I do not own Ranma ½ but I wish I did so don't sue me all I have is a
cheep chair a computer and a really slow Internet. Hey what are you
doing??? No not the chair not the computer not the PHONE LINE!!!!!
NNNOOOOOO!!!!
*Man being stripped of every thing he owns* "COME BBBBAACCCKKKK!!!"
" " Talking
* * Thinking
Chapter 1: The Arrival
Tendo Dojo
========
A man in his late thirties, with a moustache and shoulder length black hair is sitting in a traditional Japanese dining room reading a letter. The man's eyes were wide and filled with tears of joy. The letter read: Dear Soun, Coming from China as promised with Ranma and friend. Be there in a week. Genma.
Soun Tendo a master of anything goes martial was overjoyed with the news shouted out to his three Daughters, to inform them of news. "Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane come on down I have something to announce" Kasumi and Nabiki arrived in the dining room, "What is it dad?" questioned Nabiki. "Where is Akane?" Soun questioned to himself. At that moment we see a 16-year-old girl with shoulder length hazel hair returning from a jog, immediately changing into a gi. With a loud "HIYAA" the girl brought down her hand on several concrete blocks utterly destroying them. At that moment another girl walks in, she is around Akane's age with short cut black hair, and cool calculating eyes. "No wonder all the boys are scared of you, you'll never get a boyfriend at this rate!" "Why do I care Nabiki, I hate boys" answered Akane. "Well then I guess you won't be interested in what father has to say then," replied Nabiki.
The three girls all gathered in the dining room to listen to there Father's announcement, "FIANCÉE!!!!" all three Tendo daughters screamed. Soun continued unaffected by their reactions "Yes an old friend of mine and his son will be coming to visiting me in a few days, if one of you were to marry him then the legacy of the Tendo dojo would be secure " "They have just finished crossing into China six months ago and should be arriving in the next few days" "Wow China" Nabiki murmured in a generally interested tone. Akane was the second to react, "Huh big deal anyway don't we get any say in who we marry", Kasumi simply said, "I hope he's not younger than me, younger men bore me" Nabiki decided to not comment further, but in her mind she was already calculating all the ways in which she could make money out of this. At that moment a loud shout was heard from outside "POP will you let me us, we ain't got time to visit some of your old friends, to get engaged to some girl we don't even know "Genma put him down now!" "All right you asked for it, DRAGON FIRE" the same male voice cried out. There was a loud thump as if something heavy just slumped to the ground.
By this time the entire Tendo family had gone outside in time to witness, at first a giant panda running towards them carrying a handsome young man with a pigtail, only to be moments later zapped by fire which seemed to come from a dragon that appeared out of nowhere. They then saw a raven-haired boy who had his hair wrapped in a bandanna. "Say umm Ranma why are those people staring at us?" the blond-haired girl said pointing to the Tendo family. Nabiki whispered to her father "are these your friends' dad?" "I don't recognize any of them" he simply replied Any further questioning of her father was stopped when the pigtailed boy approached them, Nabiki started to look him over while at the same time calculating how much she could make off him, he was quite handsome she thought. Akane kept telling herself "I hate boys, I hate boys..." but had to admit he was quite handsome as well. While Kasumi thought this boy too was quite attractive, she did notice that he seemed younger then her. But thought *maybe* Soun observed the way Ranma strolled towards him with such grace that there was no sound made from his footsteps. *Hmmm he must be a good martial artist whoever he is* Although for some reason though Ranma felt quite uneasy as the stares of all four members of the Tendo family seemed to bore into his very soul. As if it were not the first time they had seen him either. "Good morning Mr. Tendo?" Ranma queried to the only man present in the family "Yes who are you and how may I help you?" Soun replied "Well um...." Ranma struggled to find the right words although this past month his verbal skills had improved due to help from Ryoko & Ryouga, he still had trouble socially talking to people, and he preferred to fight his way through most problems. "Firstly Mr. Tendo, my name is Ranma Saotome, and Urrgg...." before Ranma could complete his sentence Mr. Tendo had in the blink of an eye run up to him and Was now squeezing the life out of him in a kind of bear hug, shouting, Ranma had forgotten how emotional Soun Tendo usually was so was unprepared. "Oh Ranma I'm sooo happy your finally here" Ryouga seeing Ranma being choked began forming a spell but then stopped when he could sense no ill intent coming from the man named Tendo. So walked up to him, touched a few pressure points causing Ranma to be released from his grip, (Ranma's face which was a bit too out of color) Soun knocked out of his emotional shock, turned and stared at the boy who was helping to support Ranma. The sensation in his arms was already returning. "Are you alright Ranma?" the raven-haired asked "Yea thanks for the save although I could have done it myself" Ranma smirked as he replied "Hmmm....whatever" Ryouga said in a non-believing tone. The three Tendo sisters all stared at the events occurring, Akane thought *hmm he's pretty good, not many people can take out my father with such ease* Nabiki was too busy thinking ways in which to make money out of the pair in front of her Kasumi just thought *well I guess there will be guests tonight* so hurried off to make preparations for a large dinner. Soun assessed that the raven-haired boy must also be good in the art. Ranma now a shade healthier continued "As I was saying Mr. Tendo, my father wanted to speak with you rather urgently for some reason" "Where's Genma I don't see him anywhere" replied Soun in a questioning tone. Ranma turned to Ryouga and nodded; she in turn stuck his hand behind his back, moments later pulling out a kettle. The remaining members of the Tendo family stared curiously at this kettle as if it were more then it seemed. Until the Boy poured the hot water over the panda. Everyone except Ranma and Ryouga were shocked to see the Panda transform in a bald man with glasses in a white gi! Soun immediately recognized his old friend, "Genma" he cried running to the body that lay on the ground. "Mr. Tendo, my pop is simply unconscious." Then Genma started to wake up. "Um...Could you explain why you were a panda?" "Um...Of course..."
'Five months ago' A bald man with glasses in a white gi was staring at a number of pools at the base of a valley; each pool had a bamboo pole sticking out in the center of each pool. Next to the man were two boys about sixteen years old with a long black hair in a pigtail and a raven-haired boy with a bandanna on, who were staring at the pools. Their deep blue eyes seemed to be taking in every detail of the training ground. "Wake up boys, we're here to train" Genma shouted, as to emphasize his point, grabbed the motionless boys and flung them into a nearby pool. Ranma and Ryouga emerged moments later on the surface of the pool, spluttering "Hey pop what'd you do that for?"
"Yeah?!"
"Ha boys a true martial artist would have been able to see that attack coming from a mile away" Genma retorted.
While jumping up to a nearby bamboo pole and balancing on a single-foot while in a crane stance. Ranma noting that this was the indication for the beginning of a sparing session, ignored his now soaking clothes and jumped up to another pole directly opposite his father none noticed the plump guide heading towards them waving his arms about in warning. As the battle continued as both Saotomes and Ryouga collided in mid air with a flurry of punches and kicks, all oblivious to the shouts of the guide.
Ranma and Ryouga were of course holding back. Genma on the other hand was having a hard time just avoiding and blocking all of Ranma's and Ryouga's attacks. As the battle continued Ranma and Ryouga got the upper hand and tossed his father into a pool, waiting for his father to emerge in his panda form.
As expected he did, straight away attacking Ranma and Ryouga in a renewed assault. Although Ranma and Ryouga had not expected this to happen they were quite unprepared when they had leapt to a pole, which was rotted and gave way under their weight.
Genma of course pressed the advantage and kicked his son and Ryouga into a pool, while he attempted to regain his balance. A few moments after Ranma fell into the pool, Genma seeing that his son and Ryouga had not broken the surface of the pool yet hurried over to it staring into the pool, he noticed for the first time that instead of a bald man staring back at him there was a giant panda. This of course caused Genma to faint. The guide at that moment reached the elder Saotome, hurried back to his hut to fetch some hot water. As he turned to leave, there was a sudden bright flash of light released from the pool, which Ranma and Ryouga had moments before fell into. The guide stared in awe as the bright red column energy released shot up through the air later to separate and enter other pools nearby.
After the light had died down, the guide warily approached the pool, which was now no longer a pool but rather a pit or hole. The guide curiously looked into the pit, was shocked to find two boys, the ones who had earlier been seen fighting with the older man now panda. What was most surprising was that next to the boys were girls about the same age as the boys, slightly shorter with beyond shoulder length red hair and blond hair.
The guide seeing as how all five people (four people and an animal) were unconscious and that the girls were naked. Decided to take all five into his hut for the moment until they regained consciousness. "...And from there onwards after we woke up, the guide demonstrated that pop had a curse, which is activated by cold and hot water, told me the story about Shian Loi"
"So honored customers whoever fall in cursed spring will take the shape of animal or person that drowned there," stated the guide to all three people. "So that's why pop's here turned into a panda, then back into a man when you poured hot water all over him" stated Ryouga trying to sound intelligent. "Yes honored sir, cold water turn him into a panda hot water turn him back into a man" "Ok I get that, but then how do you explain them" Ranma and Ryouga indicated to the redhead and blond headed girls who seemed to be sitting in silence contemplating the event. "I mean we did fall into the Nanniichuan right, so how comes were not cursed like pops here?" Although Ranma was relieved to not have a curse anymore, he was still curious as to the difference in events from how he remembered them. "Ohh...I remember now sirs, when first I saw you come to springs I saw you fall into the Nanniichuan, the spring of drowned man"
The group seemed puzzled as to the point of his statement. "Anyway since you two already men you just curse to turn into yourself, a man. So no change happen to you when you splashed with cold water" Ranma and Ryouga thought about this and were silently happy. The guide continued with his explanation "So young sirs since you already cursed you can not be cursed again, so when you fall into Nanniichuan you cancel out the curse of the Nanniichuan and release the soul of the girl who drown there one thousand five hundred years ago" indicating to the red head and blond head who sat silently in the corner of the hut.
At that last sentence the girls got up and ran off out of the hut, tears from their eyes fell to the ground where they once were. Ranma and Ryouga being the only ones to have seen the expression of pain on their faces ran off to catch up with them =============
"Anyway eventually we caught up with them, we talked and we convinced Shian and Rica that if they wanted to, they could come with me Ryouga and pop for the rest of the journey" Ryouga spoke up at that moment, "After Ranma and me and talked we all decided to adopt the name Ranko and Ryoko, as it was easier to pronounce properly and it would have sounded better here in Japan."
==========
"...And that's how it happened" "Yes" Genma said in disappointment "So then where are the girls now?" Soun questioned. "Oh.they will be here tomorrow because they didn't want to swim across the sea." Ryouga stated "Ohh.Anyway before we continue allow me to introduce you two my family" Soun said.
"My eldest daughter Kasumi is 19" indicating the woman wearing the apron and dress, with long flowing hazel hair. "My second eldest Nabiki is 17" nodding towards the cute girl with short cut black hair. "My youngest daughter Akane of 16,"pointing towards a girl with hair done the same way as Kasumi's was. "Ah Ranma I believe we met yesterday when you dropped of your father, anyway you now know my Daughters, pick one she will be your fiancée" The three girls having had a day to recover from the shock of the engagement, did not Respond immediately to their father's words. "Umm mister Tendo, I know that honor demands that I marry one your daughters" Ranma answered. "But I'm afraid that I cannot accept this engagement based on me knowing any of your daughters for only a few hours" He could hear the Tendo girls breathe out deeply.
By now Soun was in tears crying in the corner, "WHAAAAAHHHHH............now how will the dojo continue without a heir? WHAAAAAHHHH..." Ranma decided to intervene before they all drowned in tears. "MR TENDO I did not say I would not marry one of your daughters, just that well I am not willing to marry someone I've just met neither would any of your daughters" since this was indeed the first time he had met these people in this life. "Anyway perhaps your daughters already have someone else already" Thinking that was the simplest explanation, that would calm the Tendo man. All three girls were surprised by the Ranma's actions and words. As it meant they were not forced into marriage. Nabiki thought to herself *hmmm... this guy's pretty smart, and handsome too, it wouldn't be so bad, could definitely earn some yen from some of the girls" Kasumi thoughts were *what a mature young man...* Akane was the one who was shocked the most as here was a boy who was nothing likes those at school, they would've jumped at a chance to be engaged to her, but here was a boy thought about how they felt about the engagement. "I'm afraid Ranma that it's not that simple, as the arranged marriage was a matter of honor, something which he took very seriously. What Ranma's father said but remained silent, as this was a family affair, in which he was not an official member of either of the families in question, shocked Ryouga? At this point all three Tendo daughters looked up as well, curious at the words of the elder Satome man.
Genma believing that he now had everyone's attention continued, "The agreement of this arranged marriage was settled between our families before any of you were Even born, it was decided that if the Tendo family had a daughter and the Saotome family had a son The two families would be joined through marriage and vice versa" Everyone waited for her to continue, mister Tendo was now sitting back where he first was nodding in agreement with Genma's words, his face still red from all the tears shed. "So that means that one of my daughters will marry you Ranma, it's a matter of family honor" The elder Tendo stated proudly. "WHAT DAD you can't just force us to marry this boy here!" Akane shouted reacting out of her instinctive disgust of nearly all the boy's of Furikan High. Nabiki was silent but was annoyed at the idea of being forced into marrying someone even though He was pretty cute and she could earn quite a bit of money of him. Kasumi simply said "oh my" thinking that the boy in front of her although did seem mature was quite young. "Akane there does have a point, so as not to force anyone into a loveless marriage, my son will Make his decision in one year," Genma stated firmly
"Of course but there is a condition I must set as well" he responded "Oh? I suppose that's only right though as it is as much your matter as it is mine" "That Ranma must stay here in the Tendo household for the year so he may get to know my daughters, It would be easier than coming to visit all the time" "Very well I accept your terms, Ranma will stay here for the duration I one year until he chooses his Fiancée" "But dad...." Ranma started to protest by was silenced by a glare from his father, having forgotten that since honor was at stake here Ryouga was angry about how the Mr. Saotome and mister Tendo seemed to force Ranma into this ridiculous scheme. "Wait Genma if Ranma's staying here so am I" the Ryouga stated harshly. He turned a questioning stare at him, curious as to her reasoning. Ranma was glad that Ryouga wanted to stay with him; they had grown to be quite good friends these past few months. "Yeah dad me and Ryouga need to keep up our practices in the art so she should stay with me here" Thinking up the most solid and believable reason he could. Although he had yet to tell him that while he practiced Martial arts, he and Ryouga practiced Magical arts as well.
"Hmmm" Genma considered this for a moment, Ranma would need a friend here since none of the Tendo girls seemed ready to open up to him. She noted by their body language. "Very well, is that acceptable to Tendo?" "Of course" he replied hastily not wanting to offend the woman from what his friend had told Him about her she was not someone to annoy. Ranma pleased and relieved that there would be someone he could easily interact with during his stay here. Akane glared at these boys as here they had just waltzed in and practically taken the dojo from her, although she could not hold any anger behind the glare as it was their parent's idea. Kasumi showed them to two guest rooms next to each other, they each put their own bags in One of the guest rooms. Since it was still evening Ranma decided that he would go to the Dojo, that was the one place where he felt most comfortable since his two year stay in the Tendo household On his way there, he decided that sparing with someone would be better than just partaking Kata. Knocking on Ryouga's door, he asked "Say Ryouga I'm gonna do a bit of practice now, you want to spar?" "Sure thing Ranma I'll be down in a moment" "Ok" with that he left for the dojo; he had already dressed in his gi, as he knew he was going to be working hard. He leapt in the air performing three chestnut fists followed by two lightning kicks. Each chestnut fist/lightning kick attacks were about two hundred attacks each. He was so busy concentrating on the art and his thoughts that he did not notice Nabiki near the dojo entrance taking photos of him working out. *God he's good* Nabiki thought amazed at Ranma's actions, to her the mid- air attacks had seemed like single punches and kicks. "Hey Nabiki what are you doing here?" asked the familiar voice of her younger sister. "Nothing Akane just thinking" she replied with a neutral expression on her face. She then got up and left. Akane stared at her sister's departing form, and then at the boy who was currently in the dojo, by the looks of him he had just finished his Kata. Since she had been too busy observing her sister, Akane did not see Ranma working out so was unaware of his skill in the art. *Hmm....he doesn't look that good to me* with that in mind she decided to have a match with Ranma. Ranma had just landed and finished his kata. He did not even notice as Akane walked up to him and Tapped him on the shoulder, startled he spun round while flipping backwards putting space between Himself and the would be attacker, all in the blink of an eye. Akane stared at the agility that Ranma had just displayed and was impressed but did not show it. "Umm.... hi Akane sorry about that you startled me I was just working out" he muttered while relaxing from his defensive stance. "That's ok, I usually come here to practice a bit before dinner anyway" "Oh" Ranma was a bit surprised. "Anyway Ranma you've been on a ten year training trip with your father right?" she inquired, Before Ranma could respond she continued "Anyway would you like to spar, don't worry it just a bit of fun nothing serious" "Um sure"
Akane took up a standard karate stance, while Ranma stood straight feet shoulder length apart, hands clasped behind his back. *What is he doing* She thought, with that thought she decided to attack, with a quick jab to the face, Only to feel her fist meet air where Ranma's head once was. Ranma was standing a meter back from where he once was at the start of the match; he had seen what Akane was going to do by the shift of her body weight, followed by the tensing of her right arm. *What?? How did I miss and how did he move so fast* Akane thought as she attacked again intensifying her attacks. Ranma seemed to casually dodge in and out of her defense as if he were dancing around her attacks. Akane was getting mad no furious that this boy seemed to casually be evading her strikes with ease, worse of all he still had his hands behind his back and did not seem to be breaking a sweat. Ranma sensing and seeing that Akane was getting frustrated by his dodging, decided to allow himself to be backed into a corner.
By now he had less than three feet before his back would be to the wall. Akane seemed a bit less frustrated now, as she believed she had him. *Once he runs out of space to dodge than I'll have him*with that she charged putting all her remaining speed and strength into this last attack. Ranma saw her coming, reading her body language he could tell after this attack she would be exhausted. So decided that now was the time to fight back instead of simply dodging. Just before her fist was to connect with Ranma's face, she saw a glint in his crystal blue Eyes, than he seemed to disappear. She felt someone grab her attacking arm; redirect the attack, causing her to lose her balance the next thing Akane was aware of was that she was flying through the air towards a pile Of crash mats near the opposite end of the dojo wall. She braced herself for the impact. After Ranma sent Akane flying into the mats he thought *Hope she ain't gonna be mad at me for that* as he ran up to Akane who was busy wrestling herself from the mats that now piled on top of her. "Sorry about that here." he said as he offered a hand to help he up. She was about to slap his hand away, when she looked up at his face, instead of an cocky expression of superiority, she saw that he was truly sorry for what he had done, she only just realized that up close He was really cute, *what where did that come from* she thought. She had thought him like All the other boys she had known, stupid and pig headed. *Uh Oh she looks mad* he thought, his first instinct was to run before he got molested, he was surprised When soft skin touched his hand as Akane reached up and accepted his help. "Thanks your really good you know," she praised "Well I have been training since I could walk, your pretty good yourself better than most people I know" Akane felt her cheeks going red, no one had ever complemented her on her martial arts skill before, and usually all they did was talk about her body. "Thanks" she answered. "Yo Ranma, you ready yet, I thought you said you wanted to spar" Ryouga spoke from the entrance to the dojo. Looking at the dojo wall clock Ranma noticed that they had sparred for about half an hour. "Yeah sure I'm ready for you" Ranma replied, the pair walked up to each other in the middle of the dojo, they stood roughly ten feet apart from each other. "I am not going to go easy on you this time, I'm going to beat the crap out of you" the raven-haired boy taunted with a grin. "Ha you couldn't do that even if I had my hands tied behind my back" Ranma retorted Akane meanwhile sat at the edge of the dojo, trying to catch her breath and recover from the exhaustion of her match with Ranma. She noticed that Ranma was still in the stance he had used when they sparred, hands behind his back feet shoulder length apart. She did notice now by looking carefully that his muscles were slightly tensed. Where as Ryouga stood in a knife hand stance. She noted that although she was dead tired Ranma wasn't even breathing hard let alone sweating; she was amazed at his stamina. But quickly turned her attention to the math which had just started. Ryouga nodded his head signifying the start of the match, he back flipped then using the momentum propelled herself of the floor towards a surprised Ranma, who was expecting quick jab or kick. Ranma seeing that he had been fooled, quickly dodged to the side, Ryouga's foot avoiding his face by mere inches. *Damn he's been a practicing, look like I'll have to be more careful next time* Ranma knew that if he went all out, even without performing any special moves Ryouga would not last long, as this was a martial arts only match. Although if he used her magic which she would not in front of strangers as they were guests in this House and scaring the hosts would not do. Soon the pair was a blur going all around the dojo, *He's bluffing a lot more now and I can barely read his moves, * He thought as he blocked a low kick to the groin. "Hey that could've had hurt you know Ryouga" Ryouga just laughed in reply, although their matches were real with blows aimed to hurt not maim or kill, it was still light hearted and fun. After half an hour of being on the defensive Ranma decided to test out how Ryouga had improved in defense. He knew that like him she learnt quickly, in both magic and martial arts.
After ten minutes, of Ryouga successfully blocking and countering all of his attacks, he decided to up the level of skill. Ryouga was sweating but happy, for once he was not instantly thrown to the floor, although Ranma had managed to grab him many times for a throw he managed to slip out of his grasp. Before his next attack she noticed that he paused for a second too long, he knew that Ranma was Sizing him up again and most likely the next attack would be more intense. *Well at least I know I've improved* as he charged not wanting to give Ranma the time to think any longer. Ranma deliberately hesitated to make Ryouga attack him, as he come rushing towards him, just before his hand connected he ducked low and swept her legs out from under him. Ryouga threw too much strength behind that attack, as he was unable to stop herself in time when she saw Ranma duck low at the last moment. he felt herself fall to the floor face first. Before he impacted with the padded floor, she felt someone catch him in a cradle like position, he opened her eyes, and saw the grinning face of Ranma staring back at him, Ryouga realized that the match was not over so attempted to punch Ranma only to find both his hands locked behind his back in Ranma's iron grip. He tried to kick him only to see his other arm blocked the kicks, due to the position he was in Ryouga was unable to put much force behind the kicks so they were stuck in that position. "Give up Ryouga?" asked a grinning Ranma. Knowing the futility of the situation, he knew that she had lost. "Alright you win THIS time, but I'll get you" he felt her hands being released from his strong grip, Ranma helped him up. His face turned serious for a moment during which he said, "That's was great Ryouga you sure have improved a lot since we got to Japan, although you should have been able to guess I was setting you up, you put too much of your energy in that last punch, you should have expected a counter" "Yeah well next time when we can find some place private I'll show you how good I really am" The raven-haired boy stated waving a finger in front of Ranma, so he could see the sparks of electricity Coming from it. "Yep but we best wait a couple of days at least and I show you what I'm capable of too" opening his fist in front of his face, so he could see the tiny glowing sphere if energy in his hand. The two locked eyes for a moment than started to grin, at the same time they said "I'm gonna kick you ass" This causes the pair to break out laughing. Akane amazed at the skill the pair had shown just started at the exchange not noticing the sparks or glows emitted The pair was still laughing when Akane decided to walk up to them. "Wow you guys are really good" Both still laughing just nodded at her. "Say Ryouga do you think I could spar with you sometime?" She asked thinking *I'd rather be defeated By a girl rather then a boy even if he is.... cu...cute* Nabiki walked into the dojo, she had a miniature camera in her hand, and only Ranma noticed it, having had to deal with Nabiki's scheming before. "Akane, Ranma Ryouga dinners ready" she said. As they were leaving Ranma stayed slightly behind, as he about to walk past Nabiki he asked "Say Nabiki can I have a word with you?"
========= Curious as to why the Saotome boy would want to talk to her, she followed him as he led her Back into the dojo. Glancing around to make sure no one else was around. "So Ranma what'd you want?" she asked curiously. "Nabiki I don't want you selling photos of Akane, me or Ryouga," he stated firmly Nabiki surprised by how Ranma knew so much decided to play innocent. "But Ranma I don't know what you're talking about" Putting on her cutest face. "Look Nabiki you can drop the act, I know you use the money from the photos to keep this place going" "How do you know?" she asked in shock of Ranma's knowledge. "Simple today's a weekday if there was business it would have come in the last two days, and I haven't Seen any students coming in to learn" making up a reasonable explanation. Nabiki hated to admit it though Ranma was right, her father barely had any students, as he was way Too emotional for a sensei ever since her mom died. "Considering the number of dojo in the area I'm not surprised" She nodded for him to continue, "Anyway all I'm saying is that, me and Ryouga will pay our way here," he said pulling out a wad of money. Nabiki's mouth watered at the sight of so much money, "I won much of this through various contest while through China" "Here's two hundred thousand yen, it's for the living expenses of me and Ryouga for at least two months" Ranma counted out the specified amount and handed it to Nabiki, "So how does this pay for the rest of the dojo, you said you didn't want me selling pictures of Akane?" "If you want me to stop you're going to have to pay a lot more" "I'm sure that when you sell those photos of me when I was working out more people will visit the dojo" Nabiki was surprised at how Ranma even knew about the photos but than thought about what he said thinking about how much the girls would be willing to pay for such pictures. Ranma was thinking about the increase in students wanting to learn the art, while. He got up and headed towards the dining room, turning once again to face the dreaming Nabiki, "Oh and by the way Nabiki I'm afraid I can't let you sell the pictures of me sparring with either Ryouga Or Akane" holding up a roll of film between his fingers so Nabiki could clearly see it. He crushed It to dust. Nabiki immediately started to search her pockets and found that the pictures of the match were indeed gone. She had seen yen disappear as Ranma crushed the roll of film.
"Take better care of your self Nabiki, you might get hurt doing what you do and I don't want that to happen ." he said taking her hands and looking into her deep brown eyes. "I.uh.Ranma ok." She said with a blush "but under one condition." She said "Name it and you got it." Ranma whispered. "you be my bodyguard." She said with a slit grin not excepting him to expect the offer. "ok but I warn you now I am a bring a lot of chaos." He said with a alight glint in his eyes. "Bye Biki-chan"
With a grin Ranma left the dojo leaving behind a very surprised Nabiki and a crushed roll of film Behind. He took his place between Ryouga and Akane at the table; all three were hungry from their intensive workout. A moment later Nabiki walked in and also took her place, Ranma noted that she still had a slight blush on her face although her expression was neutral. Several times in between eating and chopstick sparing with Ryouga, Ranma sensed Nabiki look at him. He knew she was assessing him, changing her opinion from the first time they had met. After dinner Ranma, Ryouga and the Tendo family all retreated to do what they normally did after dinner. Kasumi went to clean the dishes, both Nabiki and Akane went upstairs to their rooms, mister Tendo just sat reading a newspaper and smoking a pipe. Ranma and Ryouga decided to watch some TV as they had never really watched much TV in their life. "So what do you think so far?" she asked Ranma "About what?" "You know Akane and Nabiki, I know you talked to her after we sparred" "That was just business Ryouga, I don't want to be a freeloader like my pop" "Ok then what about Akane, I mean you seem to like her," she asked "Only as a friend Ryouga, I mean I don't usually get the chance to make friends before cause we're always Moving around ya know. I'm more into Nabiki anyways."
"Get out.your kidding right." he replied with a chuckle.
"Nope I really do like her Ryouga. I really do." he said trailing off Getting bored of TV quickly the two retreated upstairs, after washing themselves they both decided to sleep. In their room Ryouga fell asleep as his head touched the pillow same with Ranma. (TO BE CONTINUED)
*Man being stripped of every thing he owns* "COME BBBBAACCCKKKK!!!"
" " Talking
* * Thinking
Chapter 1: The Arrival
Tendo Dojo
========
A man in his late thirties, with a moustache and shoulder length black hair is sitting in a traditional Japanese dining room reading a letter. The man's eyes were wide and filled with tears of joy. The letter read: Dear Soun, Coming from China as promised with Ranma and friend. Be there in a week. Genma.
Soun Tendo a master of anything goes martial was overjoyed with the news shouted out to his three Daughters, to inform them of news. "Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane come on down I have something to announce" Kasumi and Nabiki arrived in the dining room, "What is it dad?" questioned Nabiki. "Where is Akane?" Soun questioned to himself. At that moment we see a 16-year-old girl with shoulder length hazel hair returning from a jog, immediately changing into a gi. With a loud "HIYAA" the girl brought down her hand on several concrete blocks utterly destroying them. At that moment another girl walks in, she is around Akane's age with short cut black hair, and cool calculating eyes. "No wonder all the boys are scared of you, you'll never get a boyfriend at this rate!" "Why do I care Nabiki, I hate boys" answered Akane. "Well then I guess you won't be interested in what father has to say then," replied Nabiki.
The three girls all gathered in the dining room to listen to there Father's announcement, "FIANCÉE!!!!" all three Tendo daughters screamed. Soun continued unaffected by their reactions "Yes an old friend of mine and his son will be coming to visiting me in a few days, if one of you were to marry him then the legacy of the Tendo dojo would be secure " "They have just finished crossing into China six months ago and should be arriving in the next few days" "Wow China" Nabiki murmured in a generally interested tone. Akane was the second to react, "Huh big deal anyway don't we get any say in who we marry", Kasumi simply said, "I hope he's not younger than me, younger men bore me" Nabiki decided to not comment further, but in her mind she was already calculating all the ways in which she could make money out of this. At that moment a loud shout was heard from outside "POP will you let me us, we ain't got time to visit some of your old friends, to get engaged to some girl we don't even know "Genma put him down now!" "All right you asked for it, DRAGON FIRE" the same male voice cried out. There was a loud thump as if something heavy just slumped to the ground.
By this time the entire Tendo family had gone outside in time to witness, at first a giant panda running towards them carrying a handsome young man with a pigtail, only to be moments later zapped by fire which seemed to come from a dragon that appeared out of nowhere. They then saw a raven-haired boy who had his hair wrapped in a bandanna. "Say umm Ranma why are those people staring at us?" the blond-haired girl said pointing to the Tendo family. Nabiki whispered to her father "are these your friends' dad?" "I don't recognize any of them" he simply replied Any further questioning of her father was stopped when the pigtailed boy approached them, Nabiki started to look him over while at the same time calculating how much she could make off him, he was quite handsome she thought. Akane kept telling herself "I hate boys, I hate boys..." but had to admit he was quite handsome as well. While Kasumi thought this boy too was quite attractive, she did notice that he seemed younger then her. But thought *maybe* Soun observed the way Ranma strolled towards him with such grace that there was no sound made from his footsteps. *Hmmm he must be a good martial artist whoever he is* Although for some reason though Ranma felt quite uneasy as the stares of all four members of the Tendo family seemed to bore into his very soul. As if it were not the first time they had seen him either. "Good morning Mr. Tendo?" Ranma queried to the only man present in the family "Yes who are you and how may I help you?" Soun replied "Well um...." Ranma struggled to find the right words although this past month his verbal skills had improved due to help from Ryoko & Ryouga, he still had trouble socially talking to people, and he preferred to fight his way through most problems. "Firstly Mr. Tendo, my name is Ranma Saotome, and Urrgg...." before Ranma could complete his sentence Mr. Tendo had in the blink of an eye run up to him and Was now squeezing the life out of him in a kind of bear hug, shouting, Ranma had forgotten how emotional Soun Tendo usually was so was unprepared. "Oh Ranma I'm sooo happy your finally here" Ryouga seeing Ranma being choked began forming a spell but then stopped when he could sense no ill intent coming from the man named Tendo. So walked up to him, touched a few pressure points causing Ranma to be released from his grip, (Ranma's face which was a bit too out of color) Soun knocked out of his emotional shock, turned and stared at the boy who was helping to support Ranma. The sensation in his arms was already returning. "Are you alright Ranma?" the raven-haired asked "Yea thanks for the save although I could have done it myself" Ranma smirked as he replied "Hmmm....whatever" Ryouga said in a non-believing tone. The three Tendo sisters all stared at the events occurring, Akane thought *hmm he's pretty good, not many people can take out my father with such ease* Nabiki was too busy thinking ways in which to make money out of the pair in front of her Kasumi just thought *well I guess there will be guests tonight* so hurried off to make preparations for a large dinner. Soun assessed that the raven-haired boy must also be good in the art. Ranma now a shade healthier continued "As I was saying Mr. Tendo, my father wanted to speak with you rather urgently for some reason" "Where's Genma I don't see him anywhere" replied Soun in a questioning tone. Ranma turned to Ryouga and nodded; she in turn stuck his hand behind his back, moments later pulling out a kettle. The remaining members of the Tendo family stared curiously at this kettle as if it were more then it seemed. Until the Boy poured the hot water over the panda. Everyone except Ranma and Ryouga were shocked to see the Panda transform in a bald man with glasses in a white gi! Soun immediately recognized his old friend, "Genma" he cried running to the body that lay on the ground. "Mr. Tendo, my pop is simply unconscious." Then Genma started to wake up. "Um...Could you explain why you were a panda?" "Um...Of course..."
'Five months ago' A bald man with glasses in a white gi was staring at a number of pools at the base of a valley; each pool had a bamboo pole sticking out in the center of each pool. Next to the man were two boys about sixteen years old with a long black hair in a pigtail and a raven-haired boy with a bandanna on, who were staring at the pools. Their deep blue eyes seemed to be taking in every detail of the training ground. "Wake up boys, we're here to train" Genma shouted, as to emphasize his point, grabbed the motionless boys and flung them into a nearby pool. Ranma and Ryouga emerged moments later on the surface of the pool, spluttering "Hey pop what'd you do that for?"
"Yeah?!"
"Ha boys a true martial artist would have been able to see that attack coming from a mile away" Genma retorted.
While jumping up to a nearby bamboo pole and balancing on a single-foot while in a crane stance. Ranma noting that this was the indication for the beginning of a sparing session, ignored his now soaking clothes and jumped up to another pole directly opposite his father none noticed the plump guide heading towards them waving his arms about in warning. As the battle continued as both Saotomes and Ryouga collided in mid air with a flurry of punches and kicks, all oblivious to the shouts of the guide.
Ranma and Ryouga were of course holding back. Genma on the other hand was having a hard time just avoiding and blocking all of Ranma's and Ryouga's attacks. As the battle continued Ranma and Ryouga got the upper hand and tossed his father into a pool, waiting for his father to emerge in his panda form.
As expected he did, straight away attacking Ranma and Ryouga in a renewed assault. Although Ranma and Ryouga had not expected this to happen they were quite unprepared when they had leapt to a pole, which was rotted and gave way under their weight.
Genma of course pressed the advantage and kicked his son and Ryouga into a pool, while he attempted to regain his balance. A few moments after Ranma fell into the pool, Genma seeing that his son and Ryouga had not broken the surface of the pool yet hurried over to it staring into the pool, he noticed for the first time that instead of a bald man staring back at him there was a giant panda. This of course caused Genma to faint. The guide at that moment reached the elder Saotome, hurried back to his hut to fetch some hot water. As he turned to leave, there was a sudden bright flash of light released from the pool, which Ranma and Ryouga had moments before fell into. The guide stared in awe as the bright red column energy released shot up through the air later to separate and enter other pools nearby.
After the light had died down, the guide warily approached the pool, which was now no longer a pool but rather a pit or hole. The guide curiously looked into the pit, was shocked to find two boys, the ones who had earlier been seen fighting with the older man now panda. What was most surprising was that next to the boys were girls about the same age as the boys, slightly shorter with beyond shoulder length red hair and blond hair.
The guide seeing as how all five people (four people and an animal) were unconscious and that the girls were naked. Decided to take all five into his hut for the moment until they regained consciousness. "...And from there onwards after we woke up, the guide demonstrated that pop had a curse, which is activated by cold and hot water, told me the story about Shian Loi"
"So honored customers whoever fall in cursed spring will take the shape of animal or person that drowned there," stated the guide to all three people. "So that's why pop's here turned into a panda, then back into a man when you poured hot water all over him" stated Ryouga trying to sound intelligent. "Yes honored sir, cold water turn him into a panda hot water turn him back into a man" "Ok I get that, but then how do you explain them" Ranma and Ryouga indicated to the redhead and blond headed girls who seemed to be sitting in silence contemplating the event. "I mean we did fall into the Nanniichuan right, so how comes were not cursed like pops here?" Although Ranma was relieved to not have a curse anymore, he was still curious as to the difference in events from how he remembered them. "Ohh...I remember now sirs, when first I saw you come to springs I saw you fall into the Nanniichuan, the spring of drowned man"
The group seemed puzzled as to the point of his statement. "Anyway since you two already men you just curse to turn into yourself, a man. So no change happen to you when you splashed with cold water" Ranma and Ryouga thought about this and were silently happy. The guide continued with his explanation "So young sirs since you already cursed you can not be cursed again, so when you fall into Nanniichuan you cancel out the curse of the Nanniichuan and release the soul of the girl who drown there one thousand five hundred years ago" indicating to the red head and blond head who sat silently in the corner of the hut.
At that last sentence the girls got up and ran off out of the hut, tears from their eyes fell to the ground where they once were. Ranma and Ryouga being the only ones to have seen the expression of pain on their faces ran off to catch up with them =============
"Anyway eventually we caught up with them, we talked and we convinced Shian and Rica that if they wanted to, they could come with me Ryouga and pop for the rest of the journey" Ryouga spoke up at that moment, "After Ranma and me and talked we all decided to adopt the name Ranko and Ryoko, as it was easier to pronounce properly and it would have sounded better here in Japan."
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"...And that's how it happened" "Yes" Genma said in disappointment "So then where are the girls now?" Soun questioned. "Oh.they will be here tomorrow because they didn't want to swim across the sea." Ryouga stated "Ohh.Anyway before we continue allow me to introduce you two my family" Soun said.
"My eldest daughter Kasumi is 19" indicating the woman wearing the apron and dress, with long flowing hazel hair. "My second eldest Nabiki is 17" nodding towards the cute girl with short cut black hair. "My youngest daughter Akane of 16,"pointing towards a girl with hair done the same way as Kasumi's was. "Ah Ranma I believe we met yesterday when you dropped of your father, anyway you now know my Daughters, pick one she will be your fiancée" The three girls having had a day to recover from the shock of the engagement, did not Respond immediately to their father's words. "Umm mister Tendo, I know that honor demands that I marry one your daughters" Ranma answered. "But I'm afraid that I cannot accept this engagement based on me knowing any of your daughters for only a few hours" He could hear the Tendo girls breathe out deeply.
By now Soun was in tears crying in the corner, "WHAAAAAHHHHH............now how will the dojo continue without a heir? WHAAAAAHHHH..." Ranma decided to intervene before they all drowned in tears. "MR TENDO I did not say I would not marry one of your daughters, just that well I am not willing to marry someone I've just met neither would any of your daughters" since this was indeed the first time he had met these people in this life. "Anyway perhaps your daughters already have someone else already" Thinking that was the simplest explanation, that would calm the Tendo man. All three girls were surprised by the Ranma's actions and words. As it meant they were not forced into marriage. Nabiki thought to herself *hmmm... this guy's pretty smart, and handsome too, it wouldn't be so bad, could definitely earn some yen from some of the girls" Kasumi thoughts were *what a mature young man...* Akane was the one who was shocked the most as here was a boy who was nothing likes those at school, they would've jumped at a chance to be engaged to her, but here was a boy thought about how they felt about the engagement. "I'm afraid Ranma that it's not that simple, as the arranged marriage was a matter of honor, something which he took very seriously. What Ranma's father said but remained silent, as this was a family affair, in which he was not an official member of either of the families in question, shocked Ryouga? At this point all three Tendo daughters looked up as well, curious at the words of the elder Satome man.
Genma believing that he now had everyone's attention continued, "The agreement of this arranged marriage was settled between our families before any of you were Even born, it was decided that if the Tendo family had a daughter and the Saotome family had a son The two families would be joined through marriage and vice versa" Everyone waited for her to continue, mister Tendo was now sitting back where he first was nodding in agreement with Genma's words, his face still red from all the tears shed. "So that means that one of my daughters will marry you Ranma, it's a matter of family honor" The elder Tendo stated proudly. "WHAT DAD you can't just force us to marry this boy here!" Akane shouted reacting out of her instinctive disgust of nearly all the boy's of Furikan High. Nabiki was silent but was annoyed at the idea of being forced into marrying someone even though He was pretty cute and she could earn quite a bit of money of him. Kasumi simply said "oh my" thinking that the boy in front of her although did seem mature was quite young. "Akane there does have a point, so as not to force anyone into a loveless marriage, my son will Make his decision in one year," Genma stated firmly
"Of course but there is a condition I must set as well" he responded "Oh? I suppose that's only right though as it is as much your matter as it is mine" "That Ranma must stay here in the Tendo household for the year so he may get to know my daughters, It would be easier than coming to visit all the time" "Very well I accept your terms, Ranma will stay here for the duration I one year until he chooses his Fiancée" "But dad...." Ranma started to protest by was silenced by a glare from his father, having forgotten that since honor was at stake here Ryouga was angry about how the Mr. Saotome and mister Tendo seemed to force Ranma into this ridiculous scheme. "Wait Genma if Ranma's staying here so am I" the Ryouga stated harshly. He turned a questioning stare at him, curious as to her reasoning. Ranma was glad that Ryouga wanted to stay with him; they had grown to be quite good friends these past few months. "Yeah dad me and Ryouga need to keep up our practices in the art so she should stay with me here" Thinking up the most solid and believable reason he could. Although he had yet to tell him that while he practiced Martial arts, he and Ryouga practiced Magical arts as well.
"Hmmm" Genma considered this for a moment, Ranma would need a friend here since none of the Tendo girls seemed ready to open up to him. She noted by their body language. "Very well, is that acceptable to Tendo?" "Of course" he replied hastily not wanting to offend the woman from what his friend had told Him about her she was not someone to annoy. Ranma pleased and relieved that there would be someone he could easily interact with during his stay here. Akane glared at these boys as here they had just waltzed in and practically taken the dojo from her, although she could not hold any anger behind the glare as it was their parent's idea. Kasumi showed them to two guest rooms next to each other, they each put their own bags in One of the guest rooms. Since it was still evening Ranma decided that he would go to the Dojo, that was the one place where he felt most comfortable since his two year stay in the Tendo household On his way there, he decided that sparing with someone would be better than just partaking Kata. Knocking on Ryouga's door, he asked "Say Ryouga I'm gonna do a bit of practice now, you want to spar?" "Sure thing Ranma I'll be down in a moment" "Ok" with that he left for the dojo; he had already dressed in his gi, as he knew he was going to be working hard. He leapt in the air performing three chestnut fists followed by two lightning kicks. Each chestnut fist/lightning kick attacks were about two hundred attacks each. He was so busy concentrating on the art and his thoughts that he did not notice Nabiki near the dojo entrance taking photos of him working out. *God he's good* Nabiki thought amazed at Ranma's actions, to her the mid- air attacks had seemed like single punches and kicks. "Hey Nabiki what are you doing here?" asked the familiar voice of her younger sister. "Nothing Akane just thinking" she replied with a neutral expression on her face. She then got up and left. Akane stared at her sister's departing form, and then at the boy who was currently in the dojo, by the looks of him he had just finished his Kata. Since she had been too busy observing her sister, Akane did not see Ranma working out so was unaware of his skill in the art. *Hmm....he doesn't look that good to me* with that in mind she decided to have a match with Ranma. Ranma had just landed and finished his kata. He did not even notice as Akane walked up to him and Tapped him on the shoulder, startled he spun round while flipping backwards putting space between Himself and the would be attacker, all in the blink of an eye. Akane stared at the agility that Ranma had just displayed and was impressed but did not show it. "Umm.... hi Akane sorry about that you startled me I was just working out" he muttered while relaxing from his defensive stance. "That's ok, I usually come here to practice a bit before dinner anyway" "Oh" Ranma was a bit surprised. "Anyway Ranma you've been on a ten year training trip with your father right?" she inquired, Before Ranma could respond she continued "Anyway would you like to spar, don't worry it just a bit of fun nothing serious" "Um sure"
Akane took up a standard karate stance, while Ranma stood straight feet shoulder length apart, hands clasped behind his back. *What is he doing* She thought, with that thought she decided to attack, with a quick jab to the face, Only to feel her fist meet air where Ranma's head once was. Ranma was standing a meter back from where he once was at the start of the match; he had seen what Akane was going to do by the shift of her body weight, followed by the tensing of her right arm. *What?? How did I miss and how did he move so fast* Akane thought as she attacked again intensifying her attacks. Ranma seemed to casually dodge in and out of her defense as if he were dancing around her attacks. Akane was getting mad no furious that this boy seemed to casually be evading her strikes with ease, worse of all he still had his hands behind his back and did not seem to be breaking a sweat. Ranma sensing and seeing that Akane was getting frustrated by his dodging, decided to allow himself to be backed into a corner.
By now he had less than three feet before his back would be to the wall. Akane seemed a bit less frustrated now, as she believed she had him. *Once he runs out of space to dodge than I'll have him*with that she charged putting all her remaining speed and strength into this last attack. Ranma saw her coming, reading her body language he could tell after this attack she would be exhausted. So decided that now was the time to fight back instead of simply dodging. Just before her fist was to connect with Ranma's face, she saw a glint in his crystal blue Eyes, than he seemed to disappear. She felt someone grab her attacking arm; redirect the attack, causing her to lose her balance the next thing Akane was aware of was that she was flying through the air towards a pile Of crash mats near the opposite end of the dojo wall. She braced herself for the impact. After Ranma sent Akane flying into the mats he thought *Hope she ain't gonna be mad at me for that* as he ran up to Akane who was busy wrestling herself from the mats that now piled on top of her. "Sorry about that here." he said as he offered a hand to help he up. She was about to slap his hand away, when she looked up at his face, instead of an cocky expression of superiority, she saw that he was truly sorry for what he had done, she only just realized that up close He was really cute, *what where did that come from* she thought. She had thought him like All the other boys she had known, stupid and pig headed. *Uh Oh she looks mad* he thought, his first instinct was to run before he got molested, he was surprised When soft skin touched his hand as Akane reached up and accepted his help. "Thanks your really good you know," she praised "Well I have been training since I could walk, your pretty good yourself better than most people I know" Akane felt her cheeks going red, no one had ever complemented her on her martial arts skill before, and usually all they did was talk about her body. "Thanks" she answered. "Yo Ranma, you ready yet, I thought you said you wanted to spar" Ryouga spoke from the entrance to the dojo. Looking at the dojo wall clock Ranma noticed that they had sparred for about half an hour. "Yeah sure I'm ready for you" Ranma replied, the pair walked up to each other in the middle of the dojo, they stood roughly ten feet apart from each other. "I am not going to go easy on you this time, I'm going to beat the crap out of you" the raven-haired boy taunted with a grin. "Ha you couldn't do that even if I had my hands tied behind my back" Ranma retorted Akane meanwhile sat at the edge of the dojo, trying to catch her breath and recover from the exhaustion of her match with Ranma. She noticed that Ranma was still in the stance he had used when they sparred, hands behind his back feet shoulder length apart. She did notice now by looking carefully that his muscles were slightly tensed. Where as Ryouga stood in a knife hand stance. She noted that although she was dead tired Ranma wasn't even breathing hard let alone sweating; she was amazed at his stamina. But quickly turned her attention to the math which had just started. Ryouga nodded his head signifying the start of the match, he back flipped then using the momentum propelled herself of the floor towards a surprised Ranma, who was expecting quick jab or kick. Ranma seeing that he had been fooled, quickly dodged to the side, Ryouga's foot avoiding his face by mere inches. *Damn he's been a practicing, look like I'll have to be more careful next time* Ranma knew that if he went all out, even without performing any special moves Ryouga would not last long, as this was a martial arts only match. Although if he used her magic which she would not in front of strangers as they were guests in this House and scaring the hosts would not do. Soon the pair was a blur going all around the dojo, *He's bluffing a lot more now and I can barely read his moves, * He thought as he blocked a low kick to the groin. "Hey that could've had hurt you know Ryouga" Ryouga just laughed in reply, although their matches were real with blows aimed to hurt not maim or kill, it was still light hearted and fun. After half an hour of being on the defensive Ranma decided to test out how Ryouga had improved in defense. He knew that like him she learnt quickly, in both magic and martial arts.
After ten minutes, of Ryouga successfully blocking and countering all of his attacks, he decided to up the level of skill. Ryouga was sweating but happy, for once he was not instantly thrown to the floor, although Ranma had managed to grab him many times for a throw he managed to slip out of his grasp. Before his next attack she noticed that he paused for a second too long, he knew that Ranma was Sizing him up again and most likely the next attack would be more intense. *Well at least I know I've improved* as he charged not wanting to give Ranma the time to think any longer. Ranma deliberately hesitated to make Ryouga attack him, as he come rushing towards him, just before his hand connected he ducked low and swept her legs out from under him. Ryouga threw too much strength behind that attack, as he was unable to stop herself in time when she saw Ranma duck low at the last moment. he felt herself fall to the floor face first. Before he impacted with the padded floor, she felt someone catch him in a cradle like position, he opened her eyes, and saw the grinning face of Ranma staring back at him, Ryouga realized that the match was not over so attempted to punch Ranma only to find both his hands locked behind his back in Ranma's iron grip. He tried to kick him only to see his other arm blocked the kicks, due to the position he was in Ryouga was unable to put much force behind the kicks so they were stuck in that position. "Give up Ryouga?" asked a grinning Ranma. Knowing the futility of the situation, he knew that she had lost. "Alright you win THIS time, but I'll get you" he felt her hands being released from his strong grip, Ranma helped him up. His face turned serious for a moment during which he said, "That's was great Ryouga you sure have improved a lot since we got to Japan, although you should have been able to guess I was setting you up, you put too much of your energy in that last punch, you should have expected a counter" "Yeah well next time when we can find some place private I'll show you how good I really am" The raven-haired boy stated waving a finger in front of Ranma, so he could see the sparks of electricity Coming from it. "Yep but we best wait a couple of days at least and I show you what I'm capable of too" opening his fist in front of his face, so he could see the tiny glowing sphere if energy in his hand. The two locked eyes for a moment than started to grin, at the same time they said "I'm gonna kick you ass" This causes the pair to break out laughing. Akane amazed at the skill the pair had shown just started at the exchange not noticing the sparks or glows emitted The pair was still laughing when Akane decided to walk up to them. "Wow you guys are really good" Both still laughing just nodded at her. "Say Ryouga do you think I could spar with you sometime?" She asked thinking *I'd rather be defeated By a girl rather then a boy even if he is.... cu...cute* Nabiki walked into the dojo, she had a miniature camera in her hand, and only Ranma noticed it, having had to deal with Nabiki's scheming before. "Akane, Ranma Ryouga dinners ready" she said. As they were leaving Ranma stayed slightly behind, as he about to walk past Nabiki he asked "Say Nabiki can I have a word with you?"
========= Curious as to why the Saotome boy would want to talk to her, she followed him as he led her Back into the dojo. Glancing around to make sure no one else was around. "So Ranma what'd you want?" she asked curiously. "Nabiki I don't want you selling photos of Akane, me or Ryouga," he stated firmly Nabiki surprised by how Ranma knew so much decided to play innocent. "But Ranma I don't know what you're talking about" Putting on her cutest face. "Look Nabiki you can drop the act, I know you use the money from the photos to keep this place going" "How do you know?" she asked in shock of Ranma's knowledge. "Simple today's a weekday if there was business it would have come in the last two days, and I haven't Seen any students coming in to learn" making up a reasonable explanation. Nabiki hated to admit it though Ranma was right, her father barely had any students, as he was way Too emotional for a sensei ever since her mom died. "Considering the number of dojo in the area I'm not surprised" She nodded for him to continue, "Anyway all I'm saying is that, me and Ryouga will pay our way here," he said pulling out a wad of money. Nabiki's mouth watered at the sight of so much money, "I won much of this through various contest while through China" "Here's two hundred thousand yen, it's for the living expenses of me and Ryouga for at least two months" Ranma counted out the specified amount and handed it to Nabiki, "So how does this pay for the rest of the dojo, you said you didn't want me selling pictures of Akane?" "If you want me to stop you're going to have to pay a lot more" "I'm sure that when you sell those photos of me when I was working out more people will visit the dojo" Nabiki was surprised at how Ranma even knew about the photos but than thought about what he said thinking about how much the girls would be willing to pay for such pictures. Ranma was thinking about the increase in students wanting to learn the art, while. He got up and headed towards the dining room, turning once again to face the dreaming Nabiki, "Oh and by the way Nabiki I'm afraid I can't let you sell the pictures of me sparring with either Ryouga Or Akane" holding up a roll of film between his fingers so Nabiki could clearly see it. He crushed It to dust. Nabiki immediately started to search her pockets and found that the pictures of the match were indeed gone. She had seen yen disappear as Ranma crushed the roll of film.
"Take better care of your self Nabiki, you might get hurt doing what you do and I don't want that to happen ." he said taking her hands and looking into her deep brown eyes. "I.uh.Ranma ok." She said with a blush "but under one condition." She said "Name it and you got it." Ranma whispered. "you be my bodyguard." She said with a slit grin not excepting him to expect the offer. "ok but I warn you now I am a bring a lot of chaos." He said with a alight glint in his eyes. "Bye Biki-chan"
With a grin Ranma left the dojo leaving behind a very surprised Nabiki and a crushed roll of film Behind. He took his place between Ryouga and Akane at the table; all three were hungry from their intensive workout. A moment later Nabiki walked in and also took her place, Ranma noted that she still had a slight blush on her face although her expression was neutral. Several times in between eating and chopstick sparing with Ryouga, Ranma sensed Nabiki look at him. He knew she was assessing him, changing her opinion from the first time they had met. After dinner Ranma, Ryouga and the Tendo family all retreated to do what they normally did after dinner. Kasumi went to clean the dishes, both Nabiki and Akane went upstairs to their rooms, mister Tendo just sat reading a newspaper and smoking a pipe. Ranma and Ryouga decided to watch some TV as they had never really watched much TV in their life. "So what do you think so far?" she asked Ranma "About what?" "You know Akane and Nabiki, I know you talked to her after we sparred" "That was just business Ryouga, I don't want to be a freeloader like my pop" "Ok then what about Akane, I mean you seem to like her," she asked "Only as a friend Ryouga, I mean I don't usually get the chance to make friends before cause we're always Moving around ya know. I'm more into Nabiki anyways."
"Get out.your kidding right." he replied with a chuckle.
"Nope I really do like her Ryouga. I really do." he said trailing off Getting bored of TV quickly the two retreated upstairs, after washing themselves they both decided to sleep. In their room Ryouga fell asleep as his head touched the pillow same with Ranma. (TO BE CONTINUED)