All About Akane
Chapter 2, One Good Fight
Author's Notes: Yep, another chapter to this little ficcie. I really know I should be working on SP, BD but there's a lot of pain involved for Ranma and Akane in the future fics and that's just not easy to write. (It's hard diverting destiny, you know). I read the reviews and yeah *smiles sheepishly*, I guess Akane does seem to have it easier than Ranma for the whole childhood situation. It will even out eventually though. Besides, Akane had Tye Blue as her mentor...Ranma had Genma for goodness sakes. About Akane's curse...it's not what you think...
Disclaimers: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. *sings* Not me!!! *stops singing*
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The girl stood there in deep embarrassment and sheepishness as Nabiki pushed her way over to poke her in the chest.
The Tendo girl turned to her father and commented wryly, "This is some boy, daddy."
Soun himself was too shocked.
"What? But...that can't be...but you're supposed to be a boy!" the Tendo man finally exclaimed.
"Dopes this look like a boy to you, daddy?" Nabiki said as she poked Ranma some more in t he chest. Kasumi gave a small, "Oh dear," but Akane had had enough of this. Years of being a girls' champion had gotten quite ingrained into her system.
"Stop it, Nabiki," she commanded as she made her way next to the girl. After saying that, the youngest Tendo girl smiled comfortingly down at the red-head.
"I'm Akane Tendo," she said, quite used to introducing herself to strangers by now. "You want to be friends?" The red-head gave a little smile herself and nodded.
The family and the panda watched the odd proceedings with interest.
"Do you study Martial Arts?" Akane asked, oblivious to the people watching her.
The other girl nodded.
"You want to spar a little? We have a dojo next to the house," the blue-haired girl suggested and in reply, Ranma answered, "Okay." The two left without so much as a good-bye to anyone else.
The family and the panda followed in curiosity.
The panda was hoping the pig-tailed girl wouldn't embarrass his host's daughter too much.
The Tendos were hoping Akane wouldn't hurt the girl too badly before they got a chance to question her.
Ha.
* * *
The two stood facing each other in the clean, bright dojo. They both had different smiles on their faces. Ranma's was a smile of uncertainty while Akane's was one of eager anticipation. One thing was similar, though. Both their eyes held and undoubted victory.
"Don't worry," Akane said. "I'll go easy on you."
Ranma just continued smiling and said nothing. The two waited, both waiting for the other to attack. Neither did.
One was more patient than the other though.
Akane's eyes flashed once before she jumped and made a kick on the other girl's mid-section. Ranma dodged. Akane had been counting on that and with her other leg, moved to sweep Ranma's feet from under her. Ranma jumped up in surprise and Akane's high kick caught him straight in t he stomach. He didn't manage to dodge that one and his eyes widened. Akane through more punches his way and for every one that he dodged, two connected.
Ranma didn't want to hit girls, but if he didn't, he would lose.
He would lose to a girl.
Ranma made up his mind in a millisecond and threw a kick at Akane. The girl spun around and deflected it with one hand. Barely.
From then, it was a full out battle. It was a flurry of kicks, punches, dodges, deflects, blocks. For every punch Ranma got in, Akane's kick connected. It was almost scary for the people on the sidelines to watch. It was like watching something that they instinctively knew could not end.
Hours passed with the Tendos and the panda coming and going. Still, the two young, undefeated Martial Artists would not relent to each other. The panda got some hot water explained to his close friend and his friends daughter's about Ranma and the curse. The two fathers and two daughters talked about the engagement issues and Ranma's curse while Kasumi poured the tea. It was easy to agree upon Akane being Ranma's fiancee. After this talk, the four made their way back to the dojo where the two girls were still fighting.
After the third hour, Akane asked, "Tired yet, Ranma?"
"Of course not," the girl huffed.
They both connected in mid-air and landed a kick on the other. Ranma and Akane fell down on the floor with a thud. Normally, the kick would have been to weak to hinder them, but they were both quite tired.
Annoyed now, Nabiki walked into the middle of the dojo, until she was standing between them.
"Move, Nabiki, I have a fight to win," Akane said, though she didn't get up. Ranma gave a snort of disgust but she didn't get up either.
"Sorry to interfere but I think you two are too dense to notice one important fact," the middle Tendo girl said.
"And what would that be?" Ranma asked.
"That you're both equals. In the literal sense of the word. Akane, if you think you can defeat Ranma, you're wrong and Ranma, you're not beating my sister either. You two could fight for the rest of the week, for the rest of the year, and still the fight would have no victor. Give it up...at least for the day and go take a shower. You both stink." With one final meaningful look, Akane exited the dojo with Kasumi in tow to get the bath ready. The fathers shrugged once before leaving also.
"Do you think she's right?" Akane asked after the others left.
Ranma shrugged her shoulders.
"I guess we...should call it quits for today. I still think I'm a better Martial Artist than you," she said defiantly. Akane smiled and the two stood up.
"Same here," she said as they walked towards the door.
* * *
"Why don't you take a bath first?" Ranma suggested.
"No, you're the guest. You take the bath. I'll go after you," Akane seemed nervous for some reason.
"No, you-"
"Akane, can I talk to you for a minute?" Nabiki asked. Akane took the opportunity to leave. Ranma shrugged before walking off. The Tendo girls watched her leave.
"Akane, I heard dad talking and I think Ranma's going to be staying with us for awhile," Nabiki said. The blue-haired girl just looked at her sister blankly.
Nabiki wondered how her sister could be so utterly dense sometimes.
"You need to tell her about the curse, Akane," she put it bluntly.
Akane sighed and bit her bottom lip.
"I'll tell her..." she said.
At that moment, Kasumi walked by.
"Akane-chan, the bath's ready," she said. Guess Ranma decided not to go first, then. Oh well.
As she left, Akane threw over her shoulder, "I'll tell her oneechan. I will."
* * *
Standing next to the bathroom door was a snoring panda. Akane found that kind of odd but said nothing. She entered the room that was between the bathroom and the outside corridor. Failing to notice the stack of clothes by the hamper, the teenage girl took off her own and opened the door to the bathroom.
Instantly, she froze.
The naked boy in her bathroom did also.
He was bent over and they bother stopped breathing.
The blue-haired girl turned around, closed the door and put her clothes back on.
She walked out into the corridor and stood next to the sleeping panda.
* * *
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
The scream erupted through the entire household and had everyone running to the bathroom. It woke the panda up. It made the boy in the bathroom wince as he quickly put on his clothes.
Akane noticed none of this.
When her scream finished, she turned around and slammed the door open.
"Pervert!" she screamed at the boy who had been about to open the door. He blocked her punch and flipped over her. She made a kick that caught him in the side as he landed. The boy was pushed to the floor with his back to the other wall of the corridor. All the family members, including a heaving Akane and the panda stood over the boy. He looked up at them with glittering, blue-gray eyes.
"I'm Ranma Saotome," he said. "Sorry about this."
* * *
Everyone sat around the rectangular as the story of Genma and Ranma's ill-fated trip to Jusenkyo was told to Akane. It was also demonstrated. Next, came the more difficult part. Akane's engagement to Ranma.
"I am not marrying this pervert!" the girl shouted with a finger at Ranma.
"Yeah, well, it's not like a want to marry a masculine girl like you anyway!" came the retort.
"You jerk!" Akane shouted as she stood up and threw a punch Ranma's way. He dodged it and with a kick, sent her into the koi pond. The back of his head was instantly hit.
"What did I tell you about hitting girls?" Genma said sternly. As much as Genma could be stern.
"Yeah, well, she don't count," the pig-tailed boy said as she gestured to Akane. "Didn't you see the fight, pops? She's not a girl."
"Oh dear. Not again," Kasumi exclaimed and both father and son turned to where she looked with confusion.
Akane stood dripping wet, but she was different. Her long hair had broken from it's bow and now stood behind her with flared edges. Her eyes were no longer brown either, but a dark black. There was a small grin on her face.
Soun gave a cry behind them and promptly started to cry.
"Hey, Akane, you okay?" Ranma asked. Akane turned to him a slow, sultry smile came upon her lips. She slowly walked out of the pond with moving hips and placed her arms around Ranma's. The other boy edged away slowly with a frightened mixed with shock look on his face. He didn't notice Kasumi getting her bandages ready from the cabinet or Nabiki's absence.
He did notice the large mallet that embedded his skull though.
Akane's face contorted and she raised the mallet again, ready for the death strike when a kettle of boiling hot water came down her body.
Akane jumped away from the water, her eyes and hair normal now.
"Nabiki!" she shouted. "It doesn't have to be that hot!"
Nabiki's eyes were level.
"I think the situation called for it, Akane. Take a look at Ranma." Akane did so and gave a groan. Then, she noticed the mallet in her hand and immediately let it go.
"Are you done yet, Akane-chan?" Kasumi called from the doorway with a box of medical aid in her hand. "It's nice that you didn't kill him. It's rude to kill a guest on the first day."
* * *
The blue-haired Tendo girl stood over Kasumi as she placed the bandages on Ranma's forehead. After awhile, the Tendos and a cowering panda noticed the boy twitch and start to awaken.
"Ugh..." he said as he sat up and clutched his head. "What hit me?"
"Uh...heh...heh...I did..." Akane laughed nervously. "Sorry."
Ranma's eyes went wide as he remembered. She could have killed him!
"You could have killed me!"
The Tendo girls sighed.
Well, the Tendo girls excluding Akane. She was becoming more on the defensive.
"Well, I don't blame you for your curse so you shouldn't blame me for mine!" she exclaimed.
"You have curse?" Ranma said rather quizzically, his anger evaporating. Akane's anger evaporated with his.
"Yeah," she replied. "Cold as yours. Cold water hot water."
"You're daughter's been to Jusenkyo, Tendo?" Genma questioned and Soun burst into sobs again.
"Actually no. I acquired a curse through someone actually. It's really kind of hard to explain." Akane was starting to fidget now.
"So you turn into a psychotic, homicidal maniac when you get touched with cold water?" Ranma asked which earned him a punch to the face.
"No," Akane answered. "I'm just..."
"Evil," Nabiki said for her.
"Thanks Nabiki," the 16-year old girl addressed her sister sarcastically.
"You're welcome, Akane-chan," Nabiki said.
"Oh great," Ranma groaned. "I'm not only engaged to a violent tomboy. I'm engaged to a violent tomboy that wants to kill me."
"Oh don't take it as a personal thing, Ranma-kun," Kasumi said sweetly. "Akane wants to kill all of us."
* * *
The next morning, when Akane made her way into the kitchen from her jog, she saw a sight rare at her house. Genma and Ranma were sparring over the koi pond. Seeing it, Akane's heartbeat quickened and the blood in her veins started to rush.
"I have winners!" she shouted to them.
Almost immediately, Genma hit the water and Ranma stood to the side triumphant.
"Come on, Akane," he said with a smirk. "Let's see what you got."
Akane grinned too and the two met, their arms and feet flying. After awhile, Ranma landed a high kick and as Akane started to fall into the pond, she pulled Ranma at the feet down with her.
They both came up sputtering.
"Hey! You cheated!" Ranma cried out to the person on his right before freezing. Akane's hair was out of it's bow now and her eyes were darker.
"Eh..." the pig-tailed boy said as he started to edge away. Akane just gave him a hard slap before walking out of the waters and going upstairs to change for school.
"That was odd," Ranma said as he seated himself at the table. "She didn't try to kill me."
"It's hard to predict what Akane's other form will do, Ranma. The only sure thing is she'll never ever act nice to anyone in that form," Nabiki said.
"Oh Ranma-kun," Kasumi said as she got breakfast ready. "You should go get changed or you're going to be late for school."
"School?"
"Yes, boy," Genma said, appearing out of nowhere. "You're going to school with Nabiki and Akane. Now go and get changed!" Fuming, the teenaged boy went and did so. When he was finished and got back to the table, Akane was already sitting there with uniform on. Her hair was still flared though. Nervously, Ranma sat down next to her and started to eat.
He didn't get to raise his chopsticks before Kasumi took the bowl of rice from his hand. and exchanged it with a another one. Instantly, a rather large knife headed towards Kasumi's head. The other girl ducked without so much of a blink of an eye and the knife embedded itself into the wall.
Nobody noticed except Ranma.
"You could have killed her!" he shouted. Akane turned to give him a look of disgust.
"That was my intention," she said before returning to her meal.
Ranma returned to his food. If no one was going to make a big deal out of this, then he wasn't going to either.
When she finished, Nabiki stood up and pulled a kettle out of nowhere. She poured the hot water on a sputtering Akane.
"Try not to get wet again, Akane," she said to her sister before leaving.
Akane looked at the clock and with a shout, stood up.
"Come on, Ranma!" she said. "We're going to be late!" The boy trudged on behind her.
* * *
The two rushed down the street. Akane running on the ground and Ranma moving effortlessly on the fence.
"Why are you running on t he fence?" Akane yelled to Ranma.
"Because I want to. What? Can't you balance yourself enough to run on fences?" he asked with a beaming smile. Finally, he was better than this macho chick at something.
Akane shrugged her shoulder and said, "Of course I can. I just prefer the solid ground." Ranma gave a humph but said nothing.
Suddenly, a splash of water stopped them in their tracks. The two turned to the old ladle woman who was walking back into her home. Ranma-chan groaned as she looked at Akane, expecting a murderous stare or a death-brining mallet. Instead, she was surprised to find Akane's face in a huge, warm smile. No, that can't be right. Her eyes were darker and her hair was flared at the edges. So, why wasn't she wishing all kinds of torture and death on Ranma?
Akane gave a shriek before grabbing Ranma's hand.
"Ranma-chan!" she squealed. "I thought I'd never see you again."
Okay, now Ranma was really shocked. Even the normal Akane wouldn't act this nice to him. Luckily at that moment, Nabiki appeared with a kettle in her hand and poured it over Akane. The other girl sputtered before she noticed she was holding tightly to Ranma. Akane immediately let go.
"Did you see that?" Ranma asked Nabiki.
"See what?" Akane inquired.
Nabiki was looking shocked herself.
"Your other form acted nice to Ranma. It wasn't the fake nice to trick him either. I never saw this before. Maybe you should ask Dr. Tofu when you get Ranma some hot water," the middle Tendo girl suggested before starting to leave.
"Why don't you just give me some of the hot water left in that kettle?"
Nabiki turned around and put out her hand.
"Thirty yen," she said.
"What!" Ranma screamed. "But you gave it to Akane for free."
"Who said it was for free?" Nabiki said before turning around and leaving.
"Come on," Akane said, grabbing Ranma's arm and pulling her to Dr. Tofu's office.
"Why didn't she charge you?" Ranma wasn't ready to let the subject go.
Akane sighed.
"The kids at school each pay Nabiki ten yen a month to make sure I come to class every morning as myself. If one person doesn't pay, she won't guarantee anything. It's a difficult situation," Akane explained before going inside the clinic to look for Dr. Tofu. Ranma just stuck his tongue out at her before hopping from one foot to the next. A hand suddenly latched onto his shoulder.
"Hello," a voice said and the pig-tailed girl turned around to find herself face to face with a skeleton. Ranma gave a shriek before jumping on t he door and holding onto it for dear life.
"Oh, you must be Ranma," the man behind the skeleton said with a warm smile.
Akane turned back into the room and yelled, "Oh, Dr. Tofu! There you are!" Ranma noted with curiosity as he got off the door that her cheeks were slightly pink.
"Well, hello Akane. Your father called and told me about the new additions to your household. Is this your fiance?" the doctor asked.
Akane's head shook.
"Only by our parents. If we had a choice, this engagement wouldn't even exist, right Ranma?" Akane said and the boy nodded. The oddest thing was that all Ranma could see was the image of Akane fighting him, her hair flying and he felt slightly...not hurt or insulted...but put back.
"So, what brings you two here? Shouldn't you be at school?" the good doctor asked.
"I need some hot water," Ranma answered.
Dr. Tofu's eyes brightened.
"Oh, of course. Mr. Tendo told me about that. Jusenkyo, huh?" he asked the younger boy as he got some hot water from the sink and poured it over Ranma. The transformation took place.
"Yeah," Ranma replied as he shook his head to clear the water.
"Uh...Dr. Tofu?"
"Yes, Akane?"
"Something odd happened with my curse this morning."
"Really?"
"Yeah...it...I acted nice to somebody."
"In your curse form?" the doctor asked in amazement.
Akane nodded.
"Mm-hm. I didn't try to kill Ranma and that's really odd because I tried to last night."
Ono Tofu thought about this for a few moments.
"Ranma, were in you in your cursed form when this happened?" he questioned.
"Yeah, why?" the pig-tailed boy asked.
"It might be because of that. Akane, I think your curse form found a connection with Ranma's curse form. I do believe, the curse, not you, found comfort in knowing there was another curse around. Now, aren't you two late for school?"
"Oh yeah!" Akane exclaimed as she pulled on Ranma's hand. "We're late!"
* * *
"Out!"
Akane and Ranma stood outside the classroom as they held the buckets of water. Ranma looked annoyed while Akane was practically glowering with anger.
"This is all your fault, you know," she said.
"My fault! How?" came the baffled answer.
"I don't know, but it just is." That wasn't good logic, but hey, it worked for Akane.
Just when Ranma was about to retaliate, he heard the most horrible voice yell out at the end of the hallway, "Evil cretin! How dare you get engaged to my beloved Akane. Now die!" Ranma looked towards where the voice came from to see a boy running towards him with a raised wooden weapon. He got into a stance ready to fight with a large grin on his face (it didn't matter that he had no idea who the boy was), when Akane stepped in front of him. With a few quick kicks, Akane had Kuno on the ground.
"Hey, no fair! That was my fight!" Ranma shouted.
"Yeah, well, it had to do with me so it was my fight too," Akane said before bending over Kuno. By now, the entire class had followed the commotion and was in the hallway.
"You're engaged?"
"Saotome, you sly dog."
"Why didn't you tell us, Akane?"
It kept going on and on until Akane held the bucket of water over her head menacingly.
"I'll do it," she threatened and they all shut up. Akane turned back to Kuno.
"Who told you Ranma and I were engaged, Kuno?" she interrogated.
The boy mumbled something. She gave him a hard nudge on the side to get things moving.
"Nabiki Tendo," came the much more clear answer. Akane growled and ground her teeth, but said nothing. She waited a second before turning to the group of classmates again. This had to be solved and quickly.
"Listen everyone," she announced. "Ranma and I are not engaged! Our parents arranged it when we were kids, but we're not getting married. Him and his father just live with us right now, but nothing is going on, understand?" They all nodded patronizingly. Whatever you say, Akane.
The blue-haired Tendo daughter knew they w ere skeptical but didn't push it. They'll believe her in their own time. Now, as for Kuno-
"Akane Tendo! Die!" came the shout that was cut off too soon by Ranma's foot. Tatewaki fell to the floor again.
"I don't need to you fight for me!" Akane yelled in indignation which only caused Ranma to shrug.
"Same here, but it can't be helped. From now on, no calling battles. We fight when the opportunity calls. How's that?"
Akane mumbled a "fine".
"Now, who is this guy and why does he want to kill you? I could have sworn he was jealous of me earlier."
The Tendo girl looked down at Kuno and bit her bottom lip.
"I don't know. Kuno's weird like that. Half of the time he's professing his love to me while the other half, he tries to 'eliminate my foul presence from this world.' His words, not mine. He's Captain of the Kendo club and one of the oddest boys I ever met. Did you know, he once tried to get the entire club to attack me?"
"But me put an end to that, right, Akane?" a girl shouted with glee and the others agreed. They were quite proud of themselves for that. They could protect a strong Martial Artist like Akane. It's the exact feeling you get when you help your bigger brother or sister with a problem in their lives.
Akane gave a soft smile.
"Yeah," she said. "They look out for me and I look out for them."
Ranma gave a humph and headed back to the classroom.
"I take care of myself," he said arrogantly which caused Akane to just roll her eyes.
* * *
The two teenagers had been walking home from school when it started to rain. Ranma had been walking on the fence and Akane on the ground, neither saying anything to the other. Mostly, they were thinking about what Kasumi was going to cook for lunch.
Ranma groaned at his girl form once before remembering about Akane's curse. He turned around just in time to see the blue-haired girl's gleeful form glomp onto him...er, her. The now-turned-girl started to blush and edge away, but Akane's hold was tight. This was not good.
"Ranma-chan!" she squealed. Oh geez, Ranma thoght as she rolled her eyes. Akane should definitely not squeal...ever. Although...now that her face was so close to her and she was so happy, she looked kind of...cute. Why hadn't he noticed it before?
"Er...Akane? Can you please get off of me?" he croaked, his voice breaking in the middle.
"Oh, of course, Ranma-chan," Akane smiled and got off the red-head, though she held her hand.
That was easy, Ranma thought. If only the tomboy would listen like that all the time.
"Maybe we should get back and get you some hot water now. Come on, Akane," Ranma said as he pulled his hand from hers and started toward the house. His hand was suddenly pulled and it jerked his entire back with it. He turned to see Akane standing there, her hand tightly around his own.
"Why don't you call me Akane-chan, Ranma-chan?" she asked nicely, but there was an evil glint behind her eyes. Ranma was suddenly brought back to attention about her cursed form. Anything had to be better than getting murdered.
"Um...o-okay, Akane-chan," he stammered and Akane smiled brightly. The pig-tailed boy shuddered. That smile wasn't warm like the one Akane gave when she was normal. This one was...colder...dead.
"Come on, Akane-chan. Let's head back now," he said and pulled her along. He really needed to find some hot water.
* * *
Kasumi ducked the death kick aimed at her head and greeted brightly, "Hello Akane! Hello Ranma-kun!" Akane just grumbled and waited patiently while the older sister poured hot water on her and Ranma.
As he shook his hair of water, Ranma commented, "Why doesn't your cursed form have any objections to turning back to you?"
"Why doesn't yours?" was Akane's retort.
"Because it's me. I'm not changing back to someone else."
"Same here," Akane said as though she was speaking to an idiot. "It's me. I'm not changing into someone else. My curse is me...just more evil. Kasumi, where's Nabiki?"
Kasumi said, "In her room. Why do you ask?"
"No reason, oneechan," Akane answered before making her way upstairs. Ranma just sighed and headed into the dojo to train.
* * *
Akane entered her sister's room to find Nabiki sitting by her desk, calculating her expenses.
"Well, hello Akane," she greeted just as brightly and calmly as Kasumi, despite the obvious fact that Akane was brimming with anger.
"Why'd you tell Kuno I was engaged to Ranma, Nabiki?" she questioned.
Nabiki looked amused.
"Because I could. Anything else, Akane?" Nabiki's eyes were challenging, the dark pools of brown flashing with the same intensity as Akane...only different. There was more alike between the two sisters than they would ever know or admit.
Akane looked unsure.
"Um...I...I didn't want you to do that, Nabiki. Kuno tried to attack me and Ranma and everybody knows about the engagement," the youngest Tendo said hesitantly. Nabiki's eyes softened slightly, but Akane didn't notice. Akane couldn't read eyes.
Nabiki's voice was softer and more kind when she said, "They were going to find out sooner or later, Akane-chan. Best that it be now before Ranma settled down." Nabiki's softness was subtle and her comfort so invisible that Akane never knew she caught it. She did know her anger drained away, though.
"Okay, oneechan. I guess you're right. I guess I better head downstairs," she said before opening the door.
"Bye Akane," Nabiki said as the door closed.
The middle Tendo girl turned back to her expenses, but her thoughts lingered on Akane. The Tendo sisters stuck together. They were of one blood and they understood each other.
That didn't change the fact that Akane was the baby, though.
* * *
After she bathed and changed into her pajamas, Akane went to the dojo. It was her job to turn off the lights and close it down for the night. When she entered the building, however, she saw a sweating, lithe form move across the floor. The female, Martial Artist watched the boy's movements with interest and a keen eye. How long had he been here? He had left right after dinner and she hadn't seen him until now.
"You're a little slow on the side, you know," she commented and Ranma stopped. He didn't seem surprised to see her there. There was a smile on his face that Akane understood. Relief after a good workout.
"I said, you're sort of slow on the side. When you did that kick, you concentrated to much on it and left the other side weak. That can't be good with an opponent," she repeated.
Ranma snorted, "Like you could do better."
Akane stuck her tongue out at him before moving to do the kick herself. She discovered upon finishing that she had the same problem as Ranma.
Ranma was looking at her with concentration.
They both didn't want to say it, but eventually it had to be said.
"You're right."
The two teenagers broke into grins. That hadn't been as bad as they thought it would be.
"I bet I can change it before you can," Akane taunted. Ranma's eyes flashed in a predatory way.
"You're on," he said and the two started to practice. They continued on into the night.
* * *
And while they fought, a million other things were going on in the world.
A girl was running after a moving train as she said good-bye.
Two kids were laughing as they threw popcorn in a movie theater.
Three people moved with revenge intent on their minds.
A lot of things can happen in a few years time and not all of these things good.
A child could have twist the words 'beat up' to 'kill'.
A girl could have found ways around the 'no Kiss of Death to Akane' rule put upon her.
A boy could have built up his anger and anguish.
Of course, all of these were 'could haves' and might as well be as true as faeries are.
One thing was true, however.
While two teenagers trained in the Tendo dojo...three others did as well.
* * *
Author's Notes: A lot of you thought Akane's curse was going to be turning into a boy, huh? I got her current curse from a manga in Ranma 1/2 with the evil doll story. At the end, Ranma said something along the lines of, "I liked you better when you were evil. Definitely cuter." Something like that. Well, here Akane's evil half of the time and she seems to have a liking for curse forms. Wonder what would happen when P-chan shows up? :)