Disclaimer: of course I don't own this. If anything this is free advertising. See, Rumiko Takahashi's story was so great I had to write more. So go out and buy the original!!

Chapter 2


A couple of days later Akane greeted Kasumi and Nabiki as they returned home from the market where they bargained their seamstress skills (Kasumi) and advice and information (Nabiki) for food and other essentials. Akane had been practicing her martial arts, hoping to help her family by being a temporary guard of merchants' wares.

"We received some information you might be interested in," Nabiki had greeted back.

The sisters settled themselves in the main room around the sole piece of furniture in the room-the table. At the end of the table sat the open compact, its prisoner currently out of sight.

"A traveler, a young man who kept a giant spatula strapped to his back, paid me to repair some of his clothing," Kasumi began, "he inquired if I had seen a pair of travelers, father and son, so I directed him to Nabiki."

"He told me they went by the names of Genma and Ranma Saotome," Nabiki said as she picked up the tale, "The traveler was looking to seek vengeance against them and offered me a sizable sum for anything I could tell about them before proceeding to give me descriptions of the two." Nabiki paused to give Akane a long look, "the father I am certain I have never seen, but the son…"

"Nabiki told me that the traveler described the son, Ranma I think it was, as a young man adept in martial arts with clear blue eyes and long black hair in a pigtail." Kasumi's words caused Akane's eyes to widen before she sharply turned to stare at the mirror, its occupant still out of sight.

The three sisters took a minute to watch the mirror until the pigtailed man returned and began to fidget uncomfortably under the sisters' stares. "Ranma Saotome," Akane whispered quietly, "is that his name?"

"I told the traveler that I believed I had seen the son…" Nabiki began turning toward Akane.

"Nabiki! How could…!"

Raising her voice over Akane's, Nabiki continued, "I also told him that the son was suffering greatly and that whatever revenge the traveler sought had certainly been accomplished." She paused for a moment, "I managed to inquire afterwards if the traveler knew of any being able to disenchant items, for a friend of mine of course, the traveler told me he not only knew of a sorceress, but he was willing to guide my friend there…"

Nabiki had to break off as Akane jumped up and hugged her sister, "Thank you, oh, thanks Nabiki!"

"Hey, anything for my little sis and her boyfriend…"

"He's NOT my boyfriend."


Akane stood under the aged tree at the edge of town waiting for the traveler. She was dressed as a boy in her tunic and trousers; they fit a bit better after Kasumi had altered them to Akane's frame while still hiding her femininity. Her pack was strapped to her back this time instead of to the end of a walking stick. It was also somewhat larger. Despite not wanting Akane to leave so soon her family had convinced her that it was probably safer for Akane if she didn't randomly appear in their hometown unannounced when she was believed to be living in the nearby Lord's valley. The entire town after all had witnessed the near beheading of her sister and heard of Akane's wedding.

A young man approached her with a large spatula strapped to his back. The traveler looked over to Akane, "you must be the friend with the enchanted item, right? What's your name?"

Akane eyed her new travel companion in turn, "Just call me Tendo."

"All right, I'm Ukyo Kounji, call me Kounji," he bowed his head slightly in greeting. "So what's this item you need disenchanted?" Kounji started down a path to the right and Akane followed after.

"Oh, nothing of importance, not to most people anyway. I was given a gift awhile ago and I noticed something a little odd about it," Akane said carefully, remembering what Nabiki had said about the traveler wanting revenge. "My gift became a sort of good luck charm for me, and I felt bad about it being cursed, so I decided, before it did any lasting harm to anyone, I should get it disenchanted."

"It has a curse, does it? Will I have to worry about it turning me to stone, or anything like that?"

"No, not at all, I've, er, found a way to neutralize the curse for now," after a brief pause she continued, "how long will it take to reach this sorceress? I also have an ailing father and would like to bring him back a spell for fast recovery and good health."

"Did your gift cause his illness? It'll probably take at least five days to hike through the hills… but if your father is really sick maybe we should pick up the pace a bit," he proceeded to put action to his words.


Hours passed as the two travelers hiked onward. As the Sun began to dip below the tops of the trees the travelers found a clearing with hot springs nearby to camp for the night.

"Why don't you take a dip in the hot springs while I cook dinner?" Kounji offered pulling cooking supplies from his pack.

"Uh, sure," Akane nervously replied, not wanting her companion to know her true gender, "um, would you be joining me later?"

Kounji froze for a moment before continuing as if nothing had happened, "no, no, I prefer to bathe after I eat, when I no longer have to worry about dinner."

"a-alright then," Akane scurried over to the hot springs but didn't begin to undress until she found a secluded area, hidden from the clearing by several large boulders.

While settling in the steamy water, Akane did her best to relax. There was no way Kounji could know of her actual gender, and yet… his reaction to Akane's question seemed odd. Did Kounji already know that Akane was a girl and just pretended ignorance to lower Akane's guard? But no, that seemed unlikely since Akane could hear her travel companion humming to himself over the sizzling of dinner over the fire. And her fellow traveler also didn't seem to suspect that Akane was carrying the object of his vengeance in her pocket.

Come to think of it Akane didn't even know for sure that it was indeed Ranma Saotome who was trapped in the mirror. She had the means to find out however. Since Ukyo Kounji sought revenge against Ranma, the latter should be able to recognize Kounji when he saw him. Akane just had to show Kounji to Ranma while the former slept and see if her friend reacted at all.


After Akane had finished her bath she and Kounji settled around the campfire to enjoy their dinner of fresh okonomiyaki.

"Wow!" Akane exclaimed, "I've never had okonomiyaki this good! You must be a master chef!"

Kounji blushed from the praise, "as a matter of fact my family business is okonomiyaki, and we're the best okonomiyaki chefs in the world!" He ended boasting with obvious pride.

Hesitating a moment, Akane inquired quietly "if you don't mind my asking, why are you travelling?"

The chef stiffened a moment, "there was a slight against myself and my family, and I travel to rectify our honor. Also it helps spread our world class okonomiyaki!" The first part was spoken in a near whisper, the second part a joyful shout.

"What did the Saotomes do to harm your honor?"

"How do you know that name, Tendo?" Kounji stared intently across the fire at Akane.

"Uh," Akane, highly embarrassed stopped with a bite of food half way to her mouth, "you remember the woman who told you about my enchanted gift? She's my sister."

Kounji watched Akane a few moments, "it was a matter of personal honor." He refused to say anything else on the subject after that.


While the chef went to bathe Akane busied herself setting her cloak and a blanket on the ground making a temporary bed for the night. When she finished this she reached into her pocket to wish her pigtailed friend goodnight, except she couldn't find the compact. Akane frantically searched her clothing, bed, and pack for the mirror. She couldn't find it. She recklessly checked every nook and cranny of the campsite and shook out her bed, blanket, and cloak before acknowledging it wasn't there.

Taking a deep breath to slow the rising panic, Akane tried to think of where it could be. It must be back at the hot springs, and fell out of her pocket while she undressed. She simply had to go back and pick it up again; only, she thought hesitantly, Kounji was currently bathing. Another breath to calm herself, and Akane reasoned to herself, Kounji was a man who currently thought she was a man too, and therefore shouldn't be bothered if Akane saw him bathing. With all the steam Akane probably wouldn't see anything anyway, right? Right, there was no sense in her worrying. So decided Akane put on a brave front and marched down to the hot spring.

Akane saw the gleam of the closed compact right where she had undressed next to the hot spring. Unfortunately, judging by the discarded clothes of the chef, Kounji had chosen the same location as she had to bathe. Okay, Akane breathed, she could handle this. She just had to sneak down there, grab the compact, and come back. Hopefully her companion wouldn't even notice she was there.

Slowly Akane made her way down toward the edge of the water, trying to make as little noise as possible. One meter away from her goal and focused on the compact, Akane failed to notice a tree root stretching across her path. Stubbing her toe, she flailed her arms wildly as she stumbled, tripped, and fell into the warm water.

Upon resurfacing from the waist deep water Akane faced one furious and obviously female chef.

"HOW DARE YOU!"

"You're a GIRL?!!" in Akane's shock, she failed to move a muscle as her pissed companion grabbed the giant spatula from shore and aimed it for the other girl's head.

"DIE!!!!!!"

Moving at the last possible second Akane barely dodged the weapon, "wait! I'm a girl too!"

Kounji paused, her spatula at the ready, to look over her opponent, "Don't lie to me! There's no way you could be a girl!" The chef continued with her assault.

That remark really ticked Akane off. Grabbing her companion's weapon in her hand she kicked Kounji in the chest forcing the chef back a meter. "And WHY is that so hard to believe?!" Akane glared at her companion with barely controlled violence.

Kounji took longer this time to look over Akane. In a quieter voice she replied, "You're really a girl?"

"YES." Turning away Akane stomped out of the water and grabbed the compact on her way back to the camp.


Ranma set a kettle for tea over the fire in the fireplace. It had been awhile since his blue-haired friend had checked up on him, and he was starting to worry, not that he'd acknowledge it. As if on cue from his thoughts the window began to brighten. He smiled in greeting to the blue tomboy before noticing the background. She was at a campsite again, and it was late at night if the deep blue sky was any indication. Why did she leave her family?

His friend gave him a neutral look before showing him her sleeping travelling companion. Ranma saw a young man sleeping on his side, his long brown hair in a ponytail behind him. Nearby lay a giant spatula that looked oddly familiar. Hmmm… come to think of it, where had he seen that face before? Ranma had moved slightly to think, placing his hand on his chin as he stared past the table.

Aha! With a flash of insight and a grin he looked up to see the blue tomboy's curious face. How could he forget Ucchan? A pang of--was it anger? Or jealousy? -- went through him; why was his childhood friend travelling with HIS blue tomboy? Ranma, however, was distracted from his thoughts when he saw the blue tomboy furrow her brow in confusion at his reaction.

He watched her for a moment as she obviously mulled something over. She then turned to him and nodded goodnight before closing the compact and leaving Ranma to his thoughts.


The Sun was low behind the two travelers as they broke camp for the day. Akane, ignoring her companion, mulled over the last nights events as she packed her things.

After she had stomped off Akane had cooled off allowing Kounji to approach and talk to her. Not much had resulted from their talk; they both acknowledged that they were both female but disguised themselves as males and would continue to do so. Embarrassed apologies had been made. They had both stiffly gone to bed, though Akane had stayed up, wanting to test the identity of her imprisoned friend.

Kounji and Akane, having finished clearing their campsite started the day's long hike.

That little experiment, showing the chef to the pigtailed man, had had confusing results. He recognized Kounji, Akane could tell, but he recognized her with the surprise and joy of seeing an old friend. If Kounji was out for his blood shouldn't he be afraid or at least apprehensive at seeing her again? And why did Kounji want revenge on him anyway?

Deciding to break the morning's silence she turned toward Kounji, "Could you please tell me why you hate the Saotomes?"

Kounji, startled spoke suspiciously, "Why do you want to know so badly?"

"It's a secret I don't know and it's eating away at me, Please?" The chef ignored her and concentrated on the path.

"Come on! I'll tell you…I'll tell you…ummm…why I'm dressed as a man!" Akane received no reaction. "How about…my family, I'm sure you'd love to hear about my family!" No response from the other traveler. After numerous moments of hesitation, "Do you want to hear about my enchanted gift?"

That caught her attention, "yes, I do," Kounji sighed, "Why not? As long as you promise not to tell anyone what I'll tell you." At Akane's vigorous nod she continued, "I met Genma and Ranma Saotome when Ranma and I were little. To make a long story short Ranma and I became friends. Father, seeing how well I got along with my friend, talked to Genma about arranging an engagement between Ranma and me; he even offered our okonomiyaki cart as a dowry. Genma refused the engagement, but took the cart anyway, leaving me behind. From that moment on I vowed revenge."

Akane, stunned, walked in silence before a thought occurred to her, "If this happened when Ranma was little, and it was Genma who broke the promise and stole your dowry, why do you want revenge against Ranma?"

Kounji just snorted in reply. They continued in silence for a while. The chef turned towards Akane, "Alright I told you what you wanted to know, now, tell me about your gift, Tendo." She paused for a moment, "Actually tell me what your full name is first, I assume you kept your name from me to hide the fact that you were a girl."

Akane had gulped nervously after her first request, but calmed down when she heard the second. "My name is Akane Tendo, Kounji."

"Just Ukyo is fine, can I call you Akane?"

"Sure." They continued on in silence, Akane glad that her companion seemed to have forgotten their deal.

"Now tell me about your gift." Okay, the deal wasn't forgotten.

Taking a deep breath Akane began, "About three months ago I was given a compact mirror. The compact mirror is enchanted to serve as a magical prison. There currently is someone trapped in it and I would like to set him free." She purposely kept her explanation short, simple and with the fewest details possible. Akane did not want to know what Ukyo would do if she found out Ranma was the prisoner.

"Gee, that's nice of you, but what about your Father? I thought he was ill from the enchanted gift?"

"Ah, no, it has nothing to do with the mirror. But he is bedridden."

Ukyo turned towards Akane, "Akane, you're not a bad person, how about we be friends?"

Akane couldn't help but smile at another new friend, "okay!"