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Blessed Curse

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

Author note: Thanks to Blissfull Wulf for betaing this fic.

Chapter 6

Kuno peeked out into the auditorium from the backstage area; he could see the seats filling up with the rest of Akane’s would-be suitors. After waking up and recovering from his epic battle with Saotome, who must have cheated to win against a great swordsman like himself, Kuno had called a school assembly to take place the next day. Straightening his kendo uniform, Kuno stepped out onto the stage and cleared his throat for attention.

“We have all battled the lovely Tendo Akane for the chance to take her onto a date,” Kuno said loudly. “But now there is a new player among us therefore anyone who wishes to date Akane must first defeat Saotome Ranma in battle!” Whispers broke out among the group of boys known jokingly as the ‘Hentai Squad’ at Kuno’s announcement.

“Saotome? The new guy?”

“Is Kuno nuts? That guy took him out in no time.”

“I already get my ass handed to me by Akane every morning, I don’t know if I want to fight somebody that’s better than her and Kuno.”

“Saotome might be good but I bet he can’t take us all on.”

“That little punk ain’t nothing.”

That day many members of the Hentai Squad dropped out as they didn’t think it was worth getting beat up anymore when there were so many other pretty girls around the school that were much safer to ask on dates while the rest planed on how they could take Ranma out of the race for Akane’s hand, most forgetting that Ranma had said several times he and Akane were not an item.

Kuno smirked as he turned on his heel and left the stage.

‘Oh yes, you will regret the day you and I crossed paths Saotome,’ Kuno thought to himself with an evil chuckle.

***

“Excuse me, have you see this guy?” Ryoga asked as he showed a boy in a school uniform Ranma’s photo.

“Hey, isn’t that Saotome?” The boy said, his head tilted to the side as he looked at the photo.

“Yes!” Ryoga said happily. “Do you know where I can find him?”

“Well yeah, he goes to Furinkan High school,” The boy said.

‘Ha! I knew I would catch up to you sooner or later Saotome. Now I’ll have my revenge for making my life a living hell!’ Ryoga thought with a fanged smirk. “Where can I find Furinkan High?”

***

“Ha! Missed me!” Ranma said as she stuck her tongue out at the old woman from the day before, sometimes known as the ‘Lady of the Ladle’, as she jumped over the elderly woman.

“Errr? What’s that?” She asked but went unheard as Ranma and Akane ran down the street.

“Don’t tease the old lady,” Akane said over the wind. “She’ll just try harder next time.”

“She can try, but no one defeats Saotome Ranma,” Ranma half jokingly bragged. Akane rolled her eyes at her friend, Ranma had such an ego on her. As they rounded the last corner on the way to school, Akane put Ranma’s ego out of her mind and focused on the fight ahead of her. She could already see the crowd of boys waiting between the gates.

/‘Hmm, there seem to be less perverts waiting on me today,’ /Akane absently noted as she started to chant ‘I hate boys’ out loud. Ranma was prepared to split from Akane and head into the building when one of the boys in the crowd yelled.

“There’s Saotome!”

“Get him!”

“What!?” “H-Hey!” Ranma and Akane yelled at the same time as the boys rushed at Ranma instead of Akane. Akane watched in open mouthed shock as the Hentai Squad attacked Ranma instead of her like they usually did.

“Akane,” Nabiki called out to her sister. Akane quickly ran over, waving her hand at the fight.

“What the hell are they attacking Ranma for?” She asked.

“Seems Kuno-baby has got it in their heads that they gotta defeat Ranma before they can date you now,” Nabiki explained. “I just found out about it, I didn’t even get to set up any bets.”

“Bakas,” Akane groaned as she face palmed. “Kuno-no-baka.”

“Oh I agree,” Nabiki said. “Kuno could have given me some warning.” Akane sighed at her sister then turned back to the so-called ‘fight’. Already the battle was over, Ranma walking away from where all the boys that had attacked her were laying on the ground groaning in pain. The cursed teen then rolled to the side as Kuno attempted to attack her from behind.

“I see you are not out of tricks yet Saotome,” Kuno said as Ranma turned to face him.

“What the heck Kuno?” Ranma said. “Didn’t I beat you yesterday?”

“Silent! I know thou has used trickery to defeat me,” Kuno said.

“Yeah right, you are such a sore loser,” Ranma said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“I shall smite thee Saotome!” Kuno yelled as he rushed at Ranma who dodged his attack easily.

“Smite? Where the hell are you getting these words from?” Ranma asked as she ducked under an attack. “Well come on stick boy, let’s see if you can keep up.” Ranma jumped over Kuno’s next attack, landing on then pushing off of the taller teen’s head and ran toward the back of the school, laughing and taunting as she avoided each of Kuno’s attacks.

“Wait… isn’t the school pool back there?” Akane asked as she watched Ranma lead Kuno on a merry chase.

“You better go stop them before they end up falling into the pool,” Nabiki said as she headed inside the school. Akane sighed then ran to follow Ranma and Kuno around to the back of the school, luckily no one else was following the two fighting teens as they were either heading into the school or helping the Hentai Squad into the nurse’s office.

***

“Naahhh,” Ranma stuck her tongue out at Kuno while pulling her eye-lid down, insulting the older teen as she dodged his attacks. Kuno wasn’t half bad with a sword, though Ranma had seen better Kendoist over the years, but she was better and faster than him. “You couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn.”

“Stand still wretch!” Kuno yelled, growling in frustration as Ranma jumped over his bokken and landed on top of the fence that surrounded the school pool. “HA!” He swung his blade downward, using the air pressure to destroy the chain-link fence. Ranma jumped back and out of the way with a laugh, taunting Kuno.

“Gee, can’t you hit little ol’ me?” Ranma said grinning as Kuno gave a yell of rage as he charged forward with his sword swinging wildly. Ranma landed by the pool then nearly slipped as her foot hit the wet, smooth concert. Her blue eyes widened as she looked behind her, she had been so focused on her so called ‘fight’ with Kuno she hadn’t even noticed that they had come to the pool area. “Wait Kuno, stop!”

“I strike!” Kuno bellowed as he ran full tilt at Ranma but slipped at the last second on the wet concert. He barreled into Ranma, knocking them both into the pool with a large splash.

‘Well damn, there goes my secret about my curse,’ Ranma thought to herself as they hit the water. As they sunk to the bottom of the pool, Kuno grabbed Ranma around the torso. He was surprised when he grabbed a handful of a full, firm breast while Ranma’s eyes widened then narrowed as she was groped. Twisting out of Kuno’s hold, she decked him under the water then pushed off the bottom of the pool and shot out of the water. Kuno slowly floated to the top of the water, floating on his back as he looked up into the sky, his arms crossed over his chest.

‘Where did that girl come from?’ He wondered. ‘And what happen to that coward Saotome? Truly my might was too much for him.’

Akane rounded the corner of the school in time to see Kuno and Ranma fall into the water then a red headed blur jump out and run toward the clump of trees on the back part of the school property. She sighed then headed into the school to get a kettle of hot water, looks like she and Ranma were going to be late for class.

****

“Stupid idiot… why the hell did he have to grab so hard?” Ranma grumbled to herself as she jumped up into a tree and sat down on one of its wider branches. She slid her wet pants off and started to squeeze the water out of them. “Damn it, I can’t believe this…”

Ranma was worried that now Kuno knew about her ability to change genders, he would spread it around the school. While Ranma would have loved to come to school in her girl form, magical curses or magic in general were a little hard for people to chew on. Even with the stories and sightings of ‘magical girls’ in and around parts of Japan, most people didn’t believe magic was real. The magical girls were often played off as a hoax or explained off as special effects or using some sort of weapon. Even Ranma, who had seen a person using magic in her youth didn’t really put much stock in the whole magic thing until Jusenkyo. Changing genders or even whole species with a splash of water tended to do that to you.

So without being sure how the principal in charge of the school would react to having magic being shoved into his or her face as real, Ranma had to go to the school as a boy. Plus Ranma remembered how badly Akane reacted to the curse and well Ranma would rather avoid having a bunch of people react so violently to her curse, at least until she got to know them a little better.

‘Well the dog might be out of the bag now,’ Ranma thought to herself, refusing in her mind to use the word ‘cat’. ‘Well… maybe now I can go ahead and go to school as a girl if everyone knows I have both bodies.’

“Ranma!” Akane’s voice called below her in the trees.

“Up here,” Ranma called. Akane followed the voice until she was standing under the tree Ranma was sitting in.

“I think you need this,” She said, holding up the kettle of water.

“Yeah, I think I do,” Ranma said. As Akane started to hand over the kettle he heard Kuno yelling in the distance.

“Saotome! You cannot run you coward!”

“Oh damn,” Akane cursed. “Here, change back while I hold him off!” Akane tossed the kettle into the air and ran to head Kuno off before he saw Ranma in her girl form.

“Whoa!” Ranma yelped as she leaned out to catch the kettle before it fell back to the ground, using her strong legs to hold onto the branch of the tree.

“Kuno!” Akane yelled as she stepped in Kuno’s path.

“Tendo Akane, while you are a stunning reflection of beauty as ever,” Kuno said as he came to a stop, “I am afraid there is a certain cur I must deal with.”

“No way Kuno, you fight me right here and now,” Akane said. Kuno blinked at her in surprise, never before had Akane come to him to fight.

“Truly, you wish to fight me now?” He asked. Akane didn’t say anything instead moving into a battle ready stance. “Then I shall grant you your wish, and afterward you and I shall go on a date.”

“Dream on Kuno,” Akane said in a ‘no way in hell’ voice. “I’m never gonna date somebody like you.”

“Such harsh words from a desert bloom such as yourself,” Kuno waxed poetically. “That cowardly Saotome, he is the cause of your hostile anger toward me. Not to worry my dear I, Kuno Tatewaki, shall defeat the fiendish vill-“

“Who the hell are you calling a coward!?” Ranma yelled as she hit Kuno in the head with the kettle from behind. Kuno fell to his knees briefly holding his head where a large bump formed.

“Ranma!” Akane hissed when she saw her friend hadn’t turned back to her male form. Ranma had been listening in and became so angry when Kuno called her a coward she had forgotten to use the hot water to change back. Kuno lifted his head to see who had dared to hit him, his heart swooning at the vision in front of him.

“Pony-tailed girl,” He said as he grabbed one of Ranma’s hands between his own.

“W-what? What do you think you’re doing?” Ranma asked in surprise.

“Your hair is a red as the flame of a phoenix,” Kuno said as the air almost seemed to fill with glitter and little hearts. “And your spirit is as ferocious as the mighty tigress in the jungle. My dear lady, you shall have the privilege, nay, the honor of going on a date with me.”

“So wait…. Does that mean you’re not interested in me anymore?” Akane asked, not sure if she should be insulted or not.

“Still your broken heart fair Tendo Akane,” Kuno said as he turned to Akane, this time holding her hands. “I shall not abandoned my love for you.”

“Wait,” Ranma said as she scratched her head. “You just said-“

“Nay instead of making my heart choose, I shall date both of you!” Kuno posed, looking skyward with his hand over his head. Akane and Ranma looked at each other, both sweat-dropping.

“Nah!” They said as same time then both cocked back a fist, ramming them into Kuno’s unprotected stomach.

“OOFFMM!” Kuno’s breath was knocked out of them and he flew back several feet out of the tree line where he laid in a heap.

“What a jerk!” Ranma said with a shake of her head.

“Welcome to my life,” Akane said with a sigh as she picked up the heavily dented kettle off the ground. “Well, there’s no water left in here for you to change back with.”

“I can’t believe that guy,” Ranma said as she walked over to the tree she had been in and grabbed her uniform’s pants. “I mean, I can’t believe he couldn’t even tell I was the same person! I changed right in front of him, he grabbed my tits!”

“He what?!” Akane said, her head snapping around to look at Ranma then shook her head. “Kuno is fairly school smart, at least that’s what Nabiki’s always said, but he’s pretty stupid at the same time. Well… we’re already late for class so maybe we can sneak in to the home ecc. lab and get you some hot water there.”

“No, you know what?” Ranma said as she finished redressing. “Let’s ditch. We’re already in trouble, might as well go all the way.”

“Ditch?” Akane repeated. “Oh… well…”

“What, are you scared to ditch school for a day?” Ranma teased Akane, poking her in the arm.

“No!” Akane said as she slapped Ranma’s hand away. “I’m not scared. Ok, let’s ditch then.” Then she started to giggle softly. “Kasumi is going to kill us.”

“I won’t tell her if you won’t,” Ranma said with a grin. “Let’s go!”

***

An hour later both girls were at an ice cream shop, sitting at one of the outside tables. Everyone around them barely paid any attention to the two girls as they were hardly the first students to play hooky.

“Hmmm…” Ranma moaned happily as she scooped a large spoonful of chocolate ice cream in her mouth.

“You seem to be really enjoying that,” Akane said with a laugh.

“You have no idea how much better ice cream tastes as a girl,” Ranma said around her spoon.

“What do you mean? It tastes different as a boy?” Akane asked lowly.

“I think so,” Ranma said as she stirred the ice cream around in the tall glass it came in. “I had to be sneaky to eat any ice cream before, Pops always said eating sweets was girly.” Ranma rolled her eyes at the memory as she ate another spoonful. “But I’ve noticed that sweet things taste sweeter like this,” she added as she waved her hand at her body.

“Guess I never thought of that,” Akane mused. “So your Dad really told you eating ice cream was girly?”

“Yes, of course that hypocrite would then turn around and eat whatever sweet thing was nearby,” Ranma rolled her eyes again. “I think he just told me that bull shit so he could have it all to himself.”

“I really don’t like your Dad Ranma,” Akane said flatly.

Ranma shrugged her shoulders as she leaned back in her seat, looking mournfully at the empty ice cream glass in front of her. “Pops wasn’t the best pop around, some of the trainin’ he put me through was really dangerous and that’s not even scratching the surface of some of the stuff I hada go through growing up. Plus Pops was, is and always will be a con man, you wouldn’t believe the amount of times we got run out of a town cause he pissed off the wrong person.”

Akane snorted and shook her head, the more she heard about Genma Saotome, the less that surprised her about him. Both girls looked up as they heard somebody yelling down the street, a tall long hair boy was arguing with a telephone pole. Ranma’s eyes lit up as she jumped to her feet.

“Mousse!” She yelled, waving her arms over her head. Mousse frowned and turned toward the voice, squinting his eyes.

“Shampoo?” He asked. Ranma snorted and jumped over the railing around the ice cream shop and ran over to the boy, pulling the glasses down off the top of his head to sit properly on his face.

“How many times you gotta be told to wear your glasses?” Ranma asked.

“Ranma,” Mousse said in relief. “I’ve finally found you.”

“Yeah yeah, come on and sit down,” Ranma said as she pushed Mousse toward the ice cream shop where Akane was waiting.

“Ranma, who’s he?” Akane asked as she watched the other girl push the tall youth into a chair.

“Akane meet Mousse,” Ranma said with a grin as she sat down. “Mousse meet my new friend Akane.”

“Pleasure,” Mousse said with a small nod of his head.

“Ah… so how do you know him Ranma?” Akane asked, giving Mousse a look of distrust.

“Oh don’t worry Akane,” Ranma said as she caught Akane’s look, the girl didn’t trust anyone who was male since her experiences at school. “Mousse isn’t even gonna give you a second look, he’s got eyes only for one person and that’s Shampoo.”

“Mousse? Shampoo?” Akane asked, relaxing slightly but still watching the other teen.

“It’s Mu Tsu,” Mousse said. “But everyone who doesn’t speak Chinese can’t seem to pronounce the names in our village so it turned into ‘Mousse’.”

“Village?” Akane asked. Ranma quickly gave Akane a rundown of how she meet Mousse and the other Amazons-like people of the Joketsuzoku and how their leader Cologne had helped her discover that she was transgender and was more or less adopted into the older woman’s family.

“Then we had to go down to Jusenkyo for something the guide wanted,” Ranma said as she finished her story. “Pops was waiting there for us and knocked me out. When I woke up we were several miles away.”

“I see,” Akane started to relax again. She was still a bit distrustful but Ranma seemed to vouch for him and according to Ranma Mousse was already in love with another girl. “Alright, I guess I’m happy to meet another one of Ranma’s friends that already knows about her. Why don’t I go get us some more ice cream, my treat?”

“Oo, can I have a banana split this time?” Ranma asked with shiny, begging blue eyes. Akane laughed and nodded her head as she headed inside the shop to put in another order. “So Mousse, what happen after Pops knocked me out?”

“Shampoo and I attempted to attack him but he overpowered us both,” Mousse grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“What? Really? But Pops has been a push over the last couple of years,” Ranma said.

“I don’t know what technique he used but he was invisible when he attacked you,” Mousse explained.

“Huh…” Ranma leaned back in her seat with her arms crossed over her own chest. “You know, Pops use to go on about having these two styles that he created for years but he never showed them to me. I always thought he was bluffing but now I wonder…”

“Whatever he used, he was able to turn our attacks against us and toss us into the springs,” Mousse grumbled.

“Wait, you got cursed?” Ranma asked as she sat in up in alarm. “Is that why you keep trying to maim Pop?”

“Part of the reason, Shampoo was given permission to dispose of your father for the attack,” Mousse said. “I was just lucky I was allowed to go with her since I was attacked as well. Then the kidnapping of a village sister of course.”

“Yeah,” Ranma said with a shake of her head. “Look, you two gotta stop trying to kill my Pops. Beat the shit out of him if you want but you can’t kill him.”

“But!” Mousse tried to protest.

“I get that you’re angry Mousse but I don’t want to see my Pops dead. Yeah he’s made my life hell but he’s still my father, I’ll be happy not to see him ever again,” Ranma told her friend. Mousse sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose under his glasses.

“I guess I understand but Shampoo will still want to kill him,” He said.

“I know and when Shampoo shows up, cause if you’re here then she’s gotta be here too, then I’ll talk to her,” Ranma promised. “So what springs did you get knocked into?”

“I fell into the spring of drowned tiger cub,” Mousse grumbled. “Not even a full grown tiger.”

Ranma shuddered slightly, great her friend turned into a cat. “And Shampoo?” Mousse opened his mouth to answer but by that time Akane came back over with a tray of their treats.

“Here we go,” Akane said with a smile. “Mousse, I didn’t know what you wanted so I just got a bowl of vanilla.”

“That is fine, thank you,” Mousse said with a smile then flicked his wrist so a spoon came flying out of his sleeve.

“Whoa! How did you do that?” Akane asked.

“Mousse is a master of Hidden Weapons,” Ranma said with a grin. “You should see some of the crap he keeps hidden in those robes of his.”

“Hidden Weapons?” Akane repeated in a questioning tone. Mousse’s lips tilted in a slight smile as he nodded his head.

“I am able to keep several different types of items, mostly weapons, on my body under my robes,” Mousse turned slightly and swept one arm out, a trio of thick chains flew out of his sleeves and wrapped themselves around a chair. With a flick of his wrist, Mousse sent the chair up into the air then with a twist unwrapped the chains from the chair and recalled them into his wide sleeve. Another sweep of his arm sent out a wave of knives that buried themselves into the chair that had been falling back to the ground.

“Kami-sama!” Akane yelped in surprise. “And you have all that on you?”

“Yes, and much more,” Mousse agreed as he adjusted his glasses.

“So where are you going to stay Mousse?” Ranma said changing the subject.

“I will find someplace, I have the money to rent a hotel room,” Mousse said. “It’s Shampoo I’m worried about, her Japanese is just barely enough to be understood and she’s frantic to find the panda and make a rug out of him. And to find her little sister as well,” Mousse smirked at Ranma as he said this, laughing as Ranma blushed.

“Little sister?” Akane asked amused.

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up,” Ranma said with a pout then muttered to herself, “Just because I’m smaller and younger.” Akane laughed softly at her friend who smiled back after a few seconds.

***

The girls and Mousse wandered around a bit more that day, even finding an empty park so Ranma and Mousse could spar. Akane watched in awe as Ranma went full out for once as she dodged Mousse’s attacks then seemed to dance in close to land a few hits of her own. Mousse was a much better Martial Artist than Kuno and lasted much longer against Ranma than the kendoist did. Mousse also had a wider range of weapons to use though Akane was wondering where the potty trainer came from.

After the spar, which Ranma happily won, Mousse left the girls to find a place to stay.

“See, he wasn’t so bad,” Ranma said as they walked down the street toward the Tendo household.

“Yeah, he was ok… for a boy,” Akane agreed.

“Hmm, now I guess it’s just a matter of time until Shampoo shows up,” Ranma mused, wondering to herself what spring her friend had fallen into.

“We’re home!” Akane called as she opened the door.

“Welcome home,” Kasumi said with a smile as she stood in the doorway with a mixing bowl and spoon in her hand. “Did you two enjoy playing hooky?” Both girls looked at Kasumi like deer caught in a headlight, causing Kasumi to smile again slightly. “The school called when you two didn’t show up for classes.”

“Nee-chan, I can explain-“
“It was my fault, I convinced her-“

Kasumi held up her hand to quiet Akane and Ranma. “I’m not angry, a little disappointed that you would do this but I can’t be angry for something that I’ve done myself in the past. Just don’t make a habit of it.”

“You…” Akane gasped.

“I did go to school up until last year Akane-chan,” Kasumi said with a smile. “There were a couple of times I’ve skipped school, I wasn’t always the good girl.” She winked then headed back into kitchen.

“Wow, I didn’t know your sister had it in her,” Ranma said.

“I didn’t either, she acts so much like our mom I forget that she’s still a teenager,” Akane said.

That night after dinner Nabiki grilled the two younger girls on where they had been, slightly impressed that Akane had been a bad girl for once and skipped school. Akane and Ranma told her a bit about their day, Nabiki’s interest peaked when they brought up Mousse which lead to a discussion about the Joketsuzoku.

“So the women are in charge and the men play the role of the women?” Nabiki asked.

“Well the married men in the village take care of the kids and homes but they’re still warriors too. The village sisters want strong men to marry you know, to make strong kids and to protect the kids,” Ranma explained as she rubbed the back of her neck. “The unmarried guys patrol around the village while the girls go out hunting. But yeah, the women are the ones in charge and are the breadwinners so to speak.”

“Hmm,” Nabiki hummed softly as she leaned back on her hands. She was sure Ranma had only scratched the surface of the village she’d stayed in and Nabiki wanted to know more. She was always wanting to know everything she could about other people, you never knew when having that knowledge could come in handy after all. “I want to meet this Mousse guy. And you said you think your friend is gonna show up too?”

“If Mousse is here then Shampoo is here for sure,” Ranma said with a laugh. “She’s just gonna have a harder time getting around since she doesn’t speak Japanese very well and can’t read it at all.”

“So where is your friend?” Nabiki asked.

“Err, he said he was going to rent a hotel room,” Ranma said with a shrug. “No clue where at.”

“Oh well, I’ll just catch him next time he shows up then,” Nabiki said with a shrug of her shoulders as she stood up and headed to her room.

“Should I be worried that Nabiki is interested in Mousse and the Joketsuzoku?” Ranma asked after a few seconds.

“I really don’t know,” Akane replied.

*****

The next day Ranma, in her male form again, and Akane ran toward the school gates, both sighing in frustration at the group of boys standing by them.

“I’m starting to see why you hate these guys,” Ranma said to Akane as they slowed down to a walk. She frowned as she noticed that all the boys weren’t standing at battle ready, some were even opening crying. She shared a look with Akane, who noticed this as well and just shrugged in confusion. “Ok guys, why the hell are you crying?”

“We’ve come to a decision yesterday,” One of the boys, who had been elected as the group’s spokesman, said as he stepped out in front of the group. “We have officially stopped trying to pursue Tendo Akane for a date so no more fights every day.”

“Ok, not that I’m not glad to hear that,” Akane said in a confused tone, “but why?”

“Saotome hits a lot harder than you do and it’s not worth fighting him,” The boy said. “I don’t know if he’s your boyfriend or not but we like to stay hurt free for now on. Come on men, time to head inside!”

Ranma and Akane watched as the group headed inside the school building, leaving both teens behind.

*****

“What the hell did you two do?” Nabiki asked, standing over the two teens with her hands on her hips. When Akane and Ranma gave her confused looks Nabiki huffed loudly and waved a thick envelope that was in one hand at them. “You see this? These are the photos I sell of Akane every day. I had a nice new batch of photos that I was sure I was going to run out of before lunch. Instead, I find out that most of Akane’s fan base as opted out of buying them.”

“You mean you didn’t sell anything?” Akane asked surprised.

“I wouldn’t say that, a couple of boys still bought some photos and Kuno-baby of course,” Nabiki said as she sat down next to her sister and houseguest on the grass. “Speaking of Kuno, he begged me to get him some photos of his new love.”

“Oh Kami-sama, please don’t tell me,” Ranma groaned, burying her face into her hands.

“Yep, he wants photos of his lovely Pony-tailed goddess,” Nabiki said with a smirk. “He’s been asking me all about you.”

“Great,” Ranma said with a roll of her eyes.

“Ok, so what happened?” Nabiki asked her sister. “Why did I suddenly lose all my customers?”

“Don’t ask us,” Akane said. “When we got to school this morning the Horde said they were done fighting over me. Something about Ranma hitting a lot harder than I do. Frankly I’m insulted, I think I pack a way better punch than Ranma does.”

“You wish tomboy,” Ranma said laughing and leaning to the side as Akane tried to hit her in the arm.

“I have no idea what made all those boys change their mind but I’m not disappointed they did,” Akane said. “I was sick of having to fight all those perverted boys every morning. Maybe now I can get to classes on time.”

“You know Kuno is still head-over-heels for you,” Nabiki said. “At least I can depend on him to buy anything featuring you. Now Ranma-baby, if maybe you would consider maybe helping out here…”

“I don’t want some guy I don’t even know or like ogling a picture of me,” Ranma said dryly.

“Nabiki, I know Kasumi told you to leave her alone,” Akane hissed.

“Nee-chan said not to go around taking advantage of Ranma-chan,” Nabiki said. “If Ranma just so happens to volunteer for it, it’s not taking advantage.”

“No thanks,” Ranma said.

“Pity… well if you change your mind, you know where to find me,” Nabiki said as she stood up and headed back to where the rest of her minions were waiting on her.

“Why does she keep trying to get me into modeling?” Ranma asked once Nabiki was out of earshot.

“I guess cause you’re really cute,” Akane said with a shrug of her shoulders. Ranma made a humming noise then shook her head, she didn’t think she would ever understand Akane’s older sister.

******

“Hey you!” Ryoga grabbed the front of a passing male student’s uniform jacket and pulled the smaller boy toward him.

“Hey! What’s your problem!?” The boy asked.

“Where is Furinkan High?” Ryoga asked ignoring the boy’s question. The male student gave him an ‘are you stupid?’ look then pointed at the sign behind Ryoga. Ryoga turned his head and wept with joy as he saw the sign say ‘Furinkan High School’. “Finally, after so long I’m here!” He let go of the boy he had captured who brushed off his front then walked away shaking his head.

“Weirdo,” The boy said. Ryoga ignored him and quickly found a good spot where he could jump out and spring a surprise attack. Finally after months of hell, he was finally able to take revenge on Saotome for running off on their man-to-man fight!

****

A few minutes later Ranma and Akane exited the school and started on the path to return to the Tendo dojo.

“So what’re the plans this weekend?” Ranma asked, her arms crossed behind her head.

“I think Kasumi nee-chan wants to do a girls-day-out,” Akane said. “Would you be ok if Sayuri and Yuka come too? I mean we could always say that you’re a cousin or something.”

“I don’t mind hanging out more with them,” Ranma said. “Do you think they could keep the secret if we told them?”

“Maybe, if we stress how important it is,” Akane said thoughtfully as she tapped her chin. “They’re not really big gossips, not like those two perverts that keep trying to get you to hang out with them.”

“Daisuke and Hiroshi aren’t that bad,” Ranma said having talked to the two boys during free period and during gym. “But they are total perverts, I’m not going to disagree with that.”

“If you say so, I always feel like they’re talking my clothes off with their eyes,” Akane ranted not noticing at first as Ranma suddenly stopped until she was a few feet away from her friend. “Ranma?”

Ranma ignored Akane for a moment, the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up like someone was watching her. Her danger sense went off at the last second as a shadow descended from above as someone yelled, “Ranma! Prepare to die!”

Ranma cursed as she sprung forward, landing in a one handed hand-stand just as the figure landed in the spot where she had been standing. She looked up at her attacker, surprised to see Ryoga there with the tip of that red umbrella he always carried with him digging into the ground. Ranma could feel a shock wave under her fingertips and pushed away just as the concert busted up under Ryoga and formed a crater.

“Ryoga! What the hell!?” Ranma yelled as she landed back on her feet.

“Who’s he?” Akane asked as she ran over to Ranma’s side, brown eyes side as she looked at the crater the new boy was standing in.

“Akane meet Ryoga,” Ranma said with a wave of her hand. “I told you about him, I went to Junior High with him.”

“Oh wait… the one with the bread?” Akane said squinting her eyes as she tried to remember what Ranma told her about Ryoga.

“Quit ignoring me!” Ryoga yelled. “I’ve come to get my revenge on you Saotome, I’m going to destroy your happiness.” He pointed a finger at Ranma as he said this. Ranma frowned and turned back to Akane, pointing a finger at herself.

“Am I happy?” She asked. Akane shrugged her shoulder in a ‘I don’t know’ way.

“Because of you, I’ve seen hell Saotome!” Ryoga growled drawing the girls’ attention back to him. Around them a crowd of students were gathering, wondering who the new guy was and what his beef was with the newest student. Ranma frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“What the hell are you talking about? I haven’t seen you in a couple of we… errr… years,” Ranma said, quickly stopping herself from saying weeks since Ryoga didn’t know she was ‘Ranka’.

“I’ve chased after you all this time for revenge,” Ryoga said as he threw his umbrella at Ranma who cursed and jumped to the side. The heavy umbrella landed where she had been standing with a clanking sound.

“Watch where you’re throwing that thing,” Ranma said. “Why the hell are you trying to get revenge on me for? Wait… is this about the bread?”

“No this isn’t about the bread you idiot!” Ryoga yelled as he moved in to attack, trading punches and kicks with Ranma. Ranma was still confused, she had no idea what she had done to get Ryoga so riled up, when she last saw him he seemed pretty calm. Still, she couldn’t help the grin that crossed her face as she fought with Ryoga, this was what she was missing. Ryoga was a hell of a lot better than Mousse and the other teen pushed her to her limits. “Why are you smiling? Do you think this is a joke!?”

“I haven’t had a good challenge like this in a while, I forgot how fun it was to spar with you,” Ranma said with a laugh as she back flipped away. Meanwhile one of the boys in the crowd had gotten curious about Ryoga’s umbrella and reached down to pick it up.

“Kami! This thing weighs a ton!” This caught Akane’s attention who walked over and tried to pick up the umbrella herself. She grunted softly as she found out he was right, the umbrella did weigh a lot. She had to use both hands to lift the thing and even then she was only able to lift it a couple of feet off the ground before dropping it.

‘And this Ryoga guy holds this thing one handed,’ Akane thought as she turned her attention back to the fight. ‘He’s really strong.’

“Ok, why are you so pissed at me then?” Ranma asked as she ducked under one of Ryoga’s punches. Ryoga paused in his attack and looked at Ranma as if she was stupid.

“Don’t tell me you forgot,” He said.

“Forgot what?” Ranma said.

“Our man-to-man fight, the one you ran out on you coward!” Ryoga yelled. Ranma frowned and tossed her ponytail over her shoulder.

“What, you mean that spar you wanted to have before I left for China with my Pops?” Ranma asked. “Ryoga, I waited three days for you to show up.”

“Yeah and when I arrived on the fourth day you weren’t there!” Ryoga growled in anger. “And it was a man-to-man fight, not a spar!”

“Ryoga, we were suppose to fight in the lot behind your house right?” Ranma asked.

“Yeah…” Ryoga said.

“Then why did it take you four days to get there!?” Ranma asked.

“I… umm… Got lost,” Ryoga said with a blush.

“Whoa, that’s a really bad sense of direction.”
“Did it really take him four days to get to the lot behind his house?” The students around them whispered.

“Then why didn’t you get Shirokuro to lead you?” Ranma asked, remembering Ryoga had a half grown puppy that would sometimes guide him around.

“Hey! I made it to the lot on my own!” Ryoga yelled his face red in anger.

“It took you four days according to you,” Ranma pointed out.

“And you weren’t there, you ran away like a coward,” Ryoga countered. He reached up and started to rip bandanna after bandanna off his head, making Ranma wonder just how many of those he had tied around his head. “So I chased after you and because of that, I’ve been in hell.”

“Hey! I’m not the one that told you to follow me,” Ranma said, watching as Ryoga started to spin the bandannas around on his fingers. Ryoga didn’t answer her, instead he growled in anger and tossed the spinning bandannas in her direction. Ranma didn’t know what Ryoga’s game was but she leapt into the air and twisted around to land on her feet on Ryoga’s other side, her mouth open in shock at the damage left behind. Ryoga’s bandannas had left deep cuts in the ground where she had been standing. “Ok, that’s a new trick. But you coulda hurt someone you idiot!”

She ducked under Ryoga’s kick to her head and swept Ryoga’s other leg out from under him. He landed on his back with a grunt then coiled up into a ball, rolling back onto his hands and pushing himself into the air. He landed next to his umbrella that Akane had put back down, rushing Ranma again in an attack.

The students scattered out of the way as Ranma lead Ryoga on a merry chase around the schoolyard. Nabiki saw a chance to make some money and started taking bets. Ryoga tossed more of the deadly bandannas at Ranma who jumped back out of the way.

“Ranma watch out!” Akane yelled as Ryoga opened the umbrella and tossed it at Ranma. Ranma cursed and rolled to the side out of the way until she was in front of Akane. “What did you do to him to make him so mad?”

“Wish I knew, cause it’s gotta be more than a missed fight,” Ranma said. She glanced over at Ryoga who caught the umbrella one handed, spinning yet another bandanna around on one finger. He threw it in Ranma and Akane’s direction, Ranma cursing loudly as she picked up Akane bridle style and jumped up into the trees.

“He’s gonna end up killing somebody!” Akane yelled in anger.

“I know,” Ranma said. “I’ve got an idea.”

Ranma jumped back to the ground and rushed toward Ryoga.

“Finally decided to fight back huh?” Ryoga taunted, jabbing at Ranma with his weapon.

“I don’t know what the hell your problem is right now Ryoga,” Ranma said as she jumped to stand on top of Ryoga’s umbrella as it moved to hit her again, “But you need to calm down. If you wanna have that stupid fight of yours, we’ll have it but not /here/.” Ranma jumped off the top of the red bamboo umbrella and did a handspring off the top of Ryoga’s head. The momentum pushed him forward, almost stumbling over his own feet. When he caught his balance Ryoga looked around for Ranma, growling in anger when he couldn’t find the other teen who was standing behind him.

“Ranma, you coward! You won’t get away from me!” Ryoga said as he ran off in an attempt to find his rival. Ranma rolled her eyes and shook her head.

‘Man he is such an idiot sometimes,’ Ranma thought to herself. ‘But I wonder what the heck is up with him? I gotta try to talk sense into him when he comes back. I don’t want to keep fighting him like this, a spar is one thing but this rage…’

“Do you think he’ll be back?” Akane asked as she came over to Ranma’s side.

“Yeah but it might be a couple of days before we hear anything about him,” Ranma said. Seeing that the free entertainment was over the crowd started to break up, students going home for the day.

“What was he so angry about?” Akane asked as she and Ranma started to walk home.

“That’s just it, I don’t know,” Ranma said. “He’s always been a little hot under the collar but Ryoga really is a great guy. No sense of direction but he’s a great sparring partner. I always thought of him as my friend but I don’t know, something happened that he blames me for I guess.”

“Doesn’t sound much like a friend,” Akane said. “Sounds like whatever his problem is he’s blaming it on you.”

“I know and I gotta get to the bottom of it cause I don’t want him to hate me,” Ranma said softly. Now it was more important than ever that Ryoga got to know the real her through her real girl form, Ranma use to tease Ryoga badly during their time in Junior High and she wanted to make up for all that.

“If you think it’s worth it Ranma. He’s your friend after all,” Akane said.

“Yeah, I think he’s worth it,” Ranma said softly again.

*****

As soon as the girls reached the house, Ranma raced up to her room to change out of her uniform and dump a glass of cold water over her head. She sighed happily as her body shifted into her much preferred form, rolling her shoulders as she adjusted to the weight on her chest.

“Better?” Akane giggled when Ranma stepped out of her room, she had also changed out of her school uniform into her favorite yellow gi.

“Yep,” Ranma chirped happily.

“Well I’m going for my run, try not to get into any more fights,” Akane said, laughing as Ranma sputtered behind her.

“Crazy tomboy,” Ranma said with a shake of her head as she headed downstairs behind her friend. While Akane ran out of the front door Ranma turned into the main room, stopping in surprise when she saw Mousse sitting at the table. “What are you doing here?”

“Ranma your little friend is so delightful,” Kasumi said as she stepped out of the kitchen with a fresh pot of tea and a plate full of snacks. “He exchanged several wonderful recipes with me while we waited on you.”

“Recipes?” Ranma asked as she sat down beside her friend. Mousse shrugged his shoulders slightly.

“My mother taught them to me and Kasumi seemed to want to learn them. It gave me something to do while I waited for you to return from your school,” Mousse defended himself.

“Since when are you on a first name basis with Kasumi?” Ranma asked before stuffing a cookie into her mouth. “Didja find a place to stay?” The second part came out slightly garbled as her mouth was full.

“Ranma, don’t speak with food in your mouth,” Kasumi scolded as she sat down at the table.

“She insisted I call her by her given name,” Mousse said answering the first question.

“I found Mousse-kun at Dr. Tofu’s clinic, when he told me his name I figured he was your friend you were telling us about and invited him over for dinner,” Kasumi explained.

“Dr. Tofu?” Ranma asked after gulped down a cup full of tea.

“Yes, he was looking for an assistant and offered me a place to sleep,” Mousse said. “It’s better than staying in a hotel.” A ding sounded in the kitchen catching Kasumi’s attention.

“Oh my, that’s dinner,” She said as she quickly hurried back into her kitchen.

“Dr. Tofu…. I noticed he acts very strange around Kasumi,” Mousse said, remembering how the usually calm doctor had acted loopy once he had see Kasumi in his clinic. The Chinese youth had been shocked by seeing all the elderly people running out of the clinic once Kasumi showed up only to see why they did by Tofu’s actions.

“Really?” Ranma asked. “I know Akane’s got a crush on the doc.”

“Yes, Dr. Tofu was acting very… erratic,” Mousse said his lips quirking into a smile. “It was almost entertaining to see as long as you weren’t in his way. He ran out of the clinic with that skeleton of his. Kasumi just told me to lock up the clinic and invited me here.”

“Huh…” Ranma said. At that time someone knocked on the door, Kasumi calling she would get it.

“Ranma-chan, it’s for you,” Kasumi said as she handed a scroll to Ranma. Ranma gave the scroll a confused look as she unrolled it.

“What is it?” Mousse asked as he adjusted his glasses.

“Something from Kuno, an annoying jerk from my school,” She explained to Mousse. “He wants to meet me at the field next to the school. Well he wants to meet the ‘Pony-tailed girl’ anyway.”

“Why?” Mousse asked.

“Don’t know, I guess it’s another challenge to fight with him. He’s got some sorta beef with me,” Ranma said as she stood. “Might as well go get this over with, build up an appetite for Kasumi’s cooking. Wanna come?”

“Might as well. I am interested in seeing what other fighters are here,” Mousse said as he stood as well.

“Kasumi, we’re going out to kick Kuno’s ass again. Tell Akane where we are if we don’t run into her,” Ranma called as they headed out.

“Alright but don’t be late for dinner,” Kasumi said. “Have fun.”

***

“Where the fuck is he?” Ranma asked as she leaned back against the fence surrounding field, the area washed red with the light of the setting sun. Mousse stood beside her, his hands tucked into his long sleeves. “You think he would be on time to his own challenge.”

“Is that him?” Mousse asked as he spied a figured walking up. It only looked like a dark blur to him since his glasses were once again sitting on top of his head.

“Yeah, finally,” Ranma muttered as she walked up to meet the older teen. “Ok Kuno, I’m here. Let’s get this over with.”

“Pony-tailed girl, there is only one thing I wish to say to you,” Kuno said. He reached behind his back, Ranma quickly shifting into a battle ready stance as she thought he was drawing his sword. Instead he look out a bouquet of roses, the petals as red as her hair, and pressed them into her arms. “Pony-tailed girl, I love you.”

“What!?” Ranma said blushing hotly, looking down at the roses Kuno gave her. This was not what she expected when she came to meet Kuno.

“Is that the usual way you Japanese gain a woman’s attention?” Mousse asked as he slid his glasses down to see what was going on. Kuno who was about to walk away dramatically stopped and glared at Mousse.

“And who pray tell are you?” Kuno said coldly.

“My name is Mousse, I am a member of the same village as her,” Mousse said, not at all intimidated by the other boy. The two boys were roughly the same height, Kuno only an inch or so taller. Still, Kuno looked down at Mousse as if he was inferior.

“Giving a beautiful rose like the Pony-tailed girl flowers is always the proper way,” Kuno said as if Mousse was an idiot.

“Not in our village, if a man wants to marry a village sister, he must defeat her in combat first,” Mousse said. “That is the law of our village.”

“Mousse shut up,” Ranma hissed, she didn’t need the other boy putting ideas into Kuno’s head.

“What is your relation to the Pony-tailed girl?” Kuno said, his grip tightening on his sword.

“Relationship? I have no relationship with Ranma, we’re just friends,” Mousse said as if the idea was ridiculous, he loved Shampoo after all. Ranma was just his only other friend in the village.

“I asked thee what your relationship with the Pony-tailed girl was not that vile wretch Saotome,” Kuno said.

“I just told you-“ Mousse started to say with a frown.

“Shut up both of you,” Ranma said as she stepped between the two taller teens. “Kuno thanks for the flowers but I am not interested.” She pushed the bouquet back into Kuno’s arms then snagged Mousse’s sleeve as she walked past him, dragging the Amazon away. Kuno’s eyes narrowed while his grip on the roses tightened.

‘I do not know what your intentions toward the Pony-tailed girl is but I will not stand for them,’ Kuno thought as he spun on his heel and walked away back toward his grand house.

*****

Author note: Woo! Yet another fic done in less than a week, I’m on a roll here. Happy New Year everyone!