Ranma 1/2 is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

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THE KEEPERS OF SAFFRON'S FOREST
CHAPTER 1:
Akane and the Injured Boy

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This was not going well and it took a lot for Ranma Saotome to come out and say it. Not that anything else could be said about the way his arm was punctured in and his leg was spouting blood. His arm was probably supposed to still be in his socket too. He was still breathing, he reminded himself. Maybe a little dizzy but…

"I ain't passed out yet," Ranma said, wiping away his sweat and soil stained brow with a strained smile. "So keep it up if ya can…"

Almost immediately steaks of blue lightning started coming down from the sky in challenge to his words.

Ranma quickly forced all the pressure on his only useful leg, dodging every shot aimed at him. The defense wasn't doing a damn thing except buying him time, though. He knew it and his mind tried in vain to think of another tactic. How the hell could he fight something that was coming from nowhere? For every strike Ranma eluded, the cobalt lightning only showered down harder and faster until the ground beneath his feet began cracking and exploding up into the air in charred remains. All the dodging of the lightning and the chunks of earth was just avoiding the inevitable in his vulnerable position and once again Ranma's body shuddered and convulsed from the powerful strike of lightning that bled into his spin.

This was just the beginning of Saffron's Forest, his mind taunted as he lay there, panting and staring up at the dark, dusty sky. The open field, now saturated with stench of freshly uprooted soil and blood, was once part of the forest and had been densely dominated by trees heavy with foliage so thick that the sky couldn't even be seen. After countless worthless attempts past the lightning a giant terrain of dead earth remained, leaving him and the others nothing more significant than walking shooting targets for the lightning wielder.

He was getting nowhere fast again, Ranma realized when he observed the all too familiar forms of the Cursed Ones creeping up from the tall iron fence behind him. At this rate, Ranma would be knocked out and those guys would be ready to swoop in. It was time to get the hell out of here and he had only managed to find one way to do that. Slowly, his hand reached for one of the two water bottles at his waist.

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It was sometime after 10:00 pm that evening when Akane finally got out of her last class. Not only was she extremely tired after a 12 hour day of non-stop cramming, but her final class left her feeling rather stupid and useless when her teacher dumped a stack of books in her arms for some light reading over the weekend. Even with Doctor Tofu as her personal tutor she was still at the bottom of all her classes. Medicine was what she loved but obviously it wasn't loving her back.

Not tonight anyways.

Maybe she should just go back to martial arts after all…

Well, there's no point in that, Akane reminded herself. She gave up on that after high school and now with Daddy having to close the dojo from lack of enrollment, there was really no place for it. The only other family that had practiced their discipline was long gone anyways and the chances of them reappearing and wanting to uphold the dojo were very unlikely. No one knows what happened to them or even if they were still alive. Akane had never met them and, quite frankly, believed that Daddy made them up.

Besides, becoming a doctor was what she really wanted to do.

"Are you sure, Akane?" Ukyou asked her while they were walking home. "You don't even seem to be having fun anymore."

"Of course I'm having fun," she retorted, though halfheartedly. "You just can't see my blissful expression of joy behind this stack of books."

"Yeah, did you need help with that library you're carrying?"

Akane shifted the giant stack in her arms. "I think I have a balance that shouldn't be bothered here. Besides, I'm just dropping these off at Doctor Tofu's clinic and then riding my bike the rest of the way."

"It's kind of late to be going there, isn't it?"

"They have emergency hours. And he's waiting for me," Akane insisted, with a smile she hoped was concealed by the books. "This is all for my tutoring session tomorrow."

"Sheesh, how many of your med classes are you failing? You have half the library in your arms."

"I'm not failing I'm just…"

"Falling."

"Exactly. I'm just falling behind but—"

"No, your books. They're—"

Akane watched in horror as very expensive medical library books showered the evening sky.

"A fitting end to a perfect day…" Akane announced, pulling a $200 book from a mud puddle.

It was almost like the med books were telling her the same thing as her grades. Just drop it. As she crawled in the street to reclaim her books Akane had a sinking feeling that this was the best she was ever going to get. All these months of studying and for what? She could barely pass a first aid certification program at the community center!

"You can always help me clean up at the restaurant," Ukyou offered after listening to Akane's school woes.

"How about help you cook?"

"You can always come and help me clean up," Ukyou repeated with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks," Akane said, catching the hint. "So was today your last class at the community center?"

"Yep, finally done with this stupid certificate. I hate when they just make up new rules for the restaurants around here. Tomorrow I have to go to North Nerima to get this baby mailed so they can stop threatening to close me down. Can you keep an eye on the place while I'm gone? With the increase in lightning storms recently it will be my luck that the restaurant catches fire while I'm gone."

"Of course. What are roommates for."

"Paying half the rent?"

"That and the occasional teaming up to knock out perverts with metal bats."

"Yeah, that was weird last night. Luckily you landed some hits on them and sent them away," she said, recalling her own inability to knock them out. "It was almost like those guys had lost their minds the way they were grabbing us like that."

"They were like all men. Animals," Akane retorted with a snort.

"Still, are you sure you don't want me to wait for you so we can go home together? There's still another bus."

"No, I'll be fine. I can take a taxi if I really need it," Akane told her as the bus came up to the bus stop. "Can you just do me a favor and put out some food for P-chan when you get home?"

"No problem. I'll probably be dead asleep when you get home so see you tomorrow?"

"Yep, see ya."

Akane released a sigh as she watched the bus lights fade away. Ukyou was so lucky that she was amazing at cooking. She never had to take classes to raise her skills, Akane noted with disdain. Cooking was in her friend's blood. And if it wasn't for the fact that Ukyou's fiancé had bailed on her, Ukyou would probably be living it up and owning a five-star restaurant. But trying to search for her stupid fiancé had drained her bank account and landed her as Akane's roommate back in West Nerima.

Even though she had told Ukyou to give it up after high school, her friend was determined to find her fiancé and make him pay for stealing their money and abandoning her and her father. After her father passed, that vengeance kind of erupted.

But Akane was just happy that Ukyou was letting it go now and just concentrating on her restaurant here. Sheesh, she didn't need a husband to help her family's business! She was amazing on her own!

Wasting so much time on a guy….What a stupid thing to do—

"Akane! I was wondering when I would see you! Come on back to my office."

Akane couldn't stop the grin that overtook her red cheeks as she greeted Doctor Tofu and begin talking about her classes. She knew she was probably talking too much, but he always listened and took an interest in everything that was going on in her life. Doctor Tofu was someone that she felt completely at ease with. Which was why she was so glad she had decided to go to college here and have him nearby. Like always.

His only clinic used to be near her father's dojo, but he expanded his practice into three locations and he would be opening up a fourth soon. His main location was now near Akane's college, almost an hour away from her father's dojo in North Nerima. What were the odds…!

"It looks like we'll have a lot of studying to do this weekend," Doctor Tofu said with a pleasant laugh.

"Sorry. I'm always taking up so much of your time."

"Don't be silly. I'm glad to help anyone who has an interest in medicine. Especially in my own field." He held up the mud-puddle victim. "Another fall?"

"Yeah…," she admitted with a blush. "I should really be more careful." Akane hesitated before saying, "It might be a little expensive to pay off…Would it be okay if I helped out here again for some extra money?"

"Anytime you're not at class, come on by," Tofu told her. "I'm always glad to have your help."

Akane told herself to stop smiling like an idiot, she really did. She just couldn't help it when she was around Doctor Tofu. Ever since she was young, she…really, really liked him.

"Tomorrow morning we'll start with your first class and work our way down, how does that sound? Not the ideal way to spend your weekends," he told her, patting her head with a smile. "You should be going out with your friends and on dates, not be stuck in this stuffy office with me."

"I like spending time with you though," Akane said, before she could stop herself. She didn't like how shy she sounded at that moment. And even more she didn't like that she was waiting for his answer like her heart depended on it.

"Then I don't feel as bad," he told her with his kind laugh. It was hard to be mad at that laugh from such a gentle person, but Akane knew she was hoping for a different answer. Her spirits dropped a bit but she managed to thank him again for all his help.

"Tomorrow at 10, then?" she said, pulling awkwardly at her long black hair. "I can bring breakfast."

"It's a date," he agreed.

Akane turned her bright red face away and practically flew out the door. She really just needed to just say how she felt but there was just sort of a big reason why she shouldn't. And even though that person was an hour away, Akane knew that Doctor Tofu still thought about her. That was another attribute that Akane loved about him, but at the same time made her miserable. His devotion to someone far away. After all, Akane was the one who was here…She saw him everyday…She even brought him lunch on his long shifts.

At least it was peaceful tonight, Akane mused in optimism as she rode her bike home. Not any more of those creepy groping guys out. Last night guys had come up to her and Ukyou, not saying anything but just grabbing at them. It didn't even seem purposeful, just frantic. Probably just drunk people, but still disturbing. Luckily they had been coming back from softball practice and had their bats handy. Not that Akane and Ukyou couldn't bust out some martial arts skills either.

Looks like it's not as peaceful as I thought, Akane sighed as she saw two silhouettes in the distance.

Although instead of coming toward her they seemed to be going over to a playground on the left side of the road. Something was on the ground, it looked like. Maybe they had left a jacket in their drunken fun, she mused and began to look away. Though people usually didn't start mercilessly kicking and punching their clothes. And the clothes most certainly didn't groan and flail about.

No baseball bat this time, Akane reminded herself as she veered in their direction, but she couldn't just let someone get pounded on. What if it was a girl they had groped and abducted?! Before she could double think her actions, Akane was leaping away from her bike and soaring through the air to kick one guy in the face. The heel of her hand landed nicely in the other guy's jaw with a crack. Her uppercut and back kick hadn't gotten too rusty either, she noted with satisfaction. The guys didn't give her time to test out the rest of her skill level though; they were already retreating with blood back into the street.

These guys were even aimlessly fighting, Akane thought as she watched their forms retreat.

Akane knelt down next to their victim but it was too dark to see the face too clearly. It was definitely a guy, though. Poor guy, she mused. He probably didn't know what was coming and those creepers really did a number on him. His arm was hanging out of its socket and his leg was completely caked in blood. If he wasn't wearing such a deep red Chinese-style shirt, Akane wagered that more blood would be visible on his chest. For such a muscular looking guy, how did he get in such bad shape?

Bad shape. Hurt. Bleeding….!?

As if the situation finally slapped her in the face, Akane jumped up with a start and ran back to her bike to retrieve her first aid kit from class and her cellphone.

After a rather desperate call to Doctor Tofu, Akane glued herself to the poor boy's side, apologizing for just staring at him and not helping.

"What did they do to you?!" she asked the unconscious boy, as she feverishly began working on his bloody leg and popping his arm back into it's socket. These were the kinds of injuries you saw in your textbook, not in your neighborhood playground. It was like half of his arm was broken! Anytime the boy flinched or groaned from her administrations, Akane felt less like a doctor in training and more like a helpless child with one of those make-believe first aid kits.

"It's okay," she told him, even petting his hair and stroking his cheek. "Help is coming and I'm here. It's okay, I'm right here."

Akane cursed her trembling hands while she tried to stop all the bleeding, but the blood was even seeping into her green dress and getting into her long hair. If there was any time to remember anything from the classes she was failing, this would be it! she mentally yelled at herself. Why didn't she have all those stupid books here when she needed them!?

Too caught up trying to recall her med classes as she fumbled through her first aid supplies, Akane didn't notice her patient wasn't as unconscious as she thought. An arm came around her waist and forced her backwards into his chest.

She didn't even have a chance to scream. The last thing she remembered was a hand over her mouth before everything went black.

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To be continued in the next chapter: Ranko and the Kidnapper.

Thank you for reading!