RANMA ½

A/N- Just an intro chapter to see what kind of feedback I get. May or may not continue. Please read and review.

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ belongs to the goddess Rumiko Takahashi and I thus disclaim all mutilations to her characters. Please don't sue me goddess, I added to your income by buying the first seventeen volumes of Ranma ½.

RANMA ½

CHANGING WHO WE ARE.

For the first time since she had begun her training eleven years ago, Ranko was relaxed. The sun was at its zenith, spreading ray after ray of glorious light upon the slightly wet streets of Nerima, Tokyo. The clouds were sparse, playing a beautiful intermezzo across the floating sea of blue. The atmosphere of the city was calm, and peaceful, a far cry to the places she'd journeyed to in China, but then again, this was her native country; why shouldn't she feel more at home here? Ranko looked up at the sky once more. For whatever reason, today, it seemed worth a second look, as though calling out to her, telling her to enjoy this one, solitary instant of peace. She listened, and drank up the serenity of the moment, punctuating it with the slow, soothing melody of the song her sensei had taught her years before.

As she rounded the corner and entered into the shopping district the atmosphere of peace wavered ever so slightly. The shift in emotion did not go unnoticed by her, but neither did it affect her in any real way. The men were staring. It was the usual occurrence, but it always served to make her feel self-conscious, almost uncomfortable with herself. She didn't lap up attention like other girls, the truth was she hated it, especially when it came in droves like this. Perhaps they stared because she dressed so differently, not wearing the modern trash that passed for clothing nowadays, but the more traditional wear of a red and white flowered kimono. Or perhaps it was because of the waist length ponytail she'd been growing for the last few years that was apparently way out of style… or perhaps it was because of another reason altogether… Whatever the reason, it did not bother her. Today of all days she refused to let it. Today was the day that she finally became free, the day when she finally severed all ties to the curse she had been dealt, and not the obvious one at that. No, today she annihilated the real curse that plagued her. The-…

The sudden realisation that she was far too relaxed for her own good hit her like a Bonbori to her face. So enwrapped in her own peace she failed to notice the presence of the two young males behind her, that was, until one thought it acceptable to place his hand on her shoulder. In the split second it took for the sensation to register to her brain, Ranko vaguely toyed with the idea of breaking the offending appendage; and then the owner of it in two for destroying her mood; but decided against it. At the very least, she could listen to what the men had to say before she expressed her displeasure.

"Hey beautiful, wanna have a good time?"

On second thought, why listen to words not worth hearing. It wasn't as though they weren't asking for it anyway. In less than the time it took for her to breathe her fight instincts had taken over. Her jaw clenched, muscles tensed, her battle aura flared and in a second the first male was launched into the stratosphere high above the - wait… She hadn't done that. Had she?

"What the-?"

The second one hit the earth with an impact that registered a full 4.5 on the Richter scale. Okay now she knew she hadn't done that. Ranko turned slowly, once again feigning the air innocence and helplessness that had personified her feminine side, to meet her saviour.

"Are you alright?"

A girl, and a pretty cute one at that. An ebony curtain of hair cascaded down her shoulders, tied back in a perfectly done knot with a perfectly done bow. A yellow vest, and red shorts clung tightly to her feminine figure, and Ranko found herself blushing at the sight.

"D-Domo arigato," Ranko stuttered with a bow.

"It was nothing," the girl laughed embarrassedly, "I was happy to do it. I hate perverts like that."

"S-still, it was very kind of you to help. Arigato."

Ranko bowed again, succeeding only in embarrassing the girl further.

"You're welcome," the girl responded a furious blush upon her face.

Ranko beamed. The girl really was cute.

Tendo Soun was a man who wore his emotions on his sleeves, (an attribute that he adamantly stated was a result of the raising of his three daughters), so when the letter he'd been expecting for years finally arrived it was only natural that he burst into tears of joy. The simple postcard with the picture of the panda on the front was enough to throw even the most gullible of persons to the importance that it held, but from the moment Soun had seen the badly scrawled handwriting he knew who it was from.

"Ranma's coming from China." It was signed, "Saotome".

"Finally," Soun said in-between tears, "Ranma's coming here. Oh how I've waited for this day!"

With barely a second's thought he bounded out of his sitting position his voice echoing throughout the halls as he called out the names of his daughters… Overexcitement has a way of making even the most observant of people miss important details, and Soun was no exception. Had he been truly attentive to the writings upon the postcard, he would have noticed the single underlined word below his friend's signature. "BEWARE!"

"KASUMI!"

"In here outou-san." The eldest called from the kitchen.

"NABIKI!"

"Hmm..?" She answered from her room.

"AKANE!"

"…"

"AKANE!"

"…"

"Where is that girl?"

Akane had met some nice people in her lifetime, but none as nice as the girl who followed her home. Sure she was somewhat strange, after all who followed a complete stranger to their home, but then again she was the first person that Akane found that she could truly relate too. Just like Akane, Ranko herself had an extensive martial arts background training in everything from the Mountain Warrior Righteous Fist Style, to the Wolfen Fang Dragon Flame ninjutsu techniques. Sure it irked that she had quote unquote "saved", a person who'd mastered far more martial arts in sixteen years, than most people could ever heard of in a lifetime, but she could stay angry. Not at Ranko… for some reason that exquisite face refused to fuel her anger. There was too much innocence there… Too much beauty… How could anyone remain vexed at such a being…?

"So your sensei made you run a hundred miles carrying one hundred and twenty pounds of weights on your legs?"

"Uh-huh. Fifty miles up the mountains and then the fifty miles back."

"Wow! That's one heck of a work out."

"Are you kidding Akane-chan? That was just the morning warm-up." Ranko giggled.

Akane blanched. No way was she telling the truth.

"After that there was the eight hour swim, the five hundred push ups, sit ups and jumping jacks, then there was kenjutsu training, taijustsu training and by that time all I usually had time to do was take a bath, get dressed, do my hair and get Ryoga so we could go to school."

Akane turned a shade whiter. No way she was human…

"Kuso," Akane murmured, "And I though I had it bad."

"Sensei's training was pretty brutal," Ranko frowned, "If it wasn't for Ryoga, I doubt I'd have kept what little sanity I possess."

"So, this Ryoga… Was he your boyfriend?" Akane sniffed.

"Boyfriend?" Ranko burst out laughing, "No. He was just a friend, more like a brother actually… Anyway I doubt I'll ever get a boyfriend."

"Why not?" Akane asked incredulously.

Ranko's face turned as red as her hair, "Umm… the truth is… I … I'm not really into guys…"

Akane turned, if even possible, yet another shade whiter. What kind of friend had she just made?

A/N- Wow, Ranma's -er- Ranko's really girly… and a lily? Well I actually got a perfectly good explanation for that… Of course that depends on if anyone feels like reading this thing in the first place. So hey if you like it, for whatever weird reason, review. Ask the Ashbringer to write some more and even if it's only one decent review I will… think about it that is. MUHWAHWAHWA- cough… Still can't get that evil laughter right.