Neo-Saiyans

by Night Hunter MGS

Author Notes: Well, here comes the crossovers. Now let's bring on the romance!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. NOTHING!

Chapter 1: O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Kagome Higarashi was not having a good day. It was bad enough that she was failing school because she was constantly being dragged back into the past to fight demons with powers that she didn't even know that she had, but recently her powers were becoming… weird. Slowly, she remembered what happened two days ago in the past.

- Flashback -

The demon kept coming for them. Naraku's latest incarnation was twice as fast as Inu-Yasha, had a tough hide which easily deflected the Tetsuaiga and Sango's boomerang, and was constantly exuding a toxin similar to the venom of Naraku's poison wasps making Miroku's air tunnel useless. Already, all three of them were lying sprawled in the mud, leaving only Shippo and Kagome able to fight.

As the demon leapt towards them, Kagome drew her bow, only to watch in horror as the beast shattered it with his claws. As the demon stood looming over her, Kagome didn't become frightened as she thought she would, but instead became furious. Was she going to die here? No! This weakling didn't deserve the honor of taking her life! Not even pausing to think about where such thoughts were forming in her mind, Kagome held up her palm towards the monster and felt all of her rage and anger flow into it. With a scream, she unleashed her hatred for the demon before her and felt the energy surge out through her palm. A blinding blue light, more brilliant than a thousand suns, erupted from her hand and struck the demon, vaporizing it before it even had a chance to scream. As her friends looked on in shock, she bent her head towards the heavens and practically roared in triumph and satisfaction with her kill, before collapsing into a deep sleep.

- End Flashback -

Inu-Yasha quickly took her to the village, but Kaede had no idea what could have happened to cause this. So he took her back to her time without a hint of reluctance, concerned both at Kaede's inability to tell where that power and odd behavior came from, and also because he'd noticed that for some reason Kagome's scent had changed to something other than human. Fortunately, her grandfather knew of a doctor with great experience in odd occurrences and spiritual energies. So, here she was in the Nerima ward, waiting for Dr. Tofu to come back out with the results of various tests that he'd performed. The door opened and out stepped the doctor, but what concerned Kagome was that he seemed to be… shaken somehow. As if everything that he knew and believed was suddenly thrown out the window with one single motion. Slowly, he sat down next to her, and Kagome paid him her full attention as he hesitantly began speaking. "Miss Higarashi, I need to ask you… are you an adopted child?"

She just looked at him incredulously, causing Tofu to chuckle. "I'll take that as a no. Do you have an older brother who might have been adopted?"

This was ridiculous! What sort of questions were these? "No, doctor, I do not. I suggest you explain your questions… now."

Tofu gulped at the arctic temperature of her tone. Well, better come straight out with it. "I ran your blood samples through every test imaginable, and they all came up with the same answer."

"Which is?"

"You're not human. You have unusual blood cells, and more than triple the amount of defense systems than a normal human. I also ran some more spiritual tests on you, and discovered a powerful, inhuman aura surrounding you. Furthermore, your blood shows a clear, close family relationship with another one of my patients who's about a year older than you. That's why I asked those questions, Kagome. I think you might be a new species or alien of some type."

Kagome felt her mind scream in denial. Not human? She was adopted? She had a brother? No! She didn't believe it! She wouldn't believe it! Without even noticing it, her inner energy lashed out, knocking Dr. Tofu to the floor and demolishing his office as she ran out the door, desperately racing for her home.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Kagome sat in her room, curled up in a corner, tears soaking into her dress. The door slowly creaked open, and in came her mother with a tense expression on her face. Kagome turned to face her, and only had one question. "Did you talk to Dr. Tofu?"

Mrs. Higarashi nodded sorrowfully, regret evident in her eyes. Kagome posed another, very serious question to the woman she knew as mother. "Is it true?"

Again, her mother nodded. Kagome closed her eyes tightly, trying to keep the tears from flowing out and failing. Her mother kneeled down beside her and hugged Kagome as firmly as she could. In a gentle, soothing voice, she began talking to her daughter. "Fifteen years ago, your father and I were out camping in the woods. One night we looked up and saw a shooting star. We'd been trying to have a child for several years, so when I saw the shooting star I wished for a child. Suddenly, the star crashed near to our campsite, and we went to investigate and discovered a spaceship. Inside the ship… was you. You were still just an infant, and you were so beautiful that I fell in love with you right away. Your father had some friends in the government, so we were able to create papers claiming you as our own daughter. We didn't want the government getting their hands on you, so we claimed you as ours. Please, forgive me for not telling you the truth sooner, Kagome. But I want you to understand, as far as I'm concerned you are my true daughter, and I love you just as much as if I really did give birth to you myself."

Kagome opened her eyes, looking at her mother for a moment, before bursting into tears and burying her face into her mother's chest as Mrs. Higarashi slowly stroked her hair and spoke calming words to her daughter. After a long time, Kagome finally calmed down and posed a hesitant question to her mother. "Mom… Dr. Tofu said…"

"Yes honey, I know. And I figured that you'd want to pursue this. Come on, I've gotten lots of information from Dr. Tofu. We'll go try to find your brother tomorrow."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Ranma Saotome had an intense feeling of doom wash over him as a knock sounded at the door. That feeling was only reinforced when he heard Kasumi answer the door and a feminine voice asked if he was here. Ranma banged his head repeatedly into the table, creating spider-webbed cracks across its surface. Curse his old man, with his luck it was another fiancée. Well, he'd just have to calmly explain to her that it wasn't his fault and send her on her way. Then Kasumi entered with their guest, and all thoughts of sending the girl away immediately fled his mind. The girl was beautiful! But it wasn't just her looks; every part of his body ached to be one with her, to make her his mate. Mate? Where did that thought come from? He didn't care, all he knew was that power that he didn't know he had flooded into his body when he saw that girl, and she smelled wonderful. That smell made him want to do things with her that he'd never honestly thought about doing with a girl before.

Meanwhile, Kagome was experiencing something very similar. What was it about this boy that made her blood burn, that made her want him to grab her into his arms and carry her up into his bedroom? And why was every instinct in her body screaming at her to bite into his shoulder, to taste his blood, and to let him do the same? Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Kagome sat across from the boy, trying to ignore his intense eyes and muscled frame, everything about him that spoke of a powerful warrior. She really didn't understand why the thought of him being stronger than her turned her on. Gaining some semblance of control, Kagome smiled shyly at Ranma and began talking. "Hello, you're Ranma Saotome, aren't you?"

Ranma nodded, never losing sight of her eyes that he could sense concealed great power. He still couldn't understand just why he wanted this girl so badly; the last thing that he needed was further complications with his girl troubles. Still, his body refused to control itself, and his mind was having some thoughts that it usually didn't have as well. "Yes, yes I am," Ranma said with confidence in his voice, inwardly hoping that she'd say that she was another fiancée.

Kagome beamed in happiness. "Mr. Saotome…"

The young martial artist interrupted the girl sitting in front of him. "Please, call me Ranma. Being called Mr. Saotome makes me sound like my father."

Kagome's cheeks flushed crimson, and her beaming grin swiftly turned into a shy smile. "Alright, Ranma. My name is Kagome. Recently, I became a patient of Dr. Tofu's, and he found out some interesting things. First, it turns out that I'm adopted, a fact that I didn't know until Dr. Tofu found out about it. Secondly, I have a brother, who also happened to use Dr. Tofu for medical services. It's because of this that Dr. Tofu was able to compare our blood samples and determine a relationship between the two of us. I want to meet my brother, but he's hard to find. I hear that you have more contact and experience with my brother than anyone else, and that if anyone can help me find him that it's you. Please Ranma, help me find my brother."

Ranma had a bad feeling about this. "Tell me, who is your brother?"

With a big grin, Kagome confirmed his greatest fear. "His name is Ryouga Hibiki."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Ranma sat on the roof, looking at the stars. For as long as he could remember, he would look to the stars whenever he was scared or confused about something. And boy, was he sure scared and confused right now. Damn, Ryouga's sister? I can just see it now, Ranma, you betrayed Akane and seduced my long lost sister, prepare to… Wait a second. Did I just think about seducing Kagome?! What is going on here?! What's wrong with me?! When I saw her… It was like a flood, like I don't know who I am, like I haven't even begun to scratch the power I have. I killed a god, and suddenly it feels like I still have so much more power! Seeing Kagome, her smell… it woke something up deep down inside of me, like an inner beast. And if you stop and think about it… her smell? I mean, I was excited by the way she smelled! It was as though my senses suddenly improved ten times over! I could tell just by her scent, that she would make a wonderful mate. And then there's that word again, mate. It's like I'm some sort of animal. Man, never thought I'd say this, but I hope Ryouga comes soon. I don't think I can keep myself controlled too long with Kagome around. Curse Kasumi and her generosity, why does she have to be so kind to everybody?

- Flashback -

Ranma sat across from Kagome, banging his head into the already broken table as Kagome watched on in shock. After a few minutes, the table was finally turned into a heap of splinters, and Ranma sighed as he sat up to face the young girl. "Yes, I know Ryouga all too well. Although I would gladly call him my friend if he would let me, he has a longstanding grudge against me. I have no idea where he is right now, but he should come around trying to kill me…" At this Kagome gasped, eyes wide as she stared at Ranma. "Kill you?!"

Ranma wanted to slap himself. Man people were right, he really did put his foot in his mouth an awful lot! "Err, I mean that figuratively. Anyway, he hasn't been around for nearly three weeks, so I wouldn't be surprised if he showed up in a day or two. Why don't you just go stay at a hotel and…"

It was then that Kasumi reminded the two of them of her presence in the room. "Oh my, why don't you stay here for a while Miss Higarashi? Then you'll be here to greet your brother as soon as he arrives! I could easily make some space for you to sleep in."

"But… but I couldn't possibly impose on you…"

"Oh, it's no imposition at all! Please, allow me to open our home to you."

Once again, Kasumi's form of gentle persuasion won the day as Kagome meekly nodded, leaving Ranma with a sick feeling in his stomach. Another girl living in the same house as him for any amount of time was bad news, by the time Ryouga came she could be in love with him or something considering his luck! On the other hand, would it really be that bad if Kagome stayed around? Before he could ponder his thoughts further, he heard a sound that sent cold shivers of dread shooting down his spine; the ring of a bicycle bell. Without further ado Shampoo crashed through the wall shouting out her usual greeting. It was so sudden that Kagome found herself shrieking and jumping into Ranma's arms, just as Akane came downstairs to see what the noise was. Ranma felt his heart sink into the deepest pit of despair imaginable as he saw the spark of anger ignite within his fiancé's eye. She was so temperamental and violent, it really was a wonder that he'd ever loved her. Once again, Akane demonstrated her amazing ability to leap to the wrong conclusion as she raced towards Ranma, mallet in hand. "You pervert, hanging off of yet another of your floozies! Ranma no baka!"

As he felt the massive blow of the mallet followed by the rush of the wind as he soared through the Nerimian skies, Ranma had only one single thought in his mind. Why me?

- End Flashback -

When he got back home two hours later, he found Akane talking with Kagome as if they were old friends, apologizing for her behavior and explaining how it was all his fault for being such an insensitive, womanizing jerk. Kagome smiled and nodded politely, but he could see in her eyes that she disagreed with everything Akane was saying. He felt oddly relieved and satisfied that deep down, Kagome believed in him. Of course, that only added to the problem as far as he was concerned; a girl that he was greatly attracted to was staying in the same house as he was for who knows how long. That very problem was why he was up here on the roof of the Tendo home, looking up to the stars for guidance.

Suddenly he felt his nostrils flare and pick up Kagome's unique scent coming from the backyard. Before he knew what he was doing, Ranma found himself leaping from the roof and landing with the grace of a dozen Olympic gymnasts right in front of the girl who'd been occupying his thoughts the entire day. He found himself pleased and excited when he noticed that she took an immediate defensive stance when he landed; not a martial artist but definitely a warrior. And the fact that she was still in her pajamas certainly added a certain degree of further excitement. As for Kagome, she was in high heaven as soon as she recognized that the figure suddenly in front of her was Ranma. The night air plastered his shirt against his body like a second skin, showing her a lean musculature and washboard abdomen that put even Inu-Yasha's model-worthy body to shame. She'd learned that he was engaged so she really shouldn't be having these thoughts, but she couldn't help it; he was so strong and smelled so good! As if by a silent agreement, the two sat down upon the Tendo porch side by side, Ranma finally breaking the quiet between them. "So, couldn't sleep, huh?"

Kagome nodded. "I… I've been sleeping underneath the stars an awful lot lately, it seems strange to be underneath a roof."

Ranma smiled warmly as he gazed up at the stars, causing Kagome to blush as red as a beet as thoughts of how handsome he looked raced through her mind. "I lived most of my life on the road, moving from place to place, and sleeping underneath the stars, so I know how you feel. It still feels odd, having a roof over my head most of the time now."

Kagome was over her embarrassment and paying rapt attention to everything that Ranma said, slowly forgetting about the unusual relationship she shared with Inu-Yasha. "Really, you've been on the road most of your life? What were you doing?"

He stiffened and slowly stood up, walking a few paces away from the now confused girl, unsure of what she said to upset him. Ranma thought carefully to himself what to tell her. Should he tell her everything, or just say that he didn't want to talk about it? On the other hand, she was Ryouga's sister and so would find everything out anyway. Besides, something told him to trust this girl. Sitting down with his back still facing her and head bowed, Ranma began the tale of his past. "I… really don't like talking about my past, especially my… childhood…"

Kagome bowed her head, a sad expression etched on her face. "That's alright, I'm sorry to bring it up…"

Ranma swiftly interrupted her, still not moving a muscle. "No! I… want to tell you, it's just so hard. My… father was a great martial artist in his day, and when I was born he saw not his son but the continuance of the school he practiced. I think he started training me in basic coordination techniques as soon as I was born, and balance practice once I could walk. When I was six, he talked my mother into letting him take me away to become a martial artist, promising that if I was not a 'man amongst men' by the time we returned that the two of us would commit seppuku."

He could hear the light intake of breath, could sense the coming exclamation of disbelief, and held his hand up to silence it before it even began. "Please, let me continue, this is not easy for me. My mother is a very honorable, traditional woman with odd beliefs about manliness, so my father knew that a suicide pact would sway her decision to let me go. And so we left my home and mother, and my training began. One of the first exercises my father had me master was grabbing something and running away from the people who chased me. He lied to me and told me that it was just a game; it wasn't until I was much older that I realized he was using me to commit theft. When I was around five or six, I met my best friend, Ukyou. We spent many days together playing, until dad told me it was time to move again. Later, I learned that the boy I had befriended was actually a girl, a girl that my father engaged me to then ran away with the dowry, and she wasn't the only girl he engaged me to for food or money. Shortly afterwards, he… taught me a martial arts technique called the 'Cat Fist'. As far as I know, I'm the only one to survive the training and not go completely insane. The training is simple, take a young child under ten years of age, tie them up, wrap fish around their bodies, and throw them into a deep pit full of starving cats. Repeat until they die, lose their minds, or learn the technique. Even if they do learn it, they retain an intense fear of cats, and can only use the technique after being exposed to a cat for an extended period, reverting to a berserker state in their terror. In this state they indiscriminately attack everything they see as a threat, behaving exactly like a cat, even believing that they really are a cat. I think that it was when my father did that to me, on top of all of the other times that he beat me or starved me in the name of learning the martial arts, that I started to lose my love and respect for him. Because of my father's greed and ignorance, I grew up hungry, abused, and alone. But all of that wasn't even the worst part. No, it was at a place called Jusenkyo, the Pools of Sorrow that things became really bad."

Kagome felt as though a knife had been thrust into her heart. The pure sorrow and pain in Ranma's voice left no doubt in her mind that everything he said was the truth. She felt hot, salty tears creep down her face and thought that perhaps Ranma might be crying too. Standing up with his back still towards her, Ranma walked over to the nearby koi pond and dipped a small bucket into it, holding the cold water over his head. "My father dragged me away from one of the few people I consider to be a friend, Ryouga, and off to China to train at a legendary training ground that he heard about. That training ground, Jusenkyo, isn't used anymore, and for good reason. It's called the 'Pools of Sorrow' because in each of the hundreds of springs in that valley, a person, thing, or animal was drowned long ago. And now, whoever has the misfortune to fall into one of these cursed springs…"

With this, Ranma upended the bucket of water over his head, sending a stream of icy water coursing over his body. Before Kagome's astonished eyes, Ranma lost height, had his hair change colors, and gained a distinctively female outline. "… Transforms into whatever last drowned in the spring. I fell into the Spring of Drowned Girl, Nannichuan, and so whenever I get splashed with cold water I turn into a girl and can turn back into a guy by using hot water."

Slowly, Ranma turned around, and Kagome could see the tears shimmering in his… er, her eyes. With a trembling voice, Ranma continued his story. "My… my father… For as long as I can remember, he always told me that women were weak, silly, and that their only purpose was to get married and obey their men. But… but suddenly, I was a woman! Jusenkyo took everything that I knew and believed in, and twisted it against me! And my father was no help at all! Always insulting me, even worse than usual, calling me a weak girl, as if it were my fault instead of his that we went to Jusenkyo and he knocked me into the Nannichuan! And it just got worse. We went to a village of Chinese Amazons just after Jusenkyo and due to a misunderstanding I wound up having a psychotic girl after my head, and later she wound up becoming my 'wife' because of her village's strict and archaic laws. We returned to Japan, only to have my father spring an arranged marriage on me to a man-hating tomboy who regarded me as a freak of nature because of my curse. Ever since that day other fiancées, enemies, rivals, and other problems have just flooded out of the woodwork. My father has made my life impossible! No matter what I do, somebody will be hurt very, very badly and have their honor stripped away. Everything came to a boiling point at a place called Phoenix Mountain. It was there that I killed for the first and hopefully last time. The phoenix god, Saffron, had done something to threaten Akane's life and stood between me and the only way to save her, so I had to kill him. And despite all that, despite everything that I've done, nothing has changed and I still don't see any way out of the hell my life's become."

Kagome felt her heart wrench at the hopelessness in Ranma's voice, the utter despair evident in his tone. Dear God, just what exactly had been done to this man? He sounded… almost like he wanted to die, like he had nobody to turn to or to trust. Kagome had found that part of her talent as a miko, a priestess, was that she could sometimes see the truest nature of a person. And in Ranma, she saw a proud, noble, honorable warrior with untold amounts of compassion and caring even for his enemies, who had been slowly beaten down almost to the point of surrender. His pain made Inu-Yasha's seem pale in comparison, and her heart went out to him. He was in so much pain, and she longed to help him through it.

Ranma felt totally spent by his tearful confession, and slowly collapsed into a weeping pile. Any minute now, this girl that he'd just met, who he'd poured his heart out to for some reason that he didn't fully understand, would laugh at his weakness, call him a freak, and want nothing to do with him. After all, why should she? His father saw him as a meal ticket, Soun Tendo saw him as a way to continue his beloved school, and Akane and the other fiancées saw him as a prize to be won. Nobody treated him as a person; he was only a thing, an object of some value to them. The only one aside from Dr. Tofu and Kasumi who treated him as a person was Ryouga, because despite their feud it was between them as fighters more than Ryouga trying to use him for something. There were even those times when they fought together, when they helped each other, even that time during the weakness moxibustion when Ryouga defended Ranma from his other enemies. That was why despite everything else, Ranma considered Ryouga to be his best friend; Ukyou had slowly lost that standing by treating him more like a trophy than as a friend. So naturally, Kagome couldn't possibly accept him; he was a freak, right? After several minutes with no reaction, Ranma raised his head to find himself alone in the yard. Fresh tears began to spring from his eyes as he bowed his head again and began weeping anew. Just as he thought, she'd been disgusted by his curse and left.

He was surprised when a cup of steaming water was passed gently into his hands, and he looked up to see Kagome looking down at him with compassion, understanding, and friendship. Ranma couldn't believe it; she hadn't left. She didn't think that he was a freak. Smiling in gratitude, he poured the warm water over his head, reverting to his true form. Kagome's gentle smile grew a little wider, and she kneeled down next to him and enveloped him within a comforting hug. Ranma felt so happy that at long last, someone was bothering to try and understand him, someone cared about him as a person instead of a thing and liked him for what he was instead of what he could do for them. Kagome held him gently, letting comforting vibes flow from her body into his, and came to a decision. He'd been honest with her, how could she do any less? Softly, she whispered tenderly into his ear. "It's time for you to hear my story."

Sitting down next to Ranma, she laid a hand on his knee to continue providing him with comfort as he stared intently at her, determined not to miss a single word coming from her lips. "I was born and raised at a shrine, living with my mother, little brother, and my grandfather who is the shrine's priest. I was just an ordinary girl until my fifteenth birthday when a centipede demon came out of the old well on the shrine grounds and dragged me through it. You know about curses and gods, so I assume that you know about demons and magic. The well was a link to the past, and it took me from this time into the ancient past, the Warring States Era. It was there that I learned that I was the reincarnation of a deceased priestess and that my duty was to guard the Shikon no Tama, the powerful and magical Jewel of Four Souls, which at that time was hidden within my own body. I met and freed a powerful half-demon named Inu-Yasha, and later through an accident I shattered the Shikon jewel into hundreds of fragments spread throughout Japan. Each fragment can give a demon almost as much power as if it had the entire Shikon jewel itself, and so I travel often into the past to gather the shards of the Shikon jewel and repair it, purifying it so that it can never be used for evil again. In a recent battle with a powerful demon, the innate powers I have as a miko suddenly seemed to flare with no explanation, so I went to Dr. Tofu to see what was wrong. That is why I am here now, searching for the brother that I never knew I had, Ryouga. That is my story."

Ranma sensed something that she wasn't telling him, a slight quiver in her voice when she said the name of the half-demon she released. Suddenly, realization hit him, and this time it was Ranma who knelt by Kagome and held her in his arms despite her startled protest. Looking into her eyes with as much sympathy and understanding as he could muster, he smiled gently. "This Inu-Yasha, you love him, don't you?"

Kagome's stunned silence was all the answer he needed. "But he doesn't love you, at least not as much as you love him. Am I right?"

Kagome felt her throat tighten and liquid start to flow from her eyes, so all she could do was nod sadly. She knew that Inu-Yasha had chosen Kikyo, but it still hurt her to think about it. And curse this man's caring soul, he was dredging up all of the pain and self-doubt through his kindness, because she knew him to be unattainable, much like Inu-Yasha became after Kikyo's resurrection. But… why didn't she care about that, why didn't she care that he was engaged to someone else? Why was she so attracted to this man, why did she feel so closely connected to him despite only knowing him for a few hours? She felt like she'd known Ranma since before she could remember, like they shared some intangible bond that normal people couldn't understand. Nobody, not Inu-Yasha, Hojo, or Kouga made her feel alive and excited like Ranma did. His very presence was like an infusion of pure energy! But he was already spoken for, what chance did she have?

A soft, gentle hand came up to caress her cheek, and Ranma brought her face up to meet his eyes. Staring into each other's eyes, they both saw into their souls, seeing within each other a reflection of the loneliness and sorrow inside of their own hearts. Neither knew who started it, but before they knew what they were doing his lips descended towards Kagome and hers rose to meet his. As their lips touched, both felt an indescribable power coursing through their bodies. It was like the lightning in the heavens and the waves crashing upon the shore! On instinct, Kagome parted her lips and Ranma's tongue darted in with all the grace and power he displayed in his martial arts, dancing about Kagome's mouth, teasing her to a frenzy, and eliciting low moans from her throat. Soon Kagome joined in the battle between their two salivating appendages as Ranma held her close to him in a crushing embrace and her nails raked at his neck. Gone was all doubt, all uncertainty, all that was left was the knowledge that this was right. This was where they belonged now, in the warmth of each other's arms.

Suddenly they both felt a powerful aura and Ranma spun around, growling at the nerve of whoever dared to interrupt this time between mates, not even stopping to think about the oddity of the term. There, perched on the top of the Tendo's wall, was Ryouga, rage and fire blazing in his eyes as he glared at Ranma. Kagome wasn't sure, but it seemed like both Ranma's and this newcomer's hair was flickering, like it was trying to change from inky black to a brilliant gold. The two rivals stood glaring daggers at each other until Ryouga broke the heavy silence, his words dripping with scorn and contempt. "So, Ranma, cheating on Akane again? And don't tell me that it's not what it looks like! I'm not blind, and there is no explanation to justify this!"

Ranma felt more rage than he had ever known before surge through his veins, feeding him with raw power. How dare he! He was one to talk, the pig, unable to tell Akane the truth about P-chan or to choose between Akane and that other girl, Akari! How dare the jerk destroy the most blissful moment he could remember! "Damn you Ryouga, you never leave me in peace! Get lost and stay that way, or you'll leave in pieces!"

Before the two could clash yet again, a gasp brought their attention back to the fact that they weren't alone. Ryouga looked carefully at the girl, admitting to himself that at least Ranma had good taste, unable to place a feeling of familiarity that linked him to her. Looking straight at Ryouga, Kagome uttered a single word that would forever change his world. "Brother?"

End Chapter 1

Author's Notes: So, who saw that coming? Be sure to take a look at my other fics, A Ranma by any Other name in the Ranma section and Gundam AC in the Gundam Wing section. Send reviews, they give my life meaning!