FicWad

It was another day at Furinkan. Another day in which the desperate young men were gathered and ready for The Fight.

The Fight had existed for a week now. The purpose of The Fight was simple.


Defeat Akane Tendo, to “earn the right to date her.”


Akane, herself the single most popular and beloved girl in school, had been the girlfriend of the most popular boy in school Tatewaki Kuno. Even after he had graduated they had been quite steady. However, the foundations of the school had been shaken once the word had gotten out that Akane had broken up with him.


The most commonly accepted reason for the breakup was that Tatewaki had slacked off in his training, becoming weaker than her. So Akane dumped him for the crime of not being the strongest male in the district. This, of course, in no way applied to reality since Akane had in fact far surpassed her ex-boyfriend since around a week after the first date. However the chauvinism of teenage boys did not allow the idea of a boyfriend being weaker than “his” girl.



With the title of “strongest” up in the air, the boys at Furinkan who desired her took up the mantle. Just as he defeated her in the judo club, they would defeat her! And each and every boy was so sure once she fell they’d be in perfect love and they’d never slack off. So Akane would love them forever.

Nobody ever said Furinkan was filled with Japan’s best and brightest.

With a shout of “I love you!” the boys charged at the target of their love. Akane had entered the school grounds with a grim determination, staring at the charging horde.


Surely today would be the day, they collectively thought, that she falls to their might and will love them.


“Happo-Fire Burst!”


There were no survivors.

The Most Beautiful Woman in the World

Part 2: Making Friends

Ranma, alias “Aiko,” heard the explosion. However, looking around the students heading to school around her didn’t really react. So, figuring it was something normal, she kept up her usual pace.

Still, she couldn’t help but stumble in surprise at the sight once she crossed the gates. There was now a smoldering crater in the middle of the school grounds, the moaning and unconscious bodies of boys scattered everywhere. There was one young man who wasn’t laying down in agony, but that was mainly because was running around in a panic. Because his hakama and shinai were on fire.



Why the kendoka didn’t just drop the flaming sword was beyond Ranma’s comprehension. Maybe he was an idiot.

“Help me!” The burning boy ran towards the girl who Ranma was being forced to crossdress to meet. “Please Akane Tendo!” Well, now Ranma had a name, at least.

Akane noticed the boy was on fire, and her expression changed from anger to concern. “Oh! Ah! Um… I’ll go get the extinguisher!” She turned and began to run to the school.


The boy’s face split into a grin, Ranma’s eyes widened as she saw the boy lift up his flaming shinai. “Thank you my love!” He brought the shinai down… only to hit nothing.

Akane had stepped to the side once the attack had started, she turned back to face the boy and Ranma recoiled at the sheer hate on her face. Without a word she kicked the boy off into the distance. Ranma heard the sound of a splash a moment later, she had kicked him into the canal it seems.

“I should have known…” Akane said darkly, before turning on her heel and marching into school like nothing had happened.

“Well, I guess that answers that question.” Ranma said, walking past the battered boys. “They’re idiots.” She walked into school, her head held up, taking care not to give the walking hormones a glance.


She did have to kick one who tried to look up her skirt though.



~-~



“OK class, today we have a new student today.” Her homeroom teacher announced, “Please give her a warm welcome.”

Akane’s eyes widened a little at the girl who came in. She was sure more than a few people had.

She was short, but that wasn’t exactly a mark against her. “Petite” was the word Akane would use. She had a figure that many girls would kill for, and a natural beauty that shone even though it was obvious that she was wearing no makeup. The girl bowed in front of the class.


“Hello. I’m Aiko Saotome. I’ve been studying in China the past two years. I hope we can get along for the senior year. I practice my family’s style of Martial Arts. My other hobbies are cooking and drawing.”

Akane gasped, Aiko’s eyes were focused directly at her! Does she know me? She thought, then she felt herself flush with embarrassment. She probably saw me this morning. Great. I bet she thinks I’m some kind of violent maniac.


Aiko nodded as the homeroom teacher instructed her to take a seat. Akane found she couldn’t look away. After all, Aiko was moving with a natural grace that was turning quite a few heads. Akane scowled as she noticed a few boys giving her looks. As if she would let anybody else be victims of the sludge known as the Furinkan High male student body.


Aiko took her seat, and class began.



~-~



If Ranma received one more note she was going to kill someone. Dozens of little papers asking if she wanted to have lunch with him. Notes asking if she had a boyfriend, as if the thought didn’t make her shudder, notes asking what sort of “tricks” she had picked up in China. Those notes she incinerated with a burst of hot ki. She couldn’t remember this kind of obnoxious attention from school at NǨjiézú. Had she been in China so long she had gone native? Was this kind of behavior normal in Japanese culture?

If it was then she was seriously considering immigrating.


Still, the bell announcing lunch had come, so hopefully she could accomplish step one of this plan. Standing up with her lunchbox, she walked past the hopeful gazes of so many boys to her target.

“Hi.” She said to Akane, “Can I sit here?”



Akane looked up from her own lunch, looking a bit surprised. “Oh… um…. sure?”

Ranma pulled up a chair, sitting on the other side of Akane’s desk. “So…” She decided it would be best to just ask out right, “What was with that?”



“That?” Akane asked, before comprehension dawned. “Oh… that.” Her face split into a scowl.


“Um, err, you don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want to…” Ranma mumbled. Stupid! Way to make a bad impression! “Sorry…”

Akane shook her head, “No… no it’s OK. It’s not your fault. It’s those stupid men.”

“So what is it about?” Ranma said, “I mean, you don’t seem to like it…”

“Of course I don’t like it!” Akane looked around the room, glaring at the males in the classroom. “Those idiots somehow think that if they beat me in a fight I’ll go on a date with them.”

Ranma raised an eyebrow, “Why on earth with they think that?”

“Because….” Akane gripped the edge of her desk, not noticing the cracks forming. “Because… ugg… because I met my ex-boyfriend in a martial arts club, and I joked that he could take me on a date if he beat me in a sparring match.”

Ranma frowned, “And so…?”

“And then I broke up with him. And within two days the biggest gathering of idiots ever to exist decide that assault is the best way to attract a woman.” Akane pulled apart her chopsticks with a snort of derision, beginning the process of eating lunch. “I don’t know what I ever saw in men. They’re all pigs.”



Ordinarily Ranma would at least attempt to defend her birth gender. However, the notes and leers from the boys in her class had caused her to nod in agreement. “Oh my god you’re so right. I’ve been getting harassing little notes all morning.” Her own frustration on unwanted advances had caused her to sympathize with the plight of the girl in front of her. “Do these guys really think I can’t tell exactly where they’re looking as they ask me in cute little words if I’m seeing anyone?”



"Oh you poor thing." Akane giggled a bit in sympathy. "I guess you're just kind of doomed to... stand out, as it were."



"I really wish I didn't. These things are a giant pain. Wish I was just flat chested or something..." Ranma sighed, opening her own lunch. "Granny would be saying it's just Karma right about now..."



Akane smirked, "Wonder what you did to deserve that kind of karma then?"



"Probably a mass-murderer in a past life." Ranma said.


“If that’s what you did, then what did I do?” Akane asked.


Ranma looked thoughtful for a minute, “Killed the dinosaurs?” She finally suggested.


This caused Akane to laugh for the first time in a week. “Yeah I guess that’s what it has to be huh.”



~-~

With lunch over it was time for what Ranma had been dreading. Gym class.

The gym teacher looked at the doctors note Ranma had handed her, her expression somewhat less than believing. “You have a medical condition… that doesn’t let you take hot showers.”

“That’s right.” Ranma said. “I’d rather not avoid gym class… so is there a private stall I can change and shower in?”


The note was authentic, a doctor had owed Genma a favor, and the teacher couldn’t find any reason that Ranma might be lying. Other than an extreme sense of shyness, and there would be much easier ways to get out changing in the normal girls locker rooms.


“Fine, Saotome. There’s a few changing rooms for handicapped kids down this way. I’ll let you use one.”

“Thank you.” Ranma bowed, sighing in relief. She didn’t know what she would have done if she had been forced to change with the rest of the girls. Well, other than try not to imagine her mother’s nods of approval. She quickly ducked into the private changing room. A cold shower and swift donning of the gym clothing followed.

She ran out to the field with the girls in class, Akane noticed her and waved her over. “Hey Aiko! Join up with me!”

“What’s going on?” Ranma asked.

“We’re playing badminton today.” Akane pointed to the stack of rackets. “Come on. Let’s team up.”

Ranma picked up a racket. “Never played it.”

“Well it’s easy to get. You hit the birdie onto the other side of the net, and if your opponent doesn’t knock it back to your side then you get a point. First to twenty-one points is the winner.” Akane said, “Don’t worry, I won’t be too tough on you.”


The other girls had already paired off and were starting to play, Ranma picked up what she guessed was a birdie.

“Ready when you are!” Akane called out from the other side of the net. “You want to serve first?”

Ranma grinned, “Sure.” The racket was pretty light, same with the little birdie. She felt a little bad for Akane for a minute… but then shook her head with a smile. This was just a game, after all. She flicked the birdie into the air, before swinging the racket at it with a loud crack! The birdie flew towards Akane’s side of the game field at such speeds that it couldn’t even be seen. Yet… Akane moved to intercept it! With an equally loud crack the birdie was sent flying back to Ranma at supersonic speeds. This time Ranma knocked it up high into the air, giving her time to stare at Akane.


Akane gave Ranma a confident smirk. “Don’t you want to play Aiko?”


“Hah! Bring it Akane!”

It could be said that the first Martial Arts Badminton match was played that day. It didn’t take long for the rest of the girls to stop their own matches and gawk at the sight. Akane was bouncing around the small field, smacking the birdie so fast some onlookers were amazed the thing didn’t break. Ranma had at one point knocked the birdie into the air and was ready to spike it down when Akane warned her about it being against the rules for her to hit it twice before reaching Akane’s side. Luckily it still barely managed to avoid falling into Ranma’s side, So Akane bounced it back, and the back and forth resumed.

Finally, a single small slip up occurred. Akane got a feint in and made Ranma think she was going to knock the birdie to the left… and then Akane snapped it to the right. The birdie hit the ground, to Ranma’s shock, and promptly exploded on impact.


“Point for me!” Akane said, jumping for joy just as the bell signifying P.E was over rang. “And it looks like I win by default.”

“Oh come on.” Ranma grumbled. “Stupid game…” She pointed at Akane, “J-just you wait until we play Volleyball! I’ll beat you then!”



“Sure thing Aiko.” Akane said, seeming to find Ranma’s pouting over her loss amusing.



~-~

Akane had to admit, Aiko was cute when she pouted.

The rest of the school day, that the new student kept stealing glances at Akane. She knew this because Akane couldn’t help but try and steal glances at her. There was just something about Aiko that Akane felt drawn to. The girl’s twinges of nervousness did little to hide the confident control Akane could see behind her every movement. Akane wanted to see more of the girl, to compete with her.


It had always been an annoying aspect of her life. She supposed it was inevitable with her dealing with old fashioned types like the average professional martial artist. So many of her opponents had underestimated or insulted her because she was a girl. She had proved them wrong, of course, but more than one jerk had dismissed her victory as him holding back against a girl.

Now comes Aiko, a girl who claimed to study martial arts, and if the day’s P.E class had been any consideration, was at least Akane’s equal in athletic ability. Akane wanted to drag the girl to the dojo and see how she fares in a match. Still, that was for later, right now she needed to talk to her. Akane needed to learn more about Aiko before she would barge in and demand a fight. Etiquette demanded at least a week of friendship before a challenge to savage combat.


With school over Akane decided what she needed to do. She saw Aiko packing up her books and slinging her bookbag over her shoulders. “Hey!” Akane called her attention, running across the classroom. “Aiko.”

“Hmm?”

“Want to go somewhere?” Akane asked with a smile.

“Wh-what?” Aiko stammered, a faint blush forming on her face. She looked absolutely adorable. Akane wondered what got her shy all of a sudden… maybe it was easier for Aiko to interact with people in the structured setting of the school.


“Yeah, you know. Maybe we could get something to eat. My treat.” Akane offered.

The promise of free food seemed to shake Aiko out of her her shyness, a wide grin appearing. “Sure!”



~-~



“And here we are!” Akane had led Ranma to a small restaurant tucked away in a corner of the shopping district. “Here you can find the best okonomiyaki in Tokyo.” She pushed open the door, and lead Ranma inside.


The place was small, but cozy. There were a few people having a late lunch, and instantly a cute waitress with long hair and a pretty kimono jumped in front of the door. “Welcome to Ucchan’s. Oh! Akane!”

“Hey there sugar!” Another girl at the front counter, flipping okonomiyaki on a girl she’s behind, waved to them.

“Come on in Aiko.” Akane grabbed Aiko’s hand and pulled her over to the front counter. “This is Ukyo. The one who makes the best okonomiyaki in Tokyo.”

“Uh, hi.” Ranma sat down, “You can… ah, call me Aiko. Aiko Saotome.”

“Ukyo Kuonji.” Ukyo gave Ranma a nod and a smile, “So Akane dragged you here huh?”

“She’s new here.” Akane said, “By the way I’ll take a curry-chicken one please.”

“Uhh… whatever you think is good.” Ranma said.

“One surprise coming up.” Ukyo said, “So what do you think of Nerima?”

“It’s… busy.” Ranma answered, “I mean…”

“You’re more a country gal?” Ukyo said, “I know how that is. I didn’t live much in the city until I moved here.”


“Nerima’s a great place!” The waitress popped in next to Ranma. “There’s so many people and Ukyo’s showed me so many amazing things. Like hot baths!”

Ranma stared at her, “Uh….”

“Meet Konatsu.” Akane said, “Ukyo’s boyfriend. He’s lived a hard life.”

“Boyfriend!?” Ranma stared at what for all appearances looked to be a pretty young girl. “Um, er… have you ever been to China?”

“China? No can’t say I have.” Konatsu answered, “Oh.. how wonderful it would be to travel to such far off exotic lands!”



Ukyo laughed, “Geez Akane. You’re going to have to let somebody figure it out on their own eventually.”

Konatsu looked confused, “Well I think it’s perfectly self evident. I mean, sure I didn’t know at first… but only because I didn’t actually meet any other men for the longest time.” Konatsu smiled, “I mean, I can always tell what gender people are easily enough.” Konatsu leaned in towards Ranma and whispered, “Your secret is safe with me.” Which promptly made Ranma lose around five years of her life.

How?


“Picking out crossdressers is the most useless talent I can think of.” Ukyo commented.



Ranma laughed, a little too loudly, “I dunno it seems… interesting!”

Konatsu nodded and got back to doing… his… waitress job. Leaving the two and a half girls to continue their conversation.


“Oh yeah, Aiko, you studied in China right?” Akane said.



“Well, that’s more like the capstone really…” Ranma said. “Me, Mom, and Pops spent pretty much my entire life as kind of nomads I guess. It was all for training in the martial arts, Pops wanted me to be the best of the best, so we went all over Japan. Then, three years ago actually, we headed to China to finish off the journey.”



“Wow…” Akane said, “My dad never did anything like that…”



“That brings back memories.” Ukyo said with a smile, “Wandering with my handmade cart, cooking okonomiyaki by the raging sea…”



“Well anyways, after a year of training we, uh, decided to settle down in a little. Well, kind of. There were a fair bit of people living there and everyone had extended family all through China… but still, I don’t think there were more than a couple thousand at a time. It was nice and mostly quiet, past two years of High School were there. Learned a lot of stuff from Granny too… Anyways, after two years of that Mom and Pop decided it was time to head back to Japan, so here I am.”

"Impressive." Ukyo said, flipping the food she was making over the grill. "Must have been a colorful life."

“Ehh it only really got interesting in China.” Ranma admitted, remembering some of her old opponents like Herb.

“Funny. My life got interesting around two years back too when the Master got out…” Akane murmured nostalgically.

“So…” Ranma glanced back to Konatsu, “I’m a bit surprised to see a guy dress like that… I mean, I’m not judging or anything...”

“It’s no big deal really.” Akane said, “I mean, Ukyo makes a pretty dashing guy too you know.”


“Well aren’t you a charmer Akane.” Ukyo said, grinning. “Yeah. I guess it makes me and Konatsu a perfect little pair huh?” Akane and Ukyo laughed in that way that friends laughed at an old joke. “Anyways, here, want to see how much of a hunk I can be?” Ukyo pulled out a wallet, retrieving a photograph and handing it to Ranma.

It was a group shot of six people. Ranma recognized Akane and Kontasu, and she quickly realized the handsome young man standing next to Konatsu was Ukyo. The other three though.. one was a tall boy in a hakama, his arm around Akane’s shoulder. A somewhat scruffy young man with a bandana holding up his hair, and another girl with long black wavy hair tied up in a ponytail next to him. “Other friends of yours?” Ranma asked.


Ukyo nodded. “Yeah, that’s Ryoga Hibiki over there…” Pointing to the bandana boy, “Kodachi Kuno, she kind of has a crush on him, and there’s her older brother Tatewaki. He’s Akane’s boyfriend.”



A brief silence fell over Akane and Ranma once she finished that sentence.



“Hmm? Did I say something?” Ukyo said.



“Ah… Ukyo…” Akane said, “I, um, broke up with Tatewaki.”


“Whaaat!?” Ukyo said, “Are you serious?”


“Y-yeah…” It was quite a change, Ranma noticed. She known Akane for a day, really. But she had managed to see a fairly broad range of emotions. There was her anger at the idiots attacking her. That had been a white hot rage that Ranma wanted to stay as far away from as possible. Yet there had also been friendliness, a competitive nature, and a smile that Ranma found herself liking. Yet the emotion on Akane’s face right now was almost like she was sick.

“Wow. I never would have thought. What happened?” Ukyo asked.

If anything that sick expression grew more intense. It would not have surprised Ranma if Akane just started vomiting. “I… um…”

Ranma frowned, realizing that maybe this wasn’t something that could be talked about with a near total stranger. “Um, it’s OK. I don’t think it’s any of my business…” She had known that the boy in the photo was Akane’s ex-boyfriend, but she could already tell that the circumstances behind it were not happy.

“No!” Akane said, “It’s fine Aiko. You’re my friend too… both you and Ukyo can hear this.” Then Akane noticed that Konatsu was trying to slip out, “You too!” She shouted to him. Upon hearing that Konatsu smiled a bit sheepishly. The rest of the people in the restaurant began the practice of suddenly no longer hearing a private conversation. “He…” She took a deep breath, “I found… I found him cheating on me.”



Konatsu gasped, while Ukyo looked flabbergasted. Ranma just scowled, growing an instant dislike for the boy in the photo.

“That doesn’t make any sense…” Ukyo said, “I mean…. the guy was kind of obsessed with you. Real possessive.”

Indignation flashed, “He seemed to think that I’d be just fine with him two timing me. He had the goddamn nerve to come to my house and tell me he loved us both.” Ranma noticed her hands were gripping the counter hard enough to leave indents.



“That’s…” Ukyo frowned, “I… hmm…” She looked pensive.


“What?” Ranma asked.


“Kuno has… well, always been a bit of an old fashioned type, you know?” Ukyo said to a nodding Akane. “Styled himself a feudal samurai and all that. Heck, he even speaks like he’s in some period piece.”



Ranma noticed that Akane smiled slightly, in spite of her bad mood. “Yeah… I always thought it was a bit cute…”



“Well… you know how old feudal lords were…” Ukyo said, “Maybe… he didn’t think anything of it. Like… you were going to be his wife… and he’d of course have some, um, mistresses?”

The faint nostalgic smile was wiped from Akane’s face. “...oh… oh….” With a thud Akane’s face was slapped into her hands. “Of course. Of course. Just like our first date, just like everything else.” She muttered into her hands. “Of course. Just of course. Nothing more than another prop for his little perverted fantasy. Like everything else. Men.” Akane’s fists clenched, and Ranma could see the start of a glowing red aura building up around her. Ukyo and Konatsu noticed it as well. They were starting to sweat. Then Ranma noticed that everyone else in the restaurant was now slowly putting distance between themselves and Akane.



“Akane…?” Ranma said quietly. Part of her mind was already processing ways to calm her down if the girl went berserk.


“It’s… it’s not fair… why couldn’t he have… why….” Akane’s fists clenched. “Maybe… maybe if I had… I mean… if he thought that he needed someone else for… for that need… Maybe I’d… I wouldn’t have learned… and we’d still…”

Ranma could tell what was happening now… Akane was starting to drown herself in her own negative emotions. She was blaming herself for what happened. Ranma had a pretty good idea what Akane was muttering about, and it made her sigh. Moping like this wasn’t healthy, and Ranma knew that someone of Akane’s physical ability would have an easy time causing plenty of unintentional property damage in her miserable rampage. She needed to snap Akane out of it, for her own good as well as others. So, with a grim expression, she executed one of the Saotome School’s patented techniques for snapping people out of grim moods. “Rouse the Sleeping Dragon!”

She slapped Akane on the back of the head. Of course, to get the attention of a martial artist of Akane’s calibur, the slap was hard enough to knock Akane into the counter. Ranma patiently waited for Akane to recover from the slap. If Ranma was her father, this would be the point where she’d deliver a snide comment to Akane and shift the self-loathing into much more productive anger at a punchable face. But Ranma was not Genma, and she didn’t want Akane mad at her. So instead she sighed, and put both her hands on Akane’s shoulders. “He’s an idiot.” She said.



“You don’t even know him.” Akane whimpered.



“True. He’s still an idiot though.” Ranma said. “He would have done the same thing no matter what. Sleeping with him wouldn’t have made a difference except for how you feel about it. Probably would have made things worse.”



That was enough, it seemed. Tears welled up in Akane’s eyes, before she exploded into sobbing, practically falling over into Ranma. Crying in the shorter girl’s chest. “It’s not… it’s not fair…” She heard Akane say between shuddering breaths.


The crisis passed, the patrons of the restaurant resumed properly ignoring that anything was going on and Konatsu and Ukyo resumed their work. Ranma, meanwhile, was inwardly panicking. She had expected Akane to calm down! Not latch onto her like this! She had brief flashbacks to Shampoo’s more affectionate days, but this was different. Akane didn’t seem to expect anything but for Ranma to continue to allow her to sob into her blouse. She glanced over to Ukyo, a silent plea for help given. Ukyo just shrugged, her expression a mixture of sympathy for Akane and bemusement at Ranma’s shock.



Finally, Akane seemed to calm down a little. She pulled away from Ranma, blushing as she realized just what she had done in a public place. “Sorry…” She muttered to Ranma.


Ranma shrugged, “It’s OK. Didn’t hurt me or anything.”



Akane gave Ranma a sunny smile that made her heart skip a beat. “Thanks Aiko.”



“N-no problem…”

“Your food’s done.” Ukyo put down two plates of okonomiyaki in front of Akane and Ranma, “Feeling better now Sugar?”



Akane gave a slight nod before biting down at her okonomiyaki. “It’s just… ugg. I’m sorry Aiko, I wanted to show you a nice time and I made it about my problems.”


Ranma shrugged, “It’s fine. It’s, um, pretty easy to see you’ve been having a lot of them recently.”



“That’s obvious.” Ukyo said.


“It’s worse than you think.” Ranma said, “Every day since the breakup a group of horny jackasses attack her, thinking if they beat her up she’ll be their girlfriend.”


Ukyo couldn’t find a reply for that.



“Stupid men. Worthless, all of them.” Akane mumbled.

Ukyo tried to give Akane a reassuring smile, “Oh come on Akane… not all guys are bad.”

“Oh and I suppose that’s why you crossdress so you get fair prices from your suppliers and keep your rent from getting doubled?” Akane spat back acidly. Ukyo winced but didn’t counter that. “Face it Ukyo. Just because we’re girls we’re always going to be second best in their eyes. I’ll always be a silly girl playing at being a fighter. Everybody will be looking at you wondering when you’re going to stop this and get married so you can just cook for your man at home. Just because we’re girls even if they think they love us they have no problem having a little fun on the side because they’re men and it’s their right.”

“Konatsu isn’t like that…” Ukyo said.


“Konatsu was raised as a girl.” Akane replied.



Ranma wanted to speak up, saying that she wasn’t like that. Except that, well, she didn’t really look like a man at the moment. Then memories of before Jusenkyo drifted into her mind… things she had said to guys she had gotten into fights with.

“You hit like a girl!”

“Get up you sissy!”

“Hiding behind your mommy? Some man you are!”

Ranma wasn’t generally a malicious person. She knew the value of taunts to throw off her opponent. And she knew that one of the best ways to throw guys off their game was to compare them to a girl. Had she really, even subconsciously, fallen into the patterns Akane was complaining about? She… she didn’t really know how girls lived in Japan, did she? She had traveled around as a young man, and nobody batted an eye at him wanting to be strong and learning to fight. Even with the curse, she had spent almost the entirety of her time with it in NǨjiézú. Everyone in the town had known about it and was understanding. Plus the way women were treated there was very different than even most of China, let alone Japan.


And here you are, Saotome, using this girl to fix your own problems.

Ranma took that thought and forced it out of her mind. She cursed whatever magic that produced the cure for prohibiting Akane knowing about the process. If only that condition didn’t exist, she’d gladly tell the girl about it and beg for a single simple kiss. Then she’d leave Akane alone…

It’s just a kiss, and she’ll never have to know… “Aiko” will just leave, and we can go our separate ways.



“Uh, Aiko, your food’s getting cold.” Ukyo said.


“Oh. Sorry… got distracted.” Ranma took a bite out of the okonomiyaki. “It’s good.” She said, giving Ukyo a smile.



~-~

Akane didn’t know whether to feel relieved or die of embarrassment. She had just dumped all of her problems on her new friend in public! She was grateful that Aiko seemed to be understanding about the entire ordeal. Akane was also a little angry at herself, especially for that bit of self loathing Aiko had thankfully slapped her out of.

As much as Akane wished she could just sever her entire relationship with him, she still had feelings for Tatewaki. Feelings of love and affection don’t just die overnight, even with a sudden betrayal.


They had left Ucchan’s with a bit of a heavier heart then they had when they entered. Akane didn’t know when they’d part ways. Aiko had been quiet since the talk, and seemed to be thinking about what to say.



“Aiko…” Akane asked quietly. “If… if he were to come back, apologize to me, and swear never to do anything like it again… and I accepted and got back together with him… would that make me pathetic?”

Aiko shrugged, “Can’t say. Not really my place to judge.”


“Well, what would you do?”

Aiko gave a frown, not seeming to like the idea. “Well.. I’d never have- Err… I guess if I did have something like that happen to me, I’d beat the crap out of the guy first.”


Akane giggled, “Well, I’ve already done that.”



“Now, would I get back with the guy? No idea. What about you? Would you?”

“I don’t know either. I think… maybe? Maybe not.” Akane sighed, “It’d make my life easier, to go back to the way it was, at least.”

This made Aiko give a rather dismissive snort. “It wouldn’t go back to the way it was, no matter what, I think. Even if you got back with him, even if he promised, I don’t think you’d quite trust him the same way.”

“Yeah, I guess you have a point.” Akane said.



“So, Akane, can you do me a favor?” Aiko said, her expression suddenly brightening.

“What?”

“Let me see your house.”

Akane stared at her new friend, “Uh…?”

“Well, we’re going to be walking to school together from now on, so I want to see where you live!” She answered with a grin like it was the most obvious answer in the world.



The smile with infectious, and Akane couldn’t help but smile in kind. “Sure thing. Follow me. I’ll show you the way.”



~-~

"""
“Tendo Dojo”
“Anything Goes Martial Arts”
“To challenge the owner to savage combat, please use the back door.”"""



To Ranma, it was like a little kid discovering Akane owned a candy factory.

Akane’s family had their own dojo! It was the most amazing thing ever! She, who had always had to learn the family’s style in empty lots or distant campgrounds, the idea of just being able to stand up and head into her own private dojo any time she wanted… it was like a dream.



“You look like you’re about to start drooling Aiko.” Akane commented.


Ranma, realizing she had been staring, glanced at Akane and blushed a little. “It’s just… wow… this is amazing! Your own dojo Akane! Your family must be rich or something… wow… a house like this! So nice… with your own dojo!”

Akane blushed a little, but couldn’t help but feel a bit of pride at her own family history. “This house has been in the Tendo Family since before the Meiji era. We’ve been studying in the dojo for generations.”

To Ranma, who’s only family heirloom was the katana her mother carried around, this was beyond amazing... she couldn’t help but feel a little jealous that while she had spent her youth a wanderer, Akane had everything she had needed to become a great martial artist right at her fingertips. “I…” Ranma closed her eyes. It just wasn’t fair.

Damn you Jusenkyo. Might as well gain the benefit of this while I can.



Ranma bowed to Akane, “May I practice in your dojo?” Akane stepped back, surprised at the sudden formality. “I mean, not right now, but later.. when I want to or need to practice. I.. never really… please?”



Akane laughed a little, “Of, of course Aiko. You can come over whenever you want. We’re friends you know?”

Ranma was glad she was bowing, so Akane didn’t see the wince on her face “Thank you. I, um, think I’ll head home now.”

“See you tomorrow then?” Akane asked.



“Yeah.” Ranma straight up, slipping on a glossy smile. “See you tomorrow Akane.”



Tomorrow, Akane, Ranma thought, I’ll make sure I start paying you for all this.