Chapter One

"This time,Ranma Saotome,I shall defeat you!" Ryoga Hibiki proclaimed,as he looked around. "Damn! Now which way was it to the Tendo School of Anything Goes?! Man,I gotta get a better sense of direction!" He had been travelling for a week,trying to find the place where he'd already spent so many hours. Granted, he was probably a pig most of those hours, but still, he thought he should know where he was going by now. He looked up and down a street. "This way? Or was it,that way?" He turned to face the way he'd just come. Alright, he thought to himself, I'm going to go left. So,hefting his pack, he headed in the opposite direction of the school.

Ranma paced the front of the school, with Akane watching. "Stupid Ryoga...he probably got lost again! Calling me out, then getting lost. What an idiot!"

"It's not like it's his fault...." Akane defended her friend. "A lot of people have a bad sense of direction."

"Not as bad as he does. And,why are you defending him?! Don't you care that he's challenging me again?!" Ranma demanded.

"Actually, no. But that doesn't mean I'm thrilled about it." Akane told him. "I'd like to challenge him myself one time. You're getting too easy."

"Whaddya just say?!" Ranma exclaimed. "Too easy, huh? Well....th-that's because I've been afraid of hurting you!" Well, not anymore! He fumed silently. Stupid macho chick! "That does it! If he's not here in four minutes,I'm going inside!"

"Nihao,Ranma!" Shampoo rode up on her bike, with a smile.

"This isn't a good time,Shampoo." Ranma said through gritted teeth. "I'm a little busy."

"Shampoo no here see you. She here see Akane." With that, the amazon born girl got off her bicycle, and carried a brown bag into the school. "Akane, you follow Shampoo."

"What's she up to this time?" Ranma wondered aloud.He watched with worry as Akane got up to follow Shampoo. "Don't go and do something stupid like getting cursed or anything! I'm tired of saving your neck!"

"Get out of my way, street brat!" Siri found herself shoved into another ditch. The four-year old brunette whimpered, as she waited for the mean man to wander off and sweep another street. Her torn white robes were covered in her blood, after accidentally being cut by a scythe.Her whole left arm hurt, and she was hungry. As she pulled herself from the deep ditch, she looked around for a place to go. The only place she saw was a cafe. She wandered to the back, intending to sneak in that way.

Mousse was sitting on a crate in the back of the cafe, sulking. Why does Shampoo keep rejecting me? Am I really so horrible? I know! It's my sight! If only I could correct it...but alas, I don't think even that would last long. The hidden weapons technique expert sighed deeply, before getting up to return to work. He was almost to the door, when he was knocked flat on his back. "What the...?!" He looked up in time to see a blurry figure run into the cafe using the back door. "Ryoga! Who turned you into a pig again?!" He followed the figure, until they reached the kitchen. "Don't worry, Ryoga! I shall change you back!" He reached for hot kettle of water to dump on the figure.

"Who's Wyoga?" A little voice asked now.

"Eh...?" Mousse put his glasses back on. He found himself staring at a young child that was bruised,and cut up. "Oh....I'm sorry. I thought you were.....How did you get all those wounds?" Mousse asked her,his eyes instantly full of compassion,ans worry.

"No where's...." The girl replied, backing up a little,reaching for bread.

"Let me fix them for you.....you're bleeding pretty badly..."

Siri shrugged,and let him help her with her cuts and bruises. "Fanks."

"It's alright..." Mousse smiled sympathetically at the young girl. "Do you need anything else?"

"No...." Siri had the two loaves of bread in her hand again.

He pointed an authorative finger at her. "You have to pay for those..." He said slowly. He watched the girl back away even closer to the door. "Come on, you don't want to get in trouble for stealing,do you?"

"What 'tealing?" The girl asked now.

Mousse stopped, caught off guard. "Well, you see......" Before he could even begin the explanation, the child had disappeared along with two loaves of bread. "Why that sneaky little......this is not the end! I will catch that thief!" Mousse left the kitchen,and chased after her.

"So,here I am again. I have at last made it back to the place where Akane lives. Now to find Ranma and defeat him. And once I do that, he must agree to let me marry Akane!" Ryoga smirked in anticipation. "Now, if only I can find the way back to the school."

"You're here." Ranma's uninvited voice stopped the other boy in his rant. "And just so you know, we're not wagering Akane again."

"So what? She won't want you after I've defeated you!"

"Don't bet your life on it!" Ranma growled.

"Then let us begin, then we will see!" Ryoga replied.