Hey! SO this is my first published fanfic. I know it is kind of difficult to read (because it's long and I use a lot of tenses and passive voice and I'm pretty descpritive). I'm trying to make it better. Hope you'll like it!

1. chapter : The new task!

It was a normal Saturday morning. Well as normal as it was possible to be in the Tendo Dojo. Genma and Soun were playing Goh in the balcony. Nodoka had gone on a trip to visit her friends in Osaka (after her house was destroyed, she never left Tendo's place as she understood that Ranma doesn't want to leave). Nabiki had gone on a group date with her friends from university. Kasumi, who had just recently gotten engaged to (no one understood how they got so far) was preparing lunch in the kitchen with Akane watching her ("There is a saying: watch and learn!" said Akane. Thanks to Ranma's mom she already knew how to boil water, but she still needed lots of help in order to cook.) Ranma was practising some moves in the dojo while hoping that Kasumi doesn't let Akane near the food.

Three years had passed since the day Ranma and his Dad moved in with the Tendos. Everybody had gotten so used to the life they were living that the thought of Kasumi leaving made others feel rather worried. The thought of having to put up with Akane's lousy cooking seemed to be the biggest problem for Ranma. That is until the doorbell rang. Kasumi went to open the door. A moment later Ranma heard Akane screaming. He ran to the kitchen only to find her in the middle of a mess. She had burnt the pork and spilled over the rice. "Who let a clutz like you in the kitchen?" said Ranma while saving the remaining pieces of pork (there weren't much left). Akane started to clean the rice she had spilled: "Well someone has to feed the family after Kasumi marries !"
"Can't you leave that part to Nabiki? Her idea of ordering the food from outside will save more money than you always burning the food!"
"You can eat her ordered meal then! Oh, I have a better idea: call your lovely Shampoo or Ukyo or this crazy Kodachi, you jerk!" She just wanted to get better with her cooking skills – Kasumi had said that she did improve, but the pace was too slow for Akane. She had a dream of becoming a great cook like her late mother was. Well she couldn't exactly remember her mother, but she had a memory of her mother wearing a white apron with little pink flowers on it and letting Akane taste the food she was cooking. Hearing Ranma say she should give up made her even angrier. Just when Ranma wanted to reply with something that probably would have hurt her even more, their little row was disrupted by Kasumi: "Ranma-kun, Akane. There's someone here to see you. Oh my! What have you done to the kitchen?!"

Ranma and Akane went to the living room where two men were waiting. One of them was a big man with short dark hair and small eyes that almost seemed as if they were closed. The other was small bald guy who looked like an ordinary salary-man.
"Ah! You must be Saotome-san and Tendo-san! Wow you are so young!" the smaller man said "Ah! I apologize! I haven't introduced myself! I am Sato Kouta, the representative of the Union of the Dojos of the Anything-Goes Martial Arts! And this is Kinoo Maruhi, the vice-president of the Dojo Association."
"I'm pleased to meet you."
Akane and Ranma looked at each other before replying to the self-introductory.
"How may we be of help for you?" asked Akane when they had sat down.
"Ah! Good that you asked that!" Sato-san started to talk really fast while Kinoo-san stayed silent "Well with the recent years we have noticed the continuing fall in the numbers of students in the Anything-Goes Martial Arts Dojos. Through different researches we have put together a list of things that affect those numbers. That is why we have made some regulations in the professional martial arts field. In order to maintain your dojo's name and pride, you must fulfil current requirements. Here's a list for you!" Sato-san handed Ranma and Akane a batch of papers. Ranma and Akane looked at the front paper and were confused.
"I'm sorry but we probably aren't the people you're looking for." Said Akane "You see: in the paper it says that the list is for "the current owner of the dojo". The owner of this dojo is my father." Ranma nodded to agree with Akane. Actually it was the first time he heard of these kind of organisations. For Ranma martial arts were something that had always been with him. It was his life-style, his way to live. Seeing that there were people who wanted to change martial arts by writing on a paper was rather unpleasant. Especially because Sato-san didn't seem to be a martial artist.
"No. On the official papers of Tendo Dojo it says that the current owners are Akane Tendo (age 19) and Ranma Saotome (age 19) who are related by engagement. Once married, the name of the dojo will be changed into the Tendo-Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts."
"WHAT?!" Either Ranma or Akane could believe it. Of course they knew that one day if by some miracle they should get married they would inherit the dojo. But that was not the day. Sato-san looked through his portfolio until he found the papers of Tendo Dojo. "Ah I found it! See the Tendo dojo has been written onto your names a month ago. It even has your signatures!" Ranma grabbed the papers just to recognize his and Akane's fathers' handwritings. "Damn you! Pop!" Ranma yelled. "Father!" Akane stood up to go look for her father that she knew had been playing on the balcony before the guests arrived.
"Oh my! I believe father and Saotome-san have gone on a trip to China to reminisce about their days of joyful training. Here they left a message to you." Kasumi came to serve tea. "Dear Sato-san, Kinoo-san. I hope you'll do everything to make things as easy as possible for those two. They have a long way ahead of them."

At the same time Ranma and Akane read the message their fathers had left them: "Dear Ranma and Akane! The Dojo is yours! Be sure to take care of it! BTW: Give us a sign once you've fulfilled the list of requirements!"
"They were frightened by the list of requirements, weren't they?" Akane asked.
"I bet they are somewhere close so that once we've fulfilled the list, they'll crawl back in." Both of them looked utterly disappointed in their fathers. (At the same time Soun and Genma were enjoying hot paths in the local sauna).
"Ok. What do you want us to do then?" Ranma turned to the men who were enchanted by Kasumi's naïve kindness.
"Oh. It's easy! Just read the list!" Sato-san happily said.
Ranma and Akane started to read again the batch that had been given to them before. "1. Good educational level (Maths test point…. Etc.)" Ranma felt his eye twitching. "What the heck is this thing? Why do I have to have good results in mathematics etc? Isn't martial arts about martial arts?"
"Because of people like you dojo's are been shutting down!" a low husky voice said angrily – it was Kinoo-san. It was the first time they heard him speak. The only time.
"I pardon him. His family's dojo was shut down because there wasn't enough money to keep it running. The owner of the dojo must be good in mathematics because that way he can handle the money more usefully. Also great educational background gives more security to the parents of the students. When they see that the owner of the dojo was able to be good in both school and in martial arts, then they trust their children to be good at both also. So far many parents forbid their children from practising martial arts as they are afraid that they won't be so good at school work anymore." Explained Sato-san.
"I see. According to my school exams my results are good enough to pass this clause." Akane smiled.
"Well both of the owners must fill the requirements.
"Ranma looked at Akane with a hesitation. He was sure she'd be angry with him as both of them knew that Ranma was too lazy to study properly. That is why his grades had always been rather lower than average. For his surprise Akane wasn't angry at all. Her face was serious and full of confidence: "We'll do it!"
"Ok. The first educational test will take place on next Sunday!" The guests were fast to leave saying there are other dojos to visit.

"Ranma!" said Akane once the men had left "I'll teach you maths! And any other subject you suck at!"
"EH?! Why should I…?"
"'cause I am NOT giving up on my dreams just because some jerk thinks it would be easier to live that way!" Akane looked at Ranma with a fierce glance. "After the lunch we start with the study session!" She ran upstairs to her room.

Ranma went to the dojo that had been his favourite practising and thinking place since he moved in. He had too many mixed feelings about what had just happened. Apparently he who had no birth-right to inherit a dojo was now a co-owner of this one. Also that meant that the future prospects of marrying Akane were more certain than before. Didn't Akane think about it? Was she really OK with it? She could've had just made him give up his ownership and be the only owner of the dojo as she was from the blood line and they weren't married yet. That way she wouldn't have to go through the hassle of teaching him maths. Also now that she has half of the dojo, she could break the engagement anytime. Wasn't the ownership of the dojo the reason Akane had been dragged into the engagement (not to mention Soun's dreams)? Yet Ranma didn't want it to happen. Just the thought of Akane breaking their engagement that was never approved by themselves was too painful to bear. He knew he had to work hard in order to save the dojo and his place in this household.