuno’s 
face with his forehead.

	The remaining crowd winced again.
	
	Lifting the Kendoist back up to his feet and holding 
his shirt so he wouldn’t fall over, Ranma growled, “And this . 
. . is for shoving a bokken up my ass.” Forcing a little ki into 
his foot, he let go of Kuno’s shirt, jumped up and shouted 
once again, “Baisuu Supin Handou!” His foot connected with 
Kuno’s nose three times before Kuno actually flew back from 
the first blow. Basically, in under one second, Ranma hit 
Kuno in the nose with a ki kick three times. Pretty fast, ne?

	The crowd bit their tongues, shuddering at the sight of 
Kuno bruised and bloody face. Most of the crowd was sure 
that his nose wasn’t bent the way it was at the beginning of 
the fight.

	Landing lightly on one leg, Ranma spun around and 
began walking to Akane. Kneeling down next to her, he 
grabbed her hair with both his hands, as if gripping a baseball 
bat, he whispered, “This . . . is for making me eat mud,” then 
proceeded to rip the hair in half which was soon followed by 
a blood curdling scream. 

	Akane had awoken.

*********

	Ranko, Rei and Makoto watched in silenced awe as 
Ranma continued to kick the crap out of Akane and Kuno. 
Usagi couldn’t handle the fact that Ranma had preformed the 
splits and joined most of the crowd in la la land. 

	They watched as Ranma blurred then disappeared off 
Kuno’s shoulders then reappeared in front of him, fist extend. 
It was as if he’d blinked out and in of existence. Even Ranko 
had problems seeing him move, though she’d never admit it.

	*How is he doing this?! There’s no way he could 
become such a good fighter in such a short time! He was still 
a puny dweeb on Saturday! He MUST have made a deal with 
the Dark Kingdom!*

	“That was for all the times you accused me of flirting 
with Ranko and all the times you beat me up to “prove” 
yourself to her,” Ranma said after stepping away from the 
downed Kuno. 

	In what seemed like only a matter of seconds, Ranma 
spun around, caught Akane’s wrist, twisted it, growled, “This 
is for locking me in my locker,” then socked her like there 
was no tomorrow. She must’ve flown back four feet before 
landing in a crumpled heap. 

	*Wow! He looks just like my old sempai! Er . . . 
except I don’t think my old sempai ever did _that_. Argh! 
Dammit! It’d be so much easier if I could remember his 
name!* With that thought Makoto fell to the ground, curled 
up into a ball and started laughing maniacally. 

	Ranko and Rei glanced at Makoto and sweat dropped 
nervously. 

	“What do ya think is wrong with Makoto?” Ranko 
asked worriedly.

	Rei glanced at Makoto closely. “By the way her eye’s 
twitching, I’d say it has something to do with her old 
sempai,” she responded with a casual shrug.

	“What do you think, Ami?” Ranko asked the blue hair 
girl to her right.

	“Hm. . .? I’m sorry. I was looking through my history 
notes. What did you say?”

	Ranko and Rei sweat dropped before face-faulting 
sideways.	

	“Um . . . never mind,” Ranko mumbled eyeing Ami 
oddly for a minute before turning back to the fight.

	“Ok,” Ami responded before returning her gaze to her 
notes completely ignoring her surroundings. 

	Rei continued to sweat drop as she glanced back and 
forth in-between Ami, the fight, and Makoto. *Are Ranko 
and I the only normal Senshi?* She thought then looked at 
Ranko. *Am I the only normal Senshi!?* 

	*That style? It’s really close to the kind I use, but a 
little less defined (Note: What Ranko means is that, Ranma’s 
using a little bit of the Anything Goes style and a lot of just 
plain street fighting). Where’d he learn it though, and how’d 
he get so strong and fast so . . . fast! And his muscles,* she 
sighed wistfully, *so much larger, but not too large! They 
look so comfortable. I wish he’d-* her line of thought was cut 
off by Ranma’s voiced.  

	“Baisuu Supin Handou!” Ranma shouted immediately 
before his body blurred into the form of what looked like a 
miniature tornado. Ranko watched in amazement as Kuno 
flew back, face covered by red. 

	*Wow! That's the move he did before! I wonder if I can 
learn it.* Ranko thought excitedly. She’d hardly ever saw 
any new techniques when she moved to Nerima. Her uncle 
Soun didn’t know any new techniques so she didn’t get 
anything out of him and she really wanted to learn some new 
techniques. Then she remembered who preformed the move 
and started blushing. To learn the technique, she’d have to 
ask Ranma to teach her it. That would mean they’d have to be 
together and probably alone. There was no telling what could 
happen! *Argh! I don’t like him! I don’t like him! I don’t like 
him! I don’t li-* 

	>Rip<

	The sound caught nearly everyone’s attention. And if 
that didn’t, then the terrible scream that followed did. 

	Ranko watched as Akane sat up immediately, feeling 
her hair frantically. Standing up, Akane turned to Ranma, 
who was still clutching the large chunk of black/bluish hair in 
his fist. Her body lit up with a dark red aura as if she’d been 
sprayed by a group of flamethrowers. Growling fiercely, 
Akane screamed in rage before charging. 

	*He ripped her hair!!! I didn’t think that was possible! 
That hair was Akane’s most prized possession!* 
Subconsciously she grabbed her pigtail, holding onto it 
possessively.

	Rei and Makoto, who’d recovered from her fit, looked 
at each other before pulling their hair over their shoulders and 
hugging it tightly to themselves.   	
					
	The sound of Akane’s face >Crunch< hitting a nearby 
tree snapped them back into their senses. 

	Shaking her head, Ranko glanced at Akane before 
coming to a decision.

********* 

	*Damn, that’s a big aura!* Ranma thought as Akane’s 
aura sprang into life, but instead said way to calmly for 
Akane’s tastes, “What? Don’t look at me like that. I just 
thought you’d look better with short hair, that’s all.”

	The second Akane broke her stance and charged, 
Ranma cocked his arm back and threw her hair into her face. 
Dodging three wild punches from the overly angered and 
temporarily blind martial artist, he grabbed her next 
punch and forcing his heels into the ground swung Akane 
around by her arm. 

	“This is for forcing me into the girls locker room in 
my boxers!” Ranma shouted by letting go of her arm, sending 
her flying, face first, into a nearby tree.

	Sliding down the tree slowly, Akane’s knees hit the 
ground then her head as she fell over sideways, out cold. 

	The crowd stood there like a bunch of idiots. They 
would have been clapping and cheering due to the fact that 
Akane and Kuno had gotten their asses kicked, but they were 
to busy standing around like idiots too do that.
		
	Clapping the dirt off his hands, Ranma was about to 
start the final part in his revenge when someone tapped him 
on the shoulder. Turning around, he received a hard >Pop< 
punch to the face. It wasn’t from Kuno because it was a fist, 
and not from Akane since she was out cold, but it was defiantly 
stronger than most punches. They were also pretty good, 
having managed to sneak up on him.

	Grasping his nose, Ranma glared at the person who 
punched him before blinking in confusion. “What didja do 
that for!?” he shouted.

	“Come on! Show me what you got!” Ranko shouted, 
having back away a few feet and standing in a loose combat 
stance.

	“I can’t fight you!” Ranma responded, still peeved at 
being hit in the nose.

	“Why not?” Ranko asked dropping her stance.

	“Because you’re a girl!” 

	The crowd face faulted. 

	“What the hell’s that supposed to mean!?” Ranko 
shouted incredulously.

	“I don’t hit girls,” Ranma answered anxiously.

	The crowd face faulted again.

	“What about what you did to Akane and her gang?”

	“I was making an exception.”
	
	“Fine!” Ranko yelled before running straight at 
Ranma.

	Preparing to dodge the incoming attack, Ranma forgot 
that his female form was much faster and much more skilled 
than any other girl. He fell to his knees when the blow hit. 
“That . . . was . . . low,” he squeaked out, his voice a few 
octanes higher. He’d been expecting a higher attack. One 
more towards his other head. 

	“Now that you’re one step closer to being a woman, 
you gonna fight me?” Ranko asked pleasantly after removing 
her foot from his crotch. 

	“ONNA!?” Ranma yelled looking at Ranko in shock. 
“Who are you calling a woman?!” Ranma lunged at Ranko. 
And then he fell to his knees, bug eyed, grasping at his groin. 
“Ite! I must have dislocated my pelvis!”

	Ranko was immediately by his side, kneeling next to 
him. “Are you all right?” she asked, concerned for his well 
being. She didn’t think she kicked him that hard. Just hard 
enough so it would hurt not so something would break. 
Besides, if he’d broken his pelvis, how would that affect his 
performance in- *Argh! I don’t like him! I don’t I don’t I 
don’t!* 

	“Yeah, I’m all right, though I never knew I was so 
gullible,” Ranma said before sweeping Ranko’s legs out from 
under her. 

	Lets take a moment to look at Ranma’s line of 
thinking shall we? First - Ranma was called a woman, 
making him not all that happy. Second - He was called a 
woman by his cursed form which Third - he considered to be 
a female copy of himself at that time. Not to mention Fourth -
Ranma's always hated his female form and beating the snot 
out of it would probably make him feel really good.
 
	“Huh?” was all Ranko managed before Ranma grabbed
her in a head lock.

*********

	Nabiki watched from a window on the second story in 
morbid fascination as Ranma dodged her sisters and Kuno’s 
attack like they were nothing. How could he be doing this? 
How’d he get so fast? Where’d he learn how to fight? To 
many questions and not many possible answers! How, 
dammit! How the he-

	Ranko.

	Of course! If they WERE having secret rendevous', 
than Ranko would definitely take the time to get Ranma into 
shape. It made perfect sense. The secret rendevous on 
Saturday was probably to teach Ranma the basics in fighting. 
That little camping trip must have been to get him into shape, 
also probably Ranko’s idea too.

	How could she betray her _family_ like that! How 
good a fuck was Ranma anyway? Nabiki’s eyes narrowed. He 
must have been pretty damn good to turn Ranko against her 
own family. He better have been good. 

	Turning her attention back to the so called fight, it 
was more like a round of beatings, Nabiki shook her head in 
disgust. Her sister and Kuno had lost. They’d lost to the 
school nerd! What could be worse?! *I suppose losing to 
Umino would actually.* 
	 
	Nabiki winced as Akane face collided with a tree. 
That _had_ to hurt! Well, that was it. Both gangs were down. 
What else could be done to make this day any more perfect? 
*Maybe Ranko will declare her undying love for Ranma.* 
Nabiki thought numbly.

	>Pop<

	*Or maybe not.* Nabiki thought amused as she 
watched Ranma clutch his nose. Maybe she was wrong about 
Ranko. Maybe nothing happened between the two. Maybe 
she’d misunderstood Ranko’s blushing denial. Maybe all 
these maybe’s were giving here a headache.
	
	Then she watched the fight. And her opinion changed 
once again Why didn’t they just fuck in front of the whole 
school for Christ sake! She was gonna have a long talk with 
that girl when they got home.


*********

	She lost her balance, tumbling over on top of Ranma, 
knocking the breath out of both of them and causing her chest 
to press against his. While catching his breath, Ranma 
became acutely aware of Ranko’s breasts as they rubbed 
against his chest with every deep breath she took. After
catching his breath, Ranma’s breath caught in his throat. 

	Ranko’s face was somewhat red from the fall, lips 
slightly pursed, eyes closed as she lay on top of him. her face 
was just inches away from his own, her breathe caressing his 
nose every other second. He had to dig his fingers into the 
ground so he wouldn’t reach up and touch it. 

	Then her eyes opened, gazing right back into his. He 
suddenly found out that he’d forgotten how to breath. Her 
eyes were a beautiful color of pure blue. He felt as if he could 
swim within them and desperately wanted to, but restrained 
himself by clutching the ground even tighter.

	Ranko opened her eyes to what many would consider 
a beautiful sight.  Deep blue/grey eyes gazing right back at 
her. She watched as Ranma eyes began drifting downward till 
they stopped upon her neck. She could feel herself getting 
hotter from the position she was in, their bodies pressed 
together as they were, and started getting even hotter when 
she realized where Ranma’s gaze had moved too.

	Ranma’s gaze began to wander from her flawless face 
to her perfectly smooth, perfectly tanned neck. His gaze 
traveled lower and he gulped to himself as he was given a 
frontal look into Ranko’s cleavage. Without realizing it he 
took a long drawn out sniff of her, and with his nose being 
only a dozen inches away from said crevasse. It smelt . . . 
nice, fresh, and it had a scent to it that he couldn't quite place 
down - but it still excited his senses and made him feel . . . 
good.

	Ranko’s blush increased tenfold at Ranma’s 
involuntary inhale. She could practically feel the presence of  
his nose in-between her breasts. Quickly she placed her hands 
on his chest and pushed herself up and away from his face, 
but in turn ended up straddling him her hands on Ranma's
chest. She groaned inwardly as she realized what position
she’d put them in. 

	Ranma could feel a heat radiating from where Ranko 
was sitting on his stomach. He found himself enjoying the 
feeling of Ranko's body on his own and fought the blush 
he felt rising as well as other things (If you catch my 
drift. Wink, wink! Nudge, nudge! Say no more, say no more! 
*the author is >Slap< for being stupid*  . . . Sorry).  He 
didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t making a mo-!  

	Ranma did a double take and looked straight into 
Ranko’s eyes again. They were as blue as his, but there was 
something missing. Something wasn’t right with her eyes. 
*That’s it!* Ranma thought realizing what it was. They 
weren’t- 

	>Slap<

	Slapping Ranma wasn’t the best attack she could’ve 
used but it still worked in catching him off guard. Rolling off 
of his stomach, Ranko quickly hopped back to her feet in a 
ready position. Though she might have looked ready, she was 
still too embarrassed to think straight. The way they’d been 
sitting in that intimate position and with the whole school 
watching too. She wanted to hang her head shamefully but 
her pride wouldn’t let her. 		

	A slap was not what Ranma had been expecting. 
Maybe another attack to the groin seeing as her knees were in 
such good position to do so, but not a slap. In fact, if he 
didn’t know any better, and trust me, he had a lot of 
knowledge on this subject, he’d say the slap hurt more than 
the kick to the groin. 

	Realizing his position, Ranma rolled backwards onto 
his feet and into a ready position himself. *Ranko’s not 
ready.* he thought so himself, but didn’t make a move to 
prove it. 

	*What’s he doing?* Ranko thought as she watched 
Ranma hold his stance. She narrowed her eyes in thought 
until the answer came to her. *He waiting for me to get ready. 
Guess he wants a fair fight.* She mentally shrugged. It was 
his loss after all. 

	The two stood in silence for what seemed like an 
eternity to the other. What neither knew was that they were 
both using the same strategy. Start off on the defense and 
improvise from there. What neither were expecting was the 
large “Red Hammer” gang member I mentioned earlier to 
finally enter the fight. 

	With a loud “Kiya!” the impressively large fighter 
lunged at Ranma’s backside.

	Sparing a backward glance at the slowly incoming 
attack, Ranma took three steps toward the attacker. With an 
incredible display of strength, though to Ranma it wasn’t 
much, he caught the fighter under the chin and her belly with 
both hands. Bending his legs, he grit his teeth as he threw 
the sumo sized fighter in Ranko’s direction. 

	Seeing her chance, Ranko ran at the flying flab of fat, 
leapt at it, and used it as a springboard to launch herself at 
Ranma, effectively slamming the fighter into the ground. 
Twisting in mid air, Ranko formed an incredibly fast jump 
kick aimed at Ranma’s head.  	

	Ducking under the attack, Ranma grabbed the back of 
Ranko’s skirt as she flew by. *Strong material.* he thought 
as he pulled back on it throwing her back the way she came. 
Of course, he received a kick to the back of the head for his 
troubles as she passed by. Stumbling back a bit, he turned to 
face Ranko again. 
		
	Using the fat fighter like a trampoline, Ranko shot 
herself back at Ranma again. Landing in front of him, she 
attempted a roundhouse and quick sweep before blocking a 
kick to the chest with both arms. Staggering back two steps, 
she back flipped once to regain her balance, but was 
bombarded with a flurry of punches a moment after. 

	Ranma continued to throw punch after punch at 
Ranko, making sure they weren’t all hitting and that the ones 
that did connected weren’t all out. He had to admit he was 
having a good time as Ranko proved to be a much better 
challenge than Kuno and Akane had. He tried an easily 
readable sweep. 

	Ranko hopped up and kicked at his face.

	Ranma grabbed around her right thigh, underneath the 
hem of her skirt and twisted, causing her whole body to turn 
with his hands.

	Ranko caught herself from hitting the ground with 
both hands, but froze at the feeling of Ranma’s hands so high 
up her leg. She noted Ranma hadn’t moved too, probably 
frozen as well, and forcing down her embarrassment for the 
time being kicked Ranma in the chest with her left foot, 
successfully causing him to release her and letting her
roll away. 

	Rising to his feet, Ranma noticed Ranko was 
blushing just as much as he was and suddenly felt even more 
embarrassed. Gulping quietly to himself, he shook his head 
trying to clear the blush. How come he felt this way? He 
hadn’t felt this way when Shampoo or Ukyou had glomped 
onto him all the time, so why was he feeling this way now. 
*Maybe it’s because I don’t have my curse anymore.* he 
reasoned. *But to be turned on by what your curse used to 
look like! Is that even right!?* 

	He shooked his head, and stared off into space.
*Maybe it has something to do with my merging with my 
nerd self? He must not have been that good around girls.*

	Ranko, noticing Ranma’s out of place look, shook 
away her discomfort and made a beeline run straight at him. 
Unfortunately, or fortunately in Ranma’s case, because of her 
earlier chagrin she didn’t see the bokken stuck in the ground 
in front of her.

	Having still been out of it, Ranma hadn’t even been 
ready for any kind of attack, so when Ranko crashed into 
him, he did nothing but take the brunt of the collision. He 
tried shaking his head clear, but two round object prevented 
him from shaking it completely. Two very firm, round object, 
which Ranma knew all too well, just not from that position. 

	Ranko continued gasping for air, not even noticing 
Ranma’s head and how it was stuck in-between her breasts, 
but instead silently cursing at herself for tripping. She quickly 
glanced up, looking around for Ranma. *Where’d he go!?* 
she thought frantically looking back and forth from side to 
side. It was about that time Ranko realized something was 
lodged between her breasts. 

	Ranma’s mind was racing. Sure he’d been in this 
situation before, but he’d never quite enjoyed it this much. 
He didn’t quite know what it was, but the way and the feeling 
of Ranko squirm like she was on top of him. He just hope she 
didn’t kick him in the balls again fearing something might 
snap. 

	Placing both hands on the ground, Ranko pushed off 
and away from Ranma into a roll. Hopping to her feet, she 
immediately lunged at Ranma with both feet extended 
intending to cave in his gut.  

	Turning onto his stomach, Ranma spring boarded off 
the ground and away from the attack. Coming to his feet, he 
watched Ranko falter after landing. *She’s still unoriented.* 
he thought looking at her, her face being red from 
embarrassment and anger. *At least she doesn’t have a 
mallet.* he added with a small sigh of relief.

	Ranko almost screamed out in frustration. She was 
being beaten by Ranma! It was just impossible! She’d 
considered activating her Demon Hunter ring at one point, 
but stopped as Ranma had yet to show any signs of being a 
youma. It didn’t help that she couldn’t think straight without 
her damn sex drive interfering. 

	*I gotta find a way to end this without hurtin’ her. She 
may act like me, but she sure as hell isn’t me. Because there 
can only be _one_, true, Ranma Saotome!* Ranma thought, 
ego bloated on having realized that Ranko, was in fact, not an 
exact copy of himself only female. *Got it! But . . . it’s the 
only thing that can work in a situation like this.* he thought 
to himself. *But how to execute it?* Little did Ranma know, 
Ranko gave him the perfect chance. 

	Said girl let out a frustrated sigh as she watched 
Ranma stare off into space. This had to be the third time 
since the fight started. Running up to him as quietly, Ranko 
shoved her fist into his gut as hard as she could. She was 
rewarded with a disheveled grunt before she kneed him in the 
face causing him to stumble back a few step, but remain 
standing. *I’ll just use his move against himself.*  	
	
	Snorting air through his hurting nose, Ranma moved 
to defend against her next attack, but faltered when he 
noticed Ranko wasn’t in front of him anymore. He turned 
around quickly only to have something land on his shoulders. 
The next thing Ranma knew, he was staring straight at 
something thin and lacy. 

	Ranko was really starting to get pissed off at all the 
humiliating positions the two continued to end up in. Baka 
Ranma just _had_ to turn around didn’t he. She had intended 
to have the back of his head facing her nether region. Now 
his face was barely inches away from her panties. She 
nearly broke out laughing when Ranma’s short, fast paced 
breath tickled her, but held it in check instead opting to blush 
violently.  	

	   “Fef feawmph phootfs foo!”  Ranma mumbled 
through Ranko’s black skirt. 

	Ranko blinked. He was trying to talk to her at a time 
like this. “What?” she asked lifting up the side a of skirt and 
bending down to listen. 

	“I said, ‘Red really suits you.’ It goes good with your 
hair,” Ranma answered speaking directly into her lower 
lingerie.

	Ranko blinked again. “Oh. Thanks, I guess.” Then she 
realized what he was talking about and flush the same color 
as her hair . . . and panties. Pushing down on her skirt, she 
forced it in front of Ranma’s face so he was looking at the 
front of it instead of the underside. “Pervert!” she shouted 
before pulling her fist back and in a ready location.
	
	“Wait! There something else you should know 
though,” Ranma shouted desperately.

	“What?” Ranko growled, fist still raised. 

	Bow before Saotome Ranma's vast knowledge of 
woman. Marvel at its superiority over yours. “It was really 
hot under there. Maybe you should get that checked out,” 
Ranma said looking up, in-between Ranko’s breast at her 
cherry red face. He wasn’t sure if she was pissed or 
embarrassed.

	>Pow<  >Pow<  >Pow<  >Pow<  >Pow<  >Pow< 
>Pow<  >Pow<  >Pow<  >Pow<  >Pow<

	Well that answered that. “Ow! Stop with the fists and 
the hitting of my head will ya!” Ranma shouted before his 
left hand snake upward and grabbed onto Ranko’s right 
breast. 

	Ranko’s face went from anger/embarrassment to pure 
embarrassment as she felt Ranma squeeze her breast. She 
started hitting him harder. 

	“What the?” Ranma exclaimed from within Ranko’s 
thighs before realizing his mistake. Switching hands, he 
grabbed Ranko left breast and pressed three fingers into her 
left shoulder blade.

	Ranko’s attacks slowed until finally she all together 
slumped over Ranma, her breasts pressing against the top of 
his head. Reaching up, he grabbed her with both hands above 
her hips, lifted her off his shoulders and placed her on the 
ground. He stood over her, hands on his hips, with his face 
slightly flush, but tried to hide it with the wide grin plastered 
over his face. 

	“Wha . . . what did you . . . do to me?” Ranko said 
tiredly. Every part of her body felt dead. *He has to be a 
youma! I should’ve used my ring!* she thought wanting to 
beat herself over the head for being beaten. She tried looking 
around for her friends, but couldn’t muster enough strength to 
do even that. 
	
	“Hit some pressure points which drained all your 
battle aura. It’ll wear off in a bit. You concede?” Ranma 
asked, his arms crossed over his chest and his face back to its 
normal color.  

	Ranko struggled to struggle, but found it useless. 
Letting out a long, deep sigh, Ranko replied, “Yeah, yeah. 
You’ve won for now.” She glared up at him though she was 
smiling happily, if not somewhat annoyed. “Next time I’ll 
win, though so you’d better watch out,” she added growling 
jokingly. 

	“You sure seem happy for someone who just lost,” 
Ranma commented inquisitively. 

	“Yeah, well I know I’ll get another chance. You don’t 
seem like the type that only fights an opponent once,” Ranko 
explained with a shrug. Or tried to shrug at least. 

	“Right . . .” Ranma didn’t really care for the way she 
was acting. Way to happy for one thing. “I’ll be right back. 
There’s something I gotta do. Don’t go anywhere,” he added 
laughing at his own joke.

	Ranko’s eyes narrow at Ranma’s retreating form. 
About five minutes later, she was on her hands and knees, 
pigtail drooped over her shoulder in defeat. After another 
couple of minutes passed, she felt someone grasp her 
shoulder. She nearly screamed thinking it was Kuno or one of 
her other pervert suitors trying to cope a feel. 

	“Come on, you,” Ranma said lifting her to her feet as 
he was then sporting his jacket and backpack again. 
“Wouldn’t want ta leave here for your fans,” he added 
smiling teasingly.

	Ranko looked up in his eyes. His deep, ocean blue 
eyes with just a pinch of grey. The one thing that had caught 
her attention about them. How such a dull color could be held 
within such beautiful eyes. Just staring into them she wanted 
to . . . she wanted to . . . she wanted . . . >Crack<
	
	“That . . . was . . . low,” Ranma squeaked out as he 
clutched his groin while kneeling on the ground in front of 
Ranko. 

	“In two cases actually. Just think of it as payback for 
grabbing me in all those places,” Ranko replied tiredly, straining 
to remain standing.  

	Rolling his eyes, Ranma responded, “You’re right. I 
deserved that,” before getting up, grabbing the back of  
Ranko’s shirt and dragging her along with him. “Come on 
loser. I’ll help you get class,” he said smiling sardonically at 
the girl he was dragging.

	“I don’t need your help,” Ranko muttered annoyed at 
Ranma’s brashness. 

	“You sure? I _could_ just leave you here,” Ranma 
replied letting go of Ranko’s shirt, but catching her inches 
away from the ground. “Or I could help you get to the 
classroom. Which will it be?” he asked exasperated.

	“Fine,” Ranko mumbled before being dragged along 
again. She would’ve tried an attack, but she was still tired 
from her last attack

	“Jeez, they’re acting as if somethin’ ecchi happened,” 
Ranma commented after glancing around the crowd and 
noticing every student sporting a bloody nose, even the girls.

	Ranko would’ve slapped herself if she had enough 
strength to do so.

*********

	Ranma and Ranko, now on her own two feet, entered 
the empty classroom a couple seconds before the bell rang. 
Both sighed in relief before they realized that the teacher 
wasn’t in the classroom. They were heading toward their 
respected desks when a sudden blur flew through one of the 
nearby windows and attached itself to . . . Ranma’s leg? 
	
	“What the hell!” Ranma shouted while trying the 
shake the figure off his leg, kicking his leg into the air wildly.

	Ranko was by his side immediately, leg cocked and 
ready to be kicked if needed be. “Need help?” she asked not 
taking her eyes off the figure. 

	“Saotome-san! I was so worried about you!” the 
figure shouted not releasing Ranma’s thrashing leg. 

	“Umetsu-sensei! Is that you?” Ranko asked 
incredulously, trying to get a good look at the figure attached 
to Ranma’s moving leg.

	“Umetsu-sensei?” Ranma stopped shaking his leg and 
blinked in confusion before looking at the person hugging his 
leg. 
	
	“Saotome-san! I’m so glad you’re back!” Umetsu-
sensei cried hugging his leg tighter.

	“Let go of my leg, teach! You’re a human, not a damn 
dog!” Ranma shouted as he began hopping around the room, 
trying to kick his teacher off of his leg. 

	Ranko sighed before walking back to her desk and 
plopping down into her seat. *This is too weird.* she thought 
placing her head on her desk top and closing her eyes. A loud 
>Crash< snapped her out of her sleepy state. Opening her 
eyes, she glance around the room before finding Ranma 
standing in front of a broken window, his foot extended 
toward it and Umetsu-sensei missing. As she looked at the 
window closer she recognized the shape of it and sweat-
dropped heavily.

	Ranma looked at Ranko, then back at the window, 
then back at Ranko shrugging his shoulders and saying, “At 
least he’s off my leg,” before retaking his seat. 

	Ranko sighed again. He was right, in a way. She 
shook her head in annoyance. Why should she care? Ranma 
was jerk when he wasn’t being a nerd, fighting all perverted 
like he had. She could still feel his hands on her body, and 
rubbed the areas he touched to make the feeling go away. She 
stopped abruptly, blushing profusely as her mind grasped 
onto what she looked like. After removing her hands from her 
breast and the inside of her thigh, Ranko glanced at Ranma 
cautiously and breathed a sigh of relieve as his head was 
down on his desk. 

	She looked at the small bruises on her arms and 
exhaled to herself. She glanced around the empty room once 
as well. *Now is as good a time as any.* Ranko thought 
before standing up and walking over to Ranma. “Hey, 
Ranma?” she asked when she arrived at his desk.

	A silent grunt was her only response which she took 
as either a “what” or a “yes”. 

	“Where’d you learn to fight like that?” she asked 
curiously though with a hint of malice.

	A large word bubble appeared over Ranma’s head 
proclaiming his state to her. “Zzzzzzzzzzzz.” 

	Ranko sweat dropped and returned to her desk, left 
eye twitching slightly. *I’ll ask him later.* 

*********
	
	“How the hell did you do that!?” a voice shouted at 
Ranma’s back as he sat alone during the lunch break. 

	He turned in his seat to face the speaker. “Oro?” 
Ranma asked with a classic Kenshin expression. *Who the 
heck is this guy?*

	“How’d you beat up Akane and Kuno-sempai like that!? 
Not that I care mind you, seeing as it gave me a chance to skip 
class an’ all, but I just gotta know!” the boy with Mousse type 
glasses exclaimed as he took a seat next to Ranma. 

	“And you are . . .?” Ranma asked carefully and 
curiously to the boy next to him. After having the lunch bell 
wake him up, he quickly exited the classroom via window 
fearing Ranko’s wrath. If she had any that was, as Ranma 
noted she didn’t follow him out the window or attack him 
while he slept.

	The boy blinked at Ranma, or at least Ranma thought he 
did seeing as he couldn’t see the boys eyes behind his glasses. 
“What the hell does that mean!?” the boy shouted in horror.

	Ranma opened his mouth to answer but was cut off 
before he could. 

	“Oh, wait! I get it. Now that you’re all high and 
mighty on the kickass chart, you don’t have time to hang out 
with your best friend, huh! That’s it isn’t it!?” the boy cried 
hotly, nearly spitting in Ranma’s face as he did so.

	*Interesting choice of words.* Ranma thought sweat 
dropping slightly and eyeing the boy warily. He gave the boy 
a one over before what he was hoping for hit him. “Umino!” 
he shouted knocking said boy over. “Er . . . aheh, sorry ‘bout 
that,” he finished sheepishly. 

	Picking himself up, Umino eyed Ranma cautiously. 
“Riiiight . . ,” he drew out slowly. 

	“Sorry ‘bout that. It’s just that things have been really 
messed up lately for me,” Ranma explained.

	“Oh. Ok,” Umino replied with a shrug. 

	Ranma considered face-faulting but didn’t really feel 
up to it. 

	“As long as we’re still friends though,” he added a 
couple seconds later. 

	“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Ranma replied with a shrug 
of his own not really caring. He was too hungry to really care. 
*Should’ve packed a lunch or somethin’ before I left.* 

	“Cool! I’m friends with the most bad ass person in the 
school!” Umino exclaimed before he started to cabbage patch 
in his seat. 

	This time Ranma did face-fault. “What the _hell_ are 
you doing?” Ranma asked in wonder as his supposed friend 
continued his cabbage patch dance. 

	“Celebrating of course. What else would I being 
doing?” Umino replied then started moving his arms as if he 
were rowing an invisible boat.

	Ranma face-faulted again. *And I’m friends with him 
because . . ?* he thought before his mind reminded him. 
*Because no one else would be friends with you.*  “Oh,” 
Ranma said softly to himself. 

	“Oh, what?” Umino asked stopping his dance.

	“Oh . . . um . . . er . . . aha! I just remembered 
something about prehistoric Homo-sapiens! Yeah, that’s it!” 
Ranma exclaimed quickly confused by his choice of words. 
The old him would never say something like that. 

	“Oh. Okay,” Umino said after pushing his glass off 
the tip of his nose then added, “I gotta question.”

	“Shoot.”

	“Where’d you learn to fight like that, and can you 
teach me!?” Umino asked suddenly in Ranma’s face. 

	“Ah!” Ranma shouted, falling over with his arms 
wind-milling.      
	
	“Hey, you ok?” Umino asked hovering over Ranma’s 
face.

	“Yes,” Ranma replied place a hand on Umino’s face 
and pushing him away, “and no. I can’t teach you and I can’t 
tell you where I learned it. It’s too complicated,” finished 
sitting back up. 

	“Oh . . . ok, I got another question.”

	Ranma sighed, “What?”

	“Is that why they’re extinct? Because they were 
_Homo_ -sapiens?”

	“. . . Umino, Homo-sapiens are people.”

	“Hey, I’m not judging anyone here!”  

	Ranma sighed solemnly. 

*********
	
	Ranma sighed wistfully as he walked away from 
Furinkan High, ignoring each and every student as they eyed 
him openly. He was glad the day had ended, because he still 
hadn’t had anything to eat so his growling stomach was 
eagerly prompting him to return home. Whistling the same 
tune he’d done that morning, he hopped up onto a nearby 
fence and started speed walking down the length. 

	He thought back to Umino and how strange his 
personality was. One second he’s talking about something, 
and the next he’s on a complete different subject. Though he 
was annoying at time, Ranma admitted to himself he owed, 
or rather his nerd self, Umino a whole lot. 

	Umino had been the one that dragged his carcass out 
of the swimming pool when Akane almost drown him. 
Umino had been the one that pulled the bokken out of his . . . 
ass. Every time he’d been bullied in the past, Umino had 
come along and helped him out afterwards.  Of course, 
Ranma couldn’t blame him for not interfering while he was 
getting beaten because Umino just wasn’t the type of guy that 
would. Not to mention he’d probably just end up getting his 
ass beaten as well. 

	He owed it to Umino to remain his friend, even if he 
was weird at times. With that thought, Ranma small smile 
grew wider knowing he had at least one friend in the new 
world he was in.  

*********

	Ranko quickly made her way through the gaping 
crowd of students. As she walked through the front gates, a 
voice called out to her stopping her momentarily. 

	“Hey, Ranko! Wait up!” Makoto called as she and the 
Senshi ran up to her. 

	“What?” she asked quickly glancing at the front gates 
then back to her friends. 

	“Where’re you going?” Rei answered with a question 
of her own.

	“There’s something I gotta do. I’ll see you guys later,” 
Ranko explained rapidly before taking off again, her pigtail 
flapping violently behind her. 

	The other girls blinked at each other before following 
Ranko out the front gates. 

	“Hey, she’s going the wrong way. Her home’s that 
way,” Ami commented pointing the opposite direction Ranko 
was running. 

	“Looks like she’s following Ranma. See, you can see 
him just ahead, up on the fence,” Usagi exclaimed pointing at 
Ranma’s shrinking form. 

	“First he beats up Kuno-sempai and Akane. Then he gets 
Ranko to follow _him_ around instead of it being the other 
way around, and now he’s running on fences. Maybe next 
he’ll be beating up youma’s,” Rei joked.

	“Yeah, it’s quite a sight to see Ranko follow a guy for 
once,” Makoto added.

	“Hey! I just realized something!” Usagi exclaimed 
suddenly causing the others to fall over.

	“That your brain is pea sized,” Rei muttered rubbing 
her now sore head. 
	
	“Nope! Ranko’s skipping study. Does this mean we 
get to, too?” Usagi asked Ami eagerly.  

*********
	
	After waiting ten minutes so Ranma wouldn’t think 
she’d followed him straight home she’d had enough. Standing 
up, Ranko walked toward the wall Ranma had jumped over 
intending to give the Saotome family an unexpected guest. 
She just hoped it wasn’t _that_ Saotome. No, she didn’t hope. 
She prayed. 

	Walking through the front gate quietly so’s not to 
disturb anything or one, Ranko stopped and stared. The house 
was huge! Well not the house technically, but the property 
was. The house was about the same size as the Tendo home 
except it was completely covered by a second story and the 
backyard ‘L’d around the house. She figured they could fit at 
least three dojo’s in that open space. 

	Regaining her wits, Ranko started for the front door. 
She stopped before knocking when she noticed something in 
the corner of her eye. Turning to the ‘something’ she blinked 
curiously at the large crack in the wall. Walking closer, to get 
a better look, Ranko soon noticed what appeared to be a foot 
print where the crack originated.  

	“What the hell?” she muttered fingering the crack 
gingerly. 

	Turning around, she caught sight of a shadow moving 
around the corner of the house. Shrugging her shoulders, her 
pigtail bouncing along with them, she headed to the shadow. 
What the shadow turned out to be surprised her. 

	Ranma was in the backyard preforming a slow yet 
graceful kata. With his eyes closed, he never noticed Ranko 
staring at him, or when she sat down quietly. Her mind must 
have fallen asleep watching his kata because her mouth open 
. . .

	“What’s that kata called?” . . . and put her foot in it. 

 	“Bah!” Ranma blurted falling over onto his face. 
“What the hell! When did you get here?!” he exclaimed 
nervously.

	“Um . . . a while ago,” Ranko replied sheepishly, 
rubbing the back of her head and blushing faintly. “Sorry.”

	Ranma laughed out loud at Ranko’s familiar 
expression, before smiling broadly and replying, “It’s ok. If 
I'd continued any longer I probably would’ve fallen asleep.”

	Ranko’s blush deepened slightly at Ranma’s smile, 
but not as bad as any of her earlier blushes. “So . . . um, are 
you the one that did that to the wall?” she asked nodding her 
head in the direction of the crack. 

	“You know that wall?” Ranma responded before 
shaking his head slightly saying, “That damn wall.”

	“Um . . . riiiight . . . I just stopped by to say I’m sorry 
for kicking you in the . . . um . . . well you know. It’s your 
body part,” Ranko apologized, the tips of her ears tingling as
she looked at anything other than Ranma.

	“Phew! I thought you were gonna kick me in the balls 
again,” Ranma said jokingly, wiping imaginary sweat from 
his forehead.  Then he noticed Ranko’s miffed look. With 
eyes wide, and arms waving around frantically, Ranma added 
quickly, “Just joking! Just joking! Apology accepted! Heh.” 

	A long silence elapsed, neither knowing what to say. 
Finally Ranko broke it. “So was that kata called?” she asked 
curiously and slightly nervously. 

	“Huh? Oh, the one is was doing? I was just making it 
up while I did it. So it really doesn’t have a name,” Ranma 
replied with a shrug, not taking his eyes of off Ranko. He still 
didn’t fully trust her.  

	“Here’s a question,” Ranko said after another short 
moment of silence.

	“Why does everyone keep proclaiming to me that 
they’re gonna ask a question?” Ranma asked no one in 
particular. 

	“Maybe so you’ll be better prepared to answer it,” 
Ranko replied smugly.

	“Good point,” Ranma agreed nodding his head.  

	“Where’d you learn how to fight like that?” Ranko 
asked, curiosity and suspicion mixed together.
	
	“Thought you’d probably ask that so I’ve already got 
my answer ready,” Ranma replied crossing his arms over his 
chest. 

	“So what is it?”

	“I won’t tell you. It’s not that I can’t, I could if I 
wanted too, but I just won’t. I doubt you’d understand 
anyway,” Ranma explained sternly.

	Ranko blinked before taking a step away from him. 
She’d never seen him this serious. *Ok. The direct approach 
didn’t work. Time for plan B.* Smiling cutely and opening 
her eyes wide so they’d shine brightly, Ranko turned up her 
kawaii factor tenfold. “Pleeeaaaassseeee, can you tell me?” 
she asked with a voice that could melt butter.

	Ranma grimaced as if he’d just eaten a batch of 
Akane’s homemade cookies. “You’re just trying to make a 
mountain out of a mole hill aren’t you. I said no,” he replied 
as firm as he could. Now he knew why he got some much 
free ice-cream. 

	Ranko’s smile turned into a frown, then a pout and 
soon enough eye eyes were brimmed with wetness. She 
sniffled slightly. “Then, can you do one thing for me?” she 
asked wiping away a stray tear.

	*Damn, she’s good!* Ranma thought nervously trying 
desperately not to feel sorry and failing terribly. “What?” he 
sighed miserably. 

	“Can >Sniff< can you promise to answer my next 
question?” 

	Gulping, Ranma replied unsteadily, “Wa-well, it 
depends on the questions, but su-sure. Just-just stop cryin’, 
kay?” Hesitantly he place a hand on her smaller shoulder.   

	>Whimper< “Kay,” Ranko responded wiping the 
wetness away from her eyes while smiling on the inside. 
*Sucker.*

	*I’m such a sucker.* Ranma thought vexed by his 
weakness. 

	“Have you been in contact with any demons or odd 
looking characters lately?” Ranko asked straight forward 
trying to ignore Ranma’s large hand so close to her neck.

	“Erk!” Ranma exclaimed removing his hand as if it’d 
been burned, the whole left side of his face twisted into a 
grimace. *What the hell kinda question is _that_!?* he 
thought before closing his eyes and thinking back. *Well, 
Happosai. He’s considered a demon, Pops anyway, and is odd looking. 
Cologne too for that matter, but I think she means in this 
world. . . . Nope. Running a blank. Waita minute!* His eyes 
were open in more than one way. “You know what? I can tell 
you something.”

	“What?”

	Ranma grinned. “I was trained by a man named 
Happosai.” *Hopefully he’s still in his cave.*

*********

	Somewhere in China, the Bayankala mountains of the 
Xinghai Province to be exact, an old shriveled up man 
sneezed. 

	-God bless you,- his companion replied in Chinese.

	-Thank you, Mu tsu,- the little man replied sincerely. 

*********

	“Happosai?” Ranko asked curiously.

	“Yeah. Old guy. Small, ‘bout 3 feet tall. He 
disappeared after teachin’ me what I need to know though,” 
Ranma explained with a shrug, before heading toward the 
house’s back door.

	*Happosai, huh? He could be lying, but he sounded 
honest. The name and body structure don’t really sound 
Dark Kingdom related.* Ranko mused.

	“So you didn’t come here for revenge, shorty?” 
Ranma asked from where he stood, chewing the last remains 
of a sandwich. 

	Said insulted blinked before frowning at Ranma. Just 
when she was getting used to him, he had to go along and 
insult her. “Shorty? Who’re you calling shorty, jerk?!” Ranko 
retorted walking up to Ranma. 

	“Jerk! Who’re you callin’ a jerk, peewee?!” Ranma 
shot back, his face now only inches from Ranko’s. 

	“Peewee! Who’re you calling peewee, pervert!?” 
Ranko shouted straight into Ranma face, grabbing his the 
sides of his head with both hands so he couldn’t move it.

	“Well, seeing as you’re the only peewee around, it 
must be you . . . peewee!” Ranma replied honestly before 
shouting out the end, their noses just touching now. 

	“Yeah, well . . .,” Ranko started before licking her 
lips. Why was that they were so dry all of the sudden? She 
released a shuddering breathe which caressed Ranma’s own 
lips and drying them out as well. Why was she kept ending 
up in such intimate positions with him. Was it that she liked 
being this close to him. Maybe she really did have a thing for 
him. *I do not!* a small part of her rebelled while the rest 
sang a whole different tune. She like the look of his body, 
and the vibrant color in his eyes made the area in-between her 
legs scream to be scratched. 		

	Ranma licked his lips, swallowed nervously, and with 
wavering eyes, trying not to break eye contact with the girl in 
front of him. Once again, he was stumped. Usually when he 
was in a position like this, a mallet would interfere. But here 
was a girl, who looked exactly like his female form, short, 
lively, beautiful, and robust. Virtually perfect in every way. 
For him that was, being so much like himself. He didn’t 
know what it was, but knowing that the girl in front of him 
wasn’t himself or a demon, or created by magic or out to 
marry him made him feel . . . good? But why!? The fact that 
she wasn’t letting go of his face wasn’t helping either. He just 
hoped she didn’t look down anytime soon. 

	Neither noticed a bush at the far end of the yard stand 
up and run away. 

	Finally she couldn’t take it anymore. She needed 
release! Reaching further back, Ranko grasped the back of 
Ranma’s head before pulling it forward and pressing her lips 
against his hotly. Fiercely, like an animal to its prey, she 
clutched his back, forcing their bodies together. 

	Ranma’s eyes bulged at first contact nearly falling out 
of their sockets. Every second, moment, he expected a mallet 
to appear and smash his straight to heaven. But it never came 
and Ranma sighed through Ranko’s lips, the tension leaving 
his body causing him to kiss back without knowing it. His 
arms strolled around his small waist onto the small of her 
back, pressing her closer. 

	“You’re not gonna kick me in the balls again, are 
you?” Ranma asked nervously, a bead of sweat running down 
his forehead. (I’m a bastard aren’t I?)

	Ranko blinked her way out of her fantasy before 
realizing just where she was and that she hadn’t just kissed 
him. “Wha . . . Ah!” she shouted, immediately releasing 
Ranma’s face and falling onto her butt. “Who? What? 
Where? When? How?” she asked in rapid succession, a deep 
blush riding across the bridge of her nose. 

	Ranma blinked twice, responding, “Ranma. I don’t 
know what, what is? My house.  Just a couple seconds ago, 
and, nothing happened, so there’s no real answer to that last 
one.” 

	Ranko sweat dropped, staring blankly at Ranma. “Um 
. . . ok.” 

	“Er . . . sorry. That just came out,” Ranma said 
sheepishly scratching the back off head.    

	“Help me up will ya?” Ranko asked holding her arm 
out to Ranma. 

	Grasping Ranko’s out stretched arm, Ranma hefted 
her to her feet in one simple pulled. He grinned at her, not 
releasing her hand.

	She smile back shyly, still slightly red from her brief 
fantasy. 

	They both heard a thump and turned to see what it 
was.

	“Wah!!! MY son’s so manly!” Nodoka cried from the 
backdoor, where she lay on her side. 

	“Erk!” Ranma exclaimed snapping his hand away 
from Ranko’s and sweat dropping uneasily watching his 
mothers antics. 

	*Oh no! It _is_ this Saotome!* Ranko felt like crying 
herself. *How can Ranma be sane!?* she thought frantically.

	 “Oh my son! You’re so manly!” Nodoka wailed 
suddenly holding Ranma in a tight embrace, tears flowing 
like a waterfall. 

	“Oro?!” 

	Ranko began tiptoeing away, not wanting to be 
included in Nodoka’s hugging spree. Didn’t work.

	“Ranko-chan!” Nodoka shouted clutching Ranko 
tighter than she had Ranma, who was at that time, gasping for 
air. Holding Ranko at arm length. “Ranko-chan! Why didn’t 
you tell me you were in a relationship with my son!?” the 
older woman cried happily.

	“Er. . .” was the only reply she got.

	“You _know_ my mom!?” Ranma shouted in horror. 
This did not mean anything good.

	“Of course she does! I take her lingerie shopping from 
time to time! Why just recently I bought her a matching pair 
of red, lacy bra and panties!” Nodoka continued joyously. 

	Ranko sweat dropped miserably. 

	Ranma felt her pain, casting her another sympathetic 
look. 

	Ranko glared at him.

	Ranma shrank back slightly at the withering gaze. 
“Uh . . . mom. Ranko was just lacying. Ack! Leaving! 
Leaving!” he shouted nervously.

	“Yeah. I _really_ need to go, Mrs. Saoto-,” Ranko 
started, straining a false, toothy smile. 

	Glaring motherly, Nodoka cut in, “How many times 
do I have to tell you, call me Auntie.”  

	“Sorry, Auntie,” Ranko muttered dejectedly. 

	“It’s ok, though you shouldn’t really call me that 
anymore,” Nodoka replied proudly, her head held high. 

	“Huh?” Ranko was confused. Mrs. Saoto- er . . . 
Auntie always made her call her . . . Auntie. She smiled 
widely thinking she was being let off the ‘Auntie’ hook.

	“Yes. You should call me mom now.” 

	Ranko considered fainting, but figured it was unlady 
like to do so. 

	“Uh . . . mom? Ranko’s really got to go,” Ranma said 
cutting in meekly from the sidelines.	

	“Yeah! I gotta go cook dinner for my family! They’ll 
starve if I don’t,” Ranko lied anxiously wanting nothing more 
than to get the hell away.

	*Or they’ll die from Akane’s cooking.* both Ranma 
and Ranko thought simultaneously. 

	“Oh, and I was going to ask you to stay for dinner,” 
Nodoka responded sadly, and hand laid delicately on her 
cheek.

	“Yeah, well . . . yeah,” Ranko replied lamely.

	“Well, Ranko has to get going now,” Ranma said 
from behind his mother while giving Ranko shooing motions. 
	 
	“Yeah, bye!” Ranko shouted before dashing off.

	Ranma heaved a sigh of relief.

	“Oh Ranma, why don’t you escort Ranko home. It’s 
not safe for a lady to walk around on her own you know,” 
Nodoka commented knowingly.

	Ranma glance around. It was brighter than a flashlight 
in the face out. “But-!”

	“No buts. Now go escort your girlfriend home,” 
Nodoka order pointing in the direction of the front gates.

	“Yes, mom,” Ranma grumbled walking off. 

	“And while you’re gone, I’ll be preparing a ‘Welcome 
back safely’ meal!” she called out to he retreating form which 
immediately sped up. “Ah! Young love,” Nodoka sighed 
before freezing with a far away look plastered on her face. 

********* 

	“I _thought_ you said Ranma was nothing to worry 
about?” the lamps shadow accused harshly. 

	“I never said such a thing,” the figure sitting at the 
long steel desk replied simply.

	“What happened to him?” the bookshelves shadow 
asked. 

	“What happened to him is a mystery to me. I don’t 
know how he did it but his interference has cost us some 
delays,” Gosunkugi replied sternly, hands folded in front of 
his face. 

	“So what are you planning to do?” the chairs shadow 
asked just as harshly as before. 

	Gosunkugi didn’t even twitch. “I’m putting the plan 
on hold for the time being. I have a feeling this _change_ in 
Ranma is going to help us.”

	“Is that so?” his own shadow replied.

	“Yes, Ebony Shadow. It is,” he responded closing his 
eyes and smiling a very small, very cold smile. 

*********

	“Hey Ranko! Wait up!” Ranma shouted as he ran 
after the pigtailed girl. 

	“Huh?” Ranko turned around only to nearly have 
Ranma run her over. “Hey! Watch it!” she shouted startled by 
his abrupt appearance.

	“Sorry,” Ranma replied rubbing the back of his head 
while blushing embarrassingly. 

	“S’okay. Just watch it next time. If you don’t . . . I’ll 
cream ya,” Ranko replied mockingly, waving a small fist in 
front of Ranma face. 

	Brushing the fist away and rolling his eyes, Ranma 
responded sarcastically, “Ha Ha! Very funny.”

	“So, waddaya want?” she asked, hands on her hips.

	“My moms makin’ me walk you home. Says it’s ‘not 
safe for a lady to walk around on her own’,” Ranma 
explained in a exasperated voice and started down the road, 
Ranko at his side.

	“Lady,” Ranko snorted before turning to Ranma and 
shouting accusingly, “Why didn’t you tell me she was your 
mom!?” 

	“How was I supposed to know you knew my mom!?” 
Ranma shot back throwing his arms up into the air. 

	Ranko sighed. “How can you live with that woman?” 

	“Well I haven’t lived with her all that long,” Ranma 
muttered.

	“What?” Ranko asked curiously.

	“Nothing! Aheh,” Ranma responded quickly, grinning 
panicky. “So . . . red panties, huh? Those wouldn’t happen to 
be the ones your wearing right now would they?” he asked 
teasingly. He sighed mentally. *Me and my big mouth.*

	Ranko slugged him in the gut before muttering, 
“Pervert.”

	“I deserved that,” Ranma breathed sharply. One 
benefit about being merge with his nerd self was that he knew 
when he was wrong. Catching his breath, Ranma jogged after 
the petite redhead. 

	“Why are you still following me?” Ranko asked 
Ranma plainly once he’d caught up. 

	Ranma shrugged. “Because I don’t feel like spendin’ 
time with my mom right now. Knowing her, she’s already 
planning our wedding.”

	Ranko shuddered. “You’re probably right, but that 
doesn’t mean you have to follow _me_. Why don’t you go 
bug someone else?” 

	“Because you’re right here an’ I don’t feel like finding 
someone else,” Ranma explained smoothly, smiling proudly 
at his thought out answer. The real question on his mind was, 
‘why didn’t he find someone else to bother?’. It’d be much 
easier, so why stay with her?

	Ranko sighed. “Fine. Whatever. Come on. It’s this 
way.”

	“I know the way,” Ranma retorted in response to her 
aggravated tone.

	“How the hell do you know the way?” Ranko asked 
suspiciously as the continued along their 'merry' way. 

	“I know the streets of Nerima like the back of my 
hand,” Ranma answered casually with a wave of his hand. 
“Hey, what’s that?” he said looking at the back of his hand. 
He licked his other hands thumb and rubbed the odd mark. 
“Oh! Just dirt. Heh.”

	Ranko slapped herself in the face. 
	
	“So, do you really do all the cooking? For the Tendo’s 
that is,” Ranma implored.

	“Yeah. I’m pretty good too,” Ranko replied honestly,
hands in her pockets. 

	“Oh. Why’s that?” Ranma questioned though he 
figured he already knew the answer. 

	“I took a ten year long training trip when I was 5. It 
was either cook or starve. I chose cook,” Ranko said with a 
simple shrug, her pigtail going along with it. 

	“Ten years huh? So who taught you?” Ranma asked 
curiously wanting to know who other than his father had 
suffered under the master of the Anything Goes School. 

	Ranko remained silent and walked ahead at a fast 
pace. 

	*Smooth one, baka!* Ranma thought glumly before 
catching up the Ranko once more.  Grasping her shoulder 
gently, her turned her to face him smiling sympathetically. 
“Sorry ‘bout bringing up unwanted memories there. Didn’t 
know.”

	Ranko looked up at him, into his caring, concern 
filled eyes. Why was it that he could be caring one moment 
and a total idiot the next? She swatted his hand away, turn 
and started walking again. “What do you know?” she asked 
curtly.

	*More than you think, Ranko.* Ranma thought 
shaking his head wearily. “So, seeing as I beat you, does that 
mean you owe me date?” he asked jokingly.

	“I don’t owe you anything. Leave me alone.” 

	“No. Think about it. You don’t like having to fight 
your “fan club” everyday do you?” 

	“No.”

	“Well, if we pretend we’re goin’ out, they’ll leave 
you alone. After all, I beat you fair an’ square. Them too. We 
pretend we’re going out, they won’t bother you. I’m sure of 
it,” Ranma explained somewhat excitedly. He remember 
Akane’s old fan club and how they’d backed off once they’d 
heard the two were engaged. And after he’d beaten up Kuno 
of course. 
		
	“You really think that would work?” Ranko asked 
curiously, glancing at Ranma out of the corner of her eye. She 
didn’t even know why she was thinking about agreeing with 
what he was saying. It sounded logical, but also . . . a little 
suspicious. “Or are you just trying to make me your pretend 
boyfriend so you can go and brag to your friends?”

	“Ranko? Do you _know_ how many friends I have?”

	Ranko shook her head.

	“One. And his name’s Umino.”

	“You’re friends with Umino?” Ranko asked in 
wonder.

	“He’s all I got,” Ranma replied plainly placing his 
hands behind his head as he walked.

	“Wellllll, I’ll consider it. I still don’t know though,” 
Ranko said thinking it over. *It just might work.*

	“Think of it this way. We won’t have to do anything, 
just say we’re a couple. Then lie about a bunch of other 
stuff,” Ranma explained easily not taking his eyes off the 
road ahead. 

	“Yeah, but what if someone asks us to do something? 
Like hug or kiss?” Ranko asked inquisitively, a small blush 
donning her cheeks.

	“Well, the hugging I can deal with, but for the kissin’. 
We _might_ have to use the Saotome School of Anything 
Goes: Final Attack on that one,” Ranma answered with an 
amused smirk.
	
	Ranko couldn’t stop the oncoming onslaught and 
burst out laughing, startling the nearby pedestrians. 

	Ranma’s smile grew wider at Ranko’s reaction. He 
really liked the sound of her laugh. It was carefree as if she 
hadn’t a worry in the world. 

	Wiping the tears from her eyes, Ranko spotted their 
upcoming position. “The bridge!” she shouted dashing ahead.

	“Huh?” Ranma exclaimed before running after 
Ranko. “What bridge?”

	“I though you knew Nerima like the back your hand?” 
Ranko mock teased.

	“I thought I did too.”

	“This is Cherry Bridge. It’s one of my favorite places 
to hang out when I need someone to talk to,” Ranko 
explained.

	“Why’s it called Cherry Bridge though?” Ranma 
asked eyeing the old wooden bridge that gave passage over a 
small creek.

	“Because I live here,” a voice replied from beside 
him. 

	Glancing to his right, Ranma screamed in horror 
going into a classic Takakashi pose, pinky, index finger, and 
thumb extended on each hand. “Ah! Happosai!” Then he got 
a better look. “Wait a minute. You’re Happosai. Who’re 
you?”

	“I’m Cherry,” Cherry replied annoyed.

	“What the heck type of name is Cherry?” Ranma 
asked perplexed.

	“What the heck kinda name is Ranma?” Cherry 
responded in kind. 

	“I’ll have you know, Ranma’s a perfectly fine na-! 
How’d you know my name?” 

	“I have my ways,” Cherry replied mysteriously before 
turning to Ranko. “Ranko, my dear, how have you been? I 
haven’t seen you around lately.”

	“Sorry, Cherry-san. I’ve been really busy lately. I’ll 
try and stop by more often though,” Ranko answered with a 
small frown.

	“So if you live here, does that make you a bum or 
somethin’?” Ranma asked. Already he didn’t care for Cherry, 
as the shriveled old man reminded him to much of the old 
ghoul. 	

	“Yes, something like that,” Cherry replied giving 
Ranma a warning glare.

	Ranma glared back just as much. 

	“Ah . . . we gotta get going Cherry. I’ll see you later, 
kay?” Ranko asked nervously, looking back and forth 
between the two. 

	“Okay, Ranko-chan,” Cherry replied not breaking his 
gaze.

	“Come on Ranma, lets go.”

	“I think this would be a good time to go our separate 
ways,” Ranma responded holding Cherry’s gaze.

	“Uh . . . alright. See ya, Ranma!” Ranko called while 
darting across the small bridge and out of sight.

	  Five minutes later and the two were still holding eye 
contact. Ranma spoke first. “I don’t like you.”

	“And I you.” 

	“Then I guess we’re on even terms.”

	“I guess we are.” 

	Another long silence past, this time having Cherry 
break it. “Stay away from Ranko-chan.”

	“Why?”

	“I can tell just by looking at you that you’re nothing 
but trouble.”

	Ranma snorted. “You wish, old man. You can’t make 
me do nothin’.”

	“You blinked.” 

	“Huh?”

	“You blinked.”

	“No I didn’t!” 

	“You just did again!” 

	“I did not!” 

	“You lost!” 
	
	“I’ll show you who ‘lost’, old man!” 

*********

	“Ah, Ranko, just the girl I wanted to see,” Nabiki said 
from in front of her bedroom. 

	“Huh? What do want, Nabs?” Ranko asked curiously 
walking up to her cousin. 

	Nabiki hid her grimace at the name Ranko called her 
and beckoned her redheaded cousin into her room. “In here, if 
you please.” 

	“Er . . . ok,” Ranko said strolling into Nabiki’s room. 
“Whatcha want?”

	“I know what you did,” Nabiki started firmly.

	“What I do?” Ranko asked baffled.

	“Don’t play dumb! I know all about your rendevous 
with Ranma,” Nabiki snapped back. 

	“How do you know about that?” Ranko asked 
surprised and slightly tense.

	Nabiki just looked at her.

	“Oh yeah,” Ranko finally said as lamely as one could.

	“What did you think you were doing?” Nabiki asked 
flatly.
	
	“Um . . . eating,” Ranko responded. She had no idea 
why Nabiki was chewing her out so badly. All she did was 
share an okonomiyaki with him.

	Nabiki stared in shock. Ranko gave Ranma head! 
How could she do such thing!? And consider it eating at that! 
“How could you?” she asked in complete shock.

	“Well he payed for it,” Ranko replied reminding 
herself to thank him sharing his lunch.

	*Kami-sama in heaven! My cousin’s become a 
prostitute!* Nabiki felt sick. *This is all Ranma’s fault!* she 
thought angrily. “What about after school today? I saw you 
following him.”

	“You saw that too!?” Ranko cried embarrassed at 
being caught. 

	“Yes, I saw that too.”	

	“No-nothing happened,” Ranko stammered blushing 
badly as she recalled their close encounter and strange 
fantasy. 

	Nabiki saw Ranko blush and added to her already 
wrong conclusion. *They must’ve done again! I’ve never 
seen Ranko blush so badly!* she thought worriedly. “Ok, 
Ranko. You can go.”

	Leaving the room, Ranko wondered just what the hell 
was wrong with Nabiki.

	Closing her door, Nabiki hurried back to her desk and 
began filtering through the piles of papers atop it. Find the 
one she was apparently looking for, she grabbed her cell 
phone and began dialing the number printed on the paper. 

*********

	His phone rang once. Then twice. Then a third time. 
Sighing to himself, a young man, no more than 16 years of 
age pulled a cell phone from his pants pocket. Pushing the on 
button through the 4th ring, he sighed into the phone. 

	“What do want? You’re interrupting my meditation,” 
he said wearily into the phone. 

	There was a sudden rapid muttering heard coming 
from the caller.

	“Nabiki!” the boy shouted springing out of his lotus 
position. 

	More incoherent mutter was heard. 

	“Yes, what is it?” 

	More mumbling.

	“What!? You can’t be serious!? No one’s better than 
me!” A pause for more muttering. “Nerima. Furinkan High. 
Gotcha. What’s the guys name?”

	Two words were mumbled this time. 
	
	“Ranma Saotome, eh?” he rumbled, "Where can I find him?"

 "Furinkan High in Nerima, eh? I’ll show him who’s the better 
fighter," he said before hanging up the cell phone. “Ranma 
Saotome. Prepare yourself,” he whispered gripping the phone 
tightly in his fist which suddenly decided to shatter into a 
million tiny pieces. “Because the greatest fighter in all Japan 
is coming after you,” he finished flashing a toothy grin. 

	“Worthless piece of junk,” the slightly fanged boy 
muttered wiping the phones remains from his hands.	 

*********
	
	Ranma dumped a bucket of cold water over his head,
shivering fiercely, washing off all the soap. He couldn’t wait
to get in the hot furo. All throughout dinner his mom had
pestered him about him camping trip and about Ranko and
how perfect a woman she was. He nearly rammed his head
into the table when she brought up the subject of
grandchildren. 

	Heading to the water tap, Ranma froze in his tracks. 
Slowly he turned his head to look behind him. And stared. He 
now knew what was on his back. He swallow lightly before 
taking a step closer to the mirror, narrowing his eyes. 

	“What the hell?” he muttered to himself studying the 
black mark. His eyes widened. Then he screamed.

*********

	“HE’S BACK! HE’S BACK! WE’RE SAVED! 
REJOICE PEOPLE! THE APOCALYPSE HAS BEEN 
PREVENTED!” Umetsu-sensei cried happily from where he 
was perched atop Furinkan Highs flag pole. 

	“Frup up!” Akane mumbled/shouted from where she 
was tied to the flag pole, Kuno’s boxers shoved and taped 
into her mouth. The top half of her school was uniform 
missing, leaving her clad only in a bra and school skirt.

	“Fonf fefer phas phofs phis fenfes,” Kuno mumbled 
through Akane panties, also tied to the flag pole, wearing 
nothing but Akane’s school shirt around his waist .
	
	“BWHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAH!” 

TBC 

	Chapter 4: Who’s the Greatest? He’s the Greatest. 
Your the Greatest? 

Next Time: It’s a battle to be the best and to the winner goes
the spoils.

Authors Notes: Sooo... who wants to kill me? Raise your
hand. Yeah, so it’s revised and such, I’m still alive. Be happy. 

Email me at my usual Hawk49er@attbi.com		

Fic can be found at (as of right now): 
http://tannim.anifics.com/index.html

http://www.geocities.com/furikuri83/index.html

    Source: geocities.com/furikuri83