THE NEW SENSEI

"1:05 AM" Akane whispered while she looked at her alarm clock. She couldn't sleep, it was impossible to sleep tonight. How could she possibly concentrate when Ranma Saotome was in her house? He was sleeping in the room right next to her, the room that once belonged to her one of her sisters. She was thinking about everything that had happening and everything that could happen. She didn't know what scared her the most. This couldn't be happening she thought, why today? Why now? Damn you Ranma!

"Who am I kidding?" she whispered to herself. She turned turn again to face the ceiling. Akane had been waiting for this day for 7 long years and now…well now she didn't know what to do or how to react to this situation. Maybe if he had had the guts to show his face a few years earlier it would have been a lot different. She would have jumped into his arms and would of told him to stay here with her and with his son. Yes, she would have definitely told him that Haruhi is…well that doesn't matter anymore now does it. What's done it's done now and there is no turning back. She felt her eyes getting heavy. She sighed and closed her eyes. She finally fell asleep, after all life had to go on with or without Ranma Saotome.

In another room, Ranma Saotome was trying to do sit-ups. He couldn't sleep either. He was so...out of it. Everyone all grown up with children of their own, even Akane had a child of her own; the wife he never divorced had a child, someone that belongs to her. What did he have? Ranma thought. Even his parents looked as happy as ever. His old man enjoyed his life with the Tendo's but that's nothing new. What surprised him the most was how comfortable he was being a "grandfather". Ranma smiled to himself. He couldn't blame his dad. Ranma was an only child and his old man and Soun always talked about having grandchildren and the schools needed a new heir. Ranma frowned. He remembered how his parents bugged him and Akane to have a child as soon as possible when they got married. They lived as a couple for about a year. He was so happy then. His life had meaning, he was going somewhere. His wife was beautiful and young and wanted to finish college and become a school teacher while Ranma took care of the dojo. And then they started fighting again, then they fought constantly. There was so much tension between the two, stupid little fights that always got out of hand one way or the other. He loved her, and he knew she loved him too but there were times when they couldn't stand each other and then one day they couldn't take it anymore and decided it was better for them to get separated. Biggest mistake he ever made. He was infuriated, mad at her for telling him to leave and never come back, and so he did. He left and decided not to call for a few months. He was close to Nerima just in case he decided to come back, but little by little the sadness and hurt was eating him alive he was missing her too much he wanted to go back. He was so frustrated, he needed her back with him but his pride and ego were way bigger than that so he decided to go further. Every time he missed her and felt he was still close to Nerima he would go further. He trained everywhere and his style was popular in some place in both Japan and China. He was a great martial artist and he was proud of himself for the things he accomplished over the years he was gone. But now, look at all the things he missed. It made him regret leaving his family and friends, and deep down he couldn't deny to himself that he missed her the most.

Akane woke up at 9:30 am. She was kind of tired for staying up late but she had to get up if she wanted to get things done. Summer vacation was almost over and she needed to get started on time if she wanted to be prepared when she had to go back to school again. She loved working with little kids. She also had to go shopping with Haruhi for new school supplies. With that thought in mind she made her way to the bathroom and took a nice bath. She kept on thinking about the things she would do and how she would act in front of Ranma. Thinking about him so much was tormenting her. She needed to act like everything was okay with her and that she didn't care about him there. After she was done with her bath and was all dressed up she decided not to waste any more time and face him downstairs. She was already late for breakfast, as she walked down the stairs she heard the voices coming from the dining room. Apparently, her father, and her in-laws were chatting and laughing about something. As she got closer she noticed Haruhi was already up and barely chewing his breakfast like always. She smiled and sat next to him.

" Good morning everyone" Akane smiled.

"Good morning" said the three adults. They seem to be in a very good this morning. She couldn't help but wonder where he was. Was he still asleep? She smiled a little. That was so typical of Ranma she thought.

She was deep into her thought she completely missed the moment Nodoka serve her breakfast. She thanked her and started eating her breakfast. She paused for a second to look at her son.

"Haruhi what time did you get up baby?" she asked.

The boy paused for a second, he had food in his mouth but he still managed to speak. " I was up at 9:00 o'clock mommy" he said. He started eating like crazy again.

" He woke up all by himself" Nodoka smiled. She said it so proudly. Akane smiled too while she looked at Nodoka. She loved that she so supportive of him and such a great grandmother.

Akane still wondered about Ranma. All of a sudden the silence their conversation was interrupted by a loud shout coming from the inside of the dojo. It sounded like the ceiling collapsed. The whole family stopped eating but Akane seem to be only one with a puzzled look on her face.

"What was that?" she asked.

All Three adults smiled at her comment. Haruhi had a neutral look on his face, he finished his second bowl of rice and stood up.

"Grandps, Gradma, Mommy I'll catch you guys later" he said. He was about to run until Akane asked a question that made him freeze.

"Where are you going Haruhi?" she asked trying to find out why Haruhi wanted to be excused.

"I'm going to the dojo" he explained.

" but I just heard something strange coming from there I don't think it's safe" Akane was worried. Her son could as curious as a cat sometimes.

"No mommy that was Ranma" that's the last thing he said before he ran as fast as he could to the dojo.

Akane's heart started to beat faster and faster every second. The elders noticed Akane's reaction but didn't say anything. Akane stood up and started walking to the dojo as slow as she could. As she walked over to the dojo, she wondered about her son's reaction. He just had that smile on his face, that smile that reminded her so much of Ranma. Haruhi only smiled like that when he was excited about something. She was worried about Haruhi and Ranma being too close, she didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

When she got to the door of dojo she observed her son. He was watching Ranma throwing punches and kicks. She couldn't help but noticed Ranma's body, so manly. She decided to stay exactly where she was and observe them a little. She looked at Ranma then at Haruhi and look at all the similarities between them. The hair, the gorgeous blue eyes, the way they talked. It was easy for someone to see that they were father and son just by looking from where she was standing. The boy was sitting just a few feet away from Ranma. Ranma had his back to him, he didn't notice the little boy yet. Haruhi seem to be studying his moves, trying to memorize his every move or trying to figure something out.

Ranma stopped punching the air and wiped his swear on his sleeve. He was exhausted, he didn't have a good night sleep and on top on that he woke up at 7:30 am, had breakfast and headed to the dojo. He was about to go back inside the house to shower when he noticed a little person sitting down watching him from behind.

"Hey" he said. The boy threw him a small towel and Ranma caught it immediately. "Thanks".

"You're really good!" said Haruhi. "Your just as good as Ryoga, I've never seen someone throw punches the way you do, that's so cool" he yelled. Ranma looked at the kid with sympathy as he wiped the sweat off his face.

"Thanks" He said.

" Can you teach me some of you techniques?" the kid was so excited he stood up and looked at Ranma with his big blue eyes.

Ranma didn't know what to say. He didn't think he was a good idea to teach him anything, I mean what if Akane had a problem with it? He thought. The last thing he wanted was an argument with her over her kid.

"I don't know if that's a good idea kid" Ranma scratched the back of his head.

Haruhi went from excited to angry. Ranma noticed his sudden mood swing but said nothing at all.

"Hey what do you mean? You think I can't learn techniques because I'm seven?" he said. Haruhi folded his arms on his chest and continued talking. "I'm a martial artist too you know" he said.

'There it is' Ranma thought. The reaction he had been waiting for. The kid was indeed Akane's child. Ranma remembered her reaction every time he refused to train her, she would get so mad at him. His excuse always was 'because she was a girl and he doesn't hit girls' what could he tell her son? He couldn't use the same excuse on Haruhi, he wasn't a girl, and he couldn't bring up the fact that he was too young when Ranma himself started training when he was five years old.

" I can show you my moves if you want to see" he said proudly.

Ranma could already tell that the kid was kind of cocky which reminded him of himself when he was learning the arts at his age. He smiled at him; he liked the kid's attitude. Confidence is the key to the arts and nobody knew that better than Ranma Saotome.

"Okay show me you got but I'm not going to hit you" he said.

"Hey that's not fair!" the kid was really angry now.

"I'm not going to fight back until I see what you can do" Ranma was challenging him now. He really wanted to see his agility; he wanted to see how much his mom had taught him. He had to remind himself that this kid was going to be the one to inherit the school there was no reason not to take him serious even though he was nothing but a child. Ranma was thinking if it was appropriate fight back or not. Haruhi was really angry now, he attack Ranma and started throwing punches that Ranma avoid easily, than again he was only 7 years old. Ranma started to observe every punch and kick and the way he moved. It was obvious to him now. The boy stopped throwing punches and let himself fall on the floor to catch his breath. Ranma was actually impressed.

"Hey kid, your pretty good for your age" Ranma smiled at him.

Haruhi picked his head up and it a second, he sat up and put his arms behind his head and that proud look invaded his face again. "See! I told you I'm good" he said. Ranma felt how a big drop was falling from the back of his head. The kid was too cocky for his own good even though cockiness it's not a bad thing. Haruhi turned to look at him. "And one more thing, the name is Haruhi" he said.

"Okay…Haruhi" Ranma was very pleased with the kid's ability to fight. At this pace he would master the art in no time. He was sure now that his sensei wasn't Akane but the one and only Genma Saotome, his father. His style of fighting was nothing more than the Saotome style. The funny thing about it was that he did it like a true Saotome. Ranma didn't know if he liked the idea of the kid mastering both the Saotome and Tendo styles but if he could do the things he did now than he would be more than worth it to inherit both schools.

"So can you teach me some of your techniques?"asked the boy.

" I told you I'm not hitting you" Ranma answered.

Haruhi got mad again but this time he walked towards the dojo and just as he was about to take another take he stopped and looked back at Ranma. " You wouldn't be a good sensei anyway" he said almost in a whisper. He was however trying to get to Ranma.

"What did you say?!" Ranma couldn't believe this kid. He did not just had the nerve to say that to the great Ranma Saotome he thought. " Kid I would be the best sensei you could ever even imagine of having" he was so mad now. How dare he insult a martial artist honor like that?

"Well than what's the problem big guy?!" Haruhi turned to him and yelled.

"First I would have to discuss that with your mother" Ranma told him the truth. This kid was getting on his nerve and might just end up losing his patience so might as well tell him the real reason.

Haruhi had a evil little smirk on his face. "Oh I get it" Haruhi turned around and started to walk towards the door again then stopped and looked back at Ranma one more time. " I know why you don't want to fight me?"

Ranma had the same crooked smile the boy had. " and why is it?" he knew the boy had something smart to say.

"The reason why you won't train me it's because you're afraid of my mom, isn't it"

" WHAT?! why you little…" Ranma was about to start chasing him when he noticed the boy was already running and sticking his tongue out at him while at it.

Ranma gave him a dirty look. Boy did he hate kids!-Akane stepped into the dojo with a little smile on his face. Ranma noticed her smile and he knew she had heard what the boy said. He was now mad AND humiliated by a SEVEN YEAR OLD BOY. Great just great.

" He's a smart kid Akane" Ranma said. Akane looked straight into those gray-blue eyes and gave him and tried not to laugh a little.

" Yes he is, too smart for his own good" she said as she walked towards him.

Ranma stood there and decided to let her do all the talking for the moment he knew she had a lot of questions to ask him. He just wished he could answer all of them right. Akane stood right in front of him, she was calm, she tried to keep eye contact with him and look serious but calm at the same time.

"Since when do you wake up early on a Sunday morning?" she asked.

Ranma smiled. He scratched the back on his head and looked around the room as if he was trying to find the answer to that question. Akane always made him nervous even after they got married she still made him nervous and he would often stutter when she smiled at him.

"uhmm..actually I woke up early because I couldn't sleep..so guess I should come down to the dojo and practice a little like old times" He said. There was so much truth in those words, yet hard to say. He had never been completely straight forward to Akane about anything specially his feelings mostly because he felt so tense in her presence.

"Oh, I-guess that makes sense" Akane took her index finger and placed it on her lower lip. Ranma knew what that meant. She was thinking it was reasonable answer but it was not quite the answer she was expecting.

" So 'Kane how's it like being the sensei of the dojo" he asked with a bit of curiosity in his voice. He pictured her giving classes; he couldn't hide his smile when he thought of her dressed in her gi, a beautiful sensei he thought. He took just a second to picture that in his head while she answers his question.

"Well I teach kindergarten Mondays though Fridays so the only day I teach at the dojo are Saturday and Sunday after vacation is over" Akane shock herself with her own words. She completely forgot that today Sunday her class was schedule at 1:30pm. "Oh no! I forgot I schedule my class at 1:30 pm and I forgot to cancel it and put the sign outside!" Akane felt so stupid. She had so many things to do and she completely forgotten about the class at the dojo.

Ranma looked at her but said nothing. He still impressed, Akane had a busy life. A teacher at a school, A sensei to the dojo and a full time single mother? That was a lot on her shoulder, but it was so…Akane-like. Now she was in trouble for over doing this, again, very Akane-like, she always thinks she can handle anything at once.

"So what are you gonna do now?" he asked putting his arms on his hips. Akane didn't really know to do but ask her dad or mister Saotome to take over the class. "I guess I'm gonna have to ask my father or Mr. Saotome to take over, I have so many things to do and I have to take Haruhi shopping even though I could ask Nodoka to take him shopping and that way I could get started on my school work" She was thinking out loud and completely forgot she needed to hurry up.

Ranma had a drop running down the back of his head. Akane looked at her watch; it read 12:00pm. It was time to make moves; she only had an hour to make every work before her student arrived.

To be continued….