Akane and Ranma (not yet knowing she was Ranma) were surprised to see a strange man standing outside the dojo, near the sign. He seemed an imposing character, very muscular, clad in a keikogi. His eyes, hidden behind their wireframe spectacles, spied them as soon as they came into view. He had apparently been waiting for them, but for what reason they knew not.
"Ranma!" the man yelled, and both girls looked behind them at the same moment, not yet realizing he was addressing them, or more specifically, addressing her.
He approached them, and Ranma cowered behind Akane, not because she was afraid of him, but because she saw the large kettle in his hand, steam rising effortlessly from its cruel spout. She already knew what just a single drop of it would do to her, and she wasn't about to transform, not here, not now, in front of Akane. Akane, whose friendship she valued more than anything else.
Genma raised an eyebrow at what he perceived as his own son's cowardice. "Ranma, you shame me," he cried, "hiding behind a girl like that. Are you not a man among men?"
"Man among men?!" she exclaimed incredulously. "Mister, I'm not a man, period!"
"I've got proof that says you are." Genma said, raising the kettle menacingly.
"Where?" asked Akane suddenly, seemingly forgotten in this exchange.
"In here." He replied.
Akane stared at him, astonished. Now it was her turn to raise an eyebrow. "But that's just a kettle of hot water. What do you plan to do? Splash her with it so that she magically turns into boy? Please. That sort of stuff only happens in anime."
"What are you doing?" was all she had time to ask before Genma suddenly lunged at her with the kettle. He was trying to hit Ranma, but soaked her instead. And, just as she thought, the water inside the kettle was hot, very hot, boiling hot.
"Ouch!!!" she screamed.
Somehow, Ranma had managed to get out from behind her, around Genma, and was already headed for the door, all in a fraction of a second. Genma, of course, followed her, taking his pot of water with him, and Akane was left standing outside, hot and miserable, soaked to the skin.
"Get back here! Baka!" she screamed. Her anger, sudden and swift, drove her forward, made her chase them. With speed matching their own, Akane pursued the pair of idiots through the front door, down the rice paper corridor, and out into the courtyard. So powerful was the force of her anger, unbridled and unchecked, that she didn't stop to consider what the consequences for her actions might be. She simply acted.
Standing at the edge of the koi pond, Ranma and Genma both turned to see her coming at them, looks of shared panic on their faces. Never had they seen, nor did they expect such anger. As he stood there, staring like a doe in the headlights, Akane kicked Genma squarely in the back, sending him reeling over the edge with an incredible splash. Ranma, standing slightly behind her father at the time, couldn't escape him as he practically fell on top of her. The last thing Akane registered upon Ranma's frightened face before her head went under was a look, a look of hurt and betrayal.
For Akane, seeing a man magically transform into a panda wasn't nearly as astonishing as it should've been. Now, whatever anger she felt was gone, replaced by fear and dread, fear of what she had done, dread of what she might have done.
Akane watched in stunned silence as the panda solemnly retrieved the soaked body of the girl, looking suddenly smaller than it had ever been, cradled in Genma's massive arms, as limp and lifeless as someone dead. Seeing her friend like that, fearing the worst, Akane felt the pain of tears in her eyes. No, she didn't feel angry anymore. She felt sorry.
There was blood on Ranma's shirt again, and on her hands.