I don't own Ranma ½ or any of the characters. I only own this story and the characters not in the anime or manga.
The group of 'parents' and their 'children' finally made it to the store. Akane looked at Ranma, Ukyo, Shampoo, Mousse, and the four kids from the future.
"I think it would be best if we all split up. We could get a lot more done that way." suggested Akane.
Ukyo nodded in agreement.
"That sounds like a great idea Akane. We should probably meet back here in a few hours. Does six o'clock work for everybody?" asked Ukyo.
Everyone agreed on what time they should meet back up. With that out of the way, everyone separated ('parents' with their 'children' respectively) and went in different directions.
Ranma sighed and looked up at the sky. Akio copied his 'father's' behavior down to the last micro-detail. To any passersby they might have looked like identical twin brothers, given how much they looked and acted alike. No one would have suspected that one of the two teenage martial artists was actually the other's son from twenty-four years into the future. And it was probably best that no one found out.
"I don't know why you made me come on this boring shopping trip with you Akane. It's not like Ranko and Akio are really going to need anything. They can just borrow some of our things and be done with it. We don't really have to be here." complained Ranma.
Akio nodded in agreement with the younger version of his father.
"I'm with dad on this one. Why do we have to go shopping? And more importantly, why did you have to bring me shopping? I don't mind borrowing some of dad's clothes. So why are we here?" questioned Akio.
Ranko had just about lost it with her brother. The female fighter glared at her brother and tried her best not to strangle him. Akio instantly froze when he felt the chilling gaze coming from his sister's stern glare.
"One more word out of you Akio and I swear I'm going to lose it. For once in your life, just do something without complaining. The reason we are here is simple, we don't know how long we are going to be here. We can borrow stuff from mom and dad for a short time, but how long will that last? So just shut your mouth and quite complaining, or I swear I will make sure you never say another word again." viciously snapped Ranko.
Akio was frozen by fear and sweat began to form on his forehead. He'd never seen Ranko this mad, not even the time when they were kids and Tatewaki first started chasing after her. Now all he needed to make this the worst day of his life was for Tatewaki to show up out of the blue and throw a bucket of cold water over his head.
Akio was partly right, only it wasn't Tatewaki rushing strait for him it was the younger version of Tatewaki's father, Kuno. Kuno had short brown hair, wore a blue kimono shirt, black kimono pants, and was barefoot. Kuno charged at the 'parents' and 'children' with a wooden sword in hand.
"Today you shall meet your doom Ranma Saotome. Today is the day I, Tatewaki Kuno, shall finally have Akane Tendo." declared Kuno.
Kuno charged at the martial artist he thought was Ranma. Kuno was sure surprised when he got close enough and finally noticed that there were two Ranmas. He was so surprised he was distracted long enough for Ranma and Akio to gang up on him.
The 'father' and 'son' pair copied each others' movements exactly. When Ranma did one move, Akio did the same. And when Akio did a certain stance, Ranma instantly copied it. It was like there was some sort of mind link between the two, making onlookers only that more convinced the two were identical twins.
Kuno got scared of Ranma and Akio and began to run away. Ranma and Akio chased after the older teenager. They chased Kuno far from the store.
Suddenly a car drove by the 'father' and 'son' pair. The car's tire threw the water from a muddy puddle on the road at the two martial artists. The car disappeared as soon as it had arrived, leaving the two young teenage martial artists soaked.
Akio mumbled something as he rang out his clothes. No one was able to understand it, and nobody would want to understand Akio's mumbling anyway.
"Just great. I'm soaking wet and that Kuno guy got away. This day can't get any worse." huffed Akio.
Akio looked to see where his 'father' was, but was totally surprised. Instead of Ranma standing beside his future son, there was a girl who looked like Ranko with red hair back in a pingtail. Akio didn't understand what was happening.
"What's going on? This can't be happening. I didn't just see my future father turn into a girl. I must be losing my mind. I'm going crazy." stuttered Akio.
Akane and Ranko had finally caught up with the two boys. And when they did, nothing was going well. Ranko was surprised and confused by the red haired girl standing near her brother. Akane just sighed and walked towards the confused Akio and female Ranma.
"I see you finally found out the secret we've been hiding." said Akane.
Ranko and Akio both shockingly looked at the younger version of their mother.
"What do you mean by secret mom? Who is that girl and where is dad? And why do you look like you've just seen a ghost Akio?" asked Ranko.
Akane sighed and turned to her future daughter.
"I think it would be best if we told everyone at the same time. And I think we could use a bit more privacy. I'll tell you everything once we get back home. Let's just say you're all going to find out the origin of those water jokes pretty soon." explained Akane.
The four teenage marital artists quickly rushed to find the others so Ranko and Akio could get some answers to what they just saw. They found the martial artist chef and her 'son' and the Chinese Amazon very quickly. When everyone was together they raced back to the Tendo Anything Goes School of Martial Arts dojo.
Something was creeping outside the dojo. Ranma (still in his female form) was the only one who noticed it. The boy turned girl went to investigate what was lurking about the dojo. Ranma had a good idea of who it was.
Sure enough his suspicions were confirmed. Hiding in some bushes was a small black pig with a yellow black spotted bandana around its neck. Ranma picked up the pig who tried to get free.
"I was wondering when you were going to show up Ryoga. I don't have time for one of our usual fights. Ranko and Akio found out about the curse. Akane's going to be explaining everything to them, along with Ryo and Conditioner. You showed up just in time to help in this explanation." exclaimed Ranma.
Ranma snuck into the house using one of the side entrances. He turned she ran to the nearest bathroom and turned on the hot water. Ranma used the water first so he went back to being a boy. Once he was back to normal, Ranma turned his attentions onto Ryoga.
He stuck Ryoga into the boiling hot water. A few seconds later, Ryoga jumped out of the water, screaming and normal. Ryoga tried to catch his breath and glared at Ranma.
"You didn't have to make the water boiling! All I needed was a bit of warm water and i could have changed back when I felt like it. I swear I'll get you Ranma." growled Ryoga.
Ranma didn't take Ryoga's threat very seriously.
"Come on. Akane's probably going to start explaining things." said Ranma.
The two arch rivals walked to the living room where everyone was gathered. Everyone in the Tendo living room remained still and silent. Akane broke that silence by starting the story of curses and how and where it happened.
"It'd probably be easiest to start from the beginning. Before Ranma and his father came to live here at the dojo, they went to this place called Jusenkyo for some special training. As they were fighting, Genma and Ranma each fell into one of the cursed springs. Genma fell into a spring that turns him into a panda and Ranma fell into a spring that turns him into a girl. They change into their cursed forms when cold water splashes them and they change back to normal when they come in contact with warm water." explained Akane.
The four teenage martial artists from the future were both shocked and confused all at once. Akio was about to ask a question, when a white flash nearly blinded everyone. Unknown to everyone in the room a small portal had opened and caused the blinding light. When the light had dissipated there was someone else in the room.
The 'parents' had no idea who this intruder was, but the 'children' all recognised the stranger in the Tendo's living room. The stranger smiled at the 'children' and their 'parents'.
"Hi guys." said Ai.
Sorry about the late update. I've been having a bit of a computer problem lately. It won't take so long to get the next chapter up. Comment if you like the story.