[-]

Ukyo pulled at little too hard as she helped the redhead up, yielding her two armfuls of well endowed spunky redhead. If this was Ranma's girlfriend she was going to have to steal her. This girl was just too much.

"You okay?" She asked.

"You are a girl." The redhead said, almost as if confirming it to herself. Ukyo felt the redhead's hands come up and wrap around her back. "And you're wearing chest binding under that boy's uniform." She said happily.

"It looks like you found me out."

The redhead cuddled up to her, and Ukyo just had to smile. "So that's why you pulled me like that?" The redhead asked.

Ukyo realized the redhead had seen right through her. She waited for the spunky little redhead to pull away, slap her, or otherwise express her displeasure. Instead the redhead just kept holding tightly on to her.

"Why don't we talk about it over that pizza?" Ukyo suggested.

[-]

The redhead paused and looked at her strangely when Ukyo pulled out the chair for her. After a second the redhead seemed to gather her intent, and smiled at her before walking to the other side of the table and seating herself. Ukyo grinned as she sat down.

"You use the ponytail to pick fights?" The redhead asked.

Ukyo blinked. How had she known about that? The only other person she'd known that did that was Ranma. "I don't pick fights."

"You bait them, and let them throw the first punch." It wasn't a question. It was a statement very close to a piece of advice she'd received ten years ago.

[-]

"She killed her Mommy."

"No, I didn't." Ukyo protested as she started crying.

The three girls were picking on her again. They kept telling her how no boy would ever want to marry her. That she was like a boy. That no one would ever love someone like her.

Daddy had said that Mommy had went to heaven giving birth to her. The other kids Mommies had come to visit yesterday. Daddy had tried to come, but he'd had work. The other kids had asked her where her Mommy was. The girls had started picking on her that she didn't have a Mommy. She'd told them her Mommy had went to heaven bringing her into this world.

Ukyo started crying. She hadn't killed her Mommy. Daddy had told her that Mommy had went to heaven to bring her into this world. Daddy had told her that Mommy loved her.

"No one would want to marry you Sayaka, you're mean." Ukyo looked up to see another girl with a ponytail standing between her and the three girls.

Sayaka turned red, and tried to hit the girl, but the girl grabbed Sayaka's hand and pushed. Sayaka fell to the ground and cried. Sayaka's friends ran to go tell the teacher.

The girl turned, and Ukyo recognized her as the other girl that hadn't had a Mommy yesterday. The other girl hugged her. "My mommy went to heaven bringing me into this world too."

Ukyo's eyes went wide and she started crying again.

[-]

Ukyo cringed.

"Come on Ukyo. You have to catch it." Ranma said.

Ukyo looked at the other girl, and stood up again. Ranma wasn't going to actually hit her. She needed to be strong, like Ranma. She nodded for the other girl to do it again.

Ranma start to slowly move her arm like she was going to slap her again. Ukyo rushed in and grabbed hold of the other girl's arm, expecting to get pushed away. She looked at Ranma as the arm didn't move, even though she could feel Ranma trying to push.

"See Ukyo, no leverage." Ranma said as she made a show of trying to push her. "Now push me over."

Ukyo hesitated, but did as Ranma asked pushing the other girl. Ranma fell over, and laughing got up. "You did it, Ukyo."

[-]

Ukyo moved her arms forward and back as she tried to imitate what Ranma was doing. It didn't look right. Ukyo looked at what Ranma was doing, and what she was doing trying to figure out what was wrong.

Ranma slowed down. "Rotate your shoulders." She said twisting her waist.

Ukyo copied the movement, and after a few minutes nodded. Ranma stopped twisting her waist. Ranma pulled her arms back with her palms up. Ukyo quickly copied the motion. Ranma slowly moved her arms foreward, and Ukyo noticed her arms were palm down at the end. She tried to do that, and realized she was rotating her arms. Realizing what the trick was Ukyo tried it a few more times going faster and faster.

"Now do it together." Ranma said as she slowly demonstrated rotating her arm, while she rotated her shoulder.

[-]

Ukyo cried. The teacher had yelled at her for hitting Sayaka, but Sayaka had been calling her names again. Ranma hugged her.

"What happened, Ukyo?" Ranma asked.

"The teacher yelled at me."

"Why'd she do that?"

"Sayaka was being mean, and I hit her."

"Did you hit first?" Ranma asked.

Ukyo nodded.

Ranma shook her head. "Don't hit first."

"But..."

"Sayaka is mean, so get her to hit first."

[-]

Ukyo grinned as the teacher yelled at Sayaka.

[-]

"L-O-O-K" Ranma sounded out, and with some effort pulled it together. "Look."

Ukyo beamed, she was teaching Ranma. "Do the next one." She encouraged.

"J-a-N-E, Johnny?" Ranma said uncertainly.

"No, no, Jane." Ukyo said, and explained the difference.

[-]

"Daddy meet Ranma." Ukyo said proudly. Ranma had asked is she could walk home with her.

"Well hello there. Ukyo's told me a lot about you. How would you like a Okonomiyaki?"

"What's that?" Ranma asked.

"It's really good, and you can make it how you like it." Ukyo declared enthusiastically. She was getting to show Ranma something, and her Daddy made the best Okonomiyaki in the whole world.

Ranma looked at her in gratitude, and her Daddy smiled.

[-]

Ranma looked at her happily as she ate her Okonomiyaki. "Thank you, Ukyo."

Ukyo beamed. She was going to make Okonomiyaki too, and make Ranma smile.

[-]

"So from what Ukyo's told me, you've been teaching Ukyo how to fight." Her Dad said.

Ranma beamed. "Ukyo's really good."

Her Dad smiled. "How about you two spar, and the winner gets an Okonomiyaki?"

They both yelled their agreement.

[-]

Ukyo grinned as she sat on Ranma. She'd won. Giggling she ran over to her Dad.

"Good job Ukyo." Her Dad said with a smile, winking at Ranma.

"Good job, Ucchan." Ranma congratulated her.

[-]

Ukyo raced to the door of their apartment as her Dad came home. He'd had to go the doctor. Her Dad stood in the door with a paper clutched in his hand looking like he was going to cry.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

Her Dad hugged her and cried.

[-]

"Ukyo how would you like it if you stayed with Ranma?" Her father looked like he was going to start crying again.

"What about you Dad?"

"Daddy needs to go away for awhile."

[-]

Ranchan held her. Her Dad wouldn't tell her what was wrong. Ranchan's Dad and her Dad were talking about him taking care of her.

She didn't want her Daddy to go away.

[-]

"Ucchan!" Ranchan called as her father ran away with the cart, her perched on top of it.

Ukyo ran as fast as she could. She didn't see a rock, and tripped. She held back the tears, and getting back up tried to run after her.

[-]

Ukyo sobbed. Ranchan was gone. Sayaka was going to be mean to her.

[-]

"Come on Dad, eat up."

Ukyo looked at her Dad. He was withering away before her eyes.

"Ukyo it's okay." He tried to reassure her. She knew better. He wouldn't tell her what it was, but she could see something was taking her father away from her.

[-]

"Dad." Ukyo tried to be comforting as she watched her Dad trying to suppress the pain as he lie in bed.

"Ukyo, don't cry."

"But Dad, you're..."

"Ukyo why don't you try to find Ranma? You and him got along so well back then."

[-]

Ukyo cried at the family shrine. Her Dad had been cremated, and she'd been left with an inheritance and what was left of his life insurance policy. She was all alone.

[-]

"Ranma, somehow it's you isn't it?" Ukyo asked, as she studied the redhead and so many familiar little things kept jumping out at her.

The redhead looked at her in surprise and hung her head. "Yeah, it's me."

Ukyo started to tear up. The redhead noticing came over and hugged her comfortingly, like Ranma had so many times back then. Ukyo couldn't hold the tears back.

"Ukyo what happened?" The redhead asked.

She told him about how her Dad had died of cancer. About how she had been shunned as a violent girl, and she'd decided to pretend to be a guy. About how she'd started making a point to pick fights, and pick up girls so she wouldn't be found out. And Ranma held her.

[-]

Ukyo noticed that her little redheaded Ranma looked like she was going to cry as they left the pizza place. "Ranma, are you alright?"

Her little redheaded Ranma bowed her head. "I'm sorry."

"For what? We were six." Her little red headed Ranma continued to look at the ground, looking ashamed. "Ranma, I forgive you. There was nothing you could have done."

"There should have been." Ranma declared, yelling at her even though Ukyo knew that wasn't Ranma's intent.

"Well why don't we pay Genma a visit then?" Ukyo suggested.

[-]

Genma studied the shogi board. Master had taught them a variation on the classic rules. Anything Goes Shogi Martial Arts was built around a combination of tactical acumen, and using deception to create openings. It was a fine game requiring the finest mind, and the highest level of skill.

"Hey Tendo, is that a flying saucer?"

Soun looked, and Genma quickly rearranged the board. Only a true master of Anything Goes Shogi Martial Arts could hope to respond to such a rapidly changing tactical situation. Genma grinned as Soun turned back and studied the board.

"I guess it was just a trick of the light, Tendo."

"It looks like Kasumi has something for you, Saotome." Soun said pointing. As if he was going to fall for that. He was wise in the ways of Anything Goes Shogi Martial Arts.

"Here you are Mr. Saotome, a copy of Ranma's schedule for the next two months. Ranma really has a lot of friends."

Genma kept his attention on the board. He had Soun on the ropes. If these distractions would stop he could win the game.

"Hey, old man." Genma felt a chill run down his spine at the tone in Ranma's voice. Genma looked back to see his currently female son, and... Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck... He saw a foot rocketing towards him out of the corner of his eye a split second too late.

Genma rolled as impacted with the ground. His son who he'd raised as his own flesh and blood, and had just kicked him halfway across the yard. He struggled to get to his feet as he drunkenly swayed, only to see his currently female son and the Kounji girl flying towards him.

[-]

Nabiki got up as someone knocked on her door. It was about time. Ranma had been gone for awhile. She was in awe of the pile of yen she'd managed to raise. There had been so many people, that a bidding war had actually started for choice slots, and before she knew it she had a pile of yen worth several times more than what she'd anticipated in her wildest dreams.

Opening the door she found a bishounen that was looking way too close with her redhead. She started to get ready to tear into the upstart bishie when Ranma shot her a look. She begrudgingly decided to play nice.

Ranma inviting herself in sat down on her bed, with the upstart bishie sitting next to her. Nabiki decided to sit on Ranma's other side.

"So who's your friend, Ranma?" Nabiki asked with false niceness.

"Nabiki meet Ukyo, she's my childhood friend. Ukyo meet Nabiki, she's sort of my girlfriend." Nabiki blinked. The bishie was what? She wasn't sure if that was better or worse.

"She's your what?" The not-bishie demanded.

"Both of you stop!" Ranma declared while giving both of them a hard look. "Ukyo, I want you to tell her about what happened. Nabiki, I want you to listen."

Nabiki shot the not-bishie a withering look before deciding to at least make a show of humoring her.

[-]

Nabiki sat with her arms crossed. "Nice sob story."

Ranma looked at her incredulously. "Nabiki, don't be a bitch."

"And what are you expecting out of this?" Nabiki shot back.

"Don't you want more than one friend?"

Nabiki opened her mouth and closed it. The redhead had a point. A tortured point she was barely willing to concede, but a point. "You like anime?" Nabiki asked the not-bishie.

"You mean like Go Nagai? Yeah that stuff is awesome." Not what she was expecting, but close enough.

"Ranma said something about pictures?" The not-bishie mentioned hopefully, while Ranma looked at the not-bishie in surprise.

"Those are for personal use." Nabiki said simply. Realizing how that sounded, she quickly clarified. "For drawing practice."

[-]