Unforseen Problems
By
Imortis

The first thing Ranma felt when she woke up was pain, the
second thing she felt was the cold. She opened her eyes
slowly and blinked realizing she was looking at somethings
back, she wrinkled her nose looking at the greenish brown
thing she was swaying against. She tilted her head up a bit
and blinked looking confusedly at a graveyard. She looked
about quickly and blinked in surprise seeing a guijin woman
with blonde hair kicking the shit out of three of the demons
she was being carried by. Ranma blinked idlly curious about
how the girl can be doing so well against all of them. She
nodded seeing her drop one of them and clinched her fist.

Ranma drew back her fist and slammed it hard into the things
spin as she smashed her knee into its face. It bellowed in
pain as it fell to the ground, Ranma groaning stood up
slowly and moved away from the struggling thing. She looked
about for a second before slamming her foot down on its
neck, strangely pleased hearing it snap, then ran over to
help the girl. Ranma smirked knocking the demon holding the
girl off its feet with a snap kick to the back of the neck
then launched herself at the last one as it stopped looking
surprised at her attack. Ranma made him pay for being so
open. After a second it was dead and Ranma was looking at the
girl that had killed the one she downed ["thanks for the
help, who are you?"]

Ranma blinked only comprehending a small portion of it "I do
not understand you." she said finally then winced falling to
her knees touching her belly then paled as what she was
touching came into focus. She looked from her swollen belly
to the girl blinking at her before fainting. The girl
blinked at the japanese girl before her, the stunned and
horrified look still on her face. "Buffy!" a voice rang out
to her and she raised her hand "over here Giles!" she called
checking the girls pulse and blinked backing away. When the
man that had called got over to her he was puffing
softly "the demon I was trying to stop is dead back there,
someone got to him first." he said. She nodded pointing and
he quickly nelt by her. "Isn't this the sacrifice we
saved?" he asked. She nodded "she woke up and gave me
a hand." she said simply. He blinked "a vampire?"
Ranma woke up hissing in pain as she clutched at her belly,
writhing slightly at the way it hurt. "Just hold still, it'll
be alright." a voice said in japanese beside her. She looked
up and blinked at the man before her "what.... what has
happened to me?" she gasped. He patted her hand soothingly
"we are not sure, what can you remember?" he asked. Ranma
blinked at him for a moment trying to dredge her memory
"there was this demon, we were hunting it." she started and
gritted her teeth not so gently exsploring the bulge that
was taking up almost half of her body. "You hunt demons?" he
asked curiously. Ranma blinked at him nodding "of course, it
is our duty to protect the innocent." She blinked in shock
feeling something that definitely did not belong to the
anatomy of a normal child. She looked at her belly in horror
"this thing isn't human..." she breathed in terror. The man
took her hand soothingly "don't worry, as soon as we can
find out what it is we shall try to find out how to remove
it."

She blinked up at him then looked around at the room she
was in at the people sitting about reading from books, the
blond one from the other night sitting with a man that was
in no way alive. Ranma blinked at them for a moment "where
am i?" she asked the polite man. He squeezed her hand gently
"well, your at my house. We brought you here after you
fainted. Can you tell us what kind of demon it was?" he
asked. Ranma blinked at him then shook her head "we were
tricked. We tracked the demon into a cave and ran into
almost twenty of them, the letch had done it to punish me,
and pop... I'll kill them."

He blinked at her for a second then blinked as the blond
came over ["here, this is the type of demon we were
fighting, ask her if its the one that grabbed her."] she said
to giles. He blinked taking the book ["how do you know she
was grabbed?"] he asked curiously. She shrugged ["they're
always grabbed."] He blinked at that for a minute then
showed Ranma the book "is this the demons you were hunting?"
he asked. Ranma took it and shook her head "no, these are the
ones the girl was fighting." she blinked and sat up sharply
when the dead man came over. "Is this the demon?" he asked
kindly. Ranma looked from him to the book and narrowed her
eyes at the picture "yes." she looked pissed at the picture.
He nodded "what happened?" he asked sitting down. Ranma spat
to the side "happosai said that either I give myself to the
demons and the rest live or we fight them and die. That
bastard ryouga clubbed me in the head and shoved me at
them."

He blinked "one of your friends gave you to the demons." he
said blinking. Ranma shook her head "not my friend, dead
meat when I get rid of this and get my body back. Oh, just
you wait you honorless bastard. Your gonna get that man to
man fight you want to the hilt!" Everyone in the room
blinked looking up at the vicious sound to her voice ["what
pissed her off?"] one of the two boys there asked. The dead
one looked up a them ["she says she was hunting one demon
and was sucker punched by someone who she was with when
they found out that there was a lot more of them, he gave
her to them. The rest i don't understand."]

They looked back at Ranma "what do you mean get your body
back?" the older man asked curiously. Ranma blinked at him
"you don't think I was born this way? I was born a man, I
was cursed to look like this." she said bitterly. The dead
man winced "someone cursed you to change into a girl." he
said. She nodded glaring at the wall. ["whats she saying?"]
Buffy asked. He looked up ["she says she is under a curse
that turned her into a girl, she was born male."] They
blinked at that for a minute before jumping when the girls
hand darted forward and snatched the knife he had on his hip
and shocked them when she sank it into the spot she had been
fingering for a while. she hissed at them and smashed it in
deeper. Ranma screamed in pain as something else screamed with
her. She wrenched the blade side ways cutting off the
scream. Ranma panted at them for a few minutes before
wrenching the blade to the side slitting her stomach open
before passing out. ["She must be nuts!"] one gasped as the
dead one and Giles lifted her up onto the table and gently
started checking her ["no, not nuts, she seems to have done
just the right thing."] he said looking at the book he had
["you pierce the demons temple with a blade then quickly
remove it."] he said quickly helping the man pull the demon
from the hole she had cut in herself. He nodded tossing it
aside as it burst into flames ["help me clean out the
remains, we need to get her to a hospital."]
Ranmas eyes fluttered open slowly and hissed at the bright
lights. She blinked through narrow eyes at the man standing
over her looking kind ["how are you child?"] he asked
gently. Ranma blinked at him and shook her head not
understanding him. "Its ok dear, your at the hospital." Giles
said coming over to her. She nodded calming down and layed
back into the bed. She looked at him and blinked "why does
the light hurt my eyes?" she asked. He started to answer her
when one of the nurses pulled the curtain open and Ranma
screamed darting across the room looking at the smoke rising
from her arm. She raised it and looked shocked as the burn
mark on it started to disappear. She looked at the beam of
sunlight that had hit her and sat down hard "what has
happened to me?" she asked in a daze.

After hurriedly shutting the blinds and shooing the shocked
nurse from the room Giles came back over. "You do not know?"
the dead one said helping her up, The rest of their group
had rushed in when she had screamed. She looked at him "no.
What has been done to me that the sun burns?!" He looked
surprised "haven't you been hungry since you woke up?" he
asked. She shook her head "not really." she said feeling her
stomach then pulled up her shirt to look at the faint scar
where the stitches were still in her "can someone please
take these out?" They looked shocked ["how the hell can it
be healed after only nine hours?!?"] Buffy exclaimed. Giles
shook his head guiding her back to the bed ["the burn mark
on her arm is gone. Vampires wear the suns mark for the rest
of their lives."]

After a doctor had been brought in tO remove the stitches
and then quickly run off, Giles sat back down by her "let me
introduce our group here." he said softly and pointed to
the blond "this is Buffy, she saved you." Ranma nodded to
her then looked at the dead one "what are you? Your body
moves and yet you do not feel like you are alive. I can't
feel you the way I feel the rest of these people." he
blinked "you can tell?" he asked. She nodded "thats Angel,
he, like you, is a vampire. One of the undead." he
explained. Ranma blinked thinking about it for a moment "if
that is so then why am I not in need of blood? The vampires
I know of are constently in need of it."

He blinked at that for a minute "we don't know child.
Anyways, this is Willow, Zander and Oz. we..." he tried to
find some way of explaining it. "We make it our business to
hunt evil." Angel said to her. She nodded looking at him
"then it must be a struggle for you." she murmured. He shook
his head "no, I was cursed some time ago with a soul so its
not that hard." She nodded thinking about it "then it is not
your true wish to aid in this." He shook his head "it is, I
hate what I am." She nodded "and yet if it wasn't for this
curse you would not be here."

He frowned at her "is it normal for you to upset those that
wish to help you?" he asked shortly. Ranma nodded "I
apologize. How do I get out of here if the light burns
me?" she asked. They blinked "you would have to go with
Angel until night fall." Giles said. Ranma winced "I deeply
apologize then." She sat up and blinked at them "is there a
shower around here?"

Ranma blinked quickly turning on the hot water and got under
it. He beamed happily as he felt the stretching feeling
that came with the change and thanked god as he looked in
the mirror, blinking in shock at the changes. He was almost
five inches taller then he used to be, and he had hair on
his face. He looked up as the door opened and blinked at
Angel "I brought you some..." He stopped seeing him "wheres
the girl?!" he demanded coming over. Ranma blinked turning
off the hot water and sprayed himself silently. Angel and
the rest of them gapped as she changed before their eyes and
covered herself "I see you did not understand when I said I
was cursed." she murmured softly. Giles blinked at her "its
water based?" he asked. Ranma nodded "hot water returns my
body to me, cold water puts me in this one."

He nodded clearing his throat "we shall let you get
dressed." he said pulling the shocked teens out of the room
as Angel put the clothes down "sorry about that." he said
embarressed. Ranma nodded shutting the door before changing
back. He looked at himself in the mirror again and shook his
head in bemusement. When she came out they were blinking at
her "why... didn't you change into your true form?" Giles
asked. Ranma arched an eye brow showing him the dress she
was wearing "I am constrained to obey the gender rules when
it comes to clothing." She blinked at the look the blond was
shooting him and glared back ["hes a perv?"] she asked Giles
wrinkling her nose. He shook his head ["he said that he had
no choice since all we brought him as clothes is a dress."]
She blinked then nodded losing the look ["must be hard."]
zander said musingly. Giles nodded ["yes, he must have a
hard time keeping friends with this curse."]
Ranma blinked looking about the tunnels Angel was leading
her through and hummed softly "do these tunnels go
everywhere?" she asked. He nodded "all over sunny dale." he
agreed. Ranma snorted "must be a regular all you can eat for
vampires." she said smirking. He nodded "thats why the
slayer is here." he agreed. Ranma blinked "what is a
slayer?" she asked. He shrugged "Buffy. She is the chosen
one, gifted with the strength and agility to combat evil."
Ranma blinked thinking about that "she has that." she
murmured "but her skill is something she needs to work on."
He blinked looking back at her "how do you mean?" he asked.
Ranma looked at him dumbly "I killed two of those demons and
I was like I was, I had to help her when they grabbed her.
Not well trained." He blinked frowning "and your saying your
better?" he asked. Ranma smirked looking back at him instead
of the interesting markings on the walls "of course, she
wouldn't even be a challange." she agreed. He frowned "your a
very rude person you know that?" he asked. She nodded "I
know, but I can't help it, my father took me from my mother
when I was four, hes about as conciderate as a brick wall at
a hundred miles an hour, you try learning to be nice with
that sort of person riding your ass."

He snorted "I myself had an abusive father." he comented.
She snorted looking at him amused "when I was six my father
tossed me in a pit of starving cats after rubbing me down
with fish. He did that to me quite a few times over the next
three years, can you beat that?" He shook his head looking
stunned. She nodded. "Your life must be hard." he murmured.
She snorted "my father is the one that cursed me." he
nodded pointing at a door "we're here." He opened it
and walked in. Ranma shut and locked tHE DOOR before continuing
after him. "Ah, I see your here." Giles said smiling. Ranma
nodded looking about the high ceilinged room he and Buffy
were waiting for them in "I wish to study you for a while,
if you don't mind." he said smiling. Ranma nodded "alright,
if you will teach me english I shall allow you to test me."

He blinked then nodded "Buffy said that you were able to
kill two of the demons that attacked you when you awoke,
would you be willing to show us how strong you are?" he
asked. Ranma blinked then nodded slowly "alright, but tell
her I will not take this seriously." she warned. He nodded
telling Buffy ["rather arrogent huh."] she said standing
firm waiting. Ranma smiled dropping into her favorite stance
and beckoned to her. She blinked then darted in striking out
at her. Ranma smiled blocking all of her punches and kicks
effortlessly before hitting her gently in the chest with a
palm strike knocking her into the wall.

Ranma bowed to her "you are strong and fast, and against
those that you can find in this place that is enough, but
where I come from you would be dinner to the first
moderately skilled monster you find." Giles blinked at that
for a few minutes then nodded. "Would you fight me?" Angel
asked frowning. Ranma bowed "you are stronger and faster, I
won't be gentle." she said adopting a kenpo stance. "You
study kempo?" Giles asked inpressed. ranma nodded "i hold the
seventh level dan in kenpo." she said simply shocking him.
"Seventh?! That would make you a grand master!" he
exclaimed. Ranma nodded "I hunt demons and monsters, there
is no such thing as enough training in this business." she
said and bounced at Angel, intecepted his strike and flung
him across the room. He looked shocked at her as he jumped
back up, because her foot was in his gut and two fingers
aimed at his eyes "you are good, but you train as if you do
not exspect to fight soon."

Giles nodded clearing his throat "would you be willing to
train Buffy in exchange for room and board?" he asked. Ranma
bowed "I would do it for nothing, but I thankyou for the
offer." He nodded smiling "lets find out what you eat."
Ranma looked into the school library and blinked around for a
minute before smiling in relief "Giles-san!" he called as the
principal came in after him. Principle Snider looked
annoyed at the man before him ["can you speak to this dimwit
for me?"] he demanded. Giles nodded walking over "good day to you
Ranma-kun, I see you can indeed come out during the day."
Ranma nodded "I followed your advice and tried to enrole
here but this fool doesn't speak anything but english, and
badly at that." he said looking put upon. He nodded ["what
can I help you with sir?"] he asked curiously. He nodded
["what does he want?"] he asked. Giles blinked at him then
took the paper Ranma had smiling and handed it to him ["I
believe he wishes to enrole sir. He moved into an apartment
across from mine and we got to talking. He moved here from
osaka japan and i'm tutoring him in english."]

He nodded looking over the form ["great, another punk that
can't speak."] he grumped stalking away. Ranma snorted after
him "that man is like the mouse that thinks he can control
the lions because he is standing on top of a fallen log." he
said and blinked looking about hearing someone laugh. Giles
smiled "Ranma-kun, this is our Japanese langaugeinstructor." he
informed him and he nodded bowing to the woman "good to meet
you maam, my trip here was rather abrupt and I did not get a
chance to learn much english." he said embarressed. She
nodded smiling "thats alright Ranma-kun, may I ask what your
last name is?" she asked. He bowed "my name is Saotome Ranma
maam." She looked surprised "Saotome, as in the nobel house
of Saotome?" she asked. Ranma shrugged "I would not know
maam, my parents aren't the best at offering up information
about anything. All I know about the family is that pop is
pop and mom only visits, she lives somewhere in Jubban."

They blinked "you don't live with your mother?" she asked
shocked. Ranma shook his head "father took me from mother
when I was four to train in martial arts and has not as of
yet allowed me the option of returning to her." She looked
angry "what kind of man is this that he takes a son from his
mother?!?" she demanded. Ranma shrugged "pop isn't a man by
honorable standards, as long as I've known him he had been a
thief and con artist. I pray mother might have been a little
indescrete on the night of my conception but I'm resolved
to the fact that chances are she didn't. They always said
love was blind and it seemed to have blindsided mother."

She laughed along with giles at that "well you know, I
could look for you, I'm quite familiar with the great houses
of Japan, I can do some checking if you wish." Ranma bowed
again "I would be grateful." She nodded smiling "what is
your fathers name?" she asked. Ranma gave the info to her
and she nodded leaving "if you will be around after school
maybe Mr Giles and I can tutor you together." He nodded
waving goodbye "nice lady." he said. Giles nodded blinking
at the principle as he came back in and handed Ranma a few
sheets of paper ["tell him he's late for his first class."]

Ranma blinked carefully reading the english writing on his
paper then read the same thing on the door he was before and
nodded opening it. He blinked in and looked relieved seeing
the woman from before "ah, Jacobs-san, it seems I am late
for your class." he said showing her the paper. She nodded
smiling "thats alright Ranma-kun, take a seat and we'll
continue." Ranma smiled nodding to the students around him
and nodded sitting next to the girl from last night,
Willow "hello, me take class so can talk you." she said
cheerfully. Ranma smiled bowing ["Ranma.... pleased you go
trouble... for friendship."] he said slowly and she nodded
patting his hand ["oh good! Willow you know Mr Saotome!
That'll be easier, you two shall be paired for a while."]
Ranma blinked looking up from the book he was being coached
from by Willow, Giles and the teacher, making him slightly
dizzy, when a scream came to them from the front of the
school "who could that be?" Ms Jacobs asked as Giles
jumped up and ran to the window "no one we wish to know." he
said as Ranma and Willow came over "Mamono." Ranma grumped
and Willow corrected him ["in english its demon."] Ranma
nodded swinging the window open and smiled confidently at
them when they tried to stop him "the slayer isn't in the
area, what do you suggest?" he asked. They yelped when he
disappeared over the side "its not that really, its the four
story drop!" Giles protested. Ms Jacobs hummed in pleasure
"he is a Saotome if he can be so confident about defeating
those monsters."

Ranma smirked bouncing to the ground and walking out to
meet the demons that were searching the windows of the
school "looking for something?" he asked and they looked up
at him. The demon in the lead roared in anger seeing him
"you killed the chosen one!!" he snarled charging him. Ranma
smirked dropping back and hit him with a chop to the throat
then a snap kick to the face before bouncing away then back
to land a five point combo in anothers face crushing the
bone. He smirked dodging anothers claws and put his foot
through his skull and used his body to cresent kick another
one away, snapping one of its horns off in the bargin. he
blinked looking up as he saw Buffy staking the last one. He
blinked at her then bowed smiling. "That was impressive."
Giles said coming out to them. Ranma nodded "the school I
trained in believed that nothing in the world was more
deadly then the fist used properly." he held up his fist.
Giles nodded smiling "would you give us a few pointers on
training?" he asked motioning him to come inside.

When they got back into the library the two woman clapped
softly "amazing Saotome-san, you DO honor to the
Saotomes legacy." she said pleased. He blinked "legacy?" he
and Giles said together. She nodded "legends state that the
Saotome clan has kami blood flowing through their vains, all
through the ages Saotomes found a way to be in history
texts, be it man or woman. They made the best fighters in the
world." Ranma nodded "so we are." Giles looked interested
"its a family trait?" he asked. Ranma shrugged "all I know
is that I've been strong since I was a small child, I
survived and mastered some of the most hazardous martial
forms japan tried to bury, just not good enough to hide them
from my father." he scowled softly at that but let it go
as Giles went about setting up the practice equipment for
Buffy who was doing warm up excersizes.

Ranma blinked looking up from the coaching of the two girls
and blinked watching her perform a move ["no, its wrong."]
he said standing up. He walked over and frowned at her
["no move wrist, keep hard as stone."] he instructed
telegraphing the move the proper way. ["This is the way you
taught it to me Giles."] she said annoyed. Giles blushed
slightly clearing his throat ["that would explain why the
punch isn't as... effective as when my sensei taught it to
me."] he said looking down. Buffy looked shocked ["you've
been teaching me defective attacks."]

Ranma shook his head waving a finger ["not defective,
beginner move, used to strengthen and tone in use, make
wrist strong so can be hard as rock. This punch from
advanced school."] he explained showing it to her again
["many forms students never see because master not think good
enough, or mature enough to not use for evil. Is steps, you
skill is mastering of beginning step. Now ready for
journeymen step, is middle ground where speed and agility is
learned. First step learn strength and defence. Second step
is confuse and evation."] He flashed his hands through a
dizzying pattern before his fist stopped in front of her
face ["many forms mimic movements of animal as way to
confuse opponent, if he no understand why you move hand to
side, he will no be on guard when move hand in for
kill."] Giles smiled "would you spar with Buffy?" he asked.
Ranma nodded moving out into the practice floor and shook
his head picking up a table and moved it on top of another
table ["not enough room inside for real spar, but work well
enough."]

Ranma nodded to Buffy and after she dropped into the half
way karate and half way kick boxing stance she used he
spread his arms wide in the classic stance for the crane "is
that..?!" Ms Jacobs started before Buffy launched herself at
him and he swept in, dancing about her with such flowing
movements and sweeping strokes that Buffy was confused at
how he always seemed to block her blows. She stopped after a
minute and yelped as Ranma swept her feet without looking
like he was ["are beginner. Know nothing of advanced
forms."] he said helping her up "thats a kung fu move
Ranma." Giles said. Ranma nodded ["Sholin. Is favorite style
for them. Is style created from watching tiger battle
crane."]

Buffy blinked at that ["how can a crane fight a tiger?!"]
she protested. Ranma smiled sweeping her feet and pinned her
to the floor with a fluid stroke of his arms ["tiger is power
and strength, crane is agility and evation. Crane won battle
with tiger because tiger think, strike in every movement.
Tiger confused when movement just distraction. Crane snap
at tigers face with beak while flairing wings out, tiger
frustrated when attack not come from way he think. Tiger
leave crane alone. From watching two battle, Sholin create
style based on quick flow movements and sneeky strike
that confuse and disorient opponent. Way to make opponent
powerless before you. Is half dance, half dodge. Even
best of fighters fall to crane, only those master of style
know, do not believe eyes. Eyes lie when fight crane,
must trust heart, mind, spirit. If only watch with eyes then
Buffy soon be dead slayer."]

After he let her up he moved back into the crane stance
["stop trusting eyes, trust senses, is what save life. You
must feel the strike coming, feel blow before it reaches
you and block!"]
Ranma blinked looking up from the grate she was looking out
as Angel walked into the tunnel with her "got splashed?" he
asked. Ranma nodded grimacing "asshole punk threw a water
balloon at me, for a minute I was afraid I wouldn't make it
here in time." He nodded looking at the smoke rising from
her shirt "then its a good thing I brought this." he said
holding up a thermos. Ranma smiled gratefully at him "your
an angel, Angel." she said taking it. He nodded looking down
"I just wanted to thankyou for teaching buffy, she's had a
few close calls and she needs the skill." he said softly.
Ranma smiled squeezing his shoulder after pouring the water
over his head "its my pleasure my friend, I would do it
gladly if it was only for the fact that she was a slayer,
but I am pleased to do it as a way to repay you and your
friends for aiding me the way you did, thats why I want you
and the rest of them to join buffy and I in training." He
blinked in surprise at that as Ranma left the grate and looked
thoughtful as he went on his way.

When Ranma came into the lunchroom everyone looked up when he
snatched up the idiot that threw the water balloon and
hissed in his face ["if get wet again, I cut two fingers
off hand."] he said squeezing the fingers he meant. The boy
yelped in fear and scrambled away from him as he dropped
him. ["Being a little hard on him?"] Buffy asked when he sat
down with them. He glared showing them the burn marks on his
shirt ["not at all."] he said cheerfully as he dug into his
lunch. "If headmaster-kun sees ranma threaten students he
punish." Willow said softly. Ranma smiled ["I know, but he
in office right now doing paperwork."] he explained. They
blinked at him ["how do you know where he is?"] Zander asked
curiously. Ranma smirked at him and touched his head ["is
ancient art held secret for very long time, saw him through
window."]

He chuckled at the dumb looks they gave him ["is joke."] he
said shaking his head. Willow laughed at that ["its funny, i
didn't know you used jokes."] Ranma smirked at her nodding
["only strike when most effective."] he agreed chuckling.
Before anyone could say a thing ms jacobs hurried into the
room. She looked relieved when she saw Ranma "come, you must
see this, its urgent!" she said worry coating her words.
Ranma blinked standing up and followed her looking concerned
at the others.

When they got into the library they blinked at Giles who
was reading from a computer monitor, then started out loud
when they entered "in nineteen sixty eight the saotome
family was devistated when twelve members of the clan were
brutally slaughtered in their home on this day, missing from
the dead was the family's youngest daughter... Saotome
Nodoka. eight years old the child was thought to have been
taken as food for the demons, the rest of the clan searched
for a long time for the demon clan that did this act but
could find no trace of them." Ranma groaned pulling himself
off the floor and hurried over.

He blinked dumbly at the picture of the small child on the
screen before sitting down at another screen. "What are you
doing?" Giles asked. Ranma growled "looking up Genma." he
hissed. The teacher shook her head "it won't work Ranma,
thats the only thing I could find on your mother, its like
you don't exist in japan." she said softly. Ranma stopped
typing and nodded pointing out one of the monks on the
screen "I thought so." he snarled. "1970: it was found that a
group of monks were aiding a half breed demon in his
efforts to open a gate to his home dimension in hopes of
bringing an army of his kind into the human world, it was
five members of the Saotome family that brought this cult to
its knees. Hhmm, heres a list of the Saotomes." Giles mused
"Genmas on it." he added. Ranma shook his head "this monk
here is the man I know of as Genma." he bit out touching a
face. He blinked touching another one "mom...!" he looked
closer his eyes going wide as he picked out two more faces
"Mr Tendo...,!"

Ranma paced along behind the chair as Ms Jacobs typed "Tendo
Nabiki, I have come across information concerning the Tendo
and Saotome clan that you desperately need to know of, if my
suspicions are correct, you and your sisters could be in
danger, this concerns the fate of Saotome Ranma." She nodded
finishing it off and mailed it "when should we expect a
reply?" she asked. Ranma bit his lip "Nabiki works on her
computer for a while before she goes to bed, hopefully she
will return it soon." He looked up hearing a beeping sound
and she blinked seeing the e-mail. She opened it and blinked
at the japanese "interesting, this is my instant message
address." she reported pulling up the program and typed it
in "I thank you for the swift reply." she typed. "How did
you know I would be online at this time?" her response said.
Ms Jacobs smiled "i have a close friend that knows you, I have
been researching the family lines of the houses of japan and
came across something disturbing concerning the Saotome
clan, we should talk." Ranma grinned at the response "whats
your phone number?"

Ranma sighed picking up the phone receiver at the same time
Ms Jacobs did "hello?" she asked. "Tendo Nabiki." the voice
said, Ranma nodded to her "I thankyou for calling, my name
is Sharion Jacobs, I live in sunnydale california, recently
a friend of mine turned my interest to the Saotome line and
I found something that is very wrong with what I know of the
family." Ranma smirked hearing something in the background
"whats that?" Nabiki asked. Ms Jacobs smiled "I found out that the
man you know as Aaotome Genma is an imposter, his real name
is Saroka Ikogu, he was a member of a sect of demon whorshipers
that some think are responsible for the slaughter that
killed twelve members of the Saotome family and abducted
Saotome Nodoka from the home when she was eight, I found a
picture of the members of the sect from twenty years ago,
from what I can tell... both Saotomes you know of as well as
your mother and father were a part of this sect. My friend
identified Tendo Soun and Tendo Kimiko easily from the
picture as well as the Saotomes." The line was silent for a
few minutes "I want to see this picture." she said cooly
"who is your friend?" she added, Ranma heard a voice in the
background "ask her about Ranma!!"

Nabiki cleared her throat "what did you mean about Saotome
Ranma?" she asked. Sharion sighed "it is a sketchy report I
have, but its not good, someone witnessed Saotome Genma and
Hibiki Ryouga betray and capture Saotome Ranma while they
were hunting a demon three months ago, from what we can tell,
the two gave Ranma to the group of demons that they met
forty miles to the south of tokyo, from the pictures I can
find the Hibikis are also a part of this sect your parents
belonged to. After a little searching I found out that the
sect was trying to open a portal to the home of a half demon
named Happosai, so that he could gather an army on the human
realm to take it over, the Saotome clan has been guardians
of japan against demons for the longest time, I would not be
surprised it the demon halfbreed was the one that first took
Saotome Nodoka from her family."

"What do you suggest we do about this?" Nabiki asked softly.
"Get out. If they would do this to Saotome Ranma then they
would not hesetate to do the same to you, I suggest you come
here, we have someone here that has been fighting demon
clans for the last few years." Ms Jacobs said quietly.
"How?" Nabiki asked. In the background Akane was ranting
softly "I know of a cache of money and equipment that
Saotome Ranma had hidden a while ago." she said. The ranting
stopped and a new voice came on the line "how do you know
so much about Ranma?!" Akane demanded sharply. Ranma smiled
softly "Tendo Akane I take it?" she asked. Akane snorted "I
know of Ranma because I am.... able to speak with the dead!"
she said looking at Angel who had appeared when the sun went
down "Ranmas... dead?" Akane asked her voice trimbling. Ms
Jacobs bit her lip "I can't say, its not his ghost that told
me of him, if your worried." she said softly. Akane exhaled
shakily "he might be alive?" she asked softly. Ranma
clinched his fist looking like he was in pain "yes, he is
alive." she said softly "the money he hid is found under a
floorboard in your room Akane, he hid the money under your
bed thinking that if he needed to escape that place he would
take you with him." Akane cried out softly at that and
Nabiki came back on the line "where are you?" she asked.
Sharion smiled softly "we'll meet you at the terminal,
you'll recognize one of us."

After they hung up Ranma looked at the floor clinching his
fist tight. "Are you alright Ranma?" Giles asked. Ranma
looked up and blinked at the tears in his eyes "its alright,
its just... I didn't think Akane returned my feelings." he
said softly wiping his eyes. Sharon nodded rubbing his
shoulder. ["So what now?"] Zander asked trying to lighten
the mood. Ranma looked up at him ["we find out what I am."]
Nabiki looked annoyed as hell as she pulled her reluctant
sister along as she protested yet again about leaving before
making breakfast. The two sisters stopped pulling their
balky sibling along when they saw the group standing in
front of them. Ranma pulled the hood of his cloak back and
looked at them nerviously. The three rushed up to him as
one "oh my! We should call your mother! She'll be so
relieved your alive!" Kasumi said. "Why haven't you gotten in
touch with us Ranma." Nabiki asked cooly, Akane smashed him
into the ground with her mallet "you let me think you were
dead you jerk!!!" she yelled at him angrily. He hissed
looking back up at them as the cut on his forehead closed
shocking them "I didn't because I'm sorta... not alive." he
blinked when Akane grabbed his hand and felt his pulse "you
look alive to me." she said. Ranma nodded "thats because I was
killed in my cursed form."

Before he could say anything else Nabiki poured water over
him. Ranma hissed horrendously scrambling out of the light
smothering the flames that burst forth from her arm as the
others hurried to help. She glared at her angrily as Giles
poured hot water over his head. Ranma stomped back over to
them "don't ever do that again." he said dangerously quiet.
Akane grabbed his burnt arm and watched the burn evaporate
"what did they do to you?" she asked softly. Ranma sighed
rubbing his eyes "if we can go someplace quiet?" he prompted
nodding to the staring people. They nodded following the
group.

By the time they reached Giles place the burn was gone and
all three sisters were shocked "why are you here Ranma?"
Nabiki asked. Ranma sighed "I'd rather not." he said softly.
She stared at him for a few minutes. "I... woke up here a few
weeks ago and met Buffy and Giles here... they.... helped
me do something and gave me a place to stay. Lately I've
been training Buffy to help her with her demon hunting job."
She nodded still looking at him "what aren't you telling
us?" she demanded firmly. Ranma looked away from them not
saying a thing ["so whats wrong with telling them you were a
demon mommy?"] Zander asked from behind them. ["Do not speak
of that!"] he snarled in english. Nabikis eyes widened
sightly ["yes don't speak of it, they would proclaim him
unclean because of it."] Giles said softly from behind him.
Nabiki looked at the pain on Ranmas face for a moment ["I
can understand you, you know."] she said softly to them.
Giles blinked at her as the others shot Zander a dark look.

Ranma looked at his hands as she stared at him ["what
happened to you Ranma?"] she asked softly. He didn't look up
at her "I don't know alright? I woke up when Buffy here
stopped what they were doing." he said softly not looking at
any of them. Akane moved over to sit with him and took his
hands "what happened?" she asked. He shook his head and they
looked at Giles. He cleared his throat ajusting his glasses
"well... we heard of a demon ritual that was taking place
and being who we are we went to interrupt it." They blinked
nodding. "Well, you see it was a ritual of sacrifice designed
to instill the strength and power of the host in the... child
that is born of it." They looked horrified "they.... got
ranma pregnant...?!" Akane breathed. He shook his head "not
the way you think, I aSsure you." he said quickly. They
looked relieved. "The child is introduced into the womans
womb with a spell. We interrupted the rite and Ranma woke up
when they tried to escape with her... him." Ranma nodded not
looking up "how... how did you..." Akane asked softly. Angel
shrugged "he took a knife and gutted himself, killing the
thing." he said simply. The three looked horrified at that
and Ranma yelped protesting when Akane ripped his shirt open
to look at the scar traveling along his belly "so.... it
didn't... hurt you?" she asked softly. Ranma shook his head
"no its all gone. As far as we can tell, something about my
curse helped me partially reject the vampires curse in me.
I'm pretty much human in this form and only half vampire in
the other one, I burn at the suns touch but I don't need
blood. I'm a lot stronger then I was in both forms."

Nabiki nodded blinking at that for a few minutes "so what
are we supposed to do here Ranma?" she asked. Ranma blinked
then nodded "I have an apartment here, it has three rooms
in it, I can take the couch. Its not safe to go back until
we find out why they did this to me." They nodded "what
else?" she said. Ranma shrugged "I don't know, I got a job
and I'm enroled at the local high school. Ao what comes
naturally." She nodded pursing her lips "you work." she said
blinking. He nodded smirking "I opened a dojo in the
comercal district, these people will pay anything you ask
to learn this stuff, after an hour of watching Buffy
and I sparring, we had fifty students paying two hundred
dollars a peice for five lessons."

Nabiki and Akane looked shocked "your kidding?!" they said
together. He shook his head "I paid my rent for the next
four months." Kasumi smiled "I'm glad your doing so well
Ranma, but what am I to do?" she asked worried. Ranma
blinked at that "well, we could um... Mr Giles could use a
maid." he said looking at Giles. He blinked "not really..."
He stopped when Kasumi smiled "oh my, your right Ranma." she
said looking about. Ranma winked at Giles ["Kasumis very
good at what she does."]
By the time they had gotten to the building Ranma had rented
for the dojo the cafe across the street was full and the
students were waiting excitedly for them. Ranma smiled at
them as they arrived ["hello students, would like you to
meet my assistant sensei, Tendo Akane."] he said waving to
Akane, she smiled pleased as she bowed "hello." she said and
followed Ranma into the building. Akane blinked in surprise
looking around at the set up, on one side he had padded mats
lining the walls and punching bags of all sizes as well as a
balance beam "how can you have gotten all this if you only
started a few weeks ago?" Nabiki asked. He smiled waving the
students over to the mats "Giles gave them to me, we made a
deal, I would continue to train Buffy if she works as an
assistant sensei on the weekends and acts as window dressing
during the weekdays while training with me." he said
smirking as he went into the back. When he came out he was
wearing a black silk gi trimmed in red. He smiled handing
akane one "here, its the one I use in the night classes,
it'll fit you." She nodded going in the back ["today we have
a treat students, my fiancee and fellow sensei Tendo Akane
has arrived from our home and has agreed to teach with us
here. Today Akane will be showing you the basics in self
defence for women, Akane is an expert in handling male
attackers and is a good sensei. You men I want over here,
you are to practice the kata I showed you yesterday until
you feel you have perfected it." He bowed to them at the
same time Akane did and the two groups split up.

Ranma smiled at Buffy when he got over to the part of the
room where they normally sparred ["your in a good mood
Ranma."] she comented throwing the first few punches at him.
He grinned blocking all of them solidly before launching his
counter attack, keeping it slow enough for her to dodge or
block most of them. He grinned, she was able to evade the
ones she had been hit with last time ["yes I am. I am doing
what I have wanted to do for a long time, if things had
worked out akane and I would have ran the dojo together."]
he said smiling as he was forced to backflip away from her
attack, grinning when he dodged away as he landed and sent
her flying away from him with a palm strike to the chest. He
chuckled helping her up ["very good. Now lets try it at a
faster pace."]

After a few hours Ranma smiled coming over to Akane and
watched interestedly as she coached the four groups of
women in throwing moves and how to break holds. ["I see your
students are progressing well akane-chan."] he said
pleased. All the women there smiled pleased as Akane nodded
["they were taught the beginnings well Sensei Ranma."] she said
smiling at him. He smiled ["would you like help in demonstrating
the moves?"] he asked. She nodded grinning ["are you offering
Sensei?"] she asked. He nodded smiling ["of course, I shall be
the attacker?"] he asked. She nodded smiling. The two groups
of practicing teens and adults hurried over to the mats as
the two walked over to the windows. Ranma raised his hand
["in this I will acost Akane-chan like any normal man would
and she will demonstrate that even though a woman is smaller
then a man, that does not mean she is helpless against him."]

Ranma darted up at Akane and yelped in surprise when she
grabbed his outstretched arm and flung him at the wall,
making him grunt when she pinned him with an arm held
tightly behind his back in seconds ["as... Akane-chan has
shown, even though I had reach and surprise, you can gain
the upper hand."] he said in a pained voice. Akane giggled
letting him up and he stood up rubbing his shoulder. She
smiled turning her back as he went across the room and
picked up one of the wooden play knives he had and tossed
it as he walked back over. He grinned ["in a case with a
knife you must be careful."] he said walking up and grabbed
Akanes arm and pressed the thing into her side. She raised
her arms and grinned at them hooking her foot behind his as
she twisted. Ranma grunted as the fake blade was slapped
from his hand and he was pinned again. He looked at them for
a minute "this is going to be a pain in my ass."
Kasumi and Nabiki looked up and blinked when Akane walked
into the house looking smugly pleased as Ranma followed her
at a slower pace looking like he had been chewed up and spit
out "your students mean?" Nabiki asked. He shook his head "I
need to stop being so helpful." he said slumping into the
couch. Akane grinned walking back in and smacked his ass
making his jump "Ranma gave himself over to the womens
defence class as a mock attacker, I think the girls were
trying to be nice." she giggled. Ranma waved her off weakly.
They looked up and blinked when a knocking came to the door.
Akane smiled walking over and let Buffy in carrying a
satchel "you look chewed up Ranma." she laughed. Ranma
grumbled into the couch "are you coming with me?" she
asked. He sat up and nodded "let me go change, I hurt too
much in this body." he said walking into the kitchen. When
she came out she grinned slipping the wakazashi she had into
the sheath sawn upside down into her coat "you only got
home." Kasumi protested. Ranma looked apologetic "sorry
oneechan, but theres a lot of evil in this town and Buffy
here gets overwelmed at times even with all the others
helping." Akane blinked "can I come?" she asked. Ranma
blinked then shrugged "hey, why not, its not like a blond, a
red head and a brunet all walking out late at night isn't a
tasty treat for the demons roaming the area." Buffy looked
reluctant ["are you sure?"] she asked. He nodded ["Akanes almost
as good as you are, she'll be joining us on our training
matches on the weekends."]

Akane smiled taking Ranmas hand as they got a little ways
from the apartment complex and smiled at the blushing girl.
["So whats happening tonight?"] Zander asked holding up a
crossbow. Buffy snorted ["these two want to neck."] she said.
He grinned ["can I watch?"] he asked and Ranma elbowed him.
Giles smiled at them when they reached the graveyard "we're
looking for traces of the demons that brought Ranma here,
they've been sighted in this area." he said cheerfully. He
smiled when Akane joined him as they went looking into the
cripts.

"So why do you bury your dead in this sort of place?" Akane
asked Giles when he came out of the cript he was searching.
He blinked "well, from what we can tell, the city was
constructed under the idea that demons and vampires would be
catered to here. We found out a while ago that the man that
founded the town wanted it to be a haven for the demon
races." Akane blinked in shock at that "why would anyone let
him do that?" she asked. He shrugged "back then no one
realized what he planned, so far his plans are still on
track but we're doing what we can to spoil them." She
blinked at him "Ranma thought we were safer here then back
home?" she asked. He shrugged opening another door and
shouted falling back from the green skinned thing that
jumped out at him. Akane shouted lunging forward and knocked
it off its feet before grabbing Giles "we need the others."
he murmured seeing the ten others that appeared from the
cript.

Both of them blinked looking up after running out into the
open when a large group of men appeared standing in their
way. ["Well well well, if it in't Buffy's owner, the watcher."]
a blond man said smirking slightly. ["Whos the new pet? Shes a
cute one."] he added before blinking at the demons as they
burst through the trees coming after them. ["Back off vampire
scum! These are ours!"] one of them roared pointing a fist
at them. Spike looked around before looking at the demons ["I
don't see your name on them."] he sneered walking forward,
the vampires followed a little nerviously. "The girl is our
property scum, she has been ours since she was born." the
demon spat again, this time in japanese. Spike cocked his
head to the side "is that so? Looks to me like she don't
know what your talking about mate."

He opened his mouth to speak again when one of them roared
in pain as Ranma burst from over top of them on a tail of
blood. She whirled around as she landed and splattered
another ones head as he ran at her an gutted another from
crotch to chin with her sword before she landed. In five
seconds ten demons had become the one Ranma was holding off the
ground "start talking or I show you some of the things my
father showed me when I was a child, do you think you'll
swallow your tongue or go insane first?" She let up the
tight hold she had on his throat and forced him to his
knees. "Y- You killed the child..." he gasped in shock Ranma
handed her sword to Giles and snapped the things horn off
"talk monster, why did you put that thing in me?!"
It trimbled a little in fear as it cupped its hand over the
bleeding hole in its head "you... you were born to serve
us!" he pleaded. Ranma grabbed the other horn and he cried
out. "Your parents birthed you to be the mothers of our
champions!" he shouted holding up his hands. Ranma clinched
her fist and the horn broke "explain!" He whimpered "you...
your of the Saotome house! one of the few houses of the
chosen! Everyone wants a Saotome female for their rites
because they bring greater results, its because of the blood
of the greatest neutral god ever known flowing through your
veins! Your the most ideal sacrifice for demons and humans
for good and evil purposes!"

Ranma clinched her fist and cocked it back "and? Continue!"
she barked. He nodded "b- but its so hard to catch one of
them! The reason their so sought after is also why their such
powerful hunters! It was next to impossible to catch a
female alive and in descent condition. So.... they took a
child... She's produced five daughters for the highest
bidder." Ranma gapped in shock and horror almost let him go.
She backed away letting him go "and me?" she asked softly. He
rubbed at his throat "you were born male, your father assured
us he would fix that." he coughed standing up. Ranma looked
up at him "and the Tendo girls? You said she was yours." He
nodded looking at her "the tendo daughters were sold to us
at an early age, they can't compete with a Saotome but they
hold enough power to perform their role well. We've had no
use for the current three because we waited for that fool to
make good on his claim and give us a virgin Saotome female."

Ranma looked up at him "current three?" she asked. He nodded
blinking "there were five of them. This one had a twin, its
how I recognized her." They stood there for a minute just
blinking in stunned horror before Ranmas hand flashed
forward and ripped his throat out. She let her bloody hand
drop to her side and looked at the ground for a few minutes
before looking up hearing the vampires still stnading there
move. "Well, a bloody find we have here." spike murmured
"Don't even bother Spike." Buffy said appearing with angel.
She smirked at him "Ranma would rip all of you to pieces in
seconds." she snorted. Spike looked at her "the slayer, why
is it you always show up when I want to have fun?" She
smirked "I guess I'm lucky, but seriously Spike." She walked
over "don't mess with this girl, she's kicked both our asses
in under a minute." Angel nodded when they looked at him
"she makes my febble skills look pathetic." he agreed. Spike
snorted "I'll believe that when I see it." he sneered. He
smacked one of the men behind him "kill the red head." The
vampire blinked at him for a second before shaking his head
backing away "no way man, she killed ten of those things in
seconds, that one was scared to death, you heard! Shes a
fucking godling half breed."

Spike glared turning on him "ya fucking wanker..!" he started
when something grabbed him from behind and he found himself
on his knees staring at Ranmas green blood covered hand
opened to him "a vampire is a laugh where I came from, their
play things compared to the kinds of demons we have." she
said softly closing her hand. She let him go and he
scrambled away from her "so? I bet we could take you if we
attack at once!" he declaired glaring. He blinked looking
behind him and realized his men were gone. He spat before
looking back at them "don't think this is over ya chit." he
growled before bolting himself. Ranma snorted looking at her
hand for a minute. She blinked looking up when Akane hugged
her gently. Akane looked at the despair and hopeless darkness
in her eyes and held her tighter. "Well, we didn't expect
that sort of thing did we?" Giles said trying to lighten the
air. Ranma looked at them "I'm heading back guys, I'm tired
all of a sudden." she said sounding very old. Akane
held onto her ["we'll see you later."] she murmured leading
Ranma away. Buffy nodded waving ["don't take it so bad,
demons rarely ever have anything good to say."]

Ranma looked at her ["truth comes from you painfully at times
Buffy. later."] They blinked at her for a minute before
looking to Giles. he looked sad ["they found out that....
everything they believe in is a lie."] They blinked after
them in worry.
Ranma looked up from the floor as he walked out of the
kitchen, idlly chewing on an apple when he saw Nabiki in the
door way "how are you doing Ranma?" she asked softly. He
looked at her dully "I found out I've had five sisters and
that all of them were sold as sacrifices Nabiki, how do I
feel? I don't know. I always hoped I had a brother or a
sister and pop was lying to me like everything else....
but... Hows Akane taking it? She had a twin!" he looked
dazed leaning against the wall. She looked down "Akanes...
shes in shock like the rest of us, we had two other
sisters." she shook her head. Ranma nodded "I guess... I
feel numb, my whole life was about being the best at the
school I was born into... to find out thats nothing, it was
all nothing, all I was.... was a peice of cattle, being
groomed for slaughter. I feel like i'm going to go insane if
I don't stop thinking about it."

He looked up and offered his arms to Akane when she walked
into the hall. She gratefully excepted his embrace, burying
her head in his shoulder. He sighed putting his head on her
shoulder. "It doesn't matter Ranma, nothing they wanted
matters, what we want is what we will do, we can make it
real, we can stay here and the school will be real
because you already own a dojo." she murmured softly. He
nodded looking at the ceiling for a minute. He sighed
looking into the living room when the doorbell rang "I'll
get it." a subdued Kasumi said from behind them in the
kitchen "oh! hello Ms Tendo." Giles said coming into the
living room with Buffy and the rest of them, minus Angel, it
was afternoon "are you doing alright Ranma? Akane?" he asked
softly looking at them concerned. Both nodded looking up at
them "I guess sensei." Akane murmured. Ranma shrugged "I
knew my father was scum, I just didn't know how much I owed
him for." He nodded holding out a sheet of paper "Ms Jacobs
gave us this in class today. We were concerned when you
didn't come, any of you." he murmured looking at Nabiki
as well ["today was a day none of us were ready to face,
last night was a shock to say the least, Ranma only woke up
an hour ago."

Kasumi nodded ["oh my yes, we were worried about him, we
thought that his vampire side might have gotten stronger!"]
she said warmly concerned. Ranma snorted "lets just say I
got caught up on sleep I needed, I was tired yesterday."
Akane nodded looking at them from Ranmas chest. "yes, well,
anyways, Ms Jacobs went ahead on the things she was told you
of the other day and contacted the head of the Saotome
clan." Ranma blinked looking up and took the paper from him.
He blinked in shock "their sending someone here?" he asked
softly. He nodded "thats why I came here right after school,
she should be meeting them right now."

Nabiki blinked "your saying the family Ranmas mother was
stolen from is coming here?" she asked feeling a little
paniced herself. He nodded "she told me she would bring them
here... about now." he turned hearing a knock at the door
right when he finished talking. Ranma watched the door as
Kasumi hesetently opened in and eeped moving back in shock
as it opened to reveal... Ranma.... with gray hair. They
blinked looking from the youthful faced Ranma standing in
the door staring at Ranma to the boy they knew "yours him."
he said softly as he came in the room, making them twitch
when two younger hims walked in with him, followed by his
curses double, all of them looked just different enough to
not be doubles, but the relation was obvious "has Nodoka
had many children?" he asked standing across the room from
them. Buffy and her crew had moved to the side leaving ranma
and the girls to stand by themselves. Ranma looked at them
for a minute before letting go of Akane "it seems so." he
said pushing off from the wall. He nodded for more. Ranma
crossed his arms "from what I can tell I'm her sixth child."
he said flatly. He blinked a little at that "why would she
have so many?" he asked frowning. Ranma shook his head "your
asking the wrong one about that, up until last night I
thought I was an only child of cruel hearted parents." He
blinked looking from him to the girls "who are these?" he
asked. Ranma looked at them "these are the remaining Tendo
sisters. There were five of them acording to our source."

He blinked at that "what do you mean?" Ranma looked down for
a minute "I came here because my father and someone I
thought was a friend betrayed me and gave me into the hands
of a demon clan as a sacrifice. The slayer here stopped them
and I escaped." He looked at them and nodded looking at
Giles "watcher, we have delt with your caste before. What do
you mean sacrifice? Males are almost worthless for sacrifice
at your age." Ranma looked at him "so I've found out. A few
years ago my.... the man pretending to be Saotome Genma,
took me to this place in china that changes anything that
touches the water into the form of the thing that drown there
in the past." He nodded crossing his arms "jusenkyo." he
agreed. Ranma took the glass of water from Nabiki and poured
it over his head. The two younger men backed up a bit
hissing "they have a spring of undead girl there?" he asked
stonily. Ranma shook her head "no, just plain old girl, this
was done to me during the time since I was taken and I woke
up a few weeks ago. The curse has allowed me to keep my
humanity in my real body, thank god. He shoved me into the
spring. Up until a month ago I thought nothing was wrong,
at least nothing demonic."

He nodded seeing the pain that crossed his face for a split
second "what is your source?" he asked. Ranma cleared his
throat "we hunted down a pack of the demons that brought me
here and I interrogated one after killing the rest. He told
us that I had five sisters that I had no hope of ever
meeting because the sole reason they were born was to be
used as sacrifice for what ever demon clan paid our parents
enough for their blood, my being born a male put a wrinkle
in their plans." He nodded looking grimer then he was, if
that was possible "so you trust the demons word?" he asked
soflty. Ranma looked at him emotionlessly "he was too scared
to lie to me. He knew he was going to die, and I heard it in
his voice." He nodded looking at him speculatively "your
saying that not only is our lost daughter being used to
produce sacrifices, a man is walking around calling himself
Saotome, and that he did this to you." he said leaning back.
Ranma nodded "it wouldn't have worked if they hadn't tricked
me, I still can't believe they had me so snowed. They knew I
would have killed them all if I knew what they had done. So
tricked me, they clubbed me over the head while I wasn't
expecting it and gave me to them."

He nodded "so why have we not heard from you before now?" he
asked crossing his arms. Ranma snorted looking away "and say
what? 'hi, I'm one of the spawn forced from a girl you
believed had been dead for a long time, oh ya by the way, I'm
half vampire and I burst into flames when my aquatransexual
curse kicks in!' oh ya, I really hoped for the best there!"
he snorted in bitter disgust walking into the kitchen. Akane
looked after him worriedly "he has a point father, he isn't
human." one of the two men said frowning. He shrugged "so?
Hes still family, and innocent from what I can tell. Wheres
your mother boy? Whats your name?" he asked. Ranma blinked
coming back out of the kitchen with a glass of coke "knowing
those demon sucking bastards shes probably knocked up and
working on producing another prize pig for sale." he snorted
walking into the living room and sat down. "And your not
angry?" he asked. Ranma looked at him as he moved over to
sit "why? before coming here my life was shit, neither of my
parents cared for me, know why now!" he said throwing up his
hands "and I also found out I have little value any where,
I'm not even legally a japanese citizen since I was never
offically born."

He nodded thoughtfuilly "what have you been doing all this
time then? You don't look like you've been treated like live
stock." he grumped. Ranma snorted "I've been training for the
last fourteen years in every form of weaponless martial arts
fighting style there is, they wanted me to be strong for
their rituals." he spat to the side. He nodded interested
"your skilled?" he asked. Ranma snorted "this town is the
ass crack of earth, I've killed over two hundred demons
since coming here, its a wonder how the slayer here was
never overwelmed, last night I killed twenty demons and
eight vampires, and that was in the first four hours, I
turned in early last night." He nodded grimly pleased "how
did you end up here?" he asked sitting down. Ranma shrugged
"they brought me here. If the slayer hadn't interrupted them
I wouldn't be here now. We had these three come to us when
we found out that they were in danger." He nodded looking
at them "were they used like your siblings?" he asked
calmly. Ranma nodded "Akane had a twin she never met."

He nodded slowly looking at the three girls as they bowed
their heads a little in grief "your parents did the same?"
he asked softly. Akane shrugged "the demon said we're owned
by them, the only reason they hadn't taken one of us is
because they were waiting for Genma to make good on his word
and fix the mistake of Ranmas birth." she said softly. Ranma
nodded taking a drink "Genma promised them that he would fix
the problem before taking me off for training. I always
wondered why he was always so angry at me, I guess I know
why." he murmured staring at his glass. The saotome elder
nodded staring at his face "you look like a great
grandfather in a childs body." he murmured simpathetically.
Ranma laughed weakly "how would you feel if your reason for
existing was taken from you to be replaced with the
knowledge that your no better then a cow at a slaughter
house."

"I mean, you spend your life thinking your somebody and that
your destined to be a teacher and some day a father and and
your content with that even though you know its not much, I
never had big dreams, all I wanted was to grow up, own a
dojo and have a loving family. A simple dream." ranmas
elder double looked at him sadly "not at all son, its great
dream, everyone has one like it." he refuted softly. Ranma
shrugged looking at his hands "but thats not going to be,
because your just like live stock who didn't know it until
they sold you as a meat product."

Akane came over and held him tightly sitting beside him
trying not to cry. The elder saotome looked down unable to
watch, his sons looked at each other sadly and his daughter
bit her lip to keep from crying. "Sir." Gile said sitting in a
chair beside them "we have studied Ranma since finding him
and we have found that he isn't a vampire as we know them, he
has their hightned strength and burns with the sunlight in
his female form, but he doesn't have fangs and doesn't
require blood like other night stalkers do. Fact is ranma
has none of the markers that distnguish humans from vampires
when it comes to evil, his behavior is unchanged from before
the... change, he actively seeks out evil and destoys it when
ever he finds it. Hes helped us a lot, in hunting with the
slayer and helping train her past what I am capable of doing.
I rather think hes come out of this whole mess admirably
well."

He nodded "I can see that sir. We thankyou for aiding them,
and for making us aware of whats been happening." Giles nodded
"when we heard we felt it was only right you be informed."
He nodded looking back at Ranma "are you going to be
alright?" he asked softly. Ranma nodded "these days it takes
a massive amount of pain to effect me, I figure I'll be
fine in a few days." he nodded still looking at him "would
you be willing to come back to japan with us?" Ranma looked
protesting "but... we've made a place for ourselves here, we
refuse to let their evil destroy all we believed in growing
up. I own a dojo here in Sunnydale and we're doing good,
besides, I am honor bound to aid the slayer as much as I
can, she has a long way to go before shes learned all I can
teach her."

He nodded looking pleased "thats good to hear son, what I
ment was, will you go back with us... to deal with your... to
deal wih those people? And I wish to have you known to the
rest of our family and bring you into the clan as you should
have been from the start." Ranma looked at him slightly
hopeful "I would have thought I would be revolting to you. I
mean, a bastard of an abused daughter of your clan and half
vampire?" he said looking at him. He smiled a little "you
think that is wierd? We have family that are half draconic
demon who change into forty foot tall dragons at will.
Trust me son, we would not turn you away because of your
birth. Even if some would protest, you've earned a place
with us."

His sons nodded firmly and his daughter smiled kindly. "How
long would we be gone?" Ranma asked holding Akane. He smiled
"though they are not blood related, they are your sisters,
they can come as well if they wish." he offered. Ranma
blinked a bit looking discontented "I don't know if I want
to think of Akane as my sister." he said frowning. Akane
looked a little hurt and he smiled kissing her softly "I
love you, how am I supposed to be with you the way I want if
your my sister?" he asked smirking a little. She smiled back
"thats alright, my sisters are your sisters." she said
firmly. Both Kasumi and Nabiki nodded firmly. "I gather it
won't be more then four months." the Saotome elder said
assuringly. Ranma smiled at him "then I except. I always
hoped I had more family then Genma and mom."

He nodded "do we know what the mans real name is? I dislike
hearing him refered to by my brothers name." he said looking
at him pointedly. Giles nodded "ah, his real name is...
Saroka Ikoga." he supplied looking at a folder he had. All
the saotomes snapped their heads around and he offered the
file to him when he demanded it. He looked at the pictures
and the report narrow eyed for a moment before crushing them
in anger "them." he snarled. Ranma looked curious leaning
voer and touched his mothers image "this is mother." he
murmured softly. He looked at the blankly staring face for a
while as his children crowded around then nodded looking
deeply angry "you have good sources Mr Giles, thorough
report." he said after a while.

Giles nodded "we have very professional aid in Willow." he
said waving to the girl. She smiled slightly shrugging "it was
easy to find." she said dimuringly. He nodded "but well
done. Thank you for your aid, the gratitude of the Saotome
clan is no small thing." Giles nodded "we were glad to help,
anything that sets back the cause of evil." he said
shrugging. He nodded "yes, but we owe you all a debt for
saving our lost son and helping find our kidnapped daughter.
I... how long will it take for you to be ready to leave? We
wish to conclude this soon." he said looking at Ranma. He
nodded "I have to call my students and close the dojo for a
while, uh, we'll have to inform the school and the apartment
complex." he murmrured.

Giles looked comforting "don't worry about that, I may not
be as high a caliber a sensei as you but I think I can handle
your students while your away, all of your classes were
after school hours after all." Ranma nodded pleased "you keep
the money you earned as sensei, Buffy should take a hand at
teaching, I find that it opens up a vast amount of patience
and confidence teaching others what you know." he said
looking at Buffy. She shrugged "I guess. Giles can tell the
school and you can write a letter to the apartment complex
telling them we're house sitting for you while your away."
Ranma nodded pleased "alright, all we need to do is pack
then." he said pleased and gave Giles his keys and a file
folder box "these are the keys to the apartment and the dojo,
these are the students files, telling pretty much everything
you need to know about them and how much they owe or have
paid." he said.

He layed a large book on top of that "this is a book of
progression charts and future study plans I worked up, I
think you should easily handle the next few months worth,
Buffys progression chart and what I planned to teach her is
also in there." He nodded "thankyou, its good to know you
have this organized so well." he said looking through it.
Ranma smirked "thank Nabiki, before she pointed it out to me,
it was all up in my head." he chuckled leaving the room.
Akane got up and followed him with the other two.