Ranma woke up to an unusual experience. He was used to waking up after a nightmare, or waking up to the unbearable pain of his lapses, but certainly not to having someone rapping his skull with a smoking pipe.

Happosai stared hard at the lazy boy. "What do you think you're doing, boy?"

The pigtailed man frowned slightly and studied Happosai as he sat up. "You heal pretty fast, old man," he said, seeing as the old grandmaster didn't even have a scratch left from the beating he got yesterday.

The old man ignored the comment and tapped his foot on the floor impatiently, as if expecting something. His impatience only grew when the boy in front of him made no move to get up. "Why aren't you up and training already? Are you allowing a girl to show you how a martial artist should dedicate himself to the Art?"

Ranma shrugged and lay back down. "Aeris is the martial artist, not me."

The conviction with which Ranma said that baffled Happosai. What the hell had Genma done with his son! "GET UP THIS INSTANT!" Happosai bellowed as his aura became visible around him, a menacing sight that usually got him what he wanted.

Ranma, however, just stared at him with a frown. His unnerving blue-green gaze almost made Happosai lose his concentration on the manifestation of power around him. But the old man was made of sterner stuff and he glowered at the insolent boy.

"What is going on here!" Hinako demanded as she entered the room reserved for Ranma. Being woken up by Happosai's screams was definitely something she could do without. She was only more irritated when she saw the old man threatening the pigtailed man. "Happosai!"

Happosai reigned in his aura and turned to regard the angry teacher. "Good morning, Hinako-chan!"

The sweet act did nothing to calm the woman, who by now was openly glaring at the old man. "What are you going, screaming like that so early in the morning and threatening my guest?" She demanded.

With any other woman Happosai would've scoffed and said something rude. Hinako was a special case for him, though. While he was still very much himself, he wanted to hold back a lot of his bad habits around the teacher. "I was merely asking the boy to go out and train with me, Hinako-chan. He is to be my heir, after all."

Seeing Ranma frown, and Happosai trying to act all innocent, the teacher crossed her arms over her breasts. "Have you even asked him if he wants to be your heir?"

Happosai stared up at the voluptuous teacher, resisting the urge to jump into her very inviting bosom, and protested. "But he's Genma's boy!" He realized he'd said the wrong thing when Hinako started to tap her foot on the ground, glaring at him all the time.

Ranma saw Hinako defending him, being reminded of his father was not something he enjoyed, and decided to intervene before her anger got the better of her. "It's okay, Hinako." Not that he had any intention on becoming the old man's heir, of course.

The teacher visibly relaxed, something Happosai was quick to notice, at Ranma's reassurance. "Are you sure, Ranma-kun?" She asked, feeling protective of the pigtailed man's feelings. After yesterday she felt she owed him for saving her life.

Ranma smiled at the teacher for her obvious concern and nodded.

The old pervert felt nauseated by what he was looking at. Was his lovely Hinako-chan interested in Genma's useless boy! Really interested? He wasn't good enough to even lick the ground she stood on.

Ignoring the now scowling pervert Ranma stood up. "Morning," he greeted Hinako.

"Good morning," Hinako returned with a smile. "Let me prepare breakfast for us."

"I'll help," Ranma said and the couple left the room, leaving a fuming Happosai alone in it.

---

Today was a good day, he decided.

The sky threatened with breaking into a storm, dark clouds looming over the city. All in all the kind of weather that reflected his mood perfectly.

A sinister smile graced his regal features as he turned, his long white hair fluttering with the wind, towards the powerful presence of his little brother. A little brother that was getting too comfortable and relaxed, which could easily be used against him.

Today was definitely a good day. But it was going to get better.

---

It was a sweaty but very happy Aeris that entered the kitchen, having greatly enjoyed her morning workout. When she woke up she was so sore she heavily debated on whether moving or staying in bed for a couple of weeks. Fear of what her mother would do to her for not keeping up her training won over laziness. Now she was glad it did, as her body felt a lot better than a couple of hours ago.

Upon entering the kitchen she quickly caught sight of Ranma and Hinako working on breakfast, nearly the same way the pigtailed man helped their mother before coming here. Nearly because, unlike her mother that was always making conversation with her adopted son, Hinako remained comfortably quiet. It was obvious the teacher was content just spending time with her brother.

It was because of that, and the fact that Ranma seemed just as content, that she crossed the room silently and headed for the bathroom to clean up before getting ready for school.

Left in the kitchen Hinako smiled gratefully at the very perceptive girl and stared at Ranma out of the corner of her eye. He seemed so at peace, so relaxed, performing such a menial task. He was always so tense and serious when outside, so ready for battle. It was at times like this that the pigtailed man was allowed to come to the fore, the same man that showed kindness for the teacher.

Ranma didn't allow the teacher to know that he was aware of her scrutiny, yet he felt himself relax even more with her in the room. Her full acceptance of what he was becoming was something he'd only received from a handful of people, and certainly not from a stranger he bumped into on the street.

He was thankful to his sister for being discrete, though he was a little curious about her always leaving him alone with Hinako when they were together.

The serenity and comfort of the situation was soothing in so many ways to both... Alas, it was too good to last.

"YOU PERVERT!"

"HOTCHA!"

The cries coming from the bathroom caused the couple in the room to look at each other with a resigned smile. "I'll go break them up," the teacher said and hurriedly left, hoping the house wasn't damaged too badly.

Ranma chuckled and turned off the stove. The rice was ready.

"You seem at peace," a voice he'd never heard before was heard. But even if he'd never heard it himself...

Ranma turned instantly to the side. "Sephiroth..." He growled low in his throat menacingly, glaring at the white-haired man casually standing outside a window.

"I wonder how that is possible," the imposing man said conversationally, ignoring the hostility directed his way. "Seeing as you are surrounded by inferior beings. So weak and frail, they are."

Even if Sephiroth's words were spoken with no menacing tone at all, the man being incredibly civil, their meaning was still the same. The pigtailed man refrained from lashing out right now, knowing Aeris and Hinako had no idea just who was here and would be caught completely off-guard. "What do you want?" He asked instead, still glaring at the son of Jenova.

"Can I not seek my little brother out? Perhaps inquire as to why he is surrounding himself with humans, when he should be walking amongst the most powerful of gods?"

Ranma's glare intensified. "I am not your brother."

"Is that so?" The white-haired man asked with a raised eyebrow.

Both men continued to stare at each other, the younger one breaking the silence between them, even if the sounds of Hinako joining the fray against Happosai were heard. "I'm not like you."

Sephiroth chuckled in true mirth, his shoulders shaking slightly. "But that is precisely where you are wrong, my dear brother. We are so much alike, you and I." He looked directly into Ranma's eyes, his gaze boring into his in satisfaction. "Was it not you that destroyed half of Midgard? Did you not feel freedom like never before, putting an end to the miserable lives of all those insignificant worms?"

"They deserved it," Ranma answered instantly.

The white-haired man smiled. "As do the other worms."

Ranma faltered at that, averting his gaze from Sephiroth's victorious smile. He... felt no remorse over what he did that time. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't... His pain came at the events resulting from his actions, at being forcibly separated from his family, and not from the many lives he took.

Sephiroth smirked, knowing he had the upper hand right now. He continued quickly, before the others came and ruined this moment. For hours he debated on how to deal with the woman by Ranma's side, knowing that she could seriously jeopardize his plans. In the end, he came to a conclusion that satisfied him, unlike his original anger upon the discovery. "Quite the powerful mate you have found for yourself." He would use her to his advantage.

Ranma snapped his gaze on Sephiroth once again at that, but the older man continued before he could get a word out.

"Her direct connection to the lifestream. It is so powerful and yet balanced," Sephiroth commented. "Your doing, I assume?"

"You leave Hinako out of this!" Ranma growled through gritted teeth.

Sephiroth chuckled once again, really getting on Ranma's nerves. "Worry not, my dear brother. I have no intention of damaging such a magnificent being, specially since you are so attached to her." He smirked. "I do wonder, however, if my noble intentions will be shared by the ones you insist on surround yourself with. As you and I both know, they fear the ones with true power. And what they fear, they try to destroy out of sheer stupidity."

Ranma was about to retort, even if he knew from personal experience Sephiroth was right, when Hinako walked into the kitchen. "I can't believe that man!" She cried in exasperation, clearly upset after having to deal with the old pervert.

The pigtailed man turned to look at her. It took him less than a second to turn back to Sephiroth... only to find the man nowhere to be seen.

"Ranma?" Hinako asked, wondering at how distracted he looked.

He turned back to the teacher. "Yeah?"

"Are you alright?" Hinako asked with concern as she walked closer and placed her hand on his forehead, fearing he was about to have another lapse.

The pigtailed man, already very confused about having Sephiroth drop in for a visit without attacking or trying to control him, was slightly taken aback by the physical contact. It wasn't that Hinako was acting out of character... But Sephiroth's words about his getting a mate...

Hinako's slight frown deepened when she felt Ranma tense at her touch, knowing something was definitely up. The calm feeling they shared only minutes ago was replaced by tension. Granted, it was very slight, but it was there anyway. "What is it, Ranma?"

Ranma debated on whether to tell the teacher about their visitor, even if he didn't really understand what happened, or keep the conversation to himself. In the end he sighed and decided to share what happened, if only because not knowing could place both Hinako and Aeris at risk. "Can we get Aeris for this? She needs to know, too."

Ten minutes later at the breakfast table, with Ranma finishing the tale about Sephiroth's appearance except for the mate comment, Aeris was shaking her head in denial while Hinako was staring at Ranma attentively. He was obviously hiding something.

"I don't buy it, bro. He's up to something," Aeris said, to which Hinako nodded. "If he isn't trying to get you then why the attacks?"

The teacher nodded her agreement of the assessment, for the moment getting her mind off of what Ranma was keeping to himself. "Most likely he is trying to confuse you. To lower your guard for a later attack."

Ranma nodded, though it was obvious he was shaken by the unexpected behavior from the white-haired man. He seemed so civil and friendly to the one he considered a brother, even if his aggression against everything else remained the same.

Aeris bit her lip and inwardly worried over this latest turn of events. The least they needed now was Ranma doubting Sephiroth's intentions. Objective that her father's enemy seemed to have achieved with his little visit while she was busy dealing with that damnable pervert.

Hinako frowned as she saw Ranma sigh and look up at the ceiling. She knew that if it was a fight he would be unbeatable, there was no doubt in her mind about it, but this was an area he was severely lacking in. Sephiroth was hitting where it hurt, and she cursed the man for it.

---

Setsuna stood by the window, enjoying the morning peace as students took their classes. She had, as usual, a very long night and little time to sleep. Even so she felt rested and relaxed, long used to being deprived of sleep for prolonged periods of time.

Right now she was contemplating on how to continue her approach with Ranma, wanting to be seen as a supportive figure yet not too openly interested in him, lest he get suspicious of her motives.

Her position in the school helped matters, and it was sheer luck that Ranma ended up as a student in it. A coincidence she was going to capitalize in, even if she was taking a rather big risk as she did. Seeing her flesh and blood so changed, yet still she knew it was indeed him, was a shocker at first. Thankfully she was prepared for it, and her experience hiding her emotions served her to act as if she didn't know whom he was.

That was probably the hardest part about the arrangement she made, though. It was killing her inside to act as if she didn't know him. Now she would get to spend more time with him, and still she couldn't risk letting him know who she was. "I should've never let Genma take him," she lamented with a heavy sigh as she placed delicate fingers on the glass surface and stared outside.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Setsuna's expression of longing was replaced by one of serenity. "Come in," she called as she turned around. Upon seeing her visitor was none other than Ranma she had to force herself to remain impassive.

---

Ranma entered the office and instantly caught sight of the green-haired school councilor. "Meio-san," he greeted.

Setsuna raised a viridian eyebrow as the pigtailed man stepped into her office and closed the door behind himself. Her crimson eyes quickly caught sight of the sheet of paper in his hand, which he handed to her. "Strife-san," she returned the greeting calmly as she read the disciplinary report.

Ranma waited for the woman to finish reading, knowing she was going to lecture him about respect and all that. It wasn't the first time it happened, after all. He wasn't surprised when the woman looked up at him inquisitively. "It would seem Tsutomi-san had a problem with your lack of respect. Would you like to talk about it?"

The pigtailed man was once again pleasantly surprised with having Setsuna ask for his side of the story. "Nothing much to say about it. He didn't like it when I asked if he couldn't solve the equations mentally."

Setsuna hadn't lived so long for nothing. She was quick to perceive the underlying tone of amusement in his voice. "Would you like to have a seat?" She offered calmly as they both walked to her desk.

Ranma sat down and continued to stare at the woman, who was impassive as she stared right back. That was another thing that placed Setsuna above the norm. She wasn't taken aback in the slightest by his gaze, which to many was too difficult to maintain. "Meio-san?" He asked when he realized they'd been staring at each other for five minutes now.

"Do you have any interests, Strife-san? Sports? Girls? Perhaps the arts?" Setsuna asked as she leaned back on her chair.

The pigtailed man was surprised by the question. "Uh... What?"

"Interests. You know, something you like to do," Setsuna explained as she stared directly into his eyes, her expression completely at ease.

Ranma was really surprised with the question and had to think for several moments about it. "Well... I like being outdoors..." He said uncertainly, not knowing where the woman was going with this.

Setsuna nodded and turned to stare out the window. "I can understand your lack of interest in learning math from Tsutomi-sensei, Strife-san. From what I've seen of your skill in the subject you hardly need any teaching in it."

"... Meio-san... is this going somewhere?" Ranma asked uncertainly.

"I have to ask, at the risk of being blunt, why are you even here?" Setsuna asked calmly.

"Excuse me?" Ranma asked, having expected a lecture about the importance of an education from the school councilor.

Setsuna turned to regard the confused pigtailed man and elaborated. "It seems quite obvious to me that you have little to no interest in learning. Why is it that you are here, then?" When Ranma was about to protest she allowed a small smile to grace her features. "Please don't try to deny it, Strife-san. Your lack of reaction when told how badly your scores in the placing exam were, your clear disgust at having to attend to classes and your reaction to Tsutomi-sensei just now back up my theory."

Ranma closed his mouth and thought really hard about his answer. How could he possibly tell this woman he was here to protect Hinako from Sephiroth without sounding insane?

---

"I have a lock on the mark," the man reported as he stared through the lens at a window across the street, his finger lightly touching the trigger of his weapon.

'Secure the shot and wait for the others to get into position,' answered a female voice through his earpiece.

The man didn't reply as he waited; sweat dripping down his brow as he kept the mark they'd been tracing down for weeks now in his sight. It wasn't difficult to find this person, and much less so finding the perfect opportunity for finishing the contract.

Now that the chase was over it was the time he enjoyed the most, the couple of minutes of anticipation for his shot to do its job, with more of their numbers at the ready should he fail... Something that had only happened twice before.

'You may fire when ready,' the female voice was heard saying and he allowed himself a grin as he pulled the trigger. Another job cleanly done.

---

Setsuna became aware of the attempt on her life the moment the shooter across the street pulled the trigger. As she felt the approaching danger she cursed inwardly, knowing that there was no possible way for her to get out of this one without revealing herself to Ranma. That was something she didn't plan on doing for quite a while still...

Just as the woman prepared herself to use some of her powers, a rather small amount really, to stop the incredibly fast approaching bullet she saw Ranma's eyes narrow dangerously. The change in demeanor was so dramatic it took her completely by surprise. Where before he was calm and open now he was emotionless and cold, as if a switch was flipped and he was a different person entirely.

Sooner than she could expect he reached forward and threw her heavy oak desk to the side as if it weighted nothing, slamming it against the wall. He took her by the shoulders and moved her aside even as the sound of breaking glass was heard, coupled with a hard impact on the wall.

This happened in less than a second, which only made the feat all the more amazing. If that was shocking, however, what happened next tried Setsuna's self-control to the limit, as she had to repress the urge to use her powers out of an instinct of self-preservation. Instead of that she forced herself to cry out in fake shock.

Ranma enveloped her with his arms and jumped out the window in a shower of glass, only a second or two before her office exploded. The green-haired woman could swear she a couple of impacts against Ranma's body, which was hugging her protectively, as they fell uncontrollably four stories down.

---

"I missed!" The man asked in disbelief as the mark was somehow standing next to the window instead of dead on the floor.

'Move in and get the mark,' the female said, still calm.

'I'm on it,' a third voice was heard.

The guy watched as a young man, now he knew how his target dodged the bullet even if her back was turned, jumped out the window with the green-haired one in his arms. He took aim as the couple flipped in the air on their way down and fired. "... I missed again?" He asked in disbelief, sure that now he got the couple in the air and that his armor piercing rounds would go through both of them.

'All ground units move in!' The female commanded once again, though this time she was in no way calm at seeing their job come to this.

---

Setsuna didn't know how, but Ranma managed to land on his feet. It wasn't a soft landing, and she felt her body come to a crashing halt, but outside of the disorientation it caused she didn't feel like it would hurt a normal person.

Ranma landed after flipping in the air twice, Setsuna securely held in his arms as he shielded her from the sniper with his own body. He was only starting to turn over his shoulder when he was hit in the back.

Now on the ground Setsuna felt the powerful impact against Ranma's body very clearly. "Ranma!" She cried in worry, for a moment forgetting what she knew of him and letting her feelings take over. Only two beings in existence could worry her so, and one of them had just been shot.

Things became even worse when she felt about a dozen people closing in on them with violent intent. All of them carrying weapons. Someone definitely wanted her dead, that was for sure.

Ranma was aware of the approaching menace as well, and seeing as he was trying to protect Setsuna from a sniper he couldn't see and they had more shooters incoming from three sides he only had one option left. He crashed his way into the school building through the wall, pulling Setsuna close behind.

Setsuna barely registered what happened after that, staring at Ranma's back in surprise as he dragged her through the halls of the first floor. His shirt had several holes, from the bullets, and was torn up because of the broken glass from the window. Under the ruined garment, however, there was nothing but perfect skin. Not even a scratch after what happened. The strength with which he held her wrist, while not hurting her delicate arm, was enough to tell her there was no way she could break his grip.

As she calmed down and was capable of more conscious thought, the green-haired woman looked around and realized they were in the worst place possible to be dealing with an assassination squad. The children around were all at risk, especially since they were being guided outside because of the explosion, and while she had sacrificed innocents before for the common good, it wasn't easy but it was necessary, having children killed because someone wanted to get rid of her was out of the question. "We have to leave the school," Setsuna finally said.

Ranma didn't give signs of hearing Setsuna's words as he continued running along the hall. When the woman was about to repeat her statement he opened a door and they walked into an empty classroom. "They'll be waiting outside," the pigtailed man said as he turned to regard the green-haired woman.

Before Setsuna could say another word Ranma moved, taking her by surprise, and slammed her against the wall by the throat. The woman struggled against the insanely powerful grip as he held her aloft, her feet dangling helplessly in the air. Startled crimson eyes met cold blue-green.

"Who are you?" Ranma demanded quietly, yet his voice seemed to be all Setsuna was able to hear. The hold he had of her neck was so strong it was easy, very easy, to imagine him breaking her neck if he applied a little more pressure.

Setsuna could only cough out a strangled, "What?"

"Who are you?" Ranma repeated the question.

As Setsuna hung there, weakening as the lack of air started to have an effect on her, she thought back to the last five minutes and wondered how Ranma discovered her being different. She had kept her powers tightly under control, even when they were falling that she was the most disoriented, and aside from them she was as normal as any other human being. That was the primary reason why she risked trying to have more contact with him, that she knew he wouldn't be able to detect anything alien about her nature.

Ranma's eyes narrowed when he didn't get a response and his grip tightened, making Setsuna to start struggling again, this time as she could feel he was cutting off her air supply completely. If he didn't ease up she would suffocate the death, and by Ranma's hands no less! She couldn't even summon enough energy to use her powers now, weakened and vulnerable as she was.

Finally, when her vision almost became completely dark, she felt his grip relent a little. Her burning lungs greedily took in as much air as they could. As her eyes refocused she looked into his blue-green orbs, which still were as hard as she had ever seen. "I can feel your connection to me," Ranma said slowly. "Who are you?"

Setsuna's eyes widened in shocked realization and she would've slapped herself stupid if it weren't for the fact she was so weak right now. Ranma had come closer than anyone else in existence to killing her in only a couple of minutes, something that greatly disturbed her, and it wasn't because she failed to conceal the powers that set her apart from other humans. No, it was because of her own stupidity in not stopping to think he would recognize their relationship. Something so simple and obvious it escaped her completely.

Now, dangling precariously from his grip and with her life on the line, she could do nothing but tell him the truth. Hiding the truth from her family was one thing; outright lying was another and something she'd never do. In so thinking Setsuna breathed in as much air as she could and told him. Told Ranma who she really was.

END PART 12

Author's notes: A big conflict of interests is going to start and revelations are around the corner. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible, and that means not three months from now, since work has eased up a little lately.

Until then, see you around!