Disclaimer. i don't own any names of characters in this story it's just for reading.

Chapter Two

Afflictions Touching Again

"YOU PERVERT!!"

"No Akane, wait, I can explain." A young girl threw a fist in rage at a young boy in front of her sending him flying in-between the isled seats to the front of the bus they were riding on. The young man was tall and sturdy looking. He wore black pants with a red shirt which had white stripes at the end of his sleeves. His long black hair was tied neatly into a pigtail. He looked dazed. His dark eyes seemed unable to focus on anything. After a moment he shook his head, looked up at the girl who hit him and shouted "What'd you do that for Akane!?" Akane through her head to the side so her short blue hair flicked the air, then she sat down and folded her arms over her green school uniform dress.

"That's what you get for being a pervert and letting Shampoo get all over you like that." She gritted her teeth and furled her eyebrows.

"Oh no. is Ranma ok?" a second girl with long blue hair who wore a pink outfit under a white apron went over to Ranma's still laid out body. "Does Ranma want Shampoo to make him feel better?" Being from another country she spoke the language very poorly. As Shampoo went to reach for Ranma a third girl reached out her arm and grabbed Shampoo's.

"I don't think so sweetheart!" the girl said fiercely, her long brown hair drooping over her shoulder, Her brown eyes burning at Shampoo. "You leave my Ranma honey alone! He's my fiancé!" Her hand reached over her blue shirt to her back where attached to her belt was a giant spatula. The girl gripped its handle. Shampoo leered back at the girl. "Why are you here anyway Shampoo? You don't even go to Furinkin high school." Shampoo smiled.

"Ukiyou is just jealous of Shampoo because Shampoo is Ranma's Favorite." Her smile widened as she saw the rage in Ukiyou's face rising.

"That's not true! Tell her Ranma honey." Both girls looked down and their faces dropped. Ranma was no longer there. They hurriedly looked around the bus and saw they were alone, Ukiyou still gripping Shampoos arm. They looked outside of the bus windows and saw all the students were walking in a large group up a massive stair case made of stone. The girls both shouted and ran for the group, completely forgetting they were arguing.

As Ranma walked up the stairs beside Akane and her older sister Nabiki who wore an identical green dress as her sister, he couldn't help notice an old man wearing traditional Japanese clothes anxiously awaiting the at the top. Ranma Turned to Akane and asked "I tell you Akane this school trip around the historical sites of Japan really sucks." He folded his hands behind his head and looked up at the sky. "Nothing interesting has happened yet at any of the other places we've been to. Just some boring crap about what happened in the past." He sighed and looked utterly bored.

"Well you know Ranma that is the whole point of a history field trip." Nabiki said lazily. "You lean about history, no matter how boring it is."

"Why'd you come if you hate it so much?" Akane asked curtly.

"You think I'm gonna leave you alone with that jerk Kuno?" Ranma wheeled around to look at a tall young man with short brown hair wearing a blue gi with baggy black pants. He was carrying a wooden boken over his right shoulder. After a moment of looking at Kuno he turned back to Akane and asked "so where are we now?"

"Don't you listen ever Ranma?" Akane sighed and continued "we're at the Higorashi family shine." They reached the top of the stairs just as Akane finished speaking. Ranma looked around the grounds. In front of them there was a large and very old tree by the look of it. It towered in front of them casting a cooling shade over them. He glanced to the left and saw two small shacks which looked to be in poor condition. He glanced to the right and saw a house. Not small by any means, but not big either. Ranma thought out loud.

"So what's so special about this place?" Ranma gasped as the old man he had forgotten about spoke right beside him.

"I'm glad you asked that question young man, you see this shrine has stood here for many hundreds of years. As a matter of fact, the tree you see in front of you is one of the oldest known trees in Japan. There is of course a legend about the tree." The old man was speaking even though Ranma had lost interest shortly after he begun.

"Umm… excuse me." A tall man wearing a brown gi had walked up to the old man and started talking in the politest way he could muster. "I was wondering when the tour of your shrine was starting. It seams the students are getting restless." But before the old man could answer another man slightly larger then the first wearing a white gi interrupted.

"But more importantly then that Tendo, where's your bathroom gramps?" the man was hopping up and down grabbing at his crotch.

"Now, now Saoatome, we should deal with the students first." Suddenly Ranma's fist came down hard on Souatome's head. Ranma then started shouting at him.

"Yeah old man, wait your turn, we were here first. You don't get any special treatment just because you're a parent chaperone." Saoatome stood up quickly.

"How dare you strike your father, boy!" Saoatome shouted.

"What are you going to do about it? Sell me for a pickle?!!"

The old man cleared his throat and both father and son stood up straight and in a line. "The tour will start when my granddaughter gets here." He turned around and looked delighted. "Ah, there she is now. Well we'll break up into two groups, one group with me and the other group with Kagome." Ranma and his friends turned to see Kagome and what she looked like. She was a pretty girl who had long black hair which flowed down her back. She wore a green skirt with a white blouse. While they were looking at her walk toward Ranma noticed another person walking behind her. He was a young man who wore black pants and a yellow top and was carrying a broom with him. His hair was held back by a bandanna wore over his forehead. Ranma recognized his old rival instantly.

"Ryoga!" the boy looked up at him.

"Ranma?" his surprise was shattered instantly by anger. "RANMA!!!" Ryoga ran at Ranma but was stopped by the old mans screaming.

"Hey! We aren't paying you to attack people who are interested in the shrine, now get back to sweeping." Ryoga stopped dead and looked completely defeated. Akane looked over at him and was astonished.

"Ryoga? Why are you here?" She asked inquiringly.

"Yeah, I thought we left P-Chan at home?" Ranma sniggered at Ryoga, and Ryoga looked as if he was just stabbed in the back.

"Shut up Ranma!" He looked furious at the mention of the name P-Chan. "You don't know the hell I went through coming here in search for Akane." Tears began to fall down his face as he continued. "The cold nights, the long days, and constantly fighting hunger, and it was when my journey brought me to the brink of death that I cam upon this shrine. They took me in and fed me, and I've been working off my debt since that fateful day." There was now a steady flow of tears streaming down his face as he went on. "But now it seems that fate has brought you to me Akane, this must be love's great work!" he reached out and grabbed at her, holding her hands in his. "I love you Akane!"

"Ummm, Ryoga?" as he opened his eyes he saw that it was Ukiyou's hand he was holding. Shampoo stood besides her looking confused. Ukiyou went on. "Where's Ranma?" The three of the looked around and saw they were alone at the top of the stairs. The students had already been separated into groups and Ranma and Akane were in the group being lead by the girl Kagome, so the hurried to catch up with them underneath the great tree.

Kagome was at the front of the group standing underneath the tree. She spoke loudly and professionally to them as if she had been rehearsing, but could not hide her desire to be somewhere else. "Well," she paused a moment to look around at the group, and she saw Ryoga, Ukiyou, and Shampoo join them. "This is my family's shrine. The Higorashi's have been here for hundreds of years." Ranma wasn't listening to Kagome as she spoke; instead he was looking at the great tree they were standing under.

"Yo." He interrupted. "Why don't you guys cut that tree?" he was promptly struck over the head by Akane and she began yelling at him.

"Don't be so rude Ranma. You're such a jerk." She turned her face away from Ranma in anger.

"How could you say that?" Kagome spoke with her face down. "You don't know what this tree means to me, what it means to so many people in my family." Tears began welling up inside her eyes as her thought lead her to the image of a white haired young man clothed in red. She thought to her self 'without this tree I would have never met you Inuyasha.' Ranma took a step forward with his hands on his head where Akane had hit him.

"Look, I didn't mean anything by it it's just that people usually cut down giant trees like that when they're dying so they don't crush anything when they fall, that's all I'm saying." Ranma looked imploringly toward Kagome hoping not to be hit again by Akane. Kagome was snapped out of her daze by what Ranma had just said.

"What do you mean 'dying tree'?" Kagome wheeled around on the spot to look at the great tree behind her, and the sight made her eyes widen. The tree which was once tall and beautiful was barren and withering. Its branches drooped and looked dry and bridle. "What!? Something must have happened there." She turned to the group and quickly said "sorry, but I have to go!" she started off toward one of the shacks near the tree, so Ranma, Akane, Ryoga, Ukiyou, Shampoo and even the upperclassmen Kuno, and Nabiki all ran after her. The pursuers caught up to Kagome inside the small shack in time to see her throwing herself into an old well in the middle of the floor. Ranma seeing her falling into the well quickly reached out for her and grasped her by the arm, but his balance shifted and he began to fall in with her. Seeing that Ranma was now plunging into the well, Akane and Ukiyou both lunged themselves forward in an attempt to save both him and Kagome, but the weight of two people was too much for the both of them to manage and they too went head first into the well, holding onto Ranma. In a last ditch effort to save the falling people both Ryoga and Kuno dove forward and grabbed for anything in the darkness. They caught the heels of Akane and Ukiyou and attempted to heave the chain of people back to the interior of the shed, but the weights of now 4 falling people proved too much for them and were hurled in after them, and all 6 of the people disappeared into the darkness of the well. Shampoo ran over to the well to peer inside and see the damage done to her friends by the fall, but when she looked into the old mysterious well however, she saw nothing. The well was empty.